Come on over here darlin, let's smooz!

YOU WIN THIS WEEK, YOU COOK NEXT WEEK!

Eight deightful women turned up at my house last night to have dinner and play cards. We play Ark. Rummy every week. The winner provides the main course for the next week and the rest of the girls bring side dishes. We usually meet at the winner's house, unless they don't have room. Last night Kathy won. She's new to the group and the "baby" of the bunch. Now Kathy lives in the same house that I used to live in so I know for sure that she doesn't have room for everyone so she will fix her dish then take it to Jan's house. Jan has plenty of room as we sit four to a table if there's more than six. Anyway Phyllis won last week but she lives in Tulsa and its 90 miles away so she made her dish then brought it here. She cooked three Mexican dishes. Edie brought dessert (a twinkie cake, YUM!) and Kathy made a wonderful salad. Jan brought the soft drinks, I made the tea, and Donetta brought dip and chips. Great night, great fun, great friends. You otta try it sometime honey. You'll be suprised at how much fun you'll have!
Tomorrow's Mother's Day so I'd like to wish a wonderful blessed day to all of the Mother's out there!
Happy, happy Mother's day to you all! Whether you're a mom to a two legged toddler or a four legged  dog or cat child, its still a happy day to you all! In honor or Mother's Day I will tell you a story about my Mother.
Her name was Alma Pauline but she was Nana to my children and Polly Pure Heart to me. Others called her Polly. She wore her different names proudly and I loved her with all my heart. She was my best friend. Looking back it seems that she was sick a lot during my childhood. My sister was nine years older than I and she did a lot of the housework and cooking. Mother had kidney stones.....bad as most medical drs. would ever see. One stone grew through her kidney and into her intestine. I don't know how she stood the pain for as long as she did. Finally, they decided to operate. I'm told the drs. and surgical nurses were aghast when they took out the stones. There were numerous ones and one was huge. I still have one of them in a jar to remind me of the pain she endured. Mother sang in the church choir. She'd set me on the second seat in the middle of church so she could keep an eye on me. My best friend, Nicky always sat with me. When  Nicky and I would act up Mother would give me that "evil eye stare". You know the one I mean! It silently said," I'm gonna whip the tar out of you when I get you home!" To my knowledge she never did. We were discussing it one day after I became an adult and it was then that Mother found out when she gave me "that look" I never saw her because I was just short of carrying a white cane and couldn't even see the markee at the theater! We had a great laugh over that!
Mother wore an old mink coat each winter. It was her only coat and was really beginning to show its wear. That winter Daddy (a carpenter, contractor) had trouble finding work.I came home from school to find Mother had torn up her mink coat to make doll coats for Christmas gifts. She'd sewed complete wardrobes for different kids dolls and the tiny mink coats just set them off. Occasionallly I was allowed to play with these little girls. As I watched them take off one outfit after another and casually toss the little coat to the ground, I couldn't help but think of my mama and how she went without a coat that winter so some rich kid's doll would be warm.
She was a beautiful seamstress. She cut her own patterns out of newspapers. She could make anything from a bridal gown to a man's suit. She also crocheted  so my hope chest was full of  lacy pillow cases and crocheted doilies. She made all of my clothes (and underclothes) and I guess I just assumed that every girls mother did the same because I didn't realize I was "different" until I told her I wanted a cashmere sweater and couldn't understand why she couldn't make it! She made all of my prom formals and costumes when I was dancing and skating.
She had a heart attack right before Christmas one year. I remember she loved the "California raisins" and that song, heard it through the grape vine. Suddenly people started bringing her raisins of all shapes, colors and sizes. Mom was in ICU and couldn't have visitors but the raisins kept coming. Finally, in desperation and out of boredom, we started hanging the raisins on anything and everything we could find! The nurses also cut out all sizes and shapes of paper snowflakes and hung over her bed. She had the biggest mobile I'd ever seen. I think everyone in the hospital snuck in to see it! Mama was delighted and fascinated by it all. When we took her home I think I counted 25 raisins in the car!
Mother had congestive heart failure, one kidney, high blood pressure, and was a diabetic but I believe she willed herself to stay alive until Daddy died from alzheimers. They managed to  share their 50th wedding anniversary before his mind completely shut down. I miss them so very much. My sis joined them not long ago so now all I have are memories to soothe my fractured heart, so Mama, this one's for you. Happy Mother's Day my Polly Pure Heart. I love you forever.

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

When Lou was first diagnosed with Alzheimers it really didn't register with me. I thought there must be some mistake because my daddy had alzheimers and Lou wasn't acting like him. The dr. said we should have two good years together. How can you put a time limit on something like that? Lou's always had his "own language" to compensate for his lack of knowledge I think. It's like he knows the word he's searching for is out there but he can't quite pronounce it like he should so he makes up a word that sounds like it, for instance......He called me from Washington D. C. one time and was talking about how clean everything was there. He made the comment that I should see the subway, there was no confetti (should have said grafitti) written on the walls! Since he's done that ever

since I've known him, it comes as no surprise when he continues to do it!
What I seem to notice now is his walk. It's much slower now, he has developed a slump,and he walks like he's wading through oatmeal. His memory of course is worse but it's not completely gone. He just loses words and names here and there.
I woke up one day last week about 3:00 A.M. to take the dogs outside and when I walked back into the house I noticed his bedroom light was on. He hadn't been feeling well so I thought maybe he was sick and walked down the hall to see if I could help him. He wasn't there. I went to his bathroom. He wasn't there. By now the hairs are beginning to stand up on the back of my neck. I walk out into the yard then back into the house. I could not find him anywhere! I kept telling myself not to panic, God's in charge. I opened the door to the garage. Our only truck was gone. Oh boy, I thought. How am I going to explain to the kids that I lost their dad?
Right away I got the impression that I should call the hospital. He may have wrapped the truck around a tree somewhere. Anything was possible. He'd almost quit driving because of his lack of concentration. On our last excursion he'd hit two different cars in the same parking lot, so I was more than a little uneasy to know he was behind the wheel in the middle of the night! I talked to the lady at the emergency room. Yep, he was there but he'd told her that he'd told me he was going there. I reminded her that he was an alzheimers patient and I would NEVER send him off in the middle of the night to a hospital BY HIMSELF! She said they'd done blood work and was getting ready to take him for a cat scan. I hung up, got dressed, then tried to execute my next move. I didn't want to wake anyone up and ask them to get out of bed to come get me so I waited until 6:00 A.M. then called my pastor. He came right over and together we went to face the runaway, He had pancreitis and spent several days in the hospital recovering. I went to Curves every day and worked off some of my stress. I've noticed even when he watches t.v. now he will have a "far away" look and I've come to realize at those times, he's "not there." He won't know what he's watched or if he enjoyed it. More and more often he comes into my office and just stands by my chair while I type. He also does this when I cook. He's either right beside me or right behind me. He's never cooked or even had a desire to learn so this "togetherness" can be frustrating at times, to say the least. It's kinda creepy. Each new day seems to bring a change now. I am constantly on the alert to see what I may have missed. It's like keeping up with a child again. Life can certainly be unfair but then I guess there are no guarantees with anything! Blessings to you.

Sometimes I feel like a nut, sometimes I don't!

You know, when I was younger I fancied myself as a great writer, or a missionary, someone with a direction, a purpose in life. It's funny how things change as you get older. My perspective has changed. I've learned who I am and I am satisfied with who I am. Does that sound stupid? I have diabetes. I take several pills a day plus 5 to 7 shots of insulin a day. I have high blood pressure. I take 5 pills for it. I no longer work outside of the home. I chase three little dogs all day, seeing to their needs and giving them all the attention that I can muster.
Lou (hubby) and I were going to the baptist church but neither of us were baptists and we were unhappy with the pastor. He was a very nice man but oh, so dry when he spoke. We would always walk out of church feeling a need for more of God's word. We finally quit going to church. Over a year passed when one day we decided to try another church, in fact over the next few weeks we tried several churches with no luck. What did God want from us? How could we give to Him when we weren't recieving any spiritual nourishment? My soul yearned for something to hang onto. I read the bible, I prayed, I stewed, I argued with God, and finallly, frustrated and sad, I just let go. One more church to try then I'd made up my mind I was done with it! That Sunday we visited the First Christian Church. I'd grown up in this church but had never even thought about returning there. As we walked into the foyer I was shocked at the people who remembered me. They smiled warmly, gave me a hug, shook Lou's hand and said they were so glad to have us there. We sat behind one of Lou's golfing buddies. It took me a few minutes to realize his buddy had once been our milk man! Boy! Memories of my childhood flooded my mind as I sat there shaking hands and smiling.
Pastor Dean gave us a warm welcome as did his wife Della. Finally he began his sermon, quoting bible verses and patiently waiting to everyone to find the bible passages. Lou and I were both excited. This was what we'd been looking for! Why didn't I think of it sooner? Looking back, I think the holy spirit was working with us all the time, preparing us for this church, this pastor, these wonderful people. Now I praise God for our church family. I have to say I've never met a more loving group of people. There is no back biting, no gossiping, no accusations, just love. Its a refreshing change from other churhes we attended. That's all I have to say at the moment. God is good and love abounds. Blessings to you.