I love you, Joey

(How do I say these next words? I know they must be said, I just don't know how to do it. I can't believe they're true.) My cousin, Joey, passed away last evening. His body was just too injured to recover. I know that Joey has moved on to the next phase and is with God now. I'll miss him and all the opportunities we'll never get back. My thoughts are with Karen, Keaton and Carson and Aunt Ginger, Joey's mother. Their loss is heartbreaking and I ache for how terribly sad they are. I want to thank all of you who prayed for them and who thought of them over the past couple of weeks. To know people like you is a privilege. I will be forever thankful and warmed by the kindness and compassion all of you have shown.

I'm waiting to hear what the arrangements will be, but I'm figuring on leaving here tomorrow or the next day for Mobile. Therefore, I don't expect to be posting anything for awhile. Thank you again for your thoughts and prayers for Joey.

I ask that everyone reading this say an extra prayer for Joey today and send good, positive, strong, and pure thoughts his way. The past 2 or 3 days have brought even more challenges to him and every bit of love the world can send him will surely be felt by our Joey and his family.

http://caringbridge.org/visit/joeyandrus

And This is Exactly Why I Hate Going to the Doctor...

My regular gynecologist has retired. Just when I was getting used to him, too. Okay, so I wasn't really getting used to him, but I was at least getting a tad bit more comfortable with him. And the jerk up and retired. Geez. Well, a woman's gotta do what a woman's gotta do. So this woman found a new doctor. I had to, you know. My HRT prescription was up and I needed a check up and, hopefully, a refill. How'd it go, you ask? Let's just say....I ain't happy. At all. Not in the least little, bitty bit. First of all, this new doctor looks like he's about, oh I don't know...12 years old. Second of all, I'm almost certain that he has never actually dealt with menopause. In fact, I'm thinking the majority of his experience (such as it is) must be on the OB side of OB/GYN. I'm further thinking that what little information he has gleaned regarding menopause, was taught to him by an institution that specialized in the "Women Should Be Seen and Not Heard" way of thinking. I say this because, while I know that this guy saw me, I can just about guarantee that he damn well didn't hear me. He asked me a bunch of questions, sure. But I feel like he only heard what he wanted to hear. Let me just list the issues I told him were affecting me...

• indigestion
• trouble sleeping, waking in the middle of the night for no reason
• weight gain
• back ache
• breast tenderness
• irritability
• irregular heart beat
• headaches
• tingling in my fingertips
• hot flashes
• sudden fatigue
• bloated feeling

And his diagnosis? Why it's obvious, of course...I'm suffering from.........depression. I'm not going through menopause. No, no, no. I'm more than likely just depressed. Depressed? Are you freakin' kidding me???? You probably could have parked a '57 Chevy in my mouth when he said that because I know it was hanging wide open at that point. I'm depressed and not menopausal? Well...yippee! Except... I believe I've mentioned in my blog before that I've actually suffered from depression in the past (The '90's were kind of rough in places!). And while I've been feeling a little tense, a little teary eyed, a little tired...I have not been feeling depressed. But. He's the doctor, right? So I listened to what he had to say. He thinks that, at age 44, I'm simply too young to be menopausal. (I should be flattered that someone thinks I'm too young for anything, huh?). And that was pretty much his only argument for my not being menopausal. His arguments for my being depressed instead? Well let's see...I'm tired a lot. Boy, he's got me there. But I figured it was because I was waking up at 3:00 in the morning 3 and 4 times a week. But alas, he feels the sleeping issues are an indication of depression, as well, although I guess that waking up feeling like I'm being roasted alive is mainly due to my being nutso because that doesn't really fit into the "depressed" mold he was trying to build. Oh and my weight gain. Well, first of all, according to Doctor Twelve-Year-Old, I haven't gained much weight in the past 10 months. I've only packed on around 15 pounds. Big deal. And it's probably because I'm over-eating because I'm depressed. Huh. So the fact that I changed my eating habits - started eating 5 small meals a day, stopped snacking late at night, gave up the 2 liter bottle of coke I was drinking every day - and I didn't lose an ounce, wasn't relevant. Repeat after me...I'm overeating because I'm depressed. Denial of that fact is, apparently, futile. I mean I've said it over and over and over again to myself and I still don't buy it, but the doc says it's true so it must be, right? Okay. Anything else, I ask? Well, I probably should be off the Hormone Replacement Therapy and on birth control pills instead. And why is that, Doc? To regulate my cycles, of course. Oh. You mean the cycles that are practically non-existent now and, while not exactly regular, consist more of "spotting" than anything else? Yeah, those cycles. You see, the birth control bills contain more hormones so I'll be better off taking them. What? Okay, I'll be honest...at this point, I knew that he and I were not going to be friends. It seemed that he was trying to fit my symptoms to meet his diagnoses rather than trying to diagnose me based on my symptoms. The indigestion, the breast tenderness, the hot flashes, the tingling, the headaches, the irregular heartbeat? He completely ignored those symptoms. The fact that my blood pressure was higher than normal? That didn't concern him either. My BP was 152/92. The nurse seemed concerned. The doctor? Not so much. Oh and, while I'm so obviously depressed, I'm not depressed enough to be medicated just yet. No, no. Let's just wait until December, shall we? In the meantime, I should keep taking the Crestor for my cholesterol (which hasn't been checked in almost a year). And when I run out of my HRT in a couple of weeks, well...I'm just out of them. Period. We'll talk birth control pills in December. So. How do I really feel about the new doctor, you may very well ask? I feel like he should carry his *ss on back to medical school and take the course that has to do with "not all women are depressed when they say they're tired and not sleeping well". I feel like he should also have to take a "comprehension" exam to see just exactly how well he listens. And once he receives his failing grade from that exam, I think he should sign up for yet one more much-needed class at an accredited medical school of his choice. And then maybe he should look into finding an experienced partner to open up an OB/GYN practice with because, quite frankly, I don't actually see him making it on his own. I will begin my search for a new doctor post haste. (Oh and just to show how vindictive I can truly be...I hope this quack packs on about 15 pounds in the next 10 months so that I can stop by his office (asuming he still has one!) sometime next August maybe and ask him..."What's the matter? Feeling depressed, Doc?".

Joey Through the Years

I thought ya'll might want to see some pictures of the fella you've been praying for and sending your wonderful, kind and precious good thoughts to. He always was a cute kid, you know it? (Not that I'm swayed by the fact we're related. No, sir. That's not how I roll. lol). Can you dig those plaid pants? Even with those bad boys on, Joey still managed to look adorable! That's just got to be "natural beauty", folks.
And here's a picture of Joey looking somewhat less than thrilled. That little chin looks so stubborn (that's because it is stubborn, but I don't want to be telling tales out of school so won't say anymore about that!).
And here's another picture of Joey looking thrill-less. Typical boy, eh?
Now here's Joey (on the left) with 2 of his childhood friends. These boys were always together, all the time. You gotta love their tuxedos, huh? They. Were. Stylin'!
Now this picture is just pure "Joey". Big smile, sparkle in his eyes, and probably a smart comment coming out of that mouth!
I can't thank you guys enough for all the prayers and good thoughts you've sent to Joey and Karen and their boys. I'm so very humbled to know you all. The way you have responded to them has left me in awe of your kind hearts and generous spirits. Many of you have opted to receive the daily updates from Joey's website so you already know of the great progress he has made from where this ordeal began. Joey has an amazing will to live and Karen is, quite simply, a tower of strength for him. I hope and pray that she takes care of herself because her presence is so obviously needed to bring Joey back to health. Her faith in God and her belief in Joey's spirit are an unbeatable combination!
Thanks again you wonderful, wonderful people for sending your prayers and for thinking of Joey, Karen and the boys during this time. I know they have a long, long road ahead of them but when so many people are pulling together and expressing their love, I firmly believe it must surely help to ease the burden and the pain, at least a little bit.

Halloween 1989

Halloween 1989 was great for us. My sister and her husband (who many of you know is also my husband's brother. Yeah, think that over for a second and you'll work it out. lol) lived in Niceville, Florida and we lived in Valparaiso, Florida (these 2 towns are right next to each other - I mean right next to each other. Our homes were probably only 2 miles apart). Living so close to one another, naturally our families got together to take the kids trick-or-treating. My nephew, Joseph, was dressed as a Mad Scientist. Nicholas, my oldest son, was dressed as the Hunchback. They were both 9 years old for that Halloween and, if I remember correctly, they had a fabulous time that year. So much laughter, so many smiles. Gotta love it. My niece, Megen, age 4 1/2, was dressed as a Jack-in-the-Box. She was the cutest little thing you ever saw. (Check out how long her braided hair is in the picture. That kid was born with more hair than most humans grow over a lifetime. lol). And Desiree', who at the time was 2 1/2 years old, was dressed as, what else?, a Christmas present. She was hysterically funny because she kept tripping over her own feet, but once she'd fall, she couldn't get herself back up because of the box she was wearing. I know, I know. We were all wrong to laugh at her like we did, but good grief...it was just so funny. All you could see was this box with a head, 2 arms and these short little legs sticking out of the bottom, kicking for all they were worth. Funny stuff. Oh hush. You'd have laughed, too, if you'd seen her!
And just so you don't think I laughed at my daughter with no idea of how that would make her feel, let me tell you this little story. Joseph and Nick were Cub Scouts that year and their troop decided to have a Halloween themed meeting that month. Complete with costumes. Yeah, everyone was supposed to dress up, including the parents. Well, being relatively young and extremely foolish, we all took them seriously and dressed up. Sherri was smart. She dressed as a Bunny. That meant she wore pastel pants and a giant sweatshirt with a big cotton ball pinned to her butt and a headband with cute little bunny ears. Oh, and she drew whiskers on her face, too. Randey and Ken (Sherri's husband, Randey's brother. Come on now, keep up!) were really smart. Randey dressed like a hunchback. Which basically meant he stuffed a pillow under his shirt up by his shoulders. Ken dressed as a mummy. He just had a bunch of torn pieces of sheet wrapped around him. Me? Oh I went all out. I mean, all out. I had a bridesmaid dress that I never actually cared for (just look at it...all us bridesmaids looked like giant fluffs of cotton candy wearing those things!) and a pair of Randey's BDU pants and an old shirt from the thrift store. I combined all these things and went as Half Man/Half Woman. Complete with mascara painted full beard and moustache and one honkin' thick eyebrow (I was trying to look manly on that side, remember?). And guess what? We arrived at the meeting and no other parents were dressed up. None. Nada. No.Body.Else. And to top it all off, they looked at us like we were insane. What the heck? Randey and Ken quickly "removed" their costumes (i.e., the pillow and the torn strips of sheets) and Sherri thought about removing her tail and ears until I threatened her with her life. Still...she only had on tiny little ears, a fluffy little tail and thinly drawn whiskers. I, on the other hand, looked like a complete freak. That was the last year I ever dressed up for Halloween. There's nothing like little children pointing and snickering at you while their parents gaze at you with smirks and even a little pity to make you realize that the time for dressing up has come and gone. One good thing that came of it, though. I finally got rid of that horrific bridesmaid dress! lol
**Correction*** Randey informs me that he was the mummy and Ken was the hunchback. You can understand why I was confused, though, right? I mean they were out of their costumes so fast (those sniveling little cowards!), it's hard to remember exactly who wore what. Apparently, I've blocked out more of that evening that I thought I had but, honestly, who could blame me? lol

Christmas Spirit Award

The lovely Tammy over at My Gentle Retreat passed on the Spirit of Christmas Award to me the other day. Naturally, given my love of all things Christmas, I was thrilled to get this! (I've just been a little slow to pass it on. Sorry about that.) This award is for those who talk about and show the spirit of Christmas in their blogs. What is the Spirit of Christmas you ask? Quite simply it is those that have a generous and giving nature. Those who care about others. Those who have a kind word to say or a broad shoulder to lean on in the times that others need that. Those, indeed, are the ones who display the "Spirit of Christmas". (Given that particular definition, I am doubly flattered to receive this.) I'm supposed to pass it on to five others who also display these qualities. Talk about a tough choice...I think everyone on my blogroll qualifies so narrowing it down to five is somewhat of a challenge! But here goes...

My Aunt Sandi over at Holding Patterns. I chose her because I know that she has a generous and giving nature. And she also loves Christmas like I do. Who would be better qualified, right? And then I chose Jayne at Country Cottage Chic. She's a Christmas nut, too! And while she may be a little "competitive", shall we say, when it comes to Christmas Queen titles, I know that she's really a sweetheart and an all around wonderful person. Next is Sophie at Sophie Honeysuckle's English Decor What a great person! She embodies what all of us want to be - sweet, kind hearted, generous, lovely and kind. Most of you know her so I probably don't even need to say another word, do I? Then I have Jodie, my daughter-in-law. She's a Christmas lover as well and also has a sweet and generous nature that makes me grateful that Nicholas found her. My fifth choice is Brenda at Country Romance. Brenda is so kind-hearted and blogs for pretty much the same reasons I do. I enjoy my visits to her blog so much and think you will, too. And you know what? I'm not real good at following rules so I'm going to have to pass this on to at least four more people. I mean, really! If I go by the reasons for the award, then how can I leave these four out? I simply cannot. So I'd also like to pass it on to Annie at My Life as Annie, to Kat at Just a Beach Kat, Joan at Joan's Journeys and Karolee at My Montana Moments . These are four of the nicest, most helpful, tender-hearted people I've met here in Blogland and they absolutely deserve this wonderful award. Okay...I'd better stop before I end up passing this on to another 30 people or so. lol

By the way, Aunt Sandi, Jayne, Sophie, Jodie, Brenda, Annie, Kat, Joan and Karolee, click here for the code to the graphic so that you can post it on your blog and pass it on to 5 (or you know, however many you feel the need to) others yourself!

The You Make Me Smile Award

Pat over at Back Porch Musings and Vee from A Haven for Vee have both passed this award on to me. How flattering, although I sometimes wonder if maybe my rants come out sounding funnier than I intend simply because I lose focus just a little bit and end up rambling like a lunatic. lol Ah well, doesn't really matter, does it? As long as I can make someone smile, I feel good. So thank you, ladies, for making me feel good by telling me I bring some small measure of joy to your lives!

Happy 39th Anniversary Aunt Sandi and Uncle Wally!

Who out there doesn't know my Aunt Sandi? I know a lot of you also read her blog, where she's currently recounting the tale of her family's adventures in England (or The Motherland, as she calls it!). Well did you know that today, October 15th, she and my beloved Uncle Wally are celebrating their 39th Wedding Anniversary? That's right...39 years! Woo-hoo! Now I don't normally remember anniversary dates. (Heck, just ask Randey. I still get our anniversary date wrong and our 19th is coming up...in March, I think. lol). But hey, 39 years! Now that's worth remembering and mentioning. So Happy Anniversary you two! Here's to another 39 years together. I love you both!
Sissy

Menopause Madness Mondays and Halloween Pictures...Practically a Match Made in Heaven!

It's Monday! I've been really bad the past two Mondays about the Menopause Madness post, but I think I'm back on track. I was trying to think of what to say in this post and started to wonder if maybe I wasn't running out of steam about the joys of menopause. I don't want to sound like a broken record. In fact, I'd like to come up with some positive things to write about menopause, but thus far, I'm drawing a blank on that one. Ain't nothin' makin' me happy about menopause, I gotta tell 'ya. So what's my current biggest gripe about this particular little wonder of nature? Well, I'll tell you. It's the weight gain. I've packed on a few pounds this year. Oh, who am I kidding? I've packed on a lot of pounds this year. I can't tell you exactly how many because I refuse to come within 30 feet of a scale. This is absolutely ridiculous, demoralizing and just plain humiliating. I've gone up 2, count 'em 2, pant sizes since this time last year! I can't even begin to explain the joys of being grossly overweight and having hot flashes at the same time. Talk about good times. Just last night, I slept with the ceiling fan on, the stand fan on (2 feet away from me and pointed directly at my torso) as well as the air turned down. And I still felt like I was baking alive. I'm about 3 degrees away from emptying my freezer and standing in it myself. (I'm kidding, of course. My fridge/freezer is a side by side. No way I'd fit in just the freezer section!). But I've got my eye on this jumbo size cooler at Wal-Mart that I think will do nicely....
How about you guys? Anybody else suffering from weight gain and horrific heat? Or am I all alone is this misery? Come on, peeps...tell me I'm not alone!

Moving on (before I get so worked up that I spontaneously combust!).... Since Halloween is creeping up on us, I thought I'd post a few pictures every now and then of my kids Halloween costumes over the years.

These three pictures were taken in 1991. Nicholas was Dracula, obviously. Yeah, we had a hard time convincing him that the Count actually wore jeans, but I think he turned out looking pretty flippin' cool!
This is Desiree' as a clown (duh, right?). She was adorable. I have to say, we made a lot of our kids' costumes. We had to. We couldn't afford to buy them all a store bought outfit every year. Back in 1991, Nick was the "lucky" one. We bought his cape. That was pretty much the extent of our Halloween Costume Budget for that year. lol This clown costume is one that we made. You guys already know I don't sew. Can anybody guess how this costume was held together? Good old hot glue, of course. lol We had a heck of a time getting her into it without tearing the "seams". By the end of the night, she had so many safety pins holding this thing together that she never could have made it through a metal detector. But man, she was cute, wasn't she?
And here's little Kaleb (I was pregnant with Jake...no pictures of him this year!). It seems so clear to me, but maybe I should explain, just in case anyone out there can't tell...Kaleb was dressed as a bag of M&M's. (We thought we were so clever! ha) The sides of his costume were hot glued, too, but I did use fabric glue to hold on the lettering. I'm not a total moron, you know. lol

He's Asking for Water!!!

For those of you following along with my cousin's progress, I'm so very happy to report that he had a GOOD day yesterday. The doctors have been pleased enough with his vital signs to start bringing him out of the medically induced coma and he has been responding! According to Karen's update, Joey has been asking for water!! I'm kind of choked up just thinking about that. He's come such a long way! Obviously, he has a long, long way still to go, but wow! I'm telling you guys, this entire situation has been such an eye opener for me. I'm 44 years old and never before have I ever witnessed such an awe-inspiring display of the power of positive thinking. While I don't want to take one single thing away from Joey's medical team, I am convinced that Karen and her unwavering belief in God and Joey's recovery are what have carried him to this point. The next time someone asks me what defines a hero in my eyes, I'm going to tell them about Karen. Seriously. Her strength and determination have impressed me like no one ever has before. I want to thank all of you guys for your love and prayers. Please feel free to visit the website and leave more words of encouragement, if you are able (the website address and link are near the top of my page. I know that some of you have had a hard time getting the link to work so I've written out the web address, as well). Terri and Tammy have left more than one message each and I love them for that! I know that all these messages help Karen now and will help Joey as he reads them during his recovery. The response all of you have shown has really left its mark on me. I thank you, I appreciate you and I will always treasure your kindnesses.

Here are a few pictures that I've been meaning to post for a few days now. They are of some of the swag I got during my sister's visit.
How do you like this teapot? My stepmother and dad bought it for me because Wendy (my SM) thought it would look great in my girly room. And she was right. I love it, it looks just perfect. That room has quickly become my favorite room in the house. It just reeks of femininity. I fully expect my brother-in-law, who will be visiting in a couple of weeks and staying in that room, to have garnered a whole new appreciation for "pink" by the time he leaves here. lol
Check out this horse's head. Kind of puts me in the mind of The Godfather, when I say "horse's head", but really, it's a nice little ole' statue. What do you think, Jayne? Like it? It cost all of $4. They were having a big Sidewalk Sale in downtown Weatherford. Glad we checked it out!
I really like this wreath. It's actually metal "loops" that have been welded together and then this garland of leaves has been woven through it. I like it so much that it's still sitting on the floor in my bedroom. lol I've really got to figure out where I'm going to hang it soon. Preferably before Randey looses a toe from walking into it!
I finally own a soup tureen! Yeah, I know. Big deal, right? Well it is to me! I've never, ever owned one and a couple of weeks ago, I got a wild hair and decided that a soup tureen was a must have item. We looked high and low during our shopping trips when my sister was here. I found quite a few...a lot without their ladles, some with price tags that would have required I obtain insurance on them before I even attempted to load them in the car (who would have thought a silly little soup bowl could cost more than my first car?), and I found some that were just too flippin' ugly to own. Then I saw this. It was as if a shaft of golden light was streaming down from the heavens, bathing this tureen in a warm, golden light while a little angel whispered in my ear "Here's the one you've searched for. Pick it up, cradle it close to your heart, give it a home and treasure it always". Okay. So that's bull. It didn't really happen quite like that. I saw it, I checked it out, the price was good, the fact that it was on sale was even better so I bought it, I took it home and it's still sitting on my counter because I don't actually have a suitable place to store it yet. Guess I need to buy a china cabinet next. lol (Just kidding, Randey, if you're reading this).
And finally, here was my favorite purchase of all. A double-dip, hot fudge sundae from Braum's. Yum-meeeee! I wouldn't mind eating one of these a day for ever and ever and ever. It was so good. And low calorie, too! What? What'd you say? I'm telling you, it's low calorie. Listen, I can call it that if I want to. And I want to so shut it, monkey!
That's about it for now. I guess I'd better stop blogging and start getting ready. Randey leaves on another TDY tomorrow and I think he wanted to go run around and have some fun today as a family. This will obviously require that the boys get their butts up out of bed and pretend like they know us. I'd better head on upstairs and begin the "waking process" (which basically consists of me standing in their doorways yelling!). Please continue to pray and think good, positive thoughts for Joey and Karen and their boys. And again, if you get the chance, please hop over to the website and leave a message. I know I keep harping on it, but I have just become so absolutely convinced that all of this positive energy actually works! I've been a bit of a cynic in the past but now I've "seen the light", so to speak, and I have been amazed by it all. Thanks for joining in and helping. You guys amaze me, too!

Fabulous Isn't a Big Enough Word to Describe YOU, My Blogging Friends.

Not too long ago, during the "semi-hiatus" I took during my sister's visit, I was given a wonderful award by two very kind and dear people (Karolee and Annie). While I'm pretty sure I'm not what you could call "Fabulous" on an everyday basis (lol), I have discovered that several of YOU are! I recently asked all who read my blog to please go to this site and leave good thoughts for my cousin, Joey, who has been severely injured and is currently in the intensive care unit of USA Medical Center in Mobile, Alabama. Many of you responded to this request and I can't tell you how much this means, especially to Joey's wife, Karen, and their children. I believe that Karen is going to pull Joey through this with sheer determination! She refuses to think any negative thoughts whatsoever and is inspiring everyone around her to be positive regarding Joey's recovery. I don't think I've ever witnessed anything quite like it before and it has left me in awe of her. For those of you who left messages (Heather, Sophie, Mary, Tammy, Sharon, Julie, Stacy, Brenda, Susie Q, Annie and Terri, to name a few!) thank you so much. You are FABULOUS. To those of you who have sent e-mails to Karen and who have sent prayers to God (Kat, Pam and Karolee!), you are also FABULOUS. For anyone else whose kindness I have neglected to mention, please know that you are FABULOUS, too, and I thank all of you from the bottom of my heart. I know that normally, these awards that go around Blogland are basically a fun way to say thanks and hello to our fellow bloggers, but this award just happened to come around at a time when telling you that you are FABULOUS actually means more than "hey - I like reading your blog". It means "Thank you for joining together and helping my cousin and his family get through one of the hardest things they'll ever have to endure". All of you deserve this award and, while I just don't have enough energy to add the links to your blogs, I think most of you know each other at this point anyway. You are a wonderful bunch of friends and I treasure you.

Prayers for Joey

As some of you know, my cousin, Joey Andrus, is in critical condition at USA Medical Center in Mobile, Alabama following a tragic work-related accident. USA Medical Center has given patients' families the ability to set up a website to receive good thoughts and prayers during this very stressful time. If any of you are able, please stop by this site and sign the guestbook with a message of hope. I know it's asking a bit of you to go through the hassle of setting up "an account" in order to leave a message, but I think it would help Joey and his wife so much.

Thank you in advance for those who are able to do this.

Pumpkins Galore

These were some pretty pumpkins we saw at Central Market during my sister's visit. I love that bright orange color. Let me assure you that Central Market is pretty darn proud of their pumpkins and charge accordingly. In other words, we didn't buy any from them... mainly because I didn't feel like filling out all that pesky paperwork for a second mortgage on our home and I'm afraid that would have been necessary in order for me to afford them.... Check out these pumpkins. I couldn't decide if these were teenager pumpkins or menopausal ones. They looked like they were suffering from some severe skin issues so you can understand where my confusion came in, can't you?
And these are my new favorite (although, come to think of it, I'm not sure there's really an old favorite). Not that it matters, I suppose. At any rate, these beauties pictured here are called "Cotton Candy" pumpkins. Love that name! Just wish they weren't filled with gold (I'm assuming they were because that might explain what made them cost so freakin' much!).
And here's a lovely little topiary that I thought I might make. I even had all the (faux) pumpkins gathered when we went to Garden Ridge, but Garden Ridge sometimes has trouble marking their items with prices. And if it ain't marked, they can't help you (apparently). As is my norm when I experience bad customer service, such as employees who have absolutely no clue as to how they can obtain a price on an item they are selling, I put my items down and stomped out of the store. I've really got to stop doing that. The amazing thing is, bad customer service is a frequent occurrence at Garden Ridge and yet, I keep going back! I need therapy. I really, really do.
And this is something I did end up buying, although not at Garden Ridge, of course. I got the pumpkin at Wal-Mart, but I got the pumpkin's "Turkey" outfit in Granbury. How cute is this? I love how it looks - and I sure wish I could explain why. I just think he's funny with his feet kicked up like that! lol
Tomorrow I hope to post a couple of pictures of the pumpkins my boys are carving. I think Kaleb is carving a ghost and Jacob, because he likes to freak out his mama, is carving a spider. Cute kid, huh?

I want to thank everyone who has sent good wishes and prayers for my cousin, Joey, and his wife, Karen. Your thoughts are so very much appreciated.

We are the Shattered Pieces of a Family

See this picture? I believe this is my grandmother's family, taken back when she was a little girl. My purpose in showing it is to illustrate how families used to get together, to live, to laugh, to love and yeah, to even get their picture made together. I can remember going to my grandma and grandpa's house sometimes for family get togethers. My two aunts and their families would be there, my two uncles and their families would make it whenever they could. (My Uncle Wally - some of ya'll might know him better as Aunt Sandi's husband - was in the Navy so sometimes he was stationed too far afield to come for these visits and I really have no idea what my Uncle Mac was doing during those times. Sometimes we saw him, sometimes we didn't.) Anyway, the point is, these were wonderful times for me. All these relatives running around, all these cousins, all that laughter and fun...gosh, I miss that. I can remember when someone was ill, everybody who was able to would get involved. When my aunt had surgery, my mom traveled to Mobile, Alabama from Del City, Oklahoma to be with her. When Uncle Wally and Aunt Sandi came home to Selma, Alabama for a visit before they shipped off to England, we all converged on Selma to say good-bye to them. When my grandpa was baptized sometime in the '70's, everyone in the family who could come to witness it, did. We were a close family. And it was something special, at least from the viewpoint of a child (namely me and my sister). But then, in late 1979, the family started to fracture. My parents got divorced. Having been married for 18 years, it was hard for the rest of the family to "divorce" my dad, though. My aunts still thought of him as their "brother", my grandparents still thought of him as their "son". Dad and Uncle Wally had been buddies way back in the day, too, so I know it was hard for either of them to accept the end of a relationship. I look back now and wonder if that may have been the beginning of the end for all of us as a family. It's not that my parents' divorce was the first our family had experienced. And maybe I just perceive that event as having more of an impact on our family as a whole than it actually did. After all, it was my parents who split from one another, therefore maybe I'm giving it more "weight" than it really had as far as how it affected everyone else. But, regardless...the '80's brought even more turmoil to our family. Another aunt divorced her husband and it was quite similar to my parents situation in that she and her husband had been married for something like 20 years. He was as much my uncle as she was my aunt because they had been married for as long as I could remember, basically. But their divorce was much, much uglier than my parents' divorce. It pitted relative against relative, sister against sister, son against father, etc., etc., etc. It was ugly. Period. I don't think we (the family) ever really recovered from that. My heart aches at the sadness of it all. So many harsh words were said by so many of us. And, when the dust seemed to settle (much, much later) nobody really wanted to go over the wounds we had inflicted on one another. Nobody seemed to want to talk about it at all. It was like everyone just sort of swept all the pain and bitterness under the rug and tried to move on. Of course, everytime something bad would come up afterwards, somebody would "shake that rug out" and all those harsh feelings would come flying out again. And since nothing was ever discussed productively, the bad stuff never really left. It's still there. To this day. It comes out in so many little ways and now, it's come out in an even bigger way. One of our family has suffered a grievous physical injury. My cousin, Joey, was hurt at work a few days ago. He was life-flighted from Monroeville down to USA Medical Center in Mobile, Alabama where he is currently listed in critical condition. And here's where the shame of our family comes in. Not only were some of our family not notified through the family grapevine of this tragedy, but those that were and live relatively nearby, haven't even gone to the hospital. I know that there's nothing anyone in the family can actually do for Joey right now. He's in a medically induced coma and is in ICU. But why isn't any of our family there to help support his wife and his children during this time? Isn't that what we're supposed to do? I don't want to judge anyone, really I don't. But if we don't pull together during a time like this, then why do we even bother calling ourselves "family"? I spoke with Joey's wife, Karen, yesterday and, while she sounded strong and seemed to be holding it together, I couldn't help but hurt for her because of what she's going through, seeing her husband hooked up to all those machines and not knowing if he's going to make it or not. Surely a little help from us, Joeys' relatives, would allow her at least a moment or two to, I don't know, just...breathe, maybe. What the heck happened to us? How did we get this way? Aunt Sandi and I were talking yesterday and we both decided that maybe Grandma was the glue that held us together and once she passed over, some of us just forgot to hold on to each other. I truly (and literally) weep at the state of my extended family. So much has happened over the years that it's hard to know just who is to bless and who is to blame. Some of us just seem to hold onto the bad, like a shield of righteousness, and I believe that all that bitterness and anger has eaten away at our humanity. God knows I can feel how it's affected me. Why can't we see our way clear to change that, though? Does no one care about being a family anymore? I guess what I'm asking is, how do you stop loving your sister, your brother, your aunt, your uncle, your niece, your nephew, your cousin,......your family? I am as guilty as anyone else in the family. Believe me when I say that. I got angry at my mother and sister and didn't speak with them for over a year! And that situation, which happened fairly recently, had nothing to do with all that previously occurred in my family, except that maybe it's where I learned how to cut a family member out of my life. Not trying to blame anyone else for my actions, I'm just saying that it's not something I hadn't seen up close and personal before I actually did it myself. I'm ashamed of the way I handled what happened with my mom and my sister. I shouldn't have stopped talking to them. I should have screamed, stomped and hollered instead. At least we would have still been connected, you know what I mean? The road back is hard and bumpy and not at all what I thought it would be. But the three of us are trying. I wish the rest of our family could or would try, too. But maybe there's been just too much water under the bridge. Maybe love really wasn't meant to last forever. Maybe years of neglect can erase it as if it had never been. It sure feels that way to me sometimes.

This picture above was taken back in 1979 at my Grandma and Grandpa's house in Selma, Alabama. That little dark eyed kid in the foreground is Joey. The second row is my sister Sherri, my cousin Tammy (Joey's sister), and me. The back row is Uncle Wally and Aunt Sandi's boys, Wallace and Michael. Just a few of us cousins, sitting for a picture back when our family acted like...family.

Sight Seeing

Here's a few pictures taken here, there and everywhere during my sister's visit. As I mentioned before, we shopped. A lot. I mean a WHOLE lot. Yeah - it was a sacrifice I was willing to make in order to keep my peeps entertained. The things I do for family....shocking, really.Randey insisted on having his picture made with this strange little scarecrow in Granbury. He also insisted that Kaleb join him for the picture. As you can probably tell by Kaleb's expression, he was somewhat less than thrilled at being forced to pose with this freaky looking guy (I refer to the scarecrow, of course, not Randey). Check out Kaleb's shirt, though. Gotta love that! Unless you're a Texas fan, of course. (GO OU!)

Would you just look at this wonderful dishware collection? I love it. I'm not sure why, though. As I've mentioned over and over and over again...cooking is not my thing. But these dishes were just so pretty. They were hard to resist.

And so were these. If the black and white wasn't your thing, look what else they had to offer. Bright, beautiful, fall colored dishes. I loved these, too. Luckily, I regained my senses and didn't purchase any of either collection. Talk about a waste of money! There's no point in having these particular pretties unless I can afford a daily chef to fill them. Which I can't so I decided to stick with the same old plates we've used for years and years. Boring, but practical.
This is a picture I took from upstairs at one of my favorite Granbury stores. That's my dad in the blue shirt and my sister in the orange. (My step-mother is in green at the top left of the picture.) Dad got a little aggravated with me once he figured out it was me causing that annoying flashing light he kept seeing. Hey, if you can't still aggravate your father - no matter what age you are - then what's the point, right?
Here's a little spiderweb and spider display one of the stores had set up along the sidewalk. Freaks. (And I'm referring to both the store owners and the spiders.)
And I saw this book in a fabric store and immediately thought of my dear friend Sophie. She's a Cath Kidston fanatic. That's a pretty accurate description, isn't it Sophie? lol I wish they weren't asking an arm and a leg for that book because I would have loved to have sent it to you. But what can I say? I'm cheap. :o)
These old dresses reminded me of Sophie, too. I know how she loves vintage clothing, etc. and when I saw these, I had to snap the picture so I could show her. The gold lame' is very chic, no? Wish I could fit more than my left thigh into it. I have a vision of my gaunt, skinny self laid back on a chaise lounge chair, wearing that silky gold dress and being fanned by a skimpily dressed Adonis who is gazing at me with adoration in his eyes. Okay. So I didn't really have that vision until I typed it. Now, however...well now is a different story. Must go think this over. Be back later. Maybe much later....