The Past Week

What I'd like to do ... sit and relax in the sun.


Here are some more photos of original art from my
mother-in-law's retirement village.

A common scene in Tennessee.




Some more original art from my mother-in-law's
retirement village.

What a week it has been.  We moved out on Monday.  I have never been hospitalized or been to the ER but the closest I've ever come occurred last Monday. It was just an accumulation of factors ... and it was very hot and humid.  After I felt a little better, Clint felt sick and he said he was going to the car parked in the driveway and for me to help finish with the movers and sign the papers.  He had no where to sit inside but he could sit in the car with the AC running.  We couldn't run the AC inside with all the doors open for the movers.  I was very concerned about Clint but he began to feel better.  Our angel neighbor Sandy just happened to appear, she brought even more snacks and two fold out chair for us to use. Those chairs were a life saver.  Thanks again, Sandy.


On Tuesday morning, we were at the house to let in the house cleaners.  We stayed in a local hotel the previous night.  We were very pleased with the cleaning and what happened next is hard to believe. We knew a few days in advance that after the house was cleaned, our realtor had scheduled the installation of 19 new windows!  Needless to say, we had to go over the house again.


Wednesday was the closing on the house and we spent Wednesday night in Ruston, LA.  Clint and I drove separately and then headed to Atlanta to visit his mom, our house in Knoxville was to close this morning, May 2nd.  We had a good visit with Clint's mom.  Friday afternoon we went to an art show at her complex.  Friday evening was the trivia contest, we had to draw numbers and were assigned a table.  The residents take this contest quite seriously. Clint and I were at the same table and answered a few questions correctly.  (Who was cast by Roger Vadim in God Created Woman? Bridgett Bardot)


Saturday morning we met some of Clint's mom's friends at breakfast, she and her friends meet every Saturday morning in the dining room for breakfast.  Saturday evening there was a buffet in the dining room and Clint and I have decided it was one of the best we'd ever experienced.  Below are some photos.


We drove over a thousand miles, I had a few close calls.  We saw some of the damage in Alabama.  I was about the third car behind one of those automobile carriers on the interstate.  I don't know what happened but it lose control and there was tremendous smoke from the tires on the pavement. It was a miracle that the driver regained control without a chain reaction.


Yesterday we arrived in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, safely and thankfully.  We had the walk through at our new house this morning at 8:00 and the signing at 9:00.  We met the sellers and visited with them, they helped us by answering questions about certain services we needed. We have been on the phone and got a lot accomplished.  Tomorrow we go back to the new house and await the arrival of the moving van in the morning. We hope this is the last move we ever have to make!

I am looking forward to catching my breath and visiting your blogs,  I have been sooo behind.

The Rose Table at the village, the residents check out
this table near the post office to see who is no longer with them.



Unexpected Beauty

This early evening we went out to get some fast food (yuck) and I was reminded again of the beauty behind this Hampton Inn in Ruston, Louisiana.  The sun was sinking right behind the house and I could not get a good picture of what I am going to call an antebellum home.  In past years when we traveled here, Clint and I used to walk down this quiet little road in the middle of all these businesses. One would not expect to see such beauty in the middle of these surroundings.

Sorry I have not been commenting or visiting blogs, as soon as we got in here today we were exhausted.  We are leaving here in the morning at 5 AM for Atlanta to visit Clint's mom for a few days before leaving for our new home.

Just thought I would share these few pictures I just made during the last hour.


P.S. For lunch we did have a delicious cobb salad.

Closing Day!

This scene was on Monday ... more about that later.  I just have a nanosecond, we are getting ready to leave the hotel and be at the house signing at 8:30.  This process has been in the works as far back as 2009.  Our next stop is Rustin, Louisiana ... driving separately. 

Looking forward to being able to properly blog again ... and it looks like I am going to have some exciting news to share in a few days ... well, exciting to me.  :-)

Again, thanks for your visits!

An Unusual Easter Morning

My grandson Canyon, more than a year ago, I had him pose

for this picture.  He calls me Texas Mamaw.

He had some people laughing in a Cracker Barrel

gift shop when he called out, "TEXAS MAMAW"!

(This name of Texas Mamaw could be a name for 

a rough woman.  Maybe I am sometimes.  :~)

Another early morning at McDonald's getting online since we don't have internet service at home because of our move.  Now Clint has computer trouble, he is going to have to use mine in a minute.  He is sitting here drinking his "black hot water" disquised as coffee.  He coined this term of "black hot water" because we both like the actual taste of coffee.  Coffee with some flavor.  Strong coffee!

Once again, this is a mini post.  Last night I was up packing until after 1:00 AM, I would not have been able to sleep with the violent winds outside.  Up at 6:00 AM ... I am too old for this.

Well, Clint is waiting for his turn on this computer.  Maybe tomorrow my blog picture will be a Mayflower truck parked in front of our house. It truly is an unusual Easter morning for us but one we will remember.

A Quick Note

Just couldn't post a note without a photo. This is an
old picture I ran across that I had not used before on my blog.

I could not make up all the things that have happened to us recently.   Today was the end of our Verizon service so I am writing this from McDonald's.  We move out on Monday and from that night on will be in a hotel.  It is going to be emotional when I see that big Mayflower truck outside our house Monday morning!

We will be back on online regularly as soon as we move into a hotel Monday evening.  Thanks to everyone who reads this blog ♥

Thank You, Wayne and Suzan!

Our neighbors and friends, Wayne and Suzan gave us a
Going-Away-Party last Saturday night.  What a night it was, we
had so much fun and I can't remember when I've laughed so hard.
As Clint said, it was magical.  Yesterday our friend and neighbor, Sandy,
said she wished it would have never ended.

They always have such delicious food!
Such great cooks, too!

Suzan and her "pet" monkey,  I see he survived another winter
in the green house!



Wayne, listening intently as Clint tells another tall tale!
Don't believe a word of it, Wayne! ;-D

 

Ray and Sandy ... Ray, those flowers are so becoming on you,
even Frankie can't resist you!

Okay, you two ... break it up!

Sandy and Ray, thank you, these baked cheese tartlets
were very good!

Suzan and Wayne have everything so festive and decorated.
Their house is beautiful!

Our artist friends, Ginny and Dan.  Ginny gave me one of
her original zentangle style pen and ink drawings ... done
especially for me.  She added some designs that I had told her I liked.  I love it and will always treasure it.
Ginny, I'm sorry I did not get a picture to post of it,
it got packed Sunday with some other art.


Thank you so much for such a special gift.

Ray and Sandy, our neighbors and friends.

To top off the evening, Wayne was burning pinon wood,  I have loved
the smell of burning pinon wood since I've been in Texas.
(I even bought some pinon wood perfume in Albuquerque)

We had a very special party balloon, can you believe
this hot air balloon passed right over their house during
the party?

We were yelling "hellos" up at it,
Wayne said they could probaby hear us.



We couldn't stop laughing!

Thank you, Sandy and Ray, for the Mexican
ingredients and glassware for a dinner at our new house!

A great idea!





As I just said, we couldn't stop laughing.




Thank you, Wayne and Suzan, for having this party
in our honor.  It was a night we will always remember and treasure.
We look forward to you both coming to Tennessee
to visit us.  We also look forward to seeing Dan, Ginny,
Ray and Sandy in Tennessee.  Remember ... y'all promised
 you'd come!



♥

The Extraordinary Letter

Hoskins' Drug Store, 1968

Our after-school meeting place. What fun we had!

Me with my slip showing, is that not

an archaic term?

Several months ago, actually on December 5, 2010, on a gray Sunday afternoon I received the following Facebook private message from a "stranger".  I can't begin to describe the emotions when I read this letter.  I was looking in my

AOL "old mail" yesterday looking for this letter and ran across the forwarded email of the letter to  my daughter.  I was reading that I told her I cried and cried when I read this. I think another reason for being so emotional was 1974 was one of my hardest years. 

Subject Line: Hi


I hope it’s okay to share this story with you, Cindy. Years ago I went to Clinton High School. It was my freshman year and I was only there for a short time. (Moved from Kentucky) I remember seeing you … a tall girl with long blonde hair that looked like an angel to me. I can remember to this day, asking someone, “Who’s that girl?” Anyway, if I remember correctly, you were with a guy named Lee? To make a long story short … which is difficult for me) Haha! I saw another girl the same day with long blonde hair and I thought to myself, those two girls look like angels to me. The other girl was Marcia … do you remember her? Well, shortly after seeing the “two angels”, I moved back to Kentucky. I never forgot you or Marcia. Although I never talked to you all in person, I always remembered your names.

So back in Kentucky, while sitting in study hall with my best friend, we decided to pick out our children’s names. I told her about you and Marcia (the angel girls). I said, “I don’t know which name to pick, it will be either Cindy or Marcia so we decided to draw names. I wrote the names Cindy and Marcia on a piece of paper, folded the paper into small pieces, closed my eyes and picked Marcia. I was probably 14 years old at the time.

 Later in life, at the age of 22 years old (1974), I gave birth to a baby girl. I named her Marcia. I thought you might enjoy this story.


I never saw you or Marcia after my freshman year but never forgot the two angel girls … the two most beautiful girls in the world to me!

 I hope this was a fun story for you and to think I found you on Facebook!  Wow! 

Patricia :-)

Patricia and I have been writing each other and are now friends.  Before too long I hope we can meet in person. 

Soon after I received this letter, I began to think of  to whom I would write such an extraordinary letter.  It didn't take me long to know.   My letter would go to a retired school principal who helped me and my daughter twenty-eight years ago when we were in need. Yesterday afternoon the postman picked up my letter and it's on its way to him.

It's uncanny the things that Patricia and I have in common. I love you Patricia and thank you for giving me one of the most unexpected gifts! 

Who would be the recipient of your extraordinary letter?