Special Dates Every Year

One of my friends on Facebook posted a sweet tribute to his father, who had passed away 10 years ago today. He mentioned that some dates are always going to have special meanings to him. He listed off a few, like his father’s birthday, his date of death, Christmas, etc. that always evoke memories and make him sad.

I think a lot of us miss people on the major holidays, but I try to remember the special people who have passed on with happy memories and a celebration of their lives. I feel badly for people who dwell on sadness and never get over grief. It is hard, but death is a part of life, and my special dates and memories are good ones.

Canceled My Vacation

Well, this is not good news. My grandmother is in the hospital and we are all very worried. I might have to drop everything and go to Florida to visit her or help my mother take care of her.

I canceled my vacation plans so I don’t have a problem getting off work to deal with family issues. I don’t think they would give me a hard time about it, but you never know. I would never want to take advantage of my boss and his good will, either. So I think the prudent thing is to cancel the trip and just stay flexible until we know more about what’s going on with my grandmother.

Happy Birthday to my Dear Grandmother

Margret called to remind me that today would have been my grandmother’s birthday if she was still with us. Sadly, she passed about 12 years old. But I will always remember her on her birthday and didn’t even need the reminder, although it is always good to talk with my Auntie M. April 30 is forever a special day in my life because it is the day my dear Grandmother was born.

My grandmother was a very pretty young women. We have a couple of pictures of her, in old black and white snapshots. She loved to be fashionable with the latest style of dresses and hats that were popular in the 1920’s – that must be where I got my interest in fashion from.

What Do You Look Like?

3faces

Have you noticed that a whole lot of people on Facebook are not using a photo in their profile that is current? A lot of them are not even photos – they are cartoons or posters that make a statement. I wish people would just post a current photo of themselves – it is not that hard to get a nice photo. But do not take the photo yourself while standing in front of a bathroom mirror. I cannot stand to look at photos of other people’s bathrooms. Seriously!

Just a Suggestion

Why do people come to you for advice and tell you this whole long story and you talk about it for, like, hours. And you make a suggestions and then say, yes, you are right. And then they go and don’t do anything that you talked about? They do something crazy different! And then they come back in a couple of days boo hoo-ing about how they are miserable and everything is worse. And blah, blah, blah.

You know what? If I give you advice, then I expect to take it to heart. If you don’t follow my advice, then don’t come crying later! Damn!

Christmas Decor

xmasflamingos

This Christmas card made me think of a great joke to pull on my mother. She has always loved trips to Florida, and Florida has this thing about flamingos. So we kids started buying her crappy things with flamingos on them. Like coffee mugs, blanket throws, curtains, lamps, all kinds of junk. It got to be so much that she has a whole bedroom dedicated to her flamingos collection.

It would be a real hoot to find some of the large plastic flamingos and put them in her yard with Santa hats on them. OMG! She would get such a thrill!

House of Cards

Did you ever take a deck of playing cards and try to build houses or towers with the cards? We did that a few times when we were kids and stuck in the house on a rainy day. I liked to keep the houses low, just one or two stories, with a maze of different rooms and hallways. But my sister like to go for high towers. She would get them almost as tall as she was, and then one of our brothers would swoop into the room and knock it down. The little brats!

Exotic Rides

Have you ever ridden on an exotic animal? There are pictures of me as a little girl riding horses, and then one day there was a circus and my parents paid for me to ride on an elephant. I barely remember that, but they took a couple of pictures, so I know it is true. If I can find those old photos I will scan them and put one up here so you can see I’m not lying. lol

Street Concerts

I miss the days when people would just block off a city street and have a party. We used to blockade the street by the community center and have a street dance on Friday nights. A local band would play for free or sometimes we had a DJ. It as a family event – all ages would show up and dance in the street. It was a great way to spend time with our neighbors and the parents did not have to worry about getting a babysitter to have fun.

Proof in the Pictures

Yes! This is my photo from Sunday night’s graduation! My girlfriend, Lauren, took this photo and sent it to me.

I’m standing with my Study Buddy – I can’t tell you how much she helped me get through all the technical terms we had to learn. I’ll miss her and always be grateful for dozens of nights studying medical manuals.

Graduation