Hill Billy Word Of The Day

SLAP - a degree of measurement expressing totality, for example, "That storage shed is slap full!" synonym: plum

GO, WOMAN!

It was Mother's Day afternoon at my brother-in-law's house, where family dinner was followed by a serious game of softball. Most everybody played. Six-year olds and forty-somethings together.I don't really remember what inning it was when it happened. I hit a ground ball down the second base line, into center field. Base hit! I was doing good! Standing on first, and a little out of breath, I was ready to go. The next batter hit a home run. Not the kind that flies into the woods, or over the pasture fence; no such luck. The hitter and I had to run like crazy if we were going to make it home.

I was running as fast as a bare-footed fat woman in a denim skirt could go! About the time I rounded third, I heard him on my tail, "Run, Mom, run!" Players on both teams were going wild, and his voice grew closer. I thought I was pickin' 'em up and layin' em down. Evidently not. The voice grew stronger, until "Run, Mom" turned into a frantic "GO, WOMAN!" Laughing like a crazy woman, I made it safely home. My son did, too. What a bonding moment! Could have been a coronary moment...but all was good. Mother's Day was good.

More Evidence of Abuses by our Troops?

Why don't we see these on the news?

Change And Choices

At the risk of borrowing from tomorrow's troubles, I sit here thinking about where I've been and where I'm headed. Only forty-something, I sometimes feel like my life is over. I've made some poor personal decisions in the past...and I live daily in their shadows. Is there light ahead for me? Or is my path now set in stone, dark and cold.

I grew up hearing, "if you make your bed hard, you will have to sleep in it." Such a sense of finality that adage holds! But, is the legendary "hard bed" one's final resting place? Or, just another pit stop, a place to rest (albeit uncomfortably), while new dreams are dreamed, and new schemes hatched? I hope in the latter.

Change is headed my way. An old friend. A ruthless foe. An impartial eventuality. Am I strong enough to face it? Lord God, give me the strength to do each day whatever it takes to be ready for whatever my future holds, and the wisdom to choose well.

Double Ought

I'm just flat embarrassing when I go to one of Nick's soccer games. I jump up and down, and scream, and have a good old time. Today I got some pics of Nick (00) in action, as he played for Badin School. The game ended with a tie, 1-1. What an exciting game!

Niece Nichole in Greece

Nichole is in Greece for this spring semester of college. She's having a blast...as evidenced by the fun and beautiful pictures she sends. There are more pictures at my Flickr site (see right frame).

Nichole at the Acropolis

Nichole Atop Some Ruins

Liz (Nichole's roommate) & Nichole below the sign:
"Do Not Climb On The Ruins"

Sheet Music, c. 1917-1918, Honoring & Celebrating U.S. Soldiers

I'm listing some old sheet music in my store this weekend. The covers are so lovely, I thought I'd share a few here. These pieces are of the large format, so the covers had to be scanned in sections. I hope someone else enjoys them as much as I have:

Big Enough Children

It was early October, 1979, six days before my mom died. She was to be admitted to the Cleveland Clinic the next day for her third heart surgery. This was Sunday afternoon. She shared with me a secret...she wouldn't be coming home from this hospital stay. She was tired of being sick, and had told the Lord she would rather die than continue to suffer. She believed she was going to die. She gave up.

I was stunned. No, Mom, you're not going to die, I pleaded with her. But, she rattled off a list of things for me to remember when she was gone: always take your purse with you wherever you go; as soon as I'm gone, your dad will try to move you kids to Florida...fight him for all you're worth, but do not let him take you and your sister to Florida (which he did, and which I did); and so on. She showed me where the "important papers" were, then she said something I'll never forget.

I used to pray that God would let me live long enough to see my children big enough to take care of themselves. Now, I wish I had prayed to see my grandchildren. Her youngest had turned thirteen only days before. I was sixteen, and my brothers seventeen and eighteen. Yet, we were not big enough to take care of ourselves. Not really. Of course, we could take care of basic physical needs. But, none of us were really big enough to do without our mother. We needed her touch, her smile, her comfort, her guidance, and her faith in us.

This past Saturday, I heard a woman say that she wishes her grown children--ages nineteen and twenty--would move out of her house. I'm done raising kids, she said. They're big enough to take care of themselves!

My heart filled with sadness, as my mind drifted back to that fateful afternoon when my mom declared her kids were big enough to take care of themselves. If she could have seen where our lives would eventually lead, and how great were our needs, she would have never given up. I know that now.

God grant me the time in life that my son needs from me. Help me to never give up. Give me the forsight to realize that my job is not through when my son ages out of adolescence. Help me to be there for him, as You have been here for me.

Good Therapy

Blogging for several months...then not blogging for a month or so...leaves me feeling kinda guilty. Do I dare come back? Pick up where I left off? All I know is that I really missed it. Sharing my thoughts with everybody--and maybe nobody--is theraputic. I'm going to try and continue. God bless us every one.

Buttercups Anew

Buttercups (perhaps better known as Daffodils) are here! How refreshing they are after a dreary winter. They remind me of the Lord's faithfulness. No matter how bleak the circumstances...God is still in control. New beginnings, fresh starts are still possible with Him.

Lunar Eclipse

Tonight there was a lunar eclipse. I couldn't hold my camera still enough in the pushy wind, so the pictures didn't turn out quite right. I thought they were interesting, however. Here are a few:

H-O-R-S-E

I played a game of H-O-R-S-E today with my sister—and my basketball-playing son—and I won! I even surprised myself! (It remains to be seen if I will be able to move tomorrow.)

My son then talked me into a game of P-I-G (my sister bowed out), which he promptly won. Then it was "best two out of three" because "I can't have you braggin' to people about this!" Well, that last game was a nail biter. After several rounds, and both of us having earned P-I, Nick finally made a shot from nearly half court (his specialty). It was nothing but net! I knew there was no way I was making that shot, but I tried. It was nothing but air. Both of us have bragging rights now. I'm happy with that.

This was the first time Nick and I have played basketball together. He didn't quite believe I could do it...just as he was shocked the first time we played catch with a football and I put my fingers on the laces to throw, and when I showed him how to catch a baseball without being afraid of it.

Now, I'm no great athlete. Never was. But, I had two older brothers and swarms of cousins who didn't mind teaching me a few fundamentals. Who knew they were giving me a gift that I would someday use to play basketball with my own son?

I had a ball today! (No pun intended.) I won't soon forget it. I hope Nick won't either.

Cotton Field Deer At Twilight

These pictures were taken from a few hundred yards away, at twilight, so the quality is not so good. However, I love watching the deer in the field and just wanted to share them. Maybe I'll get better photos next time.