My husband, since day ONE, has Always put me first. His love, care, and concern has always been for me and our children. He is the most selfless person I have ever known. Having said that, you must know, he is also the most naive person I have ever known. Not his fault. When he was growing up, he was the product of a bitter divorce, and after his father died when he was fourteen,  subsequent poverty. He went to work, to literally feed and clothe himself. Between working and sports, he had no time outside school to “hang around” with the guys. His older brother and sister were grown and gone. There really was no one to “explain” things to him. Plus, in that time, if you learned anything, it was from a film in school, or your friends.  That is the background to how (thanks to his paternal grandmother), this sweet, polite, hard working, good looking, moral, guy came to me with all the attributes a girl wants in a guy; but no “street smarts”. You need to understand his background to appreciate some of the things he has done, and said over the years. Example:  When we were very young (Doug was 23, I was 21), we were stil trying to find out who we were and where we belonged as a couple. We decided to join the country club. We didn’t gamble, but Doug loved golf and we enjoyed the dances and the pool. One night we showed up for game night at the club and they were playing  Bingo.  My sweet guy, in an effort to understand, leaned across me, looked down the length of this long table of about 20 “Country Club”  people and yells, “Is this the same Bingo they play at the Moose Lodge?” Stay tuned.

The first time Doug & I went to California, I fell madly in love! Didn’t want to come home – at all! This was maybe 1976. We rented a car and drove along the coast line just enjoying the scenery. At some point on a beautiful Sunday morning, we ended up in Long Beach and came across the ship, the Queen Mary (not named after me) which is docked there. We went aboard to check it out. Not realizing that this was a hotel, we decided to spend the night. The ship was beautiful! We went in to have brunch. I have never before (or since) seen the amount of food laid out! Most of my adult life, I weighed about 98 pounds, so even though I enjoyed food, I couldn’t eat much. There were about 20 “stations”; large tables set up with an array of a specific type of breakfast food. Each station had a server dressed in formal attire to assist you. Meats, breads, fruits, eggs, desserts, the choices were endless! Seated on a dais, was a woman in a floor length ball gown, playing a harp! After we were seated, a server came and poured champagne into 2 flutes, sitting on our table! It’s 9:30 on a Sunday morning! Oh well, when in Rome.. After we ate as much as we possibly could, we went and toured the ship. The movie, “The Poseidon Adventure” had been filmed on the ship. I had never seen anything as large! It was decorated with the period in mind, but the rooms were beautifully done. We really enjoyed ourselves. The next morning, when we woke up, I opened the little port hole window in our room . The view of the ocean was amazing!  In a burst of sheer happiness, I threw my naked torso out the window  opening, proclaiming, “Good morning, world!” As I was bringing my naked self back in though the window, I happened to look down to see 2 fishermen in a small boat, in the water directly below me, looking up! I came back into the room, embarrassed, and told Doug about the fishermen. He looked at me and said, “Yeah, they probably wondered what that young boy was yelling about”! Stay tuned.

As I’ve aged, I’ve “let go” of a lot of things that used to drive me crazy. I realize that pet peeves I used to have had their place in that time of my life. When the kids were young and Had to be somewhere at a certain time, I had major road rage. It used to drive me crazy to have to stand on long lines, wait my turn or  let others go first. With Age, comes some patience. I will always have my lifelong pet peeve-people who mangle,  or misuse the English language. I’ve narrowed my pet peeves down to two current ones. People you run 200-300 page reports on the copier at work, daily, and NEVER replace the paper! Just walk away! Let the next person who needs to make a copy deal with the situation! And, of course, the next person is almost always ME!  But my Number 1, all time peeve  – people who drive in unsafe weather conditions with NO headlights on!  Rain, fog, snow, dusk, Dark, doesn’t matter. I count many, many cars who are oblivious! I’m sure I notice this more since my car wreck, but seriously! Every time I see someone without their headlights on, I just want to make them pull over so I can A. Slap them silly or B. Take their car keys away until they learn how to drive properly!  Just yesterday, I passed a State Trooper with no headlights on! Come on, people! If it is 4:30 on a cloudy, January day, it’s DARK! Turn your lights on! Old people can’t see you! (Sorry, Mac.) Stay tuned.

I am thankful for my family and my friends. Especially the last few years, you have shown your love and support to me and I love you for it!  But I find myself being thankful for little things. I am thankful for clean, fresh, running water. I am thankful for heat in the winter and air conditioning in the summer. I am thankful for enough food to eat. I am thankful for dishwashers. I am thankful for wi-fi. Wait, I think I’m getting off track. Well, maybe not. Stay tuned.

This weekend is all about giving thanks for our blessings. I think. I thought it started with pilgrims and Indians and food. Anyway, it has evolved into being thankful for family, friends…oh, and shopping! We must not forget shopping! I must tell you, there is not enough money, in this World, to tempt me into Black Friday activity! Yes, I’m old and there is a real possibility that in the rush of a crowd, I could fall and break a hip; but more than that is the Parking! Parking was invented by the Devil! Since I have a handicap sticker on my vehicle, you would think that parking would not be a problem! Ha! Forget about it! Everybody has a handicap sticker! This time of year, I always end up parking in little Egypt. By the time I get into a store, I’m too tired to shop! Agree? Stay tuned.

It may be lack of sleep or my selective memory, but in my list of main characters, I forgot to list my mother, Sarah! Sorry, Mom! Sarah turns 89 yrs old Today. She lives in a nursing home and even though she has dementia, she still gives ’em hell! I have many Sarah stories, so I want her to be familiar to you. Happy Birthday, Sarie! Love you

Sunday is like an “extra” day in the week for me. Monday through Friday belong to my employer. Saturday is spent doing laundry, running errands, watching our “shows” we have taped during the week (because we go to bed week nights between 7:30 and 8:00) – (because we don’t sleep well @ night -are you new to my blog?) and cooking dinner. Saturday always feels like a “make-up” day. Sunday is very laid back. Winter Sunday mornings I cook a big breakfast, followed many times, by a nap. Wake up in time to watch “Howie & the boys” and then Football! Depending on the game(s), my sister will crochet, and yell – I will check out Facebook, and yell. Doug watches, but doesn’t yell as much as we do! We, of course, have our favorite teams, but will watch Any team, All day, as long as they are playing. Sundays are fires in the fireplace, dinner in the crockpot, (sometimes) hot tub soaks, and early to bed. (Just read my first blog!) Stay tuned.

Just looked at all the pictures on Facebook of my friends who spent the weekend putting up their Christmas trees and decorating their homes for Christmas. Our answer to that – our tree Stays up – 365. No, I’m not particularly proud of that fact. But it is, what it is. It started 2 years ago with an argument that Doug and I had. (Okay here is where you need to know that we are Hoaders. Not the dirty kind on t.v. My house is clean. Just don’t look in my closets. Forget about the garage. And, oh yeah, the living room could use some attention). Anyway, two years ago, Christmas was over, time to take down the artificial tree (Big Lots, year before, after Christmas price of $19.99-thank you) and Doug says “Where you going to put that tree?” Uh, I’m thinking the garage? “No, no! You’re Not putting that in My garage!” Ok, put it in the shed. (We have two). “No, no! You’re Not putting that in My shed!”
(Why does he keep saying “You’re”?). Ok, Doug, where do You want to put the Christmas tree? “I don’t know, but neither of those places!” So we moved the tree from in front of the living room window to the corner of the dining room. A distance of about 6-7 feet – as the crow flys. You can’t see it when you drive by my house, but the minute you walk in my front door, look to your left, There is a Christmas tree! A little un-nerving in the middle of July, but…there ya go! So now it’s time to slide the tree back! Stay tuned.

I have one Million funny (?) Christmas tree stories. This one is for Amber. Every year, we Had to have a live tree to decorate. Doug refused to pay the prices they asked, so instead of getting a live, cut tree, we would pay extra (?) to get one with roots so it could be replanted after the Holiday. One year, Doug was either sick or in a “mood”, I don’t remember which, but come time to go buy the tree, he was unavailable. So Brian & I take off to Dude’s to buy the tree. The ones with he root ball are extremely heavy! With a lot of help from the guys on the lot, we managed to get this sucker in the van, and on our way home. Our across the street neighbors and friends (to protect their privacy, I’ll call them Steve & Sandy) were witness to the next part of my story. Brian & I wrestled with this tree, getting it out of the van & dragging it up the sidewalk. We made it as far as the front porch, and tried to get it in the galvanized bucket to take in the house. Would Not go! (Of course not). So we struggled with this tree for a good 30 – 45 minutes. Hearing the commotion, sick or moody Doug comes out on the front porch, tells us to get out of the way, and proceeds to take his chainsaw to the root ball of the tree! At this point, we took our live, fresh CUT tree into the house to decorate it! Gotta love Christmas at my house! Stay tuned.

The people who live in my house, (Doug, Kathleen, me) don’t go to church. We all have in the past. We all love Jesus, we’ve all been baptized, we all pray – every day. But for different and various reasons, we don’t go to church. What very few people know about me is how much I love church music! Yes, hymns, Christmas music, but I LOVE Gospel music! Good, old fashioned, Gospel music. I was born & lived my first 10 yrs in Nashville. Can’t Stand country music! My uncle, by marriage, was Neal Matthews, singer with the Jordanaires. Yes, they were Elvis’s back up singers for a time, but it’s their gospel songs I love! My grandmother, (who lived with us when I was growing up), and I would watch the Jake Hess Gospel Show every weekday. Oh, the Blackwoods Bros., the Spear Family, the Oak Ridge Boys, Bill Gaither. But, my all time favorites are the Cathedrals. I think I have every song they ever recorded. I love their sound – I have to confess; the man who sang bass for them, George Youst,  reminds me so much of my daddy,  it’s unreal!
My daddy sang bass in the our church choir. He almost never missed a Sunday. He Loved that choir and my daddy was a man of very few pleasures! He Loved to read (!) and he loved to sing. He was a very hard working man, so he didn’t have a lot of free time. but he would wander through the house, singing. All the time. Hymns, mostly. He’s been gone a long time now, but Every time I listen to the Cathedrals, I can hear my daddy’s voice through their songs.