Boondocks Flapdoodle and Beyond

8:16:30 AM EDT
Feeling Quiet

What's been going on here in the boondocks? Let me see, should I start with the good, bad, sad, or the onry? I think I will start with the good.

Dad's inner ear infection is healing. He does continue to have problems with his balance at times but it's getting better. He says the neighbors probably think he's drunk if they see him going to the mailbox. Na, they know better.

My brother Kevin who 'had' lung cancer got a great report from his doctor last week after taking more test. No signs of cancer recurring. He did have to go thru test on his heart because one of his doctors felt something wasn't quite right. All is well, it is a heart murmur and nothing to be concerned about at this time.

Monday afternoon Dad called to tell me he had lost a neighbor that morning. His nextdoor neighbor had tried to wake his 41 year old son who had been having a few medical problems lately. After a few attempts of calling to him, his Dad walked in his bedroom and found he had passed away. They had a family reunion the day before and their son seemed to be doing fine at that time.

My Aunt lost a brother & sister two weeks apart about two months ago. Dad called yesterday afternoon to tell me that she has lost another sister also. Her niece went to her Mom's apartment before she headed to work and found her Mom sitting at the kitchen table with her rosary and keys in her hands. She had already turned blue and the estimated time of death was between 7 & 8 pm Tuesday night. My Aunt left last week to spend a month with some of her kids & grandkids in PA. She is on her way home, her family is driving her instead of putting her on an airplane flight.

Please keep these families in your thoughts and prayers.

On the homefront our local economy isn't looking so hot. What few plants that have located here are struggling to keep their doors open. Some are being idled for three months affecting others which will most likely follow suit. Who's to say they will ever open their doors again. Sad part, in my opinion, is the answer is no, they just aren't telling their employees. Several of my family members are being affected by this downward spiral. Our local economic development keeps stressing the importance of upgrading the riverfront downtown. Well whooooopteedoo! And they wonder why all the kids graduating are leaving this area. There is absolutely NOTHING to keep them here. Wake up and smell the damn roses it has to smell better than where you have your nose stuck up right now!

I've dealt with insomnia for years and like all other nights this has been one of those nights. I catch a little catnap when I can and most of the time it's in the morning hours after the sun has come up. Catnaps are all I get, I wish I knew what a good night or days sleep was. Monday morning I headed off to bed around 7, I crawled in under the covers after turning my fan on, turned over on my side and felt something crawling on my arm, I give it good sling with my right hand. I laid there for a couple minutes thinking about it. Yikes, maybe I better check this out. I got up, turned the light on, threw the covers back, there 'IT' was. I grabbed the closest thing I could find ( my dusty umbrella) and smashed that thing to smithereens. I don't take too kindly to sharing my bed with a..a..a..SPIDER! It was brown, it was ugly, and all brown spiders are brown recluse in my mind, all black spiders are black widows in my mind. I don't know what kind it was but it sure ain't sleeping with me. Thankfully Gary had fallen asleep on the couch that night and hadn't slept with it. I watched my arm for swelling or any signs of being bit for two days.

Now here comes the onry part, oh I'm so evil, I could have used my dusty umbrella when I went to the little country store down the road from our house last night. Out of the corner of my eye while I was checking out I got a glimpse of the biggest, ugliest, sneaky varmit I ever laid my eyes on. Oh it didn't dare approach me, it knew better, the web had been weaved long ago...I cussed him all the way home, haha. Frankie Do Little you may be creeping & crawling around in a big fancy Titan but your poisonous venom has earned you a nice set of gray hair and no respect. I didn't need my dusty umbrella to smash you to smithereens, you managed that all on your own. You didn't have the guts to say a simple hello & I'm thankful like so many of your other victims. We may have been tossed out on the streets but at least we can live with ourselves. ( My little rant for the day. I wish no ill will on this man. Last night is the first time I've seen him since Oct. 11, 2001, the day we were told we were losing our jobs. This man is the one who was sent in as a plant manager to take us down, he did his job well. He was there less than a year and walked out with more benefits and money in his pocket than most of us had earned in the many years we had worked there. Am I jealous of that fact NO, I earned my pay honestly. He  lives in a big fancy home about two miles from me, am I jealous of that NO. Simply put, I hope I never run into him again. He's not the type of person I want to be around.)

Well it's time for me to see if I can get a little sleep. Hope all of you are having a nice week.

 

 

 

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5:34:21 AM EDT
Feeling Touched

I've had a few request the past few days for an entry. Why? anyone would want to read this lonely little thing called a journal I have no idea.  

I haven't been in the mood lately to write. I couldn't put my finger on the reasons I have felt that way UNTIL my daughter encouraged me to listen to a song she had added to her journal. Tears rolled down my face nonstop.

I suppose I could see it coming off in the distance, I resisted with all my might and it was more powerful. I'm in a "place" at this time in my life I can't openly share my thoughts & feelings with the world. Not sure, I will ever be able to do so.

Mom, Peter & Judy, I know each of you are "Here By Me" to carry me as I stumble across another stepping stone in my grief of losing you. You knew I needed those tears to fall and though there will be other stepping stones along the path your love will carry me.

 

 

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6:11:11 AM EDT
Feeling Hopeful

Every other weekend we are faced with a dilemma of sorts. We love all of our grandkids, they are all treated equally by us. BUT, there in lies the problems, it doesn't seem to be directed towards them exclusively.

Is it jealousy? I tend to think not. I believe it's because in his early stages of life he was growing up for the most part in an adult world. Those who were not adult, were older than he. He was and remains to be comfortable in that zone.

Our grandson Jacob gets along great with kids older than he, he adores our grandaughter Ivy and looks up to her. Not so with our grandaughter Mikayla nor his little sister Emma.

Emma loves him, laughs & smiles at everything he does. She tries to play with him but he won't allow her to. He says, "Get her away from me, I don't like babies" if she tries to touch him. Each toy she pulls from the toybox, "No Emma!" explaining to us that will hurt her. "Yeah right Jacob, it's the same toys you played with when you were her age." I could go on and on but it all comes down to he has a problem bonding with anyone younger than he is.

Saturday the situation came down to his Mom taking him behind closed doors and having a little talk with him. He came out with this little pouting face (which he's quite good at) straight to Papaw who he thought would take up for him. Finding no sympathy, he walked over and put himself in the corner for a timeout, hahaha! Marisa said, "Jacob, I didn't tell you that you had to stand in the corner." He peeked out of the corner "Are you going to spank me?"..."I don't want a spanking"...it was hard to keep from laughing cause this kid doesn't know what a spanking is, he's never had one. All became too quiet in the livingroom a few minutes later, there he lay sound asleep on the beanbag chair. He never takes naps. Guess that little timeout he gave himself wore him out.

Oh the tales I could tell once he awoke from a 3 hour nap and found his Mom & Emma had gone home. It was comedy at it's finest & we had to hide our smirky grins.

When Marisa came to pick him up yesterday he asked her if he could go see his other Granny. He said "I love my Granny!". Well, he has lots of Granny's, Grandma's, Memaw's, Papaw's & Grandpa's. He loves all the residents at the nursing home Marisa works at, I can only hope he will soon love his little sister as well.

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8:59:44 PM EDT
Feeling Grateful

Some of you have already heard our wonderful news by reading Terri's update on her journal. Dad did NOT have a stroke! All of his symptoms were related to the inner ear infection. He may be going home tomorrow depending on the results of one test that haven't come back yet.

Dad looked so much better today and is regaining his strength & balance. He was able to walk down the hall to the nurses station & back twice today, first time with the help of a walker, second time on his own. Quite a feat for someone who was unable to stand on his own yesterday.

What's amazing and has had us laughing a few times is his appetite. Dad has never cared for green beans nor pineapple, both came with his meal last night. The first thing he started eating was the green beans, bragging about them being the best he had ever eaten. Every few bites of his meal would also be followed by him bragging about how good the pineapple was. "Hmmm, Dad they must have you on some darn good meds!"

Dad has never been one to complain, he is always kind to everyone he meets. Yesterday, a doctor Dad has dealt with before came to his room. As he was leaving Dad's doctor walked in the door. Dad told his doctor he wanted to fire that doctor before he could ever get started and told him why. A few minutes after Dad's doctor had left his nurse came to his room and told him it had been taken care of, the man would not be back. Lo & behold guess who walked in the door this morning. Dad told him to hit the road he wanted nothing to do with him. "Way to GO Dad!!!" We're proud of you!

Thank you all for your thoughts & prayers. It means more to me than I could ever express.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Hugs

Debbie

 

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9:28:19 PM EDT
Feeling Worried

Thank you all for the prayers for my Dad & our family. Your kindness warms my heart.

Dad was taken to the hospital by ambulance a little after 2 am this morning. He was experiencing numbness, weakness, dizziness, headache & nausea. When he tried to get out of the bed he couldn't stand on his feet & fell backwards into his bed. Thank goodness one of my brothers lives with Dad, but, he didn't tell my brother until this had been going on for an hour. My brother called 911.

At this time we know Dad has an inner ear infection. His doctor also seems to think that Dad may have had a mini stroke. Many test have been run on Dad and we should find out the results tomorrow.

Please continue to keep my Dad & our family in your prayers.

Hope you all have a wonderful July 4th weekend spent with family & friends. Please tell your family you love them, no one knows what tomorrow may bring.

Again, my heartfelt thanks to each of you!

Hugs,

Debbie

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3:31:15 AM EDT

Please PRAY for my Dad!

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7:12:18 AM EDT
Feeling Mellow

Growing up in the country had so many advantages that city kids never dreamed of. Nowadays few of the country kids would dare dream of it.

At the break of dawn long before the sun came up my siblings and I would get dressed in long sleeve shirts, pants,socks & shoes. Hey, we're country folks we don't get dressed up for any ole occasion. One thing we didn't do was wear anything red, the old bull out in the pasture didn't seem to like that color.

We'd grab our buckets and Mom would give us stern warning not to play in the creek, we might get leeches. Off to Grandma & Grandad's farm we went, crossing over and under the fences, dodging the many cow pies & horse dumplings along the way. We were on a mission and nothing was going to stand in our way, not even the snakes that seemed to enjoy our presence from time to time.

Intent on the task at hand we would walk into the beautiful valley and before us was a sight to behold. It was blackberry pickin' time! 

Each morning we would pick the plumpest, sweet & juicy blackberries you've ever seen. Bucket after bucket full. And then......we would roll our pant legs up and go down in the forbidden creek. It was so refreshing after a morning of hard labor.

We proudly carried our bounty home along with those sneaky little chiggers that seemed to find every nook and cranny they could hide in. One year I carried home something much worse, infintago (sp?). I was so upset when I was told I couldn't go blackberry picking anymore that year. I have faint scars above my ankles from that infection.My legs had to be soaked in five gallon buckets of water with something in it, I don't recall what it was. Then I had to apply a special medicated salve.

Blackberry picking is how we earned our first dollars. I can't remember how word got out that we had the nicest blackberries around. After Mom canned all she needed for us and made many cobblers we sold our blackberries for $8.00 a gallon. We didn't set the price the folks that loved our berries offered that much and they did it every year. We couldn't supply enough for all who wanted them. When my grandparents sold their farm one of the ladies who bought many berries from us told us how much she was going to miss them.

We have blackberry bushes along our fence line in the back of our property. Gary told me yesterday that there are lots of berries on the vines getting ready to ripen, though they are small.This old country gal isn't going to let a little chigger keep her from having at least one blackberry cobbler.

 

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4:55:55 AM EDT
Feeling Sad

In the early morning hours on Wednesday not long after midnight a community not far from here suffered a terrible tragedy. A lone gunman shot and killed his supervisor, four coworkers & himself.

Usually I keep my thoughts to myself on such happenings as this, (though some of you who have come to know me a little may not think so). However, the local media frenzy in the aftermath of this tragedy has more than pissed me off. They are thriving on the grief of the ones who have lost their family members to the point of what I would consider harassment. I've been noticing this type of reporting for quite sometime. Calling their homes at a time like this is uncalled for. They even went as far as going to a church that four of the deceased were members of and talked to the Priest.

Yesterday, the supervisors wife released a statement to the media saying that her husband and the gunman were good friends and he had been at their home many times. She hoped everyone in the community could find it in their hearts to forgive him. She also made the request to the media that now is the time for you to let our families grieve.

Anyone who has lost a loved one, no matter the circumstances, does not need to be subjected to this type of treatment. And yes, they have been doing the same to the gunmans family as well. Many hearts are shattered, broken, and forever will be.

I know it's a reporters job to go out and seek what they can find in the name of news. Personally, I would have a restless heart if I stooped to this level.

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3:52:18 AM EDT
Feeling Mischievous

Our grandson Jacob was one tough little cookie to potty train. Of course, it didn't help that while doing so the commode seat had fallen on his little manhood, (thank goodness it didn't happen at our house).

Granny has blue water in the bowl & it amazed him to watch it turn green once his little trickles hit the water. "Aim for the hole Jacob, aim for the hole", he was so proud of himself and so were we. (Granny didn't have a mess to clean up afterwards).

Papaw & Jacob went on a little fishing trip late yesterday afternoon and night. On the way home they stopped at a little burger joint to enjoy a hamburger, fries & shake, sitting on the picnic tables outside. (He ate everything, not like him to do so, he is a very picky eater.)

Upon arriving home he hopped out of the truck and came running to me so excited telling me all about the many bluegills he caught and about sitting at the picnic tables with umbrellas to eat their meal. Then he ran in the house to use the bathroom.

Granny got a little surprise a few minutes later when she walked into the dark bathroom, sat and found she was sitting in the stream. After the shock and upon further inspection she found a puddle in the floor. "Jacob! you didn't lift the seat on the toilet!"..."I know Granny"..."Jacob! you peed in the floor too!"...::gasp:: "Granny I didn't know I did that". He then turns the hot water on in the sink and washes his hands, hahaha.

Later I ran his bath water and while taking his bath he was singing, Row, row, row, your boat gently down the stream...Granny sang along with him.

As a reward for his honesty Granny gave him some Mountain Dew...it's 2:50 am...he just went to bed. Oh, how much I love that little man of ours, he can win me over every single time. :)

 

 

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6:58:50 AM EDT
Feeling Grateful

"There goes the last foreman who will ever be respected in this factory!" Sentiments felt by all as he walked out of the breakroom for the last time after a retirement party in his honor. He doesn't remember what he said in his goodbyes to everyone, his quivering voice and tear filled eyes said it all. In his 44 years there he had shown respect and was given respect in return. Jimmy's words rang so true, respect walked out the door with him.

In the early morning hours long before daylight Dad would walk the mile long lane behind our property to Grandma & Grandad's to milk Old Bessie and feed her and Cricket our pony. He would then carry the milk home for us. Once home he would walk down the steep hill and pump water from the well into two, five gallons buckets and carry them back up. If it were wintertime he would also pack in two buckets of coal for the pot belly stove to keep us warm. As we grew older and as our family grew we would assist in these chores also.

Dad worked six days a week for the factory and many Sundays were spent working for the owner of the factory doing finish work for the interior of his home. On those Sundays, Dad would take the oldest three of us kids with him to give Mom a break. He did this extra work to provide for his family.

I remember many nights Dad coming home from work and never sitting down to eat supper because something was wrong with the car and he would work on it nearly all night to get it ready to go to work the next day. In the winter he would take the battery out at night and sit it beside the pot belly stove to warm it up in hopes it wouldn't let him down the next morning.

No matter how hectic life was for he & Mom they always found time for "US". One of our special treats was going to go cart races on Sunday nights a few miles from our house. They would load all of us in the station wagon and we would spend a family night together.

Dad and his brother are the only surviving members of their family. After Mom passed away they became closer than they have ever been before. Each day they would talk on the phone for hours reliving memories of their past. Little more than a month ago Dad hadn't heard from Uncle Cliff for a couple of days and became worried. Dad called him and found that he had been sitting out in his building for two days crying. Uncle Cliff's kids and grandkids live in PA and are wanting them to move back there with them. Uncle Cliff was torn between leaving his brother to be with them. Uncle Cliff asked Dad how he felt about it. My Dad's response, " Cliff if that were my kids and grandkids I'd go." Uncle Cliff told Dad he had no idea how much relief he felt when Dad said those simple words. This past week Dad went to visit him, most likely it will be the last time they see each other. Sometimes when you love someone dearly you have to let go for the greater good. It doesn't mean you love them any less, it means you love them more.

I being a single parent, my Dad never thought of Terri as being his oldest grandchild, she has always been his youngest daughter. She has always been the youngest sister to my siblings. Grateful, can never express the feeling in my heart for all that has been given to me & her.

My Dad is a gentleman and a gentle man and I thank him!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY DAD, I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!

 

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