Boondocks Flapdoodle and Beyond

Shakin' in my granny gown

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 05:01:01 GMT

I AM shaking all over, a few minutes ago I had one of the biggest scares I've had in my life.

I'm behind on washing clothes because I've had a virus the last couple days. The washer was running and I was folding a load from the dryer when I heard a funny noise which I thought came from outside. Not hearing it anymore I went back to folding clothes.

Then I heard Gary screaming HELP!

He had fallen asleep watching tv so I ran to the livingroom as fast as I could. He was laying there still as could be so I shook his arm, "Gary are you ok?" no response. In a panic I shook his arm again, "Gary are you OK?" he woke up, "Huh?". I said "Are you ok you were screaming HELP?", "Sorry hun I was having a weird dream, I'm really sorry about that!".

My heart was pounding a hundred miles a minute. I'm thankful it was only a dream, it could have been one of my worst nightmares.

I haven't been on the computer much the last couple of days so I'm behind on reading journals. I hope you all have a wonderful Labor Day weekend!

Hindsight is 20/20

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 09:25:52 GMT

When you think you've done the right thing and it turns out to be the wrong thing where do you go from here?

We looked forward to an enjoyable visit last night from Marisa, Jacob & Emma. Marisa works nights and last night was her night off so it was our first chance to see them since Jacob started school.

In allowing Jacob to spend every other weekend with us before he started school and him spending every other week between his Mom & Dad we've all created one confused little boy. He doesn't understand why he can't do the things he's been use to doing.

Last night he was crying his little eyes out before he walked in the door. He wanted Marisa to leave Emma in the car because she was asleep in her carseat. Sounds like a good excuse doesn't it? Truth is he wanted Papaw & Granny all to himself. I think he thought once he was in the door he would get to stay all night with us like he always has. She had already told him before they came that he couldn't stay because he had to go to school & Papaw had to go to work. More crying when he asked after he stepped foot in the door.

This is not Jacob, whiney at times yes, but not a cry baby. He finally calmed down but when they got ready to leave to tears started to fill his eyes again. Papaw tried to talk to him and tell him when you become a big boy things change, they aren't like they use to be.

When he spends the weekend with his Dad they are having the same problems. He doesn't want to leave and go to his Mom's. Marisa explained to Jacob's Dad it's because Jacob is jealous of Emma. We've all seen his jealousy but Jacob's Dad hasn't.

Emma is a sweet little girl, she doesn't want to be held but most of the time she's all smiles. She's at the age ( be 2 in Feb.) she is getting into everything. As a grandparent you give attention to all your grandkids & Jacob is learning that the hard way.

Jacob do you like school? "Not really!"

Jacob do you have friends at school? "NO they tell me no!" quick glance from Mom telling me in a whisper he gets out of the car waving at them every morning, lol.

Jacob do you like the food at school? "It's ok, my daddy made me eat a PICKLE!!!" hahaha. (When did they start giving the kids a choice of what they could have for lunch?) When I was in school....yeah I know to many years to count.....

Whoops!!! Time out one day last week for disrupting class and not keeping his hands to himself. He showed us his chart last night with these different faces on them and he has 2 smiley faces so far this week. He pointed to the top face and said "I DON'T WANT THAT ONE!!!"

It's going to take him awhile to adjust to all these changes in his life. We can't go back and change the mistakes we all made with him but it's heartbreaking all the same.

Burning the midnight oil

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 10:57:29 GMT

I'm sure by now Gary is covered in oil, grease & sweat. He's been working at the shop all night and has a long day ahead without any rest.

For those who believe that owning your own business is a piece of cake and said owner is getting filthy rich, I tend to disagree. It's trying, tiring & many times thankless. It would be misleading if I were to claim that the entire general public acts in this manner because there are many who are appreciative of your hard labor on their behalf. Said customers have brought in tomatoes, corn, green beans, squash, zuchinni, potatoes, & watermelons to share with us from their own gardens. We have indeed been very thankful for their kindness.

Overhead in running a small business of this type is quite expensive. Many times there is no money to bring home for your own basic needs. You live on a wing and a prayer so to speak in hopes that one day your future will be brighter. Gary does have a great customer base, he has 4 car lots he does repairs for besides the general public. With the rising cost of oil every aspect of this type of business was affected. Many in the general public do not understand this. They want their paychecks to rise but they want you to work for nothing. If this sounds harsh I'm sorry, I'm just stating facts. Our suppliers are raising their prices monthly giving Gary only 2 days notice after he has already quoted prices to customers. Our tire suppliers are also not backing up their warranties and most have quit offering warranties at all. This all leads to losses for us because Gary does try to take care of his customers.

Friday was a very stressful day for Gary as far as customers are concerned. He's booked up right now and some of the customers seem to think they don't have to make an appointment and they will not take no for an answer when he tells them he can't get to them until a week or two from now. He became so stressed he locked the garage up a little earlier than usual, came home, ate a sandwich and laid down to get a couple hours of sleep.

Friday night he went back to work around 6 worked all night and part of the day Saturday hoping he could work in peace. Sad when someone comes in at 2 am knowing the business is closed at that time.

Saturday afternoon Gary had intention of laying down getting a little rest and going back to pull another all nighter. I told him he was going to wear himself down but he felt he needed to do so. That didn't happen, while laying on the couch watching tv he fell sound asleep, he was wore out and I left him there to get some rest.

When he woke Sunday morning he was going to go to the shop and work all day. His son called and wanted to take him out for breakfast so he decided to go with him then go to work afterwards. When his son was leaving his home to come and pick Pop up his car broke down in his driveway. So Pop was off to the rescue. Sons pockets are a little lighter but Pop has him back on the road again. Gary left last night at 6 to work for several hours at the shop which didn't happen, he pulled in the driveway 9. What's that old saying? 'fit to be tied' I suppose that would be a mild way of putting it. While trying to work two customers came in they saw the lights on in the garage. The front door to the office was locked and HUGE closed signs in the windows but he had to have the bay doors open because it's extremely hot in the garage right now. This is not a 24 hour business so I don't understand why the customers are trying to treat it as such. After doing a little venting to me about what is going on he took his bath and went to bed. About half hour later he came out saying he couldn't sleep, he started getting dressed and told me he was going back to work.

I'm not sure this business is worth what he's putting himself through. I would rather have my husband ALIVE than a roof over my head!

Because of YOU

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 00:14:13 GMT

Today AOL Journals celebrates the birth of what has become a great community. Though I've only officially been a part of this great community for 3 months I would like to share what JLand means to me. Happy 5th Anniversary to each of you!

Because of YOU: I've traveled to far away places beyond my reach. Your eyes have shown me the many great wonders of the world that otherwise I would have never known.

Because of YOU: I've learned that though our lifestyles and beliefs may be somewhat different we can all find common ground if we choose to do so.

Because of YOU: I've a greater knowledge and understanding of what it's like to live your life not that of mine. Many times in listening to you through your words I find myself thinking in ways I had never thought of before.

Because of YOU: I've laughed with you when you share something with us that you found comical. They say laughter is the best medicine, in laughing with you my spirits have been lifted on some of my darkests days/nights.

Because of YOU: I've cried with you, for you & for myself as you've allowed me to share in your sorrows and heartbreaking moments in this thing we call life. Many times my tears have fallen on this keyboard as I walk beside you and you've walked beside me as we all struggle to reach the next stepping stone. Along that path we have all lost jlanders who have become special to us and our hearts break because they truly are our family.

Because of YOU: I've made friendships that I will cherish for the rest of my life. Thank you for being my friend and a part of my extended family.

Because of YOU: I've GROWN!

Early morning buzzzzzzzzz

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 12:02:27 GMT

The past two weeks we have had some unwelcome visitors in the house. When I heard the first one I thought nothing of it. The second one left me a little puzzled. This week so far there have been five. We have had an invasion of bumble bees that have decided to make their home in our attic. We've come to the conclusion that they are entering the house through the exhaust fan vent in the bathroom. I hated to kill them because they do serve their natural purpose in life but there is nothing in this house to pollinate. I was taking no chances on trying to capture them and release them back outside. Me against them and I decided Me didn't want to get stung. I'm sure many of you have read all the different remedies that go around the internet. One of those is using the cleaner 409 to kill bees. I must say I tried it and it works much better than the sprays you normally purchase for that purpose. I haven't done any research on how many are in a nest but I hope no more decide to come in the house.

Over the weekend one of my nieces had company, a friend since childhood was at her home to visit. During this visit it was discovered that someone had slashed 2 tires on my nieces car and 3 tires on her friends truck. They are pretty sure they know who did this but unless this person is caught in the act nothing can be done. It is believed to have been an act of jealousy.

In this day and age it's not unusual to hear complaints about customer service. There are two sides to every story and it seems you don't hear the other side where customer service is concerned. How far is someone supposed to bend to kiss your ass? Example: last week Gary had a customer come in that wanted him to go out in the parking lot and remove a cat that had gotten caught in his fan on his truck and was lodged in his radiator. Gary was busy and told him if he would leave his truck he would look at it later but if it was something that was going to make him gag he needed to call the humane society. This customer didn't want to walk the 300 or so feet to the office he works in next to the shop so he asked Gary if he had a pair of gloves and he did what should of be done in the first place, he removed it himself. Gary does work for several people in this office but none of them will drop their vehicles off at the shop and walk the small distance to work they expect Gary to walk over pick the vehicles up and take them back. The funny part about it is it doesn't bother them a bit to walk the little dog each day and let it stop and do it's business on our mailbox post.

Gary works alone, one man can only do so much. Expecting him to drop what he's working on and put you ahead of the other customers at the drop of a hat isn't going to happen. It's not his fault you allowed your brakes to wear out to the point your rotors and drums must be replaced as well. It's not his fault you've know for months you were running on may pops putting yourself and others in danger but you have to have those tires NOW. Don't come in after you've eaten your lunch and at 3 in the afternoon tell him he hasn't got time to sit for a few minutes and eat his bologna sandwich. If you don't have the funds in the bank to pay for the service you've requested don't make that request, your rubber check won't pay our bills or put food on our table, you've been provided a service that you not only didn't pay for but the bank has charged us because of your lack of funds. AND...you expect customer service with a smile.

I could go on and on but the bottom line is if you want good customer service show the person providing that service a little respect instead of expecting them to kiss your....

Our little buddy

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 08:08:28 GMT

This weekend has kind of turned out to be a bummer for Gary & I. We knew this time was coming and we weren't looking forward to it but it's here and we have to face it. The house is quiet, too quiet.

When your kids leave home you can expect to feel the empty nest syndrone for awhile. Along come the grandkids and your home is filled with noise once more. You love on them while they're here and breathe a sigh of relief when they go home because you've become accustomed to peace & quiet. Not this weekend a huge part of our lives is missing. Our little buddy isn't here with us.

When our grandson was 2 years old his parents split up. They made arrangements that Jacob would be with one parent one week and the other the next. It was a sad situation but this turned out well or as well as it could be.

For the past 2 years Jacob has spent every other weekend with Gary & I. It was something he looked forward to and so did we. He will now be spending all of his weekends with his Dad.

Jacob's first day of school was Thursday. He was raring to go and when they got there he told his Mom to leave he would be ok. Yeah, he's pretty independant for his age and I suppose his Mom being by his side was making him look like a baby instead a big boy.

He did great with one exception which we all knew would be a problem. When they went to lunch and they gave him his plate he looked at it and cried, lol. He is a very picky eater and when he looked at his plate he cried cause it had pickles on it, hahaha. He doesn't do pickles!

I'd like to be a fly on the wall when he innocently does something he has done since birth. He has a special finger on each hand that he uses for everything from pointing to grabbing something, Yeah, 'that' finger!!! We've all tried our best but his natural instinct kicks in and he uses those fingers automatically. Oh, I see detention in his near future for giving the teacher 'the bird', This is gonna be a long school year!

Introducing a journal

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 05:01:27 GMT

I've been reading journals for more than 2 years and have found JLand to be a great supportive community. Like so many of you I have also found there are many great journals that go unnoticed. We can all use encouragement from time to time and when I run across a journal of someone who I can see is hurting and find noone leaving comments it saddens me. I admit that I have a fear of leaving comments and I'm trying to overcome that fear.

Yesterday, I happened to be in the right place at the right time I hope. Every so often I click on the AOL people connection page and check out recently updated journals. Anyone who has done this knows that it is constantly changing as someone will write an entry or others comment on entries of another journaler. Journal links leave this column quickly and because of this many journals go unseen. A journal by the name of "Memories of Mom" caught my eyes and I clicked on it. I read every entry in this journal.

This lady has been writing in her journal for a year with only 2 comments, one of those comments was spam and it saddened me to think a spammer would promote their product on a journal of someone dealing with grief. I've seen it happen in other journals as well.

I do not know this persons name but August 6th was the first anniversary of her Mom's death. At the age of 5 she lost her Dad. She is an only child and has lost most of her family members to death. She and her husband would love to have a child and have been unable to concieve, they have adopted 2 children but are still in hopes that one day they will have a child of their own. Today I pushed my fear of commenting to the side because I felt she needs all the support she can get, she has been hiding her tears from her husband and children.

I appreciate each of you who stop by and have become my friends and have given me support when I needed it the most. I'm hoping that some of you who have been in this awesome community much longer than I will help me in giving support to this person and be so kind to let others know about her journal. She could use some encouragement and I feel it would warm her heart to know that she isn't alone in this great community called JLand. I haven't learned how to link yet so I hope I type in the url correctly.

http://journals.aol.com/klc78900/memories-of-mom/

Thank you all for being my friends!

Hugs

Debbie

Countdown ~ It's A Girl

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 04:11:15 GMT

I had a special request, one that I can't deliver because honestly I don't remember much about it. However, at the time I delivered the gift that keeps on giving.

Having craved nothing but french fries for months for some unknown reason I was absolutely starving that night. I had a doctors appointment that morning and he was sure he would see me in his office the next week. I had managed to keep my weight gain minimal weighing 142 lbs. Being summer and having grown many garden veggies we had a huge meal for supper. I thought what the heck and piled my plate as full as I could, eating every single bite.

The house was really hot so after supper we all went outside and sat under the shade tree. Mom & I sat in the swing talking until it was time for her to get ready for bed. Around 8pm one of my friends called and as we were talking I started feeling twinges of pain which kept getting closer and closer. My friend got her watch and started timing them, around 9:15 she told me to get my butt to the hospital I was in labor the contractions were coming fast. How I hated to get Mom & Dad out of bed because they had just gone to sleep.

We arrived at the hospital at 10 pm and they told me indeed I was in early labor but they were going to go ahead and admit me instead of sending me home for awhile. After being prepped the pain grew quite intense but I wasn't screaming and hollering like the other women down the hallway. I assume this kind of shocked the nurses because they kept coming in the room and asking me if I was okay and I would tell them yes. Then the nausea hit me, I buzzed the nurse and told her I was getting sick. Before I could get out of bed to try to get to the bathroom...I won't go into details lets just say it wasn't pretty...it was a mess. I apologized to the nurses cleaning the floor up. Another nurse came in my room and told me she had called my doctor and she gave me a shot for the nausea. She also told me if I laid on my right side the pain would be a little less intense. I found she was wrong it was somewhat better laying on my left side.

I'm not sure what the doctor had precribed for the nausea but whatever it was knocked me for a loop. I was completely out of it, I guess it put me to sleep. I barely remember the doctor and nurse sitting me up on the side of the bed and telling me they were going to give me a saddleblock. The only thing I remember about delivery is them telling me I had a little redheaded girl. I can't remember being taken from delivery to my hospital room. I do remember Mom and Dad coming in my hospital room and telling me that my doctor told them I had done really well. I told them I didn't remember most of what had gone on and told them how sick I had gotten. After they were able to see their first grandchild they headed home to get an hours sleep before they had to go to work.

My precious baby girl Terri Renae was born 34 years ago on August 6th, at 3am. I am truely blessed to have in my life the gift that keeps on giving. The love of a daughter who has made me proud.

Happy Birthday Boo Boo Na Na! I love you!

Since Terri's hubby will be celebrating his birthday next week I would like to leave him special wishes as well.

Happy Birthday Jeffie Poo! I love you too!

Special Wishes

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 05:42:25 GMT

Looking back it's hard to believe how fast the years have gone by.

Silence, where once many teenagers gathered, filling the house with laughter, loud music, raiding the fridge, mouths watering as they would tell me how they loved my cooking & they were starving.

Silence, peace, quiet, a new life we weren't accustomed to. Our nest was empty, it took awhile but we grew to enjoy our freedom to come and go as we wished.

Thirteen years ago today Gary proudly walked our daughter down the isle and gave our blessings as they joined their hearts together as one in marriage. We welcomed into our family a son-in-law any mother-in-law would be proud of. Jeff, thank you for loving our daughter as much as we love her.

Happy Anniversary Terri & Jeff

Bits & Pieces

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 12:16:30 GMT

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.