Music and Mom

I had to share this with you. I mean, who else would understand me the way you do? I cut my teeth on the music of the era of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Dylan, Dick Clark of American Bandstand, and matured listening to Led Zeppelin, Marshall Tucker, Lynyrd Skynyrd and you can figure all the rest. My Mom and I do not share the same taste in music. Well, I do appreciate Big Band music. That is my one concession and an occasional Perry Como or Patti Page ditty. Mom considers my taste in music rather obscene. It's a good thing she has never heard some of the heavy metal or punked out mess out there - she doesn't know what obscene is, right?
I love music. All forms of it are okay to me ~ even sounds I don't consider music are okay in doses ~ get the drift?

During the past year of taking care of Mom, I have been trying to wean her off of Lifetime Movies for Women and introduce her to some new stuff that is great. Like LOST, The Closer, Life on Mars, Monk and oh yes, some different music. That is the theme of this post.

I have a cd burner and Luscious makes me some great tunes to groove to while I am cleaning, sewing, cooking. The other evening as I was sewing down at the folks house, the song that is playing right now (I'm Yours by Jason Mraz) started to play. I love this song. It has a nice beat, easy to move to, and I'll give it a 10, Dick.

Mom had her eyes closed, so I assumed she was sleeping. I kept sewing. When the song ended, Mom opened her eyes and asked, "Can you play that song again?" Whoa Nellie, hold yer horses! Did I just hear my Mom ask to listen to one of my tunes again??? Sure! I can do that. After listening to it again, I asked her what she liked about it. Her reply and this is so classic Mom "What's not to like about it? It makes me want to move. It makes me feel like I did years ago when we were on vacation."

Music is a force that is really a deep subject. I don't have the time or the Einstein brain to figure it all out ~ let's just leave it at this: Mom and I have
found yet another common ground of mutual bliss. Luscious will be making her a CD of her own. I will be sure to put I'm Yours on it and Mack the Knife on it ~ after all, that is considered a real oldie these days; it is also such a happy little sounding song about murder. Think she's ready for Santeria yet? Dare me to not put it on? You'd lose!

Mid Week Thoughts

Okay, so it is Wednesday. The middle of the week already. While I wonder where the days go, I realize that I have accomplished more than I think.

Why it was only this past Sunday, the beginning of this new week, that Luscious and I finally took the Christmas Tree down! In all honesty, I didn't even notice it was still up until the end of January. All the rambling around taking care of the folks has left my house in total disrepair. My dear Luscious doesn't like clutter within his line of vision. Therefore, while I dash in and out, dumping stuff on the kitchen table, bedroom floor, bathroom floor, totes here, totes there, well, it can accumulate. Luscious is very good at being tidy. I am not (well, in my head I am a queen of clean orderliness). To keep his sanity, he picks up all my droppings and then deposits them in the spare bedroom that I slaved over getting clean for the Thanksgiving visit from Number 1 son. Am I making any sense so far. My brain is really rambling today.
So, all the things that I
(a) use
(b) need
(c) wear
are all in a pile of the floor and bed of the spare room. He can close the door and forget about it.

I have spent the better part of the past few months staying with my folks at night down the hill. Now and then, like this morning, I get to go looking for something that I KNOW I have but where in the dickens did I put it? Aha! The spare room.

I know it doesn't look like it but this mountain of mess is really clean. Luscious just doesn't know how to HANG my clothes up once they have been laundered and imagine my surprise finding my elfin gourdhead Santa sitting sentinel on top of a few totes of undies. I won't show you the floor. Trust me when I tell you that I had to stand on top of things to reach for a pair of clean jeans to wear today.

Which leads me to why I am writing this post . . .

I have the world's best hubby. It is written all over my face when I see him. I adore this man. It is evident in the butterflies I still get in my tummy after all these years when I see him come through the door or hear his voice on the phone. There are only a few things that I have requested of him through the years. They are:
(1) don't mess with my garden plans. There is always a method in the madness of my experimental layouts. He still has not learned this.
(2) Don't buy me clothes for gifts. This is because they NEVER fit. They are either too small for certain parts of my body (like my apple bottom) or too large for my sports bra clad uni-bosom.

This morning, as I plowed through the piles of clean clothes on the bed for a pair of jeans that I could not find, I did find an erstwhile Christmas gift. A new pair of jeans. In desperation, I grabbed them up and tried them on. Huzzah! A decent fit except for the length. I am a short gal. He is a tall guy. I never have to hem his pants because men's pants come in the length that is correct. Ladies pants however labeled are always too long for me. So . . . I have spent the remainder of my free time this morning trying to hem a pair of jeans and cutting off the 6 inches of excess.

Sigh.

Luscious will be thrilled to see me wear his gift. I am certain that it has been as forgotten as what else is behind the door of the spare room.

A Good Thing . . .

What is a P.I.F you ask? Well it's where you make a crafty gift for someone and in return they do the same for someone else. So would you like to P.I.F.................... Here's how it works.....

Just recently, I was chosen to participate in a P.I.F. Cathy Jackson of Hazleruthe's. Now it's my turn to Pay It Forward.

I will be choosing 5 people at random to send some little handmade gift to in the next 365 days. (A PIF's rules say 365 days, but I plan to do so in much shorter time!).

In return you have to post a PIF on your blog linking back to this PIF (You can even use my PIF banner above on your blog). and choose a minimum of 4 people--(more is ok too) to send a little handmade crafty gift to in 365 days from your PIF post. (and then they will do the same and so on and so forth til it travels round the world and involves hundreds of bloggers!). Your gift may be in the medium of your choice. Just please make sure it is something that is nice that you would like to receive.

If you would like to have a chance at receiving a PIF from me (and in turn PIFing others) within the next 365 days then please leave a comment on this post only between now and February 28th.

--I will draw names of 5 people and they will be my PIF members. I will email you to let you know if you have been chosen and I will need your name and snail mail addy,so I can you your PIF at an unknown time--the element of surprise!

You DO need to have an active blog in order to participate.

Please make sure that I can either reach you through your profile or leave me your email addy. Thank you!

Get ready......get set.......PIF!

Hope in a jar

About two weeks ago on a very bitterly cold day I went outside to get me a dose of hope.
I cut several forsythia frond (or yellow bells as we call them here) and put them in a old milk jug. I set them on a bright windowsill and waited.
This little ritual is performed each year by myself and countless others who long for the warmth of spring and the renewal that hope brings.

What, it's Groundhog Day??!!!!!

Where did January go? Oh yeah, most of you were frozen in! Here in my part of the South, it has been nothing but cold, cold, cold and rain, rain, rain! And enter February with a forecast for more cold rain this week. Sigh. It is too early as I write this to know if the groundhog will see his shadow. I don't need a show of hands to wonder how many are wanting an early spring.
Friends, I have sadly missed blogging. Many of my close personal friends know that I have become the primary caregiver for my wonderful parents. January 10, 2008, my Mom was diagnosed with breast cancer and Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia. After some surgery for the BC, radiation followed. Everything seemed fine until the CLL kicked in. Chemo was necessary and created a whole other series of problems known as side effects. Since the beginning of August 2008, my days have been filled with doctors, hospitals, emergency surgeries, nursing home rehab, and it has seemed like a never ending vicious cycle. My Dad needs surgery as well, which may be coming soon. I won't go into how I really feel about doctors and the elderly. I will say that I am privileged to be the child of these two dynamic folks. It is a joy to spend time with them. It has however, limited my time with friends, creating and playing with the 'puter.
I have learned that I am stronger than I knew and more than I ever wanted to be. I cannot imagine what it is like to be in their bodies. Their minds are sound - better than mine! LOL. Their bodies are just not co-operating. I wasn't going to write about any of this because while it may sound depressing, I have to admit that my Pollyanna nature is still in full force. I have at times been overwhelmed but love hopes all things, believes all things. God is good.
For those of my dearest ones who have prayed for us and accepted my silence, I thank you. Your prayers have been truly felt.
And for newer visitors, don't give up on me. I have a lot in my head to write about, create and share.
One thing I would like to share is that The Humble Arts February 2009 edition is open. All my dear sisters at HARTS took the month of January off to relax a bit after the flurry of the holidays. Please go over and take a peek at the wonderful goodies and eye candy that they are offering this month. I am tickled pink to be sharing the space with these wonderfully talented and caring, praying women!!
Here is a small sampling. Go for it!