St. Jude Buck Creek Trail Ride

     Saturday night was a fun-filled night of laughter and fellowship at the Crockett County Country Club for the annual appreciation party for the "St. Jude Buck Creek Trail Ride".  Each year, volunteers get together in the month of September to create an event to raise money for St. Jude Children's Hospital in Memphis, TN.

     Terry Weaver graciously allows this event to be held on his property, Weaver Farms, in Crockett County.  I volunteered my services this past September, but unfortunately did not have the pleasure of meeting Terry, until Saturday night.  I spent some time talking with him and expressed my appreciation for his kindness in allowing the multitude of people to congregate on his property.  He informed me that this land has been in his family for many years. I believe that his ancestors would be very happy that this property is being used for such a wonderful charitable event.

     I don't know how many attended the party Saturday night, but I can tell you that it sure seemed like everyone enjoyed themselves.  There was food, dancing, "exciting" games, and plenty of smiles and laughter. 

     I am looking forward to the trail ride this September and the chance to help make a difference in a child's life. 

     I hope you can join me.    

     xxoo

      

          

Boots and Bling

This past weekend was full of wonderful fellowship with friends.

Friday night, my friends Vickie, Debbie, and Brandy and I attended the American Heart Association "Boots and Bling" held at Snider Farms in Jackson, TN.

This event is held each year to help women be aware of heart disease.  Statistics prove that more women die from heart disease each year than from breast cancer.

Light hors d'oeuvres were provided by Coyote Blues. 

I don't know who the DJ was that provided the music for the night, but he did an excellent job.  The dancing was not only fun, it provided an outlet to help us women keep our hearts healthy.

Photos were made in the Photo Booth and emailed to attendees. 

For only $10 per person, we were able to eat, fellowship, dance, and learn about heart health.  I look forward to attending again next year.

Enough is Enough

     Enough is Enough!  That is my expression for today.  Coughing, blowing snot, headache, tired......I've had enough!
     But then I look around me at friends who are suffering from much greater health issues than myself.  I have several friends who are dealing with chemo treatments.  I have one friend who has to travel for dialysis three days a week.  I have a friend who is suffering after having the end of three of her fingers chopped off.  I have a friend who is recovering from a stroke.  The list goes on, and on, and on.
     Being sick cramps my style.  I love to GO.  Anywhere.  Everywhere.  Road Trip! That's me.
     I met a lovely lady recently who has the privilege of working for a magazine and going to different locations.... bed and breakfast....  parks...  etc.,  staying a few days enjoying her surroundings and eating at wonderful restaurants.  She then returns home, writes and has published a wonderful story of her road trip (including pictures), and gets paid for it!  How wonderful is that?!  I have decided that this would be my ideal job.  Traveling, or road trippin', and getting paid for it.
     I have traveled to many locations in my 58 years.  Yeah, I know....I don't look it.... thanks....lol
     Most recently, my friend Suzanne and I were able to indulge for a night away at the Gold Strike Casino in Tunica.  We celebrated her birthday with tickets to see Vince Gill.  You remember him, don't you?  Played for a while with Pure Prairie League?  Well, he is still kicking it, and still knows how to play the heck out of a guitar....  numerous guitars.  I think he changed guitars like six times during his show.  True that he has put on a little weight.  Who hasn't?  But he was still the same good ole boy that I remembered.
     We also enjoyed a delicious meal at the Buffet at the casino...  prime rib that melted in your mouth....fried frog legs that could have been better....broiled red snapper....and all the veggies and such that you might want.  Oh yeah, they even have a wine bar in the buffet.  I took my glass to go after the meal.  sweet!
     I hope there will be many, many more travel opportunities in my future.
     Anybody up for a road trip?   

Life is Short

     Finding out yesterday that my long time friend had passed away just added to my intentions of living each day to the fullest.  Life is short.  Very short.
     Do you remember when you would look at people and say "man they are old" and really they were only like 40?  I remember those days.  I was young and dumb.
    We all say "if I could only do that over again".  We only have once people.  There is no "do over".  Life is what you make it ...  NOW.
      Have you forgotten how to smile?  How to enjoy the gifts God has given us each day?  Today may be the last day of your life... and mine.
     I have always been told that I had a "wheel in my butt"....those of you who KNOW where this expression came from .....  go ahead and laugh...hahaha.....
     Have you seen the commercial lately where the guy is handed a memo stating "you will have your heart attack tomorrow"?  Doesn't happen like this guys.  What would you do TODAY if you were handed that memo?  Think about it.
     My friend Mary gave me this cute little plaque for my birthday a few years ago that simply states:


"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, wine in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO, WHAT A RIDE!"
     That's me.




     'Nuff said. 


  

Animals? No.....Family

     My friend, Janie, sadly lost a pet this weekend. I don't know about anybody else, but our pets have always been like "kids" to us and we have really gotten attached to them over the years.
     After Casey and I married, our boys decided they wanted a kitten. Fortunately for us it wasn't hard to find one. Granddaddy Royce had a litter hiding under the corner of the house. So I carried the boys to visit Granddaddy Royce. We stood quietly around the corner of the house while he stood right at the corner and waited for one of the little critters to stick its head out of a hole. He then reached down, grabbed the first one that poked its nosy head out, and proceeded to throw it at me. Of course it was wild as heck. I grabbed it with both hands and held it tightly against my chest to keep it from getting away, but more to keep it from clawing me. The boys were so excited!
       We got in the car and I drove home holding that kitten as tight as I could against my chest with my left hand. Immediately upon entering the house, I dropped the kitten in the floor. It ran and hid and we didn't see it for three days. We searched and searched and couldn't find it. Then one day, all of a sudden, the kitten walked into the kitchen while we were in there, and we were able to sit in the floor and fool with it a little. I put food and water down and the little thing was starving to death and ate and ate. She was such a tiny baby, that all we started saying was "come on Baby Girl". We continued to call her and talk softly to her until she got used to us. And "Baby Girl" she was. She was mostly all white but had just a little bit of black on her. She was such a joy for our whole family. We adopted her in 1994 and she lived a wonderful spoiled life until old age got her in 2009. We cried like babies when we had to carry her to the vet and have her put to sleep. Casey took her and after they dosed her he sat and rubbed her head until she faded into another world. We put her in a box and buried her in what has now become our pet cemetery out by Casey's shop.
     That Christmas the boys and their spouses adopted a cat from a shelter and gave her to me for Christmas. She was a beautiful spunky gold kitten and I named her "Gracie". She was a lot of fun and she really was beautiful but she was into everything. You couldn't keep her out of a drawer, a cabinet, a closet, climbing on everything, the table, the furniture, whatever. As Daddy continued to get sicker and sicker with cancer those first few months of 2010, the cat was becoming a chore for me to handle, emotionally. I just couldn't deal with her. Clay and Jessie took her to their house and kept her for several months. I still got to see her but I wasn't having to take care of her.
       After Daddy passed away in May, I decided to take her back home with me. She was a huge emotional help to me at that time and I loved having her to love on. In October, Johnny and Amy, Mama, Deborah and I, went to Paducah to spend the weekend with Jarrod and Jennifer. On Sunday, on our way home, I talked to Casey and he told me that when I got home we were going to have to take the cat to the vet, that she was sick. When I got home, she was just sitting in a ball and wouldn't move. We called our vet and carried her straight there. They did an ex-ray of her stomach and found that she had a wad of rubber bands and a hair tie lodged in her stomach which had set up infection. She was so weak that they put her on iv and we brought her home and kept her overnight in the bed with us with the iv bag hanging on the canopy part of the bed. First thing in the morning, I carried her back to the vet on my way to work and they decided they were going to have to do surgery to remove the blockage. I went on to work, and after work went by and checked on her. She looked pitiful and we had to leave her overnight. The next day while I was at work, the vet called to inform me that she had passed away. Another sad day. We brought her home and put her in a box and she was also buried in our pet cemetery, Again, we cried like babies.
     After this last episode with a cat, I said I would not get another one because I just couldn't stand to lose them. But, as fate would have it, that idea didn't last. I had made my daily trip to the post office for work, and as I was coming out of the door, I noticed a picture of a black kitten with just a touch of white on it attached to the door. There was also a tear off strip with a number to call if you wanted to adopt this kitten. Free, already with shots, spayed, and declawed. I walked on out. Two days later, I couldn't resist checking on the kitten. I called the number and low and behold it was the vet that we always use. This kitten had been donated to "Doc" and he didn't need it, so they were giving it away. Casey and I talked it over, and I went to see the kitten, and that's all it took. She looked up at me and had this little white strip under her chin that moved up over her top lip in just a tiny spot that was just so unusual. She stole my heart right away. I took her, along with her tweeting bird toy and another toy that belonged to her, and she came to live with us. I named her "Sophie".
     Sophie has now been a wonderful part of our family for three years and we spoil her just like a child. She has kitty treats that have to be fed to her while we eat. She is spoiled with deli ham. She has a whole box of toys. And she even has her own "black and white thing" bed. I have to honestly say that she is, right now, the joy of my life. I am home every day with her. She plays with me, follows me while I do laundry or accounting or whatever I do. She sits right by me. If I am sitting down, she is in my lap most of the time. She definitely has her own personality too. I hope she will be around for a long time.
       Casey and Clay love her just as much as I do. Clay said yesterday that we were going to have to share joint custody of her because he wants to take her home to live with him.. I don't think so. I'll just have to try to find him one like her. Wish me luck!
     Here's hoping that all of you can continue to enjoy your cats, dogs, horses, whatever pet you have and love. They are truly a blessing to us in their own way.
     I know Janie is so glad that she made the wonderful pictures of "Pride" over the years. Rest in peace "Pride".
    xxoo

Changes

     This past week brought about the passing of the Fathers of three of my friends. Such heartache.. but they will survive.
     I remember well the passing from this world of my own Father/Daddy. It is a day that I remember in complete detail and that can never be forgotten. Daddy had fought his battle with cancer for several months and he was tired. I had the blessing of being able to bring him home from his last hospital visit. On this ride home, Daddy told me that he knew that Mama and I were praying every day for him to get better. He asked me to do him a favor....he told me that he wanted me and Mama to stop praying for him to get better....and to pray that he could just go to sleep and not wake up. That was his wish....to just go to sleep. I cried...told him I wasn't ready for him to just go to sleep yet, but I asked him for sure if that was what he wanted...and his answer was "yes". I shared my faith that he would be going to a place where he would not be sick any more, would have no pain, and he would see the family that had gone before him...and they would be waiting on him. I was driving down the road....and he looked over at me and said "Do you really believe that?".... and with tears in my eyes....I replied "Yes, Daddy, I do."...... I will never forget... he said "I do too".
     God allowed this moment for me that I will never forget. What a blessing for me to be able to share my belief with my Daddy in a final most precious moment in time. When we arrived home from his last road trip.....we got him settled, and I called Mama to the side, and told her what Daddy had said he wanted us to do....to stop praying for him to get better and to pray that he would just go to sleep. We cried some more and knew that this request was what we had to do.
       A few days later, as Daddy progressively was leaving this world.....Tammy and Mama and myself were lying in the bed together trying to rest and Daddy was in the hospital bed right beside us. We napped a little.... and when I awoke....I glanced at Daddy and noticed that he was resting peacefully....I could see the small movement of his chest as he was breathing. Mama was not in the bed....she had already gotten up and I could hear her moving around in the kitchen. Tammy was still asleep beside me in the bed. I started to get up....but instead I closed my eyes to just rest for a few more minutes. I know it couldn't have been very long.... but I opened my eyes and I could still hear Mama in the kitchen.... but I knew, right away, that Daddy was no longer there. I got up and went to him....touched his precious face...and said a quiet "Thank You" to our heavenly Father above that he allowed Daddy to just "go to sleep". I went into the kitchen, and Mama was standing at the sink, and I put my arms around her and said "Mama, Daddy is gone".....and we went back to the bedroom and woke Tammy... and the rest is history.
     I know that the memories of my Daddy will live within me for the rest of my life, and that I will see him again one day. And he is still a part of me...I feel him.... because I was made from him. And believe it or not...I DO feel him in the wind sometimes.
     Blessings to all of you who still have your Daddy in your life...... cherish this gift.


     xxxooo