Hello, Hello.....

Anybody out there?

Sorry both of you did not guess correctly so no prizes. boo hoo. I did get a prize though. One of my subjects sent me a small statue of the Queen of England that waves her hand when she is placed in the sun. My own solar version is in the making and I will be sure to make certain my closest subjects will have one. You can choose from two different versions - one with a pink bikini or one with a purple bikini. Give me your choices for I am sure they will go fast once they are on the market.

Earl went to Washington, D.C.on Thursday for the Rolling Thunder motorcycle ride thing. Tonight when he called he told me to go write on the calendar in large letters - NEVER, EVER, EVER GO TO D.C. again for the Rolling Thunder ride. I will be much relieved when he gets home because he rode his motorcycle by himself.

I have had 4 days of solitude here at home. Well, I actually have been on the go except for today. There was a picnic Thursday night at the Tryon Palace for the Volunteers and staff and their families. It was fun and the evening was pleasant with the wind off the river.

Friday night I went to a play in New Bern written by and produced by teenagers. It was called 13 the Musical. Well done and very funny. Such talent these young people have.

Yesterday a friend and I went to Washington, NC and browsed the cute shops and had lunch. Then in the evening I went to Church and took a pizza to Irmgards. We watched a movie - It's Complicated. Very funny.

So, today I stayed home all day and caught up reading the newspapers for the past 4 days, got my ironing caught up, read and sewed on a quilt wall hanging I am working on. Now I am going to go to bed. Sorry this is boring stuff. Just had a need to connect with some words sent out to you. I miss you girls.

BTW the one both of you missed was the shirt that was Barb's daughter, Kim. At least I got some responses from you two with that silliness. Still don't know why you can't comment. I can or at least I think I can. You will have to post something so I can find out for sure.

Love you,

Queen Loretta Maye

Guess Who...

Liz, if #2 is Ben, where is his goatee?

I say #2 is Lori or Barb.

And I have no control over the commenting problem, the blogger techies said they are aware of the problem and are looking for a solution.

Another thing....

If you click on the "Sign In" button up above, it takes me back to "My Account" which I am already signed into. Susie, I thought you'd have this figured out by now!

I can't comment either!!! Only Post

Ok here are my anwers on the pics:
#1 is Earl
#2 is Ben
#3 is Troy
#4 is Gordo (of course!)
# 5 is me (no duh)

I'll add a new post here soon. You go ahead and get my prize in the mail though, Lori.

RE: Commenting

I am signed in but I can not comment... and can I please have a bobbie prize at least?

Tutorial for Commenting

Susie, after many lost comments I finally figured out that first you must sign in at the top right hand corner of the blog before trying to comment on a post. Still sometimes I forget.

You got all of them right except one. Sorry, no prize.

Love ya!

My Answer is...

Earl
Laurie
Troy
duh, Gordon
Liz

I could not comment on your post Lori.

Guess Who

A little silliness for you.....I know, I know it surprises you that I am silly!

Can you guess who these pictures are from the cropped versions. There is a prize if you get all of them correct.

Ramblings of This and That

All is quiet this morning. Earl is still snuggled in his bed and the bird hasn't started his incessant noise. I was going to sew this morning or read or catch up on some shows I have recorded and then I decided to take advantage of this time and add something to "Sisters". I keep looking each day hoping to see some new words. I know there is a lot going on in everyone's life and....sometimes a person has to be in the mood to write something. Now that I am sitting here I don't know if I am in the mood or not, but here goes.

Alright, the things I have been thinking about might seem a bit morbid and some silly, but I want to clarify that I am not depressed so don't go calling Earl and telling him I need counseling or a need to start checking out the local "homes" for me. I am no different than usual. Well, that might not necessarily be a good thing. At any rate I have been thinking of what the future might have in store for me. I haven't actually been dwelling on it, but lately I have been getting glimpses of what it could be like by things that have happened to me and observing friends my age.

To be continued...

As you may have guessed, Earl decided to get up and cook breakfast. While I was doing the dishes a golfing buddy of Earl's called and said he had a 10 o'clock tee time. Yes! At least four more hours of quiet. No TV, projects I don't want to do with the man or anything else. Pure me time and you know it is all about me.

Back to my ponderings and thoughts of what the future may bring.

So, did the Rapture happen and we were all left behind to sink into the abyss at some point? I enjoyed Gordon's silliness about it all. He often cracks me up with his sense of humor. I called and left him a message yesterday, but he didn't return my call. Maybe he was taken up with all the other rapturous people. Do you think he has been going to Church on the side and not telling his old mother?

Do you ever think of what it will be like to die? Does it frighten you? I am not afraid, but I wonder how I would feel when I knew it was inevitable. The hours I sat with Diane when she could not communicate except with her eyes and her tears I would wonder what was going through her mind. Was she reliving her life like a movie or wondering what life would be like for Bob, her children and grandchildren, her sisters and friends after she slipped off into death? I can't even say the hereafter because it truly is an unknown. I know what I want to believe and most of the time do, but still no one knows for sure. Even if she could have answered those questions for me I doubt she would have as she was the keeper of many of her private feelings.

Geez, I shouldn't have started down this road. Really, I am just wondering and not terribly upset or depressed or any bad thing. One of the women I play Mah Jongg with my age who has had a recurrence of her cancer has been given a prognosis of a possible 1-4 years life expectancy. She has a very unhappy home life with little support from family. Very sad. What would I do with that diagnosis? I think it is important not to wait for such news, but to try to do the things we enjoy now and not put off because there will be a better time so here are some of the things I am going to do now - love Earl, Gordon and Troy, my sisters and their families unconditionally, live without worry of what others think of me or my shenanigans, laugh at myself for some of these foolish things I say and do, appreciate something about each person that comes into my life and look for only the positive in each person. Now that sounds pretty lofty, huh? Some of it very difficult to do too. Well, it is and I think I am going to have to print out that part of this post and tape it to my mirror so it will be the first thing I see in the morning and the last thing at night to see how I have done. I would give you a report later, but might not have much to report.

In the meantime, I am missing you two. It was wonderful being with you all last weekend and wish we could spend more time together. I love you. Now off to the sewing room and then to my book The Lincoln Lawyer.

Please chime in soon when you can.

Again, much love and cyber hugs.

Lori

Happy Mother's Day Mom

I love this sweet picture of you Mom and I wish I could send you flowers or a card. I do send you my love and thoughts and prayers.

I miss our sweet Diane too and I know her children are missing her on this first Mother's Day without her.

This evening I am a blubbering mess. I have such a heaviness in my heart of profound sadness. Most of the time I can shake it and I know I will, but it overtakes me sometimes when I least expect it. Grief is a thief that robs one of lightheartedness and energy. Tomorrow will bring a new perspective.

To lighten up this moment I will include a couple silly pictures of me. They will probably make me laugh too. The one is of me f

rom the fashion show at the Tryon Palace. Such a big hat for such a little head.

Now the picture to the right is silly OLD me yesterday with another big hat on my little head. That was taken at the mexican restaurant where we had out bowling banquet. One of my team members brought a cake that we shared with the rest of the league that wanted a piece.

I had a very nice birthday with many good wishes and Earl and I went out to eat at Out Back.

So when is anyone else going to chime in? I know you are busy, busy with garage sale and house selling and your hundred other duties Liz, but it is your turn when you get a chance.

BTW the book Cutting For Stone is very good. When can we discuss it? If it isn't before too long I will forget what I have written. LOL How about you Susie? Are you reading anything good? It would be fun if we could all read the same book and discuss it on the blog. Maybe a silly one.

Ok, that is it for me. It is 11 p.m. and I should be in bed. I am 70 after all. Gawd! That sounds sooooo old.

I love you sisters.....

Critters II

First off the little turtle on the right in your photos Lori is a box turtle and I believe the one on the left is a snapping turtle from your description and pic.
I too saw some critters on my bike ride this morning about a mile from the house... there were 3 deer together on the creek bank. They are so used to people and town living that they were not even phased that we were there ooohing and aaahing and talking about them. Amazing. I believe that we see almost as many deer here in town as we did at the farm house. Of course we do live right next to Mt Pleasant, but it still seems strange to see them that close and not frightened.


I have been having some very clumsy moments lately...
Yesterday I was putting up some curtain rods while standing on the bed and I fell off the darn bed hit my left leg on a chair and have the biggest bruise I think I've ever had.
Today, I was coming back from my bike ride and was trying to lift myself off the seat to avoid the bump in my drive, accidently hit the front brakes and bam... down I went. Now my right hand and elbow are all bruised. I would never have believed that I'd ever be so accident prone or clumsy. I was never clumsy or fell down until you all started it. It must be contagious or something.

I made a big ass turkey this weekend and had the family over Mel's, Kel's, and Corinne's. Something I think we all needed. We all have had some very sad, trying, crazy times lately.



After dinner, Kelly was cleaning up the kitchen while Mel was helping George use the potty and when Mel came out of the bathroom she told Kelly that was the first time she'd ever seen Kelly clean up the kitchen by herself at moms house and when they were kids it was always Kelly who was in the bathroom when it was time to clean up. Well, I just laughed and said "I used to pull that same trick growing up at home, just ask Aunt Diane." then I cried.


Wow, talk about mood swings. Diane being gone from us is still very painful and probably always will be. So many things remind me of Diane everyday, luckily alot of those are good thoughts but the melancholy still creeps in...

Thanks for the phone call Lizzie, sorry we couldn't talk longer. We'll have to try and catch up soon.


All in all this last week went quite well, we spent a nice anniversary at home had family over and some beautiful weather to boot. Life is good.

I love you sisters