Aw....Mondays/ More Fun/ Nostalgia

I wanted to start the week out with Leo! He is a wonderful protector. He is kind and is careful with the puppies even when they absolutely annoy him! His face here says it all, why do you let those puppies eat my food? You know I like my privacy when I eat. He stays fit by running around the yard and chasing rabbits. Fierce when he feels danger and kind when he has to deal with yapping puppies stealing nuggets from his food bowl. Visit Sandee and everyone at Aw....Mondays.

Technology is grand, to a point.  But you will never know your history if you do not sit down with those you love or at least write down stories they shared with you. I can remember stories I have heard from loved ones gone before me and I try to post them here. I want a journal of what I can remember.

I do not have dates on these photos but this is mom and dad at the hot springs in Glenwood Springs.  We always had the best trips and dad always had us stay at the hotel attached to the hot springs. It is a grand old hotel and the mountains surrounding us are gorgeous. Unfortunately today it is overrun with people and not as relaxing as it once was. But you have not lived until you visit a hot springs in the dead of winter and soak your weary bones in the hot water while snow is falling around you.

This is my mom's sister, Auntie Ann and Uncle Frank with my dad. Wonderful memories. These days my phamily likes to visit a different hot springs up the road that is much more private and not overrun with too many people.

Although we do not play tennis, I once whacked a tennis ball directly into the eye of a friend trying to teach me the sport. I knocked his contact lense from his eye! That ended my short lived tennis career. I am not a good golfer either. Baseball and basketball were my games. I also loved a good game of teether ball which cousin Mike Barnett enjoyed. He told me he remembered I was the only person who would play it with him. LOve is....always hits the highlights of love for me.

Maxine is known for being an ornery old cuss. She isn't very nice  She needs to learn to be kinder.

Maxine should spread some love. Afterall it is the greatest gift.

Seems like everyone is on line today.

Post Headquarters at Fort Riley, Kansas. That is the top postcard. The bottom one is the Ogden Monument. It marks the geographical center of the United States.My oldest sister and her hubby lived there and their second son, my nephew edward was born there. My dad took us on the best road trips. But he had one rule, he'd say don't ask are we there yet? Because I will turn this car around and we will go home. Oh the memories were so wonderful. Mom would pack the best lunch for us and we would stop at a rest area and eat those fresh bologna and American cheese sandwiches on Rainbo bread with mustard and mayo and chips. Simple things, I cherish those memories.

Check out the price of these 1984 Neil diamond concert tickets. The good ole days are surely gone. My hubby took me to that concert just a few days before I had my second neuro-surgery. It was a wonderful concert and Neil gave his audience his all.

I usually share a Scripture but this gives everyone something to think about. I hope your day is wonderful and your week is filled with many good things.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PRE/ FELINE FRIDAY

Today, January 25th is the birthday of a great running man. Steve Prefontaine overcame many obstacles to become the greatest runner. He died tragically May 30, 1975. But he lives in the hearts and minds of all runners. I Love this quote attributed to him. I hope Pre, you are resting in peace.

Prefontaine lived during a time of turmoil in the tragic  Summer Olympics 1972 . I doubt today's pampered Olympians would have wasted their time under the terrible conditions given to these men and women who ran for the USA and other countries. Like all sports, these athletes ran, played, jumped and cracked a bat, among other things simply because they loved their sport.

If I could turn back the clock on these old knees I would have pushed myself harder. I would have ran faster and with more discipline. But life goes forward and I can only try to continue staying healthy for as long as the Good Lord has the mind to keep me here. I know lots of "oldies" who still run today. What a blessing for them.

Caption this! I was thinking, "it can't be morning yet" or "I give up". How about "I Plead the 5th!" You can stop by and visit Feline Friday. Laughter and fun are always good on dreary days. I heard a gal say it was pouring rain in Orlando and another mention they were at Disney World and the rides were closing. The weather has been wacky lately.

I loved my bathing suits back in my toddler days. I think my older sister Pat may have written the date on the back of this photo. It states my name and 1956. My father loved caring for the two large pine trees that graced our front yard. After he passed away they were cut down. Still breaks my heart because he was such a wonderful man and took care of those trees like he did his phamily. I would like, for one day, to have money like a billionaire. I would buy my entire childhood neighborhood and bring it back to life. I am mortified at what the people who bought my folks home for pennies did to destroy it. Zero pride in ownership. My father would be brokenhearted. He built that home from the ground up. People are so careless in this world today.

I have scrapbooks filled with postcards. This was not mine  ( I was not even born yet til 2 years later) but rather it was addressed to my older brother Eddie and the postmark is 1951. My uncle Louie and Auntie Ang were visiting my mom's baby sister, Auntie Jo and Uncle Tom when they lived in Texas City. We always were blessed to visit Galveston. Auntie Ang claimed, until the day she passed away, that I was a toddler, sitting on the boat with my folks and a seagull flew overhead and pooped on my head. She said I cursed like a sailor (which I am sure I learned from Uncle when he drove us to the Dairy Deluxe in Bessemer). My folks never had a recollection of that and my daddy would simply say, Ang likes to embellish the truth!

Oh how truthful this statement is! I don't know anything about this Marie Kondo but she certainly isn't anyone I wish to know! I do not like the minimalism that people seem to worship today. Sterile like a coroners slab. Keep taking away from the old folks left behind and you will not have any history left. Period. It is kind of like our American  and World History. If you change it to suit yourself, the truth is gone and nothing important is left behind. I will choose my memories and mementoes over any thing that is the current rage!

I am grateful to have all these postcards. When I get all my scrapbook albums together, as I Plan to recreate them in new books, I will find the postcard from mom's sister Mary showing the original Twin Towers. It also has a date marked postmark on it and was shortly after the towers were built.. I'm so glad my mom left memories for me to sort over.

I could not read the postmark on this one, but it was postmarked in Mexico in the 1950's and addressed to my folks. My mom's baby sister Auntie Jo was an adventurous traveler. She and Uncle Tom traveled everywhere.This postcard was in black and white.

Until we meet again, Go make some memories and spread some love and kindness. Don't forget to pray.

LOOKING OUT MY FRONT DOOR

It is Thankful ThursdayLooking  so visit Sandee and the gang and be thankful. Looking out my front door and watching the snow fall. The wind is wicked today so the visibility is bad. I am grateful each one of my phamily made it safely to their workplaces. Nick works the closest and said the roads up here weren't very good. Jeremy and Rebekah work the farthest away and they said it was suppose to start snowing but as of thirty minutes ago Rebekah did not see any new flurries. Thankful for any moisture we can get, we have been in a desert state lately.

Lulu and Thor were cuddling after they had to visit the great outdoors. I wrapped them in their blanket to ward off all the snow.

Smokey is getting so gray. He is a quiet one. Waiting for some dental work. He is a good watch dog. People do not realize how valuable these furry buddies are. They give unconditional love. The kind only God Himself doles out.

This is a photo of a strong willed furry friend. A great watchdog he is dead set on catching a wild rabbit again, Third time would be his record!  He likes to do things his way. He is sort of an old Burger King commercial before they got the creepy king to fill their airtime. Do it your way!

I think these words say it best.

  Until tomorrow, God willing, have a beautiful day. If the weather is being wicked where you are, please stay safe and warm.

MONDAY: A FUNDAY

I am a hit and miss kinda gal. Lately my brain is scattered.  As much as I want to blog here, 100 things come up and I am taken away and then it is time to call it a day and get rest. But I have so many ideas and thoughts and things to say. So here I am!

Lots of lovely January birthday wishes to send out.

This mountain gorilla is 61 according to this google image. I am just a tad older than he is. But although she doesn't come over to social media I wanted to say Happy Birthday to Sandy F. a sweet lady I worked with for many years. I choose this image because she once confided in me that had she not gotten married and had two beautiful daughters she would have loved to live among these beautiful creatures. Sandy was a tiny little auburn haired gal and she never struck me as the mountain gorilla living type. But we talked about this a lot and I agreed with her. God created some incredible creatures when he created this species. Smart and loyal and incredibly kind. Happy birthday to Sandy, who works hard with her hubby Rick running their appliance store.

My nephew Troy has a birthday today. He plays the sax and is very musical and also very kind. I wish him lots of love today and always. I will always remember my dad's oldest sister, Auntie Mima. She once told us her youngest son Bobby insisted on playing the saxophone! She said he lost interest and the darn thing sat under his bed long after he left home and got married. It is a fond memory I have of her, smiling and telling a story to us.

To my PH girl Laura K. Happy Birthday. Laura is a quilter, an excellent quilter. I wish I had her talent for it. So I am wishing her well today. I am also congratulating Laura and her son Cody. He was just a tiny baby yesterday wasn't he? He is going to NASCAR! Cody has loved auto racing since he was a kid and he is good at it. No he is terrific at it! I always have a story to share and this one was shared previously. I watched Harrison one day and he wanted to watch the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. A commercial came on and I heard him say "Vroom Vroom"! I looked up and there was Danica Patrick on my screen. I said, do you like her? He replied Y E S ! I said do you like her because she's pretty and drives fast cars? He replied, "Vroom Vroom"! When I tell this story I am reminded of a former co worker. Helen Vroom (no, I am not kidding) was a pretty young Hispanic lady and her hubby was Matt Vroom. He was like 100, at least he looked to be 100 when I was a mere 18 years old. Anyway Helen and Matt had a really lovely marriage and I often wonder how they ended up together.  SHe worked, he was retired and he cooked wonderful meals for her. I always love a good love story and they had a good one.

Stop over and visit Aw.....Mondays. Sandee and all the fun folks participating will make you smile.
Although we have had cold days and nights we have been lacking in moisture. We need more snow but thinking about Spring can't be a bad thing can it?

I love this verse in Scripture. But the thoughts listed here can make you think about how the earth is round too.

This Love is... makes me think I am truly blessed. Sharing because of Annie at McGuffy's Reader- Sparks.

Maxine is not a good role model today. She is eating all the cookies and I am trying to stop!

Finally another January birthday. Sarah B is the daughter of a dear blogger, Marilyn who passed away too soon. Marilyn would be so happy to see Sarah married and she would love Alex, Sarah's hubby and Oliver Jude their son. Blogging is such a beautiful community. I weighed in on blogging with some bloggers at social media. I appreciate each person who stops by to say hello. I do not have a fancy blog. I don't have a fabulous house to share photos of. I love my phamily. I love my faith and I love my truly wonderful blogging friends. See you soon.

FELINE FRIDAY

I think they call this the good life. Too tired to change the TV channel. Stop by and visit Sandee with everyone over at Feline Friday.

So many of  the beautiful people in my life. My momma top row far right)who has a heavenly birthday today. She is sharing it with most everyone in this photo except my older brother Bill (2nd row far left and cousin Charlotte, next to him). I do not know the young lad in the front row  .  Like me, my brother (who tells me he better not see his photo anywhere) and my cousin Charlotte are still on this earth without all these amazing folks. My Tata Rose and Grandmother are on the top row far left. How much I learned from them and my mom and her sisters and my oldest sis Pat (2nd row far right). In this photo are four of the five girls my grandmother had. The grandchildren and greats are too numerous to list.

A birthday wish for my mom, who left us too soon in 2001.

This is always a difficult day for me. Takes me a while to get focused so I can post.

A New Year For Living

Some of my daily reading for 2019. Rebekah gave each other of her siblings and her parents a book for each one of us to write our own storey for her. Where do I start? The hubby gave me a beautiful new bible, the NASB Message bible. I am a lover of the word and I will share it with anyone who doesn't have their own bible. I worked with some wonderful CHRISTian women in the mid-1980's. They all read from the Women's bible. I love it because in between each chapter of the various books are personal stories by such amazing women - Joni Eareckson-Tada, Ruth Bell-Graham,  Anne Graham-Lotz, Amy Carmichael, Elisabeth Elliot and more. It is fun to read . My dotted notebook will serve as a journal for me this year. In case I forget fun facts for Rebekah, I can recheck them there. Jan Karon is my favorite author. This little book "Bathed In Prayer" highlights some of the most notable events in her Mitford series collection. One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp is just excellent reading.

This verse caught my eye today. It fits perfectly into this new year 2019.

I was thinking, since I missed my November 1, 2018 blogaversary I would hold a giveaway. But I decided instead to send a random gift(s) to someone who follows me here and comments during this year 2019. I would love to see people who receive a little token of my appreciation to "Pay it Forward". I believe in this quote and have experienced a random kindness myself on many occasions that lifted my spirits. Made me smile. Made me laugh out loud! So watch those mailboxes! If you don't think you shared your mailing address with me please send it via my g mail at 53strait@gmail.com. I can't say too much about this but I already have someone I know locally who is going to be gifted by me. I like to let people know they are appreciated and more.

Love is...brings a smile to my face daily. When we were young and newlywed I use to clip these treasures from the morning newspaper comic section and paste them on colorful construction paper (it was the 1980's, no scrapbooking phenomenon). THe TV and movie actor Dick van dyke turns 93 this March. He claims tai chi keeps him young! Hmmmm.......he looks darn good for his age.

"A" is for Afternoon Tea Sweets! I am an avid tea drinker as it is easier on my belly then coffee but love both. I adore drinking afternoon tea. Earl Grey is a favorite although in the mid afternoon I use Earl Grey decaf or I will be staring at the ceiling all night long. There is a tea concoction called "London Fog: which requires you to make a strong cup of Earl Grey with sugar or honey and then add frothy steamed milk. Earl has been a friend of mine for a really long time. If you go to a teahouse in the afternoon you need some sweet treats to enjoy with your tea. I am always ready to join a tea party or simply have a cup alone. It is something I truly treasure. "A" is also for Always make sure you give yourself an afternoon break and breathe.

Sandee with Happy Tuesday I thought I'd share some silly New Year's Resolutions here. Are they eating diet cake?

I think they said "Decadent Cake" not "Diet".

You have to say some of these made you happy! I love that parrot on # 10. #1 is a good one and #3 made me laugh out loud.  So come visit Sandee and share a happy Tuesday with her too.

Finally to make my friend Angela smile out loud. Tuesday Show and Tail. She has slowly started to come back to blog. Visit her, she is a genuine person. A great lady, I was happy to see some posts from her. Woot Woot!

See you tomorrow. God willing.