Memories

Some of the best gifts are the ones that are made just for you. My little brother made us girls memories from some old pictures Mother had......

I love this gift..everything I got was wonderful and things that did not have to be returned or exchanged.....but the gift from Tom warmed my heart.

I guess when you get older....now 60..you appreciate family and parents and all things associated with them....my Dad has been dead 13 years and Mother is now 82 and not in as good a health as she was last year. That makes Tom's gift better....


I (the taller of the 2 blondes) am the same age in the Christmas pictures as my youngest Grandson Cameron and the same age the picture with Mother as my oldest Grandson Trevor...don't you think Trevor looks like me ??????



Christmas , family, friends...you just gotta love it.....

SIZES....???

Have you ever wondered who came up with Women sizes? Why are Junior's odd numbers 3, 5,7,11,13 and womens are even 8,10,12,14.....?

Bought a suit to wear to a funeral..funeral wear..odd term but anyway tried a 12 but was to tight on the girls so bought a 14 for the girls. Just figured the skirt would fit...this thing would fit my 6"5" brother......huge......

How do they know what a size 12 is? Buy a large shirts..girls are happy but have no shoulders. They have now become my elbows!

Buy a 10 pants ..waist is screaming--killin me here...have to breath. Buy a 12 pants and waist is happy but butt is saying..."Back here somewhere..can you see me???

Big 10...little 12 ....so confusing.

And the new shirts...OMG...the large would fit my 8 year old grandson...can I have a BIG MAMA in that please......


Since this country is getting bigger by the day...shouldn't our sizes be smaller just to make us feel better.....we do that in shoes. I wear a 32 in European sizes for shoes but only a 6 1/2 in US.

Cute shirt ..I 'll take that in a 1/2 please.......

OH Baby , it's cold....cooler outside

We finally got cold (cooler) weather..although it is fleeting. Temp dropped from the mid 70's to the low 40"s on Sunday night and was in the 30"s this morning when I got up.

Hate the cold -makes my bones ache..but it needs to be cool for Christmas. Frost was on the ground when I came to work and I could wear one of my new thin sweaters for the first time this year.

Maybe it will be cool enough to make quickie chili...not a cook so easy is good for me.....It is good with cornbread..yes I said cornbread

Recipe for quickie chili:
1 lb hamburger meat
1 can stewed tomatoes
2 can Ranch syle beans
1 pkg Chili mix
Chili powder to taste

Brown meat..drain and add all the other stuff...simmer until you get ready to eat it..It's so gooooood


It will be back in the 70's on Thursday but for now I am enjoying this cool spell....that's Southern for cold weather in South Alabama.

A time to remember

Rest easy, sleep well my brothers.


Know the line has held, your job is done.


Rest easy, sleep well.


Others have taken up where you fell, the line has held.

Peace, peace, and farewell...




Readers may be interested to know that these wreaths -- some 5,000 -- are donated by the Worcester Wreath Co. of Harrington, Maine. The owner, Merrill Worcester, not only provides the wreaths, but covers the trucking expense as wel l. He's done this since 1992. A wonderful guy. Also, most years, groups of Maine school kids combine an educational trip to DC with this event to help out. Making this even more remarkable is the fact that Harrington is in one the poorest parts of the state.

At a time when all you hear about is stealing some old ladies Christmas decorations (yes they stole from a 80 year old woman)..it is nice to see that good things still happen. He gets nothing for doing this but the satisfaction of knowing he has honored our heroes.

Serious Thoughts

I am not a usually a serious person, but sometimes we need to just take a minute and remember what Christmas is about. I love, repeat love Christmas.

Love the colors, trees, Christmas Paper...but most of all the music.......

I like all the old songs of Christmas the most.....The First Noel is my favorite.

Recently we went to the program at my daughters church and the theme of the night was "Christmas is forever" It was inspiring.....

Take a look at the link for "Cool Things to See" for the Interiew with God. This will just take a minute and is worth the time.

Dancing With the White Dog

I take a 2 lane country road to work every morning. In one particular spot a White Dog lies in wait for me to come through. I never see him or her on my way home in the evening, just in the morning. I can see him/her as I approach the house. As I round the curve, he will crouch down in his pursuit form and waits for me to pass. Just as I get even with the yard, he springs into action.

You can see the determination in his face to catch the strange creature with the funny legs that has invaded his domain. He never barks just runs after the car for a short distance and then sits in the middle of the road and watches me drive away.

I just know he is thinking...tomorrow....tomorrow I will be quicker and the creature will be slower. Tomorrow the creature will be mine.......

It's MY BIRTHDAY

TODAY IS MY BIRTHDAY.....yep I am the big 6-0.

Wow..how old is 60 ? Some people say if I could do that over......

The only thing I truly, truly regret is SMOKING!!!!!!!

No that I have not had my share of death, trama, divorce, life but it made me who I am. 60 years....

I was in High School when Kennedy was shot..I went to a segrated school with segreated hospitals and movie theaters. I moved back to the south when I was 16.
What a culture shock.....we only had 3 channels on TV...got that when I was 12. Pop bought a new car every 3 years but he was only a Sargent so thing were tight with 3 girls. I am the oldest.

Military brat


I am in pretty good shape for the shape I am in.....have all my teeth(thier paid for) most of my hair...memory is good ( I think)..health is pretty good.






I am the oldest of 3 girls but we are stair steps. I am 60 today..sister Sarah was 59 on Nov 23 and sister Bobby will be 58 Dec. 28. Can you imagine ? That me on the right, Sarah on the left and Bobby in the middle.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

First weekend in December ..time to put of the tree. This is my tradition although it seems a little early this year.

Pulled the stuff from the attic ( not basements here) and decided what would be usable and what needed to be trashed. After looking a the tree decided it was time to retire it and move up to a prelit. No stringing lights...where have I been????

With new prelit in hand...decorated and put in the living room. Running the AC cause it is 75 here today. Something wrong with decorating a Christmas tree with the AC on.....

Then it was time for the fireplace...why do people in South Alabama put fireplaces int hier homes. I have lived here 5 years and have never been able to lite the fireplace.




Anyway..

Love my Santa'a and NO I did not make them. The writing gene did not morp into the ART gene. Cannot not color a picture much less paint stuff. That is why I love Craft Shows!!!

Off track.....

The Santa and the tree on the end are pieces of flat wood painted...how smart. The other 2 are ceramic and one is from Walmart...hey I need something to even out the setting.

As you can see there are no gifts under the tree...me and the dog hadn't wrapped them when I took the picture. Got then wrapped but not under the tree yet....



I LOVE CHRISTMAS AND ALL THE THINGS THE SEASON STANDS FOR.....why do we have so much tolerance and forgiveness this time of year and not all the time...ya just gotta wonder

1-800-GOOBER

For those of you who do not know..a Goober in my world is someone paid to help you that does not now anymore than you do.

Yesterday I got a message on my cell phone that said I had a new photo. Downloaded and got a text message that said; "All your contacts have been deleted...hope you have fun putting them back in".

Holy Crap Batman!!!!

Called my cell provider. For English press 1..for Espanol press end..if you can't speak English call back when you can....sorry, off track!!!

This is my comversation:

This is GOOBER can I have your cell phone number?

xxxxxxxxxx

Yes C-A-R-O-L-I-N-E how can I help you?

It's Carolyn..no "I" in my name Caro-lynn

Yes Caro-line....

Explained about the picture and he said WELLLLLL Caro-line a picture cannot deleted your contacts are they still there?

If it cannot delete why ask me if they are still there? Beside it only said it was a picture..it was really a text message.

Are they there Caro-line?

Yes Mr GOOBER they are there but I have not turned my phone off. Will I loose them?

NO but......I have never heard of this. Someone is messing with you.

If an Email can kill your computer..why can't a text message kill your contacts?

Beside it was not anyone I know...they put a g on puttin" we don't use "G's" here.

WEll Caro-line can I help you anymore?

I didn't know you had helped me at all..........

Treasures

Happy Thanksgiving every one, just a little late. Have been out of town and could not blog.

BLOGGER WITHDRAWAL

When to LA for the holiday to see MaMa and family. Ate to much , not a enough time to visit and spent way to much money.

Say Mama and only son. Spent time with favorite sister and other family members.

Mama gave me treasures. She gave me a quilt made by my great grandmother, post cards written by my Uncle Sam when he was joined the Army in 1942. Mama was 18. He went to Duck Hill, Miss. for basic traning and wrote to Mama, Aunt Short (sister) and Mama Thomas.


She gave me her mothers wardrobe closet...I remember MAMA Thomas keeping her dusting powder in the little door with the mirror. Her stocking (she did not wear hose) with the garter that held them up. Her pearls for church on Sunday was in that little door.


Her Sunday dresses hung in the other side. Only the good ones she wore to town and church.

Her and some of the church ladies would gather at her house and make quilts. The back were feed sacks and the patch work front was scraps. They stayed on her bed all winter and was put in the corner during the summer.

She wore house dresses with aprons and smoked till the day she died. She raised chickens and milked her cow. She made her own butter. She could not read but was one of the smartest people I knew when I was small. She could build playhouse and make pies from scratch. She was cool!!!!!!

Beer, Bowling and Hot Wings

Last night was bowling night. We start at 6:30 and normally finish around 9:00. The team we bowled last night pre-bowled so we only had our team on the lane. My first thought was ......
Yes, we can go to Beefs and have wings and beer. They close at 9:00 on week days so can not go normally. Went something like this:

"Let's go guys"

"George your up"

"Jay your up"

Lets get this going.....after me pushing and pushing we finished at 8:30. Not sure I could get us there by 9:00. It was my mission.....

"Get you stuff Jay....have a good Turkey day everyone "
" Come on honey .....let's go"
"Have to go to the bathroom"
"You can do that at the restuarant"
" Let's go"

In the car ...on the road....yeah we have time!!!

How fast your driving?

60...why

Speed limit is only 50

I know but it is 8:45.....have to be there by 9:00.

In the parking lots....9:00...is the OPEN light still on......YES!!!!!!!!!!

"If it is fixin" (southern for going) to close we can go home"

"I don't think so...we will go to HOOTERS!!!!!"

You still servin" ( we don't use G's in the South)

Sure .......life is good

Cold beer, hot wings, ranch dressing, celery sticks, curly fries

Can things get any better !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Of course, being the good Mother that I am, I am on a 900 calories a day diet with my daughter so she can look good in swim suit for her cruise in December. The wings, beer and curlie fries is probably more than I can have for the next 2 days. Salad here we come..but

I tore those wings up.......and it was light beer.

Am I missing something

This is a picture of the storm surge of Katrina on the Missisippi and Alabama coast. After the hurricane hit, peoples lives were changed forever. Not all the people in Mississippi and Alabama live in homes on the gulf. Some of them were shrimper whose only income was from the Gulf. Homes had been in families for generation and most had no insurance on them. When they lost thier homes and shrimp boats..they lost the only way of life they knew. Shrimper's on the gulf are like the Crab and Lobster fishermen you see on the Discovery channel, only not as dangerous.

Now they have to worry about exposing themselves and thier children to formaldehyde. It is a fact that this chemical is present in most Fema trailer. Kids are sick with colds, allergies, nose bleeds plus a number of other illnesses. The FEMA people have decided not to test the level of this chemical in thier trailers. This testing has been put off indefinitely by FEMA executives. Formaldehyde is used in the embalming process and we do not see a problem with exposing chidren to it? Am I missing something here?????

We can have massive recall for toys with lead in them from China(as we should) but FEMA is not held responsible for a harmful chemical. I know Katrina has been 3 years and people should not still be in these trailers but they are and it is probably making them sick.

Soap Box

When I came to work yesterday morning gas at the station across the street was $2.83, when I got off 8 hrs later gas was $2.99. Did I miss something in that 8 hrs period? Did we have a major hurricane or one of the refineries catch on fire. We have all these reserves we are saving for our great, great , great grandchildren(who will probably drive solar power vehicles) and we cannot afford to go to work or have any life because the extra we have is being put in the gas tank. These foreign countries are holding us hostage and the gas companies are making million in profit because we cannot open up Alaska or the gulf for enviromental reasons. When did we lose all of our common sense?

When I was a kid and the weather got really bad,dark and gloomy, my great grandmother would tell me God was crying because he was sad. When it rained and the sun was shining, she said they were happy tears......I wonder what kind of tears he is shedding now? We have so screwed up the world he made.....

Southern Things

I have spent all of my adult life in the South. We moved back to North Louisiana when I was a Junior in high school. Prior to that, I had spent my whole life on military bases both in the states and overseas. What a culture shock that was! I was born in the late 40's and did not move back to LA. until 65. This was the beginning of the Civil Rights movement. We went to an all white school (never did that before) and even the movie theater was segregrated...black in the balcony and whites down below. The clinics, hospital, funeral homes were all separate. For us, me and my sisters, all grown ups were addressed with Yes Mame or Yes Sir.....no there. Needless to say, our school years were a little difficult. That being said, I love most southern things although some of them still elude me 40+ years later.

Recently I had to go to another plant we own about an hours drive from the coast. It is a small south town where the plant is the biggest employer and no commerce. One small store (Piggly Wiggly), hardware store, feed and seed, drug store ,a couple little shops and one restaurant. Right out side of town is a shop called Rays. Apparently Ray is a butcher (think they call them meat cutters now) because he has a sign that says Rabbit Meat, Catfish and Coon..the other side also says deer. Do people actually eat Coon? How do you cook it? What do eat with it? Guess Granny and Jed did cook possum and coon in Beverly Hills. Wonder if it is fatting?

I thought people only hunted Coon, did not know they killed and and actually ate the meat!!! MAMA Thomas use to tell us kids that if you killed a Coon and skinned it , you had to leave one paw on it cause it looked like a cat skinned. We thought she was just getting us kids (we were city slickers) but maybe not.

Some Southern things still elude me 40 years later and no we do not eat coon, rabbit or deer meat. But mine at Walmart.

Everyone called her Bill

My mother's name is Clotilde (clo-tild) but everyone calls her Bill. Mama is 82 and for the most part in really good health. Heart is good, memory is fine, if you take into consideration Mama is 82. She smokes like a chimney and sees no reason to quit at this time in her life. She has a little COPD from smoking for 60 years and shakes a little but other than that she is doing good. The problem is MAMA is dieing. Not from heart problems , cancer, COPD...MAMA is dieing from sadness. It seems so strange to say that and makes my heart sad when I read it.

Mama is tall (5'11') and has always been thin like a model. She had an olive complexion that required not makeup and hair so black it look purple. She was beautiful. She was a stay at home Mom and was the Room Mother at school. She made our clothes and crochet doilies and throws. She never wore pants until 1957 when we went to France and wore spike heels that made her even prettier. She was by all accounts Harriet Nelson or the Beaver's Mom.

Her and POP ( my Dad) were married 47 years when Pop died and I think that was the day MAMA quit living. She sat down on the couch, lit a cigarette and has not gotten up. For the last 13 years we have lost MAMA a little each day. She lost interest in her church (she still goes every Sunday) but is no longer involved. Most of her's and Pop's friend have passed away so she has no friends. She lives on junk food ( cookies,ice cream, etc) and is down to 97 pounds. We thought it might be something health related but the Dr. said it is sadness. Depression really does kill you.

How sad will my life be when both my parents are gone.

Surprise, Surprise, Surprise

Don't you love surprises? They are so wonderful to get when your in the slumps. This past weekend the little round man and I went to North Alabama to visit family we had no seen in a while. His sister had a heart cath, his brother had a knee replacment and his other sister has a lump under her arm that will be checked tomorrow (she has had both breast removed from cancer), so eventho it was really good to see them, everything that was going on was a little overwhelming. When we got home, all the hedges had been trimmed (we have a lot) and there were pansies in the flower pots on my front porch. There was a cute little pumpkin on my porch that make everything else that much prettier.I have sorely neglected both the hedges and flower pots. Everything looked so neat and clean and ready for Thanksgiving company.

My daughter and son-in-law along with the grandsons did all this for Jay and I. Such a lovely surprise, it really lifted my spirits. You just want to stop total stranger on the street and say.....Look what the kids did!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Civil War -as told by a 7 year old

Let me preface this blog with the statement that my daughter is going to be a History teacher when she recieve her degree from University of South Alabama. She is also a Cub Scout leader. On one of the "Go see it" trips that are required to earn thier badges in the Cub Scouts..she took them to the site of a Civil War battle here in South Alabama. She very simply explained to them about the Civil War and what it was about. This is the story as it was told to me by my grandson:

"There was this war between the South and the East. The South wanted "maids" and the East said no so they had a war. There ws this guy in a big tree and he was killing all the bad guys but then the guy fell out of the tree (that was pretty dumb-huh??) and got defeated. So the East won the war and that is why we don't have any "maids".

Fall is here

Fall has finally come to South Alabama. Well as much as we get. The temperature dropped 22 degrees yesterday from 74 to 48 last night and this morning. Everyone is in thier "BIG" coats (this is South Alabama)long pant and sweatshirts. Time for homemade soup and chili. Trees are turning a golden color and the mums are in full bloom.

I love the fall...jeans make me look thinner and I love all the long sleeve shirts (hides the bat wings ). Pumpkins will keep better-usually take them into the house with the AC so they do not ruin so quickly and Halloween is right around the corner. Time to start looking for Christmas gift and working on the menu for Thanksgiving.

A Passing of Time

At the ripe age of 27, I bought my first new car. It was 1976 Chevelle Malibu Classic, 2 door hardtop, AC,beauty rims, with a 8 track player (oh yeah) for the obscene price of $ 5243. I drove this car everyday for over 10 years. By then my son was driving age and he drove it for another 10 years. I went to the hospital in the Chevelle when my daughter was born. I brought her home from the hospital in the very same car. It was cooooool!!!!!!! 350 engine with dual exhaust (glass packs)with a 4 barrel carb. Run like a raped...well it ran really good.

I have kept it all these years and have taught my 2 kids, 3 step kids and to many neighbor kids to count in this car. The Chevelle was my signature. I never owned a 4 door car until all my kids were grown. My friends got to old to climb in the back seat. Today after 30+ years, I sold it. The Chevelle has gotten sad on the inside. Outside look good and had never been wrecked after all these years. To many stereo's taken out and put back back in by the boys ( yes 4 of the 5 kids were boys). It's like losing an old friend. Although it had not been driven for over 5 years..it was in my care. Is it dumb to feel the loss of a car???????

Hello Blog world

This is my first attempt at the "blogger" world. Have seen them and thought it would be a good venue for what I had to say. Am still working and practicing for retirement so when the time comes I will be really good at it. Just had my annual evaluation for a raise and got the dreaded "Dear Carolyn " letter. Your wonderful , you have exceeded our expectatons for the year.....but.....I had to go to Africa hunting and my brother bought a 300,000 house on a island so we cannot give you the expected $ .25 raise we so generously gave you last year. We appreciate your understanding!!!!!

I work for a privately own furniture manufacture that has been in business for 50 + years. The "brother" have multiple homes and investment but the economy is bad and money is tight so no money!!!!!!!! My retirement fund is getting lower