1. Just got back from a quick trip to Virginia Beach. We left Thursday afternoon and had a great time visiting with my Mom, seeing other ministries, visiting with old friends and just getting away for awhile.



2. We were able to visit Operation Blessing which is a part of the Christian Broadcasting Network. They have three huge warehouses and distribute 75 to 150 tons of products every week. We were very impressed by the people and the organization. We provide clothing to them that they distribute to other countries.




3. My Mom cracks me up! She had a list of items for Mr. Wonderful to do while we were home. Some of them very simple such as removing addresses from her email address book and making the green light stop flickering on the TV. We also replaced some azaleas bushes in the back yard. We were able to go to a senior banquet with her and go to church with her. I know she gets lonely so it was good to be able to spend some time with her.




4. Just heard that our little Munchkin is sick. It's so hard to be so far away when your baby is sick. It's hard on her momma and really hard on her long distance Diva. Just yesterday she was out playing at the park on one of their first spring days.





5. So glad, my good buddy Floozie is starting to feel so much better. She got off some medication abruptly and it really messed up her blood pressure and her whole system.
Sandy is one of the sweetest, kindest people I know and she rarely lets anyone know how she really is feeling. She has had a really hard month with mood swings, crying, fatigue,
and just plain feeling lousy.



6. Our cats JJ and Lucy were really glad to see us. I'm sure they got lonesome with out us to entertain them. A big shout out to neighbor and good friend Beckie for feeding the cats and loving on them while we were gone.



7. The lilacs are in bloom now. We have two big bushes that are in bloom under my window where my computer is located. I love smelling their fragrance . I love the sight and smell of spring.



It's good to be back home to my own bed and familiar surroundings. Long weekends really give us a needed break and a little perspective. Hope your week goes well.

Labels: Cats, Emma, Mom, Sunday Seven

The Daisy has returned to the Daisy Patch and all is right with the world.

If only it was that simple!

This is the official family portrait. Mom and her three girls. If baby sister (middle of portrait) doesn't look very happy it's because she wasn't and she made every one of us aware of the fact!)

We had a card shower for Mom.....and she received about 80 birthday cards from friends and family. Oldest sister Barbara (right of picture) compiled all the cards , pictures and greetings and made an album for her which she is continuing to enjoy. Baby sister and I compiled a list of 80 memories and qualities we admire about our mom and printed them out on individual pieces of paper that she can pull out of a decorated jar on a daily basis for the next 80 days. (Talk about a birthday hang-over!)

Mr. Wonderful was the only male at the all girl weekend and was promptly put to work. Mom is an independent woman and rarely asks for any assistance with any household project. Since the sisters had arrived several days before we got there they had discovered some projects that needed doing and made sure that Mr. Wonderful brought his tools with him.

One major project was converting an old TV cabinet into a bookcase. My mom is a very frugal woman and really liked the cabinet which has doors that closed over the TV. My dad was an avid sports fan and loved watching all sports on that TV. When he died and the old tube television no longer worked Mom just couldn't bring herself to get rid of the set. Consequently it has set in her living room (doors closed) for over 20 years.

Mr. Wonderful and his beautiful assistant (yep, I'm talking me) moved the set to the garage and disassembled the parts. Mr. Wonderful kept several of the old vacuum tubes and transformer. The picture tube alone weighed about 30 pounds. Disposing of the parts also called for some creative distribution (which is another story for another day!).

He built a shelf into the cabinet, put a bottom over the base, and added the back to the cabinet. He stained the wood to match the dark walnut of the cabinet and we set it in place (back in the living room) moments before we left for Savannah.

He also dug out the clay and stepping stones by my mom's back door that accumulate water and filled it in with 200 pounds of sand, and more stones that will now absorb more overflow from the drainage off the roof.

We were both tired when we left but glad to be able to help. I rarely get to see my sisters so it was fun just to be able to be together if only for a few days. Mom really wanted the pictures of all of us so it would have been nice if Baby sister had been at least attempted a "happy face".

We played several games of Parcheesi. Parcheesi was always a family favorite of ours - its easy to get the hang of but offers some challenge and strategy. Kids and adults can play together, which was always a plus for our family. We learned to play as kids and our grandmother was the all time reigning champion. Our mom now holds the title and won every game no matter who was partnered with her.

The great thing about family games is the memories they evoke. We laughed at many "grandmother" stories and as always found some new rules (not written in the instructions so don't look!) Mom can whip around the board and what ever number you roll she has her finger on the space long before you can count it out.

In our house you roll to see who goes first and who gets Mom for their partner. Whoever has Mom wins so really the game is decided on the first roll!

Did you have any family games that your family still plays whenever you get together?

Labels: Birthday, Mom, Monday memories

Just got back from visiting with family this past weekend. I was happy to see my oldest sister and her husband from Alabama.

However the crowing glory was visiting my mom. My mom, also known as "Have some more, you know I made it just for you!" Queen of Guilt.

Now before you say, "Oh come on now, no one put a gun to your head to make you overeat." Let me tell you about the Queen of Guilt.

My mom will be 80 in January. She has been a widow and lived alone for over 20 years. She is very active in her church and does lots of volunteer work. My mom is the hub of my extended family. She loves to email and talk on the phone so we allow her to the "mouth piece of the family" . Everyone checks in with her on a daily basis. She is the fount of knowledge concerning all things sisters. It doesn't matter if I have just talk to both of my sisters in the last half hour, we all know to just sit down and listen to the recap from mom.

My mom grew up during the depression , so always having plenty of food on the table is vastly important to her. She is terrified that some one may actually leave her table hungry.

Being a gracious southern lady requires her to "kill the fatted calf" and make all your favorite foods. It is her way to show love and affection. It can't be Sunday unless there is fried chicken, biscuits, mashed potatoes, sweet corn, green beans and at least 3 desserts.

To do less than you share at the dinner table makes her feel like she slipping in her hospitality skills and ( God forbid) getting too old to provide for the family that she has sacrificed for all her life. Diets to mom, simply means you eat only one dessert.

My mom will also make little stabbing statements like: "You know it does my heart good, to see you all enjoying my food. Did you have a plenty? Do you think I should whip up some corn bread with that?"

The ritual "dance" continued this past weekend and she continues to reigns supreme. Betty Crocker, move over....Meet my Momma!

Labels: Mom, Monday memories

When my children were small I spent a lot of time trying to juggle their needs, work, house work, church, time with Mr. Wonderful and social obligations. It seemed like there was never enough time in the day to get everything accomplished.

Consequently, we didn't have the cleanest clothes, the neatest yard, and the cleanest house. My mother was a wonderful house keeper. You could eat literally eat off her floor as her house was so clean.

You could eat off my floors too.....the red stain is where someone dropped spagetti sauce on the floor, the brown dots are oreo crumbs, and that sticky spot on the floor that just sucked off your shoe was where someone spilled Gatorade and didn't clean it up.

As hectic as those days were.....they are fond memories, now that my chicks have flown off to establish their own nests. I am reminded of some truths heard on a radio talk show by Kay James.

"Every woman juggles many things. Some of the balls we juggle are rubber-they can be dropped and will bounce back at a better later time in our lives. However, some of the balls we are juggling are crystal. Delicate, priceless balls, they cannot be dropped and picked up later on. They break quite easily. Our children are those magnificent balls. Please don't drop them during the years they are in your care; let the bounce-back kind go instead. A woman can have it all....she just can't have it all at once. There are times and seasons for everything in woman's life."

Looking back over my life I treasure the time spent raising our children and look forward to spoiling our grandchildren. I know I will never do anything as important or meaningful as rocking a baby, taking a meandering walk with a toddler, or reading "The Cat in the Hat" to an adoring grandchild for the 99th time.

John Whitehead once said, "Children are arrows we send into a time we will not see." I'm glad I invested heavily in mine.

Labels: Bible Study, juggling, Mom

My Mr. Wonderful and I are leaving the Daisy Patch to go visit "the queen mother" in Virginia Beach this weekend.

Can you smell the apple cake baking?

My mom will make all my "favorite" food.

My mom will talk incessantly about people I don't know and don't care to know.

My mom will send food home with us and give me money for gas.

My mom will have fresh tea roses on the table from her garden.

My mom still hopes I will grow up and make something of my life.......

(Oh well, 5 out of 6 ain't bad!)

Labels: Mom

Thirteen Things about Lazy Daisy

13 things I admire about my mother.

(Yes, I know you thought I sprang from the Daisy Patch on my own
but I actually have a very beautiful and talented mother.)

1. My Mom is fierecly independent ( having been a widow for 20 years!)
2. My Mom is a wonderful cook and hostess.
3. My Mom is a very wise business woman.
4. My Mom is a wonderful house keeper. Her house is spotless.
5. My Mom always knows what is going on in our lives.
6. My Mom stays active with volunteer jobs.
7. My Mom is a wonderful gardner.....she has gorgeous roses!
8. My Mom is very fashionable and a great dresser.
9. My Mom enjoys traveling.
10. My Mom is extremely generous with her time and money.
11. My Mom is very organized. (I think I missed that gene!)
12. My Mom adores email as it keeps her contected with friends and family.
13. My Mom makes all your favorites whenever we come to visit.
    

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Labels: Mom, Thursday Thirteen

Thought for the day: Trying is just a noisy way of not doing something!

I haven't written anything the last few days. I've been busy with my on-line Bible study with Sue Martin, Sandy Swofford, and Audrey Allen. I email the passage and 5 questions daily and they respond to me and the others. It has been interesting but more work for me. I have really gotten a lot out of it trying to come up with stimulating questions.

Today is my mom's 78th birthday. I bought her a bracelet watch with garnets ....her birth stone. I liked it, but that is no indication that she will like it! I figured if she absolutely hates it or decides she can't use it, it will eventually come back to me. So maybe I should say, " I bought myself a garnet bracelet watch!

I learned that there is a distinction between being interested and being committed. When you are interested in doing something, you only do it when it's convient, but when you are
committed, you follow through no matter what-no excuses! So I guess you can say , "I'm interested in writting ."

Labels: Birthday, Mom

What a Cutie! I never get tired of looking at that face......good thing after 30 years of marriage! This is my chubby hubby in his "den". It's actually the guest room\office but certainly one of his favorite habitats. He likes to hibernate in there or our bedroom with a good book. He calls it "Cave Time". Hmm....does that make him a Cave Man?

He gave up his weekend for me . We went to see my mom. It's the only weekend we will have off for the next four weeks. I told him I would drive up there by my self ( cue martyr music and violins) but he knows how I hate to drive by myself. What a good guy! I'm really trying to be a better daughter and see my mom at least once a month now that we are only 4 hours away.

Speaking of Mom. I asked her if she wanted some company this last weekend and that we were coming to see her. I asked her not to cook all my favorite foods and especially not desserts. Did she listen? Of course not. She made all my favorites and even sent me home with an apple cake! I told her I would probably take it to the mission and let "my guys" eat it but she insisted I take it. "My Guys" told me to mind my own business and if my momma wanted to send them a cake they certainly were willing to eat it! What a sacrifice on their part!

Charlie and I read a biography on Mother Teresa. I was really impressed by her deep commitment to Christ even as a small child. She talks about the value of silence and the its importance to hear God speak. I'm hardly ever quiet. That's a problem!

Labels: Charlie, Mom

Over a week has passed without any posts....was it because I had no thoughts? No, it was because I had not made time to sit down and reflect over the past week. Seems like I'm so busy doing that I don't make time for the things I enjoy doing the most.

I have a Bible Study that needs to be finished by tonight, boxes to be mailed, bills to pay, dishes to be put in the dish washer, lunches to make, Christmas thank you's to get out, long overdue emails to faithful friends, and scattered items on the floor that dashing kitties have left in their wake! I love my little country home and could easily spend all my time here yet I rarely get the opportunity .

This past weekend I was in Virginia Beach, Virginia to celebrate my mom's 77th birthday. My mom is really a remarkable woman....( I most probably wouldn't have said that several years ago....but as I age, I see things about my mom I never took the time to notice before.) At 77 she is active in her church, in her yard, in her community, and in the lives of her children. My dad died 20 years ago this November, so she has been alone for all that time, yet I have never heard her complain about being lonely.

She has lady friends at church that are also "widowed" and they get together and play cards. They are also a very good support system for one another and keeps tabs on each other. They travel together, attend social functions together and pair off occasionally for other activites like eating out or movies.

She is loves her independence and it makes her so frustrated "not to be able " to accomplish something she thinks she should be able to do. She takes good care of herself physically....(I look like I could be her mother!) and I know her prime fear is being a burden on her children.

She's been through a depression so she has invested wisely and is prudent about her spending habits. She is gently being pressured to move closer to my sister Barbara, but I secretly think she is thrilled that I am only a few hours away if she needs assistance.

My greatest reqret is that I have not taken the time to really get to know her. I have been the "distant daughter" more by choice than circumstances. My greatest fear is that my own children will treat me like I have treated my mother. Och....that will hurt!

Labels: Mom