Madewyn's Xanga

I Am Alive

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 00:12:53 GMT

...I really am! I bet no one reads this silly blog anymore - not that there were so many readers before!

Not much happening around the "place". That's a big FAT LIE !

I "quit" my job and retire officially the last day of December 2009!!! A year sooner than I had really planned for but I just could not do "it" anymore.

The first week of freedom has been good - I got out and ran errands 3 of 4 days - stuff I usually would save for the weekend and then procrastinate over. I've met friends for lunch, had one over for coffee cuz her electricity was out and - wonder of wonders - NOT even touched a book to read. I've napped and stayed up late and journalled and talked with my family.

I'll make it to Mississippi for Christmas and Memphis as well. But that's another week!

I have paperwork to do and have made a start. I'll get deep into this house after the New Year - now that I have the time and energy and the DISPOSITION to accomplish some things!

Give me my self confidence back !!!!

YAY!!! :: winky::

Whew!

Sat, 05 Dec 2009 19:59:49 GMT

Where does the time go!?

It'll be 2010 before I know it - they say time passes faster as you age - but I never really believe it - 'til now. The closer I come to even considering retirement for a second time means the years actually are passing. I always thought that since I did not have children to measure time by every day - that the sense of time would always seem slower.....NOT!

Just a few things going on lately.

I discovered today that it costs about the same to drive 83 miles an hour in a 65 mile an hour zone as it does for one (ONE!) visit to the vet for a "punk", ailing 14 year old kitty named Mr Mitchell. And that was for the "visit", a "bit" of lab work and a (get ready for it!).....an appetite enhancer - just 2 pills!

I drove to the beach for Thanksgiving a couple of weeks ago - I USED MY CRUISE CONTROL and NEVER ONCE EXCEEDED THE SPEED LIMIT - all the way down to the beach and back to Birmingham!!!!! One speeding ticket too late, but - LESSON LEARNED! (expensive lesson. to say the least!)

.... and now Mr Mitchell is sitting out on the back deck, in the cold, with his back turned to me! So much for gratitude....HA!

As well - here's a picture I never thought I would witness. The garage is cold. LucyB is OLD - older than dirt - a featherweight in her old age. Yet she is ravenous, demanding of meals, morning and evening, AND on time! She, however, will not come into the house anymore, sleeps in the garage or under the deck in cedar chips. I rarely see her except when I drive out in the morning and back in the evenings. She sleeps under the work bench which is piled with "junk" - I'm a packrat, okay??

Lucy does love a dog to keep her warm...she's a little w***e!

I've been organizing and cleaning out at the office - an end-of-the-year habit, only usually I am so sorely inept. So, I am taking advantage of the mood to "de-rat" - it doesn't come my way that often! I just might wear out the paper shredder - it's a thankless task, but someone has to do it!

I just wish the mood would extend to the home front!

Nuff said!

Over and out

Thank a Veteran

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:55:27 GMT

(Christine and James T. Cousin, Southern Pines 1942)
(Anna Kern and Otto Wilhelm Mull, around WWI)

Good Thought

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 18:56:44 GMT

(from one of the blogsI read - one of the many, tho the numbers are dwindling!)

Pastoral issue here, Gals.

Personal experience tells us that older folks often think the world is going to hell in a hand basket. Everything is getting worse. Kids are horrible. Food doesn't taste as it did. Violence reigns...
Not all older people are sour about the future but many are. Like the ladies at the bridge table yesterday who asked,"do you know anything good?" I started naming good things like sweet parenting I observed, lovely cool weather, people being kind to each other. No matter what I offered the ladies retorted with negative words.
I took a deep breath then said, "I hear people over 40 often think the world is going to hell in a hand basket." No one smiled.
I suppose I'd be crabby about the future too if I depended on Fox news for my worldview, picked friends who were fearful and negative, read the mailers from the insurance industry about health care and looked at my stock portfolio everyday.
Yep, the world is in trouble. This is not new. Every generation sees the world as a troubled place.
Can we bring the theological idea of grace to the table?
In the midst of a confusing world, grace offers acceptance, welcome and a view of the kindness of God to each of us. Grace allows us to savor the blessings, cope with the difficulties and remember what is important.

Love from St.C.

Ovrer and Out

Memories Light the Corners of My Mind (snicker)

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:52:30 GMT

I spent the weekend at the beach with four of my high school cronies – no, I didn’t say “crones” – there’s a difference!

I’d like to reflect on a few things:
1) For me, the more introverted of the group, there was no awkwardness in our re-meeting after so many years. I usually take a while to warm up to folks….but we bounced out of the car at Sarah’s condo, hugged BIG hugs (I’m not a big hugger either) and then just started in gabbing – for 48 hours! Except for the time spent sleeping, of course. Time just dropped away. And we hit the ground running – catching up on 40 years worth of truth, misperceptions, gossip (I know) and just plain talk, talk, talk.
2) These ladies were not all part of one single group in high school - we all know each other in different ways. Some went to elementary school together, some got in trouble together. Some were in scouts together. Some went to other elementary or junior highs together. Even some college roommates. We are “Conservative”, Democrat”, “Liberal”, single, married, widowed, divorced, dating, not interested in dating at this age. Trusting, untrusting, scarred, angry, confident, restless, settled in, content – all Christians, attend a church, are faithful. More of us were together in glee club during high school – we were not all “best friends” or sorority sisters. Yet here we all are - cheering each other on, praying for each other and each other's children, recounting memories, emailing and texting through the day. As many have said, “Time is a great leveler.”
3) And, lastly – on a more personal note – spending time with these ladies – not just this weekend at the beach, but since the reunion this summer, emailing, on Facebook and our private blog – I feel more connected to my growing up years. Those impressionable years that form us and help make us who we are. It has presented to me the opportunity to reflect on a time that I don’t usually take time to think much about on a day-to-day basis. To remember my parents, others’ parents, siblings – crazy times and not so crazy times. We laughed, we yucked it up, we teared up, we stomped our feet we were laughing so hard. We realized so much more we have in common with each other – that just graduating from the same high school; lo, those many long years ago.

Friends are never earned; they’re a gift from the loving God.
And they’re precious beyond human evaluation.
But you dare not take them for granted
or they’ll drift away like smoke….

Who is your friend?

He’s someone who warms you with a nod
or with the unspoken word in hard times
when you’re hurting beyond words.
A friend is someone who clinks his glass against yours.
Or answers the phone at three o’clock in the morning when you’re lost
and with a few words of encouragement and concern,
makes you realize that you’re not lost at all.

Friends come in both sexes and in all shapes and sizes.
The most important thing they have in common
is the ability to share with you your most sky-splitting joys,
or your deepest, most awesome sorrows….

For they are your friends.

In Between All My Sleeping

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 20:23:33 GMT

....I read a great (ANOTHER GREAT!) book.

Here are a few of the lines, I wrote down to keep: "The heat never did seem to bother Me;;e ;ole ot dod tje rest opf (oops, sorry-mcm!) .....Nelle like it did the rest of us. She was always cool and slow, like she and store's old ceiling fan were on the same speed."

"Yes, dahlink," I said, imitating the old movies, "once you have graduated from the "Calla & Sukey Kissing Academy,' your lips are the only badge you need!" (Maybe you don't need to know that girls teach girls how to kiss before boys do!)

"Just holler if you need anything," Sonny Boy said. And I went to sleep knowing that I lived in a house full of people who would care for me, no matter what."

"Remember that none of us is alone in our grief," Father Gerard said. "All of us, every one of us, is held by God - whatever we think God to be. Whatever Holy Force we might conceive of holding us together is here with us now and will be with us forever.. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, go in peace now, to love and serve the Lord and to bless our brother and our son, Sweet Chalon. And we thank the Lord for his gracing us with Sweet's presence on this earth."

"The Moon Lady was revealing herself to me, and she sent a thought into my mind. I will not give you unnecessary grief. That was her gift. That was M'Dear's promise, that suffering would happen in my life, but that even when things seemed their darkest, the suffering would have some kind of meaning."

"And again M'Dear's voice filled my mind. "Look closely now," she said, "and wait. These are the two most important things I can tell you now. Look closely and wait."

Very good book - made me wish I had grown up in Louisiana!

Over and out (pleased)

Reading

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 17:50:55 GMT

Spending some time in this book this afternoon.

Brian McLaren's comments strike a chord with me:

"In the first few chapters of Don's new book, Don got me thinking about Don and his interesting life. Then for several chapters, he got me thinking about my own life. And then for the rest of the book, I couldn't help but think about God and other people, and the kind of future we're creating together. That sounds like solid evidence that this uniquely talented and sagely writer/thinker/storyteller has given us another wonderful and life-enriching reading experience."

Ditto.

Over and out

MY HAIR! An Idea......

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 14:42:02 GMT

This give me an idea...

Over and out

Water Water Everywhere

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 16:22:13 GMT

...and (literally) not a drop to drink.

Check out these pictures :

This could be any one of any of us! I cannot imagine!

(Thanks, Jawan, for the link)

Over and out

Another Good Quote

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 16:12:12 GMT

It's the good girls who keep the diaries; the bad girls never have the time. ~Tallulah Bankhead

uh oh - I do,indeed, keep a diary! uhmmmmm.

Over and out