Alabama Get-Away

My oldest son and I will be Bama bound on Monday. This will be the first Thanksgiving that I have spent with my Mother's family in nearly 20 years. Youngest son has to stay and work and hubby has commitments .
My dear Aunt Shirley has lung cancer and this will likely be her last holiday with us. I am so looking forward to seeing her. My step-father has been very ill , too, so I want to hug them both. He's really been like a father to all of us since he married our Mother. He is my Mother's soulmate and I want him to get well. My Aunt was an integral part of my childhood and basically saved us from homelessness. I will always be grateful to her for putting a roof over our heads. She is a dear, sweet woman and I hate that she's suffering.
My husband's family is local so we've shared Thanksgiving with them most of our married life. They are Italian and while I adore their food, I am SO looking forward to some cornbread dressing as well as other Southern delights that I haven't had in years.
I will also get to see my 90 year old Grandmother, my mother, my brother and sister in law, my nephew, my uncles and aunts, cousins , etc. It should be a glorious time and I feel blessed that I can make the trip.
Wishing you and yours a blessed and safe Thanksgiving!!!

Tuesday Twitters

This last week-end was wonderful- drove hubby back down to the Grant-Sebastian area south of us so that he could bring his boat back to our port. The trip would've been much more palatable had it not taken place at 4:15 am. I survived by taking a power nap at 6:15 am after returning home. I then put in a day of house cleaning and grocery shopping.
I woke up early on Sunday and went to 8:30 am church service. It was extremely uplifting . The final moments of the service were bittersweet as they paid tribute to a young lady who passed away last week. She was younger than myself and I knew her through the years . It made me take pause and REALLY, REALLY thank God for my blessings.
I went home and made sauce with Italian sausage and steak for the evening meal . I also baked some oatmeal raisin cookies and brownies. Young son was away at a music festival so there were only 3 of us for dinner. That's a small crowd for a Sunday at my house. It was almost too quiet. I ordered the "Toy Story" movies for my grandson and watched a "Godfather" marathon . All in all, a lovely week-end.
Monday morning came fast and I really dreaded returning to work. I was still on my week-end high but felt the negativity as soon as the day began. I work for people who are extremely self-centered as well as greedy. The almighty dollar is all that matters to them. They are also very discriminatory when it comes to women in this workplace. I have to try and remember the good things in my life to get through each day. However, jobs are scarce and I can't afford to quit until I have something else in place. I told hubby last night that if this is what having money does to people (and I felt as though I'd had a revelation as I've been obsessing about money and the lack thereof) that I'd rather be poor for the rest of my life..........however, I am not poor in the real sense of the word. I have a terrific family, friends and most of all, love. The rest is gravy.

Hope

I don't think that our country has felt as hopeful since the elections of 1960, the year I was born.

Counting our Blessings

It is nearly Thanksgiving- a time when many of us give thanks for our blessings- whether it be a good job, a loving family, freedom of disease, etc. I tend to give thanks on a year round basis for many reasons. One of the reasons is that my husband is a true walking miracle. Ten years ago last month he was diagnosed with liver cancer and was only given a few months to live if he did not receive a liver transplant. His body was beginning to shut down and we were fearful that he would not live to see the spring. We were blessed that the fabulous team at Mayo Clinic found a donor within 3 days of his first chemo treatment. We had precious little time to make the decision as a second chance might not come around. We had no counseling as we were scheduled to meet with the Mayo social worker the following week. We went in head first---not knowing what was ahead but had to put our faith to the test. The surgery was a success although the weeks to follow were very difficult for the entire family. I had to leave my children here at home and stay with my husband until we were released from Mayo. Thank God for family and friends that were on the ready for us. We pulled through. A few months later, however, he was on death's door once again. He had returned to Mayo for a routine biopsy of the new liver. An error was made that put a small hole in his diaphragm- I hadn't accompanied him on this trip as it didn't seem necessary. He returned to his hotel room after the biopsy and phoned to say that he didn't feel well- he was dizzy and his insides hurt. He hung up from me, phoned 911 and passed out. He was bleeding internally and his blood pressure was almost non-existent.
No one phoned me until the following morning to inform me that he had been hospitalized. Once again, adrenaline kicked into high gear and I headed to Mayo. The physician that had performed the biopsy tried to explain that they couldn't get the bleeding stopped. I thought, "we've come this far and now he's going to die from a simple procedure??" I walked over to the corner near his room and began to sob. Fortunately, they located a doctor who explained to me that if they preformed a thoracotomy, they could drain the blood that was killing him and he would survive. I quickly signed the form to allow this. Again, he was saved. A few years later, cancer would rear it's ugly head again, this time in the form of prostate cancer. It was found during a routine exam (MEN OVER 50, GET YOUR ANNUAL EXAM!!!) We phoned Mayo and got right in with the specialist. The diseased prostate was removed and once again, he pulled through.
I am thankful that he was here to give our daughter away at her wedding (when he walked through the church doors that day, the sun was shining behind them both and there wasn't a dry eye in the place!) to see our children graduate from high school, begin college, to witness our grandson's birth (and cut the cord as our son-in-law was deployed) and to be here for whatever the future holds for us.
Happy Thanksgiving from a very grateful woman!!

Stepping Back in Time

Yesterday was one of those beautiful, cool Florida days. My husband left around 4 am to go kingfishing. I got a call around 2 pm that it was too rough to come back into our port so he had pulled into Sebastian Inlet. He asked if I could come and pick him up. It's about a 45 minute ride south from our house. I was already on the road and heading south so I agreed. I had never been to the dock where he was going to park the boat but my oldest son had. I phoned him for directions. They were very simple--"Mom, once you pass Ozzie's Crab House, look to your left for a green barn. Make a U-turn and head back north and then turn in by the green barn." Couldn't be more simple than that.
The drive down to the Grant- Sebastian area was absolutely gorgeous yesterday. Once you get past Melbourne, the scenery is primarily water. I felt so happy--once I got to the green barn and turned in, I felt as though I had been transported back in time to the Florida of the 1960's- the Florida that I grew up in and so dearly miss. While my town is a small one, the Grant area is smaller still. I pulled into a small area and parked- just in time to see my husband's boat heading to the dock. The dock consists of 4 places to park and is owned by a very nice man named Albert. I sat and talked to the fishermen and my husband while he was cleaning the boat. Had there been a hammock, I could've fallen fast asleep. The air was crisp and cool, the sun was not too hot . It was a perfect day. The fishermen addressed me as "Ma'm," which is so unusual to hear in this day and time. We drove home holding hands and rejoicing in togetherness and the beautiful area that we call home.

Vintage Photos

Thought that I'd post some photos of Gian's Nanny and siblings circa 1960's and early 70's. You can see the lovely furniture in the early photos that they so cleverly called "Early American." I think a more fitting title would've been "Poor American." It was so ugly and depressing looking.
It seems as if no one was paying any attention to our clothes until we got into the 70's. The early ones of my brother and myself look as though our pants had shrunk in length but we kept wearing them anyway. In one photo, we are only clad in underpants and tee shirts. Must've been one of the hotter Alabama summers. You can see an AC window unit and knowing how difficult times were, it likely didn't work.
I like the one of my Mom and the 4 of us standing in the sun. My youngest sister was in the "car seat." From the looks of that flimsy plastic, I doubt it would have saved her had we been in an accident.
So, that's a blast from Nanny's past.

PS- Some of the photos published twice- can't figure out how to get rid of them.
PPS- The scraggly haircut in some of my photos were courtesy of myself or my brother taking a pair of scissors to my hair.
PPS- Got rid of twice published photos- guess Nanny isn't as slow as she feels today!!!

Frank Could've Gotten the Job Done

Too bad that he passed away---he would've made a great candidate!!!!

Election Day 2008

I don't think I've been this excited about voting in many years! This year, my youngest son became eligible to vote. He stood in line last Friday evening for over 2 hours for early voting. He was so happy to be able to participate. We couldn't get in to the early voting but will be in some sort of line tomorrow.
I am tired of seeing all of the mudslinging that has taken place both locally and nationally. There is no need for that kind of shenanigans. My mail box has been full of cards and mailings for weeks now- most of them not so nice.
We have a local guy who is running for re-election of the Sheriff's office. His ad was great-- he said "Hello, my name is **** and I'd be honored if you would vote for me on November 4th." End of ad. I was going to vote for him anyway because I know him indirectly. He is the ONLY Republican that will win my vote. He has made a lot of difference in our county and he's a genuine nice guy.
I am going to attempt to vote before work but will gladly stand in line after work until I get to mark my votes.