Unavoidable Change

This post is brought to you as part of Jenny Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday.  Click the button on the right to join the fun.

My life has been a massive whirlwind of change over the last several weeks.  I’ve felt like Dorothy’s house in the Wizard of Oz and many projects have blown out of the house…including this blog.  The dust is settling and though I don’t see life in Technicolor quite yet, the sepia tones are brightening with the promise of full color.  Let me catch you up on the last 8 weeks.

Princess turned 18 on August 11^th.  My baby is a grown-up!

 

Son turned 27 on August 15^th.  I don’t feel old enough to have a son pushing 30.  Looking in the mirror tells a different story, but I don’t feel it.

 

Hubby has been able to visit Son, Daughter-in-Law, and baby Rya in Arizona,

 

but I had to stay home. 

All spare time between my last post and August 18^th has been spent organizing, buying, packing, and hauling Princess off to college.  We had her ‘land yacht’ (a 1993 Mercury Grand Marquis called Beast) and our crew cab truck filled to the brim with stuff. 

I was really dreading the unloading to the second floor of the dorm.  But, much to the delight of Princess (and Hubby’s back), the football team was assigned to carry stuff from cars to rooms.  I think they were also checking out the new crop of pretty girls. 

Three loads to the room and three Wally World trips later, Princess and a whole lot of stuff were in a small dorm room with a roommate and a whole lot of her stuff.  My baby is in college!

 

I am very thankful that Harding University takes great pity on parents of freshmen.  We were able to stay through Friday to help Princess with class registration and getting her books as well as attending “parent informational sessions”.  By Friday night’s devotional, Princess had collected a whole auditorium row of new friends.  She was extremely happy and excited.  I think that is what made it easier to leave on Saturday afternoon.  Neither Hubby nor I were blubbering while driving home…which was a surprise to both of us.

It was very, very quiet when we returned to the house.  I’ll write more about that next time.

Mmm Mmm Refreshment!

This post is brought to you as part of Jenny Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday.  Click the button on the right to join the fun.

Like most of the United States, here in Tennessee we are experiencing much higher than average heat and humidity.  Yesterday's heat index was 105 degrees Farenheit.  When I lived in Arizona, it would regularly get to over 105 degrees, but it feels so very different than this hot, muggy, summer air.


I'm so very spoiled today.  I enjoy air conditioning at work, air conditioning in my car, and air conditioning at home.  When I was growing up, we had open windows, fans, and sometimes a room with a very noisy window air conditioner. 
 

My little brother and I spent a lot of time outside in the shade where we were more likely to find a cool breeze and (if it was on or we could talk Mom into turning it on) we would run through the water sprinkler in the yard.

But my favorite way to cool off was when Dad would bring home a nice, cold watermelon.  He would cut it outside and give us each a big wedge with lots of black seeds (which would often lead to a seed spitting fight between my brother and I).

 

Juicy.  Yummy.  Mmm.

Happy Anniversary!

This post is brought to you as part of Jenny Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday.  Click the button on the right to join the fun.

51 years ago this past Sunday (June 5th), these two crazy kids promised to:

Love...they still look at each other the same way.

Honor...they always show respect for each other.

Obey...actually, they work together more like a team, but when Dad makes the final decision, Mom goes along for the ride.

For Richer...they are still waiting for it to happen as far a money goes, but when it comes to the important things of this life, they are two of the richest people on earth.

For Poorer...the most frequent state as far as money is concerned.

In Sickness and Health....they are blessed to have enjoyed more health than sickness.

'Til death do us part...I'm praying this doesn't happen for a very, very long time.

And I am so glad they did!  Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!!!

Graduation

This post is brought to you as part of Jenny Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday.  Click the button on the right to join the fun.

It is official.  Princess is now a high school graduate.  Here are a few words and photos that describe last Saturday morning.

Grandparents in attendance.

Is that a grimace or a grin on Princess' face?

A solemn gait on the way to the podium.

Giddy anticipation.

Pure glee!

And now we are waiting for Princess to gaily start looking for gainful summer employment.

Everything Changes

This post is brought to you as part of Jenny Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday.  Click the button on the right to join the fun.

Me: "Princess.  Wednesday is your last day of High School!  Are you excited?"

Princess: "Ummm.  Not really."

The next day...
Hubby:  "You're getting ready to graduate from High School!  Are you excited?"

Princess:  "Ummm. Not really."

Sunday...
Several church friends:  "Hey! You're graduating from High School!  Are you excited?"

Princess:  "Ummm. Not really."

Yesterday...
Me (via text message): "happy last day of high school!  i'm proud of you!  love ya bunches & bunches!!!"

Princess (via text reply): "Aww love you too.  I am skipping 8th to spend my last few moments with my best friends." --- I guess that doesn't count against you on the last day.

Last Night...
Me: "Princess.  Today was your last day of High School!  Are you excited?"

Princess:  "Ummm.  Not really."

What is wrong with my daughter?  Everything is changing for her and she's so nonchalant about it all.  I think I was jumping up and down when I graduated (Mom - tell me if I'm wrong).

I'm not nonchalant about it at all.  I still keep seeing the pre-school, kindergarden graduation, and all of those 'first day of school' moments through the years. 

They don't say little forever. 

They continually grow...

and exasperate...

and make you proud...

and make you cry...

and make you laugh. 

I can't believe time has flown by so fast.  In a couple of months we will be driving Princess to college and helping her move into her dorm room.  Everything will change for her and everything will change for us.

I'm not sure I'm ready.  I just know I can't stop it.

Congratulations Princess!!!

You're Never Too Old To Play

This post is brought to you as part of Jenny Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday.  Click the button on the right to join the fun.

I have in my possession pictures and newspaper clippings of my Aunt Carolyn and her 3-on-3 basketball team.  In 2005 they were preparing for the Tennessee Senior Games and made the front page of the sports section in the local paper.  The large color picture was of Aunt Carolyn getting ready to shoot the basketball.  My parents were at the game and my dad (who is my aunt’s baby brother) said, “It just wore me out watching them.”   At the time, my aunt was 73 years old!

Since then her team, The Tennessee Bulldogs, won the championship at the Senior National Games in 2009 and two state championships in a row (the last of which was against a 70-74 year-old-team).  They have earned the right to compete in the 2011 Senior National Games in Houston, TX.

The Tennessee Bulldogs recently won the state gold medal in the 75-79-year-old 3-on-3 basketball division. Local members of the team are, from left, Wanda Shanks, Carolyn Lance, Jo An Cantrell, Coach Dewey Cantrell and Blanche Cook. – Southern Standard on August 4, 2010

Aunt Carolyn has discovered that you are never too old to play.   She was a high school basketball star but married and raised a family instead of going to college on a basketball scholarship.  She spent her years raising beautiful daughters and working for others.  When I asked her what she did to occupy her retirement years and she said “whatever I want.”  Her love of basketball didn’t waver over the decades and now she plays a couple days a week with her teammates.

And you know what?  She looks younger and more alive than I feel sometimes.  Play is not only good for the body; it’s good for the soul.  Remember when you were little and wrapped up in playing Kick the Can or Kickball or Tag or Mother May I?  Do you remember how alive you felt?  Do you remember how free and unencumbered your life was during those moments?  Do you remember being silly just for the sake of being silly?  Or are you too removed from those days and burdened with the cares and responsibilities of your current life to remember?

I’m afraid I have a hard time remembering feeling that alive and free.  Grownups don’t play very much.  Oh, we have sports activities we involve ourselves in, but it’s much more competitive than pure play.  We don’t play just for the joy of playing.  I’ve heard that it is crucial to a child’s development to have several hours a week of unstructured play time.  Maybe it is also crucial to a grown-up’s on-going development.  My Aunt Carolyn doesn’t look, act or feel like she’s in her late 70’s and yet I know people decades younger who do.

Find a child and play for the sheer joy of playing.  If you don’t have one of your own handy, volunteer your time at a shelter or with Big Brothers/Big Sisters, or watch a friend’s child for an afternoon.  Run and laugh and be silly.  It’s good for you, body and soul.

“You have filled my heart with greater joy...”  Psalms 4:7a [NIV]

Zuckerman's Famous Pig

This post is brought to you as part of Jenny Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday.  Click the button on the right to join the fun.

This lovely book is one of my favorites from childhood. 

I like this version the best because Garth Williams created the illustrations.  He also illustrated my childhood copies of the 'Little House' books by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

To celebrate the letter Z, here are the lyrics of the song Zuckerman's Famous Pig from the animated movie. 

He's…some pig…some pig
Some terrific, radiant, humble pig
He is some pig
Oh wow look at him now
Zuckerman's famous pig
Sooey, what do you see
The greatest hog in history
Fine swine wish he was mine
What if he's not so big
He's some terrific, radiant, humble
Thingamajig of a fine phenomenon

My land isn't it grand
Zuckerman's famous pig
Golly, you got to agree
He's a real celebrity

Fine swine, wish he was mine
What if he's not so big?
He's some terrific radiant, humble
Thingamajig pig
The terrific….radiant…humble...humble
Zuckerman's! Zuckerman's! Zuckerman's! Zuckerman's! Zuckerman's!
Zuckerman's famous pig