Day 9: Why Do They Call It Yellowstone?

Tuesday, June 9: Yellowstone National Park

Seriously, why do they call it Yellowstone?  I didn't see any yellow stones.  I saw a lot of white snow; I saw this big Buffalo that was brown and shedding, but nothing yellow.  However, I did see the most beautiful scenery I have ever experienced; looked like Heaven to me.  A cold Heaven. My pictures and description can't possibly tell you how beautiful it is here.  Just trust me; its surreal.  

Thanks to everyone who wished us well on the RV repairs.  We found out today that it was probably a loose connection which was causing the problem.  The batteries turned out okay and the service guy, Derick, said there were several loose wires that could have caused this to happen. He feels confident that this was more than likely the cause of the shut-down.  I would have preferred 100% confident, but I'll take "more than likely".  Chuck & I turned this over to God and know He will take care of us no matter what.  So, we're feelin' GOOD............and we have faith!

Hey, today we met two motorcycle dudes from Michigan.  Here's how it went down.  After we dropped the "rig" off at the repair shop, we headed out on the motorcycle to an awesome motorcyle road we've heard a lot about, Beartooth Pass.  We couldn't wait to ride this road as it guaranteed to have grizzly bears on it & make your "hair stand on end" and I couldn't wait to see Chuck's bald head do this.  Sooo, off we went.  Now, this was going to be one of those all day rides; this road was a good 125 miles away from Cody.  We were about 10 miles down the road when we ran into unbelievable fog where you couldn't see 5' in front of you.  I'm serious. Crazy, no good, very bad fog.  So we made the decision to turn around.  As we got back into Cody, we stopped to get gas (& Charlie some coffee) and ran into these two guys; one Harley and one Honda rider.   Anyway, they were probably in their 50's and had left their wives behind in Michigan & were having the time of their lives riding to Seattle on a 2 week vacation.  We talked with them for awhile; swapped stories and then headed out in different directions.  We decided to head into Yellowstone National Park (about 50 miles away).  As we arrived at the entrance to Yellowstone, Chuck's coffee started kicking in and we needed to make a pit stop.  Well, who do you think drove up while we were there?  Yep, the two dudes.  Crazy!  We swapped some more stories, oood and aaad over each others bikes (that's what bikers do) and headed out.  About an hour later, Chuck and I decided to stop and get a bite to eat in Yellowstone and who do you think walked in?  Yep, the two dudes again.  Now, normally I might think we were being stalked, but these guys were harmless.  Had lunch together, good conversation and hugged each other goodbye.   It was a good day.  A very good day.

Tomorrow?  Who knows........hope its as good as today!  (Check out my Buffalo picture!)

Also, we posted another YouTube video of our ride to Yellowstone & another one is on its way....go to:  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTGcGNklUjY

P.S.  I would like for Stacy, Scott, Brandon & Garrett to know we're thinking of them and keeping them in our prayers during this time.  Our hears hurt for you right now....

Day 8: Does Anyone Know Who Buffalo Bill Cody Is?

Monday, June 8 - Cody, Wyoming

I learned something new today.  I now know who Buffalo Bill Cody is.  I know I must have been the only person in the world who didn't know who this guy was, but western/history never really was my thing.  This dude has his own museum here; and its very popular!  While Chuck checked out the 3,000 guns on display, I decided to go check out this movie room.  That seemed more of my liking.  Unfortunately, the whole film was on, you guessed it, guns.  What's the deal??!  So, I did what I always do when I'm bored to tears and I whipped out my Ipod Touch and started playing games.  I really don't know how many times the gun video played over and over again, but just as I was rounding the final lap on Crash Bandicoot on my Ipod, I feel someone looking over my shoulder. It was Chuck.  Oops......

We met a neat couple at breakfast this morning who were at the table next to us.  Chuck had been trying to figure out whether that animal head on the wall over my head was a Deer or an Elk.  It was really big so he felt it wasn't a Deer.  The couple at the next table said it definitely was an Elk.  We asked the waiter and, as he looked up at the huge animal head said, "I never even noticed that there before."  Hummmmm......... Anyway, turns out, the couple at the next table live in Cleburne, Texas.  Wow!  My sister and niece live just outside of Cleburne.  I asked if they knew my brother-in-law, Dr. Brady Rusk, who is the one and only dentist in Keene. Sorry Brady, but they get their teeth cleaned in Ft. Worth (I tried to get you some new business though).  In true Liz-style, I started talking and talking and talking and told them about this crazy cowboy that my sister and I saw a couple months ago sitting on a bull on the side of the freeway near where they live.  Turns out, that "crazy cowboy" is a good friend of theirs and goes to their Cowboy Church.  Whoa........how weird is that????

Well, tomorrow we take the "rig" in to the RV Hospital.  Keep your fingers crossed; include us in your prayers; throw salt over your shoulder, whatever works for you, that it turns out minor.

Talk to you tomorrow!

Day 7: Can you Say B-L-I-Z-Z-A-R-D?

Sunday, June 7 - Cody, WY 

And I don't mean the Dairy Queen kind of Blizzard!  And the worst part of the blizzard?? 

Wasn't the blizzard.  

We knew it had to happen; we knew at some point this was going to touch our lives, we just didn't know how or when.  Well, now we do.  We broke down.  Sordof.  We were going along enjoying the beautiful scenery of the mountains minding our own business, when the WARNING light came on the dash.  Seconds later, every light we have came on the dash and then the engine started shutting down.  By the time I pulled the "rig" (learned that from Dan-See Day 5) to the side of the road, the engine had stopped.  It started right back up and all looked ok, but I wasn't moving an inch until I knew why it had all shut down.  We had mountains to climb and it would be a cold day in June (oh ya......today was a cold day in June...) before I started down a mountain and lost power to 35,000 pounds of metal with no brakes.  So, we decided to use our Good Sam Emergency number to get help.  I take that back; Liz decided to use the Good Sam Emergency number; Chuck was willing to risk our lives by continuing on.  About this same time, here comes the blizzard.  You could see it coming......hard wind blowing snow headed right for us perched on the side of this mountain......thats when we got another good idea.....why doesn't Liz ride the trike on down the road to see how far the nearest town was and how many big hills did we have to climb to get to it.....  So we unloaded the trike and I went to scout out what we had ahead.  Good time to remind you that we were in a BLIZZARD and I was on a MOTORCYCLE.   Visibility was zero and I was covered in frost and snow when I returned back to the cliff-hugging RV, Chuck and Murphy.  Now, I can hear you saying, "What about the Good Sam Emergency call?" right?  Well, they were having trouble finding someone able to come out to us on a Sunday afternoon in a blizzard.  We weren't sure how long we might be perched on top of this mountain and, to top things off, our generator wouldn't start.  It was getting cold fast.  Sounds like something out of a scary movie, huh?  Ya, that's what I was thinking. What was the name of that movie where the people had to resort to eating each other for food???  

Anyway, we decided to go for it to the next town which was 5 miles down the road.  We made it just fine and the Good Sams guy came out to us and drove it into Cody, Wy for me.  We "think" it was a bad battery or connection which also caused the generator not to work.  Fingers crossed and prayers going upwards.  I hope its that simple.  We'll know Tuesday.  But for now, we are safe, warm and comfortable inside our precious RV at the most beautiful campground outside of Yellowstone National Park with views each of you would kill for.   

We are so blessed to have so many things go right today; there was a nice wide easement for us to pull onto when it died; we had wonderful cell service in the middle of nowhere; we found a really great guy to come help us on his day off; and Murphy saw even more cottontail rabbits to chase.  Overall, a good day.  It sure could have been worse!

The pictures above are the view we're looking at from our RV site and Charlie at the repair shop in Cody, Wy.

Tomorrow is yet another adventure...

Day 6: They Didn't Want Us To Leave.....

Saturday, June 6, Casper, WY:  

We were sad to leave Colorado as we had made some new friends and it was so beautiful there.  But alas, alas, we must move on......

As we headed into Wyoming, we were struck by the beauty of the massive rocks jutting up from the earth and the fact that we don't believe anyone actually lives in this state.  I think its just a pass-thru for travelers....I really do.  Plus, it is incredibly WINDY in this state.  Like hurricane force-wind windy.  I asked the lady at the campground how long they had been having such high winds and she just said, "What wind?"  Hummm...... This may explain why no one lives here.... My steering wheel was sideways the entire time we have been in Wyoming!  

Murphy and I took a blow (Wyoming talk for walk)  this afternoon and came across a field that he was particularly interested in.  As he was scouting about for a home for his poop, we both saw something move right in front of us.  We both were on point at this point.  It was a little rabbit.  And then we saw another one...and another one....and another one....  As I looked all around me, we were surrounded by rabbits who were standing perfectly still hoping we wouldn't see them.  Some had their head in the ground, others were laying down, and still others were standing.  It was like we were playing the game "freeze" and they forgot to tell us. Poor Murphy was so confused....he's more of a squirrel guy, so this rabbit thing really had him baffled.  It was so cool!  So we headed back to the RV to get Chuck so he could experience the "freeze" game too.  

The pictures you see are Chuck and his new friends in Colorado as well as a shot of my Navigator navigating us into Wyoming (actually, I think he's eating). 

Can you guess where we'll be tomorrow????

Day 5: It's Good To Have A Slowwwww Day

Friday, June 5 – Loveland, CO

7:00 am - YEA!!!  We slept in today!

Well folks, not a lot happened today.  How wonderful!  We rode around the town of Loveland, shopped a little and rested.  Met our campground neighbors, one of which, Dan from Oregon, had plenty of advice for us from how to properly back up a "rig" with a trailer  (the key, according to Dan, is to outsmart the trailer and let it know who's boss....ok.....) to how to properly empty your poop tank.  That was an interesting conversation......He also told us how to turn Murphy into a "service dog" so we can take him into stores, restaurants, churches,  etc....hummm.....I'll have to check into that!

Made a trip to TJMax and got these adorable shoes....aren't they cute!?  

Well, we're on the road again tomorrow.  My navigator (aka Chuck) says we're heading into Wyoming and checking out Yellowstone for a few days.  Should get there by Sunday evening.  

BTW, the other picture is of our campground here in Loveland. Real cute.....except for our spot.

Talk to you tomorrow!

Day 4 - My Eyes Are Glued Shut & What's That Rash On My Face??

Thursday, June 4 – Loveland, CO

6:00 am - AGAIN!

Why do I insist on getting up at, what my friend Jen calls, the butt-crack of dawn each morning??  Errrrr....

Well, we couldn't wait to get on the motorcycle this morning and get scooting down the road to Estes Park and then through the Rocky Mountain National Park!  We had it all mapped out....250 miles from start to finish....great motorcycle winding roads; through mountains, forests, plains, snow, wind and whatever came along.  And sure enough, that's what we got.  I also got eyes with so much gunk in them from the wind they can barely open and a strange rash on the left side of my face.  Yep, I have a slight resemblance to an elderly oriental lady and a 16 year old going through puberty.  Other than that, GREAT day!  Chuck only fell asleep on the back of the motorcycle once that I know of and I know this only because his helmet kept hitting the back of my helmet and pushing me forward. And then he snored.  

We rode the bike through the Great Divide (check out the YouTube video Chuck shot from the back of the bike...www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bwP8WOa2Ac ) and it was absolutely spectacular!  Words or video cannot do it justice.  People were giving us a "Thumbs Up" and taking pictures of us as we rode through massive winds at the 12,000' summit and, although I couldn't hear them, I could pretty much guess what they were saying to each other.  "Hey, check out the chinese chick and the tall dude on the motorcycle hanging on for dear life"....."What were they thinking???"....."Look at those crazy kids!"...yep, I bet that's what they were saying!

Anyway, we saw a herd of elk, a coyote and a bull elk and his partner in the middle of the road.  Too cool!  Check out the pic's at my website, www.LizEtheridge.com.  It'll probaby bore you to death, but its there if you're already bored. 

What will tomorrow bring........????

Day 3 - You'll Love Where We Are Today!

Wednesday, June 3 – Loveland, CO

6:00 am

Why are we up so early on vacation??  We were asking the same thing; until we realized the time zone changed to Mountain and we were still on Central.  It was actually our normal 7:00, but the sun was out and shining in our eyes at 6:00.  Ugh.....

I must start by telling you that last night when we went to bed, we noticed the bed seemed "higher" and definitely "harder" than usual.  We have a sleep number air bed in the motorhome and each side has its own remote control where we can set our own number depending on how firm or soft we want our individual sides.  Chuck is a 40 and I'm a 30.  Well, when we noticed the bed seemed "higher" and "firmer", we checked the sleep number remotes and they both showed to be 100.  Whoa.  The bed was as full of air as it could handle.  It was about that exact time  I recalled my very smart sister telling me before we left home to be sure and let the air out of the bed before heading into the mountains; something about the altitude.  Well, the bed almost exploded.  I had visions of us driving down the road and hearing a huge explosion in the rear of the RV and wondering what the heck that was.....until we went to bed that night.

Now, on to today.  We had a real nice drive to Colorado; no weird stuff happened and we were patting ourselves on the back thinking we had finally left the stupidity behind.  Then we got to the campground.  Our first glance that maybe we weren't out of the woods yet was when we were checking in at the campground, the lady behind the desk fell out of her chair and hit her head on the bookcase behind her.  Fortunately, she was okay; we think.  She was still laying on the floor when we left and people were stepping over her.   Then we followed the dude to our campsite which was a tight turn with low branches.  I was half in, half out when it was decided we best not try this just yet.  The dude jumped in his golf cart and headed out to get a ladder.  Came back with a ladder and reinforcement.  He set his ladder up (I must mention at this point that the dude was at least 105 years old) and his reinforcement climbed up our RV ladder on the back and now was on our roof.  He goes to cutting a huge limb off this tree.  Tom, the 105 year old dude, was on the 8' ladder helping.  It was decided that more of the tree needed to be cut off and then a little more.  Before you knew it, half the tree was gone and his reinforcement is still on our roof telling me to pull forward; no backwards; no a little more forward and we finally made it in.  Folks, I don't make this stuff up.  Really.

Anyway, tomorrow is another adventure.......we are heading on a 250 mile journey on the motorcycle through Estes Park and the Rocky Mountain National Park.  We will be going through snow, mountains, craters, and who knows what else.  Keep your prayers coming people!  I think we're going to need them! 

Day 2 -We are in Raton Pass, NM

Tuesday, June 2 – Raton Pass, NM

9:00 am

Got moving early this morning....couldn’t wait to see if I could get us out of the RV parking space I managed to lodge myself into without any insurance damage.  We disconnected the motorcycle trailer, moved the RV carefully past the 5th wheel (I believe I visually measured 6” between us) that was parked next to us, drove around the block and came back & picked up the trailer.  Now I was in the park backwards.  Couldn’t make the sharp u-turn at the end of the road, so Chuck and I both thought, “Hey, there’s a road to the right we could take....I bet it goes out”.  Well, it didn’t.  DEAD END.  Yep, you guys haven’t been praying hard enough for me not to have to back the RV up with a trailer....a major no-no.....so I was forced to BACKUP WITH A TRAILER.  I’m just glad this issue isn’t hanging over me anymore....I’ve now done it; nothing was damaged in the process and I’m not nearly as frightened of doing this now.  We still had to disconnect the trailer and reposition the RV, but hey, it all worked out and we didn’t yell at each other in the process.

So we get on our way down the road.  As we were chuckling over how stupid we were, it started raining.  Hard...VERY HARD..  Chuck and I looked at each other and decided we were being tested to see how we handle difficult situations....and today we passed I’m happy to say!

7:15 pm

We are now in Raton Pass which is just south of the border of Colorado & NM.  We made good time today even though we had 40 mph SIDE winds (verified on the weather channel) and are currently perched on top of a cliff overlooking the mountains and the highway that the semi's are crawling up.  Chuck is making pasta tonight and it smells G-O-O-D!!  This driving thing makes you hungry.  

Murphy is doing great.  He's loving being an only child and wearing his favorite sweatshirt....did I mention it's 48 degrees outside (crazy cold front blew in with the 40 mph winds....go figure!).  We've been pulling burrs out of his paws since we got here that he got at the gas station.  He had a little...ugh....how do I say this delicately....diarrhea at the gas station.  

All in all, today was a good day.  Much much better than yesterday and we are looking for tomorrow to be even better than today.  I would be including pictures of all of these nice adventures so far, but I left my digital card reader at home, so until we get by a Wal-Mart, I'm just including pictures from Google.  Talk to ya tomorrow!

Day 1 - Today we are in Clinton, OK

Monday, June 1 – Clinton, OK

10:00 am

We finally left....late...due to trouble with the straps on the motorcycle, but finally made it out of Mt. Vernon.  Chuck had planned on us stopping at Red Rock Canyon State Park about 40 miles east of here, but once we got there, it was more geared for smaller campers, no pass-thru’s available, but the absolutely WORST part was the steeeeeeeep; did I mention STEEP,  hill down to the park.  I kept thinking; what goes down must come up and I wasn’t too sure we could do it.  But we did and got the heck out of there.  

6:30 pm

After trying two other private campgrounds that looked like something out of S. Dallas, we kept moving on.  Ended up in Clinton, OK which made it a 365 mile day that started late at 10:00 am.  Since we are so long with the trailer (about 52’ long), there was only one spot that would work and it “barely” worked.  Actually, we’ll know better tomorrow morning whether it actually worked or not  and that will depend on whether we hit anything.....fingers crossed...

Can You Spell V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N?

Yep, that's right; time for another vacation.  I know some of  you are thinking, "Didn't you just get back from a vacation to Florida??" and yep, we sure did.  Retirement Rocks!  But now we are heading out in two days to Oklahoma, Colorado, Montana, S. Dakota, Utah, Oregon, Washington, California, Arizona, NM and then back home.

Wish us safe journey and no needless back-ups in the RV.......I'll be posting from the road so you can see where we are and where we'll be next.  Should be gone 4-6 weeks!!  

Have a safe trip to work, you non-retirees.....(hee hee)

P.S.  Thanks to everyone who commented on last weeks post.....I was feeling a little insecure...but I feel MUCH better now!

ALRIGHT FOLKS, I WANT COMMENTS ON MY BLOG!!!

I'm serious.....you guys were so good about leaving comments on Murphy's Mom Blog on my website and now that I'm on Blogger, NO COMMENTS.......I WANT COMMENTS!

Don't mean to be yelling, but I really enjoyed reading everyone's comments and I'm bummed I have none on Blogger.

Work with me, folks!

Love you all!

Liz

Weekend With the Williams'

May 16, 2009 

What a great weekend we had with Norm & Sue and Brad & Betty who drove up from Brenham for the weekend.  Although I don't think we would have ever gotten them back up here had there not been a boat involved, it doesn't matter.  We got to spend some great time visiting, eating, visiting, eating, visiting and then we ate some more.....well, you get the picture.  

We feel so blessed to have wonderful friends........like Ms. Becky and the pole.....such a good sport, that Becky!

Life is too short to wake up with regrets. 

So love the people who treat you right. 

Love the ones who don't just because you can. 

Believe everything happens for a reason. 

If you get a second chance, grab it with both hands. 

If it changes your life, let it. 

Kiss slowly. 

Forgive quickly.  

God never said life would be easy. 

He just promised it would be worth it. 

I Caved In to Blogger....

May 9, 2009

I finally caved into Blogger instead of Blogging on my own website.  Too many of my PC friends were having trouble opening my website in Internet Explorer, SOOOOO, this Mac girl threw in the towel and will be Blogging from Blogger now.

So, welcome to Murphy's Mom on Blogger......

Liz

You REALLY Want to Hear About My Weekend......REALLY!

May 2, 2009

Where do I start?  Might as well start from the beginning.....

FRIDAY NIGHT:  

It was a beautiful evening.  The stars were out; the sun was setting and Liz was dared to go 90 mph in her old lady Toyota Camry.  Never being one to turn down a dare, she did as she was dared.  Unfortunately, the gas pedal stuck in the DOWN position & nothing she did could get the car to slow down much less stop.  Another unfortunate part of this story was she was on the road that leads directly into the lake......yep, the LAKE was getting closer and closer and she was running quickly out of road.  As she tried in vain to stop the car by standing on the brakes to no avail,  and passing the Marina going 90 mph, all the friends waiting on her to arrive there thought that the blur that just went by looked like her, but just weren’t sure.......until they heard the grinding gears and burning rubber of the car going into neutral.  They waited anxiously to hear the “splash” that they just knew was about to happen.  Fortunately, that never happened.  She got a glimpse of intelligence & turned the car off.  As she tried to turn down the volume of Chuck yelling at her & making sure her backseat passengers, Troy & Becky, were okay & hadn’t soiled themselves from fear, she discovered the floor mat had wedged itself on the gas pedal which caused a near-catastrophe.  That was Friday.

SATURDAY:

We had been looking forward to having Chuck’s family out to the lake for a weekend of boating, fishing, jetsking and visiting for weeks.  Everyone started arriving that morning.........along with the rain.  Didn’t matter though.  We were determined to achieve all that we had planned on doing that weekend anyway.   After all, what’s a little rain???  At last count, we had 11-14.  We jetskied in the rain; we boated in the rain; we ate brisket in the rain; we visited in the rain.  And it continued to rain....and rain...and rain...  After several jetski falls in the cold water and pouring rain (I don’t need to exfoliate this week.....ouch.....that rain hurts when it hits your face at 60 mph), we decided to head indoors.  Unfortunately, not all of us made it into the house safely.  Diane, my sister-in-law, slipped on the slick tile back porch and hit her head.  So, we headed to the ER to get her checked out.  We hadn’t been there very long when we hear loud sirens going off and a man’s voice sternly announcing “CODE GRAY” “CODE GRAY” over the loud speaker system.  Quickly we learn we are in the path of a tornado heading our way.  Well, of course we are, I thought to myself!  After all, that’s about the only thing that hadn’t happened yet that day.  Fortunately, within an hour or so, we learn the tornado is no longer heading our way and that Diane is going to be fine.  Great news!!  And that was Saturday.

SUNDAY:

Sunday came slowly as most everyone had a restless night with thunder, lightning, wind and RAIN.  More rain......and then a little more rain.  Woke up just needing a large, strong cup of coffee.  Made my way into the kitchen, poured me a nice big  cup of java, put my usual two ice cubes in it....... and then I looked out the window.  I believe my first words were “holy crap” but it might have been something else......this part is a blur.  There was no longer a defined line between the lake and the yard.  It was all one now.  And what was that thing floating out in front of the dock?  Ahhh, that’s our jetski that used to be on the other side of the boathouse.  I quickly get a ball cap on, throw on a coat and, still in my PJ’s with horses on them, head outside in the pouring rain to get the jetski tied down.  After wading through ankle deep water, I arrive at the boathouse to find the other jetski is also gone.  With the help of Chuck & his brother, Doug, I get on the only accounted for jetski and went in search of the other jetski.  I find it floating at the neighbors boathouse.  Just a reminder here; it’s still pouring and I’m still in my horse PJ’s.  I drag the runaway jetski back home and notice our neighbors jetskis is almost sinking.  Plus, their other jetski is also missing.  I finally locate their other jetski down the lake a bit.  I push it back to its home where Doug ties it down.  Already a full day and it’s only 7:00 am and I still haven’t had coffee yet.  I was impressed with my ability to function without that first cup of coffee; I’m guessing the cold water and rain was my caffeine.  As we watched the lake billow higher and higher closer to our house, my only thought was, “I sure am glad I took out that Flood Policy two years ago.”  I’m probably the only person on Lake Cypress Springs (after all, it’s a “Constant Level Lake” according to the realtor who sold us the house) with a Flood Policy.  Yea for me!  Rest of the day was pretty uneventful with the few exceptions of finding a snake in the dryer and valet-canoeing everyone to the boat and back.  And that was Sunday.

Just another weekend at the lake.........

(Thanks to Doug, Diane, Tiffany, Ray, Christy, Scott, Stacy, Brandon, Garrett, Dylan, Ashley, Chuck, Troy, Bella and Brie for making this a weekend we won’t soon forget).

“Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family:
Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.”

We’re in Brenham.......

And we’re eating LOTS of Ice Cream!  WOW!  We scooted into  Brenham, home of Blue Bell and the Texas Bluebonnet, yesterday and were greeted with miles and miles of Bluebonnets and Indian Paintbrushes and our dear friends Norm, Sue, Brad and Betty.

My Mom

My Mom........to her friends she’s known as Dorothy; to some she’s known as Dot; she’s Mamma to Lance, Jacque & Patty; and to Debbie, James and I she’s just Mom.  If I were asked to describe & define my Mom to a stranger, I would probably use nouns such as soft, sacrificing, honest, caring, loving, strong, sometimes insecure, a bit shy and beautiful.   She is all of these and more to me and you need to know that she is also one of my Best Friends.  

Mom is an excellent bowler; she loves to fish with a cane pole; she’s nervous around water and she loves her grandchildren more than life; well, at least equal to her dog, Missy.  She met my Dad in downtown Dallas in the 50’s and they married on what is now a Love Field Airport runway.   She worked for years at Sears; not in the climate controlled retail stores, but in the hot warehouse assembly line so us kids could attend church school.  She smuggled Dr. Pepper’s to me at boarding school and was the only family member that didn’t reject me when I pierced my ears.  She never said “I told you so” when my first marriage ended in divorce.  She just loved me.........unconditionally.

Mom is experiencing challenges right now in her life.  She is not old, or at least I don’t consider 77 old, yet she is battling diseases that were meant for someone much older.  Her battles include Parkinsons, Breast Cancer (survivor, I might add) and a little thing called Lewy Body Dementia.   The Parkinsons is causing her to be unstable on her feet and fall a lot, which explains the broken hand she currently has.  Nerve damage has set in and we are possibly looking at surgery the end of this week.  The Breast Cancer appears to be under control  for which we are thankful.  The Lewy Body Dementia is her/our biggest battle right now.  It is responsible for horrible nightmares, slowed movement, confusion, memory loss and the list continues on and on.  If you’ve ever had a loved one travel through this twilight zone called dementia, you know what I’m talking about.  I really can’t think of anything that has been more difficult in my life than to watch her go through this process.   My 1st marriage/divorce to an alcoholic; learning I could never have children of my own; getting caught cheating on a Home Ec final cause I paid someone to make the dress for me; none of this compares to the pained heart I have for my Mom right now.  She has had to give up her freedom of driving and going wherever and whenever she wants; she now has to rely on others for this.  She has to use a walker now & we have threatened to velcro it to her hand so she doesn’t forget it.  Some days are better than others and I have learned through this process that I can only look at today; not yesterday...not tomorrow....just today.   

We know there is no cure for what Mom is experiencing.  What we do know is that God has a purpose for Mom.  Maybe it was to bring my brother, sister and I closer together, which it has; maybe it was to teach us all patience in a frustrating, helpless situation; maybe it was to teach us unconditional love; you know, the kind Mom gave us.  I really don’t know why God allows these things to happen to His people. But what I do know is that HE knows and I trust in His decisions.

Please Say A Prayer For My Mom Tonight ........... 

1979.......It Was A Very Good Year

Yep, that’s me on the left.....I know, I know......where’d the brown hair come from?  Truth is, where’d the BLOND hair come from??  It was either go blond or gray.....it’s in my genes (thanks Mom!)  so I chose blond.  Anyway, none of that is the point of this Blog......   

What is the point is I stumbled upon these old VGA (Valley Grande Academy) pictures from 1978-1979 this past weekend and what a stroll down memory lane I’ve been having.  I’ve enjoyed sharing these with my Facebook VGA Alums and hearing their hysterical laughter as they see themselves 30 years ago and remembering what fun we all had there.  The lovely lady in the picture with me is Mara.  I love this girl!  I’ve been looking for her for years and I finally found her last month.  She was such a special friend to me in high school and I had so much I needed to say to her and finally was able to.   It means the world to me that I found her.

You either loved or hated your time at VGA.  I happened to love my time there.  The Christian boarding school was 3 miles from the border of Mexico in the Rio Grande Valley which opened up all kinds of doors for me to spread my wings and try everything I wasn’t suppose to.  Here are just a few examples:  My favorite is when I met this guy on a Southwest Airlines plane on my way back to school who was heading to Harlingen to go Skydiving (didn’t hurt that he was ADORABLE).  I talked him into taking me, so I snuck off campus and went skydiving with him the next day.  Or the time a friend and I decided it would be fun to sneak off campus and take a bus to Mexico City.   Ya, I got caught, but it was still fun.  I could never forget the time another friend and I thought it would be fun to sneak our boyfriends into the dorm and they, unfortunately, brought 30 other guys with them.  These are just a few of the many wonderful memories.  Have you noticed the common denominator between all of these stories??  I believe the word is  “Sneaked”.....Fun, fun, fun.....

I thank the good Lord that Mom and Dad made the sacrifice to send us kids to church school (they’re probably wishing they hadn’t about now....) which ultimately made us into the people we are today.   Thanks Mom & Dad!

What Will Matter.....

I received an email the other day that really stopped me in my tracks.  You may have received this email as well, but in case you didn’t, I wanted to share it with you because if you read it, and I mean REALLY read it, we can all see what truly matters in our lives.  It is so very easy to get “caught up” in the troubles that are all around us right now; from the stock market to our elected officials to our health, and whatever is causing stress, discouragement, worry and anxiety in your life today.  Print this off and keep it at your desk or in your car or taped to your computer screen.  Let it remind us all what really matters........

                           

                            Ready or Not, Some Day It Will All Come To An End.

There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, hours or days. 

All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten will pass to someone else.

Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance.

 It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed.

Your grudges, resentments, frustrations and jealousies will finally disappear. 

So too, your hopes, ambitions, plans and to do lists will expire.

The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away.

It won't matter where you came from or what side of the tracks you lived on at the end.

It won't matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant. 

Even your gender and skin color will be irrelevant.

So what will matter?  How will the value of your days be measured?

What will matter is not what you bought but what you built, 

Not what you got but what you gave.

What will matter is not your success but your significance.

What will matter is not what you learned but what you taught.

What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage, forgiveness or 

sacrifice that enriched, empowered or encouraged others to emulate your example.

What will matter is not your competence but your character.

What will matter is not how many people you knew, 

but how many will feel a lasting loss when you're gone.

What will matter are not your memories 

but the memories that live in those who loved you.

What will matter is how long you will be remembered, 

by whom and for what.

Living a life that matters doesn't happen by accident. 

It's not a matter of circumstance but of choice.

                                                    Choose to Live a Life That Matters.  

Written by Michael Josephson

“Lord, we can get so bogged down in the busy-ness of life.  Slow us down so we can spend more time BEING than DOING.  We were created to BE in fellowship with You.”

Lee (on Twitter)

Our Little Adventure...

Well, we’re back from our little adventure on the road.  We decided about a month ago to just “run away from home” for awhile.  It’s been a stressful beginning of the year and we just needed to get away from everything and everyone.  We loaded up Kruger the cat and Murphy the dog, along with the motorcycle, and headed East to Florida.   We drove until we got tired or found a nice place to park the motorhome and stayed until we were ready to move on.  We had no where to be or a certain time to be there.  It was lovely!  

We are now recharged........

“Lord, Your word is hope and peace. As Your beloved children, 

may we rest between Your shoulders as You carry us (and our burdens).”

            Lee (on Twitter)

Thanks Girlfriend.......

Girlfriends.......It’s hard to imagine life without them.

Sometimes you just have to thank your Girlfriends.  Thank you to my Girlfriends who remembered me and my “Challenging Week” over the past couple of weeks.  Thank you for your prayers, your thoughts and your love.  Your shared emotions meant the world to me.  

I am blessed with wonderful Girlfriends.  Girlfriends from my Bible Study group.  Girlfriends I call when I want to go shopping.  Girlfriends who like the same movies that I do.  Girlfriends who are up for an adventure.  Girlfriends who are just easy and fun to be around.  

Even one Girlfriend is a gift of inestimable worth, and I am blessed with many.  I only hope I can bless them half as much.

Thank you, Lord, for my Girlfriends.