The Sixth of July

Can you tell that I've grown weary of coming up with titles for blog entries? After 8 and a half years of blogging (yes, it's been THAT long!) I've used just about every cute and creative title I can think of. I thought of using the Friends episode format (The One With....) but every day it would be some variation of "The One  With Cat Pictures"... so we're doing this for now. Subject to change on my whim.

The parents and the goggies left town this morning and the kid is still off with his friend so it's just me and the cats today. "Just take those old records off the shelf... " As a result it's been super quiet here and I have loved every blessedly boring second of it. Having grown up as one of five kids and then immediately going into the mothering of three kids - I'm sort of like those people who lived through the Depression and as a result are extremely frugal - I'm never ever bothered by solitude. I consider it a reward for my years of living with chaos.

Meals for one are so easy! I made myself a batch of cranberry orange muffins for brunch and had leftover stir fry for dinner. I loaded the dishwasher... did a load of laundry... watched a lot of tv - Pollyanna, the news coverage of the airplane crash in San Francisco and a Big Bang Theory marathon. Yes, I'm living large. Envy me. No really.

My brother replaced the screen door on the screened porch and now we don't have to build a barricade for the cats to be able to go on the porch unsupervised. I let them sun themselves for most of the afternoon and they appeared to be grateful. I understand there is more rain to come and - again - one of those "surviving the Depression" things - although it's been quite a rainy week, I've lived through too many Georgia Summers to complain about mild temperatures in July, even if it comes with rain. I figured I should let the cats enjoy the sun while they can.

The rain has caused some leaking in my bedroom in the basement. I'm not using that room since my bed is in my parents room for now but I do have lots of books and photos and out of season clothes in there. A few photos got damp and some clothing got wet but otherwise, no real damage is done. It seems to be coming from clogged gutters on the main level of the house overflowing down the wall and coming in through onto the ceiling of the bedroom. I would take a picture to demonstrate but... it's dark.

I do have some cat pictures to share, of course.

 Little Kitty is looking out the window at a squirrel on the front porch. HA! I couldn't figure out how to get the video working on my camera in time to catch it but kitty was actually TAPPING on the window to get the squirrel's attention. It was hilarious! You can tell they're making eye contract.

 He was balanced between the couch and the window... quite the hunter... check out that concentration!

Can you tell he misses Mawmaw? He's laying on the couch like she usually does. He's been there for about two hours now.












And.... after standing strong and tall through a week of rain... Myrtle the Mushroom has left us.

It's a poor quality photo (because I was so grief stricken) but you can tell... she's flattened out. I'll have to find some other sort of wildlife to observe for entertainment. Or I could actually go into town and observe the natives. I don't know. I'm out of ice cream and deodorant and (Depression mentality) you don't want to be without either in the Summer. Of course... the cats don't mind how I smell as long as I keep the kibble coming. But I think a trip to town would be a good diversion. It would give me something to take photos of besides cats.

I will, of course, be obsessing over the Royal Baby who is due to arrive this week! Weee!

Anyways... so that's what's happening here on the Sixth of July. Hope you're having a great and safe holiday weekend! (except for Wendy in Oz who isn't having a holiday weekend... and in that case, I hope you're just having a great Sunday.)
Love and hugs!

The 5th of July

Two years ago today our duplex got struck by lightning and we had to move. It was a time of real discouragement for me - having been newly diagnosed with all my back issues, struggling to work full time at least one more year to get Austin through school, barely able to function at work and definitely not able to function AFTER work. Thank God for Renters Insurance... we found a new place... they cleaned all the stuff that could be kept and returned it to us at the new place... they gave us an inventory of the items that were lost forever and we were able to be reimbursed. It was a lot of work but it could have been soooo much worse.

Two years ago today is the day that Little Trouble Kitty came into our lives. My Cousin Christie picked him out from a litter at  her vets office... my daughter-in-law Marquee kept him at her house until my friend Tami was able to bring him up from Riverdale to Cleveland for me. And before I ever even laid eyes on him... the fire. I had five minutes to be concerned about a cat. Noway he could go where we were going (Jim and Angie's - Jamie's allergic) so my parents drove up from Riverdale and picked up him and Stubby (and Austin) and took everyone back home with them that night. Ten days later we were moved into the new apartment and I could have my fur babies back home with me. From the moment we settled into the new apartment that kitty was MINE! He has cuddled with me from day one. He is wherever I am. He's a great companion and I love him about as much as you can love any other living thing.

Miss Myrtle Mushroom has survived yet another day in the shady fairy forest land right in front of our house. This picture is blurry because it's raining and if I waited until post-rain -it would be dark.  Tomorrow I'll try to go up in the fairy forest land and get an upclose and personal expose of Myrtle and how she came to stardom in the midst of our front yard. One of her friends lost her top last night... she went from umbrella head to looking like she was carrying a flat sheet of poster board on top of her head... and then... she completely lost her head. It wasn't pretty. That's the thing... we know that Myrtle is only with us for a short time. She will have fulfilled her duty and I know, sadly, that she will be commended back to the earth. From earth she came, to earth she'll return. 

We also have a baby mater hangin' on the vine... praying that it will grow big enough to make it into my belly. I made this one all artistic so you could see JUST the baby mater. 

And then, at the bottom, that's our cucumber plant. I could live on maters and cucumbers all summer and be happy as a lark. Or a crow.... since that's what seems to be nabbin' our nibble's before we get to them. 

The thing about these mountains... this town... these people... is that people are real. They grow their food in their yard. They share with neighbors. They aren't trying to be trendy, hipster folks... they're just country folks feeding their families the same way their grandparents and great-grandparents did. I'm a lousy gardener but I totally support the importance of having one, of supplementing what we can buy in the store - with no knowledge of what kind of farm system grew it, not knowing what type of soil, what type (if any) chemicals they put on it. The taste of home-grown vs. store bought is unbelievable! I just can't wait for this little garden to start growing my dinner!

Speaking of eating... I finally got my food stamps approved and although it was a heckuva pain in the rear to wait on hold for over an hour, get approved and then since I didn't have the little EBT card where they load your benefits, I had to order one. And since once, in 2000, when I was out of work and the kids' dad wasn't paying child support and it was just me and my three boys and the grace of God getting us through, I had one of those cards and lost it... well, apparently, I should have hung on to that card. I would have had it all approved and money loaded today. But since I moved six times since then and suffered a fire in our home two years ago today and lost all kinds of random records... I didn't have that. HECK... I married well, I thought I was never going to have to be poor again. You just never know, do you? When I called to order the new card I had to be able to give them the address they had on file for us at the last time I had this card. It was the trailer. I. COULD. NOT. Remember that address. I mean, it's been 7 years since I moved out... I've slept a few times since then. I wiped my memory of all things trailer park. Since I couldn't give the correct address I have to go to our local DFCS office and get them to authorize the issue of a new card. I put my thinking cap back on and finally remembered... called back... on hold for another fifteen minutes... and got it worked out by giving the correct prior address so now they're mailing the car to me. I should have it soon. In the grand scheme of things, it's not a bad trade off. As long as my income remains under $1500 a month, even after I get the disability, I'll still qualify. So thank you, my friends and family members who are hardworking, taxpaying Americans. I would much rather be free of pain and be able to work but since I can't... I appreciate the generosity and I promise to be a good steward of what has been given me. 

In other news...

Austin is still with Logan. Guess he'll be back Sunday like he said. 

Mama is heading back to Riverdale tomorrow. It will be lonely here without her and the goggies. 

I'm just settled in, trying not to get stressed by all that is involved in the disability process. There's a ton of paperwork that will have to be processed with my attorney next week... all the nitty-gritty of symptoms and problems and drugs I take... there's so much wrong that I feel like it sounds like I'm exaggerating. I wish I was. It's the elephant in the room, wondering if/when the disability will be approved but I'm trying not to let that elephant stink. I'm doing what I can... trusting God for the rest. 

We had a bit of sun today but around 6pm it started raining again. I'm not minding the rain. I mean, I hate that it increases car accidents and causes flooding and that ugly aspect of it but I really like the milder temps. 

I'm really hurting tonight. I think it's time for me to wrap this up and cut it loose. Hope you all have a beautiful, safe weekend. 

Love and hugs!

The 4th of July

Today it rained and the mushroom grew.

And two other mushrooms came to stand alongside of Myrtle in the little forest of our front yard.

I haven't yet named these two but I feel like the old fella on the right isn't long for this world. His umbrella seems to have slipped. The one on the left, however, is in a really secretive, barely visible spot so she may grow large and prosper. It's still raining so, I guess, they'll continue to grow. I'm not ever sure of what combination of soil, water and fertilizer are required for anything to grow and I know even less about mushrooms but for me... my little mushrooms are indications of something of wonder in an environment that otherwise, doesn't change much. The view is gorgeous but it doesn't change much. The mushrooms... they change... and they do it in the midst of unpleasant circumstances. Surely there's some lovely story we can draw from this.

Like I said. It's raining. We didn't do cook-out fare... I made a (really nice) chicken stir-fry with peppers and asparagus and mushrooms over jasmine rice and it turned out well. My Aunt Linda is spending the night at the ole Gant B&B and although we still are limited in the entertainment that we offer, at least we improved on the most recent meal we offered to guests (frozen pizza).  Pop will be home (here) tomorrow night and on Saturday my mom will be heading back to Riverdale with him to catch up on Doctor appointments and work at Vacation Bible School. It will be just me and Austin - or maybe just me - who knows - for the next two weeks. Austin came by today briefly and was in good spirits. This just means that he's disassociating himself from the unpleasantness and will work on a way to bring the subject up again and try to make things happen his way.

As I've frequently mentioned, for me, rain = pain and therefore this day has been uncomfortable but not the worst I've ever had - I did manage to make coffee, empty the dishwasher, load the dishwasher, prepare a meal- I mean, I'm not exactly shooting fireworks off from the dock (as some of our lake neighbors are. in the rain) but I'm getting by ok. I'm functioning. It's sort of like... I've accepted certain things that will not work for me in this season of life (working, sitting for any length of time, for the most part anything social that requires sitting for a long time) but it's real important to me to do what I can do.

Enough about me... check out this little sweetheart:

 it was cool enough to open the windows and little kitty was appreciating the fresh rain cooled air.

Little Trouble Kitty wants to know why I'm in the top floor bedroom with my camera with the light on. We never turn the lights on up there! His head is cocked to the side - we call that "question head".












At any rate... it's been a very quiet, peaceful 4th and I'm grateful for that. Hope yours was everything you hoped.

Love and hugs.

The Third of July

My Mushroom is GROWING! I've decided to name her Myrtle the Mushroom and let her live in our front yard as long as she can. She is obviously more special than any of the other mushrooms growing in the shady wet soil on our slope from the road to the house. I really believe in Myrtle. I think she's unique... one of a kind... special... and I will chart her progress here like my own little mid-Summer science project. You're all welcome to  join in the fun... send me your mushroom photos... who knows? Maybe our mushrooms will hit it off and we'll have baby mushrooms!

The one on the right is from yesterday. You tell how Myrtle has changed in the last day. I'll go out and take another picture at first light (if we have daylight tomorrow... they're saying it's a total washout of a 4th.) Eh. It's not like I was going to find somewhere to sit for hours in the midst of a swarm of sweaty people waiting for thirty seconds of ooooh and ahhhhhh! (If I wanted that, I'd re-enter the dating pool. Just kidding, Pop).

So today we had to play a round of "Reality Bites" with Austin. Initially when he asked if his girlfriend, Leann, could move in with us, there were a ton of stipulations and at that time, she really had nowhere to go. And although she didn't have transportation, she was working with a family member who committed to get her back and forth to work. They were given use of Austin's bedroom (I offered mine and he declined) and I encouraged them to use my living room area in the Whine Cellar for hanging out. My instructions were simple: they were to leave no footprints. I meant that in a literal and figurative way. The upstairs should be totally unchanged at every moment they were not in the process of cooking or washing clothes. Instead... we come home to a stove covered with dirty pots full of grease... a sink full of dishes... clean laundry in baskets waiting to be taken down to their room. They were supposed to carry their weight financially, they had responsibility for keeping the yard up... and then she lost her job. She couldn't find a new job because she didn't have a car. And ultimately, she decided to move to Alabama to live with her dad and get her life in order so that one day in the future she and Austin might be able to have a place of their own. That was two months ago. She's working but miserable living with her dad. Austin hasn't done a durn thing to improve their possibilities. He sleeps until 4pm every day, hangs out with his friends, bums cigarette money from me and has a thousand excuses why he can't apply for jobs (already has applied everywhere in town, nobody's hiring, they can't read his handwriting, etc) and a thousand reasons why he can't so much as cut the grass or wash his own dishes or... you know... act like an adult in any sort of way whatsoever.

Last night I prayed that God would bring about change in his life... that Austin would be filled with a desire to grow and learn and be responsible and ambitious and have a plan... and execute that plan... to have his own independent life as a contributing member of society. He's not a bad kid. He's got a sweet and kind heart. When he is motivated, he is a good worker. A mediocre worker at least. He has a great sense of humor and is very loyal to his mom and his Mawmaw.

So today... Austin informs us that Leeann now has money for a bus ticket and the first months rent to live back here with us. I very slowly, measuring my words carefully so as not to incite a riot, said that Leeann cannot live here. It's not about the rent (but yes, my parents so generously give me a roof over my head and keep the utilities on and make sure I don't starve and they do the same for Austin) but truly, it's my parents having to accept responsibility for this young lady. And what if she doesn't find a job here - or gets fired again - how many interruptions in her ability to keep up with their end of the bargain? And how many random people will they bring through our home. Most of their friends are decent people but we don't know them all and we don't know that we can trust them. But the bottom line, the most important thing is that Austin is not mature enough to participate in a cohabiting relationship. If he had been doing everything in his power to a) find gainful employment and b) man up and do everything he can around this house to help Mawmaw and Pop then we would extend a large measure of grace and help them along. Instead we get grumpy, complaining, uncooperative, surly teen whenever there's any chore that we have to remind him about. That's not fair. My parents are finished raising kids. I'm finished raising kids. This is their retirement home. It's not fair for them to have to sacrifice their peace (mine too) for two kids who don't have a clue about how to be good neighbors or even the basic responsibilities of adult humans.

And at the end of the discussion there was a good bit of stomping and door slamming and bitter boy. Aunt Linda and Cousin Devyn came over with a new recliner for us - the kind that raises you up from sitting to standing- and the three boys, Austin, Devyn and Logan took care of that - moving in the new, rearranging the old - and then Austin took off to spend the weekend with Logan - at least until Sunday, he said. And as I've said before, I love my children, I would love to have all of them gathered up to me all the time. I'd love to be the kind of mother that her kids can't stand to be away from but... let's get real... my kids fulfill obligations periodically... they don't seek me out to see how I'm doing or ask if I need anything or whatever. I am apparently too successful at untying the apron strings... because I've gotta tell you... if he's going to come back with that same attitude on Sunday... I don't care if he doesn't come back. Not that I want him gone out of my life forever - I just want him to do whatever it takes to grow up and learn that a man doesn't stay up all night on x-box and wait for his girlfriend to earn enough money to take care of them. A man gets a job, finds solutions for their problems that don't include a free ride from the grands and treats his mother and grandmother with respect. Minus that respect... I just don't have the emotional capacity to deal.

Other than that... it was just another rainy day in paradise.