Aaaaaahhhhhh! Kickin' my feet UP!

Teacher workdays are history now. Time to put my feet up for a bit and just exhale! I am so blessed...that's all I can really think right now...I am so blessed. With no more time than we were allotted...my room is 99% DONE! My coworkers (younger and fitter) offered to do the climbing work that needed to be done. My brother "flipped desks" and got it all started...and then...just when I was wondering how the finishing touches would appear...there stood Ricky. He was off work early today and came on up to the "schoolhouse" (as he says) and sprayed and wiped and "mechaniced" and sorted and straightened and even went back over a spot if I noticed he "missed it"! (Didn't even react to my fussiness!) Now, my job is to appreciate all the hard work others provided by gettin' in there and doin' the best job I know how...still, I will need other hands and eyes and minds and hearts to accomplish what always seems like an overwhelming task. God is Good...ALL the time. Lord, teach me to be still and let You have Your way so that I can fulfill Your purpose. Amen.

Thursday Thoughts...

Hey! Today is NOT Thursday, it's Friday. What happened to Thursday? That's when I usually post. Yesterday was a good day. OB visit with Amy and then home to put up some really pretty yellow ruffly curtains in Dottie and Ada's room. Bryan hung the rod, Amy ironed the curtains and I did my "GiGi" job...ooohed,aahed and mildly supervised...Those yellow curtains are like the sun coming up in that room...providing just the right amount of warmth and light. It's already turning into a place where you wanna sit and rock...and sing...and coo...and snuggle!

Blah, Blah, Blahgggg!

I guess I really shouldn't write while I'm in a brain fog...or that trying to wake up and get going mode...but here it goes! Reality Check! School starts for ME 2 weeks from THIS day! I must have had lotsa fun this summer because it has FLOWN! It began with a wonderful time filled with sun, sand, and friendship. Read some really, really good books (a few so-so) and spent some time sorting out feelings from the past year. OH, and did I mention that I bought the first season of Glee to view whenever I choose! I am a fan...without fail...who fell asleep at some point during each and every episode!!! All things considered though...preparing to be "GiGi" for the FIRST time; getting ready to meet Dottie and Ada is more exciting than WORDS!!! But...like any life changing event for the Brown household...that requires swapping out furniture. When I returned home from the beach this year...my house already had been dismantled. I was "keeping" Laura's furniture for her until she settled into a new place and became quite satisfied with "the look"...bye, bye armoire...bye, bye buffet and china cabinet...bye, bye coffee table...I'm missing you!!! You look good in your new home...but I miss you!!! Now, the difficult part. It's time to move my Mama's furniture and belongings. I keep telling myself when I get over there and get going it will be ok...we'll see. I know she wants us to use things and give those things we cannot use to someone who can...it's just hard...they were Mama's. I'm still waiting for that day when I can talk about her and not cry...hmmm...those who know me know that may NEVER happen! I wish she had said who to give what to...she didn't. She trusted Bubba and me to do the right thing. But it's a HARD thing. Honestly, lots of what is left has no monetary value...but sentimental value is everywhere I look. Someone said. You have lost your best friend. They were not wrong. But oh...how fortunate I am to have Ricky, Amy, Laura, Bubba and their loved ones...my life is FULL...almost...it's just that missing part. Nothing quite fits.

Primo! Lists...

Are you a listmaker? I am. I don't always follow that list. I can get sidetracked on just one item...did I really mean to take ALL those pictures out and just sit and look ... and look ... and look!?! I meant to straighten those boxes and close that cabinet UP! It's a REAL conscious effort to STAY on TASK! I keep making those lists anyway...grocery lists, reading lists, wish lists, to-do lists @ home and @ school - ya know those are never ending and items just follow each other from page to page. There's just something about making a plan...#1. create blog #2. post entries #3. ...

Primo - July!

FIRST day of July? Really?? Turning the page on June this year is a little awkward. This is my Mama's birthday month. She said the night she was born, the 25th of July 1929, it HAILED! I guess her mama and daddy KNEW then what they were facing. Red-headed, self-motivated (translated - firey!), and a daddy's girl would explain Dorothy Tomlin. She told the story of how she spent the entire first grade sittin' in the corner. That teacher must have harnessed that little red-headed force of nature because she graduated from high school as valedictorian of her class. Growing up in rural South Georgia, she picked cotton as a young girl and wrung chickens' necks for pluckin' and cookin' Go ahead, ask anyone in our family...who made the BEST chicken and dumplings? You will the same answer each and every single time. Knowing my Mama only as an adult requires me to use my mind's eye to see her as a little girl...but I'm thinkin'...very soon...I may get to SEE with my own TWO eyes what that little girl was all about. Right, Amy?