Booty recall.

The booty is better. This is what I woke up singing today...



Ohmygosh. This feeling is great. Less pain. Movements are less restricted. Ahhhh.

Snaps from the morning...

Mums. From my yard. 

Chalk board by laundry room door. It usually holds seasonal messages. 

***

Good vibrations going on this weekend. Besides mine. 

Good karma all around. Hope some is heading your way, too.

Be sweet. 

Crazy 8's.

Our Tucker. 

Happy birthday to this guy...

We love you, T-bone. 

Memorial Day.

At the expense of redundancy I find these photos worth repeating. They were taken several years ago on the occasion of our visit to Sister that lives in Virginia, Amanda. (Pronounced a-mon-da). She and her husband gave us the 50 cent tour of D.C. It was a whirlwind kind of day. I don't think I can even begin to explain the emotions the day evoked. I didn't know. I didn't know that it would strike so deep inside of me. Seeing the memorials all around the city. We did homage to my Dad by visiting the WWII Memorial and taking this snap by the Memorial to the Okinawa Campaign, where Dad spent part of the war. 

My Dad. Forever a member of The Greatest Generation. 

Forever my hero. 

The Vietnam Memorial brought me to tears. Mr. Macho found three names of young men from our community whose lives were cut short by this war. The Wall. I didn't know it would be so powerful.

This scene. Snapped by so many tourist every day. And yet. I had to record it for myself. Once again, a very emotional response to the magnitude of sacrifice. It will take away your breath. 

Dignified homage. 

At this juncture I feel compelled to copy this speech...

Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate, we can not consecrate, we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

***

Let there be peace on earth. And let it begin with me. 

Pearls and Pajamas.

I am back from a trip to the motherland. Well. A trip to my mother's house. My nephew, that resides in Dallas, got married this past weekend. All of my siblings, except my older brother, attended the wedding. I opted to spend the weekend with Mom - and celebrate the wedding with her. My being with her allowed others to relax and enjoy the weekend. Plus. It was a much needed few days of R&R for my old back.

I drove down through rainy weather on Wednesday. The back was tired but ice packs, Advil, and frequent stops kept me from being miserable.

On Thursday Mom and I visited Dad's grave since it was his birthday. He would have been 94. 

May 15. 

It was a gorgeous day. On the cool side. We sang the Happy Birthday song to Dad. 

Friday we visited with Mom's sisters. They are some lively gals. 

Saturday. I went to secure the petite fours for our wedding celebration party and lo and behold the hot crawfish were right there inside the grocery store just begging me to take them home. So I did. Even though the good general, Tso, had made his chicken for us - Mom and I ate a few of the mudbugs as appetizers before we put them in the fridge for Sunday dinner. 

***

The Party.

We giggled. One glass and Mom was all, "I'm feeling heavy!" We texted some of our poses to sisters that were in attendance at the wedding. And...

...they texted us back theirownselves. 

Brother Pete had called us on Face Time and gave us a tour of the reception venue grande ballroom prior to the wedding. Mom so appreciated that and we both enjoyed the fun snaps that came our way that let us know Benjamin was indeed married!

And they lived happily ever after. 

These moments.

The offspring returned to the nest to help celebrate Mother's Day. The time spent with them is too full to appreciate all the details while it is happening. Oh my.  I breath them in.  When they leave they take my oxygen. The quiet wake is left. I linger in the small reminders that remain. Misplaced toys. Fingerprints on the glass. 

Oh. This is not melancholy. This is joy. I am happy to be breathless. Breathless and stretched. 

All good. 

***

You are cordially invited to a tour of my yard flowers, all abloom. 

My Daddy amaryllis. There are four trumpets on the one stem. 

I have this one positioned so that I see it from my kitchen window and from my laundry room door. 

It shouts my Daddy's love every time I pass. 

This one I call my "Martin Luther King, Jr." cactus. Some call it "Christmas". Others, "Thanksgiving". But I call it for when it bloomed the most for me. And this year that was on MLK, Jr. Day. This random single bloom was a surprise. 

Second quartet of pink amaryllis. Dahlia in the forefront.  Something loves to nibble on my dahlias. So I am liberal with the Selvin Dust. 

Look what showed her face today!! My day lilies are full, full, full of buds. I think these came from Uncle Dick's yard. They are thriving next to Mr. Macho's shop.

*****

Am still recouping from the back thang. Getting better. I am most appreciative of the painless moments. I find myself celebrating them. Not in a big way. But celebrating, nonetheless. 

Peace out. 

I am Joe's hip.

Did you ever read the Reader's Digest? I did. I used to read articles with titles like this..."I am Joe's spleen" or "I am Joe's kidney"...and the article would explain about the body part. 

I went to the chiropractor yesterday and back today for my first "treatment". It is very interesting. First I want to share my x-rays...

The hips. Looking from the back so you can see the left hip is higher than the right and see the slight curve in the spine.

Also having some slight curving up high...not too bad...but adds to the overall muscle strains tending to the left side.

So. The treatment. First room. The table was standing up and I stood in front of it. The table laid down with me on it. The doctor said my right leg was 1/2 shorter than my left. Then the doctor adjusted me with the instrument...the Activator. She placed it on my back in many different spots and it made a quick pop. It did not hurt.  This is supposed to get my spine started back in the right alignment. 

After that they hooked me up to a neat muscle stimulator that felt like a good massage. For 10 minutes. Not nearly long enough. I could have fallen asleep if they had just let me lie down. The girl asked if it was biting me yet. Heavens no, honey, turn that joker on high and let 'er rip! Then I lay on a massage table that rolled my back out pretty good. Then they sold me a good pillow, took my money, and said "see ya tomorrow!" 

Yep. I am going back. I am in this. 

Bring on the snake oil. 

Girl interrupted.

That is just what I am. My life is on hold while I am waiting for this back "thang" to get better. Today is two weeks that this back "thang" has been happening. Not being able to exercise and do my day-to-day functions on a normal basis are making me feel "cabin fever - stir crazy". The back is better - spasm have subsided and I can move without fear of it seizing up - the pain can now be found shooting down the leg. I can't really go out and do things because I hurt. Now. Having said that, I have gotten things done around the house. After each chore I sit and recuperate. I have washed clothes, vacuumed, put up winter clothes, changed sheets and towels, steam mopped...not without the pain down the leg, though.  I tried to take a walk this morning and had to cut it down to one lap - and even that was done through the pain, thinking it would stop any minute.
My back "talks" to me when I sneeze or cough.
I am so adverse to seeing a doctor when I am hurting. I know. It's crazy. I guess it is the fear of bad news. I have gone way outside my comfort zone and have made an appointment to see a chiropractor in the morning. This is an adventure. I have never been to a chiropractor before. I am really kind of excited...hoping he can relieve this back "thang". And. Just plain old curious as to what a chiropractor actually does.
My adventures have been nipped in the bud this week. But. I will report back to you on any "adjustments".
Be sweet.

Thursday thoughts.

Ah. The back. Let me tell you what. I got kinda scared on Monday. After nearly a week of spasms and pretty severe pain, I was beginning to panic about how bad it felt. Was afraid that it was going to be a permanent injury. Naproxin, Thermacare wraps, ice, muscle relaxer, heating pad, sports cream, plus rest = finally starting to be able to stand up and sit down in an almost normal cadence. Yesterday I noticed in the mirror that I look like I have scoliosis. One week of walking with pain has made me look lopsided. This back thing is going to effect me. I am already feeling behind in doing spring yard things. I am having to opt out of the Tuesday morning babysitting (that was a contributing factor in this back episode!) My Loaves and Fishes Ministry will have to get along without me this month. Dance lessons are iffy.
The relief of getting better is huge. I hope to be back to my routine in a week or so. I hope.

How did I get to Thursday so fast? And May?! How did May slip up on me??? April went out with a bang. While I was laying low with the bad back on Monday, tornadoes ripped through neighboring towns.  Our very own little city/county was not exempt from the damage. Trees were felled, homes were obliterated, lives were lost. And now. Friends and strangers alike are reaching out. Its what we do here. We give. We help. We clean up. We donate. We cook and feed. We comfort. We open our doors and our hearts. Our state is tops when it comes to being generous. That's us. Mississippi. Land that I love.

Festivals abound this time of year. In these parts. And so it is in our little village. Mr. Macho will skip it this year, opting to mow his Dad's big yard, instead. Depending on how the back is feeling, I may go walk around Main Street for a quick "look-see". On Saturday. Saturday night our Tucker will make his First Communion. We will be present. To celebrate with him. God bless him.

Be sweet.