COLD NOSE
My dog Mattie is my constant companion. She's a black terrier-type pound dog that I rescued from a certain inferno. She is so devoted to me and loves and trusts me without question.
I started my marriage with a black Scottish terrier-type dog named Scooter who lived for 13 yrs. After Scooter died, I waited an entire 5 days to go to the pound and get Gizmo, a black terrier-type pound dog. This worried Lance because he said that if he died that, with calculating the dog years, that I would only wait around about month to replace him. I am curious what point he was trying to make.
I happened upon dog #3, Mattie, when I was on my way to Publix. A dog rescue unit had set up outside the grocery store. I had to look; the dogs were drawing my attention like M & Ms on Halloween night. As I was browsing, I saw a black terrier-type dog. She was wooing me to pet her and play with her and buy her cute little doggie outfits and talk baby talk to her and probably "give her a home where the buffalo roam..." (this is from a show tune.)
So, I dared the impossible, I called home to ask Lance what his thoughts were on getting a second dog. He had previously told me that he was a one-dog man and that if we were to get another dog, I'd have to give up one of the kids. (Hmmmm...something to think about). So the call home was to see if God had given Lance a little wisdom on his dog policy. Gee, Lance was in a golf tournament and not home and couldn't be reached by phone. Hmmmm...who should I ask next? I chose my daughter, McKenna, who was a dog nut like I was. I told her to bring Gizmo, dog #2 to the store and if Gizmo tried to eat the little dog, it would be a no, BUT, if Gizmo didn't eat this little hot dog, then it must mean by divine judgment that we NEEDED another dog.
OK. Skip the gnashing of teeth by Lance. God had clearly deemed that He wanted us to SAVE a doggie soul from the fiery furnace. We named her Mattie and she has been my constant companion since the day I came home with her.
She follows me from room to room. She sits behind me when I'm working on the computer or eating at the dining room table. She sits on top of the sofa and puts her head on my shoulder when I am watching TV. She sleeps like a hyphen (horizontally) between Lance and me. But my favorite thing she does is that when she follows me, she is so close to me that she touches each of my calves with her COLD NOSE. It's step, touch (cold nose), step, touch (cold nose), step, touch (cold nose).
She is always so close to me that I feel her presence. That got me to thinking that I wish I would be so close and in step with God that I was with his every step. Maybe, that is something that I should strive for...God-step; follower step; cold nose--God-step; follower step; cold nose...
Until next time,
Mama Chick
Monday, August 28, 2006
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Blog Bog
I'm a little "bogged" down about writing a "blurb" on my "blog" today, mainly because i feel like a "blob".
Life has changed for me quite a bit this year. I have just come off one of the busiest years of my life and now i'm living in one of the slowest years. I'm living with no kids at home anymore, a job change, a new, "what's my purpose now? kinda time.
I've been several things throughout my adult years. I started in public relations at a hospital and then in PR at United Way of Delaware. I've dressed up as cartoon characters and marched in parades. I made odd things out of felt, glue, and cardboard before one could virtually buy anything on the internet, i interviewed, wrote articles and radio shows to highlight a featured person or agency. I made brochures the old fashioned way by literally cutting and pasting.
A few years later, became a preschool teacher. I did that for awhile and then I became a music and drama teacher. Most of the time, I was just filling a need, either for a friend or an inherent, deep down need of my own to change or evolve. I am either directionless or I have too many interests and can't narrow down one career for a lifetime.
When I moved to N. Augusta, I worked as an artist-in-residence in CSRA schools teaching drama and creative writing. I've taught seminars in personalities, budget decorating, organization and marriage.
So now as i contemplate what I want to do now, the only thing i feel i have left is to be a school crossing guard or say"my pleasure" and work at Chic-Fil-A. I really wish I had made a master plan to "be a teacher" or "be a nurse" or "be an airline pilot" or "be an international spy", but i didn't do that. So here i am after twenty something years of working, wondering what i want to be when i grow up.
Maybe i'll be a cowgirl...a trapeze artist...a clown (no, clowns scare me). I'll take any suggestions.
Until next time...mamachick
I'm a little "bogged" down about writing a "blurb" on my "blog" today, mainly because i feel like a "blob".
Life has changed for me quite a bit this year. I have just come off one of the busiest years of my life and now i'm living in one of the slowest years. I'm living with no kids at home anymore, a job change, a new, "what's my purpose now? kinda time.
I've been several things throughout my adult years. I started in public relations at a hospital and then in PR at United Way of Delaware. I've dressed up as cartoon characters and marched in parades. I made odd things out of felt, glue, and cardboard before one could virtually buy anything on the internet, i interviewed, wrote articles and radio shows to highlight a featured person or agency. I made brochures the old fashioned way by literally cutting and pasting.
A few years later, became a preschool teacher. I did that for awhile and then I became a music and drama teacher. Most of the time, I was just filling a need, either for a friend or an inherent, deep down need of my own to change or evolve. I am either directionless or I have too many interests and can't narrow down one career for a lifetime.
When I moved to N. Augusta, I worked as an artist-in-residence in CSRA schools teaching drama and creative writing. I've taught seminars in personalities, budget decorating, organization and marriage.
So now as i contemplate what I want to do now, the only thing i feel i have left is to be a school crossing guard or say"my pleasure" and work at Chic-Fil-A. I really wish I had made a master plan to "be a teacher" or "be a nurse" or "be an airline pilot" or "be an international spy", but i didn't do that. So here i am after twenty something years of working, wondering what i want to be when i grow up.
Maybe i'll be a cowgirl...a trapeze artist...a clown (no, clowns scare me). I'll take any suggestions.
Until next time...mamachick
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Don't Walk
There are rule followers and rule breakers. I look like and sometimes act like a rule breaker, but I'm actually a rule follower. When the traffic light blinks,
Don't walk...Don't walk...Don't walk; I don't. Even if there's no traffic. I act like it's one of the 10 Commandments. Keep off the grass; express lane--10 items or less; one coupon per customer; kids meals for 12 and under...
Well, last week I started out following a rule and then...
I'm working on a project for or chicks women's retreat. One of the items to giveaway is a black/white marbled composition notebook. It will be cover with a cute "chicks" material. But first, I needed to get the notebooks so we could make the covers...160 of them. Usually, the books cost around $1.50-1.99 a piece, but since this was back to school time, they were on sale for 50 cents. How could I pass up this bargain? The problem was that the ad said that the limit was 10 per customer. They had a rule: Limit 10 per customer.
Day 1
The first day I went to KMart and got ten notebooks (the legal limit); I took them to the car. Then I went back in and bought ten more notebooks and checked out through the garden entrance; I took those to the car. I went back in and got ten notebooks and checked out with a different cashier; I took those to the car, but then I got nervous and thought that the notebook police were watching me so I went home with thirty notebooks.
Day 2
Eckerd's also had theirs on sale. I went to the Eckerd's in North Augusta and bought all they had--37 notebooks.
Day 3
I went to Eckerd's in Augusta. I bought all they had--3.
Day 4
I went to K-Mart in Augusta. I was back to the ten limit rule. I went in the front door, bought 10 notebooks and took them to the car. I went back in and bought 10 more notebooks and checked out with another cashier; I took those to the car. It was hot that day and it felt like a battle so I decided to throw caution to the wind and just load up the cart with the number of notebooks I still needed, face possibly going to "over the limit notebook" jail. I wheeled up a cartload of the composition books and held my breath. The cashier didn't even balk, question, or call on the intercom for help. He just totaled my bill, swiped my card and let me go. He didn't even care about the limit. I had spent four days working on covert operations. I had lost sleep about if I'd be able to get all the books I needed. I could have just bought them all the first day without any antics. But then, that wouldn't be a good story unless, of course, I was returning to my car and walked while the Don't Walk sign was flashing.
Until next post or something else wacky happens.
mamachick
There are rule followers and rule breakers. I look like and sometimes act like a rule breaker, but I'm actually a rule follower. When the traffic light blinks,
Don't walk...Don't walk...Don't walk; I don't. Even if there's no traffic. I act like it's one of the 10 Commandments. Keep off the grass; express lane--10 items or less; one coupon per customer; kids meals for 12 and under...
Well, last week I started out following a rule and then...
I'm working on a project for or chicks women's retreat. One of the items to giveaway is a black/white marbled composition notebook. It will be cover with a cute "chicks" material. But first, I needed to get the notebooks so we could make the covers...160 of them. Usually, the books cost around $1.50-1.99 a piece, but since this was back to school time, they were on sale for 50 cents. How could I pass up this bargain? The problem was that the ad said that the limit was 10 per customer. They had a rule: Limit 10 per customer.
Day 1
The first day I went to KMart and got ten notebooks (the legal limit); I took them to the car. Then I went back in and bought ten more notebooks and checked out through the garden entrance; I took those to the car. I went back in and got ten notebooks and checked out with a different cashier; I took those to the car, but then I got nervous and thought that the notebook police were watching me so I went home with thirty notebooks.
Day 2
Eckerd's also had theirs on sale. I went to the Eckerd's in North Augusta and bought all they had--37 notebooks.
Day 3
I went to Eckerd's in Augusta. I bought all they had--3.
Day 4
I went to K-Mart in Augusta. I was back to the ten limit rule. I went in the front door, bought 10 notebooks and took them to the car. I went back in and bought 10 more notebooks and checked out with another cashier; I took those to the car. It was hot that day and it felt like a battle so I decided to throw caution to the wind and just load up the cart with the number of notebooks I still needed, face possibly going to "over the limit notebook" jail. I wheeled up a cartload of the composition books and held my breath. The cashier didn't even balk, question, or call on the intercom for help. He just totaled my bill, swiped my card and let me go. He didn't even care about the limit. I had spent four days working on covert operations. I had lost sleep about if I'd be able to get all the books I needed. I could have just bought them all the first day without any antics. But then, that wouldn't be a good story unless, of course, I was returning to my car and walked while the Don't Walk sign was flashing.
Until next post or something else wacky happens.
mamachick
Monday, August 07, 2006
August 3rd or 4th
Boiled Okra and Tomatoes
Last week I had lunch with my father-in-law at an assisted living house. He invited me, had a special table set up for the two of us and pulled out my chair in chivalrous fashion. My father-in-law's name is Mr. Thweatt, Mr. T., for short, and he's 94, almost 95 years old.
I am amazed by him. In April this year, Lance's mother, Mr. T's wife, died after many complication from a heart bypass. She had the bypass in October and never really got the quality of life she wanted.
A few months after is when Mr. T. decided to go into assisted living, and not because he can't function, but because he decided that it would ease everyone's mind to know that there were people around to help him at all times. He still has his house four blocks away; we can it his vacation house. He visits it several times a week.
Mr. T. has decided to buy a new computer and learn email and web surfing. He has decorated his room with golf and Braves memorabilia. He bought a bookcase and put it together himself. Then he bought a desk and was in the process of putting it together when I went to visit him. His son asked him why he didn't pay to get it put together and he said that he has plenty of time and it would save him $75.
That's how I want to be as I get older...Useful, excited for each day to come, learn something new. I have been taught by Mr. T. and also another family member from my growing up years.
When I was young, we would often go to Oklahoma City to visit my great aunt Ollie. She was full of life although her life was not full. She married at age 15 at 6 a.m to her first husband. The traveling preacher came through town at that time and so that's why the early wedding. After the wedding, they each went to work. Her husband then died when she was 30. She lived with family members for several years until she turned 60. That's when she married Mr. Miller who basically wanted someone to cook and clean for him. After his death, she moved to our small town and lived in a little apartment.
As a high school student, I went to visit her about once a week. One of the times she had just finished fixing her lunch and asked me to eat with her...It was boiled okra and tomatoes. I couldn't hurt her feelings so I decided to spin the food around and make yummy sounds so it would seem like I had eaten some. It, possibly, was the worst meal in my life. It makes me gag to think of it.
Every time I got ready to go from my weekly visits, Aunt Ollie wanted to give me something, anything, it was her way of thanking me for coming over. Many times, it was a pretty card that someone had sent her. Sometimes it was two or three postage stamps so I could write someone. She liked it best when i would just sit and watch the Billy Graham crusade or PLT with Jim and Tammy Baker with her.
What I know from these two elderly people I admire is that to be productive to the end, I must do the following:
1. Face the facts--Mr. Thweatt faced the fact that he needed to be looked after for meals and medical problems so he placed himself in the assisted living.
2. Learn something new--Mr. T. decided to learn the computer at 94.
3. Do what we can for ourselves--he still had the ability to put a desk together and so he did.
4. Do what we have to do without griping--Ollie got married at 15 and then went to work and later accepted her place to basically be Mr. Miller's maid and cook.
5. Give what we have--I never left Ollie's house without getting some kind of trinket.
I pray that God will remind me to live like this now, and then maybe later it will be ingrained into me. It's never too early to have the wisdom of the old.
Until next post,
J-lou aka Mama Chick
Boiled Okra and Tomatoes
Last week I had lunch with my father-in-law at an assisted living house. He invited me, had a special table set up for the two of us and pulled out my chair in chivalrous fashion. My father-in-law's name is Mr. Thweatt, Mr. T., for short, and he's 94, almost 95 years old.
I am amazed by him. In April this year, Lance's mother, Mr. T's wife, died after many complication from a heart bypass. She had the bypass in October and never really got the quality of life she wanted.
A few months after is when Mr. T. decided to go into assisted living, and not because he can't function, but because he decided that it would ease everyone's mind to know that there were people around to help him at all times. He still has his house four blocks away; we can it his vacation house. He visits it several times a week.
Mr. T. has decided to buy a new computer and learn email and web surfing. He has decorated his room with golf and Braves memorabilia. He bought a bookcase and put it together himself. Then he bought a desk and was in the process of putting it together when I went to visit him. His son asked him why he didn't pay to get it put together and he said that he has plenty of time and it would save him $75.
That's how I want to be as I get older...Useful, excited for each day to come, learn something new. I have been taught by Mr. T. and also another family member from my growing up years.
When I was young, we would often go to Oklahoma City to visit my great aunt Ollie. She was full of life although her life was not full. She married at age 15 at 6 a.m to her first husband. The traveling preacher came through town at that time and so that's why the early wedding. After the wedding, they each went to work. Her husband then died when she was 30. She lived with family members for several years until she turned 60. That's when she married Mr. Miller who basically wanted someone to cook and clean for him. After his death, she moved to our small town and lived in a little apartment.
As a high school student, I went to visit her about once a week. One of the times she had just finished fixing her lunch and asked me to eat with her...It was boiled okra and tomatoes. I couldn't hurt her feelings so I decided to spin the food around and make yummy sounds so it would seem like I had eaten some. It, possibly, was the worst meal in my life. It makes me gag to think of it.
Every time I got ready to go from my weekly visits, Aunt Ollie wanted to give me something, anything, it was her way of thanking me for coming over. Many times, it was a pretty card that someone had sent her. Sometimes it was two or three postage stamps so I could write someone. She liked it best when i would just sit and watch the Billy Graham crusade or PLT with Jim and Tammy Baker with her.
What I know from these two elderly people I admire is that to be productive to the end, I must do the following:
1. Face the facts--Mr. Thweatt faced the fact that he needed to be looked after for meals and medical problems so he placed himself in the assisted living.
2. Learn something new--Mr. T. decided to learn the computer at 94.
3. Do what we can for ourselves--he still had the ability to put a desk together and so he did.
4. Do what we have to do without griping--Ollie got married at 15 and then went to work and later accepted her place to basically be Mr. Miller's maid and cook.
5. Give what we have--I never left Ollie's house without getting some kind of trinket.
I pray that God will remind me to live like this now, and then maybe later it will be ingrained into me. It's never too early to have the wisdom of the old.
Until next post,
J-lou aka Mama Chick
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