Randomosity (things about me) from March 26th, 2011🤣

Waiting on my last client of the day (I had 15 minutes on my hands), I started scrolling through my "Memories" on FaceBook. It's always fun to see what was happening this day last year and up to however many years one has been on FaceBook. I Can't believe gas prices were as high as $3.39 (#29), 13 years ago!!! 😳

It's interesting to me that 13 years ago I was thinking about my mother, hoping I was something like her (#9). It was just the 8th of this month that I wrote a blog post asking that question. It's titled Am I Anything Like Her?

Read on...

RANDOMOSITY:

Rules: Once you have been tagged you are suppose to write a note with 30 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end choose 30 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you it's because I want to know more about you. Just quit the internal whining and do it. (To do this go to notes on your profile page, Paste these instructions in the body of the note type your 30 random things, tag 30 people, then click publish.

1. I can't believe my daughter asked me to do this.

2. I don't know if I really know myself that well...

3. I have a secret. Not sure how long THAT will last.

4. I have a bad habit of leaving my clothes on the arm of the love seat.

5. One of the goals in my life is to "go out strong."

6. I love it when my husband actually listens to what I am saying. And then responds.

7. I do not like being pacified. I would rather hurt and know the truth, than to be spared pain.

8. I hope it's raining the day God calls me home.

9. I hope some part of me is like my mother. There are times I would love to sit down with her and just listen to what's on her mind.

10. I have decided life is what you make it. You can turn situations around if given the opportunity and permission.

11. Seasons change. That's actually good. They are not the same. They are different...yet each one holds life and death.

12. There is a very real possibility that the Boston Fern is my favorite plant. Along with the Asparagus Fern, the Gardenia, and the plant with the tiny blooms and the end of a very tall, skinny stem...that I don't have a clue to what their name is.

13. My husband thinks I'm beautiful.

14. I love Phantom of the Opera and Chicago and Les Miserabe and Kenny G and Il Divo.

15. I have met the mental giant that decided that bathroom doors should open inward instead of outward. He said there would be way too many law suits if they swung outward. He thought too many people would pretend to be using the potty, just to lay in wait for their next victim. Open door, human falls to floor with broken nose.

16. I have a picture of myself at 28 years old, sitting on my jewelry chest, to remind me of who I am. The mirror lies.

17. I think I have the beginnings of arthritis in my left arm.

18. I actually like who I am. That has not always been the case.

19. I suppose 24 hours is still the same amount of time as it has always been. Yet, for some reason, I think God has commanded the earth to turn at a greater rate of speed so that 24 hours is now about the equivalent of 12, in years gone by, time.

20. I enjoy the memories of taking the girls to Silver Dollar City in Branson, MO.

21. I don't enjoy the memory of Dennis & I and LeRoy and Jani going to Silver Dollar City. WARNING: After reaching the age of 50, never get on a tilt-a-whirl whose seats face each other...'cause somebody has to sit riding backwards. And should that be you,  this may cause you to be VERRRRYYYY sick! For hours...

22. I was FFA Sweetheart my Junior year. I think it was fixed.

23. I love seeing my girls smile, hear them laugh, and yes...I still have the notes they wrote to me when they were very young. Well, actually...I have EVERY note/letter they have written to me.

24. I wish I had been kinder and more serving to my sister that got on my nerves.

25. I greatly dislike a runny nose.

26. It really tests my patience for people to drive 30 in a 55 limit, no passing zone, for 30 minutes and then stop in the middle of  high traffic, to make a non-signaled turn.

27. Every morning, I eat Honey Nut Cheerios with a sprinkle (or three) of walnuts, covered in Fat Free Milk (from Brahms) and have 2-3 cups of coffee.

28. I wish the crazy, weird things would stop happening at the shop.

29. Gas prices in Miami, OK.? $3.39

30. The biggest job (outside of being a parent) I have tackled? Decluttering!

Now wasn't that interesting? 😉😉😂 I probably could do a 2024 edition if you'd like. 🤣🤣😂

Until I find something more interesting to talk about, here you will find me, randomly waiting...in Mary's World.

Time and It's Stored Memories

They say that as one ages, memories are all they have left. I'm not so sure I agree with that, exactly. But, most definitely memories are, on many days, front and center of my thoughts. 

This one, for instance. It was in the year of 1986, taken at our very small church gathering to celebrate something or another. I think we looked for things to celebrate back then. 😁

This was taken about 3 months, or so, after B.F. Goodrich closed their doors in Miami, Oklahoma, and Dennis had just landed a job at Walmart that paid $11 LESS (on the hour) than what Goodrich had been paying him at the time they decided to get rid of one of their tire manufacturing places. His beginning pay at Walmart was a mere $3 (and some odd cents), per hour. Miami took a hit that almost turned them into a ghost town when B.F. Goodrich closed its doors. Seriously! It took the town a few years to recover, because many of the residents of this small Northeastern town worked for B.F.Goodrich. They were the highest paying employer for miles around and it kept our economy booming.

After the loss of that job, our backs were up against a wall, so-to-speak, so I had to reopen my salon, known as Mary's Place. I cried for a solid week. Every day, as I prepared the relaunch of the salon, my heart broke into a million pieces. I had closed the salon just a few days before Lindsey made her way into this world, and we had decided I should be a full time mom. Now, 4 years later, I was having to choose business over cuddling and playing with my girls. Still, the added work just wasn't enough, even though we had been humbled as we accepted Food Stamps to provide the bare necessities of life with 2 little people depending on us. Dennis needed a job! It took a while. Yet, while others were claiming bankruptcy, losing their homes, divorces invading the once secure families, and men refusing to work for under $14 an hour (that was a lot back in the day), Dennis was protecting his. As was I.

The girls were just getting used to their dad without all his facial hair, when the above pic was taken. "No beards," was one of Walmarts rules if you wanted to work for them. That changed over the years, and D.W. grew his beard back to look more like himself, as the first "okay" came down the pike. I remember the tears coming from Lindsey and Meg when they first saw his shaven face. I think they must have been a bit confused as to how he sounded like their daddy, but looked nothing like him. His (now gone) prickly whiskers caused them to doubt his words. Meghan cried a little harder, as Lindsey took a couple of steps back away from this strange looking man, that looked more like a very tall boy, who claimed to be her daddy. If Lindsey wanted nothing to do with him, Meghan sure didn't! She wasn't falling for that bag of tricks.

It's been said that pictures are worth a thousand words, and that pictures don't lie. Pictures do lie. We were just holding it all together, smiling as if nothing was wrong, when the above picture was taken. But, we DID get through that very trying time, and many other trying times (with a different twist) have come our way since then. I suppose the moral of this story would be to always look forward, pull yourself up by your boot straps, and forge onward, until that brighter day comes towards you. Reach for it, pray for it, stand steady while waiting, doing all you know to do, and grab it when it comes! Because it WILL come!

See? We made it!!! 

Left to right: Lindsey w/daughter Warner, Me (Grams), Meg w/daughter Reagan, and Dennis (Gramps). Look how we've changed over the years! I suppose we should get a picture of our entire family, right? It's really, really, hard getting all 10 of us in the same place at the same time. Maybe next blog post...

Until then, here you will find me...in Mary's World.

Am I Anything Like Her?

My morning walk took me back to my growing up years. The last couple of days have brought my emotions to a quiet reckoning. Emotions I haven't felt in awhile. Emotions that brought tears to my eyes, and because it's only me on the walk, I let them have their way. 

I wondered what her life had been like. If she was happy. Did she have moments of sadness that tried to overtake her? How on earth did she raise 10 kids?!!! Was she able to spend any amount of time with them, or was she constantly doing the work that needed done to raise those little ones? That's how I remember her. Always busy with providing for us. Maybe she was able to spend time with the first 5, but I don't remember ever having time with just her. I don't recall being read to, snuggled, or purposefully taught anything, other than how to survive by putting in the work. Maybe all those things happened. I just don't recall them. But, oh how I loved my momma!

Do I act like her? Would anyone that knew my momma say that I reminded them of her? I'm pretty sure I'm more aggressive than she was. She seemed so shy, quietly going about her household duties that included planting and caring for a huge garden and harvesting it, taking care of the hen house, the cooking (from scratch, no less), and cleaning. Doing all that laundry, on a scrub board for many years, and eventually a wringer washer, then hanging her labor out on a clothes line to dry. She loved flowers. I do remember that. She cared for them much like a mother cares for her children. She spoke to them. Nurtured them. They were her escape. Looking back, I'm so glad she had one. 

In the knowing of how to get things done, I can lean a bit towards a demanding attitude, even if it's only of myself. I suppose others may misunderstand my thinking patterns and become defensive when asked if something has been done yet. I don't even realize my inquiry is coming off as controlling. Maybe even as if I think lesser of anyone who isn't constantly working. However, I do think I have become more mellow as the years have flown past. You may even find me on any given day, when away from the salon, not doing much of anything. And it drives me crazy! I feel as if I've thrown away a day I've been given to live. I suppose it's in my DNA. But I do try relaxing more these days...

Do I look like her? There are times I catch a glimpse of her in my reflection. Maybe it's because I want to. Maybe I look hard for it. For anything that reminds me of my mom. She was a gentle soul. Me, not so much. I do love with a whole heart, but gentleness has never been used to describe any of my attributes. Can a heart be gentle, yet express demand? There are times I feel as though I'm a mix, half and half, of dad and mom. Stands to reason. Right? But where does my individuality come into play?

I wish I had her laugh. That is my favorite memory of her. Her laugh. She spoke with gentleness, laced with anxiety at times. The years took their tole on my mom. As they do most of humanity. We change mentally and physically, as the seasons of life come and go. The storms hit us directly in the face, occasionally. They weather us. Right? They grow us up, so-to-speak. Yet, to see my momma smile and then laugh, was priceless.  

As I rounded the corner of a major roadway, this morning, I felt as though she was walking beside me, telling me how much she loved me. And we spoke about Danny. Dan was/is my brother, born 2 years before me. I've been looking for him for the last several years. Maybe it's been 5, or more. We used to speak with each other at least once a year, but usually 3-4 times a year. He lived in Texas, last contact with him. Mom worried about him so much. He was a runaway at 16 years of age...much too young to be on his own. He did make it through those tumultuous years, married, and had 3 boys. Divorced, Remarried (3 or 4 times), last count. I do wish I could find him. Was mom trying to tell me something about him? Is he with her?

If there is anything in me that is like my mom, it is that she was a big time worrier. Same! I've been accused of looking for things to worry about. That triggers me. Makes me mad, actually. My dad used to say the same thing to my mom. "Why pray when you can worry," he'd say to her. I didn't find that funny then, nor do I now. I do know we should place our trust in the fact that God is for us, and not against us. I do know He is a loving God. I also know that life has its concerns. Its challenges. Its dangers. And even though mercy and grace follow us, we live in a world where it's a bit dangerous to stick our heads in the sand and simply ignore life that is happening all around us.

Would others that knew my mom say we are anything alike? How much of her was passed down to me? Because of her, I live. What part of her is me? She's been gone from this earth since March 19th, 1980. Born in the year that Oklahoma became a state (1907), she was only 73 years old when she left it. I miss her. What a beautiful soul...

Reminiscing, here you'll find me...in Mary's World.