Share Your World ~ 2/28/23

Di sets up the questions & I toss in my two cents. HERE are the rules & potential ping back.

1.  Did you attend Sunday School at your local church as a child? No because I went to catholic school, we had religion as a course which just so happened to be the same course taught at Sunday school for anyone who went to public school. We didn’t have to take it twice. Whew! 2/28/23 7:07 PM – CORRECTION – CCD is not the same as Sunday School. Close but no cigar.
2.  Did you attend after school classes ie. drama, sports, as a teenager? I sure did. Starting in 3rd grade I played volleyball & softball with practices after school. In high school, I continued on in volley ball only. My skills in softball were never as good. In 6th, 7th, & 8th grade, I stayed afterschool for Glee Club. In high school, after school activities included pep squad, dance team then cheerleading, & track. We did not have a drama club but I was in the spring play my senior year.
3.  Did you go to evening classes after you had left school? I went to night school/San Antonio College while working during the day. Classes were 6-9 pm on Monday/Wednesday or Tues/Thursday.
4.  Do you now belong to any groups/meetings (ie WI, single (not dating), young Mums, slimming clubs, young wives,  Men’s hobbies ) Not any more, Covid ruined all that & I had just returned to book club around 2019 before the March 2020 shutdowns. I hear they started back up again but our moderator has a different job now. You can’t go home again or something like that. Or everything old is new again. If I didn’t go to work in the office, I’d seriously be a hermit. How very sad. Sometimes I think I should go back to book club or find another hobby. And I will, … just maybe.

Gratitude: Every day is a gift to share I could not agree more. I’m blessed & grateful even while things are not perfect, they are good enough.

As always, more to come.

haiku – shrug & weight ~ 2/27/23

the weight of the world

falls on her tiny shoulders

shrug off all her woes

HERE are the rules and ping back. Written for Ronovan Writes #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge 451 Shrug and Weight

Sunday Reflections: A Week in Review ~ 2/26/23

Last week I reflected without a roll call. After 2 hours, I made the post private. Here in a bit I will change it back to public. Life shared becomes poetry or something deep like that. We are less alone in our struggles & our happiness too for that matter.

I’m waxing philosophical as my mother in law appears to be declining more rapidly than times before this. Her life has become a series of falls, hospitals stays, nursing home stint, now back home. Where she claims she has gone to die. But that Polish stubborn streak keeps her here. Plus my father in law, her true life time love telling her he is not ready for here to go, causes her to hang on. Sad & beautiful all at once. Morbid maybe but I wish they could “The Notebook” out of here.

Yesterday B got a call to come here quick for a “talk”. He went solo but then called me & said come over, it was not what he first thought. So LuLu and I joined him. MoMo was unresponsive … or so they thought. Still breathing but she could be roused. PoPo with B’s help had called hospice but hospice was backlogged so they sent some version of EMS light. The whole scenario was something like this …

LuLu & I enter through the french doors. PoPo is in his chair right next to a sleeping MoMo, B on the couch. PoPo repeats for us how she took a pain pill at 7 AM & has been like “this’ since. He was worried because she couldn’t stay awake like yesterday & the day before that. Neither he or B could wake her up. Seeing her was pretty jarring … the first time for LuLu to see her in neck brace, with gash across forehead, deep bruises covering her face & arms. We’re told hospice is sending someone.

As we wait we try to reassure PoPo that she needs to sleep in order to heal & that a pain pill at 7 AM isn’t overmedicated like the last time. He doesn’t really understand that her pain pill is Tylenol & not even Tylenol 3. Only RX due to the dosage but otherwise can be purchased over the counter. It really isn’t that kind of OXY type pain pill & definitely not causing her lethargy.

EMS comes in all brusque. Why are some of these people helpers ass holes? Not truly, I think you have to be this way or you’d absorb all the pain & not be able to function. He asks if she is full code or DNR? She just signed DNR day before yesterday so she is full code until the papers come back from hospice on Monday.

EMS gets her to wake up, being more forceful than either PoPo or B. He does his assessment & everything is good, All vitals, sugar level, everything. He tells us this could be anything & for peace of mind, he can take her to a hospital (and should since technically full code). Says he gives everyone a freebie though & asks her a series of questions to see if he can circumvent the hospital.

EMS: Ma’am what’s your name?

MoMo in a growl: Hildegard!!!!!!

MoMo smiling: I’m really Mary Alice

EMS: Do you know where you are?

MoMo: My home

EMS: When is your birthday?

MoMo: July 7th

EMS: Are you in pain?

MoMo: Me & pain are best friends. Did they tell you I broke my neck? I never did that before.

EMS: Do you want to go to the hospital?

MoMo: NO! I came home to die!

EMS: Well you aren’t dying today. So you can stay here.

To us he says, she is of sound mind & he must respect her wishes. To call him back if anything changes. He goes on to explain that her sleeping so much is her body healing. This helped since PoPo didn’t really believe us when we said the same. PoPo should watch for labored breathing, fidgeting & other signs of distress but generally sleeping by itself even for long stretches is good considering the trauma she’s been through. He leaves & PoPo tries to kick us out but we stay. He does this because he says he feels guilty that we do too much. We don’t not really & we knew he wanted us to stay.

MoMo: I had a nice life, I want you to know that. You are ALL blessings to me even you Jill. Someone tell me a favorite memory. And Lulu does just that. Then after a while, we leave. Walking back home from their house is always therapeutic. We get to debrief what we went through. Unveil our deepest fears. Me & my wolfpack, only missing Pony.

Then last night went off without a hitch & now we’re back to day by day.

Another Sunday with reflections only but no roll call.

Peace y’all. Until next time. Stay safe.

As always, more to come.

#SLS ~ 2/26/23

The prompt is swamp rock. Thanks Jim for hosting. HERE are the rules & potential ping back. I picked Wayne Toups The Back Door. Songwriter D. L. Menard.

I was first introduced to this song in 1994 when B & I went to Lafayette Louisiana for our 10th anniversary. I fell in love with the sound. We bought the cassette Back to the Bayou & wore it out. Dancing around in our tiny kitchen as we cooked supper. Those were the days my friends. Hope you enjoy.

Moi et la belle on avait été au bal
On a passé dans tout les honky-tonk
On a revenu le lendemain matin
Le jour était après s’casser
J’ai passé dedans la porte d’en arrière

L’après-midi, moi, j’étais au village
Je m’ai saoulé que j’pouvais pus marcher
Ils m’ont ramené back à la maison
Y avait d’la compagnie, c’était du monde étranger
J’ai passé dedans la porte d’en arrière

Mon vieux père, une fois quand j’arrivé
Il essayait de changer mon idée
J’ai pas écouté, moi j’avais trop la tête dure
“Un jour va venir mon neg’, tu vas avoir du regret”
T’as passé dedans la porte d’en arrière

J’ai eu un tas d’amis quand j’avais d’l’argent
À c’t’heure j’ai pus d’argent, ben y venons pus m’voir
J’étais dans l’village et moi, j’m’ai mis dans l’tracas
La loi m’a ramasser, moi, j’suis parti dans la prison
On va passé dedans la porte d’en arrière

Interesting article https://973thedawg.com/five-things-you-dont-know-about-the-most-popular-cajun-song-ever/

As always more to come.

#SoCS ~ 2/25/23

Linda writes Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “prize.” Use it as a noun or a verb; use it any way you’d like. Have fun! Challenge accepted! Let the games begin. HERE are the rules & possible pingback.

See what I did there? Nope? Me either. LOL

Some games have prizes associated with them. I remember well attending church picnics & school carnivals where we’d play games in an attempt to win something. The prize might be a dessert from the cake walk, groceries from the country store, a stuffed animal from the balloon darts, or tchotchke from the fish pond.

I used the word tchotchke in pleasant company recently and the look of confusion on the person I was talking to was priceless. I really do speak in colloquialisms. The charming southerner with northern roots. What a prize am I! Ego much. Now I will end with an acrostic & a song because music is saving my bacon lately.

Precious keepsake

Realized honor

Instant gratification

Zest for life

Earned from hard won fight

As always, more to come.

Friday Feels, Friday Flashback, & Friday Tunes ~ 2/24/23

My feelings are a hodgepodge today folks. My mind it flitting around like a gnat. Flit, flit, flit … or sH!t, sH!t, sH!t … lol

When I looked at posts from this day all the way back to 2017, I found a surprise posted on 2/25/17, the day after today, six years ago. You figure that math out. haha!

Not truly a surprise because I wrote the post but one I had forgotten about making the topic new again. If only WP had a memories feature like the dreaded fauxboo. Yep I’m making up words now. Say it like ya mean it. Faux-boooooooo. I really like being reminded randomly of my healing therapeutic writing. I wasn’t pleased with any offerings on this day though so I skipped the flashback.

To calm the fruit flies or gnats or whatever my thoughts have become, I am centering myself with tunes right now. Two Saturdays ago, Lulu & I road tripped it to Waco & reunited with family, my sister, her girls, my niece’s baby boy, six weeks old. Yes I am a GREAT aunt, emphasis on the GREAT. My other niece’s BF, I really like that kid. Together they are adorable!! My nephews flew in from AZ, one of whom was celebrating his b-day with us. I love these two as well with my whole heart!

As with any road trip, the music makes the ride soothing. A cover of “I Never Promised You a Rose Garden” came on the station 103.5 FM – BOB. We no longer have BOB is SATX, instead we have 102.7 JACK. JACK is no BOB and vice versa despite the less commercials more music from the 70s to today theme. I remember we heard the same song on a prior road trip some years before. The group was Ka-Ko or Ko-Ka or something like that. I made a mental note this time to YouTube the song but sadly all I found was the original sung by Lynn Anderson. Sorry Lynn but boo. Until today that is!!! Gnat thinking for the win!! Here ya go folks … and you’re welcome ❤

As always more to come!

Thursday Thoughts ~ 2/23/23

People who use the corporate buzz words, ugh. Just how does one de-duplicate solutions? Oh my, shall we embark on this journey of de-duplication or shall we put a pin in it so we do not have to drain the slides. Overcomplicated nonsense is still nonsense. That is all.

Wishing you a wonderful Thursday. Happy Friday eve!! Sliding into the weekend head first.

As always, more to come.

OMGoodness ~ 2/22/23

I have had the free plan since my inception here on the good ole WP. Since the site is FREE, the ads are off the charts. I never realized by how much though. Until today that is when sweet Kim filled me in after viewing my #1linerWeds.

I had 30 minutes to spare between meetings & took a look at the upgrade options. For the low, low price of $3.45 a month (yes they got me to take a two year subscription otherwise it’d be $4 a month, paid annually or $9 a month to pay monthly). Woo to the Hoo!!

I get that some people might not have $83 to spend at once but WP really inflates the cost if you pay by month which for the same time would be $216, not $83. For me, this is a splurge!! I’m the proverbial penny pincher, other ‘f’ word aka frugal. The impact was immediate too! No Ads best I can tell. And another bonus is that I have more space for photos!! My real estate has grown. Next I conquer the world. lol

As always, more to come.

#1linerWeds. 2/22/23

I love the icy nature shot with the bright sun that Linda shared with us this morning. I’ve got so many one liners rumbling around in my head. I’ve been reading & my common place book over flows with them. But I will save those for my book club reviews. Today I pick a tried but true warning ..

Your chickens have come home to roost

common idiom first seen in Robert Southey’s 1810 epic poem, The Curse of Kehama

Why so dark Jilly? Well it doesn’t have to be dark as I did a little bit of research. For a chicken, to roost means to settle down for rest or sleep. Going home where you feel comfortable enough to roost sounds pleasant. Like a cocoon. Cuddle bug in a rug. That’s my story & I’m sticking to it.

HERE are the rules & ping back that still may not be working. Hit or miss, mostly miss I think.

As always, more to come.

Share Your World ~ 2/21/23

Thanks for hosting Di!! Time once again for Share Your World. HERE are the rules & hopefully the pingback if whatever is plaguing WordPress gets fixed. Now my two cents worth 1/2 a penny.

1. When food shopping, do you go with a list and stick to it, or buy on the hop? Have you met me yet? LOL I plan & plot EVERYTHING. Definitely a list. I may impulse buy an item (or two) but to enter a grocery store with no list of the weeks’ groceries for the meals we’ve planned wigs me out.
2. When clothes shopping, do you prefer to shop in a store or buy mail order? Ugh, clothes shopping is the bane of my existence. Neither is preferred but mail order never fits so in store as little as possible is my method of choice.
3.    Do you like shopping for shoes? I used to but not any more, see #2 above. Plus with my poor feet I can only wear certain soft sole shoes. Comfort over fashion takes whatever fun there used to be out of it.
4. Do you enjoy shopping alone or with friends/partner? LuLu & I are partners in crime, she usually goes with me.

Gratitude:A gift, no matter how small, can mean the world to the recipient.

I leave you with this meme – gift kindness as often as you can.