Beginnings and Endings

God has blessed me with a new little grandchild. This one makes three! Not bad, considering I didn’t think I would have any. This time HE sent us a little girl!!

                           

 

Kenzie Elizabeth Carleigh Kitchens was born on March 07, 2013, weighing 7 pounds 5 ounces and 20 inches long.

I went to see her today. She is soooooo sweet and cuddly. There is nothing sweeter than a new born baby. Well, except a newborn grandaughter!!!  Ever since she was named, I have been having trouble remembering her name; that is until I first held her.

                           

Since then, it has stuck fast in my heart and soul.

( Her daddy named her Kenzie and I think she already has him wrapped tightly around her tiny little finger. )

Being sick with the crud that has been running like wild fire all over Greene County lately, I forced myself to wait until I was sure that I wouldn’t pass it on to her or the rest of the family. I don’t know what I had, but it knocked me to my knees so to speak and put me in my bed for days. I very seldom miss work, but I missed all three days with this evil stuff.

Little Miss Kenzie was suppose to wait until March 11th, but I guess she decided she was coming when SHE wanted to…which was a week early. When Amanda called me that day and said; “ Mama, I am on the way to the hospital to have the baby”, I was running a 103 degree temperature. Without thinking, I squeaked out, “You can’t… I am sick!” 

So for the first time ever, I could not be with my daughter when she had her baby.

I think I have learned that one of the hardest things a mama can do is force herself to stay away from her child…for her child’s sake. Of course I knew that I could not go to the hospital in the shape I was in…but I cried all that evening that Kenzie was born, all the next day and most of the next. Along with being sick as a dog, I also felt soooooo guilty for not being there for my child when she needed me.

A mama is suppose to be there.

One day when I had to take Amanda to her c-section Pre-op at the hospital, I had the boys out in the lobby while they did all the tests on their mama. In the lobby were three big Lego blocks about a foot long each. Wyatt took the blocks and turned one up on it’s end for a refrigerator and the other two down flat for a sink and a stove. He and Will had the best time pretending they were cooking. I told them that maw maw was going to hunt them a play kitchen and darn if I didn’t find one the next day at Goodwill for $8.00! I went on to Walmart and found a basket of play food for $5.00!  So, I have been waiting to give them their gift that I promised them.

Today I took that kitchen set down there to the boys and they had the best time. Even though little William was sick, he still played right along with Wyatt for a good while. We put their kitchen on the screened-in front porch and it was such fun to watch them coming in the front door with various foods they had cooked for us. They even brought us donuts and coffee!!

After they had played for a while, Wyatt came in the door and came up to me all serious and said, “Thank you maw maw for our kitchen!” and then went over to Dan and told him the same thing and went right back outside to ‘cook’. To know that he loved this kitchen so much to stop his playing and come inside just to thank me, without being prompted, well it about made me cry. They are such good little children. When I told them they needed to eat, a very hungry Wyatt said, “Chef Wyatt and Chef Will’s kitchen just closed!!!”

( Poor little Will didn’t feel like eating, but instead went to sleep on the couch. )

While walking my dogs this evening, I glanced over at the Mill and it looks so sad. I thought about all the hard working people that worked there. My Granny, and all of Danny’s folks worked at the Mary Leila Cotton Mill making ‘Mill cloth’. When Danny and I got married, his grandma, ‘Big Mama’,  gave us Mill cloth sheets and when my babies were born, she gave me Mill cloth diapers.

This evening,  I walked over toward the gate and stood there looking up at the back door of the Mill…

                 

I could still see in my mind; Danny at 17 years old running down the steep metal steps to get his lunch from me and I had to swallow hard to keep from crying.

                                

That Mill supported so many families. The work was hard and everyday Danny would come home and immediately take a shower to get rid of the cotton lint in his hair, his ears, his nose, his throat and everywhere else it could find to lay on him.  I think the mill took $7.00 a week out of his check for the rent on the mill houses we lived in. We painted every room in every house we lived in. They were constantly moving us from house to house and looking back now, I think they did this so we would paint them! lol The first one was the house right in front of the Mill near the underhead pass. It is a little shotgun house and is still standing. ( They were called shotgun houses, because there were only three rooms which ran straight through.) I keep meaning to go take a picture of it before it is too late. I remember that I had a wringer washer when we lived there. It washed clothes better than any washer I have had since.

                        

                                     My little Mill Town home

I know it will never happen, but I sure wish the mill could come back to life and I could hear the mill whistle blow again. Just think of all the jobs it could create…all the families it could help.

                

I still live in Milltown and there are sooooo many memories and ghosts floating around this place.

THE BAND PLAYED ON WHILE THE SHIP SANK

Yep, our politicians in Washington are real worried about the national debt.

They are so worried about it that, they hosted an inauguration that has (so far) topped out at over $170,000,000.00.

That’s

ONE HUNDRED SEVENTY MILLION DOLLARS.

The budget for the balls and parties alone was approximately $45 million.

Think about that for a second…

FORTY FIVE MILLION DOLLARS for parties.

 OUR NATION IS LIKE THE TITANIC.

It is sinking in debt.

The Outstanding Public Debt as of 28 Jan 2013 at 01:43:07 AM GMT is: $16.444,611,731,550.43  (Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is a time system originally referring to mean solar time at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London, which later became adopted as a global time standard)

 

And hey,  it is not only Obama throwing this kind of money around…This has been going on for years and years.

(The District of Columbia and the federal government spent a combined $115.5-million in 2005 In addition to the $42.3-million Mr. Bush's inaugural committee spent.)

Here’s a list of the National debt at the end of each presidential term:
Before Reagan $1 trillion $250 billion
Ronald Reagan $2.9 trillion $677 billion
George H.W. Bush $4 trillion $1 trillion
Bill Clinton $5.6 trillion $2.2 trillion
George W. Bush $10.6 trillion $4.3 trillion
Barack Obama $16.4 trillion $4.9 trillion

Now think about this…as far as I know, each and everyone of them held inauguration galas and events.

Hellooooooooo……

We are up to our proverbial asses in debt and you idiots in Washington, past and present, want to host $45 million dollar parties ???

Of course there were a lot of donations from the rich and famous and big companies. Four years ago, this  President's committee refused donations from special interests and big corporations. But, this year they, like others before them, accepted million dollar donations from companies like AT&T and Microsoft. These donations pay for all the fun stuff. Everything else, like security and transportation, which cost far more than the parties, etc. well, that’s our tax money at work. (Also big donations came from labor, postal worker and government employee unions.

hummmmm. Now of course this wouldn’t  be a form of; ‘you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours’ …. would it? )

WHY CAN’T THESE SAME FOLKS CONTRIBUTE THIS KIND OF MONEY TO THE NATIONAL DEBT??? SORT OF PAY OFF THE LOAN SO TO SPEAK???

Can you tell that this really ticks me off??

I mean here we are as legal citizens of this nation trying to get by…just get by  and make it to the next pay check. My pay check was cut over $5 a week for rising Medicare tax…which doesn’t sound like much until you narrow it down to working for around minimum wage.

And all the while the national debt is climbing and climbing…

Did you know that part of the national debt is because the government is “borrowing” from Medicare and Social Security and they are suppose to pay it back?? This blows my mind. No wonder they say our kids may not be able to draw Social Security. The thieves in Washington are robbing it blind.

Here is the menu for the inauguration luncheon.:

First Course:
Steamed Lobster with New England Clam Chowder Sauce
Lobster Tails
New England Clam Chowder Sauce
Sautéed Spinach
Sweet Potato Hay
Second Course:
Hickory Grilled Bison with Red Potato Horseradish Cake and Wild Huckleberry Reduction
Bison
Butternut Squash Puree
Baby Golden Beets and Green Beans
Red Potato Horseradish Cake
Strawberry Preserve and Red Cabbage
Wild Huckleberry Reduction
Third Course:
Hudson Valley Apple Pie with Sour Cream Ice Cream, Aged Cheese and Honey
Pie Dough
Cinnamon Crumble
Apples
Sour Cream Ice Cream
Maple Caramel Sauce
Garnish
Artisan Cheeses
Wine Selections for any course:
Tierce Finger Lakes Dry Riesling 2010
Korbel Natural, Special Inaugural Cuvée Champagne, California
Bedell Cellars Merlot 2009

Approximately 200 guests joined the Obamas for this luncheon.

Now, we could argue all day about which president spent the most at which inauguration, but this post is not about that……this is about ALL THE WASTE THAT GOES ON IN OUR NATION’S CAPITAL…and has been going on for years. If they had taken all this money that they have wasted and put it toward the national debt we wouldn’t be in the shape we are in now.

I wonder how many folks here in the United State of America…folks that work hard for what little bit of money they earn, or folks who are too old or feeble to work, how many of them went to bed hungry last night, or were cold and couldn’t afford to turn the heat on?

Minimum wage and social security doesn’t go very far a month folks.

Now go back and take a look at that $170,000,000. 00 price tag and that fancy luncheon menu again….

Sort of makes you feel like you touched something that made you feel dirty doesn’t it?

GOD BLESS YOU ALL.

Hindsight

        
She use to embarrass me by always begging my friends to eat as soon as they stepped foot in her kitchen. No matter if there weren’t any food already prepared, she would have gladly cooked them something to eat, or at the very least, made them a sandwich. She couldn’t stand the thought of anyone being hungry.

Now days I am no longer embarrassed of my mama…but I am ashamed of my teenaged self.

I remember that when we first moved to town, there were some little children nearby that were sometimes left outside in cold weather with very few clothes on. They were cold. She would get them to come in our house and take her own grandchildren’s clothes and dress those little kids warmer. Then she would sit them down at her table and fill their little bellies up with eggs, warm grits, homemade biscuits, and sweet milk to drink.

Sometimes those same little children would come back, timidly knocking on her back door the next morning. They never even had to ask. Within minutes, they were sat at her table, clothed, fed and  given something to drink. She never talked about it…she just did what she figured needed to be done for those little kids.

I got to thinking about it today. I am about 16 years older now, than my mama was when we moved to town back then…and I thought she was old.

Isn’t it funny how we were so cock sure of ourselves when we are young? When you get older, you tend to get a whole new perspective on the way things actually were.

You even sort of see that things back then, were actually reversed from the way you thought it to be.

It was our parents who were smart…

       We were the dumb ones.

GOD BLESS YOU ALL.

12-12-12 … WHAT A DAY

      

I decided to put Christmas decorations up today. Went to the shed and had to move all of Dan’s yard sale stuff to get to the Christmas stuff. Got several of the boxes out and carried them to the porch.  Got the huge Christmas tree box out of the shed and carried it into the house. I got all the branches out and thought how glad I was that I had put the branches back in the container in the order in which they went on the tree. I put all the branches in their little slots and looked at the results. Seemed like the tree looked shorter this year.

I forgot to put the dang extension rod in the bottom.

So I took stand off and inserted the rod.

Put tree stand back on the tree. Set the tree upright. Tree was wobbly. Took stand off, and duck taped the parts on it that are old and cracking. Put the stand back on and finished putting the tree together.

The tree tilted over.

Now I got two choices…I can either go buy a new tree or try to fix this one…I go get my rod and reel out of the closet and cut enough line off to tie the sucker to the window air-conditioner grill which is directly behind the tree. I go get the lights out of the box and plugged them in to test them. They worked! Put them on the tree….they quit working.

Took all the lights back off.

Took my pj’s off, put my clothes on and run up town. Bought two boxes of lights. Came home and put them on the tree. They worked! Put all the ornaments on the tree.

Tree tilted over.

Go back to my rod and reel and cut some more line off. Tied  that sucker to the other side of the conditioner.

Now, during all of this joyful Christmas decorating…Dan was in a mood. See, he gets depressed during Christmas…always has…and at his age, I reckon he always will…just another something I have learned to try to deal with.

But today, between the tree, the lights, the tilting of the tree, well lets just say, my patience was running on about empty.

I finished putting all the Christmas stuff out and got the flowers and tiny tree I needed to put on Danny’s grave. I go to the graveyard and talk to Danny a little bit (told him all my troubles lol)  Then I go see daddy and put flowers on his grave too…told him all my troubles too! lol  While there I cleaned both of their graves off and put the old floweres and trash in my car trunk.

I come home and while cleaning the trash out of my trunk, I decided my car needs to be washed desperately. The crud that falls from the pecan tree was making it look black instead of white.

So, I wash my car.

Just as I was finishing up, the rag I was using on the windshield caught hold of my wiper blade and ripped it slap off, so now my wiper blade is in three separate pieces.

I talked to Amanda and Kelvin and agree to come down to their house later on and let Kelvin put it back on.

          

just before I am to leave to go down there, I walk the pups and it is raining/sleeting or what ever out there, sooooo I will need to go tomorrow and get the wiper fixed.

You know, everyone is talking about we won’t ever see this date again…

I thank God that I won’t see another 12-12-12. 

I don’t think I could handle another one.

GOD BLESS YOU ALL.

I AM THANKFUL

Everyday on Facebook, during the month of November, there have been folks saying what they are thankful for. Until today I have not participated, but this being the day of Thanksgiving, I thought I would give it a shot.

The last few days when it has been unnaturally warm, the heater in my car has been working, but this morning when I had to get out and go to the store for cold meds, as cold as it was outside, it didn’t work!

I am thankful I have a car that runs. ( most times!) Some people have to walk.

I am thankful I have shoes.

Some people don’t.

I am thankful that I believe in God. I am thankful for KNOWING that Jesus died on a cross in order to save me. I am thankful that I have God to pray to.. for help for me, my loved ones, and all others.  I am thankful that I know there is a Heaven. I am thankful that I know one sweet day, we will meet our loved ones again there. I am thankful that I know that He is always with me, that He will never leave me.

Some people have never found GOD.  I pray for them too.

I am thankful for Facebook.

I have regained friendships, found loved ones and I do not have to leave my house to be able to talk to someone! I am thankful for all my friends and family on there.

I am thankful for my parents who loved me enough to whoop my butt when I needed it, but would also be just as quick to hug, kiss, and rock me to sleep at night. They also taught me how to respect others and their property.

Some kids have no one who cares that much about them.

I am thankful I was poor when growing up and still poor now.

It makes me have empathy for others who are less fortunate, and also to appreciate what I have.

I am thankful that I finally learned how to ( most times) control my temper, learned how to forgive, and learned how to ‘let go and let GOD’. (It took me a very long time though.)

Some people go through their whole lives carrying old grudges on their backs, chips on their shoulders, and just looking for a fight.

I am thankful for all my nieces and nephews.

They have made me laugh and made me cry, and I love everyone of them with all my heart.

I am thankful that God let me have Danny as a soul mate, best friend and husband for over 35 years.

Some folks don’t get that long with their loved ones.

I am thankful God blessed me with a son and then ten years later; a daughter.

Some will never know the love of a child.

I am thankful that God decided to give me the miracle of grandchildren.

Until you have one, you don’t know known how truly special a grandchild is.

I am thankful I have a special son who will get out in the cold and pick up pecans, crack and shell them to sell…

So that he can buy Christmas for his loved ones.

I am thankful my daughter has prepared a feast for Dan and I, even though she is very much pregnant, has a stent inside of her, and on top of all that, has a cold.

She is a strong woman.

Most of all, I am thankful that God loves and forgives me…

Even when I can’t love or forgive myself.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!

GOD BLESS YOU ALL.

GOD DON’T LIKE UGLY

Let me just start off by saying that I am madder than an old wet hornet, as my daddy use to say.

Better yet, let me start off by saying that…

I am Madder Than HELL.

I have various ways of getting mad. Sometimes, I get mad in an instant..those are the times that I have to try my best to hold back on my temper. I think I am successful maybe 75% of the time.

Then, there are the times that I first get mad in an instant and I hold it back, and hold it back and hold it back…until I finally explode.

This is one of those times.

I try very, very hard not to publically state my political opinions.  I feel that the usual lies and unfulfilled promises from either politician are not worth losing friends over.

I also feel that any politician running for office here lately needs to be wearing a lie detector belt 24/7. 

So, that being said, and in the words of a dear friend…

I keep it to myself.

Until today.

I am on Facebook. If you are my friend and you read my ‘about me’ section, you will see this:

Political :

When it comes time to cast my vote...I am not on the left, I am not on the right, I am not a liberal, nor am I a conservative..I am just an American who wants the best for our country.

This pretty much sums me up.

Everyday on Facebook, I read a lot of posts on various walls. Usually it is about what someone fixed for supper, how much we love our kids, grandkids, or someone needing prayer, and I love reading them. Here lately though, some of the posts have had my temper boiling and it has gotten to the exploding point.  Never before in my life have I heard so many derogatory, insulting, and downright horrible remarks about some of our American citizens.

The sad part is , these remarks came from fellow Americans.

I know that our country is in pretty rough shape right now, but talk to your parents and grandparents and they will tell you all about the DEPRESSION…where you had to have a stamp to buy gas, a stamp to buy coffee or sugar and then had to wait in long lines to do so, if you had the money.

And yes, I know that there are a lot of folks who feel that is where we may be heading again, but tearing each other down with these hateful and cruel remarks will not help this nation.

Now listen to this..

When I was 18 years old, I proudly marched myself up town and registered to vote. When you registered, you were asked to choose which political party you preferred.

I chose Democrat.

Yep…you heard me right.

If you ask me why, I would probably tell you that it was all I ever heard anyone talking about here in our little town at the time, which was around the late 60’s and early seventy’s…and also because my daddy was a Democrat. 

Just so you know, truth be told, I do not vote solely Democrat, nor do I vote solely Republican on ANY political race…(go back and read my ‘about me’ Facebook profile.)

So, yes, technically, I am a registered Democrat. You can talk about me all you want. Feel free. You won’t be the first nor the last to do so and I have learned to let most of it roll off my back.

Just don’t talk about my kids, my grandchildren, my mama nor my daddy, because this is where I get madder than hell…

In an instant.

Then I explode.

My daddy, who was a Democrat…

Worked two and three jobs ALL HIS LIFE…even when he was sick and practically near death.

He was not lazy.

He was not stupid.

He was not a low life.

He was not a blood sucking, welfare grabbing s.o.b.

And he sure as hell was not the scum of the earth…as some have chosen to call all Democrats on Facebook, thus including myself and my daddy.

President Lincoln said that ‘a house divided amongst itself can not stand’ and he was right folks.

If you want to know the truth…I did not like some of President Obama’s plans, nor did I like some of Romney’s plans. In the end, I  actually entertained the idea of writing  Honey Boo-Boo in, so that should tell you how I felt about either candidate.  She just wasn’t old enough.  

I do know one thing, no matter which way I vote, nor the outcome of the presidential race, I will not class all Democrats nor all Republicans into one big ball of mire. All Democrats are not ‘deadbeats who roll in welfare handouts’ ( not my words) and all Republicans are not ‘rich egotistical pompous jerks’. (again, not my words, folks)

Life will go on.

This presidency will last four more years and then a new president will come in. Be them Republican or a Democrat, no matter which political party, I just hope it will be SOMEONE who can help heal this great country of ours and help it stay the greatest nation on earth.

Call me naïve, but I still truly believe that we, the American Citizens, are so much more than just mere Democrats and Republicans. The majority of us are God loving, God fearing, good and decent people of all races. When trouble strikes, no matter where at, we have been known to be the most giving and helpful people in the world.

ONE NATION UNDER GOD?

Remember folks; God don’t like ugly.

“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and WILL HEAL THEIR LAND.”
2 CHRONICLES 7:14

God is trying to tell us something.

Think about it and then maybe we should all get down on our knees and pray about it.

GOD BLESS YOU ALL.