We needed a break…from mowing, from working, from everything. It was the Lord’s day and we vowed to keep it that way. We still haven’t landed in a church since covid. We became disillusioned. Not with God or His church, but with churches who were becoming more radical and political and less about actually following God’s word. But we still worship and are faithful and share our faith whenever possible.
I woke up at 5:30 yesterday morning. The sky was just starting to turn pink and I made the mistake of looking at my phone. My post hadn’t gone live, although I checked and double checked. When I went in and looked, it was just sitting there like a truck stuck in the mud. All it took was hitting a button and off it went through the ether. Amazing, isn’t it? Our grandparents wouldn’t know what to think about all this and how we spend our time.
Today would have been my beautiful mom’s 98th birthday. I miss her today as much as ever. I never dreamed I would lose her at only 78 years old. She had the softest hands…and the softest heart. I try not to dwell on the loved ones I’ve lost because their absence is so LOUD it hurts my heart. Instead, I choose to remember how beautiful she was and how fiercely she loved her kids. And, I know I’ll see her again so that is a comfort to me.
We couldn’t tell which way to turn on Tuesday. It started out with this great breakfast…French toast, turkey sausage, and a sliced fresh peach. It was divine and pretty lo-cal considering. Then I had a hankering for spaghetti last night so I trimmed down my usual recipe to make a passable meal.
Other than a little cooking and cleaning and a quick trip over the hill to the Post Office, we didn’t do much. I worked on the computer in my Big Red Chair and watched Andy Griffith reruns. Mr. FixIt made some phone calls and stretched out in HIS Big Red Chair. Then we watched the news.
I don’t usually divulge too much about Mr. FixIt because his story isn’t my story to tell. With that being said, we had some really good news yesterday that I wanted to share. Not long after we started dating, Mr. FixIt had a physical and his doctor found something concerning in his blood. At first they thought he had leukemia but thank God it wasn’t that. They really weren’t sure what it was but he had some elevated counts and we were concerned. We’ve been going back to the oncologist every six moths for follow up tests and yesterday his levels were normal! Praise God! We don’t have to go back for a year this time and we’re both so relieved.
Yes…these things went together. We live in a pretty tiny town. Really tiny. I mean…we have a post office and a grocery store. A couple of gas stations and several churches. And there’s a bar not too far out of town. But we’re good people in Small Town, America.
We luxuriated in not really having to do much yesterday. It was pretty hot out. So we hung out indoors in the AC. I worked on my shop while Mr. FixIt snoozed with the TV on in the background. We didn’t do anything of any importance till the news was over and we headed over the hill to the Piggly Wiggly to get some bread and milk.
Mr. FixIt and I record CBS Sunday Morning every week. Then, when we have time, we like to sit down and watch. There are only a couple of shows we watch together. We love old Andy Griffith reruns. We watch the evening news at 6:30 then as soon as it’s done, we might catch a couple episodes of Big Bang Theory. Rarely I’ll sit down and watch an episode of 48 Hours or 20/20. And that’s about it. I really don’t care for television as a whole.
I had such a nice time during my visit at Gail’s. She has a small cottage she used to list on Air B&B occasionally and she knows I love to stay there when I visit. I need a quiet space to write in the evenings and to unwind from all the peopling. I sleep like a rock over there…it’s so peaceful.
We’re lucky to get the three of us together once a year. And it’s usually sometime in August when JP does a drive-by on her way to a big meeting somewhere. We had such a wonderful visit, shared a couple of meals, and before we knew it, she was gone again on her travels west.
After our buddy left, Gail and I went to Main Street to check out a couple of antique shops. I found an old oil lamp for $5 to leave out at the farm for when the electricity goes off. I also found the cutest shower curtain for when we redo the main bathroom at Marshmallow Ranch. Gail found a couple of pictures, a garden flag, and ten Fiesta Ware plates in Cobalt for $9.99! They were definitely well used, but perfectly fine to use. I was happy I could contribute to the economy of East Palestine. Everyone was so welcoming and kind. Good people.
When our grandchildren have grandchildren of their own, they’ll have entirely different photo albums than we did. Well, they probably won’t even have photo albums. They’ll have the Cloud. That ought to be fun at parties. Anyway, I saw a comedy routine the other day and the comedian was lamenting about photo albums. Our grandparents had great photo albums. If we were lucky, the names of the people in the photos were written on the back, or underneath the picture. When we said, “Who’s that, Grandma?” she’d tell us that was your great-great-grandfather when he got back from the Civil War. Or, “That’s your great aunt. She worked in the shovel plant during the war.” Worldly things. Honorable things. Great things!