Birthday..

On February 19,1951,a baby girl was born in a doctor's office in a small southern Arkansas town.The first girl in the family and the apple of her daddy's eye. That baby girl was me and that was the beginning of an amazing and wonderful life. Yes there have been heartaches along the way, but I'm a true believer that everything happens for a purpose.I spent my younger years living in Arizona in a canyon, where my dad worked in the rock quaries.And as hard as it may be to believe , we lived in a one room house that had a dirt floor, no electricity or plumbing.I remember once going with my dad, an uncle and two cousins to get barrels of drinking water in the nearest town. We left to make the trip at daybreak and did not return until well after darkness had arrived.My cousins and I rode laying in the back of the truck counting stars.I can still picture how very dark it was out and how brilliant the stars were, because there were no town lights or lit signs for miles and miles.To this day I have not seen a night sky so magnificent and almost magical.I recall an incident when a jet flew over the canyon and being only four or five had no idea what it was, I ran into the house afraid and crying .My dad took me upon his knee and tried to explain to me what I had saw.Then there was the time some of my cousins and I were sitting in an old car pretending to drive and the car was knocked out of gear and begin to roll toward the edge of a cliff.One of the adults happen to see the car start to move and ran, reached into the window and shoved the gear shift up into park, saving three young children from a horrible death.We were hugged for being ok and spanked for being in a car we were told to stay away from.When I was old enough to start school we moved to a small town and I can recall standing in line at school to be vaccinated against polio, and being so frightened, because I could hear the other children crying as they received the shots.
It was during the time we lived in this town that the only momentous item I have from my childhood was purchased.It's a ceramic yellow piggy bank, with large pink and blue spots. The piggy bank was made in 1957 and is fifty years old this year,and other than the cork in his nose being a little worn it still to this day looks new. It has been passed down to my son and will someday sit on a shelf in his home.The piggy bank is of no monetary value , but it has great sentiment value to me and my son.
I don't recall going to the store often, but I do remember one time my dad let me go with him.When I was in the store I stood next to a toy display that turned and had plastic toy cowboys,guns,dolls and the most beautiful pair of gold glittery high-heels a little girl had ever seen.I feel in love with those shoes and I'm sure I spent many hours dreaming of wearing them.I did not cry , beg or throw any temper tantrum as kids now days would do, I knew even as a child we could not buy the golden shoes.A few years ago I saw a pair of gold glittery shoes that looked a lot like those years ago and I almost bought them for the little girl of long ago who loved them so.....today that little girl turned fifty-six.

Seventh Anniversary..

This past week I celebrated seven years at my job. Now most people don't celebrate or even consider celebrating the anniversary of working at a job...it's just a job. Well that's not me, I really like what I do for a living and never dread going to work,unless I'm ill. I've been working off and on since I was sixteen years old. My very first job was at a Dairy Queen in my small home town. I've worked three times as a waitress, twice at garment factories, three times as a cashier for Wal-Mart and once as an overnight toy stocker for Wal-Mart.I've pumped gas,washed windshields, put together picture frames, delivered newspapers, and tried my hand at cosmetology. I've cleaned homes, was a receptionist/hairdresser at a funeral home and last but certainly not least a homemaker and mother. Before I was hired at my present job I worked a couple days here and there for temp services. Then in November 1999 I was sent by a temp service to my present job and after working as a temp for three months was hired full time on February 14,2000. At that time there was one daytime (me) and one nightshift employee in the printing department and the local division of the company employed a little more than one hundred people in a small three story building downtown. Now we are in west Little Rock in our own big beautiful building and the division employs more than four hundred and growing.Two years after I was hired I was placed under a different manager and with this change came big changes for me.My new manager placed me in a supervisory role and hired four employees for me to manage.I had no prior experience as management, but my new manager had confidence that I could handle the job.I'm proud to be able to say that in my years over the printing service department I have managed to cut staff by 50% while increasing production yearly.Each year I come in under budget and continually receive outstanding reviews from both my manager ,as well as excutive management.We're in the process of upgrading all equipment this year and increasing production in the process.It's going to be an exciting year and a busy one. If I sound proud, it's because I am.I use to tell people I felt that the only good thing I had accomplished in my life was raising my son,now I feel I have another good accomplishment , my job. My hope is that I will still be working at this job when it becomes retirement time.I have to say I'm not looking forward to that time, I can't imagine sitting home everyday and I hate soap operas. So I pray the good Lord allows me to stay in decent health to continually work many years to come, or I become a millionaire and can spend my days traveling.First stop Italy...second stop Vermont....after that, who knows........

For Love's Sake....

The most satisfing joy in all the world is in having a person dearer to you than your own self,a person with whom you feel free to pour out and share your every thought,your every grief and your every joy;for it is with that person you feel a deep unity of spirits.
This is love.
For: Love alone is capable of uniting living beings in such a way as to complete and fulfill them, for it alone takes them and joins them by what is deepest in themselves. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

What inspiration, what strength, what buoyancy, it gives to know that if all the rest of the world should turm against you, rend you and forsake you,there is one person who will never wrong you by an unjust thought or unkind word or unmerciful deed, one person who will cling to you in poverty and in persecution, in disaster and in death, one person who will sacifice all things for you and for whom you will sacrifice all things, even life. This person's wefare is your greatest concern. And it is with this person you expect never to be separated except by death.This is companionate love.

To Old To Fall.....

At the age of 56 (in a few days) falling can be a very frightening thing.
Saturday my best friend came to spend some time with me and to take me out for an early birthday dinner.
She lives about 65 or 70 miles from me and we don't get to see each other as often since gas has gone up.
She arrived around one o'clock and after visiting some we decided to make a trip to my sister's to get my purple blouse she had borrowed and that I wanted to wear out that night. My friend's daughter has recently moved into her own place and is in need of furniture. So when we saw what we thought was a good used couch sitting next to the street for someone to take,(usually the trash truck) we decided to stop and check it out for the daughter.It needed cleaned but looked ok for someone just starting out. So we decided to carry it up the street and leave it at my sister's until my friend could come back with her truck and get it,we were in my car.
We did ok at first carrying the couch it wasn't really that heavy,just hard to hold on to.Then for some reason we got the giggles and couldn't do anything for laughing. After making our way to the top of the small hill on the street,we begin to tire,so we would sit the couch down about every five feet we went. During one of the times of the five foot sit down I lost my balance and began to stumble.I knew I was going to fall and also knew there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it! I fought with everything in me to stop the fall while at the same time checking out my falling area. I saw I was heading toward a parked car and I so hoped I'd reach the car and be able to stop falling. Well I reached the car alright, I got close enough to the rear of the car to slap it with the side of my face before I fell belly first under the rear of the car. It knocked the breath out of me and for an instant I thought I was going to pass out.My friend was running trying to grab me before I fell and arrived by my side as soon I had slapped the pavement. She kept asking if I was ok, but I couldn't speak since the breath was knocked out of me.My first thought was I had bust my head open and when I could talk that was my first question to her.She told me I had a bump and bruise already coming up, but no broken skin or blood anywhere that she could see.She tried to leave me to go get my sister for help in getting me to my feet, but I wouldn't let her leave. I was afraid I might pass out and the people who owned the car might come out to go someplace and back out over me. So she found my cell and called my sister,who ran to where I was laying and argued with me concerning calling an ambulance. I told her I didn't want to go lay in an emergence room for hours.So the two of them got me to my feet ,after checking me for broken bones,and walked me to the house. I was very lucky, I had no blood gushing wounds,no broken bones, just some very sore bruised parts, that would be even more sore the next day.Sure enough Sunday when I tried to get out of bed it took awhile I hurt all over.I got a very hot shower to loosen up my muscles and was able to move better,but I knew I was going to be sore for days.It's been two days and I'm still very sore! Why is it so hard for us to face the fact that we reach an age where we can't do all things we once did?
This was one of those times we'll laugh about down the road,but we know it could have been serious enough that there wouldn't have been any laughs.
The couch ?......it's waiting for the trash truck!

Cats..

I have the pleasure of living with two cats,one that is mine and one that belongs to my son. I am cat sitting for my son while he's in Europe.My cat is a calico name Margo and she has been with me going on two years.I paid a visit to the humane society and it was love at first sight for both of us.After two weeks of visits and getting to know each other the adoption went through and she came home.Margo is a very affectionate cat, she wants to be petted often and will get in your lap,shove her head under your hand and demand to be petted.She never meets a stranger and can sometimes be a nuisance when you have company,but so far she has been able to win every heart she meets.I read that calico cats are generally considered to be lucky throughout several cultures. In Japan,for instance,it was thought that having a calico cat in the house would bring its owner good luck,and having a calico on board ship was considered to protect the sailors from harm. I don't know if Margo has brought me good luck,but she has brought me many hours of companionship and love.


Neko,my son's cat,was received through adoption during his time at college.Neko is a Birman with pretty blue crossed-eyes and she's very verbal,in that she tries very hard to talk,usually when I'm getting dressed to go out.I'm not sure if she's telling me I should'nt be going or what I should or should'nt do while out.Birmans were exported around Europe and its said many can trace their ancestry to England and France.The first Birmans of record arrived in the U.S. in 1959,imported by DR.and Mrs.John Seiple.Birmans are loving animals who may perfer to sit beside their human,lay upon their human's lap or sit on their human's head at 4 o'clock in the morning! Generally a soft spoken cat,a Birman will let you know when attention is needed N-O-O-O-W. After a brief scratch behind the ears or a major hug,they are ready to go upon their way until the next time attention is required-it maybe a few minutes,a few hours or a day or two,but they will let you know if they think you are paying insufficent attention to them.I read that people who own pets live longer,have less stress and have fewer heart attacks.I don't know about the living longer or fewer heart attacks,but I can say when I come home all stressed it all melts away when Margo curls up in my lap to be petted or Neko starts trying to talk my ears off.(that cat gets mouthy)I also read that 34% of cat-owning households have incomes of $60,000 or more! I must be in the 66%,but hey maybe there's hope.Hebrew folklore believes that cats came about because Noah was afraid that rats might eat all the food on the ark. He prayed to God for help. God responded by making the lion sneeze a giant sneeze--and out came a little cat!Whatever the reason or however cats got here,I'm glad they are here.I'm thankful for the companionship of Margo and Neko, they are always happy to see me when I come home,they love me unconditionally and I never have to take them out for a walk on rainy,cold days.Cats rule!