Sistah Pat

The past week (maybe longer) has been a mad rush.  Every day, every minute.  The only time I’ve taken a breather has been dinner at Sistah Pam’s Monday night.  That was two hours of takin it easy with friends and even that seemed rushed because we were all trying to get caught up with each other and the conversation was going a hundred miles an hour.  It’s been totally crazy.  I’ve jumped out of bed, done a quick post and hit the day running.  And now, I’m running away.  DH and I are leaving for Tunica in a couple of hours.  That’s a six and a half hour drive and I’m sitting here looking at my nails and thinking about being able to give myself a manicure, use my blackberry to catch up with some of you chickies and just relax.  Whoo Hoo! 

DH usually works from 4:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. four days a week.  He said he was only working a half day today so I guess he’ll be home around 10:00.  I need to get some clothes packed and be ready to hit the door when he gets here.  I guess, even now, I don’t have time to just relax.  I’d love to get my hair cut before we leave.  Maybe, if I play my cards right, I can squeeze it in.  So, I guess I can have a cup of coffee this morning but I can’t linger to see if it’s good to the last drop.

Yeah, now that I think about it, we’re supposed to be leaving in two hours and I have a lot to do.  I’d better get off here and get packed.  I’m looking forward to catching up on some blogs in the next couple of days.

Got up earlier this morning but used the time to try to catch up on some emails for work.  I didn’t get home until 7:00 last night and then Steven needed lots of help with his homework so I didn’t do anything but help him, watch a few minutes of So You Think You Can Dance and hit the bed.

Today’s another long one.  Go to work and then home school my two kiddos until 5:00.  After that, I’m hoping to get a haircut. 

Sistah Pam corrected me yesterday.  She’s having gastric bypass.  Not lap band.  She goes in Tuesday and will be in the hospital for a few days.  Here’s (((((BIG HUGS))))), Pam!

Gotta run.  Last day of work for the week.  Tomorrow, we head to Tunica.  Maybe I’ll win a fortune and be able to retire!

This time change has been messing with me.  I slept a few minutes later than usual and all I can think about is today’s schedule.  I woke up, looked at the clock, and hit the shower.  Now I can only think about what I have to do to be able to call it a day.

7:15 - Be at work
2:45 - Home School whiney kid
4:00 - Home School little sweetheart
5:15 - Back to school for ROTC Booster Club meeting (again…)
6:30 - Head home
7:00 - End of another twelve hour day

As you can probably guess, I rescheduled yesterday’s home school session for today because I stayed for the controversial staff meeting.  Which didn’t end until almost 4:00.  On a brighter note, had a great dinner with the girls at Sistah Pams!

Short week but a busy one.  We’re off Thursday and Friday and DH and I are heading for Tunica on Thursday. 

Today, I have to work and then decide what I’m going to do about a controversial faculty meeting, home-school my whiney kid and then meet some friends for dinner at Sistah Pam’s.  She’s having lap band surgery on the 10th and this is what she calls “The Last Supper”.

About that faculty meeting…teachers are expected to leave Tuesday afternoons open for whatever comes up in the way of staff meetings.  In our case, that means every Tuesday we have to stay late.  We got an email last Wednesday saying this week’s meeting would be on Monday and we were expected to be there.  I, like many others, already have plans for this afternoon.  I have to teach my home school session from 2:45 to 3:45, take the twins home and go to Pam’s for dinner.  I told one of the APs that I couldn’t make it and he said, “Everyone has an excuse but you have to be there or you have to discuss it with the principal.  You’ve known about this since Wednesday and it was mentioned on the training day the first of October.”

If it was mentioned on the first of October, I sure don’t remember it and giving me notice last Wednesday doesn’t do a thing for me.  I really get my back up when someone infringes on my personal time because I have so much stuff going on all the time it’s very difficult to make changes.  Tomorrow, I had set aside time for the faculty meeting, then I have to home school the other kiddo and then I have an ROTC meeting to get things set up for the holiday fair.  Wednesday, I have to home school both kiddos after school because I have to see them twice a week on regular school days and we’re off Thursday and Friday so I have to cram in two sessions with each of them in three days.

Better get ready for work.  I’m getting testy.

Spent the entire weekend reupholstering that chair from the RV.  Damn!  That thing was a bear.  It’s done, though.  Finished.  Fait accompli.  I was going to take a picture but I can’t find my camera and I’m too daggone tired to look for it.  All I want to do is sweep up all the thread and fabric pieces, put my sewing machine away and sit in the spa for awhile.  Think I’ll have a beer while I’m at it.  A glass of wine would be more fitting but I’m too tired to use a corkscrew. 

Maybe I’ll check in with everyone after I ease some of the aches and pains.  I feel like I’ve been wrestling with that chair for two days but I think I won.

Friday, potluck, fake payday, nice weather!  What more could you ask? 

I did okay at potluck yesterday.  Ate some of my baked ham, a baked sweet potato, green beans, and some apple crisp made with oatmeal and Splenda brown sugar.  Today shouldn’t be much of a problem.  We have lots of leftovers.

Fake payday today!  Since they went to mandatory direct deposit, it never feels like a real payday.  Getting handed that stub just isn’t quite the same but I should reap the rewards of some of the overtime I’ve been racking up.  This check should reflect the optional parent conference day I worked, some ESS, and some home school hours.  I had another session with the whiney kid yesterday but we worked in the family room instead of the kitchen so Mom didn’t hover quite as much but she still popped in a couple of times.  The kid didn’t do half of the homework I assigned her and Mom said she just didn’t understand it.  Yeah, sure.

Last night, DH pointed out that this time next week, we’ll be in Tunica.  He said a friend at work told him that we’ll be passing the original Cracker Barrel restaurant on the way down and they have a buffet.  Big Papa got all excited about that.  Hope we pass it at an inconvenient time.  I already have to contend with the Paula Dean Buffet at the caseeno.  That’s my definition of sin city.  Actually…after thinking about it for a couple of minutes, I don’t think I do too bad at buffets.  They’re all made up of that kind of heavy, comfort food and that’s not my favorite.  I usually load up a plate and then just kind of pick at it and feel bad about leaving an overflowing plate for the server to pick up.  Still, I’ve already recognized that my leftovers are not going to impact some poor starving child in China so I’m okay with letting it just get thrown out.   I’d much rather have small portions of really good food than an overflowing plate of comfort food.

I’m going to set up a workspace in the family room and begin tackling the reupholstery project this weekend.  I know I’m going to feel really good about redoing that chair for less than fifty bucks.  I forgot to get cording so I need to pick some up after work today.  Guess I’ll go by after I finish home schooling.

Gotta run, Chicklets!  Have a fantastic Friday!

Giving myself the Straight and Narrow Award for today.  Potluck’s here!  I’m think I’m ready.  I’m bringing a baked ham and baked sweet potatoes with Splenda, cinnamon and Brummel and Brown.  If no one else brings anything healthy, I’m still good to go!  I’ve been trying to stay the path but it’s never easy.  Can’t say I’ve had perfect days since Monday but I’ve done pretty well at staying the course.  Exercise is the hardest part.  I’ve been putting in some long, hard days and then I’m tired and achey by the time I crawl in the door.  Today shouldn’t be too rough.  I’ll be finished and home by 4:00 or so.  I wish I could count on DH to fix something healthy for dinner.

I started working with another home/hospital student yesterday.  Didn’t care for her as much as the other one I’ve been working with.  This one was really whiney and Mom set us up in the dining room and hovered over her the entire time.  This girl had strep throat and it led to some kind of systemic infection.  She’s eleven years old and weighs 57 pounds.  Of course, Mom was no more than 90 pounds herself.  She looked downright anorexic so I don’t know if the kid being so thin was the result of her illness or just the way she is.  At any rate, in the hour that I worked with her she took a phone call (Mom said it was an important call from her father that she’d been waiting for all day), went to the bathroom three times (Mom said when she has to go, she has to GO!), whined continuously and was coddled by Mom every second and wasted a good fifteen minutes because she kept getting off track and telling me about how sick she’d been and how her teachers “don’t even care!”  I have another session with her today and I’m going to tell Mom we need a place to work where we can have privacy so she won’t be “distracted” from what we have to do.  In other words, Mom, get lost and stop coddling this child for a few minutes!

It’s that time.  Gotta hit the shower.  At least the weekend is in sight!

The Gorgeous Blogger Award gave me an incentive to get moving.  And then, I was thinking about how we’re all struggling with one thing or another. Always trying to do what we need to do.  Always working toward bigger and better things.  And I decided we need different awards for different things.  Hence: I created the Chickie Awards shown below.  Please feel free to copy them or link to them and share with others.

I’m so excited!  I’ve got to work on my acceptance speech.  What do you think I should wear?

And the winners are:

Straight and Narrow Award:
Susan
Sunny

Go-Go Chick Award:
Brandie
Firefly
Sarah

Just DO IT Award:
Joy
Paperskin
Beerab

Strut Yer Stuff Award
Sunny
Firefly
Sarah

You’re focused.  Controlled.  You’re in there for the long haul.  Let all those other people work out six hours a day and eat 300 calories.  That’s not your bag!  You’re in it for life.  Making those small changes that add up to big losses.  Day after day.  Hanging in there.  Sometimes, it must seem like no one notices but they do.  That’s why you got this Straight and Narrow Award!

The Just Do It Award is designed to motivate!  Having a tough time, Chickie?  Been off the wagon for a while?  Feeling used, abused and overwhelmed?  This award is just what you need to get you up on your feet!  There ain’t nothin you can’t do once you set your mind to it.  You’ve just gotta figure out what you need to do and then DO IT!  Come on, you know we’ve all been there and we’re all here for you now.  It may seem like you just can’t get back on track but we’re cheering you on.  Our mantra is heard around the world…”JUST DO IT, CHICKIE!”

Congratulations!  If you’ve received the Strut Yer Stuff Award, it’s because you’ve done some serious work and have reached some major milestones in order to get where you are!  Be proud!  Buy new clothes in new sizes and hold your head high!  Your work has paid off and will continue to pay off as long as you hold the line.  So… Go on.  Get a manicure AND a pedicure!  Buy some sexy undies!  Get a new hairdo and STRUT YER STUFF, you little Hottie!

The Go-Go Chick Award is given to those who make me feel exhausted just reading their posts!  “I have to get up at 4:00, work out on the rowing machine for an hour, breastfeed the baby, wake up the hubby and iron the kids clothes while I’m fixing them breakfast, take them to school and then head to the office where I do the work of twenty five people and eat lunch on the treadmill, come home and help the kids with homework while fixing a low fat, low carb, heart healthy dinner!”

If you’ve received this award, it’s because you are Da Bomb!!! You have a LOT to be proud of!  Even though your life is incredibly full and your cup overfloweth, you still manage to exercise and eat healthy.  YOU just totally ROCK!

Today is a go-go day.  Work, faculty meeting, drive halfway home to tutor for home/hospital student, turn around and drive back to work for ROTC meeting.  Ought to have me running from 7:00 to 7:00.

Or, it could be that I’m a go-go girl because of upcoming plans.  DH and I decided to get away for a few days.  We have a long weekend coming up the first week of November.  I know he wants to go to Tunica, Mississippi and I’ve been reluctant to do so.  But, I called one of the caseenos down there and we have enough points for one night free and the others at half price so I booked us a room.  We’ll head down there on Thursday, Nov. 5th and return on Sunday, Nov. 8th.

I talked to Mom and she’s really looking forward to us taking her to our place in Florida for Thanksgiving so we’ll be heading down there two weeks after the Tunica adventure.  I haven’t been down there since June.

Lots to keep me busy.  Weight is at 185.5 this morning.  Won’t say I had a perfect day yesterday because I didn’t exercise but I ate well so I feel pretty good about it.  Even when dinner didn’t turn out, I stuck to it.  I fixed Ginger Grilled Chicken Breast with Snow Peas.  They didn’t have the brand of snow peas I usually get so I had to buy a different brand.  They were stringy and tough.  Yecchh!  I ate the dish but wound up picking all the snow peas out of it and just eating a bit of the chicken and whole wheat linguini that make up the rest of the dish.  Without the peas, there wasn’t much to recommned it.  I filled the void with an apple and a salad.

Looks like exercise is going to be 20 minutes or so on the treadmill before I go to work because I know I won’t feel like doing it after a killer day like the one that lies ahead. 

Have a wonderful day, chickies!

Got one perfect day behind me, now I just need to keep it up.  I’ve got a plan for today.  Taking a hard boiled egg, a single serving tomato juice, a sandwich of whole grain bread with lean ham and an apple to work with me.  Going to walk on the treadmill as soon as I get home.

I went to Whole Foods yesterday looking for greek yogurt but couldn’t bring myself to pay $2.50 per carton for it.  Right next door, there was a fabric shop.  One of only a handful left in Louisville.  I decided to go in and check out the fabric for reupholstering the chair in the RV.  I found one fabric that would work for $45.00 per yard.  Found another for $35.00 per yard and a rather flimsy possibility for $25.00 a yard.  Then I wandered into the clearance area and found a good possibility marked down from $45.00 a yard to $5.00.  There was only six yards left on the bolt so I bought it all.  I’m getting closer and closer to tackling that job.  I’d be really happy to get it done for $30.00!  I even have enough fabric to redo a couple pieces of trim so that the chair will look like it belongs in there.  I’ve tackled much bigger jobs in the past but it’s been a long time.  Haven’t reupholtered anything for at least seven or eight years.

I’m off to the shower and then I’m going to enjoy another perfect day!

That’s what it feels like. 

Waiting for the other shoe to drop….
Waiting for my ship to come in…
Waiting for the dust to settle…

Yeah, it feels like I’ve been waiting to exhale. 

How many times do we complain about waiting in line?  Griping and whining about how we don’t have time for it?  Don’t have time to wait.  I’m tired of waiting.  I have to get moving.  I’ve waited long enough.  How about some chiches about time? 

Better late than never….
There’s no time like the present….
Time waits for no man…

I’ve been stalled on this diet thing forever.  My life has been stalled forever.  Not that I’m not busy.  I’ve got lots of stuff to keep me busy but I’m just

running in place…
spinning my wheels…
running hard and getting nowhere…

I was sitting in the spa this morning thinking about going shopping today.  Needing to pick up some dress pants that aren’t so tight.  What’s that about?  I have lots of dress pants.  Lots of tight dress pants.  I think it’s time to get off my butt and do something about that.  Then I thought about going out to dinner with my friends this week.  And a potluck luncheon at school.  And, of course, Thanksgiving is right around the corner.  In fact, the entire holiday season is right around the corner.  I almost decided to wait until the new year to start getting back in shape.  Wait a minute…that’s three months.  Three more months of procrastination.  Is that crazy or what? 

So, I’m doing it.  I’m starting right now.  I’m planning on boiling some eggs to take to work next week.  Fixing a nice dinner of Thai Beef and String Beans.  With a salad.  And I’m going upstairs and uncovering my treadmill.  Again.

There’s no time like the present…
Better late than never…
Time waits for no man…

Rome wasn’t built in a day.

And my all time favorite.  JUST DO IT.

10:30 a.m. update - Weighed myself, 186. (Cripes!!) Put on a horrible orange tank top, bright blue capris, a red sports bra and hot pink shoes.  Gathered a few old friends to help me (Enrique Iglasias, Rob Thomas, Pink Floyd and the Blue Man Group) and headed upstairs.  Moved the boxes of Christmas decorations to make a path, moved the rocking chair that went up there to make room for the sleeper sofa that went to Florida, moved six suitcases and three boxes of winter clothes and made it to the treadmill.  Moved my aerobic steps and a box of books off my treadmill and walked for thirty minutes at a 2% incline and 3.0 mph.  Not much, I know, but my calves were burning, my heart rate went up to 130 and I developed a light sheen of sweat on my brow.  Oh, and a headache.

Thought about some realistic goals while I was walking.  Decided that I want to be in the 170s by Thanksgiving.  That should be easy enough if I keep at it.  Only 6 pounds and a month to do it.  I’m not going to deny myself the potluck, or dinner with the girls, or Thanksgiving dinner.  Maybe I’ll be so motivated by the time those events get here that I won’t want to eat a bunch of junk but it doesn’t matter.  It’s all about the day to day routine.  I know if I do what I’m supposed to everyday, those random events won’t make much difference in the long run.

I went online and printed out some coupons for Oikos yogurt, threw out some flat iron steak to thaw for dinner, boiled a dozen eggs, and made a grocery list. 

It’s really not that difficult.  JUST DO IT.

3:30 update - Went shopping and got lots of healthy stuff.  Came home and cleaned the bathroom and did a load of laundry.  DIL dropped off DGD, Holly, and said she wants to divorce DS.  Go for it, girl!  Don’t know why they didn’t do it a long time ago.  They haven’t lived together for more than two years.  She has a boyfriend and he’s moved in with his girlfriend in Florida.  Doesn’t sound like much of a marriage to me. 

Now I need to get things prepped for dinner.  Think I’ll post tonight’s dinner on My Favorite Recipes category.  It’s really good and really healthy.  It’s from The South Beach Diet cookbook so the focus is more on lowering carbs than calories but it still comes in fairly low at 340 calories a serving.  Leaves plenty of room for a salad and light dessert.

 DH is stretched out in bed and I have my alarm ringing in my ear.  Yeah, it must be Friday.  Gonna be a long one.  I have to teach ESS for an hour after school and then I have to go see my home/hospital kiddo after that so I won’t be getting off until 5:00.  Hope the trip to school goes better today.  I was late yesterday and had to sign the dreaded red sheet.  I was only two minutes late but the regular sign in was already taken up and the red one was glaring at me.

DS used my car so much that I told him he had to keep it gassed up.  As a result, I haven’t had to put gas in it for months.  Now that he’s gone, I’ve got to get used to it again.  Headed out yesterday morning and the gas tank was empty.  I had to stop and that took at least five minutes.  Went up the road a bit and came upon a wreck and traffic was slowed down.  There goes another five.  Then, because I was running later than usual, I got behind a school bus that was stopping at every corner and lost another few minutes.  Finally got around it and came upon the remnants of a house fire about a mile from the school.  At least ten emergency vehicles blocking the road and traffic being directed around the scene one lane at a time.  Hope no one was hurt.  Even after all that, I managed to walk in the office at 7:32 but the red sheet was already waiting.  First time this year that I’ve had to sign in late.  sigh…

DH called from our place down in Florida.  Said it was 80 degrees and sunny.  Said he’d already unloaded the truck and was going to take a long, hot soak in the clawfoot tub and get a good night’s sleep.  Anyone seen that commercial of the redneck hot tub?  hee, hee!

Okay, let me get this day started so I can get it over.  Have a wonderful Friday, girls!

The kitchen clock is tick tocking away.  I never noticed it before.  Everything seems so quiet this morning.  I know it’s psychological but nevertheless, it really seems quieter since DS left yesterday.

In this melange of assorted family, it all adds up to chaos.  Andrew and Steven live with us.  Oldest DS has been here for more than a year.  With a cat, and DGD, Holly, is here whenever he spends time with her.  Youngest DS is here almost all the time and it’s only been recently that he stopped caring for Jake and Scout everyday.  Then there’s his dog, the twin’s cat, and last but certainly not least, there’s DH.  Ohh, and me.  I suppose I add to the chaos.

Oldest DS packed up his panel truck and headed for Florida yesterday.  He’s going by our cabin in Madison and dropping off a sleeper sofa, a dinette, a bunch of cabinets and assorted odds and ends.  His stuff is all going with him.  He left yesterday and the house seems so much quieter.  Of course, it isn’t but it sure feels that way.  Feels empty and a lot more roomy.  I hope he gets there safely and finds what he’s looking for with his girlfriend of the last year or so.  Lots of love goes with him and I’ll miss him but it still feels good to get a little piece of my house back.  There’s been a lot of tension between him and DH, especially the last six months or so.

My goal is to get my home back by the first of November.  Youngest DS needs to go home.  We have a very close knit family and I know this is a difficult time for him so I haven’t pushed him very hard.  I love him and know he feels lonely and displaced.  He stayed here in the beginning of this mess so I could help with the kids and because he didn’t trust DIL but things are not going to change significantly for a long time and he needs to begin rebuilding his life around something other than DIL and his kids.  He’s over here almost all the time although he does go home occasionally.  My house is a LOT closer to his job and he has DH and I here.  It’s hard to find fault with him because he works like a dog and does everything he can to help but it doesn’t do him any good to stay here.  He needs to learn to deal with his life as it now stands.  I can only imagine how alien his home must feel to him.  Kind of like my house this morning.  Very, very quiet.  And, for him, very, very lonely. 

It’s hard to imagine that it’s only been a little more than a week since he had the kids over here everyday.  I guess, in some ways, it’s been easier for him to adjust because things have changed fairly gradually.  He had a home and a family, then he had the kids all the time, then she had the kids but he watched them everyday, all day long, then it became every day but just for a couple of hours and now it’s just once a week.  In some ways, I suppose it’s been easier but in other ways, it just feels like a long, slow nightmare that just keeps getting worse.

I suppose, at some point, he need to set regular visitation.  We need to say, “This is when he has the kids.  Every week.  This is what it is.”  I know, however, that it’s going to be difficult for him.  It looks like he’s going to wind up getting them Saturday evenings, after work, keeping them Sunday and Sunday night and then taking them to school Monday mornings.  That’s the only day he has off.  DH needed his help last Sunday to work on his car and I wasn’t happy that he spent his only day off working on DH’s car from around noon to 7:00 p.m.  Had a word with DH and told him not to tie up ANY of DS’s Sunday because that’s his day to spend with the kids.  Of course, he countered with, “I know.  I felt bad about it but it was also the only day he could help me with my car and I couldn’t do it by myself.”

I’ve been blogging too long.  Gotta get moving.  Have a good one, Ladies!

Thanks, Sunnydaze, for nominating me for the Georgeous Blogger Award!  It had a .png extension so I’ve changed it to a simple jpeg picture so no one will get any pings from it.

Rules:

-Include the award on your blog or post
-Share with everyone six interesting facts about yourself
-Nominate as many bloggers as you like
-Be sure to link the nominees within your post
-Let them know that they received this award through their tagboards or private message them
-Share the love and link this post so that everyone will know the person whom you received your award from.

Six interesting facts about me:

1.  I love to travel, usually in a 37 foot RV.

2.  I love to cook (and eat).

3.  I’ve been married 40 years to my high school sweetie.

4.  I write.  All the time.  About anything.

5.  I have ten acres down in Florida and can’t wait to RETIRE down there.

6.  I’ve visited 44 states including Alaska and Hawaii, and five different countries.

Nominations
Susan
Joy
Brandie

I’ve really been out of commission for a long time.  Didn’t realize how long until I started trying to think of six interesting facts about myself and couldn’t think of any.  Anyway, this is what I came up with.  Pass it on ladies!

Killer Tuesday is more like it.  I have to work from 7:30 to 2:30 then have a mandatory faculty “book study” (like we don’t have enough to do without having to read books about how to be a great teacher) from 2:30 to 3:30.  I have to be at the home of my Hospital/Home school kiddo from 4:00 to 5:00 and then back to school for an ROTC Booster Club meeting from 5:30 to 6:30.  Looks like a twelve hour day from the time I leave for work until I get home.

I don’t like these mandatory book studies we’re having.  In theory, it sounds good.  Read a book on school time and then meet once a month for a “book study” session.  In reality, I read about half of it at home a couple of weeks ago and read the other half yesterday evening but found that I’d forgotten most of the first half.  (sigh)  I mean, really, how do you expect us to sit around reading books at work when I usually can’t even find time to go to the bathroom?

I hope oldest DS doesn’t move out today without me having a chance to say goodbye.  He was packing up his panel truck yesterday afternoon and getting ready to move to Florida with his girlfriend.  He moved in here a year and a half ago to stay “for a couple of months”.  I love him but will be sooo glad to see him moving out.  He’s supposed to take a sleeper sofa, dining room table and chairs and a half dozen cabinets and drop them off at the cabin for us.  I hope it all works out for him but I don’t put much stock in “internet romances”.  He and his girlfriend have only gotten together a few times but they talk and IM and visit on a web cam constantly.

He’ll be leaving Holly and the twins behind but I don’t think they’ll notice too much.  We’ve raised the twins for the last six years so they think of DH and I as their parents and Holly still lives with her mother.  True, she’s over here almost every weekend with her father but I’m usually the one who watches her.

I’d better hit the shower and get this day going.  I’d rather sit here and blog for a few more minutes.  Don’t really want to tackle today but I don’t have much choice.  The last thing I need is to start a killer day by running late.

Yep, the leaves are comin down!  I sat out in the spa yesterday and watched them.  I looked up and, for a moment, I thought it was a flock of birds way up in the sky but then I realized it was leaves, spinning and whooshing up to the sky on an updraft of wind.  It made me think of when I was a kid and we’d see so many birds flying south this time of year.

I remember sitting on top of my sliding board and watching clouds of birds that covered the sky in long black ribbons that seemed to go on forever.  Wonder why we don’t see that anymore?

I remember an abandoned piece of property with a ramshackle old barn that had several gnarly old fruit trees and my Mom would take us there to gather apples and pears in the fall.  We’d wrap the pears in newspaper and put them in boxes in the garage and it seems like we had pears forever.

I remember my biggest trick or trick ever!  I had a huge bag of goodies. My brothers and I were walking home and a bunch of teenagers ran up behind us, pushed me down and took my trick or treat bag.  My brothers took me home, dumped all their goodies on the table and we took turns choosing.  One for you, one for me, until we all had an equal amount and then my big brother gave me the last piece even though it wasn’t my turn to pick.  It was one of those peanut butter chewy things wrapped in waxy orange paper.  I didn’t even like them but I still remember him giving me the last piece.

I remember my grandmother’s jams and preserves.  Come to think of it, most of them seemed to be “pear based”.  Apple and pear preserves, plum and pear preserves and good old pear butter.

I remember standing over the heating vents in our kitchen with my dress billowing out like Marilyn Monroe on chilly autumn mornings and my mother saying, “Patricia Ann, if you don’t get moving right now, your brothers are leaving without you!”

I remember having to leave my warm, cozy bed to get ready for school.  I still have to leave my warm, cozy bed to get ready for school.  I still don’t like it.

I remember being twenty pounds lighter and the waistband of my pants feeling loose instead of tight.  I remember having two separate boobs instead of one continuous roll of fat across my chest and under my arms.  Wasn’t that long ago.  This time last year. 

I can’t go back to Grandma’s pear preserves and mama urgeing me out the door every morning but you would think I could get back to where I was last year.  Wouldn’t you?

What do you remember?