The Puffy Little Puppy

This is my 10-month-old little girl, Belle, last Friday, 10/23/09. But, it looks nothing at all like my beautiful puppy! That's because she was either bitten or stung by something (we don't know what) and this was what happened as a result. Talk about scared! I completely stopped breathing when I walked in the house and saw her almost unrecognizable face. Of course, it was after 5:00 PM, and of course we had to make an emergency trip to the vet's office for shots to reverse the effects, but man was I happy to get some medicine in her little system. She was about to claw her own face off because it was itching so badly.

Now, $103 later, she's back to her normal skinny little face and long nose and I hope this doesn't ever happen again!

From Terror to Tranquility

Picture a wee little girl asleep in her bed in the middle of the night Then, imagine an extremely LOUD train coming down the tracks right past the little girl's house, horn blaring fiercely. All of a sudden, the little girl sits straight up in the bed, hops down on the floor and makes a mad dash to her mamma and daddy's bedroom screaming, "It's gonna get me -- I scared! Can I peas seep wif you?" Oh, what a warm comforting feeling to crawl into their bed and snuggle up all safe and sound away from the mean old choo-choo train! Well, that little girl was me -- oh so many years ago in a small town in South Carolina. Night after night after night that train came through, and night after night after night I ran as fast as my tiny little feet would carry me to the safety of my mamma and daddy's bedroom.

Now picture that same little girl who is all grown up at the age of 48. How ironic is it that I would end up living my married life 3 hours away from the little town in South Carolina, yet a similar set of train tracks runs right past my house nestled back in the mountains of western North Carolina, and a train chugs along those tracks every single day? Only now, it's amazing how much joy and tranquility a train brings to my life! I can't wait to see/hear it coming down those tracks. It's actually makes for quite a beautiful motion picture as it glides along through the lush green trees of spring and summer, the colorful trees of fall, and the snow-laden trees of winter.

Amazing how the clocks and calendars of the aging process have a way of changing our outlook on certain aspects of life and move us along from moments of sheer terror to moments of pure tranquility! More amazing still is what you can see in the picture above that I took on my cell phone at lunchtime today. The train was making its way past my house as I went home for lunch. I wonder if the shadow of a telephone pole, which just happened to somehow get into the picture (and which I didn't notice at all at the time I was taking the picture) was God's way of speaking sweet peace to my soul? After all, that shadow sure looks like a cross to me -- a symbol that God paid the supreme sacrifice and, because He lives in me, I have nothing to fear! Sorta makes cold chills run up and down my spine. Our God is an AWESOME God!!!

Flat Stanley

That's me, of course, in the picture to the left. And, that little guy I'm holding who you can barely see is Flat Stanley (FS). He was sent to me through the mail by a little cousin in Texas, and she asked if I would be willing to help her with this project for school. Of course, she asked me quite sweetly in a phone call that preceded the US Mail, so I couldn't say no. See the other picture? Well, the cutie on the right in the blue shirt with the glasses is Rikki -- the cousin I'm helping out. The other cutie pie in the red shirt is another Texas cousin, Anna. They were here a couple months ago and we took them to Fuddrucker's to eat. We had such a good time.

Anyway, apparently Flat Stanley is a bit of a rage right now in certain grades/classes at the elementary level, so I was asked to take FS with me to various places I visited, to write a short story about each place where I traveled, to have my picture taken with FS at these places, and then to mail him back to Texas. I have to admit that FS hasn't been with me to a lot of places, but he's tagged along quite frequently as we went to church, the Blue Ridge Parkway, the Mountain State Fair, and Dollywood (as you see from this picture).

I must admit that I've gotten some very strange looks from folks observing me having my picture taken with, for lack of a better word, a paper doll. But, it's been fun and I hope I can get a few more pictures made with FS before packing him up, along with our pictures and my stories, and sending them back to Texas!

Good Times

The date is Saturday, October 3, 2009. The place is The Galley at Portman Marina in Anderson, South Carolina. The time is 7:00 PM. The occasion is the Belton Honea-Path High School Class of 1979's 30th reunion.

What an absolutely FABULOUS time was had by all in attendance! Our reunion committee (of five very special ladies) did an awesome job of pulling it together, and I am forever grateful to them for all their hard work.

It was a bit comical at times watching one person walk up to another and say, "Hello! How are you doing?" And then give them a great big hug, only to have the "huggee" pull away and stare at the "hugger's" name badge to see who was hugging them! Yep -- we've changed -- all of us -- in one way or another. Except for a few, who actually make me sick to my stomach because they look EXACTLY like they did in high school!!! You shouldn't look the same as you did in high school after you've been out of high school for 30 years, for crying out loud! What's wrong with these people, anyway? Did they forget they were supposed to age like the rest of us?!?!?

What a magical time of camaraderie we shared. Some laughed; some cried because they were overcome with emotion; some acted crazy just like they did in high school; but some were not present to do any of these things because, sadly, they have departed this life way too early. May they all rest in peace!

Thank you, God, for allowing me this wonderful opportunity to spend a few precious hours with some of the most special people in the world -- people I grew up with and learned to love at an early age! The older I get the more I realize just how much these friends mean to me, even though now I only get to see most of them at reunions.

GOOD TIMES!