I'm Crushed

I looked out the laundry room window and got a shock today. We had wind damage and I must have slept through it.

Our yellow shovel is laying on the ground underneath the tree trunk.

The top broke out of a sweet gum tree and squashed my apple tree. This is the first year we've had a lot of apples on it. 

Bummer!

AS ALWAYS

PIO

Springtime in Resaca

I have two great boys, well, men who are hard workers and who love to grow things. Colt is a price estimator in the landscaping company he works for so he's taken a great interest in plants. 

Last year, Colt rid the lawn of a fungus or something that burned my eyes like pepper every time I mowed the yard. This year he has turned his attention to gardening in our favorite spot in the backyard and planting flowers for me in all my window boxes and two new clay pots flanking the front door. I love having flower boxes. It makes the house look like a cottage.

Without further ado, I give you the proof of the pudding . . . . . 

AS Always

PIO

Walkabout

Chilling Out

There's nothing like a good walk to get your juices pumping. I have a great place to walk near my house. I go walking down Chitwood Road where they always have the Battle of Resaca each May. 

There are a few houses out there but it has rolling hills with broom sage sweeping the fields and I feel like I step back in time as I traipse about. When I was young, we always explored the woods.

The gates in the pictures are reserved spaces for campers who participate in the Battle of Resaca. 

Donny and I checked the mileage and it's almost a mile long. I think that counts for a pretty good workout. Don't you?

Stay healthy, my friends. 

As Always

PIO

It Had To Be Said

To anyone who "suffered for the last 8 years under President Obama," please read this response from SCOTT MEDNICK when a Facebook friend told him, "We suffered for 8 years. Now it’s your turn.”

Here is Scott's reply:

"I am surprised you would wish suffering upon me. That of course is your right, I suppose. I do not wish harm on anyone. Your statement seems to continue an ‘US v THEM’ mentality.

The election is over. It is important to get past campaigning and campaign rhetoric and get down to what is uniting not dividing and what is best for ALL Americans.

There will never be a President who does everything to everyone’s liking. There are things President Obama (and President Clinton) did that I do not like and conversely there are things I can point to that the Presidents Bush did that I agree with.

So I am not 100% in lock step with the outgoing President but have supported him and the overall job he did.

And, if you recall, during the Presidential Campaign back in 2008 the campaign was halted because of the "historic crisis in our financial system."

Wall Street bailout negotiations intervened in the election process. The very sobering reality was that there likely could be a Depression and the world financial markets could collapse.

The United States was losing 800,000 jobs a month and was poised to lose at least 10 million jobs the first year once the new President took office. We were in an economic freefall.

So let us recall that ALL of America was suffering terribly at the beginning of Obama’s Presidency.

But I wanted to look back over the last 8 years and ask you a few questions.

Since much of the rhetoric before Obama was elected was that he would impose Sharia Law, Take Away Your Guns, Create Death Panels, Destroy the Economy, Impose Socialism and, since you will agree that NONE of this came to pass, I was wondering: Why have you suffered so?

So let me ask:

Gays and Lesbians can now marry and enjoy the benefits they had been deprived of. Has this caused your suffering?

When Obama took office, the Dow was 6,626. Now it is 19,875. Has this caused your suffering?

We had 82 straight months of private sector job growth - the longest streak in the history of the United States. Has this caused your suffering?

Especially considering where the economy was when he took over, an amazing 11.3 million new jobs were created under President Obama (far more than President Bush). Has this caused your suffering?

Obama has taken Unemployment from 10% down to 4.7%. Has this caused your suffering?

Homelessness among US VETERANS has dropped by half. Has this caused your suffering?

Obama shut down the US secret overseas prisons. Has this caused your suffering?

President Obama has created a policy for the families of fallen soldiers to have their travel paid for to be there when remains are flown home. Has this caused your suffering?

We landed a rover on Mars. Has this caused your suffering?

He passed the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act. Has this caused your suffering?

Uninsured adults has decreased to below 10%: 90% of adults are insured - an increase of 20 Million Adults. Has this caused your suffering?

People are now covered for pre-existing conditions. Has this caused your suffering?

Insurance Premiums increased an average of $4,677 from 2002-2008, an increase of 58% under Bush. The growth of these insurance premiums has gone up $4,145 – a slower rate of increase. Has this caused your suffering?

Obama added Billions of dollars to mental health care for our Veterans. Has this caused your suffering?

Consumer confidence has gone from 37.7 to 98.1 during Obama’s tenure. Has this caused your suffering?

He passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Has this caused your suffering?

His biannual Nuclear Summit convinced 16 countries to give up and destroy all their loose nuclear material so it could not be stolen. Has this caused your suffering?

He saved the US Auto industry. American cars sold at the beginning of his term were 10.4M and upon his exit 17.5M. Has this caused your suffering?

The deficit as a percentage of the GDP has gone from 9.8% to 3.2%. Has this caused your suffering?

The deficit itself was cut by $800 Billion Dollars. Has this caused your suffering?

Obama preserved the middle class tax cuts. Has this caused your suffering?

Obama banned solitary confinement for juveniles in federal prisons. Has this caused your suffering?

He signed Credit Card Reform so that rates could not be raised without you being notified. Has this caused your suffering?

He outlawed Government contractors from discriminating against LGBT persons. Has this caused your suffering?

He doubled Pell Grants. Has this caused your suffering?

Abortion is down. Has this caused your suffering?

Violent crime is down. Has this caused your suffering?

He overturned the scientific ban on stem cell research. Has this caused your suffering?

He protected Net Neutrality. Has this caused your suffering?

Obamacare has extended the life of the Medicare insurance trust fund (will be solvent until 2030). Has this caused your suffering?

President Obama repealed Don't Ask Don't Tell. Has this caused your suffering?

He banned torture. Has this caused your suffering?

He negotiated with Syria to give up its chemical weapons and they were destroyed. Has this caused your suffering?

Solar and Wind Power are at an all time high. Has this caused your suffering?

High School Graduation rates hit 83% - an all time high. Has this caused your suffering?

Corporate profits are up by 144%. Has this caused your suffering?

He normalized relations with Cuba. Has this caused your suffering?

Reliance on foreign oil is at a 40 year low. Has this caused your suffering?

US Exports are up 28%. Has this caused your suffering?

He appointed the most diverse cabinet ever. Has this caused your suffering?

He reduced the number of troops in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Has this caused your suffering?

Yes, he killed Osama Bin Laden and retrieved all the documents in his possession for analysis. Perhaps THIS caused your suffering?

From an objective standpoint it would appear that the last 8 years have seen some great progress and we were saved from a financial collapse.

Things are not perfect. Things can always be better. We are on much better footing now than we were in 2008.

I look forward to understanding what caused you to suffer so much under Obama these last 8 years.

AS ALWAYS

PIO

Trump Watch

Michael Sutter shared this: 
That's just one issue to affront us all: Look---Those who study authoritarian regimes suggest keeping a list of abnormal events after a demagogue is elected, as a way to remind yourself that this isn't normal and to keep from being overwhelmed into acceptance by the onslaught of attacks on our rights.
Here is a list below. We are 4 days in.
As the author says, "when you see all of this in one list, it is easy to get overwhelmed, at first-- it is also easy to see a pattern and to finally, finally recognize that none of this is normal, nor is it ok."

* On January 19th, 2017, DT said that he would cut funding for the DOJ’s Violence Against Women programs.
* On January 19th, 2017, DT said that he would cut funding for the National Endowment for the Arts.
* On January 19th, 2017, DT said that he would cut funding for the National Endowment for the Humanities.
* On January 19th, 2017, DT said that he would cut funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
* On January 19th, 2017, DT said that he would cut funding for the Minority Business Development Agency.
* On January 19th, 2017, DT said that he would cut funding for the Economic Development Administration.
* On January 19th, 2017, DT said that he would cut funding for the International Trade Administration.
* On January 19th, 2017, DT said that he would cut funding for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership.
* On January 19th, 2017, DT said that he would cut funding for the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services.
* On January 19th, 2017, DT said that he would cut funding for the Legal Services Corporation.
* On January 19th, 2017, DT said that he would cut funding for the Civil Rights Division of the DOJ.
* On January 19th, 2017, DT said that he would cut funding for the Environmental and Natural Resources Division of the DOJ.
* On January 19th, 2017, DT said that he would cut funding for the Overseas Private Investment Corporation.
* On January 19th, 2017, DT said that he would cut funding for the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
* On January 19th, 2017, DT said that he would cut funding for the Office of Electricity Deliverability and Energy Reliability.
* On January 19th, 2017, DT said that he would cut funding for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
* On January 19th, 2017, DT said that he would cut funding for the Office of Fossil Energy.
* On January 20th, 2017, DT ordered all regulatory powers of all federal agencies frozen.
* On January 20th, 2017, DT ordered the National Parks Service to stop using social media after RTing factual, side by side photos of the crowds for the 2009 and 2017 inaugurations.
* On January 20th, 2017, roughly 230 protestors were arrested in DC and face unprecedented felony riot charges. Among them were legal observers, journalists, and medics.
* On January 20th, 2017, a member of the International Workers of the World was shot in the stomach at an anti-fascist protest in Seattle. He remains in critical condition.
* On January 21st, 2017, DT brought a group of 40 cheerleaders to a meeting with the CIA to cheer for him during a speech that consisted almost entirely of framing himself as the victim of dishonest press.
* On January 21st, 2017, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer held a press conference largely to attack the press for accurately reporting the size of attendance at the inaugural festivities, saying that the inauguration had the largest audience of any in history, “period.”
* On January 22nd, 2017, White House advisor Kellyann Conway defended Spicer’s lies as “alternative facts” on national television news.
* On January 22nd, 2017, DT appeared to blow a kiss to director James Comey during a meeting with the FBI, and then opened his arms in a gesture of strange, paternal affection, before hugging him with a pat on the back.
* On January 23rd, 2017, DT reinstated the global gag order, which defunds international organizations that even mention abortion as a medical option.
* On January 23rd, 2017, Spicer said that the US will not tolerate China’s expansion onto islands in the South China Sea, essentially threatening war with China.
* On January 23rd, 2017, DT repeated the lie that 3-5 million people voted “illegally” thus costing him the popular vote.
* On January 23rd, 2017, it was announced that the man who shot the anti-fascist protester in Seattle was released without charges, despite turning himself in.
* On January 24th, 2017, Spicer reiterated the lie that 3-5 million people voted “illegally” thus costing DT the popular vote.
* On January 24th, 2017, DT tweeted a picture from his personal Twitter account of a photo he says depicts the crowd at his inauguration and will hang in the White House press room. The photo is of the 2009 inauguration of 44th President Barack Obama, and is curiously dated January 21st, 2017, the day AFTER the inauguration and the day of the Women’s March, the largest inauguration related protest in history.
* On January 24th, 2017, the EPA was ordered to stop communicating with the public through social media or the press and to freeze all grants and contracts.
* On January 24th, 2017, the USDA was ordered to stop communicating with the public through social media or the press and to stop publishing any papers or research. All communication with the press would also have to be authorized and vetted by the White House.
* On January 24th, 2017, HR7, a bill that would prohibit federal funding not only to abortion service providers, but to any insurance coverage, including Medicaid, that provides abortion coverage, went to the floor of the House for a vote.
* On January 24th, 2017, Director of the Department of Health and Human Service nominee Tom Price characterized federal guidelines on transgender equality as “absurd.”
* On January 24th, 2017, DT ordered the resumption of construction on the Dakota Access Pipeline, while the North Dakota state congress considers a bill that would legalize hitting and killing protestors with cars if they are on roadways.
* On January 24th, 2017, it was discovered that police officers had used confiscated cell phones to search the emails and messages of the 230 demonstrators now facing felony riot charges for protesting on January 20th, including lawyers and journalists whose email accounts contain privileged information of clients and sources. (from a friend)
* On January 24th, 2017, James Comey, who released unsubstantiated allegations concerning Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential campaign, asked to stay on as FBI Director.
* On January 25, 2017, The Trump administrated mandated that EPA scientific studies, data undergo review by political staff before public release.
* On January 25th, 2017, Trump orders a crackdown on immigration and that a wall be built across the Mexico border.
* On January 25, 2017, Trump orders an investigation into alleged voter fraud in only the states he lost with a concentration on "urban areas." He also tells Republicans to move forward with more voter suppression measures.

Please share... If you want more people to actually read it, copy and paste. I still can't believe what is on this list. Thank you for reading... It is long, but important..

The Destruction of America

God, I hope this is a good year. I seriously have my doubts though. We shall see.

It's not even the middle of the month and our nation is already in free fall. We have learned, barely a week before the inauguration of president Trump, that the Russians were in contact with the Trump team before the election and they worked diligently, leaking information to discredit Clinton. 

Our government and the electoral process have been compromised. America has never had so direct an attack from a foreign government before. How we respond to this attack on our democracy, and their successful elevation of a buffoon to the highest office in the land, who  is Putin's puppet, will test the very fabric of democracy. I don't hold high hopes now that the Republicans have control of the house and the senate. 

One quarter of the voting public support this traitor and his swamp of deplorables who will dismantle our government and squeeze every dime out of us. They don't even understand the damage they have wrought. They don't care.

Obamacare is not the real name for the health bill. It is called the Patient Protection Affordable Care Act. Republicans labeled it "Obamacare" to undermine the President and the policy. The ACA, short for PPACA, strengthened patient's coverage and expanded their healthcare. People didn't face lifetime caps on coverage for catastrophic illnesses or denial of coverage for preexisting conditions, two of the most important benefits of the ACA.

The ACA was based on "Romneycare" which Mitt Romney created for his state when he was governor of Massachusetts. If you do a little research you will find that his plan was based on the Heritage Foundation's plan. Believe it or not, the Republicans did draft a similar health plan previously.

The Heritage Foundation is a conservative research think tank organization that evolved from the John Birch Society. JBS was an extremist group that nearly died out until the Tea Party arose during the economic recession. They are anti-government radicals.

Presidents have tried to introduce universal health care since Franklin Delano Roosevelt was in office in 1933. Republicans have always opposed it.

Republicans have already passed a bill in the senate on Thursday (1-12-17) blocking six parts of Obamacare. When Republicans stayed in session until 02:00 Friday morning, they blocked coverage for preexisting conditions, contraceptive coverage, child health care program (CHIP), allowing children under 26 to stay on their parent's insurance, medicaid expansion for lower income, and veteran's coverage. All of these things have been a godsent for millions of people who didn't have insurance before. Now, it is being stripped away from us.

This is only the beginning. They're going to work on social security and medicare next. God help us all.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Rhonda, Amanda, Evelyn, Ann, Frankie, Lisa, Angie, Sue, Norma, Joey, Donna, Valerie, Angela, Jacob, Bennett, Mika, Brenda, and Teresa

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY
Donny and Pam

RIP
Roy Burchfield, Jimmy Hutson, Sam Burchfield, Vivian Shoates, 

Lela Smith, Beulah Burchfield, and Roger Rowland

HAPPY NEW YEAR

AS ALWAYS,

PIO

DECEMBER

This has been a long year. I haven't felt like I've made much headway this year. Nothing is like I imagined it would be and I am disappointed and disheartened.

The 2016 Presidential election was a big dud and my favorite candidate didn't stand a chance. We are now doomed as democracy is sidelined and the mega-wealthy take control of the government. 

I'm old. A lot of people are older than me and we will all face the suppression of government assistance and protection we have known for so long. Our old people will be destitute. I'm close to it already.

Once corporations take over and destroy every branch of government that used to work for the people, not big business, we will all be fearful of death panels. Actually, all they have to do is cut social security and medicare and raise insurance rates or deny coverage and we won't even need any death panels. Old age, heart attacks, and strokes will take us out pretty fast. 

I don't mind it for myself but I do hate it for the people that have worked all their lives and paid into the system who won't be able to pay their bills. I hate it for the young people who are working on barely minimum wage who won't ever be able to afford a home or an education. I hate it for all the peons who shuffle to work every day just to put food on their table and a roof over their heads for themselves and their families. I hate it because it is the death of the American dream.

We used to say "anyone could grow up to be president someday." How prescient! We should modify that saying to include . . . "but that doesn't make it right."

I am deeply sad.

I don't know where we will go from here but since time only travels in one direction, we will see.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Schylar, Katie, Scout, Amanda, Kiersten, Tony, Denise, Todd, Carmen, Andy, Noody, and Carole

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY
Diane and Larry

RIP

Albert T. Silvers, Edwadene McAllister, Delbert Callahan

REMEMBER

Be Nice To One Another

It's Christmas

AS ALWAYS

PIO

PBS 12-22-16 Thursday 9:30 PM EST

THANKSGIVING 2016

Don't you just hate it when that happens? The month gets away from you and before you know it, you haven't got the job done. Well, that's me. Busy, busy, busy and not a lot of progress to show for it. 

Thursday we had Thanksgiving dinner at Mama's house. Donny and I brought the turkey and dressing and my specialties; potato salad, deviled eggs, and macaroni and cheese. Mama cooked the vegetables and Colt made a pie. He made a cheese ball and sausage balls, too. That boy can cook better than I can.

Mama's sister, Mary Jane, was there, too. Each time we are together, it is a blessing. Scout came out to get some leftovers for supper. That's the best part of Thanksgiving.

Today was Alice's birthday and Colt took us all out to celebrate at the Cracker Barrel. She slept through the beginning of the meal but woke up and after trying to figure out where she was and what was going on she got to eat her cake. She was hilarious. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Samantha, Dawn, Larry and Alice

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

~Mama and Daddy~

RIP

Albert Silver, Charlie McAllister, Edwadene McAllister, 

Delbert Callahan, Crick Marshall, Frances Causby, 

and Roy Burchfield

REMEMBER

Happy Thanksgiving

AS ALWAYS

PIO

PBS 11-26-15 Saturday  1:35 AM EST

OCTOBER

TRUMP

The scariest thing I can think of this Halloween is the coming election. 

I really dislike this man. He is an arrogant, narcissistic, megalomaniac who denigrates men, women, veterans, POW's, handicapped, a Gold Star family, Muslims, Latinos, blacks, immigrants, unions, the media, his opponent, her husband, his own political party, our military, and god knows who else. He is very negative and constantly puts down America, our political system, the Speaker of the House, and even Rosie O'Donnell. 

Donald Trump thinks he's a great deal-maker but he's really just a con. He thinks it's good business to short-change employees and businesses whenever he can. He's bankrupted four times! Does that sound like a good businessman? Does deducting a loss of nearly one billion dollars and possibly not paying income taxes for 20 years sound like a good businessman? Does avoiding paying taxes for roads and military and other taxes make him smart? Is that the kind of man you want in the White House picking taxpayer's pockets? I don't.

There are too many incidents for me to start mentioning so let me just say, "Google it!" 

Any time you read something I've written I don't expect you to take my word for anything. Google it. Look it up. Do some research. You have the world's encyclopedia at your fingertips. You're not a baby. Never take anyone's word for anything without verifying the information. You're a chump, if you don't. That's what people like Trump depend on. 

Nearly every woman has had a skeevy experience with an overbearing man who behaved inappropriately with her. I've experienced more than one occasion which was frightening so I know how serious this subject is.

When a man thinks he can jump a woman and take advantage of her and brags about it, he is a sleazy, little man. Trump is a sleazy little man with sweaty, little hands. He is bold and arrogant because he has money and thinks money can buy, or buy off, anything. He likes gaming the system. He's gaming you and me and if he wins the presidency we are all screwed.

How the heck anyone could think he would be a good leader and an excellent commander-in-chief I'll never understand. 

Trump projects an image of a bully. He could be playing hardball with the Sopranos but he does not belong in the White House.

This is the man who championed the birther movement even though it was a nonissue. It wouldn't have mattered if Obama had been born in a madrassa. He would have still qualified for president. His mother was an American.

Any naysayers seem to believe that Obama's mama hopped in a time machine after she gave birth to him in Kenya, then had a fake birth certificate that proved he was born in Hawaii because . . .  Well, I don't know the "because". Obama's mother could have never dreamed her son was going to be president thirteen years after her death. That's just crazy conspiracy theory crap.

Trump is the epitome of everything that is wrong with America. He is a whiny little bitch that doesn't have any concrete plans to help this country. He keeps saying in a braggadocio manner that he has the solution but he never maps out a plan to strengthen this country. He doesn't even understand how our government works. How could he govern?

Trump is too bored to prepare for the debates. What makes you think he will do the day to day duties a president has to do? He'll hire "the best" consultants to sit in for him and allow them to govern. That's why he chose uber-conservative, Mike Pense. Trump will come out and accept the credit for any successes he can tout but will quickly point blame to others if his administration fails. 

Mark my words!

Between now and the election, I might have to vent on my blog some more. 

I've got to convince my husband to vote for Hillary instead of a passive no-vote. I played the granddaughter card on him. I told him I don't want to live in a country that learns open bigotry and misogyny from a president like Trump. I want my granddaughter and other women to live in a world where women are treated with respect by everybody. Men are led by example. Our leader should have respect for everyone.

God help us all. 

That's all I've got to say about that ... for now.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Joann, Shannon, Alesha, Lon, Layla, Matt, Devan, Michelle, Kelly, 

Debbie, Chase, Barry, Diane, and Summer

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY
Kelly and Troy
Piette and Paul
Brittany and Corbin

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Remember to Vote

AS ALWAYS
PIO

PBS 10-13-2016 Thursday 10:38 pm EDT

SEPTEMBER

I saw a sign the other day. It said something like "my life didn't turn out like I expected it to be" and I thought that pretty much sums up my whole life. 

I've been painting and cleaning up around the house. I'm trying to get Alice's room painted so she can have a cheerful place to play. I am a horrible painter and if it wasn't for Colt I would have never gotten started. One gallon of paint wasn't enough so I had to buy some more. I've never painted the walls any color except white so I was a little anxious about smearing the walls a jackfruit yellow. They turned out fabulous.

The grass seeds that Colt planted when he repaired the lawn is so thick I have to raise the blade on the lawnmower all the way. 

This has been a busy summer. I had been mowing Moma's lawn until she got a wild hair and bought a riding mower so I didn't have to do that any more.

I got to see Alice pretty often this summer and enjoy watching her develop and grow. She's a smart baby and has a great personality.

We didn't have any cookouts or do anything with the family this year. I miss that. We used to cook out at least one or two times a year when Daddy was around.

It won't be long before Halloween and Thanksgiving and Christmas. Whew ...
Three fourths of the year is gone. 

The presidential election is impending and everybody is on different sides. This is the most contentious and disgusting election of my lifetime. I hope to God everyone gets off their fat ass and go vote.

That's all I have to say about that.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Butch, Katy, Kim, Susan, Carol, Larry, Corbin, Gail, Melissa, Melody, Erin, Emily, Debbie, and Jesse

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY
Resaca Rose

AS ALWAYS

PIO

PBS 9-30-2016  Friday 11:45 pm EDT

AUGUST

Ah, summertime! I'm relishing the heat. It feels like the sun warms me down to the bones. I've been taking antibiotics and I'm not supposed to get too much sun. 

Saturday afternoon I was going to mow but I was cleaning up a part of the yard instead. When I finally got around to getting out the lawnmower so I could check the oil and gas I noticed the cover for the air filter was missing. I found the filter laying on the ground but I never could find the cover for the box. I walked all over this yard, looking under bushes, and around anything that might have knocked off the lid. 

Today my son came to visit and cut some hedges in the front yard. I decided to rake under the bushes just in case I lost the filter lid in the front yard last week although I don't believe I wouldn't have noticed it being missing while I mowed the whole yard last week. I finally started raking on one side of the bushes while he cut them standing on the other side. I had forgotten that there are yellow jackets around there. They got after me and started stinging me. 

Colt told me to run to the house. I ran onto the carport and started looking for the ammonia and cotton balls I leave sitting on the fence for just this kind of emergency. The stupid yellow jackets were still following me and wouldn't quit stinging me so I had to run into the house. We trapped them in the washroom and I ran into the dining room. I made Colt go around to spray the yellow jackets but he said they were at the door and he let them out instead.

I was stung at least four times. Once on the hand. Once on the leg. And a couple of times on my torso. Every time I feel a twinge I jump, thinking I've been stung again.

Oh well, that's what I get for not thinking. 

I don't know what I'm going to do about fixing the lawnmower. Maybe I'll tie the goat outside.

I hope I have a better day tomorrow.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Ashley, Tommie Lyn, Pat, Pam, Myra, Nancy, Nancy, Brenda, Chris, Randy, 

Jonnie Bell, Gloria, Blake, Bob, Justin, Cole, Jerry

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY
Susan and Bob

REMEMBER

Back to School Time

RIP

AS ALWAYS

PIO

peace out

PBS 8-7-16 Sunday 6:00 PM EDT

JULY

my monthly

Thank you for your kindness and patience in taking the time to peruse my weak attempts at humor or whatever you want to call my monthly ramblings.

I haven't been very forthcoming about my life and my family because it seems there is always too much drama. (Don't ask.) 

Did I tell you I hate drama? Well, I do. That still doesn't mean I don't cause as much as I experience. I say that to my shame. I have the manners of a billy goat and I'm not a peace maker. That is not my job. I don't have a job anymore.

I think I should get involved in politics. I'd have to be better than the politicians we have now. Am I right? 

I'm getting tired of everybody else going to Washington and getting rich making backroom deals. I figure I can run on the Honesty platform. Heck, most of those congressmen take a couple of years to become really corrupt (aka richer) and I'm such a dummy it would take me literally years to learn their tricks and the voters could vote me out by the time I become corrupted. Years, I tell you!

I miss having a period. Now I don't have an excuse to bloat and pout for a week. Strangely, I miss that. I also don't have a rage of hormones to course through me and engulf me in righteous indignation. Therefore, my flame is becoming dim. That's why I'm becoming a monthly.

If I could, I would rant and rage, but I can't do that anymore. I haven't felt as full of myself and as inflamed since I lost my daddy. I know that probably sounds stupid and I know it came completely out of left field but that's the truth.

When my daddy was alive, I wondered if he read my blog. I always kept a keen eye and tried not to say anything I shouldn't. My parents didn't like too much drama, either, although sometimes I have to wonder.

Anyway, I never did learn whether my mother read my blog except for the time or two I showed her something I'd posted. I didn't know if my daddy knew I could even spell, much less write until one time he asked me to write something funny for the old car club he belonged to that he wanted to share. I never did get around to writing that story for him.

My aunts read some of my stories and told me they liked them so they may have told Mama and Daddy about me. I didn't think they cared.

It's funny that you can be born in a family and feel close to one another and when the unthinkable happens and you lose a linchpin everything changes. That happened when we lost my father and I've seen it happen to families around me who have been crippled with pain and loss. It happens every single time someone loses someone they love. That's why I want to say be gentle and be patient. Their lives will never be the same and it takes some time to adjust to the rest of their own lives. Just hang in there. It'll get better. That's what they say. I'll tell you when it happens.

Between running to doctors and dentists and trying to maintain, our lives are very full right now. All in all, it's not so bad as long as you look on the bright side. I'll let you know when I see it. 

Take it easy.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Krista, Jeremy,Darrel, Athena, Connie, Jennifer, Christy, Nathan, Madison, Holly, Coven, Tristan, Evitt, Tillie

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

REMEMBER

RIP

AS ALWAYS

PIO

JUNE

This is the weekend of the annual Dixie Highway 90 Mile Yard Sale. I noticed people are setting up several booths in anticipation. It's always a big deal and traffic can be bumper to bumper. 

I have to be careful not to rubberneck and run over anybody.

I was sidelined last week when my truck had to be worked on. 

I had to go to the dentist Monday because I developed an infection in my gums!

Mamma's ankles are swelling and Mary was complaining with a pain in her buttocks. Colt and I have bad coughs. 

I know it seems like one thing after the other is always going on and it's not happening news or interesting stuff. It's just plain boring day to day life. I prefer it to the alternative. Wouldn't you? I hate the drama.

There are lots of things going on but they're big things and little things and things that don't really mean much to anybody but us. 

I wish Daddy was still alive. He would have a blowout birthday party for Mamma's 87th birthday. That's a lot of candles. We'd have to have the fire department on standby. I miss my daddy.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Aaron, Dustin, Tyler, Sara, Colt, Tim, Eddie, Jimmy, Gary, Dana, Nancy, Hanna, Keegan, and Shanda

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY
Chase and Krista Sheram

RIP

J.L. Strickland, Mary Bell Carter, Sam Burchfield, Charlie Burchfield, 

and Steve Yeargin

REMEMBER

Dixie Highway 90 Mile Yard Sale June 1-3th

Flag day June 14, Father's day on June 19th, and Summer June 21st

AS ALWAYS

PIO

Late, but not forgotten. Enjoy!