Nature Songs ~~~~

JUNE, 2001 ~continued

June 10, 2001 - Yikes! What a variety of infommercials can be found on the television on a Sunday morning. It makes me wonder how many of the people watching them would call in and order whatever is being pushed to the limit for intriguing the populace to the juncture they just have to acquire it? A lot of money must be earned or the airways would not be stuffed with the wide variety - air filters, weight, exercise, increase earnings, sundry products for household or persons - the list is quite long. One product in particular caught my eye. I have it and paid about seven dollars for the same amount that the asking price for ordering is $19.95, plus $6.95 shipping and handling ... Makes one wonder ... “buyer beware!”

No, I didn’t watch television all night. Taking the pain pills at bed time as well as being most tired, I slept some. After spending Saturday afternoon keeping pace with inquisitive, bubbling and energetic little Miss Giggles as she explored her universe I was more than ready for that sleep. All the selling gimmicks were in high gear around five a.m. - and all I wanted was some background noise. Being high pressured to buy was not my idea of background sounds since I was in search more or less for a relaxing sound of music. Money is tight for many people today making it hard for them to buy the necessities life. Surely that would be reflected through the success or lack of success in all the different sales techniques. Maybe if the economy gets tighter for the general public, the hard sells will disappear from TV.

Shopping with Tbird and her three children yesterday was pleasant except for Giggles demand for wanting to hold her Mother’s undivided attention. The time is fast approaching for the trip to Australia. The gist of the buying spree was to purchase items that would pack well, wash and dry quickly with the least amount of wrinkles. Ironing is not an option when traveling for eighteen days in another country. The one purchase that may seem extravagant was a soccer ball pillow. It can be used for resting one’s head while riding, but it could be a suitable item for play on the long plane rides there and back when kids tend to be bored. Maybe that is not a frivolous purchase after all.

Our pastor is supposed to be back in church this morning. This has had to be a difficult time for his family with his daughter’s high school graduation being canceled, another daughter facing surgery tomorrow, and needing to sell their homeplace in Ohio.

My choice is to buy Mother a ham biscuit at BoJ’s this morning and spending my time watching a morning church service with her on television. With the hectic day yesterday, it was impossible to get over to see her. There were a few phone calls and Mother enjoyed talking with Giggles on the phone. (Giggles is showing a great love of talking on the phone - a trait inherited from her Mother.) I promised her I would give her a manicure this weekend and this morning is the only chance I have to carry out that promise. Meanwhile, only a few miles away, three of my children and their families all sat together in church.

It’s off to another shopping spree this afternoon as final bits and pieces are gathered for the excursion to the other side of the world. NascarKid has to have a medium weight coat to carry along and the London Fog Outlet is the only place we can think of that would carry what he needs at this time of year. That means a trip up the mountains to the outlet store at Shoppes on the Park Mall. A quickie lunch in Blowing Rock first and nearly seven hours of looking, shopping and buying commence with a whirlwind tour through four counties. Wally World in Lenoir was next to finish up what was started yesterday. Tbird never made it to the notions and toiletries after Giggles packed in about a dozen shirts while Mom was checking out clothes for NascarKid. Today was much easier with Giggles home with Dad.

June 11, 2001 - Washed out, over-exerted, pain level admittedly too high, head swirling and disorganized are only a few symptoms dwelling within this bode of mine this morning. Pounding the concrete walkways and floors is not a favorite pastime of mine. Each step jars my innards from head to toe creating an intense throbbing as the muscles rebel and tighten up. Add a Prainy Day to that feeling! Voila! Agony, no less ...

London Fog had a jacket for me yesterday. I have long coats hanging in the closet which I seldom wear since no longer working and having a need for that length.. Time was when I never left the house unless a long coat tried to camouflage a bit of my huge size. This new jacket will be used year-round since it is lightweight and sports a zip-away hood. From Watawga County we drove down to Wally World here in Caldwell County since it happened to be on the beaten path to gather the sundries for travel that all must have. A brief look for another pair of clip-on sun glasses for the small glasses both Tbird and NascarKid wear was unsuccessful in Newton-Conover, so we proceeded to Sam’s to pick up staples as well as film, paper for business cards needed to run off the People to People ID’s and some other things. Catawba Valley Mall was calling us to purchase a Gameboy for DynoKid since those left behind must not be overlooked. (Plus, he worked hard to earn it!) The Gameboy they had, but not the particular cartilage desired for playing ... another stop at Media Play. No desired game there either, however I bought the poem book, The 500 Best Loved Poems to use with the Understanding Poetry Class. As I sat in the car and perused my new purchase, Tbird and NascarKid continued the pursuit for the game in ToysRUs - Bingo! They had it .... Burke County came next on the schedule to disperse the purchases and two worn-out shoppers and then finally home to collapse an rest for moi. Some of my stuff is still in the car.

Fruitless attempts were made after returning home to make business cards for three of those making the trip - NascarKid, Tbird and a good friend of ours that is also an advisor for the thirty-five young people turned Ambassadors to Australia. Strangely, the page sent by People-to-People to have copied for use has only eight cards on the page and although the actual card would fit an average business card printable page, there would be two wasted on each page since the page is designed for ten cards. Also, only the top four fit the premarked cards and the bottom four are way off the mark. Guess that is my project for today ... I could take one and start all over again ... No, on the other hand, I’ll figure out how to use what is already begun. There is a way;.

Ms Jay called a little earlier this morning than usual since she has a doctor’s appointment in Hickory and won’t be working out with our group today. She does have to be at Quest for the second class since she is scheduled to lead it. I’m about ready to switch off the light and rest a bit longer this morning. I have some things to do outside in the yard which would give me a good workout day right here at home. I love to workout in the water, but today the muscles and willpower are lagging and struggling. Over on Tbird’s hill, She and NascarKid are attempting to pack their luggage in order to be ready to go early ...

When they arrive here later in the afternoon, Tbird is telling me about NascarKid and his method of labeling his clothes. Instead of writing his whole name on each item he is taking, he simple wrote the number “5” which is his number on the list of all the kids going. Leave it to him for searching out the simplest way of labeling his belongings! Mom made him put his NAME on his new jacket, cap and sweater he will be wearing out in public the most. It will be interesting how much of his luggage items he will manage to bring back home with him. Whatever items they buy along the way, they will mail home so they will not have to keep up with them and try to pack into their bags. My order has been put in for a doodigeroo and something from the opal mines. Hummmm, I forgot! I need to have them look for some thimbles made from native materials.

June 12, 2001 - 3 a.m. in the morning and who should prod me to wake up? Charlie has to announce that he is out of water. I’m not sure what it is he wants until he goes into the kitchen and scratches in the dry water bowl. I forgot to check it at bedtime and now that I think back, Giggles played in the bowl yesterday. That girl is becoming quite a handful to keep up with. She wanted a “boo-boo” Saturday which is her name for a Band-Aid. I gave her four one day as she kept taking off one after another after getting a small cut on her finger. Finally, I chose a brightly decorated one and put it loosely on her finger as I explained that it was a “boo-boo cap” and that she must be very careful with it. That Band-Aid stayed around a pretty long time as she kept wearing it on a finger and loved showing it off. Saturday as she begged for one, DynoKid announced that he cannot reach the box up in the kitchen cabinet. She quickly announced as she pats her chest, “Me can get it! Me can get it!” A push of a chair to climb on to reach the counter and yes, she could get it. Big brother, NascarKid came to the rescue and reached the box before she had a chance to climb.

Writer’s block has crept into my mind. The Writing From the Heart class lesson this week is “Writing Chicken Soup Stories” and for the life of me, I am a complete blank. The mind must be low on water. After all, that is one of the things that leads to temporary loss of short term memory. Right now, the long term memory is also jumbled. Newspaper writing last week went awry as most of my energy turned toward the Lord of the Rings and Understanding Poetry. Add in the misery of itching and burning pimples of Psoriasis. Misery loves company and so the Psoriasis is attempting to pop out on face, elbows, ears, fingers and hands.... major flare up time ...! Grrrrrrrr .... I hate it! I hate it with a passion ! Time to back off and rest.

Rest may not be possible until next week. Giggles and NascarKid will be here this morning as Tbird takes DynoKid along with her up the mountain and have a little one-on-one attention with him before she leaves on Thursday. I’ll have him and Giggles here Wednesday night, Thursday and Friday of this week. The next two weeks Giggles will be in daycare which will be a great help for me. DynoKid has day camp at church next week.

I’m tempted to miss out on Q4L again today. Having to lug along Giggles, plus BingoKid is coming over and then there is NascarKid to take with me. Do I or don’t I? There is the Better Weight class this morning and the daycare only allows the children to stay for two hours. I would have to take the kids into the class with me today and being that it is a cooking class, I’m not too sure that it would be a good idea to have to watch the children. More people always come on the days that there is a cooking class.. . Always decisions to be made ...

Meanwhile, here is a stack of newspapers that need to be read. Sunday’s papers have not been touched yet. Mother was not visited again yesterday. Life is a merry-go-round that is spinning much too fast for enjoyment. I missed one of my prescriptions to get a new refill prescription when I went to the doctor and it has to be phoned in. I forgot to take the form to be filled out by the doctor to get my handicap tag renewed. .... forget .... mess up ... don’t do .... Wonder what else????? And I’m still itching !!!!!!!!

June 13, 2001 - Getting up was a little easier this morning. Only BingoKid was here and when I started getting ready for Quest, Charlie took it on himself to wake up BingoKid with plenty of barking, nudges and licks until he was out of bed. It’s not bad having a working alarm system in the mornings when sleepyheads are around.- especially an alarm that is self activated.

This was my first day this week to work out in the pool. Ms. Jay was the instructor for the day since our regular leader was not around. I got sore from not working out much the past several weeks what with everything that has been taking place. Missing days does make a big difference.

I was surprised to see the dentist we used to go to many years ago. He was a good friend of my husband’s and after his death, I changed dentist because Allan had a problem with going to him among many other problems he faced following loosing his Dad. Over the years, the dentist has had his own problems to deal with. Among them is his battle with diabetes and the loss of both legs. That surprised me today to see him at Quest using a walker and two prosthesis’. He was working out on some of the machines out on the floor. People can do many things if they only set their minds to doing them and don’t mind working to achieve their goal.

Most of the afternoon was spent searching for and reading poetry. I had forgotten how much enjoyment there is in reading some poetry. It is actually a musical score composed of words. Just as music has a variety of rhythms and sounds, poetry also has many components and rhythms. Along with the poems, I found myself also reading snippets of information about various poets and marveling at the range of years that many of them have endured to be so popular today. However, there are many today, that don’t know what they are missing when they don’t read.

It was late afternoon when Tbird brought by Giggles and DynoKid to spend the night with me. Giggles doesn’t have any idea how long her Mother is going to be gone. At her age, she doesn’t comprehend all that is taking place. After visiting with Mother for awhile with the two grandchildren, it was time to bring her home and to bed.

BED? Not according to Giggles! She was at Momma Jeanne’s house and that is not where she has to go to sleep at a certain hour ... or so she thinks ... well, maybe she did manage to fangled around until near ten o’clock before dropping off to sleep. She had no intention of sleeping if she thought she could play. In reality, she fell to sleep sitting up with her eyes wide open. I was able to put her in her port-a-crib after she fell to sleep. When I attempted putting her into it to go to sleep, she promptly climbed out of it up onto the bed beside it. That was not a workable idea. Putting her on my bed beside me worked better, then I transported her to the other room to her crib. She is a full-fledged two-year-old with a mind of her own.

Now for me to get some rest before morn when all that youthful energy begins flow once again. By that time, Mom and Brother should be in Atlanta boarding their second plane for the flight to California and the long trip across the continent to Australia. The time has come around so fast and now they are heading out....

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