Over the Years

About thirty years ago a group of people that I worked with at de Paul school decided to join an exercise class. I was the oldest member of the group but I was sure that I could keep up with the "young".Janet, the school secretary was in her twenties, and the others were in their 40's I was in my early sixties and had six children. There were about five or six other members of the group that we did not know. After about three or four weeks of classes mosts of the others dropped out. We worked out at the ballet barr for the first segment of the class. We did basic ballet movements and were so crippled up the next day that we could hardly walk, let alone use the muscles necessary for sitting on the toilet. One of the original classmates that I met was named Toni. She was a newly wed and very enthused about things like makning a perfect dinner for her husband for Valentines's Day and other things of that nature. We listened and made appropriat comments. Through the years other people joined and dropped out at a rapid rate. We vowed not to commit their names to memory until they had lasted through three or four weeks. It was not a 'bunny' exercise course. We did our routines to music and tried to give every muscle a workout. If you were not tired and sore when it was over you know you had slacked off. We spent Lent doing leg lifts to "Put On Your Easter Bonnet". We went through the whole song, when the lady sings near the end we were happy to still be alive. I think we did a total of fifty leg lifts by the time the song was over. We named our routines by the name of the music that was playing. "Sugar, Sugar", "MyGuy", "The Angels Sing", lots of Michael Jackson tunes,a lot of country-western tunes and many, many, more. We had some funny things happen during the years. One girl could absolutely not lift her legs up while lying on her back, so she solved the problem by sewing 'handles' on the sweat pants to help her pull her legs up. In the early years, insted of using 'store bought' dumb bells we would put nickles in a sock and tie the sock around our leg. It worked! We bonded together. We had lots of laughs, many tears and we worked through them together. When we met for the last time, we vowed to stay in touch. Guess what? We did just that, we meet every six or eight weeks and go to dinner together and since I am pretty much home bound we get together at my house and have a great time. Sadly enough, our studio and our blood, sweat and tears has been a victim of progress.Buldozed down, the building but not our spirits.

Merry Christmas is on the Way

I have been challenged once again by my computer. I am so lacking in technological skills that I embarrass myself. I have other skills, I could jump double-dutch, I could do a comlete back-bend, I bake a great pie, I used to have a good alto singing voice and I could go on and on but when it comes to my computer I'm out and out dumb!! I have been writing blogs since about 2004 and getting along just fine with it but 'they, the mysterous dough heads' desided to 'upgrade',there-by losing me totally. I now have blogs that are floating around in cyberspace aimlessly. I have drafts that I wonder if I or anyone else will ever see again. I hate to sound so down this close to Christmas but what's a body to do? I hope that St. Nick sends someone to aid me before the year ends! (I hope Pat reads this) Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Year to all of you. I wish I could hug each and everyone of you and express my true love for you. Ciao~!!!!

Twilight Zone

I was in a world of pain when I was admitted to the hospital, so they did what they usually do in the ER, they gave me morphine. I promptly entered a zone that is not for the timid. I completely lost all contact with the real world. I heard stories of the outrageous things that I said but the dreams and night mares that I was having were frightening. Despite the fact that I was off kilter, the hospital personnel insisted on asking their routine questions. "Do you know where you are? Do you know what day it is?, Do you have your own teeth?" I became very perturbed by these questions and caused my family quite a bit of embarrassment when I gave non-sense answers. They would change from morphine and give me other narcotics but it did not bring me back. Finally one of the doctors said"Enough!!"No more narcotics. It was with great joy that Kristin came into my room one morning and said,"Grandma,you're back!" No more fantasies. I returned to my real self. Of course all of the family was happy to see me 'in my right mind' but a few of them insisted that I was "loopy", their word, not mine. I became very upset when I would make a statement and they would tell me that I was making it up or that I did not really know what was going on. One night, I wakened up and felt my bed moving! It was as if I was levitating. Just a smooth move across the floor and then in a minute or so I 'floated' back and a man came out from under the bed and proceded to leave my room. The next day I related the experience to my daughter and she said,"Mama, that did not happen! You just dreamed that" I insisted that I was sure that it did happen and became a little agitated that my 'sanity' was being questioned. Later on a nurse came into the room and my daughter told her of my experience. The nurse, said there had been some problem with the electric outlet and the electrician said he could handle the problem without waking me up. So in fact there was a man under my bed! I had to shoot down any ideas that I was 'Loopy'off and on during my stay. People think I'm not for real on a daily basis, you would think I'd be used to it by now but not so! I did have an evaluation while I was there in the hosp. and I passed with flying colors. So there! Ciao.

Going through Hell

Winston Churchill said, "When going through Hell, keep going." That's pretty much what I've been doing for the major part of this past year. On February 4th I entered Baptist East Hospital for surgery and stayed there for most of the next six months. I was released to a rehab center for a few weeks but returned to the hospital again. I finally got to come home at the end of June but two days later I fell and broke my hip so back into the Hospital for another month. I had a few brushes with death during that time. I think I 'coded' three times and the call out went to all family members to come home to be with me. I took Churchill's advise and just kept on going and was back in the game again before too long. The family went back to their lives and I continued on my path to recovery. Believe me it was an arduous time, it took all of my strength and tenacity to survive. I am no longer in the hospital but I am pretty much home bound. I can walk very well with my walker!I have not fully recovered yet and who knows, this could be as good as it gets at my age. Next Monday, I will be 88 years old and all of the things that you hear about growing old are all true. I cannot open anything,I can't always hear everything, my eyes are growing weary, I have gaps in my memory. I forget things for brief periods of time and then the forgotten things pop up again in my memory. Some people call those 'senior' moments, I call them Versed moments. (Versed is commonly called "milk of amnesia") I have had it so often that I think it has left me with a part time brain! The one thing I can open is a book,so I spend a lot of time reading which is my first choice of what to do when you have time on your hands. I am re-entering the Blog World and will be relaying some of the happenings of my year. Ciao

No Experience Required

One of our old friends put a note on his Christmas card this year saying that he and his wife were looking forward to having their first great grandchild this summer. He was very excited and well he should be! It is an experience like no other.

When I had my first child my mother shared with me one of her philosophies. She advised against boasting or bragging about your child or children. Her reasonning being that if the person you were bragging to has children of their own, they did not want to hear about yours and if they don't have children of their own, they do not want to hear about yours. I could identify with that pretty much so I tried to follow her advise. (Even though my children WERE superior, and for that matter so also were my grand children). However; I think with great-grandchildren you should be able to dispence with that philosophy. So, for future reference for most of you, I hereby give you a dispensation. If your great-grandchildren are adorable, brilliant, comedic, and just downright cute, go ahead and let everyone know it. After all, they are three generations away from you so you can't take all the credit for their good qualities.

I have been able to get to know all of them. Some better than others.They bring you such joy and pleasure. One visited me in the hospital a few years ago at her own request. Her dad said he was coming to see me and she asked if she could go along. She crawled up into the bed with me and cuddled. When she was leaving, she asked if she had made me feel better.
Seeing her walk into the room, made me feel better! They make greeting card for me, write me letters, one sends me post cards when he and his family travel. When one heard me say that I was just 'plain' old, he objected. He said," You are old but you are not plain!"


I drink cokes that come in the original little eight ounce bottles, most of them refer to those as my baby cokes. It is a special treat to get to drink one when they visit. One time one of the grandsons asked if he could have one of my baby cokes; his three year old daughter watched as he got the coke out of the fridge and opened it. She came to me and said, "Can I have one of your 'big girl' cokes?"

There are many talents among them. One plays the violin, he's ten and he's been playing since he was seven, one plays the cello, she also is ten, one has had a small part in the "Center of the Arts" production of "Annie"' one was a 'snow flake' in her recital and said she felt like a goose in the white feathery costume. Her sister hastened to tell us that she meant a'swan'. One is working two jobs to help pay his tuition at college. One came in third or fourth when his highschool Cross Country Team won the State Championship in North Carolina. One that is in the fourth grade got bumped up to play with the fifth grade 'A' team in basketball. Another plays the piano. They are an awsome group of kids. I haven't mentioned all of their accomplishments, even great-grandmas can over do-it when bragging.
See I pretty much spared you from showing you pictures and crowing about my kids and grand kids, so I deserve the bragging rights when it comes to GREAT-grandkids. There are twenty-five of them. Eight great grand daughters and seventeen great grand sons. I'm lovin' it. Ciao

BTW none of them have red hair but not to worry they all like pasta!

Promises Promises!

Here we are at the dawn of 2012! As a young person, I used to hope that I lived to see a new century and lo and behold I did that and more. Twelve years into the twenty first century, remarkable! I'm glad to be here, despite the fact that the world is struggling. When we greet a new year it is like starting over in some ways. We have the desire to make changes in our lives that will make us better people in one way or another. Now, not all of us think it necessary to change anything about the way we think or do but some of us think there is room for improvement. If you listen to people talk about their resolutions for the new year you will hear pretty much the same 'ole'resolutions from most of them. Lose weight is the biggie, quit smoking, get more sleep, exercise more, stop drinking, swearing, stop watching so much T.V. Most of those promises are personal. The Health Clubs always have big specials at the beginning of the year. The time is ripe for people becomming exercisers and on a mission to improve their appearances. February is a good time to go to the gym if you are serious about it because the New Year resoluters have stopped going by then and you can have the facility to yourself.

How many people do you hear saying that they are going to be kinder, more tolerant, more generous, more compassionate, more informed? So many of us see the need for change in our personal appearance or in our effort to be healthier but how many of us see the need to make amends or changes in the way we treat the people around us? How many of us make resolutions to become a better person, or a better wife, husband, co-worker, neighbor,or friend?

I don't find it nearly as hard to give up eating donuts as it is to be kind or tolerant to a person that I don't agree with or don't approve of.
Depriving myself of certain foods and changing my habits can change my appearance or my health but it does not change my character. Trying to be less judgemental, more understanding, willing to listen, sharing someone's sorrow or joy, simply smiling at someone that needs uplifted when you don't feel so good yourself can be beneficial and can actually change you for the better. That is a resolution that is very, very hard to keep.

It is a resolution that we should all try to make and then make it last beyond January. There's a lot to be said for that Golden Rule! Do unto others as we would have them do unto us. Happy New Year. Ciao!