not McDonough and not Scottsboro

Who knew? I'm spending Sunday in Auburn, AL!!

Anybody who has ever been a college student knows that college life has its own unique version of stress. It's definitely not the real everyday world - not regular everyday stress - but it's different and it can produce a lot of pressure. Combine that truth with the kind of genes that my girls have inherited from me and BOOM! you get meltdowns! On Friday when Laura Beth brought me back to Auburn, Kate was honest, yet kind, telling us that school was building up in the pressure area - several tests and papers, etc due this week. I felt for her and we helped her navigate thru weekend game traffic by dropping her off at places and circling the block - that eliminated her having to find parking places - so she was able to get several tasks done - we had a really good Friday middday with each other and all parted company - Sarah back to her fine arts world, Kate to Toomers to study, Laura Beth and Ada back to McDonough - and Elizabeth hightailing it back to Scottsboro - beebopping down the road (or up the road) in the Corolla - which is driving great by the way - since Steve nearly killed himself in it when the tires blew out - but we have really nice tires on it now and it drives great - really!

Saturday morning - Charlie and I whistling in the dark - loving the Saturday - farmers market - anticipation of the evening game events on TV - and the phone rings - we were in the middle of moving heavy things out of the art studio so I can resume my project of the makeover I'm giving the art studio. I heard it from outside and ran in to get the phone. Sad Sad - poor Kate was losing it - and who could blame her? Her computer had completely crashed! College students cannot have a computer crash and go on with their lives - it can't be done. Kate didn't have time for anything, not a smidgen of anything extra, and certainly not the crashing of a computer.....because besides all the school work, she is a semi-wedding director person for a friends wedding next weekend. There was so much on her computer regarding that and all the emailing with folks - not to mention that her cell phone is "limping" - it's working but not very well - communicating with her on the phone is a bit challenging. Chunks of sentences are not heard. One has to fill in some of the blanks.

Bottom line? I knew that this MOM needed to head to Auburn on that very day and do a bit of 911 rescue and recovery - Kate just needed a personal assistant and that would be her Mom. She also needed a new computer. And that isn't a problem since they give those away for free at Best Buy..... :-) ....... just kidding of course. So - we had several phone calls back and forth - Kate borrowed Sarah's laptop for the afternoon - I did a bit of this and that and drove out of Scottsboro by 2:30 pm on Saturday - yesterday - and came straight to Kate's house at 6:00 - hearing the noise in the stadium - where Auburn was off to a good start playing Kentucky - but I understand that it didn't end well - oh well - not my problem - we were at Best Buy soon after my arrival (wanting to get that done before the exiting traffic began) and we got Kate her new laptop - amazing how empty Best Buy is in Auburn, AL during a football game. We grabbed some food at Zaxby's and a movie at a Red Box machine and got back to Kate's house for a cozy evening watching what I would call a wonderful movie - Kate was pretty much playing with her new computer....The name of the movie is "An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving" .... It was a random one that Kate picked out and she was putting disclaimers all over it - but it looked clean and good and cozy and was based on a Louisa May Alcott short story. I loved it!!! Photography was beautiful and it had a hint of Little Women to it.

Kate's church is a new one here in Auburn - and meets at 5:30 pm - It's a "spin off " from the one she's attended these four years in Auburn - Anyway - we're not at church this morning - I've already cloroxed, lysoled her bathroom for her - since I'm not a very late sleeper - neither is she, actually - I just thought - with all the stress - nothing like a clean clean bathroom as a picker upper - Right?

Oh - last night at 11:00 I asked, "What time is it?" and that's when Kate told me, "11:00". I was wowed! No wonder I was so sleepy - I was headed for bed - Kate was headed for Sarah's - where her buds were gathered after the losing game - College Life - no boundaries on time - etc - in the evening - and I said, as a Mother is prone to do, "No wonder ya'll are so tired - you stay out so late!". Kate agreed and left for Sarah's. I just begged her to remember to lock the door and she did and I do remember her coming in but it was a brief moment for me - I slept so good. This morning she told me she came in at 1:00.

Anyway - plan is to take care of the cell phone this afternoon - have no idea what that will entail - maybe a new cell phone. I'm just so grateful that money grows on trees. We have a money tree and we just go out and pick money off of it. One has to appreciate my synical sarcasm. I'm just kidding.

Anyway - this house Kate lives in is really really comfortable and nice - she has the sweetest roommate who has the sweetest parents and it's a very loving environment - I say her parents because I feel their touch all over the house - little extras and they are down here more often than we are - very nurturing place - I love it - but her sweet roommate happens to be gone for the weekend.

Okay - I've gotta close this - but I have a very unique story to tell on my post - I was working on it yesterday when the crisis hit - it has to do with family tree situations - and I was telling Kate the story last night which prompted her to rent that movie - but the story is all in my brain - and I will put that post together when I get back to Scottsboro. I'll probably return tomorrow, but maybe tonight -

One sad thing - our church is having a Fall Family Festival out at Mike and Mary Brattons gorgeous home - well it's an outside thing and I've really looked forward to it - so I'll be missing that today - lots of pumpkins and hayride stuff and hotdogs and desserts and coziness and warmth in the midst of some cool weather. But any Mom would much rather get to her little girl and help, if at all possible, and then her heart can relax a bit

I did grab a lot of my cd's that I seldom listen to - yesterday I grabbed them - because the Corolla radio is awful - but the CD player does work. Normally I listen to Tim Keller going down the road - but I was in the mood for music. I have a lot of old classic stuff - as in rock and also classical music. I listened to an entire Tony Bennett cd, a Linda Ronstadt cd, a Louis Armstrong cd, a Vittorio(romantic opera voice) cd, and finished up with Bach. On the Linda Ronstadt cd I sang along with her - very loud - and I had her turned up very loud - Linda and I were singing so loud together going down Highway 77 through southwest Alabama - that I missed a phone call from Laura Beth on my cell phone. I sheepishly called her right back and explained that Linda and I were doing a number together and got a little loud.

Okay - that's all - and I'll be a Scottsboro lady again by tomorrow probably and certainly Tuesday.

Mid Week in McDonough, GA

I'm here in McDonough - with Laura Beth, Ada and Scott -

I traveled to Auburn on Sunday and had a good visit with Kate, meeting Laura Beth at Kate's house - we had lunch together and visited a couple of places and people in Auburn.

Laura Beth and I arrived in McDonough around 8:00 - phone calls from Scott informed us Ada was anxious for us to be there. We made it a late arrival on purpose in order for us not to interrupt Community Group which meets at their house each Sunday evening.

I got the greeting I was hoping for, from Ada - we came through the front door and she looked for a second and came running toward me, past Laura Beth, with open arms. That precious little bitty thing hugging me so hard. It's too much! Sometimes she's shy and intimidated at first, if it's been a long time since we've seen each other - but this time it had only been a few weeks.

To read what we've been doing, just go to www.adaupdates2.blogspot.com and Laura Beth describes our handiwork on her blog. I feel like Jillian on Biggest Loser as an "organizer trainer" instead of a "bodybuilder trainer". I have no mercy. I've stood over both Laura Beth and Scott growling at them, making them throw away, throw away, until it hurts - and then throw away some more. Just kidding. But I am forging ahead. They are both quite the packrats - cute and sweet - with a precious little redheaded Ada - but packrats all the same and it's just easier to wait until another day to clear it out. Actually - I'm a packrat also - an organized one, but a packrat. I guess we all have that in us. I live going through stuff and getting rid of - and then there's always more to get rid of.

Anyway - it's been fun and a good visit with the Moores here in McDonough. Ada has attached herself to me - I've rocked her a lot - but not to sleep - I thought for sure she was asleep tonight, but wasn't - just almost. She has so much energy and climbs and hops off of everything.

So - there are still things they'll have to do before John arrives in February - but between all the housework Laura Beth had done before I arrived(she's blogged about that recently) and what we've done this week - I think it's not so scary for her knowing there'll be a new little baby in the house in about 3 1/2 months. And I've gotten in a long overdue visit with Ada.

I return to Scottsboro on Friday and am anxious to see my 3 little "knotheads" when I get back - I highly recommend reading Ann's most recent blog - her blog is www.annrbarber.blogspot.com
It is hilarious and so cute about Luke and his halloween costume - and Ellie's pretend activities involving her cake in the frig. plus her pretend classroom activities. And Luke's obsessive compulsive nature - awwww. He's so tenderhearted and so sensitive.

Children and the way their minds work - Ada, right now, is scared of certain shadows on the wall - always asking what they are and looking really worried. Also strange noises frighten her - especially when we're downstairs and someone is upstairs - the sound of people walking up there - even when she knows it's mom or dad or me - it bothers her until everyone comes down.

Well - it's late - we have to get an early start tomorrow - going into the city to get LB's hair cut - It's one of the "Fancy Antsy" Atlanta hair places - last time I was there, getting my hair cut, was when I was here helping Laura Beth after Ada was born. All 3 of us went that time and all 3 of us will be there tomorrow. I think Ada was about a week old. Here it is 2 years later and Laura Beth is pregnant with her little boy.

October Hydrangeas

One more tribute to my Hydrangeas.

It's turning into a collection -

of dried blooms around my house.

Visually they please me so to look at them.

Thanks to Sarah and her camera and photography skills, I have this picture of dried blues in an amber vase which Kate gave me several years ago.

My outdoor arrangement put together in September has taken on an October look -

and still on the bushes mauves and blues remain even into fall .

This last one amazes me - ever hopeful - perseverance even when the garden is shutting down -

I am traveling to McDonough, GA today - by way of Auburn - having lunch with Kate and Laura Beth - and riding to McDonough with Laura Beth.

I'll post during the week from Laura Beth's computer and will be back in Scottsboro on Friday.

Painting Project

This blog is about my favorite things - what I like to remember - memories - and....those little pleasures that are a part of daily living - very simple ones - like the first cup of coffee in the morning - strong and hot and dark - but even before the first cup - the smell of the coffee brewing.

Top on the list of what gives me a kick - projects - painting projects - projects that involve sanding things and restoring things and giving things a new look - furniture - rooms ....

This week the little house that sits behind my big house is getting a new coat of paint on the inside. It's called the "Art Studio" but its name is misleading. Art Studio implies that I do a lot of artwork out there. I don't - but it's a great room. Very cozy and makes me think of being outside but inside at the same time. There are windows on 3 of the 4 walls and it's as if the outside comes in.

Monday the project began - fortunately the room was nearly empty because it had been cleared out for Sarah this summer to work on ideas for her senior project which she is working on presently in Auburn. She'll graduate with a degree in fine arts in December. Had some pretty good holes in the wall from shelves that had hung since 1994 - utility shelves and not very esthetically pleasing - not creative - so that involved the wall putty - letting it dry - sanding that and reputtying and more sanding - all of that was pretty easy.

Tuesday I went to Home Depot and got my paint. The palest, palest whisper of pink - not little girl pink - not pepto pink - but a blush of it - On the paint card it reads "Bleached Shell". The windows and baseboards also are getting a new coat of paint - a warm white. That paint card reads "Pot of Cream". - The floor is a sheet of vinyl or linoleum. It's the cheaper of the two so I think that's vinyl - I've googled how to paint vinyl floors or linoleum floors - and am going to get a paint that is a deep chocolate brown. I picked it for it's color but of all things - the paint card reads "Bear Rug".

Yesterday, Wednesday, having everything ready for painting, I headed out to the studio in my paint clothes - the ones with paint all over them - and discovered a few ants in the threshold of the door. Not surprised because we had had a few in our kitchen - typical for this time of year - changes of seasons and all of that. Made note to self - get those little white discs that take care of that. As a temporary solution I got some ant spray which is really just a topical fix. When I put that nozzel in the crack of the threshold next to the door facing - WHOA! It was as if I'd stepped on a large ant hill. Swarms of those tiny little ants - I attacked full throttle with that ant poison - still thinking I'd get the discs later - I got all of those and went to the other side of the threshold - did the same thing and again - huge swarm - again the major blasting with the ant poison - and a resignation and decision, knowing, "I've got to go in, get a shower, put on decent clothes, go back to Wal Mart, for the 3rd time this week, and get all my ant stuff to get those guys. I did all of that - got back home - placed the discs and resumed my painting project only to discover that I didn't have the disposable paint pan liners. HAVE to use those! Simplifies cleanup - so - back with the decent clothing, back in the car - and this time to Sherwin Williams - I just couldn't do Wal Mart or Home Depot again - too big - too deep.

Finally toward the late afternoon I began to apply paint and into dusk I was working - It was very satisfying and I am headed out there again today to finish - the ants are gone - because I've already gone out there with that first cup of hot coffee to check things out. The ants are also not in my kitchen anymore - those little discs are wonderful!

When I work on a project like this - it's the same as what I've said about cutting grass - my thinking is all over the map - but mostly I think of Daddy and all the projects Mother had him do - I feel like him when I'm doing stuff - As a little girl I did follow him around watching and watching - seeing how he did everything. I can see him in his paint clothes and his regrouping when he had to go back to the hardward store for something he needed. Sometimes I hopped in the car and went with him. I guess I watched him so much that it must of reminded him of being a little boy, watching his dad - because, once, Daddy turned to me with smile and told me how when he was a little boy he'd get so excited watching his Dad work on something, building something. He said he would begin to giggle just watching him - just in the thrill of seeing it done. I remember absorbing his story, pondering and being able to imagine him in that moment. His telling me is vivid in my mind.

I didn't only follow Daddy around. I was with Mother more than I was with Daddy, it seems, or at least equal time. Often I was sitting and watching Mother on the sewing machine - all of that fascinated me - and in the kitchen when she was cooking - I loved watching her and occasionally getting to stir or pour something in - children hanging out with their parents - when they aren't playing alone or with siblings and friends - those are learning and growing experiences - memory making - learning about life - I loved it.

Now that I've posted on this blog - as I sit here at the computer with dried paint all over my hands and arms - I've got to get back to my project - can't wait!

Speaking of this being wedding month...

This was supposed to be for yesterday - but I didn't finish it - and now it's the day AFTER Ann and Steve's anniversary. Happy Anniversary anyway.

Today is Ann and Steve's Anniversary - their 7th anniversary.

Wow - I was definitely involved in that one.

I remember the day after I knew they were getting married, I felt rather overwhelmed and drove to K-Mart and purchased 2 packs of large index cards and a box to hold them. They weren't officially engaged, I just knew they were going to be. And it all just fell into place after that. I think that getting those index cards and the box to file them - well - that gave me some order to the big event we would be planning.

So - Happy Seventh Anniversary to Ann and Steve - To the Mom and Dad it's an event to put together. To the Bride and Groom - it's their wedding day and it belongs to them.

The day was beautiful and it was, for us, a great day of fellowship and celebration. Lots of friends and family.

That is all of my post for now and perhaps I'll write something this afternoon. I'm in the middle of a lot of small and medium size projects.

Turnip Greens, Old Pictures and October

One has got to really love a food item in order to stand at the kitchen sink and piece after piece clean and strip, etc. What am I referring to??? Turnip Greens. Charlie bought them at Farmer's Market today. We both LOVE them. That's what I'm doing this morning - cleaning them - also going to boil the green peanuts he bought. That's football food - watch the game - eat boiled peanuts. It's a Rhodes tradition and he was raised on boiled peanuts in the fall. But they have to be green - not just raw. He's a peanut snob about that and doesn't trust some of the stands selling boiled peanuts. He thinks they are passing raw ones, boiled, for green ones. There's a difference.

Also got some sweet potatoes from this dear man who sells them. I haven't met him - but Charlie knows all those folks down there and we love their fresh vegetables. Peas and Green Beans, stringless, fresh tomatoes - can't beat it - but it's about to be over and I don't can any of this stuff. My sweet neighbor, Wanda, gave me fresh okra this week, and last week, Laura Beth's father in law sent some with them to us. Had fried okra at Sunday lunch. So good. Charlie and I even like the boiled okra.

Back to my turnip greens - when I have those cleaned and cooked - that's like solid gold. Last year I froze some and the Pot Liquor(turnip juice). Love it. Charlie and I had those frozen greens last week with sweet potatoes. I tried to make Cracklin Bread, using fried bacon pieces, because I didn't have cracklins. I feel that project coming on. Trying to get my cracklin bread to taste like my grandmother's. I've got to tweak it and work with it until I can say...that's it....that's Ella's cracklin bread. It's like a kind of cornbread with a very hard crust - cooked in a little oil in a black skillet - so good if done right. Mother could do it...she didn't think she could - but I loved hers - but Ella was just known for it - and I think Mother referred to Granny's Cracklin Bread - so I guess it was handed down.... only I seem to be fumbling the ball. Oops.

Okay - so yesterday I went to CVS Pharmacy and put some random photos on a disc. Old Black and Whites which have a lot to do with what I blog about - my fond memories, etc. Now I have a few images and I intend to get some more. It is very time consuming to do that and I can't do many at a time. I did 27 yesterday - that's the most I've done so far. In my dreams I would have a really good scanner at home, a really good printer(not my mediocre one) and an updated computer with terrific graphic software. I have amateur software. But it's all fun to do and the creativity is a bit limited without top quality equipment - but it's fun.

Back to my turnip greens and trying to find a reason to put one of pictures up here. When I'm cleaning the greens and switching them from one side of the sink to the other, getting that dirt rinsed off - I am reminded of watching Mother in her double sink - and when she let the dirty water out in order to get new clean water - well - it made such a noise going down the drain - and still does actually - it would scare me - so I would hold my ears when that took place. So the picture below is Mom in her kitchen, first year she was in it. I love this picture. It is a classic 50's retro kitchen.

It's still wedding month - plus Ann and Steve have an anniversary on October 5 - this Monday - so I will continue to post some of Charlie and me and maybe think of stuff to say - maybe find letters Mom and I wrote each other during the planning stage leading up to the wedding. It's also beautiful fall weather month and October 2009 is outdoing itself. It's wonderful and delightful and aren't we grateful for how God made this world?!!

First Day of October

October means Fall - Pumpkins - Leaves turn - Warm - Cozy -

In my life it also means wedding month.

Charlie and I married on October 27, 1979. This year it will have been 30 years.

So - I picked songs that remind me of him and us and me and when we were dating.

I was 28, he was 26. We were single, working, living in Birmingham. Didn't feel so green behind the ears anymore - we both "felt 'out on our own' ". There was music on the radio and there were lyrics about falling in love. I tried to find some of those that reminded me of when we were dating - Boz Scaggs was really popular at the time and if I hear his music on oldie stations it reminds me of dating Charlie - I have a hard time remembering titles and artists - so there's one song in particular that I can't remember and can't find - maybe I'll find it later.

I don't like to post any harsh music - mostly easy listening and I doubt anyone hangs around on this blog long enough to listen to all my songs - but there's one in the middle of my playlist - words and music are a bit hard and anyone would think they don't suit my personality - that's because you don't really know me that well - sadly Charlie has found out over the years I can be a bit hard to "live with". When the soundtrack for "What Women Want" came out he and I were listening to it(I'd bought it) and the song, well, I hate to spell out the title, it isn't a nice sound at all, the title, by Meredith Brooks was playing. He said it reminded him of me. (He didn't mean that awful title, but the words. He wouldn't have called me that word. It's so derogatory) He was laughing when he said it. awwww. :-( I wonder if most men find that out about their wives - after the weeks and months have passed - and we get really comfortable with each other. Or we get really selfish with each other. Anyway, I had to explain that song - it's not my usual kind of music on here.

The first song, the Kenny Rogers song, reminds me of where we are now. It's been 30 years - I don't really listen to Kenny Rogers - and never did that much - but he does some nice easy listening.

I hope Christ has shaped me and molded me enough to make me nicer. I think it feels like he has. Marriage in the early years for both Charlie and me was a huge shock to our system. Neither of us knew we had to change so much and give so much and adapt to things we had absolutely no interest in. For me it was Football and Hunting. Good grief!! I was going to so many Auburn Football Games! Once I even took a book with me to read.....to the game. If anyone knows me at all then you've discovered I'm a talker. Charlie is not that by nature. He's quiet, subdued mostly - (except during an Auburn Football Game!)

I now enjoy Auburn Football. Charlie enjoys our long conversations and is patient with my "stories". We've lived through giving birth to and raising 4 girls. We're about to be done with the college years. We've both lived through my menopause. That's huge and noone warned us about that one. It looks different on everyone and you don't know you're in menopause until it's all over with. So you look back and say, "Oh! that explains all of that".

30 years of living together, going to bed, waking up, doing the daily routine - guiding our girls - making a lot of mistakes - having a lot of successes. Charlie's dad died of Lung Cancer in 89 or 90 - Daddy died after living with Alzheimers for at least 5 years - in 93. Mother died just because it was her time - in 2006 about 3 weeks before Laura Beth married Scott. We've lived through 2 weddings and 4 grandchildren with number 5 due in February.

Praise God that He revealed Himself to each of us before we met and we understood that He was to be Lord of our lives. That's not simple - as we're in this marriage and God working junk out of our lives - and our hearts - well - things can get really sloppy at times - But God is the Redeemer and Savior and Lord.

Charlie is a solid man - with much integrity - we never questioned during any heated fight that we'd ever consider not being married. I never had to doubt him nor did he have to doubt me. I'm grateful for that and we really really really really enjoy having each other at the end of the day. We've never been really ooshy gooshy about each other and our love. We just belong together as long as God has us on this earth.

How did we meet? I reluctantly went on a blind date with him. He was fresh out of law school and his first job was in Scottsboro. A friend had visited him in Scottsboro - she was here on a job related task(she too was graduated from law school) and she learned that single life for Charlie in Scottsboro was, ummm, not really suiting him. He was traveling to Birmingham each weekend to stay with friends. I was working in Birmingham. She pleaded with me to date him and I refused and refused and refused. I hated blind dates. They were always unsuccessful. Finally I agreed. She set it up - he called me. We went out. It wasn't love at first sight. I was feeling weird about the whole thing and just awkward. We found out we had a lot of friends in common, that we'd known all the same people during Auburn and Birmingham. We had lived in the same places at the same time. The first date was enjoyable enough - plenty to talk about - I just was feeling weird because everyone was watching and waiting for us to immediately fall in love. So time went by - we did a few things together - but sparks weren't flying and he just started dating this other girl. I was relieved. Enough of that. But then we were in the same crowd - we knew each other - and with the pressure of dating off of us - well - the chemistry began to happen. He and the other girl weren't really connecting and I was all about getting him back in my court. I did, he did and there are a lot of little stories in between. But the short of it - we met in August of 1978 and married in October of 1979.

Once we knew we were engaged Charlie began to look for a job in Birmingham - he wanted me to keep the job I had - and he had only been out of school for one year and working in Scottsboro for one year. He got a job in the District Attorney's office in B'ham. He was one of many many assistants there in B'ham. We lived and worked in B'ham, married, for one year. 6 months into our being married I got pregnant with Ann. That wasn't planned, but it wasn't unplanned either. It was just, "Oh well." Then Dwight Duke, D.A., began to woo Charlie back to Scottsboro and with my being pregnant and our wanting me to be able to stay at home - well - we came here and have been in Scottsboro since the end of August 1980. The first weekend here was First Monday Sunday. I don't think Art in the Park had begun then, but it was a big First Monday Sunday and we were on the square - with my parents who had helped us move - We lived in Goosepond Apartments.

That's how we began life in Scottsboro. Our first anniversary I was 6 months pregnant. Crazy. Charlie bought me roses and we grilled steaks on the little deck thing of our apartment. We ended up burning them because we were standing inside the sliding glass doors and started kissing a lot. :-) Then we remembered the steaks and they were on fire. Those kinds of things really make Charlie mad - he loves a good steak - so he went from lovey dovey kiss, kiss, kiss, to "I'm SO MAD ABOUT THIS"! I had to calm him down and convince him it wasn't the end of the world. They were charred, but who cared. I was pregnant and we were in love. Yay! You can't beat that.

I gotta close - lots and lots of stories. 30 years of stories. Good and Bad. It's life.