True friends are rare. We have a true friend. I know it because, not only is he always there when we need help, he doesn’t hesitate to ask us when he needs help! You see, it is a two-way street, friendship that is. A true friend isn’t always on the receiving end, they share in the give and take of life’s journey.
We should all strive to be a true friend to someone. It feels good and it is good for you.
#truefriendsarerare #webbweekendproject #river-livin #webbriverlivin
To My Mom on Father’s Day
You were just a young girl,
with no mother to tell you about the world,
you were left to do your best, you were left to do without.
Boyfriends came and boyfriends went,
leaving you behind how surely you must have wept.
doing your best, doing without.
Forced to make choices at such a young age,
with little help or support you made your stay.
You raised your babies, day in and day out,
doing your best, you were always doing without.
Both Mother and Father are the roles you played,
you were doing your best, you did without.
For all of the decisions that you made,
they are why I am alive this Fathers Day.
So to the little girl who had no say,
to the young lady that made her stay,
to the person that had to do her best,
to the lady that had to do without,
to the person that is my MOM
to you my Mother, I must say…
Thank you for the gift to be here, to be who I am today.
I love you dearly Mom and Happy Father’s Day.
Annette
2010
ViviLnk
Back in November I was laid-off from work, after a few days and the realization set in, I was thankful the holidays laid ahead, Thanksgiving, Zack’s visit home, family at my house for Christmas Eve day, New Years Eve festivities, the New Year. Oh so much to do, the holidays would give me something to look forward to, something to plan for, to organize, to prepare, to implement, to clean up, something to do, to distract me.
And how wonderful it has been, Thanksgiving at my Aunt Tuffy’s house felt like home. For the last 20+ years I have spent Thanksgiving day at Aunt Tuffy’s house. While the day wasn’t quite normal, as Uncle Allen was missing. We all miss his command of the good natured joke and the tradition of him cooking a roll of bologna outside on the smoker.
After Thanksgiving it was time to prepare for Zack’s arrival, there was soo much to do. We had to finish the kitchen and guest bedroom remodel, both came out fabulous, the ending results far exceeded my expectations.
Then it was time to prepare for Christmas. Mom came over with my little niece’s and while I helped them decorate the tree, mom decorated the house, it was a memorable day, full of smiles.
Zack arrived on December 21st, everything was inplace, it was time to set back and enjoy and that is what we did.
Christmas Eve day was everything I had hoped and planned for. Our home was filled with family, friends, food and good times. I remember as we sat down to eat, I looked around the room and I experienced the feeling of being blessed with a wonderful life.
Next up, another week of taking it easy and the celebration of the new year.
And now here we are, January 2, 2012 and I am truly ready for life to go back to normal, the problem is I have no idea what normal means in 2012. Whatever the new normal is, I am ready!
I had the strangest dream…
I was a school bus driver. [OK anyone who knows how I drive, knows good and well that there is no way, I would ever be allowed to drive a school bus.]
My school bus was pink, not just pink, but this gaudy neon pink. [Really…pink! All the other buses in the dream were standard yellow. Pink… really!]
I liked all the children that rode on my bus, knew them all by name and seemed really happy to see them as they loaded on the bus, with their little backpacks, show-n-tell objects and drawings of Thanksgiving turkeys they were taking home to their mommies. [While, as a mother I love my sound without boundaries, I love all the nieces and nephews and really enjoy hearing about friends children and grand-babies, but I am not a big fan a little kids. They are too noisy and too messy.]
After all the little ones were settled quietly in their seats, all looking at me with smiles on their faces, with their over-sized big eyes, full of admiration and faith in knowing that I was taking them home to their loving parents. [As if this dream wasn’t weird enough already, this is when it jumps straight to really weird, almost a nightmare.]
I pulled out of my pocket a key chain, the size of a freaking dinner plate, completely full of keys, there must have been a thousand keys on this giant round key chain, surely it weighed 50 lbs. [How do dreams work that way, where you can pull out of a normal size pocket, something so mammoth and honestly dangerous. Besides in the real world, while yes I may go to extremes in areas, my key chain I keep real simple, 3 keys: car, house, gate.]
And then I realize I can’t remember which key starts the bus, so I randomly select a key, it doesn’t work, I try the next key and it doesn’t work, I try another and another. I notice the other buses are starting to pull away, I get a little anxious and keep trying different keys. I look up and some sort of school administration person is staring at me, tapping their foot! I start to become frantic, trying key after key, none of them work, they don’t fit. I look back at the children, they aren’t smiling, I keep working through the key chain, the children are getting restless, all the other buses have left, some of the children are starting to cry, there are now more school administration personnel standing around the bus, glaring at me with arms crossed on their chest, tapping their feet. I’m working the key chain, the children are up out of their seats, my cell phone rings…
I wake up, in that sleepy, confused, disembodied state and then I realize running around in my head is…
The wheels on the bus go round and round,
round and round,
round and round.
My simple key chain
I am a Spring / Summer / Fall person, any season other than Winter. For some reason once I get cold, I cannot warm back up. With the temperature aside, winter has many aspects that I just don’t like. Shall we start with driving, being raised in Oklahoma, I learned summertime is a time for driving, wintertime is a time for maneuvering at a nice slow pace, maneuver around the fallen tree branches, around those giant chunks of frozen dirty snow slush that fall off of trucks, and around the people who haven’t learned to maneuver.
Fall
Next is the lack of color in the landscape. I enjoy the colors of blooming flowers, the lush green in the trees and the grass, the brilliant blue in the sky on a hot summer day, all of which are replaced in winter by grey skies, cars covered in road muck, and the blinding white of snow.
Summer
The sensation of all the different smells in the air. The smell of fresh cut grass is good for the soul, the mouth water scent of burgers cooking on the grill, intoxicating honeysuckle in the air, and the romantic scent of a campfire – all are things I enjoy and miss during the winter months. Winter replaces all the wonderful smells in life with, well usually nothing, because the snot in your nose is frozen and you can’t smell.
Spring
Winter is like a prison sentence. I miss how simple it is to slip into a pair of shorts and a tank top, going outside and experiencing that feeling of youth when the sun shines warmly on your face and your options for the day are limitless. During the harsh winter season, it’s looking out the window hoping the sun will shine today, day dreaming about the future and waiting patiently for the freedoms offered by all other season.
Winter
Our house currently sits about 70 yards from the banks of the Caney River, the reason listing its current location is, over time as the river erodes away the banks of the river, the gap continues to decrease. The house was built by the Choctaw Indians in the early 1960’s, for the Harmon family. The home and property stayed in the Harmon family until Darren bought it some 15 years ago. The property had been owned by the Indians for some time and at one point in history, just South of the house was a school-house for the Indian children. The Harmon’s raised there 6 children in the approximately 1600 sf house, as adults several of the children lived in the house, until finally Rick Harmon, a life long friend of Darren’s, sold it to Darren. The simple cinder block home is rectangular in shape, sets approximate 3ft off the ground, the original entrance fed the North, but now it looks to the east and is surround by the beauty of the Oklahoma river bottom.
The house sits atop a small raise in the earth, the rise is not really large enough to notice, but large enough that to date, even amongst historical flooding, the Caney River has never made it into the home. The most recent flood was in 2006 and at all times during the month of July! The home was an island, nothing but water for miles around.
We are in the process of a complete remodel! I will be providing some pics and updates in the days coming.
Hello world…
Today is truly the first day of the rest of my life. Yesterday, I woke up went to work, a place that I enjoyed going to, a place full of people who are like family to me. For the last 5+ years through all sorts of life things, I gave this work place all I could. Yesterday, my new boss of two months called me into his office, sat across from me and explained how my position had been eliminated…… How could, all of a sudden, I go from the go-to-person, to being perceived as someone who brings no value?
Well, that was yesterday, this is today. Let’s see what it has in store for me.
Roo-Roos gift to me
Roo-Roo just knew that I needed something to cheer me up today.
riverlivin 