My bucket list...

I have never thought of what I would want to put on a bucket list but her goes...

First and foremost on any list is to finish this degree. When I started this journey, I was desperate for a different job. As time moved on, I found a job that I like, but I was determined to finish what I started. So, this December I can mark this one off, because I am suppose to graduate. And it has been a long hard road, to be a full-time student, working a more than full-time job and still have time for my family. 


I think I would like to visit all the 50 states of the United States. My in-laws did this while my husband was still living. They just jumped in the RV and were gone for months at a time but were always home for anything that was important to the family. They swear they had the time of their lives.
 

I would like to live long enough to see all my grands graduate and have a happy family of their own. And see if I enjoy seeing them grow as much as I have my own kids.


I would like to finish my dream house and be able to sit under the gazebo and watch the sun set on another beautiful day with a big glass of southern sweet tea. Watching the hummingbirds feed and of course the dog jumping in the lake.


I know none of this sounds really spectacular, but I have learned the simple things really make me happy. Even though my quest for my degree is almost over, I have enjoyed the classes. There were times that I didn't know if I would make deadlines or if I would pass. And there were times that I struggled just to keep my self together. But through it all, I believe it has made me a better person. I had to learn more about time management. I only thought I was good before. One semester I had vertigo so bad that I couldn't walk or even drive a car. But I had finals. My daughter-in-law drove me to campus and helped me inside and waited on me to take my exams. (I have the best daughter-in-law in the world.) As of last semester, I have honors and hopefully I will finish with honors. I guess the point that I am trying to make, is with hard work and determination, we can all make it happen. It might not always be easy, but what worth having is.

If I won the Lottery...

If I would win the lottery, I would probably not change anything about me. I learned a long time ago to not show your wealth. I would stick it in the bank and let it draw interest until I retired. I have always heard that if you have money you have so many friends that would come out of the woodwork. And of course, you wouldn't know if they were your friend because of who you are or because you have money. And then I was watching Oprah one day and the whole show was about people that came into great wealth and lost it all in a really short period of time, ending up in worst shape than they were before it happened. That would never happen to me. I am so tight fisted when it comes to money. That comes from being born in a really poor family and having to work for everything we ever got and praying there would be enough to go around.

I am proud to say, most everything I own belongs to me. Not me and the bank. I got in a terrible credit situation many years ago after my identity was stolen. Before I got it straightened out, I really didn't know how I was going to survive. I swore then that I would never be in the position that I had to struggle. I always tend to save for whatever I want before I go out even to look at what there is to have.

But, if there was plenty of winnings, I wouldn't have to save as long for what I want. I am now saving to build my dream house that I plan to retire in.















It would really be nice, just to order it up and pay cash for it. And the car I drive would be parked in the shop because I would be driving the truck that I have had my eye on for like a year.












But those are only dreams. I wouldn't change much about the way I live. I would act as if it wasn't there and live a long retirement without the worries of, did I save enough to enjoy being old.

Favorite Childhood memories...

I remember when I was really young, we would travel to my grandmother's house in North MS. Which having a large family as we did, was a major task. All the aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews,and cousins would come over because we didn't come up that often, and it would turn into a big family reunion really quick. The neighbors my dad grew up around would hear he was in town and they would come along as well. We would all play while the grown ups visited together under the big gazebo my mammaw had in the back yard. And the food would just seem to magically appear. Everything the mind could imagine, fried chicken, potatoes salad, slaw, barbeque's, chips and just whatever you could think of. But he best was always mammaw's banana pudding. I have watched her make it many times and can't duplicate it but it was the best in the world. I don't guess we will ever be as good a cook as the older generations, but this woman had it going on. After all  the festivities and all had returned to their homes, we would all settle down in the guest rooms. There would be all of us kids scattered everywhere, but it didn't matter, we were at mammaw's.  She had a peddle sewing machine that I have put a many miles on during the visit there.

The next morning, we woke up to the smell of bacon frying, which meant the homemade biscuits were almost ready and the fresh eggs were being cooked. As we all wondered into the kitchen, mom and dad were sitting there drinking coffee with mammaw and they kissed us good morning and told us to sit down and mind our manners. After such a big breakfast, we got ready for church and visited with the rest of the town folks. When church was over we would make it back to the house. While momma was getting all our things gather, we were playing in the yard. We would head home with fond memories of this visit, anticipating the next.

As my grandmother got older, she wasn't allowed to live along. She, of course, did not want to give up her independence. My dad bought a small trailer for her and set it up in our yard. I loved for it to be my day to be her helper. I would help her in the kitchen and things like that. She made hand stitched quilts and I would help her set up the quilting frame. She made the most beautiful quilts. I would sit there for hours, playing with her quilting squares, just watching her and listening to her stories of my dad growing up. We all had a quilt on our beds.

I was almost 13 when she passed away. I remember having to pack her things up for the others that wanted to have something to remember her by. I think mostly what all wanted was one of mammaw's quilt tops. I had several of them quilted after I grew up and they are on the beds at my dad's house. But, I can still go into the room with those quilts on the bed and still have such fond memories of such a wonderful lady.My papaw passed when I was less than a year, so I do not remember him at all. Everyone said that she went to be with him. At that age, I really didn't understand that but I think I can now.

The highway department bought the old house for a new highway so I can't go by and visit the place but I will always have the memories that were made there.

Papaw and Mammaw

Mammaw, Mom, and Papaw

If I didn't live here...

If I didn't live here, where would I live? That is something I have never considered because the most part of my family lives here and since family is so important to me. I have a brother that moved away and he never really seems to be happy as when he lived here. And he always complains when he is home of how much he misses living here. But that is off the subject.

I have often thought that when I get old and retire I would like to move to the mountains. I would like to have a large ranch house overlooking a big lake that I could fish from at my leisure. I could take long walks through the woods. Somewhere I could go hunting when I feel like it. Just whatever strikes my fancy. But since I really hate the real cold weather, that would be out of the question.

Then, there was times that I thought about retiring to the beach. I enjoy scuba diving in Panama City, FL. There is so many things one could get into in Florida that I would never get bored. But since I would not like to always be running from a hurricane, I just can't do that.

 So, I guess home is where I belong. I am now considering building my dream home. I will be moving down the road from where I am, but there is nowhere in the world that I could ever enjoy more than here. A creek runs the entire length of my property and I have a pond that I can fish from whenever I am off long enough to go. There are times that I load the camper and just drag it to the back side of the property and enjoy the complete peace the world has to offer. It never seems a time that I can hook up that camper that the boys don't join me. My oldest grandson seems to have a sixth sense that it has moved or is about to. He will call me and ask when we are leaving. But we can sit there enjoying nature. There is always deer to watch and the birds chirping. We have seen foxes and a few coyotes, which was a little bit distributing.

Though I would make no major move, I will be moving to a new location. But I will have my family close by for visits. When I retire I can travel to all the places that I enjoy and like to visit, but there is nowhere that I would rather be. Have even considered being like the Beverly Hillbillies and moving the whole family back to the hills. :)

My role model.

I feel that the person that I try to model the most in my life is my mother. She gave birth to 8 children with 5 being girls and 3 boys. And of those eight there were two sets of twins, me being half of one of those sets. She never showed favoritism toward any of her children and was fare to all, even though we did our part to try her in every way possible. To say the least we were bad when we thought we could get away with it. We all had our chores and she rotated it around so that we all had an equal dose of whatever there was to go around. But as we grew, there was never a time that she didn't have an ear for us to fill with what bothered us. There was always a warm meal to sit around the table and recount the events of the day. And of course, a shoulder to cry on, if needed. And a refrigerator full of school pictures that we did just for her.

Whenever we all went somewhere, others bragged to my mom at how well behaved we all were and that we had such good manners. That didn't mean much to me then, but as I got older, it seemed to be such a good compliment to my mother. I have people now ask me not to say "Yes ma'am." or "Yes Sir" because it makes them feel so old. My mother would turn over in her grave if she thought I didn't show an adult respect. It isn't about being an elder, but an adult.

One of my fondest memories when I was a child, was after the noon news went off and my dad would go back to work, was momma laying us down for an afternoon nap. She would lay down with us and read us a book. When we were all finally asleep, she would get a chance to read the paper or whatever there was she wanted to catch up on. When we would wake up, she would be in the living room sewing and there would be some kind of snack for us before she sent us outside to play.

I will never forget her face when she had her first grandson, my son. She was almost giddy over him. And she talked her own special language to him and they oohed and cooed  for what seemed like forever. But when she held my grandson, her first great grandchild, it was just like it was 21 years earlier.  I catch myself just sitting there watching and smiling.

All of us knew that momma loved each of use no matter how different we were. I want my kids and grands to know the same about me. I don't want them to remember the job I held or the things that I have accomplished. I want them to have fond memories of the time we spent together. Even when I discipline  my grandson, he still knows that I love him above all else just as my mom did me.

Big & Rich - That's Why I Pray (Official Music Video)

A song that I have found to inspire me is Big and Rich singing "That's Why I Pray". It is so true with the way things in the world is that you just need to turn things over to a higher power and pray that things will get better. The way we have the church and state divided and the things we see everyday in the news, it just reminds us that we need to pray. If you listen to the song they point out so many things we see in our everyday lives. Our neighbors losing their homes and can't find a job, it is just so said that this is the world we are living in now. That's why I pray and every time one of my grown children are having problems in their lives I remind them they should pray and they should have God in their lives and usually things get better. No, I don't always go to church because of my work schedule, but I still believe in the things that my mom raised me by. And though times do get hard, I always remember what she said, "God will not put more on you than he can get you through."

I mostly listen to country music but with kids around the house, I listen to whatever they are playing. On the way to work one day, I heard this song and it has stuck me every since and the radio always goes up on this.

Bits and Pieces about me.

1.I hate to shop. There is nothing more depressing to me than to go shopping. My sister will drag me everywhere; that is if she can talk me into going. But it never seems to fail, the only reason she takes me complaining, we will find a sale that was worth the trip.

2. I really dislike cats but I have about 20 in the yard. It all started with the kids saving one from Katrina and it grew from there. I dislike them but need them. There is a hay field behind my house and when they cut it the cats have a good time. I don't have mice. I throw food out for them because they have proved the worth.

3. I am a MSU fan and my identical twin sister is a TIDE fan. Go figure. Do not know how that happened. Well I guess I do. I did not care anything about college sports until I met my husband. He graduated from MSU's engineering department. And I guess it just grew on me. My sister always seemed to be an Alabama fan.

4. My favorite color is green. Nobody would know this because I do not wear green. I do not look good in it.

5. I am the fifth child of eight. Even though I am low on the totem pole, I seemed to have gotten all the responsibility for the family. I help keep up with my father's affairs so that he can continue to live alone. This is something that he wants to do for as long as he is able. His birthday is this week and he will be 76 years old.

6. I tried out for basketball when I was in high school and made the team even though I am barely 5'2". I know that is weird but everyone else on the team was so tall and me being short, they had to bend over to guard me.

Something else about me that some people might know about me.

I have an identical twin sister and my mother was a triple. So, as you can imagine when I was pregnant, I had a real fear that I would have twins. Mother always said it was just as easy to raise twins as it was single birth children. She said you never had to find a playmate and never had "Nobody to talk to." You always someone to share with. My mother and her sister were identical and then they had a brother which was fraternal. He died when he was six months old, so I didn't have anything but a baby picture of him.

I do believe what they say about twins having a close bond. There are times that I can just feel that she needs me. I can call her and she will say that she was about to call me. Or maybe she will say she was just thinking about me. My mother was the same with her sister. But my sister is a part of me, and if anything ever happened to her, I just know the world will stop. I asked mother about that feeling when her sister and her comment was that she will see her again in Heaven. That she is still with her everyday.

What someone might not know about me?

I really dislike cats even though I have several. I don't like that they like to curl around your ankles while you walk. They get cat hair on your clothes just before you have to go somewhere nice. I have cats because the kids brought one home during Katrina. One turned into many, and there is probably 20 here. I live near a hayfield, so every time they cut the hay they are really busy. I do not have mice.

This is like teaching an old dog a new trick. I really do not know what I am doing but am trying to learn this new trick. I hope all is having better success than me.