hello again!

I'm back....I know it's been a terribly long time, but I forgot the password to this thing and just sort of let it go. I am sitting here on Memorial Day.....feeling like crap while my wife works her tail off to make the house more beautiful every day. I am more amazed at her every day....having to live with me, work her tail off for an employer that doesn't seem to appreciate her, and then come home to me and the kids. I could never thank her enough but I do appreciate everything she does for me and our family. And...I didnt say this part, she takes care of her father every day as well as being a medical resource for every side of the WHOLE family. Thanks Sonna!

So now....work really sucks. I think my schooling will enable me to leave, but it seems that there are roadblocks everywhere I turn. I really want to teach, but it seems that there is nobody that wants somebody that wants to teach well. I guess it will all work out though...not sure how.

It's Memorial Day. Please remember to give thanks for our veterans who sacrificed their lives so that we may be free. Also, please remember their families, they too have paid an enormous price for our freedoms.

New laptop arrived today!

 

My new laptop arrived today…..its a dell, and it seems pretty cool….UGA colors since I'm starting grad school there in the fall. gonna spend some time navigating in this weekend so i can get it all sorted out. pretty cool stuff.

 

btw, work sucks right now!

Sunday

We got our new bed delivered yesterday.....took the opportunity to do some badly needed spring cleaning of our bedroom. The wife did a wonderful job de-cluttering and cleaning our room. Looks so much better now and I slept like a rock even though I felt like crap. I think it must be allergies but woke up this morning feeling even worse. Slept until 10:00 while she took the big kids to church. The youngest boy felt like I did and stayed home. After getting up, I laid down on the couch and fell right back to sleep....then took another nap this afternoon. Still feel like crap, but gotta get it together for work tomorrow. Other than feeling like hell...it's been a good weekend.

Over the next few days, I'm gonna start writing the story of me...

Friday

We went to Aunt Stella's funeral Thursday....it was a nice, simple service...just the way I think she would have wanted it. My mother had the funeral home check their records for when Uncle Mac passed away and had the same music played...Amazing Grace (of course) and I can't remember the name of the other song. After the service, I helped as a pall bearer. I was proud to stand up for her and Uncle Mac. After the service, the preacher read a couple of scriptures at the grave side and that was it.
Though I wasn't sad for Stella...I am sad for our family. She was Papa Jones' sister, and now there are only two left. Unfortunately, those two didn't appreciate the care she got for her last years, and often called to meddle. They tried and tried to keep mom in turmoil, but when asked if they wanted to take over...of course they didn't. Then, the day before the funeral they asked for photos and a table that were Stella's. I guess I shouldn't be surprised...when Mac passed, they were asking Stella for some of his belongings on the day of his funeral. I can't understand the need to focus on "things" instead of the real issues....the need to celebrate a life and send them off to rest in a respectful manner. I can only hope that we can teach the kids that this type of behavior isn't right. I don't want anything that was Mac or Stella's....the parts of them I want I already have in my heart and in my memories. Rest in peace Aunt Stella...you deserve it. Hug Uncle Mac for me...


So....enough about the funeral. We got back home that night...and were back to work today. I am very tired, but have a lot on my mind. I want to "talk" about this blog for another minute or so. My kids and wife have access to this thing, and I am going to use it to "say" some things that I think and feel. I can probably express myself more easily by writing these things down.

I am also pondering the idea of posting my blog address on my Facebook page....see if I can get a few followers and some opinions on here....not sure though if I want to share some of these thoughts.

Well, that's enough for tonight...in the posts to come, I will discuss subjects like love...respect....food....movies....and music. I will probably also talk about football some since I do coach a little bit.

Aunt Stella

We got a call from Atlanta a few minutes ago....my aunt Stella passed tonight. She was 92 years old and had lived with my parents for the last few years. Recently they were forced to move her into a nursing home...her health declined, and she struggled with advanced Alzheimer's disease and eventually came to need a level of professional medical care that she couldn't get at home. I think it hurt my parents deeply to have to do that, but it was in her best interest. They visited her everyday over there and did everything they could to make her last years the best they could. She was my grandfathers sister, and a wonderful person. She was married for most of her life to a saint, Uncle Mac. He passed away 15 or 16 years ago, and is still missed. We will miss Stella the same, and will share humorous stories about her for many years to come. Now comes the thing i really always dread the most.....funeral homes and funerals...hate em actually. But will be there to support me family and show some level of the love we have for Stella.

Here's the thing....I'm not sad....don't get me wrong I will miss her and I am saddened by knowing we won't see her again in this life. But.....she really wasn't Stella the last couple of years...and now she's with her beloved Mac again. Now she knows things again, and is back with him up in heaven. She went to sleep tonight and woke up in heaven with Uncle Mac...what more in this world can we ask for? We live our lives looking for love, and a few people find true love and spend many years with it, only to have it leave for a while when one of them passes on....the survivor must hold on to that hope, and live that life that will bring them back together on the other side. I'm certainly not the most religious person ever, but I KNOW God loves us and that he said we would be reunited in heaven...I know this is true....it has to be. I want to see my Nanny and Papa Jones again....my Papa Moore....the wife's mom and granny....Mac and Stella....Aunt Ruby.....Uncle Robert.....George Hill....those people are together again now....with their loved ones that were gone before I became me.....
I wonder though, is this a Pollyanna version of death? I think not....we are human beings and the thing that separates us from the animals isn't our brains or our thumbs...but HOPE. The hope that this life we live isn't for nothing and that the love we share will really never end........
I know in my heart that Stella opened her eyes tonight and saw Mac looking at her....and she smiled. Goodbye for now Aunt Stella....we love you

Saturday

We ran the Purity Dairy Moosic City 5K this morning. 10 of us, wearing "team meemaw" t-shirts completed the event...a charity race for cancer research or something like that. I ran/walked the thing in a personal best of 42:18....nearly 8 minutes faster than my previous best of 50 minutes. I know it is pathetic to do 3.2 miles in nearly an hour...but for a couch potato you have to start somewhere! My son on the other hand did it in 23:06, good enough for 7th place in his age group! I am very proud of him.....he plays school soccer, and doesn't really have time to train for distance running....I can't imagine how good he would do if he did spend some time just running. The wife walked it with other members of her side of the family and did really well too!!
After wards...we went mattress shopping...ended up buying a posture-pedic bed for us and two new mattresses for the boys loft beds, then to guitar lessons, daughter to birthday party, shoe shopping and finally dinner and home. What a weekend!!! I still have a ton of work to do to get ready for work on Monday, but we did get a lot done today....so if I don't get all of my work done tomorrow, then Monday will have to be good enough.

I've been thinking about this blogging thing....not sure what I think about me doing one. Not sure I really have anything interesting to say, but maybe it will help me to get my thoughts down on paper. I don't have any followers yet, but maybe one day someone will chime in? I hope so....I think.

Anyways, I am sitting here on the couch, watching the military channel and listening to the wife snore softly. I look around me and know how lucky I am to have this life...actually often very surprised that I do....somehow it has worked out pretty well for me so far, mostly thanks to her and my family....really not sure what I did to have such blessings. It certainly couldn't have been the way I lived before I met her....or at times since.

The government really concerns me these days. I really think maybe we should fire them all, and start over. Maybe with term limits for all of them...that way we can stop having professional politicians up there...maybe get a few people who had to stretch a paycheck or two....or who had to figure out how to get a job, or feed their kids with no money in hand. A few people from all walks of life, who actually had to struggle to survive....this would seem to make the government more responsive to our wishes and real needs. I also think that the government shouldn't make laws that don't pertain to them...this health care bill for example...the people who foisted this thing on us, don't have to use it? They have a health care plan better than anything the rest of us can afford, for life, and seem to think they know best for the real world? amazing. I don't have a problem helping the less fortunate, but we can't simple give people everything....we need to help these people up, not keep them down. Provide training and opportunity for them to get off of welfare instead of perpetuating this.... but that's an argument for another day..... I don't support Obama, but he is the dually elected president...I just wish I felt he could be trusted....

Another thing....how in the hell are we supposed to pay for all these handouts to big business and now the health care plan?

I would also like to see a large portion of our foreign aid be spent here instead...especially in the countries like France and Germany that don't seem to remember what we have done for them for decades. It is every nations right to support whoever and whatever it chooses...I don't dispute this, however, if you don't support us, then we should withdraw our troops (the ones that kept these two countries free from the USSR for 50 years) and stop providing for their security in any way. You don't want our help....ok! Those billions of dollars sure could help out our schools, or infrastructure....maybe pay down some of the national debt...or pay for some of that training I spoke of above.

One last thing for tonight...I am so excited to have been accepted to UGA for grad school. I have always dreamed of going to school there....and for someone who thought he would never go to college.....to finish my BS degree and now to go to UGA....I'm not sure it is all real! :-)

First ever blog...

Wow....so I decided to try this blogging thing....
my blog will simply be my opinion and thoughts on a variety of topics....but remember, these are just my thoughts and opinions and as I grow as an individual and human being...they are subject to change. I welcome any and all respectful responses. My children my see this and I ask that you not use abusive or foul language on here. I won't do it, and please respect my request. I value all opinions, but as an American citizen reserve the right to disagree...as you may with me.