Friday Fill ins from Nani's Blog

This week’s statements:
1. Sometimes I ____
2. I ___ high school
3. Deciding what to ___________________________ before I ___________________ is such a pain sometimes
4. _________________is my favorite_________________


My answers:

1.  Sometimes I get really goofy with my grandkids.  We'll put in a Veggietales or a Wiggles dvd and we will dance all over the living room singing at the top of our lungs!  I promise you that they last a lot longer than I do!

2.  I wished I had only gone to one high school.  I went to 3.  Ferndale High School, in Ferndale, MI; Romeo High School in Romeo, MI; and Hazel Park Senior High School in Hazel Park, MI from where I graduated from.  It was rough because at that point in my life I was fairly shy and it was difficult to make friends easily.  Once I hit Hazel Park High, I connected with some of my friends from middle school/junior high, so it wasn't as difficult.  But I miss the drama club, the french club, the debate club, and I miss the feeling of energy and promise upon graduation!

3. Deciding what to wear before I go to church is such a pain sometimes.  My weight fluctuates fairly regularly and it's difficult to know what will fit on any given Sunday!!

4.  Writing is my favorite pastime.  I enjoy creating story lines and character developments and I actually started writing my very first novel a couple of years ago...although I have put it in storage for now.  So many things going on in my life at the moment, it's hard to cultivate some serious creative inspiration!  I will get back to it soon.  I always feel like a part of me is missing when I'm not writing.

Mississippi Musings

On the first of this month, I took my dad and my grandson, Devin, up to Cape Girardeau for my dad's birthday.  After we did some shopping and had some lunch, we went down to the Mississippi River.  In downtown Cape, there is a historic area where they built a stone wall between the river itself and some train tracks.  On this stone wall, are pictures that were hand painted with different milestones throughout the midwest history.  Lewis and Clark murals, meeting with Native American tribes, Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn type adventures with Samuel Clemens aka "Mark Twain". I was inspired to take some pictures and do a bit of blogging on it.  (I am still getting the hang of blogging, but I think I've made some progress!)  Here is the first picture, when we first pulled up to the tracks into the parking slots.

You can even see the mighty Mississippi, off to the left, with the all too familiar sight of a barge being pushed by a much smaller boat.

It was rather comical, me urging my 4 yr-old grandson, Devin, closer to the water's edge so that I could get a picture of him with the barge moving behind him.  He was pretty amazed at how that little white boat on the far left of the picture could push ALL that cargo AND keep the whole thing going in the direction it was supposed to go.  He told me, "MiMi? When I try to do that in the bathtub all my stuff just goes everywhere!"  Just precious....

Here's another one coming from the opposite direction.  As they pass each other, Devin is trying to pull the imaginary "18-wheeler horn" in hopes that it will work here too!  Unfortunately, I don't think the ships' captains were really paying attention.  Too bad!

I took some pictures of the wall when we first pulled up, as well as a longer one that gives you an idea of how much time and effort went into creating this work of art along the river.

Turning to my left, I took this one....

The level of detail that went into these murals is incredible and I know that my itty-bitty iphone camera did not even come close to capturing that.  What was really interesting is that after we went through the opening in the wall, we discovered that the other side of the wall, that faces the river, was also painted, but this time with the history of Cape Girardeau.  Again, another amazing site.

There's Devin, and my dad, David..the birthday boy!  They are facing the river, while my back is to the river to take their picture.  It was a beautiful day!

The last two shots are of my grandson posing!  He's so adorable!

So, this is how we spent our day, with family, fun, and the mighty Mississippi!

Vintage Thingies from Kelly

I love this re-purposed, wrought iron table! The "birds" hanging from the trees above it just set the scene so beautifully!

Melancholy & Humdrum

You ever have those days where time feels like the enemy and you just wish you weren't human?  I'm having one of those days...weeks...months?

In this "politically correct" world we live in, sometimes I get tired of always searching for the right thing to say.  (Not hateful, spiteful, condescending, or racist or anything of that matter).  But dealing with someone who has grated on your nerves and done everything in their power to continue using you as lawn fertilizer just gets frustrating.  There are so many things you shouldn't say, want to say, and things that even just need to be said.  But being the good, little "poli-correct" girl, that I try to be, I say the placating things that just keeps things calm.

Does this mean that I'm a nice person? Does it mean that I'm a "peacemaker"? Or does this just mean that I'm a hypocrite for not saying the things that I truly want to say, come what may...regardless the feelings involved?

My husband of 17 years is seeing someone else.  Although we've been separated for a couple of years, we still saw each other on a regular basis, ie; going to dinners, holiday things, birthday things, just hanging out, and even going to church together.  We were going through a "getting to know you again" period, that I had hoped would yield better results than finding out from my 4-yr old grandson that "pawpaw" sleeps on the couch with "heather".  For several weeks apparently...all the while, talking me up about working on our relationship, how much he loves me, and how much he desperately wants to reconnect and get back to a healthy relationship.

Granted, we've been separated for quite a while.  So was this my fault?   I refused to let him back into the household until we got things totally squared away...which I guess was optimistic on my part.  But do you go from professing your "love" for someone to that same evening "shacking up" with another woman?  I truly don't know how to feel about this.

Part of me wants to just scream, throw a tantrum, get evil, and look for paybacks.  Another part of me just wants to let bygones be bygones and carry on.  (Divorced, obviously).  And yet, there is another part that feels an absolute sense of relief, as if a giant weight has been lifted from my shoulders.  Do I cry for all those lost years?  Do I cry for the lost "future" we could have had together? Should I be relieved to not have to continue being politically correct all the time, trying to be the "better" person?  Or should I just jump for joy, hoot and hollar, and go about my merry way?  I'm totally at a loss right now?

I know this is a bit  of a personal post, but I would really appreciate some advice or some girl rally time.  Any input would be welcome!  Thanks for reading, Kelly.

Beautiful furniture!

I love your series on Vintage Thingie Thursdays! I really enjoy looking at all the wonderful things that everyone posts!  Some of the items are just exquisite!  Here is my contribution!

I love the toile design to begin with, it just seems so romantic and inviting.  Reminds me of my granddaddy who passed away 2 months before my first daughter was born.  I know that sounds a bit weird, but he had a set of dishes that had the blue french toile design on the them and the passion for those patterns and that style has stayed with me.