It is time……

I was thinking this morning it was time to blog and when I pulled up my blog, I see why. It has been five months since I had something to say. WOW! ME! I’ve had nothing to say for five months? AMAZING!

I received my first Christmas card from my dear friend in Spring City, TN. I haven’t seen her in several years although about twice or three times a year we will hit the snail mail. We always exchange pictures of our children and brag of their latest accomplishments. I couldn’t believe how grown her children are and it spurred my brain into all kinds of thought modes.

Not only do I think her children are so grown but I’m sure she looks at mine and can’t believe her eyes. We knew one another before husbands, before babies, before “real” life.

When I think about that life it seems as if it were yesterday. Then I think but that was OVER 20 years ago! Think of your life and the changes that have occurred in those years. Many of us have married, had children, divorced, remarried. Some have had children marry and had grandchildren already. Many of you have lost parents, spouses, even children. Some of us may have lost weight while others gained. Some have had their hair turn gray or even turn loose. Some have been diagnosed with life changing illnesses. The changes are inevitable. Time stops for no one.

I remember when Taylor was in her crib and just a little bitty thing, I would stand over her while she slept. Anyone who knows me, knows I love babies. I love to hold babies. I love to smell babies. I love to rock babies….I don’t care…just hand me the baby! Here mine was, lying in her crib and all I wanted to do was climb in there with her and snuggle. I wanted to hold her, smell her and sleep next to her. All the while, telling myself that it wasn’t possible for the crib would break! It wasn’t long til she moved into a toddler bed and another child filled the crib. So many days flew by, while I couldn’t wait until that work day was over or that child learned to walk or talk.

When in the midst of a horrible storm in your life you felt it would never end. As sure as the sun would rise, a new day would begin and next thing you knew it was graduation day.

While your life was evolving and you were in that season of life, so were those around you. We get so caught up in the day to day things we call life. We forget others are walking on the path too. It is that time of year we are slapped with the realization that our friends are doing as we are…..surviving. They are living life as they know it, just as we are.

As you open your Christmas cards and reminisce over the fun times. Pray for each person as you read about their year. Remember, they too, have had ups and downs. We all walk through this little thing called life together. Let’s make the most of it.

Hump Daaaaaaay

It's Hump Daaaaaaaaaaay!

Just when you think that life has gotten out of control, God will show you that even though your life is out of control it IS funny! Thus, the story of us........

Taylor has been house sitting for a friend. These said friends have animals that must be attended to or the house could sit itself. Sunday eve Taylor and I head over to the house to make sure Winter, the Great Pyrenees puppy has something to eat. Mind you this puppy is HUGE and all pup. Crazy pup that loves to jump and play. As daddy says "it is all fun and games until someone gets hurt". Well, with the large scratch on my arm I guess that someone was me.

Along with Winter was the cat. In true cat fashion, when we showed up the cat disappeared. We did see it but then....poof! It was a good thing because neither Taylor nor I can be around them due to allergies. I love them but know my limits....cat fed.

Winter, the cat and bunnies! Yes, bunnies. Cute, cuddly bunnies....and LOTS of them. I think it is true what is said about bunnies too....don't look away....there will be more bunnies when you look back. We tried to count but were unsuccessful. Food for Winter, check. Food for cat, check. Food for bunnies, check. Moving on.....

Chickens..... anyone that knows me well, knows that I was raised around chickens. My granddaddy had laying hens. Tens of thousands of laying hens. We gathered eggs, fed and watered chickens until 1989 or so. I can go by a chicken house and most people say "SHHHHEEEEWWWW" I smell and smile because I think about my granddaddy. He would have said it smelled like money to him. I never thought anything about chickens, cows, horses. What I didn't like was the garden and picking blackberries. Chickens....I got this. Taylor said we needed to get the chickens into their pen. I knew that wouldn't be a problem. I'm a chicken girl, chickens come home to roost. Sure enough...chickens were in their house....all but one.....cue the suspenseful music.

This chicken had sorta gone home to roost. She was sitting on top of the house. We got closer and that was the biggest danged chicken I had ever seen! The talons on this thing were HUGE! All I could hear was my daddy in my ear "that thing will flog you!" Flog nothing! I was afraid of being clawed to death! Pecking and flapping only hurts for a minute. Ripped off skin lasts a few days. The giggling started when I tried to shoo her in...yes, like "shoo chicken, get in your house!" Needless to say she looked at me like "yeah, right!"  I reached toward her and she cackled, flapped her wings and got Winter in an uproar. That's all it took she tried to take flight and couldn't, the chase was on and Winter was going to win. We started yelling at Winter and the crazy chicken ran into the coop. Whew.... chickens in, fed and watered. Let's go.

Not so fast....not going to happen. We must first shut the garage door. We looked like the three stooges standing out there with a door that was going up and down, up and down, up and down. If Winter could only talk I know that dog was calling us names. Now, I love me some country. I love the smell of the air, the sounds of the crickets and tree frogs. But this is someone else's house and we got to go. FINALLY, I don't know how, but we succeeded in getting the door at just the right opening for the ever elusive cat.

Taylor decides the next two night will be spent there tending the house and the menagerie of animals. Little did she know what lurked behind door number two.... Hump Daaaaaaaay!

Tuesday night I get a call from a slightly nervous, apprehensive daughter. She is distraught over this chicken. Not one of the chickens but THE CHICKEN. Miss Talon herself. Again, she is sitting on the coop while the rest have settled into their naps. She must be a gatekeeper. Taylor has tried to shoo her into the pen but once again the bird and the dog (who must speak in code to one another) had other ideas for Taylor. The bird hits the ground running as does this giant puppy and the race is on! Taylor calls me and this is what I hear (insert slightly panicked and breathless voice) "Mom, Winter chased the chicken and I think she is under my car!"  I, in all my chicken wisdom, try to impart words of wisdom and calm. I tell her to put Winter up and get the chicken out from under her car. Let me clarify something here....it was dark....roughly 10:00 pm and those chickens should have been long asleep. Didn't that chicken know that it had to get up early this morning? I told her to call me back and let me know how it went. The call never came. Before going to bed I called and she stated the chicken wasn't under her car and she had no idea where it could be.

Well, here is the "God's creatures know how to take care of themselves" speech. I tell her not to be upset and hopefully by morning she will find ole Miss Talon sitting on top of the pen clucking(laughing) at the others that they were "cooped up" all night. Goodnights were shared and thus we shall await the morn.

Fast forward to hump daaaaaaaay. I speak with Taylor and she lets me know she will be in the hood getting her shots and she may stop and see me. I had no thoughts of grandeur but sometimes I do get the occasional surprise from my children. No visit....but a phone call comes in.... "Mom........" "yes, Taylor?" "I'm at Kohls and I think I've found the chicken". Oh NO! I'm thinking bloody chicken under the hood. I'm thinking she is standing in the parking lot with blood everywhere and the passerbys wonder who she has hit with her car. I asked if it was a bloody mess and she states "no, I hear it....It is STILL ALIVE!" Great! Now what oh wonderful chicken woman! I tell her I will be there in a minute and I gather a box and laugh myself out the door. Sure enough....LIVE CHICKEN!

She doesn't have the hood up. It has stopped raining, and there stands my baby girl nervously laughing. Surely she isn't expecting me to be serious now I hope. She points to her rear tire and says it is in there. Sure enough Miss Talon has taken roost on the rear axle of Taylor's new car. It was a sight! She had driven from way out on Keith Road to Gunbarrel with a chicken! It was unbelievable. I'm sure this poor little thing is a carcass. Nope, she cocks that head and low and behold clucks at me! I'm uncontrollably laughing thinking to myself that only me or my family members could have this happen and absolutely no one will believe us. 

After much poking and prodding with an umbrella it is determined that this old girl isn't budging. I was afraid she had a leg or wing stuck in the wheel. She flapped and cackled but would not come off that axle. I noticed some missing feathers and then began to think this poor thing is going to need some counseling after all this trauma. She won't get out of this without some PTSD. 

It begins to rain and I've run out of ideas. Taylor decides we can do better across the street at my work under the portico and I ask her to call her brother. He has a pretty good head on his shoulders. Let's hear his ideas. I figure she has axle ridden more than 20 miles another 2 tenths won't hurt her. I called maintenance in on the scene to see if they can shed some ideas but all I got were unbelief and laughs. We had patients and staff all out to see the chicken lady. When in swoops Hunter, his work gloves on to rescue either his sister, or the chicken. 

He gets down and says, in his deepest voice, "I got this" then he stares at those talons. "HOLY COW" he said this thing is HUGE! The nerves set in and he looks to his mom for reassurance. I have none. He is right she IS huge! Alas, mom pulls through and let's him know that if he can get a hold of both feet the pecking is nothing. I've been there. NO PROBLEM! After much laughter and cajoling, supervision and skill, the chicken is removed and placed in a box.....ALIVE! I couldn't believe my eyes. She was alive. 

I'm hoping the video of the day will post here so you will see this is no fish story. It is a real, true life chicken tale. I do have to say that while I was getting a little hungry I had to wait on lunch a bit. On the menu for today....chicken. And yes, I did! 

Miss Talon was taken home and cuddled by her family. As Taylor pulled away she was assured that the chicken was alive when last in her care....now what happens tonight when she goes to roost could be a whole other tale.

















  

MY BABY

As the next week winds to a close, I realize, probably like Hunter, that we HAVE to face reality. My baby graduates high school in one week. ONE WEEK! MY BABY! 

Since I have endured a child graduating high school I think I have mastered this. Then I realize that I will never experience this again. Never again will I have a child that can graduate high school. The graduations are turning to college. Then, somewhere down the road, the grandchildren will start the graduation process. 

Seems it was only yesterday that he started high school and we were telling him "you will grow, I PROMISE!" Four years we said this. Four years we tried to make coaches see. Four years we tried to make him see. Four very long years for a mom trying to keep up the hopes and dreams of her buddy. Well, it happened. It took awhile. It takes time to build perfection. It takes time to become a six foot man. Now I know a few coaches that wish they had seen the potential. Tapped into it. Utilized it. It is done now....you are moving on. I think the best revenge will be when you are umpiring one of their games and them having to see you as the person in charge. Or better still, you a high school coach in a few years, beating them out of the position they applied for. You no longer have to play nice in the sandbox. Your feelings can now have words, albeit well thought out words. 

I no longer have to worry about high school drama! I no longer have to worry about petty girls playing with a guys emotions. I no longer have to worry about......ah! Who am I kidding? I will worry about whether or not the sun is going to shine on him tomorrow!

Worries now become about "older" college girls preying on my good looking boy. I have to worry about whether or not he is making the right choices. I will worry about ..... EVERYTHING! Matthew 6:34 says: "Do not be anxious for tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." Looks like I need to heed some words here.

Here is the REALITY: My one and only son, my baby of the family will be graduating in a week. He is unsure of his future but it is bright regardless of what he chooses. Nothing can halt a dream in our house. We will push whatever his dream along with him and help him achieve it.

Hunter, I want to say publicly that I love you more than life itself. You will never understand the depths of a mother's love. You make me giggle, laugh, cry and want to scream at any given notice. I have gotten great joy watching your enthusiasm on the football field. I've enjoy screaming at wrestling matches. I have taken pride in watching the way you run a baseball diamond and even the times when you are umpiring games makes my heart full. 

Never have I been more proud than when you came back from your first mission trip and Darey said he knew then you had a calling. The compliments I heard from the adults that went on that trip, about your work and your heart, were so pleasing to a mom's ear. Now as we look at you going to Oklahoma, I don't worry because I know your heart is in caring for others. Your heart speaks volumes through your hands. Sometimes the strongest words someone hears from you are not words at all but a feeling. 

I love the way you jump in whenever someone needs something. The way you take care of Delynn as your second mom. The way you would stand up for Sam as you would if he were your own brother. The way you would knock someone's block off if they were inappropriate with your sister. The subtle way you are always looking after me when you think I don't notice. You were placed in the "man of the house" position EARLY and you stepped up. While I don't think you have ever relinquished your right to defend your mom and sister you have let Mark father you and shown love when it was difficult. You have taken changes in stride and kept on trucking. 

When you feel weak, remember, you are STRONG. That weakness is only a feeling and not a true indicator of what you ARE. When you are scared, remember, there is ALWAYS someone you can turn to. Your mom, your sister, your dad and your Heavenly Father are only a phone call or prayer away. When you are undecided, remember, prayer changes EVERYTHING and everything is in God's time not Hunter's time. When you are happy, REMEMBER from which it came. Celebrate the fun times, mourn the losses and always remember to give credit where credit is due. 

I have consistently seen your heart when no one else has and I know how truly big it is. When you helped Grandpa when he was dying, when you touched him inside that casket, when you picked up the puppy to try to find its rightful owners, when you ran to get me when a friend had twisted his ankle, when you pillow fight with the children next door, when you flirt with the little toddlers just to make them smile, when you take your Granny's hand, when you just sit and listen to your granddaddy, when you mow someone's yard because they can't, when you help build from scratch or when you build after a tornado, when you nurse me when I am sick, when you get Taylor whatever she needs after surgery....all these times when you were just living life as you know it, I noticed! There are so many other times that are too numerous to count that you have touched someone without you even noticing. Just by being you, you have made a difference. As you fly the coop, continue to make a difference and your life will be full and blessed. No one is ever the same after having spent time with you. You are one of a kind and I'm proud to say I am your mom! 

I LOVE YOU!