Tuesday, November 20, 2012

As we gather together...


I've been remiss with prompt posts of late..
Look who turned 10 months..and is trying to walk!
Life happens..

Recently, my sis Di and I had to make an impromptu whirlwind trip to Tulsa, Oklahoma to attend the funeral of our Dad's youngest sibling. 
Uncle Pete was the last survivor of five siblings. He like the others, had Dementia and early Alzheimer's.. His daughter Debbie had lovingly cared for both her parents until her mom passed away about five years ago. Then it was just her and her dad but cousin Raylene who lives just minutes away, had taken Debbie under wing, providing her with breaks and whatever she needed for Uncle Pete.
Three weeks ago, hospice was called in..providing comfort for both Uncle Pete as well as for Debbie.
The funeral was a simple affair..but was done in the manner which Uncle Pete would have heartily approved..it was held on a brisk fall day.

Despite the sad reason , we girl cousins were elated to all be together.. a first in twenty years..
We each represent  one of the five siblings who had children..our brothers could not make the trip..
Johnnie, retired Air Force,  has been a home builder  for the past 20 years..
He is having his best year since 2008..with a total of 5 homes nearing completion..and could not be away.
Jim..our other brother, a Viet Nam Vet  lives in an "assisted living" facility over an hour away..
He has required our assistance for travel to and from medical appointments with the VA here in Pensacola.

Until I returned here back in August, my sister Di was doing this for him, even tho it meant
her taking off work to do so. To see him in such a manner upsets me greatly.
He was virtually homeless, was picked up by the police, "Baker Acted" and admitted to psychiatric hospital facility..that was over two years ago! Since then, he has been in two different  places..both of which are appalling! At least by my standards..but his basic needs are being met..three hot meals a day,a private room,with private bathroom facilities, and a roof over his head. His meds are being dispensed per doctors orders..
When he lost his home and car,all of his belongings were put into a storage facility, and when the rent was not paid, his possessions were sold. So imagine yourself, in a hospital, with no identification,no home, no one even knowing that you are missing! This was his case...until his sons went looking for their father..and found him.

The road to recovery is long and hard..but establishing one's identity is even harder these days.
My sister had to do just that for him. First was providing proof of residency in order to obtain a social security card. A letter from the assisted living facility provided  those dates so the card was procured.Next, a birth certificate was obtained from the health department. These two items were proof enough to obtain a state ID card with a photo! Once these documents were in hand, off to the bank we went to set up a bank account for his VA Disability checks to be direct deposited.
This was necessary in order to have the funds reinstated.

We are now in the process of getting those funds reinstated..another lengthy and tedious process.
In the meantime,we are trying to get copies of his military records to prove his disability is from Viet Nam..A once strapping 165 lb man is now reduced to a frail 124 lbs..with possible dementia..just barely over 60 years old..But he is our Brother..and we do what we can for each other.
This Thanksgiving, will be the first time in about 15 years that all four of us siblings will be seated at the same table giving thanks! For that we are truly Thankful!

      Wishing each and everyone  a Happy and most Blessed Thanksgiving!


Please join these blogs for even more fun...

Outdoor Wednesday
Wordless Wednesday

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Good Thursday Morning~

No pretty pictures today..
Rather word pictures..

This will be my first and hopefully last  political post.
If you are not aware of my background,here it is:
I am a native Southerner,a former Navy Officer Spouse for most of my adult life.
I am opinionated, strong willed, not highly educated  with a degree..
but rather very educated through the school of hard knocks,
with a graduate degree from life experience..
nurtured with the quest for knowledge ...
fulfilled  with being there..doing that.
always seeking  the answer from a variety of sources, yet reaching my own conclusions.
During the course of Navy duty, choice of  duty locale was dictated by the NEEDS of the Navy.
Some places were exotic,some were the pits. I have ALWAYS maintained my dignity while attempting to represent my Country in a positive light even tho I considered myself an unpaid Goodwill Ambassador..
My leanings are evident, my current spouse is a Physician, and former Navy Flight Surgeon..
You can imagine the conversations/discussions we shared prior to the election!
He currently works for the VA, seeing the NEEDs of Veterans, seeing the red tape and Governmental BS preventing that care to be given. He also sees from a medical point of view, the chaos of Obamacare..as well as the effect it will have on the medical profession as a whole..

 I am posting, with permission, two articles which sum up my feelings of this most recent election.

The message below was written by a man of integrity whom I've known since his youthful days In Spain as a friendly neighbor kid, peer of my own son.
Dimitri  Delgado has followed the tradition of his father with Military Service to our country.
He currently serves as Commander in  the U.S. Coast Guard . 

I quote:

"It was suggested that a previous photo I posted was outdated.
Very well, here is the new one. Not much changed but the message remains.
Win the cities, win the White House. Presidential campaigning 101.
Let me congratulate the Democratic party on their retention of the White House,
after all that is the adult and American thing to do.
If my next comments are construed as sour grapes you are not extending me the same adult behavior.

Last night this country elected a President, not a dictator.
We elected an individual that represents ONLY 1/3 of our federal government. 

ANY calls of "obstructionists" with regards to the House of Representatives are calls for a dictatorship in the UNITED States of America.
Los Angeles does not represent Fresno nor does Miami represent Pensacola or Detroit Grand Haven.
ALL the RED has sent a representative to Congress to work for THEM.
Reagan and O'Neal knew that as did Clinton and Gingrich.
Will Obama an
 d Boehner work it out?
OR will calls of "We won" and "obstructionists" prevail..
when the city centers are not able to get the red areas to "do as they are told"? 

This country is in TOO MUCH trouble to have our government play "small ball".
No more blaming, no more name calling, no more fear.
GOVERN!!!! But, expect to govern within the constraints of our constitution.
The House of Representatives represent US in D.C.,
The Senate represents the states,
the Supreme Court protects the citizenry via its interpretation of the constitution relative to laws on the books,
and the President represents the country and his/her political party. 
NONE of those entities are chartered to DICTATE. 

Let me close with..........GO BIG RED.
You truly represent the hearts and minds of the masses.
Congrats to President Obama and the Democrats.
To Speaker Boehner and the rest of The House of Representatives........
REPRESENT without exception, and only compromise when your constituency and its wishes are satisfied.
It is your DUTY.



and now from Charles Hurt.....
Charles Hurt
ANALYSIS/OPINION: WASHINGTON — All that for nothing. 
It was the billion-dollar election that did not decide one single damned thing. 
Republicans control the House. Democrats control the Senate. 
And the White House remains in Democratic hands with absolutely no mandate whatsoever. 
Another four years with no hope of change.

In this environment with 
this economy and all the gravely important matters pressing against the very existence of this country, it should have been a tsunami election. It should have been a landslide that sent President Obama into dust heap of failed presidencies. Instead, the election was about Big Bird. It was the rape election. The contraception election. The binders full of women election. It was about who was born where and whether she really could claim to be a Cherokee Indian. It was about former president George W. Bush. And it was about gay marriage. It was about the 1 percent and the 99 percent and the 47 percent. It was about dancing freaking horses, for crying out loud! Just about the only thing the election wasn’t about was the economy, which everyone agrees was the only thing voters actually cared about. People tend to really care about the economy when real unemployment reaches double digits, welfare rolls fatten by one-third, politicians rack up $16 trillion in debt and the largest tax hike in the history of the world looms just weeks away. Yet that obviously is not what decided this election. 

Politicians were too busy talking all about Big Bird, rape and dancing horses. The most disturbing issue of the election was how President Obama managed to win re-election in places like Ohio and Pennsylvania and Michigan by talking about the highly unpopular bailout of General Motors. By taking billions of dollars in hard-earned money from taxpayers during a deep recession and giving it to a couple of huge companies, Obama managed to buy the votes he needed to eke out re-election. Taxpayers remain on the hook to the tune of $25 billion. This is the Achilles heel of a democracy. Politicians simply tax those who do not support them and give the money to those who do. Or give the money to those they would like to have support them. 

It is the end of the line. Game over. The weeks to come will feature endless finger-pointing and blame about how Republicans do not know how to speak to non-white voters and women and all that non-sense. 

What happened last night is the same thing that has been happening for decades in America. Politicians deploy all this highly precise technology to slice and dice voters into little micro-groups and then talk to them all about dancing horses or Big Bird. The result is you have all these states vote for one side and all these other states vote for the other side and it all comes down to Florida and Ohio. You could have given me a lot less than a billion dollars and I could have told you that. The only way this gridlock is finally broken is when politicians grow up and decide to put away Big Bird and dancing horses and seriously address like adults the $16 trillion in debts they have racked up on our credit card.
• Charles Hurt can be reached at charleshurt@live.com.
a follow up comment  from my friend Paula which sums it up perfectly:
" 'They' and they do know who they are..
want us all to become faceless,colorless, mindless, brainless, sexless,morale-less, voiceless puppets.
And worst of all..Godless.
They want us homogenized.
They have proven that age old saying...
"If you don't stand  for something..you'll fall for anything"
And they just did!

Finally.. I am not burying my head in the sand...
I too will be doing the same as expressed below.

Quoting again my friend Paula :
"The outcome was very disturbing..
certainly makes you wonder what in the world has happened to this country.
I do fear for us all..but I will not live in fear.
I have given myself this day to mourn..and tomorrow?
I will continue to believe and have faith and continue to live my life the way i always have...
with integrity, hard work, honesty, grit , and love."




Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Good morning Wednesday...

After a dish of ice cream, 
final election results..
crawled into my pre-heated bed..
courtesy electric blankie..
(really helps the achy arthritic joints)
slept, finally...
While drifting off all toasty...
recalled the cold damp blowing wind while snapping this Glorious Sunset earlier..
totally worth it!!

and freezing my buns off while doing so..
once back indoors..
with Dinner over and done..
settled down to computer ...

opened email to find this...
Braxden having a ball..
having dinner with Daddy..
the FIRST time ever seeing him messy..
and PROBABLY not the last!!
enjoy your day..

as shall I..
Denti$t appointment...

at least it is a beautiful day out...

Outdoors Wednesday 
Wordless Wednesday


Sunday, November 4, 2012

Sunday nite thoughts....

well hello there..my but it's been a long long time..
or so the song goes..
time..
the thing we have so little of, not enough of..
did you remember to set your clocks BACK last nite?
I did not.. remember that is.. awoke anyway after sleeping in..
got up.. punched the button for coffee to do it's thing..
meanwhile i padded outdoors to retrieve the newspaper..
dampness everywhere..

wet newspaper wrapper! yuck!
padded back indoors to the aroma of freshly perked coffee..
cats and hubs still asleep..
well not Bubba.. he's now rubbing against my leg..
Oops.. BeBe now wants outdoors onto the porch..
stand sipping my coffee..admiring the foggyness off the lake ..
sun shining through the trees..
I utter another Thank you Lord..
for this day..
for the sense of sight to behold your beauty all around me..
for the sense of touch.. softness of kitty fur/kitty purrs..
for the sense of smell..rain..so cleansing..
for the sense of hearing..hubby, still in jammies..
singing  to me ..Happy Birthday sweetheart!
yes Lord..thank you for blessings thus bestowed..
thank you  for the gift of love..family, friends..
I am so truly blessed!
Sis and I watched the homecoming performance  of the Blue Angels yesterday from the comfort of my back porch..thank you Lord for the gift of sisters!
also for sisters of the heart..true blessings..angels in disguise..
Thank you Lord for all the blessings thus bestowed..
telephones and computers..keeping in touch from near and far..

all calling/communicating well wishes..happy wishes for my special day!
thank you Lord for allowing me to have yet another day/year..
I truly am BLESSED!

linking to:
Blue Monday
Mellow Yellow Monday