I'm a "reader". I have been for as long as I can remember. It started when I was in the first grade with "Fun With Dick And Jane" and continues on to this day. I love books and the places that they take me to.

Today kids get engrossed in video games, but when I was a girl we didn't have video games. We had books. I could open a book and be totally involved with the story, characters and action to the point that everything else just faded into the background.

I have watched my grandson's face as he is playing a video game. He is completely absorbed. He doesn't see or hear anything else. And I realized that I do the same thing when I read. I am caught up and transported to another place and time! Once upon a time and not so long ago, reading was a primary source of entertainment.

But times do change. We have come a long way from eight track tapes to CDs, from writing letters to e-mail or Facebook and from party lines to cell phones. And even reading books has changed in this electronic age. I never thought I would enjoy an E-Reader. After all, there is the smell of a new book, the crisp sound of the new pages turning, the feel of the book in my hands. How could I ever give that up for some new fangled gadget?

Then I finally relented to all the advertising hype and bought a Kindle. I simply couldn't help myself. I had to try it. And it has turned out to be a verified wonder for me!

I can now carry a whole library of books with me when we travel. The Classics that thrilled me so in high school are free for me to download. I can reread them to my heart's content. And the current best sellers cost about half the price they would in hardback. My Kindle is with me every where I go now. New books and old favorites are just a click away. And I realize that it is the stories and words that are important, not the method of their delivery.

The other day, my grand daughter was visiting and I saw her pick up my Kindle. She searched through my library until she found a title that interested her...and then she began to READ! Now that's progress!

My greatest wish for this generation, for my grand children, is that they will discover the magic and wonder of the written word.

Read a good book today, my friends. Rediscover the wonder. You will be glad you did!

The Journey Continues

Another Mother's Day has come and gone and I feel so blessed. It has been an eventful year! There has been great joy as well as great sadness in my life this past year.

My nephew, Connor, underwent a successful bone marrow transplant and is winning his fight with leukemia! Way to go, Connor! And I want to thank all of my readers who have sent up prayers for this little fighter - God bless you all.

We have moved to a new place, closer to our son and his family. The grand babies can run over to see me more often now. And we have had several great sleep-overs already. I love it! They keep me feeling so young and Keilee (13 years old) keeps me up to date on the latest fashion and music!

Speaking of Keilee, she will be graduating from the 8Th grade Friday night. Where does the time go? She really does get more beautiful every day. (Spoken like a true doting grandmother, right?)

I decided to go back into nursing so I am finishing up my Nurse Refresher course through OU next week. I said I'd never work in nursing again but "once a nurse, always a nurse",I guess. It's what I do best so I am excited to be back in my chosen profession.

I already told you about our great sorrow this past September - the loss of my nephew, Shane. His parents and brother are doing the best they can to go on without him. But, oh! how hard it is. Dear Lord please light their path and ease their pain.

This journey through my 5Th decade is a bit of a roller coaster ride sometimes. Both frightening and fun. In spite of the hurt and sorrow, it is still so good to be living this time of my life.

The sunrises are bright and beautiful, the nights are calm and restful and the people around me are sweeter to me than they have ever been before.

So Much Has Happened!

I apologize for being absent from this Blog for so long but so much has happened. Since I last posted here, we have had a great sorrow in our family. My nephew was killed in an accident in September of 2010. His name is Shane and he was 17 years old.

I have found it impossible to write about this until now. We are a close knit family. The loss of my brother's child was almost more than I could stand. All of us are still grieving. It has been emotionally shattering for our family.

How do we make sense of the loss of a child? Who do we blame? So many people at the funeral kept saying it was "God's will" or "God's plan" for Shane, but I can't seem to accept that. I keep thinking that God had a much better plan for Shane and that this was simply an accident that no one could have forseen or prevented.

Shane was bright, young, beautiful, smart, and loved by everyone who knew him. He could light up a room just by walking in the door. But that light has gone out now, and we are left standing in the dark and trying to understand why he is gone.

Maybe someday we will know why he was taken from us...when we can speak to God face to face. But it won't matter then because we will all be together again, with Shane, in God's presence...and then there will be a family reunion like none we have ever known!

I love you, Shane. I will never forget you. And I will see you someday in God's house.

Catching Up

I spent the month of July in Pryor with Sam and I am behind on my Blog reading and writing. So I will be playing catch up for the next few days. I certainly did miss my computer but there was no Internet in the little RV park we were in.

Now that I'm back home, I am catching up on some errands...paying bills, taking my van in for some work, seeing friends and relatives, etc. I am enjoying "puttering" around the house. It is very relaxing.

The actual temperature today was 105 degrees here! I went out around 3 o'clock to water the chickens and saw that 4 of them were out of the pen. Not sure how they are getting out but Dickens (our 11 year old Brussels Griffon pictured above, and yes, his tongue does hang out like that all the time) was able to run all of them back in but one. It's just so hot here that we couldn't stay out too long chasing chickens...so that last hen is on her own for now.

I wonder about those chickens...they are smart enough to get out of the pen when the gate is closed, but not smart enough to go back in when the gate is open! Even with Dickens herding them they ran right past the open door...silly biddies. They also haven't started laying any eggs yet. If I were to put an empty KFC bucket in the pen, do you think they would get the message?

To my Blogger friends, I will be stopping by your Blogs soon to catch up on all your news. Until then, happy typing and...((Hugs))

So Much To Report!

Sam is back to work! Whoopee!!!

And I am here at home taking care of the garden and our pets. Sam's company is sending him to Canada to install a conveyor line at a Gatorade plant there...but I won't be going with him on this trip.

I will stay home with our 3 dogs, 1 cat, our cockatiel, and 9 chickens, to keep the home fires burning. And I hate it that I can't go with my hubby!! Oh well...we do what we have to in this life, don't we.

Connor is doing well. He is fighting his battle with Leukemia bravely! After the first bone marrow transplant didn't work, we were a bit terrified!!

But the second transplant has all the indications of being a success!! And we thank God for that!!

Hang in there, Con-Man! We love you!!

This photograph is of our cockatiel, "Jodie-Bird". She loves to "help" me when I am on the computer. She is fascinated by the keyboard and my typing. Crazy bird!... I just love her!!

Late Night Ramblings

It's so HOT and humid here in June and July! Oklahoma has some extremes in weather conditions. We had a snow storm on the first day of Spring this year, and of course, there are the tornadoes to contend with almost year round.

But I can't complain about the heat...I am definitely a summer person! The feel of the warm sun on my skin is like a life giving force to me.

My roses are blooming again...they are so beautiful and fragrant. Sometimes it's the simple things that make life special.

Hubby has been told by his company that he will be getting some work soon. That is a relief! He has never been laid off for this long before. My job search continues but, so far, no luck. I am thinking about going back into nursing.

My birthday was spent quietly with Sam (my Hubby) watching movies and eating comfort foods. I am happy to be another year older. Life is so sweet!

Father's Day was sad for me. We lost our Dad to cancer several years ago. I always wish that I could see my Dad just one more time and tell him that I love him. There never seems to be enough time to know and love people enough, does there?

Two days before Sam and I married, my Dad was sitting with me at the dining room table and he said something to me that I've never forgotten. He said, "Life isn't all sunshine and roses,"

Of course, being a teenager, I just rolled my eyes and thought, "okay, Dad, whatever." But Dad was right. Life isn't all sunshine and roses. I found that out very quickly.

Still, I have planted rose bushes in the garden/yard of every home we have had in the last 35 years.

I can't control the sunshine...but I can have the roses!

Thank you, God, for the roses.

My 53rd Birthday Tomorrow...Can I Sleep Peacefully?

My grand daughter is pictured here, sleeping peacefully, on a recent family camp out...so lovely! Do you remember what it was like to fall asleep so easily? I do! Oh, how I miss that! I will have my 53rd birthday tomorrow...will I sleep this peacefully tonight?


I will officially be 53 years old tomorrow. (Yikes!) My blog is a running commentary on the fifth decade of my life, so I apologize ahead of time for my ramblings, but I can't help myself!

I married young, just 2 weeks short of my 18th birthday. We were just kids and didn't know anything except that we loved each other. So we proceeded to make a home together and have a family. We had no money and were quite naive and immature...

...yet, here we are, 35 years later, and still happy together. We have 2 children and 4 grand children and they are my delight and joy!

I have made a lot of mistakes in my 53 years. Some of them have been minor and others will haunt me until the day I die. But that's life. Oh, I never killed anyone or anything like that...but I am harder on myself, in judgement, than anyone else would be. Why is that?

When we have done the best we know how to do, often we still look back and think, "I could have done better."

When I was a little girl, I never thought of anything so deep or involved as these thoughts that run through my adult mind. My greatest worry as a child was the weather...if it rained, I knew I couldn't go out and play...and that was bad.

I remember going to bed at night, falling asleep so immediately that I wasn't aware of the process, and waking up in the morning, fully rested, thinking that I had only closed my eyes a minute ago...remember that?

As an adult, I often toss and turn, unable to sleep when there are so many things crowding my mind.

I continue to watch the weather every night to see if I can "go out and play". (Seriously, I do! I still love being outdoors.)

And I watch my lovely grand daughter fall asleep with such innocent ease that it makes me smile...and I sleep better...because it reminds me of how it felt (once upon a time) to close my eyes and truly rest...with no thought of what tomorrow might bring.

I am 53 years old tomorrow and I thank God for every blessing, experience, trial and year of my life! "No man is an island."...and it has been my great privilege to be surrounded by wonderful people who have helped me along the way.

I think I will sleep well tonight. I will sleep well because after 53 years of living I can say I have done all I know to do to be a good person.

My mistakes have taught me so much. And my blessings have made me thankful for what I have....and so my 5th decade continues...God bless you, my friends and sleep well.