Mary Roark

You know how you think of people and just get an urge to contact them because the urge just simply will not go away?

I have had that urge for about a week now... to call my Aunt. My dear, sweet, 82 year old Aunt, my Momma's sister, that took me under her wing after my Mom went to heaven....

As usual, I was too busy, or it was too late, or too early, or something else just came up....

Last night, after I finished my schoolwork, I had one of those burning urges to google my Aunt's name for some odd reason..... and what did I find?

My precious Aunt's obituary... right there, in black and white, staring at me. My Aunt's beautiful face smiling at me from a picture taken long ago.

She had passed away in a nursing home a week previous, on August 14th.

Why didn't my cousins call me? Aunt Toot's had my number...... why didn't they tell me she may not make it? Did they think that I wouldn't care? Did they think I haven't cared? Did they think about any of us at all?

I didn't get a chance to say goodbye or to sit with her for awhile and remind her of all the laughter and wonderful times that we had while I was growing up. I wanted to remind her of the time when I snuck out of my house to go to hers (next door) and sat on her back porch until she found me. She didn't get angry, she simply called my Mom and Dad and told them I was staying the night with her and we had a slumber party (I was about 4). Or when I would play in the woods behind her house and pick flowers (no stem included) and take them to her, and she would float them in a bowl of water. 

Or how about when I found out I was pregnant at the age of 16, and my Mom thought I would be reprimanded by my Aunt, so she took me to her house and made me tell Aunt Toots that I was going to have a baby. Know what she said? "Well.... alrighty then! Guess we'll have a baby, huh?" and wouldn't let my Mom fuss at me any further... she said what was done was done, and we just had to make the best of it.

Then as I grew and had more children, she took them under her wing too, having slumber parties, and laughter and hot chocolate into the wee hours of the night.

Aunt Toots was full of bubbly, rambuncious laughter, and anyone around here was infected by her natural and ornery sense of humor... one of her favorite sayings as she got older (Specifically once when she was particularly loud and we were trying to get her to quiet down) was, "If they throw me out I'll claim I have dementia! I'm 80 years old! They won't know the difference!"

She could cuss like a drunken sailor, and all the while be as gentle as a feather in wiping away tears (as she did to me when both of my parents passed).... and to top it off, that woman could make a mean oatmeal cookie! She made them daily, because her reasoning was "The doctor told me to get more fiber, and oatmeal has fiber in it, right?" Now seriously, who could argue with that logic?  :)

Awww... heck Aunt Toot's~ I'm sure gonna miss you!

Mary Sephronia Roark 

(Can't get me for using that middle name now, can ya Aunt Toots? LOL!)

January 25, 1928- August 14, 2010

 I love you and although I couldn't be there to see you off.... I hold a piece of you near and dear to me always. Your memory lives on in all of us (along with your sick sense of humor)!

Tell Momma and Daddy I am ok, and that I miss and love them both dearly.....

We'll all be together again someday!

Orientation

Today is an orientation day at my new job.... lots of videos and paperwork and so on. I'm currently home for lunch, so that's a good thing. 1 hour lunches! Wow.

Everyone I have met so far is so positive and happy. Quite a difference from where I am leaving. And a huge plus... we can have insurance starting the 1st of next month! Yea! So we won't have to worry about that!  :)

Paydays are still every two weeks, but we'll live. And I have to wear ceil blue uniforms. That's ok though, I don't mind. She said I can probably get away with a different color bottom, as long as I have the blue top on. I have 1 shirt, but still need a short sleeve jacket and a long sleeve jacket. I have a pair of pants in that blue, and have a pair of white ones too. Maybe another pair of each will do? And a skirt? Yes, I think that would do fine.

One thing she has said that I REALLY like is that, "I'm sorry I can't tell you right off the bat (I was asking about insurance), people that are hired in usually stay so we don't have alot of turnover, and when someone new hires in, we've forgotten some of the things!" Haha! Sounds like a good thing, don't you think? I mean, I did get the answer I was seeking, but for her to not recall right off hand because they don't have too many that leave..... says something to me about the company. It's a good one.

Lunch is almost over, so I had better go. More videos to watch and papers to sign!

See ya later!

~Blessings~

What a Nice Day!

Did a bit of laundry, and cleaned my house. The boys came over for awhile and brought Rose. Jerry borrowed the lawn tools, and did his yard while we kept lil bit. What a joy she was! Crawling and pulling herself up.... LOL!

Finally got to see Jacob, which was a joy too! I swear, that boy has gotten taller! LOL! I have such handsome boys!  :)

Sent them home with some goodies and some kitchen things I have no use for anymore.

Tomorrow is my day to find out more about the Case Manager job. I am so excited! I know it's going to be a lot to learn, but it's the kind of work I wanted to do when I finally became a RN. I wanted to BE something... DO something....

Now is my chance!  :)

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A bit of sad news, one of our daughters is going through a rough patch right now. She needs prayer. Her and 3 of our grandchildren. So if you feel so inclined....please. I wish we had the money to bring her home. I just want to hold her and tell her everything is going to be alright. She might be 30 years old, but she's still my baby, and I love her more than anything.

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The garden is coming along fine. The tomatoes are huge! Still green, but turning red slowly. Can't wait till we can can some of those rascals! Yummy!  :)

Well... it's w-a-y past my bedtime, so I had better get off here and go to bed! I've been fussing at Abi to hit the sack earlier, and here I am.....

~Blessings~

Yea! Movie night with Abi and the hubby!

The girls are laying!!!

The 4 in the front are theirs, and the one in back is a store bought egg.... hopefully, they will become egg-cellent layers... LOL!

I do belive things are looking up. May have the full time position for Case Manager. Yipee! So many are leaving here... So sad.

Yea! We have an egg!

Went out to check on the girls this morning and only 2 of them were at the door to the pen. The other gal was in a nest... as I watched.... she got up and fluffed some hay around... and what did I see? A tiny little brown egg!!! Yea! My girls are growing up.... *smile*

I'll see if I can get a picture this evening... have to take Mom to the doc for her leg, then have to go to work. 

*Please God... hear my prayer. You know what happened today. Fix it for me, cause I can't do it myself...*

Night Riding.....

Abi has been saying she wants to go riding at night, so we, as her loving adoring parents, decided to oblige. I mean, after all, we'd been riding all day and  figured, "Why not?" when our lovely 15 year old teenage daughter wants to hang out with her old parents... lol!

So we did.. we rode on through dusk and headed out to the country for a night time ride. Well... needless to say, I didn't have on my helmet cause we had been out all day, and I just had my goggles..... sleeveless shirt.....jeans.. typical summertime garb.

Needless to say... the night critters had their way with me... LOL! By the time we got home, I had smashed bugs all over my face, my chest, in my hair..... my vest was covered, and so was my bike ( I have no windshield, you see...). I ran straight to the bathroom and stipped down and jumped in the shower... had to hand my hubby my brassiere to take outside and shake out... LIVING little critters were in there where they should never be! LOL!

And alls well that ends well..... Abi got her night ride in, and we all loved it... even the country critters that now live in the city......

~Blessings~

Beautiful Day!!!

What a lovely day! Summery breeze and sunshine! Floors swept and mopped, dishes done and laundry on the line....

Hubby and I took off on hos bike and went for a cruise for awhile, then ran into a flea market... well, we had to stop! LOL! And we found new saddlebags for both our bikes. So we had to buy them, of course!

Aren't they awesome?

We are pretty pitiful when it comes to our bikes. We figure all our children are grown, cept Abi, and we're pretty well set, so why not do something we've wanted to for years? Hubby's bike is 21 years old, but still runs well... and mine was a gift to myself for finally graduating and obtaining my RN degree....

Busy Day....

Had to get up this morning to take Mom to the Wound Center to have a look at her leg. She was mowing her yard the 24th of July and went over an embankment, down about 25-30 foot, landed in the creek below and cut her leg to the bone.

Being the stubborn woman that she is, and me being the nurse in the family,  I was assigned to take care of it, after the hospital had stitched her up. Not that I minded, of course, but you just have no idea how hard it is to take care of an independent,  stubborn-minded 69 year old woman! LOL! Needless to say, I finally told my husband I didn't like how it looked, and he came out with me and forced her to go to the doc. She is now having to go to the Wound Center every Wednesday and I will continue to dress the wound, but am doing so under a doctors care, which make me feel a zillion times better! LOL! Thankfully,  and I repeat, thankfully... she agreed to go.  I love that lady and would never forgive myself if I thought I had caused harm to her leg!

Then today, my baby daughter and I decided to veg and eat pizza and watch TV. Which we did. About 3 CSI programs was all we got in before we were up and moving again... LOL!

AND... the big news for me, anyway!!!

I got a call from the Hospice where I had an application in to work as a RN Case Manager. They needed someone to fill in and work part time, and I jumped on it! Family and friends have been praying along with me, and it happened. It finally happened!Although I will continue to work in my current position as a floor nurse, I intend to do both for awhile. At least to catch up on bills somewhat.

Uh oh... a cool breeze just came through the back door... I'll bet another storm is brewing up! I'd better get off here!

Gotta get ready for work in the AM anyway...

~ Blessings!~

First Garden Produce...

I know... it's not much... but every little bit helps! And certainly so these days! Our tomato plants are full, and we're on our 2nd planting of greens, but our green beans and peppers didn't do so hot, and the cukes are tiny... we attribute that to the intense heat we've had this summer...

But it's ok. God does what He wants, and I am happy either way...

Birthday Babies!!!

Happy birthday to two of our beautiful wonderful granddaughters!!!

Gabriel Jacquline Kathryn Hatfield is 3 today

and...

Kyle Regan Farmer is 2!!!

Grandma loves you both very much! 

New things.....

School has been going on for me, been riding my motorcycle a bit and working alot. HAve been putting in my aplication to various places, praying that I am accepted at a place I have my app in now and have already had an interview> The lady was supposed to cal me today, but after the 2nd call to her, I was informed there had been no decision made as of yet. Guess that's a good thing, right?

One of the boys and his family had to come home for awhile. Glad to say they have moved out. They were here for almost 2 months. Enough is enough. They allowed the grandbaby to run out of milk, kept dirty diapers in the room they stayed in, and did not help around the house unless Dad and I became very upset. Their life consisted of games on the computer. All day and half the night.  NOT a good combo.  Glad to have been able to help, but even more glad they are out on their own now.  :)

Amelia still hasn't come home, but she has written us letters, so at least we know she's alive.  She's been gone now 3 months. Mothers shouldn't have to be without their children for 3 months. Especially Mom's with 17 year old daughters.....

My Mother in law tried to play Evil Kenevil on her lawnmower a couple of weeks ago. She went straight over an embankment, down about 20 foot or so, her and the mower landed in the creek below, and she required 17 sutures in her leg, and wrenched her back pretty good. I've been going out there every day and changing the dressing for her. I still want her to see the doc, just to be on the safe side..... so we have an appointment tomorrow about 2:30p.

Today I started putting my sewing room together upstairs. I want to paper and paint.... did you realize that Lowe's and Menards DO NOT sell wallpaper anymore? How weird is that? Anyhoo~ it's coming together... slowly, but surely....

Nothing else much to say, just giving an update on our little fam.....

 and how are you?

~Blessings~