886.

Hello everyone.

I hope you are all somewhere safe and doing well.

It's been a little over a week since I've seen our William but I spoke with him today. He said he was tired but feeling a little better because of a new medication that's helping with the pain and allowing him to rest and sleep.

His treatment plan has him starting a week-long in-patient stay soon.

He still has a long way to go so thank you all for keeping the prayers going.

Other family members (including Baby Bliss, with her nurse's spirit) are assisting with his care. I'm so thankful that my baby is able to help others in this way.

🌸 🌸 🌸

For me, today was a better day than yesterday and I'm thankful.

William's situation has been disheartening for me. I believe he will overcome this challenge. What gives me anxiety is that his climb to healthier is just beginning and the hill is steep.

If we parents could take on any pain our children might encounter in their lives, would we not hesitate to let them live free of all discomfort? Is this what his parents are thinking?

Since his diagnosis, I have been experiencing physical symptoms that I'm working hard to get under control. I know the reason for my distress: I am re-living traumatic events from my past that I don't want to acknowledge here or even to myself.

Prayer, healing music, essential oils, and talking things out is all helpful but not yet eradicating the thoughts and images playing in my mind at uncomfortable intervals.

It's all temporary, yes. But when it happens, it's frightening. I feel powerless.

Yesterday I made an appointment to return to counseling (I did four years of grief counseling after Mr. Bliss died). My first appointment is Tuesday morning.

But I was distraught yesterday and needed a listening ear. I was not suicidal but I needed to speak with someone neutral. I called the Suicide Prevention Lifeline (800-273-8255) and I'm thankful I did.

The woman I spoke with helped me find resources that will help William . Another woman I spoke with provided more resources, also helpful.

Today I stayed in bed later than usual, only rising when my friend called to check on me. He's aware of William's situation and how I feel about it. He met William when he visited Baby Bliss and I last month and he's concerned as well.

When we last spoke (Monday), I cried and cried. We talked until his bedtime. Tuesday and Wednesday I felt his ear needed a break. Even with the few I consider friends, it sometimes feels like I'm wearing out my welcome if I "need" too much. Being self-sufficient is something I've always loved about myself but the older I get, the more I understand why God gifts us with friends.

Tomorrow morning will be busy here. Time for sleep.

In closing I have another prayer request, for me: that I am able to regain and keep my equilibrium so that I may be more able to support William and his care takers to the best of my abilities while being able to maintain my own health.

Thank you all in advance.

With love and gratitude,

K.

885.

Hello everyone.

Today my heart is heavy. A member of our family is moving through a serious healing crisis.

I come with a request: please keep us all lifted in prayer with positive thoughts and energy for William's healing as he moves through this challenging time.

I believe in the power of the energy of group prayer and I thank you all in advance for helping our family.

(And if I'm not here for a while, please re-read this post every time you visit the blog and please keep those positive prayers going.)

With love and gratitude,

K.

884.

Happy Saturday y'all.

I hope everyone is somewhere safe and in good spirits.

We're doing well here.

The hurricane (Dorian) caused some destruction along the coast of our state and I heard that a tornado spawned by same also touched down south of us.

Our local weather guy said some areas near us got rain but thankfully our local area only experienced cloudy skies and wind.

Today has been chill chez Bliss. Baby Bliss felt awful when she woke up this morning so she called out for the day. I believe she's off tomorrow as well.

Tomorrow shall be a day of fun and family for us. My friend is coming to stay with us for a few days of his vacation.

We have a loose agenda: the mountains, dinner for my birthday (another one!), dinner with grandma and the aunties, hanging out here with Baby Bliss. We'll probably have lunch at my favorite park a few times too.

I'm excited and so is Baby Bliss. It's been many years since they've seen each other.

The weather is forecast to be in the 90s here and 80s in the mountains.

883.

Hello, hello, hello folks!

I know, I know!

I'm late. Please forgive me. Life has been busy as all get out. Seriously.

Before I divulge the details of what I've been doing these past two months, let me first offer prayers for comfort and healing for everyone in the Bahamas (and other locales) who have been affected by the devastation of Hurricane Dorian.

My prayers as well for those who are in Dorian's path. Ideally he will head back to sea and die there.

The destructive power of these weather events seems to be increasing with each episode. God only knows what's coming next. 😩

🌸 🌸 🌸

So what have you been up to?

I have been quite the socialite lately. 💄💅👠💃

In the past week, I've been to three birthday celebrations. 🎂 🎈🎁🍹

One was a dinner party for a neighbor's daughter. The other was a girls' night out/birthday celebration for the founder of a group I'm a member of. The third celebration was for my birthday.

🍴The dinner party was at a nearby restaurant. We were a boisterous group of (maybe) 10. Most folks ordered lobster. (Which I wanted also but decided not to order.) I choose three delicious sides for my meal: a baked sweet potato, mac and cheese, and steamed asparagus.

The birthday girl got a free sundae from the restaurant and her mom had a beautiful cake for her. The cake was good but not as good as it looked like it would be. (They said it was "homemade" but you couldn't tell by looking at it. It was as professionally ornate as any cake I've seen in a bakery showcase. And it was tasty. Just not as spectacular-tasting as I expected based on a similarly gorgeous cake I ate in a previous life. So I take nothing from the baker. It was just me reminiscing.)

👯 Our girls' night out birthday party was at the home of a group member. She was a fantastic hostess and the evening was so much fun that we were there for six hours eating, drinking, laughing, dancing, talking...

We're supposed to make it a regular thing for monthly birthdays, much like the other group I belonged to when I was friends with Miz A.

🍔 My birthday celebration was a belated one. My friend L told me a while ago that she wanted to treat me to a meal for my birthday. I'd forgotten but she remembered. 😊 We met for a long lunch last Friday. I love hanging out with her and we just don't do it often enough. We met through our children (my daughter and her granddaughter have been friends since grade school) and L and her family have become family over time.💗

🌸 🌸 🌸

Today a neighbor invited me to lunch. He's a nice gentleman. Older. Like, my dad's age. We have interesting visits when we run into each other in the neighborhood.

We usually sit out in the community rocking chairs and chat. Sometimes it's just us. Sometimes there are other neighbors too.

His lunch invite was impromptu but I suspect he's been holding it for a while. We ate at a restaurant in the area, one I'd been wanting to try after hearing so many good reviews. The food was so-so. Not what I expected based on the reviews. *shrug*

Perhaps a different menu item will be better on my next visit. Or a different chef or a different time of day. I'm willing to give it another shot. 😋

My neighbor mentioned several times how glad he was to be out and about today because home was boring. He once lived in one of the Biggest Big Cities on the east coast and he misses it. I think it got too expensive up there. He has family in this area and he was born and raised in a city about two hours away.

I felt a little sad when he began telling me how his family comes to visit sparingly, to take him to appointments and run errands, dropping him off and leaving right after. I really want his family to pay more attention because I noticed that he's showing signs of cognitive decline and his vision is off as well.

He asked me the same questions several times, he asked me to read the menu to him, and he had a time managing his food and drink. 😩

These kinds of situations give me anxiety. I don't know his family and I'm not sure how they might react to this kind of information coming from a stranger. 😕 My prayer is that my neighbor's situation is resolved with the best outcome for all involved. Amen.

🌸 🌸 🌸

In other news, Baby Bliss has enrolled in college. Physics. I'm awed. She is exceptionally bright, that one. Apparently to a degree I didn't understand.

Before she started class (and a new job), she took a cross-country trip 🚘 to the Rocky Mountains 🌄⛰with some friends. They had an amazing time, so said Baby Bliss. She kept in touch the whole way, texting photos and tidbits about everything fantastic on their journey.

Can I tell y'all how thankful I am for the wondrous technology that allows us to keep in (almost) constant contact with our babies even when they're on the other side of the country? 💕

🌸 🌸 🌸

Several weeks ago, the aunties and I converged upon grandma's house, to see to some electrical work that needed doing. We didn't do it, just watched and waited. The electrician was a family friend, and yes, a real electrician. He and his wife came to do the job. She was cool.

After the work was done, grandma and the aunties got into my car and I drove around the corner to Baby Auntie's community pool for the annual community yard sale/shindig. We grabbed vittles from a couple of food trucks and noshed at a picnic table under a shade tree.

🌸 🌸 🌸

On August 7, like folks nationwide, I attended National Night Out. Ours was at the park up the street. Seemed like the whole town turned out to meet and greet with our law enforcement and other first responders.

There was all kinds of food, drinks, treats, raffle prizes, and more. Many of my neighbors were there. We had a rip-roaring time of it. I even won a prize. 🎉🎉🎉

🌸 🌸 🌸

The first Saturday in August found a neighbor and I at a huge rummage sale at a church several exits north of us. We literally shopped until we dropped. And I only dropped because some of my things were heavy. (Books.)

I found some incredible deals, the most notable being a large soft-sided piece of luggage for $1. My favorite purchase was a laptop bag for $1. It's light blue and black, with short handles and a long strap, padded, and it has an outside pocket. It also looks brand new and is much nicer than a similar bag I bought at a store for $10 in June. 😭

Some things I bought were for grandma: a scarf that reminded me of a blouse she used to have; a white sleeveless cotton button-front blouse that reminded me of blouses she wore when I was young; a lace-covered ivory camisole in a nicely-weighted fabric that feels like butter.

I also bought a few purses ($1 each) and more (exquisite!) scarves for 50 cents each. There was a lovely set of burgundy pillowcases as well. (Along with a set of sheets, the pillowcases went to a neighbor who was settling into a new space with no time to do laundry.)

Thank God for the giant blue IKEA bag stashed in my trunk. It came in handy for dragging my haul inside.

🌸 🌸 🌸

Looks like this post has gotten long enough, yes? Well then, July shall have its own dispatch.

Please follow me... 🦶🏽

882.

Happy Thursday folks!

I hope you're all somewhere safe and doing well.

I'm gonna try to make this fast because I'm supposed to be sleeping. Also because I need to get it out before anything else noteworthy occurs. 😁

So this happened:

- A family member saved herself and her neighbors from literally being blown to bits a week ago. She had been smelling "a slight natural gas smell" before she left for vacation. Returned home and the odor was stronger. 😮

My relative called the gas company around 11p.m. Gas company rep arrived around midnight and said yep, gas leaking. He proceeded to knock on the door of the neighbor whose unit the smell seemed to be coming from.

No answer. Fire department was called to gain entry. Fire department showed up, opened the door. There was a sleeping occupant who needed reviving. 😱 An ambulance was called. The fire department used equipment to clear the gas fumes from the apartment. The paramedics/EMTs had to remove the occupant from a back door of the unit, started life-saving measures in the grass, then took the occupant to the hospital. 

The next day my relative learned that a faulty gas stove was the culprit and she was thanked for saving not only lives but property as well. Several people in the building smoke and sometimes folks use grills on their patios and thankfully an awful situation was averted.

The mystery: did anyone else smell the gas in all that time? If yes, did they not understand the seriousness of the situation? 😕

- A guy who used to be my neighbor was arrested recently for sexually assaulting several women during massages when he was employed with two local (reputable) massage places.

But he won't be tried for the accusations. He had to be released because of a technicality. 😑 I can't prove he did anything he's accused of. Indeed, my own interactions with him were all fine. However, before he moved, I began reading The Sociopath Next Door. A few chapters in and I realized that something almost undetectable in homeboy's personality did raise my hackles a few times. 😬

🌸 🌸 🌸

Back to Memorial Day weekend: it was fabuloso!

- I had a great time with my dad's family at the quinceañera. We ate, danced, laughed, took photos, tried to crash the wedding next door, and allowed some wedding guests to peek in on our party too.

My cousin truly looked like a princess in her dress. Her parents were so proud and happy. My aunt (grandmother of the princess) was proud and happy too.

We all were. 💓

- The time spent with my friend was fun, eye-opening, sad, nostalgic, cathartic, blissful.

We talked about a lot of things past and present. Things we needed to share with each other, reveal to each other. There was a lot of emotional rawness and intimacy.  (No, not that kind.)  There were tears, laughter, yelling. We looked at old photos I'd taken with me.

We had a cookout at his house on Memorial Day. Some of his family came over. It was good to see them. Sad too. 😶

Really just a good reunion.

(Side note: There was a summer storm one night and I had another "energy" episode similar to the one in post 535. I've also had a few episodes at home since that post, always during weather events. The "why" continues to elude me. 😐)

Our visit was a much-needed chapter in our ongoing dialogue and I'm thankful we were able to get to it.

My friend is on vacation now, with one of his homies. We talked about him swinging by to visit me on his way home but he called the other day to say it wasn't likely to work with his probable schedule.

Que sera, sera...

When we next have time, it will be good to see him again. I love him as much as our connection allows and he knows he's one of the few people who is welcome to knock on my door without invitation or explanation, knowing he'll be ushered in with joy.

Until we meet again, the beat goes on.

🌸 🌸 🌸

There has been more conversing with the Astronaut lately. (See posts 804, 811, 855, and 876.)

He's scheduled to go home for the 4th of July, for a family reunion. He said he wants me to join him, which I just might do.

I haven't seen his people (who are my people too, sort of; more on that later) in almost 35 years. 📅📅

The Astronaut and I met the summer I was 17/18. He lived several hours and several hundred miles away but his brother was married to the sister of a guy my cousin was dating and the Astronaut came with them for a visit to my hometown.

He and I were instantly attracted to each other. We were inseparable the whole time he was in town and thought ourselves in love by the time he was heading back home. (I don't recall how long the visit was. Maybe a few week, maybe a couple of weeks.)

We made plans for me to visit him.

In the interim, there were lots of phone calls and sometimes letters. ☎ 🖊📃 💌📬 ☎

By the time I visited, we were talking marriage. 💍 💒

I loved everything about him, I thought.

But did we even have anything in common? Not much, it seemed.

He was a country boy, muscular and virile, with an accent that tickled my ears. His parents were still together living in the family home, his momma was a good cook, and he had lots of siblings, things that made me feel secure with him. And jealous of him.

I was a city girl, raised by a single mother and her family (mostly women). Cute and bookish but urban and sparkly enough to catch his eye. Dumb as a tick when it came to establishing and sustaining a healthy romantic relationship, certainly not able to create and foster a viable marriage.

The photos from my visit south, to see him and meet his family, are still in my collection. Decades later, the trip is still a fond memory for me.

My recollection is that we were gonna marry and move me south. We were researching jobs for me and planned to move into an apartment next to his brother and sister-in-law. But something happened and we broke up. Not during my visit but some time after.

Maybe the tedium of being in a long distance relationship with a man I didn't really know became overwhelming. Or boring. Or something else.

I do remember being married to my first husband and having sporadic contact with the Astronaut, Nothing untoward, just a few phone calls and a few letters. I recall telling him how I'd had a dream about his mom and him telling me she'd died the week of my dream...

At some point we lost touch.

Fast forward to meeting, dating, and marrying Mr. Bliss and Bam!

Big planet with billions of people and wouldn't ya know it, the Astronaut and I are now related by marriage. 😵😂

When I reminded him that tongues would be wagging if we attend the family reunion together, his response: So? I knew you first.

Alrighty then. (See definition number 4.)

🌸 🌸 🌸

In other news, I have a date Friday. Stay tuned for more details. 😄

Sweet dreams y'all.


p.s  I just remembered that I must have visited the Astronaut at least twice, back in the day. The photos I mentioned are from a summer visit.

But there was also a visit when we went to the county fair, an autumn event. I remember because he took a photo of me lounging in a wooden glider-type swing but it was suspended by rope from a huge tree.

I was wearing a cream colored v-neck sweater and a pair of baggy floral pants in rust and navy blue, a favorite outfit that season.

That photo might be floating around in the archives. I'll have to search for it.

881.

Hello, hello, hello folks.

I hope all is well with everyone.

We're just swell here, living and breathing, eating well with a roof over our heads and clean clothes to wear.

I'm thankful. 💓

So, as usual, there is lots to tell.

Before I get back to more details of my Memorial Day weekend, there is more recent stuff to divulge.

But first, let me send my condolences into the Universe, for Anderson Cooper on the transition of his mom, the inimitable Gloria Vanderbilt. May he have peace and comfort for this journey. May her soul merge with the Great Conscious some of us call God and rest easy.

In my teens, Gloria Vanderbilt's name was synonymous with looking "fly". Her jeans were highly coveted among the girls I attended junior high and high school with. I don't recall ever owning a pair but the commercial for the jeans was one of my favorite t.v. adverts.

I was saddened to hear that she'd passed away and I cried watching the CNN tribute Anderson Cooper made for his mom. This will be his first birthday without his mom, my first without my dad.

La vida...

🌸 🌸 🌸

880.

Hello and Happy Wednesday y'all!

I hope everyone is safe and sound as you're reading.

This will be short because I'm tired.

My mom is/was in town for a mini-visit. She drove down to see about grandma (her momma) so she stayed at grandma's house, down in the big city.

I was down in the big city Monday and Tuesday, to help clear out old papers at grandma's while my mom and grandma were on the hunt for all pertinent documents and some jewelry my grandma wanted my mom to have.

Later, one of my aunts came by with her son. Those two are at grandma's every day any way (they only live a few minutes around a few corners as do a bunch of other cousins) and now days, someone is always sleeping over at grandma's.

Baby Bliss was working both days so she missed her granny on this trip.

🌸🌸🌸

Last weekend was busy. I relented on my "no" stance with the Athlete and hung out with him Saturday and part of Sunday. He wanted me to hang out Sunday night too but we couldn't coordinate schedules.

Which was for the best.

It was good to see him but I can only spend a limited amount of time with him. For the most part he's a sweet guy but we have vastly different styles of communicating. Too many hours spent trying to chase his thoughts around Robin Hood's barn and I'm just worn out.

I usually say what's on my mind, no chaser. Sometimes it rubs him the wrong way when I don't sugar coat things for him.

Maybe it's the northerner in me. Y'all know what they say: you can take the girl outta the city...

The Athlete lives near the church we three Bliss used to attend, many many moons ago. When I left his place Sunday, I dropped by the church to see my peeps.

Service had ended when I arrived but I stayed close to an hour talking, eating, and helping clean up.  Several people we knew were there, surprising me to tears. I was also surprised that some folks remembered me. (And I'm not sure why I was surprised because it's a small congregation.)

🌸🌸🌸

On a more personal note, my Memorial Day weekend back home was everything. 

It was phenomenal.

The time spent with my friend was literally life-altering.

I also had a super duper fantastic time with my dad's family at the quinceañera.

But as I stated in the beginning of this post, I'm beat.

More details to come...

Ciao folks! 💋💋💋