Grandma

Grandma.

I like that name. Some grandmothers prefer the more modern names for the relationship, to the extent that we now have women answering to Gigi, Gogo, Nana, and even, God help us all, Glamma. As in glamour, right? Wrong.

As grandmother to two and a half children (NewBaby is due in April), I like the old-fashioned name and the old fashioned role of Grandma.

Mothers are all well and good, but they have such a serious role in the upbringing of children that they can't have half as much fun as Grandmas. Plus Grandmas get to send the grandchildren home and sit back with a glass of sherry.

I had a fun Grandma when I was a kid, although everyone called her Mama. Mama lived in the town my Dad and mother (whom we called Nana, to add to the confusion) grew up in, Montgomery, Alabama. The 't' was silent in the town's name if you were from there. 

We lived in Birmingham, about a hundred miles away. I remember riding in the back seat when we went to visit Mama. We would pass the water wheel that is still there on I-65, and the sign, also still there, that announced,"Go to church or the Devil will get you!" complete with a stereotyped devil with horns and a pitchfork.

Daddy would always ask us, "What's Mama going to say when she sees you all?" and my little brother, Kip, and I would shout, "I de-CLARE!"

And she did, in that honey soft Southern accent, and hugged us and led us into her old fashioned house, with its smell of kerosene heater and with a big, scratchy living room sofa.

We would end up in her kitchen with something to eat. The old kerosene heater was fascinating to children who lived in the suburbs.

She made the best lemon cake in the world. White cake with a tart, translucent frosting. 

We would also get to eat watermelon in her kitchen, on the table with the oilcloth tablecloth. The best part was that she didn't mind if Kip and I shot seeds at each other.  In the kitchen. She didn't want us to spit, but the slippery seeds would sail a good distance if shot from between your thumb and forefinger.

I want to be that kind of grandmother. The cookie-baking, story-telling, singing Grandma. The one who is always glad to see you.

I think I have to go practice saying, "I de-CLARE!" now.

The Times, They are A-Changing - Again

I am back home. I love my husband, I really do, but I do not love trucking anymore.

Two people living in close quarters - with three dogs, I might add - and never knowing what the schedule will be or how much money they will make or when they will get home - no. Not anymore.

My older son, the one with the baby due, would like us to move to Greensboro to be near them. I was already planning on being there in April when BabyGirl arrives.

So I am home, trying to pare down the house, getting rid of old furniture left at our house by various grown children, a cousin and an erstwhile friend who left us a mess. It is still up in the air as to whether or not we will actually move. My husband reserves the right to make the final decision....

Meanwhile I am trying to live on my retirement income, just to see if it is possible. Refinanced the house and paid off the car, and the taxes and insurance on the house are rolled in, so that frees up $492.00 a month.

If possible, I would like to get rid of the stuff we don't need, pack up all the rest and move it to a storage unit in Greensboro. I would stay at my son's till the baby is born and till the mama recovers from her scheduled C-section. Then find a place to rent that is small and manageable.

I want to be with my kids and grandkids. Bottom line.

My oldest grandson, Terry, is now living with his father, my oldest son, full time. As he is almost nine, I think it is good. Boys need their fathers at this age, to show them rules and how to work and how to treat women.

We shall see what transpires.

So Much for That Job.

So much for that job....

I worked at Cracker Barrel for a month.  Without going into detail, let me just say that I can run a kitchen better than they can, and I am not working like a galley slave with no break in 4-8 hours for $8.75 an hour.

Pleasant people - but disorganized. So when they cut my hours from 30 to 10 a week, I took it as a sign. I realized I didn't want any more hours!

So, as much as I did not want to, I am going back out on the road driving a big wheel.

With my husband.

Going to make it as pleasant as I can.

At least this way I will not have to beg some fool for time off when my grandbaby is born. We can just schedule it.

Did I tell you? It's a GIRL!

I will write more later, as my younger son and his lady love are expected for a short visit in less than an hour.

I am so happy about that and virtually everything else!

Got a Job And Wonderful News!

I've been hired as a prep cook at a company which shall remain nameless. They don't like to be talked about on social media, so I shan't.

I like the company, and there is a chance I can move up here, also a chance I can move to North Carolina with this job.

I have to move closer to my sons and grandchildren.

I AM GOING TO BE A GRANDMA AGAIN!!!

Mack and Beverly told me right before my birthday that they were expecting. I am so excited.  We want a baby girl this time, but we will, of course, be happy with a healthy baby.

More on all this later - I am a bit tired from standing on my feet instead of sitting on my butt.

But it is gonna be great!

No Longer a Trucker

I have stopped long haul trucking, as of July 13, 2014. I was tired and bored, and my mental and physical health was deteriorating. Plus, my friend who had been keeping our three dogs and taking care of the house had to get her own apartment because she could just barely get up our stairs. She couldn't take our three dogs. It was a sign that it was time.

Now what? I have been applying for jobs online for a month now, and have little to show for it. I have been technically hired as a limo driver, locally, but it is contingent on the business growing. I may be hired at a daycare center. I have applied to nanny jobs and to a laser technician job.

I am working on getting my house in order. Working the way I was, there was little time to deep clean or organize.

I still need to work, both for money and for a feeling of accomplishment.

Hope God will put me where I'm needed.

Till then, I am also stepping up my writing.

Revival

I have neglected this blog. I have a few excuses, but not good ones. In true daydreamer form, the actual reason is that I just got bored with it and stopped for a while. I went on to write a blog for pay, for a couple of trucking recruiting sites. I need to be careful or I will get bored with that, too. I do not do well when I get bored. I tend to slack off, get sloppy, procrastinate...whatever you want to call it. As a child, my procrastination was chronic. But then again, in the schools I went to, the boredom was rampant. How they managed to suck the life out of this fascinating world, I do not know. I became a daydreamer to save my mind. I think it worked, though it did prevent me from going on to a fascinating career. I didn't know there were such wonderful careers available to me such as architect, pilot, writer.... Looking back, I wonder at how I just accepted the "Help Wanted: Female" ads as if there was nothing more. I didn't know that wonderful jobs were never advertised in the paper. The least boring job I knew I could get was teacher, so that is what I headed for in college. Until, of course, I got to the Education courses.....you guessed it, boring. So I dropped out and joined the Army. That was fun and challenging for quite a while. Unfortunately, before I could retire, it got....boring. I finally retired and had quite an awful time deciding what to do with the rest of my life, at only 43. I had not a clue what I wanted to do with my life. I had finally gotten a degree while in the Army, a Bachelor of Science in Occupational Education, with a concentration in Culinary Arts. This meant I could teach Culinary Arts. I got a job as a "permanent" substitute in the high school Culinary Arts class, finishing out the year when the teacher had to retire in January. Had a great time with the kids. When I went to apply for the actual job, though, I was told I was not qualified, because I didn't have a degree in Home Economics. Never mind that my degree was better, plus I had 22 years professional food service experience. That's when I decided to join my husband in driving a 18 wheeler. Now I have been doing that for sixteen years, aside from the three or so years I spent driving a bus for a retirement community. And guess what? Yep...I'm bored. I have pretty much mastered maneuvering the beast on highways and tight docking situations. I have solved each problem and met each challenge....several dozen times. I can feel it setting in. The dreaded boredom. I need a different set of challenges. I'll keep you posted when I figure out what they are.

Yes, I am still alive

It has been months since I posted here. I must have been resting on my proverbial laurels after the "30 poems in 30 days" feat. Or it might have been that after that, I started driving my own truck and training students. Not much time to blog then; sleep is more important. Or it might also involve the fact that my sons are doing well and there is no anguishing to be done. Or it might be that I just got tired of blogging for a while. For us daydreamers, boredom can be a show stopper. But I am back. I love the appearance of my own words on a beautiful blue page. I love searching for just the right words. It's like sifting through jewels. I am sitting here trying to feel what the process of writing is like. In general, when I write, I "see" the words sort of floating in my mind's eye and pluck them into a sentence. The background behind the words is shifting pictures. Quite marvelous. Sometimes when I get just the right words, it excites me so much I have to get up and move. I jump up from the computer and go get coffee or check the mail, just to be moving while the words are settling onto the screen. I love the feeling. I love the struggle to capture the right words, wrestle them into the sentence, tie them to the other words to make a beautiful beast no one has ever made before. Guess I'll be blogging more often.