Blast from the Past

My "oldest" friend came to visit. I certainly appreciate her braving the traffic, the heat and the price of gas to come see me. This is the kind of person she is: she didn't mind the chaos, the filth, or the fact that she had to sleep on the floor because I don't have any extra beds. What a pal. In fact, she is the kind of person who wouldn't have complained if I had made her sleep outside on the porch. We met in the 3rd grade, Sierra Elementary School in Alamogordo NM, right after my family relocated from Lawton OK. If you want to see what she looked like back then, check out the archives for July of last year. I wanted Carol to get a "taste" of the true south, so I dragged her to my favorite diner in Sanford...The Fairview Dairy Bar. Good food--cheap and greasy--and friendly service. I got a picture of Carol chatting with one of the locals. She only stayed 2 days. Her motto is "visitors and fish start to stink after 3 days." So, she certainly didn't wear out her welcome. Happy (early) Birthday, Carol!

wow

I'm in awe of her beauty. She was a cute baby, a darling toddler, a sweet kid, a surprisingly well behaved teenager with a quirky sense of fashion...and now she's drop dead gorgeous. I can brag because I take none of the credit. Her grandmother was a stunningly beautiful woman back in the day. Actually mom still looks great...hardly a wrinkle. I should be so lucky! But Bert's real beauty is more than skin deep. She's so smart and she's a wonderfully sensitive and caring person. I'm truly blessed.

How does my garden grow

Miguel bought me a new camera! It's the Ashton Kutcher Nikon Coolpix. I was kind of hoping Ashton would be there to sell it to me, because I happen to know he likes OLDER women. So, I took the thing for a test drive and using the macro setting, I took a picture of my cherry tomato plant. I've got tomatoes! Aren't they just adorable. So cute! They look huge here, but in actuality they are about the size of my thumbnail. I'm hoping this heat wave we're having doesn't cook them on the vine. It's been about 100 degrees everyday for the past 4 or 5 days. I'm happy to report the hummingbirds finally showed up. I've been waiting since the first week in April. We had a cold April so I guess they stayed in Acapulco or wherever it is they winter over. I don't blame them. I haven't seen much of Miguel the past few weeks. I work days and he usually works evenings until late. Tonight I went to the club to visit him. He is still doing sound at 506 a couple nights a week. Tonight was a "battle of the bands" show...5 or 6 bands each playing 30 minutes. Let me just set the record straight...I like all kinds of music, ALL kinds, a dazzling variety of styles and types and I am TOLERANT of even more kinds of music (I may not love it, but I can listen politely and appreciate the effort of the musicians). However, I have to draw the line at metal. I really, really don't like metal. In fact, I am certain that after the judgement, those that are consigned to spend eternity in hell will have to listen to metal music. But, that's just one woman's opinion. Take it for what it's worth.

After After

I hope no one ever gets sick of seeing pictures of me. I know I don't. My little Bert had "model week" at school last week. She rounded up all her friends and family to come into the studio for haircuts and whatnot. Some of her friends got color and perms...I stuck with the basic wash and cut. So, this is NEW HAIRCUT, PART 2. It turned out just lovely, however, I may still go with a shorter doo. This is addictive. I had not had my hair cut in almost a year...now I've had it cut twice in 2 weeks. And I may have it cut again. Luckily it just keeps growing, so I won't run out any time soon (of hair, that is). Of course, if I actually had to pay for any of this, it would be a different story. Bert said she could do something about the gray, but I actually like my gray hair. I don't think it makes me look distinguished or anything...I just don't think it's anything to be ashamed of. It just is what it is. And I can live with it. God knows I have much worse faults...gray hair is the very LEAST of my concerns!

Before and After

I don't remember if I mentioned it before, but at the risk of being repetitive (forgive me...I'm old) here I go again...Bert is going to the Aveda Institute, so I got her to practice her newly developed hair cutting skills on me. First, me--an unkempt, gray haired hippy. And then ME again, totally gorgeous. Now if I can just lose 30 pounds and get a couple of botox injections...

Catching Up

I've gotten behind with my posts. SO...I'm throwing a couple of pictures up of some friends from church. First are some disinguished ladies I have dinner with about once a month. We can't think of a good name for our group....the old crones or old bags sounds rather harsh. How about the fabulous fifties...or the senior sisters. Which reminds me of a funny story...my brother is in town; we went to eat at a buffet and at the cashier line I was thinking out loud and said something like "I wonder how old you have to be to get the senior discount?" Now, I was with my son (who is 2 feet taller than me) my dad and my brother. So when it comes time to pay, my brother says, "2 seniors, 1 adult and 1 child." The cashier looked at him and then at us and back at him and back at us...and rang it up. I don't think they are allowed to ask for ID. The next picture I posted was of my dear friend Celeste and the Cottles. Eric just graduated from dental school.

NC Botanical Garden

It was a perfect day for a trip to the garden. It's really cool the way they have it set up. You can wander through the various sections and get a sampling of the great variety of plant life we have in this state...from the coastal wetlands to the piedmont to the sandhills and the mountains. Plus they have a nice herb garden. It was so peaceful in there and smelled so good. Next time I'm going to take a book and find a quiet place to sit and read for awhile. Afterwards I went to the old folks home and visited mom. I trimmed her hair, sort of...I'm not exactly trained in this. Then I gave her a shower. She was kind of sleepy, but cooperative. The thought occurred to me that as bad as being in a nursing home is...it's better than prison. But then I thought...wait a minute! Mom is doing life without the possibility of parole and she didn't do anything wrong! Bummer. Well, enjoy the pictures. I gotta go. I'm helping Bert with her housesitting duties at the neighbor's house. So, I'm on the way up the road right now to feed and walk her dogs. There's no rest for the wicked.