Blackened Green Beans???

When will my family learn? Today Ella harvested her green bean crop from her little garden....quite a nice little bunch of green beans I might add....
Let me start at the beginning....
At the beginning of summer Ella enrolled in the reading program at the Library...on one of her trips there was a gardener there who gave the children green bean seeds...well, you would have thought they were gold...we broke the dirt, made a furrow, planted the beans and watered, and watered and watered,,,,little tiny vines appeared, became big vines and then green beans appeared like magic....
Today was the day...our first harvest...Ella gathered her 30 beans, washed them, snapped them...put them in a pot to cook...I am supposing by the title of this you know what has happened...
As fate would have it, she has Karate class this afternoon...as a last resort she puts MeMe in charge of just watching them cook. "Meme...there is not one thing you have to do....I have seasoned them and everything...just watch them and add water if they need it. If anyone else was home, trust me, I would not ask, But you are it"
I looked at them twice...I promise...the next thing I know, the kitchen is full of smoke and smells like a bomb went off...I threw water on them and they gave up the bottom but they are black....
Phillip Tidwell came to check in, ask what was on fire, I showed him the beans and he had the perfect answer...
TELL THEM THEY ARE BLACKENED GREEN BEANS....
So that's my story and I am sticking with it.

Thousand Words?

If one picture is worth 1000 words, I figure this one is worth 9000...

Mom In The Garden With The Lord

I asked Mom if she wanted to see Daddy's Garden today...Of course she did...I thought how pretty she looked and how she had never really gardened in her life. Daddy was the gardener and trust me, we would have starved if we had depended on his vegetables to eat...Mom did have a grand gardenia plant that lived many years but to my knowledge that was the only thing she ever planted or grew..as we stepped into the little garden box...Mom threw her arms out and sang..."I come to the garden alone.......while the dew is still on the roses.......AAAAAND HE WALKS WITH ME AND HE TALKS WITH MEEEEE....AND HE TELLS ME I AM HIS OWN.....

Easter Sunday..2013

We went to visit Mom today at Grand Pearle..."The Cruise Ship".

On the way home Cale said "Grandmother doesn't know me anymore." It's true...she doesn't, but oh what fun they had when she did. Cale has many fond memories of her and I am so glad that he still wants to know her.. It's so very hard..

I must begin my story with the end...Mom sitting on toilet singing "That Silver Haired Daddy of Mine"...That's to be sure no one is alarmed with the following...
I get a call from the "Cruise Ship"..Grand Pearle Assisted Living...Mom is having somewhat of a spell...She has passed out cold and scared everyone to death...Angie said, "we have called an ambulance and they should be here any minute...She was fine, sitting on the toilet, and then she was out, just out cold....Very pale, clamy, pasty looking and just out." Of course, I'll be there, soon as I can get there, but in the meantime, Angie, you do know Mom has spells and does this about every 3 months...I am not too terribly alarmed because she has done this on several occasions, the ambulance gets there, she's coming too and blood pressure is great, blood gases, sugar oxygen,,,,everything the envy of anyone involved in her medical care could possibly want...when she comes too she's a wonder, singing hymns and wondering what all the hoop la is.......I'm driving fast to get there, Angie calls,,,ambulance drivers knew Mom, her history and are taking care of her...about to decide that she is fine and are not going to transport...But since I am so close, go ahead and stop and pick up a Fleet enema for her as she has had a problem with constipation and Angie feels like there may be a little obstruction...She has gloved up and is helping her pass a stool...Pick up KY Jelly also for lubrication...OK....I am close to Walgreens....on the way I pass Fred's Dollar Store which has a big pharmacy..it is 8:57...Walgreen's closes at 9:00...Do I want to go all the way to WalMart or stop here...The parking lot is empty but I have 3 minutes...I run in the door, tell the little girl in the front, "I know you are trying to close, I know exactly what I need...I'll hurry.." No problem....I'm in the back of the store..looking, looking , looking...No KY Jelly...A tall thin man with a badge appears at the end of the aisle...Mam, we are closing, can I help you?
Yes, yes..I am hurrying....I must have KY Jelly, I can't find it...I've looked everywhere...He backed up and the look on his face was eeeww...I must have KY Jelly...immediately I know what he is thinking...That commercial with the man and woman in the bed with fireworks going off behind them..It's a sexual thing....I said, oh, this is not for me...it's for my Mother...this time when he backed up he did say uuuuhhhh....look of horror on his face...I said oh, My mom is at Grand Pearle, has a bowel obstruction and needs this...He still looked like a deer in the headlights...afterall, he is not a pharmacist, he is a night manager and doesn't really know about all this..I settled for Vaseline, Fleet Enemas, Mineral Oil. and suppositories...
The little girl who checked me out also had a look of fright on her face as I checked out and tried to explain..
You almost had to be there...
I get to the ship, Mom is on the toilet...Angie and another nurse are dealing with Mom..She looks up and says "Oh hey darling, I am so glad to see you...What fun...Are you staying for the party?"
As I said, you had to be there, I am back home now....Mom is safe and sound asleep...Angie and the staff are all so attentive and love and care for Mom....I can't help but wonder what Mr. Lamb, the guy who was waiting on me must think....
A 63 yr. old woman in the store demanding KY Jelly at closing time. I can only imagine what he was thinking....

Elise, Ice Cream & Ella

After enjoying an exceptionally good Ice Cream Dessert, Ella posed an exceptionally brilliant idea...
If they have Chocolate Syrup for Vanilla Ice Cream why not have Vanilla Syrup for Chocolate Ice Cream?...Why didn't I ever think of that?
We decided to send a letter to the +Hershey Chocolate Company for an answer.
She spent a lot of time composing the letter, we are mailing it and hopefully we will hear from the company...
OK MeMe...what's in this for you? Was my little darling's question...I answered with what a fantastic project it was, great for communication skills, you can take the response back for your teacher to read to the class, it's a great life lesson...dadadadadada da... "OK MeMe...for real...what's the deal?"
OK Kid...here it is.....marketing reads your letter and shoots us a coupon in the mail for Hershey's Chocolate Syrup...Score for the price of a postage stamp!

As for Elise...best Medicine I know of for her "condition". Ice Cream & Ella...

Mom, Pockets & Gloves

I picked Mom today from the Grand Pearle Cruise Ship (Assisted Living)..we are going to pick Ella up after while and go to the Dairy Queen for hamburger and shakes... Having a little time to kill, I wondered how to entertain Mom...it takes so little..
The entertainment started with a cough drop and cold hands,,,
Mom, put the extra cough drop in your pocket (it was an extra delicious one, Berry Breezer, and you can also warm your hands.
Well she could not find her pockets...we looked everywhere...those pesky pockets could not be found anywhere...during the search though we did find something much more entertaining...brand New Garden Gloves...after many minutes of trying to put on the gloves I decided to help....we tugged and struggled, practiced spreading our fingers, our thumb, all together...push , pull, yank and tug...stretch and shove...I could not get the gloves on her little hands no matter how hard I tried,,,,what's the deal I'm saying..Mom looked up and rather quietly said...I think they are upside down...
As you can see, we flipped them and on they went. But I discovered another activity for Mom...We are always looking for "busy work".
And when we finished and she removed the gloves she grabbed her cough drop and put it in that pesky missing pocket...it was right there on her jacket all the time....

ELECTRICA Elise..

Mom is settled in pretty good at Grand Pearle...Cruise Ship/Assisted Living...I have new heroes in my life now...Alicia, Valerie, Amber, Ashley, and David....they work At Grand Pearle as CareGivers for Mom...what a grand staff...so understanding and kind and they have a sense of humor...I like that the best..
This is going to be a new chapter for us...I think it will be a happy one because Mom tries so very hard to be in good spirits all the time...
Today was her birthday. I have declared that everyday will be her birthday...for her a big party is a funny hat and chocolate. How hard will that be? I also have determined that she is a super hero.....she is now.....
ELECTRICA ELISE ! Determined to spread joy everywhere she goes and leave smiles on everyone's face when she leaves....
This is her first cartoon!

A Detour

Take the detour here.


 

I will be catching everyone up on Mom real soon...
Be watching as the installments come to update all the Elise Fans....

Notice the cartoon below. I think it will be my new look....

Ella's First Essay...and certainly not her last

Ella will be writing an essay for a special project this week. The content...what would it be like if Martin Luther King,Jr. Had not presented his "I Have A Dream Speech"
After reading the speech I ask for her summary. She is pretty much Spot On in understanding what the words meant...Her translation....if everyone could just leave the past, join hands and move forward...not carrying judgements along with them...
After she was through sharing all of this info with me, I was basking in the pleasure of knowing how smart, how sensitive and how enlightened this little young girl was...
Then her Mom shared with me...before you go on basking in how smart your granddaughter is and how she got all this from you...just know that as late as just last year, every night before she went to bed she thanked Jesus for Martin Luther King,Jr. because he made it possible for her (a white girl) to be able to speak to Big Daddy (a black man)

My New Year's Resolution.....
Write More....
My sanity depends on it....