Wednesday, December 23, 2009

WATCH YOUR TONGUE FOR BUMPS

12-23-09...WATCH YOUR TONGUE

Grandma had a lot of little pearls of wisdom that she shared with me whether I wanted them or not. Mostly not!
She would say,”It's just as easy to marry a rich man as it is to marry a poor one”. Or “If you swallow vinegar you'll spew out honey”. HUH?
“Watch out your face is liable to freeze that way”. “When you have a bump on the end of your tongue that means you've told a lie”. Now that one gave me cause for worry. When I would actually get a bump on my tongue I'd start trying to figure out what lie I had told. I figured I was caught for sure.
My Parents seemed to be able to see through me. I could never hide a thing from them. But Boy Howdy did I try sometimes. Seemed I was an expert at getting in to something and getting my “tail in a spin” (another of Grandma's sayings.)
One day I guess I didn't have anything better to do so I decided to get in to something. I had to think on it for a spell but I came up with something. I was going to hide something from my Mamma and have fun when she missed it. But What could I hide? Let's see, Hmm?
I decided her hand mirror was the thing she would be looking for. I took the mirror off her dresser and ran in my bedroom to find a spot to hide it. I put the mirror under my mattress and went about my business. Later I guess I had forgotten all about it because I sat down on the side of my bed and heard, snap, crackle, pop. There was no such thing as that cereal that did that then so I knew it was Mamma's mirror Oh My Gosh, Oh My Goodness, What am I gonna' do now. I'm in big trouble this time. My little joke had gotten out of hand fast. YEP!! I thought I would take the mirror back and put it on Mamma's dresser and just act like I didn't know a thing about it. Well it was broken worse than I thought it was so when I picked it out from under the mattress glass flew in all directions. I cut my finger on a piece, stepped on a piece and cut my foot. I took what was left and did succeed in laying it out on the dresser, and I got out of there fast. I never thought about the blood I was leaving behind. Well Mamma saw that blood before she saw the mirror. ( I THOUGHT SHE DID). “Clydene how did you cut yourself?” “Heck I don't know Mamma, musta, stepped on some glass”. “Well if that's the case then you had it in your hand because it is cut too.” “Yep, That must be what happened all right”. “Well Clydene, was it the mirror on my dresser that you cut yourself on”. “Heck no Mamma, I never touched that old mirror. I don't know how it got broke”. “How did you know the mirror was broke Clydene”? Well for Heavens sake, How in the world did she do that? She had me backed in to a corner with no escape. Now I swear guys, That darn bump wasn't on the end of my tongue before. But There that sucker was now as big as you please ready to tell on me. The jig was up, my butt was on fire, and I was sooo mad at Grandma for thinking up that bump thing in the first place. Good Grief. Can't do nothing without everyone knowing it around here!!! Heck Fire anyway. YEP!!!

DOWN BUT NOT OUT

12-23-09...DOWN BUT NOT OUT

I wrote this for a couple of teenagers whom I had the bad luck of running in to in Wal Mart one day only about three months ago. My mind is slow and I had forgotten this until I saw a show on TV about out of control teens this morning.

DOWN BUT NOT OUT

I'm sixty five, I'm over the Hill.
I've lived a lot, got more to go still.
I'm made from good stock, been there done that.
When it comes to life, I know bout' that.
So young person, when you look at me
you see wrinkles, it's laugh lines to me.
I may sag and bag here and there,
and aches and pains I've had my share.
My eyes are bad but I can still see,
just exactly what you think of me.
When I'm in a line ahead of you,
I hear your sighs when I'm slow to get through.
I see you young man when you roll your eyes,
I know what you're thinking, cause you see I'm wise.
My shoulders may be stooped , I may puff and groan.
My steps may shuffle as I go along.
As you go through life at your fast pace my dears,
Never knowing me, never seeing my tears.
You might break my heart but you can't break my will.
I've been here a while, will be a while still.

Clydene Thomas Overbey
12/23/09

DON'T LOOK DOWN YOUR NOSE

12-22-09...DON'T LOOK DOWN YOUR NOSE

“I might look crazy but I aint no fool.” That was a line I had in our Junior play. That just reminds me of how someone can get too big for their britches fast. It never ceases to amaze me the self worth some people can put on their selves. Daddy used to say their noses were so high in the air that they would drown if it rained.
When I moved to Idaho I got a job as Food Service supervisor in a Nursing home. I had the credentials, I had the diploma, I had everything except the right home state. My accent was a source of humor to them. I had to learn what they ate in that place before I could write the Menues. One Big headed nurse set out right away to throw me off. She didn't want to have to cooperate with me because she thought I was a stupid hillbilly with beans for a brain.
She just couldn't get used to me being in charge of the kitchen and having authority over her in Food Service. She was always trying to get me in a tight that I couldn't get out of. No Way Sister you've messed with the wrong one now. I caught her holding an old ladies nose one day to make her swallow her food. I said, “Betty you could strangle her to death doing that.” She looked at me and said, “Why don't you go back to Arkansas where you belong”. Now guys My head steamed up till I thought it would pop. It wasn't what she said that had me disturbed, but what she was doing. I was not going to let her strangle an old woman to death. I said, “Betty if you don't take your hands off that lady I'll take it off”. She paid no attention to me. I'm so glad that someone else had gone to get the supervisor and she showed up right then because I would have taken her away from that lady or have died trying. She was fired on the spot. I was not proud of myself or happy that Betty lost her job but it just goes to show you that the mightiest always fall the hardest.
I don't mind someone laughing with me. But when some big nosed bitty starts making fun of me and laughing at me I don't like it. And isn't it just the way of things. She was trying to get rid of me because she thought I was stupid and she was the one who had to go. YEP!!!

THEY OUTTA BE ASHAMED

12-22-09...THEY OUTTA BE ASHAMED!!!

I was in a store a while back and saw something that I never would have seen in my time. There was this Mother with her two kids. The Mother looked like she was about ready to pull her hair out. She was not dressed in the finest but her two teenage daughters were. What made me want to pull some of their hair out was the way those smart elec girls were treating their little Mother.
In the first place they were ashamed of their Mother and they let her, and everyone else around them, know it. Every time she said something to them they would roll their painted eyes and look at her like she didn't have a lick of sense. They were correcting her grammar and giggling about it.
There was something they wanted to buy and each wanted one. The Mother didn't have the foggiest idea what the thing was. (I didn't either) She was trying to tell them that they could get one and share because she couldn't afford two of them. She was near tears and they were tearing in to her like snakes with their venomous words. “ Oh My God I hate having an old lady like you for a mother.” “You don't know anything”, “No wonder Daddy left you”. “I hate you”. Are just a few of the things they were saying.
I hurried around to the next aisle to escape this but I could still hear them. I was thinking, If that poor lady don't box them up aside their heads I'm just tempted to do it for her so I'd better just get on out of here before I wind up in jail.
There were others who were just as aggravated as I was but we were helpless to do anything.
A lady standing beside me said “That's abuse of an older person if I've ever seen it”. I said “I know it and I think I'll just call a cop and see what they think about. I wasn't going to do that of course but I wanted to shut those girls up and give that lady a break. One of the girls said, “If you don't do what I want I'm leaving and you wont see me again”, “ME Too” the other one said. Just when I thought I couldn't hold it back anymore and I was gonna' box them both into next week**** POP POP. That little old lady slapped the heck out of those two right there in the store. Then she very calmly said, “Bye girls, I'll miss you”. Whooppee!! I started clapping my hands and a bunch of others did too. We started giggling and the table was turned on those two. They were following behind their Mother like two little puppies with their tails between their legs. Sometimes good does win out over evil by golly.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

YES I'M READY!!

12-21-09...YES I'M READY!!

Christmas is upon us and I've had so many ask me if I am ready. I tell them “Of course I am ready. I stay ready for Christmas”.

Since I have no kids or grand kids to celebrate with Christmas means a different thing to me now days. The main thing is seeing family that I haven't seen for a while. There is always a few of these scattered around.

Christmas is a day of enjoying a meal with people that I love very much. After the meal I so much enjoy sitting all together and having coffee or hot chocolate while we reminisce with family about days gone by. I love talking with my Brother about our childhood Christmas's.

Christmas is the time of year when we bring the memories of ones who have gone before us. We bring them in to our celebration and feel their presence more strongly than any other time of the year it seems.

Christmas is a day of love and togetherness, of warm hugs and warm hearts. It is a time when all problems, worries, and burdens are laid aside for a while.

Most of all Christmas is celebrated for the Birth of Jesus Christ. That's what it is for and what it is about. No more No less. The gifts are just something extra. For some it is Santa. I had Santa in my childhood. It was a magical time that I will always treasure. My parents told us that Christmas is Jesus' birthday but Jesus always wants us to have the gifts

God Bless You Mamma and Daddy for giving me the true meaning of Christmas along with the magic of the season.

May the Peace and Love of Jesus surround you all this Christmas. Remember to think of those less fortunate than you. God Bless You

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

NOSTALGIA

12-16-09...NOSTALGIA

I got a catalog in the mail one day and set down to look through it. Just a wish book because I wasn't going to buy anything. It was a Christmas book and boy did I ever wish! I got to noticing how they are reviving things from the past. Simple things then but with a huge price attached now.Remember Chenille robes that ladies all used to wear? And Chenille bedspreads? That was the only kind of bed spread or robes I ever remember having then... Well here they were in this catalog. Just brought back so many memories. I thought Boy I'd love to have one of those now. I almost fell off my chair when I saw the prices. Good Grief, they were much higher than any other bedspread or robe in the book. Mamma had a blue chenille robe and I can still feel it next to me as I snuggled in her lap. Is that another way of ripping us oldies off? Could be.Next thing I saw was as set of those bubble lights that were on the Christmas trees then. We never had any but my Aunt Georgia had a set of them and I was just fascinated with them. Different colors all bubbly. I'd love to have a set of those. But again they are called nostalgic pieces. ( Whatever to heck that means) $35.00 for a string of those things. No Thank you. I can't afford them but just looking at them gave me a warm fuzzy feeling as I remembered sitting by Aunt Georgia's tree and watching those bubbling lights for hours it seemed.Things are just not as simple or joyous anymore for me and I sure miss those nostalgic times. Don't you?

I'VE DONE IT AGAIN

12-16-09...I'VE DONE IT AGAIN

When I was a kid and did this to myself twice and also did it to my Brother I excused myself, well sorta'! But I am 65 years old going on 10 and there just aint no excuse anymore. Nary a one. Nope!
I've been needing a hair cut for several weeks now and just haven't felt like going to the hairdresser. The one I use is the only one who understands my kinky, frizzy, hair as she has hair just like mine. She is way out in the country and I'm getting chicken about driving anywhere out of the way anymore.
I got up one morning to a mess of what looked like barbed wire covered with hair. It was as hard to comb as that would have been also. I thought (that was my first mistake thinking) heck I'm going to at least straighten it up a bit. You know a snip here and a snip there. What made that not work was I was snipping anything that stood out wrong . If it stuck up, snip, if it stood out, snip, if it wouldn't lay down, snip, snip. Heck I was getting snip happy real fast. I'd watched how Carol did it enough times that I thought, (there's that word again) NO PROBLEM!!! Well! There was a problem as I soon found out.
I stopped for a while thinking (yep thinking) that I had done a pretty good job by golly! I washed it good and put mouse on it so it would stay in place and was on my way to other things.
About an hour later I went in the bathroom for obvious purposes and just happened to look in the mirror. OH MY GOSH, OH MY GOODNESS! What happened? What in the world is wrong with me? Am I stupid or something to think I could do this. Didn't I learn my lesson before? (Oh you betcha I've done this plenty of times over the years)!
I'm thinking' (there it is again) now let me see, maybe I can fix this before anyone sees me. So here we go again. Now let me tell you if I had just left well enough alone right then Carol still had a chance of fixing' it. Oh but heck no not little big britches. Nope!
I started again and you noticed I left the thinking out this time. Why the heck think, that was getting me no where fast. Good Grief!!!!
Now just let me say I plan to wear a hat or a scarf for a couple of weeks because I aint' got enough hair left for Carol to fix. I look like a partially peeled onion. I am just sick over this guys. If any one of you would like to kick my backside it is already sore cause I fell on it yesterday so one one kick won't make that much difference. I'd kick myself if I could. I took my picture and was gonna show y'all what I done to myself. You'll have to kill me to get that sucker!!!! YEP
!

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

A RED NECK BATTLE

12-15-09...A RED NECK BATTLE

I had my washer going this morning early and had gone in the bathroom to get dressed. I started hearing something that sounded like someone was trying to open the door to the bathroom. I was about half dressed and I panicked. After I got my breath I hollered. Who are you and what do you want? I heard it again and I really came unglued. I was thinking Why isn't Moses barking for Heavens sake. He barks every time he sees his own shadow but now when it would be useful he clams up. I'll bet he's out there licking this murderer's hand. Boy Now my mind was spinning 90 miles to nothin'.
I got to thinking that I needed to get my clothes on and get myself covered just in case he (in my mind a he) gets in here. Oh My Gosh, even if I get myself dressed what then. During all this thinking I was still hearing the noise but now it sounded like a swishing gurgling racket.
I decided I'd better just get my bluff in and let that sucker know who he was dealing with. When I get that attitude and my red neck pride rares up I lose all sense of being scared. I'm ready to attack I'm thinking. I needed something to attack with and by golly my Daddies hammer in on the shelf where I keep it. I'll just open the door real fast and knock his brains out that's what I'll do by golly. He's gonna learn not to mess with me. By the way I still wasn't dressed completely but I had forgotten that little fact.
I got the hammer and crept up to the door. I didnt hear anything, Ok here I go!!!
I tore open that door and had the hammer ready to smash his brains out. Well heck fire there aint nothing there he must have got scared and run off. About that time the sound came again and by golly this time it was behind me. How the heck did that sucker get behind me? Good grief. I jumped up as far as this ol body would jump, turned around to swing the hammer. The hammer went behind me somehow and I tumbled backward right on my backside from the force of the swing of that heavy hammer. Well, Might as well surrender I was thinking cause I'm not sure I can even get up off the floor.
As I sat there defeated I heard the washing machine do one last slurping sound as it pumped the water out and heard it gurgling in the bathroom along with the slight bumping in the pipes. Oh My Gosh, I've never felt so stupid in my entire life. I was doing battle with the washing machine as it pumped out the water and started to spin. Mercy sakes alive!!! I am so glad that Don was not here. GOOD GRIEF!!! YEP!

Friday, December 11, 2009

YOU DON'T KNOW IT ALL YET

12-11-09...YOU DON'T KNOW IT ALL YET

Mamma told me many times over the years, “Clydene the older you get the faster time goes”. Boy oh boy was she ever right.

But when things are going good that's when time seems to fly. Time only slows down when problems come up.

When I was a kid I used to wait anxiously for some event and think it would never get there. When I was 12 I wanted to be a teenager. Boy Howdy I thought that would be the greatest thing. I figured that when I was a teenager I was going to be at the top, the very pinacle. My Uncle heard me say one day how I couldn't wait to be a teenager. He said “Clydene don't wish your life away”. I thought he was just silly. I sure know now what he meant.

One day I told Mamma, “You are so lucky. You can do anything you want to. I wish I was old”. My Gosh you'd have thought I had comited a crime or something the way she acted. Good Grief. I thought then that my Mamma and Daddy were the smartest people on the earth. I thought they knew everything, they were my heroes. There came a time then when I thought they were the dumbest people on earth and I knew everything. I was a teenager going on 25 and no one could tell me anything.

Next came the time when I 'Was' grown up and out on my own. It didn't take me long to start running back to my parents with my problems and thinking maybe they were smarter than me. I was looking up to them again and starting to see what they had sacrificed to bring me up out of my know it all stage to someone who needed my Mamma and Daddy again. I still figured I was grown and knew a lot but I was beginning to realize that I would never know everything.

Now I have come full circle. I'm old and really on my own. Not a spot to envy by any means. Mamma and Daddy are gone and I miss them. I know for a fact now that my Parents were the best they could be. They made me what I am and they are still in my heart and soul guiding me. Everyday something comes up that makes me remember thinking I was going to grow up and be perfect, know it all, and be my own boss. I still haven't achieved that and I know I never will. One Thing I do know for certain is My Mamma and Daddy had a job raising me. Heck they still have to grab hold of me sometimes and say, “You're getting' too big for your britches Clydene. You aint old enough yet to know everything”. Yep Mamma and Daddy You've sure nuff got that right.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

CASPER THE WANDERER

12-10-09...CASPER THE WANDERER

I've told you about BoJangles. When I had to have him put to sleep I went looking for another Pal to love. I went in to a Pet Store and there was Caspar. White and fluffy with his tail curled back over his back. It was love at first sight and that went both ways. It was winter and it was cold. Caspar was only five weeks old. That was too young to be adopted out but the shop was in it for money. He was very gentle and I didn't hear him bark for a few weeks but boy when he came out of his shyness he was a white tornado.
I guess because of his young age and it being winter Caspar got pneumonia. The vet kept him two days and cared for him. He was still sick but I bundled him up and off we went. It was a while before he got over that but he eventually did and the white tornado was blowing again.
Caspar chewed everything he could get his teeth on. Everything except his toys ,that is. He had a basket for his toys. He would get one or two out and play with them then go and jump in the basket, put the toys back, and jump out with more. If it was his, he protected it and took good care of it. MY STUFF? He ate my stuff. I had almost lost him and I was very reluctant to correct him so he got to be a little white terror.
When Caspar was 11 months old he went to bed one night and never woke up. I don't know what happened. He was frisky and healthy when I went to sleep but sometime in the night something happened. Vet was puzzled. He thought maybe it was something like the sudden death syndrome like happens to Babies sometimes. Whatever it was it really threw me for a spin. I felt horrible. I would say if only I had done this or that. Someone told me I should never have got him in the winter. I don't know about that but it was hard on me that Christmas.
Some will not understand this but my pets are part of my family and I love them. They are loyal to be and love me when people might not. I have had a dog in my house as long as I can remember. I will as long as I'm able.


PICTURES OF CHRISTMAS

12-9-09PICTURES OF CHRISTMAS

I love Christmas. Not gifts, lights, or pumpkin pie necessarily but the thoughts, sounds and smells that are so familiar at this time of year. There are traditions of my childhood that I have never let go of. I can still see in my mind all those special things just like I stored the pictures in my mind for future use.

By Thanksgiving all the summer things had been stored away. I'm not referring to clothing either. I'm thinking of the fruit closet full of all the things Mamma had gathered and preserved for the coming cold. The garden that Daddy had laid by and left ready for the spring planting when things would turn green and grow. The hog was butchered and the meat made ready to keep through the winter. New chickens that had hatched in the early fall and raised in a big box with a light in it for warmth. were now ready to be in the pen with the others. They began to lay their eggs in time for Christmas if the hatching had been at the right time.

Christmas wasn't even thought of until after Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving had its own special things for my remembrance.

We didn't usually ask for anything because we liked the expectation of the surprises that we would have on Christmas Eve night after Church. Sometimes not much but treasures to us. We took good care of our treasures because we didn't get new toys every time we got in to town. Our gifts were always special whether they be a set of jacks for me or a sack of marbles for Norman or something more substantial or more costly. We appreciated what we got.

Christmas was a magic time of Santa, oranges apples and nuts. A cedar tree with very few decorations, family around, cooking and baking and just enjoying.

Christmas today is a long drawn out affair that starts about Halloween. (which is not a holiday to me. I don't recognize it at all)

Thanksgiving is passed by and Christmas lasts two months or more. I'm not a scrooge but I can't get that magical feeling until about three days before Christmas day. It is just not the same for me. I just quietly Celebrate Christs Birth. No frills, no lights, no big dinner any more. I enjoy staying home with my memories and look again at all those pictures I have stored in my head.

And that's the way it is for me!!!!

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

NEVER THE SAME

12-9-09...NEVER THE SAME

I've never stood where I stand today,
though alike it may seem.
I never had the same thoughts,
nor dreamed the same dreams.
Everything is different that seems the same.
No one is the same as before.
The same troubles never return,
to knock upon my door,
Everything was swept away
as dust upon the wind.
And I leave it there where it belongs,
because I know, that around the bend
everything is new, nothing remains the same
although I wish it could.
Not yesterday--- not tomorrow, they are but clouds,
just winnowing from where they stood.
Today I stand and face what is, not thinking of other times,
when things were new and fresh as Spring,
Winter not brought to mind.


Clydene (Thomas) Overbey
12/09/2009

DR GIBBONS

12-8-09...DR GIBBONS

The very first Dr I remember going to in my very young years was Dr Gibbons. Now he was quiet a sight. Very tall and kind of bent over with age probably. He had a lot of silver hair and a handle bar moustache. I remember thinking he had the longest feet I'd ever seen. He smoked a pipe and it hung out of his mouth the whole time. He never laid it down. Wonder what people would say about that now? I loved the smell of that pipe. When he got too old his Son stepped in and he also smoked a pipe.
I was scared out of my gourd of him. I mean shaking scared. His office was way up high. I don't know if it was second or third floor but I do know there was no elevator and it seemed like hundreds of steps up there. It was a very narrow passageway dark and musty. Hard to walk up there if you were well and almost impossible if you were sick. I remember my poor parents carrying me and Norman up those steep stairs and wonder how the heck they did it. As I look back I just can't conceive of me having to walk up there now. How in the world did older sick people manage?
Remember those big long sticks Dr's stuck down your throat to hold your tongue down? I hated those things. Every time Dr Gibbons came at me with one of them I'd start fighting his hand. He was gentle and calm with me and soothed me down but I still hated gagging on that thing. He looked at my throat, my ears, took my temp, and listened to my heart. Then he would go back in to a little room and rummage around for a while. I knew what he was doing and I knew what it meant for me. He had his own Pharmacy in the back as lots of Drs did then.
When he came out he always had the same three things, (at least thats how I remember it) There would be a small white envelope with tiny pink pills in it. A bottle with something pink and milky in it, and another bottle with red medicine in it. Then I would usually get a shot in my hip. OUCH! Usually said it was a cold. I never heard of the flu then. Hmmmmmm!
A girl my age had polio when she was very young. She wore a brace on one of her legs (Still does) and that leg looked like a stick to me. Very thin. I would look at it and I just kept thinking that Dr Gibbons would try to put one on my leg. Well by golly if he did I was going to fight him like a tiger. Girls wore dresses then, never pants, and the brace was there for all to see. I didn't want that and I wondered why my friend did want it.
It cost 5.00 to go to the Dr then and that included the medicine. My Goodness but things have sure changed now. YEP!

MAMMA VISITED ME

12-8-09...MAMMA VISITED ME

Mamma died just before Thanksgiving six years ago. I lost the best friend I ever had or ever will have in this world. Sometimes I want to talk to my Mamma so bad it hurts. I want to sit on her lap like I did when I was a kid or have her put her arms around me and say Its Ok, Don't cry. When everything was falling down around me Mamma was there. I guess I figured she would always be there for me. After she was gone I was just lost.
Two mornings ago about 2:00AM in the very quiet time, I was lying in bed crying. I was hurting, I couldn't take any more meds. for five more hours. I had been up earlier and my BP was way up again. Well heck fire, what now I thought. I just might as well give up and try to get through the best I can from now on.
"Clydene I didn't raise you like that! Now that is enough of this stupid stuff, Straighten up"!!! (Now please, if you are poo,pooing this and you are skeptical, Please stop reading right now). The words were plain to me, In My Mind? That doesn't matter because I heard my Mamma say this just like I had heard her all through my life saying it. I had been wanting and wishing I could talk to my Mamma. Well my Mamma was talking to me just like she always did. I actually flinched expecting a peach tree limb to sting my legs that's how real it was to me. I saw a shadow of my Mamma standing sideways to me, her hair was in the style she always wore. Nope I didn't see her face and she was gone as fast as she came but she sure made me stand to attention just the way she always did.
So yesterday morning I got up and said to myself, My Mamma didn't raise me to whine and whimper, and by golly that is enough of being stupid. I'm going to straighten up fast and give myself an attitude ajustment. I'm going to think postive and move even when I think I can't. Next time Mamma might actually use that peach tree limb on me. YEP!!!