Thursday, August 30, 2012

Confessions of a Former Groupie

What has happened in my life that I am thankful for the last few weeks, 21 days to be exact? I had my share of life's ups and downs as always, but lately there seem to be a lot more ups. I am very thankful for all my ups. The downs certainly make you appreciate the ups more.

I guess my muse has deserted me again poetry-wise because the poems have now stopped. Others have stopped sending them or sending lines back. I haven't done much art, but I am not really worried. I haven't had time to create a new blog yet because.... We have certainly been busy with band practices, football games as well as an out-of-town Band-O-Rama last Friday night. I am loving being a band mom! I have a t-shirt idea but I have only shared it with close friends and family out of fear of someone stealing my idea although few would want it.
I am so proud of our son. I took a pic of him walking up from the field as he passed by me at the first game. I was so proud I almost cried. That is now one of my fave pics of him. When I told him this later, he simply patted me on the shoulder and whispered so seriously, "Everything will be okay" which cracked me up.

The Band-o-Rama was awesome. Some bands were smaller but still had great routines to compensate for their lack of size in my book. Auburn University band was the best of all though. I figured Rhett would want to go there because of it. Even though AU did "Crying" by Arrowsmith as Rhett's band did, they gave his band credit which was nice. I still liked Rhett's band better because it had horn solos. It was funny everyone would stand up for AU's fight song except me, my son-in-law who is a die-hard Alabama fan and the lady next to me. I told her I was a Georgia fan and she just suddenly hugged me because she is one too! My husband looked at me so I explained why this strange woman hugged me.

My mom fell last Saturday, but she is okay thank goodness so I am thankful for small blessings. Our older kids lost their grandfather. I knew the visitation funeral would be really hard on me since it would be the first once since Daddy's death. I wasn't sure I could do it but the kids have been there for me in my losses. I felt I needed to be there for them. Even my husband's ex said she knew this was hard for me which I thought was nice. I did pretty good until they played "Taps" at the funeral and I lost it. It brought back so many memories of Daddy's funeral. It was also hard on my husband who lost his father-in-law. Our preacher was present and I worried how he was dealing with it since the loss of his wife Katherine a few years back but we survived. My friend Tracy cheered me on that I could do it; that I was a strong woman.

My BFF Penny FINALLY got on Facebook. She recntly told me an old mutual friend rode his motorcycle down to Savannah to see her at her mom's. While he was there, he called the lead singer of the band we used to be groupies for so she could talk to him. I could just hear his soft, sexy voice as if he was talking to her or me. It brought back some wonderful memories. David was one of Penny's FB friends. I befriended him and went into his friends list where I found other members of the band. I was so excited!!! I had not been this excited in a long, long time. I got to see old pics of the group. They had a reunion last weekend and had posted some videos. I got to hear old songs. I got to hear Ralph's voice simply saying, "Oh, No!" and it was like yesterday again. I was seeing old friends I had not seen in 30 years!

I admit I was a former groupie with pride. I am not ashamed of it for I did nothing wrong or bad. I had a past. One I would not change because that past led me to where I am today. It seems I have made a lot of lifelong friends along life's way and I am so thankful for them all. So very thankful to reconnect with them again.

Also on the way to work this morning, I crossed paths with Satan. I passed a car that had a Christian fish symbol only it had Darwin in the center of the fish with feet! I had no clue what it meant. I asked but was told it was a follower of Darwinism. Later I was told by a friend to google it which I did. I was told this, " Maybe they were our Jesus Christ feet carrying the fish that ate the darwin." LOL I said I would follow Jesus thank you very much. My friend Pat said this, I am happy and content to know that my Lord Jesus Christ carries me when I need Him. That is enough for me." Amen.


What are you thankful for this week? Care to share? Then please join us at the following...
http://www.eph2810.com/

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Future Poetry Blog

Dear blogger

Hi ya'll! I have missed you. I have grown in so many ways since my last post. I have found that I do not need some things like I thought I did in the past. I have outgrown some things.

I have been really busy lately being creative, crafty, photographing and waxing poetic. I recently won a book from Leah's blog Creative Everyday ....
http://creativeeveryday.com/
I won The Year of Writing Dangerously by Barbara Abercrombie. Thanks again Leah! This book was really timely for me as I had this idea... which I also stole from Leah's blog, thief that I am. LOL I wanted to start a poetry round where I sent out a line and my friends would add another one sending it back to me or write their own poem using that line. Some sent a line; some sent more than one line. The next day my friend Mike E sent a complete poem. Mike always writes the most excellent poems and should publish them. Hint. Hint. Then I got a poem from the least expected person... my old friend David who I rarely hear from except for a rare occasional email or if one of our old co-workers are ill. His just totally blew me away! Still can't get over it. His was like a gift to me the day I read it. They all were but his most especially because I don't hear from him often. Then my friend Tracy sent a woman's point of view to add to the mix. My abstract artist friend Cindy send me a very artsy poem I really liked. My artist/photography friend Johnny was a line adder and I was also pleasantly surprised by him and his poems. I had no idea either of them had it in them. Funny that I heard more from men than women. LOL I am so loving it! It has really inspired me. So much so that I wrote three poems yesterday! I am on another creative roll.

So now we are toying with blog titles which I am still checking into before even mentioning them here. It has been years since I started a blog. There are the frustations of the beginning and setting up process as I am certainly no computer wiz. I need a blog that is very user friendly. Any suggestions?

Then there is the fact that I am really putting myself out there on the page as well as the world wide web for all to see but I am a sharer from way back. I am getting good feedback from my friends although I am not looking for compliments. I wrote a rather personal poem yesterday. The line I sent out for the poetry line of the day was "courting your muse" which came from the book I won. I didn't exactly court my muse, just told a true story of my life and sent it out to friends. I have been doing this for years so it is old hat to me. I did worry what our preacher would think and what he would say. I should not have worried for he was the most complimentary of all my friends. He is one of my biggest cheerleaders.

My friend Tracy couldn't get over the fact that I threw a line out there "indigo blue intertwining", later created art about it then wrote a poem about the art! I was getting responses for the line but I had nothing. Nada. And I am the poet! I may have been slightly intimidated by my friends much better poems using the perfect forms whereas mine are not. Mine come from the heart. It wasn't until I was at home in my fave spot where I do most of my art,  I pulled out my Crayola paint markers and began using the closest thing I had to an indigo blue but a deep forest green was dominating the page. A simple piece evolved. It may not be quite realistic as some artist would have done, but I am not out to please them or anyone else. Only myself. And my art makes me happy. So I had piece of my own art to go with the poem. Tracy thought this was neat and possible unheard of but somehow I doubt it. I am sure there are other poets who illustrate their own poems. I just sort of shrugged my shoulders at it and brushed the thought away. Of course only I would illustrate my own books anyway.

Today was another good day and I am thankful for this life I am living and enjoying. My friend Anne can "hear" my happiness in my emails. I just finished reading Return of the Highlander by Sara MacKenzie. Here is the link to the book...
http://www.amazon.com/Return-Highlander-Sara-Mackenzie/dp/0060795409

And today I discovered a Dark Shadows book written by Lara Parker who played Angelique on the tv show "Dark Shadows" back in the day. I couldn't put it down so I had to buy it. Just reading the character names such as Barnabas was like a family reunion with an old friend. It was like yesterday again. Here is the link to this book...
http://www.amazon.com/The-Salem-Branch-Dark-Shadows/dp/0765304570

Also check out Julie Nuttings blog at the following...
http://julienuttingdesigns.blogspot.com/


Read this awesome post...
http://www.spirituallyunequalmarriage.com/my_weblog/2012/08/worship-with-feathers.html#comment-6a00d83451ee9f69e2017617214e26970c
So I am very, very thankful for this creative streak I am on. I hope it continues for a long time to come. I hope to soon be able to send you a link to the new poetic blog but please be patient until I can set it up. But never fear, I will still be here.

And like Laurie at the following...,
http://womentakingastand.blogspot.com/
I am taking a small risk by starting this new poetic blog venture. Wish me luck.

What are you thankful for today. Care to join us? Then go to the following....
http://www.eph2810.com/