Nana Renanalogies

My bedroom is sort of a time warp. It's filled with antiques: personal and acquired, as well as a couple of reproduction pieces that are authentic enough to make me feel good. I've even kept the photos in the room to old black and whites to further enhance the feeling of stepping back in time. Two such photos frame my bed. Studio portraits of me and one of my husband around 1.5 to 2 years of age. The other morning my GrandDoll, Sloane, and I were having a particularly lazy awakening and she was asking questions about these two pictures....and commenting on how CUTE we both were. It's true. We were adorable! (Emphasis on past-tense!) She was asking about which of my kids looked like each photo. Having answered it a bunch of times, I rattled it off. "Well, Bubba looks just like PawPaw did. And Bean looks just like ME. And your mama and Jacob are a good mixture of both." That whole MIXTURE thing sort of baffled her. So we began a discussion of genetics. Do...

Wow. Did a whole MONTH seriously slip past without me posting? Amazing. I fear most people who know me IRL would be quite shocked at me being 'silent' for that long! But is it really communicating if no one is there to read it? Is anyone out there? I don't know. I type. I hit PUBLISH POST. Then what....? Oh well, I'm going to keep doing it. I'll just look at it as a cyber -journal that possibly only my future descendants will ever bother to actually read. At least I'm leaving something of a spiritual footprint. Before I log off, for lack of something to say, I just need to tie into my title. Several years ago I met a recent immigrant from Germany, a woman named Monica. We shared a mutual friend and often ran into each other at this person's house. Monica's English was really quite good, but of course her grasp of colloquialisms left a little to be desired. And being a G.R.I.T.S. through and through, I often lapse into a dixie - fied vernacular without...

My husband and I jokingly refer to ourselves as 'dinosaurs'. Not sure how it started, but something about them implies 'antiquity' and 'longevity' at the same time. We are, of course, referring to the fact that we're both still on our FIRST marriage and are coming up on THIRTY years! (Okay, 29 next June, but still....you get my point.) I don't want to launch a debate on the 'right' or 'wrong' of divorce. There are TOO many variables to even BEGIN to sort that out.....he said/she said....external influences....internal issues....spiritual walks or the lack thereof....children or the lack thereof....allergies, algorithms, and other accoutrements! Just too much. But, just because I haven't experienced it first hand, doesn't mean I've never felt the ripple effect. In fact, depending on where you are in relationship-proximity to the primary parties, it can be a tsunami...mowing down and hurting everyone in the path. Friendships are...

I love hats. I mean LOVE hats. REALLY love hats. In fact, hats are right up there (down there?) with SHOES and PURSES as my favorite accessories. "The ability to accessorize is what separates us from the animals" -- Miss Claree Belcher in 'Steel Magnolias' (Don't you just know she would LOVE an aubergine cloche??) But I digress. I love hats to the point that I envy Kentucky Derby attendees, every female in the British royal family and my precious black sisters in the Lord who love hats as much as I do. I've even threatened to move to England or join a black church just to be in the company of great hat-wearers! In fact, being completely melanin-challenged, I even thought .... NAY! HOPED that as skin cancer awareness grew, that hats would come back in vogue. I guess it could still happen, but all I see proliferating are tanning salons on every corner. Whereas, unlike melanoma, which you can purchase for $24.99 a month by bank draft, the retail safari f...

So, you've probably been wondering -- where are all these great analogies, HUH, Nana....????!!?!?? Okay....get off my back. Here's one... In preparation for my recent WLS surgery, (and the subsequent Desmond-less state -- for those who don't know about Dez ....well, he deserves a post all his own!) I picked up some boredom-buster sorts of things. I knew I wouldn't be able to enjoy my studio, because it's been neglected too long and been the hazardous waste dump for all the OTHER rooms of the house.... You know how it goes.... "Hey, Honey (or Mama)....? What do you want me to do with THIS?" ....asked my some quasi-helpful loved one bearing a handful or an armful or a wheelbarrow-full of UFOs (Unidentifiable Frivolous Objects). To which the standards response is a "Put it in my studio.", neatly trimmed with bookend SIGHS. " Put it in my studio. " The first sign translates as "Why don't they ever JUST ONCE think what they ...

Ah, and once again I blog. See, this is part of what intimidated me before. I'm an "all or nothing" personality. I want to do something right, and to the utmost, and EVERY DAY or I don't think I'm doing it justice. They say it takes 17 days to form a habit -- or is it 21? I forget. Point is, all my 'habits' are BAD HABITS because each is a product of NOT doing what I should have been doing for 17 days straight. From making my bed to sticking to a diet to keeping a diary to BLOGGING. I don't think I've ever done anything for 17 straight days without flubbing it up, slacking off or shutting down -- except to eat, breathe and sleep, that is. It's not for lack of desire. Nor is it about commitment. It's about LIFE always seeming to get in the way. Like a child, I reward my exercise efforts by putting a smilie sticker on my calendar every day that I walk. In many, many, many past attempts, I get discouraged if there is a blank square o...

No, it's not Alzheimer's yet. Altho ' at times..... nevermind . The other day, I read a message on a church sign, that I've been mulling over: "WHAT YOU DO IS WHO YOU ARE" The possibilities are overwhelming if you think about it. But ultimately, boil it all down....it is true. Much more accurate than "You are what you eat!" We are, a cumulative product of what we do in life. Some of it is rolled up in 'role play'. We all start out the same: CHILD. Son, daughter, a sibling or a solo....none of us get here full grown, and from birth on, we are constantly fulfilling SOME role in SOMEONE'S life until the day we die -- and then we fill a box and a nicely dug hole. Between those oh-so-common beginnings and endings. There are many paths we might take -- with a variety of roles to play. Some of mine are wife, friend, mother, sister, sister-in-law, aunt, neighbor, co-worker..... you get the point. But more than those roles we ARE, are the...

Still tagging on to yesterday's tho't , I'm pondering the abrupt creation of 'Nana Renanalogies .' For so long I found it an interesting personal paradox . On the one hand, the idea of writing something and posting it -- OUT THERE -- FOREVER -- for all the Universe to see -- seemed incredibly pretentious to me. Sort of like chattering to hear oneself speak, yet expecting everyone to want to listen. (Don't get defensive, this isn't a judgement, just my personal perception.) And on the other hand, I've never had the slightest hesitation turning any captive audience into hostages with my thoughts, opinions and anecdotes. I've been accused -- and rightfully so -- of having chronic verbal diarrhea. And it's not limited to the unlucky customer in the check-out line or patient in the doctor's waiting room or the poor unfortunate soul stuck next to me in the airline seat. No, I'm equally confident in text. Was a HUGE pen pal letter writer --...

I have this sensation of that herky-jerky ride up the first hill of a rollercoaster, only I'm blinded by a white text box and choked by my own FOTU. Then I remember -- it's only a BLOG, for pity's sake!! There are FIVE YEAR OLDS who blog. So, [deep-cleansing breath] HERE I GO! "Today I am a blogger!" Fear Of The Unknown -- isn't it funny how that didn't used to be something you were aware of? Oh, it was there. You just didn't recognize it for what it was. Now, I see that familiar 'presence' around every corner. Egads!! "How LONG has that been there watching me, waiting for me to... mess up embarrass myself do irreparable damage to someone or something I love fall flat on my face FAIL There -- I said it. Biggest, ugliest "F" word there ever was. FAIL Well guess what -- prettier, smarter, richer people than me fail every day. And they do just what I intend to do -- get up, dust myself off and try again. If you fail 10 ti...