Heads or Tails Tuesday *Mother*

Heads or Tails has its very own home now! If you click on the graphic above, it will take you to the awesome new HoT blog where you can sign up and start participating in this fun and popular meme!

As most of you know, I was raised by my paternal grandparents. They are the two greatest influences in my life. Although they are physically gone now, I still feel them with me every day.
My grandmother was my 'mother' in every sense of the word. Some of the moments when I very strongly feel my grandmother with me is when I am out taking photos of birds. She loved birds, and some of my favorite memories involve watching the birds with her. We even had a male Cardinal who would come to the windowsill at the same time every day to peck on the window. He would visit during my snack time. I'd be dipping my chocolate chip cookies in my tea cup filled with milk, and we would hear "peck" "peck" "peck. Grandma would say, "Our visitor has come for his daily visit." We then would go into the kitchen and say our hellos to the Cardinal. If we did not go into the kitchen to acknowledge him, he would continue to peck at the window until we came into the room.

Grandma also collected bird figurines and knick knacks. The kitchen windowsill was lined with those bird figurines that play that bird's song when you touch them. I loved being a rotten little girl and setting them all off at the same time. ;-)

So, when I am here in the new state going on my photo walks, and I get photos of birds that we didn't have in the old state, I find myself wishing that my grandmother were there to see this beautiful critter. Then, I am overcome with the sense that she is there seeing it with me. Or, possibly, she is the one who brings those birds to me to photograph.

Yesterday, she was definitely with me, and she was definitely smiling as I took these photographs and thought of her...

Rose-Breasted Grosbeak

(c) Misty DawnS

(c) Misty DawnS

A Brown Thrasher

(c) Misty DawnS

(c) Misty DawnS(c) Misty DawnS

A Cat Bird. The Cat Bird was my grandfather's favorite bird.
They really do 'mew' like a cat. So, of course, Misty was standing in the woods meowing to this bird. I sure hope no one was around with a video camera.
(c) Misty DawnS

(c) Misty DawnS

I wish the photos were bigger, because you really need to see them full size to truly appreciate them.

*Special thanks for my buddy Bear for always taking the time to ID and teach me the real names of the critters I get photos of*

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Heads or Tails Tuesday *Mother*

http://www.mistysmusings.com/2008/05/heads-or-tails-tuesday-mother.html

Heads or Tails *Express*

Heads or Tails has its very own home now! If you click on the graphic above, it will take you to the awesome new HoT blog where you can sign up and start participating in this fun and popular meme!

Today's topic is Heads - Express. Well, you'd be really disappointed if I didn't have a story to tell, wouldn't you. Yeah, just shake your head and make me feel better about my obsessed story telling. Pretend like you like it. hehe

As you know, my grandparents raised me. Well, when I was growing up, my grandpa used to tell my dad, "I just want to be sure she is able to express herself." Grandpa was certainly good at expressing himself; although, we usually called it 'the gift-of-gab'. I can remember being sent outside when he would be talking with a customer who had come to buy lumber. "Grampa, Gramma sent me to get you, cuz it's time for dinner.".... .... .... "Grampa! Gramma is gonna get mad if dinner gets cold!".... .... .... "Grampa! Please don't make me go back in there without you! I'm supposed to be bringing you with me!" hehehe - I love both of them more than I can possibly express to you. ANYWAY, Last week, I would have certainly made my grandpa proud, because I was involved in a half-hour long conversation, and I didn't even understand half of what was said.

There is a couple here in the new county who own quite a bit of land and an equipment dealership. In fact, they own the land across the road where I always photograph deer. Anyway, they are from Argentina. They are a fantastic and friendly couple, and I am always touched, because whenever they drive by when I am walking down the road with my camera in hand, they stop to talk to me. Here's the hitch - they have very strong accents. Well, to them, I'm probably the one with an accent. Anyway, a lot of the time, I have trouble understanding what they are saying to me. So, I don't want to offend my new friends, and I just smile and nod a lot. Well, last week, I was on a sunset-photo-walk, and they stopped to talk to me. Apparently, I agreed to work for them and didn't even know it!

You see, I came home in the dark after our roadside conversation, and told my husband about running into to them and always feeling embarrassed because I stink at understanding people with accents. The next day, Hubs went to their equipment dealership to purchase a part he needed.

The owner of the dealership turned to his wife and asked, "Do you know who this is?" She replied that she didn't. So, he introduced Hubs to her. According to Hubs, she immediately got a huge smile on her face and replied, "OH! Your wife is coming to work for us!" Hubs quickly figured things out and asked, "Oh really? Ummmmm So, when does she start?"

Apparently, I'm expressing myself when I don't even realize it!

Oh, and you didn't think I'd end this post without expressing myself in my most favorite manner of expression, did you? This is what I was photographing when this friendly couple, who are apparently my new employers, pulled up and started talking with me.

(c) Misty DawnS

(c) Misty DawnS

What will this mean for my blogging? I'm not really sure yet. I'll know more tomorrow, after I have gone to talk to them about the details. I'm not willing to give up the friends I have found here (see my previous post) or blogging. So, one way or another - you're stuck with me. Tomorrow, I will discuss what is exactly expected of me, what the hours would be, and what the pay would be. Honestly, if the pay is not enough, with the price of gas now, I can't afford to be driving there and back each day just so I can say "I have a 'real' job." So, we'll just have to see. Hmmmm, I wonder if they have leather office chairs. I guess that's a little much to expect for a farm equipment shop, huh? *sigh*

By the way - My friends - PLEASE read my previous post. I put forth extra effort to make sure my 500th post was extra-special.

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Heads or Tails *Express*

http://www.mistysmusings.com/2008/04/heads-or-tails-express.html

Heads or Tails *Anything Green*

One of my favorite bloggers, Skittles has started a Tuesday meme. It is LOTS of fun-so you'll wanna join us right away! If you click on the Heads or Tails logo - it will take you to the post to tell you more about the meme.

This week's topic is Heads - anything green. Skittles chose this theme because St. Patrick's Day and Spring are in the immediate future.

When I was in second grade, we were going to have a big St. Patrick's Day party at school. My dad had come to visit me at my grandparents', and I was busily going from room to room, picking things up, crawling in the cupboards and back out, lifting up the rugs, peeking under the furniture... searching every nook and cranny.

Finally, my dad asked, "What ya doing, Mist?"

I replied, "I'm looking for the leprechauns, Daddy! You know, those little green guys?!?! They have gold, Daddy! And, if I find them, they will have to show me where their gold is! It would be better than what the Tooth Fairy would leave me if I lost all my teeth at one time! You wanna help me look for em?"

My daddy smiled and replied, "I don't need to look for them. You see, Brandy is a great hunting dog, and when I get home, Brandy will show me exactly where those little green guys are."

"Are you serious Daddy?!?! They'll have to show you where the gold is if Brandy finds them!"

Brandy was my dad's Irish Setter dog. She was one of the highlights of my life. I loved her SO much, and she was one of the smartest dogs I ever knew. So, I wasn't the least bit surprised to hear that she could track and find little, miniature green guys. (Yes, dogs were my whole world back then too)

My dad left to go home, and I took my bath and was sitting on my grandma's lap in the rocking chair for my bedtime story. (I can even remember which book we were reading!) I heard the door open in the other room, and looked at my grandma and started to ask who could possibly be here at night, but, when I looked up, I saw my daddy. Seeing my daddy walk through the door on any day was the greatest thing ever; I used to pray over and over again 'Please let my daddy come over today'. So, having him walk through that door twice in one day made me an extremely happy girl.

My dad came up to me, and as I sat in my grandma's lap looking up at him, he held out a small, square, glass jar with something in it. He handed me the jar, and I stared in amazement... I was absolutely speechless for a bit, and then I whispered in awe...

"ohhhhhh it's gold. Brandy found the little green guys, didn't she Daddy? Woooooow"

I took the gold to school with me, and I excitedly told the whole class that my daddy's Irish Setter is the greatest, most beautiful, and smartest dog in the whole wide world, and she found the leprechauns, and they had to show my daddy where the gold was, and my daddy brought some of it to me. (You know, I rattled all of this out in one very long breathless sentence, in typical second-grader fashion.)

My teacher then had the nerve to start telling the class about something called Fools gold. She proceeded to claim that what my daddy brought me was actually Fools gold... and blah blah blah. I was one furious little girl. I stood my ground...

"NO, Mrs. Doesn't-Know-Real-Gold-When-She-Sees-It! You are wrong! That is REAL gold! My daddy has the greatest and smartest dog in the world, and she found the little green guys, and she showed my daddy, and they took him to their gold! No ma'am, I am not arguing with you; I would never do that, because my grandma taught me not to argue with grown-ups. I'm just telling you that my daddy would NEVER lie to me, and he said the little green guys showed him this gold!"

I can only imagine what a time my grandma had trying to explain to me that, no my daddy wouldn't lie to me... but...

I still have that bottle and the gold, and I still go crawling and peeking around in every nook and cranny looking for the little green guys on St. Patrick's Day... eventually, I'll find them. I have to admit - if my daddy walked through the door on this St. Patrick's Day, I would be that excited and thankful little girl all over again, and I would truly feel like I had just been shown the gold.

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Heads or Tails *Anything Green*

http://www.mistysmusings.com/2008/03/heads-or-tails-anything-green.html

Give Me Five Monday *Christmas Trees*

My friend Becca started a new Monday meme called Give Me Five Monday. The 'Give Me Five' Monday meme is designed to share fun information with each other in a simple short list! Here's how it works. Each week, she will put out a random topic from her list of topics and you share 5 answers of your choice on the given topic and link back to her! You can add photos, links or stories or just a simple list of your own of 5 things that relate to the topic as it pertains to you and your life experiences. It doesn't have to be in any order of importance unless otherwise specified. Go over to BeccA's Buzz and check it out!

This week's topic is all about Christmas trees. I'm late in posting today, because I was working at the insurance agency (I agreed to fill in whenever their administrative assistant couldn't be in the office). I'll also be working there tomorrow and Thursday, so please forgive me if I don't make it to everyone's blogs on those days.

Now, about those Christmas trees...
Since we won't be putting up a Christmas tree this year, because we will be traveling out of state to celebrate Christmas (and because my house is tore apart and there wouldn't be any room for a tree, if I were going to put one up), I'm going to tell you about some my traditions centered around the Christmas tree.

1. When I was growing up, we always put the Christmas trees up the day after Thanksgiving. Yes, I said "trees". We would get one real tree that went in our TV room, and we had a four-foot artificial tree that stood on the table in our living room.

2. My grandma was the one who put the lights on the tree. That was the tradition - Grandma would take a break from her cooking or whatever else she was doing to come in and put the lights on the tree.

3. After Grandma put the lights on the tree, it was time for the ornaments (my favorite part). When I was growing up, there were five ceramic ornaments, which were my favorite ornaments. They were Daffy Duck, a rocking horse, Elmer Fudd, Raggedy Ann, and Andy. It was always tradition that I was the one to put these five particular ornaments on the tree. As a child, I always thought this was the tradition simply because they were my favorite ornaments. When I became an adult and was moving out, my aunt brought me those ornaments and told me they were mine. It was then that I found out my dad had specially ordered those ornaments to be made for me the first Christmas after I had gone to live with my grandparents (when I was 2 years old). Obviously, those are still my favorite ornaments, and NO ONE but me is permitted to hang them on the tree.

4. While my aunt, grandma, and I put the tree up and decorated it, we would have Christmas music playing, and my grandpa would be sitting in his chair helping me pick out which ornaments I should hang next.

5. After the tree was finished, we would turn off all the lights, except for the Christmas tree lights. Then, I would climb into Grandpa's lap, we would look at the tree and look for any empty spaces that needed ornaments. If there were empty spaces, I would run to the tree to lovingly fill that place with an ornament. I would then return to my grandpa's lap for the evening, while we looked at the tree and made up silly words to the Christmas songs.

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Give Me Five Monday *Christmas Trees*

http://www.mistysmusings.com/2007/12/give-me-five-monday-christmas-trees.html

It's Long, But Please Read This

I'm going to talk about something that is very important to me. It is so important to me, that I am not going to use the expandable post feature on this, because I want the whole post to show. Please forgive me now, because I WILL ramble in this post. I am going to tell you a few stories (and probably cry while I type them), and you will have an insight to my life, the support that helped me survive, and the most important person in my life.

My grandparents raised me since the age of two. I've told you that before. My grandmother was the most amazing woman that I have ever had the opportunity to know. She got more done in a day than I, as an adult now, can get done in a week. She had this love, this all encompassing love that she showered over six children (seven if you count me) and twelve grandchildren. She knew what each family member's favorite meal or dessert was, and it was always waiting for you when you walked in her home. As much as she was full of love, she was also full of strength. She nursed us when we were injured or sick. She disciplined us, even when she was holding back a smile. And, she provided an example for all of us, not just the women, but also the men. She provided so many lessons that we needed to learn while growing up, and she provided an example for us to strive towards as a spouse, a family member, and a parent. If you haven't figured it out by now, my grandmother was a very special woman. She was my mom; she was my hero; she was my saving grace; she was my protector; she was my supporter and my encourager; she was my WORLD.

There is only one time that I ever questioned my faith, and it involved her. No, it was not because of her. She made sure that I was an active participant in my church and learned my bible studies. You see, as a young child, I remember when Grandma went to visit a card-club friend of hers at a nursing home. This friend had become a victim of Alzheimer's Disease. I waited anxiously for my grandma to come home from visiting her friend. When she got home, I excitedly ran to her, wrapped my arms around her, and asked "Grandma, how is she?" I remember at that point, my grandmother sat down on her bed, looked at me and said "Misty Dawn" (that's what she always called me when she was serious) "That is a very sad disease, and I pray that, no matter what happens to me, I pray that I never get that disease." As a child, hearing Grandma confide that to me, didn't really hit home. It didn't hit home until I sat at the nursing home, next to my grandma's bed, holding her hand, telling her stories, and wondering how much she was really understanding of what I said. That was the only thing that ever made me question my faith. However, I didn't question long, because I knew that the same woman stricken by this horrible condition, the woman for whom I would give anything to take this stupid disease out of, that woman would tell me to continue believing, continue with my faith, and to realize that there is a reason for everything.

Now, I'm going to tell you about a love, a love so strong that nothing could take it away. My grandmother's father did not talk to her for eight years, because she married my grandpa. They had their first child, before he chose to talk to her again. He thought that my grandpa wasn't good enough for my grandma, because Grandpa did physical labor for a living. My Grandma's father made the comment, "He won't even be able to keep you in stockings.", because back that, pantyhose were not easy to come by. My grandmother had been in the nursing home for over eight years, and my grandfather was still ordering pantyhose from the company that he had signed her up for when they first got married. Every day, he drove to that nursing home to be with her. He became a fixture in the home. Everyone knew Jim, and people would make a point to come in to sit and talk with him. When his heart problems got too bad, he became restricted to a wheel chair, and his daily visits to the nursing home had to stop. You might as well have killed the man. His wife, and his dedication to his wife, was what made him who he was. On my Grandpa's last Christmas with us, we were given the greatest holiday gift that anyone could ever be given. There was a very special nurse at the nursing home. His name was also Jim. Jim got up on Christmas morning, went to the home, dressed my grandma in her Christmas sweatshirt and a Santa hat, loaded her and her wheelchair into the van, and brought my grandma to my grandfather. When he wheeled her into the room and my grandpa saw her, there wasn't a dry eye in the house. In fact, I'm bawling right now. Jim, that wonderful man, gave up his Holiday day off to do this for my grandfather and for us. I love that man for his caring and his generosity, and I know that God was using him as an angel for us. This same wonderful man brought my grandma to the funeral home for her husband's calling hours. Even if she didn't realize what was happening, he still did so much for us as a family.

This disease has had a huge effect on our entire family, because it affected the person who had the biggest effect on our family. When one of my younger cousins got married, she contributed to The Alzheimer's Foundation in each of our names and in memory of our grandma. That was her gift to us, and it was a very beautiful gift.

November is Alzheimer's Awareness Month. Please, learn all that you can, hug your loved ones, take photos, write down your memories and stories, participate in the search for a cure and participate in memory screening. Please go here to learn more about memory screening for early detection and to read some successful aging tips.

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It's Long, But Please Read This

http://www.mistysmusings.com/2007/11/its-long-but-please-read-this.html

Long Term Care

Let's face it, in most households, women are the primary caregivers. I know this was definitely the truth in my home when I was a child. I used to be absolutely amazed at all the tasks that my grandma accomplished in a day.

She would wake before 5 a.m. and have a full breakfast prepared for the four of us, so my aunt and I could eat and head to school (I was a student, and my aunt was a teacher). She would have my school lunch ready for me and hand it to me as I ran out the door. The dishes were always immediately done after every meal. Her home was always spotless. She would have a full dinner prepared when I got home from school. She could also find the time to wash an entire sports team's uniforms (my aunt was a coach) and have them folded and sorted by size. More meaningful to me, I played three sports every year, and although she did more chores in one day than I can possibly imagine, she never-ever missed a single game. She never missed one of my games, and she never missed a game in which my aunt was coaching. Even when she started developing Alzheimer's Disease, she still came to every game.

When she developed Alzheimer's, we were, at first, in denial. She was too. It was very difficult to start to realize that the things she had been doing for us repeatedly, every day of our lives, she could no longer do. When we had to make her stop cooking, that was one of the hardest realizations for me. This woman cooked full sit-down meals two-three times a day, every day, and there were always fresh cookies, pies, and treats. Eventually, we had to take all of the 'normal' tasks away from her. My grandpa stood by her and insisted that she would stay at home. For awhile, he had someone come in to help clean the house and do things like bathe Grandma, but eventually, it got to be more than he could handle, and he was forced to find a nursing home.

Thankfully, my grandma and grandpa always had a good head on their shoulders and their family's best interests in mind. They thought ahead and planned for the future. National Health Administrators is an insurance agency that focuses on long-term care issues and planning for the future. I know that my husband and I will take some action to plan for our future and possible long-term care or assisted living. I will insist on it, because I have seen the unexpected that can happen, and I want us to be prepared.

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Long Term Care

http://www.mistysmusings.com/2007/10/long-term-care.html