What a star!!

Well, the Good Lord granted our request for an 'awake birthday girl' and Mom was wonderful.  She was wide awake, calm, and surprised to see the people who drove 5 hours to see her. Decked out with a new grey/black scarf that complimented her hair and entire outfit, people marveled at the fact that we were celebrating her 100th birthday and Thanksgiving, too.  There were many giving thanks for her presence in their lives.  The food was delicious, the kids all got along, and the cake was very tasty!! There are more pictures that I have not yet received from other cameras.  It was a good day.

Thanksgiving

What a grand celebration is planned for today!  Lots of family for Flo's 100th Thanksgiving have gathered together and she looks beautiful!
I will post some pictures later on.
We all have much to be thankful for starting with living in freedom in the USA.

Today's the Day!

The judges have their scores for Florence.....Sweet!

Put those 0's together and what have you got?
Bippidy-Boppidy-Boo!   100!

Compassion

Friday is my day to volunteer at the hospital for a couple of hours.  People who are there for one day surgery sign in and I call the nurses' station to announce that their next patient is there.
One of the reasons that I enjoy the waiting room is that I run into people and former students from years passed.  That was the case today.
I asked a friendly looking young man if he would please get the top/lid off of my bottle of Snapple. [I have a hard time with that, and I didn't want to pound it on the desk to 'pop the seal' the way I do at home.]  When I looked at his face, I realized that it was a familiar one...a former student.
While he was easy to recall and a wonderful young man as a student, it was his sister who left a profound and lasting impression.on me.  A great kid and a pleasure to teach, she was obviously a very compassionate person even at the age of ten.
She quietly raised her hand in the middle of a lesson and said,
"Please excuse my interruption, but there is a moth caught in a spider web right outside the window, and it is very stressed.  Could I please just let it go so that it won't die trying to get free?"
Well, of course!
She hopped up on the window shelf and her good friend held her waist while I held her feet as she freed that struggling moth/butterfly.
Whew!  What a simple yet grand gesture to another living creature!

So as her brother left, I asked him to say hello to his sister for me, and ask her if she remembers rescuing a moth from a spider's web in 5th grade.
'Cause I sure do!!

"Want supper...or wait a bit?" Yes!

There are similarities between our early years of life and then our later years as well.. For one thing, Mom and I have definitely switched roles. Sometimes she doesn't want to forget her pocketbook when she goes home.  "Mom, you are home".

Five minutes later,  I am amazed at the unexpected perceptive responses,and visible acknowledgement  in her eyes. 

 I am thrilled with the wonderful bond of admiration between her and the dog. She never had a dog.  Gracie is very protective of her, and likewise will look at me with those huge brown eyes saying 'na na na na na' because my mother takes her side on all matters.
 We are 5 days from Flo's  100th birthday, and some days she is pretty darn sharp and other times quite the opposite.  An example of this would be,
Mom: "Mare, Where's the dog?
Me: "She is sitting on your lap licking your hand!"
Mom: "Oh...I'm really slipping now!"
Not being one to admit to being bored [the 'B' word], we shall refer to it as 'restless'.  She wanted to get out of her chair and walk to the neighbor's backyard slide.
"Mom, you forget that you can't walk."
"Oh yes I can...just give me a chance."

So in the name of distraction, I got out a deck of cards, shuffled them the best I could, and we played a game of 'War'...I am trying to think of a different name for it!  Because you don't have to hold the cards, and the concept is easy, she quickly amassed more cards than I did!!  Yes, she won.  After that, I found that one of her Reader's Digest [Large print edition] had an article on Betty White. When placed flat out on a tray making it easy to maneuver, she read for about a half hour.  And was not as restless as before.
Though I recall she spent many years during my childhood taking good care of me, I seem to remember that when we kids were feeling restless, she provided no entertainment!
"Go outside and play!!"
And we did and it was good.

Random abstract...unscripted!

My day began yesterday in its usual routine...let the dog out, feed the cat, get a cup of coffee and a banana, back to the bedroom, check on Mom [10 days to 100!], communicate with my son via computer, put the Today Show on TV, play my Wordscraper [Scrabble] games on Facebook, back under the covers for a few 'quiet moments' until the day begins...
So yesterday, I was aware that there was a possibility that another [different] tooth was talking to me.  I had given it several days to resolve itself, but it was not cooperating.  I decided to call the dentist [whose house I am helping to add on sizeable addition with my dental monetary contributions].  I explained my situation and the receptionist said,
"How about in a half hour? or Friday morning?"
WWhatttt?"
Hadn't planned on a trip to the dentist.
Alrighty then...out of my bed and into my clothes...bathroom, etc. ...and I'm off to my least favorite destination...that would be the dentist's chair.
An exam and several xrays later, I have a thin crack in the farthest upper molar.  I am now brushing with specialty flouride toothepaste in an attempt to calm it down for now..  Otherwise there is a crown in my future. To join all of the crowning royalty thay already exists in my mouth.
The school where I taught was 2 minutes away and I stopped by to pick up my painting[from 2002] that had fallen off the wall and needed glueing....hadn't planned on going to school.
I stopped by a local apple orchard [whose two daughters were former students] and bought a big bag of Jonagold apples.  Hadn't planned on an apple excursion.
I drove back into town to go to the only thing that was planned for the day...a massage...Ohhmmm!
Twenty minutes to kill...what to do?  what to do? My  random abstract right brain in charge led me to a local little bakery/specialty shoppe[pies and pasta] that I had never actually been inside of but had tasted many fine examples of deliciousness as people often bring Maggie's cookies, cakes, and pies to functions and friends' houses. I went inside with a lone $20 bill.
Like a kid in a candy store...I selected 2 half moon cookies, chocolate chip cookies, a couple of pumpkin spice treats, a lemon square, a pair of scooter pie-type old fashioned mud cakes, a raspberry almond bar, ...and four raffle tickets to a local charity's fundraiser.  It was kind of serendipitious.
I had no idea I would be shopping at this little shoppe of paradise!!  Nope, had no plans for that, either!
Off to my massage...life is good.  This had been planned. It is better than any pain pill for my RA.
Back home by 1:30 for  my caregiving with Mom.
The world is made up of many different people with their own attitudes, choices, behaviors, plans...
Some must plan everything and are uncomfortable with random changes of plans.  And that's fine. Not me. I have flown by the seat of my pants on more than one occasion.
Eclectic am I.
Now, if only I could be lucky enough to win something from that raffle of 10 different $100 gift certificates.

My contribution to honoring our veterans this year is to host an AARP Safe Driving Class.  They are offering the course to veterans and their spouse for free in the month of November.  Some sort of military ID is required and it generally adds up to a savings of $200 over a three year span. I advertised the class online and sent the info to the local newspaper.  Well, just as in 'The Field of Dreams' quote states:
"If you build it [a baseball field], they will come."
There were so many responses that not only did my 2 day class fill up quickly, but I went online to find other courses being offered in the surrounding area so that I could refer the phone calls that kept on coming for people who wanted to register. 
[google:  www.AARP November Safe Driving class ...and your zip code].
It was kind of humbling to check the identification info and fascinating to hear about some of their travels.
"Twenty years in the Army."
"I was a Marine.
"Navy...Air Force... "
One man brought in a framed document that he had taken off of his wall!!
God bless them one and all.  They have my respect and gratitude.