“High Five” To the Hodgepodge

Wow! Imagine my surprise when I came here to my blog to participate in the Wednesday Hodgepodge, and discovered everything has changed! The new blogging format is completely foreign to me! I’m too old and tired to learn a lot of new tricks, but I’ll give it a try…Thanks to our hostess, Joyce, for this fun distraction each week.

1. Five years ago this month hubs and I relocated from New Jersey to the Palmetto State. What were you doing five years ago this month?

At first, I had no idea what I was doing five years ago, and then the year 2015 hit me like a ton of bricks! 2015 was the year everything went wrong (or right, depending on how you look at it) for us.

In January Ed lost his job, in April we discovered termites and mold under our house, and my back “went out” for the first time! I had back surgery in September. We bought a new vehicle the first part of October, then Ed had a heart attack late in October. In November my daughter and I both discovered we had skin cancer on our faces, requiring Mohs surgery, followed by plastic surgery! It makes me stressed just thinking about 2015!

In answer to the question, five years ago, at this time, I was a very miserable person, anticipating my upcoming sixty-first birthday, and back surgery!

2. What was the last 9-5 job you worked? Tell us about it.

My last 9-5 job was being the care taker of five month old twin girls. The hours were 7:30 to 5:30. I retired, after two years, to spend more time with family. Those twin girls are now fifteen years old!

3. Plead the fifth, high five, take five, it’s five o’clock somewhere, or the big 5-0…which number five phrase relates to your life in some way currently? Tell us how.

“Take five” currently relates to my life because I often have to “take five” when scrolling through Facebook or watching the evening news. We are living in some trying times.

4. During this season of spending so much time at home, what distractions get in the way of being your most productive? Or have you been extra productive since this whole thing started?

Health issues tend to be my biggest road block to being productive, but it’s also very easy to get distracted by social media–or that 300 piece puzzle sitting beside my chair! (my latest hobby)

5. Give us a list here of your top five anything.

Five of my favorite gospel songs: (in no special order, and it was hard to stop at just five!)

1. Precious Memories- Alan Jackson
2. What a Beautiful Day (for the Lord to Come Again)- Brian Free
3. 10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord)- Matt Redman
4. Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone)-Chris Tomlin
5. Turn Your Back- Gold City

Random:

I’ve used a ton of bird seed this spring and summer! We have five different bird feeders, and Ed and I’ve been doing some serious bird watching, while being stuck at home. We have cardinals, blue jays, mocking birds, brown thrashers, and two different kinds of dove that regularly visit our bird feeders. We’ve even had some woodpeckers visit our feeders! We didn’t know woodpeckers ate bird seed!

It’s been rewarding to watch the adults raise their babies in nests and bird houses, located around our yard, then watch the babies growing up into adults as they come to feed daily.

I have a once-in-a-lifetime tale of the rescue and survival of one of these babies… but I think I’ll save the story of “Flutterbee” for another day!

R

It Seemed So Good The Way We Had It…

Every now and then a song will catch my attention, and express exactly how I feel.  The other day, I was watching GAC, when the music video of the song Automatic by Miranda Lambert began playing.  I hadn’t heard the song or seen the video before, and it stopped me dead in my tracks!

There was Miranda, in the attic of an old house, digging through an old trunk.  As she pulled out various things, she sang about things of the past.

Since I’ve recently been sorting through closets, chests, cabinets, and drawers at my late mother-in-law’s house, the song was especially poignant to me.  I’ve definitely been taking more than a few strolls down ‘memory lane’ lately!

Automatic

Quarter in a pay phone; Drying laundry on the line

Watching sun tea in the window; Pocket watch, tellin’ time

Seems like only yesterday, I’d get a blank cassette

Record the country countdown, cause I couldn’t buy it yet

 

If we drove all the way to Dallas, just to buy an Easter dress

We’d take along a Rand McNally, stand in line to pay for gas

God knows that shifting gears, ain’t what it used to be

I learned to drive that ’55  just like a queen, three on a tree

 

Hey what ever happened to waiting your turn?

Doing it all by hand,

cause when everything is handed to you

It’s only worth as much as the time put in

It all just seems so good the way we had it

Back before everything became automatic

 

If you had something to say, you’d write it on a piece of paper

Then you put a stamp on it, and they’d get it three days later

Boys would call the girls, and girls would turn them down

Staying married was the only way 

to work your problems out

 

Hey what ever happened to waiting your turn?

Doing it all by hand,

cause when everything is handed to you

It’s only worth as much as the time put in

It all just seems so good the way we had it

Back before everything became automatic

 

Let’s put the windows down; Windows with the crank

Come on let’s take a picture; The kind you gotta shake

 

Hey what ever happened to waiting your turn?

Doing it all by hand,

cause when everything is handed to you

It’s only worth as much as the time put in

It all just seems so good the way we had it

Back before everything became automatic

Yep, Miranda and her co-writers have captured exactly what I’ve been feeling lately!  Whatever did happen to waiting your turn?  What ever happened to doing things by hand?  Now a days, we rely on machines to do everything!  Heck, cars will even park themselves now!

These days, things are so easy and freely given, people don’t really appreciate them any more.  People drawing government checks right and left… Children getting new stuff all of the time, instead of just on special occasions, like we did…   Kids with ipods, smart phones, or the latest and greatest new gadgets…  Teenagers all driving cars of their own–sometimes getting the car before they’re even old enough to drive! We’ve become an ‘entitlement society’.  Enough already!

As for the memories Miranda shares in her song, I can definitely relate to those, except I think I can remember when a phone call was only a dime!  Oops, is my age showing again?  My grandchildren will never know what a phone booth was, but they’ll know what a cell phone is!

Among the items I found while sorting through my late mother-in-law’s things:  some very old (78?) records, some cassette tapes, a ragged Rand McNally road atlas, lots of Polaroid pictures, and dozens of cards she’d received in the mail throughout the years!  Oh, and I also found a clothespin bag!  Those were the days, weren’t they?  If only life was still so uncomplicated!

To quote the chorus of the song, “It all just seems so good the way we had it, back before everything became automatic!”

 

 

 

Let The Music Play…

I’ve always been a huge fan of music.  I credit my older brother for this!  He’s always been a sucker for a nice sound system–even before it became “fashionable”.  He always had a great sound system in his car,  and in his home– and he had plenty of music to play on both.  He loves all kinds of music, and so do I.  I loved spending time with him when I was a “tween” (he’s 9 years older), and always looked forward to my summer visits with him and his wife.

When I turned thirteen, I convinced my parents to let me join “The Columbia Music Club”.  (Wow, now there’s a blast from the past!)  Back then, vinyl records were still the rage, so every six weeks or so, I’d get a new album in the mail.  After I left home and married Ed, I continued adding to my album collection for a while, along with a few 8 track tapes.  I still have every one of my old albums, and we have our old turntable, too!  Thanks to the internet, we were able to find and purchase a new needle for it.  Who doesn’t love the music of the seventies–scratches and all?!

Fast forward through four decades of music collecting–first there were the 8 tracks, then cassettes, followed by cd’s.  I have an extensive collection of cassettes and cd’s, but Ed and I discarded our old 8 tracks about 5 years ago, when we discovered they no longer played.  Suddenly, I began to notice that music stores were closing, and cd’s were disappearing from the shelves of Walmart…I decided I’d better get with the program!  I’ve been way behind with my knowledge of new musical  technology for several years now.

I’ve been content listening to my old cassettes and cd’s, along with the radio, but recently I decided to upgrade to an MP3 player.  I did my homework, and decided on a Sony Walkman MP3 player.  I’m in love!  I had no idea such great sound could come from something so small!  I also had no idea that something so tiny would hold so much music!  I can’t stand wearing ear buds, so I bought a super comfortable set of headphones–and a few accessories so I can listen to my music out loud, too.

A couple of weeks ago, I took my new MP3 with us to the beach.  I was in heaven, sitting there gazing over the ocean listening to the sounds of the seventies!  When I tired of those, I simply switched over to Jimmy Buffett or Kenney Chesney’s music with a more “tropical flavor”!  Imagine my surprise when I discovered that our hotel room included a clock radio with an adapter for MP3 players.  I went to sleep that night after listening to “Under the Boardwalk”…

I’ve been immersed in the world of music for the past month or so, and I’ve been making lots of new discoveries, which I’ll share with you in future posts.  One of my first shocks came as I was browsing YouTube, and discovering what some of those “seventies” musicians actually looked like…

I just couldn’t get over that black fish net shirt, complimented by the red scarf–and those pork chop sideburns!!!  Oh my!  It’s an image that will pop into my head , forever more, whenever I hear this song–which happens to be one of my summertime favorites!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Thursday’s Thoughts ~ That’s Why I Pray…

Yesterday, while working in the kitchen,  I had the radio playing on a country music station. I love music a lot, but after first listening to pop oldies, then today’s new sound, I’d begun to think that music has gone to “hell in a hand basket” throughout the years. Then I heard a new country song come on the radio–and it stopped me dead in my tracks!

The song is called “That’s Why I Pray”, and it’s by the duo of Big and Rich. Now, I’ve never been a huge fan of Big and Rich’s music, but this time,  Big and Rich have a winner, in my eyes, and their message is so “right on” for today’s world!

Their song talks about all of the craziness of our world today, and how one person chose to make a difference by praying. I like that message–and the fact that someone was actually brave enough to make a song about it–and the fact that the song is actually getting airtime in today’s world where it’s not “cool” to mention God anymore.

I can’t help but wonder–How did we let our country get to the point where it’s not “cool” to believe in God?  Why did we let our government kick God out of our daily lives, and those of our children?  Could this be why there is so much evil, turmoil, and strife in our country today?  I believe so!

Last night, I went to YouTube to see if I could find a music video of “That’s Why I Pray”.  I found the video, and a whole lot more…I found a lot of nasty, negative comments about God and religion from non-believers. First it sickened my heart, then it made me want to pray…

God,  please help your children.  Deliver us from evil.  I pray for the hearts and souls of  non-believers, as well.  I pray for this country that we live in.  I pray that we will become a God-fearing nation again, it’s our only hope.  And, God,  thank you for helping someone to be brave enough to record a song about prayer in these troubled times!  We need to do a lot more praying these days.

Flashback Friday…Play That Music!

 

 

I was “tickled pink” when I saw that today’s theme for Flashback Friday was about music!  After two weeks of trying to remember my school days, I finally get to write about something near and dear to my soul–music! 

I have to attribute my “love of music” to my older brother.  He’s a lover of music, too, and he introduced me to all kinds of music when I was a budding youngster.  He was married for most of my childhood, but he always had the coolest cars ( Roadrunner, Charger, Corvette) with the best sounding stereos in them!   He had a great sounding stereo in his house, as well–and he likes to “crank up the volume”. 

I can’t sing worth a flip, and never could master a musical instrument, but I CAN appreciate good music!  I can usually spot a hit song BEFORE it becomes a hit.  I think my brother hasthat same gift.  I love all kinds of music, with the exception of Rap music–I just can’t stand Rap! 

I was about twelve when I got my first stereo record player.  Prior to that, I only had a small plastic AM transistor radio.  It was very small and portable, and it only worked on batteries.  Did I mention that it only picked up the local radio station?  Did I mention that our radio station only played hits that were over 6 months old?  

 About three years later–at the tender age of fourteen–nearly fifteen, I met my future husband, Ed.  We immediately fell in love, but he had joined the army and had to go away for army training.  He decided to give me his stereo to keep for him while he was away.  In return, I gave his younger brothers my old stereo.  Ed’s stereo was much nicer than mine!  He also let me have his AM/FM radio.  I was thrilled!  FM stations were still relatively new at that time, and I was thrilled to  have a radio that would pick up  FM stations–especially at night. 

Eight track tape players also became popular about the time that I met Ed.  He installed an eight track player in his old car–a 1961 pink Mercury!  We’d ride around with the music blaring away– just like typical teenagers.  Back then cars only had AM radios in them, and there weren’t very many radio stations.  Believe me, it was a wonderful thing to have a tape player in your car!  Some of our favorite eight track tapes  that we listened to while riding around were  The Supremes, The Temptations (yes, I loved soul music, and still do), and The Four Seasons.  Ed left his collection of eight track tapes with me while he was away in the service.  Eventually, I saved up enough money(from my after school job) to purchase an eight track player for my room, and I hooked it up to Ed’s stereo. 

Me putting a record on Ed's stereo. Notice the radio to the left, the eight track player in front of me and the box of tapes to the right...I am also wearing a wig--a fad back in those days!

There weren’t many concerts happening in our area back in those days, but Ed did manage to take me to see a Billy Joe Royal concert for my fifteenth birthday!  Man, now I feel really old!  Who remembers “Down In the Boondocks”???  Billy Joe Royal was our only concert together until after we were married, and moved to the city. Later, Ed took me to see “The Eagles”.  Oh, how I loved “The Eagles”!  I also loved “The Doobie Brothers”, so we saw them in concert as well. 

I listened to all kinds of music throughout my teen years, and I still do today!  I joined one of those record clubs, so I had an extensive album collection by the time I graduated from high school.  I remained in a tape/CD club over the years until recently when they went out of business!  I have many albums, cassettes, and CD’s, but  I no longer have any eight track tapes.  We threw the last of them out, along with the eight track player, three years ago.  The tapes were rotten from old age… 

I never remember my parents complaining about any of my music, so it must not have bothered them.  Looking back, some of it probably should have!  I still remember purchasing my first 45’s as a young teenager.  One of them was “Yummy Yummy Yummy”(I’ve Got Love In My Tummy)  (I laugh now whenever the cereal commercial comes on with that song playing in the background!)  Love in my tummy?–It kinda’ sounds like a pregnant woman, doesn’t it?  Another favorite of mine was “Crimson and Clover”by Tommy James and the Shondells.  I listen to those songs now and think “What was that all about?”  Someone told me years later that the song was referring to a drug “trip”…I never knew that!  Oh, and I really liked the song “Love Is All Around” by the Troggs.  You know, it was the 70’s…and “Love was groovy”!!! 

I’ve really enjoyed taking this musical stroll down memory lane.  For more memories, hop over to http://www.mochawithlinda.blogspot.com and read what others have to say–better yet, write your own post and join in!  I’m also joining Java at http://www.nevergrowingold.blogspot.com for her Bloggers Over 40, Follow Friday–cause I’m over 40 and I like to follow and be followed…Have a great weekend everyone!