SoCS – As a Matter of Hat

Even after achieving additional fame as a published author, Linda still has time to offer us a prompt for SoCS. Drop in and read her good news then join in on the SoCS fun! CONGRATULATIONS, LINDA!

Today’s prompt is as follows:

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “hat.” Use it literally or metaphorically. Have fun!

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In our family, there seems to be a trait of which everyone seems to inherit or not. I call it the “Come Live With Me” gene. My siblings always seemed to have someone outside of their family living with them. Now, don’t get me wrong, it is honorable. They always took in kids at odds with their parents, boyfriends/girlfriends, aunts, distant cousins, etc.

I did not inherit this gene. Nor did my mother. We both felt guests had a freshness and an expire date. I will admit to having children come home off and on, but that’s different. That’s immediate family. (My mom would tell you even children coming back home had an expire date.) so, when I saw Linda’s prompt today, I thought of my mother and one of her favorite phrases.

Here’s your hat, what’s your hurry?

Enjoy the photos on your way out. 😏😁😂

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I’ve Been in a Slump

Blogging should not feel like work but that is what it has felt like these last couple of weeks. After A to Z and our wonderful family visit, I think I fell into a bit of a slump. The world got a little darker and as a result, many of the blogs I followed got a lot more serious – mine did, too. My sweet blogging getaway drifted out of sight and I went along for the ride.

In preparation for the arrival of my daughter and her family, I did a LOT of yard work. A season’s worth of leaves had to be removed. I spent two days raking and moving leaves (life when you live surrounded by forest). In the process I hurt my knee. I had pain and swelling. An eventual trip to the doctor sent me back into physical therapy.

Yesterday was my first PT appointment. It was also my birthday. I heard from most of my family and many friends. Hubby and I don’t do much any more for birthdays so it was more of an average day. I am trying to drop some weight to benefit my knee so no cake and ice cream for me.

We finally had our 10×12 garden shed delivered and hubby has been busy relocating items from the garage into the building. He has installed a rack system for hanging garden tools so it is slowly coming together.

Our grandson is home from Clemson, but he has a summer job lined up. We will try to get down to see him soon before he starts his job. He is studying to be an engineer and the classes have been pretty tough. I think he is looking forward to working and saving some money before he goes back to school in the fall.

We have a granddaughter graduating from high school this month and she is also headed to Clemson in the fall.

I will have physical therapy twice a week for the next six weeks. I am trying to work more vegetable dishes into my diet. My son is inspiring all his family to embrace a more vegetarian lifestyle. I am not ready to become fully vegetarian, but with a bit of an elevated cholesterol, more vegetarian dishes will grace our table. I bought some new vegetarian cookbooks so we shall see.

I have been frustrated by the 1950 census. I found most of my relatives but not my parents! I even ordered my sister’s birth certificate to see where they lived when she was born (two months after the census was taken). I found the census for that location, but alas! No parents! I know my father was at Ft Devens two years later, but all indications show them living in Tennessee in 1950. It could be that the Google OCR reader could not properly translate the census taker’s handwriting. (My grandfather’s first name was listed as Malter instead of Walter.) There are A LOT of incorrectly transcribed names. I suppose it is possible they were missed when the census was taken.

What can I say about the world situation? I want to ask the question my mother often asked her children – “Have you lost your ever lovin’ mind?!?” I think I know the answer. We are wrestling with when to get the second booster. My doctor suggests yearly, but that seems to be in opposition with what the FDA, CDC, and Johns Hopkins University seem to advise. I think the end of the month will see us rolling up our sleeves.

I am off to select a door photo from the No Facilities Thursday Doors writing challenge. See you around the blogging water cooler.

 

Throwback Thursday #38 – Medical Care

Welcome back to Throwback Thursday. Lauren is hosting this week and asking about early visits to doctors and dentists!  Head over to her blog to get the details, and then join in!

This week’s prompt is: Doctors and Dentists

My post follows.

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Back to answering the questions Lauren posed.

1) Where doctor/dentist appointments a regular part of your childhood?
 
We rarely went to the doctor or the dentist. Most of our care consisted of home remedies. My aunt was a nurse and she always gave us shots of some kind. We had regular doses of cod liver oil followed by a small piece of maple sugar broken off a piece that was hard as a rock.

2) Did you go for well-checks or just when you were ill or in pain?

Only if ill or in pain. Being rural we did have a rescue squad you could call for dire emergencies.

3) Were you frightened by the medical professionals? If so, were there specific reasons?

Not of doctors. All my dental visits seemed to involve pain so I was not a big fan of dentists.

4) Were your parents afraid of medical professionals?

No.

5) Was waiting in the exam room stressful to you?

Not unless I had worried myself into a tizzy thinking I had some deadly disease or illness. I was good as long as there was an unspoiled copy of Highlights magazine to read. 

6) Did your early visits result in your being afraid of needles?

No. My grandmother was a nurse and I was fascinated by her needles.

7) Does the sight of your own blood bother you?

Nope.

8) Did you ever have the need to go to an emergency room?

My parents were taking me once for a bad nosebleed, but as we pulled into town, the bleeding stopped so I never went in. I was in the hospital once as a child for some gastrointestinal thing. All I remember about it was I was high up and had to wave at my siblings on the street below. And also, they wrote on my arm with a purple pen.

9) Did your early experiences impact your current attitudes about medical care?

No. I think care was better then at least from the perspective of being able to find a doctor and see them quickly.

Thoughts On Mother’s Day

Image by anncapictures from Pixabay

It is Mother’s Day in the U.S. It can be a day of complex emotions for many.

Not every mother is a good one and some of the best qualified mothers will never have children. Some women chose a very fulfilling life without children while some women have as many as possible. Some women are the confidants that other mothers just could not be while some women are unable to create that bond.

Some mothers have wonderful relationships while some are painfully estranged. Some mothers passed away way too early, while some mothers live longer yet unable to recognize their own children. Some women experienced the pain of losing an unborn child – some by choice and some who had no choice. Some women make the difficult decision to give up a child while some women choose to adopt and love a child as their own. Some mothers did their best and some mothers did not try at all.

Whatever your relationship with this holiday, I send you love and heartfelt wishes. We cannot know what lies beneath the surface and in the hearts of women who wrestle with perhaps one of the biggest labels of life – that of a mother.

SoCS – Say, What?

Linda is sending us back to our childhood in what I am calling Sentimental Saturday SOCS style. Curious what it is all about – then check out Linda’s post for all the details. Why not jump on the bandwagon?

Today’s prompt is as follows:

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “a phrase you grew up with.” Include in your post a phrase your mom/dad/grandparent/sibling used all the time when you were growing up, or just write whatever inspires you based on that phrase. Enjoy!

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I tried to think of a phrase maybe not so well know – something from my Appalachian roots. Once I stopped thinking so hard, it came to me.

Every baby and every child had a “play purty” or play pretty although it was never pronounced that way. It was a name fir a toy or something given to a child to play with like a rattle or someone’s car keys.

It was not a phrase used just for babies – or children for that matter although that was the original intent.

A new car, a new bike, new jewelry, or even a new fella could be colloquially described as a new play purty.

It makes me smile to remember my parents teasing me about a new play purty when I started dating although I am sure it embarrassed me at the time