GRIEF IS NOT A SPECTATOR SPORT!

Mikel Chane Crook 1974-2014
 BELOVED SON & FATHER

It seems that some of my family and friends aren't  pleased with the way that I've been grieving the loss of my 39 year old son. Several of them  have made comments to others about why haven't I had a public breakdown. I've even been accused of trying to wipe Chane’s memory away or of being glad that he’s gone. It hurts that my so-called loved ones seem to be actively waiting for the pity party so they can critique my heartache.

People, GRIEF IS NOT A SPECTATOR SPORT! I  have never been one to show my feelings in public. I didn't have a public come-a-part when I lost either of my deceased husbands nor at the deaths of both of my parents. I prefer to lose it in private.

No one but my dog is around when I cry while watching funny movies. I don't share the fact that I find myself wondering what Chane wants for dinner before I remember that he’s not coming home ever again or how in the grocery store I pick up something that he loves and I hate before it hits me that I'm buying groceries for one now.

So don't judge me or others on how we behave in public. Everyone isn't a Drama Queen who wants to be the center of attention. A few of us hold our feeling close and choose to deal with life’s disasters in our own way, on our own terms. Just because we don't broadcast our sorrow doesn’t make it less real, and finding that our support system is waiting for us to fall makes the hurt doubly deep.

OUT OF A JOB

This is it, the end of life as I know it.

I've worked all my life but starting Monday morning I'll be out of a job. Compulsory retirement. Used abused and tossed away like a snotty Kleenex. 35 years invested in a career and suddenly I'm unemployed (along with hundreds of other mill employees). I understand about business but that doesn't help, especially when our plant made more profit than any other in our sector last year.

I could go back to school but after getting a 2 year degree I'll be 60-61 and who wants to hire an old woman? Plus I was interested in computer programming/security and I've been informed in no uncertain terms that "it's a young person's field".

I have no social life outside of work. All my friends are married and their husbands consider a single woman a threat.

I don't date, haven't in years. Most of the men my age aren't interested in women my age.

I won't have money to travel like I dreamed in my retirement fantasies.

Enough bitching; time to put on my big girl panties and get on with it. Donna says that I can join her in a life of leisure and poverty. Guess that's my new life plan….

FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS

One of the wonderful things about living in the rural South, any time a tree falls across the road some Good Ole Boy will show up to help.

I live in an older home and my lawn is covered with grand old massive oak trees, which I love but a high wind always covers the yard with blown down limbs. Last night’s storms and tornados caused the entire top of one to break off and fall across the road in front of my house. All that’s left of the original tree is a 15 foot trunk with no limbs, picture a massive fence post and you got it.

When I posted about it on Facebook last night my niece replied that if it hadn’t been moved out of the road by the time her fiancé’s brother got home this afternoon (who lives down the road from me) he would bring his chain saw and help. This morning another neighbor brought his tractor equipped with a front-end loader and moved the tree out of the road, and this afternoon my nephew Duane (Donna’s eldest) came over and started cutting it up until the rain made him stop.

I’m blessed with wonderful neighbors, friends and family and I wouldn’t take anything for my country life.

JUST WONDERFUL

"Retirement Boosts Your Risk of Depression by 40 Percent According to a new report released by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA),1 following an initial boost in health, retirement increases your risk of clinical depression by 40 percent while raising your chances of being diagnosed with a physical condition by 60 percent. It also: •Reduces your likelihood of being in self-reported excellent or very good health by 40 percent •Raises your risk of taking medication for a diagnosed physical condition by 60 percent The study’s author, who called retirement’s impacts on health “drastic,” suggested a later retirement age may actually be preferable, noting: 2 “New research presented in this paper indicates that being retired decreases physical, mental and self-assessed health. The adverse effects increase as the number of years spent in retirement increases.”

Seems like my forced retirement might not be all that enjoyable. Nothing to do, nowhere to go and no money nor anyone to do it with.

SNOW-CREAM CRAVINGS ANSWERED

I'm such a lucky woman to have friends like BeckyD and her 2 daughters, Newt & Tate, all the way up in Jefferson City, Missouri.

This wonderful family went and made a double batch of snow-cream just for me because I don't have any snow of my own and I was having snow-cream cravings bad. BeckD gives us a blow by blow description of the three's first ever attempt at making that wonderfully sweet, ice-cream-headache-spike causing concoction known as snow-cream.

Y'all go on over and have a taste, it's heavenly! Be sure to tell them that Junebugg sent you.

Thank you, Ladies. If I can ever return the favor (well, a favor of some kind since I very seldom see snow) just let me know.

UPDATE: This link has lots of recipes for you snow-cream virgins out there. Mom always used the one without eggs, but experiment and enjoy you luck devils.

MOULTON CHRISTMAS PARADE & GEMINID METEOR SHOWERS ON FRIDAY 13TH

Not only will the Moulton parade be cold and wet tomorrow nite but would-be stargazers could find the stars aligned against them as the Geminid meteor shower peaks Friday 13th. According to the National Weather Service in Huntsville, those intent on catching one of the year’s biggest meteor showers will have to brave temperatures of 40 or below and a nearly 100 percent chance of rain and sleet.

“It’s really not going to be the best time to be watching meteors,” meteorologist Robert Boyd said. Saturday night, he said, the rain is expected to continue until after midnight. “But systems like this can leave really thick clouds behind them,” he said. Decatur astronomer Jim Lewis said if the clouds don’t get in the way, the moon might. “The moon is not in a good position for that,” he said. “It’s going to be full on the 17th, so it’s pretty bright already.”

The meteors will be most visible after the moon has set but before the sun rises — about 3:30-6 a.m. Saturday and 4:30-6 a.m. Sunday.
Boyd said the latter viewing opportunity will be the better bet. “It looks like Saturday night and Sunday morning it may clear up some, but it’s going to be kind of touch-and-go and could take its time to clear out,” he said. “Although the way things have been moving lately, I’m more optimistic.” Lewis said those who make the effort to view the celestial sights might be rewarded, despite the odds. “You just don’t really know,” he said. “The moon’s not going to be in the best position for viewing, but you still might catch a few really good ones. You can’t always predict the best meteor showers.” And anyone — not just rural, county residents — can see them.

“You don’t need a telescope for meteors,” Lewis said. “As long as you don’t live in downtown, the lights shouldn’t be much of a problem. Just find a dark place outside your house and dress warm.” The Geminid meteors are one of only two meteor showers not originating from a comet, but from fragments of an asteroid. The shower appears yearly Dec. 7 through Dec. 14.

Thanks to the Decatur Daily for all the facts and quotes

2013 LAWRENCE COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL UGLY WALK

These brave Moulton, AL teen-aged guys were raising $$$ for the softball team. I had a blast watching them! My great nephew was one and I'm so proud of him