I sure have missed y’all. I’ve spent the last few days reading and reading and reading. My goodness, the things I have missed. It’s gonna take me weeks to get caught up. And I shall enjoy every minute of it.

For all my wonderful OS friends that have sent me emails out of concern for my absence……..

I have had a hell of a summer so far. Never a dull moment.

My roller coaster life can be so scary and so much fun. 

The ride up hill. It’s slow with much anticipation. It’s the excitement of getting to the top.

Students started signing up for my hypertufa and mosaic classes. I had a few art gigs in the not too distant future. Buddy Guy sang the blues to me! That’s right, there might have been 1000’s of others in the audience, but he was singing to me! And a summer girls’ trip was planned. Ain’t nothing like a few days with my best friends in the world.

Ah, Oh. A sharp turn has appeared on the horizon.

A nosebleed from hell and subsequent surgery, followed. It was pretty damn serious. Wanna talk about our fine health care system? Boy, do I have something to say! But that blog will be posted in a few days.

Whew! That was close. Ahhhhh! Feel the breeze? A soft curve in the ride, is ahead.

It’s that the warm Texas sun reflecting off the blue water of my friend’s pool. The laughter at old stories refuels my worn out mind and body.

Back home and the ride seems to be chugging up an impossible hill. Classes get cancelled. Everyone is blaming the economy. My major public art project is postponed while the folks that hired me try to raise the money.

Chug chug! As I start looking at more online options to sell my gorgeous garden art, my computer starts chugging. Perhaps to say death was imminent, is an understatement.  Then one day, it had its last ride into cyberspace with me.

After, the wonderfully nerdy son of a friend took it away, he explained that there was a good chance the 10 years of files in my ole girl, might not be retrievable. And even worse, the ole girl was so old; a special tool had to be found to get inside her. And there were the sudden wakeups in the middle of the night. The sudden remembrance of another file that I had lost.  My website, hundreds of pictures of my work, my eBook, my customer database, all my PowerPoint presentations, my grandbabies’ pictures, our wedding pictures, my stories.  MY LIFE! My fucking life for the last ten years! DAMNIT! And there were the countless days of beating myself up for not backing up my files the right way. Damnit to hell!

Chug, fucking, chug.

Wait a minute. We’re gonna go see grandbabies. The ride will be worth the smiles on those babies’ faces. “You betcha, Nanie (that’s me, grandma) will help you decorate your bike for the 4^th of July parade! I am a redneck-Martha Stewart and Hobby Lobby and I are great friends and it was all on sale! Lookie here, you made front page of the paper on that finely decorated bike!”  Even better… the oldest little man comes home with Nanie and Gramps.

Another trip to Texas, this time to see my daddy.  My precious step daddy who raised me like his own. He hadn’t seen his great grand boy in over 3 years. It was pretty funny when grand boy asked me why pawpaw was saying things like “that’s a 10-4 good buddy” when they were talking on his little walkie talkies. Daddy is the number one reason I have any sense at all. He was my rock. Daddy’s been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Need I say more? The ride got a tad bumpy again. It was downright tough when we were driving home. I didn’t dare let out the tears that were swelling inside me. Grandson did not need to understand this crap … not just yet. There will be many trips to Texas in my immediate future. Cause we endure the bumps for the ones we love.  

Back home. Museums and nature centers and movies and art projects and bike rides and board games and swimming and catching fish and catching lightning bugs made life’s ride slow down. All was right with the world.

And some of my art sold. Thus, this brand, spankin’ new, faster than a speeding bullet, computer sitting before me. I tried to kiss the Fed Ex guy when he delivered it. He just smirked and asked if I had been looking forward to this new Dell in the box.  

My files? Well, that precious nerd was able to save all my files. He’s gonna download them for me next week. Bless his heart. No charge. I CAN see some wonderful garden art in his yard, in the not-too-distant future. And an external hard drive, for back up, in my future.

Whew! What a ride! I’ve got even more stories to tell! The ride gets bumpy every now and then, but most of the time, it’s wild and wonderful.  A near death experience sure makes laughing with friends, pure heaven. OS sure is special when you finally get a new computer and find out friends are looking for ya.  And watching a precious grand boy catch a trout sure helps when you realize, the one that use to bait your hook, your last livin’ parent, your daddy, is leaving ya.