I'm not very good at this bloggin'...

Ok. Hard to believe my last post was in AUGUST. I really meant to do this more often. In my defense, I have had more (of the same) health problems, did a craft show, had a computer crash...so, see...it's really not my fault!! Yeah, right. Anyway, I'm gonna start again and try to do better.

Thanksgivin' came and went with nary a thing new or different. We didn't have turkey and dressin' or cranberry sauce or any of the other traditional stuff. We just ate the same old stuff. It was good stuff and I was thankful for it! But...the day after Thanksgivin' was pretty special. Sebe and I were invited to the home of friends in Collierville...I'm gonna call them The Perfect Family ('cause they are!). We met at their lovely home and went to Booya's for lunch. I had the biggest hamburger I've ever seen and a buncha big ol' fries...I couldn't eat but half of the burger and about 4 fries. It was really delicious...just far too much for me!
After lunch, we went to the beautiful Square in Collierville for an afternoon of photography! Yeah, boy, that was some kinda fun!! There was much to see and shoot there...it's a picturesque place with parked trains (some used now as restaurants) and antique shops everywhere. We walked all over and the high point for me was when we met this adorable Basset Hound. Her name was Pickles and TPFD2(the perfect family daughter #2) and I spent some quality time with her. Her owner was quite friendly and talkative and invited us to his home for leftover pie...I think he said they had 20 somethin' different kinds!! We had to decline (frowny face) because we were off to Barnes and Noble, the bookstore where TPFD1 works. I...ahem...bought a few books and, on the way out, we noticed that there were dogs for adoption. In Barnes and Nobles! I had no idea that adoptions were ever held anywhere but pet stores. We all fell under the spell of the most adorable terrier mix. She was no longer a puppy...a year and a half old...and seemed to be the sweetest pup imaginable. Think Benji but even cuter and a girl! Well, TPFM was very resistant to the idea of a new pup...they lost their last one about a year ago and he had been very ill for 3 years or so and she had been the one to tend to him the most. She and TPFF had sworn they wouldn't get another pup and have to go through this again. When they seemed determined to leave her there, I had to go outside and cry because it seemed to me that I could see in her eyes that she knew she wouldn't be goin' home with them. I know that's fanciful...it's just how I see things. Anyway, we did leave her there and it made all of us sad.
We went back to the house to eat pizza we'd picked up on the way (yummmm!) and, as we were sittin' around the table, the subject of the dog came up again. Eventually, TPFM was persuaded to give her a try and we went back to B&N and picked her up! It was so excitin'!!! The first thing she did when we walked in the house was teetee...on the carpet. Yeah. And, the second thing she did was poop. On the carpet! Yikes!!! I could not believe it!! She was put in the backyard for a short time and when she came back in, she began to explore her new home and get to know her new family.
Not long after the new pup came home, Sebe and I had to leave. We hated to have such a magical time come to an end but both of us were tired. We didn't get home til 12:30 and I felt absolutely awful the next day. I overdid it...pretty easy for me to do, feelin' like I've been feelin' for some time now...but it was worth it! I've read TPFF's blog and it seems they named the pup MOlly and have all bonded very closely with her. Especially TPFM!!! This makes me sooooo happy!! Apparently, she's now TPFP! And, all's well that ends well.

Brain damaged...an addendum

Honestly, I must have brain damage. I forgot two of my two very closest friends...Connie and Jean!! The first weekend of Oct. for the past fifteen or more years, I've been demonstratin' at the Pink Palace Crafts Fair in Memphis. The same group of folks have been there for a long time and we have become like family...some I only see at the show and some I see more often. Connie and Jean are in the latter category. I have been to Connie and Paul's house in middle Tennessee on more than one occasion and we talk on the phone quite often. Jean keeps promisin' to come stay with us for a couple of days but I'm losin' my faith in that ever happenin'! She did, however, meet Sebe and I at the Memphis Zoo a few months ago...much fun was had!! Some of the others that I only see at the show are Ann, Kevin, Shannon, Judy, Pam and Alene. I'm sure that I'm forgettin' others...don't be mad, it's just the brain damage!!

Friends. What makes a friend? Why are some folks just naturally drawn to others? The nature of friendship will, I suppose, always be a mystery...to me, at least. I don't have friends that I go and do things with and there are many reasons for this. First, I guess, is my nature. I'm very...um, some would say reclusive...I say easily able to entertain myself. Secondly, this illness limits what I can do. Thirdly, there's not much to do around here and not much extra cash to do it with!! All that said, I'd like to talk about the friends I have had in the past and have now.
July 28 was my birthday. I got a call from Colorado and, lo and behold, it was Kay Ann Mitchell...one of my very oldest friends! We grew up across the street from each other and went to school together from kindergarten through high school. I hadn't talked to her in about 10 years but the conversation was amazin'...it was like we had talked a week ago! We are both still much the same as we were growin' up. We did some reminiscin' and both of us thoroughly enjoyed ourselves!

Today I received a book in the mail from another dear friend...this one I have never seen in person. Her name is Shirley Ann and I met her on Dogster, a site where every dog has it's own web page and the conversations are between dogs via their human typists. It's a great place where most of the banter is good natured and like minded pups can form groups with others who share their interests. I've gotten pretty close to several women there and, if I had the money and the means, I'd go visit some of them. This is one of Shirley Ann's pups and Inky's best friend!! Her name is Beatrix and she is a rescued Boston Terrier/Boxer mix. She's a beauty!

Another really special friend is my cousin Joy. She lives pretty close to me and yet we almost never see each other...I guess we are both busy with our "stuff". Anyway, recently Sebe and I went to visit with Joy and her husband John and had a fun time shootin' pool and takin' photos. I shot the one of her cat Garfield wrestlin' with the kitty next door...he must have the patience of a saint!

Yesterday, another cousin and good friend, Barbara Dayle, dropped in and we had a great chat. We almost never get the chance to visit and she lives next door!! It's just a shame that the pace of most folks lives don't allow for a lot of visitin'!

Another person that I consider a close friend is the woman who cleans house for us every other week. Her name is Doretha and she and I have much in common. Plus, she is one of the sweetest people I know! The other day, Nanie was workin' out in the yard and Doretha and her sweet husband Robert saw her and stopped to help...this was after both of them had already worked a full day. If I didn't already think she was the bee's knees, helpin' my Nanie would have made me love her and Robert!

There are others I could write about but I think I'll save them for another time. Things are status quo here in the backend of beyond! Absolutely nothin' goin' on but that's ok...some of us like it that way!!

How to comment

I've had some folks askin' how to comment...well, you just click on the number of comments that a post has(ya know, down at the bottom where it says 0 comments) and it will take you to a page where you can write your comment. It took me forever to figure that out!! So, go ahead, leave me some comments!!! And, thanks to all who have!

Things I Learned From My Camera

Things I Learned From My Camera

1. Seen through the camera's lens, bugs are ART. Most of them, anyway.
2. Chihuahuas are fast!! But, with the judicious use of a few vienny wiennies, they can be talked into anything.
3. Cats are natural-born models.
4. Birds are fascinatin'. I had no idea!
5. Sittin' in a field of sunflowers can be fun!!
6. I love, love, love playin' with Photoshop!!
7. Unlike takin' photos of animals, takin' pictures of people is scary...they actually expect them to look good. You can tell I have problems with that one...this is the only picture of a person, taken by me, that I could find!
8. Goin' to the zoo is awesome!!
9. I found out that Rebel loves chipmunks. The hard way. Don't ask. You may be wonderin' what this has to do with my camera...if I hadn't taken such an interest in photographin' the chipmunks, I probably would never have been told about Rebel's doin's.
10. A lot of the ugliness around me looks, if not beautiful, at least interestin', through the camera's lens. I guess that's all for today. If you'd like to see more photos, go here.

There's good news and bad news...

The good news is we finally got some much needed rain. Yay!! The bad news is that it came in the form of a thunderstorm that dumped about an inch and a half of rain on us in a half hour. And, knocked down a lot of limbs, two of them HUGE! One fell out near the road and ended up propped up by another tree. The other one landed on the house. Yeah, bummer. It knocked a hole in the roof.

When I took this pic I was thinkin' about puttin' it in my blog. Little did I know of the much more dramatic photo ops that would soon be comin' my way! If you're interested, take a gander here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/melnik55/sets/72157606340800260/. Thankfully, we're all ok...just wish I could say as much for the roof.

Okey dokey. I got myself a blog and now I'm tryin' to figure out what to write about. This is harder than you might think. I live a pretty uneventful life out here on the bayou. Oh, right...I guess I should introduce myself. My name is Melanie (mel to most everybody who knows me) and I'm a 53 year old woman. I am mother to one grown son, Sebe (short for Sebastian), and fostermom to 3 dogs and 2 cats. I am a polymer clay/mixed media artist, collector of many things, avid reader, puzzle worker, amateur photographer and, now, blogger! Heh, heh. I guess that last one will soon be proved or disproved! I have multiple sclerosis...diagnosed in 1989...so my life is different from most of ya'll's. Slower, for sure. I live in the Mississippi Delta with my parents and son. Yes, we all share one house and, no, we don't drive each other crazy. We actually enjoy livin' together. ;o) I am truly so very thankful to be able to live this slower kind of life where I get to know the people that I love the most! This wasn't the life I envisioned for myself when I was growin' up...I lived in books and saw myself as the heroine of most of them. I guess I've always lived in my own world...I don't fit in very well to the "real world". Bein' disabled...now, that's a misnomer if I've ever heard one because most of us can do lots of stuff, just not the stuff that let's us hold down a 9 to 5 job...has given me many advantages, along with the obvious disadvantages. It has allowed me to concentrate on my art, to explore it as much as I care to, to use it as therapy and recreation rather than a means of makin' money (altho I'm not averse to makin' money!). It has allowed me to spend more time with my immediate family because there are things that I need help with, things I couldn't do if I were out on my own. It has given me an excuse to live with my parents long past the time that most folks leave the nest which, in our society, is frowned upon. I have learned to adapt to the circumstances that this illness places upon me and actually enjoy them. Up until 2 months ago, I was walkin' a mile a day and playin' ball with Sebe whenever we felt like it and was feelin' healthier than I had in years. Then I started havin' arm problems...I won't go into all that now...and that ended up throwin' me into an exacerbation. Well, I got 4 days of intravenous treatment with a steroid and then was to be weaned off with prednisone...this gave me almost constant reflux and I ended up stoppin' the prednisone cold turkey. This, of course, threw me into another exacerbation...sometimes you really can't win for losin' !! Anyway, that was a couple of months ago and I'm beginnin' to feel better! Woohooo!!
You know, sometimes your prayers get answered in the weirdest ways. I always pray for humility...it seems so easy (and almost harmless) to become smug about yourself in relation to others. It's so easy to utter platitudes and believe that you are livin' what you're preachin' when you're really not. I always say to people that you only have 2 choices in life...you can either be happy or unhappy and I really do believe that. What I didn't realize is how hard it can be to choose to be happy when your circumstances change or aren't what you can easily adapt to. Durin' this time of the exacerbations, almost all I could do was read. Now, I love to read but everything gets old when you can do nothin' else. I got bored. I found myself gettin' cranky and takin' it out on my family and I was forced to reevaluate some of those platitudes I'd uttered so unthinkingly to others. I had to choose to make myself happy and, in this choice, I felt God's hand. I'm just tellin' ya'll this so you can see that often the things we need come from the things that we don't want. And, I'm extremely thankful that it seems to be comin' to an end!