Wanda's Wacky Wonderful World

Tuesday, we buried my darling daddy. He's gone... at least his body is gone from among us. But the best part of him is still here - alive and well. Its as if he's just in the next room... or out Pawn-Shopping. He was usually the last to arrive at dinner - just trying to squeeze in one more moment of "living" before sitting down for the evening. He was bigger than life - he didn't fit here anyways. And his memory is GI-normous. It fills my heart, my house, my life. I see him in my children, my brother and my sisters. I see him in my husband - he poured so much of himself into Jeff. I hear him in my own voice - where does he stop and I begin? He lives... in me - through me and I will live to honor him. I will make him proud. I will not let him down.  I remember a time at the hospital, it was my turn to spend the night. It had been a rough day for him and he was so concerned that he would be too much for me. When I came in, he said, "I don't think you'r...

It's my parent's fault - I am WHO I am because of "them". I have written about my mom (that's where the whole "Ribbons of Blue" story came from)... and I'll probably write about her again, but today I reflect on my daddy. He has had incredible influence upon who I have become. If you know him, you're probably shaking your head right now, thinking, "Yep, Wanda is so much like her dad." But let me regress... I have been shocked, scared, surprised and scripturally punished by Stanley B more times than you can imagine! Yes, I mean "shocked" as in electricity SHOCKED! This man is brilliant. He worked around live electricity, so he was fully aware of the line between "dangerous" and "hilarious". As a kid, you're not expecting your dad to zap you when he says, "Come and hold this wire for me so I can get this cap on." His favorite party starter was to load a condenser out of a car with several charge...

The morning dawned with feelings of trepidation. I knew something was afoot. I had been banned from the church property for three days... my husband had brought someone in to help me clean the house and prepare beds... and for WHO? No one would tell me a thing. At around 8 AM my phone rang and my daughter-in-law, Amanda, told me to be ready at 10:30 - her and Randi - the other DIL - were going to pick me up for lunch. ...AND to pack a bag with hair fixing necessities and a formal ( preferably black) outfit. Hmmm ... sounded like fun to me - so I was obedient to the letter. They arrived right on time and we headed to "lunch" which turned out to be one of my favorites... Olive Garden! We were taken to a private room where my sister Debbie and her DIL , Shannon... and two of my nieces (Taryn and Tanis who had driven 5 hours to be there) were already seated and waiting. We ordered and were sitting there visiting and catching up on all our lives - when I saw my husband in the d...

In a few days I'll turn 50 years old. Fifty! Ten decades... Half a century OLD. I certainly don't feel fifty. I don't even feel like a grown-up yet - but of course, I must be. I have a 32 year old son... a 30 year old son... my BABY is 25 and my sweetheart-at-sixteen husband is 54... oh - and then there's the FIVE grandchildren - so yes, I must be fifty. Fifty used to seem ancient. I thought fifty year olds were so wise and all-knowing. I assumed they felt confident in their wisdom. But here I am - almost there - and no one has given me any clue as to what I should know (in case someone asks me something!) There is no screening process to becoming one of the "fifty-something" set. You just get on the AARP mailing list and "twang" you're OLD enough. I'm sure I'll post more on this milestone - but for now, I just wonder, when will I start feeling wise?

I recieved this article in an email recently. I've seen it before, but today I related on a whole new level. If you are reading this and you're dealing with the balancing act of life... I'm sure you'll enjoy this. Unfortunately, I don't have an author to credit this to - but I think whoever the author was - he/she speaks to us all. Stress - A lecturer, when explaining stress management to an audience, raised a glass of water and asked "How heavy is this glass of water?" Answers called out ranging from 20g to 500g. The lecturer replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it. If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance. In each case, it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes." He continued, "And that's the way it is with stress m...

Time is racing by and I haven't blogged in quite a while. I'm staying busy being a full-time college student and working part-time as a security consultant along with my pastor's wife/music/speaking/responsibilities... enjoying the warming weather - an incredible new deck my husband has built for me around our pool (after much begging/groveling! ha) - spending some quality time with my sister Pattie and her family while they visit - excited about the camper we just bought (that I have been "talking" my husband into buying for years!) and looking forward to some down time in the near future... In a nutshell - I guess I could say I am getting a lot of things accomplished that I have dreamed about (with my schooling) and getting a few of my wishes granted (deck and camper) too! Maybe its because I'm turning 50 in May and my honey is just trying to be extra nice... I'm not sure - just VERY happy! I am so grateful for the life God has blessed me with - family, ...

I woke up this morning to a beautiful blanket of snow! I had to smile and stare - because - well, let me explain... if you know anything about this area of NC - we RARELY get snow. I LOVE getting snowed in! There is just something about the feeling of coziness when snow or ice has shut the whole world out and I can stay inside - make a pot of soup and some cornbread or yeast rolls! Everything shuts down here when it snows, so I don't have any errands to run or stores to visit... no one drops in unexpected - so I can stay in my pj's all day if I want to! We have such mild winters here, so we only get severe weather every few years. Just two weeks ago we got over six inches of snow that stayed around for three days - BUT I WAS IN LOUISIANA and missed it! I was so disappointed... and then I heard they were calling for snow this week. Everyone was doubtful because we rarely get snow twice in one winter! So I told my friends and family - if it snows again - you can just tell yoursel...