FALL PLANS...A PEP TALK...KINDA

 

          My blog hasn’t’ seen a new post in quite a long time. It’s not that I haven’t written anything because I have; however, the main reason I didn’t post them to my blog is because on rereading them, they were more of a pity party than not. Who wants to read “poor me, poor me, poor me” ad nauseum?

          Anyway, I have way less to poor me, myself and I, so I’d just better look to the future and make plans for the betterment of my life. Seriously, there’s really no reason for me to feel down or sorry for myself. I have what’s basically a new heart, plus the other things that are affecting my body aren’t terminal, just mainly annoying.

          So, I’m not going to go into detail about the various annoyances, rather I’m going to write about what I’ve been accomplishing and/or what’s in the future.

Next week, I’ll board a plane with my son AJ, granddaughter Haley and Haley’s friend, Tyler. We’re flying into Nashville where we’ll spend a couple of days. So far, we’ve made reservations to tour the Ryman auditorium and have our picture taken on the stage. I can look at that later on and pretend I’m an actual country singer…as if. We’re also going to tour the Country Music Hall of Fame and walk down Second Street which is lined with bars. We don’t plan to imbibe at each of them, but the one named AJ’s is a definite visit. My brother’s wife also suggested we visit Printer’s Alley.

After those two days, we’ll get up and head for my brother’s house which is about two hours from Nashville. It’s also his birthday and I think he’s planning to have a fish fry to celebrate, welcome us and have other family guests. I’m looking forward to that and to introducing my Washington family to my Tennessee family. It’s going to be so much fun; I can hardly wait.

We don’t have the following days all planned out, but on one of them we’ll drive to Haleyville Alabama (for Haley, of course) and to Mussels Shoals, the home of the oldest, and still operating, recording studio in the state. Haley and Tyler also want to go fishing and I think my brother, Ricky, is going to oblige them. Heck, all they really need to do is walk down his hill and stand on the bank of the Tennessee River and toss in a line. I don’t know if that really would work, but not being a fisherwoman, I don’t know.

Memphis was also on our list of go-to places, but I think we’ve decided to give it a miss. The cheapest tour of Graceland (why we were going to go) is almost $100 and you don’t get to see much. We could drive in to Memphis (another two hours) and just walk about the grounds which are quite lovely I’m told, but according to the Tennessee natives, Memphis is not a very safe city.

Still, there’s lots of stuff we can see and visit with Ricky’s house as our home base. Shiloh National Military Park is just minutes away and I found it very interesting on my first visit. Plus, Savannah Tennessee is just on the other side of the river and has lots of things to do, i.e., the Tennessee River Museum, Historic District, whiskey tasting, a Civil War History Tour, and who knows what else. I know the whiskey tasting will be top of the list…most likely.

AJ’s wife, Angie, couldn’t join us because school is in session. And Kuma, well, Kuma gets a vacation as well at Roscoe’s Ranch in Maltby. He spent last Sunday night there as a test and he did very well. The person who dealt with him on Monday indicated he was a “Goofball.” Since Haley’s worked there for years, I know Kuma will be in good hands while his “Mommy” is gone, but I’ll still miss him, I’m sure.

Once I return home, it will be time to begin putting the garden to bed for the winter. Because of all my health problems for what seems like the entire year, lots of work I would have normally done didn’t get done. But I plan to get it done this fall so that come spring, it will rejuvenate in a much better way than it did this past year. I’m even thinking about purchasing some new lily bulbs. I’ve saved the catalogs and know I have to place my order by November 1^st. I guess how much I spend on lilies will depend on how much I spend in Tennessee.

My return will also include having Xander most every weekend until we complete his Halloween costume. He wants to learn to sew and we’ve begun. We bought the material, washed and dried it and cut out the pants. We did a bit of sewing on the pants and Xander is getting more comfortable with the machine each time he uses it. I’m going to have to cut out the jacket before I leave town mainly because the pattern is much more difficult than I expected. It’s been a long time since I’ve made anything using a pattern. Most of my sewing has been simply mending, so I hope my teaching Xander allows him to learn. 

So, as you can see, the remainder of September and October are pretty much on the books. There’s going to be no time for sickness, doctor visits, urgent care visits or feeling down for absolutely no reason at all. I think I’ll print out this blog and put the copy beside my bed. Me, myself and I will read it each night and remind ourselves that life is good, life is busy, life is exciting, life is fun, life brings new experiences each and every day, in one way or another. How’s that for a pep talk…I think me, myself and I rather like it…a lot.