MIRROR, MIRROR ON THE WALL

I am my mother afterall!! How did this happen? Is it destiny, genetics, or did somone just turn the lights on for me? I have never shared my mother's love of the outdoors but as I am getting older, I find that I am becoming more and more like my mother. This is not a bad thing, its just, well can I say, SHOCKING?
This brings me to the point at hand. I grew up with a Mother who absolutely loved nature and the birds and animals that came with it. She actually found beauty in South Texas and the foliage that grows throughout the Rio Grande Valley...She and my brother, Jim were known to come back from visits to West Texas with a loaded down trunk full of oversized rocks, and on the visits to our Gulf Coast, and she'd drag home driftwood. .There were also times she'd come home with cactus different people would give her from the ranches she'd visit. Now what exactly would she do with this stuff you ask? She'd put it in our yard. Looking back now, I remember just how beautiful that yard was. I also picture my mom sitting on the front step of our home (wearing her long rainbow robe) enjoying her yard after she watered it in the early evenings. All of a sudden I want to do something with my yard. Right now there is very little out there, so I am starting with a blank canvas. I can't plant things right now because of my recent surgery, but I started searching the internet today and am keeping a list of plants to purchase once I am back on my feet. I also have come up with a "to look for" list. What is on it you ask? Of course, oversized rocks, native plants, and some driftwood. The yard won't be complete without a birdbath and a small area designed to attract her favorite bird, the hummingbird. I also envision a small sign dangling off the birdbath called "Mom's garden". Ok, I know this is weird, but I am also going to keep my eye open for a tumble weed that I can wrap in clear Christmas lights and turn on in the evenings. Ok, I know its a little weird, but lets just blame it on my Mom, ok?

GETTING THE HANG OF STAYING HOME...

It's now been just a few weeks since I had knee surgery. I can only describe my days as B-O-R-I-N-G!!!! But today is going to be different....I am going to spend my time in between therapy sessions today doing what I love best ----Scrapbooking!!! I should be making the most of my time, don'tcha think? I am a Creative Memories Consultant, so I have a whole room stocked with stickers, colored paper, cutters, etc. that are just sitting there. I have decided I will be "raiding" "the room" today. The room is calling me.
That brings me to the subject of my latest scrapbooking venture. There is only one thing I love more than being a wife and mother and its big and i mean HUGE...I love being an aunt. There is absolutely nothing like it!!! I became an aunt the first time when i was 16 and each niece or nephew is just as exciting. I only have 2 nieces in the mix of all the boys, so you can imagine what i think about them!!! In Dec., my niece Kristyne blessed our family with a beautiful baby boy, Deven. We got the call that Deven was born early, early in the morning and it was all i could do to keep from going up there and introducing myself to the newest member of our family. But I was there, the next day complete with camera in hand. Those pictures are now sitting in front of me and i'm ready to start taking the boring out of my days. Can't wait to see Krissy's face when I give her the baby album!!! Did I mention I love being an aunt?!!!

I HAVE MY GRANNY'S KNEES.....

Like many other little girls, I grew up in love with my Granny. She lived 9 hours away and we only got to see her and our Papa a couple times of year. Though many miles separated us, absence did make the heart grow fonder. She passed away 23 years ago, but if I close eyes and concentrate, I can still see her sitting on the edge of her bed, wearing one of her "dusters". I can feel her soft skin that she rubbed daily with baby lotion, and even smell the White Shoulders perfume she loved to wear.

As a child, I watched as my Granny suffered with rheumatoid arthritis. It affected her hands, feet and her knees. I used to lay with my head on her lap and she'd rub my head with her deformed hands, and I in turn would rub her knees. She had a long scar on both knees from knee surgery and somehow in my mind, I thought if I'd just rub them, she'd not hurt anymore. I don't really know if it worked or not, but it sure made me feel good to do something for her.

Whereas, I don't have rheumatoid arthritis, I did inherit osteoarthritis. I am going through physical therapy right now after surgery for my second knee replacement. As I was changing the bandage today, I looked down and smiled and realized I have my Granny's knees. So now, when I want to remember special days gone by, all i'll have to do is look down at my knees. What a reminder!!! haha...

Well, we've decided to join the rest of the world, and start our own blog..the name just seemed appropriate. Welcome to our place on the web.....

Jim and Sandi.....when exactly did we become Jim and Sandi? Was it the first time I met him 29 years ago and caught him winking at me through his sunglasses? Or was it a few months later when we became engaged? Or would it have been in Feb 1978 when we walked down the aisle after they pronounced us man and wife? Hmmmm, I'm not sure when it was, but it seems like its always been just Jim and Sandi.

We've been married for 28 full years...
We have been Jim and Sandi through good times and bad, through happy times and sad times. Where you find one, you find the other. We can finish each others sentences and know what the other is thinking.

Ahhh...Jim and Sandi, I love the way that sounds..it sounds like it should always go together,,,don'tcha think?