Thankful for antibacterial soap & cell phones. Both have saved me multiple times. The most notable was at Walters State…I had to palpate a cow. If you don’t know what that means, look it up. I thought I was gonna be a veterinarian until that moment. Yes, I was wearing a glove but you don’t feel very sanitary after performing that little act, so I squirted a sizable dollop of Bath & Body Works finest onto my palms & some of the guys thought it was just sooooo hilarious & were gettin me down the road~as always~about not being a real cowgirl because I couldn’t take a little poop (I was in up to my SHOULDER). My momma just so happened to call in the midst of all the ribbing. Cell phones were a novel thing back in ’97 so I got picked on for my phone ringing in a dairy barn, too. Meanwhile, mom is threatening to drive to Jefferson County to kick some cowboy @$$. And she would have, too. Good times. But I wouldn’t trade those days for all the apple butter in Georgia. Ain’t that right, John Larrance & Jena Miller?
11-13-13 8:31pm
Seven things.
#1) I never changed schools growing up. I was never the “new kid” till I went to college
#2) My great grandmother was a Jehovah’s witness & therefore, I was scared of God until about 6th grade when my friend Megan started inviting me to church with her. My salvation is due largely to her & her family.
#3) I hate strawberry ice cream. It gags me.
#4) I have no siblings. I still think this is wonderful.
#5) I have only owned two vehicles in my entire life.
#6) I have never been on a cruise, or out of the country, although I have been in over 30 states.
#7) I am wickedly stubborn.
Thankful for our little cozy house. It is just right for the two of us & our furry 4-legged children. It’s not new (by a long shot) but I know it is well built & sturdy. I’ve rode out many a storm in the basement. If it was much bigger, I wouldn’t be able to keep it clean, anyway. Thankful for a place to call home.
Of course I’m gonna be thankful for our veterans today. And of course I’m gonna have a story to go with it.
There was this crotchety old grumpy man that shopped at the store for as long as I can remember. Nothing special to set him apart, other than his strong Northern accent…which I will admit, made me dislike him even more.
As the years passed, instead of getting grouchier like most people do, he began to become warmer towards us, occasionally cracking a smile or tell us to have a nice day. Then he started bringing us cakes & sweets from the Food Lion across the street. A major transformation from such an irritable old man.
A few months after my wedding, I realized I hadn’t seen him in awhile. I asked a coworker that I knew would remember him, & he told me he had passed away back in the spring. I was astounded, & disappointed in myself that it had taken me so long to miss him. I went to the computer & pulled up his obituary. As I read it, I was overwhemed by what a fulfilling life he had lived. I hope that mine will be half as honorable:
…”he served in the U.S. Navy during WWII fighting U-boats from a blimp…he worked for International Harvester as a tool & die maker…he worked for the Catholic Diocese of Joliet…he was a Volunteer Fireman with a rank of Captain…he was an avid scout master…he was a lifelong member of the NRA…he enjoyed fishing, hunting, & tinkering in his shop where he proved a master of invention & creativity…he volunteered at the food ministry…he was preceded in death by his parents, wife, two brothers & seven sisters…survivors include a brother, seven grandchildren & eleven grandchildren…”
And thats one of the greatest men I’ve ever known. And I didn’t know him at all. Happy Veterans Day Mr. Walt. I’ve been wanting to write a tribute to him for quite some time, he’s been on my mind a lot. Today was a good one for that. And Happy Veterans Day to all my friends who served, I’m glad you made it home safe. Thank you for your service.
11-11-13 9:29pm
I waited on him WEEKLY for YEARS. I guess one of his kids wrote it, it was really enthralling. Also, in lieu of flowers, he wanted donations to be made to the Sevier County Food Ministries or the local humane society. I thought he hated pets.
I thought he hated everything.
I was so wrong.
Veterans Day: the 11th day of thankfulness. I am thankful to those currently enlisted, those who served, all their families, & those who wanted to serve & couldn’t. We are in your debt. I think of this often: several years ago (probably around 10) my mom, grandmother, & I were all sitting on the porch breaking beans. Mom was saying she had heard on the news there was a shortage of soldiers & they were talking about what would have to happen if more people didn’t start joining the military soon. Evidently the word draft had come up. So mom spouts off that I had better hurry up & have a kid or I could be drafted. Grandmother & I both stopped to stare at her like she had lobsters crawling out of her ears. “Jody, do you not know your daughter at ALL? I’m sure she would much rather go fight in war than raise a baby!” I sure would! The thought of a child STILL terrifies me. Not that war doesn’t, mind you. But thankful to those men & women who step out every day, forsaking everyone & everything familiar & loved to fight for our country. Our freedom. Our HOME. Thank you.
“Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you. Jesus Christ and the American Soldier. One died for your soul, The other died for your freedom.”
11-11-12 12:03
Today I’m thankful for a sense of humor. Mine AND everybody else’s. I laugh at the dumbest stuff. I love corny jokes. I enjoy looking at pictures of cat antics & videos of dogs. I crack up at the most inappropriate times. It makes the days go by faster. And I’m proud of my laugh lines-the same ones that my Clinique girl struggles to understand why I don’t care about smoothing. Laughter IS contagious. I will leave you with a few illustrations:
Me, behind the counter at work, to customer walking in: “Hello.”~with a WINNING smile, of course.
“Grass seed?”
“Curtains?”
“Grass seed?”
“Pineapples?”
At this point, they generally smile like I’m either a volunteer who escaped from the mental ward, catch onto my joke & laugh & say hello like a normal conversation, or frown & explain that they’re looking for grass seed (or the bathroom, usually). Its a lot of fun.
Yesterday, Lisa was over here visiting & she took one of those dreaded “selfies” of us. In our defense, Johnny was entertaining the munchkins outside.
Lisa: “You’ll hafta tag yourself, I can’t tag on my phone.”
Me: “What? Surely…”
Lisa: “No, look…how do I do it?”
I tap on the picture to make it big &…
Lisa: “…tag photo?…Ohhh…shut up!”
Me, laughing hysterically. In an effort to shut me up-
Lisa: “You weren’t thankful for anything yesterday.”
“Yes I was!!!”
“No, you weren’t. I looked again today.”
“Yes I was!”-frantically calling up my facebook on my phone. “Right here, that I can read!”
Lisa: “Oh, I just saw you shared a link. I didn’t read it.”
Me: “Thanks a lot, some best friend you are.”
Lisa: “But I liked it!”
Me: “No you didn’t!!!”
Lisa: “What????…well I meant to. Here, I’ll like it… There. So, what are you gonna be thankful for today?”
Me, bending over dying laughing: “I already was. My crockpot!”
Lisa: “No, I just checked it, it’s not on here.”
“Lisa. Look. Right there. Do you need facebook for dummies?”
“I think so. Ok, I’m liking it too.”
And we raffed& raffed…<3 my bestie. Her thankful day is coming the 28th.
Thankful for my crockpot today & every day. Especially thankful for it since our oven officially gave up the ghost last week. But the crockpot is awesome, regardless. Gives me time on my day off to do other stuff than worry about dinner. And on days when I work, it’s working for me 🙂 yep, I am definitely thankful for my crockpot. And I am thankful I’ve got food to put in it. Today is chili, if anyone is hungry.
At the risk of seeming shallow, I am thankful for manners today. Money can buy many things, & it can buy manners to a point. However, the truly well-bred & well-raised will stand out in a crowd. It makes a difference when you treat people with respect & make them feel at home in an unfamiliar setting. “Please” & “thank you” go a long way in retail, as well as the rest of the world. It helps to be sincere as well, but if not, fake it & you will still be taking the high road. It’s in the simplest things. It is holding a door for the person at the gas station. It is letting people cross in front of you when it’s raining & you’re cozy in your car. It is not interrupting someone when they’re speaking. It is so many things that here in the south we may take for granted & come as a culture shock when we visit…elsewhere…
I hope that people are still ingraining these policies in their children but I don’t think its as commonplace as it used to be, or needs to be. I see a lot of kids that have a shortage of respect for their parents, nevermind strangers. I can only hope that with age comes wisdom & they correct themselves.
Please be aware I’m not doing these in order of importance. I like to shake it up a little & write about what has convicted me on that particular day.
11-6-13 6:54 pm
Thankful for another day. Just now, scrolling through my newsfeed, I saw one of the “billboards” (as I like to call them) that said something to the effect of, “be thankful you are alive, someone, somewhere is fighting & drawing their last breath.” I also like the one that says “if we all took our problems & threw them in a pile to be doled out, we’d snatch our own back up.” So, I know that this day will be filled with drivers lost in space, customers lost in themselves, & probably a lunch that’s lost, period, but I know it’s quite a wondrous thing to just be alive, & I am grateful for it. Happy day, y’al
Alright. This one’s personal, y’all. Today I am thankful for my momma, my grandmother, and University of Tennessee football. If that sounds like a strange combination, you must have missed my status a couple of weeks ago.
This is my Grandmother’s grave today. She’s been gone just over five years. I am constantly reminded of her. She LOVED football. I mean, she loved it like a man does (no offense ladies, but you know what I mean). Every time I watch a ballgame I think of her hollerin’ & being on the edge of the couch when it was 3rd down for the opposing team: “Hold ’em boys, hold ’em…” Yes, that’s a football on her headstone. Underneath, it says “Go Vols!” I’m not even kidding. I’m thankful mom takes care of her grave because Lord knows I can’t. I’d be crying & snotting so hard the funeral directors would have to drive me home. I’m thankful these women taught me how to understand the game, & how to be a good sport. And today is a great example of “I’m for Tennessee & whoever’s playin’ Florida.” True story. Go Dawgs. And GO VOLS!!!!!
Oooh! Thirty Days of Thankfullness is here again 🙂 I know some of you don’t particularly care for it, but I much prefer opening my facebook to find my status feed full of blessings & pleasant thoughts. So here I go.
Thankful today that I live in East Tennessee. It is truly beautiful this time of year. (Actually, I find it beautiful most of the year) It was a brilliant day, with sunshine so bright it hurt my eyes & made me squint. The leaves are absolutely gorgeous, & the temperature is just right. We have fresh, drinkable, clean water all around us. We are close enough to the most-visited national park in the states to visit it as often as we want. Although the tourists are a pain, they do make Sevier County one of the more fortunate & funded counties around. I’m thankful that people in this area are not ashamed to ask for prayer for themselves, their family, or a complete stranger if they need it. I’m thankful for chickens crowing, frogs croaking, & locusts buzzing in the late afternoons. I’m thankful for porch swings to drink sweet tea on, a hometown small enough that I still run into people I know at the grocery store, & high school football games & plays that everyone still attend. I don’t even mind getting behind tractors occasionally, because farmers mean food. (And I love food.) I’m proud to be a hillbilly from Tennessee. I’m thankful this is home.
