Wednesday, June 15, 2005
MARCH AND APRIL....1993
Early March sent the three of us to Springfield. Bear and I had dental appointments and we wanted new glasses. Becky went along for shopping and lunch. John celebrated his 36th birthday that year and Jonathan was exactly half his age, coming in at 18. We mailed John’s gift to him and I had Jonathan’s birthday dinner with his favorite food….lasagna. Birthday cake and ice-cream, of course.
Our friends, the Bryant’s came for a week-end and we enjoyed their visit. They always brought their little dog, Lily, and she was a doll. I don’t know why but when our children are all gone I guess we survive the “empty nest syndrome” with pets. They take the place of the vacuum left by the activity of raising children and sending them off on their journey.
I had been bothered several times with chest pains that were quite significant. Once over the immediate occurrence, I fell into denial about how bad they really were. I convinced myself it was just indigestion. We decided to have our bedroom, hall and living room papered and found a couple of local women who had a good reputation of papering. We moved all the furniture into the center of the rooms to prepare for them and it was quite a job. We didn’t realize how furniture is always around wall space.
They came as promised and the first day filled cracks in the paneling. The second day they came and put a second coating over them. The third day they began sanding off smooth and the fourth day began wallpapering. Of course we were unprepared for the length of time it would take to do the job right and believe me, we were only too anxious to get our little house back to order. When finished, it lived up to our expectations and the women did a very nice job. We spent the week-end putting everything back that we drug out and it took days to get rid of the dust the sanding caused.
We went to Springfield to celebrate Becky’s birthday and treated her to lunch, along with her gift. The house was too messy at the time to fix a proper dinner at home for her so the next best thing was the Pizza Hut. Her personal favorite. The end of March we were wakened with a severe thunder storm, preceded with hail and high wind. Hurrah!!! March went out like a lion so Spring is near.
What follows a simple bit of redecorating? Right! New furniture. The pretty walls somehow made our furniture look “less” and showed up every blemish. The size and color of it now looked out of place with the new walls. We began shopping for a new bedroom set and it didn’t take long to find something better than we had. While the salesman was putting the finishing touches to the sale we roamed the store looking at other items. Then we found a curio cabinet we couldn‘t resist. Becky, being the arbitrator, told the salesman if we bought the curio and also the bedroom suite, we should have a lamp thrown in. The salesman agreed, to our surprise. Bear and I would never quibble about prices or “add ons”……if we thought the price was right, we bought it, if we couldn’t afford it, we didn’t. Becky was showing us a whole new way of furniture buying. We liked it a lot. We were promised delivery the same afternoon so we hurried home to make room for the new additions. Out with the old; in with the new.
The 9th of April, George arrived to spend the night so he and Becky could drive down to Louisiana to visit John, Barb and LJ. I fixed a pizza supper for all of us and they left early the next morning. They stayed a week and had a barrel of fun. When they returned, I had a cookout for them…..they were starved after a long day’s drive. George left for home the next day. I spent my day making curtains for the bedroom and Becky helped us get new mini-blinds up. The difference from heavy drapes to the new blinds and curtains was like daylight and dark. We loved the “new look.”
After the severe pains I had suffered in March, Bear insisted on me getting a check-up. He was concerned and thought we should pursue some tests. After an upper GI at the hospital a Hiatal hernia was discovered and I was given medication to relieve the problem. I had been so free of any physical disorders I was surprised to have something “wrong.” Now, I was on two pills. One for low thyroid and this one for Hiatal hernia. At the time I was 61-and had never had any type of surgery and never really been sick. I was truly blessed and I knew it. I never took my good health for granted.
The month ended and at last we could get out of our long-sleeved shirts and ties at work. It was always great to get into short sleeves…….for comfort but also because the time of year signaled, Spring…………..
Until tomorrow,
Essentially Esther
Our friends, the Bryant’s came for a week-end and we enjoyed their visit. They always brought their little dog, Lily, and she was a doll. I don’t know why but when our children are all gone I guess we survive the “empty nest syndrome” with pets. They take the place of the vacuum left by the activity of raising children and sending them off on their journey.
I had been bothered several times with chest pains that were quite significant. Once over the immediate occurrence, I fell into denial about how bad they really were. I convinced myself it was just indigestion. We decided to have our bedroom, hall and living room papered and found a couple of local women who had a good reputation of papering. We moved all the furniture into the center of the rooms to prepare for them and it was quite a job. We didn’t realize how furniture is always around wall space.
They came as promised and the first day filled cracks in the paneling. The second day they came and put a second coating over them. The third day they began sanding off smooth and the fourth day began wallpapering. Of course we were unprepared for the length of time it would take to do the job right and believe me, we were only too anxious to get our little house back to order. When finished, it lived up to our expectations and the women did a very nice job. We spent the week-end putting everything back that we drug out and it took days to get rid of the dust the sanding caused.
We went to Springfield to celebrate Becky’s birthday and treated her to lunch, along with her gift. The house was too messy at the time to fix a proper dinner at home for her so the next best thing was the Pizza Hut. Her personal favorite. The end of March we were wakened with a severe thunder storm, preceded with hail and high wind. Hurrah!!! March went out like a lion so Spring is near.
What follows a simple bit of redecorating? Right! New furniture. The pretty walls somehow made our furniture look “less” and showed up every blemish. The size and color of it now looked out of place with the new walls. We began shopping for a new bedroom set and it didn’t take long to find something better than we had. While the salesman was putting the finishing touches to the sale we roamed the store looking at other items. Then we found a curio cabinet we couldn‘t resist. Becky, being the arbitrator, told the salesman if we bought the curio and also the bedroom suite, we should have a lamp thrown in. The salesman agreed, to our surprise. Bear and I would never quibble about prices or “add ons”……if we thought the price was right, we bought it, if we couldn’t afford it, we didn’t. Becky was showing us a whole new way of furniture buying. We liked it a lot. We were promised delivery the same afternoon so we hurried home to make room for the new additions. Out with the old; in with the new.
The 9th of April, George arrived to spend the night so he and Becky could drive down to Louisiana to visit John, Barb and LJ. I fixed a pizza supper for all of us and they left early the next morning. They stayed a week and had a barrel of fun. When they returned, I had a cookout for them…..they were starved after a long day’s drive. George left for home the next day. I spent my day making curtains for the bedroom and Becky helped us get new mini-blinds up. The difference from heavy drapes to the new blinds and curtains was like daylight and dark. We loved the “new look.”
After the severe pains I had suffered in March, Bear insisted on me getting a check-up. He was concerned and thought we should pursue some tests. After an upper GI at the hospital a Hiatal hernia was discovered and I was given medication to relieve the problem. I had been so free of any physical disorders I was surprised to have something “wrong.” Now, I was on two pills. One for low thyroid and this one for Hiatal hernia. At the time I was 61-and had never had any type of surgery and never really been sick. I was truly blessed and I knew it. I never took my good health for granted.
The month ended and at last we could get out of our long-sleeved shirts and ties at work. It was always great to get into short sleeves…….for comfort but also because the time of year signaled, Spring…………..
Until tomorrow,
Essentially Esther
