Thanks to all the family, friends and bloggers who sent cards, letters, emails or called yesterday to wish me a happy birthday. I was surprised by Rocky’s daughter, Holly, showing up to help me celebrate and Becky took the day off so the three of us did girly stuff and had a marathon talk-a-thon.

I have hit the double sevens….yes, 77 years since I arrived on planet earth. I weighed in at 12 lbs. 2 ounces. Most babies are red at birth, I was pink and white with a shock of hair down the back of my neck. Well the weight came natural since my mother ate her way through a cellar full of potatoes during the winter. I was made up of carbs and they are still my favorite food chain to this day. Can’t argue with the success of good health they have given me.

We had to take pictures by two’s since we didn’t have a person to take all three of us together…..so here is Essentially Esther on her 77th with Becky and Holly.

I thank the good Lord for giving me all those years and to the people who have touched my life. Many of you have blessed me all along the way and never knew it. You have given me so many happy memories and I thank you.

Essentially Esther
May 28, 2009

I have had quite a variety of activity the past few days. We have had so much rain everything is growing out of bounds. The front half of our property is maintained but the back half is left to go natural. In Missouri that means lots of undergrowth.

Virginia Creeper is climbing up everything back there and a constant irritation to me. I take issue with it as much as I can. Because of the rain we have lots of ticks and mosquitoes…..even in the part that we mow. Every time I walk Mandy I have to look for ticks when I come in. Poison Ivy is flourishing and I have to wear long pants and long sleeved shirts when I work in back.

It’s just smart to avoid all of the “itchy” things that ruin a good day. I won’t even mention snakes. I know they are there but I wear closed up shoes and leather gloves. I see them occasionally but I don’t let them spook me. They are usually the garter snake or some non-poisonous kind.

While I’ve been recuperating from the allergic reaction I had I’ve been working in the garage while it is cool in the mornings. Becky and I filled it up with furniture and collectibles to the point I couldn’t get the car in anymore. I have been burning boxes and clearing out…..getting ready to take a bunch of stuff to our booths here and in Arkansas.

When I come in to rest between jumps I work on another afghan in the making. I like to have one in progress as it’s the only way I can sit still for a while. I much prefer being busy doing things but my energy level is not the best right now. When I rest from one job I’m working on another. It keeps me going.

I have resumed my old pass-time of working crossword puzzles. It helps keep my brain on target and still offers something when I get tired of crocheting. It’s true I’m busy with a lot of things but yet nothing interesting enough for reporting.

Today is my aunt Inabelle’s birthday. She is one of my mother’s sisters and no longer with us. She was very good to me as a child when she was still living at home with grandma. I stayed with grandma a lot growing up so I have many happy memories of her, aunt Sally and uncle Buster……all living at home at the time.

Memories and hope for the future combine to make life worth living. It is a journey of where we’ve been and where we hope to go. Living today worthwhile will give us more good memories and closer to the future we hope for.

And thus……today is the most important day of our life……

Essentially Esther

I am glad to report that I’m much better and back to normal activity. Since my doctor took me off the Lisinopril I have heard of several others who went through the same process. Some were able to tolerate it longer as I did while others deal with it much sooner. At present I have been taken off BP medicine as I have been regulated for some time…..I may not need to go back on it, but will continue being checked.

This time of year in the Ozarks is a favorite of mine. Flowers and shrubs planted long ago return to offer their fragrance and beauty. It is such a joy to see the balance of nature played out in the back yard. Bee’s and Hummingbirds hover over the sweetness of the blooms….the roses have had a perfect Spring to give their best color and size. I have to enjoy them in the yard as my cats jump on any plants or blooms I bring in. They miss the natural habitat they normally would be in.

Tomorrow Becky and I will decorate the graves. Southerner’s are serious about Memorial Day. The family clans gather from all around the country to pay respect to their dead. The children are taught early about their forbearer’s and the sacrifices they’ve made to guarantee the good life we have. School reunions, family reunions……decorating the graves as family, will all be played out this weekend. It is a time of honor for the dead and the coming together of the living.

For the family I belong to, scattered all around the country, I thank you for the blessings and the times shared, together.

Essentially Esther

………something good is about to happen. First I had allergies, then it ran into a full-scale infection in my bronchial tubes. I was almost over that when my feet slipped out from under me on the laminate floor getting out of bed and that was a fast trip down, hitting my head on the night stand. I got a goose egg on my head and a big black and blue left thigh. Lucky I didn’t break anything……maybe all that padding I carry around is a good thing.

Yesterday went well…….until 3:00am this morning. I woke in a fog and my throat was feeling funny. Kind of numb but sore. I also had a sore tongue on the same side (left) but figured it was the last effort of the bronchial saga and dozed on and off until 5:30am.

I got up and went to a mirror because my cheek felt funny. I was not prepared for what I saw. The left side of my face was swollen down to and including my throat. I took one look and knew I was on my way to the doctor. Becky is always up at 5:30 during the week so I walked up to her house. It was getting hard to breathe and swallow.

When she opened the door I scared her something terrible. She thought I was having a stoke and we even thought of Bell’s Palsy…..at any rate she dressed and we drove to the ER at West Plains. After the usual check-in we waited for the shift change and a doctor came in…….took all the vitals….everything checked fine. He concluded it was an allergic reaction to something. Then the questions…..new medication? different food? On and on……when he looked at my list of RX’s, he noticed Lisinopril and immediately said it has this effect on a lot of people after taking the medication a couple of years. I had been on it for five.

The only “new” thing I had eaten was a bowl of Special K with red berries for supper. Sounded good to me. I may not eat them again for a week or so in case it was the dehydrated strawberries or whatever preservatives they use. At any rate, I was given steroids and benedryl IV/s and shortly after we were released to go home.

I am taking benedryl tablets every four hours and the swelling has gone down some and it is no longer hard to breath or swallow.

OK……With all this going on I know the only way from here it UP!!! I can’t wait to see what the prize is because it’s bound to be a good one. If you think I look bad with a black thigh, a lump on my head, a swollen face………..

………you should see the other guy.

Essentially Esther

After three weeks of rain the sun is out and I can almost see the grass growing. With all the moisture and now full-sun everything is looking great. I had plenty of time to watch the weather. What started out to be allergies, ended up with a bronchial infection that wouldn’t go away. The past couple of days I feel much better but don’t have my pep back yet. All in good time.

During the time I was recuperating, I discovered a mouse came to visit in the bottom cupboards. Talk about a bummer!! That meant I had to take everything out, wash and put back after cleaning the shelves. Clorox wipes are a great invention for jobs like that. I can’t be too mad at the mouse, I guess, because it had tried to gnaw the plastic top off the malt powder jar that I make my malts with. He gave it his best but he couldn’t get into it. Now how can you be mad at a mouse who likes malts?

The critters loved having me “down,” hours upon hours watching daytime TV which is the pits. They curled up nearby and slept like babies…..opening an eye once in a while to make sure I was still there.

Napoleon has a new trick. I wasn’t out much and he got tired of coming by to see if I’d come out. In desperation, he got up on the front step and started hollering. It worked, so now when he wants a treat he does his screech until I show up. Having a peacock for a pet is a hoot. He’s always evolving with his communication skills and he has me pretty well trained.

I guess this is all for today. No fluff, no picture, no nothing’……I hope to be back to full production soon. The trouble with being sick is……when you’re sick you don’t care what the house looks like. Then you get better and coming out of the fog it’s a cruel realization that there is a lot waiting on your plate.

Also, on a serious and sad note, I learned a classmate and his wife died of health issues less than a month apart. Though life took us different ways we kept up with each other and at reunion time it was always good to see them. The roll call of our class is becoming smaller and smaller and it’s no wonder. This month marks 60-years since we marched into the auditorium and said goodbye to high-school.

My, my. It was all so long ago…………

Essentially Esther

Just to let you know why you aren’t seeing a blog from Essentially Esther. Remember when I mentioned allergy problems? Well, this should prove I’m no doctor, I have a habit of making my own prognosis on my ailments and sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t.

I spent most of the time in George’s recliner except when the kids hauled me off to an Urgent Care Unit nearby……X-rays and some minutes later showed I had bronchitis.

I still feel yukky and weak……I guess it’s true that “old folks” take longer to ward off such things. Whatever. I’m going back to the couch.

Hope to see you soon.

Essentially Esther

I’ve had a week off and it went too fast. I told myself I’d take a little time and let my brain unwind. I guess I let it unwind too much as I lost my last set of keys to the mini-van and had to have a locksmith come to my rescue. Silly me! How did I know it would be so expensive? Becky’s house and car keys were on my key-ring so she isn’t exactly happy about that, either.

I haven’t had any need for a locksmith in my whole life (and that’s quite a while) and I did the unthinkable….yes, I told him what I wanted without asking prices. Of course, I only needed the keys and remote but I didn’t know the keys would have a micro-chip in them which is more money, I would have to pay for a “test” key just to get into the car and then the micro-chips would start the car. A safety factor.

Unbelievable!! From now on I’m going to wear these keys like jewelry. The price of things never balances with my expectations. I think a lot of it is that I’m still living in the world as I’ve always known it…..I take good care of things so I rarely have any reason for repairs. In my defense “knowing” wouldn’t have made much difference…..I had to have the keys. The remote was an option but cheaper than the keys.

I can remember taking my poor little mother to the grocery store. We would go up and down the isles looking for something she needed but when we found it, she was astonished at the price and her comment was always…….. “I can remember when bread was only 12 cents a loaf,” or “I can’t believe they want that much for a dozen eggs.” Now I see I’m falling into the same position….believe me, the world is nothing like I grew up in and as far as I’m concerned, we lost the best part of “what was.” Now I understand how mom felt. What has happened to our world???

So!! As Mr. Peabody says, that is the moral of the story….. (and no, I don’t think kids know who Mr. Peabody is.)

Factor in we’ve had a week of rain, I’m choked up with pollen and Mandy has chewed off most of her hair with allergies. All the meds and TLC have done zippo. So to over-ride the above, Becky and I are leaving for a long weekend with George tomorrow so we will soak up big city life for a few days and come home on Sunday.

To the ladies with children, I wish you a very happy Mother’s Day. To the men, I hope some of her day rubs off on you…..happiness has a way of spreading, and we all owe them gratitude for carrying us around in a bubble nine months and then….. the rest of their lives.

Where would we be without our Mom’s?

Essentially Esther