EASTER WEEK-END has come and gone. All is well. We went UBER casual to church with our Oklahoma kids. Bad hair day and little make-up for me, but I was there. GETTING OLDER, GOING THROUGH THE COVID PANDEMIC AND LIFE IN GENERAL contributes to shifting gears doing the new NORM which is a whole lot of casual and no make-up. Bad hair days come naturally, but praise the LORD...I have HAIR.
Busy few days and I am resting up from all of the action. The important thing was that we were together in church. Contemporary gathering with light show, videos on the screen, loud music and dry ice smoke swirling about the singers' feet. I'm old school and this Grandma thought, 'Praise Team, breathing in that dry-ice smoke will damage your vocal cords and affect your lungs in a bad way.'
Should I have told them or let it go? Don't breathe this stuff in. The effects might be cool to look at as people are sitting listening to the singers, but it is harmful to be breathing that junk in. Hello. Did I say harmful? Yes. I said harmful.
BACK UP A FEW DAYS. TRACK MEET ON THURSDAY. Cold and windy. Grand did super well as she placed, breaking some of her personal records at the school she attends. Happy dance. Run like the wind and she did. Always fun to see the kids run races cheering them on especially my GRAND. I bought a megaphone and will take it with me to future events to yell through. Did you hear that?
Road trip on Friday. We made the decision to make a road trip to Oklahoma to spend family time and watch three Grandsons play SOCCER before Easter. Three Soccer games plus three Grandsons = excitement and tired backsides. I wanted to make this road trip to watch in person our boys in action for real and have time with Oklahoma Family.
The month of April has been a blessing to see all the GRANDS. It gets more difficult to see them all the older we get. Making the opportunity to see them when we can means we have to make some changes so we can see them. Being retired doesn't mean no obligations with a completely stress-free LIFE. It is altogether different. Each year is different. Surprise...you didn't see that one coming, did you?
Road trips have consequences as I am the designated driver. Traveling tires me out even if I don't want to believe it. I'm tired before I even see my LOVED ONES. Not fair, but is a reality to my old body.
We took our smaller car as our larger more comfortable one needs some work done on it as she shimmers when braking to slow down. Too much going on to have Hubby look at her. The time needed to work on her is more than allowed right now. So who we call PETE is the car we took. A PT Cruiser called PETE. So glad to have her.
Better gas mileage, but not as comfortable of a ride. As we arrived at the evening SOCCER GAME, the night came with us and we got to watch the Soccer Game under the bright lights. Grandson didn't play, but we watched the game and I learned more about soccer than I knew before. A thunder storm was brewing as we left to go to the Kids' house and unload our suit cases. I brought along some organic salad fixings with me for our visit.
On the way home from the soccer game, I caved in asking for a McDonalds Cheese Burger. Two years since I've had one. Can I say, Oops? I did. Better food choices in the morning. I still avoid coffee and sodas which is a plus.
Chatting late at night with family was fun. The next morning, one of our Grandson's games was canceled due to rainy/muddy conditions. Another Grand was a ref and another one was still going to play so we bundled up and went to the game parking the car where we could stay inside the car to watch the game. This was brilliant as it was cold and windy. We stayed dry and warm. Was great!
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| Our KIDS watching their youngest kick the soccer ball around the field. |
Afterwards, we went to their HOME. In the afternoon, I had to take a nap as the traveling caught up with me and I was zonked. Zombie time. Later that afternoon, we'd watch television programs on the Magnolia Channel. Chip and Joanna Gaines worked over many houses turning them into upscaled beauties. Gathering ideas to file away in my head.
Sunday...I wasn't planning on not going to church, but I did. I went wearing a nice blue blouse and new blue jeans. Jeans to church on Easter morning was a first for me. No Easter bonnet or new dress. Can you believe it? I did a first. Okay.
I decided that I'd take in a contemporary modern church service for Easter. He is risen...He is risen indeed. The important thing was that I was there with my family and we have a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus as our Savior.
They had a HOSPITALITY TABLE with an array of sweets...
D O N U T S . I ate two maple glazed Daylight DONUTS. Two, mind you. Not one. TWO. Two off the charts sweet donuts loaded with calories ooey gooey you're not suppose to eat that kind of bad stuff maple donuts.
Welp...back to eating Whole Foods this week. Stuff my face full of organic greens and drinking extra spring water.
I can honestly say that I will eat better later. Can I get a witness? 🙌I have to know to stay on my diet even when the stress grows and I am so tired it hurts.
Time for Easter egg HUNT and games.
Monday would come and we said our good-byes. BUT before we left the state we drove around Jenks where we use to live. The rental house is gone with a huge building in its place. In my mind, the house still stands and every room is accounted for. The kitchen in this mess of a house was one of the funnest I have ever had during 47 1/2 years of home making. Tis in my memory account. The junky and I do mean JUNKY physical house is gone, but the one in my memory remains looking pretty good as we fixed her up and called this hobble our temporary HOME.
Our Landlord at the time owned much property in the area. My dear Dad said that this landlord was a slumlord. I have to agree. He didn't take care of his properties very well. The place was a pit. We were desperate at the time for low rent. Long story short we rented from him for three years. We were told that we were his longest renters they had. Rent was extremely high in the area so we rented as cheaply as we could due to having so many bills and little money to work with.
During this time of living in the pit, we did fix the place up so it was livable. I remember when we agreed to rent this pit that the kitchen cabinet fronts were mostly white paper. Paper? Paper taped to the frames of the cabinets. It might have been better to remove the frames of the cabinet doors and just lived with shelves, but this wasn't stylish then. We'd no more think of having no fronts on the cabinet fronts than anything. Pull drawers were nailed shut. Cockroach city had to be cleaned up before filling the cabinets with our property. I should have refused to live here, but I didn't. I was 40 years old at the time and having a time feeling good about what was going on. I knew it was a stepping stone to better things, but the pull downward was awful.
When I went to the City Building to have the utilities placed in our name, the male clerk told me that this house had plumbing issues. It sure did. Raw sewage would run under the house and it smelt to high heaven. The Landlord did get the plumbing fixed, but until he did, we lived in these messed up conditions.
He said he'd deliver a air conditioning unit because the place had no cooler system. That was January. We started renting this place in January and by May, the weather was turning off hot. No air conditioner unit yet. A telephone call later he delivered the unit, but didn't install it. Left the heavy unit sitting on the porch. It was extremely heavy. Hubby got it to the back window where it would go. He installed it and we had cool air. The landlord should have installed the unit. He delivered a storm door expecting us to hang it. It got hung. It was a poorly fitted storm door going the wrong way, but hey, this is what he provided and we paid our rent like clockwork.
The ceiling in the dining area leaked like a sieve when it rained and our landlord was a roofer. Speaks volumes.
The shag carpet in the living room was multi-colored brown and orange shag that we'd pull up with permission revealing hard wood floors that we refinished. I tore off layers of wall paper in the bedroom and painted the walls Herbal Wreath. Dark brown paneling in the Living room was taken off revealing layers of wallpaper that I stripped then painted the walls a crisp white. Hubby stripped the hardwood floors, stained and added a finish. He rebuilt the kitchen cabinets making the Kitchen so much nicer. The family room would have beaded board installed on it to make it suitable.
After we worked on the rental, the interior looked nice, but I cannot say that about the exterior of this house. It was an embarrassment to live there. I had to suck it up and be thankful we had a roof over our heads. I was able to remain a stay at home wife and mom looking for a better place to live in the future.
We had huge debt at the time due to job lay offs. Not all was wonderful, but we didn't stay in Awfulville Oklahoma forever. When you get knocked down, you can stay down or you can get back up. We got up and I learned a great deal while I lived in a dump in one of the wealthiest towns in Oklahoma. A dump. Such wealth in the area with beautiful houses and neighborhoods. Not in Jenks proper. Challenging for me to not feel sorry for myself to say the least.
Actually down the street were shanties that looked like heck. These would be torn down later. How anyone lived in them scared me. I understand poverty and how easy it is to be in a not so nice place in life. Many mistakes we made, learned from and prayed about.
Difficult situations. Many. Lord help and He did. Yes, there is LIFE after difficult situations. Give THANKS. We serve the LIVING GOD. He hears our prays and helps us. I so wish I had prayed sooner to be delivered from this junky hideous house. I wish I had prayed that we never lived in such awful conditions in the first place.
I look back at the way it was and I know I could have and should have had a better attitude, but most of my energy was used up getting through the day without crying. I did what I knew to do...clean up the junky place and make the best of it. This place is in the past. My daughter graduated from High School there and then we'd leave going to Manhattan, Kansas to live. We were blessed to have a few nice friends. Still, I wish I had never lived in that junky house that we fixed up for the Landlord.
I look back now knowing I could have sewn beautiful clothing and draperies, made quilts, pillows, took cooking classes, made gourmet meals, washed the cars we did have more often, vacuumed more, prayed more, listened to music, went junking for bargains, made things, made jellies, canned food, studied more, walked more, drawn, painted, etc. I was a busy woman doing what I did...I was busy.
I worked at remodeling a rental that wasn't officially ours, was my Husband's wife, my children's mother, joined Christian Women's Club and held a position in this club. These dear Ladies were my friends and I sought solace going into their lovely homes for Prayer Meetings and Officers meetings. I was too ashamed and prideful to ask for prayer for getting back on our financial feet and to locate to a better living space. Pride comes in all kinds of shapes and sizes doesn't it?
I don't miss Jenks and am alright with not living there anymore. I know... I am not a city girl.
When it came time that Husband's job would take us to Manhattan, I was sad to leave Tulsa. I thought it would be here that we'd get back on our feet. It would be in Manhattan that we went forward. From a Manhattan fixer upper to a Farmhouse to rent in the country to our old rock house in small town America to a community over the river that we live now making plans to move back to small town America after our cottage is remodeled.
Fast forward to the future. Here we were in the year 2022 touring the small community of Jenks. The people drive way too fast through the old downtown streets of JENKS. Ridiculous. Dangerous as well. Careless. The downtown area of Little 'ole Jenks has been swallowed up by progress caging her in. I suppose if we had drove around town at night, the traffic would have been less and I could have taken more time thinking about when we lived there. We'd take walks in the evenings when it was a slower paced world.
Then we went to Zieglers Art and Frame store in Tulsa. What a store.
The Tulsa traffic bothered me some and when this happens I get tired.
Afterwards we left the city traffic driving out of Tulsa toward the countryside scenery on our way back to Kansas. Sun shinny weather to Independence, Kansas where we visited LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE near Independence, Kansas.
Some people are not bothered with fatigue after traveling, but I am. Jet Lag in my land cruiser. Can't help it. I do get a type of jet lag. I really think God has made me a slow paced person that needs to slowly take in the sights.
The mind travels faster than my body does and I am just this way.
Now to return to HOME LIFE. I carried three old composition dolls to the upstair bedroom where they are resting on an old victorian sofa. Working on laundry and playing catch up blogging.
If I live LIFE as if I'm doing it alone, the road will be too long and I will have a heavy load to carry draining me. If I live LIFE confessing that God is holding me up and helping me every inch of the way, then I will have a opportunity to enjoy LIFE more abundantly. I choose to have God in my LIFE. Amen and hallelujah.
He is risen indeed.
~d
