July 31st….back in the day…1978
it was a mighty hot day…we lived in solo, MO…an older farmhouse with no air conditioner…had a fan in the window blowing the breeze…had two red velvet type couches in the livingroom…so comfortable, that was where i was stretched out when i felt a tiny little fingernail scratch me, odd, i thought, what was that feeling?? then the next thing i knew, i was standing in the bathtub as my water had broken…this was all new to me, as you were my first child…darlin’ and i got all excited as today was the day! he started timing my contractions, they were far apart…we rounded up the hospital bag, some tea in the cooler of ice and popsicles and off we went towards town…we were not in a big hurry, so i asked your daddy to stop at the creek, outside houston…baptist camp..at that time, it was a low water bridge, so we got out and your daddy helped me sit down on the bridge…i enjoyed having my feet in the cold, rushing water, enjoying the popsicle before it melted…enjoying the sun shining on us…what a beautiful day…your daddy kept his watch busy, timing those contractions…they were getting stronger and closer together…still, i’d rather be outside than stuck inside a hospital room, so we continued to enjoy the river, the wildlife, the love we had for each other, had music playing from the truck…we were so EXCITED…we were gonna have a baby! US, two crazy hippies, were gonna create a new life…the water felt so very good on my feet and legs, i could have stayed there forever…but then, oh my, the contractions were very strong and less than 10 minutes apart…guess it was time to head to the hospital now…arrived and was taken down to be examined and oh my! it won’t be long now…and they were right…it wasn’t very long…your daddy was beside me, holding my hand…well, i was crushing his hand! hahaha i had enough strength, i could have pulled mountains around, i do believe! hahaha PUSH, PUSH, PUSH and that was all she wrote…a beautiful baby girl came into this world…you let out a scream and took in your first breath of air…how wonderful, they placed you on my chest and i got to check you out…your daddy still holding my hand and then he was holding you…we were both in tears…how wonderful, you were here, you were perfect and we were so blessed…melinda ray sullens…within a couple of hours, i was up walking around, you were fine and dandy and we talked dr myers into letting us go on home now…but we had one stop to make before we headed to solo…we had to go to elk creek to show you off to the ‘ol man…we had you on a pillow in the seat between us…grandpa came out and said i thought you all were having a baby today? and then we showed him you…he grabbed you up gently and carried you into the house…what a wonderful day…what a wonderful child…what a wonderful life of pure love and now there was one more to love…thank you Ray…for all the love and teaching me how to be a momma! SMILE ***NOTE TO MY EDITOR, BETTY BOOP, LONG TIME MO FRIEND, THANKS FOR CORRECTING ME, IT WAS BAPTIST CAMP BRIDGE, NOT DOG’S BLUFF…I DIDN’T ROUND UP MY JOURNAL BEFORE I WROTE THIS, MUST HAVE BEEN THAT BABY DAY BUD THAT HAD ME ALL CONFUSED! HAHAHA LOVE YA, BB!***
AS JUNE FLEW BY, I CAUGHT A GLIMPSE
Thought I’d better hurry and write a story for June, 2014, she’s coming to a close…
my goodness, where did this month go? it quickly passed on by…how can that be? as each day was so long!
we have had wonderful raindrops and unusually hot temperatures, right off the bat
so hot the clouds cry for us each afternoon, making it feel more like FL FL land than TN
for about 10 days straight, you could set your clock by the afternoon showers
around 5:00 pm, yep, the clouds rolled in, the skies rained and the earth was so happy
odd year for gardening, went from a day of spring into intense heat in the afternoons
but it should work excellent for the fall crops, everything is so tasty and delicious this year
the flavor of organic was well worth the drive and we got to make new friends, to boot! can’t beat that!
it’s almost angel time, that time has come to mean so very much to me these days, and especially these nights!
how nice it is to have love in my heart and to share that love, to feel the sweetness of conversation, of caring, of touch, of laughter and music and dancing…
had a bad scare with my Momma, got to visit with her all night, was so very happy when she woke up, ready for breakfast…wake up! wake up! yes, Momma!
still don’t know what to think of a family member…i try to be civil, but i can feel in my heart, besides music, the only thing we share in common, is our Momma
my very first grandbaby turned 14 this month…sweet sarah nicole…she’s my ray of sunshine…i gave her music, peace, colorful veggie and flower seeds and a rainbow in every color of Cherokee jewelry. i hope she always KNOWS that i love her madly!!!!!!!! she taught me how to be a grandma and she did a mighty fine job! SMILE
i have not been out and about much here lately, just tending to plants, visiting with friends, sharing goodness with neighbors, sharing my music with ALL!!!!!!!!
i have made a commitment, as real as virtual can be. i’m happy to have a beautiful ring of his devotion on my hand…my heart is so happy, i hope yours is, too!!!!!!!
Read Moremay has come and almost gone
another month has zoomed on by! let’s see if i can remember a few things about it…i always remember jesse’s birthday on may 3rd and even got her box of love and cherokee jewelry to her in fl fl land ON TIME! it’s been quite a while since i was on time! i remember she shared her birthday with aunt bonnie! so sending love to my favorite sullens auntie! her and aunt verde i was closest to. of course, grandma anna and i hit it off from the word go! robin and i took a ride NE to a wonderful, organic greenhouse…such nice folks, brought home a car load of baby plants! had mexican feast in morristown on the way home…spent many a day, cleaning pots and hanging baskets and planting plants, a few at a time…oh, how i cherish my hands in the dirt…pj found my other chains and bungees so about a dozen will be hanging, multi colors to shine…lots of herbs…then was gifted 4 grainger county tomato plants from brenda, my neighbor…phoenix and i planted them in the ground by the porch and she put up my little black fence sections so they hopefully won’t get mowed down…i split my cherry tomato plants i started from seed in the bedroom window with robin and i have a HUGE 2′ x 2′ pot full of tomatoes and i asked the master gardener lady for a big, slicing tomato for a tomato sandwich. i have it in the big pot that the gardenia had frozen in…it is twice as big as any of the others…have been to robin and jason’s home several times for bbq’s out in the back yard…it’s nice to see after surgery #2 that jason is getting some use out of his arm again…that would be a scary thing, especially as he’s a chef…and i must say! the best chef in east TN…i have special parking rights to the back! hahaha PJ made honor roll, math excellence and shared top grades in her class…quinn will start K at piedmont this year…he is such a wonder…he loves to help me garden, he’s so thoughtful of others and lordy, what a work ethic…takes after his momma…and g-bob, of course…he had worked with g-bob every day since he could walk on his own! g-b0b is his loving name for grandpa bob…i’m sure you figured that one out. grandma barbara and g-bob live up the hill. a couple of acres there, what a wonderful place to raise your family! i live in apartments about 15 minutes away. been here 4 years, have had a few disagreements with the owner, washing clothes, handicap parking, cutting my tree, i’m the crazy hippie lady on the hill…now i’ve gone and pissed off the owner because i refused to have them spray their roundup beside my garden…they tried once and i wrote an email to betty the property owner…i bet i’m the only one that emails instead of going down to the office! haha anyhow, wasn’t a week later, spraying all around the buildings, so they won’t have to weed eat i reckon…i got pissed…so glad i was home…the last straw…seriously house hunting…it’s been HOT as the dickens for may, high 80’s for many days…we need rain, not storms please, just rain…have a lot on my mind, virtual vs. real, love vs. lust…angels vs. devils…truth vs..lies…good vs. evil…lordy, it’s hard to be good! SMILE remember that love is what matters…true love…if you find some, hang on with both hands…sigh…and i hope it’s real…and in person…so enjoy each day and know that i love you! yes, YOU! i love you madly! cherish each moment that you are given together…as illness and life itself can change us…as quickly as a heartbeat…so get out, do stuff, keep moving and share a smile, share a laugh, always share your heart…be good to each other…share the love! SMILE
Read MoreVirtual Bliss
April 24, 2014
3:oo am or so
virtual wedding
got to say “i do”
to his “you betcha, i do”
and i really do!
SMILE
a day in history
north meets south
east meets west
it’s all good! SMILE
Read Moremarch 7, 1927 – march 7, 1955 – march 7, 2014
what a most wonderful birthday…my doorbell rang, a big beautiful bouquet of flowers were delivered!
now i must say, that’s always a lovely thing to have happen! thanks my sweet FL family!
i also have boxes and packages at my front door when i opened it up for the day!
the most exquisite candle i have ever seen! one you never light…it’s big and purple with flowers inside and smells like hydrangeas…
that was from those sweet grandbabies and family in MO…and marty tate was sneaky, sneaky! so wonderful, but sneaky!
i can see lots of hanging baskets, huge bags of dirt and veggies a growing on my porch in my near future! THANKS
and robin and phoenix and quinn brought the most beautiful butterfly cake…it was delicious and almost all gone now…
presents! a wonderful necklace and bracelet and big box of wildflower seeds…and the GG happy birthday balloons! yippee
i got such wonderful gifts and they sang for me and pj and quinn helped me blow out my candles! Wonderful wish!!
cake in a container, presents and balloons rounded up and off to see GG we go…got to visit with her and feed her cake…
it’s always been fun to share my birthday with my momma…this year we shared love and cake and sweet grands and great grands! SMILE
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February 27, 1978
oh my goodness, i was scared…i was fixing to say “I DO”…we had our honeymoon first, stayed in springfield, MO on glenstone street…went to a concert at the university SMSU…saw Shooting Star and Missouri…an excellent show…a motel room, was so special even after being together so long “just for fun”…wow 3 years…living in Colorado and Missouri…what’s the term, love child?? and she has been loved forever…1978 was a good year, i became a Sullens and a momma…notice it’s not the word sullen, it has an s on either end…much different! haha and those were my 2 favorite things! we were the 2 crazy hippies out in the woods, loving life, loving our families, loving our friends…trying to tend to this sweet earth and make a living to take care of our babies…we had a lot of fun, played a kick ass stereo, there was always music and had friends that played all over the usa, so it was fun to “be with the band” SMILE…darlin’ had the best laugh ever! him, uncle jerry, marty, you can hear them laugh 1/2 mile away! well, that might be a little far, but you hear it and can’t help but smile and laugh because it makes you feel so very, very good…my momma asked me once, why does joe laugh all the time? i said ’cause he’s a happy man! He was a kept man and i was a kept woman…we were blessed with a blonde, a redhead and a brunette, 3 girls and our son marty, amazing how much sullens resemblance…our children have good hearts, take care of themselves and their families and are mighty sweet to me…i love it, they don’t kiss ass nor believe everything they read…i love they ask why?? and now i am blessed with sweet grandbabies, too! from 2 crazy hippies moving to be “back to landers”…back in the day…we worked our butts off, each and everyone of us and it was FANTASTIC…i’m so glad we got the chance to spend so much time together…pretty much 24/7…we tried many things to make a living, always wanting to work together, that worked best for us, instead of town jobs…spawn run farm, organic veggies, aquaculture, raising cows, pigs, tilapia fishes, gardens, cutting firewood, shiitake mushrooms, then computer work, repairs, programming, we tried it all…even worked for the lottery, servicing their pull tab machines…pay one, get 2, they loved it…Miss Helper! errands and deliveries, COMPOST, H.B.B.D. (Home based business directory) JCAD (joe and cathy’s antique directory) it would keep you busy with 4 children, 3 meals a day, snack, clothes, dishes, tending the woodstove or tending the gardens in the summertime…it took all of us to keep things running smoothly and 6 folks create lots of chores! we had the best of food, the best of water, clean air, we were so very blessed…what a wonderful way to raise your family…we always took off for the desert for our anniversary, joe’s cousin julie and her son travis would move in to tend to things while we were gone…4 corners, mesa verde, las vegas, always paying our respect at the grand canyon…sometimes zion…depended on how well we did at vegas…so thank you darlin’, i had a really good time i’d say 90% of our 27 years together was GREAT fun…and those times are near and dear to my heart…and thanks for sending me an angel…you did good…well, you ALWAYS did good, so that’s nothing new…just much appreciated…thanks for teaching me how to love, how to trust men, how to enjoy being me…thanks for bringing out the best in me…I DO, I DID and i loved it, madly! with all my heart, cathy
Read MoreWeather for 2014 by first 12 days of the year!
January 2014…sunshine 40 degrees
February…rain 36, snow tonight
March…sunshine 26, windy
April…sunshine 38, calm winds
May…sunshine 50, then temps drop
June…cold, snow, windy, 17 degrees
July…cold, 11, down to 0
August…cloudy, 32
September…sunshine, 40
October…cloudy, 50’s
November…rain, 54
December…sunshine 55
so there you have it! from the smoky mtns of east TN…
SMILE
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cat’s box of love
in MO, darlin’ was an ELK and we were very active…in FL, i was an ELK and very active…here in TN, i never found my ELK home…all the lodges are farther than i want to drive with a drink in me, and how can you not have a couple of rum n cokes? so instead, i started giving from me directly…i started making “cat’s box of love” in a small USPS priority box, i can fit a baker’s dozen chocolate chip cookies…this is my 3rd year of boxes of love, the post office folks in jefferson city and dandridge love to see me coming as they get a baggie of cookies too…the only trouble i’ve had in 3 years was the box to sitka, alaska…sorry tommy…i think it took the slow boat to china…i send them to folks to let them know that i’m thinking of them, i send them as get well soon, i miss you, have a GREAT day, kinda thing…i’m PROUD to say, in 2014, my cookies are healthier with real butter now, as “everything is NOT better with blue bonnet on it”…marketing that had me hooked for 20 years! and now i’m using bigger, dark chocolate chips…always only brown sugar and the main thing is, when i’m baking them, the tunes playing and the thoughts of love are for the person i’m baking for…so when they open their box to their baggies of 6 and 7 cookies, they will TASTE the love in each bite…i’ve lost track of all the folks sent to, some multiple times over the years…but if you haven’t had one yet, there is always more baking in my future! with love SMILE
i must update this story…boo never got his last box of love…on the post office tracking page, it made it to spokane on time, it never made it to his p. o. box…WA legalized a couple of months before his mail…lordy, the middle of the night guy had the munchies! hahahahaha and don’t believe a word of it, your box might “say” it’s insured, file a claim and wait for nothing…so i hope he had milk while he ate boo’s cookies…can i also say, i hope he got choked up a little bit? a “cat’s box of love” bit the dust…
*spokane news flash* 7 months after the fact, boo’s box of love appeared in his post office box…he said they were mighty HARD but no fur….hahahaha
“thru rain, snow, sleet and hail, winter, spring and summer……..it went around the world, but it DID get delivered”…SMILE
Read Moreangels today
i’ve got angels playing with me…
earlier today, i was checking my list, names and addresses for my christmas cards and i kept seeing someone out of the corner of my eye…standing to the left of me, even leaning over to see the list…this went on for about a half hour…stronger and stronger, finally i just said out loud, well hello there, you know i can see you…and no longer…just sat back down at the keyboard from being in the kitchen, my list here at my desk, it’s 4-5 pages typing paper, a paperclip at the top…i was glancing up at the monitor and the paper moved…the bottom half lifted up and settled back down, not once, but twice…a few minutes apart…are the angels getting better at showing or am i getting better at seeing? whichever the case may be, it sure makes me a happy woman! i do so feel the love!! thank you, sweet angels…big SMILE
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