Category Archives: When Real Life Interferes

Sporadic Postings for a While…..

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I am in a current situation where a complicated issue has landed in my lap along with everything else I am juggling. This happens to be a time of year when a few annual “extras” are due. Everything is manageable, although does require time. I will post as I am able.

We are in our rainy season and frequent afternoon deluges add an extra dimension to being out and about. On the other hand, after a very rainy morning, then a long stretch of sunshine followed by another round of rain – short intense part, then regular rain –  there was a lovely rainbow and a fainter one above it. I haven’t seen a double in along time.

Which reminds me, if you have time, pop in to read my short story, “Drizzles and Drenches”, it was a fun one to write. https://charliehudson.net/stories/story200602.html  

Hmm, you might have to cut and paste the above link.

Of Cars and Trucks…..

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A recent conversation reminded me of one of those amusing aspects when I was in the advanced stage of pregnancy. My first husband and I were solidly with him as a General Motors guy and me as Ford with Dodge close second. Now I actually had one of the first RX-7’s brought into Clarksville, TN when we married. That was because many of us singles had sports cars and while I would have gone for another Mustang; being a “first” with the RX-7 was too hard to resist. Anyway, my husband had a Corvette and I don’t recall how many he’d had prior to that. The point is a distinct lack of cargo space in either car and we did buy a house. With a house you have to do things and my husband was quite handy. That means hauling stuff like bags of mulch, etc., Being newly wed I surprised him when I sacrificed my RX-7 and swapped it out for a Chevy Silverado truck for him. While I didn’t derive any particular pleasure in driving the Corvette, he had it for the weekends.

As I think I’ve posted in the past, I became unexpectedly pregnant early in the marriage and that was all fine and good. I never had any sort of physical problems – no morning sickness or anything serious.  I did deal with the  minor issues like I couldn’t eat certain foods due to getting heartburn more easily. Anyone who is familiar with a Corvette knows it sits low and in the last part of my pregnancy my belly was of course much bigger and, I “carried the baby high”. (Note: wives’ tale said that meant it was a boy and that did turn out to be true). So, trying to get into and out of the Corvette became extremely difficult. Not that climbing in and out of the truck was much better, however, there was a handle on the door and the running board. So here I am at eight months pregnant now driving a big truck while my husband had his Corvette back. In truth, we knew we would need a family car (that was before they had extended cabs options to allow for a “back seat” in trucks). Not long before son made his appearance, my husband decided he did like having a truck and traded out the Corvette for a Buick Electra.

Not Exactly Catching Up……

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This is one of the times when the absolute “musts” due to deadlines are being done and other things are staying high on the priority list with no let-up for probably another week. It is simply the “nature of the beast” because several events/obligations were previously scheduled and other important items were put on hold as I dealt with everything surrounding the trips to Louisiana. There are limited tasks others can assist with and while some of that will improve in the future, it doesn’t apply right now.

Okay, with that said, I have been up since 4:00 this morning and may very well try to lie down for a bit before dinner. No doubt that will cause the phone to ring or a text to come in, but maybe not. Speaking of dinner, it’s grilled pork chops and leftover clean-up for sides plus salad. Nothing is complicated nor time-consuming which helps. I managed to polish off one leftover for lunch so refrigerator space is becoming manageable again. I did forget we are dining out Thursday as we have an art swap to do. This involves about an hour and a half of somewhat chaotic swapping art in an exhibit, getting drinks for people, having some individuals who are coming for the social aspect and others merely to pop in and out. Hanging the exhibit might go fairly quickly although that is never a guarantee. Then it’s dinner which probably will go fairly quickly as they now close at 9:00 and won’t be urging us to linger. The “forgetting” part means I bought groceries I will have to freeze which is okay as we had also cleaned that out somewhat.

 

Repeat Louisiana Trip, Day 5…..

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Didn’t get the catfish after all; just one of those things. Had a mix-up in some paperwork and had to go back by the lawyer’s office which then threw me off in timing and knew the place would be packed. Estate issue will be more complicated than I hoped, but it can’t be helped. Also different than what I dealt with in Maine with that one; each state has their own way of doing things.

On the up side, the weather did warm up nicely during the day and it was all sunshine. Did meet my girlfriend for dinner; Two Johns is still a nice tradition for us. She lost her mother last year, so discussed those things. She is also retired now; well back working a few days. Her second grandchild – little boy this time – is 8 months old; cute video of his 3 year old sister with him. I explained I still plan to make an annual trip to be able to see ,my aunt, cousins, and old friends. I might swap from the fall though as there have been  times when football games have caused disconnects with getting together.

Anyway, I couldn’t sleep so came on to the airport and of course the coffee guy isn’t even open yet. I have hopes by 5:30 though. Unlike MIA there are vending machines which means Coke Zero is a caffeine option if necessary. Okay, enough for now and am hoping no delays in flights.

Repeat Louisiana Trip, Day 4……

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Am continuing with various tasks. Estate issues come with complications no matter what. I won’t get into specifics as they aren’t pertinent to the blog. (I will renew my annual promise to update our wills; perhaps I’ll even do so this time). My good friend is available for dinner in Bossier tonight and I’ll relocate this afternoon. One more trip to the post office and the lawyer’s office, then I’ll go to Cotton’s for lunch. I’ve done many take-outs from there. That was Daddy’s favorite when it became too awkward for him to go out in his wheelchair. He preferred the catfish and fried shrimp combo. He would eat the hush puppies too, ignore the french fries and give me the coleslaw.

Dinner tonight will of course be the exact opposite at Two Johns Steakhouse as I have written about before. I hope it hasn’t changed since the last time. That was actually two years ago as my friend wasn’t in town when I was here in October nor did I try to get in touch on the trip a few weeks ago; that was simply too hectic.

This will be a short post in order for me to pop down for one more coffee and complete two or three things on my to-do list. Hubby is finishing up a class today and he’s currently scheduled to be off to be able to pick me up tomorrow. I will try to remember the place closest to security is probably the one open rather than the one by the gate. I had to back-track last time to grab a coffee before boarding.

 

Repeat Louisiana Trip Day 3……

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Emotional content alert. Yesterday was the visitation and funeral. Although we did not know most of the church and Gideon people, two individuals who had been neighbors came to pay their respects. One non-family individual was special to my sister and I as we all went to school together a very long time ago when we lived in the small town of Sibley, just a few miles south of Minden. The most touching was our cousin who drove down from Tennessee and was starting back after the funeral. He’s the youngest of the five children of my aunt. None of them knew he was coming either and my aunt was of course happy to see him even for a short while. In some ways, this was difficult for her too, as there are only two of the siblings/spouses still with us; her and my mother’s older sister.

My sister did a great job with the eulogy and managed it without stopping to cry. I was unaware of one of the stories she told – well, two. Daddy and his three brothers had the distinction of being the first group of siblings to all complete high school in the rural area they grew up in. Part of that was the local school only went to 8th grade. In order to go to high school, that was the next town over. Commuting with only usually one truck per family – which would have been needed  at home – was not really an option. For Daddy and my uncles, living and working at the boarding house was the way.

The weather had cleared as predicted with temperature in the low 50s; the wind sharp. The graveside part was fairly brief. We said good-by to the relatives. The step-siblings and families were exhausted from the weeks leading up to the day. We decided on not gathering for dinner so it was my sister and I to have that final time at the Mexican restaurant.

Repeat Louisiana Trip, Day 2…..

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Hard to believe just two full days. Weather was terrible yesterday and I had a lot of driving to do. Temperature never got above 37, and was mostly 34 with dips to 32. Fortunately, that wasn’t sustained and there was enough traffic to keep any slick spots away. I started out at 8:30 for an extra  task that caused me to drive back to the airport, then down south to see aunt and cousins. I knew we wouldn’t get to talk at the funeral and I did have to ask cousin who is judge a couple of estate questions. The rain never let up, merely shifted from light to a bit heavier. It could have been worse, but was tiring to deal with. Sis wanted to do dinner early as she was tired from revising eulogy and taking care of some other stuff. We went to Roma again and since neither of us had an umbrella, I let her off and was able to park not far from the door. She had her first limoncello cake and truly enjoyed it. I keep forgetting to ask since I think they have someone local who does their desserts.

I thought I would sleep last night, but it was wake up every two hours although I did go back to sleep pretty quickly. I finally gave up at 4:00. Had a Facebook message from cousin in Texas; knew there was someone I’d forgotten to notify. It does get a bit jumbled. Today will be long; family time at the church at 12:00; visitation at 1:00; funeral at 2:00, graveside after. Not sure who all will be available for dinner tonight. We’re going to his favorite Mexican restaurant – well, his favorite here anyway. Good news is rain has passed as predicted and temp will get to low 50s by time for cemetery. He will actually be buried next to Mother in the same way my stepmother was buried next to her first husband.

Repeat Louisiana Trip, Day 1…..

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Emotional content continues. We thought our father’s rally might sustain for a while. My sister called me Monday afternoon, Feb 21 with word he had passed away. She and her husband were headed back Tuesday, but I explained my situation with the friend in rehab to everyone. I wouldn’t be able to travel until Friday, the 25th. As it turned out, due to other circumstances, Sunday the 27th was going to be the best day for the funeral.

Ironically, my schedule for this trip is identical as the previous with the 5:24 a.m., out of Miami on a Friday and I’m scheduled to return on the 6:30 from here on Wednesday. The difference was I did use my “faithful driver” as he always claimed he was fine with pre-dawn pick-ups and was at our door his usual cheerful self at 3:15 a.m., yesterday. The drawback this time was the section of the airport we were in had absolutely nothing open; and as I had observed last time, there are no vending machines in the airport. Despite the many trips through MIA, I’d never noticed that. I’ll probably email about it at some point. There were two places preparing to open for what I imagine was a 5:00 a.m., start. That is early, but not quite early enough. I did have half a cup of coffee on the ride in and managed to make it until they served us a small cup on the flight.

Connection at DFW was still tight although a little better as the terminal for the swap was closer than before. The delay came in a ridiculously long wait to pick up the rental car. I did make it to the lawyer’s office before their lunch break to get the documentation I need as executor. My sister and brother-in-law then met me at Burger King for lunch before we went to take care of a critical piece of bank business.

In another of life’s ironic twists, our brother can’t come up because he and his wife have some cold/mild flu – COVID tests negative, but carrying any germs into a crowd these days is not appropriate.

Louisiana Trip, Day 6……

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Having done basically all that could be done with the situation with my father, I was able to re-book to return yesterday. Unlike my other trips when I stay in Bossier and have dinner with my other high school friend, I hadn’t contacted any of them. I was also staying in the room with my sister so I set the alarm for 3:45 a.m., to add in the extra time to get to the airport for the flight to Dallas.

She had not been to Roma, the only Italian place in Minden and the nicest as it is in a historic building. I’ve written about it before although I had forgotten their veal is just okay – nothing special. I made a note in the phone for future reference. My sister enjoyed her shrimp scampi and their homemade rolls are good.

Both flights yesterday went smoothly and it didn’t take as long as sometimes for luggage, plus Hubby was able to come get me instead of using the driver. Today has been non-stop catching up as tomorrow will be super busy, too.

Louisiana Trip, Day 4……

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Serious content continues. It was another somewhat muddled although productive day in one sense. I spoke with the ALF director; a lovely lady who has of course “seen it all”. My father and stepmother moved in Dec 2014, so a little more than seven years ago. I would say, “Where does the time go?”, but we all know the answer to that. We went through some administrative matters for the real, “when the time comes”. I finished sorting through the photographs and found some surprises. There was one of my father and three uncles all in coats and ties which my sister thought must have been at my grandmother’s funeral.I also found a small album with my nephew’s Eagle Scout ceremony and on my side, the batch of photos and write-up for the kids’ wedding. Neither set of grandparents were able to attend (it was in Maine) and I wrote about the prep, rehearsal dinner, ceremony, and reception.

We’d met earlier with the director of the funeral home to go over the pre-paid plan. The only change that had bee made since then was to have one with the American flag imprinted on the lining to indicate he was a veteran. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, he was in the Navy during the latter part of WWII which meant he did not see action.  He was on an ammunition ship though as they had to relocate thousands of tons of ammunition; tasks which did require paying attention to detail.

I was able to talk on the phone with the attorney as well about a couple of things and sister and I went to the Mexican restaurant downtown. Not quite what we’d planned for Valentine’s Day and it wasn’t crowded. I think most people celebrated over the weekend. I’d forgotten how large their portions were and w probably should have shared an entree. Chicken makes for good leftovers.