THE BIG SEVENTY HAS COME & GONE

I am officially seventy years old now, but don't feel much older than when I was fifty. True story. I see some differences, however, in my mind, it is about the same. I am very greatfull for that fact!

My darling daughter just absolutely outdone herself, pulling off a Huge Surprise Birthday Party for me! It was an absolute surprise, and I bawled out loud when I realized what was going on. I was in 'total shock'!

A week or so earlier, my sister Sandy called & said 'I am thinking about coming to OKC, so we can celebrate our birthday's together'...I'm thinking it is a great idea....'come on over, it will be nice to spend time together'. (I have four sisters..we all have birthday's in July, except for one. Karel is 7/23, Sandy is 7/24, I am 7/27, & Barbara is 7/29. Pegge is in January.) So, Sandy arrives on Thursday & I cook & we are really enjoying each others company. Friday is her birthday & I invite my niece Sindi to join us for her birthday dinner @ Johnny Corrino's. Fantastic meal (order the Jalapeno Garlic Talapia...to die for). While having dinner, Sindi announces that she has free movie tickets to the Quail Springs Mall theater,(about 25 miles north of our area, however, they must be utilized by the next day.....did we want to go to a free movie? Of course we did! Maybe Vicki & Lauren would like to come along too.....'sure', says Sindi, 'I'll ask them to join us'.

We get home & I call Vicki & invite her & Lauren & she agrees to meet us there, 'but, Mother, we have already made plans to take Rileigh Shea swimming @Paula's pool. "Paula's pool"? You mean 'Paula, who was your bridesmaid when you married John? I didn't know you and Paula were still in touch' 'Oh ya, we still talk all the time' says vicki. 'OK, then we will just meet you @the movies' says I. 'OK, Mother, sounds like a plan'.

Saturday nite Sindi, Sandy, & I meet for dinner & are getting ready to head north to the theater. On the way there, Vicki calls Sindi & says John has already headed home & can we pick her & Lauren up @ Paula's Apt. Complex (a couple miles from the movie theater). OK, now I'm bitchin 'why didn't John just drop them off on his way home' yadda yadda yadda....'Tell Vicki to be outside the clubhouse, & we will pick them up there', I tell Sindi. Sindi's phone rings again & when she hangs up she says 'Paula wants to see you & say hello', so I respond 'oh, that's nice of her, let me put on some lipstick'. We pull into the parking lot, park, & out comes Vicki to greet us........'Oh, Vicki, I love your top' says I. 'Thanks Mom, she replies as we head for the Clubhouse. As we enter the building I see Brittany & Jeff with a video recorder & she is hollering 'Haaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyy' & I holler 'Haaayyyyyy' back, still not registering what is going on. I turn & look & see all these Martin's hollering something, AND THEN I SEE MY TWO TWIN NIECES from Texas...my brother eddie & his wife diane.................That is when I realized what was going on. I Just lost it @that point! I just broke down and bawled & bawled the UGLY CRY! When I got my senses controlled, I saw all my old friends & family around me! Doris & all her girls, Anthony Cable, Katy, It was wonderful. THEN, another surprise! I turned and looked @this person, and it took me a minute to figure out who he was...It was Skip Mc Casland, my first Apartment management boss from 1969! We had a great reunion!

Then came a wonderful video put together by Vicki, & Sindi's son Morgan. It was the best gathering ever. I have watched the video every day since then. At the end it says HAPPY BIRTHDAY. I told Vicki she could use the same vidio @my funeral..........just remove 'happy birthday' & replace it with 'Come Up & See Me Sometime !

Pray for Gerald

A couple of days ago, I went to pick up my ex-husband for an appointment @ the OU Physicians building. It was for a radiation therepy (urology). When I arrived @his home, it was an awful awakening on my part. He was totatly naked, & took him about 10 minutes to open the door. I was in shock to see how much weight he had lost in the past week, let alone how his body looked like a skeleton. I knew he had lost a lot of weight, but never expected to see what I saw. I just cried. I had been seeing him every week for months, but had not seen him naked in a couple years. He could barely walk on this day. It was absoulty astounding, and I can not remove the vision from my mind. He is in the VA hospital as I write, and I think he will never leave there this time. He has several liesions on his lungs, sore to touch (his entire body), and is terminal. Depending on the type & strength of pain medication, he still has his sound mind.

I fell madly in love with this man in 1958, and thru all our trials and tribulatons, I have a love for him still. .........

ADDRESS BOOK FOUND

I arrived back from South Dakota more than a couple of weeks ago. A few days ago (like a week or so), I decided to call someone....looked for my address book, to no avail.

Where in the hell is my address book? I looked & looked. I had remembered seeing it after our trip, OR, did I? Is Alzheimer's creeping in? NO, surely not! I checked out every place possible place that Miss Rileigh Shea could have possibly put it. Finally, yesterday, I showed her a piece of luggage that had the same design. 'Rileigh, see this luggage, it has a map on it Did you take my 'book' with a map & hide it? No, Taotao, I don't take your book'.......okay, so, never mind. Yesterday she comes into my office with a Rand McNally Atlas.........'Taotao, here is your map book'..........now, how smart is that!? Finally, I alerted my sister in South Dakota...did I leave it there? I alerted my niece that drove us to South Dakota, did I leave it in her van?....Nope & Nope. Today Lauren came down for a visit. I had made some 'peanut butter candy balls', and she picked up a couple, dropping one behind the couch cushion. 'Lauren, get that candy you dropped, it will cause ants', I screamed! 'Don't worry, taotao, I'm getting it'...........Low & Behold, she pulled out 'MY ADDRESS BOOK!...........see!

REVERSED MORTGAGE, OR NOT?

About a week or so ago, I was thinking about doing a 'reversed mortgage' on my home. It could really put a lot of cash in my much needed pocket. I contacted two or three reverse mortgage companies, and, Oh My God, they're mostly worse than used car salesmen! I was BOMBARDED all week, well, this is Wednesday, but I was overwhelmed with calls solidly for the past three days! Some were nice & professional, some pushy, & some absolute dicks! I have committed to a company with whom I feel comfortable. I am feeling positive about my decision. Maybe now I will travel more, or not. Maybe I'll just fill my propane tank and 'chill'. Nice to have an option.

DO THESE PANTS MAKE ME LOOK FAT?

Nothing really much to say about this except from left to right is pegge, barbara & me. Pegge has passed away since this photo, but mine & barbara's asses look about the same......as she says, we're a little broad across the beam!

Vicki has had lap band surgery & is looking very well and dwindling way down. Sindi & I are thinking about doing the same, & need Barbara down here to do the deed with us.

EVER BEEN TO THE DOLLAR STORE?

Today was my first trip to 'The Dollar Store'. What a treat! Everything in the store is one dollar. I came out with three picture frames, three halogen light bulbs, & a beautiful star shaped deep dish to hold candy. Seven dollars well spent! I could'nt beleive it. They have everything under the sun. Can't wait to go back when I have an extra fifty to spend! They even have name brand stuff.........just need to know where to go, sometimes.

OH, MOM, THIS WILL MAKE YOU LOOK 10 YEARS YOUNGER

Lauren comes over yesterday and announces she is getting a haircut....just a little off the ends...& some dark highlights. 'Great', says I. 'What time is your appointment'? She told me it was @seven o'clock. My first thought was 'John is off tonite, so he will probably watch Rileigh Shea'.

Vicki is usually home from work around 5:30, so when it got close to 6:00, I asked Lauren if she had heard from her mother. Yes she had. 'But taotao, you know when I said my appointment was @7:00'? 'Yes'? 'Well, it IS @seven, but my Mom is doing my hair, she is @the beauty supply place getting the stuff & will be here soon'. I knew by her tone & body language that meant my kitchen was soon to be our own private little beauty shop. 'And, taotao, Mom & I were thinkin that there would be enuf hair color left over, we could color your hair too, if you want to'. Oh My God! they're talking about me behind my back, and think I look OLD & HAGGARD! 'Lauren, I thought y'all liked my silvery hair, you've always said........'we do like your silvery hair, taotao, we're just sayin....you might like a change' 'Well, you're probably right, a change may do me good'.

Wondering again what brought on their conversation about making my hair dark? Maybe it's because a week or so ago, I had Sindi glue individual eyelashes on me like she always did in the '80's. They were wonderful, looked very natural, and lasted a long time. When she arrived @my house that Sunday, she found not only the 'single' individual lash, but a new lash we had not seen....it was individual but flared out. So, she mixed them.......Well, let me tell you, Carol Channing had nothing on me! Of course, I exagerate..but next time, I'll stick to the singles.

Lauren gets to be first while Rileigh drags out my dish towels for me to make her a cape & hood, then gets a baggie for her basket. She is Little Red Riding Hood & I'm The Big Bad Wolf......we play this @least once a day, but I get to do it twice this day! :-) While Lauren is washing her hair, I'm already on the stool for my application. I am now thinking that I have lived with this silvery hair for three or four years now......so, don't go into shock, scream, or start bawling when you look in the mirror. 'Oh, I don't know about this, Vicki'. 'What's to worry, you will look ten years younger when I am finished' she boasts.

Well, I didn't even need a mirror. As soon as Lauren washed & towel dried my hair, they both howled and screamed with laughter! Rileigh just looked on in horror.

Ten years younger MY ASS. I look like all those seventy and eighty year old filipino people on Guam. They all dye their hair jet black until their dying day...each & everyone of them! Vicki was calling me Elvis, but the vision of Korea's Kim Jong Il kept creeping into my mind.

PATRIOTISM WAS ALIVE @ MOORE WARREN THEATER JULY 4TH

My niece Sindi and I had a late lunch yesterday (July 4th) and decided to take in a movie, rather watch fireworks in the rain. A storm was brewing and headed our way. Public Enemies was a good choice. I loved the soundtrack & classic automobiles as much as the script.

I must post what a heart warming surprise Bill Warren had for all his patrons prior to showtime. This booming voice came over the sound system (same booming voice they always have for announcements) acknowledging the Birth of Our Country, This Great Land of America. There was the recitation of 'The Ragged Old Flag' by Johnny Cash, followed by 'The Pledge of Allegiance' by The Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Everyone jumped to their feet @ first note.

I've been concerned with our country's lack of patriotism, but Bill Warren restored my hope.

If you don't have a Warren Theater in your neighborhood, you're absolutely missing out! They are Art Deco design with forty foot ceilings etc, etc......check out www.warrentheatres.com

PAGE 449

Alcoholics Anonymous has a Big Book for reference, for comfort, for sanity, to pick up and read any time for whatever reason, in order to help you stay sober one day at a time.

On page 449 it reads:

And acceptance is the answer to all my problems today. When I am disturbed, it is because I find some person, place, thing, or situation--some fact of my life--unacceptable to me, and I can find no serenity until I accept that person, place, thing, or situation as being exactly the way it is supposed to be at this moment. Nothing, absolutely nothing happens in God's world by mistake. Until I could accept my alcoholism, I could not stay sober; unless I accept life completely on life's terms, I cannot be happy. I need to concentrate not so much on what needs to be changed in the world as on what needs to be changed in me and my attitudes.

Well hell, what a concept. I was reminded of page 449 yesterday. I need to concentrate not so much on what needs to be changed in the WORLD, as on what needs to be changed in ME AND MY ATTITUDES.

ACCEPTANCE IS THE KEY. Thank you my friend, of the reminder........I needed it!