Broken pipes Broken Dreams

Thank God its Friday.........or so I thought.   I woke up and told my husband that I dreamed we were at the beach walking on the pier.   Its kind of strange since I don't like the beach during the day because I can't stand the hot sun beating down on me.   Whatever!!!  

My granddaughter Danelle came to spend Easter break with us this week and also to make up some credits for school she worked community service where my husband works.   We were going to take her home and I thought it would be nice if we went to San Diego after dropping her off since she lives only about an hour away.   Just getting away for a day sounded like heaven to me and I was getting excited because it was such a beautiful day and the weather was perfect.

It all started yesterday afternoon when my husband saw there was water on the cement by one of our trees and decided it was just a small leak that could wait for today.   Well..................today came and before we got ready to leave he went outside to find that there was a huge leak and water was gushing out by the tons. 

After running around all over the plantation looking for a shut off valve or any kind of shut off thingamagig he didn't find any.   We had no choice but to call my daughter to come home and deal with the problem and I decided to call the water co.   They were not very helpful at all, I was told that they would come to shut the water off and there would be no charge.   BUT.      Being that it was Friday the water leak had to be fixed before 1:00pm because  they don't send anyone out later than that.   How rotten is that?   To make matters worse the broken water pipe is on our property so we have to pay for all the water that was lost!   How rotten is that?   Hubby finally went out on the street and found a shut off valve by the fire hydrant and shut the water off.    I was worried that the whole block might be without water.........yikes!!!..........what do we do? 

Once the water was off hubby was able to dig and find the broken pipe (s) and saw where it was leaking from.   He  would need to make a trip to the hardware store, do more digging and put it together while we waited all day without water.    It was terrible. 

I didn't go to San Diego but I was around water lolololol   I ended up doing yard work and just enjoying my day thanking God that it hadn't been a more serious problem than what it was. 

 
 
"Cause me to hear thy loving kindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee."

This is the scripture I read this morning and then I  received a phone call giving me some wonderful great news about my son Paul.  God has made it possible for him to receive help, shelter, food, and medical treatment.   In the past all this was unavailable for him.   Paul is an adult, so his father and I are kept pretty much out of the picture when it comes to any legalities.   We can only help him out with food or money occasionally. 

I am believing in God that some day I m going to see Paul back in church and he'll give his life over to Jesus again.   God has been so  merciful with Paul and I know that its been the prayers of our entire family that has kept him safe.  

Everything I need to know, I learned from Noah's Ark .

Someone sent this to my e-mail and I love it, thought someone else might like to read and pass on.   I just wish I knew how to copy and paste the picture that goes with this.............O well lol.

ONE: Don't miss the boat. TWO: Remember that we are all in the same boat! THREE: Plan ahead. It wasn't raining when Noah built the Ark . FOUR: Stay fit. When you're 60 years old, someone may ask you to do something really big. FIVE: Don't listen to critics; just get on with the job that needs to be done. SIX: Build your future on high ground. SEVEN: For safety's sake, travel in pairs. EIGHT: Speed isn't always an advantage. The snails were on board with the cheetahs. NINE: When you're stressed, float awhile. TEN: Remember, the Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals. ELEVEN: No matter the storm, when you are with God, there's always a rainbow waiting. Most people walk in and out of your life, but FRIENDS leave footprints in your heart.

He is Risen

He hung on the cross for my sins and he died for me

Hallelujah
Jesus is alive
Death has lost its victory
And the grave has been denied
Jesus lives forever
He's alive! He's alive!

He's the alpha and omega
The first and last is he
The curse of sin is broken
And we have perfect liberty
The lamb of God is risen
He's alive, He's alive!

Jesus is alive!

I'll Always Love My Mama

                                                  

Happy Birthday Mom

Mom was born in a small town in Oklahoma and while she was very young her parents moved back to Mexico (never really found out the reason why).   Her mother died in Mexico when she was very young and her father moved his family back to Oklahoma and a few years later remarried.   Having many relatives in Texas her father would take his family (4 sons & 5 daughters) to visit the Texas family on various holidays and other  get togethers.

My grandfather was well off financially and was also well known in the small town they lived in Oklahoma.   He took good care of his family but he was very strict with his daughters forbidding them to talk to 'boys' or date anyone.   The girls always had to be with other people and never alone with a guy. He was more easy going with his sons because back in the day 'boys' were of the male gender! 

After meeting my dad (at a  family wedding) she fell in love and her life was not to be the same.    Long story short  she defied her father and without his permission got married and gave up everything from her past and never looked back.   I never heard her complain or say she regretted doing what she did. 

      These are my parents right after they got married in 1948.  


M y parents moved to Los Angeles (Glendale) California seven years after they married.   She had to get a job to help ends meet at home and worked 30 years for the same company until it went under.  They then moved to the IE and she worked for another 10 years before she became sick and had to quit working permanently.   She was a hard working woman getting up very early and taking the bus to and from work everyday.   I don't ever remember coming home from school and her being there.   She never missed work for any reason unless it was an emergency  or called in sick, she always went to work sick or not.   My parents always said that if your gonna be sick at home you could be sick at work too, and  may as well get paid for it so they would do just that and go to work.

I miss her very much and sometimes just knowing I can't call her anymore when I need to talk..............its very lonely not having her in my life.

Thy Will Be Done

I am trusting in the Lord today and everyday.   It is not for me to ask why my every day life continues to develop into dilemmas and problems.   Whether its a good day or a bad day I learned a long time ago to accept what comes my way, and just cross those paths.   

If I let the cloudiness and gloominess outside hinder my mood the rest of the day will be terrible and I refuse to let it happen.   Its had been a lazy morning but a good one until THE phone call.     

It was my son calling to tell me that he was in constant pain and needed to go to the emergency room again.   His forearm and hand are broken and he's running out of his prescription pills.   OMW!   This on top of my aches and pains gave me a migraine headache and I dropped to my knees and asked God to help him (and me).  

I have asked the Lord for His will in the life of my son; but as a mother I am continuously thinking about him and his welfare.   Please if anyone reads this pray for Paul.

This is just another day in the life of the Casados'...................................

My Lil Daisy

Many years ago  while shopping I bought a pillow.   This was printed on it along with a cute picture of little kids.
  "If I had known grandchildren were so much fun I would have had them first".
 
I have many grandchildren, eleven in all and they are all special in my heart.   I love babies and I have adopted three with their mommy's permission lol.    All my grandchildren are unique in their own way, each one with different personalities.   I don't see half of them and its very hard sometimes, but because of different circumstances in life thats the way it is for now or maybe forever.

Eating dinner at my daughter's house with the family this evening I made a nice hot beef stew for her because she is sick with a nasty cold again.   I took the dress that I crochet'ed for Daisy which hopefully she'll wear on  Easter Sunday.   After asking her to try it on so I could see how it looked and see if there was any adjusting that needed to be done.   It got so emotional for me with the episode that followed after dinner.   I got teary eyed and had to make a quick exit and leave before I started bawling like a baby. 

This is what took place:    ~ We think our kids don't listen when they're in church!!!~
Daisy:    "grandma I have to wear a blouse under this dress because you can see right through it".     Me:  "Buy a slip and dye it".     Daisy:   "Pastor Booker said we can't show these two bones (pointing at herself), so just add a higher collar."   Me:   (rolling my eyes at the trouble I'll have to go through!):   " I'll see what I can do."   The dress is nice and the neckline is a bit too open so now Im busily taking it apart and redoing one more time, to make it look the way she wants it.   She loves the dress but as she said it needs a little bit of altering here and there.

'Raise up a child.......'     To have this conviction for the way she dresses and looks, is just a testimony of how her upbringing and thinking are.   Amazing and Awesome. 

I did not get offended or hurt, I will gladly alter the dress because she is very serious about this because she was listening to her Pastor.

Thank you Jesus for a Pastor that cares and speaks in a way that even little children understand and agree with what he says.

O What A Beautiful Day

Today was one of the most beautiful days we've had in a long time!!!   I enjoyed the entire day and ran around town with daddy dearest from the morning until dark.

Never In my wildest imaginations ever in my whole entire life did I ever think that I would be the one to spend this much time with my dad.   While growing up we were not on the best of terms and he ALWAYS favored my brother.   Or should I say his favorite WAS my brother.

I ask myself why me?   Then I slap myself on the side of my head and remember that he is all alone now and............. since he does live on my turf lol.  

I have the best husband who helps me constantly with what ever problems I may have.   Mostly I know that if I can't do anything about anything I just turn it over to Jesus and ask Him to take care of all my needs as he sees fit.   I have no complaints even if I do have issues and dilemmas entering my everyday life.   Im so happy Im determined to stay happy, I have the joy of the Lord in my life.

I know this is all random but I felt I needed to give praise to the Lord and also remind myself of the good man he gave me for a husband.

 

Haven't been on here for a few days and the reason is that there aren't enough hours in the day.  I get up early enough thinking that today will be the day I will accomplish ...........whatever, but it doesn't happen that way any more.

Nowadays I need to keep a daily calendar handy.   I,  me,  moi  the one who used to remember everything and never wrote anything down.   All of a sudden I can't  remember when daddy's doctor appointments are!    My fear, and its normal from what I understand is that I develop that dreadful decease DEMENTIA that took my mom.     Also, because dad looks so sad most of the time I can't tell him no when he asks if I'll take him to different stores.  He doesn't need or lack anything he just wants to go somewhere and who can blame him?   He's very lonely without my mom.    So, while I could be crocheting or cleaning house I find myself driving all over the IE taking him to buy this or that.  I do have a lot on my mind, but with the Lords help I know I will make it through these days of taking care of my dad.   I also thank God for giving me a  husband who never complains because he knows and understands what my dad is going through.

My crochet days are of the past for the time being, right now I have about three crochet projects going....yes 3 projects.   I'll sit and work for a little while before the phone, my dad, my husband, or someone comes over and I have to stop till later which sometimes later never comes.

I did manage to finish a skirt for lil Ms Daisy and I was very pleased with the way it turned out.   She wore it the night of the SoCal service we had at the church and I happened to be there and  I received a lot of compliments.   Im happy that she wears what I make for her so I always ask her what she likes.  She is very easy to please and everything looks so cute on her because she's so tiny.   

I crocheted a dress for her which she insisted on picking out the colors and I just now  months later was able to finish.  Realizing after the fact that she is now a young lady and that dress style is more for a little girl.   I will have to undo and see what I can come up with in those colors which are shocking pink and lime 'physcodelic' green.   Thats what I like about crochet....no cutting just find the beginning and pulling on  the thread.

This dress is supposed to be a skirt for an adult woman, but with a thick wide waist it can be used as a sundress.  Making the length longer and the top part wider I managed to make it look like a dress fit for a Pentecostal girl.  Excuse me............a little girl.  Its very cute but I now know that Ms Daisy has to wear clothes that are more mature and make HER look cute, not the other way around.

I have more to post but I'll save that for tomorrow.

Old Lady In the Rear

Yesterday I was full of pep and energy.   The weather was just the way I like it; beautiful, overcast, cloudy and cool.  I love it when its like this because I can work in my gardens without the hot sun on me.   Working all over the plantation, pulling weeds that have been  calling my name.  There was so much transplanting that needed to be done I didn't know where to start lol.  Of course hubby helped me by digging holes or picking up heavy pots etc.  

Its beginning to look so beautiful again with the trees full of leaves once again and all the shrubs getting bigger because of all the rain we had.  There is a great big gap in the pond where a tree split in half and fell during one of our windstorms.  Two little branches are sticking out of the bare area which will probably take forever to grow big enough to make a difference.  

Thank you Lord for the rest of the beauty all over our plantation.

Does anyone really like olive trees?  I happen to like them trimmed into little puffs or round balls otherwise get rid of them.  There are so many of these trees all over the plantation and there just happens to be an olive tree right in the middle of what I like to call the nursery area.  It drops soooooo many olives any time the wind blows or a little breeze happens.  My hubby raked a great big pile and today because its a little windy they're all over the ground again!   I would seriously like to find out if there is some kind of medicine to put on the tree to stop it from producing all these critters!   I love olives and I use them all the time in salads and any recipes that call for them.   I also eat them right out of the can.  They are delicious but I just don't like them all over the ground where people step on them and then walk in the house and stain my carpet. 

I feel it in my bones, I feel it in my heart, I feel it all over me..............Iam getting old.

Down the Scale

My weight is slowly coming off and I am really starting to feel the difference especially now that my clothes are beginning to fit real loose on me.  I've even had a few people tell me they notice Im losing weight.   Yee haw!

I have given away two big trash bags full of clothes that I had been saving to wear some day.   Thank God that day never came!    What a wonderful feeling it is  trying on the rest of my clothes and having  to put them away in another bag.   I only wish there was someone I could give these clothes to, some of which I never wore and still have tags on them.  

My dilemma now is to find something to wear on Sunday or special occasions.   Im in tears...........I have nothing nice to wear anymore.  I haven't reached my goal and I still have a long way to go, so I don't want to buy new clothes just yet.  I think it would be a waste of time, energy and money.  I have walked into a few stores and looked around but I don't see any clothes that call my name.  I stopped buying fancy clothes many years ago when I started putting on weight.  I felt that as long as I covered my spare tires and wasn't showing any flesh I was doing great.  Well!!!   Here I am years later regretting all this weight that has to come off and crying to myself because its taking so long and is so hard to take off.   I must remember that there is no one to blame but myself!

Chicken being the only meat and salads are what I mostly eat, BUT I do cheat every now and then when the temptation is so great that Im drooling so I'll eat a goodie or two.  My dad says Im going to turn into a rabbit because of all the lettuce I eat. lol   Soda is what I do stay away from since it was the cause of much of my extra lbs.  I drink as many as 10 to 12 bottles of water through out  the day, because it is what quenches my thirst.

Walking is hard for me because of my foot which has given me a lot of grief and pain the past few years.  I am going to start walking at least three days a week. My husband is working only two days a week and has promised he will walk with me.  He is willing to do whatever makes me happy and whatever it takes to help me lose the weight.

Soon I will get brave and post a before and after picture but not until I know for sure that I look different.

So many things to write about and yet not enough time in a day.   I will say that Im proud of my little brother because he managed to get to our house on the day of daddy's angio-gram procedure bright and early. Of course this also meant we had more time to hear his corny/dirty jokes and all the whining that goes along with all his conversations.

Once we arrived at the hospital and checked daddy in we waited for a while before they called him to the admitting office.  I noticed that Nancy my brothers girlfriend was not her usual cheerful self. and  made the mistake of asking why.  She was upset because they wouldn't give her a wristband and was told she would not be able to sit with us in the upstairs waiting room.  This hospital has so many rules that start with NO!

Leaving her alone downstairs in the lobby I assured her that other family member would be coming soon.  Brother and I led daddy down the hall and followed the blue line to the elevator and up to the floor where we were to wait until the entire procedure was done and we could take daddy home.

"Its too crowded up here!  What kind of hospital is this?  Does anyone know what they're doing in this place?  Its too hot up here"!   Between daddy and brother dearest I was ready to scream and run out leaving both there to do whatever.........I didn't care.   Daniel sat in the waiting room with me for a full minute before deciding he was going down to the lobby with Nancy because it was toooooo hot for him and too many people in this waiting room ayiyiyi!   He didn't fool me, he was upset because he wanted Nancy by his side so he could kick back and let me and her take care of everything.  I was so relieved when he went downstairs!  As I read a story in a magazine a nurse came and called me to daddy dearest' bedside.   Now what?

O my word!   Such language...............daddy dearest was upset because they were asking him to strip. What the  ^%^&%#$^%$  he kept telling the nurse!  Its my ankle thats got the problem!   *^#@*%$%^+  Why can't they just roll up my pant leg?  Trying to calm him down while taking his watch and ring off and trying to put his valuables in my purse brother dearest walked in.  He explained to daddy why they needed him to be in his birthday suit, he calmed down but not with out voicing his opinion on what he thought of them.  Right on scheduled (1:00) daddy was taken to the operating room.  Such a big baby,  my word he's gonna be 83 yrs pretty soon for heavens sake.   FINALLY we went to the waiting room to join Nancy who had snuck in.

While we waited talking and looking through old high school photo albums Daniel had brought with him I realized how much my brother still lives in the past.  He still talks like he's a teenager.  lol

Other family members called me and let me know they were downstairs waiting and to call them as soon as I knew anything. 

I started getting worried when I noticed that everybody in the waiting room was being called and given information about their family members.  After three hours we still hadn't heard anything at all.  My cell phone kept ringing and before I could answer one text message I would get another.   I was beginning to worry that something had gone wrong.  Had they done an emergency amputation!    All these crazy thoughts were going through my mind so my brother decided to go ask what was taking so long on a procedure that should have only been one hour.    Ayiyiyi!  The doctor had an emergency on one of his earlier surgical procedures which in turn backed him up for the rest of the day and at 3:00 they still had not even started on my dad.  They would now begin the angio-gram at 4:00 pm.

Leaving brother dearest and Nancy to hold the fort I hurried downstairs to explain to the family why it was taking so long.   My fingers hurt from all the texting I had been doing all day.   I was hoping the nurses would not decide to come while I was gone; I wanted to hear all information and details for myself.   Daniel on the other hand relies on his g'friend to remember everything for him so he won't have to retain anything in his brain.   My brother doesn't get enough sleep because he likes to work twenty-four seven and is always sleepy and uses that as an excuse for forgetting what you tell him.    Blah blah blah...........aarrggh can you believe that?   Drama!  Going back upstairs with an aunt and her daughter I left the others in the lobby.

My daughter and g'daughter came during this second waiting period when suddenly I realized it was over an hour which we had been told to expect the nurse to come in and give us details.  I walked to the nurses station  to ask about daddy and there he was smiling and chewing the rag with the nurse like they were life long friends.   Nurse told me everything had gone well and handed me the phone so I could speak to the doctor.   He explained what had taken place, daddy would need follow up appointments and the ulcer on his ankle would be treated in the doctor office until it got well.  Otherwise daddy was fine and we could take him home in a couple of hours.

Explaining to the nurses that we were all going out to eat and would come back as soon as they called us, we left.  We were all hungry because none of us had eaten all day long.  After dinner I convinced Daniel that I didn't need to go back to the hospital to pick up dad and I would go home with my daughter.  I was so tired and my back was hurting from sitting in those uncomfortable chairs in the waiting room.  Not to mention the horrible migraine I'd had all day long.   Do I have a cold?  Am I stressed out?  I've been sick for a week praying that dads leg didn't have to be amputated because of gangrene.  Besides who else is gonna do what needs to be done with my senile dad absent minded husband and forgetful brother.   These are the men in my life and I promised mom I would take care of dad and her baby boy.   I promised God to love my husband til death do us part.                    Uugghh   what did I get myself into?

 

Alls well and Life seems to be Beautiful once again here on the plantation for the time being.