Blessings - Happy Birthday Pinecone

The moments in my life that have over taken me with gratitude are actually numerous. I’m blessed with amazing parents who gave me an amazing start in life full of bruised knees, bad choices, stern lectures, forgiving kisses, love hugs out of nowhere, opportunities, love, encouragement, love, and have I mentioned uncomplicated love? In my life I have been loved, hmmm by at least two men, and a third husband who has accepted me for all my flaws and faults, salty mouth, and consuming heart. He takes the best, embraces the worst, and gives me his all. He shares with me life’s up, and life’s downs. I have a beautiful daughter has stuck with me through thick and thin, shared laughter, learning, joys, and tears and still counts me among her best friends. Then the cherry on the whole thing, she gave me a one of a kind, out of the blue, incredible grandson. I am blessed, amazingly blessed.

There are those reoccurring moments of clarity when I see how truly beautiful and amazing my little sister is. She is incredibly kind and loving; sharing and giving; gracious and supporting; she is wise and learned.
I am blessed. When I have a family problem I go to her. When husbands have walked out she listened and supported and then went out on the town with me. Then she found me a husband that is right as rain.

Pinecone’s life has been very different than mine, while I’ve been married three times, she found a man who has stuck with her through thick and thin. While I had one healthy, durable child; her two beautiful sons suffered devastating medical dilemmas at extremely young ages. To the world she showed a back bone and constitution of steel while inside I know she had to be crumbling. I think the only time I saw her cry was when she handed two-pound Arnie to me with his gangling arms and legs flailing beyond the palm of my hand at two months old – she had finally been able to bring him home. At the same time her first son was battling the effects of spinal meningitis at age one. Both are healthy, durable and well adjusted young men because of Pinecone and the Cap and Crown Guy.

If you had to pick a sister to walk through life with, Pinecone would be the perfect fit. She is young at heart, funny, sexy, football craving, hard working, nurturing, singing, practical, silly, and loud. Since she was a baby she has been cute, adorable, fun, awkward, boyish, ladylike, and up to a challenge.

Happy Birthday Pinecone, my dear friend, my sister.

Love
Cele

Happy Birthday Pinecone – Sister-mine

Fifty years ago today, my mother had the cutest little baby girl. She was so darn cute. I adored her, watched her sleeping continually. But it was her and my brother – Butch, who were closest in those early days. Three and a half years between us really was a bit of a barrier. That and what my daughter calls my OCD’ness.

Pinecone and I are as different as day and night

As a baby she was cute, adorable and cuddly – think koala bear
I’ve never been “cute and cuddly” – think mouthy Ocotillo Cactus with attitude
She is joyously bubbly
I am loud and irreverent
She turned into a tomboy
I turned in to a girlie slut (hey it was fun)
She was a slob when we roomed together
I was neat – now she is a better housekeeper than I
She was always smart in school
I flunked child development (okay I got a D but really folks, Child Development?)
She is incredibly artsy – her stained glass is amazing
I burn out on any hobby I take up.
My sister can keep a secret forever

Despite all those differences she is so much what I admire, and in some ways very much like me while being very different. That’s the tale of siblings, right? We both adore our children and strive to give them and their offspring the best of ourselves. We both love music, art, family, and Duck Football… we are both…

WORKAHOLICS!

no joke. She is actually worse than I am, but she doesn’t see it.

My sister sings, it’s one of her things, you are welcomed to come sing with her, sit on the floor of her living room, flip through her CD’s and enjoy a glass of wine while harmonizing. I so very much love doing this with her…and her friends, it’s a joyous crowd.

My sister gardens. Someday visit her oasis on the out skirts of Springfield, it is a beautiful, serene haven. She’s so good she had to drive all the way to Florence just to give me the correct placement for my solar fountain. You think I’m exaggerate, not, I was going to put it smack in the middle of the cutting garden, she off set it, and now it is perfectly in place.

She is beautiful strength. A bright glowing soul, who gathers people near her and nurtures their spirits and souls. She stand by her convictions and silently allows you to have yours.

The apple of my father’s eye (now this is a two things post) she gave my mother strength in the final hours of my father’s life, held his hand as he breathed his last breath, then helped our mother through that first tough day. She is grace under fire.

On top of all that she is more than my sister, she is my friend. She is the friend of my heart, my soul, and the person I would choose to be my sister.


Happy Birthday Pinecone,
I love you,
Tanglefoot

Photo Friday: CameraPhone

I'm stealing this idea from Steve. I have a phone, it takes pictures, but I don't have email on my phone, or internet. Texting is blocked...blasted spam. Even the phone company was surprised at the spam I got. So I can't fulfill the topic... CameraPhone pictures. Ergo, it is now er was Free Photo Friday.

I'm in the middle of coping pictures from my mother's massive photo collection. These two pictures, some how go with last week's Talk Thursday topic. But only in the course of conversation you must understand.

Pinecone on Little Joe circa 1964

And me too.

Sith

Cele

Talk Thursday: Dog & Pony

I’m not sure what Dog and Pony actually refers to. While I do have a dog, he’s more like a tank; I’ve not had a pony since I was a kid and well really it wasn’t mine. He was my aunt’s boyfriend's, Cowboy George had won Little Joe and the ranch he was on in a poker game. The same way he lost it. True story.

While I have a tank yet no pony I do have a story to tell. I love music, my two (almost life long) favorite groups: Crosby, Stills, Nash & Sometimes Young and the Moody Blues. I have seen CSN and have tickets to see them again at the Cuthbert on September 11th. I’ve yet to see the Moody Blues. But then that is part of the story.

Several weeks ago Pinecone called me on a Wednesday night to ask if I thought mom would enjoy seeing the Moody Blues at the Cuthbert. As my childhood roommate, Pinecone grew up with enforced- ram it down your throat, hours long Moody Blues listening sessions through out her formative and teen years- yes, until I moved out. I guess it stuck. She’s seen MB in concert four to five times, once with full accompanying orchestra – I am so jealous.

But what was she thinking? Mom would constantly yell at me to turn it down, turn it off, go outside in the fresh air. I’m thinking had the phrase, “Get a life” been popular I’d have heard her say that several times, too. “Pine,” I said, “I don’t think so.” Then I began to think, remember the time I thought she’d like So You Think You Could Dance, and I was way wrong? “Pine, what do I know, maybe she will, ask her.”

“Do you have a Moody Blues CD you could give her?”

“Well, yeah, duh!” Sometimes with my vocabulary you’d never guess I’m 53.

That Thursday night I met Mom and grandma for dinner at a local Chinese restaurant. When she sat down I hand mom the Best of MB and said, “Pine wanted you to listen to this, if you like the Moody Blues she wants to take you for your birthday. “

Taking the CD my mom said, “I enjoy the Moody Blues.”

Grandma chimes in, “Me too!” In unison I get, “They were on PBS, they were great.”

WTF do I know. Statement, not a question?

Fastforward...

Monday night, Ducky has just gone to bed when my cellphone rang. At first all I could here was musical “Wa-Wa-Wa” until Pinecone’s voice comes on the line and say, “Our mother wanted me to call you. Here.”

And what did my parental unit want to say? In essence, “Nee-neer, nee-neer, nee-neer.” Pine tells me, that besides rocking out to the Moody Blues all night long in a sweltering 99 degrees, she got a total kick out of people watching. She was a bit surprised and curious about what the people behind them were smoking. While she did notice it “smelled different” she didn’t truly notice until security spoke with them.

No dog and pony, just Pinecone and mom.

Sith,
Cele