RAWKWARD MOMENTS!

"WHAT'S A RAWKWARD MOMENT?" That awkward moment when you realize that you no longer feel awkward, at the moment. PIMP LOL! You know, you feel like you got this. You can do it. For the moment. You rawk at this one thing. For the moment. You rock (said in an English accent)! Either that, or Scooby Doo is in your head telling you feel rawkward! Or is that how he says awkward? Ruh roh! Oh well! Don’t listen to those voices in your head or anyone trying to tell you you’re awkward. Listen to Who’s in your heart. You rawk! Hope you have a day filled with rawkward moments! Rawk it. Rock on! Cuz, everybody feels awkward at some time. EVERYBODY! And, yes, rawk came from the music world. And, yes! I have Scooby Doo PJ’s. A gift when I was sick. Does that mean I'm sick for still wearing them? NO! I love Scooby Doo and all that mystery stuff. Ruh roh! 

Trace

KICKIN' BOOT!

"KICKIN" BOOT!" Cowgirls never quit. They get up every day and kick boot! Least that’s what my shirt partially said. Came across 1 of my old shirts and had to accessorize it. You know? Add a few words. So, be encouraged and keep kickin’ boot. Lest you get your “boot”-y kicked. PIMP LOL. What? Just stirrup-ping things a bit. When you're feeling ragged, get rugged! To get your boot on, you first gotta put your boots on. You can see I'm thinkin' ‘bout getting my old Ropers on. Keep bein' rugged! Especially when your ragged! Get your boot on!   Trace

LIP, HIP OR GRIP SERVICE!

“LIP, HIP OR GRIP SERVICE! Watch your tongue!” So, here’s my story on feelings, fingerless gloves and the tongue. And, that’s not lip service! What? It's just a li'l sarcastic humor disguised in paisley! Get a grip! I"m not shootin' from the hip. I’d rather wear my feelings (my heart) on my sleeves above my fingerless gloves than on my tongue where they can roll off too fast. The difference is they may wear on me, but not on others. It takes time for those feelings to travel from the sleeves to the tongue. They gotta travel through some elbow grease, over those broad shoulders and shave off a chip or 2, go neck and neck with some beads of sweat falling from the forehead from the anguish of holding it in, and then take it on the chin. Then, if you swallow hard and take a deep breath and pray, the feelings may come out with a li’l more grip than lip or shooting from the hip! You hip? I mean, they may be way more gentler and thought out. Like someone with a grip on things. You know? Thoughtful. Instead of I oughta-ful! PIMP LOL. Sometimes, we detour our feelings from the sleeve to the hip, and just shoot from there, right? PIMP LOL. Then, our lip service turns into hip service instead of grip service. Here’s a tip: calm that hip. And, remember: a closed mouth gathers no foot. What? Well, it doesn’t! So, here are the rest of lip jokes: A closed ear gathers no lip. A closed nose gathers no finger. BUT! A closed mouth? Well, it gathers no foot. Or ears. Or finger! Right? I mean, it could save us from sticking our foot in our mouths or having someone hear us sticking our foot in our mouths (ears) or react to us sticking our foot in our mouths (the finger). Oh, and, a closed mind? Gathers no leg…up. I mean, you gotta learn. You gotta get a leg up on things. My leg up? Work, serving and prayer. Hope you get a leg up on your day. Feelings ARE a good thing, you know! When mixed with the mind, body and spirit. They just need some travel time! And, serving can give us travel time. Working is good for the feelings. Here’s my pitch on working and serving. Sometimes you gotta get dirty to stay grounded. But, when you throw dirt, you lose ground…always! PIMP LOL TNT. So, dirty hands or dirty lips? It’s your serve! Will it be lip service, hip service or grip service? What? Just had to throw that out at you! Better than dirt! OK! 1 more joke: Better your lips to chatter from cold air than to chatter WITH hot air. Have a hot day! Let your feelings travel a bit. Have feelings, will travel… Sounds like a TV show to me. Oh! And, why the paisley effects and all? I imagine my feelings in paisley! Why else! I really did have a paisley pair of jeans, though. Also, you will notice from the stitching that the heart has been sewed back on several times.     Trace

WEIGHT & WAIT! AGAIN & AGAIN!

Just doing some light thinkin’! About watt? “WEIGHT & WAIT! AGAIN & AGAIN!” Wait!  What? PIMP LOL.  So, I was typing the word again and made a typo and left off the “a” which got me thinking about the word “gain” and “again”. When we do something over and over again, we, uh…gain something. PIMP LOL. Now, I know a lot of you are thinking food, but I was thinking more about serving people, not food. PIMP LOL. With serving food, you gain weight and see quick results! With serving others, you gain wait and learn to be patient and wait for results. Wait for God to work. So, don’t quit checking on others and calling and just loving others, again and again. They’ll gain and you’ll gain… Again and again… Have a gainful day and do some light thinking… About shining the light. Again and again! Heavy stuff.


Trace

“NO-BRAINERS and LI’L DRAINERS

“NO-BRAINERS & LI’L DRAINERS!  I can stack any amount of dishes in our little drainer. Without it draining me or my brain. Just 1 of my many talents. Just sayin’. Makin' do. It’s a no-brainer. Just gotta make some things work. Some things are over thought. They drain us. Now, yes, I know that is a tough one to believe coming from me.  Cuz like, I’m always thinking. But, really. Some things are just no-brainers or they’d just be drainers. So! No matter how things stack up, or how MUCH you gotta stack up or how much is stacked againt you, have a fun non-drainer day! That’s a no-brainer!  If you do get drained? You know Who to call on!   Oh! And, the photo?  Just makin' do! Wanted the pans to look metal and shine so I found another free photo editor that you can do this. It's hard work, but the end result is so worth it.  Now, this was a li'l draining... But, I loved it. And, that's a no-brainer!  I love working!  Trace

KEEPSAKES, STICKERS AND OTHER MEMORIES THAT STICK!

KEEPSAKES, STICKERS & OTHER MEMORIES THAT STICK! So, since my girl is a senior now, she is cleaning and going through all her things. You know? Kept keepsakes? Everythng from birth thru 11th grade that I kept for her these years. So, she’s sort of reminiscing and bringing stuff to me to show and deciding what to keep. It’s good for me because after my big seizure of 2006 I don’t recall most things. I see these awards, the doll we made together, her art work, school work and so much more that we kept. I just smile and tear up. Good memories…maybe cloudy but I am finally ready to try and remember good stuff. See, lots of times when I try to remember, all I can remember is the trauma, cuz that’s how life is. The trauma sometimes seems to be what sticks. But, I know if I can get through that, the good stuff flows in and sticks, covering the trauma.  Kind of like wallpaper. It covers up all kinds of walls. It's there, but covered. That's us. Layers. I’m not complaining because the trauma also makes us who we are. Yes, I got very sick when she was in 1st grade and again in 3rd, and still again in 6th, but I gave her my time, always. I couldn’t do what other mamas did. Like work and give big things and run around everywhere, but I could give my time, my heart, my love for music, art decorating, etc. I still cry sometimes trying to remember and wishing I could be like other mama’s and never have gotten sick, but life is what it is and I’ll take it. It’s when I am thankful and look away from all else and don’t compare, then I am alright. I think we all do that. So, anyway, God is our life and in every part of our life. That’s the only way I know. We make memories with Him and they stick. So, anyways, I am so glad we kept so much of this all these years. It does us both good. She remembers a good mama who loves her and I remember a good daughter who loves me. It builds us both up. My mind is eased momentarily about feeling like less of a mama for getting sick. I can see the things we did together and still do. I hear her sing and can see God’s hand. That is worth more than any amount of money or travel or things I could give her. That’s the stuff that sticks to you. And, the smiles between us are priceless. The connection…ahhh. The connection! Oh! And, a bit of humor? Umm…the photo is of the doll we made and of a giant Potty Poster Sticker Card we made and hung on the wall. Every time she went to the bathroom on her own, she could pick out a sticker (of which she picked out every week at the store) and place it on the card. She loved the stickers and the feeling of accomplishment and control. It was awesome and it worked and the idea kind of stuck on us. PIMP LOL. What? Sometimes, we did go crazy with the stickers and put them on everything. Even ourselves. I think there’s even a few still stuck on some doors to this day. Yes, we made cards for lots of things. Things we looked at today and remembered. And, by the way? She kept everything! Kept keepsakes! That’s what they're for! So, if you’re stuck, make a memory. Make a memory stick! Err… Just keeping it real. And, just keeping the keepsakes! Jus' saying! One more thing...  We didn't have a lot of money to make her doll, but we actually used the dress and buttons and other things I wore while pregnant with her. It is really cool looking. Of course, it has boots and fingerless gloves on.  Just saying that you can make do and still make memories that stick...err!!    Trace

A DAY OF REST, LEST I WREST!

“A DAY OF REST, LEST I WREST! A li’l rest-le is always nice after a li’l wrestle! What? Well, when I’m wrestling with decisions or just plain “hittin’ the mat knocked out wore out”, I tag team it & call on God. Maybe even another wrestler for help, too. Then, I rest. Cuz a li’l rest-le is always nice after a li’l wrestle. Then, I’ll be ready to tackle anything. What? I still got some fight in me! By the way, we have vests I designed in our house that read “City Hall”. When anyone is being un-family-like or governmental, I get the vests out. You can’t fight City Hall, you know! Now, I gotta go finish doing the cooking & the music, so I can actually rest. Well, I guess doing the music would be doing the “cooking”, too. I hope. We’ll see. I may have to wrestle a bit. May even have to break out the headlock or jawdropper moves. Def not the sleeper! Have a great day. Def not a sleeper. Well, maybe! PIMP LOL. Rest-le a li’l! Oh! And, who is your fave wrestler of all times? I'm thinkin' Dusty Rhodes? C'mon. Throw it down on the mat! Smackdown! Trace

THE SHORTEST NIGHT’S SLEEP AFTER THE LONGEST DAY

“THE SHORTEST NIGHT’S SLEEP AFTER THE LONGEST DAY”! So, last night we were watching “The Longest Day” on Netflix and going through some old photographs like I do every month or so to dig up memories to help me recollect any of my past. I love talking about history and memories. Some are hard. Still, some are harder. Anyways, I found a photograph of Sam’s Dad, Poppie, sitting on our porch at the river house right next to the rocker he gave me. I am told it was my fave place to sit and my fave chair. I do remember us all sitting on the porch and his Dad would tell us his real life true war stories from his experience in the 82nd. I could hear him telling us so many things. Oh, not bragging. Not at all. Just sharing his heart. Sort of humbling to me. He would talk about his 2 combat jumps. D-Day. Normandy, where he parachuted in to St. Mere Eglise. Then, Operation Market Garden in to Nijmegen, Holland. Then, fought in the Battle of the Bulge. He also helped to free a concentration camp. Lots of other heroic soldiering and stories from afternoons on the porch. Ahhh…memories. Needless to say, I didn’t sleep much at all last night from remembering these stories. No complaints at all. Even after “The Longest Day’ movie was over, I was still remembering. I had the shortest night’s sleep from thinking about the longest day and my father-in-law and many other memories that flooded in. He so treated me like a daughter. So, after 2 hours of sleep, we went to church, which we were able to do because of Poppie and others like him. Thanks, Poppie and all of you. Honored to know you and have been part of your life. That’s my short story on the longest day and the shortest night's sleep! Seemed fitting to share this story and photo collage this Memorial Day weekend. Oh! And, I'm not sittin' on my rocker next to him cuz I be takin' the photograph! So glad! Miss you Poppie! Oh! And, it won't surprise all of you to know that he was an incredible musician and song writer. I know, right? He came to hear me the first time I ever played guitar and sang at a church after I turned my life over to God. What was the song? Amazing Grace, Of course.     Trace