On My Way

"I'm hard-headed, I'm stubborn.  I'm stuck in my ways.  Still learning what it means to heal my knees and pray.  But I'm on my way."   Nashville cast featuring Hayden Panettiere & Jonathan Jackson

Lord have mercy how did Nashville know who I am?  LOL  Anyone that knows me knows I'm hard-headed, stubborn and oh so stuck in my ways.  But is that really a bad thing?  I probably could get a little "unstuck" but that might mean not doing things my way and I like doing things my way.  Keep in mind my way may not always be the right way according to some, but the way I see it if I'm not hurting anyone or being disrespectful then I should be good to go with my way.

I'm sure my mama has thought many times I'm more trouble than I'm not.  But somebody has to keep her life interesting.  We all know it could be said I'm the only hell my mama ever raised, but I like to think that's not true.  I mean she does have six other childrens.   Mr. Webster says a hellion is a rowdy, mischievous, or trouble making person.  If I must fit myself in one of these categories it would probably be rowdy more than the others.  However, I have been know to be a little mischievous at times.  Oh crap what am I talking about I fit all three of them.  I'm a little mischievous when my rowdy friends come over and we cause a little trouble now and then butt....ya'll remember my statements before.  I'm not going to do anything that I have to wear orange or turn the lights out at a certain time.  Two reasons!!!  orange ain't my color and I like the lights to go out when I want too not because someone slams a door and yells "Lights out."  No, no, no, not for me!!!

Maybe Travis Tritt was talking about me when he wrote his song T-R-O-U-B-L-E.  Mercy look what just walked through that door. Well hello T-R-O-U-B-L-E.  Tell me what in the world you doin' A-L-O-N-E.  Well I smell T-R-O-U-B-L-E.   I think Mr. Travis means this kind of trouble in a good way, probably like me.   You know someone that causes a commotion just waking up in the morning.   It's definitely a commotion when I wake up, rolling myself out of bed because my back hurts or my knees don't work because of all those years on the basketball court. Hey, it's my story and I'm sticking to it.  Some mornings  I think a tow truck would work better but then I would have to pay for that.  LOL   Ya'll know that saying "be the kinda woman that when she wakes up in the morning the devil says oh crap, she's awake."    I bet the devil says that every morning I wake up, but what he don't know is I have someone bigger than him on my side.

"Ain't got it figured out.  Right now all I can say is I'm on my way."  I don't have this thing called life figured out but I do know that I've got it way more figured out than I did 20 years ago.  Twenty years ago I was married and thought it would last forever.  Well we all know that didn't work as planned and it took me LOTS of years to move on from that chapter but this book ain't finished yet.  I plan to live many more years and I plan to live them to the fullest.  It may not be the way others think I should but the one thing ya'll know about me is most of the time that doesn't stop me.  I may not have it figured out EXACTLY but I'm on my way.  I'm on my way to learning how to love again (that is if I ever find someone again) and I'm on my way to learning how to love myself.  (I mean what's not to love).  On my way, loving every step I take to being a better person.   Who knows, maybe one of these mornings I wake up I won't have to roll out of bed.  Maybe I'll just jump right up and yell...I'm awake and I feel good.  Oh Lord, another song just came to mind but I guess I'll stop here.  Well except for the lesson.

Lesson today?  I guess let's just go with if you're stuck and don't know what to do, don't give up.  Remember the saying if at first you don't succeed, try, try again.  Well come on people, giving up has never been an option for me so I don't want it to be one for ya'll either.  Keep on keeping on and don't put so much pressure on yourself that it has to be done over night.  Ya'll know Rome wasn't built in a night.  LOL.  Just take one day at a time and every morning when you wake up just say to yourself, it may not be today... but I'm on my way.



  Love to all,
  Sweet Southern Sass

The Dance

"Looking back on the memory of the dance we shared beneath the stars above.  For a moment all the world was right.  How could I have known you'd ever say goodbye.  And now I'm glad I didn't know the way it all would end, the way it all would go.  Our lives are better left to chance, I could have missed the pain but I'd have to miss the dance." - Garth Brooks

Alright, alright, alright this might be funny because I got in the wedding pictures this weekend from my marriage to the CHB.  I'm sorry but I can't tell ya'll what this stands for, but the people that know me, know what it means.  Don't fret to much, so did HE!!!  LOL

Looking at these pictures made me laugh because when we got divorced I cut him out of most of them.  Keep in mind we had about 300 pictures made so that was a whole lotta cuttin' going on.  I think I found two of him still in the pictures and that was because I needed something to remember how handsome he looked that day.  Yep, I said it...he was handsome as he could be in that black western tux and black cowboy hat.  At that moment "all the world was right."

"Holding you I held everything.  For a moment wasn't I the king.  But if I'd only known how the king would fall.  Hey who's to say you know I might have changed it all.  And now I'm glad I didn't know the way it all would end, the way it all would go."   I'm sure on this day he felt like the king.  I mean he was marrying me and I was a most beautiful bride.  I wonder if he knew how things would end if he would have changed anything.   Maybe I would have, but not on that wedding day because it was a beautiful day!

You always hear there are two sides of the story and of course, my story has two sides.  BUTT...since this is my story and he's "out of the picture" (get it) my side is all we will talk about.  I've been angry with him forever but around my birthday this year it was time to put that anger away.  We laughed, talked about old times and finally had closure to an unhappy ending. Yep, just like that, the cowboy rides away saying goodbye to yesterday.  The bottom line of the matter is it just didn't work and there is no reason to hold on to all that anger because it can make a heart cold and who wants a cold heart.  Not me!!!

Mr. Webster himself says left to chance means not trying to change the way something happens.  I guess that means if I'm to relate that meaning to the song I would say that this page in my life was better left to chance because being who I am, I would have tried to change the way it would end to miss the pain.  I would have missed the pain, but I  I would have missed the dance.  The dance full of fun and memories which are way better than the pain of it all.

Lesson today?   Marilyn  Monroe once said "I believe everything happens for a reason!  People change so you can learn to let go, things go wrong so that you can appreciate them when they're right.  Sometimes, good things fall apart so better things can fall together."   So go ahead...sit tall in the saddle, hold your head up high.  Keep your eyes fixed where the trail meets the sky, live like you ain't afraid and most importantly...LET IT GO!!!!


  Love to all,
  Sweet Southern Sass

Don't Blink

"I turned on the evening news, saw an old man being interviewed, turning a hundred and two today.  Asked him what's the secret to life.  He looked up from his old pipe, laughed and said..."all I can say is, don't blink."  Kenny Chesney

Ok let's get this party started.  :)  I thought about this song today since my daddy has been in the hospital the last couple of days.   It's like I blinked and he was 86 years old.

 I don't know when daddy got so old but I tell him all the time he's the oldest person I know.  Staying with him in the hospital we talked about his daddy (my grandpa) and he laughed like a kid at the stories he told.  He told a story about the preacher coming to grandpa's house and wanted some water.  Grandpa told him it was in the refrigerator.  The preacher came back and said he didn't know where that water came from but it sure was strong.  My grandmother almost fell out of her chair, the preacher had got holt of grandpa's moonshine. Come on ya'll, you know it was for medicinal purposes.  Daddy thought this was so funny and it made me giggle watching him laugh out loud talking about grandpa.  His face lit up like a fire talking about his mamma and daddy.  That my friends I love to see.

We got to watch a little TV and this is his take on everything.  The Braves (which ain't worth a flip half the time he says), the football games (kaepernick deserves what he got, not standing for the national anthem) and the news this morning (Is that channel 5, I don't like that blonde lady on channel 2 with that guy with the gap in is teeth).  Lord have mercy in case you don't know, he was talking about Kelly Rippa and Michael Strahan.  I told him Strahan was on GMA so he let me turn it over there.  Hell's bells, wouldn't you know it, Strahan wasn't on there today.  I thought you said he was on channel 2.  Well daddy I guess he's off today.

"Don't blink you just might miss your babies growing like mine did."  Daddy has seven kids and we all like to aggravate each other that we're his favorite.   We always say baby girl is his favorite and guess what?  I guess she is!!!  As I was getting his license out of his wallet for the nurse yesterday the ONLY picture he had was of baby girl in high school.  Bless his heart, she's 39 years old, he needs a new picture.  Better than that I need to give him one so I can be his favorite.  At least for a little bit, 'til baby girl gives him a new one.

"Wake up and you're twenty-five and your high school sweetheart becomes your wife."  Mama was 17 when her and daddy married so I think that makes his high school sweetheart his wife of 64 years. Daddy knew mama growing up and he tells stories about her all the time.  Again his face lights up just talking about her.  Now let me just say right here, they can say things about each other but boy hidey we better not say anything because we find out real quick who's in charge.  Speaking of being in charge.  I was first at the hospital the other day so guess what?  I got to be in charge for a whole minute.  LOL  actually it was about 30 minutes until mama got there.  Then it was over and again daddy laughed because I said that didn't last long me being in charge.  Then he had to tell the nurse all about his seven kids and mama.  He's a proud daddy!!!

"Trust me friend a hundred years goes faster than you think."  In daddy's case 86 years have gone by way faster than I can believe.  It seems like yesterday he was coaching my brothers baseball teams and had a head full of black hair.  Now he's retired (FINALLY) and he's gray headed. But don't you guess you would be gray headed too if you raised seven kids?   Watching daddy sleeping last night I saw my baby boy (he's 38 but he'll always be my baby boy) sleeping 50 years from now.  Yep, mine is just like my daddy.  Tall, not big as a minute and a receding hair line just like daddy.  I guess if he's going to look like someone (besides me) it might as well be my daddy.  He was a handsome man in the day, looks good for his age and is a pretty smart man.

Lesson for today?  Surprise!!! I've got one!  Don't wake up one morning and wonder where time has gone.  Don't wake up with regrets.  Life is too short to be anything but happy so go ahead be crazy, be stupid, be silly, be weird, but for goodness sake "don't be boring, dress cute wherever you go.  Life is too short to blend in." - Paris Hilton



Love to all,
Sweet Southern Sass

 

Back to God

"Oh have you looked around?  Have you heard the sound of Mama's cryin' or do you turn away when you see the face of the innocent dyin'?  In these darkest days are you not afraid that it's too late?"  Reba McEntire

Ok ya'll, let me just say right up front I am no bible scholar and I don't claim to be an expert on anything but with all the anger going on in this country, we gotta do something.  Some of you may not believe but I do and I think in these darkest days we gotta get down on our knees, beg, plead and keep on praying.

Turn on the news any given morning and you will see innocent lives being lost in the blink of an eye.  So many mama's crying, their child left and didn't return because of some senseless act of violence, someone not paying attention, or just simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time.  Of course there are accidents that are beyond anyone's control but these acts of violence just make me so angry.  Why in the world can't we all just get along?  Just love each other and treat everyone with respect.
The song I learned at a very early age Jesus loves the little children.  All the children of the world.  Red and yellow, black and white they are precious in his sight.  It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure this one out he loves us ALL so people need to stop with the hatred!!!

"What the world needs now is love, sweet love.  IT's the only thing that there's just too little of.  What the world needs now is love, sweet love.  No not just for some but for EVERYONE!"  Jackie DeShannon

I wonder what it would be like if all the world knew was love for each other.  Like the song says, not just some but for everyone.  Don't you think there would be less killings, less broken families  and less children being harmed or abandoned?

Lesson today?  Let's just love each other.  Love each other more unconditionally, without judgement, and don't try to change the person for your own purposes.  Accepting love is patient and kind, even when someone does not meet your expectations.  I just heard on the radio to take pictures of loved ones because we never know when they may not return home.  This seems a little harsh, but it's oh so true.  Now let's go out and spread the love.


 Love to ALL,
  Sweet Southern Sass

 

3, 6, 9 The Goose Drank Wine

Three, six, nine the goose drank wine.  The monkey chewed tobacco on the street car line.  The line broke, the monkey got choked and they all went to heaven in a little rowboat.   Shirley Ellis

Are you laughing yet?  If you vision this poor monkey on a street car, chewing tobacco it's comical to say the least.  This song got stuck in my head on the way to work this morning.  Needless to say I googled it right up and thought...OK, let's make my sassy followers laugh.

I posted this song on a friends FB page several years back.  Keep in mind he was a lot younger than me and had never heard it.  He called me up and his exact words were "where the hell did you get that song."  LOL.  I said, you've never heard it before?  Of course not goofy girl, I'm not 60 years old.  Later that afternoon he called back to say that song had been stuck in his head ALL day and he couldn't quit singing it.  That's what he gets for making fun of me.

Clap, pat, clap your hand, pat it on your partner's hand, right hand.  Pat your partner's left palm.  Pat your partner's right palm with your right palm again.  Clap, slap, clap your hand, slap your thighs and sing a little song.  We sure are doing a lot of slapping & clapping but can't you just see a bunch of people jumping around, slapping hands and singing this song?  I can and I probably will when I read this out loud and listen to the song again.   No, I haven't officially lost my mind, just having a little fun today.

I am a little curious, if the monkey gets choked and the street car breaks, how is he going to heaven in a little rowboat?   All the pictures I see of heaven, it's in the sky, so if a rowboat needs water how is that going to happen?  OK ya'll I'm being silly today but maybe you will think about it and giggle a little bit.

Lesson today?  For sure I don't know but since this is a short, silly little post don't hold back! Get up, slap around, dance like no one is watching and let me know if you figure out how that monkey's getting to heaven in a rowboat.

LOVE TO ALL,
Sweet Southern Sass

You Find Out Who Your Friends Are

"You find out who your friends are.  Somebody's gonna drop everything, run out and crank up their car, hit the gas, get there fast.  Never stop to think "what's in it for me?" or "it's way too far."  They just show on up with that big old heart.  You find out who your friends are."   Tracy Lawrence

This thought came to mind after watching the movie Going In Style with Morgan Freeman.  Oh my gosh within five minutes I was laughing so hard my stomach hurt.   Lifelong buddies Willie, Joe and Albert play brittle old fogies who team up to rob a bank.  They were sick of sitting on the same bench in the same park every day, talking about the same things and feeding the same pigeons.  They wanted to feel young and alive once more and if they got caught, who cares?  They were probably  going to die soon anyway.

Joe comes up with the idea and convinces the other two they can do it.  Now this reminds me of someone I knew years ago who always said one of my friends at the time was why I stayed in trouble.  Well hell's bells, anyone that knows me knows I don't need anyone to "make" me do anything.  As a favorite song of mine says...Lead me not into temptation I already know the road all too well, lead me not into temptation I can find it all by myself.  I have to admit, most of the time, it was HER idea but rest her soul, she didn't have to twist my arm very hard.   I lost this friend several years ago but watching this movie made me think about her.  Not really sure why but probably because the shenanigans these three pulled reminded me of a few we did.  NO we didn't rob a bank but we probably thought about it a time or two when we were broke as Dick's hat band as they say.

The different personalities is what made this movie so funny to me.  Joe is the group's ringleader and reacts with a witty cold anger that is only heightened by age, Albert is the most hopeless until he gets caught up in a senior-citizen fairy tale romance with Annie  and Willie is the most mellow but only because he's in need of the kidney transplant.   These three scoundrels may have been different in every way but they had one thing in common and that was their friendship.  A friendship that would stand the tests of time and last forever.   A friendship that wouldn't stop short of anything to reunite them with their families and better their lives, even if it meant robbing a bank.  I'm pretty sure if I came up with an idea of robbing a bank my friends would seriously think I had FINALLY lost it.  I tell them all the time orange is NOT my favorite color and I like to turn the lights out when I want to so hopefully they will remember and put their foot down.  I do hope however if I need a kidney one of them wouldn't have to think about it but be right there saying.."Let's get this party started."

My lesson today?  Lord have mercy I might have to think a minute but let's go with the fact that nothing is impossible and you can better your life if you want to. Don't rob a bank, but motivate yourself to jump over any obstacle in your way and complete any task needed to live the best life you can.  Chase after your dreams, no matter how old you are.  And by all means, see this movie.  It might just make you laugh and we all can use a laugh now and then.

      LOVE TO ALL,
     Sweet Southern Sass

Unanswered Prayers

"Sometimes I thank God for unanswered prayers.  Remember when you're talkin' to the man upstairs that just because he doesn't answer doesn't mean he don't care.  Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers."  Garth Brooks

Somehow my posts seem to always include "the man up above."  well this one ain't gonna be any different.  Think about the words of this song for a minute, have you ever wanted something so bad you couldn't think about anything else?  Of course we all have and I'm no different.  But when I read the first verse of this song and it's talking about an old flame, it takes me back a few years.  Well more like 30 years.  I had this "old flame", he was the one that I'd wanted for all times.  And each night I'd spend prayin' that God would make him mine.  If only he would grant me this wish I'd never ask for anything again.

First off, I'm sure God was laughing out loud when I said I'd never ask for anything again.  I'm sure he knew I was already thinking about the next thing I was going to ask for.  But hey, I thought that's what I'm suppose to do when  you want something so bad.   Thank goodness he knew that "old flame" wasn't what I needed and thankfully he did not answer that prayer I prayed so many times.  Unanswered prayers?  Maybe, maybe not but we didn't stay together and it's another time I'm glad God was in control and knew what was best.

Sometimes when I pray and I don't get the answer  right away, I am so quick to ask why?  Why Lord are you not answering my prayers?   Are they just hitting the ceiling and bouncing right back to the floor?  With this being said sometimes I don't understand but I've learned in my not so many years (LOL) that his way is God's way, not mine.

I can go on and on about what I think might have been unanswered prayers, but what I really think right here is that they were answered in the way God thought I needed, not my way.  Maybe I was asking for the wrong thing.  Maybe I was being selfish, thinking only of myself and not someone that needed prayer way more than me.  Maybe it wasn't God's time to give me what I wanted or maybe he knew something better was to come.  Either way, I'm glad I trust in the man above that he knows what's best.

Lesson today?  It's simple.  Yep, it's simple today.  If  you're fighting a battle of fear and you feel he's not listening, just hold on...He may be late but he's always on time.  I know, HE knows what he's doing and I know some of God's greatest gifts are all too often unanswered...because he knows what he's doing.  All the time he knows what he is doing.

LOVE TO ALL,
Sweet Southern Sass