Eddie Ate Dynamite, Good Bye Eddie

My baby nephew turned 9 years old last Saturday. He had a skating party at this cool skate rink with his cub scout friends to celebrate. I drove (round trip) from south Georgia to Jackson, Georgia (almost to the Atlanta Airport) for the skate party. Totally worth the drive because I had a wonderful youth-size guitar to deliver to the birthday boy.

He was not surprised because we had already discussed the gift, but his buddies thought the gift was very cool. Exactly the reaction I wanted from the cub scout buddies. You see, I want this kid to be a totally cool guitar player who people radiate to because of his tremendous talent. You know that I, not so secretly, want the same reaction for myself. Unfortunately, I think I waited too late and I won't be the cool guitar player girl that people are drawn to because of her tremendous talent. Perhaps I can still be the guitar player girl who people wonder why I won't tune my guitar. So sad. But, I digress.

I had watched the baby nephew play guitar hero and he was awesome. I tried to do it and he finally took the fake guitar from me and said, "Aunt Tina, just give it to me and let me show you how to do it." His instructions didn't help, but he is really good at guitar hero.

So, I called him and asked him if he wanted a guitar for his birthday. Of course, you have to handle these sort of things delicately. I knew that I couldn't be over anxious and reveal how much I wanted him to start playing the guitar. Over anxiousness by Aunt Tina was a sure fire way to nix the whole thing. So I played it cool.

I called him and in casual conversation told him how impressed I was with his guitar hero abilities and I wondered if he would like a real guitar for his birthday. Well, he went into a long, detailed explanation about the differences between a real guitar and guitar hero. I let him finish and asked "ok kid, do you want a real guitar or not?" I found great guitars that were the right size for him locally at Beans and Strings - The Coffee Shop that Rocks! He finally concluded that he did want the guitar and that he could settle for an acoustic guitar since I would not buy him an amplifier. My plan is working beautifully. I knew to keep calm and play it nonchalantly so that the baby nephew didn't get spooked by my excitement. But, inside I was dancing with joy and I realized that the baby nephew was getting a real guitar!

To my joy his mom (thanks baby sister) arranged for him to start lessons that very week. He called me several times to ask questions about various aspects of the guitar. One question that he asked was the name of the strings. I told him that the strings were E,A,D,G,B,E, and that the mnemonic (or memory aid for remembering the strings) was Eat All Day, Get Big Easy. He was set and he prepared for his Tuesday lesson. We talked twice on his way to the lesson and he assured me that he would call me again as soon as the lesson was over. I waited not so patiently.

When he called me he said that the lesson went well and that he was totally liking his new teacher and that he felt sure that he would be pretty good at the real guitar. He also added, "Aunt Tina, it's not Eat All Day, Get Big Easy, it's Eddie Ate Dynamite, Good Bye Eddie." Ok, to the 9-year old baby nephew eating dynamite is more interesting than just eating all day.

I can not tell you how excited I am to have the baby taking guitar lessons at 9 years old. My old brain takes forever to soak up information. I know that within the next few months I will hear, "What do you mean, you don't know how to do this Aunt Tina???!!" I will be overjoyed that the baby has already passed me in guitar knowledge. More posts about the baby guitar prodigy....

Familiar Things

I like familiar things. I don't mind change, but some things are so comfortable and so much a part of some special time in our life that we have to cling to them. I still have the maple bedroom suit that my mom bought for me when I was four years old. The finish has darkened over the years and there are a couple of stress fractures in the wood, but I can't possibly part with it. I love the patina of the wood and have the entire suit set up in one of our guest bedrooms. You probably remember the kind of bedroom suit that I am writing about -- it has a nice little rounded headboard and foot board on the bed, a little dresser with a mirror with room for a chair, and a nice chest of drawers. Probably lots of this type of bedroom suit in homes from the 60's.

Speaking of familiar, new clothes are fabulous, but so are the gray, bleach-stained, stretched-out sweats that I jump into when I get home each day. I know they look awful on me - heck, they would look awful on anybody, but they are familiar and comfortable. I can usually make it 3 or 4 evenings before they have to be washed. Of course, If my big ole self makes it to the Y I have to wash them more regularly. They are comfortable, they are stretchy and I can eat all I want while wearing my gray sweats. They are familiar and I love them.

Obviously, humans are not the only animal that likes familiar things. For the fourth year in a row, a fabulous mama bird has laid her eggs in the same nest. I can not prove that it's the same mama. I even imagine that maybe one of the baby birds matures and comes back each year to use the "homestead" nest. No proof of that either, but it's my story and I can write it as I please.

The nest is at the top of one of the posts on my front porch. The original builder of the nest is a genius bird because there is no way that predators can get to the nest. I always check to see that no snake or rat has bothered the nest. For four years, the nest has survived predator-free. Usually I have the wonderful delight to see four or five babies mature just outside my big picture window. The birds grow up so fast and it's fun to watch them as they grow. Eventually they seem to do nothing but squawk for food. That poor mama bird is constantly bringing in food to five little open mouths. She works tirelessly to ensure that here little ones are fed.

I love when it's time for the birds to learn to fly and leave the nest. I have never found one of them on the ground -- indicating an unsuccessful flight attempt. They hesitantly hop around the edge of the nest for a week or so before they finally take off. I have lots of pictures of these sweet baby birds and I look forward to their return every year.

This year the birds made nests very early. Maybe it was not so early, but the continuous cold weather made the timing seem early. I was afraid that the babies would not survive the cold, but of course the mama took very good care of them. She even built the nest higher and closer in at the top to keep the babies warm. She is one smart mom.

When I had my house pressure washed this year, I told the guy doing the washing that he absolutely could not spray the cleaning formula or the high pressure water anywhere near the bird nest. He assured me that he would preserve the nest. When I returned home that day, the nest was still in tact, but no mama bird around. I was afraid that she had left the nest. I watched for her until almost dark when she dutifully arrived back to her nest to protect the babies through the night. I will continue to look forward to the arrival of a new family of birds each year as they seek out the familiar nest.

What familiar thing do you cherish? What makes your list of things that are comfortingly familiar?

I am thankful for....

Maybe God is reminding me of all the wonderful things I have to be thankful for because I keep counting them in my head. It's about 4:30 am and I woke up thinking about the crazy things that I am thankful to have in my life. I would like to share them with you.

1. I am thankful for being saved. Just to be introduced to the saving Grace of Jesus is a blessing. How different my life would be without the guidance of the Bible and how terrible death would be without the assurance of salvation.

2. I am thankful that I am still completely in love with my husband. It's a gamble when you marry at 23 that you will still be in love 20+ years later. He still makes my heart jump a little when I see him and I can't imagine life without him. Don't think that I don't ever get angry with him -- you know that I want to hit him with a stick sometimes! However, I imagine he has those same feelings toward me at times. We are normal.

3. I am thankful for garage door openers. I know this is silly compared to my first two on the list, but that garage door opener has saved me from the rain many times and I think it's a great invention. I wish I could program the garage door opener that is part of the fancy stuff in my car. Can't make it happen.

4. I am thankful for people who send me hand-written notes and call to check on me for no reason. Tony, Mom, Lora, Carol, Connie, Jackie, and Cathy -- Thanks for sweet notes, texts, and phone calls. If you are reading this and you don't send me hand-written notes, texts, or phone calls you should. I need you.

5. I am thankful that I have a baby sister. I was almost six when she was born. Mom told me and my younger brother that she was our baby and we should help take care of her. No jealously, she was ours. I still call her "baby" and she turned 39 in January. She will always be the baby and is the closest I will come to having a kid of my own. Call me if you need something baby!

6. I am thankful for a job that I love and for the people I am honored to work with. To have a job at all is a blessing in this economy, but to have one you love is an added blessing. You can be sure that I have had many jobs that I did NOT love. I definitely have some point of reference to compare my current job. I have worked continuously since I was 15 years old -- long before that if you count working at home in the huge garden every summer. Lots of character building over the years. Thanks to all my great co-workers who make our college so great.

7. I am thankful for my health. My neck hurts, I have to wear glasses to see, my back hurts, and I can't wear high heels anymore because my knees hurt. Those are just things that happen when you keep living. My church's prayer list has so many people who are sick and dealing with awful diseases. My aches are minor. Thank you God for my health.

8. I am thankful for a plentiful supply of safe food. I struggle all the time with my weight and I often think about what a blessing I have to be surrounded by food. Many parts of the world never have enough food and people are dying at this moment from malnutrition and tainted food. I know that there are many health problems associated with being overweight and that we must eat in moderation. But, I am thankful to have the necessity of "watching what I eat" in order to stay healthy. I hope to never know the horror of real hunger. I once worked with a lady whose husband had been a POW. He was severely abused and starved at the hands of his captors. She said that they had stray cats everywhere at their house because her husband always fed every stray that came on the property. His explanation was that once you really know what it's like to be at the point of almost starving to death, you could never let another creature go hungry if you could help it. She told me this story 20 years ago. I will never forget it.

9. I am thankful for my dachshund Stretch. He is a genius. It's now 5:15 am and he has gotten out of bed to sit near me while I type. He is snoring. I had never had a dog of my own until Stretchy. I have two other dogs who are wonderful, but Stretchy and I are best buds. He really is amazing. He loves two things -- food and me. He is too fat and I should cut back on his snacks. I don't think I will. Sometimes he cries to go outside so that he can run right back in for a snack. He is a genius. He does not like men -- except for Tony and he will bite you if you come to my house. He loves me, Tony, my sister, my mom, my step-dad, Joshua, and my friend Connie. That's it. When I first got him, I left the house to go to Macon and that baby ran for almost a mile following me screaming "mama, please let me go with you!" No one has ever run after me screaming "I just want to be near you, please let me go with you!" He can have anything he wants. Just ask Dr. Marty, he will tell you that Stretchy is a spoiled dog. He and I have the same birthday. He is a genius and I love him.

10. I am thankful for my Bible - The Book. It's written in a modern language that I can understand and apply to my life. I love the KJV also for its wonderful language, but I find it hard to extrapolate the meaning of some of the passages. I read my Bible every night and usually find something that I have never read before or realize a new, deeper meaning for something that I have read many times. I am amazed that there is almost no aspect of life that is not addressed in the Bible. Of course, I need to go much deeper and study many more years to understand the wonder of the messages of the Bible. I am amazed that we can hold the Word of God in our hands. Sometimes I expect that something so holy might even burn my hand when I touch it. Thank God it doesn't burn my hand and I can keep studying.

Stopping this blog with 10 items. I will write more soon. I know that I have much, much more to be thankful for and I AM thankful for so much in my life. Sometimes the most simple blessings are the greatest. Sometimes our blessings are very complex and come to light more clearly through pain. Please tell me some of your blessings. I am very interested. Thanks for reading.

Lord knows I love that man

Valentine day was really good this year even though I didn't get to see my husband. I know, I should be moping around and be really mad because he chose the Daytona 500 over spending Valentine day with me. But, he didn't choose the weekend for the race and he is not responsible for the collision of valentine day and Daytona 500. It is what it is. I did get to play in the snow.

Now to the reason I had a good Valentine Day. My sweet husband reminded me as he left home for the race, that he had planned a great Valentine day for me and that I would really like it. When I told him that I might take a vacation day Friday and not go into the office, he almost panicked and said that I HAD to go to work Friday. Ok, so then I knew that something was being delivered to work. Sure enough, the flowers were beautiful as they always are. Cute little Valentine balloon attached also. I assumed that I had my valentine gift and I was cool with flowers even if they did come two days early.

Well, I had underestimated that sweet man. He called me Friday and told me that he would text me the next clue -- that's right, the CLUE -- for my next gift. Ok now, I was liking this little game of "give me a clue and I find a gift."

On Saturday morning February 13th, before I was out of bed, I heard a text come in on my phone. The text read "Look in top drawer of highboy." Excitedly, I jumped out of bed to find my new treasure in the top drawer. I had to get a stool to look into the drawer. The whole thing reminded me of a kid on Christmas morning finding presents. I found a beautiful box of fabulous chocolate candy and a big candy sucker. He knows I like candy. As I write this Blog, the whole box of candy is now gone. Yea, I like chocolate candy. So, now I have flowers, balloon, and candy. That's enough for Valentine Day, right?

Well, Sunday morning, February 14th dawns with warmer temperatures and much sunshine. Would I get another text from that sweet man with another clue? Another gift? Well, about 8:30 I got a text that said, "Look in my bed side table drawer." Score! Another big box of fabulous chocolate in that cute heart-shaped box and a card with a wiener dog (my favorite dogs) carrying a heart in his mouth with a love note from my sweet man along with his interpretation of the dogs love for me on Valentine Day. I almost cried. But, the best was yet to come. Along with the candy and card was a gift certificate for a massage from my favorite nationally certified massage therapist Shanna!!! Life is good.

That sweet man made my Valentine Day wonderful by thinking of me and planning ahead to be sure that I was happy. Lord knows I love that man. Happy St. Valentine's Day.

White Brain Matter Really Matters

I bought a capo today for my guitar. A capo is a clamp that you place on different frets of the guitar to change the pitch of the open strings. If you Google capo, be sure not to spell it Kapo because a Kapo is a term that describes a prisoner who worked in a lower administrative position in German Nazi concentration camps during WWII. The spellings are definitely not interchangeable. Back to the capo. I needed the capo to play "Country Roads Take Me Home" and to look like I know what I am doing when I play the guitar. It's working.

This blog is totally out of my circle of knowledge, but I heard a report on the effect that white brain matter has on learning something new -- let's say something like, maybe, I don't know, let's go with playing the guitar. Yea, that's a good example. White brain matter really matters when you are learning to play the guitar. I wanted to know more.

All of us have heard the brain referred to as gray matter. The gray matter can be thought of as the actual computers of the brain. Using the computer as an analogy, the white matter represents the network cables connecting the computers together. The white matter is white because of the fatty substance known as myelin that surrounds the long nerve fibers. The myelin acts as electrical insulation and allows messages to pass quickly from place to place. Finally a fat that is good for you. This white matter forms the basis of the deepest parts of the brain. So, the faster the passage of messages from place to place in the brain the quicker the brain learns. This is certainly a layman's explanation, but it's a pretty accurate description.

We know that children are sponges who can soak up new information at an incredible rate. Perhaps they are learning even before birth while they are still in the womb. Researchers believe that the connective tissues in the brain form faster and stronger as children are exposed to new types of learning -- languages, musical instruments, math, etc. Additionally, researchers suggest that some of the connections must be made at an early age or they will never form. In other words, we have a window of opportunity to learn certain skills or we lose the ability to learn them at all. These connections may be contributed to the formation of white brain matter.

Gray matter development peeks in a person's mid-twenties and then starts to slowly decline. Researchers have recently discovered that white matter may not peek until a person is 40 and then slowly declines. The decline depends on a litany of variables. Two of the most commonly cited variables are brain exercise/stimulation (do you continue to learn new things as you age), and physical exercise. It seems that exercise of the brain AND the body are important to prevent many of the evils that aging forces upon us.

An Internet article that I read today suggested the following ways to keep white and gray brain matter as strong as possible to prevent the horrible disease Alzheimer's:

1. Write, write, write. The process of writing demands correlation between the right and left hemispheres of the brain. Translating complex feelings into words demands that both sides of your brain work hard to accomplish the task. I will remind my husband that I am not just bloging, I am preventing degenerative brain disease from occurring. Thank you very much blog.
2. Learn a new skill or language. Learning something new, especially something that is totally new territory to you is crucial. This new information is a huge boost to your neurological reserves. Perhaps the learning process can even cause new connections to be formed.
3. Learn to play a musical instrument. The same kind of new connections that form when you learn a new language, form when you learn to play a musical instrument. I feel smarter already. Thanks guitar.
4. Travel widely. When you travel to countries that don't speak English, you are forced to assimilate and learn a new language. Your brain is in learning overdrive. You will practically feel the neurotransmitters firing in your brain as you struggle to learn enough words to suffice during your trip.
5. Exercise. It's just good for you and you know it. Aerobic and cardiovascular exercise may benefit areas of the brain that are most susceptible to the ravages of aging.
6. Be Happy and Connected to others. Feeling a sense of connection to others - either individuals or groups can actually slow the aging process.
7. Don't stress. Stress can actually permanently damage the tissues of the brain and is certainly not good for any part of your body.
You can read articles by the Internet arthur at greatbodyat50.com.

Here is my summary of how to stay young as detailed above:

1. Write down your feelings (maybe start your own blog)
2. Learn to play the guitar (or some inferior musical instrument)
3. Learn a new language
4. Travel to new and distant lands
5. Have friends you love and go hang out with them
6. Exercise regularly
7. Don't stress

Please follow my suggestions, you know I am a doctor......

A new Fender Guitar

I just came in from our front porch at 11:45 p.m on a Monday night to write this blog. I should already be in bed. I have a long day tomorrow and an equally demanding week. But, I always stay up too late. It's amazing what you can accomplish at night and I find myself more and more often working late at night either on Facebook, blogging, or cleaning the house. My husband is also turning into more of a night owl. Funny how we change as we age!

Ok, what was I doing on the front porch at 11:45 p.m? I was practicing on my new Fender acoustic guitar! That's right, I have a new guitar!!!! Until now, I have had the immense honor of using a very generous friend's Takamine acoustic/electric guitar. The Takamine sounds wonderful and it fits me perfectly. I have tried to buy the Takamine from its owner, but he is adamant that he plans to learn to play and he will not sell. I can appreciate his reluctance. The Takemine is a 1983 with a beautiful sound. In my teacher's hands it really has a beautiful sound. Sometimes I framm it until something akin to a beautiful sound leaps out of it in pure frustration! Still, I trudge on hoping to get better. The picture is me with the Takamine guitar. Practice, practice, practice.

I often practice on the front porch. My husband appreciates that I often practice on the front porch rather than in the house. I understand. I can hear myself play. Not sure if the neighbors are happy about my front porch playing at 11:45 at night. Sorry neighbors. I figure the louder I play the better I sound. I am afraid it's like talking to someone who does not speak English -- just talk louder and they will understand. Right? I think if I play louder or harder that maybe listeners will appreciate the passion and energy of the music. In other words, I hope to fake out the listeners until I can really play. I totally believe that it's working so far.

Back to the Fender guitar. A friend of our family recently brought me the guitar as a Christmas present. It's not a new guitar, but he knew that I was learning to play and he had this great guitar. He brought my husband a very nice golf club that he played with Sunday, but he will have to blog about that. I am interested in telling you about the Fender.

I almost cried when I opened the guitar case he handed me. When I saw the word Fender and the beauty of the guitar I was elated! I was getting ready to buy a new guitar so that I would have one of my own, so this Christmas present was perfectly timed. As I brought the guitar into the house, our friend said that it had not been tuned in 10 years and probably was terribly out of tune. As I sat down to tune each wonderful string of that guitar, I realized that they were perfectly in tune with the exception of one string that needed minor tuning. I immediately began playing my short list of songs. Beautiful. I can't wait to hear the guitar played by someone who is especially talented. Maybe I should think of a name for this fine, new guitar. I will ponder the perfect name for a Fender acoustic guitar owned by a Rock and Roll Wanna Be!

The generosity of our friend is so much appreciated. You can all appreciate the kind of friends that you have known for 20 years who you can call on if you need them. My husband and I will make great use of our new Christmas presents.

It's a great time of the year to call up old friends and make sure that they know you appreciate them and value their friendship. I don't do this nearly as much as I should. Facebook and this blog have been great ways to reconnect with friends from high school and college. Keep in touch. Life is short and has no guarantees. I hope that I will become talented enough on the guitar that you can hear me play some day on my new Fender acoustic guitar. If you hear some very loud guitar music, it could be me. Practice, practice, practice.

It's all about Give and Take

I love celebrations. I still love celebrating my birthday. Of course, I don't love getting older, but I love celebrating my birthday! I don't need gifts, I just need the day to belong totally to me and for everyone to recognize that it's my birthday! Very much like a child, but my grandmother was the same way until her death. She always looked forward to her birthday. Birthdays are meant to be celebrated. If I play the Georgia lottery, I always use important dates as my numbers. I do plan to win very soon on my birthday and anniversary numbers.


Please play the Georgia lottery. It supports education. Don't win, just play. We need the money.


My sweet husband and I celebrated our 21st wedding anniversary this week. We had a great day that I will always cherish. As you readers know, my husband is not big on mushy talk, but he always tells me that he loves me. Because we stay up way too late each night, he wished me happy anniversary and told me he loved me at 12:01 a.m. For some strange reason, we always stay up until midnight to wish each other happy anniversary, happy birthday, merry Christmas, etc. It's strange for two adults, but it is what it is. By now, I guess it's a tradition with us.

Back to our anniversary celebration. My sweet husband wished me a happy anniversary before we left for work and called me during the day to send his wishes again. About mid-day the most beautiful red roses arrived for me -- a dozen long-stemmed red roses from my favorite florist in town. I love flowers, I especially love roses, I most especially love red roses. The anniversary day is progressing beautifully.


We had decided that we would go to Valdosta for dinner to celebrate our anniversary. Sweet husband suggested one of the great restaurants down town, maybe Red Lobster, where ever I wanted to go. All day I thought about where I wanted to go and even ate a smaller lunch so that I could completely enjoy the dinner. By 5 p.m. I am ready to leave work and head out of town!

On the way to Valdosta I asked my husband where he wanted to eat and that sweet husband of 21 years who had sent me a dozen red roses and promised me a beautiful dinner in Valdosta suggested with complete seriousness that we try that great, new restaurant - The Smok'n Pig! I am pausing for this to sink in to my readers. Go back and read this paragraph again. Seriously. I have attached a picture of the Smok'n Pig restaurant for your viewing pleasure. Well.......I suppose the fine folks at the Smok'n Pig won't mind that I have on high heels and a dress. Surely BBQ can be enjoyed in my fine frock as well as in jeans. Because my husband really enjoys eating, I reluctantly agreed to the epicurean delights of the Smok'n Pig!

Let me give you a food critic review of the Smok'n Pig: Go eat at the Smok'n Pig! Go today. Wear your stretchy pants. Take friends. Go for your anniversary! The food is fabulous. They have a beef brisket that is the most flavorful, tender meat that I have every tasted. The sweet potato souffle is heavenly. I ate until my fine frock was screaming! To make the night even more sophisticated, we brought home a to-go box full of left overs.


The moral of today's blog - it's all about give and take. I had my sweet husband of 21 years and a dozen red roses. He had his wife of 21 years and Smok'n Pig BBQ. Life is good and I thank God every day for allowing me to marry the love of my life and most importantly that he is STILL the love of my life. Life is great. If we had gone to dinner at one of the restaurants that I had in mind, there would be no blog to write. Thanks Smok'n Pig for being blog-worthy!