Preparing for Heaven in 2007

Preparing for Heaven in 2007 is my motto, mantra, mission statement, for the year. I don't know exactly what that means, but it is something I want to do.

My sweet Aunt Barbara died a few months ago. She was sick a long time and died at Carlene's house under hospice care. Barbara Lou had made all the necessary arrangements so when that fateful day came all Mom had to do was make one phone call. The funeral home came and got her, cremated her and then mailed her "cremains" to her daughter in Alabama. Done!

Well except for one thing, all the crap she left behind. They emptied her storage unit and now it fills the room at Mom's house that Barbara use to live in.

So preparing for heaven to me means throwing away my crap today. If you begin thinking like this you will see that your house is filled with STUFF that just takes up space. George Carlin has a great perspective on how we place such importance on our "STUFF". (For all you 20 somethings reading this, George Carlin was a famous comedian in the late 60's and early 70's. You can see him on www.youtube.com)

When Glory came to visit in November she noted that I was a project starter but not a finisher. I know that. But in preparing for heaven in 2007 I feel I need to finish the projects I have started around the house.

I need to make lists of what needs to be done with my left overs after I am gone. I think the term for that is Last Will and Testement. I need to squander my money so that I have nothing to leave my family and friends but my house. Who wants my house, it comes with a dog and 11 cats?

Don't worry, I'm not dying soon but I think about it a lot. My current goal is to out live my pets.

All the days ordained for me

were written in your book

before one of them came to be.

Ps. 139

Wimsical?

If you go back and read the last comment on the post "Party Dog" you will see that my friend Denise wants me to write something "witty and entertaining".

I could do that, but I would rather write about death. So to start, here is a poem by Billy Collins (my favorite). I can identify with what he writes and I think it is witty and entertaining.....what do you think Denise?

My Number

Is Death miles away from this house,
reaching for a widow in Cinncinati
or breathing down the neck of a lost hiker
in British Columbia?

Is he too busy making arrangements,
tampering with air brakes,
scattering cancer cells like seeds,
loosening the wooden beams of roller coasters

to bother with my hidden cottage
that visitors find so hard to find?

Or is he stepping from a black car
parked at the dark end of the lane,
shaking open the familiar cloak,
its hood raised like the head of a crow,
and removing the scythe from the trunk?

Did you have any trouble with the directions?
I will ask, as I start talking my way out of this.

Thomas Guthrie

O.K. let's face it, the 60's were not a good time for the Hanna family. Everyone of us (Carlene, Bill, Glory, David, Catherine and Thomas) can stop and recall countless MAJOR events that happened during those years that has had a lasting effect on how we live in the present.

The "Norman Rockwell" family portrait was on the verge of disintegration, but right before it did Thomas Guthrie was born on this day in 1965. Tom was born into chaos and has lived in chaos his whole life.

Tom, if I were to give you a gift for your birthday it would be the gift of bravery: bravery to battle the demons within, bravey to be real about the issues that keep tripping you up, and bravery to let go of the fact that your family fell apart long before you could do anything to stop it.

Happy Birthday and next year lets eat cake!

Party Dog!

I got my dog in May of 2003 off the streets of Corpus Christi. Her leg was broken and the vet said it had been that way for a whole month, but if you would like to read about the whole story, please click on the link at the right titled: Cookie Belle.

In May of 2003 the vet said she was 5 months old. I didn't think much of it because I wasn't going to keep her. I was going to help her and then get rid of her....can you believe that? Anyway, one day I came home from work and was greeted at the door by my sweet girl and without any premeditation at all I said, "Happy Birthday!" It was January 10th.

So that is the story of how Cookie got her birthday and now I want to share how we celebrated her day?

First we tracked some vermin in the back yard.

Then we went to Panjo's and shared a burger and chips.

Then we ran down the street with a ferral labrador.

Then we went to Starbucks and they gave her a cup of whipped topping.

Then we went to Moore Than Feed and got a new pink color AND a tag with her name and phone numbers on it.

Happy 4th Birthday Cookie.

Which makes her 28 in human years right?

Baby David

My brother David was born on this day... a long time ago. He was a handsome baby and an adoreable child. Carlene still has the "curl" she cut off the top of his curley head when he was a babe. You can probably see the beginning of the infamous curl in the first photo.
What is interesting to me however is the last photo. It is a picture of Baby David and Baby Catherine, but it looks like Matthew (David's son) is holding me. The power of genetics amazes me.

Happy Birthday David!

P.S. Does it looks like Baby David is trying to crush my head? Nah, I'm being paranoid, he would never do anything like that.

TIMBER!

I proudly decorated my Christmas tree a week ago and I must say it was beautiful. It was decorated in silver balls, dangling silver snowflakes and stars. It had 300 white lights on it and it looked like a Winter Ice Sculpture. I would have taken a picture, but it was so sparkly that a photograph could not do it justice.

The kittens, to my amazement, have pretty much been ignoring it. Tonight however, when I returned home from Anne's birthday party, I entered the house to find the tree on the living room floor. There were ornaments in the kitchen, entry and bathroom. There were shards of silver glass under every piece of furniture I own.

So, I swept up the damage, gathered all my ornaments from the outer regions of the house and then preceded to dismantle the tree. It now stands naked in the corner waiting to be put in it's box. I'll be honest, I'm kind of mad right now.

MERRY CHRISTMAS from one of the culprits!

Christmas Confessional

Being a Christian, it’s in my spiritual DNA to love this holiday. I do love Christmas, but today I want to confess, one of the reasons I enjoy the holidays so much has nothing to do with the “reason for the season”.

I love the colors, smells, and decorations of Christmas. I like Christmas trees so much that I want to have a Christmas Forest. Currently I have three trees and none are decorated, go figure. Regardless, I have lots of ornaments, expensive ones (purchased half price on Dec. 26th through the years) and homemade ones. Remember the ones we made in Elementary School out of Styrofoam egg cartons and pipe cleaners? Weren't they tacky?

I love the baking that is traditional with the holidays. This is the time of year when Russian Tea Cakes, Divinity and Fudge abound. This is also the time of year that Mom made Spiced Tea and the only time we drink it.

I like the movies and music we all associate with the holidays, especially the old stuff. Bing Crosby singing Jingle Bells or White Christmas is the best. Oddly enough, however, I can't stand Christmas Cantatas.

If you are a lost soul (Christian or otherwise), rent It’s a Wonderful Life and watch it like finding your happiness on earth depended on it. I think it sums up the meaning of life pretty well.

I like the idea of Santa Claus. I remember vividly the day I realized there was no Santa, it happened just last week. My favorite part of Christmas as a kid was the stocking. Mom hung our stocking on the post of our beds. It was great to wake up at 4 in the morning and burrow through that billowing bag of benevolence while we waited for the adults to wake up....would they EVER get up?

I love gifts. I know they say it is better to give than to receive, but I like both. I like to wrap presents because I like boxes and paper and bows and the little tags we put on them. And I LOVE IT when I receive a gift that is wrapped exceptionally well (in a box). It is my believe that a mediocre gift wrapped well will be well received. It's the attention to details that make the difference.

As you can see, I am a sucker for packaging. The Christmas season is “packaged” so magically. It glitters, twinkles, and sparkle and I love every frivolous, goofy thing that comes only during this time of year.

Forgive me.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

To me, the most wonderful time of year starts in October and ends in January, and these are the reasons why:

1. Fall Colors


2. October begins with the Brazoria County Parade and Fair. This is a big deal to ANYONE who grew up in Brazoria county. Schools shut down early and ALL the high school bands marched in the parade? Who out there on the enterweb marched in the parade? I did! Also, the weather changes in South Texas during this time of year and it had such a huge impact on me growing up that I call the first cool front "Brazoria County Fair Parade weather." Oh, oh, oh and I just remembered that I entered a Needlepoint (or was it Embroidery?) project in the fair and got a ribbon. I think a red ribbon.


3. Texas High School Football Season and Homecoming (mums)



4. The clothes, I look better in layering and bulky sweaters.


5. October 18th starts off the Hanna Family Birthday season with Carlene's birthday, then Catherine, Glory, Bill, Dad, David and then Tom in January.


6. Halloween, pagan, I know, but it is fun and I love the colors. I love pumpkins, carved or not.


7. The Twelve Days of Catherine


8. Thanksgiving, again with the colors. I love Pumpkin Pie.


9. Christmas (more on that later)


10. Did you know Glory and I were in Time Square together one New Years Eve? Can someone say CROWDED?


11. Resolutions and the hope that comes with a new year and a new beginning.

Oh, but there is one thing I don't like about this time of year: day light savings time. It's dark at 6 p.m. and that makes me tired. It's all mental, I know.

Today is Dad's Birthday

Today is B.T. Hanna's birthday?
It's interesting to me how a person can be dead but we still remember them on their birthdays. I guess it's because I have had more years remembering (and sometimes forgetting) Dad's birthday than I have remembering his deathday.
Dad died in May (can't remember the year). It was final exam week and I remember the first person I told he had died was Philip Shirley; we were standing outside the annex at RFHS.
I have all these vivid memories, but I can't remember the day it happened.
I miss him..... a lot.

My Brush With Fame

This weekend I visited with my good friends David and Gail Roaten in San Marcos. David reminded me several times to bring my guitar, and of course I forgot. I wasn't worried because I knew David had 3 guitars of his own: a Hernandez classical guitar, an Ovation, and a custom made Collings.

When I got to town David told me their neighbor had a best friend from high school visiting. This "best friend" was from Nashville and turned out to be the lead guitarist for the group Lonestar.

http://www.lonestar.mu/

So how great a surprise it was to spend a couple of hours listening to Mike Britt playing a great guitar greatly.