My Brother Gary and a Gorgeous Country Cottage!

Hello sweet friends. I sure have missed all of you
.
Before I begin tonight I want to thank Susan from the bottom of my heart for being my Blogazine Guest on the post before this one. She is such a sweetheart for taking the time from her writing to do this for me and I hope all of you had a chance to read it and if not be sure and scroll on down but not until you read tonight's post first. ha ha

All my good intentions of blogging regularly did not happen for me. Right after my last post I was told that my baby Brother Gary’s cancer has returned for the third time in three years.

They found a mass in one lung and it is cancer. We were all devastated for him that he once again is going to have to deal with this. It all started three years ago when they found a lump in his neck. After months of radiation and chemo he thought he had won the fight but in less than a year it turned up in his throat. They did extensive surgery on his throat and once again the chemo treatments. He made it a year of being cancer free when they found this in his lung.

On top of this news he was told that they wanted to do a CAT scan because it was a very strong possibility that he had cancer in other parts of his body which they said he would be in serious trouble.

I went into deep depression and cried a river because that is just what I do when I receive news like this about my family or friends. So for about three days of waiting after the scan we heard last night that they found no cancer cells in other areas of his body. I then cried tears of joy.

He will be taking his chemo at MD Anderson which is over a 100 mile trip one way for him but I am so thankful to God that he has a fighting chance to beat this again. I am hoping he will let me take him for some of the treatments because his wife is a flight attendant and since Gary will be missing a lot of work she will need to pick up extra flights.

Once again I am asking you for prayers for Gary. I know how faithful you were the other times and I know the power of prayer does work. So thank you for your prayers.

Last week I felt so sorry for Gary’s wife and I called her to see about taking her to lunch. They have only been married a year so she is taking this very hard. They were engaged the two years he fought this before so she has really been a angel helping my brother take care of himself.

A few years ago I shared with you the historical home she lived in when she and Gary were dating. It is a home our first President of Texas built for his wife Margaret and their children back in the 1800’s. Sam Houston is a famous Texas hero who led the battle of San Jacinto defeating the army of Santa Anna.

My great grand daddy fought in this battle near La Porte, Texas where I was raised. His name is on the monument along with all his comrades that fought for our Independence from Mexico. It was where the famous cry Remember the Alamo was heard on the battlefield April 1836.

Well Sherry still owns this historical home and for the last two years Gary and she have been trying to restore it to its original state. This of course was slowed down considerably because of Gary’s treatments.

Also Gary had his home that he was building himself when they met so poor Gary has done nothing but build on two homes for several years now.

One of these days I will share with you the old Sam Houston house and tell you what they found when removing the wall paper. I will share with you that when you walk in the front door there are large windows that frame the front door. On one window you can see writing etched on the glass. It seems that when one of his daughters became engaged that there might have been a question about the diamond in the ring. The young man took the ring and wrote I believe his and her name in the glass. After over a hundred years you can still read these names.

When I ask Sherry to lunch she told me that she was at the guest cottage behind the Sam Houston house and did I want to come out and see what they had done to the cottage and have lunch near there. I of course wanted to see how they had fixed up the place and it was mind blowing for me to see the changes.

They turned a storage building into the cutest little country cottage. She told me when they work on the place they often stay out there for the night. Believe me when I walked in the door I secretly wished I would never have to leave. It is so darn cute.

Let me show you the pictures I managed to take from my phone. Of course, I was upset I did not have my camera with me but my phone came in handy. I was there to cheer her up so I felt bad asking if I could take these pictures but as much as I was going on and on about how I loved her cottage I think she was tickled pink that I wanted to share them with you.

This is the cottage that sits behind the Sam Houston home. Gary and Sherry have worked really hard on this little house. I love the rock steps that Gary built. 

 As you can see I did not get the best of pictures. This one is the back room where they have wicker on one end and their dining room table on the opposite side.  I thought I took pictures of the wicker sofa and lounge chair but I could not find them when I down loaded these.

I just love this old rocker and wicker plant stand. As you can see by these pictures the whole cottage is white including the floors. Sherry has it decorated in white with touches of blue. I fell in love with this cottage and did not want to leave. I told her when I get thrown off the North Forty that I was moving into this place.

There are two rooms up front that they are using for bedrooms. Sherry painted this old iron bed white and the bedspread is white with blue design. On most of the walls she has gorgeous blue china pieces hanging.

 This is the opposite end of the room where the white iron bed is located. Love the antique piece next to the wicker floor lamp.

Over their bed is some of the blue pieces of china. Darling how she has decorated this house. 

I thought I was turning the pages of a country magazine.

In the corner of this room is the cutest little chair with a soft blue slip cover. Wish you could see the white European curtains up close that are hanging in every room. She moved them from the Sam Houston house while their remodeling it. You can just see a glimpse of the main house out this window. I will

go back through by old post from a few years ago and see if I can find a picture of the main house and post it on here.

One of the reason I love this house is it's not cluttered and it just makes you feel good to be in it.

Sherry told me this building was built before Sam Houston built the big house and it was built around 1830. 

Supposedly when Sam Houston defeated Santa Anna he hung Santa Anna's saddle up on the old stair case of the main house and it remained there until his family donated it to a Texas Museum. Probably the San Jacinto Monument Museum where Texas Independence was won.

Sorry for such a long post. I do want to update you on Clint. He is still having bad headaches from his accident and neck pain but doesn't complain about either. I don't think he can get his dental work done until around the 10th of September. Can you believe September is here?

I hope all of you have a very safe and Happy Labor Day. 

Now I am off to see what you have been up to. Don't forget to scroll down and meet Susan.

Love to all

Maggie

Meet Susan Swiderski!

Hello sweet friends. Gosh this has been a long nine days since we last talked. I truly miss you and hope your
doing well.

Sending you love and thanks for all the lovely comments you left me on my previous post about my son Clint's accident. He is recovering at home and receiving lots of attention from his family.

I did manage to finally drive to Austin to see him on Tuesday. The nasty stomach virus I had kept me away until then and as all of you know a mother not being able to see her babies when their hurt is a living nightmare.

Clint was still banged up bad but is on the road to recovery. I wanted to cry when I saw him but after seeing what he looked like in the emergency room I did cry. He is taking care of himself and will soon be back to work and I imagine riding bicycles again one day with his kids.

Today is his and Andrea's wedding anniversary. They were married 15 years ago. He wrote the sweetest Thank You Note and love note to Andrea today on Facebook wishing her a Happy Anniversary. No one ever wrote me such a sweet note. lol  Wishing them both many many more years of happiness.

Now let me introduce you to my dear friend Susan. She graciously agreed to be my next Blogazine Guest on here. You know how I love it when someone volunteers but sometimes I have to reach out an grab you to get you on here.

Susan is lot's of fun as you will see from reading her post here. She also has written a book that after I read it I knew I wanted you to meet her too. Her writing is refreshing and at times quite hilarious. I fell in love with several of her characters in the book and hated to see it end.

As you know I love nothing better than to curl up with a good read but sometimes their hard to find so I often ask you to tell me about what your reading. You will not be disappointed if you purchase Susan's book from Amazon or visit her blog  I Think Therefore I Yam!
So please enjoy my friend Susan and if you want to be my next blogazine guest please send me your post to
maggiemallard888@yahoo.com. We all have a story to tell so please send me yours.

Hi-ya! It’s a pleasure to meet y’all. My name is Susan, and most people call me… um… Susan. (Go figure.) It’s really great to be here to chat with you guys. (Thanks, Maggie!) Talking about Maggie, isn’t she something else? Ya gotta love a gal who calls herself Grandma Yellow Hair. Any of the rest of you relate to that name? I sure do. The way I see it, just because my kids refuse to do anything about their gray hair is absolutely no reason for me to stop putting smelly crap on mine. Somebody has to support the economy, right?  It ain’t much, but it’s something.

 

As you can probably guess, I’m an old(ish) fartessa, but I’ve got no complaints. My hubby and I have been married for forty-four years, and are enjoying retired life in our empty nest. Wait… let me rephrase that. He’s been retired for almost a dozen years. I was a stay-at-home mom, over-zealous housekeeper, and outta-control volunteer, so technically I can’t ever retire. However, I’ve gotten around that little technicality quite nicely by becoming a whole lot more (ahem) relaxed. The health department hasn’t threatened to condemn the place, so I figure we’re still good. I mean, who the hell needs to see their reflection in the kitchen floor, anyway? I’m not even all that keen about seeing it in the mirror.

Oh yeah, our slightly messy nest isn’t entirely empty, either. We have two cats, Dot and Dash, who are considerably more spoiled than our children ever were. Kids? We’ve got three, (One of each, my husband likes to say.) and they’re all married and off raising their own families now. I tell ya, there must be something in that Florida and Alabama water… grandbaby number thirteen just made his grand entrance (Or was it an exit? I guess it depends on how ya look at it.) a couple weeks ago.

My hubby and I are originally from Maryland, but we moved to Georgia in 1971. You think it’s a bite ya in the butt bit of karma that our boys moved out of state to raise their families, too? Could be. We’re both amateur radio operators, (AKA hams) and pursue a number of other hobbies. For our anniversary this year, we went to the north Georgia mountains for a few days, and tried our hands at panning for gold and gems. So, we ended up backing into yet another hobby. Rocks. I never would’ve imagined that one, but so far, we’re having fun with it.

Enough of that. I’m pretty sure what Maggie wanted me to talk about is my writing, so I’ll get to it. For many years, I did a lot of pro bono stuff for numerous organizations, and got a couple pieces published in magazines, (For pay! What a concept!) but I decided it was time to write a book. After all, my second grade teacher TOLD me I was gonna be an author some day, and dammit, who was I to make a liar of her? (She was a really sweet lady.)

So fast forward… lots and lots (and LOTS!) of writing, rewriting, and editing, and then it was time to query agents. Several suggested I start a blog, so I did: I Think; Therefore I Yam.  It’s an eclectic blog, to say the least. What can I say? I’m a bit of a smart ass with a weird sense of humor, who loves weird facts and historical tidbits, so just about anything goes. Initially, the premise was to build a platform, but that’s a bunch of hooey. I  blog now because of the connections I’ve made with so many wonderful people around the world.

Anyhow, long story short, my book (Tra-la!) was released a couple months ago. It’s called Hot Flashes and Cold Lemonade, and contrary to the title, it isn’t a book about menopause. It’s about life, love, family, and friends. (And a gal who just happens to be going through menopause.) From the feedback I’ve been getting, my book has been making women AND men laugh. And cry. And making this old gal very happy… because they…ohmigod, they LIKE it! Life is good. It is very very good.

Again, thank you, Maggie.


Thank you Susan for taking time out from your writing to do this post for me. I hope you enjoyed doing it as much as I enjoyed having you here. 

It's a delight to me getting to know my friends out here in this amazing world of blogging better. 

Congrats on your book Hot Flashes and Cold Lemonade. I just know you will sell tons of copies and I am looking forward to reading your next book.

Sending all of you much love and hope to see you again soon. I am
still having trouble with my internet but will try to stop by and see you soon.

Love to all
Maggie

In A Matter of Seconds!

Sizzling hot here in Texas today. My outside thermostat is reading 103 right now and the heat index is 110.  Thank goodness for living in a home with air conditioning. I really can't imagine living in Texas without AC.

My biggest concern today though is not the heat but my Son Clint. On Sunday evening he was spending quality time with his children Bailey and Kaci when in seconds their outing turned into a horrible nightmare.

They were riding their bicycles around the neighborhood when the front wheel on Clint's bicycle came off while he was going down hill. He was of course unable to control anything and was thrown over and landed mostly on his face.

This is what Clint shared with his friends on Face book. I hope he doesn't mind me repeating his post on here.
             Had a pretty horrible accident on my bike last night. Riding with the kids
             and going down hill pretty fast and my front tire hit something..popped it in the air
             when it landed I basically flew off my bike. I am so proud of my kids it knocked me
              out and I was bleeding every where. Bailey stayed with me and Kaci rode for help.
              I know they were freaked out but they got to Andrea who then took me to the
              emergency room. I hate they had to deal with it but so proud of them. I have a
              concussion and right side of my face looks like Mike Tyson beat me for 12 rounds.
              Stitches and gauze all over the place. I am in bad shape but my kids saved me from a lot
              worse. I love them so much.

Clint is in bad shape and was really banged up. He had to have stitches in his eyelid and chin. Also he will need dental work because it broke one of his teeth on the bottom near the front. He is devastated about that as I am for him but thank God he is not seriously injured with major problems.

My grand kids are amazing. I cry when I think about what they went through while this was taking place.
I can just imagine the horror of seeing their Dad fly off his bike and to be laying in a pool of blood. Kaci took control and rode to get her Mom several big blocks away while Bailey stayed with his Dad. It was extremely difficult for both of them but they are my little hero's and I am so proud of them for knowing what to do.

Andrea told me that Bailey was crying so hard on the way to the emergency room and Kaci was coaching him in the back seat to Breath and to think of the Beach and them there watching the waves coming in and out. They love the beach so wasn't it smart of Kaci to get Bailey to think of those times.

I shared with you today the picture of Clint, Kaci and Bailey sitting on the deck of a friends beach house last month. They were enjoying shakes from the nearby Sonic.  Hopefully in the near future they will be watching those waves again.

Since I am still sick with this bug I can't go to Austin and be with them but my sweet daughter-in-law Andrea has kept me updated on both Clint's recovery and how the kids are handling it.

Andrea has really been a life saver with taking care of Clint around the clock. I can not begin to tell you how grateful I am that he is married to someone that loves him the way she does.

I want to thank all of you for always leaving me such sweet comments and all the get well wishes I am better and I am hoping in another day this too shall pass.

Stay cool and take care dear friend.

Love to all
Maggie