Ah, just gotta love the Blogstream community. Polar B tagged me after Taylor tagged her, after Taylor got tagged by Bookworm. And so now I am supposed to post 5 things I have heard and never forgotten. Then it's my turn to tag 4 others. So......

5 Things I have never forgotten.....

1) Actually this is a quote I read when I was younger and it has always stuck with me. "Beware the quiet person for within lies their strength, not without." I've found it to be true.

2) Everything happens for a reason. Sometimes we just aren't meant to understand. Sometimes we won't know the reason until much, much later.

3) There are thousands of little bugs and parasites living on your eyelashes eating your dead skin and such. I heard my sister and her friends talking about this. Scared the day lights out of me. I was very young and scrubbed my face two or three, maybe four times a day with extremely hot water soap and until my face looked raw. Mom put a stop to that pretty quickly......

4) Said by a close friend in college when something strenous came our way...."Flogging will continue until morale improves!!!!!" Isn't that the truth!!!!

5) Open your heart to the possibilities......

Thanks Polar B for including me!!!! Humm.....now on to the business of tagging others..... tee hee MacKenzie exclaims rubbing her hands together, a wicked grin spreading across her face.....
Cheers! ~MacKenzie

Apparently like this......

How You Life Your Life

You are honest and direct. You tell it like it is. You're laid back and chill, but sometimes you care too much about what others think. You prefer a variety of friends and tend to change friends quickly. You tend to dream big, but you worry that your dreams aren't attainable.

Good morning!!!! My brain is on a serious freeze. I want to pay attention to my blog. The situation is this.... the gates are closed, the lights are flashing, but the train is just NOT coming.....

So then, I thought up a really fun idea, but can't find the music I want for it anywhere... and of course, I am being picky.... I only want the song that is in my head and it's just not out there that I can find. So then, I came across this......

I hope the picture comes out clear. There are seven horses in this picture. I can find 5 of them clearly, but the other two are a bit of a mystery. I think I found one, but I don't feel 100% confident that's what it is.....

How about you????



Seven Horses Cheers! ~MacKenzie

Today is the official day of getting back to a normal every day routine. I was very happy to see that after the memorial service on Friday there was a much more peaceful atmosphere next door Friday evening. Thank goodness that Honey and I thought about serving food on Friday evening because the family went through it all!!!! It was nice to be able to tell Mepa stories and laugh and remember while smiling!

The next hard part now is supporting Mom and Papa while they are supporting Mema. There were guidelines that Mepa didn't follow. When Mema and Mepa moved down here, as Mema's Alzheimer's got to a certain point, more things were supposed to come into play. Well, unfortunately, Mema has long since passed that point and now it's up to Mom and her brothers to maneuver through the muck to support Mema in the best means possible. Which may mean finding an assisted living facility with qualified support staff. Which no one really wants to deal with, but at the same time, right now Mom C is tied to the house and all those memories while trying to adapt to a live without her dad. It has become very apparent over the past week how very much Mepa did and did not say a word. Mema definitely cannot live alone anymore. Many of her basic skills even have faded. Mom C is her good friend and recently she has been asking where her little girl has gone... This week is all about putting plans in place. Its about finding how to make sure that no one (Mom C) is burnt out by this whole thing. It's about trying to move on and making the transitions needed.


Technically, I should NOT be on my blog right now. This morning I woke up and looked around my house and did this.... . It's disaster central in here. First of all, it's mud season. That probably says a lot right there. Second, a family of five living in a small space and no one (aka ME) has done any laundry, dusting or cleaning floors or bathrooms ( ) since then. So yeah.... it's rather unpleasant at the moment. The fung shui is WAYAAAYYYYYY off in here!!!! It's going to take a bit. Well, at least I can cheer up my blog with a bit of flowers....


Cheers! ~MacKenzie

Wow. I almost feel odd, and on my own blog!!!! I haven't been here since Saturday and to see it in front of my eyes, to know here I am, and yet to feel distant. I think I feel distant from the Stream, actually.

I've missed you. I have felt so thankful for those of you who have even just dropped a smiley face in my in-box. I appreciate not being forgotten.

The realization popped into my head yesterday that I'm just so tired of remembering Mepa with tears. I don't want to think of his passing with sadness anymore. I want to remember his life with joy and cheerfulness. Mepa was an absolutely fabulous dancer. Oh, how he could whirl Mema around the dance floor. They were so beautiful together. My own father taught me some of the steps. Mepa every once in awhile would sort of continue the dance lessons. It was so much, much fun!!!!!

I have come to the realization that I would much rather waltz around my house listening to jazz and big band tunes, Frankie, Glenn Miller and Ella Fitzgerald, singing them out loud, with a smile on my face as a way to remember him. It's not that I don't miss him or care that he's gone or that I'm even ready to dismiss this. I just have this inner need to.....change the grieving process, I guess.

And unfortunately, I almost feel guilty. With the family yesterday, I just wasn't crying any more. I almost wanted to squeeze them and say, "STOP!" And to think this isn't over yet. Either today or tomorrow is the cremation process. Friday the memorial service. (*sigh*) I know everyone has to do their own thing to get through this. I think I understand their emotions and process even more than I do mine right now. But this is just the way it is. The part of Mepa that made him who he was and endeared him to us is not gone, just.... transformed, I guess is the best word that comes to mind right now. I'm sure there's a better one, but well, it's not surfacing.




I'm playing around with music..... Mepa always would sing this to Mema whenever it came on the radio... it fits.... or it would if I could get it to work.......hummmm......