Rabbit Hunting With My Dad

Today I am gonna tell you a little about my dad. Now as you remember, I refer to my stepfather as dad and my real father as daddy. I am going to tell you about Bob, my stepdad and the wonderful man he was. I tell people he was in "oil", but I dont think that is the actual work he was involved in. So I had to enlist some input from my brothers on this one.
One says he was a piping and instrumentation superintendant for a number of large industrial construction companies. That he was in charge of installing all the pipe and instrumentation for refinery, gas plant and chemical plant projects.
Another one says he was a multi-crafted construction hand who got his start during the refinery construction boom of the 40’s & 50’s. He went on to become a craft foreman in both piping and instrumentation disciplines, then general foreman, then all the way to superintendant over whole refinery construction projects. He worked from as far north and west as Utah, and as far south as Brownsville, Texas, and as far east as New Orleans. To not have been any larger than he was in stature, his reputation and word were huge on a job site. He inspired confidence, respect and hard work. His construction nickname was Crackerass because someone told him once that “his butt wasn’t any bigger than a two-wafer cracker.” He loved practical jokes, only missed two days work in all the years I was growing up, was never late, and dreaded dealing with welders. He was often heard to say that he’d rather have a sister in a cat house than a son who was a welder...and he ended up having a house full of welder sons! LOL
He loved to barbeque and was good at it. He loved to fish, but wasn’t good at it. He carried a.45 Long Colt in his right boot and wasn’t afraid to wield it if needed. He was a party animal in the boom days, out dancing every night of the weekend, but quieted down in his 40’s. He apparently was a terrific dancer because once his own wife was exhausted and needed a break, the other women in the joint would line up to dance with him until his own wife caught her breath and was ready to go again herself. To be so small, he could hold his liquor better than any man I’ve ever known, and often said you weren’t an alcoholic unless you had your first drink before noon.
NOW those being the words of my dear brothers I will tell you some of what I remember of him. He was soft spoken for the most part and though I am sure he had bouts of anger from time to time, I do not ever remember him being ugly or aggressive with it. He would deal with us unruly children by taking us "rabbit hunting".. SO when he said, "Come on, we are going for a ride to hunt some rabbits", you knew you were really getting some sort of lesson from him. No matter what we did to get ourselves in the "rabbit hunt" situation, he never belittled or scolded us for it. He would let us know we were wrong by giving us an example or telling us a story in relation to the matter at hand. Sometimes it seemed that it would be so much easier just to get a good lickin, instead of listening to the lesson he was teaching. He always made his point though, and by the time the ride was over, you had dealt with the issue, resolved it with him, and were almost always laughing and having fun with him.
One day he asked me to go for a ride and it wasnt a "rabbit hunting" ride. I was sort of baffled, but thought "YEAH some one on one with dad. No boys along, woohooo. Sure I would go." But much to my surprise, this ride was one I will never forget. That was the day dad told me that he wanted to adopt me and my brother Garry. I was filled with all sorts of different emotions ranging from ecstaty to sadness. I was tickled pink that he wanted us to be HIS kids. I was overcome with happiness that I was gonna be a Warren too. BUT just as quick, that feeling turned to the deepest sadness I had ever felt, thinking about how my DADDY would feel. I thought he would be betrayed if we took, what seemed to me at the time, the only thing we had left of him away, his last name. Truth was that I HATED my last name. HICKS!! Oh yeah, I was called hickabilly, hickey, hick from the sticks, you name it I was called it. LOL But as much as I hated it, I could not bring myself to change that awful name. I told dad, that as much as I loved him and wanted to be a Warren, I felt the obligation to my daddy, to keep his name. So my dad said he understood and respected me for thinking of my daddy's feeling and not just mine. I sometimes kicked myself in the arse for not doing it, but I think perhaps it was for the best.
So after that, anytime dad wanted to go for a "rabbit hunt", I wasnt sure if I was in trouble or if he was gonna give me some more food for thought. But I always climbed up in that truck and was happy to be going with him, no matter what the consequences. I have always felt blessed to have had such a wonderful man like him. He was the best dad anyone could ever want. I miss him so much and wish my own children could have gone on some "rabbit hunts" with him. He would surely have taught them a lesson.

In the tub AGAIN

I have put in another day at work, come home and helped my dearly beloved work on his website for a couple of hours, cooked dinner, talked to a few family members on the phone, and gotten in the tub to soak. It is during those pleasant minutes, (sometimes up to an hour), that I do my best thinking. Different days hold different tub experiences. Some days I go there to clean the toxins out of my system with a good cry. I always feel better after a good hard cry. My oldest brother Sandy once told me that I was flushing some of the toxins from my system, when you have a good cry. That is why you are so tired and feel so much better after a good heart wrenching cry. Other days I get in the warm sudsy water and read. Those are usually the hour long soaks. I love the peace and quite and just the luxury of being able to be in there that long and not be bothered. That is ANOTHER pleasure you get once you have raised your kids and they are gone. Then other days, I just sit in the water and think, as was today.
We are under winter watch and are getting more snow today and tonight. I had looked out to see how much had fallen since I got home, and decided a nice hot bath was the thing I needed. SO I filled up that tub with hot water and nice clean smelly stuff and hopped in with my Readers Digest. I did have intentions of reading, but once in there I just got to thinking about things. My daughter and her family are getting transfered back to Texas, and she is not too happy about leaving the beautiful part of Florida where they have been residing. I thought about how bad I had wanted to go see thier home there, and how now I wouldn't be able to. I thought of my little grandbaby Ethan, and how much I am missing out on his little transitions from baby to boy. I thought about how I needed to post a picture of the little crapper on here so all of you could see how darned cute he really is. So here he is. NOW isnt he cuter than cute??
Well I know that whatever turns thier lives take, Devin will take good care of them for me. Even though I sometimes think he is crazy, I do love him. I know that he will do what is in the best interest for them and I know he will provide for them. Thank you my dear Devin. And love and happiness to you all.

Catching Up

Ok, WOW what a week. Have been SO busy. The best part of this week was my Red Hat day out. We met for a marvelous lunch at Hunans in Alpena, where they have the most wonderful food. They have a buffet that has everything you could ask for on it. AND I got to visit with my Red Hat sisters. They are all great and fun to be around. Marialaina was wearing a purple hat (for those of you that dont know the protocol, you wear red hats all the time UNLESS it is your birth month. THEN you wear a purple one, so that everyone knows it is your birthday). Anyway she had on the cutest little purple hat with netting and floosies all on it. I complimented her on her hat and told her happy birthday. She informed me that it was NOT her birthday but since this was the 10 year anniversary/birthday of the Red Hatters, she was allowed to wear it. So I reminded her that THAT was LAST YEAR 2008. We laughed about it and had to share that with our sisters. TOO FUNNY. After we had finished our main course, the owner sent us out a platter of fruit. It was beautiful and he had carved a horse out of a butternut squash that was standing on his hind legs as if he was guarding the fruit. It made us feel special and I thought it was such a nice token of appreciation by Jimmy.
So then we all head over to our local beauty school for an afternoon of pampering. We had the choice of facials, pedicures, and manicures. I had the pedicure and it was totally awesome. My feet are still soft and silky with beautiful burgundy nails. Our hosts for the month also brought along some sparkling juice and chocolate dipped strawberries and truffles for us to munch on while we were getting pampered. It was just so relaxing and I felt like I had been rejuvenated when I left. Thanks go out to the gals that planned this and did such a wonderful job on it.
Garry is still in Texas with Uncle Jack and he seems to be getting better according to the last report I received from Troll Boy. I am so glad he was able to go and be there for them. Oh yeah and have I told you?? I LOVE HIM. Teeeheeee
The flu is still at work and another of our residents had it this week. She wasn't as bad as some of the others, but still, sick is sick. It is not a pleasant thing for anyone.
SO I get this call from my daughter asking me if I had forgotten anyone in my blog. Of course thinking it was HER she wanted me to write about I played dumb. That is when she informed me of my OTHER brother Willie P. I have NOT forgetten about him, he just has NOT entered the picture yet. In my story, he has not even been thought of yet, much less put in this earth. SO you all will hear about him as well, eventually. AND I do have another step brother, Steve, that you will hear about as well. If anyone else can think of anyone they want me to write about , just let me know and I am sure I can work them in. TEEHEEE TEEHEEEE

Sad day

Well today brings another sad mood for me. My brother Garry called and is on his way to Amarillo to be with Uncle Jack. He is not doing good and was moved into ICU this morning. Not sure what is going on , but it doesn't look good. All of Jack's children are there and Garry felt like he needed to go to him, if he was to see him again. I wished I could have gone as well, but lots of circumstances are preventing that from happening. I know that Garry will give him my love and assure him that he is in my thoughts and prayers. That Garry is the best. LOVE HIM, LOVE HIM, LOVE HIM.
He called me a few nights ago and reminded me that he is still upset over the troll boy thing. He also asked me if I remembered all the mean things he used to do to me. SOME I do, some I do not. He reminded me of the time he threw a rubber snake in the shower at me. It was when we lived in the Valley in Texas and my Uncle Jack had come to visit us. Garry was getting his suitcase out of the car and found this snake. He thought about all the evil he could do with this item, and decided that it would be put to the best use, by using it on me. I was in the shower and he picked the lock, threw it in the shower, giving me time to see it, then turned off the light. I was, ( and still am) scared to death of snakes. I fought to get out of there and brought down the shower curtain, rod and all, trying to get away from it. Now THIS is one that I really don't remember, and I am wondering as well , did my entire family find this amusing as well? OR did he get in trouble for it. PROBABLY NOT. In fact , I probably did, for pulling down the shower curtain. I will have to ask my mom about that one.
Well I hope him a safe trip and need to get upstairs to watch my show. Teeheee

Uncle Jack

I got a phone call from my brother night before last and he told me that my Uncle Jack is in the hospital. He is not doing well. He is on dialysis and is not the picture of health. So I called him and we talked just a brief while. He had surgery yesterday to move the port for the dialysis. He was on some pain, but when I talked to Monkey, (his wife), she said he was doing somewhat better. So that is good to hear. Will be keeping in touch and checking in to see how he is coming along.
Now this is my fathers brother. From this point on my father shall be referred to as DADDY and my step dad will be called DAD. My daddy only had the one brother. I am not sure what the age difference is but I am sure it wasn't much.
Their mother, my Grandma Hicks, also known as false teeth grandma, was married to Orie, the father of these two boys. My grandpa was a wonderful man, although I only have faint memories of him. I do remember their backyard and how we used to spend lots of time with them. Grandma would make us picnic lunches and we would sit under the cherry trees in the backyard and eat it. She would tell us stories and teach us life's little lessons. She showed us how to make objects from the clouds and how to look through a rolled up piece of paper and the tree branches to see sun spots. These sessions would end with a nap on a blanket spread on the grass.
Grandpa would be in his shed or working in the yard or just sitting out back with us. But our favorite place to be with him was on the front porch. They had those old metal rocking porch chairs and we would sit out there with him. He would talk to us but I cant remember specifics like I can with Grandma. But I do remember liking to sit with him and how he liked us to do tricks in the yard. Like cartwheels, or somersaults, or trying to stand on our heads. Of course we were quite young then and were not too good at doing either of those, so they would always get a laugh from him.
He passed when we were both young. I don't remember how young but when we went to the hospital to see him, we had to be lifted up onto the bed to see him. I am grateful to have the few memories I had of him.
Uncle Jack was always around when we were growing up in Amarillo, which is where I was born, as well. He played with us and took us to San Jacinto Park which was only a block down the road from Grandmas house. He taught me how to play Karem. The park had a game rental area where they would let you take games and play with your friends or family. They didn't charge anything, but you had to sign them out. Karem is a game that you play with sticks and little discs and you shoot them around on the board. I have not seen that game since those days at the park . I loved to play it and I can remember Jack playing it with me. He was always pretty soft spoken. He was always smiling and seemed happy all the time.
He was married to a lady named Sue, who had a German Sheppard. That didn't last long. I don't have ANY memories of her at all, just pictures that proved she was in there. Then he married a girl named Melinda. They had two children, Jamie and Becky. Their marriage didn't last long and Melinda left the kids with Jack and took off for another life. For years afterwards he was single and concentrated on raising those kids. Then he found his love and married her. Her name is Monkey and they made a nice little family. She had children from her prior marriage as well. So they made their own little Brady Bunch and have lived happily ever after. She is still standing by his side and taking good care of him, and the kids, and anyone else who needs a loving arm around them. I never got to spend much time with them as we were living in a different town after my mom and daddy got a divorce. But I do remember her being so kind and sweet when we were around. I am so glad that Jack has her, and has had so many wonderful years with her. I am sure they have made many happy memories together.

A Lost Day

Well as I have mentioned in my profile, I work in a group home for the mentally challenged. I was there the past two days and have had to deal with the worst part of the job. SICKIES. LOL Well it is hard enough for them to make life work when they are in the best of health, but when they are sick, it really is tough. One of my little gentlemen has been horribly ill with the stomach flu. So bad, in fact, that he was up in ER for five hours taking IV's for fluid. So I have been there and taking good care of him and doing my job and thinking , WHEW I feel pretty good and just MAYBE I wont come down with this bug. One of my coworkers had to be off the past two days due to the fact that he had gotten it by working the weekend. So I don't know why I felt sure I would get around it. But as I left work yesterday, I was thinking to myself, "I am fine. I have survived these past two days and I have the rest of my week all planned out and in order, so I will work my other jobs and do what I have planned".
NOT gonna happen that way, I soon discovered this morning. I got up and got my stores in order and all my paperwork together, loaded down my car with my cards, and was ready to get showered and on the road. The very minute I stepped into the shower, I felt it coming on. OH NO, NOT TODAY. I have 1o stores to do and I HAVE to work today. But my body was telling me otherwise, so I decided that I would just stay home today and work tomorrow and Friday instead. I have taken my Imodiem, my Pepto, and my aspirin and tylenol to try to make this better. I had already started a big pot of chili for the hubby tonight, so I don't have to worry about HIS dinner , but my belly is telling me I am NOT gonna go that route.
I have been in bed all morning and since I am home all day thought I would come post another chapter in my blog. I have been down here 15 minutes and in the bathroom for probably 10 of those. So I will make this short and sweet today and maybe be back this evening, if I feel better. Hope none of you are ill and that this monster passes you all.

The Making of a New Family

My mom moved us to Seminole Texas after the divorce. I hardly remember that place at all, except that my aunt Donna and uncle Ken and some of my favorite cousins lived there. I remember staying with them when mom worked. It was so much fun at their house as there were five kids there and always something going on. They had a weeny dog that was SO lazy and funny too. I can only remember him being on one of the boys bunk beds. WHY cant I remember him anywhere else? I am almost certain that he could move. Hmmmm??? ANOTHER mystery.
Well it seems that my mom met this man while we were there, and although I dont remember much about the courting they must have gone through, I do remember her being happy again. And so it came to be that our house was filled with laughter and SOME MORE KIDS. It seems that Bob (my moms new love interest), too, had been in a marriage gone wrong and had ended up with custody of his two boys. Now these boys were as different as day and night. The older of the two was street wise and knew almost everything we didn't. OR so we (as well as him) thought at the time. He knew all the little ways of getting what we wanted without going throught the proper channels. He was the outgoing and rebellious teen that we all grew to look up to as our big brother. This one we shall call Sandy, which is actually short for Sanford. Sanford Leland, now THERE is a name. He will come up often in my writtings.
Whereas the younger one was SO shy and reserved, he was not gonna do ANYTHING that might get him into trouble. He was the cutest little toot and such a little "man". He was (and still is) the intellegent one in our family. He was such a nerdy bookworm. So much in fact, that at times we thought he might just have some feminine tendencies. We had no idea where this one got his name. "ARCH". Who ever heard such a thing? OK, OK there was Archie in the funny books. But to actually know someone with that name was unheard of. Well his birth given name was Robert Cecil after his dad. He is only 360 days younger than me. We celebrated almost all of our birthdays together. He is a tax day baby. I never forget his birthday, with such an important day to remind me.
So these boys and their wonderful father became our family. It was a blessing to all of us. I think we needed a dad and his boys needed a mom. So we became the Warren family. Of course, my little TROLL boy brother and myself kept our last names, in honor of our father, who was still in our lives as much as his work and our living far away would allow.
I will tell you a little more about the TROLL boy. OH WHERE TO START with this one?? He was a good baby. He was cute and chunky and the all American baby boy. He had the curliest blonde curls you ever saw. He grew into quite the explorer. He was into EVERYTHING. And, had to tear everything apart to see how it worked. But to put it back together was beyond him. He didn't have time for all that. I guess it payed off cause today he can do anything he puts his mind to. His given name is Garry Wayne. Now I bet you are wondering where the nickname TROLL boy came from. WELL that is a relatively new one for him. Actually my daughter Cari gave him that name. I can't remember all the circumstances surrounding it, one day that just slipped out of her mouth and so it stuck. If you check out the picture I have on here of him, I am sure you will see the resemblance of a TROLL. teeheeee More to come on the reason behind the picture. Love ya brother.
I am almost certain that while I sit and go through the memories of my lifetime and write about each one, I will upset, aggravate, aggitate, tickle, and/or touch on every emotion possible. But know that I mean no one any harm or disrespect. I will be truthful and say what I have to say. That is one of the characteristics I am well known for. Anyone who knows me, will know this. Have some actual work to do now , so will sign off for another day.

First of many more to come

I am just getting up the courage to do this. All of my adult life people have told me I should write a book on the MANY experiences life has dealt me. SO my husband has been harping on me to start a blog. Teeheee I don't think this was really what he had in mind, but HERE goes. I am finally in the "happy spot" in life that we all hope of finding. It has taken me many years and loads of pain and suffering and hard work to get here. BUT I am here now and that is what counts.
SO with saying all of the above, I will continue to write about my life as the thoughts come to me, not in any relevant or chronological order. As my memories come back to haunt me, I will share them on here and hope that you find it interesting enough to keep coming back for more.
I think I will start with my childhood, which for the most part was happy and normal. I was born and raised in Texas. My mother and father divorced when I was ten or so. I don't ever remember hearing any arguing or having any drama, not saying that it wasn't there, just that I was not aware of it. My father was a truck driver and my mom was a stay at home mom. She was, and still is, the BEST housekeeper in the world. She always made sure our home was nice and a place we wanted to come home to. I am sure that the stress of raising two kids alone while my daddy was on the road had something to do with the divorce. Did I mention I also had a little brother? I shall refer to him as the TROLL boy. LOL He will love that, I am sure. He is also the best brother you could ask for. None the less, a divorce occurred and life as we knew it changed drastically. I don't think it was as drastic for us kids as it was for my mom. She had to go to work doing what she knew, which was waitressing. She had been to beauty school but the only outcome of that, was some pink and blue hairdos for her and not much of anything else, that I can remember. I am not really sure WHAT happened with that. I will have to remember to ask her about that. BUT she did the best she could and we still always had a safe, clean, happy home to go to. I can remember some sort of day care we attended but for the most part, my grandmother kept us. NOW there was a remarkable woman. She had her share of tough times, which we will hear more about eventually.
OH my how time flies. I need to get back to matters here,so will continue at a later time.