The bird that loves me...

Our friend Pat lives in the nursing home. She is a truly wonderful lady and we go to visit her nearly every day. She has an African Grey Parrot named Pepi, who she has had since he was a tiny hatchling. He is very smart and very busy.

Pat loves Pepi and Pepi loves Pat, but Pepi will not let Pat touch him. Every time she tries, he bites her. He also bites everyone else that tries...except for me. I can pet him, stroke him, feed him and kiss him right on the beak and he has never so much as looked like he was going to bite.

Pat has decided that Pepi is in love with me. And by the look of it, he may well be. According to Pat, who is quite the expert, what Pepi is doing in this video is the Parrot Mating Dance. He is also chittering, which is, apparently, part of the ritual.

I may not have had the best luck with men in my life, but I think that this one is a keeper...what do you think?

National Nursing Home Week

Even with daddy gone, the nursing home continues to be a big part of our lives. My brother and I take turns going to see the gang and usually make it over there at least six times a week. I go in for lunch or after work and he goes in on the weekends. It is so much fun to see everyone and they really seem to enjoy our being there.

This week, in case you didn't know, is National Nursing Home Week! In honor of that, the staff at the home held various events during the week, including Green Day, Home Town Colors Day and May Flowers Day!

As you may have guessed, I was invited to participate as well.

I don't have a picture of my personal celebration of Green Day, but rest assured that I was resplendent (or ridiculous...you know, one of those words that starts with R) in my green hoodie and blue jeans!

Since my home town colors are orange and black, and orange makes me look....well....orange, I had to go to the store and purchase something to wear. I am pawsative that I looked stunning (or stunned, more likely), what do you think? Orange you glad I didn't show you more of this picture?

May Flowers Day provided yet another problem. I don't own a single item of clothing that has flowers on it, so I had to get very creative, which is quite a stretch for me.

I'm not really sure who had more fun at these events, the residents or the staff. There was so much giggling and laughing and carrying on that by the time I had to go back to work each day, my face was sore from smiling.

My hips were sore as well, because my little sweet Marilyn thought I should do the Hula on May Flowers Day, which was fine, but I was trying to do it from a rolling chair and it kind of got away from me.

As I've said many a time before...it's all fun and games until someone breaks a hip!

Pitter Patter

It's a given...if I wash and detail my car, straighten my hair and take a walk without a coat, it will rain. Granted, all of these things have to happen within a 24 hour time span for the power of the cosmos to trigger torrential downpours, but it never fails to happen. Clouds in the sky or no...the rains will come.

That could be just enough to frustrate or upset me, but only if I let it and today I chose not to.

Instead I listened intently to the birds...they love the rain, and so did I.

And I smelled the fresh cut grass and the newly bloomed flowers...and the odor was amazing...the smell of spring.

And I looked at the clouds...they weren't gray, they were a mottled combination of silver and white.

And I looked at the children playing in the puddles...and the elderly couple enjoying the pitter patter of the rain on their roof from the sanctuary of their front porch and thought...life IS good.

Just a quick note....

....to say thank you to the person who nominated me for a Nickelodeon Parents' Picks 2009 Best Local Blog Award. Whoever you are, thank you.

I'm not going to post a link to the site or add their button thingy to my blog...it has been more than enough of an honor to be nominated.

Have a great day, all...hug your mothers close, OK?

The Dance

Once again, too lazy to write an official blog post, so I am paraphrasing an email I recently wrote.

Even though daddy is no longer at the nursing home, my brother or I return nearly every day to visit with the friends we have made there.

One of my many favorite residents is Marilyn. She is a wheelchair-bound woman in her late 50’s. She is developmentally disabled and has a wonderful sense of humor. We all adore her. As usual last night, she was sitting by the nurse’s station listening to music. Also, as usual, I danced for/with her and sang along with the music in my own off-key way.

I danced to “Baby, I Need Your Lovin’” and a couple of other songs that I don’t know very well (not that it ever stops me from trying to sing along). She giggled non-stop the entire time and covered her face in the cutest way whenever I hit a sour note (which was often)…then giggled some more. You have no idea how much I love doing that. I pretended to dance away and then danced backwards into her view again and she laughed so hard she snorted.

This went on for ten minutes or longer and by the end of it, we were both in tears from laughter. When I finally finished, she blew me a kiss and said “I love her” (it’s never I love you or I love him, it’s always I love her). I love it…though today, for some reason, my hips are sore…I guess I may be getting too old to do the twist and the Egyptian (just two of the many dances I attempted to do).

Needless to say, “the dance” is often the highlight of my visit. The nurses always tease me, saying that I have way too much energy.

Visiting the nursing home is such a liberating experience. I can fully embrace my inner child and be as goofy and silly as I want to be and know that no one there is going to wonder if I need psychiatric help (lol).

So, that is how things are going for me...

Everything is not sunshine and roses all the time, but it's not all clouds and thorns either.

There's no denying I miss my daddy...miss the touch of his hand, the smell of his hair, the grin he gave me when I said something funny or knowing that he was there for me. But now he is free of the body that was failing him and free from the pain the nurses said he hid from us.

There's a lot to be said for that.

When the snow clears and we can hike up the Mystic Lake Trail to Fish Rock, we will let his ashes drift away in the wind and the remnants of his earthly body will spread out over the place he loved the best.

His spirit, however, will always be with us.