It's Just One Of Those Days...

PJ and his sister in Chicago, 2010

My sister-in-law, my husband's only sibling, made a long drive to our valley for the weekend.  The plan was to drop a newer engine into PJ's 1952 Chevy.  She was really looking forward to helping with it, and PJ was so happy.  It meant time with his sister and a much better engine for Old Blue!  

PJ's Old Blue 52!

As with many of our plans lately, it is not meant to be.  The Chevy engine was originally build for a 56.  Some brackets were changed between 52 and 56.  It will not fit!  Engine dreams have been crushed.  What to do tomorrow to replace the "main event" of the weekend?  We don't know yet.  I'll post an update after we figure it out. 

February - It's About Relatives

The February prompt for NaBloPoMo is Relative.  They're also posting a daily prompt on weekdays, weekends are free writing.  If you're interested in the daily prompts, go HERE.  There is no pressure to follow them, the main thing is to just keep writing every day.  The one suggested for today is "mother" and I've written a lot about my two mothers.  If you scroll down to my Labels List, you can select stories to read about both of them.  They are under mom, momma, and grandma.  In fact, I just added them to the labels at the bottom of this post to make it easier.  Did you know you can click on a label, and you go right to the posts on that subject?  It took me a while to figure that out when I first began blogging.

Donnie & big brother Ronnie

 Even before I knew that the prompt was to be Relative, I'd been thinking about family.  A couple days ago, I started pooling photos into a "Siblings" album.  I have quite a few siblings.  My lil sis and I share the same mother and father, but there were also half brothers, half sisters, step brothers and a step sister.  Two half brothers are no longer with us.  Donnie was the baby.  He passed on very young from Leukemia.  I have such strong memories of those last days with him.  He didn't live with us, but when he became so ill, Dad brought the boys over more often.  I remember the bruises on his little arms.  I asked grandma why he had so many and heard the word "transfusions" for the first time.  He was so sweet, and his journey in this life was too short.  I imagined arms of ancestors wide open, waiting for him.  I did wonder if I'd prayed harder, would God have let him stay.  I was ten years old.

My brother Tommy also left this life before I was ready.  I've written about him several times before.  The labels are Tom, Tommy, and Brother.  I still miss him.  Some days it hurts to think about him.  Most days I have peace because I believe he is with others I love, just out of sight, in that spiritual world we cannot see with our human eyes.

Our siblings play such important parts in our lives.  They are pieces of the puzzle that make us who we are.  I love every one of mine and am thankful my life was blessed with them.

© 01FEB2012 ajj

Mind Wide Open - "All Dressed Up"

This is the image we were given for this month's Mind Wide Open challenge. Such sweet faces! The prompt for this image was "All Dressed Up" and was a lot of fun.

Below is my entry. My project was to repurpose a stationary box. I turned it into a keepsake box by adding party hats to the little girls, vintage sheet music, lace, ribbon, buttons, and a photo of my grandmother and her sister. The image of the little girls made me think of sisters growing up together, playing dress up and sharing their dreams.

I also decorated the inside of the box. I can't show that to you since I still have no camera. I was able to get an image of the top of it by laying it on my scanner for this photo.

There is a lovely prize for the winner, so please visit the Mind Wide Open blog (photo link over to the right on my sidebar) and place a vote for your favorite.