Julia celebrated her b-day...

Josh captured this i~phone shot at Julia's choice birthday celebration family supper at Bel Air's Double T Diner. She devoured her favorite treat from their colossal menu...waffles smothered in ice cream! Yes, she inherited my sweet genes!

My Rx Rant...

My list of pet peeves was longer and more petty before my sister's death. Not to say that I was not an opinionated person before Greta died...in fact I can rarely remember ever having a problem with verbal expression. However, somehow my grief process has changed my tolerance level of irritations.

My list has always included lazy, rude and mean people. I have never understood why malcontent people come out into the public venue when they seem to absolutely hate other human beings! It's funny and yet not...they can make a reasonably bubbly person like myself feel so drained. You know the type...you may be "forced to break bread" with some over your next extended family dinner. Prickly, unhappy people, who barely grunt, mumble or say anything of substance when you acknowledge them. You know a "kill-joy" and they make you dread social interaction with them. With no disrespect to those with true clinical or situational depression, such souls should be encouraged to get medicated or at the very least prodded to frequently visit the gym. I'm a reasonably happy person and I enjoy reaping the benefit of a nice boost to the serotonin level in my ole brain a few times a week! (snickering)

So now that I have admitted that I struggle with numerous peeves...I am sharing here that I'm especially frustrated with people who enjoy breaking rules or much worse just flat-out lying! You're familiar with the likes of such; their range of falsehood may manifest in varying degrees but it is all deceit.

I have been contemplating a post on my pet peeves for a time now. If you will be honest with yourself you have them too. Folks who get in front of you in the "Express Checkout" with a hefty shopping cart of stuff (I want to say, "Look Dimwit...100 cans of 10 kinds of cat food does not constitute 10 items!) Darn drivers who turn with out nary a signal, medical personnel void of bedside manner, judges who rule like they are God, ministers who are jealous of their peers' successful ministries...(okay I warned you in my post title)!

Yes, after letting my "pet peeve rough draft" sit a bit in my blog box for a spell...I came to realize that most of my biggest irks go back to one common element - deceit. My recent ridiculous mega store pharmacy experience motivated me to finally finish and publish this post!

I went to the pharmacy yesterday to get a script filled because I've had this sinus thing. I don't need to tell you what a fun thing it is to be sick. Much less who wants to spend their Friday night inhaling germs from hacking people...just to procure dreaded horse pills that need be force-swallowed twice a day for the next week and a half?

Upon being told that it "might take" 45 minutes and "if I liked I could check back in 15 so they could let me know the cost" I cooperated. Since I had just shopped there at length the day prior, I was bound and determined not to spend a dime in this popular store this day. I busied myself calling a friend or two from my cell for small-talk check-ins. Next I grabbed a Chicken Soup For Whoever Book from a nearby shelf. I sat like I was at the local library but the noise of the overhead loud speaker and people coughing around me rendered a most certain reality check.

After expiration of the allotted time window, I approach the counter and get dreaded news...$138 bucks for my script! I ponder...is that American dollars? For that price it should rightfully also include complimentary blood pressure pills, a dose of vitamins that give me super stamina and be laced with some mood-altering drug that instills natural love for all mankind...even the idiots who make the decisions for these blasted health insurance companies!

I laughed and said "That's funny...you are joking...right?"

She stoically said, "No your plan covers $30 of the $168 cost."

At this point I was really beginning to stew. I was all but certain that the present health insurance was jerking us around...buying time...as our policy was to change to a different provider the very next day. I was feeling so sick; all I just wanted was to get this, go home and rest. I called my hubby and vented the worthlessness of insurance coverage. He was disgusted and voiced how backwards it all sounded. I told him I do not know the problem but I needed something...he says he would call the insurance company himself. I scoffed and said something like, "Yeah right, like they're goin' take a call on a weekend night from a client who will no longer be their responsibility in less than 5 hours?!"

With my throbbing headache and I was by now ready to pay anything just to get to go home and fall into my bed. But before I resolve to relinquishing my Chick-fil-a, manicures and chocolate fixes for the next month, I thought to request a comparable (hopefully cheaper) generic equivalent. I was quickly and flatly told that there was none to be had. I resolved to the fact that if I want to get better I will have to wait longer and just pay the huge price.

My ringing cell phone informed me that the list of things needed on the home front has grown and now included dishwasher detergent and toilet paper. Now I am mad at the store for more than one reason...their ultimate ploy "to get me to spend more money" has somehow worked!

I do what Mommy's do everyday...pressed on to fulfill needs...I returned a tad later and it's still was not ready! OK even an ill female can only resist so much temptation to shop. The infection must have reached my brain as I got a second wind, meandered the mart maze, returnined to the Rx counter to purchase the necessities and all manner of stuff I did not need when I had entered store...like the book I read parts if earlier and a card for someone I don't even consider a "real" friend. Fevers can be vicious!

The blue-smocked lady at the register greeted me with the statement "We are all out of your antibiotic!" I was told "You are welcome to check back tomorrow but it is more likely that another shipment will arrive on Monday!!!" I felt furious and questioned them as to why they could not have told me that like OVER 40 MINUTES AGO?

I shot back in a matter of fact tone...
"I am sick NOW and I am NOT going through this with you again tomorrow...waiting until Monday is not acceptable after all this!"


The pharmacist verbalized a broken English interrogative, "Generic?" Well how interesting a development...sweet mother of Abraham Lincoln...stop the American (English) presses! Why had his "perky little assistant" told me a plain "Anglo- Saxon No" earlier? I accepted his kind offer and killed yet another span of time no doubt rolling and tapping my nails on their counter for a bit! When the finale of this fiasco finally fleshed out...what do you suppose was the cost of the generic substitute?

Here's the real kicker...
ONLY 10 US dollars...yes...American dollars!

Why do people choose to lie like that? The truth fits just right every time! I am not talking avoidance of having all your business known to people with whom you hope to be private or avoid personal discussion. How about keeping marital peace by avoiding saying something hurtful like, "Baby, those jeans do make your booty look too big!" There's no justification for fabricating a lie. Situational ethics are so prevalent in our society. 'Just watch the news...everyday...politicians and even those paid to enforce our laws lie, cheat and steal! Maybe our elite and checked congress should just declare deceit as our national pass time!

I am less naive now...weighing every person's word and way before I file anything as a fact in my brain or trust them. Am I the only person who wants to believe the best in others but just can't anymore? Am I guilty of pride or just a control freak?

Lately, I'm becoming a serious proponent of calling people out to get their story straight in the first place! "Think before you even open your darn pie hole...say what you mean and for Pete's sake...really mean what you say!"

And I pray..."Dear Lord, forgive me for my negative attitude."

My blessed big day...

My oh my...I had another birthday ~not sharing which! Here's a pic of me with my precious offspring. I "fell off the discipline wagon" for a few days...succombing to all manner of sweet-stuff! Mom made me a scrumptious fudge cake!!! These guys helped Daddy make a coconut-iced chocolate cake and one of my biggest weaknesses ~ brownies! They surprised with an ipod ~ classic...good for my other addictions ~photos and music! Now I take my fave music to the gym to work off calories!

I have been blessed...the optimist in me's pressing for 100 or more years!
(BIG smile)

Three Year Old Baby Girl...A Princess?

I just can't get it to sink in...our baby girl turned three. Where does the time go? She's bold about telling us she is a princess. Daddy has brainwashed her and this is serious stuff...if you ask her..."What is your name?
She will respond "Princess"...this just cannot be healthy.

Well, she loves stuffed animals so we took her to Build A Bear and she chose A Princess Bear...go figure. We capped off the day with supper at the Rainforest Cafe in Towson

She loved it, even the make believe storms that brew overhead. However, upon our exit Mommy wanted a pic with that location's trademark animatronic alligator...nothing would do her...she was scared to death of it.
She kept turning to look and see if it was creeping up on her!


The funny thing is that for as just as sweet and cute as she is...there is a darker side which includes a temper with a shrill scream that would scare the living daylight out of a real alligator! She's unique and so very different than our first three kids. God knew what He was doing when He chose to send Jillian as our fourth and final blessing!

As we celebrated Kyle's birthday...

My precious nephew Kyle has anxiously anticipated the arrival of his fifth birthday since the mid-summer. What is it about kids? -They love the passage time! As adults, when another milestone appears on the horizon, we start say things like, "How can it be that I am yet another year older?" and -now a more vivid reality to me- "How can it be that Greta isn't here to be the life of our parties?"

So last week, the big day arrived and we celebrated in style! Our family has always made such a big deal out of birthdays. There's NOT a family birthday I can remember "not recognizing" in our Jones house! Last spring, we lost my sister - Kyle's Mommy in death. The arrival of the red-circled dates on our calendars have come with a flood of emotions. There's a void that quite simply can't be denied.

Last year, when we gathered to celebrate Kyle's birthday, Greta was not well and yet she perservered to bless Kyle with his birthday wishes! Even if I could savor the flavor of the frosting from the birthday cake nothing could come close to experiencing the sweetness of the moment. She was so very excited to have planned his cool CARZ party and organized his big boy bedroom with all kinds of transportation-themed stuff. The little guy just loves automobiles! (As one proud Auntie ~ I just have to interject here - he's very bright and can tell you the make and model of most any vehicle on the road! I'm equally amazed at his "sense of direction", which, for the record, he certainly acquired his mother's DNA!)

I wonder if my sister "had any thought" that Kyle's 4th birthday would be her last to share with him on this side of eternity? (Sadly, it was the last time Greta would see and hug Mom Mom Esther - our Grandmother for whom she was actively helping to plan a surprise 90th birthday party for - one she would not live to attend.) It was the last family event where we would gather under the roof of Greta's house. She felt God had made such great a provision ordaining the acquisition of her long-awaited disability settlement which brought her dream of home ownership to reality.

Despite biting, physical pain, emotional exhaustion and an oxygen tank that seemed to encumber her every move, she smiled through it, scrunching her nose up against his Kyle's precious face. She smothered him with kisses galore...NO ONE could cuddle like Gret! Her affectionate ways were so life size that the reality of her absence stings the eyes of those of us she loved and loved on! As she labored for each breath, she sat right beside her "little stud muffin" watching him widdle away at his steep pile of presents. I can vividly see my sister hugging Kyle Mitchell ever-so-tightly.

This year we tried to keep it light but it's hard not to drift back to times with her here. In our hearts she can't be replaced;it isn't like we can just go out and find another sister, daughter or mother to take her place. Grief is freaky but we are facing it head-on. She would want us to go on and keep making happy memories for her kids. We press on, loving them sweeter and deeper than before her passing.


The "Herbie the Love Bug cake" Kyle begged for was not an easy thing to figure out. But in honor of Gret's zest for life...and with the aid of checkered flag props and party supplies Aunt Candy had gathered...we pulled it off!

Kyle was elated that I came through with his request. You would've thought I told him he just won a trip to Disney World or free reign of a toy store! It brought a tears for me and yet a wide smile to my face when I became the recipient of "that trademark" - "cuddle bug" affectionate hug and kiss that felt so familiar now on my end of the love...a memory that is going to stick with me a longggggg time! A precious aspect of his Mommy that lives on!

Another Tribute To Greta....

This weekend is the nine month marker since Greta's passing. We continue to rejoice in her place now in Heaven with the Lord. We celebrate the life she lived here on Earth for nearly 39 years.

This montage of photos set to Brad Paisley's, "She's Everything" with the help of "slide.com" gives some idea how we (her loved ones) still feel about Greta and how much we miss her unique place in each of our lives night and day! There are so many things in this song that really were her...especially the
I want a piece of chocolate, take me to the movies, a Saturn with a sunroof with her brown hair a blowin', fighter when she's mad, a lover when she's lovin', stealer of the covers, etc. as mentioned in the lyrics. She may be gone from our sight but she is never far from our thoughts ~still!

Hey...grab a box of tissue 'cause it's a tear jerker!

My answers...

All About Me?


If you haven't posted about yourself yet, copy and paste to your blog and fill in your own answers! :)

Terri's Answers:


A) Four Jobs I've had in my life:
1.) Security Guard and salesclerk in department stores
2.) Darkroom Tech for the local newspapers
3.) Bank teller & new acounts representative
4.) Sr. Mortgage Counselor

B) Four Movies I Would Watch Over and Over:
1.) October Sky
2.) Facing the Giants
3.) The Notebook
4.) Fox and the Hound


C) Four Places I have lived:
1.) Street
2.) Forest Hill
3.) Street
4.) Edgewood and soon back to Street again!

D) Four TV Shows I watch:
1.) Extreme Makeover Home Edition
2.) Deal or no deal
3.) CMT countdown
4.) The Local Morning Show


E) Four Places I have been on vacation:
1.) Puerto Rico
2.) Gatlinburg, Tennessee
3.) Florida
4.) In 2000 camped across America in just 25 days


F) Four People Who call Me Regularly:
1.) Mom
2.) My sisters
3.) Esther
4.) Kipper


G) Four of my favorite foods:
1.) Shrimp
2.) Filet Mignon
3.) Mom Mom Esther's Pinto Beans w/homemade cornbread
4.) Lasagna


H) Four places I would rather be right now:
1.) With Jesus
2.) At a spa getting the royal treatment
3.) Sunning on an Hawaiian Beach
4.) Touring Israel


I) Four friends that I think will respond:
1.) April
2.) Lindsey
3.) Debbie
4.) Carolynne

J.) Things I am looking forward to this year:
1.) Getting healthy spiritually,physically and emotionally
2.) Building and moving to our new home
3.) Pursuing my photography at college and in the field
4.) Teaching and traveling with our kids

Now copy and paste into your blog area or email to me directly, changing the answers to reflect your responses. Leave a comment to let us know you have responded.