for a fun time...

mom: this is the first time we've ever done this.

 i've had a really good time.

me: didn't you know i'm a fun time?

together (in unison): for a fun time, call dani!

laughter

~@~

it's true, my mom and i 

had never gone on a trip together,

just the two of us.

however, last friday morning

we did just that.

on thursday night i looked 

at the new york times' best seller list

looking for a book we could listen to 

on our way to and from georgia.

not knowing much about 

those at the top of the list,

i downloaded an old favorite of mine,

jan karon's, at home in mitford.

19 hours of father tim, barnabas, 

dooley and the gang...

perfect timing.

first thing friday morning,

we packed mom's little pt cruiser to the brim. 

as we pulled out of mom's subdivision,

i got settled and pulled my iphone

and auxiliary cord from my purse.

mom: what are you doing?

me: oh, i downloaded a book

for us to listen to on our trip;

but, i don't see an outlet for my aux-cord.

we both looked only to find

there wasn't one.

i returned my aux-cord to my purse

and proceded to plot our trip 

on my phone's map

before placing it in the cup-holder

between our seats.

siri began routing us to

augusta, georgia

usa.

with that, we were on our way

to visit our cousins,

ralph and ruth latta.

siri: in one mile,

turn right for i-75 south.

~@~

we drove for a little over 2 hours

before stopping in lake city, tennessee

for breakfast and gas.

there weren't many patrons

in the local mcdonald's.

however, among those there,

there was only one topic of discussion...

rattlesnakes!

apparently, someone in the area

had 50 snakes, which had gotten loose!

needless to say,

we were happy to finish our biscuits, 

fill up with gas, and get out of dodge!

~@~

mom and i talked and talked

and were making great time

until we made our way out of atlanta 

to i-20 toward augusta.

a digital traffic sign read:

right two lanes closed

3 miles ahead

due to traffic accident.

merge left.

in less than 50 feet,

we came to an abrupt, complete stop...

(one of those stops you see in cartoons

where the front bumper nearly eats the road

and the middle of the car arches!!!)

in the seat behind me,

there were two, large,

kentucky legend,

football hams,

a large bag of ice,

6 diet cokes, and

6 diet sunkists

all inside a large igloo cooler on wheels.

as the car came to a halt,

 the cooler slammed into the back of my seat!

mom: that was close! did i scare you?

me: well, i did curl my toes a little.

laughter

me: i can see it now...

"mom kills daughter with 'kentucky legend' ham!"

laughter

~@~

we sat for nearly 30 minutes

before mom asked me

to turn on my "i never meet a stranger" charm

and

ask the truck driver beside us

if he knew what was going on ahead of us.

mom rolled down my window,

and he rolled down his.

i apologized for bothering him

then proceeded to ask if he knew

what the issue ahead of us was .

he replied he didn't know

but he did know there were 

now three of the four lanes closed.

after thanking him,

i took my phone from the cup-holder

and keyed in the words

i-20 wreck, atlanta, wesley chapel.

a fox news story posted only 3 minutes prior

popped up on my screen.

"pedestrian hit and killed

traffic backed up for miles."

i read the story to mom.

my heart sank...

she shook her head: why would anyone

be walking out here on the interstate?

me: maybe it was a hitchhiker.

after another hour-and-a-half or so,

the traffic started to slowly move.

when we made it to the scene,

only emergency vehicles,

police, and a cleanup crew remained.

so sad...

~@~

we stopped again

about 80 miles outside augusta

to fill up with gas.

mom: do you want to drive the rest of the way

since you know how to get to ralph's and ruth's house?

me: sure, i don't mind.

the last hour of our trip passed quickly.

siri: in one half miles, 

take exit 199 for washington rd, 

ga-28 toward augusta.

siri: turn right onto washington rd 

toward augusta state university, 

medical college of georga, 

and paine college.

me: we are supposed to turn right

at the lone star steakhouse.

siri: in .1 miles turn right onto berckmans road.

i looked ahead to see a large water tower

standing on the corner.

me: this isn't where we are supposed to turn.

mom: are you sure?

me: i'm positive; we always turn right

at the lone star.

siri continued to try to reroute us

down the next three roads.  

when we passed augusta national,

i knew something wasn't right.

we were heading toward downtown augusta.

mom: just turn around and go back to berckmans.

me: okay, maybe they tore down the lone star

and replaced it with a water tower.

  

~@~

finally, we pulled onto ralph's and ruth's street.

we came in from a different direction though.

in the driveway stood ralph

looking in the direction 

from which i normally come.

wrinkling his forehead,

he looked at me curiously

as i pulled mom's little pt into his driveway.

ralph: what are you doing?

did you get lost?

me: well, kind of...

after hugs and kisses,

i explained what had happened.

me: did i pass the lone star?

ralph: naw, they tore it down 

and put a walgreens up there.

well...

that explained that!

(to be continued...)

love and God's blessings,

dani xxx

mosses monday XLVII (continued from XLIV)...

he was back nearly to his same old self
but with a new sense of purpose...

which God had bestowed upon him.
~@~
mosses never spoke again about his experience with God, but the effect of their encounter was very apparent.   at the age of 90, he put two, new projects into motion. he decided to gift (respectively) both his and mrs. moss' childhood, country churches with endowments for growth.
it was quite apparent mosses wasn't ready to go and that God had answered my prayer
God, if he is ready to go, take him... but if he is not ready to go, please, leave him, and leave him whole!
by granting him a stay, which gave him the opportunity to dig up his proverbial buried talents  and use them.
~@~
i don't know that mosses ever saw the fruits of his gift to his, church home. however, the gift he gave to  mrs. moss' church was put to immediate use. 
niagara united methodist church invested mr. moss' endowment in adding a gathering area to their small church. further, they allowed mosses to play a part in all aspects of its erection. ~@~
i hadn't seen him that alive since before mrs. moss  had been diagnosed with alzheimer's.
he was back, and  he was whole!
love and God's blessings, dani xxx
ps. you will find earlier entries in ascending order  on my side bar entitled, "our love story":)

from fem to forkin'...

for the past week

i've been editing and narrating

a forklift training powerpoint

for a local aluminum smelter,

the very same factory i personally

received forklift equipment training

 from 25 years ago...

~@~

in the early spring 

of my freshman year at murray state,

my mom informed me i would be working

as a summer student, laborer at alcan aluminum.

alcan was a local aluminum smelter 

where she, my step-dad, 3 uncles, and

numerous cousins worked.

although she and my step-dad

worked in accounting,

you can believe me

when i say i was well-versed

in the woes of working in the factory.

i think she thought working 8-16 hours a day

in the 100+ degree heat

would teach me a valuable lesson...

that i needed to stay in school and get my degree!

the thing is,

i went from this:

to this:

like a fish takes to water...

i.loved.it!

~

ironically, terry givens (tl),

whom i now work for,

trained me on the forklift.

tl had worked for alcan

prior to starting the givens group

(then known as "the tool shed").

alcan had brought him on as a contractor

to train new-hires

and shoot and produce safety training videos.

#thingscomefullcircle

i ran stackers,

i banded metal,

i charged the furnaces,

and

i fork-trucked billet, slab, and t-bar.

and, you know what?

i was good at it!

when i went back to school in the fall,

i declared my major,

occupational safety and health engineering.

i knew i wanted to work

in a factory setting.

there was nothing like it.

the people were real,

the work was hard yet rewarding,

and

perhaps, i could be 

one of the ones to keep

the employees safe!

it was the following fall,

after finishing 

my safety engineering internship,

that i started working for tl.

we put together videos,

painted signs and banners,

and

i drew and labelled alcan's

emergency plan maps

for each department.

~@~

my job assignment

this week

has been a very nostalgic one.

there are so many more regulations now

than there were back in the day.

in 1988,

there were no seat-belts,

our trucks were propane,

i don't recall having

to perform a pre-use inspection

on any of the heavy equipment

i operated,

and...

there may or may not have been 

horse-play on the midnight shifts.

(and, btw...

i may or may not 

have won a forklift race

or three;)

love and God's blessings,

danixxx

charity...

several weeks ago my boss,

tl givens,

said to me:

"now, dani, if there's a good

charity that you know of or hear about,

let me know.

i like supporting good causes."

me:

"really?"

tl:

"yeah, really."

me:

"well, there is a golf outing coming up...

it's for childhood cancer awareness.

did you know september is 

childhood cancer awareness month?"

tl:

"well, no..."

me:

"yeah, it is, 
and that's what the scramble is for.

do you remember lane goodwin,

the young, local boy who died of cancer 

last fall?"

tl:

"yeah, i remember."

me:

"well, his story was and is

very near and dear to my heart.

would you want to get

a foursome together 

and go play golf on friday?"

i looked up from what i was doing

to find tl already googling

lane goodwin.

tl:

"well, i see links for his story...

a prayer facebook page

and a twitter page;

but, i don't see anything

about a scramble."

i told him where to find

the list of lane goodwin events.

tl:

"oh, here it is."

~@~

within just a few minutes,

he put together our team and

printed out our tickets.

me:

now all we need are matching shirts?

(i grinned. #gohardorgohome)

tl:

well, yeah!

i'll call and see if i can get

them by friday.

and this, 
friends,
is the kind of boss for whom we all
should work! 

love and God's blessings, dani xxx

my team...

(scott, dani, and tl)

a couple of months ago,

i received a text from my 

long-time-buddy,

terry givens "tl".

"hey, do you know anyone

fresh out of college that would be

interested in selling contract work?"

i thought for a moment...

then responded,

"let me think about it."

~@~

i couldn't think of anyone right away

because the kids i know

are katherine's age

(with only 2 years of college under their belts).

~@~

a couple of weeks later

john and i were at tl's for a cookout.

tl's younger son, scott,
who now runs much of the business,

came over and knelt in front of me.

"dani, will you go out and sell for us?"

he asked.

"me?"

i was taken completely by surprise!

"yes, you!  i want you to sell our services."

he responded.

"oh, scott, i don't know.

i've never worked in sales before...

what exactly are you selling?"

i was backpedaling.

i'd never even sold candy bars in school,

popcorn in baseball...

cookies in girl scouts.

"i'll be right back," he said.

he went to his truck and returned

with a piece of paper.

on it were two lists of 

facility management/staffing services,

"on demand and scheduled".

i looked at it and back at scott.

scott...

i had watched scott grow up!

"let me take it home and look at it,

and i'll let you know.  ok?"

"ok," he said.

~@~

i had to at least think about it.

you see i had worked 

for the givens consulting group, inc.

since 1988.

in 1988 tl taught me to drive a fork-lift,

to letter and paint banners,

and

to draw and label emergency maps.

it was the work i did for him

that put me on the 

occupational safety and health road,

which culminated in my osh degree.

over the years i had done quite a bit

contract safety work for tl

but no sales...

~@~

i thought about it over the weekend,

and on monday morning i called tl.

"ok, i'll tell you what i'll be willing to do, t-lee,"

i continued.

"i will get you up and running...

learn everything i need to know to sell.

i will go out and sell.

if it looks like it's not working for either of us,

i will help you hire another sales person

and educate them on the business."

"well, alright then!" tl responded.

~@~

upon beginning to learn the new part of the business,

the part i was going to be selling,

i started getting really excited

and more and more confident.

i remember the moment it clicked with me,

"i believe in this and in the team

with which i'll be working...

i can do this!"

~@~

after that epiphany,

i never looked back...

i knew i had to bring our group

in to the 21st century:

setting up a website:

http://www.givensgrouponecalloncall.com/

a facebook account:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Givens-Consulting-Group-Inc/200121526823125

a twitter account:

https://twitter.com/GivensGroup

and, yes, a blog:

http://givensgroupinc.blogspot.com/

~@~

selling our team has been

so effortless.

for, we provide services businesses need.

how could a business not want

a group to come in with:

a team who can smoothly transition!

a team with a flawless production

and safety record!

a team that the givens build up!

and...

a team that takes pride in doing 

the best job they can do!

~@~

working with this group has always

been a blessing
and
it continues to be...

i.am.blessed!

love and God's blessings,

dani xxx

she's a wiener!

prior to yesterday, 

mossi had only ever worn a collar

two times.

the first time i put one on her

she proceeded to climb up into the couch

and hang herself on the recliner hardware.

 last year at Christmas was the second time.

i took holiday pictures of her and maggie

in their matching collars

as mossi sat and shook.

apparently,

collars make her very nervous.

however, in order for her to run

in yesterday's 

ellis park wiener race,

she had to wear a collar

and be on a leash.

from the time i put her collar on her

until i got her mind off it

by howling with her,

(she loves loves loves to howl;)

she shook like a leaf!

she was scared to death!

~@~

she shook until we

finally made our way

to the race track,

i leashed her

and placed her on the ground.

i can count on one hand 

the number of times 

mossi has been outside,

and two of those times 

included me taking her to the vet...

carrying her the whole time.

with all the commotion

 going on at the gate,

mossi forgot she was scared.

thankfully,

curiosity took the place of her fear.

she prissed around like she was queen.

the people loved her

as did the cameras...

(courtesy wfie)
everyone who passed us hollered that they had or were going to bet on her. i just smiled and said i hoped  she'd finish the race...

little did i know,

mossi would never even

start

the race...

(courtesy wfie: kat and mossi are 3rd from left)

mossi ran in the opposite direction!!!

i almost wet myself...

i laughed 

and laughed

and laughed!

john was not amused.

he stood telling all who cared to listen

that he told us we couldn't train mossi

in the house for an outdoor race...

meester berrong was right

once.again.

sigh...

(courtesy wfie: the walk of shame)
~@~
but memories were made, lessons were learned, and mossi was tired...

such is  my life on the lane!
love and God's blessings, dani xxx

danibonthelane...

yesterday
i sat thinking...

jack

preached the sanctity of the lane...

he would scoot to the front 
of his yellow and white stripped lawn-chair

expanding his arms as wide as he could

(as if preparing a grand presentation) 

and would rhetorically ask,

"why would we want

to go anywhere else

when we have everything we need

right here?"

"why?" indeed!

~@~

john and i were having lunch 
with friends recently

when john commented,

"i'd love to have a new house."

he didn't mean a different house;

he meant a new one.

i knew what he meant...

one with no flaws.

it sounded so refreshing
in that instant,
i even found myself entertaining
the idea.

~@~

several days later, 
john and i were talking.

he told me he intended to tear down

our detached, 2-car garage

and replace it 
with a new 3 or 4-car version.

he also mentioned 

pouring a new driveway and erecting a fence.

i found myself wondering if we should

make that kind of investment...
here.

~@~

i pondered for a couple of days...

should we really make these changes?
or
should we move 
and just build?

~@~

then, a few days ago,
when john came in from work,
the thoughts in my head
formed words and proceeded 
to flow from my mouth,

"john, do you want to sell our house

and build something new?"

 (i wasn't sure how i felt about those words 
rolling off my tongue.)

"i don't know," he replied.

"i haven't really thought about it."

my inner #danibonthelane breathed
a huge sigh of relief!
my inner girl knew 
her house needed:
a new garage,
a new driveway,
fencing,
 flooring,
painting,
cleaning,
etc...

but
the lane is home!

~@~

john questioned,
"why are you asking?"

"well, you mentioned
wanting a new house..."
i answered.

"oh, i was just talking."
he continued,
"besides, i don't know
of any place 
i'd really rather be."

at that very moment,
my inner girl began her cheer:

hidy-tidy
 GOD ALMIGHTY!
(this is my refrain.)
there is no place he would rather be
than with
danibonthelane!!!

love and God's blessings,
dani xxx

flashback friday... (hope floats)

when i was a little girl,

i remember thinking

a monster lived under

my bed.

i don't know what brought

about that fear,

but i definitely had it.

when it was bedtime,

 i vividly recall

running from our dining room

through our living room

to the doorway of my bedroom,
digging my tiny toes
into the mingled shag carpet
beneath my feet,
pushing off,

and gliding through the air

into my bed

so that whatever it was
dwelling

beneath my bed

wouldn't grab my ankles!

fortunately,
my michael jordan moves
were too much for
my monster;
and,
even more fortunately,
he didn't move with us
when we left that house.

i never
even 
had 
to
give 
that 
monster 
a 
name.

~@~

there is a monster,
however,
who apparently 
is much quicker 
and who has
a much longer wing-span
than my monster did.

this monster 
is a ninja.
he moves quickly...
quietly.
he is everywhere
at the same time.
this monster
has the longest arms and tightest 
grasp of all!
he is neither
picky nor choosy.

and...
just try to move away from him!

his name?

cancer!  

~@~

it is time for relay for life again.

tonight hendersonians will gather together to walk in honor of those living with and those who have overcome cancer.  as well, they will walk in memory of those who have lost their fights, respectively, to this monster.
the hope is that the moneys raised will result in finding a cure.
the following is my post from two years ago...
~@~
6-14-2011
as a believer, i always have hope.
God is the grounds for hope...
for believing good can happen.
God is also the grounds for knowing...
He will make good of that we give over to Him.
believing gives us hope.
belief prepares us for and supports us through the worst
with the knowledge that God is good always!

i have passed these beliefs on to katherine.

~@~



months ago when it was time for katherine to order graduation invitations, she chose to forgo doing so. she said she didn't want to send them because she didn't want people to think she was asking for something (other than their presence at her commencement) in return. after a little brainstorming, i went back to her and explained that if she didn't send out invitations there would be those who would think they were overlooked. i made a proposal to her. i told her that she could put an insert in each of her pre-printed invitations, and on it she could make her intentions known. she was happy with the idea.

hence, she decided to request only the gift of the recipients' presence at her ceremony and to give those who insisted on gifting an option.

~@~

before katherine was even 10 years old, she lost 2 people to whom she was very close to cancer. a third was diagnosed and given only a 2% chance of surviving more than 5 years. so, the summer before her tenth birthday, she started actively participating in our local relay for life. that year she walked in memory of her uncle gary and dear friend, ernie, and in honor of her uncle stevie who was in the battle of his life...
for his life.

respectively, cancer robbed her of the man who she spent countless hours with out on his pontoon on his beloved lake misty. cancer robbed her of the man with whom she visited, shared candy corn, and whom she thought was her granddad. further, cancer was attempting to rob her of her uncle stevie with whom she went on most every vacation and celebrated every holiday.

she loved these men with all her heart...

~@~

over the next five years, cancer took katherine's great-uncle bill
and jack, her neighbor... her best buddy.
however, uncle stevie, beat the odds; he was in the 2% that survived!

~@~

even through loss, katherine continued to hope.
she continued to walk for a cure.

~@~

the option upon which she decided was a great one in her opinion.

on her invitation inserts, she wrote:

only the gift of your presence is requested.
however, you may make a contribution to alcan/rio tinto's
relay for life in memory of my uncles:
gary berrong
bill manion
or
steve hurd.
love, katherine

you may have noticed that steve hurd was listed as in memory of instead of in honor of...
katherine's uncle stevie died a week to the day before she received her graduation announcements in the mail...

he won the cancer battle but lost the war of life.

~@~

friends and family were very generous, so generous in fact, katherine was able to donate enough money to purchase more than 60 luminaries! she donated her own money for luminaries in memory of ernie and jack.

kat was thrilled she was able to pay her gifts forward to a great cause...
the search for a cure for cancer!


love and God's blessings,
dani xxx

throwback thursday... (walking)

katherine walking at 9 months...

i say,

"a child should never walk

before her brain starts working;)"

love and God's blessings,

dani xxx

flashback friday (daisy, daisy)...

"give me your answer do!
I'm half crazy..."

"half crazy" is probably an underestimate of myself!!!

on my 31st birthday (2000), i left work, got in my van, and went shopping for my birthday present from me to me:b third store was a charm:D there she was all shiny, black, and new...
daisy, daisy, my bicycle built for two!!!

looking back, who knows??? i guess it was an early mid-life crisis or something. i purchased her, and the guys at the cyclery somehow got the rather large bicycle into my van:O i do remember driving across the bridge home with her front tire next to me wedged between the front seats. it was so unsafe; i was SO excited:D

when i said in my previous post that i have ridden my tanDAMN 5 times and hurt myself 5 times, i think i exaggerated...

that i recall, i HAVE only ridden her 5 times, but i only really hurt myself 2 of those times... the other three trips were just near misses, lol!!!

FIRST TRIP:
i made it home safely with my bike in tow. i quickly changed clothes, helmetted up, lugged the monster bike (it was at this point that i realized how heavy my new mode of transportation was:S), and hopped on for my first ride...

uh-oh (1st near miss), i wasn't quite tall enough to ride in the front safely. but, i was so excited i jumped on anyway, and off i went to find someone taller than me to drive.

SECOND TRIP (actually second leg of 1st trip):
six blocks later, i rode up to d's curb, used the curb to exit the bike;b, and ran in to get her. she was excited, too!!! she jumped on the front, i jumped on the back, and off we went around the block. this was my second 'near miss' as the back handle-bars nor the seat had been tightened in place. oops!!! i was hanging on for dear life, laughing, and, yes, screaming as we went over all the rooted cracks in the sidewalk at d's top speed:O

THIRD TRIP:
my trip home that day, my 31st b-day, was basically uneventful. THANK YOU, GOD, i lived to see that day come and go!!! other than the fact that i needed a curb on which to stop. i really should have tried that bike on before leaving the shop with it, no???

FOURTH TRIP:
a week or so after (against my better judgment), katherine talked me into taking her for a ride on the aforementioned vehicular device. i waited until early evening so that the traffic would be light. i told her we would ride to d's, and she could play with will and sam while d and i took the bike for a ride (btw, john had tightened the back handle-bars and seat).
i dig that husband of mine!
 we got on and headed that way. guess what, we got a couple of blocks away, and i realized that katherine couldn't reach the pedals correctly. even though i told her just to rest her feet on the middle bar, half way there, she decided to just let her feet dangle and hit the back pedals as they rolled around... needless to say when i agreed to let her ride... 
"RIDE" she did!!! 
so, we finally made it to d's, curt was out edging the sidewalk, kat and i made a big U on the side street (tooooooooooooooo sloooooooooooooooooowly)... i didn't quite get over to the curb with enough speed. so, instead of getting off the bike the normal way, we fell over into the grass between the street and the sidewalk. 
THANK, GOD, THERE WAS GRASS BETWEEN THE STREET AND THE SIDEWALK!!! 
hence, the first injury... i being the safety conscious mother i am, ha... purposefully took the brunt of the fall. katherine ran to the house without ever missing a beat. i was crying; i was laughing so hard!!! curt didn't know whether to get me a band aid or laugh with me... so, he just laughed.
d and i didn't go riding that night;( 
the only riding i did that night was hauling butts home to the "click", "click", "click"... of my precious 6 year-old's shoes hitting the rear pedals...

FIFTH AND FINAL TRIP TO DATE:
d talked me into riding the tanDAMN over to her house so that we could ride it downtown to the 'W. C. HANDY BLUES FESTIVAL'". the trip to her house was fine. she got on the front, and we headed to the festival. even that short ride was blissfully uneventful. 
we got off the bike and mingled. everybody was digging my bike. i live in a small town where everybody knows your name... (just a little bigger than the cheers bar); i was so proud of my shiny, new tandem:D 
ever heard, "pride cometh before the fall..."? or something like that...?
well, after a little "blues", a lemon shake-up (ky for "lemonade"), and home-town gossip, we decided to head home...  hence the second injury. d got on; and, instead of "1, 2, 3... PEDAL!!!", she started waving bye and took off with me running behind her instead of riding. 
no, i was not chasing the dana on the "other-may ucker-fay" (pardon my pig latin, please); i was straddling the rear bar and running with the pedals beating me in the backs of my calves.
omGOSH!!! we were the scene!!!  w.c. handy, WHO???
i swear i thought i was going to wet myself!!!  no, REALLY!!! 
as quickly as possible, we two d's... GOT THE HELL OUTTA DODGE (ky for "left rather quickly")!!!

the tandamn has been in my basement since... she still looks like brand-new. in ten years from now??? she'll probably still look like brand-new:D but with dry-rotted tires!!!

whewee...
 love and blessings,
dani
ps. i originally posted this 5 years ago.  the old girl has since been hanging upside down in my aunt's garage, a very good place for her!