So Random, July-August '25

At the beginning of July I was unsure what my immediate future held, so I combined two months again.  First picture was taken on June 30th, a few hours after the last random post went up.  I had yet another new dress for Chatty Cathy.  I was only then realizing that I had nothing patriotic for her, but this getup will do nicely. 

Or rather, it was new to her.  I'd had it laying aside since she looked so cute in white, but I was ready for a change.  I had someone comment on Cathy's hair when I shared this image on Failbook, by the way; the friend noted how red Cathy's hair is, and I don't remember it being this red.  I do know that Mattel hair from this era can change colors with time, so maybe that's the deal.  But if that's the case, then the change only took ten years.  But either way my Chatty Cathy is a strawberry blonde now and I'm not gonna knock it.

Also from June 30th came a Failbook memory, dating back to 2016.  Alistair decided to channel his inner C.C. DeVille.

I'd just gotten a fukubukuro wig bag for my ball-jointed dolls, and Alistair promptly claimed this one.  I'd gotten some beautiful champagne-colored eyes in another package, and the pairing made Alistair pop.  Up until this point I'd had a hard time bonding with him, but this combination made him.

Failbook memory again, this one from July 1st, 2021.

I'm glad I found this picture, as it's the only one I know of that shows all three Magic Nursery triplets in their original outfits.  Not long after this I threw Lulu (left) in a Build-a-Bear Small Fry dress and she hasn't been out of it since.

Another Failbook memory, from July 1st, 2016.  This one also concerns Alistair, and my attempts to tame his hair.

I thought Alistair might make a good decora boy, but as y'all can see Alistair is having none of it.  He reminds me a little of that scene from Beauty and the Beast, where the Beast is getting gussied up for his date with Belle...and a hairstyling session goes a smidge awry.  

July 2nd, in the aftermath of my visit to the hospital with a torn-up ankle, and possibly Day One of a depressed spell (I didn't really start perking up again until July 22nd).  One of my Failbook groups declared it Maryellen Week.  Alas, I have no Maryellen, but Silver Bird does.

Had I the room I would add Maryellen and Addy to my collection in a heartbeat.  I freaking love them both. 

My ankle was killing me that afternoon, so I passed the time by monkeying with the dolls I had within arm's reach (quite a few, LOL).  During this time Aimee gently reminded me that she hadn't been played with in awhile.  By the next evening I was in much less pain, so I moved Aimee up front and let her pose with Flower Magic Mary. 

My, oh my, the aesthetics sure changed in the twenty years separating the seventies and the nineties.  Big eyes were prevalent both decades, but...oh, I don't know.  There's more than just the clothes that tell me Aimee is older than Mary.  But of course dolls are ageless!

July 4th, 2016.  Another Failbook memory, another goofy wig for Alistair. 

I didn't like this one on him as much as I did the golden wig, and I think Alistair was ready for me to just pick a look for him already. 

Same day, present day.  I changed Terri Lee out of her patriotic dress and into something else.

This is a case of "I saw it in a window and had to have it."  I saw those jewel tones and knew my doll had to be the one who got it.  It's not tight across the shoulders like the patriotic dress is.

Same evening.  My mobility sucked on Independence Day, so I'd let quite a group of dolls accumulate on the back of the couch.

Flower Magic Mary and someone else's My Child doll are the focus here, but Candela Laura can also be seen on the right of the image.  On the left Aimee chose not to look at the camera this time; I joked that she was trying to be artsy like the members of Pink Floyd did back in the day.  In the linked image Syd Barrett is staring into space, while Roger Waters is turned away from the camera in an Alfred Hitchcock sort of way.

July 10th.  One of those pictures that I grabbed while I was getting ready for work.

Chou Chou and Xue don't look like the happiest little dolls, but they've become fast friends due to their somber expressions and their similar heights.

As I stated in a prior post, it gets chilly in Casa Pizarro, and Candela Laura decided to steal my blanket.

We can share, LOL!

July 13th.  I was watching a distant lightning show, and my pretty Francie was watching me.

Like me, Francie is thankful for what she's got (a home, new friends, a soft coat), but she also dreams of a life without pain.  Unlike Ilaria, Francie's broken knee does hurt her some.  Not long after this I stabilized it with some brightly-colored duct tape, and now Francie is happy again.  Treesa, Francie and the rest of the Pennsylvania Gang send their love.

July 15th.  This is Mariannina. 

Mariannina is another Furga doll, one that is quite popular on one of my Failbook groups.  Seriously, EVERYONE in that group has some variant of this doll.  Mariannina is small enuff to ride in the bag on my walker, and sometimes she does exactly that.

July 26th.  Alistair sort of got a redress.

All I had to do was take off his cardigan, cap, and scarf.  He was wearing a red T-shirt and a black tank underneath all along.  As if y'all couldn't tell, Alistair's favorite color is red.

July 27th.  Suzette made a reappearance after a long battle with mold.

I'd just cleaned her eyes, and one of them momentarily stuck shut.  Normally these dolls don't wink unless one manually holds their eye shut, but Suzette did it for me.

August 1st.  Johnny Hailey made a reappearance, with my present for Courtney Moore in tow. 

That, in his arms, is a Pillow People character, Mr. Sandman.  The Pillow People were pillows and stuffed dolls rolled into one, and they had a number of different themes.  Thunderclap, from the Nighttime Sounds category, is my favorite, though I'll maintain to my dying day that things that go bump in the night don't necessarily want to be my friends.  Yes, apparently the tagline for that subgroup of Pillow People was "These noises in the night want to be your friend."  When I was growing up the absolute last thing I wanted to hear in the middle of the night was a friggin' thunderclap, and I still don't 100% love it because it means I have to pop out of bed and unplug my phone, lest it get fried by an errant lightning strike.  But I still love the Pillow People character.

As for Johnny, his clothes are a little worse for wear than Alistair's, because Johnny was right next to my open window during a couple of very hot summers.  He's dusty and his clothes need a bath, and as usual Johnny is none too happy about it.

"Admit it, you forgot about us."

Y'know, I never realized until just now what a sad expression this head has!  Not the paint, but the head mold itself.  Here's how it looks without spectacles.  

Those eye wells...but then again, that's what I wanted.  All of my ball-jointed dolls have backstories with a healthy amount of tragedy, and Johnny lets his feelings show.  Alistair tries to hide his.

Oh, and that musical instrument by Johnny's side?  He's taken up playing the balalaika.

I have no idea why, but I like a well-played balalaika so I won't complain.  Marillion may have had something to do with it; I love their song "Estonia," and it features a balalaika.

August 2nd, 2025.  The resin takeover of Casa Pizarro continues.  This is Wozzeck, my eternally sleepy, eternally chill Wishel.  Despite my claim on his original post, Wozzeck is not a Festivous Wishel, but rather an Unbeknown.  Festivous had angel wings and a halo, and Wozzeck does not have those features.  Unbeknown Wishels COULD have angel wings and halos, but they could also have demon wings and little horns, or a single horn like a unicorn, or none of the above!  Unbeknown or Festivous, Wozzeck is a Wishel, and Wishels are tough to find.

His hair isn't that red IRL.  Surprise of all surprises, none of my ball-jointed dolls are gingers...not yet, anyway.  I do have a red wig, waiting for a doll to wear it, but that'll have to wait...that is if bugs haven't eaten it.  More on that at eleven.  I apologize for the glut of ball-jointed doll chatter.  I spent a decent amount of money on those dolls and am only now trying to pay attention to them again.  In the time that I've been away most of the Etsy shops I went to for BJD stuff have closed, so finding things for Alistair, Johnny, and Wozzeck is going to be no easy feat, but I've got several crates of stuff so it's all good. 

August 7th.  The first picture I got of Ayla Diamond.

I like these My Mini Babies a lot, but I only want the one.  I don't want her to have to share clothes with someone else, LOL!

And now for the eleven o'clock news!  August 9th I retrieved Chloe from Casa del Luna...and the aforementioned bugs had destroyed her wig!

Darn it, the shop where I got that wig isn't open anymore!!!  

August 16th.  Johnny got some new threads.

As usual Johnny doesn't want his picture taken, but since I'm bigger than him I prevailed.  His new clothes came from ETDolls, and since most of my favorite haunts for BJD clothes are no more I may hit this ship up often.

August 22nd.  Mama nearly measured herself in the middle of the night and knocked over some of my dolls in the process.  While I was setting things back up I got this picture of Bunnie Candie and Malinda Irisa.  Please ignore the Blue Emu in the background.  That stuff is good stuff.

Once again it's possible to see the difference between a neon Preemie and a non-neon.  These girls need Halloween clothes, but unfortunately finding themed clothes for Preemies is pretty tricky.  Take that back, Christmas items are semi-easy, but Halloween and fall?  Forget it!  I really need to whip out my sewing machine and start making doll clothes myself.

I must say, the past two months have been very dynamic.  At the beginning of July I was depressed, tired, and hot, and now the end of August has come and I'm...well, not depressed.  But I get frustrated more easily, and that's new.  I don't like that.  What can I say, going from gimpy but ambulatory to full-tilt crippled in less than a year is infuriating, and I don't think fibroid surgery is gonna be the cure-all I was hoping for.  But it's a step in the right direction.  Come the middle of September I'll know for sure what the future holds.

All of my love,
RagingMoon1987

All that glitters...

...is often made of vinyl and comes in a cardboard box!  I got bitten by the glitzy toddler doll bug, LOL.

Yeah, glitzy toddler dolls, the ones that dominated the early part of the nineties and then vanished into thin air.  I admit that I like these dolls a lot, though I might feel differently if I were a mama (just like with the Bratz).  I'd say that the biggest beef I have with these dolls is that they're ALL.  BLONDE.  AND BLUE-EYED.  And all in pink!  Sort of, anyway; Alexis/Pretty Crazy Curls has lilac eyes that I love.

Granted, Tiffany and Mary did come in Afro-American versions, and Mary could be a cute little brunette as well, but...well, you get what you get and you don't throw a fit.  Mary was a gift so I won't complain, and the black version of Tiffany is apparently hard to find (there weren't any when I looked on eBay the first time).  As for Alexis and Susie...well, if I'd been a bit more patient I could've gotten a black Pretty Crazy Curls doll MIB instead of the beat-up doll that I swiped off of Etsy.  Ghost of the Doll implies that the black variant is hard to find, so if you like her, better get her now.  Sixty bucks is a fair price for a doll like that.  Surprise Hat Susie (bottom right) also came as a black doll, so a little diversity can be had if one looks hard enuff.  It all comes back to that patient thing, and as I've said and heard before, patience is for wimps.

In other news Alexis's glow-up is slow but steady.  I don't know how to fix her mangled bangs without removing her head, but I did add a little piece of frippery to her dress.

That came as a freebie in an Etsy order, so I hooked it to the mesh part of Alexis's dress, kinda like Chloe Charms might've done.  I haven't tried Alexis's curlers on her hair yet, but I did try Twist 'n' Style Tiffany's styling gun on her and it worked...pretty well.  Alexis's hair isn't as slippery as Tiffany's is, but it worked okay.

The star of this post, though, is Flower Magic Mary's "sister," Surprise Hat Susie.  I touched on this doll in this post, since she's one of so many that I know named "Susie."  I wanted a doll that still had her hair concealed, so I got one MIB.

These dolls could have one of four different highlights in their hair, pink, blue, and two shades of purple, and I wanted that to be a surprise, thus why she's still in her box.

The box also shows the doll with twisted little braids like what Twist 'n' Style Tiffany has, but as far as I know Susie doesn't come with a tool that does that.  She can use Tiffany's styling gun, but still...would that count as false advertising???

Since I have Tiffany and her accoutrements with me it's not such a big deal, but keep that in mind if you have Susie and NOT Tiffany.  So here's how Susie looks fresh out of her box.

In order to be a surprise hat doll Susie's hat had to be fastened to her head, and look how Tyco went about it!  A plastic tie!

Yikes, reminds me of the time I lashed myself to my bed with a ball of yarn!  Daddy had to cut me loose with a pocketknife!  I don't know what in flaming purple hell I was thinking, doing that.  Speaking of purple, part of me wonders if the decorations on Susie's clothes don't give some sort of hint to her secret hair color.  The bow on her hat is purple...

...as is the bow around her waist.

Indeed, when I finally took Susie's hat off she had a purple streak hiding amongst the blonde, kinda like Luciana Vega does.

Again, I'd have taken what I'd got and been happy, but I'm VERY happy with the purple.  Glitzy toddler dolls go WAAAAY too heavy on the pink, and pink was an option for this highlight so I'm pleased with purple.  Al-right, hold tight, I'M-YOUR-HIGH-WAY-STARRRRR!!!!!!  LOL, Deep Purple for the win!  Ghost of the Doll implies that there should be two highlights (purple was always paired with a shade of pink), but so far all I see is purple.

It should be noted that while Susie's box shows her hair accessories spilling out of her hat like confetti, the initial box-opening is not that messy.  The items are indeed tucked into Susie's hair, but they're wrapped in little baggies like so.

Susie came with a set of instructions, and they suggest that a mama or a daddy dump all that into Susie's hat, put it back on her head, and then let the child pull off the hat so everything goes scattering everywhere...no thanks, I appreciate the baggies.  She's got beads, some flat sequins, bits of ribbon, and what the package calls a honeycomb headband (the pink sparkly thing).  Oh yes, and hair extensions; those are in the longer package.  Susie's tools include a hairbrush (which I will not be using), a large-eye needle, and a blade thing for curling the ribbon bits.

Like Tiffany's stuff, Susie's hair baubles can be shared among the other dolls, and...well, maybe I'll let 'em share.  Mary doesn't need much more frippery and Tiffany has her own stuff, but Alexis might benefit from some of those beads.

I'm not gonna do a full review of Susie since she's a pretty simple little doll (and I don't like her dress much), but for the say-so of it here she is with fellow Tyco doll Flower Magic Mary.

Notice that their shoes are the same mold, further attesting that they are from the same company.  Indeed, of my four glitzy toddler dolls, only Tiffany has separate shoes.

Other than molded shoes and the blonde hair/blue eyes thing, Mary and Susie don't have a lot in common.  Their faces can be told apart with ease, and Mary has shorter hair that's cut in a winged style that I like.

During my Google searches I got results for both Surprise Hat Susie and So Surprised Suzie, so for the helluvit here my two are together.  They have nothing in common except for...you guessed it!  Blonde hair and blue eyes!

They're cute.  I can get over a glut of platinum hair and blue eyes if they're cute.  And sometimes that combo is the one I like the best.  Case in point.

Camille is my favorite Wellie Wisher, hands down.  All six of 'em are cute, but Camille's my favorite Wellie.  Her short, straight, low-maintenance hairstyle trumped the color...oh, and she was wearing green and blue.  My favorite colors.

Y'know, I think ALL the dolls I shared in this particular post were blonde and blue-eyed!  LOL, thank goodness Dawn's friends weren't stuck in that rut.  I'll have that post put together sometime next week.

Much love,
RagingMoon1987

Good things come from Pennsylvania!

Buckle up.  This intro's gonna be a long one.

Despite my chirpy post on Independence Day, my week has been kinda poopy.  As I said the other day, I took that fall Tuesday night and mangled the living daylights out of my ankle.  It's not broken, but y'all can see the lump on the side of it where the torn stuff swelled up.  Pardon my nasty ol' foot, LOL.

By last evening I was purple as well as swollen.  Real purdy.

It would've been just fine if I'd sprained my left ankle since I can barely walk on that leg anyway, but NOOOOOOOOO, I had to injure the right ankle!  It's healing nicely, thank God, but this mishap made gawking at fireworks all but impossible (it simply hurt too much to limp out of the house).  The bum ankle also made my trip to the hospital a lot more difficult than it would've been. 

Yes, the hospital.  I went on July 2nd, this past Wednesday.  Here's my bracelet, since I think stuff like this is interesting.  Y'all can see that I'm a 37-year-old female with a birthday in October. 

Seriously, I used to collect crap like these!  But anyway, if you've had an MRI done then you know you have to lie as flat as possible and keep still.  One problem:  it's excruciatingly painful for me to lie flat on my back.  Lying like that was...well, for you Whovians out there (particularly NuWho folks), y'all remember the look on the Tenth Doctor's face as he was regenerating?  That last glimpse we got of him before the Eleventh Doctor took over?

Yeah, that was me, minus the flames.  For the first few minutes I wanted to scream.  Then my muscles relaxed and it wasn't so bad after that.  The only complaint I have is that my procedure was finished right as "Wheel in the Sky" was beginning to play.  My favorite Journey song...or one of 'em; I'm also pretty fond of "Girl Can't Help It" and "Feelin' That Way" with those tight harmonies.  Oh yeah, they gave me music to listen to.  I requested Chicago and got them, plus several other bands from the seventies and eighties that I love.  So the MRI is over and done with.  I don't know the results, but I hope they can give me some final answers.

Despite my relatively positive experience at the hospital (I don't know the results yet) I got home in a fairly bad mood.  I was in pain of course, and Uncle Man-Child drives like a maniac, and I hadn't had lunch.  So getting a box from Treesa was a huge spirit booster.  Especially when I pulled out this little gal!

My very own Flower Magic Mary doll, compliments of Treesa and her sister A.  My exact words upon seeing her were "Noooooo, she didn't...she did!"  I don't remember ever saying that I wanted this doll...or maybe I did.  <pauses to look>  I did say I was very fond of Flower Magic Mary, and usually when I say "I like this doll" that translates to "I want this doll in my collection someday."  So Treesa hit this one right on the nose.  Mary does have her watering can and three flowers, by the way.  Like Alexis/Pretty Crazy Curls, Mary's shoes are molded to her feet like so.

Kinda cuts down on the versatility of a doll, but it also prevents dolls like Mary and Alexis from losing their shoes, which I positively hate.  Seriously, I hate it when a doll's shoes won't stay on, and Mary avoids that problem.  She's a really cute little doll, though.  Look at her eyes!

They've got flowers too!  I've got dolls with star eyes, eclipse eyes, nebula eyes, poison eyes, sunset eyes, and kaleidoscope eyes, and now I can add flowers to the list...oh wait, Lady Dooli has flower eyes too.  

How quickly I forget!  Come to think of it, I think I've got someone with heart eyes somewhere too.  Oh, and rhinestone eyes.  I do forget quickly!  As an aside, Treesa told me that these hats, oh so popular during the nineties, are called blossom hats.  They're basically bucket hats with the brim turned up, and sometimes embellished like Mary's is now.

I decided to put Li'l Miss Magic Jewels's gems on her dress too, since they work the same as Mary's flowers.  Now Mary will really sparkle!

Moving on, this teddy bear, one of Treesa's personal Build-a-Bears.  She has her paperwork and everything.

Treesa named her "Raina."  She's your classic teddy bear, made special by her cute fabric and by her nose, which has a rainbow on it.

I love these Build-a-Bears with decorated noses!  Summer Daisy has her namesake flower on her nose, and during the coronavirus mess I saw one with a leaf on its nose.  I just think it's cute.  Hmmm...<pauses to count>  Flaxie, Summer Daisy, Floppy Kitty, Peppermint Sloth, Glen Frog, and Raina Bear...that's six full-sized Build-a-Bears now, and a nice, diverse lot of them too, I must say!  I usually also count Boomer, my red panda from Vermont Teddy Bear in the mix.

Hmmm, next thing, next thing...oh yes, this box was at the very bottom, and the three dolls inside are well-wrapped, just like my Dawn dolls were.

The box belongs to this gal, a reproduction Malibu Barbie.  Treesa remembers that I'm fond of Malibu Barbie, and this young lady has everything!

Her hair is thankfully a lot softer than that of the real Malibu dolls.  Remember that I said P.J.'s hair had a mind of its own.  All of the vintage Malibu dolls that I've seen/owned have stiff hair.

Just for the heckuvit, here's a headshot.

What's not to like about Malibu Barbie?  As warm as the weather's been I'd love to take her outside, but for reasons stated above I can't.  Not right now, anyway. 

Tucked in with Barbie's towel were some cards that show the awesome things that were available for Barbie during the seventies. 

The beauty center caught my eye...

...because American Girl made that in miniature one time.  Julie Albright got it for Christmas. 

There was also a reproduction booklet, the kind that came with Barbie dolls of the era.

This picture drew my attention for two reasons.  One, the Skipper on the right is an obvious Pose 'n' Play Skipper.  Two, I own that yellow dress!  Fluff usually wears it.

The middle-sized doll is the one I was most excited about.  She's a vintage Francie, which I've been wanting, but she's also been customized...

...to have PINK HAIR!!!  I freaking love it!  There was, unfortunately, a bit of a disappointment that accompanied this doll, at least for Treesa.  She said there was another Francie that accompanied this doll, and she had lamb's wool or something of that stripe attached to her head.  No big deal, except that the wool came off, leaving naught but a poor bald Francie with rooting holes in her head.  What a shame.  For the record, I do have a couple'a scalped dolls myself, whom I keep covered with hats and scarves.  Treesa, if you've still got that doll, try that.  It's better than nothing.  As for my Francie, the poor love has a broken knee, but I can stabilize that with some tape.  It certainly hasn't stopped Francie from striking a pose!

Francie's ensemble is worth noting because it's part vintage and part modern.  Her cape is vintage, but underneath she's wearing a Sparkle Girlz dress.

Oh, I miss the Sparkle Girlz!  I could grab ten outfits at once and not get a duplicate, and the dolls themselves were cute too.  Oh, and obviously some Barbie dolls could wear Sparkle Girlz clothes.  But regardless of what she's wearing this unique little Francie will be getting a place of honor in my collection.  I love that hair!

The smallest doll is a baby with a switchable head, kinda like what Hedda Get Bedda has.

This young lady is significantly smaller than Hedda, but her gimmick is exactly the same:  turn the knob on her head, and her face changes.  She laughs...

...she cries...

...and she sleeps.

The doll's body feels like hard plastic, and thus I suspect that this baby is a Hong Kong doll with no specific brand.  No biggie, I happen to love dolls like that; they're the kind that I likely would've played with as a little kid, because they were cheap and had a high entertainment factor.

Treesa also tucked some small odds and ends into Malibu Barbie's box, including this purse, intended for Draculaura...

...and this critter.  Her name is Vanilla Icing, and she belongs to Angel Cake from the Strawberry Shortcake line.

Yowza, Bandai!  I've been looking for an excuse to buy a Bandai Strawberry Shortcake doll.  I hear tell that the Bandai dolls are terrible about losing their hair with time, but y'all think that's gonna stop me???

Lastly, carefully wrapped up was a Collectibear pin.  I had no idea these even existed. 

I decorate a lot of my blouses with pins and buttons of various styles, so this is right up my alley.

Regarding other odds and ends, this item is my favorite.  It's a Wizard of Oz-themed jacket sized for eighteen-inch dolls; Amanda Faraday and Cindy Lou Who may have to fight over that.

These little frogs are awesome too.  Danica is my reptile enthusiast (she already owns a chameleon), so she'll be stoked about these.

Bet y'all didn't know that poison dart frogs can fit in the palm of your hand!  Naw, I'll bet some of y'all do know; y'all aren't dummies.  I freaking love poison dart frogs, though.  I'm so used to big critters being dangerous that it was a shock for me to learn that poison dart frogs are so tiny.  Strawberry poison dart frogs are my favorites, and I've seen green-and-black frogs available as pets.

There was a mini lunchbox with the G4 MLP squad on it.  I always like items like these because they make good props for my larger dolls.

Treesa likes to tuck smaller items into boxes like these, and this time was no exception.  The contents made me giggle.

They're sparky Barbie rollerblades, just like I talked about last winter!  I have no shortage of Barbie dolls that can use these.

In her e-mail Treesa asked if I had any dolls who rode horses, and when I said yes (Justine-Marie owns a horse) she included some small items for the horse.  There's a saddle pad and some very fat carrots.

I don't know of any horse worth its hide that doesn't like carrots.  Heck, I like 'em too, and I'm definitely NOT a horse.

Then there was a bag of miscellaneous stuff.  

Camille will like the sunglasses, and Denise will like those ballet slippers.  Ballerinas always need new shoes.  The doll will most likely go to Z Yang, since she's something of a doll collector herself. 

The doll is a thumb-sucker, just like I like. 

Lastly...or technically firstly, since it was at the top, Treesa sent me a lap blanket.  She says that these are popular in her neck of the woods when someone has or is going to have surgery, and since I like My Little Pony she knew I'd like this.  The outer side is made of brightly-colored patches and has cute heart buttons.

The underside is all MLP.  Treesa thinks these are G3 ponies, but they sure are cute!  Indeed, I liked some of the toys from the G3 era.

Truth be told, this blanket has come in handy already.  I wear short pajamas and have long legs, see, and when the AC is going Casa Pizarro gets a mite chilly.  So when I'm on the couch reading or working on the blog I cover my legs and feet with the blanket and I'm pretty comfy.  So while I love the heck out of my new-to-me dolls and accessories, this blanket has gotten the most mileage so far.

At the end of it all I'm reminded that even though I need help to walk and am in a fair amount of pain, I'm still incredibly blessed.  I have my family, my pets, food in my belly, clothes on my back, and a roof over my head.  I can get upright unassisted and I can move and feel all my extremities.  That's more than I can say for an ex-student of my mother's, who was in a serious diving accident this week and may be paralyzed from the waist down...or worse.  He went into surgery this morning and doctors aren't sure how much he'll recover.  That's more than I can say for some of the folks in Texas, who are reeling from a very deadly flash flood.  Last I heard the death toll was 51, including many children.  There's so much sadness in this world, sadness that isn't anyone's fault, and I feel fortunate to not have been affected.  I'm grateful for what I've got, and I'm grateful for friends like y'all who remember when I say I like or don't like something.  Not everyone remembers that kinda stuff, so it means a lot to me when y'all do.  I love y'all a lot, and as usual, I thank Treesa for her lovely, thoughtful gifts.  I appreciate it big time.

Love,
RagingMoon1987