Unfinished Business

It's odd that I seem to spew emotion at some times and clam up at others. My grandmother, my last living grandparent, died last month. I wrote a note to close friends and family. I'm finally ready to share it here.

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Dad's mom passed away Saturday morning. Clinton and I were at Carl and Robbi Jo's wedding in St.Simon's and Kingsland. Mom waited (thankfully) until late afternoon to call us so we could enjoy the ceremony and reception. Mimi had been sick for several years and ultimately died of heart failure.

Mimi was terribly fun yet also a neat freak. Her husband died of a heart attack in 1966, before I was born. Mom taught her how to drive in her '66 forest green Mustang with a black vinyl top. It had 67K miles on it when she stopped driving. Kati and I always loved to ride in it with her. She'd take us by her work at the nursing home to visit patients and employees. She loved to spoil us and bought us shoes like Olivia Newton John's when "Grease" came out. She'd make us silver dollar pancakes with Golden Eagle syrup. She was a great cook and made really awesome corn; I'm still trying to master her recipe. She taught me how to sew, her favorite hobby. She read "The Star" and watched "General Hospital." She'd let Kati and I play beauty parlor and cover her head in metal curlers, laughing the whole time.

Unfortunately Clinton never got to experience Mimi as her full self. She had a stroke which impaired her mentally, though not physically, before they met. As we've been together 17 years, that tells you how long her decline has been. It's been about 7 years since she could recognize me. I take comfort in knowing that she is finally whole again.

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I love you, Mimi.

Are You Lonesome Tonight?

This song was trailing through my brain this morning. Lately, I keep running across the theme of lonely versus alone not only in real life but also in fiction and nonfiction books that I'm reading.

I decided today was a perfect day to watch the '68 Comeback. It really is a thing of beauty. And I stand by my observation that Elvis was the first artist to do MTV Unplugged, so far ahead of his time. He really was in so many ways. So real. So fun. And, let's face it, he really was hot. That black leather suit kills.

I'm going to have to pause it again shortly - I've had more interruptions today than I can count. It's nice to be loved and thought of by family and friends; I'm not complaining. At any rate, I need to seize this opportunity to watch and move on to my next project. While some people have problems working with music in the background, I have problems working without it.

So signing out, I ask, "Do you choose to be lonesome, or do you choose to be alone?"

"It's All About Elvis!" May 23rd

I'm honored to be a guest at 4Bags Elvis Party in Fairhope, AL, on Saturday, May 23, from 1-5 p.m. I'll be signing books, and my sister, Kati Higginbotham, will be there with original Elvis art! (I stole the details from my website.)

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Gulf Coast residents, get ready! 4Bags Boutique is throwing an Elvis Party on Saturday, May 23, from 1-5 p.m. Located at 40 South Section Street in Fairhope, AL, 4Bags is hosting the event featuring:

• Elvis artist and designer, Kati Higginbotham
• Kati's sister, Kristi Weldon, author of 
  Health and Happiness Elvis Style
• Readings
• Autographed books
• Ready-to-hang canvas art
• Elvis 45 RPM handbags
• Peanut Butter and Banana snacks
• A drawing for an Elvis 33 RPM album tote
• An appearance by The King himself! (actually a really great ETA and friend of the shop)

Click here for flyer and press release. Directions to 4Bags.

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 You can RSVP via Facebook. Hope to see you there!

 

Confessions

3/10/2009
I haven't been writing on any of my blogs for a while. Months, in fact. The truth is that since late October and I have been either diagnosed or sick with a nice little range of illnesses and injuries.

At first I thought I wouldn't write about what was going on because I didn't want to focus on it. As time went on, I didn't write about it because I just didn't have the energy to write about it. Since I don't see an end to this, I figure I may as well 'fess up and get it over with.

In September and October, I started having all this pain in my left foot. My bones would crunch, and I honestly thought I had a stress fracture. My orthopedic did two different sets of x-rays on two visits to make sure we hadn't missed one. What he did find was this symptom called "Mulder's click" - it's where bones in your foot that aren't supposed to move actually move enough to make this clicking sound you can hear. And since this is a symptom, that begs the question, "What is this clicking a symptom of?"

[see - I'm too tired to finish this now so I'm taking a break to lie down.]


3/28/2009
Ok, so I came down with a 48-hour vertigo-like virus (yay - I only puked once) and am just now getting back to this. Meanwhile, I've been on a last-minute vacation to the Florida Keys. (Clinton was originally going solo, and I'm smart enough not to pass up that invitation.)

Now we're on a planned vacation in Santa Barbara. Clinton surprised me by making this our anniversary vacation. Our anniversary is actually at the end of August, so we often have conflicts and travel issues around Labor Day. This was much more pleasant - and less crowded.

However, continuing with the health junk, I've gone on an anti-inflammatory for my foot (which KILLED me going to, from, and while we were in Islamorada) plus I have developed an ingrown toenail (don't ask me how - I was wearing Birks) that's been oozing puss every couple days. (Yes, I got a pedicure within a few hours which helped immensely, and while it doesn't hurt so much, it was full of puss again last night.) And my foot still hurts off and on with the click/neuroma junk.

I was listening to Louise Hay's "I Can Do It" affirmations this morning. I am going to love my body through all of this. It will feel good again. I just need to remember to accept, support healing, and not be frustrated. I can do that.

Fictitious

I've been reading some fun fiction lately, and I was trying to remember what kinds of fun fiction Elvis enjoyed. It's easy to remember the nonfiction, and there was so much of it. I seem to be coming up dry. I also feel like I've had my brains sucked dry by the vampire series I've been reading. Not that I'm not enjoying it.

I wonder if Elvis was into vampires or what he thought about them. I mean, was he a Bela Lugosi fan? I don't know.

"New Year New You"

Really, it's a super-cheesy title. Yet it fits. I have to wonder: what if Elvis knew then what we know now and he had Dr. Oz?

http://www.oprah.com/article/health/wellnessandprevention/pkgyourhealth/20081113_tows_healthchecklist

OK, so that's a really long link. Last Tuesday at Oprah did a great show with Dr. Oz. It was part of her "Best You" or whatever series. Anyway, this is Dr. Oz's 10 Ways To Live Healthier. I've enjoyed it. I haven't exactly started it yet, but I've enjoyed it.

It includes topics as simple as taking a multivitamin and as complex as getting a good night's sleep. I think I'm going to try to use it as my guideline for this year. As I sit here with my coffee and coffee mate, it seems apparent that the coffee mate Trans fats may be the hardest thing to let go of. Good thing I like tea. Maybe I need to hide the coffeemakers.

I hope you'll find this list helpful, and if not that, at least educational. Good luck to all of us for a healthier upcoming year.

Home At Last!

I've posted this everywhere else, so I might as well post it here:

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As promised (by Big Jim Sykes & me,) the link for Friday's Elvis Quiz Show are up! And they include Cousin Eddie aka Randy Quaid - really nice guy.

Here is a direct link:
http://www.new.facebook.com/photos.php?id=20822416359
Or you can go to www.HappyElvis.com, and there's a link in the left menu.

If you're in a picture, please "tag" yourself so we know who you are. Thanks to everyone for participating! We had a great time (and great weather.)

Building a better planet through Elvisness,
Kristi Weldon
"Official Photographer" of the Friday, 1/9/09, edition of The Elvis Quiz Show ; )

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I feel completely exhausted. I got home at 4:30, fixed dinner at 5:00, ate at 5:45, then "had Christmas" (and Memphis gifts) at 6:15 with my husband. (We had the flu over Christmas this year so just exchanged gifts with my family this weekend.) Now I've downloaded and uploaded 75-ish pics from Thursday in Tupelo and Friday at Graceland. I am pooped and my writing shows it. I think it's time for a hot bath and a good night's sleep.

Sleep tight!