Tuesday's Treasures and a Fort Worth Wednesday!

 Brenda and I met up at Fuzzy's Tacos for our June Lunch Date on Tuesday.......

and these lunches are so important to both of us!

It's all we have until Brenda retires from State Farm.

Who knows what adventures await us after that??

And since it was Tuesday......and since she got off work at 2:30 that particular Tuesday.....

after lingering long over lunch catching up with each other......

We hit up a thrift store.

Texas Thrift at Beltline and Finley.

I found a Texas sized coffee cup for my Kansas City Sister, Rita!

Also scored on a few cool clothing items.....a skirt from Old Navy and a nice T-shirt....

plus a flirty black print silky skirt and a classic draped white top.

The gray - seemingly shapeless - gray shirt is from Banana Republic and is super comfy and cute on.

I'm planning on wearing that lace edged blue tunic top tomorrow (Thursday) with some white leggings.

I need to buy more leggings......Sandra - aka Mad Snapper - is my inspiration when it comes to cute ones! I didn't even own one pair until she started showing off all of hers!

Wednesday was my Fort Worth Day!

Irving is roughly 30 miles from Trail Lake Nursing Home and with the DFW traffic - it's not always an easy drive. I meant to leave before noon - but then Louis Dean went up in the attic to do some kind of electrical work - and I knew I needed to stay home until he was safely down. We bought a new toaster oven/air fryer/ combo earlier this year and apparently it pulls more energy than the toaster oven we had been using. Problem is - I can't use my microwave and toaster oven whatever at the same time without it throwing a breaker. SO - it was after noon but before 1:00 when I left....Louis Dean.....home alone.

My goal was to hang Lillian's pictures in the new room she was moved to last week.

I put fresh sheets on her bed - the super soft gray ones I bought for her last month at Tuesday Morning.

Jimmy, the maintenance man, came in while I was there to hook up the TV and DVD that Nita and Mike had given Lillian a couple of years ago. She was SO glad to have that back!

We always take a selfie together just as Mother and I did back when she was in the nursing home - and actually everytime we were were together after she had a stroke in September of 2005.

I'm so happy that I get to come and go and SEE Lillian now without it being an act of Congress!

The signs at the Trail Lake desk say you need to make an appointment - but they welcome me every time. I don't have to wear one of thos N95 masks that go over your head and mess up any hair do you even thought you had anymore!

The last time Lillian was out of the nursing home on pleasure was March 10. 2019 and I took her to a Goodwill and then Jason's Deli. I asked her what she would like from there and I could order it and we could have an early supper together. She said, "Well, I would really like to have a burger."

Instead of going around the corner to Braum's, I put 'burger places near me' in my phone and decided on Charley's ......

It is a tiny retro-style outpost with outdoor seats and a menu of burgers, hot dogs, malts and floats.

It was a hot day in Texas but once the sun sets, I bet this place is hopping!

This was my first visit but it will not be my last!

Super good burgers and Lillian enjoyed hers as much as I did mine!

Turns out, this was one of the favorite places she and her husband used to go to for hamburgers.

It was a Win! WIN! kind of day!

I was encouraged with my visit with Lillian today...she was not in her room when I arrived.....she was out visiting which I thought was good. However, the stroke has made a difference in her. Her speech is hard to follow sometimes and she does get confused. But, then again, she is sharp as a tack in the next minute. She is frail. No doubt about it and she is concerned about herself. She told me, "I am not good. I'm afraid of falling. I don't have any strength." She doesn't call me as often as she used to and she doesn't answer the phone when I call as much as she did. Maybe she doesn't hear it....

I did tell her that I am going to the ranch for a few weeks but I would be back to see her when I come home....and when I left she told me how much she loves me and appreciates all I do for her. It made me cry.....We hugged and said goodbye two or three times.....

From the nursing home, I drove the back roads to Benbrook, Texas - just a few minutes away - to see my sister, Deanie. She and Charlie owned a plumbing company for many years and he had a stack of company shirts and blue jeans he offered to me to use in my quilts!

We had the best visit!!

Deanie was the one who encouraged me to do DNA testing to see if I could find my father's name.

I told her all about my Sister Rita and Brother Buster and promised she could meet them when they visit. It's all like a dream come true because I remember her telling me how important it was to at least try and find my father. I think it is one of God's best blessings to me that I have 8 living siblings!

Deanie, Nita, Lonnie, Luann, Shari, Buster, Rita and Lori .....all in birth order....and a sister and two brothers who passed away.....Shirley passed a few years ago and Clayton, Jr died shortly after birth in 1958 and Raymond, who was my father's son and also died a day or so after he was born.

I arrived home before dark and the damage control was minimal this time!!

I have so many blessings to count this evening as I go to bed.......

Count your blessings.

Hug your blessings.

BE a blessing!