The Fourth Quarter

Good morning and welcome Through My Back Door. I am not sure anyone will visit as my blogging leaves a lot to be desired lately. I blame it all on FB. I will say the coffee is on and the there are some cookies. Come on in and help yourself. I am a hostess who lets you wait on yourself. I pretend it is because you will feel at home if you do, but the truth is I am a lazy hostess. I love company as you know, always have, but I let you wait on yourself.  So, with this lets visit. I guess you know why the title. I am looking toward a big birthday and thinking, no wondering where the time has gone. I realize I have wasted so much, but I want to think about the past year. Let me  wander in my thoughts and pictures I will post today are some of my favorites from the past year. So many changes occur but that is life.

One of the biggest changes in the last year was the loss of my friend Kathleen. Alice won't like this picture of her(on the right) but I love it of Kathleen. We had no idea it would be our next to the last lunch together. We had one more, but got no pictures. We planned an outing to Rogersville, that Kathleen didn't get to go. We were going back, but the 4th quarter ended for her and we lost our friend. We miss her and always will. Most of you know we were high school best friends.

We took several trips last year and one of my favorites was to DC to visit Olivia and the Capitol, when she was interning in Sen Corkers office. Andrew and Mollie,as well as Amanda went along and it was one of my all time favorite trips. All but the DC traffic, and that is a story with in itself.

These were a few of my favorite DC pictures.
As always we made our annual trips to the beach. What fun we had and all the good seafood, I just love every minute of being there. You all have made several trips with us and it won't be long until we leave again.

I find so much peace at this beach. I love the green water, the quietness and I always think of the words on the lost fishermens monument,"Oh God, your sea is so vast and my boat is so small."

I took a trip to W. Va to visit a friend, then headed to Ohio where I visited friends and family. Met a couple of internet friends and came home for Mollies birthday party. We had a great Christmas and I am thankful for that. The New Year came and all was well, except I was experiencing severe shoulder pain and had been for months. Finally Ryan got me to let him X ray it and then we MRI'd and it was a mess. Shoulder surgery was scheduled when I went for my dermatology visit and a melanoma was diagnosed on my foot. It was removed on Debs birthday and I moved in with them. I was there all of Feb and most of March. It was a long healing process but I am almost 100% now. God is good. The 4th quarter is ticking away.
In March we took another trip and it was so much fun. We had perfect weather and lots of neat experiences. Things just sort of happen when we are out and about and I will not go into them. Lets just say some of the strangest people get attracted to me.lol
So we are nearing the monumental birthday and I am just delighted to be doing all I am doing. I feel great and am blessed. No one ever knows how long a 4th quarter will last. Some longer than others. But we know at a certain age, as Patsy Miller stated one day, we are in the 4th quarter of our lives. I have been blessed beyond measure. I have had so many wonderful experiences. I shared one time I had done TV commercials, had my home in a magazine, traveled to some of my favorite places, met some wonderful people, went to a Kennedy luncheon, stepped on a flagstone in the Court of the 2 Sisters in New Orleans and the Matrie D clean my pants at the bar, (oh yes it happened) while everyone cheered,( I did get a free lunch) got to attend the International Special Olympics, had the best job ever,and too many other wonderful things to even mention. I am blessed with a wonderful family and get to enjoy their accomplishments, and the best friends ever. I have to mention my card group of over 30 years who still lets me play and treats me as if I am as young as they are. I have the best church ever and the best friends.God has blessed me in so many ways. So if I may I will say the 4th quarter may last a while or it may end. We never know. I do know I am enjoying every play of the game and I especially enjoy you coming Through My Back Door where life is good.

 betty
PS: I did not intend this to be sad post. We are all in one quarter of our lives
PSS: I will try hard to be a better blogger as blogging is falling by the wayside and I have made so many friends I am not ready to stop completely
PSSS Let's all enjoy what ever quarter we are in and make it the best quarter ever.