"When you have friends...

...you ain't got no troubles." An elderly man said that to me one time when I was working at a package store next door to his antique store. I popped over there to say hello and he was putting up a banner or lights or something...can't remember what it was...but he was having trouble with it and I got up on a ladder and put up one side while he held it up on the other side. Anyway, it wasn't a big thing...I was still fairly energetic back then, but I remember he said he was having trouble till I came in, but then he said, "But when you have friends, you ain't got no troubles." I thought that was sweet, and I thought about it again today. You know how I've been stressing over getting the potato salad to take to my nephew's for my sister's birthday party? It seems like a small thing to go get some potato salad, but it was overwhelming me because I am having a horrendous week pain-wise. Anyway, Jacquie went and got the potato salad and brought it to me. It was so hot and she was sweltering in the heat. The way heat makes me so sick, if I had gone and gotten it, I would have been sick before I even got to the party. Plus, I have to go get my parents and my mom stresses the hell out of me, so I would have been a WRECK. And then I would have come home and been sick for the whole weekend. But now all I have to concentrate on is talking my mom into getting in the damned car and going to the party. She's trying to get out of it and I know my dad wants to go so badly and he won't go if she won't go, so I'm hoping she will "get over it" and get in the friggin' car and go with me to her daughter's birthday party. She's got agoraphobia and has panic attacks herself, but she won't admit there is anything wrong with her...she also has whatever disorder it is that makes her think she's perfect and everyone else sucks. So anytime there is a party, she makes up some ailment where she "just can't make it." Today, her back is hurting, she says. Well, my back hurts too, but I'm going. You should have been around her when Justin got married....oh my god. It's amazing that she went to that. Anyway, thanks to Jacquie, all I have to worry about is getting Mama to the party. THANKS JACQUIE!!!!! My nephew was SO upset earlier when "Grandmom" first said she wasn't going to go. He said, "Has she always been like this?" And I was like, "ever since I first met her 44 years ago." Doesn't matter what it is, no matter how joyous the occasion....we have to deal with trying to talk Mama into going. She will not go out to eat and we never went on vacations...everything had to revolve around Mama's moods and anytime anyone planned anything fun, she would take to her bed with "one of my sick headaches." And instead of getting to do whatever fun thing we had planned, we had to be very quiet and tiptoe around the house so we wouldn't disturb her. Well, I won't go on and on. I've gotta get ready to get going, but wanted to publicly thank Jacquie for saving my life today! I love you! Joni

How sweet of you Jacquie Your such a good friend to have. I know Joni appreciates everything you do, and hopefully one of these days I might get to travel to see Joni and we can all go out to lunch. Ya'll have a good one, Im back to painting, washing and cleaning.. Love, Sandy