VBS (Valentine Bottle Swap)!!!

hey y'all!

and a big 'ol HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY to everyone!

okay, maybe it's a couple of days early, but i just couldn't wait any longer to share my valentine bottle swap goodies!

yes, my dear sweet mother figure mollye over at fruit of the spirit, sponsored a valentine bottle swap and this was my very first time to play! you might call me a valentine bottle swap virgin (VBSV) ... or you might just wanna pass on that. ;) heh heh

ANYhow, my VBS "secret pal" was a sweet lady named barbara boyack at dog mom diva and boy, did she make me feel SPECIAL! what a lovely way to be ... er ... initiated into the world of VBS (am i the only one who keeps thinking vacation bible school when i use those initials?!).

barbara is one sweet gal! since a picture speaks a thousand words (well, so could i!) i'll let them do the talking this time.

thanks a BUNCH, barbara! you made my valentine's quite special! love, love, love the bag (i. am. a. TOTE. fanatic!!!) and the sweet lil magnets ... and the yummy smelling votives ... and wait! i was going to let the pics do my talking. yikes! here ya go:

sweet grouping!

i HEART these cute magnets!

can't WAIT to burn these yummies!!

 

my hubby LOVES betty boop!! great choice!

 

adorable lil card!!

 

YOU, barbara, are AWESOME!!

 

THIS is going junkin' with me saturday!

THANKS again, sweet barbara!!

 

and i'd be remiss if i didn't thank mollye for hosting this VBS ... that's VALENTINE BOTTLE SWAP to you southern baptists! :)

 

MUCH love to y'all,

terry lee

She's Comin' Down

hey y'all!

on the way home from today's thrifting haunts, i drove by "my" old silver water tower as usual. it seems i've always lived nearby this water tower, ever since i was born. it was an icon of my childhood. a part of the scenery and background of my life.

when i was a little girl, i used to imagine it bursting and flooding the neighborhood ... but mainly i had happy thoughts and memories of it. the silver tower served as a beacon in many ways. i always knew HOME was close by.

well, i was gobsmacked to see HUMANS on top of it and quickly pulled over to take some pictures. then i drove closer to investigate. were they cleaning it??

i drove down the little side street leading to the fenced-in area at the bottom of the tower ... and discovered a full crew of worker men, cranes, etc. OH! they're renovating it, i thought to myself. how nice!

i noticed a clark kent-looking guy, notebook & pen in hand, interviewing what must've been a supervisor, because all he was doing was standing there in his hard hat, smoking a cig. it didn't take long for them to spot me and soon they were at my car.

i babbled on and on about how special this water tower was to me, growing up in the shadows of this silver giant, blah blah blah ... and then the reporter blurted out, "well you DO know they're tearing it down?!"

"uh, no. i did NOT know that. i thought y'all were cleaning it. or even better ... renovating it. you can't tear down my tower!"

"it's not being used," said hard hat. "they built a newer one over on lake road."

like. THAT. mattered. to. me.

clark kent started asking me reporter-type questions and scribbling fast and furious (i talk fast) about my history with the tower (oh, we go WAY back, all the way to 1961). my sweet little elementary school (fowler elem) is right across the street, where i spent 6 years of my childhood and many hours on the playground swings and slides, looking up at my huge silver friend and wondering what it'd be like to climb up that high. scary!!!

after chatting with hard hat and clark, i left the scene feeling a definite and significant sense of loss. tomorrow, i'm told, is when the "BIG" crane comes and "that's when things will really start coming down fast," hard hat had told me.

i don't think i can watch it. how do you watch an old friend just crumble (or clang) to the ground?? i circled the streets and took a few more shots of the silver giant, realizing this may be the last time i see her standing there.

keeping Perspective in check, i realize a water tower isn't a person or pet. i've lost both and nothing compares to that grief. but it's still a loss ... perhaps just a symbolic icon of my childhood and the fact that sometimes memories will have to do.

love and hugs,
terry lee