My Nine Lives Plus One

I am writing these thoughts about my childhood and how I was raised for my children and grandchildren. Kids, you never knew your great grandparents, nor your paternal grandfather, Elmo John Riddle, and I believe from these stories I write for you from the time I was born to Elmo & Nadine Martin Riddle, you may understand why Mom and Nana is the way she is! I love you, Tiffany, Mark, Tristen and Bryce--you are my everything!

Friday, July 5, 2013

Welcome to Texas!

We are here alive and well in Texas.  To make a very long story short we sold the second house we bought on August 30th, put furniture and clothes we didn't need in storage, piled what we needed in our two cars and headed this way.  After a brief 2-day visit with my brother Ed and Sharon, we headed to our daughter, Tiffany's house in Dallas, much to the disappointment of our son and his family.  

Tiffany fixed up one of their guest rooms and bath for us, arranged places for our laptops and a few clothes, and we settled in for what we thought would be a very brief stay.  It actually wasn't that long--from August 1st through November 10th.  It was a pleasant stay in their great house along with four dogs and two cats (theirs not ours)!  It was a comfortable arrangement and use of a swimming pool and all for free!  She was even talking of making an adjoining room into a sitting room for us and we'd never have to leave!  But her Dad had other ideas. 

When we weren't being chauffeured around places by our realtor, we would head out early, eat breakfast on the road and spend most of the day learning streets, putting addresses in the phone or GPS, and searching for that perfect little house somewhere by the water.  Usually after those daily trips  I would walk in the house in tears, weary from exhaustion of driving to so many places, and eating out all the time!  After a long nap, a hot shower and early bedtime, we would get up and do it all over again!  The pool provided some relaxing time when Chuck would agree to it.