My "new" rug

I now have a Turkish rug in my den. The main area has a red background and the pattern is mainly shades of blue. My parents got the rug when we were in Turkey in the late 1960's. At that time they bought one for each of us four kids, one for each of their parents and one for them to keep. At the time of Katrina, all seven we in their house and got wet. Those that were being used got hung up to dry and were ok, but there were a couple rolled up in the closet that were not noticed for some time. They haven't been thrown away yet, but I suspect they will be, including the one I've always wanted.

I was at my Dad's yesterday and he told me that I should take one of the Turkish rugs home with me. I knew the one I wanted, it was the only silk one in the bunch, and when it was new it had a sheen to it that the others did not. While the others had geometric patterns, that one looked like the entrance to mosque or other building, that curved arch with a lamp hanging down. Another wonderful feature of that rug is that it was the one they gave to my paternal grandmother, someone for whom I have always had a special fondness. She died when I was almost 10, about 18 months after we got back to the US. Unfortunately, that rug was one of those that didn't get hung up and it was in less than wonderful shape. My daughter was not impressed, and I asked her which one we should take. She picked out the one we have, so I said we'd take it. It looks nice with the furniture in the den.

My dad also pulled out my mom's jewelry box and asked me if I wanted to take any of it. Well, one trait I inherited from my mom is that neither one of us really wears jewelery all that often, so when I looked at all that stuff I really didn't see anything that said "Mom" to me, nor was there anything I was dying to wear, so I passed on all of it. Dad mentioned her wedding rings, but I told him that I had my paternal grandmother's rings, so I thought my sister should have firt crack at Mom's. He said he'd ask her, but said that since I had two girls, if she didn't want them, I should take them.

Dad is starting to clear out stuff, and I'm starting to think about how much of it I want. Compared to a lot of people, he and my mom didn't have all that much irreplaceable stuff. There aren't any antique sideboards or valuable original paintings. Basically, if he died tomorrow, there would be a house full of used furniture, not a lot for the kids to squabble over. However, there are the Turkish rugs, some brass pieces they picked up in Turkey, Mom's and Grandma's silver flatware, Mom's and Grandma's china, Mom's Lenox Nativity set, Mom's crystal, and a few other things like that. I'm not willing to fight my sibs for any of it, though I'm not sure how much of it any of them would want. I'd hate for any of those things to end up at a garage sale, but I'm not a big fan of clutter either. How much of that kind of stuff do you hang onto?

Happy Easter

Life, death and ultimately, new life--that is what we Christians believe. Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again. My mom was with us, she died, and we pray that she will come to the fullness of life in Christ.

Tomorrow I'm hosting Easter dinner. It won't be a big affair--my dad is coming over, as are my brother and his girlfriend, but that's it besides my husband and kids. Seems like Easter is "my" holiday, if memory serves me it is the only one that I've ever had the family over for. My brother and sister from Atlanta don't come down for this one, and my Mississippi brothers may or may not celebrate so some years we've gone to my parents and some years they've come here. Its going to be strange not having Mom around.

Celebrities

Am I the only one in the world who doesn't care one bit about which actor or actress is marrying, divorcing or sleeping with which other one? Am I the only woman who has never wished she could have dated some famous actor or musician? I sign onto AOL and the welcome screen often shows some actor or actress and has a story about his/her personal life. I doubt AOL would put that stuff there if most people felt about it like I did, but I still wonder why people care.