while flat on my back once again for the past week or so, i have had many a visitor look down directly and ask me why i don't hire someone to do my desired decoratin' so that i don't do damage to my dilapidated self. it is only those who didn't know my dear mother that ask this of me. the ones that did don't dare doubt that it is destined that if it needs to be done - or i desire it done - and i think i can do it, i must at least deliberate the doin' of it myself.
as you can see in this photo of my dear mother, she began her 'need to do' at a very early age. no doubt this shot was caught of her durin' the reconfiguration o' some piece o' furniture or, since doin' domestic deeds and doo dad collectin' go hand in hand, she may have been creatin' someplace safe to keep her earlier collections, large and small.
growin' up i never remember any type o' workman ever comin' round' to do anything. if somethin' broke, there was no need to run out to buy supplies for fixin' it. my mom would just disappear for a bit, rummage around in her many doo dad collections and come back shortly with whichever one was needed for the repair along with the perfect tool from the big red tool chest. the doo dad used might not be the one typically recommended but it would work and the faulty item usually never need repairin' again.
while the door to our house was never locked and seldom knocked (friends and neighbors would just open it and announce themselves), the doo dads and the big red metal craftsman toolbox had a home of their own complete with security system. and since lookin' for what was needed for the job at hand could take a while, there was even air conditionin' to relieve the texas heat.
when big enough to weld a hammer without tippin' over from it's weight, we kids got to help with the decoratin' and domestic deeds. queenie was never much interested - we assumed it was cause she planned to marry prince charles and as his wife wouldn't have the use for these skills. but michael and i were excellent students and in no time were allowed access to the big red toolbox and the doo dads. once we were old enough to get a driver's license, we had to learn to change a flat and a fuel pump before takin' the driver's test. i should'a spent a lil time beforehand attemptin' parallel parkin' too as i failed three times. luckily durin' the fourth attempt we had a flat and the tester was so impressed with my abilities at swiftly takin' the flat tire off and replacin' it with the spare that he passed me without makin' me do any further drivin'.
when i left home and ventured out into the real world, i was amazed that there were people who were not willin' to at least attempt to do the things they desired done and even more shocked that not everyone was required to dedicate decent dimensions of their domicile for storin' their doo dads...in fact...most people didn't even have doo dads! there were many i encountered that dared to refer to my own as 'whatnots' or 'chatchkees'...and worse....junk! how dare they! 'whatnots' and 'chatchkees' (i have no idea how to spell that offensive word) are small dust collectin' items with no purpose, placed row after row takin' up good space that could be put to better use. i could only feel sorry for those who made such a display of ignorance and poor upbringin'.
mini's daddy wasn't too crazy about my doo dad collection when he realized it was gonna go wherever i did and if he wanted me he had to welcome it along with my big toolbox. he was the kind o' person who was happy to pay strangers to do everything. but it didn't take him long to realize how fortunate he was to have himself a doo dad collectin' tool box ownin' wife. and he was proud as could be when by the age of two, mini could look at just about anything and create some version of it herself outta whatever she had at hand.
one o' my proudest moments as a hostess was durin' a show'n tell when mini was in the second grade. her friend diana - who had visited us the weekend before cause her mom was recoverin' from a neck injury - showed a stool she had made and painted durin' her visit and her tellin' included that if you visited our house, you could make all your dreams come true. this was quite an exaggeration of course but it was nice that she felt that way. whenever i see her, she still runs up and squeezes me tightly, which is unusual behavior for girls durin' the body snatchin' years.
after breakin' my back i found that i could do just 'bout anything and wouldn't have to pay for it til two days later when i might not be able to move quickly or maybe at all. but if i stayed pretty still and pounded down some advil i'd be back to normal the next mornin'. i'm afraid with each passin' year it is takin' more than a day to bounce back. and if i take on a domestic deed too dauntin', like paintin' the walls o' the doo dad den to match the newly painted floor, my recovery time can turn into a spin flat on the floor for a good five days to a week.
i'm almost back to normal now which is a good thing cause it's drivin' me crazy layin' here lookin' up at a ceilin' that doesn't match the rest o' the room. mini's daddy has hired someone to come in and do it but they better come soon cause in another day or so i may just have to do it myself.
queenie chose this picture o' my dear mom with her hammer as the one placed on the easel durin' her funeral. anyone who didn't have the good fortune to know her would feel it wasn't appropriate and find an olan mills studio shot much more appropriate. but everyone who attended thought it was the perfect choice for a lifelong doo dad collector and tool box owner who attempted to do anything that needed done.
