Beautiful Day

Written Tuesday:

Carson Hill

I've been in a bit of a funk the past few days - it's been cold and rainy and just dreary.  But today - oh today is so beautiful I can't help the dopy grin on my face as I sit outside working on the back porch. During work breaks, I do cartwheels and handstands in the yard.  The sky is Carolina blue, with only a few wispy white clouds. It is a balmy 66 degrees and since my allergy shots have started working, I can sit out here, smell the fresh air and new blooming flowers and not have to blow my nose every three seconds.

This morning I went to Mom's school where a girl named Carson Hill was singing for the school.  Carson is from a little town in Anson County, NC and has a cousin at Polo Ridge Elementary.  She just turned 14 and is absolutely amazing!  She sounds like Taylor Swift - though possibly better live (as I've heard them both live).  She writes her own songs and she is such a sweet little thing.  I really hope she makes it big someday. :)

With Carson.

Speaking of singing, tonight I'll be in a karaoke competition (the finals this time) - I'm so nervous.  I can't sing the song that I won the semifinals with (Hit Me With Your Best Shot) which is probably my best.  I think I'll probably sing Jewel's "You Were Meant for Me."

Written Thursday: 
So I didn't place in the karaoke competition on Tuesday :(  But that's okay - it was totally rigged.  The judges seemed to be friends with most of the other contestants and I also think there was some racial prejudice against me...but two of my friends, Angela and Jeff, stayed to watch me even though I didn't compete until about 11:30 pm, so I was really thankful to have them and they assured me that I'd done better than some of the ones who placed.  That made me feel good. :)

Class picture of Littleton and her all-male class.

On Wednesday I got to meet with the most fascinating woman - Dr. Littleton.  She is 92 years old and was one of four women in an 84 member medical school program from 1942-45.  Then she was the only woman to attend Charlotte Memorial Hospital (now CMC) for her rotating internship.  She had to live in the nurses dormitory because she was the only female doctor.  But amazingly, she said she never felt discriminated against and said all the other residents and instructing doctors treated her as an equal. That sort of amazed me.  During her time in Charlotte, she decided to specialize in Pediatrics and went back to Virginia for another 3 years to specialize in peds.  Then started her own private practice in Salisbury (or was it Statesville?) where she was one of the only doctors who had a non-segregated office.  "Babies are babies, no matter what color they are," she said.  After some years there, she moved to Orlando and worked as a doctor for the Navy base there. 

Now 92, she's still full of stories from the old days.

She never married.  "I fell in love once, but he wanted a full time wife and mother, and I wanted a full time career," she told me.  "People ask me if I had any children, and I tell them, about 18,000!" 

I felt to privileged to get to talk with this living legacy!  And at 92 she is sharp as a tack! 

After having dinner with Grandma, Grandpa and mom, I went to Bible study and we had 2 new girls who were very nice and I really hope they join us.  Afterward, our girls group joined the guys life group (who also meet on Wed nights) at Selwyn Pub and we just had a really nice time catching up and scarfing down half-off pizza. :)