Hey Y’all

Marlene Ratledge Buchanen

Hey Y’all | Uh-Oh

We mostly go to the grocery store when we are running low on cat food. This week we needed almost everything for cat and people. The pantry was bare, the cats had only a small selection of canned food, and the dry food had one last crumb in the bag. We may starve, but the cats must be fed.

Marlene Ratledge Buchanen

Happy 100th Birthday, Mama

My mother was born on June 27, 1918. Her name was Mary Grace Evans Ratledge, better known as Grace, Mama or Grandmama. At Mama’s funeral, several people mentioned that they had never known her name until that day. Well, she was just Mama.

Marlene Ratledge Buchanen

Hey Ya’ll | Ageless or Just Old

Good Grief. It just hit me. I was sending a congratulatory note to Ann Jackson Tiberghein. She is retiring from teaching. She was an art teacher in Gwinnett County Schools. And she is retiring.

Marlene Ratledge Buchanen

Hey Ya’ll | The Three Little Bears

Once upon a time, a handsome man met a beautiful woman on a blind date. The man and woman fell in love. The handsome man gave the beautiful woman a teddy bear and a proposal. She accepted both.

Marlene Ratledge Buchanen

Hey Y’all | Back from the Light

We have been in a nightmare. We have all had the flu, but Snell was harder than James or me. The doctor told us that the flu shot helped about 10-20% of the people who took it, but this strain that is so powerful wasn’t fazed by the inoculation. I know some people who have had this mess, and it has been devastating. 

Marlene Ratledge Buchanen

Hey Y’all | Bad Stuff Travels in Threes

I have always heard that bad things happen in threes.  I think the expression began with World War I and the prohibition for a third person to light a cigarette on one match. Never three on a match.  In the amount of time it takes for three people to light their cigarettes, the enemy can find and focus on you and, “Boom,” you’re dead.

Marlene Ratledge Buchanen

Hey Y’all | The Fur Ball of Death

We have four cats, all were rescues, and none are touchy-feely. I really wanted a cat that was like my little Ramona. She loved to be held and combed or to just sit with you. She wrapped herself around my neck and rode on my shoulders wherever I was walking.These four in residence now were never truly socialized as babies, so they have made up their own rules.

Marlene Ratledge Buchanen

Hey Ya’ll | Tasteful Native Costumes

Shortly after Snell and I got married, we decided we would chaperone the graduating class of Duluth High School on a cruise to Nassau and Free Port. We had a stop in Puerto Rico for the evening, and a bunch of the boys wanted to go into Puerto Rico. They didn’t feel comfortable enough to go by themselves, so they approached us about going with them.

Hey Y’all | What’s in Your Stocking?

Christmas presents. Oh, I hate shopping for Christmas presents. I have a very small family to shop for, but still, I feel like I am never good at picking out presents for them.