Monday Monday, so good to me....yeah - right...

What a day!!!! The phone started ringing from clients and interpreters before 8am and I didn't leave the computer until after 5:30pm - except for few potty breaks. Even ate breakfast (11:30am) and lunch (4:400pm) at the computer. Be so glad when this is over once and for all. I know what I need, a bouquet of one of my favorite of all flowers but where can I get that? Oh I know - I'll rip off my friend's blog and take her picture for myself.Aaaah - I feel better already. What is it about flowers that make our blood pressure and breathing slow down and our hearts to beat in tune with nature? I am so glad we were created with the capacity to truly enjoy creation. Especially these flowers. I know they are daffodils but my Mama always called them buttercups and we all loved them. Oops - Memory - There was a boy in high school who heard me talking about how much I loved buttercups and the next day he brought me a HUGE bouquet of them he had cut from his Mom's yard! It was so sweet of him. And it worked - I did date him one night on a double date with my friend Eileen and her beau. We had a nice time but he knew my feelings for him were not romantic and I had to tell him I liked him so much but as a friend. I never forgot taking that pretty bouquet with me to every class though. And to put a touch of reality on this memory - it had to have taken place about about 48 years or more ago. Memories - light the corners of my minds...misty, water colored...okay I digress - as usual - the flowers also made me think of the new DVD we got at our DC earlier this month.I can't seem to get a decent picture of this cover - the light reflects on it terribly. Anyway - the DVD is wonderful and something that someone will want to watch over and over. It heightens our appreciation for the Creator in a beautiful way. So now I'm going to eat some left-over Mexican Cuisine my dear hubby brought home awhile back and study some for the meeting Thursday. Hope tomorrow isn't as stressful as today was. Monday Monday, can't trust that day, Monday Monday, sometimes it just turns out that way......

For though we slepe or wake, or rome, or ryde, Ay fleeth the tyme...Chaucer

Oh Yeah - time sure does fly - whether you are having fun or not. I'd much rather it be when I'm having fun though. Two new little girls join our family of strong women through. We had Rose and Catherine join us for the lingerie shower last night and they truly were welcomed guests. Even though they will not be raised in the same town, they will always be close as all of our children are. It was my first time holding Rose and I had heard what a snuggly little girl she is and boy is she.I never got to hold little Charli because everyone else was holding her when I would go to look for her. I love how much our children are loved by all of the congregation. I believe a book was written about how it takes a Village to raise a child - we have our own Village and it is world wide - I never want to take that for granted.I did get Charli being fed by her GMa who is also one of my dearest friends. It seems like just yesterday I met her when she had one little girl and was pregnant with her second little girl. She went on to have another girl and a son and from that she has 6 grandchildren and 2 step-grandchildren. Whew - like I said - time keeps on slipping, slipping, slipping....into the future...I want to fly like an eagle to the sea- Fly like an eagle.......

Lingerie for the Bride......

Lauren had her Durham lingerie shower last night and even though I avoid showers for the most part, I really enjoyed this one. For one thing it is for my dear Lauren who is very special to me and the other is it was the first time (other than having my lungs x-rayed) that I've been out of the house in almost a week.Everything was beautiful and the girls did it up right as they always do. With a lot of help, they had a nice feast including chocolate dipped fruit, meatballs, artichoke dip (yum) and a fun game of family feud. The side who won could pick the outfit Lauren had to model for us. That was painful. She finally modeled one of the more modest and looked really pretty in. Everyone seemed to have a really good time and there were some great pictures. One of my favorite is Lauren with all but one of her attendants. What a beautiful group of women.A little less than 2 months to go to Wedding Day. She had her wedding portrait taken yesterday also and her hair and make-up were perfection.Dar was and will be responsible for her makeup and this was an excellent trial run. It was natural but truly made her glow. Of course Ash has been doing hair so long and really knows how to pull off the natural look too.Honestly, her hair stayed looking greateven after trying on her lingerie and it looked like she just casually tossed it up herself. How can things go wrong with so much talent? I will have to say that one of my favorite of her gifts and I think one she and her beloved will use a lot was the snuggli.They do live in the mountains and it gets cold up there in the winter. I think I would love one of those (if I ever got cold again which isn't likely any time soon). Maybe WHEN I lose this weigh, the thermostat will come down a little? Little D, Leah and Page2 always have quilts and throws in their living room and believe me, you need them in that cold house - especially in the winter. I guess that it about the only place I can say I get cold - for the most part, I'm fanning while everyone else is bundled up!

Normal.........

Okay - normal. What is normal? Normal isn't how I feel and haven't for almost 2 weeks now. Tired of coughing. Hopefully Roseanne's life is getting back to "normal". For a short period of time there, the multiple overwhelming, crisis driven events that she was having to cope with were coming at her so quickly, her "normal" was a state of constant readiness for what was coming next. Sad to say, there are people who have overwhelming incidents piggy back for a long period of time and those people don't feel normal any longer unless there is drama, crisis and intense emotional feelings all the time. Of all the people I know, Roseanne will definitely not be one of those people.How do you not love that laugh!! So finally, things are settling down and hopefully getting back to normal. Her new son-in-law to be has gotten a job that will allow him to continue in his full time ministry!Her son is scheduled to leave the intense rehab facility in Charlotte on September 2 to return home and complete Occupational and Physical Therapy. Her oldest daughter has pretty much recovered from her surgery and her new granddaughter is growing every day. Her youngest son and his lovely family are still shaken by being robbed "again" but moving forward and her baby girl is focusing on her wedding once again. A friend took some phone pictures at a picnic bridal shower from a week or so again and I love them.It looks like love is still in the air and Roseanne and Little D took advantage of the playground equipment.She and Little D have always had a very close relationship and let me ask you - does that look like a woman who craves drama and crisis? I don't think so! The girl who took the pictures commented that she hadn't seen Little D in awhile but that he hasn't changed a bit.Mine and Roseanne's response to that is that we sure hope he doesn't. Thankfully he has learned to use comic relief to take away a lot of the pressures of everyday life. My Mama could "always" find something to laugh about. I don't care what was happening, what the situation was - she could find joy within herself and would always generously share it with those around her. Miss you Mama.

Julie/Julia....Jane/Roseanne....

BON JOUR!!! Roseanne and I snuck away to the movies today (which we LOVE to do) and saw a movie we are both passionate about - Julie and Julia!We both grew up with Julia Childs and have always loved her extravagant gestures, larger than life persona and passion for what she loved whether it be her cooking, food itself or her dear sweet husband. I'll have to admit, Dan Akroyd nailed her on SNL :-) but Meryl Streep actually "became" Julia in this movie!I hope my hacking cough didn't disturb too many people but I'll have to say it was just what the doctor ordered for a little break.You notice that Julia has on flats because she and her sister were very tall women! Poor Meryl had to wear platform high heels to pull off the height in the movie but she was wonderful! We found ourselves reaching out to hold each other's hands throughout the whole movie! Now we are on a mission to find Julia's original cookbook for ourselves and we are going to try to start cooking together on a regular basis! We have talked about it many times but maybe this time we will be able to steal the time to do something we both enjoy - trying new recipes! BON APPETITE!!!!!

Technology .... and .... me.....

Okay - I do real good and then I hit a snag and get frustrated. I finally learned how to upload pictures to my Blog BUT it seems to balk at uploading "scanned" pictures. What's up with that? Those are some of my best pictures! What to do?? I have been home more this week so I've gotten a little bit caught up with a few of my "chilluns" and no, not necessarily my "birth" children. I will have to say that for some of the people I've studied with, at times it felt like giving birth. LOL - just kidding. Of course you have seen pictures of Ann and her family but before her I had the privilege of studying with Lin whose middle name I can't remember. What a delight both of these young women have been to me - and to add to that joy, they are very close friends themselves now and are raising their babies together. I also studied with another lovely sister many years and experiences ago. When I broke my arm, she and her "little ones" came to see me and Page who was here taking care of me (check out the ice bag for my migraine).Of course, they aren't little babies anymore. As a matter of fact, the oldest one is a Daddy himself now to a sweet little boy and living in Charlotte. When his brother was born and his Mom handed him to me, he started crying and when we asked him what was wrong he said, "that's my Nana".She and her husband asked me to be the oldest one's "guardian" mother. After discussing it with Big D, I agreed. Then the second one was born and again, I agreed. Then they moved to Florida for awhile and had the third little boy at which time Big D told her they had to never travel in the same car or on the same plane together! She has been a faithful sister through more trials than most women will ever imagine. Two things have been unwavering in her - her love of her children and her Creator.

A long line of strong women.....

Or should I say the changing of time. How did I get such a smart, strong, confident daughter? As she likes to say, she comes from a long line of strong women and I guess that is true. If you were to read her Blog, you would see where she says my sisters and I can turn EVIL in a heartbeat but I really think that is an exaggeration. Let me see - she moved to GA in 2002 - wow in February, it will be 8 years! That is long enough. In 2004, my sister Ruth and I went down to support Page when she rode in the MS Bike Ride to support a co-worker with MS.She rode 94 of the 100 miles and we were all so proud. I think I was voted the best "fan"! A wife of one of her team mates asked me the second morning if I had any other children and I laughed and said, yes, a son and I'm as crazy about him! They all laughed. So sad that they think how much I love Page is strange. In September of 2004, we all went to the beach to celebrate her successful bike ride, Little D and Leah's wedding anniversary .and Page2 potty success!Woo Hoo.Our friend Ann was with us part of the time which added to the fun.Then in September of 2005, Page came home for a visit. Little D and his family always try to come when she comes so we can all be together.This is one of my favorite pictures of both of them. I tried using it as a screen saver but I cried every time I looked at it (because they were NOT HERE) so I gave that up. Then this picture of Page in Lisbon in 2006.I know she will treasure all the adventures she had while traveling for the company...especially those she had with her previous boss who lived in Belgium but was a world traveler who now lives back in Africa.She showed Page so many wonderful sites in Europe while she was there on business trips. Experiences she will never forget I'm sure. They also had some fun in Rochester when a co-worker from Belgium was placed there for three months after they bought a company there.I love this picture from one of their outings there I believe in 2005! She has had many adventures and met some interesting people including her friend from Belgium, Raphael.What a delightful young man! He comes to Atlanta from Belgium to work frequently and they always get together. He helped me buy my iPod and back-up hard-drive the last time I was down and he was there. If he is in town when I am, we always try to get together. He LOVES being outside when he is in Atlanta - if you have ever been to Europe - you will understand this. They don't have as many pretty days as we do here. His family has a chalet in Switzerland and Page got to go there with him and some friends for a wonderful adventure. They went in the summertime (which was very unusual for him since it is where they go to ski in the winter) and they hiked, drank ice cold water from the mountain streams, ate delicious food and visited tons of little villages. I could have sworn I had pictures but can't find them for the life of me....He has also been helpful with Bentley recently getting the information he needed to pass some pretty tough exams for work. Then in 2007 we all gathered for our family time together in Roanoke at Little D and Leah's house.In November of 2007 we all traveled down East to our favorite Beach House where I.T., Mae, Ann, Lee, Isaac and our friend Mapp were able to join us. Everyone had a wonderful time and I got a nice picture of two of my girls with their pretty eyes.Little D's beloved Max was with us at the beach that year. He was already sick and we lost him shortly afterward. Every so often you have a pet you never forget and he was one of ours. Just think one word - LOVE.Now you are beginning to think to yourself - is this entry going to ever end? Shortly my pet - have a few more updates. Let's see it wasn't too long after this we learned about Bentley. He got really, really sick but made a miraculous recovery for which we are all very grateful. We had our annual family reunion in June and I got "another" great picture of my babies. I am always amazed by how beautiful my children are. Bentley's Mom had been battling cancer for several years and not long after he got back on his feet (still shakily) his Mom died. I went to Atlanta in 2008 and met Bentley for the first time. I already knew what a good son he was and how he had taken the responsibility his Mom's care on many years before. While I was there, she had a terrible reaction to a new chemo treatment and we rushed down to Newnan to be with him. I got to see her for a few minutes (beautiful with beautiful white hair) but she never woke up while we were there. Over the next months, Bentley and Page gave her the best of care during her last weeks and were both with her when she died in September of 2008 She had a lovely private memorial. In November of 2008 we went down East and it was only our family this year. Ann was pregnant with Little Ann and I.T. and Mae wanted to be there for her arrival. It was a nice lazy four days with family.Whew - so that kind of gets us caught up a little bit. What can I tell you, once I get on a roll - I'm off. Hoping to feel better tomorrow. Hope to get out in the ministry tomorrow and go to a little housewarming for a dear older sister. So many things to do, so little time (or energy).

Missing my babies.....

My son moved out of state first. He and his wife moved to Virginia Beach for a new job opportunity and one of his wife's close friends lived there. It was a little hard but not too far and he wasn't alone. He had his wife, her friends and the congregation. Then they moved to Roanoke where his wife's family live. Page on the other hand moved 6-7 hours away to the Atlanta, GA area and lives alone. She moved down with a friend and her husband but within months was in her own apartment and has never had a roommate and still doesn't. I do pretty good but when too much time passes without me being able to see and touch them - I get a little down. They all keep themselve real busy but the past few years have been ultra busy for Page both personally and professionaly. I'm happy to say she has landed on her feet "again" and is still moving forward. I used to worry about my granddaughter not being close to me and Page always said I shouldn't worry. That Leah and Little D would keep me alive in her eyes all the time and the times she comes to be with me would always be special for her. So far, I think that has been the case, however, when she becomes a teenager, and has more connections with her friends there, how much is she going to want to come and be with old Grandmommie and Grandaddie? It is true that most of the time, we are usually all together doing fun things when they come but I hold on to each one of her visits with me alone as precious...just in case she outgrows coming to be with Granmommie one day. On the other hand, she is doing so well right now, loving school, showing so much maturity and kindness to those around her and being the best granddaughter a Granmommie could ever want. When it comes to my children, Page, Little D, Leah and Page2 - my cup runneth over.

Enough already.....

Okay - this is getting ridiculous! I have been sick forever!! I know I have coughed up a lung by now. Not really, it just feels like it. Drug myself out yesterday evening to meet Ger and go on her studies with her.Both studies were good and I decided to call my study and it turned out she could have hers last night too. So we went to Cook-Out, picked up something to eat for us and Big D - Ger ate her's while I took Big D his, then I ate mine while she drove to the study. Multi-tasking at it's best. We had a great study and then I came home and collapsed! Woke this morning still sick - no voice (over-did it last night I guess). No service today - Dwight feels I sound worse and wants me to stay in so while I'm having a pity party I'll wallow in it some more.

How do you not love this man? I sent a copy of this picture Little D sent Big D and me via his telephone while he was in the dentist office to a lot of my friends with exactly that same question.He has a wicked sense of humor and is completely guileless. When other boys were going through those teenage years of trying to come across as super cool, he was always himself - always ready to do the outrageous because it "felt good" and that made him "super-cool". Never one to take himself so seriously that he lost who he really was. I love a self-confident man myself - - - When did my funny little boy become a man? Let me see - was it when he got married? Was it when he moved away from home to try something new? Was it when he knew he was going to have a baby? Or was it when little Page came so early, everything in his world was focused on one thing - keeping her alive and safe. Or was it when he realized there are a lot of things we "can" do but that doesn't necessarily mean we "should" do them? Or when he didn't like his job but knew he had to stay until he decided what to do and had another one? Or was it all of those things added together and so much more? Isn't it those things that make us grow - some much easier than others but becoming more aware of reality - that is when we really start growing up. Because the reality is everything else is vanity and striving after the wind.

Wedding luncheon.....

I still can't figure out this Roanoke/Raleigh-Durham connection. Little D married a girl from Roanoke and Roseanne's daughter married a boy from Roanoke who grew up with Leah. Now Lauren is marrying a Joel, boy from Roanoke! Virginia needs to stop stealing our children away! I couldn't be happier with my son's wife - she is beautiful inside and out.Anyway, Leah and I are giving Lauren her bridal luncheon in October. I know - but you can never start planning too soon is my motto. We will have it at Leah's house since Lauren lives in VA too. Wow - it is so hard to believe that little Lauren is getting married. She is Roseanne's 4th child and let's just say, she and I have always had a "special" relationship. Wasn't always pretty, but was always special. She always makes me tell people what I used to call her when she was little but I'm not going to do that now because she truly has become a lovely young woman I am proud to call a close friend. One of my best memories of both Kat and Roseanne's son who was injured is when we all started our regular pioneer careers in the same year which meant we all attended the special intense 2 week Bible based Pioneer School together at the end of that year. Isn't he handsome? That is so hard to believe - the Pioneer School was in August of 2005 which means that next month - September - will be the start of my sixth year in the full time work. What a blessing and privilege it has been and hopefully will continue to be. These pictures of that time bring back such good memories and I can't believe she is now all grown up for real and getting married in October! When did that happen? I have really missed her since she moved but our loss has been Virginia's gain.

Just b r e a t h e........

I have been putting off showing pictures of our dear friend who was in the horrific automobile accident. This picture was taken July 31st after much of the swelling had gone down and he was doing "pretty" good. It was hard to see him so weak and beat up but great to know he is doing better. His Mom has been wonderful in keeping everyone up to date on everything going on with him and his beautiful bride(have GOT to get a more recent picture of Kris) as well as the new grandbaby and her daughter's surgery. They moved him to a world famous rehab facility in Charlotte to receive the intense therapy he will need for a full recovery. The good news is he is making good progress. The pictures his Mom sent me so I can see for myself show that he really is getting better. I know she is exhausted and it has been so hard to not be able to go to help relieve them from time to time and just be with them. The pictures do help but I can't wait to go see him for myself. Hopefully that will not be too far in the future. Roseanne is coming home this week - back to the "real" world of getting up and going to work. I'm sure it will seem surreal for awhile but guess what? We have a WEDDING to plan! So all in all - so much positive news - son definitely on the road to recovery, daughter and daughter-in-law recovering nicely from surgeries, new granddaughter and now a WEDDING! Just b r e a t h e......