Let the vacation begin....

Woke Monday morning to a overcast rainy day - got the car loaded and headed out a little later than planned. I had to meet Di at Brier Creek - she made the cookies! She used to make Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies and bring them to the beach when the five families would go down. They were soooo good and one year I told her to make an extra batch for me and SHE DID! I hid them in my room and we would all sneak in there from time to time to have one after the first batch had been scarfed down the first day.Well she hasn't lost her touch - part of them have walnuts and they are all delicioso. She also put them in a pretty gold tin with scenes from Paris on it! How did she know I love the Eiffel Tower?

After sitting in our cars talking out the car windows in the rain for over a hour, I got on my way but it was so nice to be able to visit with her for a short period of time and catch up with their busy schedule. Between their first year of regular pioneering and working with the RBC they have little time for much else these days but she looked happy. I made the trip in record time and the rain finally stopped about half way down. After Ann, Boy and Biscuit arrived and we unloaded her van, we all just took a few minutes to breathe. Ann and I opened one of the last two of my Mermaid Ridge Chardonnays and had dinner. Nice. Yesterday we drove down to Swansboro ate hot dogs at Yanna's and shopped at the little shop next door for Boy who loves one of the characters there. I bought something for my niece so will not post that as I don't want to spoil the surprise. We stopped at the Tea and Beer House and Christina's Collectibles. The Tea House was closed (bummer) but we both burned our bridges (and money) at Christina's. Mae and Lynn called to have us turn their heat on as they were on their way!! Whoo Hoo - more people! After that, Ann dropped me off at the nice Harris Teeter and I flew through there but it still took an HOUR which Ann mentioned several times! :-) Sorry Ann. We picked up soup and sandwiches from Panera's and headed home. Whew. Mae and Lynn came by and we got caught up. After they left, Ann got the babies ready for bed. I think she was planning to stay up awhile but never made it back out - she was very tired. I finished putting the groceries away, read my emails and went to bed too. I have exactly the right amount of covers on my bed and I'll have to say - I have slept really good the past two nights. I think one reason may be that I haven't turned the heat on. Yum. After I put the groceries away, I put the flowers I bought in the two little vases and got these pictures to remember how neat the tables look because pretty soon - we will not be able to see parts of the table for very long! More people - more stuff! Big D is on his way with the boat and should be here soon. Leah, Little D and Page2 got to our house in Durham around 2am so they will be coming behind BigD. I just called Page1 and it is official - Bentley has to work Friday and can't come! She will be leaving Atlanta around lunch time. Bummer - but I can't wait to see my baby girl! Well - got to get busy. Ann is putting Biscuit down for her nap and running to the store to pick up some things including the ingredients for her Sausage Brie Breakfast Casserole for Saturday morning! Woo Hoo! Don't forget, if you want to see details of the pictures, just click on them and they get bigger.

Stolen moments in time...

Have so much to do before I'm supposed to leave tomorrow and here I sit writing in my on-line journal! Doesn't that sound better than blog? I don't know how much internet time I'll have while I'm at the coast so want to post this memory before it gets lost in time. Had a very nice visit from a dear high school friend, and her daughter Ami who were up from Florida visiting her Mom.I loved this picture Ami took of Ruth and her Mom, Dorothy. I believe this is the first time I've seen Ami since her grandfather died in 2004. Okay - that still makes me sad to even have to say it. Page put the picture of me sitting in his lap in a lawn chair at the lake in my 40th Anniversary Love Book. That was my last trip to Gaston Lake with them - good memory. There is also one of me sitting in Dorothy's lap. Anyway, it was good being with her and getting caught up. I love it when she and her Mom both laugh at the same time - such beautiful faces.I love this picture of three generations - Ruth, Ami and Alex. Even though Ruth's children were raised so many miles away, they - like my Page and Little D - grew up knowing all about Ruth's enduring friendship with me and Big D and have always felt a part of each other's lives from afar. They downloaded almost 400 pictures to my laptop of various adventures they have enjoyed including rodeo events(how is that for riding a horse) and a great family beach trip. Big D and I keep saying we are going down for a visit and I really would love to see their new house. I haven't been down since 1998 and that was when I was on a business trip and we had dinner. As I recall - that was my first fire ant experience and hopefully my last. I had no idea how painful the little monster's bites were. Had blister and my whole leg ached. We have had a lot of them here over the past few years. I avoid them like the plague. Deep breath here - time passes by so fast these days - maybe I'm feeling it more because it is getting dark so early? Yeah - maybe that's it. :-( I want to really slow down and enjoy this upcoming week with my family and close friends.

Come grow old with me the best is yet to be...

On many levels - the quote above can be true. I honestly feel Big D and I are definitely in a better place on many levels. This is one of those posts I put in for my daughter. She likes to follow her Mom and Dad's comings and goings. The lady from the Life and Health Specialists came by today to show us options and sign Big D up for his supplemental coverage. It is still hard for me to wrap my mind around him being 65 next month.I actually remember when Medicare was first introduced through BC/BS. I worked with Hospital Care (first job) when we rolled the program out in 1965 - the year we got married. Hospital Care eventually became BC/BS. I am only two years behind him so I know I will be thinking about these issues soon enough. Even though we would all like to "think" we could be the couple on the bike (I did so love riding in my younger days)I would be happy to be this couple - able to walk and both still here and together. We both should really start walking together right now but Big D just does not want to and I have not gotten to that place of making it a priority yet - I really NEED to. Wish I had someone nearby to walk with me. SO - I have tons of phone calls to make Monday morning to cancel Big D out of our Blue Advantage Plan hopefully "before" they deduct the premium for December PLUS I have to get the car serviced and drop by the doctor's office to get my BP checked. I sure hope I can get out of town and down to the coast before too late as I really don't like to drive at night on major highways or in strange places.I was hoping to have Fina's study today but her phone is messing up and her house is full of family so I think we are going to have to postpone. I was hoping she would be able to come here for the study but hopefully we can have it tomorrow afternoon after the meeting. I am planning to have Eileen's right after the meeting and would be able to go over to Fina's after that. We really NEED to have it before I leave and over the phone while I'm gone. Between her new job and hectic schedule, we only had one study last month - not good. Yep - you guessed it - she has my Blog address so I'm hoping she will read this. :-) Isn't she beautiful? Very smart and hardworking young woman. I am still enjoying getting to know her better.

Good food, good friends, good times....

Had a busy day after all - had to stay in most of the afternoon but finally got up the nerve to run some errands. If you ever need it, the bathroom at Home Depot on North Pointe Drive is pretty clean. Came home long enough to bring some stuff in, run my fingers through my hair and put a little gloss and before running back out the door to my friend Roseanne's for dinner. Katarina developed a severe rash last night and dinner was moved to Roseanne's house. It was nice being together - I wish I had taken my camera! Baby Rose is growing and so sweet. Of course the twins are so sweet and SMART!I love this picture of this beautiful family. Wish I could see them more often but hey - we take what we can get! Beautiful little girls - twins but different in many ways. Both smart as they can be though and will be glad to watch them grow and give their Daddy a fit! Just kidding. I can tell he likes his little girls a while lote and that makes me smile.I got to snuggle Rose!She is getting so big and is such a pretty little dumpling. Of course Bran came with the kids which allowed Katarina to sleep in peace for awhile. Such beautiful grandchildren Roseanne has. It was a nice evening and I really enjoyed being with everyone. I pulled the following picture from FaceBook. Isn't it adorable - Clara, Delani and Cassie.Three beautiful young ladies. Yep - I anticipate the parents of these three are gonna definitely have their hands full when they get older and bigger. Just look at how pretty they already are - oh yeah - boys will be knocking down the door. Well - I'm sleepy so I'm going to get off this computer and hit the hay. Didn't feel like washing dishes tonight and the insurance lady is coming in the morning - fun, fun!

Yellowstone Park.......

Yep - just call me Old Faithful. I tried to go out in service today - felt better, sun was bright, sky was blue, sun was warm, blah, blah, blah. The antibiotics have me going off every 15 minutes just like Old Faithful.I'm not kidding here guys - it is getting ridiculous!What doesn't kills you, cures you. Big D has gone with a friend to "look at a boat". Yep he has gone to see a man about a boat! I think he might just buy a new boat soon. Someone sent me the cutest "kitten" picture titled - Waking Up. I'm was going to upload it but it wouldn't work. I don't understand because the site says it accepts .gif. It is a picture of a little kitten sleeping, tucked into a bed with it from paws outside the cover. When you click on the picture, it shows a hand gently waking the kitten who proceeds to stretch it little paws out, then wipes the sleep out of it's eye. Yep - I am definitely a CAT WOMAN. Oh well - you would have liked it.

New Songbooks Are In.....

We got our new Songbooks last Sunday. Today someone sent me one of the new songs being sung by a group along with a PowerPoint picture show. I did get teary because the words were so beautiful.I got an email from my high school friend in Florida - she and her daughter are driving up tomorrow to see her Mom and going back Sunday. Hopefully we can see each other. I'm supposed to go to dinner at the lovely Katarina's Friday. Hope I feel much better by then. I felt worse today than yesterday and having some stomach issues tonight so maybe it is "peaking"? Who knows? I haven't had any comments on my Blog lately - miss hearing Katarina's little observations. My dear BS came to my house for our study today which was so loving on her part. My oldest sister; Anncalled while my BS was here and we got a little caught up before another friend dropped by and I had to hang up before I wanted to. If you click on the picture you can see her bruises on her arm. When my sister Ruth and I went to pick her up to go see our Aunt in Hillsborough, she stumbled coming out of the hotel and kind of crashed into my car with that arm - and it's the one that has the most arthritis in it. It made me feel bad everytime I noticed it the rest of that weekend. Her voice sounded so good and strong today. I also got an email from my beautiful sister Ruth saying her doctor feels the surgery on her eye was successful but will know for sure next month. Whew! All good news.

Where does the time go --- does anyone know????

Do you know how many songs have that title? Funny - guess everyone who has ever lived has thought about that. Personally I like the lyrics to Kathy Mattea's song - Time Passes By. When I look at this picture - it makes me realize just how fast time passes by.This picture was sent to me by my niece - the second to the oldest grandchild in our family. I can still remember how she felt as a sweet little girl snuggled under my chin while I rocked and rocked her in Daddy's platform rocker. Such a cute little girl she was. Now SHE is a grandmother and THAT is hard to believe. The boys are twins and the girl with long darker hair is married to one of them. Aren't they beautiful? One of the reasons it is hard to believe is because my niece is still a Rock N Roll singer in a local Band. Oh Yeah.....Here is a picture of all of Ruth's grand and great-grandchildren.Who would have thought that out of all of Belma's Pearls, Ruth would have ended up with the biggest family? And what a beautiful family it is. I've spent enough time on the computer and wish I could say I feel better but I don't. I just chatted with the other Ann about our upcoming trip to the beach next week. I'm really looking forward to being with my kids and some old friends in one of my favorite places. Hope I'll still be able to go down early - we'll see.

There'll be days like this my Mama said....

Okay - I am NOT going to whine. So I'm still not feeling up to par - so what? It could be worse.I fell in love with this cartoon someone sent - it just says it all doesn't it? It doesn't help that this is probably going to be the prettiest day we have this week and I'm inside feeling lousy. Maybe I can get some things done here? Nah - if I felt like that, I would be out in service. My beautiful Lin shared some pictures from a recent adventure to the Zoo. I have never been to the North Carolina Zoo - what is wrong with that picture? By the time the kids all travel here, who wants to get in the car and travel further unless it is to our favorite place - the beach!! She and my other spiritual daughter Ann went with another sister from their congregation and all their kids.I am so happy they love each other so much and are sharing the joys of their young families together but you would think they lived in VA and/or GA too as much as I see them! It doesn't help that their congregation is the only one in this area that is still in another Circuit/District so we seldom see each other at conventions either. (Does this count as whining?) I really appreciate her sharing the pictures and adventures when she finds time in her very busy schedule. Ann keeps a Blog which allows me to keep up with her babies that way so I really appreciate the updates from Lin. I love this picture.All the girls together! Abs is holding Biscuit - it is so hard when I look at Abs to realize she is only 3 months older than my little Page. She is one grade ahead of her in school due to when their birthdates fell. They are going to love looking back at these pictures when they get older. The friendships they are enjoying now will always be so special to them. Thank you sweet Lin!

You are my sunshine.......

Finally - after a week or more of dark skies and much rain - the sun finally peeked out today and now the skies are blue again and life is good. I just realized there are so many songs about sunshine - one of my favorites is - "Ain't no sunshine when she's gone...." Sometimes I feel that way because all my babies are gone - from here anyway. Okay - that was my little pity-party for today. Back to sunshine. Since I didn't get out much this past week, I went in service this morning. I stopped and picked up lunch and came home to a napping hubby in front of the TV "watching" NASCAR. It has been so raw this week I have found myself having a cup of hot cocoa (yes - with marshmallows) but with the sun out today, I just fixed myself a nice cuppa Earl Grey Tea with a little dab of honey. Yum. I'm also talking on the phone to my beautiful Page so I'm feeling a little happy right now.I told her I was uploading a few pictures of some people she would love seeing. The first one is of the grandchildren of a couple we always spent time with when she was growing up. She will also like the one of Jack and his daddy looking out the window at the rain. Jack's Mommy was his size when we all used to go as five families to the beach three times a year. I remember we always found great places that were big and comfortable. At first we stayed in condos with access to a pool (and a lot of the other friends would come at the same time so we would really hog the pool area) but as the kids got older, we got big houses on the beach. Long weekends over Memorial Day and Labor Day and then a whole week in the middle of the summer.We would have kids sleeping everywhere. When the girls got bigger and would bring friends, we would line them up in their sleeping bags under the dining room table. Wonderful memories of our children growing up. Eventually people moved, children grew up and had children and life moved on as it always does but we never forget those times that were so special or the people who made them so.

Another wedding and a few more pictures....

I think this was the last of the weddings. My goodness - I think Keith said he was invited to over 6 or more wedding within a 3-4 month period. What in the world? I have pulled some pictures that were posted on FB I wanted to keep for myself. This particular wedding took place only 2 months after the groom's brother's wedding. That would seem extraordinary if I had not helped with the receptions of two sisters in the same family who got married on the same day! One got married at Duke Gardens in the morning and we had a brunch reception - then all the decorations were changed in the same reception hall with a different menu for the second wedding that evening. They were both beautiful! I had to post a picture of Roseanne's Lauren and her new hubby of about 2 months! I know everyone was happy to see the happy couple. Now they are settling into being the old married couple with all the weddings that have followed theirs. Aren't they a handsome couple? The colors for the wedding they attended were a chocolate brown and vibrant pink - the pictures are all so pretty. The bride and groom were both so handsome too. Of course it is hard to outshine the two KTs. I love that dress Lauren is wearing - it is such a pretty style on her. Her bridesmaids wore similar dresses in her wedding so she must like it too. They may be related by marriage but have been sisters for so much longer. The bride was Katarina's step sister and she said the music was great for dancing. She was happy her Dad even got up and danced! I was looking at some pictures Katarina posted on FB and had to pull this one of her beautiful little Kenna, Look at that face! She is going to be a real heartbreaker. I told Katarina to go ahead and lock her up now. Look at her in those jeans - I can see her strolling around Woodstock can't you? Oh - I'm sorry - that would have probably been her grandmother Roseanne we saw if she had been there. I think we all feel like we were there when we watch the pictures though - I was just looking at a video of Jimi Hendrix playing and singing Purple Rain at Woodstock. They had a really good documentary on about Woodstock not too long ago - I'll have to say that listening to the old music, seeing the singers and muscians (some who were just starting out) and looking at the clothes and hair brought back so many memories of that time. This picture of little Kenna definitely brought back memories of that time - what a free spirit she is here. Oh yeah - they definitely need to lock her up.

Beautiful day with beautiful people...

What a nice weekend! It was so nice to have Cat stay over again last night. I heated up some of Big D's homemade vegetable beef soup and made us some yummy grilled cheese sandwiches with some nice sharp cheddar cheese Big D brought home. Yum. After we had breakfast this morning, I called Mae to see if she wanted to ride with me to take Cat back home to Eden and she said YES! So I had the company of these two beautiful women who mean so much to me. I enjoyed listening to their conversations and we all enjoyed the gorgeous colors as I took the back roads. Cat treated us to a nice lunch and then Mae got to see where she lives. After they visited a little bit, we headed home while enjoying getting caught up all the way.I love this picture I got yesterday of Mae and her oldest daughter who has been one of my closet friends since I was baptized. As a matter of fact, we pioneered together before I had Page. After she got married, our sons were born within 2 days of each other. I also got a few pictures yesterday of Cat with me and Eileen. We went to another congregation's meeting yesterday morning and Eileen kept getting so emotional about being with Cat after all these years. .I tried to reach another brother and sister yesterday that Cat aided into the truth but they were at the convention in Winston Salem watching their daughter's part on the convention. I have received several thank you notes and emails from the sister and daughter of two of the older friends who came to the luncheon telling me how much the keep talking about it. Evidently they were still excited long after they got back home. It made me feel good. My sister Rose sent me a nice thank you email also. You would think Rose and I would see each other more often than we do since we live in the same town but that isn't the case. Between my pioneering and her still working full time and living across town from each other, we very rarely see each other. Her work environment is also strict about use of the emails so we barely do that either. After I dropped Mae off in Bahama,I treated myself to a pedicure and manicure at Nail Time, picked up some Chinese,worked the crossword puzzle and talked to my beautiful Page who had just gotten home from her annual getaway with her friends from work. She was on her way to meet Bentley for dinner and to get caught up. We got to talking about our upcoming family time at the end of this month and both started laughing because we are both getting so excited. The times we spend as a family at the beach with our dear friends is always special to us. All in all - a very nice day!

Strong women, old friends, good food......

Well it finally happened. I have been thinking about the women in my life, the ones who have made a difference, then I got to thinking about some older women I met way back around 1967 (most of them) and came up with 11 names from when I started attending the KH in 1967. I spoke to some of my girl friends and told them I was going to have a luncheon for these woman if I could find a way to pull them together and they all said they would help. When my dear spiritual Mom told me she wanted to come I was so excited I could hardly contain myself. So long story short, out of the 11, 10 came! They were so surprised to see my spiritual Mom and she was so happy to all of them plus Eileen. One came from Burlington, one came from Hookerton (close to Snow Hill), two came from Bahama, one came from Eden, one came from Hillsborough and the rest came from Durham. Gail made a beautiful salad, Lynn made our favorite chicken salad and rolls, I made a nice big fresh fruit salad w/vanilla yogurt on the side and roasted some autumn veggies, Gerl bought the tea, cups, frames, chairs and Eileen paid for the flowers. I also had chocolate chip cookies and dipped some Madelines in chocolate. After we got all the "old friends" who were so excited to see other settled and eating, the five of us had our lunch on the porch to cool off. We took their pictures and I printed off a picture of everyone and put them in the frames for everyone to have a memory of this very special day. The weather was gorgeous and we kept taking pictures outside when everyone was leaving. Cat is so tired and I know she over-did it but she said it was worth it. I'm taking her home tomorrow and will miss her very much....again. Of course we can't have a party without Keith! He saw all the cars and had to come by to say hey! We all agreed he is the best dressed brother in Durham - and a handsome young man to boot! I just realized how fortunate I have been to have so many strong women in my life - some as role models and others as warnings!! No kidding - some of the really strong women in my life have been downright scary. I have been told I can be scary - I wonder how I should take that and could that be true? One of the strong women from my childhood was my Dad's mom who lived with us off and on. I wish I could say all those times were good times but sadly they weren't. I just remembered - my Dad's Mom was born today in 1882 - love you Grandma Amy. Mama always used to say she wished Grandma's family had not made her give up her own little place after Granddaddy died (I was a few weeks old when he died). Sure enough, before she died she had her own little apartment in an older house across from where her daughter lived in Hillsborough. The last time I visited her there with Mama, she was so content. I can still see her rocking in her rocking chair. She was always pretty nice to me but she could have her moments and caused some real problems with my parents from time to time. We won't go there.

More random photos and ways to procrastinate my de-cluttering...

Oh yeah - I am in full blown Type A personality shut down. Have way too much to get accomplished in way too short a period of time so what do I do? I BLOG! Hello? Only a few more photos I fell in love with then I have to haul myself out of this chair! Hopefully, my next post will be of the lovely luncheon I'm planning. I love this time of year because of the colors including these.Aren't they gorgeous? And of course we can't forget our little critters. Another praying mantis that is seeing his last days bless his heart. We have seen so many of these insects this week are are moving slower and slower and a few of them have just stopped in their little tracks. One was a spider not much different from the one you see in the web here.So that leaves only two more pictures on my desktop that I put there for some reason or another that I can't recall. One is of my dahlink Katarina and her baby girlI really like this "drawing" of them she created on FaceBook. The other is ofThe waterfall under the bridge with the Watchtower sign lit up. That sign always makes my heart feel warm, cozy and safe. It represents what I feel has been watching over me these past 43 years like nothing else can. Hmmm - I guess that means I have run out of reasons (excuses) for getting busy and need to get up from here and get to work. I'm waiting to get some pictures from Page1 and her friends - they arrived in Florida yesterday safe and sound for their girl's weekend! She said the weather was great and I know they will have a ball.

Random pictures......

It is such a beautiful (if chilly) day today and I have so much to do but thought I would post a few random pictures that popped out at me recently. For some reason I have put these on my desktop so I'm going to put them here and save them in that huge file I call "pictures"! The one on the right is of a wonderful sister in my congregation who loves the ministry.
Of course the other one is of Roseanne and dear Sher whose daughter is in the Dominican Republic right now serving as a "great needer". The next one (on the right) is of me about five years ago and then
the other one is of me, Leah and Big D attending the play Little D was in. Little D is too talented in too many areas. He decided to audition for a small part with the summer theater in their area figuring he might get a walk-on part. It turned out he got the lead roll of Linus (played by Humphrey Bogart and Harrison Ford) in the play Sabrina. We went to the final performance and he was excellent but he realized it took way too much time and energy away from the "more important things". The next two are of my beautiful niece, Dee that was taken when she was at work (nurse at Duke)and it shows how much more she looks like her Mama (my sister Rose) every day.
The one on the left of course is my gorgeous granddaughter - Page2. I just loved this picture and cut it from the others and saved it to my desktop. In some of her pictures she looks like she is glowing I think - of course, I'm prejudiced. The next one is of a favorite couple of mine - Roseanne's son and his lovely bride whom I call Katarina. Doesn't she look like a Russian beauty?
The one on the left is Little D and Leah - I just loved this picture but never showed it until I realized I could cut part of it off! This was taken at Leah's high school reunion a few years ago - aren't they a handsome couple? I know - I'm prejudiced - but HEY - I'm a Mom - I get to be. The last two are of Ann's little Ann2 whom she call Biscuit. Look at that happy face! Don't you just want to squeeze her!
And the one on the left is a group shot of Little D with Roseanne, Lauren and Jess at one of Lauren's many bridal showers. I liked this picture of Little D and Roseanne - they have always had a special connection - hmmm - maybe because they are both super intelligent, talented and maybe a tiny bit twisted? :-) Oh yeah!