Day One - OBX for wedding.......

BigD and I got on the road around 9am for our trip down East for the wedding. He wanted to eat breakfast about 2 hours from our house but when we got there, we had missed breakfast by 15 minutes. We decided to eat lunch and he was very disappointed in it. I felt bad for him because he had his mouth all ready for a good breakfast and then disliked what he got. Later we stopped in Columbia where they have this wonderful Nature Walk around the water for him to do a little fly fishing. I love to watch this man fly fish - he makes it look so easy. He tried to teach me how one time at the pond behind where Kurt and Leah lived when they first got married. It became apparent very quickly that him teaching me just wasn't going to work. :-) Okay - I wanted to stay married to him so I decided to shelve that little lesson for another time. :-)
Then we drove on to Manteo and down the drive that used to lead to where we shared a trailer with some other friends of BigD's for a year or so. This restaurant has some of the best friend shrimp and clam chowder you have ever tasted and I especially love that it is still here after all these years. There are no trailers down this driveway any longer - it is now full or really nice condos. BigD's niece and her hubby sold their home several weeks ago and have moved into one of them for awhile until they decide what they are going to do next. Then we came over the bridge to a place full of wonderful memories for us. This little motel is on the causeway right over the bridge. The rooms have been remodeled but the outside is still the same. The room is very nice - big and roomy and more importantly, very clean. I love what they have done - the walls are painted one of my favorite shades of green - Sage -and the bedspreads of very brightly colored. I noticed there is now a window that shows the back of the motel and the view was calling my name. I had to take my book out to absorb a little Vitamin D from the bright sun that sparkled off the water that kept moving in different directions as the wind would change directions. Big D had gone to pick up some ice and a few other things but he came out as soon as he got back. Of course if there is salt water - the fishing rod isn't far behind. I can honestly say it was one of the most relaxed I have been in quite awhile. I'm sure the wine didn't hurt but it truly wasn't necessary. Of course, BigD comes down every year with his fishing buddies but we had a good time talking about the old days. Even though the sun was warm, the wind was just cool enough that it was totally comfortable. I could have sat out there all day like that and might have if the sun had not insisted on setting and bringing to a close and very nice day. BigD had talked about eating the seafood of a popular restaurant down the street for days but when he finally got it, he was totally disappointed - again. That is what happens when you are such a good cook - it is hard to like something from a restaurant. I wish I liked seafood as much as he does - sadly, I did love my shrimp. I truly hate that the fish and crab weren't what he was looking forward to. So far he has been disappointed in both meals he had today. Hopefully tomorrow will be better for him in that department...speaking of which, the left-over key lime pie is calling my name so I'll sign off for now.

The next generation continues.....

I decided to just put a few more pictures up of the "next generation" I spoke of in my previous post.

The next generation.....

When our children were younger, we were always doing something with other families including beach trips together. I am on FB so that I can now look at (and snatch) the pictures those children are posting of "their" children. Wow. I used to work with the wife of one of those kids and their little girl is so cute. The latest pictures of her on FB puts a smile on my face. Look at those eyes - is she going to be a heart breaker or what? Her middle name is Jane, the same as mine and her Mom so I'll just call her Mom Hidee on here. Of course her Mom is a beauty herself. I love this picture of Hidee with Baby Jane's older brother taken at the beach. Hidee loves being a Mommy and it shows. The picture here makes me think of Hidee - since she also as a "take charge" personality. Hey - I LOVE a take charge personality - someone has to make sure everything gets done! These two little one have tons of cousins as well as wonderful close friends. When they all get together as a family, it is a very large crowd. Another one of those kids is getting ready to add her own little one to the new generation. I can't believe she is over 6 months here. Can't wait to see pictures of this little one - her Mom has been a beauty since she was born. Know her Mom and Dad must be excited as this will be their first grandchild. And now I'm thinking - these babies will have wonderful memories of their own to look back on when they have children. "Grandmas sit in chairs and reminisce - Boys keep chasing girls to get a kiss - The cars keep going faster all the time - Bums still cry "hey buddy, have you got a dime - The beat goes on, the beat goes on"

A few of the things I love.....

Here are a few of the things I love - nothings special, just things that catch my attention from time to time. Old structures being taken over by nature......I try to imagine









what the structures were used for, how many hands touched the buildings and over how many years. When Roseanne and I toured castles and old structures in England, I would place my hand on the stones and wonder who in the 1500's may have rubbed the same stones. Amazingly, these were taken with my phone today while we were out in the country in service. Not bad.
As mentioned in a previous post, I love dance - all kinds of dance just as I love all kinds of music. When I went to work with the company I helped grow, I was already a member of the ADF and took my children to many performances. As a result, the first piece of art my bosses bought to put in my office was a ballerina done in oil on linen. They eventually gave that painting to me as a gift. It hangs in my bedroom and is the first thing I see when I wake up. I also love Lladro Figurines - my first one was a gift given to me by a dear sister I was close to when she and her family moved here for awhile from NY. It is funny how she knew me such a short period of time but when she moved back to NY, she gave me not only the Lladro; but she gave it to me in the design of the art of dance. Page gave me the Lladro behind the ballerina as a gift later. I only knew that sister closely for a few years but we connected right away and every time I think of her, I think of the words passion, courage, and strength. She had already been treated for breast cancer when I met her and lived cancer free for 8 years before it returned. She fought a fine fight and her daughter wrote me a beautiful letter telling me how strong she was to the end and how much she loved me. I think of her everytime I look at my Lladro Dancer. I also bought a print by Edgar Degas of Seated Dancer when I was in England. I finally had it matted and framed and it is also in my bedroom. I tried to get a picture of it but the glass in the frame reflects too badly. I also bought a dancer in a charity shop in the Forest of Dean. I loved their charity shops - they are like our consignment shops but they each have their own charity - animal protection, cancer, children, etc.. It is with my other Lladro figurines, a doll my boss bought for me in Canada (she is French Canadian) from an artist who makes beautiful dolls, the clown a young brother bought me from a vacation he was on and the little kittens from my Mom's house.

My boss bought me several other of the handmade dolls with the hats but they were broken in a manner I would rather not share here. It hurts too bad to think about. My husband's niece whose middle daughter is getting married next weekend used to invite us to her youngest daughter's dance recitals in the summer. She had a great instructor who took her job seriously and the recitals were beautifully done and very professional. One of the last recitals I went to, she wore a blue (combination of light, aqua and dark blue) body suit that covered everything but her face for a modern piece depicting the waves of the ocean. Her very last move that I watched her rehearse and practice over and over one week when I stayed with her while her parents were on vacation resembled this. I held my breath until she nailed it and then had to "whoop" out her name! It is hard to believe she is in college now. When I saw this piece, I immediately thought of her and how talented she was. Her Mom was here one day and noticed it and commented it reminding her of her daughter doing that move. The little vase beside it was given to me by my Page2 who painted it for me while she was visiting Page. When my children were younger, we discovered Cedar Creek Pottery in the neighboring small community across the Lake from us. We used to go over there on a regular basis to see what new things they had and we were never disappointed. I would love to have the money I spent in that place on gifts and treasures for myself and those I love. One of the last things I purchased there are these lovely blown glass Irises. I bought the pottery vase there also. I just realized I need to make a little trip over there and see what is going on now. If you look closely you will see a small statue of a black and white cat Leah and Kurt bought us from a beach trip. It was to represent our sweet Charli. The little frame in front of the statue has a picture of Charli in it. When BigD would get home, he would walk out to the mailbox and on his way back, Charli would have already walked out to meet him coming back up the driveway and would lay down for BigD to rub her belly. The Rock pictured here was a gift from a close friend on our 25th wedding anniversary. She said the Rock shows the strength of our marriage in spite of all the dark marks, rough spots, cracks and crevices in it. I can't believe we will have been married 45 years this December. The time just flew by - especially after the children were born. This entry is just getting way too long. I've got to get to bed so I can be out a full day tomorrow. I will post one more picture of another of my favorite things - Roses. My Dad loved Roses - especially red ones. I bought these at Wellspring when I picked up the Key Lime Pie, Chicken Salad and Smoke Mozzarella and Spinach Pasta. Look closer and you will see the cute card Eileen sent me from the beach last week. She is so thoughtful. I'm looking forward to our little vacation coming up next month. Gerl, Yvonne and I are going down for most of the week with Yvonne (and maybe Gerl) coming back Wednesday morning but I'll stay down until at least Thursday. This will be Yvonne's only vacation before her knee replacement surgery in July so I'm hoping the weather will be good. ~

A full up to the top kind of day........

Wow - my Saturday was pretty busy. First I had my study and got the cutest picture of her youngest baby boy. He was in such a sweet mood - playing by himself while singing. I love it when little ones can entertain themselves like that. He was also cute while flirting - smiling and coming close then backing up. Look at that smile - makes you want to squeeze his little cheeks. His brother wasn't in the mood to have his picture made at all. :-( Then I went to Roseanne's for the bridal shower. It was a floating shower so I didn't see everyone but did get a sweet picture of the happy couple. I didn't stay long enough to see them open their gifts but her Mom said she liked what I gave them. It was a carafe and two lovely glasses that had silver intertwined around them with pale yellow stones placed throughout the silver. I purchased it at the Farmer's Market from a local artist. I've bought other things from her but this caught my eye right away and I thought of them. Hope they enjoy it. I was happy to run into a lot of friends I haven't seen in awhile. It was also nice to see Roseanne's two daughter's and newest granddaughter. Judy and I left the shower and met Arlene at her house for our next adventure. It had been a long time since I had seen Arlene so I enjoyed getting caught up with her. She had been in Australia with her Mom for 5 weeks and we enjoyed hearing about her visit. After we put the address of the Winery into the GPS, we got underway. Judy had me stop because she felt the GPS was taking us the wrong way but after we talked about it, we decided to go with the GPS - thankfully. It was a beautiful ride and the GPS took us right to the front door of the winery. I'm not a big fan of NC wines but they did have a Chardonnay that was quite nice. We had time to look around while waiting for the group that canoed and kayaked down the Haw River. We crossed the Haw River on our way up and it was beautiful - very high and extremely calm. When they arrived they were all very excited and invigorated by the exercise and the beautiful river. The buffet was nice and the service was excellent. It was nice to catch up with Sandy and Elda. Of course I took tons of pictures but will only put the group picture we took (sorry but several of the families had already left) and one of me with their craggy guide who was very camera shy. You can tell by the death grip I have on his arm! No really, he kept saying he would be recognized because his face was down at the Post Office as one of the 10 Most Wanted. After we left, I was thinking - wow - wouldn't that be something if he was telling the truth? NOT! Then as I left from dropping Judy and Arlene off, I called my niece to tell her I wanted to come hear her sing her last gig with the band on 9th Street and she said in a croaky, hoarse voice - sorry honey, that was last night! I'm like - What? I thought it was tonight and she said "nope - it was last night". Okay Senior Citizen moment two in the last week - that's getting old. Oh man - after I told her I was sorry I missed it, I asked her if she was so hoarse because she sang her heart out knowing it was her last performance and she said, "Yeah - I just got to where I can talk at all but it was good." She said there was a good turnout and she felt like it was one of her best performances. When she told me about quitting the band, she said the saddest thing about it was that since she made her decision, the band had been getting tons of calls for gigs. She went on to say she knew it was time and she was happy with her decision. I'm just glad I have a CD of her wonderful talent. Mama and Daddy were always proud of us and my sisters are very smart and talented; but they would also be proud to see how smart and talented their grandchildren are. Not that I'm prejudiced........

4th Month, 16th Thursday of 2010....

Wow - we have already passed the 1st quarter of the year! When did that happen? April has been an interesting month so far. I can't say that all of the first two weeks were always happy times. Of course I totally enjoyed having Page2 with me for the whole week even though her high fever robbed us of some things we had both been looking forward to - I was with her and that was enough for me. And then to have my other children come later in the week was wonderful. We had a good meeting tonight and a dear brother almost made me cry. He was talking to me and he said "hold on a minute, I want to show you something. You sent me something a long time ago and I carry it with me all the time and every so often I open it and look at it and it makes me smile". I could not imagine what it was. He dug around in his bag, brought out a bunch of envelopes and went through them until he found one I had sent him. It was a letter I had mailed him from Atlanta when I was down visiting with Page for a week or more back in 2005! I used to insert pictures I had taken into my letters to let people know what I was doing and I had put one of Page at the end of my letter to him and his wife. He told me it made him smile every time he looked at that picture because he has always thought so much of her and loves her smile and how beautiful she is to him both inside and out. I need to find a better picture of her - we were both hot and tired this day at the Botanical Gardens. Now I remember - it was my first year of pioneering and I spent two weeks with her. I totally enjoyed my time not only with my baby girl, but with the local congregation. It was also the first time I met Page's friend at work. This brother is the same way about my son Kurt. Any time Kurt visits, he always tells me later how much he loves him and how he makes him laugh and feel good and that he is a fine young man. I remember right after Page moved to Atlanta he came over to me at one of the meetings and handed me something and whispered in my ear - "I found this in some pictures and have had it in my bag forever to give you but keep forgetting to give it to you". It was a picture of Page at her graduation in her cap and gown. His youngest son graduated with her and he took pictures of her that day too.I felt like saying, "talk amongst yourselves, I'm verklempt. Of course I had to go to the bathroom for a few minutes because I got a little choked up. He apologized later because he said he didn't think about the fact that she had just moved. Such a sweet brother. He was injured in a horrific accident some years back and it is a miracle he survived. He lives with pain every day but works tirelessly to take care of his family and his friends. He always tries to greet everyone and works to encourage people no matter how bad he feels. I used to love to watch him and his wife dance at gatherings. They could dance up a storm but he has a steel rod in one leg now so she has to be satisfied doing the "electric slide" when she feels up to it. Good friends, good memories.

When is it okay to be a tattletale?

Definition: a tattletale is someone who betrays secrets or “tells on” others. Okay - I'm a tattletale which in some people's eyes is just one notch above a "rat fink". However, there comes a time in our lives when we are required to be a tattletale if we want to be able to call ourselves responsible, caring and loving friends. That time is when it is to protect someone. I had to "run and tattle" to a dear friend about something I became aware one of her children is getting involved in. She was so appreciative and is going to handle it gently w/o "giving me up" if possible! I told her to do what she has to do because I love her children and would have gone to this one myself if it wasn't that they are so young. So I guess I fit into the "tells on" part of tattletale rather than betraying. I know of so many parents who have lost their children to the dangers of our society who probably wish every day someone had tattled to them about what they saw happening to their beloved children before it was too late to reach them. We have to protect our precious children fiercely.

Road trip and old friends - if only for a little while.....

Took it easy all day yesterday so I would be up to our little adventure today. This picture reminds me of one Big D took of me, Roseanne and Mama when we all had our great adventure in Charleston, SC! What a fun trip that was! Roseanne and I drove down to Fayetteville to hear two Special talks and meet up with some dear old friends who were visiting from Washington State. We were amazed by how quickly we arrived at our destination - been quite a few years since we have been there and boy - it was much faster with the new highways than it used to be when we had to come home on Sunday nights on a two lane highway with crazy, impatient drivers. We had a little trouble locating our destination but thankfully we had a phone number and someone "talked" us to the front door. My dear old friend was called to mind again as the years fell away and it was as if we had not been apart for so many years. They both looked great and we were all excited to be together if only for a little while. They really haven't changed that much and the years have been good to both of them. After the tight hugging, Roseanne and I slipped away - I whispered to Marj that we didn't want to interfere with the friends who had brought them down and we would get together after the meetings. Of course the Special Talk was wonderful as it always is. Then Bob got up to give his closing talk and he had something he wanted to say before he started the talk that brought tears to a lot of eyes. He spoke of how long they have both been in the full-time service together and how they made many sacrifices and basically took a vow of poverty. But with all of that, he said the only thing they both worried about over the years of so many privileges in full-time service was their families. He joked that his mother-in-law always managed to visit them no matter where their assignments were and we all laughed because many of us got to meet and get to know that special little woman through the years. Then he said they had talked about it and how as he looked out at all of us, including the two friends from Durham and the ones who drove from Mt. Olive - we were their family and how they wanted to thank all of us for being their family. Oh yeah - very misty eyes. Something else we learned is this brother is Bob's distant cousin on his Mom's side. It turns out Bob's mother's family was from Dunn, NC. We teased him about being "Southern" after which he had to tell us he was raised in Maryland. I didn't want to burst his bubble by telling him Maryland is South of the Mason-Dixon Line even though I find that hard to believe myself. They love Washington and invited me and Roseanne to come up to which we replied that we might just have to do that. Hmmm - I feel a nice BIG trip coming up. Thanks for inviting us down to see you if only for a little while.........

Doctors, X-Rays, Drugs, Dogs, Cats.....

Here is my beauty. She is such a pretty girl and much sweeter now that Leah and Kurt clipped her needle sharp nails for me. I think this is the first time I've been able to get a clear (without the red-eye) look at those pretty blue eyes since she was tiny. Okay - I spoke with two of my friends as I was on the way to the doctor this afternoon and by the time I got there, I was a little worked up over how angry I have become at my body, the reaction to the BP med, the reaction to the Flonase and the whole mess with the never-ending cough. I've been on the new BP med since Monday so my BP was quite low but Pam said my pulse was racing. I told her it was because I got angry on my way over and she wanted to know why and I said - "no, it will just make me angry again". She insisted so I told her. We both had a laugh but I told he she might need to bring Toby before the doctor came in so my pulse would slow down. I think she must have warned the doctor because sure enough, in came Toby with the doctor right behind him. I could feel my pulse slowing down - SUCH a sweet dog. The doctor heard a little rattle in the left lobe of my lung and didn't like how long the cough has lasted. We were also trying to determine how much the first BP medicine had to do with it being an on-going cough. He mentioned to me how excited he was that the BP medicine he gave me (which is the one he takes also) was now available in generic form. That is why he originally put me on the other one - because it was cheaper. Win-Win. I had to go have an X-Ray and go back to the doctor's office for drugs. He gave me a pretty strong antibiotic that I have to take 4 times a day. I hope what "might" cure me will hopefully not kill me. He said I have Bronchitis (had it last August) and the med he gave me should take care of all of it. I called Eileen after I left the grocery store to tell her I was planning on being at the meeting tonight. Depending on how I do tonight, I also want to get out tomorrow. Will have to see how that goes. Had a senior moment while at the doctor's office and shared it with my girls - we all had a good laugh. Anyway, I put the roast on and have to go back and get the medication so I can get two doses in tonight. Sooner I get it in my system, hopefully the sooner I'll feel better. Sadly, my Poppies aren't lasting very long. They are so delicate to start with but I have truly enjoyed them
while they have lasted. I noticed Big D had not eaten his Daisy Cake cupcake when I was putting the groceries away. I hope it is still good. He didn't remember us telling him it was in there for him. Hope Kurt doesn't read this or he will be sorry he didn't eat it! :-) I can not believe how going to the doctor's offices, picking up a few groceries and dropping my prescription off has worn me out. Man, this getting old really sucks. My tulips still look good. I also really love tulips but like most of the flowers I love most, they also don't last too long AND they are expensive to purchase. What does that mean? I know - plant my own? Forget it! For one thing we have tried to plant many things around here and most never make it. Also - I have learned that my talent is appreciating other people's talents - I am NOT a gardener. I dream about being one, I would love to be one but I do not LIKE being one. Maybe it is a hangover from when I was "made" to work in the garden hoeing, weeding, picking and watering. I'm very allergic to insect bites, poison oak and ivy and the leaves on cucumber and squash plants make me break out and itch. NOPE - NOT a gardener. I LOVE to have flowers on my deck but forget to water them half the time. I've said it once and I'll say it again - "I should have been born rich so I could afford a gardener and housekeeper."