Where did October go??????

Well that was fast - I blink my eyes and the whole month has passed by.  I have had several people point out to me that I haven't written anything in my blog for awhile.  They made me feel good to think they might even be interested in anything I might have to say...especially since my life has narrowed down quite a bit over the past two years. 

I decided to start with a picture I snatched of Fina's little girl, Harmoni. Don't you just want to squeeze that pretty little face? I love that smile. I can not believe how grown up she looks. I would love to see some recent pictures of her two beautiful boys.



 These two pictures show the pictures of Page I put into the two-sided pendant Jess got me this past summer at the coast.  These were taken a year apart and are both very good pictures of her. I enjoy wearing it and having people ask to see the pictures.

Jeanne brought me the two bracelets I ordered from her.  This is a smaller version of the one I ordered for me and this one is for Page.  I really enjoyed my visit with her today and getting to know her a little better.  I gave her one of my favorite watches that needs a battery to see if she could change the battery.  She said her hubby will be able to change the battery.  I told her if the watch doesn't work after the battery has been changed, I would like for her to replace the watch face with some similar pieces of metal to make it into a bracelet.

I think this was taken at Brandon's latest competition. According to his Mom, he pretty much won every thing he competed in. Her biggest pride in him is how he really doesn't care that much if he wins or not.  He just goes out and gives it his all.  She said he is so relaxed about the whole thing and when he doesn't win, he is the first to congratulate and say good job to the winner. We are all so very proud of this beautiful young man.

  Another picture I snatched from Facebook. This is the lovely couple who took such good care of me and Marlan while we were in the Forest of Dean in England near the border of Wales.  They recently experienced some bad weather along with some flooding in their area but I think things have settled down now - at least I hope they have. We both have such wonderful memories of our time spent with them both there and when they came to the States and we met them in NYC. 

I don't know where I pulled this picture of Mom with two of her grandchildren from. More than likely it was taken at one of the reunions we went to.  That is Melanie on the right but I'm not sure if the other one is Ted or Sid----oh well.  What matters most is just how much I still miss her every day.  Jeanne and I also talked about how much we all still miss Ike and Ennis. 

This is a picture of Mike with Diane, Jazz and Jackie.  It looks like it was taken at a Kingdom Hall.  I love and miss all of them but especially have fond memories of working with Jackie for many years. 

I love this picture of Moni with Pookie.  I know no other animal will ever be able to replace her beloved Dorothy for any of us but thankfully Pookie is starting to do better with people other than Moni and Tom.  She is such a pretty dog but has obviously been abused at some point in her life.  We can only hope that with her getting Moni's full attention now, she will mellow out  even more.

Miya finally started using her "uber" expensive cat hammock.  When she first gets in it, her blue eyes pick up the blues in the flowers on the hammock itself.  She definitely does things "her" way.

So I will end this entry with one of my favorite scenes of the beach.  I am finally so sleepy I can't hold my eyes open.  Guess I need to put my mask and and try to get some rest.  

Almost feels like October but not quite....

Here we are at the end of the first week of October and it is 84 degrees outside.  We have had some "nippy" mornings but so far, our Autumn has been quite mild. Mike brought Zandra up to see a few of her relatives in Wilmington early last weekend and then brought her here to stay with me for a week while he played in a golf tournament in Pinehurst.  Dwight took advantage of having someone here with me and went fishing down at Outer Banks with a few of his friends.  He was happy he was able to stay at one of our favorite places there - Fin & Feather.  They had wonderful weather and seemed to have a great time.  Zandra took very good care of me this past week, got me to all my medical appointments and to my meeting on Thursday night. We also had time to really get caught up with each other.  Of course, her life has been a little more interesting and active than mine these past two years.

 Miya claimed her as her own while she was here.  Thank goodness Zandra loves cats too since Miya was determined to be held by her.  She doesn't take to everyone like this so Zandra should feel special. I asked Zandra to help me start scanning some of the pictures Jessica brought me to scan.  We spent close to an hour scanning and took a break.  I found out a little later that she really didn't want to help me scan pictures while she was here. J I assured her that it was okay.  Dwight came home Friday afternoon and said he had  really good trip. Saturday was a very special evening and one I will never forget.  We had a special meeting in Cary and my neighbors were so kind to provide me transportation since they were going also. I had gotten prior approval to take my chair and who was the first person I saw but my spiritual Mom's son, Rick!!!! We embraced over and over and were so happy to be at this special meeting together.  It turns out he was the coordinator for this site and was responsible for making sure everything went according to plan - which it did. 

He is pretty famous in the world of Financial Planning with his own daily radio show and a best selling book on the subject.  He gave me some wonderful news last night - he is moving his Mom to Cary in three months which is much closer to me also.  She will be in a very nice Assisted Living facility and he will make sure she gets everything she needs.  That means my Dwight will be able to take me over to visit her from time to time and I can't wait.  The meeting last night was so special - we also received a very special gift at the meeting.  We were asked not to discuss it since this meeting is being held in other locations and at different times so we don't want to spoil the surprise for them.

They put my chair beside a wonderful young brother from my congregation and he took very good care of me.  They had told us to prepare for the meeting lasting at least three and a half hours and it did but I didn't care.  I was not going to miss a single minute of it.  Dwight called when we were on our way home and told me to tell Patsy and Alton he was cooking fish with all the "fixings" and there was plenty for them to take some home with them.  Patsy started fixing her plate and ate a whole piece of fish before she could finish getting her plate ready. She loved the fish so I'm sure Dwight will remember her from now own when he wants to share with someone.  I HAD to get undressed and back in my chair as soon as I could.   Douglas just called from the car and said - we can talk about it now!!!! So they just had their special meeting and received their surprise!  They were excited like we all were.  I hope to share the information with Kelly soon.  All I can think to say is  WOW!!!

I was so happy to see that Mike had gotten back home safe and sound from Pinehurst.  I had let him borrow my old GPS to get there and he said it worked perfectly....took him right to the front door. He  said he enjoyed his Golf Tournament and shared a few stories with us.  I was sad to see Zandra leave this morning but I know she is anxious to get home to her Bailey Bug. I just sent her a text message to see if they are home yet but haven't heard back yet. 

I noticed Mike and Zandra were drinking out of these cool cups with the straw built into the lid. It is a very good size and fits in cup holders in the car.  I laid claim to this one and used it for my iced tea.  She said she bought it at a grocery store but we don't have those particular stores in North Carolina.  Yeah - I'm shameless - I pretty much begged her to let me keep this one.  I offered to pay for it so she could replace it but she very sweetly insisted I keep it.  I just got a message back from her saying they are just now getting into Florida. She said it will be about another two hours before they get home.  I know they are going to be tired when they get home since it is such a long trip.  I slept very hard last night.  Woke up to take my meds one time in the middle of the night and then slept until Zandra kissed me good-bye this morning.  It was time for my meds so I took them and went right back to sleep until time for my next meds at 1pm.  The next time I woke up, I got really sick. I feel a little better now. 

I decided to share a few of the pictures I've scanned so far.  This is one that was taken in May or June of 2000 which means it was taken early in Jessica's pregnancy with Page. 

 I love these two of Page helping get the clothes out of the dryer.  Isn't she the cutest little bit you have ever seen?  So hard to believe she is 13 years old now. 

And the last one is of sweet Max.  The love of so many people's lives including ours.  Such a special boy he was.  We all still miss him but not as much as Doug and Jess do I'm sure.