Being a grown up?

Yes - I'm working on being a grown up or at least not being as whiney as I have been. As you know  I decided not to go to the convention in VA with my kids this weekend. I really appreciate Jessie sharing some of it with me last night. 

I love this picture Jessie took of Page and KK. Notice the chains around their necks. Jessie said Page asked her to buy them another BFF necklace similar to the one they had years ago and it is so cute.

One lives in the mountains of VA and the other lives on the coast of NC. I found out that Briana had Doug, Jessie and Page join them for dinner with an old friend who has been in Bethel for years. I am sure they all had a good time getting caught up. I would love to see any picture that might have been taken of that.

Jessie also sent me this picture of a dragonfly she took. No - it's not real. At least I don't think it is. I  hope there will be more pictures from today. Briana commented on FB about how wonderful Bro. Herd's talks have been. I can't wait to hear the recordings of them. I enjoyed our meeting today. I wasn't feeling well at all but pushed myself and lasted through the entire meeting; associating quite a while afterward.

This beautiful young couple came back and visited with me a long time after the meeting. (I snatched these pictures from FB) I told them how beautiful they both looked (and they did) and they laughed and said their three children spent the weekend with their grandma resulting in them having a nice, relaxed and romantic weekend. It showed. They offered to bring me and my chair home so I took them up on it.

I'm not whining but didn't realize I had forgotten all about trying to get up with this lovely couple. They haven't changed a bit (another FB snatch).  Jen and I had a plan but with everything that has been going on with Ennis - it totally slipped my mind that the Dedication talk was this weekend. When Alice mentioned that it had been nice but extremely crowded, I realized I had totally forgotten. When I told her, she told me she doubted I would have been able to get close to them because of the crowd. I still feel a little sad about it though. I'm not sure when I would have another opportunity to see them and get caught up. Oh well -that is what email is for - right? Guess what? I got my wish! Just as I was going to close out this post I got some more pictures from Jessie!

Now I will not only be able to listen to Brother Herd, I get to look at two pictures of him with my beautiful Page. The picture of him bending over and talking to her reminds me of the one we have of her with Brother Jackson doing the same thing. I love the picture of Douglas and David. I know David was happy to see so many people from home. We are all so proud of him and his wife.

I decided not to put this one in the collage. I love the look on her face and how pretty her hair looks. Her Mom told me last night she was going to use the little curlers to see if it would hold at all. It looks pretty good to me. Ahhh - I feel like I got to "be there" just a little bit. Now I can look forward to my company tomorrow.  I do wish the house was in better shape but hopefully we will be so busy with the twins, no one will notice.

Visitors, gifts and a big surprise...

Sadly I didn't sleep as well last night as I did the night before. Have been a little sleepy off and on throughout the day. Have also felt a little sad today knowing my kids are at the convention and I'm not. That sounds really selfish doesn't it? Oh well - as hard as it is to believe, I am not perfect. :) If I want to have a pity party, I will. Too bad I can't "whine" (drink wine) - Dwight bought some KJ for when the kids get here. Boo Hoo.

Frank and Pauline came by bearing gifts. This sweet little book about cats.

Ever since the CO talked about Miya, she has become pretty popular. Everyone wants to talk about her which is fine with me. I think she is pretty special myself.
I don't know where Pauline bought this but it is obviously hand made. Of course Frank produced the really big gift - a large carton of Ensure. I am kind of excited about this new purchase since it doesn't have as many calories. It
has the protein I need but not as much fat/sugar. Of course Miya went straight to Frank's legs and he noted that behavior is in the first chapter of the book. Then she jumped up behind Pauline and tried to butt her head but Pauline jumped like a rabbit. Frank just died laughing at her. Turns out Pauline doesn't like this "attention" any more than Vera does. We had a very nice visit with them including comparing all our aches and
pains. Tell me it isn't true! Have we finally reached that stage in life when conversations include a comparison of each other's aches and pains? Marlan called on her way to VA. I know she is going to enjoy the convention with some of her babies. She will stay tonight with her youngest daughter. I love this picture that was taken of her when she and her older sister's family were in Hilton Head last week. It was good seeing the pictures of them all relaxing and having fun.
We also talked about the big surprise of the day. Yep - our dahlink Katrina is with child number three! It was a big surprise to her also according to Marlan. As you can tell from her announcement, they are pretty excited
about the new addition to their little family. She is due around the middle of February - a winter baby. Wow - a lot of stuff going on these days. I got to see another picture of the newest addition to our KH. She is getting prettier every day. Her parents and older sister are all over the moon about her. From looking at the other pictures, I do believe she is going to be as tall as her Mom, Dad and older sister. I talked to Chelsee earlier today about Ennis. She reported that Ennis is still improving and we are all hoping her recovery will be speedy and thorough. Thank goodness she has such a loving and supportive family.

I feel bad that I'm not in a position to help them right now.  It has been a pretty good day today. I got into the office and filled the trash bag full of papers that needed to be tossed. I can not believe the amount of paper that comes into the house through the mail.  I was keeping every little thing we got from the insurance company but decided that was crazy since we have a record of most of the money we have spent through our checking account. The saddest part of this is that one bag was just the tip of the iceberg so to speak. I'll close today's post with more good news. Shelly sent me a message telling me since their brother will be in our city Monday before heading back to NY, she and her sister Betsy are coming to Durham and bringing her twins.  They plan to come by here so I can not only see them but these two beauty's. Yea..... so excited! 

Loved being back at the KH...

It has been a pretty good day. I slept ALL NIGHT LONG last night. I guess going without sleep the night before did the trick. Hope I sleep as good tonight.

I took a picture of one of my new outfits Page ordered from jjill. It is a little blurry but you get the idea. We were on the highway when we got a call from my surgeons office telling me he had just been called away on an emergency. They rescheduled me for next Tuesday at 2pm. We pulled off and headed over to Durham Regional to see Ennis. Dwight let me off at the front door (because it was hot, hot, hot) and I went on up. I made a wrong turn and got quite a bit of walking exercise in before I found her room. Tony said she had just
gotten off the phone with her oldest son and talked quite awhile. He said she was improving but they are still waiting for the results of the MRI.  He said they have been told to start looking for a good rehab to help with her total recovery.  I got to spend a little alone time with her when Dwight and Tony were talking in the hallway. I was rubbing her forehead while noticing how smooth her skin is and how thick her beautiful hair is. I asked her if she knew what was happening to her when it happened and she said no.  In a way I'm glad.  We were both happy to see her doing so well.  When I was leaving I told her not to kick her leg too high. She smiled and I asked her if she remembered and she said yes.  Sorry, it is a private joke. I joined the guys in the hallway and took the opportunity to tell Tony about

our plans this coming November.
It will be the first time in years we will not all be at the coast together. Tony suggested we still go for the last of  December which would work for us. When I told Jen, she said with everything that is going on, they can't really make any plans for anything right now. Since we had the CO last week, we had our oral review tonight.  Matt sat with me during the meeting and I got to make several comments. It felt good. There are quite a few new ones in our congregation now that I haven't met yet. I'm sure I will soon. I got to associate a little more tonight and it was nice being with everyone. I picked up some of this months magazines and hope to make some return visits next week.  Matt brought me home and had some of Dwight's latest pasta dish. He said it was delicious - of course. I decided to wear the same top I

wore earlier today with my white linen skirt Patsy had given me. I love both of them and decided to wear my saucy flip flops I bought for a nice summer anniversary party awhile back.  They seemed a little loose on me. As a matter of fact, my nice crock flip flops are a bit loose also.  I lost weight in my feet?  Anyway - I got a lot of complements on my shoes. So right as the meeting started, my beautiful Linda walked by on her way to her seat and handed me  something in a pretty little black and white bag.  I opened it and pulled out this picture!  She had printed and framed it for me after seeing what I wrote about it on my blog. How sweet was that?  Her little boy came back to talk to Matt and we noticed he had poison oak on his face.  Matt told Linda about a powder she can buy, mix it with water, soak thin cloth in it (like a diaper or cheese cloth) and lay it on the rash.  Dwight and I have both used it and it works pretty well.  So all in all, it has been a pretty good day.  It is after 11:30pm and I'm wide awake but not too worried. I just heard a noise and realized Dwight is snoring up a storm. Oh well. I'm getting excited - Lori was telling me they might drive through the night so that means if they do that, they will be on the road in 7 days.  Yea! So that's all folks - have a wonderful night.

Sleep Deprivation...

I am definitely suffering from sleep deprivation in a major way today because I was wide awake all night long. I drifted off around the time Dwight got up at 7:30am, slept for about two hours and have been trying to stay awake all day since I have a medical appointment with my surgeon tomorrow morning . I talked with Tony and he said Ennis is improving slowly which was a relief to hear. I'm sure my busy mind over her condition is part of the reason I didn't sleep. I told Tony we hope to come by tomorrow after my appointment. He also said she has been able to open her eyes some, has said a few words, knows who is in the room and understands what is being said. Jen has been so good about letting me know what is going on. I appreciate that so much.  I have so many wonderful young women in my life - some for many years now. This lovely woman to the

right is one of them. She not only doesn't age but it seems she is more beautiful every year.  I have loved her and her family for many years. We have always known of some similarities in our growing up years. Some good, some not so good but unless you can look back at your childhood through the eyes of an adult, you will always allow those things keep you from reaching a true maturity.  We have to look at the different events of our early life and appreciate the good that can come from some of the most difficult situations; but only if we learn from them. She is very artistic, creative and talented in so many ways. One thing we have in common is our love of the beautiful country sides, villages and cities in Great Britain and Europe including Paris. Marlan and I have always regretted we weren't able to spend some "real" time there. We do treasure what little we did experience in spite of my migraine and her bad  headache. That helped us to slow down and enjoy the things we really wanted to see and experience. I also snatched this lovely picture from her FB post.

I am not sure where she found it but it is exquisite. You can almost feel the breeze softly stroking your skin, feel the warm cup of tea in your hand, and smell the freshness of the green plants as your sleeping cat stretches it paws out against your back with a soft contented sigh.  The simple wooden structure with the gauzy curtain blowing around your shoulders makes you think of clean wooden floors that have faded and been softened with much washing and use over the years. I love the colors in her dress with the flecks of golden color that matches the cat and her cup.  Sigh..... Beautiful.

Wasting time...

I can not tell a lie - I have wasted a lot of this day so far. I almost finished the crossword puzzle, cleaned up a little after Miya, brushed my teeth, took some phone calls, watched a little TV and then I opened my computer and that was all she wrote. I checked my emails, researched the larger condo and sent an email to the kids with a new link to the condo we might get for our trip. After being told it will be Thursday before we will know if we can get the condo, we worked out some alternate plans for the cats.  We watched a little more TV until Dwight finally made the final decision that this is what he wants to do regardless of the cats or the cost. After reading the kid's emails, it appears they feel the same way and it is going to be a go. I think everyone is starting to get a little excited. I'm not going to talk about it until we have the condo nailed down. They will let me know Thursday if the cats will be allowed but I'm going to call them early to let them know we want it with or without the cats. We were hoping to get it for 1/2 a week but the saving isn't enough to pay for even one night.  It is better to go ahead and rent it for the entire week.  Dwight and I will be the only ones who will go down for the entire week.  Our main reason for taking such an expensive trip is so we can all be with GG in her new place. Dwight got to go down for a day and stayed with her daughter who lives there to see for himself how she is doing.  He was relieved to see she is in a nice place and feels she is much safer there than at home alone. It has been hard for our kids because the only time they ever get to see her is when they come to Durham. We wouldn't be able to do this unless we were getting off-season rates and had a good credit card.  Even though it is going to be tres' expensive, she is our oldest matriarch on both sides of our family and we miss her.  Once Kelly told us she was going to see if she could drive up and crash one night with her cousin and drive back home, Dwight and I started talking about trying to do this.  Kelly and I have started remembering our trips down in the winter as a family when the kids were younger and we had a trailer in the same little town down there.  We always enjoyed ourselves there as a family and feel sure we will this time too.

Olio

"Olio - a: miscellaneous mixture; hodgepodge; b: a miscellaneous collection." And you might ask yourself, "where did she pull this word from?". The answer would be crossword puzzles! Rather than talk about the hot weather again...

I decided to let a picture tell the tale so to speak. I do believe this picture says it all.

My niece posted a picture she took from our recent family reunion so I snatched it. This is a really clear picture of Aunt Eunice - and her family. They were the only ones there with my Mom's maiden name and the name of our reunion. Aunt Eunice is 84 and recently had some pretty aggressive surgery and yet - here she is after being in rehab for a long time. I know her family are so happy to have her with them still.  She is the last one of our family of that particular generation.

I love, love, love this picture of my nephew and his beautiful family from their vacation on the Outer Banks. I didn't realize her sister and their close friends went with them so I know they all had a wonderful time. Can't wait to see them in a few weeks. My sister tells a really corny joke about memory but it ain't funny when your memory starts failing you.

My dear friend's daughter put this really old picture up of her Mom and Dad on FB so I snatched it.  Evidently it was "painted" - according to their daughter.  They just celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary yesterday and I was so glad I was reminded of it. I have very seldom forgotten since we worked together for so many years. I went from seeing her at work every day to hardly seeing her at all. Thank goodness for FB and conventions.

Another picture I "snatched" from a friend on FB. I love the idea of putting pretty edible flowers and plant's in ice cubes for summer drinks. Looks pretty doesn't it? I wonder if Jennifer has tried this. If not, maybe we could try it one day. A dear friend is up North visiting her family. I have become her Mom's friend on FB and mentioned that maybe next year I could hitch a ride with her

so I can meet up with her Mom. I think we met years ago but really don't remember for sure. I love her new shorter hair cut. Of course Sherry is gorgeous no matter what she is doing.

So I will end with a picture Patsy sent me this week from the coast. She said it is as long as her finger and twice as big. She put out a lid with water in it and watched it drink. Yeah - Patsy - you don't need any more pets! You liked it's eyes and they freaked me out. So that is it for the first Monday of the seventh month of 2012 and as Walter Cronkite would say at the end of his show - "And that's the way it is".

Last Day of 6th Month of Year 2012

It is 105 degrees outside right now. Dwight went to the mailbox earlier and was dripping

sweat off his face when he came right back inside. Hope these temperatures don't last too long. Marlan came over for a nice visit with us today. She worked 14 hours yesterday! She also had to take a phone call from the office while here. She said they have been slammed lately. I wonder if the heat index has anything to do it? This little boy has the right idea doesn't he? There are tons of pictures on the news links of others trying to cool off including some walking in public fountains. I do think it is harder here because of our high humidity.  I just want people to be safe and not overdo it. I woke very early and took my meds hoping to get back to sleep quickly since I've been having a problem with that lately. Not only did I get back to sleep, I slept until 10AM!

Have felt pretty good. I did my first session of stretching exercises and am proud to say I did very well. I'm supposed to work up to three times a day and feel like I will be able to do that. How do you like the professional diagrams they gave me to work with? LOL I also worked on my neck some more to keep the fluid down. I was going to walk but Dwight and Marlan said it is just too hot.  So tomorrow we will be enter the second half of this year. Thinking positive thoughts.