here comes another bride ....

I have posted about this wonderful young woman on my blog before. She is the youngest daughter of Dwight's niece Pam. She is the one I went and stayed with for a week for several years while her parents were out of the country. They live on Outer Banks and she got married this past weekend.

This is a picture of a few of the family waiting for the wedding party to arrive. Page and I found a spot behind this area under a tree. There was a nice breeze off the water and the day could not have been prettier if they had special ordered it. I have SO many wonderful pictures I'm just going to put up as many as I can without overloading everyone.

Oldest sister of Bride and Maid of Honor - Erin.

Middle sister, matron of honor and new Mom Randi.

Leif and Marcy walking toward the groom. Leif did so well.

Dad giving his baby girl to her new husband. Sniff...

Almost all of the wedding party plus the musicians. Couldn't get the flower girls in this one.

I believe this is the Best Man if I'm not mistaken. Such a sweet dog and loves Jay to death.

Promises to each other to be kept for the rest of their lives together forever.

Introduced as Mr. and Mrs. to family and friends for the very first time.

Husband and wife stopping on the way out for their first professional pictures as husband and wife.

LOVE HER HAIR. So wish I could figure out how to do this so I could fix Page's hair like this.

Beautiful flower girls with the bride and groom. I really like the flower girl dresses. 

One more of the cute little flower girls.

Dwight and Douglas found a place in the shade across the yard from us.  Yeah - Dwight dressed up - he wore one of his Hawaiian shirts instead of his usual polo shirt. Ya gotta love him.

Page and I found a nice place under a tree to watch the wedding from. This is the dress Kelly bought me from Belk's to wear to this wedding the last time we were at the beach. It was a little long so Deborah cut it off and I like the length it is now.  I love linen even though it inevitably wrinkles but it is definitely a Southern girls summer fabric of choice.  As a matter of fact, I like it so much, I ordered another linen dress from jjill.  

Deborah Gail took it home to take it up a little under the arms.  It doesn't button down the front but looks similar with the pleats. I also just ordered a pair of white linen cropped pants from jjill - they

are having a sale but I really need to stay away from that place. I also ordered some unique jewelry. 

Yikes! Me thinks I may be out of control here.  I also just ordered two custom made silver heart charm bracelets for me and Page from Jeanne.   I had to send her the measurements of our wrists. Yep - it is official, I need to stop looking at jjill and other cool sites on-line.  Sorry I got side-tracked - back to the wedding - Reception that is.  We went back to the motel to rest a little bit before heading back out to the Reception. It was held in the same place that Randi's was and they had the same great band!

 The decorations were a little different from Randi's but were still very unique and special.

One of the centerpieces. The tables all had different types of centerpieces with some of them having huge baskets full of flowers that had been at the site of the wedding too.

This centerpiece is full of fun things for the children to do.  All the guests had welcome bags in our rooms and our children had special ones with fun things to do at the Reception including glow sticks.

Another beautiful centerpiece.

A lot of family in the house and they are all so much fun. I wish I could share all of the pictures but there just isn't enough room - or time.

We all brought home crab hammers. In case you don't know, Jay harvests Blue Crabs for a living.

Love this picture of Lolo and Marcy. You can tell Lolo is so excited to be this close to the Bride!

Marcy made it around to everyone I think.  She made a point of coming over to my chair to speak. She had this smile on her face ALL day and into the night. I LOVE seeing her so happy.

Love this picture of Grady and Kristi. It was so good to see him doing well.  He has been having some serious health issues but seems to be maintaining.

Love this picture of Dave and Marie dancing. You can't really see me but that is my gray head between them and I'm dancing with Deborah and Wanda to "Under the Boardwalk". I couldn't stand it. Finally kicked off my shoes, got up out of my chair and headed out to Deborah. We sang the song at the top of our lungs and danced our hearts out. Of course, I then went back to my chair and proceeded to throw up but it was well worth it ding dang it!!!

It was only after Jessie was going to bring me and Dwight back to the motel that I realized I had on two different shoes. I had put them both on to ask Douglas which pair looked best. I was going to wear just the black ones - mostly because they fit better - but I guess I forgot to take the other one off! Give me a break - I'm on drugs!!!! I gave the silver pair to Jessie since they were a little big on me. I have a lot of these pictures because I snatched them from Stephanie's Facebook page.   I have tons more of family that are great but I'm sure you are all pretty bored by now.  Too bad......

 Had to share this one of GG, Page and Ava.

 Page in this gorgeous sundress.  That is the zero-gravity "beach chair" that Jessica picked up for me since we forgot to pack mine.  It is quite lightweight but was only $40.00 so I am happy with it.

And the sun goes down on another day in Paradise........

rain, rain, go away.....

My goodness, it has pretty much rained most of the day. Around 6:30 it started clearing up a little. The weatherman just said to not get too excited because it will more than likely rain all day tomorrow also. Right now it looks pretty good out there so I'll take what I can get. The good news is I walked earlier this morning I am feeling pretty was happy about that.

After attempting to add a picture of Margie several times, I finally gave up. At least I can share the one of Bob. He sent me a getting caught up email with pictures of both of them. They were caught on the bridges going over to the Keys in Florida during the tropical storm today but now are where they were headed and safe. I am sad the picture of Margie will not upload - it is a really good one of her. I'll try again later.

I added this picture of a quilt so Marie will be able to see it when she reads my blog. This is a good example of the quilt she will be making soon I think. No pretty there Marie. lol

I have been wanting to add this wonderful picture of Matt with his precious grandmother. This is a very good picture of both of them and shows just how beautiful Geri really was. I still miss and think of her so often.

Jessica sent me this picture of Page wearing the new dress she bought her. She said she is thinking about letting her wear this to the wedding we are all going to at the coast. I think it is very pretty and love the color.

I will end today's post with this picture because I LOVE IT!!!! We all enjoy the coast any time of the year and sunsets are a big part of that. Is there anything prettier than the sun setting over water?  

beautiful day, nice walk outside, lazy relaxing day......

As busy as it was yesterday, today has been very calm, laid back and relaxing. I got outside before it got too hot for a nice walk.

The first thing I noticed was this small plant coming up where one of the three original azaleas had been planted. I have to wonder if it is an off-shoot of one of them. I'm hoping that if I leave it alone, maybe it will thrive.

The second thing I noticed was my little Magnolia tree has produced a big flower!!! I was surprised and pleased. I had wondered if it would ever have any flowers so I'm pretty happy to see that it will. I'm not sure how big the tree will get since it is very close to another tree but I'm going to watch and hope it will do well.

The next thing I noticed was this tiny little tree trying to grow beside the back steps. What is it about this soil? Most things will not grow in it at all but it appears trees of all kinds love it. Go figure.

 

I have to share a picture of Biscuit in the bathrobe we gave her. Page outgrew it and we always pass them down to her. She loves Cinderella so I think she is pretty happy here - sweet girl.

And how can I NOT share a picture of sweet Piglet with his new baby sister. He has done so well since she has been born. His Mommy is very happy about that.

I have to share this picture because of how this little girl is holding her mouth. Dwight's nieces, Deborah and Pam, both do their mouths like this and it cracks us up. Every time I look at this picture, it makes me smile.

I'm sharing this picture of some old friends from Cary so that Kelly and Douglas can see them. I haven't seen them in several years but ran across this picture on Facebook. They both look great.

 This last picture speaks for itself and yes - I love it. I think if we were honest, we have all had times  when we felt this would have been very appropriate but I'm not going to share who I'm thinking about. Nope - not going to say - "mum's the word". 
To close, I have to say I feel much better today and part of the reason is I have taken my medication the way my pain management doctor suggested.  It is still rough going for 8 hours but I think my body will get used to that.  Once it starts feeling comfortable, maybe then I can think about reducing the amount again but this time, I will do it much slower than I tried to do this last time.  If it turns out that I absolutely have to have help to cope with the pain, I will deal with that when the time comes.  I also got a call confirming my appointment to be fitted for a CPAP machine next week.  I am going to try very hard to get used to it because I know eventually, I will feel much better if I do.  My sleep apnea isn't severe but according to the information we saw, it still robs you of the rest you need.  Wow - am I growing up here?  Hope springs eternal...........

Do you ever second-guess yourself?

Dwight and I had a very busy day today. We got up early and headed over to the Cancer Center where I had to have blood work done before I could have the scheduled PET Scan. My first question of the day is, "why in the world they keep it so COLD"? We were so glad we made the appointment for very early because evidently several of the machines broke and people were waiting for hours and then being re-scheduled. We finally got to leave and come home for a short break before going back to meet with my Lymphoma Oncologist and to get the results of the Scan. We had to wait for awhile to see the doctor. Because of the mess with the machines, my doctor spent an hour trying to get the results so we could discuss them. I was pretty whipped by the time she came in. We both like her a lot. I told her that Dr. Hathorn speaks very highly of her and I let her know I was still seeing both of them. She thought that was cool. She said two of the places from before are now gone and there are several new ones and some of the older ones have grown a little but nothing that requires any "action" (which means - treatment). I'm glad Dr. Hathorn had already explained Follicular Lymphoma when I was first diagnosed so that I don't panic over new ones showing up. She did see a little spot on the scan she wanted to check. It is on my back and very, very tiny but she showed it to Dwight and wants him to keep an eye on it. She took her pen and made a tiny little dot on the paper, showed it to me and said, "this is what it looks like". Made me feel good that she knows what she is looking at on the scans. They will schedule me another scan in 6 months so I feel pretty confident she is staying on top of it. When she was going over my medications and I told her I was trying to wean myself off the oxycodone; she asked me why. I told her I want to be off narcotics, blah, blah, blah. She looked at me with a "and how is that working out for you" look. I laughed and told her I had to admit that it has been a lot harder than I had anticipated. She looked at me and said, you really don't look good and it is obvious you are in severe pain right now. Then she had a long talk with me about the fact that my pain is real pain and that it is because I'm a cancer patient. That between the aggressive cancer, aggressive surgery and aggressive radiation, I have serious pain. She explained how the treatments can destroy certain elements that don't ever come back and that can result a chronic pain that may never get better. NOT WHAT I WANTED TO HEAR AT ALL!!! She was very kind to me but very honest. She told me there are millions of cancer patients who have to live on pain medication or they will have no quality of life at all. I told her I had to be honest and that in the past two days, I had started second-guessing myself because of how bad I have felt. That I had hoped to control the pain with bio-feedback but haven't been able to get in front of it. She told me that she wasn't telling me not to get off the medication because she could tell I very strongly want to be free of it. She encouraged me to maybe wean myself off a little slower. Overall, it was a very good visit. Oh, and I told her I was trying to wean myself off the amitriptyline and how I was doing it and she said fine. Guess what? I started burning today so I may be "second-guessing" that decision also. Oh well......I'll think about it tomorrow.... because....after all..........tomorrow is another day!

Money well spent.....

Have you ever said the above? Really felt good about what you had to spend a little more money on than anticipated but glad you did? Well, I feel that way about the yard work we just had done.


I decided to take a few pictures of the results from the work that has been done. An old tree had fallen from the yard beside us behind the big building and someone had laid it across this area. Mac cut the tree up and took it away and we finally have a mowed area to the back of the area. Now if I can just get Phil to keep up the mowing back there when he comes.

I made Mac leave this little Mimosa that is trying to live but he cut down the other few trees that were trying to encroach on the back yard. We will leave that area as "natural" as it wants to be. Out in front of and beside the tiny shed was totally overgrown with poison ivy and he got all of it killed and pulled away.  Wonder how long it  will take to come back. I'm going to call Phil and tell him I want the areas that have been cleared and mowed to continue being mowed. It isn't extra - but what he used to take care of when he came and not one of the guys he has working for him.


Mother and I planted three Azaleas in the front and the one on the side many years ago. Only one has survived in the front and thankfully, Mac got rid of the remains of the other two.  He also pulled up the weird vine that was taking over everything and even running up our little tree.  He didn't know what it was either. He left my little iris plants that seem to keep repeating each year. Watch them die now.  No really, I do NOT have a green thumb at all.  I do plan to put several more Azaleas here this Autumn though.

He did a great job on the tangled mess of vines, poison ivy and honey-suckle plants back in that corner. And then he tackled all the stuff that had been allowed to grow this side of the "ditch" the DOT dug there so many years ago. They even cleaned out the stuff that was growing in the ditch including some little trees.


I'm going to get very upset if it is allowed to grow back because the guy who mows our lawn isn't doing his part. I actually love the messiness of wild areas of nature BUT - and this is a BIG BUT - I don't want snakes making themselves too comfortable near where I walk and live. Hopefully, they will just stick to the areas we have left for them. 


I can't forget the little rose bush that could....I mean really. We have never done anything to encourage this little baby to keep living but she does.

 Bless her heart - she even gives us pretty little roses. Yep, I think I'm going to enjoy my walks much better. Of course, I now have to wait until the ground dries a little more but that shouldn't take too long.
I'm going to post a picture of the yard I took last week before it was mowed.

I enlarged it so you can see the clover and clover flowers. We never had clover in this yard before so I'm guessing the wind and rains we have been having brought them to us. It does bring a painful memory of me stepping on the stupid bees and my foot swelling up three times it's size. That was not fun at all - ouch!  But I am happy to say I love it.  I love walking in it and seeing the bees busily gathering nectar. It also brings back such good childhood memories of sitting in the yard looking for a four leaf clover (never found one), and making a necklace or crown of the little flowers. A time when that was all I had to think about........memories.....

New life, children getting older, a good friend and the right food....

Pam and Leif's daughter had her baby!
  
He is a healthy baby boy and we are looking forward to meeting him this month.

We also have a new baby girl on the scene - Patsy's newest granddaughter. Aren't babies fun?

I wanted my kids to see D & J's oldest granddaughter playing soccer and going to her very first formal.  Kids grow up too fast!!!
 
I love these pictures of Page standing in a place they found called Foamhenge. Yeah - a funny take on Stonehenge. Dwight just talked to Doug who said they have had a great day including fishing, good food and the pictures above.

Geral came up and spent yesterday afternoon through last night with me. When Dwight got back from his fishing trip today, he tried to talk her into staying another night and letting him cook her some of the fish he caught. We were disappointed she wasn't able to but are still happy when she is able to come be with us for a little while.

The last time we saw Vincent, he wasn't looking good at all. He had lost a ton of weight and his little back was all messed up. Jessie found some new cat food that has worked a miracle. He not only feels much better but he looks great!  You would never know he is 16 years old would you?