" Something Old, Something New "

This is a print I have hanging in my dining room. It is very old. It used to belong to my grandmother, LaVerne. I used to spend the night with her on the weekends when I was a little girl. She had this hanging in her bedroom. I can't remember the name of the artist. I remember looking at this print thinking that I wouldn't want that to happen to me.

Funny thing is that my grandmother never, ever once got upset with me. I don't remember her ever raising her voice to me. She was a very extraordinary woman. I think that I will post about her someday.

This is a photo of my two daughters. Katelin on the left and Virginia on the right. They are my grandmother LaVerne's great-granddaughters. I found this photo on my daughter Ginny's blog. I hope she doesn't mind that I borrowed it. I would title it "Sisters". I know that Ginny misses her great-grandmother LaVerne. I'm sure not as much as I do. But much more then Katie does as Katie doesn't remember anything at all about her. She will have to learn what a special woman that she was.

This is a photo of my mother Anna Mae on the left, my grandmother LaVerne in the middle and my late uncle Bill on the right. Don't you love old photo's?

These are a few of my favorite things!

" It's Only June !"

I'm bored. I'm bored, I'm bored, I'm bored.
No, I'm not bored but it is summer again so Katie is. I hear her declaration of boredom several times each day. It really doesn't help that she was able to go to Raleigh,N.C. with her sister the first week that school was let out. Constant visual and physical stimulation for a week and then, BAM, as Emeril would say, right back to small town life. Culture shock to a degree. And when I said as much, I was told " I don't want to learn a new word! ".
What happened to enjoying the lazy part of summer? I tried to explain that she needs to learn to enjoy not having a schedule and the fine art of relaxation. Katie likes to read, but not now. I suggested starting a journal. Not interested. I offered to teach her how to crochet. She shot me a look as if I had said something totally disgusting. I offered to go for a walk. No response. I know , The Air Force band is going to be playing down the street at the old theater, we could walk there together and check them out. I'll admit this is one I really wanted to do. But didn't want to go alone. Another " You're kidding me right? " look. I almost called my friend, Shelly after that to see if she was game.
O.K. what else can I suggest? Why don't you call one of your friends to come over and hang out or I can take you to a friends house to hang out for awhile? This is what we did at Katie's age. We took turns at each others house's each day and just did the girl talk thing. Laugh a lot. Talk about boys of course. Maybe walk and talk about boys. She wasn't on that suggestion either.
This is becoming a challenge. How about we play a game. Dominoes, clue, rummy, trivial pursuit, monopoly? No response. A little later however she did say that she forgot how to play dominoes. Could she be showing some interest? I suggested that we could play on the front porch so we would have plenty of room to spread the dominoes. There was no response.
She suggested taking the dogs for a ride in the car. I told her I would be willing but not while it was dark out. It was evening by now and I don't care for driving at night.
We have discussed the fact that 14 is sort of an in between age. You're too old for little girl things , yet too young for big girl things. We also live in a town where there really isn't much to do, at least for her age group.
Frank, my son and his wife Amy are going camping Sunday and said that Kate could come along. I guess Frank forgot our camping trip! She seemed receptive to that idea. She would like to babysit over the summer, but we don't know of anyone who may need her services. She babysat last summer for a month and did well with it. It seems that people in today's world use daycare, or really need to know someone personally first. Which I totally understand. I suggested that she call the family that she babysat for last summer to see if they may need her again. No reply.
I have put her to work around here but she still says " It's boring ", Your kidding me right? Housework boring? Bite your tongue child! In response to this I said " Yes it can be boring (although in reality, I love it!) but it's an alternative to sitting and doing nothing!"
By this time I am getting a bit of a sweet tooth. All this discussion of boredom is boring me right into wanting something sweet. Whats that old saying? " Necessity is the mother of invention?" I don't know if this actually pertains to my, our sweet tooth, but it did get my wheels to turning. How about if we cook some sugar? I thought if we caramelized it and poured it over popcorn, well , maybe we would have caramel corn. Want to give it a try? Finally, she was all for trying that. This I should have known would work. My husband has long since learned that when Katie is down, the key to lifting her spirits, if only temporarily, is to break out the sweets. So off to the kitchen we went. I told her what to do, even though I myself had never tried this. She did all of the cooking while I walked the dogs. That part I liked! When the sugar was all caramelized it looked so good that this silly 51 year old woman reached down into the pot with her finger, as my Katie was saying, " No don't it's hot!" Right into the hot caramelized mixture my finger went. So as the sugar mixture hardened on my finger, and I was standing there feeling the fool in pain, Katie says " Mom, your 51 years old, don't you know any better?". As I was reaching for the aloe plant I keep in the kitchen, because you never know when someone might do something stupid, I said " Even 51 year old's do dumb things!". In my defense, it looked to good to resist. Well I know better now. Think before you act, right?
I put the popcorn in the microwave. I would have made real popcorn but I didn't have any. When it was finished , Katie drizzled the melted sugar all over the hot popcorn. All the while Ruby and Roxy are having a fit from the smell of the popcorn! Kate and I went into the living room and sat on the couch together to share our treat. The popcorn mixture did stick together a little as it cooled, but it was sooooo good,we couldn't stop eating it.


One of Ruby's favorite treats is popcorn. I don't give the dogs people food very much. Just some raw vegetables. They love baby carrots! But I do make an exception with popcorn. I always make them wait until we are done before we give them a piece or two. If I didn't make them wait they would not control themselves. Well Ruby wouldn't. Roxy has more manners. Ruby gets a crazed look of anticipation.


Roxy is much more well behaved. Not to worry, they both got a piece!


The popcorn seemed to do the trick in more ways then one. If only temporarily. It seems that I am going to have to get a little more creative with ideas this summer! Maybe keeping it simple is the key. I do believe that I will bring this summer time dilemma to prayer. Any Ideas?

" My Humility "

First I have to give all of my Blogger friends many thank yous for all of your well wishes and prayers. It means so much to me and I want all of you to know how special all of you are. It really makes a difference in how I feel. And I am well aware of the power of prayer. It brings tears to my eyes just knowing that God hears us all!

I had all of my tests done. From what I understand, I won't know the results until sometime next week. The good news is that I do feel better today. The pain is still there but it has calmed down quite a bit. I am still hoping that it was just the aspirin and things will heal.

Whatever the case may be, I have a very strong faith. I have been through so much already in my life and I know that our Lord has not forgotten me but is showing me where my strengths are and how to use them to help others in some way.

Perhaps he is making me stronger so that I may have more patience with 14 year old young women! Or perhaps he is showing me that I can deal with anything including these hard times that our family is going through right now. Whatever the case may be, my faith in him leading me down this path only gives me hope for brighter days ahead.

But this post is about you really. Just knowing that all of you too have been through many of your own hard times is a blessing for me. I don't feel alone at all. And even though miles may separate us all, your prayers and thoughtfulness make me feel as though you are right here with me. That and my faith gives me more strength than I ever could have dreamed possible. And for that I thank you.

" Keeping My Mind Occupied "

O.K. so here's the deal. I haven't been feeling to well for a couple of weeks. It's been an on and off stomach problem, I believe. I supposedly have an ulcer, and have been on a strong medication for it. I also take an ungodly amount of aspirin everyday, 650 mg. a day, yes that's right. Along with other medications to prevent anymore strokes. I don't like to complain and I don't like going to the doctor so I kept ignoring the problem. So now that I've had this constant pain for two days, I finally called my doctor. Starting tomorrow I will have a few tests. They will check the gallbladder, liver and stomach.

I am not worried. I just hate going back to the hospital. I hate it. But I also can't take this pain and just plain feeling like ( Marcy, cover your ears!) crap! In order to get my mind off of my discomfort I thought that I would share one of my daydreams. It is one of my retirement dreams. My husband's retirement. Not to worry this is one of three that I have that he share's with me!

R.V. Retirement

My husband travels the country for a living. And while he has been in nearly every state in the contiguous United states and Canada, he always stresses the fact to me that he see's everything from the inside of the cab of his truck. You can't just whip a 53 foot trailer and cab off onto the side of the road and go exploring. This much I know. So while he gets around quite a bit it is always highways that he see's.

I myself have done much traveling in my life. I traveled across the states several times growing up. And lived in California a few times as a child, as well as Chicago which I still consider to be my home town. I've been south as well, visiting my grandmother in Florida when she was still alive. I have been to Spain as well as a day trip across the Straights of Gibraltar to Morocco. Which was fascinating by the way. Strange but fascinating none the less. My husband and I have been to Cozumel and Grand Cayman together.

Still after all of this traveling Jake and I dream of a day when the children are all moved out, (well child, two down, one to go!) and of coarse they are happy or else I couldn't enjoy this daydream. Oh what the heck let's dream big. We've won the lotto too.
This would be to insure that everyone was taken care of while we are gone! Also we could purchase a super luxurious home on wheels. Perhaps something like this.

Yes this looks quite comfortable. It would have to be very comfortable as we will be old and would most definitely require comfort. Alright that's settled.

There really isn't a whole lot more to go into about this dream other than the all of the places that we dream of seeing together. I guess that's the key word in this dream. Together. We are rarely together. Traveling alone together I know is the heart of this dream. Seeing things together that we've both not seen before.

One of the place's I've never been to. How awesome would this be! You can really see god's hand here I'll bet!

Below we have Times square. Never been there either. The farthest east I've been is Angola, Indiana. I know that Jake really doesn't like the east coast. Try whipping a big rig around the streets on the east coast! However he is aware of how badly I would love to go there. So I think he would make an exception.



Can you picture us in our luxurious recreational vehicle now, waving at New York's finest as we roll on down 42nd street?
Well I could go on and on about all of the places I'd like to see with my husband someday. But alas it would be too time consuming and you'd probably be bored!


So I am going to end this daydream with a beautiful beach photo. Yes I know it's Hawaii. No I don't know how we will drive the luxurious recreational vehicle there. Remember this is just a daydream where anything and everything is possible!

" She's Back ! "

Our Katie has returned ! And she was so worn out ! My husband and I left Saturday afternoon for St. Louis airport to pick her up. I took a photo of the Southern Illinois landscape for Linda from her " Been There Done That " blog, so that she can see how Southern Illinois looks in comparison to Utah! So Linda when you get back from your leisurely cruising around Alaska, keep those beautiful pix of Utah coming, I need them!

This was Katie's first trip ever on an airplane. I thought she would be more excited about it. She seemed more tired of sitting for so long than anything. Two layovers, one in Baltimore and one in Chicago. Her main comment about the flight was " If you ever need to find a ball field, go to Baltimore or Chicago, there are hundreds of them!". Her Daddy and I were very excited to see the plane arrive just a few minutes late. Five minutes and my husband was getting nervous! Ginny and Daniel kept Katie very busy and happy. They made some wonderful memories for her. What a fantastic graduation gift they gave her!






You can see the happy sisters at Raleigh/Durham airport waiting for Katie to board. Ginny was crying when her sister left. They really are close, despite the miles and years that separate them. They talk nearly everyday. I am grateful to Ginny for keeping that bond with her younger sister.


Here is a photo of me for Marcy from her " Blessings Each Day " blog. We are both previous Chicago girls, and I didn't want her to feel that she was the only silly woman in the blog world. This photo confirmed my husbands thoughts about my craziness! In my defense, I was quite excited about picking my Katie up from her trip!




Here is a photo of my handsome hubby, Jake , in what he would call " his natural habitat " behind the wheel. On the way to the airport!








This photo is for Bernie from her " On My Own " blog. My antenna ball that doesn't fit on my antenna ! This is just how my life is most day's! Trying to make it fit! I found it in my glove box and thought of you Bernie, my new comrade in fitness!


This photo is for Mary Ann from her blog " Desperately Seeking Serenity ". I thought of her also as we drove through St. Louis. It just so happens that the day she took her walk with her friend she forgot her camera. So here you go Mary Ann. The Arch!

I took a photo of Katie when she got off the plane. She did not like it so I am not allowed to post it. Yes my Katie is back. Happy one minute, mad the next! I didn't miss the mood swings but I did miss the young woman. And I am glad that she is back.

I have two more photo's to post. These are for Eileen from her blog " Umma's World " I promised her I would post photo's of my owl night light that was my great grandmother, Earlie May's. Eileen has a thing for owls. So here you go Eileen, Whooo, Whooo!!!






Well there you have it. A silly post from a silly woman! And while I realize I left some of my blogger friends out of this post today, not to worry, as the old Led Zeppelin song says, " Your Time Is Gonna Come" !



Check out my daughter Ginny's , " Ginny From The Blog " blog for more vacation photo's!

" Just Us Girls "

Sarah started our recipe for Lemon Balm Shortbread by picking 112 leaves! Yes she counted every single leaf.

This yielded about one and one half cups of chopped leaves. Just in case the situation arises that you may need to know this!

Except for chopping the 112 leaves, which involved a very sharp knife, Sarah did all of the work herself.

Grandma did have to show her how to knead dough, but smart girls catch on quickly!

You may have already guessed the part that she looked forward to the most. Why the rolling pin of coarse!

Her finished product sprinkled with fresh, chopped lemon balm!

Carefully put into the oven.

Silly girl, Sarah, posing with the finished product. Which by the way was very good. Even Sarah's grandpa, who has difficulty eating green things liked it!

Sarah also loves the smell of Lavender. Grandma thought the color was beautiful. What a fun and special evening we had. Campfire with hot dogs, marshmallow's, lots and lots and lots of marshmallow's! Sticky and sweet. Some were burnt but that's o.k. because grandma likes the burnt one's too!

Lots of stories, lots of laughing, lots of love!

" Skipping Thrusday "

I am skipping Thursday. I think I will do Thursday on Saturday. The reason I am skipping Thursday is, well, I was too busy to blog on Thursday for one. My second reason for skipping Thursday is that thanks to Eileen, I finally remembered it's Friday Favorites! And although my Thursday was so full of fun, I feel that remembering something these days for me is worth celebrating!

My favorite thing this week is self explanatory.


Katie's Diploma.
I miss her.