Just Sayin'

Yay...

2009-08-18T19:33:00.002-05:00

I’m so excited that tomorrow I get to see my niece Amy, and her beautiful new daughter Caroline. I haven’t seen them since right after the birth when they first got home (they live in Florence). Check back in the next few days, because I’m sure I’ll have lots of pictures to share :) In the meantime, here is a precious shot of my adorable little great-niece that her mommy sent me the other day:

Been a while…

2009-08-11T19:51:00.003-05:00

... since I posted real thoughts, etc. Yeah, I know – I’m a horrible blogger! In a few months when it gets cold; hunting season starts back; and possibly things slow down for me personally; I’ll find myself with more time to share and write thoughts again. It was hunting season last year when I started my blog after all. I do spend a lot of time on Facebook – but that’s mostly because I can access/update it from my phone (usually while sitting in traffic).

So on this ‘occasion’, here’s a couple things – I recently had “another” birthday (boy they sure do come around quickly now). My sweet family took me to dinner and for ice cream and I really enjoyed it, luckily Isabella was here and got to join us! Thank you Cookie, Kristin, Josh, Ella, Bull and Bella – we missed you Patrick, Beth and Alston! Ella, and her mommy, made me the best birthday card I have ever received – I love it!!

Also, we got to have Bella again this past weekend! Having her 2 weekends in a row is so wonderful!

Oh, and by the way - we knew Bella loved ketchup, and we had discovered she really likes ranch dressing... but this past weekend I think we may have found her true love: honey mustard :)

Happy Anniversary...

2009-08-10T08:02:00.002-05:00

To Josh and Kristin!! I love you both very much :)

Blue Angels at P'Cola Beach 2009...

2009-07-25T09:05:00.002-05:00

You had to know it was coming; after all, we choose the date for our family vacation to Pensacola Beach based on the Blue Angels Air Show!! Kristin asked me during the show this year how long we had been coming to it… I had to think for a minute and gave her a ballpark figure. But I couldn’t really remember the exact number of years, so of course it bugged me and I had to trace back the dates!

I attended my first show on the beach with my sister, Gayle, by accident of just being there that weekend, the summer of 1996. Even though it was raining that day, the Angels had to do their low show, and we had to sit in the rain to watch – I fell in love and have not missed a show on the beach since!! It probably took me at least 5 years to convince Cookie to go with me… ‘just one time’ I kept telling him, ‘I promise you’ll enjoy it’. Needless to say, he MORE than enjoyed it, he too fell in love and the two of us haven’t missed a show on Pensacola Beach in July since :) So, that means I’ve faithfully made the show now for 13 years!! And even though I didn’t think it could get better, having all the kids join us now as a family tradition has literally made it my favorite time of the year!!

I hope you enjoy the slideshow of the “Best of the Best” pilots performing these amazing flight performances. I tried to put it together so you can see some of the maneuvers in action – with some still shots in between! Go Navy :)

Happy Birthday Grandpa Cookie...

2009-07-20T19:48:00.001-05:00

Grandpa Cookie turned 50 yesterday! We had a great time with family celebrating his birthday :) All of us was very sad that Isabella couldn't come to the celebration for a little while and we missed her a lot... But we saved her a piece of cake and a couple candles - we'll do a special little "party" next time she's here :) Here are a few pictures from a fun afternoon! I think G'pa had a really good time with Bull, Josh, Kristin, Ella, Molly, Patrick, Beth, Alston, MawMaw (his mom), and of course - me! We love you Cookie/daddy/grandpa.

Family Pictures at the Beach...

2009-07-18T09:57:00.004-05:00

Whew, what a job! But finally I've put together a few of (I think) my favorites from our family photo shoot at the beach. These were taken with both mine and Kristin's cameras - some by us and some by Beth... it really is more stressful to get these beautiful shots than the end results of the pictures would have you think, lol. Enjoy! As before, you can click on any photo during the slideshow and it will take you to the album where you can enlarge any picture :)

Beach Snapshots...

2009-07-15T22:15:00.016-05:00

I finally picked out some pictures to put a little album together of snapshots from the beach. This was not easy!! We took so many pictures and all of them are adorable, so besides having a ton to go through, it was very hard to choose which ones to share. *you can click on any picture to take you to the album to see full view*

My next task (which will be much, much harder) is going through the family photo shoot. The pictures below will give you an idea of why it is going to be so difficult to pick through those :)

I hope you enjoy the slideshow... we sure had fun in the moment!!

Beach with my kids...

2009-07-09T16:44:00.004-05:00

Since the kids got here, I really haven't had much "quiet" time to myself - so while Bella and Alston is sleeping and Ella is getting a bath, I thought I'd take just a minute to post a few adorable pictures of my oh-so-beautiful family at the beach!! Click here for some cute pictures! You can also visit Kristin's blog to see some really great pictures :)

Just Sayin’…

2009-06-23T13:57:00.004-05:00

Well, I’m at home today feeling rough – sinuses, yuk! So I thought I’d take this opportunity to put on paper (or on ‘screen’ as it is) a couple things. I just don’t seem to have time lately, or maybe it really is lack of things to say, to blog much. This is really strange since I do enjoy it so much :)

Even though this happened a few weeks ago, I want to tell you about the latest “fun” thing with my dogs. Certainly it is true love between those two – always has been. Fancy was a little over a year old and had recently gotten over her surgery of being “fixed” when Kelso came along as a little puppy (you can actually see her scar in this picture; and how little they both are). It was an instant bond! Kelso clung to Fancy like she was his mommy, and Fancy reciprocated thinking he was indeed her baby!! The bond has only grown over the years, and they are inseparable! That is until one fateful day…

Cookie was the last one to leave and unknowingly closed our bedroom door with only Kelso still inside the bedroom (he is very quite and won’t bark to let you know these things like Fancy will). So all day the two were separated in the rooms by the door – and they DID NOT like it, as you can see in these pictures *which is what it looks like now, I didn’t think to take pictures of the mess on day of* (obviously Fancy was the more determined one and Kelso was the more traumatized one)…

Fancy’s attempt to “dig” him out from the living room side of the door

Kelso’s attempt to “dig” himself out from the bedroom side of the door

So, this time two weeks from now I’ll be lying on Pensacola Beach – WooHoo!! I am counting down the days, trust me, I’m more than ready for vacation. It has been a very busy, very stressful year!! Of course the most excited thing about our annual trip to P’cola for the Blue Angels Air Show now is the babies!! I’m absolutely giddy over having the kids and grandkids there (which of course includes Beth, Patrick & Alston). Cookie and I are leaving on Saturday, July 4th, also very exciting because we love the fireworks at the beach; and we will be there until Sunday, July 12th – man, that is music to my ears :) The kids are all coming down on Tuesday and will be there until Sunday; won’t that be fun!! Josh, Kristin, Ella, Bull, Isabella, Patrick, Beth, Alston, all together with G’pa Cookie and Nana at the beach… God is good and I’m so thankful for Him blessing us with this special time! Be sure to check either mine, Kristin, or Beth’s blog for updates while we are there – I’m sure at least one, or all, of us will be posting about our big fun… I hear it even includes a trip to the Gulf Breeze Zoo :)

Well, for any of you that stuck it out for this long post, I’ll end with these few pictures of my beautiful granddaughters :)

Ella brushing her teeth with Nana last time she spent the night

Her beautiful hair – she insisted we use all the clippies she picked out

Just being her beautiful self :)

Isabella showing off her new Alabama swim suit

Bella was tickled about going swimming with her daddy

Eating a hotdog and cheese curls with Nana – and being way too cute for words :)

Introducing...

2009-06-17T22:00:00.005-05:00

…Miss Caroline Sheree Seay, my new great-niece. She is just beautiful and such a sweet baby! I went to Florence Sunday and spent the day with her, her mommy (my niece Amy), her great-grandmother (Nanny), and her grandparents (my sister Myra and her husband Tony). I wish she didn’t live so far away, but I hope to see her again as soon as possible!!

Short & Sweet...

2009-05-30T19:32:00.004-05:00

Wow, I know it has been forever since I've posted anything in here! I have a "wordy" blog I'm thinking through / working on - but until then; I have just a few pictures loaded on my computer that I realized I haven't shared yet. Instead of posting all of them, or trying to decide which ones to post, I just made a little album. So please click HERE and visit the world of Ella and Isabella :)

I hope everyone is enjoying Spring and I'll be back in the world of blogging full-time soon!!

Ground Breaking...

2009-05-20T13:03:00.002-05:00

Aren’t we something? This is ‘almost’ all of the Birmingham gang; the Children’s Hospital Foundation staff that works out of the main office. Only two are missing, they had to be at a Golf Tournament early that morning. Others on staff that are missing are the Outreach Coordinators that work (and live) in various locations across the state.

Of course the picture also includes the hospital CEO, Mike Warren (holding the shovel). It was a great day – the official ground breaking for our new facility; see the rendering of it behind us in the photo? It is going to be an awesome hospital for our precious little patients!!

It really is an incredible feeling to know that the group in this picture is very much a part of being responsible for the reality of this new facility – we successfully ran a $100,000,000 campaign!! YAY us :)

Aarons 499 Talladega Spring 2009…

2009-05-08T16:46:00.004-05:00

Grandbabies…

2009-05-06T18:58:00.005-05:00

What a wonderful weekend with beautiful granddaughters :)

Even Maw-Maw Fields got to spend time with them!!

Ella played catch with her mommy!

Isabella played football with G'pa Cookie!

They both love playing on the slide with Nana!

Isabella got a present all the way from Disney from Ella!

Ella ate all my Reese's cups :)

Isabella was in a very loving mood :)

After telling me many, many, many stories about Disney, Ella became very sleepy!

Auntie K should be very proud... Ella took this picture of G'pa Cookie!

And this one of Kelso; all by herself - very good job Ella!!

Baby shower and Birthday party…

2009-05-03T15:35:00.015-05:00

My niece, Amy, is expecting her first baby in June. Last week was her baby shower and she received some beautiful things for “Caroline Seay”. That name is very special to those of us in my family; it is the name of my sister that was still-born. She would have been the 2nd oldest.

I’m very excited for Amy and Daniel and can’t wait to meet baby Caroline :)

One of the most special gifts Amy received was from her mom. She gave her the baby quilt that our mom made for Amy, as well as a homemade dress with a slip she made her.

She also gave her a vintage ‘dressing gown’ worn by Amy’s dad when he was a baby, as well as a little dress given to my sister by her husband’s grandmother at her baby shower for Amy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yesterday was my great-niece’s birthday party. Chloe turns 3 years old tomorrow, May 4th. Happy Birthday sweet girl!!

She got some really fun presents, including a special surprise bike from her mom and dad.

I got to take Isabella, and she had big, big fun :)

Blog Award...

2009-04-30T20:34:00.008-05:00

Sweet, sweet Ashley gave me this blog award. Thanks baby girl!

Here's the rules as she posted them...

1. When given the award, you list 7 things that you love.

2. Pass the award on to 7 blogs that you love to read!

However; I'm only going to follow rule #1 since most everybody on my blog list has already been tagged with this award already!! You all know I love you anyway :)

1. Jesus, my grandchildren, children, husband, and of course my dogs!!

2. All my family and friends - you all ROCK :)

3. All things Alabama - RTR!!!

4. Dale Jr. and NASCAR... duh :)

5. US Navy Blue Angels - they are the Best of the Best!

6. The beach; especially Pensacola Beach... I'm so ready!

7. Texas Holdem Poker :)

I know that's 7 already, but I have to go ahead and say I love summer; Mtn. Dew; and a good cup of coffee in the morning!! Oh, and Starbucks Latte's; a newborn baby's cry; and the show 24! I also love my job; and I can't leave out my favorite pair of jeans - good grief, this could be a never ending list... :)

More than sad...

2009-04-28T20:40:00.002-05:00

...Absolutely sickening :(

God help us for the story/picture behind this link!!

Missing Ella...

2009-04-27T19:23:00.004-05:00

With Ella and her mommy and daddy at Disney World, I am missing her like crazy and am so glad I got to talk to her for a minute the other day! I realized I had some pictures I haven't shared of her yet. In some of these she has a dirty face... it's pizza :) She went straight from dinner to playing before bathtime that night - big fun :)

Isn't it funny how you miss somebody so much more when they are not home? Even if you wouldn't normally see them during the time they are gone, for some reason you miss them so much more knowing they are away! Anyway... wouldn't you love to know the 'deep' conversation that appears to be going on in the picture to the left :)

Once upon a time (April 17-18)…

2009-04-19T21:18:00.006-05:00

On Friday, Princess Isabella arrived – as always, her visit is a very big deal and each one is long awaited! Everyone at Nana’s house is so excited when Bella comes and we make sure she knows it :) She had her very own Easter basket waiting on her from her daddy, and more Easter presents from Nana and Grandpa Cookie, and from Ella!!

After enjoying all those surprises, and spending some quality time loving and playing with everyone, Nana brought out the cookies and milk. What fun! Isabella got a lot more on her than she ate; as a matter of fact, she ended up with milk and Oreo’s all over her, all over her daddy and Nana, Nana’s couch, Nana’s floor, even Nana’s dogs – but isn’t that just what a 15 month old should do with Oreo’s and milk? Aren’t they supposed to put their entire arm in the glass and get the cookie so mushy it smears on everything?? It was so much fun that Nana laughed so hard she was crying!! Especially at Bella’s daddy, he was quite “disgusted” with the mess – which of course made Nana laugh even more!

Bottom line, daddy gave Isabella a bath and she came out squeaky clean like brand new; Nana washed her clothes and they came out with no stains; she also cleaned all the cookie and milk up from the floor/furniture and even bathed the dogs; no harm, no foul, BIG FUN!! Nana would not have missed that experience for the world, and thinks it was worth every second of cleaning afterwards – I bet she’ll even do it all again :) I also think Bella’s daddy loved every minute of it too; he was laughing pretty hard while fussing and even ate a few bites of those “disgusting” cookies from his daughter. Nana wishes she had a video of it to share and is going to work on that for next time!

Nana also wishes she had video of ‘bath time’ with Isabella and her daddy! But there aren’t even pictures to share. Nana decided not to disturb them during that special time. As a matter of fact, there was several times this visit that Isabella and her daddy spent together undisturbed. Nana and Grandpa Cookie were so excited to see her last time until they soaked up every minute with her. They wanted to do the same this visit, but realize that she needs to spend as much one-on-one time with her daddy as possible. And he loves that time with her so much; he wants to bathe her, to dress her, to feed her, to sleep with her, etc.

Nana loves her two best girls so much! And she is so proud of the daddy’s that her son’s are!! She always knew Josh and Bull were special, but she never knew how much until she saw the love they have for, and the way they take care of, their daughters. Enjoy these pictures, because truly they are a testament of a “Bully” that sings Isty Bitsy Spider in the bathroom with tears in his eyes when he thinks no-one sees…

She loved daddy brushing her hair...

She also loves the slide...

She loves riding on Fancy's back,

and Fancy sits perfectly still for her...

She loved riding on the lawn mower so

much with Grandpa that she wouldn't

look at me for fear I was going to get her...

But most of all - she just loves her daddy...

YAY - Isabella Day...

2009-04-17T07:02:00.013-05:00

Check out the cutie pie that we get to have tonight and tomorrow!! I'm so excited, I can hardly wait! I love having this princess stay at Nana's house :)

Wedding photos...

2009-04-16T19:52:00.001-05:00

I don't want to spoil K's fun; but I do want to post just a few of my favorite photo's that I took on her special day pre-wedding. It was so beautiful and I'm so excited to share - enjoy!! *OK - I confess that I uploaded about 10 pictures but then decided I just couldn't take that away from Kamin if she wants to share them first :) So instead I'm just sharing these... click on them to enlarge!

I think this may be my very favorite

How beautiful

I love this shot of K's bouquet -
note the wedding dresses in the background

I could not resist this shot of the gorgeous
dogwood with the lights

And the beautiful mother of the bride that
made her dream a reality! Great job Gran!!

Tomorrow...

2009-04-11T20:53:00.001-05:00

I must blog!! I have so many pictures to share and stories to tell! What I haven't had very much of lately is time. But guess what the subject will be... two beautiful little girls of course :) Enjoy this sneak peak:

Flying High...

2009-04-08T21:00:00.001-05:00

Flight nurse Mark Rogers from Children's CAREFlight in Birmingham, AL receives a PR flight from the US Navy Blue Angels. Special thanks to Lt. Ben "Baxter" Walborn and crew chief Lt. Austin Andrews. How Awesome...

Touched by an Angel...

2009-04-01T19:12:00.004-05:00

What an exciting day!! I have so much to tell you about, but I took almost 250 pictures today - so it may take me a day or two to get through them all and decide which ones to use in my re-cap of a day I will never forget :)

But as a teaser, I will tell you there was only one plane there today (so only one pilot and his crew chief, who by the way is from Springville, AL). Here are a few pictures I can't wait to share... the pilot, such a sweet young man, signed my Blue Angels t-shirt for me :) And they allowed our Critical Care Transport Team to park the helicopter (well, pull it) close to the jet for pictures after Marks flight with them. The Navy pilot even took a ride in our helicopter with the team and seemed as excited about that as Mark did about his ride with him in the Navy Jet :) So much more to come soon!!

Angels among us…

2009-03-31T23:22:00.004-05:00

I know it is unusual for me to post during the week these days, but I am so excited I am beside myself! Angels are here, in Alabama… Blue Angels that is; and I get to meet them tomorrow!

That’s right, up close and personal, on the tarmac at the Tuscaloosa Airport! I get to go out, meet the pilots, touch the planes, take pictures, etc. I don’t get to fly with them, which would be like the total ultimate fantasy, but a member of the Children’s Hospital Critical Care Transport team does. And since he flies our helicopter transporting very sick children every day, and is also a huge fan – I guess that is fitting… I’m okay with it :)

Believe me; I will have plenty of pictures to share tomorrow! I can’t even sleep I’m so excited – I’m like a kid in a candy store!!! If you are here in Alabama and possibly can, don’t miss their show this weekend in T-Town… it is incredible!! They are after all – The Best of the Best :)

Technology…

2009-03-28T14:44:00.003-05:00

Is it really a good thing? I’m telling ‘ya – with every new “toy” I get, I spend way too much time learning how to play, ahem, I mean use it. And I learn by stumbling across things.

My latest toy is a Blackberry; a.k.a. my new work phone. How funny to use the word ‘phone’ with this contraption – you mean you can actually call people on it?? I haven’t got that far yet, lol. Which reminds me, I should probably set up a voice mail message, yikes!!

I have done many cool things on it so far though, the problem is most of them I don’t know how I did so I can’t do them again :) I’ve master using Facebook on it with the help of Emily at the office; and of course the all important site – NASCAR.com!! Next… Blogger of course!

Now the way I see it, when I start blogging from my cell phone, I’ve officially arrived into the world of technology! Either that or I’ve become the oldest nerd ever; after all… I was cool when I was young :)

~Oh and by the way, somehow I have the same icon on the front twice and don’t know how to get it off – that is making me crazy!! I’ve probably spent about 2 hours today trying to fix that!! Joooossshhhh...

Once upon a time (3-22-09)…

2009-03-23T16:42:00.010-05:00

This is a very special story about the land called Once Upon A Time, and Nana is so excited about sharing it!! Princess Isabella got to spend the day at Nana’s Saturday, and it was so much fun. After picking Isabella up from her mommy they had lunch at McDonalds. Bella loves ketchup, a lot! She ate almost all of her chicken nuggets and french fries. She and Nana laughed so much – when she wanted more ketchup on her tray, she would let Nana know by pointing at it and saying “peese”. By the time they left Micky D’s, Bella had almost as much ketchup on her as she had in her :)

When they arrived at Nana’s house and walked on the porch, Bella wasn’t sure about the dogs she was hearing bark inside. So Nana let her stand on the porch and look at them through the door – she gave Bella a few pointers and in a matter of minutes Bella was laughing at Nana’s dogs!! She was also giving them very stern orders… “hush Kelso”, as well as “no, no Fancy” were staple phrases throughout the rest of the day. Also, in less than an hour she was chasing Kelso trying to give him love, and he let her. Precious!!

Of course pulling out all the toys was a must! Bella’s favorite thing to do was to put the pegs from the Cracker Barrel game into the little glass. Nana was also very impressed with her extraordinary coordination at such a young age – she is very good at putting the pegs in the game correctly (clearly genius) :) She also has a great dance move; she squats down and on ready… set… go… turns around and around. They did that a lot!

It was such a beautiful day, Nana and Bella decided to go outside for a while. Bella still thought it was funny to be on the porch and see the dogs through the door. She is such a dare-devil too, Nana had to watch her very close because she isn’t scared to go right to the edge or to the steps and try them on her on. She is so much like her daddy at that age (bless her mommy’s heart, lol).

They walked out to see the chickens, and she loved them. She just looked at them when only Nana was there, but later when Grandpa Cookie got home she and Nana played outside with him and the chickens. She helped him feed them and she even pet one. She loved it and did not want to go inside with Nana!

Back inside, Nana and Bella and her daddy played and played! And then they had a very special surprise!!

Princess Isabella’s cousin, Princess Ella and her daddy stopped by to visit!!

Nana was so happy to have both of her Princesses at her house together again :)

There were a lot of kisses!

And Ella was so happy to see Isabella that she even shared Bunny with her.

Ella’s daddy, Isabella’s Uncle Josh, always makes them laugh.

And still so many kisses – Bella got lots and lots of kisses Saturday from everyone at Nana’s house.

Including her very own daddy :)

YAY for a great day!! Nana can’t wait to do it again soon :)

as always ~
to be continued…

Catch-up…

2009-03-22T10:16:00.012-05:00

It seems like that is all I’m doing lately, playing catch-up. Whether it is at work, at home or at play – I feel like I am behind in every aspect of my life and the more I try to get caught up the further behind I get.

At any rate – as I’m writing this I realize it should probably be low on the priority list when you consider my house is a wreck, laundry is piled up and don’t even get me started on work stuff. But oh well, I want to blog! I want to sit here, drink my coffee, write my stories and share my pictures… so that is what I am going to do. It’s not like the dirty house or the work is going anywhere, right?? Apparently it has all decided to wait on me anyway :)

I have started an exciting story that I’ll be posting sometime today, but I realized I couldn’t really get ‘caught-up’ in that story. It deserves to be dedicated to just itself; so here are a couple things I’ve been meaning to share…

First of all, have you ever had one of those times where you experienced about a dozen reactions in less than 5 seconds flat? Well I did the other day when I read one of Kristin’s blogs! She apologized to anyone that reads her blog from Google Reader because she had edited her post a few times. Let me start by saying I have seriously never even opened this thing in Google, I have no idea what that is like. So I read that and my face, and thoughts, went from total confusion to total realization – with all the reactions in between – in that short time period. I am so picky about how a post looks that I will edit it 20 times if that’s what it takes to make it “look” the way I want it… I had no idea people who view this in Google Reader was getting every single one of those versions!! I am soooo very sorry! Even as stupid as I felt when the full realization started sinking in, I laughed so hard at myself! But I’m gonna go ahead and tell you, if my post doesn’t look right – I’ll do it again, I just can’t help myself!!

Now on to the fun stuff - here are some really adorable pictures of a very fun day with Ella:

Much to her mother’s dismay, she loves the chickens

Much to Grandpa’s dismay, she is a little too fearless

Ella loves when G’pa lets her pet the chicken

She is Grandpa’s official ‘helper’

She takes her job very serious and *needs no help

*I added that because she caught Grandpa helping her close the gate and gave him quite the lecture about how she can do it herself!! If you are around Ella any at all, you know when she starts shaking her hand at you she means business - G'pa got the hand good that day; Nana loved every minute of it :)

What is more fun for a 2 yr old than Silly Putty from an egg? Or a Nana and G'pa who gets to let her play with it for the very first time :)

Making french fries and hamburgers out of silly putty

No, she didn’t eat it – she was pretending :)

A favor from the Blogging Community, PLEASE…

2009-03-19T17:53:00.003-05:00

Most of you know I work at Children’s Hospital. Each year a patient is chosen to participate in the Champions Across America Program from each state by our largest CMN sponsor - Walmart / Sams Club. This year the 2009 Alabama Champion Child is Kace Lightsey – please take the time to read his story, as well as a little of the history of this program by clicking here.

One of the great things about being chosen as the Champion Child is a trip to represent the state at the Children’s Miracle Network Annual Celebration at Disney World in Orlando. Kace and some members of his family are there this week and he is blogging about his trip. He is so excited and wants so badly to have comments left on his blog – don’t we all love comments!!

In addition to this fantastic trip to Disney World, Kace and the other Champion Children will also travel to Washington, DC to meet members of Congress and the President of the United States. What an exciting time in a child's life!!

Please, take the time to at least leave this precious child a comment; and if you feel led, maybe you could even pass his blog along to your community of readers in the blogging world!! I’d love to have Kace become an “overnight” hit :) It would mean the world to a young man that has had a pretty rough life in 13 short years. Thanks to you all in advance!!

Kristin’s talent was a hit…

2009-03-13T19:55:00.002-05:00

I had the pleasure today of giving my very talented daughter-in-law’s wall hanging’s as a gift to a co-worker at a baby shower. Click here to see the beautiful job she did on them for me!!

Jennifer loved them, and so did everyone else – including one of the other pregnant ladies I work with that Kristin is also doing a set for! A couple of the women helped her carry all her ‘loot’ to her car and they each, separately, came to me afterwards to tell me how she went on and on about how much she loved them and said she already knew exactly where she is going to hang them.

Thank you Kristin :)

Sweetest puppy...

2009-03-13T09:41:00.002-05:00

If you are reading this on Friday, scroll down to the bottom on the page and just try to deny that is the sweetest little face EVER!! I love puppies :)

So, I’ve been thinking…

2009-03-10T20:14:00.002-05:00

Yeah, I’ve said it before – scary, I know :) Anyway, I’ve spent A LOT of time on the road in the past few weeks traveling for work. As a matter of fact I’m in a comfy “Heavenly Bed” at the Hampton Inn-Mobile writing this.

It started February 10th – I spent several nights in Dothan for our local radiothon; two weeks later I was in Montgomery a few nights for our local radothon there. Last week I drove to Huntsville, spent the day training and drove from there to Florence where I spent one night, trained the next day and drove home that night.

This week started by driving to Montgomery Monday morning and training, spent last night there and trained there again today. Afterward I drove here to Mobile where I’ll train someone tomorrow and will then drive to Dothan. I’ll train there on Thursday, spend another night there and then drive to the office in Birmingham on Friday (whenever the hell I wake up) before going home.

So… like I said, I’ve been thinking. I used to want a job that required travel. I really wanted to travel ALL the time because I love visiting new places, meeting new people (or seeing friends), etc.

I still enjoy those things, and maybe it’s because I’m older – but I’ve decided checking in and out of hotels, spending hours on the road, missing my husband, my family, my dogs, my home, living out of a suit case, the list goes on and on – are NOT fun things!

I still want to travel “occasionally” for business, I wouldn’t miss the radiothon’s for anything – but never again will I desire a job that requires it regularly!! Did I mention I’m VERY tired???

Too funny not to share...

2009-03-03T23:05:00.002-06:00

A little boy wanted $100.00 very badly and prayed for weeks, but nothing happened. Then he decided to write God a letter requesting the $100.00.

When the postal authorities received the letter to: God, USA, they decided to send it to the President. The President was so amused that he instructed his secretary to send the little boy a $5.00 bill.

The President thought this would appear to be a lot of money to a little boy. The little boy was delighted with the $5.00 bill and sat down to write a thank-you note to God, which read:

Dear God: Thank you very much for sending the money. However, I noticed that for some reason you sent it through Washington, DC, and those assholes deducted $95.00 in taxes!

Snow dogs...

2009-03-01T08:33:00.005-06:00

As an add-on to my previous post, let me also note; I do not control the weather dear dogs, nor do I have switch to flip it off per your needs...

I got this great shot of Fancy looking at the snow like "what the...”. I wasn't as lucky with Kelso because he stuck his nose out and then literally took off running away from the door to hide under Cookie's feet :-)

It took about 3 or 4 tries before they would finally go out this morning in this strange white stuff - and still I had to basically kick them out when they started doing the "pee-pee" dance in perfect rhythm with each other! *Maybe I'll put them in ballroom dancing*

When they finally did go out, they tended to their 'business' and came right back... in record time I might add! I'm not sure you can tell from this picture, but Kelso didn't like it, didn't want to do it, didn't linger in it, and although relieved - was a little ticked at me that I made him go out in it :-)

To my dear dogs…

2009-02-27T19:26:00.003-06:00

The dishes with the paw prints are yours and contain your food. The other dishes are mine and contain my food. Placing a paw print in the middle of my plate and food does not stake a claim for it becoming your food and dish, nor do I find that aesthetically pleasing in the slightest.

No stairs were designed by NASCAR and are not a racetrack. Racing me up or down the stairs is not the object. Tripping me doesn't help because I fall faster than you can run.

I cannot buy anything bigger than a king sized bed. I am very sorry about this. Do not think I will continue sleeping on two inches of the edge of the bed to ensure your comfort, however. Dogs can actually curl up in a ball when they sleep. It is not necessary to sleep perpendicular to each other, stretched out to the fullest extent possible. I also know that sticking tails straight out and having tongues hanging out on the other end to maximize space is nothing but sarcasm.

For the last time, there is no secret exit from the bathroom! If, by some miracle, I beat you there and manage to get the door shut, it is not necessary to claw, whine, try to turn the knob or get your paw under the edge in an attempt to open the door. I must exit through the same door I entered. Also, I have been using the bathroom for years – canine attendance is not required.

The proper order for kissing is: Kiss me first, then go smell the other dogs butt. I cannot stress this enough.

Finally, in fairness, dear dogs, I have posted the following message on the front door:

~TO ALL NON-PET OWNERS WHO VISIT AND LIKE TO COMPLAIN ABOUT OUR DOGS~

(1)They live here. You don't.
(2)If you don't want their hair on your clothes, stay off the furniture. That's why they call it 'fur'-niture.
(3)I like my dogs a lot better than I like most people.
(4)To you, they are animals. To me, they are sons/daughters who are short-or-tall, hairy, walk on all fours and don't speak clearly.

Remember, dogs are better than kids because they (1) eat less, (2) don't ask for money all the time, (3) are easier to train, (4) normally come when called, (5) never ask to drive the car, (6) don't hang out with drug-using people; (7) don't smoke or drink, (8) don't want to wear your clothes, (9) don't have to buy the latest fashions, (10) don't need a gazillion dollars for college and (11) if they get pregnant, you can sell their children!

A few things I’ve learned living in South…

2009-02-26T20:05:00.002-06:00

~A possum is a flat animal that sleeps in the middle of the road
~There are 5,000 types of snakes and 4,998 of them live in South
~There are 10,000 types of spiders. All 10,000 of them live in South
~If it grows, it'll stick ya. If it crawls, it'll bite cha
~It is not a shopping cart, it's a buggy
~People actually grow and eat okra
~There is no such thing as 'lunch.' There is only dinner and then there is supper
~Iced tea is appropriate for all meals, and you start drinking it when you're two. We do like a little tea with our sugar
~Backwards and forwards means, 'I know everything about you'
~You don't have to wear a watch, because it doesn't matter what time it is. You work until you're done or it's too dark to see
~You don't PUSH buttons, you MASH EM
~You measure distance in minutes
~You switch from heat to A/C in the same day
~The local papers cover national and international news on one page, but require 6 pages for local gossip and high school football
~You think that the first day of deer season is a national holiday
~You find 100 degrees Fahrenheit 'a bit warm'
~You know all four seasons: Almost summer, summer, still summer, and Christmas
~You describe the first cool snap (below 70 degrees) as good chili weather

Prologue…

2009-02-23T21:12:00.007-06:00

In a land called Once Upon a Time, there is a lady called Nana. This lady has told stories of a princess she loves very much named Ella, and will tell many more in the weeks, months and years to come. Nana has another princess in her life named Isabella. She loves her so much, and looks forward to telling many adventurous stories about her too, hopefully very soon! Nana cries a lot because she doesn’t have stories right now to tell about her precious Bella, even Grandpa Cookie cries late at night with Nana sometimes (even though he probably wouldn’t like Nana telling anyone). But both of them just pray and believe that “…all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose”; so they know in their hearts that they will get to tell stories about her soon! Nana thinks that possibly some of the most favorite adventures will be stories of Ella and Isabella together :-) She can’t wait to see her long-time dream of watching these girls grow up together become a reality! She longs for an end to all the sadness but doesn’t doubt it will happen because she knows that God’s Word is true – “…Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning”. She appreciates everyone that continues praying and believing with them :-)

In addition to these two beautiful princesses, there are numerous other children in Nana’s life – each and every one is special and they are all very loved by Nana! And more are on the way, filling the land so full of love that sometime’s Nana feels like her heart is overjoyed and is so thankful for such a wonderful blessing from God!

Two of them are her great-nieces, Braelyn & Chloe. They are cousins and it is so much fun for Nana to see them. Their mommies, who are sisters, were very close to Nana when they were growing up – she was then known as the “favorite Aunt”, which was a title she took very serious! Nana is excited about having another great-niece on the way from her other niece and can’t wait to meet her this summer! I think she will be writing stories very soon about each of these 3 sweet girls :-)

There is a handsome prince in the land named Alston, and to Nana he is such a special little boy. She thinks of him as her own grandson, because after all, his daddy is like a son to Nana and Grandpa Cookie; and now they love his mommy like a daughter too. The very first time Nana held him she fell completely in love with him! Even if Ella or Isabella has a little brother, Alston will always hold the title as the “oldest” boy in the family :-)

Another special girl in the land that has stolen Nana’s heart is Ava Reese. Nana has known her daddy all his life, and has come to love both him and her mommy very much. She is such a beautiful baby girl, just days apart in age from Alston. How fun for them to grow up as best friends just like their daddy’s did!

There are so many more, Nana would be afraid to try naming all of them for fear of leaving someone out accidently. But they are all so loved, just like their parents are – and in this land called Once Upon a Time, Nana is going to write about each and every one of them every time an opportunity presents itself :-)

always ~
to be continued…

Reminiscences…

2009-02-20T20:21:00.008-06:00

Is anyone else like me? Are there particular songs that every time you hear them, you are taken back to another place, another time? There are actually several songs that remind me of things as far back as my childhood all the way to within the past year or so. If I tried to list them all, I’d probably break a record for longest blog ever.

But always, it is those songs that remind me of my teens/early twenties that seem to get to me the most. Maybe it is because that is when I was falling in love with my now husband of almost 32 years. It is when I was a newlywed to that man, my high school sweetheart. It was when I was starting my life. It was when I was having babies and experiencing the joys of being a new mother. It is a time in my life that is so very precious to me.

The song I heard this morning, which of course prompted this, is a song that always takes me to those early days of young love. When Cookie and I were falling in love and realizing it. When we were the type teenagers I would later in life spend many hours on my knees praying my sons would not be.

There is one particular night that this song brings back so vividly in my mind – it is the night that I declared to myself ‘I will spend the rest of my life with this man’. I was only 16 years old, he was only 17 – we were such kids with such dreams! But I knew; he knew… this was forever! Enjoy :-)

Best Valentine’s Day ever…

2009-02-15T15:44:00.004-06:00

When you get a present like this:

From a sweetheart like this:

There is no better way to spend Valentine’s Day, or any other day for that matter :-) I’m just going to give you two highlights of a very fun filled afternoon/evening…

I broke a fingernail the other day pretty low on the nail bed, so I’ve been wearing a band-aid on it until I can get to the salon. Of course Ella noticed the band-aid and insisted on knowing why I had it on and then on “seeing”. Well, you can’t really see the broken nail without me actually pulling it down; she was so funny, looking intensely saying “I can’t see Nana, I can’t see”. When she finally recognized the break, she patted my arm and said “Oh, I’m sorry baby”. Too precious!!

I bought Cookie one of those cards that you record a personal message on before the song starts playing. Ella recorded many different messages on it and almost each one started with “hey”. Every time when she would listen back and hear herself say that initial hey, she’d say back to the card “hey”! Very cute; and quite entertaining for not only her but also for me and Cookie!! Especially when she danced to the song and started learning parts of it to sing along.

I got some pictures of outside time with Grandpa and he got some of beauty shop time with me :-) Enjoy and have a great week!!

Radiothon...

2009-02-12T12:36:00.010-06:00

So, what do you do when sitting at a Mall for 12 hours on February 12th?? Well, besides avoiding Razamataz the Clown - you shop for Valentine's Day of course :-)
Check out the cute things I found!!

For Ella...

For Isabella...

And how funny that the granddaughters get an entire outfit and my wonderful husband gets this: (what can I say, I spent all my money on the girls, lol)...

Down in Dothan...

2009-02-11T19:00:00.003-06:00

Well, here I am back at the Hampton after a very long day at the radiothon. I had fun though, I absolutely love spending time with Angie - she is one my favorite people in the world!!

So, I'll rest my very tired, very aching back now while watching American Idol - and then run some reports to send out for the people in the office for staff meeting tomorrow. I on the other hand, will be spending another 12 hours at the mall doin' the 'thon thing all over again!!

Friday night poker...

2009-02-07T19:52:00.012-06:00

Much fun :-)

Ashley & Beth catching up...

Alston getting mommy love...

Ava Reese with her daddy...

Bull is very serious about his poker...

Patrick is convinced he has my "tales" figured out...

The final table - that short stack by the Mtn. Dew is mine...

Awe…

2009-02-04T18:20:00.003-06:00

First of all let me say that this week has been a bear at work!! Maybe it is a combination of a lot to do on top of me recovering from strep making it seem really bad – but either way, I’m very tired!

I was just doing a quick check after getting home to see who may have posted (a refuge if you will); prior to running some reports for staff meeting tomorrow. What I found was the most adorable puppy at the bottom of my page in the ‘daily puppy’ gadget I have. Take a moment to scroll down and see – it’s so cute… thus the name of this post; awe!!

FYI – I’m working on a short story as I have time that I’ll be posting, sort of a spin-off from my Once Upon a Time posts. Look for it; I hope you’ll enjoy it :-) In the meantime, have a great ‘end of week’ – and don’t forget… 2009 NASCAR season kicks off Saturday night with the Shootout at Daytona, YAY and go 88!!

This was Dale after winning the Shootout last year :-)

Interesting blogging discovery…

2009-01-31T09:53:00.003-06:00

A while back I posted a very frustrating cry for help about posting pictures. You could enlarge some of the pix I posted but not others, and I could not figure out why. It has continued to make me absolutely crazy as I have not been able to figure it out.

I still have not figured out the problem, but I have discovered a solution – at least for me. I have no idea if it is my computer, my page, what… but if I post the pix using either the left or right option you can enlarge them. If I post them using the center option, you can’t. How freaking weird is that? I know that is not true on other people’s pages, so of course it will continue to bug the heck out of me, but at least, for now, I have a “fix” that works.

Happy Birthday…

2009-01-31T04:05:00.008-06:00

Wow, I can not believe today is my sons ..th birthday :-) Isn’t he one of the most handsome men you’ve ever seen? I’m so proud of you Josh!! You are a wonderful son, husband, daddy and most importantly – man of God! I love you very much :-)

It was like looking at Prince Charming…

Such a wonderful daddy…

A special picture for mommy…

More handsome with each passing year…

An absolutely adorable family…

Sweet baby…

2009-01-27T22:54:00.003-06:00

I think most of you have kept up with the progress that baby Harper has been making over the past week or so. I have the link at the bottom of my page and I check on her every morning – so this morning I spent a good bit of my drive to work crying. Not sad tears, but joyful, amazing, thoughtful tears!

Tonight I’m crying once again – no, I don’t know this family, not personally. But I feel like they are old friends! No, I’ve never met them, but I love this baby. And I love seeing her beautiful blue eyes in the photographs posted today!! Our God is an Awesome God!

Once upon a time (part 2)…

2009-01-26T18:15:00.011-06:00

As the sun hid behind the clouds on a rainy Saturday morning, Nana lay in bed watching the beautiful princess Ella as she began that journey from peaceful sleep to wide awake. It was one of the sweetest moments Nana could remember in a long time! Although it was probably close to an hour that she laid there and just adored this child – it seemed like just a couple minutes had passed before Ella’s eyes opened. She looked around quickly before seeing Nana smiling at her, and immediately this adorable little grin started to come across her face as those precious first words of the day were spoken; “hey Nana, where’s Kelso?” :-) And so set the tone for the day…

The two of them, with Kelso and Fancy following, got out of bed and pretty much picked up where they left off the night before! First things first however; the little drawer in the night stand peaked Ella’s interest. When she opened it, much to her delight she found a computer mouse! “What’s this” asked Ella, when Nana told her she said “I can play with it?”, “of course you can”, replied Nana; and they took it into the living room so Ella could use it to work on the story she started the day before on Nana’s computer.

Then it was time for breakfast! They filled up Dora (Ella’s favorite bowl) with donuts and shared them while watching cartoons in the living room. Again they danced, and they laughed at Nana trying to learn – and mostly just winging – the words and steps to various Saturday morning cartoon show songs. Ella is very observant, she knew Nana was ‘winging’ it; and she thought it was “so funny”. They again played with stickers and cards, and even found a few things from Nana’s stash to add to Ella’s collection.

After taking a break to wash their hands and faces, brush their hair and teeth; Ella decided she wanted Cheerio’s. Nana knew it had already been a while since the donuts, and there had been quite enough physical activity to work up an appetite – so Cheerio’s it was! After a few bites of cereal, Ella decided it was time to jump on the bed. The two of them were having so much fun when they heard somebody come in the door. “Is that my moma and daddy?” asked Ella, “I don’t think so”, said Nana; and before they could get up to go see Grandpa Cookie walked in to surprise them. Ella squealed and laughed “it’s Grandpa”, followed immediately with the question, “you’ll take me to see the chickens?”

Well of course he will. And afterwards he played Play-Doh with her. Ella even allowed Grandpa Cookie to use the pink (Nana is still pondering that one). While playing Play-Doh Ella’s daddy called. After Ella talked to him, twice, he told Nana to let Ella take her afternoon nap, then call when she woke up for either him or her mommy to come get her. There was soup for lunch, a lot more playing, and then Nana made a comfy pallet on the couch so Ella could lie down and watch the Hannah Montana concert with Grandpa and Bunny. In a matter of minutes Hannah had lulled Ella right to sleep, Grandpa too :-)

When Ella woke up from her nap, Nana told her it was time to get dressed and call her mommy and daddy. Ella began to cry, “no, I don't want to call my mommy, it’s not time for home!” What else could Nana's tickled and melted heart say but “okay, we don’t have to call right now.” So… after a treat and more yummy soup, they washed their faces good and Nana ‘didn’t help’ as Ella dressed herself in her pretty green outfit. Then, while Ella was reading Nana a story about Fancy Nancy, Grandpa went into the bathroom and called Ella’s daddy – not because Nana and Grandpa wanted Ella to go home, but because they decided they better do what Ella’s mommy and daddy had asked them to do!

I think Ella’s mommy was missing her, because just a few minutes later, as they were playing with Play-Doh, she arrived to get her. And Ella was so excited to see her that she forgot she didn’t want to leave Nana’s house yet, especially after she found out she was going shopping with her mommy!! So Nana and Grandpa gave goodbye suggan’s to sweet Ella and the princess blew kisses to Nana as she was carried away in the loving arms of her sweet mommy – just as a princess should be!!

~~the end :-)

Once upon a time (part 1)…

2009-01-25T14:03:00.014-06:00

A little girl named Ella spent the night at Nana’s house. Ella, a beautiful princess, is always very curious, full of energy, extremely smart, and so much fun! At Nana’s house, when Ella is there, it is all about what makes Ella happy – for that is after all the right of every princess!

The night started with pizza – Ella and Nana decided they didn’t want to eat their crust so they shared it with Fancy and Kelso (Nana’s dogs); making it a pizza party of four. After dinner, it was time to switch from a pizza party to a beauty shop party. Ella enjoys having Nana comb and play with her hair, especially with all of Nana’s hair clips, brushes, combs and head bands. She also enjoys combing Nana’s hair, but even more than that – she enjoyed applying make-up! Oh, Nana was just sooo bea-u-ti-ful after Ella finished putting bronzer, white eye shadow and mocha lipstick on her, over and over and over – because as Ella said, “it’s not enough right here Nana”.

Soon, it was time to play with Play-Doh… and what a fun time that was! Ella and Nana made all kinds of shapes (per request, always Ella with pink and Nana with purple). Nana convinced Ella that even though it was time to put on jamma’s – she did not have to go to bed yet. Again, it is the princess’ right at Nana’s to stay up late!!

Throughout the night, they played, they read, they talked to Grandpa Cookie on the phone, they danced to silly songs, they jumped on the bed, they put stickers on Fancy and Kelso, they laughed (a lot), they talked (a lot). They had treats for having no accidents. And even though Ella corrected Nana when she said ‘God Bless You’ after Ella sneezed – Nana convinced her that we can say that… “that’s a good word Nana?” Ella asked; “yes”, Nana told Ella, “God Bless You is a good word, its okay to tell somebody that.” “Oh”, said Ella; and after a few seconds of intense thought on the subject she continued “but we can’t say Oh My God Bless, that’s a bad word.” Nana decided she was probably quite right and agreed!

After having so much fun, Ella’s beautiful blues eyes began to get heavy. Nana could tell she was getting very sleepy, but knew Ella was not ready to admit it. So, a new game was invented! Nana and Ella decided to invite Bunny to watch cartoons with them in bed. When Nana asked Ella to say her prayers, Ella replied “but I’m not going to sleep now Nana, I’m watching you TV!” Nana saw this as a tiny dilemma – how was she to make sure Ella said her prayers before falling asleep?? An idea came to her, “Ella”, she said, “I haven’t heard you say your prayers in a long time, I don’t think I remember – I just want to remember. Can you help me?” Ella, being such a good princess and always willing to help when asked said, “yes, I help you say you prayers.” And with that, prayers were said, Bible verses were said, and Ella declared that today she was thankful for “Fancy”. (Nana assumed she was talking about the dog that was lying at her feet, but she could have meant Fancy Nancy…) She didn’t ask, because Ella was already drifting off to sleep :-)

~~to be continued

I love…

2009-01-22T22:09:00.005-06:00

**UPDATE**...that when Kelso burps like men do sometimes, Fancy raises her head and gives him a look of disgust like women usually do; then lays her head back down (glaring at him the entire time) so dramatically you can almost see her rolling her eyes just like I do in such situations!!

…that on a clear day, you can already tell the days are getting longer!
…that Ella and her mom and dad had a wonderful time at the beach last weekend!
…the fact that every day I continue to believe today is the day I’ll see and love on the one I miss so much!
…that the temp is supposed to be in the 60’s tomorrow!
…that I have a really great job which I love in a time when so many have recently lost the job they thought was secure until retirement!
…that I can lay in this bed and type on this computer at the same time!
…the boots and leather blazer I wore today!
…that my car is still running even though I paid it off recently!
…that in a couple weeks my ‘travel’ season starts for work again ~~ be sure to support your local CMN Radiothon!
…this TV show I watch every week – The Practice!
And -
…that even when Cookie is out of town and I should have plenty of room in this huge king size bed – these wonderful dogs that I love so much insists they be right under (or on top of) me and I have no room at all :-) Life is good!

Let it ??SNOW??...

2009-01-19T17:36:00.002-06:00

Are you kidding me? On my drive home today from work (which wasn’t bad due to the holiday and the fact that I left a little early); tiny little snow flakes were falling. Well… I’m not really sure you can call them “flakes” – they were more like “specks” – but still, they were white and wet. And few and far in between I might add, lol. But it was consistent all the way from downtown to home!

I watched the weather this morning and there was no mention of even rain, much less snow; however, I just saw it again and they said possibly a few flurries tonight and maybe in the morning. Nothing major – so I don’t think this is anything to even spend my time writing about right now. Unless of course you live here in central Alabama :-) Then even a tiny little snow speck is worthy of a blog post!

Oh, and of course by Friday it is suppose to be in the 60’s :-) Sweet Home Alabama!!

Makes me sad…

2009-01-17T20:08:00.005-06:00

I keep thinking about the president’s farewell speech the other night. There are so many things that make me sad when I think about the time we are in right now. Don’t misunderstand, I am proud of America (I am ALWAYS proud of America AND to be an American) – I am proud of how far this country has come in the battle against civil rights and racism. It doesn’t matter what your political preference, there is no denying the historic moment we are living in!

But that is all the good you will hear me say about what we are currently going through. It is no secret I am a republican (once again I’ll interject the word Proud here); I’ve certainly never been known as one to keep my mouth shut about my “thoughts” on things. However, I honestly think if I didn’t even have a preference I’d still feel this way… the problem now is these feelings run so deep I don’t even know how to begin expressing them. Me – not being able to speak my mind! Yes I realize, unheard of – right? But true.

It hurts my heart that the man I respect so much is looked upon by so many with such… I’ll use the word ‘distain’. This great man that has led our country for 8 years deserves so much better! He is a man of great principles, great values, great morals; a man that refused to compromise any of them for the sake of his reputation and more importantly for the sake of this country and the safety of us – the American people. Sadly this is also the main reason he is criticized so much. Oh, you can paint it with headlines of economy, etc. – all the ‘fancy’ political headlines you want to; but it only fools the ones that want to be fooled. His love for God, country and family is amazing and is one of the main reasons I respect him so much. He said the other night it has been his greatest honor of all to serve as our Commander in Chief. I’d like to say “Thank You Mr. President, for a job well done. I salute you Sir”!!

I’ll pray for the one going into this office, because first of all it is what God says we are to do; and secondly I am just at a loss of what else to do about this man that is being sworn in as the 44th President of the United States of America. I don’t trust him even a little bit – on any level. I don’t like him at all and as much as I’ve tried I can’t find any good principles, values or morals in him. But because in 2 days he will be our President, I do hope I will be proven wrong. But my heart will always remain a little heavy over what I have witnessed (and continue witnessing) in the past few months in this nation I love so very much. I hope eyes are opened sooner rather than later – whether they are mine or others!! And even more than I distrust and dislike Mr. Obama, I distrust and dislike Ted Kennedy. I almost feel sorry for Mr. Obama as a matter of fact because of what Mr. Kennedy has, and will (at least attempt) to do to him.

God Bless America!!! And God especially Bless those, and the families of those, that are on the front lines keeping her safe!!! I keep this on the sidebar of my page, but it is worth repeating… If you are not willing to support America and stand BEHIND our troops, feel free to stand in FRONT of them!

Geared up…

2009-01-16T20:04:00.006-06:00

Obviously I am a member of the JR Nation – duh!! And I’m sooo pumped right now! My 2009 member crew gear is on its way :-) In addition to all this great stuff I get as a member, I went ahead this year and ordered a couple extra car flags. Trust me… I’ll have to get at least one or two more before the season is over (I usually do that at the race in ‘Dega)!

I’ll start flying them as soon as they arrive and they won’t come off my car until the season is over. So just like with my Alabama flags, I have to replace them – they get pretty torn, tattered and dirty :-)

GO 88!!

GO 88!!

A little bit of everything…

2009-01-14T07:05:00.014-06:00

Have you ever been too tired to sleep? I’m sure you have, or if you’re from the South you’ve at least said you were at one time or another. Well… I am there – literally!! Last night was a rough night of mostly tossing and turning. Finally I said forget it and just got up – and now here I am at 5 am blogging (and watching CMT – can I just say I am totally STILL in love with Toby Keith and Alan Jackson! They both just get better with age).

Anyhoo… whoa, has it been a long few days for me!! But I did it! AGAIN. Closed another year out. Children’s Hospital Foundation books for 2008 are in order, balanced, and lookin’ good – now bring on the auditors, I’m ready for them. Well, not really; now I have a huge stack of stuff to file from the past couple weeks, etc. Crap – I WAS feeling better about work, lol. Oh well, job security :-)

So a few things to catch up on!

Happy Belated Birthday to Beth; I’m so sorry I’m late sweetie! Isn’t she beautiful everyone!! That is an older picture, but one of my favorites. Can you believe that is Ella as a tiny baby she is holding? Time sure flies!! And what a precious birthday story; I would tell you that on your page but I can’t leave you a comment :-)

The ONLY time I did not spend working this past weekend (and I am speaking literally), was Saturday morning/early afternoon. Instead, I got up early, went grocery shopping, came home and cooked Josh’s requests for lunch. I made a vow while we were eating and I’m making it again… NEVER again will I cook a meal for my children without making mac & cheese!! I’m so sorry Ella!! Then I spent the afternoon playing until they had to go home. Ella was in a ‘No Camera’ mood – so this is the only picture I was able to sneak in :-)

I’m gonna get a little sentimental here for a minute (indulge me)… When my kids were little, or even after they grew up really, and we’d go to my mom’s and eat; it would make me crazy that she never wanted us to clean up the kitchen. It was ALWAYS “leave it, I’ll get it later” or “I’ll get it tomorrow”. After she got older we refused to leave it, but when she was younger she’d make us. I never understood and I’d argue with her, but that was like arguing with the wind so what was the point! But I so totally get it now!! I can see the smirk on her face as she’s saying “told you so”!! If you are a parent with grown children that has started their own lives, you will also get it… there is such an empty feeling when they leave, isn’t there? It doesn’t matter if you see them every day or once a year. It doesn’t matter how long they stay, it doesn’t matter how long it’s been since they moved out, etc. None of that matters; all you know is when they are there your house feels full, and when they leave there is an empty quiet that always hurts your heart a little. And you know its coming… you know they have to go home, so dishes can wait – you can ‘get them later, or tomorrow’. While they are here, it is PLAY TIME while the grandbabies are still young enough to play. When they get too old to play, then it will be visiting/gossiping time (what can I say, right now I only have grand-daughters) :-)

Okay, so enough of that… did everyone see the 2 night (4 hour) premiere of 24?? Goodness gracious, it was AWESOME!! I was working during the first night on Sunday, but I made sure I put the computer down Monday night – I didn’t want to miss a detail… I have to again say AWESOME!!!! I love, love, love that show – or could you tell??

And what about the premiere of Idol last night? Maybe it is just me; maybe it is the new girl; or maybe it is just because it was the first night of auditions, but it was sort of boring to me. GASP… I know! What can I say – is it possible Idol has run its course?? I did really like the very last guy though – he is almost completely blind and seemed to have a really good voice. But how much can you ever tell in those 3 second auditions, right?? Yes, I’ll keep watching, I can’t help myself; maybe it will get better :-)

Now, I’m going to finish this by saying I am so glad (and very thankful) that I married a country boy. And I’m very proud that I raised 2 country boys. And I really appreciate Alan Jackson reminding me of how great a small thing like that is!! The only video I can find on YouTube is protected (it's still new); but here's the link! Enjoy…

I've been tagged...

2009-01-10T16:28:00.017-06:00

I have been tagged by Beth at Adventures With Alston. The rules are to post the 4th picture from the 4th folder on your computer where you store your pictures*, explain the picture, then tag 4 of your friends to share their pictures, too. Don't forget to let them know they've been tagged by leaving them a comment on their own blog.

*I've got to say I'm a little scared right now about finding out what that picture is going to be!! I have [literally] thousands of pictures on this computer, most stored in no particular order... no telling what that 4th folder of photos is going to be, lol.

Now I'm tagging...

1. Codie at Colorfully black and white

2. Fadil at edgeofuniverse

3. Kamin at Behind K's Lens

4. D.J. at Barrier Island Girl

Whew! Luckily, the last few pictures I've uploaded I haven't named the folders, so they've been added by date - so they were my first ones!! This is actually one of my favorites. It is my great-niece Chloe and it was from our Christmas gathering a few weeks ago for my side of the family. She was hilarious, every time I'd ask to take her picture she'd hit the floor and get in a similar position as that one - for some reason that was her "pose" for the day! Too funny :-)

Finale…

2009-01-08T19:42:00.002-06:00

So, this is it – the last game of the season. The BIG one! The National Championship game. I wish it was Alabama playing for the title, but then of course being the dedicated fan that I am I wish that EVERY year :-)

But man, we came ohhhh so close this year!!

Anyway, it is kind of sad to me… I love football, College football that is. You can have the Pro’s; I used to like watching them play too just because I love the game, but it’s not a game anymore with them. It’s like watching people go out on a Sunday and work at a job – I just don’t care for it!

Oh well, I’m pulling for Florida tonight only because I’m true to the SEC – it’s what we do in this Conference… we support our own! So with that said, “Chomp’em Gators” :-)

Quick update...

2009-01-08T07:54:00.002-06:00

Josh is fine and has been home since Tuesday. Most likely if you read my blog you read Kristin’s and already know that, but I’m just sayin’! I realized I kind of left it hanging the other night :-)

That is all for now… I’m off to work! You know what they say – Another Day; Another Dollar. Have a good one!!

Can’t sleep…

2009-01-06T01:05:00.005-06:00

Josh is in the hospital with a kidney stone. And you know it’s true, no matter how old they are – your child is still your child. When they are hurting you worry… it’s in a mothers DNA!! He will be fine; it is just too large to pass so they are going to have to break it up in the morning.

Anyway, I am on grand-dog duty at Josh and Kristin’s. And I am loving it by the way – I always have a wonderful time with my Beemer!! I can’t take her to my house for a sleep over anymore. Being the oldest, she is not too fond of Fancy and Kelso trying to rule their, I mean her, domain at Nana’s!!

Normally when in this “condition” I’d get up and do something – but Kristin is in the midst of packing away Christmas decorations; and I know my daughter-in-law too well than to attempt disrupting her flow :-)

So… I have done something else I’m very proud of! I actually typed my entire Christmas card list into label format on my computer!! YAY! Of course I’ll have to keep it as an icon on my laptop so I don’t forget that I did it next year, but still – how pumped am I right now?? And, after about a dozen attempts I even got my camera on the right setting to get a close up shot of the icon that you could see!!

OK, I guess I’ll try again to go to sleep now! Oh, and did I mention the satellite went out on the TV right before they announced who got kicked off the new show True Beauty… are ‘ya kidding me??

A few things…

2009-01-04T18:51:00.006-06:00

I’m just sitting here trying to decide – do I love my VERY short hair; do I hate it; am I somewhere in between the two; or am I simply undecided? Today I went from just longer than shoulder length (which was still shorter than normal for me), to the extreme opposite. Seriously – practically above the ears, off the neck, a little longer on top but not much. What have I done?? Oh well, my mom would LOVE it… here’s to you moma!!

Anyway, I have a few pictures that I thought I’d share with you; ironically only one of them was taken with my new camera, lol.

Remember that ‘trip of a lifetime’ my husband went on? This was his prize!!

This is my very cute great-niece Chloe – posing as usual :-)

This is other great-niece Braelyn. How sweet is this picture? Just adorable!!
This is one of my all time favorite pictures of Chloe & Braelyns mom’s (they are sisters). It was taken at Pensacola Beach several years ago on a “girls” trip! Way too much fun that weekend :-)
My favorite driver (Dale Jr.) and my 2nd favorite (Tony Stewart) at Talladega!
My niece Jamie (Braelyn’s mom) sent me this picture the other day and I just love it. Me and both of my sisters! I’m the tallest, lol (that’s funny because I’m only 5’2”).
This is the one I took today to share. I’m sure when someone comes in my house they wonder why I have this vase with pink stones and one pink rose in my kitchen when I have NO pink décor in my home. The vase was my moms, and she loved pink, especially pink roses. I have it in honor of her. The china (plate and saucer) I placed with it for the picture normally stays in my curio cabinet – it was her everyday china and she didn’t have many pieces left. The coffee cup was just an odd piece that she had but it was her favorite cup and the one she drank her coffee out of EVERY day!!

HELP me please...

2009-01-04T08:11:00.004-06:00

Okay blogger experts... please tell me what I'm doing wrong!! When I upload my photo's, it is always with the good intentions of being able to "click to enlarge". Like in the post I added yesterday with all those pictures of the Blue Angels - I so wanted everyone to be able to enlarge them to see the true beauty, all the detail, etc., of each photo!! I mean I went to all that trouble bragging about how cool they were just to have so much lost in that little shot you see, ugghhh!!!

Here is what I know: the size of the photo's themselves on my computer ARE larger (I figured that was a given - but I'm Just Sayin'); I normally use the option of medium size when I upload on here - but I've used all three and it doesn't seem to make a difference; I don't have any kind of protection set on my photo's; it is random - sometimes I upload a photo and you can enlarge it, but I did nothing different!! Heck, sometimes it is in the same post where I did it at the same time even {I totally wish you could me rolling my eyes right now}.

I have been trying to figure this one out on my own for about 2 months now, and it has just got the best of me! I can't take it anymore!!! Somebody, anybody, please tell me what the #@*^ I'm doing wrong!! Thank you, thank you very much :-)

Blue Angels…

2009-01-03T12:27:00.010-06:00

If you know me at all, you know that I am pretty much obsessed with the United States Navy Blue Angels!! I LOVE them!
They are beyond awesome; they are the...

Best of the Best :)

My ultimate dream is to some day fly with them!!

One of the things I also love is to photograph them – I have thousand’s (literally) of shots of their Pensacola Beach shows from over the years. They are actually the reason I originally got my Nikon N55 w/extra large lens as a gift. And… I just found several rolls of film from the 2008 show that I never even had developed. That find is what prompted this post.

Below are some of my favorite shots {that I have loaded on this laptop} from previous years. I can’t help but wonder if my N55 took these amazing photos – what unbelievable treats are in store this year with my new D80!! *please note the color in some of the shots is not poor quality of the photo - the air right around the show fills with the white smoke from the planes :) I'm sure there is probably a way to correct that with my new camera and if so I plan to find out before July!!

Fat Albert always starts the show!!

Perfect formation... look how close they are to each other!!
I love this... they go wayyyyy up high...

Then, in perfect unison - they break apart...

And then - they free fall down in different directions~AWESOME!!

This is one of our favorites... Hovering! It's like they are in slow motion - too cool! The one pointed up is literally on his way up~straight up!

I also love when the 4 come by with their wheels down - it is an amazing sight!!

Another favorite is when they make those hard breaks at record speed - gives you chills :)

I could watch them fly for hours and hours, if you've never seen a show you've missed a treat!!

God Bless the USA, the US Navy, and the US Navy Blue Angels!!

What the…

2009-01-02T20:42:00.002-06:00

Seriously, are you freakin’ kidding me?? I can’t figure it out – is Bama playing that bad or is Utah just that good? So far I’d have to say it’s true, the Tide is sucking it up big time.

But not to take away from Utah either… I’ve said all year it isn’t fair that just because they aren’t in a “big” conference that they don’t get the same respect. The way they are playing tonight, I think it is evident they should be playing for the National Championship. How is it fair that they are undefeated but ranked #7 and playing in the Sugar Bowl yet Oklahoma and Florida both have 1 loss each and are ranked #1 & 2 respectively and playing in the Championship Bowl??

But hey, bottom line – I LOVE MY TIDE!! Win or loose, I will be donning my Alabama gear tomorrow and my flag will be flying on my car proudly :) Hopefully they will get their ‘stuff’ together during halftime and make a great comeback… I never give up faith until the last click of the clock!! But either way, ROLL TIDE ROLL.

Did I mention I have such a headache right now?? Xanax, where’s my xanax…

Complete randomness...

2009-01-01T20:47:00.012-06:00

...partly because I am love, love, loving my new toy. Partly because when I have told you guys before how random my thoughts are; and how crazy my mind is, I just don't think you really believe me - so I thought I'd show you what it's like at home with me for a couple hours. Especially when I'm home alone and bored :-)

First things first - these shots of course were before I was alone! This was earlier today when Beth, Patrick and Alston came over to eat New Year's lunch with us and finally open Christmas presents.

I adore these boots and was so excited to have a little boy to buy them for this year!!

Alston is giving daddy ideas on what to buy with his gift card :-)

Now I ask you, have you seen a more handsome boy than this?? EVER??

NEW YEARS!! Did everybody eat their blackeyed peas today?

TIME FLIES!! How funny is it that when I bought this '09 calendar I thought 'why did I buy it so early?' Now I'm thinking, 'I never did have time to update it!'

FROG LEGS!! I adore how she lays like a frog; since she was a little puppy :-)

A BULLY (NOT)... A SISSY!! I love that this dog with the big, bad reputation is the sweetest animal I have ever had. He wouldn't hurt a fly and hides behind me at strange noises :-)

ROLL TIDE!! I had to get my clothes ready for tomorrow. Alabama plays in the Sugar Bowl 'ya know... RTR!

GROW OLD GRACEFULLY!! Whatever~~Miss Clairol says I don't have to. And I'm very grateful to her for it :-)
ALWAYS WORKING!! So, when I say I'm working at home you may not believe me, especially considering how much I post. But trust me, I really do work ALL the time. It's pretty easy though, I mean check out my set up... Yep, this is my bed!! Wireless mouse. Wireless internet. I can connect to my desktop at work through my laptop. And now that I've shown you my cool "home office" - I'm going to do all that work you see lying there!!

WooHoo…

2009-01-01T19:01:00.012-06:00

I LOVE my new camera!! Isn’t it beautiful :-) As far as knowing anymore about it than I do about my Nikon N55… I know how to charge the battery and insert it. How to put the memory card in and format it. How to look at the pictures after I take them. And how to upload them onto the computer. HA! Do I really need to know more??

I guess the point I’m trying to make is there is such little difference in the two as far as camera’s go; but I’m really excited to be given (once again) the motivation to learn all those little secrets to amateur photography!! And… not only have I been given the gift of motivation, but with the purchase of this camera came free classes – for two!! Anyone want to join me??

I was very lucky that I did not have to replace my lens – both of my current ones that my husband purchased when he purchased the N55 several years ago not only fits the D80; but actually give extra zoom than before!! That is going to be AWESOME when photographing the Blue Angels! I can’t imagine getting closer zoom than this – but man am I ready to try :)

I’m not sure yet what I’m going to do with ole’ faithful here; I do love it so! I can’t imagine getting rid of it; it has given me tons and tons of beautiful shots that I will forever treasure! But at the same time I can’t imagine what I’ll ever use it for again either. Suggestions??

Oh, I almost forgot… I hope everyone has a wonderfully Blessed and Happy New Year!

Final Christmas post…

2008-12-30T21:59:00.004-06:00

I got the CD today of my final Christmas pictures so I thought I would share a few of them. Also, it looks like it might just be the last time I’ll have to wait on having film put on a CD by Wal-Mart. I get to pick up my digital tomorrow. I am wayyy PUMPED!! But wait – how will I take a picture of my new camera for you? OK, so one more CD I guess because there is NO WAY I am not showing off my new Nikon D80 :) My husband rOcKs.

Anyway, back to pictures…

Isabella was totally impressed with her new monkey :)

Ella loved her 'Big Girl' boots - they look a lot like mommy's :)

I think I could have given Isabella one toy that made noise and a floor full of paper and she would have been a very happy little girl! That or just let her have the dog food, lol :)

I think Ella started squealing with each present before she ever really realized what it was. What a fun, fun time for Nana!!!

My most favorite gift I gave this year was the cookbook I made for Kristin of my mom's old recipe's. I think she really liked it; I know it was very special for me to be able to pass it on to her!!

As usual, Isabella is all about her Grandpa Cookie!! Note the Houndstooth Hat...

A great shot of Ella and her daddy; but again with that Houndstooth hat...

Ahhh, now we have the rightful owner of that hat!! I think Bull is adorable in it, but I'm wondering if I shouldn't have bought 3 of them :)

I love my dogs and don't mean to slight them in this post, but since this is about "grandchildren", it is fitting that I share this picture of Beemer showing off her new collar that Santa brought her. Isn't she beautiful? And quite proud I might add!!

I wanted to end this post with one of my very favorite gifts I received this year! This candy cane was given to me by my great-niece Braelyn as a present on the day of our Latta Christmas. It has been hanging very prominently on my tree ever since. Thank you Braelyn, I love it!!

Welcome Beth, Alston and Patrick...

2008-12-30T20:10:00.005-06:00

Yay! I'm so excited to see that my beautiful Beth has joined us in the world of Blogging! I can't wait to follow along in Alston's daily life, along with his mommy & daddy's :)

But I can't leave you a comment... so I'll tell you welcome on here and that I love your page - and YOU!! And especially lovin' this picture :)

Withdrawals…

2008-12-28T22:21:00.009-06:00

I did have Alabama football every weekend to keep me occupied, but since I haven’t had that (although we thankfully play next weekend, it is our last game this year); I’m really ready for some RACIN’!!

I miss NASCAR!! 1 month and 10 days until the start of the 2009 season :) Beginning with the Shootout in Daytona on Feb. 7th; followed by tons of racing activities all that week and ending – of course – with the Daytona 500 on the 15th!!

To ease my pain, I’ve posted some of my favorite shots of the Amp 500 at Talladega this year in Oct. That was big fun! I’m so thankful we have one of ~if not THE~ greatest speedway’s right here in our own back yard :-)!!:-)

And just in case you didn’t know… Dale Jr. RULES ALL!! Go 88!!

My man... Dale Earnhardt, Jr. being introduced to the crowd. Of course he is the favorite at every track :-)

JJ ~Jimmie Johnson~ is one of my favorite drivers (of course none compares to 88); he is Jr.'s teammate and not only the '08 Champ... but for the 3rd consecutive year - Way to go JJ!!

Wow, what a beautiful track! The picture even gives me chills :-)

This truck goes zooming by, and I was watching for it this time but Cookie distracted me to tell me the planes were coming and I almost missed my picture!! I wanted a full shot of the flag... it is HUGE and so pretty flying on the back this big truck!!

Speaking of planes... here are the stars of the flyover! And at Talladega, they don't just fly over one time and disappear, they come back and each do a little trick! It is very cool :-)

My name is on that beautiful car at this race! Yep, that's right... along with about 72,000 others. It was a special graphic paint job from a promotion that of course I made sure I was a part of! I was to the right and just above the red National Guard logo you see in this pix :-)

Lap 27 and look who's at the top of the Leaderboard... that's right - 88!! After having to start at the back no less due to going to a back up car because of a wreck during practice. He stayed right up there on or close to that spot the rest of the day too, until stupid CE took him, and several more, out of the race with only like 7 laps to go... GRRRR!!!

One of many pit stops during the day! Thankfully Jr. had no problems in the pit stall!!

Man, I love watching him come down that stretch off turn 4 leading the pack! I mean I freakin' LOVE IT!!!

And there is hardly anyone in their seats as he zooms past in the lead! Everyone is on their feet, waving caps or flags or t-shirts, you name it; a crowd going wild for a wonderful young man beloved by so many. 88 is THE MAN!!

And in the blink of an eye, the BIG ONE. Thanks a lot Carl :-( The field is stopped for about 45 minutes to clean it up. Jr. is out of it, and he definitely had the car to win it. So disappointing!!

But on the upside, here comes Tony Stewart, aka Smoke, down the stretch for the final lap. Something to note in this picture - all the empty seats in the stands... that wasn't the case until Jr. got put out of the race. I'm telling you - it is Jr. Nation :-)

And Smoke gets his first win of the 2008 season!! He is always my 2nd choice behind Jr., so I was happy with him winning! Not AS happy as I would have been if 88 had one, but...

And so it's back to the campsite to visit a little longer with the Florida gang! Uncle HJ (in the wheelchair) is in his 90's and doing remarkable! In the first picture is his daughter Vera and his son Clyde. Cookie is in both pictures, and in the last picture is Vera's husband Bob. I love having them stay with us the weekend before the race, and then I love going to the track to visit with them at the campsite during the week and weekend of the race! Is it April yet??

On my mind…

2008-12-28T07:12:00.001-06:00

Is wayyyy to much right now! And I have no idea why. Well, I have a thought about it but then that’s the whole problem… when I get like this I seem to have “a thought” about EVERYTHING. My mind won’t shut off, and it goes in a thousand directions a mile a minute :)

But here is ‘my thought’ about why my mind is running right now. I’ve been off work for a week – it has been great! This was the first time I’ve taken the entire week of Christmas off in a very long time. And usually when I take off work, I don’t completely take off. I still check emails, do work from home, etc. And I did a little of that Monday and Tuesday but because of the Holiday no-one else was working the rest of the week either. So for the most part, this vacation has been a REAL vacation – NO work!!

Well, last night as I was drifting to sleep it dawned on me that today was my last day off already. OH MY! Are you kidding me, it has been a week already?? So after I wake up tomorrow I will be spending my last day at home on vacation? There is still so much to do! What all needs to be done at work when I get back? Have I checked emails lately? Did I bring any work home with me that I need to tend to before going back? Ohhhh, when I get back it starts the first week of “Hell Week” (year-end) that lasts through at least mid January; I may never sleep again!! Did I lock the door??...

Yay me…

2008-12-27T18:25:00.003-06:00

I’m very proud of myself! Today I got a lot accomplished in the chore of un-decorating :) Usually, due to work, I’m rushed to get it done all in one night. But today I was able to take it down a little at a time, clean that area, put it back to normal, and move on to another area. All without being rushed!!

I have everything un-done except my big tree, which I am contemplating leaving up until New Year’s; partly because I am still really enjoying it and partly due to superstition :) Most is packed up and the rest is on the pool table ready to be packed up tomorrow – if I don’t get another rush of energy and finish it tonight (not likely).

All of this is especially surprising since yesterday I started this task, just absolutely COULD NOT get motivated, gave up and did basically nothing but curl up with my dogs and watch movies! Fancy enjoyed them, Kelso got a little bored… it was Lifetime ;)

And so it begins…

2008-12-26T18:14:00.001-06:00

The taking down, packing up, putting away of Christmas decorations. The clean up of the mess. But the hardest part of all, for me anyway…

Trying to figure out where the heck you had ALL that stuff you put up to make room for the decorations!! Does anyone else have that problem? Seriously, I have a floor full of knick-knacks and pictures and for the life of me I can’t figure out where in the world they all were before. There’s not enough room!!

I think it multiplies while stored away in the guest room. It’s a conspiracy I tell ‘ya!!

A good and sweet man…

2008-12-26T08:28:00.002-06:00

That is what my husband is! The Holidays come right in the middle of hunting season. When you live with a real deer hunter, that’s what the Holidays mean for them… time off to hunt!

I realize a lot of people don’t understand that, especially women that are not married to hunters. I’ve always had to field questions about how I put up with it, or hear comments about how others wouldn’t stand for it, etc. But I’ve just got to tell you, my husband has never missed a minute of “important” time! He has always made it to family gatherings. He was always here to make sure Santa arrived on time when our kids were small. He doesn’t miss any of those moments, or times, or days, etc.

I guess if you just look at the surface and see him coming home from the hunting club late Tuesday before our family Christmas here on Wednesday, and then hear him say “I didn’t have time to shop” when I don’t have a gift from him under the tree, it doesn’t paint a very good picture. Especially when you see him leaving out again early Thursday afternoon. But here’s the thing you don’t see ‘on the surface’…

There is hardly ever a time I ask for anything that I don’t get it. My sweet husband spoils me, terribly, all year! And he works very long hours all year with almost no time off other than one week in the summer, which is spent on a trip dedicated totally to me and what I want! So this time during the winter is the only time he has all year to do what he really loves – hunt!

And as far as a Christmas gift – this year is not really his fault anyway. I asked for a digital camera and instead of an inexpensive one he is going to replace my 35mm with one like it in dig. YAY! But that means making sure we find the right deal, etc. I was told at Wolf Camera which one to get that my big lens would fit on, but I’m still going to take all my current equipment in to make sure first. So it is not as simple as going somewhere and buying a camera.

But that hasn’t stopped him from feeling bad (as always); so between the time we opened gifts on Wednesday and he left yesterday, I ended up with a pocket full of cash, lol. I’ve been told to go buy some jeans, asked if I wanted new boots, informed I needed work clothes. So you see… he is a very sweet man who deserves to take the time off during the winter and enjoy doing the thing he loves so much! Things are not always just as they seem ‘on the surface’ :)

2008 Christmas Blessings…

2008-12-25T14:50:00.003-06:00

A. baby born on Christmas Day, sent to save the world!!
B.ull
C.ookie
D.ogs
E.lla
F.amily & friends
G.reat-nieces
H.olly’s cookies (I ate the whole bag already)
I.sabella
J.osh
K.ristin
L.ights
M.emories
N.ieces
O.ver eating
P.ictures
Q.uestions from grandchildren ("hey, what you talkin' 'bout?)
R.oll Tide (I love my dish)
S.isters
T.oys
U.mbrella
V.acation time
W.arm weather
X.anax (for the “after” glow), lol – seriously, what else starts with X??
Y.ummy food
Z.ealous grandchildren ("can we open presents now?")

I had a wonderful Christmas, I hope you did too :)

Lucy & Ethel…

2008-12-23T08:08:00.003-06:00

That’s what I’m going to re-name my dogs (yes, even though one of them is a boy)! At least that is the first thing I thought of when I got home yesterday! I had just a few more last minute gifts to get and thought for sure during the day on Monday would be better to go out than this past weekend. Boy was I wrong, the first time I was gone it was from 11 am – 6 pm. And I only made the circle from my house up 280 to Valleydale, took it into Hoover since 280 was a parking lot, back down 31 to Alabaster and took Hwy 11 home.

See… just made a simple circle, literally only hitting a few stores and it took me 7 hours. I had one more place to go, but I knew I was going to be there a while finishing up the last gift I had to get, so I went home to get Fancy & Kelso (I mean Lucy & Ethel) to let them go with me. I soooo wish I had my digital camera already so I could have taken a picture of what I found waiting on me!

I have my mom’s pillow, it is as old as I am I’m sure – I remember sleeping on it when I was still at home. It is used by everybody as the “extra” pillow and has been in the living room for a while. It’s one of those real feather pillows, not the kind of ‘down’ you buy now… but REAL feathers. I took the pillow case off to wash it so it was exposed as the antique that it is. I’m sure you can guess where this is going…

Feathers – everywhere!! The pillow is in the floor, ripped down the fragile middle of the old material, and feathers are covering my carpet in the living room; not to mention being on the furniture and of course being strewn into the dining room and kitchen. Some are even floating around when the heat kicks on.

I couldn’t help it, I know it was my mom’s and I loved that old pillow so much; and the mess is going to be a real pain; but I laughed - hysterically. Maybe it was due to 7 hours of fighting traffic, but all I could think of was the episode of I Love Lucy when they painted the Mertz’s apartment and tried to reupholster the furniture. And the one that I’m sure must be the culprit (Kelso aka Lucy) took off to his kennel acting like he didn’t know what I was talking about when I said “what did you do”. The other one (Fancy aka Ethel) just stood there and looked at me as if to say ‘I tried to stop him’.

Oh well, if they weren’t such good dogs I probably would have got a lot more upset, but they usually don’t bother anything. And I honestly think the ‘feather fiasco’ was an accident – I wish I could have seen the reaction when it happened! Kelso hates so much to be in trouble, I can only imagine what he was thinking when those feathers started flying everywhere :) Considering they are huge animals (about 120 lbs and 80 lbs) and I still have 2 Christmas trees standing, not to mention all the other decorations and gifts untouched, I’m happy with the feathers :) Dogs… gotta love’em!!

Needling…

2008-12-21T23:55:00.002-06:00

It could only happen to me!! So, today I was cleaning the mirror in my bathroom – simple job, right? Although I am quite possibly the clumsiest woman in this entire County, if not Alabama, what could possibly happen while doing such a menial task?? Well let me just tell you… I will find a way for something to happen! And not just anything. Of course with me, it is going to be something weird and crazy!

OK, so you know how you’ll stick a needle somewhere handy, maybe because it is convenient at the time or maybe because you need to always know where a needle is. Well, I have a 3 tier candle holder between the two sinks in my bathroom, and I keep a needle stuck in the top of the center candle (which is of course the tallest one), for both of the reasons I mentioned above.

As I was cleaning I knocked the candle off. Fine – I set it aside, finished cleaning the mirror, put the candle back. I was even about to move on to my next task when I wondered why my wrist felt funny and that’s when I discovered it.

My convenient needle was stuck in my wrist, just under my hand. And it wasn’t just stuck in there – half the freakin’ needle was in there… from the eye end!! The sharp end was sticking out; ouch. Bull had to take the tweezers and pull it out, thankfully I didn't even feel it!!

Good news is there was no blood at all, at any time. However, it started swelling below where the needle was even before we got it out. And it hurts almost as if it has been sprained. But I can live with it :) Especially when I think about how I almost didn’t even see it and it could have ended up all the way in my wrist/arm!

I’m telling you people… only I could get “needled” cleaning a mirror :)

Holiday Eating Tips…

2008-12-20T08:16:00.001-06:00

1. Avoid carrot sticks. In fact, if you see carrots, leave immediately. Go next door where they're serving rum balls.

*2. Drink as much eggnog as you can. And quickly. It's rare. You cannot find it any other time of year but now. So drink up! Who cares that it has 10,000 calories in every sip? It's not as if you're going to turn into an eggnog-alcoholic or something. It's a treat. Enjoy it. Have one for me. Have two. It's later than you think.
*personally I’d substitute eggnog (yuk) with sweet tea or Mtn. Dew… but that’s just me :)

3. If something comes with gravy, use it. That's the whole point of gravy. Gravy does not stand alone. Pour it on. Make a volcano out of your mashed potatoes. Fill it with gravy. Eat the volcano. Repeat.

4. As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they're made with skim milk or whole milk. If it's skim, pass. Why bother? It's like buying a sports car with an automatic transmission.

5. Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effort to control your eating. The whole point of going to a holiday party is to eat other people's food for free. Lots of it. Hello?

6. Under no circumstances should you exercise between now and New Year's. You can do that in January when you have nothing else to do. This is the time for long naps, which you'll need after circling the buffet table while carrying a 10-pound plate of food and that vat of eggnog.

7. If you come across something really good at a buffet table, like frosted cookies in the shape and size of Santa, position yourself near them and don't budge. Have as many as you can before becoming the center of attention. They're like a beautiful pair of shoes. If you leave them behind, you're never going to see them again.

8. Same for pies. Apple, Pumpkin, Mincemeat. Have a slice of each. Or if you don't like mincemeat, have two apples and one pumpkin. Always have three. When else do you get to have more than one dessert? Labor Day?

9. Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it's loaded with the mandatory celebratory calories, but avoid it at all cost. I mean, have some standards.

10. One final tip: If you don't feel terrible when you leave the party or get up from the table, you haven't been paying attention. Re-read tips; start over, but hurry, January is just around the corner. Remember this motto to live by:

"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO~HOO what a ride!"

A friend sent this to me and I thought it was cute and wanted to share!! Have a great holiday season! And let the eating begin :)

Hovering…

2008-12-19T21:38:00.001-06:00

You know – those cars that stay beside you, right at your front or back bumper but don’t go anywhere. They just hover! And they make me crazy. Hovering. It makes no sense to me. Just either get on in front of me, or slow down so I can get in front of you, or just get off the road altogether – I really don’t care. Just get OUT OF MY WAY and stop hovering!!

In case you haven’t guessed by now – I drive 280 every day. All the way from Westover to downtown and it is a miserable drive any time. But throw Christmas shoppers in the mix and it’ll make you want to scream!

So take this as fair warning – if you are ever on 280 and you are beside a car with an Alabama flag and/or a Dale Earnhardt Jr. flag with a personalized tag that reads BEACHEY… hover at your own risk!! I am capable of snapping at even given time :)

Radio Red Flyers…

2008-12-17T22:02:00.003-06:00

Fun, right? At least it was a blast for this group to put about 25 of these wagons together last Friday! Several of us from the 3 depts that share the 1st floor of the building we are now in got together and had a “tool” party :) And I have to say… Sara, Tesa, LaToya and I ROCKED! We had ours put together and was sitting back eating chips & dip laughing at everybody else struggle – especially the men, lol.

I wish I could say they all went to boys and girls that would be running and pulling and pushing each other in them. But sadly, these beautiful red wagons will be used to pull very sick babies and kids around inside Children’s Hospital. The maintenance guys will equip them with special holders for IV poles and even add seat belts before they are put to use.

But there is always a need to replenish the supply – those things take a beating at the hospital. So it was very rewarding to put them together, and really a lot of fun!!

This year, today is easier…

2008-12-16T06:36:00.004-06:00

That is the first time on the 16th of December I’ve been able to say that in 11 years. I guess the only 3 words that I can really follow-up the title with is “…thank you Jesus”. I should probably warn you that I’m about to pour my heart out, and since I’m already sobbing pretty bad, I can guarantee it’s not going to be a ‘fun’ post to read, nor a short one. But hopefully it will at least be heartwarming. ~Actually it has taken me a couple days to complete this, so for me, as I’ve been thinking about what to say and typing it as I could, it has been therapeutic :)

Today is the anniversary of the death of my dad. And a little piece of me died with him. I am the baby of 3 girls, and was such a daddy’s girl – I loved that man so much. And since he died at this time, it sort of “killed” the joy of Christmas for me too. As a matter of fact, the first couple of years after he died I didn’t do any decorations, and if I could I’d have ignored that it even existed. I would even get a little angry at times when I’d see all the lights and festive things – how dare life go on happily at this time of year?? Shouldn’t everyone be as sad, mad even, as I was? I did only what I had to for my kids, nothing more.

But it wasn’t just at Christmas that I was like this. I think I began falling into a depression but had just enough things going on in my life to keep it from being too bad. I still had my mom who I also loved dearly, and her health began failing quickly after daddy died – so my attention had to turn to taking care of her. And of course I had my sweet, sweet husband and my wonderful children.

But here is the thing… I was angry at God. See, I lived my life devoted totally to the Lord at the time of my dad’s death and had for years. And He had promised me my daddy would accept Jesus as his savior before he died and I would know beyond any doubt that he would be with Him in Heaven. When my dad was in the hospital, my pastor was supposed to come that Sunday after church and we all knew he would ask daddy if he wanted to accept Jesus, etc. Well it snowed that day in Alabama (very rare). He couldn’t get to the hospital. Because daddy was in the CICU we could only see him for a few minutes every few hours. That day (Sunday) he was very distraught and restless. He had suffered a heart attack on Friday and was put on a ventilator. Because of him being so restless that day they had to restrain his hands so he wouldn’t pull the ventilator out. But he just wanted to tell me something. He clearly wanted me, and when I went to his side and took his hand, and asked him what it was, he looked at me with tears in his eyes and I knew. I just knew. So I asked him if he wanted to pray and the tears began to fall down his face, he squeezed my hand, shook his head yes, and sighed as if with relief. I told him not to try to talk, but to just nod and squeeze my hand in agreement; and I led my daddy in the sinner’s prayer. He cried and cried as he nodded in agreement accepting the Lord as his Savior. After that, he became very peaceful and finally slept until he died early the following Tuesday morning.

Now you may be asking yourself why in the world I would be mad at God after such a beautiful honor and gift was given to me. I’ve asked myself that same question. But in my warped state of mind at that time, I felt betrayed. I believed that if I prayed, and believed and had faith, that my prayers would be answered. But I ended up burying my daddy anyway – even with all the faith in the world that I’d be bringing him home alive instead. I’m not mad at God anymore! And thankfully, He never gets mad at us or leaves us; he just waits on us to come back to Him :)

So… just as I was finally coming to grips with my dad’s death and getting a little back to normal, my mom died. That really sent me close to the edge without anyone even knowing the extent of it. Thank God Ella came along right after that – she is what kept me from going over that edge. As well as Isabella and the rest of my family!

But to be perfectly honest, about a year ago I started having migraines again (I used to suffer from them terribly and they just stopped, for the most part). My doctor put me on a mild anti-depressant to ward off the headaches; but it has done so much more for me. It has helped me through this apparent depression I’ve been in that even I didn’t realize. It’s like a shield has been removed from my eyes and I can actually see how I’ve been. How I secluded myself from friends and even family at times. How I’ve been robbed of my joy and my peace. And how long it’s been since I had laughed with real happiness over just something silly.

So there you have it… the 16th thru the 18th of December will always be a sad time as I remember my dad; but it is also a time of rejoicing – he is after all in Heaven celebrating this special time with Christ in person!! And God chose me, of all He had to choose from, to make sure of that. How could I possibly be anything but honored and humbled :) Our Lord never fails to keep a promise, and in case you can't tell - my joy in Christmas (and life) has been restored!! To God goes the Glory :)

Since everyone else has…

2008-12-15T02:03:00.008-06:00

I thought I might as well show a few of my Christmas decorations too :) But seriously, I really wish I knew how some people can put more than 5 pictures in one post. That is really starting to frustrate me that I can’t figure it out, lol. Until I do, this year’s decorations are in the album below. Please click it when you finish reading to see some of the major things I’ve done – so far :)

Anyway… I’m actually still working on some decorating, but not much. I haven’t done a lot of decorating in the past few years until recently – grandchildren make a huge difference in how you feel about the Holidays!! Each year I seem to do a little more and this year has been no exception. I’m actually making homemade stocking’s this year, so the only ones I have up so far are my dogs. (Well at least we know Santa will come see them). I have them cut out and Kristin is going to help me sew them since I don’t have a sewing machine. I’ll share more about them when they are done!

I absolutely love poinsettias but haven’t got any yet. I won’t do that until probably just a few days or maybe a week before Christmas because of my dogs. I understand they are very poisonous to them and I don’t want to have to remove them (the plants, not the dogs) to a closed up room each morning any more days than I have to before I take off from work! This is one of my favorite looks of my fireplace; it has never looked the same any two years. This was in 2006 and it took me forever to get those lights to stay on the top inside of the fireplace. I had myself up in there in some awkward positions for hours and swore I’d never attempt it again, lol.

This was a little tree I put up, also in ’06. It was mostly sports themed in case you can’t tell – and I added a couple of Josh and Bull’s ornaments they made in elementary school to the edge of it. It also had some John Deere tractor ornaments on it, LOVE them!! And I added Ella’s “Baby’s First Christmas” stocking to it. As simple, and/or silly, as it was, it became one of my all-time favorite decorations :) I know I took pictures of decorations last year but I can’t find them on this laptop, which is making me crazy – just thought I’d share that.

So that was then and this is now… click to see some of what I’ve done this year:

Decked Out

‘Twas the first day of Christmas…

2008-12-14T22:01:00.004-06:00

Or at least the first celebration of Christmas for my family so far :) It was with my 2 sisters and their families - “The Latta Christmas” as we call it! For those who don’t know, both of my parents have gone on to be with the Lord. And even though it will be 11 years ago in just 2 days from now that my dad died, and 3 years ago this past August for my mom; the Holidays are still lonely without them. (Honestly… every day is lonely without them). But each year does get a little easier to handle – and this year we had a wonderful time celebrating the season with each other. Of course the 4 newest additions to our family helps :) And next year there will be (at least) 1 more!!

How amazing to watch our family grow!! First my oldest sister Gayle – her entire family was there: her husband Sammy; her oldest daughter Jamie, her husband Marcus and their 3 year old daughter Braelyn; and her youngest daughter Chrissy, her husband Corey and their 2 year old daughter Chloe. Second my middle sister Myra: her husband and son could not be there due to family obligations on his side; but her daughter was there who is expecting the “5th” addition to our family in June. And then of course me – my entire family was there also except for my husband who is still in Illinois hunting; my oldest son Josh, his wife Kristin and their 2 year old daughter Ella; and my youngest son Bull and his 1 year old daughter Isabella. Big, big fun!! Check out the pictures, as usual, each tells a story :)

Latta Christmas 2008