Is there anyone out there?

Is there anyone who still reads? 

I rarely get any comments and I’m beginning to wonder if I should quit blogging and just keep a journal for myself.  I used to write on my Blog daily and since I quit, the comments have dwindled down to next to nothing.  I try to include pictures of my family, but my blog is mostly one about home decorating and the projects I do around the house.

But, here I am, today, back at story telling about my life and adding tons of pictures “this” time!  A good thing, since I went through a long period (recently) of taking NO pictures!

Maybe when we have neat events happening in my family, I need all my brain power to function, rather than playing photographer, too!  I remember a day when I used to “do it all” AND help others at the same time.  That girl no longer exists!!!!

Thanksgiving was so nice.  Jesse’s step-mom, his dad’s sister (his aunt), and his youngest sister’s two little children visited us for most of the week.  I had to warn my mil that there were times when my energy and resolve crash to the ground, and those are the times I disappear to the bedroom ~ to regroup!

I love having company, but I want the company to understand when I disappear it means nothing personal about the person/people.  Many times, I have to take a breather in a quiet space.  I probably should have been doing that all my life, but I have this newly discovered “trick” for recovering from overload and I’m loving it to pieces!  I have come to recognize the pain in my upper back, the swirl of too many things to remember, and too many noises in my ears.  Rather than letting it go on any longer, I excuse myself, go to the bedroom (or the bathroom in our bedroom, if I REALLY need to get away) and bathe in the quietness.

I had more than enough little helpers for Thanksgiving and things were doable and much more fun, this year.  I could breathe (due to my many mini-deaprtures) and was able to enjoy everything and “taste” the food.

Does anyone else know what I mean about tasting your own food? 

So many times I have hustled and bustled around the kitchen,, creating delicious menus, only to sit at the table and feel too tired to enjoy my food.  The leftovers, the next day, always tasted better.  It was because I was relaxed and able to savor each bite!

Like I said, everything was done in little pieces this year.  The pies were baked Tuesday (by Rissy) and kept in the cold garage. 

The marshmallow fruit salads were made Wednesday morning after breakfast and stored in the garage refrigerators.

Wednesday evening, after dinner, Rissy began to make the stuffing for the turkey.  We bought a turkey over 20lbs this year!  She had her Nana’s help, but, with recipe in hand, Rissy made our dinner plans much easier for me!

We stuffed the turkey with some dressing, made a huge foil tent and put the rest of the dressing in a dish to be cooked the next day.  The turkey went in the oven VERY late, before going to bed on Wednesday.  I was nervous at 4am when I woke up and didn’t smell it cooking.  I turned the oven up a bit, went back to bed, and awoke at 7:30am to the delicious smell of Thanksgiving turkey and dressing!

After breakfast, we kept the oven open for baking the ham Jesse wanted.  My mil did it her way (new to me – she stabbed it all over with a butcher knife so the seasonings would go deep inside the meat) and it turned out wonderfully seasoned!

Someone peeled white and sweet potatoes and they were boiled ahead of time.  The sweet potatoes were over boiled, so I mashed them with 1/2 & 1/2 and orange juice, seasoned them with nutmeg, cinnamon & sugar and heated them back up when we cooked the dish of stuffing and the ham.  VERY tasty!

We set the table Wednesday night.  That turned out to be a HUGE time saver.  All of the silver I was going to use was polished Wednesday night, as well as wiping out the glass and china bowls we intended to use.  My mil redid the table decoration to a size that stretched  the length of the table.  I handed her a bunch of little glass candle holders and white votive candles  The whole thing turned out really nice.

When people arrived, they were directed to the relish dish in the kitchen . 

Everyone was asked to think between last Thanksgiving and this Thanksgiving of everything they were thankful for in their life.  There were many leaves available and once written on, they were placed face down on the children’s table, which only held a small basket of pine cones in the center.

Since the food was nearly ready except for heating peas, corn, and some dinner rolls, we had the perfect chance to talk and relax before dinner was served.

             
Everything was hot and ready; and we were just waiting on those silly rolls to heat!

Finally, it was time to eat.

We gathered around the children’s table and Jesse prayed.

  I rarely take pictures while people are praying.  It sort of seems invasive, or something.  But I couldn’t resist the bowed heads of the children!

        
Do you see my little niece in the right corner?  Do you think she was caught sneaking a peek???!!!!   LOL

        
             (see the menu and lists of things to do on the refrigerator door?!)

We fixed the children’s and Jesse’s elderly aunt’s plates first.  Everyone carefully chose exactly what they wanted.  Stretched necks and pointed fingers show the seriousness of the decision making!!!

The fact there were two tiers of food, and a dinner AND salad plate at each place setting, made it all the harder for the little ones to make up their minds.  “You can always come back for seconds,” fell on deaf ears!

       
                 Some “people” were VERY well behaved after witnessing this:

                      
                             I wonder why these are so blurry?

We were a little later than intended when we finally sat down to eat.  (I’m sure I’m not the only family!)   Thankfully, there was nothing else to do the rest of the day and no one was rushed to eat quickly, nor thinking about what they needed to do next.  Especially me!

Afterwards, we waited for some other guests to arrive and the children played and worked off their full tummies.

                       
This is our oldest daughter, Stephanie, and our granddaughter, JanaLyn.

  
Stephanie wondered about the shiny forehead, and I don’t know why it photographed like that.  She didn’t look like that in person??!

  
Once satisfied that everyone who was coming had arrived, we did the annual “reading of the leaves.”  We asked that each person sign their name on the back of their thankful leaf.  I read them out loud. The children who were too young to write had help from a “trusted” grown up and older children were helped with spelling!  Everyone takes this tradition quite seriously in my family.

Some were funny and some were solemnly serious.  They will be saved in a zip-lock bag and labeled with this year’s date.

Today is Jesse’s birthday.  I’ve been sick (in bed) since the Sunday night of Thanksgiving weekend.  I got hit hard with body aches, then a sore throat, then vomiting and a VERY swollen throat, and finally the tail end of it left (if you get my drift).  Today is the first day I’ve felt like I had some real energy.

Jesse and the girls went to church without me and I managed to bake a birthday cake for Jesse and hide it.  I was too sick to get out and buy a card or a gift and I feel horrible.   He does so much for me and has a history of growing up in a family with rotten birthdays and I always try to make his day special.  This year was nothing, nadda, zip!  But, I WILL make it up to him when I’m able to get out and about, again!

I’ve managed to clean up the Thanksgiving stuff.

The girls collected everything and put it on the coffee table, and I put those things away while everyone was at church.

The dining room table looks naked, but is ready for the next holiday decor!

I have some new ideas, this year.   Easy and cheap!   Yay!  That’s my kinda decorations (the easy AND the *cheap* part)!!!!!

I’ve enjoyed looking through Pinterest and this is my link but I don’t have much under my own link, yet.  I don’t browse on the computer that often to locate sites where I want to save a picture of this or that.  But, I’ve really enjoyed seeing what my friends have pinned on their walls and just the whole Pinterest site in general.

I love to find expensive things and duplicate them myself for a fraction of the cost.  If not for my creative abilities, I’d have nothing at all.   I’ve found out that I have VERY expensive taste!!!!!!!!

I will take pictures today when Jesse gets his cake and opens the cards he’s received.  I encourage him to go to lunch if anyone invited him and, sure enough, he is eating with his good friend’s (Camilo) family.  He took two of the girls with him.

I will try not to take another long break to post, but I warn you: I have the Christmas/winter decorating to do.  I want to finish it so that I can sit through the rest of the month and enjoy the coziness.

Meanwhile, I’ll ask you this:

           
                                                     Is this a “bird” dog?

Be blessed ~

This has been an unusually active fall for our family.

Jesse is working today, can you believe it?  He has three houses to cut short and rake up leaves with his mower.  With the wind blowing, you’d think the leaves would take care of themselves.  This is the last thing in the season as far as mowing work for him.  Many lawn care people put up Christmas lights (and take them down), but Jesse is afraid of heights . . . so that doesn’t work out for him too well!

Which should happen.  It looks like he has a hernia and will have to have it repaired over these months of no work.  It isn’t going away and this may be the perfect time for repairing it, as no one has called him to work for part time in the winter months.  (I believe God has a reason and I think it is time for him to take care of himself – as much as he doesn’t like me telling him that).

                                          

Even though Thanksgiving hasn’t arrived, we already have put the TV on the music station that plays Christmas songs 24/7.   I hear a Broadway musical CD coming from Rissy’s room, a Christian radio station in another child’s room, and O Come All Ye Faithful in the den!  It sounds like backstage before a performance or a rehearsal hall for high school.   Everyone buried in their own world!

The wind is blowing 90 to nothing today. The dogs keep barking every time the wind gusts and a piece of backyard furniture bumps against the house.  Nothing like being wrapped in sound, is there?!  I may have to hunt out my trusty purple ear plugs!

                             
                                                                                                 (What a range of emotions!)

At the beginning of this post, I mentioned a funeral we attended last weekend.  Very, very sad.  The girls’ therapist (for about 5 years or more) was married to wonderful man, a psychologist, who also worked at the same place.  The girls and I have gotten to know him pretty well.  March/April of 2009, his wife saw me in the waiting room with sick children and she grab me aside and told me her husband  had been diagnosed with stomach cancer at the end of January.   He had traveled somewhere to get different care than what was recommended here in town.  She said it had gone away and they were just waiting for his energy to come back.  I saw him off and on the rest of this year.  For the past few weeks he began to look like he wasn’t feeling well.  He was very thin and looked tired or slow.  I determined to stop and speak to him last Tuesday, when we were there for an appointment with the girls.  They are seeing a new therapist.

                 
               

When we were discussing old records of test scores, the new therapist said she would get them as soon as she could.  She said this man wasn’t doing well, in fact . . . he died just a few hours ago!   Jesse and I were shocked.  The new therapist apologized and asked if we were friends and I thought, “Are we?”  The girls old therapist  (his wife) is more to me than a counselor and more like a friend.  In that moment, I realized our relationship had transferred from “therapist” to “friend” and I was shocked at the level of grief I suffered. 

A day or so later, she had a friend call us to let us know the times of the visitation, funeral, etc.  We attended everything AS A FAMILY.  The graveside service was so windy and it was hard to hear.  It was still important that we let her know we were there (despite the weather) and would be there in the future for her. 

Mine were the ONLY children there, except for one boy (about 8 or 9) and some babies.   When she saw us at the visitation, she gave me a hug and said she KNEW I had been praying for her.  In fact, she said, “The level of strength I’ve needed to get through this can only be because Cherylyn is praying.”  While I don’t believe that is completely true (God helps ALL who call on Him), I’m glad she was secure in knowing that about me.   I can’t fix things, but I can sure pray hard! 

                     

Another lesson in how quickly we can lose someone.  We should always take time to let those who are most close to us know how much we appreciate and love them.  My heart goes out to his wife and I’d like to ask for prayers for Julie.  Her birthday is in a few days.  Then she has the holidays coming up.  Therapist or not, you can’t escape the feelings of being alone.  She has family and her mother to support her through this time, but still . . .   

If you know of someone who has recently lost someone, or someone who is alone in your city, please, Please, PLEASE make a special effort to include them in some of your family’s traditions.  I mean, REALLY, what’s one more person at your table?

                                      

Speaking of which, my mother-in-law from Amarillo will be joining us for Thanksgiving.  She is bringing Jesse’s dad’s sister, and she is bringing two grandchildren.  One of the children has family in Oklahoma (father is deceased) and the grandparents would love to see the child.  That’s another death that came instantly and without any warning.  I believe they will meet each other here over the holiday.  I’m happy for the grandparents.  They lost their son, but can still see a part of him in their grandson.

I’ve been unusually busy with school (older grades are now requiring more of them AND the teacher!) and keeping up with appointments for me AND each of the children.  The squares in my appointment book/calendar are jammed with something/somewhere to do/go each day.

I missed church Wednesday night.  I had a relaxing and productive day at home and when I went back to bed to put my feet up, before dinner, I fell asleep (HARD) for several hours.  I’ve been doing that and other (weird) things lately, and the doctor wants me to do a sleep study to see if I am not sleeping soundly during the night.

So, one more appointment to add to the calendar!

JanaLyn (first granddaughter) has been spending time here.  Sometimes I get her and keep her until her mom gets off work.  It’s been working out great.  I’m usually in the area on the days she needs me to pick her up.  JanaLyn loves animals and has a way with them.  I also found out, she can make a pet out of almost anything.  I’ve seen her carry a lady bug around with her all day. 

This time, she adopted a butterfly with injured wings.  She named him King Monarch.  She was incredible!  She gave it cotton balls of sugar water (nectar).  She built it a house with a roof she colored, an operable front door (she cut and also colored), and she colored a wood parquet floor!

It was amazing!  The butterfly seemed to like her and would crawl up on her finger if she offered just the tip of her finger! 

She was here yesterday and we asked about King Monarch and she said he had healed up and flew away!  I would have NEVER thought this butterfly would fly again.  Such a huge chunk was missing from one wing! 

                ************************************************************

The girls are gradually getting their teeth taken care of.  Annamarie and Adrienne (Luci)  had a mouthful of cavities this last time.  Their third visit is next week and that should catch them up on all repairs.  They go every year and I don’t know how this many cavities formed unless they are “pretend brushing” when reminded to brush.  I think Rissy only had 2 cavities, but the fillings aren’t filed correctly and she will probably have to go in to have them buffed down so her bite doesn’t bother her.

Other than a spelling test today, the girls are getting a “fall break” from school.  The weather is beautiful (again) and will be for the next 3 or 4 days.  In the low 80s and no wind.

Inside the house, I’ve made the transition to fall.   Some days, it is truly fall outside, but pretty much fall has been of my own making inside the house.  I have always loved bringing the outdoors inside, and many times I’ve had to force the outside by making it winter, spring, or fall inside my house FIRST!

We haven’t seen many outside trees turn colors.  The drought this summer turned everything brown and we’ve jumped from summer green to dead brown.  That’s no fun!  I doubt we will see a colorful palate of fall colors (not unless we look inside my house!).

For the past few years, I’ve collected pumpkins.  Little ones, big ones, medium sized ones.  This year I bought two that were frosted with a glittery sugar.  I place them here and there around the house on tables.

Rissy found a black crow this year and I snatched him up and bought some fall colored glass beads on a stick.  Since we have black in the den, I put our little crow-guy on the den’s end table with a metal decorative inset under the glass and a black lamp on top.   I WANNA BUY MOOOOORRRRRE!  He’s so cute.  This confirms, once more, my love for birds!  

So far, we have barely given Thanksgiving a thought.  It seems so far away, but it isn’t.  We always stay here and invite guests, so I’m assuming that part will remain the same.  Last year, Rissy made the turkey dressing, turkey, two fruit salads with marshmallows, and the pumpkin pies.  Stephanie has already informed Rissy  she does NOT plan to stick her hand inside a turkey – so Rissy or I will be in charge of that.  And I’ll make sweet potatoes or yams in some type of dish.

We are down scaling Christmas a WHOLE bunch this year.  So I’m not even thinking about that, yet.  I always plan ahead, but I’m only going as far as November in my head, right now.

Surprise!  Jesse just walked in from work – EARLY!  It’s hard to stay gone (in the lawn care business) when there is nothing growing!   He has no plan for what he will do over the winter months.  There are several options and he is praying for some new options.  We’ll see what happens.

This week we made another thrift store run.  Rissy and Annamarie have very little to wear for winter, especially to church.  To say they’ve rapidly grown and changed in their appearance (in a big way), is an understatement.  These are young pre-teens – not little children.  It’s always interesting (to me) to watch what they choose to wear, without my help.  I see definite and different personalities in them.  They don’t always get what they choose, but I try to work with their uniqueness and our desire for them to be modest.  They all got boots this year (Rissy got two pair) and are leaning toward some current fashion trends (big tops with straight skirts).  AND, the skirts are shorter than they’ve ever been.  We’re allowing the shorter skirt length IF THEY WEAR TIGHTS under them.  This was a compromise where we could all agreed.

                      
                      Hummm?  Is it just me, or does it look like someone took a few bites,
                                               or poked a finger tip 3 times into
                     this pumpkin?  I didn’t see the marks until I pasted this picture here!!!

Rissy is liking the new 60″ scarves, boots of all kind, and fashion belts.  Adrienne (Luci) loves hats and she is one person who can wear a hat . . . ANY hat.  They all look good on her.  With Adrienne, if it screams “BLING” she loves it!  I find myself putting MANY of her choices back on the store’s shelves!  If I let her, she would wear the biggest and most sparkly fake diamonds she could find and would be dripping in them!  Annamarie continues to be conservative and like darker colors.  Other than navy and black, she picks different shades of gray, eggplant purples, and dark aquas; and, they all look great on her.

We’re trying something new this year.  I’m looking for a pretty basket to put in the foyer and keep all of the children’s gloves in it.  There are 4 or 5 pair of plain black, then many, MANY different styles and colors.  I think there is over a dozen different pairs.  I told them first come, first served.  NO arguing over gloves.  They are to be put back when they get home and rotated so each girls gets a turn at the purple one with the crazy red swirls!  We’ll see how long they are able to share and be fair!

That’s seems to be all of the news for the week.  Maybe next time I can take pictures of my girls instead of pictures of 92 million pumpkins!

Be Blessed  ~ 

A new keyboard arrived and I no longer have “r” issues!!!!!

The cast came off and I was given a prescription for some type of anti inflammatory for bursitis that has settled into the injured areas. 

I’ve chiseled away at my closet project and it’s near completion.

                   
                                                                   Before

Thanks to the help of THESE

The wasted space above my hangers has now been made more useful.

                                                   
                                                                                  After

I really like the colors of black, white, and shocking pink together.  Having colors I enjoy, makes  the project of the neat, tidy boxes even more appealing to look at.  

I have to post the before and after pictures, for the full effect!!!

                                        
                                                     Ugly shelves BEFORE
                                   All of these things are now in boxes or in the trash!

That stuff is what is in the pretty boxes up high.  I keep a small step stool in my closet.
 

                                                   
                                                            THESE shelves, now look like

                       
                   THESE  Shelves                                                 AFTER  

                  Can you see my hanging bag of shoes to the left of the shelves?

MY short sleeve and long sleeve t-shirts are in two piles, now, and on two shelves.

                              
                                                                 Short sleeves T-shirts

                                                             
                                                                                   Long sleeve t-shirts. 

                    
Not only does my closet look tidy, but my sweaters aren’t cramped on the rod and getting hanger bumps in the shoulders!  They and my t-shirts are neatly folded on the white shelves.

                                               
                                               The sweaters are light weight on one shelf
                                                      to heavy weight on the shelf below.

And, the cardigan sweaters are hung on the rod with heavy, thick hangers that should, hopefully, prevent hanger pokes!

I need to work on folding the sweaters a little more narrow so there is room for two piles on each shelf.  But, at least they are easy to get to and sorted by weight.

A couple more projects for the future are:

*   Clean off the top of the refrigerator
*  Clean the linen shelf in the indoor pantry.  I’m sure many things can be thrown away!
*  Clean the hall linen and medicine closet
*  Clean the formal linen and seasonal crafts closet in Rissy’s room
*  Sort my pictures (already in bags, sorted by the year) & put in photo albums
*  Take old, old, OLD files from inside desk file drawers and move to outside file cabinets.

I’m sure many other things will pop up, but that’s a good enough list to keep me busy for a while!

Be Blessed  ~

Granted Little Bit (his real name) is known as, “Mommy’s Little Puppy,”  there are still some things you shouldn’t do to a puppy -

whether he is a boy puppy,  “Mommy’s Little Puppy,” or whatever!

                            
                                     You just DON’T DO SOME THINGS TO A PUPPY!

And, *I* didn’t do this to my puppy, but the three little girls did!!!!

                                          ************************************************************

Not one to be without a project, I have grown tired of looking at the mess in my closet. 

My things are all in baskets of various sizes and I can find everything fairly easily,

but, the shelves look cluttered, I think I could do better, AND I’ve found some unused space.  

                
I’ve color coded my clothes (that comes from years of working in retail clothing stores!).

                                 
                                          The skirts (other than the denim skirts) are light to dark
                                          as are a few dresses, and my shoes are in a hanging bag.

                  
                                         The shirts (camisoles to long sleeved blouses/shirts) hang light to dark.

                                               
                                                                As you can see, there isn’t much room left
                                                                 except for some space on the lower rack.
                                                                      AND, a long shelf above the shirts.

I put a Rubbermaid drawer organizer in the closet to hold my underwear, and I LOVE having those things next to my clothes.  When we first moved here, I hated having to go back into the bedroom to the dresser, because I forgot to bring my underwear with me when I bathed. 

My dirty clothes basket is next to the drawers, on top of a box full of gifts I keep on hand.

So, I began to think about some new possibilities.

What *IF* I cleared out most of the built-in shelves and put those things in attractive boxes on a high shelf (above my clothes)????

I could stack the boxes one on top of another and still reach them when necessary.

THEN, I could use the built in shelves for my winter sweaters.  They’d be folded and not hung!

No more hanger marks or dents in the shoulders of my sweaters!

No more crowded winter clothing rods (sweaters take more room that thinner summer shirts),

                         
                                                 AND, beautiful boxes to look at,
                                    instead of baskets of this, that, and the other thing.

I bought these photograph boxes at a craft store for a total of $20.00.  One end has an opening you can use to label the stuff you have in each box.

Right now, my things are in ziploc bags that make it easy to see the contents.  Contents like:  the claw clips for my hair, make up I don’t use often, lipstick and chapstick refills, different scented soaps, nail files, etc.  Those things aren’t used on a daily basis and would be perfectly happy up high on a shelf.

Even though the weather isn’t cold enough to wear sweaters each day, I’m getting that nesting instinct that makes me want to fluff the nest before the cold weather begins!

Now I’m accountable to everyone.  I WILL get this new project off the ground

and soon!

Be Blessed  ~

                                          
                                               (As each person arrived, a picture was taken.)

So, back to the topic of fall . . .

I have been trying to exercise patience, regarding the arrival of fall.

I admit, my patience is wearing thin!   

We had a tease of fall weather last week, but today we reached the low 90s again!  

I ended school early, today, and Jesse took us to lunch (McDonald’s) and grocery shopping.  It was good to be out of the house, but I have to admit – my 3/4 length t-shirt made me too hot.  After shopping, my neck was drenched in perspiration.  I was grateful for the a/c in the Suburban! 

I still haven’t received word about the results of my MRI, done last Wednesday.  I guess if the results were something really serious, I would have heard from someone sooner.  I called today and a recording said the doctor’s office was closed.  ? ? ?  I can’t imagine why.   

                           
                                      Valerie is wearing black & white. We met in Jr. High.
                                          We’ve remained close ever since we graduated.
                                                   Barbara is standing.  We met in H.S.
                                             Babara is battling cancer, multiple myeloma.
                                                       Please pray for her comfort.

I continue to lug around my 92 million pound walking cast.  I’m wearing my thrift store shoes (well . . .  “shoe”!!) on my left foot and the cast on the right!  I guess the two pairs of $4.00 thrift store shoes has turned into a wise investment!  And I bought wisely, too, a black pair and a brown pair with 1.5″ heels. 

My foot bothered me more today than it has in a long while.  I didn’t do anything particularly strenuous, but I have had a shooting pain that runs across the base of my toes and a bit of a pain on the outside of my ankle.  I came home and laid down for a while with my foot up.

I’d like to say it’s old age and the aches & pains are because a cold front is getting ready to blow into Oklahoma, but I would be a liar!  Something isn’t right and it’s still tender.

As you can see, I finally edited a few more pictures from my class reunion.  If I don’t post them soon, another ten or twenty years will fly by and everyone will look older . . . AGAIN!!!

                             
                                                                    Same people in a less comical photo.

I really can’t remember what I wrote in the past blogs about the H.S. reunion, but one thing I noticed . . .

There isn’t a distinction, like there once was, between the beautiful people, or the nicest dressed, or the most talented, OR the “most likely to succeed.”  There was a sort of “level playing field” at this reunion.  All of us had to squint to see the high school yearbook’s senior picture on our name tags (to find out who we “used to be”!!  LOL!!!) and many had to pull reading glasses out to see better!    

Even when asked how to pronounce our new last names, many people also cupped their hand behind their ear and leaned closer to say, “What?  I’m sorry!  The music is so loud, I can’t hear a thing!  Isn’t this music awful?  It’s SO LOUD!!!!!!!!!!!”

Yep!  That is the 58 year old version of us!  

                                 
                           The gal with the blue blouse was one of the 2 ladies who planned this event.
                       Lee and Carin keep the group together and, somehow, know how to find most of us!

Yes, we were all the same age.  All the same age and in one room.

It took a while for the fact we were all 58 (or close to it) to sink in. 

One guy I talked with said, “Well, let’s see . . . you were born in 1953, so that would mean . . . “  his voice trailed off in my brain as I wondered, “Now, how in the world does he know what year I was born?  I can’t believe he remembers the year I was born!!!”   

Then, the fact dawned on me (once more), “Oh yeah!  Everyone in this room was born in 1953.  We’re *ALL* 58 years old!”

                                  
                                                   I don’t think I met Linda until my senior year. 
                                                           We were in drama classes together.

True, I’m a bit slow and, more likely than not, everyone else wasn’t as slow to process the fact: we have all become our parents! 

Even worse, we are our parents’ ages – RIGHT BEFORE THEY RETIRED!!!!!!!!!  

                              
                                               I believe Ralph and I were in drama all 4 years.
                                    He was the one that really nudged me into going to this reunion.
                                         I told him repeatedly, “Thanks for making me go to this!”

I’m still stumbling along with my “r” less keyboard.  Jesse has ordered a new one, and I AM patiently waiting for it to arrive.  Yes, I *am* being patient about the keyboard!  I’m just getting antsy for fall. 

            
                                                        This is my favorite picture.
                                          Me, with my two closest friends from high school. 
                                    Valerie (blk/wht dress) and Janell (black & white stripes)
                      Janell and I sat together in Freshman English and she taught me how to draw!

Last night, I went to a great party hosted by the C.O.C. church group (the church I usually go to on Wed. nights).

It was a “Ladies Night Out” party, and we were supposed to wear pink.  Many of the younger girls don’t dress in pink (not a problem for me!!!) and they came up with “creative” costumes/attire.  The girl who won “the most pink award even had on a shocking pink wig with a pink flower pinned in it.  TOO CUTE!!!! 

We played a terrific party game – an ice breaker game to get to know each other better.  The hostess passed around a large container of pink colored candies with a scoop.  She gave us a paper cup and said, “Take as much as you want, but at least take one piece.” 

After we had our candy (I had 31 pieces!!!), we were asked to tell something about ourselves for each piece of candy we had taken. 

Me, being the talker I am, didn’t have a problem plopping my candy back in the cup with a short fact about myself.    

Some of the stories were hilarious.  We all laughed so hard and I think everyone had a really good time.  I don’t usually go to things with groups of women, but I thoroughly enjoyed myself at this one.  AND . . . I got to sit next to one of my favorite people — Emily! 

I will end this here, as I am constantly having to double back to hit the keys that my clackety clack fingers are failing to hit!

Be Blessed  ~

I’m still without the letter “r” and several other “hard to work keys” (like the   ”   key, I just found out doesn’t want to work), so this will be a picture post of my family in CA.

I’ll only type a few captions or explanations.

“WE” need to shake loose of some money around here (hint! hint!) and buy a new keyboard!

               
                                     Brother in law Bruce; nephew Griffin, and Griffin’s girlfriend Lauren.

I love Lauren.  She baked these darling cut out cookies and I raved about how good they were.  Each day she came to see Griffin (I think EVERY day I was there), she brought more cookies!  Yum!

          
                                                        Me with the same couple!

My two brothers – Bill and Rich.  Bill is 2 years younger than me and Rich is the adorable “baby” of the family.

                                                    
                                              Brother Bill’s son Trevor and Trevor’s youngest son.

            
                         Trevor (my nephew) is about the same age as my oldest daughter, Stephanie.

           
                                                     Brother Bill, me, and brother Rich.
                 Our sister, Nancy, took these pics and she’s  (ummmm) vertically challenged (short) !!!!!!!!!
                                        That’s why you can see up our noses so well LOL!!!!!!!! 

            
                       Our oldest sister Penelope, sister in law (Bill’s) Kerin, and our youngest sister Nancy.

           
                                       Oldest sister Penelope, me, and sister in law Kerin.

        
                                   Penelope’s husband (my bil) Michael, me, and nephew Trevor.
             We were waiting for Michael to smile and my sister said, “He NEVER smiles in pictures.”
                I think my clowning around might have produced an itty bitty smile, don’t you think?!

                                           
                                                     The “always serious” bil Michael.

 
           
                        Nancy’s youngest son, my nephew, Miles with my great nephews (Trevor’s boys).
                                              Caught with my mouth open – as always!!!

Remember my huge lemon picture I posted last time?  They’re from Nancy’s backyard lemon tree.

                 Not to be out done, brother Bill produced the world’s smallest cherry tomatoes!

                        
                                            And they were fully ripe and very sweet! 
                                   We had a good laugh about our family’s green thumbs!
                              And the fact, I kill everything that I own, except silk plants!
          

And, that’s what I love about our family.  There is a bond of love between us all and many, MANY moments of laughing and just kidding around!!

  
                              Brother Bill and brother in law Bruce, Nancy’s husband.

Nancy and  Bruce, thanks so much for letting me stay at your house and making me feel at home.  You are wonderful parents and have the nicest boys.  Your family is awesome!

Thanks for the Saturday mini-family reunion.  It was so good to see everyone in the same room as myself.  Eight years away from home was too long!

There you have, my dear friends.  This the FAMILY Portion of my trip.

Next time, I will post some of the pictures from the high school reunion activities.

Be blessed  ~

I don’t have as much time as I would like to tell about all the details, but I’ll try to soon post all the fun stuff.

I stayed with my youngest sister, Nancy.  She took me to my old house (a house belonging to my bio-parents) and I was in awe of the tall hills.  Not much has changed with the house except it used to be pale yellow, and the cement steps from the driveway to front porch are new.  AND, we never left up Christmas lights, nor did we ever put up ANY Christmas lights.  That is the new owner’s creative addition to the house! 

I’ve been in Oklahoma long enough to be impressed with the hilly area I once called home.  To think I walked those streets to and from school.  I’d NEVER be able to do that now, not without a vigrous bodybuilding work out a few weeks prior to the attempt.

               
She took me to the old high school, just down the hill and around the corner from my old house.  They’ve given it a fantastic face lift.  It used to look like a gray penitentiary and the new color and softened, curved, additional buildings give it a nicer look.

The theater, band room, and choir room used to be small, small, small.  It was called the little theater because it only seated about 200 people.  The building is now a 2 story building that includes art rooms and the theater is a “state of the art,” super hi-tech theater.  I couldn’t get inside the building, but Nancy took my picture in ftont of the huge oak tree by the theater.   When the school was built in the late ’50s, they poured the road around the tree to preserve it.

Nancy’s yard was awesome.  Everything was green.  The front yard has a variety of different colored rose bushes (trees) to divide their property from the neighbor’s front yard.  I didn’t get any pictures of that, but the sidewalk to the front door is so fragrant.

                
When you go out the back door, to the backyard, there is a lemon tree (tall) directly ahead of you.  I had forgotten about it and saw green balls on my first glance.

Then I saw the HUGE lemons.  We NEVER see lemons like that in Oklahoma.  One lemon was larger than my hand could grasp.

She also had a lovely arbor and bench with a grape vine curving up and over it. 

As Nancy & husband Bruce tied up the newest growing branches, I saw clusters of grapes under the leaves – the grapes the birds hadn’t found. 

They were still sour and not ready for picking, but she held a large cluster for me to take my picture.  It looks like a picture for a vineyard, doesn’t it?
 

The pictures were taken Saturday morning.

In the afternoon, Nancy and Bruce had the family over (they live scattered throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and my Mom & oldest sister are closer to Lake Tahoe) to visit me (a mini family reunion) and it was so good to just be in the room breathing the same air as my family. 

           
                                                        (My mom and sister-in-law Kerin)

I’ll gave to tell more later.  I MUST get ready for school.  No time to proof this.  Still h having trouble with the keyboard keys sticking and not typing some letters.  Trusting you get the drift of this message!

Be Blessed  ~ 

I’m still having typing keyboard issues, so excuse missing letters.  I try to go back and catch the errors, but it’s a pain to do so. 

Someday soon, I will get the rest of my pictures posted about JanaLyn’s 8th Bithday and Luci’s 9th.  Luci, has informed us she wants to be called Adrienne, now that she is older.  I’m the one who picked out the name of Adrienne, and I think it’s beautiful name that fits her, but it’s the hardest thing to retrain my brain to say it!

                        
                              Stephanie (our oldest) with 8 year old daughter, JanaLyn.

I’m leaving for my 40th High School Reunion, this week.   The more and more I see the list of name sof high school friends who are attending, the more excited I’ve become.  I talked with a friend in California, this afternoon, and she admitted to being as excited as me.

Then, MY FAMILY!!!!! 

To be able to see my mom, sisters, and brothers in person and IN THE SAME ROOM AS ME!!! is just the most awesome feeling.  I keep thinking, “I’ll really be there with them – in flesh and blood!!!”  I’ve already warned my mom there will be lots of hugs! 

        
                                               (Luci’s Adrienne’s new hat.  She loved it!)

I am very happy to report that Chirper is doing so much better.   I took him to the vet yesterday, some issues with his urine not looking right, and found that he had too much protein in his urine, but most likely, it isn’t kidney failure.   The vet wrote a prescription diet and sent me to PetSmart.  We’ll be adding that to his already “new diet” from when I did whatever I could to mix up something appetizing that he would eat.

He still weighs 2 pounds less than he did before he got sick, but he’s definitely wanting to eat.  He follows anyone into the kitchen and begs for something to eat!  We’ve limited him to breakfast and dinner with two snacks mid morning and at bedtime.

We don’t want to end up with a Fat Cat!!!

Please pray for safe travels for me.  I’m flying to San Francisco and back.  I’m renting a compact car (should be interesting after driving a Suburban!!!), and have a few visits with friends I want to make.   Other than that,  I really want to stay close to home, not wear myself out, and just enjoy being so close to everyone and everywhere I grew up!  I’m taking an older camera.  Jesse said my new one was too expensive to take, and I’ve tried to relearn how to use the older one, so hopefully I will have beautiful pictures to share!!!

Went to the doctor on Monday to get another shot in my big toe joint (where there is a small bone spur).  It has already helped.  BUT, he gave me to steroid shots in my neck and one in my shoulder blade – trying to beakdown the muscles spasm in those areas.  My two neck injection sites hurt pretty bad.  Worse than before I went in!  I know the medicine has to have a chance to work and the bruising from the needle needs to heal – so hopefully in a few days, I’ll be good as new!  I’m taking wide, comfortable, and “practical” shoes with me!

I shipped a box of clothing via USPS and will take a VERY small suitcase with wheels and a long handle (that retracts) to check in under the plane.  My carry on bag has my pills, camera, book to read, and some H.S. work I need to finish by next week, when our H.S. starts again.  I just have to tweak the spelling/vocabulary lessons.  I bet I’ll be grateful for that time on the airplane with nothing to do!  Besides my purse, that’s all that goes to my seat with me!

I’ll soon be back home and let you know how I fared in a room full of 58 year olds!  Doesn’t that just make me sound as old as the hills?!!!

Be Blessed  ~