Starlight N Campfires

So Much has happened

2011-09-14T20:52:00.004-04:00

I know, it been literally months and months since I've written on here. In the meantime we've had Diana, Trisha, my Dad, Danny, Amber, Brian, Pop, Daniel, Emma, Elizabeth, Matthew, Jules, Colby,Leslie, me, Hunter, and Felicia all turn a year older. We celebrated Memorial Day, 4th of July and Labor Day. We've had snow, rain, then a drought, the remnant of Tropical Storm Lee that was supposed to give us over 10" of rain..we got 2" instead. I looked at and fell in love with a beautiful home that I was hoping we could get, but unfortunately we couldn't. Ladybug is 2 and still living in the front yard, Paws had a set of kittens, and 1 disappeared, leaving Sylvester, (or Manson and Fuzz calls him), and Whiskers, and Fuzz found a kitten at Waffle House that he ended up bringing home and named him....Waffles! Striper is no longer with us, nor is Kitt...we have no clue where they are. Dixie stays in the house with us and Hurricane and Raskull and Smackie are outside...waaay too wild to live in the house! Amber, Brian, and Patrick all have cars...Amber's is a 1998 Pontiac Grand Prix Supercharge, Patrick's is a 1998 Mercury Sable, and Brian has a 2000 Ford Ranger that has a blue and red theme like Superman. I'll be sure and keep up the blog more than what I have.....

Happy 19th Birthday Patrick!!!!!!!!!!!!

2011-01-11T21:27:00.002-05:00

I know you didn't quite get the birthday you were hoping for. You did get your strawberry cheesecake, but the presents were kind of lacking. I should've thought more about it before the snowstorm came so I could've went out and got you things. While I was making your cheesecake this afternoon, I thought a lot about from the time you were born until now. So many things went through my head. How you would sit in my lap watching M*A*S*H* with me, you used to love that show, followed by The Jeffersons, and then All In The Family. How we got the giggles over the Hunter-Douglas ceiling fan commercial and the Burger King Commercial. The Lego buildings we would build. Later on it was you going to school, and the time when the asst. principal came to pick you up from the house because you "missed the bus yet again" when I was 45 miles away at work. Your science fair projects that I "helped" you make....I love getting good grades!!!!! (I think the 2 best was The Bermuda Triangle and Altantis...although, no one expected the aquarium to spring a leak and me have to hurry and drive to the school to empty it before it all emptied on the floor!) You are full of energy, that's something that never changed...whether it was fighting with your brother and sister, skateboarding, jumping on the trampoline in a dog cage with Brian, swinging off the doll house on palm fronds, playing war with water guns on the doll house roof with Brian, or doing "recon" around the "premises" with Brian in your camo outfit. You didn't give me a lot of problems when you were little and you don't give me a lot now. Your music I tolerate, but it still makes me want to kill someone....you're an awesome guitarist, and as a person in general, you're one of the most gentlest and compassionate people I know. I know that for lunch or supper on any given day you'll eat Cheddar Explosion Mac & Cheese or potatoes, gravy, and biscuits or pizza, although when you were little it was PB&J!

I love you Patrick...always stay the way you are. Never let anyone change you, except if you think it's for the better.

Happy 19th Birthday! We all love you very much!

Major Snowstorm

2011-01-10T16:53:00.002-05:00

When it comes to snow, it's like my inner child has hit pay dirt. I stay on the blogs, watch models, (what little I know about them), listen to the pro's and hope like heck that it comes to fruition what we're hoping for and that the real thing doesn't shift north or south because it will either give us freezing rain, ice, and rain, or it could give us nothing. Up until the night of the storm, it was predicted to give us 1-4", depending on who you listened to out of Atlanta. I was reading the blog by Andy Wood out of South Carolina and he was saying more than that. I had the news on, and Atlanta was getting pounded by heavy snow, and I was getting really jealous. I went outside and saw the first few flakes and ran into get Amber, who came outside and told me to come get her when it "really started snowing." Well, I decided while I was waiting to straighten up the porch, which included putting the lights I didn't get to use for Christmas away, sweeping off the porch that had the left over pine needles and small stems from the Christmas tree, and rolling up the extension cord. When I was done, still nothing by a stray flake or two and I came inside to look on the blog and radar...showed a heavy swath of snow coming through, so I went back out. About 10 minutes later the wind picked up and the snow came in. I called Amber out who promptly went back inside. It was snowing really hard..sometimes straight down, sometimes sideways when the wind would pick up. I came in after 15 minutes and there was about 1/10" of snow on the rails. After an hour I looked outside and we had 3". I went to bed hoping for a foot, (that's what was being said on some of the blogs). Around 4:30 AM I couldn't sleep so I came back out and looked outside...didn't see it snowing, but we had 8" sitting on the ground...so beautiful. Ladybug was not too happy...she had a coating of snow on her and was standing up. On radar a couple of hours later I see we are in a slot of dry air...like the snow was coming to us and was hitting a brick wall...we kept getting flurries off and on. Amber and I took a walk, I made a snowman, wrote in the snow, and climbed up the back way home, only to fall down twice at the top until I got my strength and held onto the dogs cage. Amber decided to record it. The snow has a layer of ice on top where it rained lightly and ended up as freezing rain. No snowman this time here. Maybe next!

Happy New Year!!!!!

2011-01-01T02:09:00.001-05:00

Good-bye 2010, Hello 2011! I sat and watch the last 45 seconds of the old year slip away on the couch. As the new year rang in, tears slipped down my face as I recalled the good times and the bad times throughout the year. The worst, my mother-in-law passed away...the best, Danny was found to not have anything really wrong with him that doctors could find. So many memories of in between. All the kids have jobs, I have a ceramics shop, Danny has plenty to do to keep busy. We all wish we could be with family more, and I was grateful to have my best friend, her husband, and kids come up and spend a few days with us and my stepmom and little brother Matthew came up a few days after they left and spent the day while they were going to see her Mom. I miss my Mom and Dad, and it's going to be somewhat of a hardship when I go to visit family in FL now because my Mom moved back to Ohio in August. It will be strange to say the least.

My goals this year.....#1 Get into shape. #2 Get my ceramics shop up and going. #3 Make sure my family stays healthy and happy....not getting off so far into the healthy bit as we're all going into the new year sick! #4 Hope that my children all have healthy relationships!

May God Bless all of us this upcoming year!

Henry IV The Snowman Returns

2010-12-26T22:56:00.001-05:00

Well, Amber and I knew we had to build this snowman! We had a lot of snow to do it with, but it was harder than what we thought. Powdered snow, wet snow, snow with ice on bottom. All in all, we did a bang up job. Danny helped shovel the snow into a bucket, Amber would bring it over and dump it by the snowman, then I'd pack it. Not the best way to do the snowman, but it worked. Isn't Henry IV just adorable? I also think that the view is gorgeous too from the yard!

Merry Christmas!!!!!!

2010-12-25T23:58:00.003-05:00

We had a blessing for Christmas. We had all of our family home, we were happy, and we had fun. Santa didn't get into bed until late for a couple of reasons. #1) She was putting out presents around the tree that she waited AGAIN, until the last minute to wrap. #2) She was trying to figure out how to keep the stockings from getting too hot above the fireplace and not melting the chocolate inside. #3) She was busy watching the models on the computer to see if it was really going to snow! Snow in the south in the winter is hard enough to get, but this was even harder. It was like threading a needle and it had to be just right. I woke up Christmas morning and it was indeed snowing. All day long, from tiny snowflakes to big ones, slow meandering flakes to fast and furious coming down. As I got the turkey ready to roast, cleaned up the mess in the living room from opening the gifts and calling friends and family, I marvelled at just how beautiful it was. Amber, Brian, and Patrick went into town to Waffle House and had a supper there because, as they put it, "We were starving!", then they got home just as supper was being served. Of course Brian had to park a couple of houses up from us because he couldn't get into the driveway and back out again! Again, 4 wheel drive came in handy!

I think Hurricane was a little upset because all of her toys were chewed up!

A Visit With Santa at Zaxby's.

2010-12-18T23:52:00.001-05:00

Santa came to town, to Zaxby's. We went there and Amber had to have her pic taken, talked Patrick into getting one taken with her too, but then Santa decided he wanted me to have his pic taken with him too. As it's been pointed out...I took special liberties with Santa by having my hand on his leg!

First Snow!

2010-12-15T20:38:00.003-05:00

We knew it was coming, knew it wouldn't be much, but it was still pretty to watch coming down. The bad part was after the snow came, the rain came, then it was slushy, then it went below freezing, snowed some more. We ended up with a total of 8", which 2" melted off throughout the day, and ice underneath that. It was tricky getting out of the driveway! Thank goodness for 4 wheel drive! When Zaxby's opened back up and Amber could go back to work, she took some pics of the frozen pond and the place where she calls..."The Cave of Eternal Darkness".

Christmas Tree is up!

2010-11-29T00:16:00.001-05:00

It took a couple of days to get the tree up, due to me not feeling well, and then the boys not feeling well. As usual, I get the tree in the holder, tighten all the screws into the tree trunk until they won't turn anymore, and the tree still leans to the front. Never fails! So I spin the tree around to where it's leaning more into the wall. The boys stayed in their room while Amber and I decorated it. I think it turned out pretty well. I'm still missing a lot of ornaments, but I know they're around somewhere...knowing me I'll find it when I put them away.

R.I.P Mom Dowdal 5/4/32-11/26/10

2010-11-28T19:59:00.003-05:00

It is with great sadness I say good-bye to Danny's Mom. She passed away on Thanksgiving Day. Mom was a pistol. Had a great sense of humor, a way to hold a grudge, always spoke her mind, and had such a capacity for love. She loved her children and grandchildren and great grandchildren. No one was prepared here for her to pass away so suddenly. She had Alzheimer's Disease, and we knew she was getting worse and worse a little at a time as the days went by. She had a really bad spell in August and no one that she would make it, but she pulled through, and, like a miracle, came out stronger, it seemed. Pop called a few days before Thanksgiving and when Danny asked about his Mom, was told by Pop that she was doing good. Mom went to sleep on Thanksgiving and died peacefully as she slept. I'm glad she didn't suffer, but instead left a family that is suffering instead. Pop called us tonight and told Danny what happened. Her children, grandchildren, and greatgrandchildren will always love her, remember her, and wish she was here. We'll know that she is looking down instead and we'll try to take comfort it that.

Rest In Peace, Mom. We love you very much!

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-26T18:30:00.000-05:00

Wednesday started out with me baking, baking, and more baking. Found out I forgot a lot of things I needed and ended up at WalMart so much I'm surprised they didn't me for stalking! Anyhow, had 14 dozen cookies done and went off to bed at 1:45 a.m. Thanksgiving started out with Danny doing some things and me getting the turkey ready. I figured out the times for the turkey and the ham to get in the oven, so I spiced the turkey and got it in. In the meantime with that cooking, I made a panful of chocolate fudge...(so yummy), washed everything up, and started peeling apples. They didn't have the apples I normally use, so I used a combination of Gala and Pink Ladies. I finally rolled out the dough to where it didn't tear, for the first time ever, and put it aside, peeled potatoes and got them in a pot, had the ham in and kept checking the turkey. I don't care what the heating times say, 3 1/2 hours for a 14 pound thawed out turkey was not enough....ended up cooking it for 4 1/4 hours. Everything turned out great. Took some of our feast to our friend of ours and came back home, and cleaned everything up, after I got the strawberry cheesecake for Patrick made. Friday I finished up the banana pudding. The kids and Danny have a lot to choose from, I'll take the cookies and the fudge.

It was a great Thanksgiving!

Getting Ready for Thanksgiving

2010-11-24T00:00:00.003-05:00

Well, the day before Thanksgiving is usually for baking and that's what's gonna be done today. Chocolate cookies with vanilla icing that my Grandma and Dad made....Dad's are the best, by the way, and half of the chocolate cookie batter will get chocolate chips in it...found that out last year when we tried it out with a dozen cookies...they were GREAT! Regular chocolate chip cookies, a white cake, an apple pie, and my banana pudding with nilla wafers, bananas, and marshmallows in it. Hopefully they can all get done tomorrow because I won't have time on Thanksgiving and Friday, if all goes according to plan, will be spent figuring out the working and non working Christmas lights...although I miss my 250,000 light display that I had in Florida, and of course we had to get rid of the Santa and Rudolph display because the thing wasn't working anymore....looked more like Rudolph had a bad back and couldn't pull Santa out of the chimney and Santa looked drunk! We'll cross our fingers that everything goes right!

Serious Business

2010-11-23T22:06:00.004-05:00

Brian was taking pics of himself and decided to take this one of him and labeled it "Serious Business." He came out into the living room and asked me if I thought he looked like he was menacing. He looked at me without the sunglasses and then looked at me with the sunglasses and could be serious without laughing. When I told him that he didn't look serious, he turned around to try again. Three tries later he still couldn't look at me without laughing....but I LOVE the pic!

Veteran's Day

2010-11-11T15:33:00.001-05:00

For those who have given their lives and never came back
For those who have given their lives and have came back
For those who are wounded
For those who are sick
For those who can't remember
We thank you for doing what you do,
For protecting our country and our rights,
For helping others become free

Happy Halloween

2010-10-31T23:58:00.000-04:00

Halloween when the kids were little, consisted of making them wait all day until they could get into their costumes and we'd walk the 1 mile around our neighborhood so they could get their loot of candy. There were a couple of families on the block that waited until the kids came there before they went to bed, and if they didn't come, the people came to the house the next day with the kids' loot! However, when the kids grow up, there's no trick or treating! I spent the evening watching Ghost Hunters Live on the computer hoping to see something, never did, though! Went to pick up Amber, came back but didn't finish watching it, now off to bed. Danny's been at the Haunted Corn maze where he goes every year to scare people....he has fun, and I got to see first hand just how scared the people are coming out of there!

Farm Day

2010-10-30T22:24:00.001-04:00

Farm Day is where people come down to Hillside Orchard Farms and wander through the sorghum mill, the ethanol plant, the store, the gem mine, the corn maze, walk through the barnyard or have the hayride take you on a tour, go through the vendors that have stuff there, listen to the music that the live band had going on and eat at the cafe if you wanted to. This year I had my ceramics there at the old blacksmith's shop. People came and looked, interested in what they looked like. Really cold to start out, warm in the afternoon, and chilly again that evening. Danny and I did get to have a picture together that Amber took, and then one of me. Amber had fun with different poses with the big plastic people! Later that evening Danny went to the Haunted Corn Maze with me along for the laughs. He looks kinda scary!

Taking in the Fall View at Black Rock

2010-10-15T20:19:00.006-04:00

Amber and I took our yearly fall trek to Black Rock, hoping to see more fall color than what we did. We had fun, took pictures, looked down at the towns below us and talked about how we would like to have a home to where we can overlook places like this. Here's our pics....and we would've had more if Amber's camera/phone didn't die on us!

Tammy sitting by Henrietta

Me N Amber looking good!

Another one of us with sun filtering through.

Looking down at Mountain City, Clayton, and Tiger.

Another view overlooking everything.

Gorgeous view of mountaintops.

Another sun soaked view of Amber and me.

Me and Henrietta again.

Just relaxing on the hay.

My stand alone pose.

Amber's stand alone pose with Henrietta.

Amber sitting beside Henrietta.

Getting the Last of the Business

2010-09-13T13:43:00.001-04:00

Since we had left a good share of molds behind along with the L shaped pouring table, we knew we had to go back for a second load. We went ahead and scheduled it for 9/11 and took Amber, Patrick and Patrick's friend John. Let's just say Patrick and John were really sick when we got there, but they worked hard. We left, loaded everything up, came back, all in a little over 13 hours. We ended up with over 1500 molds, and we still have to go through all the ones we brought home and get them organized, but we will. Here's some pics of what we have.

Happy 1st Birthday Hunter

2010-08-31T15:05:00.001-04:00

Happy Birthday to our precious grandson. Such a handsome little boy and full of energy. We're very lucky to have him in our family!

We love you Hunter!

Happy Birthday To MEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!

2010-08-18T23:47:00.001-04:00

It's been a long day, but it's my birthday! I started out cleaning out a UHaul truck, taking it back to the dealer, running errands and coming back home to do things. I was going to bake a cake, but decided against it. The FIRST year I never baked one for myself. Kind of made me sad, actually. Spent the day sitting outside and getting some sun while reading a book, cleaning up and taking a long hot shower, where I realized that I'm slowly getting older and that I really don't have a choice! The kids told me Happy Birthday along with Danny and then went to bed.

A New Business

2010-08-18T00:43:00.001-04:00

So Danny was talking about him dying tonight. What we would do if he wasn't here. How we would support ourselves, how we would bring in money. He asked what I like to do. Well, instead of giving him a long list, I narrowed it down...I loved writing, although it's been a no money maker, I wanted to become a Real Estate Agent, but in today's economy, that's not a good idea, so came my last and final idea...I loved and missed doing ceramics, like I did back in Florida. Danny told me to look on the computer for kiln prices and I ended up finding an entire business that a couple was selling. We called them, agreed on a price, and said we would send them the money and then we'd figure out when we could get up there to get the business...oh, yeah, the business was in Tennessee and we had to pick it up. There was 2 kilns, a pouring table, another large pouring table that was an L shape, tools, paints, glazes, brushes, greenware, bisqueware, shelving units, and molds, about 600, give or take a little. Danny and I talked about it and called up his friend and talked to him and decided we would leave Monday Morning early, get to Tennessee, pick up the UHaul, load everything up and be back home by Monday night. Well, Sunday I went on Google Earth and got directions for everything, wrote down phone numbers and Monday morning, we were on our way. We picked up the UHaul, and that's when things went downhill a little. We were told the driveway was steep. It was, downhill! Their ceramics shop was in the basement of their home and when we walked in it was utter amazement! We carried molds up the stairs, outside, stacked them in Danny's friend's truck, drove them up the steep driveway and then stacked them on the shelving units in the truck that we took apart and reassembled. Halfway through the truck started leaning to one side, so we turned the UHaul around and started loading the same way on the other side, along with the kilns. As it became dark, we decided to stay the night at the local Motel 8 and start the next morning again. We finished as much as we could, telling the couple that we would be back up in a month or two to get the rest. We started driving off and the kids were terrified of me in the UHaul as it kept swaying back and forth around turns, looking like it was going to flip over anytime. We had so much packed into the UHaul that it usually has a 12'10" clearance and we went under a 10'10" bridge clearance and BARELY passed under. (Amber took a video, but I can't post it for some reason!) We got home and, after checking the animals, went to the storage unit we ended up getting and unloaded it. It took 2 days to load and 4 hrs. and 10 minutes to unload. We finally came home and I called the couple to let them know we made it okay and that 1 mold was broken. We told them that we would keep in contact, but it would be a little while before we could come back. I happened to glance at the clock as I hung up with them. 12:03 AM on my birthday! What a great present! I can't wait to get into all the boxes and start painting. We ended up coming up with a name....All Fired Up Ceramics and Pottery Shop. Brian kept wanting to add Emporium to the name....NOT! I just hope this venture turns out okay!

Good-bye Perpetual Sunshine....Hello Changing Seasons!

2010-08-14T12:29:00.001-04:00

My mom decided when we first moved to Florida in 1980 that she didn't like it. She wanted to move back right away, but she couldn't. Through the years of heat waves, hurricane threats, severe thunderstorms, tornado watches, she still didn't like it, although, at times it seemed like she did. She missed the changing seasons almost as much as I did, she missed her family back home, which she told me time and time again after I moved to GA from the land of Perpetual Sunshine. She told me earlier in the year that she was going to be moving back home and I thought it was a joke, but it was real enought alright! She ended up moving to within a few miles of all 3 of her sisters, and she loves it up there. Although, she's not going to have to worry about hurricanes now, she's going to have to worry about windstorms and blizzards...which I love too!

Happy Birthday Leslie!

2010-08-10T07:00:00.001-04:00

Wishing you Happy Birthday wishes from across the miles...I know, sounds like a card, doesn't it? At one time I thought I could write for a card company, but those thoughts had holes shot in them really quick!!! Back to your birthday wishes though....I hope that everything you wish for, your hopes and dreams, even your fantasies come true this year. You deserve everything you want...you're a very special lady!

Happy Birthday Leslie....I love you very much!

Little Spades

2010-08-09T20:01:00.007-04:00

This is Danny and Spades. Spades is from Dixie's last litter of puppies. I'm saying last litter because we have to get her fixed. He was born on the day Leslie and Matthew came up here. Danny's thinking about keeping him, but doesn't know yet.

Happy Anniversary Mom & Pop

2010-08-06T23:48:00.001-04:00

Mom's been sick these last few weeks, and from everything that was said, no one thought she would be getting better. Danny and I hoped at least she would see her anniversary, and she did. Mom & Pop have been married for 61 years. Mom is still really sick, but we're all praying for her recovery, even though it looks slim right now. Miracles are everything, and I won't quit asking for one.

Everyone should be as lucky as to have been married for as long as they have.

Happy Anniversary Mom & Pop. We love you very much!

Leslie & Matthew

2010-07-27T23:34:00.001-04:00

It's been a while since I had seen my stepmom Leslie and my littlest brother Matthew. Although I talk to her often, I love seeing her and I miss Matthew so much. It was great knowing she was planning a trip to see her family and I was hoping they could come here, and she told me that she was going to. I was excited. Kim, Omar, and the kids had left, and I missed everyone, so I was glad they were going to come. While we were waiting on them to get here we found out Dixie had her puppies...9 of them! When they got here we ended up going to the Mall of Georgia, where we had never been before. We walked through the entire mall, had a blast at the Apple Store, wish I had that kind of money to get what they have there! So many things we talked about, and, again, wished I lived back home in Florida...I might have seen her once in a while, but I knew she was close by if I wanted to go see her, Dad, or Matthew. I was sad to see them go, but we did get pics, and she took a family pic of us, one we hadn't had in a long time. Matthew and Leslie, I hope that you come up more often and maybe even bring Dad with you next time!

Jimmy's Birthday

2010-07-23T22:04:00.001-04:00

Today my little brother turned 23!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Although I don't get to see him, I do see his pics. I talk to him when I can, and wish we could spend time together. I hope he knows how much he's loved!

Happy Birthday little brother!!!!!!! May there be many more to come! I love you more than you'll ever know!

Crazy BFF's and Family

2010-07-15T16:47:00.026-04:00

The last time I saw my bestest crazy friend, Kimmenstein, was July of 2009 for about 2 hours. We were at another best friend's son's birthday party. I got to meet Omar there, who I had never met before, and I finally had the chance to hold her little girl Jennifer. We talk on the phone alot, not as much as we'd like, but with work for her, and the kids not giving me messages from her, what can we do? Anyhow earlier in the year she told me that she was going to try and come up after her son was born. I was ecstatic. Since I can't have any more kids, why not spoil hers???? Plans were slowly being made, and all the while, I kept thinking, yeah, there's no way this is really going to happen....something's gonna come up to where she's going to have to call off the trip. A few weeks before she came up, she told me that they were definately coming up, but Omar wasn't sure if he was...first it was yeah, then it was no, then it was yeah, then it was no. Well, in the meantime we had puppies. One of them, Klondike, a little girl, Kim's stepmom and Dad had taken a liking to and said that they wanted to have her and Kim was going to bring her home when they came back from our house...that's when I knew they definately would be coming up here. We figured out a place where she would call and I would go meet her, I was so excited. She finally got here, and we had a blast. Omar was great...the kids and Danny really liked him a lot....and I can say he's like a brother to me. Danny fell in love with the kids....Jennifer was his Princess and James was his Little Buddy. We went to Crow Creek, Stonewall Falls, Hillside Orchard Farms..(they have animals over there), Black Rock in Mountain City, so we could look over Clayton, Mountain City, and Tiger, and see South Carolina to the East of us...didn't think we'd be able to make it there because it was really cloudy and the clouds were obscuring the mountain, but they cleared up....we also went to Tallulah Falls Overlook, and we had a special early birthday celebration for me...complete with Snicker's Cake, Steak, Sweet Hawaiian Bread, and presents! I have to tell you, when they left 2 days later, a part of me went with them...I didn't want them to go. I know it will be a while before I see them again, but we'll just have to revert back to the work schedule and the missed messages from the kids! Here's our adventures!!!!!

Tammy holding Jimmy at Stonewall.

Kim and Patrick

Jennifer, Kim, and Tammy

Kim, Brian, Jennifer, and me

Kim, Jennifer, and Amber

Brian, Kim, and Jennifer

Amber, Kim, and Jennifer

Kim, Amber, Patrick, and, I believe, Omar...they were having fun, lounging and having a couple of drinks.

Kim, Brian, Omar, Patrick and Amber....as you can tell, a good time was being had by all, as the look on Brian's face indicates!

Another bigger view of the same pic.

Tammy with my Snicker's cake at my Early Birthday celebration.

I love Snicker's Cakes!

MMMMMMmmmmmm...can't wait to eat it.

Gonna pick it up and eat it.

Okay....it's back in the box.

Kim and Omar at Black Rock.

Another one of Kim and Omar.

Me and Steven talking.

Amber and I looking beautimous.

Another one of the beautimous mom and daughter.

Carefully, carefully I walk over the rock!

Getting down very slowly.

Getting some sun, but then getting stuck and having Kim help me up!

Look...it's rocks!...Yeah, that was Kim saying it and pointing!

Yep, it's us, the craziest bestest friends!

Don't know why my mouth looks like it does, but we look good!

Gonna help her sit down so she doesn't fall.

Yeah, I was caught getting on the column, but NOT showing that video, but that's why I was laughing.

Kim and Steven.

Steven giving his Momma bunny ears!

Kyle, Amber, and Kim.

Two hot chicks and Kyle.

Overlooking Mountain City, Clayton, and Tiger.

Me holding Jimmy at Stonewall.

Danny itching his back.

Steven, Jimmy, Kim, Omar, and Jennifer at Stonewall. The water and temp there is about 15-20 degrees cooler than what the real temps are.

Amber and Jennifer.

Danny and me holding Jennifer.

Steven and Jennifer near stage at Hillside Orchard Farms.

The crazy best friends again, near the creek at Hillside...one of these days I'm going tubing down that creek!

Steven near the turkeys. And yeah, talking about the animals, not Kim and I!

Steven holding Jennifer.

Amber and Jennifer near the cutout sign that frames the haunted corn maze.

Looking down from the Tallulah Falls Overlook.

Amber and her "special wooden man" at Tallulah Falls.

Steven, Kim, Jennifer, and Omar at Tallulah Falls Overlook.

Jimmy, Jennifer, Amber, and Hurricane who is looking at me.

Jennifer wearing Danny's hat....this is one of his favorite pics of his princess.

Another one of Jennifer and Danny's cowboy hat.

Me holding Jimmy at Crow Creek.

Danny, Tammy the star, Kim, and Jennifer...leaving Crow Creek.

Jennifer wanting to swim some more.

Tammy and Amber

Tammy looking pensive! Is that shark music I hear?

Yeah, me and the water...wanna come in for a swim?

The two bestest craziest friends.

Another one of the crazies.....she's wearing her shades now!

Me and Danny...have no clue what he's doing!

Amber and Danny

Amber and Jennifer.

Boy are Danny and I looking interested....I think I was looking at my hands or feet!

Omar, Jimmy, Jennifer, Kim, and Steven.

Jimmy is not liking the star!

Kimmenstein and Tammenstein sitting on the overlook at Black Rock...behind us is the town of Mountain City, Clayton, and Tiger.

Kyle, Tammy and Kim...I think we look hot...well, us ladies that is!

And me by myself....okay picture, but laughing because Kyle caught me on video climbing up on the rock!

Amber and Jennifer...she looks tired.

Chatooga Fun

2010-07-08T17:52:00.005-04:00

Danny came home from work early today and decided that it was way too hot in the house and we were going to go to the Chatooga River to cool off and swim. Amber was ecstatic...she's always on the lookout to swim, Brian was happy, Patrick decided he wanted to stay home. He informed me he doesn't like the Chatooga River. (The Chatooga River is where they filmed some scenes in the movie Deliverance with Ned Beatty and Burt Reynolds, and it's about 12 miles away in South Carolina...right on the South Carolina and Georgia border to be precise.) We stayed there for about 4 hours...water was cool, and it was fun watching the groups come down in rafts and kayaks...hearing the screams as they went through the rocks and over the "waterfall". As we left, it felt like my legs weighed 50 pounds a piece...talk about feeling waterlogged! We walked through the path in the rocks, up the rocks, through the pathway, and up the blacktop...actually up a hill covered with blacktop....and let me tell you, walking that last few yards was a KILLER! Anyhow, we had fun, cooled off, and, as you can see in the pics, Danny had fun. He was teaching us how to walk properly!! LOL

Amber looking toward the GA/SC border

Amber pointing to Brian's white shoes.

Amber and Brian acting gangster!

Amber standing in the Chatooga River..that was very shallow!

Danny teaching us how to walk properly!

Brian looking like a monkey hunched over and Danny and Amber striking a pose!

Me kneeling in the water.

Me striking a pose on the rocks.

Danny holding towels and smoking a cig!

God Bless America!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-07-04T11:27:00.001-04:00

When I hear the words "God Bless America" I always get the image of Kate Smith singing it and watching "Yankee Doodle Dandy". George M. Cohan and the 4 Cohans and Kate Smith...icons of a dying breed, or maybe I should say Icons of a dead breed. Kate Smith gives me chills when she sings her song, and to me it is HER song...and I always get tears in my eyes listening to it. Yankee Doodle Dandy, well, I could watch that movie over and over again, and still find parts I've missed. This year, I never had the chance to watch it, it wasn't on any of our channels, which really surprised me. I get choked up at the end when George M. Cohan is dancing down the stairs of the White House, walks out into the street, and the military is marching singing his song, "Over There' and one of the guys says, "Don't you know this one?" Then he sings it.

When the kids were younger, we'd go to the parade, catch up with friends we'd see once a year, the kids would march in it with their church group, we'd come back home, have a cookout, and when it got dark we'd do our fireworks, and then have a blast with the Bottle Rockets.....usually, more often than not, they went a way we weren't expecting and I ended up with little scorch marks on my shirts or me and the kids screaming as we ran out of the way. Of course when we were finished, the smoke in the air and the smell of firecrackers almost overwhelmed you, but it was such fun seeing the kids laugh and run out of the way. We'd go in really late still laughing, fall into bed, and then wake up the next morning and see the mess we had to clean up....and since we usually set off 144 or more bottle rockets...what fun it was looking for those remains!

Then we moved here to GA. No letting off fireworks, no going to parades or seeing fireworks, or having a cookout, but this year was different. There was still no parade or letting off fireworks, but we did see fireworks and we went to a friend's house and had a cookout!

The fireworks were wonderful. Amber, Danny, and I went on the 3rd, and saw only the last 5 minutes, but they were rocking the truck with the blasts. On the 4th, Amber and I went and saw the show and it was incredible. Very pretty ones.

So, God Bless America, the best place on Earth to live!

Lessons Learned...(The Hard Way)

2010-06-22T02:39:00.002-04:00

Well, the evening started out as yet another fun evening with Patrick, Amber, and friends. They were hanging out and having a good time. Patrick decided he wanted to wrestle with Kyle, Amber's boyfriend, and it was all in good fun, which everyone knew. Then it went downhill from there. A total of 5 guys, all in their 30's decided to start beating on Kyle and Patrick. Then punching wasn't enough, and they started kicking. Patrick came into the bedroom at 1:45 in the morning screaming the he had just been beat up, that he needed help. He lay on the couch with his head on my lap asking me why this had to happen, that he wasn't a bad person, that he didn't like to fight. Anyone who knows Patrick, knows those things. It broke my heart seeing him cry and try to hide it from me. He wasn't crying because of the pain, he was crying because he couldn't understand why people would do this to him. He ended up going to the hospital and having Xrays and a CT scan done. When the report came out in the paper, they had it wrong, so it was redone. All we're doing now is waiting on hospital bills so we can get Patrick's bills paid. He didn't press charges on him, but he will go to court to get his bills paid. Both of his lip rings are out, one was broken out, the other was taken out at the hospital. There was a cut under his one lip ring where his tooth cut through his lip. It's been almost 3 weeks since it happened and his face only has a trace of a bruise under his left eye, and all of the yellowish bruising and the swelling has gone down. He did learn a valuable lesson that night, and he's stuck by his promise that he made to me.

Happy Father's Day

2010-06-20T18:13:00.000-04:00

I remember my Dad as always being there when you needed someone to build something, to talk to, to answer endless stupid questions, and when you needed something for a school project, he was the first one to pitch in. He taught me how to write a proper term paper, and the subject was "The B&O Railroad", and in those days, no computers, encyclopedias were the main thing to read out of, and Dad had a lot of those. Reader's Digest fact books was also a good place to research things in. I remember when he brought home our first video game...an Atari 2600...Pole Position was our favorite, but whoever had the 2nd controller, could almost never win the game. He painted a shuffleboard court on our driveway for us girls to have fun, he let us help put in the floor for the Florida Room, and so many other things he's done, too many to mention. Never complaining when we had the music too loud, singing at the top of our lungs to "We Are The World" when it came out, or maybe he just put it out of his hearing.

Anyhow, I love you Dad. Happy Father's Day. To Pop and Jules, too, ya'll might not be my father, but you are loved very much just the same!

Happy 22nd Anniversary!!!!!

2010-06-04T00:00:00.000-04:00

The chorus of the song, "Not a Day Goes By" probably is a good description of our marriage.

Not a day goes by
That I don't think of you
After all this time
You're still with me it's true
Somehow you remain
Locked so deep inside
Baby, baby, oh baby,
Not a day goes by.

I guess after 22 years you're bound to be locked deep inside of me, right? Even when we fight, which we try not to do anymore, sometimes succeeding, sometimes not, I still see the gentleness, love, and promise of a bright future that I saw all those years ago. Even though some people told me that at 16 it was just an infatuation, and then at 18 we wouldn't last, it looks like they were way off. I know that there were times we both wanted to run, times when we both messed up, and times when the promise of the future wasn't there, but we did survive it all and prevail. I never thought I could love anyone as much as I love you. If you ask me why I love you...your charm, your ability to make me laugh, your small gestures that make me smile, the way you can run your hand down my back or across my neck and it takes the stress away, and when I decide to watch my cooking shows and you let me....those are just the small things. I don't think I could tell you exactly why I love you, I don't think anyone can say that, but I think it's the little things that prove to me that you still do, that counts. Do I get angry at you? Yeah, I do. Are there times that I wish we never married? No, I don't. If I've ever said it to you, I beg your forgiveness.

22 years is an accomplishment. So many people don't last more than 5, let alone 22. I'm honored to be your wife, babe. I'm looking for many more Friday/Saturday nights outside by the fire...laughing, singing, talking. I'm looking forward to grandchildren that you spoil. I'm looking forward to another 22 years of sleeping in your arms at night, listening to you speak "alien" in your sleep, rolling my eyes at yet another "stupid" show, and many more "Friday nights at the dollar menu" nights out.

Happy 22nd Anniversay babe. I love you very much.

Patrick's Graduation Day!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-05-28T23:21:00.005-04:00

Throughout high school Patrick hasn't really broken the rules, but has bent them. He started wearing eyeliner last year, much to our dismay, and had a lot of flack with that. "There's nothing that states that guys can't wear eyeliner, Mom. Dad, you always said that I didn't have to conform with what society says and for me to live my life as my own individual." Those were the two main things he always told us. So, I scoured the handbook, and there was nothing. Patrick and some friends of his, along with a teacher, was going to contact the school board to have an amendment put in, saying the guys could wear eyeliner, but once the Assistant Principal left last year, there was no more mention of the eyeliner. Then came the tight pants. So many times Patrick has been to the office for the waistband of his underwear showing, and, after him showing me that men's pants are too big, and the junior's pants fit him perfect, I had to agree with him, and that was a fight up until the last week of school. During the 4 years, there was always a couple of people on Patrick's case, but not like it was the last few months of school. He was barely scraping by in American Government and was taking Credit Recovery for his Economics class that he failed. His Guidance Counselor and his American Government teacher pushed and pushed, with the counselor calling me almost every day, and it was getting to the point when I would cringe at the sound of the phone. Finally, I got the phone call that Patrick passed his exam and would be able to graduate. Then came the news, when they were taking the cap and gown pictures, that Patrick wouldn't be able to walk the stage and he couldn't have his picture taken because of the 2 lips rings he was wearing. I called up and fought and fought. Amber started a facebook page with "Let Patrick Graduate on Friday" and we had so much support. The principal told me that if Patrick wore the lip rings and walked, afterward there would be blows. They ended up having the graduation inside the auditorium instead of on the football field. When they announced Patrick's name he had a lot of screaming for him, but the principal and the Superintendent of Schools weren't too happy about handing over his diploma to someone who wasn't "traditional". Afterward we found out a lot of his friends wore fake lip rings to support him. Parents were telling him they were proud of him, he was hugged every 5 feet by students. I'm so proud of him for standing his ground, and for doing all he could to get that diploma. We love you Patrick, and we're so very proud of you!!!!!!
Amber, Patrick, Danny, and Brian at the house.

Amber, Patrick, Tammy, and Brian at the house.

Patrick, Amber, Brian at the house.

Patrick and Amber

Patrick and Brian

Patrick with gown before Graduation

Patrick...2nd row...3rd one from left, looking at camera.

Patrick about ready to get diploma from Principal Earnest.

Patrick walking back to chair with diploma in hand...Go PATTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Graduate and Mom

The Graduate and Amber

Yes.....Patrick WILL Graduate!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-05-26T08:30:00.003-04:00

We knew Patrick was in trouble when he failed Economics the first Semester of school this year. It meant he had to go to Credit Recovery and he had to pass that class in order to graduate, as it's a required course. He kept telling me he was going and then I found out that most of the time he was staying after, talking to friends in the parking lot, or telling me that the class was cancelled. Then came the nightmare of him failing American Government the first quarter of school...straight A's in every subject but the one he needed to get it in! His guidance counselor would call once a week in the beginning, just to let me know that he wasn't doing what needed to be done. Then we had a conference with the guidance counselor, him, and his teacher. He promised he would do better. With only 4 weeks left, at the time, he still had 5 chapters to go in Credit Recovery....you took a test at the beginning of the chapter, if you passed, it was on to the next, if not, you had subchapters to do and then a test at the end, if you passed that, on to the next, if not, you had to redo the subchapters. It was taking him 2 weeks to do a chapter, then the subchapters and there was 7 to go through. His guidance counselor started talking to him each day, or as he put it, harrassing him each day, telling him he wouldn't graduate, so he might as well drop out or give it up. Yeah, I didn't like hearing that, but it was forcing him to face reality. I told him, and so did his friends, that it would be really sad for him to go all these years to school and then not graduate because he was slacking off. Then came the daily phone calls from the guidance counselor and the projects for his American Government class. He and I learned a lot about Presidents, nomination and election processes, impeachment processes, what the President's job descriptions are and the 15 different departments of the Cabinet does...an 80 line poem was written on that one. He had to write down everything, and then his teacher would ask him questions to make sure he actually knew it...and that was for the Judicial Branch too....still don't understand how Marbury vs. Madison helped the Supreme Court become an equal branch of government, but that's okay, I did learn about all the Freedoms we have, including the Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Press, Freedom of Religion, etc., and the court cases that backed up each one. So it came time for Patrick's final exam yesterday. I prayed all day that he would get a high enough grade to pass the course, dreading the end of the day because I would either get a phone call from him yelling in happiness, or one from his counselor telling me he failed and wouldn't graduate. At 3:40, the phone call came, and the guidance counselor was on the other end...this was the conversation:
Counselor: Mrs. Dowdal?
Me: Yeah
Counselor: Tammy?
Me: Yeah
Counselor: I just want to let you know that this is the last official phone call you'll get from me. The last official phone call you'll get from the school.
Me: (Not registering everything she just said because my heart and had dropped and I thought I was gonna pass out from bad news) Okay.
Counselor: I'll let Patrick tell you the news.
Me: (Sounded like she was really upset and waited for any good news coming from Patrick) Okay
Patrick: Hey Momma, just wanted to let you know I failed the exam and won't be graduating.
Me: WHAT????????
(In the background I hear laughing and "Don't tell her that, you're gonna give her a heart attack!)
Patrick: I'm just joking, I passed.
Me: Don't do that, it's not funny. Did you really?
Patrick: Yeah, I did.
By this time, I was choked up and couldn't talk for a second, but finally said Congratulations and how proud I was.

I am very proud of him. He worked hard, slacked off alot, could've worked a lot harder and never had to put this much pressure on himself, but he did do it. Of course his teacher and his counselor have a lot to do with it too, and I thank them very much. Those two are extraordinary and the school board is lucky to have them, and so are we.

Pre-Graduation...Trying on Cap and Gown

2010-05-20T14:49:00.008-04:00

Well, we still don't know whether Patrick will graduate, but we do hope he does, so, here's a picture of what he'll look like, IF he graduates on Friday, May 28th. The gown is REALLY big on him, but hey, who thinks that a kid of 6'+ will only weigh 145 lbs.? He said he was going to spike his hair, hopefully that thought will leave his head, not likely, but here's to hoping! Patrick, we hope and pray that you'll walk the stage and get your diploma! Either way, we love you, we hope you know that.

Patrick's Award

2010-05-20T11:18:00.001-04:00

The awards ceremony was drawing closer and they said all Senior would be getting notified if they were getting an award so we waited and waited and nothing. Patrick thought for sure that he would be getting one for guitar because his teacher had said he was one of the best ones and one of the ones who really took it seriously. Finally on the Monday before the awards he told me he would be getting one, but that it was no big deal and for me not to come. Yeah, like that was really gonna happen. Amber and I arrived and noticed that there wasn't a lot of people, but then it was on a Thursday morning when most people were at work. After a few special awards the principal came up and told everyone to listen for their name because it wouldn't be in alphabetical order, and it wouldn't be according to class. Well after 10 names were called I realized it was in alphabetical order, but by first name, not last. It took a long time for them to get to the "P's". They called his name for Guitar 2 and he got a medal for it...looks like an olympic medal...and he was the only one that kids stood up for, cheering. Congrats, Patrick, you worked hard to get this award....keep it up, I know you'll go far!

Happy Mother's Day!!!!!!!!

2010-05-16T08:16:00.001-04:00

To all those Mother's far and near
Who have bandaged scrapes and dried a tear
To all those Mothers who've cried at night
Not knowing if their children were alright
For those that have waited for their child's call
And those who still have them running down the hall
We send out a special thanks and say
Mom, we love you, Happy Mother's Day.

I know there are Mom's out there who's children are in cribs, older ones playing outside with no cares in the world, older ones still with families of their own and they hear "Happy Mother's Day, Mom" and "We love you". Unfortunately, there are Mom's out there who will never hear their child's voice ever again, or they don't know if they are alive or dead because of them fighting for freedom for other countries, or for the Mom's who's children are missing. No matter where your child is, you are being thought of, and looked down upon, knowing that there will come a day when you will be reunited.

Happy Mother's Day to 3 incredible women....my Mom, my Mother-in-law, and my Stepmom...Shirley, Joyce, and Leslie, I love you very much!

For those I called "Mom" growing up, I love you too!

Happy Birthday Beth!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-05-06T08:13:00.001-04:00

Today you officially became an adult, at least by age. Although you've been acting that way for quite a time! We're very lucky to have you in our lives, Beth....you're a neice to be very proud of and I hope that you get everything you wish for on your Birthday!

Happy 18th Birthday, we love you very much!!!!

Happy Birthday Matthew!!!!!!

2010-05-05T08:05:00.001-04:00

Happy 14th Birthday Matthew. Growing up so fast, you are. I know we don't see each other, or talk, but I want to let you know how much I love you. You might not be my brother from birth, but I can't imagine life without having you in it, as I'm sure Dad and Leslie couldn't either.

Happy Birthday Little Brother...I love you very much!

Happy Birthday Mom!!!!!!

2010-05-04T08:11:00.001-04:00

Mom's birthday came with sentimental feelings this year. Usually the day would somehow include a phone call to her where we'd all wish her a Happy Birthday, tell her how much we love her and the kids would all talk, especially Amber, telling her everything that's been happening here and how much we all can't wait to see her again. This year that wasn't possible, probably won't be ever again. See, Mom has Alzheimer's. My wish for her was that they find a cure for the horrible memory erasing disease, although, I highly doubt they will in the immediate future. We love you Mom, and I know on some level you know that.

Happy 78th Birthday!!!!

Fire Ants, Anyone?

2010-04-27T00:35:00.004-04:00

Today, I realized that no matter how old you get there are still things that make you sound or act like a little kid. The obvious is laughing hysterically at something you think is funny while someone is looking at you like you're nuts and need to be committed to a place that has rubber walls. What I didn't realize is when you say the words "fire ants" to Amber, that she runs and screams like they are attacking her body. I simply told her today that "there's a line of fire ants here." The next thing I know she jumps and screams so loud that I think the people in the next county could hear her. I told her that it's only a line of fire ants, and she jumped again, twisted her foot, almost fell in all the mud and took off running. In fact, I think if she would have ran a tad bit faster, she might have been a good contender in the Boston Marathon. Secretly laughing to myself, I thought back to when she used to run track...she would be the last one on the track and members of both teams would be yelling..."Come on Amber, you can do it. Go, Amber, Go!" It was a really mean thought that ran through my head, but could you imagine how fast she would have been in I would have just yelled..."Hey, Amber, there's fire ants around you!"

Happy 17th Anniversary Dad and Leslie!

2010-04-24T05:36:00.001-04:00

To Dad and Leslie....Happy 17th Anniversary. I can't believe it's been that long. I know that ya'll will see many more anniversaries. I love you both.

For 17 years you've faithfully stood
Through times that were hard and times that were good
Laughing. loving, fighting, and the such
We can see ya'll love each other very much

Happy Anniversary Leslie and Dad!

Happy 3rd Birthday Emma

2010-04-22T05:53:00.001-04:00

A granddaughter that's loved so very much turned 3 today. We can't believe that so much time has gone by. But then it seems like children grow so fast...one day they're newborns, the next they're starting school, getting driver's licenses, dating , graduating high school, getting married, then having children of their own....but throughout all of that, she'll know just how much she is loved and cherished.

What Vitamin Is Deadly If Taken Too Much Of?????

2010-04-17T13:06:00.005-04:00

Have you ever known something but when you went to say it, you couldn't remember the name? Last night was one of those times. Danny and I were sitting around our fire outside and was talking about the shows I love so much like Forensic Files, the FBI Files and The New Detectives. Well, he was saying how much he's learned and I spoke up and told him that there was a vitamin, that if you had too much of it, could kill you. When he asked what it was, my mind all of a sudden went blank and I told him "lead". He wanted to know if it was a .22, .38, or .44 caliber piece of lead. After thinking of all the different vitamins we could think of, we started thinking about other things, like Arsenic. After about 20 minutes, and me thinking it started with an "A", we came into the house and I jumped onto the internet and all I could find was Vitamin A through Vitamin U. Then I remembered it was in a movie with John Ritter, so I went to that movie. They didn't mention it and I thought, "Great, now it's gonna haunt me all night." I stood up to put the pizza in the oven and all of a sudden it hit me....Selenium! I went into tell Danny and then looked that up, and that's the one we had been thinking of, except we were calling in Aluminum Sulfate. I'm just glad it came to me then, because I would've been tossing and turning trying to figure out what it was, then I would've had to go to my #1 source of knowing a lot of things....calling my Dad and Stepmom!

Hurricane's Wardrobe

2010-04-05T19:23:00.006-04:00

Hurricane had 3 outfits...one is a turtleneck, one is a hooded sweater, and one is an AC/DC dress. Well, over the weekend, she looked like a rape victim. The dress started tearing around the neck, then on the leg holes, getting worse and worse until I finally threw it away after giving her a bath last night. She has to wear something, otherwise she'll itch and chew herself raw, so when we went to WalMart today we went to the children section, just to see if a child's shirt would fit on her.....well, it's a little big, but it's a 24M Garanimals shirt....isn't she cute??? Pretty bad when you start buying children's clothing for your dog!

Hurricane wearing the rape victim AC/DC dress....if you look, you can see the tears in it.

Happy Easter

2010-04-04T16:13:00.007-04:00

When I was little, the night before Easter was spent coloring eggs and knowing that the next day we would have a basket full of candy and eggs, and we would have an egg hunt with Mom and Dad laughing watching us three girls try to find them all. There was always that one last one that took us awhile. When we got older, we had our church services, then came home and gorge ourselves on candy and eggs.

Dad, Mom (pregnant with Jimmy), Tammy, Trisha, Tracy, Easter 1987

Then I got married, which changed everything. There was still coloring the eggs, hiding the eggs (when the kids got older), getting their pics taken with the Easter Bunny on a horse, still they went to church, also. Year after year of hiding eggs, not being able to find that "last one" until it was way too late. Watching the kids fight over the results of the egg find because "I saw it first and you took it", or "It's not fair I fell down", and the best one, " You pushed me and made me fall down so you could have the last egg." There was always a yell of "Mom, it's not fair!" Last year I knew it was probably the last egg hunt I would have with the kids, they were older, they really didn't want to, but when Saturday night came and it was just Amber and I that wanted to color eggs, I knew that our yearly ritual that had taken place for 16 years was over. Looking back over the memories today made me realize just how much fun I had watching the kids have fun!

Tammy and Amber, Easter Sunday, 1989

Amber, Brian, Patrick, Day before Easter, K-Mart, San Carlos Park, FL

Tammy, Danny, Brian, Patrick, and Amber, Easter Sunday, The Salvation Army, Ft. Myers, FL

Happy 33rd Birthday Daniel

2010-04-04T16:07:00.007-04:00

Happy Birthday to a great young man with a beautiful outlook on life. He's always had a smile on his face, always willing to give, and always in love with life. He has a beautiful wife, and two gorgeous children. Daniel, I'm very proud of you, in all that you've accomplished, and all that I know you still will accomplish. Here's some flashbacks of you...so many more, but that'll be for another post! Happy Birthday....your Dad, sister, brothers, and I love you very much!

Happy 79th Birthday Pop

2010-04-01T07:58:00.001-04:00

Hard to believe that it's been another year, huh Pop? Wish we were there to hear some of the stories and wish you a Happy Birthday in person. Pop is a good man, and he always makes you laugh. The stories that he tells, one can only imagine how they could survive like he did. The adventures he had, you can't have them anymore. But the one thing that's never changed, is his love. Just like my love for him, it's gotten deeper over the many years I've known him...in fact, I couldn't love him more if he were my own Dad. Everyone should be as lucky as me.

I love you Pop....Happy Birthday!

Happy 51st Birthday Danny

2010-03-27T18:40:00.007-04:00

For your birthday this year, I wanted special...starting with a surprise party. I had already sent out emails to your family and friends, then came the awful truth....you didn't want one. Instead you had family and friends call you and we ran errands and sat around our fire, laughing and talking. Sunday we had your birthday supper and cake, and I'm glad we put that off for a day.

Happy 51st Birthday Babe....I love you very much!

Yes, it's my birthday!

Oh, it's Dad's Birthday!

Yes, It's Dad's Birthday!

I get my picture with the Birthday Boy!

Someone Tell Him It's Springtime!

2010-03-20T23:51:00.005-04:00

Patrick came home today with a friend of his to "borrow" some money to go to the movies. It was 72 outside, bright blue sky, and Amber and I were tanning. Both of us in tank tops and shorts, her laying on the porch deck, me sitting in Danny's chair, then we hear Patrick's ride drop him off for a second. I looked over and it just shocked me....I have no words for this....

Can someone please tell him that it's springtime????

Amber With Her Camera

2010-03-16T21:30:00.007-04:00

It all started with this picture...looks like I'm really ticked off or about ready to cry...take your pick. Anyhow, Amber sent the pic she took to me and I called her up and told her I didn't like it. She came back home and we decided to take some other pics of me and then she decided to take some of her on Brian's motorcycle, (which I didn't post on here), and she told me to stand still so she could get a pic of me....Looked pretty good...then it just went downhill from there.....

So I told her it was time to go in...she got me as I was swinging my arm, so it looks like I'm saying, "Come on, walk with me."

And for the final humiliation..."Walk this way!"

She thought it was funny and I couldn't help but post the pics! Too bad it wasn't sunny today....2 days of tank tops and warm weather, (one day was 48, but felt warmer and yesterday was in the mid 50's),turns into cloudy and 49 degrees with the threat of sprinkles hanging over top of you and wearing sweatshirts! Days like today make me long for the sunshine and warmth of a Florida day sitting in a chair getting some sun! "Calgon, Take Me Away!"

Happy 20th Birthday Brian!!!!

2010-03-11T09:09:00.001-05:00

Happy 20th Birthday Brian!!!!!! So many things I remember about when you were little. You loved grilled cheese sandwiches and if you didn't hit Amber at least once I day, I swear you would get angry. You couldn't watch an entire movie sitting on the floor by yourself, you had to sit on either Dad's or my lap halfway through, which I didn't mind at all. You would get mad if you couldn't watch Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves first thing in the morning after Amber left for school. You're favorite thing after breakfast was over was building things with your Lego's...thanks for letting me build my mansions! Your favorite color was blue, now it's lime green, kind of strange that jump in color. You're an amazing artist....the way you can make things look like you could eat them. All in all, you're an amazing child, and I'm proud of everything you've done.

I love you Brian....Happy 20th!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy 21st Birthday Amber

2010-03-10T09:03:00.002-05:00

Wow...an adult! Hard to believe that you're 21! I remember the stupid stuff from when you were a baby and growing up. Like your dancing on Sister Act and if you couldn't hear the song, we'd have to rewind the movie so you could hear the whole thing...Thankfully now we have it on DVD! You had to have your Froot Loops dry in bowl and sit on the recliner eating them, you wouldn't let Brian play with your pink rocking horse outside...everytime he'd get it, you'd push him off, steal it, and then hide it....same with blocks...you'd hide them under your dress and wouldn't let him have any, screaming when he came close. Brian's nickname you gave him was Bubby...wouldn't let him have any nachos and made sure by crushing them in the bowl with your foot and then giving him the smallest piece you could find. You always had to be a witch at Halloween, or you were really ticked off. So many memories, and so many more that I know we'll remember.

We love you very much Amber....Happy 21st!

Happy Birthday Dad

2010-03-07T08:55:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday Dad.....I got to thinking the other day about your upcoming birthday and how strange it was that I couldn't be there. I know I haven't been to a lot of your birthdays, but I knew that I was close by in case I could get away from work, home, or what have you, just to come up and say, "I love you Dad, Happy Birthday." Being so far away all I have is "what could be" if I were there. Instead I sat on the porch before calling you today and remembered the birthdays we had together, both yours and mine, all of our family's really. You always made sure we had a good day, lots of laughing, joking, and when the time came to open the presents, we were more than ready. I hope this birthday brings you the joy you gave me, the happiness you put into my soul, and all the love I ever received all rolled up into one big package.

I love you Dad....Happy 62nd Birthday!

The Last Hurrah???

2010-03-02T18:55:00.003-05:00

For the last 2 weeks I have been following the trends on the weather board. When the storm first came on the models it was a dream storm....but then the storm all winter were dream storms 2 weeks out. This one stayed, would get weaker, change the spot where the most snow would fall, would come back, but it was still there. For the last 4 days I had been on the computer alot...learning alot, asking questions, and fearing the worst. Last night Amber told me that we were only going to get a rainstorm, Patrick knew he was going to school, but then came the phone call at 5:30, or thereabouts, saying that school was cancelled for the day due to snow falling and the snow to still come. Well, I turned on the porch light to see about 1 1/2" out there. We ended up with 6" by the time Amber and I decided to take a walk to the pond. Took our pictures, goofed off, threw snowballs at each other, and then her bright idea of going up the mountain to the house instead of walking around the way we came. She went behind me, just in case I fell, I guess she was there to cushion my fall! The very first few steps looked like I was doing the splits, my legs getting further and further away from each other. Then we started walking up...Amber recording me, exclaiming, "We're gonna die!" Then we get to almost the top. The dogs are barking, I'm almost out of breath. I think I'm gonna pass out. I take the one step up, feet slip out from under me and I'm sliding down. I climb back and get to where I was before. I grab ahold of a small tree, pull myself up and promptly fall on my face, sliding down again. I finally get up on my knees and pull myself up and grab ahold of the dog's cage to finish pulling myself up. Then I took a good look at why Amber was laughing herself silly....mud and dirt down my pants, my jacket. I took the jacket off as soon as I got into the house and Hurricane decided she had to hurry and lick the jacket off and Amber hurried and took a picture...I decided to pose while laughing.....there are some more pics that I took from the kitchen window showcasing my African Violets and Purple Passion plant. There is another storm around St. Patrick's Day, but I personally think these 7" were the last hurrah!

Happy Birthday Trisha

2010-02-16T07:00:00.001-05:00

Happy Birthday to my sister...always one to try and make me laugh, and always the first to open her mouth and get in trouble when we were little...sometimes get all 3 of us girls in trouble. I do remember getting you in trouble though...one in particular, sticking my hand into the cake with my finger pointed downwards, so it looked like your hand. My hand ended up being too big, Tracy's was too small, but your handprint was perfect. I remember locking us in the closet upstairs and you were trying to knock down the closet door in Grandpa's house. So many memories. I'm so glad that we're sisters. I love you.

P.S. Next year you're gonna be 40!

Snowstorm 2/12/10

2010-02-14T21:39:00.005-05:00

This time the snowstorm we were gonna get was looking more and more like we wouldn't see anything. The meteorologists were saying it was going to hit around Atlanta and points south, even to the point of having up to 2 inches in Florida. All the models kept trending more and more south, and was looking like we'd be sunny, all until 2 days before it came. Then it was looking like we might see a coating, then a dusting, up to an inch, maybe two, could be three, isolated four, but no more than five or six inches. Friday it started to snow a little after noon...tiny little flakes, then harder, but still tiny, little flakes. By 3:00, it was snowing pretty hard, but we were still under a Winter Weather Advisory, not to exceed 3 inches here. At 5:00 the NWS out of Greenville/Spartanburg, SC issued a Winter Weather Warning, saying we could see up to 5 inches of snow...by that time there were cars running off the roads, getting stuck in ditches. Danny was out helping getting cars out of ditches, but by 8:30 that night, it had been enough. East 76, which is the main highway that connects Georgia to South Carolina up our way, had been closed down, 30 cars off the roads. Patrick's friend, Zach, had 8 inches where he lives on Germany Mountain and we ended up with 4. Since there was no warnings put out for heavy snow, there was nothing put on the roads, until late at night. Yesterday we went down to Toccoa, into town to WalMart, and there were still places that were really slick. Amber started to build her snowman, but got discouraged pretty fast, so today I went outside and told her if she was gonna help to build "Henry" we had to get a move on. 4 1/2 hours later we had a pretty good imitation of a snowman...we had used up 99% of the snow that was left on the ground, that we could get to....some of it had been walked through so much that it was icy. We're expecting another 2-5" of snow tomorrow. Here's some pics we took when Danny and I took a walk after the snow, the day after, and then on Valentine's Day when we built "Henry." Isn't he handsome?

Happy Valentine's Day

2010-02-14T03:00:00.001-05:00

To all of those who have significant others and to those who don't, just remember that somewhere, someone loves you....and somewhere, someone is waiting. All it takes is a look, a glance, a laugh...could be a tear, a sob, or sorrow...but when love finds you, there's no looking back.

Happy Valentine's Day to my own Valentine! @---}---

Another Storm, Pretty Snow

2010-02-06T15:14:00.009-05:00

We knew there was going to be another storm coming through...usually every 3-5 days we've been getting one, well, except for when the really cold air is here, then it stops, warms up above freezing for a couple of days then the storms are a mix of rain/sleet/freezing rain/snow. We knew that we weren't going to be getting a huge amount of snow, actually they weren't calling for any for us at first. A cold, cold rain, then it was showing in NE GA sleet/freezing rain for a few hours before transitioning to a cold rain. Well, on Thursday, it was gray, dreary, and cold. They said to expect the rain about 5, so at 1:45 I happened to glance out the window, and it was snowing. It would get harder, then more flurries, then harder, then more flurries. At 2:45 I picked Danny up and we went into town to Home Depot...ended up getting some more African Violets and FINALLY a purple passion plant like the one that I had to leave behind in Florida when we moved here to Georgia. (We should have got more bird food because the birds have been eating it faster than it can be replenished, it seems.) Anyhow, Clayton was gorgeous...heavy snow that was already starting to build up on the grassy areas, then slush was forming in the parking lot. When we got home at 3:30 we already had 1/4" accumulating on surfaces. Amber and Patrick decided to go down the path to the pond we have at the bottom of where we live. Patrick slid a few times, but Amber really did...she should have just slid the whole way down. She would fall, slide, get back up, walk a few steps and do it again. At 6:00, all the snow was over and the rain was starting to mix in with sleet. By 6:45 it was all a light rain, and by 7:00 it was pure rain. Patrick thought for sure they were going to call off school, so he stayed up until 1:30, (I don't know anything you know...), and Brian thought that work was going to be called off...so it was a HUGE shock to them when I woke them up the next morning and told them that school and work was a go. All in all we ended up getting 1" of snow that stuck, and then 3 1/2" of rain after that. But isn't it a pretty sight?

Happy Birthday Diana

2010-02-03T12:12:00.004-05:00

Happy Birthday Diana.....
You're a great friend...you give advice readily and without bias, your honesty is amazing, and you always seem to know what I need to hear. Sometimes you say things I don't want to hear, but need to know. You've been there to push me when I've needed that extra shove and to encourage me when I feel I don't want to keep writing. And you're always up for going and getting a Frostee!

I love you Diana...Happy Birthday!

The Great Ice Storm of 2010

2010-01-31T16:57:00.007-05:00

Without seeing the models on the computer, I had no idea what we were really in for, so I had to watch the news on 3 different channels...I know what time they come on and when to switch them over to get the best info out of them. On Thursday, we were told that we were going to be looking at an ice/snow/sleet/freezing rain combination, but they would be in better agreement by Friday Morning. By late Thursday night we were under a Winter Storm Watch, and they were saying were maybe going to get 1-3" of snow with 1/4" ice accumulations. Friday morning came and along with it a Winter Storm Warning, but the snow was upped to 3-6" of snow and ice from 1/4"- 1/2". School was let out at 1:00, so Amber and I walked to pick up the truck a little over a mile away. The rain was supposed to come first, then quickly go to sleet, then to freezing rain, then to snow, at around 6 that evening....NOT! Amber and I started walking at 12:45 and at 12:50 we saw the first flakes...started coming down harder and harder...then came the freezing rain, then the snow, then the freezing rain...by the time we were 1/4 mile away, my whole right side was white with the heavy snow, and I thought to myself, WOW...we're gonna get really hammered if it keeps it up. It kept it up until 3:00, when it turned to rain, with freezing rain mixed in. By 6 that night they had upped our snow totals to 7-9" of snow and that it would start around 8, 10 at the latest. My 11:17 they had upped the totals to 8-12" of snow, with isolated areas getting 12+"....we were happy, but looking outside, there was only a coating on the ground, and a mist/light rain in the air. By 12:35 was still raining hard, I could hear it, and the same at 4:26 when I came out to get a drink of water....didn't want to look, but I did, and it was wet on the porch, with still the same little white as I had seen when I went to bed. Danny got up at 7:30, closed his eyes as he walked to the window, hoping for the huge piles of snow, opened his eyes and then closed them in disappointment... Oh we had white all over the place....white from ice covering the trees, car, trucks, cages, you name it, it was iced. It was beautiful, don't get me wrong. Amber, Danny, and I ended up driving into Franklin, NC, about a 20 mile trip, to see their snowfall and it started coming down at a good clip...and we ended up getting about 1/8" on the ground, over the ice. The ice melted yesterday completely....trees are looking normal again, no longer bent over with the weight. Patrick had today off school because some secondary roads were still iced over, so he was happy. The brunt of the storm ended up 50 miles North of where they were claiming was going to get it. Pop ended up with 5-6", Aunt Karen ended up with 8", we ended up with 1/2" ice and 1/4" snow. This weekend and next weekend are looking good for snowstorms too....will we get that or ice, still a long ways off.

How To Know You're Addicted To The Computer

2010-01-30T14:53:00.001-05:00

My monitor was bought 2 years ago at the flea market, along with 2 speakers and a subwoofer, at a really good price. The monitor was a Microtek, a brand I had never heard of, but it was a flat screen, and I liked it...much better than the huge bulky one that I had bought in 1996 on sale at Sears. About 6 months ago the screen had a really funky color to it...instead of having the colors like you were supposed to, the bottom third was a pinkish color, the middle third was bluish, and the top third was normal. I went ahead and pulled up the menu on the computer, then on the monitor itself to see if somehow, someway, the colors got screwed up, but no, that wasn't the case. I called up the local PC repair and described the way it looked at I was told that the monitor was going, I should get about another month out of it. The kids and I got used to it being those colors. Then a month later, it started flickering on and off, and then it stopped...I attributed that to humidity and the windows being open for so long and then they were closed, so that's what it was. The flickering stopped, but the color situation stayed. Then came 2 weeks ago...was checking my email and the weather, everything was fine...got off the computer to watch some TV with Amber and the screensaver came on. An hour later I noticed a small "pfft" sound and Amber and I thought it was the sound effects on the TV, but when I got up, the monitor was black. Yep, it was gone. Then we found out just how addicted to the computer we had become...Amber and I, that is. I found out there was a snow storm coming, and without the computer to follow the models and go into the weather forums and find out the latest, I was lost. I ended up reading 6, 300+ page, books in 3 days, started a 7th, finally got the dusting done, crocheted 1/2 a blanket for a single bed, and learned that movies I claimed Danny watched were stupid wasn't really the case, because there's worse out there! I got so upset because I couldn't see what was going on with the storm that I started unplugging and replugging in cords, which gave me an additional 30 hours of screen time, but here's where the REAL addiction comes into play. Amber would turn the lights in the living room on and angle the monitor as soon as Danny and I were gone. Now I did it for 30 minutes, hoping to find the latest info, but Amber was on for awhile. She also wanted to see if there was a way we could get her laptop, that doesn't work, to be hooked up to my computer and see it on her monitor...desperate if you ask me! I think a week, maybe, is all she can handle. Danny ended up buying me a 18.5" widescreen HD Dell and I'm amazed at the images of the models and maps that are in the right colors instead of muted pink, blue, and clear!

Happy Birthday Mom

2010-01-17T14:47:00.001-05:00

Mom,
You were always there for me when I was little...when I needed someone to talk to and the kids were babies driving me into fits of crying...when I needed a little time away for a couple of hours when the kids were in school...and when it came to figuring out a place to stay when the Hurricanes threatened. I hope that your birthday is filled with happiness, laughter, love, and lots of good memories.

I love you Mom!

Happy Birthday Tracy

2010-01-14T14:26:00.001-05:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TRACY!!!!!!
All day long I had been trying to reach her, but she's a busy little one and was always "just" missing her. Well, at 9:54 p.m., I called Mom's house because that's where I was told she was going to be leaving, and, just by luck, she had forgotten her purse, and I was able to tell her Happy Birthday.

Love you Trace!

Happy 18th Birthday Patrick

2010-01-11T14:06:00.000-05:00

Happy 18th Birthday Patrick....

So hard to believe that you are now a "real" adult. Seems like yesterday that Dad was chasing you around the yard, through the house, back through the yard again, just to get you to take your grape medicine....or how you made sure to have your "Moxilan" before you went to bed when you had your bouts with Scarlet Fever. You and Dad were "best buds" for the longest time before you were old enough to go to school. Where he went, you went...I couldn't keep you at home. Your first day of school, you couldn't wait to go, tried on 5 different outfits the night before and when you decided which one you were gonna wear, you made sure we liked it. You got your independent streak fast though...both you and Brian decided you were gonna do things your way...like setting things on fire in the back, where I couldn't see. But see a Mom's instinct kicks in really quick when kids go really quiet for too long! You gave me quite a scare though...jumping off Dad's shed roof with your skateboards, swinging off the playhouse on the palm fronds, and I really don't want to know what life threatening positions you put yourselves in when I was at work.

You weren't a hard child to raise...you mostly listened, and when you were tired, you fell asleep, no matter where you were. Your favorite movies when you were little were Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and The Santa Clause. Your favorite foods when you were little was grilled cheese and mac and cheese, and pizza. Your favorite color was red. If you couldn't spend all your time with Amber and Brian you would cry and say it wasn't fair. You're still very easy going, but you need to quit holding everything inside of you and let people know how you feel.
I know you hate your nickname, but you'll always be Fuzz to me and Dad. You'll be nearing 50, and I'll still call you Fuzz.

We love you very much Patrick....Happy 18th.

Happy New Year

2010-01-01T13:43:00.000-05:00

So it's 2010 and looking back over the year there were good things, and then not good things...

We had another year of all of us being happy, safe, and for the most part, healthy.
Brian kept a job, Amber lost a job, (but her manager was a B**** and she can't understand the concept of having a conversation on a phone and just turning off a phone!)
Amber, Patrick and I got to go on vacation to see family and friends, a good time was had by all.
Danny turned 50, I turned 40....but if you feel younger than your age, that's a good thing. Age is just a number, it's how you feel that really counts.
Brian graduated officially from high school...walking the stage was just a technicality, but it was something he strived for and achieved it.
We had a new baby grandson that entered into our lives.
We also had a few bad things....deaths of loved ones that we never had the chance to say good-bye to.

Danny's Mom was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease....this is one disease we need to find a cure for.
Danny's Dad was diagnosed with Mesothelioma, another terrible disease.
I pray nightly for the health of these two wonderful people. no one could ask for a better mother and father-in-law. Mom and I had our disagreements and our views were different on raising the kids when they were little, but I have to say that all in all, she was right about a lot of things, just as I was. Pop is gruff and loves to tell his stories, watch his racing, no matter who is visiting. He loves his grandchildren, as does Mom, and they both wanted what was best for everyone.

I just hope this coming year blesses us more and makes us grieve less.

Surprise Snow

2009-12-31T01:13:00.009-05:00

We kept watching the weather and it was a "slug of rain coming up through Georgia, but should only get to 1/2", not like the 2" rains we've been having." Well, NOAA or NWS always has us for chance snow/rain, sleet/snow, sleet/rain, or wintry mix when a cold front and moisture is coming in at the same or close to the same time, especially these last few weeks. We were supposed to have a huge snowstorm around Dec. 17, then we were suppoed to have a White Christmas, and then it was pushed off to a couple of days after Christmas, and instead we ended up getting a total of 7 1/2" of rain the last 3 storms. Well, when we heard 1/2" rain, and the models came showing us at 1", I thought, yep, ground was gonna be flooded and saturated again, well, I was right in some way.

It started at 6:30 give or take a few minutes when the rain came. Danny was talking to his friend Tim who lives a little over 4 miles south of us and he said he had sleet there...well, I got up out of my computer chair, had been chatting back and forth with the people on the weather forums in the SE Thread about the rains coming through, and sure enough, we had a nice "crunchy" coating on the ground. Rain wasn't pouring, it was light, and it started to just be sleet. About an hour later, I checked again and it wasn't doing anything, no sleet, no rain, and I looked on the radar and it showed rain all over the place. Danny came out of the bedroom, walked to the windows and flipped on the outside like and told me it was snowing....I didn't believe him. He said it again and motioned outside so I went over and sure enough it was snowing. It ended up snowing until a few minutes after midnight. Danny, Amber, and I went walking through our "winter wonderland" and made some snow angels, threw a couple of snowballs and walked back. The dogs didn't like the snow too much. We ended up getting just under 2" of snow.

The snow didn't last throughout the day....by 3:30 it was off the ground and mud and standing water was left. Hurricane and Chewy hate going out..here's some of Chewy trying to get up off the ground, and Hurricane debating whether to go outside or stay on the porch...she ended up staying by the front door after the pic was taken.

How about the boots Amber was wearing? They're Danny's old ones and she thinks she looks hot in them. Brian beaned her with a snowball...calling her on the phone and said he had to talk to her outside. He got her with 5 or 6 of them...you should have heard her screaming..."No, no, it's my good jacket. That's cold." Well, duh, yeah, it's cold, it's snow! We had a good time...now if we can get a few more snowstorms here it would be great!

Merry Christmas

2009-12-25T21:56:00.014-05:00

Merry Christmas to all of our friends and family. Yeah, for those who were expecting them, Christmas Cards were a luxury this year, and this didn't go out....actually it wasn't the Christmas Cards, but the stamps that were the luxury. I did miss getting the Christmas poem together this year, had 3 or 4 of them, but none sounded good enough to post.....the one I really wanted to send out was really mean, and thought it might make ya'll wonder if I was in the right frame of mind, but then again, those who know me, know I'm not always in my right mind!

Christmas starts here the day after Thanksgiving when Amber and I start looking for the "right" tree....which just happens to be a nice, full, bushy one, that isn't too expensive, usually found at Home Depot, usually on a day that is foggy, rainy, and downright cold, except for this year...We didn't have the fog and and rain, but we had the downright cold and the wind, which made it colder. Got the tree, brought it home, and then dreaded putting it up. A lot of ya'll are probably shaking your head, saying, "Yeah, we dread that too...the lights, decorations, icicles, garland, getting the angel on right, (or whatever ya'll use as a tree topper." That's not what I dread....mine is getting the tree into the base and having it straight....so here went my effort.

First, I realized I got a 7-8 ft. Christmas Tree, and it should have been a 6-7 foot tree, when I put it in the base and it was bent over at the ceiling...hmmmm, no room for the angel! So Brian went and got some loppers from Danny's shed and proceeded to chop off the top and some of the branches leading down the sides to make it more even looking. Put the angel on top, just to make sure it would fit, then took it back down again. Second, made Amber hold the tree while I screwed in those godawful long screws until they wouldn't screw anymore, then told her to let the tree go....seemed okay...didn't move...FINALLY! We put the lights, decorations, and tons of icicles on the tree, topped it with the angel, plugged her in and it was very pretty...very proud of myself...for once the tree wasn't leaning drunkenly to the side or threatening to fall over. We unplugged the tree and went to bed. The next morning comes, I come outside my door and shake my head in despair....tree was leaning up against the windows, so topheavy that it was falling over, so we made easy work of fixing it....turning it and putting it in the corner...FIXED!

Christmas Eve I put up the stockings and finished wrapping last minute gifts, put a gift in each of the kids' beds, a custom I started a long time ago, and then put in the candy...didn't know how much candy I had until I had them filled up...thought they were going to pull the pins out of the mantle, it was so heavy....put a gift in each stocking and then went off to bed at a little after 3:30...and then came morning and I woke to Brian and Amber waking me up....I hid my head...wanted to stay warm and stay asleep for a little while longer...but you know kids, even the 20 and 19 year olds gets excited for when "Santa" comes.

Then Danny opened the gifts that my best friend, Kim, sent him...he loves his Harley stuff....like the outfit? He does!

After everything was done, cleaned up, Christmas supper demolished, and everyone had their fill, Brian left to spend the night with a friend and Patrick and Amber were left home with me, so we decided to take some pics....aren't they pretty????

Yes!....I have candy!

My Christmas outfit, and my candy!

2009-11-28T12:19:00.003-05:00

A very Happy Thanksgiving to all. I hope those who had family and friends around had a great time. To the service men and women over fighting to keep other countries safe, I hope you know that we missed you terribly and thought of you, wishing and hoping you were with us. I am thankful that I had my family around me, I just wish I could have talked to my other relatives to tell them how much I loved and missed them.

When You Forget

2009-11-19T15:01:00.005-05:00

I started thinking this morning, I know, what a shock, after all these years, this morning I start to think! Anyhow it really started yesterday when I was talking to Kim and her hubby Omar was watching Young Frankenstein with Gene Wilder....I got them confused and started telling her how I loved that show...especially the parts in the basement and with the man standing on the wall and Gene Wilder running his fingers in the man's ears and nose and mouth...that's where this morning's think fest came into play. At 7:30 this morning I was changing channels while I was feeding the puppies...I can only watch CNN for so many hours before I get news overload....when I saw Young Frankentein on AMC....I turned it on, ready for a good laugh, and that's when it hit me...it wasn't Young Frankenstein that I liked and found funny, it was The Haunted Honeymoon with Gene Wilder. Then I was talking to Trish today and called Munchkinland, forgive me L. Frank Baum, Munchkinville, which sent me and Trish off into gales of laughter...that's what prompted me to think of all the things I say when I forget what they really are....for example:
1. I told my husband I wanted to travel around the world in an RV...he told me that that was impossible because he wasn't going to fly to the different countries. I told him he didn't have to...then came this question....
Danny: "If we don't have to fly, how are we going to get from Cuba to Florida?"
ME: "We'll just make sure we travel there when the ocean's frozen over."
Yeah, a real doozy there....he made sure to tell lots of people that and made sure to tell them that I was a high school graduate too!
2. I couldn't remember Tommy Chong's name so I called him Chuck Chong for the longest time.
3. Same with Dennis Weaver...his name was Buck Jones.
4. When I was writing my first book back in 1994, I couldn't remember what the people who pushed gurneys were called, so I called them Gurneymen. It was a day later that I figured out they were called Orderlies.
5. I had snippets of a song running around in my head about marijuana, a windmill, and that the singer's brother was up on the windmill and the singer had to fly up to get him down. I couldn't figure out the song....I googled it, I youtubed it, but nothing, so I called up Leslie, who figured it out with the help of my Dad and sent me the link to Wildwood Weed.
6. Movies are a real issue with me....I'll remember a word, a scene, or an actor, and it will drive me crazy trying to figure it out. Galaxy Quest took me 2 1/2 weeks to figure out. Pretty bad when you ask your husband and kids...."You know this one....the one with the kids, telling the characters what to do, lighting Roman Candles so the spaceship knows where to land....and don't tell me I don't know what I'm talking about cuz all ya'll have seen the movie!" And then when they look at you like you're from the looney bin when you're going through the DVD movie jackets and then start digging into the VHS tapes before you realize the movie is in the DVD player because you watched it the night before.
7. Another thing that gets me is when I'm writing and trying to figure out a word. The most recent word was "hallucination". I called up Mom and told her that it's the word that means seeing something that isn't there....while I'm talking to her I'm using my hands to try and explain it to her. When she didn't know what the hell I was talking about I called up some friends, then my sister. Finally figured it out later when I pulled up the thesaurus and put in the word apparition....yeah, I know apparition and can't figure out hallucination!
8. The worst thing that can happen....you work somewhere and you answer the phone saying it's someplace else. I worked at Jones New York and answered the phone once saying it was Nemeth Air Conditioning....Anne Klein was answered Bostonian/Clarks....and once I answered the house phone saying it was Winn-Dixie.

There are plenty more, but I actually have things to do and if I don't, I might forget to do them and do something else.

A Little Mixup in Movies

2009-11-16T00:12:00.004-05:00

Since the kids and my husband still haven't gave me "The Wizard Of Oz" as a gift so far, I was flipping through channels when it came on TBS the other night. Danny, being the funny man of movies, was watching it with me and making commentaries as it was playing. First, he was certain that it was all in color because that's the way he remembered it. Then came when he was making fun of all the people in the "cyclone" and then Danny having to ruin it all by saying that there's no way that Dorothy could see the people in the twister. As the house fell into Munchkinland and it pans to Dorothy walking outside, he exclaimed, "Where's all the Oompa Loompas?" I had to explain, between fits of laughter, that they were Munchkins, not Oompa Loompas...Danny then told me they were the same thing....which I had to explain that Munchkins were funny dressed people with flowers on their shoes and Oompa Loompas had orange skin and funny colored eyebrows. Thank goodness for DVR's because I was able to record it and watch it tonight, since I wasn't able to watch the whole movie that Danny and I started.

Happy Veteran's Day

2009-11-10T00:09:00.001-05:00

For those who've went and never came back
For those who've came back misunderstood
For those who've seen the horror
For those who've cried themselves to sleep
And for those who've never gotten a moments peace
We salute and honor you this very day.

Hurricane, her Blankie, and Puppies...oh my

2009-11-04T16:37:00.007-05:00

After giving the puppies a bath and getting ready to feed them, Hurricane decided she was being left out so she brought her blanket over, so she could sit and bark and Amber and me until we played with her. Instead we decided to see what she would do with puppies on there. The puppies are Vengeance, Diablo, Chewy, Roxette, Bear, and Butterball.

Happy Halloween

2009-11-02T20:13:00.005-05:00

The Haunted Corn Maze

Amber and Dustin

Amber as a Cheap Hooker....shot one

Love this pic....Amber as Cheap Hooker...pic 2

It was so much easier when the kids were little...trick or treating was anticipated all day long. Making sure they ate and then hurried up and got them ready, along with 3 pillow cases, and out the door we went, on a mile long trek around our block. They looked forward to seeing certain people, and others they knew wouldn't answer the door even though the light was on. There were people who waited for them to come around, and if they didn't, we were visited by them the next day with a bag of candy for "the kiddies". This year Amber dressed up as a cheap hooker, and Brian looked like he was about to rob a bank, he had on a black coat, a skeleton ski mask and skeleton gloves.....unfortunately I don't have a pic of Brian, but I did Amber's makeup, and I thought I did a pretty good job, and there's a pic of Amber and her boyfriend Dustin. Danny was at the haunted corn maze scaring people, and Patrick and I stayed home watching Ghost Hunters Live on the computer, seeing if we could see any ghosts heading through the tunnels, or the different rooms they had their cameras in. We did hear a lot of footsteps, voices, and the like, and we thought we saw a bear walking through one of the tunnels and Patrick went ahead and sent his name in as seeing it. All in all, it was a good Halloween.

Last Leaf Viewing From Black Rock

2009-11-01T23:37:00.006-05:00

Amber, Dustin, and I went to see the leaves before they were finally off the trees at Black Rock in Mountain City, which is about 10 miles from where we live. Once a year we go up to see the colors of the leaves. This year we were about a week too late, but the color is still pretty. Then Danny and I took pics when we were heading into town of the sunset...in person it was a more vivid purple and pink color. Until next year....

Final View of the Day....Bridge Creek

Another view down Bridge Creek

Bridge Creek again

And once more down Bridge Creek

From Black Rock into Clayton

Black Rock, looking down New US 441

Black Rock looking at WalMart and Home Depot

Black Rock into Clayton...McDonalds, CVS, Walgreens, Ace, Duvall Ford

Black Rock looking at the church, Ingles, Pizza Hut, Power plant, Gas Station, Exxon

Amber's little heart on Black Rock

"I've gotcha" Black Rock looking into Clayton

Another one of us at Black Rock

Amber trying to get on my lap at Black Rock

She's climbing up on my lap at Black Rock

Me n Amber at Black Rock

Another one of us looking beautimous at Black Rock

I'm staring at the mountains of Rabun County from Black Rock

Me n Dustin...down below is Clayton

Just me at Black Rock...holding up the pillar

One Week Old

2009-10-29T22:06:00.004-04:00

They are a week old today. It started about 10 days ago when I looked at Smackie....her nipples looked really large, but they always had been so I dismissed any notion of her being pregnant. After all, I was told she wasn't able to have any, and told by a vet, too. Then 9 days ago I brought her out of her cage and she felt big, but there was nothing moving in her stomach, and later that afternoon she was back to normal, so I thought, wrongly again, that she had just overeaten. Then we go to 8 days ago, I found her throwing up, but running around and chasing after Dixie and Raskull and growling at the cats, nothing big, and her stomach didn't look big when I fed them. Then we go to a week ago. I fed the dogs that morning and Smackie was just laying by the bowl, didn't even growl as Dixie came over to eat. I finished feeding them and giving them water and went inside. A couple hours later I was in Amber's room looking out when I saw Smackie laying in a hole, and licking on something white...her first puppy. She ended up having 7, but one was stillborn, so there are 2 males and 4 females. The 2 males are all white...one is named Vengeance, owned by Patrick and the other is Diablo, owned by Brian, and Amber owns the big sandy colored one. Smackie stopped feeding the pups, so I have been...I found a great puppy formula online...goat's milk, egg yolk, whole yogurt, karo syrup....they're thriving.

A Child's Book Report on The Bible

2009-10-16T07:45:00.002-04:00

I have received this many times from different friends and I still get a kick out of it....children can make anything out of what they read.

A child was asked to write a book report on the entire Bible. This is amazing and brought tears of laughter to my eyes. I wonder how often we take for granted that children understand what we are teaching???Through the eyes of a child:
The Children's Bible in a NutshellIn the beginning, which occurred near the start, there was nothing but God,darkness, and some gas. The Bible says, 'The Lord thy God is one, but Ithink He must be a lot older than that. Anyway, God said, 'Give me a light!' and someone did. Then God made the world.He split the Adam and made Eve. Adam and Eve were naked, but they weren'tembarrassed because mirrors hadn't been invented yet. Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating one bad apple, so they were driven fromthe Garden of Eden.....Not sure what they were driven in though, becausethey didn't have cars.Adam and Eve had a son, Cain, who hated his brother as long as he was Abel.Pretty soon all of the early people died off, except for Methuselah, wholived to be like a million or something.One of the next important people was Noah, who was a good guy, but one ofhis kids was kind of a Ham. Noah built a large boat and put his family andsome animals on it. He asked some other people to join him, but they saidthey would have to take a rain check.After Noah came Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jacob was more famous than hisbrother, Esau, because Esau sold Jacob his birthmark in exchange for somepot roast. Jacob had a son named Joseph who wore a really loud sports coat.Another important Bible guy is Moses, whose real name was Charlton Heston.Moses led the Israel Lights out of Egypt and away from the evil Pharaohafter God sent ten plagues on Pharaoh's people. These plagues includedfrogs, mice, lice, bowels, and no cable.God fed the Israel Lights every day with manicotti. Then he gave them HisTop Ten Commandments. These include: don't lie, cheat, smoke, dance, orcovet your neighbor's stuff.Oh, yeah, I just thought of one more: Humor thy father and thy mother..One of Moses' best helpers was Joshua who was the first Bible guy to usespies. Joshua fought the battle of Geritol and the fence fell over on thetown.After Joshua came David. He got to be king by killing a giant with aslingshot.. He had a son named Solomon who had about 300 wives and 500porcupine S. My teacher says he was wise, but that doesn't sound very wiseto me.After Solomon there were a bunch of major league prophets. One of these wasJonah, who was swallowed by a big whale and then barfed up on the shore. There were also some minor league prophets, but I guess we don't have toworry about them.After the Old Testament came the New Testament. Jesus is the star of TheNew. He was born in Bethlehem in a barn. (I wish I had been born in abarn too, because my mom is always saying to me, 'Close the door! Were youborn in a barn?' It would be nice to say, 'As a matter of fact, I was.')During His life, Jesus had many arguments with sinners like the Phariseesand the Democrats.Jesus also had twelve opossums.The worst one was Judas Asparagus. Judas was so evil that they named aterrible vegetable after him.Jesus was a great man. He healed many leopards and even preached to someGermans on the Mount.But the Democrats and all those guys put Jesus on trial before Pontius thePilot. Pilot didn't stick up for Jesus. He just washed his hands instead.Anyways, Jesus died for our sins, then came back to life again. He went upto Heaven but will be back at the end of the Aluminum. His return isforetold in the book of Revolution..

Remembering Past Halloweens and What I've Learned

2009-10-15T12:54:00.004-04:00

Danny and I were talking about the upcoming Haunted Corn Maze here. I was wondering if the were going to go ahead and do it this year since some of it was damaged earlier in the growing season by heavy wind and rain. He said that it would probably go on as planned. We then started talking about past Halloweens with the kids. One in particular was when they first learned how to trick or treat. It started with them opening someone's door, running into the house and yelling, "Trick or Treat!" Yes, the lady had the scare of her life seeing a little boy dressed in Batman, one in Robin, and a young girl in a witch outfit standing behind her with pillowcases. She gave them lots of candy and, after that night, never turned her porch light on again for Halloween, and we told the kids how to correctly go to people's homes and do their Trick or Treat.

Well, they had the hang of it the next year, and, like almost every Halloween where we lived in Florida, it had just finished raining. But this Halloween we had had a Tropical Storm come through, so it dropped an unusual high rate of rain, and there were puddles that were really deep and water standing 2-3 foot deep in the ditches. Brian, who was Robin, decided he was going to go running to the next house. We tried stopping him, but he had to have first pick. His little feet going fast, and then, SPLASH, into the ditch, skimming across it like a skimboarder, for about 20 feet. Newly mowed grass he was spitting out of his mouth when he looked up, held up his hands and cried, "Mommy, Daddy, Robin's all wet! Robin's all wet!" Try as we might we couldn't stop laughing, which made him cry even harder. The couple that lived in the house came out and gave him an extra handful of candy that time.

I've learned you don't dress your son up as a mummy while using strips of sheets tied around him. After 20 feet they slip. He starts out as a mummy looking authentic, he comes back with sheets tied every which way, and looking like he's coming unwrapped.

I've learned, when you live in SW Florida and your daughter wants to be a witch you don't put a plastic nose on her because when they start to sweat, the nose falls off and everyone can hear, "Mooooooommmmm! My nose just fell off!"

And last but not least I've learned that Halloween Candy, when hid really well so the kids can't find it, has a shelf life of less than 15 years. When we were moving from Florida to here in Georgia and cleaning everything out, throwing stuff away, I found, tucked in a dark corner in a cabinet I rarely used was a small bowl of candy. Some mini Snickers bars, mini KitKats, and a small bag of Candy Corn....imagine my surprise when the kids asked if it was still good and if they could eat it. Opening it up, I found that KitKats will be a long line of chocolate, the wafers long gone, Snickers bars are a gooey mess, and the Candy Corn looked like it might have still been good, but didn't take any chances and threw it away anyhow.

The Great Banana Bread Fiasco

2009-10-15T12:24:00.004-04:00

It started out innocently enough...me buying yeast packets, after all, I plan to open a bakery one day, might as well start learning to bake really well now, right? Well, I had this craving for banana nut bread, and the more the days went on, the more I craved it. (I craved this more than what I craved Twisted Glazed Donuts when I was pregnant with Amber, and I had to have 3 of them every day!) Well, I had the walnuts, the yeast, and everything else I would need on the island in the kitchen, all lined up, ready to do my bidding. I had a good recipe that was rated 4 out of 5 stars from the recipe website I use, and was eager to get going. That's when I found I didn't have the 4 basic things I needed....2 bread pans and 2 mixing bowls....a real duh moment for me. I gave my 2 mixing bowls to the dogs....more food and more water fits in them, and kept meaning to buy more, just never remembered. Well, I get to WalMart and find out they don't have metal mixing bowls anymore, at least not the kind I had, so I got 4 plastic ones....I don't like the lids though, they don't stay on tight enough. Get back home and I'm putting the ingredients in, when it comes to the part about kneeding the dough....well, I do, and then I start wondering when I was supposed to add the bananas. I looked through the directions, read them over and over, and nothing about bananas. That's when I started talking outloud about people who put directions on the computer and don't enter them in correctly. I went back to the computer to find a different, but similar recipe, and that's when I found out that I was the stupid person because I forgot to write down the part about adding the banana mixture. I went back into the kitchen and chopped up and mashed a cup of bananas, added it to the kneeded dough, made it into a sloppy mess and continued with the recipe. After letting it sit for an hour, nothing was rising, so I called up Diana, who didn't bake that recipe, but had me envisioning the episode of I Love Lucy when she bakes the bread, and called up Leslie, who just happened to have her cookbook out. She told me that the yeast could have been bad, to go ahead and bake it, but it would be denser. I decided I would whip up another batch using the yeast that was brand new. Using ALL the ingredients this time, in the correct order, and waiting for the dough to rise, but never did, I decided to bake them anyhow. The smell was delightful. I went ahead and baked the first batch I made too, just to see. Again, mouth watering flavors came out of that kitchen. I sliced a couple slices off and had the boys taste it, and I got a, "That tastes great Mom." Yeah, until I walked out of their room and Patrick spit it out. Brian liked it. Then I gave Danny a smile piece and I took one....not a taste of banana, not one iota. I thought maybe it was because it was hot, so I waited until the next day to have a slice, still nothing. I wrapped up the loaves and gave one to Brian's friend who took it home, don't know if they ate it or not, and the other 3 were here. To my horror the day after that I went to cut a slice and the loaves were like stone. I tried giving some to Hurricane, who will eat almost anything, and she wouldn't even have a bite. Instead of baking another batch, I decided to bake chocolate chip cookies....they almost always turn out, and they did this time....perfectly baked. So now, when I get my bakery, I'll have to find someone who knows how to bake banana bread....or I could just cheat and buy presliced ones, take them out of the package and package them myself.

One Down, One To Go

2009-09-29T16:29:00.004-04:00

Have you ever been sitting around and a title of a book, or a passage from a book pop into your head? What about a song title, a singer, a movie, or an actor....did they ever fail to materialize into your brain...I mean, you can see them, hear them speak, but the name eludes you...right on the tip of your tongue, and then nothing. It's like going to the kitchen, opening the refrigerator and then standing there because you forgot what you came for, or calling someone and then forgetting who you called. For the last 6 months, I have been trying to find a book from the Silhouette Line. Knew the cover perfect, but the title and author I couldn't place. Today I just happened upon Wikiromance. Went to the Silhouette line and went through the years of 1980-1999 of the Romance line. NOTHING.....found 4 other books, though. Went through them again, thinking I somehow missed them and then cross referenced them with the Fiction DB site I had found which showed the cover of the book, still nothing. I thought I was gonna go nuts until I decided to try the Desire line and yep, 5 pages into the site, there it was sitting there. Now that that book is out of my system, it's time for me to find another one....only one problem. I remember only one of the characters.....historical romance, set in the 1800's, no author, no publisher....this is gonna be fun to find.

Raskull's Sleeping Spot

2009-09-23T19:34:00.004-04:00

We had between 15 and 19 inches of rain here at the house. The dogs kept throwing their dogfood out and wouldn't eat it once it got wet, so when it finally stopped I put extra food in the bowl for the dogs...yes, they had eaten over the last week and a half that it had been pouring down rain, but not like they like to eat. Anyhow, yesterday I had already had to wire the cage together in the front because Dixie wants OUT of the cage and she's chewing through the cage. After that was fixed and Danny came home I heard Smackie and Dixie barking their high pitched bark and went into Amber's room to see what was going on. Raskull decided he was going to sleep in the dog bowl and no one was allowed to eat. When he saw me, he got out and let the other 2 eat a little and then lay back down in it...I decided to snap the pic. Isn't he adorable???

Good-Bye Guiding Light

2009-09-18T16:00:00.002-04:00

I remember watching Guiding Light with my Mom. I'd get home, do my homework, and then she'd call me in when it came on. I would lay on the floor in the living room and finish doing my homework during commercials. I remember her getting really angry at scenes and couldn't figure out why, after all it was just a soap. We'd discuss storylines and plotlines, commenting on characters and putting down others. Then my sister Trisha used to watch it with me. Our favorites were Quintin and Nola, Josh and Reva, Philip and Beth, Lujack and Beth, (Almost Paradise was mine and Trisha's favorite song for months), Mallet and Harley, and there was always the promise of our characters breaking up, only to get back together. Throughout the years, we'd keep up the daily discussions, especially when they would do something really stupid, like break up Reva and Josh, yet again. When I got married, the discussions somewhat ended, which made me a little sad, but I kept up the tradition of watching it daily, much to my husband's disapproval. Of course when he was home from work, there was no watching it, so I had to keep up with the updates in the paper. In 1994, when Patrick was 2 and was always wanting to be outside around the time the soap came on, I watched it less and less, until I stopped watching it altogether. I would catch snippets now and then, flipping through channels and stopping for a second to see if I recognized anyone, but never watched more than 5 minutes of it. Then came the news from my stepmom that The Guiding Light was to be cancelled in September 2009. Even when she provided the link, I couldn't believe it. Why would they take such an amazing show off the air? On Friday, September 18, 2009, The Guiding Light ended it's 72 year run. I happened to catch the last few seconds, which amazingly had my 2 favorite characters in it...Josh and Reva and him asking if she was ready, and Reva replying back, "Always." Such a fitting, but sad ending to a wonderful soap.

Food Stuffs

2009-09-16T22:39:00.003-04:00

Okay, I was talking to Brian tonight...he was making strawberries and cream oatmeal and asked if I wanted some. Of course I told him I didn't like oatmeal, except for in cookies with chocolate chips. Then I started thinking about the stupid things I don't like and the reasons why. Get this:

I don't like oatmeal except in cookies with chocolate chips.
I won't eat rice because the grains remind me of maggots and I expect them to start crawling at any minute.
I won't eat hot dogs, at least not unless they're the only thing left in the house because my sister Trish told me she saw a blue vein sticking out of one when I bit into it. I promptly gave it to her.
I don't like tomatoes, but I'll put a slice of tomato at the bottom of my hamburger bun to get the juice in there and eat it, and throw the tomato slice away.
I don't like pickles, but love pickle juice.
Don't eat ketchup on sandwiches, but will dip fries, chicken tenders, and fish sticks into it and eat it that way.
Marshmallows I will only eat if I put them in the microwave for 15 seconds and get it like liquid sugar or I'll eat ONLY the outside if I roast them over a fire. Don't the gooey inside of roasted marshmallows.

That's just a few examples.....when Brian quits looking at me like I'm strange then I might decide to write some more at a later date.

What NOT To Say Outloud

2009-09-16T22:22:00.004-04:00

Tonight, Danny and I were having a DiGiorno pizza....when it was 5 minutes from being done, Danny wanted to add some slices of cheese and some jalepenos to his half, so I cut it, did his half and then cooked it the rest of the way. After it was done, I cut his side first, cutting through jalepenos and his cheese, then I looked at the pizza cutter and said outloud, "I'm freaking stupid." Danny looked at me and nodded, going to sit on the couch with his slices and watching some strange movie on Cinemax. I sat down at the computer looking at properties that I still want to research in Tennessee and I start talking to the computer because it keeps giving me tips that I had already turned off. Danny is standing behind me and, without me knowing it, and when I click on the X for the umpteenth time he says, "Yep, you're stupid. You're talking to your computer, it doesn't talk back." That coming from a man who acts out the movie "Jaws 2"!

A New Grandbaby

2009-09-13T16:30:00.005-04:00

He looks like he's thinking about home already.

He's so adorable, isn't he?

Our granddaughter and grandson.

My stepson, our granddaughter, and grandson.

We found out late last night that we were grandparents again. At 6 lbs. 11 oz., 19 inches long, he was born on August 31, 2009. We are greatful that he is home now and healthy, along with his momma. His big sister obviously is happy he's home too. We love you sweetheart.

In Rememberance

2009-09-11T08:00:00.000-04:00

Years ago we watched in horror as planes crashed into buildings and a field, with senseless deaths occurring, a horror that a lot of people relive in their minds everyday. Their are other people, firefighters, policeman, people getting out of the twisted buildings that are still getting sick and dying. We always remember the people who died and we'll never forget them, but one thing I think should always stay within us is our pride for our country. It shouldn't take a terroristic threat, plot, or action to make us realize just our great our country is.

God Bless America and God Bless the Survivors and the Heroes, no matter who they were.

Dixie Caged and Other Things

2009-09-04T12:18:00.006-04:00

Dixie has managed to get out of her cage no matter what we've done to it....added boards across and down so she couldn't climb and she still managed to scale the fencing and jump down. After she had her puppies, she pretty much stayed on the porch, running around the house to tease the other dogs, but pretty much staying here, until the last 3 weeks. Every little noise she heard, she would take off at a dead run and run down the road, her puppies following her, barking the whole way, so we'd have to get out of bed, yell for them to come back. During the day she'd go into the driveway, when she couldn't find her ball, and pick up big rocks and bring them back to the porch and throw at us, so we'd throw them back. We ended up putting a bark collar on Dixie which curbed her desire for running down the road barking, which ultimately stopped the puppies. Last week I came up with an idea to keep Dixie inside her cage...I know, another one. I put 2 pieces of the caging on top of each other, tied them together every 2 or 3 inches and then open it up and put it over the cage. After some struggling, Amber and I had the top over it and I tied that down. We threw Dixie's ball into the cage and she can't get out...yes, she's tried. The puppies stay on the porch or run around the yard chasing the kittens or playing with Lady. Now I can finally get all the rocks off the porch.

Hurricane

2009-08-19T13:38:00.003-04:00

I always take Hurricane out before I go to bed around 1 a.m. Last night I couldn't find her and thought she was in with Amber again, so I went into Amber's room, and nothing, the same in the boys' room. Went back out here and looked under the blanket where Danny was covered up and nothing. I decided she'd come out when she heard me unlock the door. Went into the laundry room, put Patrick's clothes in the dryer, came out into the living room, got her leash and she was beside me. Today we found out where she was hiding last night. (I had Brian take his blankets and pillow and put them in the laundry room last night so I could start washing them, the ones he didn't use.) Isn't she cute???

Good-Bye Rebel

2009-08-19T13:24:00.005-04:00

Rebel was the firstborn out of Dixie's first litter, August 25, 2007. He was one of the ones I kept, including Smackie. He had stayed in the doghouses with the other dogs until Labor Day of last year when him and Raskull got in a huge fight. It never got better after that, so we had to chain Rebel outside the cages. I hate chaining a dog up, but I also didn't want him going to the Humane Society. I would rather him live on a chain with people who loved him than going there to be adopted by a person that I didn't know would take care of him. Two weeks ago Amber and I were cleaning out the dog cages and Rebel walked into the main cage where Raskull was and they went at it, holding onto faces and paws, while Amber and I tried pulling them apart. We decided that Rebel was never going to be able to get back into that cage with Raskull. The thing we couldn't understand was Rebel and Raskull can sleep side by side, one inside, one outside the cage, lick each other's paws and faces, but as soon as they don't have that cage between them or as soon as people have them close together they are literally at each other's faces. We had 2 puppies left to give away and a lady came to get one of them. She asked to see the other dogs, so I took her back. Rebel came over to her and lay down on her feet. I told her that we had to give him up too. She ended up taking Rebel instead of the puppies. I know he'll be in a good home there, and he won't be on a chain. He has a couple of acres to run around on and a pond to swim in, and we can go see him anytime we want.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO......ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-08-18T00:00:00.001-04:00

Birthdays always seemed to represent how much we had grown up when I was little. When I turned 13, I was the teenager, while my sisters were lowly "underaged" children. When I hit 17 and graduated high school, I thought, "Yeah, I'm special now." At 18, I got married and started a family, and that's when I realized something. Actually I realized it yesterday. When you're married and have kids, you see them growing up and then you realize that you have aged too! Yes, I know that you'll age regardless, but it seems faster. It seems like yesterday I had Amber, Brian, and Patrick fighting over a pink rocking pony in the front yard, or Brian and Patrick going to garage sales that were ending and bringing home leftover furniture, Amber tattling on her brothers for swinging on palm fronds, or me catching Amber eating popcorn, drinking a soda and talking on the speaker phone to one of her "new best friends". As long as memories stay with me, I'll gladly age, but when they fail to make me smile, or they fail in general, that's when I'll be sad. I think that how you know how old you truly are....not in years, or in the way you look, but in the memories you've made, the life you've lived, the love you given, and the happiness you have inside.

HAPPY 40th BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!!!

By the way, when you're not having fun on your birthday, this is what you look like...

I'll be having fun......

When Will We See Good Luck???

2009-08-12T19:38:00.003-04:00

It started August 6 when Amber came into the bedroom in pain. Claiming she couldn't sit up, lay down, or get comfortable in any condition. At the hospital we found out she had 2 kidney stones. Sunday the pain was really bad so Danny called his Dad who said she'd just have to wait, which she has been patiently, for them to pass. Then today, Brian came home early from work complaining of all sorts of things....not being able to eat or drink, his arms and legs felt like they were half asleep, it hurt to breathe and his stomach and back hurt. We find out, he has to have his appendix taken out....at least it will be laproscopic and not the old fashioned way. We just need good luck to hit and no more bad!

Patrick's A Senior!!!

2009-08-10T14:30:00.002-04:00

So hard to believe that Patrick's first day of school this year puts him at a Senior in high school. I remember his first day of kindergarten and him not wanting to go, and me crying the whole way back to work and Diana telling me not to worry, that everything will be fine. She also said that time will pass fast and before I know it he will be in high school. Well, she was right, but it's so hard to believe that he'll be graduating in 9 months.

His senior pics were taken and his Dad and I weren't too happy because he wore his eyeliner...he said he had to be himself, and that's who he was. Then, last week, he gave us an even bigger surprise....( I know, what could be bigger than eyeliner, right?)...well, he came home with his hair dyed black....yes, BLACK! It's starting to wash out. He was mowing the grass yesterday and it was so hard to see him with black hair instead of blonde.....hopefully it washes out really fast.

Patrick, I do hope this year that I don't have to be at the school as much, I hope that your grades stay up and there's no staying after school for make up classes. Good luck your senior year!

Happy Birthday Leslie

2009-08-10T12:21:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday Leslie....this is what my wish for you is:

I wish you peace~
I wish you happiness~
I wish you love~
(Wow, for a minute there I thought I was channeling Dolly Parton!)

I hope your birthday is filled with laughter and love. I wish I could be there. I love you, Leslie!

Cats are Creative

2009-08-08T16:34:00.004-04:00

Over the last 3 weeks it's been fun watching Paws with her kittens. After a week beside the front door, she took them down into the grass by the porch where the puppies wouldn't try to sleep in her box with her and the kittens. Then we had some rain and she moved them under the porch to keep them from getting wet. After a good dousing a week and a half ago, I looked under the porch and they were gone so I went searching for them. I found them in the trunk of my Cadillac. Two days later I hear meowing on the porch and Amber informs me that Paws has taken them up on the porch roof. Yep, she had 3 up there, so I took them back down and put them back in the Cadillac. About 4 days ago, as we were showing some people Dixie's puppies, I saw Paws come out of Danny's metal shed...the sliding doors stay open about 6 inches...and after the people left I went over there and looked inside...sure enough the kittens were there. We have hay for Lady in there and the kittens and Paws seem to like the bedding. I figure they should stay there, but if not, the search will be on again.

Happy 60th Anniversary Mom & Pop

2009-08-06T16:26:00.002-04:00

Sixty years today...such a great accomplishment that so many people don't ever achieve. Mom & Pop have seen the good and the bad, the rich and the poor, the happy and sad, laughter and tears. One might say they have taken their vows literally. Sixty years with the same person might seem extraordinary in itself, but when you have an extraordinary couple, you see how they could accomplish such a great feat. We love you Mom & Pop! Happy Anniversary.

Good-Bye Aunt Hazel

2009-08-03T16:12:00.002-04:00

From Left to Right...(bottom)...Aunt Wilma, Aunt Hazel, Uncle Dick, Uncle Lloyd
(top)...Uncle John, Uncle Harold, Aunt Mary

Aunt Hazel, (white outfit), and I have no clue who the other lady is.

Aunt Hazel

My Aunt Hazel passed away. I feel really bad because I kept telling myself I was going to write and call her, but I never did. Told myself I would do it tomorrow, but it was always put off, and my biggest regret is that I never got to say good-bye. She always had a great smile and a great laugh, was a terrific painter, and I never saw her in a bad mood, but then when you don't live with them or not around them every day you wouldn't. When I was little she was always watching when I came walking home from school, well when we lived near her, and her and my Uncle Paul, who passed away 16 months ago, would both give me a hug, and maybe a cookie or two. I'm sorry I never got to say I love you again, Aunt Hazel, but where you are now, I know you know that I do.

Lady Annabella

2009-08-03T13:35:00.002-04:00

I was told on Thursday when Danny came home that we had to go back to Travis' when it cooled down so we could feed a baby calf that had been born on Tuesday, that the mama had abandoned. So that night we went over and saw that she was really bad off...skinny from not eating for 2 days. Danny and I held her down and tried squirting milk down her throat, but that didn't work too well. She ended up eating a quarter of a pint of milk and lay down in the hay in the barn. The next morning Danny and I went back to Travis' to feed her again, and it wasn't too much better than the evening before. That afternoon I drove back and, like that morning, barely anything went into her. Since we still had the fence from when Beauty was here we brought her back home with us...mainly because it would be easier to feed her. Saturday morning she looked pathetic, would barely move, and wouldn't eat, so I force fed her until she was making really strange noises. Then I got a 5 gallon bucket and filled it up with water and led her to that, which she drank out of. After no luck in trying again during the evening to get her to eat, I knelt beside her and put my hands on her stomach and said a prayer, hoping for some miracle. Around 11:30 that night I noticed the lightening and heard the thunder getting closer, and saw that some severe storm were heading our way, so I went out to put her under the piece of wood we had as an overhang for shade. She looked up and as I put her under there she turned her head and grabbed at my finger, sucking on it. I went it and heated up her bottle, which she drank all of, 1/2 a nursing bottle for cows. The next morning I fed her again, and little by little drank the other half. She has a lot of obstacles to overcome, but at least she's drinking 2-3 times a day, and hopefully she'll get stronger.

Happy Birthday Jimmy

2009-07-23T17:23:00.001-04:00

Happy Birthday Jimmy. You know it's funny the things you remember when you think of your birthdays and the thing I remember the most is the day you were born. Tracy and I waited in that waiting room for hours upon hours. Then Dad brought Trish to the hospital and we waited by the nursery, each one of us getting more and more restless. Then we looked at each other and said that the next nurse who came through that door better have news of you being born, and she did. We all went in and you were just a little thing. I'm glad Tracy didn't have her way for the name...her choice was Sandon Paul....Of course Trish and I didn't get ours either, but at least you weren't named Travis or Trevor...Mom liked those names! I hope your birthday treats you well and you get want you want....one of these years we'll go party, k?

Love you little brother....Happy 22nd Birthday! I love you!

Paws' Kittens

2009-07-20T15:36:00.003-04:00

We found out Paws the Cat was pregnant 3 days before she had her kittens...she didn't look it at all. We kept tabs on her hiding spots, just to be on the safe side. Well, this morning as we were feeding the cats, Paws came and jumped on the truck and we noticed that she wasn't pregnant. (We have to have the cat's food and milk in the back of the pickup truck because of 3 reasons...1.) It's cooler underneath the tool box for them, 2.) The dogs can't get to their food and milk anymore, and 3.) Dixie can't get to Poison and Bobbie!) Anyhow, Amber and I searched and searched making baby kitten noises but of course that didn't do any good. Amber and I came inside where I watched Paws from my room, saw her go up the hill and cross over to the neighbors yard. I went into the living room and looked out the window where I saw her go under some wood, so Amber and I went up the hill to the neighbor's house, look under the wood and found 4 baby kittens...one pure gray, one gray striped, one pure black, and one the color and striping of Paws. We have her in a box by the front door now where the kittens are out of danger from any animals.