AND SO IT GOES ON ©: FAMILY

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!!

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 04:15:18 GMT

TO ALL MY SPACES FRIENDS AND VISITORS...

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FOR ANITA..

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 17:27:47 GMT

FOR ANITA

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY FRIEND!!

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HOPE ALL YOUR WISHES COME TRUE!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUE...

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 04:05:23 GMT

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUE!!

Yes today is my best friend SUE's

birthday and even though she is

not going to tell you how old she

really is...I .... Will.....

(bet you thought I would tell you huh!)

Nah.. would I do a thing like that to

a friend???

Hope you have a great one SUE!!

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

Pretty cold here overnight. in the 30's again. Covered up

the plants I wanted to save. The weather reports that

warmer weather is coming next week so maybe I will

save the tomatoes after all. Saturday we went to the Corn

Festival. I say we, because Sis was off work for the day and

she and my friend also went too. It was a brisk cold day

to start out and the turn- out was not as large as when

the weather was warm last year. Not nearly as many

vendors showed up where they had a space reserved

for them. The ones that did show though, braved a windy

cold day and did very well. I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

I took so many pictures and I am still going over them.

I will post some later today when I get time.

An incident occurred Saturday.. and well it was very very memorable.

PRAYER REQUEST

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 04:14:25 GMT

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OUR spaces family friend LOTTEMAE is having surgery on

Oct 2nd and wishes for us all to send thoughts and prayers

her way for a safe surgery and a great healing time. I will be keeping

her in my thoughts tomorrow.

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Not much going on here it was rainy yesterday and pretty cold.. definitetly

sweatshirt weather. Thanks to the benedryl my nose was better but it

made my head stop up some so I am still battling the headache.

The temps in the 40's at night make this ole house pretty cold and drafty.

Had the oven on for awhile making biscuits for dinner last night sure felt good.

Picked my tomatoes regardless that they were not ripe. Hope they will

get ripe indoors. I can hope! We could get frost tomorrow night.. OH I hate

to hear that news..

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Watched some of the DWTS tonight and BOY I still cannot believe they

did not vote off that Cloris woman. OH she just makes such a fool of herself

each week. Better people than her are getting the boot. It is just SAD!

If a stranger came up to you on the street and asked you to give them money and

told you that if you did give it.. they would pay you back would you believe them?

Kinda like that in Washington these days... we are EXPECTED to believe that we

will benefit and we will get the money back but WILL WE REALLY??? hmm

##########################################################################

They have found the chemical MELAMINE now in other countries where

CHINA shipped contaminated milk products. The latest was in the Netherlands in cookies

that were made in that country. England is reportedly looking into Melamine being

inside chocolates made there too. WHO IS TO SAY THAT THIS MELAMINE PRODUCT

HAS NOT PASSED OVER INTO THE USA NOW??? Children have died from this

chemical that was put in milk. It is just tragic. I hope the USA stays on the ball with

this scary thing.

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glitter-graphics.com

FOR DAD AND GRANDPA..

Sat, 14 Jun 2008 02:58:48 GMT

His farm was built in the civil war days, so it was pretty old, but he still ran a dairy and had horses, chickens, and grew corn and beans. The main house had a tin roof, which made it very hot in the summertime. The upstairs was open rooms with a curtain dividing the two rooms. Dad bought a large window fan, but all it seemed to do was bring in the humid hot air at night.

I am, and will be forever, deathly afraid of snakes. This farm had large black snakes who liked to lie in the large trees in the front yard. My sister and brother didn’t care, they would play out in the shade of those trees with the dogs and chase the chickens. I would stay on the porch and watch. Once in a while when a snake was close to the house, Grandpa would shoot it with a bb gun or a rifle. I shudder to think about them even now, no wonder I never slept good while I visited there. I was the sick kid with Asthma, allergic to the chickens and hay and humidity and just about everything else. I lived for the days, when we would go to town and visit my uncle in his nice brick air-conditioned house. It was the only time I really could breathe well during the whole trip. My Grandfather smoked his entire life. There are few pictures of him without a cigarette or cigar. The smell in that house used to close up my lungs right away, but it will always be in my mind as Grandpa's smell. Once he made my young brother smoke a cigar because he was caught trying a cigarette. It was the first time in my life, I actually saw a person turn green, and was he ever sick. You would have thought that he had learned his lesson in life from that, but later my brother took up the habit and smoked right up until his death. My father never smoked.

My step-Grandmother was a great cook and she would make meals that really we had never been introduced to. Seeing her chase down a chicken and wring it’s neck until it flopped around the yard made me not eat much for dinner. It was something us kids had never experienced in our lives. We still remember it to this day.I have gotten through it though and fired chicken is one of my favorites. My brother would go hunting and fishing and sometimes my sister would go fishing too. I stayed home with Mom and really was bored most of the time.Grandpa raised beagle dogs for hunting and they never were allowed to come into the house. Dad carried that tradition until his dying days, he hated an indoor animal and so we never had pets. They all would go coon hunting on a late afternoon, and you could hear the dogs howl echoing into the night. It was a good hunt if they came home late and loudly laughing. I just never saw the fun in running the animal down with dogs and shooting them. I guess I never will.

I loved the phone at Grandpa’s house as it was the old fashioned one with a party line and everyone in the area used it and knew each other’s voices and special rings. We used to love to try to pick it up and listen in to the conversations. If we spoke the folks on the other end had no idea who we were. We sure had fun trying to fool them. After a few years word got out when we were going to visit so they got prepared. Then phones went to private and the fun was over.

The week or so would go pretty fast if there was something to do, if not ,well you sat and tried not to get eaten alive by the huge bugs that seem to be just everywhere. Somehow the katydids are louder there and the stars are brighter at night. There is something about the country, and falling asleep to the rustling of the corn stalks in the night breeze that stays with you for the rest of your life.

Grandpa’s dairy was a stinky, but fascinating place to a city kid. I can still here the words that grandpa would yell to get his cows to come to milk in the mornings. More of a call like “OOOEEE SOOK SOOK SOOK.”. Where it came from I have no idea, he used it every day of his farm life though.Those cows would come lumbering up the lane to the barn every morning early and every late afternoon. We learned how to milk a cow by hand and to filter the milk and it was not our favorite drink. We learned how the milker machines worked when grandpa’s farm went high tech. Milk tasted like the green grass and just was horrible to us kids. Dad bought it from the store after that. Grandpa switched “blue-john”, which was the water with milk solution from rinsing the milk cans out. He placed it in the bottle that us kids drank out of . Today, that would probably be 1% milk. YES, we knew immediately! He could not fool us. We got such satisfaction out of that. We sure loved the cream made in to homemade ice cream though. I wonder why? I guess the sugar disguised the taste.

There was no bathroom in this old farmhouse. We had a wash tub and later we had a big old tub that we carried water to. This was the 50’s and 60’s not the 40’s. You would have thought that they would have indoor plumbing, but NO! One thing I hated the most was the “OUTHOUSE”. Oh , it frightened me to death. I still shudder to think about it. It was quite a ways from the house and was a scary place to a kid growing up. It was not fancy and not protected from critters of any kind. There was a path leading to the place, but tall grass or weeds on either side of the path. In the dark.. There was no way us kids would go there. We used the large buckets inside the house and then dump them out. I, being so afraid of snakes, would never go near the place if at all possible. It looked like it had been there since the civil war and never upgraded. In the late 60’s Grandpa finally upgraded his house and built on a bathroom indoors with running water and a toilet. We kids were very happy when we got that news. Made our trip there so much more enjoyable. I, however, was just about through with my visits there in the summer.

We went site seeing only rarely and a trip to town was a real treat. Hearing the people talk to each other and greet one another with “how y’all doin’? or “Y’all come back now, ya hear’” was so different and more friendly than what we were used to. My step-Grandmother worked in town and knew just about everyone there. We loved to go see her and go to the store and church with her. Her friends were always fun and easy to be around. I loved to watch the old men sitting in the square at the courthouse, and whittle away their hours. The piles of chips below their feet, they never made anything at all, just sat and talked and whittled.

Painting by our neighbor ca. 1973

Things were so laid back there. A slower type of living. Everyone knew who you were and who you were related to. It truly was a southern type of world and a northerner really sometimes felt out of place there. I found my visits there memorable and thought of that farm in the south this Father’s Day. I can still see my Dad and Grandpa sitting on the porch in those wooden chairs talking and passing the time at the end of a long summer day.

The house still stands to my knowledge. It was sold and I think remodeled some after the death of my Grandfather. The antiques in the sale went for thousands of dollars as some of them came from the civil war days. We have very little in our family’s possessions that came from the sale. It was the way they wanted it to be. I know that somewhere, Dad and Grandpa and my brother are sitting together, passing the time recalling the summers of long ago.

The memories I have are still very clear and I hope will remain in my journals for those to read for years to come.

THIS OLE HOUSE

Thu, 22 May 2008 03:36:11 GMT

(click it)

This ole house was not Dad's first choice. He had several others

in mind and made a bid on one. Someone out bid him on that

one, and so he started looking for others. When he found this one

it was not lived in for at least 3 years and needed everything done.

The yard was full of weeds and high grass. It had THREE large

trees in the front yard and one in the side yard and

a wooden one car garage. It had a nice big white cherry tree

in the back yard too. Dad put a bid on this house and it was

accepted. HOWEVER..the realtor was STILL showing the house

to other people. Dad found out and was furious. He got new

locks on all the doors and gave that woman a firm talking to.

When Mom and Dad moved into this house I was 3 months old.

Up until then, they had been renting in a small one bedroom

house across town. They had been married over

6 years and were saving to buy the house before having any

children. They had 3 empty bedrooms upstairs so they

took in a border.A man who worked for the railroad. He

became a life long friend of the family. The extra money

helped fix up the house, and make improvements to the

place. I still cannot believe that our woodwork was BLACK!

BLACK LAQUER finish. SO dark Mom could not stand it,

so in the early 60's she painted it all WHITE. What a difference

that made too. In our house you have to put up a scaffold

to paint or to wallpaper it. MOM wallpapered it.. ALL

SEVERAL times over the years. In the 60's we had the kitchen

re-done. Tore out walls. Made one large kitchen instead

of a dining room and tiny kitchen. I placed a picture up

above of what it looks like from the outside. This cartoon

version is all I will place, never can be too careful and Mom does

not want a real picture of her house on the internet.

I remember that when I was young, our kitchen had cabinets that went all the way to the ceiling. It was a small kitchen and in the middle of the cabinets was a little door that you opened and could slide your food over to the other side of the dining room. I loved that little door a lot. Sadly, when I looked later in my life, my mother had no pictures of that door. The whole wall was removed and the swinging door that we loved to run in and out of was gone. The dining room came with a chandelier with glass etched globes. They are all gone now given away by my mother. The house came with an antique dining table too. We used to polish it all the time, and replace the heavy cover over it. When the family enlarged, Mom and Dad decided to replace it with a more modern table and chairs to go with the new kitchen décor. HOW I wish now I had that table and chairs and chandelier.
I have looked through the family pictures for pictures of the old kitchen and the old house before the improvements. They are hard to find. The children were more important than the house Mom said, so she didn’t take any. Sad indeed, there are no real pictures of how it was in the beginning.
This Ole House is at least 125 years old and was the first house built in town on the other side of the river, we were told, and the railroad tracks. It is not a historical house, even though it should be. It had a coal shoot that went to the basement, so that the coal truck could bring a load of coal to heat up the furnace. The whole thing was taken out when Dad did improvements. We kids thought the place in the basement that was closed up led to some neat treasure buried down there. Dad let us dream, and explained it to us later in life.
The one thing that I thought was odd about this house is the lack of closet space. A large house should have had more. My brother’s room didn’t have one, my sisters and mine are very small. Not a great selling point for sure. We had to be frugal and creative. Lots of dressers and wardrobes to hang things.

Back the in the 50's there were not a lot of empty houses

available. The foundry and factories in town were booming and

life was busy, the town was full of at least 15 to 20,000 people.

Now our town has dwindled to about 7,000 or less. Homes are

plentiful, BIG HOMES..2 and 3 story homes with wonderful

interiors. They sit sadly and wait for someone to care for them.

It just is too hard to pay the taxes and the bills for such large

homes. Our house is getting too much for us to care for too.

If we had a good bid we would take it in a minute. Mom

says that she never thought of what would happen in the

future when they bought this ole house. Times change and

people do too. This is "home", the only one she has really

known for over 50 years, never living anywhere else.

She wishes to stay until she leaves this world, only GOD

knows if that will be possible. © Caroldee 2008

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

HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A GREAT THURSDAY !

MOM'S BIRTHDAY

Thu, 08 May 2008 03:35:24 GMT

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

MOM!!

It finally has come. Mom is 82.. she was born on MAY 8.

She never hestitates to tell you that either. She is proud to make

it to 82 and being able to stay home and feel well and lose weight

like she has and stick to her diet. She is strong willed and still

remembers things that some of us forget. {She knows she watched that

show last week and what went on!} She balances her checkbook herself..

with a little tiny bit of help, but can still do the math and keep the

bills going out on TIME!! These are great achievements for her. She

never handled the money or the bills or the problems of running the household

until my father passed away. It was a whole new world to her and she

handled it fine. Despite her handicap state, being wheelchair restricted,

she still is active in the kitchen can cook some and dry the dishes.

She remembers where the shut off valves are in the house and

can tell you stories of when she and dad first came here to this

house and worked to get it liveable.

(click to enlarge)

I cannot show you a picture of her with her cake sis bought her.

She is terrified of having her picture on the internet. I respect her wishes

with that..at least the recent ones anyway.

Tonight's dinner will be a "real meal day" complete with

ice cream and cake if she wishes, and I so hope she enjoys

the whole day.

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

Gas went up 15 cents here yesterday to 3.89.9...Wonder what the

limit will be where people just stop going if they don't have to

and buying it when they absolutely have to? We have reached it

here and I think others will join in soon too. 4.00 a gallon is

not as bad as it is in other countries, but when you are stuggling to pay

the bills it is too darn high!!! So many in this country are

in a bad way now. I pray for the new president whoever it may be,

they have a hard hard job ahead of them.

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

HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A GREAT DAY!!!

P.S. I seemed to have lost the GLEAM that tells you I have updated

here. I do hope that comes back soon. Just know I update every

day and look forward to your visits.

FOR SUE...

Sun, 06 Apr 2008 14:24:05 GMT

For as many years as my memory will serve my best friend

SUE has been an avid fan of CHARLTON HESTON.

CHARLTON passed away last night at the age of 83

from Alzheimer's disease. MANY many times

we spent together talking about his movies and

roaming the hills of Beverly looking for his estate.

WE did find it.. stood outside his house and

just hoped he would come out. He was born in

Michigan so we went to the home town where he

lived and grew up. The picture below was taken in

the woods near his home near a lake that he

probably went when he was younger. I never will forget

the wonderful adventures we have had together

all for the love of CHARLTON. My biggest HUGS

to my friend today at the loss of her hero.

I send my prayers to his wife and family.

He now lives with all those that he portrayed

so magnificently.

SURPRISE IT'S A CAT !!

Sun, 09 Mar 2008 15:14:20 GMT

SURPRISE it is a CAT!!

Yes.. sis too upset over the squirrel problem got herself

a cat yesterday..She can use all the help indoors she

can get. Her daughter, my niece who got married,is

moving to INDIANA so she is feeling a lot of empty

nest syndrome now and a CAT will partially fill that

void for her and keep her occupied. She got a full

grown cat already trained, so was hoping that she

would get a good hunter too.Problem is it got away from her.

It is in the house and she can't seem to catch up with

it! LoL.. Mainly an outdoor cat, it has to get used

to the territory and check things out. so today she

is chasing the cat! It's black with green eyes and has

at least 3 acres to roam in so if she EVER gets it

out the door .. we will wait and see if it stays around

her house or not. She has a large barn for it to "play" in

so that alone should keep it from straying.

BUT you never know it just may be seeking it's old home

with it's family. It has a long way

to go to get back there. It was way out in the country.

DO CATS GO HOME LIKE DOGS SEEM TO FIND THEIR WAY BACK?

I am a DOOOOGGGG person I have no idea what cats do since

I am highly allergic, which means by the way ..NO going to

SIS's house!! I sure hope her cat is worth it. Today we will

buy a toy and some supplies and hope it is home when she gets

back. IF not she will wait and maybe get another one, after all

the lady she got it from has 12 more!!

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

Today is race day again so we better get cracking.. wouldn't want to

miss a minute of the ATLANTA race they can get pretty

exciting.. It is cold here not even 25 this morning.. Spring is

sure taking it's time! Speaking of time mine on my computer

says one thing and this here MSN space time is about 1 hour

different.. hmm wonder if it will get back together before

EASTER.. LOL..

HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A GREAT DAY!!

MOM UPDATE...

Thu, 21 Feb 2008 05:09:29 GMT

Took mom to the clinic or doctor and I freaked the

heck out!!!! you know by now

how cautious I am against getting anything

this flu season..WELL........

We had no longer got

inside the door than some man was coughing up

a lung, it seemed, really near us. I wished to

be any place other than there at that moment.

I moved us farther away from him immediately.

I got out the spray and the hand gel. I asked the

nurse when she called us if they had a "well room"

or a clean room? She assured us that we were

being put in one. She then went on to tell us

that she had had that "terrible flu" 2 weeks ago

and "was never so sick in my life".. OH GOODIE!!

That is why she was taking so many precautions.

She didn't want to get it again!!

She said all the really sick people were being led down

a different hallway and that they were being very

strict with the rules. I felt some better but really

just could not wait to get out of there.

MOM HAS LOST A TOTAL OF 24.5 lbs since

DEC.... 4.5 since her last visit last month. Slow and

sure is better than fast and gain it back I say!!

She had the blood drawn again for the 3 month

sugar test so soon we will know if she has

any kind of sugar problem. She won't have to return

for three months, well past the flu season.

NOW we wait for at least 2 days. The nurse told

her that if she did not come down with anything

in two or three days then she would not be getting the bug.

"There is always a slim chance" she said. I said..

I hope ours is NO CHANCE!! .

She did offer a tip she had

heard. I am placing it here and wonder if anyone has

heard it..

. You place a very tiny amount of

triple antibiotic cream on your finger and spread

some just inside each part of your nose. Helps fight

off infections when you go into places where people

are sick....

I had never heard of this before.. if anyone else knows

let me know okay. THANKS!!

HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A GREAT DAY!!

CHOICES...EGGS

Thu, 17 Jan 2008 13:08:36 GMT

This morning for the first time in about three months

the smell of banana bread is filling the house. Mom has

made two loaves one to give away and one to nibble on.

The counselor telling her that she can have more bread than

what she was eating was just what she needed to unleash

her desire to bake. I had not made a single baked item

since those angel cookies before Christmas. Using the right

choices she is trying the splenda (not fond of),and the

artificial eggs. I checked the carton. it says the egg mixture is

99% egg whites!! What can be wrong with that? NOTHING..

in fact it is wonderful. If you have never tried those

eggs in a carton.. TRY THEM..

They are in the frozen

food case or in the refrigerated case.You can hardly tell the

difference once they are in a recipe or scrambled.Sometimes

when they are on sale.. you can stock up and never have

to worry about eggs again.

They make a wonderful base for french toast or

bread pudding, pies, and what great omelets you will be

getting. I never thought too much of them until this diet

happened Chickens wont be out of work.

EGG PRICES have went very high but with

the eggs in a little carton.. they can be frozen and kept

until you thaw them out. THERE ARE other brands

in the stores that are refrigerated too. CHEAPER ones

that cannot be frozen. The choice is up to you..

I have switched and will use them mostly from

now on. I guess it goes to show you don't really know,

until you choose to try something new, how good it

really is. We have been chosing so many different

things now days.. as I try other

things I will surely let you know..

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

The artic blast is coming.. Snow in GA.?? YES it is!

I am sure people will be getting ready for it as the

news and weather are telling us almost hourly to

prepare..

Today I AM GRATEFUL a man invented the electric

blanket. Without this wonderful thing I would have

my bed piled high with them trying to get warm.

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

HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A GREAT DAY !!

UPDATE...MOM's DIET

Tue, 15 Jan 2008 05:38:27 GMT

Well the big diabetic counselor appointment is

over. She seems to think that mom is NOT near

a diabetic state at all. Wondered why the dr.

referred her to see one at all. Mom has

lost so much weight and watches everything so

closely now she is eating less than the required

45g carbs at each meal. I had already told mom

that before she went to see her. Some things only

have to come from someone other than me for her

to believe it though. We will know more at her

weight in and BP check next week with the regular

doctor. The counselor told her to stop eating so

many eggs and use the substitute ones if she wanted

to eat them so many times a week. Guess who told her

the same. So we change a few tiny things and

she continues to do what she is doing now. FUNNY

mom kept asking her what else she could have......

YOU got it.. SWEETS... cake, pudding, candy..

all the things she ate before all the time and

enjoyed so much. I guess she figured if she lost

weight she could go back to eating them.

I was so glad someone else told her

NO! So that was settled.

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

Here is something soothing to look at...

the shoreline at ST PETERSBURG FLA.

Ahhhh I can close my eyes and hear the

sea gulls and the waves. Feel the warmth of

the air on my face and all is right with the world.

SPLENDID!!

HOPE YOUR DAY IS A GREAT ONE..

Today is the primary in MICHIGAN.. they

seem to be urging people to vote INDEPENDENT

this year.. wonder why??? Could it be because

CLINTON AND OBAMA are not on the

ballot????? hmmmm Mom has picked the winner...

she told me today on the way to the doctor that

EDWARDS will win it...HE WILL BE PRESIDENT..

I asked her why she thought that, and she said..

"We already had a president Clinton and I don't

like the sound of PRESIDENT OBAMA." Plain and simple!

We will see....

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

ANGEL SCRAPBOOK ENTRY

Wed, 09 Jan 2008 06:21:29 GMT

There was a whole lot going on in the
background, here at our house, this year
at Christmas. Things that I can not mention
on my blog. Changes were happening, both
good and bad and we just were struggling
a whole lot. We didn't really give out
presents this year to each other. Well, we
promised not to. My sister came in
with this small box for my mother. She said
it was nothing much.. it ended up it was a
whole lot. We just sat and looked at
it a long time Nothing was said. We knew what it meant.

As you probably guessed, it was the glass angel. I sat it
on a revolving base, that was lit, and when
I turned it on.. it just glowed. It was enough
to bring us to tears just watching it revolve.
Hope for things to come, Hope for health,
Hope for a new better year in 2008.

When I visited Beth's space and she sent

out the challenge to make a scrapbook

page to tell about Christmas of 2007.

it was the first thing I thought of.

I chose the angel.

It is not a really typical scrapbook type thing,
but I think it symbolizes our faith and
beliefs for a better life in the future.

Angels mean a lot to our family..we do believe that

we all have them around us all the time.

I sure hope 2008 will be a much better year

for us all.

HOPE YOU HAVE A GREAT DAY !!!

SAD NEWS...

Sat, 05 Jan 2008 05:40:20 GMT

Blog visiting and posting will be slow the next few days. My sister's long time

boyfriend has passed away. HE suffers no

more. My sister,his mother, brother and children were all able

to say their goodbyes before life support was stopped.

We prepare to do what we need to do the next few days.

I know my role will be support for those who need

it and cooking for the many who stop by. Your

thoughts and prayers are most gratefully

appreciated by our whole family.

UPDATE

Wed, 05 Dec 2007 04:32:29 GMT

Well I finally got the appointment for the pre-

diabetic counselor, but it is not until next week.

So we plug along with a pretty strict diet until

I can get one from her that really is correct. Mom

has struggled with the dinner meal most of all.

The breaksfast and lunch is a breeze, but dinner

that is a whole new ballgame. If she has too many

carbs early in the day she cannot have the things

that she wants for dinner. All of it is too confusing for her.

I am just glad I have a good friend that is a diabetic

who can help me along. I am not really sure that her

sugar levels are the problem just yet as much as the

kidneys and the blood pressure. I am going by the diet my

dad had when he was diagnosed with kidney failure.

NO SALT helps tremendous.

Her BP numbers are way down

from where they were. LOW FAT.. cannot hurt

only help. I was opposed to the frying foods and such

anyway. She loved bacon and biscuits with gravy and

the whole fried steaks and chicken nuggets, fries and

chips and junk food. Her doctor told her she could

have anything she wanted that did not upset her

stomach last year. WELLL I think she went overboard. That is

probably what happened. Guess we will never know for sure.

SO now we take it one day at a time and try to make

do the best we can. I think having someone else besides

ME to tell her what she needs to eat will help a lot.

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

Saturday after I came back from the shopping trip

nightmare. {boy the stores are murder} The garage door

came down and refused to go back up. I pulled the emergency

cord and then raised the door. On rollers... it got away from

me and then stuck and would not come back down!!! UGH

Took my sister and I a good half hour of tugging and pulling

and pushing to get it to start back down. We called the repairman

but he could not come until today!! Our door has been UNLOCKED

for 3 days and nights!! WE locked the car.. but so many

things in there it was an very uneasy few days and nights for us.

HE came and the news was grim.. the whole insides were so

old that we have to replace it completely. Things

just go this way in the winter it is always something.

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

The Tree... The tree....

I have decided to put it up anyway..I know we usually

do and this small one does not take long to do. Mom

was adamant that we don't. She figured if we didn't then

she could get by the holdiay and not crave the sweets and

eats that she usually gets this time of year. I will try to

get her mind on the lights and the excitement and the

"giving" part of the holiday and not the "eating" part.

I hope it works. So many commercials on tv with

food of all kinds it just gets in your face really

easy. I tell her to hang on we will find something

besides sugarfree jello that she can have.

It's the waiting that will be the hard part for her.

For me.. it will be the cooking it to taste like something.

THANK GOD for MRS. DASH..

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

HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A GREAT DAY !!

REMEMBERING WHEN

Sat, 01 Dec 2007 15:23:57 GMT

Here it is.. I finally found the dress picture..

This was the first time that my maternal grandparents

came to visit us in Michigan for a long long time.

I don't even remember how long their stay was. I

only remember I loved playing dress up in Grandma's clothes.

Grandma didn't care.. she even gave me a purse to go

with the dress. It was satiny and shiny and smooth, she tucked it

up under the belt so I wouldn't walk on it. I must have worn

it all day long. I had a ball. The next day we all went shopping

and Grandma bought me a string of beads to go with the dress.

Yes, this was in the 50's so beads were everywhere. I was about

7 or 8 years old. It sure is funny what a lasting impression I

have about that dress. We never grew up around our maternal

grandparents so I guess I really cherished the times we had together

when they came to see us.

It is so cold here today..I am off to buy supplies and get back before

the snow and ice gets here.

Hope you all stay safe and warm and have a great day!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!!

Thu, 22 Nov 2007 13:01:16 GMT

WHAT A NIGHT!

Mom's blood pressure continues to be high even with new meds.

It was so high when she was just resting in a chair last night

I almost called the ER to ask questions. We both tried to rest

and that did not come easy. This morning it is down some,

but not where it was say at least semi- normal. 204/115

last night made me wonder if the new meds were even

working yet. It would have to be on a holiday where

everything around here is closed...the pharmacy where

I got the meds is closed until Friday.

They never called with the results of the sugar testing

so I wait that too. Won't know until MONDAY! High

suagr could cause high blood pressure numbers, a friend

who has had diabetes all her life pointed out to me.

Thanksgiving dinner will be guarded when it comes

to the high fat and sugar counts you can believe that!

WOKE UP TO THIS SIGHT THIS MORNING...

I would say we got at least an inch already and

it is lightly snowing still. The roads are pretty

slick in some places.

WELL.. wishing you all a great holdiay today, safe travels to

and from and great memories with all your friends and

family!!

I AM THANKFUL FOR THE FRIENSHIPS OF THE

WONDERFUL PEOPLE I KNOW ON THE SPACES!!

SAD MONDAY

Mon, 05 Nov 2007 16:14:26 GMT

Today we received news that a dear neighbor had passed

away. For as long as I remember, in my life, she had always been

there. Us kids played in the yard, and in the house, went to school

together and kept in touch all these years. She and her husband

always went to Florida every year in September. When the

time came and they had not closed up their house. This was the

indication to us right away that something was amiss.

She went in for surgery for one thing and then things got

complicated. More surgeries and infection she could not

fight off. The neighborhood, as a small number of people

who have lived here for many years, are very shocked and

saddened. My mind is racing, filled with memories that

come flooding back in bits and pieces. She had a distinct

voice and when she would yell for one of her kids YOU KNEW

it was her.. no question. She was a working mom and

really got involved in her kids activities. I am going through

the many pictures I have taken to give to the family.

It is a sad, cold day in Michigan.

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

Hope You All Have A Great Day. !

Whew.. WHAT A WEDDING!!

Sun, 28 Oct 2007 18:21:01 GMT

I have been to many weddings and helped co-ordinate many weddings.
I never in my life have enjoyed myself and worked so diligently all at one
time to make things go smoothly. I am beat!Taking things to a wedding from
one city to another and then to another for the reception required
taking what seemed like the entire HOUSE with us. Everything in the
medicine cabinet and then some. I am happy to report. no one fainted,
got sick, was late, broke out, fell or backed out of this wedding!
This is one example of the stained glass in this church that overlooked
the chapel. The ceiling was very high and the glass was situated in the
side of the wall very high up so that when the sun came out..welll
it was breathtaking! The church builders in the 1800's really knew
what the heck they were doing.

I could hardly contain my self from taking many many pictures of

all the stained glass that was present. It was all over the chapel

and the inside of the entry way. Just beautiful. YES.. the sun came

out briefly and then everyone scrambled to take as many pictures

as possible. We got to the church three and half hours early!

Why. I could not figure out until we saw that all the pictures were

being taken ahead of time that could be taken and that way they could leave the

church for the reception imediately after the bride and groom had their

pictures taken. The gals feet hurt by the time the ceremony was over

and the shoes came flying off as soon as the picture taking was over.

The bride spent nearly two hours in the chair at the beauty shop

shortly after the sun rose to get her long hair put up just right!

So many details to get right.. so many things could go wrong, but they didn't. We were

lucky.The bride was calm and the groom nervous. Afterward they came out on the balcony

and the guests blew bubbles all around them as they came down the front steps of the stone

church. It was like a fairy tale wedding.

After five hours at

the church, we all left for the reception. Here is the bride and

the groom cutting the cake..

I used 3 whole Gigs filled with pictures that I have yet to go through.

So many were very dark and unusable even with help from editing.

My video came out pretty dark also. I think we will just depend on the

professional video guy for our film of the wedding.

Countdown To The Wedding..

Fri, 26 Oct 2007 04:50:06 GMT

Today is the dress rehearsal, the dinner after.. decorating the hall and

preparing the last minute food. Hair appointments, nail appointments,

and packing all needed accessories for the wedding.

I have packed my bags..the church is so far from a decent

store that if someone needs something in a hurry forget it!!

So you take it allll with you.

Rain is forecast, as well as wind..that requires extra things like

umbrellas and rain coats. The temps are running pretty cool.

Good thing this church has a back door that is easily accessible

and fast to get into. The front of the church is gorgeous.

It was built in the 1800's and all stone on the outside.

It is now a state historical landmark. There is a stain-glass

window in the front that the groom's father made for the

church. . Here is a picture of the front of the church and the

inside.. It will be a beautiful place to have a wedding.

Today and tomorrow will be extremely busy. I hope to get time

to fill you all in when I can. Here is another peak at the dress..

Hope you all have a great weekend.. !!

WEDDING COUNTDOWN & More...

Mon, 22 Oct 2007 14:45:22 GMT

The day is finally coming faster than we can imagine.
Yesterday as we searched for items in the stores for decorating
the hall, I thought of all the other weddings I had worked on
and how exhausting and exciting they were. The differences between
small and intimate and huge and fancy. I was so glad I had experience
in planning both! I know what works and what absolutely doesn't .

I had a chance to talk to the bride to be.. who really is not sure if
she is even getting her honeymoon week off. She placed her request in
at least 3 months ago.. but then the store changed owners.. so she waits
She has this week off and good thing too. So many appointments and
errands. Her head is filled with them. "I had no idea there was so much
last minute stuff to do!" she said. YES.. it can't be done right away..
it is always that way. The look on her face was priceless. Ahhh
to be young and so unaware of what life is gonna throw at you!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I talked to her hubby to be about my computer briefly. He knows about
all things tech. He says I did everything right..SO FAR.. but as for the
IE.. that is so much toast.. I will probably have to re-load the whole
computer to get it cleaned up.Thank God for the recovery disks.
This HP computer came with a back up recovery disk system that
popped up on the screen at me and said .. "MAKE DISKS NOW!"
Well you can bet I did.! I am so glad I did too.! All I can say is
BACK UP everything!! FREQUENTLY! Lesson learned the hard way.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I see on the news about the terrible fires in California. I do remember
those SANTA ANNA winds. I sure hope everyone stays well away
from harm. I know the smoke smell travels far with the wind and
everyone out there keeps a close eye on the news and the skies
praying for rain! My thoughts go out to them all. Here is a link
to BOB's space he is near the fires. Stay Safe BOB!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Got to go and get things moving.. much to do..

HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A GREAT DAY!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUE!!!

Fri, 05 Oct 2007 04:15:24 GMT

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!

Today is Sue's birthday. We celebrated when she came to visit

this summer. It sure was good to celebrate with herin person and

spend time with each other. The time went too quickly..

HOPE YOU HAVE A GREAT BIRTHDAY SUE

AND MANY MORE!!!

PICTURE MEMORIES...

Tue, 25 Sep 2007 04:11:54 GMT

Dad told me that when I was little I went on a plane ride and

he could prove it. The nice man he worked for owned several gas

stations all over the state. In order to do business he had to get places

fast.. so he flew a plane into their small airports, did the business

and flew back home . Dad worked in a foundry, but had a part time

job in a gas station too. (He was saving money to buy a house.)

So one day dad went to the airport and took me with

him. Dad had planned to just take pictures of his new plane.

Well now the camera came in handy,

next thing I knew dad shot this of me and the pilot!

He asked dad if he could take me up for a short ride.

AS young as I was, dad was slightly apprehensive, but said yes.

MOM would have said NO!

I remember nothing at all about it. Dad told me

the pilot said I cried when we lifted off the ground. He circled

the airport and then came back down. When he got back

to where dad was.. dad said I grabbed hold of him with a

"death grip". TO THIS DAY.. I hate small planes with a

passion. I will NOT fly in one.. no way, no how.. I don't even

like the 12 seater commuter planes. I don't mind the large

planes, but the smaller ones NO WAY!! I think I was so

traumatized that I still have some kind of repressed memory

or something. Anyway.. I have been looking for the dress up

photo and ran across a whole bunch of old ones that even I

laughed at. I was a chubby little baby and a chubby little

girl for awhile. {If there is a way to scan more than one

photo at a time I sure would like to know...doing one at a time

is time consuming} so here are a few for you to laugh at ..

This Christmas shot .. mom says I was

maybe 6. I look half asleep! All the toys are unwrapped

so it was after breakfast. That was the year I got the wagon

and the sled and if you look really close in the background

up against the wall at that blow up horse you will see it is

resting on my brand new ironing board! I had one and a

pretend iron too! Boy did mom start me off early or what?!

Every family has the Christmas shots of the kids

with the toys. I wish I had some of those now.. they

would be worth a fortune. The radio flyer itself would

be interesting to know how much it would go for now.

Mom tells me that this was my last Christmas alone as

my brother came along in March of '57.

Fun looking back, since I don't remember much of it

at all.

This picture was taken in Tennessee at my grandpa's, you

can see the cows in the background. I have that look

on my face again.. I was terrified to stand out under

the trees for fear of the snakes I had seen falling from them.

DO NOT remember it at all.. SO weird it is like looking

back on someone else's life. It sure made me laugh..

you can see I am not a happy camper.

Well so much for the look back.. take time to look back at

some of your pictures today, you might just discover some

things you did not know about.. and get a good laugh out of it.

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

HAVE A GREAT DAY !!