Family BBQ

Good Morning!

Ha, haven't said that in awhile. My mornings usually start cloudy headed and groggy but this morning I am actually thinking...hmm, maybe last nights headache damaged me, I should NOT be thinking this early!

I just got through sending out invites to the family for a get together bbq. Yes I am wondering about my sanity, why thank you for asking.

I get to see my family maybe 3 times a year (on average) but most of them see each other all the time. My gas guzzling truck doesn't allow me to do a whole lot of traveling. I feel pretty lucky to see them more than 3 times, when I do.  I wanted to find a time that we got together for NO holiday, NO birthday, just for the heck of it. AND yes, I am having them come to me this time.

Who knows..maybe nobody will show and hubby and I can eat on a brisket for a week! LOL!


 

Family and Games

I had been thinking, researching and contemplating on getting some new pc games. I was concerned that my computer wouldn't be able to handle it and had been asking my brothers lots of questions. Apparently to the point of bugging them. LOL!

My brother decided he and his new bride were coming for a visit. He surprised me and brought my mom too. Okay, not just my mom, she is his too.

He showed up with his old computer and insisted on changing out my computer for his (that he was giving me). I admit I was concerned, peeved, worried, anxious and whined a whole lot. I don't to change too well, as mom was more than willing to point out to me. Thankfully to my relief his computer wasn't working the way he wanted, so he hooked mine back up.



Then he started playing with the games I already have on my computer through the service of Wild Tangent which costs me 7-14 dollars a month depending on how much I use it. (Thus the reason I want a change.) Anyway we was all having a good time while mom napped.



Lunch time was full of laughs, crochet lessons, computer games and corn dogs.



Then suddenly brother comes up with the idea to go to Best Buy to see what they had for pc games. Great idea but hubby will be home in just over an hour. So we hurried out the door and left mom to babysit the doggies! LOL!

We got games! Although I only found one game that I was interested in at Best Buy, we rushed over to Office Depot and found plenty that I an totally interested in. We did pick up a game pack that has 101 games in it. We rushed home to find hubby already here and I still hadn't even started supper! After supper my brother and sil spent the rest of the evening loading games into their laptop and then into my computer.

Meanwhile mom and I went for a walk. She had wanted so badly to get to browse our little town and take pictures but it was getting close to sunset so I figured at least I could walk her around and let her get some great country shots.







An awesome day!

Recap of the last few months

Soo...it has been a super long time since I have written anything. I knew I had been neglecting my blog but hadn't realized just how long it had been..4 months!! Well to be honest not much has been going on around here, except a whole lot of crocheting and some super hot days. Lets see if I can break it down and remember some things. I'm gonna cheat an use my Facebook status's for a guide.

June and July...basically those were the dog days of summer. So friggin hot it was torture just to walk to the mailbox. We didn't do much of anything outside. The scorched weeds did need mowing but the fear of fire was too great to risk it.
I had the ac's cranked and still it was hot, but I still managed to get some crochet projects done.
I did go to the zoo with my sister and her little family, that was lot of fun, but it was super hot!!
I also went to a family gathering for a late Father's day and early b-day celebration for dad.
Daughter Jennifer came out to spend the day with her dad on father's day, that was fun getting to spend time with the grandkids.
We also had a new addition to our family, granddaughter Pearl.
Hubby was home for a whole week while his truck was being worked on, that was a scary week not knowing just how long he was going to be out of work.
One more thing...I began to teach myself to knit! I have gone 40+ years without ever trying, it was time to muster up the courage and get it over with.

August...Going on our 3rd month of 100+ temps and all energy has been zapped out of human and animal alike.
I started the month out in pain from a pinched nerve in my lower back that hurt all the way down to my toes.
I did have a good visit with my brother and his little family, it is always a treat when they visit.
We did go on vacation to visit with friends and family up in the Dallas area. It was only a three day trip but it was wonderful getting to see and spend time with everybody. We saw alot of old friends that we hadn't seen in a super long time, also we got to meet our newest granddaughter and spend time with the grandkids, so that was pretty exciting.
Another good thing was that the trip didn't cost nearly as much as we had predicted.
The only bad thing that happened was I kinked my neck on the trip home and had a stiff and sore neck for a week afterwards. Well worth the pain, I'd say!
I also started a blanket for the hubby...Harley Davidson blanket! I was all excited cause it was the first time I had worked on a blanket that had multiple strands going all at the same time.

Sept...Sat around hoping for rain and watched the ground shrivel up and die.
Hubby did mowed the dirt, that was pretty funny. He had a huge dust cloud rolling behind him, reminded me of the character from Charlie Brown. LOL! It's still funny just remembering the image.
We did manage to get a few sprinkles now and then in the beginning of the month but nothing that could be measured.
I made a trip up to see the folks and work on their computer, I even got dad set up for Facebook. That lasted for about a week!
Got to go visit with my bf for a day, I do miss being able to see her whenever I feel like it.
My mom had 4 deaths on her side of the family and had to go to Maine, us kids had to do what we could to watch over the old man. We can only do soo much with someone so stubborn! LOL!
I got a lot of crochet projects done in the month of September, finished up some that had been in my closet for years.
Made another trip to parents house to AGAIN mess with their computer.
Got a few decent showers in the latter portion of the month.

October...Finished the blanket for the hubs, he has been using it ever since. He loves it!
Made a trip to brothers house to clean up for the arrival of his new girlfriend from Australia in 2 weeks. I have talked with her and already like her very much.
One of my kitties has been missing for the last week, pretty sure she met with fowl play.
Hubby has been home since mid-day Thursday..AGAIN having work done on his truck, not sure if he will be back to work Monday or not.

Well that is about it, it is actually more than I thought it would be!

My Week

Where is she? The girl don't write or visit anymore. Your thoughts, perhaps?
Yeah mine too. LOL!

I have been here hiding in the shadows. I've been in a funk. Ever since my back went nuts and decided to make me walk hunchback, I've had good days and rotten days. Having a good day seems to cause a rotten one and so one and so on. Round after round we go, I sure wish this merry-go-round would let me off. Not just the physical aspect of it, but the emotional one too. I don't feel depressed or have any reason to be, but yet I sit here day after day not wanting to do anything or wanting to do everything. My happy medium has gone haywire.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well enough about that crap. Lets move on to the two good days I did have this week.

Monday:
The pictures that I sent off to be blown up and walletted, arrived! Hubby walked through the door with them and we briefly played "Catch me if you can". He was soo excited and in turn got me all excited. We spent a blissful evening going through them and sorting and cutting.

The next day I went shopping for picture frames. Since I was out and my back was feeling okay, I went to the hardware store for gardening supplies. Big mistake, but I didn't feel it at the time. I came home and got all the pitures ready to get mailed off or hand delivered. I was so happy with the end result, I went about repotting some of my newer plants. They look great and are reponding well to the transfers, but I really over did it.

Thursday:
I had an appointment with my parents. It is rare that all things fall into place to get to see them. They live just over an hour away, to some that might not be far, but for my pocket book and truck it is. Vise-versa for my parents too. So I was pretty staoked at getting to see them and spend time with them. We did our trade offs (all the things we save for each other) and then went to see my sister on her break at the bus barn. She was super happy to see me, she screamed and come a running. All I saw was this bright yellow mass blurring it's way right into my chest! I just thought for sure she was going to bounce right into me and we would both go crashing to the floor! Thankfully I was having a fairly good balance day.

We (Mom and I)went back and got the old man, then we went shopping. We had a blast even though we mostly were browsing! Dad can be pretty funny at times. He was going around and picking up things that were the most rediculous, like a pair of super-duper high heels (ankle twisters) or a garden statue of singing frogs. He kept me and mom laughing (even when he didn't know it). We ate out, my first time eating outside the house in a super long time.

We then headed back to the house to do some computer work. I have tried all I know to get my mom on her computer to no avail. I hound her, I beg her and still she never gets online. Sometimes I think the only butts that have sat in front of her computer is us kids. Her excuse this time was the fact that her anti-virus had expired. So naturally I fixed that for her, so fingers crossed that mom will actually sit down and push the "on" button! LOL!

It was a long day but a really good one. The longest I have spent with my parents on a day that wasn't a holiday or birthday. Sad..I know.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I promise (hand held to chest) I will be around to everyone's blogs this weekend! I swear! All 62 of ya! Yikes, that's 20 hours! Wait for me, I'll get there!

Family Reunion - Part Two

Just thought I would share some pics of our weekend.

Family Reunion - Day One

Friday evening I was a ball of anxiety and excitement. I felt like I wasn’t getting anything done or prepared right. Thankfully hubby went through the check list and we confirmed everything was A. Okay. BUT of course I still had that nagging little voice in my head that I was forgetting something. I had to walk away and turn it down to a whisper just so I could try to get to sleep. I slept four hours and walked out to the living room to find hubby still up. I asked him what was the matter and his reply was “I’m too excited to sleep!”

For my hubby this day was a lifelong dream that was finally coming true. All of his kids and grandkids together at last. It’s a miracle he slept at all! I had to remind him that if he didn’t get SOME sleep then he wouldn’t be able to make it through the day. That got him to sleep! BUT I had to wake him at 5 am to get the brisket fire going. Then I went back to sleep.

Hubby woke me with “They’re on their way!!” Son called to let him know and get directions. Hubby told me the directions he gave and I briefly said “They’re going to get lost”

The rain had been threatening to pour down all morning, but I don’t think anything could have dampened our moods. It did drizzle and then sprinkle, each passing wave of moisture seemed to be harder than the one before.

We got everything ready and waited. Hubby was outside sitting on the patio and I was pacing all over the place. I looked down at hubby and asked are you still so excited and all I got was a shake of his head and a grin, but his eyes never wavered from the gate. It was like he was using all his will power to force a car, any car to come on in. I was getting worried, yeah I can’t help myself. I called to see how far they are. AH, they stopped at the store. I told her she didn’t have to bring anything but I sure am glad she didn’t listen to me.

The girls and their families arrived and yes we were all having a wonderful time seeing each other and learning about the grandkids and life at home, but you could tell we were all waiting anxiously for the main event. The son and family that none of us have met. Well that is, except for hubby. Hubby was there when son was a baby and toddler, but had only seen him once since and that was nearly 10 years ago. The girls and I have talked to them on the phone and corresponded through Facebook, but it’s just not the same as getting to hug someone and experiencing them in real life.

It had been another hour since I talked to them and they still hadn’t arrived. Yup I knew it…they were lost! Not badly though, they were here before the kids and I could get to the stop sign. I quickly ushered all the kids back, I couldn’t wait to get son and family in my arms!

The day was wonderful with lots of food, hugs, catching up and playing around. Hubby smiled from ear to ear all day long!! He was having a glorious day; rain had no affect on his moment!

The kids and I went for a short walk, but if you ask Bryan he will tell you it was a long walk! We played, climbed, walked and talked. We did some Baby Shower Bingo, lots of fun there! Then the computer got turned on and let the games begin! Lots of fun playing with the umbrellas in the rain. The umbrellas didn’t survive, but I’m glad nobody got hurt while playing with them. Yes, I was a little worried of that.

There were tiffs and there were tantrums and even an ant attack, but all in all it went really well for eight kids in my small trailer and yard. Funny how what I perceived to be a large trailer and yard doesn’t appear to be with nearly 20 people in and around it.

Granny and Aunt D arrived and I have to say watching the reunion from that perspective was very touching. Seeing granny play Free Cell with her great granddaughter was awesome. Four generations in one house, I honestly never thought it was going to happen. We are so grateful that the kids pulled this off, they are the ones that planned it.
AND from my understanding there is already one in the works for next year. Fingers crossed!!!! I’m going to start saving NOW!

The day started too wined down and granny had already left. The younger grandkids were starting to look kinda tired and so was I! I rushed everyone outside while the rain had given us a break and tried to get some family group shots. I did get some good spousal shots, but I do wish I had managed to get some individual family group shots. You should have seen how difficult it was to get a pic with all eight kids in it. That was a riot! Hubby wanted a whole clan pic, but that didn’t happen either. Maybe next year!

I was under the assumption that this was it, we weren’t going to get to see them again till next year, thankfully somebody told me that the plans had changed and we were all meeting up at granny’s house tomorrow. So letting everyone leave wasn't nearly as painful as I was prepared for it to be.

One last thing… A huge thanks to daughter K! That girl cleaned up my whole kitchen, even though I was continually protesting that it wasn’t necessary. Oh and for not listening to me about bringing anything, she made the most delicious cheesecake dessert I have ever had! Can’t wait to get the recipe!

Thanks to everybody for coming and making history happen! I loved every minute we got to spend together!

A Momentous Moment In Our Family History Is Happening TODAY!!

Well today is the day I have been waiting for since I meet the hubby.

Hubby has 3 children all by different mothers and we have had somewhat of a relationship with the oldest daughter and just in the last few years a great relationship with the youngest daughter. BUT we have never been able to have any relationship with his son.

Hubby got to meet him once a while back, but I will be meeting him for the first time ever TODAY! Noonish to be precise! Not only will I get to meet him, but also our daughter in law and our grandson. Oh I should mention that we will also be meeting another grandson from the oldest daughter.

The last time we saw her, she had just given birth to her 3rd child, now there are 4.

We have missed so much in all of their growing up, I hate that but you can't change the past only the future.

This is going to be a momentous moment in the history of our family. All three kids in the same place! The girls will be meeting their brother and his little family for the first time also!

All the grandkids will be meeting each other too!

Can ya tell I am excited, well I am!!

Nervous too. I don't know why but I am.

This is history in the making folks and I am blessed to have it happen, finally!

Will have all the details for you next week.

Gotta go wake the grumpy old man to get the fire started for the brisket. Yumm..BBQ!

Lawnmower Man, Music and a Storm.

Well yesterday was a really good and productive day with a stormy forecast.

Tuesday I called brother J and found out he was going to be free for the next few days from work. He is starting his own lawn maintenance business on the side and well.....you know just how much I really hate to deal with the yard (like haven't touched it in two or three weeks). One topic lead to another and voila, I have my own personal Lawnmower Man!

I also talked to sister J about the music SonIL downloaded for me to my MP3 player. Next thing I know she is giving me homework to list some of my favorite artists and songs. I emailed her the list several hours later. A looooong list! I really like most all types of music from the 40's to about a decade ago and from rock n roll to country.
It was a very difficult piece of homework... "Oh I like that song!" Now come on brain, who the heck sings it?? What's that song that Cinderella (Not the cartoon) did way back when? Very difficult task indeed!!

From my understanding they were going to leave at noon, so as usual in my mommy mode I called several times, mostly to make sure he was up and on schedule. I know I can be a pain in the rear sometimes, especially with him. What can I say, he was the baby when I was still taking care of the kids and living at home. We were/are tight like that.

On to yesterday's events...

After calling him (and yes he was still asleep), I started to look for something.
I can't remember what that initial item was, cause I got lost in dragging out all of the items in the kitchen closet and tool cabinet. Seriously I had stuff everywhere! Every surface in my kitchen was littered with this and that, from paint supplies to screws and nails and JUNK!

I was sitting here taking a break from my work and checking my pages (which were dead, btw). A knock on the window scares the Cr** out of, Whiskers (who was sitting in that window), made me jump up and cuss and the dogs all start with the barking.
Surprise! It was hubby, who was laughing his head off at all of us fraidy cats!

Two minutes later brother showed up. Okay now..this boy (not a boy anymore, a 30 yr old man) was just too cute being all professional with me like I was a client (well really I was, I did pay him). I was resisting the urge to bust out laughing! Asking questions of what I wanted and not. Just way too cute! I had to leave him to it or I wouldn't have had the heart to let him do it.

Sister downloaded all the songs she had for me from their external hard drive.
4GB!!! YIKES! That is a lot of songs! It is going to take me forever to go through them all and only pick 2GB of them to put on my MP3 player! We had a good time chatting, while I continued on my task of organizing and putting things back in place.

I broke my rule of eating out and sister and I went to Micky D's to get supper.

Speaking of food...Earlier this morning my landlord dropped by and gave me a huge bag of plums. There was no way we was going to be able to eat it all, so I asked brother if he would drop them off at mother's on his way back home. He said yes.
(I'll have to call mom and find out if she got any of them, brother was eating a lot of them)
Good since your going there, you can take this..and this..and that. This is for sister M, this is for Boo and that is for Mom, oh yeah and this is for sister E and go ahead and give this to Dad(just to aggravate Mom)!

Back to the end of my story...

Brother worked his skinny little butt off and at times I was very worried about him. I happened to have looked at him in passing and the veins on the sides of his forehead looked like they were going to burst! It was a little freaky!

But my Yard is done all the way around and with trees trimmed! I have only managed to do that a few times and it takes me all friggin day! AND at least two days to recoop!

They were getting ready to leave and we could tell a storm was rolling in. Loading up the truck with all my offerings for them and other family members, the storm was moving in very fast. It went from calm and a little hazy with noise in the distance, to heavy wind with the storm practically on us. We was rushing back and forth to get all the stuff as quickly as possible.

The peach tree has been so heavy with peaches that the largest branch was laying on top of the house. I went out with arm full of stuff and had no problem walking under the branch. With the wind picking up as harshly as it did, it moved the branch and it was now drooping down on the steps. I had to duck to get under it.

Just after they pulled out and was on their way, I was showing the branch to hubby through the door window. Right before our eyes the wind picked up the branch and broke it, leaving it blocking the steps to the porch.

Brother Come Back!!! I have some more work for you!! LOL!

Spin Cycle: Mother's Day

Mother’s Day

She was eight years old. Her and her family was living on the third story of the house on the corner. It was Mother’s Day and they were all getting ready for church. She had gotten her baby sister ready and was waiting for her parents. The apartment had a long stairway that lead down to their front door, opening to the second story. She sat on the top step and was worrying that her new mother would think that she didn’t like her, because she had no Mother’s Day gift for her.

She snuck out the door and down to ground level. She was just going to wait outside. While walking around on the grass that framed the corner, she spied some pretty flowers up close to the other house on that corner. She knew those would make a great Mother’s Day gift. Who doesn’t like flowers?

She walked over and gathered a fistful, stood there admiring them. She turned and started walking back, all the while thinking of how happy her new mother was going to be. She was very pleased with herself for a whole minute.

She soon realized someone was coming after her! Fear crept in and she started to run and cry at the same time, all the while still clutching the flowers. She rushed to the front door of their apartment and the man had caught up to her before she could get the door opened, she screamed with all her might!

The man had her and she couldn’t get away! She had never been so scared in her whole life. She couldn’t understand why he was after her. What did he want?

While holding her by her dress he was going to knock on our door, but her daddy had heard her scream and flung it open. The man’s hand was still in the air and inches from her daddy’s face. Her new mother was just steps behind her daddy and rushed down and grabbed her arm and pulled her in to the apartment. She heard the stitches in her dress break from being yanked from the man’s grip.

She was still in a state of shock and crying hysterically, wrapped around her new mother’s waist and safely hiding behind her daddy. She heard the man tell her daddy about her stealing flowers from his wife’s flower bed. Suddenly her fear of the man turned into fear of her daddy. She tried to explain the desire to have something for her new mother for Mother’s Day; it was difficult for them to understand because she was crying so hard.

Her new mother sat down on the steps and asked to see the flowers. She held them up and gave them to her. Her tears were starting to calm a little. Her new mother took them and looked up at her and smiled. That was all she was after, was that smile and she couldn’t help herself from falling into her arms and letting the tears gently roll.

Her daddy and the man were watching them and they softened from grizzly bears to teddy bears. The man then requested that she was to go to his house and apologize to his wife. Her eyes pleaded with her parents to not make her go, she was still scared of the man. Thankfully her new mother took her by the hand and walked over there with her.

She knew she would be in more trouble if she protested, so she walked clutching to the only person she knew to protect her. Her mind was all over the place trying to think what was going to happen to her. Was she going to get beat for stealing or worse get locked away for it?

They were escorted into the living room of the house and the lady was sitting there glaring at her. She tried to hide behind her new mother’s body, but her new mother pushed her out in front of her, like saying “Here is the guilty, do what you will with her”. She was stung by this gesture and looked up at her new mother pleading silently.

She stepped forward and said she was sorry, in a whisper. Her new mother made her say it again, but louder. The lady asked why and all she could do was shrug her shoulders and turn her face away, the tears were coming again. Hot ones, they were burning her face. Her new mother sent her towards the door and told her to go home and wait for her.

After getting a real good lecture on stealing, she was sent to bed exhausted.

Her new mother and that lady became best friends for many many years. That was the best Mother’s Day gift she ever accidentally gave her.

Long Lost Brother

I can't believe I forgot to post. I stayed up last night till 3:30 this morning, just reading and reading. I know I read at least sixty posts and it took me 7 hrs!

So...here we go...


First you must know that for a long time it was just me and Daddy. My birth mother had left us when I was 18 months old. We were still very close with her parents and with out them helping dad, we probably wouldn't have made it. I had issues, as I would think most kids who lost a parent (but didn't really loose a parent, they are floating out there in this world somewhere) would have.

I was the only child for the first 8 yrs of my life.

Daddy eventually got remarried and life went on. He and Mom (who was once referred to as the Evil One, is now the ONLY mother I have and love her very much) quickly went about giving me siblings, three of them in 4 yrs.

Life was crazy and I wasn't the best daughter, more like I was the Evil One and had no clue.

Daddy and I would escape to the local Jack-in-the-box or Whataburger for coffee in the evenings (probably about twice a week), just the two of us again. I loved these times.

Once on our nights out, we was walking to our destination and I vaguely remember daddy saying something about me having another brother. I was 14 and really wasn't paying much mind. Knowing me I was probably thinking on how I was going to make it over to my boyfriends house. I know..its sad..that I jumped into adulthood so fast.

This little bit of information daddy revealed to me, did stay in the back of my mind for many years, but yet..was sorta forgotten.

When I was 18, daddy sat me down at the kitchen table and presented me with a picture of a teenage boy. I remember looking at it and then looking up at my father and asking..My brother?
Daddy was surprised!
He asked..How did you know that?
I remember you talking about it a long time ago.

Daddy gave me all the info on getting in touch with him. I used it. It took me awhile though. Like..what do you really say to a person you have never met? At 18 I had no clue. Thank goodness for yall, I grew out of that! LOL!

I wrote and he wrote, back and forth for many years. We will now start calling him Brother D.

Brother D, once sent me a newspaper clipping of what had happened to him and why he was lost. Our birth mother "The Wicked Witch of the East" left him alone tied to his crib and Social Services found him, only after another person in the building called it in, out of concern. He was also 18 months old. I guess she has her age limit!
He was placed into foster care and was adopted out.

I finally got to meet Brother D in the flesh when I was truck driving all over America. We meet at Grampies (birth mothers family) camp on the lake along with other family members.


We had a really good time and (I believe) we did it again a little time later. We still wrote letters occasionally, but it just wasn't the same. He was already into technology and had a email address. I kept it, but of course I never had even sat down in front of a computer.

Two years ago (next month), I got my first computer. A hand me down from hubby's sister. I found him in Myspace and sent him a message saying...I FOUND YOU!!

I feel closer to him now, than I ever did. Love ya, Brother!

Hi, brother D, say something to the lovely peeps. He reads my posts, but never says anything! He's a stalker! LOL!!!

A Denny's Reception

First I want to let my readers know that I won't be blogging as often, for the next couple of weeks. My hubby has hit that mood, (that always comes with the Christmas spirit)of "We need to spend more time together". This mood doesn't come around very often, so I take it when I can get it. This means way less time on the computer, just reading every one's blogs and doing one of my own takes about 5 hours (that is dial-up, for ya!). So, I apologize in advance for not getting around to every one's blogs, for awhile.


Now on to the reception:

The reception is held at Denny's, where my brother worked. A few of the other guests were also previous workers of that particular Denny's. It was not only a family gathering, but also a workers reunion. Watching them all reminisce about working together reminded me of the few times I went back to old places I worked. It gives a nostalgic vibe, watching them.

They get a bunch of tables together and everyone is ignoring the dictators of who should sit where. Why they try is beyond me! Most of us are not the "follow the leader" kind of people, like my Mom would prefer. Seems like everyone in my family are the "take charge" kind or the "I'm doing my own thing" kind. LOL! Makes for some funny times.

We were all sitting around yakking and eating. The cameras are snapping from all directions.

There was an older couple sitting in the booth behind us. The elderly lady (Babs) comes over and offers to take pics with our cameras. In Babs talking, she has always had a passion for taking pics and was once quite good at it. New sister hands her camera over. Babs instructs everyone to get together for a group shot. When she couldn't get all of us in the shot, she proceeds to climb up on a chair.

I thought for sure my hubby was going to have a heart attack! He rushes over to her and begs her not to do it! She is NOT going to listen to a youngster! My hubby and her hubby help her up on a chair. She motions for my hubby to get in the shot, of course he refuses to budge from her side. No way was he going to let her elderly hubby be the only one standing there to catch her! I'm telling you, this woman was a lot frailer than the 75 yr old dancer and her hubby later confesses "he just got out of the hospital"!

Babs was up there and everyone is in place (packed in like sardines). She is still trying to figure out how to use the camera! My hubby is getting real nervous the longer she is up there, begs her to let him do it. Babs was a pistol! How dare this young boy try to tell her what to do!

The pics are finally done and thankfully she is escorted off the chair. Babs then proceeds to talk to us. I could feel the sixties oozing off of her. She made me feel like I was at hippies sit-in or freedom speech. It was strange but yet interesting. I bet that old girl had some fabulous adventures in her time.


I have been trying to get a good pic of my sister for a long time now. I get in front of her and asked her to look at me. She started laughing and I was laughing. I got a pic of her with a plate in front of her face, but her ear looked good! LOL!

Hubby and I head home right at dark, so we got to take in some Christmas lights for the first time this year.
Other than dying to get home and get into some comfortable clothes...
We had a good time.
Welcome to the crazy family, new sis!

Capitol Wedding

About three weeks ago, I received a call from my brother to inform me that he and my bf are finally going to get married!

He tells me this fabulous news, but I am under strict orders to not tell anyone or to blog about it. Totally mean!!

Finally, they tell my parents and the word spreads quickly from there. Now I can share my excitement, at least with the family.

Not being able to blog about it has been extremely difficult and has consumed my brain. It is really hard to put up a post, when it has nothing to do with what I want to say!

After much whining, begging and pleading, I get permission to blog! I would share pics, but I still don't have permission. YET! Kinda NOT funny that these twenty-somethings can tell me what I can and cannot do. Grrrr...but because I love them, I bite my tongue and nails and behaved. I even tried to do write a post, something without any specific details. I never could get it right, so you never saw it.

Anyway, last Sunday was the big day!

The plan was to have a simple, come as you are, casual wedding in front of the state capitol. As soon as I heard the state capitol, I wasn't too sure which I was more exited about: the wedding or being in the presence of such grand history.
It was both! So you can get an idea of just how excited I was.

Well, the plan of clothes quickly changed when my brother called and asked if I could PLEASE dress up a little. Since he will be wearing a suit and my bf is getting new clothes just for the occasion. Grrr...I don't own many dressy clothes, like maybe three dresses and one of those was my own casual wedding dress! I dug out the dress I bought at the thrift store two years ago and had never worn. Funny how, now all my dresses have somebodies wedding attached to them.

Hubby and I head out for the two hour drive, both in clothes we are not comfortable in. Thankfully hubbies humor kept me laughing or we would have been a lot more miserable than we already were. I hate to wear pantyhose..so my big turkey thighs were stuck together the whole time, what I wouldn't have given for some britches!! Hubbies big santa belly was being dug into by his belt buckle, he would have rather had his rainbow suspenders! We are horrible creatures all dressed up, but we looked nice! Almost as good as we looked at our own wedding, three years ago! I felt weird cause my Mom liked the dress, even asked if I didn't like it maybe I could give it to her. I officially hate the dress NOW! Naw, just kidding! Love you mommy!

We were using this family gathering, as a chance to exchange Christmas presents as well. Hubby gave me the choice of going to the wedding or going to the Christmas get together, since they were only 2 weeks apart. I'll take the wedding! After giving gifts, we head to the capitol.

I'm telling hubby how to get there from the directions I printed out. I see it! I see it! I swear hubby nearly ran off the road from my excitement! I felt like a school kid on a field trip! Way more giddy than the sheets at the thrift store!

Everybody piles out of their cars, hubby and I pass all the slow pokes..a.k.a older peeps and infants. We was in a hurry to get to the plaques and statues, before the wedding. Mom is yelling that we are going the wrong way, dah mom we know that! You can't take two history buffs to the state capitol and expect us NOT to educate ourselves! I don't know how they could just bypass all that historical information without a second thought. We could have stayed there for days, taking it all in.

The wedding is performed on a star on the ground, on the south side of the architecturally gorgeous capitol.
Brother was all smiles and bf (I need to learn to call her sister now) looked like she was on the verge of tears, probably not, maybe that was me! Us sister's all hug her and yell SHE'S A ___! (insert maiden name).

Now "One stop hubby" is ready to go! No, we have to go to the reception! He reluctantly went, only cause he was super hungry and there was CAKE!

I'll do the reception on another post.

Past, Present and Future

A little something about

Christmas's past...

When I was a kid, I remember that we did have a real tree for a few years. I don't know when we quit doing that. I remember hating to have to clean up after the darn thing, it shed worse than our cat did.
Dad had those very large multi colored Christmas lights. I loved those!
Mom's tradition for stockings (when we had stockings, if we didn't she would use a box)...
one Apple
one Orange
one Banana
one box of Cracker Jacks
and a book/box of Lifesavers

We didn't ever have a fireplace, so my mom would slide these under our beds in the middle of the night. How do I know this? I would peek! Naughty child that I was!

We made our tree's decorations. Mom would get colored glass balls, gave us glitter and glue and we always did one with our name on it. One year we even made our own stockings with felt and glitter.

The good old times when we did things together, before I caught wind of all the things other families were buying instead of making.


Christmas's present...

Lets just go back five years. For my side of the family, we have always gotten presents for my parents and the four kids and my niece. Well since the family has grown so much (with spouses and nieces and nephews), we finally decided to draw adult names three years ago. Which really didn't change things much for my parents with having to still buy for seven grand kids, each other and two adults. For me and hubby, even with the new system were having to buy for over 20 people (kids and adults combined).

So finally after many talks on the matter and to ease every one's financial burdens, we have agreed to only do our own households and to get together only for a Christmas dinner. Lets hope everyone got the memo!

Mom usually is the one to tell everybody where and when Christmas is going to happen. We haven't had Christmas on Christmas day in a long time. It is always based on when everyone is available. Last year's Christmas wasn't celebrated till January of this year.
I actually liked that, cause it gave me more time to get stuff at the after Christmas sales.


Christmas's future...

My grand kids are going to be thrilled next year. Most of the money I spent on my family will now be able to go to them and their parents. Something I haven't been able to do for sometime. I always felt like a bad Nana, cause our money was being stretched too many ways. I will be able to focus more on them and regain my great Nana status!

Hopefully, my hubby will return to me, that happy HO-HO guy that has recently been replaced with the Grinch!

Old modern technology

This time 2 years ago, my 3 brothers were the only ones in this family that had moved into the modern technology.
I'm talking about cell phones, digital cameras and a computer. Not exactly up to date technology, more like old modern technology!

Me...
April of last year, I moved up in the world when I was given my first used computer (got a brand new one, February of this year) and in August I got my first used digital camera (got a new one in June of this year). August of this year I got my first cell phone, ever.

Hubby...
He got a new cell phone and a brand new tv.

Sister...
She had a cell phone (for emergencies only), but this year her and her hubby worked hard to get their very first used computer. Way to go sis! Still no digital camera or printer, but I'm sure they will be working on that next.

Parents...
Mom's sister had given her a computer, but she never got it hooked up, by time she did try, it had been ruined by toddler twins pouring their milk inside it.
Parents moved this year and dad it the jackpot. My dad is a scavenger, you throw something away and he is likely to find it and try to fix it. He found a computer, it did have its problems but worked for games. My brother came down and tried to fix it and he went and got mom a brand new computer. My other brother has given mom a cell phone on his plan.

Dad managed to find another computer and again my brother came down to fix it for him. Dad didn't get a brand new computer, but after my brother got through with it, it was close to brand new. At thanksgiving, my dad was showing everyone that he got a digital camera. He was thrilled over that camera. Today he calls me from his very first cell phone! Mom had bought him a reconditioned phone, but after trying to set it up and having problems. The company sent dad a brand new camera phone!
He exclaims...In the last six months I have jumped into modern technology!

Now my whole family (other than one sister) is just a few steps away from the newer technology.

Now that I have written this out and reviewed it, the only things we should need for Christmas is clothes!

What a year for my family! We all get gold stars! Right Mom?

So Thankful that is Over!!

I know most of my readers won't be back to blogging till Monday, but just in case you have been waiting around for me to post (which I highly doubt)...

I am trying to wind down from the last 3 days.

It all started with the turkey..I am so clueless! How long to thaw, when should I take it out of the freezer and put in fridge? Mom says 3 days. Okay no problem! Just let me rearrange the frig and while I'm in there, throw away all the leftovers and clean it.

Now mind you, Mom doesn't really follow the package directions exactly, so I had to call her many times (in the past week) to make sure I got it all straight. I got it so crooked! In the end, I had a quadruple amputee bird! I don't think I ever found its wings, they might have ended up in the gravy!

With the head count at 16-20, I thought a 16 pounder would be perfect. Mom says..maybe not. So I go and buy an extra 5 pound breast. It never got touched. I have about 7 pounds of turkey meat left over! Me and hubby will never be able to eat it all before it goes bad, what a waste.

I started the pumpkin pies Tuesday. I had never done them before, Mom always did them. I was so lost! Mom should have just come and stayed with me for the week! I know she had to have gotten sick of me calling her! The edges of the crust got really dark, so of course I'm calling Mom. What did I do wrong? The aggervation seeping into the phone. My stove is not cooking at the right temp...grrr! Mom tells me to calm down, everything is okay. Yeah, but your not seeing what I'm seeing. As a testament to my "Not so great as Moms" pies, I made four and still have two left in the fridge!

Hubby had invited some of his family and I knew some don't like pumpkin, so I bought two apple pies. Only half of one got eaten, cause nobody from his side showed up. He was very peeved and upset.

I sent most of the left overs home with the family, but still ended up with a fridge full of food.

Hubby worked on the yard before everyone got there and had an asthma attack! Scared the bejebbers out of me. After sitting in his chair for about 20 minutes and still not getting any better, he finally broke down and used his inhaler. Stubborn old fart! Started feeling better in 10 minutes!

My baby sister accused me of being OCD! I started cleaning the place up as soon as everyone got a plate. Wellll, with 13 adults and 3 toodlers and 3 dogs following everybody around and a mountain of messy dishes! You bet your ***, I'm going to jump on the cleaning ASAP!

I didn't get to spend hardly any attention to my "Someday soon SIL", I am severly sorry about that.

Last time I did a turkey, I burnt my arm real bad. It left a super sized scar. I was getting through this one with just a tiny burn on my knuckle. I was feeling a little successful in this (don't hurt yourself) area. UNTIL...I was getting the first bag of trash ready to go out. I started to smush the bag and WHAM, I cut open my finger on a Green Bean can! Never fails! I WILL hurt myself somehow!

For about two weeks, I have been going through my stuff and storing this and that in the back of my truck. These things were supposed to be carted away with the family when they left. Nobody remembered! You would think out of 13 adults, someone would have mentioned the things I promised them!

And here is the kicker! My dad has a portable oxygen tank, that he has to take everywhere he goes. He left it here! So I will be seeing most of these people again later today. I was going to say tomorrow, but crap it's after one am already!

I better crawl my aching body to bed, talk at ya some more later.

Preparing for Thanksgiving

I'm really starting to feel the panic, for getting this Thanksgiving together.
Last year when we moved into this larger trailer and land, I volunteered us for this years Thanksgiving dinner. This will be only my 2nd hosting of the dinner, the first one was about 10 years ago. We lived in such a small place for so many years, there wasn't the room for everyone nor any parking.

When we moved here, I didn't think it was going to take this long to get this house into shape. I didn't even think about the fact that we would run out of repair money. There is just still soo much left to be done, I can feel the anxiety welling up in my chest. Things are just not going as planned. I planned for my house to be done and beautiful and organized, we are only halfway there.

I also wanted to be able to do all the cooking by myself. Due to the financial difficulties, I am having to have each household bring one item. I don't like it, but there it is. Organizing who's bring what and who is actually coming has been quite the challenge.

My hubby has informed my that he has invited his mother (who shouts out to the family that SHE IS NOT COOKING THIS YEAR) and siblings (with possibly their children and maybe even their grand kids). Can you feel my migraine yet? I don't even think I have a big enough turkey!

We do have a bigger yard and more parking space, but not for that many! Some are going to have to park in the street.

One big blessing is that my baby sister has said that if she gets to come she will bring an extra turkey, Thanks sis.

My other anxiety is that...once all the cooking and preparations are doubled, who's coming? That would really be nice to know! His family..they are invited but no confirmations, as of yet. My family is still in limbo also, my parents van was going to be the primary transportation for a large part of the family. Now the van has broke down and the funds to repair it are not there. GRRRR

If this keeps up, my nerves are going to bust! And how to you get a man motivated (on his day off) to help me get this house done at least a little bit more, is beyond me!

Is it too late to say Thanksgiving is cancelled? LOL

Double Surprise Birthday Party

My daughter #2 called last weekend to invite me to a double surprise birthday party (for yesterday) for her two oldest boys, #1 will be 10 on the 20th and #2 will be 5 on the 30th. I asked her "why so early?". Turns out her husbands parents where coming and going to stay for 4 days, so they will have ALL their granparents there for the first time. "I'm so there, just tell me what time"


I'm going to veer off the subject a little:

Hubby has 3 children: Daughter #1, Son, Daughter #2

We have always have good relations with daughter #1 and got to be in her life, not as much as we would have liked but still we were happy for what we got.

We had no contact with son or daughter #2. This was very painful for hubby and in turn painful for me to watch him go through year after year, wondering.

Hubby was blessed to have both of them come back into his life, along with daughter #1 his family has finally been put back together . I still catch that gleam in his eye every so often, when we are talking about them or the grand kids.

I (not having any kids of my own) am having a blast! I feel so blessed that all the kids have welcomed me in and have included me in their lives.

Back to the subject:

So...when I get phone calls from daughter #2 (who lives the closest to us), I probaly look like some freak cause I am about as excited as I can possiably be. I have fallen for all of the kids and (well yes) expesially the grandkids.

After our "shopping for toys" awhile back, I knew just what I was getting for them. I still had to get something for #3 (who is 3yrs old), I didn't think it was right for him to have to sit there and watch his brothers get stuff, I'm sure there would have been a fight. Although eventually he will have to sit and watch and not throw a fit, but I think he is still to young to understand.

Yesterday, I get there and meet the out of town grandparents and we all start setting up while the men and boys have all gone to get lunch.

I was surprised I was the only grandparent with a camera!







The men are back, the door opens...Grandson #1 stands there frozen...with mouth open and eyes buldging. I cracked up laughing! I couldn't help myself, that face was priceless! Grandson #2 wizzed by me so fast, I didn't even get a chance to see his face! I'm not sure he even knew I was there, till I grabbed him for a kiss.





The party was great and the presants were all hits. Everybody had a great time! I went home happy and exhausted!

Bar Harbor

After reading http://www.islandroar.com/ latest blog. I was drawn back to my childhood.
Shortly after my father remarried, we went on a (I guess it could qualify for a vacation) trip to Bar Harbor, Maine. I think we was there to visit a branch of the family, but I don't remember. I do remember playing in the sand and trying to build a sand castle.



I also remember a spot that we went to that had an observation deck that went out in between two very large rugged rocks forming a V. While standing on the deck you could look down and watch the water rush in, hitting the rocks with such a force that the spray of it would come up and get you wet. I was fascinated! I probably would have been content to have just have gone there for that only, it is one of my favorite memories.



I was fascinated! I do believe this is when I got interested in rocks.

Family Portraits

When I was growing up, I remember seeing in a few of my friends houses and on tv a wall or hallway dedicated to family portraits. I always thought they were neat! Generations of photos lined up like a family tree, to have all that history in one place. I was very envious. None of my grandparents or my parents did anything like that, I don't even think they had those kind of photos.

Question is are these types of walls still in style or not? I so want one but I think maybe it would be to overpowering for my little space.

I am so sorry for the "no title' and stopping so short. My mother interrupted me and made it sound urgent.

Future Roomates

My dad has been on borrowed time for many years already. He is a stubborn old man, that is probably why he is still around. He has a drawer full of meds he is supposed to take everyday, he doesn't like to so he argues with my mother over this. He has large and portable oxygen tanks, he is supposed to use all the time but it makes him dizzy so most of the time he doest use it unless he is ready to pass out. He has 3 electric wheelchairs, but he prefers his cane. He has had numerous mini strokes and a few heart attacks! He has scared the begebbers out of all of us many of times over the last 10 yrs or so.

My hubby coughs his lungs up every morning, while in this coughing fit he turns red and has the most difficult time breathing. He is supposed to be on an inhaler and a anti-inflammatory for his air way. He has opted out of this. Yes I know, the word for this is DUMBA**! He also has a hernia on the top of his (what looks like a beer belly, but is not) stomach, it gets inflamed during this coughing fit.

My mother and I have had no success in convincing these boys of what is good for them, they know their own limitations and know more than us! HA, my eye! They are both going to end up dead for being so stubborn.

So mom and I have come up with a plan to move in together after these fools have expired. My hubby will definitely live longer than my dad and hubby has made his wishes clear, mom can't move in till he is gone. He will not live with my mother!

Any ideas for a solution?