Dog Days of Summer

Literally, the dog days of summer. Remember, we kept Brady for about 5 nights. Last night Darby and his parents visited for just a bit. This morning Riley and Maggie came to visit for 4 nights. Their parents are on a Babymoon. Have you ever heard of such a thing? Similar in name to a Honeymoon, a Babymoon is the last trip away as a couple before baby comes into the picture. I think it's just a good excuse to have another vacation. Just kidding, Ab & Matt! And have you heard of a "Push Present"? A gift for the poor mom who will be pushing that babe out into the real world. Yet another reason to spend money!

Here are some pictures of these granddogs.

Dogs are only allowed on this chair. Maggie loves it.

Although not allowed on the love seat, I thought this was cute of them. They get so excited when our neighbors let their dogs out in the late afternoon.

So far, our granddogs have been wonderful. No fights, little wrestling, sleeping alot. We've gone outside (hurray for the sunshine!) several times today. They walk on a leash beautifully. Even I, in all my clumsiness, can handle both dogs on separate leashes. Impressive, huh?

Miserable Day of Mishaps and Thanking God

3:00 a.m. yesterday - it was an omen, I'm sure of it. I should have known the day would get worse from that point. I was sleeping soundly when I felt hot air in my face and oddly it smelled of dog breath. Oh yes, Brady dog was with us - how soon I forget. He either wanted to play ball or he needed a potty break. I got up and walked him outside in the slight drizzle and, sure enough, he needed to do both businesses. Did I notice that Brady had a touch of diarrhea? Surely not. I couldn't have that much luck. When we got back inside, he layed down & zonked out on the floor and I was wide awake. I watched stupid shows on TV. Believe me, there's not much on the tube at 3:00 a.m. I fell asleep on the sofa and woke up to pouring rain. As I mentioned in my earlier posting, rain is good but not when you have a dog. The beach towels were still in place on the floor from yesterday so I added another one at the back door plus a small towel to wipe paws. It wasn't until later in the day that I realized how very ominous that 3 am wakeup call was.
My son Mark was returning that day from Canada. His wife Andrea was Matron of Honor at her very best friend's wedding over the past weekend. Mark, Andrea, Andrea's mom and 10-day old Aubrie traveled by car. Andrea and Aubrie decided to stay a week longer to visit friends and relatives. Mark needed to get back to work so he got a one-way flight home. I don't understand why this is, but if you fly to the south from anywhere, you'll always have a layover in Atlanta. No matter that you fly right over the city of your destination - you must go to Atlanta. After said layover, Mark was scheduled to arrive in Charlotte at 4:00 p.m. I had intended to pick him up, but my back still hurts. Dear Tom took a half day from work to drive to Charlotte - in the wonderful rainy weather. I was concerned that storms may delay Mark from landing in Atlanta and/or Charlotte. Mark called me at 2:30 and said the weather in Atlanta was good and all flights were on schedule. I called Tom who was on his way to Charlotte & told him the news.
Poor Brady. He really did have diarrhea. Every time I took him out (in the rain, of course), he had loose stools. I didn't feed him anything and only gave him water hoping it would pass (pun intended).
3:50 p.m. - Mark called from his seat in the airplane and said the pilot just announced that there was a delay - a problem with air traffic control and they could not take off. As a matter of fact it might be 3 hours before they could leave b/c there were 200 planes before them. WHAT? That didn't make sense. While I was talking with Mark, I turned to CNN and Fox News. I hated to tell Mark but there was a nationwide air traffic control failure and all flights were halted affecting thousands across the country. Wow . . . Houston, we have a problem! When I told Mark that little piece of information, he said, "Well, I'm gonna be the first one off this plane and I'm getting a rental car". I told him to call when he was on the way.
3:55 p.m. - I called Tom, who was sitting in the Charlotte airport waiting on Mark. Oops. Tom thought I'd lost my mind b/c he said, "Well, the board says Mark's flight will be 45 minutes late." Then I told him about the CNN and Fox news story. Poor Tom sheepishly said, "Well, I guess I'll just come home."
4:00 p.m. -Marks called and there were no rental cars. I told him to sit patiently and I'd do some thinking. I had relatives in Atlanta or I could drive to get him. What to do? I prayed and waited for an answer.
4:05 p.m. - Mark called and said he'd met two people who were trying to get to Asheville. They were renting a 12 passenger van and they'd drive him to Greenville. How cool is that? Three complete strangers who became friends during a rainy, stormy drive from Atlanta to Greenville. Thank you, Lord, for providing the transportation. Meanwhile, back in Simpleville, we're in a tornado warning. Tornadoes were seen in Clemson and Mauldin. Abby, Matt & Adger were here for supper. My sweet daughter has a true phobia of storms, especially tornadoes. She even had a dream about a tornado 2 days earlier. We discussed the best place in our house for safety. Unfortunately, four adults cannot fit in the small closet that in the center of the house. Hmmmmmmmmm. What to do. Just then the phone rang and my friend Elizabeth offered her basement as a refuge. Didn't take us long to give thumbs up on that idea! When we were safely in her basement, Abby breathed regularly and I no longer worried about early delivery of my second granddaughter.
6:30 p.m. It seemed the storm passed us without any tornado. Tom called and was getting off I-85 and headed to our friends house. Thank you, Lord, for his safe travel. All 7 of us had a Tornado Pizza Party. It was really fun. We headed home to wait for Mark's call.
7:00 p.m. Mark called and they were crossing the state border and would be at our meeting point within the hour. Of course, this is also about the time more bad weather was entering the area. Tornadoes were spotted in a small city south of us and possibly heading our way. Tom handed me a wad of $120 to give Mark's new friend to help pay for the rental van and gas. We know Mark well enough to know he doesn't carry that kind of money. We were driving in Tom's big truck. To get inside, especially when I have back problems, I had to use a handle to pull myself up and into the truck. The handle is located on the inside top of the truck. I pulled myself up and then I let out a slight scream. Somehow, my hair (my very short hair) got caught in that stupid handle and pulled out a huge plug of my hair! I asked Tom if we could sue Toyota. No response from the driver. So we headed out to drive in the lovely torrential rain to get our little boy.
7:45 p.m. Here came a big white van. So funny to see three people in this huge van! As we stood outside under umbrella amid the pouring rain, Tom & I tried to persuade this man to let us pay money for the van and gas. He absolutely refused any money. He said that Mark was a new dad and he wouldn't take a penny from us. Thank you, God, once again for taking care of Mark and supplying him with his needs. This man is Mark's Travel Angel.
We were at a gas station/Subway shop so we took him inside to treat him to a sandwich. I pulled out my wallet and told him to order. After a few minutes, Mark says, "What's that on the floor?" It was the wad of money Tom had given me! Again, thank you, God, for taking care of ME!
8:15 p.m. The Shaggy Dog, Brady, is so very excited to see his daddy again. They played and played for several minutes. I warned Mark of Brady's intestinal issues and he said he thought Brady had medicine for that at his house. So Tom left to drive them home.
9:30 p.m. I was in bed on a heating pad and Tom walked in and said,"Come to the dining room". I walked in and found eight piles of diarrhea dog poo. Yuck. Poor Brady. Poor Tom. At 10pm he was using our carpet cleaner trying to get up the mess. When he finally sat down at 10:30ish, I realized what a long, tiring day he'd had.
This was indeed a miserable day of mishaps. But, God is good. He allowed everyone to travel safely. I'm also thankful that I recently bought a carpet cleaner.

Water Problems

Don't get me wrong; I'm very thankful for the rain. It's truly an answer to prayer. But I'm having a few water problems.
(1) Last night Tom & I decided to bathe our granddog Brady. He's huge, if you have ever seen him. I was in charge of holding the leash so he wouldn't run away. Tom began by using the spray nozzle, but that scared the dog so Tom removed it. I think Tom forgot I was in close proximity b/c I was as wet as dear Brady. Tom lathered him up and scrubbed that white fur very well. Then he rinsed Brady (and me). Of course, you know what happened next - the great sprinkle from Brady when he "shook it out". Tom then used my hair dryer. It took forever to get Brady semi-dry. He was still damp when I went to bed last night so I put about 5 huge beach towels in our den so I wouldn't have damp carpet.
(2) Don't you just love having a dog, especially when it rains and the dog needs to do his business? That's one thing I don't really like about dogsitting. Brady is so precious, but when he visiting us, he doesn't "do his thing" immediately. He walks around, sniffs, walks around, sniffs, walks around, sniffs . . . you get the picture. All the while, I'm getting wet and his fur is getting wet, too.
(3) I have an infection plus a pulled muscle (yeah, I'm continuing to fall apart!). Last night I almost forgot to take my meds before bed so I got identical cups (one with a small amount of cereal so I had food in my stomach and the other with about a third full of water). I gently sat on the side of the bed, trying not to feel my aching back. I grabbed a cup to scarf down the cereal and I grabbed the wrong cup. Imagine my surprise when I threw water all over myself and the bed! I absolutely cracked myself up. It was the funniest thing! I immediately thought of that funny movie "Airplane" and the fellow with the drinking problem. That was me except I actually threw it at myself!
It's raining today so I may have more water problems to discuss later.

The Reminiscing Continues.............

I don't know why but lately I've been thinking about my camping/retreat experiences from youth. It started, as you know, with my trip to Camp Pinnacle. While I was there, I remembered a camp experience where there were Indian mounds. I mentioned this to my friend Rhonda and my husband, but they looked at me like I had two heads. You must be dreaming, they said. I thought and thought but could not come up with the name of where I camped as a child. Then today dear sister Jane randomly mentioned Rock Eagle to me. That's it!!! Rock Eagle. I googled and found a picture of this mound.This huge mound is 120 feet from top to bottom and 102 feet from wingtip to wingtip. Remarkably, it was build by Woodland Indians who inhabited this area from 1000 B.C. to 1000 A.D. Isn't that remarkable? No wonder I could not forget this mound, yet I could not remember the name of it.
Then I move on to my camp/retreat from youth. Seventh grade, to be exact. It was at Ridgecrest in N.C. I am quite sure the lodging where my youth group stayed was leveled years ago. I distinctly remember white houses with wrap-around porches where several rockers and swings were available for lounging. I remember dozens of my youth group crowding in the living/foyer area listening . . . to what I'm not sure. Probably devotions along with instructions to obey all rules. My most vivid memory is at the back of the wrap-around porch where some 8th grader from another church planted my first kiss on my lips. Being in the 7th grade and, believe it or not, being very shy, I was thrilled that an 8th grader liked me. I don't remember his name, do not remember where he was from and I never heard from him again. I think I just described a Loosey Goosey, huh? I hated to tell my husband that he was not the first . . . . first KISS, ok? Get your mind outta the gutter.
Can't find any pictures of Ridgecrest that ring a bell. I'd love to go there and to Rock Eagle. Sounds like another road trip to me!

Brady, the human dog

Do these names ring a bell? Moochie. Wilby. Have you ever seen the 1959 Disney classic The Shaggy Dog? Probably not. I can't say it's the best movie I've ever seen but it does hold some great childhood memories. Here are some pics from that movie.

That's actually Wilby, the teenager, who was accidently turned into a shaggy dog.

That's little "Moochie" with his dad and The Shaggy Dog

You may be asking yourself why is she reminiscing over a stupid old movie about a dog. That's because I have my own shaggy dog who is visiting for a week. He's my granddog. He reminds me of the movie dog.

This is my shaggy granddog, BradyHere, he's wanting me to get a ball (I keep them on the window ledge).

Since The Shaggy Dog movie is such an old favorite of mine, when I look at Brady I fully expect that dog to speak to me in human words - like Wilby did in the movie. Sometimes Brady will look up at me like "ok, let's go outside and play ball" or "please hug me b/c I miss Mark & Andrea" or "my water bowl is empty - do something".

We're keeping Brady for a week. Tomorrow my friend is bringing her granddog to stay for a few hours. The day after Brady goes back to his home, Abby's two dogs Riley & Maggie will be staying with us for several days. I do believe I've opened a kennel. And did I mention that all my granddogs are indoor canines? I'll vacuum enough dog hair to make my own shaggy dog. But I do love my little and big granddogs. Honestly, though, I'd rather be babysitting!

Knee problems, clutzville, Aubrie, trees

Now I know why my knee has hurt me so badly. To be technical, I have a tear in both the lateral meniscus and the medial meniscus plus I have a Baker's Cyst. I'm quite sure the latter is b/c of all my cooking skills although I don't think that's been documented in the medical journal. I'll thoroughly check with JAMA and let you know what I discover. Appointment next week to schedule outpatient surgery. I do not have time for this. I'm a busy woman.

Another burn - this time my hand. I've used a wall oven for 30 years. I love having my oven eye level. I'm not a fan of bending over to get something in or out of an oven. Monday I went to Mark's house to cook them a meal. I sorta burned my hand but didn't say anything to them about it. Here is the latest result of my clumsiness.

Lovely, isn't it? Goes well with the burned index finger

Aubrie

My granddaughter visited last night while her parents came for supper. She's still a little doll. Here are a few pictures of the last few days.

She slept soundly while we ate supper.

Sleeping peacefully with Aunt Abby

Wide awake with Uncle Chad

Trees

We had several dead trees, many dead and/or overhanging limbs cut down yesterday. It was amazing to watch the tree guys do their job. I took some pics to show Tom. Here's one:

Our yard looked like a war zone, but looks great now

The Clutzy Clumsiness Continues

Jeepers! I'm so pathetic. If you recall, I have a broken finger, a burned finger and a torn cartilage in my knee. Thursday I was cutting a lemon and the knife slipped. Instead of the lemon, I sliced a finger. And it was a nice job of slicing if I do say so myself. So Friday night Tom & I went to Ab and Matt's house to let their dogs out for a while. I am the keeper of their house key and the memory of their garage code, so I took complete charge of unlocking/locking the house. As I went up and down their stairs, I kept thinking "Will I ever feel completely comfortable carrying a grandbaby down these steps?". Tom & I haven't had steps since I was an unwrinkled, lean machine of a twenty-year-old. But I've never been good at stairs. Everywhere I ascend and especially descend stairs, I hold on to the handrail like it's a lifeline.
Anyway, by now it's about 9:45 p.m. and Tom & I put the dogs in their crates for the night. Tom went out the exit door first b/c I was deadbolting the door. Because there was no light in the garage, Tom had just uttered the words, "Watch your step" when it happened. His words doomed me. Somehow I missed a step and turned my left foot causing me to fall very hard on their garage floor. On the way down, I bumped my head on Ab's car bumper and I knocked off my eyeglasses. I fell in a very weird position. My bottom half was turned completely to the left while my top half was flat on the floor. At first I thought I really was badly injured. My back and my side hurt like heck. Tom was there in a flash and thought I'd broken a bone. At first all I could do was straighten my bottom half so I was lying completely flat. I took some deep breaths not really wanting to discover if I had broken something. I laid there for what seemed a long time afraid to move. Finally, I told Tom to grab both of my hands and I'd try very slowly to get up. I had some pain but I knew nothing was broken. Then I bursted out laughing. That's what I do - I'm weird like that - I laugh at the oddest things. Tom thought I was totally delirious. It's now been about 19 hours since the fall and I feel like a semi rig hit me. I have pain in my lower back and my side. And I now as wearing an ace bandage on my left foot b/c it really is sore. So, I have a bandage on my foot, a bandaide on my cut finger, a bandaide on my burned finger, a splint on my broken finger and a knee wrap on my torn-cartilage knee and I have aches and pains over most of my body. Good grief . . . this stinks. Three of my ten fingers are injured. Hope my children don't read this b/c they'll never let me keep my grandchildren!

Aubrie's BIRTHday Party

Andrea and Mark had a great idea. When Andrea began to go in labor, they baked a birthday cake and iced it. They put a "0" candle on it. Several hours after her birth, we all had Aubrie's "zero" birthday party complete with hats, matching plates and napkins. They choose not to light the candle for fear of alarms going off or an oxygen tank explosion. But the party was so sweet. We all sang "Happy Birthday" to Aubrie. The Rucker family is famous, or infamous, regarding singing the Happy Birthday song. At birthday parties, we sing it so hideously that it actually hurts our ears. The worst off key and the most shrilling, the better. It scares little children as well as adults. We, thankfully, spared Aubrie from such torture. However, when she is old enough, she will be blessed with the Rucker song and she will learn that her daddy is the loudest and the worst of us all.

Remembrances from the last 40 hours

From the moment my son Mark called at 7am on Sunday morning, I knew my life was about to change forever. I heard the anticipation in his voice as he said, "She's been in labor since 1 a.m. and we're waiting for contractions to be 5 min. apart then it's a go." Of course, I skipped church b/c I did not want to miss one single minute of this excitement. Mark called again at 11 a.m. and said they were going to the hospital. When Tom returned from church around 11:15, we headed out loaded with camera, food, beverage, magazines, tissue, chapstick, cellphone charger, toothbrush & toothpaste, mints, a very long list of phone numbers, and enough gas in my anxious intestinal tract to fill all the hot air balloons from Freedom Weekend Aloft! We were at the hospital for all of 30 min. when Mark walked into the waiting room and said Andrea was being sent home until contractions became more severe b/c she was still just 1 centimeter dilated. Bummer. So 10 family members, including Andrea's parents from Canada, went to eat a brunch. Every 5 minutes Andrea would stiffen up and breath deeply as she endured another contraction. While we waited for our food, my daughter-in-law Michelle said we should play a game and guess the baby's weight and time of birth. She passed a card around where everyone wrote down their prediction. After eating, we all headed back to our respective homes to wait. About 4 p.m. Mark called and said they were going back. So all of us drove back to the hospital and met in the waiting room. Little did we all realize what a long wait we all had in store for us. I forget exactly when Andrea asked for the epidural but when she did, the good times started to roll. She felt great and looked wonderful. All of us were in and out of her room all night. When 2:15 a.m. passed, every last one of us lost the game about the time of birth. No one thought it would take this long. At about 3:30 a.m. the nurse came in and said that at 4 a.m. she was going to start pushing. Then we finally knew it was getting very close! Abby and I were perched at the end of the waiting room with our camera/video camera directed at whoever came down the hall to tell us the news. About 4:40 Abby said she thought she heard a baby cry. I said, "well, there are lots of babies around here and I doubt we would hear our baby this far from the room." Abby was right. I think she heard our Aubrie's first cry b/c that was the exact time of her birth. At 5:05 their wonderful nurse came down the hall (and was caught on camera!) saying that we could come back. The walk down the hall was surreal. What did the baby look like? How was Andrea feeling and was Mark a complete wreck? We walked in and Mark said, "Ya'll just look at her!!!!" He was so happy and so proud of his little girl. It was a beautiful sight. I cannot use words to describe the feeling I had when I saw her and then looked at my middle child who was now a father. Wow is all I can say. I honestly just thank the Lord for a healthy baby girl and pray she and her parents have a wonderful, blessed life together for many, many years to come. I think I'm gonna love being a grandmother!

Aubrie, dad Mark, Abby & Chad

Three generations

bathing beauty

Sleeping Beauty

Aubrie Michelle Rucker

The circle of life is continuing...............view the blessed event below:


Aubrie was born 8-11-08 at 4:40am weighing in at 7# 13oz. 20 inches long and a total babe!

Memories........... plus some updates

Memories
I'm showing my age here, but do you remember the 1969 song, "Memories Medley" by The Lettermen? The first line goes........."Memories. . . pressed between the pages of my mind". Well, apparently I have several pages ripped from my mind never to be see again! Today I took a very nostalgic trip to a camp that I attended when I was around 8-10 years old. Initially, all I could remember was the name of the camp, the general look of the cabins and playing a stupid game in the dining hall where I had to make a sound like a cock-a-too. Ok, it has been several decades since my last trip so give me a break. Tom & I and my friend Rhonda left early this morning. Of course, we had to get in a good meal so we ate at a delicious, country-cooking place about 2 hours from home. Yummy! Then we drove into the campground. I suddenly felt like I'd never seen the place before, but I knew this was the camp. When I saw the lake, I began to think I may be experiencing dementia b/c how in the world could I forget a beautiful lake? Then we saw the chapel ................. pretty, white chapel. Do you think I remembered the chapel? NO. Tom said it was because I probably never went inside. Hee, hee, Tommy. Then I looked to my left and saw the cabins - just like they were several decades ago. And suddenly I was flooded with memories. Crazy memories, like when Cindy had a sudden asthma attack and everyone was so worried about her. I remembered sitting in the cabin during quiet hour playing a silent game with a girl I had met who I recall was absolutely hilarious. I think I remember my sister being there, but I can't be sure of that one. She probably beat me to a pulp and my memory of that is a blur (just kidding, Jane). I saw the "outdoor chapel" which is just benches formed in a semi-circle overlooking the lake. I distinctly remember sitting there and singing songs like Cum Ba Ya. Of course, the dining hall where I ate was torn down years ago and has been replaced with a nice facility plus many more new buildings. Sadly, my old cabins will soon be replaced with very nice ones. But, after viewing the inside of an old cabin, new ones are desperately needed. I'm just thankful I was able to see the old cabins and jog my memory. Here are pictures of what I DON'T remember.

How I could forget such a beautiful lake in the mountains is completely beyond me. I wondered today why I remembered such insignificant things like asthma and cock-a-too noises and smelly bathrooms and showers with vinyl curtains, yet I blanked out with a chapel and a lake. The brain is weird, huh?

Update on the kitchen project

The kitchen angel, Cindy (not asthma Cindy) showed up again today and scrapped wallpaper until she only had nubs for fingers. She & I worked for about 6-7 hours. I can finally say that the wallpaper is down. What I can't say is that I'm nearing the completion of the project. As the song goes, "It's Only Just Begun." (Another 60's number by The Carpenter's). As usual when I attempt any project, things go awry and I have to drop back and punt. Today Tom hiked me the football, so to speak. It's a long story I won't bore you with, but if it had not been for my very able husband, I'd never have gotten finished - it has to do with a retro backsplash we discovered when we removed wallpaper. Now, however, we have more work to do. It seems the best solution to our problem with the retro backsplash is to tile behind the range top area. Did not plan on doing that! My plan is to have this finished before granddaughter #2 comes in November. Speaking of................

Update on granddaughter #1

Mom-to-be Andrea is still waiting around. Rumor has it we may have a little girl the first of the week. I'll keep you posted.

The Clumsiness Continues

Man, oh man! Here we go again. Last evening we went with a group to a funeral visitation in another city. Afterwards, we went to a steak house for dinner. There were 12 at our table. We got our beverages then the bread came on a wooden, handled cutting board. Looked yummy. Tom cut his piece of bread, then I cut mine with the handled end of the board away from me. So I handed the cutting board to the person on my left. Of course, I didn't notice how far out the handle was b/c I was using the opposite end to pass the board. You guessed it - I knocked over my entire glass of sweet tea. It went everywhere but thankfully no one got wet. Ya know, it's a good thing that I don't get embarrassed. I just laughed with everyone else. Apparently, everyone at the table knows me and was not surprised. Should I be offended that everyone expected me to be the one to make a mess? Nah - I'll just keep enJOYing living my clumsy life!

Anxious about Aubrie

Just knowing that probably in a week or less I'll be a grandmother is so exciting. What will she look like? Will she have blond hair like her mom or jet black hair like her dad? Will she have really dark, olive skin like her dad or lightly freckled skin like her mom? Will she have mom's green eyes or dad's almost black eyes? Or will she be some wonderful combination of both mom and dad? Some things about Aubrie are pretty much set in stone: (1) She will be beautiful b/c both parents are gorgeous (2) She will be athletic (she won't have a choice in this b/c her parents are exercise enthusiasts (3) She will have a great personality and a good sense of humor (taken from both parents). That much I know. The rest about Aubrie I'm anxiously waiting to find out. I go nowhere w/o my cell phone on the loudest volume. Today I may prepare my hospital goody bag (for me!). It will contain magazines, power bars/snacks, tissue (I will cry), Chapstick (b/c I am OCD about dry lips) and a long list of people to call about the blessed event. Aubrie's grandmother is here from Canada so she and I can further bond at the hospital while waiting on Aubrie's arrival. I'll gladly share my magazines, snacks and tissue with her.
Here's a picture of Mimi's nursery (Mimi would be me).

The small white rocker was mine. Thanks, Jane, for letting me have that. The little red tractor is Tom's from childhood. Isn't that the coolest? I actually designed the room around that red tractor, thinking a farm theme would be good for either boys or girls. I figured between my three children that I'd probably have at least one boy & one girl among the crowd of grands. So far we're at 2 granddaughters in the wombs.

My Kitchen Angel

Yesterday I went to lunch with a dear friend, Cindy. We talked about everything under the sun including my new vision for my kitchen. I'm all about inexpensive renovation - nothing too drastic that might cause Tom heart palpitations. Presently, my walls are covered with old wallpaper that I painted over about 15 years ago. I am so tired of the sponge-painted look. I told Cindy of my grand scheme and the possible surprise paint job I'm considering (that's for another blog). She said she needed to look at my kitchen to visualize what I was talking about. Later at the house she gave me her thoughts plus an idea I had not considered. Then she touched the wall and said, "I wonder how difficult it will be to get this paper down." Well, before I knew it she was working on that wall pretty good. She left shortly and said, "I'll be back later." Sure enough about 6:30pm she strolled in, work clothes on, supplies in hand and began working like a mad woman. She and I worked until 10:30 that night. Let me tell you how tedious this job is: most of the wallpaper is coming down in tiny pieces with much of the backing still on the wall. Arghh! After four hours we only finished the breakfast room area. The job ahead is daunting but with a friend like Cindy the job is doable. Tom will help with many projects but I'm not even asking him for help with this one. When he came home last night, he was surprised to see the kitchen. He had no idea I was ready to strip wallpaper. Well, actually, I didn't realize it myself. I probably would have chosen to wait until A.G.B. (after grandbaby born), but hey I'm glad it's getting done. Haven't a clue when I'll complete this task, but at least now I'm committed to the project. Here's a picture of Cindy working away.


And guess what? My new camera came yesteday and I'm once again in the wonderful world of photography. I broke my favorite camera at the lake in May and I have been trying to find a good deal since. My old camera has been replaced with a new model. I am so excited! So, if you live in and around my area of the world, watch out. Here I come. I called my daughter-in-law last night and said, "Ok, it's fine to delivery the baby now - I have a camera and I'm ready to go."

The Kiss of Death

Yesterday and today I occasionally get a stench walking in and around my house. At first I thought, "Jeepers, I've got a rotten potato in the bin" or "My sponge is soured" or "When was the last time I washed dirty towels?". But it just dawned on me.............maybe I'm smelling dead chipmunks. Yippee! I hope so. My sister suggested that maybe it was my upper lip. Thanks, Jane. I'm really hoping that the unwrapped Hershey Kiss may have been the kiss of DEATH for some chipmunks. I'll let you know. Don't expect a funeral for Alvin, Theodore, Simon and posse. It will be a real celebration. (Boy, will I be embarrassed if I fine spoiled food somewhere............)

Red + Black = bruises

Today I was in the painting mood again. "Quite Red" was again the color choice for my newly-purchased-yet-old-in-age hutch. Can you tell red is my favorite color? I also painted a small table black. The hutch painting project went fairly well. Tom was gone helping someone move (glad I'm not a guy) so he was not here to do the detail painting. I'm a roller-kind-of-painter and the detail work slows me down too much. Plus I usually get too much on the paint brush and it globs up which was the case today. But I persevered and finished in a few hours. It took a coat of primer and two coats of Quite Red. Then I moved on to the small table. Well, it may as well have been a banquet table b/c it took me longer to paint a small table than that two-piece hutch. Unfortunately, the table has (and I counted them) 16 spindles. Do you know how long it takes to paint 16 spindles and how tedious that job is? Needless to say, I got a little sloppy b/c I was getting frustrated. It's not the best paint job I've ever done. I told Tom when he came home that I may have to hide that table in the far corner of our house b/c I'm afraid that when I put the lamp on the table, all the imperfections will stand out like a neon light. It was cool, though, when I cleaned up the brushes (that's another thing: Tom always cleans up for me and I missed him today!)..................so when I cleaned up the brushes, one with red paint and one with black paint, I got the prettiest purple water. A pleasant surprise from my hard labor. I know what you're thinking: she's nuts, blue + red = purple. Yeah, I know, but today I got purple with red and black, so there. Now the extra paint I have on my body matches perfectly with all the bruises I have from my clumsiness. So in my case, red + black = bruises.

Chad, the Boy Wonder

Let me tell you about my oldest son Chad. He has this magnetism with the females. When he enters his neighborhood, the gals flock to greet him. Many times they actually run down the street following his car because HE'S HOME! They practically throw themselves at his feet as he exits his car and they follow him inside. He's quite famous there. Did I tell you he has been married for six years? Did I tell you his female flock are all under the age of 10? I don't know why but young girls think he's terrific. Last night was another indication of his unusual ability to mesmerize girls. Last year Chad went with a group to climb a ridiculously steep mountain - climbed about 8 miles up, spent the night in cabins, descended the next morning down another trail. Among the group last year was a 9-year-old granddaughter of our friends. Chad and Ellie hit it off from the get-go. They were two peas in the pod. I suppose it could be said that Chad has the mental ability to hang with 9-year-olds; however, he also has the ability to crack up 80-year-olds into fits of laughter. He has a very quirky sense of humor.

Last night Ellie, who lives in another state, was visiting her grandparents and called me b/c she wanted to see Chad. We were having a family gathering for my pregnant daughter-in-law's birthday. I told Ellie to drop by last evening and Chad would be here. When that petite 10-year-old waltzed into the dining room to see Chad, she lit up like a 300-watt bulb! She is one of the prettiest little girls I've ever seen and has a personality like none other. As I looked closely at her, I thought, "wow, she's got such gorgeous eyes". Her grandmother told us later that before she left to come to our house, she fixed her hair, put on a bit of mascara and I know I saw some sparkles around her face from makeup. That cracked me up!!!!! She primped for her pimp. JUST KIDDING! It was a precious sight. The two of them plus her older brother went outside to throw balls to our visiting granddogs. We later talked about hiking that crazy mountain again next year. (Chad was unable to go this year.) Ellie asked Chad if he was going next year. He said, "Yeah, I'm going." Ellie said, "Well, you better." I told Chad's wife, Michelle, that she should go, too. Michelle is totally physically fit, but she's a little leery of no showers, no indoor plumbing, etc. Chad really wants her to go next year. Guess who probably doesn't want Michelle to go? I'd place a bet that Miss Ellie is praying Michelle stays home so Chad will be all hers. So, the saga of Chad's female magnetism continues.............

Sam, Ellie and Chad -June 2007