My Little G.G.'s

Brie spent Sat. night and Sunday with us. What fun! When a G. G. is here, life is suddenly put on hold and our whole world revolves around that baby. That's what grandparenting is all about, right?

Brie and her Papa were swinging and I sneaked out to get a picture.



Those bottom teeth really show up in this picture.

We also had Darby dog for several days while Chad & Michelle were out of town. Brie loves dogs.

Brie enjoys books so she goes over and gets what she wants to read.

Today I kept Cady while Abby went to a funeral. She's so precious. She had a slight cold and a very raspy voice. Her "Uh-oh" was a deep alto voice today.

Cady is playing with a small hair brush. She prefers to chew it rather than brush with it.

She is concentrating on a toy here. Love her "original-Mimi" cheeks!

Her brown eyes remind me of my three children.

One thing that both girls have in common is that they both love to blow raspberries!!

Last, but certainly not least, is the exciting news that tomorrow is September 1!

I have made it through a long, hot summer. Just to know that August is gone makes me very happy!!!!! And, by the way, today is a lovely, COOL Monday. Hurray for the upcoming fall season!

Estrogen Overload

Kathy & I went on a lady's outing yesterday. First we went downtown to The Artfull Bras Project. I didn't have a clue what I was about to witness. Here's the scoop of the project: "Members of the Quilters of South Carolina created one-of-a-kind bras for Breast Cancer Awareness. The exhibit consists of 50 original works of art which are unique, entertaining, humorous and beautiful to make the public aware of breast cancer. . ."

After the tour around the state (and now, the nation & perhaps beyond) the bras will be auctioned and proceeds donated to the Best Chance Network, a program that helps women ages 40 - 64 who need to be screened for cancer, but do not have insurance.

As soon as we walked into the exhibit, we began to giggle and laugh. Here are a few of the bras on display. (Each bra has a title which adds more humor to each bra)

"Support Your Favorite Boob"

"Mardi Gras" (It was beautiful!)

"Hooters" !!!!!!!

"Tie One On"

"The Nursing Bra"
I took this with my cell phone - it shows the complete bra with scissors.


This is from a website - shows more detail

The "Nursing Bra" was my favorite just because of the detail information given about it. It was on the cover of April 2009 American Journal of Nursing. It was made by a woman who worked in the nursing profession for over 35 years. The bra was made to honor nurses who have given their time, energy and love for many breast cancer patients. She hand-sculpted & painted "Bar-bra (the surgical nurse) and "Deb-bra" (the traditional nurse). She used surgical masks to create the cups, scrubs and surgical suture to make the back and oxygen tubing to make the stethoscopes that serve as straps. The detail and thought that this former nurse put into making this bra just amazes me.

Now for some more that aren't so serious. . . .

"The Girls Divided"

"Fifi and Mimi" - hilarious and perky!

After the Artfull Bra exhibit, we headed to the Women's Show. There were many, many booths offering various products/services for women only. There were a few odd-ball guys trying to lure Kathy & I to buy a product, but I wrote off any man who approached me . . . this was a WOMEN'S show.

I had fun, but honestly I grew very weary of being politely accosted by almost every single booth we passed by. LEAVE ME ALONE. If I'm interested, I'll come closer to your booth, but otherwise let me be. I can't tell you how many booths had before and after pictures of sagging boobs and then the new perky ones. Then there was the booth concerning our little "monthly visitor". This lady (who had NO ONE within 10 feel of her booth) asked us to come see her about a product and we just laughed and told her we were way beyond needing that help! Hallelujah! And, of course, Kathy & I were humilated b/c of all the ladies who passed by this one particular booth, we were the ones who she zeroed in on. The service? The Center For Medical Weight Loss. Thanks, lady. We gave her a frown and a firm "no thank you". From there we headed straight to a free tasting of chocolate fudge.

So, if you want a fairly cheap afternoon of estrogen-related products and services, head on over to the Women Show. If you don't mind 500 women watching, you can get a free massage. But I'd avoid booth 265 unless you want to be reminded that you need to shed a few pounds.

Tuesday Night Supper At Chad's

Chad & Michelle invited the family over for supper last night. We stayed outside for part of the evening b/c it was so nice and not humid. Mark brought Brady dog to play with Darby dog and play they did!

We had pizza but unlike my blog of May 20, Michelle did not heat the pizzas in her oven. That was a very good thing. Here are some pictures.

Brie and Cady are playing in the foyer while we eat in the dining room.

After supper Chad is showing Mark a new contraption that is supposed to help with a golfer's putting. But between the dogs and the babies, putting was a challenge.

Uncle Matt/Daddy Matt with Brie & Cady

Sorry some of my pictures are not centered. It is getting increasingly more difficult to get both girls still long enough to get a good shot.

Brie has become very good with her walker. She gets around very fast.

Chad & Michelle are the best playmates with the little G.G.'s.

Cady loves her Uncle Chad

Mark with Brie/Michelle with Cady

(Andrea was working last night)

How many men does it take to move a rock? Last night Chad asked for help in moving a boulder in his backyard. Father and sons are trying to move it.

At first try, the boulder did not budge!

Yes, it took three strong men to roll that huge thing in place. Sweat broke out on the foreheads of the sons, but their father doesn't have the Moore curse.

Thank, Chad & ShellBell. We had a great time.

Unwanted Visitors + Tent City + "We're Being Invaded!!!"

(1) Unwanted Visitors
I don't know if it's because I live on one of the main streets in my subdivision or what, but lately I've been bombarded with men ringing my doorbell wanted to do yard work, etc. When I'm alone, I don't like going to the front door and see a stranger (and many of them look like they may have just robbed a bank). Last week I was working in the kitchen and I didn't hear the doorbell ring. When I walked into my dining room, I happened to notice two men at my front door. Then one of them began to repeatedly ring the bell. That annoyed me! I did not go to the door. I didn't know them and I didn't really care what they wanted. This past Friday it happened again, but Tom was sitting in the den so I opened the door. We have a storm door, but it's not a dead-bolt type storm door; the lock on this door could easily be forced open by a large toddler. I held onto the storm door latch while I asked the man - through the glass door - what he wanted. He asked if we needed the house painted and anything pressure washed. I almost laughed in his face. Tom spent the entire month of July painting the house and pressure washing everything that was nailed down. Did this haggard man not look around to see if we NEEDED any work done? Apparently, not. I told him we had lots of work done recently and we didn't need anything. He said, "Oh, really?"
That's when I decided to try to put a stop to these doorbell-ringing-hope-they-don't-force-their-way-into-my-house experiences. If you come to see me now, you'll see the following sign on my door:

Ok, I really didn't put that last bullet point, but I thought about it. If Oprah or Ellen Degeneres came knocking on my door for a room makeover, I'd surely hate to miss it. But what are the chances of that happening. I do, however, have this note on my outside doors - minus the P.C.H.S. spokesman notation.

(2) Tent City
This fall we are helping to re-organize a church family camping trip. It's probably been almost 20 years since our last church trip. We always went sometimes in October and had such a great time. Most of the people tent-camped with tents that our church purchased. Billie was the chief cook. We always had great meals. So this year we are trying to relive the past and resurrect this family campout. Several families who are interested do not have their own tents. We decided that we needed to gather those old tents and be sure they were usable. Last night Tom put up four identical tents in our backyard.

Looks like we're expecting a Boy Scout Troop.

The tents are in surprisingly great condition. They do have an odor but they've been packed up for almost 2 decades! They just need to be aired out for a while. If any of you want to have a cheap campout, come to our backyard. . . . tents are free; food is not.

(3) "We're Being Invaded!!"

There is a CVS pharmacy near us. I could walk there if I wanted to. Next door to CVS is a new building under construction. I have wondered all summer what this new business is. Is it a cute, girly store? Is it a gift shop? I asked the pharmacist today when I picked up a prescription. Just what we don't need. Another auto parts store!

The city of Simpleville, I mean just the core of the little city, is one long street. Along this street we already have THREE auto parts stores.

Check. . . we have NAPA.


Check . . . we have Advance.



Check. . . we have Auto Zone.

Check . . . coming soon - O'Reilly Auto Parts

Auto Zone, Advance and O'Reilly's are so close together that you could spit from one to another. Do we really need another one? Since I've lived here (over 30 years) I've gone to one auto parts store and that was to buy an air freshener for my car. And Tom has only gone to one store once a year at most. Jeepers. And I thought it might be a cute store. One thing's for sure: All our vehicles should feel very secure knowing we can supply them with a part in a millisecond.

????????????????

Have you ever silently asked yourself a question and then later on got the answer at a very unexpected time? I have. . . . .

And for Hispanics . . . . . have you?

Friday morning I met Mark at his office to get Brie for the day. I parked in a location that I'd never parked before. I was, of course, looking for shade because I was a bit early and I didn't want to get too hot. I parked under a tree that was on the side of his office building. As I sat there, I notice a street right beside me. I thought, "I've never noticed that street before . . ." - it seemed to have popped up over night. Not really, but I had never seen it before and I'd been to his office many, many times. "Oh, well," I thought, "I'll ride down that street one day and see what's there." I'll get back to this later.

At church this morning, a lady in our S. S. class mentioned that a little 3-yr-old boy (who had a heart transplant when he was an infant) was going back to Charleston this week b/c he is showing a mild sign of rejection to his new heart. He'll be there for about 10 days. Our class decided to donate some money for travel expenses for the family. I was asked to investigate how to get the money to this family asap b/c they had already left for Charleston. I knew the grandmother of this little boy was a choir member and I quickly found out her name and phone number. I called and asked if she was going to Charleston this week. She is leaving on Tuesday so I asked if I could run by her home and give her a donation from our class. She began to give me directions (apparently a shortcut) and I got confused with all the turns she was giving me. I told her I didn't understand. She said, "Well, do you know where Joy Real Estate office is?" I said, "Yes, my son works there." She said, "Well, there's a street right next to that office. . . . " Wow. I was about to find out where that street went before I had planned on it. How the Lord works.

I visited this sweet lady for almost an hour. We found that we had so many connections with people that we both knew. It was one of those times that you just knew this meeting was ordained by God. What a great time I had talking with her. She gave me more details on her grandson and what's going on with him. It's too detailed to explain, but please pray for Tillman Chesney for the next 10 days as he goes through some treatments to stop the antibodies that might reject his new little heart.

Any more questions?????????

Decorating Diva

Have you ever got a strong yearning to do something . . . and until you did it, you couldn't get it off your mind? I have. Like I've got ants in my pants, or bees in my bonnet, or cows in my blouse (ok, I made that one up). Anyway, I finally completed my tasks while Tom was out of town. I spent several hours last night working.

As you know, I love the Christmas season. I enjoy decorating inside and out. Like many, I have pretty wreaths on each window, front porch all Christmasy, etc. But come January, the outside of my house is blah as all get out. Boring, boring, boring. I've never had a winter wreath. I wanted one. So I began my search on the internet for ideas. I came across a website that offered shipment of a different wreath every 3 months for each season. Hmmmmm. Since I'm on restricted spending for a while, surely to goodness I could make my own. I was fortunate enough to recently receive a monetary gift. Yep, that's where the money was going. I'd make my own wreaths. I printed pictures of the ones I liked best from my internet search. I took my money & my pictures and headed to craft stores.

Last night with supplies scattered all over my den and kitchen, I set out to complete my wreaths. I finished them all except for one. (I ordered a cheap, yet very cute accessory for my summertime wreath and it hasn't come in the mail.) I worked feverishly because I wanted to clean up before Tom returned from Virginia. Let's just say that this morning I was snipping pieces of carpet because I'm a little messy using my glue gun! Plus I have three blisters on fingers from said glue gun. (Yes, I do have a cool-temp. glue gun, but it's so tiny that it would have taken me 3 days to finish. My hot-temp. glue gun is much faster, but more dangerous.) It did take me several hours, but I'm pretty pleased with them. Here are two of my wreaths.

This will be on my front door wreath. The only change I plan to make is to make a bigger bow when I find wider silver ribbon. I made a similar, smaller version of this for my backdoor.

This is my spring wreath. This is one of my favorites. I think I'll also love the summertime wreath when the accessory arrives.

Tom is in for a surprise when he walks into my dining room which has been taken over by decorations. I made 5 wreaths, revamped one wreath, and made two baskets of apples and greenery for the fall. They aren't professional in the least, but they were basically FREE! That's the most exciting thing.

My sister Jane responded about yesterday's blog concerning my hot flashes. I nearly wet myself laughing at her email. Here's what she had to say:


"The aforementioned blog and comments thereof: Them ain't hot flashes, do-do-head. It is your confounded gene pool, fool, of which I am a "member". If those are hot flashes, then Chad, Jerry, Adger, etc., better check themselves into the hospital for a check-up . . ."

So true, sister, so true. There are certain family members who perspire just thinking that it may be hot. Then there's Tom . . . I won't go there because I'm jealous of his non-sweating body. He's not normal on one extreme and I'm not normal on the other end of the spectrum.

Guess what I did today? I went into the attic. . . . . must have been 125 degrees up there!!!! I was only there for 1 minute looking for a basket. That temp. is just not healthy. Neither is 95, in my opinion. But there are only 12 days til September. Hip, hip, hooray!!!

13 Days To Freedom

13 days. . . . count 'em. . . . . 13 days til the calendar is flipped to the month of September. I simply cannot wait. Of course, it will still be very warm and probably hot during the early part of September, but just to know that the summer months are behind me is such a relief. I've been having these weird hot flashes (I suppose that's what it is) at very inconvenient times. I get really frustrated when I begin to sweat and I know it'll soon be beyond the point of no return. I may as well just leave wherever I am and head for a bath (a cool bath).


I ran some errands this morning and finished around noon. When I got back in the car from my last stop, my hair was wet in the back of my head and my lower back was not much better. I seriously think I have a problem. This can't be normal. After I lose this weight that I've gained over the last 18 months because of my knees, this problem had better subside. If not, then I'm going to find a doctor who will help me out. The immediate solution would be for Tom & I to move to Nova Scotia until mid-November. But I don't think I could go that long without seeing my family (i.e., my G.G.'s!). So, I'll continue planning my life avoiding the hottest time of each day. I'll continue declining invitations that require outdoor participation. I'll continue wearing my sweat band when I stick my big toe outside. And I'll continue counting down the days until August is gone.

"You Are Getting Very Sleepy. . . ."

If I slept one hour last night, that's about it. Insomnia. Yuck. I tossed and turned so much it's a wonder I didn't choke myself or Tom with the covers. I tried to go to sleep after Tom left at 6:30 a.m. and I'm still awake. I thought reading on the computer would make my eyes tired. Guess what, I think it's working.

My shoulders are slumping, my head is getting heavy, my eyelids are heavy, now they're half closed; I'd better hop in the bed before I fall off this chair . . . .

Holding Hands + My Little G.G.'s

(1) Holding Hands

In my devotional this morning, I read two sentences that really impacted me. It was about how toddlers try to do everything by themselves but that the parents know what's best. And how, like toddlers sometimes we want something that we are not yet prepared to handle. We might not like it much, but sometimes we just have to trust God to know what is best for us. Here's the sentences I have put to memory: Don't try to hold God's Hand; let Him hold yours. Let Him do the holding, and you the trusting. Oo-oo-oo-oo, I love that!


(2) My Little G.G.'s

Here some pictures during the last week.




I spent the afternoon at Abby's one day. Cady is playing with her doll, albeit, upside down.



I know this is fuzzy, but Cady is clapping her hands so enthusiastically. It was a hoot. And when I looked at the picture, I noticed that she's sticking her tongue out, just like her Papa.


Brie's first birthday was Tues., August 11. We had a dinner party that night also celebrating Andrea's late July birthday. Lots of family was here including Andrea's parents from Canada.

Uncle Matt playing with the birthday girl


The little girls crawling around. Brie's cute dress hindered her from crawling, so Andrea tied the back of the dress in a "ponytail". It worked.

Mom practicing steps with Brie.

My one-year-old granddaughter

Brie was fastinated with Auntie Michelle's shoe.

Birthday celebrant Andrea feeding birthday girl Brie.

Cady spent Friday night over here. We gave Abby & Matt an evening out and a sleep-in Saturday morning.

Pajama-clad Cady loved wrapping herself around my kitchen chair.

Cell phone Cady

Cady is situated in an odd position and she stayed there for the longest time. Tom was tickling her face and she just giggled and giggled.

I walked around to the other side of the room to see Cady's face while Tom tickled her. It was so precious.

Her head is shaded by the lamp, but Cady was enjoying her Papa's tickling!

Ready to begin another week. By the way, don't say anything, but my knees are better. Sh-h-h-h. I'm afraid to say it outloud. I'm fearful my knees will hear me and give me grief yet again. I'll keep you informed . . . . .