Dirty Santa

Today I took a vacation day and did some shopping and a bunch of running around. I went to the bank then to JC Penny and traded in some shirts. I shopped some there. I went to Hobby Lobby and picked up the remainder of the stuff I need to finish up everybody's Christmas presents.

After that I went to Walmart and picked up some groceries and headed home. I had some stuff in the trunk to drop off at the thrift store. That is where I found dirty Santa. I could not resist so I bought him and brought him home.

I am thankful for my friends

I am thankful for my friends. They are amazing. They encourage me to do more. Some do so much for me I could never repay. I thank all you guys for the stuff you do but most of all for who you are.

I am thankful we have electric lights

I am thankful we have electric lights and not candles on the trees, but hate trying to find the one bulb that burned out. I have put my share of lights on trees today. Two on the back porch. It has been a crazy Christmas decorating day! Love the new room on the back.

I am thankful for every moment I get to spend with my Dad

Today I am thankful for precious moments. Moment spent with my Dad. With him nothing is expected. Silence is ok and even looked forward to. He tells me about stuff that I really don't care about but that is what I look forward to. The moments that we just talk about the past, the future and the present.
He is an awesome man with great knowledge about stuff. I love you Dad!!!

I am thankful for my children

I am thankful for my children.

Bobby Sue my oldest is a beautiful, bubbly young lady. She is married to a wonderful and fun loving man, Roman. They currently live in New Orleans. They are exploring their futures there. They live in a cute apartment right off the French Quarters. I enjoy when the visit and the phone calls.

Barrett was my middle child. He went home in 2000. He is greatly missed. I still see his smile clearly. He was a kind and gentle child that just loved people. He was not into stuff just people.

David is my youngest. He is my red head. He was always just a little stubborn. He from the very beginning could figure out anything. Nothing was going to be smarter than him.

Thankful for my wonderful and amazing husband!

I am thankful for my wonderful and amazing husband. He is so patient, kind and can fix anything. There is nothing he can't do. He is always kind to me and for that I love him so much. Thanks Darrin for being you and nothing else.

I am thankful that I am forgiven because I fall so short

For this season I have chosen to write everyday until Thanksgiving here what I am thankful for. Today I am thankful for forgiveness. I make so many mistakes everyday. I let my mouth just run away and say things that are spiteful and cruel without even thinking about it. I forget to return phone calls to people that are waiting on answers. I ignore people on purpose.
My Lord forgives me for these things and teaches me how to be a better person. I have learned so much about forgiving in the past few years. Forgiving someone for some way they have violated you is not easy. I seem to like to hold onto many things that I should let go. And some things I think I have let go, but then I drag them up again years later.
I have learned that we must forgive those that trust pass against us. I have learned that forgiveness is without condition. The other person does not have to change and most likely wont. I have learned the to forgive is not the same as forget. To forgive comes from me, a choice that I make.
What is even more awesome is that my God forgives me for my short falls. He did not have to learn to forgive He already new how. He does not go back and question His forgiveness. Once He forgives it is forever.

Joyful Tears

I am downloading photos from this weekend and I have TLC on TV watching a show about hording. I think so much about my mom and how sad nobody understood not even me. The tears come as I look at all the clutter these people are building up and just don't know what to do with. I have to much stuff myself and I often think "can I get rid of it?" I did that some when we moved south and I still get a sick feeling in my tummy when I think about some of the things I got rid of. The potato slicer, it was an antique that took up to much room but I loved the fries it would slice, The sewing machines that I have now replaced with many more. The show reminds me of the times with my mom and the times I miss so much.
Miss you mom. It has almost been two years. I miss our phone calls. I miss how you would bug me with how you would try to influence me your way. I miss the laughter when we would be so stupid and silly. I miss your smile and all you would teach me even as an adult. I miss how much you loved me and all of my kids, Gary, Carmen, Bobby Sue, Bear and David.

Latest Addition

This is the coconut plant I bought at Wal mart. It just is fun

Something Different for Dinner

Last night we drove over

to Decator for dinner.

We went to the

Hard Dock Cafe at the marina.

We watched the sunset

and ate a light dinner.

It was fun to wear heals with jeans

and go somewhere that has a live band.

We sat outside and watched the boats come and go.

One train crossed the river and we just enjoyed slow time.

Swiming Grumpy

Back at council retreat LeAnn asked me to lead the fearless females women's ministry. I prayed about it an accepted the challenge. The ministry includes Women in the woods led by Katie Sewel, Sisters on Saddles led by Jenifer Edwards, Roadrunners led by Lori Merrit and RAD led by , and I lead the extreme women. Saturday we had our first event. We went white water rafting on the Ocoee. This is where the Olympics were held.

We drove the Willowbrook bus to Benton, Tenn. 12 of us went. Rhonda drove the bus on the way there and part way back. Then I go to drive the bus. It was not as hard as I thought it would be. Mr Bill got the bus ready for us and also he filled it with gas at the end of the trip for us. Hats of to Mr. Bill.

We stopped in Chattanooga for lunch at Sticky Fingers. We just had fun visiting with each other and getting to know each other. I spent a lot of time with Donna Fay and Melanie. I so enjoyed the two of them.

We arrived barely on time for our trip cause lunch took longer than planned. We all got our life vests, paddles and helmets. Then we went for our orientation about the trip. We boarded buses and headed to the put in. We went through some more rules. Rule #1 Stay in the boat, Rule #2 Get back in the boat. Rule #3... and so on.

We put our boat in the water. We pushed off and soon after that we his a rock and out of the boat I went. I swan Grumpy! I hit a few rocks and all I could think of is get back in the boat. I saw Melanie and Airone trying to get me back in the boat and all I could think was get back in the boat. I was shaking I was so scared. I got back in the boat and tried to stay in the boat the rest of the time. I loved it when the guide would yell all in and I would hit the flour and go for the ride of my life.

Half way we choose to swim in the resting area. Melanie talked me into it. It was fun and cooled me off. We finished the ride and got back on land. The Airone told me I had swam the most dangerous rapid on the river. Leave it to me. I had fun and it was a great experience.

On the way home we stopped at Zaxby's for dinner and drove home. I am still sore from the trip but I have not seen any bruises. I did experience soreness from paddling.

I have enjoyed telling people about it and loved Kenny's recaction of wow grumpy that is pretty dangerous. Pastor Mark Johnson shook my hand and said he had never heard of anybody swimming grumpy before. He was excited about it.

10 Happy Years

We spent our 10th anniversary in the Mobile area with Kathy. We left on Thursday evening and arrived in the Mobile area ta 10 pm. We made it to the river around 10:30. We sat in the chairs by the river and just enjoyed the fact that we were out of town and going to be going non-stop for the weekend.

Friday morning we got up early and went to see Bear, Mom and Grandmom. We brought new flowers and wind chimes.

We then went into Mobile to see the pirates exhibit at the City Museum.

The exhibit was fun and the rest of the museum was very interesting. Well worth the trip.

We drove around downtown a little bit.

After the museum we went to the Cannonball for lunch. That was a great lunch.

We then drove over to Gulfport to go to the beach. We toured many places along the way. We stopped at several beaches and then we went to the Beau Revage. We went inside and Darrin wanted to gamble and Kathy and I went to have ice cream. We had butter pecan and banana monkey. The was the best and way more than we could eat in a waffle cone.

We spent some time on the beach and took some fun G I Joe photos. The sun set and we came back into Mobile and headed back to the river. First we stopped at Hooters for dinner. Kathy got to see how load it is and it was a good salad. We sat up and talked for a while.

On the Fourth of July we got up and went to Grandbay for the watermelon festival. We ate watermelon and walked around. It was fun to watch the little ones play with the animals in the petting zoo and the kids climbing the rock wall. I loved the colors and the smell of funnel cake. The band played great tunes for the fourth like Yankee Doodle. I took lots of photos of stuff that said Fourth of July to me.

We drove out to Bayou La Bartie and looked at the boats. It was nice to see the clean up after the Hurricanes. It was sad to see that homes were not rebuilt along the coast. Conan was cleaned up as well. I so love that area and enjoy driving through.

We decided to drive over to Fairhope and look at the scenery and decide on if we wanted to stay there for fireworks or go to the battleship. We drove by the castle home. The man that built the house was a friend of Kathy's. I remember the dentist that had such a cool back yard in the area. He is no longer there. It is still a quaint little town.

We went back across the causeway to the battleship to watch the fireworks. That was so cool to be that close. The next time for photos I will be behind the battleship and take photos from the causeway. I had fun taking G I Joe photos at the battleship. What a great weekend and what a great Anniversary. Thanks Darrin for 10 great years!!!

Long Weekend in Atlanta

I left work early on Wednesday. I drove to Jasper, GA to be with my Dad and Maria. Dad was having a scan again and we knew the news was not going to be good. When I arrived we went to dinner at a Italian place. They had a buffet and it was good but we all except Dad ate to much. Gina, Maria and I had cookies and decided they were the only things we should have eaten.

Dad and Maria decided that Dad needed to move upstairs. This is a wise move for them. Dad is on crutches and does not need to go up and down the steps.

On Thursday we went to Decatur GA to the VA and Dad got to drink the nasty stuff and get a CT scan. We stayed the night at the Marriott. We went to dinner at Maria and Dads favorite Chinese place and again ate to much food. This photo of Joe and Maria is the view form the hotel.

On Friday we got the results. This took all day cause the results were not good. They changed the treatment to a IV chemo. After we left the VA we went back to Jasper and met Gina for dinner at Crust.

Saturday morning Maria and I went garage saleing. Between the tow of us we spent 4 dollars. I agree with Maria it was a bust. Then I drove home....

Well I got as far as Dalton and the front tire began to come apart. I drove to Walmart and had a new set of tires put on. I drove the rest of the way home in what seemed to feel like a brand new car.

I finished some sewing I had and rearranged my sewing room. It now makes sense.

Mystry Weekend

We had the best weekend. Snuck out of work early on Friday and got in the truck and just went for a ride for the weekend. We headed out going north east and changed our minds about Gurley and wanted to head to the ocean. We went south along some back roads and saw some beautiful country right here in our own "backyard". We drove for a few hours and when we got to Atlanta we thought about the airport and how we have always wanted to stay on the runway.

They had a special that night $99 so we got a room. We watched the planes for a while and decided to go out to eat. We went to Malone's. We returned to the hotel and watched the planes all night and again in the morning. That was so much fun.

We got in the truck and headed toward the ocean. Savannah was the destination. We went to the old historic tourist information and they gave us a map and told us to walk around it is only 1 mile by 1 mile. It was beginning to rain we decided that was not in our best interest. (Camera would not survive) We drove to the waterfront and looked around at the shop and stuff and watched the boats come and go. It began to rain and rain so we went into a little restaurant for a drink. the rain let up and we continued our journey. I began to rain so we went back to a little shop and got an umbrella to share. $5 and it was no bigger than a postage stamp. We hung onto each other tight and kept going.

We had enough rain and headed toward the sunshine on Tybee Island. We stopped at Fort Poluski and got out and walked to the light house. Saw a snake on the way and funny little crabs. The path was beautiful and full of mosquito's. We went inside the fort and looked around at everything.

We drove by the light house and a little on the island and then stopped at the beach and put our feet in the ocean. That was the first time for Darrin to see the Atlantic Ocean. How fun is that?

We played for a while then we thought we would find a place to stay for the night. We were going to go south but decided to go back to Savannah and enjoy that place cause the rain was clearing. We got a room at the Mulberry and went for dinner on the river front at Boar's Head.

When we got up in the morning and went down to the riverfront. Darrin wanted to get some salt water taffy to take home. That was a cool store and I look forward to going back in the future. Here are a few photos.

If you can't tell we really, really, really liked this store. It began to rain again so we went back and got the truck. We drove around Savannah and then headed back home.

On the way home we were going through Atlanta and decided to go see Stone Mountain. That is Borglum's first carving. It was cool and we walked around the park a little and decided that if you didn't spend every minute of the day at the park on rides you wasted $27. We will go back at some later date maybe when we have grand kids.......

Garage Sale finds

This years adventures in garage sales has been fun and fruitful with Christmas stuff.
As you can see this weekend we found another house for the village, a checker board with Santa's and several Santa's.

This week we found more Santa's, glass ornaments with old boats in them and a doll for 50 cents


We found this stuff on Memorial weekend before going to the lake house for a party. A red blouse, Charles Dickens Christmas stories and a plug in light up ceramic Christmas tree.

We have been lucky to be able to enjoy this time together a lot this year. One Saturday morning we got to go to a neighborhood yard sale with Kati Ann. She was fun cause she really got into it. She would see the stuff in a driveway and yell out ready another one. She liked looking at the stuff and the stuff people would give her.

Ledgens and the weather

OK, so I haven't been keeping up with everything. So many things have happened in the past two months. I guess I can spend the time to catch up.

Kenny asked me to take photos of the Ledgens of the Pit.

The first Sunday night in April it was Tower of Tubes. I didn't know what to expect but it was a blast. Got a few good photos and a change to talk with some students. The the next two Sunday nights were in the pit at church and They were fun! More time to talk with the students and a good chance to get to know a few more. The rains have come for most of a month now. The first night for tubes we didn't get rain. The next Sunday night it rained at the very end. The third Sunday we were stormed out and had to make up the next week. That night it rained as well. The following Sunday we played inside because of tornatos in the area. We still have the finals this weekend.

Speaking of tornados we had many come through Alabama and some were close to the lake house. Here are a few photos of the damage

The Wedding in Paducka

I made the cakes and all the flowers ahead of time so that when we got to David's apartment I would be able to just decorate the cakes and make the grooms cake before going to the site. Darrin and I both got off early and headed to David's before 2 p.m. Arriving around 6 p.m. We unload everything and went out to dinner at Texas Road House. We enjoyed the time with David.


After getting back to David's I started icing the cakes. I only needed to put the smooth layer on the wedding cake layers. That didn't take long. I put the cake together on site. That was interesting to have an audience. The flowers were made of fondant and on toothpicks. Really is a pretty cake and I was surprised that everybody ate the roses. It was a hit! The top layer and bottom layer were vanilla and the middle layer was chocolate.


Then I started on the grooms cake and worked on it for hours. I think it turned out cool. I assembled it at the wedding site. I made myself finish the wedding cake first. This was the cake I really wanted to do. I had fun thinking about what to do for this cake.

David and I split a lunch that was awesome.


The wedding was Saturday evening and I took lots of photos. I danced with Darrin a few times. I had fun with David's co-workers. The food was very good at the resort. The room was wonderful and I loved the cabin feel to the whole site.

Thanks David for this adventure.