Company

Well, we have had a bit of company lately! And we like company!

When we returned from our Arkansas vacation, we already had 2 guests! Big sis & her hubby were here, having arrived the day before. Came to visit with Granddaddy so just made themselves at home before we arrived. Family is family and “mi casa es su casa” rings very true around our place. So they came on Thur and we arrived on Friday, with Mother and Daddy right behind us. So, had a houseful for that weekend! Enjoyed a good meal at a small, family owned Italian restaurant real close to the house that first evening. Brought Granddaddy over on Sat. and again on Sun. so he could visit with everyone in one place. Not enough room at his place for more than about 1 visitor at a time, unless you want to go out into the common area, where they do have a nice big ‘visiting room’ but it’s way, way down the hall from his room and he doesn’t go down there too much, plus, I knew he would enjoy getting out for a change of scenery. It was quite a task to get him out, as he is getting weaker as the days go by. But he did enjoy it and we all did too. We all went to church Sunday (except G'd) and then enjoyed a delicious lunch at one of our favorite places on the lake here in town. Stopped and got G'd and brought him over again to visit. Then sis & b-i-l had to head back to TN on Monday – had to get back to work. Monday was a holiday so hubby & I got to go for a nice, long, relaxing motorcycle ride, first time this year. I drove the whole time and by the time we got home, my hands were tingling and tired, from the vibration for such a long time (and not being used to it!) and the top of my legs and my shoulders were very sunburned! Mom & Dad got to stay the rest of the week! That was nice, they got to chill out and relax during the day while I was at work, go visit with G’dad, make their daily trek to Wally World, go to Sgt Grits to get Marine stuff (Daddy loves to go there!), go to Shepler's and look at the western clothes, do some reading and napping, sometimes meet me for lunch, and then we could visit in the evenings. Then they headed home, too.

Then 2 weeks later, they came back out, as it was Father’s Day weekend and Mother wanted to be here with her dad on that day. Which was nice because that way I got to be with MY dad for Father's Day, too, and that doesn't happen often with us living so far apart! And as it just happened to turn out, AC & UJ & their daughter, my cousin, happened to already be scheduled to come down for that weekend also! UJ was scheduled to preach at a little church just about a mile from our house (for a preacher friend of his who was on vacation) so it worked out that for the first time in probably 50 years, G’d got to be with both of his daughters on Father’s Day! That was real nice. We did enjoy all of the visiting but it sure meant a LOT of time in the kitchen, cooking up meals and snacks and then cleaning them up, then fixing them again! Thank goodness Daddy was a big help in the kitchen! And of course, cousin and auntie and mom all offered help, too, but can only get just so many people into my kitchen without causing a major traffic jam. There were too many folks to just go out to eat every time, plus w/ G’d with us, he wouldn’t be able to do that, so we sort of had to eat in all weekend. The KS folks left on Monday afternoon (I had already had to go back to work) and M&D stayed through the rest of the week. I told them as long as they’d spent all that gas money to get out here, no use in turning right around and going home 3 days later! So, they did stay until the weekend so that we would have one more “whole day” of visiting on Saturday and then they headed out Sunday morning before we went to church. Always nice to have family come and see you when you live so far away from them all. Our door is always open and you all are welcome anytime! (Just do be sure and call first, simply to ensure that we will be home and not out of town ourselves!)

We do love company, but we also do enjoy the "peace & quiet" that comes when everyone is gone. Of course, after a little bit of "peace & quiet" we're ready for some more company again!! Ya'll come! :)

Summertime

Well, it must be unofficially summertime here because we've hit nearly 100 degrees already! I was hoping those temps wouldn't show up until, oh, say maybe ... AUGUST!! ha! Yes, I was daydreaming. And tornado season has visited with its usual intensity, in fact, I think I heard on the news recently that we were having MORE tornadoes so far this year than our average years. We haven't had to get in the closet yet this year, but came close once or twice.

I see that I didn't enter even one post in the month of May. I guess that's because May just has too much activity in it! The family reunion, out of town company, the week of vacation in lovely ARK, plus the usual work schedule and church activities. I must say we did have a WONDERFUL time in Arkansas, the weather was great, couldn't have asked for better! Just right for sitting out on the balcony and reading a book, eating a snack or just gazing out over the lake, watching the boaters, skiiers and fishermen, or even just taking a little snooze! Got in the pool once (only because little J-boy wanted to GO SWIMMING!) and wow, was that water ever cold! So cold, in fact, that the little man couldn't even get in it, just up to his ankles on the steps! Did sit on the kick-board if I held it up on top of the water so he wouldn't get too wet! But we had a fun time. He spent the whole time throwing those 'waterbomb' things at me and I threw them back. I think he could've done that for hours on end, but after about an hour or hour and 1/2, we had to go, time to get busy getting over to the reunion and getting things set up for that event. Had a good turnout, a good meal of bbq and all the fixin's and a good time visiting and singing along with cousin Lanny and his guitar pickin'. Stayed there all the rest of the week and had a very nice and relaxing week. Came back home and had company for a few days - oldest sis and her hubby, along with mom and dad. Sis & company headed home Monday morning, but not before we got to go to Pearl's on the lake and enjoy a yummy catfish dinner on Sunday after church. Mom and dad stayed through Friday so that was nice. They got to spend some time with Granddaddy while I was at work during the week. He really enjoyed that. Now, everyone's gone home and I'm back with my nose to the grindstone, working sun-up to sun-down. I keep telling myself 'it's only for a little while longer, until things either slow down or we get more help' but I'm beginning not to believe myself! ??

Well, have some overnight guests due in tomorrow night, another set of guests next weekend and more company two days after those leave. And I've got tons (and I mean tons) of housework that I need to get completed before tomorrow night, so gotta get up off this chair and get busy. Got out of bed this morning and immediately started cleaning. Cleaned for about 3 hours (cleaning out drawers, under the bed, arranging photos in new frames, etc.) then stopped to go grab some lunch and go by and see Granddaddy and hang up some new photos on the wall for him. So, now that my "leisure time" is over, I'll have to get back at it.

Chat with you folks later!

Oh, let me post a few new photos before I go .....

Cousin and family, April 2008

"I'm going SWIMMIN'!"

Cool Shades!

That water is TOOOO COLD!!!

I am too cute, aren't I???

What a little angel!

Oh, I must tell you one more story .... one night while sis and adorable little fella above were there with us, said sis got really sick (you know, hanging over the toilet sick), so she had to get into the bed right away. So, lucky great-auntie got to entertain little J - that meant hours of "hide & seek" which in his mind consists of me counting to 10 (real loud) in another room and him hiding in the same place every time and when I say "ready or not, here I come" he jumps out of his hiding place and runs to me while I scream and wave my hands around shouting "I FOUND YOU!" at which point he cracks up laughing and falling on the floor. Then we do the same thing again. And again. And again. Once I got to be the one to hide, so I hide behind the wall length floor-to-ceiling curtains. After he "found" me, that's the only place he wanted to hide. But instead of hiding there, I'd enter the room and he'd be behind the curtains with his head poking out of the crack in the curtains watching for me. I'm not too sure he gets the concept of "hide & seek" just yet, but we sure had fun. Then it was time to quiet down and start getting ready for bed. So, it was storybook reading time. We read 3 books, then had to get some more, then after about an hour of reading, I suggested that I was getting really sleepy and maybe it was time to go to bed. "I not go to bed, I just be real quiet," he said. Hhhmmmm, how am I going to work this out. You know I don't want the little fellow to start crying. So, we went upstairs and I thought maybe he'd like to get in his bed while I read another story (and hopefully fall asleep). (Worked for 'honey' the previous night.) Oh, no! We're not even thinking of getting in that bed. And when honey stuck her head out from under the pillow and tried to sound all stern and serious with a sickly "it's time to get in the bed" then I could see the tears start to well up! Well, with 'honey' deathly sick and Mother also deathly sick at the same time (a whole 'nother story!), I certainly didn't want any loud crying and getting upset, and I sure didn't want to see him cry, after all, he was in a strange place with folks he doesn't see often, and I'd do just about anything to keep him from being upset, so I took him to the toy crate and let him pick out a dozen more books. We got up on the couch and I tried to make it sooo comfortable that he couldn't HELP falling asleep - I mean, seriously, it was going on midnight and I was dead-tired and having to prop my eyeballs open! But he was determined "I not go to sleep!" So I read. And I read. And I read. Finally, I saw the fidgeting start to cease, the eyes get droopy, so I kept reading - trying to read in the most monotonous boring voice (no more 'character voices' that make reading so exciting!) so that he would fall asleep. Finally, he scootched down with the blanket a little and closed his eyes. So in a minute, I quit talking. Oops! Too soon! Eyeballs open again, so I start reading again. By this time, I was just making up stuff. It was the book that you find all this stuff on a busy page, so I was making up stories about everything on the page ('cuz I was too tired to keep turning the pages!). So it was like "and the little girl with the pigtails was walking along with her daddy and they were going over to the bakery to get some of those big fresh loaves of bread, and the little girl near the fountain was looking for some pennies to throw in there so she could make a wish, and the boy in that upstairs window was looking out over the city to see if he could find his dog ....." etc etc. Of course, not a word of that was really in the book, but I was desperate. FINALLY, he was asleep. But I didn't dare take a chance that he would pop awake again so I kept droning on for another 5 minutes. Then I got quiet and gave him a few minutes to get in a really deep sleep, then I picked him up and carried him to bed. Got him tucked in and POP! opened those eyes! "OH, NO!" I thought to myself, "I can't POSSIBLY stay awake another minute," but thank you, Lord, he closed his eyes and was right back to sleep! What a precious little sight! And not a bit of crying! I succeeded. And it was only half past midnight!