Moving On To Texas

We left Louisiana early on the morning of Friday, January 9th and headed west for Texas. The drive there was really pretty uneventful. The only trouble we had was finding someplace to eat breakfast so I could take my insulin shot. We left before the crack of dawn, which tends to cut down on our dining choices because there just aren't that many restaurants open that early. We did find a little donut shop eventually...... Yeah, I know! Not a very good choice for a diabetic, but like I said we had very slim pickings on the back roads of Texas (The route that Maggie chose for us). As we started getting into the more populated areas of Texas I noticed what looked like the cameras that Ohio uses to deter speeding and running red lights. There were quite a lot of them, so J.D. and I started waving to the cameras as we went under them and then I started taking pictures of the cameras taking pictures of us. We had a lot of fun with that, only to find out later that they weren't cameras. Instead they were some sort of traffic monitoring devices. They can call it what they want, we still hold to the opinion that they were cameras. Lesson Number one Grasshopper, never ever underestimate Big Brother.

We arrived at Greg and Tammi's about 2 in the afternoon. There was an SUV in the garage with Oklahoma tags, which puzzled me. J.D. rang the doorbell and a strange woman that we didn't know answered the door. I would have given anything to see the look on J.D.'s face when this strange woman opened Greg and Tammi's door, but I was standing behind him. It must have been priceless, because this woman played it out for a few minutes before telling us that she and her sister were there to clean the house.

It wasn't long before the family started arriving. Greg was the first one home and had told us how Miss Audrey had started showing signs of jealousy from time to time with Caden. Before she arrived we decided to make a conscience effort to show her a lot of attention instead of going straight for Caden when they arrived and she just ate it up. She and I connected instantly and she was my constant companion all weekend. She is a very smart little gal. Within an hour she decided that she had too many grandmas and what she really wanted was a sister and asked if I would be her sister. I told her she would have to ask her Mama about that. Mama told us that it was fine with her, because if she wants a sister that is the only way she will probably get one. So from that moment on I became Miss Audrey's Grandsister Jo..... Now how cute is that!

The collage above is just a few of my favorite pictures that we took while we were there. Caden is so much like Miss Audrey when she was his age..... smiles all of the time. To look at him now you would never guess that he had gone through that surgery on his stomach when he was just a few weeks old. It seems like yesterday that Alaina and Becky were still teenagers living at home. Alaina is the mother of two beautiful children and going back to college so she can be a teacher. She has quite a full plate being wife, mother and student. I have complete confidence that she will accomplish what she has set out to do though. Becky is going to school to be a nurse and has her own apartment.

Greg and Tammi came into possession of this antique phonograph quite some time ago. I was amazed that all the speaker amounts to is what appears to be a waxy looking cone of paper. J.D. had a good time looking at the labels on some of the old records in Greg and Tammi's collection.






This is a 100 year old clock that Sandra ~aka~ Nana (Tammi's mother) had. It is a beautiful piece of workmanship. As we oohed and aaaahed over it Sandra said that we should put it in the car, because she was giving it to us. We were dumb founded over her generosity. That is Sandra though..... not a selfish bone in her body. Thank you again Sandra. We will give your clock a loving home and a place of honor where it will shine.



In the wee hours of Monday morning we tiptoed to the car and started our trip homeward. We arrived back at the Home place about 9 PM the same day. Remember when I was telling you about Maggie's attitude when we first started the trip and we ignored her directions to take us through Cincinnati during rush hour? We decided to give Maggie a shot at it on this trip and followed her directions to the letter going home. Would you believe that as we started around Cincinnati, she instructed us to make a turn and we ended up lost and she took us on a turn here and a turn there and a make a legal u-turn at the first opportunity ride, to get us back where we should have been. I am thankful that we didn't follow her direction on the trip south and was equally as glad that on the trip home it wasn't rush hour when she chose to get us turned around in Cincinnati. All in all it was a very good trip, but it so good to be home.



Wishing you all a wonderful weekend filled with the blessings of good health and much happiness.

Louisiana Visit

Early Friday morning, January 2nd found J.D. and I on the road and headed to the South land. I programed Maggie (GPS) the night before and what a nag she turned out to be. She demanded that we take a route that would be putting us on the outskirts of Cincinnati during rush hour traffic. Instead we just continued into to Maysville, KY and took the AA Highway until we were just below Cincinnati and missed all of that heavy traffic. Until we turned south at that point onto I 75/ I 71 Maggie would repeatedly tell us to make a right on every road that led us back to "Her" computed route. I am sure that I was starting to hear an attitude in her voice as she would would announce "computing route". There was a few times when we ignored her direction to turn north that I believe I caught her making an unmistakable hand gesture. No doubt if she had a face we would have seen her rolling her eyes.

We spent the night in Tuscaloosa, Alabama where we had a real treat for supper. Popeye's Chicken and red beans and rice for dinner (I love their food and we just don't have them close to here). We arrived at Darlene's (J.D.'s oldest daughter) the afternoon of January 3rd and had the evening to rest up before all of the Louisiana children and grandchildren gathered in the next day. Darlene and Toliver out did themselves with the food. Toliver works off shore and usually brings home tuna that they catch in their free time. He prepared a brisket for us on Saturday and a huge tuna on Sunday. Both were delicious. It was wonderful seeing everyone again and we had a few new family members and soon to be new family members to meet. So Darlene had a full house most of the day on Sunday and if anyone went home hungry it was their own fault because there was plenty of food.

The highlight of the day was when Angela and Nick arrived. They had flown in from Abu Dhabi to visit Warren's grave on January 7th and commemorate what would have been his 16th birthday.

Tomorrow I will be doing my Meaningful Monday post, but promise to be back on Tuesday with some more pictures and stories about our trip to Louisiana and Texas.

Have a wonderful rest of the day.

I've Been Tagged

Theresa at My Fairbanks Life has tagged me for this meme. It is different from the others that I have seen circulating. So I am anxious to jump on this one and get busy tagging others. So, here goes:

The meme's rules:

1. Go through your archives and link to five of your favourite posts that you have written.

Link one must be a post about family.
Link two must be a post about friends.
Link three must be a post about yourself.
Link four must be a post about something you love.
Link five can be a post about anything you choose.

2. Tag five other people to do this meme. Two of them must be people you want to get to know better.

Family: On The Go Monday

Friends: Frozen Rain Drops

All About Me: One Of Those Days

Something I Love: Dancing In The Rain

My Choice Freeby: The Tax Man Cometh

The Best Part ..... Tag! You're It!

Aisha at Leaf Float Down River

Gene at Turning The Pages Of Life

Kentucky Woman at Little Drops...Into The Pool Of Life

Pea at Pea's Corner

Hope at Second Time Around

Let me know when you post your meme so I can come read it.

Memories Are Made Of This

Yesterday was a wonderful day here on the mountain. It always is when family comes to visit. T-Bear has been to have her hair styled since we saw her last and the new 'do' fits her perfectly. Britt had hers done too, but was wearing it up freestyle, so we couldn't see the 'new do'. These children are growing up way too fast.

Later in the evening, I found myself thinking that after this year, Britt will be graduating from high school. It seemd like only yesterday we were watching Barney on the VCR and shaking our tail feathers as we sang and danced along with him. We played choo choo with the port-a-crib. She would stand in the crib while G'ma pulled it through the house making choo choo sounds. Oh how she laughed and clapped her hands. That's what it was all about, putting a smile on her face and laughter on her lips. T-Bear is doing her share of growing up as well. She is coming into her own special personality that they all seem to develope as preteens. She is going to be just as witty and wonderful as her Mama and sister are. T-Bear lived through her toddler years without me because I was in Louisiana at that time. I remember when G'pa was ready to retire and had decided that he wanted to move to Ohio. We called the kids to let them know our plans. T-Bear got on the phone and said, "Oh, Bammaw, I am so glad that you are moving back to America!" Then there was the time she mis-quoted G'pa. One of his favorite sayings is, "You are sweeter than snuff, but not near as dusty!" Shortly after retiring the girls came to spend the evening with us and when their Mommy came to get them, T-Bear told her that G'pa had told her that she was 'Sweeter than stuff and her ears were dusty!' Such sweet memories to cherish. God certainly blessed us with the family we have.

They followed my directions to get them here the back way through Amish country. The last time they came that way Tersie missed one of the turns and discovered the Amish bakery, 'The Country Crust'. Well, this trip she didn't even have to miss her turn because the car knows where the bakery is. While we were waiting for the chicken and dumplings to finish cooking she shared the cinnamin bread and wheat bread that she bought. Mmmmmmm ....... There are few things that tastes better than homemade bread.

Yes, yesterday was indeed a 'Good Day'.

Thank you girls for wanting to spend it with us!

We love you ............ :-)

Sometimes Less Is More

I want to dedicate this posting to all of those that are feeling the stress of the Christmas season for one reason or another. Perhaps your job and your schedule is so demanding that you just don't seem to find enough hours in the day to get done everything that you think needs to be done before Christmas morning arrives. Perhaps You find yourself in a different life situation then what you were on past Christmas mornings and through no fault of your own you find yourself a single parent due to divorce or the death of a spouse, your youngest child has left the nest, you lost your job and the money just isn't there like it always was before. I pray that what I am about to say will help ease the stress that you may be feeling.

This doesn't come from a mother or a friend that just wants to help lift your spirits. Even though I very much want to do that. It comes from the memories of a woman that has spent 58 Christmas mornings on this earth. Not only childhood memories, but memories as a mother of two small children and memories of a mother experiencing the empty nest.

As I was growing up both of my parents worked to make ends meet. This was a rare situation in the 50's. Christmas as a child bring back memories for me of Grandma Crace's Apple Stack Cake and trips to Aunts and Uncles houses for Christmas dinner. Memories of Christmas plays at church. As for presents under the tree I remember 1 gift that if I close my eyes I can still visualize what it looked like. It was a ballerina doll. She wore a black sparkly tutu and ballerina slippers. Poor things feet had to have gotten cramps in them as she wasn't a jointed doll and her feet were always pointed in the ballet position. I also remember she wasn't your typical doll because her hair was dark brown like mine and not blond.

By the time I had reached the 6th grade, my dad had gone into business for himself and we had moved to Florida. That was the leanest Christmas I can recall. There wasn't enough money for a tree that year, but somehow my mother had scrimped together enough money to buy my brother and me something for Christmas morning. Our mother was a master at scrimping. I had two gifts that Christmas. One was a baton, the other was the book, "Little Women". That Christmas I will always carry in my heart. I will always remember that in some way my mother had to have sacrificed in some way to be able to buy those gifts for us. I wish to this day that I still had that book, but I don't. I actually wore it out over the years from reading it and rereading it. I know there were Chistmas mornings when there were lots of gifts under the tree, but it was the times when there were just a few that brings warmth to my heart.

Then as a parent there was our first Christmas in California when my children were 4 and 9. Being a military family, money was seldom in abundance. I always started Christmas shopping in August and either put things in lay away or bought a little at a time and hid them. Every year by December first I had Christmas taken care of and all that was left was the baking and decorating. Not quite the case that Christmas. When we arrived in California there was no base housing available. They were starting to pull the troops out of Viet Nam and there was a pretty long waiting list. Civilian housing was at a premium as well. We did manage to find a small Apartment in Newport Beach that was temporary. It was located pool side and they didn't allow children in those apartments, but rented it too us until after the new year as a gesture of kindness. I had Christmas bought, but it was in a moving van someplace between North Carolina and California.

We furnished that little apartment with lawn chairs and a folding table and our beds were sleeping bags. Now what will we do about Christmas? I found a three foot tree at a variety store and a few ornaments to decorate it with. We only decorated the side of the tree we could see. I sat it on top of a big empty square box I found at the grocery store and used a towel for a tree skirt. I think that Christmas my children each received two gifts. I remember buying Chris a guitar that year. I remember this only because he played it non stop. I remember stressing out over that Christmas and the concern I had that my children were going to be disappointed. They weren't though. It was like a Charley Brown Christmas that year.

There were also the Christmas' that we played Santa for families that were in need. What a wonderful feeling it was to tip toe up to someones house after dark and leave a surprise gift or two at their door. Not to forget the Christmas Eves spent visiting nursing homes with the church. The joy on those dear faces as the children sang Christmas songs and passed out cards and hugs to the senior citizens. There was just as much joy on the faces of those that came to visit, as those that lived there.

My experience with the empty nest was when my Tersie left home. True she was only 70 some miles away going to school at OSU, but she was gone. It was the Christmas season and my Tersie was gone. Never mind the fact that she would be home over Christmas break. I forced myself to do Christmas shopping that year, yet just couldn't seem to get any baking done. That was something that we did together and she just wasn't there. Cookies and home made bread was always on my to do list for Christmas. I just didn't have the Christmas spirit. Needless to say, when Tersie did come home she didn't hesitate to let me know her disappointment that I had not done any baking.

So to make an already very long posting to an end, I will give you the bottom line.

It isn't going to matter how many presents there are under the tree on Christmas morning. It will be that one special gift that will be remembered any way. It will be the love and warmth of family and home that will be remembered. It will be those special traditions that you build with your children that will be remembered and repeated when they have families of their own. Children are really more in tune to the world around them then we think. If there are financial hardships, trust me they are aware and they really won't be expecting a truckload of gifts under the tree any way. They understand and they still love their family unconditionally. It is the perfect time to put the focus of the true meaning of Christmas back where it should be.

Merry Christmas and may God shower you with his love and blessings!