Weekend Fun

Last night my beautiful and intelligent niece Bec graduated from high school! I just can't hardly believe it! It seems like just yesterday she climbed on that bus leaving for the first day of kindergarden. She is the in right corner with the bubbles. At the reception following the graduation, guests blew bubbles at the grads as they came into the reception area! There in the middle is she and I being silly!

My flowers are in full bloom! I love this time of year! Except that it is 98 degrees here today. The heat is expected for the next week. We are breaking records every day. Thank goodness for the pool, the lake, and the air conditioner!

I went to a great yard sale today in the city in a beautiful old church and got some fantastic buys! You know, things I couldn't possibly live without! I haven't taken any photos of them yet, but I will get them up sometime this week.

Hope everyone stays cool!

Blessings

Linda

I'm still alive!

There I go neglecting my blog again! Wow, this time of year is so busy. Last week-end was our open house and it went wonderfully! I was afraid that either no one would come or that everyone would come at one time, but neither happened. We had 87 people over the course of the evening, from 6:00 p.m. to when I ran Yngwie's friends off at 1:00 a.m. (They did help me clean up some). I was having so much fun that I forgot to take any pictures! I am so upset over that, but life goes on. I have the pics that I took just before our guests start arriving.

The top photo and the above are of the dessert island. I will share the recipe for the mint truffles tomorrow, they really turned out good and were very easy to make.

I was afraid that I would run out of food and made waaaaay too much! We have been eating leftovers for 4 days.

I still have alot of Christmas shopping to do, as I put it off getting ready for the open house, so I am going to try and get it done this week during my lunch hour.

Yesterday, we had record breaking highs for our area. It was 74 degrees! I would complain but with the ice storms that are to our west, I would rather have the heat. We are expected to get the tail end of that storm this weekend.

I hope everyone has a great day!

Blessings

Linda

Planning Thanksgiving!

Kelli is hosting Giving Thanks. It can be a story, recipe, Craft idea, etc...Anything to do with Thanksgiving.

We are having Thanksgiving at our house this year. I can't hardly wait! I have already started buying the non-persishables. Our menu is pretty typical except for one thing. My son always wants "Coca-Cola Salad". I found this recipe in an old recipe book by Betty Feezor (http://www.bettyfeezorscholarship.com/AboutBetty.htm) My son was probably about three the first time I made it and he loved it! I have made a few changes to the original recipe. This has become a tradition for our family at Thanksgiving. For whatever reason, this is the only time of year I make this. I guess that's why it's special!

Coca-Cola Salad

1 (16 oz) can pitted cherries

1 small can crushed pineapple

2 small boxes cherry jello

12 ozs. Cola

1 (3 oz.) cream cheese

1 cup powdered sugar

Drain the juice from the cherries and pineapple into a bowl, and add enough water to make 1 1/2 cups of liquid. Pour into medium saucepan. Bring to boil and pour over jello. Stir until dissolved then add drained fruit and cola. Chill until set. With electric mixer, mix cream cheese and confectioners sugar until it is a spreadable consistency. You may need to add a little bit of milk, but just a dab. Spread over jello salad. If you like nuts, you could add them when you add the fruit, or you can put them on top of the salad. We prefer ours without.

Blessings

Linda

Jeez Louise!

I started a post Monday about my son's birthday, when I hit submit only the title went! I haven't been able to get back on until today!

So, Yes! Our dear sweet son Yngwie turned sweet 16 on Monday at 7:10 p.m. Ever since his very first birthday, I have taken a picture of him every

year at 7:10 p.m. And here he is enjoying a birthday meal at Olive Garden.

Yesterday was election day and there was no school so I took the day off to chauffer Yngwie and his girlfriend around town. We went to the mall, the Science Museum, the downtown market area and had some hot chocolate than met up with the rest of his band "The Deposit" and made pictures for their upcoming CD.

I have been so busy! Trying to get ready for the upcoming holidays, I will be having Thanksgiving for our family at our house and we have decided to host an Open House the first weekend in December. So this weekend we will actually be putting up our Christmas trees. I know!! It's way to early, but I usually put up 3-4 Christmas trees and I want to get all the decorating out of the way so I can focus on food, fun and fellowship for the open house.

I have been doing some sewing and have made a couple of cell phone holders. I hope to get some pictures of those tomorrow. They will be part of the Christmas gift for the girls I work with.

Hope everyone has a blessed day!

Linda

My Baby's Sweet Sixteen!

Happy Birthday Mom

Today would have been my mothers 67th Birthday.

My mother passed away in 1977 after a hard battle with Leukemia. She was only 37 years old.

The last year of her life was spent in the University of Virginia medical center. Back then, they did not have the ability to do chemotherapy in our area hospitals. If was so hard having our mother 4 hours away. I was 16 years year old and my sister was 11.

They say "time heals all wounds". I say it doesn't heal them. It just dulls them.

I still miss her every day.

Linda

Memories Monday

Revee at http://olderthanthecheese.blogspot.com/ is hosting Memories Monday. Pop in over there and take a peek!

This somewhat grainy photo of my family was taken at my Grandmothers house on Christmas morning in 1969. I am the one standing holding the big walker doll.

I remember this Christmas because this was the year that we went to my grandparents house instead of them coming to our house. See the little Charlie Brown tree in the background. My Grandfather had cut it the day before and since Grandma had given my parents all their ornaments, Grandma cut up Christmas cards and punched holes in them and put them on the tree.

But this memory isn't about the tree or Christmas, it's about the doll.

Her name was Lori Walker and I absolutely loved her! She went with me everywhere. She could wear childrens clothing and I would go to the Goodwill or rummage sales and get her "new" outfits.

One day I decided she needed a new hair style. So I washed her hair and then I did something that would change her appearance forever, I rolled it up with curlers and stuck her under the hair dryer. She had nylon hair, guess what happened? It burned up! It was a frizzled mess! I was so upset!

I worked and worked with her hair to try and get it looking better, after much styling, I had her hair looking a little better. My dad worked 2nd shift so he wasn't home during the day when I was, so I left Lori sitting on the kitchen table with a note attached to her asking my Dad how he liked her new hairstyle, still apprehensive about the "frizzled" look. The next morning when I got up, he had put a grocery bag over her head!

I cried and cried about her hair, but there was nothing that could be done.

I still have Lori Walker, she now resides in my attic, without the paper bag.

Blessings

Linda

Childhood Photos

I found these photos in my Grandmothers album the other day and thought they were so neat.

All of these were made at my grandparents farm in White Gate, VA.

The first one is too funny. I had broken my arm that summer while playing "War" in a tree. One of my "friends" pushed me out of the tree and I landed on a rake handle and broke my arm. I don't even want to think what would have happened if I had landed on the pointy part of the rake. Anyway, I climbed back into the tree and slugged him before I went and told anyone that my are hurt. The dress I am wearing is homemade from my great aunt Clara, I loved that dress. Check out the injured doll. This was my favorite doll. She was cloth with a thin plastic face. The whole forehead part of the doll is punched in. She was very loved. The little girl with me is my sister, obviously hogging the Bugles. There is also a lovely shot of the cow "patty" beside me.
To get to my grandparents farm, you had to cross a swinging bridge. That's me at 6 years old, hanging on for dear life. If the water was low enough, you could drive through the ford in the creek, but not always. We crossed that bridge in sleet, snow, wind, you name it. There was also a nice little hike through the woods to get to the bridge. It was a real pain to carry groceries to the house this way, but we did what we had to do.

This is a picture of my whole family including my grandfather. This was made at the edge of their property that bordered Bland Correctional Farm. At the time it was a low risk detention center that put inmates to work on a farm. My grandfather was a guard there for 35 years. My mom is standing beside my grandfather. I have very few pictures of my mother as she was usually the one behind the camera. My mom died from leukemia about 3 years after this photo. She was 37 years old. I am sitting on the far right on the fence. I was about 13 years old. My Dad and sister are sitting on the fence with me.

I love looking through old photos of our family, I love to see how the clothing styles have changed, how the interior of homes have changed, but mostly just looking at the people that I love brings such a warm and comfortable feeling in me.

Have a blessed day!

Linda

This and That

Good Morning! This weekend was definitely better than last! My Mother in law is continuing to gain strength. I am taking her to the Dr. this morning for a post hospital visit check-up. She made the appointment this week-end and I told my boss yesterday I would need the morning off to take her. He wasn't very happy about it. I hate feeling "between a rock and a hard spot". I know I am needed at work and I know I must take care of my MIL. My husband couldn't get the morning off. Yngwie is studying for his learners permit and will probably go this weekend to test, but I do not feel comfortable with him driving her with very little experience.

I got my new Gooseberry Patch Christmas book in the mail this week-end and there are so many great ideas in this book. I really love all the paper crafts they have and the recipes make me so hungry just looking at them. The Lime thumprint cookies are going on my list to make this week! I love anything "citrusy". BTW, todays June 25th! Only 6 more months to Christmas! (Don't shoot me!)

I spent alot of time outside this weekend working in the flower garden, the veggie garden and just taking a stroll down to the lake. We live in a rural area and the deer around here are all but tame! The fellow in the above photo was out taking a stroll too. They come right into our yards and last year one even walked onto my porch and ate the pansies in my planters. There are 3 baby deer that sleep in the clearing just before you get to the lake on our property. The are so cute. Not much bigger than our labrador and still have their spots. They look just like Bambi. Everytime I take my camera on my walk, they of course are not there.

I hope everyone has a blessed day!

Linda

The Circle of Life

Praise God! My mother in law is coming home today! She is still very weak and needs oxygen, but her kidney infection is clearing up. Her sugar is high and they have started her on some stronger medication than she had been taking before. She will have a home health nurse come and check on her for the next couple of days.

The Doctor said someone would need to stay with her during her waking hours to help her around the house, do cleaning, cooking, and just keep an eye on her vitals.

My mother in law kept our son from the time he was 5 weeks old until he was old enough to stay by himself. We paid her $75.00 per week to watch him. We will now be paying our son $75.00 per week to watch his grandmother. Of course, he didn't want any money to do it, but we felt if we were going to have to pay someone anyway, it may as well be him. He knows how to cook, clean, take her sugar, temperature, etc.. He will be there from the time we leave for work until we come home, than my husband and I will take turns sleeping at her house until she is well enough to be left alone.

I have noticed that most things in life eventually come full circle. There's a lesson to be learned in that. How we treat others will someday come back to us. She has been so strong and so helpful and kind to us, now it's our turn to help her.

Thanks so much for your continued prayers.

Have a blessed day!

Linda

Just a quick update

My Mother in law is still in the hospital in serious condition though she is showing a remarkable improvement! She is able to sit up and talk some, and the Dr. has prescribed medication to whet her appetite so that she will eat and get stronger. He is controlling her diabetis with insulin at the moment as he is more concerned with getting her stronger.

She is coming out of her "fog" as well. She knows who everyone is now and seems to be regaining more and more of her memory.

The Dr. has told us that the kidney infection is still not clear and he will probably keep her until the weekend at least.

Thanks so much for your continuing prayers for my mother in law. We all know that God is the great physician and we pray it's his will to send her back home to us better than ever!

Prayers Please!

We have had a very trying and tiring weekend. On Saturday, my mother in law woke up not feeling well and started throwing up. We live next door so we checked on her every hour. When she started getting weak we called her Dr. who called her in a prescription for phenagren for the nausea and told her to drink a bottle of Gatorade.

After she took the medicine she said she was tired but felt better and was going to go to sleep for a while. We were getting ready to go out on the lake for about an hour, so Yngwie went to check on her before we left. He couldn't get her to answer the door and he was wet so he called for me to go in and check on her. When I went in she was in her bed, had turned so blue she was almost purple, had thrown up all over herself and was having trouble breathing. I have never seen anyone in such a horrible condition in my life.

When Yngwie came in he yelled for his Dad and immediately called 911. DH and I took her temperature with an ear thermometer and it was 105. We immediately started putting cold wet towels on her and trying to get her on her side so that she could breathe. When the rescue squad got there she was unconcious and was not responding to any stimulus. The EMT told us she might not survive the ride to the hospital. DH rode with her in the ambulance and they started fluids and oxygen.

When Yngwie and I got the hospitable they had her in stable condition. She apparently has a kidney infection and because she had been throwing up so much she had dehydrated and the infection had spread all over her. Her temperature when she got to the hosptial was 103.8. The Dr. told us if we hadn't checked on her when we did, in another 1/2 hour she would have died.

She is now listed in serious but improving condition which gives us much hope that she will recover from this. She is a very lively and vivacious 72 year old whom we love very much. She babysat for Yngwie from the time he was 5 weeks old and he still goes over to her house everyday for breakfast. He is so close to her and is so upset. He keeps repeating, "I can't stop thinking about what would have happened if I didn't go to check her". So please keep my dear mother-in-law in your prayers.

Wishing everyone a blessed day.

Linda

Just Rambling

This is a photo of my very favorite Iris. I love the color purle and this deep purple with white flecks is so beautiful. I really like the white Iris too! I have some pink and yellow that haven't started to bloom yet but have lots of buds on them.

My sister and I have been talking about what we will do on Mothers Day.

Our mother died from leukemia when I was 16 and my sister was 11. Our mom was 37 years old. So we usually celebrate with our grandmother who will be 95 years old next week. I am planning on having them down to my house Sunday for spaghetti, salad, homemade rolls, and cherry cheesecake trifle. My Dad is out of town on Mothers Day but hopes to make it back in time to come for dinner.

Yesterday I went to see my adorable great neice, Mackenzie. She is two and when I told her I was coming to see her she said "Oh my doodness, I will bake a cake" I told her I loved cake and what kind was she going to make and she said "Pink of course". So yesterday I ate pretend pink cake and a plate of real cool whip to go with it. We had a very nice party.

Today marks the 27th year of me and my husbands wedded bliss! We were just babies when we got married 27 years ago, we were only 19 years old, but I knew that he was the one I wanted forever. If given the chance, I would do it all again. I would have liked to post a picture but I didn't have any that were not in a scrapbook. Our photographer was terrible. The photos are so dark you can't even tell who they are.

Have a great day everyone!

I had lunch today with my Dad and Grandma. She is 94 years young! She is such an amazing person. Just imagine all the changes she has seen in 94 years on this earth. She was born in 1912, a month after the sinking of the Titanic. She never knew her father, he was killed on Christmas Eve 1911, a train struck him as he walked a railroad trestle. He was on his way home with the family Christmas tree. When she was 15 months old, her brothers accidentally set her on fire when they were playing with matches. She was burned over 70 percent of her body. When the neighbor saw the fire and got to her all that was left of her dress was the binding around her neck. It is a miracle that she survived this back when medical treatment was so far behind what we have now. She said that for almost a year, she was suspended in a makeshift bed of a sheet tied to four chairs so that she was suspended so that air could circulate around her body. She had to learn to walk all over again. Imagine the anguish of my poor great grandmother having her husband die before their last child was born, then having that child almost die in another freak accident? Grandma is a fighter and a survior. She did something in the 1930's that very few women did. She filed for divorce from my Grandfather. He was no longer coming home at nights and when he did he was drunk. She finally found him, in the arms of another woman, and made him leave the house. Their child, my dad, was only 3 years old. Again she survived. She went to work, her sister moved in with her and they raised my Dad themselves. When my Dad was 13 years old, my grandmother remarried a man named Roy. He and my Dad did not have a real good relationship, but got along for the sake of Grandma. However, Roy, was really the only grandfather I ever knew. He was the perfect Grandpa. He was a farmer and a guard at the prison that bordered their farm. Grandma was very happy for 47 years, when Roy died from a massive heart attack. She then moved back to town to be closer to her family. She still keeps house for herself, and has the best lawn on the block. She is still active in church and keeps tabs on all her grandchildren and great grandchildern. One day she will leave some pretty big shoes to fill. I dread that day.