Home is where you hang your hat... and a lot of other things!

I asked this friend of mine, (see her photo on the left) to come... to please come.

She took one look ... and said NO WAY.

RATS!

I guess I really don't blame her. Actually the mess was just transferred from one room to another. From Lindsey's room to the boys' room. Ron and I were ... well, I think now Ron is convinced - more than convinced, actually - that we MUST get rid of a LOT of 'STUFF'. Part of it is that we've lived here for over 20 years. Things accumulate - obviously.Look at all this! Some of it's got to go...It's so hard to part with some things... See on that high boy? There are frames a friend of mine in Texas - who I haven't talked to in over 25 years - made for me. Do you know how hard it is to get rid of them? Well, it has been, but I think it'll be easier now.
Oh my gosh... Ron and I can hardly wait to have the house completed so we can get the rooms situated... which will mean getting rid of a lot! I think I already said that!In other news, some of what Pete did today is not very photographical - I don't think that's a word, but I just made it up anyway. One thing he did I took a picture of....The newly moved closet!

I was thinking of 'hanging clothes' when I was thinking of the closet... which made me think of the title of this post... which of course had absolutely nothing to do with most of this. Oh well....

Pete's back!

Hey there! Come on in...
Do you notice the pictures hanging in the hall that are sort of... well, not sort of... they are rather crooked? Those are of my mom. She's not crooked - I don't think.

The pictures are crooked because PETE WAS HAMMERING... AND KNOCKING OUT WALLS!
He's back...............

I was walking down the hall after school (actually this is a 'staged picture' since the door to Lindsey's room was actually closed...) and when I opened the door I saw...

Ah ha! A new doorway, rather a new opening where a doorway will go. That little nook in there is where the closet use to be.

Look what's inside that new doorway-to-be.
This is the new little room. It's actually about 10' x 10'... I think I had originally said it would be 10' x 12' ... I was wrong.
The brown rectangle is actually a piece of wood covering where the casement window will go. It's also a bit convenient for Pete cause he likes to throw things out the hole... thus creating our version of a "pile."

Here you can get the whole effect... nice pile, piece of plywood over a hole in the upstairs, unpainted trim around door... wow!
So after I took this picture of the pile and all, I turned around - did an 'about face' and decided to just add this picture of this beautiful bush we have in the yard. I don't know what it's called. Ron knows. I just call it 'the bush that gets red.' He knows which one I'm talking about.

Hooray, Thalia passed her 9's!

I just love it when the phone rings and I answer it, and this sweet little voice says,
"Hi Mimi!"

It's Thalia. The big news tonight was that she passed her 9's!

In even bigger news...Thalia is coming to visit! She's bringing along Josh, Erica, and Blu. They won't be coming until June 14th. I'm already looking forward to it. Maybe even Saddie will fly out to visit then???

Hanging out at Gabe & Emily's with Linz & Donnie

I'm always happy when I'm with my kids. This weekend we were with Gabe & Emily and Linz & Donnie. While that makes me SO happy, it makes me miss Joshua, Erica, & Thalia that much more...cause they were "missing".

We went down because I had a People to People meeting on Saturday. (Have I posted that I'm going to England, Ireland and Wales this summer?) Linz and Donnie came up to visit and work on the fence...which is now, I think, finished! I'm not sure if the pile has shrunk...or if this is a new pile. You may remember "the pile" from an earlier post. As the men were coming in from finishing this Saturday afternoon ... and it was FREEZING outside, Donnie said his usual, "Boy, this was fun!" Again, a repeat from that same earlier post.

Sunday morning, Gabe put on his chef's hat (not literally) and his apron (not exactly) and cooked up his speciality...some seriously good breakfast potatoes. I don't know if they have a name... 'Gabe's potatoes' sounds good to me. He assured Linz and I that they were "NOT COOKING LIGHT."Gabe had a little company while he was cooking. He also cooked up some eggs... scrambled, fried...you name it. He aimed to please. Donnie, however, usually eats his eggs 'basted' ... but I don't think Gabe cooked any basted eggs.Some like fried...some like scrambled...The chef even had time to pose for the photographer.Linz and Donnie brought oranges from their house. Linz wanted a little fresh-squeezed orange juice to go with her 'Gabe's potatoes' and eggs. Linz even posed for the photographer, too!Oh, yum! There's nothing better - well, that may be a slight exaggeration - than fresh-squeezed orange juice!Donnie wasn't doing any 'posing action'... he was starved after the workout with the fence the day before. Gabe said Donnie was "the man" or something like that... meaning, Donnie got the job done!Emily was trying to sit down and enjoy this relaxing breakfast that her sweet husband had cooked. Biscuit, on the other hand, wanted SOMEONE to give her something to eat. Biscuit thought if she sat down, maybe Emily would be impressed and give her some food. Poor Biscuit got no where with Emily, so she thought, "Ah ha... Lindsey will give me some." Biscuit snuck up on Lindsey, but as you can see, Linz could sense someone was watching her.Lindsey felt sorry for Biscuit, but not sorry enough to give her any of her 'Gabe's potatoes' or egg. You may notice that Biscuit is no where around Donnie and MetroMan.... oops, MetroMan is more commonly referred to as "Snoop" around his kids. Ah, here's Cookie, minding her own manners, not bothering anyone for potatoes or eggs. She's in her spot, just enjoying the company of Donnie and Snoop.The Chef finally sat down to eat some of his own creation... while Emily cleaned up the mess ... and Snoop relaxed...I wanted to take a picture of Gabe and Lindsey together...and I thought I should at least take two...and then I got a sweet shot of the beggar... oh geez, sorry about that, I meant to say I got a sweet shot of BISCUIT...

Then I ventured out to check out the chickens.They were enjoying just checking out the outside world...until one of them heard the click of the camera...At which time they took off a squawking .... I think they might have thought they would get hounded for their eggs - which they are not producing yet. They ran away from the photographer and tried to hide behind blades of grass. It didn't work, but I decided that was enough.Snoop and I said our 'good-byes' and 'I love yous' and made our last stop at 'The Trader's' as we call it.It was a wonderful weekend... hanging out at Gabe & Emily's with Lindsey & Donnie... it would have only been better if Joshua, Erica, and Thalia had also been there...oh yeah, and Blu!

Thalia always has someone to play with

Thalia may be an only child, but she can never say she has no one to play with! Take a look at this dear sweet friend of hers...This is Blu...the same Blu who sat amongst all Thalia's dolls.

This is also the same Blu who was ATTACKED by a PIT BULL this past week. Oh, I was so upset when Joshua told me. Apparently, Blu was outside playing with the neighborhood kids, when the pit bull just came out and grabbed onto Blu's neck. Well, shame on that pit bull! One of Blu (and Thalia's friends, Brittany) grabbed her skateboard and started to hit the pit bull. Thalia, from what I understand, was hysterical...as I would have been too! The pit bull's owner drove up and saved the day, but poor Blu had to go in ... get shaved around her neck, but thankfully, no stitches. He was fine as soon as the anesthesia wore off.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Seventy-five years ago, this sweet photo of my Mom and Bear was taken. (No! She wasn't my mom then!) This would put her around 6 years old - seeing as today she turns the big 81! (Now I realize this post may say April 11...which would mean she's still the small 80...but I'm doing this early so I can post this first thing in the morning. )

I do believe this was taken in Waco, Texas.

She was still an only child.



Mom tells me what a tomboy she was...playing sports of all kinds. I can see this because at 81 she's probably still more athletic than I am at a young and chipper 53!

A few years later, on April 11th, my favorite Aunt Jane was born.

Now my Mom had a sister! Jane Lee

I'm sure Aunt Jane cramped her style for awhile...but they've been the best of friends since I've been around - which like I said, has been about 53 years.
Did you realize I said that little Jane Lee was born April 11th? That's today... So...HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY VERY FAVORITE AUNT JANE!!!After Mom grew up a bit, she met:About 5 years after this was when I came into the picture... Dogs were obviously in the picture too. This one was Andy. My Dad absolutely LOVED dogs...and his family!John David entered the picture about 5 years after me. John David and I had kids...which gave 'Saddy' some grandkids - who she has always adored.Me, Mimi, Lindsey, and Mom... 4 generations.

She has always enjoyed teaching them the important things in life like...
how to shine shoes. Yep, that's right. My mom loves to give a good shine to a pair of shoes. She also likes to clean windows...and mow lawns...and play baseball. You might want to go back up to the top of this post and check out little Bonnie Lou with the umbrella. You may notice that even then, she doesn't look too comfortable in that pose. I bet if you had given her a bat, she would have looked more natural.

The beach is a place Mom has always loved. She and I took a road trip to Florida one summer. We beach-hopped down the gulf side on our way to Key West...and we beach-hopped along the Atlantic side on the way back...each time stopping in Pensacola to see Joshua. When we moved to the coast, Mom loved it.
Cooking is another area we should talk about. She gets a little frustrated at times...like when sugar is left out of a pumpkin pie...or a knife drops in the drippings of a turkey. Look at that face...does she look disgusted? (the answer is YES)Last year I was able to fly down and spend the BIG 80 with her... but this year I'm just sitting here at my computer, reminiscing, being very thankful... and wishing my Mom a very
Happy Birthday!

I love you!Me, Mom and John David at Mom's 80th birthday party....