VISITING COUSIN MONTY



I couldn't resist snapping this yesterday.

Both of them were asleep on top of the sofa, but of course woke up when I came in the room. We are keeping Jesse for a week because Laurie has a business trip to NYC, which seems to please both dogs.

Today I am taking them to BJ's; her dog Monty needs to have some play time and
Rufus will provide that. Jesse will probably just sit on the sofa and growl whenever Monty comes near. I think she feels above all that nonsense and ALSO SHE doesn't want to share Rufus. The combination of those two feelings makes her grouchy.

The main reason for going is to check on my sister and see how she is. I'll let you know!

HAPPY CAMPER

Now THIS is what I'm TALKING about!! Sunshine, mild temperatures, nice breeze, low humidity -- I could take this all year long!!

And yesterday it was the same so Brenda and I went to the Arts and Crafts show at Centennial Park. We THOUGHT it was perfect weather, and it was, but the place was a sea of muck and mud. I felt very sorry for the vendors. When I got home I just had to throw away my sandals -- they were ruined. But since I only paid $15.00 for them on a no sales tax day, I didn't feel too bad about it.

As usual, the place was full of all kinds of interesting items. I ended up getting a stained glass hanging for my bathroom window upstairs to match the blues that my friend Betty started last summer when she and her husband Larry came to visit. She gave me a gift of all kinds of bathroom stuff, various soaps, lotions, candles, soap dish, etc. that inspired me. I was just waiting to find the perfect stained glass ornament for the window to use them and I did. Today, that's my task: rearrange everything in that room to match.

So what with the weather and a little "retail" therapy, I am back on top of the world.

VARIOUS NEWS ITEMS

This WEATHER!!! Like Johnny Cash, "I ain't seen the sunshine since I don't know when." But I'm not stuck in a prison unless it's of my own making -- I tend to get depressed during gloomy days like this. I'll be glad when this cloud cover moves on!

The news from Mississippi is that our Aunt Faye (108 years old) is now in a nursing home. Her son Bobby could not continue to take care of her, and Sue, her daughter who lived close by, was also trying to nurse a sick husband. It just got too much for both of them. Aunt Faye is not a happy camper right now from all reports; she doesn't understand why she can't just go to sleep and not wake up. And I'm guessing that with her feisty personality that she is not a very cooperative patient. The good news is that there are several of my first cousins who are in the same home and they can visit with each other.

Speaking of illness, my sister BJ is at home recovering from some sort of infection that has attacked her red blood cells. After spending almost a week in the hospital when her blood count had dropped to a dangerously low level, she is taking it easy and trying to get her strength back. Since she has bounced around going from one activity to another all her life, this is an unusual state for her. She has always been on the giving end and is now being forced to receive (very graciously, I might add). It must not be easy for her to let people wait on her when she has always been such a servant to others. Her blood count is back up to normal now and she is slowly recovering her strength.

That's all my good, cheery news for the day. You can see what kind of mood I'm in!!

RETREAT CONTINUED

As I said on the last post, my first idea of what this trip was about was when I saw all the food Anne unloaded from her car. My second impression came when soon after we had unpacked the car she asked everone to pick a number between one and five and slapped the cards on one of the fourtop tables. Okaaaay, I thought, this is to be a bridge-playing, pigging-out trip.

And that's what it was. We began playing with one of us rotating out and continued all afternoon and after dinner as well. AND --- while we were busy playing, an assortment of snacks was placed all around us. I began to feel the pounds pile on my sedentary self.

We did stop for meals and what feasts they were! Anne (and the others as well from their conversation) was a Gourmet Cook. Just a few of the dishes we had were the following: an assortment of fruit breads and scones, (both homemade, of course) plus fresh fruit (strawberries, melons, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, peaches all deliciously fresh), bacon and eggs for breakfast. For lunch we were served eggplants stacks (I got the recipe for this one), chicken salad, green salads with fresh homegrown vegetables grown by the Amish with a different homemade dressing each day. Sha had another lunch planned, but we insisted on leftovers that day.

Dinner consisted of parmesan chicken, barbequed chicken, and tilapia with a rum butter sauce to die for. I can't remember all the vegetables but a few were fried corn, turnip greens, roasted tomatoes, brussel sprouts, and grilled okra. To top off each meal, she had made and brought three scrumptious desserts: a rich, creamy chocolate-raspberry concoction that I had at least three pieces of, a lemon cake with butter cream frosting, and a blueberry pie. I rarely ever step on the scales so I don't know if I gained weight or not, but my clothes still fit, so I guess I didn't do too much damage.

An AC man came one morning and we had him take pictures of us on the deck overlooking the lake. I asked Anne to email them to me, but she hasn't yet. I'll post them when she does.

Thinking back, I realize that the picture-making session was the one and only time I stuck my nose outside during the whole stay. Needless to say, I had a wonderful time!!

RETREAT TO THE LAKE HOUSE

I mistitled Monday's entry -- it should have been Bridge Vacation instead of river vacation. Or maybe I could add "eating" to the title also. Whatever I name it, the time at Anne's cabin was FABULOUS.

The other four of us arrived first (Anne had stopped at the grocery store on the way down) so I was able to unpack my car and tour the house first. It is a rambling wooden one story structure that has been added onto four times. What you see when you first enter now is a huge kitchen with double everything (2 fridges, 2 dishwashers, ovens, cook tops, etc. Every drawer and cabinet in the room (and there are many) were labeled so that people would know where to store each item.

The kitchen is actually part of a very large glass-walled room that is filled with tables and chairs for eating (or playing games) that are scattered throughout the room, and there is a seating area in the corner. All of that overlooks Wheeler Lake which is formed by a damn on the Tennessee River. I estimate that perhaps 30 - 40 people could sit at tables in that room and eat at the same time.

And the same could be said for the numbers that could be bedded down. There are two small bedrooms that came with the original house, then two other immense ones that are lined up with small single beds in each one. (One is called the boys' room and the other the girls'.) On the back a sleeping porch was added to hold numerous other beds all lined up in two rows with plenty of room to spare. I didn't count the beds but again, my estimate is that the whole place sleeps 30-40. In addition to the rooms named, there are also a big living room with a fireplace, a laundry room with two of everything and three baths. Another one bedroom cabin sits beside the big one which I never even looked in.

I'm sure that on holidays and other special days the whole place is packed to the hilt because Anne has five children and fourteen grandchildren, most of whom are teenagers or older.

When she pulled up in her car at the cabin (house!), I began to get an inkling about what this trip was to be about. Her SUV was packed with coolers, boxes, and sacks all filled with either the groceries she had just bought or dishes she had already prepared. On a cabinet door in the kitchen was a typed copy of the menu she had planned for each day of our stay. I wish I had copied it for you (she had a copier there, of course) but I neglected to do that. I didn't want to seem too uncool.

But let me just sum it up by saying I was DAZZLED by all the preparations she had made for four of her friends.

I'll continue this tomorrow.

FOOTBALL AND RIVER VACATION

The genius and I had a great weekend filled with football among other things. We both enjoyed watching the Gators play (and win) and look forward to the Tennessee game this Saturday. They play in the "Swamp" which should certainly give them an advantage, but they have been known to lose important games there, too (i.e., the Mississippi game last year which my cousin Jane loved).

We also watched Michael warm the sidelines on Friday night. The one game he played in last week we didn't see. I'm sure we will see him knocking bodies about soon. By the way, he is the second biggest guy on the team, weight wise, and only in the 8th grade. He had to get his hair cut over the weekend, about which he is most unhappy, according to Facebook.

I'm not sure I'll be able to write any more blogs until Thursday because I will be spending the next few days at a cabin in Alabama on the Tennessee River. I use the term "cabin" loosely; I suspect it will be quite nice. My friend Anne whom I've known since the first grade has invited me and some other women to her place for a couple of days. I will take my trusty camera and take pics if I can.

And poor Rufus will have to do without his "mommy" for a while.

MORE NEWS

After yesterday's blog, I received a note from my sister MA that her granddaughter Morgan, who is the same age as Jordan, also became engaged over the weekend. That's kind of ironic because the two of them were good friends, especially when we went to Florida every summer. So congrats to that newly engaged couple as well.

I spent a wonderful weekend celebrating my birthday (it finally arrived!) and getting into the new season of college football. We watched our beloved Gators, of course, as well as other SEC teams. I even found myself watching Florida State and Miami until I looked at the genius and said, "Why am I watching two teams that I don't like and don't care who wins?" But we did have fun.

For months we have been saying to each other, "Only five more months" (or three, or two weeks, etc.) When I realized that my birthday fell on the opening day of the season, I began saying to the genius whenever he indicated he was counting down, "That's right! It will be my birthday; I've never known you to be so excited about it!" Of course, he was talking about football, but he went along with it. When the day finally arrived, I was excited about both.

And I must say, the genius came through big time for my day. Below is a picture of my hand holding his present to me -- sapphire and diamond earrings! I'm sorry it's so fuzzy, but I took so many photos that I finally decided to go with these two.

Hmmmm! I wonder what my present will be if I make it to seventy-five!!

NEWS, NEWS, NEWS!

Lots of news this week. I'll go out on a limb and say there should be several blogs in the next few days.

Today we will concentrate on Jordan, our second grandchild. She just graduated from Grand Canyon University in nursing in three years and has secured a job at a hospital in Phoenix. I believe she starts in October.

Jordan is two years younger than Tom (Tsquared) and several years ago became best friends with Mike, Tom's closest buddy. Mike is so close to us that he has seemed like a part of the family for some time. He began coming to Nashville (and Florida) when both boys were about 10 years old. Therefore, everyone was pleased when Jordan and Mike started dating.

Over the past weekend they took their annual trip to California where Jordan's grandfather lives. While they were at Disneyland, Mike proposed and presented a ring to Jordan. What an exciting time for them and for all of us as well. They truly seem perfect for each other and certainly it's what everyone was hoping for.

Below is a picture of the newly engaged couple.

COFFEE: THE DRINK OF CHOICE FOR ME

Ashley started quite a conversation on Facebook recently on drinking coffee. It seems that people either hate it or love it and like to express their preference. The discussion made me think back to when I first started drinking it.

My parents both liked it with no sugar, just real cream (no half 'n half for them!). Whenever I tried it like that it had no appeal to my taste buds. But sometime in my first year of college I sampled it with sugar in it and I liked it -- a lot! I believe I started off with both sugar and cream, then later switched to just sugar and that's what I stuck with for years. Later, when Sweet'n low came out, that was my sweetener of choice.

I think that one reason I began to drink it was because it tasted so good with that first cigarette of the day. I used to think that if I stopped one, I would have to quit them both. But it didn't work out that way -- I was able (FINALLY!) to stop smoking in my early thirties and I have continued coffee to this day.

The only times I didn't like coffee was when I was "in the family way." I knew right away when I was pregnant with Jim IV because I got up one morning, poured me a cup and immediately it tasted like it did when I was expecting Ashley. So I did without all through my pregnancies, but as soon as I woke up in the hospital after giving birth, that first cup was heavenly!

I still enjoy drinking coffee, but when I retired I came up with a new set of ingredients. Now I like it with sweetener, cream, and a scoop of Ghirardelli chocolate in it. That is usually my breakfast and it staves off the hunger pangs until lunchtime!