SAGA OF REDECORATING CONTINUES

Last year we did a lot of redecorating: painting bedrooms, bathrooms, new bathtub, rearranging rooms, swapping rooms, etc., etc., etc. Well the saga has continued, but it surely is WORK!!!

This winter and spring we have painted the kitchen and had bamboo floors laid in the entry way, hall, kitchen and pantry. We're currently in the process of getting bids for painting the living/dining room and stairwell. I've pretty well decided on which one to choose, so let the painting begin (or continue). Below are pictures of the flooring:

>THIS IS THE VIEW FROM THE KITCHEN TO THE FRONT DOOR

THIS IS A SHOT OF THE FLOORS FROM THE FRONT DOOR (Notice the paint samples on the wall).
Neither of the two photos shows the shininess and beauty of the wood, but hopefully, you get the picture.

Next after that will be to remove the carpeting on the first five steps, refinish them, and install a railing. Then . . . . we will have new carpeting installed all over the house.

I look forward to getting it all done!

MISCELLANEOUS NEWS


The family is all excited about Chloe. I'm sure Ashley is spending many hours with her and enjoying the whole experience tremendously. I envy her.

Below is a photo of her in our "famous" bed that four generations of our family have used. The bed was customed made for our aunt and then MA was the one to start the tradition in our family. I have several pictures of myself sleeping in the bed. There's no telling how many babies have slept in it. It's a perfect size for keeping near the mother's own bed so that she doesn't have to go far to get the baby at night.


CHLOE IN "THE BED"

Meanwhile, things are about the same here. I am still staying on the diet most of the time. Last weekend we went to a party and someone whom I hadn't seen in a while complimented me on my weight loss. I was telling the genius about it later and commented that it was nice to have someone notice. He said, "I tell you all the time how proud I am of you for sticking to the diet!"

I replied, "Yes, but you never tell me that you can see that I have lost weight!"

Sweet Brenda who overheard the conversation told me about 10 minutes later that she could tell I have lost. And I chose to believe that she wasn't just trying to make me feel better -- she's too honest for that.

I will say that the genius does compliment me often on the way I look when we go out, etc. And I appreciate that very much!!

LATEST MEMBER OF THE FAMILY

HERE SHE IS



OUR FIRST GREAT-GRANDCHILD, CHLOE ISABEL TRUEBLOOD

Born April 18, 2010. Weight 7 1/2 pounds, 19 inches long. Mother and baby doing fine!!

MOTHER KIRSTIE AND BABY CHLOE


GRANDPA MIKE


ASHLEY AND HER FIRST GRANDCHILD(Guy in the background is the doctor)

THE BIG DAY

The most I remember about that day was getting ready. Everyone but the genius and I went to the wedding place about 3:00 to prepare tables, decorations, etc. We could see that there were plenty of helpers so we waited until later to go.

Both the service (held at 5:30) and the reception were outdoors. It was a beautiful sunny day with that heavenly citrus blossom aroma floating over everything while the birds sang a tune overhead. (Actually, sometimes they squawked but were not distracting.) Once the sun set it was a little chilly but most people came prepared with sweaters, etc.

The wedding and reception both went well without a hitch. The music was very pretty, especially Jordin's singing, the bridesmaids made a colorful backdrop for the bride in her beautiful white dress. She and Mike make a stunning couple.

Of course I have pictures to show:

JIM IV FAMILY


GROOM AND BEST MAN CLOWNING AROUND


BRENDA AND FAMILY


MOTHER OF THE BRIDE AND NEW SON-IN-LAW


BRIDE AND MAID OF HONOR


DANNY AND BAILEY


BRIDE AND MAIDS


WEDDING SINGER


PROUD GRANDPARENTS


CUTTING THE CAKE


BRIDESMAIDS

WEDDING EVE

On Friday after a morning of lounging by the club pool, Laurie and I walked "home" and dressed for the bridesmaids' luncheon. It was held on the patio of the same club.

Phoenix weather can be very interesting. There is no humidity, of course, and the sun can be quite hot. But the patio was in the shade where it was chilly, so the club accomodated us with big heaters scattered around us. All the girls looked pretty and there are a few pictures below of the happenings.


GRANDMOTHER AND THE BRIDE


BRIDE AND MAID OF HONOR


TWO JORDIES



THE BRIDE AND HER MAIDS

WEDDING DAY, MINUS TWO

Thursday before the big day was mostly a hang out or get last-minute-things-done-day for everyone. For me, I enjoyed life by the pool.

Jim IV, Laurie, Jay, Annie, and I stayed in a house that backed up to a beautiful golf course. Mike's company owns four of these all in a row. He had offered one to us before but we couldn't use it because we had Rufus with us, but this time we did. Now that I've been inside one of them, I think we'll leave Rufus at home so we can enjoy this luxury again.

The house has three bedrooms, two baths, roomy top-of-the-line kitchen, stocked with food, then a dining area, overlooking the large living room. The living room and master suite had a great view of the golf course. Laurie was in seventh heaven. She borrowed some clubs from Mike and played every morning on the small pitch and putt course that was right next to our house. One morning we walked down the street to the club house and had breakfast out by the pool. I felt very pampered.

Another new experience for me was the heavenly fragrance that was enveloping all of Phoenix at the time. The citrus trees were in bloom all over the city, and the wonderful scent followed us everywhere. Also, the refrigerator at our house was stocked with fresh picked oranges that were probably the sweetest, most delicious I have ever had.

Because the wedding was held outside, this very pleasant aroma drifted over us during the service and added a special ambiance.

The only picture I have for this day is one of the three cousins together again at last:

DANNY, MICHAEL, JAY

PRE-WEDDING DAYS

Our second grandchild, Jordan Trueblood, was married on Saturday, March 27, in Phoenix. I arrived on Wednesday, the 24th, and was able to participate in a few of the pre-nuptial affairs.

The first one was the rehearsal dinner held on Wednesday night instead of the traditional night before the wedding. The place she was getting married had all their rehearsals for the week on Wednesdays, so the dinner was planned for that night also. It was held at a quaint German restaurant in the heart of downtown Glendale in a room at the back. Of course, I have a few pictures to display.

The bride and groom:



This is Mike and Jordan. I have mentioned before that Mike was a part of the family long before he and Jordan began dating. He was Tom's (Jordan's older brother) best friend since second grade and had many visits to Nashville in that role. They began dating soon after Tom and Kirstie married four years ago.

Here are some other shots:



TOM AND KIRSTIE (she's due on April 25)



BAILEY AND BOYFRIEND CHASE (she is maid of honor and Jordan's
sister)




ME WITH DANNY (youngest of the Truebloods) AND FAMOUS SINGER who was a bridesmaid and sang at the wedding

I will only add that the food was delicious and I didn't think I liked German food.

to be cont'd.

REMAINDER OF CRUISE

OK, I think it's about time I wrapped this up. We spent Friday of the cruise visiting Grand Turk which quite frankly I don't think I had ever heard of before. And really there was not a whole lot to see.

The ships have been going there for four years and I'm sure that has helped their economy, but they still have a long way to go. The taxi driver told us that the politicians were very crooked and were keeping all the money for themselves. (So what else is new?)

To make matters worse, it was lightly raining all day, so we made a quick retreat to the ship where we were attacked by pirates!!



The last day we spent on board mainly lounging by the pool and eating. As I said, the food was delicious, and I even found a way to check out the dinner menu for the day on the TV ship channel. That way we could look forward to it all day.

We docked early Sunday morning and after spending time in the art deco area of South Miami Beach, we went to the airport. We were very glad to get back to Tennessee that night.

Tomorrow, I will begin on Jordan's wedding.

DAY 5 ON THE CRUISE



Brenda and I left the ship on Day 5 for a quick trip around San Juan. This was one of my favorite ports with its colorful buildings and pretty brick streets. Below is a shot of me in front of the cathedral we visited that shows the blue bricks on the street.



Inside the cathedral was the tomb of Juan Ponce de Leon, which I thought was kind of cool.

We had a great time roaming the city on foot and we found a few trinkets to bring back. When we got back to the boat, we were met by a leprechan for a photo op since it was St. Patrick's Day:



(Actually, this pic was shot the day before.)

CRUISE, DAY 4

This day we docked at St. Martin's Island for a day at the beach. Both St. Martin and St. John have beaches that rate in the top 10 in the world. We decided to ferry over to St. John to that beach in the hope it wouldn't be so crowded. Below is a picture of this gorgeous place.



The water was a beautiful blue and it wasn't too crowded. So I decided to get my feet wet. (Brenda had been in and assured me it wasn't too cold.) So I waded out a few yards -- up to my thighs -- and it felt very pleasant. I noticed that the waves seem to be getting bigger though, so I turned around to start back in. The next thing I knew I was on the bottom of the ocean floor flailing my arms and legs. I finally got my footing and another one hit. By that time, Brenda was beside me holding on to me. I have never seen her move so fast. She was across the beach and in the water like a flash. Anyway, I was more upset about losing my Raybans than anything else. We both looked for them but they were long gone. Some fish is protecting its eyes from the sun with MY expensive sunglasses.

Here I am after being dunked!! Those are my reading sun glasses. I bought some more Raybans in San Juan.



The two islands were really pretty -- I can see why so many Americans have opted to live down there.

Day three was spent on the boat with no stops. Brenda and I just mostly hung out around one of the pools along with 3500 or so others. It was pretty crowded, but we just read our books and ignored most everyone else.

Brenda and I read seven books each during the week. When I saw how fast I was reading, I began looking for other reading material. I never did see a bookstore on land, and the boat just had a very limited selection. I finally was able to find an acceptable book in the general store on board.

That particular night was dress-up night for dinner. So we put on our "elegant" clothes and made our appearance in the dining room. Of course, the photographer was there to snap us and the result is below.


CRUISE, DAY 3

CRUISE DAY 2

Our first stop in the Caribbean was at the Bahamas (Nassau). Brenda and I first took a horse and buggy ride around the small city to get the lay of the land, so to speak, and then we could decide what to do.

After wandering around, we found the market for local wares of the natives and had a ball browsing through that. This was the spot for bargaining and because I have had many years of doing just that in Chinatown, NY, on my many 8th grade trips, I was in my element. I ended up buying a miniature box for my collection, a picture frame, and a Coach purse. The purse was much reduced from an original, of course; instead of $400, I paid $35.00. I don't know whether it's a copy or stolen goods, but it looks like the real thing to me.

Then it was back onto the boat for more fun in the sun and more gorging on the food fest.

DISEMBARKING



SEEING NASSAU FROM A CARRIAGE



GETTING BACK ON BOARD

CRUISING THE OCEAN BLUE

Brenda has been trying for years to get me to go on a Caribbean cruise with her, so this year I finally agreed to accompany her. We embarked from Miami on Sunday, March 14, and returned on the 21st. There were so many things I enjoyed that I wanted to write them down.

Getting 3500 people aboard the huge ship was a task that took several hours, but we made it on finally and went to our cabin on the seventh floor. It was a cute little room with two single beds and a very small bathroom. The use of space was very efficient, but I didn't get a feeling of claustrophobia at all. I felt quite comfortable in it.

The first thing we did was to eat lunch; then we began to explore all the decks to get the best view of the launching. We discovered a top deck that was adults only so we perched ourselves up there to watch Miami disappear. I was a little uneasy about how I would feel once we were out, but I must say that I never experienced any seasickness at all. In fact, the rocking of the boat put me to sleep every night.

That night we dined at 8:15, which was nice because there were no children that I saw at all in the dining room. Not that I have anything against little ones, but I do prefer to eat without them at dinner. Of course, the food was as good as I had heard it would be. And the service was superb.

For most of the week we ordered room service for breakfast, ate lunch in the main day restaurant, and dined in our dining room at night. I did try to stick to the diet and did a fairly good job -- I just added desserts to it, so I'm sure I gained back about five pounds of the fifteen or so I had lost.

Below is a picture of us just before boarding the ship.


CRUISE DAYS

to be continued