Easter

Well, Mama cooked and Mary's family came up for the afternoon. Thank GOD it was nice outside. We ate, hid eggs, and got to watch the boys try to beat Honey and Precious to the eggs. LOL

Here are some of the better pictures from the day.

Mary and Neil

Daddy (remember - pronounced Dead-ee)

Riley and Colin - PRE-hunt

Riley(what I love about this picture is that he is in a tire swing that came from my Grandmama's house - one that Mary and I actually had there when we were little.)

Hunter - the only one so far to even show interest in climbing trees. Made Mary so proud!

And the littlest one Colin -

Shots of the WYSTERIA by the back porch - bigger and bigger every year.

Trip South Part Two

Much love to Sally for bitching at me about posting the second part of my trip.

[Would like to preface this entry with the statement that not all of my trip revolves around eating - lol - but when I go south - there are specific places I wanna go - so they are mentioned here.]

Went to Beaufort on Wednesday, just because I could. I love South Carolina - the way everything looks and feels, just a totally different place. You wouldn't think there would be that much of a difference, but there is.

I love Beaufort, just cause it's still small town. BUT they're building a four lane to it, and that will totally mess it up. I've decided that not all roads need to be four lanes. Leave us some two lane roads, please.

The best part about the trip to Beaufort is always the getting lost on the way back and discovering a new place. This time, instead of finding the Forrest Gump fence, I found a really cool historical marker at the remnants of a church. It's surrounded by oak trees with moss, of course, and is on a back road between Beaufort and Yemassee, and it was gorgeous.

Along with the trip to Beaufort on Wednesday, I had dinner with Rob at - of course - the Mustard Seed - my favorite restaurant in the Charleston area.

Thursday I was sooo ready to get home I called Todd and told him I'd meet him for lunch and then drive home.

Monkey loved going with me so much that he has requested to travel with me on this next trip to Atlanta - so people - be prepared for more monkey pics. Brent is calling this the "Summer of the Monkey," and you don't know how funny I think that is.

A new business I'm thinking of starting . . .

Funny thing is - if you know me - you know I've got plenty to spare - LOL

Lisa's Trip South

SPRING BREAK - I decided to tour the state of South Carolina with stops in Myrtle Beach, Mt. Pleasant, Beaufort, Daniel's Island, and Charleston (oh and in NC - Wilmington). I am alone - no wait - I am not alone -

I am traveling with . . . . . . .

MONKEY - bwahahahahaaa

He's a great traveling companion - goes where I want to go - doesn't mind me singing to him the whole time - and is always a blast -

Here are some pics of our trip so far -

Dinner at Mama Fu's


Downtown Charleston
Monkey and my newest additions to the ride - the WOLVERINES - HOTness!!

Monkey wanted to eat McDonald's for lunch, but I made him go to East Bay Deli with me -yummy - He loved the trees in the park at the Battery -

Colin's Spring Debut

Well, finally, the youngest nephew has reached the age where we will be able to go and see him in school productions. Colin is 4 - will be 5 in July, and his Pre-K class (along with others) had a spring program on Tuesday.



Colin did very well. He danced, he sang some, and he behaved. What more could you ask for from a four-year-old?


Here are a couple of pictures from his debut. What is sadly most remarkable about the production is not my nephew, but the young man on the front row who during the first song dropped his gum OUT OF HIS MOUTH and PICKED IT BACK UP and POPPED IT BACK IN HIS MOUTH. From that moment on, I was much more interested in seeing what he would do next. I have much better pictures of him than I do of Colin, and I plan to include one here.



Will add a link to the video after I have uploaded it.

Enjoy!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6752917388418767523

The video quality is not that great - lost something in the upload!

Spring - \o/ - YAY

Finally, a day I could come home and actually get out in the yard to take a couple of lame pictures of the stuff that is flowering. It's still not the same as when I leave in the mornings. Everything then is so wet and fresh and new seeming, and the light is JUST right - hmmm - reminder to self to get up earlier tomorrow to take advantage of that light.


Anyway, first a picture of our redbud tree. I love redbud trees, and since we had to take down the pine tree out front, we decided to put another tree back in, so here it is . . . .


Then I snapped a shot of the tree that a very nice parent gave me last year. Willows are Brent's favorites, and she has sprouted and turned green again, so there's hope . . .











And now, a couple of some schtuff from the back yard -












And last but not least - as sure sign that spring is here - hope you can see what I'm referring to - LOL

Riley's Birthday

Okay - I know - half a month - but here is a link to at least one video - still having trouble getting the other to upload. I would LOVE to upload the one of Daddy (remember, pronounced deady) showing everyone my FLIP video camera, but Brent and I got seasick, and Mama looks so damn old, so I left that one out.

Instead, here is a short video of Riley, 7 year old, professional bowler.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3583995669881939333

And, yes, that is MARY in the pink.

And HERE are a few pics -

Say hello to my little friends . . .

Well, I think the time has finally come to introduce you guys to some of my friends from Second Life. You've heard me talk about that crazy game Brent and I play on the Internet - I say game, but it's really more of an online community. Some of you have actually witnessed it FIRST HAND of all things. A couple of you - who will remain nameless (Todd and Rob) - are still wondering what someone needs a second life for if they have a first life.

It's been a great opportunity to do things you normally couldn't do, to meet people, and to just kill hours upon hours of time. LOL -- The nice thing is that Brent, like lots of other folks with injuries, has been able to make friends and entertain himself when he'd otherwise be miserable on a couch. It's also given me the chance to shop like crazy, flirt with strangers - woot woot, and make some interesting friendships.

First, though, I need to introduce myself I guess, cause I'm gonna use some pics of me with my friends Habibi and Jason.

This is me -

So -Internet - here are a few of my SL friends -

This is Habibi. One of the best things about SL is that age doesn't matter so much, so I can totally hang out with a soon-to-be 22-year-old and have the best time sometimes. She's a hoot. When Brent and I get down to Florida (hopefully this fall), you can be sure we will be looking her up.

This is Jason. I met him through work - that's right - I have a job in SL. He's funny and kind and helps out all us "girls" at the club. Jason is from Alabama, and if Brent and I have time in April after our NICKELBACK CONCERT, we're gonna go over and meet him -

Last, but most assuredly not least, is Kili, short for Kilikopela. He's my landlord, and honestly, one of the friends I have had longest in this game. Odd thing about SL, people come and go rather quickly in your life, so hanging onto someone for any length of time is a feat. Kili is an absolute ass sometimes, but aren't we all? He gives me total hell A LOT, but then again, that reminds me at least one of my loyal readers (and you know who you are).

Thing is, there are lots of things about SL that to an outsider are absolute craziness, and me looking at this pics, well, yeah, we all have ears - LOL - but to us - that's normal. I suppose this means I'm gonna have to start a damn series of posts about SL, and what a NEKO is or what I think a NEKO is.

Yay! \o/ Something for you guys to look forward to.

As Promised

K - here is a link to a video which is actually a compilation of clips from Friday night's adventures in Washington.

The clips are hilarious in their own rights - but the best, I think, are the additions by BRENT in the second clip, which is actually footage of a 60+ woman who was defending her 40 year old son - lol -

The third clip is for friends who haven't seen my other clips of Machine Gun - funny thing here - Brent went up late in the night with the video camera and did some close ups of me for posting. Guess what? After about TEN Wild Turkeys and Cokes you can't tell if you're recording or not - LOL - and he stoooooood there for such a long time - giggles -

The BEST part of the whole thing starts around the three minute mark where Brent is video taping the people that adopted us because we had a table. The young man I am talking to was actually a student at PSJ when I was librarian there - which is funny - but watch my face around 3:55. TOO FUNNY!

Enjoy!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4559536537643424508

Seven years ago - well yesterday

Riley, middle nephew, turned SEVEN yesterday! Today, we're going to New Bern to bowl, cause he's still a bowling fool. I've told you, right, that he has his own bowling ball. This is like his second or third one, too. CRAZY!

Anywho - gonna ride south for the afternoon - eat some cake and celebrate his surviving seven years in MY FAMILY!! Hooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!

Here's one of my most FAVORITE pics - it's from his brother Colin's birthday last July - but it's PERFECT!!

MMMM Gorgeous

Machine Gun actually played in WASHINGTON of all things last night, and you know, as their biggest fans, we had to go. Sadly, my biggest fear was encountering "school-mates" but was luckily not bothered with anything like that.

I'm thinking I will start posting my videos to my Google account. Will put links here for that - and yes, INTERNET, you WILL have access. All six of you.

WOOT WOOT

Spring Sprang

OMG - Dare I say it - but I think Spring has finally brought her ass to Washington.

I've been noticing every morning as I leave the house that the pear trees across the street are starting to bloom. That's a great feeling - walking out and seeing those trees. Makes you notice other small changes. Things you might miss until everything is in bloom and it's all around you.

But this morning - this morning I looked out the window into the back yard and there it was - that green - you know - one morning you look out - everything's brown and sleepy. Next morning you look out and everything is green and fuzzy. That happened this morning, and I am so freaking excited.

The forsythia is blooming - the quince has bloomed - oh quince you ask? What is quince? Well, let me tell you - it's like the first blooming bush of the spring in MY yard (pink btw) and guess what else. IT bears fruit. That's right bitches - fruit - lol - I actually had a QUINCE grow on my bush in my backyard last year. WOO HOO!! A far cry from being a quince farmer or whatever, but maybe this year two, who knows? LOL

So anyway, I'm gonna try to get out and get some pics today - but it's raining - to add to the springiness of the day - and I'm gonna have to hit and miss in between showers.

Here's hoping you guys are getting glimpses of spring out there where you are, too.

(BTW - more videos and pictures from last weekend's 40th bday party in Wilmington will be upcoming - gotta kick my Flip video camera in the ass to get it to work right)

Later!

OMG the first to turn 40

Well, faithful readers, the first of the 40's happened yesterday . . .

Todd turned 40 on March 6. This, of course, required me to take a day off to drive down and harass him as much as possible, with the help of Rob, naturally.

Here's a nice shot of Rob and me singing to Todd - and yes - according to the video - I do sing terribly. Enjoy!

September and Keith's Dad

Well, sorry to have to report, but Keith's dad passed away. Sep came down for the visitation and funeral, and it was nice to see her, although it was a terrible way to get to see her.

Brent and I both send our sympathies out to Keith and his family.

As for September -

Well here she is with her newest best friend. (And you just gotta admit that the green walls in the background - hot - very hot)

Valentine's Day

This crap is gonna be all out of order folks - so suck it -

Well, we celebrated Valentine's Day all weekend long. Brent bought me these - which are much prettier in person --

He got some candy and a very nice monkey card - feel free to ask him about it - and we spent some time together - which was nice -

Hope you all have a great Valentine's Day!

Income Taxes

Woo Hoo!! Just finished our taxes. Brent will mail them tomorrow, and soon we'll be rich. LOL - wouldn't that be nice.

I have been doing our taxes for a few years, and I think it's getting easier, or I really messed them up this year. Fingers crossed that it's the first one.

OMG

Almost a freaking month? I really need to get my head out of Second Life. Seriously, Brent and I are addicted, and so my Real Life/First Life/whatever you wanna call it life has taken back seat.

So here are a couple of posts.

Enjoy!

From the mouths of babes - or maybe dead presidents

For those of you that like to keep up with what my crazy family is doing - lol - my middle nephew, Riley, now has his own BLOG. YES folks, the seven-year-old is out there on the Internet.

Please visit his site - do NOT leave anonymous rants - lol - not that I think you can -

http://eagle306riley.blogspot.com/

Guys don't make passes at girls that wear glasses . . . thank GOD I'm married

Well, some of you already know, but now you must all be told - I have decided that the year of the 40 year olds should be celebrated with me getting my first pair of glasses. I went today to pick them up and have them fitted to my big ass nose, and here are a couple of pics -

Well, some of you are saying - it's about time - and I say - it's not really that bad - lol - at least not yet - and I've already been able to tell how much better I can really see printed words and such - gonna be up for a while on the computer, so let's hope this helps with that kind of eye strain as well.

Ta Ta - my fellow almost 40's - oh my - that reminds me - the first person to leave us to cross over is TODD - drum roll please - 35 days and counting . . .

Carrie

I talked very briefly to Leslie yesterday on the phone.

Carrie is still on oxygen, but she is home. Things are semi-normal for them. They were supposed to have a doctor's appointment today in an attempt to figure out what they need to do to ween Carrie off of the oxygen.

More news as it becomes available.

Snow!

Well, finally, after four years of waiting, we get snow. Lots of it, too. Well, at least lots of it for us here in eastern NC.

This picture below is one of my favorites. Brent and I went out during the storm on Tuesday and took pics. Since he bought me a replacement camera when mine was stolen, and then the stolen one was returned, we have competing cameras - which was funny driving and trying to get angles without getting out of the car. LOL

Carrie and the air in Boone

Apparently Carrie did not take well to the altitude in Boone, and she has had to go into the Boone hospital for oxygen - here are emails from a friend of Mark's and Leslie's -

Hi folks,
Leslie left a message on my phone asking that I send out a note telling people that they left the hospital in Winston Salem but are back in the hospital in Boone because Carrie’s oxygen levels were low, probably due to the change in altitude. They didn’t think it was a big deal, but Leslie wanted people to know what’s up, since they don’t have email access where they are in Boone. I know some of you may know about this already, but I wanted to send out the note to everyone who has been getting emails periodically so we can all be sending them our good thoughts.

Jeff

and then today


Hi folks,

I just talked to Leslie again and she asked me to pass on an update. Carrie is still in the hospital in Boone on a very low flow of oxygen to keep her levels up. She seems fine, but they want to keep her to make sure she’ll be okay on just room air at Boone altitude. They may go home tomorrow, but it’s still a bit up in the air right now. I know they are appreciating all our thoughts and prayers.

Jeff

Carrie Update

YEAH!!

Hi.

Today we got the news we have been waiting for--as long as Carrie continues to do well for the next couple of hours, we will be able to go home later today!!!!! They completely removed her oxygen in the middle of the night and so far her oxygen level is staying high enough that they are comfortable to let us go. We are so excited we can hardly stand it.

Thanks again for all of your good wishes!

Leslie

Carrie Update

From Leslie -

Hi,

Carrie is continuing to do well today. They have completely removed her feeding tube since she is eating so well. According to the report from the doctor just a few minutes ago, her X-Ray for today looks better than the one yesterday. She has been through most of today with no supplemental oxygen, but a couple of times has needed to have some through her nose at low levels. If she continues being able to support herself this way we should be able to go home in the next couple of days. YEAH !!!!!!!!!

Thanks again for all of your good wishes.

Leslie

Carrie Update

HI,

We are continuing to have good news about Carrie. She still has the oxygen tube, but they are working to wean her off of the oxygen support. That is the plan for today. She has also started nursing again and is doing really well with that. She has lost about a pound since she arrived, so hopefully she can now start gaining some of that back. We have been cleared to move to a regular room, but right now the hospital is too full and there are no regular rooms with the type of monitoring that she needs, so we are just waiting.

The most recent guess is between 3-5 more days before we can go home, but the fact that they are even making predictions is a good sign. I will send more news as we have it.

Leslie

Carrie update

From Leslie -

HI,

We continue to have more good news today. Carrie's X-rays from this morning show a big improvement in her right lung from yesterday. She is still attached to the pressure machine (called a CEPAP) to help with her breathing, but the doctors are hoping that if she continues to do well overnight, they will be able to start working on weaning her off of it tomorrow. Mark and I got to spend the morning taking turns holding her while she slept which was really exciting for us.

Keep the positive thoughts and prayers coming our way because they seem to be working.

Hopefully, we will be able to send another good report tomorrow.

Leslie


Keep them in your thoughts - still not where we want them to be - but so much closer -

TODD'S MOVING

You should know right now that as of the middle of February, Wilmington will be the hottest spot on the East Coast - lol - seriously folks, Todd found out today that he got the job in Wilmington with the Army Corps of Engineers. YEAH! Cannot wait! Just think - between him in Wilmington and Sally in Myrtle Beach, my summer should be full - lol . . . .

Carrie

Okay - according to Horton I skipped a step - I sent out a text message, which apparently didn't reach everyone, so a brief catch up and then the note from Leslie for today -

On Christmas Eve, the Bradbury's were all in their car going somewhere, and they looked and Carrie had turned blue. They took her to the hospital, and then she was taken to the hospital in Winston Salem - so they have been at the hospital pretty much straight since Christmas. They have been home a couple of times to see Will who is being kept by the granparents.

Apparently, Carrie caught some kind of virus and then pneumonia. So they had to put her on a respirator.

Leslie called me on the 30th, because that was the first time she could get a break to let me know. Luckily I was able to distract her with stories about the nephews and their Christmases -

She and Mark are staying at the Ronald-McDonald house in Winstonl-Salem, so if you're looking for a donation for 2009, feel free to make a donation directly to that house - I will be doing so at the end of the month when I get paid again.

So that being said - here's the email I just got from her - oh - and if you didn't get the text message, it pretty much said - take a minute - send some positive energy out to the Bradbury's right now - they could all use it -

Hi,

Sorry for the news blackout. The last couple of days have really been a roller coaster. Carrie was removed from her ventilator yesterday, which was very exciting. We got to hold her for the first time in two weeks and she seemed to do okay. But overnight, the doctors got concerned about her breathing and some other indicators. They put her on a different machine to help her with her breathing, something that is much less invasive than the respirator. The plan has been to wait and see what happened as a result. So far, she seems to be doing better. Her X-ray from tonight looks much better, so we are hopeful that she will continue to do well and they won't have to reinsert the breathing tube.

Hope you are all doing well.

Leslie

Another Update on Carrie

From Leslie -

Hi Everyone,

Thankfully, we are still getting more positive news about Carrie. Overnight she did well with the changes that they made to her ventilator yesterday. Today they are going to try her with some even lower settings and see what happens. If she responds well to those changes, then they will possibly take her off of the ventilator tomorrow. I am sure she will still have to stay in the ICU for a period of time for observation, and she will still have a feeding tube. They have also made it clear that she won't go straight from ICU home. We will definitely step down gradually to a regular room before we go home. Hopefully, everything will continue on a positive path, but even the most cautious of the doctors has used the phrase "turned a corner" which is reassuring.

Thank you all again for all of your kind thoughts and prayers. We all appreciate all of your support.

Leslie

Another Update on Carrie

From Leslie -

Hi Everyone,

Thankfully, we are still getting more positive news about Carrie. Overnight she did well with the changes that they made to her ventilator yesterday. Today they are going to try her with some even lower settings and see what happens. If she responds well to those changes, then they will possibly take her off of the ventilator tomorrow. I am sure she will still have to stay in the ICU for a period of time for observation, and she will still have a feeding tube. They have also made it clear that she won't go straight from ICU home. We will definitely step down gradually to a regular room before we go home. Hopefully, everything will continue on a positive path, but even the most cautious of the doctors has used the phrase "turned a corner" which is reassuring.

Thank you all again for all of your kind thoughts and prayers. We all appreciate all of your support.

Leslie

Update on Carrie

From Leslie

Hi Everyone, Just wanted to let you know that we are still in the pediatric ICU. According to the doctor this morning Carrie is doing somewhat better. They think that the pneumonia is clearing up or is completely gone, now we are still waiting out the virus. They are trying to do some things to wean her off of the ventilator. We will see how it goes-- yesterday they tried that but ended up having to go back to where they started, but the doctor said she sounds better today. The fact that she had both the RSV virus and pneumonia is making her recovery a little bit slower. Hopefully we will have more good news to report tomorrow. Leslie

Happy 2009!

New Year's Eve

Well, Brent and I went out last night to the Sheraton in Greenville to celebrate NYE with a bunch of crazies! Us included. LOL

Seriously - we had a blast! The band was Machine Gun, and we have decided to become groupies. They are based in Wilmington, which really isn't that far away, but they do shows all over, so we hope to see them again soon.

They're a cover band, so they sing songs I know the words to, which helps A LOT. The best was when the lead singer sang Jessie's Girl. You gotta love it when the whole crowd knows that song. Remember Rick Springfield? Wasn't he the hottest thing?

Anywho - here's a short clip of them doing "Message in a Bottle." Brent thinks the lead singer looks like Charlie's cousin Guy. A little yes. And this dude is 37, so I don't feel like such an old lady.

Here's the link to their MySpace page (remembering of course that I think sometimes that MySpace is the tool of the devil.)

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=49798297

Christmas Lights

This is a short clip I took with my FLIP video camera (woohoo) of a light display here in Washington. The display goes on for like six or seven songs, but this is, of course, just a small clip.

Enjoy!

Christmas Gifts

Okay - here's hoping my loyal readers - all four or five of you - had great Christmases.

Christmas at the Callahan household was a wrapping paper storm of present opening. It was fun, but tiring. On Friday, the elder Bakers visited us for the day for our Christmas, and that was nice, but tiring. So needless to say, Brent and I have spent the last two days resting up - getting ready to put away Christmas and get ready for what will hopefully be a great New Year's Eve.

This year in our contest to get each other the best gift, my sister won. I received a Mood bag. Now, if you aren't a Project Runway fan (and why wouldn't you be?), then you have absolutely no idea what I am talking about. Brief explanation: the contestants on Project Runway have a new challenge each week, and they usually go to Mood, a fabric store in NYC, to buy their materials, and they always come in with these bags that say Mood on the side. One day while Daddy was in the hospital in Greenville back in March, Mary stopped over at my house to watch an episode we had on DVR (and I say we, because Brent watches it too - gotta love him), and I said, "I'm going to go to New York just to go to Mood to buy a yard of fabric and get one of those bags."

So you know what? Mary had Neil get the information off of the Internet (oh what a wonderful tool), and she called Mood, and after what I am sure was an entertaining conversation for the clerk in NYC, Mary had ordered two yards of fabric and a bag for me for Christmas.

My plan now is to use it as my school bag, just to see if anyone recognizes it. I FREAKING LOVE IT - lol - so Mary won this year.

But among all the nice gifts, I have one I want to mention - in honor of one of my loyal readers - Cathy - and her husband David.

The joke is that I am the Queen Bee of Chocowinity Middle School - at least according to some of the teachers - so for Christmas, David decided that I needed these -

Many thanks to everyone for their presents and warm wishes - and many wishes for a Happy New Year!

Leslie's and Mark's Daughter

Well, folks, she's here. Caroline Felton Bradbury was born on December 16. Apparently they waited until the last minute to leave the house, so Carrie was born on the side of the road in an ambulance - in the words of her father, Mark

Here’s the short story: Leslie had contractions on Tuesday (12/16) morning, as we got into the car to drive to the hospital I called 911 just to be safe, Will stayed at home with a babysitter, we got 3 miles from home when we met up with the volunteer fire fighter, he had us stop to check Leslie’s condition, within 10 minutes about 6 more fire fighters arrived as did the ambulance, within 5 more minutes the baby was born – with the car pulled off on the side of the road and Leslie reclined in the passenger seat, that’s why you see her exiting the ambulance at the hospital with Carrie in her arms! Oh, and between the fire fighters and ambulance crew, no one had ever delivered a baby before…

Both Leslie and Carrie (8 lbs, 2 oz; 20 inches) made it through the ordeal just fine and we are all at home now. Quite a day, quite a story.

Mark

And here is the Christmas card/birth announcement that came the next week - impressive timing for parents with two small children!

Congrat's!

Dollar Tree Strikes Again

Many thanks to the people of Indonesia for all their help in my on-going search for reasons we should stop shopping at Dollar Tree.

Technology Conference

Went to Greensboro for two and a half days for a technology conference last week. Learned some pretty cool stuff and got some free stuff, too. But really kept coming up against a couple of things I thought you guys might have opinions on.

First of all, they keep saying we need to engage these students. That they are using technology all the time, and they need to use more. That students are multi-tasking so much that they are doing like 26 hours of stuff in one day - seriously.

My problem with all of this is that students may very well be multi-tasking and doing all of this stuff, but is this allowing them to sit still for an extended period of time? I ask this, because to read a book - or even to listen to a book - you really need to be able to be still - and not distracted. I fear that these multitasking students are being trained to be entertained and drawn to shorter and shorter bits of information.

From TV shows with small bursts of entertainment divided by small bursts of commercials to music videos. It's amazing to me that they can sit down and watch a full length movie anymore. But then again - they are totally immersed in it if they go to the theater, so maybe movies still have a chance - lol

Anywho - the other thing about the conference was the abundance of laptops and the abundance of folks who thought it was not maddening to hear typing during a presentation. People who type during a presentation kill me. I can't even begin to imagine being the presenter.

What do you guys think?

One year anniversary

Well, Thursday marked the one year anniversary for the FIRST f-ing back surgery. The one that either didn't work or was totally f-ed up by the folks that put me on the gurney right after surgery. The one that had me in pain until the SECOND surgery in January.

But I'm doing good now. Although about three days ago the pain started picking up again. I think and hope it's just been aggravated by something - probably too much touch football - lol - but anywho -

Seems like forever ago. The whole wasted winter actually. Things happen at school, and I just say, "I don't remember. I wasn't here." Really weird.

But thank God the second surgery "took." Here's hoping for another year pain free.

A few updates

Well, let's see . . .

Leslie is due on the 21st of December. I haven't talked to her recently. She and Mark are running a hectic schedule between half day daycare and teaching. She's actually looking forward to having spring semester off with the baby. And remember it's a girl.

September is working hard all the time and keeping up with - what is it now? - 13 nieces and nephews. They sold the small store she was running, so now she's in the bigger one at Woodcroft.

Todd is still in St. Louis. How many years to go? He's coming home for Thanksgiving. Gets to work in an extra ECU game that way.

Rob is coming up for Thanksgiving - or at least part of the weekend - which is cool. Apparently there's a new restaurant in Charleston with a good brunch and a cute chef - at least he's cute in the pics on the website - mmm just one more GREAT reason to take a trip south.

Sally is getting ready to come off of a week's rest after working at the library for a million months straight with no real holiday. She's coming up for Thanksgiving as well, as that is also her mom's birthday. She likes her job and is enjoying living alone, but could probably use a roomie, so if any of you are contemplating moving south - lol or east - or north - lol lol

Keith is living in Charleston and working at Ladsen elementary - he and - God knows I forget how to spell it - Ik are having a Christmas party on December 13th. I don't think Brent and I will be able to go down - not that close to Christmas. But eventually we will get down there - oh and Keith's coming up for a couple of days at Thanksgiving as well.

Christie and Charles and their brood are doing the same. Morgan is in 7th grade this year - JESUS are we all really that old.

If I left anyone off, I apologize - and just ask - anonymously works - lol

Anonymous comments

LOL

I guess there are a few things I need to take care of . . .

Okay, Mary's friend was murdered by her boyfriend. They leave behind five children between them now with no responsible parent.

WITN will NEVER move to GVegas because it will probably cost too much. They have owned that property for a million years - ever since the theater closed - but who knows - miracles do happen. They have never claimed Chocowinity, let alone Washington as their first home. IF you want to get local news, you watch WNCT out of GVille.

Brent went to a lawyer back in like January when we realized that the Worker's Comp company was going to try to make him go back to work doing what he had done - but he can't - he can't do the physical work, and the meds make him loopy, so he can't do what he was doing, and the company he worked for is not going to fire him, so we need to figure out the next step. He has been meeting every two weeks with a job counselor, and right now we are getting ready for mediation with the WC company because for the last two years they have NOT been paying him what they are supposed to using the state's calculator. AT least that is what the lawyer has said. So Brent just recently filled out a bunch of paperwork, and then he sent it back to the attorney. So now we wait - won't hear anything back until January.

Uncle Von's visit went well. Jason was down for a long weekend, and I got to hang out with him. He wants to know what the deal is with the property - why his father doesn't just go ahead and sell it to my father - and I wonder the same thing. I was hoping that Jason would talk to his dad, but I don't think anything ever came of it.

Granny's house and the property Well, Dad keeps it up. I go down every once in a while and get stuff - got some utensils for the library the last time - spoons for serving dip and such. If I could go down there with some trash bags and know that Daddy wouldn't lose it, I would. I don't' know what he wants to do. It's just a pain. But we have it, and he's cleaned up a path through the woods, which just makes me want to get a four wheeler and ride around down there.

And oh yeah - Kristen shot JR.

TGIF

Thank God. I was beginning to wonder if I were going to make it to the end. It's been a crazy week, especially as I didn't work Monday or Tuesday. And next week, I get half a day off on Thursday and all day Friday for school related things, so they don't even count.

Other than that, things here are good. Mom had her bladder stretched today. OUCH! This is supposed to help with the pain she has been having now for almost a year. She came through the procedure just fine, BUT (you knew there was a but coming - come on) she hasn't PEED yet. Not since before 8:30. She may have to go back into the hospital if nothing ever comes out. And then it will be a FLOOD!

Daddy's doing well. Mary's tired some, but is making it through. Horrible thing happened to a friend of hers. http://www.witn.com/home/headlines/34180814.html

Things like this happen all the time, but never to people you know.

Brent is doing well. He's lost some weight and is piddling around the house. No news on his lawyer's work.

Guess that's it. I was thinking I would do a post some time this weekend giving everyone info on what everyone else is doing. Let me know what you think - and if you have something you DO or do NOT want included-

Later Peeps

My Dentist is so Going to Love Me

Okay, I finally got stuff straight to take some pics of the stuff I have been scavenging from Granny's.

My parents have always said that my Granny kept so many things around her because she never had a lot in the early parts of her life. They scraped by after she got married - and that was right out of high school, so I guess she started hoarding things she could get.

For instance, right after she went into the nursing home, Brent and I went down to Acre with Daddy, and we cleaned out canned goods. I am not joking - over fifty cans of canned veggies - some with expired dates of course. Yeah - who knew that canned food went bad?

Well, since Granny's death in July, I've been gradually bringing things home from Granny's - a little bit each trip. There's a necklace, and then a vase, and then a set of vases - like I'll ever use them all, but who knows, right?

Well, back to the hoarding part. God bless her heart, but that little woman had a bunch of stuff, odd things, stockpiled for, I guess, the future.

Below is a picture of toothbrushes I have brought from her house to mine. Will Brent and I use all of these? No, probably not. We have already used a couple - one in the bathroom, one in the kitchen - as nail brushes and vegetable brushes - and we gave some to my in-laws, because they like really hard toothbrushes - and that's what these are. And just for the record, this is probably only half of what was there - so many being dispersed in different directions. (In fact, I gave two to Mary today to be put in these shoe boxes Riley's Cub Scout troop is making for the poor.)

There are probably fifty combs in one drawer, and other things like that. It's heart breaking and scary, and it really makes me look around my house as I stock pile things and wonder if I really need it all.

So here are a few pictures of other things I have brought to my house from Granny's. Things you will find on display at times in my dining room.

no excuses

I promise - it's coming - updates this weekend -

:-P

Remember when . . .

This is for all you bitches that took me out, three years ago tonight, and let me drink way tooooooooo many grape crushes.

And a GREAT thank you for September, who got up EVERY time I had to run to the bathroom to puke. It was a LONG night for us both.

Three years tomorrow folks!

Incoming

Uncle Von, Laura, and my cousin Jason will be in this weekend. Von and Laura are going to be staying for a couple of weeks, with plans to go out to Granny's and clean it out. What out means in the last part of that last sentence I am not sure. Should be interesting.

CMS Indian Football

God, I love football season. And I mean the time of the year when as the sun gets down, it gets a little cooler, and the lights on the stadium just make everything look great.

We played Bath last night at home, and beat them, which is WONDERFUL! Actually beat them by 8 points, which is even better. The first half was sorta chaotic - got a couple of calls against us for not have the right number of players on the field, but Chris (the head coach) got that all straight after halftime.

But the weather was great - even had a cool breeze right there at the end - and it was just nice to finally be there. Not that I don't love my summers, but there's just something about fall nights and football.

Hunter Turned Twelve

Not a big deal by most standards, but if all of you will take a second and think back.

Mary - she had a baby - TWELVE years ago.

Jesus God when did WE get this old.

Anywho, we gave him Brent's old electric guitar. Brent fixed a couple of things on it and restrung it. Oh and bought a used amp. So now he can really ROCK the house. LOLOLOL

Always give children noise makers - so they can aggravate the hell out of their parents when they get home.

All in all it was a quiet party. The Bennetts hosted, as Mary was still sorta out of it from her surgery. It was a beautiful day, and we got to sit out on the deck and enjoy the quiet of the country.

Happy Birthday, Hunter.

Oh, and for those of you that know her, Vicki - Reed's youngest sister - is pregnant and due in March.

My Sister and her Surgery

Mary came through her gastric by-pass surgery well, but is taking a little longer to recover in the hospital. They kept her an extra day, but she should be out tomorrow, going home.

She has conceded that she will not be able to host a party for my nephew Hunter's birthday on Saturday, so we will all be going to his grandparents house (the Bennett's) right across the street from Mary's, which will work out well for everyone, I think.

I am very proud of my sister for doing what she has done and hope it all goes well.

Keep your fingers crossed.