The Tent's Packed Up

Well, the whole "event" is over. Most of the cousins have left, and I have to tell you that it was nice getting to see them. I got to meet some of the littlest Williams - Mina, William, Gabriella, and Xavier. All very cute, and with a streak of Williams in them that will keep the line going.

Everything went fairly well with the exception of one cousin sending a message to another cousin that my grandmother didn't want her at the funeral. Oh Jesus, you know that my Daddy got so mad when he found out. And I'm with him. At this point, what does it matter? Granny wrote that when she was hurt, and I am sure she would have been happy to know that her granddaughter came and paid a last respect. It's a stink, but something that will eventually fade, I hope.

Of course it was sorta poignant thinking that this was the last time I will ever see all of my uncles and aunts together alive. They are now at the front of the line as Todd said. And so it begins.

But to change the subject, tonight we are going down to Mary's, because today is Colin's 4th birthday and from what I hear, there will be cake. And you know Brent and I are driving fools when it comes to cake - lol. So that also means that today is Leslie's and Mark's 3rd wedding anniversary - Happy Anniversary folks!

And so it ends . . .

Well, folks, Granny decided to leave us on Saturday around 2:15 in the morning. I am glad she is hopefully somewhere feeling much better.

http://www.paulfuneralhome.com/obituaries.php?page=0&op=view&id=633

Let the trumpets sound and the angels sing

News flash - Stephanie is moving back to NC.

Read the news here -

http://awomanofegypt.blogspot.com/

Good Friday Morning

For those of you that don't know, my father's mother, Granny, has been in a nursing home for over two years now. Well, about two weeks ago she developed pneumonia, which is not a new story as she as had it before. But this time, she was sent to the hospital because it had gotten so bad. The hospital folks stabilized her and sent her back to the nursing home, at which point my father was told it was only a matter of time before she died.

So, for about a week now, my father has been torn up about the whole situation. A situation compounded by the fact that my Uncle Von has come home to be here for this event. It's strange how there wasn't much of an interest when Daddy had to put her in the nursing home, had to take care of her and visit her every day, but now that she is dying, the interest level has increased exponentially.

My Uncle Russell, who lives in Texas, has told Daddy to call him when it's over, as he has to work. My cousin John (http://www.youtube.com/user/HeleOnHunting) has decided that he will be flying home soon. There's no telling how many folks will show up before this is all over.

What my mission is today - the reason I am up so damn early - is that I am meeting my sister (who has an early Dr's appointment in G-ville), and we are going out to get Granny something to be buried in.

Honestly, it's a little macabre making all of these arrangements before Granny is actually dead, but I will be honest with you - my Granny has been gone for a long time. Now there is only this ghost of a person in a hospital bed at a nursing home.

My family went through this a little over a year ago with Mama's mother, Grandmama, and let me tell you, it is the most painful thing to have to deal with - watching someone waste away to a wraith, to a being that cannot communicate or for lack of a better word - live.

So today is death duty day. One of many to come in the future I suppose.

Hope you guys have a better one.

Pet Peeve

Your - possessive - meaning it belongs to you

You're - contraction of You Are

I do not understand why so few people know the difference. I did not realize that so many people misuse these two words until I just finished reading an email from a person at Central Office for my school district.

I think I may become a crusader for the education of folks as to the difference. Wonder if there is a tshirt somewhere for this?

Projects, projects, projects

Hey, Guys!

Well, I have finally gotten started on a couple of projects around here - and have finished two!

Amazing, huh?

I made a door/draft stopper for the utility room door. YOU may not think that is important, but the door is almost an inch short for some bizarre reason, and now AC and heat won't run out under that door any more.

I have also started making slip covers for the dining room chairs. I have had these chairs since I moved in as gifts from a friend of my parents'. The are beginning to really show some wear and tear, and really need to be recovered and have the bottoms rebuilt, but when you can buy fabric for a dollar a yard at Wal-Mart, why not just try to build something yourself? So, about four or five months ago I saw some cheapie fabric that would work in our house and bought about 8 yards of it. And it has just sat in the corner by the sewing machine - watching me while I played games and such on the computer, wishing it was something other than a pile of fabric.

So now I have made two slip covers - not really great, but so much better. Here are before and after pictures -

And for the final project in today's entry, Brent and I went to Habitat for Humanity on July 3rd and bought a light fixture for the dining room to replace the old fixture that had hung there probably since this joint was built over fifty years ago. When I moved in here, it was a brassy color. I wanted something that was white/cream and textured, you know what I am talking about, but those things cost money, so dad painted it for me, and it looked really good - 8 years ago.

Well, the one we bought was brown metal, but my dear sweetie Brent has painted it, and we have officially installed it - and I must say we are both very impressed with ourselves.

So - what do you guys think?

South Carolina Fireworks

Well, many thanks to the folks in SC that still make fireworks worth a damn. Despite the rain, Brent and his cohorts managed to shoot off the fireworks we had bought over the Memorial Day Holiday, making July 4th a great holiday.

I managed to go shopping at all of my favorite junk spots, and even got Brent out to go with me some.

We ate tons of stuff cooked on the grill - shrimp, sausages, and steaks - and had a great time with his folks.

What did you do fun for the 4th?

Happy Independence Day!

We are leaving in a bit for Franklinton to spend the holiday with my in-laws. Should be fun - lots of SC fireworks for the home-brew show this year.



Hope all of my loyal readers - both of you - have a great holiday.

Summer Vacation Really Begins

Well, I am considering today to be the first real day of my summer vacation as last week was a blur with the trip to Chincoteague. The kind of vacation where you sleep really late and just do the things you want to do. Today I have sat around a couple of hours in my pajamas, and now I am getting ready to go out to lunch with Cathy.

This afternoon, I may take a nap - or not - that's what I love about summer vacation.

Let's hope I don't get bored too quickly.

Ponies

Ponies
Originally uploaded by leaseuhd

Here are some pictures from Tuesday. We are just getting going this morning, but I wanted to upload some pictures, for my loyal readers, to ease your hearts, because I know you were worried that the whole trip was a storm like Monday night.

Things here are so beautiful, and it's nice to not have anything to really do.

Going to the beach today on Assateague. May see some more ponies.

Monday Night on Chincoteague

Okay, today -- Tuesday -- was wonderful. Last night, not so much.

Here is a video of just a small taste of the storm that blew through. More later.

Vacation

Well, tomorrow at the crack of dawn - well a little later, but that's not the point - Brent and I will be leaving for our official summer vacation.

I have been wanting for years and years and years to go to Chincoteague and Assateague to see the ponies. The ones Marguerite Henry wrote about in Misty of Chincoteague and Stormy Misty's Foal and Sea Star. I read those when I was in 5th and 6th grades, and I decided I wanted a pony - like a lot of little girls do - and I wanted to go to Pony Penning Day, which is the last Wednesday of July on Chincoteague, when the fireman go over and herd the herd over from Assategue to Chincoteague for an auction. The ponies swim over, and it's something to be seen, at least that's what I have read.

So we are going up for four days, three nights, and we are going to see the ponies, and we are going to fish, and we are going to swim, and so on and so on.

So, expect few reports between now and the weekend, but expect pictures and such later.

The Woods They are on Fire

For those of you that don't know, Eastern North Carolina is on fire. Yes, I CAN say Eastern North Carolina, because a huge chunk is smoking even as I type.

The local tv station has a story here http://www.witntv.com/news/headlines/19456249.html

We have been hearing about this for a while, but the winds changed direction yesterday afternoon, and in two hours, smoke was reaching as far west as Greenville.

Brent says that they have declared a code red air quality warning in Raleigh. RALEIGH. That's not good. Not good at all.

So, needless to say, it's been hazy, smelly, and your eyes and throat stay irritated. But, thankfully, the temperature has dropped some, and the wind will shift this weekend.

Here we go again . . .

Well, Daddy had some pain on Tuesday and ended up in the emergency room. He couldn't - as he says - make water. Not a drop. And felt like he really needed to.

Well, they couldn't do anything in the emergency room, so they took him up to surgery around ten that night, knocked him out a little, and catheterized him. The doctor said he had a little infection and a swollen prostate, so that had cut off his "water."

And the next day he went home.

Not.

No, the next day - no "water." They did a CAT scan and found a kidney stone which they went in and took out - ouch - and he spent another night in the hospital.

Today he is home. Thank God. I know he is much happier.

Mimosa Tree

A couple of years ago, I guess, a mimosa tree began growing out of the neighbors flower/tree bed into my "space" you could say. I love mimosa trees, so I never did anything about it.

It is now over ten feet tall, and blooms with beautiful pink flowers.

Have you ever looked at a Mimosa flower close up. Totally worth it. Very cool.

Photos on Flikr

2008_0612odds0098
Originally uploaded by leaseuhd

I have uploaded photos from our Memorial Day trip to Charleston here to avoid having to load them up on Blogger.

Enjoy!

Memorial Day Weekend

I know I really shouldn't write anything until I have pictures to upload, but I want to go ahead and tell everyone what a wonderful time Brent and I had in South Carolina.

(Of course the sad thing is that the only people who read this blog are those people we went to see. Hi, Y'all!)

Let me tell you folks, I hate traveling on a holiday weekend, but since I got an extra day off, and since I know I will not be able to afford to do much traveling after the 20th of this month, I packed my husband up and we went down to see friends in Myrtle Beach and Charleston.

While in Charleston, I finally bought something from the ladies that weave the seagrass into baskets. I couldn't afford the baskets - Geezus Gawd they are expensive - but I did buy a beautiful bouqet of roses which I have displayed in my dining room.

Also, while in South Carolina, we ate some of the most delicious food. If you are ever in Surfside just below Myrtle Beach, you must eat at Nibbles. It's right on the pier, and they have the most delicious seafood.

Hopefully I will be able to afford the gas down to Myrtle Beach again. My sister and her family will down there for a week in July, so Brent and I may take advantage of the free place to stay with a pool. Know what I mean?

Charleston was fun, but a really quick one day shot at a visit. I would love to come down for a long weekend, but I don't think I will be able to make it this summer. Sorry, Rob!

But Memorial Day weekend was fun. We spent time with Sally, Rob, and Todd. Just looking around, talking, and eating. Sounds like the perfect vacation to me.

Teach to the Test?

Okay, sorry I haven't been here in a while. I need to take a minute to explain something to everyone - and by everyone I mean my one true fan Rob - about the end of the school year.

Well, first of all, in middle school in North Carolina we give what are called End of Grade tests. We give every grade Math and Reading EOG's, and 5th and 8th grades get an extra dose of Science EOG's. These tests take up a good chunk of the morning at school and make everyone tired, from the kids taking them to the teachers administering them.

Well, I have administered, in the last month, the Reading EOG once. The Math EOG's (one calculator inactive and one calculator active) twice, because if you fail it, you have the chance to take it again. I have also been the proctor for an EOC, which is an End of Course test because it is a high school level test we give our 8th graders smart enough to be in Algebra class.

And this makes you tired, and you don't get as much done, which is a serious problem when you have 8000 books to get straight along with computers, overheads, calculators, blah, blah, blah.

So, I have been coming home and napping. And then I get up and Brent has dinner ready, so we eat. And then I watch some mind-numbing television. And then? Well, then I go to sleep.

Now, besides testing, we have had other things going on.

My fifth graders went to the county Battle of the Books competition and beat two 7th grade teams and one 8th grade team by a bunch of points, which makes me want to holler every time I think about it. So there were days when I spent a couple of hours practicing with the kids to get them ready. And let me tell you something. These fifth graders - they are going to rule the world - they are supersmart - seriously.

And then there was a Character Education celebration, and the yearbooks had to be handed out, and a dance, and athletic physicals (I do height and weight), and a meeting I got to take off half a day for (YEAH!), and last but not least an EOG carnival where over 400 students were rewarded with rides and games outside in the hottest weather we have had in years in June. But they had a blast, and we got pictures, and it's done.

So I've been busy.

But I promise, Rob, to do better.

Happy Birthday, Sally!

Today is Sally's Birthday! I would say which birthday, but most of you know already, because the large majority of us are the same birthyear.

I have known Sally almost all of my life. The only person I have known longer, that is not a family member, is Stephanie Stalls Carrerra Whatever, and we all know that she hasn't been in the picture in years.

I met Sally when my family moved in next to hers on West Second street, when I was four and a half years old. That's a long time folks. A very long time. How many of us can say we have friends that have been with us for over thirty years?

So this is to Sally. I am including several photos. If I had really thought about it, I would have gone over to Mama's and gotten some of the really old photos out to put in here, things that would probably have been forcibly retracted at a later time.

These first ones are two of my favorite pictures. Sally took our engagement picture, you see, and so I took one with Sally in my spot, just to see what it would look like.

Good picture, huh?


Looking through the pictures I have, it's funny how all of the really good ones revolve around the wedding - I guess I need to get better pictures of Sally, huh?

So Happy Birthday, to someone who will always be older than I am!

My Inspiration

Two years ago I stumbled across a blog called Dooce. Heather Armstrong was writing about her life - her daughter and husband and stuff that happened to her. She is hiliarious. I hope only to be half or a quarter as witty and funny as she is.

So she is now part of a wave of "Mommy Bloggers" or something like that. It's a booming business according to the Today show this morning. And here's a link to Heather's interview.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGKh6lbtKQ0

And I feel very comfortable calling her Heather in references, because I just know if I were to meet her we would become best friends and hang out all the time.

Not really, but it would be cool.

So after you guys watch the YouTube link above, definitely check out Heather's blog - www.dooce.com

And let me know - do you think she is as funny as I do?