Monday, July 31, 2006

HEAT WAVE!!!!

We, along with half of the country, are under a heat wave! Today the temp is supposed to reach 95 degrees with a heat indices of 110. But, it's summer! What do we expect? I think the environmentalist who have been screaming about global warming and all the pollution we have put in the air, are forgetting about the heat waves in the past centuries.......could they blame those heat waves on global warming?

I leave these thoughts with a message I saw on a sign out front of a local church:

"You think it's hot HERE?"

Thursday, July 27, 2006

You Are A Poplar Tree

People tend to look up to you, and it's a bit lonely at the top.
Inside, you are not always self confident, but you show great courage.
Mature and organized, you are reliable in any situation.
You tend to have an artistic or philosophical outlook on life.
You are very choosy in love and take partnership seriously.

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Jerks!!

I wonder how my husband ended up as loving as he is! We had his entire family, Mother, Sisters, Brothers and their families to our home for a cookout and to visit our daughter, Rachel who is visiting from Kentucky.

Everything was going smoothly.....until after we had eaten. Then they wanted to take pictures. I think most of my readers are aware of the fact that both my husband and I had been previously married and both brought children into this marriage. I brought Michelle, Brian and Doug and he brought Jeremy and Rachel. We both think of the five children as "ours". There is no mine and yours...they are "OURS"! Together we share 14 grandchildren. These fourteen special grandchildren should be considered his Mother's great-grandchildren. However, his sisters and mother think NOT!

Here is a prime example: When it was time for the picture taking, they announced that they wanted a picture of their mother with the great-grandchildren. Our granddaughter, Amber (11 years old) was also here. When she went up to where they were seated for the picture taking, one of the sisters said "NO, it's just the great-grandchildren". Hubby's brother said "What do you think Amber is? She's a great-grandchild too! The sister said, "Shut your mouth and leave it alone, no, it's just the great-grandchildren." Amber heard this and walked over to my hubby and climbed up on his lap and sat very quietly.

This is not the first time this has happened to this same little girl! Years ago at another grandchilds birthday party someone said the picture was just to include those who were born into the bloodline of the family. I pulled Amber out of the sitting and was livid. I wanted to tell them all that their mother wasn't born into the bloodline of that family either and she should get the H____out of the picture too then. I bit my tongue to keep peace in the family and thinking that this little girl was only about 5 at the time she wouldn't understand. I was wrong.

This time, later that same day, she asked her Bumpa (that's what the grandkids call Grandpa) why his sisters and mom don't like her. It broke my heart to hear her ask this question. Hubby answered her and told her that sometimes people don't think before they speak and it hurts others feelings. She said okay, but I can tell that she isn't really satisfied with this answer. We assured her that she is very special to us and we love her and God loves her. She smiled, but I could still see the hurt in her eyes.

I told Hubby that as far as I am concerned that is the very last get together I will ever attend for his side of the family. If my birth grandchildren are not considered family, than I am not either! So, there will never be another need for me to attend a family function!

How would they all feel if I treated Hubby's birth children and birth grandchildren in that manner? Rachel told me I should tell her and Jeremy when I will act the same way that they did and then do it at the next family gathering, and see how they like it. I told Rachel that I could never treat her and Jeremy that way! Not even to teach her Grandma and Aunts a lesson. I love them too much to ever do that to them, even if they knew I didn't mean it and was just trying to show others how it felt.

There are plenty of more incidences similar to this one in my history with the family, but this one is the final straw.

So, this is my official resignation from Hubby's family that I once thought of as my own. Every last one of them.....well, except for his Grandma and his brothers and their wives. His brothers' wives are the ones that stood by me through this mess!

And my final thought....glad to be free!!

Friday, July 21, 2006

My plate is full......




I am taking care of Drew this weekend. It has been planned for a long time now. His momma and daddy (naive and mr. naive) are on a canoe trip. I also have Amber this weekend. Today she had an orthodontist appointment at 9 AM. She didn't want to get up. And on top of this, if this isn't already enough, the funeral for my children's grandmother is tomorrow and our daughter and her husband and 3 kids are on the way up here right now.

So when it is time for Drew to go to bed tonight, I will take him to his house and put him to bed there, which means that I will have to stay there overnight also. We don't have enough pac-n-plays to bed two babies down and I think the confusion of it all would just be too much for both babies and neither one would settle down to sleep. And heaven knows that none of us wants to sit up all night entertaining babies!!

I don't have a clue as to when I will have time to post again. Our daughter and her children are staying with us through this coming Wed. before heading back to Kentucky. I suspect that by the time they leave, I will need at least a day to sit and recover.......I'm tired just thinking about all of it!!

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

I've been tagged....

by Chesney Girl, so here goes!!



In my purse/wallet
~Cell phone
~Bandaids
~keys, lots of keys
~pictures of grandkids
~tic-tacs

In my Refrigerator
~Ice Tea - sweetened
~Salad
~bag of baby carrots
~This week's left overs
~ketchup, mustard, mayo

In my Closet
~Mine and Hubby's clothes
~Shoes
~dirty laundry
~Luggage
~Wedding dress

In my Car
~Not much...I just cleaned it out
~Dog's travel water bottle
~Dog's leash
~Umbrella
~Garage door opener

My Bathroom Pic!




After visiting http://anonymousassclown.blogspot.com/, I have posted my own "bathroom pic of the day!

What do y'all think?

Sunday, July 16, 2006

Where are the other ones?




While coming home from a shopping trip today, I noticed several single shoes in different places along the side of the road. They were all different shoes from what I could see; they weren't the mate of the previous shoe or the next shoe lying in the road.

It made me wonder. What happens to these shoes that they get left by the side of the highway? Do people hang their feet out the window and their shoes get blown off in the breeze? Does someone else in the vehicle get angry with them and throw a shoe out the window? Do they fall off the back of a pick-up truck that is packed with moving boxes?

Or are they simply waiting to have someone find them and take them home to meet up with that "lone" sock that we all have found on occasion in our washing machines?

Life is funny.

Friday, July 14, 2006

The passing of a great woman.......

my acquired children's grandmother passed away last night in her sleep. It was a blessing. She has been in a long term care facility in Kentucky for the last 5 years or so. She had Parkinsons. This woman was my husbands ex-mother-in-law and yet she accepted me and genuinely liked me. She was a very kind and gentle person......the kind when you meet for the first time, you instantly like and know that they have a good heart!

Our children are having a rough time with this. Our daughter that lives in Kentucky has seen her grandmother on a regular basis. Our son, who lives in Michigan, has not. He is regretting the fact that she didn't get to meet his newest son who was born May 29th and that he didn't get to see her recently. We didn't get to see her when we were in Kentucky last week either. It didn't work out for us to be able to get over to the facility she was in. I'm sorry about that too! Our daughter probably has some regrets, too, although I have not been able to speak with her at length as of yet.

The funeral will be back here in Michigan since that is where she was originally from and where her dear departed husband is laid to rest too. The funeral is all pre-paid and pre-arranged by her. Before her Parkinsons was too bad, she made all the arranagement herself so her family wouldn't have to deal with it. Now all we are waiting for is the family to arrive from Kentucky whenever they can make it here and how soon the funeral home in Kentucky can arrange to have her body delivered here.

This was truly a woman who brought laughter and happiness to those around her while she was living and will surely generate a lot of tears with her passing. God rest her soul!

Thursday, July 13, 2006

Asking for prayers!

A friend of mine is going through some very rough times right now. She is a single mom, raising 2 beautiful little girls. She and her girls are in need of prayers for strength, wisdom, healing, knowledge and understanding. Please add her and the girls to your prayers. Thank you!!

Sunday, July 09, 2006

The party's over!



I'm back home again. And I'm glad. Two vacations back to back are not a good idea for me. I didn't even get caught up from the Denver trip before heading off to Kentucky. I'm bone tired and I have so much to do now.

It was really great to finally meet our little grandson. Here is a picture of him with his Daddy. The kids have grown so much since we last saw them a year ago. The baby is a real cutie! And he wasn't the least bit frightened of us.

This next picture is of my Hubby and granddaughter from up here. She went with us to see her cousins and Aunt and Uncle. This picture was taken where they are blasting away the mountain to put in a new road. She and Hubby are each holding a piece of rock from the blasting area.




We printed this picture out for her and did a little write-up so she can take it to school and tell her classmates about her trip to Kentucky.

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

I'm off again!

Well, I'm leaving for Kentucky on Wednesday morning. I'll only be gone a few days. We are making the trip down to finally meet our 5 1/2 month old grandson. We are looking forward to holding him and seeing his reaction to us.

The usual granddaughter is going with us as well as our dog. They both travel well, but have not had to share a backseat for such a long road trip before.

I have posted some new pictures of my trip to Denver for you all to see while I'm in Kentucky. I'll try to take pictures of the mountains there too and not just my grandchildren. Our daughter's other two are 6 and 4 and we haven't seen them for a year. I'm sure they've grown!

Be back on Saturday!

Sunday, July 02, 2006

Pictures of my trip!

Buffalo Bills Grave
A beautiful, peaceful valley.
Dinasaur footprints
Beauty beyond compare in these mountains!

Saturday, July 01, 2006

Great Trip!


I'm home. I arrived back on Wednesday in the afternoon. I have been so busy since I've been back that I haven't really had time to post about my trip.

I had a wonderful time. It was so good to spend time alone with my "baby" sister again. I had forgotten just how much I miss her! She was a great hostess and took time off work while I was there. We went to Red Rocks on Thursday, Garden of the Gods on Friday. Saturday was the reception so we were very busy with that. On Sunday we just lazed around with my nieces and nephew and their family and enjoyed time chatting with each other. My cousin had to fly out on Monday and Tuesday we went to Estes Park in Rocky Mountain National Park. My flight left Denver Wednesday morning at 6:30 AM.

Of course, the altitude is much higher there. Hence the nickname of "Mile High City". Due to that fact, people often get what they term "altitude sickness". I got a little queasy but the cure is simple....drink more water! I also had a little trouble breathing while walking up in the mountains due to the thinner air.

The above picture is near Lookout Mountain not far from Boulder. Lookout Mountain is where Buffalo Bill's grave is alleged to be. I would add more pictures, but alas, I have the same problem as some of the other bloggers and it will only allow me to add one picture at the present time! See, it doesn't just hate you, Chesney Girl!

The wedding reception went well considering it was a "garden" reception and a storm rolled through just as everything was set to go. After a quick rush to remove the table cloths and centerpieces from each table, while keeping an eye on the ever darkening sky and natural fireworks show, the sky opened up and dumped huge drops for several minutes and then moved on.

My flight (both ways) was fairly uneventful. Although while waiting to board in Houston for the flight back home I had thought that I had become a "time traveler"!
They changed the gate at the last minute and when I arrived at the correct gate we all boarded a bus that took us to the plane very near the runway to board! I'm assuming it was because the airport was very, very busy that day! I'm hoping that isn't the normal method of operation for an airport of that size!

I had a really wonderful time but it's nice to be back home!!