Take that, Mark. D.

I woke up bright and early and had the Zoom done. My teeth aren't bright white, but there is a definite improvement and they said it would continue to improve. We took before and after pictures but I haven't been able to download them for some reason. I will post them as soon as I figure it out.

The Big Man was home today so we spent a good bit of time outside. The Big Man did some yard work, although it was more like weed control. It is so dry here. The grass is brown and crunchy but the weeds are lush and green. Can you explain why that is? There is talk of scattered thunderstorms soon, but we will need much more than that.

Tomorrow MK and I are going to have a night on the town. Our little city is having "Movie in the Park" tomorrow night. So, I guess we'll take chairs or a blanket and bug repellent and spend some time with our neighbors.

I have really been looking for ways to get more involved in the community. I seem to have taken a break since I've been home with T. Willy. I try to think, if I left this town today, what mark would I leave? I'm afraid it wouldn't be much of one. I run into some former students from time to time and they still remember some things I taught them, more about life than academic, I suspect. So that is a little mark. But I'm looking for a way to do more. I'll let you know.

Have a great day!

Feel free to skip this post...

Because there is not a lot going on. I just wanted to check in. MK is enjoying her summer so far. She has been busy with friends, enjoying sleepovers and a trip to our local waterpark. It's been a little cooler the last few days so we've been taking some walks around the neighborhood and spending a lot of time outside.

I went to the dentist today for my Zoom impressions. They said they would have to call when there is an opening to make the actual appointment. About an hour later they called and said there is an opening tomorrow at 8 a.m. So I will try to post pictures. The initial appointment should brighten my teeth some, but then they are sending trays with me that I will apply at home and that should help more. I am trying not to get my hopes up too much. There is also a part of me that thinks it's sort of vain, but it is not something I would normally do, and that was my mom's directive.

We made some plans to go away in July. We have rented a cabin at DeSoto State Park in northern Alabama. I have wanted to go camping for a long time, but we don't really have the equipment and it's just too hot here. So this is a good compromise. It is near Lookout Mountain. Not that we ever lived near the Rockies or the Alps, but we have lived in Virginia and North Carolina and were always just a quick trip to the Blue Ridge Parkway and mountains of some sort. Now we live near the beach, which is truly beautiful, but I have been missing mountains. So I am really looking forward to this trip.

If you're still awake, leave me a comment and let me know what you're doing this summer!

Have a great day!

In which I reveal a painful secret

If you knew me in real life, you'd know that I have a pretty good memory. This serves me well when playing Trivial Pursuit (or the Big Man's version - Strip Trivial Pursuit. Too much information? Sorry.) However, it also makes it difficult for me to let...things...go.

Two things that are hard for me to let go are these: when I was in middle school, a boy in my class, for reasons unknown to me, blurted out, "You'd be pretty if your eyes weren't so far apart." So, thanks, Curtis Dencker, to this day I still can't receive a compliment without tempering it with the thought that someone is just being kind to poor, homely me. The funny thing is, the few times I have related that story, the other party assures me that my eyes are not grotesquely far apart, and, Curtis Dencker was no Brad Pitt. However, it is one of those things that I can't seem to let...go. The second was thanks to Mark Dettra. He once decided to blurt out, when I was laughing at something, "Your teeth are really yellow." This has been a trial for me, because I am generally a pretty smiley person. Sigh. It may have been true, just unkind, and once again, hard to let...go.

Fast forward to the present. My mom and and dad generously gave me a monetary gift for graduation. My mom's request was that I spend it on something I normally wouldn't. It wasn't quite enough for me to realign my entire facial composition, but it is enough for me to get ZOOM!!!! So Wednesday I am going to start the process of having my teeth whitened. I am cautiously optimistic that it will make an improvement and I will finally let Mark Dettra's words GO.

However, if you ever go on "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" and you need a phone-a-friend, I'm your girl!

Have a great day!

And, Happy Birthday to my mother in law!

School is out!

MK finished her first year of middle school. We were both dreading it and cannot believe how foolish that was. Middle school has been wonderful for her and she can't wait for 7th grade to begin.

We got the results from the vet, and the cat does have cancer. MK took the news surprisingly well. She is not known for taking bad news well, but I think she was prepared for it. We are just keeping an eye on Sugar for now. She is eating normally and is still her pleasant self, so we'll just have to see what the future holds.

That's about it. There isn't much going on but I wanted to check in. Hope you're doing well!!!

Once faith, now sight

MK with Dr. Falwell July 2006.






I saw the phrase from the title of this post at a Moravian cemetery in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It has always had a lot of meaning for me, because isn't that what this life is all about? Our beliefs will all be proven true or false one day. I have faith in the same Christ that Jerry Falwell did, and am comforted today with the fact that all he preached and taught is known to him now.

I started this blog because of Melissa. I met Melissa when she was my roommate during our Freshman year of college. And that college was Liberty University, founded by Jerry Falwell. No matter what people may think of his politics, I can't think of a negative thing that has been said about his character. There were no scandals involving him and other women, or men, for that matter. He loved his wife and family and let everyone know that. He lived what he believed. Good bye for now, Jerry!



The Big Man, me and MK at TRBC after the first service.

Ode to Sugar

Not the edible kind...our family cat.

I did not grow up with cats. I pretty much had a dislike/fear/apathy for them. My feelings started to change after I met the Big Man because his mom had 2. But I never had any interest in owning one, just visiting hers occasionally.

Then MK started asking for a pet. We were going to get her a dog...as soon as we moved to a house with a fenced in yard. So we moved to this house when she was six and had intentions of getting a dog. Then one day the Big Man learned from a girl at work that she had a cat and needed to find a good home for it. I was skeptical, but it seemed like a great answer to the pet question...free, 5 years old and, did I mention, free? Sugar would not have been our first choice of a name, but since she was 5, we kept the name, because as Miss Kristy said, "She's so sweet." Corny, yes, but so true.

We had it all planned. On the last day of MK's first grade year, Miss Kristy showed up at our door. We had told MK that a friend was coming over and she was completely shocked when that friend showed up with a cat...more shocked when she learned the cat was staying. She entered our home with trepidation but quickly became a part of the family. For the first few days whenever we looked for her, we would just see a tail hanging over the top kitchen cabinets. She stopped doing that and, apart from massive shedding and the occasional hairball, she has been the ideal pet. She was here before T. Willy and never showed any aggression toward him and let him torture her just a little. She has slept with MK many nights and endured a long weekend locked in our bedroom with no food, water or litter box and did not destroy one thing, except some cheap bath mats.

Recently she developed a lesion on her nose. We took her to the vet and treated her. At first it seemed to be getting better, but never completely healed and now has gotten so much worse. Today we took her to the vet and the vet gently predicted that, worst case, it's "squamous cell carcinoma." So, since that is still conjecture, she stayed the night at the vet and will have a biopsy in the morning. There's a chance that it's a deep infection that may respond to steroids, and that is, of course, what we're hoping. However, if it's the worst, it's treatable for BIG BUCKS, and we just can't go there. When her quality of life deteriorates...well, you know.

So this one goes out to Sugar, the cat I never thought I'd care about this much. The house is a bit emptier tonight.

Big Day

So today was a really big day. It was MK's 12th birthday and Graduation! MK started the day by taking a trip to a waterpark with the school band. We picked her up in the middle of the day and went to graduation. After graduation we went out to dinner and celebrated MK's birthday. They sang to her at the restaurant and we had a wonderful family day. Pictures tell it better than I do...Have a great day!

Soooooo...

I rarely post pictures of myself on here...but today I am making an exception. I am trying not to get too excited, because I'm not officially finished until summer, but look what I picked up today!!! The end is near. Of course, it isn't here yet, because I am up at midnight after finishing a research paper...near, but not here yet.







I have accepted a job for next year at the Christian school where I worked before we had T. Willy. I don't want to just throw him into a daycare situation after being home with me for 3+ years. So he can go to the preschool while I'm teaching 7th grade on the same campus. This is how we did it with MK and it worked out very well. I am taking it a year at a time because I don't know what the future holds. My ultimate goal would be to work on the college level, or at least community college level, because I don't really see a doctorate in my future. I applied at our local community college, but had already accepted the other job when, lo and behold, the head of the English dept. at the community college called. I went in for an interview but I won't really know anything until July. I explained my situation and she offered me the chance to teach an English class at night, as long as the enrollment is there. It will make next semester hectic, but it would be so great to get my foot in the door. Whew...lots to think about.

So, there's that. Have a wonderful day!

For Laney

Our Crocs aren't currently occupied, because right now the Big Man is working nights and the only time the four of us are home together at least 2 of us are sleeping. But here are our Crocs for Laney. The flip flops are mine and T. Willy's have cutouts of Mickey Mouse. They may not be beautiful but they are soooo comfortable!! Ummm...am I officially middle aged if I choose comfort over style?!?!?!?!





Good night!

Whew

T. Willy turned 3 yesterday!!! We were in New Orleans over the weekend so we had his birthday at my brother-in-law, the Grillmaster's, house. He and the Mrs. were gracious hosts and we had a blast.

We had a wonderful visit with my nephew. Although Melissa suggested it, we didn't actually give him car keys and point him to the beach, but we did enjoy 3 trips to the beach and had such a good time with him. We were also able to give him a tour of New Orleans and his first beignets.

So here are some pictures.












































































I had to add this picture of T. Willy. This is how his hair looks every morning when he wakes up.



So there you go. Have a great day!!!

Winding Down

When I began this blog, I was about to enter graduate school. I was very nervous and the end seemed very far away. Can you believe the end is almost here?!?!?! Graduation is one month from today...incidentally, so is MK's birthday. It is sort of anticlimactic. I won't officially be finished until July 1, because I have a practicum to complete. But the end is in sight and it feels great. I have four big projects to complete but two are with partners and the partners are very ambitious, so the burden is shared. I just really can't believe it. I also applied for a job, contingent on finishing school. If it works out, I'll tell you more.

My nephew is flying down on Saturday to spend his Spring Break with us. We are so excited to have him. He is flying into New Orleans where the Big Man's family lives so we're going to give him a little tour of the area and then go to my in-law's church Sunday. Then we'll come back here for the week. It has been really warm but is supposed to turn cool this weekend. Hopefully it will warm up enough for us to take him to the beach. I think he would be a bit disappointed to fly this far and not go swimming. He will turn 17 while he's here, too, so I'd love any suggestions about how to celebrate with him.

Speaking of swimming, that is something we were able to do earlier in the week. MK has been in twice, but I just braved it once. So I'll leave you with a picture.


Have a great day!

Spring Break

This week was MK's Spring Break. We took her and a friend to the beach on Wednesday and then to Olive Garden for lunch.

Where did spring go????

So, it was 83 here today. I think spring is gone and it's summer now.

Busy around here. This was my Spring Break from school and next week is MK's. We did a bit of spring cleaning, purged A LOT. We bought some new furniture for our bedroom and moved the mismatched pieces that we had into T. Willy's room because our old furniture matches his room better. Pictures do a better job than I can, so here they are.




















Yes, the changing table is still up. Stop nagging, we're working on it!






And I had to end with a new picture of MK. I just love those brown eyes, plus our old digital camera died and we finally replaced it so I was able to post new pictures. Have a great day!!!

By the way...

Spring has sprung. We took a trip to the beach for lunch the other day. Here are some pictures.

It's a new day

When MK had just turned 2, she crawled out of her crib and surprised us by walking into our room one morning. We have waited and waited for T. Willy to do the same. But he never did. As far as we can tell, he has never even attempted to crawl out of his crib. Like father like son because the Big Man's mom says that the Big Man never crawled out of his crib either. Well, T. Willy turns 3 next month and I just kind of felt like it was time to get rid of the crib. Someone gave us a toddler bed but he wanted nothing to do with it. So today we assembled a new bunk bed for him, and he is sleeping in it as I type. I am trying not to be too sentimental, but I can't help it. He's my baby, likely my last child, and now the crib will be packed up and stored away.

Don't get me wrong, I am eager for him to grow up and pass all of the milestones that life offers. I just wanted to take a moment to remember the past 3 years and what a surprise he was in the first place and how our lives are so much better for having him in them!

A Dearth of Posts

I have not been posting much lately. Thanks for sticking with me.

Today I have a story. It is a story about two women. We will call them E. & J. They were born just a few years apart. E. discovered a lump in her breast and ignored it. She knew about it, it caused her pain, and she ignored it. She continued to ignore it until it was finally so large that it was noticeable to the eye, and her husband noticed it and finally forced her to see a doctor. J. did not discover her lump. In fact, it wasn't a lump at all. It was barely a speck on the mammogram that she has faithfully every year. It was a speck that the radiologist saw and then told her to come back in 6 months to see if it had changed. J., however, did not wait. She went to her doctor who took action. They did an ultrasound, still inconclusive, and then a biopsy. When the results of the biopsy came in, the result was malignant. But it was so small that the doctor felt pretty sure that she had removed it all with the biopsy. Nevertheless, the next step was to have another procedure and remove a lymph node and have it tested to see if the malignancy had spread.

That is not the end of this story.

J. had the lymph node removed today and was given the results shortly thereafter. Negative...meaning the cells had not spread. She is well...she is cancer free...she is my mom. E. was married to my uncle. She is his late wife. While we do believe she is with the Lord now, her family miss her desperately.

I am thankful for my mom, but more today than usual. I am thankful that she took action and went through some unpleasant things to protect her health. Thanks, mom, for your example!!! I love you!!!

A

Counting down

So tonight was the first class of my last full semester. After the semester ends, I have to do a tutoring practicum and then I'll be finished. It sounds easy enough, but the two classes appear to be the toughest yet. I was just beginning the program when I started this blog and at that time, it seemed like it would take forever. How wrong I was. The past year and a half have just flown by! I don't know what the future holds right now. The Big Man and I have started talking about when I'll go back to work. I LOVE being home with T. Willy but am also eager to get into the classroom. We'll see.

The kids and I flew to Delaware to visit my family the day after Christmas. We had a wonderful trip, but as always, it was just too short. We were able to visit friends and spend a lot of time with my parents and my brother's kids.

After a slow start, T. Willy is really starting to talk now. He is asking questions and answering some too. What a difference in the last year.

So, nothing too exciting, but I wanted to check in and get the Christmas decorations off the screen!!! Happy New Year!!!

Come on in!

So I enjoyed participating in Boomama's Bloggy Tour of Homes so much, I was thrilled when she announced that she was going to host again for Christmas. So please, settle in, and welcome to our Florida Christmas home!


My mom made this cheery Santa for us. He welcomes you as you enter the front hall.


















The Big Man and I begame engaged Christmas 1988. Whew! We bought our first Christmas bear that Christmas and have collected one each Christmas since. It seemed like such a good idea at the time, but we are running out of space. This year they have been separated because they no longer fit in one location. So here are some bears in the kitchen.














Here are some more in the kitchen.














More in the kitchen.
















And here are some bears in the office. That should add up to 19! We have been faithful to get these bears each year, but around 1991 we considered giving up, but reconsidered and bought a plain bear in 1992 and painted 1991 on it...and one year we thought we'd be creative and got a Snowden snowman. But since then we have returned to the bear.














When our daughter was born, we started a collection of village pieces for her. Our intent is to continue collecting them until she leaves the nest and then they will be hers. We did not display them this year, though, because we have a very curious 2 1/2 year old running around. When he is older, I'll bring them back and if Boomama continues to host, I'll post them. Here is where I need your help: we are collecting villages for MK but have yet to begin a collection for T. Willy. Any ideas? We are looking for something not too expensive and something that my future daughter in law will not hate me for.

The next post is one that I posted last week or so, but it's our tree and our fireplace mantle. After that I posted pictures of the family at our town Christmas parade. Thanks for reading and please leave a comment to let me know that you were here!!

Annette

Deck the Halls

We put up our tree and did a little decorating around the house. There are a few other things but T. Willy's busy hands prevented us from displaying everything. We also did the outside but I don't have pictures of that yet. So here are a couple of pictures of our brand new artificial tree sans presents and our fireplace, which we have finally been able to use this season.

It's that time of year

So last night was our little city's Christmas parade. It seems that EVERYONE shows up to either participate or watch and catch candy. MK walked with her Girl Scout troop. Our intention was for us to park, I would walk her to her starting place, then I would walk back to join the Big Man and T. Willy at our designated place in the crowd. Ha! I forgot that last year I left very early and the Big Man drove separately and through the magic of text messaging we were able to find each other. This year we all rode together and encountered the rest of our town heading to the parade. We finally found a parking space, got T. Willy settled in the stroller and parked The Big Man and T. Willy. Then MK and I took off for her starting point. We were so relieved and saw many groups of walkers, but no troop. Yikes. A kind soul asked if we were from Cluster 3, which we did not know because we only know the troop number, and she said if we were they had already started walking. So MK and I ran to catch them and sure enough, they were already in the parade. We finally caught them, there was no way I was going to make it back to the Big Man, so I just joined the parade. What fun! Here are a few pictures of the biggest night of the year in small-town Florida!!!


I was able to snap a picture of my guys while we walked by. Too bad T. Willy's face has the orange safety wire straight through it. Can you just see how secure it is, holding the raging crowd back? The lady on your right was so helpful. She gave T. the lollipop he has and was very vocal when people got in front of him.

















You cannot predict how a 2 year old is going to act, but T. was great. He just stood and watched. Even when MK and I walked by, he just waved and kept watching. That is usually a signal to him to run after us. I think he was just enjoying time with his dad and the lady who was supplying him with sugar.

















This is the only picture I was able to get of MK in which her face was not obscured. I normally would not include such a fuzzy picture but I didn't want her to be left out!!!