Old friends!!

Roxanne is with me in North Carolina and we've had fun visiting old friends! Today we had lunch with William Brown, Terri Russell and Ed Arthur! Of course, there's always laughter! Yesterday, Roxanne met up with an old friend of hers, Wendy Justice. They attended Gospel Light (Christian School) here in Salisbury and also were in each other's weddings. So .. of course, I had the camera handy!!

A houseful of boys!!

I'm at my brother's home right now .... he and Susan have three boys, ages 23, 20 and 16. I raised all girls although I was raised in a houseful of boys! They were all younger than me so that gave me the upper hand! It's amazing how different life is when there are all boys or all girls. Yes, hormones rule when there are all girls. However, Susan has done well in raising the boys to take on responsibilities that seem to be attributed to females ... loading and unloading the dishwasher. I have offered to do it several times -- and have. But, if I do it when Michael is assigned to do it, I am reminded that it is his responsibility. Yesterday, I thought I would get it done early -- but there was Jonathan on the spot (I know, it's "Johnny" on the spot but I doubt that Jonathan wants to be called 'Johnny'!) So, I put the task off until later in the day.

I remember when I was young and hated dish duty -- I still dislike it but am so thankful that someone invented the dishwasher!!

Not much substance today, huh? I was trying to upload a video of Tim 'singing' along with Jonathan playing the drums on "Rock Band" ... perhaps I will get that accomplished later in the day. It was just uploading too slowly and I gotta hit the road soon!!

Since I didn't get that done, I'll add a photo of Tyler that I took last week. It's amazing what he can find to do and to create ... his mind is never asleep!!

Heading north ... sort of ...

Roxanne and I are headed north tomorrow -- well, relatively so. We are going back to Salisbury, NC where we lived when Kasi was born. We'll be staying with our friends, Ed and Janet Isenhour. Janet and I knew each other when we were young (REALLY young). We lived in Salisbury for four years -- and Ed and Janet lived there, too. Somehow, we never got connected until a few years ago -- all the way out in Colorado.

If you check out William's blog, I understand that Janet painted the backdrop for "The Victor" being presented by Trinity Wesleyan Church. Ed's mother attended the same church we did when we lived there pastored by Rev. J.D. Young. What memories -- lots good -- some not so good. We always look forward to seeing old friends ... what is it they say about good friends, "They can see through you and still like the view ... "

Okay, it is getting late and I'm getting tired! And when that happens, I ramble ... and ramble ... and ....

Happy Birthday, R.J.!

Actually, R.J.'s birthday isn't until the 11th -- see, Shonna, I remembered!! He was born late at night - I believe shortly after midnight so the 10th sort of stuck in my mind! It's hard to believe that he is now 5 years old! Yet, he's quite the little guy!! He can keep up a great conversation with me -- and still calls Bob, "Hon"! (Yup, he got that from me!!)

He loves to send me emails and sometimes I get long text messages. Do they say anything in particular? No ... the usually look like this ... lubnsomrepn2idmbs'nbiqgh!!?? eivh0-dm.... fjslbgjgal8s9e3ns.

However, as any parents or grandparent knows, we can translate that in a heartbeat. It says, "Hi, Nina! How was your day? I am fine ... I love you!" So, I text or email him back a message that says, "Ditto" .. but in a few more words than that.


He's in the front in the photo above.

I love it when I tell him goodbye whenever they drop by and I'll say, "I love you R.J." ... His response is, "I lov, too!" All sort of run together but I know exactly what he is saying.

One day, he was trying to call his other grandmother (Bernie Keeling) and she didn't answer so he announced to me, "I will leave her a voice message." On the phone he stated clearly, "Hello. I am leaving you a voice message! I am coming to your house!"

I don't get to see the grandkids as often these days so have to resort to the text messages or an email other than phone calls. So, today, I wanted to take a moment and simply say,

"Hi, R.J. Happy Birthday ... I love you!"

I was heading for Atlanta today (by car) but I delayed leaving St Pete today after watching the weather forecast for northern Florida -- I actually only waited an hour but that kept me from being in the middle of some of the worst weather there. Other than driving through some rain (which wasn't too bad -- been in a lot worse!), the trip went well. Thanks so much for your prayers and for those who "checked in" ... it's good to have reminders of prayer support along the way. Of course, I had girls checking up on me as well!

I got a wet welcome -- but it wasn't from the rain but rather from Tim and Susan's dog, Keelin, who was quite excited that I had paid him another visit!

When I arrived in Atlanta tonight, I was amused by some of the weather advisories ... at the bottom of the TV, it had ....

Tornado Warning
Snow Advisory
Wind Advisory

Tornado and snow??? Now that's interesting -- I'm sure the snow was up in the northern GA mountains but it did seem sort of contradictory. However, there was a tornado touchdown and I believe snow is falling -- and I just heard there will be snow showers possibly in the morning.

Bottle, anyone??

I'm not sure how many would remember when I was given the job of trying to give our grandson, Rudy, a bottle since his mommy and daddy were gone overnight. At 3am, it was not necessarily a pretty sight -- no, I should clarify that -- it didn't sound good. He was quite furious with me for even thinking that a bottle would substitute for his mom!! So, I diligently worked with him whenever I babysat to try to get him to accept it. He finally did although begrudgingly!

However, today I am once again in Winter Haven .. I stopped by Teri's office where Rudy was hanging out with her. She handed him a bottle, he grabbed it and promptly put it in his mouth and sucked away!! I'm sure I should be able to take credit for that, right?? All my diligenty training paid off, I'm sure ... lol!! Probably not but it was a good thought for the moment. And, yes, I reminded his mother of all the agony we went through when he was insulted that I would suggest giving him a bottle -- even if it was breast milk!!

I wasn't sure if Rudy would remember me since it had been about 6 weeks since I had seen him last. However, he came to me quickly and laid his face against mine for a few minutes. I knew he remembered!!

Could I do this?? Stop laughing!!!!

I'm always intrigued by what these cheerleaders can do -- whether on the ground or in the air! I remember when they were in a Pinellas Park parade and Kasi had to tumble down the street!! Not an easy feat and she was pretty sore when she was done!

However, she certainly stays in good shape. Somehow I can't remember ever being able to stretch my body the way she does -- no laughing!!





The gals go from this ........ first photo ... to .... second photo ... do I still recognize my granddaughter?? (Oh, by the way, she's on the left in the first photo -- and in the middle in the second one!)



Of course .... while I didn't get to see this competition, I have seen others and can recognize her as she tumbles across the mat!!



Rock Solid All-Stars
Pinellas Park, FL

You would think I would be satisfied ....

... with the lovely weather at home ... 84 degrees yesterday!! A long ways from the 15 degree weather in Indy. I was out running some errands and realized that it was downright HOT down here! That's all relative because if I were here throughout the winter, it would have been just another day! But, no ... I had to notice that I was a slight bit uncomfortable from the heat and then I gave myself a chiding ... "Can't you be satisfied one way or the other??" I guess that is what happens if we let feelings dictate how we react!! Lord, help me to be content in whatever "state" I am!! Be it Indiana or Florida!! Cold or hot? I definitely do not want to be lukewarm! There I go again, spiritualizing things -- I need to quit and get busy today!!

(It is supposed to be about 75 degrees here today although we have storms moving in. I could, on the other hand, be in Indiana where they are expecting ice today. I think I will be very content right where I am!!)

What's wrong with this picture??

Today was a little bit of a challenge as I tried to pack up to return home. After being gone since January 30th, I had to try to figure out how to get two laptop computers and a printer home along with all the typical necessities for a trip! I made it and under the weight limit -- actually, the smaller suitcase weighed about 46 pounds and the larger one, 45 pounds!

After getting the vehicle packed, I headed out to see my dad. I always get teased about what I might include in my blog so I had to share some photos I took on this Indy trip from a dinner with Rachel, Allen, their children, Thad and his friend, Donna, at Los Amigos in New Castle, IN. That's where the pictures come in ... I don't think Thad thought his burrito would be quite this big -- of course, this is after we had eaten about a zillion chips with salsa while we waited and waited ... so we didn't have much room for the main course. Shara thought she had ordered the same thing that I did -- if she did, something got mixed up in the translation or they thought that I looked old enough to qualify for the 'old folks' discount which also meant that the helping was a might bit smaller. (I need all the help I can get so this wasn't too bad -- but was a little confusing for Shara ... did she get the 'young folks' helping??) You can see that Allen and Rachel were quite amused at it all -- and Allen was wondering how quickly the photos would be added to my blog! Well, let's see ... I just got home and they are going on now ... along with Bob's devotional for yesterday! I'm hoping I can catch up on my sleep and my work load here at home before I head out again on Friday!!

Is my brain frozen???

I've been in Indiana for a week and it has been downright cold. My kids call from Florida and remind me that they are laying out in the sun or something similar and I want to hang up on them. Well, not quite. (But almost!!) I lost one of my gloves in the vehicle I am driving and it would be the one for the left hand. I had to pump gas when the wind was blowing and it was REALLY cold -- So, my right hand got really cold!! I did find the glove later -- AFTER I had pumped the gas!! Oh, well ...

I'll head back for Florida on Sunday -- yeah, hurray!!

Please pray for our friend, Amy Balty -- the link to her blog is listed under "Crosswalk by Amy" (I believe that's the title). She is going through some very difficult times physically right now and along with all that, she is a devoted mom and wife. (She is in the hospital right now.) Needless to say, her heart is at home with her family so I know she would appreciate our prayer support.

So much for today ... my brain is still cold so not working completely up to speed -- no comments, please!!!