Rainy Day Thoughts or 'Time Passages'

I don't know about you but for me, rainy days become 'thinking' days, or, 'reflection' days. I find my thoughts scattered here, there, and everywhere. For instance...

...Ken is taking on 'Scoutmaster' position in our son's Boy Scout troop. It's funny to think we've gone from researching luxury vacation properties to camping/hiking equipment! My warm-weather-loving husband is checking out zero-degree sleeping bags, survival practices, equipment compression and weight stats, etc. Who'd-a-thunk-it? I'm so proud of him!

... today is Elisa and Rob's wedding anniversary. They've sure come a long way these three years. It's also a pleasure to have Rob as part of our family. He's a great guy and I'm glad he's 'one of ours.' Congratulations, Rob and Elisa!

...Darrell is doing great in school. He has two courses over the summer to make up for credits he lost moving from Erskine to USC Upstate. One's a psych course and the next is 'History of Rock and Roll.' He's a pretty happy student these days!

...tomorrow is Nicole's birthday. She turns 17 and I so wish I could be there to give her a big hug. I just know she's going to take on the world one of these days soon - and come out on top. Happy Birthday, Nicole!

...so glad Shan, Josh and Kaitlyn are safely home from their whirlwind round-trip to Louisiana. There and back in 24-hours. Did I mention that Shannon left all their CD's at home??? That makes for a lot of static on the old car radio. Kudos to Josh, our marathon man.

...vacation (the non-camping variety) is still 4-months away; sure wish it was now.

...Zachary has to be the coolest 8-month old in the world! Every day brings new 'firsts,' and discoveries galore. Oh yeah - mobility, too. He just wants to go and go and go...

...The school year is winding down - some other things as well. Christopher and his cousin, Andrew, are at the end of their elementary school years... UNBELIEVABLE! ...AWANA finishes tonight and Abbey will say goodbye to 'Sparks' and move up to T&T in the fall. Christopher has just one more year in the program.

...getting ready to start our next school year. Praying I've made a good choice of curriculum and looking forward to the 'newness' of starting again.

Time to run - the coolest 8-month old in the world is getting grumpy. Seems he doesn't care it's a rainy day and Grandma is blogging.

Happy everything...

Matt-Man

With love to Matthew...

No long goodbyes;
a hug, a squeeze.

I love you, Sweetheart!
...Come back to us, please.

And just in case you ever wonder... big girls, yes, even Grandmas, do cry.

Wolfie Goes Camping...

Great title, huh? Too bad I can't tell you what it means. I've been sworn to secrecy.

Ahhh...Thursday evening, 9:00 p.m. and winding down for the night. It's been a nice day. Ordinary day. Zach is great, the kittens are playful and extremely funny, DQ aced a test, and Christopher is getting ready for a Boy Scout camping trip.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU...
Our newest son-in-law, Josh, has his birthday tomorrow and we're going out for dinner. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JOSH!!!" ...a mere 5-days later my oldest son will leave behind his teenage years and enter his 20's. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DARRELL!!!" ...and 3 days after that will be my big brother's birthday - he's Darrell, too (my oldest son is named after my two brothers). "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, (UNCLE) DARRELL!!!"

Went to Costco today for shopping and lunch with Ken and the kids. Being the good Weight Watcher person that I am I opted for the turkey wrap instead of their great pizza or even a hot dog. To my amazement (and distress) I later found out that I would have been better off with the pizza. The turkey wrap is LOADED with calories and very heavy on the fat grams. Who'd'a thunk it???

I'm doing really well on WW this time around and even hitting the 'Y' periodically - not as often as I'd like but doing better each week. It's been clear that the weeks I exercise are the weeks I lose the most weight. So far I'm only doing treadmill and exercise bike but it's apparently been enough of a difference from my usual (sedentary) routine.

Abbey's soaps are adorable and she sold quite a few on Mother's Day. She's even had a couple of special-orders. This weekend will find her busy making more. I'm still having a great time making jewelry designs and love learning new things.

Had Abbey to the orthodontist today for a consult. She will need braces eventually but not yet - that was good news. Christopher just had spacers put in this week in preparation for an 'appliance' to keep his teeth where they are - don't want them moving into newly opened spaces.

And that sounds like a good place to wrap things up for this evening.

Tomorrow is Friday and the weekend is about here - yeah! Hope you have a great one!

Too Cool...

Some 'Too Cool' thoughts for today...

Abbey, our 8-year old, is starting a soap business. No official name yet but she's purchased supplies and her first batch came out beautifully. A little light on the fragrance, but hey, some people might prefer that! Way to go, Abbey!

Heard from BF, Dawn, yesterday. Nicole is doing well these days (praise God!) and getting ready for prom. Be sure and send pics, Dawn! Miss you!

Rob and Elisa got us a terrific gift. It's a CEIVA picture frame. It works like most digital frames except you can take pictures with your phone and upload them to the frame. Share the address with friends and loved ones and they can upload pictures, too. Photo libraries can be managed online for extra-ease-of-use. Definitely too cool! I have a ton of pictures loaded on it and really enjoy watching the continuous slide-show.

Zachary will probably be crawling by this time next week. He's just about there now. He certainly is a determined little guy.

Mother's Day - Ok, yes, one of my most favorite days of the year. A little less so since I lost my mom, but with a mother-in-law, 5 kids of my own, 2 sons-in-law, and 3 grandkids it's still a super-special day! I'm never happier than when we're all together. Kenneth makes most days feel special but he even ups the attention on Mother's Day.

Weight Watchers - very cool when you're doing well on it and following plan.

YMCA - Same as Weight Watchers.

Netbook Computers - Computers that fit in my purse, boot-up quickly and offer portability and connectivity wherever you are. Cool enough on their own, they reach the 'too cool' level with a wireless card.

Jewelry Making - My newest venture and one I really enjoy. I figure I'll knit in the fall and winter and play with beads in the spring and fall.

It's Thursday - the weekend's almost here. Too cool...