A Mama's heart......

Well, my heart is heavy......I know that it shouldn't be......I KNOW that kids grow up and they are SUPPOSED to leave home and be on their own in every way but I didn't KNOW that sometimes that means leaving home and going so far away! I think it is easier for the person LEAVING than it is for the person left behind. I think maybe because the person leaving is going somewhere new and making new memories. The person left behind is left with ONLY memories......and an emptiness. My family has always been close by....maybe not in the same city or even the same state but always within a half day's drive! Now Ryan is moving 652.59 miles away......mapquest says that is a 10 hour drive from MY HOUSE! I keep telling myself that it could be worse.....he could be moving to California or New York City......and he will be staying with a friend while he is job hunting and once he finds a job....Melissa will join him.....but it still makes my heart feel sad. I need to put on my big girl panties and I need to be excited for him! He worked so hard to get his degree and now it is time for his degree to work for HIM! This is what is supposed to happen I know.......but.....I still think of him as this:

And it seems like just yesterday that he was pretending to go to work doing this:

BUT in reality....he has grown into this:

A young man who has fallen in love with his niece and who will someday be a wonderful daddy to his own children. I can just see a little boy with Ryan's freckles and dimples and love of life!

Okay....maybe a little wine to go with my whining?! Let's see if that helps!

Love,

GiGi

Global warming?

Well, I think I just need to pack up and head South....somewhere warm and sunny and warm! I'm just not understanding this whole global warming thing that the 'experts' say we are experiencing. We have broken records in snowfall this year and broken records in low temperatures....someone just explain this to me! It is almost the middle of March.....Spring is just around the corner and it is 39 degrees outside with a wind chill of 30! I am so ready to get outside and work in my flowerbeds, dig in the warm dirt, plant some flowers, feel the sun on my face! I think March is the hardest month for me. It teases me with warm, Spring-like days and then we are back to bitterly cold windy days where the wind just chills you to the bone and no matter what you do to try to get warm......it is never enough!


See these temps!? I just looked out the window and a whole flock of little birds are lined up on the top of the back fence by the bird feeder. I think that they are also wondering what is going on! At least our extended forecast is calling for sunshine tomorrow and temperatures in the 50s and warming up into the 60s after that!

Craig and I went to 7 a.m. Mass this morning. We sat with Mom and Dad. After Mass, Dad treated us to Susan's for breakfast. Craig had to head off to work so he didn't get to eat with us. Mom and I shared a pecan waffle with strawberry topping and a little whipped cream! It was so yummy!

Stopped at Wal-Mart for a few groceries after Adoration this afternoon and then decided to fill the jeep up with gas. I had to pay $3.45 a gallon this afternoon! That is another thing that I need explained to me.....how gas prices can flucuate from DAY to DAY! Haven't they already paid for the gas that they have in their tanks.....wouldn't the price depend on how much they had to pay the DAY they had to order it!?

Time to get off of my soap box and share a cute picture with you! Ryan had given Chloe a 'few' cheerios one morning while I was fixing her breakfast. As you can tell from her smiling little face....she loves her Ry-Ry!

Just looking at that little face puts things in perspective.....doesn't really matter that it is bitterly cold out there or that gas prices are climbing higher and faster than the thermometer......we have our health...... we are part of a loving family who love spending time together.....we have a precious granddaughter.....our sons are doing well......life is good.....it really is!

Love,

GiGi

Long time since I posted!

I REALLY need to make more of an effort to blog more.....I want my blog to document the special times in my life....in my day. I think I will always remember those times but I don't and I won't. Special times spent with my parents, my husband, my kids, and especially my granddaughter. Since becoming a grandma....I realize how fast time goes.....witnessing this everytime I see Chloe and how much she changes from week to week! Seems like just yesterday she was an infant and now she is running around and talking. A whole year just flew by in a blink of an eye!



Here is a picture of Chloe taken last week when she was here. She is now a year old and is such a sweet little girl. She is so loving and I love, love, love hearing her calling me GiGi! The sweetest sound in the whole wide world! I treasure our time together at bedtime when I am giving her a bottle and rocking her. She just looks at me with those big blue eyes and it is like she can see into my soul and hopefully sees how very much I love her! After she finishes her bottle, she lays her little head on my shoulder and we snuggle and rock until she falls asleep. Doesn't get any better than that! She absolutely adores her Mimi and Poppy. Whenever they come over....as soon as they walk in the front door, she starts squealing and gets so excited! I am so glad that Mom and Dad live so close and are able to enjoy her as much as we do. Craig had to go to Muskogee on Friday so she and I packed up and spent the night with Mimi and Poppy. We had a lot of fun and they were able to see how much she enjoys her bath time and how happy she is when she wakes up! She is happy all of the time but when she first wakes up....she stretches and stretches and it is just so funny! The weather was so warm so we spent a little time outside before we headed back home Friday. She played for the longest time with a fly swatter. She was pushing it all over the back deck, under patio chairs, in the yard......

She keeps us all so entertained! Craig and I met her mommy and daddy in Clarksville Saturday morning. That is about half way for both of us. I love having Chloe but on the days that I have to give her back......it is really sad around here. Just miss her smiles and laughter so much. BUT.....I know that her mommy and daddy miss her too when she is up here so I put my big girl panties on and just try not to think about it so much! I usually take a day or two before I can pack away her toys and pack 'n play......

Mom, Dad and I started back into our walking routine on Monday morning. Dad is doing so much better now. Is able to walk without wheezing and/or chest pains. He is walking fast too! We are anxious for warmer weather so we can start walking outside. Walking at the Mall is nice but it does get pretty boring! We always go out for breakfast after our walk.....I enjoy just spending that hour visiting with them and we usually laugh a lot and solve a lot of the world's problems! It is a very special part of my day and I treasure that time with them.

I just talked to Mom and she said Dad was riding his bike patroling the neighborhood. He is the self appointed neighborhood watch dog! He is 73 so not sure what he would do if he spotted trouble but I'm sure he would do what he could! He kept riding back and forth down the little road behind their house she said. She waved every time he rode by and said he was probably tired of her waving. I told her that he was looking each time at her so probably didn't mind so much. I suggest that she 'flash' him the next time he rode by....she should kind of pull up her shirt! She said he would probably crash his bike! Unfortunately, he was on his last round so she didn't get a chance to do that. I suggested that she do it the next time but make sure it is HIM riding by when she does do her flashing thing!

Craig went to the chiropractor this afternoon. Said he laughed like a girl and could NOT stop laughing when Dr. Santos popped his neck. Said he worked on his back and hooked him up to a machine for his hip. Will go back Thursday. With being hunched over his desk and computer so long every day, I'm sure his back and neck are so knotted up. Next we are going to try to get him into a walking routine. It is probably a good idea to get his back, neck and hip lined back up properly before we do much walking.

Craig and I are going with Mom and Dad tonight to US Pizza.....having that pizza and beer before Lent starts tomorrow!!!! So.....on that note....I had better get ready because Craig will be here soon and we want to go early.

Love, GiGi

TGIF!

Just do NOT have any energy today! If I were really truthful.....I haven't felt like doing anything all week! I think I am still tired from vacation! It is a LOT of work getting everything ready the week before you leave and the day before.....it is like a marathon! Then while you are ON vacation.....you try to cram in as much as you can knowing that you only have a certain number of days there! We didn't really DO that much but I think all of the sun and fresh air and heat is just as tiring. THEN you have the last day of vacation where you are doing the laundry and packing to go home. Not to mention the feeling of sadness that the fun is about over and it is back to the real world! Not that the real world isn't fun but it was so nice being on the beach, lounging around the pool, spending time with family and laughing till you hurt! I think I need TWO weeks at the ocean next time! Then maybe, just MAYBE, I will be ready to come home!

Bud and I went to the casino with Mimi and Poppy last night. They had free rooms and it was Senior Night. Senior Night is for people 50 years and older and I'm not so sure how I feel about being in that 'elite' group now! Was really different gambling in that sea of wheelchairs, oxygen tanks and WHITE hair! I DID feel pretty young though! haha Bud left this morning at 7 a.m. for work.....I think he said it was about the same distance from Siloam to Rogers as from Springdale to Rogers. I know he has to be tired too so am thinking our weekend will be pretty low key with sleeping in and naps on the agenda! The temperatures are so much cooler now so will definitely be taking the jeep down on the jeep tomorrow! Haven't had many days where it was cool enough to do that this summer!

Last week this time, we were enjoying our last day at the ocean! We ordered pizza delivery and were doing laundry and packing. And some tears were shed as well.......I don't know if people who live on the ocean ever take it all for granted but I honestly don't think I would. Each day was filled with new things to see......sharks, rainbows, tar balls (not many though), owls, falling stars! I don't think you COULD take it for granted......and since we went later in the season than we normally do.....the kids were all back in school so we pretty much had the pool, beach and ocean to ourselves. And traffic was nothing! SO NICE!

Probably won't blog this weekend.....will take too much effort and I hope this post is appreciated since I had to move from the couch to the guest room to type this! ; )

Gigi

Hugs from Heaven

I was going to post some more about our vacation but instead I want to share something else. My heart has been heavy lately.....due to personal things as well as things going on in the lives of those that I love. I won't go into all of that but I have just felt overwhelmed at times and I know so many hearts that are troubled and that are hurting including my own. I had a very special relationship with my grandma........and since I've become a grandma......I feel an even closer bond with her. She was THE best! She always had time to laugh, to love, to play....to listen, to hug and she had a wonderful hug! When she died.....there was a special song that kept playing on the radio and for a few months after her death, I would occasionally hear it again and always when I needed to feel her hugs the most! I haven't heard the song in YEARS! Not that I haven't needed to feel her hugs but I just haven't heard it in a long, long time. Yesterday on my way to church for my hour of Adoration.....I gathered my Bible, jumped in my jeep and flipped on the radio which I seldom do and immediately 'the' song came on and I felt those arms hug me and I felt her love so clearly. I needed that more than I've ever needed it before! And during Adoration, I felt her presence like never before. I felt like she was sitting right beside me holding my hand and holding my heart. I miss her so much but I also see her in my mom and my aunts.....that same love, that same strength, that same love of life! I am so blessed.

Not only was she beautiful on the outside, but just as beautiful on the inside! She was a little woman but she had a BIG heart!

Gigi

Vacation anything but boring!

We are back from vacation! We had quite the adventure! I may have to post about our vacation in more than one post! We left Saturday morning at 4 a.m. on the dot! Mimi, Poppy, Albie and Carol picked us up in this!


This was RV's maiden voyage and we were all so excited to be a part of this adventure! We had watched the movie "RV" and knew that we were going to have an adventure for sure but didn't really plan on the adventure that we ended up having!!!! It started out great! We had loaded all of our luggage, food, etc. in the RV the night before so at 4 a.m. we just had to load our bodies and a few carry on bags! About halfway to Little Rock, Albie who was sitting at the table in the RV suddenly announced that she was going to faint! Well, that is exactly what she did! She was out cold! We pulled over a couple of different times.....once when she passed out and another time when Bud and Carol carried her and dumped her little body into the bed at the back of the RV. The little woman weighs as much as a hummingbird and they acted like she was a ton of bricks! They literally 'threw' her into the bed! We were hoping once she was in the bed and cooled off that she would feel better but she was sick and weak most of the trip to Florida! She didn't get vertical until we were in Florida! I think in Maumelle Rhyno started driving and we were driving either into or out of Pine Bluff when we heard this loud crashing sound. We all thought something had fallen over in the RV but Mimi and Poppy came up to the front of the RV and said we had blown a tire! Do you know how hard it is to find someone who will come and fix a flat tire on an RV on the side of a road!? Let me tell you, it is hard! It was an inside rear tire and we were all very lucky that Rhyno was able to keep control of the RV and we didn't crash! Here we are on the side of the interstate with a very sick woman and it is hot, hot, hot and we are waiting for someone to come and change the tire. Luckily we had a good spare tire but the guy said that the other rear tires were not in the best of shape so we needed to be careful! AND remember, we didn't have a spare now! We started calling places to try to find tires for the RV.....even made a couple of stops at tire places. In addition to it being impossible to find tires to fit the RV.....we were dealing with most tire places closing at noon on a Saturday and we were getting close to noon! We didn't find tires and prayed that we would make it to Florida safely! THEN the generator quit working! Did I tell you how hot it was?! No generator meant no air conditioning except for the very very front where the driver and passenger seats were and that wasn't that cold when it is that hot and you are trying to cool a big huge RV! And did I mention that we had a freezer and refrigerator full of food that we had to try to keep cool?! And did I mention how hot it was?! And that we were trying to keep Albie cool who was still feeling sick and weak?! We finally made it somewhere in Mississippi and all of a sudden, traffic came to a stop! No moving and did I mention how hot it was?! We saw some cars turning around so decided to take a short cut on some side roads and try to pass the accident ahead. We used Bud's iPhone.....google maps or something. Well, I guess people thought we knew what we were doing because they started following US! We were going down little country roads which probably had never had anything other than a tractor or pickup truck traveling on! I guess our convoy lost confidence in us because we were soon enough out there all by ourselves. Have you ever seen the movie "Deliverance"? Well, this was Deliverance in an RV! And guess what!? We ended up right at the accident and the police had our way blocked! There was a military truck that had turned over I guess and burned. It had to have been a very bad accident with injuries and we all thought that perhaps the fainting and blown tire had delayed us enough where we weren't involved in that accident! They had that side of the interstate closed down.....and were redirecting traffic on the other side of the interstate. We were able to merge in - thanks to a kind driver who surely felt sorry for this RV trying to get into traffic! We actually didn't merge.....we had to find an opening in traffic going the opposite direction and then find someone who would let us in going in the direction that we needed! Not as easy as it sounds and poor Rhyno was driving and this was his first time behind the wheel of an RV! The generator finally kicked on and we were getting cooler so thought we were on our way! Well, Mimi got up to do something and there is water in the kitchen area! We had sprung a leak in the hot water pipe under the kitchen counter! She and I used towels and after turning off the water, we sopped up the water under the bottom cabinets and floor. BUT we made it! Well, at this time Bud was driving and he turned off too soon so we took a LONG scenic route to our condo! Mimi and I kept telling them that we were turning off too soon but what do we know!? Apparently a lot! haha What should have been a 12 hour drive more or less ended up taking us 16 hours! But as Sonny Bono would say, "It's all good!" We made it safely and checked in! We didn't have to go out for food since we had turkey breasts that Mimi had baked before we left so we had sandwiches, grape cheese salad that I had made Friday night and a pasta salad that I had made Friday night also. Was so good to be able to just be 'there' and not have to go out for something to eat! Will post more tomorrow about the rest of the vacation! Here are a few pictures of our condo where we stayed. It was our second time to stay in this condo and it is our favorite one!


We stayed on the 14th floor. We were the second balcony from the top. Had a huge balcony where we spent a lot of time! If I ever win the lottery....I am so buying that condo and moving there! haha

More memory sharing tomorrow!

Gigi

Getting back to walking!

Got up at 6:15 a.m. and got dressed to go to Mom and Dad's to walk. Decided to check radar and make sure there wasn't rain in the immediate forecast. Well, lo and behold.....radar was showing rain! I decided to LOOK outside and sure enough, it was raining. Not a lot but enough. Took off my shoes and decided walking would not be happening today. Well, as quickly as the rain shower popped up, it pooped out! SO....got the shoes back on and headed out to walk. It had been over two weeks since I've walked. The week before last I had Chloe here and last week, I had a hurt back. I haven't had real shoes on in a long time so my feet were protesting as well as the rest of me! We were about half way into our walk when it started sprinkling. We decided to head back and just walk closer to home so in case of harder rain....we could make a run for it. We ended up walking about an hour and the rain fizzled out again. HOWEVER, on our way home from breakfast.....it started raining again and this time we got a pretty good shower!



Little Buddy is going on a road trip with some friends to Chicago....leaving Thursday. Since I was going to be filling up Little Buddy's car with gas (it was almost empty) Dad put some gas treatment in the gas tank and then I filled it up with gas. He then replaced the spark plugs so Little Buddy should be good to go. We just had the oil changed, tires rotated and balanced last month.



Little Buddy finally finished up his thank you notes for his graduation gifts. They will be in the mail tomorrow! After he finished, he decided it wasn't as difficult as he thought it would be! DUH!



Fixed fried chicken, baked some french fries in the oven and fixed some corn on the cob for supper. Now I am watching the Home Run Derby! I am missing my Cardinal games!



Can't post this without a picture so here you go! This is Bud riding his unicycle! He used to ride all of the time when he was a little boy and says he rode with his brother on his shoulders! He drags out his unicycle every now and then and brushes up on his riding skills!

I was teasing him that I was going to start renting him out for children's birthday parties! He just needs to get his juggling act perfected a little more!

Gigi