Better Late than Never!

I am so behind on my blogging. I finished the Cataloging class I was teaching this term. It took some of my extra time, so blogging fell to the wayside!
Updates-
First and most major, as most of you know, we are going to have a new grandbaby! We are very happy with the news from Josh and Katie. They are great parents, and we know this baby will be loved by everyone. Hannah will be a great sister, I know. What a girl!
WW continues to go well. I am at about 80 pounds, and still going. I have almost NO clothes, no coat, no shoes (my shoes are too big) and the underwear- well, we will not go there! I am going to go shopping on Columbus Day. One pair (I am serious as a heart attack) of pants does not a week make.
Lila is about to be one year old. What a baby doll she is. She is walking, talking, and being a big girl.
Addi and Levi continue to amuse us on a daily basis. Addi is doing great in school, soccer, and Fall ball. Levi is my heart- enough said! He seems to be doing some better with his busy self, and actually did good in church on Sunday night. He is going to do great things in life, if he survives childhood intact! Hannah continues to amaze me at her maturity. Things about her make me think of Kim at that age. She is wise beyond her 2 years, for certain.
David, my love, is still busy trying to return money to the Veteran’s Administration. Seriously. How can a government agency send you an extra $30,000.00 (or more)? He has tried his best to give it back, and nobody will take it. If it were not serious in regards to PaPa’s eligibility for Medicaid, it would be funny. It is almost like a bad dream that will not end. Pray for him.
Better run. I will try to do better at blogging- we shall see!

Transplant Time??

Mary saw her doctor on Wednesday and he told her he thought she would have a liver within a week. If you are a praying person, now is the time to pray. Mary is miserable from the itching- which never lets up. I am thankful that hopefully the transplant will be soon and she can return to good health for many years to come While we all realize what must happen in order for the transplant, we also know that it will not happen just because Mary needs the liver, so we just can't dwell on that part- but we are dwelling on the fact that people are willing to donate, and that modern medicine has come so far.
We hope to be able to post good news soon. I am #3 on the call list from the hospital- Billy, David, me, and then Mary. I guess we will all be running like chickens. David and I have new phones, so that would be a great first call to get.
I love you all!
Susan

The Biggest Loser

Last night was the first episode this season of the Biggest Loser. Since I am on a weight loss journey (the never-ending journey, I might add), I watched with great interest. I really enjoyed the show the past year, and I know I will this year. I do not have a “team” as of yet, but I think it might be the orange team. They were in the bottom 2 last night but survived. The girl is a “big” girl, so I can empathize with her. Anyway, all that aside, I did have a “beef” about the show and was wondering if anyone else watched it. They had to climb this mountain and retrieve a banner dropped by airplanes. The yellow team, a father and daughter, had been told earlier that the father could not participate as his health was really bad. As a matter of fact, they say this is the first contestant that the doctor has limited on activity- of course the man lost like 20 something pounds, anyway. Go figure. Back to the challenge- the daughter had to do it by herself, as opposed to doing it with her dad. In order to retrieve the flags both members of the team had to be at the top of this mountain. Well the way I look at it, she was at an advantage, rather than a disadvantage. If the dad had been able to participate, I am certain that he would have been one of the last up the mountain. She was first (she is one of the lighter contestants) and retrieved the “immunity” flag. I just did not think that was fair- am I alone in my thoughts?

Thursday Tidbits

Well, tis Thursday night and I have just returned from Weight Watchers and the ball park. WW was a straight line- no gain, no loss, which surprised me because my scales show a loss, as does the WII, and the scales have been pretty much in line with the WW scales. Oh well, at least there was no gain. This is the first week since January that I have not shown a loss. I still believe I have lost at least a pound, but we will call it even. I stopped at the soccer field to watch the kids. Levi is apparently going to be a soccer dropout, but that is okay. Addi played goalie, but cried. I think she was afraid the other team would score on her. She did great, and did not let them score. Whenever she had to play she quit crying and did what she needed to do. Then Paul let her play in the field and she was upset that she was not the goalie. Go figure??? She was having an "emotional" evening, to say the least. She has improved so much since last year and should be a good player this season. Hopefully she will not take it too seriously. She is pretty competitive and is aware when her team is losing or winning, which is something a lot of the kids her age do not notice one way or the other.
On another note, David and I have become WII fit fans! SOOOO MUCH FUN!!!!!!! Can you believe I was sore today- all from standing on a little white box and playing "soccer", "skiing", and this marble game. I am in love with the WII Fit.
Here's to Friday!

Cousin Cliff

This morning when I picked up the newspaper, I was sad to see that “Cousin Cliff” had died. Cousin Cliff is one of my favorite childhood memories. I waited eagerly each afternoon for his television program. My how I loved Cousin Cliff! I had heard that he had Alzheimer’s, and was not doing well. As a matter of fact, we ate at Jack’s in Parrish last night and we commented on his picture on the wall. I told Billy that he was not doing well at last report. David had the “honor” of being on the program as a child. I would have been “over the moon” if I had been able to go. Mother always told me that Cousin Cliff lived “over the mountain” (which in Birmingham means Mountain Brook), but in my small world I thought he lived on the other side of the slate dump, (this is coming from a coal miner’s child that lived ON the slate dump above the mines)! I am sorry that today’s children do not have Cousin Cliff. Sponge Bob will just never be as good.

Ma Pounds and Stuff

This morning David called to tell me that “Ma Pounds” had passed away. She had been battling cancer for a while and while I am not certain of her exact age, she was hitting or over the nine decade (90) mark. For those who knew and loved Ma Pounds, she will be missed. Her presence at our camp week always added something special. She was there long after she should have been because of the terrain and her mobility issues. I gave her the walker that my mother had (it was more than a walker, and had cost Mother several hundred dollars) and she told me time and again how she would not have made it without it. I bet she had put 10,000 miles on those wheels. My mother would have been so proud that someone was able to use it for their good. While we do not yet know the arrangements, I am certain there will be many hundreds of people wishing to pay their regards to Mr. Black (yes, Ma Pounds remarried several years ago when she was well into her 80’s), and to her many children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and possibly great-great grandchildren. She was a true soldier of the cross, and she loved the church and the Word. Her life was not easy. Her father passed away when she was a little girl, and she told me often that she had to work like a man from childhood. She loved children, and all of my children were privileged to sit in her Bible classes at camp.
In other news, for those who have read Kim’s blog, you know that David, Kim, Billy, Mary, Addi, and myself spent Labor Day laboring. We cleaned out the house at Parrish. I cannot believe how much we accomplished. Mary was having a pretty good day and she was able to help big-time. Even Addi worked bringing us garbage bags and getting stuff out from under beds. Stuff-stuff-stuff. Every bank statement, every cancelled check, pay stubs, for not only MaMa and PaPa, but for their parents. To me the funniest thing is keeping all the old watch boxes and broken watches. I am going to try to keep less, but you know how that goes. We still have work to do, and some furniture to sell, but we made good progress. We used over 45, 33 gallon garbage bags, and dozens of boxes. We tried to laugh and just get it done, and it was not too sad. Their goodness was evidenced by Bibles and religious materials everywhere. What great people. We never know where we will spend our sunset years, and we never know if we will have sunset years, do we? Houses are just houses, cars are just cars, furniture is just furniture, but living a Godly life is priceless.

Another Caption This

This and That

Thursday night finds football playing in the background (YEAH! I have missed it!!!) and all quiet on Hathcock Drive. I had a good day at school, went by the thrift store (I went to get a blouse I had passed up the other day, and of course it was gone. For some reason I could not pay $5.99 at the thrift store, even though it was new with $40.00 tags on it- go figure my mentality- I did get a great pair of $1.25 dress pants that are the perfect length), came home and did a little bit of nothing, went to Weight Watchers (3.2 pounds!!!!!!!!!!!, bringing me to about 75, I think), went to the store, came home and with the help of a Sam's roasted chicken, steam-fresh veggies, and microwave mashed potatoes, had a great supper. That sums up today, in a nut shell. David spoke at Roebuck Parkway last night in their summer series. He had been scheduled for months, and we had no idea that last night Daniel and Mandi would be introduced to the congregation. Everyone had so many nice things to say- especially many that were on the search committee. One of the elders gave Mandi a copy of the new church directory and jokingly told her there would be a test on it next week. I don't think she will learn everyone by then. Daniel grew up at Maytown (Sylvan Springs), which is a relatively small congregation, and Mandi grew up at East Gadsden, which was I would guess at that time a mid-size congregation- so to go to 700 in attendance is going to be a big change for them. They will have their work cut out for them, but I think they can handle it. They are house-hunting, and house-selling, so they have much to do.
Addi and Levi have their first soccer practice tonight. We should get lots of laughs this year, for certain. Levi should provide lots of entertainment, and I imagine we will see Addi make a lot of improvement since this is her 3rd year to play (and she is just 5!).
Hannah is busy being busy. She is very entertaining, to say the least. Lila continues to grow and has found her "voice". It also appears that her quiet disposition may be a thing of the past. She seems to have little patience when she has to wait, and her red hair might come with a bit of a temper. She is funny when she is waiting on her bottle- she makes her hands into fists and gets all excited. She is a very good baby and I believe she will be walking soon.
I better go- the long weekend is just around the corner. It appears from the weather that we may be spared the current hurricane as it seems to have shifted west- tomorrow may be another story. I hate to take weather days this soon in the school year, but that is out of my control.
Have a great Friday.

Caption This

Happy Birthday, Hannah!

I am a day late, but I could not let Hannah's birthday pass without mentioning it and sharing some photos (I LOVE my new camera).

Hannah had a great birthday, with a house full of grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, family, and friends. She was the best 2 year old present opener I have ever seen. She even opened her cards and acted as if though she was reading them. She is very smart.

I am so proud of her. Her parents are doing a great job, and it shows.

I love you , Hannah, and never forget that fact!

Granna

Whewwww.......

Well, I hoped to post about a "normal" week, but for those who know me best (and have read David's blog at http://www.fromcalmtochaos.blogspot.com/) then you know about the goings on at our home. I will admit, I held it together, but it looked like a murder scene from a horror movie, and I am not a horror movie person. Thankfully David did not lay his head down on his desk and die, as Kent told him he might have done. From the moment my phone rang, before Kim said a word, I knew by her breathing that something was wrong. My first thought was that something had happened to one of the kids, and my heart was already in my throat. When she said "Dad", I had my keys in my hands. I don't guess it is any surprise to any of you, but I love that "Big Column of Pressure" (as the kind doctor referred to him), and he is my rock. I am glad to report he is doing well, but he has been pretty weak the past couple of days. He lost a lot of blood, more that I think the doctor even realized. It would be hard to measure, but it must have been at least a pint and a half or 2 pints. Every time something happens that ends us up at the ER, I always make the comment that you never know in the morning where your night will see you. David also made the comment that it seems that through the years we have never had "normal" things...and that is so true in hindsight. How many kids get an infection in their leg from "concrete" after taking a ride in their grandfather's new car up a telephone pole (with their 2 year old brother at the wheel), how many people get a virus that attacks the liver, or have AFLP (acute fatty liver in pregnancy), just to name a few of our "weird" and unusual illnesses. But, thanks to a great and loving God, David is on the golf course this morning (not playing, but helping with the camp tournament- he thought he could play, but the weakness gave him pause to reconsider!).
In great news, Daniel has been hired as the youth minister for the Roebuck Parkway Church of Christ. They plan to move to the Trussville area, which will put them an hour closer to us and in the same county! They have a house to sell, and much to do. I think he has one more week at his present job at DHR and 2 more Sundays at Glencoe. The job at Roebuck will be a big one- a large youth group numbering close to 100, I think. Their attendance is around 700 and there are 4 other ministers, I believe. They are an active church in an area of town that has seen decline in many ways. Pray for Daniel and Mandi as they take on this new position. Mandi will be able to continue teaching at Locust Fork, and her drive will be cut way down, so that is great news.
Have a great weekend- and watch out for purple veins!
Susan

"Twas the Day Before the New School Year

Tomorrow begins a new school year. Can it be? I can hear the pump on the swimming pool, so I know it is still summer. Fortunately my media center has excellent air conditioning!!!! I remember my mother telling me once that each September she would get that "back to school" feeling, even decades after she or any of her children were off to a new school year. Being in education, I not only have that feel, but I am there. The summer has been so busy, and my last two days of "freedom" have not exactly turned out to be "free". I fixed lunch for the kids at church yesterday (they are having Lads to Leaders "Boot Camp"), and then I had some errands to run and some "orchestrating" to get two meals prepared and delivered to families with deaths. Thanks to everyone- especially Katie, Kim, and Emily. They have really helped during this time. I am proud of them.
This morning David hit a new low!!! Yeah, David. Then it dawned on him that he needed to try on his suits to see if he had one that he could wear for the funeral on tomorrow. Mercy----we moved almost all of his suits to the "too big" closet. This is not a good situation for a minister. He has 2 new sports coats, but they are still a little small, so his options were limited. He did come up with a dark suit that will work, but I had to put the hem back in the pants. He is fixing to hit the place I hit a few weeks ago- a closet full of too big clothes. Not a bad problem.
The scales are moving in the right direction for me, as well- albeit very slow. I hope once school resumes that the special events will not be as frequent. I do well on normal days, so I am praying for normal days.
Last night was so nice. We floated in the pool, watched planes fly over, and just chilled out. Those nights are few and far between.
Well, I must go. The laundry calls. My goal of having a spotless house when I returned to work has now vanished into the reality that it ain't going to happen. Oh well, maybe some day.
Love to all!!!

Just a Short Update

I haven't had time to do much posting this week. It has been busy. We left Thursday to go to Lake Guntersville State Park. Just let me say- if you are needing a one night get-away- that is the place to go. The scenery and views are just too wonderful. The lodge is beautiful and all of the rooms are newly re-modeled. It costs about $100.00 a night, and the views are as pretty as any in the Gatlinburg area. I had to work a lot while there, but we had fun being together as a faculty. David truly enjoyed sitting on the deck with his camera, binoculars, and a cup of coffee.
On Saturday morning we left at 7 and drove to Glencoe. David had to speak 3 times at their back to school rally. It was well organized and there were about 100 in attendance. Then after the rally we went to Daniel and Mandi's and met their dog, Tipin. She is so sweet and well behaved. She is a golden retriever. Mandi had somewhere to be, so we went with Daniel and ate. I had a wonderful smoked chicken salad with a dying fly in it! I had eaten about 1/2 when I discovered him fighting for his life. They kindly removed the charge from the ticket. This is the second time in 2 weeks that I have had a fly in my salad. Oh well, it was good for the diet!
This morning the phone rang early and it was Jeannette Cagle telling us that Michelle Blankenship had over-dosed and died sometime around 3:00 a.m. Michelle's family attends church at Sylvan Springs, and Michelle came during certain periods of time. She was at church on Wednesday night, I believe. Sadly, the lure of drug addiction won the battle. The family has never tried to hide the fact that Michelle had problems, and they really wanted to help her. The family is making arrangements today. We went and spent some time with Pat and Casey. Their hearts are broken. As sad as it is to see someone in their early 30's lose their life this way, I hope maybe her death will be a wake up call for others. If you keep playing with rattlesnakes, eventually you will get bit. Pray for the family, they are going to need a lot of support. Drug addiction has been the cause of many untimely deaths. and this is one.
In other news, I got my Weight Watchers vouchers. I think I am going to wait and go back on next Monday after school starts back. I am still on the program, but since the next few days are going to be so busy and since school starts back for me on Wednesday, I think I will wait. I have missed a couple of weeks waiting on the vouchers, but I have stayed with the program for the most part. We were over-fed on the retreat, so I have a day or two to make up, but I am working on that.
I hope you all have a great week. Remember, I love you!

How's It Working For You?

I love a Bargain, Part 2

I love Paul's sister's blog (Katie). She is a coupon queen. I used to do coupons, but I kind of gave that up for other bargain escapades. Now, I still like a grocery bargain and in that line I shop at the Bent and Dent, Aldi, anywhere I can get a great buy. I thought I would share some of my current "bargains". While some of these items are "winter", it will not be long. There are 16 pieces of clothing in the photo- all new with the tags. There are 2 light-weight jackets, 2 pair of athletic type pants, and 12 tops of varying styles. Any guesses on how much I spent on all 16 pieces? Well, I added it up and excluding tax I spent $11.25. Not bad, would you say????

I Love a Bargain

As most of you know- I love a bargain. Perhaps, too much. I love finding good buys. We have always had an over abundance of clothing, but we have never spent very much money on any of it. When all 3 of the kids were at home, I would shop off-season, the thrift store, yard sales, you name it. I still do. My grandkids have been the beneficiaries of many great bargains. I almost always have something for them, every time I see them. I like to think I am helping their parents out some, as their wonderful mommies have elected to fore-go careers and stay at home with them. That is not easy.

For my birthday- 30th anniversary- Christmas, etc. year before last, David bought me a new sewing machine that does embroidery. While I have not had enough time to just sit and play with it, I have managed to create a few things. I have monogrammed many shirts for David and Paul, and a few things for the kids. The other day I was at the thrift store and found this little dress for 75 cents. It was one of those marked $2.99 and it was 75% off (see photo to see what I did to make it belong to Hannah!). It is cordurory and come winter I think it will be cute with a white shirt under it. Each week they have items that are 50% off and 75% off. I shop by tag colors- this week was pink. I just go down the row and look for pink tags (75% off) and then look at the item and see if it will work for anyone I know. This week I bought me 2 items- a brand new shirt (tags still on ) for $1.25 and another shirt that appears to be brand new for $1.00. I also bought Mrs. Courington a brand new pair of pants (tags still on ) for $1.25. I love a bargain. Since I have discarded 90% of my clothing- I am going to have to hunt bargains. I am going to post a new photo made Sunday. Anyone notice any difference????

Love to all-

Susan

A Little of This and a Little of That

Well, tis Thursday night and this week is flying by. Kim and the kids have been by to visit for a little while, and Josh also stopped by. I love my kids- what would I do without them????? Addi and Levi are going to come and spend the night on Monday. I have to go to school on Wednesday to meet Dr. Snider to make a portfolio pick-up for the university. Then on Thursday we are going to Lake Guntersville for a faculty in-service. We will be there until Saturday. David is speaking at the Back to School Rally on Saturday at Glencoe, so we are going to leave from Guntersville and go to Glencoe. Then I will have a couple of days the next week and then----back to school on the 11th! Where has the summer gone??????

I did not get to go to Weight Watchers this week. I am changing to a voucher program and my insurance is going to pay about 1/2! I have to wait on the process, so it may be a couple of weeks before I get the vouchers. I am still with the program although I am certain that this week would only see a small loss.

I am going to post some other photos from my new camera, which I truly love. I am still a novice when it comes to all the gidgets and gadgets, but I am eventually going to get it together.

Hope you all have a good end of the week and a great weekend.

My Girls

We've been ripped off!

WW Dupdate- 1.6 lbs. bringing me to a grand total of 69.8 lbs. May I claim 70????
Today one of our neighbors told David that someone had stolen the radio out of her husband's car. The neighbor next door told us a few weeks ago that someone had stolen their radio and I believe the radio of someone else that was visiting. Today David went out to his truck, and guess what??? No radio. He had not been in the truck since we returned from camp, so we are not certain when it happened. You know, I really feel ripped off. Nobody belongs in our truck, save us. I guess we are going to have to be more diligent in locking our doors, but I hate that feeling.
In other news, not much happening here. My pool has taken a turn for the worse and I have been battling the cloudy water today. I hope I have it on the run. I am going to WW tonight. I am not expecting anything major, and given vacation, I hope to have held my own. On my scales I show a small loss, but that is okay. I am continuing on my program, give or take a few small slip-ups. I think, let me say I know, I have to get with the exercise program. I feel at a little of a plateau. Although the scales are not moving too fast, I am continually adding to the pile of clothing that is too large.
I worked 2 days this week as opposed to the entire week. We are going to pick up the other days at a workshop at Lake Guntersville. I have never been there to stay, so that should be fun.
Better run!

Sunday Musings

Well, my Verizon network forsook me at Ft. Morgan this past week, so I did not update. We were shocked that we had minimal cell and wireless service, but it wasn’t so bad. I had papers to grade this past week so it made doing that a bit harder. I spent 2 and ½ hours in the Wal-Mart parking lot one night in an effort to get caught up.
The week at the beach was really nice. It was a lot of fun having all of my kids and grandkids under one roof. Everyone made it well, including all of the wee ones. Levi and Hannah provided a lot of entertainment. On Friday night Hannah was sitting with me in a chair and Addi was seated on the end of the chair (chaise lounge type chair)- Katie had just bathed all the kids and Addi’s hair was wet. Hannah was drinking her juice and she stopped and patted Addi on the back of the head and so sweetly said- “Addi, I like your red hair.” She is such a big girl and such a great talker.
David, Josh, and Daniel went deep-sea fishing and caught a LOT of fish. We ate fish one night and it was great. We also brought some home.
David, Josh, Katie, Hannah, Addi, and myself made a trip to Pensacola on Friday to watch the Blue Angels. David and I have seen them once before, and it is just outstanding!!! If you get a chance, go see them.
We went to the nursing home this afternoon. MaMa is doing much better, thank goodness. They have her wearing a helmet to try to prevent her from hurting herself if she falls. We are so pleased that she has improved.
I am going to work this week- and then I will have a few weeks before school begins. Summer is so short. My UWA classes will finish the first week of August, but my new sessions will start just as these end. We are going to 8 week sessions as opposed to 10 weeks- meaning I will have 5 sessions per year instead of 4.