As I Wander

What's waiting in Yellowstone?

2012-01-17T06:24:00.004-06:00

We have a sign at the newspaper office that reads: "One of the nice things about living in a small town is that even when you don't know what you're doing, someone else does."

I never knew how true that was until a week ago when I learned I had an opportunity to work in Yellowstone National Park this summer. Word spread fast, and most of the conversations I had this past week started with, " I heard you ..."

The really nice thing is that most of them ended with, "What an experience that will be. I'm really excited for you." And I could see my excitement reflected in their voices and their faces.

Ninety-nine percent of those I talk with are enthusiastic. The other 1 percent thinks I've lost my marbles. "What about the bears?" they ask. Well, there are bears, and I'm eager to do some bear watching. But from a safe distance.

To tell tne truth, one thing and another are keeping me so busy I haven't had much time to think about what's waiting for me in Yellowstone this summer.

But my friends are keeping me informed. As in these photos of wolves hunters brought down "up north" that Shannon Neely e-mailed to me. And I thought all I had to worry about was grizzlies. Thanks a heap, Shannon.

I promised Cheryl I'd start my blog up again if I got the Yellowstone job, so this is my first installment. I'll try my best to keep it up, but I will be living at Grant Village in the park, which seems to be a little more remote than the sights most tourists look for at Yellowstone, and I may or may not have Internet and cell phone service.

I don't report until May, but I'll add a post now and then until I leave and as many as possible after I get there.

I'M! GOING! TO! YELLOW! STONE!

Done

2012-01-15T07:52:00.001-06:00

OK, I'm not messing with it anymore. Like it or not, this is it.

Ooops!

2012-01-15T07:47:00.001-06:00

And now I've lost it. For good, I think.

Got what I wanted (kind of)

2012-01-15T07:31:00.002-06:00

Had a bunch of garbage on my screen and was trying to get rid of it. Had to revert to the classic template to remove all those little tags for Cutest Blogspot and some other messages. So this isn't a "cute" blog, but it will do.

Trial run

2012-01-15T07:26:00.001-06:00

Haven't posted for a couple of years, so just checking to see if I still can.

Opelika Odyssey

2010-05-06T19:15:00.003-05:00

OK, Cheryl, this one's for you.

Had a great vacation in Oplika, Ala., best noted as being the residence of my daughter Sarah, son-in-law Scott and grandkids Sam and Sydney. They put me up in their guest room for a week, and hauled me off one day to Warm Springs, Ga., where FDR had his Little White House. I could see why he loved it as a retreat, because the place is gorgeous. The cottage sits atop a tree-covered bluff, well off the road. I can imagine it would be equally beautiful in the fall and even the winter as it was all green and flowering as it is now.

I was a bit surprised at how rustic the cottage is, its walls paneled in wood, its rooms small, its kitchen unequipped with microwave and flattop stove ... oh, yeah, they didn't have those back in the 1930s and '40s, did they?

It has three bedrooms - FDR's at one end of the back porch (or deck, if you like) and his secretary's at the other end. A third adjoined FDR's, but Eleanor, as I understand it, seldom visited the place. The third bedroom was more often occupied by the Roosevelt children.

We also visited the baths at the springs, which was what drew FDR to the area in the first place. He felt the water helped lessen the ravages of the polio he had as a young man. Sydney took her bathing suit in anticipation, but the baths aren't open to the public - in fact aren't even filled, as the place is now a historic site. They are going to be open for public use Memorial and Labor Day weekends, if you want to pay prettily for sitting in the water for an hour.

The week was full of activity. Sarah and I shopped the first day; she bought, I looked. We shopped again a few days later, when I bought and she looked. It was fun. Friday was Jelly Bean Field Day at Sydney's school. We went for an hour, when Sarah oversaw the Frisbee station. One of the photos I'll post shows Sydney tossing an orange disc at the opening in the wood frame, which I am standing behind to take the picture. The Frisbee hit me. I have no idea who the three little girls are, but they wanted their picture taken, so I obliged.

We went to Sam's swim practice at Auburn University one night, although I think he missed more that week than he attended because I was there. I always like to watch him swim and hope someday to get to one of his meets. One or two of the photos will be from practice. One is Sydney during a "photo shoot" we did to keep her from being bored.

While I was there, I helped (slightly) Sarah put together flower pots, which she decorated by stamping a big red apple on (what horrible grammar!). We wrapped sunflower seeds in tulle, tied them with ribbon and attached a card with a quote about teaching. Then Monday, we delivered them to the teachers at Syd's school for the first day of Teacher Appreciation Week. That was really fun.

I also got to go with Sarah to drop Syd off at her first-ever sleepover. Sarah and I stayed a while to eat and do crafts with Lorelai's mom, Susan. First, I looked through Susan's scrapbooks, then she supplied me with paper and glue and I made a couple of cards while she worked on a quilt and Sarah did the cards for the teacher gifts.

At one point, we heard the girls talking in the living room, a conversation that evidently had something to do with birthdays or ages or something. Anyway, we heard Sydney tell Lorelai, "Well, Grandma Charlie is 63 — and she isn't even dead yet!"

2010-04-18T18:08:00.003-05:00

Hey, it's spring, so I thought I'd spring back on here.
Yeah, yeah, I heard to those groans.

I'm posting some photos of the pages I made for the April designers club at Scrapbook Generation in Springfield. We get a kit each with papers and embellishments - the SG crew puts them all together and everyone gets the same stuff. We take it home and create pages and cards and whatever, and the next month, we go back, spread it all out and take a look at each others's work. It is amazing how different everyone's stuff is. And it's all gorgeous.

The photos in my pages were taken one day when Michelle and Rachel and I had a photo shoot (for pix I was going to use for the March pages and didn't, but this worked out better anyway). The squeezburger ones are my favorites.

I'll be leaving in a few days for Opelika and plan to have photos of Sarah, Sydney and me to use of future pages. And Sam, too, of course. And Scott. Sarah and I are going to celebrate our April birthdays together.

See ya!

I'm baaaack!

2009-09-17T06:15:00.002-05:00

This won't be long because I have to get up and go to work soon. I woke up early and knew I wouldn't be able to get back to sleep.

It's been a busy life since July 7, my last post. I can't even remember all I've done, but work has been really busy, I did some freelance stuff and I've done quite a bit of scrapbooking here and there. The latest of that was Scrapapalooza 3 in Springfield last weekend. I got to stay only until about 11 a.m., then drove home to meet Maxine and Silvia so we could go back to Springfield for the Japanese festival at the Mizumoto Stroll Garden. It was fun. I loved the drummers we listened to, and the garden, of course, is beautiful. (I could have done without the crowd, but that's what a festival is, isn't it?)

Finished up a special section for Field Day at the ag research center. It's kind of hard for me because I don't know anything about ag or research and most of the people I have to talk to are professors at MU and talk to me like I'm supposed to know what they're talking about. They are really nice, though, and I've learned to make them back up and say it all again if I don't understand something. My favorite story this year was the project that grew ragweed. Can you imagine anyone growing ragweed on purpose - hoping to improve it? It's a project for a company that makes allergy medicine, so it really does make sense.

While I was working on that, I took on a project for the local arts council scheduling writers' workshops for our arts festival, which is this Saturday. Someone else was supposed to do it but decided she didn't want to. And at work, we're working on the Apple Butter Makin' Days section. ABMD is Oct. 10-12 (I think) It's whatever that weekend is.

I'd like to take a week's vacation and go camping, but I'm not sure when that will happen. The September and October calendar got filled up really fast.

The photos are the drummers, the arched bridge, Silvia and Maxine and I, a flower arrangement demonstration and a storyteller. (Not necessarily in that order. I can't see them as I type, so I don't know how they landed.)

This is all for right now. Talk to you later.

Heagerty Reunion

2009-07-07T21:04:00.002-05:00

So I've been away for a while. Not physically, but just busy, I guess. Anyway, here I am again after all this time. I've done a lot, but won't try to catch up. Guess I've been to Alabama and Branson, ball games and crops, work and play since the last time I wrote. They were all fun - so much fun I didn't have time to write about them all.

The most recent fun was the Heagerty cousins reunion July 4 weekend. Those of you who follow Rachel's blog already know a lot about it, but I have to tell you it was the most fun I've had in a long time. I laughed until my sides ached, wiped my tears and Deb's all weekend, dredged up memories that were nearly lost to time and got reacquainted with the cousins I love. It couldn't have been any better - except to have had Cuz Bill and daughter Elizabeth here.

Can't say that I had a favorite moment or event, but I certainly did love seeing those old home movies Sonya and Deb brought. I especially liked the ones of the This is Your Life they did for Grandpa at Roper - and seeing him kiss Grandma - and the ones at the farm and of Lady. Loved all the old photos and letters, too. It was fun hearing what everyone thinks are Heagerty traits - seeing how we all are alike, realizing I'm not alone in my quirks.

I loved the visit to the farm, too, and am so glad my daughters Michelle and Sarah got to see it. Elizabeth and I were there a few years ago. I'm glad to know they got at least a glimpse of what part of my childhood was like. I loved the farm and spent a lot of summer days out there, roaming the woods, helping Grandma gather eggs and tend garden, watching Uncle Holis squirt milk directly from the cows into the mouths of the barn cats, doing Shakespeare in the barn loft, reading in the upstairs bedroom ... wow, what memories. Needless to say, I loved Grandma and Grandpa. Grandma's sugar cookies ...chicken and noodles ... biscuits ...homemade syrup for pancakes ... yum, yum...

I could go on and on, but I'll throw in some photos. Rachel, Alex, Sam and I slept in the fort Friday night, wedged in like sardines in a can, but we had a great time telling scary stories and funny stories and jokes until, one by one, we dropped off to sleep ...

I love you all you guys. Thanks so much for making it such a wonderful weekend. Let's do it again!!!

Baby birdies

2009-05-22T09:18:00.003-05:00

OK, here are those photos of the baby birds.

Well, that's all I was going to write, but I looked at it onscreen and there was a whole pile of blank blue space. I couldn't have that, so I'm adding some ramblings.

Can you believe we have the air conditioning on at work - and last week I was wearing a jacket? Well, I was wearing a jacket when I got here yesterday, for that matter. And I'd be wearing one right now if I had known when I left the house that Steve would be turning on the A/C. Probably I'd better take one to Diane's tonight, what with being in that bunch of menopausal women.

Went to KeenBean this morning to grab a mango smoothie, but they were out of the flavoring, so I opted for a Peachy Keen. It was way too early in the day for Wildberry Desire.

Have a great holiday weekend. Sleep a lot. I'll see you all (well, some of you) Monday!

Too late to do this

2009-05-21T22:18:00.002-05:00

Really, I should be in the shower and getting ready for bed. I was so sleepy all day, it was all I could do not to fall asleep and knock myself out on my computer at work. So why am I still up?

Got home just a little while ago from Alex's ballgames at Mickey Owen (it will always be Mickey Owen to me). Cousin Deb called just as I pulled into my driveway, so we talked a little while about the Heagerty reunion this summer. She called to get a couple of addresses. I hope my lawn gets mowed before then.

Tomorrow night, I am going to a friend's house for an overnight scrapbook party. Saturday is Mt. Vernon's all-school reunion, and I know at least one couple from my class will be there. I want to see them, plus I just have to cover it for the newspaper. Then I'll go back out to Diane's to scrap some more. Monday, I will go to Stockton for a while. Maybe even take Rachel's birthday gifts to her.

The next week, I am going to Opelika. Scott's mom and stepdad will be there from California, and I haven't seen them since the Zumbiels moved to Oregon, and I guess that's been more than five years. Or is it six? How old is Sydney?

The pictures I put on here are some baby birds in a tree in my back yard. I set up my tripod on the deck and shot a bunch of photos. When I looked out there for them today, they were gone, although I did see one sitting on a branch with its mouth wide open. There were three of them in that teeny little nest.

Well, never mind. I thought I transferred those photos from my computer at the office to this one today, but evidently not. So I will post some photos I took at a friend's house yesterday instead.

2009-05-06T09:15:00.002-05:00

So I was up until about 4 a.m. this morning, playing on the Internet. I finally got it hooked up at home, and let me tell you, it was every bit as much a hassle I as expected. But it's done, and I think it's really going to be fun.

Speaking of fun, Silvia was here from Tulsa over the weekend, and she and Maxine and I celebrated my birthday. They took me to lunch here in town at the Red Bard, where we shared blackberry cobbler and ice cream for dessert. Yum! Then back to my house, where we stayed. We had sort of planned some other stuff, but it was rainy and kind of stormy, and Sadie (Siliva's Great Pyrenees) gets spastic with thunder. Silvia didn't want her tearing up my house because she was alone. Anyway, we watched a couple of movies, "That Touch of Mink" and "Rear Window." Classics, just like us.

Oh, yeah, and I got to open presents. Maxine gave me a book on Bible stuff and a picture of a giraffe and her baby, and Silvia gave me a book called "Dream." Everything is really cool. It was fun celebrating with them. Silvia spent the night and we went to church Sunday, had dinner there because it was the preacher's birthday, and then drove out to a farm and got strawberries. We would have picked them, but it was pretty wet, so we just bought what they had already picked. They are so good. I had some ready to take to Michelle Tuesday, but Alex's game got cancelled. More rain!

Guess I'd better go. Work calls.

Love you!

2009-05-01T11:36:00.003-05:00

Rain, rain, rain.

I like rainy days, but I'd much rather get to stay home on one than go to work. How nice it would be to curl up with a fleecy throw, a cup of tea and a good book on a day like this.

It rained yesterday, too, and the iris and other flowers were so pretty with raindrops all over them, I just had to take some photos.

This morning, we've had downpours, mists and hail. Heard a report from Round Grove school (near Miller) that they had golf- and baseball size hail. Broke out some windows in their church and bashed the school bus pretty good, I guess. But no one hurt. One of the grocery stores lost all the info in their cash registers to lightning.

It was disappointing that all of Alex's games at Mickey Owen I could have gone to this week got called off. I like it when he plays so close to me.

Listen, no more of my grandchildren are allowed to pass out. Got that? I'm really glad the doctors have given Sydney and Alex such good news lately. Let's keep it that way.

My friend Silvia is coming from Tulsa tomorrow, and she and I and another old school chum, Maxine, are celebrating my birthday. With one eye on the weather, we may: go to Dickerson Park Zoo, Nathanael Greene Park and the Japanese Stroll Garden and/or ArtsFest on Walnut Street. I'm excited about any and all of those things. If it rains and rains, we will have to find some indoor activities.

I took my birthday day off and went to Springfield to putter around. Visited with Priscilla, who gave me some books (imagine that!), then went to Hooked on Books where I got $22 in trade and bought $28 worth of book, then went to the Greene County Friends of the Library sale, where I spent about $25 more. Came home with 34 books. It was a GOOD birthday! Also used a 40 percent off coupon at JoAnn's to get a set of mounting blocks for acrylic stamps. The best part of the day, though, was getting phone calls from my three daughters. And I loved the message from Sam and Sydney. And the singing from Silvia.

Gotta go.

Later!

Easter, ag and the weekend

2009-04-24T13:16:00.004-05:00

Yes, I'm slow, but these photos are so cool you won't mind that you're just now seeing them. They're good anytime.

Most are from Easter Sunday and our visit to Grandma Rie at the nursing home. She looked great, and we had a great time singing and talking. Well, the Wheelers with the good voices sang. Larry and I kept our mouths shut and just listened. It's better that way.

I got to Kay and Larry's just as everyone was finishing lunch. There is that job at church where I have to count the money and make the bank deposit, and of course it couldn't be simple that week, could it? I was worship leader during service that morning, too. Anyway, lunch was great, and then the kids hunted Easter eggs — inside because it was so cold outdoors. They had a lot of fun hunting, and we adults had a lot of fun watching.

The last few weeks have been really, really busy. Our special ag section comes out next Wednesday, and I had to have the stories, photos and layout done and to the printer by noon Thursday. It's done. Whew!

Just lots of other stuff going on, too, from the opening of our new justice center to attending an Emerging Artist concert at Juanita K. one night to an arts weekend that included a cast iron skillet chef cookoff, an apron exhibit, a concert by a brass quintet and a children's theater production. The farmers' market opened and there was a car show that weekend, too.

I am looking forward to this weekend. On my calendar I have three things listed to do Saturday: stay home, clean house and sleep. I am determined I will accomplish all three.

That's all for right now. Good news about Sydney and the Zumbiels' house. I hope you are feeling better, Michelle. It was good to see Stephanie and David and Heather and Pat and the kids at the ball game this week at Mickey Owen. I hope sometime this summer the kids play over there and we can have dinner or lunch or something at my house while you all are over here.

Love you all!

A night with the Wheelers

2009-04-02T11:48:00.004-05:00

Isn't Jack a handsome fellow?

Yesterday, I had a dentist appointment. Doesn't sound great, does it. But it was just a cleaning, and after, I went to the new Scrap Nook in Bolivar for a look around, and then I headed to Stockton to visit the Wheelers. That was really fun, because it seems like an eternity since I'd seen them last.

Since it was church night, I expected to stay only an hour or so, but wound up staying until 10:00. I love being with Michelle, Jeff, Rachel and Alex. Alex and I watched some episodes of CSI, Rachel and I looked at photos, Michelle cooked up a wonderful spaghetti dinner, and Jeff gave me some info on getting hooked up to the Internet via wi-fi. And I got to meet Bud, Rachel's not-so-new-now dog. He's a nice mellow fellow. And Coco and Skits have grown a lot!

I also was extremely impressed on a tour of the basement, where Michelle recently spent three days cleaning and sorting and organizing. It looks great. I might hire her to do my garage.

We also had fun looking through the scrapbook I've just finished that has photos of Alex's baseball at Mickey Owen and the USSSA World Series in 2008.

I'm looking forward to this weekend. Diane has people coming over for a weekend scrap at her house, so I'm going out Friday evening and spending the night. Next weekend I think is another one with some other people at the senior center. I'm going to run out of anything to do at these things.

That's it. I'm just taking a break at work, so I'd better get back at it.

KISS Crop 'N' Shop

2009-03-23T20:29:00.002-05:00

Went with friends for a weekend crop in Joplin Friday and Saturday. Stayed at Jennifer's house in Riverton, Kan., Friday night - after we left the crop at about 1 a.m.

It was a really fun weekend - well, the crop part of it was, anyway. I interrupted Saturday with a trip back to Mt. Vernon to attend a memorial service for a former high school classmate. Not a happy occasion.

The photo is of me with the Quacker. Every time anyone finished a page, she claimed the duck, and if you had possession when the timer went off, you got a prize. Our table had him the most, and we got lots of the prizes. I got two, and I think Jane must have gotten about eight. She shared some fabric flowers with me.

Met several new people and got to see a lot of scrapbook pages by walking around looking over people's shoulders. But that's one nice thing about scrappers, they love to show off what they've done.

I won the grand prize of the weekend, a free seat at the next KISS crop, which is in July - I hope not the same time as the World Series in Branson! We got lots of freebies, too, and some really cheap stuff at Shannon's blue light specials. She also did a paper train. She put out about 30 stacks of paper on a row of tables, we all lined up and had to take a sheet of paper from each stack. We kept going around and around until all the paper was gone. I came away with about 82 sheets, mostly 12x12s.

Everyone really liked my Pack Mom page. Most could identify with it!

We're having a crop here in town in a couple of weeks at the senior center, taking our sleeping bags and spending the night. It's a cheapy - about $5, I think, because it's just a bunch of friends.

I'd better go. I'm still at work, waiting for an e-mail from a city council candidate so I can set his profile and layout the candidate page. It may have to wait until morning.

I love you all. Sure would like to see you all again sometime.

Spring fever

2009-03-06T13:33:00.003-06:00

Today is perfectly gorgeous outside, and about time, I say. Ginia's Matt just called to say their lilacs are in bloom. How heavenly is that?

I truly do feel like I've been in hibernation. And it hasn't been pretty. But the sunshine and warmth (I even have my window at work cracked open) are doing wonders for my attitude. It would seem it has done the same for all the rest of you. It was good to read your updates. And then there was Sarah, with snow ...

The inside days haven't been at total loss, however. I've made a concentrated effort to scrapbook all the 2008 photos (what a sacrifice, huh?). My primary goal was to get the photos of last July's World Series done before the next one rolls around. Finished the last ones last night. Then did a couple of pages from one of Rachel's basketball games, and the deed is done. 2008 is complete. Well, except for the journaling and titles and ... but that's easy, right. I've set aside this weekend to work on that. Maybe I can do it on the deck, if the wind will die down and the rain will stay away.

The photo I'm posting is one of my favorites from the World Series week. In my scrapbook, I call it Pack Mom. Totally typical of Little League mothers from what I observed last summer.

Gotta go. I'm at work stealing time from my employers. Call it spring fever.

Opelika, Alabama

2009-02-05T14:00:00.003-06:00

Well, so here I am in Opelika. Arrived about 3 p.m. Wednesday, and have been smiling ever since.

In fact, I started smiling in Memphis Wednesday morning when I had breakfast with my cousin, Bill Heagerty. We met at the Cracker Barrel and he made his friend buy our breakfasts. It was good to see him.

Today was Sydney's appointment with the pediatric neurologist in Montgomery. Dr. Sanchez is sending her back to her regular pediatrician for testing for hypoglycemia, which she feels may have triggered the low-blood-sugar episode last week. Once they determine that, Dr. Sanchez will start treating the migraines. She said they might also be triggered by hypoglycemia. All the blood tests and the MRI they did at the hospital last week came back fine.

Dr. Sanchez said if the episode last week had occurred a couple of hours earlier, before anyone found her, Sydney probably wouldn't be with us today. Thank God for the timing.

Last night, we went to Auburn for Sam's swim practice. I met one of his friends, Kyrylo, and his mom Irina and dad Will. Kyrylo and Irina are from Russia. She was in the states as a Fulbright Scholar. Kyrylo is a cute kid. Well, so is Sam.

During practice, Sydney and I had a photo shoot. It was fun. I'll post a couple of photos.

That's about it for now. The bottom line is that Sydney is OK except for the migraines and possibly the hypoglycemia. And now she will be getting some specialized medical attention, and maybe Dr. Sanchez will find some answers and effective treatment.

2009-01-18T18:43:00.004-06:00

Thirteen hours. Count them. From 9 a.m. until10 p.m. yesterday, we were scrapping at Scrap-A-Palooza in Springfield.Sponsored by a Springfield radio station, the crop was sold out, with 200 women flocking to Remington’s for a day of work and fun.

They fed us fruit and muffins in the morning, soup and salad for lunch and lasagna and salad for dinner, with pizza as an afternoon snack and unlimited other snacks and beverages throughout the day. The food was really good, and I wish Icould tell you who catered it, but I’ve forgotten already.

Scrapbook Generation gave each of us a $25 gift bag that had some scrapbook paint, a double page layout kit, foam alphabet stamps and I can’t remember what else. The store also set up a crop shop and offered free lessons on different things throughout the day, which we got to make and take home, as well as some paid classes. I made a cute little gift card holder, but I was more into getting some pages done, so I skipped the rest of the lessons. They also did some lessons that were projected onto a huge screen on the wall. Like a jumbotron, only not quite that big!

For their first event like this, the station did a great job, and everything, for us at least, went smoothly. It was a great day that cost us only $38. I think they plan to do it again, but it will cost more next time, I fear. I don’t know how they did it for that this time. It was well worth the money.

We had a group of six to fill two round tables, all of them from our scrapbook club. Diane picked three of us up in her Hummer early Saturday morning. The other two met us there.

I had really prepared and had paper and photos sorted and placed into six or seven pouches, and I had grandiose visions of finishing 40 or 50 pages. (Of course not! I may expect too much, but not that much too much.) But I only finished seven. Don’t ask me why I was so slow. Had too much fun talking and visiting and looking, I guess.

There was a guy there doing $5 chair massages, but by the time I decided I could really use one (about 9 p.m.) he had packed up and gone home. I’ll bet he had sore fingers today.

Oh, and I almost forgot. There were free door prizes all day and a layout contest you could enter if you wanted. You had to follow a Scrapbook Generation sketch and have it turned in by 9 p.m. I did four pages, then decided to work on something for that. I just barely finished it in time to enter. And my pages from our visit to the Montgomery Zoo won third place! I was really excited. The lady from SG who announced the winners said she loved them. One of our other ladies, Robyn, won first place with some really cute Halloween pages, so we did pretty well in competition.

I’m going to post some photos. I don’t know in what order I will manage to get them on, but this is what I plan. The first should be a photo of our tables with everyone except me. Because I was taking the photo. The next should be Jane, our fearless leader and the lady who can touch her eye with her tongue. Next will be my two zoo pages, then singles of each page. Then pages of Sydney dancing at the zoo, Sam at a swim meet and Sam at the zoo.
And that should be more than enough for this time.

Love you all.

Later.

Mid-January

2009-01-14T11:47:00.003-06:00

Don't have much time to do this, but the month is getting away and I haven't posted since the 6th.

But, then, those of you I follow haven't been burning up the Webways, either. Come on, guys, share!

A friend and I drove to Tulsa Saturday (she drove and I navigated - scary, huh?) to visit another friend. We got there in fine shape and had a really good time. Silvia fixed brunch for us and we spent the rest of the day talking and laughing and eating. Never set foot outside the house until we got ready to leave. But that was OK because we were having such a good time.

The photos (if I get them on in the right order) are Silvia's 10-foot Christmas tree, which is why we made the trip, because Maxine had never seen it. That's a good enough reason for a road trip, isn't it? Then we decided that Silvia should have her own cooking show on TV ... and that probably Maxine shouldn't. Looks like she doesn't play well with others.

And that next one is beautiful Sadie. She is beautiful, even if she sticks out her tongue at me when I'm taking her photo.

Getting ready for Scrap-a-poluzza in Springfield Saturday. An all-day crop at Remington's sponsored by one of the Springfield radio stations and Scrapbook Generation. Four of us from here are going. It should be fun.

Later!

2009-01-06T17:00:00.003-06:00

Sarah, I couldn't post a comment to your blog earlier for some reason. Was that your kids fighting over the candy wrapper? My grandkids wouldn't do that.

I have to say I am so impressed with the writing on my daughters' and granddaughter's blogs. You all are so good. I love to read your stuff. Thanks for getting into this.

Now, Rachel has told you that we played the Wii New Year's Day, but you haven't heard my version. Below is how it really went, and this is my column in the LCR this week.

You know how so many people put “Get more exercise” on their New Year’s resolution list?
I didn’t, but get a load of this.
On New Year’s Day, my granddaughter and I bowled a game, played a tennis match and went for six holes of golf.
Pretty impressive, huh?
And get this.
Rachel whomped me at bowling, but I beat the 13-year-old at tennis and golf.
And I’d never even played on a Wii before.
The Wii was a Christmas present to Rachel and her brother, Alex, from their parents. Because the whole family left late Christmas Day for a six-day church youth trip to Colorado, it hadn’t even been out of the box when I arrived at their house New Year’s Day.
Alex was out hunting with his dad and grandpa and uncle and cousins that day, so it was up to my granddaughter and me to break out — and break in — the gaming system.
Now, bowling I’ve done. I mean in real life, not this reality gaming stuff, so I thought I’d be pretty good with the Wii.
Not so.
My final score was 93, which, come to think of it, is about as good as I ever got back in the days when you actually had to go to a bowling alley to bowl. Rachel scored 127, so took the lead in our Wii Triathlon.
She appeared to be headed for victory in the second round when we took to the tennis court. She watched her serves come over the net and watched me watch the ball bounce right in front of me while I tried to figure out exactly how to wield that little plastic racquet effectively. I was pretty far behind before I accidently discovered the basic moves, and I still have no idea how I managed to come from behind and pull out the match.
But there we were shaking hands on the court at the end, one and one, and about to determine the winner with a round of golf.
Now, I have to tell you, I never did figure out how to line up that little white ball and hit it to make it go where I wanted it to go. But somehow, it went where it was supposed to.
The first couple of holes, I came in at par. Then I was one under. On the next hole, I soared with an eagle. (I know I did because the game told me so, and I know what it is now because I looked it up on the Internet. It means I was two under par.)
“How did you do that?” Rachel asked in wonder.
I’d like to have been able to tell her it was my great athletic ability and that she should see me on the golf course for real.
But then again, she has seen me on the miniature golf course, so she wouldn’t be buying that.
The only time I’ve ever been on a real golf course was when I was taking newspaper photos of an Easter egg hunt.
But if your grandmother who adores you more than anything will lie to you, who can you trust? It just wouldn’t be right.
So, staring sadly at the TV screen and shaking my head disconsolately, I confessed, “I have no clue.”
I wished I did. I would like to have done it again, consciously, knowing I had developed the skill and knew how to use it.
Alas.
The next hole, I was up to nine strokes on a par three hole when the TV began flashing in great big letters: “GIVE UP!!!”
Somehow, though, I managed to win the golf match in spite of myself, which went along well with the tennis win, which I still don’t know how I managed, seeing as how Rachel caught on more quickly and is younger and more agile than I.
Maybe she felt sorry for me and let me win.
Anyway, it was great fun and great exercise. Well, maybe not great, but more than I usually get. Possibly more than I will get the rest of the year unless Rachel demands a rematch.
And I’m not sure I want that. A rematch is likely to shatter any illusions Rachel may have about my abilities on the gaming circuit. I doubt I’ll ever be that lucky again.
And I’m not sure her mom will let me play again anyway.
“Well, there’s where Alex gets it,” Michelle said at one point, as though she’d had a great revelation.
“Gets what?” I asked, interrupting one of the victory dances I had perfected during the golf game.
“His competitiveness,” she answered, as though she couldn’t quite believe it. “I didn’t know you were so competitive.”
She sounded bewildered and unbelieving.
She must have forgotten all those Scrabble and Trivial Pursuit games we played when she was growing up.

New Year's Day, Lazy Day

2009-01-01T14:33:00.003-06:00

Just couldn't let the first day of 2009 go by without at least a short blogging session. I'm at the Wheelers, seeing all their Colorado photos and hearing about the trip. Rachel and I broke out the Wii they got for Christmas, so we've started the year off with some rousing athletics - bowling, tennis and golf so far.

A funny thing, though: Rachel and I are sitting just across the living room from each other, and I've been reading her blog. Can't we just talk to each other?

Another funny thing, Michelle is in the kitchen cooking up a storm, and we're letting her, with no offers to help. The menu is black-eyed peas, of course, fried potatoes, cornbread, deviled eggs and yellow cake with chocolate icing. Mm-m-m-m-m.

Well, that's it. I've done my duty for the day on the Internet. Catch you later.

I hope your 2009 is blessed with all good things!

Happy New Year, one and all!

2008-12-30T21:31:00.008-06:00

OK, let's try this again. Had this half written earlier and lost my Internet connection before I got it posted.

Anyway, I hope you all had wonderful Christmases and that you have fun plans for New Year's. I haven't decided what I'm going to do for that - whether I'll go to the Wheelers house, to the scrapbooking overnight at a friend's house or just hibernate at home. That last choice seems mighty tempting.

Just lost the connection again - and I had this all written. That's frustrating. Especially since I don't remember what I wrote. Guess I'll just have to publish every time I finish a sentence, then hit the edit button.

Christmas was good - and long - this year. It started when the Zumbiels were here for Thanksgiving and we exchanged gifts while they were here. Then I went to the Wheelers house the Sunday before Christmas and we had another gift exchange. Rachel looked reallly cute in the pink flannel kitty pjs I got her. I think she was planning to take them on their trip to Colorado. I didn't get Alex any clothes, but I think he liked the new Narnia movie.

Instead of working Christmas Eve, I took off across the state for Elizabeth’s. Even took her the makings of her favorite sandwich from KeenBean, a blue rooster. She was working, but I drove out to St. Mary’s of the Barrens, a small church attached to a seminary there, to check on the time of its Christmas Eve service. (Elizabeth and I went there last year.) I went back for the Novena at 7:30 (Elizabeth was still working). The church was beautiful, with two huge Christmas trees decorated with white lights in the altar area and other trees and Nativity scenes in a couple of the naves. The floor is polished wood and the walls are decorated with murals and the windows are stained glass. It reminds me of some of the cathedrals of Europe, only on a smaller scale.

I returned to the church later for carols at 11:30 and stayed for midnight Mass. The choirs at the Novena and later were excellent, and I love all the tradition and ceremony of the church, and I really wanted to take communion, but don’t really know how Catholics feel about us Protestants breaking bread with them — at least not holy bread, so I just opted out. I haven’t taken communion from a chalice and the hand of a priest since I attended Anglican services every Sunday in England. I love doing that, and wish I could have been a part of it this special night, but just wasn’t comfortable enough to do it.

Elizabeth had to work 12-hour shifts Christmas Day and the day after, so I just sort of poked around both days. She was off Saturday, and we drove out to Ball Mill Resurgence, which is a hole in the ground that when it rains a lot spews out rocks it has rounded and smoothed out — sort of like a giant rock tumbler and polisher, I guess. While it sprinkled on us, it wasn’t nearly enough to get the thing going, so I’ll have to go back sometime to see it work. We had to walk a trail through the woods and on the bluffs and around collapsed sinkholes to get to the resurgence, which is at the bottom of a bluff. It was kind of a scary day to be out there, with threatening gray skies and way too warm for December — and you who have been through a tornado know what I’m talking about. The wind was really strong and loud in the high places, but we didn’t notice it at all in the bottom. As we walked, Elizabeth and I kept eyeing the sinkholes for places to dive into in case a tornado ripped over the top of a hill. Fortunately, a few raindrops is all we got, and it was a beautiful and interesting place.

Well, it’s late now, and I’ve typed this in Word and willl try to paste it onto the blog. I kept losing my connection and losing what I’d typed, so decided to play it safer. But it has taken a long time and I’m tired of saying the same things for the third or fourth time. Guess I really need to get that Internet hookup here at home instead of pirating off my neighbors.

If I don’t talk to you again before the new year dawns, I hope you have a great celebration planned, and I hope the year holds nothing but good for you. I love you all.

Merry Christmas, one and all!

2008-12-23T14:59:00.003-06:00

Don't have time for much more than a short note here, but I don't want to leave tomorrow without wishing everyone a Merry Christmas.

The last few days have been busy ones, so I haven't done any posting here. Sunday was a great day, with church in the morning, learning about my new job (as of Jan. 1) as financial chairman at church after services and spending the afternoon at the Wheeler house in Stockton. We exchanged gifts, and I loved everything I got, from the journal to the candle to the CD to the penguin socks to the scrapbook to the candy. What was even more fun was watching everyone else open the gifts I took them.

Today was our Christmas lunch and party at the office. We had a really good time and had some wonderful food. I made apple dumplings and Ginia took the leftovers home for her family. I have another pan of five at home, which I will take to Elizabeth's tomorrow. I'm taking home some pulled pork, potato salad, pistachio bread and tiramisu. No cooking dinner for me tonight!

Tomorrow, I will head for Elizabeth's if the weather allows. So far, so good right here, although she phoned this afternoon to say they've had rain, sleet and snow today and it is supposed to get really cold tonight. Maybe if I leave later in the morning tomorrow, the roads will be OK. I want to be there before dark and in time to go to Christmas Eve services at St. Mary's. Elizabeth has to work! I'll be coming home Sunday.

Anyway, I just want you all to know I love you, and I wish we all could be together on Christmas like we used to be, but life changes, doesn't it? Have a blessed day, remember why we celebrate and place yourself in God's glow.

Love you all bunches, Mom/Charlie/Grandma Charlie

Oh, for a little sunshine!

2008-12-16T16:22:00.006-06:00

Wouldn't you like to be with this fellow right now, enjoying the sunshine? Wow, is it ever cold! It might be worth it if we had a lot of snow and could take some beautiful pictures, but this is the pits! I don't like cold weather. And I wish I could have a snow day like all you kids who aren't in school. I hope you're having a good time, though. I saw some kids here in town with their sleds out yesterday. It looked like fun. This lion photo is one I took at the Montgomery Zoo when I was in Alabama this fall.

I took a look at the new Wheeler blog today. It looks great, Stephanie, but I can't post comments to it, so I'll just tell you this way. Love all the photos, too. What a fun way to stay in touch with everyone. I love Rachel's blog, too, and plug into it every day I can. By the way, I can't seem to upload a photo to go with my name when it appears as a follower. How do you do that?

Gotta go. I'm supposed to be working and I want to go home early today. Last week, I was gone from home every night for one reason or another. It was all fun, but now I want some down time.

See you all. Keep blogging.

Christmas Pageant

2008-12-15T12:05:00.003-06:00

Yesterday was our Christmas pageant at church. We did it during the morning service and again in the afternoon. It is a cute pageant and was fun to do, although I would have felt better if I hadn't missed half a dozen practices. I was just a shepherd and had only two lines, but my mind tends to wander, so I was worried about missing a cue, which I almost did when I tried to eat my marshmallow.

I'm posting a couple of photos from the pageant. The song by Herod and the three Wise Men was the funniest part of all, it was sort of a ragtime, soft-shoe thing. What made it especially funny was the guy who broke out of the line and did the (fake) tap dance because it was so not like him. He is really quiet and reserved in real life.

The photos are from dress rehearsal Saturday morning. I didn't get the second half because I was in it.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-12T16:08:00.004-06:00

Last night, I got to go to Rachel's last basketball game of this season. It was the only one I got to see this year, but it was great. Stockton won a hard-fought game. I don't know the final score, but the last I saw it was 31 to 20-something. And girls were rolling on the floor all night, bumping heads and elbows and getting all kinds of dings and hurts.

It was parents' night, so Michelle and Jeff were introduced and went onto the floor with Rachel. Michelle got a carnation.

It was really fun for me because I got to see a lot of people I don't see often since I don't live in Stockton anymore. And after the game, I spent the night at the Wheelers'.

Anyway, I took 100 photos of the game, but only about two are decent. Here are three.

2008-12-12T13:09:00.002-06:00

Back in October, I visited the Zumbiels in Alabama. We did a lot of things, including going to the Montgomery Zoo, visiting Tuskeegee University, going to Sam's swm meet, and celebrating the opening of a new Kohl's store. I'm going to post some photos I took while I was there.

Thought for the day

2008-12-06T10:38:00.002-06:00

Hey, Rach!

I thought you might not see this if I answered your comment, so I'm posting it. I just clicked add a gadget and typed in the thought for the day. There are several Web sites you can go to get stuff or just use anything you find that you like. The wander one is on a T-shirt I have.

Have a good day!

Saturday

2008-12-06T10:24:00.003-06:00

I cranked the furnace this morning - up to 72. Just didn't think I could face the day at 66. Although the sun is shining, so it looks warm outside, even if it isn't. The weatherman says maybe we will have snow Tuesday. Yippee!

Yesterday, my brothers and nephew and I went to Bolivar to spend some time with our Aunt Juanita who was celebrating her 96th birthday. Also got to see one of our cousins, David, for a few minutes. It was a good time, although Aunt Juanita was really tired after lunch. I tucked her into bed before we left, and I hope she rested well. We took a cake and flowers and I had a card for her. She had a whole table full of cards.

On the way home, I stopped in Springfield to do some Christmas shopping. Got a few things and am trying to convince myself to get out and do some more today. When I'd like nothing better than to stay in bed all day. I've had a cold or some kind of crud and am really tired.

Last night was our Lawrence County Record Christmas party at Steve and Kathy's house. It was much more fun than the ones we usually do at a restaurant. Maggie Mae's catered it, so the food was good, and just talking with everyone was easier and more fun. We played Trivial Pursuit, guys against the women, and of course the women won. Six pie slices to one!

Tonight is the dinner for Hope Center, then I hope I can still get a ticket for the wine and coffee tasting at KeenBean. It was fun last year, and the money goes to help provide Christmas food baskets.

Well, I'd better get out and about. See what I can get done before I have to get ready for tonight.

Even more photos

2008-12-02T16:24:00.001-06:00

More Thanksgiviing photos

2008-12-02T16:20:00.002-06:00

2008-12-02T16:14:00.002-06:00

Thanksgiving was really fun with the Zumbiels and the Wheelers here. We had the Great Nut Wars, basketball, a walk to the park, lots of food and all kinds of stuff going on. We had a birthday party for Sydney and even opened some Christmas presents. The only thing that would have made it better would have been having Elizabeth here.

I don't have time to write much, so I'm just going to put up some photos.

YIPPEEEEEEE!!!!!!

2008-11-26T08:58:00.001-06:00

YIPPEEEEEEE!!!!!!

Experimenting

2008-11-26T08:46:00.004-06:00

This is an experiment, only an experiment. I'm going to try mixing text and photos and we'll see what I come up with.

This morning, we had our last Thanksgiving lay service for the week. Steve Fairchild was the speaker, and he did a good job. It is so nice to go to a community service like that and to know so many of the people who are there. Not a big crowd, but the biggest of the week. After, I sat at a table with Floretta and Bob Woodson for coffee. I think I really like her. She is so positive. Every time one of the guys said something negative (and they did that a lot), she had an answer on the up side.

So the photos I'm trying to put with this are four of my favorite grandkids. They were taken in September 2007. Don't those two guys look tough? And the girls are awfully pretty.

OK, here we go. Let's try the photos!

2008-11-26T08:44:00.001-06:00

Hey, look at me! I figured it out. Sort of. Now all I have to do is figure out how to get the photos and the text in one block.

The house for Thanksgiving and Christmas

2008-11-26T08:40:00.000-06:00

No photos

2008-11-26T08:32:00.002-06:00

Obviously, the photo posting didn't go well. Sometimes this technology stuff is just too much for me. Looks like this is one of those times. I'll have to get Rachel to teach me.

Alex played two basketball games last night, and I got to go watch. I missed Rachel since she had practice and couldn't be there. It was fun, though. I'd forgotten how wound up I get at those basketball games. Much faster pace than baseball or softball.

Scott phoned last night. They were on the road and stopped for the night in Tupelo, Miss. Probably they are on the road again by now. Well, maybe not. But they should be here this afternoon, if all goes well. There is the chance of getting lost in Memphis. A fact to which I can attest from experience. It's a long trip, and I really appreciate their making it. And I'm so excited. Just wish Elizabeth could be here, too.

Well, gotta go. Have a few stories to write, although I don't know how anyone can expect me to work today!

Decking the halls

2008-11-25T11:36:00.003-06:00

Last night, I put up some garland on the steps in my entrance hallway. I had put some on the upper stairs over the weekend, and the lower staircase looked bare. The Christmas tree went up in the living room a week ago. Since my grandkids will be at my house for Thanksgiving, and the two in Georgia have never been here for Christmas, I wanted to have it all decorated this weekend. I'm going to try to put up some photos. We'll see how that goes.

2008-11-24T11:49:00.003-06:00

I'm really excited about Thanksgiving. The Zumbiels and the Wheelers will be at my house for dinner, and then we will have a few days together. The Zumbiels should arrive some time Wednesday and will be here until about midday Saturday.

The turkey is thawing in my fridge, Sarah is signed up to make an apple pie, and Michelle is in charge of the pumpkin pie. Actually, all that food sounds really good to me right now because it is lunch time and I am hungry.

I had dinner Saturday night for people who helped me move, but only about half could come, so we're going to do it again later. Anyway, my brothers and nephew and his wife came over, and we had a big pot of chili. With all the people who didn't show up, I had a bunch left over, so guess what my kids and grandkids will be eating this weekend! I also had our pastor and his wife to dinner after church Sunday, and they got chili, too. The pot didn't seem to go down much.

Michelle, Rachel and I will go on Mt. Vernon's annual homes tour Saturday after the Zumbiels leave. There are some really nice homes on it, and it should be fun. One of the houses has 6,800 square feet and the 2,600-sq.-ft. basement is a games room. I haven't seen the inside of that one.

We have a short week at the office this week. Today is our Tuesday, but I have my pages done and I'm just waiting to make sure I've done all I need to before I go to lunch.

Well, that's it for now.

Big night

2008-11-13T17:37:00.002-06:00

Last night, I met my friend Denise in Springfield and we had dinner at Applebee's, then went shopping at Target. I bought some new flannel sheets that are a really rich, chocolate brown. I can't wait to get them on my bed and snuggle down in them some cold, cold night.

The only other thing I bought was food for Jack.

But we had a good time, just talking and looking around.

Tonight, Ihave to run some programs and the cast photo board out to the little theater group for their performance this weekend. I have tickets for that; it's a dinner theater, so we will get to eat before the play. Denise is coming over and spending the night with me and going to church with me Sunday. If I'm lucky, she will cook at some point while she is here. She is a really good cook!

Gotta go. I'm at the library. My hotmail doesn't work at the office any more, so I came here to check it. I really need to do something about getting Internet service at home. And cable, maybe, although that's going to hurt me to do.

Later ...

Biscuits and board

2008-11-11T12:10:00.004-06:00

Last night, we had a church board meeting, and about halfway through, we broke for hot biscuits with honey and jelly and apple butter. Boy, were they good! Somehow the church freezer got unplugged and the biscuits that were frozen had to be used. I didn't hear any complaints. The board president tried to steal my biscuit, but I was too quick for him.

Tonight, I have to cover a city council meeting. I kind of like going to them, though. Some can be kind of long, but usually the stuff they talk about is pretty interesting. It's the only way I'd ever really keep up with what happens in the city, probably. I just wouldn't take time to find out otherwise. I like all the people there, too.

Jack and I like our new house. Almost every night, we play hide and seek and chase. I chase him up and down the stairs, through all the bedrooms, down the stairs, around the living room, dining room and kitchen and down the stairs to the basement and back up the other side. He hunkers down behind the pillows I've tossed in the floor from my bed and thinks he's hiding. Sometimes, I do lose him in the dark, and then he jumps out and grabs my leg when I walk by. My jungle cat.

I built a fire for the first time in my fireplace Saturday night. It was kind of scary, because it's been a while since I've built a fire in a house. Afraid I didn't get it big enough to actually heat much more than a couple of feet in front of the insert. I'll try again, though, and maybe by the end of winter, I'll have gained some confidence.

I'd better go. It's Tuesday.

Dogs, dogs, dogs

2008-11-07T08:41:00.002-06:00

It has been a busy week. Last weekend, a friend and I drove to Tulsa to visit another friend. We stayed up way too late Friday night because we hadn't all been together for a long time, and we always have such fun. We have been friends since we were in elementary school.
Anyway, on Saturday, we went to a dog show and it was great. All kinds of dogs and all of them spiffed up to the nines. Poodles and setters (including English) and Labs and Bichons and mastiffs and Great Danes and ... well, just every kind of dog you can think of. It was really fun watching them being shown in the ring. I watched a lot of the snow dogs - Akitas and huskies and such. They are gorgeous.
Then, of course, we got to see Sadie, Silvia's Great Pyrenees, who is beautiful and sweet.
This week, I really haven't done much except work and clean house and do laundry and such. And sleep. I've been really tired. A friend from Springfield and one from Albuquerque are coming to visit Saturday, so I needed to get the house in some semblance of order. Several places in Mt. Vernon are having holiday open houses Saturday, so we probably will go to those - and lunch at Maggie Mae's or Estelle's. I'm excited because I haven't seen Merrill for a couple of years.
Well, I'm at work and I have a story to write and an interview at 11, so I need to go.

It's Tuesday

2008-10-28T11:35:00.005-05:00

It's Tuesday, which is a busy day here at the Lawrence County Record. Production day, with all the layout and proofing and sending off to the printer. Right now, my measly two pages are done and sent to the PDFer, so I'm just waiting for more pages to proof and contacting some people for information for next week's stories. Tonight, I have to cover a city council meeting. I also have a freelance story to finish that is due tomorrow. Yes, I know, I should be doing that instead of this blog. If I were as focused as granddaughter Rachel, that's exactly how it would be.

Fall is here, and the maple trees outside my house are brilliant bursts of orange. Against the rail fence along the driveway, they are gorgeous. I like my new house, and I already am missing it when the owners sell it and I have to move. They've had it on the market for a year, so for their sake, I'd like to see them sell it. However ... I don't relish the thought of moving again soon. Or finding another place I like as well. Maybe I'll just sell everything I own and become a nomad. Oh, sure, I've been talking about that for years, so it isn't likely to happen now if it hasn't already, right?

I enjoyed being in Stockton Sunday for Alex's birthday party and visiting with everyone there. Afterward, I drove to Bolivar and visited my Aunt Juanita, my dad's sister. That was nice, too. She had another visitor whom I know and hadn't seen for a long time, so it was fun. Aunt Juanita had taken a pain pill, so when she got really sleepy, I left. Cousin Kay came by for a while, too.

That's it for now.

On the prairie

2008-10-22T09:22:00.000-05:00

Something new

2008-10-22T09:10:00.002-05:00

Well, here I am with a blog. Who'd have thunk it?

Blame my wonderful granddaughter, who has had one for months and writes on it every day. I couldn't seem to figure out how to post comments to hers, so I thought I'd go this route.

As this is only my first posting, I'll make it a short one, just to see what's up.