I find myself wondering once again where a year went. I had so many plans and it seems I accomplished nothing toward any of them during 2006.

I've had better years. Not that I want to complain and sound ungrateful, because some dear folks stood by me and supported me through some rough patches and prayed for me during a breast cancer scare--and THANK GOD a scare was all it was.

The diabetes thing slowed me down so much. I was diagnosed in the early spring, although I had suspected that was the problem with my health for a while before giving in and going to the doctor for confirmation. The doctor was pleased with the results of my dieting and wanted me to use exercise and a good healthy "controlled carb" diet to
get my blood sugar under control and lose another twenty pounds by the end of the year. Well, the twenty pounds didn't go anywhere! I worked up to riding an hour a day on the stationary bike. I did that faithfully until Thanksgiving. (I let a combination of feeling bad, weird weather, and being busy mess up my routine, but I will get it going again! )

The pill I was on for my blood sugar worked wonders for a few months. Then it stopped working. My blood sugar was swinging wildly despite the diet, exercise and medicine. By July I was in the middle of my breast cancer worries and the doctor thought stress was the problem with the diabetes medicine. Autumn and feelings of relief about the good test results (and visit with a surgeon) finally ruling out cancer did NOT get rid of the elevated stress levels, if that was what went wrong with the medication, so in December I was put on an additional medicine to see if the blood sugar would respond to the combination of the two pills. It seems to be at least going in the right direction now, although I am not THERE yet.

I also GAINED a little weight during 2006. The nurse said not to worry, that muscle weighs more than fat, but....

I am supposed to see the doctor again soon to see how she thinks the new medicine is working.

So what was stressing me out other than the diabetes and worries about maybe having breast cancer?

Well, my son moved to Jacksonville (AL) in August to go to JSU and missing him is part of it. Then my daughter moved into his old place and just trying to fix that up for her added to my list of worries. Girls are more demanding than guys when it comes to how nice they want home to be--maybe? A few disagreements with friends that don't need to be posted about here added a whole lot more. Stress is part of life--so managing it has to become something I am better at.

Anyway, I lost touch with a friend, which made me sad, and I had a few disappointments which did also.

Thanksgiving and Christmas were good, though. We didn't have a lot of money to throw around, but we were all together as a family and that was wonderful! We went to Jacksonville to be with my son for Thanksgiving. His apartment is nice. Then he came home for Christmas and we spent the holidays at my daughter's.

Now my niece is moving in with my daughter--which means more to do to get the needed things done down there, but I am feeling ok about that.

I hate winter though! I hate the cold and I hate the warm spells yielding to more cold. I hate worrying about heating two homes and keeping pipes and pets from freezing! I will be SO happy when spring gets here!

Back when I was a relatively skinny blonde tom-boy in high school, a gentleman from Pennsylvania bought the long deserted farm down the road from us and had a big pond dug in preparation for raising a few cattle there after he retired from the airforce. We were given permission to go swimming there that summer (and raid his pear tree) while there were no cows around and we had a ball. Then he retired. He and his wife moved down and built a big brick house and started "farming" from scratch after decades in the military.

He hung all his medals up on the wall and traded the uniform for over-alls and a tractor. He spent a lot of time hanging around with us "locals" asking questions about farming and being neighborly. He was so friendly and ordinary. It took me years to realize how important a man the guy really was.

Col. B was one very interesting man. Talking to him was better than a history lesson. He started out as an aircraft mechanic during WWII--lived through Iwo Jima, flew bomber missions during the Korean war, and served as a base commander in Viet Nam. He spent I don't know how many years at the pentagon and after he retired, he still kept busy serving his community, his country, and his fellow veterans.

The Col. and Mrs. B were very active in the community. He helped get a "city" water system in the area, helped get roads paved, helped organize the neighborhood watch, worked as a poll official, visited schools to talk about veterans and patriotism. These were the most active retired folks I ever met.

When that 19 year old tomboy got married, Col. B blew her mind at the reception when he bowed over her hand and kissed it like it belonged to some important lady. When her children were born, Col. B and his wife were like an extra set of great-grandparents. Every Halloween the kids had to go inside for a visit and get home-made pop-corn ball s. (The ONLY place they were ever allowed to do anything like that on Halloween.)

I cannot remember voting in a single election when Col. B was not there working. (His wife, too, until she passed away.) My little boy grew up "voting for the Col." on the little demonstration voting machine there.

A couple of years ago, Mrs. B lost her battle with lung cancer. The Col. was lonely, but kept going strong--until this past Sunday, when he left us, too.

Now and then you meet someone who really makes a difference--and who really leaves a hole in your life when you have to say good-bye.

Good-bye, Col. B.

I have no idea if anyone ever reads this stuff, but since all the "band" people in Alabama who have any interest in posting in this forum have evidently perished, I suppose I might as well talk to myself some more.

I lost 36 pounds since I have been dieting. That is the good news. The bad news is that I have been dieting for over a year and now I seem to be stuck.

That always happens. I am going to have to build myself a gym, I guess. Walking just isn't sufficient excercise to get the pounds going away again. I went online and filled out all the info to devise a work-out program for myself. Right.

I will be glad when it is warm enough to go to the lake. Swimming is one form of exercise that is also something I genuinely love to do.

I've said before that I am not particularly inclined to boycott a store/organization over its corporate policies because of the innocents who tend to get hurt in situations where they are caught in the middle. I do make it a personal habit to choose where I shop according to certain values, though, so I have made a personal decision to no longer shop at Sears or Kmart stores in response to their corporate strategy of firing full-time employees in order to avoid providing benefits.

Since Kmart's trip in and out of bankruptcy resulted in the closing of many stores and the loss of many jobs, and since the acquisition of Sears by Kmart has also resulted in many changes, maybe a lot of people are not even noticing the policy the Sears/Kmart corporation put into affect after the first of the year. The most loyal and experienced employees --who stuck with the stores, made sacrifices to help keep the stores open, worked endless hours to bring remaining stores up to newer expectations
-- are being FIRED, not because of any wrong-doing on their part, or of any true necessity to reduce the number of employees, but because they have been with the stores long enough to have earned full-time status and its accompanying benefits. They are being fired and told they can re-apply to be hired as part-time employees at a much lower rate of pay and with no benefits. Meanwhile, the more recent employees with much less experience see their bosses terminated and gone or brought back to start all over again in the same store they've been employed at for possibly decades.

Many states have laws against the wrongful dismissal of employees. Alabama is not one of them. If an employer in this state wants to fire all their experienced full-time employees and hire new people off the street at minimum wage to work part-time and have no insurance provided, they can do so.

But I don't have to give them my money for doing it.

This is not an easy decision for me to make, because through the years I have been treated very well by a number of folks at the local Kmart. I have always made it a habit to also shop at competing stores because I truly believe that healthy competition is good for the economy and all of us. But-- when I look at the fact that an individual who has been at the local store since it opened nearly thirty years ago was fired out of the blue last week--and when I look at the older person who was only still working for the desperately needed insurance provided by the full-time job, and now that is gone even if the part-time job is offered--and when I see loyalty rewarded by back-stabbing and corporate greed --and every hard working employee wondering who is next--I cannot contribute another dime to a corporation that treats its employees like this!

I was hoping all along that Kmart would come out stronger than before when everything was "back to normal." Now--if the idea is to profit by "cannibalism" of their own--I'd just as soon see Kmart and Sears go down the tubes as to see their employees treated this way. And to think, they can get away with it because this is Alabama. Makes me sick! So, as long as there is an alternative, I will not shop at Kmart and I will not shop at Sears.

I choose to excercise my right to decide not to do business with anyone who mistreats their employees this way.

And to all the people having to deal with such corporate treachery only a few days after the C H R I S T M A S season ended--my heartfelt sympathy!


_________________

I 've really been busy since September, although I don't know how much I can claim to have accomplished. Still, there was football season... and Thanksgiving and C H R I S T mas and New Years... and having bronchitis forever.......also lots of forum stuff (mostly elsewhere) to keep me busy.

My smart aleck little nephew accused me of being online "twenty-four/seven" --which I'm not, and I can't believe a first grader came up with that without help from his dad--my smart aleck little brother, if a six foot six or so giant pain can be called a little brother. Ok, maybe younger brother is better.

I only have one brother. Sometimes I wonder what it would have been like if there were four of HIM the way there were four of us girls... I know he thinks he had it rough being so completely outnumbered by girls all the time growing up. Sometimes we really did give him a hard time! He gave it right back though--and I guess we'd have been in trouble if there had been three more of him.

Anyway, I had hoped to have computer access at home by now, but things didn't work out the way I had planned. Weird stuff going on where my husband works, which could get scary, but I hope not.

If I had a computer (all the old dead dinosaur ones don't count) at home, I could be online late at night when I'm alone and can't sleep --and nobody would need to talk on the phone because they would all be asleep anyway--and all the relatives wouldn't think I'm a crazy computer addict--or at least they wouldn't think I'm ALWAYS online during the day. (It isn't my fault they choose to use the telephone when I just happen to be online! )

Oh well...

My 20 year old daughter is no longer living at home. She's supposed to be moving in with her 24 year old brother just down the road so they can pool resources and share expenses while they are both working part-time and going to college, etc. (So they can be out on their own and independent, but still close is another way of looking at it, I guess. Except that my husband and I are "paying" their rent by renovating the place--our work counts toward the rent.) She's actually still staying at my parents' house next door to her brother though, where she has no responsibilities and can just enjoy their big old guest room, etc. They are getting snippy about her late hours, numerous phone calls, and "consumption" of water though, so I figure she will leave soon. (All her stuff is still at my house. So is a lot of her brother's stuff. Technically, I guess I live in my kids' closet!!! )

The whole empty nest thing is depressing. I have noticed a few positives, like being able to go to the movies with my husband more often --and the grocery and water bills are both lower. I miss my kids though. Even though they are grown. I guess I'll always miss them.
Dang screen just got blurry!

Something more cheerful! I got a puppy just before the holidays. Six months old. Seventy pounds at least. I named her Shadow. She's three quarters Rottweiler and a quarter German Shepherd. She is not very bright, but is pretty and friendly and gets along with my husband's puppy, Sparky. It is funny watching Sparky try patiently to teach Shadow how to play with their toys and stuff. Shadow sort of makes you think of Odie in the Garfield cartoons.

One of my husband's two sisters lives near Tyler, TX. Her husband emailed me that they are all safe and sound. It is hard for me to visualize the reality of a storm (Rita) so huge that it could menace so large a part of a place the size of Texas. It is mind boggling..... I am glad to know they are all ok.

We had not been keeping in touch like we should have until recently. Odd how terrible things sometimes bring about good. My brother-in-law lost his dad a few months back and I got in touch with them to try and help his family in Indiana let him know about his dad. I found out both our nieces had gotten married. One of our nephews was working in New Orleans when the evacuation was ordered for Katrina. Thank goodness he had the good sense to head home to Texas. The youngest nephew is finishing high school this year. (I guess I still had this mental image of them all still being babies. )

They've invited us out there. We've only been to Texas once, when my son was a baby. It is a long way to go to say hi to somebody!

As a compromise--because my husband just is not into going to band competitions or high school football games, and I have no interest in Nascar (and not much in most country music)--we have decided to set the occasional weekend aside for finding things to do together that we BOTH like.....which basically means going to the movies, riding around (not with gas prices the way they are now), or having picnics/cookouts. (Even going to the lake is iffy because I like swimming and he wants to fish--which means we separate or one of us sits around doing nothing while the other one does his or her thing.)

Today we are going to the movies. (Afternoon matinees are ALMOST affordable if you don't EAT anything while you are at the theater.) Now and then when we do this I manage to talk him into seeing something on my "wishlist." That's why he slept through The Skeleton Key a few weeks back. Normally, as will happen today, he picks the movies we see. There's a reason for that other than me not wanting him snoring in the theater.

When we first started dating, we decided to be all egalitarian and take turns treating each other to movies because I was in college and we were both working--so we didn't get a lot of time off together and didn't have a whole lot of money, either. (The time off together is still precious. Some things never change! ) That worked okay as long as we stayed with action/adventure or sci-fi movies. But then one Saturday, when it was my turn to pick the show (and pay), I decided we would see a very popular R-rated movie (which will remain nameless). I promise, I did not know R-rated movies got THAT dirty. It got so bad that I was trying to shrink so I could hide in my seat until the thing was over! He finally asked me not to crawl into the floor because it was sticky down there. After we finally made it to the car, he just said, "From now on, I pick the movies." It has been that way ever since.
(I have seen so many bizarre sci-fi films and martial arts movies!!! )

So...........since the Guntersville competition was cancelled and I spent the last two Saturdays at band exhibitions, we decided on a date weekend. We are seeing Corpse Bride and Just Like Heaven.

My husband told my daughter she needed a refresher course in biology because he quickly discovered his puppy was not the male she had told him "he" was. SHE is still named Sparky, but he also calls her Sparkle sometimes, too. I told him Sparky was ok for either sex and that Sparkette sounded dumb!

My daughter said she never checked the gender, just accepted what her friend told her. Funny!

I don't have the words to express the horror and sadness of the last few weeks. I suppose that is why I have been avoiding this blog.

The devastation the hurricane brought was so horrific in parts of the Alabama coast and especially in Mississippi. So many people lost everything. I watched tv and cried and prayed until I couldn't take it anymore.

The ruin and disorder in New Orleans was not only sad, but also sickening. The political blame game makes me want to puke. I will NEVER vote for a democrat again, no matter what. The way they have twisted the truth and tried to make this terrible situation something to campaign on makes me sick and furious. Same thing with all the racial posturing. Sick, sick sick!

I loved New Orleans. I can't imagine it ever being the same again, no matter what they do. Not for such a very long time anyway. Maybe never. No doubt some changes would be for the better anyway.

We have quite a few families here in Cullman who are evacuees, some from Mississippi, but most from New Orleans. Anyone who knows the reputation Cullman once had for being so full of prejudice would be very surprised, I think, at the way so many people are trying so hard to make these folks feel welcome to make Cullman a permanent home.
It is about time people started seeing other people as PEOPLE! It warms the heart. I think lots of folks around here have always been basically good hearted, but all it takes is a few hate-filled jerks in robes to make the whole community look bad.

I took two of my nephews swimming in my sister's pool this morning. They are very well behaved and so it was a lot of fun. (I love swimming! ) Most of my other nephews are too wild for me to be willing to get in the pool with them, but these two are much calmer. The oldest is going into sixth grade and the youngest will be a first grader. It surprises me that these two are the quiet ones because they are the ones involved in sports instead of band. Maybe it is the whole sports discipline thing, but I haven't noticed other ball players behaving that well. I have a feeling it is something my sister and her husband have managed to do bringing these guys up! They should write a book! My other nephews, my own son, even a couple of my nieces are no where near as easy to deal with--and I have to admit that band discipline tends to go out the window when the band kids are not actually practicing or playing.

School starts here on the 10th, which is a Wednesday. Weird day to start anything. Wallace's classes begin on the 19th--a Friday. Also odd. I guess beginning on Monday is too obvious or too normal, or...?

I never did get around to taking my daughter camping. It was hard with her job and all the rain. I like camping better in the fall anyway. Maybe we will get to go when the weather is cooler.

Yesterday I went with my daughter to pay her fall tuition at Wallace and then she took me to Lupe's (Mexican) for a late lunch. She had already registered earlier. This was the very first time I have had a child PAY their own tuition! (Always before there was a financial aid package with me writing a check for the balance.)

After her two year vocal music scholarship ended, my daughter decided to work and pay her own tuition. What a novel idea! I am thrilled. She hasn't been working long enough to afford to go full time this semester, so she is only taking two classes: Spanish 102 and chorus III. She plans to go full time in the spring semester. (She is hoping to get a grant to help next time, but by living at home and saving most of her money, she will be able to manage without one if necessary.)

I wish my son could have done that! It is harder for a music major to stay at home and go to school because the four year colleges offering music programs are just too far away to drive--which increases the cost. It more than doubles it if you add living in a dorm and books, food, etc.
We helped him all we could while he was at Wallace and the year he spent at Montevallo, but scholarships only go so far. When your scholarship only covers 12 hours a semester and you can't afford to pay for the extra hours above that, it takes forever to earn a degree. He has been in school for five years and still has two more to go on the bachelor's degree. (He wouldn't move back home, not that I blame him, but even working full time he hasn't been able to support himself AND save money for going back to college. He is going to have to try getting a grant or loan and then move again. He is talking about JSU this time. He loved Montevallo, but it just isn't practical for him to go back there. )

I didn't know how lucky I was when I was in college! My academic scholarship at UAH covered full tuition for as many hours as I wanted to take for four whole years--actually ended up being five when they extended it after I took a break to have my son. Based on today's tuition costs, a scholarship like mine would be at least $30,000.00. Dang! Lucky me! I only had to buy my gas and books--which was still a lot of money back then, but I never would have been able to manage it at today's prices! And the stress! Maybe I was just blessed, but I was never under as much stress as college kids are today--or high school kids for that matter. Well, my last two years of college, when I had a baby at home with his grandma while I was at school, were difficult, but it still wasn't as crazy for me as it is for kids today. How this world has changed!

I don't know where I was going with this. I guess I am just rambling.
So much for the latest update.

This hot weather is keeping me from doing much
in the yard now. I fill the hummingbird feeders and water the
flowers in the cooler morning hours, and add sunflower seed to my
cedar feeders when needed. My gladiolas and four o'clocks are so
colorful. I do sit out on the porch when it is cool enough in the
evening and enjoy them. It has always interested me the way four
o'clocks "know" to bloom in the evening.

Those horrible Japanese beetles are making a mess of my roses and
crape myrtles. We used traps last year, but they draw the things by
the thousands. My husband wants to start spraying for them every year
instead. I don't like spraying because of the bees and butterflies.
I have seen so many bees, butterflies, and fireflies this year!!! I
love to see the butterflies. It seemed for several years that we
were seeing so few of them. As for the fireflies, I guess the kid in
me will always love those!

My two dozen or so goldfinches are evidently here for the duration.
I kept expecting them to leave because they are supposed to breed in
midsummer, but they are still here, so must be settled in to stay. I
guess I'd better get more thistle seeds! (Although I have really been
enjoying watching the goldfinches harvesting the seeds from the
sunflowers growing near my little bench near the feeders. It is so
amazing to step out on my porch and see a dozen or so birds perched
on the sunflower heads picking the seeds!!! The sudden scattering of
yellow birds flying up into the sweetgums in all directions is
something I wish I could catch on film, but they are sooo fast! )

I also have a large number of house finches which seem to have taken
up residence in the yard. About the same number of those as the
goldfinches appear throughout the day, but they are much more vocal!
I hear them from early morning until....? They are the main birds
visiting the cedar feeders for the sunflower seeds, along with a half
dozen or more cardinals.

I still see lots of other birds in the wooded area beside my house,
but they don't visit the feeders because they have plenty to eat
elsewhere. I see woodpeckers, mockingbirds, brown thrashers, etc.
and hear all kinds of birds. I need to make a better effort at
learning to identify birdsongs!!!

By the way, the heat started getting to the suet and I had already
noticed the woodpeckers didn't seem to find it as attractive anymore,
so I decided to let that go until cooler weather.

For the last three weeks or so I have had lots and lots of
hummingbirds! I am really enjoying watching them through my kitchen
window. I have seen as many as four females and two males
simultaneously, but there may actually be more of them. I am
changing the nectar more frequently because of the heat. I would
love to put a hose out with a mist attachment they could fly through,
but our local water board recently raised the water rates by 80 %
(OUTRAGEOUS! ) and so I don't think that would be the best thing to do
right now with the water bill so high.

The heron is at the pond below my son's house every day now. It
seems to have made this little pond it's own private spot. It always
flies away if I get too near the fence, so I just admire it from a
distance so I don't disturb it.

This morning the red-tailed hawk across the road kept circling and
screeching. I don't know what it was hunting--or if maybe something
was encroaching on it's territory--but it was making its presence
known most of the morning. A hawk flying overhead is a beautiful
thing to see!

I guess I say that at one time or another about every month, but it seems that I have barely been able to catch my breath this month! And it isn't over yet!

So much for a leizurely summer now that my kids are grown and I don't have to worry about band camp and back to school supply lists and booster meetings and fund raisers. (What WOULD I do for time if I was still actively involved in all of that??? )

We are in the middle of our summer revival at church. I am enjoying it, but I get very tired. We have both morning and evening services, so the day is very long when you try to keep all the normal daily duties sandwiched in between the services. Maybe I'd be less tired if I let those things go, but then what would everyone eat and wear?

The visiting preacher is a very sweet guy who was a year behind me in high school. He played the trumpet in band. That was such a long time ago! His wife used to be one of my assistant girl scout leaders. Now their oldest daughter and both my kids are in college. Time goes by....

My daughter turned twenty yesterday. I started to say she celebrated her twentieth birthday, but she was not feeling well, so the celebrating was minimal. I did bake her some brownies, though. Her brother got her The Phantom of the Opera on DVD. She was half-way through watching it last night when the DVD player decided to die on us. It is always something! Have to get that fixed or replaced though.

We are going to get her a cell phone. It worries me when she is driving alone late at night or in bad weather without one.

My son's twenty-fourth birthday is next Thursday. I gave him an assortment of Star Wars figures. I suppose he is growing up on me. He left them all in the packaging instead of taking them out and posing them on the furniture with their light-sabers drawn as if doing battle. (Or, maybe he was just tired.) I know they are worth more when you keep them in the packages, but what fun is that?

My daughter brought home a honey colored Lab puppy for her Dad last week. He is an adorable little thing! My husband named him "Sparky." My daughter isn't thrilled with that name, but.... My husband loves the dog! His last dog died several months ago of old age and we had been looking for the right puppy as a replacement. Someone tossed this wonderful little guy out in the rain a few weeks ago and some friends took him in until they could find a good home for him. He was exactly what we were looking for!!! When my husband saw what my daughter had gotten him as a late Father's day gift, he curled up on the ground with the puppy, just like a little boy. I guess if I never had believed in love at first sight, I would now!

Shajon Daydreaming

I would trade places with the wind...
Be a cool breeze dancing on your skin,
Playing with your hair,
Whispering in your ear,
Touching your face...
Just for a few moments.
No one would question it.
No one would care.

I would trade places with the sun...
Be the warmth spreading across your back,
Shining down on you,
Watching over you,
Chasing storm clouds away...
Just for a little while.
No one would wonder why.
No one would stare.

I can't do any of that.
No fair!

~ Shajon

Thought we'd eat at Zaxby's last night to surprise my daughter.
When we got there, she had just finished her break and was back in the kitchen. Her "friend" took our order and called her up to see we were there. I was surprised to see that she was glad to see us. I had thought we might have embarrassed her just by being there. You never know with teenagers.

(I found out later she actually cooked our order. I think that may be the first time I ate anything the child cooked! Other than cookies and brownies anyway.)

While we were eating, her "friend" took his lunch break and came back where we were sitting to eat with us. (Hmmmmm? At least he's not afraid of her dad.) We had a nice little talk about what he is planning to major in in college and the scholarship he has waiting at Troy. Very nice young man. (I've known him since he was in 5th or 6th grade band.)

The "uh oh"? She asked me this morning if he mentioned he is trying to convince her to transfer to Troy after Wallace.

My darling daughter, my grouchy angel child, got her first real job the last week of May. She is working at Zaxby's. (She says she may never eat chicken again.) Personally, I think hard work is good for college kids. It makes them want to stay in school and get that education so they won't be handling raw chicken forever.

Her first week there, one employee pulled a knife on another one. He wasn't fired. Then last week he threatened to bring a gun and turn Zaxby's into another Columbine. They fired him. About time. I hope they also reported the n u t case to the police!

She works there with her "friend", who I am not allowed to call a boyfriend, which is for the best as he is still in high school and for all I know they really are "only friends." I have my doubts about that, though. Every night, as soon as she walks in the door after work, he calls. They talk for hours, even if they just worked a whole shift together. She giggles. Takes the phone into weird cubby-holes so no one sees her giggle. (But we still hear her.) Why would I stare at her while she giggles anyway?

The other night, HE CALLED HER TO LET HER KNOW HE WAS TOO TIRED
TO CALL HER. (That is just so sweet.)

While we were in New Orleans, he called her cousin every night to check and see if she just might be back already and not answering the phone. My husband asked her to please buy this boy a watch so that he will realize that her dad has certain hours when he would prefer the phone would not ring constantly. I don't think a watch would help much.

Our trip to New Orleans was wonderful! The first afternoon, we walked to the Riverwalk, peeped into the casino, walked most of Bourbon Street,
heard lots of great music--a good band in a club, others were street musicians, etc.--saw Jackson Square, ate beignets at the Cafe' du Monde, scheduled a cemetary tour for the next morning, walked back to the hotel, swam in the pool, tried out the hot tub, then swam in the pool some more. (The hot tub made the aching feet and legs feel better after all that walking and also made the pool feel deliciously cool by comparison. When we first got in the pool, it felt as warm as a baby's bath water! )

The next day, we hiked about 25 blocks to the bar where our tour left from--they thought I was weird ordering ice water in a bar-- then took the walking tour itself. (Marie Laveau's grave, etc.) I think I quit counting when our walking reached 80 blocks or so, I don't really know. We definitely saw the french quarter! It was definitely worth it! I had so much fun! Of course, NOW I know that we could have walked a short four blocks in the other direction upon leaving our hotel that morning and taken the St. Charles streetcar instead of hiking across the entire warehouse and business district getting to the french quarter. Oh, well. Next time I will know.

Our second day, we also toured the cathedral, which was marvelous. We ate at a moderately expensive seafood restaurant. Goodness knows we could have found good food everywhere. I never saw so many restaurants in my life. The food was very good though, and then we hit all the touristy shops we could in the french quarter and on canal street before riding the streetcar up to see some of the garden district--and all those college campuses! We ate pralines and walked until our feet were about to declare war on us. Again we heard street musicians and went for a swim before going to bed. Loved that hot tub and pool!

The hotel was lovely, and had this huge breakfast buffet each morning. I love a good breakfast! (I could eat breakfast three times a day.) The only bad thing about it all was having to leave so soon! I have to go back one day, if only to try more restaurants and see the museums and other attractions we had no time to see this time.

We had planned to go home through the Mississippi gulf coast area and see some things there, then stop in Mobile, etc., but the tropical storm warnings scared us into packing up and leaving straight for home.

We lucked out on the weather while we were in New Orleans. It was nice and breezy. I had expected the humidity to be unbearable. (It rained at home the entire time we were gone. Ha Ha.)

New news: My son left just a little while ago to go see the DCI show in Atlanta tonight. The band director at Falkville is his friend and invited him to go along with himself and several members of the band he is taking to see it. Too good an offer to pass up! A student backed out of going, leaving a free ticket. My son helps with band camp, so the director called to see if he wanted to go. (Of course! ) He will get back just a couple of hours before he has to be back at work, but I expect he will think it is well worth it!

That's my update. It has been a while, but surely this one is long enough to make up for the lapse.

My husband got the pictures developed from his brother's wedding. TEN rolls, at least! A LOT of pictures. Cindy, the bride's mom, paid for half the developing costs and provided a lot of the film. My husband did the photography and paid for the rest as a wedding gift. Anyway, the pictures were very nice. My husband is a perfectionist and Cindy had things planned down to the minute, so it went well. My daughter and I sat in the porch swing and looked through the ton of photos while waiting for Cindy to come pick them up.

Cindy was delighted with the pictures! She got the complete set of prints and the computer discs and we kept the negatives. (I guess she is going to let James and Stephanie select the prints they want for their wedding album and the ones they want enlargements made of, and also email lots of copies.) We plan to have a few copies made for ourselves and any relatives that request copies. Most of the ones I want have my kids in them!

Guys can be so sick! My husband took several shots of the poor dead butterflies. He and Cindy were laughing about the incident. As it had to have been very expensive getting the florist to raise all those cocoons-- only to have almost all of the butterflies die, I don't see how she could laugh about it. I guess she is just a good sport. Better to laugh at something than cry over it, but the pitiful expressions on the faces of the bride and groom as they tried to get those dead bugs to fly--ok, maybe it was kind of funny, but also sad.

Megan was less than enthusiastic about the photos of her in "the ugliest dress in the world." (The dresses WERE hideous! The girls were gorgeous anyway.) The girls wore the same dresses but in different colors, and the poor groomsmen were in black and white, but with ties made to match the girls' dresses.

Alex walked with Katie, who was wearing a sort of persimmon orange. He had on black pants, a long-sleeved white shirt, a black vest, and an orange tie. Very, very halloweeny! Also, very WARM!

Megan's dress was an icy blue. She walked with Roger, the best man, who lucked out getting the blue tie. It looked almost normal compared with what the other guys got stuck with.

Our nephews, Greg and Bobby D., got seafoam green and baby pink. Greg walked with Mandy--and I thought that unusual green looked great with her hair. Bobby D. walked with Amber, the majorette in baby pink.

Actually, the COLORS suited the girls very well, it was just the cut of the dresses themselves that was so unflattering. (Of course, the bride looked wonderful--like a little fairy princess. And James got to substitute some kind of diamond pin for a tie, guess it matched Stephie's tiara.)

The flower girl was a little doll in pale purple and the bride's little nephews were as cute as could be. One of them was "ringbearer," although he never had the rings, and the other escorted the mother of the bride--which looked so cute. He kept sticking his tongue out at the guests when he realized everyone was watching him. (Somehow, my husband didn't get a shot of THAT. Too bad.) Bobby D.'s girlfriend was a server at the reception and she was in pale yellow--so the girls made a complete RAINBOW with their dresses!

My husband got a wonderful shot of Amber catching the bouquet. She's flying through the air like she's catching a football. Great action shot! Alex caught the garter--then he says, "what am I supposed to do with THIS?"

I think the only person there who wasn't in a picture was the photographer! Too bad I didn't take the camera long enough to get one of him!

It was a lovely wedding.

The songbooks went over well with the kids at church today.
I think the elementary aged class and mine are going to try to do more musical things together. Neither class is very large on its own, but they do like to sing. With a little practice, they will be able to do it easier, without being shy and chewing on their fingers. It is really hard for a kid to sing loud with a mouth full of fingers.

I really was proud of the little ones at today's decoration/memorial day program at church. The singing was very enjoyable, both during the morning program and the afternoon singing following lunch.

My mom, sisters, daughter and niece and I sang one song together this morning--which saved me from feeling like a fool with these allergies! No way could I have managed a solo!

My mom had us all come to her house for lasagna (and a table full of other things as well) after preaching, before we went back for the singing. My cousin and her family were the featured group at the singing. It is always a joy to hear them. They harmonize so well and do a wonderful job.

Yesterday's wedding was lovely. It was outdoors--in beautiful weather--in a gazebo next to a pond. The bride arrived at the gazebo in a horse-drawn carriage. Then after the ceremony, the bride and groom rode to the reception in the carriage. (I really hope my daughter didn't get IDEAS.)

I was proud of all those gorgeous young people in the wedding party--most of them family and most of them band folks! All the bridesmaids, the bride, groom, and two of the groomsmen were musicians. Plus our current drum major was the pianist. There were three saxophonists, two clarinetists, a guitarist, a drummer, and a majorette in the wedding party. Funny!

One kind of unfortunate note about the wedding: The bride loves butterflies, so they got the idea of hatching some to release at the wedding--like people do with white doves--only most of the butterflies didn't fly. A half dozen or so fluttered off and then the bride and groom shook the rest out onto the ground. They were dead. Sad. I don't think I would recommend anyone else trying that!

It really has felt like summer the last couple of weeks, but these nice cool nights will only be a memory when summer gets here. It feels so nice outside right now, warm, but not yet sticky, and then in the evenings it gets cool enough to allow for sleeping comfortably. I could seriously enjoy this type weather all year long!

In the mornings, after I get everyone going and supplied with coffee and breakfast, I feed the cats and fill the bird feeders, water the plants and sit in the porch swing to read my Bible and maybe a few chapters in a book while everything is cool and the birds are singing. It is a lovely way to start the day.

This has been such a busy month, May always is with decorations here and there every Sunday, but this year it is busier than usual because there is a wedding to keep everyone scrambling around. My husband's baby brother (25) is marrying one of my daughter's best friends (21) this Saturday. Both my kids are in the wedding and my husband is the photographer, so with the bridal shower, parties, fittings and rehearsal--things have been crazy. (It is an outdoor wedding. Hope it doesn't rain.)

Last Sunday was the decoration where my mother's parents are buried. I cut a vase full of roses and took them. Years ago the graves would all be covered with pots of flowers. Now there are not as many. The cemeteries want most flowers removed within a week for mowing. So much for progress! When families had to take care of the plots themselves--by hand--the flowers could stay, or rosebushes and shrubs could be planted and those pretty white rocks would be mounded up on the well cared for graves. I love to look at the old cemeteries that still allow graves to be done that way. With the convenience of riding mowers and paid cemetery upkeep, everything is flat, bland, uniform, monotonous--and young people are growing up without visiting the graves or learning to care for them. Fewer and fewer folks bother to go to the decorations or put flowers on the graves. Why bother with the expense for just a few days? But it is sad to see a cultural event passing out of significance for so many.

Next Sunday is the decoration at our church, where my dad's parents are buried. My dad and another guy at the church do the mowing there and they are not so grouchy about leaving flowers--although technically there is only supposed to be one pot left after two weeks that is actually on the grave itself. Flowers that fit on the tombstone or in a built in vase don't have to be removed either because they don't get in the way of mowing. In case anyone has noticed a pattern, I admit that I think riding lawnmowers have made people lazy. They made mowing so much quicker and easier, that you would think people--especially those PAID for mowing a cemetery--could take a few moments from such an easy job to lift a pot or two or mow around an occasional obstacle. But no! The easier the mowing, the grouchier people get about everything not being flat and empty.

Just a pet peeve of mine. (I absolutely DESPISE those cemeteries that won't even allow tombstones anymore!!! Just flat plaques with one tiny hole for a sprig of something to be placed in--almost invisible graves

I expect I will love the cemeteries in New Orleans. By comparison, they will be very memorable!

Anyone can see by my yard that I am a rebel when it comes to flat lawns and obstacle-free mowing. My yard is full of hills and flower beds, shrubs and rocks that I just thought looked interesting, plus weird things for vines to grow on. I love it!!! I tell people that my yard is a wildlife sanctuary and that I go for the natural look. True! But I also just like being me. I don't think I could stand living in a neighborhood where all the yards and houses look the same and the neighborhood association tells you what you can decorate your property with at C H R I S T M A S. I'd end up painting my house purple and covering it with red lights and tinsel! Not to mention a huge nativity scene!!!

I string COLORED lights all over everything at C H R I S T M A S. White ones are fine for folks that like them, but I love colored ones as well!

Now how did I get there from decorations??? Pun was accidental!

Back to this Sunday. I am supposed to sing, but am so messed up with allergies, I don't know if I will be able to do it. If I try, I may sound terrible. Guess I will wait and see.

I am supposed to be putting together little songbooks for my Sunday school class. I had better get busy because they are going to need to rehearse tonight after Bible Study! My babies are supposed to sing Sunday, if they don't get all shy and stand there with their fingers in their mouths staring at their feet. That is the reason for the songbooks. They can't all read, but they can all hide behind a cute little songbook!
I am making the books on the computer, but thought I'd update my blog before finishing them. The print in the church hymnals is also really too small for kindergarden kids anyway.

My nephew is graduating--GED class at Wallace State instead of high school--but graduating even so. Wouldn't you know the graduation is June 11th, and my daughter and I will not be back from New Orleans yet? That's the way things go! My son and husband can go and take lots of pictures for me.

My son decided to plant a tiny vegetable garden this year. My daughter has helped me plant and care for a small garden before, but he was always gone to scouting activities, boy scout camp, band camps, etc. and never really helped much with gardening--unless you count mowing
and tree planting. He did lots of that! Anyway, his grandfather plowed up a small area in his yard for him and my husband made rows with the tiller, then I taught him how to dig the holes and plant the plants and all that. He did most of the actual planting himself. I probably should have shown him a little about gardening before he was almost 24, but...better late than never! It is looking good, especially for someone's very first attempt!

My daughter and I are getting excited about our trip to New Orleans! We leave on June 9th. Can hardly wait! It would have been cooler in April, but we just couldn't go then. Hope there won't be any hurricanes. Hope that for the folks who live down there, not just me!

Oops, better hurry and make songbooks now!

So, why are my fingers and toes freezing? (Notice, I am NOT griping and complaining about allergies. Not at all.)

My husband called me around six this morning and told me there had been a light frost where he works, so I ran outside, still in my warm flannel penguin pj's (covered with cute little birds from Antarctica wearing scarves and stocking caps, not anything to do with Batman) and hosed off the frost from all my vines I had planted just over a week ago (and all my rose buds) before the sun came over the trees. I checked them around eleven and think they all will be just fine!
(And if anyone driving by laughed at my pj's, I don't know about it, so...)

My husband's grandmother always had a huge garden and flowers covering most of her yard. She told me that if a frost was light and the plants didn't actually freeze, washing off the frost before the sun hit it would keep the plants from frost "burning." She was a wonderful and wise woman, and not just when it came to gardening. How I miss her, and both my own grandmothers!

I have flowers growing in my house and yard that came from plants each of those ladies grew. It isn't that I need the flowers to remember them by. I could never forget them! I treasure the flowers because they were THEIRS! I get a warm, happy feeling when I see those flowers and it brings such a flood of memories washing over me. I have a Rose-of-Sharon (or "Althea" ) bush and four o'clocks from my dad's mother, wild violets and a snowball bush from my mom's mother, and a "corn plant"/"dragon plant" from my husband's grandmother.

My dad would never let my mom have flowers in the yard when I was a kid. She is only now really getting to grow a few. My dad is one of those guys who gets excited on the lawnmower and just doesn't recognize flowers as being something important enough to someone else not to mow down. The only cure for that is to take over the lawn work!

My husband will occasionally forget where something is planted and mow there by mistake, but he NEVER gets aggravated at having to mow around flowers and mows them down on purpose. As a matter of fact, he is always helping me plan and construct new obstacles to have to mow around. I love that man Just last week he took an old trampoline frame and built a big arch over the front steps for my jasmine and honeysuckle to grow on. (When the vines cover it, there will be a beautiful arbor or pergola to walk through to get into the house, but right now it does look a bit unusual.)

Of course, tall people would have to stoop down in order not to bump their heads on it. My husband and I are both about 5' 6", my son is 5'8", maybe 5'9", and my daughter is only 5'4". I'm not worried. We never have company anyway. (My brother--who is about 6'5"-- says my whole house is designed for midgets. He has only been to my house once. I have to admit he did have to duck to step down into the livingroom and almost hit his head each time he went near the ceiling fan.)

Almost forgot the main reason I was posting today! My daughter enjoyed her trip to New Orleans, and as it turned out, the choir director paid for quite a few of the meals after all. The only problem with that was that they all had to eat together all the time--so there was no checking out little hole-in-the-wall restaurants with "authentic" flavors of New Orleans. (She despised Bubba Gumps, and all the other places were steak houses and Taco Bells, etc. ) Since I had posted earlier about his announcement that he wasn't going to reimburse them for their meals, I thought it only fair that I post an update. He didn't reimburse them, but he did pay most of the checks. I guess he got tired of people not turning in receipts and decided this would be easier.

She was thrilled to get to bring most of her money back home again to save for our trip in June! She also came home with a huge list of places we have to try to see when we go. (We'd need a couple of weeks instead of a weekend, I'm afraid.) It seems that she and her friend could not convince one of their room-mates to go see anything
THEY wanted to see. All the girl wanted to do was SHOP, so rather than leave the girl on her own, my daughter made a list of what she would see NEXT TIME!

(Have I ever told anyone what good kids I have? )

Disclaimer: The following post is not intended as a criticism of this site or any of its administrators! It is simply a response to an incident yesterday which caused me to think very seriously about things I hold dear and sacred.

I will begin by explaining a portion of yesterday's post.

I was commenting on the loveliness of spring and of G O D 's creation.
I mentioned that I thought G O D must love green and for that matter that G O D must like colors in general. In both instances, the word
"G O D" was deleted by the language filter, as if it was an obscenity. I realize that this was probably not an intended result of the filter, even though I, myself, have always considered G O D to be totally G-rated!
It did cause me some distress, however, and also set me to thinking some rather serious thoughts.

Now, don't get me wrong. I want this site to be a clean one and I would be the first to object to people using their freedom of speech as an excuse to post filth and blasphemy! I have written to moderators of OTHER sites to complain about their lack of attention to inappropriate posts on more than one occasion and I am extremely grateful that the administrators of this site are keeping it a place where we all can talk about things without having to worry about seeing all kinds of trashy stuff posted.

The following "essay" (or rant or whatever it should be called) is the expression of my thoughts following my observation of what happened to my post yesterday.

***************

FREEDOM, REVERENCE, and G O D

A most disturbing thing happened yesterday when I posted an overdue update in my blog. G O D 's name was deleted, as if it was some obscene thing. It made me stop and think about the irony--and the sadness--that our world has come to this! The L O R D G O D,
creator of heaven and earth, is treated as if his H O L Y name is profane.
Certainly, there are many people who take his name in vain and abuse it
instead of treating it with reverence and respecting it as sacred, and yet, that does not make His name dirty!

I wonder what would happen if I typed the name of my L O R D and S A V I O R, J E S U S
C H R I S T without spacing between the letters?
I am afraid I know, and therefore I will not try it. No doubt that "name above all others" would also be purged as unclean by a mindless program designed to protect and simply unable to distinguish between good and evil.

The thought makes me want to weep. It is a sorry commentary on the values of this world! "Hitler" probably will never be deleted as obscene--or "Nazi," "hatred," "murder," etc. Will "good" be banished from the English language because the word comes from the word
"G O D"? Will "love" be disallowed because "G O D is love"? Or
"B I B L E" because it is the "word of G O D"?

And then there is the whole question of the legal conspiracy to erase G O D from public life! Is the mention of G O D to be outlawed entirely?

I have no problem with other people mentioning Buddha or Allah or any other name they reverence, and so I have never understood why some people object so strongly to any mention of G O D or J E S U S
C H R I S T. I have no problem with anyone stating their beliefs (or their lack there of) and see no reason why they should object to my stating mine. Yet so many people would silence C h r i s t i a n s to "avoid offending someone." It all makes me wonder what will come next.

Will words like "faith," "hope," "charity," "honor," and "salvation" be outlawed because of their religious connotations? I hope not! Will they, like the word "right," become arrows used to attack people with traditional or conservative values? The Bible says there will come a time when good will be called evil and evil will be called good. This world is getting more upside down everyday.

People everywhere are trying to stretch the bounds of decency, to
rebel against moral standards and to allow any filthy word, image, or deed under the concept of "freedom." I hope we are willing to defend our freedom to acknowledge G O D!!!

I have decided that no matter how sneezy or itchy I get because of all the pollen, I simply will not complain! The sunshine (occasional though it may be recently) and the flowers and shades of green everywhere are definitely WORTH IT!

How G o d must have loved green! Have you ever looked around, especially in the spring, and just tried counting the many, many different shades of green in nature? Amazing! No crayon box comes close to having enough greens. For that matter, G o d obviously loves color period. Flowers, birds, animals--even people--are so incredibly colorful, and so varied!

I saw my first hummingbirds of the season on Saturday. This male ruby-throated hummer was buzzing around me on my porch looking for the feeder I usually have near the steps. I rushed inside and fixed up two feeders to hang. Since then there have been two hummers fueding over the two feeders. They are not good at sharing.

The goldfinches (males) have their spring plumage now. They are all bright yellow with black wings and caps. They cling to the thistle socks and are very amusing.

I added a new bird feeder. It is a cedar bird gazebo. I think it is lovely. That makes a total of three cedar feeders, three plastic ones, two suet cages, two thistle socks, and two woodpecker block cages. Plus three hummingbird feeders and two platform feeders (which are rocks and stumps.) 17! My yard really is becoming a bird sanctuary! My husband and I are going to build our own birdbath--and possibly a fountain later also.

I have six shrubs and three vines to plant--all of which should attract birds and butterflies as well as look gorgeous. The shrubs are confederate roses and the vines are jasmine (Jessamine), cape honeysuckle, and sweet vine. Then I have flower seeds and bulbs to plant also. I hope the weather stays nice. It rained last night and this morning, but has turned off so pretty this afternoon. My husband mowed about half the yard yesterday afternoon and still needs to get that finished, plus all kinds of yard work he has planned. We could really use another sunny weekend or two!

I am helping my daughter to get ready for her choir tour this week. She leaves Friday morning for New Orleans. (They will stop in Mississippi also at some point because they are going to the beach.)

It seems I am doing laundry constantly, because both my kids have always HAD to wear the exact items they wanted to pack for a trip right up to the time they are ready to go--so I have learned to keep EVERYTHING washed as soon as it hits the laundry area so I won't have any last minute upsets during the packing.

The choir has always saved receipts for their meals and turned those in for the college to pick up the tab, but today--short notice--the choir director told them they are on their own for meals. Hope all those kids are able to scrape up the extra money. (What kind of jerk waits until two days prior to a trip to suddenly spring on a bunch of college kids that they will need an additional $150-$200??

As it happens, my daughter was prepared for it, although she is still ticked because it will pretty much wipe out her "savings" for our trip in June. (She and I are going to New Orleans in June with my aunt, a cousin, and possibly my mother.) We will be okay, though. I am sure there are other kids who are on their own and may have a hard time getting the money for food with such short notice. (And I can't help thinking that it is pretty lousy to pull such a switch after telling them all for months that their meal money would be furnished.)

During the past week I attended three concerts! What a delightful experience!!! On Tuesday, I attended Wallace State's Symphonic band, which includes my daughter. On Thursday, I went to the Big Band Bash at the Princess Theater in Decatur, which included Cheese. On Sunday afternoon, I was able to attend a free concert performed by the Alabama Symphony Orchestra at Wallace. Awesome!

Well, that should about make up for the lack of recent posts!

My son is off work tomorrow, so we are all going to spend Easter afternoon at his house. He insisted that it wouldn't be Easter if I didn't color eggs, so I have done that and we also have ham in the fridge and these special rolls my kids love, and lots of candy, even though everyone is way too old for Easter baskets. My daughter had me go out and get Cadbury eggs--she says it isn't Easter without those either. For my husband, I am making this Orange dreamcicle cake. (Sounds like there is too much emphasis on food around here!Isn't that the way it goes with most holidays

I always cook everything the day before so that we can focus more on church on Easter Sunday. Truthfully, I try to do that every weekend--or plan something quick and easy for Sundays when I have to cook.
My mom wants us to stop by her house after church tomorrow morning, so the day will already be very busy.

Our church always has its spring revival beginning Easter Sunday night. That will continue through Friday.

My daughter and I had planned a camping trip for while she is out of school for spring break, but it turned out that her spring break is the same week as the revival, so we have had to postpone the camping trip. We will go on a day hike at Hurricane Creek Park instead--providing the weather cooperates, and we will also rent a few movies she has been wanting to see. We will go camping on the first weekend we both have free that also looks like the weather will be good.

We both love camping, and so does my son. Unfortunately, my husband isn't crazy about it and also doesn't really have time for doing it much. He isn't thrilled about us going without him, but maybe he won't object too much. If he does, we will just have to plan the trip for a weekend my son can go with us.

It was so pretty and sunny outside today, a bit windy, but beautiful. My husband and I went to Moulton to visit my aunt and to help her with a little outdoor work. It made me want to get started on my gardening!

The moon is lovely tonight, too. I noticed how pretty it was just before coming inside to get on the computer. It is just a little silver sliver, but you can see the shape of the dark part as well. It feels nice outside.

Last night I heard deer again in the woods. I walked almost up to the fence before I spooked them. I never could see them, but it was cool the way they let me get so close before they got nervous and moved away.

Tomorrow will be my first Sunday back with my class. I am looking forward to it! I know the kids will be bouncing off the walls, too. Any change in routine or anything special always gets them excited.

My daughter just got back from Troy. Wallace's choir was there as part of a big musical weekend. She said she wishes I could have heard them because they were very good and got to sing with an orchestra. She liked Troy's choir director, too. Tomorrow they perform at some church in Vestavia. It is a little over a month until their tour. She is excited about the trip to New Orleans, but who wouldn't be?

My son is talking about trying to get a job with a band on a cruise ship.
I know he'd like to make money as a musician, but as a mom, I would be so nervous about him doing all that traveling! Still, I want what is best for him--and his happiness! I know he misses being part of a band!

My little ones asked for me back and the church voted to "give me my job back, if I'd accept it." Cool--and no way was I not going to accept it! It's only been a month since I stepped down and I have missed it so much!!! I am so happy and thankful that I can't put it into words. I don't think anyone else wants to do it, and a lot of people probably don't see it as especially important, but it means so much to me! After church, one of the kids asked if I'd be back next Sunday and when I said yes, he got the most incredible smile on his little face. I don't know why I would be important to them, but I sure know that they are important to me.

I'm not trying to depress anyone who might read this, but the last few days have been incredibly sad ones for me. One of my favorite cousins died unexpectedly Wednesday morning and the funeral was today. He was only 52, which to some might seem old, but to me seems awfully young to die. I spent much of the afternoon with his brother, who came in from Michigan for the funeral and has to fly back tomorrow.

Saying goodbye is the hardest thing in the world.