Flying out of October and November

This month has snuck on me and is almost gone. I can't ever seem to catch up with myself lately and for those of you who do peek in on my blog, from time to time, I apologize for lack of postings.

So much is going on. First of all, during the last part of October I prompted a "Spooky Story Contest" in my writing/reading group on Cafemom, The Written Voice. Congrats to Ginny for winning the box of goodies I collected weeks before. It took a while for the members there to decide upon a winner. Three people gave great stories, so it was difficult to decide upon one. I did hear from Ginny that she really liked the assortment of goodies placed in the box. Here are some pics I took:





It was fun. Oh speaking of spooky, on Halloween, here are the girls photos I got from them in Colorado. Oh My! Gorgeous!!





They had fun and the evening was not spoiled by snow. They got some about two weeks before Halloween. Lori ran out to her backyard to show how much fell overnight. Wow!




February is a busy month for birthdays already in my family. And now it's the due date for my newest grandbaby! Which Lori is having with the due date around the
10th. The baby will be a girl and I can't wait to hold her. Babies always feel so warm and smooth and they smell like baby powder. Just makes you want one around all the time, but I do not want the diaper changing duty. LOL..No matter, there's always joy when a baby is born to the family. So I must save my vacation time and my pennies to make that trip to Colorado next year. I hear from my daughter Lori that she is doing well and the baby kicks a lot! :)

My youngest daughter Kayla just returned on Friday from a two day visit to Georgia. She went up with her beau's family to see him graduate Army Reserve basic training. Next stop after this will be training in his chosen profession with the Army reserves. He'll be gone for six more months. Kayla had fun visiting him, but was sad to return. She's patient though and knows this is all good for his future. Here is a snapshot of him in uniform. Looks good, don't he??



To make her feel better, I surprised her with a short trip to a nearby town to pick up a new dog. Another chihuahua. Like I need another one, right?? However this dog was abandoned in a backyard of a freind of a freind; and I love these tiny dogs. So I wanted to give it a home. So far, he's very friendly and seems trained to go out. He runs behind my other dogs with no problem and he gets along- a plus! My daughter wanted to name him the French name used by the Candlestick, in Beauty and the Beast. It's Lumière, but I have difficulty pronouncing it! LOL. Maybe I'll just call him Lumi for short. Ha.ha...

Thanksgiving is narrowing down to just four days away. In between, on Tuesday, is my oldest grandson's birthday. Ethan will turn six!! Hard to believe! He's such a darling little boy and smart! Here's a pic of him.



I think he looks so cute. His mom is constantly taking their pics with the cell phone and downloading it. Then she does something to the pics and send them my way. I'm always surprised when she does something she thinks is clever. They are cute, but I like natural pictures in the end. Here's an example of something she has done:



I guess to each their own sense of humor. Here is one of my youngest grandson, AJ, who is Ethan's youngest half brother. I think he looks adorable in the hat. (I couldn't leave him out of this blog- lol)




Anyways, you can tell I'm a grandmother. I love to share their pictures. And spending time with family during Thanksgiving makes on an older girl like me appreciate the children springing forth; this new generation. They are pieces of us, our bloodline continuing on to an unknown future. For now, with the time we can share with them, on holidays or any other normal day, we must take the time to show them our love; give them our bits of wisdom; give them a sense of their roots. After all, it's who they are and it's they who brings so much pride in our hearts.

To all my friends who read this, I wish you a day full of love, pride, and great memories on Thanksgiving. You all deserve the best and one thing I give thanks to always, is having friends who truly care. God bless.

Fall Chili Cookoff 10/30/09

Every year Scott and White puts on a chili cookoff contest where employees can show off their best chili, dress up, and have some fun. Usually we hold it right before Halloween. This year, my department at work, Trauma Services, decided to enter it. Kelly is a wonderful cook so we asked her to prepare the chili. We all threw in ideas on a theme and decided upon Hillbillies. It was a natural fit for the people who make up our department for sure. I had my daughter go around taking pictures of all participants this morning before the festivities got underway. I will come back to post more once I get them from my other co-workers and from the S&W webpage.

I'm sure there will be more posted as Jerry, who dressed up as Pa, came in first place for the costume contest. I, dressed up as Grandma/ or Ma, came in 2nd. I have never won a costume contest, so this was quite an honor. Our chili, although very delicious, did not come in top dog, but there's always next year. And we are already thinking up ideas to improve our Hillabilly theme.

Someone's Cute Dog Mascot





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Under Construction- So what was inside their building? MMMMM...








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Take A chill Pill- cute costuming








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Hmmm, Something very Fallish- Very creative I think:





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Prehistoric Theme- Look! Those prehistoric women have clubs!!






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Hey! They have a clothes hanging.. And hay! Are they copying us???





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Aha! The Wizard of Oz theme.... Cool!








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They are building a Saloon!!






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Tailgaters- They are setting up terrific chili!!






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Chili University- You all can learn how chili is done here! :)




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And now my team's booth set up- The Hillbillies!!


Here's me, caring for those grandbabies. Even got one on my leg!









There's Pa:












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All in All, we had terrific fun getting ready for the cookoff. I'll post more as I get em', ya hear? :)

Feeling proud of my daughter

Hi everyone. Sorry I haven't posted in a while. Life sometimes gets either stagnant with leaving not much to talk about or it gets very busy, very fast. Then you just can't seem to catch up. October has just flown by for me very quickly.


Last week, we celebrated Kayla's 18th birthday. We had a party with just her friends in our back yard. The day before we set things up, it had rained. Luckily, the ground wasn't too soggy. We were able to set up about four tables and chairs with decorations. I recall the last time there was a party outdoors for Kayla, when she turned 16, it was at a park and it got very windy. This time around, was we set up decorations on the table, a slight breeze began to blow. By noon, the balloon weights didn't manage to hold down the balloons very well at all. Still, we managed.

The day turned warmer than expected and with kids leaving open soda cans out, it attracted some bees. What turned out funny was the background music we had playing was Michael Jackson's Beat It, and appropriately so, I was running around the yard with a fly swatter, "beating" them darn bees. The kids had the camera set to film me and they caught me attempting to dance to Thriller. A funny sight. The video is posted on Utube. Just look me up "Ladyauthor2b" to view it. The party was a success and much fun was had by all.

Now my household is gearing up for several things coming up, one being Halloween; then come November is my grandson's Ethan's birthday; then Thanksgiving. Where is the time going? The year is going so quickly.

And in the middle of the month, much to kayla's excitement, she will be heading to Georgia to visit her beau, Chris Trueblood. He's been in basic training for the Army Reserves. He left on September 1st, after being very much together for over a year. I figured the parting would be very difficult for them both. Much to my surprise, they've both been real troupers. I guess these kids have their goals set and are determined to reach them. Should they continue their relationship in the future, they both have a great start. Kayla has her eyes set in going to Temple college next year to begin freshman college classes. Her goal is to eventually go to a major university to become a psychologist, while Chris wants to use Army Reserve college money to study to be a kid pediatrician. I think these are worthy goals. And even if theirs should deviate from course, they at least have college to help them persue other activities. I'm proud of them both.

It's hard to see my little girl grow up, but it's a given that she is becoming quite a young lady. She shows much self responsibility and ethics. She works at Sonic and is pursuing working at the Transporation Department at the hospital as well. She will begin training sometime after the 24th, after she fills out paperwork and has orientation for the job. She plans to work helping transport medication and patients on weekends, going to school, and keeping her Sonic job.

Yesterday she had to line up for the Seniors Panoramic Group picture. While in line with her friend Liz, they both noticed another senior hanging out with a freshman. They watched in dismay they walk past everyone to line up on the bleachers. The freshman never left the line and was photographed with the rest of the Seniors. This made Kayla upset, naturally. For four years, she has waited to become a senior and enjoy all the privileges she has earned. Now with the group picture marred with a freshman within their midst, she came home feeling anxious about what she should do about it. Of course, she shared this with me first and I told her I would be happy to call the school about it in the morning, if she wished. And she volunteered to be called to the office to talk to the Principal about it. I was proud she stood up for what was right. Sadly, the print of the group shot was already sent to the high school right away, so there won't be a repeat done, nor is there time to digitally erase him from the photograph. Or at least I was told so. The assistant Principal's secretary did relay to me that the Freshman would be reprimanded appropriately. But this whole ordeal showed me that my daughter does have a sense of what's right and what's wrong. There are ethics and traditions that should be honored and upheld, and one should be strong enough to speak up for what's right.

I don't think I have any fear of what type of woman she will remain being in her future. I'm so proud now that she's my daughter. I guess through the years I did my job right after all. What more can I add to this but a broad smile.