Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Milestones and Miles-stones

Wow...it's been a long time since I've written. Too long. It's been a busy few months. Here's a little rundown on what's been going on here. We had all my grandbabies together here in May, which was hectic but oh so nice!! For Mother's Day, I had all 3 of my children with me, which hasn't happened in a few years. Megan and I went to North Carolina so she could meet her favorite NASCAR driver. Then Megan went to Texas for 6 weeks in June. I traveled to Texas a couple of times, and to Mississippi too. Of course Stan is always traveling somewhere. Plus there are more travels in my future....to see my granddaughters...go on a cancer awareness walk...watch my sweet niece become a wife. Life can be very hectic and busy. Time has a way of getting away from us. It's up to each of us to stop, take a breath, and remember what is truly important in our lives.

So here are some milestones that have happened for us this year (funny how most of them are age-related)....just to name a few:

Our grandson Chase turned one in April (today he is 16 months old). He is a sweet boy, who is easy-going for the most part. But he definitely has a temper and he's not afraid to use it!!! He's working on walking now and then it's watch out!!

Our oldest granddaughter Audrey will be two tomorrow. She is a sweet, mischievous, beautiful, stubborn girl who knows exactly what she wants and when she wants it!! And already she has a shoe fetish!!!

Our youngest granddaughter Kayla is seven months old now. She's starting to crawl and getting teeth and is just the happiest baby! She has the most wonderful crooked smile that can melt your heart!

Melissa turned 25 (wow...and yet I am still so young!!). Megan turned Sweet 16 and is a junior this year. Matt is 22 but says he can't wait until he's 25 because then I'll be twice his age (pain in the butt boy!).

And then there is Stan, who will turn the big 5-0 in a couple of weeks!!! And yet, I'll still be in my LOW 40's!! Arguments, anyone??? Didn't think so!!

Even the dog is having her milestones....like she's almost A MILLION YEARS OLD now!!!!!

And then this summer, I had something happen to me that has never happened to me before!!! It happened to Stan a while back and I'm sure it has happened to millions of people already. But for me, it was a first!

It happened in Claude, TX, population 1313 on June 30, 2010!!
I finally drove a car for 100,000 miles!!!

Yes, I stopped to take pictures. I must be a geek at heart!!

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Farm Swap

As I was getting some stuff done around the house this morning, the show Wife Swap happened to come on. I don't watch that show, although like today I do catch bits of it, enough to know that I don't really like it. I hope that the people on it are not really like that in their real life. But it did get me thinking about what some other "wife" would have to do at my house. All I can say is that it's okay if the house gets dirty....if she forgets to pick Megan up at the bus stop....if she doesn't like running errands for Stan....if she totally hates living in my house....BUT, she better take good care of my FarmVille farm!! Those pink cows are priceless!!!

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Sweet Baby Boy

While I loved being with my granddaughters for so long, I did miss a few things here in Colorado. The mountains, the unpredictable weather, my house, my husband and the kiddies....just to name a few.

And boy did I miss this face:



Our sweet little grandson, Chase. He's such a sweetie and such a happy baby! I got to see him on the webcam...and that was nice. But it's not the same as smooching on him in person! For the few weeks I was gone, Chase grew so much. His hair is coming in (but only on top...too cute!). He is still working on his first tooth, which means drooling ALOT. He's still not crawling...he's happy to be sitting on the floor with toys all around (takes after his daddy on that one).

Nana missed you so much, Chasey-Wasey!! I'm happy to be smooching on you again in person!!

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Why We Have Our Babies Young

I just spent 4 weeks with my daughter and her family as they prepared for the arrival of their baby girl. Stan, Megan and I drove to MS for Christmas, then traveled to TX to visit with Melissa, Mark and Audrey. Stan and Megan had to leave to go back home before the baby was born, and I stayed on to help out in any way I could. And thus began my wonderful, tiring, awesome, worn out, amazing journey with my granddaughter!


She is one busy little girl.

Driving around in her car.


Playing dress up with blankets.....

....and hats.

Then there's the tunnel to crawl through. And yes, Nana even crawled through it too!! No picture (thank goodness!!)

The amazing ball pit!


Laughing at daddy as he jumps to reach the balloon!!

Dancing!!!

Wearing...I mean eating...her food!



The never-ending stinky poopy faces!!!

We did make time to admire Kayla, the newest member of our family.




Overall, I am one pooped nana....and I loved every single minute of it! Audrey and I had a lot of together time while mommy and daddy were off having a baby. I re-learned how to carry a wriggly child along with a purse, groceries and a sippy cup and walk up a flight of stairs. Some how you forget how busy kids are, how they are non-stop action from morning to night. How they get into EVERYTHING!! I miss those days. I really do. And I truly learned why we have our kids young....we needed the energy!!
Many thanks to the men in my life. To Stan for not complaining about me being gone so long. To Matt for staying at the house to be with Megan when Stan had to travel....and also while we were all gone over Christmas, for staying at the house to watch the dog. You both are wonderful!! Thank you.
And thanks to Melissa and Mark for putting up with me. For giving us such beautiful, wonderful grandbabies!! I'm so proud of both of you!

Friday, December 11, 2009

Our Wedding Day

Twenty-seven years ago at this exact time, I was in tears, and would continue to cry off and on all day. I woke up to rain...on my wedding day....rain....in December.....because in Mississippi, we rarely get snow. My oldest sister, Charlotte, took me out for breakfast at Denny's (it's now gone thanks to Hurricane Katrina). I remember sitting there, looking out at the pouring rain and feeling so depressed. How could it be raining? How? The ceremony was starting at 7:00 pm so maybe, just maybe, the rain would go away! But no. A couple of hours later, I was getting my hair done and the rain was still coming down in buckets. I had long, straight hair down to my waist, and everything the stylist tried to do to my hair, it eventually just fell limp because of the moisture in the air. She finally pulled back some hair and the rest she twisted up and held it there by bobby pins and lots of hairspray. I was to take it all out later, at the church, so that my hair would still have some ringlets and a little bit of body. On the way home from the salon, with my sister, Donna, I just started crying again over the rain. Stan called to check up on me. I'm still upset and he wants to come over to comfort me. Yeah right. First I didn't want him to see me until the ceremony (I kicked him out of my house the night before at 11:59 pm), plus I'm sitting there, in ratty clothes, with my hair looking ridiculous, my eyes very red from no sleep and crying. Yeah, come on over and see what you're marrying!! This ought to be good. But I convinced him that I was fine and that he was to stay away. His mom told me that rain on your wedding day is supposed to be good luck. At the time I didn't know if she was just saying that to calm me down or if it really was a good luck charm, but since I've heard that a few times over the years, and lets face it, we have been married for twenty-seven years, maybe she was telling me the truth.

So I stopped crying. Got rid of the red eyes. Began to focus on what needed to be done. It was still raining when we arrived at the church. I'm getting ready in one room, with my bridesmaids and my mom and my future mom-in-law....Stan is in another with his crew getting ready. As the time is getting near to go walk down the aisle, I hear a lot of laughter coming from the other room. I only found out what was happening after we were looking through our wedding photos, and there was Stan, in his tux, laying on a table, arms crossed over his chest, with all his groomsmen standing around holding the table up, you know... like he was dead now since he's about to marry. And then there's Larry, Stan's brother-in-law, with his head bowed and his hands covering his eyes, "weeping" over the loss of yet another male about to enter holy matrimony! Thanks, guys. Appreciate it. Really I do.

Now back to the serious stuff.

Time to get to the back of the church, where I would wait in the foyer until it was time to start down that aisle. The next problem? The only two ways to get to that back foyer was to walk inside the sanctuary or walk outside to get to it. And it's still raining. And I'm in my dress. Rain and wedding dresses to not mix. So we walk to the sanctuary entrance in the front, and someone (don't remember who did this) went inside to make the announcement that due to the rain, the bride was coming in this way and to "please close your eyes until she is out of sight. No peeking please!". Then my bridesmaids made a circle around me, and in we walked. We were laughing, telling people to keep their eyes closed! Pretty funny.

Time for Stan and our pastor, who is my future dad-in-law, to stand up front. Stan is wearing a white tux, standing so straight, waiting for the wedding party to walk in. Instead of a center aisle, this church had two side aisles. We were walking up the left one, and then after the ceremony, we walked back down the right one. Time for the bride and her dad to walk in. I remember being so nervous, clutching my dad's arm tight. I had a bouquet of white silk roses, along with two red silk roses. On the way up to the altar, I stopped to kiss my mom and give her a rose. After the ceremony, I would be stopping again to give a rose to my new mom also.

Finally it was time to stand up there with Stan. As we held hands for the first time that day, I realized that I wasn't so nervous any more. I know that Stan had his share of nerves that day too since his hands were ice cold. We stood there before God and family and friends, and vowed that we would love each other forever and ever.

And now, twenty-seven years later, I am still as deeply in love with my husband as I was then. I love the life that we made together. I wouldn't change a thing. The struggles and hard times only helped us grow into who we are today. We have always been there for each other. He's been the one constant in my life, the one I can always count on no matter what. He makes me laugh. He makes me cry (usually the good kind). He's romantic! He's a wonderful father and grandfather. He's an awesome provider for his family. He's the most annoying, frustrating man ever! He's perfect....for me!!

Stan, I thank you for giving me so many wonderful memories. For loving me. For always being there for me. For being my best friend. For spending your life with me. For being such a good dad to our children. For putting up with me and all the times that I annoy you. I can't wait to see how much more annoying we will be when we are in our rocking chairs.

"Grow old with me. The best is yet to come!"

Happy Anniversary!
I love you.



Friday, November 27, 2009

You're Sleeping On The Couch, Bucko!!

Even after all our years together (it will be 27 years on Dec. 11), we have never been the kind to get soooo mad at each other where we say "here's the pillow and there's the couch". I mean, first of all, if I was THAT mad at Stan why would I even give him a pillow!! Now, I'm not saying that we have never gone to bed mad at each other....I'm sure we have....a few times....mostly because he's wrong about something....but at least we have slept in the same bed.

Over the last couple of nights, he has been sleeping on the couch. And I am all snuggly in our big king-size bed. And it's not even because he was wrong about something or that I am mad at him. He's sick. He started getting sick on Wednesday, which was our Thanksgiving Day (celebrated a day early since Matt was off). By the time we had eaten our dinner with Matt, Amber and Chase, he was coughing and sneezing up a storm!! It truly sucked. Stan doesn't get sick often, so you know he feels bad when he's taking medicine without whining about it. As soon as he lays down, the hacking starts. I thinks he hacked up both lungs by now and is working on his other organs! After about 5 minutes of staying in bed, he gets up and goes to the couch. He says he doesn't want to keep me awake (which is really sweet of him, but not necessary).

So he's had a couple of rough nights while I've had that big bed all to myself. And I keep thinking to myself that I should pick a fight with him so that I can say...in all seriousness..."That's it!!! You're sleeping on the couch, Bucko!" I really hope he starts to feel better soon...I really do. But it sure would be kinda cool to use that line once in awhile!!

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Winter Wonderland

Over the weekend, we had a snowstorm come to town! And I loved it. I love the snow. I love the cold. I love snuggling up with a blanket and watching sports or a good movie on TV. Here in Colorado, the snow is just beautiful, and I'm sure it's just as beautiful elsewhere. This snowstorm was no different than any other. It lasted a couple of days...this time we got about 8 inches of snow. The mountains are just amazing with their white-capped tops. I love seeing the fresh snow on trees, bushes and grass. I love how sparkling the snow seems. I love the purity of it as it is falling. I also love the fact that we are usually not stranded too long before it's okay to start venturing out again. Once the sun comes out, the roads dry off fast.


That's what I love about snow.

This is what I don't love about it so much. I don't like how dirty it gets as the plows come out and move it. It turns dirty and clumpy. If I'm going to be stranded indoors, I'd rather Stan be here. It's always nice to have someone you love to snuggle with. The kids usually frown on me trying to snuggle with them. Go figure. Megan (and probably most kids) doesn't like it when the snow comes on the weekend. What good is a snowstorm if it doesn't get you out of school?? I don't much like driving in the snow either. I'm a nervous driver and even a more nervous passenger. I drive Stan nuts when he's driving in the snow. He has NO fear and I have way too much!! And the shoveling. The shoveling makes me sore for days. I am definitely getting too old for it. But once the shoveling is done, it feels nice to see a job well done and then go back into our nice warm house.

Overall, my love for the snow outweighs my dislikes of it. I have family (I won't name names... cough....Mike...cough...) that completely shudders at the thought of the cold or snow. To them, if the temperature dips below 70, it's time to bring out the parka, mittens and hat!!

But the best thing about the snow for me is that I get to take pictures of my husband dressed like this:


In public. For the whole neighborhood to see. Priceless!! Warms my heart!!