WHAT DAY IS IT?

Seriously!!! I had to pull up my calendar....what a weekend!!

Saturday morning had to get out of bed bright & early (will tell you the reason later)

Afterwards I had to get ready for an early Brunch Baby Shower, afterwards we had to deliver our gift & set it up.
4-1 Crib/Bed in Cherry (which of course is my favorite wood so brownie points to my DIL)

Then it was off to the new location for CHURCH to help clean & set up for Sundays Installation of our Skydiving Vicar, as Rachael called him...lol

Back to pick up my car from my son & dil's apartment

We then headed home for showers a quick bite to eat & off to the Piano Year End Awards Recital
Finally after o dark thirty we got home had a late bite & off to bed as church services were going to be VERY early as we had to drive farther now!


Sunday awake & out the door before 9am to work the Nursery for the Installation of Pastor Dave.
Afterwards we came home, changed clothes headed off to Lowes to get some items and while there guess what it RAINS, not just a summer rain but BUCKETS of RAIN...You would think we never saw rain before....called home, which mind you is a mile south of the store...nope not a drop, sunny & hot, the lady next to me in the aisle also called her house...no answer which means it isn't raining because her hubby is out doing yard work. LOL she lives a few blocks s.e. of my house.

This probably isn't quite as interesting to some folks but you see it has rained ALL OVER Florida for the last year, with the exception of our HILL in the Highlands. I KID YOU NOT!
Since they finished bulldozing the groves around us & put up more houses August 2006 we have gotten ALOT less rain here on the hilltop.

When we arrived home & went to plant the 3 little bushes & flowers we purchased it was smokey & dark thundering clouds were just south of us (1/2 mile) Smokey was because of the brush fire just across the main road where the clouds were and we hustled, just in case it rained on us, to get those bushes in the ground (the others died from lack of rain at the top of our yard)

Well after almost getting jolted when lightening struck up the hill and surged our power off while trimming the Hibiscus next to the pool pump & stung by a wasp while trimming the palms I gave up & went inside.
Finally we received about 1/8th of an inch of rain WOO HOO!

Yesterday it rained all around us again but nothing on us so we had to water the bushes & plants.

OH yeah why I have been waking up really early lately?
Last night my daughter can hardly keep her eyes open...seems she needs to reset her alarm clock and doesn't know how...'what time is it set for Sahara?' 6AM?!!!!
The alarm goes off and wakes up our oldest Boston, who now wants to go outside & have breakfast!
The thing is NO ONE ELSE hears him when he tries to wake them with his grunting squeeks EXCEPT ME!!!

Harley is the one on the left who naps after breakfast, naps after his mid-morning potty break, naps after his lunch potty break, naps after mid afternoon potty & play break, naps after dinner UGH!

Well that got fixed & I was able to sleep in this morning until 7 am YIPPEE!

I hope he doesn't shoot me....

Or get upset that I am posting these but I have to share these photo's of our Pastor from earlier today...



Aren't these amazing?

Looks like fun & what a beautiful day to boot!


I just saw this verse & it sure seemed appropriate

Beyond the sunlight & the clouds
Beyond the weary & the crowds
Where weary feet have never passed
There Jesus gives his loved ones rest.
-1892



Blessings 2 U Friends

Home at last....

Well that may be a little misleading...

Home where you reside now ...no
Home where you long to be ....no
Home where you grew up & spent your childhood ...YES

Friday we started out VERY early after grabbing a cup of coffee at the Burger King next door.
We were able to watch the sunrise & I snapped a few pics while we drove out of Kentucky & into Indiana.

I forgot that the my iphone changes time zones automatically as we drove back into EST and I called and woke Tim up. I wanted to make sure he didn't lock our two cats Calvin & Tinkerbell in the bedrooms. OOPS!
We won't go into the details of the conversation or sms messages that he had with Dad & Me while at the airport, suffice to say our Security here isn't as overzealous as you may have heard, THANKFULLY!! However I think he may have been TRYING to get detained. :-)

We made it to O'Hare thanks to the Prayers of Pastor Dave & multiple friends as we were watching the radar. The awful storm front was due to hit the same time we were due to arrive on Chicago's south side & while Tim's plane was coming into the area.
Praise GOD as I watch this front completely dissipate over the south side and push off through Lake County, where Jess was already.

We stopped at the O'Hare Oasis and waited for the call that his plane had landed. In the meantime I walked the dogs & tried to update The Queen over the roar of the traffic & wind as to our progress.

We arrived at Denise's' home at 3:30 pm after an emergency pull off on the 4ft of emergency space on the tollway, it is TORN up for construction, we didn't make the other drivers very happy but the car wouldn't move again.

Quickly,setting up the camper, feeding the dog, & showering 6 people in two bathrooms we managed to get dressed and arrive at the funeral home at 5pm. We signed in and saw Grandma. In the 40 days she was in Utah she lost quite a bit of weight, she barely looked like my Grandma.
Uncle Don, my sister and my cousins didn't arrive until 6pm. We visited with family that I have not seen in 10 or more years, my BFF Cheri and Larry's brothers & sisters all attended and I am eternally grateful as I know it would have been very difficult to be there without their support.

My family went to TGIF afterwards and Larry's family went to Avalon...gee where do we go? AVALON!!!!

We were able to laugh and enjoy the company of loved ones & grab a bite to eat without being rushed thanks to Denise & Rachel who were caring for our dogs.
We returned home to find a bouquet of red & pink roses on the table in the camper, fresh fruit in the basket, donuts, chips, juice & salsa all tucked away out of the pups reach. Denise could teach others how to be hospitable & make what truly were strangers feel at home, loved & welcomed!
Romans 12:13 (NIV) Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

The funeral services and luncheon afterwards were bittersweet, highlighted by my cousins son Matthew who spoke from GODS living word and shared some of the characteristics that made my Grandmother, his Great Grandmother, the wonderful woman we all knew & now will miss. I only pray that all those things she instilled in us and taught us will continue to be passed down to our children for eternity.

We all went to The Museum of Science & Industry which my two youngest had never seen nor had Denise & Rachel. When we had attended MOSI in Tampa I was astonished at how small it was & told the kids we would see Chicago's MOSI. The one in Tampa would fit in an exhibit area of the Chicago Museum. Then we invaded my BFF'S house for dinner & conversation. Cheri is another woman who could teach Hospitality, always welcoming to friends & strangers, making sure there is food to every ones liking or dietary needs. Giving gifts that are above & beyond what could be repaid here on earth.

We visited with her entire family since Ashley & Jen, who are now married & have children of their own, all came over to visit & spend their Sunday evening with us. They have grown into such beautiful women & mothers I can only pray my children are such loving parents.

Feeling like the Christmas Goose we finally gave her back her home & departed after many hugs & kisses, bags of food to take with us, Christmas gifts Larry was unable to bring back on his last two trips and special items from Ashley that I think I will keep for future use at my home.

This morning is going slow...still in my jammies and trying to get moving so we can visit the Milwaukee Zoo, Uncle Big Bob (who said he would look at the Suburban) and clean up Denise's' house from the mess we made all sleeping in *except Larry* because we are Floridian whimps and didn't want to sleep in the camper in 35 degree temperatures with colds.

Blessings 2 U Friends

PS please excuse typos & mis-spellings as I am just trying to get this posted, not proof reading. :-(

We finally hit the road last night around 8:45 with help er pushing from Jessica and her boyfriend Gabe who literally tossed our stuff in the camper and car

I prayed the entire way to Valdosta where we stopped finally at 2am this morning
only to be awakened by our Jack Russell alarm system at 5:00 am because someone else pulled in alongside us
we contemplated hitting the road but thought better of it since we only had 5 hours sleep the previous few night and
a few emotionally stressful days
So we dozed back off until the alarms went off again at 6 am tthen we finally woke up and got things moving at 8:30
Thanks to SHOVE them out the door Jessica I didn't grab my phone cable, blankets or food for me
so until we were able to find a Wally world in Perry where we could buy another the phone only was turned on for a few minutes to check for messages.
I thought the White knuckle navigating was over but no nearing Atlanta the car sputtering when we tried to accelerated to the point of us only going 10 mph on the interstate
we stopped a few times walked the dogs let the car rest and grabbed a banana or ice tea from the trailer fridge as we headed west into Alabama where I had never been before
thinking the terrain would be less steep and easier on the car
we were passed by a few dozen trucks hauling nascars to Talladega for the races
I wasn't able to power up fast enough to snap a picture of the thousands of folks camping around the track but at the next gas stop I was able to call The Queen returning her message from last night and back on the road we went through Birmingham and into Tennessee where the car started doggin' out again where I scrambled to send out an emergency prayer request although if we were going to break down I couldn't have picked a better place than the home town of Peter Furler of The Newsboys.
We even thought of tracking down Carmen, Bill & Dave at the Dove Awards to bring everyone out to lay hands on the car and pray.
Nashville is beautiful at night!
We are currently in Springfield throwing down I rings a burger & my hometown favorite A&W Rootbeer. Got a call from Jessica she was boarding her Connecting flight from Charlotte to Milwaukee
too bad her clothes are in our camper VBG

Just want say a special Thank You to GOD for getting us this far safely and to Pastor Dave my sweet friends Polly & Cheryl for responding so quickly to my call for prayer! May GOD continue to richly bless you and yours!

Blessings 2 U All my friends

One last thing the two youngest were able to take their shoes off tonight a walk in REAL Grass not St. Augustine, Bahia or Bermuda that those in Florida refer to as grass but the real honest to goodness thing.

We are now in Kentucky! I hope to upload some pictures tomorrow!