La Posadas at Emanuel Lutheran Church

At the church where Bob and I are members, Emanuel Lutheran Church in Dallas, there is a Spanish congregation as well as the English congregation. Last night, we celebrated the Mexican tradition of La Posadas. The congregation commemorated the events in the journey of Mary and Joseph from Nazareth to Bethlehem. We had candles to light our way as we walked around the perimeter of the church and stopped at three doors to ask the "innkeepers" if we could stay overnight. The first two "innkeepers" told us we could not stay there. When the owner of the third house finally learns who his guests are, he jubilantly throws open the doors and bids us welcome. We all went into the church for a potluck dinner. Here are some photos I took of the journey -- http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8EbMmLJq3aKMmQ

Just Call Me The Bag Lady

I like to recycle whenever I can. I want to help the earth live longer. One of the items I recycle are bags -- grocery bags (I try to use the cloth bags now whenever I can.), gift bags, store bags, etc. I also recycle gift wrapping. When Mom moved to her retirement home a year and a half ago, I took all of her gift wrap and bags too. She sends money as gifts now, so I knew she wouldn't be using her wrapping paper and pretty gift bags. Today, as I got out the Christmas gifts to wrap, I had to round up gift wrap and bags from four locations in my apartment. Being an organized person, I took time out to put all of the gift paper, tissue paper, gift bags, pretty store bags and brown paper bags into piles. I plan to put all of these in one spot so that next time I can pull out just what I need for the occasion.

Thirty377 Blackburn Street

I finally took photos of our new apartment at Thirty377. You can see all of the pics at share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8EbMmLJq3aKMiA

The Worst Move Ever!!

Bob and I moved into a new apartment over the Thanksgiving weekend. We decided to move to save a little money. On our walk around the West Village neighborhood where we live, we discovered a beautiful apartment complex called Thirty 377. The complex has 10 buildings and each building is four stories. Previously we lived in a highrise, both downtown and in West Village. After a whirlwind trip to Tulsa on Wed. and back home after Thanksgiving lunch on Thursday, Bob and I started right in packing up last minute items about 6 p.m. I was originally going to use the moving company we used before, but a security guard, Darryl at The Mondrian, said he worked part-time with his cousins, Reggie and Marshall, so we decided to give them a try since their quote was a lot less than the other moving company. Bob and I were up before 6 a.m. to get ready for them, as they were to arrive at 9 a.m. At 3 p.m., only Reggie and Marshall arrived. Darryl is in Pakistan for his wedding. They got all of the boxes, our bed and dining room chairs on the truck. Those items were taken and unloaded at our new apartment and they finished at 11 p.m. We all decided that they should finish the job on Saturday since it was so late and we were all exhausted. They planned on coming at 10 a.m. at first, then 1 p.m. At 4 p.m., they called and Bob met them at The Mondrian, our old apartment building. I spent all of Saturday unpacking boxes at the new apartment and Bob went back and forth between the old and new apartment retrieving miscellanous items that would fit into our car. Luckily, our apartments are only three blocks from each other! Reggie and Marshall loaded up the furniture and unloaded it at our new apartment. They finally got finished at midnight! Bob and I were totally exhausted and my Fibromyalgia was in full flare up! Reggie told us that he was sorry we had such a bad experience and that he would give us $100 off on our next move!! We decided that next time we are using a BIG, well-known moving company and they will pack everything, move it and unpack it!

Our new apartment has some pluses and minuses, as all places do. This apartment is away from any major streets, so it is very quiet. I love "my" computer room, as it has a window and it is large enough for my doll cabinet. Previously the doll cabinet was in the guest/Bob's computer room. And the kitchen is much nicer too. We are still within walking distance of City Place, where Bob works and I work temp.

I will post the Shutterfly link for photos soon.

Thanksgiving 2010

Bob and I made a whirlwind trip to Tulsa and back for Thanksgiving. We couldn't stay through the weekend this time since we are moving to another apartment today. We drove up on Wednesday and back home yesterday after a yummy Thanksgiving lunch with all of Bob's family. We had a little extra time on Wednesday on the way to Tulsa, so we stopped for lunch in Old Town McKinney. I had never been there, but Bob had and he wanted to show it to me. It is another cute town with the court house in the center and lots of wonderful shops around the square. We had lunch at The Pantry, then walked around the square, but we didn't go into any stores. I will need to go back and investigate it more at another time. Possibly when my sister comes to visit. We arrived in Tulsa in time for dinner with Corbin, Christy, Caty, Carson and Christian - a.k.a., C5. We met them at Joe's Crab Shack -- the kid's favorite place to eat. They like to feed the ducks on the pond in back of the restaurant, but it was cold and rainy and I'm sure the ducks had flown south for the winter, so no feeding the ducks this time.

On Thursday, Bob and I went to his niece Keli's house for a yummy Thanksgiving lunch with all of Bob's family. In attendance were Bob's two brothers, John & Nick and Nick's wife, Sandra, Bob's two sister's, Marianna & Suzanne, Suzanne's two daughters, Keli and Marti and Marti's son, Austin. And Bob and me, of course!

It is always nice to be with family during the holidays!

If you want to see more photos that I took, here is my Shutterfly link -- share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8EbMmLJq3aKMgI

My Son Cavan

Five years ago today, Bob and I were at Shand's Hospital in Gainesville, FL, gathered there with many of Cavan's friends and Lauren's family. On that Sunday afternoon, I was previously shopping at Michael's Craft Store when I received the phone call on my cell phone from someone at Shand's telling me that Cavan had had a motorcycle accident and that we needed to get to the hospital as soon as we could. Bob and I packed a bag and drove from Sarasota to Gainesville where we met Lauren's family and many of Cavan's friends from Jacksonville where he and Lauren were living at the time. We found out that Cavan had been at a practice race on a track in Jennings, FL. I talked to him the night before and he told me he had finished building a motorcycle to race. No one saw the accident, but according to Cavan's friend Dale, who was on the racetrack with Cavan, he and Cavan were trying to get around a pack of racers and Dale had gotten around them. When he looked back, Cavan had disappeared. The race ended and he couldn't find Cavan. After searching awhile himself, he finally got an official to get people together to start a search. Cavan was found "deep in the woods" that surrounded the race track. He was flown by helicopter to Shand's Hospital in Gainesville and the family was called. We saw Cavan and he laid peacefully in a bed, looking like he was sleep. We all kept vigil that night in a waiting room. The next day, we all met with doctors in a large conference room. Lots of Cavan's friends and family were in the conference room and the doctor's were surprised at how many of us were there. The doctors told us that tests had been run and that there was no brain activity. They said he probably hit a tree and died instantly. Cavan was an organ donor and his liver and kidneys were given to recipients that afternoon. Cavan lives on in DeWayne and Michael!

Home for the Holidays in Salado

I participated in my first craft show over the weekend. Bob and I have friends, Jody & Juanita, who live in Salado, TX and Juanita has taken over what used to be the Holiday House in Temple. This is her second year to have the Home for the Holidays (renamed from Holiday House) at her home in the country. She asked me to participate and sell my jewelry. I drove to Salado on Thursday and set up my table with the jewelry I have from NeeNee & CheeChee's Beaded Things. People started arriving at 4 p.m. on Thursday to shop. It was open on Friday from 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. and on Sat. from 9 a.m. - noon. There were 15 crafters with gourd art, wood art, soaps and lotions, stained glass, jar mixes, candles, scrubs, wreaths, dolls, crosses and much more. Juanita said that the traffic that came through and the sales were down from previous years, probably due to the economy more than anything else, but I enjoyed participating and making new friends. I probably broke even after I had to buy a table, black cloth and some Styrofoam blocks, gas to get there and back and money for some food, but it was fun and I'm looking forward to doing it again next year. If you are interested in seeing any of the photos I took, here is the link: share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8EbMmLJq3aKMf4

Lady with the Pink Poodle

This is a photo of a necklace I made and named "Lady with the Pink Poodle". I got very inspired and excited to make this necklace after reading my friend Katrina Fong's blog. Katrina is the daughter of our friends Bob and Kathleen Fong, who are members of the St. Paul Lutheran Church where we were members for six and a half years in Sarasota, FL. I watched Katrina grow up into a beautiful, young lady. Katrina is very talented in art and is now a junior at the Ringling School of Art in Sarasota. As one of her assignments last year, she was to describe a person whom she could have no contact with in a piece of artwork. She said a lady came into the place where she works with a poodle that was dyed pink! This was her inspiration for her assignment. You can read about her paintings she did on the Lady with the Pink Poodle from her blog -- http://katfong21.blogspot.com/2010/05/lady-with-pink-poodle-4-18x24-acrylic.html (Copy and paste this link into your Internet browser to read Katrina's blog and see her artwork.). Take a look at the other pieces of Katrina's wonderful artwork that she shows on her blog. After getting caught up on Katrina's blog last week, I started thinking about this Lady with the Pink Poodle. I envisioned her as wearing pearls, diamonds, high-heeled shoes and exuding lots of money. I HAD to make a necklace and name it Lady with the Pink Poodle! Katrina was ecstatic that I wanted to write about her artwork that inspired me. All of us artists enjoy getting inspired and excited about our work and wish all of our expressions of art came about in this fashion.

My Friend's Websites

I was looking through my "Favorites" list on my computer today and I ran across some of my friend's websites I saved to my list. I took a look at each website and also caught up on some of my friend's blogs. Then, I decided to write a blog about these websites that have some wonderful products for sale. You could add these products on your Christmas shopping list for friends and family.

Bob's niece Catherine Dreher is selling bath and body products that she makes and sells through her shop called Catie Beth -- http://www.catiebeth.com/ She and her husband Scott adopted a baby from Ethiopia and she is using the proceeds from her sales to pay for that adoption.

Emily Sappinfield is the daughter of Bill & Linda, good friends and pastor who married Bob and me. Emily has a shop on Etsy where she sells her handmade bags, hats and toys -- http://www.etsy.com/shop/BuenaSuerte

Amanda Klekamp is my nephew Eric's wife. Amanda is selling Scentsy candles and such -- https://alsklekamp71.scentsy.us/Home

Our friends Alberto & Mary Tomas own a fine art gallery -- http://www.marytomas.com/studiogallery/

My friend Cheri Bates wrote a book on poetry that she is selling - http://www.cafepress.com/Cheri45Bates

And be sure to check out NeeNee & CheeChee's Beaded Things -- http://www.etsy.com/shop/NeeNeeandCheeChee

Please check out these wonderful websites and start -- or perhaps finish -- your Holiday Shopping!!

Destination: Unknown

Bob and I woke up this morning and decided to take a drive in the country since it was such a beautiful day. We headed southwest with no particular destination in mind. We ended up in Granbury in time for lunch. Granbury was settled in 1854 and it has a model town square that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The square is built around the court house in the middle. We took a walk around the square to see what was there, then decided to have lunch on the patio at Stringfellow's. When I was finished with my lunch, a butterfly landed on my plate and enjoyed sucking up the sweetness from the bread from my sandwich. Bob and I walked around the square again and into several of the shops. We saw lots of beautiful hand-made jewelry and crafts. Then, we decided to drive on to Glen Rose, since it was only 17 miles away. This quaint, little town also has a town square built around the court house in the middle. It wasn't as busy as Granbury, but again we walked around and into the shops on the square. It was a wonderful day for discovery of some new places and a beautiful day for a drive in the country. You can see more photos at http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8EbMmLJq3aKMTI

I don't need a class!

Yesterday my friend Mary Kulpon and I went to the TX Bead Fest at the convention center in Arlington. I love to go to these bead shows when I can, as I always see new beads and use of beads and even use of household items for jewelry. I made a few bead purchases that I will use in new jewelry in the future. These bead shows always have several workshops you can attend if you want to pay an exorbitant amount of money! Since I have not worked a full-time job in the past three years, I don't want to spend over $100 on a jewelry making workshop, although I love the jewelry made in these workshops. At this bead show, there was a glass case that had some of the finished pieces of jewelry from the workshops. As I was waiting for Mary to finish her bead shopping, I looked at these unique pieces of jewelry. I loved the Wild Woman bangles by Deborah Mauser. The workshop was offered for $135. Today I decided to try making one of the Wild Woman bangles, only I made a cuff instead. Above is a photo of the bangles from the workshop and my finished Wild Woman cuff. I don't need an expensive bead class to make unique jewelry!

Getting Rid of STUFF!

Bob and I are moving -- AGAIN! We will be moving after Thanksgiving to an apartment complex called Thirty 377 that is only three blocks down our street towards the Katy Trail. To get ready for this move, I am getting rid of STUFF! These size 7 1/2 B Frye boots have been sitting in my closet for perhaps 15 years without being worn, so it is time to get rid of them. And the Anne of Green Gables doll came from my mom. I have a doll collection, but my doll cabinet is filled to over capacity and there is no room, especially for big dolls such as this one. I will keep the dolls that my mom played with as a kid and also the china head dolls that belonged to both of my grandmothers. My mom bought Anne of Green Gables when she visited the author's home in Canada. It has no sentimental value to me, so I have decided to sell her. I have several other big dolls that I will sell too. I am also posting these on eBay and Craig's List. If you are interested, let me know.

Trampoline Jumping

Last week I drove to Springfield, IL to help my mom with some things after she had a pacemaker put in. My sister Cindy drove down from Elgin, IL to help Mom and to see me. Mom had a sweater to be returned to the mall and while Cindy and I were walking around, we saw these trampolines that you could jump on. We had seen them other places, but neither of us had actually done any jumping until last Saturday. It was such FUN!

Reflecting Back to September 1966

A friend of mine in Sarasota sent me an email the other day with some photos of her granddaughter who is vying for the title of Miss Florida. In the photos she sent me, Betty's granddaughter was trying on lots of beautiful gowns and trying to pick which one she was going to wear in the pageant. I remembered back to September 1966 when I was a finalist in the Miss Teenage Springfield contest. We didn't have to wear any beautiful gowns. I wore a lavender and white checked suit as I played a piece on my flute. I don't remember much about the contest. I didn't win it, but it was fun thinking about being Miss Teenage Springfield.

The Bell Family Visit to Dallas

Bob's daughter Amy, her husband Jonathan and their three boys, Samuel, Jezreel and Daniel came to Dallas on Friday to stay with us for the Labor Day weekend. This was the first time that Bob and I had any of our grandkids at any of our homes, so this was exciting to us. On Saturday, we all rode on the DART commuter train to the Dallas Zoo. We got kind of tired, but it was fun. The weather wasn't too hot either, which helped. After a late lunch of pizza and a little resting up, the boys wanted to go to the Lego store at the mall. Bob bought each of them some Legos. They attended church with us this a.m. and we all went to the Black-Eyed Pea for lunch before they started back to Bentonville, AR. If you would like to view any of the other photos that I took, you can see them at share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8EbMmLJq3aKL8I

Tables of Eight Dinner at Mary Tomas' Gallery

Last night Bob and I attended our Tables of Eight dinner. Our church, Emanuel Lutheran Church, has several groups of the Tables of Eight, that meet every three or four months and take turns having dinner at each others homes. This is a good opportunity to get to know people in the church. Last night was Alberto & Mary's turn and they decided to have the dinner at their art gallery -- http://www.marytomas.com/studiogallery/ Mary fixed us a yummy roast pork, potatoes, salad and sherbert and cookies for dessert. It was a wonderful dinner, fun time with friends and a unique, beautiful setting for the dinner. You can see more photos I took at share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8EbMmLJq3aKL6Q

Babysitting for My Grandkids -- AGAIN!!!

Bob and I got asked to babysit AGAIN for Caty, Carson & Christian this past weekend!! What FUN! Corbin and Christy went to a wedding and stayed downtown Tulsa in a hotel overnight on Saturday. The kid's other set of grandparents live a mile away and they get to babysit a lot, but Bob and I have not been able to sit much since we live in Dallas and they live in Tulsa. So, I started begging to let us sit for the kids. I didn't mind that we had to drive four hours to do this. We were going to spend quality time with our grand kids!! I found some paper dolls online at www.makingfriends.com and printed out some of the paper dolls and their wardrobe. The girls and I spent all of Saturday cutting them out and playing with them. I showed Caty & Carson how they could put cardboard on the backs of the dolls with an "X" at the bottom so they can stand up by themselves. The girls got creative and even made a Christmas tree with ornaments and presents! Then, they took the paper dolls upstairs to their playroom and played with them in their doll houses.

I remember when my sister and I used to sit for hours to play with and cut out paper dolls. We made the paper dolls and clothes ourselves and some we cut out of the Sears and J. C. Penneys catalogs. Our Grandma Purdue used to get the out-of-season pattern books from Haines and Essick in Decatur and Cindy and I would sit at their dining room table and cut out the ladies and clothes.

I remember a car trip we took when our family had a station wagon. Cindy and I sat in the back end and played with our paper dolls. I have no idea where we went or what we did. I just remember playing with the paper dolls.

Christian wasn't interested in the paper dolls, thank goodness. That would have been a mess! He hung out with Bob on the swing set in the backyard, playing in the girl's Barbie motorized cars and watching Nick Jr.

It was a wonderful, quality time with our grand kids!!

You can see more photos from our weekend in Tulsa at http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8EbMmLJq3aKLyw

Rowdy

It was hard for me to find a photo of just Rowdy, as he and his brother, Buster, were always together. They were litter mates, born the middle of January in 1998. We got Buster & Rowdy from a lady who worked with Bob at Marsh. She had several cats and when we went to her house to get ONE, she asked us which one we wanted. I told her that whichever cat came to sit on my lap, then that was the one I would take home. Well, Buster got up on Bob's lap and Rowdy got up on mine. So, of course we had to take BOTH of them home with us! She told us that the kitties who were eight months old at the time, were in separable. It took us a few days to give them names, but Bob came up with Buster and Rowdy. The names seemed to fit. They went with us to Sarasota in their carriers when we moved there in March 2001 and back to Dallas in October 2007. A few weeks ago Rowdy was getting sick in the mornings and I took him in to the vet. The doctor told us he had a hyperthyroid and I had to apply ointment to his ears twice daily. This was NOT fun! Rowdy would run and hide from me and I found myself crawling under the end table in the living room, moving furniture out from the walls and once dismantling our bed to get to him. Whenever we left for overnight, we had to take Rowdy to stay at a kitty condo at the vet so he could get his medicine. It would be asking a bit much to ask a friend to come over to the apartment to crawl under the table to give him the medicine! We dropped Rowdy off at the vet this past Saturday, as we were driving up to Tulsa to babysit for my grand kids. I could tell that Rowdy wasn't his "normal self", so I asked the doctor at the vet to take a look at him. Rowdy had been going downhill rapidly and looked very old. The doctor called us on the way home on Sunday to tell us that Rowdy had either liver cancer or cirrhosis of the liver. Neither are curable. We could have had an ultrasound to see which disease he had, but we decided it wouldn't do much good, as Rowdy still was going to continue to go downhill and we didn't want him to suffer any longer. On Sunday, August 29th, we made the decision to put Rowdy to sleep. I'm not sure if Buster misses his brother. It is hard to tell. Buster was always the alpha cat -- eating before Rowdy did, sitting on my lap before Rowdy took his turn and generally doing everything before Rowdy had his turn. I think Buster is now enjoying being King Kat and having my lap all to himself. I miss my little Rowdy Kitty.

Prairie Home Companion

Last night Bob and I went to the new Winspear Opera House to see "Prairie Home Companion". The show was very funny and we both enjoyed it. This was the "Summer Love Tour" with Sarah Watkins and Garrison Keillor, in his white suit, red shoes and tie. They both did a lot of singing, but of course, Guy Noir made an appearance and Garrison Keillor did a monologue on Lake Wobegon.

I became acquainted with "Prairie Home Companion" around 1984 when I lived on Quincy Street in Tulsa, OK. Our neighbors next door were Tom and Sue. Tom enjoyed woodworking which he would do in his garage. Tom, who is friendly and gregarious, and me being the same, enjoyed time together chatting in his garage as he was making wood into beautiful furniture. Tom always had the radio on the NPR station and he enjoyed listening to "Prairie Home Companion". I enjoyed listening too and I looked forward to the stories from Lake Wobegon and Guy Noir.

Bob and I listen to "Prairie Home Companion" mostly when we are traveling in the car. It is relaxing to me to escape to Lake Wobegon and forget about the stress of expressway traveling.

Russell Farm Art Center

My friend Annie talked me into teaching a jewelry making class. Annie is a ceramist who lives in Burleson. She has a studio at Russell Farm Art Center where she teaches classes in pottery making. On Saturday, October 16th, I will be teaching a class there from 1 - 5 p.m., using three techniques -- paper beads, felt beads and shrink plastic. You can read more about the class at http://www.russellfarmartcenter.com/display-page-nm.php?pagekey=2

Please contact me if you are interested in taking this class. It will be such FUN!

Emanuel Lutheran Church Back-to-School Carnival

Today at the Emanuel Lutheran Church in Dallas, there was the Pat Painter Memorial Back-to-School Carnival. Pat Painter, who died of cancer, started the back-to-school carnival in 1990. The carnival has continued for 20 years. The neighborhood children come to Emanuel Lutheran Church each year to receive school supplies as prizes for the games they play. They play games and eat hot dogs and tortillas with grilled meat in them. The members of the Emanuel Lutheran Church, as well as members from area Lutheran churches help with the carnival. This is one of the community services that Emanuel Lutheran Church provides. There is a donor who buys all of the backpacks that are handed out to each child who comes to the carnival. Today there were 430+ kids who attended the carnival.

Dinner at Nick & Sam's

Last night Bob and I went to dinner at Nick & Sam's here in Dallas. This was a business dinner with one of Bob's clients, Otis Hatcher with Chartis. I usually do not get asked to go along when Bob has his business dinners, but I was certainly thrilled to go! Bob and I were not the only ones who were asked to go to this dinner. Another underwriter and a visitor from the New York Chartis office were there too. They talked a lot of business, but that was OK with me. I just enjoyed having some good salmon for dinner in a beautiful setting and being able to get dressed up and go out. I would have whipped out the camera on my phone and taken some photos, but I know Bob would have died of embarrassment, so I spared him. I hope I get asked again sometime.

It worked for me!

Last Thursday evening, I went to one of our local Whole Foods stores to pick up my FREE ticket to see the "Eat, Pray, Love" movie and I had some time to kill before they started handing out tickets. By the way, I was the first person to receive my ticket! Can't wait! My friend Kathryn and I are going to see the movie this Thursday night at 8 p.m. before it is released to the public on Friday. But, back to my story about the tea. I got to the Whole Foods store early to be able to get my ticket and I had some time to kill. I love this store and the different products on the shelves. I don't see a lot of unusual items at our Kroger grocery store where I do my weekly shopping. Or, at least I don't take time to look for any. I usually buy what I need and get out. Whenever I am in the Whole Foods store, I love to look around at the different items I don't find at Kroger. I ended up in the tea aisle on Thursday. I bought "Get Some ZZZ's" tea by The Republic of Tea company. I am sure this tea is sold at many grocery stores, but I had never seen it before. There are nights that I toss and turn or my mind goes a hundred miles an hour thinking of things I want to do or things I didn't get accomplished that day. I really wanted to have at least ONE night that I slept very well! Last night I remembered that I bought this tea and I brewed a cup to drink while I was watching TV. The tea has organic Rooibos leaf, orange peel, spearmint leaf, Chamomile flower, Passionflower and Stevia leaf in it. It tasted OK without the honey that I like to put in my morning tea. Well, the tea worked! I don't remember much last night, except that I did get up a couple of times for trips to the bathroom. I feel very refreshed this morning too! If you would like to try a bag instead of buying a whole can of this tea, let me know and I will be glad to send you one.

Did You Know?

My friend Jeanette, who is a nurse, talks a lot about Chef MD (www.chefmd.com). She sent me a link to his book that I bought. Within the first hour of scanning over the book, I learned:

*If you cook a pizza HOTTER or LONGER, it give you more antioxidants. Baking a pizza crust at 550 degrees for 7 minutes instead of 400 degrees for 14 minutes, increases antioxidants up to 45%.

*If you eat a handful of almonds twenty minutes before you eat a meal that is high in saturated and trans fats, such as a burger and fries, the antioxidants in the almonds begin to block the artery-stiffening and inflammatory effect of the fats.

*That cold cooked potatoes' resistant starch instead of hot potatoes causes a slower glycemic response to a meal, so your blood sugar doesn't spike.

And this was before I even started Chapter 1!

Florida Navy Moms

When Bob and I lived in Sarasota, I joined a Florida Navy Moms group after seeing an article in a newspaper about the group. I joined in September 2004. The Florida Navy Moms (FLNM) have reunions at different locations around the state of FL and when I joined, the group was meeting in Bradenton, so it was convenient for me to attend. I went by myself and I didn't know what to expect that first time. I had lunch with the ladies and chatted with the ladies who sat at my table. Then, I filled up a box of goodies to send to my sailor -- Cavan. I didn't know what else was planned, so I left the group and went home. I kept in touch via emails with Peggy, one of the FLNM mom who was living in Bradenton, but I didn't do anything more with the group until Cavan had his motorcycle accident and died on November 7, 2005. I notified Peggy shortly afterwards. She collected money from the FLNM to buy a magnolia tree in Cavan's honor and she and her husband brought it to our house and planted it in our front yard. I started attending the reunions and getting more involved after that. I met the most wonderful group of women who shared a common bond -- sons, daughters and family members who are in the Navy. We were given a banner to wear to the reunions and to put the FLNM pins from our various reunions on it. I keep my FLNM banner in my dresser drawer where I see it whenever I pull it out to remind me of my terrific FLNM friends I have made, and of course, of Cavan too.

Eat, Pray, Love

For those of you who have seen the book, "Eat, Pray, Love", but have not read it or maybe you have heard about the movie with Julia Roberts starring in it and you aren't sure if you want to see it or not, I thought I'd give you my opinion. I just finished reading the book and I loved it! I have friends who have read the book and liked it and others who didn't like it at all. One friend told me she thought the author was "whiny" and "self-indulgent". Yes, Elizabeth Gilbert the author, IS "whiny" and "self-indulgent", but she is writing about HER experiences with bad relationships, HER discovery of God and HER travels. I'd probably sound whiny, self-indulgent or self-centered too if I wrote a book about myself! I'm not sure that Julia Roberts fits the part of Elizabeth Gilbert and I will reserve that opinion until after I see her in the movie, which I plan to see when it comes out. I found out that the Whole Foods store on Park Lane is giving away FREE screening passes on Thursday, so I plan to go get mine. Anyway, if you want a good book, I think this one was terrific!

Babysitting for My Grandkids

Bob and I drove up to Tulsa, OK on Friday to babysit with my three grandkids for the first time! Well, we did stay with them a couple hours one night when Corbin & Christy went out to dinner over a year ago. This time it was overnight. Corbin & Christy went to Lake Hudson to stay in a friend's house and spend some time in a boat on the lake. I took my Barbie & Ken dolls that I played with when I was a young girl. I knew the girls would enjoy playing with them. I received my Barbie doll for Christmas when I was ten. I have a second edition Barbie doll and a first edition Ken doll that I got when they came out. One of the Ken dolls belongs to my sister, but she lets me keep it with my doll collection. I also showed the girls how to make Shrinky Dinks with plastic strawberry containers. We strung some of them on leather cords with beads to wear as necklaces. It was too hot to play outside, but they love playing in the water with the hose, so Bob and I watched as they had fun with that on Saturday morning. The girls went to see a movie with Christy's mom on Saturday afternoon. After Christian went down for his nap, so did I! I was exhausted! Corbin & Christy came home last night. We all had a fun weekend! You can see more of my photos at this Shutterfly link --

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Favorite Words

Do you have a favorite word? One you just enjoy saying because you like the sound of it? I am reading "Eat, Pray, Love" and the author, Elizabeth Gilbert, is in Italy and learning to speak Italian. I just read a part where she heard the word "attraversiamo" and she said she wanted to say it over and over just because she loved the sound of the word. It means "Let's cross over", as in "Let's cross the street". My favorite word is "tintinnabulation". I love the way it rolls off the tongue. I wish I could use this word daily, but I do not have need to use it. It means "the ringing of bells". Not something you talk about often. I heard this word probably back in seventh grade in English class when I was reading Edgar Allan Poe. English was my favorite subject in school and my English teachers were all my favorites too. "Tintinnabulation" is from his poem called "The Bells".

I

Hear the sledges with the bells -
Silver bells!
What a world of merriment their melody foretells!
How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle,
In the icy air of night!
While the stars that oversprinkle
All the heavens, seem to twinkle
With a crystalline delight;
Keeping time, time, time,
In a sort of Runic rhyme,
To the tintinnabulation that so musically wells
From the bells, bells, bells, bells,
Bells, bells, bells -
From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells.


II

Hear the mellow wedding bells -
Golden bells!
What a world of happiness their harmony foretells!
Through the balmy air of night
How they ring out their delight! -
From the molten - golden notes,
And all in tune,
What a liquid ditty floats
To the turtle - dove that listens, while she gloats
On the moon!
Oh, from out the sounding cells,
What a gush of euphony voluminously wells!
How it swells!
How it dwells
On the Future! - how it tells
Of the rapture that impels
To the swinging and the ringing
Of the bells, bells, bells -
Of the bells, bells, bells, bells,
Bells, bells, bells -
To the rhyming and the chiming of the bells!


III

Hear the loud alarum bells -
Brazen bells!
What a tale of terror, now, their turbulency tells!
In the startled ear of night
How they scream out their affright!
Too much horrified to speak,
They can only shriek, shriek,
Out of tune,
In a clamorous appealing to the mercy of the fire,
In a mad expostulation with the deaf and frantic fire,
Leaping higher, higher, higher,
With a desperate desire,
And a resolute endeavor
Now - now to sit, or never,
By the side of the pale - faced moon.
Oh, the bells, bells, bells!
What a tale their terror tells
Of Despair!
How they clang, and clash and roar!
What a horror they outpour
On the bosom of the palpitating air!
Yet the ear, it fully knows,
By the twanging,
And the clanging,
How the danger ebbs and flows;
Yet the ear distinctly tells,
In the jangling,
And the wrangling,
How the danger sinks and swells,
By the sinking or the swelling in the anger of the bells -
Of the bells -
Of the bells, bells, bells, bells,
Bells, bells, bells -
In the clamor and the clanging of the bells!


IV

Hear the tolling of the bells -
Iron bells!
What a world of solemn thought their monody compels!
In the silence of the night,
How we shiver with affright
At the melancholy menace of their tone!
For every sound that floats
From the rust within their throats
Is a groan.
And the people - ah, the people -
They that dwell up in the steeple,
All alone,
And who, tolling, tolling, tolling,
In that muffled monotone,
Feel a glory in so rolling
On the human heart a stone -
They are neither man nor woman -
They are neither brute nor human -
They are Ghouls: -
And their king it is who tolls: -
And he rolls, rolls, rolls,
Rolls
A paean from the bells!
And his merry bosom swells
With the paean of the bells!
And he dances, and he yells;
Keeping time, time, time,
In a sort of Runic rhyme,
To the paean of the bells: -
Of the bells:
Keeping time, time, time
In a sort of Runic rhyme,
To the throbbing of the bells -
Of the bells, bells, bells: -
To the sobbing of the bells: -
Keeping time, time, time,
As he knells, knells, knells,
In a happy Runic rhyme,
To the rolling of the bells -
Of the bells, bells, bells -
To the tolling of the bells -
Of the bells, bells, bells, bells,
Bells, bells, bells, -
To the moaning and the groaning of the bells.

Happy Birthday, Cavan!

Happy 32nd birthday, Cavan!! We all love and miss you!