Hello to my 14 Followers..lol

Hello all you followers of mine...how are ya'll doing today? I am sitting here trying to cool off ...time to wind down from a busy day. Tonight is church night, and sometimes I am in a run all the way up to church time and then get to church and crash...I'm gonna try to be rested before I get there tonight..lol. This heat will drain even the healthiest of souls, it's been near to unbearable to me. We have some at church with severe breathing issues and this weather is so hard on them...as I look out the window now, I see some clouds forming, hopefully they will bring some much needed rain to my poor flowers. I've tried to keep them watered, but by the time i'm done with all my flowers, I need a good soaking myself...(so I jump in the pool). I wanted to have a cookout tomorrow night, but it's still just too hot and humid even in the evenings to enjoy being outdoors...so i'll wait a few more days...by then, we may be in Hawaii...I say "may", cause we're not totally convinced we're going to go...we want to ...no doubt at all about that...but we both are so nervous about the flight we can't even think about it. I've been before, and (Thank you Lord) I did ok....(knock on wood)...but Tony has panic attacks. And when he does, he usually passes out and when he passes out, he usually goes into seizures...Yes...my strong, handsome, hardworking man is a wimp when it comes to certain things. Two things in particular....flying and needles..among other things, like gory stories...he has been known to have to walk outside at church during testimonies telling about accidents....actually, it is kinda a church joke...everyone looks at him when someone that doesn't know him comes to visit and testifies about something like this....Now he has passed out from getting a shot, IV....etc...and when he does, it usually causes him to have a form of a seizure...not like the epileptic type, but when he faints, his blood pressure drops so low it sends him into this seizure like activity and he has even flat lined before! Some scary stuff...let me tell you. I don't believe he would be any whiter/grayer than if he were really dead when this happens to him...it is very terrifying to me..I can only imagine what he feels like..lol..anyways, he doesn't do good flying either, and it's all he can do to make it thru a short flight to like, Orlando...but to Hawaii?????....he's just so nervous about it...but we don't want to not go either...and I can't really depend on Slick...he's got his hands full with his own issues...Crystal is VERY, VERY claustrophobic, Carter AND Caden BOTH have Asthma, and he's worried about all of them...what if one of the boys has an Asthma attack on the plane..what if they BOTH have one? He's gotta keep Crystal calm and her mind occupied so she doesn't dwell on the fact that she's in a pressurized aluminum tube, over the ocean, or land for that matter, with no way out....man, just typing this?...i'm making my ownself nervous! So needless to say, if we do all wind up going, we will probably be a sight to see by the time we get to Hawaii! Me and Slick will probably look like death warmed over from worrying about these guys, and they'll do just fine and be like movie stars coming off the plane looking for the red carpet...ugh..we'll just have to see!

Never Grow Old....

Getting old is hard. I mean, i'm glad that i'm still alive, and to be alive I must grow old...but it's hard. But when you get older, your mortality seems more real...like it's a black cloud looming over your head just waiting for the lightning to strike. It makes you think, like i'm doing now, sad thoughts.....(maybe not all go thru this, but right now I am and I can't help it ).... Life is just going by so fast. It's hard to believe that the next age milestone in my life is 60. I remember being a young girl, 12 to be exact...wondering who I would marry, my first (and last)..boyfriend was Tony, lol....wondering where I would live, how many children I would have...etc...and then I remember walking downstairs to the basement (at Black Oak) after saying our vows and telling Tony "wow...we're really married"...like that was something I didn't think would ever happen to me...and then a year later, the sound of our firstborn crying, and Tony sitting beside my bed crying because he wanted his son to be named after him and asking me would I mind..(I had another name picked out)..how could I have refused that???....then a little less than a year later, our daughter came along..Tony said he knew that we'd had a girl just by the look on my face when they brought me thru the delivery room doors. Back then, the father wasn't allowed in the delivery room...and we didn't learn what we were having then either unless we had to have an emergency procedure that somehow would tell....they (Slick and Erica) kid each other sometimes because for 2 weeks out of every year they are technically the same age..they liked 2 weeks in being exactly a year apart...then they both started school the same year, I cried like most all mothers do...and i'm serious, before I knew it there were dates, and boys coming to the house, and then when Erica left home, all my eggs were in one basket....Slick's...LOL...now let me tell you, he was a character back then...but he was a Mama's boy too...I had grown very close to him, and grieved my self nearly silly when he married, but I think i've already addressed that in another blog, so I won't go there again...Tony and I tried to settle into a life of just us two...and at first it was different, strange and quiet..oh it was so quiet..too quiet...kinda the way it is now...I tried to enjoy the freedom of not having to keep track of my kids, but it was hard too...i'd lay awake and wonder if they were safe and sound at home, or out on the road somewhere....and I had to stop that...had to talk straight up to myself...this is life, this is what happens when they grow up...they don't have to tell you where they're at, what they're doing and who they're with anymore...I think Slick and Crystal have been married about 16 or 17 years now...Erica has been married for 19 (I think)...i'm used to this way of life now...but it only means i'm that many years older, and i'm beginning to tell and feel my age..my hair is nearly completely gray, except for the ends which stubbornly refuse to give up their color...reminds me of when Slick said to me..."Mom, if you're gonna wear one of those hairpieces, why don't you at least match it to your hair color"...and i'm like.."uh...this isn't a hairpiece..it's my real hair"...lol....and Tony has had to deal with losing his hair for several years now. His latest ordeal is that it is turning gray as well...he is really starting to show his age too, bless his heart.. He is and always has been such a good man...he's worked 2 jobs most of our young married life, trying to make ends meet for his family. He did very little in the way of recreation during those years..he just thought it a waste of time when his family was in such need and he could work...He meant for his family to have what they needed..and the Lord always provided him with work to see that he could. He has always been a workaholic and has very little use for laziness...He's kinda semi-retired now...he goes into the shop every now and then to see what's going on, but for the most part, Todd runs the business...Slick owns his own shop up in Georgia...so we're thankful they both have good jobs to support their families...
Oh well...i've whined enough for today...I guess i'm kinda down...I just learned that Resiana is going to start school tomorrow as well as Caden, and it just makes me think of how time is just slipping away...just seems like yesterday when Caden was born...he is such a stinker!...Resiana will do well in school I think....I love the little family the Lord gave Tony and me...I just wish (I think) ...time would stand still and give us just a few more days with them...............

They're Here!

Well, Libby's puppies finally arrived last night...right on schedule. They were due today. Last night around 9:30pm is when everything started, but she didn't have her first pup until 4am! She had 3 by 5:00am, then everything came to a complete stop for a couple of hours..I was beginning to get a little concerned...Sis Carol was up with me, this is her business too..and I told her if I had to be up she did too...lol...anyways... 2 1/2 hours after #3, she had puppy #4..then 2 hours later she has the last one. There were 5 altogether...4 boys and 1 girl. They have the prettiest markings..We litter named them as they were born, and since I am such a Disney fan, we named them after the characters..Prince Charming, Mickey, Goofy, Cinderella and Pluto. We were hoping to get at least 1 more girl so we could have a Minnie, but it just wasn't to be. Of course they will get new names when they go to their forever home. It was after 12 noon today by the time I got everything back in order, and Libby and the gang are resting comfortably in the swimming pool...Erica's dog, Jax, is the daddy, and she has been calling and checking on the status of her "grandpuppies"...they left going to the Smokies last night and had to miss the big event. Next time you see or talk to Todd, congratulate him on the arrival of his "granddogs"...hee hee...bye for now!

It Gets Sweeter.....

Well, yesterday was our 37th wedding anniversary! We had hoped to be in Hawaii for the occasion but our grandbaby is not co-operating..lol....so the celebrating will just have to wait until he does...we didn't want to not do anything on our special day, so we went to CrackerBarrell (big surprise) for breakfast..and then for dinner we ate at The Dock's...a local restuarant located on the river at Goosepond. I enjoyed King Snow Crab Legs and Tony had a steak....we love eating out...I miss cooking sometimes, but Tony says i've done my time in the kitchen and he hates for me to have to clean a kitchen just to say I cooked for him...LOL..gotta love this man...but I haven't completely stopped cooking, sometimes I feel the need to pick up a skillet and cook something...and when I do, he'll say that he misses my food...so i'll cook a few meals in a row, and then he's like...uh...wanna go to CrackerBarrell????....LOL...that means he's tired of me spending hours in the kitchen..I don't know about you other ladies, but i'm like my grandmother, some of you knew her as Sis Lois Brazier...I have to mess up every single pot I own to cook...even cooking for just us two, I can create a disaster! And then it takes a long time to clean it back up...but some say that's why my cooking is so good..lol...if I see an empty pot or skillet, then I must cook something in it...it's the reason that when I cook for just us there are like 7 dishes on the table...and all he wanted was Pinto's!...I love to cook for my kids and have them come to the house, but it doesn't happen too often..with singings, practice for singings, revivals, church, school...it seems like there is no good night for everyone...I know one day we'll regret that we didn't...things can change in an instant, as it did with the recent passing of Br Mike Goolesby..what a sad tragedy. You just take life for granted, just always think they'll be there tomorrow, we can do it some other time...but you never know. Now I must say that my kids have never to my knowledge told me no when i've asked them to come for dinner...(they're not stupid...lol)...what i'm saying is that I tell myself that they are too busy with their lives to bother them with it...Erica and Todd both have groups and by the time they practice one night, go to their midweek service then a singing on Fri night, I hate to take an opportunity to spend it at home away from them, and then Slick has his responsibilities of the church to see to, including helping in revivals, so I just put myself on the "someday" list...maybe I shouldn't do that...maybe I should just say..."Look kids, I want a time slot in your busy lives...you won't have me around forever.."...but the sad reality is that it may be that I lose one of them....you never know...I just know that I miss my parents terribly...If I could have them back again, I would either go see them or call about them daily...i'm sorry to say I didn't do that but a couple of times a week...I hope they knew I loved them...ok..let's change the subject....please.
Most don't know this, but I have started raising puppies....another sister from my church, Sis Carol Moskoyes, is partners with me...i've always wanted to do this, but never found an incentive to follow thru with it until Sis Yvonne opened her pet grooming store this Feb (which I am partners with her in also)...I had another friend who raised dogs and she needed to sell some. We told her we would try to help her sell them and she gave us a commission. She brought us 9 puppies and we had them sold in no time! Word had gotten round town that we had puppies for sale, but now we didn't have any, which led me to look for local breeders, buy their litters and sell them at the store to make a lil extra for the shop...I got to thinking that this would be a good time to pursue my desire to raise puppies...so I went with it...I bought several good breeders, and have successfully had 1 litter so far...and we're expecting our 2nd litter any day now. Actually today is her due date...but i've been expecting her to whelp a few days now, she looks so miserable...this morning she barely touched her food, and went straight back to her whelping box, which is actually a small plastic swimming pool...so i'm expecting to get puppies very soon! I am having a kennel house built as I write and i'm very excited to have a heated and cooled place for the dogs when it is complete...I will be inspected by AKC and then i'm official! Course, I don't have to be inspected by AKC to be official, but it helps when it's time to advertise. Right now we have Maltese, Yorkies and Schnauzers. I also have a Toy Poodle that we got from someone who needed to get rid of him, and we are going to have the "designer" breeds of Malt-Poo's and Schnoodles! I want to get one more breed, the Shih Tzu's, then i'm done...I think...LOL!

Get the Fire Extinguisher Ready!

Well, it's almost time to get all the fire safety equipment out of storage...yep...my birthday is just a few days away and it's a sight to behold to see all those candles lit up..a fire hazard too...LOL!..there will be 54 of them this time...we barely kept it under control last year...ha ha..just kiddin'...but my birthday is Aug. 1...in just a few days..I don't like getting older, but it beats the other option available..so I pick getting older..I was hoping to be able to spend it in Hawaii, getting a new grandson, but I don't think we're gonna make it...and our anniversary is Aug 3rd...it would be nice to spend it there too, but we haven't been given any news about the baby, so i'm not counting on it now....maybe he will be born on my birthday or our anniversary! That would be a great gift!...they still haven't picked out his name, as far as I know...Tony has his fingers crossed that they give him his middle name...it will be exciting to be in Hawaii again...but I hope I feel better than the last time I went...last time I went without Tony, and I was miserable without him...seriously. I would stand on the beach at night and cry for him...I had been apart from him before, but something about us being so FAR apart..so many miles...so far we had crossed like 4-5 time zones...I couldn't stand it...the only time I could be happy was when I was with Slick, Crystal and Carter.....and although Hawaii is beautiful, and the ocean was right out my window, I was ready to go home. I left there with the unforgettable memory of when and how we got Carter..I relive that memory often..it was sad and happy all mixed up together..I never think about it without crying a little..tears for his birthmother...tears for my children and how happy they finally were...I can still see the look on Michael's face when Crystal asked him did he want to hold his son for the first time...and I can also see Michael, carrying Carter, walk up to Tony as we got off the plane in Nashville, hand him the baby and said.."Here's your grandson"...everyone was crying happy tears!....I'm excited about going, ready to make new memories, get a new grandson, and Tony will be there with me, that will make all the difference for me.............

And We're Off!

Well, revival started Sunday! Wow!!... that's the word that first comes to mind. I was amazed at how many people turned out for our Homecoming service...someone stopped counting at 450...we were so thrilled..honestly....and we were so thankful for the help that we got from the sisters from Trenton and Higdon. Trenton did all of our desserts and a lot of Higdon sisters helped with the dinner...we needed every single dish that was brought and we truly appreciated it. No one has made it so far, but we are definately expecting someone to...no doubt. I hope Br Jimmy and Br Edwin have a good week...I know they and their wives are probably VERY tired, they have been in revival for weeks now...
And then our baby news.....the kids told us the baby would be coming early! YAY!!...as long as he's healthy of course....we are trying to decide whether we should go or not...not that we don't want to...(a brand new grandbaby and a trip to Hawaii..come on..lol)...but that plane ride there (and back)...is gruesome. Not for the faint of heart...lol..we're gonna wait on more details before we decide...it will be close to our 37th anniversary, so we're taking that into consideration as well...it would be a great way to celebrate that!...I just really wish I was in better health...and Tony has a few health issues that we have to consider as well...but whether we go or not..we are so happy to be getting another grandchild..Tony and I thought that we had all we would get after the kids got Caden...we were so happy when Slick told us about Resiana...but then a few minutes later he told us about the baby and we've been talking about how many grandkids we would soon have...we've nearly doubled the amount!..lol...Tony said he had the thought that they might would name this one after him...he figures it's the last shot of it happening that he has....Tony and Michael's name is both "Anthony"..he said if they named this one Anthony, he would be 3rd generation...i'm like yeah.... "Anthony Anderson doesn't sound bad"...lol..(trying to go along with him)....I told him they were considering Anderson Blaine...Blaine is Tony's middle name...and he was happy with that too...but if they don't..we'll still be happy...we just want him to be healthy and hurry and get here..it will be so much fun having a newborn in the family again!

Thank You Lord!

Well, it seems that all i'm gonna be blogging about this summer is sickness. After my spell with that sinus junk, I awoke this past Thursday morning to tummy troubles. I tried to push on...we were supposed to go camping Fri nite, so I had a lot to do with all the bookwork I take care of...but by the end of the day, I was wiped out. I wasn't able to go to church, I had only eaten a biscuit all day long, and maybe a handful of cherries...and with the rumbly in my tumbly doing everything it could to get rid of any substance in that tad of food...well, I just didn't have the strength by the the end of the day...and then, after Tony left for church, I started feeling like I was spinning round, and going to pass out...I called the church for him to come home. He wasn't there too long and I was still getting worse, so he called the church back and asked for some to come pray for me...in just a lil bit the house was filled...I had gotten in the floor (got sick and just went to my knees) and laid my head over on the couch..they started praying, and I would get better for a few minutes, but then that wave of nausea and the spinning room syndrome came right back...they prayed 4 times...the last time tho...someone laid hands on me and annointed me, I didn't know I had been annointed at the time...and it felt like someone just laid a blanket over me and I went to sleep!...now, mind you, I didn't realize I had fully gone to sleep..you know how it is when you're sleepy and your head kinda bobs, and it snaps you awake? and you look around to see if anyone saw you..lol....well, that's exactly what I felt like I did...like I had just nodded off and caught myself....but they said I had slept for several minutes, and was even lightly snoring! All I know is when I woke up, all that sick stuff was gone..Tony had annointed Br Duane Sanders, who has been very sick with breathing and throat problems, and he said he was healed and shouted all over the place...(all this while I was asleep)...I never knew it happened. When I woke up and said I was well, Sis Janice Sanders said "Thank the Lord" and she took off shouting...lol..she said it reminded her of the time Br Duane broke his back and the Lord put him to sleep and he quit suffering...they said several others really felt good...I missed it all...I got up, went to bed and slept so good..I was able to go to the campground by Fri night...I had to eat a little thru the day to get my strength back...My tummy is still having a few issues getting back to normal, but the nausea and dizziness have not returned..It is amazing how the Lord works...I found out later that there were some new Children of God, they've only had the Holyghost a couple of months....they weren't raised Holiness, and had never been called to a house to pray for someone sick and they were amazed at how it all worked out...I'm glad that I got to be a part of that...well...someone had to be the sick guy!...LOL.....