Miscellaneous Thoughts, Mostly about Family

2011 in Review

2012-01-01T08:41:00.000-05:00

204/365

2010-07-23T20:20:00.001-04:00

204/365
Originally uploaded by bbryan

I have finally come to terms with the squirrels eating the birdseed from my feeders. But this is not OK. Just a little while after I took this, this particular squirrel had unscrewed the bottom and emptied one of our hummingbird feeders. The next time we looked, all three of the feeders had lost their bottoms.

About Time?

2010-04-17T08:08:00.004-04:00

It has been a very long time since I have posted anything on this blog. Life has taken a turn so that I'm usually too tired to think of anything to write about, plus I just don't think I have anything to say that would be of any interest to anyone. All this said, however, I felt so inspired to post something today. I decided to write about what we will be eating for supper. Most of you know that my husband grew up in Wilmington, NC. One of his favorites from growing up was Shrimp Creole. I got his mother's recipe a few years ago, and we've made it several times. Thursday night, we were surprised when Liz came over for a quick visit and had dinner with us. She mentioned that we hadn't had creole in a while and how good it would be. Thus, shrimp creole tonight, and Liz is coming back! Two times in a few days is awesome! Here is my mother in law's recipe. It's a good one.

Shrimp Creole

4 tbsp butter or margarine
1/2 C diced celery
1/4 C chopped onion (or more)
1/3 C chopped green pepper (I always leave this out. Green peppers are always optional in my opinion.)
2 cans tomatoes or tomato sauce
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 garlic clove, crushed
1/3 tsp paprika
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp minced parsley
3 tbsp flour
1 tsp celery seed
2 bay leaves
2 C cooked and peeled shrimp (I usually use at least a pound and sometimes more)

Saute celery, onion and green pepper in butter. Add parsley and flour. When well blended, add tomatoes and seasonings. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, 20 - 30 minutes. Add shrimp. Cook 5-10 more minutes, serve over rice.

One more thing, I usually don't pre-cook the shrimp. I add them at the end, and cook until they are done. And also, because my family likes things spicy, I sometimes add either ground red pepper or cayenne pepper.

If anyone is still lurking around out there, I hope you give this a try. It's quite yummy.

A Year in Pictures

2010-01-01T15:40:00.002-05:00

A Day At The Beach

2009-05-31T07:12:00.004-04:00

Donald and I left Raleigh at 6:45 and made it to Linda and Keith's house by 9. We were on the water before 10.

As soon as we got to the island, we set up camp.

Donald and Linda don't get much time together anymore, so it was nice to catch just the two of them. I wonder how many times they've gazed at the water just like this?

Donald and Keith were friends long before Keith and Linda ever started dating. As a matter of fact, I think Donald is the one that introduced them.

From where we were sitting, you could see the north end of Wrightsville Beach. That's Shell Island Resort in the background.

The egrets were out feeding.

All good things must come to an end, and in this case, it was the tide coming in that brought an end to our perfect morning. You can see how the water is filling in the marsh that was behind us. It wouldn't be long before we'd lose the little island we were sitting on.

The Duck Egg Experiment

2009-05-24T11:50:00.005-04:00

To tell this story I have to go back in time. Way back in 1996 I started getting horrific headaches. I pretty much had one continuous headache for about 6 months. Some days it was better than others, other days it was pretty bad. We later found out that my headaches were migraines, and they were most likely caused by food. As it turns out, I had a lot of food allergies, one of which was to eggs. I eliminated all the "bad" foods from my diet and the headaches went away, not to mention I lost around 15 pounds. For all this time, I have avoided anything with eggs in it. This means cakes, pies, cookies, etc. I also can't have mayonnaise, nor can I take the flu shot. The interesting thing about food allergies is that just because I am allergic to chicken eggs, that doesn't mean I can't eat another bird's eggs. Thus began my quest to find duck eggs. Finally, last Wednesday at our new Farmer's Market, there was a farmer selling duck eggs! The first thing I made was mayonnaise! It was pretty good, but it's been so long it seemed a little rich on my sandwich.

The second experiment was a scrambled egg.

Here we have the egg. Looks pretty much like a chicken egg. You can't really tell from this picture, but the shell has a grayish tint.

Cracked and in the bowl. The white part is much thicker than a chicken egg, and supposedly has more protein in it.

Scrambled and waiting to be cooked. If you didn't know, could you tell?

The cooking process.

And finally, a turkey sausage and egg biscuit! I wound up taking the sausage off and just eating an egg biscuit.

The verdict? It was absolutely delicious! Today I will be making a pound cake.

The Greatest of These is Love

2009-04-28T19:21:00.002-04:00

Those of you that know me, know that my Mother In Law had a massive stroke on March 25. She's 81 years old, and while she's making progress, it is extremely slow. Her left side is useless right now, and her eyes don't track past the midline going to the left. She's in a rehab facility where she gets 3 hours of therapy a day. Donald, his sisters and I have been focused on taking care of Mrs. Bryan. He has one sister that lives in Wilmington. She goes every day during the week and takes Mr. Bryan with her. Donald and I trade weekends with his other sister, who lives here in Raleigh. To say we are all tired is an understatement.

We've been so focused on Mrs. Bryan, that we haven't really thought about how Mr. Bryan must feel. They were married in December, 1947. If you're good in math, that makes 61 years. For all this time, they've spent almost every day together. And since retirement, they hardly spend an hour apart from each other. Mr. Bryan is completely lost without her. But this isn't about making you feel sorry for Mr. Bryan. This is a love story.

Last week, Donald's sister in Wilmington called with this story. When she went to pick up her dad to take him to the facility, he had a beautiful arrangement of flowers. He doesn't drive, so when Linda asked him where they came from, he explained that he had gone out in the yard and clipped some of the flowers from her garden. Flowers have always been an important part of her life. In the arrangement, he had azaleas, irises, and blossoms from red tips. He carried it very carefully into the facility and when he got to the room, he said, "I wanted to bring the yard to you, since you can't go to the yard right now."

Isn't it wonderful that after 61 years, he still loves her with all his heart?

Jon

2009-03-15T07:48:00.002-04:00

After graduating high school, Dottie's fiance, Jon, just couldn't seem to find where he fit. He tried three different colleges, UNCG where he lived on campus, Wake Tech, where he commuted, and Liberty where he took online courses. None of them seemed to be just right. So, he decided to join the Army, and that seems to be his niche. In the last year, he has been to basic training (boot camp) in Oklahoma. From there he went to AIT (advanced training) in Texas, where he has been for the last 6 months or so.

What you need to know about Jon is that he has equal amounts of good luck and bad luck. While he was at basic training, he fell down some stairs while wearing all of his gear, about 40 pounds worth. In that fall, he broke his coxic bone. If you've ever done that, you know it is your tailbone, and there is nothing that can be done except let time heal it. It hurts to sit down, it hurts to stand up. During AIT, he tore his MCL. We were afraid there for a while he would have to have surgery. Luckily, he went through rehab and all is well.

Last week, Jon had to take a PT test to see if he's ready to move on to his next assignment at Fort Bragg. His tailbone is still very sore, so doing sit ups is a challenge. He passed his test, was granted a leave, and was scheduled to come to Raleigh on Wednesday.

Friday night, Jon calls Dottie to chat and says, "BTW, did you get that package I sent? It should have arrived by now." So, Dottie goes to the front door to check, and there stands Jon! Talk about a surprise!

I had never pegged Jon as a romantic before, but I am beginning to change my mind.

Oyster Roast

2009-03-08T08:21:00.003-04:00

Today is Elizabeth's 19th birthday. One of her most favorite things in the whole world is oysters. To celebrate her birthday, Donald went to Wilmington and got a bushel. Last night, we had an oyster roast! The weather was perfect, and the oysters were good.

Round 1

Everybody digging in

The great thing about living outside the city limits is that we can have yard fires. After we were full of oysters, we made a last minute decision to build a fire and have smores. It was a perfect afternoon and evening!

Snow and Pizza, Pizza and Snow

2009-03-02T19:11:00.004-05:00

When I got up this morning, our entire world was covered in white.

This translated into another snow day for me.

Which gave me time to work on a project I've been wanting to try for a while. The weekends usually go so fast, that I don't like to spend time trying something new. So, with an extra day, I decided today was the day to try homemade pizza! I made the dough, and even made my own sauce. Want to see?

Pizza number one. Our regular order, half pepperoni, half cheese. The cheese side is mine.
And pizza number two, half pepperoni, half spinach and onions. I get the spinach and onions. They were actually pretty good. Of course I'll change some things next time, but all in all it was a good experiment.

Some that Didn't Make the Cut

2009-02-22T07:41:00.003-05:00

If you've been following along, you know that I've committed myself to taking photos every day for an entire year. As it turns out, this has been a really cool way to document our lives. Going through the archives, I remember where we were, what we were doing and even how we felt at that moment.

I've been posting my pictures daily on another blog, as well as a group on flickr. So far, it's been 53 days, and some days it's a struggle to come up with ideas of things to photograph. On those days, I wind up taking pictures of my feet. Other days it seems like I have too many choices, and it's hard to decide which picture gets to be the photo of the day. Donald typically helps me make the final decision. Just for fun, I thought you might enjoy seeing a few pictures that didn't make the cut.

This was taken at my in-laws house. They've encased the back porch in plastic and have created almost a greenhouse out there. When I first stepped out there, it just about took my breath away. I loved this one single flower at the end of a long stem.

The courtyard at one of my schools. Something about the red against all the brown and yellow caught my eye.

This is an old tree stump in our backyard. I don't know why it is so appealing to me.

We have four camillia bushes at our house in Concord. They were in full bloom when we were there! I thought this one was unique with the white flower with a pink stripe.

I'm not the only one with photo-fever.

Feb. 21, 1933

2009-02-21T08:28:00.004-05:00

Dear Daddy,

Today you would have been 76 years old. I still miss you, and even after 9 years, I still pick up the phone to call you sometimes. I think I was pretty lucky to have you as my father.

Here's just a little trip down memory lane.

You used to take me with you to the store and I would hold on to your finger. I was so proud to be out with you.

Once, when I was really little, I woke up early one morning and came into the kitchen. You were sitting at the table drinking coffee, reading the newspaper and you sang, "Here she is, Miss America" when you saw me.

We spent a lot of time at the beach. When we would go walking I would try to put my feet in exactly the same place you put your feet. Your legs were a lot longer than mine.

I remember the day you lost your mother. Big Paw called and when you got off the phone, you said, "Sis, we gotta go. Something's wrong with Mama." You both dropped everything and raced out the door. I had never seen you move so quickly or be so sad.

You were a math wiz. I still haven't met anyone who could figure math problems out in their head as good as you. You taught me some math tricks that I still use today.

I don't remember when you were diagnosed with diabetes, but it was as much a part of you as anything else. When Mama wasn't around, you would call me to give you your insulin. I was glad I knew how so you wouldn't have to do it yourself.

We almost lost you in 1989 when you had your bypass. It took almost an entire year for you to recover. During that time, all you wanted to eat was Chinese food. I was in school, but would come over every single day at lunch and we'd go to the Chinese restaurant. Every single day for a year.

One time, when Nancy was in college, she was bringing her boyfriend home for a visit, whom we had all met before. You shaved your beard and put on your old horn-rimmed glasses. We introduced you as our Uncle Bob. That poor guy didn't hang around much after that, but we thought it was hilarious. Still do.

You loved your grandchildren more than anything else. Nothing made you happier than spending time with them.

When you got sick on Dec. 31, 1999, I knew deep down that this was it. It didn't make it any easier. That was one of your last lessons to me, letting go. I'm glad I was with you when you took your last breath.

Happy Birthday, Daddy.

Love,
Betsy

The Onion Experiment Continues

2009-02-08T18:44:00.004-05:00

If you're keeping up with my other blog, you know that there is a great onion experiment going on in my kitchen. I should point out that this is an accidental experiment in that one day I noticed the onion on the counter was beginning to sprout. "No big deal", I thought. "I'll get to it later." Well, later never came and the onion kept growing. Eventually, it got so tall that I was fascinated and couldn't throw it out because I wanted to see what would happen. I keep it by the sink and so far, it has continued to grow. Donald named it Wilson.

Earlier this week I was cleaning out the back pantry. Would you believe another onion is growing! This one was still in the mesh bag and it's sprouts were all yellow from the lack of sunlight. I brought it out and put it with the other one, again to see what happens. It didn't take long before it turned nice and green.

Today, I figured I better do something before Donald decides he's tired of them. The best thing I could come up with was to plant them. We'll see what happens. Below is a picture of both onions before they went in the ground. I still can't figure out why they sprouted instead of rotting.

This Post Is Brought To You By The Letter F

2009-02-07T06:48:00.002-05:00

You may have noticed that I haven't posted anything in quite a while. Things have been a little busy for me, and not much has gone on around here. I suppose it is the the winter doldrums. Just as I was grasping and trying to figure out something I could write about, my friend Robyn came to the rescue. She's playing a game on her blog, Pocket Aces, where she assigns you a letter and you have to come up with 10 things you like that start with that letter. The letter she chose for me is F. I decided to avoid the obvious family and friends to make it a little more challenging. That said, here's my list in no particular order:

1. French Fries. Yes, I know they are bad for you, but I still love them. Especially either Duffy's or Remington Grill.

2. Flip Flops. Unfortunately, I have banged and battered my feet so many times that my flip flop wearing days may be coming to an end.

3. Flora/Fauna. I decided to lump these two together since they kind of go hand in hand. I'm sure it will surprise a lot of my friends to find out how much I really love to be in the woods, plus I love to plant things and watch them grow and feed the birds and those pesky squirrels in the backyard.

4. Firetruck horns. I acknowledge that this one is crazy. I'm not talking about the sirens, but I do love to hear firetrucks blow their horns. Something about that loud blast is exciting to me. We go to the parade in Concord every year and the firetrucks are out in front. They always blow their horns, and I love it.

5. Fuschia. Not my favorite color, but it is the color I always choose to paint my toenails. To me it says happy.

6. Falafel. One word, YUM!

7. Forties. I absolutely love being in my forties. (For those of you that don't know, I'm 45.) I don't know why some people don't like it. For me, it's great. Secondly, I should have lived through the forties because I love the clothes. Even though I know it was a stressful time, life seemed to be so much simpler then.

8. Field Trips. Not the kind you take in school, although those are fun too. I'm talking about the field trips you take with your family and friends. They can be planned or surprise, day trips or longer. It is always fun to find and do new things.

9. Farmer's Market. I particularly love the one in Concord. You always see someone you know and it feels good to buy local. I also like to go to the one here in Raleigh, but it is huge and hard to get in and out of.

10. Fire in the fireplace. We have a wood burning fireplace and when it's cold out Donald will build us a fire. So cozy.

There you have it. 10 things I like that start with the letter F. Thanks, Robyn!

Let It Snow

2009-01-21T08:11:00.005-05:00

It snowed in Raleigh yesterday. I had the day off of work, Donald works at home anyway, and Thug didn't care as long as he got to stay inside. By my measurement, we got 4.5 inches. Enjoy the slideshow.

Burn, Baby, Burn

2009-01-17T06:59:00.012-05:00

We live just about in the woods. Even though we are in a neighborhood, our lot is 1.3 acres, plus we back up to the Army Corps of Engineers land that borders Falls Lake. We have lots of trees, oak, pine and cedar, plus all the wildlife that comes with it. Lots of times we look into our backyard and see deer. There's a little stream that runs through the backyard, and once when I went down there I saw raccoon tracks. When I saw the snake holes, I hightailed it out of there. We can take a short, 5 minute walk and be at the lake. It is a pretty cool place to live.

Because we have so many trees, limbs and branches fall all the time. Every once in a while, when the conditions are right, we have a yard fire.

The day starts with combing the yard and picking up sticks. I don't really like this part of the day, but it's all part of it.

Donald builds a mound of twigs and lights the fire. If you look hard enough you can see the beginnings of a small flame near the center of the pile.

All day long we feed the fire.

Until we get hungry.

Donald lets the fire burn down until we have a nice bed of coals, then he cooks our lunch. Usually there is dessert, too, marshmallows. In the meantime, Thug just walks around and "marks his territory", if you know what I mean.

The rest of the day is easy. We build the fire back up, feed it when needed and just sit around and enjoy being outside. And no, we don't spoil the dog at all.

A New Project

2009-01-12T18:50:00.002-05:00

I like to take pictures. You might remember that back in the summer I bought a fancy schmancy camera. I've tinkered with the new camera, but haven't ventured far out of the automatic settings. To help me learn how to use the manual settings, I have joined a group on flickr.com. It's called 365 in 2009, and basically you take pictures every day, then select one of them to upload to the group. I decided in addition to that, I wanted to create a new blog for just my own photo journal. Keep in mind that I'm in a learning process and if any of you have any comments and/or suggestions, if you like something, if you don't like something, I hope you leave them. I am not giving up this blog, only adding a new one. The new blog address is http://bbphotojournal.blogspot.com/. Hope you enjoy!

Dead Sea Scrolls

2009-01-03T07:53:00.003-05:00

I have been wanting to see the Dead Sea Scrolls that have been on exhibit at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences since I found out they were here. We almost let the opportunity slip by when we realized that the last day is Jan. 4. Earlier in the week, Donald and I decided to go on Friday. We thought people would be going back to work that day, and therefore be a little less crowded. We were wrong. As it turns out, the day was rainy and cold, so every one in the near vicinity of Raleigh decided to find something to do indoors. One of the docents told us this was their busiest day yet.

Despite the crowds, it was an amazing experience. When you entered the exhibit, it was set up to look as though you were inside one of the caves where the scrolls were discovered. You then went through a series of rooms where they showed what life was like in Qumran, the village closest to the area of the caves. They had artifacts from the region, including clay pots, pottery, coins, ink wells, and clothing. However, what was most meaningful to me were the everyday items on display. They had actually found sandals, a hair net and a comb during the excavation. For me these items seemed to put a personal face on the people that lived during that time. (Not a surprise, since I have always had more of an interest in the people behind the story.)

The last room you entered was the room where the actual scrolls were on display. Immediately upon entering, I felt the silence and reverence, almost giving me goose bumps. They didn't have the entire scrolls, just fragments of them, six individual ones. It boggles my mind to think the conservators piecing together the tiny bits of parchment and then deciphering them. It also boggles my mind to think about the scribes that spent countless hours writing these scrolls.

Apparently, there is still a lot of mystery surrounding the scrolls. Who wrote them? Were they actually written in the village of Qumran? Why were they in the caves in the first place? Were they part of a library? The docent in one of the rooms told us the scientists were in the process of testing DNA on the parchment, and comparing it to the DNA of sheep and goat bones found in the village. If they match, that will mean they were probably written in Qumran.

If I ever get another opportunity to see them, I will certainly go again. I'd like to go on a day that is not crowded and take my time to read everything I can find.

Closer to Reality

2009-01-02T13:33:00.001-05:00

We've gone from this:

To this:

Backyard Shenanigans

2008-12-31T11:16:00.007-05:00

A view of life in our backyard. Remember that pesky squirrel?

He's still at it. Even after two types of bird feeders, and filling the feeder with safflower seeds. It says right on the bag, "Not appealing to squirrels." Hmph.

Fortunately, this time the squirrel leaves some food for the birds.

"Old crow watching from a tree, He's got his hungry eye on me." The crows really do watch for seeds to fall and then swoop in for their feast.
Our resident hawk.

And Samantha has made herself right at home.

Meet Samantha

2008-12-29T06:46:00.005-05:00

Samantha is our next door neighbors' cat. I think she may have started life as a stray, and adopted them. Back in the summer when it was so hot, I kept a dish of water out on the deck for her after I had seen her trying to drink water out of the bird bath.

Lately, our neighbors have been traveling out of town quite a bit. They are very good about getting someone to come over every day and feed her.

But Samantha kept coming over to our house, looking in at us and meowing. We'd go outside and refill her water dish and pet her. (Those of you who know me know that I am horrifically allergic to cats.) But that never seemed to be enough.

Then, the other day, I saw her circling under this. That very afternoon, I went to the store and bought just a little bag of the cheapest cat food I could find. Now, Samantha has two families. She knows a sucker when she sees one. Smart cat.

Ah, To Be Young and In Love

2008-12-27T07:31:00.003-05:00

Five years ago, Dottie told her dad and me that she had a boyfriend and wanted us to meet him. I don't really remember much about that first meeting, but I do remember the first time we had him over for dinner. We served hamburgers, and he was clearly nervous. I don't think any of us at that point realized that one day, five years in the future, Jon would ask Donald's permission to marry his daughter. That's exactly what happened one week ago today. Donald was in the garage making furniture. Dottie, Jon and I were in the kitchen just hanging out. Jon created some excuse to go see the furniture Donald was making, and while he was out there he gathered his nerve.

On Christmas Eve, Jon talked Dottie into going out to the soccer field where they used to go and talk, dropped on one knee, and popped the question. Here are some pictures just 30 minutes after she said yes.

We're very happy for both of them. It's fun to watch them just be in love.

All in the Family

2008-12-24T06:39:00.009-05:00

My father is the oldest of four children, born in 1933. There's my father, Buddy, then Aunt Louise, Uncle Bob and Uncle Larry. They grew up in small town Concord, NC and were dirt poor, just like every body else back then. Both my father and Uncle Bob joined the service as soon as they were old enough, Aunt Louise got married and moved away, and Uncle Larry went off to college in Mississippi. Only my father came back to Concord and settled down. Once a year, my aunt and uncles would come back to Concord for a visit which is something I looked forward to with great anticipation each and every year.

Uncle Larry has a daughter, Sarah, who is my exact same age. On their visits, Sarah and I were inseperable. I remember going over to our grandparents' old house and spending the night while they were here, playing out in the back yard, and mostly just being girl cousins, which means lots of giggling and laughing. Even though I only saw her once a year, there was never any awkwardness. We were always able to pick right back up where we left off. As life goes, over the years, Sarah and I lost touch with each other. I kept up with her life through updates from her dad, my Uncle Larry, but it just wasn't the same as actually talking to her. Then, through some twist of fate, we both wound up on facebook and have reconnected, picking right back up where we left off. I love hearing about her life, looking at her art work, and chatting with her online. She has a blog, too. It's called Finding My Glasses. Recently she posted about handmade gifts for Christmas. That started me thinking about how she hasn't been to Concord since we were kids and how much fun we used to have together. So many memories of us together are tied to our grandparents that I decided to surprise her with a little homemade gift of my own. You can see what I gave her by visiting her blog. Hope you enjoy the crudeness of the video.

Below is a bonus picture, left to right, starting in the back, Bertie Mills (grandmother), Buddy Mills (father), an Aunt, Uncle Larry, Aunt Louise, Uncle Bob.

A Recent Bright Spot

2008-12-11T13:48:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I went to a classroom at one of my schools. It happens to be a self-contained EC classroom, and the children who are in there have learning and physical difficulties. A little boy, probably 5 or 6 years old, came up to talk to me and became completely enthralled with one of my earrings (red and green stockings). He looked and looked, touched it with his finger, it was colorful and dangly. All of a sudden, he looked at my other ear and there was another one! I had TWO! How exciting! We kept counting my earrings; one, TWO! one, TWO! Amazing!

I smiled the rest of the day, knowing he may have just figured out one to one correspondence. Just wait til he sees my jingle bells.

dorks

2008-12-06T07:12:00.002-05:00

Yesterday, my boss surprised all of us with a Flip video. Here's a glimpse into my work life. Yes, we are nerds, dorks, or whatever geeky term you prefer.

dorks from Betsy Bryan on Vimeo.

I'm It

2008-12-02T11:15:00.002-05:00

My cousin Sarah was tagged to state 7 random fact about herself. You can read what she wrote by clicking here. I decided to play along, so here are 7 random facts about me. (I'm trying to come up with different ones than I had when I played this game before.)

1. I can eat my weight in candy. It doesn't really matter what kind, as long as it's not gummy bears or jelly beans. One time Donald, the girls and I went on a camping trip to the beach. When we stopped to get gas, Elizabeth and I bought $10 worth of candy. It lasted until that night.

2. I don't know my multiplication facts. Apparently my third grade teacher was not very good, and I don't think she liked me. I remember that I forgot my math book almost every day and my mother would have to drive me back to school to get it. I have come up with some pretty creative ways to multiply, though. When I taught third grade, it was torture to try and teach the multiplication facts.

3. I sneeze in threes.

4. I have never had a car with an automatic transmission. I actually prefer to change gears, it's a more interactive way to drive.

5. I can't understand why anyone would want to eat strawberries, cantaloupe or brussel sprouts. Bleck.

6. It doesn't matter how I get my hair cut, or how I dry it, or how much stuff I put on it, it always flips out at the ends.

7. If I had a choice, I would never, ever wear shoes. That is the first thing I take off when I get home, and where ever I am is where my shoes land. This makes it very difficult the next morning when I am trying to find my shoes.

Ta Da, 7 things you probably wish you never knew about me.

She Had a Good Life

2008-11-30T18:34:00.001-05:00

One Year

2008-11-30T07:30:00.004-05:00

One year ago today I got the call I knew was coming, but was not prepared for. It was the call from my mother telling me Maw had died. For just a moment the Earth stopped spinning. My mother had tried to prepare all of us, telling us we needed to buy a black dress, and telling us it was bad. Still, I always thought I'd get to see her one more time. I suppose in some ways I have seen her, because I dream about her often. In my dreams she is young and vibrant. To mark the one year anniversary of her death, I thought it would be appropriate to celebrate her life in pictures. Here are a few now, and more will be coming later.

Maw is on the right in this picture. She's standing with her sister in law, Mabel.

What we do for fun around here

2008-11-26T20:13:00.002-05:00

Here you go. Thirty seconds of our main source of entertainment, Thug the pug.

Cactus

2008-11-22T06:46:00.003-05:00

Would someone please tell my Christmas Cactus that it is not Christmas yet?

(Please pay no attention to the trash can in the background. This was my favorite shot and I wanted to share it with you.)

As a bonus, here's Thug. Today is his birthday! Eight years old, and I've had him for 7 of those years. For the record, he was trying to lure me to the refrigerator to give him a carrot. It worked.

80s Flashback

2008-11-16T08:19:00.004-05:00

Has anyone else noticed there seems to a fascination with everything 80s lately? A few weeks ago, Purple Rain was on TV. I watched part of it, but it really isn't as good now as it was when I was 19. Last night on VH1 Classic they were counting down the top 100 songs of the 80s. (Number 1 was Living on a Prayer by Bon Jovi.) I hear music from my college years on the radio all the time. To top everything off, the other day I heard Sister Sledge, We Are Family, and it took me back to this time:

Delta Zeta spring formal, 1984. In my mind, this was just the other day. If you think about it, more time has passed since this picture was taken than we were old at the time. Hard to believe it has been 24 years. Girls, I miss you. When are we getting together?

About My Shoes

2008-11-12T11:49:00.002-05:00

When I was a kid, my family had a house at the beach. It was on a canal, and my sisters and I loved to go swimming. On our very first trip there, once the house was finished, the whole family was standing out on the dock. It was a small dock, with a set of steps that went down to the canal. I remember distinctly it was low tide because the water was shallow. LJ, Nancy and I were standing on the steps discussing who should be the first to jump in. Even though we were all good swimmers, this was a new situation, and there was still a tiny element of the unknown. Since I am the youngest, they could ALWAYS talk me into things. (Think Mikey.) So, I took a deep breath and leapt from the third step. Immediately upon landing, I let out a blood curdling scream. I had landed right onto a bed of oysters. Oyster shells are very, very sharp and can cut you to pieces. My mother, being a nurse, pinched my skin back together. I still have that scar.

From that day on, whenever we swam in the canal, we had to wear shoes. This was in the days before there were aqua socks, so we wore our mother's old Keds, which we kept in the outdoor shower. My feet have always been small and wearing her shoes left a lot of room in the toe. Imagine my surprise when I discovered crickets nesting in the toes of those shoes. I learned pretty quick to check before I put the shoes on my feet. Even though this was over 30 years ago, I still have an odd fear of crickets and of putting on my shoes and feeling something.

This morning as I was putting on my shoes, the dreaded happened again. Something was in there! It was still dark, so I very carefully carried my shoe to the kitchen, held my breath, and shook. I was right, there WAS something in there! Out popped a chunk of last night's potato. I don't think I even want to know how that happened.

Veteran's Day

2008-11-10T19:49:00.001-05:00

A Buck and a Doe

2008-11-08T12:55:00.004-05:00

This was in our backyard this morning:

A buck and a doe (she's to the right, a little hard to see).

Dreaming

2008-11-05T10:22:00.002-05:00

Five things I would do if Donald and I ever win the lottery, in no particular order:

1. Quit work. This goes without saying.
2. Take photography classes.
3. Research geneology, and visit the places my ancestors came from.
4. Sleep.
5. Buy a house at the beach.

What would you do?

Old Photos

2008-11-02T19:18:00.003-05:00

My cousin Sarah over at Finding My Glasses has inspired me to go through some old photos looking to see if I have any pictures of our grandparents. So, when Donald and I went to Concord this weekend, I took two giant boxes of pictures to sort through. I found lots of pictures of people I don't know, pictures of people that I know are relatives but I never met them, and oodles of pictures of Chad, James and Charlie when they were little. I'm still sorting through, and once I do, I'll scan and post some here. In the meantime, here's a gem I found:

We were at Carowinds, and it had to be about 10 years ago. That's Nancy and Charlie in the front, James and I are in the back. We're on The Hurler (think Wayne's World), which is a wooden roller coaster. As much as I love to ride roller coasters, I remembered that wooden ones shake your brain. I love how Nancy and James have the same face, and Charlie and I have the same face.

**Sarah, I'll email you everything I found.

**LJ and Nancy, don't worry! I'll return everything.

Happy Halloween

2008-10-31T18:57:00.001-04:00

What I Bought at the Festival

2008-10-30T19:37:00.003-04:00

This is what I bought at Festival By The Sea last weekend:

A yellow casserole dish and a mug from a potter in the Seagrove, NC area. If you want to learn more about Seagrove, check it out here.

Donald's Hobby

2008-10-25T06:35:00.003-04:00

Donald has a new hobby. Well, not really new, he's been working on this for the last year or so. It all started one day when we were walking in the woods behind our house. There's a little stream back there, and one spot right next to it that is flat. You already know how I love to be in the woods, so I mentioned that maybe one day we could get some chairs to set up there and I could come and sit in the woods by the stream. It just seemed so peaceful. A few days later, Donald was working furiously in the garage. When I asked him what he was doing, he said, "I have a great idea! I'm going to take the wood from the old fence and make you some chairs." Cool! He created his own design, and over time has tweaked it so it is perfect. He made chairs and tables for us, for both of our parents, and for his sisters. In the meantime, one of his friends found out what he was doing and asked if he could make Adirondack furniture. Lo and behold, he can. He made a set for his buddy, and sold it to him! Now, we have a business. He named his business DB Woodworks, and even Liz is getting in the picture and helping build. This weekend, we are at the beach for one of those Fall Festivals that are going on all over the place. (For the record, we're at Holden and the festival is Festival By The Sea.) We've rented a booth, displaying one set of both the Adirondack and the original design furniture in the hopes that someone will like it and place an order. He truly enjoys this hobby, and we are both excited to see what happens.

Here's one of the original sets of furniture, still being made from the fence.

And here are Donald and Liz working together. Please don't pay attention to our messy garage.

Unfortunately, I can't seem to find any pictures of the Adirondack set. My plan is to take more pictures today, but they are calling for lots and lots of rain. Wish us luck!

A Tale of Two Pretzels

2008-10-19T09:03:00.003-04:00

I love to watch Alton Brown on Good Eats. He makes cooking and baking look so easy! A few months ago, he made homemade soft pretzels. I made a mental note to give it a try sometime. So, yesterday I was feeling a little adventurous and decided to give it a go. Honestly, it really wasn't hard. I mixed the dough and let it rise, rolled them into long, thin ropes and twisted them in the perfect pretzel shape. They looked so awesome! In this recipe, before you bake the pretzels, you boil them in a water/baking soda bath. This is where things began to "unravel", and I do intend the pun. I dropped the first pretzel in, it looked absolutely beautiful, but when I tried to get it out, it completely came un-done. So, instead of the perfect pretzel, I had a long, slimy, dough-y snake in the water. I couldn't get it out! It kept slipping off the spatula, and back into the water. Finally, I had the bright idea to use two spatulas, and that worked. I learned from my mistake, and the rest of the pretzels did much better. Want to see them?

Here's pretzel number 1. A blob, but it tasted great!

And here's pretzel number two. Equally delicious, but oh, so much prettier!

If you're feeling adventurous and want to try yourself, click here for the recipe I used.

Complete Randomness

2008-10-18T10:20:00.004-04:00

A completely random recap of my week.

LJ sent pictures of the manatee. (OK, so that didn't happen this week, but I'm just now getting around to sharing.)

He hung out for the rest of the day, and by the next morning was gone. Wonder if he's back in Florida?

I spent part of the day on Wednesday planning a GPS workshop for some 4th grade teachers. I walked all over the school grounds, including close to and a little ways into the woods. The next day, I was covered with approximately 70 chigger bites. I scratched my leg so much it made a bruise. Benadryl is a good thing, even if it does make me lethargic.

Dottie took a trip to Texas by herself to see Jon. She had a few experiences that will make her a better traveler. For instance, she didn't have enough cash to pay the cab driver, so he took her to a gas station to get more money. Lesson learned: not everyone takes credit cards.

Liz stayed with us from Monday to Friday, when she went back to her mom's house. We miss her already.

I am tired of election coverage and am just ready for the vote to be over with.

Last Tuesday when I was driving home, smoke started coming out of the steering column of my car. I was convinced I would burst into flames before I got home. I didn't.

I will leave you with some pictures of the mums around my mailbox.

Falls Lake

2008-10-11T07:54:00.004-04:00

Since we returned from vacation, life has gotten back to normal, which means nothing really exciting happens. So, here are a few pictures I took from the dam at Falls Lake last weekend. The leaves are just beginning to turn. If we can, we're going to make a weekly trip to see the change over time.

View from the top of the dam looking down the Neuse River. I cross that bridge twice every day on my way to and from work.

Looking out across Falls Lake. If you could walk through those trees, you'd be at our house in about 15-20 minutes.

Butterfly or moth?

We're at the bottom of the dam now. Donald and I decided that one day we need to have something like this in our back yard.

Mussels

He's such a good sport. He just waits patiently while I take pictures of everything, and he never complains, even when I take his picture.

Something About Mary

2008-10-05T07:16:00.004-04:00

I was 10 years old the first time I met Mary. It was a Sunday, and my grandfather had called my parents to say he was coming to church with us....and he was bringing a friend. Even at that young age, it felt weird because my grandmother had just died in January. There was no need for me to have worried. Mary was great! She completely embraced our family, and we completely embraced her. On that day, she brought us banty eggs to dye for Easter. I had never seen such tiny eggs! We dyed them that very afternoon. Eventually, my grandfather asked Mary to be his wife, and she said yes. While I didn't realize it then, I look back now and know that we were the lucky ones.

Mary has the most positive attitude of anyone I know. She has every reason to have a sour outlook on life, but she doesn't. She married for the first time as a young woman. They had two sons, both of whom died before the age of 5 from childhood diseases. Her husband turned out to be an alcoholic and eventually committed suicide. She married for the second time to a man named Elic. I believe he was the love of her life. He had two girls, and she raised them just as she would have raised her own, even though there was just a few years age difference between her and the oldest. Elic became ill and died. Then she met and married my grandfather. He was sick for many years, and she took care of him until he died. After this, she told me she would never marry again, and she stood by that. When you ask Mary about her life now, she tells you all these stories with no regrets.

Roughly 10 years ago, my Aunt Sally and Uncle Larry were living in New Jersey. Mary and my Great-Aunt Helen decided they wanted to go visit. Somehow, I was selected as the person to take them there. I'm glad I was! When I called to order airline tickets, I asked for the senior discount for both of them. The ticket agent asked if I was traveling with them. When I told him yes, he told me I also qualified for the discount because I was their chaperone. This is probably a good time to tell you that Mary does not like to fly. She sat in between Aunt Helen and me. Aunt Helen had the window seat, I had the aisle. I'm not sure if Mary ever let go of the arm rest or not. We flew into La Guardia, and on the approach Aunt Helen was excited to see the Statue of Liberty, and other sites of NY. We kept trying to get Mary to look out the window, and she was VERY adamant about looking straight ahead. The trip was wonderful, we went into the Amish country, we went into NY city, we went on top of the Empire State building, and we had a ton of fun!

Mary is nearing the end of her life now. She turned 92 in May, and back in the spring had a bad fall where she hit her head. She had to spend a little time in a nursing home to go through some physical therapy. All I have ever heard about nursing homes is how bad they are, the food is terrible, etc. Mary only had good things to say about it. She made new friends, marvelled at how shiny the floor was, loved that someone else cooked for her, and enjoyed going to "exercise class". See what I mean about her positive attitude?

Mary is one of a kind. I'm proud to call her my grandmother, and like I said, we're the lucky ones.

Dear James,

2008-09-29T19:17:00.008-04:00

I can hardly believe you'll be 22 years old tomorrow. I remember when I found out your mom was pregnant. I was working in my very first job out of college, which was in a classroom of adults who were mentally retarded. It was MawMaw that called me at work. You know how serious she is, and she just said, very matter of factly, "Bet? Nancy's pregnant." And that was that.

I couldn't wait for you to get here! MawMaw and PawPaw got to go to Fayetteville on the night you were born, but I didn't get to meet you until you came home from the hospital.

This is my very favorite picture of you. You were only five days old. I actually remember taking this picture. Your mother and I just stood beside your crib and looked and looked at you. You were so sweet!

Here you are with me. You were about one year old in this picture. I think you were waiting on breakfast. For your first birthday, Maw and I drove to Fayetteville so we could be there with you. We were sitting on the floor and you invented a game where you were hiding behind my back. You would peek over one of my shoulders and say "peep-eye", then you'd hide again and peek over my other shoulder and say, "peep-eye". I thought that was so clever of you!

This was Christmas, 1987. We're at Mary's house and that's you with your mom, Chad and Paw Mills. Mary had to keep the house pretty warm for Paw, just look at how rosy your cheeks are! I know he loved it when his great-grandchildren would come over.

Here you are at White Lake. You've been going to White Lake your whole life. Two years ago you had a really bad accident there. When I found out you had broken your neck, it felt like someone had kicked me in the stomach. But, everything turned out OK.

I couldn't let your birthday go by without a picture of you on the yard raking day. That was a ton of leaves! I was really impressed by how hard you worked, and raking leaves is not easy!

Holden Beach! That's you in the waves, Chad and Charlie are in the sand. We loved our trips to the beach!

This is at MawMaw's house. Jordan, Chad, Charlie, and you.

And, here you are with your mom again.

I am very proud of you, James. Not many people follow their dreams the way you have. You have so much perseverance, and always come through in the end. You're going to be a great doctor!

Love,

Aunt Betsy

P.S. I'm sorry I had to post this a day early. But, I know what tomorrow will be like for me and I want to make sure it is there for your birthday!

I miss EVERYTHING!

2008-09-28T18:30:00.002-04:00

So, my sister is on vacation this week, also at Holden Beach. I had told her about seeing an otter under the bridge, but wasn't quick enough to get a picture. She calls me tonight to tell me the otter is in her canal. While I'm talking to her, she realizes it is not an otter, it is a MANATEE!!! I have always wanted to see a real manatee. Dadgummit! When I was still in the classroom, my students adopted a manatee every year.

Anyway, she called the marine mammal rescue to make sure he was OK. Apparently this is their migration season, and he is just on his way back to Florida. Brings to mind that line from a Jimmy Buffett song, "Sometimes I see me, as an old manatee, heading south as the water grows colder." She got some good pictures that she promised she would share as soon as she gets home.

Bye, Bye Holden

2008-09-27T06:24:00.005-04:00

It had to happen. Vacation had to come an end, and today is the end. Dottie and Liz came in on Thursday night, when the weather was bad. After the storm, Friday turned out to be an absolutely beautiful day. We went down to the end of the island for a little walk and picture taking. Dottie, Liz and I shared the camera. When we got back to the house, we had taken 495 photos! It takes a long time to process 495 photos. Enjoy just a few of them!

Donald and Me, Liz took this.

Donald, Dottie, Liz

Me, Dottie, Donald

Liz, she was running after seagulls

Liz and Dottie

Dottie, she had found some neat shell and was holding it up and telling me about it. I told her she looked like the Statue of Liberty.

As a final beach goodbye, Thug and I took our morning walk on the beach this morning. There were deer tracks all in the sand. I would love to see the deer on the beach.

I suppose it will be back to the grind Monday morning, which means blog posts will once again be scattered.

Holden Beach, part 2

2008-09-26T06:53:00.003-04:00

We've got a nice little wind a-blowing here at the beach. Yesterday morning, the wind was blowing from the north, and there was lots and lots of rain. Today, it feels like it is blowing from the west, but there is no rain. The gusts are about 26 mph, which is small beans compared to other, more violent storms. However, for me it is something to see! Once the sun came up enough that I could actually see the ocean, I went outside with the camera to try and capture how it looks. For what it is worth, I took the camera off manual settings, set the aperture at f4, but let the camera choose the shutter speed. I'm looking forward to later in the day, hopefully I can go out on the beach and see what shells have been washed up. Both of these pictures look similar, but you can see the differences in the waves. I will never get tired of watching the ocean, and seeing how it changes from minute to minute.

Holden Beach

2008-09-25T06:55:00.005-04:00

If you can't tell, Holden Beach is one of my favorite places on earth. My family started coming here when I was around 8 or 9 or 10 years old. To let you in on a little of the geography of Holden, it is an island south of Wilmington in the part of NC that turns a corner. That makes this beach unique in that it runs east to west rather than the typical north to south. Last night, the sunset was so beautiful that Donald and I took a ride to get some pictures. The water that you see is the Intracoastal Waterway.

This is from the top of the bridge, facing west. Donald is such a good sport, he actually stopped the car right at the top so I could get a good shot.

For this shot, we are under the bridge, standing on a boat ramp. These two shrimp boats are the same ones you see in the above picture.

Back at the house, standing on the beach. Makes you understand what James Taylor meant when he said the sky's on fire.

Today, the nor'easter is blowing in, with winds from the north. This means the wind is blowing out to sea. As I was watching, the wind was blowing strong enough to create waves going in the opposite direction. It was quite a sight!

As a bonus, here's my favorite beach dog:

Meme Time

2008-09-24T07:27:00.003-04:00

My friend Robyn sorta kinda tagged me (well, not personally, but she did on her blog) to write six unremarkable things about me. So, here goes:

1. Whenever I read a book, I will read until I am finished whether that takes one hour or 24. I don't sleep, I barely eat, and if someone interrupts me, I get mad. For this reason, I don't read books.

2. My feet are so small, I sometimes buy children's shoes.

3. I tend to put things in stacks. When it comes time to clean up, I just move the stacks around.

4. I love Totino's frozen pizza, cheese flavor.

5. I have a random talent for editing papers. Writing them myself is hard, but boy, I can do some serious editing of someone else's. Just ask my friend Lesley.

6. It doesn't matter what time I go to bed at night, I will usually wake up by 6. (Today it was 5:30.)

So there you have it. Six things about me that are unremarkable.

Dear Mama,

2008-09-23T06:26:00.006-04:00

It's your turn today! Luckily, I had Maw's photo album and found some old pictures of you. So, since today is your birthday.......

Sis Mills......This Is Your Life

Here you are as a baby. I'm guessing you were about one year old, which would make this picture circa 1933.

That's you on the right. I'm pretty sure that is Uncle Charlie with you, but I don't know who the other little girl is. I bet you loved those shoes.

You must have been a teenager in this picture.

This picture looks like it was taken in Blowing Rock, where I know you spent a lot of time. I'm not sure if those are your high school friends or your nursing school friends, but you're all dressed alike. Was that planned?

Growing up in Kannapolis, the natural order of things was that you went to work for Cannon Mills as soon as you were old enough. You told me one time that you were bound and determined not to work in the mill and that is why you went to nursing school. It turned out to be a good decision, and it certainly became your life's passion.

After nursing school, you went to work in the hospital and moved in with one of your buddies, Flo.

The story you told me was she had a date and didn't want to go by herself, so she rooked you into going on a blind date with this man. Something tells me your date was much better than hers. You wound up marrying him in 1956.

The two of you had these three girls.

The family grew to include three grandchildren, four step grandchildren and one granddog.

Who knows what the next chapter will be.....but I do know one thing, it will almost certainly be an adventure!

Happy Birthday!

Love,

Betsy

Dear Linda Joan,

2008-09-22T06:19:00.005-04:00

When we were kids, you would ride me piggy back around the house. You and Nancy tried to teach me how to ride a bike without training wheels. When you turned 16, you'd take me out for rides in the car, usually to go see Big Maw and Big Paw. I'm proud you're my sister. And, since you are STILL five years older than me, that means you hit the big numbers first. :-)

Happy Birthday!

Love,

Your little sister, Betsy

Destination

2008-09-21T06:27:00.003-04:00

We can see the bridge!

Closer!
Holden Beach!
There it is! The ocean!
And the view from the deck. Aaaaahhhh......life is good.

Dear Charlie,

2008-09-20T06:33:00.003-04:00

It was almost 21 years ago when I was living in an apartment with 3 other girls. We were all sitting around watching TV when the phone rang. It was PawPaw calling.

PawPaw, "Bet? Nancy just called and she's going to have another baby."

Me, "She is? You mean she's PREGNANT???? WE'RE GOING TO HAVE ANOTHER BABY????? OH BOY, OH BOY, OH BOY!!!!!!!"

I was so excited that I actually did a little dance right there in the kitchen. I couldn't wait to have another nephew or niece! I knew that I wanted to be surprised, so I didn't let anyone tell me if you were going to be a boy or a girl. Then, exactly 20 years ago today, PawPaw called again.

PawPaw, "Bet? Nancy had the baby."

Me, "Is it a boy or a girl?"

PawPaw, "You really don't know?"

Me, "Come on, Daddy! Tell me!"

PawPaw, "We've got a boy!"

Again, I did a little dance right there in the kitchen! I couldn't wait to meet you in person. Maw couldn't either, so as soon as we knew when you were coming home from the hospital, she and I loaded up and drove to Fayetteville so we could be there when you got home. I thought you were just about the cutest and sweetest baby I had ever seen. We all took turns holding you, and none of us thought we got a long enough turn.

Since today you are 20 on the 20th, let's take a look at back.

Here you are with me. You were just a few months old in this picture and we were at a Mills family reunion. You can't see this, but I've got a brooch pinned at the top of my shirt. You were using it as a teething ring. I still have that brooch and will never get rid of it because it reminds me of this day.

Here are you and James. You have always loved the water, even a backyard swimming pool!

You were about this age when I babysat you and James. I can't remember what you did, but I had to put you in time out. You were so funny sitting there because you kept trying to get up, then you were stretching your foot out to reach a toy. I finally couldn't hide that I was laughing anymore and let you up. You coud always make me laugh harder than anybody else!

And here are you and James again, a few years later. This picture to me completely epitomizes the differences in your personalities. James is being serious, and you're being silly.

I have always loved this picture of you. As a matter of fact, I have it in a frame on the bookshelf in my den. You were 7 and we were at Holden Beach for vacation. You had played so hard all day, you never stopped until we were getting ready to go out to dinner. As soon as you sat down, you completely crashed. You were out cold and we had a hard time waking you up!

And, the famous yard raking day. This is the day I paid you, Chad and James $5.00 each to rake my yard. I think this is also the day you realized it wasn't worth it!Here you are in your pre-surfing days. We were at Holden Beach again, and it was really hard to keep you out of the water. I think this is also the trip where you tried to teach me how to ride a skim board. We both know how that turned out, me face first down in the sand! I don't remember much about that experience except how hard we laughed afterward!

And here you are on the day we moved you in to ECU. It felt funny knowing you had grown up enough to go off to college, but there you were. I knew you'd be alright, but it was still hard to see you go.

And so, Charlie, on your birthday today, remember that you can still make me laugh harder than anybody else! And, I still don't think I have enough time with you.

Happy Birthday! Enjoy your day today!

Love,

Aunt Betsy

And today......

2008-09-05T06:30:00.003-04:00

.......this little girl has a birthday! I'm not exactly sure what year this was, but my best guess is 1974 or 1975. Sure wish that man was still around to sing to me.

Dear Chad,

2008-08-31T07:18:00.009-04:00

Today is your birthday! I remember the night you were born. It was a Saturday, I was a senior in high school and I had been out with my friends. When I got home at exactly my curfew, Nancy came flying out of the house, "Linda Joan's in the hospital!" My first thought was, "Oh no! What's wrong?" Then I remembered it was time for a baby. We loaded up her carolina blue VW bug and headed to Charlotte. She was scared to death we wouldn't get there in time, but we did. As a matter of fact, we had to wait what felt like a long time. I remember it was very cold in the waiting room, and MawMaw, PawPaw and I squeezed together on a two seater chair and covered up with newspapers. The nurse finally came out carrying you, and she was the one that told us you were a boy. We were all so excited we couldn't stand it. We all stood at the window and just looked and looked at you. You looked like your mother when you were born, and when we saw the dimple in your chin, we said you must have gotten that from Uncle Charlie. By the time we left the hospital, it was morning, we were starving, so we stopped at IHOP for breakfast.

I decided that since today is your birthday, it's a good time to take a look back.

Here you are with PawPaw, which is where you were almost all the time.

And here you are with me, Christmas 1981. I was 18 and you were almost 16 months. I thought it was cool that we dressed alike. Those were blue corduroy, mine was a jumper and yours were overalls.

This has always been my favorite picture of you. We all went to Olan Mills to have your picture made when you were 3. You sat so still, and waited so patiently while the photographer was getting ready, until finally you twisted your hands, right when he snapped the picture.

And here you are with your mom, circa 1987. I know you always thought you looked like your dad, but you really look like her. You loved that spiked hair.

This was the first year I bought my house. I loved having those two big oak trees in the front yard, until I realized the amount of leaves they produced. I paid you, James and Charlie $5.00 each to rake them up.

And here you are with MawMaw. I think I swiped this picture from your myspace page because I liked it so much.

Now, after that look back, Happy Birthday! I know you are going to have a great day!

Love,

Aunt Betsy

Dear Nancy,

2008-08-26T08:42:00.002-04:00

Even though we fought like crazy when we were kids, and you got the most bubbles on your side of the tub during bath time because you sat in the "deep end", I'm proud to be your sister. Looking forward to dinner tonight.

Happy Birthday!!
(pink just for you)

Love Your Wandering Sister,
Betsy

Highlights and Lowlights

2008-08-23T07:52:00.004-04:00

I'm not talking about hair. I thought I'd share some of the high points and some of the low points of the week.

Highlights:

Teachers came back. Great to see everyone!

I made it around to 3 of my 4 schools (the 4th is year round, and they could live without me for a little bit.)

Kids came for open house on Thursday, and I decided this is my absolute favorite day of the whole year. (If you have never worked in an elementary school, these kids come in and they are SPARKLING CLEAN, with new shoes, new clothes, new hair cuts. Very cute.)

I had the opportunity to show parents the technology we have in place at the new school, mounted projectors, smart boards, document cameras. Kids got to write on the smart board. Everyone was duly impressed.

One of the high school's invited me to do some training for their staff (which I did). Pretty impressive for this elementary at heart girl.

QTL Reunion on Friday was awesome.

Rachel and Alan sent me sourdough bread starter, and I'm going to give breadmaking a shot.

And speaking of Rachel, we had a nice lunch together on Thursday.

Lowlights:

Teachers came back. Everybody needed some done and they needed it RIGHT NOW.

I couldn't get around to help everybody that needed help.

Nobody could remember their passwords. I bet I reset no less than 50.

I got mad enough on Friday that I wanted to spit fire. (I did get over it, though.)

I only got to one open house, hard to be in 3 places at once.

I missed my daily call to my mother on Thursday because of open house, and she was convinced I had been in a wreck.

I was so exhausted by Friday that I was in bed and snoring before 9.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

All in all the week was a good one. I'm looking forward to next week when the kids come back. Maybe I can actually get the things done then that I didn't get to this week.

moving in

2008-08-17T09:44:00.005-04:00

It is hard to believe that another summer has come to an end. Donald and I moved Dottie in to her new apartment on Friday for her third year of college. In many ways, college life is exactly the same as it was when I was there, but it is very different as far as living goes. She has rented an off campus apartment with three other girls, but these apartments are geared for college students. Each girl has her own room and bathroom, they share a den, kitchen and sunroom. These apartments are furnished with leather furniture and stainless steel appliances! The bedrooms have a double bed, desk, nightstand and chest of drawers. And by the way, the floors are beautiful hardwood! This is so much different than living in Sanford dorm! And, let me tell you, these girls have A LOT OF STUFF!

On a different note, my mother had her second cataract removed on Thursday. Nancy and I took her, and believe it or not, after 60+ years of wearing glasses, she no longer needs them.

She couldn't wait to get home and play solitaire!

And Nancy was having fun with Thug.

How I Spent Tuesday Night

2008-08-09T08:48:00.004-04:00

Actually, it started Tuesday afternoon. Donald and I had switched cars that day, for reasons I don't remember now. Around 3:00 I made my daily mid-afternoon phone call to Donald. As usual, he patiently listens to my rambling about this and that, most of which is irrelevant to anything other than what is going on in my brain at the moment. After my lengthy recount of my day, I asked, "So how is your day?" His answer, "Well, I'm stranded at Home Depot. I think something is wrong with the battery connections." Me, "OK, do you need me to come pick you up?" Him, "No, I'm buying some wrenches to clean them. Give me five minutes and I'll call you back." I wait, and wait, and wait, and wait. Thirty minutes later, I call him back. "Did you get the car running?" Him, "No, give me five more minutes." At which time I find my boss and tell her I'm going to rescue my poor, stranded husband who is stuck at Home Depot. It takes an hour for me to get from where I am to where he is. He is STILL working on it. I pull up, we decide to try and jump the car. Woo Hoo! It cranks! But, as soon as he takes his foot off the gas pedal, it stops. It just won't stay running unless you are revving the engine. He doesn't feel comfortable letting me remove the jumper cables. So, he wants me to drive the car home, keeping my foot on the gas pedal the whole way. Hmmmm.....it is just after 5, I live in a big city, and my car is a manual transmission. I just don't think I have enough feet to keep the gas pedal depressed, change gears, and apply the brakes when needed in 5:00 traffic. I tell him this. So, we decide to leave the car there, go home, cool off and come back later. (This was one of the hottest days of the year, and it was code orange, which basically means Donald was exhausted, hot and sweaty.)

The rest of the story?

Old battery out.

New battery in.

And I was glad to have done my part.
(Shelly? Maryanne? Karen? I would have much rather been at dinner with you, even if it was a 2 hour drive.)

::::::::::Fast forward to Friday night.::::::::::::::

Donald and I are sitting at home, his phone rings. Dottie says, "Dad? I'm stranded at Food Lion. I think my battery is dead."

Here we go again.

Susan's Party

2008-08-03T19:03:00.004-04:00

My boss is retiring. I can honestly say she is the best boss I have ever had. She respects us, values our opinions, and treats us like the professionals we are. So, it has not been good news that she is leaving on September 1. Last night Donald and I hosted a party for her at our house. All my work friends came over for hot dogs and hamburgers. I'm pretty sure everyone had a good time, but the best part of the night was when we gave her the gift we had selected. Keep in mind that we work in technology, so we wanted to give her a technology oriented gift. We actually came up with the perfect idea. Take a look at her reaction, which was exactly what we hoped for.

And what was her gift? A Wii!

The rest of the night I kept singing:

We love you Susan,

Oh yes we do,

We love you Susan,

And we'll be true,

When you're not with us,

We're blue,

Oh Susan,

We love you.

Anybody remember where that song came from?

weekend randomness

2008-07-27T12:11:00.004-04:00

Some random scenes from my weekend.

Who couldn't love a face like this?

A self portrait.

Don't forget the hummingbirds.

Saturday night supper; steak for Donald, tuna for me, zucchini for both of us.

My cucumbers are the only things blooming in the garden.

All in all, a very uneventful weekend, which is exactly the way I like it.

i got a new camera

2008-07-19T08:10:00.006-04:00

I finally did it. I am leaving the world of "point and shoot" cameras and bought my first Digital SLR yesterday. The camera I chose is a Nikon d60, which is supposed to be good for learning. Here's the first picture I took, I had the camera set to auto.

I love the expression on his face. He had been doing his best to ignore me, but finally gave in and cut me that look.

This morning, I have been playing around with some manual settings. I don't really understand aperture and ISO yet, so for right now I'm just working on focus. I took about 32 pictures, and here is the best.

The hummingbirds have been really active lately, so I thought it might be fun to try and catch them. You can't tell from this picture, but there were three fighting for this feeder. There also was another one on a feeder at the end of the deck. (By the way, we've lost count at 10 birds, and the bees have figured out that our back yard is an excellent food source. It's fun to watch the birds fight the bees, and the bees fight the birds. Somehow I don't think that is exactly what is meant by the term "the birds and the bees".)

never a dull moment

2008-07-11T20:59:00.007-04:00

I thought I would take a moment to tell you about my week. Because, after all, one thing I have learned is that life as a Mills is never dull. This episode started on Thursday with this:

Yep, that's my mother. She's waiting to get a cataract removed from her left eye. All went well, and her vision in that eye is already better than it was.

The real fun began on Friday. Those of you who know my mother know that once she gets something in her mind, she wants it done RIGHT NOW. So, she decided she wanted a new couch in the den. We went shopping and found the perfect couch at the right price and so she bought it. We had to enlist the help of one of her friends with a truck to bring it home. Got it home, my nephew Chad and my brother-in-law Bill proceeded to get it off the truck and took it inside. Logically, the easiest thing would be to take it in the front door, through the living room and on into the den. All went well until they got it through the living room door. They just had to get it through the hallway and into the den. However, in the hallway, it got stuck. It just wouldn't go into the den no matter how it was angled. We stood it up on one end, we laid it on its back, we sat it upright, no good. To make matters worse, it wouldn't go back in the living room, either. There we were, with a couch in the hall. What were we going to do? I'm glad you asked.

See that window? That's the room at the end of the hall. Chad had the great idea that maybe, just maybe, we could get the couch through the window. Were we successful?

Yes! We were successful! Is my mother happy? You be the judge.

beautiful blue ridge

2008-07-11T14:30:00.002-04:00

As promised, here are a few pictures from our trip to Asheville.

Independence Day

2008-07-04T07:49:00.002-04:00

Happy Fourth of July everybody!

Very quiet around our house lately, Donald and I are in Asheville to celebrate our anniversary tomorrow. If I get some good pictures of the mountains, I'll post some here. Dottie is counting down the days until she gets to see Jon. His graduation from basic training is July 25. Liz is officially registered at DeVry, and her first day of classes is Monday. She keeps telling us "It's a year-round school." We keep telling her ALL colleges are year-round schools. I wonder if I was that naive before I started at UNCC. Anyway, she is also preparing to move in with her mother full time. I know we're going to miss her, but also want her to do what she thinks and feels is right. My mother is keeping Thug while we are away for the weekend. I got to sleep until 7. It was heaven.

my current obsession

2008-06-26T19:43:00.003-04:00

That's right, McDonald's hot fudge sundae. Let's have another look:

It's $1.07 worth of pure deliciousness. And by the way, those are NOT lemon drops you see in the cup holder of my car, and I do NOT eat them while I'm driving between schools. They are merely a decoy to keep me from eating a hot fudge sundae every single solitary day. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to sit right here in my car and eat my sundae.

plastic plates melt in the oven

2008-06-22T19:32:00.003-04:00

Here's the proof:

This is what happened. Donald and I were in Concord over the weekend and planned a cookout Saturday night with my family. This is such a great time of year for fresh vegetables that we went to the Farmer's Market and bought some corn on the cob. So, my mother cooked the corn, put it on the platter, wrapped it all in foil, then put it in the oven, not turned on. In the meantime, my sister, LJ, came over to cook the potatoes. You guessed it, she turned the oven on. Donald's cooking on the grill, we're all sitting outside with him, when my mother casually mentioned the corn in the oven. LJ flew out of her chair, I was right behind her. Plastic stinks when it melts. We did catch it before it was too far gone, and we were able to salvage the corn. Between four of us, we ate 11 ears.

i am that woman

2008-06-14T07:39:00.008-04:00

You all know her. Most families have one. She's the one we have all made fun of for most of our lives. She's the little old lady who always has her camera and takes pictures of EVERYTHING. I came to this realization Friday night at Liz's graduation ceremony. Let me explain.

Liz was one of about 500 students graduating. All of them marched in, we were searching madly for her, finally found her, and she was looking for us, too. Keep in mind that each graduate got 7 tickets, which adds up to a lot of people in a crowded coliseum that was not air conditioned. So, it took Liz a while to find us, but when she did there I was, camera stuck firmly to my face trying to get a picture. (I didn't get it, we were just too far away.) I pretty much stayed that way throughout the ceremony. I never did see Liz with my own two eyes. It was always through the view finder. Later on, I told Donald that years from now, long after I'm gone, the girls will most likely remember me like this:

I particularly like the Elvis snarl. Or, they might remember me like this:

Notice, if you will, the over-40-head-tilt-so-I-can-see method.

Fortunately, every once in a while, someone else is around and will grab the camera so we can see all of us:

Don't tell anybody, but I'm kind of proud to have the distinction of the one who always takes the pictures.

Congrats to Liz! We're very proud of you!

smoke

2008-06-12T08:29:00.001-04:00

The smoke from the wildfires in eastern NC has reached Raleigh. Quite an unpleasant surprise when I went outside at 6 this morning. Yuck.

hibiscus

2008-06-08T09:58:00.003-04:00

Our hibiscus bloomed today.

tick, tac....toe?

2008-06-05T09:52:00.002-04:00

Those of you who have known me the longest will be surprised to find out that I really love to be in the woods. I'm not sure what the appeal is, maybe it's the peacefulness, or maybe it's because it is so different from anything else. Anyway, on Friday I took very quick walk on a trail at a park in Louisburg. I mean, it was only about 10 minutes. I should have known when I emerged from the woods and saw two ticks crawling up my pants that was a bad idea. I got them off, and headed on home. We looked me over that night, and all was well, or so we thought. Saturday afternoon, my little toe kept itching like crazy. You guessed it, a tick. One of those teeny, tiny deer ticks. Donald got it off, and life was good. Until later that afternoon. This time, the itching was on my rear. Another tick. All in all, we found six, but only two had attached. By Tuesday, my toe was starting to develop a personality of its own. By Wednesday, it was looking really nasty so I decided to call the doctor. Off I go! I explained my concern to him about the two bites, and how they look different. He looked at my toe and then decided he needed to see the other bite. Remember it was on my rear? I assumed he would leave me alone, I would undress, cover up, then he would come back in. No. Instead, he calls in the nurse, and says, "OK, let's see." I had to undress IN FRONT OF THEM. All the while, the nurse is talking about how much she likes my shorts, and where did I buy them. Good grief, all I can think about is I'm dropping my pants in front of strangers. Anyway, to make a long story short, he isn't sure it is Lyme disease, but it looked icky enough, and different enough from the other one, to give me the antibiotic anyway. Apparently there is some research out there now that if you catch Lyme in the very early stages, you only need two doses. So, I have taken my two pills, and am still watching my toe.

I don't think this will keep me out of the woods. But I will be careful to remember bug spray!

bye bye truck

2008-05-30T15:17:00.003-04:00

An honest to goodness miracle has happened at my house. Donald and I went to supper last night, and when we got home, the wrecked black truck had disappeared from the driveway! Keep in mind, this truck had only been sitting there for the last 3 years or so, ever since Dottie wrecked it when she was 16. She's 20 now. That old truck was starting to become a yard ornament. Even the last time google updated their images, there was the truck. But, it's gone now, and I wanted to do a happy dance. Donald wanted to cry.

OK, it really wasn't a miracle. Donald finally sold it to someone for parts. :-)

boot camp

2008-05-18T07:23:00.003-04:00

Dottie's boyfriend left for boot camp on Wednesday of this week (Army). He is in Oklahoma, and I never dreamed I would worry about him, but I stayed awake a lot of Wednesday night thinking about him and hoping he is OK. (This being an adult thing is for the birds.) Luckily, he was able to call Thursday night, and let us know all is well. He is tired, bald, and the real training hasn't even started yet. There is a week of processing, which is where he is now. As odd as this sounds, I actually went to Fort Bliss' website, which is where he is, thinking that maybe they have a webcam, or post pictures. My work friends laughed at me and told me this isn't the boy scouts.

backyard battles

2008-05-12T18:21:00.002-04:00

There is a war in my backyard, and I am a participant. My backyard is great for attracting wildlife. You already know about the hummingbirds, but we also have deer, butterflies, a variety birds (even a pileated woodpecker last year!) and squirrels. Lots of them. Despite everything I had read, I wanted to put up a bird feeder. So, I picked out the perfect feeder, it is shaped like a little gazebo, filled it with seed, hung it from a tree and waited. After just a couple of hours, we had our first visitor, a nuthatch! I was thrilled! I just knew I would be able to sit on the back deck and watch birds all summer. Then the squirrels found the feeder. That pesky rodent was weaving in and out among the sides and devoured all the birdseed. Boy, was I annoyed! I marched out into the backyard, picked up a stick and threw it! Of course I missed, but it served its purpose and the squirrel fled. I resolved myself to the fact that maybe it wasn’t the perfect feeder after all. Off to Ace Hardware! The next feeder is designed to close when a squirrel gets on it, but not when a bird gets on. We watched the squirrels circle the tree trying to figure it out, and I congratulated myself for outsmarting them. Just mere minutes later, the squirrel had figured out a way to distribute his weight across the feeder so that the doors don’t close. Again, I marched outside, this time in the rain, to throw more sticks. That pesky squirrely DIDN’T BUDGE! This only made me more annoyed. So, I found the longest stick I could and flung it at him. This time, it hit the feeder, and the squirrel jumped off….only to hide on the other side of the tree. Have you ever seen a half crazed woman chasing a squirrel around and around a tree? This morning, the feeder was on the ground, I can only assume from the squirrel. I re-hung it, and I can’t wait to see what happens tonight.

life is full of surprises

2008-05-11T15:43:00.000-04:00

I've been thinking about what I would like to post on Mother's Day. I am not a mother, nor have I ever been a mother. But, five years ago I gained two stepdaughters whom I adore. I suppose I should mention they were teenagers at the time. It is not really fair to call them "step", so I would rather refer to them as "bonus daughters", because they really are a bonus in my life. When Donald and I got married, I had no clue what the title "step mother" meant. I'm still not sure. All week I've been thinking about how my life is better with them in it. I've learned what it means to be truly unselfish. I've learned what it means to be patient. I've learned how it feels to hurt more for someone else than you do for yourself. I've learned how to be honest in a way I never knew. And, I've learned how to eat crow, which I still don't like.

Like I said, life is full of surprises. And, also like I said, I am not a mother. So this morning, when Dottie woke up, she came in with a mother's day gift for me. The best part, though, was the card she wrote. I won't bore you with all the details of it, just let me say I cried.

Happy Mother's Day

It Never Fails

2008-05-10T06:36:00.002-04:00

It's Saturday morning, and I am up early as usual. This morning, however, I decided that since it was so early (before 6) I would leave my pajamas on while I walked the dog. After all, who else in their right mind would be up before 6 on a Saturday? Wouldn't you know today is the neighborhood yard sale day? Granted, no one on my end of the neighborhood is participating, but several random cars came looking for a bargain. Fortunately, nobody stopped to ask me any questions. I am sure the rest of you wear really cute jammies, mine are not cute, but they are SO comfortable. And, if you know me and you have ever spent the night with me, you know what my hair looks like when I roll out of bed. Don King comes to mind. Chalk it up to a lesson learned. From now on, I'll put on my shorts.

On a positive note, for the second morning in a row, we saw two deer. I know they are a nuisance, but I do love to see them.

Long Time, No Post

2008-05-04T07:34:00.002-04:00

It's been a while since I have posted anything. You can rest assured that means life has been uneventful. About the only thing of any significance that has happened is that I planted my garden last weekend. We don't have the best yard for a garden, but I picked a spot that I thought would suffice. Usually I plant only tomatoes, but this year I have squash, zucchini, okra and cucumbers as well. That sounds like a lot, but my garden is pretty small, only about 2 feet by about 15 feet. Now if I can only keep the deer away.

A Day of Missed Opportunities

2008-04-20T07:05:00.002-04:00

It's not what you think. I just couldn't get the right picture all day long yesterday. Donald and I went to the beach, and as soon as we sat down, we noticed the dolphins frolicking in the water. I grabbed my trusty camera and tried my hardest to get a picture. All I got was some really cool pictures of the ocean, but no dolphins. Later, when we got back to the campground, F15 fighter planes from the nearby airshow flew right over us! Again, I grabbed my trusty camera, and got a nice picture of the top of some trees. Oh well, maybe next time. In the meantime, enjoy a picture of the ocean.

He's Baaaaaaack!

2008-04-17T20:07:00.008-04:00

So Donald and I were sitting on the couch tonight, when he looked out the window and said one word that excited me more than anything lately. "Hummingbird!" I've been waiting and wondering when they would show up. If you know me, you already know about our hummingbirds last year. If you don't, you're in luck! About this time last year, we noticed a male hanging around our back yard, so we put up a feeder. A few days later, we noticed there was also a female, which was exciting to think we had a matched pair. Not too long after that, there were four. We assumed the two new ones were their babies. So, we put up an additional feeder. By the end of the summer we had six feeders, ten birds, and I had gone through 25 pounds of sugar. (I tend to make my nectar sweet, 3/4 cup sugar to 2 cups water.) Anyway, we all had so much fun watching these birds. They got quite used to us, and would hover so close we could look them in the eye. Even Dottie's boyfriend would hang out just to watch the birds. Obviously I didn't get a picture today, but here's a picture of the birds last year. The male is perched, the female is in flight.

Geocaching

2008-04-11T18:27:00.008-04:00

Geocaching is quickly becoming my new favorite hobby. Donald likes it, too, but he's not as into it as I am. I've been working with some students at one of my schools and today we took a geocaching field trip. By geocaching, they've learned about satellites, latitude, longitude and also how to navigate using a gps. Several weeks ago, we created a voicethread about geocaching. (If you don't know about voicethread, it is the coolest web 2.0 tool) Take a look!

Spring and a Green Thumb

2008-04-06T06:49:00.000-04:00

Wow! It's been quite a while since I have posted. I suppose that means life has sort of gotten in the way of doing things fun, like posting to my blog. My last post was about almost spring, and I'm happy to say spring is here! Although the weather is doing really weird stuff, like close to 80 one day, then the next day down to 50. I am ready for it to be warm and stay warm all the time.

Anyway, yesterday Donald and I took a day trip to Wilmington. He went to Cape Fear Community College and they were having a 50th Anniversary celebration. He got to see how the school has grown in the 26 years since he graduated, and see how the technology has changed (and stayed the same) in his area, which is electronics engineering. When we finished with this, we got to go see his parents for a little while. My mother-in-law has the greenest thumb of anyone I know! I'm not sure how long they have lived in this house (it has been since Donald was a little boy), but she has worked over the years to create a beautiful garden filled with flowers and plants she loves. Right now, the azaleas are in full bloom and the dogwoods are blooming, too. Take a look at some of her flowers.

Beautiful dogwood. I know you can't see this, but when the picture is enlarged, you can actually see the puffy pollen.

I love how you can see the inside of the flower, what are those called? Stamens?

And, my favorite color of azaleas!

Almost Spring!

2008-03-19T17:56:00.001-04:00

Tomorrow is the first day of spring, which means that it is almost time for spring break! Today the weather is great, 75, kind of cloudy, and windy. It feels so good, that the dog and I are on the deck enjoying life. I can hear the squirrels in the woods, and it sounds like they are having fun. I can't help but wonder when the hummingbirds will return.

Silly Dog

2008-02-09T06:54:00.001-05:00

My dog loves carrots. I'm not exactly sure how we learned this, but he is addicted. The other night when I got home from work, both Donald and Thug were in the kitchen. Donald and I were having our normal after work conversation, when I realized that Thug was staring at me. Not just staring, the look was quite intense. So, I asked him "What do you want?". He did that cute little spin around dance thing he does when he gets excited. I laughed, and asked him again, "What do you want?". At that point, he went to the refrigerator, jumped up and pawed the door. How's that for animal communication?

Of course, I gave him what he wanted, a carrot.

Getting bigger

2008-01-01T08:02:00.000-05:00

I have gained weight over the holidays. One thing I have learned about myself is that I am obsessive. I can't eat just one piece of candy, it has to be 10. So, today is the new year, and Dottie and I have decided we need to follow a mediterranean diet. Yesterday I stewed some dried apricots and made yogurt cheese. Yogurt cheese is pretty nasty by itself, but when you pair it with the apricots it is delicious. I want to try and mix it with some herbs to try as a dip for carrots. We'll see how that goes.

Last night, Nancy and her family came up and we all went out for an early dinner. We went to Bahama Breeze and I had paella. It was very good, but not the best I've ever had. We all had a great time. I don't get to spend a lot of time with the boys anymore now that they are almost grown, so it was fun to see them. Nancy told the story about when Jordan broke his arm and Charlie got a concussion on a ski trip. Now that several years have passed, the story is hilarious and I laughed until I had tears in my eyes.

Flying Time

2007-12-28T08:25:00.000-05:00

I can't believe it is already Friday. That means only a couple more days of vacation until I go back to work. Chad came over last night for just a few minutes. He got an odd job to do here in town and stopped by to take a shower before he went out for a big night with his friends. I am headed to R.E.I. today to continue my quest for the perfect shoe. My feet ache most of the time, so I have decided to look for shoes designed for rugged wear. Maybe that will do the trick.

Dec. 26

2007-12-26T07:29:00.000-05:00

It is the day after Christmas, and everyone is still sound asleep. The dog got me up around 6:30, and I was not happy with that today. It is pouring down rain, and he wouldn't even go outside. This dog really hates the rain. I think we all had a good Christmas yesterday, and everyone got what they wanted. The biggest hit was the digital picture frames. Both of the girls loved them. The dog made off like a bandit with three new toys. This picure shows him with one of them. He looks puppy-ish in this picture to me.

Let the Season Begin!

2007-12-23T19:02:00.000-05:00

Today we celebrated Christmas with my family. We got together for lunch at my mother's, and my sisters and I shared the bulk of the cooking. We all missed Maw. Later, my mother and I went out to the Assisted Living facility where Maw lived to see her roommate. When we walked in to the room, it brought a lump to my throat. On the side where Maw lived, it was completely empty. No bed, no chair, nothing on the walls. There was nothing to remind us that she had lived there. I will go back to the cemetary tomorrow before I head back home.

North vs. South

2007-12-22T09:10:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I went to Yadkinville to attend a funeral. I was so focused on getting directions from Raleigh to Yadkinville, that I neglected to get directions from Yadkinville to Concord. The people who were there told me the easiest way was to take 601 all the way. No problem! I left, and when I got to Mt. Airy and the sign said End 601, I realized that maybe something was wrong. I called Donald so he could check the directions for me. At that point I realized I had been traveling north when I should have been traveling south. The good news is that I got to see a part of NC that I had never seen before. And, when I stopped to turn around, I saw the statue of Andy of and Opie. I should have taken a picture, but I already felt conspicuous. Needless to say, it took quite a long time to get to Concord.

TSO

2007-12-21T07:54:00.000-05:00

Last night the four of us went to see Trans Siberian Orchestra. The show started with their version of the Christmas story, and in my opinion was a little cheesy. I couldn't wait for it to end. Even Liz said she was trying not to go to sleep. I had heard so much about this show, and was greatly disappointed.

However, the story ended and the real show started. The performance was phenomenal! Lasers, smoke, fire, it was great. It reminded me of what an old ELO concert must have been like. By the end we were all on our feet cheering and whistling. Would I go again? Absolutely, but I wouldn't rush to get there for the beginning! And next time, I want a seat on the end.

Education

2007-12-15T07:05:00.000-05:00

I had a great week at work. We did a virtual field trip with the museum of history, and it was great! This was our first experience using our distance learning cart, and I can't wait to use it more. To be truthful, I've been a little afraid of it, mainly because I didn't know how to use it. It was ridiculously easy.

Raindrops on Roses

2007-12-08T07:16:00.000-05:00

I've been remembering favorite memories of Maw, and thought it would be a good idea to write them down. Since I am the youngest, both of my sisters went off to school and Maw and I stayed home. One of my earliest memories is of Maw ironing, and I had a toy iron and ironing board. I really thought I was ironing with her! I can see us standing side by side in my parents bedroom with our ironing boards.

Maw didn't drive, and so sometimes she would want something from the store. There was a drug store in Concord (Pike's) that would deliver. She would call and order a Baby Ruth for her, and caramel creams for me. Our candy would be delivered, she'd pay and we would have a treat!

Sense of Normalcy?

2007-12-04T20:20:00.001-05:00

Today was a great day. I had time to gear up for our video conference next week, and even got a test run with the Museum of History. I'm excited for this experience and hope the students learn a lot.

Sunday Morning

2007-12-02T06:51:00.002-05:00

It is Sunday morning and I am up early again. We had the funeral yesterday, and more people came than I thought would. When you live to be 94 like my grandmother did, most of the people you knew are already dead. But, a lot of her nieces and nephews came, and a lot of people from my mother's church came. The service was short and sweet, exactly what she would have wanted. We are going back to the cemetary today to put some flowers on her grave. Later on today I am heading back to Raleigh. I suppose life goes on, and there are suppers to cook and jobs to go to.

Sadness

2007-12-01T06:26:00.000-05:00

When I was a little girl, both of my parents worked. This was in the early sixties, so there really wasn't the daycare options then that there are now. So, my parents invited my grandmother to come live with us and take care of my sisters and me. She never learned to drive a car. We would pick her up on either Sunday night or early Monday morning, and take her home on Friday. My sisters and I all three shared a special bond with her. She was the first person we looked for when we got off the bus. She cooked our supper every night. She wiped our tears, brushed our scrapes and bruises, and loved us unconditionally. When I turned 16, I started picking her up on Saturday morning and we would go grocery shopping and have breakfast together. That lasted until I moved to Raleigh 4 years ago. I was 39 years old at the time. As my grandmother got up in years, it became apparent that she could no longer care for herself. We moved her to an Assisted Living Facility when she was 90. She lived there until yesterday when she died at the ripe old age of 94. This picture was taken a couple of years ago. Not the best pic I have, but the one that I could easliy retrieve.