Why is it that life gets so much busier when warm weather hits? I guess we just all are ready to come out of hibernation. Although, I must admit, I haven't been out of the house much BUT--everyone around me is SO busy!

Adair's boys are all three playing baseball this Spring. Sam is in Little League, Luke, Coach Pitch, and my sweet little Babe is in T-Ball. I think Sam plays just for the social aspect of the game. Luke, well he is the most competitive 7 year old boy I have ever known. LOVES baseball and he is such a good little athlete. He understands the game as well as loves it. Then there's Babe (aka, Gabe). Gabe, at the ripe old age of 4, thinks the game is all about him. He runs from home plate to first base looking at us on the bleachers and waving away! Whenever he makes his away around to home, same thing, he is looking at us with a big smile on his face and waving. He is SO much like his mother at that age, just out to make everyone smile! The one thing that may keep him from going too far in baseball is he doesn't like to get his hands (or, any other part of his body) dirty. Again, he is his mom's boy! Saturday, we will go to three baseball games and Cole's soccer game. Cole is hot and cold: if he has a good game, he LOVES soccer; if he has a bad game, he doesn't like soccer so much. His dad played soccer thru high school but, I'm not so sure that Cole is planning on following in his dad's footsteps. Time will tell. Who knows, they may all end up as ballet dancers!

Spring is trying to settle in but the cold weather keeps creeping back in. This has been a chilly week, in the 40's. Tomorrow and Saturday we are supposed to have 70 degree temps--a real heat wave! Our grass is beautiful, bright green and lush. We still have until Memorial Day to officially open the pool and, that will be after running the heater for several days. Summer will be here before we know it.

Allen is having surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff on the 29th. Please pray for ME. He is not such a good patient. The man never sits still--stops at night when it is time to go to bed. He will NOT sit still long enough to recuperate. And, he will be impatient and testy. Oh, well. It won't last forever. Allen has cared for me after 12 surgeries in as many years and several serious illnesses and he is an excellent caregiver. I will try to repay him in as kind a manner as possible. It will be good to have some time here at home to spend with him.

Anyone watching American Idol? I don't think this year is as loaded with talent as some preceding years have been. I'm thinking the final two will be Adam Lambert and Gokey with Allison in the final three. Did you hear the 47 year old lady from Britain who sang on the talent show there? Brought tears to my eyes. I heard today that she is working on signing a deal with Simon Cowell. I hope he can find a slot for her as she has a voice that truly brings tears to my eyes.

I have stocked up on lots of good supplies for card making. I have an order coming from Paper Trey Ink this week. If you haven't looked at that site, it is a must---www.papertreyink.com. There is so much inspiration on that site and an excellent design team. AS soon as this order comes in, I have promised myself to sit in my scrap room next week and make cards. I have more than enough supplies to make some beautiful cards. My next purchase will be to update to the Cricut Expression. Just waiting for the right price. Anyone know who has the best deal?

I am going to settle down now and hope to get to sleep before 2am. Hope you are all out enjoying the nice weather!

Beautiful Girl!!!

This is Sadie, our only granddaughter! Saturday, she will celebrate her first birthday. Sadie is a beautiful baby girl, quiet like her mommy but can be as rambunctious and as rough as she needs to be when she is with the grandsons. She is walking, jabbering and popping teeth through. Sadie is a delight and a true beauty.

We had all of our grandchildren spend the night with us on Valentine's Day. We played board games (my, how Gabe loves board games!), the boys played with their DSes and and the night ended with all of them wrapped in blankets, heads on their very own pillows and watching Madagascar. They went to bed without a fuss and got up early the next morning to go out to breakfast with Granddaddy (Nanny gave up breakfast for a little extra sleep!) It was a great visit for all.

Mason is doing well. He is using the Big Boy Potty! SO proud of himself. The docs had said that he might be 5-6 years old before he would be ready to begin potty tainining and then, he might not have enough control of his muscles to train. But, Mason never has followed the timetable for milestones that the docs gave him. He tries so hard to do all of the things the other boys do and I'm so proud that he has that type of personality. He is having problems with walking, standing, talking and swallowing but he has therapy to help him with those things and he works very hard.

Looks like we are going to get more winter weather over the weekend. We're all ready for Spring time, here. I plan on contracting a fatal case of Spring Fever!! What about you?

What a Cutie!!!

My nephew and his wife gave birth to this cutie in November. Allen and I and the great-grandparents were fortunate enough to be able to travel to Charleston, SC to be with the family and welcomed Matthew into the world. Matthew is now 12 weeks old and looks nothing like I remember he did when he was born. He is (as you can tell) the cutest baby and, as babies do, has filled in all of the wrinkles he had at birth.

Brian and Misty are doing great at being first-time-parents. Yes, they DO dote on him.

Brian, Misty and Matthew will be coming "home" on Feb. 28th. My hands are itching to hold this bundle of happiness. Matthew's grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins live here in Lexington and there are several family get-togethers planned so everyone can meet baby Matthew. YAY!!!!!!! We are all looking forward to lots of baby time.

A smiling baby is good for my soul. I hope that looking at this sweet smiling baby face will be good for YOUR soul.

SO Much Happening!

Allen and I, our daughter, Adair, along with Allen's sister and her husband and Allen's parents went to a cabin high in the Smokies, scheduled to return last Wednesday. Mother Nature had a different plan for us. Kentucky suffered a terrible ice and snow storm while we were gone. The roads between Jellico, TN and Lexington were closed, giving us an extra day at the cabin. On Thursday, we got word that the Interstate was open and we loaded up for the trip home. From Knoxville to Berea, KY (about 35 miles from Lexington), we saw no evidence of snow or ice. As soon as we crossed through Berea, we began to see snow. When we reached Richmond, it was as if we had crossed a line into another land. We immediately saw trees so heavy with ice that they were literally lying on the ground. Power lines were laden with snow and hanging low. The closer we got to Lexington, the more devastation we saw. The things we saw after we exited the interstate and entered the familiar roads of home left Allen and I speechless. All we could do was stare in disbelief at the damage from the ice. Lexington looked like a war zone. By the time we reached our home, I had tears running down my cheeks. The trunks of the two holly trees that flank our garage were bent and the trees were lying completely on the ground. All of our trees were heavy with ice that was at least an inch in diameter. Our neighbor has a 20 year old Weeping Willow tree that had been uprooted and was lying on the ground. Our neighborhood streets were impassable. Schools had been closed for a week. As of today, Kentucky has one half million homes without power, most of them without water, also. There have been 47 deaths. An entire family died from carbon monoxide poisoning---they were running a generator in the garage with the garage door closed. One utility worker fell 40 feet off a pole ON HIS HEAD! The last I heard, he was in an ICU at the KY Medical Center in critical condition. Some have died from hypothermia, some because their oxygen concentrators could not run without electricity. Four schools in our city are still without power and the largest high school in Lex. is being used as a shelter for those who have no place to go. So, I imagine there will be no school tomorrow. Some counties have been told that they will be without power for 7-10 days. Mother Nature is not smiling on our area. The meteorologist at our NBC affiliate says there is a great chance that we will get as much as a foot of snow this week, just depends on how the wind blows and the upcoming storm tracks. Click on the pics for a larger view!

While we were stranded in TN, my son, Jon, was hospitalized. He has had several episodes of severe dizziness, a loss of control of his muscles which last for 5-10 minutes and leaving him with a headache. After one episode, he found himself on the floor. He had a MRI of his head and a spinal tap which came back normal. The neurologist is thinking he is having migraines with the dizziness being a precursor. He was hospitalized last Tuesday, the day the ice storm hit Lexington and I couldn't get home to be with him. With the interstate closed, I was ready to get to Knoxville and fly home but, the Lex. airport was closed. Jon is 32, a grown man---but he is still MY boy. Adair was back in Lex. before the storm hit and was able to get to the hospital. She played my role well, asking the docs all of the questions and calling me with the answers. Jon is in a budding relationship with a really sweet girl (we just met her yesterday) and she visited with him as well. The meds aren't helping much as he still has a bad headache. He sees the neuro doc on Wednesday and hopefully she will try a different medication.

I have taken lots of great pictures for my Project 365 and am looking forward to working on it some tomorrow.

A CHANGE IS COMING!

While Obama was not my candidate, the historical aspect of his inauguration is certaianly not lost on me. I remember when times were different here in KY. I remember the first time my mom took me on a city bus ride, I must have been seven or eight years old. There were plenty of empty seats all around us. I was the only child on the bus that day. Finally, as we got closer to downtown, a black lady and a black girl about my age got onto the bus and went all of the way to the back of the bus to sit down. I remember saying to my mom how I wish they had sat down closer to us so I could have talked to her. I will never be too old to remember my mom telling me that they HAD to sit in the back of the bus because black people were not allowed to sit in the front. Of course I'm sure I asked "why" and I'm sure my mom gave me that look that loudly shouted for me not to say another word. I remember going downtown Lexington to shop on Saturdays and at the end of our shopping, we always went to Woolworth's for an ice cream sundae. EVERYONE went to Woolworth's, rich or poor, for ice cream. Even my friend whose parents owned a famous ladies shop that had the most beautiful furs in the window displays in winter went to Woolworth's on Saturday. I remember the day that I noticed the sign on the front door saying, "Coloreds Not Served Here", and I asked my mom where colored people got their ice cream...she pinched me!!! But, the most profound memory was when my father died. I was 17 years old. We were at the funeral home during visitation when the funeral director came and asked my mom to come to the foyer with him. Several of us kids followed her to find this wonderful black man who had worked for my dad standing outside on the porch of the funeral home. The funeral director told my mom that this black man was trying to get into to see my dad's body and he needed to check with my mom before he allowed him to come in. I knew then that my dad had certainly left his body because if not, he would have jumped right out of that coffin and started a scene. He loved that black man and, the love was mutual.

I think I raised my children in a better world, I hope so. Everytime I hear on the news about the great celebration that is going on in Washington BECAUSE a black man was elected president, I'm not so sure how far we have come. By the year 2009, you would think the celebrations would be because a worthy man had been elected president. The celebrating should not be because of the color of his skin.

Although I did not vote for Obama, he will be my president...the president of MY country. And, I wish him all of the success one man can have in one lifetime. Our country needs it. It doesn't matter if our president is a Democrat or a Republican or if his skin is white, black or blue. We need help!

I hope all of you get that funny feeling in your tummies tomorrow when you watch Obama being sworn in as the 44th President of the United States of America and I hope the pride you feel causes a great big lump in your throat!

WE'RE WINNERS!

We live in Lexington, home of the KY WILDCATS. My alma mater. Three of our children graduated from UK, also. My son has applied to a PHD program there. In other words, our family roots loud and clear for the Cats! Our basketball program has enjoyed continued success (most years) but that has not always been the case for our football team. However, for the last three years, they have been invited to a bowl game and have come out as the wnner in all three of those games. Now, the Liberty Bowl, the bowl we played in yesterday, is not the most prestigious bowl. BUT, it IS a bowl. I don't like football---too many rules for my mind to keep up with. And there is something about how 3:00 minutes left in the game stretches out to 45 minutes that I just don't get. I really think you have to have at least a modicum of testerone in your veins to enjoy the game and all of my hormones dried up and left my body when I was 27 years old. No testerone in this body.

Last night, SIL & BIL invited our whole brood to their house for food and "a great football game". SOOOO much food, SOOOO much football...hours, to be exact. Lots of grandsons running and gunning. We were there long enough for all of the young ones to get their second wind while at the same time, I wound all the way down. All-in-all, it was a great night---KY won the game, the food was great and I know that the kids all slept well last night.

We came home to a mess. Our youngest Bichon suffers from separation anxiety when his master (Allen) leaves him. When this anxiety hits him, he pees everywhere. We had them gated into the back hall so at least the damage wasn't spread throughout the house. The bad part to this story is that when we renovated the first floor last year, we put hardwood on every inch of the floor. I mopped that hallway three times at 10 o'clock last night. I do feel bad for BJ (the dog) but I think I feel worse for myself ( the one that always does the cleanup). BJ came to us 3.5 years ago in a sort of rescue situation. He was 6 months old. I think he had suffered some abuse for the first 6 months of his life. Allen thinks dogs are a notch above humans and just dearly loves that dog. I must say that when he isn't pee'ing on the floor, he is the sweetest dog. BJ adores Allen. We keep both dogs in the back part of the first floor which is where our family room is. Which ever doorway Allen exits through when he leaves this part of the house is where BJ sits waiting for him to come back. I so hope the vet has some miracle medicine for him as we have tried everything. We have had two trainers work with us, the last one charged $500!!!! Poor little puppy.

I am off to take my Christmas tree down. I would keep it up all year but, I know the time has come to put Christmas behind me for another year. Have a fun day!

Mae

Oh, LORD! Here We Go Again!

Another year, another dollar. I have had the same resolutions for so many years now that I am thinking about cross stitching a sampler and just pulling it out each year. That way I could stop all of the lists--both written and mental. And the good part is that I never accomplish anything I resolve to do so the sampler would always be accurate. Do any of you still make New Year's resolutions?

We had an odd New Year's Eve celebration last night. It started out great---good family friends. We went to Malone's for a four course meal with Allen's sister, Jane, her husband, Doug and Allen's mom and dad (affectionately referred to as Ma & Pa). Food was great but much too plentiful. My meal started off with shrimp cocktail for appetizer as the first course. Followed with BIG salad, two fillets and a crab cake. Dessert was a Toll House cookie as big as the plate with a huge scoop of vanilla ice cream drizzled with chocolate and caramel. I probably ate less than half of any course. Then I thought of all of the hungry people in the world. Then I thought about all of the homeless people in town as it was frigidly cold outside. Then I finished my Margarita and managed to climb out of my depression.

We left the restaurant and headed to the newest cinema in town to see Marley and Me. My dearest daughter, Adair, said it was a wonderful movie, that we would love it although Allen MIGHT cry---just a bit. Let me just say that about ten minutes before the movie ended, all six of us were wiping our face on our sleeves. Well, not Allen as he spent the last ten minutes of the movie with his eyes clamped shut, jaws set, and he just let the tears roll down his cheeks. He obviously didn't want to draw attention to himself by wiping his eyes so he just let them roll. We left the theater wet and depressed. And, when did Jennifer Anniston get a nose job? I kept getting distracted by how much she looked like Joan Rivers. Personally, I liked her old nose better. Putting all of the tears aside, the movie was a great one. I highly recommend it.

We then went to the Old Folk's Home (Ma & Pa's place) and drowned our sorrows in food and libation. I only had food this time (I did have a taste of champagne at midnight, wine gives me a headache). At midnight, we watched the ball drop in Times Square. Poor Dick Clark. I applaud him for not giving up but, if I'd had any tears left, I would have shed them just listening to him talk. God love him. At 12:15 AM, we were back home. It was nice to be greeted by two kissy, ALIVE dogs.

So, that is how we spent New Year's Eve in our Old Kentucky Home. I must stop now as I have a sampler to cross stitch!

I wish a happy, healthy and prosperous 2009 to all of you.

Mae