A TIME TO BE THANKFUL!

I am going on vacation next week. Yes it's the week of Thanksgiving and no I won't be visiting family. This year I am going with my Honey Honey Carter to Sanibel Island, Florida! I've never been to this lovely spot but It is one of Carter's favorites. We are driving down in the Miata and taking our bikes, suitcase on a luggage rack, several cameras and a big smile on both of our faces! This trip is just for us. Time to relax, read, ride bikes, take photographs, collect shells and enjoy the beach. We have rented a Condo right on the beach, this is my idea of heaven! This is not the traditional Thanksgiving I usually have, but this year my children are spending the holiday with their South Georgia Families. Carter and I have decided to get away on our own.

I have so much to be Thankful for this year. I don't think I have ever been happier or more content then I am since meeting Carter. He is my best friend and my partner for life! I am Thankful that my Mom's health is stable and she is doing well. I am Thankful that I have such wonderful memories of my Dad and that I can smile, laugh and sometimes cry about it all. I'm Thankful that I had the oppurtunity to meet and know Jack before he passed away. I'm Thankful I have brothers! The one I grew up with and the one i've met as an adult! I'm Thankful I have wonderful sister (in-laws). I'm Thankful both of my children have good jobs and good health and are independent and happy adults! I am Thankful for a wonderful Son-In-Law. I am Thankful I have a job and good health. I'm Thankful for the many friends I have! I am Thankful for the beauty around me and that i've met someone who shares his love of the outdoors with me and has shown me how to appreciate it all the more. I'm Thankful to have someone in my life who shares my love of Junkin!(and never complains about what I bring home). I am Thankful for my furry children. I am thankful GAS prices have fallen (really!) and that it doesn't take 1/2 my paycheck to get to work. I'm so very Thankful that God has given me this life I have. I am blessed!

A Loss In My Family

The Monday following my last Blog started out as a typical Monday. Up and get ready for work and have a busy day. Head home,dinner and some TV. But as i'm getting ready for bed my phone "beeps" i've missed a message. I listen and a very bad feeling comes over me. The call is from Mike a very close friend of my Bio-Dad Jack. I call and he tells me that Jack has passed away. He was out feeding the animals and he fell down, a neighbor was walking his dog and saw him fall, he ran to help him. Jack got to the porch and said i'm just so tired and slumped over. He was gone! So many times we thought we had lost him with so many heart surgeries and the latest scare of pancreatic cancer and then suddenly he is gone. I cry and cry and Carter holds me trying to comfort me. I call David my 1/2 brother and he is in tears also and heading to Ottumwa. I say Carter and I will leave the next day and get there as soon as we can. Following a very sleepless night we throw clothes in the car, arrange for a neighbor to check on the cats and off we go. It is a very long drive from Norcross,GA to Ottumwa,IA. Over 15 hours and Carter and I drive straight thru getting there sometime in the early hours of Wed. David and I have discussed the arrangements and have decided on Wed visitation and Thur morning burial. The next few days are a blur of tears, sadness,love,comfort,stories of Jack,smiles,laughter and always more tears. The kindness of friends and extended family can never be thanked enough, it makes such a difference. I only got to know Jack a few years, but I am so very thankful I had that time with him. He completed a piece of my puzzle that was missing for so many years. I will always thank my Mom for encouraging me to find him and get some closure. Of course I have regrets, I wish I could have visited him more often, had more years and told him just one more time, LOVE YOU DAD! But our last conversation just a week before his death was a wonderful one. He had come back from his check up in Iowa City and felt great. We discussed a get together sometime soon and as always he ended the conversation with, LOVE YA MUCH! I can still hear his voice in my head and see him in my mind and he will always be in my heart. He was not the Father who raised me and that Dad can never be replaced in my heart. He was my real Dad, but Jack had a special place in my life and in my heart. He too will be missed.

so many new things.....

I know it has been awhile since I've Blogged (is that even a word?) but I've been so busy with so many new and wonderful things in my life!!

Saw one of my Idol's Kathy Mattea and I will never be the same. The voice this woman has moves me. We went to see her at Agnes Scott College, the venue was Presser Hall,Gaines Chapel. Impressive place with soaring ceilings and great acoustics. Kathy sang and talked about her life and growing up in West Virginia near the coal mines. Her latest album COAL are all songs she found to get across the desperation and hardship of coal mining. She sang some of her famous songs and at one point she asked us to sing with her on 18 WHEELS AND A DOZEN ROSES! I sang out in that lovely chapel with several hundred other fans! I sang with Kathy Mattea!!!!! If you ever get the chance to see her, you will not be sorry.

Last weekend, Carter and I went to the Mountains of North GA and North Carolina ~ more of a road trip! The leaves were just starting to turn and we saw some beautiful scenery. It was a welcome respite from our jobs and the hustle and bustle of Atlanta. Of course we hit some Flea Markets and went Junkin! We had to be careful because we were in the Miata, but we had fun and found a few treasures!

This weekend was a stay at home weekend, well that was the plan. But after some housework and errands the beautiful weekend beckoned and today we went to the Botanical Gardens (the site of our very first date). The flowers were beautiful and there was a display of Scarecrows of all shapes and descriptions. We took our cameras and spent a few hours taking pictures....pure bliss! Once developed I'll share some here if they turn out.

Since it's October my heart always turns to two things, my Mother's birthday (on Oct 18th~Happy Birthday Mom) and Breast Cancer Awareness! SAVE THE TA TA'S! I wore a pink t-shirt today and my pink breast cancer hat and tried to take as many pink pictures as I could. I hope I got some good one's. This has been my "cause" for many years. I had an Aunt with breast cancer and I lost a good friend to this dreadful illness. I support the Susan G Komen organization!

I can't believe how quickly the Month of October is flying by! It will be November and time for Thanksgiving before I know it. I'm enjoying the crisp fall air and spending time with my Honey. I told Carter I am so content! Can it get much better this this?

THE KINDNESS OF NEIGHBORS

My Mom who will turn 78 this month, lives in Houston and recently went through quite an experience. She stayed in her house during hurricane Ike and then endured 10 days without electricity. I have spent several hours without power, but 10 days! My Mom was lucky to have very caring neighbors. A wonderful couple who live across the street, Ricky & Angela Smith, who provided her with ice and warm food. They checked on her several times a day and helped her with any thing that needed doing, A friend of Angela's brought Mom her small generator to use once she got power herself. Kathy then came by everyday to make sure it was running, checked on the gas to run the generator (which she also brought) and provided Mom with some bread and milk. I was so very happy to know that my Mom was so well taken care of when I was so far away. I called her everyday (the phone worked) and she was a real trooper during a very long week! So when I think I miss the "good old days" when neighbors knew each other watched out for each other, I can just look to Sagepark Lane in Houston, Texas and see that the kindness of neighbors still exists!

THAT WAS THE WEEK THAT WAS..........

And what a week it has been!

Ike hit Houston and while my family did not suffer any major damage, they are still without power! I have had some trouble contacting them via phone but have had enough information to know they are all ok. My 78 year old Mom has taken this like a trooper! I am so proud of her!

Back at the home front, Carter and I continue to sift thru my belongings and try to merge our two households. We are taking our time as we both have full time jobs. I am finding that I am very happy in my new home! Three weeks and while we are still figuring it all out, we are doing great! The commute has been fine, even with the gas prices.

Carter and I have managed to include a little fun into the week. Last weekend we went to a Photography Store's "yard sale" and my oh my we had a good time. As most of you know Carter and I are true "junkies" and "collectors", well this was right up our alley. All these old cameras and equipment! We found some wonderful old light meters, just the coolest things! A guy that worked there seemed to delight in our joy of finding these light meters and before we knew it he had brought us several more. Ignore the price tag he kept saying. We had a box of finds and he gave us a price of $10! Oh yes and so we now have another "collection" and more inventory!

The weather has cooled down and I am enjoying this even if the ragweed is making my nose run and my eyes itch. Still it is a beautiful time of the year. This weekend we are planning more work around the house and of course some fun! After all that is what life is all about.