Almost Done

Hopefully, this week we will wrap up the work on the house. I finished laying the floor over the weekend. It looks very good if I do say so myself. My brother completed the insulation project in the attic last night. My nephew-in-law and crew finished painting the cabinets yesterday. The carpenters are supposed to work on finishing up the rest of the week. Then Mom can move in, and I can try to get my house in order-----or not. I'm really tired and have acquired a few ailments recently, so I think I'll just vegetate in front of the tube. I know, I already do that, but I'm going to seriously not do anything for awhile! ha! Well, I'm posting a picture of my little helper. I couldn't have gotten all of this work done without her. Notice how intently she's studying the ruler to make sure all the measurements are exact!

Building Progress

Just going to post a few pictures to show the progress of Mom's new "space". It finally seems to moving along pretty quickly. The drywall finishers are there this week, and painting can begin hopefully by the end of the week. It's going to be cute. There is going to be a screened-in side porch and deck for the freezer and cats. We're going to call it, "Granny's Cat House"!

Raining Cats and .....

It really does rain cats and ... well, no dogs, but one very cute little girl! After such a long dry spell, she was trying out her new umbrella that my boss brought her from his trip to Boston. I didn't even notice at the time that it matched her Sponge Bob shirt. The cat is Harley who used to belong to Sean but now resides at Gid with the rest of the zoo. I have now added 6 chickens to go along with the 2 rabbits, 1 goldfish, 7 cats, and 1 dog. I'm rarely on time for work anymore due to the lengthy feeding schedule of above animals.

The End of Summer

Summer is officially over now that Labor Day has come and gone. I had the family in for the holiday. Rick & Karen brought most of the food--bbq, baked beans, and coleslaw. I made cornbread salad and apple dumplings. Kim made a delicious and rich (wishing I had some right now) banana pudding. It was so good and I'm not even a real big banana pudding fan. Phyllis brought the drinks and ice (non-alcoholic, of course.) Brad and Sonny got the rock on the corner of my house chiseled off so the carpenters could start enclosing my carport. Karen painted most of my little bathroom with Rick finishing it up. So, it was quite a productive "labor" day at my house. Bet no one will want to come over for the holidays anymore! ha! Anyway, I'm enclosing the carport so I can move Mom in there. We're making a little studio apt. for her complete with a kitchenette. She and I are both looking forward to spending the long winter nights playing cards and games. She'll also be able to keep closer tabs on me. She likes to know all of my comings and goings. If I'm late, she calls everyone in the family and the neighbors. You do remember that I just celebrated my 50th birthday, right? I guess once a mom, always a mom. I love her and have lots of fun with her. I'm posting a picture of Sean and Emily taken at his last visitation. To me it personifies the pain of a broken home. Emily never wants to go home and this last time was the worst ever. We both cried and for me it even continued to the next day. At least she's coming back this weekend and we'll make the most of it.

Recovering Nicely

I am recovering nicely from turning 50 and have almost gotten used to the memory loss, etc. I got to see my niece, A'Larra, over the weekend which is always nice. I don't get to see her or her sister, Angela, very often so checking their blogspots is always exciting for me. Although one of them is slipping on the posting. I have new pictures, but forgot the camera so I'll post them later. We had a great day at church. I taught my usual 5-9 year-old girls and then helped in junior church which was a blessing. I also have Emily for a whole week, so it's all good this week! My son had dinner with us Saturday night which is a rare occasion these days. You know, he is single, if anyone knows an eligible Christian girl (Baptist preferred). With that, I'd better shut it off.

Fifty Plus One Day

Well, today the fun is all over, but the sweetness still lingers. Most of my balloons had been done away with by the janitor by the time I got to work today. My brother, sister-in-law, niece, and nephew-in-law along with my son took me out to eat at Mi Ranchito last night. It was good until the birthday serenade began(thanks to Randall and Phyllis). The "singers" stuck a big sombrero on my head, played a drum, sang an unintelligible song, and bonked me on the head with maracas in frequent intervals during the song. Fortunately, there was hardly anyone else at the restaurant, so only the family witnessed this little event. All in all, it was probably the best birthday I've ever had. Hope you check out the picture of Sean's birthday at the bottom of the page. Well, I need to rest now. Being old is really tiring.

The Big 5-0

I hope no one thinks I'm vain for posting pictures of my own birthday, but you just can't believe what greeted me today at work! The first clue was when I walked in and everyone was standing there amid birthday streamers. Then when I noticed that my office door was closed with birthday signs on it, I was pretty sure opening that door would be a real treat. When I opened it there were dozens of balloons hanging from the ceiling and waist deep on the floor! Streamers everywhere, a "birthday file" with a cute little card creation from Clan, Susan, Keith and Bobby in the service dept. My general mgr., Gene and his wife, Pam are responsible for most of this with some help from Kelly, of course! I got a t-shirt with my name on it that says that I'm the mayor of Gid, a couple of "prescription bottles" of anti-aging pills, some really cute p.j.'s with cats on them and all of this amid the shock of my life! I had NO idea any of this was going on. Gene was busy getting the balloons yesterday and I didn't even know he was gone. That's what happens when you turn 50--you kind of live in a fog and don't know what's going on around you. Anyway, thanks to everyone for the cards, gifts, etc. and I know the day has just begun. What a great birthday! Just hope I can remember it.