Counting my blessings... with haunting sorrow...

On this morning's drive, Sam and I came across a bad accident that had just happened. Later, after dropping Sam off at the high school, I called my BFF, Sandy. I try to talk with Sandy in the mornings as many days as we can connect. Some days we miss, but often we are both driving into work at the same time so we have a chance to talk. Yes, we are both driving and talking on our cell phones. But it is not illegal to do so in Michigan or Texas, and both of us are on an easy, mostly clear & straight route and we are very cautious. On more than one occasion, one of us has had to stop the conversation just to pay attention to traffic or whatever. In a word, we are both careful.

This morning, heading East, I was driving right into the sunrise. I told Sandy about the sun, because it was brighter than usual. Sandy was driving in the dark since it's an hour earlier there in Texas. I said, "I might as well be in the dark, with this sunshine, it's like I'm driving blind."

And I was, with the sun so bright on my windshield, which wasn't very clean, I was unable to see most of what was in front of me. I basically slowed down and followed the car in front of me. I think we were all doing that coz I was part of a long line of slower-than-usual cars. When I got into town, it was kinda hairy at the traffic lights. I seriously could not tell if it was green or not.

Then I talked with my sister just a bit ago. The accident that Sam and I saw was horrible. It was between a school bus (one from our district) and a red Jeep Cherokee. The fronts of both the bus and the Jeep were smashed. Not just smashed... gone. When Sam and I approached, there were a lot of vehicles stopped at the accident site, and traffic was down to one lane in each direction. The bus was half-way into the East-bound far lane facing West, and the Jeep was half-way into the West-bound far lane facing East. Since the bus was on Sam's side, he was checking it out. There was a person standing at the entrance, but the door and entrance was mangled. Sam thought there were kids on the bus, but he couldn't tell for sure because the sun was shining on the bus windows. I found out from my sister there were no kids, only the driver and another adult. Thank God.

I had my window down; I put it down because I was too warm in the bright sunshine. We got about level with the smashed Jeep, and I had to stop because an ambulance was approaching fast, all vehicles were stopped. I could hear the scene before I looked over... Laying face-down in the dirt on the edge of the road was a man, about age 35 I think. He was mostly covered with a white blanket, but not his head. Kneeling next to him was a woman, and she was sobbing and screaming and wailing, she was rocking back and forth kind of, and touching his head. I can't stop thinking about what I saw, and I cannot get that sound of her agony out of my head. I'm not sure I ever will.

My sister told me that she heard the bus driver and the adult passenger were taken to the hospital but were both ok. Kathy works in the school district, so she was able to find that out. No one knows anything yet about the man driving the Jeep, though. Kathy heard that the Jeep pulled out directly in front of the bus and they hit head-on. Everyone seems to believe the man driving the Jeep likely didn't see the bus because of the bright sunshine. A truck had pulled out just before him, and people seem to think he probably just followed the truck. Like what I did this morning at the traffic lights... How many of us have done something exactly like that...

I am still amazed at how that school bus smashed that Jeep like it was an empty beer can.

If you like pina coladas

Many are the events going on...

Joyce finished her Junior year at CMU and her summer classes she took, and she got a co-op job at Dow Corning, so she is doing super good. She also bought a motorcycle. More on that later...

Mike's taking summer classes, too, which keep him busy first thing every morning, and he was fortunate to get a job working 2nd shift, so it accommodates his class schedule, though it is kind of a crappy job. But it is a job. A JOB. Times are pretty tough; we're a lucky family in that both Joyce and Mike found jobs. Whew.

Sammy got done with his Freshman year in high school and immediately started a 2-week basketball camp. Third day in, he was tripped up at a scrimmage and hurt his knee. Partial tear of his PCL. Yes, I said PCL, not ACL. It is AWFUL. Sam's in physical therapy 3 times per week now, and we go back to see the orthopedic surgeon in 3 weeks. The doc said that for Sam to have done that injury, it was like several things had to be just in the right (er, wrong) place and timing... kinda like a Perfect Storm. It isn't a common sports injury, particularly in high school, more commonly seen in things like car accidents. Sam is pretty darn strong and determined, so we will see what the future brings. All we can do. And pray. A LOT.

I took Monday off from work and had a dental appt at 7:30 am to get my permanent bridge put in. I now have a bridge in my mouth! Tolls, please. So anyway, Sam and I spent the day together and I let him drive most all day long. Made him drive to Goodwill and Salvation Army stores in Bay City, and I found a Coach purse for six bucks! Score!

At one point, around lunchtime, Sam asked if I had seen that truck. What truck?, says I. He had seen a big pickup that had the company name "External Landscaping" on it, which cracked us both up. What a dumb name for a landscaping company, ha ha! And then about a half hour later, we saw the same truck again... I said, "Sam, that reads Eternal Landscaping." Oh. What's eternal? Sam asked. Really, his vocabulary kinda sucks. I think mine was better at age 9 than his is now. Oy. (And Sam gets pretty much straight A's! Well, except for that B+ in Wood Shop his last semester. Wood Shop. The teacher gave him a so-so grade for the most beautiful and creative wooden bowl I've ever seen. Photos sometime soon. Boo hiss wood shop.)

What was Sammy driving on Monday you ask? Well... this, my new old car:



She's a 1999... here's a hint...



Yep!



a...



and she's a pretty thing. Loaded with way too many options. The owner's manual is leather bound and it came with a VHS instructional tape! Only about 80,000 miles on her, too. Darn good for a '99. Beautiful condition and runs great. Especially now since I had to put a new radiator in her... she is pretty...



I'm happy. But for some reason, whenever I'm in her, I feel a strange urge to drive straight to the casino. Hmmm...

Sammy will get his driver's license early in November, and we all are looking forward to that happy event. He will be driving my old Le Sabre, and he didn't seem to be as appreciative as he should be, at first, but he is now. Much preferable to walking. Especially since we live about a 25-minute drive to the high school.

I got this email from my BFF, Sandy, the other morning:

My tire yesterday at 7 a.m.



Kinda makes your day seem a little better, huh?! Poor Sandy.

It has been so hot and humid here in mid-Michigan lately that I have wanted to move way northward. Ugh. Everything is growing like CRAZY. My sisters are harvesting garden treasures already... this, the year we decided not to plant a vegetable garden coz we're all too busy.

I've been totally fasinated with the ditch along our road, though. The plants and the bugs. The weeds and wild flowers are all like a month ahead of schedule. I'm lovin' the bugs. Like this one...



which is a Phantom Crane Fly in flight. (Discovered what it is called due to the Googling diligence of my friend, Megan, from the pottery studio.) And oh, baby, I have plenty more photos from where that came from! Bug close-ups, lots and lots of bug close-ups.

Thankfully the last couple of evenings have been very nice and cool. I love me a cool summer evening. I drove home yesterday with the air off in the car, all the windows down, my hair up in a crazy pony-tail like I was Pebbles Flintstone or something, radio screaming loud and weaving my hand out the window up and down in the wind. Bliss. Singing along with the radio at the top of my lungs to the Beatles' Twist and Shout, "You know you twist so fine!"... But, unfortunately, what's stuck in my head is...
If you like pina coladas and getting caught in the rain,
If you're not into yoga, if you have half a brain...

Miscellany

Ever notice how when you buy a vehicle, you suddenly notice there are a LOT of them on the roads? Well, I'm having a similar experience with my recently dented LeSabre... suddenly I am noticing a bunch of dented cars on the road and in parking lots. Seriously, a lot of them... like every 3rd or 4th car has a dent.

I followed a car this morning with a personalized license plate that read:
     PGIRL 2
She clearly has not been around any children lately. Or maybe she's a urologist, from a family of urologists.

I have declared this week the Week of the Daffodil. They are EVERYWHERE now. I love this time of year. Those & along with the forsythias make for some very serious yellow. And the shadblow are bloomin' too.

Sam, done now with basketball, is spending every day after school in "football conditioning". They are not practices, because those are not allowed; it is conditioning. Yesterday the coach hooked up 3 harnesses to the front of his big, extended cab, black pickup truck. The guys had to pull the truck forward down a gravel drive that runs behind the high school, then push it back, with the coach inside steering and occasionally pressing the brake pedal. Crazy stuff. Sam liked it. Something different. Though he did say the dead cat smell at the end of the drive was not very pleasant.

And speaking of dead cats, I haven't mentioned yet, but we do have a new dog, Wiley Blu the Weimaraner (I will do a post all about him)... we got him about a month after Reilly died. I was not ready, but the family was. Wiley Blu is a blue (or gray) Weimaraner, not the light brown kind, and he has gorgeous golden yellow eyes. He is huge and boisterous, very smart, but not at all like Reilly. Reilly would never have destroyed a piece of furniture, for example. Also, our cat, Blossom, used to tease Reilly and Reilly was oddly afraid of her... not so much Wiley, who could possibly consider a little thing like Blossom an appetizer. The 2 of them have grown more tolerant of each other, even to the point of playing... Blossom likes to run by Wiley and have him chase her down. She likes to dart under said furniture where big Wiley cannot fit. I'm thinking she won't be doing that much anymore now, as Wiley has evidently proved that furniture is no obstacle. (No, Blossom is not dead, I only had a moment last night when I wish she and Wiley both were! Just a wee moment...) *sigh*

I am now a quarter of a century old. Had the big birthday last Friday, and took the day off from work. It was a perfect day. Sammy waited until I went to bed Thursday evening, and then he made me a batch of snickerdoodles. From scratch. Mmmmmmm... He put them in a bowl so I could take them to the pottery studio and share them with my friends there, so we had milk and cookies at the studio! And while at the studio, a lovely young lady came and delivered to me a dozen gorgeous red roses in a beautiful glass vase from Kevin, Joyce, Sam, Mike and Wiley. Then Joyce and Mike made dinner, my choice (Mike's Magic Grilled Burgers and Joycie's Vegetable Pizza... Mmmmmmm...). Presents were so excellent and it was a beautiful, beautiful day. Also, I got my first piece of mail from the AARP. Sweeeeet!

And, my best friend, Sandy, gave me a surprise visit on April 3rd. I was at the library when she surprised me. It was a WONDERFUL surprise, and I loved spending the day with her. Joyce and Mike made Mexican dinner for us, and that was also awesome. I shall post pictures soon. I hope Sandy will surprise me again sometime, and I hope then, as recently, I survive the heart stroke. (Did I mention I'm OLD?)

Did you know that insurance companies are now using some kind of rating or score for people, similar to one's credit score (and in fact, one's credit score is a component of the insurance score)? Forget Geico, you can probably save a bundle just by asking about it. From what I hear, one must initiate that conversation; very few agents are clamoring to save you car insurance bucks. Or maybe they are, and I live under a rock. Anyway, our outstanding agent, Alicia, reviewed our insurance, and we saved a bundle! Until Sam starts driving in November...

We are already car shopping for Sam. We haven't decided if he will drive my LeSabre and I get a new* vehicle, or if we will purchase a vehicle for him and I will continue to drive my much-cherished LeSabre. The whole process would be so much more enjoyable if we were rich. So as it is, it is not enjoyable at all.

*New to me, I never purchase new cars. Cha-freakin'-ching.

Sam has been interested in a Cobalt, but because so many teen drivers are and have them, they have a severely terrible insurance rating. It would cost a small fortune to insure a Cobalt even for me to drive it. When Sandy was here, her rental car was a pretty little navy Cobalt, and I got to ride in it. Which decided for me, even before I learned of the over-priced insurance cost, on no Cobalt for Sam. They are too little and uncomfortable; I felt every little bump in the road.

I have heard some excellent jokes from a friend at the pottery studio lately. Attention: corn ahead.

     What's a pirate's favorite letter of the alphabet?
     (The person will respond R, or if they don't, um, duh....!)
     Punchline, delivered in a very pirate-y voice: Ya might think so,
     lassie (or laddie), but it's the C.

     I want to die in my sleep like my gramma did.
     [pause]
     Not screaming and yelling like the
     passengers in the car she was driving.

     The male mushroom said the to the female mushroom:
     Hey, baby, wanna party?
     Female mushroom says: No way!
     Male mushroom says: Hey, why not?! I'm a fun guy!!!
     [get it?... fungi... this one doesn't work so well writing it out]

I am listening to an audio book that is set in London. One of the characters, a man, was riding a bike and was nearly run down by a van. He cycled up to the van, whose driver had the window down and yelled out, "Manners, wanker!" Ah, those feisty Brits.

By the way, do you know why waving your middle finger, aka giving the bird, is a negative response? A woman at the pottery studio explained that in medieval times during battles, the conquering army would, upon capturing the archers, cut off their two middle fingers so they could archer no more, and thus, the army would taunt the other army by waving their middle fingers at them. Wiki does not seem to agree.

And that story was the result of a group question: If you had to lose (aka have cut off) one of your 10 digits (fingers and thumbs), which one would you choose? I chose my left little finger, but the point was that one's pointer finger is less useful than other fingers for things such as balance, utilizing implements and the like. I am disbelieving, but hope never to be proven wrong, or right.

I followed a pair of ducks down our road the other day, a male and female Mallard pair who were moseying down the ditch. They were so pretty. And since our ditch looks more like a creek, it was also pretty. Everything's turning green, so pretty, pretty, pretty!

And... Reilly

After I decided that I wanted to be more consistent in creating posts on my blog, I've not hardly blogged at all. A lot of things have happened in the past 3 months... awful things and wonderful things.

A good friend's father died quite unexpectedly. His name was Ron and he was grampa to one of Sammy's good friends, Zack. Through the years, Sam became close to Ron because Ron was always around, at all the sporting events, picking Sam up with Zack before or after practice, taking them somewhere fun, like Taco Bell. Ron was a good, sweet man, and I wish deeply that he was still here with all of us.

My brother-in-law, Bob's, father died also. His name was Roy, and Roy was another good, sweet man. Roy had been ill for quite some time, and since he was suffering so much at the end, his passing was a blessing. Or so the common opinion would go, and it makes sense. But I still wish Roy were here, too.

An aunt, Aunt Marguerite, who has been through so much lately, the past couple of years, had to have a double mastectomy. So far, she's doing pretty ok.

My Momma, who has been not feeling quite right for a couple of years, finally had heart surgery, a triple bypass. She needed it, and we could have lost her at any time. It makes me feel ill and dizzy just thinking about how close it was. And, in my Mom's usual style, she is doing so well. My Mom is the strongest and most wonderful woman I know & have ever known.

Joyce made the Dean’s List this past semester at CMU, the start of her Junior year. And she’s figured out that she may be able to graduate early, after the first semester of her Senior year. Joyce has worked so hard at her classes, taking extra during summertime. We are so proud of her. Unfortunately, the full-time job horizon looks bleak, and I worry she may have to settle for a job that sucks, until she can get one in her chosen field.

Sammy is a Freshman in high school this year, the first year our high school switched to trimesters. Sam’s getting all A’s, and working hard to do so. He’s enjoying the trimester schedule. But, like so many Michigan school districts… heck, school districts everywhere, the money isn’t there, so budget cuts are deep. Back to semesters next year, with less class options, and less teachers, less staff, less everything.

And, my best friend, Sandy, came up from Texas and surprised the heck outta me! She had a short visit, and I got to spend Saturday with her. It was awesome. Joycie & Mike made a super excellent Mexican dinner for us all. It was so good to see Sandy.

And also, back in December, our dog, Reilly, started acting oddly. No energy, and eventually no tail-wagging hardly at all. He was ill, and we thought it had to do with the surgery he had in October, and with the pain pills we kept trying to get right for him. Then on January 9th, Reilly became very ill. The symptoms he was having, with the problems he had following surgery, were disguised... Reilly died on April 13th from Addison's Disease. I don't have the words to express how much I miss him daily. I know that sounds crazy, given all the events I've described above... he was just a dog. Right?. Not to me, not to us. Reilly was part of our family. I loved him so much. And he loved us. I will miss Reilly forever.

Reilly
April 10, 2003 - January 13, 2010

Love, love, love

Since I have sorely neglected this poor old blog lately, I treat you with a photo!

Ladybug love...



Now, doesn't that photo give you a warm feeling inside? Even the smallest creatures are loving, and loving each other. And like humankind, some are just plain freaks, even among the smallest creatures... notice the little voyeur there on the side?... ahem...

This post must be photo-filled instead of text since the reason for my lack of posts is a decided lack of creativity in the cranium. I'm busy at work, as usual... I'll be too busy for the next couple of years cleaning up from my 2008 debacle. Too busy at home, as well, with a backlog of work there, too. And I'm still spending much of my free time whining and laying down. *sigh*

And I'm still not winning the lottery. *sigh* (Even though I dreamed, very realistically, that I won $250 million... in which dream, I made a list of 100 people, family, friends and coworkers, who would all get $1 million each. If you're reading this and fall into one of those categories, don't you sorely wish I had won?! Me, too.)

But instead of a million bucks for you, I have another lovely photo... Mike and Joycie on Mike's new-to-him Harley...



Isn't it all shiny and beautiful? And don't they both look so happy? You can't see me, but I can tell you that I look both happy and worried. *sigh*

Yet more love... this from Texas, where my best friend, Sandra Jean, and her hubby, Brian, have a new puppy. Meet Jake...



He is with his best friend, Scout, and Jake is a fun-filled, lovable 4-month old. And Jake is also, like most puppies, simply beautiful while napping...



Sadly, Sandy and Brian lost their dog, Shadow, a while back. Shad was a black lab, and she lived a long, happy life, and as with all our beloved pets, she'll always be missed. Having Jake helps the hurt a bit for both Scout and Shadow's humans.

Odds and ends again... mostly odds...

Meryl Streep is my favorite actress ever. (Or am I supposed to say "actor"?... seems like I heard or read somewhere that actor is to be non-gender specific and thus more PC. Whatever.) She's amazing. I have loved every movie I've seen with her in it. Meryl Streep has more talent in her little finger than most of the actors (actresses) out there. Seriously. For one thing, this:

I loved that movie. And I can't imagine doing that move at my age, let alone her age. And speaking of age, she is aging better than any other actress also. I greatly admire that woman. No, it's not a crush... well, maybe a little... Anyway, I bring this up only because she must have somehow been featured in a dream I had last night or something, because I woke up thinking of her. (Hey, gotta be a good day when you wake up thinking of Meryl Streep, right?) And thinking how she has more talent in her little finger than, well, you know.

And then I thought of her little fingers... Have you ever noticed how Meryl Streep has very small little fingers? I mean, her little fingers are small... they're half the size of her ring fingers (or 3rd finger or whatever the technical term is for the finger between your little finger and your bird). I noticed it years ago and now look for it on occasion in her movies. (Ever do that? Notice something and then can't help but look for it over and over. Yes, you do.) So I've been scouring via Google images for Meryl Streep and her extra little, yet still gorgeous, little fingers. And it's been amazingly difficult. Most photos I've found don't show her hands very well, or if they do, she's doing something like this...

But I did find these...


So, that's what I find interesting at 4:30am.

This week is our son's school's spring break week. If we were normal, we'd be on a nice vacation somewhere with our son, leaving his hard-working older sister home to attend her college classes. But, we are not normal. I am not, anyway.

Fortunately, Sammy was lucky. And Lucky Sam has some good friends... A good friend, Austin, who invited Sammy to go with him and his family to the Kalahari Resort in Ohio. Sam is half fish, and I'm sure he is in heaven right now. I miss him, but am oh so happy for him. Austin's family and 2 other families all went there together, so there are lots of kids. Some younger kids, but Sammy likes little kids. I'm so happy that Sam is getting to do something so very, very fun for spring break. And they're staying in the "Village Suite" at the Kalahari... pretty freakin' awesome.

In light of Sam being gone most of this week, he and I made plans for Saturday, Sunday and Monday. I took Monday as a vacation day to spend with Sam. We started on Saturday with a tanning session for Sammy. (I let Sam do about 4 or 5 tanning sessions... a local tanning joint has a deal where you get 6 free to see if you like it, then you can sign up if you want. Awesome.) Then on to the Hollister store at the Saginaw mall.

Words cannot express how much I hate Hollister stores. I am far, far too old for them. They play the music too damn LOUD and they spray far too much perfume EVERYWHERE. And they sell cheap stuff at ridiculously high prices. But, words cannot express how much I love my son, so... to Hollister we went.

Sammy and his friends are what Joycie (lovingly) calls "label whores." Joycie and her friends would happily hit the local "Salvo" for t-shirts (Salvation Army store). And since we live in a town that has many world travelers, they'd find some cool, like-new t-shirts from places like Belize, Ireland, Australia, China... Sammy wouldn't be caught dead in anything from Salvo. Even if no one could possibly know it came from Salvo, HE WOULD KNOW. And since we were not spending any money on a family vacation once again this year, I agreed to Hollister. What will $230 buy at Hollister? 1 pair swim trunks, 2 pair of shorts, 3 t-shirts, 1 t-shirt with a collar and 1 bottle of Jake cologne. Yes, $230. (Kev, if you're reading this, I know you're croaking right now, so get over it.) This desire of Sam's to wear The Name Brand clothing is definitely not something he got from me or his Dad... we got home and Kev met us in the garage... and Kev had on a black t-shirt that I got free from my employer back in 1979. Yes, 1979.

Sunday, I took Sammy back into town for another tanning session, a hair cut and then a "date" with his girlfriend, Julia. We picked Julia up and went downtown where I stayed at a local coffee shop, using their super fast free wi-fi to get some work done, while Sammy and Julia just walked around together. I managed to hack it out... I say that because I felt awful. When we got home Saturday, I felt awful... Sam was afraid our Sunday plans would be cancelled, but I stuck it out. Not easily.

Because once again, I caught some damn bug. Been sick again since early Saturday, with a stomach flu or something, reminiscent of April '08. Ugh. Ever since I had that Augmentin reaction, I have felt weird and/or sick. Weirdly sick. Sickly weird. Vertigo is crazy. Also, my sense of taste is greatly diminished. Very odd. I have been putting more salt on things lately without thinking about it, because I can't taste it until it's too much salt. And salt doesn't help with vertigo (I read that somewhere, I think). Too much salt doesn't help a person's body at all. So I've been trying to be aware of it, and not use it. It's like food is so-so and coffee is simply hot. Today, I can taste coffee more, so I know my sense of taste is returning, slowly though.

Monday, Sammy needed an allergy shot, and then we had plans to go out to breakfast and then a bunch of other plans. I did get him to his shot, and then to breakfast as promised... to an iHop (allergy shot in one town, iHop 30 miles away in a another town, oy!). Sammy wanted iHop because he loves their cornmeal pancakes. Guess what... the cornmeal pancakes are no longer on their menu; can't get 'em. He was disappointed, and I was like, "OMG, I drove 30 miles for this and I feel like CRAP." And then we had to cancel all the rest of the day's plans because I had to hurry home, and then I spent the rest of the day pretty much between my bed and my bathroom. What a sweet way to spend 8 vacation hours. I was telling my best friend, Sandy, all about my troubles, and she said, "It's like they said in that movie The Bucket List, 'never trust a fart'!" That's my Sandy, she can still make me laugh even when I don't feel like it.

And now I've been up and done with my shower since before 5am, sitting at our dining room table with all my work spread out - it's all staring at me! Been writing this blog post all that time, on and off, with several interruptions... But also having enjoyed the coffee Kev made this morning, talking with him before he had to leave for work, and enjoying what I can see of a gorgeous sunrise down our long hallway, past the kitchen, through our small window...

YTD '09 in photos...

Sandy and I are on the same wavelength lately, kind of.... neither one of us got our Christmas packages mailed out on time. But Sandy sent us a huge box in January (and I have yet to mail our box to them! *sigh*). It was so much fun to open that box, as are all boxes from Sandy... my friend is very creative.

Christmas this past year was not typical. Everyone was so sick that some family get-togethers had to be cancelled. We got together with my in-laws in January, which happened to be at the time we got the huge box from Sandy. One of the many gifts Sandy sent was this...



How cool is that?! And it was perfect timing, because we had a festive Christmas dinner that evening in January...



My family had discussed getting together in February, but so far we're still trying to find a weekend when we're all mostly healthy and not contagious. Oy!

A few of us did manage to gather at Kathy and Bob's and celebrate my beautiful niece, Michelle's, 22nd birthday...



Chelle-Belle was thrilled to get outfitted for snowboarding for her birthday...



There is the most gorgeous snowboarder on the hill, folks! I know she and her brother had a blast snowboarding one day. The very idea of snowboarding makes me feel nervous... and old. Ah, to be young and graceful and flying down a snow-covered hill at a kazillion miles per hour on a piece of board. Um... no thanks.

I also got a very pretty photo of Michelle with her Gramma at her birthday party...



And a nice photo of my Mom and Dad, with Dad's fancy new hat that Joie gave to him, and I think he looks very dashing...



I also got this so very cute photo of Janet and Bob, with camera in hand, that's my sis...



This is a photo of the devine coconut cake that Sammy made...



All the photos I took of Sammy and this first coconut cake he made, from scratch!, turned out slightly to very blurry. Sammy made it on Valentine's Day, which happened to also be the time when Janet and Bob received their zebra rug from Africa. They brought the rug over to show us, and they had a piece of Sammy's awesome cake with us... a cake so awesome, that was all Kev wanted for his birthday!

Reilly was not very happy with the rug, and to his credit, it did still smell quite strongly... from being boxed up and shipped all that distance. It's gorgeous, though...



It's also very large. So beautiful. I tried to convince Bob and Janet they should just leave it here at our house, but they declined....

Happy Moving Day!

My best friend, Sandy, and her husband, Brian, are moving into their new home today down in Texas. They've been living in Hurst for the past 23 years, where it's a really busy place. Hurst is between Dallas and Ft. Worth, and it's really all just one gigantic metropolis. So Brian and Sandy went and bought a beautiful piece of Texas earth out in the country and had a house built on it, along with a big shop for Brian. And it's gorgeous. Sandy's been sharing photos with me during construction.

The exterior is brick, like most homes out there in that hot Texas climate, and no basement, as is also typical. I love their floor plan. Entry from the garage to the kitchen, where there is also a laundry room, a half bath, then off the side, a big game room. There is also a breakfast nook off the kitchen with a door leading out to a patio. Formal dining room, living room with a beautiful fireplace, which is open to the kitchen area. Off the entry way, before the living room, is an office/den. Then 2 bedrooms and a full bath, then a master suite, with a gorgeous bath, his & her sinks (hers has a vanity), walk-in shower, spa tub, separate little room for the toilet, and a wonderful walk-in closet with all kinds of built-ins. Beautiful tile work throughout. I can't wait to see it in person.

Front of their new home, with brick and local stonework...



Entry, gorgeous door, and that's the door to the office there with the beautiful window above the double door, love the Texas star...



Brian and son, Brandon, in the living room. The fireplace is so beautiful. And Brian has a big, ol' flat screen TV going in the space above it...



Sandy's kitchen. Beautiful. Just beautiful. I want it so bad...





The master bath, with the lovely tile work...



The closet I also want badly...



And this is Brandon's truck sitting outside of Brian's shop; notice it has garage doors on both ends, so they can open them and get that cross breeze going... how perfect is that...



It's a huge shop, and it makes his GTO-in-progress look so little...



Brian got a handle on some awesome cabinets that a local college was getting rid of, and they're perfect for his shop...



I love the big sink and the big sprayer, that would come in handy...



I'm so happy for the both of them.

And one last photo, this is Brandon and his girlfriend, Jenny... what a cute couple they make...