How Much Has Changed

As you can tell by the date of the post it has been nearly a year since I last posted. So much has happened in the last 8 months. I have returned to this blog in hopes it will be therapeutic for me. Daddy is in the nursing home in Mayo. In January we discovered he had a large tumor in his stomach. After many tests it was decided the best course of treatment would be radiation. This was done in Live Oak at the cancer center. After about the 7th treatment he was very weak and couldn't eat anything, had diarrhea and nausea. He finished all the treatments but last Monday home health care sent him to the hospital to be followed by 20 days of rehabilitation. He has been in the nursing home since Thursday. I wish I could say I'm seeing an improvement, but right now I'm just not sure.

Fall Is In The Air

We woke up this morning to a cool 68 degrees, fall is indeen on the way. I can see leaves losing their green color and pine needles falling from the pine trees, it won't be long until I have to start thinking about Christmas.
DH and I had breakfast in town this morning then I had a hair appointment to get my "natural" color back. Afterwards was "the shower". As soon as I could get away from there I headed to town to get the oil changed in my car and a pedicure. Got home midafternoon and haven't done much since then. I'm fixing to watch and a movie and go to bed!

Been Busy At Work

I've had quite a few changes at work and I've been really busy. I think I'm finally going to have the opportunity to do some things at work that I've wanted to do for a long time. I feel that now I can devote more time to my job because my children don't need me as much. I hope the things I do will work out and be helpful for the students.

I Really Appreciate Air-Conditioning

I live in Florida and the airconditioner was not working yesterday at the my job. It was miserably hot but hallelujah it was working today. We had a short day today and then spent the afternoon in meetings. I will post more later.

Nehi Grape Drink

Today I thought I would add some stories/memories from First Grade. I thought my teacher was really mean. She probably thought I had an attention problem. Anyway, on with the story. I lived a sheltered young life as I have mentioned in some of my other stories. I certainly didn't know what the "cheat" meant. In first grade there was this girl that sat next to me and she had a real problem getting her workbook pages done. I LOVED workbook pages, I was GOOD at workbook pages, I was FAST at workbook pages. One day this girl asked me to do her workbook page for her because she didn't know how and she was afraid to ask. I thought why not, after all, I LOVED workbook pages, I was FAST AND GOOD at workbook pages and I really liked her. I took her workbook and started filling in the little blanks. My teacher was not happy. She walked over to me, snatched the workbook out of my hand and gave it back to the little girl. She then told me she was going to call my Mama and tell her I "cheated". I didn't know what cheated meant but I knew it couldn't be good. I went home and told her what had happened and I didn't get in trouble, thank goodness. I did however, learn what "cheat" meant and I didn't do it anymore.

About this Nehi grape drink. I rode the bus home to my Grandmother's house everyday. My Mom worked every day. She was a nurse. As soon as I got off the bus and made it into the kitchen my grandmother would have me a Nehi grape drink and 4 sandwich creme cookies waiting on the counter for me. The sandwich creme cookies were the kind that one side was chocolate and the other side vanilla and inside was white creme. The Nehi came from out of the refrigerator and it was soooo cool and good to drink. Keep in mind that drinks in glass bottles were all that was available at that time, no plastic liter bottles. All soda came in six packs, the little six pack with a handle at the top. No aluminum cans, no plastic bottles, just glass. I have included a picture of the closest thing I can find to those drinks. Funny what sticks in your memory.

Quiet Labor Day

We didn't have any big plans for Labor Day. DH was home from work but he stayed busy around here mowing and cleaning up limbs. I stayed in the house and worked on a video for the funeral of our friend that I mentioned a couple of days ago in my blog. His funeral is tomorrow. It is a privilege to be asked to do this but very sad. Repeatedly looking at pictures that sum up a person's life tell so little about who the person really is. I can say one thing about this friend..he was proof that one person can make the difference in the life of a child. He was a friend, coach, school board member and volunteer that will never be matched and he will be missed.
I talked with oldest DS about the "wedding". I mentioned that I had missed his calling on my birthday, he offered no reason for not calling so I can only assume he doesn't care and I am going to have to accept he has no use for our family any more. I pray daily for strength to get me through this time. You just don't want to believe that your own flesh and blood can cause you so much pain. I am grateful to say that although my parents and I had our moments of discord, I never treated them this disrespectfully.
On to something else, Gustav hit New Orleans today, I watched all day on CNN. As of right now, it appears the levees are going to hold! This is something we can so very thankful for. We do have to set our sights on the next few days as another one is on it's way.
Well, back to work tomorrow, a short day.

One more thing, youngest DS has infection in his right eye again!

The Past Repeating Itself

Today was Homecoming at church. We had a really large crowd for a Labor Day weekend. Ted Anderson was our speaker. I had to get up early to cook lunck to take with us. Miss Priss spent the night again last night. When I finally made it home, I curled up on the couch and took a nap and since then I've been watching CNN and coverage of Hurricane Gustav and the evacuation of New Orleans. This is so similar to 2005. On that day of Homecoming at church, August 29th as soon as I got home from church I watched people file into the Dome in New Orleans, not knowing the horror that awaited them. The levees broke the next day, my birthday. So much destruction and devastation. I hope the levees hold this time.

Youngest DS cooked vension for supper tonight, he did a good job. Nothing means more to me than to be cozy in my home with my family.