Christmas in Colorado

We've had a great week so far in Colorado! The family pics are taken off the balcony of our condo. We can sit on the couch with a cup of coffee or hot tea and watch the skiers/snowboarders go down the mountain in the background and watch the gondolas go back and forth. Tim is posing in one of these photos under deer antlers in front of a shop. Tim, Joe, and Brian have spent almost everyday skiing. Today, Tim and Joe took the day off to spend the day with Laura and John. We went downtown and ate lunch at this neat little cafe called Winona's. They had wonderful soups and sandwiches and great deserts!
Joe and Tim have skied/snowboarded every other day. Yesterday, they did Powder Cats to do back country skiing. They had a great time but they came home tired and hungry! We ordered pizza.
Tonight, Laura and John are cooking, It will be delicious!
Hope you are all enjoying your holidays!

Good news, Sad news

First the good news...I made an A in my Career Counseling class! Hooray! Now I have to take Testing and Assessments next semester. Hope I'll do as well in that class. I should since I'm a lot more interested in that subject.

Now the sad...well, on one hand, it's not so sad. We buried Papa Mutt yesterday. It was a blessing to see him at peace in his casket yesterday. When Robin and I took Mama to see him on Friday night, he was struggling for every breath and it was so hard to see him like that. He had already told us he never wanted to live that way. Bill, Diana, and Tamara Lynn went to see him at the last visitation time that night and then he died during the night. Somehow I think he was just holding on until he saw all of his children. Mutt and Mama had been married for over 20 years. My daddy died when Joe(y) was still in diapers and he's 26 now. Though I dearly loved and still do love my daddy, Mutt was really good to Mama and he made her laugh. Even on Thanksgiving when we moved them into the nursing home, he was still joking and laughing with us and making her laugh. The good think I can say about his death is that he didn't linger long. They found the cancer right before Thanksgiving and it was very fast growing and aggressive and he was gone in just a couple of weeks. I'll never forget the first Christmas he had with us. Never having had children himself (well, he did have one who died when he was a baby) he'd never experienced a big family Christmas and so when he had gifts piled up higher than his head, he was more fun to watch than the children. He was so excited! And he loved to give to us, too. He took good care of Mama and for that I will forever be grateful. All the grandsons who were old enough were pall bearers. I was really proud of Joe, dressed in his suit and tie and looking so sharp and being there for the family in spite of the fact that he had a migraine. (Tim had to stop twice on the way down for him to throw up, but he hung in there anyway and did his part!) There was one really funny thing...the new preacher at Indianola whom none of us knew led the singing...Wil and Tim decided that it didn't really matter because when he started the songs, if the Skelton and the Horis clans didn't like how he was leading singing that we'd just all take over and sing how we wanted to sing anyway, but that wasn't necessary. He did a good job. I think Pappa Mutt would have liked the singing and Mama sang along with every word!

Now, please pray for Mama. She seems so lost and alone without him. Several times yesterday on the way from Corinth to Indianola, she looked at me and asked if I knew that her husband had died and she didn't know how she would make it without him. I pray that when she not longer knows all of her children, the Lord will take her home, too.

Thanks to everyone for all your love and prayers and support! Especially to Beckie for coming from Searcy and to Brenda and Randy for coming from Memphis to be with me!

Party! Party! Party!

We have spent this weekend partying with our friends here in Memphis. We started Friday night with our annual group dinner which we have been doing since before some of us had children...so this was our 28th or 29th year for that dinner. It is always great fun. Wonderful food, wonderful fellowship, wonderful friends...until we start playing dirty Santa...then watch out...all niceness goes out the window and the fight is on but we have great fun!
Then Saturday night we had the praise team party at our house. We ate and sang Christmas carols. It sounded beautiful! Ed Riddick brought his keyboard. He is amazingly talented as is his whole family! I think that Tim could have sang all night!
Today at lunch we had our Sunday school class party at Ed and Leanne's. Needless to say, more good food and fellowship and tonight, we had home group here at our house with more great food and fun and fellowship and a dirty Santa ornament exchange. I think everyone was pretty happy with what they ended up with. Fred Collier got his annual UT ornament...nobody else wants it...I got a Santa dish...Tim ended up with a Christmas recipe card deck...how funny is that...maybe I'll be encouraged to cook or maybe Laura will like it and use it.
Rick and Leslie are leaving in a few days for Togo to see April and Brett and their grandchildren. The partying is over for me for now. My final is tomorrow night so I have to discipline myself to study all day tomorrow for that. Guess I'm a glutton for punishment...just keep taking classes and having to study...oh, well, they say life long learning wards off Alzehemizers...

For Baby - John Denver

This was a song from our wedding....I still love it and I still love my Tim!

Dec. 2 - A Special Day

This is Joe, Jon and Jeremy James...Yesterday was Joe's 26th birthday! I can hardly believe that he is that old. That really makes me old! He's my baby! Joe and Tim had Mexican food so Joe was pretty content.

Sadly, I didn't get to spend much of the day with Joe. My Uncle Jimmie, my daddy's brother, died and yesterday was his funeral in Mississippi, so I was gone most of the day. Uncle Jimmie was a wonderful man. He and Aunt Etheleen always welcomed us into their home and showed great hospitality to everyone. His oldest son, Gordon, was one of my favorite cousins when I was growing up. Gordon was one year older than me and we played together all the time, but the year Joe(y) was born, Gordon was hit by a drunk driver the same week Joe was born and I didn't get to go to his funeral because I'd just had Joe so I'm sure that yesterday was harder for Aunt Etheleen because of loosing her oldest son about this same time 26 years ago. There's only 3 of my dad's siblings left...there were 8 of them in the beginning. That's one thing I hate about getting old! But we'll all get there one day! Uncle Jimmie left a wonderful legacy of love for God, love for family, love for his fellow man, integrity, hospitality,and the one special thing I'll always remember is going to their house around Christmas time and they would always have those little bottles of coke to drink from. Every year when I put up my Christmas tree and hang those Hallmark Santas holding those little bottles of coke, I think if Uncle Jimmie and Aunt Etheleen! Here's to fond memories and love everlasting!

Harding is Wonderful!

Mike Cope's blog had an plug for ACU yesterday, so I think I need to do one for Harding....If you thinking about college, Harding is the place to go! It was the four best years of my life and my friends I made there are still my best friends in the whole wide world! If you think you might have an interest in Harding at all, look on the Haring University website or leave me a comment here with your information and I'll get the right person to get in touch with you. Can't find a better, more fun, place with higher academic standards than Harding to go to! We also have a needs based scholarship through Associated Women for Harding that you can apply for. Some of my happiest, funniest memories are in Searcy and /or other places with my Harding friends! Can't beat it!!!!!

I'm Gonna Be a Grandmother!

I am so excited! Laura and John are going to have a baby in early June 2008! What wonderful news to get for Thanksgiving!

We needed some happy news to combat the stuff going on with Mama and Mutt. They got moved to the nursing home on the Monday before Thanksgiving. We still don't have conclusive information from the masses in Mutt's chest. He will have to have a needle biopsy to be sure. We're leaving the decision up to him. He turned 88 on Monday. Mama is sick with a virus or something today...Looks like they won't be leaving the nursing home this time though we haven't talked to them about it yet.

Robin and Cheryl have finally found a house to buy and it is really neat! It has several acres with it and plenty of bedrooms for all the kids! I am so happy for them to finally have a nice place they can call their own!

Have a happy holiday season!
More later!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! Enjoy being with your family and eating all the turkey and trimmings (or in Beckie and Gene's case, steak and bakes potatoes)! We'll be going to Corinth on Wednesday and spend the night and sometimes on Thursday afternoon, we'll go to Huntsville and then come home on Friday afternoon so we can decorate for Christmas on Saturday.

Please pray for Papa Mutt (my step-dad). He's in the hospital right now in Corinth. They've found a mass in his right lung and aren't sure what it is. They've done a biopsy but we don't have the results yet. I spent the weekend with Mama so that Diana could have a break. I think they are going to have to go to the nursing home when Mutt gets out of the hospital because he is so weak, but Diana and Robin are going to let the doctors handle telling them. I think Papa Mutt knows it in his heart, but I don't know how Mama will take it...she will probably be ok as long as Mutt is. Just please pray for them and for us.

Once again, HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Two tags to catch up on...

I was tagged by my friend, Jennifer Greene and Rebecca Jane and Reagan, too, I think.... last week and now that I have a minute or two and I'm responding to their tags!!


MY ROCK STAR NAME (first pet and current car):
Lady Solara

MY WANNABE NAME (favorite ice cream flavor and favorite cookie):
Cinnamon Cashew Crunch Macadamia Nut White Chocolate Chip (boy am I glad that's not my name...I can't even spell it!)

MY "FLY GIRL" NAME (first initial of first name and first three letters of last name):
THAC

MY DETECTIVE NAME (favorite color and favorite animal):
Red Horse (sound like an Indian, doesn't it?)

MY SOAP OPERA NAME (middle name and the city where you were born):
Skelton Indianola (you know all good Southern girls drop their middle names when they get married and take on thier maiden name as thier middle name; however, Alice Indianola, doesn't sound any better!)

MY STAR WARS NAME (first 3 letters of your last name and first 2 letters of your first name):
Hacta (maybe I'll carry around a big hatchett where ever I go!)

MY SUPERHERO NAME ("The" and second favorite color and favorite drink):
The Blue Perrier (can't get enough of that fizzy water lately...makes me think I'm in Europe since I can't go there!)

MY -cough,cough- ENTERTAINER -cough,cough- NAME (name of your favorite perfume/cologne and favorite candy):
White Shoulders Snickers (I wore White Shoulders in college...never wear perfume now...gives me a headache!)

MY WITNESS PROTECTION NAME (mother's and father's middle names):
Lilly Tracy (not too bad, I guess.)

Now for the other one...

50 years ago, I was 5...until tomorrow when i will turn 56. I was in first grade and believe it or not, I was the tallest kid in my class!

40 years ago, I was 15 and attedning Indianola High School. My graduating class in 1969 was the last ever graduating class from there. The next year, they had forced intergration and the high school became the junior high for the entire city and Indianola Academy sprang up overnight because no one in Indianola wanted to intergrate. I was not in the "in crowd," but I wasn't on the bottom of the food chain either and I had lots of friends. I was always in chorus and took piano...but I didn't keep up my lessons, so I can't play now. That's one thing I regret. I was big in 4-H and loved doing all the competive things with 4-H.

30 years ago, I was at Harding...the best 4 years of my life when all I had to do was study and had Daddy's credit card in my hot little hand. My friends I made at harding are still my very bestest friends in the whole wide world. I went on a campaign to Italy and England where Tim and I fell in love. He first kissed me in the side yard of St. Paul's in London.

20 years ago, Tim and I were married (actually we've been married 33 years, so this is not a completely accurate time line) and had Laura who was 8 by then because she is 28 now and Joe was 5 because he is 25 now. Tim was out of dental school and we thought we were living high on the hog! We'd already lived on Kevin with a swimming pool and were building the house we live in now (which they will have to carry my cold dead body out of because i don't intend to ever move again!)

10 years ago, well actually 12 years ago, I took my first trip to Ukraine(1995). It was a wonderful mission trip and we also took our family to England that summer. Vivian joined us and we saw every Beatles thing there was to see. It was the hottest summer on record for the past 20 or 30 years in Europe and we all about burned up! But we still had fun!

Somewhere between 10 and 5 years ago, I went to England with Beckie, Reagan, Laura, Katie, Vivan, and Cindy Cogbill. Vivian got the van stuck in a garage. It was so funny...of course, i'd think it was funny,,,I didn't have to drive. And when she drove in London we felt like the European vacation...only instead of going continually around Big Ben, we kept going around Travalgar Square. One thing about those round-abouts you can just keep going around until you decide which way to turn. And I went to Germany with Beckie, Reagan, and Mami while Laura was at HUF. Though we would get to see her, but we didn't. But it was a great trip anyway!

5 years ago, I got this wild hair to go back to school and get my Masters in Counseling at HUGSR. Now I'm working for the Christian Counseling Center sponsored by Sycamore View and taking classes to sit for the Liscensed Professional Counselor Boards. Most of the time, I really enjoy the work. Just wish I could figure out some way to get the clients to all come in during the work day instead of late afternoon and evening, but when you're working with children and adolescents and their families, guess that's not really an option. They can't miss school every week.

I'm not too good at remembering all these dates...Beckie is usually my memory. Sometime in the last 10 years, Diana, my sister, and I took our mom to Ireland and our cousins and thier mom went with us. I also went to Italy with my cousins. Laura went for part of this trip. The pope died while we were there so Rome was rather crowded and we didn't get to see everything we wanted to.

Vegas as fun. We saw The Producers with Tony Danza and the All-American Superstar show with impersonars. Tim got elected to the Board of Trustees for the American Academy of Implant Dentistry which means he'll have four board meetings a year around the country. Maybe i'll get to travel with him. You know me...I'm always ready to go!

Las Vegas Bound

We had a great marriage retreat this past wekend at Natchez Trace State Park. The fall colors were beautiful and the presenters (Leanne and Keith) and the exercises (not physical...get your mind out of the gutter, but talking exercises that forced us to be open and honest with each other) they came up with us to do as couples were great.

Tonight we are headed to Vegas for the rest of the week to a Dental Implant meeting. I will be sitting in the room most of the time rewritting my paper and studying during the day. Tim will be in seminars. In fact, he is doing one seminar with Stewart Ortan Jones (I think that's his name). He is from England and quite well known in implant circles so that's quite a feather in Tim's cap. And on Saturday night, he will walk across the stage and get his Diplomat award. That's the highest level you can achieve in implant dentistry, so that's pretty impressive, too. Hope I'll have photos to post later.

Praise the Lord for second opportunities to talk with those you love and work out misunderstadings! My heart is much lighter today! Now just keep praying for me that I will have the wisdom to think before I speak next time!

Time For Fun!

For the last two days I have been trying to upload this amazing Magic video from YouTube but can't figure out how to do it again....so go to YouTube.com and search for Magic1320 and watch it. It's funny!

Thanks!

Thanks to all of you for loving me and caring. I'm over my pity party today and finished wearing my feelings on my shoulder. I'm trying very hard to give all this over to God. Only He can fix it anyway. I did find out though that there are a lot of you out there reading my blog who don't leave a comment....so feel free anytime to do so!

I am sad and I never thought things would turn out this way in my life.
Don't want to talk about it. Can't talk about it. That's all...

Book Questions

These questions were on Rushton's blog...I've been thinking about them for several days...I'm still not sure I have all the answers...


1. Hardcover or paperback, and why? whichever is cheaper
2. If I were to own a book shop, I would call it... Escape
3. My favorite quote from a book (mention the title) "I don't know nothin' 'bout birthin' babies." from Gone with the Wind
4. The author (alive or deceased) I would love to have lunch with would be Janet Evanovinch
5. If I was going to a deserted island and could only bring one book, except for the SAS survival guide, it would be…the Bible
6. I would love someone to invent a bookish gadget that… hold the book open and turn pages for me while I do something else with my hands
7. The smell of an old book reminds me of...the stacks in the Harding Library.
8. If I could be the lead character in a book (mention the title), it would be… Stephanie Plom in the Janet Evanovinch books
9. The most overestimated book of all times is…. Harry Potter? I don't really know
10. I hate it when a book…It doesn't have a happy ending

Home Group

We had a great home group meeting tonight. Ken and Joan Cox, Rick and Leslie Gillespie, Paul and Caroline Phillips, Susie and John Hite, and Phil Hart along with Tim and me. We sang for about an hour out of these old, old hymnals (the skinny blue ones before the blue ones we used in college). It was a great time of prayer and fellowship!

I aso found a video clip today on you tube but I can't figure out how to get it on my blog...i know I did it once before, but my mind is mush tonight...it will really make you think about what it important in life! Go to YouTube.com and search for Randy Pausch on Oprah. Let me know what you think.

Another blog you might want to check out is touchalifekids.blogspot.com This one is written by Mike Cope's sister-in-law, Pam, who is in Cambodia try to rescue children from being sold into the sex slave business. It is heartbreaking!

Hope you are all having a great week and that the weekend will be even better!

AWH Pie Auction

We had the annual AWH Pie Auction last night. It was great fun as usual! We raised $6000 just by selling the pies. That doesn't count ticket money so when that gets added in, I don't know what the total will be. If you weren't there, you missed out on great food and great fellowhship!

And this morning at church, Rena and Wheeler Howard were there with Helena. She is so precious. Go to Reagan's blog to see photos of her. I hated that Tim didn't have his camera in his pocket this morning ( he usually carries it with him everywhere!) so I could get of photo of me with her to post.

We've had a great weekend....now, I've got to study for my class tomorrow night! Hope your weekend was great, too!

One more thing...put Brett and April (gillespie) Emmerson on your prayer list. Some guy who repaired their truck took it on a joyride when he was finished and now it is a big ball of metal. The guy was in a coma but has come out and they think he will live, but April is having labor pains early and they need to leave soon to go to Accra (about 8 hours away from where they live) to await the arrival of the new baby. They'll have to borrow a car from the team. Pray for their safety.

The Mom Song Sung to William Tell Overture with Lyrics

Can't believe I figured out how to do this. This is not the parenting advice I would give, but I think this is sooooo funny!

Hooray!!!

Well, the big test is over once again. I don't think it was as hard this time but that's not saying that I passed. There were 2 questions that had straight answers that I knew that only one answer could be correct... well, actually, there were 3 but one of them was about a symdrom that I had never heard of (Picca) I'll have to look it up. I"m just glad it's over for now!!! Tim and I are going to see a movie and relax!

And I have to tell you, it is a really small world! Last night, Daniel and Susanne Hurd were here and we went to eat at Bonefish Grill. Food was excellent. We were sitting at a community table because we didn't have reservations and these other two couples came and sat on the other end. Before the night was over, the guy next to me turned and introducted himself and he was from INDIANOLA, MS! Can you believe that ?... and that's not all, his brother went to church with me all while I was growning up and he knew my Daddy and my Uncles and Bill and Diana and almost everybody I knew in Indianola and a lot of people I didnt' know. He used to be a crop duster and he did my daddy's fields. Now he's retired and lives in Grmantown. And he had that Delta gentleman accent - you know where they say "Dolla" instead of dollar. He knows mama and Mutt. It was really neat. Of course, Tim and Daniel spend the whole night talking about flying so he (his name was Larry Hall) coulnd't resist getting in on the conversation. Beckie, you would love to have hime in your speech class as a guest...he speaks more"delta" that Jay Henley - who he also knows!

I have been tagged

Ok, Reagan, just for you...7 things about me...

1. I have decided that I don't care how many typos are in this...this is the third time I have typed it and when i tried to preview it to correct any mistakes, I've deleted the whole thing and had to start over! UGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

2. I am taking additional classes needed to sit for the LPC Board. It is supposed to be more fact based than the MFT Board and therefore easier to pass. I am taking the MFT Board again on Saturday but I am not worrying myself to death studying for it...hasn't done any good so far anyway only created more test anxiety!

3. My Myers-Briggs Type is ESFJ. One of my top 5 occupations to consider is Culinary Arts! How funny is that! But, I never said I couldn't cook, jus that I DON'T cook.

4. I don't like animals in my house. I grew up on a farm and animals belonged outside.

5. I have complete confidence in Tim's ability to fly and I will be sooooooooo glad when this FAA stuff is over and he can fly again. It's all making me crazy!

6. I loved the Zoe Conference on Friday night. It was wonderful and we got to see several friends that we haven't seen in a while but we ended up spending Saturday with family. Noah scored a touchdown at his flag football game and Tim's parents showed up with Tim's mom's famous homemade apple pies for his birthday which is on Monday.

7. I hope to go to Greece, France, Japan, Pepperdine Lectures, and Ghana in 2008.

And I don't think I'll tag anyone else...Last time, no one did it anyway, so if you feel the burning desire to give us 7 facts about yourself, please have at it! I'd love to hear from you!

Great Crab Claws

Just a quick note to say that my play therapy conference was really good and I got lots of practical ideas, but the best part was getting to see Vivian and eat dinner with her on Wednesday night and spend the night with her on Friday night...I ate crab claws for every meal except breakfast while I was down there and I even had a hot Krispy Kreme donut for breakfast on Saturday morning before I left Mobile. YUM!!!!

AACC and Play Therapy Confernce

A couple of weeks ago, I went to Nashville for the American Association of Christian Counselors at the Opryland Hotel. It was a great confenrence with some great speakers - Max Lucado, Larry Crabb, John Eldridge, Dan Allender, Kay Authur, among others. And I got to see several people that I had not seen in a long time - Adrian Hickman and his daughter, Andrea and his sisten-in-laws who were visiting him at the Capstone booth, Sharron Pharr and Kim (I can't remember her last name). I also saw Dr. JoNeal Kirby and Elaine Denman. It was good to see my friends from Harding and catch up.

I'm leaving this Wednesday to go to Orange Beach, AL to a play therapy workshop on Thursday and Friday. I'll get to see Vivian and eat some crab claws. I'll spend the night with Vivian on Friday and drive home on Saturday. Now I just have to figure out how to make the navigation system in my car work like I want it to. When we went to Branson this summer, Tim fixed it so it wouldn't keep directing us to interstates and I ended going way out of the way to get to Opryland...I don't want to do that going to Orange Beach!

I think I could spend all my time going to seminars and never seeing clients...

I am so Thankful!

I guess you wonder why after a year's time, I would post a photo of Laura and John and put a title that says I am so thanksful! Well, life has a way of catching your attention sometimes...sometimes good and sometimes, not so good. This week my heart is breaking for some friends that I grew up with in Indianola. They no longer live there, but their daughter, Heather, who was the same age as Laura, was murdered by her druggie boyfriend...beaten to death with a hammer. He had hit her once before and she required 50+ staples to put her head back together and though her family and freinds encouraged her to stay away from him, she with her good heart, after he had finished a stint in a drug rehab program took him back. Just a few days later, she was dead. Somehow that seems to be the pattern a great deal of the time for battered women. The saying goes, "the first time you get hit, you're a victum, the second time, you're a volunteer." But somehow, it's just not that simple. For whatever reason, Heather looked for the good in him and after his stay in rehab, thought that he would be "cured" and that her Christianity would be a light for him...

So today, I am especially grateful for John and his love for Laura. When I am around them, their love for each other is obvious and his protection of her is quite visible. If I ever say or do anything that upsets her or makes her uncomfortable (which I do usually unknowingly with my big mouth...you know I have this problem of saying what I think when I think it...), he calls me on the carpet and lets me know that I need to be more careful about what I say so that I don't hurt her feelings.
So, John and Laura, I love you both very much and I love that you are so in love with each other. I am so proud of you both and of your accomplishments in every area of your lives (except for one and you know what I'm talking about - that I can't change, I can only pray about!). THANK YOU SO MUCH, JOHN, FOR LOVING AND TAKING SUCH GOOD CARE OF MY LITTLE GIRL! AND HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY ON THE 18TH!!!

AWH and Searcy Friends

I went to Searcy on Thursday of this past week. I had an AWH National Council Meeting on Friday morning with a luncheon with the AWH scholarship recipients. I even got to sit by Sun (sp?) who lived with John and Rose Kennedy the last couple of years. It was great to see and talk to him for a while. It is always great to see the kids who benefit from our work...makes baking all those pies and cakes and casseroles ( and the stuff I volunteer to buy at Sam's - because you know I don't cook!) worth it. But I went early so I could play with my friends on Thursday night and take my nephew, Wil, who is a Harding student out to dinner. Beckie and Gene Weaver, Mike and Beth James, Jonathan James and his girlfriend and Wil and me all went to Doc's Grill. Food was good...fellowship was even better. We laughed until we cried...if you're reading this and you know Mike or Gene, ask them about the Mens' bathroom door in the Reynold's building.

Labor Day Weekend

We had a fun Labor Day weekend with my nephew, Wil, and two of his friends, Jordan and Caroline, from Harding here for the weekend. We cooked out burgers and Tim made a big pot of spaghetti on Saturday. It's always fun to have college kids around - makes us feel young again!



Sunday afternoon we went to see Mr. Bean's Holiday with Leslie and Rick Gillespie and Leanne Braddock and Ed Cookenham. As you can tell from the photo, we had a great time and everyone at the theatre thought we never got out we were acting so silly. We came home to find Daniel and Suzane Hurd here (actually, we knew they were going to be here because they called before we left and told us they were coming to spend the night on their way from Searcy back home to Nashville -Caroline was funny - she was like, "So, do you always have people calling and dropping in to spend the night on the spur of the moment?"...she hasn't known us long enough to know about our revolving door!) and they already had the grill going and so the Gillespies and the Cookenhams ate with us and we had a really nice evening with friends.

Today, I studied all day. Tim and Daniel went out flying (Daniel just got his instrument rating) and Suzane went shopping with her granmother. I had class tonight. Harding doesn't count Labor Day as a holiday! But, it was a good weekend anyway!

Guelph II

This is the wonderful dinner that John cooked for us last night. Everything tasted as wonderful or better than it smelled. Most of the ingredients were fresh from the farmers' market making the dinner even more tasty...fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, apples for the apple crisp... We enjoyed the evening just sitting around the table and visitng with each other.













This is another photo destined for our "Hall of Fame" with the "Pole Pictures." (Laura and Joe with one in North Carolina and the other in South Carolina, Vivian and Joe singing in the rain at DisneyWorld, Vivian and Joe in Liverpool, Cristen and Laura in Colorado, etc. each time they are hanging onto a pole of some sort.) I finally figured out a way to keep John from putting horns on my head...

Guelph

This is downtown Guelph. It is a really neat "little" downtown area. The city has about 100,000 people, but the downtown area is neat and quaint.







Laura and John took us to a little town called Elora today. It was a really neat little town, too...lots of little shops and original art in galleries.




We enjoyed a wonderful butter tart, which is a native Canadian treat, coffee for Laura and John with cappuccino for Tim and me at this cutest little "patisserie." Laura and I decided that we would do a "seefood" pose for Tim; I can remember when Laura would have been embarrassed to death to do this with me...she's mellowing out in her old age. John almost decided that he didn't want to be in our family anymore if we were going to act like that!






All of us in the patisserie. John deserved what he got with the seefood picture! Every group picture we've made this weekend so far, he's put horns of some sort on my head!

Right now we are back at John and Laura's and he's cooking dinner for us. It smells great!

Just A Little Note

Not much to say this morning, but I wanted you all to know that I am still alive. Had a terrible headache Thursday - Sunday...it eased up on Friday a bit and finally went away completely on Sunday afternoon..what a relief! That's going to be my first question when I get to heaven, I think, is why did I get to have those headaches? Tim took good care of me though. We're going to see Laura and John this weekend. I'm really excited about going to Canada. Never been there before and even more excited about seeing my babies. (I know they don't think of themselves as babies, but they will always be my babies-even John because he loves and takes care of my Laura so well!)
I'm starting a new class tonight at the Grad school - Career Counseling. Gotta go get my reading done before class.

New Photo

This is a new photo for the church directory. I am trying to add it as my blog photo but I have not yet quite figured out how to do it yet.

Tampa Trip

This is the seafood resturant where we ate the first night. We had coconut almond shrimp. It was good, but not nearly as good as at the Rainforest cafe in California.
This is me in the bushes outside the Salvador Dali Museum. It was a really neat exhibit that we went to today!
We ate gelato here today. It was good, but not as good as Italy.

California

We had a great time in California. The highlight of our trip was getting to see Allen and Sarah Gillespie for a little while. They are doing great and Allen seems really exicted about his work with Pepperdine.

Our limo picked us up a the airport and took us to the hotel. Those seminar people really know how to treat their people.

Our bag got to LA about 12 hours after we did...so the first order of the day on Friday morning was to find clean underwear...I always take a backpack with my meds and clean underwear, but this time, I didn't...fortunately, there was a Wal-mart across the street from the hotel so we could walk over and get what we needed. I can wear that outter wear for several days but I gotta have clean underwear! There was also a Starbucks for which we were very grateful...the coffee at the hotel was nasty! The rest of the breakfast was really tasty though. Friday was a very relaxing day...since we didn't have our bag, we didn't feel the need to get up early and pack every sight seeing thing we could into that one day. We went to Downtown Disney and ate at the Rainforest Cafe (photos are on Tim's blog). We had the best coconut shrimp that we have ever eaten there!

On Saturday, Tim went to his training and I laid around and read a novel and visited with Allen and Sarah and then that night a hummer limo picked up me and the other wives and took us to meet out husbands for dinner at the very nice fancy resturant.

On Sunday, the limo took us back to the airport and we had an unevenful flight back to Atlanta but then, we had a seven hour delay in Atlanta because of the weather so instead of getting home at 7:00 it was almost 1:00 am...It was quite interesting...Delta kept chaning our departing time and our departure gate...we're supposed to go to another seminar in Tampa this weekend...hope the travel will be less trouble free but I will be taking my backpack with my meds and clean underwear on the plane with me this time!

OK, I did the Simponizer thing like Beckie and Reagan and Jennifer...I don't know exactly how they came up with this image fromt he photo that I put in because I don't think it looks at all like me...Reagan's looks just like her curly hair...anyway...that's my give in to peer pressure for today!

The Kids are gone

The kids are gone. The house is quiet except for my coughing and blowing my nose (I know - that's probably too much information for most of you, but this cold is driving me crazy and making be feel very unproductive...the medicine I'm taking makes me feel like I have a sack over my head and I don't want to do anything except lay on the couch and sleep...of course, that's what I want to do most of the time anyway...now I just have a real reason to get by with it!)

The search cmmittee told us yesterday that they are essentially starting over with their search for a pulpit minister. None of the 3 they had it worked down to worked out so we'll get to enjoy John Mark Hicks a little longer. If any of you have any great suggestions, let me know.

Tim and I are leaving on Thursday to go to LA, CA for Tim's last training on his Laser equipment. We'll have Friday to play and then he'll be in classes all day Saturday. We're trying to work out getting to do dinner with Allen and Sarah Gillespie on Friday night, The Laser compnay will treat us on Saturday night (as much as that piece of equipment cost, I'm sure that we more than paid for that dinner but anyway it's a nice perk which they do not have to give). We'll be home sometime on Sunday.

Have great week!

Hard time this week

Well, I did ok last week making myself get up and going to work out, but I'm having a hard time getting motivated this week. I have about 11 kids at my house from Michigan this week (all boys) - Leslie has the girls at her house - they are here working with the Raleigh Plant chruch and the Downtown Church for the week and that really has not one thing to do with whether I work out or not but when I really don't want too, one excuse is as good as another!

Mama, Papa Mutt, and Diana were here all day yesterday so I spent the day going to the various doctors with them. It enjoyable getting to visit with them. Mama's Alzeheimier's is getting a little worse each time I see her and it's sad, but she still knows us all and she and Mutt still pick at and cut up with each other and laugh so that's really good! We met Robin and his family at the mall for dinner last night. They all came to have their teeth cleaned yesterday.

Gotta make myself get up and get dressed and go to the store. Leslie and I are making dinner for the kids tonight. It's fun having them here and hearing about their experiences. They are all fascinated by my pineapples and the ledgend of the pineapple.

3 times this week

Well, I worked out three times this week...that means I'm up to 10 minutes...

Tim is seeing a cartiologist today and having a sleep-deprived EEG tomorrow so maybe soon he will be released to fly again soon.

Laura and John got moved to Canada. She called today and said the weather is wonderful - in the 70's with a nice breeze and sunshine. Tim hopes to fly us up there before shcool starts for them in September. I am excited for them. John is doing what he loves - being in the world of acadameia (is that spelling correct?) and Laura is getting ready to apply for PHD programs in French...If you can do what you love and make a living doing it, then you are a blessed person!

We ate lunch with the staff yesterday for some birthdays and Tammy White's boyfriend, Rick, who is also a pilot, joined us...He's trying to talk Tim into buying a new plane...I told him to just go ahead and buy it and I would find more trips to go on...I mean, he's already got his three ski trips planned, so I think I've decided I'm going to Greece next March with my cousins (my nephew, Wil, will be studying in Greece and we'll have to go see him and his favorite Aunt Diana will be forced to go with us), then in May, I will have to go with Beckie and Reagan to Japan to have reunion with Mami (we did a trip to Germany together several years ago) and then in August, Tim will go with me and Leanne and Ed back to Ghana for a mission trip, so 2008 looks to be a busy traveling year for me. And of course, I'll have to go to Canada sometimes in the year to see Laura. Tim will never get to retire...We both like to play toooooooo much!

Exercising

OK, I did it. I got up this morning and joined Bartlett Rec and worked out on the elipital (SP?) machine for a little over 8 minutes. Dr. Cole told me to do 8 minutes for the first week and then build up a minute a week. I think I can build up faster than that, but I'm going to do it as he says because I don't want to hurt my back. I'm thinking maybe if I make it public knowledge on this blog, I'll be too ashamed to not do it at least 4 times a week or more. He actually says I should exercise every day that I eat...maybe I'll have to start fasting some days!

Tim got challenged yesterday at church to get ready to run a half marathon in December so he started running yesterday. He ran 1.7 miles in just a few minutes. I think I got about a third of a mile in 8 minutes this morning...but I did get my heart rate up good....if I do this consistently and don't see any pounds go down on the scales, I will be sorely dissappointed!

a few pics from the cousin's reunion

These are the cousins who showed up...Robin, Diana, Me, Bill, Joyce, Kim, Linda...Bob was there for a while, but he had to leave to go see his girlfriend before we started taking photos,
Mama, Uncle Tom, and Aunt Des - their only other living siblings are Aunt Grace in Maryville and Uncle Aaron in Harrison, AR who weren't able to come.
My brothers and sister.
Kim and her husband, Robbie took a fun drive in Tim's car on those little curvy country roads.
Hope we'll have more cousins to join us next time...we really had a good time catching up! Two of our cousins, Joy and Terri, when to see "the Full Monty" in Little Rock that weekend. I called to see if they still had full vision after the show or if God had struck them blind, but Terri said they could both see alright...at least out of one eye...they were williing to risk one each.

Cousins' Reunion

We had a cousins' reunion with some of the cousins on my mom's side of the family on Saturday, June 30. Only about 7 or 8 of us (out of 20 or so) made it, but those of us who were there had a great time! I was goimg to put some photos on here, but Tim has not had time to down load them to my computer and I have no idea how to do it so I decided I'd write about it any way. We did get one major decision made...We are going to try to go to Greece in March next year if we can find prices that are at all reasonalble - I've been looking, but so far I've not found anything cheap. Wil, ny nephew will be studying in Greece in the spring, so we'll get to see him, too, and it'll make the trip even better.

My cousin, Joyce, has a cabin on the Tennessee River. We all met there for the day and everyone had a great time playing in the water and on the "ski doos" (I think is what you call them) and riding the pontoon (sp?) boat and eating and laughing. It was great fun! We missed the ones who weren't there and hope they can join us next time. It's so much more fun to get together when we aren't there for a funeral, which is when most families come together it seems...now I'm trying to get on in the works for the Skelton side of my family for next summer.

That day started our July 4th celebrations and we've had two more since then,,,Tuesday night, we were with Ed and Leanne Braddock-Cookenham, who live on the lake over which they shoot of the Bartlett Fireworks. Their back yard was full of friends, Tim and I rode the motocycle over so we could park on the Cookenham's sidewalk. It took us over 30 minutes to get home because of th crowd and we don't live two miles from them! On Wednesday night, we ate with the Gillespies, Jane and Garry Manness and Lynn and Augustine from Ghanna (we're planning to go back there in August 2008 if any one wants to go with us).
We are enjoyng being off the rest of this week-or at least I am...Tim is studying for his ACLS exam.

Beckie called today and said that she would probably be here to spend the night Satuday night. I'm looking forward to that!
Hope you all have had a great 4th. Laura called today on their way from Austin (they'd been to see John's mom) and said it was raining hard on them. Pray they make it home safely. Driving in the rain is not fun! Until next time...

Going Stir Crazy 2

I guesss it would help if i added a few words with the title...I know that I have had two weeks of vacation already this summer and I know that I will be getting to go with Tim to a seminar in LA in the end of July and to one in Tampa the first weekend in August but still here I have sat for the last hour almost looking up air fare/hotel deals for July 4 and the rest of the week...I am really getting spoiled and I want to go somewhere exciting! TO PLAY!!!!! NOT to a seminar! I'm ready for Spain or Greece or Japan or Finland or Sweeden or Denmark or someplace I've never been before! Who wants to go with me and when can we go?!?

Going Stir Crazy!

Home Group

We had a great home group meeting tonight! We sang all night and it was awesome. We had two visitors with us - Gabriel from Ghana and Jeff from Searcy. Gabriel was overwhelmed with the singing. They sing beautifully in Ghana with all their hearts but most of it is in unison no harmony. He went to anaother congregation this morning with some other friends and after home group tonight, he wanted to know if the singing at Sycamore View was better or worse than home group. When we told him it was better, he could hardly believe it. We are planing a trip back to Ghana in August 2008 so keep that in your thoughts and prayer that God will lead and direct us in planning and putting this trip together.

Jeff is here from Searcy. He's taking Don Meredith's class at the grad school this week in a short course. He needs prayers, too! He will do well I'm sure. This is Jeff's third time to be with us so he's family now.

I'm ready for another trip....i know I've only been back to work for a week...I got spoiled to being off...

Branson, MO

You need to go to Tim's blog to see photos...He's already put the highlights of the trip on his blog.
Artist-Tim.blogspot.com

More Beach Photos

Beckie with her scarf. Jessica brought scarfs that Vivian had given her girls last year to play on the beach...we had fun with them, too!
I really do have clothes on behind the towel! This is just one of the "Calendar Girls" photos that we have been saying we were going to do ever since we saw the movie. Mary Lou and Sally say they are going to print them on a calendar to raise money for the Sunshine School. I kind of doubt that they will make much money...we don't quite have the bodies or expose as much as the firemen so on their calendars.
I loved the look on Sally's face when she told "loopey" - that's always the first person out at 31 who has to serve goodies to all the rest - that she wanted a LOT of ice cream...She got about a tablepoon full. Sally and I might tie when it comes to ice cream being our favorite food.
Jessica decided to make a nose ring out of her glow lights. It was pretty funny!
My favorite pastime at the beach - relaxing and reading a good book! This was the first year in many years that I have been there that I didn't have to spend the morning studying for some upcoming class. I read alsmost a book a day...novels, mindless, fun reading!

Gulf Shores

Sally comtemplating her "31" cards
Making lovely earrings
Our beautiful flipflops that we made
glow ring favors from Sally and Mary Lou
Sally and Julie
We had a great time at Guf Shores! We had Beckie, Linda, Mary Lou, Sally, Bonnie, and Jessica from Searcy; Julie from Atlanta; Wesley from Nashville; Mary from New York; Vivan (part of the time) from Mobile and me from Bartlett. Quite an assortment with lots and lots of fun! Not many places had crab claws but we enjoyed lots of other seafood and key lime pie, read lots of books, took lots of naps, and played lots of games! It was great fun!

Jonathn and Sandy's Wedding

We just got home today from Florida. Jonathan and Sandy's weddding on the beach was really neat. Tim performed the ceremony...he found out when he got there about 5:00 Wednesday afternoon that he would be doing that...the weddiing was to start at 6:15. He did a good job inspite of little prep time. We had fun with all our family that was there and we missed those who weren't. We did decide; however, that Seagrove and Seaside are for rich people not like regular people like us who ususally go to Gulf Shores. We went to breakfast one morning at a place that the cheapest thing on the menu was $8.00 pancakes and I don't know how much the coffee was, but the bill for 6 of us was $89.00! The food was good though! I'm going to try to post some wedding photos here and there's one of Noah, Tim's nephew, follow his Uncle Tim's example of see-food!

I have been tagged

Coming up with 7 things that people don't know about me will be difficult because I am pretty open and tell everything all the time.....
1. Like Beckie, if I wear sandals all day, I hate dirty toes and feet and I have to wash them before I go to bed even if no other part of my body gets washed.
2. When traveling in Europe or in the US, and I know I'm going to be walking a lot, I had always rather wear my tennis shoes even if they don't match my outfit because they are more comfortable.
3. I once flew an airplaine from Arlington, TN to Covington, TN all by myself without an instructor and they cut of the back of my favorite Haridng shirt because it was my first solo flight.
4. In my next life, I want to be independently wealthy so that I can give unlimitedly to all the places I love like Harding and Sycamore View and still afford to travel the world over (including the US.)
5. I can't stand for people to chew and pop gum so that I can hear it!
6. I don't mind to do almost anything someone asks me to do for them, but I hate it when someone orders me around like I am their servant.
7. I am having a very difficult time accepting the fact that I have taught hundereds of children about God and his love, some of whom have even become missionaries, but my own children have their dowbts about God and there is not one thing i can do about it except keep on loving them dearly (and I do) and praying that one day they will come back to thier love for the Lord,

Now, I tag Laura, John (that will helpp me get to know you better), Callie, Danny Dodd, and James Wood.

Dr. Diplomat

Just want to say in spite of all the trauma and panic, Tim passed his test in Chicago and is now one of the few Diplomats in Implant Dentistry in the World...Now if the FAA would just give him the ok to fly again, he'd be one happy camper!

I'm sorry that photo of Beckie is so small. I don't know how to get it to be bigger. She's sitting in her office surrounded by a sea of papers with a fancy cowboy hat on...she's a Texan all the way!

This is one little piece of an e-mail I received from several friends for Mother's Day. Don't worry, Laura and John, I'm NOT hinting for a grandbaby but I do like and agree with the sentiment and evidently after our last conversation, John, the concern goes both ways! Love you both!
This is my dear friend, Beckie. Praise the Lord, she got all her stuff back from her harddrive except for e-mails! Those she can live without.

We have a very full and busy weekend, but it was fun getting to see lots of people we hadn't seen in a long time. Mike Tinker, one of our HUGSR guys, graduated on Saturday and he asked us to be his family for the graduation festivities and that was fun. I got to see a bunch of my friends graduate and this may be the last class of counseling studehts that I will know anyone in...I still miss that comradery (and no, even after Spring Sing, Dr. Burke, I still don't know how to spell it!) that you have with all the students!

But right now, my friend, Beckie, needs all our best wishes and prayers, and a MAC genusis...her computer crashed...I thought Mac's weren't supposed to do that, but hers did and it had on it all her grades for this semester, her finals, her photos, and her 200+ page document to accreidation for the new Masters in Speech Pathology (of which she is going to be the chair) in the fall at Harding...

Beach week can't come soon enough!

Leanne's Birthday and St. Louis

We just got back from seeing the doctor in St. Louis again. He says it could be an isolated incident that we may never know what caused it but he suggested that Tim have a sleep deprived EEG in a couple of weeks. We brought all the records from the hospital and doctor to bring to a neurologist here so Tim can have that done. The dr. in St. Louis did tell him that he didn't see any reason he couldn't drive so thank heavens for that- I won't have to kill him and plead insanity for him telling me how to drive all the time. He did good on the way to St. Louis. And he did a good job driving home and I was more than happy to let him!
We had a great dinner and visit with Kate and Josh on Sunday night after we got to St. Louis. It was really good to get to be with them!

We took time this morning to visit the arch before going to the doctor. We didn't have time to go up in it. We spend time at a fly fishing store first...Let's just say that we are definately going to have to go back to St. Louis to sight see. There's lots of neat places there!


As we were traveing to St. Louis, we had flashbacks or at least I had flash backs of college days as we passed these exits. I really wanted to take Tim down into Cooter, but he didn't want to take time...I wondered if I could find the Cooter jail or post office of the home of "Peaches" Cooper, Jeanine's mom. I figured I could...Cooter's not that big!
We were treated to dinner by "Ms" Frances," Leanne' mother for Leanne's birthday last Saturday night. It was a really fun time. "Ms" Francies is 95 and sharp as a tack! She has the funniest stories to tell and they are all real! If I can be that way I won't mind living that long but if I can't, I don't think I want to stay around that long. It was a delightful evening being with Leanne and Ed and "Ms" Frances!