Grooming day.

You can tell from this pic that I was getting really woolly.  So, I cut my hair today.  It's still in curlers, but I think it's kind of short.  Oh, well.  Lee thought he needed a haircut, too; he usually gets a haircut every two weeks, so I cut his today, too.  I call him Mr. Neat lots of times because he really deserves it.  We loaded the truck with my freezer to go to his daughter and a bunch more stuff to sell at his garage sale in OKC.  We'll leave in the morning and stay in the city for a couple of weeks, so I thought I'd better do haircuts before we leave.

We've told his brother (who is his landlord) that we'll have all his belongings out by the end of September.  That means we've got a lot of work to do in not much time.  We can do it, though.

Bob took this picture for us last night when we all went to eat at the Back Door Steak House.  Notice the dummy snoozing behind us.  The Back Door Steak House is in a little town about 20 miles from here; very interesting place.

I listened to Hobart's football game on the radio tonight and they won big time.  53-0.  It was really cool to listen to hear about lots of guys I've taught since spring break as they played.  I'm going to have to go to the games, now.  It was very exciting to hear about 'my guys' doing such a great job.  I am grateful for the opportunity to get to know these great kids.  Teaching band yesterday made me really want to go see the band perform; I was way impressed and felt blessed to get to watch them practice.  What a great bunch they are!

All the help we can get is great!

This is Lee holding his littlest grandson, Bryce, (2 months) who showed up to help twice last week!  I thought that shirt was so cute!  We're just loving all the help we can get and so appreciating it!

Today I taught band, of all things.  That wasn't as bad as I thought it might be.  I was absolutely impressed with our high school band.  The drum major just took over the class and handled it like a PRO to the max.  I was so proud of him and the whole band for the way the followed his awesome lead!  The rest of the day was a bit bumpy here and there, but I had a great time.  I ended up spending 4 hours at the elementary school, so I dug deep to find some music skills from over the years.  All in all it was great fun, but I'm worn out!

We're going out to dinner tonight to celebrate a couple of friends' birthdays this month.  We missed Bob Clark's, but we're celebrating his and my friend Judy's.  Judy lives in Houston and today is her birthday; we're just going to celebrate with Bob and his wife, Diana, and use Judy for the excuse to celebrate.  She'll love that.  I wanted to get this blog done so I can just fall into bed when we get home tonight.  This teaching and moving is wearing me out, but I think it's a good kind of wear.  I'm loving it.

I'm so grateful for the opportunity to celebrate with friends.  I thank God that I can get back into a celebration mode.  I thank God for taking care of me and for sending Lee my way.  I told Lee that I am so glad we both stayed on Match long enough to find each other and he said, "I think God would have found another way if we hadn't."  He makes me smile.  :)

Sorting, teaching, sorting, teaching . . . with profuse thanks!

Oops!  I posted before I got this written.  Sorry!  This picture is me with Lee's son, James, taken last Saturday.  All those bins behind him are the load we took to him and his wife; all Christmas decorations.  We're so glad someone wanted all that.  Neither of us wants to decorate big for Christmas; in fact we hope to escape for Christmas.  We're just thrilled that James and Cathy wanted all these decorations.  There were lots more besides this, but we couldn't get it into the picture.  You can see it was lots.

We continue to sort through belongings!  They called me to day to teach tomorrow, so I'll be teaching and Lee will stay home and clean the air conditioner filters and sort through a bunch more things.  Ugh!  It will be so good to get all this done.

I've got my lunch packed for tomorrow and I'm going to bed within the hour.  A good night's sleep is a must.  I thank God that I'm a good sleeper and I thank God for the opportunity to work at something I enjoy so much.  And, I thank God for a wonderful husband, who walks by my side and is so much fun.  Lucky, lucky me!

Learned MY lesson!

Here is Lee standing by the truck before we left yesterday.  We are so grateful for Lutie to help us unload those metal cabinets and that freezer!  You know I told you yesterday that they had a teacher for the sub position they had called me about for today.  So, I finished up the blot at about midnight last night and then took my bath and sat around with Lee arranging furniture in our minds until around 1:30.  I thought we could sleep in.  WRONG!  The phone rang at 8:30 and the middle school wanted me to teach at 9!  The sub had an emergency and they needed me to scurry right in!  YIKES!  So no breakfast and a dash and I made it.  I forgot to take my fitbit, which measures my steps, so I took the second hour, which was a free hour, and rushed home to get it.  I called Lee to tell him I was coming and he answered with, "Thank you."  I said, "Why?"  He said, "I'm locked out of the house and I can't find you.  I'm at the Hobart Elementary school looking for your van."  He was going to open the van and borrow my garage door opening.  Instead I suggested he meet me at the house and he could go in with me.  What a way to start our day!  It worked out to be a great day, though.  He got the van all unloaded and lots of things sorted while I taught.

The kids and other teachers gave me a warm welcome.  I was tempted to tell them I just couldn't go but I thought it would be a good thing to let them know I'm willing to pull them out of a tight spot.  Really, the kids are so precious to me; I was really glad to see them, and the day was great.  After I got home Lee and I were able to get lots done.  Man, there is so much more to do, though!  Little by little we will get this mountain climbed!  We're going to bed as soon as I finish posting this post, though;  I learned that during the school year I've got to get to bed early and be up and ready early in the morning; it's just the best way to do it!  Staying up late last night and sleeping in was a rough way to run this day!

I thank God for the chance to teach, though.  I thank Him for the kids and the other teachers.  They are all a delight to me.

Home!

We made it home with all our Okie load!  See how loaded the van was and you can see the truck behind the van, loaded with freezer, metal storage cabinets and a ton of other stuff!  We had to stop a couple of times to shift some things and replace the ties, but we made it.  We got here and Joan came and helped us ready the garage for Lutie to come and help us unload.  Then I took all my stuff out of my freezer and put it all into Lee's freezer.  Then I defrosted mine and it's all clean and ready to take back to his daughter when we go back to OKC.  All this shifting of belongings is about like moving.  Actually, it is a lot of moving.  We're moving his stuff either to someone else or to here and a lot of my stuff is going to someone else.  We'll have a couple of garage sales.  We look forward to the day we can be settled!

They called me to teach tomorrow, but before I could get back to them they got someone else, so that's a good thing.  They still have another day available for the 25th and I think I'll do that day.  I don't have to let them know until tomorrow.  They had asked me to teach on the 11th, but Lee has a doctor appointment that day and I want to do with him.  Also I need to go with him to the city so we can get some more sorting and moving done.  It all gets complicated, sometimes, but it's all fun, anyway.  We sit and talk over things and it's amazing to me how kind and loving he is.  Tonight I told him, "The more we talk the more I love you; how can that be?"  I thank God for a wonderful, wonderful guy in my life.  All these belonging really don't matter, but we just need to get them arranged so that they work best for us and whoever else we can help by sharing them.

Both of us are worn out and I'm about to miss today if I don't get this posted right quick.  Thanks for keeping up with us.  We are in good shape.  Oh, my!  I sure thank God for Lutie and Joan!  I'll have to get a picture of Lutie the next time he helps us load the freezer to take to Krissy.  He's another angel in my book; he was such a help in unloading!

Christmas in August!

This was yesterday morning when Lee and I loaded up a couple thousand dollars worth of Christmas decorations and took them over to his son, James, and his family.  I never saw so much Christmas stuff before in my life.  I'm happy it went to a good home.  There is that much we don't have to pack and unload, not to mention keep in use and clean!  We're thrilled that James and his wife want it!  We should have taken a picture of the garage before we started unloading it, but we didn't think of that.  It's getting better and better as we work every day.  We meant to go home tonight, but we're going tomorrow, instead.  Lee's youngest daughter came and got a load of things and they're coming back tonight.  They helped us to load the freezer into Lee's truck and 3 metal storage cabinets and a bunch of odds and ends.  My car is loaded.  We'll leave for home early in the morning.

Lee is napping while we wait for Krissy and Chris to come back for another load.  I'm getting my computer work done, so we can get to bed early tonight.  This has been an exhausting week, but we see some light at the end of the tunnel.  It's fun to be together to do all this.  Trish and Raynie came over for a while this afternoon and she took home some odds and ends that she can use and we won't have to move.  Raynie had fun playing games on Tricia's phone with Lee and they both got to meet Krissy and James and their Peyton and Bryce.  I thank God for precious family and friends.  They they warm our hearts and theyare all a big help in all this moving.  What are WE going to do about Christmas decorating???  I hope we can escape to somewhere!  We sure don't plan to stay home and decorate.  If we stay home the decorating will be held to the BARE minimum!

The reunion banquet.

We were in such a hurry to get to the reunion banquet on time, but we rushed to get this picture.  The camera was balanced on a shoe turned upside down on the head board and Lee was laughing because he had told me the camera would fall behind the bed and we'd never be able to get it.  Thus the shoe plan, which worked, plus it made us both laugh for the picture.  So it goes; he laughs a lot at my answers to challenges.  We had a great time at the reunion; met even more people and thoroughly enjoyed it.  It even rained while we were there and is still raining!  I hope Hobart is getting some rain!

Tomorrow we pack up some stuff and head to Hobart with it and the move begins.  I thank God that we're able to do this.  I thank God for the opportunity to serve him within another marriage.  I am blessed and grateful.

We sold another $20 out of the garage today ($25 yesterday).  The folks next door are having a garage sale, so we just open our door and sell a few things here and there.  My car is about to drag the road; it's so loaded.  I keep putting one more thing in there.

We're dressed I'm ready to go to Lee's reunion mixer tonight.  Tomorrow night is the banquet.  Before we go I hope to get a pic of us to post with this.  Got it!

We got lots more stuff sorted in the garage today.  We have 5 metal storage cabinets we want to take to Hobart on Sunday to receive lots of things out of the house as well as of Lee's belongings when we get them there. We got 3 of them completely cleaned out today and the other two are about half done.  We'll finish those tomorrow afternoon.  We're delivering a truck load of Christmas decorations to Lee's son tomorrow morning; that will free up a lot of space in the garage for us to work and organize.  I never saw so many Christmas decorations.  I thank God that one of the daughters-in-laws wanted it!  I thank God that we have the energy to do this . . . and for Ibuprofen!

Lots of new family!

Lee has 7 kids and 12 grand-kids, so our marriage makes lots of new family for both of us!  This is a picture of Lee, holding his youngest grandson, Bryce.  I think it was Monday that we went out to eat with Bryce and his two older sisters, Peyton and Maddy, as well as their mom and dad, Krissy and Chris.  We have been meeting family right and left as well as friends this week.  It has been wonderful.  The rest of the time we are sorting through Lee's belongings.  My car is loaded, but we have his truck yet to load.  We have some trips to make with it before we load it, though, as well as Lee's high school reunion tomorrow night and Saturday night.  I'm hoping to get a good night's rest tonight to brace for this weekend.  Both our backs are complaining about all the lifting and moving we're doing.  I wish I knew a smarter way to do this, but I think we have to just take it a little at a time until we are moved.  We'll take as much little stuff as we can with his truck and then when the house in Hobart is ready to receive all his things, we'll get a big truck and take the big things.  That's our vague plan.  We're taking it little at a time, but there is so much to do!

I thank God for a purpose in life, for family and friends and for energy and strong bodies.  We are richly blessed!

The after wedding dinner.

Thanks to the best man/chauffeur/photographer we had a wonderful dinner at Nona's in Bricktown in Oklahoma City after the wedding Saturday night.  We are all smiles to this day.

We spent all day today thinning out lots of Lee's belongings.  His son took us to dinner tonight and then came over and took away a car load of things he and his family could use.  We are so glad to find places in the family for these things!  I had the camera out handy to take pictures and then FORGOT!  Ugh!  I hate when I forget things!  We're taking some Christmas decorations to them Saturday, so I hope I can remember to get pictures then!  Lee has a wonderful family and I'd like to share pics with you.

I did manage to meet my walking goal today.  I've been behind the last couple of days, but I walked down the block and back today, so that was the boost I needed.  I thank God that I can walk, so I want to keep up the walking and not get stale.  I thank God for beautiful weather, with totally nice temperatures (anything under 100).  This week has been beautiful and I thank God for it!  We even had some rain on Saturday!

Blurry; we were fine, but the photographer wore too many hats.

Lee's brother, Dan, was the chauffeur, best man and the photographer, just for starters, on our wedding day.  He was also the guy who turned the air on at the church building ahead, so it would be cool when we arrived.  He also made our dinner reservations and bought our dinner.  I can't complain that this picture is slightly blurred; I'm just thrilled to have it.  This is Drue Freeman, the preacher who married us, and Lee and I.  He would have been taller than me if I hadn't had on heels.  He did a wonderful ceremony, though, and even had a copy for us to keep.  I loved it!

Today I managed to get some of Lee's appliances onto Craigslist, so I feel like I climbed a tall mountain.  We also had dinner with his youngest daughter, Krissy and her family, so that was fun.  We had lunch with some friends of Lee's and we visited with Trish some this afternoon at her shop at the antique mall, so we've had a full day.

I thank God for many things going so well.  We are so blessed!

Awesome friends: Steve and Mary.

Steve and Mary, my friends who mean so much to me came by to meet and visit with Lee tonight.  Steve and I share our birthday and I've known Steve and Mary for 30 years or so.  We've traveled numerous times together and they went on the cruise with me last winter and hand carried me to my last appointment at MD Anderson.  They wanted to see me through this marriage and Mary intended to approve of Lee before we married, but she said we married too quickly, so now she HAS to like him.  :)  What fun we have.  Steve and Lee graduated from the same high school (4 years apart), so they enjoyed remembering some people who the both knew, etc.  We had a great visit.

Today Lee and I worked on sorting out a bunch of his 'stuff.'  We both have a lot of thinning out of "stuff' so that we can merge our belongings and fit into one house.  This is challenging.  It was great to end the day with a great visit from Steve and Mary.  I thank God for great friends.  I also thank Him that we are in a position of having too much 'stuff' in stead of not enough.  We are blessed with abundance of everything from  'stuff' to friends and family.  God is so good to us!

After Steve and Mary left I checked my email and I had 3 messages telling me that I'd had calls from my friends Bob and Mimi Dwyer , who we house sat for in Hawaii.  I called them back and it was so good to talk to them and get their congratulations and love, too.  I am overwhelmed with love from so many folks and thank God so much for all these wonderful folks in my life!

Brothers.

I asked these two to get together so I could get a picture of them and they immediately jumped into this formation!  I love it!  Most people frown and gripe about a picture and then, at best, line up in a formal pose.  These two snapped right into fun stance!  This is Lee's 'older brother,' Dan, who is actually 3 years younger than Dan.  They are a couple of clowns who grew up loving each other and their relationship is precious to both of them and to all who observe them.  Dan was the best man at our wedding and his wife, Sandy, stood up with us, too.  He was the chauffeur and photographer, as well.  After the wedding they took us out to dinner at a wonderful restaurant in OKC (Nonna's).  Dinner was delicious last night and again tonight when we ate the leftovers from last night!  I don't have the pics Dan took, yet, but Trish and the kids were over here today and saw them.

It was fun to have Trish, Nate, Sadie, Mason, Grace and Raynie come over today.  Dan and Sandy came over and we all had a good visit.  Life in the big city is happy happy!

Dan just got his I-phone in the last couple of weeks, so sending me pics is a new trick; as soon as I get the pics I'll start posting them on the blog.  Dan and Sandy are really super people as are all Lee's family.  I'm a blessed lady to be able to meet and join these good folks in life.

Happy Birthday, Bruce!

Eighteen years ago our grandson, Bruce was born.  He now towers to 6'6" of gorgeous hunk of wonderful guy, here many hundreds or thousands of baseball games later.  What a delight he has been.  I'm so proud of you, Bruce!

This evening I was blessed to marry Lee Hensley; how can one woman be so blessed?  I thank God for the opportunity to enjoy life with this man.  You will get to know him better as time marches and we will all be blessed.  The wedding was so simple and beautiful.  Lee's 'little' brother, Dan, and his wife, Sandy, stood up with us and the preacher.  The vows were wonderful.  Dan also served as the photographer, but I don't have his pics, yet.  I got this one of Lee and I when we got home from dinner.  Many of my friends on FB from Itazuke were having a toast with us tonight at the time of our wedding.  This was our grapefruit juice toast when we got home.  Now, if I can just get the picture element of the blogger to work!

I thank God for this opportunity to serve Him as half of a couple, rather than a widow.  I was really struggling by myself and I am so much better with Lee by my side.

Oops! No pic tonight; sorry!

I took pics tonight, but I can't figure out how to download them onto Lee's computer!  I'll go to MacDonald's soon and download them onto my computer and then mail them to him and I can use them after that.  I'm just up against a technological wall.  Ugh.

Other than that all is going as planned.  We got the marriage license this afternoon.  Then we had dinner tonight over at Lee's nephew's house with lots of his family who were celebrating his brother's birthday.  I got good pics tonight, but can't access them.  Oh, well, just imagine us all smiling because we are.

Tomorrow is the big day.  We'll have our ceremony at 5 p.m.  Wow . . . I thank God for hope and happiness.  I thank you all for your love and support.  I'll do my best to get pics on here tomorrow.

Note of interest.  I was telling my Itazuke friends about the wedding and they wanted to toast us at the hour of the wedding, so they asked for the exact time.  I told them 5 tomorrow (this was yesterday, so I was off a day!).  That's so typical of me to be off a day!  Anyway, they were kidding me about it and some said, "Oh, let's toast them BOTH days!"  So at 5 today we were toasting ourselves with grapefruit juice.  I got pics of that, even.  So, there will be pics forthcoming of lots of fun times; I just can't do it tonight.

The plan; get braced this is simple but big!

So, here's the big plan.  Tomorrow I will drive to OKC and meet Lee after he finishes his real estate class.  We'll go to the court house and get a marriage license.  Then on Saturday we'll stand before his preacher and get married.  His brother and sister-in-law will stand up with us.  That's it.  Quick and simple.  We're ready.  All of a sudden it seemed really dumb to be waiting when we know we want to share our lives.  I've been announcing this to folks all day and answering responses.  I'm sure glad we're doing it the simple way.  Man, why anyone ever wants a big wedding I'll just never understand.  I'm so all about simplicity!  In the last year I've lost 9 people who I loved and only three were not surprises.  Even Lee's preacher was going to marry us at 10:30 Saturday morning, but he had a relative pass away and he had to change our wedding to 5, so he could do the service for his relative.  It's just so obvious that life is short and uncertain.  When you know you want to spend time with someone, there is no sense in wasting time, especially at our age!  We pray for a partner and when the partner appears we believe we should say thanks!  THANKS!

I will stay the next week with Lee and we'll be working to sell some of his stuff on Craig's list.  Then Friday and Saturday we will go to his 50th high school reunion.  Then we'll begin to bring some of his stuff to Hobart where we will live.  I need to thin out a bunch of my stuff to make room for his stuff.  Ugh; STUFF!  I hope I never collect another piece of stuff!

Well, I didn't get this posted in time for it to really be today, but it's the post for Thursday, August 16.  Thank you all for your love and support and I thank God for all of you and for Lee.

Another tired night.

This is a picture I got last week when Lee and I were so tired from each of our late nights prior to this one.  I'm out of pics, so I'm posting this one.  He's in OKC, but he's probably tired from a week of classes he's had this week.  I'm tired from driving to OKC today and home.  My sweet friend, Maggie, has been gone to see her sister in Newark for 3 weeks and another sweet friend, Billie Igo and I went to pick her up at the airport today.  It was a delightful day!  I'm blessed to have these sweet ladies in my life.  They are the ones I drove to the city last fall to go to a doctor's appointment and I got to get my fingerprints done while I was there for teaching.  So, from time to time we have these little adventures and they are delightful memories to treasure.  I'm sleeeeeeeepy, though!

I've got a half mile to walk, so I'm going to go down and walk several laps around the pool table before I go to bed.  I thank God that I'm able to walk as well as able to drive.  I also thank Him for precious friends and safe travels!

What a fun and blessed day!

You, know, life has some tough curves to maneuver.  This is a picture I got today of myself and my Sissy.  How blessed I am to have her in my life and she lives within 2 hours of me.  We are connected on Facebook and we are close.  2011 took both our husbands and it was tough on both of us, but we've had each other for support and what a blessing that has been.  We stayed up until 3 a.m. last night enjoying each other's company.  We sat out on the back deck and enjoyed the cool breeze God gave us.  She even saw 3 shooting stars in the meteor shower!  My cataracts wouldn't let me see any, but I enjoyed her glee.  It was fun to come in the house and be shivering.  I haven't shivered from a nice cool breeze in a while!  We slept like bricks until 8:30 this morning and then enjoyed the rest of the day sharing girl/sister talk.  I thank God for the tremendous treat of her.  She's gone home, now, so I pray for her safe trip

Tomorrow I will drive a sweet lady to OKC to pick up another sweet lady at the airport.  It will be another day of blessings, so I'm a rich lady this week.  I'd better go get some chores done so I can justify all this sweet off time.

Giggling sisters.

This is my sister, Sissy, and I.  She got here around 11:30 this morning and we spent most of the day right here at the table giggling and talking.  We've eaten two good meals and even walked around a couple of blocks, since the weather was nice tonight.  What a great time we're having.  I'm so glad she's spending the night.  I love a slumber party with my baby sister and I sure thank God for her and her safe trip from Wichita Falls. I've showed her all my equipment that I use to keep in shape and she's still walking after using it!  It's been so much fun!

Before she got here this morning I went over and visited Floyd in the nursing home.  I was blessed.  He's a dear guy and when I asked him if I could do anything for him, he said, "Just sit here with me."  I was glad to do that.  I got to visit a couple of other dear people while I was there.  It's good to count our blessings when we see folks who can't live in their own home, don't you think?  Floyd did a lot of work on this house when we moved into it.  I will always appreciate his work.  He's the one who taught us to play Hand and Foot Canasta and we have spent so many hours enjoying that.  I'm happy to sit a spell with him in his last hours.  God bless him.

Bob and Diana, hard at work!

You can see in the center of this picture that Bob got the major height cut out of that one tree this morning before we got there around 1:00.  I went back at 5 this evening and he had all that dead part cut off the second tree on the right.  He was working hard to get it cut down as much as the other one because he has to return the lift tomorrow to where he rented it.  Notice that the porch has all straight columns and no jacked up 2/4s.  They have done a LOT of work on this place in the last week!  The last 12 hours have been really tough!  This house will be so cool when they get done with it, though!

Lee and I went and took Dorothy to church this morning and we had the fellowship meal after church. So, I forgot to get pics, again, since we weren't at home.  It's lucky I remembered to take the camera to get pics of Bob and Di and the work they're doing!  Lee has gone home for the week and I'm settling into my work mode.  My precious Sissy is coming in the morning, though, so there is more of a treat in my future.  I'm excited and I'll be sure to get pics of us while she's here.

I thank God for wonderful people in my life.  I pray that He will give Bob and Diana the strength they need to complete all the work they have planned on this and their 3 other houses!  I shudder to think what I would feel like if I had their agenda in front of me!

Happy 89th birthday, Dorothy!

I am such a goofball that I forgot to take pictures tonight.  This is one I took on July 8th, though, and I love it of Dorothy.  We played cards tonight to celebrate her 89th birthday and it was sure a fun night.  Jo Ann and Frank, Bob and Diana, Dorothy and Joan and Lee and I played 8 handed.  It was way fun! Lee and I had practiced last night, so he did great.  He sat by Dorothy and he said, "She's really sharp!"  Of course I know that, but he was really impressed at how sharp she is even when it comes to playing cards and she can barely see.  What a gift she is to all of us.  She is the delight of our card group!

I cooked today so I'll be ready for the fellowship dinner at church tomorrow.  It feels good to be prepared.  Lee had to go home tomorrow because he has a real estate class every day next week from 9-5.  It'll be a week of hard work for me, too;  lots of loose ends to tie up around here.  Lee will come here for the weekend and I will go home with him after that.  He has his 50th high school reunion coming up and wants me to go with him to that.  So, I'll work this week to earn the right to take some off time.

I thank God for Dorothy in my life.  How blessed all who know her are.  God knows we need the blessing she is in our lives.  Can you believe 89?  She's a doll and I love her so!

Refreshing day.

I didn't do any chores today.  We worked on some plans this morning and then Lee talked to the guy he was hoping would be his client and got the news that he thinks he thinks he can build his house himself.  That's a big mistake, but he has to make it before he'll know it.  No problem.  We learned a lot in the process and Lee is warming up for the next client.

We changed some light bulbs that were out and put some stuff in the attic that I had been collecting until I had help.  Then he held the ladder for me while I did some repairs on the ceiling in the garage.  Funny how things keep falling apart around here.  I guess that's life, even in a small town.  We got all cleaned up and went to the museum and it was closed.  Duh; I should know my own town better.  We've had a good day not getting anything really done, but just enjoying sharing some time.  I'm going to go over Hand and Foot canasta with him as soon as I get the blog done.  We've got folks coming to play for Dorothy's birthday tomorrow, so he needs to have a little training.

The weather was much cooler today!  Our high was only 96!  I thank God for some relief in that area!  It's been over 100 since I can remember and many times over 110, so this was a great break!  Most of all today I thank God for a good friend who is a great distraction for me.  I'm a lucky lady to find such a gentleman.  One of Don's classmates believe that Don has sent Lee.  I don't know about that stuff, but I can imagine it could be true.  Don would like Lee a lot and he would like to see me smiling again.

Sleepy people.

I'm working on my blog and Lee is asleep in the recliner.  He was up until 1:30 this morning working on house plans.  Both of us have had a busy day, so I'm all in favor of going to bed early.  I think he needs to be in bed now and I know I'm going as soon as I get this blog done.  I guess it's okay of the hostess goes to bed if the company has crashed, right?  Bless his heart.  We'll get a good start in the morning and go see the Hobart museum I hope.  He hasn't seen it and I think he will love it.  We're both too tired to sight see, though, so I hope a good night's rest will get us in shape for tomorrow.  You can see the vacuum tracks behind Lee;  I'm still tired from yesterday's work.

Saturday is Dorothy's birthday so we're going to play cards here that night.  Tomorrow I'll teach Lee how to play our Hand and Foot Canasta.  I've been over some of the rules with him, but we haven't played.  If he's going to be hanging around southwestern OK, he must learn our game.

I visited Floyd in the nursing home today (Joan's brother).  He is getting weaker and weaker.  They started him on morphine today to help him relax.  This is a tough time for him and for Joan.  God bless them!  I thank God for the treat that Floyd has been in my life.  He did much of the woodworking that makes this house perfect for me.  He build my kitchen bar, and pantry.  He built the back deck.  He installed my bathroom vanities.  He taught me much about all the handyman stuff I do; I was his apprentice.  I pray that God will give him rest and peach as soon as possible; this existence in the nursing home is not a pretty picture.  He tells everyone he loves them, so he's leaving with a precious attitude. One of his sons and his family is coming this weekend.  I thought they might stay here, but they've chosen to stay in the hotel.  Next week his other two sons are coming.  Maybe they will stay here.  The invitation is sure open to them.

The cleaning lady.

This is my cleaning lady.  I thank God that I'm able to clean the house.  There was a time that I could not do it.  It's not an easy thing, but I can do it and I'm grateful that I can.  I did the hard part today.  Tomorrow I'll do some finishing touches; dividing it into two days helps.  Dust just keeps happening; just like the weeds!  They just keep happening and challenge me.  I can do it and I give thanks.  I sure give thanks for Rene, who does my yard; that gives me more time to get the house done.

Joan's nephew and his family are coming this weekend to see Floyd.  They may stay here, so I wanted to be sure the house is in good shape.  Lee is coming tomorrow, so I wanted to be sure and get all the cleaning done before he gets here, too.

It feels good to be able to relax tonight.  All the beds are clean, so I'm ready to entertain!  Dorothy's birthday is Saturday, so I'm hoping a bunch of us can play cards on Saturday.  I thank God for the opportunity to relax and enjoy good times.  I'm amazed to have this time.

Warning: this is disgusting!

Dorothy was having trouble with the commode in her bathroom,   It wouldn't flush right.  It would fill up really high and she was afraid it was going to run over, so she called the plumber.  This sounds like a legend, but it's a TRUE  STORY; I guess this is the wild west!  Anyway, the plumber took his tool called a snake in to snake out her commode and he pulled out this 4 foot long bull snake.  It was alive until he cut off his head.  You can see the head laying off to the right.  Now, I know a bull snake is not poisonous.  I'm usually fairly calm around snakes in the grass; I do my best to keep my distance and let them do their thing as long as it's not directed at me.  But, a snake in the commode is just too freaky!  If it can happen at Dorothy's house, it can happen at MY house!  I'll always be looking before I sit; I can promise you that!  It could happen at your house too, so I tell you this so that you will look before you sit, too!

Okay, disgusting stuff said, I thank God that Dorothy had a second bathroom which she was using when the one started acting funny.  I also thank God that I've never had a snake in my commode.  Wow, the list sure gets long when I start thanking God!  I am richly blessed!

Lee left this morning, but he's coming back on Thursday.  He's working closely with a couple here on some plans to build a house for them.  He had to go back to the city to get some other plans and some pictures of a house he's built there.  It's interesting watching him work, so there is another thing to add to my list of thanks.  He's a great distraction!

The celebration continues.

Birthday breakfast at the Kozy Diner in this pic.  Bob and Dianna bought breakfast for us on my birthday.  It was a fun way to start the day.  It's been a great birthday celebration and I'm not done celebrating.  I'm going to do my best to celebrate something every day as long as I live.  It's a good way of life.

I have lots for which to be thankful and this picture says a lot. Bob is a friend since we were 13.  He brings into my life his wife, who is an awesome friend.  Now into my life steps Lee, who is a new friend and brings so much joy to my life at this stage.  I thank God for His generosity and for all the ways He has blessed me.

Lee goes back to the City tomorrow to work on some plans for a potential customer out here.  He'll be back this weekend with adjustments for them.  I'll go back to digging weeds and transplanting grass.  It's time for me to get back to work.  I've had a few days off, so I'll get busy, again, but I'm going to keep on celebrating!.

These gorgeous flowers are a symbol of the wonderful weekend we've had.  We've enjoyed good times with lots of people.  Today we shared left over veggies with Dorothy that I had made yesterday (added to brown beans and cornbread).  Then we took naps this afternoon and it was already time for church!  Sunday's go by really fast, now that services start at 5 in the evening.  Lee and I came home and had quiche for supper and he's now reading the Sunday paper while I do the blog and we've got oldies playing in the background.  This is really contentment for me!  I fully intended to take a picture of Dorothy with us and the flowers at lunch, but I forgot.  I really hate that I forget to get pictures so often!  I think Lee took this one yesterday, though, so at least I had one to use.  The flowers still look so beautiful; I still can't believe he drove all the way from Oklahoma City with them.

A Happy Birthday!

Imagine that; a happy birthday . . . a happy any day.  I thank God for blessing me with happy days, again.  I had a hard time coming around the corner.  I couldn't even use the word happy until about a month ago.  I could buy good, but happy was pushing my imagination a little far.  Lee has been a real blessing in my life the last several weeks.  He showed up at my door yesterday evening to deliver that beautiful bouquet of flowers behind me.  He also came to help with the estate sale that Joan and I were doing for Floyd.  We finished that around noon today.

This morning Bob and Diana Clark took us to a birthday breakfast, so we started the day off in a special way.  This afternoon we've enjoyed visiting.  I had lots of fresh veggies (okra, squash, green beans and tomatoes), so we spent the afternoon listening to oldies music and cleaning and cooking veggies.  Lee also made a presentation to a couple who are considering letting him build their home.  It's been a relaxing and nice day.  It was my request to stay home and visit and take it easy.  We'll have the left over veggies for lunch tomorrow after church with Dorothy.

Thanks to many of you who called, sent cards or wished me happy birthday on facebook.  I know that all of you wish me well every day and I cherish those wishes and your love.  I feel blessed to have life.  I was not a planned child, but God has always had a plan for me and you.  I thank Him for life and for His plan and provisions.

One tired, but smiling lady.

I got up at 5 to make it to the sale this morning before all the early birds, so I'm really tired.  It was a great day, though.  We've sold most everything, but we'll go back in the morning to sell what's left and celebrate!  I'm so pleased to get to be a part of this experience.  We've met some wonderful people and everyone has gone away happy.

Lee is on his way here to help with whatever we have to do tomorrow.  He'll help me celebrate my birthday tomorrow.  It's nice to look forward to him being here.  He has plans drawn for a house he hopes to get a contract to build in the area, so that's exciting.  I'm looking forward to seeing those plans, too.

I'm not going to see much tonight, though.  I'm so headed to bed.  I made dinner yesterday, so I'm warming it, now.  I think he's been up late working on the plans, so he'll probably be happy to go to bed early, too, but he's welcome to stay up and watch TV.  I hope he'll forgive his hostess for turning in early, but these eyes are barely open; soon I'll have to get toothpicks to hold them open.  Praise God for a great sale.  One of Floyd's friends came and helped us all day and brought her granddaughter, who is a doll.  She'll be 15 in December and is about as precious as my 15 year old granddaughter, Sadie!  In down times today I taught her to play cribbage and spit.  She and I had a great time.  We were both sleepy, but the spit woke us!  She's from Tyler, Texas and was another blessing to me today.  Lucky me.

So much for going to bed early.

It's a great plan to go to bed early, but it's sure not in my wiring to do it.  It's a good thing I'm starting on it now, because it's going to take me some time to get around to it!  Here it is nearly 11:30 and I've got to get up at 5 in the morning.  Tomorrow is the sale we've been working on all week.  It starts at 7 and we have to put some things out at the last minute and be ready for the early birds.  I'm heading over there at 6 and picking up ice on the way to keep our drinks cool.  So, here I am at 11:30 on the computer.  Old habits die hard; I'm working on it!

This picture is one I took this weekend of Bob and Diana's 'new' old house.  This is their 4th old house in Hobart.  Bob is incredible at remodeling and this place will look like a show piece if he lives to finish it.  He has spent all this week working on this place.  His priority is to get the porch fixed so the city will get off his back.  Then he wants to get this one finished as quickly as possible because he has a renter for it.   Sitting on the porch is Bob and Di's son, Forrest, who was coaching right then, but he's a big help.  My friend, Lee, is on the left, then Bob, and then Diana.  I thank God for these great friends and pray that they live to finish all the great plans they have.  This house is one Bob has had his eye on ever since they moved to Hobart, so he's really pretty excited to have it.  It's fun to watch them work, but it's scary to me.  Wow, what big projects they have, and digging up the weeds in my yard is a big undertaking for me.  I stand amazed at them!  I went to school in Japan with Bob, so what a treat it is to have them here in town to keep alive a friendship that is over 50 years old!

Wore ourselves out playing cards!

This picture is my great nephew, Jeremy, and his mom, Zelma.  I took this funeral at the burial of my brother-in-law's brother's funeral last week.  He was Zelma's uncle and Jeremy's great uncle.  It was sure great to see so much family, even if it was a sad occasion.

Today I started the day early and began playing cards at 10 this morning.  We played until after 5!  We took a break for lunch, and we had a wonderful time, but I think we were all worn to a frazzle.  Dorothy and I meant to go to church and then to the cemetery but we were to tired to do either.  I'm turning in early tonight.  I don't hurt anywhere, but I am totally worn to a frazzle.  I had trouble with a contact today, and finally put in a new one around 4.  I'm sure that was part of my problem because it was a struggle all day.  But, we were all tired, so I think we just over-did it.  I thank God for the opportunity to do it, though. and for the precious friends to share it with me.