A day at Grandma & Grandpa's ...

Friday night Lisa (my eldest daughter) and Steve (her husband) came down from their home in Virginia to visit before the holidays, since they will be spending them in the mountains to go snowboarding! How fun is that?! Will ask her to send some pictures of their trip for everyone to enjoy. When they arrived we promptly got things set up for a good night's rest.

Saturday morning, as soon as everyone was ready we headed to my parent's house. When we arrived we fixed some lunch and then headed out to work. Since my dad had surgery last week to repair a hernia he was not allowed to do anything strenuous for a while. Mom had mentioned that he had been talking about how bad the yard looked with all of the leaves on the ground, so our visit was two-fold, to visit and to clean up the yard. As you can see in the picture below we finished it off just in time for Bubby's visit.


Jennifer had been practicing with her color guard rifle when he arrived and so he just had to play with it too! Jenn and David (Bubby's dad) are in the background watching on, while Ryan and Lisa take it easy as Sheriff Bubby talks to them about his new job as an officer. He is such a serious little man! As the youngest of three great-grandchildren, he is nearly 3 1/2 years old and a very bright young man. His favorite thing to do when he comes to visit my parents now, is to ask his uncle Greg to show him his computer. Greg plays games online and Bubby thinks that is just too cool!

Before we left Mom & Dad took us out the the workshop and proceeded to pass along some Christmas decorations for the house and yard to us kids and grandkids. It was perfect timing as Lisa was about to go shopping for tins to package up her annual "Christmas Cookies" gifts. She makes the best "Pumpkin" cookies! We also picked out some boxes to store our ornaments in after the holidays are over. Jennifer showed up and chose the lighted sleigh and reindeer for our front yard this year. As we were about to leave Mom took Ryan aside and gave him the pedestal "fog lamp" out of the living room; he was so surprised! I can see it now ... black light ... fog lamp ... playing his electric guitar ... his own private rock and roll stage!


This time Lisa & Steve they managed to see not only Grandma & Grandpa, but also those uncles and youngest cousin Lisa usually misses. Today was a good one for everyone. We got to visit, share a meal, work together, play and laugh, and share our love for each other. Here in the photograph to the left are Bubby, Lisa and Sandra (Neal's fiancée), and Jennifer, Neal, Ryan, and Steve.

When we arrived home from our visit with the grandparents, we settled in for a home cooked meal, a surprise birthday cake and present, and a movie. Time for some rest, we've a Christmas parade tomorrow and it's supposed to be 70 degrees!

Where is "old man winter?" Shhhhhhh!

PS We miss you "Mr.D" ;)
(((((xoxoxoxoxo)))))

A Nice Thanksgiving for All

Today we all gathered at my parents home for an afternoon meal as a family. Though some arrived early and stayed until after the meal, and some came only to eat a desert, everyone made an appearance throughout the day. It was great to see all of my brothers again, and it's an added blessing to know that we will be seeing my oldest brother more often. He has moved back to be nearer to us all and will be living with Mom & Dad temporarily until he has a place of his own. He has already found a job and will begin teaching English grammar to young Marines here on the east coast.


My day was spent with my parents, all four of my brothers and their families, two of my children, and "Mr.D" my boyfriend. We have spent the last two Thanksgivings with his family out in TN, but this year we took a break and opted not to travel too far away from our home here in NC. We missed seeing everyone but took an opportunity to wish them a "Happy Thanksgiving" early in the day.

After everyone had finished their visit at my parents, Jenn headed home with Ashley, and we headed back home for Ryan to spend the night with his best friend. The remainder of our evening will be spent unwinding from the day's events ... sigh ... just "Mr.D" & me. ;)

Thanksgiving in NC this year ...

It's that time of year again, the one where families all around the America gather in celebration of a family tradition of feasting on a turkey dinner complete with stuffing, sweet potato & green bean casseroles, cranberry sauce, and assorted pies.

For the past two years my boyfriend and I have traveled west to TN to spend the holiday with his sister, her husband and their family. I will miss getting to see everyone, we always have such a great time when we visit. It's like a little adventure of our own. Thank you "Mr.D" for sharing your family with me and for spending this year with us in NC.

This year we will enjoy the day spent with family here in eastern NC. It used to be that I had to choose between holidays for visits with my family since we lived nearly seven hours away. It's been so nice living within an hour to all of them, now we can visit whenever is best for everyone.

I thoroughly enjoy being able to sneak down to my parents and spend the night. An evening of conversation, sitting on the sofa with my mom watching an episode of CSI, while my dad sits in his recliner doing crossword puzzles in pen.

So, this week will include preparations for guests, travel, cooking, and visits. We'll have a full house again, but I look forward to having it fuller in the future should our children move closer. Eight is enough sounds really good, it will make for lots of fun and celebrating when we are all closer together.

Paying It Forward

Last Thursday a friend did something extremely nice for me. It was perfect timing as I had taken my van in for a repair that really didn't fit my budget. Her gesture made it possible to have a working vehicle. Without her help I was not sure how I was going to manage. Though we are getting really good at watching how we spend our money, we still have opportunities. Someone I once knew said it best ... "I've done so much for so long with so little that I can do just about anything with practically nothing."

The next day I saw a woman walking alongside the road as I headed into town to work. As I drove passed her I thought about how much I'd hate to be walking all the way to my job should my van quit working. Since I had left a little early I decided to turn around and ask if she needed a ride. Sure enough she did. She worked over on the far side of town so I knew just how long a walk she had ahead of her. Though she was late she was thankful for the ride.

We had a good conversation on the way in, she lives nearby us and has children in the middle school where my children had gone to school. I don't normally pick anyone up but she was not hitchhiking and I had a good feeling about doing something nice for another person in need like myself. Should I see her again I'll be sure to stop and give her a ride. Thanks Lakeisha for allowing me to "pay it forward."

If you have a story about "Paying It Forward" I'd love to hear about it!

Successfully Bridging the Distance

It was four years ago today that "Mr.D" and I met online. We were both on the same dating site and he asked if I'd like to meet him. His profile was both clever and intriguing, so I said yes. His invitation was followed by an email to which I replied and then, within days we had our first phone call. It lasted a little over five hours and we had stayed up all night ... bad, I know! That phone call was followed by many more emails and phone calls. Our following discussions helped us to get to know more about each other and within five weeks of our first contact online, we decided to schedule a face to face meeting.


Having followed all of the safety guidelines for meeting potential dates online, we agreed to meet in a public place for the afternoon and maybe get some lunch. When I drove up to our meeting spot he was already parked waiting for me to arrive. I was so excited that my stomach was in knots. As we approached each other the excitement heightened and I wasn't sure whether to shake his hand or go for a hug. His voice eased my anticipation as he said hello, and as I responded we embraced in a hug that felt like one experienced when saying hello to a dear friend from high school. The weeks of communicating had begun to lay the foundation for a friendship that would soon blossom into more.

Since the day we met face to face (or 3D as I affectionately call it), we have maintained a very strong, successful long distance relationship. Even though this success is due in part to maturity, experience, and a desire to make our lives better together; I suspect our passion for each other, love and laughter lead the way. We share a special love for our family and friends. All our children enhance our joy in life and we enjoy time spent together with each of them.



Though there are geographical miles between us, there is no distance between our hearts. Together we are building our "cake" and the "icing" is oh, so sweet!