Tree House

We live up on a ridge. We are surrounded by tall trees. For about seven months of the year I live in a tree house, hidden away by all the leaves. We are now in the five or so months when the leaves are gone and I have the most beautiful view of a pond, lots of land, a ridge of mountains and the most spectacular sun and moon rises. The way my house is situated I have rooms with views of the eastern and southern skies.

I am usually the first one up in the morning. I sit in the den in the dark and watch the sky. Some mornings I am moved to tears at the beauty.

When we have our Christmas tree up I watch the sky by Christmas light.

When the moon rises, it begins in the den, then it travels into my bedroom, first one window then into another. It ends up in Kaitlin's room. It splashes across her bed. She enjoys sleeping in the moon light.

I am looking forward to having my new windows. I'll have an even fuller view with more windows to see out of. How cool will that be!

War Eagle, Hey

I was born and raised in the great state of Alabama. In the state of Alabama, you are either an AUBURN fan or an alabama fan. Really for me, all games before the AUBURN/alabama game are just preseason. I think I became an AUBURN fan at an early age because I don't remember ever not being one. Neither of my parents went to AUBURN so I'm not sure where my allegiance came from. I always remember having AUBURN shirts to wear and cheering for them. I also remember them losing lots. When I was at AUBURN they lost nine in a row to alabama.(Not that I was at AUBURN for nine years but the years I was there was during that time.)

When my children were little I taught them all the fight song and several cheers. I did clean up the cheers a bit. Andrew was at his first pep rally as a freshman when he learned what the real words were to some of them were :).

AUBURN has beaten alabama for the last six years. I can hardly believe it. They at alabama can't believe it either. I know my worth is not in who my team beats but I sure feel good when AUBURN beats alabama.

Kaitlin's 1/2 Birthday

Today is Kaitlin's 1/2 birthday. This year she was 22 on the 22nd. A golden birthday. We celebrated her 1/2 yesterday by going to the movie and seeing August Rush. It was touching. I'd like to get the soundtrack from it. We ate supper at the movie. Kaitlin ate a hot dog. Most of you know that is her favorite food group. I have to limit her to one a month. She has had two this week! Isn't that what the holidays are for?

What a blessing Kaitlin is. I am thankful for her and hope we have many more 1/2 birthdays to celebrate.

A Recipe from Nancy Reagan

I believe this tradition started when we lived in Pine Bluff. I got a recipe for Monkey Bread from Carl's sister, Marian. She said that Nancy Reagan fixed it for her family every Thanksgiving. Well, we gave it a try and it is a keeper. This Thanksgiving we will be on the road. The monkey bread is made and in the car for eating as we drive. Here is the recipe

4 cans of biscuts( 10 count)
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 t cinnamon
12 T butter

Put half the butter in your bundt pan. Put it in your oven at 350. Cut up your biscuts into quarters. Place in a gallon ziplock bag with the cinnamon and sugar. SHAKE. Melt the rest of the butter in the microwave. Take pan out of oven. Place the well coated biscuts plus rest of cinnamon/sugar in the pan. Pour melted butter on top. Bake for 45 minutes. MMMMM

I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Take my daughter, Please

Carl is involved with the scout troop that is sponsored by our church. He so enjoys working with guys this age and helping to shape them into the men. These young men often ask Carl to speak during their Eagle Courts. An Eagle Court is a very moving ceremony. Carl has several points he likes to make plus he brings in things he knows about the new Eagle Scout. He will add in a point about a particular camp out or merit badge that was meaningful to both of them. I always cry when he talks because his talk is so personal and inspirational.

There was an Eagle Court last night at our church. Carl spoke.

Now I must set up another part of this story--- Lots of people in our church want to fix Kaitlin up with different guys. It is gotten to be at joke between me and Kait and Carl. Two of the guys came to the Court last night. She was in a room off of the place where the court was being held. She had to be there because a scout mom wanted to see her pictures from previous courts. I sent her texts when each of the two guys showed up. We just laughed.

Ok, now we are back in the Court of Honor. Carl had just given his moving speech. The next speaker comes up to talk. You can tell he has been moved by Carl's speech and all the ceremony that goes on at an Eagle Court. He began his talk and you could tell he was very impressed with this young man. He told stories about when they went to Youth Camp and how this young man had a heart of gold. He said that this new Eagle made his job as pastor very rewarding. And then he said " I'd be happy if you would marry my daughter"

I gasped. Did I hear that right? Was this man's daughter here? What does the new Eagle think of this development? He had been given a walking stick to symbolize his trail to Eagle and some coals from different campouts so he could keep the 'flame of ssouting' burning. Now a wife! My phone vibrated in my pocket. Kaitlin sent a text that said - Papa can't ever say anything like that!!!!! I showed Carl. He said that he would add that in as a new twist to his next talk as his eyes twinkled!

I know the speaker was caught up in the moment and to offer your daughter is a very high compliment.

I'll let you know when the next Eagle Court is that Carl is speaking at. It could be interesting.

Andrew's 1/2 Birthday

We celebrate 1/2 birthdays. It started with my mama. I was born on her 32 1/2 birthday. I love April 7th, my birthday. But I also love October 7th.

When my children were small the celebrations of a 1/2 birthday helped me mark just how quickly they were growing up. As they got a little older they enjoyed a few perks. They didn't have to do school on their 1/2 birthday. They could pick a movie to watch while we ate the lunch they had picked out. If we ate out , they could pick the restaurant. Also, I would put lotion on their feet and comb their hair if they so desired.

Today I will love on Andrew from afar. I will wish him Happy 1/2 Birthday wishes in a text or on Facebook or maybe even in a blog!

What a wonderful 25 1/2 years it has been. Andrew you are a blessing

Facet Injections Part II

Yesterday at this time I was eating with KimT at IHOP. My goal was to hydrate myself in the hopes that that would help with getting a good IV stick. Thank you for all who prayed. This trip was a dream. Carl came home and we left at noon. I was finished checking into the hospital at 12:36. The nurse who took care of me was , Carolyn. I told her she had been prayed for today. She thanked me. First try and she had the IV going. What a blessing. I knew I had drugs in me when as they rolled me into the operating room I told them all I loved them! I have a history of saying interesting things while under the influence. I was aware of lots of things but was not bothered by them. A sweet nurse, Kerry, held my hand. Carl and I were in the car on the way home by 2. I went right to bed. Carl put the TV station on that plays continuous Christmas music. I woke up at 5 pm. I stayed up til 10 watching Project Runway with Kaitlin.

One movement that was painful enough to wake me up was rolling over in the bed. I had forgotten that. So I gingerly get in the bed and roll over. NO PAIN. I rolled again. HA I almost laughed out loud. NO PAIN. Poor Carl probably didn't sleep much last night because I tossed and turned all night just because I could.

I feel sore today at the injection sites. I still feel great but some of that is pain reliever that was injected. I should know more in a few days if the injections 'took'. I am to sit for a few days to allow all swelling to go down.

My spirit is soaring!

Lots of Stuff

In June Carl, Kaitlin and I went to see Andrew and his new apartment in Valdosta, GA. He had been in his apartment only a few weeks and had traveled a great deal since moving in so we helped him unpack. Well, really, we unpacked him while he was at work. I stood in his kitchen knowing that soon this would be Taylor's kitchen and tried to think how would she like things unpacked. After two days all the boxes were unpacked and put in a storage area and things were in order, mostly.

Andrew has a lot of sports memorabilia. Lots of AUBURN pictures, programs from games, pennants, flags and his AUBURN football helmet just to list a few, then we get into his baseball collection. We set up the second bedroom as the sports room.

Fast forward to November. Carl and I went to see Andrew and Taylor in their apartment. It is fun to see a feminine touch in the apartment. We slept in the sports room. Taylor has a desk with shelves in there now. She has her pictures from college around the desk along with fun pens and girl stuff. As I was looking at the desk and thanking God for Taylor I realized that there were baseballs amongst her stuff on the shelves. In protective cases of course. The verse came to me.... And the two shall become one. His stuff and her stuff in now their stuff. The two having to find a way to blend and become one. I loved my new daughter in law even more for having the baseballs in with her stuff.

A Challenge for you!

My friend , Sue, at Septemberwhimsy.blogspot.com and I have enjoyed reading a blog at palmtreepundit.blogspot.com. She is involved in a TBR challenge. Sue and I have modified it a bit to suit us and hope you would like to join.

TBR- To Be Read. Don't you have some books you bought and intended to read but just never got around to them. Well here is your chance to let us hold our collective feet to the fire so to speak. Pick out 6 books that you own and need or want to read. Let's give ourselves the whole of 2008 to read them. Write them down. You can send your list to me and I'll post it if you like. I'll post mine as soon as I'm finished picking them out. Let us start January 1st.

I'd like to see what everyone else is reading but then that will lead me to want to buy more books. Oh well! Such is the life of a bibliophile.

But you look so normal

Kaitlin was with a group of friends. They were talking about schools they had gone to and experiences they had had. One guy spoke up and shared that his father had been one of his teachers in high school. Kaitlin just listened. Finally, another home schooler in the group, Corrie, asked Kaitlin if she ever had her dad as a teacher. She said that she had him for mostly math questions because her mom had done most of the teaching. Corrie concurred. The guy was not understanding. "Oh, your parents are both teachers?" Kaitlin and Corrie just laughed. They knew what was coming. " We were home schooled" Stunned silence. Then the classic response. "But you look so normal."

We are working on good comebacks for this: We have had our medicine today, You really don't know us yet, looks are deceiving... Have you got a good comeback?

THE WORLD SERIES - by Andrew

Last week I had the opportunity to go to game 4 of the World Series in Denver, CO. I flew out of Huntsville, Ala. at 7 am.

***SIDE STORY***
As we sat on the tarmac in Huntsville, we had an "instrument that we needed for flight stop working" (pilots words, not mine). They called maintenance and we sat there for 30 minutes until we found out that maintenance was still 30 min away. After another 10 minutes, the engines and lights on the plane went off and then came back on. I turned to the person next to me and said, "They just restarted the plane, the instrument will work now". Then the pilot comes back on and says, "Well folks, it appears that the instrument has fixed itself and we will be on our way now". When you computer stops working, what is the first thing that you do? RESTART THE COMPUTER! I COULD'VE FIGURED THAT OUT, HAVE NONE OF THE PILOTS EVER WORKED A COMPUTER! I'M JUST GLAD WE FINALLY TOOK OFF.
***END SIDE STORY***

We landed in Dallas and I had to sprint to my next gate. I made my flight and landed in Denver at 11:30. Money met me at the gate and we took the shuttle to the Fairfield Inn. After "suiting up" in our BoSox gear, we headed downtown. We ate lunch at Lodo's Bar and Grill for lunch. After a burger and reuben, we headed to Coors Field. We walked around the stadium and then went in 2 hours before the game. Our seats were in the upper deck, in the bend at Right field. We were 7 rows below the the purple seats, which denote 5,280 feet from sea level.

The game was exciting, and more than a bit tense, but when Papelbon came in in the 8th, I knew the ballgame was over. My favorite part of the game was the celebration. We celebrated from the upper deck and then walked down behind the dugouts. We saw the trophy, Mike Lowell's world series MVP trophy and my favorite player Jacoby Ellsbury.

It was a wonderful experience and I really enjoyed seeing the Red Sox win the World Series.

Carl's thoughts from the World Series

What an experience! Andrew invited me to go with him to the 4th game of the 2007 World Series. Boston Red Sox were leading 2-0 and they were headed to Denver to continue play with the Rockies. Andrew got a herd of people to get on the Rockies website to get tickets for the 4th game on Sunday night. We were encouraging Ellen to go, but understand her back was not up to it.. also she would have to fly by herself.. So without anyone else to go (haha.. i was so excited to be invited), we made travel plans. I had to be in Tulsa for noon of Monday the next day, so flying to Denver was gonna be close.....

I started my trek at 4:30am on Sunday, getting up and dressed in Boston RED. I got to the airport for a 6:30am flight. Then to St. Louis, KC, then to Denver landing at 11:30am Rocky time. Andrew arrived 2 gates away within 15minutes.

Grabbed the shuttle to the hotel and checkedin, then back to the airport to catch a shuttle downtown to the the stadium.. got downtown about 2:30pm.

Ate at a bar/grill by the stadium... busy with fans and NFL watchers... we ate with the Denver Buffalo Bills club, what a sad lot...haha....

We walked around the Denver stadium, I was surprised that there wasn't more hype for the World Series??? but then this is Denver. (BTW, Boston Red Soxs took the 3rd game on Saturday night, so if they won the 4th, they are the World Champions!!

Andrew bought a stack of programs for soveniors, but we had to lug them around the rest of the time. I bought pins and a bear for Katyloo... We ran out of steam and sat to wait for the gates to open at 5pm. Andrew walked and took some pics and we marveled at the diversity of mankind.. or maybe just how mankind can be diverse in actions and dress.. Saw one guy and made us think of Katyloo.. he had on a purple shirt and purple cowboy boots..

When the gates opened we walked up to the seats and took some pictures, before the game Andrew walked around the stadium to take pictures. I sat and rested. We were almost a mile high.

I liked the opening ceremonies... especially the F16 flyovers! Actually we were facing the sun and it was a beautiful sunset over the Rockies.

It was interesting to me how many Rockies fans were clueless about the game or the players, but then, I wasn't much better knowing names and some of their positions. It was a tense game.. close to the end 4-3, but what an excitement to be at the game that clinch the World Series of 2007 for Boston!

We gathered all our stuff and walked down to behind the Rockies bench and watched the ESPN, FOX Sports and other media, as well as the players as they came out for the champagne celebrations in the locker room. The MVP trophy, the World Series trophy, the interviews, the Japanese media swarming the Japanese players, the Sox fans covering the lower seats! We stayed for awhile and then walked down the street to catch a cab. The cab driver was a scream, he had people cutting him off, stopping in front of him, slowwin down, he just made funny comments...

We got back to the hotel at 11:30pm and only got 4 hrs sleep to get back to the airport to get to Tulsa.

2 World Series tickets - 180
1 hotel room - gratius
2 plane tickets -220+
World Series game with your son - Priceless!

Carl