Excellent Advice on how to Live Your Life

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT

How far you go in life

depends on your being

Tender with the young

Compassionate with the aged

Sympathetic with the striving

and

Tolerant with the weak and strong

because

Someday you will have been all of these

George Washington Carver

Minor High School

Class of 72

Carlynn was one of my closest childhood and school friends

We went to the same church

We attended Crumly Chapel Elementary
Dixie Junior High

and

Minor High School

and

Carlynn was in my wedding

I remember when she told me that the knot on her

neck would not go away

That knot turned out to be

Hodgkin's Disease

Carlynn had the most beautiful

thick Auburn hair

I have never seen a prettier color hair...ever

She was loved and is remembered

A Life Most Ordinary

I have updated my blog again.

It only took a week this time

I laughed as I was doing the posts

How absolutely boring we must seem to people

But

One thing life has taught me is that

Ordinary

is a very good thing

I love being

Ordinary

even

Boring

So

beware of some very

ordinary and boring posts

of an

ordinary and boring life

Just the way I like it!

Just Another Day In (Our) Paradise

Tuesdays With MeMe

was on Thursday this week

The kids spent about 3 hours in

the pool

John

aka

Pops

swims laps while the

Emma, Abby and

John Brady play

Bet you can't Guess

We're go'in to the

Zoo Zoo Zoo

How about

You You You

Yes, we went to the Zoo Monday

Dave had workers for the fence staining

so Lawson and I headed out to the Zoo

He sang the Zoo song all the way to the Zoo

and I have had it stuck in my head since

I thought this was a cute picture

but there is a story behind it

I have as my screen saver on my lap top

a picture of a bamboo forest

When Lawson saw this bamboo

close to the monkey house

he began telling me that it was just like my computer

So

we had to get a picturePlaying in the water at the Zoo

Monkey High Jinks at the Zoo

Lawson loves the Monkey House

He loves running from window to window

and looking at the different monkeys

sometimes the monkeys just don't pay you any attention

this day

this monkey

just seemed to love Lawson

So

the little man wanted his picture made

in front of this monkey

I gladly got out my camera and started shooting

that was when the

high jinks beganYou can tell by the expression on Lawson's

face that he was not sure why the people

around us were laughing

And here I managed to capture the look

on his face when he saw that the monkey

was gladly giving everyone a really good

view of his bottom

AND

finally

Lawson is telling everyone what the

monkey was doing

Oh, yeah

life with a 3 year old!

Where Is Huck Finn When You Need Him?

John and I headed to Birmingham this past Friday to visit with

Courtney and Dave and to help them do some things around the house.

The original plan was to put Lawson's play gym together but due to the ground not being ready

we made a quick change of plans. Courtney had been wanting to weather treat and stain

the fence they put in this time last year. John and I brought our golf cart with us because

we have a big sprayer that we can put on the back.

We started early Saturday morning. We used wood cleaner and

eventually we went to Clorox.

As usual it took so much longer than we expected. You know the way it goes - plan how long it will take and then double it - well, we made the saying true!

Little rain showers weren't helping but, I am not going to complain about rain.

Sunday, after church, we started staining the fence.....

really slow going.

It has to be paint brushed on.

All four of us worked for about a total of 5 hours in between rain showers

and we didn't get but half of one side finished.

John headed home and I stayed to watch Lawson.

Monday and Tuesday, Dave hired some workers and they got almost through Tuesday when

the bottom dropped out and they called it quits.

The fence cleaned and the panel next to it is weatherproofed and stained

Almost finished

It looks great

I Have A Phobia

Yes

I have a Phobia

In my first tell all post

I am admitting to the fact that I have a full blown case of

CLAUSTROPHOBIA

It all began years ago

I always would have that feeling in tight places

I would think to myself

I really don't like this

but it never really affected me

until

I was on an elevator that

FELL

Yes, it fell about 12 floors before the brakes caught

I was in New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl

The Berry cheerleaders

of which Courtney was a member

were a part of the half time show

We were staying on the 18th floor of a hotel

When I got on the elevator it was empty

I went down 2 floors and a security guard got on

We went down a few more floors and around 15 band members got on

I was pushed to the back wall

I remember someone asking the security guard if we were over loaded

he replied

YES

About that time the elevator just started dropping

The doors would slam open and shut at every floor

and

we were going so fast that it was just a continual open and shut

That part is a blur

Everyone was screaming

as the brakes started trying to catch

The elevator stopped about a foot below the lobby floor

The lights went out and everyone was still screaming

It seemed like all the air was sucked out of that elevator

The guard yelled for everyone to be quiet so he could call for help

I really don't remember a lot after that

except

that I reached through all those kids

grabbed the arm of the guard

and

told him to get me off now

He must have believed me

because after begging me not to

he lifted me up where I could climb through that small space to the lobby

I remember a friend that saw me right afterwards said my face was beet red

I climbed the 18 flights of steps after that everyday

AND

I have been climbing the steps everywhere we went since then

BUT

last October I decided I was tired of the Phobia ruling my life

it was getting worse and was affecting me in other parts of my life

I was tired of my friends having to change things because of my Phobia

So

I, luckily, found a great doctor in Tuscaloosa

he helped me get over my Phobia

Now

it is still there

But

I have it under control

and it is a great feeling

So

while
I was on the church youth beach trip

one activity was a message on the refrigerator everyday

the kids (and us) responded to whatever the question was

It did my heart good to see this written on the frig that day

I Love You Central kids!

I'm Back

After a 24 day absence. I am back.

There are times in my life when I just would rather not talk

20 days ago my Mother took her last breath
and I have been quiet

But

I am ready to talk again

So

What follows are several very long catch-up blog posts

June 25, 2010

My Mother

Tressie Kathleen Black Wood

went to heaven

Friday the 25th

I am sure she joyfully joined the rest of my family

My sweet sister, Patsy, who died in a car wreck when she was 18

My handsome brother, Johnny, who also died in a car wreck 20 years later

and my Daddy

My Mother moved to Berry from her home in Birmingham

in 1995

We buried her Monday the 28th

at Elmwood Cemetary

beside my Daddy and Sister

My son, Brady, gave the most sweet and wonderful tribute

I know she was beaming from heaven

and

I was beaming down here

You made me so proud, Son!

After the funeral

we met at Courtney's house

at
Oak Mountain to eat and have fellowship together

Mother - Grandmother - G Mama

She lived a long life

Rest In Peace, Mother

I will miss you

Happily and Sadly.....Playing Catch-Up

John and I celebrated

another Wedding Anniversary on Wednesday, June 23rd

We had planned to celebrate that Friday. Sadly, we didn't get to celebrate

So

Look for the Anniversary celebration post in the next couple of weeks

The ocean was calling.....

We have always taken a 4th of July family trip to

Gulf Shores

It has to be during the 4th so that Josh can vacation with us

during the summer college break

We really agonized over this trip because of my Mother's

health and the oil spill

We actually called to cancel a month before

and we were going to lose $850.00!

So, we finally just decided to go and make the best of it

Brady, Kim, Emma, Abby and John Brady were already in Panama City

with Kim's parents

and

Courtney, Dave and Lawson were also in PCB with Dave's parents
I so dreaded calling them to give them the news about

G-Mama

News like that needs to be given when you can easily all get together

but sometimes it just can't be helped
They all came back home
I know it was a long hard trip

After the funeral we decided to go on down to the beach since we were already paying for 3 days that we weren't there
We stayed in a 4 bedroom condo at Phoenix West. It was beautiful and the pools and Lazy River were fantastic

This was the weather the 2nd day we were there

Weather and Oil

But, the beach was what we needed as a family

It is calming and healing

Big Blob of Oil

After a walk on the beach

The boys playing on my iPhone

Uncle Josh and Erin playing with Lawson

Zero entrance pool

(I wish I could make my pool zero entrance!)

Lobby of the Phoenix West

Playing at The Hang Out

The great water slide at the condo
I think this is Emma

and this is Abby

MeMe's Electronics Central

computer, iPhone and Nintendo DS

The second day when it was so cloudy and rainy

during the morning

We decided to take the kids to the

Gulf Coast Zoo

or if you saw it on the TV special

The Little Zoo That Could

We all loved it

All the animals loved Kim that day

Dave and Lawson feeding the goats

Playing with the Kangaroos

Holding a baby

once again, they all loved Kim

We stopped by the State Pier after the Zoo

The water was too brown to see anything

Walking on the beach

It seemed like the sea gulls were desperate for food

Abby in the lazy river

We grilled steaks one night

The kitchen bar in our condo

Look how empty the parking lot next door to our condo

was on July 3rd

nobody on the beach