A Great Time In Savannah With The Girls

I had so much fun meeting up with the girls in Savannah GA. We all agreed that 2 full days just wasn't enough time. We visited Paula Deens shop and ate at her restaurant. The food was seriously yummy.

Waiting in line just to reserve a lunch spot

Chicken.. part of her buffet.

Crab cake beans & rice

Fried Green Tomatoes
We hitched a ride on a trolley which took us around the historic district and also gave us our bearings and where we wanted to go back to.
The most exciting for me, was sneaking out in the early in the morning while the others still slept and taking pictures of some of the arcitecture in the city.

We all did a lot of walking and a lot of shopping. Some of the shops were just too cute. Enjoy the rest of the pictures of this and that.

Savannah here I come!

So, I haven't been on for quite a while, but then again I've had nothing really to blog about. Sometime in June while visiting my Tampa family I suggested we have a girls weekend. Because I was the one who opened my mouth, the girls asked where I thought I might want to go. Looking around and seeing 3 generations, I suggested Savannah GA to visit Paula Dean's Lady and Sons and on our way back, stop by St. Augustine.
As of today's post, we have 7 girls going, myself, my daughter, my sister-in-law, her mother and 3 nieces. It should be a lot of fun.
We're planning the trip for the weekend following labor day.
I'll keep y'all posted and will be sure to take pictures of our journey to share with you.
Oh yeah I forgot to tell you...... 3 days after returning from our girls weekend, I leave for Hawaii for a month. It'll be a long month but worth it since I get to care for my mom and give my family there a much deserved break. I'll make sure to keep you posted on that as well.. alrighty then, we'll talk again soon :)

Mark The Family Man

Mark & Jen

It was so good to see Mark again and to meet his family. It's been a very long time and he really wanted to talk with my husband. After dinner, the two of them went for a walk and did a lot of talking. Mark mentioned he was tired of the Ohio cold and was thinking about moving our way. My husband told him to make sure to complete his schooling prior to making that move. Their children are adorable, very polite and both have a great disposition. The visit was short and I'm sure we'll see them again soon.

Aurora

Carter

Where's Mark?

I met Mark a looong time ago, in fact, it feels like a lifetime. Mark is about 2 years older than my daughter and the two of them used to babysit for my family and a bunch of friends when we had our group evenings out. We'd have everyone bring the kids to one house and the 2 of them would watch the little ones. One day we came home to find a stinky diaper on the kitchen counter, toys everywhere and a couple of slices of pizza's on the ceiling and on the rotating fan. Needless to say it was a very bad nite for the sitters which they had a lot of cleaning to do after the other parents took their children home.
Mark is now a grown man with 2 children of his own. While we all (my husband & his brother) moved to Florida, Mark, still lives in Ohio, we all love Mark as if he was blood family. Mark and my daughter still remain friends till this day and we all can't wait to see him.
Mark bought a one way ticket for his wife to Florida while he and his children drove. He'll travel through the rest of Ohio, through Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia and half of Florida. What would normally take 13-16 hours of driving, will take him longer because of the children. He left Wednesday evening, as of last night, he was in Macon GA that's still another 6 hours or more of driving before he reaches us. Poor Mark I don't know what possessed him to drive alone with 2 small children. I'm hoping to see him sometime today if not tomorrow and will be sure to take lots of pictures.
Until then laterz..

To & From The Hospital

The one thing about traveling to & from the hospital this past week was taking the back roads in the country. It was a relaxing start & finish to our long day.

My daughter was finally released yesterday and is relaxing in the comfort of her own home.

The one thing my husband and I have learned and will never question, is her husbands love. We knew my son-in-law loved our daughter but what we didn't know how deep his love for her was. Now we know. We love him more today than we did before this all began and know we never have to worry about my daughter in regards to her and her husband.

Enjoy the country scene we passed through on our daily run.

How Not To Deliver Bad News

It's 8:00 AM and my son-in-law calls. The first thing out of his mouth is "don't worry she's fine but Chantel is in the ER. " I'm not the type of person who swears but I wanted to say WTF. It all began last Monday when she started to feel sick. She had called off of work every couple of days that week and had even gone to the doctor.
Friday night, her husband gave her the bed and slept in the living room, he doesn't know what woke him but at 3:30 AM he did and went to check on his wife. She was shivering really bad and he had noticed her lips turning purple. Lucky for them, they live about 10 minutes from the nearest hospital.
When he brought her in with the chills, they placed about 8 heavy blankets on her, in less than 20 minutes, she spiked a fever of 104 (this went on for hours). It took them 12 hours to finally figure out what was wrong. They found a kidney stone when they did a cat-scan. My daughter has chronic back pain and told them that so they never thought about her kidneys when she complained about her back. Apparently, the stone had been there a while and the toxins started to build up which affected her kidneys and then her blood. After the surgery and medication, she is still in the hospital fighting off the infection along with low white cell count, high blood pressure, fever and various other ailments.
The hospital food taste like crap so between my husband and I, my sister-in-law and niece, we've been bringing in home made food for her meals.
Well, I have to sign off and head to the hospital. I'll check in a bit later... Have a Great Day all:)

He Now Knows The Secret In Death

As I sit hear watching Michael Jackson's memorial on CNN, I'd like to share my thoughts with you regarding Michael. Regardless of what some people may have thought about him during his hard and personal life regarding "the incident" Michael above all was an entertainer who we all grew up with no matter what our age. Michael was a person, a human being who cared and had feelings like you and I, he did much, not only for our country but others as well. Who cares how many surgeries he had, that was his thing not ours. He is gone and he will have to answer to the man up stairs. Only God can judge him and his life be it good or bad. I pray he is at peace and my thoughts and prayers go out to his family, friends & loved ones. Michael is where he is, he now knows the secret in death.

Fireworks

It was a great ending to a beautiful day. I hope y'all had a great 4th of July whether it be with family, friends or just by yourself. My husband and I spent our day separately but hooked up later that evening to watch our community firework display. As we were parking our car, the show just started. I changed the settings on my camera because I didn't want the conventional look. Here's what the setting changed did. Enjoy!

That Darn Cat

I was feeling so bad for Tiger this morning and thought about him all day till it was time to pick him up. If you remember from a prior post, today was the day that we scheduled Tiger to be fixed. I had nothing to worry about, the girl who brought Tiger to us said they were lucky cats didn't talk because if they did, they would have gotten an ear full from my cat. They said she was making it known very loudly that she was not happy. Sure enough, we brought her home and let her loose in the spare room (once we kitty proofed it) she went to the bathroom, drank some water grumbled a bit then went to sleep. Such a male:)
I live in a city called Lakeland, all around the town they have sculptures of swans with different logos, pictures (themes), below is the swan in front of the SPCA where Tiger was fixed.

My Contribution To Lessen The Pet Population

We found Tiger at a yard sale almost a year ago. He was just laying there watching all the people come and go. I made a comment to the woman there about how great I thought he was. She told me he had been abandoned and told I could have him if I wanted. We drove off without him but turned around and took him home. We haven't regretted that decision, but it's time to get him fixed. Little does Tiger know that in just 4 days part of his manhood will be snipped.

A Fresh New Day

It was a warm & sunny day yesterday. After all the rain we've been having, everything seemed so vibrant it's as if the gloom had been washed away. The hibiscus bush outside my house have tons of buds and flowers in full bloom. Enjoy!

My Rainy Day

At first it was just a drop here and there, next thing I knew, it dumped. Mind you, I didn't mind as I love the rain. It makes things feel fresh and new again. The smell is delicious.

Along with the rain came the thunder and lightning show. The thunder was so loud, if you can imagine bowling party in heaven and with every strike came the lightning.

Kona the dog and Tiger the cat jumped and shivered every time someone bowled a strike. It's another cloudy day and we expect more rain which is fine by me. We're on water restriction and most lawns are brown not to mention the ponds need filling.

My niece came over with the photo's from the photographer. The photographer took 700 pictures, trashed about 200 and gave her 500. Of the 500, about 375 are usable and of that, 100 pictures good enough to use in her album and blow up. We both agreed that there were many missed opportunities. The exchanging of rings were the back of their hands and the first kiss is the back of her head. Never fear I was there to capture the lip lock and caught both his and her ring exchange. I have about a dozen pictures of the flower girl compared to their 2. You know in the back of my mind, I thought I need to be inside guiding the guest to the reception and bar area that the photographer has it under control. After seeing the results, I wish I was outside helping with the pictures. When I compare her photographer to my daughters, there is no comparison. My daughters pictures came out way better for a lesser cost. I warned my niece in the beginning not to use that photographer even though she's a friend of her moms. I felt she was priced too high, well it's too late now :(

My husband came home not long after that, she grabbed him to the couch while they laughed and reminisced over the pictures. We still haven't given her a wedding gift, we want to take our time to let things settle before we decide what to give them. My husband and I are very close to her, she's like our second daughter and she and my daughter are like sister's. She gave my daughter fair warning that she had better hurry and get pregnant before the end of next year because after that, she's going for it. Ohhh the pressure my daughter is feeling.

Time to end.

Have a bloggy day!

Fathers Day

For some reason, I've started and deleted this particular blog 3 times.
The fist one was about my dads last breath and how I wish, had I known earlier that morning, I would have tried to wake him up. Thinking of the way he went, I know I'd want the same. My brother was playing dads favorite Hawaiian song on the guitar as my father took his last breath.
The second was an open letter to my dad thanking him for the life he gave me. Dad was a great man who had compasion, love, intergrity and loyalty. He with the help of mom, raised 8 great kids on a pilots income.
The third was a combination of the first 2 and was way too long.

My final....
Thank-you Dad for everything.
I love you and I'll see you someday in the heaven we all believe there to be.
Until we meet again....
Aloha,
Barb

You Had To Be There Moment...It was sooo funny!

My brother-in-law came in last night from out of state and found our house just fine.

This morning he drove to Orlando to take an 8 hour test for his FL HVAC (heating & air) license.

After my husband finished work, he drove to the testing site so his brother could follow him back to the house. His brother must have been on the phone because while they both exited the freeway, somehow my brother-in-law began to follow what he thought was my husband. Luckily the truck he followed took him to our subdivision. When the truck pulled into the driveway, my brother-in-law wondered why my husband pulled into the driveway which he knew wasn't ours. The occupants of the truck both got out pointing at him telling him they have 911 on the phone and wants to know why he followed them home. My brother-in-law was so embarrassed and apologized saying he thought he was following his brother. They all had a good laugh. The people didn't know us but knew our truck and directed him to our home.