JUST WONDERFUL.....

(NOT). Tony told me last night, after surfing the web (he likes to check out reviews when we're taking a trip somewhere), that the ship we're cruising on is the smallest and oldest ship in the whole cruise line. But it's been refurbished. That should make everything just peachy. My bad.

CRUISE ITINERARY.....

Mon., 8/10 - Fly from Cincinnati to Orlando
Shuttle from Orlando to Port Canaveral,

approximately 45 min. to an hour
Spend (what feels like) 13 1/2 hours waiting to board the ship
(I've done this before)
Leave port approximately 4:30 p.m.

Tues., 8/11 - 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. / Cococay, Bahamas
Private island owned by cruise company

Wed., 8/12 - 7:00 a.m. to 11:59 (nothing like being specific) p.m. / Nassau, Bahamas

Thurs., 8/13 - Cruising (what ELSE would you do on a CRUISE?)

Fri., 8/14 - 7:00 A.M. (I'd like to have a talk with the person responsible for THIS!)
Arrive back at Port Canaveral and deship (is that a word?)
Cool our heels SOMEwhere while we wait for the (probably) afternoon
departure back to Cincinnati

EEEEEEEEEEEEK!!!!

I CAN'T WAIT!!!

OH.....MY.....GOSH!!.....

WE'RE GOING ON A CRUISE IN LESS THAN 5 WEEKS!!!!! (More later.)

PLEASE CHECK OUT.....

the 1150 Riders' website. They've put info up about the Third Annual Willie Walton Memorial Weekend. Let everyone you think might be interested know about it!

BETTER LATE THAN.....

never. These pictures are from back in June when I went to the dance recital. The dancing was excellent and the trip was a pure joy for me. I don't get to see these girls nearly enough! (Please notice the authentic "ballerina-style" hairdos.)

These pictures were all pre-recital. They were very excited both before and after the dance. They chattered like little chipmunks. :-)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY.....

Shannon!

SO, ON THE PLANE.....

on the way home from seeing the grandgirls, when the beverage cart came around, I thought I'd be all cool and sophisticated and act like I flew every week and actually knew what the heck I was doing. I ordered wine, "White, please and thank you very much." I handed the flight attendant my debit card (they prefer that, you know) and she charged me the 6 bucks I was expecting, handed me a short plastic cup and a small plastic bottle of wine. But then.....my true self showed right through when I drank it straight from the bottle. (Really now, why waste the time pouring plus take the chance you'll hit some turbulence and spill it all over yourself and your seatmates??)

TOMORROW.....

is THE day!!!!

Grandgirls, Nana is on her way!

I'VE ADDED.....

some new blogs/websites to my list. Check them out.

ONLY 9 DAYS.....

until my trip to the Great Northwest. I've told my daughter that I want to eat seafood every day. I've been told "no problem". They all love it, too. I also intend to do lots of hugging and kissing. I haven't seen the girls since Christmas, and I've got about 6 months worth to get rid of. Get ready girls!!!!!

You, too, little Momma!

OUR NEAR GRANDGIRL.....

was at our house this weekend. Tylie will be four in August. We also went to a graduation party for one of my nephews. Naturally, we took her with us. We talked all day Saturday about going to Trevor's party. And we practiced his name and the fact that he was her cousin. (First cousin once removed, but still a cousin.) She was curious about him once we got to the party and he was pointed out to her. She asked where he was approximately 37 times. At one point, I asked her if she wanted to go talk to him. She, of course, said yes. We went to find him and she told him some long-winded story about her mother. We also went and took a look at his cake.

Afterward, as we were leaving the party, Ty became upset because we hadn't seen Trevor blow the candles out on his cake. I'm not sure she ever understood the difference between a birthday and a graduation.

I'M A TERRIBLE.....

Nana. In just four weeks, I'll be traveling to Washington state to go to a dance recital. It's been nearly a year since the last one and I didn't post Kristin's picture from last year. *Nana hangs her head in shame* THIS year, we'll be having TWO dancers. I promise to do better. In the meantime, here's a "sort of" preview. (I absolutely ADORE those flowers!!)

HOW COULD YOU.....

absolutely NOT fall in love with them instantly. No matter WHO you are..... :-)

IT'S THAT TIME.....

of year again. It comes around like clockwork. Tony starts spending more and more time with his "girlfriends". (At least I think they're girls.....he calls them b*****s when they cause him trouble.) And being the kind, wonderful, loving and understanding wife that I am, I even offer to bring him food while he's spending time with them. On this particular day, he was doing double-duty. Running the loader (loading lime into the spreader).....

and then running the spreader

On this particular lunch run, I made a friend. There was a house just right across a lane from the field. This little dog (I'll call him Buddy.....'cause, uh, that's what he turned into.) came slinking over to where Tony and I were sitting in the car eating. He didn't get REAL close to the car, but close enough to smell that we had FOOD. I'm a sucker for a "please feed me" face. So I pitched him a few bites. When I went to ride a round with Tony, Buddy went over and lay down in the shade to wait for me. And when I got done, he follered me back to the car to see if there were any tidbits left over. I pitched him a deep-fried mushroom; and, I think he ate it. Altho, he didn't swallow it whole like he did the tenderloin earlier. He's a cutie.....don'tcha think?

He has, what we thought to be, one of those invisible fence boxes on his collar. I don't think it was working.

I WENT TO.....

a dance recital this evening. My youngest niece, Liz, who will be 7 next month, danced two dances. I always enjoy going to dance recitals. I don't know why I don't go to more of them. I have managed to go to all three that my grandgirl, Kristin, has been in. All three were in Texas. I'll be going to her fourth one in June. This time I will be traveling to Washington state. PLUS.....another grandgirl, Hannah will be dancing this year, as well! I got a preview of their ballet costumes and they are adorable :-) Expect a few pictures.

HELLO AGAIN.....

It's been quite a while since I posted. We've been through a lot. Everyone is okay. I won't bore you with the details. It's Spring! The sun is shining. Things are looking up. Perhaps I'll find a little something to talk about every day. (Yes, I remember promising to write about something good or nice or funny every day. Just trust me when I say that there have been several days in the past few months when none of that happened.)

I FEEL SO.....

guilty about not posting lately; but, I just haven't felt like it. And, since I've been staying pretty close to home for the past 7 weeks, I just haven't seen or heard anything much to comment on or to get me all riled up. We've made several trips to Indianapolis since the surgery. Probably a few more than normal. I went into surgery with a problem on my right side and came out with a problem on my left side. We've all been debating about what caused the problem. It's hard to say and right now we're trying medication to see if that helps. If it doesn't, the surgeon is going to go back in and take out the two left screws. It will be an outpatient procedure, thank goodness. But, nevertheless, it's been extremely frustrating; not to mention painful. I went from limping on my right side to limping on my left side. I'm still using a walker to get down the steps outside and a cane to walk around with. *sigh* I didn't want to get on here and whine but sometimes that's just the only thing I can do. (And, yes, my kitchen looks somewhat like the picture and I've been spending a LOT of time in my flannel jammies. But I can't sit on the floor with my legs crossed like that.)

Angie (Boyd) Gibson gave birth to her twin girls on Thursday the 5th due to toxemia and some other medical issues. The girls are very small, one is 1 pound 14 ounces and the other is just over 2 pounds. They are at St Mary's in Evansville. Please pray for Angie, her husband, and these two precious girls. Also pray for their family. Thanks for your prayers.

WHEN I CAN.....

sit up in this chair for more than 3 minutes at a time, I will catch everyone up on what's been going on. For now, suffice it to say that we had a great Christmas and have enjoyed tremendously having all the grandgirls here and seeing them interact.

MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE!

ONLY.....

1 MORE DAY.....!!!

ONLY.....

2 MORE DAYS.....!!!

ONLY.....

3 MORE DAYS.....!!!

THE SUGGESTION BOX.....

is back. Knock yourself out.

ONLY.....

4 MORE DAYS.....!!!

ONLY.....

5 MORE DAYS 'TIL I GET MY CHRISTMAS PRESENTS!!!!!

BECAUSE OF THIS BUM BACK OF MINE.....

I've done 90% of my Christmas shopping online this year. It's been awesome. Just sit here in my jammies and window shop (surf) as long as I want and save all that wear and tear on my poor old body. Plus, the selections are so numerous. Any store you can think of and LOTS you didn't even know existed are online. You're not limited to whatever is at the mall. You can have it sent wherever you want. Makes hiding stuff so much easier. I'm just amazed every time I sit down to look for something. I'll most likely do it like this forever now. It's just too cool!!

I'M TIRED.....

of looking at that turkey. So, until I can come up with something witty to say about Christmas, here are some traditional icons of the holiday season.