HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

ISP PSA.....

my brother, the Indiana State Trooper

AH.....I'VE HAD A REQUEST FOR.....

some info on the wreck. I and three other ladies had been to a library conference in Columbus, OHIO. I drove. It was Friday night; and, we were on our way home. Between 8:15 and 8:30, we were south of the Burns City turnoff and north of the Raglesville turn off. I think it actually happened right about Barnhart Crafts. I was driving along at about 55-60 miles an hour. I'm pretty sure I had my cruise control on. It had been on pretty much the whole way. And BAM.....there was this huge explosion at the rear of the car. I immediately looked for a place to pull off the side of the road and found a little gravel lane right away. I pulled in and another car pulled in right behind me. WE HAD BEEN EFFIN' HIT IN THE REAR END WHILE WE WERE GOIN' DOWN THE HIGHWAY AT 55-60 MPH!!!!! The other driver hopped out of his car and started apologizing. We were all still trying to figure out what had happened. Thank goodness he hit us square. I guess we might have ended up anywhere. We called the sheriff and he came. The other driver told him that his brakes failed. At least that's what the sheriff told me. I did my best to stay away from the imbecile that had just hit me in the rear. No one was hurt, thankfully. We all kinda wondered how he managed to get slowed down, turned in behind us and stopped if his brakes failed. And then, after all the fun stuff was over and we were thinking about finally getting to go home, the sheriff asked him if he could drive his car home. We had noticed some steam coming out from under the hood when he first stopped and he had lost half his front bumper on the highway and the other half was hanging; but, HELLO!!!.....didn't he tell you his brakes failed???? The idiot got in his car and tried to start it. Luckily he had cracked his battery, as well, or I guess the sheriff would have let him back on the highway with a car that had no brakes. He didn't get a ticket but his insurance company didn't bat an eye at paying. It was about a week after that that I realized I had failed to get my driver's license renewed earlier in September. The sheriff totally missed THAT, too. Hope that answers all your questions.

LET'S SEE.....

No pictures with this post. Just a bunch of things (with no details and in no particular order) that have happened recently: I was in a wreck. We celebrated my mother-in-law's 80th birthday. I stubbed my pinkie toe and came close to breaking it from the looks of it. (It's all purple and black on the side and bottom.) Worked two days last week at the Eastside Branch in Washington. I haven't been called to work there for over two years. Cleaned hangers out of our closet. Got my fingernails done. Went to eat at the Golden Corral in Bedford. Got a flu shot. Finally watched "Superbad". Paid some bills. Switched purses. Started reading a Dean Koontz book. Bought a couple of grandgirl coats. Wished I live next to Alton Brown. That's all I can think of for the moment. If you want details for any of these, let me know.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU.....

to the 1150 Riders for another wonderfully successful Memorial Weekend. It never ceases to amaze me at the amount of work and time that these folks and their families put into this event. Tony and I, and on behalf of Tylie, want each of you to know how very fortunate we think Willie was to have you for friends. What you do each year speaks volumes about what you thought of him.

We ask God's blessings on each one of your lives.

FROM THE WATERMELON PATCH.....

something even sweeter!!

ONE MORE WEEK.....

until the Third Annual Willie Walton Memorial Weekend. The Riders have added a map of the ride route on the main page of their website. Be sure and check it out. Please come if you can. Please ride if you can.

AWESOME, AWESOMER, AWESOMEST!!!.....

I just checked the 1150 Riders website and you all did it!!! 30,024 hits in the last two years! Thank you all so much for visiting the site and passing it on to family and friends. Please come to the cook-out on Oct. 3 and help us celebrate Willie's life. If you're a motorcycle rider, join in the ride on Oct. 4.

ODD.....

I just realized I've never gotten any formal pictures of the two older grandgirls in their dance recital finery. HMMMMMMMMM.....

29,528.....

That's how many hits the 1150 Riders have gotten since they put the website up two short years ago. The next Memorial Weekend is Oct. 3 & 4. I'd like to see them get 30,000 hits by then. Everyone pass the word, please!

All proceeds go to benefit the college fund for Willie's daughter, Tylie, who is four years old.

THE COLOR OF.....

the ocean never ceases to amaze me! It really IS this blue.....

WHILE THE GIRLS.....

were here in July, we made a trip to Holiday World / Splashin' Safari one day. These are the only three pictures anyone took. We were too busy habbin' FUN!!

GOTTA LOVE.....

those Jonas Brothers!!!

(Play video)

THESE ARE A COUPLE OF.....

views of the ocean from the beach area where we spent the morning on Coco Cay. We walked far enough down the beach that we got away from about 98% of the other people who also spent the day on Coco Cay. There were lounge chairs and permanent umbrellas every so often even way down past where we decided to stop. The dark area all the way across the water just a little way out from the edge was seaweed lying on the bottom. The water only got about knee to thigh high waaaaaay out. Lots of people were walking and floating out past that dark area where it appears to get lighter again. Since the island is owned by Royal Caribbean, they fed us at lunch; hamburgers, hot dogs, barbecued chicken, lots and lots of salads and fruit and, of course, dessert were offered. And you couldn't walk ten feet without being accosted by someone trying to sell an alcoholic beverage. They didn't have to try very hard with me......LOL It was a really nice day!

I WAS LYING ON MY STOMACH IN THE.....

water on the beach at Coco Cay.....minding my own business, chin in hands, eyes half closed..... when I hear this man say, in a conversational tone of voice, "Did you know there's a jelly fish right beside you?" Needless to say, I hopped up pretty quick and replied, "No, I didn't. And thank you very much!" I grabbed my camera and snapped a few pictures of it. This is probably the best picture of the bunch. It's about 7-8 inches across. Kind of pretty, really. The scallopy edge was a lovely shade of lavender. We heard several people complaining about the jelly fish that day.

OK, THE FIRST THING.....

I want to tell you about our trip is that we had awesome tablemates for the dinner meal. (On a cruise, everyone is assigned a certain table for dinner during the entire cruise.) What a diverse group we were. Of course, there was Tony and me, typical midwesterners.

Then there was the family below. Susan, Sophia and Daniel are a family that has lived all over the world. Susan is from the US and is married to Daniel who is from Honduras. They have a son and a daughter; their daughter, Sophia, was vacationing with them. They have lived in Honduras and Taiwan and now live in Spain. Sophia is going to college in Washington, DC. They were all three extremely interesting people to talk with and Daniel kept the whole table in stitches every evening. He has a really sharp wit!

Next around the table, and on the opposite end from me and Tony, were this daughter and father. Mother could not come because of work. This is Thuy (pronounced "Twee") and Liem. Liem is from Viet Nam. I'm not sure where Thuy was born. Liem lives in North Carolina and Thuy just finished law school in New York City. She took her bar exams right before they came on the cruise. She won't find out until October how she did.

Next around the table were Jimmy, Michelle and Erica. They, too, are from North Carolina and found that they live relatively close to Liem. Jimmy's mother was pregnant with him when the family moved to the US from Greece. So he is a first generation US citizen. He works for an airline. Erica sat right next to me and we had a WONDERFUL talk the first evening. This was her first cruise and she was so excited. The one thing she was looking forward to the most was swimming with the dolphins which she got to do on Wednesday while we were in port at Nassau. She is very grown up for her age and quite a little lady. As you can see, she's going to be a heartbreaker. Dad has his plans made. He has a gun and a boat and won't be afraid to use them. LOL

I can honestly say that I looked forward to dinner each evening knowing that these were the folks with whom I'd be sharing my table.

I'VE BEEN ON.....

vacation. But, I'm back. And, I'll get around to posting some stuff about it. Sooner or later. Probably later. Maybe.

DID YOU KNOW THAT.....

once Play-Doh has been pressed into the sidewalk, it cannot be totally removed except by a torrential rainstorm? (I have submitted photographic evidence below.) And, did you also know that Nana and Papaw don't care because it makes the little girls happy?!

THIS PICTURE.....

of Kristin, getting ready for one of her dance recitals, always makes me think of her Aunt Lauren. *shrugs* Dunno why.....it just does. :-)

OF COURSE!.....

the big girls got their turn playing in the sprinkler by themselves.

TWICE even.....

While THIS one was busily playing in the water.....

the redhead was complaining that she was cold. I told her to go run around the house a few times. LOL She did and it warmed her right up.

And while the older two were playing in the sprinkler, the baby of the bunch was sitting on the porch steps and having a little one-on-one with Papaw.

WELL, WE FOUND OUT.....

that, even though a fancy sprinkler wasn't NEEDED, a fancy sprinkler WAS just as much fun as pouring water on ourselves and each other. (And not nearly as much work seeing as how they didn't have to run back and forth to the faucet!) There was one day when the two older grandgirls were with their other papaw and I had the two younger ones. They got along, for the most part.

But they DID seem to spend an awful lot of time on the porch for one reason or another. Mostly to say that it was cold.

Then they would run back down to the sprinkler for a while.

And then they came up to get chocolate from the little Momma and Nana.

THIS one kept coming up to the porch to say that she wanted a diaper on. I think she had to pee. She wouldn't go inside to the bathroom. It may be a while before she's potty trained. LOL

IT'S A GOOD THING.....

this little girlie is a "lefty". While daughter and the grandgirls were here from Washington State, we went to Holiday World one day. On the way, we stopped at Denny's in Jasper to eat breakfast. THIS one wanted to sit by Papaw; and, partway through her meal, she decided she needed to hang on to him.

He LOVED it!!!

WHO NEEDS THOSE.....

fancy spray toys that you have to hook up to the hose when you've got four little girls, an outside water faucet and something in which to carry the water???

They had a blast pouring water on themselves and each other!!

FAIRIES IN MY YARD.....

WELP.....

today's the day!! (Yes, I know I should be in bed; but, I'm the night owl police. Someone has to round them up.) Anyhoo.....we're going to Indianapolis later in the day to pick up daughter and the three grandgirls from Washington State. They'll be visiting for two weeks. YAAAAAAY!!

AH, WELL.....

I've read some reviews about our ship and perhaps it won't be as bad as I had first thought. We've been on a couple of cruises; but, this is a different cruise line. So, I just won't have any expectations at all. That way I can't be disappointed. :-)

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.