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Hurricane Holiday

It finally passed Jacksonville and was not as bad as we had anticipated.

Today I made my way back to the office after an impromptu holiday starring hurricane Dorian.

It was quite a surprise to learn that the company decided to close the building on the Tuesday and Wednesday following Labor Day.  Fortunately hurricane Dorian moved away from the Florida coast and spared us from the devastation that was anticipated.  Although there have been reports of trees down and beach erosion, it turned out to be merely a breezy day inland.

Everyone is now breathing a sigh of relief, as Northeast Florida has winded down emergency measures and returned to normal.

My daughter-in-law captured the sentiment in this photo of Lydia and Rory which she captioned

“What Hurricane?”#hurricanedorian #muddypuddles #puddlejumping #lydiaruth⭐️ #auroramiriam✨

With nowhere to go for two days, I spent my homebound storm stint working on my customary hurricane pastime:

Scrapbooking

Many Years ago, Mama got me started scrapbooking with a selection of tools and this giant green album from Creative Memories.  Part of the fun was getting together with others (Mama and Gina) to share tools and ideas for crafting a creative page to add to one’s scrapbook.

Back then I would combine photos from various years to create a theme, like these “school days” pages featuring school portraits of Stephanie, Amanda, and Richard spanning from 1991 through 1997:

More recently, I began working on new albums.  I have one for each of my kids:

My newest album is dedicated to My adventures with LB

and Elvis, of course:

I still have a lot of work to do on this scrapbook photo album.  Maybe we’ll have another [uneventful] storm day that I can dedicate to doing just that!

~

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

Friday Favorites

There is only one thing better than a FRIDAY…

and that one thing is a Friday to begin

A THREE DAY WEEKEND!

And although that ought to be my favorite # ONE, I’m going to begin my Friday Favorites with last weekend…

Favorite # ONE

Backstreet’s Back

A Backstreet Boys concert has been an item on my bucket list since the creation of my bucket list!

LB and I headed to the Amway Center last Saturday to see the Backstreet Boys in concert.

(which included a concert tee shirt souvenir)

The long anticipated concert was excellent and the Boys are better than ever!

I’m checking this item off and I’ll check it again if I get the chance!

Since we spent the night in Orlando, LB and I took the opportunity to check out a new store near our hotel.

Favorite # TWO

Sofa Shopping

at City Furniture

LB thinks we need more comfortable seating in the family room.The search is on!

It made me miss my furniture and design days!

~

Favorite # THREE

Lydia’s Reading List

She was SO proud as she pulled a folder from her little backpack to show me“Look Glammy… you can show this to Larry!”

Inside was a list of all the books that she has read.

She is a smart little girl!

~

Favorite # FOUR

Tropical Storm Dorian strengthened into a hurricane Wednesday afternoon and now Florida is in the cross-hairs of what looks to be a major event.  There has been a lot of activity associated with Dorian in the stores and on social media.

 Yesterday I saw

This Meme

on Facebook

along with the caption

“Everybody in Florida right now.”

It is easy to get caught up in the excitement-anxiety associated with hurricane prep.

Before he came home Wednesday afternoon, LB and I exchanged the following text:

Hopefully we won’t need it, but if we do, then we’re all set!

Speaking of texts, Thursday night Mama sent this sweet one:

I saved the best for last, it is my

Favorite # FIVE

She got lots of Loves on that message!

Wednesday would have been 54 years since Mama and Daddy were married.

I shared a post about that happy day last year that can be read here.

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

 

Friday Favorites

When things are not quite right, and the feeling of happy seems to have evaded me, I will remind myself that I am in charge of my own happiness.  I begin to compose my grateful list of good things that have happened during the week.  Often this list is the start of my

Friday Favorites

Some of the items on my grateful list will typically have something to do with members of my family.

On Sunday of this week we observed National Sisters Day

Which brings me to

Favorite # ONE

Sisters

Every girl needs one!

#Nationalsistersday is the first Sunday in August.

Last year I published a post about it here.

Some of the significant sisters in my world are:My girls

My Mama and her sisters

My sister

and my new favorite pic, which happens to be a snapshot of sisters is:

The cutest little girls on the planet!

Happy National Sisters Day!

~

In order to be grateful, it is important to appreciate the little things

such as

Favorite # TWO

Being in the right place at the right time…

And

Having all of your

Ducks in a Row

~

Other little things to appreciate can be seen in this pic

 

Favorite # THREE

Both of

These Little Ones

call me Glammy

(the youngest one may call me Glammoo, but don’t tell Richard or I’ll never hear the end of it).

Little Rory is on the left watching her big sister…Lydia, very bravely showing off her skills!

The video is posted on Instagram.

~

Favorite # FOUR

Lydia’s Painting

She is an artist!

Lydia has created a beautiful, blue-skied, sunny day complete with a crepe myrtle and flowers, a squirrel collecting nuts, flowers, a nicely mowed lawn.  Within the lovely landscape, Glammy is wearing a blue dress accompanied by Elvis the cat, who is enjoying the day with Lydia and her cat O’Malley.

Glammy will be having this framed!

~

Some of the items on my grateful list will typically have something to do with activities in which I participate.

In the famous words of Ferris Bueller,

“Life moves pretty fast… If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

On Wednesday LB decided that we would take Ferris Bueller’s advice.

We took off early and headed for St. Augustine

Favorite # FIVE

Playing Hooky

It is pics like this that make me grateful when I have a good hair day

~

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

Friday Favorites

Once again

And I’ve got favorites!

~

Favorite # ONE

Dinner in the Rain

with LB.

It started out as a sunny afternoon, however the dark clouds were not far away.

As if the wind wasn’t enough, shortly after snapping this picture, the rain began to fall.MY HAIR!

We were having dinner at The Cellar Upstairs, a rooftop dining dining experience that is lovely, especially on a beautiful day.

But even a little bit of bad weather can’t ruin dinner at The Cellar Upstairs.  Their salads are the best.

And the best of the “cellar salads” is my

Favorite # TWO

The Wedge

Iceberg lettuce, tomato, bacon, blue cheese, and a TON of dressing.

A Keto dream come true!

~

Favorite # THREE

A Starter

I started one

As the writer of The Clever Carrot suggested, I have named my starter:

James Earl Starter

(obviously after the 39th US President).

It’s only been 4 days, but I’m confident that it is going to turn out great.  I’ll be making sourdough bread in a few weeks (or sooner) and LB is going to love it!

~

Favorite # FOUR

My new

Old Navy Tops

There was a 40% off sale and I had Old Navy bonus cash to spend.

Striped Linen-Blend Wrap Top for Women (Red Stripe)

Textured Wrap-Front Side-Tie Top for Women (Navy Dots)

Wrap-Front Side-Tie Top for Women (Red Daisy Print)

Apparently I was feeling patriotic when I ordered these!

 

~

I had an appointment at the Dentist’s office today for my six month cleaning, some fillings, and an Invisalign scan.

Favorite # FIVE

My Dentist

NO PAIN!  She is my hero.

I like her so much, I spent the day with her today, which is another story for another day.  I also enjoyed the company of Amber, Tracey, Seroj, and Brandy.  A great group!

~

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

Friday Favorites

The mad dash to leave the place that I call “work” is similar to this gif

It is especially accelerated on Friday, but has been known to happen on weekdays as well.

When I landed in the office parking lot on Tuesday afternoon to head home, I noticed that I had a long text message and what sounded like an urgent voicemail from Mama.  Rather than listen to the entire message, I called her back and learned that Lydia was at her house and needed me to come get her.  The urgency was due to a commitment that Mama had to keep.  She was committed to attend a Wacky Tacky Sunday School Party.

This brings me to my

Favorite # ONE

My Wacky Tacky Mama

Could I focus an entire blog about my Mama?

Yes I could.

All turned out well because I got to spend a few hours with Lydia!

~

Favorite # TWO

Swim Time

with little Lydia.

Lydia had the excellent idea that Glammy should insert herself into to the ring at the end of a float…

And play the part of the horse in the Princess Lydia’s carriage ride.

So that is what we didback and forth

for a long time.anything for Lydia.

~

Favorite # THREE

Proof

that although my Mama isn’t tacky, she can be pretty wacky.

During another visit she went into the pool…

Yep…

dress and all!

~

Favorite # FOUR

Amaryllis

My white amaryllis bloomed again!

I wasn’t expecting that to happen until late fall.

What a surprise!

~

Favorite # FIVE

Apple Crescent Roll Dessert

LB bought too many apples and I’ve been trying to find creative ways to get rid of them.  Since LB thinks he needs to have a piece of dessert every night, I decided wrap a few apples in crescent roll dough and bake it until it was nice and overdone… just the way he likes.

A roll of crescent dough, 3 apples, brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon.

~

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

Friday Favorites

It has been a BUSY week

and I’ve enjoyed most of it!

Here are the HIGHLIGHTS courtesy of my

Friday Favorites!

Favorite # ONE

The Right Stuff

Thirty years later, this “boy band” has still got it!

New Kids On The Block may not be New (formed in 1984), but they are undoubtedly better than ever!

After their split in 1994, NKOTB reconnected in 2007 and have been going strong since!

On Friday night LB and I had the opportunity to see them in concert.

You can read all about that adventure HERE.

~

Favorite # TWO

Saturday Afternoon

Spending the day with the birthday girl!

Before we launched Barbie and a new boat,

I learned all sorts of things from Lydia.

She explained that there are others meant to be a part of this particular boating adventure.  With Lydia looking on, I checked into this on my iPhone and found

this review.

Both Lydia and I were equally mesmerized.

Lydia was convinced that I could buy them all right from my phone.

Immediately.

Instead we decided to explore further.

We moved our investigation upstairs to watch on the big screen and found more!

Although it had escaped my attention, I learned that Barbie and her family are featured in a variety of programs to view on internet/television.

There is

Barbie Dreamhouse Adventures

and

Barbie Dreamtopia

and the pièce de résistance

Barbie meets Isla:

and so…

Favorite # THREE

is

Isla

The Transforming Mermaid

which I ordered on Amazon Prime Day. This surprise will be presented to Miss Lydia on a day when a surprise is deemed necessary.

~

Favorite # FOUR

Bread

The low carb kind.

This week, for the second time, I made a low carb, gluten free bread:

this recipe from Castle in the Mountains is very good!

Although it will never replace Sunbeam or Wonder Bread, it will satisfy a carb craving for the carb starved Paleo, Keto, and gluten free folks.

~

Favorite # FIVE

A Mid-Week Date Night Surprise to see a

Movie

The Lion King

remake of Disney’s 1994 animation has been a much anticipated film.

LB and I got to see it before opening night!

The Lion King

was awesome!

From the very first scene, I was captivated, much the same way I was when I saw the original.  The animals were amazing.  The hyenas were SCARY! Timon and Pumbaa were hilarious!  If I didn’t find myself tearing up, I had a smile on my face.

I highly recommend!

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

A Sunday to Remember

It was a Sunday afternoon when I first learned that my son and his wife we were expecting their first baby.  That evening  I jotted down the following:

On November 23, 2014

LB and I were joined by my kids and Mama for our annual Sunday before Thanksgiving dinner.
Except for a few mishaps [a wasp in the cider and paper in the pie] , dinner was excellent.  Shortly after dinner Richard stood up and requested that all conversation CEASE so he could make an announcement. I thought nothing of it because Richard is Never Serious.
Not this time.
In his own special way, Richard announced that he and Emily were expecting their first child.
I didn’t think he was serious since he has teased about the subject in the past, so I didn’t over-dramatize.
But it became clear that he wasn’t joking.
I processed the information.
I wasn’t sure what to think.
Richard asked me if I was mad at him.
“No, Rich, I’m not mad at you.”
Mama broke into a hysterical laughter as she exclaimed “Kim is going to be a GRANDMOTHER!”
And, although [unlike my Mama], I did not show excitement in a dramatic fashion, there is one thing certain:

I’m far from being mad.

On November 24, 2014

at 3:18 PM I received a [group] text message from Emily which included an iPhone pic of what she described as a “little peanut”.
It was a first sonogram photo of the newest member of our family who is 6 weeks and 3 days old.
(I am smiling)
And again… {No, Richard] I’m not at all mad.

On December 12, 2014

I saw Richard and Emily at Grandpa’s 90th birthday party.
They had news: they told me that my grand baby is the size of an olive.
I replied, “I like olives.”

At some point it was decided that I would be known as “Glammy”.

In the weeks that passed, when I was asked about “my Glam-baby” I would happily answer with the information that I knew.  Still I couldn’t appreciate the fascination with grand-parenthood as it was explained to me by those with experience.

This was soon to change.

Fast forward to

July 12, 2015

A large group of family (nucleus, extended, in-laws, out-laws, etc.) and friends (Romans, countrymen, etc.) gathered at the hospital for the arrival of a baby girl.

She finally arrived

…and guess who were the first of the group invited to meet her?

The Grandparents.

While I type this memory, I have tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat (the kind that comes with strong emotion such as gratitude).

I had the same reaction when she was placed in my arms for the first time.

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

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