We're On The Outs!

And we're not speaking!

No matter how much I begged

He just wouldn't say a word.

I think that our affair is over.

I sent him away.

I sent him to Savannah.

Maybe they can do something with him!

I miss him though, very much.

He's been my favorite for the last 3 years.

I really can't wait until he returns!

Maybe we can be kinder to each other.

I'm willing to try, if he is?

Hurry home Mr. Oreck.

I'm anxiously awaiting your return.

Zion's

This picture was taken in southern

Utah at Zion's National Park.

I hiked Orderville Canyon which

is a 10 to 12 mile trek.

It is a one-way 'hike' and begins outside

the eastern boundary of the park and

ends at the Temple of Sinawava

in Zion Canyon.

One of the most challenging things

I've ever done. Also one of the most

beautiful places on earth.

Given the chance today,

I wouldn't think twice about

doing it again. Actually I

did do it twice.

Tasty Tuesdays

Cherry Delight

This is one of my mama's recipe's. It's cool and rich and very easy to make.

1 20 oz. can Cherry pie Filling

1 can Eagle Brand Milk

1 20 oz. can crushed pineapple (drained)

1 cup sour cream

1 cup chopped pecans

1 med. cool whip.

With hand mixer, mix first 4 ingredients. Fold in nuts and cool whip. Refrigerate until really cold and set. Yummy. I meant to tell yall that you can also use the "light" version of all these products and it taste the same to me and will save you probably half the calories!

Stilts

Now here's some fun good times! Have you ever walked on stilts? My grandpa and daddy made us some when I was a child. We had several sets. Ours were never very tall but taller that this set in the picture! I think all my siblings except Claire can and have walked on stilts. That's another one of my many obscure talents. I always loved playing with them. It's been a few years since I've done it but I still have good balance and If I had a pair, I think I could still do it. It provided a lot of fun and I'm sure a lot of skinned knees and bruises. It's one of my summer time memories. You can go here for instructions on how to walk on stilts and here you can find the directions on how to make your own set. When you get your set finished just call and I'll come over and show you how it's done.

The Law Of Love

"Lucifer is doing all that he can to divert us from those things of first importance. One of his most effective tools is to convince us that it is impossible to stay centered on spiritual things when the demands of life are so pressing.
"When a lawyer asked the Savior which of all the commandments was greatest, Jesus responded without hesitation: 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. … And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.' These are the great commandments. Upon them hang all the law and the prophets. These are the things that matter most. As we strive to live these commandments, the others will take care of themselves."
- Mary Ellen W. Smoot

Happy Birthday Honey

Disappointed

Don't let those smiles fool ya!

They are deceiving!

Harry got his PICC line in around 1:30 yesterday afternoon. We kept waiting and waiting to be released to go home. Finally around 5:00 pm one brave nurse came in to tell us that we were staying until Monday. The hospital and Insurance Co. could not find a Home Health Care Agency that would take a new patient on a Friday afternoon. Several said they would be glad to start on Monday morning. I guess that I can't blame them but boy were we disappointed. I didn't do so well "springing him".

I'm Springing Harry Out Today!

Can you believe it? He is a very blessed man to still have his foot and to be leaving the hospital after only 10 days. He has received many Miracles. I hope The Good Lord never runs out of them. Thank you for your petitions to the Lord on our behalf. We've felt your prayers and acknowledge the Lord's hand in all things. We are deeply greatful for His mercy and kindness.

He has to have a PICC line or a central venous catheter put in today before he can leave the hospital. A central venous catheter, or vascular access device (VAD), is a long, thin, flexible tube used to give medicines, fluids, nutrients, or blood products over a long period of time, usually several weeks or more. A catheter is often inserted in the arm or chest through the skin into a large vein. The catheter is threaded through this vein until it reaches a large vein near the heart. This is how he will receive his IV home therapy for the next several weeks.

He also has a wound care vac attached to the top of his foot. This will continually pull any fluid and infection out. Dr. Brooks says that this speeds up the healing. We still do not know how this happened nor do the Doctors. Apparently his foot abscessed and the abscess blew up.

I'm truly surprised and delighted that he will be home to celebrate his 55th birthday tomorrow! Yall have a fun and blessed weekend!

Gave Up The Ghost

Kicked the Bucket

Bit the Dust

Succumbed

Expired

Departed

Passed Away

Croaked

Deceased

Perished

How ever you want to put it!

Mr. AT&T was here yesterday

morning and the telephone

wires in my house have pretty

much taken their last breath.

My options are to hire and electrician to rewire my house on the inside or Mr. AT&T can drill a hole right thru the wall and run one line to the phone box outside. But that only takes care of one jack. But at least we would have one land line that worked. With everything that is going on right now we are planing to grieve silently and let this one go for a while. So if any of you need us and can't get us on the house phone use our cell phones. Thank you!

Now on a different note,

see that cute red phone in the above picture? We had a yellow one just like it when I was growing up. It hung by the back door and if you wanted privacy you just opened the back door and pulled the long cord out with you, shut the door, sat down on the stoop and talked away! Brings back a lot of fun memories! I've always loved talking on the phone. As for Harry he can't even stand to hear it ring.

Child Stylist

Last week Shelby gave her Barbie a hair cut.
Monday night Shelby gave herself a haircut.
Check out Christon's blog
for pictures, details and drama!
Christon made her an appointment with Denise
to straighten out the whole mess.
This time I think it turned out
better than we could have imagined.
Shelby really loves her "new do"
She came by the hospital to
show Pop Pop this afternoon.

She wanted to feed him his soup.
But he put a stop to that.
I'm telling you, she is a thrill a minute.

SHE WAS RIGHT UP IN THE BED WITH HIM.

But he did let her wash his face!

PRICELESS!

p.s. Christon had hidden all the scissors. Shelby pulled the chair up in the kitchen and used the ones out of the knife block. I would have never guessed she'd think of using those.

Do You Know What I HATE!!

I HATE This!!!

We've had some work done on our house this week and now that it is done, this is what is left all over every where! I hate, hate, hate it!!! Did I say I HATE it?
They also left nails all over areas that we drive the lawn mower, golf cart, cars and trucks on! They were very nice men and they did a wonderful job for us but I HATE what they leave behind. They aren't the only

ones that have done this.

Why is it most construction workers smoke?
My back hurts and I can't hardly pick them up right now but I'm working on it, one butt at a time!

Did you know, it is estimated that several trillion cigarette butts are littered worldwide every year. That's billions of cigarettes flicked, one at a time, on our sidewalks, beaches, nature trails, gardens, and other public places every single day. In fact, cigarettes are the most littered item in America and the world. Cigarette filters are made of cellulose acetate tow, NOT COTTON, and they can take decades to degrade. Not only does cigarette litter ruin even the most picturesque

setting, but the toxic residue in cigarette filters is damaging to the environment, and littered butts cause numerous fires every year, some of them fatal.

Sorry, I just needed to get that off my chest!

Have a nice day!

And The Winner Is....ME!

This came the day every thing hit the fan.

I've wanted to post this sooner but here it is!!

Scrappy Sue had a contest.

It was her 100th post giveaway and all I had to do was read her blog and leave a comment. Check here to see the cute way she chose the winner! ME! Yea!

This is a picture of the package

that came in the mail!

Look where Scrappy Sue lives!

That's right, New Zealand!

Isn't that cool?

So my package came in the mail
yesterday! (7/15) She mailed it June 20th.

It took almost a month to get to me.

When I opened the package

this is what was in it.

A post card of where she lives.

And this little package

wrapped so cute.

And this is what was in the cutely wrapped package. A New Zealand key chain and magnet. And the most delightful Cadbury Chocolate candy called Buzz. It's marshmallow covered with a thin layer of Carmel and then Cadbury chocolate! They were really good and light. If I lived in New Zealand I'd buy them all the time. Thank you Scrappy Sue! Now I can't ever say I haven't won anything before. Because I won this and it's fun being the winner!

Hey Yall

Things are still going well

for Harry. It's been a nice

peaceful, boring weekend.

Test start again tomorrow and

all results should be in by

Wednesday and that will

determine every thing else.

Just wanted to say thanks.

Update

Just in case your were interested Harry's surgery yesterday went well and the DR. said that he didn't have to remove anymore dead tissue. The swelling was down enough that he was able to close it up and put in a drain. While they were in his foot they also took some bone to run cultures on. The Disease specialist came in last night and said the cultures that they took Wednesday have still not grown any bad things yet. The antibiotics are broad spectrum and are really covering the infection. What ever that means. His temperature is still normal and all the Dr.s are optimistic. They still have him scheduled for the Nuclear test on Monday and Tuesday and possibly another surgery on Wednesday like the one they did today. This will be an extended stay. His birthday is a week from today. July 26. It would be great to be out of the hospital by then but who knows. Thanks for caring and checking back on us we really appreciate all the prayers and well wishes.

Harry's Nurse

Does any one recognize this great nurse?

It's Kaye Pittman.

She's a pediatric nurse at our hospital here in Brunswick. She has been Harry's nurse the past two days. Isn't that funny that they have him on the Pediatric floor? They only have one 16 year old and the other patients are older. It's been wonderful having someone we know and love taking care of him.

He had a real good day yesterday. Fever normal and everything looking good other wise. He is having surgery again this morning to clean it out again. On Monday they will do some kind of nuclear test that can tell them if the infection has gone to the bones. We are keeping the faith and taking each day as it comes. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers.

When I got home last night I had 10 missed calls on my cell phone. In my hurry to get out of here yesterday morning I forgot mine and Harry's cell phones. Thank you for your calls and I'm sorry I missed them. I'll try to remember to take my phone today.

It's Friday so yall try and have a good weekend!

Hospital

My husband Harry is a diabetic. He has been since he was 18 years old. He hurt his foot a few weeks ago and he doesn't even know how he did it. He doesn't have much feeling in his feet. His foot has been swollen and we have been staying home a lot and keeping it propped up. He has run a low grade fever off and on for the last two weeks. Well today all things came to a head, literally. After going to the Doctor today, we learned that he has some infection in his foot. So we went from the Dr. Office straight to the hospital and with in two hours he had surgery to clean out the infection. He will be in the hospital for awhile. We are praying that there is no infection in the bones. We will not know if there is any for a few days. We could use all the prayers we can get. So I may be missing in action for a while. I'll still try and post some updates on his condition. I just probably won't have a lot of time to check out all of yours and leave you comments. So please forgive me. I'll be back soon. Thanks and my love to all.

Wordless Wednesday

More Apples Please!

OH MY GOODNESS!

Do you see this pretty little girl

in that pretty little green dress

and pretty little hair bow?

And do you see what is in

her pretty little hand?

Well let me give you a closer look!

Yeah, she found a "hooge" rollie pollie! (She can't say huge. It's the funniest thing because she has a great vocabulary and can say anything except these 3 words, punkum, nacums and hooge.) She loves rollie pollies and picks some up every morning. Well she picked this monster up and said, "oohhh, pop pop just missed this, he'd be so excited" I nearly cracked up. Then she looked up at me and said "God made it this way." Wow, she must really be listening in Sunday School. So back to the story, we were heading to breakfast at McDonald's and to play on their play ground. So I told her we would run by the shop and she could show her daddy and pop pop. She said, "and show Cheryl and Calvin too?" I said, yes and show them too. (they work in the office at the shop) And when we got there she marched right in and held her little hand out and show every one, that would look, her hooge rollie pollie. After we left that excitement she wanted to show aunt Jor Jor! That's just what aunt Jor Jor wanted, was to be woke up by a little girl at her door with a hooge bug in her hand. She opened the door still asleep and took one look at that bug and was pretty much grossed out. Here's Shelby just grinning ear to ear with her bug and so excited and poor aunt Jor Jor. She put Shelby back in her car seat for me and we went off to McDonald's. Both girls ate a good breakfast of eggs and apples and grapes. Then we played a few minutes before Shelby then wanted to go to her mother's office and show her and everyone there her exciting morning find. By the time we got to show it to her mom and listen to her scream, the poor bug broke in half. It was sad but in a matter of a few seconds it was in the trash and she's not thought another thing about it.

I guess that's the life of a rollie pollie.

Reagan with a little bit of breakfast on her dress.

After leaving Christon's office we went and borrowed Madi Kirkland for some more entertainment. Isn't Madi just the cutest brown eyed girl! Thanks Amanda, and sorry the bug didn't last until we got to your house.

You would have been amazed!

Never to old to blog!

This is Millie.

I found Millie several months ago

and have been a lurker to her site.

She is one busy 82 year old who's bloggin.

She's the cutest thing.

She made the ABC News!

Go here to learn more about her.

She's a mess, in a good way.


(Pat and granddaughter Emma Mae)

Also this is Pat, aka Swamp Woman, and she is back and is trying her hand at blogging some of her recipes!!! She needs our love and support. I know you've all been waiting. This is a big step for her since losing her daughter, Laura, in March to a car accident. So check her out here. It's going to be fun.

http://www.swampwomansfamilyrecipes.blogspot.com/

HAVE A GREAT MONDAY

Reaching Out To Others

"Jesus showed patience and love to all who came to Him seeking relief for their physical, emotional, or spiritual illnesses and who felt discouraged and downtrodden.

"To follow the Savior's example, each one of us must look around and reach out to the sheep who are facing the same circumstances and lift them up and encourage them to proceed on the journey towards eternal life.

"This need today is as great as or perhaps even greater than when the Savior walked on this earth. As shepherds we must understand that we should nurture each one of our sheep to bring them to Christ.

- Ulisses Soares, "Feed My Sheep", CR October 2005

Sammy's Back!

And he came yesterday!

And boy did we need his services!

Thank you very much!

(He didn't really go any where.

He was playing with his son and

he broke his thumb in 5 places

and had to have surgery on it.

Sammy works at Griffis Steel Co.

and does yard work on the side.

I'm so glad he is better.

It was a really bad break!)

Wonder What Thomas Edison Would Think?

I LOVE THESE BULBS!

I just never knew how much until I started to replace them with these!

I HATE THESE LIGHT BULBS!

BUT!!!!

I am slowly changing over. Going "green" is a slow process for me. As each old bulb bites the dust, I replace it with a new Compact Florescent Light (CFL) bulb. I hate them. I don't think that the lighting is as bright. There is just something I don't like about them. Besides that they are expensive. But I am trying, just slowly. Here is some IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT ENERGY SAVER LIGHT BULBS! View this little video. I learned a lot! I think you will be surprised too.

This just makes me hate them more!

Did you know they were so dangerous?

And whats up with every thing coming from China?? No wonder I'm haveing such a hard time.

Buttermilk Cookies

Buttermilk Cookies

I found this recipe here on Ezra's blog. They looked very good and cake like. I thought they must be really moist since they have buttermilk in the recipe. So this past Sunday evening I made them. They turned out really good and they were very moist. BUT, and that's a big BUT, as I was putting the left over buttermilk back in the fridge I looked a little closer and to my real surprise, it was NOT buttermilk at all it was regular ole 2% milk. (I'm losing it, I know.) But the little pint bottle looked just like the buttermilk bottle and apparently I didn't pay very close attention and just picked up the wrong one. To make a long story short, I can't even imagine how much better they could have been had they had the buttermilk in them instead of regular milk. I ate 4 of them and then had to wrap them up quick before I ate the whole lot! (They actually taste "lemony.") I gave them to the next person that came to my house. That was my brother, AKA "Barney's friend Chris." He took them home to the children. I talked to them the next day and they were all gone! They really liked them too. So if you are looking for a new cookie recipe try these with or with out the buttermilk.

Adapted from Gourmet,

January 2008
Makes about

5 1/2 dozen cookies

For Cookies
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2/3 cup well-shaken buttermilk

For Glaze
1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
3 tablespoons well-shaken buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter two large baking sheets.

Whisk together flour, zest, baking soda, and salt.

Beat together butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in vanilla. Mix in flour mixture and buttermilk alternately in batches at low speed, beginning and ending with flour mixture, until smooth.

Drop level tablespoons of dough about 1 1/2 inches apart onto baking sheets. Bake, 1 sheet at a time, until cookies are puffed and edges are golden, 12 to 15 minutes per batch.

Cool cookies on sheets 1 minute, then transfer cookies to racks.

To glaze the cookies:

Whisk together all glaze ingredients and brush onto tops of warm cookies.
Let stand until cookies are completely cooled and glaze is set.

Wordless Wednesday

Thin Mint Cookie Blizzard!

OH MY GOSH!!! Dairy Queen and Girls Scouts have teamed up and are Introducing the Amazingly Minty Girl Scouts Thin Mint Cookie Blizzard® Treat For July only!! They have teamed up to treat you to the first-ever combo of crunchy, chocolaty Girl Scouts Thin Mint cookies and creamy mint DQ soft serve. Before the month is over I will have one!! Can't wait! Thin mints are my favorite G/S cookies! And it's summertime, and it's HOT and everyone should have a little icecream in this heat!

The Good Samaritan

I thought it was time for another one of my Daddy's stories !!

Many years ago I decided to take the three oldest girls to Georgia to visit Grandmother and Grandpappy Crenshaw for the weekend. Gigi was about 8, Sissy was about 7 and Carla was about 5. We had the old '65 Ford Falcon station wagon, the only new car we have ever bought. That car was just right for our growing little family. I could let down the back seat, throw in a single bed mattress and off we'd go, on trips, to the beach, and many evenings to the drive-in movie. Whenever we said we were going to Georgia for a visit or to a re-union, the kids would ask a hundred times, "Are we in Georgia yet?"

On this trip to see Grandmother and Grandpappy, we had a wonderful time visiting them, plenty of something good to eat like biscuits and Grandmothers yummy teacakes. I know they were good, Sam and I loved them growing up. They were so good we would even eat the raw dough.

When it became time for us to leave to go back to Florida, Grandmother always packed us some goodies to take along on the trip. As we pulled away out of the driveway Grandmother always started to cry, she did that with any of her children or grandchildren when they were leaving.

I drove over to Interstate 75 and headed south toward home. In a little while it started to rain, lightly at first then it poured down, hard enough that I began to use precaution and slowed down quite a bit. All of a sudden there was this woman standing in the median, soaking wet from the rain and waving for someone to stop and help her. All other cars were flying like crazy passed her so I slowed down and pulled over on the shoulder of the road and backed up. I rolled down the window and asked what was wrong. She said she had hit a puddle of water and her car skidded off the road. Well I couldn't even see a car because it was a deep ravine she had skidded into.

So I instructed the kids, who were all craning their necks to see what was going on and where her car was, to just stay in the car and NOT get out and I would go see if I could help her.

Sure enough it was a deep gully with a cement ditch going down to the bottom where the rainwater would drain into the sewer. She said her mother was in the car but they were both okay, just shook up a little. The place where the car sat was like a cement box and the car only had a couple of scratches on it.

I began to try to figure out how was the best way to get that car out. So I decided the Highway Patrol should come and investigate the accident before I moved that car. I knew there was a Patrol station about five miles back north so I climbed the hill to the north bound lane and flagged down a road department crew and asked them to send down a Patrolman.

I went back to the bottom of the ditch to think on the situation a little while longer. I got the idea that I could drive that car out of that ravine if she wanted me to. So I asked her what she thought of me trying to drive it out. She said yes, it would be all right. So when the Highway Patrolman finished his investigation, his suggestion was to call a wrecker. I told him that I thought I could drive it out and he said go ahead he didn't care.

So I got in the car and started it. I had enough room to back up a few inches and pull forward a few inches. After awhile I maneuvered around in that cement box to get the front end headed upward with the wheels on the left side of the car in the cement ditch for traction and sure enough I drove right the top of that ravine. When the traffic was clear I whipped out across the interstate and off the road.

When the Patrolman got all the info he needed, she got in the car and took off south on 75. Never even said thank you. The Patrolman told me it wasn't her car but a company car where her husband worked and she was not really supposed to be driving it and was worried about the trouble she and her husband would be in.

Well anyway, I had done my good deed for the day, so I climbed back in the old falcon and in about twenty minutes we crossed the state line and were in the State of Florida, with the kids asking, " when are we going to get home daddy?”

The Perfect Mistake

My Mother's father worked as a carpenter, on this particular day, he was building some crates for the clothes his church was sending to orphanages in China .

On his way home, he reached into his shirt pocket to find his glasses, but they were gone. When he mentally replayed his earlier actions, he realized what had happened; the glasses had slipped out of his pocket unnoticed and fallen into one of the crates, which he had nailed shut. His brand new glasses were heading for China ! The Great Depression was at its height and Grandpa had six children. He had spent $20 for those glasses that very morning. He was upset by the thought of having to buy another pair. 'It's not fair,' he told God as he drove home in frustration. 'I've been very faithful in giving of my time and money to your work, and now this.'

Months later, the director of the orphanage was on furlough in the United States . He wanted to visit all the churches that supported him in China,
so he came to speak one Sunday at my grandfather's small church in Chicago .

The missionary began by thanking the people for their faithfulness in supporting the orphanage. 'But most of all,' he said , 'I must thank you for the glasses you sent last year. You see, the Communists had just swept through the orphanage, destroying everything, including my glasses. I was desperate. Even if I had the money, there was simply no way of replacing those glasses. Along wit h not being able to see well, I experienced headaches every day, so my coworkers and I were much in prayer about this. Then your crates arrived. When my staff removed the covers, they found a pair of glasses lying on top. The missionary paused long enough to let his words sink in. Then, still gripped with the wonder of it all, he continued: 'Folks, when I tried on the glasses, it was as though they had been custom made just for me! I want to thank you for being a part of that.'

The people listened, happy for the miraculous glasses. But the missionary surely must have confused their church with another, they thought. There were no glasses on their list of items to be sent overseas.

But sitting quietly in the back, with tears streaming down his face , an ordinary carpenter realized the Master Carpenter had used him in an extraordinary way. There are times we want to blame God instead of thanking him! I have to remember this in these times of trials of my own.

May GOD bless your week. Look for the perfect mistakes.

Peace is not the absence of trouble. Peace is the presence of God.

Another sweet e-mail I got this past week.

Painted Buntings

This is the male Painted Bunting.

This is the female Painted Bunting.

They're Back!!!

I have bird feeders in my front yard and back yard. I love bird watching. I've taught the girls to watch and listen to the birds as they visit the feeders. It's breeding season for the Painted Buntings and they are back! They are beautiful. I saw both a male and a female out the back window today and a male on the front feeders. It just makes me so excited to see them here.

Male Painted Buntings are the most spectacularly colored of all North American songbirds, with a gaudy combination of red, blue, and green feathers. His head and nape are blue. Back shiny green. Rump, throat, chest, flanks, belly, and under tail coverts red. Eye ring red. Wings and tail dark gray. The females crown, nape, and back are rather bright olive-green. Throat, chest, and belly yellow-green. Her head may show some blue feathers. I just love them and wanted to share them with all of yall!

Note to self:

do not look away while cutting

husbands sideburns!! Opps!

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!

HAPPY 232ND BIRTHDAY AMERICA!

I love our Flag!

I took these pictures last

week when we were at the

St. Simons Island pier.

The first one was from land

and the other was from the pier.

(same flag)

Oh what do you do in the summertime?

Miss Shelby Bailey Griffis

(almost 3 and a 1/2)

See Rea Grow

Little Miss

"Reagan Kendall Griffis"

(16 months)

Childs laughter

I put a video here! Where is it!!!

Isn't it interesting how they can go from laughter to screaming in just a matter of seconds!

HELP!!

Does anyone know how to take a video from Picasa 2 and put it on your blog???