Sunday

Handier Than a Pocket

First off, I must say that never have I heard that expression until I read it in Linda's Life Journal. That saying was interesting to me because DH doesn't like to won't wear a shirt without a pocket. That is, he wouldn't until he came up with a very unusual and "clever" resolution to the problem of shirts sans pockets. He needs a shirt pocket for his "ever present" phone and a pen.

You may never have noticed, but most all the really nice men's polo or golf shirts do not have pockets. Now there are men's shirts that DO, but, for some strange reason, they all look alike! Or they do to me seeing as how DH has so many similar shirts hanging in his closet.

(By the way, after they have been worn once, they all have a big stain right in front. We laugh because:

he always manages to drop a bite of food on them,

he always says, "oops"

and he always acts surprised as though that never happened to him before!! LOL

This explains why I am always on the lookout for new shirts!)

His absolute favorite shirts of all time were two we bought when in Germany several years ago. The neck was zippered and so was the front pocket. He still wears those shirts and I have searched the Internet numerous times without success trying to find more like them.

So, although neither of us care to shop, it always falls to me to shop for clothes for the both of us. Therefore, in my recent "shopping sprees" I have been bringing home shirts with GASP!! no pockets. That way he can have a variety of shirts and it takes me less time to shop - trying to find shirts with pockets is always exasperating to me. (Yes, I know - I may be easily exasperated when it comes to malls and shopping.)

But, to get to the point of this little story, here is how DH solved his problem. He bought himself a whole bunch of new, v-neck white tee-shirts when we were at Sam's. First, he measured his phone to make a pattern, then he took all the tee-shirts, along  with the pattern, to an alterations person and had her sew pockets on every one of the tee-shirts for wear under his nice shirts!!! Voila!! He can just reach inside the neck of his shirt to grab his phone.

I'm thinking he may be the only man around wearing tee-shirts with custom made pockets on them. What could be handier than that?

Nothing Could Be Finer Than to be in Carolina ...

on Valentine's Day. Or, at least, en route to North Carolina on Valentine's Day.

My nephew is stationed at Fort Bragg and makes his home in a lovely little town called Southern Pines. He and his fiance have been there for a couple of years and though we have wanted to visit (and see more of North Carolina ;-), there just hasn't been an opportunity to do so. Until ...

We learned that he is going to be deployed soon and his parents were making a trip to see them prior to his leaving. So we humbled ourselves, yes, we begged, "May we please join you? Please, pretty please?"

So, on Valentine's Day we were on our way. The Southwest Airlines pilot got us off to a great start on takeoff as he sang, "I believe I can fly!" Haha. And wouldn't Southwest be the appropriate airlines to fly on on that special day? Love is in the Air! I think that was their slogan. (or was that The Love Boat?)

We stayed at a quaint little place called Jefferson Inn on West New Hampshire Avenue. The history of it? It was built in the early 1900's by a family named Jefferson from New Hampshire. Clever, huh? If you ever happen to be in the area, I highly recommend it. Not only was it charming, but it was immaculate and the interior updated. The beds were comfy with "knock your eyes out" white linens, the bathrooms were spacious and the walk-in showers had a rainshower and regular nozzle at either end of the shower. Too cool.

Friday was a beautiful day with temperatures in the mid 60's and looked like this.

Driving to and from the Inn to their home and around the area, it was a treat to check out the neighborhoods. Being a fan of Jan Karon and the Mitford series, I could pretend I was right there in Mitford.

We enjoyed crepes for breakfast and hanging out at their beautiful home catching up with each other and watching a movie before dinner that night at the 195 Restaurant. I'm not sure if anyone said why it was named 195. (When we are in Round Rock, we dine regularly at the 620 Cafe, which has nothing to do with this post except it is also a number. Strange.) Trust me, the 195 was top of the line greatness!



Most of the hanging out centered around the kitchen!

Saturday we woke up to very cold weather and whoa! Were we in Texas? What a change! Southern Pines was being transformed into a winter wonderland. It was so beautiful all day.



Rocco was more interested in
what was going on in the kitchen

We ladies made a trip to Raleigh to check out wedding dresses and that was a fun girls' day while the guys checked out Fort Bragg, a museum, and the base exchange.

Watching the excitement of young ladies trying on their wedding dresses and preparing for their "big day" is something that always can bring a tear to my eye. So many possibilities for their future. So much to look forward to. I love weddings!

Don't they look happy?

That evening we had dinner at a Greek restaurant called Theo's. It. Was. Fabulous! Yummy.

So, those are just a few highlights of our wonderful weekend in North Carolina and how we spent Valentine's Day. Lots of love.

My own DH and I have had a lot of fun and adventures in our 27 years together. My wish for my nephew and his fiance will be many great memories and sweet times in their marriage. I pray for love, joy and peace to reign.

Speaking for my DH and myself, we saw a funny little sign when we were in Jefferson, Texas this past year that gave us each a good laugh.

Dear Heart's love has forgiven me a multitude of sins (I have forgiven him more, he would tell you.) ;-)

His responses to my really big boo-boos?? "You can do no wrong in my book." (So why does it bother him so much that I leave the light or TV on in a room?)

 

"Above all, maintain an intense love for each other,

since love covers a multitude of sins."

1 Peter 4:8

 

Pillow Talk

Tuesday night conversation  ;-)

 

Me: Where do you think we are going to have dinner tomorrow night?

DH: Don't know. We aren't going until Wednesday.

Me: Tomorrow IS Wednesday. 

DH: It is? Wow! And all this time, I was thinking today is Tuesday. 

Me: It is. 

Lol 

That conversation just struck me funny.
Maybe you just had to be there.

It reminded me of a cartoon that is taped to our fridge:

 

Watch Your Step

 

A few weeks ago, one of our dear friends got up from the table at a local bakery/cafe not realizing the floor had been freshly mopped! Before she knew it, she fell breaking her left wrist and her right leg. Did anyone come to her aid? Only her husband, who was with her. Wouldn't you think the employees and/or the manager should have come running out to help or, at the very least, express their concern?

She is now in a wheelchair for 12 weeks and, because she is left-handed and the broken leg is her right leg (and must be kept straight out for all 12 weeks), it makes most everything she needs or wants to do almost impossible. She is trying to write with her right hand and maneuver the wheelchair with her right arm. All the normal routines we take so for granted have now become complicated because of her slip  that day. But bless her heart, she has a great attitude about it. And her husband has been fantastic!

Doesn't she look great!



Bella takes good care of her, too.

Another incident that recently happened was that the daughter of one of our friends fell off a step and shattered her ankle. Surgery was necessary and all this is especially tricky and costly for her as she is a corporate executive and this is really going to mess with her for quite a while.

So, these are two of the reasons we have been more aware of and reminding each other to be especially careful going up and down stairs, getting out of the tub, etc.

Young or old, and all the rest of us,
you know that a fall can be very hazardous.

 

Funny now, but not then, many years ago I fell off a curb while we were in Greece, and poor DH had to carry me all the way back to the ship.  It's nice that he was younger and stronger and I was younger and lighter. Strangely enough, the ship doctor only had one of those boots left for a sprained ankle because three other women had also fallen during this trip.

 

It always seems to "fall" to DH to carry the injured because a different time, he had to carry one of the ladies from our group down from En Gedi in Israel. Poor DH.

 

Yesterday, our youngest grandson (almost 2 years old) Jack, crawled up on the piano bench to play at the piano. That piano has been of great fascination for every one of our grandkids and I encourage it. They love "playing" on it. And I'm using the term loosely. ;-)

While he was playing, he moved suddenly (as 2 year olds are prone to do), and the piano bench tipped with him. Aaaauuugggh! He was hanging onto the piano with his little hands and his body was stretched across the bench with his legs dangling in the air! This all happened in a split second and both of us jumped out of our chairs to grab him! (Due to the urgency of the situation, I failed to snap a photo!)

Guess who tripped and fell across the room? Moi! Jack managed to hang on to the piano while looking at me in surprise and DH ran to my rescue. Ouch! That hurt, but thank You God, I was on the carpet instead of the hardwood or tile floor and nothing was broken.

Do you see a pattern here? All of the falls described have been ladies!!

Even Jack was able to hold on and not fall.

DH made it across the room without falling!

Watch your step!

and I'm not kidding.

Milestones

First grandson, Brady, lost his first tooth last night.

He was so excited this morning.

The tooth fairy left him $20!!!

What??? Where was this wealthy tooth fairy when I lost my first tooth?*

He was very excited about it and, after wiggling it around for 2 days,

he even let Daddy pull it!

Brady and Noah called this morning to share the news about Brady's tooth,

and to tell us they are having a big week-end,

a pizza party at school today,

and birthday party tomorrow at the amusement park

with lots of fun rides and cake and ice cream.

What a beautiful smile!

Earlier this week, we celebrated another milestone with our daughter-in-love, Amy.

 We love you and thank God for the gift you are to

Jason, Kate and Jack

and to us.

Happy Birthday to Beautiful Amy.

And congratulations to my niece, Robyn, who just closed on,

and has moved into her new home.

So happy for her.

She's working very hard and adding lots of special touches to her new home.

Robyn and sister, Jacqueline

*Here is a photo of myself with a gappy smile. Anybody else out there remember the photographer who came through the neighborhood with a pony and the outfit for the photo?

Sweet Kiddos and Good Times!

We see these two sweeties on a fairly regular basis and have lots of good times since they are only about 20 minutes away ... we love it when they drop by for an afternoon, or stay the night. We're happy just hanging out, or going to the park or taking a walk around the neighborhood.

One of Kate's favorite things to do now is get coerce Grandpa to go upstairs to the Stars' room (a bedroom decorated with Texas stars for the "stars" in our life,) and play games on the iPad.

"What? Me coerce Grandpa?"

This beautiful girl is growing up waaaayyy too quickly.

She pretty much has him wrapped around her little finger.

This little guy does too.
 

Jack with his favorite book and favorite Grandpa

Right now, Jack loves books, playing with cars, running around the house, putting things away hiding things, and going up and down the stairs!

We always look forward to taking a little trip south to see two of our other favorites! Our last visit to see this handsome pair was Christmas.



Usually we carry an aerobed to sleep on, but since the addition of Noah's new beds, I had been crossing my fingers that I would get to sleep on the bottom bunk! And sure enough, I did. (Note to self: don't get up too quickly in the middle of the night. There's a bed overhead.)

Even the dog, Palin, came out a winner on this one, because she got the mattress from Noah's toddler bed, along with Spiderman sheets!!! :-)

Picking the boys up at school when we arrive is always a real treat (a sweet reunion indeed) for all of us. It goes without saying how thrilled we are to see them, but they are always happy to see us as well, as evidenced by eyes lit up, big smiles, lots of stories and news to tell us, all the while jumping up and down with excitement. One of the first things Noah had to share with us was that he now has a workbook at school. Do you remember your first workbook? (Brady reminded us that he has had a workbook for two years.)

We stopped by the park to play.

Then we headed for home for a little snack and some rest before the big Motocross event that evening. Yessiree, we saw our first motocross ever and what an adventure that was.

air-born motorcycles

Those boys love motorcycles! (So does Papa!)

Dear Heart a/k/a Papa, a/k/a Grandpa f/k/a Bampa

On Saturday, Brady was up with me for our early morning visit, and we had a couple of rounds of Yahtzee and a game of Guess Who before Papa was up and headed out to bring home the donuts. (Noah says, "I love Papa 'cause he always brings donuts!")

The weather couldn't have been more perfect. Sunshine, blue skies, fluffy white clouds, 70 degrees and, best of all, NO Texas wind that day so, after lunch, Sara suggested we go for a bike ride. That was truly one of the most enjoyable times of all - Sara, Brady and I on bicycles and Noah pushing along on his scooter all around the neighborhood. We took a break every so often so they could look around and explore, or just rest.

Leaving them is always difficult and they don't want us to go. No luck trying to convince Papa to stay another night. (LOL! Noah says, "Nonnie, next time you come by yourself and leave Papa at home so you can stay longer!" That little zinger warmed my heart for sure!)

We take pleasure in every moment.

 

 

Prayers for NanaDiana

NanaDiana

Taking a cue from Susie, I have pasted above (hopefully it works) the link to NanaDiana's prayer request for her brother. If you haven't already seen her post about her beloved brother, please take this opportunity to read it. Thanks for prayers and thank you, Susie for the prompt.