Friday, July 31, 2009

Did yall know it is Friday?

Goodness knows I did. I have been learning a new job at work. See, I work in an office inside a warehouse that stores natural rubber to be made into tires. We basically have a skeleton crew here so from time to time we get a bit shorthanded. Trailboss is learning how to operate a forklift. It isn't hard at all, I just have to remember which lever makes the forks go up, down and sideways. Oh, and to remember to take the parking brake off when I get on. I have never had a standard transmission vehicle so a parking brake is something that I have rarely used. So far it is going well. The heat today is a bit more than I would choose, but it's ok. I can always run back to the office to check emails and messages. So far it is working out well.

Stephanie had dinner ready when I got home last night again. It was delicious. Fettuccine Alfredo. mmmmmmmm She picked some corn from the field next door for the horses, checked the garden and took care of the pups.

We might go to the horse auction tomorrow night. We haven't been in months and it's free and somewhat entertaining. We have friends that go so it would be nice to see some of them again. Whatever we do I am going to enjoy it because I will be with one of my favorite people in the world. My Stephanie.

Thursday, July 30, 2009

It's a bird, it's a plane........

actually it WAS a plane. Last night Stephanie was cooking dinner when I looked out of the kitchen window and saw this

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She hollered for me to grab my camera and we headed outside to see.

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How cool is that? The pilot flew all over the area by and on top of my house. It was exciting.

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In these shots he was flying about 30' above the corn field right next door. You can see the yellow between the trees.

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You can see the roof of my house in this one. That shows you how close he was.

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The horses didn't know what to think. They started running around the pasture but didn't know where to go!

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It was very entertaining. I wish we could have watched more but dinner was on the stove so we came in and ate. By the way, Stephanie made a delicious dinner that she planned herself. She is growing up more and more every day.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Hump Day Again

Stephanie and I went shopping Saturday. Neither one of us really likes to shop. I would rather do it all online but sometimes that is not possible. We only had to go 2 places which was great. Henson's Western Store where I could stay all day long, not to mention the money I would spend. She got the cutest pair of cowboy boots. They are Justin, short and black with a turquoise leg. She had me take a picture of them but I was having trouble with flickr and couldn't get them to load. The next stop was Walmart where we were able to find a bunch of clothes plus some school supplies that she will need. It is hard to believe she is a senior now. Wow. They grow up so quickly.

Sunday night she went to a friend's house in Cuba and didn't come home until last night. I have to tell you it was really strange to be home with only the dogs. I have never lived alone. I have always had my brother or kids living with me. I don't think I would be very good at it. I told Joe last night that it was almost like Monday didn't really happen. Hard to explain but just a strange feeling. I was happy Steph came home yesterday. She was glad to be home too.

While we were at Walmart Saturday naturally we had to get the girls something. Stephanie found a 2 pack of bones stuffed with doggy stuff. Annie chomped hers right away

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Sophie smelled hers

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Licked it

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Then laid down by it

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She is so funny

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Look at her. She is so proud to have her bone but purposely waits until Annie is finished with hers to chew on it. It's like she wants to make sure that Annie knows she can't have it. She is that way with everything.

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She finally ate hers but not until Annie could just watch.

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Again, I had more pictures but flickr, you know, what I said before. I need to take some more pictures of the girls and post so Joe can see them. He is so homesick and we miss him terribly. But we understand that he is where he needs to be right now. I just might have to snatch up my precious for the weekend.

Monday, July 27, 2009

Now I know

why Joe mows the grass a bit at a time during the week. Since he is out of town it's my job to keep up with the mowing. At least 3, maybe 4 acres to mow. So I did what Joe does and watched the weather to see when it will be nice and when it will rain. I quickly discovered that Sunday was the day to mow it ALL since this week will be filled with lots of thunderstorms. So I spend the day yesterday mowing the entire yard. It was a nice day, a bit hot but not bad. I started at 10:30am and finished at 4pm. I didn't mind though since it got me outside and also made me appreciate what Joe does each and every week. Annie came out with me a few times and ran along, played, laid down in shade and just generally did her own thing. We can't let Sophie out while mowing because she thinks it is fun to bark and run along and in front of the mower.

Greg came over and proved to be most helpful around the house. We had green beans to pick, garbage to take up the hill and he was glad to help. He ate dinner with us (taco salad mmmmmmmmmmm) and we took him home afterwards. I sent a bag of chicken salad, tomatoes and peaches with him.

Stephanie received a call from a girlfriend about 8:45 last night inviting her to an outing with her family today. Her friend Stacy and her family are going to Bowling Green, Ky today to what sounds like fun. Some kind of underground river. I don't know but summer vacation is quickly winding down so I was glad for her to go. Stacy's mom came to the house and picked her up. They will be back sometime today, late I suspect. I'm sure she will have a good time.

I talked to Joe last night. He is missing everyone of course. While talking to him I said something to Annie and Joe about died. He misses the pups so much. Especially Annie. They are very very close. She misses him too. She follows me or Steph around at home. We are going to get online tonight so he can see everyone, including Annie and Sophie. He told me that Amy said she thought she was going to have to go to the hospital about 1am Sunday morning. She is still having contractions and apparently they were quite frequent. Yesterday Joe and Jeremy got after Amy because she won't stay off of her feet and rest. That of course is not helping to keep her contractions at bay. Joe finally said "what am I doing here anyway? You are supposed to be on bedrest!" She listened, for now anyway.

I should have taken my camera this morning. She sunrise over the pond was so gorgeous. I think I have a picture that I can share though. Yes, here it is. I hope you enjoy your day and remember to be grateful for what we have, not what we wish we had.

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Friday, July 24, 2009

Bicycle riding for the brave

Last weekend Abby rode her bike quite a bit. She has finally graduated from her tricycle to her kiddie bike with very sturdy training wheels. I thought she would never stop riding the 3 wheeler.

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Uh, well never mind. She spent a bit of time on her tricycle first. She was moving lose dirt from the edge of the patio to the planter by way of the back of it. Using a spade she lifted the dirt up and put it on the back 'shelf' of the tricycle, therefore being able to transplant it into the whiskey barrel planter.

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Hey!

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Doesn't anyone want to play with me?

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After all, I have a bottle and would love to play keep a'way.

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Poor Sophie. No one payed any attention to her so she ran on down where we were sitting around the table.

Pretty soon Abby grabbed her bike and took off.

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Guess who joined in. Yes, it is Joe.....aka Papa Joe. He rode and wobbled and rode and barely missed planters and posts. I must say, it was very entertaining.

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Annie chased and barked after him at first. She petered out pretty quickly though.

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Sophie still has the bottle in her mouth and is still trying to get someone to play with her. It is sad folks, really it is.

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In case you are wondering what bottle Soph has it is an empty 2 liter.

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Gotta use a little foot action for braking purposes.

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Oops, it looks like that planter just jumped out in front of him doesn't it?

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Can you believe Sophie still has that bottle in her mouth? She is so funny.

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I don't know what you guys think but I say Joe is looking a bit shaky in this one!

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Oh yes, we watched and laughed. But the good thing was that Joe was laughing louder than anyone. Because he can and will laugh at himself.

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We were especially tickled when he got into the grass. He wobbled quite a bit.

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Sophie managed to drop her bottle somewhere along the way.

I don't know how yall spend your evenings but this is what we did a week ago tonight. It was just the start of a wonderful weekend.

Tonight Joe is in Ohio with my grand babies. He had a great day with them. Tomorrow he and my son-in-law Jeremy will take the girls grocery shopping and give Amy more time to rest and continue making our newest grand daughter. She'll be arriving in the world before we know it.

TGIF!

Joe called last night about 5:45pm. He was in Indianapolis, IN. He didn't call when he got to Columbus because he knew I would be in bed and I was. I didn't hear anything so I'm sure he got there just fine. And I imagine he is a tired puppy dog this morning.

I stopped on the way home yesterday and picked up a movie that Stephanie had been dying to see. The Haunting in Connecticut. Steph wanted to wait until it was dark but movies like that scare me. So we watched it and then made dinner. I tried something new with my chicken breasts. I pounded them down using wax paper and a rolling pin then fried them in just a bit of olive oil. I threw a small bottle of orange marmalade, 1/4 C of honey and extra virgin olive oil together and heated it on the stove top. I then basted that chicken heavily with it. Oh my! Was it ever delicious! Steph had made a pasta salad earlier. We had that and some corn and green peas (leftovers from her breakfast!). Yum yum. We enjoyed it very much.

Tomorrow we are going shopping for her school clothes and supplies. I can't believe it is already time for school to start. Her first day is August 5th. The state just doesn't give the kids much of a summer break anymore. Oh well, this is Steph's last year of high school so we won't have to deal with it again. Speaking of school Abby starts preschool this year. She is so funny. I tell her all of the time to stop growing bigger and she says "I can't Grandmother!" I asked her last weekend about starting school and she was quick to correct me that is was preschool. She said she had to go to preschool to learn. What a sweetie!

I just talked to Joe. He is surrounded by love. Amy, Mia and Aubriella. Mia jabbered quite a bit to me and Aubriella said a couple of words, well not words but something! He is really enjoying seeing the girls. It has been a while since we have seen them. I have to admit I was jealous. But he is where he needs to be now.

All is well in my little world.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Update

Amy went home from the hospital yesterday evening. The contractions are still coming but not as frequently. Joe and I talked about it and we decided he needed to go ahead and go to Ohio. She is sure to have the baby before her due date since she is already showing a few signs. This way she will at least have one worry off of her mind......and her daddy there with her. She and Joe are very close, always have been.

I just got back to work from the Greyhound bus station. Beth and Abby came to see him off so I was able to get some lovin' from my precious too. I can not tell you how much I will miss Joe. But I know that he will be where he needs to be. Plus he will be able to spend a lot of quality time with the twins and Amy. He will be there for the birth of her 3rd baby. He was not able to be there when she had the twins so this will be very special. Not to mention he will have his hands full with the girls. They are 14 months old and busy busy busy girls.

I will feel a lot better about Amy now that Joe will be there. Like I said, one less worry for her so perhaps she will be able to relax some and stay off of her feet like she is supposed to be doing already. We thought she was but we suspect differently. It is hard to keep a person in bed that is used to being busy all of the time.

Joe's bus leaves at 8:30am and will arrive in Columbus at 9:45pm. That is a long ride but he will enjoy it somewhat. He will talk and see the country. All in all it will be fine.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Oh My!

I just found out that Amy is in the hospital with contractions. She went last night and was admitted for observation. She went into premature labor with the twins but that was pretty much to be expected. I had a suspicion this might happen but sure hoped it wouldn't.

Joe had planned on taking the Greyhound bus to Ohio July 30th in order to take care of the girls while she had her baby. He had already purchased the round trip ticket. It looks like now he will be leaving sooner than he expected.

When I have more news I will update you guys. Meanwhile we wait to hear.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Weekend fun Part 2

After we left The Nature Center we drove back across the dam to a swimming area. Steph and Abby wanted to get in for a while. This is a public beach that used to be very popular but since cutbacks have inflicted the state, as well as others, there are no longer any lifeguards on site. Joe and I watched from the grassy area while the girls swam a while.

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This guy and his dog had a great time. He would throw the orange toy and puppy jumped into the lake to retrieve it.

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Before long it was time to go.

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We went down the road to Maggie's Jungle Golf where they also have animals and golf carts to rent. We rented one and took off.

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There is my silly hat!

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We bought bags of grain to feed all of the animals.

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There was a sign by this camel that said to not hand feed or get too close. The camel had adapted great to that and simply opened his mouth for us to throw the corn in!

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It was quite a sight.

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Goats everywhere. They just hopped into the golf cart.

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This had a sign saying Billy Goat's Gruff.

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Peacocks had their run of the place.

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Minature horses, ponies, llamas and donkeys.

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And this beauty

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It would have taken a lot to get me away from this area when I was Abby's age!

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What am I saying? It took a lot to get me away that day!

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Animals everywhere!

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Numerous birds in here. Quail, morning doves and such.

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This was the look we got when it was time to go.

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We drove to Draffenville and ate dinner at The Ponderosa. We were starving!

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I didn't ever get any good pictures of Steph's hat. Hers was a shark. Abby pulled it's teeth out on the way home. We were so tired we didn't get a picture of all of us. The next day Stephanie took Joe, Abby and mine's picture just before we took her home.

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Now, isn't that a silly bunch of people? But this silly bunch of people had a weekend we will never forget.