Saturday, March 28, 2009

What happens on the Cruise Ship really SHOULD stay on the Cruise Ship....

This gentleman appeared and established himself front and center here on this perch on the Lido Deck at the Bon Voyage celebration. He established and maintained his position here for much of the cruise, providing as much "entertainment" as did the Official Entertainment! Please note that he was not a member of our party. I'm not sure, but I am highly suspect that alcohol may have been a contributing factor in his dance skills.


Monday, March 23, 2009

"Ode to Our Commode"......or "I feel BLUE, without YOU!"


CLARA....as "The Thinker"


Well, the bathroom remodel is very much underway. While I was away last week, basking in the Eastern Caribbean sun, sipping on fruity drinks, feasting on unlimited food, reading to my heart's content...etc., Tom was basically trying to kill himself trying to remodel the bathroom and have it ready as a nice "surprise" for me when I got home.

Thankfully, I think/hope he really believed me when I ask him NOT to kill himself doing the near-impossible. I would much rather return to have a sane(well, reasonably sane anyway) and LIVE husband than a brand new perfect bathroom. Besides, we've lived with the swirly blue faux marble vanity tops, blue sinks, shower, toilet and lovely blue-speckled tile floor for seventeen years.....what's a few more weeks/months/years anyway.




Also, he had a few other responsibilities to deal with...like
(1)taking care of a "Mommas girl" ten year old
(2)taking care of odds and ends in preparation for closing on our construction loan
for the new home we hope to begin building soon.
(3)checking in on his parents/seeing if they had any needs to be attended
(4)taking ten year old on an overnight backpacking trip with friend and friend's
Dad
(5)cleaning the house so that the housekeeper can clean the house
(6)helping to prepare for a birthday party on Sunday for our family's March
birthdays....MASON - 20, JENNY - 26 and Me - 50! An overwhelming THANK YOU
to Haskey, Laura, Blake and Jenny for taking care of most of this-especially
the YUMMY food.
(7)And running his business which FEEDS/CLOTHES and pays tuition for A LOT of
people.....just to name a FEW things off the top of my head.



So most of the remodel effort centered on demolition, moving some plumbing and electrical, buying fixtures, returning and repurchasing fixtures that would not fit in their designated positions. And the frustration in realizing that as in all remodels, the reality of the amount of work required to accomplish said update is always exponentially greater than the estimated/hoped-for amount of time AND money spent.

Returning home from my vacation, I was greeted with the sight of this.....on the driveway.














While some might be embarrassed and try to hide/cover this evidence that one does indeed live in "redneck" country, I found myself a bit choked up, feeling a little sentimental and saddened to be parting with this long-time, intimate and always trustworthy friend.


So many great thoughts/ideas have evolved and some flushed away while perched on this blue throne. Hours spent pondering of the mysteries of life here. For me, countless conversations with children through the closed door of our bathroom while trying to slip away for a moment's peace and privacy. No way to even BEGIN to calculate the amount of time spent reading occurring here. Reading selections from the Great Classics to Reader's Digest and even an occasional People Magazine.
Our family, ever on the quest to stretch the mind....

A lot of spiritual pondering and revelation here. MUCH prayer time spent here. Tom even read his Bible through the first time while sitting here.

How DOES one just "cast-away" such an important "fixture" in one's life?





I'm just not sure I can part with it. Maybe a yard/garden ornament over at the new house? (which, btw, construction begins next week) What about placing a big blue Gazing Ball on it? Or maybe just putting some dirt and fertilizer in it and planting a couple of plants?








Good-bye, old friend. We've shared so many memories.
May your future life at the dump be well.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

We Be Cruisin'

After digging out of the "Blizzard of '09", we are making some headway into embracing and enjoying Spring....

Some of us are heading out to enjoy this......







Whitewater Raft Guide School/Wilderness First Aid Course, in hopes of increasing the chance of getting a job this summer at a girls camp doing water sports or guiding rafts on the Nantahala.

...sounds fun, but with water temps on the Nantahala about
-10 degrees....well, I'll pass on that.





Some are heading south to enjoy a week on the Gulf...(thank you Tom for sacrificing by working on the coast and having to have a place on the beach which children can crash for free!!)

















Some of us are.....







...hoping to take a short backpacking trip to the Bankhead Forest with BFF ....Dads and Daughters...and maybe a crazy brother or two!


One of us is......



getting to enjoy a week of luxury/rest/relaxation and fellowship with my sister and friends celebrating my upcoming 50th, YES 50th birthday.





Meanwhile, back at the Holmes Ponderosa....
One of us is.....










working his "hiney" off to finally remodel our sad blue 70's bathroom. Four years ago when we pretty much did a total remodel of our house, this is where I had the nervous breakdown and said NO MORE. I could take NO more of men folk in my house daily working diligently to update our house....which involved A LOT of sheet rock work. (I am totally empathizing with you Sandra with your recent sheet rock work) All this during the few months just prior to having five children graduating from various schools/hosting a big graduation party/preparing for the marriage of our oldest/hosting out of town guests for said wedding......you get the picture. The only other more traumatic remodeling incident occurred when our kitchen was gutted Thanksgiving weekend and we were expecting Tom's large extended family for Christmas. Oh yeah.....and I had just had C-Section number four a month earlier.



THANK YOU TOM, for ALL that you do, sacrificing endlessly and tirelessly, ever-supportive of ALL of us, physically, emotionally, financially and most of all, spiritually. A man who is always willing to serve, a man after God's own heart.

We LOVE YOU!!!

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Got Milk? Got Bread?.......GOT SNOW!!!

Well, the forecast was heard....and we made the necessary life-or-death preparations.













After having James Spann down to his suspenders dealing with tornadoes on Friday and temps in the 70's last week, we awoke to this.....













and this......















which led to this....


















The family "beasts" were in shock...




Cheese-Puff and Whitey (not-pictured...cowering on the porch) were less than impressed. After getting over his initial fear, Pierre (the maltese in much need of a grooming session) jumped, chased, barked and leaped joyfully and chased the poor kitties with their bad attitudes.



After retreating into the house to thaw and enjoy a bit of hot chocolate, Clara roused again for another round of fun....












I got a chance to play around with my new Macro lens that Tom so generously gave me for Christmas....












Hmmmm...looks like I need a bit more practice here...in my defense with the blurring...the wind was really blowing!!!


Friends breezed by with Clara's BFF....sweet little SKatie....












Three hours later.......snowman carnage.....the fun was done!
















(and yes, we do still have Christmas lights up....for Lent, we gave up taking down the Christmas lights....)




OK..WE'RE DONE WITH WINTER FUN....BRING ON THE SUN!!!!!