58 Years Ago Today . . .

Not too bad for a 58 year old grandaddy! Happy Birthday, Lance!

A Little More Kakki Time

Reed is growing like a weed and a cute weed at that!

Since Reed has arrived, I can hardly stand it if I have to be away from the boys for more than a two week period. This could get rough for Laura and Chase, but at this point I think they are more than happy to have the extra helping hands. Laura, Chase and William went to see the bulldogs play, and we kept Wes and Reed.

Getting a little Poppa time

Happy Birthday to Me

This past Friday I turned 58! Yep. Hard to believe (ha ha). I'm not sure what 58 is suppose to feel like, and even though I have a few aches and pains here and there, I still think I am in my 30s. Okay, my 40s.

This birthday was an unusual one to say the least. It really started on Thursday.

A little background: Earlier in the week, I was sick with a sore throat and achy ears and congestion. William had strep throat the week before, so I figured I got it from him and brought it home with me when we came home on Sunday from keeping the boys in Tupelo over the weekend. I laid around Monday and didn't go to work on Tuesday. I went in on Wednesday and worked on Thursday to make up for the time I missed on Tuesday.

Thursday afternoon around 2:30 my mom calls to say that my dad is in the hospital and the doctor thinks he has had a stroke. Naturally, I drop what I am doing and head for the hospital in Cleveland. When I get there, my dad is lying in the bed like he is king of the hill. He has already had a CAT scan and a series of x-rays. The tech told daddy that we would find out the results Friday morning when the doctor makes his rounds. Side note: Daddy's doctor was a young fellow I taught in the 11th grade. I know him well, but there is just something about my daddy's doctor being a student whom I put on detention several times when he was younger. I leave daddy at the hospital and mama safely locked in the house that evening.

Friday (my b'day) morning first thing, Sara Ann drops by to bring me a birthday present as Lance and I are leaving to drive to Cleveland to wait to hear from the doctor. My former student doesn't come by, but the on-call doc-of-the-day does. Immediately, my defenses go up, but once he starts talking to daddy, I like him and feel at ease with him, even more so than with detention doc. There are some problems with Daddy's carotid artery, i.e. blood not getting to the brain. If there was a stroke, it was a TIA, nothing to worry about. The doc orders a Doppler to be done on the arteries and will make some decisions after the test is completed.

One down; two to go.

Mama and I hit the road for Oxford so she can go to the eye doctor. She has glaucoma and has to keep a check on it. On the drive over, I get several calls and texts wishing me Happy Birthday. BR calls and tries his best Elvis impersonation and ends with, "Happy Birthday, old lady!" With friends like BR, I don't need any enemies. Wes calls and sings "Happy Birthday" to me complete with the blowing out of pretend candles. So Sweet!! Cindy calls to say "HB," and Gale texts to extends best wishes. Rachael texts and calls me an "old fart." Joyce from work calls to check on daddy. Mama makes the comment that I am popular.

We get to Oxford, eat at McAlister's where we share Mama's favorite reuben sandwich, and get to the eye doc a bit early. She gets in right away, and we get good news that her eyes are doing better on the new meds. Hooray!! During the exam, I get a call form William who sings "HB" also. We jump in the car and head back to Cleveland. When we arrive, daddy is again lying in the bed like a king, and Lance is reclining in the recliner. What a life! The Doppler went well and the tech said the doc would be by Saturday morning with the results.

Two down; one to go.

Now, I have been looking forward to my birthday meal all week, and since daddy ios doing well, we head out. We are going to Doe's in Greenville to meet BR and Cindy and Gale and Bill. I get another gift, and we are entertained by Cindy who has had one too many beers. We eat the best salad and steaks ever and visit. After supper we all head home. The day has been a pretty long one, and one that has been spent in the road for the most part.

Three down; none to go.

When we get home, there are gifts sitting in my swing and one hanging on the door. No mama, I'm not popular, but I do have some truly good friends that I treasure so much and ones with whom I plan to spend many more birthdays, the good Lord willing and we can keep daddy out of the hospital!

FYI: Daddy got a fairly good report on the Doppler from still another doc. He has 69% blockage. Usually, nothing is done until there is 80% blockage. Daddy is to see his regular doc next week for a close look at all the tests and a plan of action.

My Boys

Well, I got my Kakki fix this past week. Lance and I picked up Wes on Thursday and then took him to see my mom and dad and eat lunch with them. We head home later in the afternoon so Wes could get his nap and then entertained him the rest of the afternoon and evening. We got up early on Friday to have Wes' 2 year old pictures made at Lamb's. We were holding our breath that we would be able to have a few pics from which to choose since he is not known for cooperating while having a pic made much less even smile. But, he did great. I think we got some good ones. We then met Aunt Cindy to have lunch in Greenwood and afterward headed to Tupelo.

On Saturday Chase, Laura and William headed to Starkville to watch the LSU/MSU game. Wes did not get to go. It was so pitiful since he had walked around all morning talking about how he was going to the football game. While he was brushing his teeth and getting dressed, the others slipped out. Amazingly, he never asked where Mama and Daddy or William was, and we didn't volunteer where they had gone.

Wes gives the Bulldogs support.

When Wes and William are around there is always going to be reading of books, and more books, and more books!

Poppa looks as if he is on reading overload.

Kakki takes over.

How cute is Reed?!!

My 3 handsome guys getting ready to go to church.

Wandering Back and Forth

Musings . . .

“For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” Matthew 28:20
“We are family; I got all my sisters [and brothers] with me.” Sister Sledge

One of the aspects I enjoy the most about summer is reading, and this summer has been a great one. I have read or listened to a few detective novels (my favorite), one sappy lie-on-the-beach, soak-up-the-sun book, and three non-fiction works. I also decided that this would be a summer of brain reading—the type of reading of which I have to truly pay attention to what I read, digest it, and apply it to my life. Thus, I decided to take on C.S. Lewis. Unfortunately, Lewis has never been a favorite of mine since I have always associated him with fantasy writing such as the Chronicles of Narnia and The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. Notice I wrote unfortunately because this summer I introduced myself to Lewis’ spiritual writing, especially those that argue the existence of God and of Satan. His work Mere Christianity is a compilation of his talks over the BBC radio network during WWII. The other work that has fed me is The Screwtape Letters. I have a confession: I was supposed to have read this text sometime when I was in college, and I have come to realize I cheated in more ways than one. Obviously, I cheated by not fulfilling the requirements of the course, but more so by not reading words of profound spiritual foundation. However, I believe I was not ready for Lewis’ wisdom then as now.

What does this expose on my summer reading have to do with us as the body of Christ? In The Screwtape Letters one of the minions of Satan tells a young trainee that he must beware of the strength of the body of the Church, that it is “heavily defended” (33). On Sunday morning as I sit in the pew and look at all of you, I am overwhelmed by our body of Christ. (This musing was intended for the members of my church, Inverness United Methodist Church, but it also applies to all of us who share in the membership of the boby of Christ.))We are a family that has been through so much together. We have rejoiced and mourned together; we are talented and gifted; we are loving and caring; we are spirited and wise. In essence, we are a family. We may not always agree, but the one constant in our lives together is our love for Christ and his work on this earth. For the last year, we have experienced a revival; we have had an increased attendance at activities and there are new folks worshiping with us on Sundays. Let it be our prayer that we continue to feel the strength in our growing body, that we serve as a beacon in our community, and that we continue to love Christ with a fervor that will make Satan pass us by as he “[roams] through the earth and goes back and forth in it” (Job 1:7).

"Five Whole Days"

This past week William came to stay for, in his words, "five whole days." It was a wonderful five days, and he is really growing up so fast. Here are a few pics of our time together.

On the football field at CDA where he somehow got it in his mind his mama use to play football. I remember cheerleading but never football.

Making grandmama's spaghetti sauce with Kakki

Visiting the puppies at the Poindexter's house with Grace Tackett

Doesn't William look like such a big boy here? It was quite a feat to get him to hold the puppy since he is afraid of dogs in general.

You don't have to worry about Grace being afraid of dogs. She is a farm girl at heart.

Teaching Grace the finer points of how the Bulldogs play football

Being such a gentleman pushing Grace in the swing

Easy Rider?!

Learning the finer points about golf from the # 1 seniors golfer at the CC

Relaxing in the CC pool

"This is my Father's world . . . "

Every summer Lance plants a garden. Some of you have seen posts before of his garden and how productive it is. This year was no exception. We had an abundance of beans, squash, okra, eggplant, tomatoes, watermelon, peppers, and cantaloupe. The last couple of years he has planted zinnias and red sunflowers to humor me. We had a beautiful bed of zinnias this year also, no help from me other than to drive out to the garden to see them. Anyway, thought you might like to see some of the beautiful blooms. Enjoy!

Note to Jay: I know these are nowhere near the size of your beds but are pretty as some of yours.