When my husband went to lunch AGAIN with his bromance boyfriend and then expected to call and talk to me about something personal in front of his boy toy. My response....UMMM NO "IF YOU THINK I'M GONNA HAVE THIS CONVERSATION WITH YOU WHILE YOU ARE WITH (name withheld) YOU ARE NUTS" CLICK. That click was me hanging up on him. If he had hung up on me, there would have been blood spilled...his of course NOT mine.
When my 18 year old daughter sauntered downstairs at a very leisurely pace. My response...."Why exactly is it OK for me to sit and wait for you but it's not OK for you to have to wait on me. Olivia, "I'm sorry Mom Dr. so and so (I don't care) stopped to talk to me and Emma and I couldn't just walk away." Me, "Yes you could, just flip him off and walk away." Olivia, "OK Mom from now on when I'm in a conversation and I know you're waiting on me, I will just flip people off right there and leave."
When my 22 year old daughter rolled her eyes at me, my response...."Really? Really? You're gonna roll you eyes at me? Really? What the *%@# are you rolling your eyes at me for exactly? Don't make me come over there!"
When my contrite husband was once again trying to glean the information from earlier...my response..."I'm irrationally mad at you and no I will not tell you. Why don't you go ask your lunch friend and see if he can tell you something interesting?"
When I was sitting COMPLETELY out of the way waiting on Owen to come out of school. A lady in a car comes up behind me and honks...my response..."OH NO YOU DID NOT JUST HONK AT ME *$%#*!!!"
I did successfully navigate Wal Mart without killing anyone HOWEVER more than one person did get on my last nerve.
So far Owen and Emma have not annoyed me today. BUT I haven't seen Emma. And Owen and I haven't spoken due to his massive amounts of homework.
I'm sure everyone's looking forward to spending time with me in Corsicana.
DO NOT PISS ME OFF!!!
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
What's next?
I've had a little look see at 1999 and wowzer it was a doozy as well. Probably won't finish it any time soon. Maybe I'll change the focus for a bit.
On another note, Owen's made A's on all his tests so far in school and we're so pleased. He's settling into his stride.
Olivia had to compete in Ace's Amazing Race tonight with her freshman prep people. She said she and Maggie could have done a much better job on the specifics of the race. The next TARR is set for Sunday, September 5, 2010, Corsicana, Texas. Emma and Carlie are getting into shape by walking every afternoon. Nerds? Maybe so.
If you are ever worried that your family is just too crazy to eat beans, just watch one reunion show of the New Jersey Housewives and you'll feel good about your own family in 2 shakes of a lamb's tail. What does that phrase even mean?
I can hear my pillow calling my name. Night to all the sleepers.
On another note, Owen's made A's on all his tests so far in school and we're so pleased. He's settling into his stride.
Olivia had to compete in Ace's Amazing Race tonight with her freshman prep people. She said she and Maggie could have done a much better job on the specifics of the race. The next TARR is set for Sunday, September 5, 2010, Corsicana, Texas. Emma and Carlie are getting into shape by walking every afternoon. Nerds? Maybe so.
If you are ever worried that your family is just too crazy to eat beans, just watch one reunion show of the New Jersey Housewives and you'll feel good about your own family in 2 shakes of a lamb's tail. What does that phrase even mean?
I can hear my pillow calling my name. Night to all the sleepers.
This really is going to happen
We sing a song at church called You're Beautiful by Phil Wickham. These are some of the lyrics and every time we sing it, I think of Frank and Nina when we sing this part of the song.
When we arrive at eternity’s shore
Where death is just a memory and tears are no more
We’ll enter in as the wedding bells ring
Your bride will come together and we’ll sing... You’re Beautiful
This really is going to happen someday.
We really will see them again.
It's going to be better than we could ever dream in our heads.
He is an awesome God.
When we arrive at eternity’s shore
Where death is just a memory and tears are no more
We’ll enter in as the wedding bells ring
Your bride will come together and we’ll sing... You’re Beautiful
This really is going to happen someday.
We really will see them again.
It's going to be better than we could ever dream in our heads.
He is an awesome God.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Blog changes
It's Monday.
I'm looking for fall colors for the blog.
I was tired of the orange so once again I went looking for something. I'm liking the new colors and the dots but that cheap little trashy flower is getting on my last nerve.
I'm still looking.
Why ruin the whole thing with a cheap trashy flower?
It was a bad idea.
I'm looking for fall colors for the blog.
I was tired of the orange so once again I went looking for something. I'm liking the new colors and the dots but that cheap little trashy flower is getting on my last nerve.
I'm still looking.
Why ruin the whole thing with a cheap trashy flower?
It was a bad idea.
The explanation about the year 1998
I spent over a week on 1998 and for obvious reasons, it wasn't an easy year to get through. I'm really not trying to solicit compliments with this statement but I don't think I did it much justice. I'm not very happy with the completed product but it was time to be finished.
In the end, for me, the story is about trusting God in the midst of terrible loss and tragedy. And it's up to each individual reader to determine whether or not I succeeded.
What I know is God is faithful and true.
It is all He knows how to be.
I love Him with a whole heart.
He's been so good to me.
In the end, for me, the story is about trusting God in the midst of terrible loss and tragedy. And it's up to each individual reader to determine whether or not I succeeded.
What I know is God is faithful and true.
It is all He knows how to be.
I love Him with a whole heart.
He's been so good to me.
1998
I'm continuing the calendar series with the year 1998. It was not a good one.
January 1998 found me continuing to record my girls sleeping spots in their room and then on January 3rd I took Slade and Nina to meet someone in Arcadia for the Shreveport kid transfer. And that's a trip I'm very familiar with. In fact, every single one of us made the trip to Arcadia at some point during the little kid phase of the Shreveport Walkers. This tradition began when Meredith and Brooke were babies and continued through Carmen, Slade and Nina. The Monroe fam always looked forward to these fun weekends that were jam packed full of cokes and cookies and ice cream and staying up late. It was a blast.
On January 5, 1998 Big Frank went into the hospital for hip replacement surgery. One of Dad's MOST hated places in all the world was a hospital so for him to have an extended stay in one was not good at all. It was a major relief when he was released. And after batting the idea back and forth in my head, I decided to throw in a story about Big Frank and hospitals. Melanie, Carrie and I were all born in a Catholic hospital where nuns ran the show and scared people to death as they did. And with each birth, there was an opportunity for Big Frank to have a run in with at least one nun during Billie June's stay. Now for several nights before I was born, BJ had sent their 4 kids to neighbors' houses to spend the night just in case they had to go to the hospital. Finally, one night, Frank had had enough of the sleepovers and insisted on staying home and of course that's the night Mom went into labor. So off to the hospital she and Dad went with Frank in tow. And that didn't sit well with the nuns. They told Dad that Frank was absolutely not allowed to stay...period...end of story. But after "some discussion" between Big Frank and the nuns, he and Frank sat downstairs in the lobby until I was born. Dad had gone head to head with the nuns and lived to tell about it. I don't like scary stories.
But back to 1998, by this time in PGCA's history and until 2006, a long illustrious career in the arena of ALCAL basketball had begun. Over the years we traveled to exotic locales like Crossett, Camden and Magnolia Arkansas, Greenville Mississippi and Ruston Louisiana. Sometimes the traveling seemed never ending with 2 nights of games each week. But we had lots of fun and some of the parents would caravan to games together. The kids would play 3 games...win some....lose many....and then late in the evening, we'd all head back home. It was fun MOST of the time. We had our special places to stop like the convenience store my kids called Tyrannosaurus Rex (T Ricks) on the way to Magnolia and then coming back from Greenville we'd stop at the hole in the wall convenience store that had Baskin Robbins ice cream. The caravans ALWAYS stopped for ice cream.
Once when we went to Greenville Mississippi to play a tournament, someone came up with the genius idea that we should eat at Doe's Eat place. There's almost no way to describe Doe's except to say I think they outfitted the entire place with stuff from a junk yard. It was the most eclectic "decorating" I've ever seen in my life and to say they'd never dusted a thing in 100 years is absolutely the truth. They served huge hunks of meat, fresh cut French fries and tamales. And if you didn't eat any of those, then you weren't eating at Doe's because that's all they served. One steak weighed 48 ounces and it fed an entire family of 6. The food was good and that's what we tried to keep our focus on and not the cleanliness...or lack thereof. The other awesome thing that stood out about Doe's was the location. It sat on the edge of crack ally and our cars had to be parked just right or they might have been "relocated" before we finished eating. But I'm happy to report no felony car thefts occurred as we were eating and we made it home safe and sound. I don't usually like to refer to a dining experience as an adventure but this one certainly was.
Over the 9 years our kids played basketball we watched some really great games, some really tough games and some major heart breakers. And I'll never forget when the boys and the girls each FINALLY beat Columbia Christian after getting creamed by them FOREVER. It was awesome beating them! And the last few years before basketball at PGCA ended was probably the most fun because we won A LOT! I love to win. And 4 out of the last 5 years, the girls' team won the Christian character award. The only thing we never won was the tournament and that would have been sweet.
One of the pastimes we came up with during basketball season was secret names for people whose real names we didn't know or didn't care to know. There was Big Al, whose real name was Butch...I think ours was actually an improvement. There was Mrs. Winky, the jolly green giant and the Russian. This was a super tall girl we felt may have been recruited from Russia to Magnolia AR...it made perfect sense at the time. And then of course her mom was known to us as Mother Russia. The only others we could remember were the mosquito, Enrique and Ogre. We still consider all of these brilliant and usable today.
Don't forget we're still in January when on the 13th there was another attempt to steal one of my casserole dishes through the disguise of a scheduled men's covered dish supper. But I'm happy to report that after I installed tracking devices on all my cookware, I never had another thing stolen. Smart me.
Now in order to keep people from falling asleep, I perused February and saw little to report other than lots of family birthdays with a total of 6 and the only other recorded happenings were haircuts and teacher appreciation week.
But with March came fever as all 4 of my kids were struck by disease the very first week. However, there's no report of vomiting so I guess I dodged a bullet that time. Also in March spring break was the week of the 16th when Grandma, Melanie and Randy went to Corsicana for a visit and Emma G. got her ears pierced on March 17th, St. Patty's day. Our Dallas girl’s trip was the 26th through the 29th and softball tryouts were held on the 28th. Also in March there was a jewelry party at someone's house I'm no longer friends with and I find I've said that a lot in the 3 years I documented so far. And not one of these people was anyone I beat out for an afghan or Chinese Christmas. Actually all of them left church mad and with their exit, so went the friendship. Shocking.
April was packed full of events with the ACE Senior convention as well as another silent auction, which I don't remember at all. Easter break was the 9th through the 13th with my birthday being April 12th, Easter Sunday. I mention that for one reason. On Easter Sunday 1998, Billie June was feeling really ill and of course in true Etheredge fashion, wanted to "wait it out" at the house. But after some time of letting her have her way, Melanie and I insisted she go the emergency room. After hospital time and tests, she had her gall bladder removed on the 17th and we were all relieved when she was on the road to recovery. But, she must have given me the go ahead to leave town, because by that day, my family was in Corsicana. We got home on the 20th just in time for CAT tests at school which always prompted John to begin asking our kids stuff like this, "What kind of fish has whiskers?" "If you have one orange tabby cat and 3 gray cats...how many cats do you have?" This elicited a response like, “Dad it’s not a test about cats!" It happened EVERY SINGLE YEAR.
Now I'm gonna stop here and interject a Billie June hospital story because I can. Historically anytime she's been in the hospital and doped up on pain meds she's been one loopy chick. She would get all kinds of crazy and she loved the self hook up to the pain machine. She spent A LOT of time pumping that button. Well when she was between that state of la la land and unconsciousness she would say some pretty goofy things and we ALWAYS enjoyed trying to make her. BUT one time when Austin and I were in the room with her, she was loopy as a loon AND talking to Becky on the phone. She did....without shame....accuse both Austin and I of dropping the f bomb! Yep. That's what the 2 of us liked to do back in the day was go visit people in the hospital and sit around using extremely offensive language. But I promise even after all these years, AND as unreliable as she was at the time, she still looks at us as if she doesn't believe we didn't do it. No freaking way.
But I digressed in order to save Austin's and my honor. And now I'll return to 1998.
On April 23rd I have a note that says, "Gran reaming," which meant he had to have a minor surgery to correct something in his throat. From time to time he had a problem with blockage in his throat and once again because Etheredges hated hospitals, he would refuse to go to the doctor until he HAD to. Truly was always kind of a scary patient because he never did well recovering from anesthesia but I'm happy to report, he made it through just fine. The end of April saw the beginning of ball season which meant once again we lived at the ball park. Every single kid except for Owen was playing at the time and we loved watching the kids play. But right at the start of ball season, from April 27th to May 1st, Melanie and Randy took a trip to Minnesota and with that, April ended and May was just getting started.
Carrie had come home to watch Turner munchkins while the parentals were out of town but she left on the 3rd taking the Billie June with her. Apparently Mom had recovered well enough from her gall bladder surgery to take on Big D. But Gran's "reaming" obviously didn't take the first time because he had to have a repeat procedure on May 7th and then Dale and Lydia went to Corsicana from the 12th to the 14th. And as usual, there was the piano/awards gauntlet. BUT I have no gymnastics recital listed anywhere which means....praise God....we had finally let that go. And even though we loved the girls' teachers, I KNOW I sang a happy tune when gymnastics was over for life. But because we had traded one sport for another, softball was on like Donkey Kong with 36 games just in the month of May alone. That's a lot of ball.
June began and on the 7th, I made my last trip ever to Arcadia that later proved to be unforgettable. It was a relay trip trying to get Billie June to Corsicana that encompassed about 6 people. I took her to meet Frank who was taking her to Shreveport and then later, Suzie was going to take her to Dallas. Becky's friend Jerry picked her up and took her to Becky and then Carrie got her the rest of the way to Corsicana. That was a mouthful. But back to Arcadia. As I mentioned before, I'd made the trip to Arcadia many times over the years so to me, this one was no different. Now, I love my brother Frank, but being on time was not his strong suit so when the plan was made for us to meet, I had the preconceived idea he was gonna be late. The place we'd always met was in the hotel parking lot and in order to enter the parking lot, we had to pass a gas station and then drive another 100 yards to the hotel. So when Mom and I arrived, I zipped right past the gas station and headed to the drop off place as I'd always done. And sure enough, Frank wasn't there. So I called him immediately, feeling VERY smug and as he answered the phone I asked huffily, "Where are you?" His dry response was, "I was sitting at the gas station watching you drive past. You know we don't HAVE to go to the hotel parking lot." ARGHHHHH!! WHATEVS. I was so intent on getting there first, I'd driven right past him. So he beat me. It wasn't a competition if I was gonna lose. So we met up, he harassed me about "winning," we stayed awhile to chat, did the Billie transfer and off we went on our separate ways. At the time, I had no idea it would be the last conversation I'd ever have with him. And if I had, I might have wanted to stay forever. In my mind's eye, I can still see him leaning against his car as we talked.
June 10th found Gran having to have a 3rd throat procedure and I know he was happy about that. One of these times he had this surgery he had been released to go home but a reaction to some medicine caused him to almost die. It was a very scary few minutes for Melanie and BJ as they sat by watching helplessly. As I said, Gran and medicine were not friends. But as for us in Monroe, we were still growing old at the ballpark with a total of 44 games played and since Lindsey and Whitney's names were in the mix of softball in 1998, I'm guessing it was the year when Whitney pitched a 53 minute 1st inning because she was having trouble finding the strike zone and the umpire was having trouble finding his glasses. It was as awful as it sounds and the real accomplishment of that game was Dale's head didn't explode.
On the 20th of June, Frank came to Monroe to bring Slade and Nina for Bible school that was scheduled for the 22nd to the 26th. And on the afternoon of the 20th, as I was leaving the Turner/Walker complex, we passed each other in the street and as we did, he gave me the longhorn sign jiggle the fingers wave as he went by. We didn't stop to talk. And so Bible school started and it was wild as ever. That year, I was the guide for Caitlin and Nina's class and we were together every day. And even though it was hot and it was Bible school, I'll never forget it. And so because I thought there would always be a next time, when Frank and Suzie came to pick up the kids and continue on their way to Massachusetts, I didn't go see them off. Sadly, some decisions can't be undecided.
In July 1998, a total of 6 trips were taken by people in our family to places like Dallas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Corsicana and Macon Georgia. Only one changed our lives forever. Frank and Suzie and the kids left Monroe July 1st on their way to Massachusetts and after a good long trip, they were headed back to Monroe on July 17th. John talked to all of them at about 7:00 pm. And then about an hour later, just like that, Frank and Nina moved to heaven.
The days that followed were horribly dark with millions of tears cried. But with many prayers lifted for Suzie and Slade, they both improved enough from their injuries to come home. We gathered for visitation and funerals and it was all overwhelming and devastating. And as the adults struggled through the process in a fog, our little ones didn't understand what was happening. And after all the formalities of death had ended, life somehow had to move forward. And so throughout the rest of July, I found myself getting angry when I saw people laughing and enjoying life. How could this be? How could life go on? How could people not know our lives were destroyed? We were a family of shattered hearts. But sadly, tragedy happens every single day in the world. It had just never happened to us. And so as Suzie and Slade's bodies continued to heal, we all did our best to help each other make it one day at a time. Sometimes it was minute by minute. But because the world doesn't stop, there were jobs to go to. Birthdays were coming. School was coming. And even though we wanted to, we couldn't retreat from life. Somehow we were going to have to learn to live without them. And the only way we could do that was to trust God more than we ever had in our lives. And so, when July 1998 ended, no one was sorry to see it go.
August began and Melanie and Randy wrestled with the fact that they had planned their own family trip to Wyoming. They decided they would still go but a new fear had crept in. And all we could do was trust God and ask Him to hold the wolves of fear at bay for each of us. They had a safe trip and were even able to have a little memorable fun. That's the trip where Maggie coined the now famous line (even if it didn't make any sense) "No pictures for problems." Also in August Carrie came home and Suzie, Carmen and Slade came for a short visit. School started for the kids during the last 2 weeks of the month and before we could catch our breath, it was September.
Labor Day was a time for all of us to get together and try to have a fun birthday for Slade. And again, we did the best we could. On September 10th through the 12th, Dale and Lydia went to Corsicana. And even though school was in session, we all continued to try to go see Gran and Grandma as often as we could. We worried that losing Frank and Nina might be too much for the 2 of them. In all their many years, they'd never faced anything like this. It was so difficult for them to understand, with their failing bodies, why it couldn't have been them instead. Broken hearts knows no age limit. I'm not sure either of them ever got over their loss. And then near the end of September, Big Frank and Grandma went to Dallas for the wedding of one of Becky's close friends. And September turned into October.
October was filled with fall softball for Caitlin and flag football for the boys of PGCA and it was my family's turn to go to Corsicana from the 16th to the 19th. And sometime during the fall of 1998, Carrie's job ended and she moved to Shreveport to help Suzie and the kids. I think it was a noble and selfless act. And we were glad to have her nearer to home. And on the 23rd of October, once again, the 4 of them came to Monroe for visit. It was always better being together than apart.
On October 29th, at the courthouse in Shreveport, there was a memorial for attorneys that had passed away that year. Lots of us went in honor of Frank. It was one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life. I remember walking through the halls thinking, Frank walked here. He stood over there. It was so gut wrenching to me that I don't think I ever spoke a word all day. It took all of my energy to hold myself together. It was tough. And when it was over the whole group of us went to eat at a favorite place of Frank's, Superior Grill. It was a place we'd gone with him many times. Every single worker in the place loved Frank. He was a kind and generous person. And so we toasted our brother and wished he'd been there to hear it.
Now my stomach has ALWAYS had a contentious relationship with Superior and this day it built to epic proportions, maybe because of all the tension I was holding in. I don't know. So we ate and then we began the trip to Monroe. It was an ill fated trip for Carrie and Whitney when it was decided I would ride with them in Carrie's car. Because just as we got EXACTLY to the middle of NOWHERE, things started percolating in my stomach. I'm gonna skip A LOT of details and just end this story with the news that not many people anywhere in the world have mooned as many as I did that night on I-20. There are 2 morals to that story...1 Gran was a wise man for always carrying a napkin in his pocket and 2...I'll NEVER eat at Superior again in my lifetime. And that's all I'm gonna say about that. And with my shame and horror, October ended.
When November began, so did basketball and there were games galore. There was also a baby boom happening at church and Melanie and I decorated for what felt like hundreds of parties. It was difficult attending these events and try to be nice to everyone when all we wanted to do was stay at home. But life was happening and we had to keep going. Mom, Melanie and I made a much needed girls' trip to Dallas and then Dale and Lydia went back to Corsicana from the 20th to the 24th. And because we couldn't stop it, the holidays were coming quickly and everyone began arriving for Thanksgiving on the 25th. There were lots of firsts in 1998 but I can't think of any that was fun. And so with Thanksgiving, came another family get together without Frank and Nina. Our only accomplishment that Thanksgiving was we made it to Friday the 26th.
In December basketball was in full swing and on December 6th we went to Shreveport for the day. Becky's Christmas party was the 12th, the church Christmas dinner was the 16th and before we knew it, Christmas was upon us. And no one was prepared. In years past, even when we didn't have much money to spend on Christmas, our family had lots of fun. But not this year. We did our best to make it fun for the kids but for the adults, no matter how much we tried, it was too heartbreaking. Even with a room full of people, the only glaring focus was on the 2 missing faces. And until 1998, there had never been a Christmas without Frank or Nina. Even with the comfort of knowing they were in heaven, missing them was unbearable. And then thankfully, Christmas was over and 1998 was coming to an end. And with God's guidance, we were slowly and painstakingly learning to carve out a life without them. It was all we could do.
1998 was over.
And I'll end with this.
The phrase "I wish" can't be found anywhere in the Bible and "if only" is just a wicked game the devil likes to make us play. I played for a time in 1998. We probably all did. But, at some point, if any of us wanted to stay sane, we had to stop and let it go. The only way we survived was by holding on to God as tightly as we could and asking Him to heal our hearts. And even though it seemed like it took forever, God did it. And it was a miracle. To lose as much as we did and have healed hearts is absolutely a miracle. He did it because He loves us more than we could ever imagine. The Bible DOES say He is near to the broken hearted and He comforts those who grieve. Our family knows that to be true. And now for the many years since Frank and Nina died, we remember them without tears. We remember them with joy. A day in a month in a year can no longer steal our joy. We remember the fun times we've shared together. We have the evidence to prove it in pictures and precious memories.
This isn't supposed to sound arrogant but there aren't many families like ours. There are so many hurting families in the world, so many hurting people. In spite of the loss of Frank and Nina, ours has been extra blessed.
WE HAVE HAD SO MUCH FUN.
It took years for hearts to heal. But trusting God to do the work was the only way to let it happen. It took patience. It took trust. It was never easy. But I can attest to the fact that He did it and did it well. He's the only one who can heal a broken heart.
We lost so much in 1998.
But God remained faithful in the midst of horrible tragedy.
I'm so glad we made it to the other side.
January 1998 found me continuing to record my girls sleeping spots in their room and then on January 3rd I took Slade and Nina to meet someone in Arcadia for the Shreveport kid transfer. And that's a trip I'm very familiar with. In fact, every single one of us made the trip to Arcadia at some point during the little kid phase of the Shreveport Walkers. This tradition began when Meredith and Brooke were babies and continued through Carmen, Slade and Nina. The Monroe fam always looked forward to these fun weekends that were jam packed full of cokes and cookies and ice cream and staying up late. It was a blast.
On January 5, 1998 Big Frank went into the hospital for hip replacement surgery. One of Dad's MOST hated places in all the world was a hospital so for him to have an extended stay in one was not good at all. It was a major relief when he was released. And after batting the idea back and forth in my head, I decided to throw in a story about Big Frank and hospitals. Melanie, Carrie and I were all born in a Catholic hospital where nuns ran the show and scared people to death as they did. And with each birth, there was an opportunity for Big Frank to have a run in with at least one nun during Billie June's stay. Now for several nights before I was born, BJ had sent their 4 kids to neighbors' houses to spend the night just in case they had to go to the hospital. Finally, one night, Frank had had enough of the sleepovers and insisted on staying home and of course that's the night Mom went into labor. So off to the hospital she and Dad went with Frank in tow. And that didn't sit well with the nuns. They told Dad that Frank was absolutely not allowed to stay...period...end of story. But after "some discussion" between Big Frank and the nuns, he and Frank sat downstairs in the lobby until I was born. Dad had gone head to head with the nuns and lived to tell about it. I don't like scary stories.
But back to 1998, by this time in PGCA's history and until 2006, a long illustrious career in the arena of ALCAL basketball had begun. Over the years we traveled to exotic locales like Crossett, Camden and Magnolia Arkansas, Greenville Mississippi and Ruston Louisiana. Sometimes the traveling seemed never ending with 2 nights of games each week. But we had lots of fun and some of the parents would caravan to games together. The kids would play 3 games...win some....lose many....and then late in the evening, we'd all head back home. It was fun MOST of the time. We had our special places to stop like the convenience store my kids called Tyrannosaurus Rex (T Ricks) on the way to Magnolia and then coming back from Greenville we'd stop at the hole in the wall convenience store that had Baskin Robbins ice cream. The caravans ALWAYS stopped for ice cream.
Once when we went to Greenville Mississippi to play a tournament, someone came up with the genius idea that we should eat at Doe's Eat place. There's almost no way to describe Doe's except to say I think they outfitted the entire place with stuff from a junk yard. It was the most eclectic "decorating" I've ever seen in my life and to say they'd never dusted a thing in 100 years is absolutely the truth. They served huge hunks of meat, fresh cut French fries and tamales. And if you didn't eat any of those, then you weren't eating at Doe's because that's all they served. One steak weighed 48 ounces and it fed an entire family of 6. The food was good and that's what we tried to keep our focus on and not the cleanliness...or lack thereof. The other awesome thing that stood out about Doe's was the location. It sat on the edge of crack ally and our cars had to be parked just right or they might have been "relocated" before we finished eating. But I'm happy to report no felony car thefts occurred as we were eating and we made it home safe and sound. I don't usually like to refer to a dining experience as an adventure but this one certainly was.
Over the 9 years our kids played basketball we watched some really great games, some really tough games and some major heart breakers. And I'll never forget when the boys and the girls each FINALLY beat Columbia Christian after getting creamed by them FOREVER. It was awesome beating them! And the last few years before basketball at PGCA ended was probably the most fun because we won A LOT! I love to win. And 4 out of the last 5 years, the girls' team won the Christian character award. The only thing we never won was the tournament and that would have been sweet.
One of the pastimes we came up with during basketball season was secret names for people whose real names we didn't know or didn't care to know. There was Big Al, whose real name was Butch...I think ours was actually an improvement. There was Mrs. Winky, the jolly green giant and the Russian. This was a super tall girl we felt may have been recruited from Russia to Magnolia AR...it made perfect sense at the time. And then of course her mom was known to us as Mother Russia. The only others we could remember were the mosquito, Enrique and Ogre. We still consider all of these brilliant and usable today.
Don't forget we're still in January when on the 13th there was another attempt to steal one of my casserole dishes through the disguise of a scheduled men's covered dish supper. But I'm happy to report that after I installed tracking devices on all my cookware, I never had another thing stolen. Smart me.
Now in order to keep people from falling asleep, I perused February and saw little to report other than lots of family birthdays with a total of 6 and the only other recorded happenings were haircuts and teacher appreciation week.
But with March came fever as all 4 of my kids were struck by disease the very first week. However, there's no report of vomiting so I guess I dodged a bullet that time. Also in March spring break was the week of the 16th when Grandma, Melanie and Randy went to Corsicana for a visit and Emma G. got her ears pierced on March 17th, St. Patty's day. Our Dallas girl’s trip was the 26th through the 29th and softball tryouts were held on the 28th. Also in March there was a jewelry party at someone's house I'm no longer friends with and I find I've said that a lot in the 3 years I documented so far. And not one of these people was anyone I beat out for an afghan or Chinese Christmas. Actually all of them left church mad and with their exit, so went the friendship. Shocking.
April was packed full of events with the ACE Senior convention as well as another silent auction, which I don't remember at all. Easter break was the 9th through the 13th with my birthday being April 12th, Easter Sunday. I mention that for one reason. On Easter Sunday 1998, Billie June was feeling really ill and of course in true Etheredge fashion, wanted to "wait it out" at the house. But after some time of letting her have her way, Melanie and I insisted she go the emergency room. After hospital time and tests, she had her gall bladder removed on the 17th and we were all relieved when she was on the road to recovery. But, she must have given me the go ahead to leave town, because by that day, my family was in Corsicana. We got home on the 20th just in time for CAT tests at school which always prompted John to begin asking our kids stuff like this, "What kind of fish has whiskers?" "If you have one orange tabby cat and 3 gray cats...how many cats do you have?" This elicited a response like, “Dad it’s not a test about cats!" It happened EVERY SINGLE YEAR.
Now I'm gonna stop here and interject a Billie June hospital story because I can. Historically anytime she's been in the hospital and doped up on pain meds she's been one loopy chick. She would get all kinds of crazy and she loved the self hook up to the pain machine. She spent A LOT of time pumping that button. Well when she was between that state of la la land and unconsciousness she would say some pretty goofy things and we ALWAYS enjoyed trying to make her. BUT one time when Austin and I were in the room with her, she was loopy as a loon AND talking to Becky on the phone. She did....without shame....accuse both Austin and I of dropping the f bomb! Yep. That's what the 2 of us liked to do back in the day was go visit people in the hospital and sit around using extremely offensive language. But I promise even after all these years, AND as unreliable as she was at the time, she still looks at us as if she doesn't believe we didn't do it. No freaking way.
But I digressed in order to save Austin's and my honor. And now I'll return to 1998.
On April 23rd I have a note that says, "Gran reaming," which meant he had to have a minor surgery to correct something in his throat. From time to time he had a problem with blockage in his throat and once again because Etheredges hated hospitals, he would refuse to go to the doctor until he HAD to. Truly was always kind of a scary patient because he never did well recovering from anesthesia but I'm happy to report, he made it through just fine. The end of April saw the beginning of ball season which meant once again we lived at the ball park. Every single kid except for Owen was playing at the time and we loved watching the kids play. But right at the start of ball season, from April 27th to May 1st, Melanie and Randy took a trip to Minnesota and with that, April ended and May was just getting started.
Carrie had come home to watch Turner munchkins while the parentals were out of town but she left on the 3rd taking the Billie June with her. Apparently Mom had recovered well enough from her gall bladder surgery to take on Big D. But Gran's "reaming" obviously didn't take the first time because he had to have a repeat procedure on May 7th and then Dale and Lydia went to Corsicana from the 12th to the 14th. And as usual, there was the piano/awards gauntlet. BUT I have no gymnastics recital listed anywhere which means....praise God....we had finally let that go. And even though we loved the girls' teachers, I KNOW I sang a happy tune when gymnastics was over for life. But because we had traded one sport for another, softball was on like Donkey Kong with 36 games just in the month of May alone. That's a lot of ball.
June began and on the 7th, I made my last trip ever to Arcadia that later proved to be unforgettable. It was a relay trip trying to get Billie June to Corsicana that encompassed about 6 people. I took her to meet Frank who was taking her to Shreveport and then later, Suzie was going to take her to Dallas. Becky's friend Jerry picked her up and took her to Becky and then Carrie got her the rest of the way to Corsicana. That was a mouthful. But back to Arcadia. As I mentioned before, I'd made the trip to Arcadia many times over the years so to me, this one was no different. Now, I love my brother Frank, but being on time was not his strong suit so when the plan was made for us to meet, I had the preconceived idea he was gonna be late. The place we'd always met was in the hotel parking lot and in order to enter the parking lot, we had to pass a gas station and then drive another 100 yards to the hotel. So when Mom and I arrived, I zipped right past the gas station and headed to the drop off place as I'd always done. And sure enough, Frank wasn't there. So I called him immediately, feeling VERY smug and as he answered the phone I asked huffily, "Where are you?" His dry response was, "I was sitting at the gas station watching you drive past. You know we don't HAVE to go to the hotel parking lot." ARGHHHHH!! WHATEVS. I was so intent on getting there first, I'd driven right past him. So he beat me. It wasn't a competition if I was gonna lose. So we met up, he harassed me about "winning," we stayed awhile to chat, did the Billie transfer and off we went on our separate ways. At the time, I had no idea it would be the last conversation I'd ever have with him. And if I had, I might have wanted to stay forever. In my mind's eye, I can still see him leaning against his car as we talked.
June 10th found Gran having to have a 3rd throat procedure and I know he was happy about that. One of these times he had this surgery he had been released to go home but a reaction to some medicine caused him to almost die. It was a very scary few minutes for Melanie and BJ as they sat by watching helplessly. As I said, Gran and medicine were not friends. But as for us in Monroe, we were still growing old at the ballpark with a total of 44 games played and since Lindsey and Whitney's names were in the mix of softball in 1998, I'm guessing it was the year when Whitney pitched a 53 minute 1st inning because she was having trouble finding the strike zone and the umpire was having trouble finding his glasses. It was as awful as it sounds and the real accomplishment of that game was Dale's head didn't explode.
On the 20th of June, Frank came to Monroe to bring Slade and Nina for Bible school that was scheduled for the 22nd to the 26th. And on the afternoon of the 20th, as I was leaving the Turner/Walker complex, we passed each other in the street and as we did, he gave me the longhorn sign jiggle the fingers wave as he went by. We didn't stop to talk. And so Bible school started and it was wild as ever. That year, I was the guide for Caitlin and Nina's class and we were together every day. And even though it was hot and it was Bible school, I'll never forget it. And so because I thought there would always be a next time, when Frank and Suzie came to pick up the kids and continue on their way to Massachusetts, I didn't go see them off. Sadly, some decisions can't be undecided.
In July 1998, a total of 6 trips were taken by people in our family to places like Dallas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Corsicana and Macon Georgia. Only one changed our lives forever. Frank and Suzie and the kids left Monroe July 1st on their way to Massachusetts and after a good long trip, they were headed back to Monroe on July 17th. John talked to all of them at about 7:00 pm. And then about an hour later, just like that, Frank and Nina moved to heaven.
The days that followed were horribly dark with millions of tears cried. But with many prayers lifted for Suzie and Slade, they both improved enough from their injuries to come home. We gathered for visitation and funerals and it was all overwhelming and devastating. And as the adults struggled through the process in a fog, our little ones didn't understand what was happening. And after all the formalities of death had ended, life somehow had to move forward. And so throughout the rest of July, I found myself getting angry when I saw people laughing and enjoying life. How could this be? How could life go on? How could people not know our lives were destroyed? We were a family of shattered hearts. But sadly, tragedy happens every single day in the world. It had just never happened to us. And so as Suzie and Slade's bodies continued to heal, we all did our best to help each other make it one day at a time. Sometimes it was minute by minute. But because the world doesn't stop, there were jobs to go to. Birthdays were coming. School was coming. And even though we wanted to, we couldn't retreat from life. Somehow we were going to have to learn to live without them. And the only way we could do that was to trust God more than we ever had in our lives. And so, when July 1998 ended, no one was sorry to see it go.
August began and Melanie and Randy wrestled with the fact that they had planned their own family trip to Wyoming. They decided they would still go but a new fear had crept in. And all we could do was trust God and ask Him to hold the wolves of fear at bay for each of us. They had a safe trip and were even able to have a little memorable fun. That's the trip where Maggie coined the now famous line (even if it didn't make any sense) "No pictures for problems." Also in August Carrie came home and Suzie, Carmen and Slade came for a short visit. School started for the kids during the last 2 weeks of the month and before we could catch our breath, it was September.
Labor Day was a time for all of us to get together and try to have a fun birthday for Slade. And again, we did the best we could. On September 10th through the 12th, Dale and Lydia went to Corsicana. And even though school was in session, we all continued to try to go see Gran and Grandma as often as we could. We worried that losing Frank and Nina might be too much for the 2 of them. In all their many years, they'd never faced anything like this. It was so difficult for them to understand, with their failing bodies, why it couldn't have been them instead. Broken hearts knows no age limit. I'm not sure either of them ever got over their loss. And then near the end of September, Big Frank and Grandma went to Dallas for the wedding of one of Becky's close friends. And September turned into October.
October was filled with fall softball for Caitlin and flag football for the boys of PGCA and it was my family's turn to go to Corsicana from the 16th to the 19th. And sometime during the fall of 1998, Carrie's job ended and she moved to Shreveport to help Suzie and the kids. I think it was a noble and selfless act. And we were glad to have her nearer to home. And on the 23rd of October, once again, the 4 of them came to Monroe for visit. It was always better being together than apart.
On October 29th, at the courthouse in Shreveport, there was a memorial for attorneys that had passed away that year. Lots of us went in honor of Frank. It was one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life. I remember walking through the halls thinking, Frank walked here. He stood over there. It was so gut wrenching to me that I don't think I ever spoke a word all day. It took all of my energy to hold myself together. It was tough. And when it was over the whole group of us went to eat at a favorite place of Frank's, Superior Grill. It was a place we'd gone with him many times. Every single worker in the place loved Frank. He was a kind and generous person. And so we toasted our brother and wished he'd been there to hear it.
Now my stomach has ALWAYS had a contentious relationship with Superior and this day it built to epic proportions, maybe because of all the tension I was holding in. I don't know. So we ate and then we began the trip to Monroe. It was an ill fated trip for Carrie and Whitney when it was decided I would ride with them in Carrie's car. Because just as we got EXACTLY to the middle of NOWHERE, things started percolating in my stomach. I'm gonna skip A LOT of details and just end this story with the news that not many people anywhere in the world have mooned as many as I did that night on I-20. There are 2 morals to that story...1 Gran was a wise man for always carrying a napkin in his pocket and 2...I'll NEVER eat at Superior again in my lifetime. And that's all I'm gonna say about that. And with my shame and horror, October ended.
When November began, so did basketball and there were games galore. There was also a baby boom happening at church and Melanie and I decorated for what felt like hundreds of parties. It was difficult attending these events and try to be nice to everyone when all we wanted to do was stay at home. But life was happening and we had to keep going. Mom, Melanie and I made a much needed girls' trip to Dallas and then Dale and Lydia went back to Corsicana from the 20th to the 24th. And because we couldn't stop it, the holidays were coming quickly and everyone began arriving for Thanksgiving on the 25th. There were lots of firsts in 1998 but I can't think of any that was fun. And so with Thanksgiving, came another family get together without Frank and Nina. Our only accomplishment that Thanksgiving was we made it to Friday the 26th.
In December basketball was in full swing and on December 6th we went to Shreveport for the day. Becky's Christmas party was the 12th, the church Christmas dinner was the 16th and before we knew it, Christmas was upon us. And no one was prepared. In years past, even when we didn't have much money to spend on Christmas, our family had lots of fun. But not this year. We did our best to make it fun for the kids but for the adults, no matter how much we tried, it was too heartbreaking. Even with a room full of people, the only glaring focus was on the 2 missing faces. And until 1998, there had never been a Christmas without Frank or Nina. Even with the comfort of knowing they were in heaven, missing them was unbearable. And then thankfully, Christmas was over and 1998 was coming to an end. And with God's guidance, we were slowly and painstakingly learning to carve out a life without them. It was all we could do.
1998 was over.
And I'll end with this.
The phrase "I wish" can't be found anywhere in the Bible and "if only" is just a wicked game the devil likes to make us play. I played for a time in 1998. We probably all did. But, at some point, if any of us wanted to stay sane, we had to stop and let it go. The only way we survived was by holding on to God as tightly as we could and asking Him to heal our hearts. And even though it seemed like it took forever, God did it. And it was a miracle. To lose as much as we did and have healed hearts is absolutely a miracle. He did it because He loves us more than we could ever imagine. The Bible DOES say He is near to the broken hearted and He comforts those who grieve. Our family knows that to be true. And now for the many years since Frank and Nina died, we remember them without tears. We remember them with joy. A day in a month in a year can no longer steal our joy. We remember the fun times we've shared together. We have the evidence to prove it in pictures and precious memories.
This isn't supposed to sound arrogant but there aren't many families like ours. There are so many hurting families in the world, so many hurting people. In spite of the loss of Frank and Nina, ours has been extra blessed.
WE HAVE HAD SO MUCH FUN.
It took years for hearts to heal. But trusting God to do the work was the only way to let it happen. It took patience. It took trust. It was never easy. But I can attest to the fact that He did it and did it well. He's the only one who can heal a broken heart.
We lost so much in 1998.
But God remained faithful in the midst of horrible tragedy.
I'm so glad we made it to the other side.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
It's only Thursday
Just a few notes for the week so far. It took me all of 6 days to forget to go get Owen from school Monday afternoon. BUT so far he's given me half a dozen times for when school is actually out and none have been correct. We've got many more bell ringing days til next May.
Lots of changes have taken place for the boy in the last 9 days. he went from homeschool to Honors classes in high school. It's definitely been a culture shock for him. He's spending lots of hours each night doing homework.
College started with a bang on Monday and Olivia's getting her feet wet a little at a time. She's gonna do great but once again culture shock has set in. She went from homeschooling in pj's to the deep end of the ocean.
I hurt my knee somehow in the last few days and it's been a ***** to walk on but I decided last night to use the Truly Etheredge approach to getting better and that's "Work it out and not sit on it." I remember when he had an aching back and his answer was to go chop wood. He was tough. I do believe after walking last night on my sore knee, it felt better today. He was wise.
Haven't walked for a long time because of the heat and it's very depressing to find out how quickly you can lose your walking legs after just a short break. But thank goodness we've finally gotten a break in the heat this week and it's actually been sort of pleasant. Tonight John and I walked underneath a beautiful orange moon. Gorgeous! Good job God.
Addy and I are in a fight because she barked me awake this morning after a terrible night's sleep. She's COMPLETELY unconcerned about my anger. I considered selling her on eBay but as Olivia stated, "No one would buy her." It's so true.
I'm looking forward to Labor day in Corsicana. I already know it won't be long enough.
I'm working on the year 1998. The first half of the year was so much better than the second half.
I'm on target for my Bible reading. After 26 days, I've "read" 520 chapters. I say I've "read" because I've asked myself, "Does anybody really read about all the shekels and the census' and the begetting?
I still have some 1998 to do before bed.
Sweet dreams to all that are already dreaming
And to those still yet to dream.
Lots of changes have taken place for the boy in the last 9 days. he went from homeschool to Honors classes in high school. It's definitely been a culture shock for him. He's spending lots of hours each night doing homework.
College started with a bang on Monday and Olivia's getting her feet wet a little at a time. She's gonna do great but once again culture shock has set in. She went from homeschooling in pj's to the deep end of the ocean.
I hurt my knee somehow in the last few days and it's been a ***** to walk on but I decided last night to use the Truly Etheredge approach to getting better and that's "Work it out and not sit on it." I remember when he had an aching back and his answer was to go chop wood. He was tough. I do believe after walking last night on my sore knee, it felt better today. He was wise.
Haven't walked for a long time because of the heat and it's very depressing to find out how quickly you can lose your walking legs after just a short break. But thank goodness we've finally gotten a break in the heat this week and it's actually been sort of pleasant. Tonight John and I walked underneath a beautiful orange moon. Gorgeous! Good job God.
Addy and I are in a fight because she barked me awake this morning after a terrible night's sleep. She's COMPLETELY unconcerned about my anger. I considered selling her on eBay but as Olivia stated, "No one would buy her." It's so true.
I'm looking forward to Labor day in Corsicana. I already know it won't be long enough.
I'm working on the year 1998. The first half of the year was so much better than the second half.
I'm on target for my Bible reading. After 26 days, I've "read" 520 chapters. I say I've "read" because I've asked myself, "Does anybody really read about all the shekels and the census' and the begetting?
I still have some 1998 to do before bed.
Sweet dreams to all that are already dreaming
And to those still yet to dream.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
This is how we spent our Saturday/John and Caitlin's birthday
Finding out Lindsey and Bill are pregnant!!!
The pregnant couple went from house to house with a present (a baby onesie inside) for someone to open. As you can see, Melanie was the first to get the "gift." She was so excited she was obviously faster then the camera!
Checking the pregnancy tests (thank God for baggies.)
And then hugs all around.
So happy and thankful.
Bill looks a little stunned here. Umm hmm, that's how dad's faces usually look....overwhelmed or confused.
And by this time Bill has already tallied the costs THROUGH college and is thinking WHAT THE!!!
When they showed up at my house, the "present" was for Caitlin and I was CLUE...LESS about what was happening!! It worries me about myself because I'm sayin I had no idea. I'm hoping I was just thrown off because it was John and Caitlin's birthday, but I'm not sure....I may be a little slow.
Bill, Lindsey, Melanie, Carlie with her camera, and Maggie all walked in our house asking about the birthday party and I immediately thought, "Oh crap, were we having a big family birthday party?" But I KNEW we weren't. These people were just here to eat our birthday cake! But then Lindsey gave Caitlin the gift and I was thinking, "Wow is must be really good cause this looks like such a big deal!"
Then.....and only then....when Caitlin said and I quote, "Are you freaking pregnant?" People began squealing incessantly! Yes it was a very big deal!
This is me trying to get the little chipmunks up to speed in their little carousel in my head.
This is me still totally bewildered.
That's right genius....finally I know what's going on.
And I decided to give myself a hand for figuring it out ONLY after I'd been told.
The girls are excited.
John looks like he's just been told supper's ready.
Lindsey pausing to pray....ha ha ha not really.
Owen looking at a pregnancy test for the first time in his life and thinking, "Holy holy crap I had no idea you pee on a stick to find out this kind of important life changing information!"
And then it was Grandma's turn. She's not much of a brighter bulb than me cause she was dumb as dirt about it as well. At first she thought 15 people walked in to give her an empty bag. Lindsey then stepped in to help her with the contents.
Billie June KNOWS she's not pregnant.
Her chipmunks are gearing up the wheel.
Finally all's been revealed and understood.
Do we have?
Victory? YYYYEEEESSSSSSS!
Little girls that grew up together sharing grown up blessings.
Lots of joy for answered prayers.
What a great day.....
The pregnant couple went from house to house with a present (a baby onesie inside) for someone to open. As you can see, Melanie was the first to get the "gift." She was so excited she was obviously faster then the camera!
Checking the pregnancy tests (thank God for baggies.)
And then hugs all around.
So happy and thankful.
Bill looks a little stunned here. Umm hmm, that's how dad's faces usually look....overwhelmed or confused.
And by this time Bill has already tallied the costs THROUGH college and is thinking WHAT THE!!!
When they showed up at my house, the "present" was for Caitlin and I was CLUE...LESS about what was happening!! It worries me about myself because I'm sayin I had no idea. I'm hoping I was just thrown off because it was John and Caitlin's birthday, but I'm not sure....I may be a little slow.
Bill, Lindsey, Melanie, Carlie with her camera, and Maggie all walked in our house asking about the birthday party and I immediately thought, "Oh crap, were we having a big family birthday party?" But I KNEW we weren't. These people were just here to eat our birthday cake! But then Lindsey gave Caitlin the gift and I was thinking, "Wow is must be really good cause this looks like such a big deal!"
Then.....and only then....when Caitlin said and I quote, "Are you freaking pregnant?" People began squealing incessantly! Yes it was a very big deal!
This is me trying to get the little chipmunks up to speed in their little carousel in my head.
This is me still totally bewildered.
That's right genius....finally I know what's going on.
And I decided to give myself a hand for figuring it out ONLY after I'd been told.
The girls are excited.
John looks like he's just been told supper's ready.
Lindsey pausing to pray....ha ha ha not really.
Owen looking at a pregnancy test for the first time in his life and thinking, "Holy holy crap I had no idea you pee on a stick to find out this kind of important life changing information!"
And then it was Grandma's turn. She's not much of a brighter bulb than me cause she was dumb as dirt about it as well. At first she thought 15 people walked in to give her an empty bag. Lindsey then stepped in to help her with the contents.
Billie June KNOWS she's not pregnant.
Her chipmunks are gearing up the wheel.
Finally all's been revealed and understood.
Do we have?
Victory? YYYYEEEESSSSSSS!
Little girls that grew up together sharing grown up blessings.
Lots of joy for answered prayers.
What a great day.....
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
From kindergarten to college
I think it was yesterday when I sent my little girls off to school. This was Olivia's first day of kindergarten in 1997. Emma was in the first grade and Caitlin was in the 3rd.
I know it was this morning, when I sent my grown up girls off to college. Olivia's a freshman, Emma's a sophomore and Caitlin's a senior.
And as much as it tugs at my heart to let them go, I can't wait to see what happens next for each of them. It's gonna be great. Lord please keep them safe forever. Amen
I know it was this morning, when I sent my grown up girls off to college. Olivia's a freshman, Emma's a sophomore and Caitlin's a senior.
And as much as it tugs at my heart to let them go, I can't wait to see what happens next for each of them. It's gonna be great. Lord please keep them safe forever. Amen
From smallest to tallest
I could pinch all of these cheeks! This was Owen's first day of kindergarten. Look at that yummy little face. And now he's a freshman in high school, taller than his sisters and still growing.
Oh my goodness John and I have 3 college kids and the baby's in high school. How did this happen so fast?
It's been a lot of fun getting here but it went by way too fast.
Oh my goodness John and I have 3 college kids and the baby's in high school. How did this happen so fast?
It's been a lot of fun getting here but it went by way too fast.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
1997
January and February of 1997 started off slow with just a few recorded events such as school resuming on January 2nd, school out for ice on the 13th and then again for Martin Luther King on the 20th. Gymnastics carpool and PTF meetings were in full swing and I was still trying for the perfect picture at Olin Mills.
Maggie had a "jumping party" for her birthday on February 1st which I'm visualizing in my head kids arriving while jumping and remained jumping until leaving....that's a lot of pressure. But even though I wish that were the case, it was really a big blow up jumper outside for all kids to join in and jump. It was a jumping good time. On John's and my 12th anniversary, February 16th, Billie June went to Dallas and Melanie went to Corsicana from the 19th to the 23rd. And even though I didn't write it down, I'm certain John and I went to Outback to celebrate our anniversary which is standard fair for that day. On the 27th, Melanie's birthday, I had a conference with Caitlin and Emma's teachers and I just hope Emma hadn't punched a little kid in the mouth. Just kidding.....but I'll kick you.
And as March always does, it came back around and our spring break was the week of the 3rd when Dale and Lydia went to check on Gran and Bessie from the 5th to the 8th and our Dallas girls' trip was March 13-16. And as time sped along, John and I continued to spend money furiously on dentists and orthodontists. And fast forward to present day at least I have the satisfaction of knowing that all my children have taken good care of their teeth with no cavities or fist fights that caused missing teeth. So I guess the billion dollars spent was worth it. But in order to help continue to pay for good teeth, John went to work in Perry Georgia on the 24th while Dale and Lydia somehow made it to Califreakinfornia from March 24th through April 6th. Is this the trip that the kids went with? And if so, why didn't I write it down? And here's yet another glaring example of my laziness in my journal/calendar not having enough information.
But, I did record that my family went to Corsicana on April 3rd and some of us drove up to Dallas for Becky's wedding shower that was on April 5th and then my family was home by the 7th. And I'm pretty sure there was definitely some skipping of school during that trip. Melanie and Randy went to Califreakingfornia from the 16th to the 20th. Which now means I'm the only one that's never been to Califreakingfornia and although many many weird people live there, I want to go so very much. Maybe someday....and if I do, I want to drive down the coastal highway with the ocean on one side and the whatever that's on the other side. It's so beautiful when I see it on TV. Sigh... Now don't forget April's also the month that softball and t-ball start gearing up and 1997 was no exception with a T-ball coach's meeting on April 20.
And then on the 22nd, a mass migration began to Dallas for a very special event on April 26, the wedding of Becky and Keith. It always takes lots of planning and phone calls (no email back in the day) for our whole group to meet at one location on one day at one specific time...ON TIME...WITH CLOTHES and this trip was no exception. And, it was one of the most important dates we'd had in a long time. So here's how it went. Mom and Dad left for Dallas April 22, Dale, Lydia and children left for Corsicana April 23 so they could bring Gran and Grandma up to Dallas for the wedding. Frank, Suzie, Melanie, Randy and children got there on the 24th and Meredith, Brooke, John, me and children got there on the 25th. Carrie of course was already there. We stayed in a hotel which was fun and I don't know why but I can still remember what that hotel room looked like and I STILL remember how harried it was trying to get 4 children and well as John and myself ready and to the correct church on time. But we all made it with time to spare and it was one of the all time great occasions in our family. Everything was quite lovely. There was dancing and the watching of bad dancing by me which is one of my ALL TIME FAVORITE THINGS TO DO. And if there was bad dancing, that means there was lots of laughter so all in all it was a memory well made. It's also the day that will go down in history as the day Gran lost his pants on the dance floor....yep fell the whole way down. That could only happen to him and it will never be forgotten. It's also the day Liz and Andrew, with their northern roots became part of a big, loud, crazy, southern family....God bless em. And then as with all fun events, it was over lickety split and we were home on the 27th and the month of April was in the books.
And what month is it if there's a field day, gymnastics recital, piano recital, baseball, softball, t-ball, and an award's banquet? It would be May. And all those things happened in May 1997. But a rarity occurred for us on the 10th when we had a silent auction at church to benefit the youth for something....I don't know what....maybe to pay for a bus for youth camp? Anyway that's not the important thing. The important thing was that at the silent auction, I beat out a girl named Connie for an afghan that said something about mothers on it. It was a furious bidding war with my competitive side rearing it's ugly head until I beat her down so bad she needed crutches to leave the building. But, I WON! WOO HOO! She wanted it for her mom...BOO HOO...and I wanted it for myself! Doesn't sound selfish AT ALL. And it's only taken me 13 years and this writing to ask myself the question, "Why didn't I give it to Billie June instead of keeping it for myself?" Hmmmm...selfish had a great place to live back in the day.
May 10th was a busy day because we also attended a party honoring a man that changed my life forever. NLU (now ULM, don't even get me started) was honoring Dr. Neil Douglas for his many years of work in the Biology department as well as the museum he founded. I can't say enough about how he impacted my life as well as the lives of Randy, Melanie, Carrie and John. I met Dr. D. through Randy when he was in graduate school and I loved him immediately. We all did. He was smart and fun and funny and wanted the best that we all had to offer. He's the reason that I loved Biology and wanted to study it. He's one of the few teachers that inspired me to want to do better. And if I didn't, I was terribly disappointed because I never wanted to disappoint him. I remember him fussing at me only one time and knowing that although I didn't like what I was hearing about myself, I knew what he was saying was true. It never happened again. We saw him recently when again he was honored by the Biology department and he's still wonderful. We listened to him tell old stories and we laughed about all the fun times we had as if it was the first time we'd ever heard them. One time Carrie, who worked for him as a student, typed out a formal letter for him and it was excellent until the very end when she typed, I would versy much appreciate your quick response. He of course caught the typo and harassed her forever. People were always pranking him by putting chalk in the man's coffee...but he insisted that it only added to the flavor and one professor rigged his phone with a "popper." When he answered it, and I'm telling the truth, it was the president of the university who thought Dr. D. had possibly been shot. It was always fun working in his office because you never knew what might happen at any given moment. And as a teacher, even though his tests were deadly and I had to work my butt off to pass, it was worth it. The time I spent working with and for him was some of the best times in my life. I always remember him with a full heart. He is greatness in human form.
And since I'm on the subject of Biology, the other thing I came away with was a husband. The semester I changed my major to biology was the very first time I met John. We were both in Dr. Douglas' class called Fisheries Biology and one of the requirements was we had to make a fish collection. Which meant, using seines, we had to find the fish Dr. Douglas wanted for the museum. So most of the time, with Carrie as my guinea pig, we drove around to little creeks nearby looking for the fish that had the most points. One afternoon, we were at Chenerie Creek and as we were leaving, John drove up. We talked for a minute and he was impressed with the fish we'd caught and then the next day, he was very interested in helping me sort my fish. At the time, he was a hairy beast with long curly locks and a beard, but something in me could tell he had a tender heart. And I was right. And 28 years after that "chance" meeting, I know I made a good decision. Just like all married couples, we've been through a lot together, and there have been plenty of times we were NOT each other's favorite person, but we've stuck it out and always will. I can't imagine my life with anyone else.
And now after all that, don't forget we're still in the month of May where school ended on the 13th and kindergarten graduation took place on the 15th as Emma and Maggie ended their first school year with a bang. And 14 years later, with both of them attending ULM, they hold the record of attending school together the longest. Congrats to both girls....there are no prizes.
And also that May, a very unusual thing happened at gymnastics recital rehearsal on the 12th. Yes, they rehearse for the actual recital so just imagine the horror of sitting through an 18 hour rehearsal only to have to follow it up with a repeat performance on the real night. Oh, it's a super fun couple of days for reals! BUT, on this afternoon my kids and I had to go to a gym in West Monroe for the rehearsal and I was driving my green suburban, not my present one, looking for a parking place. Owen was in his car seat asleep so I was looking for a close spot so he could stay asleep in the car. A friend took my girls in for me as I continued to look for a place but I finally gave up and decided to park anywhere and just stay in the car with the boy. I had just passed a spot and decided to back up to get it and as I did, I felt an immovable behind me. Oh yeah I had run into a sedan that must have been the size of a clown car because I never ever saw it. I killed that car quick. They had to call a tow truck because I killed it so bad. I mean I killed it.
A very nice man got out of the dead car, walked up to my window and kindly told me his "company" car was beat to hell. It must have been the perfect storm for car killing because to look at it, it was a 12 on the 10 point scale. Another man was with him and they were both so nice but said they had to call the "office" and get a tow truck and yada yada. So, after exchanging insurance info and more phone calls and a tow truck, we parted ways and as he was leaving, he gave me his card and said, "Take care of those babies." I was already mortified because of the killing but then I looked at his card and saw that he was the captain of police detectives! And I had killed his car. My car on the other hand didn't have ONE scratch on it. Awesome! And so we wrapped up May with a police incident and another piano recital on the 18th and the school awards banquet on the 28th where 100,000 trophies were given out to 45 kids and also Carrie came home for Brooke's high school graduation on May 30th. It's odd to me that Carrie Anna NEVER attended a piano recital or award's banquet or gymnastics fiasco. Hmmmm why would that be Carrie Anna?
Now June 1997 was huge with Jared and Austin playing baseball and the girls in softball and t-ball and the grand total of games for the month was somewhere in the neighborhood of 15. And we tried to make each game even if for just a smidge. Carrie went back to Dallas on June 2nd, my family went to Corsicana from the 5th to the 9 and then Dale and Lydia went from the 10th to the 14th. Help me Lord Vacation Bible school was the week of the 16th and I'm sure there were 4 million kids and it was hot. John was still working feverishly going to Cincinnati for the week of the 23rd and with a blink of an eye, we blew through June.
And throughout the months of 1997, I've been noticing these little notes that I made over and over and it caused my girls and I to recall a regular occurrence of sleeping arrangements when they were little. Almost all of their lives my 3 girls have slept in the same room and at times, it ain't been pretty. But, when they were little, we did this thing. Because they didn't have a TV in their room, they'd ask if we would bring a portable TV in, move the beds, make pallets and let them sleep ON THE FLOOR instead of comfy beds. They would stay up late and watch movies and because John and I are AWESOME, we would make a HUGE pallet for them and let em have it their way. It stayed like that for lots of the summer. BUT there were coveted sleeping spots so I had to record who slept where on what night and keep a rotation going so as to prevent a regular hair pulling amongst the sissys. So on my trusty calendar, there are cryptic notes that say, Caitlin-chest, Olivia-middle, Emma-TV OR Caitlin-TV, Emma-middle, Olivia-chest. It was a brilliant system. And while we were at home keeping tabs on sleeping spots, Melanie and Randy went to Corsicana July 16-20.
And then on July 19th, because John had some work to do in Minnesota, our little family made the trek north to Brainerd Minnesota where the mosquitoes are the size of rabbits and John worked for 3 days. I've lived in Louisiana all my life and I've never experienced mosquitoes like in Minnesota. The state of 10,000 lakes shouldn't brag. It should instead be called the land of 10,000 breeding grounds for bugs that will try to hunt you down and make your life as miserable as possible. But we either adjusted or bought 30 gallons of bug spray because we went to places like Paul Bunyan Land, Gooseberry Falls and drove within 100 miles of the Canadian border. And again for someone from Louisiana, July in Minnesota with 55 degree temperatures is completely unnatural. And after John finished working, we continued our travels to Pennsylvania as well. Over the course of the entire trip we saw lots of corn in Iowa, we stopped at Notre Dame in Indiana, we saw Lake Superior, Michigan and Erie. We drove through Chicago and was there long enough to get taken for $20 and then spent time in Butler PA. The final tally in miles was 4000 miles but the memories were immeasurable. We had a blast! Our kids were so good and we saw so many different and beautiful places. I'd love to do that again someday. But because Dorothy was right when she said there's no place like home, we made it back on the 30th of July. And to finish off the month, Dale and Lydia made a 7 day trip to Corsicana. And then on July 31st a bunch of people went to Florida but my family did not. And I'll not say anything else about missing a beach trip. It still pierces me.
The first week of August found people enjoying the beach without me and I took my kids to play at someone's house and I didn't even like the people. What was I thinking? But the beach trip ended just in time for school to start on the 13th and it's a good thing because that's the day Olivia Grace started kindergarten. And with the blink of an eye we had 3 kids in school. Kids growing up goes by so fast. Then for some reason, Melanie and Randy decided to rub it in to all the rest of us by going back to Florida from August 21-24. Whatever! And then a theatrical group came to church to perform August 28th and I'd have to say that that one Christian group of people was the rudest I've ever encountered. Needless to say I wasn't sad when they picked up, packed up and left.
In our family, we always liked to cap off the end of summer with a big Labor day extravaganza and that year, it began on August 29th. Carrie brought Gran and Grandma, Frank and Suzie and the kids came as well as Becky, Keith and Andrew. And again if we were together, we had fun and everyone went home on September 1st. A few more highlights of September was Olivia being student of the week September 8-12, school was out the 29th and 30th and I was still recording middle, TV and chest for my little girls. In October my family went to Corsicana from the 2nd through the 6th for Gran's 90th birthday and then the Pennsylvania peeps came for a visit on October 5th. Melanie and Randy went to Corsicana from the 15th through the 18th and the quiet October, according to my records, ended with Celebration of Life on the 31st.
November wasn't packed full of many events but we had a Thanksgiving dinner at church on the 12th and that means Melanie, BJ and myself went around "collecting" things to use for decorating the tables. We borrowed quite a few berries over the years from various sources and that's all I have to say about that. November 26 was the day my family headed to Dallas for Thanksgiving and because I must have dropped the ball on arrivals, I have no record of anyone else going. Oh well. I'm sure I was the life of the party.
Besides December 1st being Carrie's birthday, it was also another of those wonderful Christian events at church called Chinese Christmas. You know the game where you steal another person's gift if the one you got sucks? Well I play to win and there's no crying in Chinese Christmas. One year Billie June "fell on the sword" and took from Melanie THE UGLIEST sugar plum tree that was ever born so Melanie could choose again. I however played the game in true Christian fashion and made sure everyone knew with a well practiced stink eye that you'd better not kill my dream by taking my gift. So, I went home with the cutest miniature nativity scene (purchased by Melanie) and I didn't have to hate someone forever for stealing it from me. Billie June showed a mother's love for her daughter but my winnings ROCKED! Jesus was proud of one of us.
Now on December 2nd, Caitlin got bangs and the ACE convention was December 3-5. I wonder if that's when Caitlin did a monologue as Noah's wife? She was just precious and not corny at all. The kids at church performed The Littlest Angel on Sunday, December 7th and I have absolutely no recollection of it at all. Grandma left for Dallas that same day and Becky's Christmas party was on the 13th and now I remember that's why Billie went to Dallas every year. It was for Becky's party. And once again my brain says, OOOOOHHHHH. School let out for Christmas on December 19th with a school party at Shoney's and once again that was far too late for the holidays to begin. I have no idea why but apparently I helped Whitney paint a shirt on December 23? I don't have a clue what that was about but Carrie, Becky and Keith came home on Christmas Eve and were able to stay until the 27th. Those were the best kinds of Christmases when people got to stay for several days. Frank and Suzie always came on Christmas day after their kids opened their gifts at their house and then it was a big party at Big Frank and Grandma's.
And once again as a family, we ended a great year full of memories made and wonderful times spent together. And if I could, I'd go back and burn every single moment into the fabric of my being so it would be like a movie I could replay over and over again. I wish I could remember it all better than I do. Because 1998 was coming and it would change all of our lives forever.
Maggie had a "jumping party" for her birthday on February 1st which I'm visualizing in my head kids arriving while jumping and remained jumping until leaving....that's a lot of pressure. But even though I wish that were the case, it was really a big blow up jumper outside for all kids to join in and jump. It was a jumping good time. On John's and my 12th anniversary, February 16th, Billie June went to Dallas and Melanie went to Corsicana from the 19th to the 23rd. And even though I didn't write it down, I'm certain John and I went to Outback to celebrate our anniversary which is standard fair for that day. On the 27th, Melanie's birthday, I had a conference with Caitlin and Emma's teachers and I just hope Emma hadn't punched a little kid in the mouth. Just kidding.....but I'll kick you.
And as March always does, it came back around and our spring break was the week of the 3rd when Dale and Lydia went to check on Gran and Bessie from the 5th to the 8th and our Dallas girls' trip was March 13-16. And as time sped along, John and I continued to spend money furiously on dentists and orthodontists. And fast forward to present day at least I have the satisfaction of knowing that all my children have taken good care of their teeth with no cavities or fist fights that caused missing teeth. So I guess the billion dollars spent was worth it. But in order to help continue to pay for good teeth, John went to work in Perry Georgia on the 24th while Dale and Lydia somehow made it to Califreakinfornia from March 24th through April 6th. Is this the trip that the kids went with? And if so, why didn't I write it down? And here's yet another glaring example of my laziness in my journal/calendar not having enough information.
But, I did record that my family went to Corsicana on April 3rd and some of us drove up to Dallas for Becky's wedding shower that was on April 5th and then my family was home by the 7th. And I'm pretty sure there was definitely some skipping of school during that trip. Melanie and Randy went to Califreakingfornia from the 16th to the 20th. Which now means I'm the only one that's never been to Califreakingfornia and although many many weird people live there, I want to go so very much. Maybe someday....and if I do, I want to drive down the coastal highway with the ocean on one side and the whatever that's on the other side. It's so beautiful when I see it on TV. Sigh... Now don't forget April's also the month that softball and t-ball start gearing up and 1997 was no exception with a T-ball coach's meeting on April 20.
And then on the 22nd, a mass migration began to Dallas for a very special event on April 26, the wedding of Becky and Keith. It always takes lots of planning and phone calls (no email back in the day) for our whole group to meet at one location on one day at one specific time...ON TIME...WITH CLOTHES and this trip was no exception. And, it was one of the most important dates we'd had in a long time. So here's how it went. Mom and Dad left for Dallas April 22, Dale, Lydia and children left for Corsicana April 23 so they could bring Gran and Grandma up to Dallas for the wedding. Frank, Suzie, Melanie, Randy and children got there on the 24th and Meredith, Brooke, John, me and children got there on the 25th. Carrie of course was already there. We stayed in a hotel which was fun and I don't know why but I can still remember what that hotel room looked like and I STILL remember how harried it was trying to get 4 children and well as John and myself ready and to the correct church on time. But we all made it with time to spare and it was one of the all time great occasions in our family. Everything was quite lovely. There was dancing and the watching of bad dancing by me which is one of my ALL TIME FAVORITE THINGS TO DO. And if there was bad dancing, that means there was lots of laughter so all in all it was a memory well made. It's also the day that will go down in history as the day Gran lost his pants on the dance floor....yep fell the whole way down. That could only happen to him and it will never be forgotten. It's also the day Liz and Andrew, with their northern roots became part of a big, loud, crazy, southern family....God bless em. And then as with all fun events, it was over lickety split and we were home on the 27th and the month of April was in the books.
And what month is it if there's a field day, gymnastics recital, piano recital, baseball, softball, t-ball, and an award's banquet? It would be May. And all those things happened in May 1997. But a rarity occurred for us on the 10th when we had a silent auction at church to benefit the youth for something....I don't know what....maybe to pay for a bus for youth camp? Anyway that's not the important thing. The important thing was that at the silent auction, I beat out a girl named Connie for an afghan that said something about mothers on it. It was a furious bidding war with my competitive side rearing it's ugly head until I beat her down so bad she needed crutches to leave the building. But, I WON! WOO HOO! She wanted it for her mom...BOO HOO...and I wanted it for myself! Doesn't sound selfish AT ALL. And it's only taken me 13 years and this writing to ask myself the question, "Why didn't I give it to Billie June instead of keeping it for myself?" Hmmmm...selfish had a great place to live back in the day.
May 10th was a busy day because we also attended a party honoring a man that changed my life forever. NLU (now ULM, don't even get me started) was honoring Dr. Neil Douglas for his many years of work in the Biology department as well as the museum he founded. I can't say enough about how he impacted my life as well as the lives of Randy, Melanie, Carrie and John. I met Dr. D. through Randy when he was in graduate school and I loved him immediately. We all did. He was smart and fun and funny and wanted the best that we all had to offer. He's the reason that I loved Biology and wanted to study it. He's one of the few teachers that inspired me to want to do better. And if I didn't, I was terribly disappointed because I never wanted to disappoint him. I remember him fussing at me only one time and knowing that although I didn't like what I was hearing about myself, I knew what he was saying was true. It never happened again. We saw him recently when again he was honored by the Biology department and he's still wonderful. We listened to him tell old stories and we laughed about all the fun times we had as if it was the first time we'd ever heard them. One time Carrie, who worked for him as a student, typed out a formal letter for him and it was excellent until the very end when she typed, I would versy much appreciate your quick response. He of course caught the typo and harassed her forever. People were always pranking him by putting chalk in the man's coffee...but he insisted that it only added to the flavor and one professor rigged his phone with a "popper." When he answered it, and I'm telling the truth, it was the president of the university who thought Dr. D. had possibly been shot. It was always fun working in his office because you never knew what might happen at any given moment. And as a teacher, even though his tests were deadly and I had to work my butt off to pass, it was worth it. The time I spent working with and for him was some of the best times in my life. I always remember him with a full heart. He is greatness in human form.
And since I'm on the subject of Biology, the other thing I came away with was a husband. The semester I changed my major to biology was the very first time I met John. We were both in Dr. Douglas' class called Fisheries Biology and one of the requirements was we had to make a fish collection. Which meant, using seines, we had to find the fish Dr. Douglas wanted for the museum. So most of the time, with Carrie as my guinea pig, we drove around to little creeks nearby looking for the fish that had the most points. One afternoon, we were at Chenerie Creek and as we were leaving, John drove up. We talked for a minute and he was impressed with the fish we'd caught and then the next day, he was very interested in helping me sort my fish. At the time, he was a hairy beast with long curly locks and a beard, but something in me could tell he had a tender heart. And I was right. And 28 years after that "chance" meeting, I know I made a good decision. Just like all married couples, we've been through a lot together, and there have been plenty of times we were NOT each other's favorite person, but we've stuck it out and always will. I can't imagine my life with anyone else.
And now after all that, don't forget we're still in the month of May where school ended on the 13th and kindergarten graduation took place on the 15th as Emma and Maggie ended their first school year with a bang. And 14 years later, with both of them attending ULM, they hold the record of attending school together the longest. Congrats to both girls....there are no prizes.
And also that May, a very unusual thing happened at gymnastics recital rehearsal on the 12th. Yes, they rehearse for the actual recital so just imagine the horror of sitting through an 18 hour rehearsal only to have to follow it up with a repeat performance on the real night. Oh, it's a super fun couple of days for reals! BUT, on this afternoon my kids and I had to go to a gym in West Monroe for the rehearsal and I was driving my green suburban, not my present one, looking for a parking place. Owen was in his car seat asleep so I was looking for a close spot so he could stay asleep in the car. A friend took my girls in for me as I continued to look for a place but I finally gave up and decided to park anywhere and just stay in the car with the boy. I had just passed a spot and decided to back up to get it and as I did, I felt an immovable behind me. Oh yeah I had run into a sedan that must have been the size of a clown car because I never ever saw it. I killed that car quick. They had to call a tow truck because I killed it so bad. I mean I killed it.
A very nice man got out of the dead car, walked up to my window and kindly told me his "company" car was beat to hell. It must have been the perfect storm for car killing because to look at it, it was a 12 on the 10 point scale. Another man was with him and they were both so nice but said they had to call the "office" and get a tow truck and yada yada. So, after exchanging insurance info and more phone calls and a tow truck, we parted ways and as he was leaving, he gave me his card and said, "Take care of those babies." I was already mortified because of the killing but then I looked at his card and saw that he was the captain of police detectives! And I had killed his car. My car on the other hand didn't have ONE scratch on it. Awesome! And so we wrapped up May with a police incident and another piano recital on the 18th and the school awards banquet on the 28th where 100,000 trophies were given out to 45 kids and also Carrie came home for Brooke's high school graduation on May 30th. It's odd to me that Carrie Anna NEVER attended a piano recital or award's banquet or gymnastics fiasco. Hmmmm why would that be Carrie Anna?
Now June 1997 was huge with Jared and Austin playing baseball and the girls in softball and t-ball and the grand total of games for the month was somewhere in the neighborhood of 15. And we tried to make each game even if for just a smidge. Carrie went back to Dallas on June 2nd, my family went to Corsicana from the 5th to the 9 and then Dale and Lydia went from the 10th to the 14th. Help me Lord Vacation Bible school was the week of the 16th and I'm sure there were 4 million kids and it was hot. John was still working feverishly going to Cincinnati for the week of the 23rd and with a blink of an eye, we blew through June.
And throughout the months of 1997, I've been noticing these little notes that I made over and over and it caused my girls and I to recall a regular occurrence of sleeping arrangements when they were little. Almost all of their lives my 3 girls have slept in the same room and at times, it ain't been pretty. But, when they were little, we did this thing. Because they didn't have a TV in their room, they'd ask if we would bring a portable TV in, move the beds, make pallets and let them sleep ON THE FLOOR instead of comfy beds. They would stay up late and watch movies and because John and I are AWESOME, we would make a HUGE pallet for them and let em have it their way. It stayed like that for lots of the summer. BUT there were coveted sleeping spots so I had to record who slept where on what night and keep a rotation going so as to prevent a regular hair pulling amongst the sissys. So on my trusty calendar, there are cryptic notes that say, Caitlin-chest, Olivia-middle, Emma-TV OR Caitlin-TV, Emma-middle, Olivia-chest. It was a brilliant system. And while we were at home keeping tabs on sleeping spots, Melanie and Randy went to Corsicana July 16-20.
And then on July 19th, because John had some work to do in Minnesota, our little family made the trek north to Brainerd Minnesota where the mosquitoes are the size of rabbits and John worked for 3 days. I've lived in Louisiana all my life and I've never experienced mosquitoes like in Minnesota. The state of 10,000 lakes shouldn't brag. It should instead be called the land of 10,000 breeding grounds for bugs that will try to hunt you down and make your life as miserable as possible. But we either adjusted or bought 30 gallons of bug spray because we went to places like Paul Bunyan Land, Gooseberry Falls and drove within 100 miles of the Canadian border. And again for someone from Louisiana, July in Minnesota with 55 degree temperatures is completely unnatural. And after John finished working, we continued our travels to Pennsylvania as well. Over the course of the entire trip we saw lots of corn in Iowa, we stopped at Notre Dame in Indiana, we saw Lake Superior, Michigan and Erie. We drove through Chicago and was there long enough to get taken for $20 and then spent time in Butler PA. The final tally in miles was 4000 miles but the memories were immeasurable. We had a blast! Our kids were so good and we saw so many different and beautiful places. I'd love to do that again someday. But because Dorothy was right when she said there's no place like home, we made it back on the 30th of July. And to finish off the month, Dale and Lydia made a 7 day trip to Corsicana. And then on July 31st a bunch of people went to Florida but my family did not. And I'll not say anything else about missing a beach trip. It still pierces me.
The first week of August found people enjoying the beach without me and I took my kids to play at someone's house and I didn't even like the people. What was I thinking? But the beach trip ended just in time for school to start on the 13th and it's a good thing because that's the day Olivia Grace started kindergarten. And with the blink of an eye we had 3 kids in school. Kids growing up goes by so fast. Then for some reason, Melanie and Randy decided to rub it in to all the rest of us by going back to Florida from August 21-24. Whatever! And then a theatrical group came to church to perform August 28th and I'd have to say that that one Christian group of people was the rudest I've ever encountered. Needless to say I wasn't sad when they picked up, packed up and left.
In our family, we always liked to cap off the end of summer with a big Labor day extravaganza and that year, it began on August 29th. Carrie brought Gran and Grandma, Frank and Suzie and the kids came as well as Becky, Keith and Andrew. And again if we were together, we had fun and everyone went home on September 1st. A few more highlights of September was Olivia being student of the week September 8-12, school was out the 29th and 30th and I was still recording middle, TV and chest for my little girls. In October my family went to Corsicana from the 2nd through the 6th for Gran's 90th birthday and then the Pennsylvania peeps came for a visit on October 5th. Melanie and Randy went to Corsicana from the 15th through the 18th and the quiet October, according to my records, ended with Celebration of Life on the 31st.
November wasn't packed full of many events but we had a Thanksgiving dinner at church on the 12th and that means Melanie, BJ and myself went around "collecting" things to use for decorating the tables. We borrowed quite a few berries over the years from various sources and that's all I have to say about that. November 26 was the day my family headed to Dallas for Thanksgiving and because I must have dropped the ball on arrivals, I have no record of anyone else going. Oh well. I'm sure I was the life of the party.
Besides December 1st being Carrie's birthday, it was also another of those wonderful Christian events at church called Chinese Christmas. You know the game where you steal another person's gift if the one you got sucks? Well I play to win and there's no crying in Chinese Christmas. One year Billie June "fell on the sword" and took from Melanie THE UGLIEST sugar plum tree that was ever born so Melanie could choose again. I however played the game in true Christian fashion and made sure everyone knew with a well practiced stink eye that you'd better not kill my dream by taking my gift. So, I went home with the cutest miniature nativity scene (purchased by Melanie) and I didn't have to hate someone forever for stealing it from me. Billie June showed a mother's love for her daughter but my winnings ROCKED! Jesus was proud of one of us.
Now on December 2nd, Caitlin got bangs and the ACE convention was December 3-5. I wonder if that's when Caitlin did a monologue as Noah's wife? She was just precious and not corny at all. The kids at church performed The Littlest Angel on Sunday, December 7th and I have absolutely no recollection of it at all. Grandma left for Dallas that same day and Becky's Christmas party was on the 13th and now I remember that's why Billie went to Dallas every year. It was for Becky's party. And once again my brain says, OOOOOHHHHH. School let out for Christmas on December 19th with a school party at Shoney's and once again that was far too late for the holidays to begin. I have no idea why but apparently I helped Whitney paint a shirt on December 23? I don't have a clue what that was about but Carrie, Becky and Keith came home on Christmas Eve and were able to stay until the 27th. Those were the best kinds of Christmases when people got to stay for several days. Frank and Suzie always came on Christmas day after their kids opened their gifts at their house and then it was a big party at Big Frank and Grandma's.
And once again as a family, we ended a great year full of memories made and wonderful times spent together. And if I could, I'd go back and burn every single moment into the fabric of my being so it would be like a movie I could replay over and over again. I wish I could remember it all better than I do. Because 1998 was coming and it would change all of our lives forever.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
The week that was
Just so everyone knows, the kid in Caitlin's birthday post in the joy sweatshirt standing in the snow? It's Olivia, not Caitlin...I know my kids so well.
Addy starts squeaking a full hour before it's time for her to eat. It's not good. Since school is starting and I'll be the only one home, I'll be feeding the dogs. They may eat every 30 minutes.
Owen's first full week of school is over. It was uneventful and he seems to really love it. He made an A on his first test in Latin. We were excited. Say nothing about Latin Carlie.
Owen and I saw the most beautiful rainbow Friday afternoon. I considered it a personal gift from God. It was so sweet.
John's first week of teacher prep stuff is over. Students will begin to find out soon that John NEVER cancels class for ANYTHING. EVER. They will just have to get over it.
I think the calendar year 1997 is finished and I'll be posting it soon.
I can't believe football is back on TV and I'm sitting in the room with the Pittsburgh Steelers playing and I haven't yelled at John once. If he goes for the terrible towel, I'm going for the throat. I've hated the steelers all my life so how come I end up marrying someone that's a die hard steelers fan? The only explanation is God really does have a HUGE sense of humor. But, I will say that for me, football on TV and locusts singing outside signals that fall is coming soon. However, when it's still 93 degrees at 7:47 in the evening it's hard to wrap my mind around cool weather.
Ants have invaded my kitchen and I'm so very pist. We kill them in one place and they show up somewhere else. They have GOT to go.
ULM starts tomorrow and I'll have 3 daughters in college. Yesterday they were in the den in their jammies building a tent using thousands of blankets and tomorrow they're in college. That's exactly how fast it goes by.
Quote from Caitlin yesterday regarding her spring break trip to Orlando that's planned for the end of April, "I can't go to Orlando when we may have a fresh baby on the ground!" Also that's how I found out Caitlin was planning a spring break trip to Orlando near the end of April.
Summer is officially over....sigh
I started this on Saturday night but now it's Sunday and that means it's nap time. My eyes are already almost closed.
Addy starts squeaking a full hour before it's time for her to eat. It's not good. Since school is starting and I'll be the only one home, I'll be feeding the dogs. They may eat every 30 minutes.
Owen's first full week of school is over. It was uneventful and he seems to really love it. He made an A on his first test in Latin. We were excited. Say nothing about Latin Carlie.
Owen and I saw the most beautiful rainbow Friday afternoon. I considered it a personal gift from God. It was so sweet.
John's first week of teacher prep stuff is over. Students will begin to find out soon that John NEVER cancels class for ANYTHING. EVER. They will just have to get over it.
I think the calendar year 1997 is finished and I'll be posting it soon.
I can't believe football is back on TV and I'm sitting in the room with the Pittsburgh Steelers playing and I haven't yelled at John once. If he goes for the terrible towel, I'm going for the throat. I've hated the steelers all my life so how come I end up marrying someone that's a die hard steelers fan? The only explanation is God really does have a HUGE sense of humor. But, I will say that for me, football on TV and locusts singing outside signals that fall is coming soon. However, when it's still 93 degrees at 7:47 in the evening it's hard to wrap my mind around cool weather.
Ants have invaded my kitchen and I'm so very pist. We kill them in one place and they show up somewhere else. They have GOT to go.
ULM starts tomorrow and I'll have 3 daughters in college. Yesterday they were in the den in their jammies building a tent using thousands of blankets and tomorrow they're in college. That's exactly how fast it goes by.
Quote from Caitlin yesterday regarding her spring break trip to Orlando that's planned for the end of April, "I can't go to Orlando when we may have a fresh baby on the ground!" Also that's how I found out Caitlin was planning a spring break trip to Orlando near the end of April.
Summer is officially over....sigh
I started this on Saturday night but now it's Sunday and that means it's nap time. My eyes are already almost closed.
Friday, August 20, 2010
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