GREAT TRIP TO COLORADO

John, Charles and Sandra

Charles and John

Chapel

Spiral staircase

Spiral staircase

Birds and Prairie Dogs

Sondra and Jonathan ready for their night out.

Jonathan and Sondra.

The Cripple Creek side of the Mountains.

Daniel and I at Cheyenne Mountain Park

Fall in all its glory.

Wide open spaces.

John and David.

Looking out at Pike's Peak.

We have been back from our trip to Colorado for a week now. I have been trying to make time to post some pictures and write a little about our trip, but it has been busy at work and the recliner looks to darn good when I get home in the evening.

We drove out with Sandra and Charles and had a really nice trip. It was fun traveling with friends. We left on Friday afternoon after I got off work and drove to Memphis. Monica had a nice dinner waiting. (Chili, dips, chips and all sorts of goodies). We turned in pretty early and had a good nights sleep then headed out again about 6:00 Saturday morning. We drove across Arkansas, Oklahoma, the Texas panhandle and into NM. We finally stopped at a motel around 9:30 when we reached Albuquerque. We were worn smack dabbed out. We all fell asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillow. We were back on the road by 7:30 Sunday morning. We drove over to Charles' aunts house and visited with her for a while. She is 83 years old but insisted we go to the casino and have lunch and play the slots for a while. Charles won $400.00, his aunt won $200.00 and his cousin won a couple of hundred. We had a great time and we all had a day that once again left up exhausted.

On Monday we got up early and headed on up to Colorado. We stopped along the way and saw the Church of the Sisters of Loretta and saw the miraculous spiral staircase attributed to St. Joseph. The church was beautiful and serene.

While we were in Santa Fe we went into a few shops and stopped at a couple of street vendors. Sandra go a White Buffalo (white turquoise) ring and I got a pair of white earrings.

We had a wonderful week visiting with the grand kids and taking a few side trip in the area. I took a heck of a cold while I was there, so I felt a little crappy most of the week. Daniel has just learned to walk, so he was toddling around everywhere. He is always smiling a really laid back. David is in kindergarten and knows more than I did when I graduated from high school. He is reading and writing and constantly asking questions trying to learn more. He amazes me.

I had to be back to work on Monday, so Sondra got me a ticket to fly back home on Sunday. I was a little nervous because it was the first time I had flown by myself. I had a great flight and it took me about 5 hours to get home. Luckily the storms that went through came the day after I got home. John, Charles and Sandra got in on Tuesday evening after traveling two days. We all had a wonderful visit and it was good seeing the kids and grand kids. I think we will rest up for a while before we take off again. By the way, we just found out that Sarah and Cody will soon be moving to Washington state in a few months. Can we get there from here?

John and I with Daniel and David

OCTOBER IS HERE ALREADY

Well this is the 9TH of October already. Time seems to be on a race horse course to the end of the year. It seems that it was only a few weeks ago that the new year was beginning and I had dozens of things I had hoped to accomplish this time around. But it seems that I have got caught up in the old day to day stuff and my to do list has not gotten any shorter. As always it is "I owe, I owe so its off to work I go". I am in the figuring out stage about work, should I continue working or retire. In my case it would not be retiring, it would quitting because there will no retirement benefits. (One reason to quit). I still just don't know if I want to stay at home all the time.

The weather has cooled down somewhat and there is a hint of fall in the air. Cool mornings and evening and warm days. Fall and Spring are my favorite times of the year. Makes you want to get outside and do things. With the leaves starting to fall I'm sure there will be plenty of outside work before long.

John went down to FL to sit with Luke and Charlotte for a few days while Sarah took some classes over in Foley. I really would have liked to go and visit with the kids, but couldn't ask off at this time. ( That is another good reason to quit work).

We were in Memphis last weekend. We had not been able to see Andrew play PW football and the season is getting shorter all the time. He did really well and got his name called on the speaker several time for making tackles. ( Missing out on the kids activities is another reason to quit). Matthew and Aaron had a great time playing with John Pearson and Emily. We ate to much stayed up to late.

It is back to Memphis this weekend to attend Mark and Paige's engagement party. I will probably ride up with Johnny and John Pearson since my car is acting up and I don't want to end up on the side of the road somewhere near Walnut MS. John will be getting home from FL about the same time I'm leaving for MS. He will be too tired to make the drive to MS. I'm sure.

In another week we will be going out to Colorado to visit Sondra, Jonathan, David and Daniel. We are all getting excited about making our cross country adventure. We will probably stop over in Albuquerque NM to visit some of Charles' family. John and I have never been there and we are looking forward to that. I hope to get lots of pictures to post. This is where you really start praying for nice weather.

I guess I had better finish getting the house work done ( one good reason to keep working, John keeps the house running better than I do) and start packing. Hope everyone has a great weekend.

WENT TO AN AUCTION TODAY.

Rag Rug Purses

Blue Angel- Fat Albert

Pictures from some one's past

Coo-Coo clock

1954-1955 Union Pacific calendars

WWI leggings

John and I went up to Loretto Tn. where they were having an auction at an old church building. It was great being inside sense it was raining pretty hard when we first got out this morning. We were really happy to get some rain because it was starting to look like a dust bowl around here.

There were a lot of interesting items up for auction. A lot of them we didn't even try to bid on because things were selling rather high. There were a lot of WWI items and John bid and won a pair of leather leggings. We have a picture of his grand father wearing a pair just like them when he was in the army. That was kind of a sentimental purchase.

We bought a stack of old pictures of some one's family that we didn't know, but it is fun to see all those faces from the past and try to imagine how life was back in the days of black and white and tin type. A couple of Union Pacific calendars from 1954 and 1955. Man I was just 9 years old then. It is kind of weird to think we are separated from those times by just one year, one day, one hour, one minute, and one second at a time. It's not like time stopped somewhere between now and then. It just keeps going on. I think that is why we like old stuff. It keeps us in touch with the past.

We found four old year books, the Diorama from Florence State Teachers College, which is now the University of North Alabama. They are the years 52, 53, 54 and 1958. The 1952 copy has pictures of Harlon Hill who went on to play professional football, Yolande Bethbeze from Mobile who was crowned Miss America in 1951 and George (Goober) Lindsey from the Andy Griffith Mayberry RFD show, in his football playing days.

I purchased a Coo Coo clock. It seems to be working and keeping perfect time. The kids hate it when they come home and our other clock starts Coo-Cooing. Can you imagine how they will like having two going off at the same time. Actually we will probably sell most of the things we bought today, but we can enjoy them for a while.

There were a few other pictures, one was for John Pearson if he wants it. It is a picture of the Blue Angel Airline- Fat Albert plane. It is signed by the Blue Angel pilots in 1999. He likes military things so if he has a place left on his wall, I guess that will be his.

My rag rug weaving has been moving right along. I have woven five for purses and just have to make a lining for each of them. The black and orange one is for Emily. Those are Brook's school colors. I guess I need to figure out what I'm going to do with them or else take the purses apart and make rug for the living room. Seems like the older I get the more things I want to try to do. Hopefully this will be the year that I sign up for the pottery making class at UNA. Any one need a cup, bowl, jug.....??

KILLEN ELEMENTERY 9TH GRADE FIFTY YEAR REUNION

Judy McMurtry, Johnny Mcgee and Pat Oldham

Judy McMurtrey, Patricia LeMay, and Pat Oldham

We had our annual gathering of our ninth grade class at the Killen founders day celebration. There was a grand total of three there this time. Not that we are the only three left, but we were the only three that showed up this year. We did manage to get a picture of Johnny McGee before we left. He wasn't there for the planning of the 50Th year reunion of our ninth grade class but I'm sure we will put him to work doing something.

Judy is going to be in charge of contacting our classmates. She must have the phone number and the address of every person she has ever met in her entire life. When we had our 30Th reunion she ran up an enormous phone bill. She doesn't just call and give you the details, she calls and catches up on everything that has happened in the last 50 years. That is why we love her so much, she keeps up with people and things that has happened over the years that everyone else has forgotten years ago.

Patricia is taking care of finding a place to meet. As of right now she is looking at the community room at the Center Star bank. We had a reunion there once before and had lots of space and the plenty of kitchen room. Patricia has the business sense to pull all that together.

I will be in charge of the food. I guess because I work in food service they thought I knew what I was doing in this department. If anyone has any suggestions please contact me.

I am hoping classmates will find this by googling other classmates so I'm listing a few names. Linda Garrett, Meryle Fulks, Gaylord Ashby, Ted Wiley, Linda Miller, Clora Gautney, Beverly Hice, Mary Ann Crow, Sondra Littrell, Jerry Tank.

The date we are shooting for is November the 6Th. This will be on a Saturday. We are hoping for a nice turn out. We are planning on lots of 50's-60's music, good food and catching up with old friends. I'm sure it will be interesting to see how much everyone has changed over the last 50 years. If anyone has stayed the same you will have made medical history and the rest of us will be looking for an explanation. Hope to see you in November

GOD BLESS AMERICIA

I think these words say it all. May we always remember the lives lost on 9/1/1.

America the Beautiful
Words by Katharine Lee Bates,Melody by Samuel Ward

O beautiful for spacious skies, For amber waves of grain, For purple mountain majesties Above the fruited plain! America! America! God shed his grace on thee And crown thy good with brotherhood From sea to shining sea! O beautiful for pilgrim feet Whose stern impassioned stress. A thoroughfare of freedom beat Across the wilderness! America! America! God mend thine every flaw, Confirm thy soul in self-control, Thy liberty in law! O beautiful for heroes proved In liberating strife. Who more than self their country loved And mercy more than life! America! America! May God thy gold refine Till all success be nobleness And every gain divine! O beautiful for patriot dream That sees beyond the years Thine alabaster cities gleam Undimmed by human tears! America! America! God shed his grace on thee And crown thy good with brotherhood From sea to shining sea! O beautiful for halcyon skies, For amber waves of grain, For purple mountain majesties Above the enameled plain! America! America! God shed his grace on thee Till souls wax fair as earth and air And music-hearted sea! O beautiful for pilgrims feet, Whose stem impassioned stress A thoroughfare for freedom beat Across the wilderness! America! America! God shed his grace on thee Till paths be wrought through wilds of thought By pilgrim foot and knee! O beautiful for glory-tale Of liberating strife When once and twice, for man's avail Men lavished precious life! America! America! God shed his grace on thee Till selfish gain no longer stain The banner of the free! O beautiful for patriot dream That sees beyond the years Thine alabaster cities gleam Undimmed by human tears! America! America! God shed his grace on thee Till nobler men keep once again Thy whiter jubilee!

BACK TO WORK

It is starting to feel a little like fall here in Alabama. The days are still extremely warm, but the morning and evenings are starting to get that crisp feeling that makes you know that pretty soon you will be missing the warm days of summer.

We are two weeks into the first semester and this looks like it is shaping up to be a real busy year. All the changes we thought we would have ready by the time school started have not taken place yet. So it was back to the same old same old. The Rice Box should be coming in by October and the Sub connection by January and a lot of other changes will be fazed in over the next few years. In the meantime we just keep trying to keep enough coming in to feed all these starving college students. I can see why the kids gain the freshmen 15.

This has been a rough two weeks for me. When we left Niceville after spending the last week of my summer break there. I developed a summer cold. I am still trying to completely kick it, but it is hanging on just enough to make me feel crappy. You would think a shot and a round of antibiotics would work faster than this. I shouldn't complain though, it has been years since I had a bug of any kind.

There is lots of things going on right now. JP and Andrew are playing football. JP on the junior varsity and Andrew on St Francis Pee Wee team. We have not made to to Memphis to see Andrew's game yet but will make it in the next few weeks. Emily is cheer leading and we have not made it to either of her games, but the season is young.

Mother just celebrated her 90Th birthday and we will be having a get together for her tomorrow. I think it is a surprise. At least I have not mentioned it to her. It seems strange to think of a parent being 90 years old. Other than the fact that she has a harder time getting around and moves a little slower, she still acts the same. It seems that age just comes out of nowhere and kind of surrounds you. At this point in my life it is easy to see what is in store for me in the next 20-25 years. I guess age is something that can only be disguised for so long and then boom it gets you. In the mean time I just keep trying to stay one step ahead but I can feel age breathing down my neck.

We hopefully will be taking a trip to Colorado with friends in October. When we were a lot younger we would talk about when the kids grew up and got out of the house, that we would travel and take really neat vacations just the four of us. That has not happened. Seems you have as much responsibility as a grand parent as a parent. Between working and watching grand kids, we have as of yet not been anywhere together. So October will be the first trip the four of us have taken since John, Charles and Sandra have retired. Who knows traveling together could be the end of a very long friendship:)

Oh well I know I am boring you. Nothing much has happend to blog about. Maybe the next time will be a little more entertaining.

Last trip of the Summer

A sign of the times. How sad.

Saying good by to Mawmaw and Grandaddy.

Annie's in Luverne AL

Sun sinking slowly in the west.

Striking a pose.

Goofy man!

ballerina girl.

Mark's baptism

We have made of final trip of the Summer. We got in last night from FL.. We had a really good visit with Sarah and the kids. It was one of the hottest weeks I think we have had so far. It rained a little each day and that made the weather not only hot but extremely humid.

Luke was in school, but Charlotte and Little Man (Mark) kept us busy during the day. Mark learned to crawl while we were there and we had the thrill of seeing him do the army crawl all over the place. The first place he headed was to the toy room where he tumbled off the little stoop between the two rooms. He cried like he had fallen off a building. Then he tried to do it all over again.

Charlotte started ballet lessons and loved it. She looked so cute in her ballet outfit. Everyday she would ask if she had a ballet lesson. I think she is going to do well at this.

We tried to find some treasures at the local thrift stores, but didn't find a thing while we were there. We had a hard time finding a seafood place to eat cat, but finally found a place called Dewey Destins. It was a real whole in the wall place or maybe I should call it a cork in the bay place. It was built on a pier over the water with just picnic tables outside on the dock. The shrimp and scallops were delicious, but it was one of those places if I driven up to it by myself, I would have turned around and left. Good thing John, Sarah and the kids and I were all there together.

I took a picture of the sign above at one of the thrift stores we stopped at. "Obama does not consider us a Christian nation." This makes me sad. One of these days I hope our leaders wake up and rethink some of their ideas.

It is always hard to leave after spending time with any of the grand kids. The picture of Luke standing in the driveway when we left almost made me cry. I'm sure the kids ran in the house and didn't think of us again.

We took the long way home up Hwy 331 to Montogomery. We stopped at a little cafe in Luverne AL and had some of the best seafood I have ever had. The place was called Annie's and we finally found some great seafood. The shrimp and oysters were yummy, so I posted a picture of the sign. If you are ever down in Luverne stop and eat at Annie's

The sunset picture was on the way from Cullman to Moulton AL. It was so pretty and came out nicely on the camera. Later as we got closer to home we saw one of the most brilliant lightening shows that I've seen in a while. About 30 minutes after we got home the bottom fell out and we had a huge electrical storm. The power went out for a couple of hours and there was complete silence and I went off to sleep and never realized when the power came back on.

Summer is winding down for me and it was back to work this morning. It was nice to get back a see all my co-workers. Wednesday all the students will be in class and the work will begin in earnest. So I guess it is time to take a deep breath, get the nose to the grind stone and move into another school year.

HOPE YOU LOVE REDHEADS

RED HAIR


SIGNATURE SMILE

FRECKLES

This was my day to accomplish tons of stuff. We tried to get all our running around done yesterday and today was supposed to be the big work day. Now I'm just talking about myself, because John is out side in this heat changing the oil in the car and doing lord only know what else. No it is just me. I can't seem to get myself motivated. I can't really decide where to start. I keep telling myself to start where your at, but I keep getting side tracked.

This morning we actually slept to 9:00 o'clock. I'm telling you, not having grand kids coming in first thing in the morning can make you lose track of time. When we got up John said " It is still Wednesday, isn't it"? I can see where people that don't have stuff to keep them occupied could completely loose their sense of time. I guess we could start putting notches on the door frame to keep track of our days.

I decided when I first got up this morning that I would color my hair. I had colored it a few weeks ago and it turned out a nice kind of strawberry blond color and since I am mostly gray on top I kind of liked the change. But today it turned out a RED!! I can't decide if I look more like Howdy Doody or the character on the cover of Mad Magazine. I would lean more toward the Mad character because I do tend to have a few freckles and the signature gap between my front teeth.. John looked a little shocked but tried to keep a straight face. That is one thing about getting older, you don't tend to freak out over things that you know time will take care of.

We had planned on going swimming over at Johnny and Tracy's this afternoon, but I kind of got to thinking about all that chlorine and the possibility of turning my hair green and I decided I had better give it a few days.

SWEATING WITH THE OLDIES IN ALABAMA

HOT, HOT, HOTTER. This summer has topped the charts as far as heat is concerned. Maybe it is just in the South, but this has got to be the hottest summer we have had in ages. Our temps have been consistently in the very high nineties for weeks now and that makes it feel like 112 degrees. I guess I could stand the heat OK, but the blasted humidity is the killer. When I go out on the back porch in the morning, the air is so heavy that you can actually feel the weight of the air pressing down on you. Have you ever laid back in a hot tub of water and put a hot washcloth over you face and tried to breath? Well this is what it feels like outside. Needless to say we have been staying in more than usual.

After we got back from our trips to Niceville, Orange Beach and then Ohio we have stayed pretty close to home. Week before last our area celebrated the W.C. Handy festival. There is so much talent in area, everything ranging from country, bluegrass, jazz, rock and roll you name it. On Saturday the beginning of the festival, we went up to Joe Wheeler Lodge and watched a Tina Turner impersonator. She was great and as full of energy as the real Tina. Then on Monday night we went out to the Killen Methodist Church and listened to Dillion Hodges and his group that plays some great bluegrass-jazz. There was also a Gospel group that performed before Dillion that was a joy to listen to. On Thursday night there was a street party on North Court Street that featured the Midnighters. This is a local group that we try to listen to whenever possible. One other evening we went to St. Micheals gym to listen the Pine Hill Haints, a really unique group that has a cross between bluegrass and Cajun sound. They played everything from a wash tub base, hand saw and a rub board. Lots of fun. After that evening we were either rained out or just plain couldn't stand the heat. Great Handy Festival.

I have been putting up jelly this past week. Our fig tree has just about taken over the back yard and has produced tons of figs. We have been able to share them with the neighbors. When we went over to Johnny and Tracy's the other day, we found that their grapes had come in, so I have been making a few jars of grape jelly. You know it is expensive to make homemade jelly. I no longer had any jars, so I have to buy jars, and it take a boat load of sugar, so I bought sugar twice and then the sure jell. I could have gone to the store and got the jelly cheaper. Oh well John and John Pearson loved it so I guess that is all that mattered.

One other thing I have accomplished this summer is that I rooted a pineapple top and a avacoda seed. I have tried a dozen time and could never get anything to happen. Must be this hot weather but both have taken hold and are growing nicely.

While we were on our trip to Ohio, I found some frames to make rag rugs with, so in my spare time I have been trying to weave a rag rug. It's kind of fun, I just have a hard time making myself sit there long enough to accomplish much. I have started with a small rug about the size of a place mate. If I get good at it I will move on up to a bath mate or something about that size. Who knows if I get really good at it I may make an area rug. Right..

As summer starts to draw to a close, I have lots of happy memories of our trips, visiting family and friends and look forward to the coming school year. We will be having a wedding in June of next year. Mark and Paige has set the date of June 4Th for their wedding. Now we will just have to work on trying to keep body, mind and soul together for the next few months.

HOME AT LAST

Sondra getting friendly with the Navy

Fixing to tour the Naval Museum

Sacked out at the beach

To much fun in the sun

Do you know how many pancakes a box of Bisquick can make?

An almost empty pool at the beach

Three rowdy boys.


Battle field at Perryville KY.


John next to a cannon. He loves anything to do with the history of the civil war.

My friend Diane.

WHEE!!... I feel like I just slid into home. I have been gone for the last month.

A week in Niceville, a week in Orange Beach and then a week in Ohio. The dust on my furniture is at least an inch thick and the dust bunnies are hiding everywhere I look. But I guess there will always be time to clean.

When we were almost home from Orange Beach, I ask John if he needed to go up to Ohio and check on his mom and he said he would like to. He said when do you think we should go and I said it didn't matter. So we got in from OB Sunday around 8:00 PM and headed out to Ohio on Wednesday morning at 4:00 AM. We would have left sooner but John Pearson had football camp and we didn't want Emily to be home alone.

We decided to stop in Cinn. and visit with an old friend. We met Diane when we first got married and she and her husband and little girl lived next door to us

in Milford Ohio. John worked long hours at the Kresge store and Diane and I would spend hours watching soap operas and honing our cooking skills. I had none at that time and was always impressed with the fact that she could follow recipes and they would come out just perfect. Mine were always kind of hit or miss. She had already had her little when I met her and I was expecting our first child, so I thought she was a more experienced mom and relied on her to answer any questions I had about babies and birthing. Looking back on that time I realize that we were two very naive kids just trying to figure out how to make it in an adult world.

It is kind of strange in a way. We only knew each other for a year when John got transferred to Columbus. After we moved we continued to keep in touch. Time passed, our lives changed, more kids for both of us, a divorce for Diane and later a marriage to a very nice man. I talked to her every once in awhile, a few letters and a couple of visit in the beginning. The first thing you know it has been 32 years since we have seen her, so I gave her a call and told her we were in the area and would like to stop by. It is the darnedest thing with Diane. No matter how long it has been since I have talked to her, it is like we just talked yesterday and we become those two young girls sitting in her living room watching TV and eating hot German potato salad. The main difference is more wrinkles, gray hair (covered by the bottle) and now talking about grand kids instead of our own babies.

I am one of those people that doesn't have a lot of casual friends, but I have a few really good life long friends and that is fine with me.

After a short visit with Diane, we headed on over to Gallipolis to visit with John's mom. She is staying with Jim and Becky. We had a nice visit and was able to find a lot of things for our antique booths ( not at Jim and Becky's house by the way). Rosemary came over to visit and John was excited to spend time with her. Larry picked her up on Sunday and brought his mom and Stratton. We spent the day in the pool and visiting. We left on Monday morning and finally got home about 8:30. It was a nice trip all around. Glad to be home for a bit.

Finally got some of the vacation pictures to post.