Goodbye 'ol friend... my shoes

I've had these shoes for at least 12 years. They are "Clark" brand & very nice quality. I think they came from Dillards. I can't remember exactly when I got them but I do remember they were priced well over $100. And since I am extremely frugal, I distinctly recall having a gift card (maybe two?) and there being some sort of DoorBuster sale, like day-after-Christmas or Black Friday. I would never spend that much on shoes, even though these were definitely worth it.
Anyways.... I went to conduct a rehearsal last Friday night. It was very cold & rainy so I wore a nice black wool jacket & my trusty 'ol black shoes.
Needless to say it didn't take long before my feet were wet & cold. I knew there was a SMALL crack on the tip of one shoe, but upon further inspection when I got home I could see the small crack on the right shoe, but a HUGE CRACK across the entire width of the left shoe. Zoom in close on this picture & you can see the cracks.

Oh. My. Word. This is terrible! I love these shoes!
I actually put them away in my closet for 24 hours thinking I might salvage them somehow but decided to throw them away.
(...humming 'Glory, Glory, Hallelujah' to myself...)

Thanksgiving 2015

What a wonderful Thanksgiving meal of Brisket today. 

I'm so thankful for this awesome family!

(and Cody who we consider family too, love ya!)

Brisket, Cornbread casserole, Baked beans, Mashed potatoes & Gravy, Stovetop Stuffing (the best), Sweet rolls & Pumpkin pie.

We missed Callie who was home with the flu & Madison who is serving our Country. Both of the girls were missed at the table but we enjoyed the extra helpings! lol, just kidding.

This is my Grandma's china, it's made by Winfield. The pattern is Dragon Flower, circa 1949

Resurfacing from LIFE

Hey there... So you probably thought I fell off the side of the planet.
Right.
I sorta did.
For many months.
Life buried me.
But I'm ready to resurface.
Watch for some new posts.
Baby steps.
I missed you & I missed me.

Spiny Lizard in the house

Lizard in the house!

At first we thought Kitty had trapped a small gecko in the kitchen. 

Then Madison screamed that the lizard was too big for Kitty to carry in her mouth.

I immediately jumped onto the kitchen chair. 

Jared, Dillon & Madison used a kitchen towel & ice cream bucket to capture it.

Lovely.

I think it's a Spiny Lizard.

Yes. Madison is wearing mismatched socks. 

Happy Mother's Day 2012

Happy Mother's Day to me!  I had the absolute joy of having all the kids home this morning & afternoon.  

Seems like it's been a long time where only the 5 of us were home. 

Of course we re-enacted our favorite (okay, my favorite) pastimes... riding in the car & singing to the radio. 

Scott let them off the hook by taking me to the perfume store & letting me pick out my favorite. 

I am trying the fragrance called 'Shi' (pronounced SHE). 

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mothers who are my friends & family. 

Love you. 

You really need to hear Madison sing the National Anthem! She did this at the Stony Point Awards Celebration at her soon to be old High School. We are so proud of her, she is so full of talent. Great Job Madison. Love you, Dad and Mom.

You're in Pain?!

Scott has been eagerly anticipating a doctor visit with the Pain Management Specialist. Why?  Because he's constantly in PAIN.
He finally got an appointment that Medicare approved.  His appointment was this morning at 8am.
Scott called me at 8:15am to tell me the clinic gave him the wrong location when they called to confirm his appointment.  Now remember he's in PAIN.
They told him they could reschedule him in 2 weeks.
OMG.
He told them that wasn't going to happen.
So he's got an appointment tomorrow.  At 10am.

Nature's finest at Georgetown's Sunken Garden

5 months away...

I just received an email from one of Madison's teachers.  It says "...We are five months from the 2012 graduation..."
AAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!! 

Mixed feelings.  For sure.

My new favorite sitcom

I've been watching this on re-runs.

IT IS HILARIOUS! 

Strep has struck

Three weeks ago Scott was struck with Strep Throat.  He didn't know that's what he had so he just went through life feeling tired with a sore throat until he was sleeping 18 hours a day! 
He went to Dr. & diagnosed him immediately. Strong antibiodics.
Unfortunately Dillon had been home to visit before Scott was diagnosed.  And you guessed it... must've contracted Strep.  He went for about 2 weeks thinking he just had a cold.
Dillon got home Tuesday night & showed us his swollen throat.  Ouch!  The Dr. diagnosed him on Wed. morning & actually gave him 2 injections to get a powerful anitiodic into his system & get the swelling down.

Not so fast... we're pretty sure Scott's got strep again.

Look at him today.  He says he's so cold & tired. 

After church he came home & curled up on the couch with a random jacket (really? Michigan?).

I mean look at him... he's sleeping with shoes on??  You know he's sick.

What do these have in common?

Each Saturday (today is no exception) I go to the gaas station & buy 2 cans of Mt. Dew. 

It is the 'energy' I need to get my butt off the couch & busy around the house.

Works every time.

A-gah-gah-gah-gah-gah-gah!  (Popeye's laugh)

Up and Move...

My Aunt & her husband have decided to move to a nearby city.  It feels like such an odd thing since they've lived in the same house for so many years, I think 12 or 13.  But their kids have left home a few years ago & I think they're ready for the 'next chapter'.  That's cool, right.
It made me start thinking of how many other people we've known who recently decided to 'move to the next chapter'.  My cousin moved from a rental house when she bought her own house last summer.
Jared moved to Iowa & then back to Texas again within the past 10 months, so technically he opened two-chapters.
Dillon moved to College Station to go to college in August, he got his own apartment with a friend.
In a couple of weeks my parents will be moving to Texas for the winter. 
So wow... people are just Up and Moving.

Madison's Senior Pictures

A good friend of ours took Madison out to do a photo-shoot for Senior Pictures. Isn't she BEAUTIFUL!

Random pics this week

Scott performed a wedding yesterday & I went along.  Usually I take a few pictures during the ceremony but it was awkward with the small family gathering and I was obviously not family... so I waited until we were ready to go & took these cool little snapshots of the flowers & the program.  Scott's name was so pretty at the bottom of the program.  Neat, right?

One Saturday last month Dillon came with us & waited in the car while Scott conducted a ceremony on the banks of Lake Travis. It was a beautiful day so we got a quick pic of Dillon & I. 

Yeah, I'm thinking I should have been a photographer.

Of hands.

And sunsets.

Spending time on our front porch - what a great past-time!

Here's some random pics we took of each other today.

I wish the weather was like today all the time. Upper 70's with a breeze. Love it! 

I got these 2 plants for Mother's Day this year. 

I really thought they were going to die this summer since it was so hot.

The rose bush was hardy & now it has such beautiful blooms.

The gardenia bush I was SURE it was going to die.

Then I trimmed back the burned-up sticks & gave it Miracle Gro.

A Miracle Indeed! 

I took a close-up of the branch that is getting ready to bloom.  How exciting!