April & May 2011 - Boy time flies!!

Bradford & Logan after Logan removed his tubes.

Logan - Weapon X . Isn't he a beauty?

the boys on Mother's Day

Hudson singing "You are my Sunshine" to Mary

Mary looking thru her birthday loot.

Barbara & Pete came out from Reno

Mark chatting golf with nephews

The nieces plus 1 great niece posing. too fun!

the rains came but we talked over the thunder

me watching the family talk & laugh

Mark with brothers, sisters & his last aunt - Iris

the cake & cupcakes I made & chatting

2nd of nieces - can't delete it but worth a 2nd look

nieces & nephews

Dare & Ryan cooking Mother's Day brunch - yum

My Mom - Happy Mother's Day! I love & miss you !

Weapon X - Logan Coombs... son of Bradford & Heidi Jo .... Grandson of Jerry & Malinda.... nephew, great nephew, cousin, 2nd cousin....etc. loved by many. Many prayers on his behalf.

Well, highlights... more birthdays. Stacey, Parker, Ryan and honorable mention of Jerry's birthday have come and gone. Add new birthday with the birth of young Logan (Jerry's grandson & my great nephew) who arrived weeks early at a little over 3 pounds. Logan is a real fighter & has pulled out his own breathing tubes and escaped his incubator much sooner than expected. Bradford (his Dad) calls him Weapon X. What a cutie & a head full of hair! Bradford's Mom has finally remarried & we are so excited for her. Malinda is a true part of our family and we wish her great happiness.

Mother's Day was pretty tough this year. No one could come home and Logan / Weapon X's birth coming within a week of my brother's birthday made his death seem even harder. He should be able to hold his grandchildren. Add it to no Mom to see on Mother's Day and only my Dare to come see me. My Mom would have loved my Grandchildren & it seems unfair she missed them. Health issues that include changes in doctors, lots of tests with few answers, going off sleeping meds after 11 years so lack of sleep, & inability of doctors to find real solutions. It was a not good & I am having trouble shaking the feelings. I am thinking of declaring all holidays off limits - lol.

Facebook is a great way to keep up with current & past friends. I have rehooked up with a dear friend from 25 years ago. Kerri is the first person I told that I was expecting our Dare. Yes, even before Mark as it was such a surprise and at a difficult time in our lives (the last financial resession/depression). We played Rook, ate M&Ms, carrots & cheese dip (her recipe got us hooked on it) & Dr Pepper. Strange combination but hey I was pregnant & I do not know what their excuses were haha! Their son (Dale's old friend) owns a huge horse back riding & four wheel riding ranch.... I have a standing invitation to visit but a push for this summer or fall. Maybe if my shoulder gets better or maybe just to visit. I love Missouri for visits

My friends from high school help cheer, encourage & just plain out amuse me. We have banded to get Scotty as our newest American Idol (the 1st I have ever watched- real power of facebook). They are helping me look for the right dog & volunteer job. A couple are going through cancer now & a couple have conquered cancer or learned to live with cancer, MS & others .... they have been encouraging in helping me get through too many tests, too many "no clue" answers, the struggle with a shoulder that should be healing but is not. Their faith though different churches are strong & help to strengthen my faith. They pray for me & I pray for them. As it is meant to be. They have been a balm for me after 3 months & still no offers of help or encouragements from anyone at church. I have learned to do most things left handed or with little right hand use. It has cost me 2 bowls & countless tears but I am getting better at it everyday. I will get it better in time to get well. Friday I had another steroid shot with pain meds.... so by Friday night I was in real pain (it felt much better before the Dr. helped me).

Now the great part of the months.... on Friday night & Saturday morning I struggled to make the birthday cake that I promised to make before my fall. I worked on it, threw away layers, sent Mark back & forth to the store for supplies and finally he declared me done. I managed to not cry as I looked at a cake that was so not up to the standard I looking for. I love my sister-in-law Mary & an 80th birthday is a biggie. Sadly icing a cake left handed or with an arm that will not raise makes for a not smooth top (should have used fondant but I do not like the taste of it) & placing the letters with hands that were shaking from the shots the day before made for an adventure. Oh well, as Mark predicted Mary loved it b/c she loves me. We had a huge family reunion/birthday party & it was great! We had to move it as Scotty came home and Garner canceled our year old reservation so they could use the park for his celebration. Thunderstorms moved through but nothing hurt the love that abounded. Dare, Ryan & the boys were huge hits. Dare is now responsible for planning all future reunions! You go girl!!

Like life, these months were ... good, bad & ugly.

Well the month of March is coming to a close. Mark has turned the big 59, he says the last number that starts with a 5 something.

We had a quiet meal for 2 out at a Mexican restaurant of his choice. The meal was good until I ordered sopapillas for desert. I ordered it w/o honey but with chocolate drizzled over them. Yes, my favorite way. They came w/o the honey but chocolate powder & melted butter on them. I was just going to eat them but my hubby insisted they bring them fixed correctly.Our waiter had gotten busy & did not fix the first ones but went back to fix the 2nd ones. Well the waitress that fixed the 1st ones brought them & sat them down saying "you could have told me". Their English is not that great so I did not think anything about it except she brought them instead of him. He stopped at the table glad they had fixed it before we ate them. Too late to make the long story short... any who. She fixed them with rancid butter. It tasted weird & Mark recognize the smell (I can not smell at all these days) Both Mark & I were sick all night.

He missed his children on his birthday but loved the songs from the grand-kids. Shalene & the girls did a great job. The Peed boys were so cute singing.... Hudson's special rendition of "You are my Sunshine" brought tears to his eyes.

Work is going well for him & he loves it. His vendors all brag on him in Atlanta and he has become a favorite. One of them took him to P F Changs for lunch yesterday. We had dinner at North Hills with one of them. They like how organized & ready he is when they come in town. Building is still slow but his sales are climbing.

Saturday we are having a big yard sale. Time to get rid of all the "stuff" sitting around plus the clothes I never wear. I have included my Desert Rose & although I will miss it ... I can live without it. Hoping it goes well. I have spent a lot of time getting everything together & all but the clothes downstairs.... slow going with one arm.

The pain shots in my shoulder yesterday seemed like a nice surprise when the doctor told me (afterwards), and it helped with getting stuff done. Sadly they were only good for 12-24 hrs & I overused my shoulder not realizing it. Oh well! I am hoping the lidocaine shot will help with the impingement. I return in 2 weeks to see orthopedic surgeon.

Life is good & we are looking forward to a great April (no Aprils Fool).

Living Alone!

Wow, I had no idea what it was like for single people to live alone. I used to fantasize about being single & doing what I want to do all the time. Usually, these thoughts came when one of my children were having fits or doing the "Mom, Mom, Mom" thing or Mark was giving me his list of "jobs" he wanted me to do. I got married shortly after I graduated and moved from my Mom's house in with Mark. 37 plus years and I have been alone for a total of less than 10 days (hospitals do not count as you are never alone in them).

After a week alone since Mark is away on business, I stand & applaud the single people of the world...whether by choice or not. I can not seem to get organized as no one is here to know if I got anything done or not. I have eaten a couple of snacks....what is the point of fixing food for me. I did eat a whole box of chocolate pudding though as my meal of the day yesterday...haha! I even watch stupid tv shows because I forgot where the remote is & am too lazy to find it. My sleeping habits are always bad but I have not been to bed before 5 am yet. It gets light outside & I go to sleep. I can not even blame being afraid as I live in a fortress, I just get preoccupied & forget to go to bed. (insomnia...always makes sleeping a challenge). I guess with time I would figure out a schedule but Mark will be home by then & I will resume my wifely duties.
At least I bath daily & get dressed but never seem to have the energy then to leave the house. I plan but never leave. I do my laundry & keep my house clean out of habit even though no one to know if I did not. I answer Mark's calls if I see them....still getting use to my Google phone & loving it.
So far, I learned after being a group or couple for over 37 years that I have lost the ability to survive alone. I am very self sufficient or so I thought until now. I thought it was so easy for all those single people to only have to take care of themselves.
BOY! was I wrong...it is so hard to hear the silence, to be an individual without thinking someone else will come "rescue" me from being alone, to be solely responsible for just me & no one else. Other than 2 telephone calls a day from Mark...I have spoken to no one. I left the house once...got stopped at a license check with 30-45 backup in 90 heat & no air conditioning. I got a horrid migraine, had to rush home, threw up, blood pressure dropped, fell & hit my chin and spent the rest of the night throwing up & laying a wet cloth on my head. So my big independence left me with an ugly bruise under my chin and a leftover headache.
It is not like I see or talk to many people but Mark makes me go places with him....dinner, poker night, or ride to a job with him. But this week has been so quiet...only my birthday was quieter haha!
My hat is off to every person who lives alone & must plan their days. I am terrible at it. Shows we must be careful what we wish for...2 more days & my single days are over. I love my husband as he is my very bestest friend too!

It is almost NORTH CAROLINA STATE FAIR TIME!!!

Can you smell the cotton candy, candy apples, hot dogs, sausages, fries & fall air? Yes it is almost fair time less than 60 days away. NC Has the very BESTEST fair in the USA. Great concerts. rides, exhibits of all times, games to take your money & impress your friends with, & food that who cares what the calories are..haha! I have been a FaceBook follower of the NC State Fair & entered a contest for the best old photos of the fair & what it means to us. This was my entry....

Mark a.k.a. Papa holding Hudson on a cool night of the fair as we watched the fireworks. We worried about the loud noise but he snuggled in all safe & sound and was loved the fireworks. Papa was happy too! This was chosen by the fair as what the fair means....generations enjoying the granduer of the fair. (good thing I did not send photos of what we ate that night. I won a nice prize package and thanked Dare for the lovely photo she took so I could enter it. My package was opened by PO when delivered & my free tickets were missing but the can coozie, t-shirt, phone holder, magnets & bumper sticker was nice. Yeah for NC!

I TOOK NASHVILLE BY STORM....okay after the storm

I returned home from my time with the Hopfers in Nashville. I am so grateful to Stacey for the airline tickets to get to spend some time with the family. She works hard as a substitute teacher & paid alot for the tickets. A sacrifice that I recognize & appreciate but only the tip of the love shown to me for over a week with them.
Richard came to pick me up from the airport with my trusty bag boys to get my luggage. Hugs from all immediately. Dallin has gotten so big that he can pick up my 45 lb bag off the conveyor belt without even the grunt I gave when I handed it over to the airline. lol
It is always good to see Richard but for some reason his unconditional love for me was a balm to my troubled heart. He never complains if I slow them down, cost them money, make them eat other than Chinese (it hate Chinese food), or even watch another dumb Law & Order show. He talks away to me & always reminds me how glad he is to have me there. Richard has a way of making you feel special... he is a great son to me. Mother's Day he fixed steaks & they were great.

The kids were so excited to see me and talked & hugged me all week. Parker likes to snuggle on the couch with me & I love snuggling back. I got to eat lunch with Parker at school twice - once just me & him. Parker reminds me of Dale so much when he does his homework...you have to keep bringing him back to the subject at hand. He gets this dreamy look on his face or starts tapping his pencil, making shapes with his papers. Just like Dale did & he is smart like his Uncle Dale too. We played alot of games, watched tv, & he and Gretchen played hooky one day & we went out to eat & to see "How to Train a Dragon". I miss Parker just thinking about him.

Dallin talks non-stop & as a preteen thinks I am way cooler than Mom & Dad because I do not punish him (ok I defend him too...I try to stay quiet honest I do). Dallin had fallen a couple of days before I arrived off of a climbing wall. The doctor said he had strained his thumb but it turned red & another trip to the doctor got the pushed the tissue under bone diagnosis. It spite of this he played in his 6th grade band concert & may I say he is a great trumpet player. I recognized all the songs before he told me the names while he practiced. Check pictures of the splinter that was the length of a toothpick & twice as thick as a toothpick that he pulled out of his hand. How can 2 x rays miss it? Grammer was not happy & neither was Stacey. Both Dallin & I look forward to his & Parker's visit this summer. They will come out & stay then we will drive them back to see Dallin receive the Priesthood & become a Deacon. I can not believe it has been 12 years since I waited outside the operating room for him. He still brings a smile to my face every time I see him.

Gretchen & Stacey were missing from the airport because she had gymnastic practice. She is an amazing gymnist & is always flipping, cartwheeling, back flips everywhere...outside, inside, practice - she loves it. I got to eat lunch with Gretchen at school one day. Gretchen, Parker & I played dolls (Parker is a good brother - lol), we ate snacks, watched the movie, ate lunch & played on the playground. I loved getting to go to Gretchen's practice & see how hard she worked. She is very girlie, loves to talk & says everything is good....I want her great attitude. She says she will be an only child when the boys come & she can hardly wait for them to leave. I fear she will not find that so great though.

My Stacey not only paid for my flight but hardly let me pay for anything. She made sure my worries about money were way in the background and that felt so good to have a worry free zone. She spoiled me rotten with feeding me my favorite foods, taking me shopping at my favorite places, taking me to my favorite sandwich shop in Franklin, she refused all jobs (they called several times) even though I told her I would be fine at home alone. We went to a fun stamping card making party with 10 of her friends & she paid for it without telling me. I loved it & her friends are so nice and said they had heard such nice things about me. I felt truly loved every minute of the visit. For Mother's Day, yes I know the airline tickets were my gift but I got the coolest photo book of all my family with comments that they had to say about me. It came with a typed page of the actucal quotes as some were too long for the book. The front is a picture of my Dad with all 9 of my grandchildren sitting on my couch. I have shown this book to everyone. I even took it to my poker game to show some of my friends there. They loved it & 2 cried.

Church was good & everyone was really nice & grateful the floods had started receding. Their ward members volunteered at the Baptist Church cleaning up the flood damage. It was Mother's Day & all the men that spoke remembered it, and the ward gave huge candy bars to all the women. Then after Relief Society the Bishop gave me a 2nd one to stop the Priests from eating them. haha! Their bishop sat with us during Dallin's band concert & he looks just like Scott Hamilton, the ice skater.

The time to leave came too soon, although by then I was really missing Mark. Stacey had to sub that day since I left that morning. Richard got the drop off duty and I enjoyed our visit in the car on the way to the airport. He unloaded my bag after offering to park & being turned down. It was only a few feet inside the airport to check in. This is when Richard did the sweetest thing. He gave me a hug & kiss ...not unusual for us, but he asked me if I had lunch money for the layover in Charlotte. It was so sweet that he thought of it and wanted to be sure I was not without money on the trip home. I told him I had money but it meant more than I could ever explain that he cared.

I love my Hopfers and Nashville.

Oh yeah! I went thru airport security with Tim McGraw. They sent us through a different line than the other people. He was so polite & apologized for taking so much time getting his boots back on.... I like a dummy said no problem grabbed my sandals and fled. At least I got to see him take his hat & boots off plus speak to me. Last time I saw Carrie Underwood but noticed her pretty dress & not her until the girl beside me squealed "its Carrie Underwood". People in Nashville just do not bother the stars like they do in Hollywood. They eat at the same sandwich shop in Franklin (a favorite of Miley Cyrus). Oh well my brush with fame was fleeting but my eternal love for my family goes on....

Spring has sprung!!

Wow! Spring sprung into a temporary summer - highs in low 90s or high 80s. What is going on & no it is not global warming but just a weather front moving through. It has been a nice change but I say enough already. I love Spring except the thick yellow pollen. The pollen is so thick I stood laughing in the doctor's parking lot. All these really nice cars many shiny black ones, are covered with pollen. I mean so thick they will need their windshield wipers to be able to see out of their windshield. Imagine coming out of work & seeing your nicely washed (& often garaged) car covered like that - yes, the parking lot is surrounded by pine trees. Those of us with allergies are suffering so our cars are the least of our problems. I can even see if anyone steps on my porch because the pollen is so thick. We are all in shorts & loving the temperatures after a cold, snowy, rainy winter.

Spring brings the sound of lawn mowers, the eating outside, & for Mark & I x-rays for torn ligaments, bad rotary cups & backs. No sailing due to health problems beyond our control. :-C The shot in his shoulder seems to have helped the pain considerably.

Easter brought Dare, Ryan, Elijah, Owen, Hudson, & Evan over for dinner & the egg hunt. The Peed family has grown enough that when they come over we feel like we are not alone. The boys are growing fast & are so funny these days. Evan has learned to ignore the boys when they are being crazy. The twins have mastered several Wii games.
Hudson is a big eater & makes Grammer feel like a good cook. He has Papa in his pocket for sure.

Our little Leah turned 4 yr old & while we sent a gift we did not get to see her. My back makes it almost impossible to ride these days. We sent her a cute "green" van with people - when you honk the horn it says things like "recycle" & etc. Perfect for Asheville & their green life style. She is down in Florida visiting her other grandparents. Parker has a birthday this month too (at the end).

Spring is here & we are happy to see it. We brace for cool weather again as we know it will come but will enjoy the heat until then. We look forward to the delivery of the Ford Flex - It has a 17th May delivery date. If my back will heal then we will be free to travel again. The Jeep has long since topped 260,000 miles on it. Not really a travel vehicle ;)

PHOTOS OF JAN & FEB 2010

Oh well, it will not let me add photos right now ...so check my site later.
It semi gave it & downloaded 5 of the 12. The house at Christmas, Poor Gretchen after fall, Hopfers on our trip to the Art Musuem in Nashville, new Peed family photo, Dare & Evan - newest family love.
Love you guys, Jewel