[katnap80]

Low and be hold....those purple things blossumed overnight. I think it is called a"Blueflag"?? Help me here, Mr. Gardener..... sent along some pictures. The first 3 are of the "east" garden, next are of the 3 front gardens. I have planted "mixed wildflower" seeds in the barespots.....Only time will tell of the outcome.....

[aura]

Hi Everyone,

It has taken me all morning to catch up on the posts...I think my eyes are watering but I have cried happy tears for some of you!! I want you all to know that I literally grabbed a notebook and took notes so I could respond to everyone! LOL!

Tammi,
I hope you have passed your stone by now, you haven't said so I am hoping that no news is good news!! I would so love to come to Kentucky in July, my bdads brother and mom live in Louisville, they want to meet so badly too. If we can swing it financally we will, money is just tight right now..hubby will hopefully be released from work comp on June 1 and then he can find work!! Thanks for letting everyone know what was going on too, I just cried when I read that, thank you for your prayers hon!! I will post more about it at the end of this, I wanted to address everyone first!! thank God I took notes!! I am also a SNL fan, I don't care much for the new cast but I love the older casts..good comedy!!

Michele, First, I love the pictures of you and your family hon...you are so beautiful and Karla is definately your bmom. Your kids are all a handsome brood too! You are however still missing one photo....you know the one I am talking about....SANTOS!!! We really could use some eye candy here...come ladies, do you agree with me??? LOL!! I am glad you figured out what was going on with you mom hon, I hope she is feeling better!! I love the squirell story too, had a good laugh about that one! Only one of us from this thread would slam on our breaks to get a picture too!! I do believe in omens, I think it's Gods way of letting us know we are where we are supposed to be! I am sorry to hear about Matt, I hope it is a case of looks worse than it is! I don't think we will ever get rid of the feeling we get when one of our kids is hurt...I know he knows better but ya know...he is a guy, look at our husbands.. I watch my hubby do things like that all the time..I can see that he is going to get hurt, I even warn him but NOOOOOO, they are guys, need I say more??? LOL!!

Diane, I am glad you are back hon! Did you have to take notes too?? I understand you wanting your email to your bmom to be right, even when I email Kalvin (bdads brother) I still worry about saying the right thing.

Tbooth, HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY HON!!! I loved reading your post sweetie, I don't think there are words to describe those feelings...you made me smile and cry!! Enjoy the top of the rollercoaster ride sweetie, revel in it. I have found that I hang on the good times even more when the ride hits bottom sometimes...it helps you to get through. I am so happy for you and your bmom and I am sure it means as much to her, she may just not show it the way you do. She also may not have the support that you do, like here for instance where you can share your feelings!

JJ, I also loved the pictures of you! You are beautiful. I love your wicked sense of humor, you just crack me up girl. I am glad you are done with your move, did your boss get in the way too much? I hope you take his advice and take a few days off, you need and deserve them hon!! I had to laugh when you posted that you don't tan, I don't either, I have two shades, white and red!! What I can't figure out is Jenny is half blackfoot indian, I obviously have my bdads skin!!

Jed, Wow!! What wonderful pictures. You are a very handsome man, tell your wife we approve!! I see why you are such a busy man, that yard is HUGE!! No wonder you don't have time to stop and get propane for the grill! I love the picture of the iris too, how beautiful!! Any news on your case yet?

Deb, what a beautiful horse hon, I hope you bought him!! You are a beautiful woman too, no more put downs or else young lady..got it!! It is so nice to put faces to the names around here. Have you heard from Nate lately? I hope all is well with you!

Janet, I loved all of your pictures and the fact that you said your church is your second home! What a wonderful thought, you just warmed my heart! I love the picture of you and hubby...don't worry about the weight thing, I am the heaviest I have ever been, although I have lost 24 pounds in the last 2 months (all that gardening and digging) and my hubby is gaining weight due to the no smoking. We are walking at night and really watching what we eat, it does seem that guys lose weight faster than us though! It sounds like you have lotts of vacations planned this year, I wanna go!! in my best whinny voice!! I hope you hear something soon from your brothers hon, lotts of prayers going up for you!!

L@@king2, Glad to see you still lurking and posting. We are glad to have you here! How is the letter coming along? I know for me it was the hardest letter I had ever written. ( an rewrote and rewrote.. )

Audrey, when you are done cleaning your house how about coming and cleaning mine??? I will come and do your flowder beds!! My house has been neglected this week but for good reason..I will explain at the end of my post!

Katnapp, I know I responded to the card but I haven't had a chance to respond to what it said (I couldn't read it either), my heart filled with such joy for you hon. You have waited so long and patiently, congrats hon!! I love the flower pictures too, your purple iris are beautiful. Do they smell like grape bubble gum? My hubby smell like grape bubble gum, everyone who visits gets drug to the back yard and forced to smell them. It is kind of humorous!! I hope you get many more cards like the one you got on Mothers Day hon!!

Hi to everyone else I may have missed. I am sorry if I worried anyone, things have been out of my control the last few days. I did email a few of you and Tammi, thanks again for posting what I couldn't. A friend of mine, he is more like my brother, we have known each other for over 20 years and always been close, had a heart attack! His wife called my hubby Wed. and he called me at work right away! His wife is really scared, he is only 36 years old, they are still unsure what is going on. They can't get his blood pressure to come down, it is 211 over 129, yesterday they did an MRI and they think they may have found part of the problem, it looks like the main artery that supplies blood to his kidneys may be blocked which would help explain the high blood pressure. He is still in CICU and until they can get his blood pressure under control he will reamin there! They are limited as to which tests they can run because with his pressure so high they are afraid he will have another heart attack or stroke so he is kind of stuck between a rock and hard spot!! I think some of you know that my hubby had a heart attack and underwent bypass surgery about 3 and a half years ago, he was 36 years old also, so I kind of know what his wife is going through, I have been trying to help her through as much as possible. They still need all your prayers and just so you all know, those prayers are helping, he looked better today that I have seen him look in 5 years. I will try and post some pictures of hubby and Bre and I when I get the chance, I will take some of us in our flower beds tommorrow if the rain stops. We have been getting rain since Friday and the mountians are getting snow...typical Memorial Day weekend around here! I hope you are all well and please know you have all been in my thoughts and prayers this last week as you are everyday. I missed all of you and thanks for thinking of my on page 100...God started a good thing with this thread and I am honored to be a part of it with all my friends!! Hugs to you all!! Oh yeah, Jenny called me Thursday night, she has promised to be on good behavior and is so sorry for what she did!! Bright spot in my week!! Still keeping my guard up though!! Love you all!!

[katnap80]

Aura....I actually went out and had a sniff..... NO they do not smell like grape gum.... THANK GOODNESS as I HATE that smell.....gives me a headache.

[eastendmommy]

Aura, thanks for stopping in and catching us up. I'm so sorry to hear about your friend, hon. I hope he recovers soon and that his blood pressure comes down to normal. You are all still in our thoughts and prayers, as well as your friend. You've had a busy week, eh? I can just imagine how long it took you to catch up on this thread! Hope everything works out for your friend and that he's discharged from the hospital soon.


I hear ya on the grape bubblegum smell, "K"...I hate it when my kids are chewing on grape gum, or drinking grape soda...hate the smell!

Hugs, Tammi

[aura]

I have to laugh at you two, don't come visit my house, my hubby will drag you out there and make you smell them!! I am not a big fan of grape gum either, I guess I am used to the smell of his iris now, I have to smell them everynight when we walk our flower beds!! I am going to post some pictures of our baby squirells, we have three of them and they like to eat the corn we put out for them,(it's that or my flowders) I managed to get some pictures this afternoon while sitting on the couch. We have a tree outside our window that is specifically for feeding the squirells, the dogs hate it!! Here are the pictures!!

[aura]

If this works these are pictures of my bdad, Lucky! I love the one with him and the wolf. I was born in 1972 so the ones of him in 1971 and 1973 are what he looked like at the time of my birth. Kalvin is his brother,the one that I am in touch with, Leda and Walter are his parents. I just thought I would share them with ya all!

[JJinSanDiego]

Time to check in with my thread family - I am SO THRILLED that you had SUCH A WONDERFUL DAY with your Mom, Tryna!! Made my day!! Look forward to more updates as you are able to give them!


And I am RELIEVED to see my friend, Aura today! Another day maker!! I am sorry about your friend and will add my prayers to the many others going up for him. Keep us posted, OK? (but no pressure - we all understand the need to be scarce now and then).

Have a GREAT day at Holiday World, Tammi - just know that I will REALLY MISS not seeing you . . . (OK, so I'm going to have MAJOR Lil Sis withdrawals . . . but don't worry about ME hahahaha) but I'm SO glad you can get away for some fun! I will look forward to the details!

Michele, just want to send you a big hug for all you deal with and for your compassionate understanding to all of us. You are a keeper for sure! Think I need to send just one more hug . . . Hope I'm not being too obnoxious here . . .hahaha! And I hope Mat is healing well. I liked Tammi's advice of taking him to the ER yourself if you are worried . . . I'm not a Mom but can spot good advice now & then. Take care of yourself, my friend! Are you considering the visit to Louisville in July?? Kentucky . . . .Kentucky . . . Tammi . . . Deb . . . Red . . . Kentucky!!!! That would be so great if you came. And Aura too!!! Will pray for extra $$$!

Hope you got those flowders planted, Audrey!! The way its going, I may need to steal some more!! Love all of this good news we're getting around here!

Mr. Jed is at the in-laws. Hope that is going well.

It's been nice to see MKW swoop in for a visit . . . what's the countdown on that great trip of yours?? I'm SO happy for you!!

Howdy, Looking!! Hope you're still here!

Hey Deb - you need to INVITE ME to your next card party! I am a TOTAL CARD PLAYER! What do you guys play? Too bad you don't live in CA - you could get some fine cheap CA wine. We call it "two buck chuck". At Trader Joes you can get a decent chardonnay or cabernet for 1.99! Perfect for those card games! Tell me if you are white or red & I'll bring you a bottle in July! I'm so happy to be coming!!

NICE pictures, Karla!! I am still enjoying that card you got! Hope something else develops soon too.

I've been a total SLUG today!! I had grand plans of getting stuff done around this dirty house of mine but haven't done much. I'm somewhat wiped out from the move and mentally very exhausted. But I'm grateful to have all of you!

I'll be giving Diane a call . . . we need to catch up. Wish all could have one of you in their town. I am so lucky!!

Love to each and every one . . .

JJ

[aura]

Here is the picture of Jenny (my bmom) and I at our dinner before Christmas. I know I posted this one before but there are some new ones here that may not have seen it!

[joycie]

Hi to all!

If I've ever been more tired tham I am this evening, I'd like to know when it was and what I did to produce such fatigue. I know which muscles were employed in the planting marathon b/c every one of them is aching tonight. But as of 1130 this AM the job was done. DH and I got up before 7AM to get an early start, before the heat of the day got too intense. I sort of half expected Aura and Jed to show up but thank goodness I didn't wait for them or nothing would be in the ground or pots yet Mind you, I don't recall anyone actually promising to come and do it for me. It's the first time I've had to do the job at age 64, you see! I kept asking myself if I can really do this same job next year??? The way I carry on you'd think our grounds compared to Jed's mansion... HARDLY! Just SEEMS like a lot.

Aura, perfectly understandable that you couldn't post for a few days. Think we all know each other well enough to know that if we don't show up for a few days, there's a pretty good reason. Age 36 is terribly young for such serious cardiac problems. I'm sure it helps your friend to see how well your DH is now. I loved all the pictures. Thanks for posting them. I had not seen you and Jenny earlier. I always love to see the "pairs" of "Reuniteds." It is quite amazing to realize that you are younger than my youngest child!!! (born in 1969) What am I doing on this thread, you must wonder?? I'm here to SUPERVISE you young upstarts, that's what, and I already know who requires my most close scrutiny....not naming any names mind you!

My dear bson has been in email contact fairly frequently lately and I never tire of his little (text) blurbs, year upon year. He has sold his "yellow monsta"...the powerful bike he gave me a Mother's Day ride on 2005. Lucky thing I have lots of pictures of it.

Wonder what Tryna and her Mom did today? I bet she'll come on and tell us before she goes to bed. I think JJ is as wiped today as I am. Tammi doesn't sit still long, I've noticed whether loaded down with stones or not! Janet, I admire you getting into scuba diving. I have wanted to, but couldn't seem to get the knack of it all. where's the icon for a dummy?? insert it here!

My DH has rented a movie and wants me to join him to see it..."Transamerica" with Felicty Huffman in it...anyone seen it? She was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance in it, last winter. I hope y'all have a nice evening. May the week ahead bear fruit for at least one of the hopefuls in our midst...Janet, Jed, JJ. any others?
About writing your letter, L@@king, here's my two cents for what it's worth: Try not to make it into a term paper sort of thing, if you know what I mean....not formal. Just let your thoughts and feelings fall onto the page. Are you writing it in long hand or on the computer? I couldn't write my first one to my son fast enough! ...b/c the sooner he got mine, the sooner, he'd reply, right? [NOT!] I'd been waiting for 5 weeks for my Social Worker to give me the green light to write it. She told me to basically tell him why I had placed him for adoption and a bit about what I was doing now....and not to forget to send pictures. I was NOT to rtell hoim my surname or my address or phone#. Everything went through her AND she read my letter. I found that to be insulting! I got great results...3 years later! That's for him! He's my miracle...gonna see him in about 9.5 weeks. Audrey

[Janet Heath]

Here are picutures of my church on Palm Sunday 2004. We had our Metropolitan Nicholas of Detroit paying us a visit.

http://www.detroit.goarch.org/galler...e=palmsunday04


Janet

[aura]

Hi JJ

I'm slugging today too hon! My hubby and I woke up around 10 this morning , we are both usually up around 6 or 7 so we were both shocked to sleep so late. Bre was on the bed between the two of us watching cartoons...I barely remember turning them on. I have managed to get caught up here today, which was no small feat!! and do a load of dishes, oh yeah, and take some pictures of some squirells while lounging on the couch so hey, don't feel bad!!

Audrey, I know the pain you are feeling but at least the pain of a job well done!! We have had about 3 inches of rain since Friday so my flowder beds are soupy. I will wait a few days to play in them. We do however have to take a tree down so that will be our adventure for tommorrow!! Take a hot bath before bed hon, it really helps.

Hi to everyone else..sorry about the pictures, see what happens when I have time on my hands!! Janet, you asked for a picture that showed how long my hair was, the one of Jenny and I doesn't show it well but my hair goes down to just above my waist line. I will take some pictures of hubby and Bre and I tommorrow and post them. Yikes...more pictures!LOL! How about some picturs of you Tammi? Pip? The others? I must say we have a good looking group here! Can't wait to see your latest post Tbooth, hope you are having the time of your life!!

[Janet Heath]

Michele, thank you. There was literally "tons" of food. It is just unreal that every year we have tons of food and usually sell completely out especially if the weather is perfect all weekend. This year we sold out of most everything. There will be some reevaluation such as making more baklava and less of some other stuff. Baklava is one of our #1 sellers. We always run out of it.

Hi, Diane. You are a wonderful addition to our thread.

JJ, I hope that you are recooperating from an exhausting move. Now you can relax and rest my friend.

Tryna, am so glad that you had a most amazing day.

Tammi, you are amazing in that you can still live life to the fullest even with a kidney stone and on pain meds. Just amazing! Well have a very fun day for us all at Holiday World.

Kat, I must say that your flower beds are just georgous!

Aura, so good to hear from you! I hope that your friend gets straightened out soon. I am at the heaviest I have ever been in my life, too. I have lost 7 1/2 lbs so far. I plan to loose all of my excess weight with the help of Weight Watchers. I never want to see myself this big again. Hubby and I will be a new pair soon. He has lost over 40 lbs. so far. He has another 25 to loose and then he is going to see how he looks and feels to decide if he wants to continue to loose a little more or stay there. I just love the squirrel pictures. They are sooo cute! Thanks for sharing the pictures of Lucky, Kalvin and their parents. Nice picture of you and Jenny. Thanks for sharing all of your pictures! Your hair is long and pretty.

JJ, good to hear from you. Well I love to play cards, too. Poker is my main thing. So sounds like at least 3 of us need to get together for cards and some wine.

Hi Audrey, hope you are enjoying your movie.

Had another busy weekend. A pastoral visit from our Metropolitan Nicholas of Detroit. Hubby is on the board so we had a few gatherings with the Metropolitan. Hubby also had one without me. Today was for everyone at church. The Metropolitan arrived Friday afternoon and left Sunday afternoon. Had dinner at a parishioner's home, then hubby had lunch out at a restaurant, then hubby and I went out for dinner at a restaurant and finally barbecue catered in for lunch at church after a very long liturgy called a "Hierarchical Liturgy". Took a nap this afternoon. Woke up a little disoriented as it was 6:00 pm or so and was thinking is this Sunday evening or Monday morning.

Hi to everyone else.

Janet

[MKW]

Hi all - when my new little great nephew finally made his entrance into the world this morning at 9:30! He's adorable - just completely adorable! No - prejudiced - me?????? They had a little scare with him this afternoon, but he's doing well now - thank goodness!

Sounds like the rest of you have been really busy today. Take care all.

[JJinSanDiego]

Howdy again . . . a few things I couldn't let pass by without a comment (or two)!

Janet - so you play cards, aye? At least THREE of us play cards, aye? And the other TWO will be in LOUISVILLE IN JULY, aye? Hmmmmm. Lis Sis, do you play any cards??? Just think of the possibilities!! But again, no pressure!

It also sounds like a very busy church-weekend for you & hubby! I'm glad you got a nap in!! I remember busy times like those . . .

Weight Watchers is great!! I did it for a year and lost 32 lbs. I had gotten to be a bit of a bubba girl so it was a healthy choice. Now I've put back on 10 lbs in the last year. I will go back on (I did mine online - less expensive & no meetings). I would like to lose about 5 lbs. While I hit my target & according to the charts could have lost more . . . my face looked a little gaunt. If it looked that way to me, it must've looked worse to others! A few of my friends now admit they thought I looked too skinny.

Well Audrey, I'm so glad my Lil Sis has YOU to supervise her!! And thank you for not naming names, you know, you might have set her off or something . . . yep, glad SHE has YOU to supervise! heh heh heh

Aura, thanks for the pictures! Like Audrey, I really enjoy seeing the reunites! I really missed you & glad you're able to visit today.

Hopefully TBooth is having a great day . . .I've been checking in for a possible update. This is SO wonderful!! (but everyone understands if we don't hear from you for awhile, Tryna!)

Okay, I'm off for a spell again . . . just HAD to reply to a couple of things . . .

Hiya, Michele!!

JJ

[JJinSanDiego]

Many congrats, Auntie MK!!!!


Sure hope there are no more scares . . . how awful!

OF COURSE HE'S ADORABLE!!!