The girls...throughout my life we've always been there for each other. We consist of 3 sisters; Shirley, Barbara and Judy, Debbie and Cathy (Barbara's daughters), Carly (Cathy's daughter) and myself (I'm Shirley's daughter). Between us we've experienced 12 weddings and 7 divorces. We have been the moving party for each other, and have spent just about every Christmas together my entire life. We're close ~ we share something that I have discovered is quite rare...we've never fought with one another. When family members from out of town come to visit, the girls organize a dinner. We also have "girls' night in" for each other for our birthdays - we enjoy dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant and then back to Judy's to watch a movie over wine and snacks. We also take a couple of trips each year - Spring Fling and Fall Frolic. Yup - we're a close family, but we're also best friends. We owe this to our grandparents, who raised us to love and respect one another.

Okay, on to the adventure of the week...

Barbara & her husband Earl recently bought a new piece of furniture. What started out as a simple purchase of a bed evolved into a new bed, new hardwood flooring and fresh paint. Needless to say, their normally neat and tidy home was turned upside down in anticipation of paint and flooring crews. With the flooring done and the painting completed in the main living area, Barbara and Earl faced the daunting task of getting everything put away. On Saturday, I joined with "the girls" to help Barbara get her house back together. We just couldn't let her have all that fun by herself!

First, the flooring and the paint job were both gorgeous! My eyes panned around the room and then noticed that the sunroom was FILLED with all the living room furniture, lamps, pictures, etc...the kitchen was filled with dishes for the buffet and china cabinet. It was at that precise moment that although I know that Barbara and Earl have nice things...I didn't realize HOW MANY nice things they have...boxes and boxes of them!

Once all the girls arrived, we discussed where each piece of furniture should go. Once we got the furniture placed, then we started putting the smaller tables and cabinets in the room...then the things that are stored in them - Heaven forbid that they have a cabinet or drawer with nothing in it! That just wouldn't be right! Once we got one cabinet filled, we moved on to the next one. We stopped for lunch - Cathy and I via e-mail arranged for everyone to bring something to add to the lunch table - we had ourselves a small feast! Chicken salad and rolls, cherry tomatoes and cucumber spears, fresh concord grapes (off my vine),cheeses, crackers, Jell-o with fruit, coffee cake with cherry filling and blueberry/peach pie. See you tomorrow, Diet!

At the end of the day, Barbara had her living room all put back together, and her sunroom only had a few things that were going in other rooms. A rumble of thunder outside warned us that we were in for another storm. We all quickly got our "hug line" done and everyone headed for their respective homes.

On the way home, I reflected on the day. Barbara and Earl so appreciated us all jumping in to help get their house back in order and bring lunch to boot. We were all happy to help...who's house is next???

Taking the Plunge

This past Saturday, Ira and I went to his daughter's home to attend a wedding reception for her son and his bride. Ricky is the oldest of Kim's boys and the first of Ira's grandsons to get married. The "official" wedding took place in June at the Outer Banks ~ a very small affair attended only by parents and siblings.

When Ira and I delivered the cake the day before the party, we could see that some of the preparations had been made; the tents in were in place; the tables & chairs were arranged. When we arrived Saturday, the entire backyard had been decorated ~ WOW! It looked great! We could easily see that much work had been done. Kim's got a big yard so we knew that it took a good while to get all the decorations completed.

Kim originally planned that at the end of the reception, Ricky and Jen were going to jump in the pool and release the balloons...one small problem...it was a scorching 90 degrees (give or take a few) outside and the balloons were popping from the heat. Kim told me that she was going to try to get all the activities done quickly and hopefully their would still be a few balloons left to release.

Once the guests arrived, Kim quickly set the pace for the party. She was part Mother of the Groom, and part Drill Sargent! I kinda liked it!

As a wedding gift to the couple, I took pictures to create a scrapbook/wedding album. Since the activities were being done at a frantic pace, I was running to keep up! Once everything was done, we were ready for the happy couple to "Take the Plunge".

"One...Two....Three" we all chanted and then a big splash and a round of applause and the formal reception was over and the laid back party could begin. And there were still a few balloons left for the happy couple to release to the air.

Ricky has found his Princess and Jen now has her Prince Charming...I hope they live happily ever after!

So far so good!

What a busy week it's been! Keith, Louise and Phillip flew up from Texas for the week. Mom brought everyone over on Sunday for a visit. Keith had only seen our place very briefly a few years ago just after we moved in - I was glad he got to see all the changes we made around here. He took lots of pictures to take home to show Annette. Ira also took off for Danville to visit his daughter and grandsons for a couple of days. I took care of the dogs while he was gone.

Monday was Mom's birthday, so we all went out for dinner at Plaza Azteca. We're a rowdy bunch; I hope the other diners didn't mind too much!

Tuesday Ira came home - he was beat, but glad that he had some one-on-one time with Sam.

Wednesday I took off to Newport News to pick up the gang for lunch and then to shop at the local craft store - we even found a large gem stone for Phillip - he was overjoyed! Louise got her first scrapbook...I think she got the "bug" while looking at everything in my scraproom!

Thursday Mom, Keith and the kids came over for dinner - spaghetti with homemade sauce! Yum! Keith and the kids were intoduced to our Wii games - they were hooked - my guess is that they will have a Wii by the end of the year - Keith really enjoyed the golf!

Friday was all about the girls! Mom and Louise met me, Barbara, Cathy and Carly in Williamsburg for an afternoon of shopping! We picked up a few things and had lunch at Sweet Madeline's.

Saturday I played "catch up". I got some housework done and generally relaxed.

Sunday I blanched and froze corn, canned some tomatoes, planned the menu for the next month, made the commissary shopping list and gathered up my coupons. I finished my day at roughly 11:20PM ; yes, I said PM!

Today we got an early start and took off to Wal-Mart. The temps were expected to be around the 100 mark. This evening I went to the King William Library for my monthly "Art Club" meeting - we even had 2 new people show up!

Now that our company has gone home, we all have gone back to our own respective routines. I've added "update my blog" to my Monday schedule! I've made it for the 2nd week - so far so good!

A new Attitude

When I was a young girl I had any number of diaries ~ with each new diary came a promise from myself to write my innermost thoughts on a daily basis...yeah right. The reality...each book contained an average of 2 weeks worth of my innermost thoughts and then I lost interest.

When I began my blog, I also made a promise to myself to post on a daily basis...guess what! Today's blog is yesterday's diary; so it comes as no great surprise that I started off with a bang and then fizzled out. This morning as I checked my normal online "haunts" my mouse pointed to my blog and I took a few minutes to re-read my posts. Then I pondered why I lost interest in posting. I read other blogs daily and am inspired by the dedication of other bloggers to keep posting on a daily basis.

But I had to finally admit to myself that I'm just not gonna post daily - it seems too much like a chore. Then I started thinking about trying to post once a week. "Hmmmm now that might work" I said to myself.

So here it is - my first weekly post.

I'll start off by summarizing what I've been busy with since JANUARY.

• I entered two paintings in the Arts Alive exhibit at West Point High School. I even got my picture in the local paper!
• I took off with the West Point Scrapbook Club for our first ever Scrap Retreat in the Outer Banks. I officially began work on my "Heritage Series". So far, I've finished 2 books.
• Mom and I took off for a week long trip to Texas to see my brother Keith and his family. We took Mom to the Alamo and the Riverwalk in San Antonio for Mother's Day. Keith cooked breakfast and dinner for us. We had a great time.
• I went to the Great American Scrapbook Convention in Chantilly, VA with my friends from West Point. We spent the day shopping and finished up with dinner at Lowery's in Tappahanock. It was a long day, but we all had a blast and are already looking forward to next year's convention.
• My garden has yielded a bumper crop of tomatoes, cukes, squash, zucchini and green beans. I canned and froze a bunch of veggies; with more still growing on the vines. The corn's almost ready too. I also made and canned my own pasta sauce.
• Keith and the kids are here this week for a visit. Annette's back at the ranch in Texas taking care of all the animals. All the girls are going shopping on Friday. Tonight we all went to Plaza Azteca to celebrate Mom's birthday. Boy am I pooped!

Well, that should catch me up so far. As I have promised myself though the years....while I may not post my innermost thoughts, I will do my best to highlight my week in review in life on the farm! Let's see how far I make it!