I'm Home!!

This is the ice that I left behind yesterday when I left Illinois. For miles the ice covered the trees, ground, signs and power lines. Finally when I got to West Memphis, AK the area cleared up. I stopped to take a few pictures along the way. It was really the most beautiful sight. Too bad that it is causing such trouble for so many people in several states with power outages, no heat, no gasoline, etc.
My plans were to leave early last week and stop in Savannah, TN to visit Terry's Aunt and then on to Tupelo, MS to visit my friends Doug, Judy and their family. Well, due to my delay I wasn't able to make it to Savannah, TN. But I did stop by Tupelo. Doug and Judy were great hosts. Their home is absolutely beautiful, welcoming and comfortable. I visited with their two children, Heather and Ben at their homes and saw their adorable children. It was such a treat. I babysit for Heather and Ben when they were toddlers and I was a teenageer. Now, to see that they have children that same age, and they look like carbon copies of their parents when they were little. It was very sweet.

Even though Doug and Judy's kids are grown and gone, they still have a little one around the house....Bullet! He is very friendly and likes to get up close and personal!! He is a cutie! And, what a pose for the camera! I had a great time! And, I won't let 8 years go by before my next visit.

It is nice to be home. The house was clean, the living room is set up for our Superbowl party tomorrow (the party consists of me, Terry, the girls and Jose) and I am getting stuff ready for church tomorrow.

"There's no place like home!"

Snow Day

Last night after dinner, we roasted marshmallows with the boys. They stayed in the PJ's all day and played. It was like a long Christmas day.This is what we woke up to this morning. Under the four inches of snow is about 4 inches of frozen sleet. It is beautiful, but not easy to drive in. We tried moving the cars this morning. No luck.We all got dressed to go out and play in the snow. Of course I don't have any winter wear, so I had to borrow socks and some boots from Melissa. The snow is not packing snow, so no snowballs or snowmen.But the snow is nice and fluffy for snow angels and sledding. The neighbors have a little hill on the side of their house that the boys use to sled down.

Little Jaron was freezing so he came in to enjoy the fire and some Hot Chocolate. The other two boys are still out there. They say that are not cold and their feet are fine. I am convinced it is because they have no feeling left in them.

Everyplace is closed around here, so even if we could get out there is no where to go. Scott is still trying to shovel out to get to work at the Post Office, but not sure he will make it. He called and all but one of the other desks clerks have called in and cannot make it to work.

My parents are just 5 miles away, but we have no way of communicating. Their cell phones are based out of Paducah, KY, so their towers are frozen and we can't get through to them.

I was suppose to leave today and go through Tennessee to visit Terry's Aunt and then to Mississippi to visit with my friends Judy and Doug. But at this point I don't think that is going to happen.

Judy, if you are reading this I assume you know that my plans are on hold. If I can get out of here tomorrow or maybe Friday I still may try and stop by, but I will call you first.

I'm stuck

This picture is looking out Melissa's garage into her front yard. We have about 4-6 inches of sleet. It is so solid that you can walk on top of it. It is still coming down and we are only half way through the storm. Another 18 hours at least. The weather reporters say that it will start snowing on top of this sleet after midnight tonight.
Thankfully we have power. My relatives that are further South - in Paducah, KY are without power and trees are falling all around them.My poor new car. Covered with ice. I am hoping to be able to get on the road late tomorrow and head back to my parents and then leave to head South on Thursday.Of course the kids are happy to be out of school. So today we just stayed in the house around the fire place, we played Mexican Train Dominoes and ate! I made dinner and it is in the oven now. I am trying out a Tamale Pie. I spoke with my family at home and it was 75 degrees there today. I enjoy the beautiful white cover on the ground, but it is a bummer when you can't get out.

Winter Storm Warning

So I may be trapped in Southern Illinois. My dilemma now is whose house do I hunker down at. I can stay with Mom and Dad and have some peace and quiet - electric heat only if the electricity goes out and not a whole lot of food. Or, I can stay at my niece's house and have to deal with the hectic lifestyle there with three little boys who will be out of school and they have a fireplace and a lot of food. My niece and her husband both work for the post office, so they will have to go to work, you know....."come rain, sleet or snow". So, I am trying to decide where to sleep tonight.

According to the radar, the sleet is just an inch away and a lot of snow and ice are predicted. When the weather channel has Jim Cantore stationed in Paducah, KY, you know they expect something big.

I suppose I should have left this morning to head back, but I had plans for today and hated to leave. Bottom line, I will eventually get back home.

Melissa and I went to see a movie this afternoon - Revolutionary Road. Good performances, but a sad movie.

I'm freezing....too cold up here!

Well I am in Southern Illinois and attended my Aunt's funeral yesterday. It was good to see some family that I usually don't see, unless there is a funeral. But, it was still good to see them.

Yesterday the weather was not that bad and today was mild, but tonight a cold front is coming in and I am chilled to the bone. My niece just took me out for dinner at a place called....oh never mind, I can't remember what it is called, but it was good. My three little nephews went with us too and my goodness, I am so glad that my kids are grown.

I will be heading back over to my parents house to spend the night and tomorrow we are going to my nephew Will's basketball game. Then we will all have dinner tomorrow afternoon together.

I will be here a few more days and then on my way back to Louisiana I plan to make a couple stops to visit with some friends.

My Great Aunt Ludene's journey here is over.

Today is Inauguration day and I have been trying to watch as much as I can. I actually sat and watched the swearing in live and recorded it for the girls. But I have been running errands since and answering the many phone calls. My Great Aunt Ludene passed away early this morning. She was my Mom's Aunt and the matriarch of my Mom's side of the family. She has always been spry and ready to go with anyone who will take her. Recently she fell and broke her hip and shoulder, she had surgery but continued to get weaker.

Anyone who knows my family, has probably met her before. She has always been a part of our life. After my Mom's parents both passed away in the early 70's, Aunt Ludene has been somewhat of a mother to my mom.
They were very close and keepers of each others secrets. Recently my mother lost her cousin Ruth to cancer and now this loss so close is extremely hard for her. As a matter of fact, my mother will now be somewhat of the matriarch of those left in her family. Today also has other significance to my mom, it is the anniversary of the day that we buried my brother and it is also her late sister's birthday.

I am going to try and drive up there tomorrow to be with her and attend the funeral. I will be going alone and it is a 10 hour drive. I don't mind the drive, I just get a little bored.

So, needless to say, today I have been running around trying to get it all together. I still have a couple of errands to complete and then I can start packing. I don't know how long I will stay, but since I am going, I might as well make a visit out of it. I just dread the COLD weather!

I will try and blog from there and maybe do some "rayality" videos. I haven't done those in such a long time.

2009 - so far...

It has been a blessed year so far. Really I am so glad to be past the holidays and getting back to a regular schedule.

We spent New Year's eve and day in Baton Rouge with our friends Harry and Johnette. We stayed at a really nice hotel and enjoyed our time there. On New Year's eve we ate at P.F. Changs and then went about Baton Rouge trying to find something to do.....not a lot going on for non-drinkers and non-gamblers. We finally went back to our hotel and watched the countdown on the television there. The next day we went to Harry and Johnette's house and enjoyed the New Years meal she prepared...black eyed peas, cabbage and a pork roast. It's tradition to have that on New Years day....I've never ate it on New Years, so we will see if it makes this year any better than the past years. After that we shopped and saw a movie. It was a nice couple of days.

Since the new year has begun, my washing machine broke, so we had to get a new one. One of our vans has some serious troubles, so we have been shopping for a new car, I don't like car shopping at all - the whole dealer, salesman thing drives me crazy. We were suppose to go today to some more lots, but Terry has been sick with sinus/allergy junk and it is cool out today. I suggested he stay home and rest and we will go later this week.

Brittany has been working for a temp agency and they have kept her very busy. She starts back to school next week and will still be working for the temp agency as well. She keeps herself very busy.

Ashley started back to school today, she will have a busy semester and then will do her student teaching. She is more than ready to finish. She changed her name today - kind of sad. She called me from the DMV and told me it was official - then she went to the bank to change her name there and later this week we are going to transfer her car title from us to her...Ashley Ramirez.

Today is the 2nd anniversary of my brother's death. I went back and looked at my e-mails from that day........and re-lived that afternoon. I had been e-mailing my friend Elizabeth back and forth that afternoon, so I was e-mailing her while I was calling and trying to get a hold of my brother. Finally the police answered his phone and gave me the news. I then e-mailed her that information while I was talking to them before I called my parents. So those e-mails hold a lot of memories and details of that day. In some ways it seems like 5 years ago and in some ways it feels like yesterday. I talked with my mom this morning and she is trying to keep busy today.....of course for them, not a days goes by that they are not thinking of my brother.

Life goes on.