Weekend Fun - Just the 2 of us

     Brian didn't have to work Sat., and  had asked if I'd like to go on a "color tour before everything starts changing colors, so then when we go again in the fall we'll really see the change."  Sounded like a fun idea to me. But what I didn't realize was, that he was being very spontaneous and actually planning a mini vacation for just the two (2) of us.
    Started off by treating me to breakfast Sat. am at Arnie's. Delicious!!! We then stopped to get car chargers for our new phones. When he got back in the car, he asked if there was any place in particular I'd like to head to. "How about Mt. Pleasant?  I never did get to take you there and show you the places Julie and I have found." Which route?  "The Amish way". And off we headed.
    We had so-o much fun spending time together!!! Even the '70's satellite radio station we like to listen to, was cooperating. We heard songs we've never heard them play, songs we thourally enjoy but hadn't heard in ages. Such as Charlie Daniels 1973 hit, "Uneasy Rider". {and all that long hair fell out from underneath}  (the link I used shows you the lyrics while you listen to the song).  And, Clint Holmes 1972 hit, "Playground in my mind" {"My name is Michael, I've got a nickle....."}, amongst many. Oh did we laugh when, after playing Cheech & Chong's hit "Framed", the DJ said, "I wonder about us here at this station, playing "Rocky Mountain High" after a Cheech & Chong song."
    After introducing Brian to St. Germain and Vintage Sisters Antique shops, we decided we were hungry. It was between 4 and 4:30 and we beat the rush to "Mountain Town Station" . It is a restored/renovated Train Station, with beef sandwiches that make your taste buds rejoice. (they offer other selections too). And their prices are amazing considering the quality of their food and the service you get. Sure hope they stay that way, because he definitely wants to go back. [And take the camera this time.]
   We had also stopped at "The Painted Turtle", a ceramics shop. Due to something we had seen at one of the antique shops, we came up with a gift idea for our daughter-in-loves and GRAND daughters. Thought maybe we could do our own version....  that's all I can say about that at this point in time.
    We then tried to find an additional antiques shop in Mt. Pleasant.... but it was no where to be found. Turned out, they had moved to a new location in the spring, and just last week the city had taken down their old location, due to the bad condition it was in. No wonder I couldn't find it.
    According to an antiques shop directory we had picked up, there were shops in Midland. En-route from Mt. Pleasant to Midland (along M20 I believe....), we passed the relocated antiques shop, "The Antiques Center". Much larger location! Cleaner, brighter, still friendly owner.

(pictures is from spontaneous dancing at Byron's and Paige's wedding this spring) 

     We ended up spending the night in Midland. Spontaneous overnights with out overnight bags are great with out children, GRAND children or friends along (wink, wink). Using my new phone, I had found a hotel via Google. Byron stated that he was "so proud of his mom's accomplishments with technology". We stayed at "The Baymont Inn". It was so-o cool! They had a Double-Decker bus parked out front (along with a red phone box and British styled post box), and display cases in a hallway of a large collection of miniature Double-Decker bus's which the previous owner was loaning to the current owners. There were also framed articles about Santa Clause School. And the previous owners wife's collection of birdhouses and chickens. Gave the place a real 'homey' feel instead of the usual 'sterile environment' of a hotel. Brian would have used the hot tub if we'd brought anything besides the clothes on our back with us.
    Turned out that none of the antique shops which had been listed in the directory, were still in business. But we did find one that had just opened the day before. "Now and Then Treasures". Had wonderful conversations with the male owner! We had also spotted this building in Midland, was it the old court house? Not sure... . But WOW!!! Amazing architecture!!! Had been built by both the Indians and the settlers. I so want to go back when it's open and walk around the inside, besides taking pictures of the outside of it. And loved how the main roads of the city/town were lined with flowers courtesy of Dow Gardens. Not potted plants, but beautiful foot thick blooming flowers between the edge of the road and the sidewalks. Might visit the gardens themselves next visit.
    En-route home, we came across a "Ponderosa Restaurant". Due to m-a-n-y fond memories of taking our sons their when they were young, the good food, their buffet, etc., we decided to get dinner there. Sigh. No wonder there is no longer any locations in our area. While our server was wonderful, the food was so-o disappointing. We'd ordered one Rib-eye steak dinner and one buffet. Both exceeded disappointing. We'll just focus on 'what once was' and drive past any locations we see in the future.  

     Brian, THANK-YOU so much for your spontaneity, your love, the fact that we're still friends, how cherished your words made me feel, EVERYTHING!!!  I LOVE you!!!

We witnessed the most romantic little scene

  It was within minutes of 6:00 pm last evening, when while on our way to something, we stopped for a stop sign and were ever so glad we had needed to. The road we were on was ending and we had to turn onto the street it ended at. Straight ahead of us, I spotted a guy helping somebody from a car in the driveway by the little house. It captured my attention. After a moment, it looked like he must be helping a lady out in a long nightgown. But I wasn't positive that was what the material I was seeing. I kind of shrugged and thought maybe he was bringing her home from the hospital. Then I was able to see more of the material, definitely not a night gown. And then, when she stepped free of the car, 'is it really?' my mind wondered. I turned to ask Brian, figuring we were still sitting there waiting for on coming traffic, but no, he too was lost in the unfolding scene.

  She was wearing a full length, no train, beautiful, creamish colored, wedding dress, covered around her arms and upper body by a white fur, tight fitting cape. Her hair was all done up and she was holding a small bouquet that seemed to be wild flowers or something. I really wanted to see it closer! Told Brian I wished the camera was in the car so I could zoom in to see 'details'.

   Smiling ear to ear, the young (to us) man, straightened up, straightened his suit jacket, offered her his arm and they proceeded up what must have been a sidewalk to the side door of the house. He unlocked the door, they talked for a moment, then grinning ear to ear he hurried back down the sidewalk while she stood waiting by the door. He jumped in the car, drove it to the garage at the back of the property, jumped out, said something to her while waving keys in the air and hustled to unlock the overhead garage door, opened the door, then hustled back to the car and backed it into the garage.

   We figured he'd come hustling right back out, but he didn't, to the point we wondered what he was doing. In reality, it probably didn't take him that long, but we were so wanting to see what was going to happen next and desperately hoping no car would come up behind us.

   The bride was standing next to the door waiting. She turned her head to look down the street a couple of times, seemed to shiver and pull her cape tighter a couple of times, once, we thought she had turned her head far enough that she spotted us, but we weren't sure. She was on the other side of what we're guessing to be a rose trellis (or maybe that description just fits the romantic-ness of the situation best ;-]).

   Finally, the groom appeared in the door way of the garage. He closed and locked the overhead door, then came hustling forward, wearing a small sized duffel bag over one shoulder and proudly holding a floral (almost gift shaped bag) up in the air with the other arm. He rushed towards his bride, beaming with happiness.

    When he got to her, she stepped back while he entered the house and sat the bags inside. He stepped back out, they said something, then he reached in to the house to sit the bouquet in there. Then he did what we had been wondering if he was going to do. He bent and swept his bride up in his arms and carried her over the threshold. They had disappeared in to the house.

   I giggled with happiness. What a cute, sweet, intimate, romantic scene, we had just been privileged to witness!

   Brian questioned if it had been a Sunday wedding. I said that maybe it had been Sat. and she had put her dress back on to arrive at their new home in. They had seemed to have overnight bags. Then again, her hair was all done up nice... .  

    We hope they strive to keep including little romantic touches in their marriage as they progress on in life.

    We thanked the Lord for the absence of other traffic as we continued on our way.

Sticker SHOCK

     Recently our van was pronounced D.E.A.D. . We had just had this fixed, then it went back in for that, then something else happened. That third time it was the final strike. To fix the latest thing, would involve a total engine tear down / take every thing apart, which is a huge time involved task, and the process there-of would most likely reveal even more problems, which would increase both the parts and the labor.  So the van is dead. It served us well. It has over two hundred and thirteen thousand miles on it. But that means we are currently with out a vehicle of our own.  Thankfully, Papa Honey is loaning us his truck. But we need to get another vehicle of our own.

    Brian had been looking on line, such as Craig's list, etc.. Yesterday we ventured out to look on local used car lots. For one, to see what certain vehicles looked like in person, how much room they really had, etc.. And secondly, to look at how much they were priced for.

     About number one. While some have suggested that it's time for us to move down to a small little car for just Brian and I, that option does not at all fit our life style. It is normal for us to be hauling stuff, or people, or a combination of people and stuff. And sometimes it's our GRAND children and their stuff. Definite priorities to us!

     About 'secondly' - oh  my  word  did  we  get  sticker  shock !!! A particular vehicle we were really drawn to, was nine (9) years old, had over one hundred and thirteen miles on it and yet it was priced at seventeen THOUSAND dollars. And on it went. Till our sticker shock wore into sticker numbness.

    "They must be getting it, since all of them are priced like that", "I know... but how in the world can people afford it?".

   That conversation brought a multitude of various things to mind.

  ~ Things such as, hearing just how many credit cards and loans some people are carrying.

  ~ Things such as, knowing a bunch of people who have filed for bankruptcy.

  ~ Things such as, 'getting' even better why minimum wage employees want the minimum amount drastically raised, yet being confused as to why they don't 'get' that the companies will in turn then just raise all of their prices, because there is no way that companies are going to take a cut in their gross profits. 

  ~ Things such as, a conversation we had with a friend several years ago, about the price the wife had paid for their daughters high school Sr. prom. $400 for a prom dress, then $ for shoes and a manicure and a hair appointment, etc.. Made me question if it was really her Sr. prom or her wedding. I had questioned how many hours he had had to labor to pay for all of that. I was informed that you can't look at things from that perspective any more.

    WHY  NOT ?!?!? Isn't that what you have to do to pay for said expenses?  And if you put those expenses on a charge card, the company adds interest to your balance, thus raising the total you have to pay, which in the end equals that many more hours you have to work. It really does boil down to being that simple. And it really does equal out to that vicious of a cycle. But that IS the way it is!

     Another thing which came to mind, was part of the Laura Ingalls Wilder book, 'Farmer Boy'. In the particular section which came to mind, the dad was teaching the son the value of money. And how before you could spend it, you had to earn it. And when you looked at something you thought you wanted, you had to keep in mind just how long and how much effort was it going to take you to earn that amount. Once you thought all of that through, you could then make a realistic decision about whether or not you wanted to purchase or even start saving towards said item. 

    Seems to me, that the world needs to start spending an hour every Sunday afternoon, reading their way through that book! And reading it aloud. That way more senses are involved and thus the truths therein are more likely to get grasped / sink in. 

    If "how your going to pay for it" doesn't actually figure in, as in, how in the world do you realistically plan on paying off that loan, or that credit card, or that mortgage, etc., then no wonder people are literally drowning in debt. No wonder businesses are going belly up. No wonder our national economy is in the condition it's in. People need to read that simple children's story and take heed of the wisdom contained there-in!!!

   So how are we going to get a new vehicle? Honestly, we're not sure yet. We've placed the situation in God's hands. He's proven time and time again that He is capable of both providing for us and of doing "the impossible" (things we refer to as 'miracles'). We are ever so thankfully that He is and does! ! !

it all started innocently...

    The nights that I am fighting 'hot flashes' or fever (flu :-[ ) I either stay up late, or end up getting back up. The tossing and turning, throwing blankets off, trying to pull them on tight again, does interrupt Brian's sleep, even though he is sweet and claims it's no big deal and that I can stay in bed if I want to. But that's just rude, from my perspective, when I don't have to get up by a certain time and go someplace, etc.. So I thank the Lord for the internet and throw my blankets on and off while sitting in my chair, without bothering anybody else in the house.
    Last night was such a night. And lately the 'symptoms' have been lasting longer (:-[ ). So it was already 3:30a.m. when I tried to slip into bed. This time he didn't rouse at all. Sigh, 'good!'. I got all snuggled down before slipping my arm around him. Now usually, he kind of sighs in his sleep and backs up closer, while I smile in the dark. And usually lately, he's been wearing a thick shirt to bed, due to the way the cold air in the room bothers his arthritic shoulders. But last night he didn't have a shirt on. And I didn't find that out till I was slipping my arm around him... because instantaneously he was a couple of inches up in the air, making a startled squeaking sound. 
    I could NOT help myself. I started giggling. Uncontrollably. I tried to stop. Honest. But to no avail. "Sorry!! (giggle) I guess my hand really was as cold as it felt."  "HUMPH!" from Brian. (giggle - or two or three). "I thought you would have a shirt on". This low noise emitted from my husband, as he moved even further away and settled back into the bed and blankets. (Giggle. Told you I couldn't stop them!)  As he again made the sound, I realized that I had just woke up the man, who the boys use to fight over not having to wake up, due to how he jumped at being woke up and was all scarey. And I had done so by one small innocent touch of my cold hand. More giggling. Mixed with feelings of guilt. HONEST. And yet I could not stop giggling!
    Should I get back up I wondered? No, he will feel/hear that and get even more annoyed. So I fought ever so hard to stifle my giggles. Believe me when I say that it was not an easy task! Mercy.
   If I end up staying up late again tonight, I shall use the light on my phone to check and see whether or not he has a shirt on, before deciding whether or not I can put my arm around him.
   Brian, I  really  am  sorry!  (yes, I am again fighting the giggles over the whole thing. o:-D)

Date night last night ;->

   Brian and I went out on a date last night. Just the two of us! We haven't done that nearly enough lately! After dinner at Logan's(R), we went shopping at Kohl's(R).
   While my side of the family no longer does gift exchanging, and we draw names with our own kids (although everybody gets a gift for the grand children, and will till they reach the age of 18), we do still get our kids "something", as well as fill their stockings. And we do gifts for/with Brian's side of the family. Over the years, I have had great success at finding lots of "perfect gifts", on great sale, at Kohl's(R), close to Christmas. So unless I have something else explicitly in mind, I always just start there.
    Kohl's has this Christmas program, where you earn 'in store credit', based on the amount you spend. The only catch is, that you have to use it between the day after Christmas and New Year's Eve.
    Therefore, we headed back there last evening, to spend those 'free' dollars. We had earned enough, that combined with them being on sale, we were able to get me new shoes (not sure how old the ones I had been wearing were - 3, 4 years?).

   We also picked up a couple of birthday cards (Brian had started looking at them, while I went to the bathroom...). And one item each for our daughter-in-loves. For next Christmas.  No Kayla, you can't just see it now. o;-p    We then hit three other places for other things. All in all, a nice low key evening. Like I said, "Nice!"

   Today we're doing this and that. Tomorrow evening we get to pick our grand kids back up from their mom. :-D  Aw the bliss of their noisiness again! ;-p

   [ For The Record - This was in no way a paid advertisement for any of the listed places or products!!! None of them have any clue I wrote any of this, and probably never will.]

Oops, wrong word... chuckle, chuckle...

    The task I tackled and accomplished yesterday afternoon, effected my vertigo far greater than I had predicted it would. That's life. But that's also why I headed up to bed quite early last evening. Sometimes just laying still on my right side helps.
    Brian leaned over to kiss the still awake me, after he came up a couple of hours later.
    "Are you wearing lip gloss?" I asked.
    In a comical, but highly offended tone, he replied, "I do not wear lip gloss!"
    "Chuckle, chuckle, chuckle"
    He snorted and moved further away from me.
    "(Chuckle) Did you put on your Vaseline lip gel before coming to bed?"
    "THAT, I did do"
    I kept chuckling.... he harrumphed me. More chuckling....

    [I prefer regular 'flavor' Chap Stick (R). He, on the other hand, prefers Vaseline's lip therapy (R). ]

This 'Lucy' 'splains ...

    Somewhat recently, Brian and I attended a wedding. The ceremony itself went off fine. Near the beginning of the reception, our friend Steve B. walked up and commented about how he had noticed that we seemed to be really enjoying ourselves during the ceremony. He commented about how while our shoulders had really been bouncing, we'd done a good job of staying silent.
   Brian and I exchanged a look, and started giggling, which turned other people's heads, which made us decide it was probably best to not tell the whole story right then and there.
   This then is that story.
    My hair was just hanging down straight when we had arrived at the wedding. But then just a little ways into the ceremony, it had really started bothering my eyes. This happens sometimes. I don't always wear it up, because that can often start or increase my headaches. But sometimes when I wear it down, it seems to drive my eyes batty. Just another example of how my body parts don't always work together. 8-/
    During the ceremony, my eyes started REALLY being bugged by my hair. The kind of bugged that sets my vertigo off worse. So as low key as possible, I had reached up and using only my fingers, pulled a section from the front on both sides, so that they met at the back of my head. I was going to slip a barrette on it - no big deal.
    I knew that I had a barrette in my purse. I remembered having dropped it down into my purse the other day. I remembered that when I had done so, my mind had questioned if it was wise to drop it in open like that. But I had left it as such. The only reason I can come up with now is, I must have also had other things in my hand that I was taking care of, and thus not wanted to set everything down so I could retrieve the barrette and close it.
    So any-ways, we're sitting along side the main aisle at this wedding, about the third row from the back on our side (the other side had more rows), and I am attempting to nonchalantly pull some of my hair back and secure it with a barrette.
    I reach down into my purse and feel around for the barrette. Got it instantly. Good. But then as I start to pull it up, it wouldn't come. It would start to, then feel like it was caught on something. I eased it back down and tried again. And again. By then Brian shoots me this look like "what's the problem?". With a perplexed expression, I shrugged my shoulders. And tried again. "What in the world?!" my brain questioned.
    Then I had to decide, do I let go off the hair I'm holding behind my head with one hand, so that I can use both hands to empty my purse? Do I ask Brian for help? Or do I just tug harder at it, hoping I don't dump everything all over the floor?
     I went with the last option. After all, it's not like I keep that much in my purse in the first place.
    As I tugged harder, the problem gave way, and up came my barrette, with the tines of a fork stuck in it. Yes, a fork.
    "What in the world?!!?" 
    Brian's eyes were silently asking me that, while my own brain was past asking it and trying to come up with an answer as to how and where that thing had gotten into my purse!
    But then the humor of the whole thing struck both of us. I mean, here I am, sitting in a wedding ceremony, trying to nonchalantly get a barrette out of my purse, and instead I pull out a fork entwined in my barrette.
    I leaned over and asked Brian if I was on 'Candid Camera'. Probably shouldn't have asked that. o;-p
    I did get the barrette free and the hair into it on the back of my head. But there in my lap sat that fork.
    Brian leaned close and asked if I was hungry much. He ought to have waited. o;-p
    As I started to slip the fork back into my purse, it caught on the edge of my wallet. (insert eye roll)
    I tried again.
    Brian asked where it had come from. I hadn't a clue. So I looked at the pattern on it. None of the ones we have at home.
     As I'm sitting there holding it in one hand and puzzling over where it came from, Brian started chuckling again. Which set me to doing like wise.
     Goodness, there we were, two grown adults, trying to contain our laughter, during a wedding ceremony of all things! (shakes head)
     The more we tried not to laugh, the funnier the whole thing became!
     We never did laugh out loud, which we were very proud of ourselves for achieving, because it was not an easy achievement!
     We pretty much had regained full composure before the end of the ceremony, so none of the people being dismissed from in front of us had a clue anything had been amiss. We thought we'd pulled it off fine. Then Steve questioned us at the beginning of the reception. Oops! ;-p

    So, where had the fork come from?  The only possible scenario we have come up with, is that the day before had been when we'd gone out to eat, which I'd told you about in THIS posting. The waitress had already taken away Brian's empty plate, when I decided that I was full and passed my plate to him. He'd reached for his fork, but there hadn't been one. I'd proposed that maybe she'd taken it with his plate. He'd replied that he hadn't used it yet (he'd ordered a sandwich and onion rings). So just m-a-y-b-e, when we had scooted things around so that I could hold Elliot on the edge of the table to feed him his bottle, m-a-y-b-e his fork had slid off of the table and landed in my purse, which was sitting on the bench next to Brian (so that I had room on my side to lay Elliot down once he fell asleep).

    If that's not the case, I have no idea where that fork came from!!! ;-p
    Here's what it looks like.  Is it yours?  ;-b !!!

     In case your curious, yes, I'm still 'wondering' about myself. o;-p

WONDERFUL compliment

   As he was eating his dinner last evening, Brian looked over at me and said, "the stuffing is r-e-a-l-l-y good this time. You did a great job on it!"

   I must have been wearing a puzzled expression, because he went on with, "I thought you were over reacting more than a little bit on Thanksgiving, when you insisted that the stuffing had been bad enough, we should just dump all of the leftovers. I had thought it was "okay" and ate all I had taken. But now, after again eating this batch that you made Sunday, I get the difference. You nailed it this time! :-D"



   THANKS Brian!!! I love that you showed en-thus-si-ou-si-ous-si-asm! O;->

Wedding Weekend - Saturday - Part 3 - the flowers

    Back HERE, I had talked about changes that were being made concerning Brent and Kayla's wedding. I had also mentioned "I need to start making the corsages and boutonnieres." Then in THIS posting, I had stated how they were all now "DONE!" and talked about having burnt my finger. I think the healing process has now got it down, to only the two inner most blisters being left. 8-/  Hopefully, they too will be gone soon! Gracious!
    I had ended the part about the flowers in that second posting, with this statement, " Yes, of course I 'plan' on doing a posting showing you the flower things I did up. ;->" This then is that promised posting. :->

     First up - the brides bouquet. Kayla LOVES pearls! So I incorporated them into her bouquet as well. Along the leaves at the bottom of the bouquet. And then spiraled down around the stems, over the red ribbon.
     Here's a close up of the bouquet -

     And here it is while Kayla was holding it standing in front of the preacher -
     (You can also see Brent's boutonniere in this shot)

   After the ceremony, I heard her explaining to my step mom, that her bouquet had been custom designed and made by Cheryl. Heart warming moment that! ;-)

    Here's a close up of Brent's boutonniere -

    Here's Kayla's mom's wrist corsage -

    Kayla's dad's boutonniere -

    My wrist corsage and Brian's boutonniere -

    The one's for Brian's parents -

    The one's for My dad and Joan -

    The one for Kayla's grandma - Actually, I can't seem to find one of that in our pictures. But I HAD made her one! Hummm

    Adam's (the best man's) boutonniere was very similar to Kayla's dad's, here's a picture with it pinned on Adam, while he's starting down the aisle with Kayla's sister (Hanna). Hanna was carrying a floral ball Kayla had purchased. Didn't intentionally crop it from the picture - it just wasn't in there.

       This concludes this edition about Brent and Kayla's wedding. Editions yet to come are:  the decorated church, the altered wedding dress, the beautiful bride, etc..

 All pictures herein were taken by our son Benson ;-)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I 'plan' on linking this particular posting up to: 
 ~ "Saturday Is Crafty Day", hosted by Laura, at 'Along For The Ride' (http://iamalongfortheride.blogspot.com/)
  ~ "Today's Flowers",  is hosted by Luiz Santilli Jr., at 'Today's Flowers'  (http://flowersfromtoday.blogspot.com/),
  ~ "Amaze Me Monday('s)", are hosted by Carrie, at 'Dittle Dattle' (http://dittledattle.blogspot.com/).
  ~ "Homemaker Mondays ... Yours, Mine & Ours", are hosted by Jen, at '11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven'  (http://rtheyallyours.blogspot.com/). 
~ "Making Your Home Sing Monday('s)", are hosted by Nan, at 'Mom's the Word (I love to hear)'  (http://momstheword--livingforhim.blogspot.com/).     

and then nest spring -
 ~ "To Have and To Hold, Wedding Blog Party", hosted every June by Stephanie, at 'Angelic Accents' (http://angelicaccents.blogspot.com).  

Wedding Weekend - Fri. night

    As you would imagine, I have LOTS of things to tell you about from this past weekend. After all, our out of state kids were in town. And Brent and Kayla got married. A-n-d Sunday afternoon we held a get together for family members, so they could visit with our out of state kids. But of course, that's not all that happened. But you knew that would be the case, didn't you? Mercy.
    So, instead of trying to tell you about everything in one posting, who's length would rival War and Peace, I'm breaking it all down into various postings.
    The out of state kids arrived Friday afternoon. I LOVE the fact that 2 year old Analyse totally knows who we are and is excited to see us when they get here!!! Us and "BOO!!!" ;-p.
    We had lunch and then tried putting Analyse down for her nap. That was a total no-go.
    After lunch, the guys had ran out to the mall to do some account switching around with everyone's cell phones. Brian, Brandon and I had been on Byron and Cyndi's plan. Benson had been on Brent and Kayla's. It is now set up so that there are three plans, and everybody living in a house, is on that houses plan. And since we most often always go through the same manager/sales rep. - he turned things over with out extra charges for doing so. Nice!
    Early Fri. evening, all of us, along with Kayla, her mom and sister, met up at the church to decorate it. That went really smoothly. Thanks Karen Bur. and Jewels for loaning us "stuff"! Oh, and those items that I had mentioned picking up at the Goodwill store - they worked fantastically!!! (Thanks Lord!)  No, I'm not showing you pictures yet. We're waiting to give a disk of the pictures (Benson was their photographer) to Brent and Kayla, before we post any of them anywhere.
    The 'plan' became that we were all going out to a specific pizza place, once the church was done. But then... and then ... and then Ms. Analyse was showing definite signs that due to having not had a nap, she wouldn't be up to much for very long. So I stated that as long as they called and had a small pizza delivered to our house, I would stay at home with Analyse and Elliot, and let all of them go really enjoy their time together. It ended up that it was Brian and all of our 'kids' at the restaurant. He said that was rather nice. ;->
    With Analyse watching Elmo(R) while sitting in her highchair eating her pizza, and me eating pizza and feeding Elliot his bottle, and Boo hoping somebody would drop something,  things progressed rather smoothly. That is, until the Elmo(R) DVD was done, and I was washing Analyse off and getting ready to put her in her pajamas. That's when I spotted it. Flying mad circles around our kitchen. I called Brian. "Please come home NOW!!! There's a bat flying around in the kitchen. small shriek. Now it's zooming back and forth through the main floor!!! HURRY!!!"
     He told me to take everybody upstairs and wait in a bedroom. Sounded good. But by this time, Ms. Analyse was watching me like she was trying to decide whether she should continue to be intrigued by this thing zooming back and forth and dipping here and there, or whether she should panic. After all, Grandma didn't sound any too happy...
     I took a big breath, said a prayer (or twenty, on top of one another) and decided that if a 2 year old could stay calm, so could I. (But I did keep praying! o;-p)
     Boo had growled, super deep down inside type of a growl. But then he had moved so he was sitting right up pressing on to my leg. I had taken hold of his collar. Did NOT want him jumping up and catching that thing, and getting bit...
    Thankfully, I had washed Analyse up, but not yet gotten her out of her chair. And Elliot was asleep in his seat. I put a blanket over the top of Elliot, very firmly told Boo to stay! and while telling Analyse just a minute, I went and propped the front screen door open.
     I never did see the bat again. My prayer is, that while I was looking else where, he did swoop out that open front door. I didn't see him, but I left the front door open for about ten minutes just in case...
     As I was in the midst of getting Analyse into her sleeper, growling low, Boo darted towards the front door. My eyes are scanning the air for the bat, as I'm instructing him to stay inside. He did stay, just barely inside the front door. When I got to it, I spotted a very anxious lady trying to hurry her two small dogs up the street. I felt so bad! I called out an apology and said that I had the door open, hoping the bat in our house would fly out of it. She didn't respond. I'm pretty sure she thought I was kook-koo - the front door propped open with moths buzzing about, a big dog growling scarily, and the shrill voice of a young child yelling "Boo STAY!!!" I shrugged, knowing she was probably right. o;-p
     I got Ms. Analyse down with out any incident and Brian finally arrived home. I didn't say anything about how long it seemed to have taken him. Later, totally of his own accord, he started telling me how he had instantly slid his debit card to Brent and headed out, only to run into construction - every single route he tried to take! You could not simply drive home from Plainfield and Four Mile. Mercy! Figures.
    We had settled into couches in the living room. Relaxed. Talking everything about the weekend, etc. over, when suddenly we heard Analyse putting up a ruckus.
     My first thought was that the bat was in her room. Then my mind reassured me that her door had been shut until I opened it to put her in there. When I got to her, she was sweating something fierce. The sleeper had been too warm for that room that night. So I changed her to a large T-shirt. But by then she had had an hour and a half nap, and was rearing to go. And then Elliot too woke up and decided it was time for his evening fussy spell. And then our adult kids arrived home. Byron and Cyndi to find both of their kids wide awake. What could I say? (insert eye roll here).
     Fin-a-lly everybody went down for the night. Whew! 

More Timing Smiles ;->

    God displaying his sense of humor via timing in our life's struck again - twice even. He was on a roll last night! ;-p!

    In the midst of watching a recorded episode of a show last evening, Brian commented, "What did he do with the third guy? I only saw him 'take care of' two". "No, he handled all three"  "I must have missed one. . ."  So I pushed the button on the remote to back things up. "No, that's okay, I don't have to watch.."
    And suddenly we were sitting in total darkness. Laughing!
    I had started to move my finger over to switch it from rewinding to going forward, lost my grip on the remote, and in the pursuing grab at it to keep from dropping it, hit the 'off' button instead of the 'forward' one.
    Out of the darkness I hear, "I hadn't real-ly meant that I didn't want to finish watching the show. . . ."   sarcastic chuckling . . .
    I was laughing so hard, my fingers were having challenges finding the right button to turn the TV back on. o;-p!!!
    And we were sitting in total darkness because there was still quite a bit of sunlight coming through the curtains when we had started the show... but it had been from the setting sun, which had finished disappearing from our horizon and left us with only the glow from the TV... which too had left the room ...
    COMICAL!!

     (yes, we did finish the show, after a successful rewind and rewatch... ;->)

     Not long after we had gone to bed, we heard the sound of a police siren start up, run for only a super short time, then wind down again. In my mind I was thinking, 'that was close by' and 'they pulled over fast'. Then I realized that Brian was chuckling - ever so softly - like he was trying to make sure he didn't disturb me.
     "What's so funny?"
     "God"
      . . . (silence)
     "Explain"
     "I had just lifted my hand to wrap my arm around you, when the siren started. "Okay Lord, your right. I need to let her get some rest. I won't disturb her, PROMISE!" and the siren stopped".
     COMICAL!!! ;-p

What a deal(s)!!!

    It was after dusk last night, as hand in hand Brian and I started walking towards the parking lot. With a big sigh, I smiled and said, "It's such a beautiful night tonight!"
    With a big chuckle, while looking up at the dark clouds gathering in the sky, Brian replied, "Not really"
    Taking an audible deep breath, I continued, "I was talking about how there isn't any humidity, but there are wonderful breezes."
    With a squeeze to my hand and a big smile on his face, Brian replied, " It is a great night!"

   We had just finished having dinner with all of our in town kids. That hadn't been in the original plans for the evening. But then God yet again provided, in awesome ways.

    The original 'plan' was that I was to accompany Brent and his friend Adam to look for suits for the wedding. When they arrived, Kayla had decided to come along too. As had Adam's girlfriend, with her young son in tow. Brian wasn't home from work yet with the van, so both Brent and Adam had to drive.
    We headed out to 28th street where besides two malls, Brian and I had also scouted out three places in the same vicinity, that we could look for men's suits at. As we were tuning a corner to go to our first stop, we noticed that the tux rental shop on the corner, had a big tent set up in their parking lot, and that employees were out along the road, holding signs with unbelievable prices on them. "You can rent them for that?!?!?"
    We went ahead and went to the first shop. While the guys did find suits that both looked sharp on them and fit them, the price of the suits themselves were advertised so low, due to how they hoped to make up on them via the prices of their vests, and ties, and shirts. Hummm...
    Ever curious Brent, really wanted to see what the sale prices at that tent sale were all about, so they put the suits back on the racks and we left.
    We parked at the edge of the Malls parking lot and walked over to the Dunhill Formal Wear store. What we found, was wonderful! Tux coats were on clearance sale - some as low as $9.00, up to the highest being $49.00. And they had really sharp ones too!!! And matching pants were also low priced. As were vests. And white shirts. And bow or full size ties. And 'shiny' shoes.
    We called Brian, and asked him to bring Benson with him and come out. We called Brandon and asked him to come out. Kayla called her dad and got sizes. Then she texted Byron to verify sizes for him.
     The girl helping us was WONDERFUL!!! Turned out, one of her brothers had graduated from middle school with one of our sons.
    Our total came to $368.88.  That included:
    For Brent (the groom) - a tux coat, matching pants, vest, tie, and shoes.
    For Adam - pants (he had cash on hand for the rest of his ;-p)
    For Kayla's Dad - Tux coat, pants and tie. (He will be paying us back)
    For Brian (father of the groom-to-be) - tux coat, pants, white shirt, and tie.
    For Byron - tux coat, pants and a shirt.
    For Benson - tux coat, pants, shirt, and shiny shoes.
    For Brandon - tux coat, pants, shirt and shiny shoes.
    ALL  OF  THAT - for $70.00 more than it was originally going to cost EACH guy to rent their tux's!!
    Yet again, the Lord had gone before us and provided the desires of our hearts. THANK-YOU Lord!!! 

    I can't show you what the tux's look like yet... not till the wedding. So I'll just show you the group of them, hanging in Brent's old closet, where they were carried to from the cars last night. o;-p

   
   Today's 'plan' has to do with a dress for Kayla. ... Curious to see what the story is when the day is done. ;->


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I 'plan' on linking this posting up to:
~ "Soli Deo Gloria" (Latin = "For the Glory of God Alone"), is hosted by Jen, at 'Finding Heaven One Step At A Time' (http://findingheaventoday.blogspot.com/).
   ~ "walk with Him Wednesdays", are hosted by Ann, at 'A Holy Experience' (http://www.aholyexperience.com/).  

More timing humor ;-)

     Back on Friday evening of July 15th, when we were headed to our out-of-state kids house to meet our new born grandson, a couple of different things happened which yet again left us laughing, as well as applauding God's amazing "timing" and displays of humor.
     Soon after we had pulled out, Brian had put a long running CD in to play. It was one that Benson had burned for the family at some point in time, which contains quite a variety of music styles. That way, if any of us doesn't really care for one particular song while we're all riding together, we know that the tables will soon be turned. And then turned back. And then....  It works!
    Any-ways, at one point along the way, we were listening to a country style song about a cowboy. That reminded me of 'Pioneer Women' and the cooking challenge episode against 'Iron Chef' that she did. (I tried to find a link to that particular episode... oh well.) She had a cowboy in full attire present the challenge to Bobby Flay. I was telling Brian about how Ree had just posted that she is both working on her second cookbook and that they had been doing filming out at her ranch, because Food Network(R) is giving her her own show, when all of a sudden out my side window, I spot a sign (not a billboard) that said "Ree's" in big letters. I started laughing so hard at God's timing, that I missed what the sign said underneath that (and it's not like you can just go around the block for another look, when your driving on the highway).

    Much later in our trip, when we were into heavier traffic, on the outskirts of 'the big city', Brian had kept looking in the rear view mirror. Suddenly he states, "it seems we have a tail". All kinds of scenarios instantly flashed across my mind. Including the one time that I really did have "a tail", but that's a whole 'nother story.
     Then I chuckled and said, "Come on Brian, Michael has taught us how to loose a tail" (referring to the TV character 'Michael Westen' on the show 'Burn Notice'). And Brian replied (with a sinister chuckle), "Yup, and he's even here to help us too". My mind questioned, "WHAT?!?". Then I saw it, a couple of vehicles ahead of us, in the lane directly next to ours, was a semi with the name "Weston" on the back doors. Suddenly Brian swishes our van into that lane. He checked the rear view mirror and chuckles, the vehicle behind us had done likewise. Then Brian quickly changed back again, leaving the other vehicle trapped in that lane, seeings how the traffic which had been behind the two of us, had moved forward filing the empty spot.
     Not long afterwords, the vehicle which Brian had thought was 'tailing us', moved on over to the farthest lane over and exited the highway. We then wondered, had that been his plan and destination all along, or had our maneuvering let him know 'he'd been made'?  Did somebody else then pick up our tail?  Hummmm....
     Don't know. All I do know, is that we thought God's timing of providing a 'Weston' Truck, which was going a bit slower than the rest of traffic, to help us loose our tail, after I had just commented about Michael having taught us how to loose one, was really funny!!!

    Oh, and I also know that that type of driving left me holding on, TIGHTLY, striving hard to not turn green around the gills (so to speak), when lots of my "Ms. Vertigo" symptoms kicked in. 8-/.

More timing humor ;-p

    Down a ways in yesterdays posting I wrote, " I love witnessing God's amazing sense of timing and displays of irony and humor in our lives. It happened again this morning."
     Well, He did the timing and humor part again last night too.
     Brian and I were watching an episode of one of our recorded shows. We had already turned the volume up a couple of times. Then suddenly the storms thunder was so-o loud, and so directly overhead, that it sounded like it was trying to break some noise records.
     I pushed the pause button and waited. Brian looked over at me and said, "Yeah, even I  missed that part" chuckle, chuckle.
     I waited a bit, the thunder seemed to have subsided, I stated "take 2" and pushed the play button. IMMEDIATELY the thunder started again. Just as loud as it had been!
     I literally laughed right out loud! "God, your timing is delightful!"
    We waited a minute. Then another. Then turned the volume bar up to in the 40's and continued on, ever so confident that our neighbors still would not be able to hear our TV over the raging storm, even though our windows were all open.

                                       (I found this picture on line HERE)

this made me smile -

    The other evening Brian went in to fix us something to eat. We hadn't yet had dinner / supper (which ever you like to refer to it as), and yet we weren't all that hungry. We did need to eat, but...

     This is what was waiting for me when I went in to get my plate -

  
     Doesn't that just make you smile?
     I found it to be very creative on his part!
     He had picked up some premade Chicken Salad. Cut up some green onions and added them. To mine, he had also added chopped pecans.
     He had scooped out the innards of a couple of the tomatoes he had also bought, and filled them with the chicken salad. Mine, he also garnished with pecans.
     Accompanied with the salty chips - quite a neat dinner.

     Thanks again Brian!

      To the rest of you - just thought I'd share my smiles. ;->

yet again, He provided ;->

      Brian had gone into work extra early a week ago Monday, due to having a doctors appointment that afternoon. We decided that we had enough time that we could squeeze in a quick date between the two, too. Always a bonus!
      We had decided the 'Grand Rapids Brewing Co.' (R) sounded really good, only to get there and discover they had closed their doors. Truly a sad state of affairs!!!
      We decided to see if the 'Grand Traverse Pie Co.(R)', which we had only visited once, a couple years back, was still in business. Thankfully they were/are. :-) (For the record, they have locations in numerous Michigan and Indiana cities).  They have quite the variety of sandwiches, all of which they put there own twists on, as well as offering pies. Oh the pies. You can order them by the slice, or as a whole one to take with you. We were good little doobies and didn't have any. After all, we were headed to the doctor's office and their  scales. o;-p. But my mind will not let the image of their warm blackberry pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream drop. My mind is determined that we should go back and get some ......  I have to say that I think it's right .....
     As we were eating, I just kept getting this persistent feeling that we should hop over to the nearby New 2 You resale shop. Didn't know why ... perhaps they'd have a sleeper sofa that we'd like...?   As soon as I got out of the van, I knew the "why". Sitting right outside their doors, was a double stroller. The more 'deluxe', one seat in front of the other, collapsible sun visors attached for both, with a basket in the back, strollers. The exact kind that Byron and Cyndi had just the week before, asked if I could try to round one up for them. I had reminded them that I don't venture out shopping very often, due to still being 'Ms. Vertigo'. They had replied, "W-e-l-l, you just seem to have this way of finding things...."
     No, God has a way of going before me and providing things!!!

     I had approached the stroller with some trepidation. The 'kids' had asked for one.... I had felt the leading to go here... but I also knew how much those things usually run, even used. I was skeptical just how high of a price they might be asking for it. I looked at the tag. Then re-looked at it. Then blinked a couple of times and looked again. At first look I had read $30.00. But it couldn't really be that low, could it? 'My eyes must not be focusing right again....' So I had looked again, silently questioning whether it was actually an 8 instead of a 3 on the tag. It really was a 3. "THANK-YOU Lord!!!"
     By this time, Brian had wandered over and was looking it over himself. Doing 'guy stuff' like checking it's tires, brake/locks, etc..
      I, on the other hand, had gotten out my cell phone and called Byron. I wanted to verify that somebody else hadn't picked one up for them in the in-between time.  Nobody had, "Can you send us pictures?"
      While Brian had his phone out, snapping pictures of the stroller from various angles, this guy walks up - in FRONT of Brian - looks at the price tag and starts looking the stroller over. 8-l  "Sir, (I said) it's sold". "No, it's for sale." "SIR! We're buying it." "Well, I know how much these things sell for new..." and he heads into the store. I could not believe it! After explaining to 'the kids' what that was all about, we wheel the wet stroller (it had been pouring just prior to our arrival there) into the store, and up to the register.
      I leave Brian to talk to the elderly volunteer who was manning the register, and wandered over to see if just maybe they had the right kind of couch too.... They didn't. But we did leave with the stroller. For $30.00! :-D

     Well, that is, we left after some amusing minutes in the parking lot, trying to figure out how exactly you made the thing collapse ...  and asking a different lady as she was walking back to her car if she knew.. she thought she did... but couldn't get it to work... but couldn't let herself leave not having it figured out (;-p) .. and then asking a dad who had just deposited a very unruly son in their car, if he knew .... Between Brian, the lady and the man, they figured it out. Team work and smiles amongst strangers, right there in that parking lot. :-> It added to the smiles of "the find".

      Just in case you've forgotten - the reason 'the kids' wanted a double seated stroller, is because our second grandchild will be being delivered on July 12th. That's only five days from now ....  :-> !!! :-D !!!

      For those of you whom get these postings via email, go visit our actual blog and see the new 'Seasonal Smile' pictures down our side bar ;->

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 
Next week,  I 'plan' on linking this particular posting up to:

~ "The Penny Worthy Project", is hosted by Laura, at 'Hey What's For Dinner Mom?' (http://heywhatsfordinnermom.blogspot.com/). (on Sunday's)
~ "Gratituesday('s)", are hosted by Laura, at 'Heavenly Homemakers',
~ "2nd Time Around Tuesday('s)", are hosted by Diane, at 'A Picture is Worth 1,000 Words'  (http://diane1876.blogspot.com/),
~ "Nifty Thrifty Tuesday('s)", are hosted by Linda, at 'Coastal Charm' (http://linda-coastalcharm.blogspot.com/).

it's our Anniversary :->

On this day,
of this month,
in the year 1980,
we joined our life's together
and became husband and wife. 

(picture taken by 'Bill plus Jean Photography')

It is now 31 years later.
We've gone through a lot of the "for better for worse".
And the "in sickness and in health".
I still promise "to love and to cherish 'till death do us part."
And I hope that last part is m-a-n-y years off!!!

Brian, Thank-you for still being, my husband, my lover, and my friend.
I LOVE you!!!
Cheryl


Last year I posted links to lots of the stories of our life together. Go HERE to see/read it.

friends ... and math ;-p

    Thursday I got to have lunch with Joanna T. :-) It had been w-a-y too long since my young friend and I had gotten together! We've set up a 'plan' which will hopefully not let that happen again!!!
   While we were talking... Yes, both Joanna T. and I like to talk. To each other. To ourselves. To anybody whom will even pretend to listen. o;-p We are talkers. Plain and simple. And we're okay with that!!!
   Anyways, while we were talking, she told me some about the job direction her sister is headed, and some of the 'details' of said job. One such 'detail' was math related. Doing decimals. With OUT the aid of a calculator. While we are happy for her sister, both Joanna T. and I found the whole idea highly unfavorable!!! Neither of us is very fond of math. We both do it. Sometimes you just have to in life. But neither one of us have ever found math concepts to be our friends. In-fact, too often it's been quite the opposite.

   All of that later reminded me of something an even younger friend who is also named Joanna (B.) had posted awhile back on her face-book page. When I had questioned Joanna B. about permission to use that particular posting, she had answered "sure, it was just one of those face-book pop up things".
    "Pop-up thing" or not, when I had read her posting, I had laughed, literally right out loud (LOL!). And I chuckle every time that I think of it.

    Here is what Joanna B. had posted -
    "Dear Algebra,
     Stop making me find your "X"...

     She's not coming back."

    Eighteen (18) people had clicked that they "liked" her comment.
    I had left this comment back to her - " I absolutely could not agree more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

    And I still feel the same way. I HATED algebra. With a passion.
    Brian has occasionally pointed out to me that I do algebra on a regular basis. Like when I'm making big batches out of my recipes.
    I finally made it clear to him, that if he keeps making such comments, I will no longer do baking for him. !!! o:-)   It seems to have taken care of the problem.  o;-p

:-) !!!!!

    This evening after Brian gets home from work, we are headed to go visit our 'out of state' kids. :-D !!!
    THIS evening!!! :-}
    We, as in only Brian and I. :->
    Our "out of state kids" - Byron, Cyndi and our adorable young grand daughter. :-]
          Here is a recent picture Cyndi sent me of Analyse. She's getting so-o big!! (She's  twenty (20) months old now.)

    We are taking them the box springs and mattress set we nabbed for them when some friends were getting rid of it, as well as the chair we had gotten for Analyse for Christmas (it wouldn't fit in their car.)

    Instead of crashing on their couches, Brain and I are spending our nights in a hotel. Happy Valentines to us! ;-)

    Brian is taking Monday off as a vacation day, so we are headed out Fri. evening, and heading home Monday evening. :-D
    Don't worry, during our absence our home will still be well occupied and guarded. The "boys" and Boo will still be ta home.

Perhaps I should warn you

 right off the bat, that this posting is a vent. Then again, maybe I shouldn't, because you might chose to not keep reading if I did. ... Which to do? I'll think about that while I keep typing.

    It happened again yesterday afternoon. This time, it was with yet another specialized medical professional. Yes, I've had it happen with quite a number of them over the years. Just as I've experienced it with child development professionals. And insurance provider representatives. And a whole slew of other "specialist" in their particular fields.
   Just the fact that they had the opportunity to become specialized in their particular field, should be a clue to them that everything and everybody is not/are not the same. But somehow, many of them seem to miss that, the simplest of facts.

    While not coming right out and stating such, this specialist made it very clear that she was not interested in our in-put. She was not interested in why we did or do things the way we did or do them. We were suppose to listen to her in-put and then go forth and act upon it, as though the voice of God was coming forth through her lips. And no folks, I am not being sacrilegious here.
   There was to be one course of action if we truly wanted results (which of course, was after all what we wanted, right?!). The idea of setting up a course of action based upon us the patients and what might fit us best, was never even a consideration.

    Why is it that so many people can not think outside the box?!?!!!! Why is it they flat out refuse to accept the fact, that all of us people, while alike in many ways, are also different in even more ways? Everybody's life styles are not the same. In part, because everybody does not work the same work schedules. Nor do they make the same level of income. Nor do they have the same interests or likes in foods, or hobbies, or anything else for that matter. We do not all fit in neat and tidy little box's. The cool part is, we're not even suppose to. God didn't design us to. It's us humans that came up with that stupid notion. And try to force it upon one another, then wonder about all of the chaos that it creates. (insert puckered brow and rolling eyes here).

    "Adapting" is not always a huge no-no!!! When you get married, you must do some adapting to the things your spouse likes, and the way they do certain things. Once a couple has children, the couple must do some 'adapting' to fit the interest and likes of the child and then multiple children into their life.
    In a schools classroom, not all children learn exactly the same way. Thus it is in the best interest of the class, if the teacher finds ways to incorporate the eyes, the ears, and the hands (besides just holding a pencil) in the learning process.
    While different businesses might do the exact same thing in essence, they have their own ways of doing it.
    And while our human bodies might pretty much all contain the basic same components, we never the less aren't all wired exactly the same. If we were, some people wouldn't be anemic, while others aren't. Some people wouldn't fight blood sugar issues, while others don't. Some people whom work out all of the time and follow super healthy diets, wouldn't still have heart issues. Etc.

    And then there is the fact that life happens. On a regular basis. We must base our decisions on what we know, and then try our best to flow with what we don't know that never fails to come along.
    Yesterday's specialist was vexed from the get go, over the fact that I had chosen to wait to start on the medication that they had pre-prescribed for me. My reasoning's for doing such did not matter. Period. I was in the wrong!  My reasoning's? That I had misunderstood one of the possible side effects, and I did not want that possibility mixing in with the Christmas holiday. Also the fact that my neurologist had switched my medications due to the side effects I was having from the one they had put me on. Which meant going off of the other one for two weeks before starting the new one, so that we could more clearly see which symptoms went with which medication. Adding yet another new medication would blur things even more, right? Yes, according to my Dr.. Yes, according to my neurologist. But NO! according to this new specialist. Bother!!! (insert rolling eyes, again).

    Like I said, life happens, on a regular basis. While not coming right out and saying she didn't think Vertigo was that big of a deal, this specialist doubted my limited abilities due to vertigo at every turn. May she never experience it herself and be shockingly set straight.
    She also thought that gaining 20 pounds in one years time was past appalling. Brian was so sweet to reassure me later, that it broke down to less than two pounds a month for the year that I've had vertigo, which, considering the extreme limited activity during those months, that's impressively low weight gain.

   Brian and I are going to take what she said, and go over the materials she sent home with us, and apply and adapt them to us. YES, we do want to fix the problem. But we also want to do so on a long term basis. And we know that for that to happen, we must be realistic about it.
   And next week when we must go back to her again, we will again wear our polite faces and listen, and then come home and adapt some more. Cuz we're polite like that!  o;-)

   Well, I decided to leave the opening to this posting the way I had started it. Curious as to whether any of you kept reading or not. If ya did. Thanks. I, for one, feel much better for having vented! :->