Some visitors. . .

Had a few visitors the other day. Miss Tinker was very upset about something and usually this means that she has sighted a squirrel or "the girls" which is what we call the 2 or 3 deer that roam our yard in the evenings. Well she wanted to go out and since we have been hosting a "stinky kitty" family recently (skunks in human language) I thought I should probably check the yard first.

I looked out front and found nothing, looked out back and same story. This doesn't always automatically mean an all clear though. The other night she wanted out and I opened the back door and she rushed out and immediately checked the side of the porch. I stepped out and looked over and aw-oh, you betcha, little stinky kitty, right there! I tried very hard to get Miss Tinker to come back inside and she wasn't having any of it. She wanted to play. All I could think was do I stand here and get sprayed with her or do I go out and pick her up, what is the right thing for a Tinker mommy to do.

Well, Tink gave up when the stinky kitty wouldn't play so I figured by this time if it hadn't sprayed us with the lovely scent that they are so well known for we were probably not going to get it (I bet if it had been mommy SK we would have). Tinker pee-pottied and came straight back into the house. Whew, talk about scared.

Oh well, back to my visitors. I ended up going into Kelli's bedroom and raising the blind and looking out toward the Apple and Pear Trees and sure enough, we had company. Four deer, one of those being a little (or not quite full grown) fawn (still has spots). So the entire time I am taking pictures of these deer, Tink is standing on the bed whoopin and hollerin wanting to go out. I just knew the deer were going to hear her, they didn't.

The deer all slowly, one by one took off over the fence and left the little fawn. He/She ran up and down the fence row and kept wanting to cross, I was scared it was going to try to jump and get caught. It finally ran down fence row and ran across the road. I guess it just thought, when in doubt, just leave em all. haha :~)

I am only going to put a couple pictures in. I wish I could have had a clearer shot, without window and screen in between us. Enjoy!

You can just almost see the spots on the fawn. I wish the window and screen weren't between me and the deer. Maybe next time I can get some pictures of our "Stinky Kitties". Later, mlm

Our Weekend

Wow, what a weekend. The temperature turned off a little cooler and we were able to enjoy it some. Mark was able to relax a little and that was a pure blessing.

We had a busy Saturday, we were able to get the grand kids for the afternoon, we went to visit Kelli at work, we had to move the motor home to the dealership for a service and we had a car service appointment. Whew, we did it! Mark took the kids with him to the dealership and I spent an hour reading while waiting on a part to be installed on the Vue.

After my appointment I met up with them at the dealership and picked them up. They found, while waiting on me, a new motor home that the grand kids thought we should purchase. It was a new Fleetwood that had bunk beds with all of the gadgets they would love (personal DVD player in the ceiling of bunk, personal reading lights, each had their own window, and a little shelf for personal items.) They were in love!!!! :)

We then decided that it was time to go home so everyone could relax a little. The kids played and I got online and checked out email and blogs I like to read. We finished off the evening with a trip to our favorite Mexican restaurant and a trip to the scrapbook store. Weeeee!

We had an early morning on Sunday, Kaitlin swam in the State Swim Meet and we had to be there at 8:00. Way too early for me of course. We drove down on one of the nicest mornings I have seen for a while. Very nice and cool and low humidity. Wonderful day for a swim meet.

Kelli, Robert, Donna & our sweet swimmer,

camping at the State Meet. Kaitlin is waiting

for 1st call and chillin'.

The swimmer on right with dark cap is Kaitlin. The

swimmer on left in yellow cap is the girl that won this heat.

Kaitlin was in the lead and then BAM! this girl just flew to

the finish. Kaitlin still had a great time, just 3/10 of a second

from finishing in the top 16. Less than a "blink".

We were pretty excited about the swim meet, disappointed for Kaitlin, she works and trains so hard that we know she was disappointed, but she can't fault her swim, she did great. She is still so young, there were only 3 eleven year olds that beat her in the top 18.

We finished off the weekend like we have so many, a little shopping, a little putting things away in the house and then headed back to camp for the last "long haul" here. Only 4 more weeks of camp and then we will be able to button up this job/life here and move on to our next one. We are anxious to do that but a little nervous too.

Till next time. . . .mlm

A little of 'this and that" . . .

We have been busy, gearing up for our move and we are really getting excited. We can't hardly believe that it is coming up so quickly. We talked tonight on our way down to spend the weekend that we don't even remember what it is to live a normal life. Whatever normal is!? We won't know what to do if there is a school program and we can just go. We won't have to worry about trying to change our schedule and try to come down and spend the night so we can participate in our grandchildren's lives. We can plan on taking part in so many things that we may make them wish we still lived 2 hours away!

Even though Mark is working 60+ hours each week, he is trying to get some things done at the apartments and we went up to the Bel Aire this week and he put on all of the new porch lights and mailboxes. With all of the new changes we hope everyone is really excited about the front of their little home.

This is the front of Apt. G

So, after the work both evenings I got to go out to eat. No sense driving home and having to cook at 8:00 huh? After driving home on Thursday night, we came down by Fairy Creek and the bottom field was beautiful. See the picture - if you look to the right side of fog you can just almost see the 2 deer standing there.

Foggy Bottoms

I had to go on to the house and get my big camera and go back down, there was more light when we saw it the first time but I still had a little light.

So, that is what we have been up to. Kaitlin is swimming this weekend in the state swim meet and we have our fingers crossed and we are praying for a good solid swim, we wish her the best of luck and I have this to say, "GO RUBY"!

Until later, maybe I will have some major newsy stuff next time instead of just "this and that" stuff!

4th of July Weekend

We had a great weekend with everyone here. Or at least on Friday night and Saturday morning. We had the most unusual 4th of July a person could have.

We started the day with Chili for lunch, Chicken and Noodles for dinner and had lots of cookies and brownies to fill us up. We finished the day with the First Annual Firecracker Egg Hunt! The kids searched for eggs that had a reflective stripe on them. The did this at 10:30 pm with flashlights. (I found these after Easter this last year). I am probably going to see if I can't find something a little more reflective to use for next year though.

Hopefully we will be able to camp next year over the 4th and have a totally different menu. I didn't enjoy the food nearly as much as the fun with the kids.

After the adults all went home Kaitlin and Chase got to stay and we had a fun weekend. We went to Terre Haute and took Uncle Kaleb home and did some shopping at Hobby Lobby and found some new craft projects.

We then met mom and dad to return our sweet cargo on Sunday evening and made the trip back home much quieter than the trip there. It is so hard after they leave, so quiet and we miss them so much. Tinker is able to relax easier and sleeps for 2 days to catch up after all of the excitement but we miss them. I need to get groceries soon though, they eat me out of house and home.

Well, that is the weekend update and grandkid update so hopefully I can stay a little more current with our comings and goings here.

Later!

What the day has brought. .

This day has brought a few surprises and much devastation. The area that we live in has seen the worst flooding since 1913. Of course it would be in "13", just a little nod from you know who!

During a 10 - 12 hour period in our immediate area we received anywhere from 12 - 10 inches. Here in Franklin we received 9.29 inches according to the weather service out of Indianapolis. It rained the entire night and didn't let up once it was daylight either. This county was declared to be in a state of emergency along with most of the surrounding counties. Not only has this area had to deal with tornadoes for a couple of weeks, but now all of this flooding. Many roads and interstates were closed all day and may remain closed tomorrow as well.

Kelli called and woke me up this morning with the news that their neighborhood was flooded and that the fire department was trying to rescue some friends of theirs by boat. The lake in the neighborhood had almost made it up to Brad and Kelli's mailbox and when Brad returned home from practice he had to park outside of the sub-division.

There has been flooding all around us, we lost power for a couple of hours but that was only a little gnat flipping around us compared to all the poor people in the flooded areas. The worst that we faced was the sump-pump not keeping up with water under the house. All is well!

Another sadness today, our son-in-law lost a grandmother. She had only been ill for a very short time, so the suddenness of the loss is very hard. Our prayers and love are with him as well as his mom and dad and their family. We know the heartache of losing a parent and although it is a natural process of life, it is never easy to accept that loss or the pain that you hold in your heart for the rest of your life.

We are looking forward to a birthday party tomorrow for our grandson Chase. It is to be a pool party and other than the fact that we will get to see him having fun with swimming and with his friends, we are just going to be there for the cake and ice cream! Chase won't even see us, but that is ok, we got to spend Friday with him and took him shopping and had a fun day. It is always fun to spend time with the grand children. We love them soooo much!

Well, just wanted to record the huge news of the day and make sure that I didn't forget, something I do on a regular basis these days! And to honor a loss that although was expected will not be an easy thing. We're so sorry Brad!

My very first entry!

I am so excited! This is my very first entry and I really don't know where to start. I have thought about this for a while and I think I want to just introduce myself first and tell you about my family.

My name is Mary Lou and I was born and raised in a small Midwest community. My husband and I have raised our two children in the same general area that we both grew up in and they are now both adults with lives of their own. Our children have very busy lives with jobs and responsibilities that go well beyond wanting to worry about what mom and dad are up to.

We are at this time getting ready to make some very major changes in our lives and with these uncertain times, we are trying to anticipate every aspect of these changes. Hard to do when you don't know what the next day will bring. We are planning to leave a job that has been the main focus of both of our lives for almost 28 years. Not just a job, a life. We have been at this location/job for the majority of our lives.

We have lived, worked, raised our children, lost our parents, lost pets, gotten new pets, chaperoned Super Bowl parties. Sat and listened to our future son-in-law profess his love and devotion to his future bride, sat up and waited for kids to make curfew. Taken pictures before proms, come home after ball games and welcomed new grand babies into this home.

In case you can't tell, we have really lived a life and enjoyed it in this one location. It is now time to move on. We have reached a place in our lives when we want to be closer to those children and grandchildren. We want to be available to pick up grand kids from school, go visit at lunch, be there for school programs and know what is happening with them on a day to day basis. Not be two hours away and unable to visit on a "school night".

So, we are moving. In 12 weeks we will be making this move and settling in to a new home. We have spent the last two and a half years living in 2 places. It's been hard but the end is in sight now. We can do it!