Good-Bye

Michael left to go back to State and the house is very quiet again. I felt bad for him, He thinks he has Mono and he felt terrible the whole time he was home. He didn't even go out on Friday night, so I know he must be sick. He is very busy with frat stuff and school, so that's good. We will see him in two weeks when we go to Raleigh for his frat cocktail party at the Raleigh Country Cub. Fun!
House won't be quiet for long, Ashley will be home Wednesday for her break, so it will be busy again for a while. Bailey is excited, she loves having them around, as all I ever do after I walk her is grade papers!

Rain

Rain, rain go away.

Birthday

Well, I made it. I have been a tad discomforted in my 57th year on earth. My Mom, my grandmother, and my mother-in-law all passed away at 57. I was afraid I would inherit the curse. However, my birthday was yesterday, and I am very Happy to announce that I am 58 years old. Celebrated on Saturday with a trip to Richard Chilress Winery, my new favorite place. My sister and I like it for the beauty of the grounds, the atmosphere, the food, and of course the wine! It is also only 30 minutes from her daughter's house, so it gives Sarah a chance to meet us for lunch with the baby, or for us to swing by for a quick visit.
Aidan is now6 months old, and so cute! He is trying to crawl, and is almost there. I wonder how time goes so fast. It seems like yesterday I was sitting on the floor with Casey saying "Come on, you can do it" " Crawl to Mommy", and now she's 27 years old with her own house and a great career. It flashes by in the blink of an eye!
Yesterday, Mike and I drove to Boone to take the rest of Ashley's stuff. She had a full car load! Ate lunch with her, and Mike put her new futon together, so I got to see my girls over the weekend. Missed seeing Michael, but he was busy breaking into his room at State. Left his key in his room, and had to break a window to get back in. this year should be a real growth year for him, living on his own, and navigating the waters of adulthood. I'm sure he'll do fine. Mike and I will be there saying "Come on, you can do it!"

summer

I love the long lazy days of summer. They make me feel like a kid again with nothing to do all day.
I planned to spend the summer writing, but with one thing and another I am not writing the way I planned. House is full again, not only are kids home , but their friends which means extra meals, laundryetc. I get started with a great idea, and then somebody wants to know where their clothes are, do we have any more chips, can they borrow $5 bucks, you get the idea!. Michael got a job on Sat. so hopefully he'll be out of the house a little more. I can''t really complain, because I know that this will be the last summer they'll both be home, so I guess I should savor the moment!

Happy Birthday!

Today is my oldest daughter's 27th birthday. She has been a blessing in every way. Happy Birthday Casey

Grades

Why do my student's papers sit on the desk mocking me- grade yourselves I say!

Easter

Today was a lovely day. Since my parents passed away two years ago, Easter has been the toughest Holiday, probably because my Mom made it so much fun for the kids with Egg Hunts and all the relatives, then when she passed away, my Dad tried to have it , but it wasn't the same. Last year we had it at our house, but it was just sad. This year we all went to church, and actually sat at the front. The music was beautiful with Charlotte Brass, timpani, cymbals, trombone etc. ,then went to Casey and Frank's new house for lunch. Frank's parents came as well as his brother, sister, and her daughter. Food was great, lots of young adults for the Egg Hunt- now that they are older they hunt for money not candy, Ramona loved her animal eggs, and it was nice to share with Sue and Gordon. An old tradition dies, and a new one is born.
Happy Easter.

New Puppy

Mike and I drove to Statesville last weekend and brought home a new puppy. She is nipping at my ankles as I write. We have had a great time with her this week, watching her discover the world. se loves to chew on ice and chase leaves in the back yard. i know she is going to be challenging as she gets older, but I am looking forward to a summer of fun and playful days with her.

Daisy

Yesterday my husband took our fourteen year old golden retriever to the vet to be put to sleep. It was a very hard decision, and I have alternately bawled my eyes out and rationalized it for the past few hours. She had gotten progressively worse in the last few months, and she had a stroke a few days after the New Year. The poor baby couldn't walk anymore, she just scooched across the carpet to be close to us. Her head was tilted to the side, and she justwasn't our darling Daisy anymore. I'm, okay with it until I come home at night to an empty house. For fourteen years she was right at the door , tail wagging , happy to see us , and now when I come home it's to an empty house. Very depressing. the kids are gone, no dog, and Mike just comes home at night and sits in front of the TV. I should spend my new found free time writing, but I'm just to sad right now, maybe in a few days or weeks.

Happy New Year

Happy 2009. The new year finds us all well, busy with work and school and various activities. My New Year resolution is to post at least once a week, so we'll see. I'm only teaching 4 classes this semester instead of 7 so I should have plenty of time to write. I 'm working on my paper for the symposium in February and it's coming alone nicely. I have spent a good deal of time this week cleaning out closets, rearranging furniture and moving things around. We have finally moved furniture out of my parents house. It is incredibly sad to see it so empty, but I am glad that we all have pieces of furniture , pictures and other things to remember them by. I had coofee this morning in my dad's Belmont Abbey coffee cup which brought back fond memories of him sitting across the breakfast table drinking his morning coffee out of the same cup.
i plan to enjoy my last week of vacation before the craziness of the new semester starts back up. Of course enjoying my vacation means refining the syllabus for four classes, prelimarly lesson plans and assignments, reading the supplemental texts for the semester and other variuos tasks, but I do have a week so i can take my time.