A Warm Welcome Home

I think that at one time or another everyone feels that they are loved and wanted. We don't get to choose how or when that happens but should learn to embrace that special moment when it occurs. Tonight was my lucky night for just that. As I got out of my car from a long day's work, I was greeted with just about the warmest welcome anyone could ask for. The moment I stepped out of my car, Brew (the neighbors dog) came bouncing over to greet me. His tail was wagging as he ran across the street. When he reached me, he started jumping up and down and whining. He obviously wanted to play as he had his ball in his mouth. So, I started kicking his ball for him. He would run off and fetch it and bring it back just so I could do it again.....and again......and again. As I was doing this, the little boy that lives across the street who is almost two, comes running towards me just a babbling along the way. Of course I couldn't understand a word he was saying as he had a lollipop in his mouth. Once he reached me, he started talking up a storm. Meanwhile, Brew is still retrieving the ball that I am kicking for him as I now talk to Colby. Then I look up and here comes another little boy. He is in 1st grade. He comes running over and stops right in front of me with a HUGE smile on his face. He came over to show me his new shoes. He even demonstrated how nice they were by kicking that ball for Brew a few times! I was thinking, now isn't this a nice welcome home? As I was standing there, I felt something rubbing up against my leg. Looking down I spotted the neighbors cat. I guess this cat wanted some attention too. So I took a moment between listening to Colby babble, Collin tell me about his new shoes and kicking the ball for Brew to reach down and pet the cat. It just so happens that Sadie (another neighbors dog) decided that she too wanted some of my attention so she started to softly bark to get my attention. Now I couldn't give all these other people and animals my attention and not Sadie so even she got a rub behind the ears. Now this might not be the welcome home that you all expected but it is one that definitely made a lot of people happy. I will take that ANY day of the week. Happy Friday!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Happy Halloween to all the goblins and ghouls

And adults that dress up and act like fools

May you enjoy everything that you do

And don't forget to shout out a "BOO!!"

Cheers!

Cycle of Life

Late last night a very good friend of mine had a baby girl. This experience is truly a miracle. For those of you that have had children, you will know exactly what I mean. My friend sent me phone picture messages of his new arrival to his family. She is absolutely adorable. Of course with any parent or relative, you think that your child is the cutest. I am here to tell you that you are wrong. MINE are the cutest. lol As I thought about him and his family today, my mind drifted off to the new television series called Pushing Daisies. I don't know if any of you have seen this but it is a rather different show. There is a character that can bring someone that is dead back to life by touching them. If he touches them again, they die immediately. He also discovered that with this unique power, if he fails to touch them again within 1 minute, something else dies in that person's place. Thus creating a cycle of life. As each day passes I find myself looking back on life and how quickly it passes by. I am sure most of you think to yourself, "I remember when" or "I used to think that 40 was old". When you reach 40, you think to yourself "heck, I feel like I am 20. 40 isn't so old. " So my advice to all of you is this.... Enjoy the day! Take time to feel like a kid again. Do something wild and crazy. Act as young as you want (ok within reason). At the same time, cherish those little one's as they begin their journey into childhood and don't forget to sing and laugh. This is a picture of my granddaughter. She is a year old in this picture. Just as I told you, SHE is the cutest!! AT least in Nana's eyes. ;)

Pumpkin Patch

Yesterday Ken and I decided to head to the pumpkin patch. For those of you that are not familiar with the pumpkin patch, it is located on a farm known as the Chesterfield Berry Farm. This place has a LOT of pumpkins to choose from. You jump on a wagon filled with hay seats and a tractor pulls you out to where the pumpkin patch is. You are then released from the wagon to go WILD looking for a pumpkin that fits your liking. Ken noticed that the pumpkins had grown right on top of the mounds, stem up and detached from their vines just for us (Now those are some smart pumpkins). Seriously though, can you just imagine how much work that would be to arrange all the pumpkins like this? Somebody's back HAS to be hurting!!!

It just so happens that after looking and looking, searching mound to mound that I found two "perfect" pumpkins "perfectly" sized. Actually, Ken found one and I found the other so I won't take ALL the credit. However, now I have an idea of just how Pamela Anderson must feel every day. (I know...I'm bad) I just felt lucky that I found these especially since it is so close to Halloween?





After that, Ken tried some of the BBQ (I am not a big fan of BBQ so I passed on this part of the visit) They also had hot dogs (not a fan of the hot dog either) that you could roast yourself over a big firepit. The BEST thing about that firepit was that it heated up my backside nice and toasty warm. (Hey here is a BIG surprise....I was cold...lol) But don't worry, I didn't go without. They also sold nachos there. I was thinking...oh could this be real? They actually have JUNK food? So I stood in line, hoping to get some tasty nachos instead of that gross BBQ or hot dog (can you tell I REALLY don't like those two?). They ended up being the kind of nachos that you can get from a gas station but without the chili. Thank goodness I thought to pack a few crackers in my coat. :)
The pumpkin patch normally has a store that is filled with all types of jams that you could imagine but I think we were too late in the season to get any as the shelves were pretty bare. Like what you would see in Old Mother Hubbard's Cupboard. The patch also has an 8 acre corn maze. EIGHT acres? If I walked that in my high heel boots, they would have to send a search team in to find me. The pumpkin patch is great for kids and even though we didn't have any with us, we still had a good time.


The rest of my day was spent switching out my winter/summer clothes. You know you have too many clothes when this task takes you three hours to complete and you still didn't have time to do the shoes. I decided that it was a good time to clean out the clothes that I haven't worn in ..... a year.... yeah a year (that is my story and I am sticking to it). You know the clothes I am talking about (especially the ladies). Those are the clothes that you hope that you will one day fit back into so you keep holding on to them from year to year but then you finally have to face the truth that it is just not going to happen. So, I have bagged them up and am going to take them to the Goodwill where hopefully someone won't think they are too outdated. Or maybe by now the style is back in. I am happy to say that I have minimized the number of articles in my closet and now you can actually walk into it and see what is hanging on the hanger. Whew!

I think I will end this by saying..... WHO SAID FALL WAS NICE WEATHER?? lol It is FREEZING!! brrrrrr

Welcome Fall

Most people that know me know that I just LOVE summer. I have really enjoyed the pool this past year as I lay out browning in the sun. I am always cold so the warm weather is always welcome. I am constantly being told that my internal thermostat is off. It seems the only time I am NOT cold is in the middle of the night and for the first couple hours that I am awake. With that being said, I can also admit that I just love when the weather cools off just enough that I can open my windows at night and let the breeze flow through. You can always smell that fall is fast approaching in the air. The leaves on the trees turn a vibrate red, yellow or orange making the roadways appear to be on fire. It really is a beautiful sight. I have never really minded getting out and raking up those leaves that fall from the trees. I think in the past 5 years, I have raked more leaves here in Virginia than I have in my entire lifetime. I remember seeing a picture of a small boy jumping into a pile of leaves and remember thinking, that is going to hurt. With the amount of leaves we have fall on the ground here, I can see how he could never even come close to hitting the ground. How fun! Another reason I welcome fall is that it marks the beginning of the holiday season starting with Halloween. I love Halloween. This season tends to bring families together. So for those of you that dread fall as it marks the end of summer and the world seems to die off til Spring, try looking at it from a different point of view. Welcome and embrace it for all it's worth.