I'm baaaaaack--was it worth the wait?

I don't know about you all, but I don't like blogger very much. Yesterday evening I spent a good little bit of time writing a post, believe it or not, and then blogger ate it. So much for that. I will try to remember what was on there.

1. Trees. When you get to be my age, trees are important. There are certain trees that made my drive to Frankfort palatable the last few falls, and in the last two weeks I've had a couple of chances to look them up. They are all still there, the ones at St. Francis, the ones at Fork of the Elkhorn, and the ones on US 60 near the CHR building. There were some beautiful trees at SSS, too, but the one chance I had to look at them was on a gray, rainy evening, and they didn't look too hot. For one thing, it's been too rainy around here for good leaf retention. Surprisingly, the color in the trees south of Berea is much nicer than the trees right around here.

2. Cora's dedication. David, Ann, Daniel, and I all got to witness the baby dedication ceremony for Cora Sophia last Sunday. It was beautiful, very meaningful. One change--I wish I hadn't been behind Geron, because I couldn't see too well from that location. Cora looked like a little doll. If you don't believe me, look for yourself. Go to the Brown baby blog, and click on any one of those pictures. My favorite picture is the one where her bonnet is slightly askew, and she looks like she has her blanket rolled up under her arm. It looks to me like she's saying, "All right, folks, enough with the pictures. Let's get out of here!"

3. Gracie Acie Lacie Macie. This is probably one of my two favorite three-year-olds in the whole world. The other is Gracie's cousin, Alyssa. If I'm slighting any of you, I'm sorry--these are just the two little girls I know best. Gracie had surgery yesterday afternoon in Louisville at Kosair Children's Hospital for a condition called "twisted spine" or "twisted cord", something like that. She came through the surgery well. Apparently they had a rough night, but according to her daddy David, she had weeeeeeed all by herself today. As all of you who have had any major surgery can testify, this is a big step toward getting well. Also, the docctors are saying everything went just fine. Try telling that to parents who have up all night with a crying child--yes, fine, but not too happy right now. I'm sure she'll be back to her old smily, cheerful self in just a few weeks. Gracie is the little dear who has been so concerned about Baby Cora's lack of clothes. All the pictures she had seen of her, Cora was very scantily clothed, so Gracie was insistant that folks get her some clothes. Another concern of Gracie's was Cora's hip brace. She was very worried that she would have to have therapy, just like she had when she was learning to walk. We assured that Baby Cora wouldn't need therapy, since she wasn't walking yet. But I guess you can tell that Gracie is a sweet, caring child, and we all wish her well.

4. Susie. My sweet cousin Susie got married back in September--forgive me, but I've forgotten the exact date. The wedding was beautiful. It was at the Seelbach Hotel in downtown Louisville, and was a real treat for this hick from the sticks! (I used to know a story about the Seelbach, but I'm not going to do that to you.) Anyway. Susie was the sixth of Libby's children and a delightful addition to the family. Her daddy was really delighted that he had a chance to watch her grow--he had been so busy working when her siblings were little that he didn't get to enjoy their babiness very much. Suze was a different matter. Her next younger sibling was Kenny Mike, around 6 years old when Susie was born. Oh yes--I remember, I already shared about that wedding! And I already told you that Susie danced with all four of her brothers at the ceremony, including Mike.

5. Friendship International. One of the best parts of volunteering with Friendship has been riding to Lexington with some of other volunteers. I so much enjoy listening to Mary Dan Price's stories of Georgetown, as well as to Maribeth Hambrick and Cornelia Wainscott. Yesterday I told what one of them considered "the best nursing-home story ever", the account of my daddy and why there was a top on the fishtank at Dover Manor. Another little bit about yesterday: I had some Halloween sweatshirts I had purchased for a two-year-old I don't get to see very often. I knew it wouldn't be likely for me to see him before Halloween, so I took them to Friendship. The mothers were pleased to get them. I had hoped that Jiagi, my little Chinese baby, would be one to take a sweatshirt home, but she was not there yesterday. I do hope I see her again next week.

Well, not a lot new, but still more than I have posted lately! Love to all, and God bless.

Goooooood Weekend

I got to love on my baby this weekend. The next youngest didn't seem to mind too much, because she was loving on her, too. I wish I had had just a LITTLE more time to visit with my sweet Annie and her husband. It moves me so much when friends, both old and young, seem so happy to see my kids. And it wasn't because of getting to see the new baby, either--their family at church just loves them all.

We got to share a meal with a bunch of great folks on Sunday, at our Sunday lunch place. We had two tables in "the party room" with friends and relatives, all of whom seemed to get along just fine. Everything was good until Libby started to walk out with Cora--she said she'd be back in just a minute, but I think we all knew better. It really wasn't a very strong threat, though, since she didn't have keys to her ride back to Louisville, and I'm pretty sure most of us could walk faster than she. We didn't have to issue an amber alert. Dexter, Brandy, and Chuck got to love on Cora too, after we got her away from Libby. Maybe Brandy will start thinking about another sweet baby--Alyssa is a winner, for sure.

And Julie didn't start a food fight--she was on her best behavior. Alex said he would tell on her if she did--he was on HIS best behavior too. And Andrea and Laura got to spoil Cora. Everyone pray that next fall we will be passing a new little Rose around the table and taking photos all over the place. And Yen got to hold Cora and give her a red envelope. She told us the traditional Chinese gift for a new baby was a "red envelope". That baby ought to be Chinese, as many times as her mommy has eaten at the Plum Tree!

All in all, it was a great day. I wish we could do it every week, maybe adding a few more dear ones each time. Love to all, and God bless.

Phone pranks

Nope, never did any myself, but I've surely heard of a few good ones.

Our current "prank" is the way David answers the phone. If you call our house and hear, "This is me. Is that you?", you'll know David's there. He did that today to a person from another country (which shall remain nameless), a rep for Bellsouth, and the poor person did not know how to reply. That one wasn't on her flowchart.

My brother Mike and some of his friends were excellent at phone pranking. One time they kept the 411 operator occupied for quite a while, trying to get a phone number and address for a friend--they claimed to not know the last name or address, except "down the road from ---". Used to be, long time ago, you didn't get in trouble for stuff like that. Mike had all the fun I wanted to have when I was a child.

The girls (and most of my readers know who I mean) used to call infomercials to ask about products. The younger one once called a 12 step plan and said she didn't have enough money to buy the whole plan, but did they have a six step one? She might could afford that. There were a lot more details, but those ought to be enough to get your memories flowing about the stuff you did. Love you all, and God bless.

Nobody likes me.

How come don't nobody never write any funny stuff on my blog? I been reading the stuff you wrote on Everett's, and don't nobody never write nothing like that on my blog. I love you all anyway, and God bless.