Had A Ball This Weekend...Soccer Ball That Is!

The first weekend of Fall brought beautiful weather and more activities than I could handle! I had plans for projects around the house but I was also on call and of course that interrupts life sometimes.  I think every elderly person in Ashland decided to fall and break a hip this weekend! Poor things! We got them patched up and in-between I tried to do what I could with my "to do" list.  One item I really wanted to check off was seeing our Grandson Cameron play soccer.  I was a bit nervous to head over to Wooster since it's a good 30min. from the hospital but I took a chance and all was well. He played his little heart out. His team is made up of first time players in the kindergarten and first grades. I kept saying to Jack that I thought the opposing team was so tall and boy did they have good skills.  We found out that they were all 3rd graders and a club team to boot....they creamed poor Cam's team.  I don't know why they put such older kids against these little dudes and also let them continue to score goal after goal.  Here are some shots of Cam-man playing..I realized I didn't get any of the other team for comparison.  That's OK, we want to forget about them!

Cameron's number is #1....and he's #1 in my book too!

Cam's on the left with the glasses, but you can see the frustration in his team mate's face!

He played goalie too and did a super job...I don't think he got scored on.

A little goalie action!

When it was all over he had a red face and big, toothless smile!

Support and a hug from your big brother Anthony also helps! Love these guys! The weather has been warm and the sun has shown for weeks now without rain.  Summer seems to have arrived! But you can't deny the color changes and somehow I'm thinking we'll be getting that cooler weather soon.

Yep, can't deny Fall is here!

Fall Has Fell

I blinked..I swear I just blinked, and by golly Fall fell right onto the calendar and cancelled Summer out.  Many around these parts are claiming Summer was never here.  It was a bit cool but I'm not complaining.  It had it's fair share of sun and we had our fair share of pool time.  But today is the first day of Fall.  Many, many folks love this time of year.  I know I do.  I love the colors, the cool, crisp days, the pumpkins and campfires.  I enjoy bringing out the fall decorations and soon....next week...I'll be decorating for Halloween.  I won't even go into what I have in store this year! I'll leave that to other blog posts!  I've been gone for a few days visiting my Mom and Sis out in Chicago.  Jack and I headed out on Friday after work.  By the time we were about there the sun was setting in the West.

Pretty sunsets can happen anywhere! I even got a weird pic on the camera.

Aliens perhaps?  More like a bad photographer!  The main reason we went was to check on Mom.  She's been having back pain and hip pain and I felt we just needed to head out and see what we could do to help.  Jack brings some of his therapy stuff from the office and gives Mom treatments and adjustments twice a day.  It always makes her feel better and this time was no different.  It sucks growing older!  Usually when we visit it's for a special occasion, a holiday, or event that's going on.  This time it was just us and Mom and Midge.  We laughed, talked, ate, watched some TV, did some shopping and had a nice quiet visit.  The only other family time was a quick trip to say hello and celebrate my great niece's 3rd birthday.  It was at a place that only kids could really love....lots of jumping, climbing, sliding and yelling!

Blurry shot of my nephew, Bill and his birthday girl Alexa..

This place had rooms of bouncy houses and even a climbing wall:

The kids had to be tuckered out after all this was over!  This morning before we left I took a walk around my childhood home. 

My Dad built this house in 1951....it was redone in 1963 after a fire destroyed the upper level. (a faulty electric wire in the eves was to blame)  I was 10 and home babysitting for just a short time while my parents went for a quick trip to the store....by the time they were back the house was in flames and the fire department was there.  I got my 3 younger siblings out to safety.  I know 10 sounds young to be given that responsibility,  but in a big family you start early helping and taking care of younger kiddos. 

I remember my Dad planting trees like this pine....I used to jump over it when I was little!  Now it's huge...some of the others he planted had to be removed as time went on.

My best friend lived down this road.

The backyard didn't look like this then. It had smaller trees and a swing set and a garden and grape arbor.  Although it's changed over the years, family and friends still gather here for fun and get togethers.  Some things never change!

The sun was rising in the East...Chicago is about 30 miles east of Mom's.  We had to head out and get back home.  The visit went fast, but we enjoyed it.   It's hard to say goodbye to those we love and each visit is treasured.  It was hard to bid Summer a fond farewell too.  Fall surely has fallen here! As my Mother-in-law used to say: "Happy Fall y'all!"

HO HUM

It's going to be Monday already...where did this weekend go?  Looking back at last week I was trying to think of some things to blog about.  I know I blogged about 9/11 but I did have a few other things going on.  Let's look at last Monday.  We usually have a work inservice on Mondays and we start our surgery schedule at 8:30am instead of 7:30.  Me talking to Jack: "We had an inservice this morning".. Jack: "What was it on?"  Me: "Lint"...Jack: Blink, blink...."Lint?"  Me: "Yep"...Jack: "Who gave the inservice?"  Me: "The Nazi from the Raiders of the Lost Ark"...Jack: Blink, blink.  Remember in the movie where the little Nazi guy gets his had branded? Seriously, the sales rep from Kimberly Clark looks just like him.  He's been coming to give our inservices for a million years and now we all just call him the Nazi from Raiders of the Lost Ark...I think his name is Bill.  (We don't call him that to his face BTW..we're not that mean)  He's very passionate about lint.  You don't want to know what lint can do to the human body if it gets into an open wound.  Just so you know, we do everything in our power to keep our OR lint free.  Learning about lint at 7am is not the most stimulating subject.  I'm not a coffee drinker but I was thinking maybe I should start! Ha! The rest of the week was just sort of regular. Ho Hum I guess.  Not that I want excitement or over the top issues...I'm OK with HO HUM! Yesterday I worked outside doing what I call "Super Weed Wacking"....with a BIG weed wacker!  Jack and I cleared out the Creepy Woods so the paths would be good to start walking on again.  The temps have been pretty cool and it was a beautiful day for outdoor work.  Today I took a walk up and enjoyed the quiet and beauty of this almost Fall day. 

These weeds did not get wacked! They are pretty and are all over the woods.  The other things all over the woods are many downed trees.  Jordan heard a big crash last time he and Eddy were near the woods so we investigated and found these.

This is hanging over one of the paths but it's been there since last year, so that's not what Jord heard....

You can see where it's caught.

This turned out to be the culprit....but it's hard to see how big it is from my shot....trust me, it's a good sized dead fall...

Here's the roots...it  just fell over on it's own.  The good thing about it is 1) Nobody was under it when it fell 2) It's dead, so cutting it up means good firewood for us! 3)
The trunk that is sitting across the path is a good place to stop and rest.

I sat down and enjoyed the quiet and the nice day...but I kept hearing something moving around behind me....I kept turning around thinking I would see deer or some other critters....that's when I decided to head back...we don't call it the "Creepy Woods" for nothing! (No Shady, I didn't see Bigfoot!)  So the weekend ended HO HUM....but the weather was beautiful and this coming week looks busy as I take on some painting projects, work all week, perhaps visit our county fair,  and get ready for a quick trip to Chicago next weekend.  HO HUM indeed!  P.S...Before I forget, my last 2 Grandkiddos for the header are Summer (on the left) and her sister, Driana....they are the sweetest kiddos and both are very talented and hard working.  Summer and Driana both are artistic but Summer is planning on making that a career. She's a junior in high school. Driana is a sophomore in college majoring in psychology....hmmm, I might be her favorite subject!

I Remember

13 years ago in September we moved to Whispering Pines.  We moved on Saturday, September 8th and it was the hottest day of the year.  I foolishly thought it would be cooler since it was September. Wrong! But we got everything in place and I looked forward to my day off that next week. Back then I worked 4 ten hour days and had Tuesdays off.  September 11th was a beautiful day...the sky so brilliant blue! I don't think I've seen one that pretty since.  A good friend from Church had come over early for a meeting about the organization we were working in at that time.  Sometime after 9am I got a phone call from my daughter-in-law telling me to turn on the TV because something horrible had happened in New York.  We didn't have the cable hooked up anywhere except the family room in the basement.  We hurried down, turned it on, and sat there with our mouths open and hearts beating as we watched the destruction happening on live TV.  We looked at each other and the thoughts that came to mind were about all the lives that were lost and how could something like this happen. I thought about the first responders...firemen, police, nurses and doctors and others running in to try and save lives...never thinking that the buildings would collapse.  We also took a  moment to kneel together and say a prayer. Something that I'm sure happened all over this country.  One little scripture also came into my mind..."And Jesus Wept"...I'm sure He did on this day.  Today I happened to have the day off...not a lovely, sunny day.  No brilliant blue skies...chilly and cloudy, looking like rain would fall any minute. This morning I sat and watched TV as that day was played out again.  I felt the same as I did back then.  Only now we know who was responsible.. the complete death numbers...the voices of responders played out during rescue attempts...the reaction of the wives, parents, siblings and friends who lost loved ones that day.  I thought about all the evil in this world that led to this happening and all the evil in the world that led to the many past wars all over the world. The evil that still threatens us today.  But something came into my mind that replaced the thought of that evil.  The thought of all the good that happened that day...all the heroes who gave their lives in different ways.  The evil doers didn't win anything on September 11th.  Kindness, prayers, a return to God,  selfless acts, determination to rebuild and honor those that died certainly out shined them.  I don't know why this year the anniversary of that day seems to be on my mind.  I guess I just wanted to put my thoughts down in print...I didn't have a blog in 2001.  This blog is my journal for my family to have.  I want them to know my feelings and also the fact that I will never forget that beautiful September day....I remember...and I hope they will too.  I hope we always remember all the good in the world...all the wonderful people who give their lives in service for our country...all those who respond to so many tragedies without thought of themselves or the danger.  I'm very grateful for them.  September 11th, 2001....I Remember  

Times They Are A Changing

I don't know if you noticed, but the times are changing...the days seem to be getting shorter.  Well, the daylight is getting shorter...there's still 24hrs to a day! Last week had to be the hottest week of our summer.  But that's not really unusual.  When we moved into this house, 13yrs ago on Monday, I thought it would be the best time to move.  I figured September would be cooler than moving in July. Ha! It was the hottest day of the year.  Like yesterday was around here.  But that's going to change as tonight it's dropping into the 50's and next week looks very much cooler. The pool time is coming to a close I'm afraid.  Colors are changing too.  I'm noticing trees starting to turn.    Our dogwoods are showing some red:

I found this leaf in the grass:

The flowers out front are looking fabulous but very fallish with orange abounding:

I picked a lovely little bouquet this morning:

Orange again is the theme.  I'm a magazine aholic...truly....ask Jack.  I've noticed all the mags I have are sporting orange too:

Can you see the orange in the Buckeye tree?

Not a great shot..it was raining out this morning!

Squeak was hoping I'd let him in out of the rain...notice the leaf next to him? (I did let him in by the way!)

I found this figurine to add to my Halloween  Lori Mitchell collectables. She may not look super cute in this pic but grouped with the other "trick or treaters" she will fit in perfectly!  So the days are shorter and the nights are cooler and the fall items are in the stores.  I guess it was time to get rid of the swimming theme and I decided the last of my featured Grandkiddos would have to have a school theme.  Last week it was Cameron on the floatie in the pool....today his brother Anthony is on the header with his first day of school pic.  Notice his wrapped hand? He plays football for the junior high and I guess  he sprained it at practice.  Hope it doesn't hurt his game!  So as the times begin to slip into a fall mode, I will be too.  After spending time outside between raindrops today weeding and getting the outside in better shape, I will slowly be taking down signs of summer and slipping on the fall wreaths and decorations.  I love this time of year when color is bursting out all over.  This sunset was no exception.

Good night.