Enjoy Life!

This weekend Jack and I headed out to visit my Mom in Chicago. My son Craig and his family were going to be in the area visiting his wife's family so we thought it would be a great time to get together and see them too. My Sister then decided to make it a family get-together and have a little early Greek Easter. She and my brother Greg put together a pit to roast lamb and the plans just kept on rolling. It turned out to be a bigger gathering than what I had anticipated with my other brothers coming with their kids and grandkiddos...I wish I had brought my kids and grandkiddos from Ohio with us when I realize how big this was going to be. It was a fun weekend with family, friends, food and most of all...happy memories. But first we had to have the best Chicago pizza in the world. So we ordered a couple of these beauties on Friday night...Yummo is all I have to say! (Not to mention calorie overload!)
Now that's how pizza is done right!
Saturday morning dawned chilly and cloudy and damp. But we had high hopes that the sun would shine and the temps would rise. It did just that. The temps were in the 60's later on but in the shade it was cool. We enjoyed the time outdoors anyway! Midge and I put the table cloths on and I thought the yard looked really nice.
My Sister and Mom made beautiful loafs of Easter bread for every family.
The lamb was done to perfection..and not pictured were the delish chickens roasting on the grill and all the other yummies that got grilled up for us.
What? You don't have Greek statues at your family gatherings?
I think we had enough food for an army...speaking of that, I think we actually did have an army!
My Mom was making sure the crowd was well taken care of. She tromped all over that yard!
We had a good showing of little kiddos! This is a swing full of cousins. We had games set up for them but they also found enough things to do to keep busy all afternoon.
My Niece's little daughter Brooke thought up the games. She wanted to do the egg race so we lined them up and handed out spoons and eggs. It was a fun game that everyone enjoyed.
They're off! We did this game a few times over and I'm not sure who the winners turned out to be!
On your mark, get set...GO! Some of the parents teamed up with their kiddos for the 3 legged race.
My Daughter-in-law Amy with her son Taylor...winners of the 3 legged race!
Next was the Easter egg hunt. Instructions were given out by my Sister and everyone got their baskets and headed for the front yard.
Taylor and Katie had success!
Sophie found some eggs too!
The games all done, the Easter egg hunt over and all the cousins have smiling faces!
A quick pic with my Son Craig's family before they had to head out.
This was the one we took first. My Sister noticed something wasn't right...Sophie thought it was the perfect time to grab PawPaw's mustache..and he did too! He's as bad as the kiddos!
So, let's do what this sign says..what the theme of our weekend get-together was...let's enjoy this wonderful life we've been given.

Update

I talked with Donna this morning. She came home from the hospital and she's doing good. She sounded great but says she's very sore..(like she got hit by a truck sore!) Thanks for all the well wishes and prayers. Donna, if you get to read this, know that you are very loved and cared for and I'll see you on Sunday night! Love ya!

You've Got A Friend...Lots Of Them!

I was given permission today to post about this subject. A few weeks ago Donna (Starkey Hollow)my BFF, good walking buddy, best blog buddy, and sort of relative...our hubbies are cousins but we claim each other!, said the words that made my heart stop..."I have a breast lump". She immediately went to the Doctor, had an ultrasound and found out the news was not good. She has breast cancer. Since that time she's had an MRI that showed a large lump that is almost to her chest wall. She will have a complete mastectomy tomorrow. The days and weeks ahead will be a journey that she saw her Mother go through....her Mother saw Donna's Grandmother go through this too. Donna is a nurse, a very good nurse. She knows what will be required of her. We just want her to know that she is not alone. All her coworkers have tried in their own ways to show support, love and "what can I do to help" attitude. Her family and church family and other very close friends are there for her too. I know her blogging friends will be praying for her. Tomorrow I will stand next to her at the operating room table as a member of her surgery team. I will do as I have done for more than 35yrs..set up the room, prepare the instruments, help the surgeon, and do the best job possible for the best outcome. The other teams in the other operating rooms will be doing the same for their cases, but all us will have Donna in our prayers, thoughts and hopes that this will be the first step in her recovery and cure of this stupid disease. To make sure she knows how much we are thinking of her we surprised her today with a little party. I know you must think that is strange to have a party for such a serious thing...but we know Donna. She has a very upbeat attitude, is trying to get through this with courage and also a sense of humor. So the following are pics of her day.
We did what we do best in any situation...happy, sad, congratulation, birthday..you name it we will have a carry-in of food to honor it!
When she came in the break room and saw the tables of food, and saw that it was for her, she was overwhelmed... then the sign said it all.
Then she looked up and saw this! The one thing bigger than Donna's heart is her sense of humor...she loved it!
Besides flowers and food she received this lovely blanket made by one of the nurses we've worked with for more than 25yrs...We have been with each other through family crises, divorces, parent deaths, happy times of kiddo graduations, weddings and Grandkiddos...and we'll be here for this too.
Truer words were never written.
Not the best pic of us, but hey, it was the end of the day and Donna was just finishing up her last eye case and I was getting ready to head for home. We're used to seeing each other dressed so lovely!
This is Suzie with Donna. Suzie made this beautiful blanket for Donna to wrap up in and feel all the warmth and strength of caring that's being sent her way. Beautiful job Susie!
You do have all the love and support of your coworkers, friends, church friends, family and bloggers. Good luck tomorrow and know that you're never alone, God loves you, and now let's kick this in the butt!

Spring Surprises

With the warm and wet weather we've been having I thought I would head up into the Creepy Woods with Eddy to see if we could spot any mushrooms so I could let my friends know they can come and pick to their hearts content. Well, I was looking for shrooms...Eddy was just enjoying the walk. He loves to explore every nook and cranny. I really didn't spy any shrooms but I found a few surprises.
I found these cute little wildflowers growing everwhere. They are very tiny. Don't ask me the name of it...I just call it "cute".
Further down the trail I see what looks like daffodils growing in the middle of nowhere. Transplants that somehow got dropped here.
Not too far from these little dudes more daffodils are growing right in the creek. I guess the bulbs must have washed down stream. A nice surprise!
Yep, that's a daffodil alright. You just never know what you might come up on in the Creepy Woods!
No, this isn't some crazed wild dog whose toenails need clipping. It's just Eddy giving my the "hairy eyeball" to put down the stinkin' camera and get a move on! I had to get back ASAP because I broke my own rule this month and had to get back to do it...What you may ask? Mow the lawn. I cannot believe I actually mowed the lawn in March. I had too though because it was getting so high that I would need a much bigger mower than I own to tame it! My other rule was no AC until atleast May. I sure hope I can keep that rule!
A sure sign that warm weather and Spring have arrived is this tree outside one of the few windows in the surgical suite. It's this lovely blossom beauty that will show us another beauty show in the fall. The only thing I don't like about it is the smell..and they have a ton of them in our parking lot. I'm good at holding my breath because it's worth putting up with the smell to feast on the loveliness of it.
Speaking of work...It's not just pretty trees that we get blessed with. It's nice patients that take the time to say "thanks" to our staff. One of our patients made these adorable cupcakes for us. This is just a sample of the ones that we received. The breakroom looked like "Cupcake Wars"! It's nice to feel appreciated!

Good-bye Mr. W!

Good-bye Winter...Hello Spring. Today is the final day of Winter. I can't believe it, probably because we had such a warm and mild one it didn't feel like a pain in the bum like last year! I think we will be a bit sorry though. Without a long freezing time the bugs will emerge in droves. Ying and yang in all things. Even though it's not officially Spring, my yard has been acting like April for a few weeks. The flowers, like this daffodil, are trying to give a nice show. We've had a ton of rain also that makes my yard a soggy mess. But I'll just have to enjoy this weather and hope we don't sizzle come July!
The Creepy Woods is starting to take a new green shade. Soon it will be mushroom hunting. With the warm weather and rain we've been having, it should be a good year!
The daylilies are up..present and accounted for!
One of my favorite flowers is getting it's green leaves and blooms..the lilac bush. I have about 5 of them and hopefully they will do well blooming this early.
My magnolia tree thinks it's time to bloom. I bet by the middle of this week it will be in full pink glory.
Another sign that Spring is arriving...Critters! We see deer all year but these two were just hanging out in the Creepy Woods together..perhaps they have Spring fever? Can you see them? They saw me and soon took off.
Speaking of critters...Here's one that we don't see all the time. In fact there were two of them but I only had time to click a pic of one before they took off. Relax there big fella...I said we're celebrating Spring tomorrow..not Thanksgiving!

Are You Feeling Lucky?

Happy St.Patrick's Day to all the Irish and non-Irish who wish they were Irish! Are you feeling lucky today? I'm not sure about luck. I'm not sure how it works, who gets it, why some of us just don't seem to possess it. My Father-in-law used to say that the harder he worked, the luckier he got. Some days I feel like a work my tail off but the results always don't equal out. Then there are the times when I think, hey, I just can't believe my luck. This just wasn't one of those weeks. And it doesn't even have to do with the HGTV dream home I obviously didn't win! Do you believe in luck? Or fate? Or the line up of the stars? Or is everyday a crap shoot and we get what we get? What about God in all of this? I'm a strong believer in God and his love for us..even in the bad times. So why do I care about "luck"? So many questions for a beautiful day like the one we had today. That brings me to my next subject.. Us Northerners are weird. I should know because I've been one all my life. We have had the warmest March that I can remember. It's been a total opposite of last year and most every year before that. Yet, can we just sit back and enjoy it? NO! I'm looking over my shoulder and thinking "When does the snow come back?" "What does this weird weather mean?" So today I sat outside to get a little vitamin D. If you live within 50 miles of me the phenomenon you witnessed was just my white arms and legs giving off a glare. It's been since last year in...maybe September...when they last saw the light of day! I watched my neighbors clean up their yard. I watched them work. I watched the grass grow, the flowers bloom, the sun shine. I was feeling lucky I guess. Lucky that I wasn't working at the hospital..I'm on call this weekend. Lucky that I had nothing inspiring me to want to work in the yard yet. (Hey, it could snow next week..right?) Lucky that for one minute I could take a deep breath and think..for right now, I'm doing OK.
I do feel lucky to have sweet Grandkiddos like this little squirt! Cameron told his Daddy, (my son Jack), that he needed to go with him to YaYa's because he was sure YaYa was missing him. Well, besides being such a cutie, he's a mind reader..yep Cameron, YaYa did miss you and I'll always miss you until I see you again..hopefully very, very soon.

Awards Night..And The Winner Is:

Last night Jack and I attended the Chamber of Commerce awards night. Usually around this time of year they have the small business of the year award breakfast. They decided this year they would expand this to include awards in 8 different categories such as retail, health and social services, small business, large business, security, education..just to name a few. Taking it from a breakfast to a dinner was a big difference and a big challenge. The night turned out great. The food was wonderful and the speeches were short. The response from the community was great, they had about 340 people there..100 more than they had at first anticipated. Jack usually is in charge of the small business awards and this year was no exception. He had to say a little speech and hand out the awards..like the academy awards only with no wardrobe malfunctions...dang it! The keynote speaker was a wonderful, inspiring woman named Dr. Lucille Ford. She is almost 90! But you would never guess it from listening to her speak. I have had the privilege a few times and always enjoy her wisdom, her sense of humor and her intelligence..I want to grow up to be her some day...I would have to live to be 200 in order to accomplish all that she has. I wish my pic of her had turned out but it was too dark to get a good shot when she was speaking. I should have taken one during dinner since we sat together but I was a bit shy to whip out my camera...surprising I know since I have no qualms about shooting pics of my hubby in surgery! When we entered into the Convo Center this landscape decor was set to symbolize the main thought for the night. If you can see it, the center has a willow tree. A willow sends out big, strong roots and that can help keep soil from eroding and it was likened to a community of businesses and organizations that reach out to keep a community strong. Our Ashland community has been blessed with many small and larger business throughout the years and small business especially has become almost a backbone of small towns like ours. It is easy to see how the large employers of our town help us, but we forget sometimes about the little guys that may only employ 25-100 people. There are many more of those than people really know about. So events like this that give focus to that is such a nice thing to have happen.
Hi Jack! All around the room the finalists for the Chamber of Commerce awards had tables set up with hand outs and information about their organization. This was display was from the police force. Now Jack, you must admit that this picture is much nicer than the hospital ones that I took a few weeks ago.
Ashland University has a wonderful event area in the Convocation Center. It's used for many things throughout the year...weddings, any AU events and many things from our community. I thought they did a great job in decorating for tonight's award celebration.
The tables all looked very Spring like. I thought the centerpieces were very nice.
Here's a nice blurry shot of Jack up at the podium waiting to give out awards to businesses and other organizations. My little point and shoot just didn't have the "umph" to take a nice clear shot at a distance.
Hmmm..now how did that get to my house? I guess it pays to know a big wig at an awards event. I love a freebie!