Time Keeps On Ticking

 Yeppers, June has arrived.  You cannot stop time no matter how you try and the only reprieve is when we turn the clocks back in the Fall and that may not happen anymore.  Time will tell I guess!  We've been blessed with some pretty darn nice weather this first week of June.  Over the weekend we attended a wedding and a couple of graduation parties that I know the families were happy it was nice weather.  My Daughter-in-law's daughter, Megan, got married to her long time boyfriend, Landen.  Megan asked my son to do the wedding ceremony so Jackie got his official license to legally hitch the two!

He did a great job and even got a little teary eyed.  Even though he married Evelyn when Megan was a teen, he loves her as much as his own kiddos.  I loved at the end when he said, "By the power vested in me by the State of Ohio...and the internet...I pronounce you man and wife"...to cute and funny!

My Grandsons, Anthony (the tall one!) and his brother Cameron (who's growing like a weed!) were also in the wedding. Megan wanted to include as many family members as she could to join in the fun.

Mandy looked very cute as a bride's maid.  If you remember she's Evelyn's cousin and her parents passed away and Jack and Evelyn are raising her.

Jack and Evelyn...it was a lovely outdoor wedding and I think now they can relax and enjoy the rest of the summer.

Summer and Damien

Jonathan and Driana....I can't believe how fast time has flown and these Grandbabies are now married, (Jonathan an Dri) graduated college, working as real adults, and living a life away on their own. I watched it happen with my own kids but seeing the Grands go that way really hits home that we're getting old!

Yaya and Paw Paw

Jackie, Megan and Evelyn

The wedding party...whew, what a group!

I'll end this time capsule with Annabelle. She's been with almost 5 months and in that time she's become a fun member of the family and has claimed Whispering Pines as her kingdom!  Enjoy the day and don't let time go by so quick we forget to enjoy each moment.  

May Endings

As we come to the close of this month I would be remiss if I didn't mention the tragedy of this past week. All those beautiful children and their brave teachers. Victims of another mass shooting. We could go on and on about why, how, what, and also give many opinions of the reasons these keep happening.  I have no answers and I'm sure many of you don't either.  So maybe the only thing now is to keep all those families in our prayers and take the time to hug our kids and appreciate each day we have to be together as families. This weekend will bring many together to cook out, party, enjoy the Summer weather, and hopefully also take time to remember our brave men and women who gave their lives for our freedoms.  We need to be the kind of citizens worthy of a free nation.  Thank you to all who have served, and are serving to keep these freedoms for us.  Our little town always has a nice Memorial Day parade and ceremony at the cemetery.  For Jack and I we usually spend this weekend planting our vegetable garden and if the weather permits, the flower gardens will get planted and weeded.  Maybe a cookout? Not sure yet but I'm enjoying my 5 day weekend.  I only worked 2 days this past week and I now enjoy my days off again!  Going back to work has been interesting, fun at times, and also a test of my skills and energy levels! When I hear my much younger coworkers say they are tired, I don't feel too bad!  We've had a weird mixture of weather during this month...cool, wet, hot and humid here and there, but at least no snow! So as May ends I will enjoy the weekend but also remember that my Mom passed away 2 years ago on May 29th.  I think of her each day and miss talking to her and getting together to celebrate her birthday which was May 17th.  So goodbye month of May.  It was a month dreamed about in the cold of winter. The beautiful flowers and smells of Spring are so welcomed as we start to change seasons in a few weeks.

Azaleas, rhododendrons, snowball bush, and dwarf lilacs fill the air outdoors with beautiful fragrance and also inside the house as I cut some for bouquets!

Every room needs some beauty.

One of the doctors at the hospital gave me one of  his iris bulbs a few years ago and they are looking lovely still! Thanks Liggy!

We removed plantings in front of the deck that had gotten a little out of control. I'm filling in this space with other perennials that won't overtake the spot.

Our neighbors had their alpaca sheared and I think they look like little aliens! Well, that's it from Whispering Pines.  Enjoy this weekend and be safe!  God Bless America!

Lists

Are you a list writer? Do you jot down what you need at the grocery store or do you list what you're going to do each day? I was never very good at lists.  I was always listing in my head but as I've gotten older those "head lists" seem to disappear very easily!  Jack was always a list maker. He will keep a list in his pocket of things he needs to do or get at a store.  Every Saturday morning we sit down and write out our grocery list together. We actually have a list of dinners we enjoy.  That way we can look at that list and try and decide dinners for the week.  With a menu written down we then can make a better grocery list for ingredients plus any staples we might have to buy. It sure has cut down on running to the store during the week.  Yes, we do change the menu up if we decide to go out or just don't have the time to get it prepared...especially on the days I've been working.  I've worked overtime on the days when I'm at the hospital.  Those days can sap my desire to cook anything!  So over the years I've gotten better at list writing.  Working in surgery should have made me better at lists.  When you go to work  the first thing you do is look at the surgery list...look at the room you're assigned to..look at the surgeries listed and see what you need to do to prepare the room for the day.  The doctors have preferences has to what they use to do a certain surgery.  Two docs can do the same surgery but do it differently so a list of instruments and even instructions is important.  When I retired I had a habit of going over what I did during the day.  For some reason I just felt that I had to get "things" accomplished to not feel like a slacker!  Since I've gone back I don't do this on my days off.  I guess I feel like I'm working enough to not be a slacker! Ha!  But I do try and have a head list of what I want to get done on my days home.  Like today...catch up on blogs...check...write a blog post...check...clean bathrooms, vacuum, dust, pull weeds when the rain stops...those "checks" will come later!  Some days I have a list of  this, this, this, and this to do but only get "this" done.  Oh well, tomorrow is another day!  I'll just put it on the list!

Mothers And Birthdays

 Happy Mother's Day to all the awesome Moms out there! The awesome Moms in my family and in blog land.  I want to thank my Mom for a wonderful example of love, sacrifice, devotion, hard work, and just "Doing It" to get through each day whether that day is fabulous and fun or sad and heartbreaking. 

I miss you each day Mom...I sometimes catch myself thinking I could call to ask you a question or just to talk about what's happening in my life.  One day we'll have those talks and laughs again. But Happy Heavenly Mother's Day for now.  Here's a little photo bit of the other Mothers in my life that are amazing, strong, smart, and super fun women!

My sister, Midge who is Mom to Katie, Amy, Bill and Jono. She's also CEO of her own business, Corporate Communications, and her super Mom daughter's...Amy on the left whose Mom to Ella, Parker, and Conner and also is a nurse practitioner. Katie on the right who's Mom to Brooke and Mason and a police detective.  Strong, smart, loving and also super fun to be around. 

My Mother-in-law, Nelda who taught me so much after we moved to Ashland when Jack finished Chiro College. I learned how to be a better cook and gardener.  She could quiet a fussy baby in record time! She was the office manager for Jack and his Dad's Chiropractic office. She loved animals and they had many dogs and cats over the years that she took care of.  We traveled over Ashland county in her Volkswagen bus to find places to pick fruit or veggies and then bring them back to put up for the winter.

I can't look at a Volkswagen and not think of her! She is greatly missed and left us way to soon in 2000.She was Mom to Jack, Steve, Mike and David.  

My Daughter-in-law, Amy. Mom to my fabulous Grandkiddos, Katie, Taylor and Sophia. She keeps her family running smooth as Craig works and travels and she sure knows how to plan vacations and weekend outings that make life in their home fun! She also works for a University and can speak many languages. She's an amazing woman and I wish we didn't live across the country so I could crash in and have fun with them too!

My Daughter-in law Evelyn is Mom to Samantha and Megan and step mom to Jack's kiddos, Driana, Summer, Anthony and Cameron.  She's a respiratory therapist at the same hospital Jackie works as a respiratory therapist.  She's an amazing Mom who raised her daughters and now her oldest, Sam, is a Mom which makes her and Jackie Grandparents to little Hazel.  She so fun to be around and loves to come and visit and I enjoy going to her home to swim in their pool! I'm blessed with so many women who inspire me and uplift me and make life a journey that's worth taking.  Thanks to all who nurture my sons and Grandkids.  Love you all!  Also this weekend we celebrated the first of our May birthdays.

Happy Birthday Phil! You were the best Mother's Day gift I ever received!

Happy Birthday Lexi! ! I can't believe you're 16! We enjoyed a fun night at a Japanese Steak house with her, her best friend and her Mom and family and Phil. She's a wonderful young lady who is smart and sweet and just the best kiddo ever! Love you Lexi Lou!  So it's been a busy weekend but super fun. I want to thank everyone for my fabulous Mother's Day gifts and the time we had to celebrate being a Mom.  Before I end this I need to shout out to my wonderful hubby, Jack.  May 5th marked 45 years in practice as the best Chiropractor in the world!  Congratulations on a great career! Love you!

He was Arnold's favorite too!

Friday Wrap Up

 Good morning! It's a beautiful Friday and I'm hoping to get out into it and enjoy the sun and even though it's not super warm, I'll take a day over 30de!  I feel like I'm very behind...again..in posting and visiting my blog buddies. I usually try and make my blog visits and then post something myself but I'm going to do the visits a bit later and get my post done before it's next year!  We've been on a rollercoaster of weather these past weeks and working even a few days a week has been an adjustment of time management.  So I apologize for my lateness and will be by soon! I know you all have much more interesting lives than I lead!  I will go first to the crazy Ohio Spring weather:

April 18th we woke up to this lovely sight..snow and cold.

This mat by the back door made me smile..Fresh Rain makes pretty flowers...what does fresh snow make?  Makes most folks saying: "Spring, where the heck are you?"

April 23rd..80 degrees and things are turning into pretty flowers and blooms!  We celebrated our Easter the next day and it was just as glorious...85de and sunny!  Nice weather when we're having a crowd over is not the norm for me! But I was thrilled to be able to host our Easter and have outdoor fun.

We were even able to set the deck up for anyone who wanted to eat outside and many took that invitation and enjoyed a fun time...photos of the participants to follow!  The kids arrived around 2pm and Easter lunch with all the trimmings was served.  We had some family in the dining room, others in the kitchen and then those who chose the deck. 

Most of the older kiddos hung outside:

Driana and her hubby, Jonathan

Summer and her new boyfriend, Damien...welcome to the Pines Damien!

This is my daughter-in-law's daughter Megan, and her fiance Logan.  June 4th is the wedding! That will be a blog worthy post for sure.  After lunch was demolished we all moved outdoors for the annual Easter egg hunt.  Since all my Grandkiddos are 13 and older we had divided up the hunt.  First, we did have a separate hunt for Lexi and Rae's little sister Aria who came with them. Aria is 5 and was very excited to have some fun:

She needed some glasses to block the amazing sunshine!

Doesn't hurt to have a taller big sister to help grab the high ones!

I would label this pic..."Happy Face!"  After Aria was done, the teens had their chance.

Rae, Lexi, and Mandy...go girls!

From left to right..Mandy, Cameron, Lexi, and Rae..They had fun and enjoyed the money too! Can't believe how grown up they all have gotten.  Next the adults joined in and even they had a ball finding those elusive eggs hidden by the teens!

Looks like Evelyn needed a little help from Kip!  

Driana and Jonathan getting a photo bomb by Dad, Jackie....everyone left that evening full, tired, and happy.  They enjoyed each other's company and we look forward to having everyone over again soon. I do miss having Grandkiddos who were little just a short time ago but as adults they all rock! They have busy lives and seem to all be doing well in careers or school.  That makes YaYa and Paw Paw happy!  Our Spring weather seems to be getting more normal in the next week and I know Jack and I will spend outdoor time doing catch up with yard work, painting and just sprucing up all the spots where Winter weather has taken it's toll.  I hope Spring has found everyone in blog land and that's a wrap for Friday!

Everyone Has A Story

 This week has flown by and I feel like I'm playing a bit of catch up! I've been back to work for a few weeks and things are going pretty good. I won't lie, I am fairly tired at the end of a work day! It feels good to be back in the saddle of the OR.  We do have some new faces...nurses and doctors.  I see a few bouts of negativity that kind of surprised me but I try to just ignore it, do my job, and head home! I'm only working 2 or 3 days so it's easy to do to leave it all at the hospital!  On a sad note, one of the hospital employees passed away yesterday.  Mark worked in housekeeping at night.  He was a hard worker and will be missed.  Lots of folks didn't really know him except when someone would say, "You know Mark, he's the scary looking guy that works nights."  Jack and I have known Mark for many years.  Even before he worked at the hospital.  Yes, Mark would not be the guy wearing a suit or anything fancy. He was on the scraggly side with longish hair.  When he got the hospital job he was actually living in his car until he could afford a place to live.  He eventually got a house and lived with his brother who was disabled and Mark took care of him.  I know he had grandkids because he was always excited to show me pictures of them when I was headed into work in the mornings.   Years ago the hospital started giving employees a certificate to get a ham or a turkey for the holidays at a local grocery store.  The first year they did this Mark stood waiting at the CEO's office door to thank him because that year he wouldn't have had the money for that food.  I'm sure not many stopped to thank the hospital for this.  My first day back at work I noticed a lot of fruit and veggies on a table in our break room. They said Mark left them for anyone who wanted them. He volunteered at the food bank and sometimes there would be left overs and he would bring things to work so others could have it and it wouldn't get wasted.  When my friend Donna was working she gave Mark a little recognition that the hospital had for employees who did something extra special.  She said she was coming into work and not feeling very good. As she headed for the elevator Mark passed by, stopped and gave her a big smile and a hello. She said she immediately smiled back and her whole attitude changed for the better with that simple act of a smile. Mark left work early on Tuesday night and as he was heading home his truck broke down.  He got out of the truck only to be hit by another truck.  The other driver never stopped. He was taken to a hospital where he died.  I know there's probably a lot more about Mark that we don't know about. I always say everyone has a story. This is what I do know. You can't always tell about somebody by how they look but you sure can by how they act. Kindness is easy and Mark knew how to be kind.  I hope they find the person who hit him and didn't even have the guts to stop.  He deserved better than that. RIP Mark.

I'm In A Fog For The Blog

 The weather this week has been a mixed bag of rain and sun and even some really nice warm temps. Mix in a little blog fog please!  Tuesday morning when I took the dogs out the fog was just beginning to lift.

It was slowly creeping out of the Creepy Woods.

Because the trees are still bare the sun can be seen rising up to spread it's rays.

It didn't take long before it turned into a lovely day.  We've been babysitting our Granddog, Kip, and I think he's enjoyed the yard and woods this week. However, I'm ready to be a one dog family soon! Kip's been a good boy and his easy going personality is great but it's still 100lbs of dog love that needs tending too. My biggest fear has been that he'll get skunked or he'll take off after a critter and not come back!  So far so good but I'm knocking on wood as we have 2 more days to go!  

Our next door neighbor's dog, Cooper, has made some visits too. I wonder if Kip thinks he's fallen into munchkin land!  Besides dog sitting I've been working a few days a week.  This was my week at the hospital instead of working out at the endoscopy unit.  My first day at endoscopy I brought cookies but my first day back in the operating room I brought something else...

I always used to make a bunny cake every Easter for work and when the staff came in and saw this one they all said the same thing..."Starko is back!"  (Starko is the name the staff calls me) It's was busy the days I worked but I'm off until next Tuesday and I'm ready for a rest!  I did find a little time to make these though:

These cuties will all find a home with some Church folks. (the yellow one is showing how the back of

the cookies look.)  I do love the Easter season.  Since we won't celebrate with family until the 24th, I'm sure the weekend will be a quiet one. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. One last photo..I'm calling this one "PURE JOY"

Go happy Annabelle!

Welcome April!

 Well, we made it to April. That doesn't mean no snow of course but it does mean there's more hope for Spring like weather during the month!  I made it safely to and from my Chicago visit.  I was glad I listened to my gut and made the trip. Midge wasn't feeling real great on Wednesday and Thursday so I helped with taking care of Hope and doing some other things for her.  Thankfully she was much better by Friday and we had a lovely time just hanging out and catching up.  I was able to help her cook some Greek food that she was making for Easter.  It went into the freezer but not before we tasted tested a few items! I'll be making some for our Easter dinner too.  We've decided to do our family gathering the week after Easter since some of the family is on vacation and Greek Easter is the next weekend anyway.  I just hope the weather is good so we can be outdoors for the egg hunt.  I really enjoy the Easter season. Such a great time for celebrating and thinking of our Savior and his sacrifice for us. It was always a big deal growing up so I guess it still is!  I was finally able to start working at the hospital.  I worked 2 days at our endoscopy unit.  Thankfully I remembered some things and learned some new ones.  I had a long day on Thursday and was pretty tired last night!  Annabelle went to doggy day care and even she was tired last night! She's only been there half days until yesterday so it was different for her too.  I'm not sure she's super thrilled about going there.  She  hasn't said so anyway! Ha!  I have 2 days scheduled for next week and we're also babysitting my son's dog, Kip.  He's a golden doodle who's a big guy...100lbs of love! I just hope he and Annabelle get along.  They've been together at my son's house and all was good and Kip is pretty quiet on his own.  Time will tell I guess!  Annabelle and Hope didn't have such a great time together.  Hope is only a year old and still plays like a puppy. Poor Annabelle didn't appreciate all her enthusiasm! Poor Hope didn't appreciate Annabelle's quiet nature.  

This was how they got along the best.  When both were tired out!  As you can see Hope is a bit bigger!

I think Hope's head is as big as Annabelle!  Once they got an understanding about each other it went better.   Midge and I had some fun with some wigs she had gotten off the internet.  She doesn't need a wig for any reason but thought they were cute and decided to buy them.  We had some good laughs trying them on!  As I've mentioned before, we're both trying to grow our hair out. By that I mean growing it longer, not letting it go gray.  So here's me with a short gray wig:

I didn't think it looked too bad.  It's about the same style as I've been wearing.  I couldn't resist trying on a longer one that was also a blond one:

Ha!!!  We had a good laugh over this one.  I sent this pic to Jack and he said he was happy to see that Midge and I were playing dress up!  He also sent a big thumbs down on being blond!  Oh well, hopefully I can get my own hair to grow longer so I can try some different styles.  I've had my hair short for over 20yrs and it's time for a change. But growing it out always makes me nuts and usually I cave in and have my hairdresser cut it.  Time will tell if I can hold out!   I have been trying to play catch up with blogging and hopefully will get more photos as Spring continues to bring on flowers and sunshine in-between the cold and snow showers here and there.  My daffodils are up and I picked a few before they are gone. 

Happy Spring!