The day after Tuesday

What a glorious morning for a walk with TJ and Lily. It was soooooooo nice that I added a 1/4 mile to the usual route. It made me sad though, to say; " Hi, do you have a dog?" to a young boy standing alone waiting for the school bus. Never looking at me, TJ or Lily, he turned away from us and mumbled under his breath, "I'm waiting for the bus." We all know why he chose aloofness instead of friendliness. But it never ceases to sadden me that we have to be so caution. TJ is growing up in that world. And the parents of the little [9?] year old boy, what were they thinking leaving him alone on a street corner. On a happier note, my hour walk everyday keeps my spirits up and worry never solved anything or make it go away.

The day after Monday

Monday is for baking bread -yum - hot homemade bread with real butter. It has been too hot to heat up the whole oven/house just to bake one loaf of bread a week this summer....so I have tried very unsuccessfully to make a decent loaf of bread in the 'bread machine' - I give up......yesterday. It worked once when I used ALL 'Bread' flour, but it had the consistency of Wonder bread- yuk! So.... I am just going to have to bake bread the way I was taught when I was knee high to my mother. Mix, kneed, rise, kneed, shape, rise again and bake in real oven. We didn't have 'bread machines' when I was learning to cook. Come to think of it, I see a lot of them in garage sales. Speaking of garage sales....my favorite words are clearance - sale and 'garage sale'. Give my a few yard sales on a Saturday morning and I am happy as a 'clam'?????? [Why clam???] Today Ann stayed home from work because she was up all night with the baby. Nothing wrong - just fussy/teething. TJ does new captivating [to us] things every day. So much fun to watch. Enjoy life!

The day after Sunday.

We [ Ann & I ] went to an ESTATE Sale Saturday. The plantation of Colonel Wayland Jones Jr of Clayton NC est. 1810 was being emptied out after 200 years of continuous family occupation. I don't think that there was anything 200 years old left in the house except the floors and wood trim. It was exciting to be in a dwelling that was 50 years old when the civil war started. But 200 years is very young. Tutankhamen of Egypt had 2000 years of Egyptian history to study and lived/died 1000 years BEFORE Christ! We are here but for a short time........lets enjoy it to the fullest.

change is coming - again

Ann's company is pulling up shop and moving to Florida in March 2011. If she wishes to stay with Ceridian, she would have to apply [just like any Joe/Jane off the street] to get hired. It looks like we will be moving to where ever Ann lands a job. The last word was Charlotte NC, although Ann, Tim, TJ and I are willing to go anywhere Ann gets a good job. Ann's sister just moved back to Michigan. Beth lived in NC for a few years, but wanted to return to a former position in her chosen field. Tim can weld any where Ann gets a job. Me - The closer we get to Jim [grandson], the happier I will be. Charlotte is two hours closer to Jim and family. I can Granny Nanny anywhere. I prefer NOT to get involved with snow. TJ is great! Getting to be a lot more fun! We walk/stroller/Lily [dog] one hour every morning. Great for the mental/physical health. Keep smiling - it's good for you.

Every day is special.

Today is my first day back to Granny Nanny Child care. What a great day it was. TJ and I started the day with music videos, then a hour walk with Lily (TJ fell asleep), eating and nap. TJ has changed since I last saw him 10 days ago. The trip to Michigan was wonderful. Not too short not too long. Although I would love to see Jim everyday. He started High School today, but had an orientation while I was there. I got to see his beautiful Detroit Country Day School. We stayed at the new house in Beverly Hills, three blocks from DCDS. What a blast for Jim to live so close to his new school. My sisters were glad to see me, as I was to see them. Dee was very sweet and made sure I had everything I needed. Even the ex was helpful, lending me a car to drive. Yeh!

Flying

At 7:03ish tonight I should be on a Delta flight to Michigan. Ann and TJ are flying tomorrow to see her family up north Michigan. I hope to be too busy to blog, but who knows, maybe I will get inspired. My laptop will be returning with me to NC because Jim needs a specific laptop to use in the private high school that he will be starting Sept. 7th. How exciting for Jim to go to a new school. I did tell him [and I will repeat it] that he should have more fun than a barrel of monkeys, in high school. We/he only get 4 years of high school, make the best of it. This is NOT a dress rehearsal, live, love, have FUN! ....We should all have more fun than we can stand, we don't get a second chance to do it again.

I'm back.

Esther, my 101 year old friend died 2 weeks ago. She was sad to see me leave Michigan, because we had become such good friends over the past few years that I visited her almost weekly. And I was not happy about leaving her. So.......... I decided to write to her almost every day, and when I had four pages of STUFF, I would post the letter. I'm sure at one time she received 2 letters at once, because the postal person failed to pick up a letter on Saturday and I had another by Monday. That explains why I haven't blogged in a while. All my thoughts went into the love I sent by snail mail to my wonderful friend. We did talk once by phone, and she said " well Virginia, I never knew you were such a competent amusing letter writer". [I never had a reason to stick pen to paper before.] Esther used to be quite the letter writer herself, until last year. She even wrote to prisoners! I'll miss you Mary Esther Sweeney 3-9-09 to 8-10-10