Linda's Sunflower

Tonight is our last night together as a "whole" family. This week has been full of packing, fun, cleaning, fun, shopping, fun, eating, fun and lots of love! This weekend, Corby and I will become a "couple" again. It's been 20+ years since we've lived alone. I'm not sure I can remember what it's like. Don't get me wrong, I love my husband with all my heart; but I am truly going to miss the kids. So, while I'm very excited that they are spreading their wings, it's very bittersweet for me. Tomorrow morning we head to Manhattan, a big truck loaded with beds, dressers, couch, love seat, coffee table, end table, dining room set, tv's, stereos, desks, i-pods, dishes, food and clothes. Wow - when you're moving 3 - it's a LOT of stuff! When we come back, it will be to a quiet house. I'm sure our three cats and dog will be getting a lot of attention! Kaleb and Kaitlin are lucky to have Brandon show them the ropes. He's been very...

Outside my window... beautiful flowers and tomato plants I am thinking... I really should spend some time organizing and straightening up my scrapbooking area I am thankful for... my wonderful husband and kids. Corby is thoughtful, kind, helpful, sweet, strong, a great cook, and just a great person. Brandon is wonderfully kind with a big heart; Kaleb is funny, witty and sloppy; and Kaitlin is beautiful inside and out and very thoughtful. And they are all three smart, good with money and MINE! From the kitchen... Corby is getting ready to fix us breakfast for dinner. Yummy! I am wearing... black khakis, a sweatshirt (it's cold in the basement) and flip-flops. I am creating... a scrapbook of my Keith Urban concert pictures. I am going... to Manhattan next Saturday. Time to move the kids on to the next chapter of their lives. I am reading... Black Hills by Nora Roberts, one of my favorite authors. I am hoping... that the twins adjust easily to college life, and that all three kids fin...

That's what our lives has been lately. This week has just been work as usual. However, we ARE trying to spend as much time with the kids as we can. They leave for Manhattan on Aug. 1. Well - we all leave - as Corby and I will be moving them, lock, stock and barrel! I think at least Brandon and Kaitlin are coming home the weekend of August 15th, as there is a concert at the Coliseum that Brandon wants to go to. Kaitlin wants to come home to see her cats! LOL! I am trying to prepare myself for an empty nest, but I don't think it's possible until it actually happens. I am off work July 30th through August 4th - the 30th & 31st to get the kids packed and ready to go. Then Aug. 3rd & 4th to figure out how we will live without them! We're moving them on August 1st. Kaitlin wants us to spend the night in Manhattan. Since they are renting a house, we can do that if we choose. We'll see what time we get out of here and how long it takes to unload and unpack. I'm ...

We went to a funeral this morning - the 37 year old son of friends of ours. He was killed in an automobile accident while on business in Minnesota last Sunday. We didn't realize he had been in the Army for 8 years, and thus the Patriot Guard was on hand. What a beautiful service! I am proud to know his wonderful parents, and pray that God is with them as they suffer this horrific loss. We also had a nice visit with mom today. She showed me her new watch. My brother and sister-in-law took her shopping to Walmart last Saturday and she bought the watch and a pair of shoes. She doesn't get out much anymore, so it was nice for her to go shopping. The boys are having a Video Game/Nerd party tonight. Corby and I went out to eat at Abuelo's (one of my favorite places) and then wandered through World Market. Boy I could spend a lot of money there! We are how hibernating in the basement while the wild party goes on above us. Oh, to be young again. They have so much energy. I just wan...

It's been a tough week. Friends and church classmates lost their 37 year old son in an auto accident last Sunday (while on a business trip in Minnesota). The funeral is this Saturday. Corby is making chocolate chip cookies for the family dinner after the service. Our thoughts and prayers are with them at this difficult time. You NEVER expect to outlive a child, and I cannot imagine how difficult this is for them. Please join us in praying for them...

I just finished reading "Prairie Tale" - the memoir by Melissa Gilbert, the star of Little House on the Prairie. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and learned a lot about her life. Some highlights: * she was adopted * her half-sister is Sara Gilbert, who starred on Roseanne and is currently on Big Bang Theory * she considered Michael Landon her second dad * she was very close to her mother and her grandfather was a Hollywood bigwig * Michael Landon drank and smoked a LOT * she was engaged to Rob Lowe * she married playwright Bo Brinkman and had a son * she did drugs, but not a lot by Hollywood standards * she divorced Bo Brinkman * she married Bruce Boxleitner (from TV's How the West Was Won and Scarecrow & Mrs. King - he's always been one of my favorite TV actors) who has two sons * she had another son with Bruce * she had a drinking problem * she very much disliked Kent McCord (Adam 12), who was a nemesis while running for President of the Screen Actor's Guild ...

I would love to post a picture of my big toe, but I think I would gross too many people out. Suffice it to say that's it's still pretty scary looking. I think it's taking a bit longer to heal (and scab over) since the gauze got stuck to it. I'm still soaking it or wrapping it in a wet towel for a while every night. Kaitlin went to Old Navy today and I had her pick me up a couple of new pairs of flip flops (2/$5-can't beat that price) since that's all I can wear right now. I keep a big bandaid on it when I'm at work, but I think that just agitates it even more, so once I'm home the bandaid comes off and I let it breathe. Aren't you all getting sick of "toe" posts by now? We've started collecting boxes so the kids can start packing. Brandon got all their utilities set up today, and the countdown is on (17 or 18 days-keep reading). They are moving either Fri. July 31st or Sat. Aug. 1. They can't have the gas turned on until Monday the ...

Several months ago I asked for help. I wanted to reach 5,000 hits on my blog by October. Well, it happened TODAY - almost 3 months early! THANKS TO ALL MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY WHO READ THE BLOG. I wish I had something newsworthy to blog about every day - and who knows - when the kids leave home in a few weeks and I have more time on my hands - I might turn my blog into something trendy: something about entertainers, music, books, scrapbooking, loneliness (since ya know my kids will be gone), etc. No matter what I decide, I'll still post random things that I hope are enjoyable. I must be honest here though, my project 365 has fallen by the wayside. This is the scrapbooking project that I started at the beginning of the year - take a picture a day and scrapbook it. I had a spiraled notebook going, but - the last entry was 3/22/09. That's when my life was overcome with mom's application for Medicaid. It's now 7/12 and though she's been approved, there are still things co...

Friday was a good day...in more ways than one. I was finally able to get the "stuck" gauze off my big toe - after coming home at lunch and soaking my foot for 45 minutes in Epsom Salt. It took a while, and some tugging and pulling, but I finally managed to get it off. Of course, that made my toe even sorer - it was just starting to feel better. But - it was worth it. Last night we went to the Keith Urban / Jason Aldean concert at the Coliseum. Jason opened the show with a rockin' country set, and had the crowd on their feet. Our seats were AWESOME. Corby and I had seats right down in front of the stage. When Keith was performing in the center section which came out in the crowd a little, we were in the second row. He spent quite a bit of time there, so I managed to get some good pictures! Keith knows how to get the crowd pumped AND keep them pumped! My only complaint about the show was that security let people crowd down in front of the stage - only this big bad mama didn...

Had my big toenail removed today. Had 5 shots to the toe. OUCH! The first 3 were pretty painful, didn't feel the last 2. Didn't feel him removing the toenail, but it's sore now. At least the doc was helping me keep my mind off what he was doing. We talked about his 24 year old daughter who is going to med school and working at a hospital in Chicago. She will be a psychologist. He said they desperately need one in the family. We love our doctor. He's been our family doctor for 20 years now - since right after Brandon was born. He's my age, a great guy, and always refers us to specialists if we need it. I guess the only negative thing I can say about him is that he graduated from North High the same year I graduated from Carroll. We joke about that sometimes too.

Kaitlin bought this new "cat" toy today at Walmart. Muffin cracks me up...she LOVES to play with "milk rings" - the little ring around the lid of milk gallons...

Why is it that neighbors have to be such jerks? I was outside tonight, watering the flowers, and then relaxing on our swing. Our neighbors across the street, who do their utmost to ignore everyone in the neighborhood, had someone come visit them. This person was driving a big ass suburban, and as she was coming down the street, she hit the mirror of our neighbor's van. It's a retractable mirror, so there was no damage, but she at least went to the neighbor and had him come out and look at it. The adult daughter of our neighbors across the street proceeded to bash us, and the fact that our kids park in the street. First of all, they park in front of our other neighbors house, who happens to be our friend. They don't park across the street in front of this neighbor's house. Not sure why she was complaining, but I heard her say "look at her. Her kids park in the street all the time. Their driveway is empty, but they park in the street." Well, folks, the street be...

We had a wonderful time with family and friends last night. Most all of the family made it, except for my sister Rhonda, who was having problems with her knee. My brother, Terry and nephew, Nick came over for a while because we were also celebrating Corby's birthday (June 22), but had to get home because Sandy's kids and parents are here visiting. Terry took mom back to his house for a while so she could visit with Sandy's parents and see Sandy's newest grandbaby, Cara. Nick stayed here and hung out with us. Corby fixed pulled pork, cole slaw and beans, and everybody brought the rest of the goodies: deviled eggs, hash brown casserole, cheese ball, chips and 2 delicious desserts! I really thought the economy this year would limit the amount of fireworks we saw, but I think there were more this year than any past year, and we've lived here for 9 years now! They were constant for over 2 hours, all around us. We had some for the kids to shoot off - by kids - I mean the ...

Heard our outside water faucet running this morning, and went outside to see this: Our wonderful neighbors, Paul and Tom, and Paul's father-in-law, Jerry, built us this new post for our mailbox. Ours was rotted and falling down, and this new one was desperately needed. Paul did it as a "thank you" to Corby - Corby helped Paul build his new deck. It's so nice to have such wonderful neighbors and friends. We're off to Home Depot tomorrow to get a new mailbox. It will be nice to have one where the door closes and you don't have to worry about mail blowing all over the neighborhood! Our other surprise today: a nice, big, juicy red tomato off our tomato plants. We've been watching this guy for about 5 days now, and today he was ripe enough to pick.

Corby painted our wood swing this week, in preparation for our July 4th celebration. It looks nice. I took this picture while laying outside...some day I would like to get a really nice digital camera, but for now my Sony Cybershot will have to do. A pic of my wonderful hubby. How do you like the neighbors overflowing trash bin in the background? Obviously I wasn't paying attention to it! I read 7 books in June: Remember to Forget - Deborah Raney Vision in White - Nora Roberts Deadlock - Iris Johansen (one of my FAVORITE authors) Death by Bikini - Linda Gerber (my niece Lenore sent me this book, and I really enjoyed it) On Every Side - Karen Kingsbury When Joy Came to Stay - Karen Kingsbury Where Yesterday Lives - Karen Kingsbury The last 3 are books that Kingsbury wrote over 10 years ago. She has become a very popular Christian author in the last 4 or 5 years, and I enjoyed reading some of her earlier books. I got some good bargains at the Eagle's Book Sale...some DVD's: S...