Linda's Sunflower

isn't straying far away from home. Basically staying in our front yard, tho we have seen in her the yard of our neighbors on either side of us. She's either in the swing or the garage when we get home every night. Wish she could tell us where she was for those 11 days. Obviously she wasn't very happy since she doesn't want to stray too far these days.  

have Cinnamon's fur shaved too soon? We did it in May, but it's grown back so much I feel bad for her...since we're still having all this heat... Yes, I'm a "pen-a-holic". I buy different colored pens and markers all the time. I may need an intervention! Here's my latest purchase... My latest CD purchases...  

Good movie. Lots of explosives. Lots of testosterone. Lots of Stallone. Lots of Statham. The fight scene at the end went on a little too long for my taste, but all in all, a good movie!  

I washed that gray right out of my hair... well, my new hairdresser did!

After 11 days, SUGAR IS HOME! No clue where she's been, but she doesn't have any cuts or bruises, and isn't showing any signs of sickness. We think someone may have taken her into their home due to the heat, and she escaped today since it's in the 70's. We're just so glad she came home!

Another busy week at work...had a couple of rough days at the beginning of the week, but I made it through. Kaitlin worked extra hours this week helping with a project, and due to her hard work earned a $50 gift card to Dillons! Way to go sweetie! Corby is really looking forward to some cooler weather. He's been averaging 55 hours a week the last 3 weeks - and with no air conditioning in his warehouse - it's been pretty rough on him. I honestly don't know how he does it! I sweat just running around an air conditioned building at work! Our outdoor cat, Sugar, is gone. She's been gone for about 10 days now. We don't know what happened to her, but she hasn't been gone even overnight since she was so sick last May. Kaitlin has been to the animal shelter as well as checking with our vet. So sad. She was a good cat. Brandon is home for a few days. He came home last night, after calling me yesterday afternoon to say he was headed home. He has an eye doctor appt....

While it was a sad visit to St. Louis to attend Uncle Louie's funeral, it was nice to see our cousins. Unfortunately, both of my sisters were unable to attend; but they were both there in spirit. And we discussed, and tentatively planned, a family reunion in Wichita next June on Father's Day weekend. Our last reunion was in 2005. Uncle Louie was not able to travel the last 5 years, and my mom isn't able to either. And now for the pictures: My cousin Marsha and her family: Angie, Michael, Marsha, Stacey (Angie's son), Ernie and Alicia My cousin Diana and her family, back row: Tim (Katie's fiance), Tim, Diana, David, Todd (Carla's husband); front row: Katie, Kelly (whose husband Kevin couldn't make it from Colorado), Danielle, Martha (David's wife) and Carla My cousin Chris and his family: Christina, Debbie, Natalie and Chris My cousin June with her husband, Thom and their "kid" Kayla Uncle Louie's children: Chris, Marsha, Robe...

Sad news this evening...my Uncle Louie passed away this afternoon. I have many great memories of him, my Aunt Coney (who passed away the same year as my dad-1994) and my cousins: Marsha, Diana, June, Chris and Robert. When we were kids, the highlight of our summer was when our St. Louis relatives would visit. When my sister, Rhonda and I were teens, there were several summers that we went back to St. Louis with them for a visit. Uncle Louie was a wonderful man. He was very laid-back and nothing us kids did ever got him riled up. His career was as a graphic artist, but he was an awesome artist and I am proud to have one of his paintings hanging in my basement. Up until his health, and my mom's health, got bad a few years ago, we got together with our St. Louis family every summer for a reunion. About 5 years ago, Uncle Louie gave me and my siblings one of his paintings. Needless to say, mine is cherished and very special to me. My brother Terry and I are planning to go to his fune...

I read 6 books this month. I don't seem to have as much time to read right now... 1) Broken - Karin Slaughter 2) Take Four (Above the Line Series) - Karen Kingsbury 3) The 9th Judgment - James Patterson w/Maxine Paetro 4) I Just Want You to Know - Kate Gosselin 5) One Night - Debbie Macomber 6) The Search - Nora Roberts I think Slaughter is one of the best suspense writers out there today! I just love her books, and this was one of her best! Karen Kingsbury's Above the Line Series has some characters in it from previous series. It's about Christian filmmakers who are trying to make Christian movies - an enjoyable series. James Patterson continues his Women's Murder Club series with The 9th Judgment. I'm a big Patterson fan, though some of his latest books have been disappointing. Not this one though! Good read! Macomber's books are always easy to read and fun. Nora Robert's novel was one of her best. The main character was a search & r...

We spent the weekend in Manhattan moving the boys. They moved out of the 4 bedroom  house they'd been renting with their friend, Dom, and Kaitlin, into a 3 bedroom basement apartment. We weren't too happy with the "house" landlords. They nit-picked everything to death, and I mean big time. I think the kids (and us!) were paying the price for the mess they had with their last set of college student renters. Those renters did a lot of damage, including turning off the electricity with food in the refrigerator. They ended up having to purchase a new one. Anyway, I don't think it was fair to expect the house to be cleaner than when they moved in. We all worked our butts off to get everything ship shape, and it truly was. Well, except for the boy's nasty bathroom, which was nasty when they moved in, and nastier when they moved out. But it wasn't their fault that there was a leak that it took the landlords 8 months to fix! Anyway, we left even after they told ...