Many Blessings

Angela, what wonderful news about the kids' health. Truly a blessing for your family. I pray that it continues through Abbie's next tests. Our Mackenzie had another negative ANKA reading, no sign of the disease, and finally after more than 2 years can taste. The sinus procedure was a success, I guess. She is taking part in a 5 year research project of adolescent kidney failure. We are so proud of her willingness to help other kids by subjecting herself to yet more sticks and blood draws and IVs of drugs. Maybe Abbie will want to take part in something like this; she strikes me as the inquisitive type, too.

I've been working today, trying to ease my way into the school year painlessly. I think I'm actually looking forward to it in a strange way. I'm stenciling some bronze words on the walls for inspiration (for me, not the students). We have some new teachers and I'm planning some new procedures for the middle school to freshen things alittle. Hoping to build a positive environment. I've been collecting newspaper pix of them all summer from the local paper for the bulletin board and restocking the candy baskets in the office.

Steve and I went to Ky, Tn and Virginia last week. Quite a voyage; rather like Ma and Pa Kettle Leave the Farm. We got lost as soon as we crossed the Ohio River into Kentucky, traveled in a BIG circle on county roads through only 2 counties until noon. Saw lots of tobacco and cornfields. I'd laugh at him awhile, he'd quit talking to me for awhile then I'd drive and he would laugh...on and on we went for 3 days. I read "Finding Eden", a Christian novel, this summer which was set in Abingdon Va and was curious about the town. We went there and walked around, shopped in great antique stores and bought a chair I certainly "did not need" unquote. Fun time, drove straight home all night because "we've seen all we wanted to see, right" unquote. Get the picture, girls?

Anna, how goes the non-romance? Are you in the new place yet? It is good to have a more homey home, I know. Need a chair? Our parlor has 4 rockers now. Maybe I should purge one. Do you like hickory? wicker? white or pale green? I have a chair compulsion. Maybe. Anyway, give this unboyfriend a chance if you think he's worth it, if not, you know how to bow out gracefully. Do not settle, you are too special to settle for the wrong guy, or job or whatever.

I have 10 gallons of apples in the laundry room calling my name. What he thinks I'm going to do with all of them I do not know. I've tried to make it clear I've done the canning, preserving and freezing scene before and am over it. Retirement is great, just freaking great. Oh, well, he could be gambling at the casino or chasing wild women, nah, too old and too tight. Bless his heart.

Welcome back to the real world, ladies. ENJOY. Love you all.

Good afternoon everyone, I hope it is as pretty in the north today as here in OC. The weekend humidity is gone for awhile and the sky is beautiful. I'm knee deep in green beans, broccoli and cucumbers; have 2 loaves of zucchini bread in the oven and the radio is tuned to NPR. A liberal county-girl's idea of a perfect day. I think after several months of practice the no complaints thing is working for me. I do actually feel more positive and happier. Negativity really defeats me, I've come to realize. Must be age, I'm tired of running into all those brick walls; detouring around them is much more rewarding.

Thursday is circled in pink on my calendar, cannot wait to see everyone. In that short time we were sentenced to the Badlands together, you all became an important part of my life, and I miss our time together. You all seem like the 7 daughters I misplaced somehow. I am terribly glad you found me and allowed me to enter the Gaggle. A cook out sounds terrific; I'll visit our Organic Market for the veggies for the salsa, my garden isn't ripening tomatoes and peppers yet. And yes, Orange County finally has an organic market, a cooperative of good people with new (to OC) ideas about going green and healthy. We are generally 10 years behind the modern world down here. Anyway it is exciting to have such a blessing within driving distance. The daughter of my first boss supplies alot of the produce and that warms my heart. She was always such a sweet girl, but not "of" OC and I am thrilled she has found her spot here at home. Knocking at those brick walls sometimes pays off. : )

Steve is contemplating coming along with me and traveling on to Door County Wisconsin for a long weekend. But he got 2 new beagle pups yesterday and expects to get our other lambs and goats tomorrow, so he may back out. Wouldn't want to leave the livestock in a new place with only our kids to check on them. Either way is good with me, I'm Buddha, remember. I know Steve would remind most of you of your father, he is such a good guy, you'll like him. Just expect tactless honesty, Bless him.

See you all in a few days.

Back To The Real World

Our vacation was wonderful; short, sweet, relaxing, full of love, may I repeat short? The kids were great, although the boys, 3 & 5, ran a competition the entire 10 days. Gavin learned the words winner and loser, biggest, oldest, best, etc. Caleb is just a tiny bit taller and lords it over his cousin. They provided constant entertainment. The girls squeezed every drop of enjoyment from their time in the pool, on bikes or at the beach. I never heard an unhappy word until Saturday morning as we left the island; much boo-hooing.
My friend, Connie, has already secured a beach house on Dauphin Island for springbreak, she was so impressed with the websites and my reports.

Mackenzie had her sinus surgery on Tuesday, still walking easy; claims her head was struck by a sledgehammer. It will take a couple of weeks to see any real results, but we are expecting good things. Poor child hasn't been able to taste for 2 years and sniffs constantly. She is getting a Wii for having "almost brain surgery", so even if the results fall short, she thinks she's a winner. Kids.

Steve has gone to Salem to pick up some animals we purchased this week. He has been wanting a smaller bred of sheep since selling his and decided to buy some crossbreds; Finn/Navaho/Churo. They are from the southwest and have long wool of varigating color. He also bought 2 Andorra goats for me. They don't even look real, but like stuffed toys. They are small and have long curly hair that lays in ringlets all over. The kids are going to love them, they are friendly and playful. Our neighbors are excited, too. They miss our mixed menagerie if we sell. Even the school bus drivers slow down for the kids to catch a glimpse of lambs and kids in the pasture. I'm still working on getting chickens again, but he just doesn't seem interested. Nina and Trent have an excellent flock and keep us in eggs, so I suppose I won't be getting hens anytime soon. If we had a pond I'd have 8 fine geese.

Wonderful news about Rachel and Andy, Elaine. Her healthy delivery is a great relief to your family, I'm sure. And such an unusual name, very elegant. She will make a wonderful companion to Anna as they grow. I hope to see pix on the 17th. I hope to meet everyones kiddos then, too. Are you bringing them? I'll help Janelle repair any damage before Brian returns, I promise. I carry a tool box most everywhere. Just kidding, Janelle, I'm sure 7 additional kids won't compare to Lady A.

What are we bringing for lunch? besides Alison's ice cream? I made some great Lime cookies yesterday. Very tea-party delicate. Not sure how they would stand up to wine, but they might go with the sparkly kind Elaine and Alison like. I'll bring some French Lick varieties. And a couple of loaves of the winery's bread and olive oil for dipping. Want salsa and chips? No problem ,just tell me.

We are having a B-day party for Michael today. He is 4 and such a cutie. He is Court's step-son and we only get to see him every 2 weeks. The kids want a cook out, so that's easy for me. The guys usually take over the meats and I do the inside preps. I have to fix ham salad for Kenzie, she can't have hot dogs or beef. and macaroni and cheese is a must, they can eat their weight in it and will. Our garden is really starting to produce, lettuces, cucumbers, a few tomatoes, rhubarb, peas. Green beans are blooming so they won't be long in coming. Steve keeps it looking like a picture, retirement is a good thing.

I plan to call Anna and Kirstie before the trek north, to plot the path. I have no grasp of who lives where on the map. You girls will have to get me to the closest house and take it from there. I am a good driver, but failed navigation. I think I can find Crawfordsville again, Anna, can we get to Kirstie's from there? Or does she come first? I may have to leave Valley at 4:00 AM. Plot it out on mapquest and email it to me, maybe?


Cannot wait until the 17th, Gaggle. Enjoy the coming days. Love, Hedy

AHHHH ALABAMA

Hello all,
we are on Dauphin Island in a wonderful home soaking up the sun. everyonehas settled in well. yesterday we went to the astuarium and saw the sealife, bought fresh peaches, melons, even tomatoes. WONDERFUL.
Anna, welcome to middle school, that trip is so typical for them. gotta love it. And we can make that roadtrip whenever the girls plan our next get together. I drove 700+ miles Friday and Saturday in a big ol' Excursion diesel. Varoommmmm. Grandma Hedy and the younguns headed south. I can handle the Jeep in northern IN. I hope you find an apartment soon, I love home shopping. I want to do a navy and white bedroom with a beachy theme, nothing tacky, just clean contrast. I have looked for just the right bedding, but no luck yet. One of the beds in this house is in those colors, sort of a batik spread and washed furniture, very smart. I would have to use our back bedroom with the twin bed and rustic furniture. I really love our room in whites and taupes and do not want to change it yet.
I haven't been in the pool here, Caleb asked me not to get in with him because he doesn't like fat skin. Talk about an embarrassed momma, Shawn about choked. He hid in the house this morning, we were close to calling the police when out he strolled asking, "what is all the yelling for?" He got his butt beat for that one. He claimed he heard us calling his name, but didn't know we meant him or some other Caleb. He's 5, I shudder to think about 15.
I better get, the kids are planning to eat out tonight and I'm not dressed. Although I can usually wait on them to get ready and still be done before they are. Shawn's on the phone trying to book Silpada parties. Anyone interested? It is beautiful stuff. I got a terrific silver watch and some nice silver hoops. I will bring some of her books when I come. Ofcourse, I make a great model for the line. You will all want to look like me.
Oh, now there is talk of a dolphin watch tonight. That means this bunch on a boat???? I'm not sure.

HIGH WATER ???

Is everyone high and dry? We didn't get a drop here, but heard Indy and north were flooded. I looked on the map (again) to determine where everyone lives, Kiristie and Anna look to be the closest to the flooding. Ofcourse, we get no news from you in the northwest. You might as well live in Alaska. Staci, I heard Terre Haute was closed off from all travel; I told you you cannot get there from anywhere, didn't I? Are you OK? How about storms, were there any? I may just call one of you, except it is after 11:00 pm.

I had a wonderful 1st week off; lunches with friends, suppers with kids, visits with Mom. It was so nice, just what I needed after this spring. I worked on flowers and cleaned porches, such a nice feeling to have a clean, pleasant place to sit and think. I've discovered schools are terrible places for thinking; no wonder kids are sometimes not successful. I hope you all have a porch to sit on and dream. Kids don't do that much anymore either, do they. We don't allow much time for dreaming in our lives. As a child I thought summer days were endless, you could squeeze so much into them: long hours of play, reading, napping, arguing with siblings and the ice cream truck. Do you girls remember the ice cream truck? We lived in town til I was 8 and everyday the ice cream man would come down the hill into our neighborhood. Banana popcicles were my favorite. We always had to take our baths and get ready for supper after ice cream. Now that was a real sign of vacation, ice cream before supper.

I can still feel the pull of my hair as Mom put it into pigtails after my bath. I'd think my eyes would pop out she pulled so tight. Then she would put one of our sundresses on us. We had matching ones, Debbie and I, most of the time. Although we were very different looking little girls, we often dressed alike. Me all serious with straight dark hair and glasses and Debbie a skinny tomboy with hair like blonde cotton candy. I really thought one of us was found under a bush, and I hoped it was her!! She was such an annoyance, so cute, talking with a lisp and pretending to be a cowgirl all the time. Man, she was loud. I could never have guessed what a wonderful sister she would be back then. She thought I was boring, always reading and sitting around dreaming when I could have been running and shooting cap guns and falling off pretend horses. I'd love to have one of those days back again; I'd play with her, I think.

The girls, the kids and I are leaving on Friday for Dauphin Island. The guys have decided not to go along. I think my daughters-in-law are relieved. It is different when it is just women and children; I think we all relax more and don't have to be on a schedule so much. King men think eating at 6-12-6 is a requirement for life and children don't need everything they want and the TV needs to play 24/7. Anyway, we are excited. I need to see the light from the sun on water and hear the soothing sound of waves. Do you suppose I was a mermaid once upon a time? I don't think I have the personality for it. Maybe a sea turtle?
I haven't packed anything or bought anything new, I don't even have my beach books picked out. But there is a bakery/coffee shop within walking distance of the house that I intend to frequent daily. If I can escape without Caleb or Gavin; they've already decided we are sharing the bunk room. I don't think so but, who knows. Madeleine has promised me a pedicure, she loves bright purple polish and assures me she's been practicing. She did paint Cabe with pink dry marker recently. Those two are priceless. He called her fatty yesterday and she responded, " you are a hateful doofus, I am so skinny you can see my ribs." and pushed him off the trampoline on his face. And I think I want to spend a week on an island with them?

Janelle, I'd love to get together at your place with everyone. I know I could pick Avery from the dog, she'd have the cell phone and purse. Too bad you have to work so much this summer, my 7 weeks are precious.
Allison, your stories about the boys make my eyes tear up. They are so much like my two were only yesterday. Sorry about your dad's accident, sounds like you are having some good reconnect time with him though. I miss my dad more as time goes on, I think.
Kiristie, probably on your extended trip now. You two must live under a rainbow to be blessed with such a long vacation. Enjoy every minute of it, August will roar around the corner on two wheels and haul you back to work soon enough. No, we won't mention THAT.
How about a road trip, Anna? If I drive north will you be my guide? It won't pay much, but you can sleep in the extra bed and I will feed you at least once a day.

Gee, it is after midnight, I guess this will be another night with little sleep, another joy of aging. Just wait, you all will love it. The fun never stops after 50.

Everyone take care. Love you all.

Checking on you.

It is Wednesday and I'm ready to leave work. I've done all the damage I can here today. Not much accomplished, but... It appears that 95% of our incoming students are related. I've been reviewing records and most of them have the same contacts listed. It is a small town, but this is scary. I have visions of a giant spider mother casting her million babies out among us, all still connected to her by a silky web. Or maybe my lunch didn't sit well. Whatever.

I loved hearing from Kirstie and Anna this week, but where,oh, where is eveyone else? Finishing work, ball games, raising kids, planting gardens, feeding pets and husbands? It is strange that only the OLD and YOUNG have time to communicate. I remember days; moving faster than the speed of light, leaping tall buildings, running the world. And then I got old and tired. Slow down, girls, it will happen to you, too. Is this the last week for everyone? Hope so. I hate to think of anyone working in June. June is my favorite month; vacation, warm without hot, garden blooming, everything fresh, not burnt, vacation, vacation, vacation.

Anna, do come visit. Or maybe in July, I can come up and we can visit all the others. Sort of a drive-by party. Door to door gaggling. Doesn't that sound fun? Two or three days should do to visit everyone. Are you game? I know everyone cannot come to Orange County at the same time and Anna and I don't have small kids keeping us at home (yet or anymore). Has anymore thought been given to going to Jill's? That could be one stop on the agenda. We could meet at that coffee shop my cousin plays in on Friday nights in Brookston. Wow, that almost sounds like having a real life. I'm excited now.

How are all the babies, girls? Abbie's sessions going OK, Angela? I loved that article you forwarded. Amazing. Is Sam riding yet? I figure it is just a matter of time till you have a ranch. Is Lady Avery driving yet, Janelle? A pink Barbie jeep or red 4-wheeler? Alison, no ER visits yet this summer? Well it is early yet; I'm sure you"ll be there soon and often. Do her big sibs have Anna tied to a tree yet, Elaine? And Jill, how's little Andrew this summer? Is he moving off the couch yet? Really, Jill is he feeling better? Are you?

How are everyone's parents? My mom is much better. I think the winter was about to do her in. She's out and about again, now. But it sure aged her, she is finally looking past 65. Not old enough to be my mother, but older sister. She's a sweetie. Locked herself out of the car, called my sister, Debbie reminded her the key would still unlock the door even if the remote broke. Hilarious.

Better go, Steve will be looking for supper, again. He just ate last night.
Post some news, gaggle. Love

The end is near.

This weekend was fantastic, wasn't it? True tourist weather, warm, bright, dry and breezy. Two of those fleeting days that make me glad to live in the Ohio Valley. We had Shayla's grad party on Saturday and a cookout at Courtney's on Sunday, lots of family time with few issues. The adults were pleasant and the kids played well together; what more could I ask for? I am blessed. Or blind?



We had MORP for 7th and 8th grade Friday night. It was a great success; no drama, lots of food and music and the art classes helped with turning the cafe into a Hollywood premiere. Parents rushed us at 9:00 for pix of the royalty. but the kids quickly recovered and danced for awhile longer. I was so proud of everyone. They cheered and clapped for each contestant and seemed to be genuine in their support of the winners. Our "penny wars" voting took an ugly turn late in the week when parents got too involved. However, the kids rose above it and all is well. And SADD has a wheelbarrow full of loot to pay the bills. Win, win.



I worked in my gardens some this weekend. Is there a real purpose for weeds? We are blessed with wild mint that runs rampant over any cultivated ground.Smells wonderful but smothers out everything in its path. I pulled masses of it and by this AM, it is back. My roses are lovely this spring and the Carolina lupine is gigantic. I cannot grow true lupines, so have to be satisfied with a look-a-like. I can't do hollyhocks either. Go figure, hollyhocks can grow on stone, but not for me. I put sweetpeas along the southside of our garage this year, I'm hoping for complete coverage, or we have to paint. If I were an artist, I'd create a sweetpea mural to cover it. But my siblings got all the artistic genes. So I depend upon brute strength and my gardening skills to create beauty. I do love sweetpeas, tumbling over each other along a path or climbing up a wall or fence.Have you seen the art work of Tasha Tudor? An amazing woman, lived alone in a cottage well into her 90s with her Corgie dogs and her flower gardens. She does simple scenes of cottage life, gardens, animals and stone houses. Inspiring. I believe she has a caretaker now, but is still productive.

I just came home from a SADD Cafe, a take-off on the 50's Beatnik joints. The kids sing, play instruments. recite their own poetry, or do comedy. Tonight everyone was dark and gloomy, heavy angst stuff. Such adolescents!! The Germans were right; storm and strife. I told them to come see me in 15 years, they would be singing a different tune. I certainly hope so, at least. Such talent they all have, I don't remember ever being so deep and musically driven. But I could pull quotes from literature with the best of them. Books were my love then. Of course, I hadn't met Stephen King then. The author or the husband.

I am positively dizzy with the fact we have on 3 days of classes left. I was not sure we would make it at times this semester. It is still quite tense. One of my co-workers told me today to stick my 'sunshine' where it wouldn't shine. Obviously she isn't buying into my new anti-complaining line of thought. I hope summer is all we need, but things do not look good for fall either. Our super "P" is pulling rank and people are ticked, even the other Ps. I just look on with P envy, and bide my time.

Speaking off; do any of you do class trips? Say to DC or Chicago? Our middle school staff want to adopt a class, follow them for 3-4 years and take a trip with them. We've been shot down on overnighters, but hope to change that. I took the freshman to the 2000 Inaguration and it was terrific. But they wouldn't allow it for next year. Have you heard, I do not like schoolboards, administrators or parents? I just think we (educators) have to do more for kids, we must expose them to the world, or at least our own country. I really agree that we are dumbing down America and it is a scary thought. We cannot afford not to have the best and brightest. Share your travel secrets with me, please. I'm giving up SADD and need another project. Although an alternative school for Orange county is really nagging at me. We decided to retain several kids this year that just cannot cope with regular school but so not qualify for other considerations. I think most might thrive in a good alternative school. Anyone game to move south and join ranks? Between us, the Gaggle has the expertise in all areas of education, I do believe. And Rex could be our token P.

Hopefully you all will be outta there soon and enjoying a glorious summer. Take care, everyone.