October musings

I have not updated my blog since I spoke of Jaykin and Tiffany's wedding which was the end of June 2008. A lot has been going on and for some reason I stay busy but don't seem to acomplish near as much as I used to. Mother's house is finally on the market and looks really good. There has been a lot on internet activity and several people have looked at the house several times. I wish we could have had it ready to sell a couple of months ago but I just could not get everything done.

Brianna was on a soccer team for the first time this year. She did very well and had a good time. I wish she had been able to play before as she seems to have a nack for it and it is so good for her. They had the last game last Saturday and it was kind of sad. The whole family has gone and it has been a fun hour each week. The weather has been incredible all except one day when they nearly had to play in the rain.

Brad's whole family and I attended Brianna's first choir concert October 16th . She is in the advanced choir even tho she is just in the sixth grade. She looked so grown up and she sings so well. I am thrilled since singing has always been a huge part of my life. She is learning lifelong skills. I hope she will stick with it.

Last Saturday our church had it's annual fall festival. It is a huge party for the kids of the church and the neighborhood. The children dress up in their Holloween costumes and we have dozens of game booths where they can earn candy and outside we have lots of big jumpers and a small train they can all ride. This is all for the very small cost of $1.00.

The kids were all so precious: Brad's group starting with the youngest going forward was Silas as a mandrake plant, Memphis as Spiderman, Carson as Snow White, Cody as Hermione from Harry Potter, Brianna as Sarah Palin and Megan as Hillary Clinton. They were all so cute.

Then the great grandchildren came. Ryan, was a turtle, Jayden was a butterfly, Kadence was spiderman, and Kaya was a pea. I am really not a fan of Holloween as a holiday but I love seeing the kids all dressed up. I am not a fan of candy either but I hope the parents can dispose of most of it so the kids won't be on a perpetual high.

By the way our church runs between 400 and 500 each Sunday in attendance and we probably had 1200 plus at our festival. It was a huge success and the weather cooperated.

My precious daughter-in-law Megan writes a very clever blog so I am putting a link here so you can read hers. It is much better than mine and very enjoyable. Be sure to check it out, in fact I would check it out regularly because it is so much fun. Here is the link: Be sure and scroll down and check out her previous blog from baby Silas's point of view. It is priceless. Of course you have to remember that this is from a proud grandmother's point of view.

http://meganblythe.blogspot.com/ .

Am I Accident Prone or Just Careless

Wish I knew the answer. It seems I am either accident prone or careless but probably it is a combination of the two. My latest episode happened Saturday afternoon about 3:00 p.m. Robert was going to ride his bicycle and I said wait I want to go. I got my bike but did not put on my gloves, or even tennis shoes. This proved to be a very foolish decision. About half way through the bike ride I got too close to a retaining wall around a flower bed and nearly ripped the little toe on my left foot off. It required 7 stitches in the emergency room to repair what happened due to my haste. The toe is broken and is now taped to the toe next to it for the next 6 or 8 weeks. Actually I am grateful I was not injured more seriously. I am still mad at myself because I don't have time for this. Do we ever?

Actually I have had an accident of some sort for the past three years. Last year I stubbed my big toe (of course I was in sandals) and ripped the nail nearly off. A friend of mine, Dr. Craig Barker rescued me and took the rest of it off. He said it was the ugliest toe he had seen in awhile.

Then in October of 2006, I took Brianna, Meyson, Isaac and his friend Andy to The Corn Maize". It is a real neat place here near Lubbock. They actually plant a one mile square field into a different maize each year. Then in the fall when the corn has gotten really tall, they allow groups to go through the maize. They are making more money off the maize than they ever did when they just farmed this land. Anyway, Brianna and I got through the first half with no problem. When we were going through the second half, it was really dark by that time. The boys ran off with the flashlight and so I could not see too good. We came to a spot where it look kind of like the path but actually was not. As I stepped that way I was caught and flipped over a substance that keeps the corn from falling down and landed on my left shoulder and broke it in three places. It was really the arm in the shoulder area. It was so high up that it could not be set so that was quite an ordeal.

I need to explain that my husband Robert goes to Mexico quite often and usually whenever, I have an accident, when we have a disaster at our home, if the car breaks down, he is in Mexico. Luckily when I nearly tore my toe off, he was here to not only advise me how to avoid such incidents in the future he was able to take me to the emergency room.

When I broke my arm he was in Mexico so he was unavailable to help. The Maize people helped round up my group and I took Isaac's friend home, then took Meyson, Brianna and Isaac to our house. Brad (Brianna and Meyson's dad) was out of town so I could not call him. Isaac's family live in Mexico so that was out. I drove myself to the emergency room and was there until about 4:00 a.m. when I drove to an all night pharmacy for pain meds and then went home. I had to sleep in my recliner for about 6 weeks as they could not cast the arm so trying to lay down was very painful.

Sooo you can see where this is coming from. I hope I am through with careless accidents for all time. My whole left side is a mess. We can start at the shoulder - broken in three places 2 years ago, wrist broken about 7 years ago, big toe nail - ripped off last year and now this. I am healthy in every other way so I am grateful to God and Usana for that. But I am a very visable person ..... I teach adult Sunday School, sing in our church choir, and sang at a funeral today so I am always having to explain what happened to me. It is pretty embarrassing.

Brianna goes to Denver

The last week of March 2008 was a special week for my granddaughter, Brianna. Last fall Brianna auditioned to be one of 140 singers at a national conference of OAKE in Denver. There were 900 audition CD's submitted and she was lucky or good enough to make it. Brianna sings beautifully but she does not have the confidence she needs yet so she does not think she is that good but hey, her parents and I and her teacher, Mrs. Flemming all know she is good. Anyway she did make it and I was lucky enough to get to take her to Denver for the conference. I would have given anything to have been a part of such an event when I was her age (10). I started singing as soon as I could talk but really never got into an organized choir until I was in the 8th or 9th grade.

The week was packed full of fun but it was also packed with a lot of hard work. We arrived on Wednesday and she had her first rehearsal that evening. They rehearsed all day on Thursday, half a day on Friday and until about 3:00 p.m. on Saturday. Then they had their big concert on Saturday evening at the opera house in Denver.

Brianna kept a journal each day and it is cute as can be. She put it on the computer and I believe we are going to start a blog for her so she can journal online. This event was full of first things for Brianna. She got to fly for the first time, stay in a a 5 star hotel for the first time, go to a large acquarium for the first time, ride the free shuttle for the 16th Street Mall in Denver, ride on an escalator, eat at a food court for the first time and she received her first bouquet presented to her by her school Principal, Mrs. Rollo.

Each day had its own set of thrills. The Denver Acquarium not only has all kinds of fish but they also have some snakes and two tigers, some giant eels and even some sharks. I had never been that close to Sharks before but I can see why they do so much damage when they attack people. Their teeth are vicious and they have several rows of them. The tigers must have been hungry because when Brianna stood by the glass so I could take her picture with a tiger in the photo one of them lunged at the glass and scared Brianna to death. She was so scared she screamed and started crying and I could understand why. I was glad they were very secure because it was a very frightening experience. We finished up with the acquarium in a hurry and made out way back to the hotel to meet with her friends and their families to go to a place called Las Casa Bonita to eat. The place is huge and can accomodate 1000 people. You stand in line just like 6 flags so you don't realize how long you have been in line. The girls loved it because they have a pool with cliff divers, an old West shoot out, and all sorts of activities to keep the kids entertained. It was quite an experience for Brianna.

On Saturday, they had their rehearsal, their dress rehearsal and finally their performance. Let me tell you, I was astonished at the quality of their performance. I could not believe they were only 9 and 10 years old. It was wonderful and I am so proud Brianna got to take part in such an event. Next year the group goes to Washington D.C. and I hope Brianna will make it and can go. She will be auditioning for the middle school choir.

I saw a friend in Denver as his daughter's choir was performing in a workshop for the teachers. He said it best when he said music is a life skill. It can go with them through their whole life and I can attest to that. I am getting pretty old but I still sing in the church choir but more than that, it can give you a love for good music and perhaps a desire for teaching others to sing or play. Music can be forever. You may not enjoy sports all your life but you will enjoy music.

Each one of the grandchildren are special and after I go see Rose dance and Drew receive his Eagle award I will write about them