Beach Day!

105 degrees heat index in Southeast Texas.........hmmmmmmmmmm.... let's go to the beach! Collin took a friend and it is pure torture to get them to "pose" for a picture...as you can tell....very impromptu shots. (smile) They were splashing each other with the paddles for the boat. We looked for shark's teeth and beach glass...that's "our thing" to do. The boys had a great time at the water slide after the beach. We are so glad that we are so close to the beach and it can be a perfect day trip.

Splish, Splash --Yum Yum

Yesterday was a terrific day for a swimming get together! Jerry's brother and family were in from Grapevine and it was a good afternoon to have the whole family and his parents, Krista and Amber over for swimming (splashing) and, of course, eating. Jerry grilled up some great sausage and chicken and we topped it off with dreamsicle ice cream and banana pudding. Our new little nephew (only 1 year) is quite the water bug and stayed in the pool most of the time with me.

Mamma Mia!

Yesterday was a perfect day for a movie. Rain, rain, rain. I got a chance to go to lunch, movie, and concluded with Starbucks with a few of my friends. We chose a movie that we probably couldn't drag our husbands to. Righto! I think there were two men in the theater. I just love musicals and it has been years since I enjoyed one. The added bonus was ABBA music! Nothing like awesome 70's, 80's music! Ladies, I highly suggest Mamma Mia!

Boo Boo

Boo Boo is our parakeet. We have had him for ten years. I often wonder how long parakeets live. Obviously, a very long time. He is especially fond of Jerry's music and bobs his head up and down when good ole rock and roll is playing. The older he gets, the less grooming he does and isn't crazy about trimming his beak. He is my alarm clock during the summer when I am off from teaching. As soon as the sun rises, he begins singing in the sunroom.

Straight Hair

Collin has beautiful, thick, and sometimes curly hair. The longer it gets...the more it curls. He has been wanting to grow his hair alittle longer. The longer it got, the more curl we saw. Today, he had a chemical straightener put on it and it actually took alot of the curl out. He was pleased. He had his high school physical at the doctor's this a.m. and was not happy to find out his needed another tetanus shot. That's how things go..... He convinced me that I needed to rent him a new game at Blockbusters after the doctor's visit because he used to always "get a prize" when he was younger. He won. Game rented.

Thought for the Day

"I came to realize that a life lived to help others is the only one that matters and that it is my duty, in return for the lavish life God has devolved upon me, to help others He has placed in my path. This is my highest and best use as a human. Faith is not believing that God can--it is knowing that God will". Ben Stein

"Out of Sorts"

Our two dogs...Dash and Nipper..are really having a hard time with Drew's death. They have been totally out of sorts the last few days. Every evening, we let them in our sun room (they are generally outside dogs) to lay in Jerry and my laps for "special time". They nap and are at peace. I'm sure they are grieving too. I find myself having a wave of emotion at really odd times for that old gal.

Let's Go Astros....or not

What a great day for a baseball game! Clear skies and a full Minute Maid Park---and, to get to play the "Cubbies" made it extra special. We are typically 'Stros fans, but when the Cubs or in town...the score can go either way and we're happy. And, in today's case, it definitely went "left" as the Cubs won 6-0. Collin brought his friend Mallory and we enjoyed the day in Houston. Jerry was the confused fan wearing an Astros shirt and sporting his Harry Carey cap :)

LyondellBasell Global Care Day

Okay, today was hotter than H E double hockey sticks! Jerry and I worked with about 100 other members of the Lyondell Beaumont facility and Beaumont Rotary Club members to clean up a little league field on the west side of Beaumont. We scraped paint, painted bleachers and dugouts and many helped weld, replace boards, etc... to insure that the little guys and gals have a better place to play next spring. It looked 100% better by lunchtime. With the temperature and the humidity ---the heat index was well over 100 degrees. We haven't figured out if the temperatures are just higher now or that we are getting older and we can't handle the heat as well....but it was H-O-T. We are certainly appreciative of our A/C! Cool thoughts to you and yours....................

"Drew"silla Foster 1991-2008

Today is a sad day at our home. Our faithful friend and loyal pet, DREWsilla, had to be laid to rest this morning. She lived a full life....even through Hurricane Rita (category 3-4) and Hurricane Humberto (category 1). She saw alot in her life, including the birth of Collin and the addition and passing of her friend - Weezer- a miniature daschund.

Jerry and I got married in May 1991 and we got DREW, a cute black lab puppy in January of 1992. She has been with us almost our entire marriage! We got her from one of Jerry's coworkers in Channelview when she was about 6 weeks old. You might ask why we named her Drewsilla. We were going to work the first morning we had her so we left her in our laundry room. We had a radio on for "noise" and blankets on the floor. When I returned home from school that day, I opened the door from the garage to the house and ......the laundry room was a MESS. I had folded CLEAN clothes on the top of the dryer, and don't ask me how.....but this 6 week old puppy had gotten them down off the dryer and well....... you can use your imagination to what the rest of the room looked like. She had chewed through the cord to the radio! We hadn't given her a name yet so Drewsilla stuck. Drusilla is one of Cinderella's stepsisters! Mischievious, sneakey..... Needless to say, after that day, Drew didn't live up to her name. She was a sweet, compassion, loving pet. In fact, when Collin was about 2, he loved to ride his tricycle up and down the long driveway while I mowed on the riding mower. Drew would pace back and forth ,up and down the driveway in between where I was mowing and where Collin was. Very protective. Krista and Amber loved "riding" on Drew when they were 4 and 5. Yep! She was around for lots of memories! She had one litter of pups in 1997. She had 4 black pups and 1 yellow pup. She, of course, was a great mom. She loved being used as a foot rest...as long as you rubbed her belly with your feet. She loved the water--and, for all her life, she had a "baby pool" to lay down in and cool off. Until about 18 months ago, we'd allow her to get in our pool and sit on the steps. Her eyes would light up. She was my pal when I watered my plants each evening; she couldn't wait to get hosed down with the cool water from the hose.

We all will miss her; but know that she's much happier where she is now without struggling.

Let her rest in peace...........

FRIENDS

Yesterday evening, we drove to Baytown (about 100 miles) away to attend a visitation for a wonderful Christian lady. She was the mother and grandmother of several of our dear friends. I knew when we arrived and saw the line-- out the door to the funeral home that this lady was being truly honored by her church and community friends. It was a tribute to her life, her family and her faith. I know she finds great peace and is rejoicing in heaven! It was great to see many, many of our friends from when we lived and worshiped in this area. In fact, we calculated that it had been TOO LONG (about 2 years) since we last saw many of our friends. Like I stated...too long. We all need to vow to cherish those that we can visit more often. I'm speaking to myself...it needs to be a priority.

4th of July Parade- Leakey TX

Cruising FUN to Cozumel and Progresso Mexico

Grandparents - 70 years of marriage December 2008

Collin playing golf in Concan, TX (Frio River Country )

Sisters together after a day of shopping!

6 weeks until High School

Well, as I looked at the calendar today; I realized that summer is zooming by, and the rest of the summer is filled with appointments (those that we procrastinated with at the beginning of the summer), workshops, golf lessons, make-up swim lessons that I give, and a week long conference in Dallas. Whew! I always knew that as we get older...time flies by at rocket speed. I am most amazed that Collin will begin high school this year! He's much more ready for this than MOM is. I know that God is preparing me for the inevitable separation. I use this time to count blessings...health, happiness and the shear joy of spending time with family and friends. I had the great opportunity to spend last Sunday with my two sisters and niece. My younger sister lives in Florida which makes "getting together" an irregular feat; so it was so nice for us all to be together. We also got to visit with our grandparents in Louisiana (they are 86 and 92!) A blessing. Vacation this summer? A super cruise with friends in June and an annual trip to the FRIO RIVER! Until next time..... SMILES