My Uncle Patrick died suddenly last Friday, he was only 53. This song has been in my head ever since I heard the news.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Music Monday....One more Angel in Heaven
My Uncle Patrick died suddenly last Friday, he was only 53. This song has been in my head ever since I heard the news.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Tomorrow is the last day of National Blog Posting Month
I've managed to post every single day this month (some days more than once) and really it wasn't THAT hard. I already know what I'm posting for tomorrow (Monday's are EASY), so I have met the goal!!!! Every month I set a personal goal to have at least one post for each day of the month. Most months my number of posts is at least as many as the number of days in the month, but frequently I will skip a few days & then have several posts in one day.Did you do National Blog Posting Month? How did you do? Was it FUN? Really that last question is the most important to me. It was FUN for me & I enjoyed it. I don't think I would want the pressure of needing to post something everyday for months on end, but for one month it was both challenging & FUN!
My goal for next month is 31 posts. With the holidays, I'm sure there will be some days that I won't post, but I'm also sure that there will be days that there is so much I want to share I will have several posts.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
A death in the family
In early November, one of my uncles was in a motorcycle accident on his way to work. The day it happened we were very worried. As time went by we learned that his injuries were moderate. He had to have major reconstructive surgery on one elbow, but his other injuries were less severe. He was released from the hospital after a week or so & seemed to be recovering well.
On Thanksgiving morning my Mom talked to him on the phone and other than being short of breath he sounded good. She came to Thanksgiving dinner at our house and we all had a nice time. Late that night I took one last look at Facebook before bed & discovered that he had been readmitted to the ICU after collapsing outside his oldest son's in-law's home. I called my Mom.
On Friday morning my Mom called me, he had blood clots in his lungs and there was concern about his kidneys and his lungs. About a half hour later she called me again sobbing, he had died. From what we understand he died from the blood clots. He just turned 53 at the end of October.
My Uncle Patrick was very much like an older brother to me when I was little. I spent a lot of time at my Grandfather's house & the only times I remember visiting my Grandmother as a small child, my Uncle Patrick was always with me. He was 10 yrs older than me & always seemed like a giant because he was so much bigger than everyone else. I remember being really sad when he got married & joined the Navy, it was really hard going to Granpop's and having him not be there. I moved to California soon after and I only visited my Grandfather for a week or two in the Summers, Uncle Patrick's visits home never seemed to coincide with mine. We heard through the family grapevine about him, but almost never saw him.
A few years after I got married he moved to California, near where we lived & we saw him much more frequently. I was always impressed with how devoted he was to his wife and children. While most of that side of my family is renowned for their tempers, I never saw him lose his temper with anyone. Anytime there was a family crisis, he was there to hold everyone together. He was our family ROCK, our roots & our comfort, I just don't know how we are going to manage without him.
On Thanksgiving morning my Mom talked to him on the phone and other than being short of breath he sounded good. She came to Thanksgiving dinner at our house and we all had a nice time. Late that night I took one last look at Facebook before bed & discovered that he had been readmitted to the ICU after collapsing outside his oldest son's in-law's home. I called my Mom.
On Friday morning my Mom called me, he had blood clots in his lungs and there was concern about his kidneys and his lungs. About a half hour later she called me again sobbing, he had died. From what we understand he died from the blood clots. He just turned 53 at the end of October.
My Uncle Patrick was very much like an older brother to me when I was little. I spent a lot of time at my Grandfather's house & the only times I remember visiting my Grandmother as a small child, my Uncle Patrick was always with me. He was 10 yrs older than me & always seemed like a giant because he was so much bigger than everyone else. I remember being really sad when he got married & joined the Navy, it was really hard going to Granpop's and having him not be there. I moved to California soon after and I only visited my Grandfather for a week or two in the Summers, Uncle Patrick's visits home never seemed to coincide with mine. We heard through the family grapevine about him, but almost never saw him.
A few years after I got married he moved to California, near where we lived & we saw him much more frequently. I was always impressed with how devoted he was to his wife and children. While most of that side of my family is renowned for their tempers, I never saw him lose his temper with anyone. Anytime there was a family crisis, he was there to hold everyone together. He was our family ROCK, our roots & our comfort, I just don't know how we are going to manage without him.
Friday, November 27, 2009
Group pictures are HARD
We had a wonderful family gathering for Thanksgiving. Mason is home from college, Marvin & his family came for dinner & everything ran very smoothly. Just before Mason rushed off to hang out with his friends, I talked all the kids into gathering to try for a group photo. I'm hoping to get a good current picture for a new header & I would really LOVE to get a picture I can use in our Christmas card.
The left half of this one is GREAT, it's very rare to actually get Melanie looking at the camera with her eyes open, unfortunately the right half wasn't cooperating.
Then the left half decided to get goofy
This is probably the best from this bunch. Of course Melanie isn't looking at the camera & has her fingers in her mouth.
This is the best shot of the right half, so of course the left side decided not to cooperate.
It is rather rare these days to actually have all 6 kids together in one place, so I thought it would be nice to see just how tall they are in relation to each other.
Melanie decided she didn't want to be in the pictures anymore
Then we finally got Melanie & Lily to both cooperate....too bad Melanie's hair is in her eyes and she's got her fingers in her mouth again.
Melanie is only 4 months older than Lily, but she is a good 6 inches taller. Morgan's really been growing lately, he's suddenly about 5' 2" before long he'll be my height.
The left half of this one is GREAT, it's very rare to actually get Melanie looking at the camera with her eyes open, unfortunately the right half wasn't cooperating.
Then the left half decided to get goofy
This is probably the best from this bunch. Of course Melanie isn't looking at the camera & has her fingers in her mouth.
This is the best shot of the right half, so of course the left side decided not to cooperate.
It is rather rare these days to actually have all 6 kids together in one place, so I thought it would be nice to see just how tall they are in relation to each other.
Melanie decided she didn't want to be in the pictures anymore
Then we finally got Melanie & Lily to both cooperate....too bad Melanie's hair is in her eyes and she's got her fingers in her mouth again.
Melanie is only 4 months older than Lily, but she is a good 6 inches taller. Morgan's really been growing lately, he's suddenly about 5' 2" before long he'll be my height.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Diaper Tips Tuesday...wk4
Diaper Tip Tuesday has a THEME this month!!! I LOVE themes!!!
November 2009
How to Build a Diaper Stash.
Week 4: Where and how do you get what you want on a budget (i.e. buying used, making your own, swapping, etc.).
I am always on the look out for DEALS when it comes to cloth diapers. My first cloth diaper purchase was at a local diaper store. The diapers I bought weren't on sale, but they were one of the least expensive diapers available that met my needs. That retailer has a consignment program, she accepts gently used cloth diapers to resell & the original owner gets a portion of the sale price. I bought most of my original covers from the consignment basket.
Online, I LOVE to browse all the cloth diaper retailers. I have found quite a few great clearance deals online. Many of those diapers were brands that I had drooled over, but couldn't see paying full price for.....what's even better is that most of the time when I buy online, I am also able to find free shipping deals. Overtime, I realized that buying online also saved me money because I didn't have to pay the nearly 10% local sales tax.
I also keep an eye out in the #clothdiapers search on twitter for giveaways. I've won quite a few diapers & discovered some brands that work better than I ever thought they would. My first experience with Gro Baby was from winning one, I now own 3.
Online, I LOVE to browse all the cloth diaper retailers. I have found quite a few great clearance deals online. Many of those diapers were brands that I had drooled over, but couldn't see paying full price for.....what's even better is that most of the time when I buy online, I am also able to find free shipping deals. Overtime, I realized that buying online also saved me money because I didn't have to pay the nearly 10% local sales tax.
I also keep an eye out in the #clothdiapers search on twitter for giveaways. I've won quite a few diapers & discovered some brands that work better than I ever thought they would. My first experience with Gro Baby was from winning one, I now own 3.
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