Retirement is not for the faint of Heart

Ahhh! Retirement. You spend your whole life thinking that day will come when you can put aside your work and rest and enjoy traveling, chillin with friends, relaxing on the beach, boating. Well, hopefully, it is coming but to date I have not seen any sign of it. The work only changes. No one tells you that with retirement comes grandchildren, weddings for your offspring, graduations and aging parents and aunts. There is no mention of the mounds of paperwork that still pour into your box and the upkeep on all the things you have aquired over the years of hard labor. My niece, Mandy was complaining about her new schedule the other day. School all day and then work. I said " welcome to the real world, honey". She quickly retorted, You ain't got no job!"
So innocently said my dear. My job is 3 houses to be upkept, one to get market ready, one to decorate and unpack, one to continuously clean and ready for friends and parties, one grandchild to print superheroes for each day, one husband ( God bless him, he is the overlooked one in all of this) , paperwork and computer work... for the house, the ministry of JOY, the wedding, a wedding to plan , a graduation to prepare for, food in the house, calendar to keep and that is only what I can think of at this moment. I HAVE A JOB ! School and a 3 hour a day job, trade me anytime. That said, I have a blessed and wonderful life so not complaining just making sure all of you know that retirement is not what you think. Enjoy your life whatever stage you are in !
Life is sooooo busy that for the first time in 32 years, I did not get out to buy a birthday present for my two wonderful girls last week. Late but not forgotten girls. It will come when you least expect it. LIFE is Busy !

Let the planning begin...

Well, it is well underway ! The planning and stressing out for the wedding of Amy and Peter. All we know so far is it will be in the spring. Unbelievable to me is that all the places we have called for the reception site are booked for all of April, May and June until 2011. Is that incredible that people are planning for a wedding in 3 years? I am sure the right place will surface but for now Amy and I are online and onphone searching for the perfect venue.
Over the weekend we did manage to get away to a nonservice area for mobile phones which gave us a much needed and forced rest. We spent the weekend at Givhans Ferry state park enjoying the family reunion. It is an annual event where we reunite with cousins and aunts , uncles and catch up on the latest weddings, engagements, babies, deaths and happenings. We had a cabin and 2 campspots so it was a lot of fun.
NO PHONE SERVICE ! That was really a challenge for everyone. I don't know what earth shattering news we missed. How did we ever manage without the constant connection to the world.The weather was perfect for camping ( though I slept in the cabin) and it was really great to taste all the home made dishes at the reunion dinner. The bluegrass tradition continued with the younger generation taking the helm. Clary and Scottie have really mastered the mandolin and all the guitars and singing and violin were awesome. If you closed your eyes, you could just pretend the Old Grady Boys were there . I am sure that if they could hear , they would be pleased to know the tradition has not been lost.
The calendar continues to be filled with so much activity ! The holidays are now getting close.. Bo will graduate , Amy will get married, my house will get decorated, Kelly's stint at teaching will end, the custody battle will get solved, the new pastor will get chosen and installed, the garage will get cleaned and organized and Jim and I will survive it all. What dream am I in again????

The Caterpillar or as Caleb calls it... clattapeeler

Last week, Caleb found a pretty lime green caterpillar on a leaf outside our house. We brought him in and put him on the leaf in a cup. The caterpillar had no idea who had moved him or even that he had been moved but I imagine that in a very few minutes he had an instinct to start moving toward freedom. If he could think ( in human terms) he would have been saying " hey wait a minute... what is going on... why am I in this prison and what is going to happen to me... what can I do to escape?" He did not know that all along the plan was to carefully feed him, watch him and eventually return him to freedom as a beautiful butterfly. In his little green cup , he had food, safety from predators and an audience to watch his beautiful spinning , sleeping and eventual flight BUT he did not know that... He did not know that there was oversight and protection for him. He thought surely that being free of this " unexpected bad situation" was the best thing for him.
YOU guessed it...he escaped. I looked for him for a little while and then assumed he would never be found. That night, Amy found him...well half of him...on the kitchen floor. He was still wiggling but not viable so he ended up in the caterpillar morgue.
Life lessons filled my head....
How many times an unexpected bad situation comes along for us. We think ...How can I escape this...Don't we know that God the omnipotent, God the provider, God the overseer and protector has a plan for us..... In Jeremiah...one of our favorite and most quoted passages, God says, I know the plans I have for you.....for good and not evil ....to give you a future and a hope. Like the caterpillar ....we do not see the protection and plan so we wiggle to get free and change our circumstance.... instead of appreciating the provisions and blessings we do have , we focus on the things we do not have or the thing we want to happen. God's timing is good. He wants to spin us into a cocoon with our temporary capture and see us through to our eventual flight all the time knowing that we will be more beautiful for the experience. Those who " wait on the Lord" see that good plan come to fruition...those who fight it and escape sometimes find a worse situation on the other side. The Word tells us to Wait on the Lord.... to be patient in trials and persevere.... that is when we build character and also come into the perfect plan He has for us...
Next time you fall into a "prison" trust that God has your back ! Wait on Him and see what beauty he will bring from the experience.

AND the move continues

We are going on the 3rd month in the new house and I am amazed at how many boxes are in the garage and still unpacked !!! You might recall that when we moved from Niagara Falls, we sold everything with the house to the new commander there. We only brought our personal items and a few treasured antiques... all the furniture and accessories were left in the house. We still managed to fill the largest u-haul truck available. What was in that truck???? Now I am finding out. Craft supplies I will never use, clothes I will never wear, dishes from which I will never eat or serve,COATS I WILL NEVER WEAR ( THANK YOU , LORD) you get the picture. I am trying as I unpack to get rid of all of it. The kidney foundation and goodwill will have to build a new location. Truthfully, if someone set the garage on fire( the storage spot for all of this) I would have a hard time saying what was in there. STUFF ! Do we really need stuff? I think if I could bring myself to it, I could live on white t-shirts, black pants a few blazers and a few scarves. Think how easy life would be. That will be my new project.
Well, the camper life is out for now. The auction campers turned out to be in terrible shape and the base did not make us take them. For now, I will continue to live in the house and try to get it ready for the holidays. This will be another weekend that I do not accomplish this because Cindy and I are still in the process of moving my aunt to her new apartment. That will take the weekend to get the bulk of her stuff over there. Talk about stuff !!!! We did manage to get rid of about 20 huge bags of stuff from her place. WHERE do they put all the stuff when you get rid of it? I hate to think about the landfills etc.... hopefully, they burn all this stuff.
Let's talk about coffee. It is kind of like salad, always taste better when someone else brews it. I have tried every coffee on the shelves. I even joined Javalia and ordered coffee from them for a while... got the free coffee pot and everything. I have yet to find a coffee to brew at home that tastes as good as the fine restaurants serve. What is the secret? Do you have a coffee you swear by? My mother makes the finest coffee I have tasted . She has given me her secrets...you buy Maxwell House Master Blend... You use a heaping teaspoon for every two cups ( cups meaning her cups she uses to drink from) and then you dash the grounds with a little salt before brewing in an electric percolator. I followed all of the instructions and still cannot get the house to smell like hers when her coffee is brewing and cannot get that taste. It must just have to do with being home. I have to think back a long way to get visions of home where I grew up. That will be another post.
Must move on to my day. Caleb is on the way and we are taking a picnic on the boat with Big Daddy. Have a great day!

The weekend went by fast. Bo was here for a wedding with his good friends, Dennis, Angelo, Matt and Anna and he brought his friend, Jessie with him from Florida. They all stayed at the beach house. I have yet to go out there and see if it is still standing. Dennis informed me that they cleaned up before they left. Amazed that it even crossed his mind, I will report later what that means in his glossary because I can assure you that it will not meet my standard. In the past, I have found items I cannot discuss here and wondered if it was really my house when I entered due to the sand, beer can and general untidyness of it all. The old house will survive them and I only hope that the memories everyone makes there will be good ones. I only got one little hour with Bo over the weekend . We met for lunch Sunday and then he and Jessie flew the simulator for an hour before they hit the road back to law classes and Florida. Dec. 20th is on the way. Pray for Bo to do well on the bar in Feb. and to find a good job.
I have really enjoyed keeping my grandson , Caleb. Today was just an ordinary day, nothing to speak of but even those days are special when he is around.
My sister , Cindy and I have been moving my aunt's household from an apartment on James Island to one closer to us. Did I mention I hate moving? I am sure I did somewhere in my blogs from the last couple of months since I am still moving into my new house.
Jim and I won an auction for a pop up camper this week and I am considering whether to chuck everything and move into it. Wouldn't that be the simple life. You could move around visiting great spots and when you decide you don't like the people or the weather, you just jump in your car and pull your little home along to the next adventure. How much trouble could it be to clean?
Think of the money you would save !!! Even gas prices would be okay if that was your home.
Cindy and Scott also won one in the auction. We have not seen them yet...YES, you read that right, we bought them sight unseen. This could be a mistake but for the price we paid, we could put new tires, new mattresses and new awnings and even new ac and still come out on top ! Now you might say, I did not know that Dixie was a camper.... you are right , I am not a camper but if I do go camping, I am not sleeping on the ground so for the 2 times a year that I may go to the reunion at Givhans or take a little mountain trip, it will be fun. Also , all my kids now have access to a pop up so I think it is a good purchase. Bo may end up needing a home if he does not pass the bar so I can soooooooo see him in the pop up.
Amy started her new job today. I am a little sad because it has been great having her at home to jump in the car and do errands, etc.. Now it is back to Boogie and me.
I met the mom and sister of one of my new cadets over the weekend. Great people ...easy to see why my cadets are so special. I think they are doing really well.
The next few months are busy.... may not blog much but will try to keep in touch with all of you who have a blog. Adios

Sister and best friend, Cindy

Busy Days

As you can see, lots of new photos on the blog. Our days have been very busy since the move. We have a garage filled with boxes so the end is nowhere near in our unpacking. I am keeping my precious Caleb during the week while Kelly teaches so he is helping me unpack ! I have to tell you , my biggest holdup is that I have been glued to the t.v. watching this Sarah Palin landslide ! I am in awe of how our country is pulling toward her. She stands for what is right and good and I am so proud of her for speaking out ! The left wing is shaking in their boots.
Summer is coming to an end ... I love fall so that is the silver lining on that cloud. Jim and I are planning a trip to NY to see our friends and attend a wedding. We will be celebrating our wedding anniversary there....34 years. Where did all the time go?
The holidays will be upon us before we are ready...always are... and I will have to stop where I am and decorate whether the house is ready or not. I think Jan and Feb will bring a welcome lull in our activity so we can catch up ! Retirement is not for the faint of heart.
Bo will graduate from Stetson Law on Dec. 20th so that adds another element to our already busy month/season. Maybe 2009 will be my year to be organized and relaxed. ???????????

Our Vacation to Seaworld and Busch Gardens

What a great week ! Tom and Kelly, Sophie, Caleb , Uncle Bo and I all went to Busch Gardens for two days and spent a day seeing Uncle Bo's house and school campus and swimming at the hotel. The last two days, we left Bo in Tampa and took off to Orlando for Seaworld. I may sound like I am bragging ( I am ). My grandchildren spent 5 days in the car, at the parks, in the hotels, restaurants and got pushed past dinner, lunch, bedtime and naptimes...and were wonderful every second of our trip ! I am overwhelmed at the politeness, the appreciation they had for everything and the joy they were to me for every part of this vacation. My hat goes off to Tom and Kelly for the great parenting they have done. Also, I must say my son in law took great care of us. We had to leave Big Daddy Jim behind to work so Tom had to take over all the care of the Gigi.
I am posting some of the best photos from the trip. I cannot tell you how beautiful the parks were and how much fun we had. This will go down in my memory as a really wonderful time. The weather was cool and breezy the whole trip with occasional rain showers to cool things down even more. We did not miss out on anything. Caleb ( 3) went on every big ride they allowed him to enter and Sophie made the Gwazi coaster with Uncle Bo and her dad !!!! Gigi watched as they coasters rolled upside down and went at 65 miles an hour ! The shows and exhibitions at Seaworld were awesome. The kids got to feed the dolphins and pet the stingrays. Get to Seaworld if you can !

The crew is back

My Guatemalan crew is home safely and back to routines and life in the good old USA. You will see some of their photos on the site. Happy to say that my sister and brother-in-law did not arrest me for vandalism but much appreciated all that I did to the house ..... should have painted as now I know they would have been ok with that.
Moving along with the move into the new house. It is much easier with Bo and his truck here. Hopefully, I get this old house on the market soon.
We are off to Seaworld Monday and Busch Gardens after that. Will post photos when we return.
Someday, I am going to rest.

I should have gone to Guatemala

One of the reasons I did not sign up for the mission trip with Jim, Bo, my sister and her entire family( minus Robby and Holly) is because I thought 12 days would be perfect for me to laze out on the beach, get some stuff done in my beach house....like painting etc... and move a few items to the new house...NO that is not what is happening. For the entire time they have been gone I have run from one house to another.... 4 of them... Cindy's house, my old house, my new house and the beach house trying to take care of 2 dogs, 3 cats and 4 houses. This is not fun or productive. I will consider it my contribution to the mission. Hopefully, tomorrow when Amy takes over at Cindys' and with the animals, I can get to some real missions....like moving and maybe find one day that it is not raining that I can actually take a nice long nap on the beach.
I have however found some things to occupy my time while I am at Cindy's sleeping with a 70 pound pit bull ( not a dog person) refer to older posts for info on that... and I might say that I have renewed my belief that dogs are meant to live in China where they can end up in a soup. It is one thing to be kept awake by your husband snoring and tossing but when you are giving up your comfort for a spoiled pit bull who snores loud enough to wake the dead... that is too much.
Anyway, I did say I found some stuff to pass the time at Cindy's while I am dog sitting. I have redecorated, remixed . She will either love me or hate me when she comes home. I did stop at painting walls without her permission only because if she hated them, I would have to paint them back so I will just wait on the painting but she will come home to some changes.
So you all don't think I am too bold, she and Scott did say I could move furniture around while they are gone.
Well, I must go finish my kitchen redo and get the spoiled dog into the house and find my 3 inches of bed that he allows me. Tomorrow cannot come too quickly for me. Woooooohooooo , tomorrow night I will NOT have a dog in my bed... how many women can say that????