Brayden playing the Piano

One of my faves. Brayden, my nephew, playing the PIANO while at Nammie's house. Sweet little guy. :)

Fight the fight....

I'm joining my friend, Jamie, in her Fight the Fight series. I dont have anyone very close to me who has fought cancer. My husband, Kyle has. :/ His dad, Jerry, fought the battle and unfortunately lost it. Jerry was 47 yrs old when he was having some major abdominal pains. He went to the doctor to find out that he needed to get his gall bladder taken out because of gallstones. They had to do some testing on his lungs and such to see if he could withstand the surgery and they found it.... a spot of unknown on his lungs. They did further testing, biopsis (sp?) and found that it sure enough was cancer. They dubbed it "lung cancer" because that is the FIRST place they found it. Jerry was a smoker, but they didnt blame that. He underwent more and more tests and eventually they found it everywhere. Liver, lymphnodes, stomach, and brain. He had chemotherapy. His hair fell out. He had a full beard for as long as I had known him and for as long as Kyle could remember. He REALLY didnt look the same. He eventually was sent home, for there was nothing else they could do for him. He was on a morphine drip for a few weeks. On Prom day 2001, Kyle had left to get lunch for everybody at home before he started getting ready to take ME to the prom. While he was gone, his dad died. Dianne, his mom, was standing at the kitchen window when she felt a breeze of air. She looked over to the door and no one had come in. She went to Jerry's bedside and he passed VERY soon after. We all believe just maybe it was the angels coming to take Jerry home.  We did end up going to prom that night. :) We didnt stay long. We ate, we danced, we headed home early. I know Kyle's dad would be SO proud of him. He didnt see him join the Army, he didnt see him get married, he wont meet our children.... in person. I feel for sure Jerry watches over us though.

In memory of my father-in-law

Jerry L McKelvey

August 7, 1954 - April 14, 2001

Our best picture of Kyle's dad, which never gets packed up when we move. I make it a point to carry it on the road with us during moving. Jerry is on the left, his brother Terry on the right. :) Thanks for stopping by. If you have a story you'd like to share, head on over to Jamie's Fight the fight series for a chance to win her giveaway!!

TGIF Y'all!!

Once again, its time for some fragments! Join me, and Mrs 4444 (and other fragmenters) for some fun. The button tells you how to get started and you can find more fragmenters on Mrs 4444's blog. Enjoy!

 

** Jamie invited me to see a movie this weekend! We (Jamie, TT, Princess and TT's friend) went to see "Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs". Too cute! I've read the book (yes, there's a book!) and it was cute, but my memory sucks and I couldnt really tell you what happened. But, the movie was super cool! I think I enjoyed it as much as TT and friend. Princess wasnt too thrilled. There are also some cool movies coming out too! LOL I'm such a kid!

** Went shopping this weekend (after the movie actually!). Kinda "ran up" on some fabulous clearance at Old Navy while out and about with Jamie. Got 5 cute tops and a pair of shorts for $40. Not too shabby!
Also went shopping Thursday night! 7 for $25 at Victoria's secret! And GAP was having fab clearance! I really should not hang out with Jamie! LOL We spend way too much money when we get together!!


** OMGoodness! Sunday night, I took Rigs out to potty around 10:30pm. He usually poops twice a day, so he should have to GO again before bedtime. I turned on the patio light and went out the door. He took off into the yard and started searching for "a spot". Well, I sat down in the chair to wait on him. and. a. snake. wriggled on up onto the patio!!!! AH! Its an over-grown earth worm, but ITS A SNAKE! So, my first thought is bug spray. I run inside. No, probably will just piss it off and I'll lose it in the yard! I go back out, its still where I saw it last. Then I see it.... the pooper scooper! Hanging on the brick column. I grab the scooper, and BAM! Got it on the first swing! LOL. Yes. I killed it. I DO NOT like snakes. No matter the size. No matter the color. Sorry for any of you who think I'm awful. I didnt know what kind it was until after the fact, so I'm thinking about Rigs first and foremost. I did check it out with a flashlight and poked it with a stick. I'm pretty sure its a grass snake, gray in color, white belly. I measured it too. (I'm such a dork!) It is was about 6.5-7 inches long. Little ole bitty thang, but still A SNAKE!


** My hubby comes home from BNCOC tomorrow! I've missed him so much! He graduates at 10am and will hopefully be on the road by noon. LONG drive ahead of him and I think its supposed to rain. Praying he gets here safe and in a hurry! LOL


** Serious note: I have a friend back home in SC that recently was diagnosed with breast cancer. The drs then did further tests and found that it is in her lymphnodes, spine, bones and liver. She is my sister's co-worker/best friend. She is divorced, around 45 yrs old and has two sons, ages 13 & 7. The ex has told her he'd come from TN and care for the boys while she's doing treatments. She went in the hospital last week with an infection and low blood counts. I'm unsure of how she's doing. I tried calling my sister today, but couldnt get in touch. If those of you who are reading this wouldnt mind to say a prayer for her, that'd be awesome. Her name is Amy C. :)


** I got a hair cut! Not that many of you knew what it looked like before my cut, but still. I actually cut off 8 inches! Jamie told me about Pantene having a thing on their website for donating hair. I've done Locks of Love before, but it had to be 10 inches back then. SO, I donated in honor of Amy. I also got it colored! It is purple in some light and burgundy-ish in others. I guess you could call it dark brownish with red tint... IDK. I love it though! ;) I do still need to put my ponytail in the mail though..... LOL

** Gave Rigsby a bath Thursday night... Gotta make sure he looks and smells good for hubby when he gets back...
Does anyone else's dog rub their face and body on EVERY cloth surface around after they've had a bath??? He's a nutcase! But he smells good! and looks purty! ;)

HAVE A FANTABULOUS WEEKEND!!!!

Thousand Words Thursday

Happy ATWT! Join the Mom Jen for more ATWT by clicking her name for her most recent or click the pretty button! Enjoy!!

This one just makes me laugh... ;) Taken while hubby was deployed last year. I went to a state fair, and this guy was there!

Leaves on the water

I just really liked how the leaves here were all bunched up on the edge of this pond. Nothing special, just pretty to me :)

Friday Fragments.... again!

TGIF y'all! If you'd like to join Mrs 4444 for Friday Fragments, click her name or click the pretty button :) As I said last Friday, I'm new at the FF. This week's fragments started last Saturday. I would never be able to think of everything if I didnt start early! LOL

** So, I got my LES (Leave and Earnings Statement, for those who dont know the acronym) aka check-stub online on Saturday. I noticed I got paid more than I was expecting... I GOT A RAISE! Woohoo!


** RAIN... It rained all weekend last week and low and behold, I got a roof leak. I love the rain though! I called in my issue to the management company (I rent) and they said "you're in the stack for the roofer, we'll call you back and let you know when he can come out there". Well, as of Thursday night, still no phone call. AND, I've had to cut the grass.... again. I cut the front yard Thursday and I'm headed out to cut the back yard as soon as I post this. Rigsby is starting to disappear in the back yard! I need to cut it so he doesnt get lost, poor little guy! LOL


** Update on Rigsby: He's back to his normal crazy self, except for one yacking episode Friday, the 11th. He's been eating more these days and weighs 7 lbs! I took him for a follow up appt on Wednesday. I swear, being a walk-in at Banfield is like an emergency room. You sit and wait..... and wait.... and wait some more. I mean, I'm used to the Army's motto, "Hurry up and wait", but goodness! Either way, he's fine and back to normal. Crazy little dog.



** My hubby has been in GA for school for 25 days now. I have one more week until he's home! We've been thru multiple deployments, but him just being 13 hrs away is worse I think! He's been having a good time at BeerNCOC BNCOC, shooting weapons he hasnt shot in a good while, reminiscing about Basic Training & Airborne school, going to the New Airborne Museum. He also was chosen to go to the Leadership Board for his class. The winner gets an award and is considered the leader of the whole class. (20ish people in 8 classrooms, so, overall) Well.... he WON. :) I'm so very proud of him and cant wait to see him next week so I can give him a big ole hug!!

Baby Grace

Happy ATWT!! Please join me, in joining The Mom Jen, in A Thousand Words Thursday. You can click on the button to see how to play!! :) Enjoy!

So, I havent really been keeping up with my "photo-a-day" nor every 2-3 days for that matter. However, I ran across this one and couldnt resist. This is my niece Grace. The photo was taken on a day when I was babysitting her and my nephew Brayden. I love taking pics of those two! She is 16 months old NOW, but was a little shy of 8 months here. :) Taking a nap in the bouncy seat, Braydens bouncy seat. ;) I've also attached a picture of him looking at her like "why are YOU in THERE?" My sweet babies. Gracie loved to be all cuddled in a blanket back then :)

Brayden, wondering what cousin Grace is doing in HIS bouncy seat..... ;)

Garnet in color...

These are my favorite colored leaves in the Fall. I have a little bush this color in the backyard here in TX and with that bit of rain we got last week, it went from all crunchy-lookin' and DARK purple, to sprouting new leaves of Garnet. Makes me think of the Gamecocks even though I'm a Clemson fan!!

Gecko!

Up close and personal!

ORANGE...

leaves are one of my faves! My all time favorites color leaf in the Fall are the deep red ones. I will post one of those as soon as I scan it in... Unfortunately, the original is on the hard drive that CRASHED last year... :( but for now, here's some orange ones....

Slug

A real snail. Jamie has these on her sidewalk everytime it rains. I havent seen any until yesterday at our house. I had to get a picture!

And this is just how little these things are! I had two little visitors yesterday and a few on my patio this morning.

Friday Fragments....

My first! I have been blogging more, mainly because my friend Jamie tells me I must.... So, I shall give Friday Fragments a whirl! I have been saving up my fragments throughout this week. If you'd like to join in with Mrs 4444, just click on the beautimous button! Enjoy!

** My poor little Rigsby. Last Friday, he had to go get a dental cleaning at the vet. Had him there between drop-off times, 7-8am. I'm pretty sure we've never had his teeth cleaned. SO, I NEVER get a phone call, ALL day to tell me he's ready for pick-up. I didnt call, because I thought they may just have a bunch of patients. Well, I go by there at 6:20pm. I say, "I never got a phone call". The girl says "oh, yeah it looks like no one called". DUH. I ask about what time he was probably done, and she says probably around 4 or 4:30pm. OK. That's ok at this point b/c I probably couldnt have picked him up anyway, however, a phone call wouldve been nice. They bring him out and both of his legs are shaved where they had to do an IV. An IV?? Well, I was under the impression that they might give him a diphenhydramine (benadryl) shot, but not an IV!! I pay the $16 (wouldve been MUCH more if we didnt have doggy insurance) and we go home. He's so sad. I start to flip through the paperwork and read what they did to him... I see, "Internal Organ Func Screen" "Blood Sample Collect" "IV Fluid/Catheter Insertion" "Anesthesia" "Tracheal Intubation" "Ampicillin Trihydrate"...... I have no clue why my dog needed all this to get his teeth cleaned! They havent said anything about any diseases or anything to be concerned about besides tartar. I'm very upset with Banfield... To top it off, I found a flea on him too!!!!! Ugh...


** So, we have a house for rent in SC. Well, it's not rented out yet, and its been sitting empty since March. My brother was in the neighborhood and decided to drive by to check on things. He sends me a text... "No wonder your house hasnt rented. There's not a sign in sight anywhere!".... Well, this isnt the first time the sign has been MIA. I told him to check in the window because thats where the management company said they put it, because the one in the yard kept going missing. He drove back by to be sure he wasnt crazy, and NO SIGN. Not in the yard, not in the window.... I didnt get this info until 7:30 EST, 6:30 CT. On Friday.... the first day of a LONG weekend. These people dont work on weekends, so, I have to wait til Tuesday to call and bless them out! I swear, if they dont do something soon, I'm gonna scream!!!! ;)

UPDATE on the house... On Tuesday I called the management company to complain about the sign not being anywhere in sight, and they proceeded to say "Oh, it rented today"... It rented? When were you gonna call and tell us?? SO, it did, it rented and we wont have to pay two house payments come the beginning of October! WOOHOO!!!!!!! :D


** On Monday, Labor Day, I did some hard labor. I cut the grass. I dont do this often b/c my sweet hubby usually does. We had a self-propelled mower while he was on his last tour of Ancient Babylon so that it would be easier for me. I loved that mower! ;) Well, we didnt want to bring it to TX, so we bought a push-mower when we got here. Well, HE decided we'd get an actual PUSH mower... not a self-propelled. Well, the hubby is in GA at school. I called him in the midst of my mowing and told him that I was not impressed with the decision to buy this friggin' PUSH mower! It was kicking my butt! I did get it done though, and am proud that I did it! He did say he felt bad that I was having to do it, but really thought he'd be the only one mowing. I told him "And you should be the only one!!!!" LOL

** Also on Labor Day, it was Free Chicken sandwich day at Chick Fil A if you wore a sports team logo. I went with Jamie and her 3 all dressed up! I actually wore my softball jersey from my senior year of high school! I am a Clemson University fan, and would have worn my CU shirt if it hadnt been long sleeves. Sleeves and 92 degrees dont mix well! We did see some Clemson fans seated just a couple tables over from us though, which was too cool. Its a small world and an even smaller Army. It's so neat to meet people who are from your state, let alone 30 mins from your hometown!! That's one of many things I love about the military!


** So, my poor Rigsby has been sick since going to get his teeth cleaned last Friday. He has been yacking (i dont like the word vomit, yuck) every other day since Saturday. So, I took him back to the vet on Wednesday (my fabulous day off!). They did a couple tests on him, and found nothing wrong. However they gave him an antibiotic that covers from "stomach to rear-end" to catch and fix anything bug he may have. Lets hope it helps!

** RAIN! Thank the good Lord for rain!! It rained off and on yesterday all day. Since last night, it has rained and rained and rained. Its a great day to be a duck!! ;) I'm hoping the grass will not need another cut!!

Happy ATWT!!

Happy ATWT!! If you'd like to join The Mom Jen for A Thousand Words Thursday, you can follow her link or click the button! Enjoy!

This is Pretty Place that I talked about in Mondays Photo-a-day. I cant tell you how breath-taking this location is. As soon as you walk into the "church" on the side of this mountain, you almost cant take another step without thanking the Good Lord for his creation. Its absolutely gorgeous. Lots of people get married up here. Can you imagine? I bet the sunrise is beautiful from there too, however we were there midday. My Mother-in-law and Granny-in-law and I went here for a day trip. Both of them love to just drive and see what they can see :) They know lots of good places!!

SO ready for FALL

My photo of the day....

The Blue Ridge Mountains.... :) This is taken at a place called "Pretty Place". Keep checking back because I plan to theme the next month or two with Autumn photos. I will be posting the best picture of "Pretty Place" on Thursday for ATWT. :) I am so ready for cooler weather. Back home in SC, it has been back and forth with low 50s at night! Here in Central TX, it is currently 93 degrees out. :( Upstate SC is currently 80 degrees. What I would do for an 80 degree day!!!!

Little Rigsby

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Little Rigsby. I wonder what he's thinking in this photo. This was at Corpus Christi, Emerald Beach. We went there for 4th of July weekend this year. Had a blast! We stayed at the Holiday Inn, Emerald Beach. One of the CLEANEST pet friendly hotels I've ever been to!! We very much enjoyed our stay there and will hopefully return for another visit before we leave TX (which wont be for another 2.5 yrs anyway!). We also visited the USS Lexington and Texas State Aquarium. And watched fireworks from our balcony! A great TX adventure! :)