Back to School Week

We had the best time Sunday, July 20. After church, Brookelynn and I went school clothes shopping with Maleigha and Mackenzi in Mount Juliet and Lebanon.  Maybe it wasn't just school clothes shopping, but that is what were going to call it.  And…, we have begun the creation of 2^nd generation friendships.

Brookelynn and the cheerleaders had to promote the “Back to school bash” at ATMS on Monday evening, July 21. She was happy to hang out with her friends for a couple of hours and they even made a new friend in those two hours. Her name is Devin, “with an i ” she told Brookelynn and her friends. Brookelynn said to me “I like the new girl Devin, she is funny. She spells her name weird though… it’s Devini because she said it is with an “ i “.  Brooke later realized that the “ i “ that Devin is referring to was the one between the “v’ and the “n”.  Not an extra one at the end.

Oh Brookelynn… you have your momma’s blonde roots.

I got my tires rotated on Tuesday, July 22 and Brookelynn vacuumed my car for me. It was a good day for “Blu” (that’s my car’s name).

Thursday, July 24 was the official start of school. It was registration day. Brookelynn had Alyssa come home with her for a sleepover. Ansley came over around 5:30 for a sleepover. I went to dinner with my friend Lori who is in from Vancouver WA. We went to Craw Daddy’s while Stroker took the three girls to dinner at El Tap.

Friday, July 25 was Brookelynn’s Splash day with her friends. We set up the water slide for them and had lunch at Bellacino’s, then they played in the water slide some more. They were worn out and sun kissed by the end of the day. Brookelynn took a good nap after everyone went home.  

Stroker and I went to Sparta Friday evening and picked up my mom. We brought her over to our house for a visit and went to eat dinner for taking her back home. She likes to get out of the house every now and then. 

Waiting for Answers

Some days are just more productive than others. Take Monday, July 14 for example. I got up and got moving first thing with chores like sweeping and mopping the kitchen, taking Brookelynn to the orthodontist, cleaned the oven and finished cooking the meatloaf that I began a day earlier. There were no side dishes of course, but at least the meatloaf was cooked and the house was not full of smoke.

Some news that got me worried Monday evening when Devin arrived back home from Memphis was that he complains of pneumonia like symptoms. He said his chest and lungs feel tight and he cannot inhale well. He has an occasional dry cough, but I’m not sure what the cause is. He took a breathing treatment from the nebulizer that we have, but he said it only helped a little. I thought maybe it is just an anxiety attack from four days away from home.

On Tuesday, July 15 I took Devin to the doctor to be examined because he said that he still wasn’t breathing well. He told me that he felt like he needed an oxygen tank.  For the first time ever, a doctor mentioned the possibility of “MarfanSyndrome”. He is 6’5” now and weighs 148 lbs. which is around 40 lbs underweight.  As I started researching Marfan Syndrome, I find that he does have a lot of the characteristics. The doctor sent him for a chest x-ray to see if there was any sign of pneumonia (even though she didn't hear any).  Devin told me that the x-ray technologist had to take two x-rays because his lungs are so long that they would not fit into one screen. By the end of the day, the results came back clear (thank goodness).  For now, they gave him a steroid shot and some steroid pills to take periodically because it seems to help his breathing. He was kinda shocked to learn that the shot had to be injected in his cheek. They’re going to schedule a CT scan to get a closer look in a day or two.

While Devin takes it easy, we took Brookelynn to buy school supplies because that starts next week. We spent about an hour in Office Max and came out $68 lighter. Supply lists are ridiculous these days. Whatever happened to just needing paper, pencils and crayons?

We ended the day at Logan’s for dinner and got some “Roadies” to go to take home to Devin.

Fast Forward to Thursday, July 17.That’s the day when Devin went for his CT scan.

He was so aggravated because it took three nurses and five pricks to get an IV in his vein. At one point, he said he told the nurse that he was about to pass out. She replied “you do feel a little clammy, maybe you should lay back.”  He finally made it through the scan and we got to head home to await the results.

Turns out, the CT scan shows clear too. We still don’t know the cause. I’m leaning toward a rough case of acid reflux or maybe just anxiety. 

As for Marfan Syndrome…maybe, maybe not.

So here we are, Finally Friday and here comes the rain. On and off all day long. Dreary start to the weekend. At least we can look forward to a little rest and relaxation.

Saturday, July 19 was more of the same. On and off showers all day long. We spent the whole day at home. Thanks God for a Saturday to rest. 

How Much Longer?

Day 3 of cheer camp was on Saturday, July 12. I guess you could say that Jerry and I are totally lost and unsure of ourselves at this point. We have dealt with one child at a time abandoning us for a long weekend in the past, but this is the first time that we have been left alone by both the kids. I'm telling you now that "empty nest syndrome" will be happening in our house over the next few years. Devin has already mentioned moving out with room mates and Brookelynn will be a teenager this year. I'm starting to hyperventilate just thinking about it.
I tried to pass some time Saturday by sanding on a hope chest that I have been wanting to refinish.

Stroker worked on a few odd jobs around the house. We went out to lunch...and dinner, but we were both missing the kids. We spent some time on the patio Saturday night and enjoyed the ambiance with all the torches lit. The air felt like fall and the town was quiet, or maybe it was just that the house was quiet with just the two of us.
When Sunday morning, July 13 arrived, we got up and went to church and then lunch at Rib City with Debi, Sterl, Lee and Judy. It was the final day of cheer camp. We went to pick up Brooke at 2 pm and we seen in the first 3 seconds that she was tired and ill.

She crashed on the couch for a while as soon as we got her back home. I cooked her a home cooked meal with meatloaf, fried squash and fresh corn. My meatloaf got grease in the oven and smoked up the house (inexperienced chef), so we ended up picking up some chicken to go with my side items. It was good though. Jerry and Brooke didn't complain too much about the meatloaf incident.
I sanded on the hope chest a little more at the end of the day.
I called to see what time Devin expected to get back home... Turns out that he is not coming back until Monday. :(

Down at the Dock

We went to dinner with Linda and Lloyd Nash on Friday, July 11 at the Cookeville Boatdock. We had a great time and got a scenic tour of the eighth district by our tour guide, Lloyd, on the way back home. It is fun to get out with an adult group on occasion. We sure do miss it when our kids are not with us though. I want the kids with me now more than ever. Now that Devin is 18, he doesn't hang out with us much at all, and I miss the good old days when the four of us were always together.
Brookelynn spent a second night away from home at a sleepover at Annie's house. The four days of cheer camp involve four nights of sleepovers. She is going to be tired and cranky when she gets home on Sunday.

This first image was supposed to be with the sunset in the background. But it didn't turn out like I envisioned. LOL.

Nobody's Home

On Saturday, July 5, Brooklyn and I took down the balloons and lights from our fourth of July party. The holiday and celebration had came to a close. It was fun while it lasted, now let's move on. Even though we had lots of leftovers, we went to Mildred's for dinner because she was making taco salad. We hung out there for an hour or so before the day ended.

On Sunday, July 6, after church I went to Sparta to pick up my mom and brought her to our house for a while. It was hot outside, so we spent most of the visit indoors. She said that it was nice just to get out of her own house for a while and see different scenery. We took her back home later in the evening after dinner. 

On Monday, July 7, Cletus had an appointment to have his teeth cleaned. I dropped him off around 8 AM. My plan was to pick him up around 3 o'clock, but at 2:15, Devin called to tell me that he had locked his keys in his car at Wendy's. I had to drive to Jerry's job to pick up the extra keys and then take them to Wendy's so that Devin could unlock his doors.

By that time it was time to head back over to pick Cletus up from the veterinary hospital. Cletus sure has some "pearly whites" now.

I swung by Papa John's on the way home to pick up pizzas for the kids. Jerry and I went to Logan's for dinner for just the two of us. Now that the kids are getting older, they don't want to hang with us as much. I know it's not because we are uncool. :) 

On Thursday, July 10, Brooklyn embarked on her first day of cheer camp.

 She knows she is in for some hard work over the next few days.  She also went to Ella's to spend the night. When we dropped her off, we talked to Dave and Emily, Ella's parents, for an hour and a half before heading back home. Darlene and Gary arrived a few minutes after we returned home. They were there to pick up Devin for a weekend trip to Memphis. They left out around 8 PM. Jerry and I will be lost for a few days without any kids around the house. Looks like we will finally be able to get to bed early.

Independence Day 2014

My back was feeling much better when I got up this morning. It's a good thing too because I had pasta salad, baked beans, corn, pineapple punch and other stuff to make. We also had to get the table cloths on the tables and set up a bounce house. Not to mention, getting the dogs situated outside the fence and finish up other party preparations. By 3 pm, Stroker was on the grill cooking up 51 pork chops, 24 hamburgers and 30 hot dogs. It took him until 6 pm to get everything finished. Just in time as everybody arrived.
We ate, jumped in the bounce house, had two corn hole board sets set up, hung out and watched fireworks until almost 11 pm. Forty friends and family members were my last count (if I did't forget anybody).
Brad had a great firework display. We even had a few cars to park in the church parking lot to watch our display. The only downside was that the dogs were terrified of the fireworks.

Like I mentioned above, we were all outside just hanging out and socializing till about 11 PM. Afterwords, we put away the tables and chairs and carried all the leftover food back in the house. Everyone seemed to have a good time this evening. I know I did. It was fun to get everyone together at our house. We don't often have the opportunity to host an event due to our busy schedules. 

We sure were worn out when we finally made it to bed. 

Here is Brookelynn's Sprite, Coke and bottled water station.

Here are several of us eating as the sun began to set.

 The food canopy held a variety of good eats.

 Devin didn't want his picture taken, but I took it anyway.

It's cool how these two get to  be great friends...just like there momma's :)

 Corn hole lives on

 Brad started setting up for the display around dusk.

 We added lights inside the bounce house so the kids could see where they were jumping.

 The outdoor lighting was perfect to keep us all from stumbling around in the dark.

 Brad put on a great show. We even had spectators parking in the church parking lot to watch.

Hope you had a happy fourth of July 2014 too. 

Prepare to Party

We had a good fellowship meal at church Wednesday evening, July 2. Although I wimped out and brought 48 hot wings from Pizza Hut, others took the time to bring home cookin'.  We have a fellowship meal one Wednesday each month. There is usually a large variety so every craving is satisfied.
We also took Cletus for a groom on Wednesday. He looks much better, but you sure can tell he has lost a lot of weight. Kimba almost had a melt down when I loaded Cletus in the car and didn't let her go. When it was all over, Cletus stuck his tongue out at me when I went to take a photo of his fresh new groom. Silly doggy.

Oh yeah, I received a call on Wednesday about the cemetery plot that I have been looking into for mom. The call wasn't from Thelma Pippin, but rather a messenger for her. None-the-less, she is now aware that I plan to set a headstone in the cemetery.
I was up at 5:40 on Thursday morning, July 3. By  9 am, I had scrubbed two bathtubs, two toilets, cleaned two vanities, swept the bathrooms and my bedroom. I carried on and dusted bookshelves, cleaned the laundry room as I washed and dried five loads of laundry. I finally got around to dishes before Brookelynn and I went to Hobby Lobby where I scored the cutest corner table for my bathroom. After all, the bathroom was so clean and shiney that it deserved a new table.

We ended Thursday by hanging Christmas lights and lanterns in the trees out front. Yes, I said Christmas lights. It was an idea that I had when I was thinking about people stumbling around in the yard after dark waiting on fireworks.  Brookelynn blew up about thirty six red, white and blue balloons that we hung out front too. Then we set up 8 tables and forty chairs. I had plans to cook a couple of things on Thursday, but I just ran out of time. By bedtime, my lower back was killing me. I know it was from stooping over to clean tubs and toilets this morning. That's why I don't like to clean. I'm allergic to dust and scrubbing hurts my back. It's all just hard on my health (insert smirk here). i went to bed with a Salonpas stuck to my back.  I felt kinda old.

Anyway, here is a test run of the lights to make sure that we will be able to see tomorrow night.