Tada! Finis!

The transition is complete!  I have finished merging my two blogs and setting up the new format.

Sorry if I clogged your dashboard yesterday.  I don't know if all the posts showed up there or not.  I imported all my posts from the old Blahwg! location.  Now, when I'm rich and famous, and you want to research my life, you need only look in one place!  ROFL

I also completed my tabs.  I just finished up 'The Humans' tab a few minutes ago.  My tabs will take visitors through a tour of how we got here, all the various critters (except the llama), and introduce the family.

I really enjoyed setting up the family page.  I spent some time looking through photos and reminiscing...  My, how the girls have grown!  We have so many memories built here on this ground.  Perhaps some of those stories will be the subject of future posts.  Maybe I'll even tell you about the llama...

Their Feud is Over

My Uncle Frank and Aunt Marie are wonderful people.  I remember when I was very young, we would go visit them once in a while.  Frank is my dad's oldest brother.  His baby brother John and his sister Mary Julia have both passed on from this world.  That leaves Frank and Dad.  Only Frank and Dad don't speak.  They haven't been on good terms for over forty years!

Frank                                                 Dad

My dad's side of the story... well, it's really not important.  Let's just say it's one of those 'when a parent dies and has stuff to leave behind' kind of situations.  Yeah, Dad felt like he got ripped off.  I don't really know all there is to know, so I can't really say he's wrong.  I just know there's a whole lotta stuff around his place that belonged to my grandfather.

What I do know for certain, is that my grandparents' hearts would be broken.  I guess it's one of the blessing of having an only child...  sorta...  I hope I never see the day that my daughter will be not speaking to Mr J's son or daughter.  It means a lot to me to have them all together.

Mr J and the kids, Christmas 2007

Today, their feud is over.  My Uncle Frank passed away this morning.  He had been going down hill for a while.  We urged Dad to call him.  He had nothing to say.  Sad.  He lost his brother years ago, and now, he will never again have the chance to get him back.

A Ray of Sunshine

Sometimes people comment to me that they don't know how I do it... I've got a lot on my plate, it's true. But my life is overflowing with blessings. Just when a big bump in the road comes along, there's always a little extra sunshine streaking down on me to balance things out.

My daughter and her family, and my step-son and his wife came over for burgers and dogs tonight. Just what the doctor ordered...

Taking the plunge!

Well, the pool is finally clean enough to dive in! It's still a little cloudy, but there's no green in sight! Plenty good enough for us. The water should be ready for company by Monday. These hot days have made the water temperature perfect without having to put on the solar blanket.

When I first retired 3 years ago, I babysat for my grands for a few weeks. I got one of those little $10 pools for them to cool off in. They had a blast! And they didn't care how dirty the water got!

Ali, she's going to pay you back for that!

I told you so!

G#3 seems to be getting the best of Ali here!

I told Hubby I wanted to buy a real pool. When my daughter was young I had one of those 3' deep ones that come in a box from the box stores. They don't cost much to buy or maintain, and are the perfect size to float around in on a hot day. If you knew Hubby, you'd know that it would end up beyond that...

He declared that if we were buying a pool, it would be big enough for his 6'5" frame to swim in. (He is the small one in the family.) So we ended up with this monster that comes up to my armpits! I hate all the upkeep, but I'm glad he convinced me to get it. We've had my daughter's whole family and his son & DIL all together, splashing and having fun! Worth every penny and every minute spent working on it! I wouldn't trade those memories for anything!

G#3 2007

Ali and I practiced our 'routines' today in the pool. We do these handstands and back flips, then spring up in a big Olympic style finish with our arms in the air. She scored a 9.8 on the back flip tonight... her best ever! We also do synchronize swimming. Yes, we are talented!

Ali's finally old enough that she gets I do not want to stand there and count all day. She always asked me to count how long she stays under or how many somersaults she can do without stopping. We'll never get ready for the competition that way!