Happy Birthday dear Gracie!

G#3 is five today!

The older I get, the faster time zooms by! Remember when a month felt like an eternity? Now, if something only takes a year, I worry about it coming too soon and not being ready! I guess it's because we measure our time by our experiences. Time is relative.

Comparing Gracie's five years to my fifty-plus, it is but a drop in the bucket. I know it won't be long until I am watching her exchange her wedding vows or graduated from college! Is that why we put so much more importance on pictures and videos as we get older? Does the moment pass without enough savoring time?

Gracie, today I will ponder over the special moments of the last five years and celebrate the glorious wonder you put into my life...

Love, Nana

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!

Oh, to be loved!

I feel so loved in Blogville! The nice people here share their life with me. They show me pictures of their artwork, their favorite finds, their gardens, their families and pets, their travels... I love that they leave me nice comments filled with encouragement. We share happy times and sad. Driving to Blogville every morning is a very welcoming part of my day!



I have been so blessed with wonderful blog friends! They have presented me with thoughtful awards since shortly after I started blogging. I love getting them, too! It seems lately though that we're all having a tough time keeping up with blogging, reading, commenting, passing on...



Several of you simply do not have time to do it anymore and I understand. I may get to that point. But for now, I'm trying to simplify by life in Blogville without giving up anything I enjoy.


If you follow my becoming an author blog, or my blahwg! blog, you will notice a change in the sidebar... It's a lot shorter. I removed most of the awards. They're not gone - just relocated. I love getting feedback or I wouldn't be here, right? Sometimes I get an award that is presented to me without specifying which blog. So, since I post on three different blogs, I displayed my awards on each one. I didn't realize when I started it how many awards would be coming my way! Whoopee! I'm like a kid at Christmas! I would hate for my blog friends to pull up my page and think that I had neglected to post the award they so lovingly took the time to pass my way.


For now, when I get an award for a particular blog, I will post it on that blog, but display it on the sidebar of my essays blog. That way I don't have to update three times. My essays blog is just my 'everything else' blog anyway... not book stuff, not farm stuff.


Most of you have already seen my new 'pass it along' rule. I simply cannot find the time to select and go to five, six or fourteen other sites to present the awards. Based on your feedback, most of you agree. I mostly feel it's more special if you're the ONE I select rather than one in a list. And, if I only name one or two, I feel more people will be inclined to check them out...


I wish blogger had a way to automatically update the list of the blogs I follow. I thought about consolidating it onto one blog too, but decided against it for now. I know most of you love to have new visitors to your blogs and the more sidebars you appear on, the more visitors you'll attract. So for now, I'll continue to (if I remember) update the blogs I follow on all three.

I've tried cutting down on commenting... Can't do it! I've been leaving shorter ones though. I want you to know if I love your pictures, or if I can relate to your message. For those of you that let me reply to your comments via e-mail... thanks! It is a time-saver. It's easier to have a dialog with people if I don't have to go to their blog to comment on a comment they left me.

So, now that I'm done rambling, it's time for feedback... Are you trying to fit in time to keep up with life and blogging? What hints do you have to share for saving e-time, without having to sacrifice the wonderful friendships you have developed?

Hail Yeah!

Ali and I were in the pool cleaning the walls when the sky turned really dark. Papaw was grilling some burgers and dogs, so I thought it was time to get out anyway. Good timing! Here's what came up a few minutes later...

Like minds?

"O, for a horse with wings!" --William Shakespeare

Coming home...

A while back I introduced you to my first love Maggie Mae... well, my first equine love. The story continues...

If you follow my essays blog, yesterday's post was about a friend losing her home because of being laid off from GM. Her plant is closing soon and they have been evicted because the landlord was worried about her income. They were renting a farm in hopes of buying it. They relocated to Mansfield after our plant announced it was closing. So now, here she goes again. But she has no where to take her horses. She sold her mare Vanity yesterday and the lady is picking her up Tuesday. She is heartbroken about it.

Her little boy loves my Maggie Mae! Here is a video of his favorite pastime with her. It is a great testament of how sweet and gentle she is, to be trusted to run with a small child.

I gave Maggie to her when I retired because I wanted to make sure she had a great home. Now that she can no longer keep her, I am getting her back. I promised her that if her situation turned around quickly she could have her back. But I can't afford to keep three horses forever. So I may be faced with a big decision... I don't think I can bear to part with Maggie again, unless it's to give her back to Teresa.

It's bittersweet for me to have a glimmer of sunshine from someone else's misfortune. I feel so badly for my friend. But I can't wait to throw my arms around my Maggie Mae and ride her down the bike trail again...