summer's end

Fall is in the air...Footballs rivalries are at their peak....(Go Blue)

Camping season is still in full swing, as I am a firm believer that the best time to camp is AFTER Labor Day.

We had a good summer this year.

Started in April with a visit to my friend Joan from Retirement Chronicles, and then a stop at my friend Cathy from Yooper Yarns,


Here we are again, at the end of summer...

May kicked off camping with our first stop at Brighton Rec,

June was Dale's mom graduation from college, camping at Pinckney Rec, and Balloonfest.



July was the parade in Cohoctah, (only parade you get to see twice...lol), camping at Brighton again.



August flew fast as we had some family stuff going on. The highlight of my summer was spending a long weekend with my bestie at Mecosta, Mi...We went to the Buckley Steam Engine show, and fished, and played cards, and hung out...came home, on a Monday, and Thursday, I left my husband and son and went back up and spent a girls weekend with bestie and her sister...it was so nice and relaxing to not have to worry about the kid and hubby, not be responsible for anyone but myself....we visited Amish Country by Big Rapids and got some Honey, Jam, Strawberries, Green Peppers, and enjoyed stepping back from the fast lane and enjoying the slower pace of life.



My 16 in Largemouth Bass pulled out of Lake Mecosta!



Now it's Labor Day weekend, and we have a couple of weekends left to camp, Hubby got a new job, so camping will be fewer and further between, but we are looking forward to moving and being closer to the Upper Peninsula, (we have a destination in mind, but aren't sharing at the moment)...

My Great Aunt and I had a conversation the other day, and she told me I was just like my Nonna, it broke Nonna's heart to leave Up North, and that if that was where my heart was, it was okay to go. Dale and I believe our hearts are up north, be it the U.P. or at least the northern part of the Lower Peninsula, we know it will not be easy to "make it" in the north, but that's where "home" is, so that's where we will go....

a new camping season

I wish it would hurry up and get here....

I'm getting in a hurry....

Except...I discovered that there have been some intruders in the camper in the last week since I have been in there....out with the bleach!!!!!!!!!!!

I was hoping to go this weekend...but now I'm not so sure...the darn weatherman predicted SNOW tomorrow night. Really, it's almost May! March was gorgeous. What's wrong April?

Life

Life isn't the greatest right now....we just found out that my Grama is quite a bit worse off than we thought. Very little of her heart is working. I remember a similar situation a few years ago. I hoped to never go through it again.

That's not going to happen....not the losing my Grama, that's inevitable.

But the part of having to sit there and watch, helplessly, waiting, waiting for the other shoe to drop, and her not be there any more. It's hard to be a caregiver, it's hard to have the medical training that allows you to know what is happening by the signs that the body physically gives.

It's hard to sit here on the couch and suddenly realize she isn't snoring anymore, "OH SHIT, is she okay?" and she is....but I know that the reality is, that it's possible one time she won't be. Or I will go to get her up, and she'll be gone...Gone to see my Grampa...I'm sure she is looking forward to it...she's lived a good life, and deserves peace.

Grama: I want you to know, I will always love you. Always miss you! I won't be able to watch the Golden Girls without thinking of you. "Thank you for being a friend" will bring tears to my eyes. Thank You for loving me, for caring about me, for teaching me all those things that only Grama's can teach. Thank you for sharing your beloved tea cups with your cherished granddaughters. I will never drink a cup of tea that tastes as good as the ones that Grama made. I will always remember the time we spent together. I will always remember how I almost ruined my 16th birthday party because I told my mom I didn't want to go to your house for the night, because I was being a typical teenager. Thank you Grama, for life. For what you taught, for what you showed, for what you lived.

Now it's time for me to stop showing my feelings. I must. For her sake. So that she doesn't feel bad about leaving us.

I have to take off my hat of grand daughter and put on my CNA/Nurse/caregiver hat. It no longer matters how I feel. It's all about her. She deserves my unselfish care. After all, wasn't it only a few years ago, that she gave it to me?





This is a picture of myself, my cousin Welcome, and my Grandparents, when Welcome and I were probably 4 and 6 respectively....

Looking forward to a New Year

2011....it sure has zoomed by!

Looking back, i have to say it was an interesting year to say the least. We had a wonderful summer with our camper, loved meeting new friends, saw a few new places, bought my husband a new truck (which is now broken down due to the accident), lost a few loved ones, and gained some new friends.

Looking forward to 2012...

There are lots of possibilities opening up for us, and a few humps to overcome still.

I am looking forward to the possibility of a new house of our own. Please pray for us as we make this big decision, as it means we will be moving many miles away from our family, however, that being said. While it is still only a possibility and there are a few things that have to fall into place before we make a final decision, we know that this would be good for us, because we will finally be able to be on our own, and while we would be far away, we would be close to some good friends who will be there for us. We would also be accomplishing a dream that has been mine, and has been Dale's, since before we were married. Our potential new home is in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

As far as humps go, the big one is my husband's truck. (rolling my eyes) the rest are small and easily overcomeable (is that a word?).

I can't wait to see what changes this new year brings. I hope the new year brings everything you wish for and your dreams come true!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to you and yours, from me, and mine!!!!

After Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is over...and the Christmas season has begun. My mother in law cooked 40 lbs of turkey to feed about 18 people and we had maybe 4 lbs left...

Friday was the Fantasy of Lights Parade in Howell, MI. It is a parade my husband, son, and I take in every year. It has gotten considerably smaller, when I was a child, there was at least 60 floats every year, this year I think there might have been 15. Chalk it up to the economy, I suppose. The floats were still beautiful. The bands played great. I think there were more people there than usual. (usual, being 20,000). It was nice to not have to wear 3 snowsuits, 4 sweatshirts, 2 pairs of jeans, 3 pairs of long johns....well you get the picture, to go to the parade this year. It never seems to fail it is sleeting about parade time, not this year. It was 60 degrees. I wondered if I was in Florida.



My husband is building my son's Christmas present this year. We wanted to get him a barn, for his tractors and animals, but all we could find in the store were cheaply made plastic ones. So, we decided Dale will build it. The final dimensions my husband came up with are 24 inches wide, by 30 in long, by 24 inches high. He says after it is put together, he is going to stand on it. If it will take him standing on it, it should hold up to all the abuse my 5 year old can give it. I will post a picture when it is done.

the problem of too many email accounts

I have about 7 different email accounts...at least...the problem is three of them are associated with google...either gmail or my one yahoo account that I used to create this blog.

I have trentonsmom2006@yahoo and trentonsmom2006@gmail...plus 2 more gmail accounts, one I cannot remember, but that's not the point...

For about a week maybe longer, I have been trying to get into my blog...it kept telling me my password was incorrect....

so I sit there telling myself, now I know that's the password...retype it...password incorrect...ARGH!

I never checked the username...guess what...i had the wrong user name...silly me!

so now that I have the correct user name entered, I am back on my little blogger world...excuse the absence, i was having a brain fart!