Michigan Bound...

We carved out 3 days to make a quick trip to Michigan. We left Sunday morning, September 11th and drove to Chelsea. We met Jake at Joe's Crab Shack and had a lovely lunch, his treat. Then we drove back to Chelsea and had ice cream at Twisters, Claude's treat. Jake looked good and seems to be doing well. Always love being with our son.

Then we left Chelsea about 6:30pm to go to Muskegon. As luck would have it, we encountered a wreck in a construction zone. The wait was 1 1/2 hours. Ugh!! We texted family that we would be in late and just go to the hotel. Every Michigan resident will tell you they have 2 seasons in Michigan: winter and construction. Amen. Lots of road construction and repair going on everywhere. Don't know how they will finish it before snow falls.

Monday, September 12th, we were up early and off to Katelyn and Drew's new apartment. They just moved to a 2 bedroom within the same apartment community they were living in. They had put lots of stuff already put away and still had the living room full of boxes. Raelyn had some breakfast and then we played a bit before her nap time. She has learned to crawl. We gave her a new ball we purchased in Berea. Mimi used to make these balls for babies. She has a game she plays with her Mother and Father where she scrunches up her face and makes a little growling noise. She taught Claude how to play. Raelyn won!! And, with moving boxes aplenty, she had to be in one and get pulled around the floor. Such a cutie. Her hair is starting to grow and it appears to be a strawberry blond color.

Drew worked all night Sunday night doing the jobs of two men. He was really exhausted. So we had him take a nap when Raelyn was taking a nap. Claude and I wanted to do something to help the kids in this move. We determined getting them a real bed would be a good thing. So while Drew and Raelyn slept, Claude and Katelyn went out to find a bed. Fortunately Katelyn and Drew had done some looking so she knew where to go. I set to work helping Katelyn finish unpacking her kitchen. It quickly became clear they needed a few things to help make this kitchen work. I started my list of things that might help everything have a place and what things might need to be paired down. I got a few more boxes emptied and had a plan in place about the time Claude and Katelyn came home. Bed purchased and set for delivery Monday afternoon. 

While we were with the Roper's, Nissa and Todd were at his check-up. He had cancer and this was a follow-up treatment. He is doing well and shows no signs of the cancer. This was the best news we could have heard all day. So very grateful and happy about this. Todd can now go hunting this season. He has missed the last two and was on cloud nine he could go this year.

Off to Muskegon we all went to meet other family for lunch at the Pita Place. This is a must stop for Claude and me when we go to Muskegon. Nissa, Paul and Aubrey joined us and we all had a nice lunch together. Seated around the table are Drew, Aubrey, Claude, Nissa, Paul and Katelyn. The next two pictures are Raelyn's feet and Raelyn eating Greek fries. She does take after her mother, father and Claude in that regard. 

Then we all went back to Nissa's house for a visit. Katelyn and I snuck out for a bit to go to K-Mart. I really wanted to get the items that would help her finish putting her kitchen together. We found those and headed back to Nissa's. We took some much treasured family photos. With Nissa's kids all grown and out of the house, it is nice to get the pictures when they are all together.

First, Nissa's kids: Katelyn, Paul and Aubrey.

Then, Nissa with her kids: Paul, Nissa, Katelyn and Aubrey.

Then us with the Grandmonsters: Paul, Sandi, Claude, Katelyn (on the ground) and Aubrey.

Claude got a quick picture of me with Raelyn. So fun to have a baby around again.

The kids all left and Claude and I took Nissa and Todd to dinner. After shutting down the Pizza Ranch (we are such happening people), we all went to our hotel room for a visit. 

Tuesday morning we checked out of the hotel and met Drew, Katelyn and Raelyn for breakfast before we hit the road. This is a picture I just love. Raelyn holding Claude's finger. I posted it on Facebook with the caption: Bye Grampa. I love you!

It was a very quick trip. So happy we were able to see everyone for a bit. Getting hugs is the best. Catching up face-to-face is the best. Very happy we were able to make this quick trip.

Time Out for Sisters...

Our Stake Relief Society Presidency has a 'Time Out for Sisters' every year. This year it was Saturday, September 10th. The theme was from John 6:35 "I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger." 

The first speaker was Nathan Wood, Director, University of Kentucky Couple/Family Therapy. He also is in our Ward at Church. The title of his talk was "All These Things Shall Give Thee Experience". He started by sharing Max Lucado's book "You Are Special". He had the pictures displayed on a big screen which we all could see. Then he read the story and changed the pictures accordingly. How happy I was that he shared this story. He called it the best self-help book out there. I own the book along with several that are just my favorite 'moral' books. They are beautifully illustrated and their stories each teach a valuable moral lesson. I highly recommend every Gramma having this book to read to her grandmonsters. 

In the book the people of the village spend their days putting stars on people who are good or pretty and putting dots on those who are not perceived as such. The end result is you are covered with stars and dots or mostly stars or mostly dots and that says a lot about what others think of you. Nathan likened these stars and dots to our thoughts and feelings. Then he said, "If we are not our thoughts and feelings, who are we? We are daughters and sons of Heavenly Father and he loves us." 

He gave us an exercise to move though these times with difficult thoughts or feelings. He told us all not to think about polar bears. Well, that became the elephant in the room. He listed a bunch of ways were were not to think about polar bears while we were all trying not to think about polar bears. Can't be done. Then he told us about this meditation exercise. See, our brains go non-stop all the time. (Side note: I once heard a person diagnosed with early stages of Alzheimer's say she knew something was wrong when she would have periods of time when her brain just wasn't thinking, at all.) The exercise was to breathe in for 4 seconds and then breathe out for 6 seconds. This means you have 6 complete breathes in a minute. While you are concentrating on this, you can't have the struggles in your brain that a non-stop brain just has. We tried it with our eyes closed and it really felt peaceful. I didn't think about that polar bear one time. When I got home and went to bed that night, I tried this technique to slow down my hyper-active mind and body. It worked again. Nice tip.

The next speaker was Sister Robin Cotton. She is the Louisville Temple Matron. Her topic was "What we are is God's gift to us. What we become is our gift to God". She shared three ways to become better than we are.
     1) Learn who we are.
     2) Accept and prepare because we will have hard things.
     3) Learn how to access the power of heaven by turning to the Lord and trusting in Him.

One of the sentences she said I liked the most was: "You are limitless within the limits." Think about that in today's "I am entitled" world. How much better would our world be if we recognized that not everything is okay, that they are and should be boundaries and that is okay. We have lots of room to play within limits. Love it!!

A special musical number "Come Unto Him" was enjoyed by all. Kathy Alexander accompanied on the piano, Juniper Parker played the flute and the vocalists were Natalie Anderson, Randi Lowe, Nicole Charles and Nikara Charles.

Kathy Hymas, our Stake Relief Society President, spoke next. Her topic was "Charity, the pure love of Christ". She reminded us that being charitable is not always convenient. However, when we give of ourselves, we are filled.

Concluding remarks were offered by Pres. Todd Hamblin, 2nd Counselor in the Stake Presidency. He talked about 'taking time out...' We need to take time out to feel the Spirit and connect with Heavenly Father. We need to take time out daily to meet with our make in prayer and scripture study. We need to take time out weekly to partake of the sacrament. We need to take time out frequently to attend the temple.

A lovely lunch of salads was provided. I opted to head to my car. I needed to finish up preparations for my next Institute class and we were leaving for Michigan the next day. That hour of study before my next meeting was invaluable. 

Excellent event. Well attended. Full of uplifting, cup-filling inspiration. Totally worth the time. 

Tidbits...

Here are some random things that I find interesting in life...

September 8th, I took this picture for the Mini's as Claude drove us in to Georgetown to get my new tire. The Toyota Plant in Georgetown has expanded and is continuing to do so. This necessitated the addition of an interchange to handle all the traffic, especially during rush hours. They have been putting the bridge part over I-75. This is the bridge spans in place with no road on top. It is fascinating to watch, even though I am almost positive I picked up the nail along this stretch of highway that gave me the slow leak and need to buy a new tire. This interchange will not give us an interchange at mile marking 125, 126, 127 and 129. Not bad for a town the size of Georgetown. Hope it doesn't cause more congestion.

September 9th, while reading my Ensign for September, I came across this C.S. Lewis quote that I loved. "Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only in having more of it than the next man."

September 8th, Claude detailed my car. I ran it through a car wash the day prior. So when I got into my car September 9th, it was like stepping into a brand new car. It was such a nice thing for him to do for me. I keep my car cleaned out of junk and stuff, but I am truly not good at the vacuuming and cleaning the inside. This was a most pleasant treat.

September 11th, I noticed something shiny in the morning on the deck as I walked past our living room windows. I paused and realized the spiders had a very, very busy night. I count at least 5 spider webs. 

While purchasing Papa's groceries yesterday, I went to pick up bananas. The man really eats the bananas lately. But that is a good thing. I digress...When I went to the banana counter, I saw this cute thing dancing around on the floor as the air moved it along.

It is a balloon. I wanted Bailey to see this so I took a picture. Such a cute balloon.

Tires & Cars...

So, the last time I posted (September 3) about cars, I mentioned my left front tire having a slow leak. End result, after another day with low air pressure, I called Frank Shoop. Took the car in September 7th for them to see what was causing this leak. 

While they were checking it, I strolled to the sales floor and was introduced to a very nice young man named Orlando. He showed me two cars I was interested in, a Buick LaCrosse and a Buick Envision. The LaCrosse is the biggest sedan Buick makes now, much to my chagrin. As soon as I peeked in I was disappointed. There was a big console between the driver and passenger side of the front seat. Even looking at it I felt claustrophobic. I asked and learned they are making all the cars this way. NOOOOO... Someone must really think that is a great idea but it isn't me! I really liked the Envision best. Size-wise it is between the Enclave and the Encore. And, it is supposed to be a cross between a sedan and an SUV. It truly looks like an SUV. I did not drive either car. But I did have Orlando show me the color possibilities. There was a dark blue that almost looked purple. Okay, I had no intention of purchasing a car. I stated that right up front and very matter-of-factly to Orlando. But I assured him if that car really was a deep purple, I would write a check that day. (Seriously, I had no checks with me, but I would have called Claude.) It turned out to be the angle on a beautiful deep blue color. However, they do have a paint color that is amethyst. That is a lighter version of purple. I was struck by it but would need to see a real car in that color before purchasing it. While I love purple, I also know very well that not all things in life should be purple. Even cars.

I had a fun time visiting with Orlando. He was definitely not a pressure salesman and I totally appreciated that fact. I told him I wanted Claude to look at the cars and maybe drive them as we processed the purchase of a car.

In the meantime, the slow leak problem turned out to be a nail in the tire. My first question, "I bought my tires here. Are they covered in a warranty?" The answer, "No." This is a road hazard and that is not covered in the warranty. Of course... New tire would be $150. Not in stock. They could have it by the afternoon. This was a Wednesday and my afternoon and evening were full. I opted to come back on Thursday to get the new tire put on.

Off to the bank, the grocery store for Papa and then to Papa's. My evening would be spent teaching Institute. 

In the meantime, back in Sadieville, our shower was leaking again. This happened earlier in the year. Claude tried to repair it but we still had a leak to the basement. Eventually Claude gave in and called a plumber who fixed the leak and told Claude he would need to re-caulk at certain intervals. Claude made a nice patch in the vent in the basement and we were happy. Until...Claude tried to re-caulk. Then we had another leak.  Off came the vent cover repair job Claude did on the previous repair. Down went the brown plastic tub to catch the water so it didn't damage the basement carpet. And, Claude proceeded to try to repair. After a period of several days, he finally called a plumber. While I was at the dealership, Claude was working with a nice older gentleman as he worked on our shower drain. He completely replaced that pipe and told Claude he shouldn't have to caulk it at all, ever. We have let the opening in the basement alone until we are sure we have no more leaks but all is well. This little older man was so nice Claude said he felt like he should pay him more. I found that interesting!

I went back Thursday morning, September 8th, and Claude rode in with me. While they put the new tire on the car, Claude and I looked up Orlando and Claude had a nice visit with him. Claude test drove the Envision. He liked it as well. For some reason, even though it also has a big console between the driver and passenger seats, it feels a little bigger. If it comes with a sun-roof, that would help even more. 

Okay, the cute part is that green Jeep Claude saw some time back on Frank Shoop's lot. It was on one of the trips to fix his Jeep when it kept dying on him. It is a very, very bright lime green. We are at that awkward place where it is time to look at replacing both our cars. Not a fun place to be. We were hoping to wait for Claude until next year when Jeep puts out a truck version of the Jeep. But that green Jeep really speaks to him every time he sees it. So, while we are talking with Orlando, Claude said, "So how about this, you give me a buy one get one free deal. I'll buy the car out right and you throw in the Jeep?" Orlando got a great laugh out of that. 

They put my new tire on. I paid them, and we were off to have a nice lunch together. We haven't determined to buy me a new car yet. I do really like the Envision better. But we'll see what we decide. 

In the meantime, I went out yesterday to drive into Georgetown and, wait for it, wait for it, my left rear tire was down to 15 pounds. What in the world is going on? I pulled out the portable charger and filled it with air. Now I'll just watch and see what happens. Goodness.

And...He is Appointed AGAIN!!

I know when I return home and find my hubby sitting on his end of the sofa and he looks at me with what he thinks is an 'innocent' look followed by "How much do you love me?" that Claude has done it again.

This time he was asked and accepted and appointment to the Kentucky Infrastructure Authority. Who knows all this will entail. Not I. However, I do know it will keep him busy in a very productive way and that is always a very good thing.

This will conflict with some boards he sits on with Bluegrass ADD so he will be released from them. 

Gotta love the man. He doesn't know how to have a very full retirement life.