April Flowers

Happy Birthday to Dad's sisters.  These women that I love so much all have birthdays in the month of April.

Left to Right:  Aunt Sara, Aunt Jean & Aunt Zell.  There is only one thing missing to make this picture perfect.  Their sister, Faye, passed away several years ago.  Aunt Faye's birthday was in April as well.  The above photo was sent to me by Aunt Jean's daughter, Angela.  Angie's husband is sitting to the right of Aunt Zell; his head got "chopped off".  Uncle John (Sara's husband) is on the far left.

My week in review:  

Scott continued to work on getting the garden set up this week.  Even though it was only 7pm when I took this photo, you can see the moon.

Dad got his lawn mower stuck in the mud this week.  Stay tuned for updates.

Dad likes to read the classifieds.  I don't know what he is looking for.  Update:  He told me he is looking for a new tractor w/ a front end loader and a bush hog.  Yes, you read that right.  

I saw this on Wednesday night.  Still stuck but Dad is clearly working on it.

My Snowball Bush is starting to explode with blooms.

Here comes the Rhododendron...

My Lavender is making an appearance...

Progress is still being made on the fence...

I should have taken a picture of Dad's back yard Thursday night.  DANIEL got the lawn mower unstuck AND he cut the grass.  I'm not supposed to tell Kevin that or he would not be happy that his son was cutting the grass without him there to supervise.  It was all Dad's idea.  

Balto and our neighbor's dog Kacey had a staring contest.  Balto won because Kacey got bored and left. 

Walking out of the woods at Mom's house I came upon the cat. We surprised each other.  

I took this picture of that cat on Kevin's car last week.  I'm thankful it has taken up with our family because I sure miss having one.

Friday, I called Christy and we had lunch at Provision's in Waxhaw.  It was Good Friday and we both had the day off.  While we were out, Mom called to tell me that Dad's glasses were ready and asked if I could take him to pick them up.  On the way back, we stopped for his hair appointment.  

The lady that cut Dad's hair was very nice but didn't say much.  She asked me if I was his Granddaughter and  Dad and I teased (not in front of her) that she cut her tip in half when she did that.  We were just kidding of course.  

Daniel and Dad have almost the exact same pair of glasses.  They are both made by Nike but, Dad's cost MUCH MUCH more than Daniel's.

Mom and I went to visit Aunt Ruby on Saturday.  Aunt Ruby, always watching out for her sister, made Mom put her feet up.  

Today is Easter so Daniel sported a bow tie and suspenders for the occasion.

Laura painted with watercolors.  The trick is keeping her from painting her face, her arm and eating the watercolors.

I talked her into showing off her painting.  

After church we enjoyed Easter lunch at Mom and Dad's house.

Scott is now digging an irrigation system for the garden.

While Scott and Blossom worked, I took Balto to see Nana.

We ran into the cat who was sitting at the door waiting for supper; Balto cried.  

Friday, after Dad and I returned from his hair appointment, he said he was heading to Great Falls, SC to help a friend's son fix his tractor.  Great Falls is quite a little hike from where we live and I didn't think Dad needed to go by himself.  I told him that I was going to drive him there.  We had a really nice drive and since we were mostly taking back roads I was doing fine.  I'm not familiar with Great Falls at all so I was on alert but still doing well.  All of a sudden we reached the top of a hill.... I looked down and saw a long bridge, then I saw water on both sides....I started to get anxious because I had a memory of a large dam in the area from riding through there once as a child.  I didn't say anything to Dad but my brain was hyperventilating with scary, panicky thoughts.  I had no idea how I was going to be able to drive Dad across this bridge to get to where he wanted to go.  Sure enough, when I looked to the right of me...there it was.  

Luckily, there wasn't a lot of traffic so I didn't feel rushed.  I drove across the bridge, shallow breaths and all, and I made it to the other side.  I felt a rush of relief and then, fear.  I would have to drive back across only this time, I'd know well in advance what was coming.  

Here's a picture that I found of the dam online.  This beautiful photo was taken by Joseph C. Hinson.  Mr. Hinson is a professional photographer from Lancaster, SC.   

I was terrified to drive over the bridge but I never said anything to Dad.  Part of me thought about asking him if we could change places just long enough for him to drive to the other side.  I felt so sure I was going to pass out from hyperventilating and not make it across.  Thankfully, there were no cars behind me so I was able to drive at a pace that I felt comfortable with (not too fast!).   We lived.  As I was driving, I kept trying to analyze my fear.  I found that I was not afraid of the water nor was I afraid of the dam that was angrily spilling water beside me (there had just been a bad storm in Great Falls an hour before).  My fear was clearly of being trapped.  I felt that if I needed to pull off of the road for a panic attack, I would not be able to do so until I made it all the way across the bridge.  This is a huge clue to managing my driving anxiety.  In my research, I have found this is a very common issue for anyone who has suffered a panic attack while driving.  I'm working on it. 

What a weekend, I'm actually ready to go back to work tomorrow so I can get relax!!!!  Happy Easter everyone.  He is risen.