It took me way too long to follow up my last post but, the answer is that I'm headed to Vermont in October!  For thirteen years, I worked for a wonderful company based  in South Burlington, Vermont.       During that time, I met some of my favorite people in the world.  Two of my former coworkers have even come to stay with me at my house.  Now, it is my turn to visit.  I can't wait!  Sidebar:  I still work at the same job; we were sold to a new company.  

Christy is going to be my traveling buddy.  We are staying with my sweet friend Liz, who will also be our tour guide. We are also planning to visit Montreal, Canada, as well, so I'm currently brushing up on my French! 

Kristi, Christina, Kim, Lorraine.....I'm heading your way!!!!  I hope to see all of you and maybe even Mike too.

My sweet Jill.  I didn't get there soon enough but, I know that wherever you are, you are proud of me for finally facing my fear of having a panic attack on a plane.  I can almost hear you saying, "IT'S ABOUT TIME!!!"  Liz asked me if there was anything I had to see on this trip and I told her the only thing I MUST do is eat at The Shanty.  You ate there every week with your Grandmother and had hoped I eat there one day too.  

My parents have been doing pretty well lately and I enjoy helping them out.  It has become a full time job on top of my full time job and I'm trying to keep my house from imploding.  I need a maid!!! 

Some photos from the past 2 weeks:  

Blossom has started dragging her back, left, foot.  Scott took her to the Vet who said it was arthritis.  We both have a feeling that is not arthritis and plan to get it x-rayed.  

Dog-Gone Squirrels

Note:  I originally wrote this post on Sunday night but never posted it.

I just went to put some Nyjer seed in my Finch feeder and this is what I found....

Baby Jay

My Sunday School class prepared a meal for Baby Jay's family tonight and I had the honor of helping to deliver it.  So that means...I got to meet Baby Jay!  He's every bit as perfect as I thought he'd be.  What an answer to prayer it is to have Jay home from the hospital and the whole family under one roof.  Even though we all think he is perfect, he will have one or more heart surgeries in his future.  Jay's family has a strong faith and will trust God every step of the way.  As I was driving to work one morning this week, "Let The Waters Rise" by Mikeschair came on the radio and I thought of Jay's parents.  Here are some of the lyrics to this beautiful song: 

Don't know where to begin
Its like my world's caving in
And I try but I can't control my fear
Where do I go from here?

Sometimes its so hard to pray
When You feel so far away
But I am willing to go
Where you want me to
God, I trust You

There's a raging sea
Right in front of me
Wants to pull me in
Bring me to my knees
So let the waters rise
If You want them to
I will follow You

Tuesday

I know what you are thinking...you are thinking that is a great title for today's post.  Thank you for thinking that.  Warning: today's post is rather random.   

Saturday, mom and I ate at Rippington's - a restaurant in my hometown.  We were lucky enough to get a window table.  Naturally, I took a picture.

I'm not sure why it looks so dark...it was actually very bright where we were sitting.  Funny thing about a small town, while we were sitting there, we saw a friend of ours walk by with his new bride.  Congratulations Andrew.  (Like he even knows about this blog!)

Some of my favorite stories about my town came from my grandmother.  You can't really see it in this small picture, but a train track runs through the middle of the town.  My grandmother told me that during World War I, soldier trains used to come through the town.  Well, some people would stand along the tracks and watch the trains full of soldiers passing by.  While the trains were rolling very slowly through town, the soldiers would yell out their names so that the people (mostly girls) standing around could write them down and write letters to them off in battle.  Isn't that cool?

Finally, I'd like to ask anyone who may be reading this blog to please say a prayer for my good friends the Pattersons and their baby, Jay.  Baby Jay was born Sunday and has just been transferred to the Levine Children's Hospital where he is undergoing testing for rapid breathing.  My heart is heavy for this family and for their precious newborn boy.  I hope to add a "Good News" update in the near future.

Baby Shower

Today, I helped my friend Yvette throw a baby shower for our friend Ronda.  One of my very important duties was to bring the balloons.  Let me just tell you, driving in the car with a dozen balloons is much harder than I imagined.  I felt like they were following me around just waiting to pop in my ear.... There was only one casualty....RIP little lavender balloon. 

Here's a picture of me, Ronda and Yvette.

And here's another picture of our guest of honor smiling.  Ronda is always smiling...except for when she isn't.

I have to admit that most of my pictures didn't turn out that great (too dark).  You will be glad to hear that my photography class starts next week and hopefully the quality of the pictures on this blog will improve.  :-)  

Here's someone we see on here frequently...my friend Christy:

And here she is with our friend Katie who came all the way from Tennessee to attend Ronda's shower.  Well, and to spend the Memorial Day weekend with her. 

Now for some random shots.  I'm so disappointed that some of the pictures are too dark to post. 

(Insert frowny face here!!!)

Here's a picture of Donnie taking of picture of me taking a picture.

Ronda and her husband, Scott, have 2 daughters.  They don't yet know the gender of this baby-to-be so we made sure to cover all of the bases:

Yvette designed this cake for the bakery.  Not only did it look fantastic, it tasted AWESOME!  Half of the cake was chocolate and the other half was white cake.

Best wishes to Scott, Ronda and the girls!  We all can't wait to meet this new little one.