Gullywasher - A torrential rain that causes ditches to overflow creating flash floods on streets and roadways.
Lordy mercy have we had rain! Lots and lots and lots of rain.I like rain...the sound and the smell and how everything looks so clean and green!
But..........
Our 10 year old grandson is playing in a tournament in Panama City this week and the rain has slowed things down. We've had "frog stranglinggullywashers" as my Granny used to call them. Hard hard rain that makes a big muddy mess. Forget flip flops. Rain boots are needed.
They started their first game yesterday and had to stop for hours to wait for the rain to stop. I truly didn't think it would dry enough even if the rain stopped. But, the rain did stop and they got to play again later in the afternoon. They finished the game and won 10-0. They played again last night and won again 7-5. Waiting for his turn. Love that smile! Our son George (inside the fence) is the coach/manager. Our grandson up to bat.
So glad there are no games for his team today since it's another rainy day.
My tennis was rained out again this morning....grrrrr!
Love to read a good book snuggled up with a "blankie" and a good cup of coffee while listening to the rain.
Speaking of books....what are you reading???
"Father, help me to be a blessing to someone today."
Our soon to be 16 year old grandson is spending the week with us. We're really enjoying having him here. He and George are playing some golf and some chess and watching lots of sports, naturally. He and I have enjoyed some computer games together and I've loved cooking his favorite things. The boy can EAT! We all went to the movies this afternoon to see Knight and Day and loved it. We all said we hope there's a sequel. Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz are so good together. It was fun to watch. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Thanks for your comments and encouragement on my last post. I'm proud of myself...I did pretty darn good today. My tennis this morning was canceled due to rain, but I dusted off my treadmill and used it for the first time in 6 weeks. I drank more water too.
Now if I can just be better with my eating then my clothes will fit me better. LOL
I got this in an email and thought it was pretty funny:
"I don't want to brag or make anybody jealous or anything, but I can still fit into the earrings I wore in high school."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This was one of my daily devotionals this morning. It's a good one:
IMAGINE Imagine God always beside you.The thought of God always beside youwill keep you from doing things that you shouldn't do.The thought of God always beside youwill empower you to do things that you otherwise couldn't do.Imagine... ~A MountainWings Original~
"Father, help me to be a blessing to someone today."
As Bree's wedding drew near and things got really busy, I stopped exercising except for my tennis and bike rides and even those I did less than normal. And I never started back. And my eating has been out of control. OUT OF CONTROL!
The wedding was 6 weeks ago people. 6 weeks!
So....lately I've been saying things like this when I stand in front of the mirror: What are you waiting on? You're out of control! Get your hiney in gear! You're getting lazy! Get with the program! Let's get this party started! Who ARE you?
My mirror definitely has not said this: So I feel like this:
MY PLAN:
Tomorrow morning when I stand in front of my mirror, here's what I'm gonna say:
Today is the day! No excuses! You WILL exercise. You WILL watch what you eat. You WILL drink more water. You WILL feel better, have more energy and enjoy your clothes more.
And you still can eat some dark chocolate!!!! Yippee!
A girl's gotta have something to look forward to, right? ;-)
"Father, help me to be a blessing to someone today."
Make that "I"witness news...'cause I decided to go see the beach with my own eyes.
Since we got home from Nashville, I haven't felt 100%. My mouth has been pretty sore from the dental implant and my sinuses were kicking my booty. Between that and our oppressive heat, I didn't feel much like going to the beach. Thank goodness I started feeling much better yesterday, so George and I decided to ride our bikes over to the beach for a first hand view last night right before sunset. Still tons and tons of our beautiful sugar white sand! (that's seaweed NOT tar balls on the beach)
We definitely have some June grass (seaweed) right now, which is normal this time of year, but we didn't see any evidence of oil or tar balls. Not even one. No oil smell either, just a mild seaweed smell. Seaweed is aggravating, but no big deal. It seems to come and go this time of year. Sometimes it's bad in one area and nowhere in sight in other areas. It leaves as suddenly as it comes.
We talked with some ladies who were enjoying the sunset and they said it had been a wonderful day with no problems at all. A few days ago they got to the beach around 10am and there were some tar balls and plenty of people cleaning them up. They decided to leave for awhile and when they came back at 2pm, there was no sign of it at all. They said it was amazing how quickly it comes in, is cleaned up, and the beach is back to business as usual. We saw a beautiful sunset as we were climbing back on our bikes and then we hurried home before it got too dark.
Here's what our home owner association update email said last night:
"Although we have seen some tar on the beaches of Sandestin this week, fortunately, it has been very sporadic and clean up has been immediate from the local agencies as well as staff. For the most part, the beach visitors have not been affected by the occurrences."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We are patiently waiting for our son George and his family to arrive. Just baked a cake.
Can't wait to see them.
"Father, help me to be a blessing to someone today."
We got home last night from Nashville after a good, but quick, trip. Miss Daisy loved getting to go and was such a good girl. Look at this unique dress made of crayons that was in a glass case in the hotel's lobby. So cool. It made for a good photo.
Our dental appointments went smoothly. We both got our teeth cleaned and George got his front tooth recapped after his recent fall. You can't even tell which tooth was damaged. Our dentist is the best! My dental surgery was good, although I'm still a bit sore today.
I got two good surprises when I got home.
This cute card and magnet from Carolyn @ Harbor Hon. I think she knows me and my love of chocolate! Thanks Carolyn! I love it! And this very sweet card from Teresa @ Grammy Girlfriend. Thanks Teresa, you always amaze me with your thoughtfulness. THE BAD (It looks ugly too!)
We had a bad tire blow out yesterday in Birmingham right on I-65 in rush hour traffic. So scary.
(I took this photo as the mechanic at the garage was taking it out of the car.)
Luckily for us, a good Samaritan stopped before the police even arrived and began helping us put the spare on. What a nice young man. His father owns a garage nearby, so once he got the tire on, we went to the garage to see about getting another spare just in case we needed it on the way home. I met his mother and father and made sure they knew what a nice son they had. God was really watching out for us.
THE UGLY (this could also be considered bad as far as I'm concerned)
Look what I saw in my pool...again! I was talking on the phone with my friend when I glanced out the window and thought I saw a stick sticking up out of the pool. Not a stick! No way, no how. @#$%&@#! Another snake I thought. 1-1/2 to 2 feet long. Dangerous looking and so ugly!
I didn't get as close as these photos look. I used my zoom feature to get some good photos so I could get it identified. I emailed my friend Cheryl @ Cherdecor and asked if her son Chad could identify it for me. He studies, writes books about and loves things I can't stand. I got a quick and surprising answer. It's not a snake at all. It's a legless glass lizard. Have you ever?!
Here's what the article I read says about them:
Glass Lizards are a genus of lizards which have evolved to be without legs. To the casual observer, these lizards are mistaken to be snakes. However, unlike snakes, they have eyelids and external ear openings. They move in snake-like fashion; however, their bodies lack the suppleness of snakes. Snakes have long bodies and short tails. Glass Lizards, like other lizards have long tails and short bodies.
Thanks Cheryl and Chad for letting me know what it is.
But...I don't care what it is, it is not welcome in my pool!
I'm still shaking!
What in the world am I going to do about EVER being able to enjoy my pool again?
Enough is enough!
"Father, help me to be a blessing to someone today."
It depends on who you asks! LOL (I'm actually just sore on that side of my mouth today, but not too bad. ) We both got our teeth cleaned. George got repairs from his recent fall and I got my last dental implant. Now, I just have to let it heal for six months.
On our way home.... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FYI...as far as I know our beautiful beach is still okay. Here's what my friend Beth had to say on Facebook yesterday
"I am happy to report that Destin/Miramar Beaches are still oil free with enough white sand for the entire State of Florida....Please don't listen to everything the media says.....There are always two sides to every story....While we still have boomers out beaches are open and busy.....What a great day....."
I saw on GMA this morning that there are tar balls on Panama City beaches and that's just an hour east of us. My friend Vickie said that she and Max found one (just one) tar ball when they walked on our beach just a few days ago. It was small and they would have missed it if they weren't actually looking for them. They ran into a worker who told them we might have lucked out. It looped around us and went east.
Fingers crossed and we're all praying that a solution will be found TODAY.
"Father, help me to be a blessing to someone today."
"Mothers are known to be the heart of a home, but the fathers provide the backbone." HAPPY FATHERS DAY to all the dads out there. I have some special ones in my family, including our sons and our son-in-law. And I know beyond a doubt that our new son-in-law is gonna be a wonderful dad too when they decide to have a family.It's a real blessing to watch our sons be such wonerful fathers to their children. I'm so very proud of you Eric, George and Mike.
My sweet George has been the very best father to all of our children. As you might know already, we became a blended family....yours, mine and ours... when we married 32 years ago. But it quickly became a true family. We don't like using those words "step" or "half" in our family. Just like the song says WE ARE FAMILY! We might not all be related by blood, but we are related by heart...and that's all that matters.George had two children, Kim and George, from his first marriage and I had Eric from mine. He was only 3 when we married, but turned 4 three days later. The above song says it all. (I dare you to listen to it without a tear or two.) George accepted Eric as his son from the "get go". He became a father to him in every way. Three years later we had Bree and our family became complete.
Thank you George for loving us all. You're the best husband and father! Miss Daisy loves her Daddy too! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We arrived in Nashville this afternoon, so we're celebrating FATHERS DAY here .
"Father, help me to be a blessing to someone today."
Poor George...we're traveling to Nashville today, so his Fathers Day will be spent on the road. We have dental appointments on Monday and Tuesday. We both get our teeth cleaned, he gets some repairs from his fall and I'm having my last dental implant (@$%&!). Fun fun fun!
Miss Daisy is a happy girl since she gets to go this time!
Happy Fathers Day everyone!
"Father, help me to be a blessing to someone today."
I tried to lay out for awhile, but when you're too scared in get in the water (darn snakes!), it's almost impossible to just chill out. I did oh so carefully go down the steps and dunk real quick (about every 10 minutes), but even the pool water was warm. I gave up and decided to do a little shopping. THAT always makes me smile, especially when Stein Mart is having a big sale! Coming home I just couldn't get cool. And then I notice the temperature ~ 100 degrees! And with some humidity, it felt even warmer...and sticky too. (I took the photo with my iPhone when I stopped at a red light.)
How's your weekend going?
"Father, help me to be a blessing to someone today."
Our 10 year old grandson is playing in a tournament in Panama City this week and the rain has slowed things down. We've had "frog strangling gullywashers" as my Granny used to call them. Hard hard rain that makes a big muddy mess. Forget flip flops. Rain boots are needed.
Waiting for his turn.
Love that smile!
Our son George (inside the fence) is the coach/manager.
Our grandson up to bat.
