Life is Grand

All is well and everyone is fine. What more could I ask for or want. I am in a mode where if things just stay like this for a while I would be thrilled. I guess right now is called the peak. I know without a doubt there will be the valley coming up again someday but for now I am happy to be sitting on the peak.


Allison is 4 days shy of being 10 months old. Lauren is about 11 days shy of being 25 years old and I am 11 days shy of being 48. Lauren and I were both born on May 29. My husband loves to tell everyone that is how he planned it but we all know who really is in charge.

My mom is coming out May 28 for a visit and we will once again have her here for our birthdays. We usually go for Japanese food and this year I think Lauren wants to go out afterward for her 25th year of life celebration. Sounds good to me as my celebration will be complete visiting with Mom and watching Allison. To me the simple things in life are the best and most enjoyable.

While my mom is here we will be heading out for a 3 day stay at New Smyrna Beach with the Forney's. It will be Allison's first trip to the beach and I am so looking forward to that experience and laying in the sun and tanning and just plain ol' relaxing. I will take plenty of pictures and hope to make many memories of the 4 generations together again. Happy Days to you all.

No it Hasn't .....Really???

I forgot all about updating this blog. I went back to read it and realized it has been a very, very long time since I last wrote. Things are still going well. Everyone is still doing good. Thank God.

Chuck's work has put him on 32 hour weeks since things have slowed down. Funny how that didn't even phase us since the alternative of being given zero hour weeks could have been so much worse. If anything it gives him a day to get things done or do nothing at all. Who wouldn't want that? I would love it.

I am thinking back to what has transpired since Feb. and I know we have refinanced so the lower monthly payment is nicer. We sold my Silverado (a truck was too big to park in spots made for mini-coopers and a hassle to deal with daily) and I now drive a paid for Hyundai XG350L complete with sunroof, heated leather seats (which I may never ever even turn on here in FL), lots of fun extras and the best part- no car payment. I can't say that enough.

A quick recap of the past 2 months:
-Our great niece Cheyanne was born.
-We had a wonderful Easter day and dinner at the DeFriest Home.
-Chuck has slacked off a bit with his fire school/training and is back to just plain old volunteering, so he is less stressed and I see more of him :)
-Chuck's mom came to stay with us for 2 weeks. It was a nice relaxing visit and enjoyed by all.
-Lauren and Ben bought a beautiful 2008 Chrysler Town and Country van complete with DVD players, back up camera and more bells and whistles than you can count.
-Allison has grown so and is already 9 months old! She is chattering away and right now just loves her bubble machine - we need more batteries and bubble solution!

My mom is coming to visit the end of May! Which will also be Lauren's 25th birthday and my 48th. I really enjoy it when my mom is here - we all do. I think that is all for now. It is a beautiful Sunday and I want to go out and enjoy the day. Take care everyone and I hope things are going well for all.

All About the Baby

Seems to me my life, blog and emails, all seem to be focused on Allison Olivia lately. I guess I have officially turned into one of those grandmothers who adores their grandbaby so much it pretty much is all she can think about. Noticed I said "think about". I don't bore people with Allison stories unless they bring her up and even though I do have a grandmother's 'brag book' - I don't even have it up to date with the latest pictures and it is not in my purse to pull out and show off.

I do think about Allison and when it comes time to share my life in blog form, or when I email my mom she is mentioned but our Alli is just about the sweetest blessing since the birth of my own daughter almost 25 years ago. So for those of you who read this blog, please know I do have other interests but right now it just so happens my main one is...Allison.

So now to other updates, Chuck is doing well and keeping busy with the Fire Station and all his classes. Work for him is good and he was even given two accounts to take over. My job is going along but they did lay off 7 people from my office yesterday and I don't think they are done cutting the budget. I will just say that if I don't get laid off in the next few months I will be more surprised than if I do.

My mother in law, Betty, will be coming to visit in March and staying with us. She is looking forward to seeing everyone and of course our newest addition to the family will be here sometime around March 8 (Stephanie is having our great niece), so that will be a special time for sure.

Our warm weather seems to have already returned - in fact we went from having the heat on to cranking up the A/C. We just can't seem to shut off the HVAC and save some money. Our winter was about 2 weeks long this year but it did freeze long enough to kill the grass and plants and one morning our well was frozen and the water stopped. Luckily I had finished getting ready (sorry Chuck for using all the water up!) Poor guy had to go to work to shave that morning. So yes we do get a winter here in FL but two weeks is just not long enough for me.

Hope all is well and everyone is doing the best they can. Until next time.

All is Well

Everything in life is going along great - this week we still have our jobs, our health and our family. I really just need the basics in life to be happy. I also find that the more I have the more I have to clean, so in the past I have really gotten into simplifying.

Chuck and I are going to be looking into possibly refinancing and taking advantage of a lower interest rate. We meet with someone next week to see if this is a good idea... I am all for lowering monthly payments and maybe even trying a 15 yr. mortgage which would make us 62 or so when the house would be paid for. Ugh that sounds so unbelievable. Have you noticed that time seems to be going faster and faster.

Lauren, Ben and Allison have been spending the weekend with us. Our Alli is sick with some type of bug. She had her shots on Wed., so her fever and lack of appetite may be from those shots but it really seems more like a bug. Poor baby is so out of it. She and I took a nice nap together and basically we all have been taking turns holding her and trying to keep her comfortable. I can't wait till she is back to her normal active self and ready to wear that pink headband again!

We Will Miss Him

A special man: Chuck's father, my handsome father-in-law, Lauren's Grandpa and Allison's Great Grandpa passed away on January 7. Thankfully Chuck and I, were able to drive up (really fast) to North Carolina to be with him for his final days. Lauren and Allison were already up there staying with the Mestas Family and her husband, Ben, was up there for a week visiting and Ben had literally just driven home to FL the day before he passed. The passing although devastating for our family brought relief to a man who suffered with so much pain in his life. He is now in Heaven pain free.

The time we spent in NC was bittersweet, as we leaned on one another and enjoyed the company of each other immensely. Laughter and tears flowed freely and stories were shared by all. Walter 'Babe' Farrell was a special man and I for one can honestly say I never met a man like him before!

Other than the above sad news, we have been getting back into a routine here in Florida. We have enjoyed having Allison (Lauren and Ben too) back over on the weekends and we even went to the zoo yesterday with her - she slept through the whole thing but when she woke up...she was one happy girl. It was a gorgeous day here in Central FL and it was a pleasure to be outside with no humidity hanging around.


Allison is enjoying food - so far just sweet potatoes and peas, oatmeal, rice cereal and apple juice but I think we may have a great eater on our hands. She eats with gusto and pretty darn neatly even if I am bragging just a bit.




Congratulations to our nephew, Jonathan and Lindsay on their engagement. Good Luck to our nephew, Gary and Heather in their move to Virginia and Heather's new job as a nurse in VA. We are anxiously awaiting the news from our niece, Melissa and Randy on the sex of their unborn child. We are looking forward to a baby shower for our niece Stephanie and on and on. So in life there is death but there is also great joy in the blessings that God gives us daily. I for one, am so very thankful for all things great and small.

Chuck is doing well, he has been awarded a "Rookie of the Year" certificate from his fire station. He passed his physical agility test and he is also on the Board of Directors for the Volunteer Fire Association. He has been so busy and I am so proud of all of his accomplishments.
He is busy enough for the both of us. Besides my joy is my home (however boring that may sound) as I have said before I am happy homebody.

Tomorrow the United States of America gets a new President and I ask God to Bless America.

Happy New Year

It is now 2009 and may God bless us all. I just wanted to to wish my family and friends a wonderful new year. It was a quiet new year's eve for Chuck and I. We watched a movie, kissed each other at midnight and called it a night! No more parties for us and believe me...I am perfectly content.

Chuck left for NC this evening to go visit his Dad who is not doing well and may not be around much longer. Dad is a strong man but it looks like pneumonia has set in and he just can't get around anymore. Hospice has brought a bed into their house to make him more comfortable. Chuck is joined by his sisters Linda & Debi, his nephew Gary and niece Stephanie and if traffic is minimal and they make good time they should be up there after midnight. It will be a nice surprise for his Dad and for his Mom. I hope the visit is a good one and they spend some quality time together.

I will enjoy the quiet here and use it to catch up on some cleaning and reading. I miss my family when the are not around but I use the time wisely to regroup and have some "me" time.

Lately I have been enjoying catching up with some of my old classmates from high school. This year is our 30th Reunion and the reunion committee has already begun to make contact and there is a website to go to and see all the 'found' classmates. It is fun to read what we are all up to. High school seems like another lifetime ago and I for one am no longer the same person but I doubt very much any of us are.

My best to you all and again Happy 2009!

Summing it Up

It has been a while since I have written anything to post on my blog. My excuses are that I have been distracted, busy spending time with my family, lazy and just plain old not in the mood to sit still long enough to write. I can blame some of it on my laptop, it has reached the stage where I should not have been paying for high speed Internet when all it could handle was dial-up. Ben has tried to work his IT magic on it and we replaced the fan and I deleted as much garbage as I could but still it lagged behind. I am happy to say for Christmas, my wonderful husband bought me a new laptop and I am ready to try and commit to at least bi-weekly (monthly?) updates. Not that my life is that interesting but it is fun to look back and read how things go down or up!

Since I last wrote:

~ I have fallen even more in love with Allison Olivia. She is the highlight of our weekends and Chuck and I literally fall over each other just to hold her. My daughter, son-in-law and Allison come over every Friday and we eat together and hang out or lately we have been playing Wii. Lauren and Allison usually spend Sat. and Sun. afternoons with us too. It is a win-win situation for all - We get to enjoy Allison, Lauren gets to relax and Allison gets lots of hugs, kisses and attention. My son-in law either stays and visits or gets stuff done around his house (or steals a nap I am sure). We all get along and enjoy each other so it is a blessing to live close enough to see them often.


~ Chuck has been busy with his volunteer duties at the fire station. He passed a few more tests for his certification as a Firefighter. Even though he is a Volunteer Fireman - he still has to go through all the training and testing just as if he did this as a full time occupation. He really enjoys the crew of men he works with. Chuck has always been an adrenaline junkie and one to help others so this fits him perfectly. Unfortunately he hasn't been hunting this year at all and our camper up in Georgia has been neglected and I am sure needs a good cleaning. Normally by this time of year he has been up to Georgia a few dozen times but things just haven't worked out that way. I would normally join him too just to get away and enjoy the great outdoors (No, I DO NOT HUNT) but it has been nice to wake up to the crisp cold weather and be all nice and snugly in the comfort of our camper. I usually read and catch up on naps and of course keep the camper clean.

~ I am happy to say we still have our jobs and we are blessed to have paychecks coming in. We know things are fragile out there and the outcome of the election, the economy, the stock market, etc. has us a tad concerned. Chuck was recently told that in the new year if things remain slow for his company that they will need to put him on a 32 hour work week. We both know first hand how fragile employment is. Nothing like being unemployed for 5+ months to keep you looking over your shoulder for the Unemployment Reaper.

~ My mom came to visit and meet Allison. Her visit was as always enjoyable and we were able to spend quality time together and take pictures of the four generations of females which was special. She enjoyed Allison and is looking to come back out here from California soon.

~ My nephew and his wife are moving to Virginia. My niece and her husband in NC announced they are having another baby. My other niece here in FL is having a baby. My nephew in NC got engaged over Christmas. Lots of happy events.

I have hopes and prayers for 2009, as I am sure you all do. I have a grateful heart. I have a will and pride that I need to keep working on and of course the ever present extra pounds I would like to lose but I never make resolutions as I am honest enough to know I am weak. I want to tell my Husband that he is still my best friend and I love and admire him. I want to tell my daughter that she makes me proud and I think she is a wonderful mommy. I want to tell God that I am so humbled and grateful and filled with gratitude that His Son died for my sins and without Him in my life I truly would be lost.

May good health and happiness be with us all in 2009. Happy New Year.