A Crazy October!

The month of October originally started out pretty much as any other, it is Hokie (Virginia Tech) football season, and we are season ticket holders, so we had a plan. We were to have 2 games on back-to-back weekends, October 3rd and the 9th. We always tailgate and try to have at least 2 meals at the tailgate on game day. 

Even Lily is a Hokie!

Joseph, our littlest Hokie

I decided I would have Hubby leave me there after the first game, I would look after Joseph and help with the cooking etc. for the week and go back home with Hubby the next week, after the game....and did I mention, the 3rd was my birthday, so I was really looking forward to having a 'birthday week' with the kids!

Well Mother Nature did not cooperate, we got a blast of N'oreaster Storms that rolled in, so we had to adjust our plans! Hubby and I have spent many games in the rain, and after 12 seasons, we decided that was no longer fun for us.  So we stayed home for my Birthday, watched the game on TV from the couch. Just before the game started, we got a call from Carol, the lady that looks after our house in Ft. Myers.  She had some bad news. We had water in our house, upstairs AND downstairs! They too had had many storms, and Carol had found water standing in our upstairs bathroom, and 'bubble things' (she called them) over our kitchen bar.  She and the neighbor were working with our HOA down there to find out what happened. They said we didn't need to come down, they were working it and would stay in touch, but they sent us some pics...

See the bubbles of water in the ceiling?? 

Happy Birthday to me, right?? :(

So, I headed to Christiansburg on the 4th for the week, with plans to meet with Hubby on the 9th for that game. I had a great week with Joseph and he and his Mom and Dad gave me the BEST birthday gift!!...and took me out to dinner too!! Talk about feeling special!!

How awesome is this, it is a canvas they had it customized with a coral background to perfectly match our Florida home!! The card was customized too!!

We had a great week, Joseph had just turned 7 months old and is such a joy, I think he learns so much everyday!

After a ride with Mommy down the steps!

I have got to learn to keep my mouth closed for these selfies!! :)

"Gammaw, come get me out of jail!!"

Such a Happy Boy! Daddy is feeding him homemade babyfood...Butternut squash!

Here is Joseph doing his 'Army crawl'.  He goes back and forth between this and a crawl on 'all fours', mostly he likes to crawl to something, then stand up and walk!! Such a big boy!! <3

As the next weekend approached, so did the storms....Hubby ended up staying home, and not coming for the game....we also watched this one from the couch....and could hear the fireworks at the game outside! 

During the week, Hubby continued talking with the folks in Florida, and it looked like we had to head down to assess the damage, find the source, and get some repairs done! I drove home on Sunday morning (about 300 miles), unpacked, did laundry and repacked and early Monday (Oct 12) we left for Florida! 

I hadn't been able to go since April, and Hubby had been twice, so working or not, I was really looking forward to the trip to our second home!  :)

So stay tuned .... I did FiNALLY make it to the beach!!

Sea Glassing for Sanity!

I have been working at my Mom and Dad's house preparing for an estate sale...and that date is quickly approaching, so I have been there so much the last few weeks. Besides being so much hard work, it has also been quite an emotional journey. Hubby headed down to our place in Ft. Myers this week, and I couldn't get that our of my mind....so this afternoon I took a little mini vacation (a therapy session) of my own, looking for sea glass at one of our local beaches. It was a beautiful day, and there was a slight breeze so it was just perfect....

not Sanibel perfect, but a pretty good substitution. It's very rocky, starting off with a rock jetty right at the entrance....and this was the first thing I saw....

Angel Wings!!!!!!.....Hundreds of them!! These are fairly rare at the beaches we frequent in Florida, so you can imagine my surprise....and horror!  They were broken to bits!

They were all so thin and fragile....when I could find one in good shape, I broke it in my pocket...I didn't think I needed to bring a shell bag...I was going for sea glass!! I continued down the beach, and resumed my search for sea glass....

 See it?

There are so many colorful rocks and shell bits, you really have to concentrate to find the small bits of glass....the colored ones are easier, but there are many clear pieces as well...

 There are some really awesome rocks too!

 Is this called "Sea Brick" ?

 "Sea Plastic"?

I did see a few familiar shells, a few Shark's eyes (or Moon Snail)

and a few oyster shells, including this huge one...

 On the way back up the beach, I did manage to find a few whole angel wings, piddocks and false angel wings and just held them carefully in my hand to get them safely to the car. Not a bad day!

And of course, the therapy glass...

If you look closely, there are several different colors here, they didn't photograph very well, there is a deep green, another green...almost lime green, and some light teal, as well as the clear.  The therapy did me good!!!

::Hugs::

   

Happy Father's Day from Daddy's Girl

As you know, my Dad passed away in 2012 and I think of him daily. I am currently cleaning out my parents house preparing for an estate sale in July, and there are times when it is rather difficult. My Mom is still here so we have spent a few trips lately walking down memory lane as we go through everything.

Let me tell you a little bit about my Dad....He was born in North Carolina, the oldest of 10 children. Seven of those children lived to adulthood, and are still with us today. There is 20 years difference between him and his youngest sibling, a brother.  My Dad joined the Air Force just before graduation from High School, so he didn't even get to know that brother until they were stationed at the same base together, many years later.  My Dad knew at a very young age that he wanted to be a pilot.  He and 3 other high school buddies got together and bought themselves a plane! When Daddy joined the Air Force in 1945, they closed pilot training because WWII was over.  A few months later they reopened pilot school and Daddy re-joined, and loved every moment of his 30 year career in the Air Force, he flew F-80s in Korea, and F-105s in Vietnam, and many other planes.  He had homemade and some professional models of all the planes he flew in a case that he made, in our house, as far back as I can remember. He talked about flying all the time, and about all of his experiences in and out of the Air Force.

Today, I took my Dad's most prized possessions out of the house, his plane collection....I forgot to take a picture of them in the case, but did take them individually....

 This is an F-105 (called a "Thud")....look closely.....

For some reason, this one is especially special to me!! ;)

This is exactly how it looked on his plane in Vietnam!! Talk about feeling special!! :D

This was the last plane he flew....a Delta Dart (F-106)

With his planes, and case I took some other Very special things.....

 A plaque I found in the attic, from Vietnam ....

 Has a map of the entire area on it.....I don't remember ever seeing this.

And of course I got his medals....

...and his patches.

I also found his helmet bag in the attic!!!!! 

....and added his helmet

...and his hat!

He marked his missions on the rim....I cannot remember for sure the difference between the red and black ones....

All these things will be cleaned up and placed in a place of honor at our home in Florida soon, I will eventually be passing them on to our daughter Jess, and her son Joseph. (Joseph's middle name "Harvey" is my Dad's middle name also) :)  

Today was a pretty tough day, I am surprised how emotional I got, I have been at this for a long time, but somehow taking these things out today was very difficult. Maybe because Father's Day is coming up, who knows why emotions are easily triggered sometimes....It's kinda 'funny', but secretly in my heart I just kept saying..."Daddy has left the building".... Very Strange. <3

::Hugs::