Wednesday, July 05, 2006

Happy 4th of July (the day after)

Well, it was once again a busy but fun 4th of July for our family. Saturday was the 29th annual Gibson 4th of July party at my mother-in-laws. It was a lot of fun, tons of wonderful food and great music. We had about 130 people and I worried all week because of all the rain we were getting, but thank God by Saturday things had dried out and it all went off without a hitch. Yesterday on the 4th, my parents and my brother came over for a cookout and to watch the fireworks in our town from our deck. We have the best seat in the house, our deck overlooks the mountains. They have a big celebration in town and then around 9:30 they set off fireworks in the town park. We have a perfect view of the fireworks as they are going off and we don't have to leave the house. It's great.

My dad will be heading back to North Carolina tomorrow to stay with my Grandfather again. He has been trying to come home every other week but we can't depend on my aunt to go down and stay there for more than a few days so his visits have been cut short some. My Dad worries about my grandfather being alone, he is 81 and gets confused sometimes. My Mom is very lucky that my Dad will stay with her father like this, there aren't a lot of husbands out there that would be willing to do that. The doctors seem to be pleased with the progress my grandmother is making even though it sometimes doesn't seem like much to us. Please keep praying for her.

I am officially the assistant secretary for the little league football, I will be the assistant while I am learning from the current secretary and until she moves. I hope I am up to this, from the sounds of it, it is almost like a full time job. I am just glad I really don't have to deal with the parents a lot, that falls to the President, lucky man that he is. I guess we will see how this goes. I was the PTO President for Ashleigh's school when she was in 1st grade and those parents drove me nuts, everyone wants to tell you how you should do things but no one wants to volunteer to help. What have I gotten myself into?

Have a great day!!!
Bridget

Monday, June 26, 2006

Another Monday

Our weekend was pretty nice. Baseball has ended and football has started. Rusty coaches so he has had to be at sign up for the official handing out of the equipment. He loves it, he lives for it, my husband is completely obsessed with sports but football in particular. He came home all excited Saturday because the league's secretary is moving and they need someone to do it. Guess who he volunteered? Go ahead guess, 3 guessed and you will only need 1. ME!! I asked him what this will involve and he doesn't know, some meetings, the taking of some minutes, etc. Taking of minutes, I've never taken the minutes of a meeting before, God help me so I don't kill him. Saturday evening we had his middle brother's birthday at Rusty's Mom's house and that was really nice. Everyone together just enjoying each other and having a good time.

Sunday was supposed to be my "I'm not leaving the house day" but as we all well know the best laid plans are sure to be destroyed. Rusty was going to work in the yard weedeating, Wayne was going to mow and all of that good stuff. After about an hour Rusty comes in the house to announce that the weedeater will not work, there is something wrong with it. He has taken it apart and he thinks it could possibly be the carburetor. So he wants to go to The Home Depot to get a new one and of course he wants me to go with him. Now, people I am not a stupid woman, I know why he wants me to go with him, if I go then he can get the more expensive model. He won't do that if I'm not with him, he will get the cheaper one and then talk about how he really wanted the other one and how much nicer it was. If I'm in the store he can tell me how great the more expensive one is and how much better it is until he wears me down and I tell him to just buy it because I want to go home. So anyway after comparing all of the wonders of weedeating at the store he gets the one he wanted and we head home. He's all excited, like a little kid with a new toy, and then we get the down pour of rain. I thought he was going to cry. It rained the rest of the day, so there was so mowing and no weedeating. The yard will have to wait for another day.

Have a great day!!!
Bridget

Friday, June 23, 2006

IT'S FRIDAY!!!!

Reeses Peanut Butter Cups

Very popular, one of you is not enough.

Thursday, June 22, 2006

Thursday

I made it through another day as the gym and actually it really is getting easier. My reps have been upped and I made it through them with little trouble. (trumpets sounding) Melissa, thanks for the words of encouragement, I too wish I had started earlier. I have seen such a change in Rusty but I am plugging along and we are eating better as a family also.

Rusty's aunt has to have surgery on Friday so please keep her in your prayers. She has a tear in her intestines. To me, that sounds serious, but the Dr. said it was about a 4 hour procedure and then they would send her home. My Grandmother is making leaps and bounds and doing so good. She still has bad times and I think sometimes her mind isn't all quite there. Actually, I know it's not all there sometimes. On Tuesday when the physical therapist was working with her they moved her into a real wheelchair, not the big comfy chair on wheels, and she threw a fit. She wanted to be in the big chair, when they wouldn't put her in it, get this, she held her breath like a spoiled little kid. I couldn't believe it, this is my Grandmother who doesn't put up with any nonsense and she's holding her breath. Hopefully, things will change with that also, but we are just taking one day at a time and thanking God continuously for the strides she has made.

My brother is looking for a house and last night I went with him to look at one. It is really cute, has a porch across the front, cedar siding, fire place, etc., but it is very small. It is basically one big room with one other room for the bathroom. I think it has a lot of potential because he could build onto it, but I don't know if he could even get all of his furniture in it. He has looked a about 5, I think, and this was the best of the bunch. The other ones have basically been falling down and rotting. He is getting a little discouraged, I think, but I don't want him to just settle either and then be stuck. Please pray for him and his search for a house.

Well, I better go, have a great day, and Melissa "Welcome Back."
Bridget

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Good News

There is so much good news going on here. I went with my Mom and Dad to Rocky Mount on Thursday to see my Grandmother. A meeting with her doctors had been set up for Friday and Mom asked me if I would go with them. Before the meeting they just weren't quite sure about the doctors at this place, but after the meeting all worries had been put to bed. This pulmonologist that she has really is a good doctor. She was able to alleviate the worries and fears that we had been having and she took the time to explain a lot of things to us. It would have been nice if that had been done when my Grandmother first got to this hospital but now it's been done and we move on from here. They moved her from the "observation" area to a private room on Friday and she has made leaps and bounds just since the move. They were able to turn down her ventilator 2 steps on Saturday and 2 steps on Sunday. She is more alert and is communicating with us, it is just such an answer to prayer. Thank you everyone for the prayers.
The next good news is that we are almost done with the 2 months of parties that we have had to attend. In my husband's family there is always a good reason for a party. Everyone has always joked that in this family "Oh, it's going to rain, time for a party", but I think we have finally hit the place where if we never have another party it will be just fine with all of us. We have 2 left and then we are done for a while. This weekend is my brother in law's birthday and then the next weekend is "The Gibson Family Extravaganza". Rusty's family has been having a 4th of July party for years, actually this year is the 29th year. It's a huge party at my mother in law's house, lots of great food, games, fireworks and a live band. My 2 brother in laws have a band and they play every year. Rusty whole family is full of musical talent, his oldest brother has never had any lessons and can pick up any instrument and play it. He totally amazes me and his oldest son is the exact same way. Last summer he taught himself to play the mandolin and to listen to him play it is awesome. The band will be competing in the Fauquier County Fair battle of the bands this year on July 13, they won last year and got to be the opening act for Deana Carter. They really are very good. Their father was in a bluegrass band years ago, had their own tv show and was on the Ted Mack Variety Hour in New York, so music is in their blood.
School is out and that means children sleeping in until 11 or 12 in my house. I don't remember ever sleeping that late, I still can't do it. I always feel like I have wasted my day doing that, but they are enjoying it.
We got Ashleigh's senior pictures back in the mail Saturday. I couldn't believe we got them already. Seeing her in that formal drape made me start to feel old, so I had to keep repeating, "I am not getting old, I am not getting old". They do them a lot earlier now than when I was in school, but that has been a little while ago. sshhh 20 years next year. It's really funny, Rusty's mom graduated in 1957, my mom is 1967, Rusty's brother in 1977, Rusty and me in 1987 and now Ashleigh will be 2007, kind of neat.
Well, I better get going, have a great day.
Bridget

Thursday, June 15, 2006

I AM GOING TO DIE

When it comes to exercise, I am a wimp. I will walk but that is about the extent of exercise for me. Now my husband on the other hand, he would live at the gym if he didn't have 4 people waiting at home to see his smiling face. He loves the gym, he belongs to Gold's and he has been after me to join, he said it would be something "fun" to do together. I have a free trial through him, so I thought I would give it a try. Oh my gosh, I hurt in places I didn't even know I had body parts. I've only been twice, I'm trying 3 days a week. He gets off work at 2:30 so he heads over there and does his thing and then goes through everything with me. I'm not sure having your husband as your personal trainer is a really good idea, they lie. While I'm on one piece of torture equipment he is setting up the next one for me and you have to check him or he will set the weights just a little more than what I want and when you call him on it, it was always an accident. It really is nice one on one time together, but I don't know if I wil live through it.

I think I have finally found the way to punish Blake that really bothers him. I take away reading in bed. He's generally a really good kid, but lately he has really been testing me. We were in Wal-Mart the other day standing at the deli. We are patiently waiting our turn, and believe my when I say patiently, I mean you're hoping you get away from the deli within an hour. The women behind that counter could care less if they wait on you or not. I have stood there waiting and had them look at me and walk into the back room. Maybe it's me. Anyway, we are waiting and he keeps edging his way away from me and backing into this other lady waiting there. We keep playing this game, he edges I pull him back and tell him to stand still. Finally, he bumps into her, I take his hand and lean down next to his ear and tell him if he doesn't stand still he will be waiting in the car with his Daddy. To which my husband looks and me like I have just sentenced him to death, what, make him leave Wal-Mart without looking at sporting goods and guns, what am I thinking. Blake starts crying and screaming "Don't scream at me, I can't take it." I never even raised my voice, but I really wanted to at that point. Then Sunday at Nissan Pavillion for my nephew's graduation, he kept running ahead of us and wouldn't stay with us. I made him hold my hand to which he starting crying again and yelling, "You're squeezing my hand too tight, I can't feel my fingers." I haven't been able to come up with anything to really seems to bother him, but I figured it out the other day, he loves to read. He reads everywhere, the car, bed, lying on the floor, he just loves to read. So, when we act bad now we don't get to read in bed before we fall asleep.

I am headed to Rocky Mount, NC today. That is where they moved my Grandmother from Duke and there is a meeting with her doctors tomorrow. We are trying to find another place for her, we just don't feel like they are doing what needs to be done for her. She is bored and is getting aggitated really easy now. We think they are sedating her so they don't have to deal with her, my Mom is convinced they are going to kill her if we don't get her out of there. When the doctors are on the floor doing rounds they won't even take the time to talk to the family, they are too busy. It's been very frustrating so please keep us in your prayers.

Have a great day and a great weekend.
Bridget

Monday, June 12, 2006

Monday

You know, it is really sad when you have to come back to work to get a little rest. We had such a busy weekend. First Friday my Mom was headed back to North Carolina to spend the weekend with my Grandmother. Who, by the way, is still in the hospital. Please keep prayers coming, we really need them right now, I think the people in the hospital are going to kill her if we don't get her out of there and somewhere else soon. Why is it that the elderly are just given up on? I really don't understand that. But anyway, we babysit my parents dog when they are gone, so Friday evening we ran to my Mom's to get Aspen. While we were there Rusty wanted to use their computer to load more CD's on his ipod. Actually, he wanted me to do it, he hasn't figured it out yet. When I saw the bag of CD's he had brought with him the thought of murder passed through my mind. "But it will hold 7500 songs" is what I heard. If you know my husband you know if it's the latest gadget, and kitchen gadgets are the worst, he has to have it. So when he went and bought his ipod it couldn't be some simple one he had to have the new one that holds 7500 songs, plays videos and I think it also plays tv shows. So we spend a couple hours at my parents loading the ipod. Saturday morning Blake had a baseball game and then I had to go pick up Wayne Saturday night. He got back from Canada, had a great time, caught a lot of fish and bug bites. The poor boy looked like he had been served up on the buffet at a bug restaurant. Sunday we had another baseball game and then my nephews graduation from high school. The whole graduation all I kept thinking about was the fact that next year I will be sitting at Ashleigh's school watching her graduate. I just can't believe it, it has gone so incredibly fast. Rusty said "Hey, we may know some of the parents of these graduates tonight." We graduated from the same county and at our time there was only 1 high school. I told him we weren't old enough to know these graduates parents, but then I realized yes we are. Where has the time gone? Next year we will be going to our 20 year reunion. It doesn't seem possible.
Have a great day!!
Bridget

Friday, June 09, 2006

Happy Weekend

We have finally made it to another wonderful fun filled weekend or as my favorite deejays on the radio say "Friday's here, have a can of beer" to the tune of AC/DC's Back in Black. Actually I'm not fond of beer, but give me a tropical drink with an umbrella in a coconut shaped like a monkey's head and I am all over that. I had one of those on the cruise, it was probably the most expensive drink I have ever ordered, but I wanted the monkey head coconut. This will be another weekend of running, tonight I have to run to my parents house and pick up their dog. I am babysitting while they are in North Carolina with my Grandmother this weekend. Tomorrow Blake has a ballgame, Sunday there's another ballgame and then my nephew's high school graduation is Sunday night. Why do they schedule graduation on a Sunday night at 7:00? I really do not understand that. We are about an hour and 1/2 from Nissan Pavilion where they are having it. We won't be home until midnight, not that we wouldn't go, we wouldn't miss it but geez don't they realize that some people have to get up and go to work in the morning.
Wayne comes home on Sunday. He has been in Canada fishing and bear hunting this past week. It will really be good to have him home, it's just not the same without him there.
Please pray for my Grandmother, she is not doing well. She seemed to be doing better and was writing notes to people and then yesterday they couldn't get her to wake up or respond. The Dr's have said they think she could have an infection and they have taken some cultures, but I really don't understand. How can someone go one day sitting up, writing notes and trying to talk to unconscious and unresponsive. It doesn't make any sense. But anyway, please pray for her. I don't want to lose her, but also this isn't any kind of life for her either.
Have a great weekend.
Bridget

Friday!!!!

You Are Marge Simpson

You're a devoted family member who loves unconditionally.

Sometimes, though, you dream about living a wild secret life!

You will be remembered for: your good cooking and evading the police

Your life philosophy: "You should listen to your heart, and not the voices in your head."

Friday, June 02, 2006

It's Official

Ashleigh received her "real" drivers license yesterday. We had to go to court and a judge talked to about 30 kids for an hour and about 15 minutes. It was actually a very good talk. I enjoyed it anyway. I hope the kids were really listening. He spoke to them about responsibility, respect and how driving is a privilege. I liked the part about if you are in a car with someone who is driving stupid and you realize that you could be putting yourself in danger, to tell them you want to get out of the car. If they won't pull over for you to get out, shove your finger down your throat and try to make yourself throw up. They will not only pull over to let you out, they will probably help you out. He's really a great judge and he is very passionate about teenagers and driving. His son was killed when he was 17 in a car accident, the other kid that was driving was going 90 miles an hour. I hope he got through to the kids.
Blake's baseball game was cancelled last night because of thunderstorms. I am really very blessed with Blake. He has such a good attitude about his games. He loves to win, but when they do lose like they did last Saturday, he just goes about life and tells everyone that it's about having fun.
This weekend is going to be so busy. Tomorrow Rusty has to be at football sign up from 9-1. He's a coach so he is supposed to be there to help with sign up and assigning kids equipment. But, Blake has a baseball game at 11:00, which Rusty also coaches, so he will have to leave football to go to baseball. Then tomorrow evening we have my niece's graduation party. She graduated from UVA. We are so very proud of her. It has taken her a while, she went to NOVA for a couple years and then transferred but she did it. Way to go Kelly!!!! We are getting an upgrade on our software program at work this weekend so on Sunday I have to go in for a while for that. I don't think I will even know that I had a weekend. Oh, well.
My brother is getting ready to buy a house and he is so excited. He is going to look at one in Bryce. He has been preapproved so now he just has to find his new home. I remember when Rusty and I did that and then started looking for a home. We were so excited and it seemed to take forever to find exactly what we wanted. We have lived in our house for 10 years this year and it seems like yesterday that we moved in. Our story is such a different kind of story, and I think I may have blogged about this before but maybe not. We got married in 1987 right out of high school. We had Ashleigh in 1989 and then we separated that same year. We were both very young and being married and having a baby was a lot. We were both also very spoiled and used to having our own way, which didn't work out very well. We both moved on, I got remarried, he got engaged and lived with her but never married. I had my son, Wayne, and then in 1993 I got divorced. Rusty and I started talking about our marriage and what we had done wrong and we started seeing each other again. We got remarried in 1995 and bought our house in 1996 so we got a little late start with the house buying stuff. Our second marriage was a lot of fun to plan because we didn't want to do the traditional white and tux, we had already done that the first time, so being the Civil War buff that my husband is, we did a Civil War Wedding. That was so much fun, as soon as I get my computer at home running, still having problems, I will blog about that and post some pictures.
Have a great day!!!
Bridget

Friday, May 26, 2006

The Good Stuff

We have had so much happen since I last blogged.

Easter-
Easter was really nice and really sad. My parents were in North Carolina with my Grandmother, she is still in the hospital so please keep the prayers coming, so I didn't get to see them at all for Easter. I don't like that. Steven had to work so I didn't get to see him either. My brother and I are really close, we talk on the phone everyday so not getting to see him on a holiday is really hard. Ashleigh had to work on Easter which was a first for us so we didn't get to sunrise service like we normally do and that was really strange. We haven't missed 1 in years. We went to my mother-in-laws for dinner. She has this incredible Easter egg hunt every year at her house. She has over 100 plastic eggs that Rusty and his 2 brothers hide in the yard and everyone one of them has money in it. She wants all the grandchildren to hunt for them even the 1 that turned 21 on the 23 of this month. They love it, for the older ones it's gas money and for the young ones it's video game money or music money. It is a lot of fun.

The Cruise-
We had such an incredible time on the cruise. This ship was completely different than the last one and the activities were different also so it was like going for the first time all over again. Our first port was Key West and we've all been there before but it is fun to walk around and see the sights. Some of the sights are quite strange considering Key West is the gay and lesbian capital of the world. The headquarters for the gay and lesbian coalition is located there so it does make it quite a different world than from where I come from. We did have a really nice time there. Our second port was Belize. We went to a private beach for the day and that was so nice. They were doing massages on the beach, they had a bar set up, the water was incredible. Rusty found some of the biggest shells I have ever see outside of a gift shop. He found a huge shell that had a soft shell crab living it in. He wanted to bring the shell home but didn't want to kick the crab out of his home so the shell stayed in Belize. Steven and Dad went kayaking in the Caribbean Sea and really enjoyed that. After the beach we went into the town of Belize. It was very neat but kind of scary also. They had big locked gates behind the shopping area, you can't cross through them and the people on the other side can't come to your side. I'm not sure what is up with that, but it was very strange. We bought a lot of stuff to bring home and had a great time there also. Then we were off to Costa Maya. That was my absolute favorite stop. We went to see the Mayan Temple Ruins, if you ever get to do that run as fast as you can to get in line. That was unbelievable. I can't wait to go back. (I promise I will have pictures Steven is going to be coming over and trying to get my internet back up and running, I tried to talk to the internet provider the other day and had no luck so hopefully he will be able to get it going.) We bought some of the neatest stuff there. Our guide was wonderful, everything about that port was just great. After we left the ruins we went into the shopping area and right in the middle of all the stores there is a beach area around a pool with a floating bar in it that you swim up to. It is such paradise. The kids wanted sombreros so we searched for them and found some really nice very heavy hats. Blake had asked for pesos. We had the hardest time finding pesos, finally one of the sales girls in a store took them out of her purse and traded us for American money. They don't use pesos in the stores there because it's mostly tourists. We then had a wonderful 2 days of "fun at sea" coming back to Florida. We ate until we couldn't move anymore. My husband who has lost close to 50 pounds, spends everyday at the gym and has gotten his body fat from 28% to 15% gained 16 pounds on the cruise. I couldn't believe it and neither could he but he had buckled down and it is gone again. I don't know if I could be as dedicated as he is about working out. He wants us to start walking in the evening after dinner. Please pray for me, I'm going to need it. I have a feeling a monster had been created. Anyway, back to cruising. During the cruise they are constantly video taping and you can buy the video at the end of the cruise. Well, Mom and Dad made the beginning of the video and Rusty, Steven and I made the end of it in a conga line at a party one night. Steven had bought 3 rasta hats, one for him, one for Rusty and one for Dad and they were wearing them that night. It is definitely a night to remember. We all hated to come back, we had such an incredible time. We saw the lights of Cuba as we went by it and that was pretty neat too.

Mother's Day-
I had a wonderful mother's day. Ashleigh drives now so they went shopping on their own. They did some pretty incredible things for me. They filled a basket with my favorite candy, pens (I'm a freak about pens have been all my life), a book, the new Tobey Keith cd, a coupon book of things I can redeem from them later like washing the dishes, and a picture frame with a saying about moms. They made me a picture frame that they signed and then they took a presentation board, went through my pictures and put all of these pictures of each one of them and pictures of me on it. I cried, it was so sweet. Rusty took me to Home Depot, I love Home Depot, and we bought a bunch of flowers for the yard. My yard is really looking good, I love flowers.

We have so much going on between now and July. My niece graduated from UVA, WAY TO GO KELLY, nephew graduates from high school on June 11, 2 very close family friends of ours have children graduating, one of my nephews turned 21 on the 23 of this month, my brother-in-law has a birthday, my grandfather turned 81, and my sister-in-laws parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. We have birthday parties, graduation parties and somewhere in the middle of all that Blake has baseball. We are constantly on the go but I wouldn't trade it for anything. Life is really good. In the middle of everyday life and everything going on Blake has been asking about being saved. He started about 2 years ago because he wanted to know about the "juice" in church. We explained it to him and he said it was too hard and wanted to wait. Well, last night he came to me and wanted to know more about it. So I got my Bible out and we talked about it. He said he wanted to be saved. My big question for him "Are you doing this so you can drink juice at church?" To which he got very offended and said "NO, I want to go to heaven. But I will be able to drink the juice, right?" So he prayed and my little Blake got saved last night. He went through the house announcing to everyone that he had done it. He was so excited. Like I said, Life is good!!!

Have a great day.
Bridget

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

Alive and well

Just a note to let you know that I am still alive and kicking. We have been so busy with my Grandmother still being in the hospital and just everyday life that I haven't had time to sit down and blog at all. I finally got a new modem but out internet provider says it has to be configured now. I give up. So hopefully, I will get that down there this week sometime.
We went on our cruise this past week and had an incredible time. I will blog more about that later when I have more time, but I do have to say if you ever get a chance to see the Mayan temple ruins, do it. It is so incredibly awesome. Run to your travel agent and book a cruise, this was our second and I can't wait to do the third. My parents are taking Ashleigh for her graduation present next year, oh my gosh my child will be graduating, that can't be possible I'm not that old, and they are already planning it. They are looking at St. Thomas, St. Marten in that area.
I will be back within the next few days and as soon as I get that modem going I will be able to blog from home again and I also will be able to post pictures from the cruise.
Have a great day!!!!
Bridget

Thursday, March 23, 2006

Sick, sick, sick

Well, we have been hit with the flu bug. While I was down at Duke last weekend my Dad was sick the whole weekend. We thought he had food poisoning, well no he didn't, not unless food poisoning is contagious and last I checked it's not. My Mom and Grandfather were hit with it on Monday and I got it Monday night. Rusty got it Tuesday. We all received the flu shot, but as we know the shot doesn't cover all strains of the flu just the top 3. This must have been #4 because it has been just awful. Why is it that men are always sicker than women? I love my husband but sometimes he drives me absolutely crazy. I can be dying, he's already died twice and is on the third go around. This is the man who had a total knee replacement and I don't know how he lived through the physical therapy of that, but being sick completely does him in. Go figure. My Dad has been taking care of my Mom and Grandfather and he is such a nazi about making sure everyone takes their medicine they have started calling him nurse Betty.

My Grandmother is doing better everyday, they took the ventilator out of her mouth and throat yesterday and put it in through her neck in a trach. They said the longer you leave it in the throat the more damage it can do to the vocal cords. She is awake and trying to communicate which is such a blessing. The Dr's have said that everything from the waist up is working and doing exactly what it is supposed to do but from the waist down it's not so good. But I feel everything in it's own time, I have faith that that problem will be fixed also. We have come so far in just the last couple days, there is so much to be thankful for. The hospital has been incredible, the nursing staff is awesome. Each patient in the ICU has their own nurse with a desk in the room with the patient. They are so caring and really treat the patients like they are someones family, not just another patient.

Ashleigh gets her drivers license in 5 days, pray for me. She really is a good driver but the other drivers concern me. I now know what my parents were talking about.

Did anyone watch American Idol? I was so glad that Kevin was finally gone. He just really got on my nerves, it's not that he was that bad a singer, but there was just something about him that annoyed me. I love that show but it's starting to really cut into Lost and my remote is starting to smoke on Wednesday nights flipping back and forth between the 2 shows. I think they schedule the commercials at the same time just to drive you crazy.

Well, I better get some work done, have a great day and please pray for my Grandmother and her continued healing.
Bridget

Tuesday, March 21, 2006

A little catching up

I don't even know where to begin, I haven't blogged in so long. There has been so much going on here. First off, my brother rebuild my computer, everything good there, it's working great no problem, boom the modem dies. I give up, what did I do to deserve this punishment. So, after calling my DSL provider and talking to them they tell me our warranty is gone on the modem and it will be $99.99 for a new DSL modem through them. WHAT!!!! I got the last one for free from them when I signed up for the service in 2004. So what do I do? I do what I always do when I need a good deal and I really don't have a clue what I am looking for, I call my brother. My brother can find a deal from 500 miles away. He's one of those people that walk into the store and sale items throw themselves on the floor at his feet. It's amazing. So he goes to trusty e-Bay, gotta love e-Bay and finds me one for $13.50 including shipping. So now I am waiting for it to come in then finally I will be back up and running at home. I can't wait. People keep coming into my office and interrupting me all day, oh yeah I am at work, I forgot.

The weekend of the 11th was so wonderful weatherwise around here. It was absolutely beautiful. Rusty and I got up that Saturday and he suggested we pack a picnic and after baseball practice (it was at 8:30 in the morning) head up to Skyline drive. We had a great time. The picnic areas aren't open yet but we took 2 blankets and spread them on the ground and just had a great time. After we all stuffed ourselves we packed everything back up and went on a little hike. The kids really enjoyed that. Blake and Wayne both found walking sticks and climbed on every rock and fallen tree they could find. I tried to convince them if they were maybe a little quiet we just might see some animals. That didn't happen, Rusty is the biggest kid of them all and he constantly eggs them on. After we left Skyline Drive we headed to Luray and went into the used book store, bought some books and then had ice cream at Tasty Freeze. We haven't just taken off like that in a long time, it was so nice. You get to where you are constantly running around and doing things all the time and trying to keep up on laundry and housework and sometimes you just have to throw it all up in the air and spend some nice quality time with your family. The kids are still talking about it. These are the memories they are going to take with them into adulthood not whether the stereo had dust on it. (Thank God for that, I hate to dust)

My Grandmother had surgery on March 14 and until this morning she had been in a coma. We have all been praying hard for her recovery and for her to come out of this. Wayne and I went down to Duke University Hospital this past weekend and spent that time with my parents and my Grandfather. My Mom said she wasn't coming home until her Mom woke up and talked to her. This morning at 7:00 she woke up, she is responding, she will squeeze your hand and smile at you.

School is going good for the kids. Baseball started and Blake is having a good time with that. Wayne broke my heart and didn't play this year but I told him it was his decision. Ashleigh is still loving her job and is doing good in everything else. Work has been unreal, but I guess working for 6 pediatricians is not an easy job at this time of year. We have seen more confirmed cases of influenza this year than I think we have ever seen. It has been crazy in this office and I am counting the days down until my cruise, only 30 days left and I so need a vacation.

Well, I better go, hope everyone is doing well.
Have a great day.
Bridget

Thursday, March 02, 2006

It's a boy!

Well, we already knew it was a boy, but I just like saying that. Mason Dean was born March 1, 2006 at around 5:30. He weighed in at 6lbs. 14 oz and 19 inches long. I haven't seen him yet but I hear he is, of course, absolutely beautiful. They took him by c-section because Mom was in hard labor but was not dilating at all. His heart beat kept dropping and they were worried about him being in distress, better to be safe than sorry. His Daddy put the first diaper on him and cried like a baby himself. If anyone deserves this happy time it sure is him. Everyone is doing great and the baby is perfect and healthy. Thanks for the prayers, God surely has blessed this family.
Have a great day!!!!!
Bridget

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

SO EXCITING!!!!!

I just got an email from my sister in law that my nephew (my husband is 8 years younger than his middle brother, and his middle brother's wife is 12 years older than the brother) and his wife are at the hospital in labor. YEA!!!!! Say a prayer that everything will go good and my great nephew is born healthy and safe. We haven't had a new baby in the family since Blake and that was 7 1/2 years ago. She was due on March 15 which was kind of strange because onMarch 15, 2001 Michael (my nephew) was in a horrible accident, a parking garage fell on the moving truck he was in, and he almost died. He was in UVA rehab for a long time and now you never would know. God really was with him that day and all the days after through all the pain he endured. Misty and Michael weren't even married at that time and she was there with him every step of the way, she truly is a gift from God to him and now they are getting ready to have their first child. I will keep you posted.
Bridget

Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Thanks Emily, this was really cute



My pirate name is:


Iron Bess Cash



A pirate's life isn't easy; it takes a tough person. That's okay with you, though, since you a tough person. You're musical, and you've got a certain style if not flair. You'll do just fine. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from fidius.org.

Friday, February 24, 2006

Computer down

My computer is on the blitz again so I won't be posting everyday, (Like I'm an everyday blogger anyway) but I do try. My brother is out of town this weekend so he will hopefully work on it next week. I need to break down and get a new one but with only 56 days left until we leave for the cruise I really don't want to spend the money. So, hopefully I can get a band aid slapped on it once again and make it last a little longer.
There hasn't been a whole lot going on here, which can be very nice. Ashleigh is still loving her job and I'm not sure if it's the job, the money, or all the guys she is getting to meet. I'm not so sure I like the job that much, the phone does not stop ringing. It is nice that she is making some new friends instead of only having the same ones that she has known since she was 7. Wayne has decided he doesn't want to play baseball this year. I'm not sure why and it does break my heart. He is really good and I love to watch the games. But I told him I didn't want him to play just because I wanted him to, he had to want it also. Blake is playing and Rusty is coaching again. They both love it. Their first practice is tomorrow and I think they are going to freeze.
I was reading on Melissa's blog about her neighber and the my space incident. We have been through all the "teen" websites with Ashleigh and I don't think they are anything but trouble. Ashleigh is not allowed to have AOL instant messenger either. That is a huge problem. She had some of her "friends" go on under her name and cause a lot of problems. Not that I'm saying she couldn't have done it herself but this time when it happened she was with me and I know she wasn't on the computer. She does have a blog on my space but she knows that at any time I will check her friend list (she can only have people on it that I know) and I will read her blog. Kids do not realize that there are some really bad people out there that go onto these sites and hunt kids down. Teenagers know everything and parents were born this age not knowing anything.
Well, there isn't a lot going on here which can really be nice, but I will try to check in and blog from work some. sshhh, don't tell
Have a great day!!!
Bridget

Sunday, February 12, 2006

Birthday, sick child and SNOW!!

Ashleigh turned 17 on the 9th, I can't believe I have a child that is 17. 16 didn't sound quite that horrible but 17 really makes me feel kind of old. Kind of old, but not real old. She took her test for behind the wheel on her birthday and passed with flying colors so on March 28 she will be able to make that trip to DMV and get her license. AGGGHHHH. I don't know if I am ready for that, but ready or not here she comes.
We got up yesterday to snow. I love to watch it snow. It was falling pretty heavy but not accumulating to much until around 11. Then it really got going good. By this morning we had 12 inches. Blake couldn't wait to get outside. Two of his friends came by and they were outside for a long time running from one yard to the next. Thank God for water proof boots and clothes. Today they were right back at it again until Rusty decided to give me a little break and take Blake to his Mom's for the afternoon.
I was woke up at 2:30 this morning to a little person standing by the bed saying "Mom, Mom please don't be mad, I pooped in my bed." Anyone else ever been woke up like that? It was a new one on me, I can tell you that. I jumped out of bed, "What do you mean you pooped in your bed?" I don't think I believed what I was hearing. He said he woke up and didn't feel real good, his stomach hurt. He starting to get out of bed and then he lost all control. Those weren't his exact words but that is what he meant. He tried to run to the bathroom but wasn't having a whole lot of luck so needless to say I not only had a very dirty kid to toss into the tub and a bed to strip and clean, I also had floor from the bedroom to the bathroom to scrub. This definitely makes me rethink the idea of carpet, hardwood floors would have been so much easier to clean. He kept saying he was sorry and I kept saying I wasn't mad, he couldn't help what had happened. So after all the cleaning and scrubbing of the child I tucked him into bed on the couch and finished up the rest of the mess. In all I was up about 2 hours. This morning Rusty said "I slept through the whole thing, how did I sleep through all that?" Well, those of you who don't know my husband, a bomb could go off in the house and he would sleep through the whole thing. By this morning, Blake was feeling better and ready to head back outside. Kids are so much more resilant than adults.
Well, I am headed out the door, those of you who got snow enjoy it, it sure is beautiful here in the Shenandoah Valley, our deck has this incredible view of the mountains, and those who didn't, sorry about your bad luck.
Have a great day!!!
Bridget

Wednesday, February 01, 2006

Prayers please

Please pray for my Grandmother, she is 75 and she is going to be having surgery in about 2 weeks at Duke University. She had heart surgery last year and they also removed an aneurysm (I'm not sure if that is spelled right but hopefully you will get the idea). She now has 2 more of them in her back and they have grown alot, so much that the Doctor said he wants them gone. Basically, she is in great health but this is really scary for our family. I am very lucky at 37 to still have 3 grandparents. Rusty reminds me of that all them time by the time he was 24 he had lost all of his grandparents and his father. I have been very blessed and my children have been also to have been able to grow up with great-grandparents who are just awesome. No one tells a story like my Pawpaw, he will be 81 in May and he has to be the smartest person I have ever met. He can answer any question you give him about the Bible and he always has time for us, just to talk or just spend time together. My kids love being with them.
There's not alot going on around here, everyone is in bed and I am waiting up for Ashleigh to get home from work. We had bacon, mushroom burgers with french fries for dinner. It's kind of boring but everyone loves it and I can get Blake to eat it.
We picked up our chairs on Saturday and they are great. They are solid oak and show a little wear but nothing other than normal wear. They look great in the dining room. I love eBay. My Dad went and picked up their new dining room in York, PA and it is absolutely beautiful. Another wonderful eBay find. My Mom told me last night she was looking at either a new living room set or a new pair of shoes. My Dad was in the background voting for the shoes. I told her that was because he wouldn't have to go and pick up the shoes. My Mom and her shoes is a big family joke, my Mom could rival Imelda Marcos for shoes and my husband runs a close second. They both obsess about them. Rusty has shoes for every occasion and multiples of them. We give him a hard time about it all the time.
Blake and I are starting to read The Chronicles of Narnia. I read the series probably 100 times when I was a kid, so now I am going to share them with him. Ashleigh likes to read but Blake is my reader out of the 3 of them.
Ashleigh will be home soon so I am getting ready to head to bed. Have a great night!
Bridget