Cade's Cove, TN

Good Morning Y'all!

It's Friday!  It's HAPPY FRIDAY to ya!

I'm giving a test today on Genre and Sub-genre so while I'm waiting on my students to get finished, I began thinking of the one single place I'd rather be.  I love being where I am right now, but...IF I could choose another place, I'd pick Cade's Cove.



Cade's Cove is located in The Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee.  It's a very old community from the 1800s.  Some houses are still standing.  Some of the old churches are still there and are actually operational at times.

There's a running mill and grist mill as well.


I went there while my husband and I were on our honeymoon way back in 1994.  We visited there again on our "One Year Anniversary" trip in 1995.  We went there on a visit when Robbie was about 2-3 years old.  I could go one time a year and it still wouldn't be enough!

It's a little one lane road that winds all around the community.  You can drive in your vehicle, ride bikes, walk it, whatever.  Just make sure you take it all in while you're there!

It is absolutely beautiful.



There's so much history there that so many people know nothing about.
How many novels or short stories are waiting to be written with this place as it's setting?
Ahhh....what I wouldn't give for some good ol' Mountain Air running through my lungs right about now.

It's ALREADY October!

Hey Y'all!
Long time, no...well you get it.
Just wanted to drop in and let all 2 of my loyal followers know that my love of blogging has now been renewed!
I am in the midst of reading a WONDERFUL novel called, The All You Can Dream Buffet, by Barbara O'Neal.  It is so relaxing and refreshing and it made me miss blogging.  Seriously.
So much so that I am excited about it.  Can't wait to get back into it!
I really suggest that you run to your local "wherever it is you get your books at" store and get your hands on it.  I can't put it down!!
Here's the cover:


Thank you Charlotte,  over at www.yardsalesandcrochet.blogspot.com for always commenting on my blogs that have been very few and far between!!   I hope to be lucky enough to meet you one day.  We only live 30 minutes apart!  Let's MAKE it happen...whadda ya say girl?

Finally, just a quick update on the family if you're interested.
Robbie is now a third grader.  He's absolutely precious and I am constantly amazed at his quick wit and sense of humor.  I am so thankful, every single day, that we were given such an outstanding gift from the Lord.
Here's Robbie with a friend during our hometown's annual Country Fest this past weekend.  He had a great time!!


The rest of us are doing pretty good.
My sister, her husband, and their three year old, Sawyer moved into their new house during late June. We are SO excited for them and are SO happy!  They're right next door to The Doublewide and I love having them so close!
This picture of Robbie and I was taken behind their house this past June on Father's Day.  They still had to lay the cement tiles down for their patio.


Here's a picture of me, my daddy, my sister and my brother.  Love 'em to pieces!


OK....that's enough for now!
Please check back tomorrow.  I have a WONDERFUL idea already rolling around in my mind about my post for tomorrow.
See y'all!!

Wowza!
Again, it's been awhile since I've been here.
We lost mama on March 16th at 11:15 PM.  She left this world holding my hand.
We are learning that life goes on.
We are learning that we are thankful that we did have the time with her to say goodbye and leave nothing left unsaid.
We are learning that we miss her something awful!

Big Daddy, Robbie and myself just got home last night from a week's vacation.  We visited:
Lancaster, PA (and surrounding towns)
Hershey, PA
Warrenton, VA

We had a wonderful time and enjoyed relaxing and spending time with each other.

We enjoyed visiting the Amish and looking at all of the beautiful farms.

I got LOTS of retail therapy in while on vacation too!

Hope to hear from some of you!
Have a great week!

Unexpected Day Off...YAY!

Hey Y'all

I am so excited to share that I got the day off today.

My daddy had some things he needed to get done and since mama needs someone with her at all times, I took the day off.

We have had a pretty good day.

Her Hospice nurse and CNA came out this morning and gave her a bath.  While here, her blood pressure was checked.  It was 106 over 66.  That's a little low for her, but it was good.

I did manage to get about 6-8 bites of applesauce in her AND she took her morning pills.  We've not been giving those to her lately because she isn't doing well swallowing all of the time.

I've sat around and done some crochet, played a few games on Facebook, and enjoyed spending the day with her.

Hope things are well your way!

Updates on Things in My Life

Good Gravy!
It has been FOREVER since I've posted.
Truly, I must get better with this blog.
I love writing.
I love following your blogs and keeping up with you and what's going on in your lives.
I apologize for not being a good little blogger.
It's awful, I know!

I do have a few excuses, but none that would merit your sympathy!  Hee-hee!!

I do have some bad news though.  Some horrible news.  News that has shaken my inner core...rattled it...but NOT destroyed it.
During the end of September, my mama was taken via ambulance to our local hospital.  She was having seizures at work.  She's never had a seizure before.
She had another seizure in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.  They did a CT-Scan and found a mass on her brain.  They weren't sure what it was, so the ER doctors ordered an MRI.  We waited FOREVER for the MRI.  So much so that they went ahead and moved her to a room while we waited.  While we were all in the room with her, she had yet another seizure.  This time they put in a breathing tube and she went immediately to ICU.  This was a Thursday morning.  On Sunday afternoon, we were transferred to CMC-Main.  (Charlotte, NC)  They were better equipped to help see what was going on.
Her employer, we found out later, coded her absences as "Leave of Absence" and they cancelled her insurance.  My parents had the option to get Cobra insurance for $1400 a month.  Neither one of them are working.
My daddy was diagnosed in 2010 with Guillian-Barre Syndrome.  You can see the post I wrote back then by clicking here.  Mama was only working so that they could have insurance coverage.
They did surgery to remove the tumor, but they were unable to get it all due to it's location.
Radiation/Chemo?  She was only able to take 17 treatments.  They had planned for 30, but her brain had an adverse reaction to the combination and it made her suicidal and very depressed.  It was HORRIBLE, so we decided to stop all treatment.
Anyway...we've had a rough go of it lately.
She just met her 5 month mark last week.  There were many times I didn't expect her to make it.
There were many days when I thought it wouldn't be much longer.

God has a perfect plan for all of it!
Please keep her in your prayers.
Please comment if you feel like it!
I'd love to hear from y'all!
Also, I set up a donation website to help my parents out!  Click HERE if you'd like to help.