Happy Thanksgiving

Hmmm.......family is gathering, turkey is in the oven, pre-baking done. Here's to laughter, tears, hugs and way to loud voices. Hope you and yours have a wonderful and memorable Thanksgiving Holiday.

Be grateful, loving, kind and true, and let the magic of the holidays come into your home and bless you and your family. Thank you for taking a moment to share my life, and may God Bless you and yours.

How to make a 3 1/2 hour drive fly by

Emma was ready, our bags both tightly packed, favors in tow and out into the soaking rain we did go!



Emma is a good traveler, thank goodness. We both were excited. It was off to head down country roads to take us home to West Virginia.

I know the road back well, I wasn't afraid. Just concerned that the 3 1/2 hours would seem like 6. How many Thanksgiving travelers would venture out on Tuesday? Was the rain gonna let up? Would we be detoured by flooding?

The rain was minimal, the traffic was light and eventually I saw it, the one thing that warms your heart when your headed home.



Usually, Emma doesn't like music playing in the car. It does not soothe her savage beast. But, I was determined to be cheerful for the ride. Anybody who is close to me knows I love music, and I have an extreme fondness for Christmas music.




Less than 5 weeks til Christmas, I had to listen. 5 weeks is not enough time. Some of my all time favorite song are Christmas songs. So, I plugged in my iPhone, selected holiday music and shuffle! Imagine my surprise when we made it to Dory's and I hadn't heard not one repeated song. Yes, there are several versions of some. But, not one repeated specific artist rendition! Maybe I have too much Christmas music? Nah, it makes me happy! Actually, I am needing 2 additional albums. I tunes will be downloading Michael Buble



and Elf



the Musical Soundtrack.

Safe and sound, Emma and I are ready to spend this Thanksgiving with David, Alex & Trenton, Rissa, Walt, their babies Nate & Lillian and we are being hosted by Dory, JD and Bailey, Roofus. The only one missing will be Chelsea...
She will be having turkey with her flight and the friends she has made over there, and from the looks of it, she has made some good ones and continues to be a light in others lives.



BUT...a Skype session for all of us to see her and talked to her has been requested for tomorrow! We Love you and appreciate your bravery and sacrifice, Airman Bennett!!

Help...my husband is out of town and I am hungry!

Why is it whenever David travels, I become the bottomless pit? My hungry increases three-fold when he is not here. Is it the shame of eating in front of him, like a ravenous lioness. Or, could it be that I miss him?

He is my rock, my go to guy and the one person in the world who knows every single secret I have. I have trusted him with the most important decisions in my life and hand selected him to help me raise the kids. They couldn't have had a better role model. I am pretty sure that my children are happy with that selection.

When they are troubled or need advice, they go to David. Most times, they go to him before they go to me.It was David who attended all sporting events, all music events, both graduations and HE was the one who took the time and money to go to Lackland, Texas for Chelsea's BMT and Tech School graduations. David loves my children as much as I do.

How great is that....pretty dag-gone special in my book, I hope as they continue to grow-up, and have families of their own, their children will look at him with the same exact love and awe, when he is there for their children's births, sporting events, musical venues and every other thing kids get into.

I wonder if now that they are out of the house if they miss him as much as I do when he is on the road?

I feel like this frog, stuffed, lonely, miserable and feeling guilty, about all the calories I had today. My menu today has consisted of 3 poptarts, 4 cups of coffee (all 4 with creamer), a bag of microwave popcorn, 2 cheese sticks, 4 of the most wonderful halloween taffy's (they taste like candy corn), a 6 pack of sweet tarts, 3 snack size laffy taffy's, one chicken nugget and french fry microwave meal, four peanut butter crackers, a snack bag of cheetos, a bag of lays, and I cleaned out the french onion dip container, and I feel hungry and yet, I AM STILL HUNGRY!!! (and it's not a ZUMBA night...)

David will be home Friday or Saturday evening....I may gain 10 pounds before he gets here.

Struggling with food addictions, weight gain, and doing what is right, just don't fly when there is nobody here to answer to. Man, I hope the next couple days fly by?

WICKED!!

I waited almost 7 years...and Saturday I FINALLY did it!! Thanks to Colleen, for getting up at the crack of dawn and logging into get choice tickets, which by the way, anyone who gets up before 9am is a saint in my book and needs to be praised and showered with lots of love and gratitude! How on earth will I ever repay her?

Not only did she score me a ticket, but she got one for herself, her mother, Mark (the ONLY daring male attendee) and my sister Dory! So, Dory drove over on Friday night. She wandered off to bed around midnight....I laid down at 1:00am and was as excited as kid on Christmas Eve. The soundtrack,which I bought the next day after I heard just one public performance by a show choir, was memorized just a few days after it was inserted into my cd player in my car, was playing in my head and my inner voice was belting out each note loud and strong, as David laid there sound alseep. The soundtrack is one of the best I have ever heard. And thanks to the soundtrack I had conjured up what I thought the actual musical was going to be like.

So I sit here two days later....STILL in a WICKED fog!!! Sipping my 4th cup of coffee in my WICKED coffee mug. My mind wanders to replay the scenes, remembering the costuming and set design, and just how REALLY wonderful it really was. I thought I was prepared for it, but, honestly, I wasn't. I sat there, beside Dory with my mouth gaped open and several times I even had to wipe a lone tear from my cheek. You guys knew I was a geek...this just confirms it!

We have been in Cincinnati for almost one year and in all this time, I have never driven downtown all by myself. I have ridden, I know how to get there, and can get you to any destination down there. But, to drive it all by myself was yet another event. Only WICKED could be encouraging enough to get me to do it. There are a lot of people here...so that means lots of cars. There are several major highways, so maneuvering could be challenging for somebody who can't follow road signs. But, I did it! I even managed to get us parked, remembered where we parked and thanks to Dory, we slid right out of the parking garage and, right onto I71N and were headed home in a flash. My biggest fear was getting lost in the plethora of one way streets and going around in circles downtown, and not being able to get home! Not the case!

Colleen had told us if we were planning on buying any souvenirs, we needed to do it prior to the show. The lines during the 15 minute intermission would be long and the items would be picked over when the show ended. Soo, as soon as they opened the lines, I had my ticket torn, and I was up the stairs in a flash with a starry eyed  look from all the wonderful OZ items the OZ Dust Boutique had to offer. When my turn came up, I made my selections and pulled out my ZUMBA money....jokingly, I said, "I danced my butt off to buy this stuff!" Dory joked and said, "Yeah, she's a stripper." The poor sales guy just looked at us. When Dory tried to fix it by saying, "Nah, if she was she'd have all ones." I giggled out loud and started counting out the $5 and $1 dollar bills. The sales man then replied, "Hey, this IS a family show." Grinning, he gladly took just about all of my ZUMBA money.I really didn't buy much....one t shirt for Chelsea, one for me, and a coffee mug.

Or so was the case until during the performance and in the act where Galinda and Elphaba are off to the Emerald City to see the Wizard, and everybody on stage is wearing the Emerald Green Sunglasses.... I HAD TO HAVE THEM! And, during intermission, I darted in the line and bought them, as well as the track jacket! Which I have to Thank David for! Yes, I charged them! I didn't walk away wanting anything. But, maybe to get to see the next show. My souvenir collection is complete! (wellllll, almost.)

It was a bucket list weekend! I marked an item off of it. The only foreseeable problem is that now that I have seen it in Cincinnati, I MUST see it in NY too!! Gotta talk Colleen and Dory, as well as anybody else who wants to tag along into that trip, SOON!

If you get the chance to see....GO, don't pass it up. Even if you don't like musicals, you will like this one. Everybody knows the story of The Wizard of OZ, WICKED shows you what happened before Dorothy dropped in. If I had to give it stars-0 being bad and 10 being fantastic, I would give this one a 100!!

Really...I am headed Over the Rainbow!!

YES! I have only waited almost 7 years and it is finally here!!! Thanks to Colleen Ballard Thomas, me, some of her family, Mark and my baby sister Dory are headed to the Arnoff Center in Cincinnati to see it! We have matinee tickets for tomorrow!

Can I tell you just how obsessed with this show I have been? Sitting in an auditorium at one of the various show choir competitions, I watched one of the Ohio premier choirs do their version of "For Good". That was it. I went the first thing on Monday, bought the CD and within 24 hours had the entire CD memorized! Then I found the book...ummm, that was in interesting twist. I actually liked  the book, and honestly, hated the ending. For those of you who LOVE the Wizard of OZ, the book WICKED ends in a manner unfamiliar and quite opposite of what we conjure up in our minds.

This did not matter. After hearing the soundtrack 1,000,000,000 times, I knew, and still know that the musical ends entirely different. We have had many conversations about this musical, Colleen, her husband Jeff and I. Rumor has it that even the shows original producer hated the book. But, loved the rewritten musical. So I am not worried.Colleen has seen it many times, this is my virgin performance. I am sure it will NOT be the last!!

So, as I wait for this day for this day to end, for Dory to get here. I am giddy, excited and probably won't be able to sleep again tonight for a good reason-because I CAN'T wait to head of to the theater and get lost in the music.

I will let you guys know how it goes! I am sure I will spend way to much in the OZ Boutique..but, that's why I have been saving all my Zumba money. So I can walk away with  OZ clothes, and nick-knacks! Just know, I am headed off to the Emerald City to see Elphaba, Galinda, Dr Dillamond, Madame Morrible, The Great and Powerful Wizard himself in the Land of OZ!!!

All Dogs go to Heaven, really?

Last night I was updating my phone and it was bogged down with pictures and videos and refused to update one of my favorite aps, so I went searching for things to delete.

There are lots of memories and events still sitting in my albums and choosing which ones to delete became a difficult task. I know of course I can copy them to my computer, but, it was late and I needed a quick fix. So delete was my option.




While perusing through I found pictures of my/our first Shih Tzu Charlie Nacho Milam. He was a dream, perfect in every way. Everybody who ever me him, fell in love with him or became one of his groupies.




Charlie was my best child. He was always happy to see me, he never back talked me and I swear that if I went to bed for 3 days he would lay right there beside me until I got up. My children thought he was their sibling and loved him just as much. Charlie was Davids little buddy, always handy if he had a project to do.



Truly he was man's best friend!
















It made me sad to see the pictures. And, it made me grab Emma and snuggle.

She's a typical Shih Tzu, loving, true and a wonderful companion! When we brought her home she was tiny and fiery...truth be known. She picked us! I knew how I had bonded with Charlie and wanted another male. We searched for several weeks and males were hard to find. When we found her we also found her brother, a black and white little meek thing that she overshadowed. She made it very clear to David and I that she was coming home with us. And she did. I also ran across pictures our rescue/found on the side of the interstate (wink, wink) Winifred, or Winnie as we called her.
They were good buddies. Winnie did not teach Emma to bark at the door, to be afraid to walk in the dark, and how to get excited when anybody shows up after being home alone. When we got her, she was scared of everything. Poor David terrified her right out of the gate with a simple bark collar. She always looked at him with a sketchy eye, but most of all,we all tried to ease her mind and make her feel loved, wanted and needed.



Emma thought she was a rockstar and would follow her anywhere.



Sadly, both Charlie & Winnie both had to be put to sleep. Charlie was gone almost 3 years before Emma came home with us. She is a completely different Shih Tzu, but we can't imagine life without this face. She had become a lot of company for me, especially with Chelsea on deployment. Emma follows me everywhere and always listens to my concerns and qualms. She also tolerates my goofiness. I can sing Opera to her all day and she just lays down and looks at me as if to say, enough already mom. But, she listens...and that's all that matters.



Winnie's inner voices finally took over and she rarely slept, grumbled most of the night and eventually became aggressive. We gave her a loving home for almost five years. We made her life peaceful and having her put to sleep was the most humane thing to do.








In my heart, I KNOW all dogs go to heaven! My Charlie and Winnie are running and playing and waiting there for they're bff, ME! The rational person would say, goodness, there isn't room in heaven for all those dogs? I say yes. Heaven is peaceful, loving and everything beautiful that you could never in this life imagine. So, I know my furbabies will be there waiting.

Siegfried and Jay Hunter Morris...Roarrrrr....

Second Fanthom Event...Siegfried! Again, I left the theater completely stress free and a little sad it was over. Regardless of the fact that it was a Six hour event. This "Live" performance was from New York, and it was phenomenal! I hardly know where to start?

Let's start with the staging. It was ultra modern and very up to date. By saying that let me explain. There was no standard back drop or moving walls or curtains, instead they used the coolest electronic pillars. These were present the entire time. The performers walked around, in front, behind and even scaled across them. The new wave portion was the coolest. Each pillar was a screen, connected to a computer program that projected the scene upon each one, they were four dimensional. The water fall flowed into a pool of water that could be stirred by the performers. When they crossed it the leaves scattered under their feet and in the mountain scene, the flames flickered and whipped high in the air to protect Siegfried's beloved Brunnhilde. During one scene there is a yellow bird that Siegfried admires and after he slays the dragon and accidentally taste's the dragons blood he can understand what the bird is saying. Once he is capable of understanding it, the bird leads him to the treasure, the ring, and escorts him on a journey to find his beloved bride Brunnhilde. The bird floats and flies throughout the backdrop (a.k.a. pillars) and it is in 3D. It was extraordinary in HD at the theater and I can only imagine how much more wonderful it was in New York, in person.

The music by Wagner was intoxicating. The German Opera is sharp and sometimes the notes they sing bring you to your seat. It is said that Siegfried is the hardest tenor Opera part out there. Well now, that Jay Hunter Morris nailed it! Who'd a thunk a southern drawn Paris, Texas boy would have that beautiful tenor voice? I hung on every note. I caught myself thinking how on earth, it just goes on and on, higher and higher.( and it WAS 6 HOURS!!)

The character of Siegfried himself changes and evolves from a carefree young man to a man destined to slay the dragon, climb the mountain with the ring of fire to save with a kiss his one true beloved Brunnhilde. Who, by the way, was beautifully portrayed by the talented Deborah Voigt. Her soprano voice ringing loud and clear as she awaken from her slumber to find Siegfried totally entranced and madly in love with her.

It was yet another reason to find a Fathom Events theater in your area. When David asked if I had a good time, I went on and on. There is no real way to describe how it makes me feel. I just know that sitting in that theater, hearing the orchestra, the talented performers and reading the adjoining text, makes me use both sides of my brain. I leave the theater completely full. Satisfied and happy. Isn't that what the Arts are suppose to do?

Bucket List

So...WICKED has arrived  in town!!! After over 7 years of waiting, I finally scored tickets and am sharing this adventure with my sister Dory, and my new Cincy BFF Colleen! Giddy just isn't the word to describe how I feel!! But, that began the wheels whirling out of control. Seeing how it is one of my Bucket List items. So, what else in on my list? Hmmmm......

Seems only appropriate to write them down and see what I have and haven't accomplished. The list goes as follows:

1. See Barry Manilow in concert-DONE (David took me last year and it was AWESOME!)
2. See WICKED...seeing next week!
3. Travel via train to some totally different city. Enjoying the sights from my railcar. (this one comes from many summers traveling to DC to spend my summer vacation with Dad)
4. Go on a cruise.
5. Go to England or Australia-they run neck and neck for my oversea's destination.
6. Meet Donny Osmond. (Just once!! I may pass out, pee myself and actually be speechless for the first time in my life, but I gotta do this one!)
7. Spend an extra long girls weekend in NY. Hopefully, during the Christmas season so we can see all the Christmas window displays, visit 30 Rockefeller Plaza all decked out and go to Macy's, FAO Schwartz, See a NY Broadway play (I saw Phantom of the Opera with Alex when he was a junior in High School, but I wanna do it with my girls. And I think me and Colleen and maybe Dory can accomplish this one!)
8. See the Grand Canyon.
9. Visit Nashville-DONE( David had a business trip there and I got to tag along, it was simply beautiful in the fall, and anyone who loves music of any kind, soo needs to do this!)
10. Celebrate my 25th, 50th and hopefully 75th wedding anniversary.
11. Have one of those ridiculously funny  family portraits, with matching clothes with ALL my family, hubby, children, and lots of grandchildren. (So, this one will have to wait. Maybe after the 25th wedding anniversary!) 
12. Get a part in musical that doesn't cast me as an extra...actually have lines, costume changes and  maybe a song or two.
13. See Hollywood-DONE! (David took me and Christina several years back. It was interesting, but I don't need to go back!)
14. Take our grown children and grandkids to Disney World. (This one will have to wait as well. At least until after we have more than one grandchild.)
15. Spend a couple of weeks on an exotic beach, with just a book, my headphones and David.
16. Meet Doris Day!

Ok...so I will stop there. Sixteen is a good number to start with. What's on your bucket list? Have you really thought about it. Standing in the shower this morning I had all kinds of ideas. They are in no specific order, I just wanna accomplish them.

More culture? Maybe....

There is a possibility my girlfriend Nancy is coming to sleep in the warm and cozy spare bed this weekend. She is one of my oldest and dearest friends. The kind of friend you can call any time of the night or day and she is there. I could never have raised my children or survived most life's trials without her. She IS my children's Godmother....although as adults, I am sure the biggest responsibility she has to them now is to fuss and pray like I do. Alex and Chelsea both know Aunt Nancy is there for them! Nancy was the only choice when I was pregnant with Alex. Stable, smart, and we share the same beliefs. Giving that responsibility to someone is a very hard choice. I never once thought of anyone else. Nancy had my back and vice versa. Alex and Chelsea cherish, love and adore her. It is not hard to do. She is quite the perfect Godmother. The only thing missing is her wand. (and I think she keeps it hidden and only uses it for extremely extraordinary occurrences!!)

Hoping she comes....yes, I am. But, she has had big changes at work and the changes are making it a little tough for her to get away. The bed is made, coffee and wine is bought and I will wait with baited  breath. Nancy is the one I miss the most from this move. She knows she is always welcomed here anytime she wants to come, day or night.

If she can't make it, I got an email from Fanthom today!!! Yes, ANOTHER Opera!!! I WILL pay the extra money, snuggled down in my sweatshirt and jeans,munch on my popcorn and soak in every note the orchestra plays, and the performers sing. Funny I saw some silly commercial the other day for kettle chips and they  actually used opera as their muse. It tickled me deep in my belly and that began my newest fun activity. Poor Emma...most people know she is not a music lover. She detests Mommy's Zumba music, but now, I sing opera to her...."Let's go for a walk" makes her run away most of the times. It's kinda fun to put everyday conversation in Operatic form. Those of you who are my music fans, just try it, cause it's silly. Sometimes trying to extend or repeat the word for operatic purpose can make you giggle in your belly.

What have you got planned? Hope yours looks at promising as mine! Who knows what my weekend holds? News should come tomorrow. Either way, I am gonna have another WONDERFUL weekend!!!! Nancy or Opera....BOTH are winners!

Remembering those weekends and my childhood summers

Ok...so we didn't sleep on the gynormous sectional, we ended up crawling into the big comfy bed. Just me and Emma. She of course doesn't like to cuddle, she wants to be up there with you, but to snuggle right up against you is not her thing. We had our breakfast and spent the morning catching up with friends.

My childhood friend Kelly was first on the list. They got good news this week. Their son, Bobby who is in the Navy is headed home from his first deployment! This story is relavent because, he was deployed to the exact same base and just a few days apart as Chelsea. They hadn't seen each other since they were probably 4 or 5. There was a time, when due to life's crazy circumstances that Kelly and I spend a lot of time together. There wasn't a weekend for about 3 years that we weren't together. Our children became close. My oldest Alex, laughed when I told him they were on the same base and were planning on trying to meet at the USO tent. "Mom, that's just weird! I remember all those weekends together and I even remember the four of us being allowed to hop in the bathtub together to play and get clean." I had forgotten that. While rummaging through pictures of them, I found this picture taken shortly after that time. They are all so grown up now. I wonder if the two of them were old enough to remember that time and if knowing they played together in the tub was a little weird or was in the back of their minds when they met at the USO tent? Especially now that they are all grown up and thousands of miles away from home fighting the same war on the same base?

Do you remember those days? When innocence wasn't lost and nobody looked at how you parented with skeptical eye? I do. Growing up we would take our vacations to WV and so would my Aunt Judy and Uncle Ken. Spending quality time with family all jammed into a small two bedroom house was always the best part of the summer. I Google'd their address today, and found this map picture. I remember that door very well!

There are countless pictures of all of us sitting on the steps, and most of them are in front of and on top of that rock wall that was strategically placed against the driveway. I remember very well the purple phlox that grew on the fence side and the simply gorgeous bearded iris's that grew along  that wall. For many years we were forbidden to play on the wall, because we might get hurt. That never really stopped us, the minute they left us alone outside, we were on the wall, contemplating a new adventurous jump or attempting a handstand off of it. The vacations were always short, but, they seemed endless to us. Usually, shortly after they would start we would whine and complain about the heat, and Poppaw bought us a swimming pool. Whine a little about being totally bored, we got a sand box. I remember summers of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, ice cream floats, staying off the back porch steps, NEVER going past the grapevine in the backyard and wandering down the hill to the creek, and the biggest most fragrant Lilac bush as a secret fort. And the most favorite memory all of us grandkids have is walking out to the candy store. It was a tiny little mart, that sold milk, pop, cigarettes, and they stocked a TON of candy!!! One whole dollar would get you a whole brown paper sac full! Being grown up now, I understand why we did it. Learn the value of a dollar, get some exercise, get us out from under the grandparents feet, and temporarily relieve the boredom. Honestly, we were all in it for the candy!

Being honest I have to tell you, we DID take baths together! It was the seventies and everybody was conserving....electric, and water. The grown ups in our lives were planning for our future. I still can't walk out of a room and leave the light on without hearing my grandparents say, "That electricity costs money, if you can't pay for it, turn it off." Conserving energy was a huge deal back then.

So today I reminisced.....knowing Bobby is coming home sparked it. Isn't it funny how we connect events in our lives with memories? I am happy for Bobby and his family. I have prayed for him every night, and because he is still an active Navy man, I will continue to do so. Having him home on American soil is reassuring.

Now, I must wait, as my Airmen put it, 100 plus days for her to come home. We are half way through her deployment. God continue to protect her and bring her home to me safe and sound.....

And then it got quiet.

After a weekend of fun and preschool giggles and questions, a dinner to late in the evening with Dory, Bailey and David, my first ever Halloween without trick or treaters, and now it is just me and Emma. I enjoyed their visit tremendously!! Having them here was great...and Dory will be back in less than 2 weeks for one of my Bucket List activities that includes Dory and my new BFF Colleen, some of her family and Mark. We will tell you all about Mark at another time. So, Dory's leaving doesn't leave a big void, because she is coming back.

To me, it is strange that not one Trick or Treater showed up. Emma had her Bee costume on, I wore my Halloween sweater, and we waited...patiently. Where were the cars that pull in and unload the witches, ghosts and star wars paratroopers? Emma watched and after an hour and half, we decided to go for a walk to see if there was a big crowd headed our way. No such luck. we only saw three kids walking around with their parents and a Labrador furbaby in his Big Bee costume. Eventually, even Emma gave up.

Now, I have this huge bowl of candy that keeps calling my name. David and I had several pieces of it while we waited. Emma even got some laffy taffy. But, no other child got any of it. I guess I will have to ship it off to my Airman and send an envelope off to my son, Alex. Goodness knows I don't need it here! I WILL eat every single piece, even the ones I do not like.

David left for hopefully, his last trip to North Carolina on business, and all I had on my schedule was my Tuesday night Zumba class in Blanchester. So what did I do today? I laid around in my jammies til 2pm....shameful! Then I had to rush  to get Emma's walk in before my departure. After class, I came home to the usual excited puppy. She is always happy to see anyone arrive, but Mom or Dad is the greatest thing.

So, here we sit, all curled up watching up on the dvr. It got quiet all of a sudden. It's nice, but strange. It's nights like this I am glad I have Emma to keep my company. We are both so comfortable, we may just sleep here! Don't tell on us?