Today.....

Today would have been my grandmaw Vera's birthday. There are so many things I could write about her life. She was unexpectedly widowed when she was in her early 50s. She loved to travel. She loved holidays. She loved her children and her grandchildren and great grandchildren. She was a wonderful cook. Not too long ago I asked mama to make Swiss Steak like Maw Maw used to make. Soo many happy memories! She had a fireball temper that could errupt at the drop of a hat. She had a wonderful Godly heritage but herself waited until several years before she died to give her heart to God. But,when she made the decision, she followed through like she did with everything in her life. She was committed to go the distance, regardless. This picture was taken the Thanksgiving before she died the following May.

Look at all the food on the stove in the background of the picture. That was how it was everytime we went to Maws. Whether is was her big yellow Pyrex bowl full of potato salad or her cornbread dressing, everyting was in abundance and everything was delicious. We miss her so much. We were not ready to let her go. And days like today it's hard all over again. Happy Birthday Maw Maw.

Vacation 2007

We got back today from an almost week long vacation in the Great Smoky Mountains.

We saw the very end of the leaf change but we still saw a lot of color! It was so pretty there. Our vacation was delayed a couple of days because my Uncle Russell died the day we were to leave town. It was a hard decision but we decided to go after his funeral service. He was 68 years old and suffered with diabetes and congestive heart failure, among other things. I still can't believe he's gone. He was always the larger than life uncle, the fun one. Not always the storybook uncle but he was my favorite. I cried most of the way to Tennessee. We got to Gatlinburg around midnight on Monday. On Tuesday we ventured to Cades Cove, a one-way, 11 mile loop around an isolated valley located in the East Tennessee section of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We wanted to get there in the late afternoon and finish the loop around dusk. Our timing was near perfect. We saw deer, turkeys and even a bear cub. We had to stop our car to allow this deer to cross in front of us. Since they live in a protected environment they have little fear of humans.

We also played a lot of goofy golf. This particular course was called Davy Crockett. See the master at work....

We had a wonderful time. We packed a lot in to the time we were there enjoyingThe Dixie Stampede and The Comedy Barn along with several great meals. It was good to get away but we were ready to get back home and back to OUR OWN BED! It's rough to sleep in a queen size bed after you're accustomed to sleeping in a roomy king size bed. Well it's back to work for me tomorrow...I'll be daydreaming of the mountains......