Christmas, Family Tree, and Happy New Year!

Charlie flew home from Oklahoma the Monday before Christmas. It was great to have him home.

Christmas Eve, the kids opened their stockings. Candy and gift cards (Apple, iTunes, Barnes and Noble) for both, and an eye mask for Kelly that says, "up all night".

For Christmas, we got Kelly an iPod Touch (I think that's what it's called). She had asked for an iPhone 4, but the man who helped Charlie and I at the Apple store told us that the iPod Touch could hold more and it costs less. I had told Kelly back when she asked for an iPhone 4 that if we got her one that that would be all she got for Christmas because they cost so much. She was perfectly fine with that.

We got Sean some PS3 games. At $60 a piece (more than that after taxes), that was all we got him for Christmas. It's all he asked for and he's more than happy. :-)

Charlie and I didn't get each other anything. I told him to put whatever he would normally spend on me for Christmas aside to be used for that trip to Hawaii (2nd honeymoon) we're hoping to take this year.

Charlie flew back to Oklahoma yesterday. I hope he won't have to be gone as long this time.

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I've been working on the family tree at Ancestry.com for a few years now. I've never been able to get anywhere with Charlie's dad's side. I only knew Charlie's dad's name and Charlie's dad's mom. Until yesterday.

One of Charlie's cousins (I had never heard of her until yesterday) tagged Charlie's sister Sheila in several old family photos she'd posted at Facebook. I saved the pictures to my computer and printed them out. I also sent her (Theresa) a friend request, which she quickly accepted. I asked her if she knew who Charlie's dad's dad was and she was able to tell me. (Theresa's dad and Charlie's dad were half-brothers - same mom, different dad.) As soon as I got his name entered into the family tree at Ancestry.com, a hint leaf popped up. From there, I found records about him and his parents and on back.

I'm so happy to finally have that side of my husband's family tree filled in. And it just keeps going. It's great not to have to look at empty brackets there anymore. I'm back to the late 1700s now and hint leaves are on nearly every new name I've entered. I can't wait to find out more, including what country they came over from.

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Well, we're just four hours away from the new year here on the American east coast. 2013 was a pretty good year for my family. I pray 2014 will be even better.

Jury Duty and 19th Anniversary

Monday, December 16th, I had jury duty at the Guilford County Courthouse in downtown Greensboro. One of the  most boring days of my entire life.

I got up at 6:00 AM (?!) and had to be in the jury room by 8:15 AM. Yikes.

There was free parking at a parking lot and a parking garage 2-3 streets over from the courthouse, but that was too far to walk on a morning when it was 29 degrees. (With a breeze on top of that, no less, making it feel even colder.) So I parked in the parking garage diagonally across and down the street a bit. It was still a very cold walk (I was shaking and shivering), but not as miserable as it would've been walking from the free parking garage.

When I finally got inside the building, I had to pick up a bin, put my purse inside the bin, and take off my coat. The line moved at a decent pace and when I got to the scanner machine thing (totally blanking on what that's called), of which there were three, I told the security lady that I had a nail file in my purse. (A sign outside said that we had to let them know about nail files, scissors, knives, etc.) She asked me to get it out, which I did, and then told me that I could have it stored for 25 cents or throw it away. I told her to just go ahead and throw it away. I can buy a new one. So she handed it back to me, along with my purse, bin, and coat, and told me to go back to the desk near the doors to take care of that. Seriously? She couldn't just throw it in the trash near her and let me through? *rolling my eyes*

When I finally made it back through security and to the jury room on the 3rd floor, it was around 8:20. And so began a long, excruciatingly boring day.

Sometime around 8:30 or so, a man came in and talked to us about what the schedule would be for the day, what we could expect, and those who could be excused from jury duty (felons, people who can't understand English or are hard of hearing or aren't citizens, etc.). When he left, I got out the book I had brought (Under the Same Sky, by Genevieve Graham) and read a few chapters, but then my head started to hurt a little bit and feel kind of sluggish. So, then I messed around on Facebook on my phone, but after awhile there was nothing new to read there. So, then I played a few hands of solitaire, but that got boring. *sigh* Lather, rinse, repeat.

Around 10:30, the lady who sits in the office in the jury assembly room (I can't remember what her title is) came into the room. She said that of the four court rooms (and four cases), only one would need a jury that day. She began reading names off of a list of people who were chosen as potential jurors for that case and I prayed she would skip over my name. While not being chosen as a potential juror would mean continuing to be bored in the jury assembly room, being chosen could mean more than a day serving on the jury and I couldn't do that, being a homeschool mom and no one else to watch/teach my kids for days on end.

My kids, by the way, were with my mom, who happened to be off work that day. She had a CAT scan (which came back negative - no cancer) and, of course, had to bring my kids with her, but she wasn't there long.

Anyway, my name did get skipped over. Yay! But of the 29 people whose names they called, if less than 12 of them were chosen for the case, more people would have to be chosen from the remaining pool of potential jurors in the jury assembly room. So there was still the possibility of having my name called. Thankfully, that never happened.

So, anyway, more boredom in the jury assembly room. Ugh. I wanted so bad to go home, but you can't leave until they release you. And though I'm an introvert, I wished so much that people would've started conversations with one another that I could've maybe felt comfortable enough to participate in. But no one talked. I did talk a little bit (a few sentences) with a woman standing next to me waiting for the elevators to go to lunch and I had hoped that it would maybe create enough of a connection for us to talk while we waited, but nothing more came of it. *sigh*

So, yeah, lunch. Before lunch, the office lady had said something about us probably being able to leave early (a juror's day is typically 8:15 AM to 5:00 PM) since they only needed jurors for one case and 29 should be more than enough for them to get just 12 jurors. So I thought maybe we'd get to go home before lunch. Nope.

Lunchtime came (12:30) and we were still there, so we were told we could go eat. Well, I didn't want to have to go back through security again (not to mention walking to my car, driving somewhere, driving back, parking again, walking back to the courthouse), so I just went to the little lunch room on the lower ground floor where there were snack machines. Oh, joy. I chose a small bag of pretzels and a bottle of water.

I took one bite of a pretzel (I had been up since 6:00 and this was the first thing I ate) and instantly felt sick before it even hit my stomach. I felt very strongly that I was going to throw up and then I felt very strongly that I was going to faint. I was hot, clammy, and shaky. I sat with my head in my hands, elbows on the table, and waited for it to pass. After a few minutes, I felt slightly better and slowly began to nibble on the pretzels and take sips of water. By the time I was done eating, I felt quite a bit better, but of course nowhere near satisfied. I couldn't wait to go home and actually eat something.

I went back to the jury assembly room around 1:15 and waited for lunch to be over at 2:00 (I did a little more reading, a little more FB, a little more solitaire), when the office lady was supposed to be back. She didn't come back until about 2:20 and then we had to wait a few more minutes for her to finally come back to the assembly room from her office and let us know what would happen next. Could we finally go home now? She read off the names of those who were in the assembly room, including my name, and then told us we could go home. Hallelujah! Thank You, Jesus!

It was still a little cold outside, but not nearly as cold as it had been that morning. But I was just happy to be going home.

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Tuesday, December 17th, was mine and my husband's 19th wedding anniversary. 19 years. Wow. Practically unheard of in this day of divorcing rather than sticking it out through the hard times, staying true to your vows and the covenant you made with one another and with God - for better or worse, until death! There's a quote that says that when it comes to marriage, sometimes the better comes after the worse and I totally believe it.

I wish Charlie could've been here, but he's still in Oklahoma working. He should be flying home this weekend and then he'll have to go back to OK sometime after Christmas. We'll go on our anniversary date one night while he's here. I'll be glad to see him and spend time with him. Everyday I love him more.

What Child is This?

I love this version of What Child is This. No one sings it like Christopher Kincaid. I love the "oh, oh" part that starts at 3:00 and again at 4:54. And I love the "hallelujah" part that starts at 5:30. So beautiful and awesome.

Pause the music player at the bottom of your screen first.

Thanksgiving, Chemo, Broken Hot Water Heater

Thanksgiving was at my mom's house this year. (We usually have it at our house, but Mom really wanted to do it this year.) Unfortunately, I wasn't feeling well, so I stayed home and dozed on the couch. Charlie and the kids brought home some food for me.

The day after Thanksgiving, my mom had her final chemo treatment and got her final shot the day after that. This has probably been the hardest to deal with (weak, sick stomach, tired), but it's done now and she's starting to feel better. I think she still has to have a check-up this week and then another check-up in April. They also want her to have a mammogram and colonoscopy.

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As if recovering from chemo wasn't enough, my mom's hot water heater quit working a few days ago. My husband is in Oklahoma working (he was here for the week of Thanksgiving and then flew back to OK this past Sunday), but tried to call people he knows who might be able to help.

My brother found out about it and started calling people from church. (He doesn't actually go to church with us anymore, sad to say, but he knows they're good people.) He kept texting me, asking for people's numbers. I gave him my pastor's cell number when he asked for it (along with the church number) and he was able to get up with him. Our pastor told Del that he would take care of it. Our pastor then got up with a man (Jim) in our church who apparently does home repairs for people. Jim then got up with my mom.

Wednesday morning around 10:00 AM, Jim and another man went to my mom's house and were there till 6:30 in the evening. They got her a new hot water heater (my mom said she'd pay for it, but Jim distracted her while it was paid for and then told her that the pastor took care of it) and did repairs to the floor. The boards were rotted and there was mildew and rust.

Anyway, it's all fixed now and she's got a working hot water heater. :-) She can't believe that Pastor paid for it and she feels kind of embarrassed, but she loves that our pastor and others from church care so much. She posted about it on FB and our pastor responded with, "We're family."

When my brother had called our pastor, he told him about how that our mom hasn't really been able to work as much because of how chemo has made her feel, that her paychecks have been smaller and that she couldn't afford to buy a new hot water heater. So that's why Pastor paid for it. I expect my mom will try to pay him back when she can though.

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We're pretty much done Christmas shopping for our kids, other than stocking stuffers. I don't think we've ever been done this early. Charlie actually did most of the shopping while he was in Oklahoma. While he was home for Thanksgiving, we went shopping for Kelly.

He asked me what I want and I told him to just save whatever money he would've spent on me and set it aside for that trip to Hawaii we're hoping to take next year. (Second honeymoon.) There are other things I'd like, but I want a trip to Hawaii more. :-) Hopefully nothing will hinder us.

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Kelly and I went to see The Hunger Games: Catching Fire on Saturday, November 23rd, the day after it was released. Then I took Sean to see it the following Monday or Tuesday. Then Kelly and I saw it again on Saturday (2 days after Thanksgiving). We all really liked it (obviously) and Kelly and I are wanting to see it again soon.

Charlie watched The Hunger Games for the first time while he was home for Thanksgiving (I skipped the really sad part that had me crying pretty hard when I saw it in the theater; I always skip that part) and now he wants to see Catching Fire. He said he'll probably go see it Sunday. I hate that we have to wait a year to see the next movie. I have  read the books, but I can't remember everything that happens. I'll have to read them again to refresh my memory.

Kelly and I also want to see The Book Thief. We've been planning to see it this week, but haven't made it yet. I read the book recently and liked it. I've heard that the movie is good. Maybe we'll see it on Saturday.

This and That

These last couple rounds of chemo have been difficult for my mom. She hasn't been sick; she just hasn't had any energy for the week following each treatment. This has caused her to miss work during those weeks. The doctor told her that her hemoglobin might be low and if so she would possibly need a blood transfusion, but when she went to the doctor the other day, they told her that everything is good. They also told her that the end is usually harder than the beginning. She just has one more round of chemo, the day after Thanksgiving, and she'll be done.

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I got a jury summons in the mail a couple days ago. *sigh* They send me one every couple of years. So far I haven't had to serve. Hopefully I won't have to this time either. I don't understand why they summon me all the time, but they've never sent a jury summons to my husband or my mom or my brother. :-/  I'm supposed to call Sunday night, December 15th, after 6:00 PM and they'll let me know if they still need me to come in the next morning. (I have to be there Monday, December 16th at 8:15 AM, if I'm needed. Too early for me.) Last time I was told that my services weren't needed. I hope I get that same message this time.

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My husband is still in Oklahoma. He's been there for 3 or 4 weeks. He should hopefully be home by next weekend. We miss him.

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I took the kids to see Thor: The Dark World last Saturday. Really good movie. I liked it more than the first one, which I thought was okay, and nearly as much as I liked The Avengers.  My favorite character is Loki, even though he's a bad guy. He's just so cool and funny. :-) Tom Hiddleston is now one of my favorite actors. Funny how all my favorites are British - Orlando Bloom, Jude Law, Tom Hiddleston, Colin Firth, Benedict Cumberbatch (can't wait to hear him as Smaug in the next Hobbit movie), Henry Cavill. My two favorite actresses are Cate Blanchett (Australian) and Kate Winslet (British).

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I'd heard about this movie that's coming out this year that's based on a young adult book called How I Live Now. The trailer looks cool, so I read the book (it's very short) and planned on seeing it, if not in theaters, then whenever it would be in Redbox. At the time when I saw the trailer, the movie didn't have a rating, but I figured it would be PG-13 because it takes place during a war and because it's young adult. Nope. It's got an R rating. *sigh* smh. So much for that. I do not like R-rated movies. Blech. I hate all the profanity, the nudity, the sex. No, thank you.

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The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is coming out next Friday. I'm really excited to see it. Catching Fire was my favorite of the books. I'm also looking forward to the second Hobbit movie, which comes out on December 13th. I can't wait to see Legolas, Tauriel (I don't care if she's not in the book), Thranduil, Smaug, Bard, Mirkwood, etc. It's going to be good!

A Day in the Mountains

Thursday, October 31st, my kids, my mom and I went to the mountains for the day. (Charlie has been in Oklahoma working for a couple weeks now.) It was nearly 10:00 AM when we left Greensboro, but it only takes just under 2 hours to get to Boone. It was lunchtime when we arrived in Boone, so we went straight to the Dan'l Boone Inn Restaurant to eat. We love their food (my favorite are their country ham biscuits) and eating there was one of the things we were most looking forward to doing while in the mountains.

After leaving the restaurant, we went to the Mystery Hill House in Blowing Rock, just a few minutes down the road from Dan'l Boone Inn Restaurant. This was the place Kelly, and maybe Sean, was most looking forward to going. It was a cool (around 60°), windy day in the mountains and those winds seemed to be especially high at Mystery Hill. We felt like the wind was pushing us across the parking lot.

Anyway, we had fun at Mystery Hill House with its crazy sloped room (kind of messes with your head and throws you off balance a bit) and other little things to check out. There's also the Appalachian Heritage Museum next door (old furniture, toys, and books) in an old, white farmhouse, and the Native American room full of arrowheads in glass cases. I hope someday they have more than arrowheads on display. I reckon we'll have to go to Cherokee if we want to see and experience more of the Native American culture and artifacts.

Kelly on the left, guide in the middle, Sean on the right.

Shoppes on the Parkway (near the Blue Ridge Parkway) in Blowing Rock was our next stop. My mom wanted to go to the Coach store (she loves their purses) and see if she could find anything she liked. She bought a purple, sparkly toboggan (what you non-Southerners call a knit hat) and a purse.

Sean wanted to go to the Blowing Rock next, but unfortunately we were running out of time and I really wanted to go to Grandfather Mountain. So, we made our way there, got our tickets at one of the booths you drive up to, and headed up the mountain. On our way up, we stopped at the museum and animal habitats. It was cold and windy up on the mountain and I was very glad that I had brought my coat and scarf.

In the animal habitats we saw deer, cougars, bald eagles (they can't fly; one of them only has one eye), and bears. There used to be a couple golden eagles, but they died not long ago, and the otters, which I've enjoyed seeing in the past, weren't out at the time that we were there.

Female cougar playing with a ball.

Male cougar.

One-eyed eagle.

 After leaving the animal habitats, we quickly made our way to the car (cold and windy!) and went the rest of the way up the mountain. Mom got out with us and walked to the edge of the parking lot, but then went back to her car, because it was so cold, while the kids and I went up to the Mile High Swinging Bridge.

The view from the edge of the parking lot.

Sean and Kelly on the bridge.

Part of the view from the bridge, obscured a bit by clouds.

Taken from the other side of the bridge, looking towards the parking lot and gift shop. 

There weren't a lot of people up there (no surprise), but those who were there had ventured out onto the rocks beyond the bridge. Sean and Kelly wanted to go out there too, but I didn't think it was a good idea on such a windy day to be walking out on uneven ground near the edge of a mountain. It's not really a good idea on a good day, let alone on a day when the winds are so high. So, naturally I said "no".

The winds were so high that the suspension cables hummed and sang as the winds blew against them. It was also a cloudy day and we had seen a few drops of rain when we were down in Boone and Blowing Rock, but up on Grandfather Mountain we saw a few snowflakes or sleet. Despite the cold and wind, we enjoyed being up on the mountain.

It was close to 5:00 when we came down off the mountain. We stopped by a produce stand on our way back to Boone and bought some apples and honey. We made one more stop, at a gas station in Boone for snacks and drinks, before heading home.

We had a good time in the mountains and hope to go back to see the places we didn't get to visit on this past trip - Linville Caverns, the Blowing Rock, Rough Ridge (a friend recommended it), Hickory Ridge (a living history place) in Boone. I'd like to go back in the spring.

I'm hoping to make another trip up to the mountains before Christmas so that we can take my mom to Biltmore Estate. It's so beautiful there at Christmas (well, all the time really) and my mom has never gotten to see it.


Speaking of my mom, she just has two more rounds of chemo and she'll be done. The last round she did was about a week after her final radiation and that combined with the shot they gave her the next day really wiped her out for the whole week prior to our trip to the mountains. She didn't have the energy to do much of anything. She's feeling good right now though. Hopefully the next round of chemo (this Friday, I believe) won't be as difficult.

Mom Update, Sean's Teeth, Homeschool, & a Weekend Getaway

My mom finished radiation last week. She will begin a few rounds of internal radiation soon (I don't know yet how that works) and then go through three more rounds of chemo. She should be done with everything by late November or early December. Her hair has started coming back, but will probably fall out again when she goes through chemo again. She hasn't really gotten sick (other than an upset stomach if she ate anything with fiber in it while going through radiation) through this whole process of chemo and radiation. She gets tired for a day or two after a session, but then she's fine.

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Sean had an orthodontist appointment on Monday. They put in stronger wires, a couple chains, and two rubber bands. (He has to remove the rubber bands before brushing his teeth and then put in new ones afterwards.) The chains and rubber bands are helping to line up his upper and lower teeth correctly (the left side of his mouth is lined up nearly perfectly already since getting braces) and the wires do the straightening. His mouth was sore and he had a headache for a few days after getting the stronger wires and rubber bands, but he wouldn't take medicine. He also ate very little. I think he's probably feeling better now.

I asked the orthodontist's assistant how much longer he'll have to wear braces (he's had them for about 15 months) and she told me about another ten months, give or take. So if all goes well, he should have his braces removed around July next year. Sean said he can't wait to eat the things he hasn't been allowed to have since getting braces. Especially popcorn. :-)

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We started the new homeschool year a few weeks ago. Sean is in 10th grade now and Kelly is in 7th grade. They're taking the normal required classes for their grades, as well as a couple electives each. One of Kelly's electives is Spanish, but she says she's not really interested in it anymore. (She's kind of bad about saying she wants something and then changing her mind after she gets it. I can't tell you how much I hate spending money on something that she then doesn't wear or use. It happens a lot and kind of ticks me off.) I need to go back to the Christian bookstore where I get their curriculum soon anyway and will possibly have Kelly choose something else. She can try Spanish again in high school.

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Not much else going on at the moment. Charlie was wanting to go to the beach again one weekend, but it's fall now and as much as I'd love to go back to Southport this year, I really want to go up to the mountains for the weekend when the fall color is at its peak. I look forward to seeing the mountains covered with red and gold and orange, getting pumpkin bread at the Northwest Trading Post (if it's open - government shutdown and all that :-/ ), the smell of the mountain air, the crisp coolness when the sun goes down, eating at the Dan'l Boone Inn Restaurant in Boone, walking a trail along the Parkway. I love it up there. :-)

Fall Meme

I found the following fall meme over at the Chrisbookarama blog.

1) What's the first thing that makes you feel like summer is over and fall has arrived?
2) What's your favorite fall fragrance or flavor?
3) Favorite fall goodie?
4) Do have any fun fallish outings or traditions? (i.e. apple picking, looking at leaves etc.) If not is there something you've always wanted to do?
5) Football or Baseball postseason?
6) Halloween or Thanksgiving?
7) What's your favorite spooky monster?
8) Do you have a favorite quote about fall from a book or movie?
9) If you could go anywhere for a weekend trip during the season where would it be?
10) Describe your ideal fall day.


1. When daytime temperatures drop below 80° and stay there.

2. Fragrance: leaves. Flavor: pumpkin.

3. Pumpkin bread, but it has to be really moist, and caramel apples with nuts.

4. Going to the mountains to look at the leaves and going to fall festivals.

5. Football. Though I really only enjoy watching it if the Carolina Panthers are playing.

6. Thanksgiving. I don't like Halloween.

7. None.

8. No.

9. The mountains of North Carolina.

10.  Driving the Blue Ridge Parkway, stopping at overlooks, taking pictures, going on a short hike, getting delicious pumpkin bread at the Northwest Trading Post (they have the best I've ever eaten), eating supper at the Dan'l Boone Inn Restaurant in Boone.

Vacation 2013

My family and I took our vacation last week. We had a wonderful time. That last evening, as Kelly and I stood on the beach (Charlie and Sean were fishing on Southport pier), the waves rolling over our feet, I got a little teary-eyed. I didn't want to leave.

We left for our vacation on Thursday, September 5th and came home on Wednesday, September 11th. We spent the first few days in the Morehead City area and then went to Southport on Sunday, September 8th.

Thursday was mostly driving. We stopped in Holly Springs (outside of Raleigh) on the way to drop off Charlie's dog Milo with his sister Sheila so that she could take care of him while we were gone. (My mom took care of our other pets at our house.) We also went by the two houses we lived in in La Grange back '96-'97 since we were driving through there on our way to Morehead City.

We had supper that first night at Roma Pizza in Atlantic Beach. Charlie and I had eaten there a couple times years ago (before kids). It was nice to eat there again with our kids with us. They liked it as much as we did. :-)

On Friday, September 6th, we went to Fort Macon and Cape Lookout. Charlie and I had been to Fort Macon once back in '96 and I really wanted the kids to see it. It's a pretty neat place. The weather wasn't too hot and the breeze was nice, so we enjoyed walking around and on top of the fort outside. I took a lot of pictures. I'll try to narrow it down to one or two to share with y'all.

Cape Lookout is a place I've tried getting to before, but didn't make it. It was nice to finally get to go there. It's not an easy place to get to. I don't think there's an official state ferry to take to get there. We took a local ferry (a people ferry - no cars) called Calico Jack's. Since there were only about 10-15 of us riding the ferry, we took a small one that was more like a motor boat. I said later that they should change their name to Calico Jack's Speed Boat Ferry and that they should sell shirts and stickers that say, "I survived Calico Jack's Speed Boat Ferry". lol It was fast and the ride on the way back was pretty bumpy. Hold on to your stuff or you could lose it. It was fun though, even with the speed and the wind.

Cape Lookout is beautiful and the water is a gorgeous turquoise. There's nothing on the island except the lighthouse, lightkeeper's house, information/souvenir shop, and wild horses. We didn't see the horses when we were there. I think they probably stay away from the lighthouse area. Charlie and the kids climbed the lighthouse. Charlie took my camera with him and took some beautiful pictures. After they came back down, we walked across the island (it's not very wide in this spot) to Ocean Beach. So beautiful and almost no one else was there.

When it was nearly time for our ferry to come back, we walked back to the beach on the other side and enjoyed the water there while we waited. I, of course, took a lot of pictures.

When we made it back to Morehead City, we ate supper (a seafood place called Sanitary) and then Charlie and the kids swam in the motel pool.

Saturday, September 7th, we went to Ocracoke. It took about an hour to get to the ferry from Cedar Island to Ocracoke and then the ferry ride itself took 2 hours and 15 minutes. That's the longest I've ever been on a ferry and the first time I haven't been able to see land from a ferry. It was strange for me to be completely surrounded by water with no land in sight. Towards the end of the ferry ride, the waters got a little rough. I had to hold on to both hand rails going up and down the stairs and I couldn't walk straight. It was weird. It made me feel kind of drunk, though I've never been drunk. lol

When we finally made it to Ocracoke, we went to the British Cemetery (interesting place) and the Ocracoke Lighthouse. I was happy to finally get to see the lighthouse up close. Such a cute little lighthouse. There's a pretty lightkeeper's house with a red tin roof next to the lighthouse. A park ranger and his (or her) family lives there. I told Sean that he should become a park ranger when he gets older so that he can live there and then Charlie and I can live there with him. :-) We stopped by a lunch-to-go place (I don't remember the name of it) for sandwiches and sat in our car to eat near the water.

It was getting close to 4:30 and we thought we had until 5:30 before the ferry made its next trip to Cedar Island. Charlie and Kelly went on over to the ferry office (next to the parking lot where we had eaten our lunch) to get tickets while Sean and I stayed near the water and took pictures. Then Kelly came running back and said that the ferry was leaving at 4:30. We could've taken the 8:00 ferry (the last ferry of the day), but we wouldn't have gotten back to Morehead City until after 11:00 and that was just too late. So, after only about an hour in Ocracoke, we had to leave. Hopefully we can go back someday and stay longer.

We had supper at Texas Steakhouse (not the same as Texas Roadhouse) in Morehead City that night and the food was so good! The chips and queso was spicy and delicious, my filet mignon was good and tender, and I absolutely loved the macaroni and cheese - so creamy and delicious. I wish we had one here in Greensboro, but I think the closest one is in Raleigh or Durham.

It brought back memories as we walked to our table. Charlie and I had eaten at the Texas Steakhouse in Goldsboro (near La Grange) when I was pregnant with Sean. I still remember what I ate that night - grilled chicken and a baked potato. :-)

Sunday morning, September 8th, we checked out of our motel, ate breakfast at Cox Family Restaurant (where we'd eaten breakfast every morning) and went to the Pine Knoll Shores Aquarium. We hadn't been since '96 and they've remodeled it since then. It's much bigger now. My favorite part was outside where you can see the marsh and many different types of water fowl. I took a lot of pictures of the egrets, herons, and the marsh. Very pretty area.

We headed to New Bern after leaving the aquarium, stopping for lunch along the way, and went to Tryon Palace. This is another place I've always wanted to go to and was glad I finally got to go. Again, I took a lot of pictures. None of them inside the house since inside photography isn't allowed.

After leaving Tryon Palace, we drove down to Southport, checked into our hotel, and had supper at Ship's Chandler on the waterfront. It was so good to be back in my hometown.

Our days in Southport were spent enjoying the beautiful waterfront, eating really good food (at Local's for breakfast and lunch and Ship's Chandler for supper), swimming in the pool (Charlie and the kids), shopping downtown (Kelly and I), playing golf and fishing (Charlie and Sean), walking on Caswell Beach (Kelly and I), eating ice cream at night at the waterfront. Kelly learned how to swim on Tuesday, September 10th. I wish I'd had my camera with me so that I could've taken pictures. It made me smile to see her swim across the pool and I told her that I was proud of her.

Caswell Beach

 

 Wednesday, September 11th, we checked out of our hotel, ate breakfast at Local's (such good French toast), stopped by Sheila's to visit and get Milo, and came on home. Our niece Samantha (Kelly's age) came home with us. She goes to a year-round school and is on a break for a couple weeks.

We came home with t-shirts, key chains, sand (in a small jar and in our car), over 600 photos, a few stickers for the back window of our car, a couple refrigerator magnets, a little bit of a sunburn, and memories. Looking at my photos makes me want to go back to Southport right now. I miss it.

How do American Homeschoolers Measure Up?

Source: TopMastersInEducation.com

Mom's Health, NAYC, Vacation

My mom had her CT scan this past Monday. She went back to the hospital on Tuesday and they told her that everything looks great. Yesterday, she went back to the hospital again to have blood drawn and they told her that she's still a little anemic. The next step in this long process is radiation. After a few weeks of that, she'll have 3 more rounds of chemo (3 weeks apart) and then she'll be done. She told me the other day that her hair is starting to grow back in and it's blond and curly. It's normal color and texture is brown and straight. lol

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Sean had an "awesome" time at NAYC last week. I kept up with a lot of it through Facebook and YouTube. I would've loved to have been there. The next NAYC, in 2015, will be in Oklahoma City. Sean will be 18 and Kelly will be 15. I told them that they could both go and I could go as a chaperone. Charlie has family right outside of OKC (Choctaw, Harrah) and it'd be great if they at least made it to the Friday night service.

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We're planning on going on vacation September 6th through the 11th. A couple days in Ocracoke (we've never been there) and then a few days in Southport. I just need to make the hotel reservations. I know I'm cutting things close (hopefully not too close), but I'm hoping that with September being off-season that we won't have any trouble getting a room. Even if Ocracoke is in the Outer Banks.

We'll start the new school year after we get back from vacation.

Chemo, NAYC, The Passage

My mom had her third round of chemo on Friday, July 26th; the day after her 62nd birthday. It hit her a little harder this time and she was very tired for a few days. Sean was at her house for over a week helping her out around the house. (She lives about a mile from us.) She's been feeling better for a few days now. She has to get a CT scan on the 12th and then sometime after that they'll start radiation. She still has 3 more rounds of chemo to go through, which she'll do after she finishes radiation.

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Sean is going to a big youth event this Wednesday through Friday (he'll be home on Saturday) in Louisville, Kentucky - North American Youth Congress. If I'm not mistaken, there were about 20,000 at the last NAYC in 2011. (They have it every 2 years.) He's so excited he's about to bust. He and several other youth from our church, along with the youth leaders and a few chaperones, will be packing up the van tomorrow evening and then leaving at 3:00 AM Wednesday.

This is the first time he's been out of state without me or Charlie. I'll worry about him, but I'm also really excited for him that he'll get to have this awesome experience.

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I'm about halfway through a book called The Passage, by Justin Cronin. I wouldn't normally read a book like this, but someone praised it (and its sequel, The Twelve) at their blog. I'm really loving this book! I bought the sequel this past Friday and can't wait to finish The Passage so that I can read The Twelve.

Second Round of Chemo

My mom had her second round of chemo this past Friday, July 5th. I went with her and the kids went with Charlie to the driving range. Sean and Charlie love golf. Kelly would rather watch them play than go to the hospital.

Everything went fine with Mom's chemo on Friday. Like the first time we went, there was a person (I didn't see him or her) who completed their final round of chemo. They rang the bell (one ding) and everyone applauded.

After about four hours of chemo, Mom and I went out for lunch and then she went home. Last time Mom had chemo she didn't feel tired until about four days after and then felt fine again a couple days after that. This time she started feeling tired a couple days sooner. She went home from work a few hours early on Sunday and didn't go to work at all yesterday. (She was off Monday and Tuesday.) She's going to try to work today.

She's lost most of her hair now, except for some in the back. They say when your hair grows back that it sometimes comes in thicker and curly and a different color. When she said that she wondered if the hair in back would come out, I said, "Wouldn't it be funny if it didn't fall out and then the hair on top came in a different color? People might wonder if you dyed it two different colors. You'd have to dye it so that it's all one color." We laughed about that. :-)

I've bought her a few head scarves and she's been wearing those. People have complimented her on her pretty scarves and she's told them, "My daughter bought them for me. She knows what I like." :-)

She has another round of chemo in a few weeks. Then she'll have to go through radiation for a few weeks, and then 3 more rounds of chemo. Just a few more months and she can put this behind her. There'll be a follow-up appointment about 6 months after her final round of chemo.

First Round of Chemo

Mom's first round of chemo (Friday, June 14th) went well. I drove her to the hospital and stayed with her for the nearly 6 hours that we were there.

Our pastor came by the hospital to talk with her and pray with her before they started with the chemo. Only one visitor is allowed in with the patient at a time, so I waited in the hallway outside of the treatment area. He stayed longer than I thought he would, which was nice. When he came out of the treatment area and into the hallway, he talked with me for a few minutes before leaving.

I then went back to where my mom was and sat with her. Sometime shortly after I sat down next to my mom, the staff suddenly broke out in applause. (The treatment area has several, small private rooms, I assume for the more serious cases, a nurses' station, and several reclining chairs for patients whose cancers aren't quite as serious. The areas around the reclining chairs can be individually curtained off if needed or desired and each little area has a TV and a small, rather uncomfortable, bench nestled quite closely to the reclining chair that the patient is sitting in. I had about a half a foot of space between my knees and my mom's chair.) The applause came from behind me and to my left, in front of the nurses' station. My mom and I wondered why they were clapping. My mom's nurse told us that they always clap when a patient completes their final round of chemo.

There was a beautiful lady (probably around 35-40 years old) standing there, wiping away tears, with a beautiful smile on her face. Her hair was short (for obvious reasons), but thick and blond. Seeing her cry made me cry. Some of the nurses were crying, too. It was a wonderful moment.

This happened a couple more times with other patients and each time I got a lump in my throat and I clapped along with them.

After sitting with my mom for about an hour, she told me to go get something to eat. There's a Subway inside the hospital, a short walk from the cancer treatment area, so I ate there. My mom wanted a blueberry yogurt (Greek yogurt with blueberries on top) from the cafeteria (she'd had it there before and really liked it), so I got her one of those and a cup of red grapes for both of us.

A while later, I got Mom a sandwich from Subway (the yogurt I got her and the small bag of potato chips the nurse got her weren't exactly filling) and after bringing it to her, I went to the gift shop and got her the purple head scarf she wanted for when she loses her hair. She was surprised I got it for her, but she wanted it, so why wouldn't I get it for her? :-)

The chemo went well. Mom didn't have any bad reactions to it at all. Meaning, nothing bad happened while we were there that would've required some kind of intervention or change in the treatment. She felt just as good when we left the hospital as she did when we got there.

Saturday, Sunday and Monday (she'd seen her doctor that day for a follow-up visit) were good days for her, too. But on Tuesday and Wednesday, she had to leave work early because she was just too exhausted. A side effect the doctor told her she'd probably have. But by Thursday, she was feeling good again.

She went back to the cancer center this past Tuesday so they could check her blood. They found that her white blood cell count was too low and made her put on a mask. They told her that she couldn't go back to work, go to any public places or have any close contact with anyone until her white blood cell count was back up. They gave her a shot and told her to come back the next day.

After she went home from the hospital (Kelly had gone with her to the hospital; after Sean and I left the orthodontist's office, we met them there), the kids and I got something to eat, then went grocery shopping for Mom after getting her grocery list from her. I also picked up her prescription for her.

She went back to the hospital yesterday and they checked her blood again. Her white blood cell count is back up and she can go back to work and church and other public places without a mask. :-)

So, overall she's doing good. She hasn't lost any hair yet, but the doctor said that wouldn't happen until probably after the second round of chemo. She really doesn't want to lose her hair, but she's leaving it in God's hands.

Chemo and Our Chosen Destination

My mom starts chemo this morning. (Friday.) I'll be driving her, staying with her the five hours she'll be there (planning on bringing a book with me [my current read - The Summer Garden] and going to make sure my phone is fully charged so I can get on Facebook), and then driving her back home. Our pastor's wife contacted my mom at FB and told her that our pastor wants to meet us at the hospital and pray with us before they start chemo. That'll be nice.

The chemo and radiation is just a precaution. My mom asked her doctor a week or two ago what would happen if she didn't do the chemo and radiation. The doctor told her that if she didn't do it and the cancer came back, she probably wouldn't survive it. She had considered not doing the chemo and radiation, but after the doctor said that, that pretty much settled that.

Charlie finally got to come home from Oklahoma on Wednesday (after being gone for nearly 7 weeks; he'd been in OK since January, coming home every 4-6 weeks, then going back to OK after a week) and since he's off work until Monday, he'll be staying home with the kids while I'm with Mom.

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In other news, Charlie and I have decided on Hawaii (Maui) as the destination for our second honeymoon. We'll probably go in April or May. It seems so far away. I'm excited and can't wait to go. Hopefully the time will go by quickly.

Reunion, Ancestry and Vow Renewal

This past Saturday my dad's side of the family had a reunion at a park in Fayetteville. The last time I'd seen any of his family was in July of 2010. Some I hadn't seen since my dad's funeral in May 2006. It was really great to see them and spend a few hours with them. They couldn't get over how big my kids have gotten since they last saw us and everyone was calling Kelly "Niki Junior" because they say she looks just like me. :-)

It was a mostly pleasant day, weatherwise, considering we were in Fayetteville. It's usually hotter there than anywhere else in North Carolina. But temps weren't bad and it didn't start to get uncomfortable until after we'd been there 2-3 hours when the humidity began to creep up. But even then, it wasn't that bad.

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After we got back to Greensboro, the kids and I went to Macy's to get a purse I'd seen and really wanted. The price was much higher than I normally pay for a purse (I don't like to spend more than $30-40 on a purse) and I walked around the purse department carrying the purse and seeing if I could find a cheaper purse that I wanted more. I did see a black purse I really want (and need, because the black purse I currently have doesn't have a cell phone pocket), but in the end I loved the other one more and so I bought it. I still can't believe I paid $100 for a purse, but it's a beautiful purse. I'll carry it a lot to get my money's worth out of it. lol

I got Kelly a pretty dress at Belk on Friday for a great price. It was originally $125 or $129 marked down to $32 and change. After using the $18 that was left on the gift card my mom gave me for Mother's Day, I paid only $14 and change for it. :-)

 Because Kelly's only about 4'11" or 5'0", the dress actually goes below her knees and she wears a white shrug over it.

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Charlie has been in Houston since late last week. Thankfully, he got sent there before the tornado and bad storms hit the Oklahoma City area, where he'd been prior to going to Houston. I hope he can come home soon. We miss him.

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I'm still working on my family tree nearly everyday. Kind of funny to me how that the vast majority of my ancestors came from England. (It kind of gets monotonous writing "England" over and over and over for place of birth.) Of course, many of those English ancestors are descendants of Normans and Vikings.

I also have a lot of Irish, Scottish, Welsh, German, Dutch, Swiss, and French ancestors, as well as a couple Cherokees and a couple Portuegese ancestors (the first king and queen of Portugal). I recently discovered some Spanish ancestors, dating back to the 14th century and earlier. That was kind of a surprise in the middle of all those Englishmen. One of them goes and marries a Spanish noblewoman. :-)

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Charlie and I are thinking about renewing our vows. December of next year will be our 20th wedding anniversary. We'd like to renew our vows in the spring of 2014. I know, several months before our anniversary, but the weather will be prettier.

We had talked about having the ceremony in Southport, but I'm thinking that might be a little difficult for our pastor and I really want him to do the ceremony. So now I'm thinking we'll do it here in Greensboro and then take a second honeymoon to Southport. Though I've also been thinking about going somewhere a little more exotic. Southport could remain our family vacation spot and somewhere like Hawaii or the Caribbean could be our second honeymoon spot.

I've also looked at informal wedding gowns online and saw one I really like. I don't want to wear a big, fancy dress (though I do love them) or have a big, fancy ceremony for a vow renewal. I want to keep it small and simple. Kelly said she'd like to wear aqua, since it's her favorite color, and I like that idea. (It goes well with our Southport/coastal/tropical "theme". Though I'm not having a theme ceremony. Just the colors.) So she'll probably wear a pretty aqua dress and I was thinking khaki pants and aqua/light blue shirt, no tie, for Charlie and Sean. I'll carry some aqua or light blue and white flowers, possibly.

I'm just thinking out loud. :-)

Mother's Day and an Update on my Mom

Mother's Day was this past Sunday. Charlie was, unfortunately, in Oklahoma (he's been there for a few weeks) and couldn't be with us. :-( He sent me a pretty card and told me to get whatever I wanted. So Kelly and I (Sean hates shopping with a passion) went shopping on Saturday and I found something I've been looking for (but have been unable to find) for at least 2 years - a short-sleeved black suit jacket. I can wear it to church with many things (with a skirt or over a dress). I can't tell you how thrilled I was to finally find one. I wasn't looking for it that day, wasn't even thinking about it, but as we rounded the corner of the petite section at Dillard's, there it was. There were only three left and thankfully one of them was my size. :-)

I also bought a skirt at Belk to go with my new jacket. :-) I got Kelly a very pretty dress at Dillard's (marked down from $119 to $41), which she wore to church on Sunday, two summer skirts at Stein Mart, a brown "leather" backpack/purse at Claire's, and a pair of Nike high tops at Dillard's. (Black with black leopard spots, bright pink laces, bright pink bottoms, and touches of green.) She's been wanting high tops for a long time.

Anyway, Sunday was Mother's Day and of course we went to church. It was wonderful, as usual. :-) I took a couple pictures of the kids before church:

Kelly, 13.

Sean, 16.

After church, Mom, the kids and I went to Red Robin for lunch.

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Yesterday was my mom's post-op visit with her doctor at Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem. Mom's pretty bad about getting lost, so I drove her there, and then back home after we had an early supper at Olive Garden. My kids came with us.

The doctor said that of the 13 lymph nodes that were removed, cancer was found in one of them. So she'll have to start chemo and radiation in 2-3 weeks, as a pre-caution. We don't know yet how often or for how long. The doctor also said that it was stage 3 uterine cancer and not the stage 2 they thought it was prior to surgery. The cancer had made it halfway through her uterine wall.

I just keep thinking about how if she hadn't finally gotten health insurance through her job she wouldn't have gone to the doctor when she did and the cancer wouldn't have been discovered when it had. She may not have known she had cancer until it was too late. Thank God she got insurance and saw her doctor when she did.