A Special Birthday

Saturday night the entire Kelly family celebrated the 90th birthday of our patriarch, Ed Kelly.  Ed is a wonderful man.  He's a World War II veteran, husband to Jean for 64 years, fathered five sons, grandfather to seven grandchildren, great-grandfather to three great-grandkids.  He's done a heck of a lot of living in his 90 years.

The party wasn't a surprise.  When we began to plan the party, he was very adamant that he DID NOT want a party.  He said he was a 90-year-old and thought a birthday party for someone his age would be silly.  We DID NOT agree.  We had a lovely party for a very, very special person.  Here are some photos of the celebration.

Jean and Ed arriving at the party.  I hope I look that good when I'm 90!

Two special ladies; my mom and my mom-in-law.  Notice Jean is holding her arm.  She fell shortly after they arrived.  She is at the doctor at this moment having it X-rayed and Jeff just told me that it IS BROKEN.  :-(

Two special men; my dad and the guest of honor, my father-in-law.

The cake table.  Also on this table were the medals Ed was awarded during the war.  I made him a scrapbook with all of his old Army pictures.  The original pictures were quite small, so I enlarged them to 8x10 size.  I think that's a more enjoyable size for a 90-year-old, don't you?

His delish birthday cake.  I ate so much cake that the next morning, I felt like I smelled like cake frosting.  It was very good.

His medals from the war.  One is the Distinguished Flying Cross.  I loved looking at the medals and thinking about all the history behind each one.  So special.

My young Kelly boys; Ross and Cam. 

Four very handsome Kellys.  Cam, Jeff, Ed and Ross.

Thanking everyone for coming.

The daughters-in-law.  Me, Ed, Nan and Sherry.

After he blew out his candles.  I hope he wished for many more birthdays!

Ed and one of his Army buddies.  Have you ever seen such happy smiles?  That generation is one that, in my opinion, will never be duplicated.  It was truly The Greatest Generation.

I picked this up at Wal-Mart.  It's a poster frame with a big mat for people to sign.  I then used a couple more mats to get it down to a 4x6 picture size.  I loved the idea, if I do say so myself. 

My sweet Aunt Theresa,, who always goes the extra mile with everything she does, brought this pretty present to him.  His invitation was part of the wrapping.  So clever.

My hubby and his daddy.  Do you see a resemblance?

The Kelly fam.

I feel so lucky to be part of that sweet family.

Till next time, XO. 

The Cost of a Fun Day

Yesterday I went to Buford for a fun day of shopping with one of my BFF sisters, Suz.  We spent about five hours on our feet shopping.  We looked at clothes, shoes, accessories, makeup, lingerie.  You name it, we checked it out.  Actually bought a few things, too.  Suz's birthday is Saturday.  I bought her gift and also bought the gift for my mom and dad to give her.  It was loads of fun.  I think retail therapy should rank as high on the list as psychiatric therapy.   

However, as with most things I do lately, it came with a price.  Tuesday I went to the orthopedic doctor because I've had recurring trouble with my foot.  My left foot has felt bruised and sore for weeks, but has gotten so much worse lately.  Finally, it was so bad I really felt like I needed to have it looked at.  I have a bruised heel and plantar fasciaitis.  Oh, yeah, and arthritis in my big toe, which hasn't bothered me at all.  Yet.  That'll probably start hurting as soon as the other things go away.

I guess walking around the Mall of Georgia for five hours isn't really a good idea for someone with a bad foot.  I did wear the heel cup and brace, but by the time I had driven home, when I got out of my car, I could barely stand on it.  I knew it was time to bring out the big gun.

  This is the other brace that doctor prescribed.  It's a night splint.  It pulls the foot up and does something or other to the tendons and ligaments, blah, blah, blah.  I can wear it when I'm awake, but when I'm asleep, that's a whole other story.  At some point in the night, both nights I've worn it, I have yanked that thing off.  And it's not an easy task to get off either.  It has about 38 Velcro fasteners on it.    It's hot.  It's cumbersome.  I don't like it.

I wore it all evening last night because it did give my foot some relief.  As did staying off of it for the rest of the night.  I had planned on working out, but I wasn't able to go.  It's hard to work out on one foot.  I was bummed at first, because my OCD makes me feel like a dog if I do something that's out of my routine. 

But look what I got to enjoy because I stayed home. 

A beautiful sunset in my own backyard. Something I would have missed had I been at the gym.  Who needs a lovely beach view when you can see something so pretty in your own yard?

You may remember a while back, I asked all of you to pray for the son of one of my instructors at the gym.  He has acute lymphoblastic leukemia.  Please keep the little fella in your prayers every day.  He's fighting hard and is about to enter into a new phase of his chemo where he will be admitted for 3-4 days for treatment every few weeks.  They are fighting it aggressively.  Here is the link to his CaringBridge page that his mom updates a few times a week. I'm sure you'll admire her strength as much as I do.  And he's just the cutest thing you've ever seen.

Okay, loves, gotta run.  I have a long drive to Macon, Georgia to make this morning.  It's gonna be another hot one here, so stay cool.

Till next time...

Bandit and Her Mini Me

Our dog, Bandit, is a 10-year-old Jack Russell with OCD.  Her disorder is licking.  She licks anything and everything.  The carpet, the air, the floor, her bed.  There is nothing that she won't try to lick.  She likes to play, but she likes to chill and lick more.  

Her favorite place to hang out is with me in my office.  Sometimes she'll carry her bone in her mouth and try to lead me into my office when I'm not even going in there.

We had her spayed when she was a baby, so she never had any puppies.  I like to buy her little stuffed toys and I call them her baby.  I encourage her to love on her baby, trying  to keep her busy and to, hopefully, keep her from licking.  She'll carry it around in her mouth and put it in her bed for a day or two.  You know, really loving on it.  The next thing you know, she's pooping out her baby's stuffing.

That is until I found her Mini Me. 

This little baby was $14, has no stuffing, was labeled as "indestructible", which isn't entirely true, but nonetheless there is something about this "baby" that Bandit loves. 

They're both black and white, although Bandit has no spots.  When I bought Bandit a really cute bandanna and it was too big, I cut it and made her "baby" a matching bandanna.  I don't know if it's the bandanna or the colors of the baby or exactly what it is that's so different, but she has had this baby for a month now and she hasn't destroyed it.  Quite the contrary.  She puts it in her bed with her and lays her head  on it.  It's so cute I can hardly stand it. 

Today she's spending time with me in my office.  She has her baby and her bone.

 

But guess what she's doing?  

Licking. 

Oh, well , at least I tried.

Till next time...

Pics From a Long, HOT Georgia Summer

Well, y'all, have we not had some serious heat this summer? I mean, it's been so hot that I haven't had any desire to do A-N-Y-T-H-I-N-G in my yard. Nothing. Nada.

I planted these flowerpots together on the same day, with the same flowers, from the same nursery. Look how much better one did than the other.
Honestly, I'm tired of taking care of them, but I do love the black petunias. I think if I water them every day and talk nice to them, they'll still be around by fall. Then I'll stick some orange and white mums in there for a while. When I bought these flowers at the nursery, they had them displayed in pots as college colors; the red, the black and the white. As you can see, my version of the display didn't pan out so well. Next year I'd really like to remember that the flowers that you buy in April as little babies are full-grown monsters by Mid August.

Even MaMa's wedding day rose hasn't been able to stand this heat.

It's okay, though. This little beauty is from Twin City, Georgia. One of the hottest places in the state, with 10,000 gnats per second swarming around your nose. I know she'll come back as soon as it cools off some. She'll be a shining beauty next May.

What about these hostas? They normally do so well there.

Oh, that's right. Last spring we cut down the tree that gave them the shade that they love so much. Boo me. Transplants next year? Maybe.

Tea Olive tree one didn't do so bad.

Tea Olive tree two didn't do as well. I think it's because of the huge, ugly cedars that are hogging up all of her water. The cedars may be gone next summer. They may be replaced by a privacy fence. No offense to our neighbors.

For a few days last spring, I watched the sun throughout the afternoon. The Japanese Maple seemed like it would be a nice, shady place for a few pink impatiens.

Unh-unh. These girls are HIGH MAINTENANCE. They want just the right amount of sun. The right amount of shade. The right amount of water. And if a handsome Japanese Maple can't take care of you? You've got problems.

And by the way, don't look at them funny either. They will take it personally. Impatiens, unless they're planted under a tall, strong Oak tree, no thanks.



Begonias normally do great here.  They're not very dainty and they don't need a lot of attention.  Apparently, though, they do need some.

It looks like a rabbit may have been giving them the attention that I haven't.

Oak leaf hydrangea.  Oh, how I loved you.  Your blooms were gorgeous.  They stood so tall and looked great in some arrangements I made.  Thanks for sharing your beauty.  Enjoy your down season.

Ahh, my prized hydrangeas.  I'm emotionally attached to these hydrangeas.  Their blooms always amaze me with their size and color.  Sometimes the prettiest shade of lavender.  Other times a sweet baby blue.

You couldn't have been prettier this summer.  Whether it was on a cool, windy May afternoon for a graduation party or a scorching hot Kimball July 4th party, you bloomed at your fullest at just the right time.  This fall we're going to move this hardy beauty.  She's going to the shade.  Bless her heart.  She has stood in that hot, burning sun long enough.  She never, ever let me down.  It's time she be granted the rest in the shade that she deserves.  She may share another big bloom or two this summer, but I think she's done for this year.  Live on Aunt Louise and Barbo's hydrangea.


This little rock garden thrived on neglect and burning sun. 

The camellia cutting that my daddy got from his daddy's house has continued to grow and, despite the heat, I think it'll be ready to be transplanted into the dirt next year.

Our cedar tree that we decorate every Christmas grew a lot and I'm already thinking of pretty decorations to put on it. 

Kelly's Mountain didn't seem phased by the summer heat.  That big ol' rock just sits there and takes it. 

I do love that old rock.


The vinca around our mailbox did great.  Vinca is kind of like a weed; it's very hard to kill.  I guess that's why it survived, because that area of our yard gets no shade at all.  And, yes, I do need a new mailbox.  This one won't stay shut and it looks kind of sloppy, don't you think?

Don't ask about this one.  I really don't know why there is an arrow stuck in the stump of the tree.  But it's been there all summer, so I guess you could consider it yard art.

Crazy heat apparently makes shrubs grow out of control.  Early spring I cut these ugly things back so much that I thought for sure they'd never come back.  But oh, no.  They're almost as big as they were when I cut them back.  All they are good for is for the 9999,000 pesky white flies that call those shrubs home.  Next summer, these shrubs will be gone.  Something else is going in that spot.  Something that knows its limits.  Geez.

This is actually two shrubs and a gardenia bush.  But due to outrageous growth this summer, it just looks like one green blob.  They need to have some space.  Another job for the fall.

So summer 2011, you've been great.  I've enjoyed your visit very much. 

But I know you'd hate to wear out your welcome, so anytime you'd like to go, it's okay with me.  I'll look forward to seeing you again in May 2012.



Till next time...

Did She or Didn't She

Hello there! Apparently I missed the documentary on TLC entitled "Crazy for Pippa." Do you remember her? She was the beautiful bridesmaid and sister of Princess Kate Middleton. She was gorgeous. Almost as pretty as the Princess herself. She has such a beautiful figure, and it was showed off quite nicely in her bridesmaid dress. Well... rumor has it that she padded her derriere for the royal wedding!

Not sure I believe it, but I wouldn't be surprised. That's a problem I wouldn't mind having, but no amount of working out seems to be making a flat bottom out of this apple bottom of mine.

And then in another scandalous (ha) story, Grazia magazine has reportedly admitted to using Photo Shop to make Kate's waist appear EVEN smaller for their latest magazine cover.

The waist depicted in the magazine cover is so small, I don't see how it would accommodate the necessary organs a member of the Royal Family needs to live!

As beautiful as Kate was, and as tiny as her waist was, WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD ANYONE NEED TO MAKE THIS WAIST SMALLER?

Some people are never satisfied, I guess. Padded booties and doctoring pictures to make waists that are already tiny even smaller. I don't get it. I betcha there's a man involved in there somewhere.

Till next time...

Keep Moving

I'm returning after yet another "blog break." To be honest, I have gotten so discouraged trying to upload pictures and blah, blah, blah, that I just lost patience with my blog. I ended up feeling so frustrated every time I would try to post.

Anyway, I'm going to start writing again. I don't know if I even have anyone who cares anymore. But I know that I'll be sorry if I don't, because I don't keep a diary of any sort. Considering that I type as major part of my job, typing is much easier than hand writing in a diary or a journal.

I'm also considering paying someone to make a custom blog design for me. The only problem with that is that I like to change so often, so I worry that might be expensive. We'll see.

If anyone reads this, thanks for reading, and also a big, huge thanks to Carolynn at Makin' Cute Blogs. She may be just the one I contact about making a custom design. She has lots of cute ideas, including the adorable picture that I used above. What a coincidence that it's just how I feel right about now.

And as always, till next time.