I've Been Tagged!
I was tagged by my daughter Lauren

1. Name: Terri Lynn Watson Reed

2. Birthday: October 9

3. Birthplace: Houston, Texas

4. Eye Color: green

5. Hair Color: remains dark brown with the help of my colorist

6. Height: 5'8"

7. Ethnicity: Anglo

8. Weakness: shoes, Christmas decorations, clothes for Claire, things I think my kids need

9. Most missed memory: my childhood, and Lauren & Kendall as babes in arms

10. Thoughts first waking up: "No, I don’t wanna get up yet".

11. Last time you cried: thinking about how much I love Tracey and that she’s leaving soon

12. Song title that currently says how you feel: “ It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas”

13. What is the perfect day for you: sleeping until I wake up naturally, lounging in my pj’s, Spending the day with my family, nice enough weather to do something outside

14. Ever been asked for an autograph? Don’t think so

15. How do you vent anger? I think about it, analyze it and then do have to say something, even if I’m alone.

16. Who do you talk to most on the phone? Kendall, he likes to talk on the phone and calls frequently. Secondly, Scott, when we talk we have long conversations. Tim and Lauren don’t like to talk much on the phone.

17. As a kid, were you a lego builder? Legos weren’t around yet, Lincoln logs were, in the same small tin.

18. Do you chew on your straws? Nope, only use straws at restaurants and for take out

19. Do you sing in the shower? nah

20. Who's the last person you stayed up late talking to on the phone to? Kendall

21. The last place you went to in a plane? Midland

22. Do you cry at weddings? Sometimes, if there is a super-sweet moment that really grabs me.

23. Are you afraid of the dark? No

24. What are you addicted to? Diet Dr. Pepper, buying clothes for Claire, coffee is a must in the morning, chocolate

25. Crunchy or creamy peanut butter? creamy

26. Who do you fight with the most? We don’t really fight, we spar. I guess Tim because he is around me most, we tend to get in each other’s way doing things in the house.

27. Who can you tell anything to? Tim, Lauren, Tracey, Daphne, Traci, Penny, my hairdresser-Amanda

28. Do you recycle? Marginally, all the aluminum cans, plastic, and newspaper is picked up in front of our house 1 day a week.

29. Who makes you laugh the most? Will. The kid is hilarious.

30. What is the worst feeling ever? Not being able to help someone you love either with a physical or emotional issue

31. How many pillows do you sleep with? I use two

32. How many rings before you answer your phone? How many ever it takes to find it in my purse, I often have to call the person back.

33. How many times do you press the "snooze" button? 0-1 depending on the time I’ve allowed.

34. How do you sleep? Well, and often. As far as positions, I start out on my side and often wake up on my back.

35. Last time you laughed: with Tracey & Daphne at our slumber party

36. Ever looked at someone ugly and said “Eww”: I have thought “oh my goodness, that poor person” and known that it was either a genetic defect or from surgery. I have felt sorry that they couldn’t afford to make it better. I have seen one truly ugly baby, where it was an uncomfortable moment (for me) to think of something generic to say, like “oh, a baby” or “you must be so proud”!

I never make a face or stare regardless, nurses don’t do that.

37. What is your favorite color? Green, so many shades. I like maroon also.

38. What is your favorite state? Texas, so much diversity of people and nature

I tag Daphne, Julie, and Tracey

La Centerra with Thailand Tracey

Beautiful Texas sunset!!

Starbucks at La Centerra/Friends are forever!!

Tim and I have been so blessed to have Tracey using our home as home base as of last Saturday night when she landed in Texas. Of course, most of her time is with her precious daughter, but I will take whatever time I can get while she's in Texas! We've had a great time visiting in our jammies, decorating my house for Christmas and just catching up on her Thailand adventures. The pictures above are from Sunday night when we went to La Centerra in Cinco Ranch to hear the Kingsland chorus at the "town square". What a beautiful sunset we witnessed together, with pretty holiday music and Starbucks in hand. I introduced her to Gymboree and Claire scored two more cute outfits....

Today, Tim and I went to the funeral of my only older cousin on my mom's side. He passed away Saturday morning after being in and out of ICU's for 2 months due to diabetes and complications. He had such a big heart and was such a gentle, sweet and trusting person. He taught our family how to give generously despite having personal difficulties. He always reminded me of of Elvis, as in Presley. His hair was dark and wavy like Elvis and his facial build was very similiar. My aunt has already lost her husband this year, so this has been particularly difficult for her. Please pray for her peace and that she can begin a relationship with the greatest comforter, Jesus.

Next on our agenda, we are off to San Antonio for the weekend to spend it with Tim's mom; Kendall will meet us there on Saturday after work. Sunday is the 4th anniversary of the unexpected death of Tim's dad and Kendall likes to remember Grandpa John by being out on the farm where John lived and passed peacefully to his eternal life.

Keeping up with the grandkids!

Here are pictures of the grandchildren- our little angel and our little busy boy. Yes, I know the picture of Will has his eyes closed, but it is really hard to get a picture of him remotely still. He is not hyper, just busy. We had great fun playing pool balls, watching cartoons on cable, visiting with family, riding rides and playing games at Chuck E. Cheese's. He talks so well, he is amazing for his age. His latest thing is to ask "so, how's it going? and how is your family?" in a very concerned and sincere tone!! (he even asked HIS mother this, which was a riot!)

Claire is so much fun to dress up and to hold. She loves to stare at you and has the most beautiful toothless baby smiles, it just melts your heart. We are so blessed to have the both of them for our grandchildren, their parents are pretty special in our hearts, too. Can't wait to see them at Christmas time in Big Spring in a few weeks.

My friend Tracey, who lives in Thailand currently, will be flying into Texas this Saturday. She will spend most of her time here in Katy before Sam joins her on December 15. Then they will stay at our house while we are in Big Spring during Christmas, we're excited that we can share our home with them and look forward to this special time.

Talking Turkey

Well, I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving... we all have so much to be thankful for. We were so blessed to have Lauren & Scott and the kids with us over the holidays. Kendall was not able to be with us and he was sorely missed. Though, it was convenient for Will to have his own room and bed at Nana's.

We had a great time with family at my mom & dad's house on Thursday. Lots of good food and good company and a fun family project to work on. Above is the picture of my dad showing the turkey to Claire! She is such a doll, and so photogenic. We basically had a very low key weekend... Lauren & I went shopping a bit after I got home from work on Friday. The bleary, blustery weather provided good shopping weather, though we had fun just being together, doing a little shopping with Claire in tow. Both of us have a good start on our shopping; Lauren & Scott also ventured out together to return for one sale and to puruse Bass Pro Shop and have the Starbucks experience.

We were able to have a fire burning in the fireplace most of the weekend since it was so chilly. The weather and the overcast skies did help everyone sleep in later in the mornings, which everyone enjoyed. Plus, chicken and dumplings were extra tasty with the weather as it was.

The weather is still so bad in West Texas that Lauren & Scott stayed here until this afternoon and are drove to San Antonio late this afternoon to stay with her Grandma for the night. Then on to home tomorrow, as the snow and ice melt away. Will has missed his first opportunity of the year to make a snowman, <:, maybe he'll have another chance. For our last afternoon, we took Will to Chuck E. Cheese for his kind of fun. A great time was had by all :), then home for naps for the kids and the jacuzzi for the mom & dad.

Tim & I thoroughly enjoyed our time with family and really feel like we had a good long weekend to be together and be thankful for our blessings.

looking ahead

The view we'll have from our breakfast room and from our back porch!!!!!!



Tim and I had a getaway weekend Sunday afternoon through Monday evening. We tried out a new (to us) B & B near our property south of Canyon Lake. This is a picture of the main house with the cottage we stayed in off to the right, we had a relaxing and fun time together.

This B & B was The Firefly Inn (formerly Aunt Nora's) and is approximately 6 miles from our land. We drove by the land as the sun was setting and then checked in at the Inn. I carried our bags as Tim is still restricted to how much he can carry after his back surgery. We met Tim's brother & sister in law in Gruene at the Grist Mill where Tim & I had the ribs.... yum, they literally fell off of the bone. We had a great time visiting with Paul & Shirley before Paul goes back to Chad next week. Gruene is a really neat place, very laid back, we listened to the music flowing from Gruene Hall, the lights for Christmas are up in the town square and the weather was great for sitting outside on the patio.

The next morning, the most scrumptuous breakfast was delivered to our cottage door, yum, yum. Then we sat on the porch in the porch swing and read the paper, etc.... Then off to explore the parks on the south side of Canyon Lake. We were searching for fishing spots for Kendall and fun places to take the grandkids. We found Crane's Mill Park and looked across the lake at Mystic Shores where Paul & Shirley have retirement property. They will begin building soon, they already have their finalized house plans. We, on the other hand, have a good basic idea of what we want in our retirement home and I have a plan I love right now, but it will be awhile before we can build and, therefore, are in the dreaming stages.

Then we went to our land and checked out the property, checked out the survey flags, checked out the view with binoculars, walked it, dreamed of where the house would be, etc...

This picture is off the deck of the vacant house on our street, similar to what our view off our porch or deck will be!

What the view from our front door will look like!

After we "played" on our land, we drove back to the B&B and checked out and drove to "Havenwood", a property in New Braunfels developed by the same parent company that developed our neigborhood ("Mountain Springs Ranch") and checked out the model home of the builder whose plans I like best at this point in our dream. We actually got to meet one of the owners/founders and loved the model and the quality of the home. From there we drove to Cracker Barrel and had a late lunch and then to a few select stores at the outlet malls at San Marcus for some goodies for the grandkids.

We had a great trip and FUN, Fun, fun dreaming & enjoying time together!

Tim returned to work today and put in a full day. He is doing great after his surgery. Thanks for thinking of us during these last few weeks!

Tonight, please pray for our long time friends Sam & Tracey and their daughter Vanessa. Vanessa was hospitalized last night and is in the middle months of her pregnancy. Exciting news of the day was that they are having a GIRL and she is fine on all counts. OOps, there's a lot of blue stuff going back!

We are looking so forward to having Lauren, Scott, Will & Claire here (Claire for the first time, of course) next week at Thanksgiving. My extended family is just beside themselves to get to soak up the kids for the day. Unfortunately, Kendall will not get to join us as he is a part of the retail world these days....., he will be missed :(

It's almost Thanksgiving and how thankful we are for all that God has blessed us with: Our family, our friends, our home, our faith, our jobs, our country,....our cup runneth over...........

Thursday Thirteen

(& What Precious grandkids I have...........)

1. Fall is my favorite time of year, I love the colors & the smells :)


2. The weather has been gorgeous!!


3. Tomorrow is Tim's back surgery


4. Please remember to pray for us


5. Tim's brother, Paul, has been hospitalized in Paris, France while trying to get home to New Braunfels (from Chad, Africa) for his 28 days off


6. It was thought he had a blood clot in his leg, but has turned out to be an infection


7. Please pray for Paul and his wife Shirley, too.


8. Kendall is enjoying his job at Shepler's in Austin


9. He knows how to block hats and is learning how to make the hat crown creases


10. Claire is teething & Will is potty training & Lauren is a great mommy


11. I have made significant progress in Christmas shopping!


12. I need to order my Christmas paper from Current


13. My porch fall decorations are really pretty :> Come see them!

101-202 things you never knew about me......

1. August is so hot in Houston that I don’t go outside and bother watering my potted plants, I just let them die


2. I used to have nightmares about being in small covered places I.e., like stuck under the bed, in a culvert, under an old house crawl space.


3. When I was little I couldn’t sleep if my closet door was open, it had to be all the way shut


4. There was an episode of Fix up that house with a plumber under the crawl space of an old house & I couldn’t watch it.


5. My Grandpa was the preacher at my church when I was young and he baptized me.


6. I was in the choir in high school and won a 1st place medal in a quartet at UIL


7. I was the video drama director/cinematographer/producer for the teens at church for 2 years - 01’ +& 02’ and we had rave reviews from judges at the LTC conference and the kids all won gold medals for their work


8. I own 37 pairs of shoes (I guessed the first time around)


9. I used to go country and western dancing when I was a teenager
10. I don’t know how to upload the pictures from my digital camera


11. I wore contacts only for about 13 years, I didn’t even own a back up pair of glasses


12. I get migraines a couple of times a month :<


13. I sleep with my socks on


14. I almost drowned in Lake Houston when I was young, my mom pulled me up by my hair


15. I have 2 magazine subscriptions: Better Homes and Gardens, Traditional Homes


16. I spent a lot of time reading in a willow tree in my backyard as a young girl


17. I am currently reading "Eat, Pray, Love"


18. I used to go to Sunday lunch with my Grandparents to Piccadilly cafeteria. to KFC or home to dinner if guests were coming


19. My hair has an annoying wave that runs at an angle across the back of my head


20. It has given my hairdressers fits over the years


21. I was a daddy’s girl


22. I was a tomboy


23. I played outside in the yards & in the forest near our house.


24. Chase, red rover and kickball were my favorites


25. I had mostly guy neighborhood friends


26. My two neighborhood girlfriends were both named Jenny


27. I got bucked off my cousin’s horse twice in one day, into a clothesline, and into a pig pen


28. I wanted to enjoy our pool a lot this summer, but it was the wettest summer ever


29. Going to the rodeo once every 3 years is enough for me
30. Baseball is my favorite professional sport


31. The Astros are my favorite team


32. I attended the NLCS play-off game in 86 and sat through the entire 13inning game against the Mets


33. I saw the Rockets in the NBA playoffs in 94 & 95


34. I saw Loggins and Messina in concert as a teenage


35. I took Lauren to see James Taylor in concert when she was a tween (Tim is a big fan~ but he was sick & unable to go


36. I saw Fleetwood Mac in concert at the Summit in Houston and it was awesome.


37. I like the OPI nail colors names- they are fun: “Cha ching Cherry“, shoot out at the OK corral“, “Skinny dipping in Lake Michigan”, “I’m really not a waitress” are some of my favorites.


38. I really like going to high school (and college Scott!) musicals


39. I like to sit by the window when I fly


40. I had TMJ really bad several years ago & could hardly open my mouth


41. I had shots in my jaw by our Korean alternative medicine Dr. (lovingly called our witchdoctor)


42. They really hurt, but I could open my mouth MUCH wider when I left his office & could eat hamburgers again


43. I don’t let my dentist use a bite block in my mouth anymore (I’m convinced that caused the TMJ)


44. Tim & I talked about adopting a child as well as having our own before we were married.


45. My kids won’t let me dance, even in the car :<


46. I can sew enough to do repairs, make Halloween costumes, etc… but am not a happy sewer on dresses, etc… (Tim used to make the kids leave the room or the house)


47. I learned how to paint icing on cookies one year ago (thanks Mary), it’s a lot of fun!


48. I got my ears pierced when I was sixteen


49. My holes never grew over, even when I didn’t wear earrings for a really long time


50. I remember not wearing seatbelts as a child


51. I remember my brother hitting the dashboard.


52. I remember many times crying in the floorboard as my mom was taking me to get shots from our family Dr


53. I remember the medicinal smell of the County health clinics


54. I flew into Washington DC on 10/11 one month after 9/11


55. I have worshipped at Washington National Cathedral 2x


56. I really want to go on a cruise with some of our couple friends or with family


57. I remember my grandpa smelled like a mixture of olives and cherries, he worked in a food bottling factory


58. I did not go to Kindergarten


59. I went to a private Baptist school for First grade


60. I started first grade a year early


61. My first grade teacher wanted me to skip 2nd grade and go straight to 3rd. My parents wisely said no.


62. I have a lot of crowns in my mouth


63. People comment on my straight teeth


64. I never wore braces


65. I drink milk every night before I (brush my teeth &) go to bed


66. I haven’t exercised at the gym in over a year


67. I belong to 24 hour fitness


68. 2 years ago I had a personal trainer for 5 months a. my trainer looked like a Greek god b.my trainer needed a psychologist or at least a good counselor


69. I got into really good shape then and lost 3 dress sizes


70. I am planning on starting my Masters degree in Nursing next Spring


71. I can’t wear long or really dangling or really big earrings


72. It makes me feel like I look like a hooker (I don't mind if other people wear them & don't think that of them :?, weird I know)


73. I have been bad and not sent out Christmas cards the last two years


74. My brakes have gone out on me 3 times in my life


75. I was scared, but handled it calmly & didn’t get hit or hurt


76. I have never ran out of gas in my life


77. My HS girlfriends and I watched the sunrise while sitting on a hole of the golf course than ran through the neighborhood where our school was.


78. On the way to pick up Kendall a spectacular rainbow appeared against a very dark sky- it was beautiful, we got it on film


79. Some of my favorite sunsets so far have been on the Destin beach


80. I enjoyed Lauren having slumber parties


81. I enjoyed Kendall’s pool/pool parties


82. I would like to live in a loft or in a high-rise


83. I am looking forward to going to Destin with my grandchildren


84. Autumn is my favorite season of the year


85. My favorite books of the Bible: New Testament-Ephesians, Old Testament -Isaiah


86. My favorite apostle is Paul


87. People tell me I sound like I’m from Minnesota


88. I’ve never been to Minnesota in my life


89. I am really hoping to visit Tracey in Thailand in 2009


90. My cell phone plays “hello, I love you won’t you tell me your name!” when it rings :>


91. I like to make lists and cross things off when I accomplish them (I.e., when getting ready for a party or to plan my Saturday)


92. I wish I had invented baby stretchy headbands (AKA baby head tourniquets) and if I had Lauren would have worn them


93. I attended BSF for 1 ½ years and loved the indepth Bible study


94. I wrecked my car in 2002 4mos before it was paid off :<


95. I am blessed to have both my parents still living and relatively healthy.


96. I hate cigarette smoke!!


97. I can only float in salt water (another reason to love Destin!)


98. I ride the park & ride bus to work as much as possible


99. I enjoy scrap booking & find it therapeutic to remember relatives who have passed away with a scrapbook for the family.


100. I occasionally buy myself fresh flowers just to enjoy them in our home


101. Spelling comes easy for me


102. I was in drill team in high school and we had to wear wigs to all look alike

OK, whew..... now you really know a lot about me!!!!!!!!!

100 things about me

1. My feet are ugly, they are man feet
2. I enjoy event planning
3. I have planned 7 events (for 100+ people) over the last 6 years
4. I am the oldest child in my family
5. I have three younger brothers
6. I have the best sister-in-laws ever, on both sides of the family
7. I have spent way too much time looking over plans/designs for our retirement home
8. I have spent way too much money on ebay
9. The clothes I bought for Will before he was born covered our 8ft. pool table
10. I have been inside the Supreme Court twice in the last 18 months to hear an oral argument
11. The last case I heard in the Supreme Court involved "Brighton", of which I have 3 pairs of shoes and 1 purse
12. I spent 250$ for that 1 Brighton purse
13. That is the most expensive purse I have ever bought
14. I chewed my nails growing up and never had them all past my fingertips at the same time
15. I loved having solar/"artificial" nails while I did
16. I enjoy pedicures, usually once a month
17. I read People and Us (and other magazines that I don't buy) at the nail salon
18. I have a great hairdresser and colorist- who is also a precious young Christian mother.
19. My house is MUCH cleaner without my children living at home
20. Contrary to what my daughter reported, I do NOT hoard (my dad does though)
21. I purge my house continuously, because the closets are too small to hoard anything.
22. I have been mowing the backyard (all few feet of it) myself because the boys don't do it often enough to suit me.
23. I was obsessive about my grades in nursing school
24. I don't have a nice sounding laugh
25. So, I laugh on the inside, but rarely laugh out loud
26. My cousins thought I was my grandma's favorite
27. I was!
28. I was blessed to be with my grandma when she passed away
29. I am a chocoholic
30. I can't drink tea because it keeps me awake at night :<
31. My favorite drink is Diet Dr. Pepper
32. Exploring Bed & Breakfasts with Tim is one of my favorite things to do.
33. Brownies are my comfort food.
34. I was a girl scout leader for Lauren's troop for two years
35. I prayed to God that I would die when I was 21 and had Hepatitis A and was so sick.
36. I was yellow and had yucky yellow eyes.
37. My nails grew the longest they had ever been.
38. My favorite summer destination is Destin, Florida
39. I love Washington DC and all the historical buildings and places
40. I love the subway in DC
41. I was an "extra" for the movie "The Evening Star" but the scenes I was in were cut. (A snowy street scene & an audience at the opera scene). It took all day to shoot and involved costume changes, etc..
42. I would like to get into photography
43. I taught piano when I was 12-13 years old
44. I took piano for 8 years
45. I played the organ for VBS at my piano teacher's Methodist church when I was an adolescent
46. I went to VBS at my grandma's Baptist church
47. I can remember the smells of VBS- koolaid & glue
48. I love seasonal decorating
49. My house is already decorated for fall
50. my Christmas decorations fill 20+ Rubbermaid tubs
51. All my linens are 100% cotton
52. My comforter is down alternative (Tim is allergic to down)
53. It is white and my sheets are white, very spa like
54. I love the color of my bedroom walls, it is like candlelight
55. I like the smell of paint
56. I can't paint much anymore, because it makes my ulnar nerve/arm hurt.
57. My grandma had me reading at the age of 4, out of the Bible
58. She let me grade her first grade papers (she was a teacher) when I was in first grade
59. I played softball in a church league when Lauren was little.
60. I don't mind the smell of skunk
61. I'm always just a little bit later than I intend to be.
62. I love taking naps
63. I own around 50 pairs of shoes.
64. I donate clothing/household goods to Katy Christian Ministries about twice a month
65. When I bag up donations, I take it to my car and keep it there until I donate.
66. My favorite soap is Bath & Body Works-Warm Vanilla Sugar
67. Tim & I just bought land in the Hill Country
68. Our retirement address will be: 2221 Longs Peak Canyon Lake, TX 78133
69. I have lost weight the last week since Tim has been on his diet
70. My first car was a Gremlin
71. I've been to Phantom of the Opera twice, it's my favorite!
72. I love the music of Andrew Lloyd Webber
73. My favorite author is John Grisham
74. I like artichokes on my pizza
75. I think "The Office" is stupid, I can't watch it
76. I think the premise of "24" is not credible
77. My favorite TV show is "LOST"
78. I like reality shows- Survivor, Big Brother, Amazing Race, etc...
79. I have been blessed to see both of my grandchildren born.
80. my favorite coffee is the "taste of san antonio"
81. I think Starbucks prices are outgrageous
82. I really want to go on a mission trip
83. I have been really lonely for girl friends
84. I have a new friend named Carol, from church :)
85. my best friend moved to Thailand 2 months ago (a lot of people call her their best friend :>)
86. I have to have my ear plugs in to sleep
87. My favorite surgery is transplants- because people are so happy that they are getting a new chance at life and are so grateful to the donors.
88. My drivers license has my donor sticker on it
89. my least favorite surgery is D & C, because it reminds me of the loss of life & the pt's are so sad.
90. I had a D & C the night of July 4, 1986. The night that the statue of liberty was lit up for the celebration of 100?200? years since the US got it from France.
91. I don't know punctuation rules the way I should.
92. I promised God that I would never ride another roller coaster years ago, if he got me safely off the one I was on, and he did!
93. I know the basic floorplan that I want for our retirement home.
94. I've incorporated ideas from my friends/relatives houses that I like in my ideal plan
95. I don't want to live in a house that's being remodeled again (we lived on cement floors for 2 months this summer)
96. I sang on the praise team at church for 4 years+
97. I knew at 4 years old that I wanted to be a nurse
98. I've been married for 30 years, I've got a great husband & we're in it for the long haul!
99. I've got three great kids
100. I've got two out-of-this-world fantastic grandkids

I could go another 100 I'm sure..................but, we'll leave it at that!

"the Bee's Knee"

William Reed and Claire Elise

Just look at those two adorable grandchildren!, what could be better? How blessed we are to have Will and Claire for ours. It has been a true joy to watch Lauren & Scott as parents over the last 2+ years. They have the sweetest family and are so loving and patient in their day to day living, even in the midst of sleepless nights and potty training, they remain Godly and consistent. Next weekend I will be flying to Lubbock to babysit the two of them while their mama and daddy attend their LCU chorus reunion.

I have to confess, at least here on my blog, that I went shopping today and Claire is going to rack up, hey, the girl needed shoes!! Here she is all dressed up for church last Sunday~~~~~

That's all for now.... I had just received these new pics and wanted to share :)

<3 Terri

Off the blogroll & Up to the Plate

Ok, so I haven't posted in so long that my own daughter deleted me from her blogroll, ouch, that hurts.

Really, I have never felt like I had enough to say, or was interesting enough to warrant anyone reading my blog. My friends, Daphne and Tracey, have started blogging and I have found a familiar sort of comfort in reading their words and knowing what's on their hearts. So, I will step up to the plate and rejoin blogworld.

Our news of late:

Tims' moms brain surgery (7/2) came off beautifully, praise be to God. Her tumor was bigger than the Dr's fist in size and was pressing on her brain stem. After rehab and a short stint at assisted living, she is now at home recovering and we are still faithful that the feeling in her face and her vision will recover fully. The doctors have been literally amazed at her recovery and her strength and determination in all of this.

We have a most precious new grandaughter, Claire Elise, born July 8. I was honored to be there for her birth and it is a most amazing experience to be a part of. Lauren and Scott are blessed with a very sweet family, what a great time in their lives. I know that most, if not all who would read this, read Lauren's blog and can see the pictures of our new, sweet darling. We have not lost our fascination with Will by any means, he is so precocious. He has a HUGE vocabulary. He is incredibly smart with a great personality,,,, so fun!

Tim, Kendall and I spent Labor Day in Big Spring with Lauren's bunch and thoroughly enjoyed our time with them. I NEED to see my grandkids at least every 4-6 weeks. I am already planning my next trip up there :)

I am still working at SLEH and splitting full time between the OR and Day Surgery. I love what I do and I have learned to like working days rather than nights. It lets me spend time with Tim when he's at home and has given us more freedom to travel on the weekends together.

Tim and I had a WONDERFUL trip to one of my personal favorite destinations in March- we spent six days in Washington D.C. right at the beginning of Cherry Blossom time. We went to the Supreme Court and heard an oral argument, had coffee with Senator Cornyn, had a personal capitol tour by one of his interns, saw a musical at Ford's theater and spent alot of time at the Smithsonians, the Holocaust museum, a moonlight DC tour, went to church at Washington National Cathedral, mastered the subways, spent an afternoon at Arlington National cemetery with all its' beautiful simplicity and complex pageantry, and too much more to tell you about here. Suffice to say, it was a fabulous trip!!

We had a water leak at the house in early May, and had to live through bare floors and dealing with contractors until the house was finished July 19. We have mostly hardwood floors now, with new carpet in the bedrooms. It looks and feels great to have our house back even better than it was. If I can remember how to add pictures, I will sometime soon.

We have been thinking a lot about retirement lately, as to the "where to", "how to" and "when to". We just bought a 1.69 acre lot in a great planned community in the Hill Country close to Canyon Lake. We always wanted to retire to the Hill Country, so this is a beginning of realizing that dream. I have spent way too much time looking at homes on eplans online for design/floorplan ideas. It will probably be another 9 years before we are ready to build.

OK, enough randomness, it has been good to talk to you all. TTYL