Easter

Here are the photos of my favorite boys dressed in their Easter outfits. I know I'm biased since I'm their Grammy, but I think they're adorable! These are my two oldest grandsons, 5 and 3.



And here's a picture of their youngest brother, 7 month-old Charlie Brown look-a-like. See why I'm going to miss them so much when I move to Virginia? I'm planning to come home at least once a month, but they do so much growing and changing from day to day that I know I'm going to miss things.

My Favorite

Do you know what kind of bloom this is destined to be in the not too far future? I'll give you some hints. It blooms in the spring, usually north of the Mason Dixon because it normally needs cold weather to set blossoms. And it's a flower I never thought I'd see, let alone grow, in the south. Here's a closer photo.




These tiny little buds hold the promise of lilacs, those heavenly scented flowers of my youth. Their sweet scent can take me right back to the age of 6 or 7 when my aunt would cut hundreds of blooms from her two huge bushes and take them to the church where they would decorate the altar in their delicious fragrance. I can't wait to take that journey again. I planted six lilacs, different colors, slightly different bloom times but all beautiful and guaranteed to grow AND bloom in the south.

Winds of Change

I just returned from a week in Orlando where I attended a training seminar related to my government job. I had a wonderful time meeting my counterparts from all over the U.S. that I work with but have never met face to face. Here are just a few of them from the Navy's main office in DC, my friends from NCIS (yep,the real NCIS), and my Marine Corps counterpart from California. They're all great folks who do a great job.

I also had a chance to spend time with an old friend of 30-plus years who was kind enough to take me around Orlando and to some wonderful restaurants off the beaten path. We ate at a wonderful tapas restaurant called "Cafe Tu Tu Tango. There is artwork from local artists hanging on every square inch of available wall space, a Tarot card reader for those of us who love to explore a mystery, and we were also entertained by some talented and beautiful belly dancers!




The night before I left, we ate at a Cuban restaurant called the Columbia. The atmosphere with tiled floors and huge tiled portico was a great experience, not to mention the delicious food that included a huge salad made table side and the delicious sangria with fruit. The service was excellent, and we all walked out fairly stuffed on our last night in Orlando.

The big news is that I've been offered a job working in Arlington making more money than I could ever hope to make here in North Carolina; and I accepted the offer. I have four years until retirement, and I could never hope to make the amount of money I'll be making there. I know, I know, money isn't everything; but our retirement is based on our highest paid three consecutive years, so it's a move that will have an impact on my lifestyle for the rest of my life.

I'm not the kind of person who enjoys change in my work life but I've been really unhappy with my job over the last 5 years. One thing you can count on when working for the government is that they never seem to do the things that make the most sense. My job has changed drastically over the years and I have a lot of responsibility, without the benefit of advancement in my position or in my pay. I've basically worked for the same pay for the last nine years.

I have to admit that I'm scared about moving, having to deal with DC traffic after living in a rural community for the last 30 years, being away from my grandkids whom I adore, and having to learn to negotiate the ins and outs of public transportation after living in a community where it didn't exist. But on the other hand, I'm looking forward to meeting new people, experiencing new outlets for recreation, and snow in the winter! I'm planning to rent my home since the depressed real estate market would prevent me from getting what I paid for my great little house and yard. I'm hoping to be able to buy a small place near DC or rent a small place in the rural area. We'll see. Everything is open right now. On one hand, I feel like shouting, "I'm TOO OLD for all this change!" But then again, once I've dealt with the unknowns, I think I'll be okay!

Binks - My Smallest Friend

This is Binks, my smallest friend. She's funny and sweet and makes me laugh with her antics. She loves to hang upside down from her cage and play with her toys. She head bops the bells and sings the sweetest songs to me. This little blue parakeet has brought me more joy than I ever imagined. I thought she was a boy when I got her, but since she's matured, her cere has turned a soft pink. She loves to watch the other birds outside the window in front of her cage, and she sometimes mimics their songs. Isn't she sweet?

Re-inventing Moi

Obviously, this is a self-portrait (note camera in hand LOL!). I find I'm redefining, re-inventing myself in my middle age. Do I still count being middle age now that I turned 56 in December? Anyway, I decided to post this much newer, more accurate, much more silvery haired version of myself. I used to color it as you can see in the photo at the right of my blog, but I decided that I hated giving up the time it took to color and keep up with the touch ups. I love having wash-and-go hair. I shower, towel dry, pick it out and I'm off. I can actually be out the door to work in 20 minutes flat if I have to, washed, brushed, clothed, and coffee in hand -- sometimes without make up, I'll admit. Not bad for an old broad, if I say so myself.

Our Beautiful Planet

This brought tears to my eyes when I watched it. What a beautiful world we live in.

The Pullet Surprise

I love words and really enjoyed reading these when I happened to come across them while surfing the web, taken from from "How to win a Pullet Surprise" by Jack Smith. . . A high school boy wrote that "In 1957, Eugene O'Neill won a Pullet Surprise." Thus was born a famous award to authors: THE PULLET SURPRISE

Here are examples of winning verse:

We found it hard to understand his Scottish derelict.

The doctor said to take some milk of amnesia.

Fred's mother washed out his mouth with soap to curb his cursory tendencies.

The Rocky Mountain road was the most cynic of our trip.

I was enchanted to read that soldiers of high rank wear opulents on their shoulders, that space flying may be affected by comic rays.

I also found out about a banker whose money was well infested, a man who drove a Chivalry, and a young woman who was always making social plunders.

I met such interesting characters as Aunt Phoebe, a matriculate housekeeper; Mr. Graham, the local weather procrastinator; a young man who gave his fiancee a choice between a ruby and an atheist; and another chap who liked any kind of camisole dish.

Did you know that every state is permitted to send two Centaurs to Congress? That the Sarah Desert they traveled by Camelot? That Moses went up on Mount Cyanide to get the Ten Commandments?

Monks live in a monetary. An antithesis is something given before surgery, and a paradox is a lovely place to go when you die.

It's too soon to have lunch. I want to starve it off for a while.

It was spreading like wildflower.

Wendy Crisp's grandmother is always getting her dandruff up, and she frequently comes home worn to a fragile.

Dorothy Anderson's sister has a neighbor who picked a lawyer out of the phone book at ransom.

Lillian Sturbergh knew a woman whose husband sometimes didn't munch words.

Prices in the supermarket are absorbent.

A hospital patient was being put in tension.

An elderly neighbor fears she is going berkshire.