This past Saturday morning RT and I flew in his small Bonanza down to Destin, FL for a few days of R&R with our children.  Our son and his wife left Friday night - drove part way and finished the drive on Saturday.  Our daughter, her husband and the two grandgirls did the same.  We all arrived at the condo within ten minutes of each other.

It was beautiful.  That’s an understatement.  The condo was perfect for our little family.   The kids are staying through Saturday.  RT and I had to come home Monday because there was just too much going on with the new house and school starting next week for us to be gone all week.

So it is strange not having our children in town.   Today RT flew to Indiana on business.  And I’m here in TN without any other family around.  Usually when he’s out of town, our daughter and son are just a few minutes away at their respective homes.  This week, though, they’re still in Florida enjoying the beach.  Strange feeling to have them so far away.

One quick cute story.  No, make that three.  On Sunday morning, Sunshine woke up early and RT asked her if she wanted to go to church.  She looked at him as though he was crazy.  RT said something about God being everywhere, and she replied, “No he’s not.  He’s at church in Nashville, Tennessee!”  Four year olds are very literal.

Later, she was sitting next to RT on the sofa, and she felt his stomach and proceeded to ask him if he was expecting a baby.  When he replied that he wasn’t, she answered as she rubbed his stomach, “Yes, you are.  I can feel the head.”  I hasten to add that while RT might have a little bit of a stomach, he is not overweight at all. 

Third story.  Hmmm - all three stories are about Sunshine!  We visited a shopping area along the beach that had a “Bears on the Beach” store - which is a make-your-own-teddy-bear place (Like “Build A Bear Workshop”).  I let both girls select and dress a teddy bear to keep.  They each named their bears.  Sweet Stuff named hers Gabriella - from “High School Musical.”  Sunshine named her Sarah Grandma Carol.  To her “Grandma” is just part of my name, and she was honoring me.  Such sweetness!

RT and I were talking with a flooring contractor today, and the topic of conversation got around to some of the huge houses in our area of Tennessee.  We’re talking about a couple (no children) living in a 10-15 bedroom house with 10,000 or more square feet.  Every city has those - the couple that feel the need to build a monument of a house.

The contractor commented:

“I drive past one of those big houses on a Thursday night, and no one is home.  They’re both still at work.  I go past a trailer, and the whole family is in the yard grilling out, playing games and having fun.  What use is a big house if you have to work all the time to afford it?  I want to live in a trailer.”

This Father’s Day I’m thankful for the fathers in my life:

(1) For my own father whose life was an example of how to live

(2) For my husband, the father of our two children, for being such a strong and loving father

(3) For my son-in-law - for being such a loving father for my two grandgirls and a good husband to my daughter

(4) For my father-in-law, who has been gone even longer than my father, but whose last words (that I heard) were sweet ones to my children as we left his bedside: “Bye, bye, sugar-pie.”

(5) For my two brothers who are wonderful fathers.  My youngest brother visited me on Friday, and it was so pleasant to be able to take a walk with him and then sit and talk with him for awhile before he continued his business trip.

(6) My grandfather - Daddy Shaw - my father’s father who owned a barbershop where we always hurried whenever we  visited.

(7) My mother’s father - who I never knew since he died when my mother was 9 years old - but who influenced me through my mother.

It has been more than twenty years since my father died.  Sometimes it seems unreal that he isn’t here.  I often look at my two grandgirls and think of how much Daddy would have loved and enjoyed them.  I would love for him to see my own children as adults now - how proud he would have been of them!

Here is a poem I wrote a few years after my father’s death.  I’ve posted it here before, but it is so personally meaningful that I wanted to post it again.  So bear with me.

It’s my baby brother’s birthday.  Here’s what I wrote last year about him, and here’s what my mother wrote about him this year.

David, I hope this is the beginning of the best year of your life so far!  Happy Birthday!

Today, March 22nd, is the birthday of my brother, Terry.  Here’s what I posted about Terry last year.

I can’t tease him too much about reaching the grand old age of 60 ’cause I’m only two years behind him.

I’m visiting my mother right now so I can be at Terry’s birthday party Thursday evening.  We’ll have a good time.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TERRY!

 A weekly meme for giving thanks and/or noting important events in our lives

Sunday Seven - March 17th & 18th

Heritage Edition

Since this weekend starts off with St. Patrick’s Day, my SUNDAY SEVEN lists seven parts of my heritage for which I am thankful.

(1) I have a little Irish in my background, and I’m thankful for that - along with the German and Scottish and who-knows-what-else. 

(2) My family has always had an appreciation for music.  I’m not musically talented.  However, there are others in my family with phenomenal musical abilities.

(3) My family has always valued education.  Out of my seven siblings, we all went beyond high school.  Most of us have a Masters degree in our chosen field.

(4) My family has always stressed integrity over “success.” The true measure of a person is WHO they are inside - not their position in society.

(5) My family has always place God first.  My father was a Methodist minister, and my mother is a minister now.  The church is an integral part of our lives.

(6) My family values fun.  When we get together there is always a lot of talking and laughing.  We have a good time together.

(7) Family is a priority.  Every single day I thank God for my family - my husband, my children and their spouses, my grandgirls, my mother, my siblings and their families.  When we all get together we number well above 50 - and it’s wonderful.

Mia is my beautiful daughter-in-law.  She and Scalawag have been married for almost four years.   They were married on a beach on Maui - lovely wedding.  She’s a terrific person.

In May she will graduate from nursing school.  She has worked very hard and has made top grades.  Over the past few weeks, she received THREE wonderful job offers at very different medical facilities.  Today she decided to accept the offer from a top university hospital to work in their burn unit.  She will be a fantastic nurse.  She considered all three offers, but she knew that the burn unit was where she most wanted to work.  I’m so happy for her.  She has worked so hard to get her degree, and now her hard work is paying off.

She and Scalawag are out of town right now.  She called to tell me the news of their decision.  When they get back, we’ll have a family party to celebrate.  That’s a pretty darn good deal to have such a wonderful job offer - two months before graduation. 

Last night - on the spur of the moment - RT and I ended up going to a sushi place for dinner with our son (affectionately known here at TMS as Scalawag) and his wife, Mia.  What a fun time!  I had my old stand-by, a Joe Roll, and RT had a Rainbow Roll - and we got a Philadelphia Roll.  Scalawag and Mia had some other kinds that we tried, too.

We laughed and talked for ages.  It’s just such a wonderful feeling to have such a good time with family.  It was a great evening.

You may recall a couple weeks ago when I wrote about having strep.  I missed only one day of work, but I felt awful for several days.  I probably spread strep around at school before I knew I had it.

Well, this past Sunday morning, RT woke up and told me that he thought he might have strep because his throat was so sore.  Not wanting to spread it around at church if he did have it, we skipped church and went to a Minute Clinic to get a strep test.  Yep, he had it.  He said he thought he’d probably had it for at least a week because he had felt so tired and run down - but no sore throat until the weekend.

Stinkeroo (our daughter) called last night.  “Mom, did you or Dad have a fever when you had strep throat?”

“No, neither of us ran a fever.”

“I think Sweet Stuff might have strep.  She doesn’t have a fever, but she says her throat is hurting.”

So this morning, I checked email.  Stinkeroo was true to form.  Even though it was night, she wanted to know for sure.  At 10:30 last night Stinkeroo emailed me to tell me that she had taken Sweet Stuff to the Minute Clinic, and she did have strep.

So, in the last week, my precious Stinkeroo has been to the doctor with Sunshine who was diagnosed with croup.  I wrote about staying home with her last Thursday.  Then to the hospital with S when he had minor surgery.  Monday she had to take their dog, Bogey, to the veterinarian to get staples for a bad cut he got while jumping over some equipment for an irrigation system they’re putting in their yard, and now she had to take Sweet Stuff to the doctor for strep throat.

Here’s part of her email which I thought was funny:

I was telling S, I don’t think any of us had been to a doctor in a while and in the past week, I have been to the Dr with Sunshine for the Croup, S for a Hernia Surgery, Bogey to staple his leg, and now Sweet Stuff with Strep.   I guess I need to take vitamins to make sure I don’t catch anything, so I can take care of everyone.   I just really hope we don’t pass around Strep in the family.  The lady there thought it was funny Sweet Stuff caught strep from grandparents instead of the other way around.

Yep, PawPaw and Grandma Carol - the strep throat carriers.  Sadly, it’s true.