TRAVELING TODAY!~

My MIL is still holding her own.  Thanks so much for all of the prayers and good thoughts.  Keep up the good work!

As for me, I will be traveling to the other side of Atlanta to pick up my daughter and her best friend to bring them back to my house.  She has been visiting her best friend in S.C. for the last week.  She moved away last year. Would so appreciate prayers and good thoughts for my daughter's best friend's Mom who will be bringing the girls to me halfway and my SIL and me as we go to meet them.  I HATE driving in big cities.  I think the correct term would be I am PETRIFIED of driving in big cities.  Atlanta is awful.  Just finished working for the day.  Must get up early, so gotta run.

Later!~

Susan

P.S.  Please remember our troops in your thoughts and prayers!~

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!~

Today is my MIL's 78th birthday and even though she is still in ICU in the hospital, I would like to take a moment to pay tribute to her on her special day.  I will come back and add more as soon as I can, as I am still currently working.

I talked to my niece earlier today who was visiting her at the hospital and she said she is still holding her own.  The prayers are working!  We came very close to losing her last night.  I KNOW it is the prayers and good thoughts that are keeping her here.  Thank you so much!~

Hugs going out to all of you!~

Susan and family

P.S.  Don't forget to pray for our troops!~

Update on my MIL!~

It is now 1218 AM.  Just got home from the hospital.  Mom is holding her own.  She is now running a temperature of 102.  Please continue to pray.

Becky asked for an update on me.  I still have not gotten the results of my tests last week.  As soon as I find out I will update.  Thanks for asking, Becky.

Prissie, my kitty, who has been very sick is doing remarkably well on her new meds.  This makes me so happy.

Sorry I have not had much time lately for journal reading.  Many of you going through things have been in my thoughts and my prayers.  To me, this is spiritual warfare, Satan tries to beat us down with everything he can throw at us, but I am a child of the most high, the Lord God Jehovah, and because of this, I have power over Satan and he can't stand it.  I am reminded of the story of Job and how hard Satan tried to make Job curse God, he did not succeed.  He will not succeed with me either.  Stand firm in your faith, friends, even when Satan continues to fire those fiery darts.  We have ALREADY won this war!  If God be for us, who can be against us?  I have said to my children many times, I may not know what tomorrow holds, but I know WHO holds the key to tomorrow and I know that HE is STILL in control.  AMEN?

Please remember to pray for our troops.  They need us now more than ever.

Thanks in advance for your prayers.

Susan

URGENT!~

MY MIL HAS BEEN ADMITTED TO ICU.  SHE HAD A BRAIN SEIZURE TODAY THAT ALMOST TOOK HER OUT.  SHE IS NOW THROWING UP.  PLEASE KEEP HER IN YOUR PRAYERS AND/OR HOLD GOOD THOUGHTS FOR HER.

THANKS SO MUCH!~

SUSAN

Update on Prissie

Dear Journal,

I just got back from the vet.  According to her doc she is not going to get any better.  She believes she has cardiomyopathy.  The fluid will continue to build up in her lungs.  I have to make the painful decision whether to euthanize or medicate.  Even with medication, she will only live 3-6 more months.  I am beside myself with grief.  She is only 7.  This shouldn't be happening.  Don't feel like writing any more right now.  Maybe later.

Susan

Sick Fur Baby!~

I had to rush our cat, Prissie, to the vet today.  She was in respiratory distress.  Dr. R did an x-ray on her and determined that her lungs were filled with fluid but she didn't know why.  She had to keep her.  We will be lost tonite without her, as she sleeps on top of one of us no matter what position we are in.  I am so attached to my fur babies.  Prissie is my daughter's favorite and by far the cat with the best personality of our three.  We hope and pray she is going to be okay.  The doc didn't sound too hopeful.  The doc also said depending on what Prissie has, our other two cats could also be in jeopardy.  I have put together a collage of pics of her and her brother Fonzie.  There is one of all three.  Fonzie and Prissie are brother and sister, so they consider Simba an outsider, lol.  Fonzie and Prissie often lay side by side and are often in the same position.  Think I will go to bed now and cry.  ::sniff, sniff::

http://journals.aol.com/rjet33/JourneyThroughTheValleyofShadows/entries/2007/06/18/anniversary-of-your-death-today/879

Before/After Photos

Dear Journal,

I am sooooooo tired and sore.  Painting is definitely a chore, but I will be so proud when it all is said and done.  I have put in before after photos of the fireplaces to set the record straight.  The bricks are antique brick and while my son was at work one day, my DIL painted the brick on the basement fireplace.  He was ticked off to say the least, as we were when we saw it, but since it had been painted and it would have cost money to sandblast it, we decided to go on and finish it with paint.  We used the colors she had originally picked out since we already had that paint and we are trying to save money any way we can; however, we designed it differently than she had intended.  She had planned to paint it half and half on each wall and put a border up like you would do if there was a chair rail.  She really likes the centennial stuff with the sun, moon, and stars.

I have a throw rug in the basement that has the two wall colors in it, plus burgundy, taupe, and a green color.  The basement will be finished out with those colors being used for accent colors.

We plan to repaint the fire insert also with fireproof paint because it is looking really rough right now.  It will be really pretty when we get it all done.  I will take more photos as we make progress.

Blessings!~

Susan

P.S.  Please remember our troops in your thoughts and prayers!~

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!~

This is what I spent Father's Day doing, painting!  My son did the cutting in and I did the rolling on.  This is our family room in the basement.  I will take better pics when we get the trim painted out.  I would like to know if you like the colors?  The fireplace is Brass Tack and the wall is Centennial Blue.  Two walls will be the blue and two walls will be the Brass Tack.  We love it.

Also, me and Mine would like to wish all the Dad's out there a

HAPPY

FATHER'S

DAY!~

Blessings!~

Susan

P.S.  PLEASE REMEMBER OUR TROOPS IN YOUR THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS!~

Further History Found on Frederick House

Go back to this link to scroll down and read the section I have since added titled, "Frederick House History" if you are interested in the further history of the house my daughter dubbed the Chainsaw Massacre house (cuz she says it resembles the house in the movie, lol):

http://journals.aol.com/rjet33/CountryLivingSouthernStyle/entries/2007/06/14/the-frederick-house/885

Family Dinner Night!~

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

YOU CAN ONLY FAIL IF YOU FAIL TO START!~

 

Dear Journal,

Last night was our 2nd  Friday family dinner night.  We went to my MIL's for supper again.  We had more good food and fellowship.  It was lots of fun.  My great nephew graduated from being homeschooled.  My niece had a cake for him.  Congrats to the Scottster (my pet name for him)!~

I got several pics with my great nieces and nephews in them, as well as some of my nieces and nephews.  I believe my son is in a couple; one with my great nephews he likes to hang out with and one with a favorite cousin.

I really enjoyed myself.  It is so nice being part of a large family (on my Hubby's side) because my own family is quite small.  It feels like being part of the Walton's.  We are very close-knit.  I was happy to see my MIL doing much better, although I was told she had a bad spell on Monday night.  Please continue to keep her in your prayers and good thoughts!~

It's Saturday, my catch-up day for what I didn't have time to do during the week, so must run for now.

Blessings!~

 

Susan

 

It's Storming! Woo Hoo!~

 

 

Thank you, Anna (annalisa135) for the cute graphic!~

Dear Journal,

It's raining, it's pouring!

The old man is snoring!

Bumped his head and he went to bed

and he couldn't get up in the morning!~

Ahhh, that chant brings back memories of my childhood playing in the rain.  When it would sunshine and rain we always said it meant the devil was beating his wife.  Now where the heck did we get that from?

When it thundered, the angels were bowling.

Anyway, we just got a nice quick little thunder shower, which was badly needed in these parts as we have been in drought conditions.  I think the drought followed us from Colorado back to Alabama.  We were in drought conditions there almost the whole time we lived there under water restrictions even!

We take so much for granted these days, don't we?

Anyway, thank you Heavenly Father for the much needed rain.  My grass, trees, and plants were very thirsty.  Now it is time for me to get to work.

Blessings!~

Susan

More Southern History.........

Dear Journal,

I have posted a few pictures of my nephew's cake and some pics of him at the party that was held for him at his parent's house last Saturday evening.  They had a cookout for him and then birthday cake and ice cream.  We had a wonderful time, except for the mosquito bites!!!!  The only presents he got was moola, but I guess you can see from his big smile in the photos, he didn't seem to mind a bit.

I had to go to my doctor who is in Auburn, AL today.  Had to pick up a prescription and make an appointment for next week for a checkup concerning my medications.  Living in the country in east central Alabama, almost on the Georgia/Alabama Line, I have access to doctors in Valley, Opelika, and Auburn, as well as Phenix City, AL and Columbus, GA.  We had to travel through Opelika to get to Auburn, so we stopped and got some pictures.

I am truly a history buff, so this was fun for me.  I stopped and got photos of what used to be Opelika Manufacturing Company.  When I was a little girl, my grandfather worked as a security guard here.  He was originally from Uchee and my grandmother was from Tallassee.  My grandparents lived about two blocks from the mill, so he could have walked to work if he had wanted to.  My granddaddy had polio as a little boy and it left one leg shorter than the other so he had to walk with a cane.

After I took the photos, I got to thinking about it and remembered when the mill had windows all across the front.  I even remember when they bricked up all of the windows, but really never knew why.

I got a couple of photos of some churches in the area.  The architecture on the Presbyterian church is really lovely.  The other church I photographed just because it looked like a little old country church.  I cannot remember the name, but it is across from the old abandoned mill.

I took my daughter to the spot where I went to school in the 7th grade.  I said spot because the school is no longer there, it was torn downsadly.  The architecture was quite beautiful.  There is a memorial there erected in honor of it now and the Brownfield House was also moved to this site (photos included).  Every time a new high school was built in the area, the junior high would get the old high school building.

I also got a picture of the newly restored Salem-Shotwell covered bridge.  It was in the community of Salem, AL, but several years ago a large tree fell during a storm and completely demolished the bridge knocking it into the Wacoochee river.  The link below shows what the bridge looked like before the storm and how badly the tree smashed the bridge during the storm.

http://www.opelikahighschools.org/id229.html

Alabama has lots of history and I have enjoyed sharing a small portion of it.

Later,

Susan

The Frederick House

Dear Journal,

A few months ago my daughter and I went out to take photos of some random old places around east central Alabama and west Georgia.  In our ramblings, we came across an old mansion that my daughter dubbed "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre House" because she said it resembled the house in the movie.  I became very curious about the house and began trying to find out more info on it.  When I finally stopped looking, that is when I stumbled across some more info on it.  Isn't that the way it always is?  When I found the info, I remembered reading about it in a local paper.  It made big news within the state of Alabama because it was a historical landmark.  It was going to be torn down because a church owned it currently and they wanted the space to expand their church parking lot and build a more modern building for some of the church functions.  Public outcry kept the house from being destroyed, but what to do with it was the next problem to arise.  Finally, it was decided it would be moved to some vacant property near Lake Condy and there, sadly, it has sat since 2001, abandoned and run down.  I recently found more about the history and who presently owns it.

Frederick House History:

The Frederick house is by far the most controversial house in recent Opelika memory.  It stood at it's original address at 214 North Street in Opelika for years.  It was moved to rest beneath a large oak tree near Lake Condy.  The large Victorian-style structure and its large columns can be seen from the road.  It is currently sitting there all boarded up.

I have read two different things about the fate of the Frederick house in print.  The town minutes say it is intended to be made into a bed and breakfast and this article online says it is mostly likely going to be made a permanent home for the current owners.  Personally, I vote for the bed and breakfast, so all can enjoy it.

The structure was built in 1900 by James T. Frederick, and it features eight rooms downstairs, five rooms upstairs, eight fireplaces and pine wood flooring.

The home was purchased by Frank and Barbara Whatley in 1971 and eventually willed to Trinity United Methodist Church in Opelika. The church decided the nearby historic home it owned could not be incorporated into its expansion. The issue of destroying or having someone move the house became a hot issue in 2000.  The Price family who currently owns the house paid $1.00 for the house, but it cost $46,500 to move it.  Still for a house of that magnitude and history, it was still a steal in my opinion. :-)

It is such a beautiful house, it would have been a huge loss for Lee County for the house to have been torn down.  I am very happy they decided to keep it, even if it had to be moved, which was another huge undertaking in itself.  To see the pictures of the house being moved, go to this link:

http://www.opelikahighschools.org/id104.html

P.S.  I got this history of the house from this website as well.

Scroll down to the last four photos on this page.  Those are of the Frederick house being moved.

I am so happy this house was saved and there are plans to renovate it.  As I stated earlier, it would have been a huge loss forLee County had it been torn down.  I am a huge history buff and shall be posting more info about the areas around east central Alabama and West Georgia since this is my old stomping grounds.

Later,

Susan

Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you!~

Dear Journal,

We had a birthday dinner last night at my MILs for my Hubby, his twin, a brother-in-law, and a nephew.  My brother-in-law and his wife, who is Hubby's next-to-youngest sis, are visiting from Louisiana.  Yesterday was the brother-in-law's birthday and a nephew's (brother of the bride in previous entry).  My nephew turned 16 yesterday and went right on down to the DMV and got his driver's license.  Today is Hubby and his twin's birthday.  My BIL, Hubby, and twin all turned 52.  Happy Birthday guys!~

 

It was fun.  We had some good food, good fellowship, and good dessert to follow.  Someone made a wonderful pear cobbler.  I believe my MIL made that and she made dressing and black-eyed peas, all of which were yummy!~ 

There was so much food, I cannot even remember what all we had.  All I can say is it was really good and loads of fun.

Today, Hubby's twin is having a separate shindig for my nephew who just turned 16.  Hope to get pics for that too if I can find some batteries for my camera.  They died last night, but at least it was AFTER I got my photos.

 

Must run.  House-cleaning day.  Saturday is my catch-up day for all I didn't get done through the week, which was a lot.  ::sigh::

Later,

Susan

 

Busy! Busy! Busy!~

Dear Journal,

May was a very busy month for us.  It started with a get-together at Callaway Gardens in Georgia.  My employer hosted it for all of the employees.  It was an all day picnic and we got to get in for free and enjoy most of what Callaway Gardens offered.  My daughter took a cousin so she would have someone to hang out with.  She and her cousin enjoyed the beach while Hubby and I walked the nature trails.  I bet we walked 4 miles that day!  WHEW!  Wouldn't you know my camera batteries were dead.  ::sigh:: I was sooooooooooo upset not to get photos.  They need a gift shop there where you can purchase batteries for just such instances. I can put the link to Callaway Gardens, so you can read about it for yourself.  It is a beautiful place and lots of fun to visit.  To find out more, go to:

http://www.callawaygardens.com/

On May 26th, my niece who has always been very special to me got married.  She is very special to me in that she is my Hubby's twin brother's daughter and I kept her the first couple of years of her life.  I have posted pictures of her beautiful wedding.  It was the most fun wedding I have ever been to.  The reception included a DJ and dancing and I LOVE to dance.  I had to drag Hubby's twin, then a nephew, and finally Hubby to the dance floor.  None of them were thrilled about it, lol.  My nephew, the brother of the bride, is the only one who came to me and asked me to dance.  Did I say I LOVE to dance??????

It is a family joke that to punish my niece when she was little, I would stick her in an ant bed.  She had been really bad one day while I was keeping her and her mother asked her if I had spanked her and she said, "No, she put me in an ant bed!"

I just about fell out of my chair.  It is a good thing my SIL trusted me!  Anyway, now it has become a longtime family joke.  When my niece would misbehave, they would say, "You'd better behave, or Aunt Susie will come and put you in an antbed!"

They had a pic of my niece and her new husband at the wedding that had been made pre-wedding that we could all sign.  I put the comment:  If she is bad, Bobby, put her in an ant bed.  It always worked for me!"  ROFL.

The day after my niece's wedding, we had my daughter's 15th birthday party at my Mom's place on the lake.  The kids got to go swimming, or paddle around in the paddle boat.  We then had cake and ice cream and my Carebear opened her presents.  It ended with a slumber party at our house for all of the young ladies who wished to stay.  I think we had seven who stayed over.  They all slept in my daughter's room.  Guess it is a good thing she has the master bedroom, eh?  ::wink:: We had 2-3 on our queen size air mattress, two in her double bed, one on a crash pad, one in her chair that folds out into a little bed, etc.  It was lots of fun.  Most of the young ladies were gone by noon the next day.  My daughter's cousin and a close friend that came to the party and stayed the night went to see Pirates of the Carribean, At World's End.  I won't spoil it for you in case you haven't seen it and want to, but I will say Captain Jack and Will were as sexy as ever.  Ooooooh yeah!~  ::giggle::

My MIL was hospitalized that following Thursday after Memorial Day for two days.  They ran tests and determined she had an enlarged liver and elevated LFT's, but they didn't know why.  Her doc changed up her meds.  I visited her today (she lives two doors down) and she looks so much better.  Praise God for that!  Thanks to everyone for the prayers and good thoughts concerning her.  I continue to covet them for her.  She has always been like a second Mom to me.  I have actually been part of their family longer now than I lived with my own parents! She is having a CT angiogram tomorrow of her brain to check out her arteries.  I have been trying to get her doctor to order this test since my Hubby's father passed away in October.  Finally, he referred her to a neurologist.  It just makes me so mad that he waited so long. I swear, it has gotten to the point, it seems, that you have to tell the doctors what to do anymore. I hope they can find out what is causing her dizziness and treat it accordingly.  I love her very much and it is so hard to see her going down hill so, especially so soon after losing Dad.

A friend sent me pics of his trip in Italy today.  I really enjoyed those.  They are lovely.  I have never been out of the states, so I enjoy seeing the world through the eyes (or should I say "lens") of others!~

Anyway, sorry it has been so long since I have posted.  Been super busy  Link for my friend, Tony B's, Italy photos.

http://picasaweb.google.com/TigerKayaker/Italy

Later!~

Susan