Countdown to Cruise Begins. . .

Five years ago our family went on an awesome cruise and we vowed to go on another one as soon as possible. It has taken five years for the "possible" to materialize but we are headed to the Caribbean three months from today !

You might think three months is a long time for a countdown but think of all the stuff you have to do to prepare for a cruise . First of all, you have to lose at least 20 pounds (you could possibly gain that all back during cruise week), then you have to try to get somewhat of a tan - you know, brown fat looks better than white fat any day. Then you have to save up lots of money for the purchase of trinkets that allure you from every port. Some of our family members have to save up money to throw away in the casino each night.

Then there is the shopping for the cute cruise clothes and ordering updated passports and deciding which shore excursions to take and deciding which shoes to take and deciding how to pack everything you own in a small bag that will fit under the bed in your stateroom and on and on . . . .

Three months and counting ----- I can't wait !

What Could You Do With $1,000,000.00 ?

1. You could go to www.buybritneyshair.com and be the lucky owner of Britney Spears recently- shorn locks of hair; or
2. You could provide innoculations against disease for thousands of people who cannot afford them; or
3. You could provide school textbooks for hundreds of disadvantaged children; or
4. You could provide warm blankets for 50,000 homeless people; or
5. You could rebuild 20 homes for Katrina victims; or
6. You could help find a cure for AIDS, breast cancer, cystic fibrosis or muscular dystrophy.

But if have a million bucks and you are hell bent on having something that belonged to Britney, it would make more sense to purchase her house which is also for sale.

Come to think of it - anyone considering buying her hair probably wouldn't know or care what made sense and what didn't.

Did You Hear About . . .

. . . . .the paranoid dyslexic who thought he was following somebody ?

The TAMS

Last night we went with some friends to J.T.'s Fish House to see The TAMS. The have to be getting up in years because they have been performing for almost 40 years. They looked like they were about 25 years old. The energy they had was electric !

They were so entertaining and we certainly enjoyed the performance. The only bad thing was for those of you who know how small J.T.'s is, there was standing room only by the time we got there so we either had to sit in an adjoining room or stand in the room where they were performing so we obviously decided not to stand for the entire 4 hours. If you ever get a chance to see The TAMS, it is well worth the effort.

Happy Birthday, Amy

Today my youngest child turns 32. Here she is a few years ago helping me unload the dishwasher (which was one of her favorite things to do.) She mostly liked hearing the silverware clang on the floor as she slung it across the room.

Her brother and sister were 16 and 11 when she was born so I had a lot of help in spoiling her. She has always been a wonderful daughter and sister and has brought so much joy and happiness to our family.

Happy Birthday, Amy. We are very proud of you and love you so much !

Special Occassion Weekend

Sunday, our family is getting together to celebrate three special occassions.

1. My granddaughter, Kristen, is celebrating her 15th birthday, February 11th. She is extremely smart and talented. She makes all A's in school, is in many activities, is an accomplished pianist and of course loves hanging out with her friends and talking on her cell phone. She is looking forward to getting her driver's permit. She drives her grandmother crazy by not wearing a jacket or coat when it is cold. Happy Birthday, Kristen. We love you very much !

2. Sunday, February 11th , is also the 13th wedding anniversary of my daughter and son-in-law. They were high school sweethearts and after going their separate ways for a few years, they got back together and have a great little family. They are both loving parents to Will and they bring much joy and happiness to all our family. Happy Anniversary, Susan and Terry.

3. Tuesday, February 13th, is my daughter Amy's birthday. (Sorry, Amy, I couldn't find a picture of you by yourself on my computer.) Amy is pictured above on the left with her brother and sister. Amy is a loving wife and family member. She wins the prize for being thoughtful about sending cards and remembering every one on their special occasions. She is smart, talented and has a very successful career in social work and lives in Atlanta. We love you Amy and hope you have a wonderful birthday.

I Was Tagged

My young friend, Heidi, tagged me and that means I have to tell some weird things about myself that people may not know. Since my life is such an open book (I blab everything I know about myself to friends and family) I don't know how much of my weirdness goes unknown but here goes:

I have recurring dreams of cats crawling all over me and I can't get them off. (I understand there are gurus out there who interpret dreams but I'll bet that stumps the hell out of them.)

I am pretty much a neat-freak when it comes to my house but one of my children found a stash of useless tags which I had taken off new clothes for years and just left in a pile on the closet shelf - go figure that one.

I am a worry wart ! If I don't have anything to worry about, I concoct something !

I like to control everything. Doesn't work too well with spouses - maybe that accounts for why I have had three - oops, didn't mean to tell that !

My nickname is "Chay" but only my dad and brother ever called me that so I guess that wasn't much of one - how many peoople have to call you by a name for it to be a "nickname" anyway?

I don't mind getting old but I don't want to act, look and feel old.

My lifelong dream has been to do something spectacular with music - like appearing on Broadway or singing with a huge choral group, etc. Too old now but I still like thinking about it.

I could live the rest of my life on hors d'ouvres.

I tag Susan.

SNOW !

We had snow on the ground this morning and I have not seen snow in a long time. It hasn't snowed in Alabama since we moved back from south Florida and of course, I didn't see it there so it was exciting to see !

I got up at 5:30 and there was a pretty good blanket of it on the ground but shortly thereafter, the temperature rose, the snow changed to rain and by the time I came to work, it was just wet and slushy and almost gone. Oh well, it was pretty for the short time it lasted.