WHO'S HAPPY TO BE AT OCHA? WE ARE! WE ARE!

Our fave Thai food restaurant, Ocha, is open again after being closed the past two months while the owner visited Thailand. Another fan of Ocha once remarked that this is the only business he knows of that can close for two months and then reopen and pick up right where they left off and never lose a customer. We're happy to have them back, as is the rest of the town, apparently, since the line at lunch was out the door. Sure did enjoy the rice and spicy chicken. Grandson Knox opted for Wendy's chicken nuggets. He must have been hungry, too. I think he stuffed about three of them in his mouth at once [see his pic below]. Welcome back, Ocha! We missed you!

What is one to say about June, the time of perfect young summer, the fulfillment of the promise of the earlier months, and with as yet no sign to remind one that its fresh young beauty will ever fade. ~Gertrude Jekyll

Hello, June! Here already?

THE GOOD THE RANDOM THE FUN THIS AND THAT FROM APRIL AND MAY OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT

This was March 22 [2015]. Beautiful morning sky over church of Christ that meets at Jefferson Avenue just before nine o'clock Sunday school. Cell phone camera pic almost captured the awesomeness.

 April 16 [2015]  Grandson Knox enjoying a snack sized bag of Skittles. You know they're delicious when they make your dimple pop out.

 April 19 [2015] I'm a cloud junkie. Can't resist taking pictures of clouds. View from church parking lot on Jefferson. 

 April 20 [2015] Stormy weather looking north on Jefferson Avenue. We've had lots of rainy days in April and May.

 April 25 [2015] I heart clouds!

 May 12 [2015] Math homework has been the bane of both Elijah's and my life this past school year. My number one pet peeve these days is common core, especially math. 

May 12 [2015] This is a common core multiplication problem using the "sticks and X's" method (or whatever) It makes my head want to explode. All I could do to help him was show him the way I learned how to multiply. For the sake of future generations, I pray the powers that be change teaching/learning back to the way it used to be. Life is hard enough without having to deal with this insanity. 

 April 29 [2015] Sky view over my backyard

 May 8 [2015] Hiding in plain sight. Well, almost. Candy filled Easter egg went undetected for over a month after the egg hunt in the back yard. Just happened to look down and there it was, still waiting. Waste of good candy. Bummer. This happens every year. So far I've found only three.

 May 8 [2015] Cousins Knox and Elijah looking at the book Elijah bought for Knox at the Capshaw book fair. 

 May 20 [2015] A very blurry pic of my bro-in-law Don blowing out his most recent birthday candles. Jane made the yummy Jell-O cake.

 May 20 [2015] This Day And Age: A Still Shot. Cousins sharing giggle-worthy stuff on the Net

 May 21 [2015] 55 degrees. End of May. Wow.

 May 22 [2015] The Sno Shack opened this month just off the town square, and on this day, the place was jam packed after school. Cousins enjoying the frozen yummy goodness. This place has any flavor you can possibly imagine -- such as Dill Pickle and Road Kill.

 May 23 [2015] Knox's Mother's Day Out art on display. He created some very cool handprint pictures.

 May 25 [2015] Chick Fil A peach milkshake -- Summer in a cup with a cherry on top.

 April 6 [2015] Elijah on the path to Granny's house on another rainy Spring day

 April 16 [2015] Granddaughter Shelby chillin' on the back porch swing after school

 May 8 [2015] Knox was proud of his Mother's Day Out scrapbook. He had a great time in school this year.

 May 8 [2015] Elijah surprised me with this pretty votive he made out of a baby food jar and colorful tissue paper. He gave it to me the Friday before Mother's Day, and I kept asking him, You made this for me, not your mom, are you sure? He assured me that he had made it for me. Sweet!

 May 8 [2015] My pretty votive all lit up with firelight. Thanks, Elijah!

 May 30 [2015] Bought some pretty perennials at Lowe's to plant in the front yard today

 May 30 [2015] On the way home from Lowe's -- looks like we're out in the country, doesn't it? Hope it stays this way.

 May 30 [2015] Knox came over this afternoon to help his grandpa plant those flowers

 May 30 [2015] Knox is a hard worker. He filled the dirt in around the plants. Great job, Knox!

May 30 [2015] Ever lovin' Saturday! Hope yours was fabulous!

THE BEST DAY OF SCHOOL: THE FIRST DAY AND THE LAST DAY

Grandson Elijah left Capshaw School and 3rd grade behind this afternoon with A’s and B’s for the whole school year. Way to go, Elijah! I didn’t think either one of us was going to make it through common core math!

He was very proud to receive his class’s citizenship award for the 4th nine weeks. It's a nice honor because his class voted for him.

Granddaughter Shelby said her final goodbye to Avery Trace Middle School with A’s and B’s all year long. Way to go, Shelby!

Next year, she’s off to high school – “a little fish in a big pond” she says. 

So proud of these two and all their hard work this school year! Love you both!!

OUT WITH THE BAD AIR, IN WITH THE GOOD AIR

Neil and I had our central heating/cooling heat pump installed in August of 1984 (yes, you read that year right), a year and a half after we moved into this house. We roasted through our first summer with only a tiny window AC, and we froze through our first winter because running those baseboard heaters was very expensive and we couldn’t afford high heating bills because, let’s face it, we’d just bought a house and there were church mice who weren’t as poor as we were. Even though we had a wood stove, we had no clue how to really use it and the wood we had to burn was green.  Fast forward 31 years. Our trusty heat pump is still heating and cooling, although inefficiently and probably costing us money each month. And for the past 10 years (at least) we kept thinking, Any day now, this thing is finally going to die. Most likely on the hottest day of the year when you need the AC the most. So we decided now is the time to replace it with a modern, efficient unit. Figured it would be warm today, that the house might be hot and stuffy. Nope! It’s 55 degrees today. Almost June. Who would’ve guessed? The installers arrived at eight a.m. and began tearing out our trusty 31 year old AC system. Front door wide open all day. Needless to say, it’s been a bit chilly and damp in this old house. Wood stove useless. Took out the chimney when we replaced the roof several weeks ago. Who knew we could use a fire at the end of May? Yay for space heaters!

I told Neil I feel like we’re betraying an old friend, casting aside something that still works for us. I can almost hear it screaming, But I gave you people the best years of my life and this is how I’m repaid?! One of the installers said this old AC must feel like part of the family. Aw, that makes me feel even worse. The heating/cooling guy who came the other day to set up the install said he’d never seen one this old and still doing its thing. We’ve been blessed these past three decades. No doubt. Made me feel a little better about it when one of the installers told us it was leaking Freon. Badly. Not to mention the wire that connected it to the switch box was a fire hazard waiting to happen. For the past 31 years. We always wondered what caused those little power surges every time the old unit clicked on. That was a slow motion bullet dodged. Once again, blessed!

Our 21st century model (the AC unit, not Neil) It’s after four o’clock at this point. Installers still working on it to get us plugged in. Looking forward to see if the heating works! Also looking forward to lower electric bills, humidity control and the really exciting part ~ a digital thermostat that is connected to Wi-Fi and can be controlled with our iPads (maybe smart phones are the next thing we’ll upgrade to. Someday. Maybe.) Our old thermostat had a Mercury switch. Don’t see that anymore, either, I guess. It’s so horse and buggy. So farewell trusty old AC. You served us well. I hope we don’t miss you. Sorry. We probably won’t.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! #42

Glasses, hearing aids, some white hair ... see, we haven't changed a bit in 42 years. 

Happy Anniversary To Us!

Write Your Story On My Heart

Tonight was granddaughter Shelby’s last chorus concert at Avery Trace Middle School. 8th grade is winding down for her. She’ll be moving on to high school next year. Hard to believe! Where has the time gone?

They performed a lot of modern songs that involved an array of emotions, but mostly it was all about friendship, changes and saying goodbye. Their last song was Journey’s Don’t Stop Believing.

Shelby is part of a small group of 8th graders who took part in chorus all four years of middle school. I think she plans on being in chorus in high school. I hope so. She has an awesome voice.

We’ve enjoyed watching you in all your chorus concerts, Shelby.  Looking forward to your next chapter as I continue to write your story on my heart. Love you and proud of you!