Aren’t smart phones like the iPhone or Droid neat? Kevin sends us the “Picture of the Day” from his iPhone several times a week. When we were up in Birmingham last week we noticed that Genevieve works hard to free her hands before she settles in to sleep. Hence, “The Sleepy Claw!” I can see how much she has grown because I know which little gown this is, and how much she fills it up now, where before she was rather lost in it.
You go girl!
I hope Genevieve will know all four generations: Martha (great-grandmother), me (grandmother, Martha’s oldest), Marie (mother and my daughter) and of course, Genevieve. My grandmother (Martha’s mother) was really big on multigeneration photos — so we are carrying on the tradition. I’m also beginning to wonder if Genevieve’s generation will ever include any boys — so far it’s all girls on both sides of the aisle.
The Barnett children — as young children
My brother has a nice scanner, and has been scanning some old photos of late. These were taken in front of “the little house” in Florence. I am the oldest, with Leah 2 years younger and Bob 2 years younger than Leah… so, these look to be somewhere around the fall of 1957.
I have to say that this was a most wonderful and delightful Christmas. Everyone (all three of my children plus a son-in-law and daughter-in-law and my granddaughter!) came for Christmas. What fun to have a one year old to inspect the tree, harvest candy canes and generally keep us moving for several days. The delight was back in Christmas! What a reminder that God walked (and still walks) among us as a child.
I’ve got one scrapbook page done — I’ll post the other’s on my Picasaweb account along with this one.
She’s very petite and very lively…
Last week (May 12) I spent the day in Tuscaloosa (and Northport) celebrating Marie’s completion of her RN program. While I’m not sure how much she wanted to go through it beforehand, I know from watching her smile, that she was so very glad that she did go through the ceremony — with Kevin, Jeanne, Charlie and me to cheer her on.
After graduation we retreated to their house and enjoyed lunch before returning to the school for the Pinning Ceremony. I found that to be a lovely, rather intimate event – just the nursing students, faculty and guests. The speaker talked about how important the nurses have been for his young daughter’s cancer treatment – and how important they could be.
It was well worth the late return to Auburn to have been able to stay and share in the whole day.
The rest of the pictures are out on my Picasaweb
Metro fare card: $10
Museum admission: $20
Dinner for 2 at a nice place in Manhattan: $130
Hailing a cab to get back to Queens immediately upon exiting the restaurant: PRICELESS
When I landed at LaGuardia on Saturday I was pleasantly surprised to find the temperature in the 50′s. Didn’t last! Yesterday Bruce Krause and I headed out to the Met -wind chill had it down in the single digits, I do believe. Picture a couple of diehard southerners in that kind of weather trying to hail a cab on 5th Avenue at 5 pm. We did finally get one, but not before my face was stinging with cold.
There’s a wonderful exhibit of Tiffany glass on thru May 20th – so the trip was worth it.
I notice that most of my recent posting are pictures – pictures of Lily mostly. Amazingly, I’m really tickled to be a grandmother. Who’d a thunk it?
But, there’s been so much going on of late, that I don’t take the time to write much down. Today a tornado ripped through Enterprise AL – at this time it seems that at least 8 people are dead. How to cope with that? I know several people who live in Enterprise. How do I find out if they are ok? The power is out, I don’t have cell phone numbers, and no doubt, they aren’t able to read email either. I watch the TV and look for faces.
But, as the TV guy says, Wait! There’s more!
Yeah – more… what I don’t write about the unexpected death of a friend, what I don’t write about the frustration of knowing that another friend who was very close to her, and close to me, is having to walk through this loss, and I CAN’T FIX IT! I can only listen on the phone, and pray.
I could go on and on, but I won’t. It’s just that sometimes I have to wait before I can write.
Saturday afternoon: spent with David, Michelle and Lily. Got to try out the Wii, play with the baby girl and try Bison Short Ribs at Ted’s Montana Grille. Oh, and see Kevin and Marie when they came by to get the top of the wedding cake to celebrate their first anniversay with a trip to Atlanta. All good things to do…
Lily brought her parents by for dinner last night — since I saw her last she’s learned to laugh a lot more!
The bug really bit me on these little bragbook size scrapbook pages — The book fits in my purse so I can show off to anyone who will look. So, I’m adding more pages in hope that I’ll have enough for creating Christmas gifts.
I’m trying to put this year in perspective – it’s not over, but it’s been quite eventful: 2 weddings, a funeral, sick in bed for a week, a new PhD in the family and my first grandchild… just to name a few things.
So – I’m trying to summarize in graphic art (inspired of course by Elsi who made the lovely Lily layouts, and some starter ideas for an album for Marie’s wedding).
I’ve gotten myself a PicasaWeb account, so now I can show off my vacation photos…
I’ve noticed that over the last year or 2 something that I might perceive as alarming keeps happening. We keep interviewing and hiring my children’s classmates. So far, in our department we have 3 employees who went to high school with my 2 older children – so when they drop by to chat, they often want to know about David and Marie.
Guess I’m just getting old – last winter, I was complaining about something – a pain in my shoulder or my legs, and David looked at me with surprised concern and asked “Mom – when did you get old?” It doesn’t seem right somehow. In my head, I’m still under 40 – no under 30, and I just don’t understand why it’s harder to lose weight, get in shape or stay up all night. I’m not looking in the mirror and seeing clearly.
Just the same – welcome to “the real world” kids. It’s gonna be fun!
July 3: Judy gave us a tour of historic Lewes, Delaware. Pretty little town. Fireworks off Cape May were very nice – I have short video’s taken from the ferry cruise, but I’m not sure I have the proper software on the laptop to convert them for the web. It was a fun evening aboard the Twin Capes – music, lots of people and the fireworks shot off from the barge.
July 4: Ferry to Cape May, up the Garden State and into Rhode Island/Connecticutt for dinner and Chris’s 22nd birthday. It seems that New England has been getting that rain that Alabama and parts south desparately need.
We’ve checked in with those at home and the doggies are doing well (surely they miss me? don’t they?) – and maybe there will soon be squash and tomatoes to be consumed.
David has posted the first set of photos from his wedding… what a party!
Check here: David’s Album
I’ll put up some videos later.
Just added some more pictures to the Wedding album – look here
And I’ll write the directions here on this website so I can remember.
Then, I will watch all 6 Star Wars movies from 1-6 (instead of in release order which would be 4,5,6,1,2,3)
My mom cannot understand why we really like this photo. But, we do. She thinks she looks “all done in.” But, I see a serene smile.
This is scanned from the box of old photos that we dug through after Stewart’s funeral. I hope that there are more to come.
are beginning to be posted.
The album is still growing, but you can find it here
I’ve started with only 11 images, but it should be growing fairly rapidly for a while. With only 2 people giving me stuff, I found I had over 500 images to look through, and several small movies from the reception… and then there are reheasal dinner images as well.
Needless to say – it was a grand day!
With all the wedding preparations, it’s frustrating not to be able to post pictures — in about 7 weeks tho, the wraps will be off the wedding dress, and the photos can go out for all (including Kevin) to see.
Last week I watched a cold Marie pose outdoors for her wedding portraits. Fortunately, the second date was much better than the original… which dawned cold and rainy. The ducks managed to avoid actually making it into a picture, even though they followed us around seeking handouts.
And as we approach the day in January for Marie, we now look beyond to June for David.
Life moves on so fast at times.
I found this in my “drafts.” It’s a couple of years old, now. (I hadn’t realized that this site was that old!) I wish I had finished it, because I wonder where I was headed. And now, so much more has happened. Marie is making preparations for her wedding. A piece of the farm has sold. My friend, Mies, who is a sister of the heart and spirit, has moved to Texas. So, the more things change, and move, the more they stay the same. That’s not very original, I know but it’s so true. So – here’s what I found of an old post that never got published…
Our old neighbors, Paula and Gene were in town last week. They had some condo time up on the lake, and seemed to be beginning the search for land so that they can come back in about 4 years when they retire – again. And so, we found ourselves, all together at another former neighbor’s house, sharing stories and dessert, current events and future plans…..
My youngest just graduated from high school. Seeing Paula reminded me of that blue-eyed, tow-headed bundle of energy who would stand in my kitchen and cry and demand to be taken across the street to see Miss Paula. Once there, standing on her doorstep, he always hid behind my knees and refused to talk to her. I know she thought I was nuts…. But, that same toddler was known to sit in Gene’s lap and scarf down stuffed mushrooms (Gene makes THE BEST) – and generally act like he would never be tongue-tied in their presence. We had to tell them that he is certainly no longer shy. For that matter, he was voted not only “Most school spirited”, but also “Player of the Year” (we’re not talking sports, here) and “Biggest Flirt.”
We shared not only our street, but our church… and a great fondness for Irish music. For them, it was in the blood – I adopted it (both the Catholic Church as a convert, and the Irish music because it speaks to my soul). I distinctly remember celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Easter [Irish] Uprising at their house by eating and drinking and singing Irish Revolutionary songs all of that rainy, miserable Easter afternoon.
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So where was I going? Not sure, but I suspect I was feeling a bit low. And wishing to go back in time. I’m pretty much into going forward now. And I’m more likely to find remembering rainy, miserable Easter Sunday afternoons a joy. Ah! The more things stay the same, the more they change.
The slow motion train wreck of a hurricane has passed west of us. Two tornado warnings this afternoon sent us all into an interior hall in the library. It didn’t hit so close, but the funnel clouds have been hanging around the neighborhood all afternoon. The air is heavy and unsettled. Not much rain has actually fallen, and the wind is intermittant. An unsettled night seems to be ahead.
I love to watch “weather” – the power fascinates me. By tomorrow I’ll be tired of it and ready to see it on it’s way. Fortunately, by Wednesday it should all be past us and the sun will be out.
We’ve been watching the weather channel a lot today. As this monster storm approaches landfall it’s rather like watching a train wreck in slow motion.
This morning as I was about to get up John had already turned on the weather channel. I knew something was up when I kept hearing “Camille….” That didn’t sound good. For us, the “good news” is that the course of the storm has moved west, and not right over us. That means we’re on the wet side though, so tomorrow and Tuesday look to be messy, windy and WET.
Back to the slow motion train wreck — Katrina is bigger than Camille. She covers the entire northern Gulf of Mexico. Jim Cantore is even sounding more nervous than excited. The weather channel reporters aren’t on the beach for this one — one is on the north side of Lake Ponchatrain, on inland up on I-65 north of Mobile, and Cantore is camped in a veteran’s retirement center 27ft above sea level in Gulfport MS. And I’m watching with what can most politely be described as a morbid fascination.
Storms do fascinate me. They also scare me. I read “Isaac’s Storm” and I was 16 when Camille hit. I sat through Opal as she roared inland, still with 70 mph winds as she roared over us sitting here nearly 200 miles inland. The five of us (JP and me and the kids) went to bed in the hall in the center of the house. I finally got up and got in my bed. We were so insulated in the hall that I couldn’t hear the storm and that made me more nervous than the sound of the wind. We had some branches come down, and a tree across the end of the street. Only 2 blocks away, friends sat in the dining room, praying the Our Father while trees crashed around them. When it was over, there were 9 trees down in their yard – one had nicked the garage roof, but the rest did no damage to the house. Other friends were without electricity for at least a week. Our freezer was full of other folks stuff.
But this time, I’m afraid New Orleans will have a really bad go of it. It’s really bad for those who were unable to leave, even if they wanted to go. Imagine, being an inner city resident with no way out. Or a tourist who couldn’t get a flight out. And the rest of the Gulf Coast has barely recovered from last year’s storms, or the ones earlier this season. It’s the price of living a paradise I guess. It’s so beautiful when it’s beautiful, and but so often the great storms exact a toll.
And so I’ll watch the train wreck, and hope not to be hit with the shrapnel. And hope that Marie and Kevin are ok in Tuscaloosa, and Mama and Stewart don’t have damage in Florence. And Bob and Roger are fine in Birmingham…. And just stand in awe of the power of storms.
This month is proving to be on for the road. JP, Marie and I spent a week in Paris starting Easter night – photos are here
(This is the rough draft – unedited, no captions, etc). I hit it lucky – the 2 and a half days I was free to go touristing with them the weather was simply beautiful.
It’s been interesting, this process of sending my pups away to new homes. I have one left, not yet spoken for.
Grazie (named after her mama Grace) has gone home with a new family. I should be so lucky as to have a family to love me like these folks love her. Wow! This one was easy, as I know she will be much loved and well cared for.
Actually, it seems that all of the puppies have gone to people that I feel good about. Now, that helps make the world a better place.
You can start the video by clicking on the arrow below the picture. If you don’t have Quicktime, it’s a free download
There are 7 of us – 2 salt and pepper males, 4 black males and a black female.
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