Happy Birthday

Happy birthday to you

happy birthday to You

Happy Birthday Dear ARIE

HaPpY BiRtHdAy To YoU!

I hope you are sitting

Tuesday evening after work Buck mentioned that he would be driving to the Atlanta area on Thursday to tour a Caterpillar factory. Reed Mining has nine trucks with the engines they build there. Wednesday morning he asked me if I wanted to go with him. I jumped at the chance! We drove over to Griffin, Georgia on Wednesday afternoon and spent the night. We stayed at a Holiday Inn Express (usually a nice place) but ~ they put us in a smoking room after I had requested non smoking, the remote to the TV didn't work, and the faucet on the sink leaked. Neither of us wanted to move to another room (too much trouble) so we made the most of it and didn't let that stop us from enjoying our little road trip.

Of course Buck had some work to do.I drove part of the time but we hit

58 mpg while he was driving.

The sign at the entrance

The front of the building.

I guess building a Caterpillar engine can be liken to top secret espionage. There was a guard to buzz us in, we had to sign in and out, and wait for an escort through the building. We were not to take cell phones or cameras inside. Everyone had to wear a hard hat, safety goggles, a vest, and hard toed shoes. In my case, I didn't have those, they provided me with something called a "clacker" that is basically a hard toe that attaches to your shoe with rubber bands. Then we had headsets so we could hear our guide. We were joined by four men from Thompson Tractor.

They catered a nice lunch and we heard lots of interesting things about engines. (yawn)

It was a fun trip, I met some nice guys, and we had dinner at Olive Garden on the way home (where I ordered a tiramisu to go)

4 days until we pick Jennifer, Sarah, and Claire up at the airport!

Let me tell you

Let me tell you about my day. It's Monday. Yesterday Teresa and I decided we would get started early (6:30 a.m.) on the shrubbery at Mother's before it got too hot. I wake up at 5:30, was there by 6:15, and she was waiting. I managed to cut my extension cord with my hedge trimmer so I had to stop and fix that. She reached the end of her cord so she stopped trimming and started picking up. I attached my repaired cord to her cord and finished the shrubbery. I also cut some of the cane encroaching on the yard and applied a generous amount of weed killer to them. Teresa started shoveling dirt from around the ramp the Uncles Wayne built so that we could lay some cement. Think that may be a redo 'cause my concrete skills may not be up to spec.

After a run home, where I showered and pulled my hair up into a bun, I was off to Fultondale in search of a Chixos doll? Never heard of them? Me either until Sarah put them on her list for her birthday. I looked them up ~ they have them at Toys R Us and Target. When I got back to Jasper, I stopped at WalMart to pick up a few things (the boys are coming over tomorrow). As I walked in, the greeter offered me a map of the store. Why would I want a map?? By the time they print those things they've already moved stuff around again. I would rather work without a map ~ it's an adventure....will the tissues be on Aisle 5? Are the eggs in the back?

The day could have gone down the drain quickly but, everything worked out great. Mother's shrubbery is done, I found the Chixos, and I didn't get lost at WalMart!

Eight days until Jennifer and the girls arrive! Two weeks until Jakob and Topher go back to school. Kiss Kiss!

Almost skinny dippin'

It has been "rather hot" in Alabama the last few days. I've been working in the yard almost everyday on one project or another. Today I mowed a bit, burned some limbs, covered part of the ditch and got REALLY HOT AND SWEATY. Instead of going in the house and putting on my swimsuit ~ I just stripped down to my underwear (not much different from a two piece suit)and jumped in the pool. It was wonderful! I cooled off, dipped the pool, and was out without being seen by anyone but the dogs.
Now a warning for any of you that may have a small wading pool in your yard. A woman that works with Teresa went out the other day and her wading pool was filling with "foam". She thought someone was pulling a prank by putting bubbles in the pool.... NOT. A couple of days later she took a closer look ~ it was FULL of tadpoles! Her husband gave her 48 hours to get rid of them ~ she wanted to take them to a lake and set them free ~ he wanted to dump the pool and "set them free". My questions are: why didn't she dump it when it was full of foam? Who gets in that pool? Our dogs get in theirs but I dump it and refill because the water gets warm just sitting there.

10 days until Jennifer, Sarah, and Claire arrive!

One week ~ two weeks ~ three weeks!

One week ~ sounds like a doable length of time, doesn't it? I would like to go ONE WEEK without ice cream. Ice cream is the monkey on my back! I love the way it tastes I enjoy it as it melts ~ it can be plain or dressed up with toppings or mix-ins. Ice cream ~ OH yeah!

Does this look like the face of

someone on a bender?

Fear not ~ Topher spent the night last night

and we were up until 2:30 this morning

playing "Harry Potter and the Goblin of Fire"

(Topher's name for the game)

We finished it this morning

before I took him home.

Whew!

Two weeks ~ the time until Jennifer and the girls arrive. I tried making cupcakes with caramel in the center last week per Sarah's request for her birthday. The caramel sank to the bottom. Tomorrow I will try a different approach. I'll keep you posted on the result. Wouldn't cupcakes taste great with ICE CREAM??

Today I succumbed to the lure of new notebooks. I was casually walking past the school supply section when the notebooks called out to me. I HAD to get new pens also, of course. There is something special about a new notebook with all those empty pages just waiting for someone to fill it with their next great novel, their deepest thoughts, or as in my case ~ their grocery list. LOL

Three weeks ~ School is just around the corner! Kim will start back, the boys will start back, Sarah will start back. I should try to learn something new this year! I'll write that in my new notebook!

It was a beautiful day

A beautiful Alabama summer day.

Blue skies and puffy clouds, what a day! I was at WalMart around 6:30 this morning doing a little grocery shopping. It was a nice time to go . . . .no screaming children. . . .no cranky people complaining about the remodel going on.

Time to get some things done!

I was at Mother's by 8:15 this morning to pick up her grocery list and go back to WalMart. I know some of you are thinking "Why not just do both in one trip" To you I say "NOT GONNA HAPPEN" I like doing two trips that way I don't have to make sure I don't bring home her butter milk and she doesn't keep my Coffee Heath Bar Crunch Ice Cream.

Might as well wear the swimsuit?

Last week this was my friend.
While I dug this ditch for the drainage pipe.

The pipe was stretched across the yard for some time. Buck did the preliminary digging with the tiller and I did the secondary digging with a shovel. Still gotta cover it. . . but that's for another day, right?

Today the pool NEEDED to be vacuumed.
A job I do willingly and then I swim.
Got this birdbath at Mother's
the good Lord filled it for me yesterday.
Lisa's dog Riley (my dog Riley)

Riley lays under the deck while I'm in the pool. The dogs have their own pool, which he doesn't get in but I have seen him drink from it. The labs LOVE their pool.

Gotta have HOPE

that I will get the swing hung in the big tree out back BEFORE Jennifer and the girls come next month. Can't wait to see how well Sarah can swim and if Claire will be braver this summer.

The swing from Mother and

Daddy's front porch.
Made for Mamaw and Papaw Panter

I may be "all wet"

but I did most of the things

on my list today.

Teresa's Birthday

Yesterday was Teresa's birthday. . .won't say which one (she isn't 50 anymore). I met her for breakfast at Chik Fa Lay and almost before we were started, Kim, Jakob, and Topher walked in to join us. After breakfast I drove over to Mother's and parked my car, hopped in with Kim and the boys and we were off to Birmingham.
We got ALL of the listed school supplies for the boys. Kim bought some clothes for herself since they had been shopping for the boys earlier. We stopped at a Barnes and Noble where we had a "snack". I had a white chocolate mocha with a tiramisu parfait YUM!
Alas, today I go back to salad and water. Got to get on the tread mill and work that dessert OFF. I need to go to CVS, WalMart, and the bank. . . .see ya!

Summer time

Chloe lying down

Kaycee standing

Mac in the background

It's summertime in Alabama and the dogs are getting in on the swimming pool action. I finally found one the other day that they could lay down in. Chloe and Kaycee LOVE to get in, lay down, and sort of wallow in the cool water. Mac likes to get in and dip his nose into the water (he also tries to drink as much as possible). Riley and Stripe are not pictured because THEY don't get in the pool ~ they do drink from it, though.

Wow! Do you hear school bells???? Four weeks for the kiddos around here. Counting the days until Jennifer and girls arrive (21)

posting sans photos

Hello out there in cyberspace. I try to post with photos but haven't taken any good ones lately. The boys have been busy with baseball and the girls are not readily available. I didn't do a birthday list for this month so here it is:

1st Kim Wilson

2nd Raymond Steadman

4th Aimee Wells

15th Teresa Herzig

17th Teresa Culpepper

Loretta Robinson

Hannah

23rd Gene Culpepper

31st Arie Willenbrecht

Shaw Panter

Some have already past and some are yet to come so if you know these people wish them a Happy Birthday! Kim will go back to work on August 4th and the boys will return to school on the 9th. Whatever happened to the days when you start school AFTER Labor Day and get out BEFORE Memorial Day? Maybe the students of today have more to learn than we did?

Jennifer and the girls are coming for a visit in August. Sarah will celebrate her birthday while she is here and she wants chocolate cupcakes with purple frosting. . . .do they make purple frosting??

Lisa is working and looking for a different place to live. She has two roommates and they would like to move when their lease is up. I keep telling her she could move home but we all know THAT IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN, right?

I'm enjoying the pool almost every day. Yesterday I swam with Jakob. He didn't have swim trunks here so he just jumped in with his shorts on. When we got out I threw them in the dryer. We went to the movies and saw Despicable Me (it was a cute movie ~ I laughed) where we picked up Topher, who was there with friends.

Skoot's cousin, Doris, had a heart scare yesterday. When they got to Princeton they did an ateriogram and found she has some blockage but want to treat it with medication at this time. Keep her in your prayers.

While we are in prayer mode ~ remember our friend Oather Hicks. He is ninety and suffering from pneumonia (for almost three weeks) in addition to having heart problems and an aneurysm close to his kidneys.

A gentleman from Arizona ~ Ben Atchlely battling cancer. (friend of Jennifer and Arie)

And Uncle Wayne O'Rear who will start chemo on Monday for leukemia.

And life goes on

Jeris Crump's crew finished painting

Mother's house last week

Daddy would like it.

Das Boot?

"They" say bad things come in threes. We are almost done ~ Hurrah! Daddy has been gone for almost eight months. I visited him today. I told him Mother is okay and may be able to drive herself soon. Someone had removed the container his flowers were in (but left the flowers??) I noticed they were askew so I found some styrofoam and wedged it in to stabilize the bouquet. I also sang with Mamaw Panter ~ I could hear her alto joining me on "Sing and Be Happy"

But, back to the three. . . .

Daddy died and we were healing from that when Mother fell and broke her leg (in two places). That was ten weeks ago and she is still needing A LOT of attention. We are going to the doctor next week and HOPEFULLY he will tell her to leave the boot OFF. We settled into a routine around Mother when Teresa had her "encounter" with the bank. She is driving a Hyundai Sonata now and MAYBE the three is finished with us for a while. Ya' think?

Happy Birthday Kim!

Happy Birthday

Kim Marie Nibler Wilson

Sorry I don't have a photo

I am using the computer

at the library and can't upload one.

We love you, Worm!

Happy Happy Day!