On March 1, Joe returned home from his wonderful trip to Denver to meet Lane Thomas Blatter. It was good to have him back. We helped Mom celebrate her 93rd birthday in March, too. On the 20th, we went for a Moffitt gathering at the White house in Oak Ridge. It was the first time we had seen Christy & Eric's new house. It is very, very nice. We had a great visit with the ones who were able to be there that day and enjoyed some tasty things to eat. It was a beautiful spring day. At the end of March, I began making some changes here at the house. First project - the old "computer room" and back entry. I stripped the wallpaper off and, thankfully, it did what the manufactures claim: it came off without dynamite. So grateful. I painted the room and entry yellow to brighten it up. We sold the old roll top desk that was in there, brought the computer desk/cabinet back in, gave the desk that was in our bedroom to Brett to take to Knoxville, moved all the other office stuff in and voila -- we're a one desk family and have everything centralized in our new yellow office. I even got Joe's Roy Rogers poster hung (finally). Next, I reorganized the laundry room and pantry - and put a fresh coat of paint on the walls in there. Joe put some commercial carpet in the entry way, too. Helps clean shoes as people come in.
As the calendar rolled over to April, I was finishing up the above-mentioned projects. Next, I tackled the front door. I scraped and sanded flaking paint and repainted it. It looks so much better. It had really faded. Betsy and kids spent the night at Little House on the 1st. Joe and I went out and spent the afternoon with them that day. Julee came in on the 9th and she helped orchestrate a surprise birthday party for me at Rocky River. Boy, was I surprised! It was a great evening with great family and great food. Thanks so much to everyone who was a part of it. My seminary class surprised me with a little party on my actual birthday - complete with party hat. It was a fun way to turn another year older. I went with the Ellsworths to the Chattanooga Aquarium while they were here. We took William with us and Brett met us there for lunch. Ceseley, bless her heart, really warmed up to me --- the night before they left!!! Stinker! On the 21st, Joe and I went to Knoxville to help Blake shop for a house. We looked at several that day and the last one he looked at won his heart. The rest is history. We had a cookout for Bryce's b'day at Rocky River in April, too. Keeley, Lori, and I made him a meal fit for a king. It was a nice evening.
The month of May began with record-breaking flooding. The Nashville area was especially hard hit. The video footage and pictures from there were just unbelievable. As of today (Sept. 9) lots of work has been done and progress made, but there is still much to do. It was a mess in every sense of the word. Lori and Patrick had done a lot of house shopping in the M'boro area and finally made a decision to buy one. It's a great house on a beautiful lot with a terrific lawn, fabulous trees, and a nice neighborhood. It's also on a cul-de-sac which makes for very little traffic. My first project there was to paint Will's room a very dark blue. It looked really nice after two coats of paint. The off-white trim really sets it off. Mandy and her fam came in on the 8th and were here for about a week, and it was great having them around. They stayed at Little House and enjoyed the quiet life, I think. We all celebrated Mother's day together with Lori's fam at G'ma M's. Joe and I went to see his mom and take her some goodies later that day. It was good to have the Goodwill/Crawfords close by. The next segment deserves its own paragraph, so here goes:
On the 18th, Brett and I went to M'boro with Lori and the boys to help get their house ready for them to move into the end of that week. Everything was going according to plan, when suddenly, nothing we had planned to do mattered at all. To write about it this long after the fact, many of the details escape me. I know that Lori was working on a kitchen project and keeping up with two little boys. Brett was outside sanding cabinet doors. I was painting in the living room. Then, without warning, Lori spotted William lying lifeless on the floor. Lifeless. Even now, I feel tense in my chest, and my throat gets a lump in it when I think about it. Controlled panic took over at that point. Lori grabbed him up in an effort to get him to "wake up." I ran and told Brett to see if he could find any neighbors at home. By then, I had a 911 operator on my cell phone. Lori had followed me outside with Wm and I began giving her instructions via the lady who was calmly speaking in my ear. I think it's the most helpless and desperate I have ever felt in my whole life as a mother. I've had some real scares through the years with six children. My heart has skipped a beat more than once, that's for sure. But I've never been through anything in my life like this -- the mother watching the daughter trying to revive the son. There has never been a more blessed sound than the siren on the ambulance as it made its way to where we were. The paramedics immediately went to work on him and their diagnosis was that he had had a seizure. Lori left in the ambulance with Will as he was taken to MTMC. Somewhere in all that, somebody remembered that Jack was in the house. Thankfully, his guardian angels were on duty and when Brett went to get him, he was just fine. The next few days are a blur -- a nightmare sprinkled with tender mercies. Wm was moved to Vanderbilt later the night that it all began. Brett took things to Lori that she needed at MTMC before they left for Nashville, and then came back to help me tie up loose ends at the house and to help with Jack. We brought him home with us, and picked up a speeding ticket for an added bonus of the day. It was 9ish in Woodbury, so you can imagine what a safety threat we were at that time of night. Joe, Brett, and I went to Vanderbilt on Friday to see everyone and so that mommy and daddy could see Jack, and vice versa. Speaking of whom, he was soooooooo good through this whole ordeal. Following tons of tests, the diagnosis remained the same as what the paramedics thought -- a seizure. Only by this time, he had had more. So, with prescriptions in hand, and instructions galore, the Jones family left Vanderbilt with about as many questions as they had answers. They came here to stay with us because their stuff was on a truck somewhere waiting to be delivered to their new M'boro house. Patrick's parents had overseen all that. It was definitely one of those times in life when it not only rained, it poured. It was all so overwhelming. On one particularly hard day, we were surprised with a visit from someone bearing food -- all homemade and wonderfully delicious. Sherman and Agnes had prepared a wonderful meal for us and Sherman delivered it. I cried like a baby. There was just so much to do and deadlines to meet and a little family who had had the scare of a lifetime who were in many ways, homeless -- even though at that point -- they still had two houses and were staying with us! But it all worked out and we survived. And there is gratitude unmeasured that our little William is the picture of health and that the medication he takes continues to do what it is supposed to do.
A bright spot in all that was I got away long enough to attend Kyndal's pre-school graduation at the Learning House. Their program was so much fun and so very well done. Joe attended the Spencer Elementary K graduation for Chas the night before. Seems like everyone just keeps getting older . . .
And if that wasn't enough for the month of May, I also finished up my last year teaching seminary and completed my assignments for seminary graduation, went to K graduation at West Elementary to see Baylor, (another great program), celebrated Brett's b'day, and helped the Jones family get settled into their new M'boro house. And, before all the Will stuff happened, I went to a baby shower for Robbie and his wife at Sheila's, and Joe and I took food to the funeral home for the family whose son was killed in Afghanistan. I need a nap just writing about it all!
In June, we helped Blake and Brett move into Blake's house in Knoxville. Joe drove a U-Haul, Brett drove his car, and I drove our car. We took a lot of stuff from here, went by Christy & Eric's and got more stuff (Blake had been living with them for several months), and then Blake & Brett picked up more stuff from a furniture store. We cleaned, painted, did some remodeling, unpacked, worked, worked, worked. We went to church with the Whites the Sunday we were there and then spent the afternoon at their house. Being at the White house means great food and this time was no exception. It sure was nice to have some R&R!
Our next project was at Grandma M's house. Ricky Hitchcock put a new roof on for her and we were in and out while that was going on. Her hot water heater caught fire while he and his son were there one afternoon and they put it out and called us. Joe rode out with Sherman to take out the old unit and I picked up a new water heater at Lowe's and delivered it for them to install. We were sure glad that R and son were there to douse the fire and that the damage was contained to just the unit.
We also went to church with Lori's fam one Sunday in June. Once again, another great lunch was provided for us. She also made homemade coconut ice cream and it was yummy. Joe spoke at a combined M'boro units youth fireside that evening.
On the 18th, we headed west. First stop was at Holly's in Denver - next stop, Manti, Utah to meet up with Mandy's fam, next stop, Leah's in Idaho Falls, next stop, Dubois, WY, and then back to Holly's. It was a great trip and I took enough pictures that I will let them tell the story It's a wonderful thing to have so many people to love who love you right back! It was also nice to see the big, blue western sky and the gorgeous mountains again. It's easy to forget how magnificently striking they both are.
The big event in July was Camp Nonnanee. We had seven girls again this year, but for the first time, everyone who is old enough was not able to be with us. We sure missed Ally, Layla, and Olivia. Kyndal was the new kid on the block and she took to the experience like a duck to water. She was pretty sad when it was time for her to leave. She asked me if she could come back to Camp Nonnanee, and I told her of course she could. She wishfully asked, "Tomorrow?" I told her that it was over until next year, but we'd have another fun time at camp then. She didn't like that answer much, but she was glad that eventually we would do it again. Another change this year was Eric's first-ever-ManCamp for the boy cousins. They joined the Nonnanee girls one afternoon at RR and they all had so much fun together. Again, I took lots of pics and they pretty much tell the story.
Before camp, Blake had surgery on his shoulder. I did a lot of cooking/baking and Joe and I delivered several dishes to him and Brett the Sunday following his surgery. After camp, I started a BIG project in the master bedroom and bath. After trying to remove the wallpaper for several hours, not getting very far, and doing lots of drywall damage in the process, I gave Sherwin/Williams a call. My choices were to continue what I was doing and have to redo the drywall, or seal and prime the walls with the paper still on them. Guess what I did? There are places where you can see the seams and the border shows in the bath, but I can live with it. The other option was just not acceptable. When the wallpaper was hung in those rooms, somebody didn't size, or even prime the walls. That's right, they put wallpaper right on new drywall. What were they thinking??????? So, after spending the better part of a day trying to remove paper (which included renting an industrial steamer), repairing the drywall in that area, putting on two coats of sealer/primer and a coat of paint, it's done. And, the best part is that it looks so much better. A new ceiling fan and new blinds completed the makeover in the bedroom, and a new faucet, drawer handles, and cabinet knobs brightened up the bathroom.
We ended the month of July at a ward swim party at the Gilley pool. The Joneses came for that and then spent the night with us. Lori and the boys had spent the night with us a few times during the month while Patrick was on several different business trips. Anyway, it was the first time I had been inside the gates since the new pool was completed, which has been several years now. It is very, very nice. I used to take my kids pretty regularly to the old pool, and as much fun as they had at that one, it can't compare to this one.
The big story for August? The redecorating/remodeling continued. After the master suite, I tackled the kitchen. Lots of wallpaper to remove, but at least this time it was doable without having to redo drywall. It still took a while to get it all off, though. The paint I chose from Sherwin/Williams is called Java. When I got it done, I thought it looked like all the grands had gotten upset with me and thrown chocolate milk all over the kitchen walls. It also reminded me of chocolate pudding as I was applying it. I also developed an intense craving for a candy bar while I was doing it and for some time after! But, we like it very much. I had considered refinishing the cabinets and had just about talked myself (and Joe) into it. They are in really good shape, but there were places where they were really faded. I had talked to S/W folks and Lowe's folks to find out my options. Then, one day while I was at Wal-Mart, I noticed the Murphy Oil Soap that my mom has used a lot through the years, but I never have. I don't like how it smells. I thought I'd give it a try, though, just to see if it made a difference. It did! After I cleaned them, I applied lemon oil to them and could not believe the difference it made. It was a big job, for sure, but nowhere near the trouble that refinishing them would have been. Joe removed the rail at the top and replaced the handles and knobs to complete the transformation. I love a happy ending. Joe also took out that ugly light fixture over the table and replaced it with a ceiling fan, put up new blinds, and added a back splash behind the counter with the sink. Much better.
Next, was the dining room. The trey ceiling was a little daunting both for removing wallpaper and for painting. The paper in that room came off without damaging drywall, but was more difficult than the kitchen. It seemed like it took forever. There was a border around the top and bottom of the trey part and when I started trying to get it off, it was stuck tight. I didn't have to think long about that and decided to just seal and prime it. It's hardly noticeable at all. Good decision. I used a shade of blue called Meditative and we like it, too. Jim Wilson let me borrow a really nice ladder for the work on the trey part and boy, it made all the difference.
I still don't have everything put back where it belongs, but I'm getting close. I forgot to mention that somewhere in the sequence of things, I also repainted the living room, foyer, and stairway - same light shade of gray that has been on it since I painted it before we moved in. Oh, and somewhere else in the sequence of things, I cleaned and organized all the downstairs closets - and painted them all except the one in our bedroom. I am so glad I am almost finished. At some point, I'll repaint the other two bedrooms, too. But, not yet. We're also in the process of redoing the landscaping in front of the house. Our neighbor at RR, Karen Urtubee, stopped one day while we were cutting brush up by the road and asked us if we knew the old Chinese saying: Man who finish house, die. If that's true, we'll be around a while!
Joe and I took some time off once to go to the Dottie West Music Fest. We'd never been and that will probably be our last time. Not too impressed. It wasn't at all what we were expecting. We also went to the Beersheba Springs craft fair for the first time. We enjoyed that a lot. It's the ideal setting for such a thing and the view from the old hotel is really something. We had a fun day.
I know I'm forgetting things, like when we met Glenn at Grandma M's so that he could fix her ceiling in the front bedroom, the surprise visit from the Whites the evening before decoration day at Long, the fun afternoon at RR with Lori's fam and Bryce's fam the next afternoon, the day that Opal and Grandma Moffitt came for a visit and to pick out some lilies, the fun evening we had with Katie & Chas while their parents celebrated their anniversary, Joe's Aunt Dola and Uncle Lawrence both passed away, and how unbelievably hot it has been! I wonder what else I'll remember?
