House Construction Cont.

We've had more work done on the house lately. So I thought that I'd post

some more pictures. It looks like they'll start up again after the first of the

year. Hopefully it will move quickly. And David can start moving his big

equipment into the new garage. Someone was asking me if I thought I'd

be able to get my car into the garage after all this was finished...

I'm going to happy if no car parts end up in the sun room when were all

done.

Places I've had car parts end up: the oven, the dishwasher, the living room

the kitchen table, front room, the bedroom, the closet, the front porch, the

driveway(in front of the garage), of course in the garage, the yard, the back

porch, the attic, hanging over a doorway, hanging in a tree and all over the kitchen counter tops.

House Construction Up-Date

We had the workmen at the house last Wednesday to start framing the

garage addition and sun room. I thought that I'd post a photo of the

progress. Yesterday David and I ordered the six windows for the sun-

room and looked at the skylights. The glass doors are waiting in our storage unit, ready to install. The workmen should be back on Tuesday to start with the roof trusses.

Things Kids Go Through...

Today Ben and I made a visit to the orthodontist.
It was one that I'd been dreading for many months now.
Last spring we went to the hospital during the Spring Break to have
his tonsils and adenoids removed. Today was scheduled for the removal of seven impacted teeth.
Years from now, when he smiles with a perfect set of beautiful
teeth, we'll say that this is all worth it.
I'm just glad that part is over with. I felt like he needed me in
there with him. But it's still so hard to be calm and watch him
go through all that. The most horrible part was our last visit
when they made the mold of the top teeth. He could only breathe
through his nose, which he's not used to. Panic struck and I
almost lost it when he started changing colors, and the nurse was
trying to get him to breathe. It was quite traumatic.
Now he's sleeping, after eating two big containers of mashed potatoes and gravy from KFC.

Empty Swings

It's always a little sad this time of year.
The flowers are all dead and the leaves have left most
of the trees. The swings out in the front yard are
empty now, and will be until spring. Now the only time
you see them moving is when the wind is really blowing
hard and they bump the tree. The little girls nextdoor
often come over and play on them. I love to hear their
voices, the laughter and the talk...
Ben and I put them up. And then we spent some time
swinging on them. The yard slopes down at a pretty
good angle so that you feel higher than you really are
in the swing, the kids love it.

Molly's 17th Birthday Nov. 28,2007

It's official,Molly turned 17 yesterday. Actually it's more like
a formality, because it feels like she's 18 anyway. I guess it won't hit me until she's 20.
She and I had gone out shopping during the Thanksgiving break for
her gift- shoes and a dress. Eric got her a camo jacket and a
bent fish hook for her camo hat(she's a red-neck/hunt'n girl).
And tomorrow we're planning a family dinner at Greenbriers(Catfish
and Onion rings).She loves stretching her birthday out for an
entire week. Frankly, I don't know how she does it every single
year, it's quite irritating.

Leftover Turkey

Ever wonder what to do with all that leftover turkey?
We'll I had some lurking in the back of the fridge, so I pulled it
out last night and stripped all the meat off the bones. I put the
shredded meat in mexican enchiladas for dinner. Upon presenting
dinner on the table, Ben just sat there looking at it, like it was
something from an alien planet. Molly informed us that "she had
already eaten at a friend's house." And David cut his assigned
portion in half. The smell of the turkey recooking had already made me sick. So I just kind of picked at mine.
Of course David was nice about it. He gave the speech about being
grateful for what we have, and "eat it because your mom took the
time to fix it" deal. In the end I had more leftovers than originally. So the rest went in the trash. So much for turkey
leftovers. I think I'll do a ham for Christmas.

The Whole Gang...

Thought that I'd add the rest of the family for everyone to see. There's Carmel. He's been with us for 13 years. He's a stray. A friend of ours found him hiding under their house. He's too scared to go outside now. Joie is the female. We've had her about 8 years. A friend of Molly's was looking for a home for her. So we took her in. Had her declawed 2 years ago, so she is also an indoor cat. Rootbeer is a male that Ross rescued from a car that they were getting ready to crush in the crusher at his work just last year. Someone left him in the trunk. He was so happy to be saved, and joined us for Thanksgiving dinner-

that we kept him. He shared Davids' rootbeer that day, hence the name.

Thanksgiving '07

Thanksgiving has come and gone for another year. All the leftovers are neatly plastic wrapped in the fridge. Yet another successful celebration is a wonderful memory. All

of our regular favorites were there: ham & turkey breast, homemade dressing & gravy, sweet potatoes with brown sugar & pecans, coke salad( yes, that's coke a cola), green beans, deviled eggs, rolls, and brocoli & rice casserole.

The guests included all the Godfreys, plus Eric, Amberlee, Sam, Shannon & Sky.

The part I like the most is getting together to visit. Southerners are some of the best story tellers around. I love to hear one with a smooth lilt in their voice tell a good yarn.

Trim The Ol' Tree

Well, it's that time of year again when people around here get out the tinsel and the ornaments and pick out their favorite tree... by the roadside. That's right. There's a

certain road up over a mountain pass connecting our part of town with the rest of Huntsville. Every year for the past several, people pick out trees along this road to decorate. There are lots of pines but even maple and birch trees are singled out for special treatment. My favorite last year was someone hung dvds on a tree. The dvds

sparkled in the sunlight, it was great. Only once have I seen a tree that was totally distastefull- an underwear tree.

Last year we waited too long to pick our tree, and all the good ones where taken. So we had to end up hiking up the side of the hill... So this year we started early. And we were

by no means the first.

Tag You Too...

I've played "capture the flag" before, but it's been a long time since I've been "tagged it."

I'm not sure I know how this works, but here goes:

1) I'm pretty much a spontaneous, fly by the seat of your pants kind of gal. I love surprises. And usually wait until the very last possible moment to plan much of

anything.

2) One thing Popeye and I have in common is that we both like spinach. Wish I was as

buff as Popeye though...

3) I eat wayyyy too much breakfast cereal. My favorites are the super sugary, really crunchy, non-nutritious ones like Capt. Crunch.

4) I am most happy when I'm out in the garden getting dirty. I absolutely love all kinds of flowers and grasses. Wish I'd wear some kind of regular gardening clothes though. I'm all the time getting my good clothes and shoes dirty and grass stained. I've ruined more than one pair of good shoes. Guess that goes along with the being spontaneous thingy. Some friends have even laughed to see me out cutting the lawn with dangly earings on.

5) I hate to cook. I wait until 5:30- 6:00 p.m. before figuring out what to cook for dinner

on a nightly basis. What I'd like most for Christmas: A cook.

6) My favorite time of the day is just as I jump into bed at night! It's the time when David and I just lay there talking and holding each other. And the cats climb up (on my side of the bed) and purrrrr.

Canadian Connection...

More fun from Las Vegas...Here is our "Canadian Connection". It took a

group of friends from Canada to show us how fun Vegas could be.

Go figure?

I'd do it again in a heart-beat. But only if our group could reunite. I don't

think Las Vegas would ever be the same alone.

Las Vegas/St. George Vacation 2007

Just recently David and I took a vacation to Las Vegas for the SEMA show and then a side trip to St. George . As far as locations go- talk about your polar opposites. We had a great time though!!!!

But most of what made the trip so great was seeing dear family and friends. Spending time with them was priceless. In Vegas we got to hang out with Sean and Tracy, our Canadian friends. We felt like honorary Canadians after just having been introduced to the rest of the group from Canada. Some really wonderful people live up North.

We even got to meet our niece, Abigail for the first time. And David latched on to Lil Dave from the very start. We also couldn't get over how grown up James is!

Mark met us in Vegas and spent Friday prowling around with me and two other girlfriends.

Then we drove to St. George.

Chris and Laura looked like hotties, as usual. This was the first time we'd seen Chris since she dieted down several dress sizes.

In St.George we got to see Kelton and Kelly and we all went to dinner. At the restaurant we got to meet half the residents of St. George because the Prisbreys know just about everybody in the area code.

Garage Buddies

Here is one of the reasons why we need more garage space. David often has what he likes to call "garage buddies". A lot of the times his buddy is Rootbeer, the cat. Other times he has full grown, adult garage buddies. Can you tell who the buddy was in this

picture? Occationally, it's even me. Most often though, the red car and a whole lot of metal parts are his buddies.

Still ...it does get crowded in there.

Everyone Like Ketchup?

I feel like I need to play catch-up after so many years as an "internet moron". So here are some old photos to go along with the new. Prom '07 with Molly and Eric, along with Molly's best friend, Beth and her ex. Beth flew up from Florida for the special occation and spent the weekend with Molly. These photos are pretty much all we saw of Molly until it was all over.

The 3 Prowlers...

While we were visiting in St. George recently the 3 of us had a fun day of "prowling around." Just for the record, usually only women "prowl." Men don't prowl, they "hunt."

In pursuit of something to buy, men usually "hunt" out the item. After having bagged their prey, they swiftly move to the check-out and then aquire the nearest exit. Most men have their prey firmly set in their minds before heading out on the hunt. This ensures that the least amount of time will be spent in it's pursuit, leaving valuable time for other important endeavors- like watching football games, etc. Or, if the man happens to be hunting for his significant other, he more than likely will bring a list.

Homecoming Oct. 2007

Here is Molly & Eric with 2 other couples on their way to Homecoming.

They stopped off at our house to pin corsages and take pictures. Next it was over to another friends' house for a 4-course meal by candlelight before heading off to the dance. Doesn't look like anybody is having any fun huh...

New Construction 2007

Lately we've started on the adventure of increasing our garage space. David says you can never have too much garage space. Things started in ernest in October. We plan to have a "wall and roof party" during the Thanksgiving Holiday. The addition of a sunroom/ familyroom will begin next spring.

NEVER A DULL MOMENT

This is all quite new to me, blogs and stuff. But after I saw my sister's blog and it was so dang cool, I had to try it. Naming it wasn't difficult at all. When David and I committed marriage some 23 years ago, he made me a few promises. 1) To love me without reservation-forever, and 2) Never a dull moment. Over the years through thick and thin, up and down he's kept those promises. It's been quite a ride.

So at the beginning of this new adventure, I"ll make my own promise: To try and have never a dull moment.

Mostly I am looking forward to sharing the excitement of your lives in a new dimension- the Internet.