Seven Years.

(Our last picture together. Ignore the wedding dress...I do!)

In loving memory of my sister Linda. There hasn't been a day in the past seven years that I haven't thought of you, and missed you like crazy.

I know Jordan misses her too. From the time he was a baby, she was his "Nina" (he couldn't say Linda when he was little, so he called her Nina, and then it sorta stuck as a description of who she was to him....as in "that's my Nina". And he was Gordo....(not really my favorite nickname for Jordan!) and I was "The Jewel".

I know I tell you guys all the time how much I miss her. I can tell you with total honesty that time doesn't heal anything, it just helps you accept your new normal without someone. I think of Linda every day, and I feel her with me all the time. There is a very big hole in our family where she should be, and our lives have never been the same without her. And I miss her like nobody's business.

So today, I hope she's in heaven with a box of her favorite red wine, a pack of Merit cigarettes, and some Carly Simon blaring on the radio, and knowing without a doubt how desperately we wish she were here.

You are loved, my dear. Today, tomorrow, and forever.

Love, Jewel and Gordo

Happy birthday to my youngest older sister!

The youngest of my three older sisters is having a birthday today.

(This is us last year at the American Idol tour)

Happy birthday, Patty!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love you very much and hope you have a great day!!!!!!!!!!

Maggie and Pappy birthdays....for the 29th year in a row.

So on this day, I usually post something like THIS to wish my Dad and my niece Maggie a happy birthday.

This year, Dad would have been 87 today, and Maggie is 29. Gasp! Twenty nine? How is that possible???

Maggie always had birthday cakes that said "Happy Birthday, Maggie and Pappy" and my Dad loved sharing his birthday with her.

Ah, those were the days. Dad loved all his grandchildren, but I think he and Maggie were especially close. He never enjoyed birthdays so much as he did after she was born on his.

The birthday girl had a dinner party last night and being the true princess that she is, she wore her crown:

If Daddy had been there, he'd have worn one right along with her.

Happy birthday, Dad. I love you and miss you every single day. Make Linda buy you a beer today.

And happy birthday, Maggie. I'm so proud of you, you are such a beautiful woman in every way....and I couldn't love you more if you were my daughter instead of my niece.

Party on, rock stars.

You're never too old to hold Mommy's hand....

Mom and I sat and talked yesterday during our visit, and she had reached out and grabbed my hand like this. We sat for the longest time, holding hands and I just listened while she talked about my Dad, and my sister Linda, and her sister....all those who are in heaven waiting on her.

I kept looking down at our hands, and thought about being a little girl and holding Mommy's hand.

I remembered being in the hospital when I was really young, maybe 5 or 6, and my mom sitting beside me on the hospital bed, my little hand in hers, and assuring me I would be fine, and she and Daddy weren't going anywhere.

I remembered being 13 years old and trying out for cheerleader and not making the team, and crying my eyes out, and Mom holding both my hands in hers and telling me that it was okay, I could try again next year.

I remembered her standing by my hospital bed the day I had Jordan, and as I held my son, my mom held his little hand and mine, and said how proud of me she was, and that she knew I would be a wonderful mother.

I remembered the day I woke my Mom up eight years ago to show her my engagement ring, and she held my hand tightly and said "I'm so happy for you. My prayers have been answered."

Holding her hand yesterday reminded me of so many wonderful things about my Mom. Things I will cherish for the rest of my life.

And this picture will always remind me how much love I've felt my entire life...holding Mommy's hand.

I'm too old for this.

I am beat.

I've been helping with two whole house installs since last Thursday, and believe me when I tell you, I'm too damn old to work 16 hour days.

Amazingly though, my back held out and I can still walk upright. Go figure.

Our Parade of Homes house is incredible. I'm so proud of my boss and the design work he did there. I will post pictures after it opens this weekend.

Mom is getting pretty quiet now, doesn't talk a whole lot, although she has "up" days but they seem to be winding down. A month or two ago she weighed 160 lbs, and she's down to 135. Pretty much all she does is sleep, gets up for meals and has a few bites and then goes right back down. She does try to get up for bingo once a week (she was commonly referred to as Bingo Betty as I was growing up thanks to her major gambling habit of 7 days a week bingo. So naturally that inclination will be the last thing to go!) but other than that, she's just in bed.

What's new with you?

Don't expect much and you won't be disappointed.

While that is my motto when it comes to Internet dating....it's also my advice when it comes to my blog right now.

I won't be around the blog world much for the next week. We have two major installations going on at work, and I'll probably be pulling 12 hour days for the next five to six days. In a related note, to my readers living in the Columbus area...if you are interested in volunteering to man our Parade of Homes house in New Albany, we'd love to have you! Even if it's just for a couple of hours, all you have to do is stand there and look pretty and welcome people who come in. Email me or leave me a comment here if you're interested. Here's a link to our house.

Oh yeah, and I'm getting this nasty ass cold that everybody else seems to have. Lovely.

By the way, as for the Mom Situation....

She is, I guess, stable right now. (As stable as a Reeg woman gets. Oh, snap!) She has good days and bad, she fluctuates between asking why God won't take her, refusing to eat, drink or take her meds, and then being perfectly fine and happy the next day. It's a roller coaster. She has very little urine output, so whether that's a sign of her kidneys failing or just dehydration, I don't know. (I'm guessing one leads to the other) She is on and off oxygen all day long. She doesn't have a lot of appetite when she does eat, maybe four or five bites in a "meal". But she is hanging in there. I don't know why or how, but it's not up to me to question it.

Anyway....be back next Wednesday. Let's just pray this cold doesn't hit me full force, or it's gonna be a looooooooooooooooooooooooooong five days.

What can I say?

Man, my blog sure has become a downer this past few weeks, hasn't it? Hell it depresses ME to write it, you guys must be ready to avoid me like the plague!

I just don't have much to say. I don't feel very funny these days.

Mom, for the most part, is about the same. She has good days and bad, ups and downs. Most of the time she doesn't want to get out of bed, and that's okay. We aren't going to make her get up if she doesn't want to.

I talked with her quite a bit on Monday about dying. She said she doesn't understand why she's still here....she's ready to go. She said "I know you'll be happy...." and I said "Mom! We won't be happy that you are gone!" and she said "No, I mean I know you'll be happy that I'm with Dad and Linda." Well yes, that will give us comfort. She's been missing them both for so long.

I told her that knowing that she's with them, and that she's "her" again, meaning she's up and walking and laughing and talking and with the people she loves and misses, and above all is healthy and happy....that will get me through the hard days. And that I know she'll be watching out for me, and for Jordan, and the rest of my family. I tried not to cry during that conversation, but it didn't work. Tears rolled down my face, and she just patted my hand and smiled and said "I'm ready to go", and I nodded through my tears and said "I know you are, Mom, and that's okay."

She just wants to go. And there is nothing I can do to help make that happen. I've asked God a hundred times to grant her wish, but He doesn't seem to be listening. And in a way it feels really crappy to be saying "Hey God, take my Mom, will ya?"

I don't want her to go, but I do. Does that make sense? Am I an awful daughter for feeling that way?  I know I'm not....I really do.  I know this is a normal feeling in a situation like this.  But it sure feels crappy.

Quick, somebody tell me something funny.  We need to lighten this place up.

No news is good news, I guess.

Nothing new to report on the Mom Situation today.

She is officially under hospice care as of today. We had a little bit of a hold up at the nursing home waiting on her doctor there to come in and "approve" it. Unfortunately he was in no hurry to do so until my sister went ballistic had a few words with the Director of Nursing today. They got right on it, and Dr. Fucktard miraculously decided he didn't need to take time out of his day to come and see her after all, he just approved it.

I know we all feel better knowing they will be taking care of her now. She's still eating a little bit (but requires a lot of encouragement from us and the staff to do so), and her only complaint is that she wants "that damn catheter" out. So we'll see what the hospice nurse says about that.

At this point we are just taking it day by day, nothing else we can do. I have a constant feeling in the pit of my stomach that won't go away (I think they call that dread), and every time the phone rings I take a deep breath before answering, knowing that at any time the call is going to come that she's taken that final turn for the worse.

I don't know, she may surprise us all. We had her down for the count last September and she rallied back and is still here nine months later. You never know with her, hell she might outlive us all.

I probably won't do much posting over the weekend, so I wish you all a very happy July 4th. Be safe out there.

Still hanging in there

This has been a tough week. Mom has been in the hospital a week today, and my sisters and I are there all day every day with her. We go in shifts but it's hard on all of us, trying to balance work and hospital time but we are doing it.

Mom had the kidney tube removed yesterday and a stent put it, and afterwards she told my sister "I'm done, no more". She just wants to go home (to the nursing home) to see her friends. I think she just wants to say goodbye, and that's okay.

She still has a little bit of an appetite so I think that means she's not quite ready to leave us yet. I'm told that's the first thing to go, when her body stops wanting or needing food. So I think we still have a couple of weeks with her. But who knows, these things are unpredictable aren't they?

Thank you all for your love, thoughts and prayers. My family appreciates it, and personally it means the world to me. I've made so many friends with this blog, and each of you has touched my life in a very special way, and for that I'll always be grateful.

I'll keep you posted as the roller coaster ride continues....


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It's harder now.

My mom is dying.

On Wednesday the doctors were unable to drain her kidney as they discovered that her blood platelets were extremely low, and her spleen was very much enlarged. She was also developing fluid on her lungs.

My family and I talked to the doctor frankly about what to do next, and came to the agreement that they would give her platelets and do the kidney draining procedure in an effort to rid her body of the toxins and see if it would jumpstart her kidneys again (now both are not working) and maybe even flush the 9mm stone out.

Nothing that is wrong with my Mom is reversible. She isn't going to get better. She has started failing quickly this past 48 hours. Anything we do at this point is now just prolonging her death....not extending her life.

The doctor suggested that we take her back to the nursing home and call hospice in, and let nature take it's course.

We have agreed.

To be honest, I don't think she'll leave the hospital. They intend to keep her through the weekend but I will be surprised if she makes it that long. She no longer want to eat, barely drinks, and is mostly sleeping.

We have all accepted that it's time to let go, and that it's just a matter of days or maybe a couple of weeks until her body shuts down....it's coming and it's coming quickly.

I sat there last night watching her sleep, and in my mind a movie was playing....little snippets of times spent with her. Things from when I was little, or a teenager, or even just the past couple of years. I smiled, and laughed, and cried.

Pray for her, please. That her body lets her spirit go to be with Daddy and Linda. I know they are waiting for her.

P.S.  The picture above was taken on Christmas 2008, when Jordan got his Mac Book and we were having fun with Photo Booth.  Mom was amazed that we could look at the computer and take a picture of her, me, and my sisters Sue Ellen and Patty all together.  I love this one.

The Mom and the Meet & Greet, etc.

Mom's surgery yesterday was an epic fail. Her kidney was totally obstructed and they could not get the scope or laser in to break up the boulder stone. Her kidney is full of urine that is "sweating" out into her body now, and so they have to go in and manually drain it today, and then in a few days try the procedure again.

It was really tough on her yesterday, clearly the anesthesia was difficult for her. She's having a very rough time, and it breaks my heart to see her either in pain, or just so agitated.

I just pray that this turns out however she wants it to, and what is best for her.

In other news....the Meet & Greet scheduled for Tuesday obviously didn't happen since I spent that entire night in the ER with Mom. He's going to be out of town for a couple of weeks so it's been postponed indefinitely. Which is fine....meeting a guy right now is the last thing on my mind.

One good thing I'd like to mention....I'm so very happy to announce that yesterday my buddy Jaded was blessed with a beautiful little girl. She and her husband have lost two daughters, and I'm just thrilled for them that their dreams have finally come true. Congrats to them all.

I think that's it for now. I'll be back with an update on Mom tomorrow.

The Mom Situation

As you probably read on Facebook yesterday, Mom is back in the hospital. This time she has two kidney stones, one which is 5mm that she passed yesterday and is now in her bladder, the other is 9mm which is huge. (Actually she has a bunch of little ones in her kidney as well) This big stone is sitting on top of her ureter trying to pass, and of course that's like trying to shove a quarter into a straw so it's not going to happen. But what it's doing is blocking the urine from leaving the kidney therefore making the kidney "sweat" urine which is now going into her body and will cause her to become septic and kill her. So they have to do something to try and break it up but her options are limited considering her age and overall health. Waiting on the urologist to see her and figure out what to do. She also has two spots on her lower lung lobes that are pneumonia.

I'm torn between wanting her to survive this and wanting her to let go. I know, we all know, this is just different signs of her body shutting down. All the things that keep going wrong are part of that. I just don't want her being in pain. We were at the hospital until 12:30 and back again at 7am, and I'm so tired right now, it's so emotionally draining to go through this.

Ugh. I need a drink or 12.

Keep her in your prayers, ok? For whatever the outcome….whatever is best for her. If she needs to let go, I’m okay with it. I just don’t want her to suffer. She has said numerous times this past few weeks, she's ready to go be with Dad and my sister. And if that's what she wants, I want it for her.

Thanks.....

The roller coaster has slowed down

The hospital sent Mom back to the nursing home last night. I snapped this picture because I didn't get one of us together on Mother's Day.

She's happy to be "home".

They said there is nothing more they can do for her. She has a "slow leak" in her bowel due to diverticulitis, and it cannot be fixed without surgery....but she is not a candidate for surgery due to her advanced age and health.

So I guess we just take this day by day, monitor her blood count and go from there.

I feel a little better with her being back at the nursing home only because she's with her friends, and the staff fawns all over her and everybody loves her, and I know how happy that makes her. I'd rather see her there than laying alone in a room in a hospital, because we cannot be there with her 24 hours a day.

Thank you all for your prayers and good thoughts this past few days. My family and I greatly appreciate all the wonderful healing energy you put out there in the Universe for us, and for our Mom. We know our time with her is limited, but once again she's proven herself to be a tough old bird, and she's not ready to go yet.

And that's perfectly okay with me.

No real change to report.

Just a quick check in to say, nothing new to report.

Mom is still in ICU although she's in a step-down unit now. She's still bleeding from somewhere but they cannot determine where. We give her blood and her levels go up, and then they go back down. On Friday, her kidneys had shut down and she was running a fever, but they are working better now and the fever is gone. Saturday was a good day, she appeared to be stable, no blood loss, levels were around 10 where they should be and we felt maybe we'd turned a corner and were headed in the right direction.

Sunday morning brought news that her blood level was 7.9, the lowest it's been. Seems we turned back around that corner and took a major leap in the wrong direction.

Last night after giving her 2 pints of blood she was back up to 11.1, but then this morning she was back down to 10. So clearly all we keep doing is topping off her tank and then she runs out of gas again.

It's been a roller coaster to say the least.

I don't know where we go from here. All I know is that the feeling of dread follows me everywhere. My stomach is one big knot. I actually had the start of an anxiety attack in the grocery store yesterday, and was doing Lamaze breathing in the frozen foods trying to calm myself down.

Oh, and I'm supposed to be leaving for Vegas on Sunday. Maybe. That of course, depends on what the situation is then.

The doctors anticipate sending her back to the nursing home as soon as her blood stabilizes, but will not do so until then. They say the nursing home can do the same blood tests they are doing and monitor the levels as well. I don't feel as confident about her being there as I do in the hospital, even though they've taken very good care of her so far....still, the hospital provides a dedicated nurse to her, where in the nursing home they are already short handed.

I don't know.

Part of me wants her to get better, the selfish part that isn't ready to let go of my Mom. Another part of me wants her to just let go, because she has little quality of life as it is. She sleeps 20 hours out of 24 a day, she's basically up for meals and that's it. It's become very difficult to take her out for holidays and things because she can barely stand, so getting her in and out of a car is very difficult.

I would not want to live that way. And I know that she doesn't either. Because it isn't "living". It's existing.

I want what is best for her. Stop this back and forth shit, let's figure out what's bleeding and IF it can be fixed with minor repair. If it can't then we know what our options are.

I. Just. Want. To. Know.

This limbo is killing me.

I guess I know where I'll be spending Mother's Day

My mom was rushed to the ER yesterday as she was hemmoraging. After 10 hours there, and another two waiting for her to get scoped, they've determined that she was bleeding inside her colon but not sure exactly where. The bleeding has stopped, which is why they can't pinpoint where it was coming from. They had to give her a blood transfusion, and she's in ICU right now. Now today, they are concerned that she's not putting out enough urine even though she's had plenty of IV hydration. That makes me wonder if her kidneys are shutting down?

We have to make some decisions as her family as to what course of treatment to take. She's 85 years old, and pretty frail, although in pretty good health physically, her heart and lungs are strong, etc. The surgeon tells us this bleeding will recur, and continue to recur, it's basically either a result of blood vessels in the colon bursting (from old age) or diverticulitis. The common fix is surgery, but at her advanced age she's really not a candidate for that. So the question becomes do we continue to transfuse blood into her when it happens, which is basically just prolonging the inevitable, or do we do nothing and let nature take it's course?

And how do you make that decision about your mother, or anyone you love for that matter?

Yesterday was a tough day. Today we are dividing up shifts at the hospital among my sisters and me. I'm going into work for the day (assuming nothing bad happens), and then my shift starts at 4pm. We're really just in a holding pattern, waiting to see if she starts to bleed again and then figuring out what to do from there.

So I'll be spending Mother's Day in the hospital with my Mom. It may be our last one together. I'm not counting her out yet, though....she's a tough little bird. She's had us convinced more than once that she was moving on and she rallied and stayed with us. I just want what is best for her, and I've turned her over to God and put her in His hands. After all, He knows far more than I do about what's best.

My wish for all of my readers who are mothers, is that you have a wonderful day on Sunday celebrating with your children. And if you are lucky enough to still have your mother here with you, please cherish every second you have with her.

Happy Mother's Day a little early, ladies.

I love you, Mom.

In Loving Memory

Linda Kay (Reeg) Greissinger

January 7, 1950 to February 18, 2004

If we could have a conversation today, it would go something like this:

Linda: Jewel, why are you so sad?

Me: Well, because you're in heaven, and not here. Duhhhhh.

Linda: Well if I were there, you know what I'd do to cheer you up...

Me: Oh hell no. You are NOT still doing that up there, are you?

Linda: Yes I am!

Me: (((groans loudly))))

Linda begins to sing...badly.   The sun will come out tomorrow, bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow, there'll be sun....

Me: No, stop! LOL  :::::holding my ears::::

Linda: (((at full volume)))  Tomorrow! Tomorrow! I love ya, tomorrow! You're always a day away!!!!!

Me:   Sweet Jesus, I thought you people up in heaven had angelic voices???  I see some things never change!

It's been six years today since you had to leave us, and yet sometimes it feels like just yesterday you sang that song to me every time I was having a bad day.  But then it feels like forever ago that I sang it as I eulogized you, because we were all having a really bad day.  And I knew you were watching, and laughing at my bad singing voice, and smiling because you couldn't believe I had to balls to even do it.

I could not possibly love or miss you more.

Love, your baby sister.

Sixty and Sensational

That is what my sister Linda would have been today.

Sixty....(she'd have not been happy that I was blogging her age!) and sensational, which she was all of her life.

She was so many things in addition to that. She loved life and everything about it.

She loved her family...

(Yes, that's me with really red hair!)

She loved our beach vacations...

(This is probably the ONLY time you will see me in a bathing suit!)

She loved her nieces and nephews, especially when us girls would do stupid things like put fake tattoos on our ankles during the aforementioned beach vacations.

(Although I did have a real one at this point...)

And she really loved Jordan. From the time he was a baby, she was his "Nina" (he couldn't say Linda when he was little, so he called her Nina, and then it sorta stuck as a description of who she was to him....as in "that's my Nina". And he was Gordo....(not really my favorite nickname for Jordan!) and I was "The Jewel".

I know I tell you guys all the time how much I miss her. I can tell you with total honesty that time doesn't heal anything, it just helps you accept your new normal without someone. I think of Linda every day, and I feel her with me all the time. There is a very big hole in our family where she should be, and our lives have never been the same without her. And I miss her like nobody's business.

So today, I hope she's in heaven with a glass box of her favorite red wine, a pack of Merit cigarettes, and some Carly Simon blaring on the radio, and celebrating her sixty wonderful years. Because while she may not have been here for all of it, she has never left our hearts.

Cheers, sis. And Happy Birthday. Sixty. Geesh.

Love, The Jewel and Gordo.

A Christmas Story I Want You To Know

I posted this last year, and will do so every year at Christmas. It's about my sister, and this is our 5th Christmas without her. So this is my way of remembering her, and introducing her to all of my new readers. You'd have loved her....she was the best.

I have a special Christmas story I want to share with you guys.

First, a little background...

This time six years ago, my sister Linda was in the hospital fighting for her life. She had a massive stroke on December 15th and needless to say, our holiday that year was spent basically living at the hospital. In fact, my Dad had a minor stroke three days after Linda's so for awhile we had them both in the same hospital, on different floors. Yes, it was awful.

Anyway, several years before this, Linda was out Christmas shopping, and she encountered what she deemed The Cutest Paper Towels Ever. They were Bounty's holiday ones that said "HO HO HO" on them. She, like any good Christmas decorating woman would do, grabbed herself a roll.

So she gets home, and excitedly starts telling her husband Jan how she found these darling "HO HO HO" paper towels, and proceeds to take them out of the bag to show him.

A puzzled look comes over her face as she showed them to him because lo and behold, the paper towels said...

OH OH OH

She looked at them, looked at her husband, looked back at them and said "I swear, in the store these said "HO HO HO" on them!".

She was completely mystified as to how she ended up with a roll that clearly had a misprint on them.

Meanwhile, Jan is looking at her like she's lost her mind. You have to understand, my sister was a teacher, and one of the smartest people I know. Her husband was a teacher as well, so here we have two brainiacs looking at each other...one completely baffled and the other thinking the baffled one has some serious blonde roots showing!

Linda says..."I'm driving right back over to that store and exchanging these for the ones that say "HO HO HO".

Finally, Jan quietly says....

"Linda....turn them over".

It was the funniest thing ever.

So of course that story got out, and from that day forward, everyone bought Linda Christmas things that had HO HO HO on them...and then would proceed to go around her house turning them all upside down. There was never an item in their home that didn't say OH OH OH by the time Christmas came.

Just days before her stroke, Jan had found a lighted HO HO HO to put outside on the front of their house. He was always big on decorating outside...lots of lights and stuff, so this was a perfect addition to his Christmas reportoire. He hung it up the right way, and Linda dared anyone to turn it upside down, including her husband.

So, there we were, in the hospital on Christmas Day, gathered around her bed, and she was finally awake for basically the first time in the ten days since she'd had her stroke. She was, of course, on a ventilator so she couldn't speak, but she could hear us, and understand what we were saying.

I stood there talking with her, and as a joke I said "Hey Lin, guess what? I was over at your house last night, and somebody turned the new HO HO HO that is outside on the house, upside down!"

Let me tell you something, that woman may not have been able to speak, but the dirty look she shot her husband at that moment spoke volumes. We all laughed for the first time in ten days.

We lost her on February 18, 2004, two months after she suffered that devastating stroke. She had just finally gotten off the vent and was able to talk to us, and the next day something happened that we don't know what it was, whether it was another stroke or a clot from where the vent had been dislodged and travelled to her brain, but suddenly she was gone. We were, and still are, devastated.

I have some of her HO HO HO things at home, and every year I try to carry on her tradition and buy something new to add to her collection. And every year, my son walks around my house and turns them all upside down. And we smile, and laugh, and remember the look on Linda's face when she would tell the paper towel story, and laugh at herself for her "blonde moment".

So this one's for you, sis. I love and miss you every day, all year...but at Christmas I miss your beautiful smile and laugh the most.

Odds and Ends aka Family Life

How can it be December 1st???? What happened to fall? It's suddenly 35 degrees again and getting colder by the day. Ugh. NOT ready for this. I miss my flip flops.

I got the Christmas tree up this weekend. It's not like it's a three hour ordeal to do. More like a three minute event.

A couple of years ago I gave up the big tree thing and now have a cute little four foot tree that sits in my bay window for the holidays. January 1st I throw a bag over the top of it, and put it in the garage, and after Thanksgiving, I bring it in the house, take the bag off, and put it in the window! Voila....Xmas decorating done.

It works out really well for us, my living room isn't that big and there really isn't anyplace to put a normal sized tree without moving furniture out, etc. And since Santa doesn't stop by our house anymore now that my son is grown, there is no need for room on the floor for toys under the tree. So our tree is in the window, and the lights look pretty from outside so the neighbors get to enjoy it as well.

Here's a picture, it's not easy to see it but it's really pretty, I swear. And look, I even have presents wrapped and under it already!!!

In other news, we were able to bring Mom home for Thanksgiving. It was really nice to have her there. She's been doing really well recently, they took her off of a medicine that she was on, and it's made a big difference in her. Her memory is better, she's more alert, and she's not sleeping nearly as much.

Here are some pictures from Thanksgiving....

This is me, my sister Patty, my Mom and my sister Sue Ellen (for the record, I'm in some serious pain in this pictures. I hurt my back bad trying to help get Mom into the car about an hour before these were taken, and it hurt so much that my son would literally have to grab my hands and pull me up from where I was sitting in these pictures because I could not stand up on my own!):

Me and Mom:

Mom giving her favorite daughter a kiss:

Mom and her grandchildren:

This one made me laugh, this is my sister Patty's three children....Molly, who is an attorney in Virginia; Josh who is in Ohio State's Veterinary School, and Maggie who works for AFI, and their pets. The two German Shepherds are Thelma and Louise, and they belong to Josh, and the black dog is Scarlett, Maggie's dog. We jokingly call them all Patty's granddogs.

And last but not least, this is a picture I scanned of Jordan tonight, when he was about four years old. Look at that face...it's always been one of my favorite pictures.

I think that's it. I'll stop boring you with family photos now!