Catching Up!!

Saturday noon was our check out time!

I slept in and Summer took the van - who goes by the name of Percy - to get a shower and cleaned up for our return trip home.

We staggered into this nice Courtyard Marriott on Wednesday night like a couple of country bumpkins - forgetting so many things we had to make multiple trips back down the elevator, through the lobby and out to the van. We must have got our act together by the time we were leaving because we made a fairly graceful exit.

We had spied a Goodwill in the neighborhood as soon as we arrived so now was the time to hit that one up - while sipping my very first Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks!

Spur of the moment we decide to drive the short distance to Freeport to Captain Marks Seafood for some fresh shrimp to take home with us!

If we were going to get home before dark on Saturday night we needed to stay in the van!

Drove right smack dab through the heart of downtown Houston.

Reminded me of the all those months in 2012 when I drove this every day back and forth to the hospital - for the 52 days Amber was there and then the visits to the NICU.

The fact I could drive Houston boosted my self confidence to the point I thought I was Wonder Woman! Nothing can be as hard as driving in Houston traffic at rush hour!

Once we got on the other side of Houston heading into Huntsville where the Sam Houston Monument is.....we saw some scary looking clouds. I didn't like the looks of those 'fingers.' We drove through  a good bit of stormy weather until we came out on the other side.

Then it was smooth sailing all the way home.

Our ETA was 8:01 and we arrived a few minutes early.

Unloaded the important stuff and put up the perishables.

Summer had only a few hours sleep the night before and her battery was running low so she said goodnight and went to bed.

Instead of doing 'Damage Control' - of which there was plenty - I opted to pour us a glass of wine and sit in the den with Louis Dean and visit.

He had a love song ready to sing to me!

True love came late in my life and the newness of having someone totally in love with me will never wear off. I am one very blessed lady.

I slept so well!!!

While I had meant to get up and attend church in person.....I actually decided to watch it live online.

While I watched I had a pumpkin pecan dump cake baking in the oven......

It was a September Birthday Celebration at Brenda's that afternoon.....

Little did I know then that I forgot the cup and a half of sugar in the recipe!

It looked good and tasted good.....thanks to the dry yellow cake mix that was sprinkled over the top of the pumpkin filling. Thank goodness for that!

I can not tell you what a perfectly wonderful afternoon we had with Brenda and Billy and their family. To be included in a 'Family' birthday celebration is an honor.

The food was A-MAZE-ing!!!

I love this dear family. My friendship with Brenda goes back about 30 years.

You know one of the biggest blessings of that afternoon?

Spending time with their one and only granddaughter, Brianna.

She is an exceptional young lady.

16 years old and still the sweetest thing.

She paid Louis Dean and me as much attention as if we were family.

Gave us renewed hope for this coming generation.

Of course, Brenda and Billy are the best grandparents and I have learned so much from them.

In the collage you can see the beautiful porch covering they recently had done.

I hope to go over again during this fall season and do a 'tour.' 

Her home is as warm and cozy as you could wish for and I love my every visit there.

We came home all warm and happy!

Stopped at Aldi to pick up a few groceries and then went straight to bed for good Sunday evening naps.

This allowed us to stay up later!

I worked on the quilt for Jaxon.

Our visit to Big Spring is coming right up!

This morning (Labor Day Monday) was a liesurely affair.

I lingered long in the bedroom doing my prayer time and journaling.

I put off making up the bed because of this sweet thing.

Tabitha is a bit shy and skittish. Not at all like her sister, Samantha, who is a social butterfly.

I find it amazing that God gave critters different pesonalities just as he gave people!!

Louis Dean and I stayed home today.

He's been working in his music room and sorting, discarding and packing some things away so he has room in there to move around. I've been in there before when there was no place to sit and you can barely see the floor. He's doing a good job of it, too!

I finally went in the kitchen and started damage control. I know he iced those 5 pans of cinnamon rolls because I wiped up a stream of icing that ran down the front of the cabinet under the sink.

And all the counters were still coated with a film of flour and water.

It took awhile but it's fairly clean now.

And I had such pleasant thoughts while I was doing all this.

Absence does make the heart grow fonder.

It's the same with him.....he told me he thought, "Oh, boy!! Three days with no supervision!!"

But then he said he started missing me after the first one.

While I meant to get out to the den and finish cleaning and decorating it - it took me all day to do laundry, clean the kitchen and do all the regular housekeeping duties.....I cut up the $5 watermelon we bought in South Texas and it was overripe. I am hoping a possum will stroll by tonight and dine on it.

Keeping the 'clean' rooms clean is a lot of work but I don't want to lose ground.

Do I talk about cleaning too much?

For some reason, cleaning is important to me. 

Not that I am a fanatic about it. At least not any more.

However, I do not function well in disorder.

I used to clean non stop but I think I have found a healthy balance these last 15 years or so.

I finished Jaxon's quilt tonight!

This is washed and dried and ready to put in a box and wrap it up!

Piercyn and Jaxon are DONE!

Now I will start on Bella's!

All of Chandy's family are getting quilts for their birthdays this year!

Since it was Labor Day and a day of visiting and feasting......

I made Pepper Poppers.....

Loaded baked potatoes.....

Baked beans......

......and apples cooked in brown sugar and butter....

along with really good steaks Louis Dean had bought for my homehoming but we got around to broiling them tonight!

Summer made shrimp cocktails from the enormous shrimp we bought in Freeport.

We had a special guest tonight and one we have been wanting to visit with for a long long time.

This is Jimmy Albert....I have known him since he was a young boy andhave always loved him!

One of the best guys you could ever meet.

Always willing to give you a hand or help out in whatever way he can.

Salt of the earth.

We four had dinner together in the dining room.

It was good food and lots of conversation with plenty of laughs!

This was the first time for Jimmy and Louis Dean to meet and I think they hit it right off.

Now it is late but I wanted to catch up before too many days got away from me.

My friend, Rosey, sent me this!

I shall forever after spell debris this way!

De'Bris!!!

Classy, huh???

Hoping you all had a good day and I will see you in the morning!