8/8 Happy birthday to Jane

Of course Joe has blogged Jane's birthday, but I wanted to acknowledge it too. She's born in 54 and is 54 today. Also today is 8/8/08--what a special day.

Can't wait for all of us to spend time together tomorrow. Love you sis.

8/3 Fun and more fun

Gus, Charlie, and I swam with Jan, Kris, Brian, and Rocky today. It was relaxing and wonderful.

My brother Joe blogged a bunch of pictures from my birthday and they cracked me up. The pictures were taken by my great-nephew Blake. He's five years old. (I think I got his age right.)

8/2 Yes, Joe, it IS all about me

Today turned out better than I could have even hoped. Jan picked me up for Mass and afterward we went to Gem City for dinner. There were sixteen family members there and I couldn't stop smiling. Thanks, Jan, for buying my dinner. And also for the fresh vegetables from your garden.

And thanks to Kris and Jan for making my cake. OMIGOD it was so tasty. I would have loved to have more but John ate it all.

Kris and Brian gave me a lovely bouquet of flowers in such a cute vase. Hard to describe, but they were ceramic frog boots. If you want to see the vase, stop by anytime.

Cindy and Joe gave me a frog votive candle holder and a cute vegetarian cookbook.

Jordan, my godson, gave me a new swimming suit. How did you ever guess my size, Jordan? :)

And Blake and Ty made me beautiful birthday cards---Blake drew a picture of Gus on his.

Everything was just perfect. My children called me, and Rob/Beata sent a package that hasn't arrived yet, so I still have someting to look forward to.

After dinner nearly everyone came over to my house to visit for a while. We drank beer and played with the puppies. Then we watched Wipeout and I Survived a Japanese Game Show--two of my new favorite silly shows.

Matt and Joe put my new license plates on, which I really appreciate.

Sorry if there were gifts I forgot to mention. I'll have to look through things in the morning to make sure.

Thanks to everyone for making my 61st birthday memorable. Hope some of you can join us at Jan's tomorrow for swimming. Love you all.

8/2 Another year

Can't believe I'm 61. I'm officially as old as dirt. But it feels good.

Thanks to all the family members who called and wrote. I'm very lucky to be in such a family. I'm looking forward to seeing many of you at dinner. Love, Jer

Editing to say thanks to Cindy for surprising me and my refrigerator with tomatoes, corn, and potato salad. It will be perfect tomorrow. Love you.

8/1 Nothing much

Called Jane a little while ago. They were in Rockford, driving back to Quincy. I'm sure they'll be happy to be home.

Lots to do this weekend. I have to prepare for the class I'm going to teach in a few weeks. Plus tomorrow I have to celebrate. Ha.

Editing at 9:30 PM to say that Pete just called and they'll be home in a little while. Everyone is doing well and they had lots of fun.

7/18 Act quickly

Family, I'm falling in love with Snickers. You better act quickly if you want him. It won't take long for him to be totally mine.


Bozie loves both dogs and plays rough with them. But when she's tired of it, she climbs the gate and goes to the living room.



A drug rep took some nurse practitioners and nurses to Maya last night. I was invited to join them because some other nurses couldn't make it. It was the day after Jan's birthday, but Jane had arranged for her to get the birthday treatment anyway. Omigod this was fun. She seemed to enjoy it too. And to top it off, the fried ice cream was delicious.

7/16 Happy birthday, Jan and other stuff

Hope you have a great birthday dinner tonight with Kris and Tim. Thanks to you and Jane for a delightful taxi service today.

The epidural went well. Other than two brief times when I experienced bad pain (he was trying to find the right place to inject the meds), the procedure was painless.

Right now, the paim is gone/minimal in the upper areas of my spine, but still hurts from my lower back down to my knees. I expect this to be gone in a day or two. The power of positive thinking. :)

Gus and Bozie were happy to see me. There's a chance I'm going to get Gus's brother as well. Will keep you informed.

7/13 Life is good

We had a wonderful surprise birthday party for my sister Jan last night. Everyone showed up (but my brother and sister in law from near Chicago). She had inklings that something was going on, but truly was surprised.

The food was delicious and the presents were great. However the highlight of the evening were the fire balloons. Many people don't even know what they are, but we grew up with no money and lots of kids, so fire balloons were a fun and inexpensive thing to do on summer evenings--with adult supervision of course (snicker snicker).

It was a delightful evening. Gus and I both were tired at the end of it. Happy birthday (on the 16th), Jan. Hope your real birthday brings you as many smiles as the surprise one.

6/26 Belated birthday and pets

A belated happy birthday to dear Hunter, my favorite grandson. Wish I had some pictures here at work to post. He is six and just as sweet and cute as can be. Hunter, I can't wait to see you in October. I'll call you again. Sorry I missed you.

More pet pictures.

Here's Grandma Bozie--



Here are the puppy and kitten drinking out of the same water bowl and also Gussie cleaning Bozie's ears. They are so cute together. But this morning Bozie got tired of Gus bugging her, so she jumped the gate and went into the "forbidden zone"--the living room. Smart cat.

5/3 Happy birthday yesterday!

My beautiful granddaughter, Kayla, turned 8 yesterday. I can't believe how grown up she is. Here are some pictures through the years. I'll try to find one from our recent beach experience. I love you so much, Kayla. Happy birthday!

4/1 It's April

What a great day. I was so busy at work that the day just flew by. Then I went to Alpha Dog to pick up the dogs and have their first private lesson. Elizabeth thought Cookie would be easy and Quincy difficult but it was just the opposite.

I was so proud of Quincy. She only needed one big correction and that was it. And I was correcting Cookie practically the whole time. She finally got it though and did well too. I'll have to get the right kind of collar and keep practicing with them.

Then I stopped by for Tim's Uncle Bill's birthday party. I think he's 82. Jan made a great salad and they ordered pizza. I was late, but Bill said he was really surprised. A nice ending to my long day.

2/16 Happy birthday, Quincy!

Yep, Quincy is one year old today. Can't believe how time has flown. I'll post pictures of her once I get back home.

Later I'll try to post about our wonderful trip here in Florida. Can't even begin to describe the GORGEOUS home we're staying in--right on the beach.

By the way, go to http://www.wlox.com and go to "More News and Videos" or something like that. Then click on Krystal Allen reports on Donald Powell's visit to South Mississippi. It's not too long, and I'm interviewed. Tried putting the link here but can't do it.

12/8 It's those days....

Yesterday was my brother John's birthday. Today is my brother Joe's birthday. Tomorrow is my brother Jay's birthday, and my son-in-law Todd's birthday, and my ex-husband's birthday.

Here's a general HAPPY BIRTHDAY to all!!!

Genia came over tonight and helped me wrap presents. Sorry, guys, they weren't birthday presents.

Time's passing so quickly....

(Oh, it was 80 today, and will be in the 60s overnight. Not too shabby.)

11/14 Rob's birthday

How can my sweet little boy be so old? He's 36 today. Seems impossible.

I have so many happy memories with Rob. Some not so happy--but those fade a lot faster, which is fine with me. He's made me laugh for 36 years, and I hope he makes me laugh for 36 more.

Happy birthday, honey. I know it's going to be wonderful since your sister arrived today. It was good talking to you, Beata, and Jill this morning. Wish I could be with you all, but I know you'll have so much fun.

Looking forward to seeing you at Thanksgiving, no matter where we end up. :) Love to you all, Mom

Editing to say: For more on Rob's birthday, and a few pictures, go to my brother Joe's blog.

9/22 The storm didn't come--yet

We're very grateful that the tropical depression did not turn into a tropical storm. I still have the 10 AM conference call--I guess there might be something else brewing for next week. I'll find out.

Here are some pictures from young Paisley's birthday party last week.















I tried to post some pictures from the dumpster diving episode yesterday but they were sent bitmap for some reason and I can't change them to jpg or gif, so they won't post. I'll try to figure out something else.

9/14 A fun party

Paisly's 13th birthday party was so much fun. There were no other kids there, but she didn't care. She had a ball and was very surprised. After a great meal, topped off with cake and ice cream, she opened presents and then we played games. Everything went well, we all had a good time.

UNTIL Lorena went home. She lives in the same apartment complex as Genia (where the party was held). So on her way home she said she'd throw Genia's trash in the dumpster. A few moments later she knocked on the door, walked in, and she was deathly pale. She said, "You guys will never believe what happened. I threw the trash in the dumpster and my cell phone went with it."

We were all shocked, but giggled. And Genia, after imbibing a few glasses of wine, yelled, "Let's go dumpster diving." Luckily there were cameras, and people brought them outside. Lots of really funny pictures were taken. Can't wait to see them. Most of them are Genia's butt with her legs being held by Lorena and Paisly. We all laughed so hard we were crying.

Tomorrow morning I'm picking up Genia and then we'll get Quincy and Cookie and take them to the beach for a little while. The dogs will LOVE it!

8/1 Almost time

Almost time to go out to dinner with my friend Bill from Milwaukee

Almost time to finish packing for my trip

Almost time to wake up (3:30 AM) to drive to Jackson for a meeting

Almost time for Quincy to go to a kennel in Jackson

Almost time for my vacation with my grandkids

Almost time for me to turn 60

7/29 It's been great

Last night Gerri, Genia, Caroline, and I went to the Beau Rivage and Hard Rock Casinos. We had such a good time. Afterward we went to the Elks to a dance. Angie joined us there. I'd said I wanted to gamble and also dance with a stranger for my birthday. I did both--although Genia got the stranger to dance with me. :)

And today we all went to the beach. First of all, Gerri and I are both burned, but it's okay. When Caroline got there she brought a shade canopy that she just bought. We took it all apart and got out the directions to erect it. It turned into a big laugh. Finally several young men came over to help us. They are Navy Seabees (engineers) and putting things together is what they do. :) They did a great job of helping us, and were so friendly and kind.

Genia and I rented a jet ski for 40 minutes, and so we each got to ride for 20 minutes. It was freakin' amazing. I absolutely loved it. The Seabees said we were the coolest old ladies they'd ever met.

Gerri and I picked up a pizza on the way home. We finished up the salad fixin's at my house and had pizza. It was excellent. We're getting up at 4:30. So I'm in my room to type this, and to relax a bit. Will try to go to sleep around 9 or so. Ger will leave for Atlanta around 5 AM.

The visit has been superb. Hope she can come again. I'm sure going to visit her too.

7/27/ What fun

I worked from home this morning, and Gerri arrived around noon. It was absolutely wonderful to see her. And even though it's been 31 years since we've seen each other, it's been just like yesterday. She's still cute, funny, and klutzy, just like in college. What a joy!

We took a tour of some of the beautiful areas and some disaster areas. We went by our volunteer camps and also by my office. I introduced Gerri to everyone there. And was incredibly proud of the staff in the office. We're incredibly lucky to have them.

We took Q to the kennel, so I don't have to worry about her this weekend. I miss her already, but it's the smart thing to do.

Tonight we cut up tons of different vegetables and made a salad bar. Friends came over, we had beer and wine, ate the salad bar, and then played games--Catchphrase and Texas Poker. It's not Texas Hold'em but rather a game played with one card and one dollar. It's quite fun.

People just left.

Tomorrow Gerri and I are going traveling to Pass Christian and Bay St. Louis. Then tomorrow night we're going to a casino with Genia, Caroline, and Angie. It's for my birthday. I still have $200 from when we gambled before. So I said I'm giving each of my friends a $20 bill to gamble with.

It's my birthday party and I'll do what I want. Should be fun.

7/26 My surprise

Beata called me tonight. Said she had a birthday surprise for me and was going to send it next week. I said that I was leaving Thursday for a meeting in Jackson and from there it was off to Quincy. I also said she could ship whatever it was to my office because someone would always be there. She said she didn't think that would work.

The surprise was my son Rob. I can't believe it. He was going to come visit me for my birthday and I'm going to be gone. That really makes me mad.

I want it all...my vacation and my son. Is that too much to ask?

7/16 Happy birthday, Jan

Today is my sister Jan's 59th birthday. I've always loved her birthday because for about two weeks we are the same age. I was born 8/2/47 and she was born 7/16/48. Yup, we're Catholic. I think the term is "Irish twins." Although we're German, the shoe fits. Happy birthday, sis. Hope your day is special, and the kids and I will see you soon.

Re: the interview--it went well. I drove 40 minutes round trip for a five minute interview. And ultimately was on TV for a few seconds. But that's all right with me. The exposure is good for the work we do. There will be a longer interview tomorrow, but someone else will do it. It's all about Camp Noah, which really isn't my area of expertise, so it only makes sense for someone else to be interviewed.

All in all, it was a good experience. I taped it and will add it to our "Family TV Stars" tape. :)

6/25 Hunter's birthday

My grandson, Hunter, is five today. He is adorable, sweet, and funny as all get out. He has the biggest smile in the western hemisphere. I miss him (and his sister, Kayla) so very much. Unfortunately, I don't have enough vacation time yet to go out for a visit. But I'll be with them for a whole week in October, and I'm hanging on to that.

My brother, Joe, posted some cute pictures of Hunter. Since I'm on my work computer at the moment I don't have access to the pictures on my computer. Maybe later I'll come back and post some.

The little guy is so cute, and now rides his motorcycle by himself. It took a while before he could steer on his own, but he can sure do it now. Amazing to see this little dude ride a motorcycle. I'm so proud of him, and not just for this reason. His attitude is so crazy and upbeat most of the time. That appeals to me so much. I love you, Hunter.

5/29 My baby

My baby, Jill, is 33 years old today. It seems like just yesterday that she came into my life and changed it forever. When I called her this morning I got teary-eyed, just thinking of the beautiful bundle of joy she's been all these years.

Wish I had more time to write. But, Jill, I love you so much and am so grateful to be your mom. Happy birthday, sweetie.

3/1 Happy birhtday, Beata!

You are such a gift to us. I'm so grateful that you married Rob (and I know he is too). Have a wonderful, wonderful day. (I'll let Uncle Joe write more on his blog.) I love you. Mom