sunday email survey...

One word, and only one word, so here goes...

(unbelievable!!!:)


Me: grateful
Your partner: sincere
Your hair: curly
Your Mother: workaholic
Your Father: gambler
Your Favorite Item: weddingband:)
Your dream last night: forgot
Your Favorite Drink: zin
Your Dream Car: owned
Your Dream Home: mine
The Room You Are In: bedroom
Your Ex: intelligent
Your fear: loss
Where you Want to be in Ten Years? healthy
Who you hung out with last night: john:)
What You're Not: selfish
Muffins: blueberry:b
One of Your Wish List Items: health
Time: marches
The Last Thing You Did: coffee
What You Are Wearing: pj's
Your favorite weather: cool
Your Favorite Book: Bible
Last thing you ate: cookie
Your Life: content
Your mood: happy
Your Best Friends: funny
What are you thinking about right now: friends:)
Your car: commander
What are you doing at the moment: blogging
Your summer: poolside
Relationship status: married
What is on your tv: nothing
What is the weather like: cold
When is the last time you laughed: yesterday

love and blessings,
dani xx

lights, camera...

we had the best time last night!!!
i had taken a long winters nap yesterday afternoon;
and when i awoke, i decided to ask katherine, hannah,
and their "peasants" (jacob and barrett;)
if they would like for me to take them to evansville
to "ritzy's fantasy of lights".

(it is a drive-through display featuring 60 lighted holiday scenes (many of which are animated). ritzy's (a 50's style burger joint) raises money for the local easter seals rehabilitation center.)

yea!!! they did want to go!!!

(peace on earth)

i hadn't been since 'the notorious d' and co.
moved to florida 5 years ago.
our families always piled into our van (aglow with Christmas lights),
dined at dileggi's( a favorite italian restaurant of ours),
then drove through the fantasy of lights.

(nessie on the lake for amanda:)

it was fun with the kids:)
katherine was the only one of the four who had
ever been to the fantasy.



when we completed the lighted tour,
i called and ordered pizzas,
returned to henderson,
picked up the pizzas and drinks,
and headed home with a jeep full of
happy, hungry kids.

it was a great night:D

love and blessings,
dani xx

"thankfully" the dilemma was solved for me:)

you may recall the thanksgiving dilemma i was having just a short week ago. well, it turned out to be no dilemma at all:D

thankfully, on wednesday night, my brother (oj) called to say that his boss had been roasting turkeys all day for his employees. thus, oj told me to make room in the refrigerator for a turkey and...

dressing!!!

what a nice surprise, huh???

so, i made mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, fried apples and corn, yeast rolls, and baked beans (chico's favorite;). i bought a pecan pie and a pumpkin pie. a delicious, afternoon, thanksgiving meal was served at 2 sharp here on the lane. as it turned out, i was extremely grateful not to have to leave the house at all. no crowds!!! yessssss!!! i do not like crowds.

yesterday was a really good day...
good company,
good food,
good weather,
and interesting entertainment:b

after eating, my brother and i watched the alvin and the chipmunks movie that came out last Christmas. it was pretty cute:)

and, while we were watching the movie...

katherine and chico built and decorated a gingerbread house i had bought for them.
they were so proud of their sweet decorating skills that they brought their gingerbread boy and girl in to show us.

(the gingerbread boy???)

(itsy bitsy, teensy weensy, yellow ploka dot bikini???)


however, while they were away from the house they'd just erected and decorated, Maisey (our BIG black cat) decided to check out their handy work. when she did, the whole house collapsed!!!

(the culprit, maisey;)

bahahahahahaaaaa!!!

such is life on the lane:P

how was your day???

love and blessings,
dani xx

a most perfect example...

when i think of the first thanksgiving, i think of a moment in time in which a group of settlers felt so blessed to have made it through the first winter in a new world and to have been able to successfully sow their own crops and hunt, that they just wanted to celebrate, rejoice, and give thanks to God for blessing them with the fruits of their labors!!!

these men, women, and children made it through the proverbial "storm".

(not all made it. probably more didn't than did... so,to say that times were tough would have been an understatement. for those who did survive, it had to have been such a joyful, thankful, blessed occasion.)

thank God!!! it still happens, my friends!!!

people make it through their "storms" everyday:)

i'm one of them, aren't you???

the following is a most perfect example
of the true meaning of thanksgiving...
see if you agree:)



HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

much love and God's blessings,
dani xx

wordless wednesday...

maple nut glazed sweet potato cake donuts

or...

turkey???

which would you prefer???

love and blessings,
dani xx

a tuesday tag...

i've been tagged by j at mozi esme for this fabulous five meme!
tweaked a bit;)

Five Photos from my Fifth File:


"the lane" in spring...

Favorite Foods:
1.) donuts
2.) empress chicken
3.) lasagna
4.) teriyaki chicken
5.) pizza

Favorite Colors:
1.) pink
2.) green
3.) red
4.) purple
5.) blue

Favorite Sports Teams:
1.) kentucky wildcats
2.) university of navada las vegas
3.) st. louis cardinals
4.) st. louis rams
5.) atlanta braves

Favorite Treats:
1.) donuts
2.) pumpkin pie blizzard
3.) oreos and milk
4.) reese's peanut butter cups
5.) snickers bar

Favorite Desserts:
1.) donuts
2.) dutch apple pie
3.) peach cobbler
4.) blackberry cobbler
5.) pecan pie

Favorite Ways To Pass Time:
1.) blogging
2.) watching old movies
3.) shopping online
4.) painting
5.) snuggling

Favorite Physical Activities:
1.) walking maggie
2.) wii tennis
3.) wii fitness
4.) vacuuming
5.) ummm... heavy petting??? (lol, don't you love that it come after vacuuming???)

Favorite Music Groups:
1.) u2
2.) eagles
3.) beatles
4.) coldplay
5.) ratpack

Favorite Fruits & Veggies:
1.) donuts
2.) bananas
3.) granny smith apples
4.) peaches
5.) seedless watermelon

Five Obsessions:
1.) donuts
2.) john
3.) katherine
4.) maggie
5.) cleanliness

Five Joys:
1.) katherine
2.) maggie
3.) blogging
4.) travelling
5.) donuts

Five Fears:
i only have really one... loss

Five Surprising Facts:
1.) i shower, shampoo, and shave at least 2 times a day.
2.) i live in a pre-civil war house that part of was slave quarters, and, for those who haven't read my early posts, it is also the house in which i was raised. john purchased it for me for our 1st anniversary
3.) i gained 74 lbs. when i was pregnant with katherine (DONUTS;)
i lost it very quickly, though:D
4.) i am a ralph lauren (polo) addict... a preppy through and through.
5.) i am a gourmet cook.


Join the fun if you'd like!!!

love and blessings,
dani xx

mosses monday XI...

one of mrs. moss' favorite things to talk about was her childhood. it must have been wonderful and full of love. little lucy had only a younger sister, nellie; they dearly loved one another... so much so i doubt they ever even bickered. the girls were the daughters of lucy and irvin lauenstein. both girls were born in niagara in rural henderson county.

mrs. moss would smile (crinkling her little nose) when reflecting on their horse and buggy rides to niagara methodist church on sunday mornings when they were little girls. they were devout methodist girls; lucy's and nellie's paternal grandfather lauenstein was a german-american methodist minister. mrs. moss treasured the notes (many written in german) and many of his books her family had kept preserved.
~@~ 

she would get tickled telling of how her mother read the classics to nellie and at bedtime. mrs. moss said she never failed to fall asleep long before nellie.  nellie would then beg their mother to continue reading. then, at the breakfast table the following morning, nellie would excitedly tell lucy the parts of the story she'd missed. the lauenstein girls were close.

as a matter of fact, during the depression, mrs. moss went away to kentucky wesleyan college to get her degree in teaching. at that time it was only a two year course. afterwards, she returned to henderson, obtained a position with the school system teaching math, and helped to pay for nellie's education. she, too, received a teaching degree from wesleyan.  nellie's passion, however, was literature.

the lauenstein girls were lovely... the two even shared the same wedding dress, which their mother hand-made for them. in 1937, nellie wore the gown first when she wed rufus brown. only a month later, lucy wore it when she wed george moss.

the lauenstein girls grew to be two beloved and respected women...
and closer, if possible, to one another.
maybe, that is why late in their lives when nellie became ill...
mrs. moss did, too.

~@~ 

(to be continued...)


love and blessings,
dani xx

ps you will find earlier entries in ascending order on my side bar entitled, "our love story":)

32 nights...

twas the 22nd of november,
and i was a blogger with a mission...
to capture "the rest of (yesterday's) story"
i was a wishin'!!!

i drove by said house
travelling north and later south.
then snapped a couple more photos
to give my posts clout;)

want to play i spy???

(click photos to enlarge)

i spy a cowboy (on bended knee),
3 Christmas packages (one's in a tree),
candy canes to the tune of 10,
and 2 green-sweater-wearing
plastic snowmen.

there is a wagon wheel,
5 Christmas wreaths,
4 deflated inflatables;
what more to you see???



though, in this photo...
it's hard to see the front door.
from this angle you can see...
oh, so, so much more!!!

i spy with my own two eyes
9 little birds perched on a line.
i see 6 more wrapped packages;
two are up high.

i see santa, a cross,
and two, white reindeer,
eight hanging balls,
there's more have no fear:

another wagon wheel,
a charlie brown tree,
a tiny white star...
oh my, oh me!!!

now, when they say, "third time's a charm",
let me say they are not funnin'.
on my third trip last night,
all was lit up and runnin'.




i rolled up my window
after videoing the sight.
i said,

"merry Christmas to all!!!"
(in 32 nights:P)

love and blessings,
dani xx

lookin' a lot like Christmas, already;)

(click to enlarge;)

i was taking the "scenic route" bringing katherine home from school on thursday and happened on to this house. in the photo above it looks like it is REALLY decorated; right??? well, let me just say,
"baby, you ain't seen nothin' yet!!!"

i didn't have my camera nor my phone with me on thursday; so, i went back yesterday morning to take a photo. i was so bummed because all the blow-up decorations (there are many, and they are BIG) were deflated. i went ahead and snapped a "before" picture, anyway, and left hoping that i would be able to get an "after shot" after school.

well, no such luck was to be had yesterday.
i will try again, today:)

stay tuned...

for... the rest of the story!!!

you are going to be sooooooooooooooo impressed:P

bahahahahahahahaaaa!!!!

love and blessings,
dani xx

cold and a little snowy...

(my babies;)

yesterday afternoon henderson experienced a little of the white stuff...
unfortunately, none stuck to the ground:(
i told you i am a kid at heart!!!

has it snowed yet in your little corner of the world???

love and blessings,
dani xx

thursday thanksgiving dilemma...

last night, katherine's cell phone rang while she was in the shower. i answered; it was chico (katherine's boyfriend)...

"well," he said, "i'm going to be all alone on thanksgiving..."
"you are; why???" i asked.
"they just told me i have to work. so, my parents will be going to memphis without me," he replied.
"you can come here," i invited. "katherine, oj, and i are going to watch CHristmas movies all day and get thanksgiving buffet to go."
"what about john???" he asked. (now, chico already knew the answer to this particular question because we'd just discussed it this past weekend.)
"john is going to his aunt opal's for thanksgiving," i said.

after a moment of silence...

chico asked, "is aunt opal fixing a real thanksgiving dinner???"
i laughed to myself and answered, "yes."
"well, i think i'd rather go with john," chico replied very seriously.

i thought i was going to crack up!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

here's the dilemma:

unfortunately, the thanksgiving holiday for us has always been more pain than pleasure. i hated even typing that, but it's true. i have never been able to go with john for thanksgiving lunch at his aunt opal's because i have had to stay home and cook for my mother's side family's thanksgiving supper. not only that, but i have never been able to go to my dad's side family's thanksgiving, either, for the same reason.

so, last year i surrendered!!!

john went to his aunt's, my parents couldn't make it into town, my aunt and uncle had dinner at their house, katherine and i watched Christmas movies while eating take out thanksgiving buffet, there were no hurt feelings, and everyone seemed to be happy (with the exception of my brother, who was supposed to join katherine and me but had the flu).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

so, should i send chico with john, or should i fix a bird and the works (even though john is going to come home full, katherine doesn't like the traditional thanksgiving dinner, and i am on weight watchers)???

what would you do???

love and blessings,
dani xx

the rest of the story...

i had a couple of questions concerning "10 things i'd like to say to 10 different people" from yesterday's post.
so, here are a couple of answers.

suz wanted to know if i'd been tagged.
answer: no, hannah over at fifteen going on seventy had the survey in full on her blog. (i'm going to finish it today;)

shannon asked if there were someone to whom i'd like to say something negative.
answer: no, if someone makes me angry enough for me to feel the need to say something negative, i say it. those who really know me, know that it takes a LOT to get me to that point. further, the things that make me most angry rarely even directly effect me. i get most angry when i see someone or a group (children, elderly, etc...) being mistreated.


now, for the rest of the survey:)


nine things about yourself:

9) i'm cold… as in brrr.
8) i’m sarcastic.
7) i'm an old woman with the heart of a kid.
6) it takes a lot to anger me.
5) i am the most laid back “functioning person” you will probably ever meet.
4) i have too much time on my hands.
3) i have watched soap operas since I was a toddler.
2) i am very over protective.
1) i love being at home when I’m not on vacation.

eight ways to win my heart:

8) love GOD (not just the idea of God).
7) be sweet.
6) be sincere.
5) be funny
4) be serious
3) laugh with me
2) respect me.
1) love me.

seven things that cross your mind a lot:

7) God is so good to me.
6) love for family and friends.
5) missing those i’ve lost.
4) what am i going to be when i grow up???
3) i am getting to be such a creature of habit.
2) maggie’s so sweet.
1) i love my life.

six things you do before you fall asleep:

6) brush my teeth
5) read and comment on blogs.
4) tell kat good-night and I love you
3) make sure all the doors are locked/turn off lights
2) turn on ceiling fan.
1) cuddle with maggie and john. (i pray off and on all day;)

five people who mean a lot at the moment:

john and katherine.

four things you see right now:

4) laptop
3) electric blanket
2) mia sucking up the heat from my laptop
and...
1) maggie, of course:b

three songs that you listen to often:

3) have yourself a merry little CHristmas
2) silver bells
1) the holly and the ivy
(they are the first three songs on my blogger play list;)

two things you want to do before you die:

2) share God with anyone who wants Him in his/her life.
1 )have a 5th generation portrait made with me being the oldest of a happy, healthy family;)

one confession:

1) i spend way too much time obsessing over my weight. however, the bathing suit in the photoflick from yesterday... the one i'd love to ask for in a small??? i have it in a large; and let me just say, it ain't pretty!!! rotflmao!!!

love and blessings,
dani xx

10 things tuesday...

10 things i would like to say to 10 different people...

10. do you have this in a size small???
9. can i get that passport over-nighted???
8. your new car is in the driveway, be careful, and enjoy it!!!
7. sure, dear, i'd love to join you for 10 days in puerto aventuras; let me pack my bags.
6. you are having thanksgiving dinner at your house, and all we need to do is be there at 5???
5. here is enough money for you to pay off your home and get back on your feet.
4. you are welcome, a basket of groceries is the least we could do.
3. we have come into a fortune???
2. i cannot believe they've found a cure for my auto-immune disease:)
1. thank YOU for blessing us so that we can bless others.

love and blessings,
dani xx

mosses monday X...

it is so hard when you love someone to admit to yourself your loved one is anything but perfect.

i suppose this is why i assured everyone at my baby shower mrs. moss must have had something really important come up at the last minute causing her to be late rather than admitting her memory was failing her.

she was the only one missing from the guest list. thus, her absence was noticeable. further, several were wondering aloud if something were wrong.

"of course not," i assured them (i was really assuring myself)." 

mrs. moss had had her gift delivered. she had sent me the most adorable appliqued diaper bag for my baby katherine, who was due to arrive in just four, short weeks.   there was a gift card attached,  "love, lucy".

 i still have both...


though mrs. moss still wasn't there, i went ahead and opened the gifts and thanked everyone for the lovely things they'd given to me. carrot cake and coffee were served... my heart felt very heavy, and i was really starting to worry.

mrs. moss, being an extremely well-mannered, southern woman, wouldn't have not responded to say she was going to be unable to attend unless something really were wrong. i knew that.

she never arrived.

when it was time to leave, i thanked everyone again, my mom helped me load my gifts into my car, and i drove straight to the moss' home.

from the outside, all seemed very normal. i was so relieved. you will never know how relieved i was to see both cars in the drive, light coming from the windows, and smoke coming from the chimney! 

i headed home with a much lighter heart.

after returning home, it wasn't long before our phone rang... (the mosses called us every night at 6 just to see how our day went, share their day, and tell us that they loved us. thank goodness; nothing was different with this conversation!)

"oh, mrs. moss, i love the diaper bag you sent to my shower. it is the cutest thing ever," i said. "thank you so much!"

mrs. moss sat there for a moment. then i heard her say to mr. moss that she knew there was something she was supposed to have done that afternoon. she apologized for forgetting. i assured her it was okay, that i just wanted to thank her for her thoughtfulness and adorable gift. 
(it really was okay;  and i really did  just.want.to.thank.her.).

little did i know her missing my baby shower would be the first of many episodes of forgetfulness we would experience together due to the onset of...
alzheimer's.

(to be continued...)

love and blessings,
dani xx

ps you will find earlier entries in ascending order on my side bar entitled, "our love story":)

just call me "ingrid"...

i took the quiz,
"Are You a Jackie or a Marilyn? Or Someone Else?"
after reading christina's post over at
adventures of maverick and mrs.
btw, she's "the mrs." and her husband, patrick???
he was "the maverick" long before sarah palin was, lol;)

anyway, i have known christina since she was a little girl,
and her results were very accurate
so, i thought i'd give the quiz a whirl.

why not??? there are only 2 questions.

well...

i found that i am neither a jackie nor a marilyn...

no, i...

i am an ingrid.

(ingrid bergman)

You are an Ingrid -- "I am unique"
Ingrids have sensitive feelings and are warm and perceptive.
How to Get Along with Me
* Nice words, they mean a lot to me.
* Be a supportive friend or partner. Help me to learn to love and value myself.
* Respect me for my special gifts of intuition and vision.
* Though I don't always want to be cheered up when I'm feeling melancholy, I sometimes like to have someone lighten me up a little.
* Don't tell me I'm too sensitive or that I'm overreacting!
What I Like About Being an Ingrid
* my ability to find meaning in life and to experience feeling at a deep level
* my ability to establish warm connections with people
* admiring what is noble, truthful, and beautiful in life
* my creativity, intuition, and sense of humor
* being unique and being seen as unique by others
* having aesthetic sensibilities
* being able to easily pick up the feelings of people around me
What's Hard About Being an Ingrid
* experiencing dark moods of emptiness and despair
* feeling guilty when I disappoint people
* feeling hurt or attacked when someone misunderstands me
* expecting too much from myself and life
* fearing being abandoned
* obsessing over resentments
* longing for what I don't have
Ingrids as Children Often
* have active imaginations: play creatively alone or organize playmates in original games
* are very sensitive
* feel that they don't fit in
* believe they are missing something that other people have
* attach themselves to idealized teachers, heroes, artists, etc.
* become anti authoritarian or rebellious when criticized or not understood
* feel lonely or abandoned (perhaps as a result of a death or their parents' divorce)
Ingrids as Parents
* help their children become who they really are
* support their children's creativity and originality
* are good at helping their children get in touch with their feelings
* are sometimes overly critical or overly protective
* are usually very good with children if not too self-absorbed

wow!!! the quiz was pretty darn accurate!!!


are you an ingrid, too???

if you'd like to take the quiz,
click HERE.

let me know your results:)

love and blessings,
dani xx

i followed the directions...

i have been playing around with my background and template for the past couple of weeks... i've only tweaked it a little here and there so as not to lose all my widgets (those cute little gadgets (including ALL the blogs i follow) i've added along the way on my sidebar).

well, yesterday, i got a little too brave for my own good!!! i was "tweaking" away at my background when all of the sudden, i happened to notice all my widgets were gone with the exception of my "about me" and my blog archive...

admittedly, i said a curse word!!!

but, don't worry; it was not "the mother of all curse words"... for i knew that i had followed the directions and backed up all my template/widget information. i was relieved to know that all my problems would be solved. all i had to do was restore the information; right???

WRONG!!!

relief quickly faded to despair... blogger wouldn't let me save the restored template and widgets. i kept getting a message that said my info was in the wrong form... something about "closures". i almost cried... really. (probably because i have been pms'ed and have been just a little stressed this week over my linda;)

anyway, i just left it for a while.

we went out to dinner with my parents, brother, aunt and uncle, and some friends.

and, when we returned home, i, feeling like a new woman, tore down my whole site and revamped!!!

all of this to say...

please, check my blog roll to make sure you are there.
if you are not, kindly leave me a comment and let me know:)

love and blessings,
dani xx

sleeping beauty...

has awakened!!!

(gary and linda)

i hadn't posted an update because linda (see previous post) decided to take a little extra time to awaken... the transplant team expected her to wake up from her surgery on tuesday night (the night of her surgery).
however, linda didn't decide to do so until...

THIS MORNING!!!

to say that we were starting to get a little worried about her would be an understatement. however, the worry turned to relief when her son called this morning to say that her venthilator had been taken out and she had been sitting up in a chair early this morning (thursday)...

ALERT!!!

thank you all for your kind words, thoughts, and prayers:)

love and God's blessings,
dani xx

a new heart...

about five years ago my phone rang in the wee hours of the morning... that is never a good thing. and, it wasn't. my sister-in-law's niece, kelly, was calling to let us know that that linda (sil) had had a massive heart attack and was in intensive care. it was very iffy as to whether or not she would survive.

i packed our bags, and katherine and i travelled to go be there for linda.

linda had gone to a charlie daniels' benefit concert for the families of police officers who'd been killed in a high-speed chase. she had started feeling sick, had gone to the restroom to splash cool water onto her face, and was sitting on a table in the hallway.
when she had the heart attack, she went face first onto the concrete floor. thank goodness she was at a public event... as there were paramedics and police on hand. the paramedics had to shock her heart 3 times before they could get it beating again.
she was rushed to st. thomas hospital in nashville.
her heart situation was negatively compounded by the head injury she'd sustained when she fell from the table; hence, the doctors were unable to give her blood thinners.
linda's prognosis was grave...

thankfully, linda did pull through. she surprised all her doctors!!!
her cardiologist told her that the type of attack she'd had was called "sudden death" in the medical world. further, had there not been medics right there when she suffered the attack, she would have surely died.

though she was a trooper and pulled through the heart attack, things have not been easy for linda. because her heart was greatly compromised, as time passed, its inefficiency began to affect the rest of her health (breathing, energy, etc...) to the point that in august her cardiologist had to put her on a donor list for a heart transplant.

well, yesterday morning at 8:30 am her phone rang. it was st. thomas hospital. she was told to get to the hospital asap as her new heart was en route!!!

she promptly arrived and was prepped for surgery. the heart arrived mid-day. after a four hour surgery, linda had a new, healthy heart pumping in her chest. she was doing well last night.

THANK GOD!!!

however, stories like this are always so bittersweet... the heart linda received had been donated by the family of a 14 year old girl. so, as we are jubilating over linda's blessing, a family somewhere is mourning the loss of their beautiful daughter... for them, i ask for prayers. i just hope they find peace and comfort in the knowledge that their little girl didn't die in vain.

those of us who love our linda are so grateful!!!
there are just no words...

love and God's blessings,
dani xx

mosses monday IX

(may 1990)
i met john in the summer of 1988.

i was hired for the summer to complete the first leg of my internship for my engineering degree and assigned to the same department in which he'd been working for 15 years. yes, john was 19 years older than i. however, i fell madly in love with the first time we talked:) as a matter of fact, i told him i was going to marry him during that same conversation, too!

not only was john 19 years my senior, he had been married and had divorced 12 years prior to my having met him...

mr. and mrs. moss knew i was dating someone i'd met while working, and they knew he was much older. i told them as much. but, they never seemed to judge the situation.

they always treated john the same as they treated me... like he was part of their family.
they grew to love the man i loved,
and he grew to love them, too.

when we were married, they were there seated in the church pew with my grandparents. she was wearing the same pink, tailored suede suit she'd worn the day i met her; he was wearing a matching pink suede sports coat, gray tie and trousers. both were donning the corsage and boutonniere (respectively) i had had delivered to them earlier in the day.

i remember, as john and i were saying our vowels, i caught a glimpse of them out of the corner of my eye... i hoped john and i would one day be the happily married couple they had become over their 53 years of marriage.

~@~ 
(to be continued...)

love and blessings, dani xx

ps you will find earlier entries in ascending order on my side bar entitled, "our love story":)

an honor and a privilege...

(katherine)

katherine recently received a great honor.
she was nominated for acceptance in
the National Youth Leadership Forum (NYLF) in Medicine.

and...

(letter of acceptance)

she was accepted!!!

(certified invitation to attend the NYLF)

(the aforementioned as well as a congratulatory letter to john and me:)

we are so proud of all her accomplishments!!!
and, THIS is a great one...
given it has been eight years since the last student
from henderson county senior high was invited
to attend this forum... and, katherine is the only student
of approximately 2000 to be invited this year.

did i say we are proud???

the forum, which runs 10 days during the summer of 2009 at a us medical center of her choice from a list she has been given, is focused on such topics as medical ethics, health care in the community, career choices, as well as some shadowing opportunities, etc... the sessions are run by medical students and physicians.
we hope this will be a first great exposure to the medical system for katherine.

we are also hoping that she will benefit greatly from the privilege of real-world experience from the honor with which she has been bestowed:)

love and blessings,
dani xx

bird huntin'...

i returned from taking katherine to school this morning,
grabbed a cup of coffee, kicked off my shoes,
and returned to my bed:)

maggie jumped up on the bed with me and proceeded to wiggle her way under my covers. as she did so, i noticed mia was lying on the back of the chair looking through the blinds at the birds on our front law.

everything was pretty quiet...

until mia decided she was going to catch her a bird.
the cat jumped off the back of the chair
and did a nose-dive...

into the window!!!

i looked over to see that her head was caught
between two blinds and her paws between two different ones.

the cat was dazed for a second
then pulled herself from the blinds,
which she had annihilated!!!
she shook herself and licked her wounds
only to perch herself back up on the back of the chair
like nothing had ever happened:/

darn cat!!!

(fortunately for her, i love her regardless;)

now, i'm off to go blind shopping...

love and blessings,
dani xx

a new day has dawned...

and a blessed life continues...
i have hope for the world in which we live
and pray that we will be pleasantly surprised
by what the days ahead will bring.

MAY GOD BLESS us ALL!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

that being said, i was pleasantly surprised
with a package that arrived here on the lane
from a very dear friend!!!

tania, little sweethearts, sent me two darling
Christmas ornaments that i cannot wait to put
on my Christmas tree!!!

(click to enlarge)

aren't they wonderful!!!

so is tania:)
my belgian friend handmade these little treasures.

hannah, fifteen going on seventy, and i were the
lucky recipients of tania's give-away drawing.

thank you so much, tania!!!

the Christmas holly is adorable.
the robin redbreast is beautiful
and comes with a beautiful story of its significance...
(click to enlarge)
the legend of the robin redbreast

when Jesus was wearing His crown of thorns,
a little bird came and tried to remove some of the thorns
in order to lessen His pain.
while the little bird was doing so,
some blood dripped onto his chest, and it remained there
forever...
the robin redbreast symbolizes the thought that

every little bit helps.

love and God's blessings,
dani xx

ps. tania didn't ask me to do so;
but you can click HERE to go to her etsy store
and see some of the other darling things she has made:)

sick but going to vote... (UPDATED)

do you think that if i go to vote
and make it know that i have the flu
(which i think i do),
that the crowd may part like the red sea,
and i won't have to wait???

i REALLY don't think i can wait long,
but i'm going to give it a try...

i hope you will all get out to vote today, too!!!
and, while you are out???
you may want to get a flu shot, as well:)

*******************************



thank goodness!!!
i went, there was NO line,
and i voted:D

i just hope the poll people don't catch what i have:/

love and blessings,
dani xx

mosses monday VIII...

(katherine 1995)

when john arrived home from work, katherine and i were waiting. we had decided not to take her trick-or-treating downtown... as it would be too crowded, and she was not really into crowds. we had already chosen to just take her to several friends' and familys' homes,  which we did.

it was getting dark, and katherine was getting tired and hungry.  she had had enough  trick-or-treating  and expressed her desire to go home.

"katherine, don't you think we should go see mosses first?" i asked her.  they were expecting us.

a big smile came across her face:)
and she nodded.

i knew why;) ...

everytime we visited "mosses" (that is what katherine dubbed both mrs. and mr. moss, respectively), mrs. moss popped katherine popcorn, poured her a little wooden bowl of bugles, and prepared her a diet coke in her dinosaur sippy cup (which they had at their house for her).

"junk-food-junkie katherine" at 3 minced no words about the fact that mosses was "the BEST cook"!  mrs. moss thought that was  the cutest,  funniest thing!

when we arrived, both "mosses" came grinning ear-to-ear to greet us at the door. john was behind me holding our exhausted angel. they welcomed us into their home.

mr. moss told john he'd waited for us to get there to drink his evening toddy and asked john to join him.

after making over katherine in her angel costume, mrs. moss went into the kitchen.  i followed. she placed a bag of popcorn in the microwave and poured mr. moss and john bowls of chex mix and katherine a bowl of bugles while i put ice in two highball glasses and a sippy cup.

after thanking mrs. moss for her bugles and coke, katherine did what katherine always did... she put a bugle on each finger and started eating them one at a time.  (the mosses always got a big kick out of the silly little  things katherine did.) 

it was that halloween with our little katherine donning wings and a halo that mr. moss started referring to katherine as his "angel"...
a term of endearment she never outgrew.

~@~ 

(to be continued...)

love and blessings,
dani xx

ps you will find earlier entries in ascending order on my side bar entitled, "our love story":)

happy birthday, moonpie!!!

sweet birthday wishes from the lane, d:)




please, go over and wish"the notorious d" a happy birthday:)


love and blessings,
dani xx

all saints' day...

(katherine 1st grade)
as i was going through old halloween photos for yesterday's post, i came across a little journal katherine had made. katherine went to holy name, a private, catholic school, for grades k-3. the school never celebrated halloween.
however, they did celebrate all saints' day (which is today). the older students dressed up like their favorite saints, respectively, and acted out fun skits for the younger students, who celebrated the day as a casual one (meaning they didn't have to wear their uniforms).
anyway, as i said, i found katherine's journal. i had to laugh because, as you will see, her journaling goes strait from halloween (she got her halloween on with her cover), quickly to all saints' day, to Christmas and cookies...

like mother like daughter:)

(journal cover, i told you kat got on her halloween whether holy name did or NOT;)

(all saints' day and already thoughts of snow days:)

(kat, will, and a tur-quoise sun(she told me she'd lost her yellow marker;), ha!!!)

(Christmas on the brain)

(of course she ate him!!! ginger-bread is one of kitty kat's favorites;)


so, now that halloween is behind us,
let the preparation for thanksgiving and...

CHRISTMAS

begin!!!!

love and blessings,
dani xx

ps. happy all saints' day!!!