2018 Joy Journal

February 5, 2018 Well, for starters, last week went quite well, as far as hitting the mark on my objectives. I finished the donation request for Rouse's for the CAC and took it all the way to the store, and she said she would email it right then.  I got to take a walk in the Audubon Bird Sanctuary. I can see myself living on the island, taking walks in the woods and on the beach, except that I can't exactly see how that would work.  Brittany came out a couple of hours early yesterday afternoon, before Second Sunday Supper, and she and Papa sat at the kitchen table while I puttered around in the kitchen, and we just had a really relaxed visit. We got her to tell us about her thesis and the breach and the models she is running and she told us about Skyler doing this great kickboxing class.  When Beverly called Friday night, I asked to speak to J.A. and I can still hear the tone in his voice when he said, "Thank you for asking to speak to me."  Angela stayed ...

April 2, 2018 We had a good weekend.  I got a Chat message from Shawn last night --- he said he'd had an amazing day with his dad.  Saturday night we took Angela and Tori and Kennedy down to see the property and they were excited and then we went to dinner at the Pelican Reef and they laughed and laughed. Kennedy has applied to participate in a 3 semester program that gives her the opportunity to completely design an exhibition.  Sunday afternoon we took Beth and Rodney and Linda down to see it. Beth said she wanted to just sit her chair in the sun and read a book. Rodney said that if Beth would just go ahead and win the lottery, he wouldn't have to work in Houston anymore.  Morgan and Brandon's gender reveal was Saturday afternoon, and it was a sweet time visiting with family. Amber was there and we got to sit and talk for quite a while. Annette and Brittany and Skyler were there, and so were Angela and Tori and Kennedy.  Zak brought his pups out S...

May 2, 2018 Morgan felt Davis move yesterday!! Got to visit with Beverly on the phone for a bit. She has her test scheduled for Thursday and her 90-day review for work is on Friday. She said that she had seen where Chelsea passed her GED and that she was really happy about that. She said it was partly because she was proud of her and partly because she figured she'd been studying a lot because it had been a while since she'd seen Jaden --- Chelsea usually posts pictures of him on Facebook and she hadn't done that for a while. Got to hug Angela this morning. She has an appointment to take Bentley to the vet re: the diarrhea.  Chris said he can go and meet Dr. Formwalt with me. 

April 25, 2018 Barry spent all day yesterday down at the bay property. He had to fix a broken water line, and he made us a better path to the beach. He met with lady from the power company and made some calls to the county and the state about cleaning up our ditch and fixing the road, etc. He got home about 4:15 and after we caught up, he said, "I know I've been at the property all day, but I know you haven't been for a couple of days. We can ride back down there and get some supper at Pelican Reef."  I did want to ride and see the new beach access. I was pretty hungry but he'd just had a snack, so there wasn't a mutually perfect order for dinner / visit to the property until he suggested that we could stop by Chevron and get a snack. Turned out, they had some dinners, reduced because it was after five. We got our supper and two bottles of water for less than $10.00 and ate in the pickup, overlooking the bay.  I got to have a nice writing shack afternoo...

April 17, 2018 Having good mornings and evenings with Angela.  The tennis tournament achieved its objective, so that was good. (Way more confusion than I would like to see, but maybe that's because I was paying more attention to it.) Barry and I had good days. It tired and bored him in some spots, I think, but he got to have a good long talk with the president of the board and one of the other major sponsors --- not so much about anything in particular, just men to visit with in between picture taking times.  Annette came in first place in her Spartan Race! (Pictures are in folder on this computer). She took care of Easter Bunny for me, and it was a sweet afternoon. Brittany took 5th place in her division, on her first race out in a couple of years. Kim has gone part time! I'm happy because I think that means that maybe we'll get to see her more often. Did I tell you that we closed on the property and have cleared the underbrush? It is a beautiful and wonderful s...

May 17, 2018 Bentley had a good night, so that's good.  When I asked for details about Chelsea's graduation tonight, she said they told her it was too late. I sent Brittany a text about her cap and gown, and then told Chelsea that I had a cap and gown in my closet and we could get some pics. She sounded so happy --- laughter and surprise. Brittany asked me when we were going to do it --- that maybe she could come over and do Chelsea's hair and makeup for her.  Heard from Tori and Kennedy. Tori and Josh and the pups are enjoying the house and the backyard. Kennedy is very excited about her advanced webart sites, and might be over to see us today.  Morgan and I are going to have a Fairhope/Baby shopping day.

May 25, 2018 The young girl (19 -21) that settled into the chair closest to me keeps laughing quietly to herself, maybe reading something funny on her phone. She has taken her sneakers off , curled up in the oversize chair and covered herself with her jacket. Evan and Barry grilled hamburgers last night. Chelsea went and picked Faith and Daniel up. Angela walked over with the pups. Evan, in the middle of a conversation about putting a walkie talkie under Angela's bed to tease her, "I hope y'all know you can call me, if there's ever anything like that. " Jaden isn't going to anybody but Evan and Chelsea right now but he got distracted by the chocolate Angela was giving him.  She said, "From now on whenever you think of me just think of chocolate. " Faith said she loved her graduation card.

J June 18, 2018 My computer isn't broken and my hotspot is working.  Angela and Kennedy stayed after supper last night and helped me clean up. Ange is hoping to go test drive a car today.  Sent JA, Rodney, and Brandon Father's Day texts and heard back from them.  Texted with Tori a little bit. She said she's feeling a little bit better but slept a lot this weekend. When we saw Jaden at the Waffle House Saturday morning, he recognized me and leaned towards me when I made the kissy face sound. Evan and Chelsea and Jaden were here for Second Sunday Supper and Jaden had a big time running through the house.  Chris, Shawn, Erin and Wylder were here. Shawn is giving really big hugs these days.  John and Noah were here. Noah went outside to play soccer. ;-) Faith drove Michael and Daniel here. I think that was the first time she's done that. Faith has graduated, so Michael led us in the blessing. I told him to give the "Hurray punch" and "I...