2018 Joy Journal

January 15 Erin.... thank you again for the Christmas. It was very much appreciated. ..   She was cleaning the hall bathroom, and I went to tell her that I was walking over here, and to give her her tip, in case she finished before I got back. She thanked me, and said so genuinely, "And thank you again for the Christmas. It was very much appreciated." It made me feel good.  Didn't talk to Beverly much over the weekend, but we did phone visit, etc., some last week. J.A. was off this weekend so they did a lot of exploring and hiking.  Angela came over yesterday afternoon and we play rumicube and sequence. She'd been to Books a Million to just wander among the books and see what interested her and came home with a book on history and book about the world's greatest books. We had fun talking about them. Kennedy came over late in the afternoon and played a couple of games of sequence with us. She is excited about some sculpture projects she's workin...

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 ...

March 19, 2018 The weather is nice enough that I am able to leave the writing shack door open, and I'm enjoying the bird sounds. I like to think that Bentley and Bella, who are hanging out with me, are enjoying the fresh air, too.  So I got hugs from Angela this morning. We got to visit with Tori and Josh this weekend --- they came in for Kayla's shower. Tori said her project launch went well, although sales seem to be going more slowly than they'd hoped.  Andrew laughed at the pie-rate joke I shared on his timeline. Beverly called Barry while we were on our way home from dinner so we talked to her on his truck's bluetooth thing. She'd finished up her weekend and is on her schedule so will have this week off.  Heard back from Faith. She was having a busy Saturday, getting ready for her prom. Zak and Vivian went to Houston and are having a good time. Vivian's 21st birthday was Saturday, so there are some fun pictures and greetings in the Facebook J...

April 5, 2018 I enjoyed my writing shack time yesterday, maybe especially because it ended with a nice, unrushed visit with Angela. She showed me pictures of the house she and Tori are looking at, and talked about their decorating it, and about various solutions for Bentley's 3:00 medicines.  Beverly sent me a text ---- missing me ---- which I was happy to hear because we haven't talked for days. Sarah is still with her, so we didn't stay on the phone for a long time, but we did get to visit for a few minutes, and I talked to J.A. and to Sarah.  Angela said Kennedy is coming over sometime today, to work on art project, I think. Beth made it back safely to Houston, which is very good, but she has a stomach virus, which is not good at all. She was too sick to stop and give hugs. I got to play with Jaden a little bit yesterday. He reached for me, but then reached right back for his mama. Chelsea said he loves his swing. 

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. 

May 3, 2018 Me, to Barry as we walked along our beach: What are you thinking? Barry, to me: I'm not thinking anything. I'm just enjoying. When I came over to the writing shack yesterday afternoon, I saw Kennedy's car, so I sent her a text: "I see your car!" and she came out and visited with me for half an hour or so. This is her last week of classes, so she has a lot of papers and projects due. She has one week off and then her classes start again. She's looking forward to the week off. ;-) Talking about after graduation, she said "I don't know where I'm going, but I'm going somewhere!"  We got to see Jaden for a minute when we drove by their RV last night. I'm having fun having more responsibility for the tennis committee. It gives me something to think about and have ideas about. I wondered how everyone would respond to Linda and I co-chairing, but they were all warm and enthusiastic and happy about it, so that made me feel...

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...