Graduation And Back At School

My daughter graduated from LPN training last week and we're very proud of her.  She's in her forties and just decided it was time to go back to school and start a new page in her life.  

Tracy has been busy over the years since high school, mostly raising her daughter Katie, but she also became a beautician, and managed the family auto accessory and window tint business while doing so.  She learned to do the actual tinting from Eddie, her husband, who is, by all accounts, one of the best "tinters" in the area.

We celebrated her latest accomplishment by gathering at Wild Wings with family and friends.  It was a great evening with lots of laughter, libations, and, of course, wings!

 

Then on the weekend, Tracy and Eddie, along with Judy, went to Cookeville to see Katie's apartment.

                                                           

I told Judy to take pictures of the new place so I could see what it looked like.  Well, she brought back photos of Katie, which I expected, but the only part of the apartment I got to see was her bed (not the room), her toilet, and a table in the corner of one room where she keeps her laptop.  Was it not for Photoshop, which I used to lighten the shots, I would not have even gotten to see those areas!  It could have been in any apartment or house in America!

It's true, good photography skills don't just rub off...you actually have to develop them!

Anyway, a few days have passed, and Katie has been to two actual class days of school, and here it is Labor Day weekend.  She is in town for the holiday break and spent the night with us last night, and insisted I make pancakes this morning!  Of course, that don't take much arm twisting, but I try to avoid them until she visits.

She is presently sitting, as usual, in the same chair with her Granny, who is faithfully rubbing her on the arm, out on the screened porch, probably talking about boys and what she intends on having someday in the future.

Judy loves these times and would not trade places with anyone in the entire world!

THINKING ‘BOUT MY CRAZY GRANDDAUGHTER

We haven’t seen Katie Bug in a few days and I had to revert to looking back at some photos of her to remember what she looked like! Well, that’s not entirely true, but that is what we tell her when we talk to her of the phone.

Her boyfriend had been in the hospital a few days suffering from a badly broken leg he received in a recent car accident. Katie and her mother ran the road between home and Park West Hospital in Knoxville, but he is home now recuperating.

Today I sent her a text message, knowing she’d have her cellphone on during school, even though it’s against the general rule!

Sure enough I got a reply – she loves me too!

I told her I still loved her even though I haven’t seen her in “forever!”

Turns out she was planning to come by after work, possibly to spend the night, which means she’ll get here around 9, worn out, and then go to bed around 10. That’s okay, at least I’ll get to see her. She'll stop by the computer, give me a kiss on the cheek, tell me good night and that she loves me, and then off to bed.

We did visit long enough for me to make a descent photo from a cellphone shot of her and Zach kissing! Of course I complained about that, but you know how teen love is! It's for his birthday.

We were over at her house, not too long ago, for “soup night” and I had forgotten about the other shots I’m including within this post.

I was also messing around with ANIMOTO today, a personal video clip creating site I discovered from my PC World magazine, and I found the shots while looking for some to upload for my test video. After uploading my photos, and a music clip by INXS, the site automatically formatted all of it into this great little clip! You should try it!

Anyway, completing my thoughts on Katie, she gets her great love of life from (in order of craziness) her Granny (Judy), her mother (Tracy), and her dad (Eddie). I’m not saying I haven’t contributed, but I figured that went without saying! We’ve always enjoyed each other’s company. We used to go on “ventures,” starting about the time she could see out of my truck from a booster-seat, and on through teaching her about the blues as she sat by my side and listened to my MP3 collection!

She is my crazy little granddaughter!

TACOS AND PUPPY DOGS

Monday night was taco night at Tracy’s. No, it’s not a tradition, but about once a month Tracy decides to make her mom some delicious tacos. So, Judy and I throw a diet Mountain Dew and Coke into the car and drive the 15 to 20 miles across the county for some family fellowship.

The tacos are always great, but the real treat is visiting, having fun with our daughter and granddaughter, and the ever energetic Roxy, the new Boston terrier addition to the family.

Katie always has to sit or lay against her Granny, for some social grooming, and general flea removal!

Kristin, Katie’s life long friend, was there to make Tracy fell less left out of the grooming session going on across the table.

Eddie, well, Eddie never lets anything get between him and his taco! Kind of like me, only he never seems to grow like I do!

Roxy was all dressed out in her new University of Tennessee sweater. Little does she know that the team sucks this year!

On the way over Judy told me about the sweater and said, “I’ll have to have Tracy try it on while we’re there.”

I said, “Wow, I want to see that!” That’s when she smacked me.