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!

PAPAW IS MISSING HIS “KATIE BUG”

Just yesterday, it seems, a little tow-headed girl was crawling up our stairs, naked as the day she was born, without a care in the world. I sometimes still hear her saying, “Mo...mo,” and “one mo time,” and “jus’a little bit mo Granny!” The next day she was saying, “Let’s go on a ‘venture Papaw,” and we would rumble off down some dirt road toward a picnic on a rock.

Then there were a few days where she played a few games of basketball, some softball, and was even was a cheerleader for a day or two.

Suddenly, she was going to a couple of proms and then, in a very hot and sticky gym, she graduated high school. She sat there so beautiful, so innocent to what was to come, and all I saw as a that little tow-head girl grinning like a ‘possom back at me. I was so proud.

A moment or two after the ceremony, she was showing her Granny the things she bought to furnish her room at college!

I found myself, setting across from her, the last night in town, gingerly taking hot bites of pizza, and wondering where the last eighteen years had gone. She laughed nervously, thinking about leaving the next day, but somehow made us all feel better about the whole situation.

What a wonderful gift God has given to us. Never liked partying, smoking, drinking...just being with a good friend laughing and talking about boys, or with her Granny, quietly watching TV, while Granny rubbed her arms softly and tirelessly. Judy could sit for hours just rubbing Katie’s arms while they just enjoyed the time together. I pray she finds a very patient and loving guy to marry one day (in the very distant future), and that he too finds her as special as we have, and will spend quiet times just rubbing her arms while she talks, falls to sleep, and dreams.

So now she’s off trying out the “real world”, some 55.7 miles away. It’s only been four days, but man, the next 4 years are going to feel like an eternity!

Now I know a little about what it must have been like for my parents when I left for the Air Force, and then Vietnam. How did they ever stand it?

My mother’s faith and strength saw her through the ordeal twice, the second time when my brother left home. My brother was actually hospitalized at eight years old with a nervous stomach condition. He seemed to sense the danger I was in even at that age.

My mom told me just this week that she don’t think my dad had a healthy year from the day I left for ‘Nam. He seemed to always have something wrong with him over the next ten years until he died at age 57.

Anyway, back on subject, Katie left on Thursday and on Sunday her mom and dad, and Granny and Papaw just had to go see their baby! I know, we didn’t give her much time, but we really had a mission, and that was to take her a few things she needed.

Truth be told, Katie was already a little homesick and it was evident in how she clung to her mom the whole day. Granny also got in a little arm rubbing while we rode around checking out the Tech campus and the city of Cookeville.

We ate at Charley's and then found a little park, she had already discovered, and walked through the woods together and down by a lake, where geese were fighting for the dominant positions to eat the food be thrown at them.

Katie proudly showed us her room and everything that she had added, where she would sleep, study, and relax. The room was very nice, for a college dorm, and she, and her roommate, had done a great job in making it homey. The room is brightly lighted, air conditioned, and has a private bath with a separate “make up” area.

She doesn’t have to worry about food, she has a meal-card that lets her eat in the cafeteria, or in the pizza/grill that’s located right in the dorm building! There is a place to wash clothes right across the hall and meeting rooms for group study. The building is new, with modern warning security systems, all the proper telecommunications feeds, and elevators to boost her up and down as she wishes. What more could she ask for...well, she’s wanting to keep her doggie in the room!

We left Sunday afternoon, much more relaxed than before. I saw where she was living, and how wrapped in luxury and guarded she will be, so I’ll worry about her much less now. She’ll be fine, and I see she’s already made new Facebook friends!

I have to let her go and see if she will return to me one day. I just hope and pray it isn’t too far in the future, ‘cause I still need my Katie Bug.

SITTIN’ ‘ROUND AND RIDIN’ THE STREETS

My daughter Tracy had a hysterectomy Tuesday, and so Judy and I drove separately to the hospital. Judy knew Tracy would want her to spend the night with her, so that way I had a way home.

Of course Eddie, my son-in-law, was there, and so was Katie Bug and Zack, her “current” boyfriend.

Katie and Zack passed the time, about four to five hours waiting on a room after the 15-minute procedure, texting friends at school and comparing photos on their cell phones. I snapped this one as they mused over something interesting.

You can see Zack’s bum left leg from his recent truck wreck. I think he said he had a total of 42 staples in the leg in various places. He broke two bones and his ankle, and had to have a rod inserted to hold things together! He cannot get a “hard” cast until the staples are removed! As you might assume, he had a hard time getting around Tuesday, and especially getting in and out of Judy’s car when we went to eat, and my truck when I took them home with me later.

Please pray for Zack’s family too…his dad is battling cancer right now. That, plus the accident, missing school, and trying to maneuver is weighing pretty heavy on him right now.

The Chinese buffet at the Mandarin House, in Knoxville, Tennessee, took everyone’s mind off their problems for about an hour. The food was good, but it has been better there in the past.

We did notice that the parking lot was not a full as it usually is, but we were there well after the lunch hour.

The kids, and I, passed the time waiting on Eddie to get home from working late by watching scary movies – Jeepers Creepers and the most recent Omen! Then when Eddie came, they just left me here in this lonely house to fend for myself!

I stayed up until about 12:30 and then went to bed. I slept like a baby and didn’t get bothered by a single (or even a married) monster!

This morning I was up by 9, fixing fried Spam, eggs, and toast! Yep, Spam, and later I finished off the small can by fixing a great sandwich that included cheese and sweet pickles! I didn’t get to looking this way by accident!

After all that, I decided to go for a walk around Riverfront Park a time or two, and then drove around Harriman shooting photos of the brilliant maple trees along the streets, at the Harriman Cemetery, and, of course, in the backyard.

Oh yeah, I also talked to FHB for a short time. I pulled over and turned the engine off, 'cause we had some catching up to do!

Right now, I’m completely relaxed, full, and over the surgery waiting room exercise from yesterday.

Happy fall folks!

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.