Gee, I didn't realize it's been so long since I "blogged"...and once again, Little Sister has asked about it. Does anybody read this? I'd really like to know! So much has happened since November. The holidays came and went. We didn't freeze to death during the winter in this old house (oh, how I miss central heat and air - thank you, Katrina). Spring started with bursts of green and colorful flowers and then...pow...our precious black-eyed nephew Adam was diagnosed with cancer. What a 1-2 punch in the chest/heart. Tomorrow he and his mom travel to Jackson to hear the treatment plan. He's already had surgery to remove the tumor, but the docs say radiation in still in the picture. We hope and pray it's an easy, quick treatment plan and by the end of summer, his life will be back on track. Detours aren't fun; they are usually too bumpy. Adam doesn't deserve these bumps in the road.



All else is pretty much status quo. Things at the office are still smooth. Bryan and Ben planted a h-u-g-e garden. We may need extra hoes to tackle the grass, though. We bought seed for everything -- tomatoes (plants), watermelons, cantalopes, peas, corn, cucumbers...even peanuts! I remember Pa-paw S. growing peanuts and us digging them up and eating them right out of the ground one time. They were so good; Mother said they would make our stomachs hurt from eating them raw, but I don't remember a tummy ache; I just remember how good they tasted! No potatoes, though, Daddy. We were too late for those. Hope you save me some of your little'uns. Could you mail them to me like Ma-maw N. did once upon a time?



Ben has been working on small engines at a shop down the road a lot lately. He likes getting them going again. Amy & Joe are plugging along with nothing to report. She is ready for summer; no teaching summer school for her this summer; she wants the whole summer off. Can't say that I blame her. Maybe she can be the chief garden picker and canner. Somebody's going to have to do it. I'm only off weekends! (And I'm scrapbooking this weekend - yay!)



Remember to keep Adam, as well as Ronnie's mother Maceen, on your prayer lists. She had a huge surgery for her cancer several weeks ago, but they didn't get it all. Cancer is such an ugly thing; it's an ugly word, too, if you really look at it.



'night, night...

Blog for Sister

My sister Peggy keeps wondering when I'm going to add to my blog again. I told her I just didn't have anything to say. "Oh, but you're a journalism major", she says...that doesn't mean I can just come up with something to blog out of thin air.

So, just so she'll have something to read, here are some thoughts.

Our dear Aunt Burtis passed away a couple of weeks ago. She tried to mother us Newman kids a little bit after our own mother (her little sister) passed away 10 summers ago. P-Sue, remember when we were little how we used to say if anything happened to Mother and Daddy, we would go live with Aunt Burtis and Uncle Junior? Remember how when we fussed in the car on the long, long way home from Hattiesburg, Daddy would say "Are y'all going to visit each other when you grow up like your mother visits her sister or are y'all just going to fuss and not visit each other?" I vote for the former...visiting my sister's homey and comfy home is something I love to do. I told her once that her home is company-friendly and conducive to good visiting. I meant it.

My mother's entire immediate family, including grandchildren and their spouses, except for our brother, was there for Aunt Burtis' service. She would have been proud; our children loved this aunt very much, too. Our brother wasn't there because his car had been in an accident (a friend had borrowed it). We missed him greatly, but understood. It would have been a long, long walk for him; it's a 4-hour drive!

But...maybe we'll get to see little brother before too long...and hear him play the piano! Stay tuned...I may have something to blog about before too long!

Too, too busy

You know, it takes TIME to post blogs and I've been really busy lately. Nevermind that this past week has been a week of vacation for me; I really have been busy. I had a long to-do list and most of the items have been checked off, thanks to B&B's assistance. One of the days of my week I spent having medical tests done, so that was a wasted day as far as getting much else done. And today was a scrapbooking day and I got my whole project-for-the-day accomplished except for the embellishments, so I was really thrilled about checking that off my list.

The day after tomorrow, the alarm will ring once again and it'll be 10-15 minutes before I can drag myself out of bed. Daylight will be streaming in, thanks to the hurricane boards being removed from the windows. Big B did that all by himself; I offered to help, but he said no. Check that item off the list.

The biggest item I checked off was getting our bedroom furniture (dresser, mirror and chest of drawers) moved from our Katrinaed mobile home over to the White House. It's nice to have drawers once again. Anybody need any clothesbaskets??? And...we could never use the mirror on my dresser in the trailer because it obstructed a light switch. (It was stored under the bed for 20+ years.) Believe it or not, Ben didn't know how the dresser even looked with a mirror. He was a big help moving it all over yesterday evening, though. I held my breath as he maneuvered a hay fork attached to the Kubota carrying these pieces of furniture, but he didn't scratch a thing. He's an excellent driver!

It has been so long since I blogged, that I didn't post my little brother's 47th birthday on 9/19. I did call him, though, and sing Happy Birthday on his voicemail. I haven't heard from him; surely he's okay from listening to my singing.

Goodnight, blog-world.

Happy Birthday, Ben!

Twenty-one years ago Benjamin Bryan Turan entered the world with fat little cheeks and chubby little hands. Who would have ever known he would grow up to be 6 feet tall and a musical master? He writes songs, sings songs, plays songs...he would play music 24/7 if he could.

The 5 of us met at Logan's Roadhouse for supper tonight. It was fun. However...our server knew it was Ben's 21st birthday and he took his tea and was going to get him something from the bar. He asked Ben for his ID and the boy didn't have his wallet or ID with him! Bummer! I don't think the server knew what to think. Ben knew he wasn't paying for supper, so why did he need his wallet??? He whispered to me as we left that he really didn't want anything to drink anyway.

We're thankful our children aren't that enthused when it comes to drinking. We've chatted several times about the fact that nothing good comes out of consuming alcohol. Absolutely nothing. If the server had offered me a pina colada, though, I would have flashed my ID in a heartbeat!

Happy birthday, Ben! We love you dearly and are anxious to see what the next 21 years bring in your life!

A small brown bag surprise

Do you know many folks who just do things, big and small, for other folks without expecting any thanks or repayment? We are blessed to know lots of folks like that and we think that's the way the world should be. It always just amazes me that other folks would do something for me, though.

After church today, our Ben brought me a small brown bag from one of the ladies at church. Now, we were a little late to church today and I didn't even get to speak to this lady, but still she sent this little bag my way.

How did she know I would be excited about its contents? I hadn't seen her in a week and she doesn't know about my blog. (Can you guess what was in the bag? That's a hint.)

The McCreedys are always doing things, big and small, for other folks. They take older people all the way to Hattiesburg for doctor's appointments. They visit sick people and sad people. When I had shoulder surgery 2 years ago, they brought us delicious chili one evening. Even though there were 2 men in my house that could turn on the stove. That's just the kind of people they are. They are retired and I'll bet not a day goes by that they don't do something for somebody else. If somebody followed them around taking notes, I bet she/he couldn't keep up with them...

So, thanks to the McCreedys for not one, but TWO LARGE cans of Underwood Deviled Ham. (How they knew: Mrs. M was behind me in line at Dollar General last Sunday after church when I was searching - unsuccessfully - for this canned item in preparation for Gustav; I bought ice cream instead.) These 2 cans are safely tucked away and I'm the only one who knows where they are! hehehe)

P.S. Totally unrelated to this post is the fact that tomorrow, 09/08/08 is Ben's last day to be 20; he turns 21 Tuesday. Our baby boy has grown up.

Happy belated b-day, Trey! and other news

Happy belated birthday to our #1 (in birth order; we don't have favorites among the 5 nephews we have) nephew, Jean Thomas Skaggs, III (aka Trey)...I hope you got your card yesterday. I'm just really lagging behind, aren't I? Yesterday evening I was so pooped from the week's work activities (and it was only a 4-day week, for crying out loud) that I just lazed in my Lazy Boy with my feet propped up til after dark. I hope you had a great day, though, Trey; you deserve it. Hope your 29th year (the year you are living in now because your 28th year ended Thursday) is even more blessed. I hope we see you more, too, than during your 28th.

In other news, I called our friends in Houma this afternoon. Hank answered the phone and said it was their first call on the landline. They returned to their home Thursday and are still without electricity. Their home was okay except for some roof and gutter damage. No flooding at all. Both of their children's places were okay as well. Hank said the media blew Gustav out of proportion. I know. That's why I bowed out of the world of journalism. Sensationalism and gore are much better in the newspaper and on TV than not-so-sensational and not-so-gory.

And...the last news of the day was a great supper with our daughter and son-in-law at Shaw's Catfish House in Hancock County. Great place. Great food. We visited our grand-pets afterward. I guess I should call their names for posterity's sake. Sammy is a sweet mostly-black Border Collie who adopted Amy & Joe when they moved into their house. We love him dearly; he is an old friend. Boots is a black (with white feet, of course) cat who has been around for awhile; we love her, too, but she's not super sociable...and Luka is our German Shepherd grandpuppy who has a birthday coming up. One year old. He's a feisty and frisky fellow. He let us love and pet him tonight the best he's ever done. Oh, and we have many grand-fish, but I can't name them all, so I won't offend some by naming some. Maybe next time.

Amy helped me go through a Disneyworld scrapbook I'm delivering to Hattiesburg tomorrow and see if I could add anything to it. She had a couple of things I needed to complete it, so she & I are off to Hattiesburg tomorrow afternoon to meet my client in the parking lot of (where else???) Target for the delivery. We are supposed to get a Target in D'Iberville before too long. Can't wait!

Oh, I might add we're still boarded up in case Hurricane Ike rolls this way, too. We're not the only ones, either. The Hengens are, too, and many others who don't want to have to put up those boards again.

We will just keep our fingers crossed, but just in case, I'm hoping Winn Dixie has a fresh supply of green grapes and Underwood Deviled Ham!

Thanks, y'all.

Thanks to all of you friends and family who've called to check on us. We got calls from across the US and really appreciate your concern. The 3 of us (and Max and Patch) and our extended family fared very well during Gustav.

But we sure didn't have a very fun Labor Day weekend! Bryan & I had big plans to travel to Houma, Louisiana to spend the weekend with our good friends Hank & Sue. We were going to Morgan City (30 miles away, the town we lived in our first 7 years as Mr. & Mrs. and the town where our Amy was born) to the annual Shrimp & Petroleum Festival and most assuredly were going to have a meal (#9 with soft tacos, please) at Tampico's, our most favorite Mexican restaurant in the whole wide world.

But...we stayed home...and are still boarded up in case Hannah, Ike or Josephine decide to come this way. (We haven't heard from Hank & Sue, but we are trying to get ahold of them.)

I must say, though, I think Gustav took the path to Louisiana because I had no Underwood deviled ham. I did have green grapes, but no deviled ham. Those are two of my must-have food items when a storm is approaching. I'm not sure why or when the deviled ham deal started, but I can tell you exactly where and when the grape saga began.

It was in September of 1965 in a Navy Base (aka the Seabee Base in Gulfport) warehouse where my family (gee, I was only 9 years old) set up in a cot camp with what seemed like hundreds of others to weather Hurricane Betsy. Why? I really can't say. Daddy wasn't military; he was civil service, but somebody or something must have mandated that he be there and he, being the family guy that he was, had us with him...hurricane or high water. It was noisy, I do remember that. And it seemed Mother had an endless supply of green grapes!

My supply of grapes ended today. I even went to work today.

A note of thanks to my #1 (that means he's the oldest; I don't have a favorite) nephew's bride for the blogging header tips. I was born in the Space Age and the computer world is still a bit foreign. I can type as fast as I want in Word and maneuver in the scheduler at work, but setting up a blog? It seems way complicated for me. Thanks, Heather!