All I Really Got to Do is Live and Die

Santee State Park

2008-09-07T21:45:00.007-04:00

Happy Birthday - Mexican Style

2008-08-17T14:48:00.015-04:00

Saturday afternoon, Micah attended a birthday party for Brayon (Brian), the 10 year old son of Jon's coworker Susi. By the end of the evening, there were approx. 60 people in attendance, with about 20 children.

The host family!

Susi worked very hard in preparing the meal. The food was great! Jalopenos stuffed with chicken were the best. Boiled shrimp, chicken wings, a vegetable salad, with sliced radishes and cucumbers. To die for Pico de Gallo and salsa. The birthday cake was a Mexican speciality, a wonderful three leche (milk) cake with peaches.

Thankfully most of the people there could speak enough English to answer my questions about where they were from, where they worked and how long they had been in the states and other basic get to know you questions about family, ages etc.

The party was great fun. Lots of laughter and smiles and great food. We were there for about 4 hours. The pinatas were huge and stuffed with candy. The children and adults had great fun swinging and missing!

The birthday boy! Brayon requested the suit for his birthday! He is a delightful young boy.

Hey Susi - this is for you!

2008-06-22T21:33:00.025-04:00

First time at the beach 05 spring....it was cold!

Micah's first day at day care with his new buddy Travis - June 04 - 17 months old.

Playing in the back yard July, 04.

Micah at 18 months.

Micah's second birthday party - Jan 11, 05.

Making the block! Summer 05

Me and the Molly dog summer 07

What a great lookin' kid! Micah Nash Timmer

Kaitlyn, Daddy, Micah and Taylor at Grandmothers BDay, 10/07. Taylor and Kaitlyn are Rusty's children.

Micah and Kaitlyn at Thanksgiving 07.

Micah and I at Christmas o7.

Micah and his dad, Jon, at the Allendale, SC Cooter festival. We rented the turtle for ten bucks and he never moved. Micah was not a happy loser! I tried to tell him there were seven other losers along with him....didnt work. This festival is over 30 years old.....and every year they have lots of turtles racing....some bring their own turtles and some rent.....the ones that bring their own turtles usually win! The grand prize is $1000......

Micah serving me at The Honeytree Mother's Day tea.

Micah playing ball in our backyard. I love the way he holds his mouth!

Memorial Day - Camping

2008-05-26T01:29:00.003-04:00

Packing the Xterra....Getting ready for the first camping trip I have been on in about 30 years!

We travelled to Barnwell State Park which is mid state about 90 miles from Beaufort. My co-worker/friend, Rob, his wife Theresa and 3 children, joined us there to celebrate the holiday. The weather was great. There were no biting bugs or fish.

The park was built during the depression era with swimming/fishing lake. The original buildings still exist. The camp ground is small with about 30 campsites. Not many people were there so it was very quiet and peaceful. At night the weather was cool enough to require a campfire and the days just right with no humidity hoovering a little above 80 degrees.

The boys had a great time wandering through the woods finding caterpillars, spiders, baby frogs and fire wood. We rented a tent, camp stove, a cooler, cots and other required items from the military. Saturday night I cooked chicken and mixed vegetables on the fire. With smores for dessert. Rob fixed pancakes and sausage for breakfast the next morning....Sunday was spent in expectation of the large catch of fish we were going to cook for dinner....we ending up eating hamburgers, hushpuppies and fried onions......LOL They teased me that I planned all the meals around Vidalia Onions! I did!

Each night ended around the campfire with no other lights in camp just watching the fire die down and watching Lightning Bugs. I havent seen so many lightning bugs since I was a child.....Rob being from Pennsylvania asked me what I called lightning bugs growing up in MS....I said lightning bugs.....Rob stated that since I am from Mississippi and based on previous "what do you call this conversations" he just knew I would call them something like Torch Chiggers not lightning bugs...LOL you cant expect much more from Rob.....he is from Pennsylvania.....and doesnt understand the difference between choking and strangling as in "that water strangled me" versus "I choked on a chicken bone"......LMAO....I could go on and on but then we would lose focus on the wonderful camping trip!!!! sooooooooo from that point on the boys called the lightning bugs..... Torch Chiggers....

Micah anxiously awaiting our departure.

The Nash-Timmer Camp Site

On the left, Former Girl Scout Campfire Builder Gura aka Theresa Merchant. Johnny, Micah and David "patiently" await smores.

The boys quickly became a renegade group that no longer understood the English language......for example....dont run thru camp, dont play in the fire, dont wrestle in the tents......hmmmm,"dont" seems to be the word that was continuously misinterpreted....cause they ran thru camp, played in the fire, and wrestled in the tents........

At eleven months old, Rebekah, was alots of things, the youngest camper, the rock eater, and the kind of baby that makes you wish you had half a dozen just like her....all smiles, giggles and cuddles! She was content the whole trip!

Rob doing research for the next Beaufort County Comp Plan Element.........it is a "work thang".....and if you dont understand, I would have to kill you if I told you!

The boys looking for frogs at the dam overflow.

Jon forcing Micah to leave the frog search area...notice Micah's feet...those are his socks....the mud sucked his shoes off... but he did have a handful of smothered baby frogs....

The End

P.S.

Florence McElroy Nash 1914 to 2008

2008-05-10T17:43:00.003-04:00

My Grandmother died a little over a week ago at 93.5 years of age. This picture was taken at her 93rd birthday party. She was the last of her family to die. Grandmother was 4'11" and 90 +/- pounds all her life....tiny thing with auburn hair and blue eyes. She had four children, the oldest being my Daddy.

Grandmother divorced in the late fifties which was a great embarrassment to her and society in general during those days. She started working in a garment factory and soon became a supervisor. The women talked trash and overall were rough. Grandmomma was not use to women like that..... She did so much with so little. She worked at the dime store for many years and then managed a little drop your laundry off business later on. After she retired, she spent about 20 years doing volunteer work at the nursing home and hospital.

In January, 2008, her children had to make a decision they had done their best to keep from happening. It was time to go to the nursing home....no longer was it safe for her to live alone. Grandmother had lived in the same house for over 40 years.....her house, with her little bit of money and putting her youngest son through college.....in a time when Southern women were totally dependant on men - she bought her own house and paid for it.

It was always so much fun to visit Grandmother as children.....dress up, bubbles, giggling, sitting on her screened in porch watching the neighbors, listening to her childhood stories.....The day after her funeral, we all met at her house to begin the process of cleaning and sorting. I cringed every time we decided something would go to Goodwill....One of my favorite pastimes is visiting Goodwill or Salvation Army hunting for treasures.....I will not be able to visit them for a long time as my heart hurts just knowing there are a dead loved one's household wares are what I am picking over.......I did bring home a few treasures......corningware casserole dishes, mixiing bowl, spoon, potato masher....a cornbread skillet, her sewing machine,.....tonight when I made dinner, I used her casserole dish, the mixing bowl and spoon.....it felt good, like holding a piece of her in my hand.

Tall Knife

2007-09-10T21:40:00.001-04:00

This is a bad photo turned to a great drawing of the famous Indian, Tall Knife, aka Micah Nash Timmer.

This weekend, we travelled to Cherokee North Carolina to visit with the Cherokee nation. While there, Micah informed us he had a new name - Tall Knife. We visited the 1750's Cherokee Indian Village, where Tall Knife met with Cherokee guide, Destin. Destin took us on a tour of the village to see women doing beadwork, pottery, weaving and grinding corn. We also saw young men making arrowheads, blowguns, a blow gun demonstration, music demonstration and making a canoe. It was a great experience. It was a first visit for the whole family and a great experience. Tall Knife came home with a real arrow, a blow gun, Cherokee storytelling book and a plastic bow and arrows. Momma came home with some apples, and a piece of soapstone to carve. I came home with much lighter pockets.....now I know why it is wise to visit family for vacation....much cheaper....they feed you for free and give you a free place to stay!!! LOL.

Caped Hero and Moonbeams

2007-08-27T21:11:00.000-04:00

Caped Hero

Today, I stayed at home with Micah because I thought he was under the weather with the summer cold he caught from me.....thankfully, I can work at home and not take a personal day.

I was working away and Micah was brain numb on PBS kid shows....he asked me to tie a dish towel around his neck so he could be some super hero.....some time later...I dont know how long, I ventured into the living room to check on him and he was naked except for the cape......standing on the couch doing kung fu. I did get a lot of work done but had moments of great entertainment.

Moonbeams

Tonight, we were coming home from eating dinner out and the moon was absolutely gorgeous...I ran home for my camera.....Micah and I had a great time trying to catch the moon but the pictures.....well...well...too bad Amy or my friend Teri werent close with their cams!

Beautiful Beaufort By The Sea

2007-08-18T11:18:00.000-04:00

Dont really have much to say...lazy days of summer.....this is a photo I took months ago and monkeyed with it in black and white today.....not much happening....Glad that Dean is not hitting here but praying for my friends in Texas.

Gearing Down to the Details

2007-08-01T21:30:00.001-04:00

This challenge really excited me. The details are of an old gear I found many years ago in a pile of junk at the old tractor shed across the road from where I grew up. It has been a part of my panache decor ever since I sandblasted it and gave it a good clear overcoat.

I used it for many years as a candle holder. In the picture below, not only can you see shadow and line details, you can see the details of candlewax and dust!

I don't know why I am attracted to these kinds of things. I have a disk spacer that I use as a candleholder, an old equipment spring that is about 12" tall and 5" diameter....and an old plow piece that is about 2' long with the plow and broken arm. I display them in my home and at work. I also have a sliced section of a tree that I use as a wall hanging. It is an osage orange (horse apple) so the bark is knotty. It is about 2 inches thick and about 2.5' across.

Then

collect rocks - yes, rocks! Since

was a little girl, I have collected rocks with holes in them. I have lots of petrified wood, rocks with fossils, and rocks from places I have visited. I find most of them. Have only bought two and some people have given me rocks....but for some

reason the ones I find and decide to keep are more special. One of the most special rocks I have is a piece of coal from an Alabama mine where my grandfather and great grand father worked. I also have a rock that is my Papaw's spirt rock. He used it to prop open a door in his bedroom. He died in the bedroom and the first thing I did when I got there for the funeral was get that rock. I rub it every now and then when I think of him. And then I have some fossils as well......my sister picked up boyfriends and I picked up rocks....I was/am a strange girl!!! LOL.

Where I Been!

2007-07-26T22:11:00.000-04:00

Okay.....have been trying to get this done for over a week now....the website must have been down cause it wouldnt let me in forever.....So here are maps of my great traveling experience. Ooops, add California.

The other countries I have been too are Vietnam, South Korea and Taiwan. South Korea and Taiwan came as part of the trip to Vietnam. In 2000, I went with one of my closest friends to Vietnam to pick up the baby she and her husband adopted. We were there for two weeks and what a great experience. I think that Jennifer (the little one) is now almost 8 years old and a great little girl. The picture below was taken about 2 years ago....Cherry, if you are reading this, that is a hint I need some new pictures!

Other news....Micah's brain is doing overtime about his Daddy not living with us. The other day, Micah and I were headed home and out of the blue, he asks, "Momma, did you and Daddy kiss when you were married?" While I am thinking okay four year old answer.....I finally just said yes.

Earlier in the week, he wanted to know why his Daddy did not live with us.....big time searching for a 4 year old answer, I said "Cause he lives in Denver and we live in Beaufort" Whew, believe it or not, the answer worked! Thank God for small miracles. Micah just said, "Oh, I wished he lived with us."

Then today, I pick him up from school and he brings out his drawing for the day.....a great picture of Jon and I and it looked like we were hugging....I said, are Daddy and I hugging, he said, no you are getting married!

Soooooooooooooooooooooo, talk about feeling guilty!!!! egads, and Micah is ...well, whatever it is......I never knew he even knew what being married is....and then to throw kissing in on top of that.

Favorite Summer Smells

2007-07-12T19:33:00.000-04:00

My circle of blog friends have started a weekly photo challenge. This week the photo challenge is summer smells.

Two of my favorite summer smells are ...

Cows

Fresh Cut Hay

Ms. Shizue and Origami

2007-06-28T23:50:00.001-04:00

Micah loves "hot chicken" (General Tso) and begs to eat it. About 2 weeks ago, I caved and went to China Imperial because he eats cheap there....During our discussion on where to eat, I told Micah we would eat Chinese.....of course he wanted to know what is Chinese....hmmmm, I said....people born in a place called China are Chinese....

In the restaurant, I asked our waitress to tell us in what country she was born and that is how we met Ms. Shizue (she-zoo). Ms. Shizue was born in Japan and was tickled to death that Micah was interested. She came back with an origami balloon for Micah.....you blow on it and it puffs up like a paper balloon.

The next day the Honeytree was all abuzz with discussion about Micah's special balloon. Next thing you know, origami books have been checked out from the library and little hands are furiously working at folding paper. Today, the grand finale was Ms. Shizue visiting the class to make origami and talk about Japan. Each child received an origami balloon to take home and loved it!

Micah with an origami crane for good luck! Notice the map in the background. The kids have studied about Japan and origami. Micah introduced Ms. Shizue and pointed to Japan on the map to tell everyone where she was born. I am not proud! LOL

The boys were mesmerized! Jackson, Owen, and Ty, with Travis and Mason on the front right.

I couldn't catch these three watching the origami...it was a photo opportunity they refused to miss! Kayla, Isabella, and Chase with Alyssa in the background.

Summer Time

2007-06-24T16:04:00.001-04:00

Micah and I journeyed out to purchase a $12.00 swimming pool from Wal Mart. Micah had a grand time playing this afternoon as evidenced by the photos above. I will tell you that I have never been able to go in Wal Mart and purchase one thing....always so much more that is needed!!! LOL.

Just a note to ponder:

Excerpt from an email my mentor Linda sent me: "In much the same way, when I shine, I believe I am reflecting the warmth and love of God’s love upon me. As I reflected on that, my inner God voice suggested that possibly the degree I shine is in direct proportion to how open I am to receiving God’s love. When I notice someone else shining it is because I am recognizing they are a child of God also and have become open to seeing God’s reflection of love upon them. I believe God loves everyone. So when I have a problem with someone, it isn’t because they aren’t loved any less by God. It is because I’m not open to seeing that love of God upon them."

Siblings and Best Friends

2007-06-19T22:46:00.000-04:00

My siblings are my best friends hands down. There is a total of 7.5 years age difference between the oldest and youngest. My mother had the first three children within 3 years and 2 months. The baby lagged behind a few years. In the picture, far left is Leslie, Anita and Rusty.

Rusty will turn 40 in January 08....the baby.....I think we have finally let him grow up. Somewhere along the line, we realized that he was no longer 12. Rusty had it tough.....three women (Mother, me and my sister) in the family telling him what, when and where to do .....Consequently, he has made a very good husband!!!! LOL....he is used to being bossed around. He is great with his kids and does a ton of housework, laundry and cooking. Rusty and family live within 10 miles of where we grew up in Yazoo County, Mississippi.

Anita is the third born and will turn 44 in October and has two sons. Her first grandchild will be born in late September. It is a boy! Our family is so excited.....My sister had the first grandchild in our family almost 23 years ago! There was great joy and love to see our family grow in the next generation. Our Mother is still adjusting to the great grandmother concept! And of course we all take every opportunity to make her more aware of the situation. Anita and I share a very special bond and have been good friends since our early 20's. Within the last six months, Anita moved from Yazoo County, Ms to Lake Providence LA with her husband, 5 dogs, 1 cat and 1 horse . She is great at decorating and always has a project of some sort going on.

Leslie, the oldest, 11 months and 18 days older than me, lives in Brandon MS about 50 miles from where we grew up. He is someone that I trust with making decisions in my life and to look at them from a logical standpoint and help step back from emotions. I think we do that for each other. For about 12 days of the year, we are the same age. When we were very young, we would run around singing "we are twins" after I had my birthday. Leslie is divorced and enjoys riding his motorbike on cross country rides and is going to be a grumpy old maid!

That leaves me, second born, oldest daughter. I love my brothers and sister very much. My nephews tease us that we all have the same laugh and when we get together it sounds like a bunch of ducks quacking....and we all agree it does....but laughter is one of the things that keeps us close.

I hear so many people who speak of sibling rivalry and not being able to get along. We all have seen so many families fall apart after the death of a parent or loved one. We each say that will never happen to us......and I have to admit, the older I get, the more I pray it never does.....but the emotions brought on by death/tragedy can do strange things to our hearts. So we will continue to laugh together and know that if that day does come, we will work our way through it, just as we have worked through other stumbling blocks in our lives.

Home Grown Tomatoes

2007-06-18T21:12:00.000-04:00

Homegrown tomatoes....nothing in the world can beat that taste. This year, I finally planted my first grown up garden...LOL....at 45 almost 46.....There are 5 tomato plants, 3 cucumbers, 2 yellow summer squash and 1 watermelon!!!! A very small garden compared to the gardens we grew when my parents had slave labor...one year we planted over 200 tomato plants alone.....there was almost 10 acres in tomatoes, beans, peas, peppers, okra, squash, cucumbers, and sweet corn ....my Daddy loved to have us pick it all and then give it away to people at church......we grumbled alot....

So I love my small garden, easy to hoe and keep the weeds down. Micah helped me weed early on without supervision and I ended up with 1 tomato plant left in the garden...the one giving us tomatos now! We have been getting tomatoes for over a week now....Micah loves to eat them straight off the vine like an apple. I have been meaning to get a picture of the tomatoes on the vine but it is hard to beat Micah to them!

P.S. Thanks to all who attended my Pity Party!
P.S.S. The windows in the picture really arent as filthy as they appear!!! LOL wink wink.....It is the flash....pictures were taken at dusk with no light on in the house....the top picture was so dark you couldnt see the tomatos until I enhanced it.....thought it was pretty interesting.....

Judy's Pity Party

2007-06-14T21:26:00.000-04:00

Today's picture does not have a damn thing to do with the blog...the blog is about me!!!! I am struggling with being a single mom 24/7 and you are all cordially invited to my pity party. There are a few rules...this is all about me, not you and I am going to be the Center of the Universe for a night and Cinderella for the evening......... seriously, I need some ME time.....that could just be going to the bathroom alone and watching what I want to on TV with no one else in the house....Ugh, no one told me that raising a child was going to be 24/7....lol....I look at me in the mirror and now know why my Momma was crazy...there were four of us and we were stairsteps....course Momma had her children done by 25 and was a grandmother at 41.....I became a Mother at 41.....I know I am not alone and there are women everyday having children in their 40's but now I know why it takes a village to raise a child, why generations use to live in a household and why it is so important to have family close......I am slap worn out! Dad is in Denver, Colorado , so isnt much on giving me a night out...best I can expect is a phone call right before bedtime everynight......Micah and I are going to visit Denver during 4th of July and instead of staying with Jon (ex), I am going to leave Micah with him and do something on my on......whew, I feel better. Thanks for joining me and dont faint because I posted!

Trip to See Daddy!

2007-05-03T20:08:00.000-04:00

On March 9, 2007, Micah and I loaded up the yellow XTerra to catch a plane to Denver Colorado to visit with Micah's dad, Jon.
Once there, we went to the mountains and made SNOWBALLS

Daddy and Micah build a SNOWMAN....
I say it is a snowrabbit on steroids.

SNOWBALL FIGHT WITH MOMMA

Who I Am

2007-05-02T21:13:00.000-04:00

This is the heart of my soul, the one place where I can go and rejuvenate who and what I am, and regain a sense of peace. This is home, Route 1, Box 51 Bentonia, Mississippi, 39040.

There are no marshes, no beaches, and no Atlantic Ocean. Just miles and miles of cotten fields, corn rows, soybeans, momma cows and trees. And this is where I find peace that can not be found anywhere else in the world for me.