OUR FRIEND, MIKE, FOUND HEAVEN THIS MORNING- ROGER FOUND IT EARLIER

I don't even know where to start

with this post.

To say we are in a state of shock

would be an understatement.

A while back I did a post

about MyHero's friend, Mike.

MyHero and Mikey have been friends

since they were young.

They drank together when they were young

and gave the devil a chase down the alley

on more than one occasion.

However---

In their early adulthood they settled down.

(well-kinda-almost) 

 Mike led a jail ministry and witnessed

about how God had changed his life 

to anyone that would listen

and to some that didn't want to listen, too.

When Mike and his wife were younger they

had a band.

He had a phenomenal voice and sang like

Kenny Rogers and they made beautiful

music together.

These are pictures of Jan & Mike

each taken with their youngest son, Nate.

I am stealing Nate's pictures but

I don't think he will mind.

About 20 years ago Mike had 

almost the same cancer

that MyHero has now.

He beat it but lost a tremendous amount of weight

and has never been able to eat properly 

since then.

He became weaker and weaker and lost

his ability to do much of anything.

MyHero convinced him to get a feeding tube

several weeks ago.

Mike started to put on weight 

and was feeling better and brighter.

He went back to leading his bible study group

and was 'plugged in' to life again.

This morning, unexpectedly, God called

Mike home.

We are all in shock at this point because

he was feeling better than he had felt in years.

Maybe we all needed to see the 

OLD MIKE 

before he became the 

NEW MIKE in Heaven.

He leaves behind a beautiful wife, Jan,

Two sons, Chad & Nate,

a sweet daughter, Terra,

(plus their spouses)

and beautiful grandchildren.

Please pray for them as they navigate the waters

of grief.

Also, pray for John/MyHero as he mourns the 

loss of yet another long-time friend.

We also lost another friend, Roger, 

earlier this week.

I have not had an OK to do a post about him

so I will make this brief.

Please just send prayers and healing thoughts

to his family, too-his wife and two sons

and spouses and grandkids.

God will know who you are talking about.

Just say you are praying for 

Roger-who was bigger than life!

ps.  He was a musician, too...

I bet he and Mikey are up there

setting those angel toes a-tapping.

Not sure Heaven was ready for 

either of them!!!

RIP MISTAH. JEFF! We will miss you!

Our friend, Jeff, passed away.

What a blow for MyHero

as he is recovering.

When MyHero and I were dating

he had two best friends.

One was his roommate, Greg.

His other best friend was Jeff.

Jeff and John went through lots of ups and downs

in their early adulthood.

They commiserated with each other

during those hard times

and, in so doing, became

BEST FRIENDS.

When we got married we moved to

Wisconsin, MyHero's home state.

Jeff, being a Southern boy, stayed

DOWN SAWTH!

We saw him sporadically over the years,

when we traveled back to the south,

or when he came to visit us.

We visited them at their beautiful estate here.

Not sure WHY these two boys are so serious-

they were usually yukking it up about something.

We were delighted when he met and married, Miz' Barb,

(this picture does not do her justice-

she is just a beautiful OUTSIDE as she is INSIDE).

She's a wonderful woman who made a better man

out of an already good guy.

John called Jeff a couple of months ago

to tell him he had cancer.

When they hung up, John told Jeff he loved him.

That would be the first and last time

that he ever said that to him.

On about the 8th of March,

Jeff was not feeling well and went to the ER.

Long story short-

Jeff was full of cancer-

too late to do anything about it.

Ten days later, on March 18th,

he passed away.

No pain-No meds-Talking right up to to end-

He just stretched out in bed and went to sleep.

Miz' Barb is heartbroken.

They were connected and always together.

We so wish we could be there with her 

to offer support and love.

We will visit her later this summer

when MyHero has recovered

and see the spot where Jeff is buried.

It is hard to believe he is gone.

He was one of those funny guys with a dry sense of humor

that enjoyed a good joke.

Being a 70s sort of guy,

he used to refer to people as 

TURKEYS...

as in--

"That guy's a real turkey" 

OR

'That TURKEY doesn't know WHAT he's doin'".

That made it especially funny when he 

bought a mountaintop retreat-

AND

when we went there we found him...

you guessed it...

he was feeding REAL turkeys.

Rest In Peace, Jeff.

We will miss you, old buddy!

See you on the other side.

Hope they have some turkeys over there for you!

Edited to add:
Just remembered- we have another
TURKEY CONNECTION
with Jeff.
I sent them my 
TURKEY OIL PAINTING
after they were here and admired it.
(proving that God has a sense of humor
in providing me with a turkey painting to give him)

I will have an update on Friday
about MyHero and 
Bob Wagner, our dentist.
Thank you for your continuing prayers.

One Of My Most EMBARRASSING MOMENTS In Life

Let me preface this by saying
this was NOT my finest hour.

This is my friend, Patty.

She is expounding on something.

She is a VERY GOOD expounder.

This was taken a few years ago.

Yes! She had one of THOSE sweaters!

I think we all did.

Anyway, my most embarrassing moment

involves moi, Patty, and my daughter, Mimi.

We were at a

WOMEN'S CHURCH RETREAT.

There were meetings that took you from 

laughter to tears.

You know that feeling, right?

I will try to make this short.

There had just been a very sad story prior to the upcoming moment.

You know that feeling?  

You are emotionally charged one way or another?

.

One of the lecturers was talking 

about someone she knew.

He was working on his car and 

GOT UNDER IT 

holding a gasoline soaked rag 

and because it was dark 

HE LIT A MATCH.

Well~you can imagine what happened.

He got burned.

NOT FUNNY, RIGHT?

Well, Mimi side whispered to me and Patty.

What kind of idiot lights a match under a car 

with gasoline there?

Patty started breathing heavily and 

covered her mouth & closed her eyes.

I started to laugh to myself (inside) 

but I was shaking.

Pretty soon Patty was shaking, too,

and then it happened.

SHE SNORTED.

I lost it- I was shaking all over 

and put my head down

on my arms on the table in front of me 

so that I wouldn't 

lose it completely,

hoping no one would notice that I

was laughing uncontrollably.

The woman on my other side (that I did not know)

thought I was taking the story very hard and 

PATTED ME ON THE BACK.

Patty and I started howling out loud.

Mimi got up and pushed her chair in between us.

We hung our heads in shame.

At the break we left the meeting and 

did NOT go back for the last talk.

So, the moral is,

never go to a meeting with Patty.

She is BAD LUCK and someone

might wet their pants!

not me-thanks for asking

ps-the man in question recovered completely

pps.  We never have.

Have an embarrassing moment 

YOU want to share?

I'm all ears-well, and mouth, obviously.

Shabby Chic Surprises At Every Turn

You know I am helping my

friend, Ruth, sort through her "stuff"

so we can stage her house.

We have gone through 

her 

formal living room

and

two bedrooms so far.

We have emptied closets,

emptied chests of drawers,

and emptied baskets

and storage containers.

She knew what she had but

I was smiling all over when

I discovered some of the pretty things

she had hidden away.

We have found some very wonderful pieces.

She has trunks and trunks and trunks.

These are going to auction and 

YOU WON'T BELIEVE

what is hiding inside.

I'll show you tomorrow if I can get my act together.

Love cherubs?

She has several!

The auction house is coming in a few days.

Meanwhile, we are sorting and packing.

Ruth is making some fast decisions

and I am proud of her.

It is no easy feat to let go of

things you have collected for years.

They have offered me anything I want.

They are generous like that.

But....I, too, have
SO MUCH STUFF,

but I found a few little things

that make me smile and think of Ruth.
I'll show you the BIG THING they gave
me soon-after I break the news to
My Hero....shhhhhh

As for the Mr?

Well, I told him he had to pack his

OWN DRAWERS

(literally)

cuz  I was afraid I might come across

something that looked like THIS!

Ha!  You have NO IDEA how funny

this really is....Tom in a Speedo!!!!!

Think CONSERVATIVE and MODEST.

 I am probably "in for it" when 

I get there this morning!

I hope he doesn't shove me in one

of those trunks and slam the lid shut.

Things like that HAVE been known

to happen, you know!!!!

The Party's Over And I Ain't Dead Yet

Wondering what I did with

that table, are you?

Well~Yesterday we had

 a French themed party

here for Little Lulu's 

10th Birthday.

How DID she get to be 10?

I am doing a short post

this morning because I

am too tired to do more!

My daughter made these

"flags" for banners on

her computer.

Do you love them?

Lulu was VERY SURPRISED.

She got all choked up and 

teary-eyed when she walked

in.

Her babysitter took her 

for the day to spend some

special time with her and got

her all dressed up.

Then she brought her here

under the guise of 

"showing Nana 

how cute you look".

In the entry hall she was

met with this.

There's my table and I

will show you more of that

another day.

A banner across the opening

into the dining room read

CELEBRATE

And one across the family room

fireplace said

BONJOURE

There were roses on two tables.

Where paper plates were

married to white plates

from my everyday set.

 16 friends came to celebrate..

here are the first few arrivals.

We had a beautiful

three tiered cake.

The color is hot pink but

doesn't show up that way here.

And pink malted milk balls

on a tray from my friend,

Donna- My Shabby Chateau.

Is that the perfect tray, or what?

Now..

I am too tired to post more 

right now but 

SOMEONE 

was REALLY EXCITED

while waiting for her sister.

She got her hair cut.

Don't you love her new do?

Sooo...while I would

LIKE to stay and CHAT

I am off for my coffee..

cuz if I don't get my 

coffee- it ain't purty..

and that is all I'm gonna

say 'bout that! 

Tomorrow- 

Day FIVE of the

Giveaway will 

continue- 

PINKY PROMISE!

Kitchen Re-Do

Most of you know that

MyHero and I have re-habbed 

14 houses since we got

married.

What a job!

Most were done with a 

houseful of brats kids.

We decided to stay in

this house and live here

at least until we both retire...

then...

well, we'll see.

However,

I LOVE re-doing a house.

I LOVE

picking out colors~

and flooring~

and cabinetry~

I LOVE

 pulling a room together.

So, when my friend, Jan,

called me she

 screamed HELP

wondered if I would help

her with some choices.

Now, she is one smart gal,

BUT, she has never done 

this before.

They have a sweet, 

cottage style house

with wonderful gardens

where they raised their 

family.

When we had our window,

siding and door company

we did their siding and 

replaced their windows

with energy efficient ones.

NOW, FINALLY,

Jan has made the move

to UPGRADE the interior.

I didn't get shots of

the BEFORE before.

I did get shots of the

IN PROGRESS.

What a mess, huh?

I thought her hubby would

cry like a baby when I told

him that the fan/fixture

HAD TO GO!

Where the area is blocked in

(behind the ladder)

there used to be glass block

behind the stove.

That has been filled in

and will house the new

microwave/vent combo.

There was a half wall

with wrought iron railing

separating the dinette

and the living room.

(It ain't never gonna be

1960 again, folks)

Here is her new choice of

flooring/cabinets/wall color.
True colors are really not this yellow-
stupid camera-
stupid photographer
(wait-that would be ME)

 She really likes the warm

soothing colors and so does

her hubby.

Her hubby is MyHero's best friend.

They like to whine to each other

about Jan and me...pfffffft....

they plan to get a room together

in the old age home with a sign

on the door that says

No girls allowed..

especially Jan & Diana....pffffftt.

Anyway~

The kitchen, dinette,

living room all flow together.

So, that means there is lots

of co-ordinating to do

to make the rooms cohesive.

She has dark khaki furniture

and her new color choices look good

with what is already in place.

There are hardwood floors

under the  living room carpeting

and she picked out a carpet

with some bold graphics to

anchor the room

(a very bold choice for Jan!;>)

I am proud of her!

Did I mention that most of

my friend's hubbies do a 

LOT OF EYE ROLLING

when I come over to 

"suggest" something?

Hmmmm...they are 

SUCH spoil sports...

what do you mean you

don't want to take out that wall?;>)

So, I will keep you updated

as we go along, unless Jan's 

husband kills me on one

of my visits.

And I will 

STILL COME BACK
to haunt him.

And THAT'S a  threat promise!

update :  different flooring and
paint colors coming soon~

Smiling Through The Tears

As most of you know if

you follow here,

last Saturday was kind of 

a sad day.

We had a memorial service 

for our friend, Keys.

This is one of his posters

that was used for one

of his concerts.

We're pretty sure that 

Keys is up in Heaven

trying to change the 

chords the angels are

using and telling

Gabrielle that his horn

needs polishing.

This was taken at one of 

his last concerts.

I cannot tell you 

how many times we moved

his piano for him...

more times than I 

want to count!

Most of our family

attended the  memorial service

and funeral.

There was no body present
(he was cremated)

so TPot & hubby brought

the girls,

Lulu, Ria & SweetCheeks.

MyHero gave the message

that would close

Keys journey here on Earth.

SweetCheeks sat very 

quietly through the service

but had a few

STAGE WHISPER

questions.

If you remember,

Keys was a short little guy,

always dressed in black,

using a cane, whether

he needed it or not.

A very European kind of guy.

His cane was placed next to the

urn in front of the funeral home.

SweetCheeks,

looked at the cane

and asked in her earnest

little way.

Hey!  How dihd Keys dihe?

He was sick, SweetCheeks. Shhhhh...

  Did he dihe becuz he was shorht?

No...shhhhh..

Do shorht people dihe fashter?

(eyeing Keys Mother up who is

92 and

all of 4'10" on her tiptoes)

No...shhhh...

She looks around the

funeral home which is 

quite beautiful with 

chandeliers and rich tones.

Hey!  Who builted this place enyways?

Did Keys built this place?

No....shhhhhhh....

Huhhhhh!  How long is

Papa gonna talk?

Are we gonna have some

lunch after this?

What's the old saying?

Life goes on?

And so it does....

A person passing over 

that causes you to pause

for a moment to reassess

life and mourn the loss

and shed a few tears.....

and a bright little

new generation

with her whole life ahead of

her....that can make

you smile through those tears.

Blessings to you today.

I hope you have someone

that can make your

heart  smile

even on a dark day.

Molly Thanks You For Your Prayers

A couple of weeks ago

I asked you for your

prayers for a

friend's daughter, Molly.

Isn't she beautiful?

You can read about Molly

here~

Anyway,

I got an email from her Mom,

Julie,

thanking all of us for the prayers.

With her permission I am

re-printing that email below.

Praise God!!!

Molly saw the Neurologist in Madison this morning. The first text I got said “All’s well,  I’ll call with details soon”. What wonderful words to read! Then she called shortly after and said the cyst has probably been there all her life. She could have been born with it, which could have possibly caused her seizures when she was young, or it grew after she had the seizures, or is just there and had nothing to do with her seizures. I am pretty positive it grew after because none of her CAT scans or MRI showed anything when she was little and we were never told there was anything. Anyway, if we can confirm through past records she wasn’t born with the cyst, they will do another MRI in a year or so to see if it has grown at all. The doctor suspects it will not change and is just there!


The doctor said her headaches are NOT from the cyst. She said Molly’s neck and shoulders are extremely tight and wants her to have more massages and some physical therapy. She also prescribed a couple of meds to help with the pain and nausea she gets with them.


Thank you for praying. Thank you for your emails, cards and encouragement. Thank you for putting on your prayer chains and blogs! We are rejoicing in this answered prayer. We love the body of Christ. To God be the glory great things He has done!!!

Thank you all so much for praying for people that you don't even know- I do believe that God hears every prayer.

A Bride's Nightmare

If you remember,

the night before we left

for our

LONG DRIVE....

we went to a wedding.

You can read about it

on my post a couple of days ago.

(for some reason this WiFi

access won't allow me to link to my

old blog posts- weird)

Anyway!!!!

Thursday night before the wedding

we had a terrible storm.

One of the worst wind storms

we have ever had...

winds 60-70 mph.

That's windy folks!

As we traveled North

to the wedding we saw

things like this....

and this...

and this....

As a matter of fact,

we didn't make the wedding..

but we DID make the

reception.

Remember the beautiful

reception place?

Yeah?  You do?

Didn't happen!

Why?  NO POWER..

They found another

venue thanks to the

people in charge of

Horseshoe Bay.

It wasn't quite the same

but it was wonderful.

They brought the food with them,

and Mr.G's provided the space

and set it up

at 3pm on the afternoon of

the wedding

for an

"emergency reception"

It turned out to be a wonderful

night-

No one felt any panic..

It is just the way it was...

and the bride handled it

beautifully...

as did everyone else.

I have more pictures to

share later

but for today

I have just a couple.

Here is the beautiful bride,

Amanda,

and her Mom,

(and my good friend),
Laurie.

And here is Amanada with her

Mom-In-Law, Pat.

She is so in love with

her new

daughter-in-law.

And here they are...

Two Moms..

pleased as punch

to be related to each other

through marriage.

And while I am typing away

here in the motel room...

You-Know-Who

has discovered

the joys of a remote TV

that brings in

ANOTHER SPORTS

Channel.

Is he smiling because his team

is winning or because

he knows I am taking his picture?

I am signing him up for

Sports Addicts Anonymous

as soon as we get home.

Seriously...

Really...

Truly...

WAIT!

Never mind...

cuz if I DO he will

notice how much time

and money

I spend at Starbucks.

Pray for me tomorrow-

I will be out of

Starbucks range for

at least 3 days!

I can do it...

I can do it...

I can do it...

I hope~

A Prayer Please...

Julie used to work for my husband.

She and her husband, Marv,

have 2 beautiful daughters.

Just as I was about to write

a post for my blog last night,

I got this impassioned plea

from Julie.

Julie never asks for anything for herself

but she is pleading for us to pray

for her beautiful daughter.
Below is a picture of her daughter, Molly,
Molly's hubby and children.

Here is her email to me..

printed with her permission..

We are asking for prayer for our daughter, Molly. She has had a headache for over a month and saw her Doctor. He did blood tests and a cat scan. The blood tests were fine but the cat scan showed a grey area and he ordered an MRI. The MRI showed a fluid-filled cyst attached to the right lobe of her brain. They are assuming it is benign. She is scheduled to see a Neurologist in Madison on October 7 (She lives in Waupun). The Neurologist has instructed Molly to keep a journal of her headaches for the next 3 weeks, until she sees her. There have been no other symptoms (praise the Lord!)

Please pray that she can get in sooner (she's on a cancellation list). We first, of course pray for a healing and for the cyst to be gone when she sees the Neurologist. We covet your prayers that this is truly a benign cyst, that can be removed without complication. Please pray for Molly's peace of mind, that she would trust in her Lord and focus on Him and not her circumstances. Pray that her headaches would subside. She has a 5 year old, 3 year old, and 1 1/2 year old, so life is busy for her. Pray for her husband, Jamie and their 3 precious children as they wait on the Lord along with Molly.

If you would like to share this with any prayer warriors you know, please do so! Thank you so much. To God be the glory, great things HE WILL DO!

I can't think of a greater group of people to share this with than all the wonderful friends I have made here in Blogland.  I KNOW we have some prayer warriors out there...please pray- Thanks so much!

Wedding Bell Blues...

If you read yesterday's post
you know that my daughter's last
BFF from school is getting married.
Here's her day~
Kristin cried all

day.

She cried when she got up.

She cried when she got dressed.

She cried  and SHOOK

when she was

putting on her lipstick.

She cried when she

walked down the aisle

on the arm of her brother.

She wasn't crying because

she was sad.

No, indeedy!

She was crying because she

was so happy.

Happy and in love.

Happy and loved.

When she got to

the front of the church

a miracle happened.

She stopped crying

and

she started smiling.

She smiled for the rest of the day.

So~ You are wondering what

was the BLUE part of the day?

Well,

All the bridesmaids

wore aqua blue dresses.

Here's one sister...

Here's another sister...

Her friend and old roommate,

One of her best friends from school.

And, below is my daughter,

who decorated the church

and the reception hall,

and made the hairpieces

that matched the dresses..

Doncha just love the hanger in

the background?

Adds a little something special

doesn't it? unhmmm

(You know her best as the

Mom of SweetCheeks)

The flowergirls wore

dresses that my granddaughters

had worn.

Let me tell you,

they were expensive dresses

but today as we counted

the flowers girls that

had worn them we realized

that this was the

EIGHTH wedding

for these dresses.

Just the sash color gets changed.

We wash them on gentle and hang

them to dry.

Crazy, huh?

And MyHero did a wonderful

job performing the wedding.

It was tender and touching

and produced a few laughs.

However, at the end everyone was

quiet as the final prayer

of the blessing for

 a happy healthy marriage

winged its way towards Heaven.

The reception was a wonderful

affair.

It was at Brett Favre's

restuarant.

There was a lovely

mixed green salad.

a smoked chicken breast,

a small tenderloin,

potatoes,

fresh al dente veggies

and

cake.

Of course we had cake

At the end of the evening,

I asked for one last shot

of the bride and groom.

When I said

SHOT

they kinda looked at me..

and then I realized that

SHOT to a policeman

has a whole different

meaning.

They smiled anyway.

Congratulations,

Kristin and Taylor-

You are beautiful.

May God bless you

and your marriage.