What a day!

We loaded up and went to Gainesville yesterday. Had to make a visit to Sam's Club. We all decided to go except Frank who was at work.

Here is Johnny showing us various points of interests in Newberry.

Just inside Sam's Club they have this over sized fishing chair. It was $99 and has 6 cup holders in the arms.

This chair is large enough to fish and take a nap together in. A cuddle chair.

Had a little visitor to the yard today. Because of the rain they are really crawling. Love it and hate it at the same time. Don't want the snakes.

Here's a close-up. We took his picture and sent him on his way. Didn't take him long to leave the yard.

So then Mimi decides to check out the ditch in our front yard and of course the tadpoles and minnows were definitely abundant. She also caught this little fellow. A crawdad. Once again we took his picture and sent him on his way also.

Anyway we got home yesterday to some bad news. Frank was home before us and we found out he has been laid off from his job. According to the boss man things are slow now, however some of the newer employees were kept on and some of the older ones were laid off. So once again he is back to job hunting. Makes me wonder how at 50 years of age and with 3o years of a stellar truck driving career can all come to nothing . Seems like a waste. I am so angry. This man gets up faithfully every morning, goes to work, supports 2 families (3 when mom is here LOL!) never make a complaint and it can all come down to this. Of course we are laying it all in the hands of the Lord but it sure is hard. So this afternoon he was gone all afternoon looking.

On the other side of it, Johnny is feeling immensely guilty. We don't know how to make him understand that it would be no different even if they weren't living with us. Once hi starts getting his disability check then he will feel better. It's the not having any money of his own.

His stats have all been pretty good. His blood sugar has run around 250 on average. (Can't keep him out of the grapes. Once these are gone mo more for him. He's addicted to them things).

Well now for a little something to cheer us up.....

Unusual Dream Homes!

WOW!

Some days the good and the bad seem to happen. Started out this morning making a big breakfast for everyone. Mimi wanted pancakes so I had a little fun with them for her. Of course she thinks I'm weird. But hey, it makes for an interesting start for the day.



Next it was nap time. Got to rest up before lunch you know. With this heat it is just too hot to do anything. Mimi wanted to go ride Laramie but it was just to hot. (and it takes forever to load up all the saddles and tack).

This kind of weather is good for just one thing and I thing our little Diva "Rosie" here has figured it out.



In the next two pictures you will notice that the windshield of my Explorer has been damaged. Frank and Mimi were coming home for the horses last weekend and a buzzard flew up and caught them. Frank couldn't avoid it as there was another car coming towards them. Luckily it didn't come all the way in but Mimi did get covered in fine bits of glass.




On our menu for tonight was Fried Mullet that Frankie and a friend of his (Ricky) went out into the Gulf and caught. They usually bring in somewhere around 50 each time they go out so now Sissie and I have quit a freezer full. This is just a few I cleaned and got a pic of before they all got filleted. I personally love cleaning fish and with Mimi and Johnny's help we can knock it out pretty quickly. Of course Sissie is no help at all. I'm guessing her hands are too delicate to be touching fish. LOL!

So along with some Grits and Tomato Gravy, Cole Slaw, Fried Cabbage and some Hush Puppies we had a wonderful dinner tonight.


Now for the worst part of the day. Frank and Johnny were out messing around in the yards and the area between our houses and my moms when Johnny found this.....



A water Moccasin. This is a whopper of one. And the first one we have seen here in years. We see rattlers and coral snakes but believe it or not, we rarely see these and thank goodness for they can be aggressive. This one was found out in the area where Mimi keeps her aluminum cans. Frightening to think she could have been the one to find this. Anyway Johnny put a board on him and held him down while Frank ran and got the rifle. Johnny put him in this plastic bottle so we could show him to our neighbor. Sissie says he now has to wash and disinfect himself with Ajax before he can get in her bed. All in all pretty scary.



Not much planned for this week. We are going to Gainesville Wednesday shopping at Sam's Club and other than that just stay at home and enjoy the AC. Mimi will start working on some of her schoolwork also. Frank is now working four - 10 hour days so this gives him one more day at home (a three day weekend) and somebody for Johnny to bother other than us.

He has been doing pretty good this week. His blood sugar and blood pressure have seemed to leveled off. He and Frank have been trying to build a smoker for some of the fish Frankie keeps catching so they are busy until the hot part of the day and then in for a nap.

Well that is the update in our part of the South. Will post more later.

Lazy, Rainy Day

As has been the norm here in Florida lately, it is a rainy lazy day. We have been enjoying this rain for a week now. Tropical depression #5 didn't last long but has given us some nice rain. Makes for lazy days. Made Beef Stew and Homemade Yeast Rolls for dinner. (as cold as Sissie has the A.C. in this house on could almost imagine that it's winter time LOL)

Johnny is doing ok. He is still gaining weight slowly and and his Blood Sugar doesn't seem to be improving any.

The pictures today were taken last night. The baby is Kaitlyn, (Kaity-bug) she is my brother Johns' grandbaby. Hard to believe he is a grandfather. Just wish he were here to know her.


She is a very loving baby. She loves her Uncle Johnny. Chrissy (her mom) and Kaity-bug are staying in Chiefland right now while Craig (husband and dad) is out at Fort Hood in Texas training. He just came back from his 2nd tour in Iraq and will now be stationed in Texas. So we are enjoying having them home for a while.

Not much else going on. All is quiet here. Until tomorrow.

A Few Pics...

"Kasey" mom's dog. He sure loves to run and play.

Joyce's new grandbaby

It is only by the grace of god that Lindsey and the others survived this wreck!! Thank you Jesus

On the Menu Tonight...

Crispy, Southern Fried Mullet
Fried Cabbage
Creamy Grits topped with Tomato Gravy
Hot Hush Puppies
Sweet Iced Tea

and for desert

Fresh from the oven Peach and Blueberry Cobbler

Not often we do it up big but Frankie has been doing a lot of fishing lately and our freezers are filling to the brim. I am so glad that the fishing ban has been lifted out in the Gulf and that the oil spill has not affected our area here.

Johnny's sugar is still running high. it was 419 at 5:oo pm today. Not sure why it has all of a sudden started running like this, but we have noticed an increase in his eating and snacking this last week. This last grocery trip we severely limited his snack buying also. His next dr. appt is in about 4 weeks unless things tend to keep getting worse.

His stats for this morning are:

W - 192.8
BP - 121/77
BS - 277

The Results Are In...

The dr. is definitely not happy with the way things are going right now. I am going to be brutely honest here. His sugar was 319 this morning and his weight is continuing to go up. He has not been taking the best care of himself lately. He has been eating a lot of sweets and snack food. Unfortunately he has also been drinking and last Saturday he pulled a bad one by getting terribly drunk. I know, I know, we are all thinking the same thing. But Sissie is really trying to keep a tight rein on him, but that is an almost impossible thing to do when he sets his mind to something. He was upset and a little angry about something and just let it get the best of him. Of course he has been on his best behavior since. Not sure what the effect on his health this will have but I sure hope it isn't a setback.

He will continue to take the Glipezide for now, but if his sugar doesn't return to normal he will have to go on insulin. He has 4 weeks to change it around.

So all in all, not the best dr. appt. ever but hoping the next one will be better.

Johnny....

is at the doctor's office as we speak. An update will follow.

In the meantime please enjoy this: