Not that anybody reads this, but I need some prayer...

My mom just called. My grandfather, who is 92, going to be 93 in Dec., fell out of bed. At first they thought he might have broken his hip, but now they think it might have been a stroke. He's had dementia for awhile now and he doesn't remember anyone but my dad. My dad actually still looks like he did when he was a kid :) I have good genes! Anyway, my grammy, lives in the same facility but in a different area is pretty upset. As you can imagine. She also found out a good friend of hers that would come visit her everyday, died suddenly today. Please pray for my Papau and Grammy.

Papau and Grammy have only been married 7 years, but we love her a lot and I hate for her to be so sad. Papau comes to visit her everyday and every day he has to be reminded that she is his wife, but she loves to see him.

Thank you.
 **Updated 10/25 @ 9pm:  Papau passed away. Please pray for Grammy and for the rest of us. Thank you. Some of my best memories as a child through now are about my grandparents.

Back in the saddle again

Wow. It's been a very long time. A lot has happened since March 2009 and this would probably make it on the contenders for longest post ever if I try to include everything so I'll try to stick to the highlights.

Well, I went back and skimmed over what I've written so far, so onto the update. I think it will be easier if I do it by person.

Tyler
He's amazing! I totally get it now when people say "If I would have know grandkids were this much fun I would have had them first." I don't get to see him as much as I'd like, but he sure is growing up. He'll be 2 in a couple of months. That's him with me in my profile pic.

Tiffany and Tyler at the park with Army and myself.

Tiffany (& Army)
Tiffany is still working at Red Lobster. They love her there and if I do say so myself, she is very good at her job. She's having some issues with her Dad and family at his house. She believes her sisters stole from her and is not getting the resolution she hoped for from them or from her dad. She has never had a close relationship with him and now that she is older, and has realized that holding everything only makes you sick from the inside out, she is ready to say to him that she doesn't feel like he protected her when she was young. Without going into too much detail, her previous step-mother was crazy. Boy the stories I could tell, but in the interest of not having a colossal post, I will refrain. Anyway, she and I have spent time together recently (which I love) and her telling me things I never knew (and my heart breaking  - which I don't love) and she needed to do what she needed to do to remove, or at least lessen, the stress she is under with the relationship she has with her dad. She's been struggling with finding herself emotionally and keeping the Trichotillomania under control.She's been scared about her health (and so are we.) She is around 90 lbs. We recently found out she has a hyper-thyroid. She doesn't have insurance right now so it's hard. She's getting there though and I'm so proud of her for sticking up for herself and doing what she needs to do to be the best "wife" (not married yet) and mother she can be. Army lost his job a couple of months ago too. So the stress level at their house is pretty high. She turned 24 on the 9th and I tried to make a big deal. It was fun. I took her and Kayla to the Melting Pot and bought her a lot of things - Christmas decorations, jewelry by Premier Jewelry, perfumes and products from Arbonne, and a book on making your own candles and/or spa/body products -  all on sale. Plus some money to spend how SHE wanted. She was happy :) and I'm happy seeing her happy.

Kayla

Kayla being silly graduation night at my Mom's with her graduation pie :)

Kayla is heading at breakneck speed towards 19 and I want to slow down time.She also works at Red Lobster and recently was lectured to by her sister about how to be a good employ. She's learning though. I can't believe my baby is grown up and in college now too. She graduated and even got a Bright Futures scholarship. She is going to get her AA from the local community college and then she wants to go to University of North Florida (UNF) in Jacksonville. Now all she has to do is get her act together and apply.  She's going to visit a friend in Ohio in December and then spending a few days in New York City with another friend that is going to college there. I think all of her attention is on that right now and she's going to get a rude awakening when she realizes she won't be able to leave when she wanted to because she is lolly-gagging. It's hard stepping back and letting her learn those lessons on her own.

Now I'm a Mimi (grandma) it's time to get it together and get healthy

I let myself balloon up to 282 lbs. Four years ago I got serious (for the millionth time) and lost 55 lbs and had gained it all back and then some since I got married. There's been a lot of stuff going on with David, Lyric, Tiffany, and Kayla and I let it all overwhelm me to the detriment of my health. No more! I'm on a lot of different medications everyday - 9 to be exact - and I think the doctors have finally got them straight (which is a tremendous relief) and without doing anything else I had lost 15 lbs since the middle of December. Starting Feb 19 I started a company sponsered Fitness Camp and then the next day signed up for the "Biggest Loser" that a group of people at work started and I've lost 11 lbs since then. I've been exercising and I also started back with Weight Watcher's Online (which is how I lost the weight before) and I feel I'm finally back on track.

I want to be able to really play with my grandson. I want to be able to run with him, and after him. I don't want him to think, "Oh, I can't ask Mimi that. She won't be able to do it." I can hardly get off the floor once I get down and I have to bend over to see my feet. Besides, I think my husband will like it too.

Here's a before picture from Christmas Eve. The quality is poor but you can still clearly see the rolls under the shirt. I can take these pants off without unbuttoning them now. Yay!

I'd like you to meet Gwendolyn Strong

I'm not sure how I found Gwendolyn's page, but I've been a regular reader ever since. Gwendolyn was born perfectly healthy, but at age 6 months was diagnosed with SMA Type 1. This beautiful little girl and her parents have touched my heart in so many ways. I can't imagine finding out your little girl has a terminal illness and being able to rejoice in her life the way that Bill and Victoria have done. I feel so inadequate to describe how much I admire them and how their courage has strengthened me for the, small in comparison, things that I've had to deal with. Please read about Gwendolyn and sign the petition to end SMA and join their fight. The buttons are to the right. You can also read more about Gwendolyn and the fullness of life that her parents bring to her everyday here.

It's really been a long time this time...

Well, this blogging stuff is not as easy as it looks. First I decided that I wanted to change the name of my blog and then I just spent an hour trying to update the template. I finally found a "Florida-ish" one, so I'll see how this works out.

I meant to put a picture of my new grandson, Tyler, on here; so here it is. I'm a pretty sappy person by nature (I cry at 30 second commercials), but I told my daughter that I thought I loved her and her sister a lot, but the way I love this little guy is heart filling and amazing.



There have been too many things going on to mention all at once, so I'll go about it slowly. First though, I'm going to highlight the blogs that have taught me so much about love, courage and perserverance over the last months. I've "met" so many women that I admire, and so many children that have touched my heart. I just want to share some of them.

Tyler gets here today!

Here's a picture of Me, Kayla and Tiffany.

My grandbaby is getting here today. I'm so excited and so nervous all at the same time. I think the nervous really came out in the red, and I do mean red, highlights I put in my hair last night.
I feel so inadequate to tell my daughter just how much I love her and how excited I am for her as she starts this new journey with Army and Tyler. My baby is having a baby - who'da thunk!? When she was little she told me she was never having babies - she was going to adopt. Isn't it a good thing they don't hold us to all that we say when we're young?

I got a new camera!

I mentioned David got me a new camera. I've been experimenting with the settings. Here is what I have so far.