Hair Color Change

I decided to go ahead and get my hair colored as mentioned in a previous blog. I'm so glad I did because I love the subtle change! In the sun and certain light the orange/red/auburn really shows and looks really cool. Then in regular light my hair just looks like a darker brown. He said he took it 2 shades darker. What do Pamela's Girls think?

Outside the salon in the mission.

Reading a book Cici got for me, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, while BK watches multiple football games. Do you know who I got this from? That is reading while others are watching sports? I personally can't stand football but love baseball, softball and basketball. :)

Love you all!
SanFranS

A Mommas Meal

On Saturday, I had an eye appointment in Florence in the morning. On the way back, I stopped by the Farmer's Market to buy some fresh vegetables for one last summer Mommas meal and wanted to share it with Pamela's girls. It included meat loaf(a must for a token meat), a "mess of peas" on rice, creamed corn with biscuits, fried okra and a sliced tomato. Although I dirtied about every pot and pan, I must say it was yummy and well worth the effort.

I also want to thank all the Pamela's Girls for all they did to make the 40th anniversary for SS and me so special. Mommy M put together an amazing album with a beautiful hand-painted cover, which included such sweet letters from all of you. We are continuing to enjoy looking through it and reading all the letters, and wondering how in the world Mommy M was able to do it all without us ever suspecting a thing.

Then while we were at the beach, SanFran S arranged a wonderful meal for us at a unique little restaurant, the Collector's Cafe:

We were free to order whatever we wanted, all expenses paid including tip, with a special dessert of peanut butter chocolate pie. It was all delicious! We knew SanFran S assumed, rightly so, that if left to our own devices we would go to our regular favorite, The Sea Captains; but this way we tried some place new and had a wonderful memorable evening.

SS and I have been most fortunate to have the sweetest, most thoughful, loving daughters EVER, and we thank the Lord daily for them.

Love to all my Pamela's Girls,

CiCi

Our Beach Trip

Baby B and I had such a great time with Leslie and Baby S at the beach this week. It was a lot of work keeping up with two toddlers on the go, but they had such a great time together and Leslie and I had so many laughs as usual. I’ve included all of the photos on Facebook, but these are some of my favorites.
The babies learned a lot from each other… Baby S taught our Baby B how to feed her doll a bottle and Baby S was amazed by all of the “cool” things that Baby B could do. They also had their first kiss in the bathtub which we have documented with many photos… They are going to be so angry with us about that one day:)
Baby B also developed his very first freckle on his foot while we were there. I tried to make an arrow pointing to it since it was hard to capture with my camera.
From chasing the seagulls, suckers on the beach, to golf cart rides to the park and beach, it was a fun, monumental week with our good friends that we will always remember.
Happy Friday to my Pamela’s girls!
Love,
~Mommy M

Duffield Adventures - Past & Present

Being in Duffield, VA this past Labor Day Weekend made us all remember the (now) humorous GPS adventure that Uncle R & I experienced trying to use our iPhone maps to get Aunt Callie to her favorite lunch spot - The Hob Nob Drive-In.

I can't remember which of the Pamela's Girls I sent this to - back when it happened - so thought I'd include it here along with some new photos...



From: Auntie J
Sent: Monday, January 26, 2009 5:15 PM
Subject: Re: hi

We had such a good time with Aunt Callie!

I think that she was feeling pretty good and we all talked non-stop and ate and also took a nice drive on Saturday afternoon. It was a beautiful day and so we drove to Big Stone Gap, Appalachia and a little town called Norton (I think it was…).

Before we went on our drive we thought we’d go to the Hob Nob and eat lunch. We thought we remembered where it was, but Uncle R googled it on his iPhone and it gave us a route to take. It hit us as odd, because we thought that the Hob Nob was off to the right on the 4-lane highway heading to Kingsport and that it was located somewhere before you get to Gate City. Well, the route that Uncle R was shown said for him to turn off to the left - and when we got to the turn indicated we were pretty surprised because it was a little gravel road.

Interesting, we thought. It must be a handy-dandy little shortcut that will dump us out on the right road. Maybe we were remembering some other place off to the right. Good thing we have an SUV because this road wound and curved in steep slopes and hairpin turns that dropped off to oblivion on one side of the car and rocky moss-covered boulders on the other. Aunt Callie kept remarking; “I’ve never been out HERE before! It’s amazing what’s right out in your own backyard!” while Uncle R and I tittered nervously.

We got to a point where my iPhone’s GPS said; “I don’t know – don’t ask me!” and we passed a sign that said; “If you think the county is going to come out and make sure this road hasn’t washed away – think again!”

Then we were at a dead end where a creepy dueling banjos kinda house was perched on a hill above us with a front porch piled with various junk heaps that extended down the front steps, across the yard and ended with a couple of rusting cars that made turning around an impossible looking feat. Uncle R almost tried turning around in one spot and I yelped that it looked like some other cars had gotten stuck there and had been forced into getting a tow-out. So Uncle R went to the very end of the road where the junk cars were and he did a slick three-point-turn as only he can do, while a couple of hound dogs licked their chops and a cat ran down from the house like we were a rolling can of Fancy Feast… which,…I guess we were. It was seriously bizarre. I wish now that I had taken a photo of this place, but at the time I was locked in a frozen stare thinking that I’d better start praying.

We could see what was probably the connecting road, but it was across a rock-strewn river and stand of trees. The GPS mapping dude must have been mistaken for a revenuer and never turned back up to notify anyone that there was not a connection to this nifty little shortcut.

So we backtracked and made our way back to where we THOUGHT the Hob Nob was, which was INDEED where it was. As we munched on our hamburgers, we asked Aunt Callie what she thought about that drive and she smiled, sipped her decaf and shook her head in disbelief; “That was SOMETHING ELSE!” she said. I giggled till I cried.

Her short term memory is a bit faulty, but for 95 she’s totally amazing and sweet and interested in everyone and everything around her. She’s an absolute pleasure and hopes to maybe see us again soon. We told her that YooDee would love to come back with us next time maybe and would have come this time except for a church retreat. We told her maybe Nephew J and his wife, Niece J, could come too.

Duffield was its beautiful self, but we also got some interesting glimpses of Big Stone Gap and Appalachia that would we like to go back and see. What cool places they were.

We miss you guys! Love you!!!

Auntie J


On January 26, 2009, at 9:27 PM, ednjudy@comcast.net wrote:


Dear Uncle R, Auntie J and Sister B,
I enjoyed your description of your visit immensely!
About your little side trip: You may be right about the fate of the GPS dude. On the other hand, did anyone else detect something kinda familiar here? Now I don't know exactly what sort of things people do in heaven: I don't know if Dad plays a golden harp or if he prefers the baritone, or if he has joined the heavenly chorus, but I would not be surprised to learn that he enjoys tinkering with GPS gadgets, maybe enjoys it A LOT. I can see hear Dad saying, this road has got to be a shortcut to somewhere, and if you don't go down it today, you may never again have the opportunity to see the sights there today. And it is sure to be an adventure!
Love, Judy

From: Uncle R
Sent: Monday, January 26, 2009 11:02 PM
Subject: Re: hi

Dear everyone,

We did, indeed, have a marvelous time with Aunt Callie... and our little drive was, um, even more of an adventure than Auntie J quite makes it out to be. There were indeed hairpin turns on this dirt and gravel road so narrow that it was a close choice between scraping a gaping hole in the one side of our SUV against the jutting rocks, versus the earth giving way under our back wheels, precipitating a slide and tumble down untold height of mountain on the other hand. There were several places our wheels spun and kicked gravel just to climb a steep rise, and going downhill around sharp blind curves was a bit more like 4-wheel skiing than driving (with the added incentive that driving off the side of the mountain would, I suppose, have allowed us to ask Papa what he meant by tinkering with the GPS face to face!)

And as for the place where the road ended... the sign notifying us that “State maintenance of this road ends here” (to which I say, "What? You actually claim to have maintained this goat path of a road?") and the real dirt road began leading to the mud pit and the littered “yard” of the frightening cabin... I can only say this-- the movie “Jaws” did something which alerted the public conscience of the dangers of swimming in the ocean in a way that still gives ocean swimmers the heebe-jeebies... what “Jaws” did for the oceans, the movie, “Deliverance” did for anyone potentially stranded or mud-stuck in the backwoods without benefit of a gun, hatchet or kevlar underwear. Let’s just say that when the wheels started spinning in the mud on our quick 3-point turnaround (being real-careful NOT to run over one of the dogs that seemed to have never SEEN an actual car before, let alone have caught one and have it surrounded...) well, I’ll just say this-- I could could not imagine we had more than a moment’s time before someone emerged from that cabin with firearms cocked, aimed, locked and loaded. They say of the opera, “It’s not over till the fat lady sings”-- in the mud of that holler, I could hear the dueling banjos playing.

All of this became amusing when we sat in our relative comfort back at the Hob Nob eating burgers and fries and all of us got the giggles. Cousin Do later wondered if perhaps the mapping software had been trying to direct us to “High Nob”. I don’t know where that is, but it sounds like a desolate, lonely place to die. But sitting there eating, our GPS had steered us so wrong, I decided to give it another chance-- Now you can type in a phrase (like, say, “Mexican Restaurants”) into the iPhone and it will drop 3 or 4 pins onto the map around you showing your current location and how to get to each one... (complete with phone numbers, ratings, menus, sometimes even a photo of the building). So, sitting there in the Hob Nob, I typed in “Moonshine” and “Certain Death” and it dropped in pins all around us. We laughed until we cried! And went to Big Stone Gap on the main highway instead.

Uncle R

Los Angeles Trip

Over Labor Day weekend, BK and I took a trip down south to Los Angeles after getting a really good deal on tickets ($33 each way). It was so fun to see the sites, my best friend who is from there and to be in such amazing weather! We went to a pool that had an awesome view of the city skyline and celebs often visit it because it is small, quiet and not a huge "LA Scene" like other pools. It's one of Jennifer Aniston's favorite restaurants and spots, but unfort. I didn't see her. I usually only see D List celebs who I know look familiar but can't place until I go home and start googling. While I was going through security at LAX, across from me was this couple (Giuliana and Bill) who have their own show. At first when I see celebs I just feel like I know them and try to figure out how. That's what happened until I realized they were way too perfect looking and knew I'd seen them on t.v.
I took a lot of pictures for Pamela's Girls, I hope you enjoy them.

Sunset Tower Pool

At the Dodgers vs. Giants Game



Putting My Feet In the Pacific Ocean in Santa Monica

Love You Pamela's Girls!

My FINAL House Project.... Really!!!

This really, truly is my last house project. These bookshelves were dark wood and athough it took a lot of painting, I think the room is so much brighter and modern now.

I hope Cici and SS have a wonderful Anniversary weekend!!!! We are so thankful for your relationship and love you so much!!!!

Happy Labor Day weekend Pamela's girls!!!

Love,

~Mommy M

Donda, Pamela & Anniversary Wishes!

I ran across some photos this past weekend that I found really sweet. They include Pamela and my dear friend and sister by choice, Donda. Sometimes you are born with an awesome sister – like I was with sweet CeCe – and sometimes you have the chance to add someone special.

Donda has certainly been that kind of precious friend in my life.

If you look closely at the photo of Pamela, Donda & me you will notice that Pamela is hanging onto Donda’s arm. Pamela loved Donda. And Donda loved Pamela. When I went off by myself to Belmont College far away in Tennessee, I knew that Donda would be checking on her “second mom” while I was gone and that meant a lot to me. It was reassuring to know that my friend would be dropping by and sitting at the kitchen counter with Pamela and having long conversations over iced tea or coffee. She loved Pamela in my place and yet it was obvious that it was for herself too. Donda's mom, Lizzie, is in one of the photos and I always thought of her as my "second mom" too. I didn't get as many heart-to-heart conversations with her as I would have liked, but thoroughly enjoyed her sassiness and great sense of humor!

Donda and I have been friends now for 40 years. That’s really hard to believe because it seems like just yesterday that we met at junior high school when I talked to her about my big sis who had just gotten married. I was missing CeCe and in many ways I see how the Lord provided this wonderful friend to comfort my heart. And her loving and thoughtful heart has been a source of comfort and camaraderie very often over the years.

And of course – we are all so, so happy to wish CeCe & SS a very happy 40th Anniversary this weekend! We love you & have been so thankful to have your wonderful example of a Godly couple through the years. Have a great Anniversary weekend!!!

Love to the Pamela’s Girls,

Auntie J