Good day for Jon!

Jon had an amazing musical day yesterday. He and two guys from work have been secretly (in the back of the store room at work) practicing two songs for a co-worker's retirement party. Nobody knew they were to perform, and they totally knocked everyone's socks off!! It was amazing, and glorious, and so, so fun to listen to.

And, we got to hear Reva perform, which was also fabulous. She played lovely, high class violin music in the background of the party, then got progressively more 'fun' until she and Jon were playing the blues. Everyone at work will be talking about that for a long time.

Later, Jared and Reva had musical friends over for a jam session, as shown below.

Solei stayed up and enjoyed it.

Good day for Jon!

Waiting for the Baby--Oh, Never Mind

This week I went to Florida again. We thought the baby would be born - and, of course, as soon as I arrived Kathrine's contractions quit. So, we decided to have some fun.

The first day we explored the Museum of Florida History. Michael decided that he wanted to be a steamboat captain when he played on the steamboat.

The second day we went to Wakulla Springs, the largest natural springs in the world. The cave that the water springs from is about 185 feet deep, and cold. What was really great was all the wildlife along the river. We took the guided riverboat tour for about 45 minutes and took lots of pictures. Michael got to sit in front - like a steamboat captain.

You can see just how ready to pop Kathrine is - on the dock.

There was an abundance of birds. You can see here a big white one, a blue one, and a few ducks. (Sorry, I can't say the technical names of these birds.)

And there were a ton of vultures - just like in the movies!

These are bulrushes, like where Moses was hidden.

And these are tree roots.

And we saw alligators!

We ran over one in our boat. He dove down...

...and came up swimming.

Here are some more sunning with turtles.

Here is a gorgeous white bird.

The next day we went to Maclay Gardens, which was equally as thrilling - all in bloom and like a paradise, but the camera wasn't working. Sorry.

Good week.

Only in the South

Here are the winners of the nursing home's pre-contest for Ms. Nursing Home of Georgia. Aren't they something? The one on the right will compete at the next level.

Miss Cobb County MC'd and Miss Mall of Georgia sang. (We have a Miss for everything!)

Only in the South!!!

It is a dreary March day, but from our front door there are trees busting out all over! Big puffy white things that make you sing, 'I looked out the window and what did I see?', pink Cherry blossoms, Tulip trees, daffodils, etc. Leaves coming too...

And today the doctor tells me that I have allergies - for the first time.

Not fun...need to LEAVE the South.

And Church rummage sales. The churches are really gargantuan in Atlanta and have bigger than big sales of children's items. Of course we went. I got this changing table for $5.00 and the mattress for $10.00, not to mention a pile of Baby Einstein videos.

Love the South.

Solei is getting to know her Atlanta relatives...

She has stolen her great-grandad's heart.

And he gets to do a lot bragging to all the old ladies when Solei visits!

I can hold her again now that I know I'm not s-i-c-k.

She likes to flirt with everyone, especially her papa.

That's all today - from the South.

Look who's here!

Yes, Grand-daughter #2 has arrived in the USA! Isn't she cute? She likes all of Nana and Papa's toys and the backyard.

Her mommy and daddy are here also (we love them too).

5 Coats of Paint

I have just a week with no grandchildren, so I'm going crazy painting walls - I started redoing all the inside in 2007 and want to get it over with!!!

I'm trying to create some similarity between the rooms, so the house deceptively appears more open - like new homes are...
So it flows....

It took 3 coats to cover up the deep red with cream in the Dining Room. (OK, but it was so boring to have the Dining Room the same color as the hall.)
Then I bravely, and tentatively, have added 2 faux coats of metallic gold. What do you think????

Should it be more metallic?

I want to finish up today while all the furnisher is in the middle of the room (no small task to move!)
What do you think??????
Maybe more some brass in the kitchen would be fun! Am I getting out of control with this metal look?