2019 Joy Journal

April 17, 2019 Had a really nice chat yesterday with a lady that works for Amazon. I was appreciative and it made her happy.  Went and had my hair done. Stopped in at the Flour Girl bakery and thanked them for the cupcakes they donated to the tennis tournament.  Had a nice email visit with Adele Brown. Brittany started her first day at HDR today! When they were here for Second Sunday Supper I said, and "Jon Marc's going to take a picture of you." When she sent me the picture, she siad, "Jon Marc said, 'My job is done. I did the one thing Grannie told me to do."  Beverly and JA made it safely to San Diego and have their new address. She's not sure they'll stay in that RV park, but it is less than ten miles from the jobs that most excite her, so they're going to give it a try.  Got to hug Kennedy. She's getting ready for her pop up show tomorrow night.  Little text visit with Tori. She's still fighting her cough, so we laugh...

June 27, 2019 Amber sent me a text to let me know she received her birthday cards. She said, "Thank you so much for my bday cards. It made my day getting them, especially the one from second Sunday. I have been homesick since I can't be home for my birthday. I love you, Grannie!"  Heard from Andrew and Skyler and Tori and Kennedy. Tori and Josh were getting ready to play an online game with Josh's brother. Kennedy said they had a little hiccup in their presentation, but that they got through it. 

November 8, 2019 Barry and I had a nice evening. Went to Ruby Tuesdays instead of the Mexican restaurant and kept our eating on track. We're going to Firefly tonight. Heard from Andrew. Heard from Amber. She said she remembers baking cookies with me.  Heard from Annette and Skyler. 

October 4, 2019 Heard from Andrew. He is in town to go to Annette's Atlanta race with her, but I might get to see him Monday morning for breakfast. Got to voice visit with Beverly last night. She was headed to an Elizabeth Warren town hall.  Heard from Tori yesterday. :-) She sent me a picture of her drawing for the day.  Heard from Amber. Morgan had a pumpkin patch party for Taylor and her boyfriend and Zak and his girlfriend. Zak sent me pictures.  Evan called Barry and is supposed to come over Saturday with the boys to visit.  Heard from Annette. Little text visit with Beth.  Zak posted pictures of their pumpkin carving night on his Facebook.

October 2, 2019 Angela sent me a "good morning" text. Annette sent me a "love you," text last night. Heard from Brittany Monday night. She's excited about planning her wedding. Angela and Tori playing their online game together. I sent Kennedy a meme about a pilot identifying their place in the sky by the shape of a cloud (like a lion) and she knew immediately that I was remembering when she was little and wanted to be someone who watches the clouds when she grew up.  Touched base with Beth this morning. She is expecting a busy day. Morgan and Angela came to the house for lunch yesterday and that was so much fun. Davis spent yesterday with me. All kinds of smiles and happiness ---- crawled over to me, stood up and put his hands on my legs. I said, "hug?" and he held up his arms and when I picked him up, he put his head on my shoulder.  Zak called yesterday. Amber posted about missing her siblings. Sent Evan a text and heard back f...

September 3, 2019 I get to have breakfast with Andrew tomorrow! Angela, when she called to tell me that she had gotten a job in Mobile and is moving back ---- I was so happy, she was so happy, she couldn't wait to tell me and she didn't want to do it by text.  Beth and Rodney have been in Chicago with Morgan, Amber, Zak, Brandon, Amber's boyfriend, and Davis. Lots of fun, lots of pictures on Facebook. Shawn is engaged.  Faith and Michael and Brooke came over yesterday to swim, and we sat at the kitchen counter for a long time and visited.  Heard from Brittany. She and Jon Marc spent Labor Day weekend with his family and had a good time. Pictures on Facebook. 

August 23, 2019 Today is Jaden's birthday!  Heard from Amber today. :-) She starts her next college classes on September 11, at a campus that is right around the corner from where she lives. 

August 16, 2019 Beth called yesterday afternoon and we talked for a good thirty minutes, really longer, I think. It made me happy to get to have such a good visit with her. When I opened the mail, there was something to me from Andrew, Annette, Brittany and Skyler --- a hummingbird pop-up card, with a sweet message. I told Zak I was curious about the cards he and Morgan were talking about with Gabby, and he answered my text --- a game called "What's your meme?" He said she won the most cards. Amber said she is enjoying her yoga class.  Tor walked in shaking her head and grinning.  Me- What's funny? Tor- Daddy's just being so cute. M- About what? T- (sigh) Everything.  His laughs when they are near him. His face when they greet him at the door. I've been watching it for so long but it never fails to fill me in unexpected ways.

June 7, 2019 Barry and I drove down to Firefly after work and just set out on the deck for a minute ...he picked up his fishing rod. Time just flies by when we're down there. We went to Bailey's for supper.  Heard from  Skyler. Enjoyed visiting with Tyler on the way to and from his class. Got a text from Angela this morning, with a video. A turtle is laying eggs just outside her office! Got to have a little phone visit with Beverly. She should be getting the schedule she expected, starting next week, and she was signed off on some things that she had to get through, even though they didn't give her much time to prepare.  Heard from Kennedy. She may be over this weekend. I shared a fish article on Zak's timeline and he responded.  Beth will get her CT results one day next week. Heard from Amber. She said she got in a two mile run along the lake!

June 4, 2019 Kennedy is here!  I got a "Happy Tuesday," text from Angela early this morning. Brittany sent me a picture of a vase that she has, and that she has filled with a collection of sand, including sand from Vero Beach. Beth sent me a text. Facebook chatted with Morgan a little bit yesterday.  Zak posted on Facebook and I commented on his post, and he said, "Love you, Grannie!" Amber posted a picture of some paleo baking she'd done. Had a good visit with Tyler yesterday when I took him to his class. Had a good walk with Bertice this morning. 

May 3, 2019 Barry and Holly and I spent last night at Firefly. We left here at 7:15 last night and got back here at about the same time this morning. We walked out on the pier. We took Holly for a little walk. We took her to SeeMore and then walked around a little bit. We talked about the popcorn trees in the lowland. And then we sat in the glider swing that is near the edge of the bulkhead and watched the stars come out. As we settled in, I laughed and said, "This is what old people are supposed to be doing." He seemed unsure what to say, so I clarified, "This is what we are supposed to be doing."  Got to voice visit with Beverly yesterday. She had her first day of orientation at her new job. Heard from Kennedy. She'd taken care of getting a flat tire changed and is hoping to come over Sunday to hang out.  Heard from Amber. Had a text from Beth.  Got a lot of errands taken care of yesterday. Shawn and his friends came over to swim.

April 29, 2019 Yesterday, at Goodtimes, we took a break in our card game for Faith and Michael to make the brownies. Noah and I were standing at the end of the kitchen table, talking, when he just put his arm around me for a hug.  Kennedy came and I got some hugs.  Faith said Daniel had wanted to skip Goodtimes to go out in the boat with his girlfriend to celebrate their 6 month anniversary, and she had stressed to him the importance of going to see his grandparents.  Got to see Kim and John when they brought Noah. As they were leaving John said, "So you told all those kids that you had a car full of stuff and no one is helping you?" And then he called Noah and they got the groceries in while Kim kept Holly from escaping. Skyler had planned to come but she got a bad sunburn on Saturday. She was here on Saturday with four of her friends so they could swim, so we did get to see her.  I got a text from Angela this morning. Amber put an article about mana...

April 26, 2019 Enjoyed my walk with Bertice yesterday. Heard from Lori this morning. Got some of my stitches out yesterday.  Heard from Tori. She said it had been an eventful day and that she and Josh were headed to a movie. Heard from Kennedy. She will be here Sunday, but has been very busy in the print lab. I've lost track of days, but I'm still happy about getting to have a nice phone visit with Beth. Just the sound of her voice telling me about her day.  Did I tell you that Amber was accepted into an online college to continue her sports medicine?  Chelsea posted a picture of Jaden sleeping in his big boy bed.

April 23, 2019 It is a beautiful day. It was a little chilly this morning but has warmed up nicely. I didn't sleep well last night, and so slept late this morning. It will make getting everything done a little dicey, but I think I'll be all right. The thing I did yesterday was to prioritize my walk. So, I got to the office later than I intended. More like 1:30. But I spent a little over an hour on the Melton Center. I didn't accomplish too much --- typed up notes from our advisory board meeting and rearranged what I have reviewed for our fundraising committee meeting.  Beverly had a successful interview yesterday for the job she wanted a Planned Parenthood.  Heard from Brittany --- she said she had a happy Easter. Amber sent me a text --- "Just got a great call at work. ...Accepted into an accelerated Exercise Bachelor's Degree program online through Franklin University. Accelerated means I will finish faster than the normal and be eligible for a combined...

March 22, 2019 Annette sent me a good morning text message. We had a fun supper with Zak and Vivian at Quickly's last night. We got to hear about their trip. Vivian may get a shift change at WalMart, so she'll be able to be at Second Sunday Supper again. She's applied for a WalMart scholarship, and it would be really awesome if she got it.  Heard from Skyler. Heard from Andrew. Got to have a nice phone visit with Beverly. She had expected to work yesterday, but they called her and told her they don't usually schedule people on their last day, so she didn't have to work after all.  Heard from Angela. She and Tori are driving in this weekend. They're going to come over here with Kennedy and pick out some things for her new apartment. Heard from Tori. She is looking forward to being able to swim. Kennedy called to update us and sent some pictures of her new comforter, etc. She said, "Thank you for helping me feel ready. I feel so ready. I lov...

March 4, 2019 The house is straight, and easily so. The weekend chores are done, and I put some extra Wonderland time in, and so made some project progress there.  Barry and I spent some time at Firefly. The deck is almost finished. We spent some time together in the greenhouse, planting seeds.  I got to talk to Beverly a little bit on Saturday.  Evan, Chelsea, Jaden and James were over for a few minutes Friday night. Jaden smiled at me and wanted to play chase.  I got a text from Andrew. We got to talk to Angela and Tori for a few minutes early Friday evening. They both seemed pretty happy. Angela said that she works alone on Fridays and so is usually behind all day long, but this Friday had been easier. Tori had told me she was in meetings and so I asked her if that meant she was telling people what to do. She laughed and said that she was coordinating with more people.  Morgan posted some pictures of Mardi Gras, and a videos of Davis laughing an...

February 25, 2019 Andrew: California is the most racist place I've ever been, and when you consider where I'm from, that's saying a lot. The Spanish and the Asians and the blacks don't even acknowledge each other, and don't have anything to say to each other --- that is good. I come in and say, "Hi!" to everyone. That confused them. When they need something done they come to me because they don't know which contractor to call, and that isn't even part of my job. They all bring in food, but just for their own little group. I'll bring in ten dozen doughnuts and get on the radio and tell them we've got doughnuts and they're for everybody. .... When he calls for help, he gets more than he even needs. He needed to move his equipment to another location, way on the other side of campus. He asked if a couple of people could come help him. So many people showed him, he didn't even know how many. He said he was literally just handing each ...

I finished my little art book! It was a surprise because I hadn't looked ahead to see how many pages were left. Mission accomplished!  Barry and I went to the Brazilian steak house last night. We think next time, we might just do the salad bar. There is really a lot on it. Monday nights are comparatively quiet, which made it nice.  Beth came over at 8:30 yesterday morning and the three of us rode down to Firefly and enjoyed the pier and beach. There was a place in the sand where bird tracks and puppy tracks came together and looked like it had caused one of them to make a big wet spot. That cracked her up! Morgan met us at Waffle House for lunch. She usually goes to see Davis, and usually goes to her car to feed him, and it was rainy, so she didn't really want to do that.  Evan and Chelsea came over last night with the boys, so we got to hold James and play with Jaden. Evan said his managing shifts had gone well, even if it did include a small setback. (Something ...

January 18, 2019 Barry and I had a nice time over our coffee this morning. It is nice not to hop up and be pressured to get started on the day.  I didn't send any of my weekly postcard texts until yesterday, but I had little visits with Brittany and Amber and Abby and Kennedy and Morgan and Vivian and Annette and I heard from Skyler. Angela and Tori called, and Papa and I both got to talk to them.