2019 Joy Journal

March 27, 2019 I have delivered our Wyatt personal tax paperwork to Taylor's office.  Walked with Bertice.  Did a little writing that I found fulfilling. Got a text from Kennedy --- she said she has some good news. Heard from Morgan. She is going to be off on Fridays from now on and is going to come volunteer with me on Friday.  Noah's team won yesterday.  Evan and Chelsea and Jaden and James came over last night. James gave big smiles and is holding his head up strongly. Jaden just enjoyed running around in the back yard, throwing the ball. He loves jumping down from the fireplace and looking at each one of us to make sure that we are each clapping. At one point, he came and got each one of us by the hand and took us back to the family room so that we could play the game again.  Evan starts as Assistant Manager next week. 

November 20, 2019 Had a fun text conversation with Brittany this morning. Tori and Josh changed their relationship status yesterday to "In a relationship." Naturally, that prompted a text. She laughed, and said they had just been out to dinner and realized they hadn't ever changed it back.  Had a little text visit with Morgan last night and this morning. Heard from Shawn. He is planning on being at SSS. Barry and I had lunch at Firehouse yesterday and got to visit with Faith a little bit.  Had a good walk with Bertice yesterday. 

November 13, 2019 Angela stopped by the house and gave us some hugs before she went home. She and Morgan had a good day getting things ready for the office Christmas party.  Davis spent yesterday with me. He's old enough now that he is more aware of his surroundings and felt a little bit like he needed to check us out at first. It had been about six weeks. But it didn't take him long to warm up and smile and baby-talk. He recognized the drum and thumped on it a little bit. He reached up for hugs. He slid down out of my lap and as he got to the other room turned around and waved "bye" to me.  Morgan got here early enough and stayed late enough to visit with me some on both ends, and I was happy about that.  Morgan and Angela here for lunch. Lots of love and laughter.

October 31, 2019 Heard from Shawn yesterday. And heard from Tori. She said, "Josh made some fresh pico de gallo to go with dinner and it is very yummy, so I'd say Wednesday went pretty well."  Heard from Beverly. She was tired, but packing.  Talked to Rodney when we called to wish him happy birthday. Had a little text visit with Morgan. She is excited about Halloween. 

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 30, 2019 When Morgan was here last week, as I hugged her bye I was making a little poem/song and ended with "You are the best, you just need some rest." She used those words as a tag in a post she put in the joy journal, about Davis sleeping through the night for three nights in a row. Makes me feel so good and useful.  Angela is home. She is at Phew! and I am so content with the state of the house. It is clean and finished and pretty --- I'm really tickled with my decorating choices --- and while it has some little oddities that might get in the way of being a perfect forever home, those oddities aren't going to get in the way of it being a good, comforting, pleasant shelter while she takes this next step and starts what she is calling her "first big girl job." I feel at peace. Kennedy drove over from Pensacola yesterday and so we got to visit with her a little bit. She helped Angela unload some things from her car, etc.  Most of the exp...

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 14, 2019 Got to text visit with Brittany last night. She was in Jackson, Mississippi where her company sent her to get some training on scour and learn counter measures and how to predict it.  FB chatted with Annette a little bit this morning. Heard from Kennedy --- she'd just gotten off work and was about to head to Tampa. She got there late last night. She and Angela and Tori fly out for California tonight.  Little visit with Morgan. I walked again this morning, so I'm happy about that. I cut back on my eating some yesterday --- I didn't cut it in half, but I didn't eat any more ice cream, and I had carrots with my lunch time sandwich. I'm almost done with the laundry --- at least the part that has to be done for me to be able to pack. I switched up a little because it is easy to do the linens when I drive in from Firefly in the mornings.  I made fairly good progress with Wonderland yesterday. Got to talk to Daddy yesterday morning. 

June 14, 2019 Barry talked to Dave Ferrante yesterday and we have just come to great new places in our adventure. Dave told Barry that he has learned more from working with him than with any of his other terminal managers.  And, we're excited. The three owner-operators who wanted to be able to go ahead and buy their trailers can do so. We are on track for getting Donald into his own truck with his own trailer. We've made a decision about running our trucks. I've talked to Derek about getting his corporation set up.  ~Tyler was so mature and helpful yesterday, and loving. I needed to change Davis and so put the changing pad on the front passenger seat. I worried aloud that this might not work too well because Davis is longer than my seat is wide, and Tyler reached in, offering his finger to a crying Davis, "Here, do you want to hold my finger?" And after the change was done, Tyler offered me a diaper wipe for my hands and offered to take the diaper to the d...

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 29, 2019 I took myself to Firefly yesterday morning to walk and write. I forgot my RV key, but the porta potty is still there, and my coffee tasted good black, which I hadn't expected.  Heard from Brittany and spent a few minutes text visiting with her. She sent a picture of her and Jon Marc at Disney, which is where they were that morning. Heard from Annette. She said she had a great time in California with Andrew. I had sent JA a picture of the big, ripe blueberries growing on our bushes, and I heard from him.  I told Angela that I had smiled several times that day thinking about her supervisory position and people getting to see how smart and organized and accomplished and hard-working she is. She thanked me and sent me an afternoon hug.  I saw a post about a bug museum and I put that on Kennedy's page, and she liked that. Heard from Morgan. She was in the office yesterday since they all had Monday off, so we didn't talk for too long, but she seemed...

The red amaryllis just outside my writing shack window are in full bloom, always reminding me of Tori's graduation.  The tennis tournaments have been rained out so far, but all of the inconvenienced players were gracious and appreciative of the work done to put the tournament on.  Morgan and Brandon and Davis came over yesterday, so I got to hold him and get some of his smiles, and got to visit with Morgan. We went to Firefly. Kennedy came over Saturday night, and she and Barry got a lot done on the project they're doing for Frank, and she went to Firefly with us.  The tennis tournament took everything last week, so I didn't send any postcards, or hear too much from anyone. 

March 11, 2019 Second Sunday Supper was a lot of fun, and this morning is going well.  Heard from Andrew --- text --- really busy at work. Brittany called me in to the bedroom for a minute and Jon Marc jumped  up from the dining room table and said, "Wait a minute!" Brittany handed me a gift bag, saying "We went into a gift shop, and I saw this first thing, and said, 'I have to have this for Grannie." A turtle-shaped coffee cup that says "I turtilly love you!" So sweet.  She called me the other day --- said she'd started to send a text but then thought, "I haven't talked to Grannie for a while. I just want to hear her voice."  Skyler drove herself to school for the first time today, in her new car. Annette talked about taking Skyler with her to get the oil changed, and letting her be the one to have the conversation with the people there. They've opened a checking account for her, too. Angela and Tori and Kennedy hel...

March 8, 2019 Tyler gave me an extra hug yesterday. I'm not sure Wylder recognized me, but he wasn't afraid of me. He walked up to me and wanted me to pick him up. :-)  Tori said they were going to go see the Captain Marvel movie.  Kennedy said she's gotten the power turned on in her new apartment! Morgan assures me that Davis hasn't forgotten me. Zak and Vivian are on their way home! I get to spend the early afternoon with Beth. 

Just had the best walk with Bertice. The time just flies by as we walk and talk.  It is a beautifully sunny day -- cold, but sunny.  Heard from Annette. She and Skyler will be at Second Sunday Supper.  Morgan wrote a blog this morning. I complimented her writing. She thanked me and said, "Maybe it runs in the family." ;-) 

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 19, 2019 Kennedy is listed on Escambia Reads website now, as the Program and Marketing Assistant. She was assigned to them as part of her school work program. Now they have her more in the art department, but it looks to me like ECARE really wants to hang on to her. I went to the mall yesterday morning and had a nice walk with Bertice. I went to Publix and stocked up on the cereal that I like, and the fibre cereal that Daddy gave me, that I can't find anywhere else. They had pistachios, too, so now I finally have the ingredients for my regular breakfast concoction again.  I picked Skyler up from school on Tuesday and we got to visit a little bit. She is taking piano at school. Kennedy may be over this evening.  Noah responded to my text re: his soccer game this afternoon. Chris and Tyler and Wylder stopped by so Chris could get some of his mail. Tyler gave me a cord he found that had fallen on the ground, and asked if Mama Cat liked her ca...

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 ...

Morgan, as part of conversation about dressing babies up for grandparents and great grandparents, and Goodtimes: "We spent so much time in Papa's T-Shirts! That's still my favorite thing to wear to sleep! 2X" Brandon said, "She even wears it out sometimes." Morgan added pretty quickly something like "Just to the ComPac."  Kennedy said that Saturday was her first day being paid to work in the art department. :-) Work study program.  Beverly and I got to have a nice long phone visit Friday night, and Angela and Tori called us that night, too.  Kennedy came over yesterday afternoon and she and Barry spent some time out in the pottery barn working on her gun project. She said her art teacher said he could see it developing into graduate student work.  Saw Beth on Facebook a little bit. She'll be here sometime Wednesday and will stay for a few days. It will be so good to have her home. Morgan and Brandon and Davis came over yesterday and s...