Woo-hoo! Kasey Kahne!!!

What an exciting day I had yesterday! Jim & I went to the Nascar Cafe & the waitress told us that Kasey Kahne was going to be at the Smoky Mountain Knife Store between 6-8 p.m. Kasey is definitely my second favorite driver & after Rusty retires this year, he'll be my favorite ;) We got his autograph on 2 knifes that are a limited edition of 300 pieces. I'll be giving one of them to my Dad who is a HUGE Kasey fan. The above picture was actually taken by a photographer for the Sevier County News & he emailed it to me :) Jim took a picture of me with Kasey, too, but we still have to get it developed. Kasey was such a sweetheart! Not to mention CUTE!!! Gorgeous baby blue eyes & a killer smile (as you can see).

That's it for now....off to the Biltmore Estate today. I'll blog more later.

Benita

Gentlemen, Start Your Engines!!!

And we're OFF! Jim & I leave tomorrow morning for our shortened vacation. We're going to Tennessee & North Carolina to go to the Biltmore Estate & then to the AWESOME Bristol At Night Nascar race :) Wooo-hooo! This is our first time going to Bristol & we're both so excited! The above layout I did over a year ago & when I look at it now, I know I could have done a better job. But I won't change it.....I like looking back at my older layouts & seeing how much I've learned & progressed over the years. The pictures were taken at a Nascar race at MIS. Yep, that's me with my arm around one of Rusty's pit crew guys ;) In the second picture, I'm holding up a lug nut that he gave me. Jim decided that since Rusty is retiring after this year :( that we should go to a race track where he stands a good chance of winning, so that's why we picked Bristol. The tickets weren't cheap because we had to purchase them off ebay, but I just know that it'll be worth it! I'm a HUGE Rusty fan :) I just love everything about him.....his sincerity, his classiness, his talent & of course, his good looks ;) I'm so disappointed that he decided to retire after this year, but he knows he's doing the right thing for himself & his family. As of right now, he's 4th in the Nextel point standings.....it would be really cool if he could win the championship his last year! GO RUSTY!!! :)

After the race Saturday night, we're spending a night in Roanoke, VA & then driving up to PA on Sunday. Then on Monday, my sisters, Dad & I will be driving up to Montrose to visit my sister & brother-in-law's gravesite. It will be the 1 year anniversary of the date of the accident, so it's definitely not going to be an easy day at all :*( It's just so hard to believe that it's been a year already since they were taken from us! God, I miss them!

I talked to Mom's doctor today & was telling him about how she keeps saying & thinking weird things & he said that she seemed fine to him. He said he could do another CAT scan if we wanted, but he didn't think anything was wrong with her. But then when Linda went to visit Mom tonight, she said she was even worse, kept talking about being down in her basement & how she wanted to go upstairs. Then she told Linda that I was there today to see her & she asked her if I made it home okay. A nurse told Linda tonight that they did do another CAT scan today, but that the results weren't back yet. We thought things were starting to look up, but now it seems like it's gotten worse again :( Then Linda threw the guilt-trip on me! She said that if she had a vacation planned & Mom was laying in the hospital, she would cancel her vacation! I already told her that we changed a lot of our plans around so that we can come to PA & spend some time there with Mom, but I guess that's not good enough for her. Sometimes I just wanna scream! I'm trying so hard to not let any of this ruin our vacation.....I mean, Jim & I have had this vacation planned for over 8 months now. And this is the first vacation we've ever taken with just the 2 of us. Heck, we never even had a honeymoon! We SO need this right now! Please tell me that I shouldn't feel guilty?!? I almost hung up on Linda tonight when she said that! But I didn't.....and I bit my tongue to keep myself from saying anything, although it wasn't easy.

I'm not sure when I'll be able to blog again. I will be taking my laptop & my battery charger this time, but I promised Jim I wouldn't spend much time on it ;)

Hope you have a great week,
Benita

Chilly Day

Okay, so it's not cold enough out to snow (yet), but we did have a nice chill in the air today & it was really a nice break from the 90+ degree weather we've been having. I actually took this picture this past April when we got a Spring snow storm that dropped a foot of snow on us. You can see the pink blossoms of my Weeping Cherry tree blooming underneath the snow. I love this picture :)

I got a call from my Mom's vet today & he told me that he thinks he found homes for both of the dogs, but I need to give him an answer within 48 hours. I tried talking to my Mom about it today, but she didn't even comprehend what I was asking her because when Linda went out to visit her tonight, Mom told her that I was going to have her dogs put to sleep! I never said anything like that, so it seems that Mom still isn't with it :( Now I don't know what to do. I called Donna & she said that she thinks the best thing would be to let him find them homes. But I just know that I'll be the one that gets blamed for it! I guess being Mom's Power Of Attorney isn't such a great idea. I'm not good at making decisions like this :(

On the brighter side, Jim & I have decided to replace our kitchen & entryway floor. We actually have a friend that does tile work & he's going to do it while we're gone this next week. It works out perfectly because the dogs won't be here to get in the way & he'll be able to work at his own pace (as long as he's done by the time we get home, lol). I'm so excited! Rose & I went tile shopping today & we're going to be installing a tanish/brownish color ceramic tile. It goes really good with our wood trim & cabinets. Right now, we have linoleum & it's so beat up, stained & yucky. He came over tonight to measure & tomorrow, I have to go buy all the supplies. Then when we get back, we're going to have the carpet replaced in the dining room & possibly going up the stairs & the hallway. It feels really good to finally be able to do some things to the house. We've been here for 5 years now & we've done a lot already (installed granite countertops, new carpet in the family room, almost all new windows & new appliances), but it seems like there's always more that needs to be done.

Tonight I surprised Jim with a new bowling ball. He's been wanting a new ball for a while now, so I decided to surprise him with the XXXcel. We threw a few practice balls tonight since neither of us have bowled in a couple of weeks & he really likes this ball. He better, cause it wasn't cheap! LOL

It's been a long day & tomorrow's going to be an even longer one as I still have to finish doing laundry, pack, go buy the tile & make sure I don't forget to pack anything that I need for our vacation. Whew.....I'm tired just thinking about it! So I'm off to bed. I'll try to blog again before we leave.

Night,
B

Driving, Dinner & Debating

After doing a lot of debating back & forth about whether or not I should go home now, I decided to wait since Jim & I will both be going home next Sunday anyway. We just figured that there was nothing I could really do there right now anyway & financially, it would be putting us in a bind for me to make 2 trips there. I was able to talk to my Mom on the phone on Thursday & she sounded better, although she still isn't herself completely. We were having a normal conversation about her dogs & about the flowers she has received & then all of a sudden, she started talking about weird things again. She said that she saw Donny talking to her doctor & I had to tell her over & over again that Donny hasn't been there & he hasn't talked to her doctor. I just hope & pray that she will come out of this pyschotic state of mind & fast!

Today, I have to drive Cassie half way between here & Traverse City as she is going to stay with Emma for 2 weeks. She's so excited! I just know that they're going to have a great time together, but I'm going to miss her so much! She'll be missing the first week of school, but her counselor said she'll be able to make everything up. I think she's actually kinda looking forward to going back to school as she's going to be taking a clothing class & a guitar class plus art.

Last night, Jim & I went out to dinner with some friends from the Friday bowling league & we had a really good time, something that I definitely needed right now! I've basically been staying home scrapbooking because I didn't want to go anywhere in case something changed with my Mom & one of my sisters called. Then tonight, after I get back from dropping Cassie off, we're supposed to go to Lapeer Days with our friends. I just hope it stops raining by then! Today is also the annual Dream Cruise here in Michigan, but I gotta admit, I've never been to it. Maybe one day, but I honestly don't see what the big deal is about it. And with the price of gas what it is right now, I'll pass :)

I just did the above layout yesterday. It's of the Embassy Suites that we stayed at during our vacation in Minnesota. Gorgeous hotel! I am SO glad that we were able to get a room there. The title was made using the new Round-A-Bout Sizzlits font.....LOVE IT! I think I'll be getting a lot of use out of this font.

Off to get a shower & take a drive. Have a great weekend!
Benita

Should I Stay Or Should I Go?

That is the question that has been going back & forth over & over in my mind for the past several days. Should I go to PA or should I stay & just wait until Jim & I go there on the 28th? Linda said that Mom only has one bill right now & that's not even due until next month, so it almost seems senseless going home just to pay that. And since nothing has really changed with my Mom right now, I doubt she would even know I was there since she's still in a psychotic frame of mind :( Plus I will admit this.....I am actually afraid to drive home by myself! I don't know why......I used to do it all the time when I lived in VA, which is about the same distance. Maybe it's because I was younger then & didn't get tired from driving as easily as I do now. Maybe it's because of losing Karen & Jimmy in that accident last year. I honestly don't know. I usually love driving (just ask Jim....whenever him & I go anywhere, I'm ALWAYS the one driving!). But something's holding me back. Now I have to decide whether or not I should let it.

On a brighter note, I've been doing a LOT of scrapbooking lately. Scrapping truly helps me to relax & helps me to keep my mind off of everything that's going on. I just finished the above layout last night (or should I say this morning since I was up until 4:00a.m.?). I had all of it done for a couple of days now except for the netting. My original plan was to put journaling in that spot, but I couldn't come up with an idea on how to do the journaling. I tried printing it out on twill tape, but apparently, my printer doesn't like twill tape because it ended up eating a piece of it & it got ink all over the other pieces. So I quickly scratched that idea! Then while I was working on another Lego layout, I found that netting & ended up loving the way it turned out.

I received a flyer in the mail yesterday for a Tupperware Stock Sale to sell off all of Karen's Tupperware that she had. The money is to go towards the estate. I'm in the process of trying to contact the person that is doing the sale to see how much she has. I am so tempted to tell her that I want it all! Heck, I could probably start my own Tupperware business with as much as she had, which is actually something I have thought about doing. Karen loved Tupperware & stood behind it 100%. Maybe I should be the one to carry on the Tupperware name in our family.

Well, that's it for now. I'll blog again once I decide what I'm going to do.

Thanks for reading & also for all the prayers.....I truly appreciate them!

Benita

Decisions, decisions

I got a call from my Mom's lawyer this morning & he did find a Power Of Attorney that my Mom had made up back in 2003 with me & Karen on it & he said that it is still good. So now I'm going to have to go home & take care of her bills as she is still going to be in the hospital for quite a while & may end up in a nursing home temporarily. Things still aren't looking very good, though. She had a fever yesterday & part of today, so now they're checking to see if she has an infection. They have moved her out of ICU & into a regular room, so I was able to talk to her on the phone for a few minutes today, but I could tell just in hearing her voice that she's not doing good at all :(

Then if that wasn't enough, I got a pretty nasty email from Barb (one of my sisters) today about how I need to come home & take over my position as Power Of Attorney & find a home for the dogs, etc. I already called Mom's vet before that & he's checking with some people to see if he can find the dogs a good home. Then she went on to say stuff like "where have I been these past 2 weeks?" & that really hurt :*( It's like now I'm getting blamed for living out of state & not being able to just jump in my car & come home! I've been crying most of the day because of her email, but then I talked to Linda & she told me that I need to stop letting her & Donna get to me. But it's really hard! I can't believe that with everything that's going on that all Barb & Donna want to do is argue about stuff! Barb hasn't even gone to see Mom or called her since last Christmas, but yet now that Mom's in the hospital, that makes everything okay???

I wish I could just go hide in a hole & hybernate right now :(

B

My Mom

This is the first chance I've had to update my blog since Friday. My Mom made it through the surgery to open up her leg, but now she's in a psychotic state of mind. She keeps saying some really strange things, stuff about Donny & Mikey trying to kill her, about her dog, Niki that she had years ago & then my sister said she even said something about Rip Van Winkle. She's also been saying some really hurtful things to my sisters, but the doctor & nurses have told us that this is all normal with the medications she's on. The doctor has also told us that more than likely, Mom won't be able to go back to living at home. None of us know what to do about that. I'm the only one that doesn't work outside of the home, but since I also live 500+ miles away, it's not like I can just move back home to take care of her & I doubt she would move here. Plus she has 2 dogs (a German Shepherd & a Greyhound) that we'll probably have to find homes for. If I could have a fenced-in yard, I would taken Mercedes (the German Shepherd) back since she was originally our dog & we gave her to our Mom. But I just know that she wouldn't stay in our yard.....she likes to run too much. I was going to go home this week, but don't think I'll be able to as I just have too much to do here & there's not much I could really do there right now anyway. Plus Jim & I will be going home in a couple of weeks & I'm hoping that Mom will maybe be out of the hospital by then or at least doing better.

Anyway, the above layout is one I did several months ago of my Mom & I.....this is actually the second page to the layout, but I just love this picture of my Mom & I together. I love you, Mom!

That's it for now.....it's been a long weekend & I'm pooped, so I'm off to bed. Please continue the prayers for my Mom as she's still not out of the woods yet.

Thanks,
B

Everything Changes In A Flash!

Might as well scratch that last entry in my blog. Just when I thought that things were starting to look up with my Mom, I was awaken by a phone call from Donna this morning. It seems that her leg isn't doing good at all & now her doctor wants to open her leg up & leave it open for a while to see if that will help relieve the pressure in it. The doctor did a CAT scan & said that Mom has also had some strokes at one time or another. He left the decision up to my sisters about what to do with her leg & since Mom is currently under sedation again right now (they had to sedate her for the CAT scan cause I guess she wasn't handling that too well), they decided to give this operation a try. It was either that or she would probably lose her leg. So I've been crying again all morning & going completely nuts!

I know my blog has been extremely depressing lately & I apologize for that, but I honestly don't have anything positive to write about right now :( Please keep those thoughts & prayers coming.....I truly need them right now!

B

Proof that Prayers WORK!

I talked to Donna & Linda today & both of them along with Barb were out to see Mom tonight. They said she was still in a lot of pain & really groogy (is that a word?), but that she did talk to them a little & knew that they were there. She's off the respirator & the eckocardiogram results were pretty good. They said she will still be in ICU for at least a couple of more days, but the doctor was hopeful now. My prayers are being answered! Thank-you God!

One thing that I truly love is sunsets & sunrises so I thought I would post this picture in tonight's blog as I could really use some sunshine in my life right now. Everytime I see a beautiful sunrise or sunset, I run to grab my camera (hoping it's handy) & snap as many pictures as I can. The picture above was actually one that Jim took from our back deck a few weeks ago. I was sitting in my scrapbook room & saw this glow coming from the sky. I ran downstairs & just as I grabbed my camera, Jim stopped me & said "I already did it for you." :) And what a great job he did! I really feel that God blesses us with sunrises & sunsets like this as a way of telling us that heaven truly is a beautiful place.

Count & cherish your blessings every single day!

Until I blog again,
B

No News Is Good News?

My Mom always used to tell me that "No news is good news" & I sure hope that old saying holds true here! I did call the ICU this morning, but they just said that there wasn't much change in my Mom yet. They were taking her off the sedation & the nurse said she was waking up slower than they had hoped for. They also did another Eckocardiogram (spelling) on her, but they didn't have the results back yet. I did find out that she did have a slight heart attack during the surgery :( My sisters will be going out there later today, so hopefully they'll call me with any further updates. I did talk to Linda (my other sister) last night & she said while she was out in ICU last night, she kept talking to Mom & telling her that her dogs & cat were okay & that we all loved her & that I have been calling checking up on her, so that made me feel good. The doctor said that she probably won't remember what anyone says to her, but that she can hear people talking to her & he said that it really helps.

Thanks so much for the prayers & thoughts.....I truly appreciate them!

Until I know more,
B

Just a quick update

I just spoke to Donna, my sister & she's out at the hospital now with my Mom. The doctor has decided to keep her sedated all day today until he's sure that she's going to recover. Donna was in tears as she was telling me about all the tubes & machines that they have hooked up to her.....she said she looks really bad :( I don't know if I should go home or not. There's really not much I can do there right now plus I wouldn't even have anywhere to stay (long story there). I just don't know what to do. Except pray & that's all I've been doing!

I'm supposed to go to the post office to mail a swap as the mail-by date is today, but I haven't even had a shower yet as I've just been sitting by the phone all day. I'm afraid to even get in the shower for fear of missing a phone call!

I'll update again when I find out more,
B

Not Good News :(

When I woke up this morning, I called ICU to see how my Mom was doing. The nurse told me that the graft that they did on her yesterday didn't stay opened, so they would have to operate again & that's where they were taking her when I called. After several hours of trying to remain calm & think positive, I called back again, but she was still in surgery, so I started getting worried. When she finally got out of surgery, they said that they didn't have to amputate her leg & she was still in recovery. Then while I was at Sam's Club, I received a phone call from my sister Donna.....she talked to Mom's doctor & he said that things don't look very good right now. They think that she may have had a small heart attack during the surgery & they can't get her blood pressure stabilized. She's also on a respirator right now. I am just so scared right now! And I feel so helpless since I'm not there to help! I'm just numb from crying. I don't even know if what I'm typing is making any sense, but I wanted to try to get my thoughts down before I forgot everything. Please keep my Mom in your thoughts & if you pray, can you please say a prayer for her? I'm really scared! The last time I talked to her was yesterday morning right after she got admitted to the hospital & the last thing we said to each other was "I love you!"

Not sure when I'll be able to write in my blog again as I may be leaving in the next day or two to go home. I didn't even put a picture in today's blog because I can't think straight right now :*(

Thanks for reading,
B

Keeping Memories Alive

I did this layout a few months ago & it was one of the hardest layouts I've done because this picture of me & my sisters was taken the day of Karen & Jimmy's funeral. Although it was rare when all 5 of us would be together at once (I think the last time was in 1993 for a family reunion), we still knew that we loved each other & we share a very special bond together. Sure, we had the usual family feuds growing up & it wasn't always easy, especially having all 5 of us in one bedroom with 2 beds! But now I truly cherish those memories more than ever! I decided to post this layout on my blog because I love my sisters & they really mean a lot to me!

I actually did some scrapbooking today, but that didn't go very well, unfortunately. While I was working on a layout of Jim, one of the pieces that was still wet with epoxy fell onto the picture I was using & ruined it, so I had to print the picture out again & start from scratch. Sometimes I wonder why I even bother scrapbooking. Is it really worth it? But then I look at my albums & I know why I do it.....for the memories, for my family, for ME! Today when this happened, it made me realize just how important that is. I'm tired of trying to make the 'perfect' layout. I'm tired of getting frustrated if I can't match up the perfect colors of pattern paper or embellishments. I'm tired of spending hours upon hours on just one layout. From now on, I'm gonna start making simplier layouts & I'm gonna be scrapping to keep the memories alive!

As I type this, my Mom is in ICU at the hospital because she had to have some more work done on her artery in her leg. Although my Mom & I have differences in opinions quite often (like just a few weeks ago regarding our vacation), I do love her & would be lost if anything happened to her! So if you could, please say a prayer for her for me. Thanks.

Until I blog again,
B

What A Week!

Whew! I think I need a vacation from our vacation! This past week has got to be one of the most tiring weeks of my life. But it was so worth it! We had an absolute blast on our vacation! Warning: this is probably going to be a long blog entry since I wasn't able to write in my blog while we were gone. Dummy me forgot to take the charger for our laptop.....go ahead....say "DUH!" I know you want to :) Anyway, I figured I'd break down this blog into days & add some pics of the trip, too:

Day 1 (Sunday): We left the house around 2:30 p.m. to drive to Ludington, MI to pick up the SS Badger Car Ferry (the above pic is of Jim & I on the ferry.....windblown hair & all :). The ferry ride would have been okay if it weren't for me getting a little sea-sick. Dummy me again didn't take my Dramamine until we were already moving. But it was a beautiful boat ride.....I took lots of pics of the Michigan coastline (is it considered a coastline on a lake?) plus pics of the sunset on the water (see pics below). Jim & I also played Bingo on the ferry & I won a pilsner glass. We arrived in Manitowoc, Wisconsin around 11:00 p.m. & then drove to Green Bay & spent the night there.


Day 2 (Monday): We drove from Green Bay to Bloomington, MN, which was about a 4 1/2-5 hour drive & VERY boring! Nothing but mile after mile after mile of farmland & cornfields. When we arrived at our hotel in Bloomington, we were quite disappointed in it. It was a Baymont Inn & to put it nicely.....a dump! There was a police car there when we pulled up with 4 people being questioned by the officer.....first sign to get out of there! Then when we got the rooms, they had this awful smell to them, so Jim called & spoke to the manager at the front desk about checking out. We found another hotel (Embassy Suites) that had a suite available, so we quickly jumped in our car & went over there. What a gorgeous hotel that was! The master bedroom was painted almost exactly the same color plum as our living room, so I immediately felt right at home :) (See pics below) Since the drive to Minnesota was kinda long, we decided to just stay in the hotel that night & order in some pizza.


Day 3 (Tuesday): We got up & ate an awesome breakfast at the hotel. The cook made the absolute best pancakes I've ever tasted! Then we drove to the Mall Of America, which was less than 5 minutes away from the hotel. This mall is gorgeous (see pic below)! If you've never been there before, I highly recommend taking a trip to go there. Although it was actually smaller than what I had imagined in my mind, I was in shopping heaven ;) And I think the kids were, too. My dh & I did the first & third floors on Tuesday & then the second floor on Wednesday, but the kids got in all 4 floors the first day. The store that I was the most excited about going into was Archivers, of course. But I was actually a little disappointed in it....I was hoping to find a bunch of the newest stuff, but they didn't have any of it yet, not even the new Basic Grey PP. Would you believe I only spent $54.13 there? DH couldn't believe it! LOL But then when I found the QVC store, I went nuts ;) A lady did a demonstration of the Bare Escentuals make-up on me & I was immediately hooked! This is the first make-up I've found that covers my rosacea plus it doesn't even feel like you have any make-up on (which is one thing I can't stand about liquid foundations). After shopping for about 5 hours, the kids were complaining that their feet hurt (which mine did, too), so we went back to the hotel & relaxed for a little while & then went out for dinner, then back to the hotel for the night.

Day 4 (Wednesday): Another day spent at the MOA. Today, Jim & I did the Underwater Adventures which was really neat.....the kids didn't want to do it, but I think they both would have enjoyed it if they did. Then I found the Bare Escentuals store & had a guy give me a makeover, then I purchased some more make-up there. While I was getting the makeover, Cassie told us that she lost Emma. PANIC TIME! We ended up contacting security & they told Jim that they have at least 100 of these per day. About 15 minutes later, they found Emma in front of the Hot Topic store. She was crying & told us that she was homesick, so that brought tears to my eyes as well. We decided that we would all walk around together for a while & went into the Build-A-Bear store. Cassie wanted to build a cat & I decided to build a dog for my granddaughter & a Koala for me :) I named the dog Shelby after our Shelby that we had to have put to sleep last year & gave it a cute little NBA basketball outfit (I know Shawn will love that!). Then I named the Koala Karen after my sister since she used to give me Koalas for Christmas every year & I dressed it up in a Harley jacket, black boots, a Harley bandana & angel wings. I gave it the birthdate of August 29, 2004, the day Karen & Jimmy were taken from us.

We ate dinner at the mall & then Jim wanted to do the Nascar Simulator before we left since this was our last night in Minnesota. I let Jim drive & I was the passenger for one race (he did 2). I probably shouldn't have eaten first before getting on that! I was getting a little dizzy, but at the same time, I was cracking up laughing the whole time! I couldn't believe how real it felt. Now I wish I would have driven one myself.....definitely next time since we're already talking about going back to the MOA someday.

Afterwards, we went back to the hotel to start packing for our trip back to Wisconsin on Thursday since we decided to stay a night in Milwaukee on the way back to break the trip up a little bit. Around 12:30 a.m., a very strong thunderstorm moved through the area, so needless to say, I wasn't falling asleep anytime soon.

Day 5 (Thursday): We decided not to rush to get to Milwaukee & I was actually kinda sad to leave Minnesota. We checked out of the hotel around 11:30 a.m. only to come down to a flat tire. Seems like I can't go on a vacation without getting a flat anymore! So we drove over to Sam's Club to see if they could fix it, but it had 2 nails in it & one of them was right on the edge, so they didn't advice on trying to patch it. They put our spare tire on the other rim for us & off we went, an hour later. When we arrived in Milwaukee, it was almost 6:00 p.m. We stayed at another Embassy Suite Hotel, although this one wasn't nearly as nice as the one in Bloomington. Then we walked next door to a restaurant called Champps (yep, there's 2 ps). Their food was excellent, but kinda pricey. $90.00 later, we left & drove over to a mall just to walk dinner off.

Day 6 (Friday): We had to be at the ferry by 12:15 p.m. as it was leaving at 1:15 p.m., so we left the hotel at 10:30 a.m. & went by downtown Milwaukee. My dh took this picture of a stadium (I think he said it was a baseball stadium.....shows you what I know about baseball, lol) & then I took this picture of this gorgeous Church (we were stuck in traffic for road construction, so that's how we were able to get the pics):

As soon as we arrived at the ferry, I immediately took my Dramamine.....there was NO way I was going to get sea-sick on the way back! It was a gorgeous day out & I even got a little bit of a tan while we were sitting up top. Then we played Bingo again, but neither of us won anything this time. Ooops, wait.....Jim did win a SS Badger pencil for answering a sports trivial question right :) When we arrived in Ludington around 6:15 p.m., Emma's parents were waiting for us at the pier to pick her up & after they finally got our car off the ferry, we all went out to dinner. Then we had another 3 1/2 hour drive back home. We arrived home around 11:30 p.m. & after unloading the car, we all went to bed. More pics from the ferry ride below (first one is of the SS Badger; 2nd pic is of a sailboat that was coming in to dock just as we were leaving Manitowoc; 3rd pic is of the kids hiding from getting their picture taken once again; 4th pic is of Jim & I on the ferry with windblown hair again; 5th pic is of the US Coast Guard boat that comes up along the ferry as it pulls into port & the last pic is of Ludington, Michigan):



Saturday afternoon, Cassie & I went to pick up the dogs from the boarding place. As soon as Reeses got home, he started having diarrhea.....NOT what I wanted to come home to! Today, Jim took him to an animal hospital & they couldn't find anything wrong with him, so they gave us a prescription to help him. I sure hope it works & FAST! We've also been giving him some Imodium, but now I'm gonna have to have all our carpets shampooed :( What a mess....literally!

Now I wanna do some scrapping this week as soon as I get the rest of the film developed (all the above pics were taken with our DRebel). I love vacations, but I also love coming back home again. Nothing like sleeping in your own comfy bed :) Overall, we had a wonderful time, even with getting a flat tire. This was exactly what we needed! That's all for tonight as I'm still trying to recooperate. Hope you made it this far :) Feel free to leave a comment if you'd like as I really enjoy reading them & getting feedback on my blog.

Until I blog again,
B