Memorial Day

Memorial Day. Most of us know it as a day to remember those who have served our country, fighting for our freedom. For me, however, Memorial Day has taken on additional significance. You see, this Memorial Day weekend marks this third time our family has gathered on the last weekend in May to say goodbye to someone we love. Yes, three loved ones, buried during Memorial Day weekends.

Yesterday at the service for my Uncle Orban, or “Runt” as I knew him, a video montage was played to begin the service. I was aware that there would be a video, but I anticipated photos of him with his family, co-workers, and friends, many of which I had seen the night before at the visitation. I was not prepared for what I saw. Instead of a collection of pictures of our Uncle Runt, it was images of all of our family, beginning with my grandparents (Big Mama & Big Daddy) all the way down to the youngest generation of the Jones family, set to the song “In the Shade of the Family Tree”. Wow…very emotional seeing all those pictures, both old and new.

It really got me to thinking a lot about family. Next to my salvation, family is the most important thing in my life. Always has been. My daddy was the next to the youngest of 11 children, 10 of whom lived to adulthood. There are 21 grandchildren; I am the youngest. The oldest is 24 years older than me. So there are two “sets” of cousins, the older ones and the younger ones. Because of that, we have different memories of what it was like growing up in the Jones family. I think the older ones think they have the “best” memories. However, even though they’re different from what the older cousins remember, my memories of the time spent with Big Mama and Big Daddy are just as precious. Some of us are close, some of us just sort of say “hey” and that’s about it, because there’s not that much in common. Some of us get on each other’s nerves unintentionally, some of us do it on purpose! Ha! However, at the end of the day, we are part of something special, something bigger than any of us. A family…where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Regardless of what happens, we are all part of that family tree, whose roots run deep in the Alabama soil, and whose branches will continue to grow.

So from now on, every year on Memorial Day, not only will I pause to remember and thank those who have served our country, I will remember those in our family who have gone on and are waiting to welcome us on the other side, and I will be thankful for the mark they have left on all our lives.

A Couple of Weeks Ago...

One Friday afternoon, we decided to get a little mud on the tires...

And do a little of this...

Luke went on his first little fishing trip! Matthew wanted Granddaddy to take him fishing, and Luke is getting to the age where he thinks if Bubba goes, he should go too. So we headed through the pasture behind Granddaddy's house to the pond where he has a dock, and spent an hour or so catching the big ones. Well, maybe not that big....

Hold it real still

Then puuuuulllllll!

After he caught one, he wasn't too sure about what to do with it, but he did finally get to where he'd touch the fish!

I had some more pictures to post, including Matthew with his fish, but for some reason, Blogger has just erased them. It's too late to try to figure it out tonight. Maybe I'll do a post with miscellaneous photos soon and include them.

Busy week...Matthew turns 8 on Saturday!

Help Wanted

Actually, I'm not trying to hire someone, I just want a little advice from my blog buddies. I hope you've got lots of ideas for me!

1) I once saw some clear plastic covers to put over the cushions of patio chairs, but I can't remember where it was. I am thinking of getting some, since I have an outside cat who loves to sleep in my chairs, and the cushions have gotten rather nasty! Or, do you have any other ideas for me? I really need something than can be washed off periodically.

2) I have a bunch of graduation gifts to buy this year. I have several FBLA members who will be graduating this year, and some of them I have had in class since 6th grade. So I want to do something special for them. However, because of the number of them, I can't spend a whole lot on each one. The girls are all really girly-girls, and the boys are just...boys, I guess! Any ideas would be welcomed!

3) For the first time, I am the Vacation Bible School director for our church. I need lots of help! Talking to the previous director is not an option, and I really don't think there are any records at the church of what was usually ordered, etc. Do you have any tips, neat things your church does, etc. that you can share?

Thanks in advance for all your help! I sure do need it!

There's No Place Like Home

Don't get me wrong...I love to travel, but the best part is always coming home again. Or at least that's the case when you've been with 14 teenagers for four days! This past week I took 14 students to Orlando for FBLA state conference, and let me tell you, that is an EXHAUSTING trip! Not only am I up responsible for them 24 hours a day, staying up half the night checking on them, most of the time I'm doing all this in business clothes and high heels! However, part of the deal is that my family travels with me. Yes, the whole family--Tracy, Matthew, Luke, and Mama; I joke that I travel with an entourage! It makes the trip so much better to have them with me during the down time.

On Monday, our group spent the day at Disney World. This was Luke's first trip when he was actually big enough to enjoy it. The last time we went, he was only 5 months old and slept most of the day. It was terribly crowded, as this is prime spring break season, but we managed to see a few characters and ride a few rides.

Luke checks out the park map, planning our day!

Eating at Planet Hollywood

Riding the train at Downtown Disney

We had a fantastic keynote speaker at the conference this year, Ben Glenn. You can learn more about him here. He let started his presentation with a chalk drawing, and let me tell you, the audience was mesmerized. Three thousand teenagers makes for a TOUGH audience, but they loved it! He also slipped in a couple of Christian references, and from looking at his website, I see that he also speaks for Christian events as well. He would be a fabulous speaker for a church or youth event!

The awards session is a dressy affair, and I just had to show y'all my new dress! Usually I don't dress up much for the awards, simply because I just don't want to spend a pile of money on a dress that I'll never wear again! But this year, I had the foresight to shop right after Christmas, when they put all the holiday cocktail dresses on sale. Scored this dress for $40, and you'll never guess where......Sears! Would you believe they had a huge selection of cute party dresses?

And it looks like I may be wearing this one again. I had two students who qualified for national competition, so we are going to do our best to get them to Nashville this summer!

The Reveal

Earlier in the week, I had posted a "before" picture of the horrendous space that I had been using as an "office". Disclaimer: It wasn't always this junky, just sometimes! Okay, a lot of the time. It did look a bit worse than usual, as I had been piling stuff on it, cleaning out, organizing, getting ready for this....

I am making part of my closet into an office. That probably sounds odd, but I have a huge closet (9 feet x 9 feet) and haven't really been utilizing all of the space. In fact, part of it was just being used as a place to stack stuff. So I decided why not do something useful with the space. I have been waiting about 9 months or so for my cabinet man to have a chance to build this desk for me. I wanted to have something that had a "built-in" look, instead of just buying a desk to put there. Also, this way I got the exact storage I wanted--a pull-out printer shelf, a file drawer, notches cut out to access my wall plugs, etc.

We didn't have a "real" office. We built our house before having children, and of course, didn't realize the need for a separate playroom/office area. So, we had our computer and files in an armoire in Luke's room. That worked okay...until Luke came along, and then we could no longer just go in there and work at anytime we wanted. Then we both got laptops, and it just kind of progressed that we really needed to move our "stuff" to a place that would be more accessible. We still have the armoire, but are going to work on getting everything out of it over the next few months and probably sell it. That will give Luke a lot more floor space in his room, which will be more important as he gets older and spends more time there.

I've still got lots to do, like taking the screws from the shelf out of the wall, patching the holes, painting over them, getting desk accessories, but I can work on that over the next several weeks...or months! At least it's in, and my goal now is to STAY ORGANIZED!

Even though it's just in my closet, I'd like this to be a nice "me" space. I know I need a new lamp; that's just one I had that I stuck there for the time being. If you have any decorating ideas, please feel free to comment!

A Teaser

Before...

Scenes

All captured by my Mama, many while Matthew and I were at school. Some are several months old, some are as recent as last week.

Going for a ride

This chair was mine when I was a little girl.

A future musician?

This toboggan was mine when I was a little girl.

Yes, he's trying to climb in the swing backwards!