Sunday

Sunday the remnants of Hurricane Ike came through our area of the nation...the wind was blowing, crazily kicking up all sorts of debris and knocking anything off trees that could be dislodged....also off of any homes or businesses, too. The gusts were reported as being up to 75mph in the Louisville area, I'm not sure what central KY received, but trees were blown over along with anything else not heavy enough to resist. Electricity was out in many areas of the state and now the crews that had gone south to help with storm related victims had to be called back home to do repairs here. I heard something along the lines of calls for help from neighboring states had been denied...interesting.

The reunion went well. Things here at home conspired to cause us to be running about 15min late, but it worked out as no one had been on the ball there with beginning on time, either. As usual the food was excellent...the variety was not as good as I'd like to see, but well enough that if you walked away hungry, it was your own fault. Many of my favorite elder members of the family were in attendance...two of my older cousins and my uncle and aunt were also in attendance this year, too(some years they don't)...and I missed out on quality visiting time with them because they left soon after eating. I forgot totally about the camera and taking photos....I think Scott deliberately didn't bring it inside as he gets tired of being the designated photographer. My opinion is he should be happy to be the designated anything. But, that's my grumpy side showing. Bad wife!! Bad!

Two of my nieces came with their kids. One was frazzled by trying to deal with her youngest, the other wasn't phased by anything and let other people enjoy the company of her kids!! LOL Nicky sat beside me...he's 10(11?)now and a decent conversationalist. His newest phase is collecting Army memborabilia...sigh...not sure I'm really comfortable with this, but things could be worse. This was my first time to see little Abby since she was a couple weeks old...she's the same age as Marie...right over 13months old. Adorable little girl. She didn't have much to say but was content to be passed around and talked to. She snuggled right in with me...laying her head against me....not so much as if she were tired...more like I was a big cushy pillow....well...this is true, I guess. She wasn't so interested in playing or walking...which I understand she's doing now. Her big brothers were too busy to discuss life with me....LOL

From there we went to visit with Scott's aunt. She's in her 90's and failing some, now. She did get up and sit in her rocker for a visit....more guests followed us in, so she had a whole houseful for awhile. She has heart problems and in the last year I've seen a big decline in her stamina. She was interested in what was being said and who was there, so that was a very positive sign.

After that we drove up into the hills of KY to a town called Beattyville. The state's best Mercedes mechanic lives there. Jeff had finished repairing Scott's old car and getting it somewhat back to running like it's old self. He wasn't authorized to completely restore it. We beat him to his house...he had an errand to run but our trip didn't take us as long as expected. Though....we did encounter a very large tree blown down across the main road on our way up....completely blocking our lane and about half of the oncoming lane, too. It had just happened and no authorities were there, yet...and, since we didn't have any flares with us...we kept going. They had it mostly cleaned away by the time we came back through....very efficient group of people working together to get it done!

Pretty tired by the time we got home and dealt with wind damage here. Settled into my chair as soon as I could! LOL

Reunion Time...Already?

Another year and it's already time for the Little's family reunion. When I received the email from my cousin confirming the date, I sent out a few emails of my own to sisters and nieces that live close enough to attend. My own kids inform me that they're not interested in arranging a vacation around this...Melanie because Xander's in school making it harder to travel, and Nathan because, other than him not getting vacation time right now, would rather save his vacations home for important occasions he deems worthy. Yes...disgruntled, but do understand... We have both sides of the family's reunions during this month...we both want the kids to be there, but know that they won't be unless something unusual happens to cause it. LOL Anyway....have heard from the pregnant niece that her due date is too soon for her to take a chance...HUH...well...hummm...guess this is true..where does the time fly to??? How so quickly?? Denise should show up...as she's made special plans to get down to this area of the state with her boys to visit with both sides of her family during this weekend. I don't think I even mentioned it to Penny this year...she used to be more aware of them coming up, but with me forgetting to mention it lately, and us not talking with each other in about a month...not surprised she'll be clueless...too late now, I guess. She's super busy.

I should be busy, but I'm busier avoiding what I have to do than actually doing it! Today, of course...I should be cooking....and, I have 5 boxes from the dining room that I need to go through and divide into proper boxes...save to put away, save to move, box to give away.

OK...back to my thought at hand...what foods?? I'm thinking maybe two different pies...one apple and one cream...either butterscotch, chocolate, or maybe buttermilk. Then...need to cut up cantaloupe...one batch to take to the church's breakfast...the rest to the reunion. Then...at least one veggie...what? Salad? or, maybe beans?...baked or green? Maybe scalloped potatoes? ARGH....sigh...am not going to do deviled eggs as big sis called and that's what she's bringing...she's needing me to bring my platter for her to use. I actually have the insert chilling and the box set out where I can see it.

OK...gotta get off here and get something underway...bye y'all...