MY TWO DADS

I told my sister I was going to call this post, "My two dads" and she was sure people would get the wrong idea. So, just to set the record straight, this is not a post about alternative lifestyles!!

My father, Sponcil Elkins, died in 1996 and I still miss him every single day. He left a workshop full of odds and ends, some of them things I don't even recognize. I sometimes go out there and just look through little boxes of wrist watch parts or dig through drill bits. He could (and did) fix anything that broke. Mom once said that if it could be fixed, he could fix it, and if it couldn't be fixed, it would take him a little longer. One of my favorite stories, and one that says so much about my dad's character, was when the church tried to borrow money from the bank. Daddy was a church trustee, and the banker told him that the loan committee was going to turn the church down until they saw his name on the papers. They knew that if he signed for the church, they didn't have to worry about the loan being repaid. I was very blessed to have this man of God for my father and as a grandfather to my kids. Best of all, he treated my mother like a queen.

Although she never thought it would happen, in 2001, my mother married another wonderful man. Bennie Sellards had been a neighbor and friend for many years, and his kids grew up with me and my sisters, so we almost felt like family already. We have spent the last 6 years going to church, going on vacations, and generally laughing ourselves silly with Bennie. He had the best sense of humor and loved to laugh at himself. He was such a loving step-father, always willing to do things for us, and always including us in whatever he and my mother were busy with. He fought in the Pacific during WWII and of course, had funny stories to tell about himself and his life jacket. He didn't trust the little air bottle, so he blew it up himself, then pulled the air bottle cord, which caused the life jacket to explode, all during one of the worst sea battles of WWII. And on top of all that, I'm happy to say, he treated my mother like a queen.

Bennie passed away this week after a short illness. We will all miss him so much. I hope everyone reading this post is fortunate enough to have a great dad, but I have been blessed with two.

Big Changes for the Rhodes House

I wish this post was all about my new re-designed kitchen. I'm still working on that. We plan to move some cabinets around and build a bar that acts as a semi-island in my U shaped kitchen. But, alas, my plans are on hold for a few weeks while we take care of some other issues.

The big change (i.e. the kitchen killing issue) is that my step-son, who was born with spinabifida and is in a wheelchair, has come back home. He has been living in a group home/assisted living center for two years, but he's having some medical problems that are too much for the group home situation to handle. So we have put him back in his old room at our house, and my husband's brother will be staying here with him for a few months until we get him back on his feet. That was my first thought when I was typing then I realized how funny it was to get someone back on his feet who is in a wheelchair. He's a good kid (if 23 is still a kid). He once told us he wanted to be the first "sit down comedian." At the hospital one of the nurses asked him if he was a midget. His legs are short compared to the rest of his body, but that's just because of his spinal problems. Anyway, he answered her by saying, "Yes, I am, but I'm not registered."

He is always coming up with the craziest things like that off the top of his head. We were watching boats from out balcony at the beach once with binoculars (that's almost a tongue twister) and we were trying to read the name on the side of one of the boats. Rusty took the binoculars and said "It says Seafood Rescue." We laughed about that and asked "what do you rescue seafood from?" His answer, "tartar sauce."

Tomorrow I'm going to hang my new plate racks and plates in my some day to be re-designed kitchen. I'll be sure to post some pictures.

Wonderful Visit with the 'Boys!

Here's Maverick wearing Pop's hat. More about that later.

Pop and I arrived in El Paso Saturday morning about 10 am and Jake and Bailey came to pick us up at the K-Mart parking lot. We had lunch at Chick-Fil-A so Bailey could run and play on the playground while we enjoyed our meal. Maverick helped Pop finish off a strawberry shake so the only sound we heard from him through the whole meal was "mmmmmm". Then we made a trip to Toys R Us for Bailey's belated birthday gifts. We had already decided to get swings to attach to their back pergola (open beamed patio cover). We looked at other toys, but when I saw the little scooters I thought that was the toy for Bailey because for some reason he has an aversion to pedals. Sure enough, the swings and the scooter were big hits when we got them home.

While the boys were napping, Jen and I got to spend some quality time together shopping! Thanks Daddy and Pop for babysitting. Jen found a dress and I got a purse. We also found some decorative plates for my kitchen, so it was a good trip.

Of course, we finished the day with Rudy's BBQ. Jen and I brought it home so we didn't have to try to enjoy our meal and chase two boys through a restaurant at the same time. I still like the cream style corn and the new potatoes, along with some turkey and/or sausage. Jen introduced us to the peach cobbler and all I can say is we didn't get a big enough order of it!!!

After a couple more hours of playing with Grammy and Pop, and watching UNC play basketball, and working some puzzles, and fighting over the scooter, it was time for bed. I took Maverick upstairs first and got to snuggle him a little before putting him in his crib. He didn't fuss at all. Then it was time to read a story to Bailey. We both got in the Thomas the Train bed and I soon realized it was hard to read Horton Hatches an Egg without my reading glasses, but if I missed any words, he didn't complain. Just before the egg finally hatched, he was sound asleep, but I read the last few pages to him anyway. I wasn't ready for the day to end, but I tucked up his covers and gave him lots of kisses and told him to dream about me and Pop.

We will get to see them again in a few weeks when they come to SC to visit, but I am so glad we got to spend a special day with them. Eventually, I'll have pictures from our day, but I left my camera behind and accidently picked up Jen's camera by mistake (we have the same camera except for the duct tape on mine - it got dropped one time too many). Anyway, the only pictures on Jen's camera were of Bailey stealing Pop's hat. He loved being chased by Pop, and he and Maverick took turns wearing the hat. It was so cute. So, here's Bailey stealing the hat and then wearing the prize.

Lynwood, CA, I love you!!!

It's been a while since I posted anything, but I have a good excuse. Kirby and I have both had the flu. I guess it was some kind of flu? It starts with a tickle in your throat that soon becomes a case of heavy coughing and sore chest and ribs, plus a headache and some chills and fever thrown in for fun. It takes about 5 days to get better, and for those 5 days you just want to lay on the couch and moan. Anyway, it was the first time in years that we actually had to call our job and say we couldn't work. We stayed home for about 10 days, and I couldn't even enjoy getting on the computer because it hurt my eyes so much and made my headache worse.

Anyway, we are all better now and we are back on the road. We told our dispatcher a few weeks ago that we needed to go to California real bad because our grandson was having a birthday in El Paso and we just had to get to see him so we could take him to Toys R Us. Well, yesterday, even though we have been sick, and we have been out on the road for 8 days and usually only stay out 10 days at a time, he called us and said, "Do you want to go home or go to California?" Without hesitation, we said we would take the Lynwood, California load.

I called my daughter, Jen, and told her to let Bailey start thinking about what he wanted for his birthday (he turned 3 on March 22) because Pop is coming and he's bringing a credit card!! I think Bailey is going to get some kind of swing for his back porch, but we'll have to wait and see what he picks.

Ready or not, grandboys, here we come!!!! See you Saturday!!! Get those little necks ready for lots of sugar kisses!!

Candle Craziness

I found these candles on a clearance shelf at WalMart in Myrtle Beach and thought they were so pretty, and such a bargain at $4 each, that I couldn't pass them up. The candle holders are another clearance find at $5 each. But I didn't really have anyplace to use them in my house. I thought of putting them away for a future gift or something, then I ran across these little square plates at Ross ($2 each). It was funny when I saw the first one because I was thinking that I could get 4 of them and use them on my table with the black & white candles, but I wasn't sure I would find 4 of them since the first one I found was sitting with some bath towels, not in an aisle with dishes. I searched high and low (one of my favorite things about shopping) and found 4 plates, but no two are alike!! I think I like it even better that they don't match each other. Anyway, the weather is so pretty today that I'm getting ready to change to a spring time look on the table, and I thought I'd take a picture of my black & white candles before I put them away.

Random Thoughts

Today was my mother's 83rd birthday. Happy Birthday, Mom!! We all went out to eat at a local drive-in (Janet's) because she wanted chicken livers. The food was great and they always bring you more than you can eat. On the way home, we were talking about being thankful for all the blessings God has given us, so I thought I'd name a few. This is by no means a complete list, but I don't have enough space on the internet to name everything God has blessed me with.

First, my family (both immediate and extended). Kirby, my kids and grandkids, my sisters, my mom & step-dad, my in-laws, all my nieces and nephews and cousins, I am so glad all of them are part of my life.

My uncle has been in the hospital this week, so I am reminded everyday of how healthy my family has been. One of Todd's friends (Heath Gains) died from lukemia when they were both five years old. I spent many days at the hospital with Heath holding his feet in my hands so his legs wouldn't touch the bed because he had sores that hurt. For years, when I bought Todd his size 11 shoes I would think of those little feet and thank God for my beautiful, healthy children.

Speaking of my son, he just changed jobs and everything happened in such a way that he was blessed financially by the company that laid him off and the company that hired him. I pray all the time that God will bless my children spiritually, physically, financially, and emotionally. He just continues to amaze me with answers to this prayer.

As we drove along, we were talking about being thankful for having a decent car to drive (even though my sister and step-dad were complaining that the head rests were poking them in the back - this is the problem with seats that fold into the floor of the Dodge Caravan unless you raise the head rests before you sit down). I thought of the many times in my life when I wasn't sure my car would make it across town (in fact, there were times it didn't), but right now, we have two nice cars still under warranty.

I have a nice new roof over my head and too much food to eat. We have heat all winter and air conditioning all summer, cable TV, internet, and telephone. Yet, we still complain that there is nothing on TV or nothing to do.

I could go on and on, but you get the idea. Today is a good day to be thankful, so give praise to God who is worthy to receive all glory, honor and power. AMEN!!

Little Stowaway

When we left our terminal last week, Kirby opened the truck door and saw a little mouse run to the sleeper area of the truck. For a day or two, we thought he had gotten out of the truck, but then we started to notice tiny little bites taken out of our loaf of bread. I put the bread in the cooler, so he developed a taste for peanuts. I hid those, and he decided he liked Ritz crackers. We started calling him Rattatoui, even though we never actually saw him. Only the evidence he was still in the truck. Eventually, he got into the 100 calorie packs of Lorna Dunes and Kirby said "He's crossed the line now!! Nobody eats my shortbread cookies!!" We wanted to wait until we got back home and set a trap for him, but after a few days of trying to leave little bits of food out for him, we realized he liked the fresh food better that he could open for himself. So then I had to re-pack everything to make it smaller and stuff it into our cooler. In the middle of the night, we heard all kinds of scratching and crunching. The next morning, we realized he had found a bag of cough drops!!!

Luckily, we had a chance to stop at a Wal-Mart for a few supplies, and we picked up a humane mouse trap. I refused to get poison or a killer trap. After all, he was like a pet now that we had been traveling with him for over a week. That little mouse went from Charleston, WV to Houston, TX to Cincinnati, OH, to Chicago, IL, to Detroit, MI, back to Houston, to Parker, PA, then finally to Freeport, TX.

So, here is what we bought for him. We baited it with a little cheese and peanut butter, then we got in bed and waited. About 30 minutes later, we heard him frantically scratching to get out of the box.

We put the trap on the ground outside the truck and turned it over, which lets the door fall open and the mouse get out. He put his head out and sniffed at first, then he ran off into the grass. I kept saying that I thought he would like the weather better in Texas, but couldn't help but sing a few lines of "Somewhere Out There" as we drove off. "Even though I know how very far apart we are, it helps to think we might be wishing on the same bright star. . . . ." I hope his little mouse mother reads my blog so she will know where he is and that he is safe and happy.