It's Fall!!

I know, it's over 100 degrees here in Redding. But...it's Fall in my heart (and now on the background of my blog). Here's some of the hundreds of things I love about Fall:

• The first fire in the fireplace
• Candles burning
• Smelling cinnamon, oranges and cloves
• Pumpkins
• Wearing cozy socks again
• Pumpkin pie (or any kind of pie for that matter!)
• Wind blowing through the leaves or the sound of leaves crunching around your feet
• Caramel apples and popcorn balls
• Taking a drive to see all the beautiful fall colors
• Corn mazes
• Hay rides
• Hot cocoa or hot apple cider
• Pumpkin Spice Lattes at Starbucks
• Reading a book or watching a movie snuggled in a blanket
• Apples of all kinds
• It's my birthday! :o)
• Sweatshirts and flannel shirts
• Eating the leftover Halloween candy
• Acorn squash with lots of butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon
  

What do you like about Fall?

Starbucks and Friends

A cup of coffee and a good friend;

Cheaper than a shrink!!

Becky and I sat a new record today:

6.5 hours at Starbucks!!

Thank you, Becky, for the priceless gift of your friendship!

A Good Man

On September 15, 2009 the world lost a good man when Bobby Petersen passed away. For me, personally, I lost someone I considered one of my most favorite people. Now all I have are my memories, and you better believe I will hold them tight.

My Daddy, Waldo Haley, and Bobby were best friends. From the time of my birth, we would go to Bobby and Joan’s house at least once a week. When I was little, I remember wondering if our car could drive to Ingot (almost to Round Mountain) by itself since we went there so much. The adults would play pinochle until very late, and the boys (Stanley, Danny, Randy, and my brother) would play. There wasn’t much to do for this “only girl”. I would sit in the brown chair by the bookcase and play with toys. Every time Bobby got up to use the bathroom, he would stop at that chair to ask me how I was doing, talk to me for a minute, or ruffle my hair.

In the summer, we would go swimming at Wayne and Lillie’s house. Daddy and Bobby always swam with us kids, and they had matching swim suits. My Dad’s was green and Bobby’s was blue. Kids today would have laughed their heads off because those suits were very short and were a knit fabric. I remember, as a small girl, giggling because I thought they looked like twins.

I also remember many nights spent at the City of Redding ballfield watching Bobby’s team, Petersen Logging. Those were such fun times! I also remember eating lots and lots of fish because my Daddy and Bobby were always going to Pit River fishing.

Twenty-two years ago, Bobby became my Uncle when he got together with my Aunt Monda. I was so excited to have him as an “official” family member after knowing him for all those years. The Haley family now had three Bobs, so often you heard them referred to in conversation as Julie's Bob, Monda's Bob, or Patty's Bob.

The Haley family finds any and every excuse to get together and eat, and my Aunt Monda is the “party queen” in the family. Uncle Bobby immediately joined her in opening their home to us for holidays, family reunions, birthday parties, and our famous “potlucks dinners for no reason”. Whenever I went to their house, Uncle Bobby would greet me with a hug and a kiss on the cheek. He had a great smile, and always seemed glad to see me. He was very complimentary, and would take the time to say something encouraging like, “You’re looking good today!”

My Uncle Bobby was so special to me, and I will miss him dearly. We will meet in Round Mountain on Saturday. There will be lots of stories, memories, and potluck food to celebrate his life and mourn the loss of a good man.

Any Suggestions?

What should I do for my "100th Post"? Any suggestions?

4th Annual Camping Trip

When I resigned from my 29.5 year job, one of the things I knew I would miss was the daily interaction with my friends and co-workers at the office. Friendships are such an important part of life. These were the people I could “let my hair down” with. They knew me in all my “jeans and t-shirt, no makeup, grumpy mood glory”. They are part of my life history because their lives became woven into the threads of my own life. Not seeing them very often and interacting with them sometimes felt like that thread was unraveling or a part of the fabric was torn. But I’m finally learning, instead of complaining and being sad about not seeing them, to just be thankful for the times we do get to spend together.

So, with that said...here's where I've been since Thursday night:

Kim, Patty, Audrey, and I all worked together at North Valley Baptist Church. One day at work, we started talking about going away for a weekend, and that's when we instituted our first McCloud Camping Trip. That was in 2006, and we've gone every year! Our dear friend, Audrey, couldn't come for the whole weekend this year because she has a one year old and a newborn at home. We are rejoicing with her, but missed her very much. Audrey was able to come up on Saturday and spend the day, but it was sad to say good-bye to her after dinner. :(

A big "thank you" to Terry (Kim's husband) for taking the trailer up for us on Thursday afternoon, setting it all up, having dinner ready for us when we got there, and coming back on Sunday to take the trailer down and drive it back home. YOU ROCK, TERRY!!!!!!!

The trailer we stayed in

Our agenda for the weekend was simple: eat, relax, play games, read magazines, laugh until our stomachs hurt, and talk, talk, talk!! Here's some pictures:

On Friday, we drove to Mt. Shasta and browsed in the little shops!

We went to Mike & Tony's Italian Restaurant (established in 1945) in Mt. Shasta for dinner.
(It was sooo yummy!!!)

Eating!!

Reading magazines and relaxing!!

Visiting!!

Last, but not least, here's our "annual" picture we take every year (same pose, same place on the bridge). Our dear Audrey sets up the camera with the timer and then runs around and gets in the picture.

Many times throughout the weekend, I thought about that little song we used to sing at Pioneer Girls Club sometimes: "Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other's gold." Thank you, Lord, for my "old" friends and a wonderful weekend!!

Introducing...Ethan

From time to time, I have mentioned "Ethan" on my blog and you have undoubtedly seen him in several pictures I have shared. I know some of you are wondering who he is and others have asked to see a picture of him.

So, today I'm introducing Hilary's boyfriend, Ethan, to my blog readers...

Bob, Lyle, Gramz, and I have all enjoyed getting to know Ethan. It's always fun having him join us for dinner, come over to watch something, or just hang out at our house. Lyle has enjoyed playing video games with Ethan and spending time with them. (It blesses this mother's heart that Ethan and Hilary spend time with Lyle.)

And...Ethan hasn't seemed to be "scared off" by our weird, wacky family...YET! :o)

Happy Birthday, Moma!

This cute little baby...

turned into this darling toddler...

who turned into this sweet girl...

who then grew to become this lovely young lady...

and now she is this wonderful, amazing women who is celebrating her 72nd birthday today...

Happy Birthday, Moma!! I am blessed to have such a wonderful mother who loves unconditionally, sacrifices so much for her children and grandchildren, and helps us out sooo much. She is my mother and my friend, and I love her dearly!!

Three Weekend Celebrations

Yes, this weekend was full of celebrations...

Celebration #1:

Friday night we celebrated my BFF Kaylynn's 50th Birthday!!! We celebrated with her family at a wonderful dinner held in the backyard at the Kinnier's home. We enjoyed BBQ steak, french bread, potato salad, a very delicious green salad, chocolate cake, and homemade vanilla ice cream. YUMMY!!!!! After dinner we sat around visiting and laughing until almost midnight.

I met Kay in 1968 and we have been best friends every since. Kaylynn has such a sweet spirit. If you met her, you would love her to pieces!!! I teased Kay about being OLD because she is 23 days older than me. :)

Celebration #2:

Saturday, Bob and I were invited to a celebration as Betsy Wetmore and Dennis Carver exchanged wedding vows. We have known Betsy forever (or so it seems), and we loved being part of this celebration and seeing people we had not seen in years. Betsy has waited many years for God to bring along that special someone. Congratulations Betsy and Dennis!! We pray God's blessings of your marriage.

Celebration #3:

My Moma's 72nd birthday. My brother, Wes, came up for the weekend. On Saturday night, we all went out to dinner at Cattlemen's and back to our house for cake, ice cream, presents, and a fun game of cards!!

What a weekend!! What FUN!!!!

What Do You Do All Day?

Since I don't work full-time, I am sometimes asked the question, "What do you do all day?" This happened to me just recently. Well, here was today's schedule:

Trip 1 -- Redding to Palo Cedro
Drove Lyle to school

Trip 2 -- Palo Cedro to Redding
Drove home from taking Lyle to school

Trip 3 -- Redding to Palo Cedro
Drove out to school to pick Lyle up for an orthodontist appointment

Trip 4 -- Palo Cedro to Redding
Brought Lyle into Redding to the orthodontist

Trip 5 -- Redding to Palo Cedro
Took Lyle back out to school

Trip 6 -- Palo Cedro to Redding
Drove home from taking Lyle back to school

Trip 7 -- Redding to Palo Cedro
Picked Lyle up from school

Trip 8 -- Palo Cedro to Redding
Drove Lyle into Redding to the orthodontist

In between those trips, my Mom and I made a trip to the Redding City Dump, came home and loaded up the truck and made a trip to the Salvation Army. I also sat at the orthodontist for over 2 hours, typed a letter, wrote 7 thank you notes, did 2 loads of laundry, and drove to Shasta Bible College to stuff 50 envelopes with Women's Retreat Brochures.

And...it's only 4:30 p.m. I still have dinner to cook, the kitchen to clean up after dinner, another load of laundry to do, help Lyle study for a History test, drive Lyle to Youth Group, and pick him up from Youth Group.

Please tell me when I would have had time to work today!!

Granted, not all days are like this one, but believe me when I say, "This part-time working girl is not sitting around watching soap operas...

and eating bon bons..."

Do You Have A Teenager?

If you have a teenager, you can relate to this:

Cash for Clunkers -- If My Body Was A Car

Maybe I have a sick sense of humor (or it's my age), but when I read this the other day, I laughed and laughed and laughed. I hope it makes you laugh, too!

If my body were a car, this is the time I would be thinking about trading it in for a newer model. I've got bumps and dents and scratches in my finish, and my paint job is getting a little dull. But that's not the worst of it. My headlights are out of focus, and it's especially hard to see things up close. My traction is not as graceful as it once was. I slip and slide and skid and bump into things even in the best of weather. My whitewalls are stained with varicose veins. It takes me hours to reach my maximum speed. My fuel rate burns inefficiently. But here's the worst of it -- Almost every time I sneeze, cough or laugh, either my radiator leaks or my exhaust backfires.