Grandma (shown holding Pops) was born on Leap Day -- Feb. 29, 1916. Although she died Jan. 12, 2006, I'm sure she's still celebrating her 23rd birthday today up in heaven. She's probably sitting in a comfy chair with her feet up, tissues at the ready, and Bible at her side as she listens to the likes of Jimmy Swaggart and other evangelists on her radio. Grandma loved a good televangelist -- faults and all.
These are two of my mom's friends -- Connie (left) and Lynette -- sunning themselves in the backyard back in 1967 in Grifton, N.C. Knowing Aunt Connie (that's what my brothers and I called her) that wasn't plain lemonade in the pitcher. Aunt Connie passed away a number of years ago at a far too young of an age. She was a hoot and a half. If you ask any of my brothers about her, they'll tell you she sure could tell a mean ghost story.
I ended up in the emergency room this morning after the swelling didn't get any better and the rash spread down my arms, back and sides.
See my health blog post for more on that by clicking here.
The good news for me ... the rash has stayed away from Mr. Sunshine. Whoo-hoo. Thank you Jesus.
I blame the problem I'm having (see video) on the Spice Girls...
This is not pretty. You know it had to be bad for me to go to a doctor.
This picture is from September 1970 and is of me (from left), Russell and Stephen in a pile of pine straw. The house we grew up in in Grifton, N.C., had all pine trees in the yard. We never had to rake leaves until we moved north, but we had plenty of pine needles to rake and pine cones to pick up. Pine straw is not as fun to play in as a pile of leaves -- they're called pine needles for a reason. They stick you.
In case you don't check the health and fitness competition blog I'm part of, I thought I'd share this little piece.
I got the idea from videos Kim and Victoria did. Check out this one from their Our Life in Idaho blog. It comes with a warning.
These pictures are from one of my Papa's golfing trips to the mountains of North Carolina. Papa is the one on the far right in the top picture and is holding the guitar in the picture at right. Papa died of skin cancer when we were all pretty young. He was an avid golfer and played without a hat most of the time. I don't know if that had anything to do with it or not.
I love these pictures for their sheer guyness, if there is such a word. The elements of boys weekend away are all there .... Old Milwaukee beer, cigarettes, a cabin, music, golfing and friends. Too often, people today find they don't have as much time for such getaways. And with our newfound chains of cellphones and laptops, the office often follows us to even the most faraway places we can find.
This is a picture of our parents' driveway sometime in the mid-to-late 80s. Most of the cars that would normally be there aren't even in the picture. That's my 76 Monte Carlo up on ramps. I used to spread a thin layer of motor oil on the paint to make it look like it wasn't cracked. I even had one of the wheels shoot off the car one time and pass me on the right as it bounded across a field.
The motorcycles are Stephen's. Stephen was always rebuilding some car or another and cranking up engines with open headers so he could set the timing. I'm sure some folks thought our parents were running a used car lot or mechanic's shop out of the house.
Super Bowl Sunday is going to be tough to stay on this diet.
Here's today's post on the men's health blog.
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