We all missed Mike when he’d ship out for months without communication. When he got home none of us could get enough of him. Popcorn, the cat, and Belle, the dog, would follow him everywhere. They’d wait outside the bathroom just in case he was trying to make a getaway. Here they are happily snuggling just after he returned in 1990. Nothing better than a nap with dad after a long separation.
So in June we closed on our house here in Tennessee and moved in. Then I promptly broke my foot, rather Molly did. Then as I was recovering Mom didn’t want to be topped so she broke her leg. Now, that brings us to September. I’m finally getting out and getting shots of our new community to do a post.
That’s our post office for our little unincorporated community. It doesn’t have drive thorugh drop-off boxes if you want something fancy like that you’ll have to drive to Loretto, TN to the south or Lawrenceburg, TN to the north. We don’t have a grocery store. The only gas station is a mile off on Rabbit Trail Road. Our population is a whopping 5,068. Below are the highlights of town (honestly almost all of town.)
Can you spot Aaron among Granpa Mac’s pumpkins? LOL! This was 1994 on the McAllister’s Michigan farm. Aaron’s orange jacket (his ‘go Vols clothes’ as he called them) just made it too irresistible not to put him there among the pumpkins. I think we picked the best one that year don’t you?
I survived the great Samsung Galaxy 7 Note recall return venture. It took three hours at my local store to do it but I did. I now have a Samsung Galaxy Active 7. It’s rugged for all that outdoorsy stuff I do like get poison oak without having a clue how I did it from paved areas. The fun news is that I get to do it all again when the Note 7s are back on the market, you know when I want to kill half a day in my local cell phone provider’s store.
Looking back it looks as if I gave him a Glasgow-Heath-Ledger-Joker-Smile – I didn’t mean too. But it’s Aaron at 2 in 1995 as a Scarecrow all happy after a very successful haul of candy trick or treating.
As you know our last kitty died while we were on our cruise in February. I do not do well without a kitty. Plans were to get a kitten when the spring kitten season came. Then the move developed and we decided it wasn’t fair to get a kitten and put them right into a big move like that. So revised plans were to get one once we got into our house in Tennessee.
Then we came to be shown around the property and how to tend the sprinkler system, hot tub, security system, and what not by the previous owners. The wife commented that where they were going they couldn’t take their cat. He was just over a year old and she was going to place an ad in the paper to give him away. Well, you know what I said. “We’ll take him!” So Jack the cat conveyed with the house to us.
He was a garage kitty when we got him but he’s now a house cat. He is silly kittenish and flops rather than lies down. For this Mike calls him FIFA Jack because he’s as good at falling to fake a foul as any pro He’s playful and loving. We were told he didn’t like being held but he climbs into my lap and cries to be picked up.
At first he was scared of Molly, she’s a big dog compared to the little Shiz-tu he knew. However they made friends and now I live with two romping children. They tag one another then play chase around the kitchen, living room, bedroom, bath loop. He likes to get behind a door and jump out at Molly who doggie laughs then chases him to nose tag him and it starts again.
He’s very into jingle ball and was disappointed to see that it wasn’t an Olympic sport. He’s now made it a mission between eating, napping, and playing to see that feline jingle ball is taken seriously as a 3am sport to be played on hardwood floors near sleeping humans.
Jack is a very welcome addition to our family. I’ll tell you more as we get to know one another and he matures.
Welcome to pre-K for Aaron in 1995. He was a scarecrow and signed up to bring the Halloween cake for his daycare class. Back then he went to Milestone EduCare in Kalamazoo, Michigan. I was more Martha Stewart-y back then so instead of doing what a sane mother with a job would do – order one from the bakery I made it. I have to say to this day I am proud of how the “Monster ARGGGHH!!” (make claw like hands beside your face while saying it) cake turned out. I do not want to know what it looked like when 8 3 yr olds and 2 teachers were finished. I like to remember it as it was. I’m sure no one else remembers, not even “Monster ARGGGHH!!” Aaron but I remember it fondly as my BOO! Cake.
Belle was our dog for 19 years. She was a sweet smart mutt that definitely had some golden Lab in her. Now that the Carolina Dog is becoming a recognized breed I have to say that Belle fit them very well and was from South Carolina. As you can tell from this photo she was game for anything – Even costumes. So kick off Halloween with the fun spirit of Belle!
Here Mike’s father, Len, helps him make a Jack-O-Lantern in 1969. I have to admit I love the old dial wall phone in the back. Ours was yellow in the kitchen by the basement door. Theirs was olive and next to a door way. Then there’s Jack-O-Lanterns they are looking good don’t you think?
Lately my poor mom has been going through a hard spot. She fell and severely broke, shattered really, her leg just above the knee. She had surgery on it putting in plates and screws. She is healing marvelously but not fast enough for her. She is not back in their home town in a transitional care facility excelling at physical therapy. Only she can’t put weight on it yet and can’t go home until she has two feet. So she is frustrated and spending her birthday in the transitional center. So cheer her up and send her birthday wishes over on her Facebook.
Mary Louise Eklund 