38 years

Today my father retired from his job at Coca-Cola Bottling Company after 38 years! Can you imagine doing anything for 38 years? I was 2 months old when he began work there. 38 years. Wow. The kids and I drove down to Mobile to celebrate with him at his retirement luncheon at the plant. I am so happy we went. We had the best time and I don't remember the last time I've laughed as hard as I did today. I think my dad is pretty special and it was nice to be in a room filled with other people who felt the same way. My dad is also really, really funny. He always had the perfect retort to whatever was thrown his way during the event.

There was a huge spread with ribs, chicken, potato salad, baked beans, and rolls. There was also cake and my new favorite cookies from Atlanta Bread Company.

Jacob also liked the cookies from Atlanta Bread Company. While everyone was posing for the picture, he decided to take a nibble from Granny's cookie. He was none too happy when Mommy jammed her finger in his mouth to make sure there wasn't any actual cookie pieces in there.

Someone had put together a table with framed pictures of my dad throughout his years at Coca-Cola including his original application for employment!

Several people got up to speak and present my dad with gifts but I have to say my two favorite presentations were from my dad's friend Jimmy Kane and my step-mom Elaine.

Jimmy told my dad not to think that just because he was retired that he was going to be able to lay around all day. My step-grandmother, Ms. Gertie lives next door to my dad and Elaine and normally has a list of honey-dos for my dad to take care of. Jimmy handed my dad a walkie-talkie and told him he had given the other walkie-talkie to someone special. At that time, a voice came over the walkie-talkie that said, "Danny, this is Gertie. I need you to come sweep off my front porch."

Jimmy then talked about what it was to be a "retiree" and mentioned when he thought about retirees he thought about his aging father. So, he decided to give my dad something he thought would be extremely useful in his future hunting and fishing endeavors, now that he was one of those "old retirees".

The camo walker even came with its own toy gun and toy fishing rods. The pink one was meant for Elaine as Daddy probably wouldn't be fishing alone.

The girls, however, quickly grabbed the fishing rods though and decided they were theirs.

Elaine then stood up with a list of honey-dos for Ms. Gertie and then herself.

She told Daddy if he had any free time left then he might be able to use this....

Daddy was thrilled.

So were the girls.

At the end, everyone toasted my dad with an ice-cold classic Coke in the bottle. I don't drink sodas but I have to say there's just something about coke in a bottle. It was such a nice day and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

What is it about coming home that feels so good?

I'm happy to say we made it safely to Alabama yesterday. The flights went well even though Lauren ripped a handful of hair from Anna's head during the first flight and an overzealous flight attendant took away Jacob's car seat and checked it on the second. The flight attendant apparently did not like the way the car seat needed to be strapped in and decided it was safer for me to lap him. We did, however, end up with a free round trip ticket for Jacob to use within the next year but it was still a bit of a pain.


My mom met us at the airport and the kids were so happy to see their Nana. We always fly into Birmingham to save a little money but end up with a 3-hour drive at the end of the travel day. Somehow, someway, we manage to turn that 3-hour drive into a 5-hour one and don't ever arrive at my mother's until around 8:00 at night. Near Tuscaloosa we stopped to eat at Cracker Barrel. Anna has been obsessed with the idea of Cracker Barrel recently and is always asking to eat there. I happily thought perhaps it was the turnip greens or fried okra that left her wanting more but alas, I was wrong. Cracker Barrel apparently has the best candy-filled princess wands in town. Both girls have their Nana wrapped around their little fingers and so they each left with a treat. As for me, I picked up a little container of buckeyes...the devil's snack. I could not stop eating those little chocolate covered peanut butter balls of iniquity even as they melted all over my hands in the 100 degree, hades-like humid weather.


This morning, I woke up to the sound of my mother's footsteps in the kitchen below. I still remember waking up to her purposeful footsteps when I was a child as she moved from chore to chore. They say that home is where the heart is. My home is with Doug and the children but it's here too. I could hear the house waking up, the tin roof popping as the sun came up and the house making little noises as the girls began walking up and down the stairs. It's all so familiar, so welcoming. There's also just something about the bed in "my room" at my mother's. I always sleep so well there. The first thing I see when I open my eyes in the mornings is Jacob's crib next to the bed. This crib has seen a lot of little ones come and go. It was mine as a child and then my brother's. Both of my girls have had their turn in it and now it belongs to our last little bundle. I love that it's been a part of our lives for so many years. I can't wait for it to hold my brother's children when they're born.








Another thing I love is the land, the land, the land. It's so beautiful there and it's almost as if you could walk forever. This is the view from my mom's front porch. My mom and step-dad live in a little country town called Millry. It's been there just over a hundred years but still only has one stoplight in the heart of the town. The best pizza around comes from the local gas station called "Sookies". You can also get dinner plates there... full of fried fish, fried chicken, or french fries in addition to a heap of bacon-fat filled veggies. There's a "laundrymat" across the street and a place to wash your car. There must be at least 5 floral shops or so it seems and just about as many bait shops, even though some are out of business. I can't think of another eatin' place in town but there is a grocery store over near the church. My stepfather grew up here. He's a good man so they must be doing something right. Everyone knows everyone else, their business included. People are polite even though it's HOT. Everyone keeps the air turned down so you're either freezing while inside or melting while outside. You may have noticed that the picture of the view from my mom's front porch is a bit foggy. That's because my "durned" (as we say in the south) camera kept fogging up every time I took it outside. This is one of the few places I can go where another person genetically linked to me shares my camera mania. Growing up my mother always had a camera in her hand. We hated it at the time but love having the pictures now.


Speaking of my manic twin, my mom runs a little screenprinting business 14 miles down the road from Millry in another small town called Chatom. She has a few more food options there....one next door and another across the street. The first is called "Luther's" and they make some mean chicken tenders (fried, of course) and the other is "Buster's Seafood" and I'm sure they make a mean fried something there as well.

As for my mother; I'm extremely proud of her. One of the many reasons is that she is a hard worker. She works from dusk until dawn in her little shop turning out hundreds of t-shirts and monogrammed items with no help. People want the world and they want it yesterday. I don't know how she manages to do it all but somehow she does. Another reason is that my mother can make anything....anything I tell ya. She can sew like there's no tomorrow, lay ceramic tile, and build your kitchen cabinets if need be. She's pretty amazing that way.


On this particular morning my mother took the girls into work with her while I worked with Jacob. After his morning nap, we drove to my mother's store where the girls were busy "learning to screenprint".

My mother gave the girls dry erase boards and Anna got to work writing notes. Afterwards she spent a little time coloring.

Lauren, on the other hand, felt her time at the store would be best spent harassing Anna and so, that's just what she did.

Both girls have been begging to go fishing this afternoon at the pond but I think my mom has about 8 billion shirts to finish tonight. We'll wait and see. Fish stories tomorrow, perhaps??

When the day is done...

Snapshots

Old

New
Play

Rest

Chaos
Order

The birds

And the bees

Dismay: The unending line of ants in the kitchen and backyard

The unfortunate choice of paint color in the kitchen and bathroom by the previous owners

What to do with this new home feature

Saying goodbye to the growing sunflowers at our old house
Happiness: Sweet smiles

The roses in our yard
Trees the deer sleep under at night Fresh peaches Extra happiness: The cool weather we've been having and the rain currently falling (I mean it is June in CA.....crazy!)