Happy Halloween!

This morning, I was awakened by a Text Message....It read 2:38:40!

It had come from Brandi...and the numbers? That is the time she ran...13.1 miles....Wow!! She has been running for a while now, and she has kept busy doing Marathons. Just lately, she did a 5k run, did the Buddy Walk (which they do every year as a family). She did a hear4hope, the Susan G Komen Run, and today the Jazz Half Marathon in New Orleans to benefit the Children's Hospital. (I hope I got that right). And, as you can see from the photos below...Alex is right there with her! When Jamie and Brandi were first together, Jamie said "Mom...you have to find Brandi a hobby". Brandi was fine with that too...I think...she never said "no", but then, maybe she couldn't? LOL

So, I undertook that mission...."Cross Stitch"? "Scrapbooking"? Well, Brandi found her hobby! That was where the Running came in!

Here is a photo of The Buddy Walk, which the family does every year:

From L-R...a friend, Brandi, Jamie and Alex in the wagon....(not sure who the other little one is)

Last week, it was the Susan G. Komen Run.....

Alex joins in.....(don't you love that head tilt?)

And here is a photo of Alex and her first 5k run with Momma...

Alex missed the run today...instead, she stayed home with Daddy....where I am sure that they spent the day watching football!

I am just in awe of her!

Meditation Rug

Good morning! Have you missed me?!!! I missed you all! I have been thinking that I needed to get back on and blog...(for all of you out there that have been holding your breath? You can let it out now! LOL).

I have been working on my hooking projects...(noooo, silly people...not on the street corners in my classic red dress and black fishnet hose.....), but on my RUG hooking projects. I joined the "10 Minutes A Day Rug Hooking" challenge...so far, so good. Not content to leave it at that? I also joined a "Meditation Rug" Challenge". April, who is in charge of the group....will give us a word on the 1st of the month, and we are to design and hook a 12" x 12" square. It lasts for 12 months, and at the end of the 12 months, we will all have a large rug, and it will be filled with items that mean something personally to us. I LOVED that idea! I said "SIGN ME UP"....and she did!!!

So, I needed to get some more fabric (bummer on that, right?), and then do some thinking, and then do some drawing.......we will be on square 3 on Sunday. So, I am right where I should be...fabric bought....and panicked and brain-dead......you see, I can think......I can (and have), draw out the lines and squares.....but I cannot make my mind up.....and I cannot DRAW!!! All of my hooking has been on pre-drawn Monks Cloth. So, last night.....with all the lines drawn on.........I put my pen to the fabric....and DREW! Yes, I did!!! And then, I CHOSE MY COLORS!! Uh huh....chose those puppies with nary a thought!!! (so, I will admit here...all the colors that I have? Are the Fall colors, my most favorite colors.....so really, it was almost a no brainer...., but I do like to think that I did more than put my hand in my basket of tangled worms, and yank out a handful....close my eyes and just grab one.....I mean really, why would I do that?).....Then, I put the hook to my backing...and I hooked....and while I hooked, I meditated about the first word, which is "Turning". Took a photo, as I promised one on the Forum I would...(a day late), and looked at the photo....it looked much better than the original work. You see.....I don't think I am a Primitive Hooker....or, to put it more bluntly...I DO NOT LIKE USING 1/4" strips......I have decided that I am a 1/8" hooker.....I just don't like what I did!! Of course, if I could just look at it through the lens.....LOL! What I have done previously is the 1/4", (or #8 cut), and I have done wool yarn. I will be studying this square....shall I keep it or not? I have just ordered lots of the smaller cut.....I may have to reverse hook it, as I just am not happy with it.....and I have lots more to do!!! Looking at the photo now...I probably should have trimmed the wool before taking the photo! But it is the general idea...although........sigh.......

On to other things.....Bob came home for a quick visit. We had a great time! It was good to see him, and catch up on things! Here is a shot of Bob and Grandma:
And Bob with Dad:
Now, Max is 6'.....so you can see that Bob is tall!

What else have been doing? Hmmm....life just goes by in such a blur! I'm not sure what all has been going on!

We have had a fairly regular visitor......This is Watts.....and as you know...you can't have October without a black cat or two! We awoke to rain and wind this morning. I love a good storm! However, the rain ended and the wind laid down...so Max thought he would get his walk in. That was about 1/2 hour ago. So.....he should be about a third to half done on his walk. Guess what? It just started to pour and the wind just hit again. My man is going to be wet! So, I think I will close this, light some candles (after all, why have a storm with no candles?), and do a bit more on one of my rug projects. What better way to spend a stormy day?

Life.....

Another day in the life of the Franklin Clan. A very interesting day...one that has us thinking.....

Max and I were awakened this morning by a voice having a conversation. It was coming from the Monitor that we have alongside the bed. The other part is next door at Mom F.'s house. And she was the one having a conversation. And she sounded very alert. So, after a minute or so of listening and not making out what she was saying, I got up and grabbed my sweats and headed next door. I was very quiet as I unlocked the door, and then found my way to the kitchen and flipped the light on. As I walked down the hallway, Mom said "That light is so bright". So, I ambled on in, and asked her if she was feeling okay. She said "yes". So then, I asked her who she had been talking to. (Now, you need to know that she had her glasses on). She said that she had been talking to a "girl", but the girl wouldn't answer her, so she had just put her glasses on to see her better, and it was at that time I had turned the light on and come on down the hall. I looked around the room, and by the door, which is where Mom said the girl was. No one. Only the clock blinking the time. So, I told her what time it was, and told her she could get a couple more hours of sleep, if she could. And, I'd be over later to check on her. She laid her head back and said "isn't that funny"....

I came home, told Max and we both went back to sleep for an hour. I went over about 8:00, and she was up waiting for her coffee to finish. So, while we waited for the coffee to finish, we talked about it. She told me that there had been 3 women at the foot of her bed. But no one would answer her. They just stood there looking at her. She could see 2 of them very clearly, but not the "girl" at the far end by the door. And then when I came in "they left". She said it was the "weirdest thing".

So, I have been a member of this family for 30 years. And we have done lots of traveling with Mom, and then the years in AZ, where she slept in the living room.....she had NEVER, and I mean NEVER talked in her sleep. (Now, Max does......, boy, does he....).

I came on home, and sat down with my coffee. The phone rang. It was Larrie, Maxs' cousin. He called to tell us that Verna, (the wife of Dad F.'s cousin), had died. He had just got the call. So we had a nice long chat, and then he told me the time that she had died. My hair stood up on my arms. So, I told him about Mom's "talk". And what time it was. The hair stood up on his arms. Then he was quiet for a minute, and said, "Eva is the last of the three left". The three, born in 1917, were Larrie's Mom, (Aunt Winnie, who died in 1999, I think), Verna, who died today, and Mom F. The three had spent lots of time together in their younger years, (they were all married to Franklin's). And had corresponded regularly until recently, when Verna couldn't really see to write, and Mom wasn't able to write very much either.

I went over and asked Mom if she had recognized the two women she had seen. She said she couldn't remember. But when I told her about Verna, she got a funny look, but wouldn't say anything else.

So....here is the rest of the story........when I came home from town, Mom was over here with Max...(we got her to stay for dinner....YAAAAAAAAAAA!!!), and she asked me who that lady was that died. I said "Verna"? She said she guessed. But she couldn't place who she was. And how was she related, and how did they know each other. I told her it was Dad's cousin's wife. And said "you and Verna wrote back and forth for years and years....and we stopped to visit her when we were traveling. She said "really"? Then, "I have no idea who she was". Max's face fell. My heart started to cry. How sad is that. I know that we are going to go through all kinds of stages. And Dad spoilt us. He died at 89, and was sharp as a tack minutes before he died. Now, as I type this, Max has brought her a plastic bag full of hard candy to choose her piece. He hadn't undone the tie. She is trying to figure out how it opens. Lord, this is so hard..............

And Verna? We are so going to miss you....................