WHAT AN AMAZING MAN!

The Parentals and I had dinner with my Great Grandfather, Pawpaw Watkins, on Thursday night. That man is so amazing, first off he is 101 years old! Yes you read that correctly....One HUNDRED and One years old! WOW!

PawPaw Watkins' 101 Birthday...with all the grandchildren


All the knowledge and stories he has is fascinating! The best part is, he is completely aware of what is going on in the world and remembers all his travels and can even remember when is the best time to plant all kinds of things!

For example, he was talking to my dad and telling him how someone in the family is currently "on the Internet" I mean, he actually knows what the Internet is and I believe he gave my dad the web address! He also was helping mom with what are the best vegetables to be planting this time of year!

I think the best part of the whole meal was when he was about to leave and he "made me a deal"! Let me preface this "deal" with making sure you all know, he has this recipe for THE BEST PICKLES EVER!!!!!!
Pawpaw's Pickles...don't they look yummy?


And I'm not just bias....I have had several people throughout the years try his wonderful pickles and they all agree they are the best ever!

Well, he wanted to know what I have been doing to quench my pickle appetite since I have not been getting pickles from him, and thanks to his daughter, my grand"Mother", I have been lucky enough to keep a jar of pickles close at hand! So this deal consists of only one thing.... " when your dad takes me home, how 'bout I send him back with some jars of pickles"? And do you think I told him no? HECK NO!!!!!! Needless to say I now have TWO jars of Pawpaw's Pickles in the fridge!

Its is just amazing to be able to sit and listen to the stories and the ideals he has! He has been through so much, The Great Depression, multiple Presidents, to Africa on a Safari, to England and just about all over the world, and yet he still gets up every day and spends just about 90% of the day outside in his garden!And don't let his age fool you, he still votes and he still has his political views that he will openly express! If ever you have the opportunity to speak with him, just listen to all the passion and knowledge he has for life!

He is truly and amazing man!One last thing, I must say thank you to Pawpaw Watkins for being such a prominent figure in my life and sharing so much his life experiences with all who come into contact with him!

Thank you Thank you Thank you!

Long Time No Blog!!

OK OK OK! Sorry, it has been 6 months since my last post! I know that I am not all that good at being a continuous blogger, but I am willing to try this blogging world again!

Just a few things have gone on since my last post!

1) I got a new job, I now work in LaPorte at a busy family practice office, and am adjusting well to the commute (those of you who know me, know I HATE driving....with a capital H A T E!) but I am doing well since Hwy 146 has now opened up and its a straight shot to LaPorte!

2) I got a car...yah after two years of being without transportation, man is it lovely to be able to go and do what I want and not ask to use someones car....it's a 1996 Honda Accord!

3)I also have been looking for an apartment! Easier said than done! Don't you all agree that considering I'm 31 years old, I shouldn't STILL be living with the Parentals?

It is a little intimidating being on your own, but hey, everyone has to experience it sometime! As for those three things I am pretty much living the same life as I have been! WOW did I mention I'm not that interesting of a blogger? But according to my wonderful sister Lianna, some people like to just read blogs, to know what others are doing on a daily basis (me included)!



Monday Monday Monday! What an awful word, to those of us in the work force! LOL!!!! I just hate the ending of a weekend! But I gotta pay the bills some how, Right? (what bills!)



I know this wasn't a long blog, but it is a start at what hopefully will be a continuous blogging effort on my part!



To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly.
—Henri Bergson

Am I too little, too late???????

Okay, I know it has been FOREVER since my last post! I'm sorry! I just don't think I am that interesting to have a blog... however, I do have some interesting issues that have risen since my last post.... UH WE HAVE A NEW PRESIDENT! That seems so menial, but history has been made! :) I just have to say that I have now seen a new side to my father since he was elected! ( I do mean Obamah, not my Dad! HA) I do love our conversations on the way home from work!
As some of you might know, I have always been a "Daddy's Girl", although, I have been replaced recently, by Tootsie, my parents first furbaby of the pack! :) Which I can willingly give my position to, since she is a dog and all.... But my point is, since I still do not have my own transportation, I have had to rely on dad to pick me up in the evenings from work, and have gotten to know a little more about his views and outlook on the new President! Those conversations will remain between the two of us, but I do have to say that I enjoy the 15-20 minute ride home! I know that was a let down for not elaborating on the issues we talk about, but we talk about so many things, I just don't have the space to type it all!
So, that being said.... Hows that new President working out these days... Dad is my informant on the issues at hand!
I did preface this posting by saying I'm not that interesting enough to post a Blog... but I will keep at it, and I will soon get the hang of it... :)


I have no quote for tonight... but I do know one thing...

If you can't say nothin' nice... don't say nothin' at all....
-Thumper from Bambi

Ringing in the "New Year"

Unlike most people my age, I decided to "ring in the new year" uneventfully!!!! I had planned to just sit at home and do absolutely nothing.... then I got a few drinks in me!!! :) I decided after a gently nudge from a friend of mine, Sher... who happens to be an ex-student from my office. I went to a house party, thrown by my office manager, Liz's husbands uncle! I know, try to keep up! But, we had a very good time, even though we didn't know hardly anyone there except Liz, Rey (her husband), and a few people that I had met from Liz's birthday party in November. However, Sher didn't know anyone but Liz and me! I did get mistaken by one of the guys as Sher's wife, which was very amusing!!! After midnight, Liz and her Hubby had to go because he had to be to work early the next morning! Which means shortly there after, Sher and I left as well. We did go on a hunt for a Tattoo place, I was up for it, if he was!!! Thankfully, nothing was open on New Years! LOL.....

New Year's day was OK, because I had such an uneventful night I was no where near hungover! I spent the day sleeping for the most part, then with Tedra! We decided to go to the casanitos and play some games! I played for about 2 hours on $5!!! Which is so illegal! Shhhh don't tell anyone! :)

On Friday, I had to return to work! YUK!! We had a very light day considering we were the only office in the entire hospital open! Liz called a meeting for our lunch break and then we came back, the billing girl and I, to an office of NO PATIENTS!!! But, after about an hour, my mom called and said that she really wanted to see my doctor! Which all in all is very upsetting to me because she is never sick enough to see a doctor. much less a cardiologist! So, I was and still am very worried about her! (which is another blog in itself!)

Then came the best part of my whole weekend.... I got to go play BINGO with Ramirez, Carmen, Ramirez's niece, and Tedra!!!! OH MY GOD!!! So much fun!!! (and OH MY GOD. I sound so old!)We, and I am assuming this goes for everyone. had such a great time! None of us won anything, but it was still so much fun that I can't wait to go back!

I will promise though not to wait to post so long so that I don't forget anything about my days!!! I have a tendency to do that! But for now... this is enough to process and will remember the rest of the weekend on my next post! I hope that everyone had a wonderful New Years and is keeping up with there resolutions!! I have already broken mine, or at least I have broken the first 2 on gone on to the 3rd!!! LOL.... But to all a good night and a safe Happy New Year to come! :)

If we don't change, we don't grow. If we don't grow, we are not really living.
—Gail Sheehy

Hi, Ho, Hi, Ho... It's off to work I go

After a much needed rest, I returned to work today! And, WOW, was it a busy, busy day! I did not have as many patients, and I do mean people and not tolerance, as I would have thought for the day after a Holiday, but I still worked myself to the bone. Which made me glad that I decided to go with Tedra yesterday to pamper myself to a pedicure, because boy do my feet hurt after running around the office! This is what worries me, we are getting a new office soon,(in the middle of March '09) and it is more than double what we are currently occupying.... scary huh! I just hope that they hire more people, that way we are not working an office with 3, yes you read correctly.... THREE people!
Enough about work... I had enough of that today, or at least enough to last me until tomorrow...
I did, however, have a great lunch. Tedra came and picked me up, we at at Schlotzsky's, which is this awesome deli in town that has the oddest sandwiches (odd in this case is great)! They are just different! This only took us about 3o minutes out of my hour lunch, so we decided to head to Target... doesn't seem like a fun filled lunch hour to most, but just being able to spend the time with someone who will listen to me complain about almost EVERYTHING makes it worth it! (Man do I love, love, love me an hour of Tedra in the middle of the day!)
This concludes my day, considering I am posting at the beginning of a new day. Like I told you in the beginning, I still have doubts as to whether my life warrants a BLOG! Off to bed I go, so that I may be off to work tomorrow....

A man's fortune must first be changed from within.
—Chinese Proverb

There's no place like home...

There is definitely no place like home...

Tedra and I left Jacksonville, Florida last night, Saturday, at 7pm Jacksonville time, and arrive in Baytown at 8:00am Baytown time! That was by far the longest trip in history! The trip there didn't seem so long because we were not in a hurry to get there. we just took out time. Not that we were in a hurry to get back home, it's just we were ready to be home! So, on our trip we had a few issues. But let me preface this by saying that Tedra is no longer allowed to watch "Cold Case" before we leave for another trip! Having said that, on the way there of course she would not let me go take Gynger to the "pottie" without her. Which all in all is a great plan, because there are a lot of crazy people in this world! So every time we stopped I had to take Gynger out with her watching and had to wait for her to pump gas before I could go in the store for myself. Like I said, it's a great plan, however, I didn't stick to plan so well on the trip home... :( !! We got to one Exxon, just on the Texas side of Mississippi, and we go inside, separate of course, because I had lost my focus. I headed immediately to the restroom, having been sleeping for the majority of the trip I was in a hurry to get to the restroom. She starts the pump and is going to come in and just let it pump, but the attendant won't let her do that because it is unsafe, which is true, so she has to go back out there and stand by the pumps until it is full. Meanwhile, I am already done in the bathroom. A couple walks in the store, we both made the assumption that it was a boyfriend-girlfriend type couple, which seemed to maybe be drunk, considering it was 4:30am. She, the girlfriend, is getting her some coffee, and he heads to the restroom. But the problem is, he goes into the women's restroom, where Tedra is. Which freaks Tedra out, because she is in the women's restroom with a GUY that obviously does not know he is in the women's restroom. Needless to say, when Tedra comes out her eyes are huge and she is hurrying out the door to the car, but she stops and looks back at the girlfriend and proceeds to tell her that for some strange reason her boyfriend is in the women's restroom, which I found a little strange considering these people were complete strangers, but then again, funny because the boyfriend will probably be so embarrassed when she tells him. The funniest part of the whole story is when Tedra tells me that after she realizes that there is a guy in the women's restroom with her, she tries to hurry out and in the process sees that the guy is in the stall next to her with the door wide open, and doesn't realize any of this! That was the most interesting part of our trip home. We did encounter a Chatty Chatterson on the way there in Pensacola and saw lots of interesting people as well, but that definitely was the interesting part!
I am just happy to be home and safe and sound, being able to sleep in my own bed tonight! And with that being said, I am off to do that very thing... it is time to veg out and read myself to sleep!
Once again.... There's no place like home...

I did find an awesome quote on my Kindle last night, that I felt I just had to share...

A woman is like a tea bag. You never know how strong she is until she's in hot water.
- Eleanor Roosevelt

The hustle and bustle is OVER!

It is December to 25 th.... (isn't that sort of a song???) I am in Jacksonville, Florida visiting my big sis, Nanner, Lianna Knight. My other sister, Tedra Tubbs and I drove here on Tuesday after I got off work at 3pm. We ended up leaving Baytown at 4:30 p.m. from my parent's house in Lakewood, and drove all the way for 14 hours. Tedra insisted on driving and not letting me drive AT ALL!!!Besides, I had been up since 6:30 a.m. that morning so, I wasn't much company...however, I did last until 11:30 p.m. At that time, I told Tedra to wake me up in 30 minutes and she didn't...so I woke up at 12:30 a.m. and lasted until 2:00 a.m....sleeping on and off until our arrival at 7:30 a.m. Florida time...which is really 6:30 Baytown time! Tedra and I caught up on some sleep after Nanner made us a great breakfast of "pigs in a blanket", which just about made the trip all worth it (to quote Tedra).

We had plans to meet my parents at my sisters and go shopping for some last minute Christmas presents, which by the way, shopping on December 24th is CRAZY!! Shopping completed, we got ourselves ready to go to church at SouthPointe in Jacksonville, and it was a wonderful service! The music was awesome and they had a complete band! After church we headed to my brother-in-laws cousin, Brenna's house. Her and her hubby, Jimmy had planned a party for everyone from the family to just stop by and have appetizers and just enjoy family fun! Then we finally got to rest!

Which leads us to today, December the 25th! (there's that ALMOST song again...)I, of course, was the first to wake up on Christmas morning! I have been doing this for the last 30 years. Santa brought our gifts out and much to our surprise we ALL got a KINDLE!!! And I am so excited about this! For those of you who are unaware of what a Kindle is, it is an electronic book that is so great! It is only 10 oz and you can download over 200,000 books and read them at literally a touch of a button! It is just so amazing...

Plans for the rest of the trip include going to see Christmas lights tomorrow night around Nanner's neighborhood, having our first annual Fondu dinner and just enjoying my time with my sis and her DH. I don't get to see them that often so I am really enjoying this quality time! I hope that everyone has had a wonderful Christmas, and are enjoying this time with family and friends.

A note from the Author:

I have decided that at the end of all my blogs I will post a quote. Some are better than others and some are just things I have heard from movies, but I am doing this in the hope that I will inspire someone at one point to better their life! So, on that note:

Want the change. Be inspired by the flame...
—Rilke