15 YEARS AGO TODAY....WHERE WERE WE?
15 years ago today we were walking around in a fog. The previous night was spent huddled in a hallway on a soaking wet floor.....praying that we would live through the monster that was trying to destroy the home we had built and lived in for not even a year. No words were spoken during that storm as the winds were deafening but a volley of prayers were aimed at the heavens and our Father to keep our family and friends alive. We prayed for our daughter, Jessie, who was on a trip in the Bahamas and could not get off the island. We feared for her life and later found out that she did not have to experience the wrath of the storm like we did.

In a small hallway, my husband, our son Danny, daughter Debi and friends, Marcie, Phil and their children, Jonathan and Jennifer huddled together in fear.

We survived but we will never forget..................never!!! It was the hardest life lesson.....for the first time in our lives we felt unable to protect our children and that is a parents' job. Hopefully we will never again experience that feeling. We learned the true value of family and friends.

My youngest daughter always said afterward...."Mami....please don't let it rain." How does a mother stop the rain?

Hurricane Andrew....August 24, 1992.
See pictures at http://www.local10.com/slideshow/weather/13966131/detail.html

Nine Month Report.....

Our daughter Debi, married to Eddy Ruiz...my favorite son-in-law, is in her ninth month of pregnancy. Her due date is officially September 12th but they say that the baby is already approximately 6.5 lbs. and is big and in position.

Debi has been having a lot of pain and I just thought she was being a whimp. Well...the doctor has diagnosed her with pelvic separation. This is a rare condition that happens during pregnancy and causes extreme pain

Its symptoms often include one or more of the following:

pubic pain
pubic tenderness to the touch;

lower back pain, especially in the sacro-iliac area
difficulty/pain rolling over in bed
difficulty/pain with stairs, getting in and out of cars, sitting down or getting up, putting on clothes, bending, lifting, standing on one foot, lifting heavy objects, etc.
sciatica (pain in buttocks and down the leg)
"clicking" in the pelvis when walking
waddling gait
difficulty getting started walking, especially after sleep
feeling like hip is out of place or has to pop into place before walking
bladder dysfunction (temporary incontinence at change in position)
knee pain or pain in other areas

Debi has 99.9 percent of the symptoms. Now I feel bad for telling her to suck it up! Ha!

One of the side effects may be a breech delivery, hand by face delivery, head down but facing up or head tilted. All of her ultra sounds are showing the baby with his hands under his chin! Next week she will have an internal exam and hopefully all will be ready to go.

We don't think she will make September. As you can see....she looks huge! These pictures were taken today when we went to lunch.

I Am Sew Happy!

My husband has finally finished everything that needed to be done in my new sewing room. Saturday he added shelves to my closet and hung a peg board for my tools, etc. Take a look by going to the link below. It took me two days to stock my closet with the supplies I had in my laundry room/office. It was tiring work and I have decided that I could open my own craft supply/fabric store but hey...."She who dies with the most material wins!" I am a happy woman and I think my husband is happy too because I will be spendingmore time here! He can watch sports all evening long now. The only addition I want to make is a glider chair on the empty wall by the door and then I'll bring in my Ott floor lamp so I can do my hand sewing there. Hope you like it!

http://s99.photobucket.com/albums/l300/jolylady/Our%20Home/Sewing%20Room/

A Place for Pins....get the point?

This is a picture of my latest craft project. I really love pins and I could never find the one I wanted to wear or else I didn't know what I had so I decided to do something about it. I took a bulletin board and covered it with batting and muslim. Then I added a Christmas tree in Christmas material for the Christmas pin area, Easter bunny fabric for the Easter and spring pins, Halloween material for the fall and Halloween pins, heart for Valentine's Day and Flag material for patriotic. I also hung three ribbons from the board so that I could put the pins with clips on the back that I couldn't stick through the fabric. I then hung it in my bathroom by my closet.

Alex's Nursery is Complete and Waiting.

Our soon to be born grandson's nursery is now complete. The murals have been painted by my friend, Barbara Helms, and I made the crib set. A friend Marijke made the nightlight with the fish on it on the shelf and Dee Dee made the garbage can in the corner. Visit the nursery link and take a look. Now we just sit back and wait..........

http://s99.photobucket.com/albums/l300/jolylady/Nursery/

Hosie Block Party!

While in Tamaqua, I attended the American Hose Fire Company Block Party. You haven't lived until you attend one of these events. Unfortunately my picture is blurry but it shows my brother Jay, friend Dick and another friend working the french fry booth. I saw more people with no teeth, heavy women in spandex, exploding beer bellies and more but we had a good time. My great neices, Shaylin and Randi also worked a booth as shown in the second pictue.

Remember Who????

Recently I got to see my cousin, Marilyn Derr Coates, who I have not seen in over 25 years. I also got to meet her husband Phil and I feel like I've known him forever.

I've decided that growing older is not a bad thing. It helps you to appreciate the family ties that you have and the closeness that you feel even though you are not physically living near family members. Marilyn and I have been keeping in touch via e-mail for a few years now. It certainly was wonderful to see her again and meet her wonderful husband and I'm looking forward to maybe visiting them in Arizona one day or having them visit us in Florida. The picture above shows Phil, Marilyn and her sister Donna seated and my husband Elias and I standing.

Memories of the Heart......

While attending my sister's wedding on August 4, 2007, my husband Elias and I got to visit with my cousins, Charise and Aimee. These girls and their sister Dawn and brother Joey are very special to us. When I moved to Florida after graduating in 1972, I moved in with their parents. During that time and after moving out, I continued to take the children places and spend time with them. I love being around the little ones. After marrying my husband, Elias, we would bring the kids down to our house for little vacations and sleep overs that continued when our own children were born.

At the wedding, the girls shared with us how much those visits meant to them and that those memories are some of their most vivid memories from their childhood. They told us what great times they had with us. They brought me to tears. You never know how much you can touch a life or what memories you can help to make.

God gave us the opportunity to provide childhood memories for these kids and we feel so blessed that they shared this with us.

Diane Henne and Don Reifinger Wed

Last weekend we attended the wedding of my sister and Don Reifinger in Pennsylvania. Here are pictures from the event. The nice thing was that I saw many people I had not seen in a long time. More on that in a later story.

http://s99.photobucket.com/albums/l300/jolylady/Diane%20and%20Don%20Wed/

Parallel Parking in Philly!

She's done it! Our daughter, Jessie, who moved to Philly from Tampa a few months ago, has learned how to parallel park. During a visit last weekend, we experienced it first hand. Also pictured is the view looking down the steep hill from Jessie's apartment and also all the steps up just to get to her apartment house. There are three more sets of stairs inside!

Sewing for Alex!

Now that my daughter's baby shower is over I can post pictures of my latest creation. My daughter and her husband wanted a special nursery for their baby. This is the first project that I designed, sewed without a pattern and finished it quickly. My 1st grandchild inspired me.

I couldn't have done it without several friends........ Barbara Helms, boat designer, fish provider and general supporter and nag to get it done, Patty Pierson, hand sewer and helper with anything I needed done and Marijke Browning, artist who helped designe the octopus, crab, starfish and helped with the boat.

The picture above shows Debi opening the set at the baby shower. See the link below for more pictures.

http://s99.photobucket.com/albums/l300/jolylady/Crafts%20by%20Doris/For%20Alex/

Shower Held for Our 1st Grandchild!

A baby shower was held on July 28, 2007 at Palm Gardens Banquet Hall in Homestead in honor of our daughter, Deborah Ruiz and her husband, Eddy. Our 1st grandchild should be born in approximately one month. Here Debi and Eddy stand at the entrance of the hall with a poster of their past pictures.

Debi was surprised by over 55 guests including a surprise visit from her sister, Jessie, from Philly, Aunt Diane from Pa. and family friend, Nancy Kirmani from Maryland. Also surprising her were her babysitter, Lorie, from Tampa and Lorie's mom, Linda and Joan Sfakianos. Debi's kindergarten teacher was supposed to attend but had a death in the family but Robin Lodge from Florida City Elementary surprised Debi. Also traveling a ways was Sharon Rhyce from Tampa and Sandy D'Orazio from Cooper City.

Debi spent almost two hours opening the many gifts and our grandbaby is going to be well dressed and taken care of. Debi also opened a bumper pad and quilt set that I designed and sewed for her.

Go to the link below to see the pictures.

http://s99.photobucket.com/albums/l300/jolylady/Baby%20Shower%20July%2028%2007/?start=all