Mercy & Thunder. She was very happy to get her pony.

JT loved his Jeep.

Little JT is very excited to see Santa.

I believe Bobbi has never seen Santa before tonight....

Can you tell who watches QVC???

Favorite Cousins - born 10 days apart

Sunday Morning

4:45 am Sunday morning I awaken to the sound of a loud crash. I sit up in bed and ask Louie if he heard "that sound". We both get up and look outside to see a large chunk of the tree in our front yard laying on our patio. It broke our picture window, smashed our screen door, broke our picnic table and smashed a part of our roof. A big chunk was laying up against my car, but no damage what so ever. It has been a weird weather week and I think with the snow, ice, rain, and wind it just snapped off.

A Horse named Thunder.

Here is a picture of Mercy with her horse, Thunder. Her very favorite Christmas gift this year. I will post more pictures of Christmas Eve and our family get together later.

Sleeping in

Girly Girl

Mercy is so excited to have her ears pierced. Last night at JT's graduation she asked me for a mirror so she could sit and look at her ears. She didn't seem to notice the pizza smudged on her face. I took out my "nice" pocket mirror that folds up from Bath and Bodyworks and handed it to her. I look over a short time later and notice she has taken a pen and wrote HER name on MY mirror. She thinks what is mine is now hers if I let her use it. Guess I will have to get MYSELF a new mirror for Christmas. Granddaughters, how did I ever live without one???

Graduation 2008

JT graduated from Paramedic school last night. Here is a picture of us with our son. Louie & I are so proud of him and all he has been able to accomplish. He really is a wonderful son.

Friends you can count on.

I am so excited! I have been looking all over for a toy horse for Mercy. The price on the Fur Friends Smores Pony is $269.00. Way out of my price range. This horse will turn it's head your way when you speak. It makes horse sounds and when you sit on it, it makes hoof clopping sounds. This morning my boss told me that today on the Toys-R-Us web site they had it for $99.00, but it was out of stock. I called the store and they were also out of stock. I called Target and they don't honor competitors coupons. I looked on-line at the Wal-Mart website and they had it in stock, but not at the sale price. I was going to call and see if they would honor a on-line sale ad when my boss called and said she was in the check out lane at Wal-Mart and had the last Smores pony in the store in her cart. They would honor the on-line ad. I can't wait until Christmas eve, I will have her unwrap all her other gifts, then I will bring that horse out last with a big red bow around the neck. I'll need to borrow a video camera from someone.

Letter to Santa

One evening last week Mercy called me. She wanted to know why her brother got to come over and see the presents under my tree and she didn't. I told her that she was sleeping when Dad came over so she had to stay home with Mom. She then told me that she wants a "real" horse for Christmas. I tried to explain to a 4 year old that there are laws about how much land is needed to keep a horse and their yard didn't meet the required acreage. She knows that I had real horses and her dad had a horse when he was young. You could hear the disgust for me in her voice. But Grandma, I want a real horse.....I asked her if a toy horse would do, and she sighed and said that is ok.
My sister called me last night to tell me that she called Mercy. Mercy has come up with a plan to get her real horse. She is going to write a letter to Santa and have him bring her a "real" horse.
Now I have some shopping to do to get a life like toy horse. I can't have a disappointed granddaughter on Christmas morning.

Proud Mama

I am amazed by the son I raised. I worried for so long while he was in high school that he wouldn't have a clue what career path to take. He never seemed to know what he wanted to do with his life, beside hang out with GIRLS. Then he wanted to join the Marine Corp instead of going to college. For awhile I wasn't happy with that choice either. Then I came to accept his decision and was very proud of his service to his country.
Now he is a Firefighter with the Elkhart Fire Department. Because of his background in Iraq and knowing he had to handle the bad stuff, they offered him a chance to become a Paramedic. He has been attending school 2 nights a week for the last year and a half. He called me last night to tell me he passed his FINAL exam and has two practicals to complete before he can get his license. He was so excited and I am so proud of him.

Our Tree

This is our tree. Soon it will have wrapped gifts all around it.

December

This is my favorite month of the year. I love everything about Christmas. The decorations, the Christmas carols, the smells of baking cookies, wrapping gifts, but most of all I love the Christmas Tree. Here is a picture of the tree we put up at work.
I was every busy this past Saturday. I cleaned the house from top to bottom as is tradition in my family that everything be perfect before the tree is put up, cleaned the carpet in the grandkid's room, then put up our Christmas tree. I think one of my favorite memories from when I was a kid, was after we were done with all the cleaning and decorating, my dad would have us turn off all the lamp lights & sit in the living room with only the lights of the Christmas tree on. I miss my dad most of all during the holidays.

Mercy & Ryan. This is a BIG deal. Mercy has always been afraid of Ryan for some reason. This Thanksgiving she cuddled up with him on the couch to watch Christmas cartoons. I had to get a picture. She says she is no longer "shy" of him.

Brandi & Little J

The guys hang in the garage watching football

All the important discussions occur here!!!

Welcome to the World of Womanhood

Thanksgiving Eve, Kelly, Mercy & Little JT spent the night at our house. Big JT had to work. This was Mercy primping for her Thanksgiving Day "party". This is my "Party Girl". When she woke up Thanksgiving morning she told me that she slept good with the curlers in her hair. She doesn't have Grandma's natural curly hair.

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

This is my favorite Holiday. I love spending time with my family and stuffing our tummys. It is a day to remember our family members who are no longer with us and to rejoice and be thankful for all that the good Lord as given us.
It is also a day to relax before the Christmas holiday madness begins. I will not be shopping the day after Thanksgiving.

I was very busy on Thursday & Friday. I work for Peoplelink Staffing. My employees were the crew that cleared the stadium of snow for the game on Saturday. This was on the WNDU website. I am so proud of each and every one of them. They worked very hard. To bad they couldn't do much to change the outcome of the game.





It's one game day preparation they don't want to make a tradition at Notre Dame…a full stadium snow removal.

Friday more than one hundred people worked at Notre Dame's stadium to get ready for Saturday's game.

They are shoveling underneath the stands, spreading salt in the aisles, and clearing the field.

"It’s a big area but small places to work in, a lot of snow, as you can see it’s still coming down," says temp worker Greg Crew.

The last time it snowed during a game was in 1992 during the infamous “snow bowl.”

But many say they can't remember the last time there's been this heavy of a snowfall *before* a game.

"This is a real treat… probably my worst nightmare. Back when we saw the schedule for November 22 thought nah can't be... but it is what it is," explains Dan Brazo, Notre Dame’s Athtletics Facilities Manager.

Crews will be back in the stands Saturday morning to continue working. Notre Dame hired help from a temp agency for help plus the rugby team volunteered to help out also.

Company B Marines

As soon as I walked in the door last night, my mom informed me that JT had been over and told her he received a call from someone at the Marine Corp Reserve unit. They are being deployed to Iraq again after the 1st of the year. She said he told her that he was having a difficult time with the thought of his men going without him. She said he hasn't decided if he wanted to reenlist and go with them. I have no idea if it is that easy to do. I grabbed my phone and called him. He said "No" I am not going, tell Grandma to quit stirring the pot......
He so lucky he said that. 2 tours was plenty for this mom. I don't think I could handle another deployment.

A tear in my eye...

My dad passed away 3 years ago this coming January. The holidays just don't seem the same without him. My cousin Dianne took her son, Nick to have his Christmas 08 pictures taken at the Picture People in the mall. They have a Santa there that the kids can have their picture taken with. Dianne was amazed by this Santa. He looks exactly like my dad. Dad used to dress up as Santa on Christmas Eve and the little kids would get 1 present that night from Santa. Dianne couldn't believe how much he looked like her Uncle Marshall. She said when he came out dressed in regular clothes, he had a Notre Dame sweatshirt on, just like my dad. She felt that seeing this man as Santa was my dad's way of telling everyone that he is here with us during the holidays. I am going to schedule for Mercy & Jt to have their picture taken with him.

1st Love

As I left work on Friday, I decided to stop at the Phillips 66 station in Roseland to play a couple of lottery tickets I had in my purse. I went in and traded them in on a couple more tickets. I took the tickets out to my car to scratch them off. As I was scratching them off, I looked up at a Jeep Cherokee that I thought was my uncle. It wasn't and I kept playing my lottery tickets. I won a couple of bucks and decide to go back in and trade them for more tickets. As I was getting out of my car, the man from the Jeep was coming out of the station. He looked at me and said "Melody?" I looked at him, said yes, but I was trying to figure out who he was and how I knew him. He could tell I had no idea who he was. He came up to me and hugged me and said I am John Weller, do you remember when we were 15? I was shocked to say the least. He was my very 1st boyfriend.

It was 1974. I fell head over heads in love with that boy. We dated that summer then we broke up. We went out again when I was 18 for a short time when he was home from college. Then when I was 28 I called him in Florida and he came home for a weekend and spent some time with me. It did not matter how long we had been apart, whenever I would see him, my heart would do flip-flops and I would swoon over him. After that weekend I wrote to him and told him it would never work. He was living a totally different lifestyle than me. I was a single mom raising a young son. I couldn't just go and party when the mood struck me. I never heard from him again. I have often thought of him over the years.

He is now 49 years old. Still has his hair, but it is gray. I don't think he has ever been married. He was living the fast life in West Palm Beach Florida until about 10 years ago, when he moved back to Indiana. He said to me that he has seen me at lunch at Frank's Place with my "boyfriend"(Totally a fishing line). I told him that was "my husband". We chit chatted awhile and then he was gone.

I was amazed that my heart didn't do flip-flops, and I wasn't shaking on the inside. I didn't melt to butter any longer. He was still good looking, but looking so much older and you could see the years of partying has taken a toll on his body. I realize none of us look the same as we did when we were in our twenties. I was just happy that think I "looked" better than him.
It reminds me of the song by Garth Brooks. Thank God for unanswered prayers.

Where Did The Sun Go?

Ok, I am sitting here at my desk 10 minutes before 5:00 pm on Friday evening. I should be delighted that the weekend is only moments away. I take a look outside my window and let out a sigh, I wonder when I will see the sun again. I can handle the cold, it is the sunshine I miss during these long winter days. It seems as though the "perm-a-cloud" as arrived very early this year. I live for sunshine. So already I am counting down the days until spring.

Veterans Day

Yesterday was the 233rd Marine Corp Birthday. Happy Birthday Marines and Semper Fi.




Remember to thank our veterans today.

New week...

I am so glad last week is over. I had 4 people I know pass away. Friday was such an emotional day at my Aunt's funeral. My cousin had emailed everyone last week to ask if anyone would like to write our memories of Aunt Wilma for the minister to read at the service. I emailed her my memories. Then just before the service I find out from the minister that he wants me to read it myself. It took me awhile to read it because I was crying through the whole thing. My brother said he was fine while my cousin read hers, but when I started to cry, everyone started to cry. It was just so emotional. Growing up we spent almost every weekend at "The Cottage" she and my uncle owned. I have wonderful memories of her and my Uncle Bud. It was a very long day.
My sister Jackie decided she was going to spend the night with us. JT and Kelly called Friday evening and said they were bring the kids over to visit. They had stopped at Wal Mart on their way over and purchased food to make nachos and a Yahzee game. Just before we started to play our game, Kelly had given the kids their nachos. She asked little JT if he wanted to say the prayer, he of course said no, so Mercy said she would say the prayer. It was so cute. I don't remember the whole thing becuase I was laughing. She said "Dear God, thank you for this day, thank you for this food and God, Thank you for this "party". She is her Grandma's girl, a girl who loves a good party, even through the "party" only consisted of 7 people. I had given Little JT 2 ice cream bars and he wanted more. His mom said he had enough. I told her that he is use to getting more when she isn't there. She said how many to you give him? 5? She thought I would say no, only 3. I said no, 7. I thought she would die. We had such a nice evening. I hope my grandkids rememeber these moments with love when I am gone.

PRESIDENT OBAMA..........

I stayed awake until 1:00 this morning, I was so proud of our country. In my 48 years I never thought I would see a black president. I am excited to have been apart of history. For the first time in a long time, I am hopeful for the future of this nation. For those people who are afraid, I ask you why? We are a nation that will protect our interest and our system allows us to change our leaders if we are unhappy. It is time to come together and work as a nation to build a better future for our families, and a stronger America.

Difficult week

Last week was a difficult week. It started on Monday with the death of one of my clients. On Tuesday JT's uncle Eddie died of cancer, he was 47 years old. I use to work with Eddie at Big C Lumber, that was how John (JT's Dad)and I met. I was totally shocked.
On Saturday morning my aunt Wilma died. She was 87 years old. I have great memories of her and my uncle Bud. They owned a cottage and when I was growing up we spent almost every weekend there. Waking up to a cottage full of relatives, swimming, boating, fishing in the lake. Playing hide and seek, catching frogs. Life sure was simplier back then. I will always cherish those memories.
Then on Saturday afternoon my husband's friend, Roseland Police chief Craig Toner was killed by a drunk driver while he was out riding his motorcycle. Louie and Craig worked out together at the gym and they both hung out at Moondog's. When Louie went on 3rd shift, Craig also patroled Roseland at night. He had Louie program his personnal cell number into my cell, should I have an emergency in the middle of the night. He was a great guy.

Fitness Deal.......

I AM EXCITED.....Cardinal Fitness offered a great deal for the month of October. It was $20 to join instead of the normal $99, plus the $20 processing fee and $19.95 a month. Since Jen & I joined on Tuesday, my husband & my aunt joined. My boss and 2 other girls in my office went and joined. We now have enough people to workout with if someone decides that they can't make it a night, we won't have to go alone.

My really good friend Jennifer and I joined Cardinal Fitness last night. We both have been working out on our own. We do alot of walking, but with the weather starting to turn colder, we both have found that we are talking ourselves out of walking every night. Having someone to work out with is motivation to stay on track with our workouts. I really enjoyed having someone to chat with.
My goal is to live a more healthy lifesytle. If I can lose a few pounds that will be great but I will do it slowly. I am not going to resort to fad diets anymore. The up and down of dieting has not ever resulted in long term weight loss for me. More importantly, Jen & I are both hoping to be able to lower our cholesterol and blood pressure enough to be able to stop taking pills.

My husband works 3rd shift. He leaves for work around 9:00 pm. Last night I was in bed watching TV when he left for work. He called me to tell me to look outside. This was the view from my front door. The snow was coming down in BIG flakes. It just seems to early for snow. It does get me in the mood to Christmas shop.

JT has had a difficult time speaking clearly. It was very hard to understand what he was saying most of the time. This really upset him when we didn't understand what he wanted. He has had a speech therapist working with him for the last 3 weeks. I am amazed at his progress. I can understand him over the phone. I actually thought he was Mercy when I was talking to him because I could understand him. He is very proud of himself and you can tell how happy he is to be understood when he talks.

Last month our company took part in the Business Expo at the Century Center. For the past several years we have had Tony Rice sign autographs for the people who visit our booth. For those of you are not Notre Dame fans, Tony was on the 1988 Notre Dame Championship football team, so he is pretty much a "big" deal in these parts. Here is a picture of the owner of our company, Bill Wilkinson with Tony. I have to tell you Bill is a southern gentleman, and is a delight to work for.

The little boy is her friend Max.

Mercy and I had a wonderful grandparents day at school. The pre-K through 6th graders did a program. Then we spend the morning in our grandchild's class room. She was so happy to have me there. Here are a couple of pics.

2 months and counting

It has been 2 months to the day since I quit smoking. For those of you who have ever smoked, you will understand when I say I miss it. I smoked for 33 years. I wish I could be one of those social smokers who smoke only when they are drinking at a bar or party. I know that if I took even one puff I would start smoking again. I can't give in. I am starting to get addicted to exercise. I guess we just replace one addiction for another. At least exercising is good for me. At least that is what I am telling myself.

Busy Weekend.....Again

It will be another fun filled, action packed weekend for the Towles. Well, maybe not action packed, but enough to keep me from vegging on the couch.

I took Friday off to attend Grandparents Day at Mercy's school. She attends Elkhart Christian Academy. This is a PreK through 12th grade school.
They will have breakfast for the grandparents, then we will see a program the little kids will preform, and then we will spend some time with them in their class. The children will be dismissed at 11:40 and Mercy and I will "do" lunch and then some shopping. We should have a great day. I will post some pictures of our day next week.

Saturday my cousin is getting married. Cheryl and her groom live in Tennessee, so I don't get to see very much of her anymore. The only down side is the wedding in in Elkhart and the reception is in Middlebury. Don't ask me why it is so far, no one but JT and Kelly live in Elkhart County. It will be nice to see my extended family for a happy occasion for once.

Sunday will be busy with all my chores that I didn't get done on Friday or Saturday. I am hoping that I will be able to fit some workout time in somewhere.

The Battle goes on.......

My battle of the bulge continues. I was so depressed this past week , no matter how much I exercised, it was not showing up on the scale. This morning I weighted myself and much to my relief, I had dropped 5 lbs since last week. I can feel the difference in my clothes, but I need to see it on the scale. I want lower numbers. I have several pieces of nice clothing that's just hanging in my closet waiting on me to lose some weight.
I am getting to the point that I love my walk/jog in the evening. Louie and I enjoy the alone time after dinner. He helps to motivate me to go another lap, without ever saying a word. When I am by myself and my legs are aching, I can talk myself out of that extra lap every time.

What The Heck????

Have you ever received something in the mail that made you wonder, "What the heck"? Yesterday after work, I get home and stroll out to the mailbox to pick up the mail. As I am walking back to the house, I am going through the mail. I notice an envelope that kind of looks like a check. We get junk mail that looks like checks all the time, but it is always some kind of gimmick to get you to switch phone service or something like that.
I open it and it is a $40 check from the Indiana State Auditor. I am thinking, what is this for? Then I notice in small print on the stub. Payee: Melody Holycross (my maiden name) and Payer: John E Lee (JT's Dad). THIS IS A CHILD SUPPORT PAYMENT!! I have not had a child support payment since 2001 when JT turned 18 and graduated from high school. I haven't spoken to John since Mercy was born in 2004.
I can only assume it was a payment that must have gotten lost in the mail and they just received it. With today's economy, I can't even get a tank of gas, but I was broke this week, so oh well, I am cashing it.

Play time

Not a weekend goes by that my granddaughter doesn't call to see what I am doing and if I can come to her house and play.
She called on Saturday to inform me that she and her brother got 2 real bunny rabbits. Her bunnie's name is Tinker Bell, and JT's bunny is named (we could guess) Wall-E. Of course she wanted us to come over and see the new additions to the family.
When we got there they were bubbling over with excitement. They took my hand and lead me to the garage. In the cage was 2 adorable bunnies. I notice a few scratchs on both Mercy & JT.
It was then time to go to Mercy's room to play school. She is the teacher every time. When JT painted her room he painted a small square of chalkbroad and framed it on her wall. She is a very bossy teacher. I got in trouble for laughing in her class and Little JT got in trouble for kissing me in her class. She would stomp her foot and yell "NO LAUGHING OR KISSING IN MY CLASS. Grandma Great only got in trouble if I made her laugh. I wish I had a video camera with me. It was priceless.

Lunch with My Son

I had a very nice surprise yesterday. JT called me and asked me how to get to the new So. Bend Community School Corporation building. He needed to get some transcripts for his college classes. I explained where it was at. He then asked me to lunch. It has been a very, very long time since I have had time alone with my son. We had a nice lunch. He told me he was in the Elkhart Truth again yesterday. He had to rescue a man that was crushed between a dock and a semi. I think I need to start a scrap book for his firefighting achievements. The best part of my day was spending time with my favorite person in the whole world. Whenever I see him, I think just how lucky I am to be his mom.

Fallen Marine

October 1st 2006, I can remember it like it was yesterday. It was just over a month into our unit's deployment to Iraq. I got a call from the Key Volunteer Coordinator, Christina Zupich on Sunday evening. Her first words were, we lost our 1st Marine. It was her duty to inform all the Key Volunteers so we could pass it on to the families before they heard it from the news media. My heart dropped and my selfish reaction was to ask if my son was ok. She assured me he was.

It was the most difficult phone call I had ever had to make to my families. I have never had to pass on this type of information before and thankfully I never had to repeat it.

I was so sad and so proud to be able to attend this brave Marine's funeral. He will always be my Hero.

Feeling Fit

Week 8 since I quit smoking. It is getting much easier, but I noticed the pounds stating to creep up on me. At 5'2 I can't afford to gain anymore weight. I decide last week to walk a little each evening, and to switch from diet coke to iced tea. My goal was 30 minutes a night after supper. I found that after I walked, I didn't have cravings for sweets in the evening. Last week I walked every evening for 30 to 35 minutes on the Clay High School track. Saturday I up it to 45 minutes, and over an hour on Sunday. I have dropped about 5 lbs. I am beginning to feel better. My breathing has improved enough that I was able to run for a short distance on Sunday. 2 months ago I wouldn't have even attempted to try to run. I am hoping by this time next year I will be healthy and fit. I have 2 years until my 50 birthday. I guess it is time to take my health seriously. No more living life like a kid......

Breaking Up is Hard to Do..........

It is always sad to see the summer come to an end. The first sign of the winter to come, is when I have to throw away my hanging plants. This picture show just how lovely they were mid-summer. Last Thursday I decided it was time. They were dying fast, only a few small flowers left on them. I had to force myself to take them down and place them with the Friday trash pick up.

My potted plants and the flowers in my flower bed are still doing well. Maybe if we have an Indian summer they will last another month.

JT piled his new toys up around him. He wanted me to take his picture. Being the second grandchild I don't have as many pictures of him hanging in my house, as I do of Mercy. He will come in and point to a picture of Mercy when she was a baby and say it is him. I have done better. I have more pictures of him out on display.

Mercy on the other hand, I have to beg her to pose NICE for grandma. Then I have to tell her to smile and show some teeth. She had a camera in her face all the time after she was born and is VERY tired of having her picture taken. She had to dress herself on this morning, and in this picture she has her shirt inside out. She would not let me fix it.

Louie and I had such a nice time Saturday night. Sam (1st Sgt., retired) and his wife Tammy invited us to the retirement party for Mike Rohans and Nano Santos and Dave Zupich. They are all retiring from the Marine Corp. We had dinner at the Matzitlan Mexican Resraurant. Then we went to the Clay Democratic Club to watch my friend Patty's husband' band play and have a few more drinks. We all had a very nice evening, and have promised to do it more often, not just retirement parties.

WALL-E

I have not seen the Disney movie Wall-E, but my grandson has. This is his favorite thing now. I bought him a Wall-E comforter and sheet set last month. He was so happy, he kept saying, Wall-E, Wall-E, Wall-E. Since he was still working on his potty training, and had some accidents at night, his mom told him that Wall-E doesn't like to be peed on. He has not wet his bed since that day. Last weekend the kids spent the night with me. I took them to Toys-R-Us. JT saw the Wall-E display of toys and went wild. He had to get a Wall-E figure, but also wanted an Eve toy figure. She is the egg looking thingy. They only had a $40 remote control Eve. I was not going to spend $40. I ended up at the Disney store and was able get him an Eve to go with his Wall-E. He also got a Wall-E plush pillow for his bed. Not to mention 2 DVD's of cartoons.and a Lighting McQueen car. Mercy was not left out. It was an expensive weekend. Glad I only have twoe grandkids. I don't think I can afford any more.

Born control her Grandma.

I have such a difficult time telling this child no. Yesterday at work, while I am conducting an orientation class, my receptionist sticks her head in, and tells me my mom is on the phone and needs to talk to me. Now I am in a panic because my mom NEVER calls me, and for her to have Tena interupt my orientation, there must be something wrong. I get on the phone and my mom tells me my granddaughter called and was crying because she hasn't seen her Grandma in a long, long time and needs to talk to me.

It has been 2 weeks since she has seen me and that is forever in granddaughter & grandma time.

I called her back and told her I was at work and would call her when I get home. I walk in my house and my mom tells me that Mercy just called for me, that she is carrying her dad's cell phone in her pocket waiting for me to call her. I couldn't help but laugh. Of course I called her back. She tells me that she NEEDS for me to come over to her house tonight. Now comes the hard part, how do you tell a 4 year old NO, grandma can't tonight or tomorrow night? She turns on the tears and starts to cry, then I give in and tell her I will pick her up Friday night and we will go shopping at Toys-R-Us so she can show me the things she wants for Christmas. Amazing how fast she can turn off her tears. Guess, I have a date Friday night.

1 MONTH

It has been 1 month since I quit smoking. I am doing pretty well. The medicine the doctor gave me has helped alot. I do have the dreams every night. I am lucky because they are just dreams and NOT nightmares as some people experience. I haven't had any real bad cravings.

I am starting to feel better. I have noticed that I do not breath as hard when I climb stairs, I am not coughing, and I do not stink of cigarette smoke. I have also noticed that I can smell aromas better, which depending on the smell of something can be a good or bad thing. They say you're food will taste better, but I haven't noticed a change in that. I have always been able to taste the flavor of food. Which by the increase in my waist is a bad thing!!

The other good thing is the inside of my car stays cleaner. I vacuumed it a month ago and it is still clean.

I will be glad when the 6 months of taking this medicine is over. That will be extra money in the bank. It is still cheaper than the cost of the cigarettes.

Texas rode out Hurricane IKE. Here in South Bend, where we have had enough rain to last for months, die hard football fans rode out a downpour the 2nd half of the Notre Dame game to see an outstanding Notre Dame team hand Michigan another loss. 6 turnovers, and ND did want they should, SCORE TOUCHDOWNS.

It was totally awesome!!! This was not the same team I witnessed last week from the stands. Charlie may just have a team this year. I sure hope so.

I think we have a "Golden Boy" in Golden Tate. This is a player to watch. To add to the game they had the WHOLE 1988 championship team & Lou Holtz in attendance. Lou had a statue dedicated.

I sure am glad I am going to be the one to be able to rub in the WIN this year to those annoying Michigan fans. :)