Birthday Box!

When I got home tonight, there was a surprise waiting for me at the gate!

So I brought it into the house and opened it.....

 There were all sorts of goodies in there!  Even a little box for Rod!

What fun goodies!

   I immediately found a great place to hang the horse...  

(the booties on the left belonged to Rod when he was a baby!)

 I have had a big empty wall in my bedroom.  

(amazing, after living here for 6 years!) 

Take note of the cute pillow on my dresser from Mom.  (Take time to gaze in the garden)  And of course the little "I'm so busy I don't know if I found a rope or lost my horse" sign on the mirror.  (Also from Mom... without her, my house would be naked!)  Ignore the "clutter".....

See the pictures from a surprise Harry Potter birthday party in Tucson years ago?  We were all wearing silly glasses!  I LOVE that picture - what great memories it brings back.

I found the perfect spot for the boot.  I put it in my laundry room right below the darling key holder Rozann sent me!  (sensing a theme here?)

And what a GORGEOUS necklace!  I can't wait to get "dressed up" and show it off!  It has interchangeable gemstones - and came complete with a note telling what each means.  (I must say, they describe me to a "T"...  LOL)  However, one of these days I'm going to have to get better at closeup pictures with my new camera.

Check out the hat!!!  On the right is "Festus".  A darling little hat I bought in Tucson several years ago.  He's been to Tucson twice - the 2nd trip sort of did him in though - I think he got smashed in a suitcase.  Although it looks like he was run over by a truck!  Just Thursday I was lamenting I didn't have a cute cowboy hat to wear anymore - had to break out the old "plastic" one for our Thanksgiving ride.

Thank you to my wonderful family for all the great gifts and for thinking of me on my birthday!  

They're Off!

And they're off!

HOUSTON - We have a TRUCK

But it's not in Houston.  It's in Jackson, Mississippi.  Working out the logistics of how to get Rod and all his STUFF there.  You need lots of stuff to live for 3 weeks. 

Including cooking stuff (mini George Foreman and stick blender for morning smoothies), cold weather stuff (sleeping bag, jackets, long johns, you know... that sort of stuff), paper stuff, clothes, boots........

Looks like he and Jim are going to drive up tonight in Jim's fancy little Jetta.  Plenty of room for the three BIG duffels, back pack, file box, etc etc etc.  I'll book a hotel room for Jim so he doesn't have to turn right around and head home again...

Rod is excited to get back on the road......  (cue Willie Nelson)  If only THIS were his new truck!  (It's his DREAM truck...)

PENSACOLA, FL

Last weekend I had the opportunity to go up to Pensacola and visit another school.  Check them out and see what they did that was different from our school.  It was an enlightening experience!

Pensacola is a darling little town (at least the part I was in....) full of parks!  There were parks on every other block it seemed.  My school was located directly across the street from a little one.

The first Saturday morning they were hosting the Alzheimer's annual walk-a-thon so there were a zillion people there.  The next day, Sunday, it was half a mile from the finish line for the Pensacola Marathon / Half-Marathon.  During breaks we all went outside and cheered on the people running / walking in the marathon.  It was interesting to see the wide variety!

It was a cute little building, with an old fashioned red letter box next to the door.  

It was across from a gorgeous little park full of trees, a big gazebo, a fountain, and lots of families enjoying the beautiful fall weather.  Some of the trees were so old and had grown so big their limbs were in danger of breaking off.  The town got an ingenious idea to fix the problem.  Rather than just a boring old 2x4 to prop up the limbs, they had an artist create something special!

The first is a sculpture of two little kids standing on a turtle, the other are two children and a dog.  (It looked like it had been there for a LONG time....)

The second weekend there was ANOTHER race on Saturday morning!  Wow - what an active community!  I didn't think to take any pictures of all the people.  Guess I'm not a "real" blogger yet.

The highlight of the entire trip, of course, was when I picked up a HITCH-HIKER!  A guy named Rod...  (grin)  It was so wonderful to see him!  He got to spend Sunday with me, and then we drove back home on Monday.  He stayed home for the next weekend - had lots of "honey-do" things on his list.  (And he let me "drive" his truck....)

We are HOPING they will have a new truck for him tomorrow.  It will be sad to see him go again, but great for him to be back on the road.

Welcome

Welcome to The Corey Connection.  (we live on Corey Road... get it?)  I thought this might be an easy way to stay connected with my family - especially those far away....  (Since I'm NOT a huge facebook fan...)

Collette and Andy

Here is a quick picture of Andy and I the other day on a ride with Rod and CJ.  I was heading to Pensacola later in the day, but this was a GREAT way to start the day!

I'm still learning how to use my blog, so I'll leave you now with a picture of my family today.  What a handsome group!  (If I do say so myself.....)