I'm still here!

For weeks now I've been thinking I've got to get back and post something on the blog.  And days turn into more weeks and weeks turn into months!  And it's not that there hasn't been a lot to put down to remember - I've had a LOT of things that have happened since last July - the last time I wrote.

This is gross but this is what we're dealing with in the immediate.  Jimmy had MOHS surgery yesterday  in Granbury.  This was the third time he's had this surgery for skin cancers.  And all of them have been on his left hand side.  Open car window?  This was the first time he used Dr. Kennard in Granbury to do the surgery because Dr. Adnot in Ft Worth, who has done the last two, wouldn't accept Jimmy's current insurance.  Jimmy said Dr. Kennard was fine but this was the first time that they weren't able to get it all in the first cut.  They cut it out, cover it up and send you to eat or something for an hour to hour and a half while they do the lab work.  If it comes back clear they sew you up and send you home.  This time there was still some of the cancer, "at 3 o'clock" that they had to cut a little deeper.  We had to be there at 9:45 yesterday morning and we got home about 7:30 last night.

BTW, this is what he looked like when he woke up this morning.  He didn't know when it had bled during the night.  This evening I think it looks worse because the bruising is really showing and he is having quite a bit of swelling.

Probably the biggest newest news since I last wrote is that Hudson is here!  This cute little dumplin' graced his Mom and Dad's lives back on February 20th and is the reason for a whole lot of smiles from his Chief!  I don't know whether I'm enjoying this new baby just for the sake of his being such a blessing or how much this little fellow's arrival has rocked Charlie and Kellie's world and given Jimmy so much pride.  I do believe Jimmy could rock and hold this baby 24/7.  And I've never seen anyone study a picture (and smile) as long as he does when Charlie texts or Kellie posts new pictures on Facebook.   I think we might get to see him this weekend!  

A couple of weeks ago we went over to Saginaw for Logan and Luke's birthdays.  Kurt fixed stuffed cheeseburgers (YUM! YUM!) for everyone.  We got to meet Kurt's Dad, Pat and his wife, Trish, while there.  We had a good time and took Grannie with us.

This is (left to right) Luke, Logan, Blake and Erynn!  What a rowdy bunch!  Marcie and Kurt got Logan his very own dirt bike!  And Logan is big into WWE and got tickets for the WWE when it comes to Ft. Worth - next month, I think.  

There is much, much more that has happened - the Caravan, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Maddux's no-hitter, Maddux's concussion, Kaleigh's outstanding volleyball, track and cheerleading year ..... !  I've got wonderful pictures but I'll share those later.

But one of the greatest moments has been handing over the gavel as President of THLU to Jimmy.  I wouldn't take a million dollars for the opportunity and the fun that I had but I'm really a better member than I am a leader.  Now I can actually enjoy going to Rallies and visiting with our friends instead of constantly feeling responsible for everything!  The picture of me above was just last month at the Region Rally.  Good friend and former International President, Jim Haddaway, awarded me with a ribbon (to be attached to our Unit flag) and a certificate to me acknowledging that Texas Highland Lakes Unit has once again received the Superior Merit Award for last year when I was President.  Now if we can just survive Jimmy being President this year, we will be two happy campers!

Just one more picture.  These are just a few of Mother's beautiful iris' she has in her front yard this year.  She works so hard in that yard and it really shows!

I'm sitting here right outside of Gunnison, CO in the Airstream, smelling the Carne Asade in the Crockpot, while listening to Miranda Lambert on The View and thinking I need to get up and take all this dirty laundry to the laundry but it's been such a long time since I posted anything that this seems to be the most important thing going on right now!  There has been so much that has gone on since I last posted and I'm not going to have time to include all of it right now but I'm going to have to hit the high spots.

The most prevalent thing on my mind this morning is that Maddux is trying out RIGHT NOW in Coppell for Team USA.  What an honor!  Bryan is with him and texting Melanie and she's letting me know how it's going.  "Threw 20 pitches, did well, catcher couldn't catch his cb and cu."  Curve ball and Change Up, maybe?  "Wow.  He just put on a show at ss.  Wow"  "Didn't hit well."

When I heard yesterday he had been selected for this honor I told his Dad, "I need a picture.  I need to see that boy!"  Well, evidently he was in the process of waiting for a haircut and the picture shows his confusion of getting his picture taken at the barber shop.  Love this kid!

If he makes it he will have to be in Cary, NC the end of August.  We are already thinking about a caravan with his other grandparents, Ron and Martha, a/k/a Papa and Mimi to watch this next step in Maddawg's future!

The next big thing is the transformation Jacoby is going through this summer.  He has always been such a 'fraidy cat and so cautious in everything he does but his inhibitions have been unleashed as of late.  Much to the horror of his Mom.  She walked in the other day to find him standing on top of his table.  This table is what he has pushed all over their house for the last couple of years but never, NEVER has he ever considered getting his feet off of the ground, and safety, until just recently.  Melanie says he is going through a phase of climbing.  This is not something unusual for a kid much younger than Jacoby but with all of Jacoby's "issues" this is HUGE!  

Here is Jacoby visiting with Grannie and listening to the birds in her backyard.

Miss Katie-bugg has been on the go all summer long.  She has gone to volleyball camp at Texas A & M and Tarleton and Cheerleading camp at Padre Island and to Corpus Christi to celebrate Mikayla's birthday.  The picture below is what Melanie took just seconds after Jacoby heard Kaleigh's voice after she had been gone for 6 days.  He does love his sister!

The biggest thing going on this summer is that we're not in Texas!  We went to Sedalia, Missouri for the 55th Annual International Airstream Rally.  We were there for three weeks and had a wonderful time visiting with friends, playing Joker, going to seminars, carrying the THLU flag during the opening ceremonies, listening to great entertainment, going on tours, receiving personal (photography) awards and for THLU, voting in the delegates meetings, eating a lot, and much, much more.

When we left Sedalia, we spent the first night outside of Manhattan, Kansas at Tuttle Creek Lake.  I believe it was a Corp of Engineer place.  Very nice but very, very hot.  We saw 109 degrees the next day before we got out of Nebraska.  This picture is the sun rising over Tuttle Creek Lake the morning we were there.  This just might be an entry in the photo contest next year.  

From there we went to Cripple Creek, CO for about 10-11 days.  Had a really good time touring the area and eating at the Casinos and playing the penny and nickel slots.  

One thing Cripple Creek is known for is their pack of donkey's who roam the streets.  One Sunday morning we found them visiting the schools.  There were 9 of them and they were munching on the scrubbery and leaving deposits on the porches for someone to have to clean up on Monday.

While we were there, we visited the Butte Opera House.  Not once, but twice.  The first day we saw a melodrama that was really, really good.  I didn't know what a olio was but we saw one.  Lots of singing and dancing following the show.  Not related to the show, just in addition to the show.  The next afternoon we went back for the matinee again and saw My Fair Lady.  It was just as good.  Amazing talent.  The actors, sold tickets and seated guests and ran the concession stand too.  

After Cripple Creek we went to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.  We spent 3 or 4 days walking around the top of that Canyon and looking down and taking pictures.  Then last Sunday night Jimmy started having trouble with his heart rhythm again.  We decided we probably better get down to a lower elevation and we had been really struggling with trying to boondock without water and sewer and wifi.  But before we left, Jimmy wanted to go down to the floor of the canyon - so we could look up.  It was worth the whole entire trip!  So very beautiful.  I got some really pretty pictures of the water.  As much as I love my Airstream, I would have loved to have tent camped down there and tried some fishing.  The road to the bottom was 16% grade.  Very steep.  Here are a few of my favorite pictures:

I got out 39 letters yesterday to prospective members with brand new Airstreams.  Took me most of the day!  I also finished up and sent the newsletter to Judy to distribute.   Two new members in the last two weeks!  Tonight Jimmy and I went to the laundry and got all of that caught up.  Whew!  He's filled the water tank and we'll wait till the last thing in the morning to empty the grey and black tanks.  We meet up with the Craigs, Prices and Callahans for lunch tomorrow and go in together to the Rocky Mountain Vintage Rally.  So we are going to attempt this boondocking once again!  There are several meals and Happy Hours that we are going to have to provide food for and I'm a little concerned on how I'm going to do that without water and electricity.  Oh well, City Market is just down the street - we might be doing salads from the deli!  

Then Monday we leave everyone behind and head toward Ridgeway State Park.  Kelly and Steve Sosland stayed there last year and really bragged about how nice it was.  We are to meet Gary and Marilyn McClanahan there and stay for four days then we are moving to the KOA in Ouray for about a week.  I think Gary and Marilyn are going to stay longer but that's as long as we're going to stay.  We really need to get home.  I've got a Driver's Manual to write and I need to get things ordered and organized for that Caravan in October.  That's right around the corner.  I hope I've left myself enough time to get everything done!  Plus, I'm still a big Mama's girl and I miss my Mama.  I also miss getting to see those grandkids.  I know they've all grown up over the summer and Jacoby probably won't even remember me.  

I started this post early this morning and it has taken me all day to get back to it and get it finished.  But I'm done.  I'll try not to wait so long next time to write so I won't have so much catching up to do.  

How It All Started

This is how it all started.  This love of ours for Airstreams.  We were coming home from a family reunion in Fredericksburg in July of 2006 and saw this 1982 31' Airstream with an Isuzu diesel motor at an auction site outside of Llano, TX.  We stopped and the auction owner, Jimmy Decker, told us that the auction had ended the day before and that the motor home had not met the owner's minimum bid.  He said the keys were in it if we wanted to go drive it.  We got in it and rattled down the road for a couple of miles when all of a sudden we looked at each other at the exact same time and said, "This is cool!"  We went home to research and found the Airforums.com and started reading when we realized what we had found was a treasure and a good deal.  And anyone who knows Jimmy Mooney, knows that he's all about a good deal.

The picture above is of Phil Becker.  He lives on his ranch outside of Bandera, TX and was the owner of the motor home in question.  And he has become one of our dearest friends.  This picture was taken last month at the Region 9 Rally in Mineola where he attended for the first time since the death of his beloved Ruth.  A very sad and emotional time for Phil.  

Before we purchased the motor home we spoke with Phil and he gave us the long and funny story of how he had flown to Florida to buy it and spent several thousand dollars to make some improvements to it just to find out it wasn't equipped to pull a trailer with deer corn, etc. to put on his ranch for deer hunting and that Ruth refused to even stay in it.  He has always had Airstreams and when we talked with him he was in one of his Airstreams at an airshow up in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.  

We negotiated a deal with Jimmy Decker and Phil allowed us to purchase it for even less than his original minimum price.  We took that Airstream home and loved it!  We had new drapes made for it.  (Blue ticking) and then covered everything in denim and threw in red throw pillows and towels and rugs.  Since this was our first time for RV'ing we bought plates, cookware, silverware, etc.  It was a little doll house.  We had so much fun fixing it up and dreaming of all the magnificent places we would go.

It was during this time that we "met" Gayland Stephens (pictured below) from Hamilton, TX on the Airforums.com.  I introduced ourselves to him and we started an almost daily correspondence between the two of us and he helped us a great deal in discovering all the nuances of owning an Airstream and how to get the very most enjoyment we can from owning it - which in his opinion meant you had to belong to a WBCCI Unit!

This picture was taken after Gayland was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and was in the midst of  fighting with everything in his might.  He succeeded for the longest time - way beyond anyone's expectations - but died this last October.  We lost a dear, dear friend.  His death left a hole in our hearts as big as he was.

However, as long as he was alive, he sought after and fought for new members for WBCCI - just like new Airstream owners like Jimmy and me.  We were the perfect "suckers" for his goal and fell in love with not just him but everyone in Texas Highland Lakes Unit, Region 9 and in WBCCI.

On "the Forums," we learned that many Airstream owners name their Airstream.  There's a lot of people who call their Airstream, the "Silver Bullet," or the "Twinkie," or the "Toaster" but there is a group of people who believe (I don't know why) that a used Airstream should always be named after a previous owner.  We found in all the records we received when we bought the Airstream was a guy with the last name of "Seymour."  From a business card we located, we discovered that Mr. Seymour was a retired jeweler in Florida and was the one who had to replace the motor on one of his trips.   All the receipts were in two big boot boxes and came included with the motor home.  We decided that we should name our "new" Airstream "Seymour" in hopes of getting to  SEE-MORE of the USA!

Before we ever even had a chance to take that very first trip, Jimmy had to go into the hospital and ended up having quadruple by-pass surgery in November of 2006.  It was bad.  It was very, very bad.  I thought I was going to lose him.  But he came around.  It wasn't a bounce right back recovery - it was very slow and painful.  But after awhile, it was like he decided it was easier to live than to lie around just waiting to die.  Like everything else about Jimmy Mooney, it's wasn't a quick decision.

In January of 2007, Texas Highland Lakes Unit (THLU) was sponsoring a Vintage Airstream Rally in Montgomery, TX and even though Jimmy was still trying to get his strength back and recover from surgery, Gayland suggested we attend.  Gayland told Jimmy that if he could just drive "Seymour" to Montgomery, that he would hook us up when we got there and take us anywhere we needed to go while we were there and that they were planning an open house and that they would love to be able to display our "Vintage" motor home.

We thought long and hard about it and finally decided we would take the plunge and make our first camping trip.  For January, it had been wonderful weather so far and we looked forward to a change from the daily pills and aches and pains and looking at the four walls of our house and occasionally sleeping in the driveway on Seymour's queen sized bed.  We packed and re-packed and packed way too much for our first trip.  Things we would never ever need but we thought we just might need.  Then we completely forgot some of the most important everyday things we required!    Just like a couple of first-timers!

The morning we got up to leave for Montgomery we awoke to cold and wet and ice!  It was miserable. But we were determined.  We got everything ready and started to start it up so it would be nice and warm and toasty on our trip to find the batteries were dead.  Jimmy had to jump the thing off before we could even get out of the driveway.  Once again, we plunged forward.  Determined to make this work.  

Little did we know that there was a huge hole someone had cut in the firewall letting cold, cold, cold air come whistling in around our feet and legs as we went down the highway.  No, the dash heater didn't work!  We wrapped ourselves up in blankets and all the coats, gloves, scarves, and hats we had with us.  We finally made it but we were two very blue and cold people.  

End of a long story is that we had a wonderful time!  It was kind of flattering to be courted by two Units - the Texas Highland Lakes Unit and the North Texas Unit - but in the end we had to go with the most friendly and Gayland's group - the Texas Highland Lakes Unit.  We've never looked back and never regretted our decision.  

In fact, I'm currently serving as our Unit's President and Jimmy will be President next year.  When we jumped in, we didn't just jump in with both feet - we went all the way under!  And we're having the time of our lives!  This is what retirement is suppose to be about!  We have made some of the very best friends and we are getting to go and do things we would have never have done on our own.  I am so blessed!

Maddawg

Of all the grandkids, Maddux is probably the least likely to be offended that he was not the first grandkid to be blogged about!  Every single one of my grandkids are special in their own special, unique ways that makes each of them "my favorite."  But Maddux was the first.  He is special in that he and Melanie lived with me when he was first born because Bryan was away playing ball and the bond between him and me was cemented in the very first days he was even alive.

I am so proud of the young man he has become.  He loves his Mom and Dad.  And he loves Kaleigh and Jacoby.    And he loves sports!  Especially baseball!

This picture was when he was in Jr. High - his last year to play football after having had two concussions.  

This picture was taken this year, a couple of weeks ago in fact.  This game was the one that Maddux ended up with 23 points - 4 three pointers.  Right after this is when Reed (far left) suffered a concussion  while playing basketball and his doctor wouldn't even allow him to attend a game for a week or so.  The tall one in the back is Stetson.  We've never come up against another team yet that had anyone as tall as Stetson.  He always gets the tip off.  Right behind Maddux is Alex.  These boys have a lot of fun!  Maddux suffered yet another concussion this year too - this time in basketball practice.

I love this picture of Maddux getting a high-five from his Dad following the game.  These two guys are best buds!  I've never known of a 15 year old who had a closer relationship with his Mom and Dad as Maddux does.  But it's a two way street because Melanie and Bryan have the utmost love and respect for all of their children.  

But this is Maddux's greatest love - Baseball!

This is Maddux at his best - on the mound!

And everyone knows that if you're going to do it right - you've got to do it with a "monster face!"  Reminds me of the "monster face" that his Mom and Tish Garlington always wore while running track.  The expression "monster face" came from our good friends Terry and Alice Garlington.  

And the release!  Look at the intensity!

At shortstop!

And he's running!

All of these baseball pictures were taken in 2011 while he was playing for the Dallas Tigers.  This year he will be playing for his high school team - the Yellow Jackets - and then for the D-Bats.  I'm already praying for his safety and health!  He spent the majority of this last year in physical therapy rather than on the field and he was miserable not being able to play.  With the third concussion this year I'm thinking this will be his last year to play basketball.  He is a good basketball player, and he was a good football player, but he just can't risk getting hurt and damaging his career in baseball.  I think after this year that he will be strictly playing baseball.

Maddux = off the chart potential.

The J-Man

The little guy sitting in the high chair in the middle of everything is The J-Man.  He is my sunshine!  This picture was taken on his 3rd birthday - yes, that would be Christmas Day.  He is surrounded by (at 12:00) his sister, Kaleigh, who he calls, "La La."  Sitting on the floor at his feet is his big brother, Maddux, who Jacoby refers to as "Pow Pow."  Over his right shoulder is his great-grandmother, my Mother, who is known by everyone as "Grannie."  The two boys on either side are his cousins, Luke, (in purple) and Logan (in green stripe shirt).

And yesterday when I went to his house to keep him for a little while I found this little bit of sweetness had climbed up on the couch and decided to take a late afternoon nap.

What's so unusual about this is that Jacoby very rarely sleeps.  Because of his IS (Infantile Spasms) his little brain doesn't shut down long enough to allow him to sleep very much.  His entire life he's been able to function on an average of just 5-6 hours of sleep a day.  He may have slept 8 hours at a time, but that is very rare.

He has taken every kind of medication known to mankind to help him sleep, but much to his poor sleep-deprived parents' internal clock-works, he still doesn't sleep very much.  Or at least not very long.

But the fact that he doesn't sleep or everything that does not function as it does in most 3 year olds is not what defines Jacoby.  It is his sweet personality and easy dispositition and those adorable curls that wins your heart.  While I was taking pictures of Mother's Spring flowers the other day, I was able to snap this precious picture of her with Jacoby in the background.  His very favorite thing in the world is to be swung around.  He will seek out your hands and coax you to lift him off the ground and swing round and round.  Pure JOY for him!

This was taken about a month ago while he was in the doctor's office.  He was knocking on the door and everything else in there testing out the sounds and to let everyone know that he was in the building!

The world is Jacoby's playground but he needs to explore it very slowly and with much caution.  Don't know if it's due to the fact that he is blind or if he is just having to think very, very hard on processing just what every little nuance in life means and if it's safe to continue.

I'm not saying that he is slow because if you offer him something to eat that he doesn't approve of he can let you know very fast that that's just not going to work.

His oral sensory disorder and low-tone muscles prevent him from eating like normal kids.  In fact, his Mom, Melanie, has done an absolutely wonderful job keeping him one step away from having to have a feeding tube.  He goes to a speech therapist twice a week for close to two years now to just work on his eating abilities, and he is offered a wide variety of foods all day long.  Still, he prefers his bottle.

He's funny in that one of his biggest sensory issues is textures.  Where most three year olds love a squishy slice of cheese, Jacoby couldn't be more grossed out because of the "yickiness."  Won't have anything to do with it.

There was a time that I thought he would never learn to walk due to his inability to eat and get stronger; there for a while he looked so mal-nourished that I thought he might not even live.  But he did learn to walk.  And he walks alot now.  In fact, he is probably up on his feet and walking around a good 18 hours a day.

When he was just 7 months old he began having seizures.  Started the last day Melanie was finishing up her requirements to get her teaching certificate.  Melanie and Bryan did their own research and discovered what they thought was happening and what Jacoby had.  They were the first ones to put their finger on something called Infantile Spasms.  They were able to film little Jacoby throw his arms out repeatedly and sent it to their good friend and family doctor in an email during the night.

Jacoby was referred to a neurologist who immediately agreed with their diagnosis and put Jacoby (and Melanie and Bryan) in the hospital to begin a regime of ACTH.  This miracle, and extremely expensive, and sometime controversial drug stopped the seizures almost immediately.  Most IS children are not this fortunate to get such rapid results.    But every seizure damages a child.  The verdict is still out on just how much damage the seizures and the ACTH have done to Jacoby.  ACTH is controversial because of the side effects it can cause but when you're up against the wall and you've just got to do something, anything, to stop the seizures in your baby, you have to roll the dice and do what you can to just save the child.  

Jacoby was saved.  He is a blessing.  And he has a purpose.  That purpose is what makes us love him so much and so passionate to give this child a fighting chance.  He is surrounded by the most loving family you will ever find.  God knew what He was doing when he gave a child like Jacoby to parents like Bryan and Melanie.  Sometime in the future I will write just how special Melanie and Bryan are.  But today, I'm thanking God for the blessing he gave us named Jacoby.

  

Well, it's apparent that I don't know how to post the "button" because it didn't magically appear after I closed down.  Don't think I could go back and find that button now anyway.  Not very committed to that project am I?  Maybe committed to the project, just not in the promotion of it and learning how to post a "button" link to the project.  I am still trying to do my daily "good deeds" or "encouragement" though.

Last night Jimmy and I went to Kaleigh's basketball game.  Unfortunately, this is the very first game I've gotten to see her play in this year.  I think because she's not a real big fan of playing basketball - she absolutely loves volleyball and cheering - I think I haven't put out a lot of effort to getting to one of her games.  I think I'm beginning to see a problem with "committment" in my life!  I'm truly committed to my only granddaughter, but maybe not so much in a game that she's not really into.

Anyway, though I may have committment issues in my life, I am an optimist and I'm going to attempt another first.  I took a couple of hundred pictures at last night's game and I'm going to try to see if I can't post a few of them here.  I know 'Mo Joy posts lots and lots of pictures on her blog and Melanie and Jodi have posted some too - when they would post.  Maybe this committment issue is an epidemic and I got it from Melanie and Jodi.  I know it can be done so I'm going to try it.  If it works, look out!  This Nana loves her grandkids and loves to take pictures of them.

Woo Hoo!  It appears that I actually got something done!  I'm on a roll.  I'm going to see if I can do it again!

I'm intoxicated on my abilities!  What a rush!  I've posted pictures!  And look at that cute girl!  Isn't she adorable?  And she's just as sweet as she is cute!  Wow, that's a lot of exclamation points!  I told you I was a passionate Nana!  

That nasty little spot on the side of her nose is where Courtney scratched her in practice and not a piercing that's gone wrong.  

And here she is on the foul line playing defense and ready to get that re-bound.  Look at that concentration.  Maybe she won't grow up to have committment issues like her Nana or Mom.  

And this is what I came to take pictures of!  She is the official person to get the jump-off at the beginning of the game.  And she did get this one!  Unfortunately, the coach thought she needed to see it more than I needed to take a picture of it and pretty much blocked my view!  What's up with that?  Doesn't a Nana outrank a Coach?

This is one of those "you'd have to be there" moments to appreciate this.  Yes, Kaleigh threw the ball up and the ball got stuck between the basket and backboard in the game.  Though she's a pretty serious athlete and I'm proud of her to not give into those Jr. High School giggly moments, she (and the rest of her team) did find this pretty amusing while they waited for the ref to get another ball and knock it down.  

And even though, I am a really, really bad photographer and this shot is out of focus and she's got her eyes closed, I loved it because of how awesome her ponytail looks in mid-run down the court!  Yep, this is my blog and I want to devote my time and space to a bad photograph just because I like the way K's ponytail looks.

And this is my final shot of the night.  I don't know what the occasion was but each of the girls handed the coach a single long stemmed yellow rose at the end of the game and stood together to let me take their picture.  I took about 25 pictures of them getting in this position.  It's really pretty funny what lengths Jr. High girls go to get in their desired pose.  That # 24 just to the right of center is my favorite granddaughter.  I am so proud of you and when you talk about optimism - I can see all the potential in the world in her sweet face, her ambition in her beautiful eyes, and the compassion in her heart.  I love you Katie-bugg!