Grandmother

As I was warming up lunch on Sunday, my mom called. When I heard her voice, I knew something was wrong. She was calling to tell me that her mother, my grandmother, had died. Grandmother (GM) was 88 years old. She was the last of her siblings.

GM's full name was Mattie Mozelle Cannon Brown. Most people called her Mozelle. She was named after her grandmother Mattie. She was the middle child - older siblings Dorothy and Carroll and younger siblings Ida Mae and John and Billie Jean who died as a baby. In the picture, she is on the far left.

We were a surprised at the suddenness of her death. But she was tired, struggling with some health issues, and we count it a blessing that she didn't linger and just fell asleep.

Here are some other pictures:

Grandmother & Pa-Pa on their 55th wedding anniversary.

Grandmother & Pa-Pa's church directory picture from 1982 - the were BOTH smiling!!

Grandmother, Mama Bond (my great-grandmother), me, and Laura in front of the house we grew up in in Ashdown - summer of 1980.

The Ladies

Since March 5, I have gotten to know a new group of people - the Strong Women!!! I have really enjoyed teaching three classes of strength training to women, and it's really been beneficial to me too. So, what is it about anyway?

Most Mondays & Wednesdays at 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. at College church, you will find a group of women (ages 20-something to 80-something) laughing, talking, having fun, and oh yeah, exercising! I have met so many unique and lovely ladies that I now call friends. We chat about people, exercise, listen to bones creak (and mouths moan), and discuss our new-found ability to pour gravy out of that heavy iron skillet - with ONE hand (the latest "success" story). When I miss class, they tease me and tell me how much they missed me. And someone always says, "Thanks for doing this!" They may not realize this, but I think I get more out of this than they do! I just give them a hard time about proper form (rock back on your heels, and stick your butt out!). :-) They are so much fun, so appreciative, and so kind. Even when I'm tired and down, they lift me up. I'm so lucky! Feel free to join us.
Mondays & Wednesdays
9:00 a.m. class meets in Room 100 at College church
4:00 p.m. class meets in Room 119 (next to kitchen and family room) at College church
5:00 p.m. class meets in the old Carder Buick building next to WCMC

Wild Weather in Washington!

My vacation was last week and I really didn't want to come back to work! It wasn't the most restful vacation, but it was fun. I flew to DC on April 1st. My best friend Elissa and her mom, Mrs. Sue, met me at the airport. We used her dad's (Mr. George) cool new toy, Tom Tom (renamed Tina by Lis and Sue) to navigate. We stayed at the Virginian Suites near the Rosslyn Metro stop.

The weather was magnificent on Monday & Tuesday! Sunny, temps in the 80s, and the cherry blossoms were in full bloom! But, silly me - I forgot my camera on Monday. DUH. But Elissa said she'd share. The picture below left was taken near the Jefferson Memorial on our night tour. Here's another one taken on the night tour (right). We were on the edge of the Tidal Basin, near the FDR Memorial looking towards the Jefferson Memorial. Note the beautiful moon.

Wednesday, the weather changed a bit. We got rain Tuesday night, so it was cloudy and cooler. We decided to go to Mount Vernon, George Washington's home. We ate lunch at the Mount Vernon Inn, a colonial restaurant. We had fried green tomatoes, corn chowder with crab, and I had sausage and bean cassolet with duck. It was very tasty. We toured the home (very interesting) and walked the grounds a bit. Picture below - Elissa and I in front of the home and the "bowling green" (green yard!).

Thursday, the weather was considerable colder - FREEZING! Elissa and Mrs. Sue braved the cold and wind to stand in line for tickets to see the Capitol and then the Library of Congress. I wasn't feeling that great and wanted to relax a bit, so I stayed at the hotel (yes, I've had the Capitol tour!). But that evening, we layered up as much as we could, took 2 blankets, and headed to RFK Stadium to see the Washington Nationals play the Arizona Diamondbacks. Ww got there plenty early and feasted on hot dogs and hot chocolate. It was FREEZING so we left at the bottom on the 4th inning (the Nats lost).

Yes, we did all the tourist stops - the National Air & Space Museum, the Natural History Museum, all the Memorials, the Mall, the Bureau of Engraving & Printing, and totally enjoyed the cherry blossoms and even the Metro! I took a lot of pictures of the beautiful flowers at the Monuments and Mount Vernon too. I'm out of time and energy for now...........................................