Too Fast!!

For those who know me it's no secret that I adore my great-niece, Emma. I was in the delivery room when she was born and was the first family member to see her. She takes up a very large portion of my heart and I thank God for her everyday. Yesterday I went to pick her up for Church and out walked a grown young-lady. Where did my baby go? I commented several times during the morning how grown-up she looked. Her response was I'm just trying to dress a little more "girly." Here are some then and now photos.

The Person My Dog Thinks I Am.

My goal in life is to be as good of a person my dog already thinks I am. ~Author Unknown

Each morning as I come down the stairs I'm greeted by what seems to be the happiest creature on Earth. Each afternoon when I pull in the driveway there are four happy creatures looking for me out of our glass door. Each night as I go to bed two happy creatures snuggle as closely to me as they can. Of course I'm talking about my dogs. Today, for some reason, I'm all sentimental about my"best buddies." A friend of ours teases us that when he dies he would like to be reaincarnated and return as one of the "Cargile Critters." That's a compliment to us really because Jerry and I, along with Teeny and Jason, work pretty hard to make sure they are cared for -- however, we're the real winners really. So the quote at the top of this post is true. I'm sure I could never live up to the great person my dog thinks I am -- but it's worth a try.

This is "Cookie Cargile." She thinks I hung the moon. Jerry and I rescued her and her puppies about 2 years ago.

Weekend Update

Hello everyone. Hope a great weekend was had by all. I spent Saturday with a few work friends on Smith Lake. Jane, a long-time United Way employee and the person who hired me here at United Way, and her husband, Brian, have a beautiful lot on the lake. They plan to retire there and build a full-time residence. In the meantime, they have made a place I like to call "The Smith Lake Swiss-Family Robinson" lot. They already have their decks built and they are so natural you hardly notice them from the lakeside. Then underneath overhanging rocks they've build storage areas and yes even a potty place :) There's electricity, water, boat, sea-do and anything else you can think of for a great day at the lake. We had a blast. I tried to ski but only was able to stand up once and had a tough time balancing. It's only been about 20 years since I skiid last. Needless to say - today - I'm a little sore. Thanks Jane for a great, relaxing day.

DOG DAYS OF SUMMER

Most of my readers are from Alabama and can appreciate the fact that it's hot and it's supposed to be hot in mid-July. We just arrange our outdoor work to take place in early morning or late afternoon. But not only are us human's noticing the heat, but the crowd of Cargile Critters are too. Some of you know that the Cargile House is virtually a Humane Society. If an animal needs a home, they will eventually find their way to our house. So, with that being said, we have four dogs -- all larger than 50 pounds with our heaviest weighing 95 pounds. We have a nice backyard with plenty of "romping" room and they love to run around chasing each other. But not in this heat. They run out, do their business, and practically knock us over getting back into the house -- now that's hot people. So maybe that's why they call it the Dog Days of Summer. Let's take a lesson from them. Only do what we absolutely have to and NAP THE REST OF THE TIME. Have a great week.

CAMPING IS FOR THE YOUNG

In an earlier post I told you Jerry and I planned to go camping at St. Andrew's State Park in Panama City over the July 4th weekend. This is not our first camping experience - but the way we feel now - it is most likely our last. When our son Jason was 10 or 11 we went for a week to the state park. Jerry and I slept in a small dome tent and Jason was in a "pup" tent. Other than it being hot, we had a great time. Then two years ago we attempted camping again - this time with a great cabin style tent. We were really uptown. After almost having a massive coronary from putting the thing up we managed to have a great time once again. This past weekend's trip was not so wonderful As Jerry and I age we realize we "don't work well together." Every task we did seemed to cause a disagreement. But there were bright spots and the weather was beautiful. Following are a few pics from our trip. Have a wonderful week.

Grills, Girls and Little Rich

We celebrated July 4th with my sister-in-law's sister, Sharon Walker. Sharon is a wonderful host and has a gorgeous back-yard with a swimming pool. She's one of these people that makes everything look easy. As a guest you couldn't possibly imagine she was stressed in the least about 10 people coming over for lunch. Oh, I do wish I had that gift. She put my brother Richard and Jerry in charge of the grill. They did an excellent job and we stuffed ourselves and enjoyed every bite. Here's photos of the boys doing what they do best. Jerry is never happy unless he smells like BBQ smoke.

Prior to eating some of us girls decided the "water was fine." Here are Karen, Sharon and myself floating in the pool. It was WONDERFUL. That's Jerry in the background.

Several years ago while in Gulf Shores, Karen noticed a figurine for sale in a shop called "Tootie Greens." What struck Karen the most was how much this tiny statue favored my brother Richard. She bought "Little Rich" and we have great fun making sure that "Little Rich" gets to see as much of the world as possible. He travels everywhere with Karen and Richard. Oh the tales he could tell.

A few months ago "Little Rich" traveled to Hawaii with Karen and Richard. Rumor has it that he even danced with a Hula Girl. Here's a photo of him at the July 4th party. We weren't watching him closely enough and we found him a the bottom of the pool. Fortunately he survived.

After we left Sharon's Jerry and I headed down to Panama City Beach for an exciting weekend of camping. I'll post pictures of that adventure later. Have a great day!!

NEW LOOK!

Hi everyone. I've once again changed my background but lost a few things on the way. I'll try and update photos soon. We had a good weekend celebrating my Mom-In-Laws 85th birthday. We had a family gathering at The Bright Star, a restaurant that's been located in Bessemer, Alabama since 1907. Great food and nostalgia. All over the place you see pictures of famous folks that have passed through. There was also a set of menus from years gone by and we noticed a slight increase in prices. Believe it or not you could get a steak for $1.45 at one time.

Attending the party were Jerry, Jason and myself. Jerry's oldest brother, John and wife Paula. Our sister-in-law, Vickie Cargile and son Will. Also, Paula's daughter Shannon came with her precious 3-year old John Cade. Teeny enjoyed herself and it was a great way to celebrate.