Introducing Mr & Mrs Lee Willmon

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Introducing Mr & Mrs Lee Willmon

Got the book

After the rain stopped yesterday I got the chance to run to Reed's Bookstore & got the book. No it is not a reflection! Get it..Reflection. A play on words. The Book "Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia". I got an extra one for my sister that writes.

My mom the volunteer...

Click on picture for larger view. My mother & step-dad make the paper. He is the first from the far left & my mom is the 3rd from the left holding the rake. "Go MOM"
No arrest, fighting or drug charges. haha. Trust me you will never see that on here with their name attached. The article explains it.

Here is what my cousin Opal Lewis Meek sent out looking for help.

"The Town of Hollywood has a Clean Up Day Scheduled for Saturday, March 7, 2009, and plans to have a Dumpster at the Hollywood Crossroads which will take old furniture, limbs, old flowers, stands,etc. but no tires, oil, paint, batteries, or household trash will be accepted.

The Old Baptist Cemetery located on County Road 42 in Hollywood, AL, will have Clean Up Day on Saturday, March 7, beginning at 9 a.m. For more information call Pat Harding Womack at 256 - 599-0519 or 256 - 575-2727. Bring your own work tools.

Please come out and support all this clean up effort and especially the Old Baptist Cemetery. This is the white cemetery which has no perpetual care. The Black Old Baptist Cemetery there has perpetual care. The Sheriff's Department recently did a tremendous amount of cleanup of the white portion as coordinated by Pat Harding Womack and the Town of Hollywood provided the food to feed the inmates. We will need to really work to keep the cemetery looking nice. The inmates have cleaned up before but the mimosa trees really take over fast and so does the sage grass.

All help and support is greatly appreciated. Looking forward to seeing you there."

China guest

What does a Southern guy do on the day after opening day of deer season for youth's?

Take your son deer hunting of course. After church today my hubby got a call from a friend that said the deer were on the move in the afternoon because of the warm afternoons. Hubby & Chris threw on some hunting stuff grabbed a gun & hit the door running for our land. Chris (11 years old) has been wanting to kill his first deer so bad. No luck last year. Matthew (7 years old) just is not to interested just yet. He & I took the time to stay home & stay warm. I cut labels to use at the collection center tomorrow for OCC. Matthew watched TV & played out in the playroom. Such a peaceful Sunday afternoon.

Hubby called around 5:00pm. They were leaving the land. No deer in site. No deer roast yet. They did however bring home food. They brought home a hot & ready pizza from Little Caesars.

Now for my title of "China Guest".

Jeff has had a few of his Chinese people from China in the past couple of weeks. They come here once every 18 months or so. Jeff is with Ashley Furniture. (NO-He can not get you cheap furniture. NO-He can not get you a job) They wanted to experience some southern culture while they are here. Yesterday we took them to our land just for that. Hubby had gotten a big 4 wheeler from a friend & took both the boys 90cc 4 wheelers. He took a couple of guns for target practice, rubber boots to hike down the trail & fishing rods to catch some bass. They seemed to have had a great time. When we were getting ready to leave we went to a little store up the road on HWY 15 to have BBQ (lunch, 午饭 wǔfàn or zhōngfàn). It is called Pam's Place. Stop by for great BBQ. It is cooked right out front in a barrel & they thought that was really something. Toby & Ken speak pretty good English. Jennifer does not speak any. Her being around me had to be a hoot. I just talked & talked. I had the guys tell her some things but as women we have our communication. I had looked up a 4 page list of things to say or rather have her look at the paper & point to the words.....It did not help.

Jennifer using Chris' little 22 Henry. Our lake in the background.

Jennifer & me/I (Yes-it was dang cold)

Jennifer, Toby & Ken

Toby, Jennifer, Ken & Hubby

Toby & Ken riding on the back of the truck coming out

Loading up to go eat.

Loading up the 4 wheelers to go eat BBQ

Our guest are due to go back at the end of this week. They have been staying in a local hotel. We will be having them as dinner guest Tuesday. I look forward to entertaining such wonderful friends from another culture. You learn so much.

Goodbye (informal)--
拜拜。 Bai-bai (Byebye)

Bless you--

Yi bai sui

Where does time go

It seems I just did a post. Time is my enemy. I get so tied up with........stuff. I hoped to have did a blog with my everyday stuff but that gets busy. The boys take alot of time so I pick them over my blog. I am sure everyone can say that.

Celebration Village went great. I never heard the final total of how much was sold. I seen people shopping but I think maybe not as much as they normally would. This picture was made on the last day, Saturday. Pictured below are myself (white OCC tee, black slacks, no jacket) & 3 other volunteers for the booth to promote Operation Christmas Child. Our regional Coordinator did a great job getting enough volunteers to come all 4 days. I popped in & out managing to make sure all was going good, everyone showed up that should & snapping a few pictures of the people helping & the things going on around. Most people passing by the booth thought we were selling something until I finally made the yellow sign you see in the picture below. ByTheWay---Do you do a shoebox yourself?

We are starting to see OCC come to an end soon. Yesterday I met our Regional Coordinator at the TV station to go on the noon show. She did a great job. She needed support. She wanted me at her side on camera but she has worked so hard on this on a complete volunteer basis. She puts in alot of hours. She deserved that time. We load ALL the boxes at the warehouse Nov 17th-24th that comes from all the surrounding areas of Tupelo. Last year apx 16,000 shoeboxes went out of Tupelo's Collection Center. Pray for more boxes this year.

Jump back a day!

Well can I actually get two post in one night?

I posted about my day but now the weekend.

We still have Cub Scout popcorn sell going on & had another 3 hour shift at Sam's Club to sell. The boys actually did pretty good which was my two & one of my Tigers from my den. They stalked errr...waited outside the exit door for customers leaving & ask if they would like to help support the cub scouts by buying popcorn. Some people ignored them but some nice people actually stepped over & bought. One guy actually said "he did not recognize the Scouts". Don't even get me started. That's another post in itself. Well we were tired & cold & finally got home about 9:30 that night & we were T-I-R-E-D. The boys want to know can we do it again Saturday............NO NO NO. All my two did was fight & punch each other the whole time & run everywhere not paying attention. One of my sisters has two boys & I ask her ALL the time "please tell me it gets better." I miss baby dolls & doing nails! Boys are not wired that way. Thank God.

Hubby was home all weekend. Before the weather turns to cold we hoped to get the 4 wheelers out & take to the land. Chris' had been acting up for a bit. Hubby got it out early Saturday to do a quick thing to it but nothing here is simple. He was stumped so it is off to the repair people. Here we go again! He gave up, we got the other one loaded & headed to a friends house to pick up his big 4 wheeler. Wait, we need to switch the little one to the back of the truck because both will not fit on the trailer, get gas in a can, air in the tire, the boys are hungry, We are never going to get there. We are trying to find a place in Pontotoc to pull the trailer in safely to get gas & guess what blue lights behind us. Yes, a city cop. We must have attracted attention looking for a station. No my husband was speeding. He didn't argue. He was. Proof of insurance. Guess what not in the truck. It was our leased vehicle we were turning back in so all of it was removed from the glove box. We decided to buy it instead but none of the papers were put back in. I guess the officer thought we looked honest enough & let that part slip. I now have it at my side ready to go back in the truck tomorrow. Well we try to proceed onto the land. We get there & are met by some wild turkey crossing the driveway in. Pic attached. We are now at the spot we will call home hopefully soon. All is well in the Pa'tty World. All three guys got muddy. Chris even had muddy underwear from riding. That is some serious mud riding. I weed eated around some trees, cleaned off my cats grave who I still miss something fierce, played with my toy (Nikon camera), road a 4 wheeler through the woods & back out & took a deep breath because by that time the sun was going down. Turned out to be a good Saturday ticket & all.

At church the next morning with Operation Christmas Child in full swing I have had things I have had to do. We picked that day to give out the empty boxes that Samaritans Purse provides. Only about 250 were passed out. We had a really great time doing it. Pic attached. Hopefully they come back all full to send over seas.

Shelley Farmer (Director of Childhood Education)

(me) Katrina Potter Patty (OCC coordinator for HBC)

Dale Taylor (volunteer for OCC)

Kathryn Walden (volunteer for OCC)

Rev. David Langerfeld (Associate Pastor)

Rev. Tim Alexander (Minister of Education & Single Adults)

Our 2 boys both have b'days this month & their grandparents sent them some money that was burning a hole in their pockets. Sunday after church we went to Wally World to spend that hot money. The boys both got toys since you know they don't have any. The pitiful things. S-P-O-I-L-E-D to the bone. Man time is passing quick. The boys are 7 & 11 this month. Our daughter turned 22 this past summer. Different seasons of our lives. Changes come. We deal. Me not as much. I do deal with it but in some ways I look back & wish for the old times. People are what I miss the most. Father, mothers, sisters & nephews that have passed. Time heals wounds. A blogger friend is having to bury a nephew soon. What I read of him all says he was a great guy & you wonder why was it his time. But it is God's time not ours. God has plans for him & he needed him now. My heart breaks for the family having to say their goodbye's. Patty I will be thinking of you. Please keep this sweet family in your prayers.

Well it is getting late. I have bible study tomorrow. I still need to finish the booth tomorrow. My husband comes back from a quick business trip that he left early this morning on. My oldest son has a b'day & I need to get a fire lit under me to get some painting finished around here. Got to get this house sold. Now I will try to download some pics for you to view. Click on them for a larger view.

Scout Day at Huntsville Space & Rocket

Chris (Webelo 2 rank), Me, & Matthew (Tiger rank)

Pack 85 Tupelo, MS

Alot of our pack went to the Space & Rocket Center this past Saturday. The church vans transported alot of the group & several took their own cars. They left that morning & came back later that afternoon. I took my own vehicle & stayed the weekend back home. I am SOOO tired. I stay busy the whole time I am there. Since Jeff did not get to go my mom & sister went & spent Saturday with us at the Space & Rocket Center.

Later the boys & I ran by & spent some time with Jeff's dad (my in-laws). My baby sister called when I was about to leave from there & wanted to know if I wanted to run to Wally World with her. We went & did the Southern thing of shopping & running into people & talking & catching up. We left there & drove around & waited on my niece to get off work at the pizza place. We made her & her friends take us cruising around "The Square". We lead very pathetic lives to hang out with 19 year olds. We just had to see if it had changed any since we were that age. It has not just to let you know. By the way the only reason they let us go was because I let her drive my vehicle & it was my gas that made the many trips around "The Square" & town. The reason we finally went home.....the old people in the back seat was about to fall asleep (my sister & I). Boy were we tired & it was not even midnight.

Pastor appreciation was the next day at my sister's church & they were honoring their pastor that performed my wedding years & many years ago.

In my hometown they have a Trade Day the "First Sunday" & "First Monday" of each month around "The Square". Not much was going on but it was still fun walking around & remembering a place I walked for as long as I remember. If you go & don't run into someone you know you must not be looking. I seen my husbands neice & her little family I rarely get a chance to see while back home. We tired of walking & went after lunch. Then back to my sisters to pack up & leave town finally around 5:00. Engine light came on so that threw my time off a bit. (My neice did not tighten the gas cap after she put gas in for me)

Got back here to MS finally around 9:00pm.

Now back to real life back here & got to get busy with Operation Christmas Child at church.

Off to cook dinner now.

More later.

Quote added

I added a little quote to this photo. I have always loved this little saying I heard years ago.

Storms moving through Tupelo

The cloud that lingered after the heavy rain passed through.

Got a nice light show from it.

The show that followed.

Storms today

Well I'm not saying we didn't need the rain but........I could do without the strong storms. I went to drop my son off at a swimming party & before I could make it back rain hit like BAMM. Could barely see to make it to my driveway. Jeff had Matthew go & get in the inside bathroom until it passed over. Matthew took what was important to him. Our newest cat, MAC. Some kind of strong wind had dropped down. I had a plastic Adirondack chair on the front porch that wound up broken in pieces in a neighbors yard & several things blown around the yard. One of my poor little crepe myrtles about 8' tall didn't fair very well. You can see in the picture. Alot of limbs were down in our yard. I messed up an umbrella walking under a tree. About the time I went under a big limb fell & hit me. My umbrella that is. Our neighbor was not so fortunate. Bradford Pears are notorious for breaking in the slightest wind. They had 3 cars buried in one that snapped. Not much damage but still a headache to deal with. My neighbor had 2 sections of their fence fell into the other neighbors yard. That can be put back up. They have their house for sale also & the real estate sign was flat on the ground. I went back to pickup my son from the swim party. They didn't get the bad stuff from the storm but swimming was out. For some odd reason the hostess did not want water fried kids at the party. (I am kidding) They still had alot of fun there inside playing.

Any of my family that knows me can guess what I grabbed to go back out & pick up Chris from the party. DING DING DING We have a winner........my camera. Come on a storm comes over & me not take it with me. Get real.

My poor little crepe myrtle

Limbs scattered in the yard

The one that got me

My neighbor that didn't fair as well. 3 vehicles under this.

My husband in yellow. Mention a chain saw & tools & they are like kids.

What a weekend!

T.G.I.M.-Thank God it's Monday!

Friday was my date night. My church offers one night a month to watch the kids for a small fee while the parents have dinner & a movie or do what they choose. We really look forward to it each month. Both the boys should have had a skate party to go to after school but Chris' school bus was running late. 40 minutes late. It rained ALOT here Friday. I figured she had took the long route & was dropping kids off at the door. Then I got that funny feeling you get & thought something was wrong. I called the bus garage & ask if they knew the location of the bus. I was asked "Are you one of the parents?" gulp, heart starts to pound! Seems like a whole minute went by. Then in a split second she said everything was fine. Someone had side swiped the bus. That didn't seem too minor. The bus was being cleared & should leave from it's location any minute. Within 15 minutes the bus dropped my precious cargo off. The party plans were now off. We talked & decided to skip the party & take them later. Maybe over the weekend. Matthew had gotten new skates to try so he was a bit disappointed. Maybe they will forget & we won't have to fit that in! Yeah, right!

Saturday was baseball practice for Chris. This years team seems to be pretty good. Really good hitters. Came home to do chores but hubby took off fishing at our lake. Rat. I pulled a few weeds but I am still taking it easy. I did jump on the mower & go around the yard. Chris tried to see if he could touch the peddles this year. Almost. Maybe by the end of the summer. I worked outside until it got about dark on me. The boys had rode their bikes to the neighbors a couple of houses over. I yelled & yelled for them to come home. No answer. I rode my bike over there. Jeff had took off in the truck with my keys in the glove box. I either had to walk or ride or a bike. You know they make those seats smaller & smaller now on those things! I pulled up to the neighbors house to ask if they had seen them. Answer: NO. OMG Where are they? I rode up the road to another neighbors house, they were not there. I seen a couple out walking & ask if they had seen 2 boys on bikes. They had seen them the other direction (our subdivision makes a circle). I rode that way & seen Chris walking back by himself toward the house. Where is Matthew? It hit me at that point. Construction was going on in an empty lot. They had both rode their bikes into it & was buried up in mud. Chris had finally given up & was walking back for help. Relief came over me but anger got the best of me. If only they knew the dangers of strangers. Notice no smile on their faces. They couldn't see the grin I was trying to hide. We all laughed later. Their defense----They were told to get outside & play.

After a long soak in the tub I believe the boys are back to being clean for now.

Sunday. The day of rest. We got ready for church & went. After church the boys were still holding us to SKATING. Can we go, Can we go, Can we go? Well, eat lunch & went. That was about the longest 2 and a half hours in all my afternoons. I had woke up with my back hurting from pulling weeds the day before & having a few chest pains from my current stuff. The boys come first. After we got home we tried to finish a couple of projects. I drug the tent out of the attic & glued some Boy Scouts patches on for camping that is coming up soon. Jeff finally took our screen door off the play room door to the outside & cut the side down to finally fit the opening. Of course it didn't go as easy as it should have. Does anything go easy?

Well Monday is here take a breath & start the week. Tonight is scouts. Laundry is piled up. Dishes as well. Baseball practice later. Did I eat yet? Have I gone to the potty?

Play Time

Usually our family play time consist of driving to our land. My husband took "The Boys", aka our kids, fishing today. They are seen waiting patiently while he ready's the rod & reels. After trolling around a bit, getting a few nibbles & Chris catching one pretty big bass they headed for shore for "The Boys" to do what they came for.......

Get down & dirty......It ain't real 4 wheeling if you don't get a bit of mud on ya'...