Not Middle Earth

Don't let the picture fool you. My daughter is not a Hobbit. It's all about perspective. And yes, she thinks the fact that Tom Bombadil wasn't in the LOTR movies was a complete travesty.

Winning Hearts

Steph, Sadie and I went to High Point First Wesleyan for the first time in several years this past Sunday. Our friends Geoff and Beth's daughter was getting dedicated. It was a different experience to be at a church that I grew up in but haven't been to in so long. A lot of time has passed since then, so it was interesting to be there.
After church, we went with my mom and dad and my grandparents to Madd Greek for some lunch. It's awesome food, if you haven't eaten there. The combination platter is amazing.
Anyway, Sadie took the opportunity to melt my dad's heart even more than she already has. The proof is in the pictures. I think Papa John is smitten.

If he wasn't sold before that, he is now.

And just because this made me wonder where we're going as a country, take a look at this shop I saw yesterday on my way back from UNC Charlotte.

Window Tinting and Tattoo? Awesome.



And, since Steph didn't like the layout I chose last week, I'm going to be experimenting with other looks for the blog. So bear with me. Thanks for reading this. I know there are only a few of you, but thanks.

Public Service Announcement

These are your dogs before you have children and you have time to comb out their beards and their fur.

These are your dogs after you have children and you don't comb out their beards and take them to the groomer after 6 months.

Any questions?

Poppy and Peter

Friday night, November 2nd, Steph and I received a call at 9:45 from Mandi. She told Steph that Poppy (their grandfather) had passed away. Poppy had dealt with Pneumonia earlier in the week, but on Friday appeared to be back at 100%. He woke up happy and ate lunch and dinner, but after dinner things seemed to turn around quickly. He passed away peacefully with Alan, Mandi and Melody close by, and he died at the farm.

Poppy was a wonderful grandfather and Godly man, and Stephanie and all her siblings absolutely loved he and Nana. They were incredibly giving, wonderful people. Nana preceded Poppy in death by almost 3 years to the day, and I sincerely regret that Sadie will not remember them. I have these pictures of Poppy and Sadie from a couple of months ago. From the time Poppy found out we were pregnant, he said he prayed every day that he would get the opportunity to see Sadie before he was gone. Well he got that, and I have to say that watching him dote on Sadie and light up every time he saw her was great. He truly loved her, and I believe he would have given her the world if he could.

Steph was extremely close to Nana and Poppy, as she served as their caretaker for a while in the months before Nana passed away. Poppy had a stroke about 25 years ago and lost the use of his left hand and leg, so he's been dependent on others for a while. After Nana died, Alan and Melody decided that they would take care of him for as long as they were able. As I said earlier, I believe he was able to "go home" the way he would have wanted, at the farm and surrounded by those he loves. I wish we could have been there, as a family gathering was planned for the very next day. But he got to spend time holding Sadie the weekend before, so it was good that he saw her.

Steph had a very tight bond with Nana and Poppy, so these losses in just a small three year window are especially poignant. We will have a graveside service tomorrow in Morganton, where Poppy served as pastor to a Baptist church many years ago. It will be tough to see Nana's grave and realize that Poppy's really gone too.

All that to say, we miss you Poppy. You were a wonderful grandfather who was a great example of how to love.

On a more, "Did this really just happen?" mode, our cat Peter ran away 2.5 weeks ago. He was an anniversary gift 4 years ago, and he's been a fat, contented house cat who was scared of the outdoors for most of those 4 years. One night 2.5 weeks ago, Peter ran out the front door as I was letting the dogs out and we hadn't seen or heard from him. We put out flyers, drove and walked the neighborhood trying to find him,, but to no avail. I was ready to chalk it up to him being dead or living in some sort of cat colony that Andrew Lloyd Weber would write a musical about.

Well, tonight (serendipitously the night before we say our last goodbye's to Poppy) I was taking the hose off the spigot on the back of the house when I heard a cat meow. I turned around, and sitting on our back porch was Peter. He's skin and bones and has a lot of ticks on him, but as soon as I picked him up he started purring as loud as I've ever heard him. We've got him in the bathroom now with bowls of food and water, just in case he's got fleas or something else we need to keep away from the dogs.

It's just amazing sometimes how the timing of things happens.

It's a bad pic of Pete, but we were a little excited.

Lucky

I love these two. Very Much.