Helping a friend and birthdays

I'm back!! Was an interesting drive south. The area around Columbus and Edinburgh Indiana still showed signs of the devastation from the flooding. Field pipes once buried now visible. Large areas of fields with big swashes ripped out by flowing water. The rivers were still high but not overflowing their banks. It's just amazing what Mother Nature can do.
The trip to Kentucky and back went well. I have some new bruises and I'm minus a few fingernails lol! Boy, was that some busy days!! I ended up leaving on Weds. morning and arrived at Linda's around noon. Her daughter, Tina, had an appointment with a lawyer in a few hours so first thing we did was get her on the road. Lawyers office was an hour and a half drive. Then we headed upstairs to organized what she had already packed up. Neither of them are in good health so I put myself to good use and packed...and moved boxes...and packed...and moved boxes...and packed...and moved boxes... As you can guess, Linda had a lot of calls to make so while she was on phone I would hold up items and she would point to which suitcase or box. Before you knew it we had the bed cleared! Then we would start on a different area and fill the bed up again. Then clear it again. Little by little we got everything packed and had 1 suitcase for her to 'live out of' for a few days and 1 suitcase for medicines. She had a friend come in by bus from PA to drive her truck and the U-haul to New Jersey and he was to arrive at 2:30 but called at noon to let us know that a levee had broke in Columbus, OH (what's with the Columbus flooding?...Columbus, IN and Columbus, WI!?) and bus had to detour and it would be close to 7pm before he arrived! Poor Carl was on that bus for almost 24 hours!! Only to turn around and leave by truck the next morning. What a friend!
We pulled out of Bowling Green, KY at 10:30am. I followed behind them until the Blue Grass Parkway exit. I pulled up along side them and blew Linda a kiss. As I headed north, they exited to go east and that's when I started to cry. I stayed tough until then because I knew Linda was trying so very hard not to break down. I talked to her Sunday and she said something about feeling like she stepped off a cliff into the unknown when we parted ways on the Interstate. I told her she hadn't stepped into the unknown but she had been standing on a threshold with 1 foot in today and 1 foot in the future and now she had just lifted that foot from today and stepped into a new beginning. She sounded happier on Sunday than I had heard her in a longggg time :)
Sunday afternoon was reserved for the birthday girl, Maggie!! We had quite the crowd over to celebrate her big day with her. With all the sickness, broken leg and injuries in the family lately we haven't been able to celebrate everything so the cake had Graduation for Jeremy and Faith, and birthday for Maggie and me. I have pictures and will post them when I can get them downloaded from the camera. Maggie got lots and clothes and toys, of course, and we just put the cake on the highchair tray and let her go!! When the party was over, Amanda, Tom and the kids and one of Amanda's friends from high school stayed and we had pizza and wings for dinner. It was a good day :)
Now it's back to work....blah! No more mentioning 'nookie' Son-in-law visited blog last week and was grossed out that his mother-in-law mentioned it...Sorry Tom! LOL :P

Here's a word of the day:
trichotillomania

\trick-uh-till-uh-MAY-nee-uh\
noun

Meaning

: an abnormal desire to pull out one's hair

Example Sentence

Connie’s trichotillomania left her with an unfortunate array of bald spots along the crown of her head.

Now this I have experienced! Although not to the point of having bald spots but there is usually a point (or two, or three) in each day that I just want to pull my hair out!! Thank God my insanity is normal. It is normal isn't it? I was told it was but maybe the person who told me that was crazy too! Yikes!

Today in History:

July 1, 1863

The Battle of Gettysburg begins

The largest military conflict in North American history begins this day when Union and Confederate forces collide at Gettysburg. The epic battle lasted three days and resulted in a retreat to Virginia by Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia.

Two months prior to Gettysburg, Lee had dealt a stunning defeat to the Army of the Potomac at Chancellorsville. He then made plans for a Northern invasion in order to relieve pressure on war-weary Virginia and to seize the initiative from the Yankees. His army, numbering about 80,000, began moving on June 3. The Army of the Potomac, commanded by Joseph Hooker and numbering just under 100,000, began moving shortly thereafter, staying between Lee and Washington, D.C. But on June 28, frustrated by the Lincoln administration's restrictions on his autonomy as commander, Hooker resigned and was replaced by George G. Meade.

Meade took command of the Army of the Potomac as Lee's army moved into Pennsylvania. On the morning of July 1, advance units of the forces came into contact with one another just outside of Gettysburg. The sound of battle attracted other units, and by noon the conflict was raging. During the first hours of battle, Union General John Reynolds was killed, and the Yankees found that they were outnumbered. The battle lines ran around the northwestern rim of Gettysburg. The Confederates applied pressure all along the Union front, and they slowly drove the Yankees through the town.

By evening, the Federal troops rallied on high ground on the southeastern edge of Gettysburg. As more troops arrived, Meade's army formed a three-mile long, fishhook-shaped line running from Culp's Hill on the right flank, along Cemetery Hill and Cemetery Ridge, to the base of Little Round Top. The Confederates held Gettysburg, and stretched along a six-mile arc around the Union position. For the next two days, Lee would batter each end of the Union position, and on July 3, he would launch Pickett's charge against the Union center.

For my Canadian friends...

July 1, 1867

Canadian Independence Day

The autonomous Dominion of Canada, a confederation of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the future provinces of Ontario and Quebec, is officially recognized by Great Britain with the passage of the British North America Act.

On July 1, 1867, with passage of the British North America Act, the Dominion of Canada was officially established as a self-governing entity within the British Empire. Two years later, Canada acquired the vast possessions of the Hudson's Bay Company, and within a decade the provinces of Manitoba and Prince Edward Island had joined the Canadian federation. In 1885, the Canadian Pacific Railway was completed, making mass settlement across the vast territory of Canada possible.

I saw yesterday that primary filming for PE is done. That's sad and I will miss the updates and pictures. Only thing to do is wait for the movie to come out. And I think it will be an awesome movie!! Not just because Johnny Depp is in it but from what I've seen in the making of it.
Ok, I've got to get some work done. Until next post.....take care