Monday, June 9, 2008

How Time Flies

I can't believe it has been so long since I had all of these big plans to write in my blog on a daily basis. Of course, a lot of things have happened since that day way back when (now, when was it?). The one thing that did happen that was not real good was I got a call from my brother telling me that my mother in Montana was in the hospital and had had congestive heart failure -- this was Mother's Day 2008 -- then, to top things off, they did a colonoscopy and found she had colon cancer; so, I get in my car and make the 1200 mile trip from Arizona to Montana to be with Mom and my family. We about lost mom at one point, but they were able to get her back to where she was supposed to be. And, she is now home; the doctor got all of the cancer after cutting out about 6 inches of her colon; she is progressing and getting better daily, but not without its problems and she is functioning in her home again. So, I will be moving to Montana within the next 3 months to go live with her and take care of her. She needs 24/7 care and I really want to be with her. It is a huge leap of faith for me, but one that needs to be done and I am more than happy to go.

I am also recovering from some major foot surgery that was done about 3 months ago. I went in to get a bunion removed and came out having to have my whole foot basically rebuilt. YOUCH!! It has been a long process and I am still not completely healed and have to wear my boot or brace most of the time. But, my doctor is so danged cute that I like to go in to get a cortisone shot just to see him -- not really, but my friend and I have nick-named him Dr. McHandsome (his name is Dr. Hansen) and her little girl who is 3 years old also calls him Dr. McHandsome. He looks very much like Dr. McDreamy on Grey's Anatomy.

So, with all of that going on, there hasn't been much time to do anything else. I am plugging away and have just recently gone back to work.

Now, I need and want to get my pictures put on here since photography is a real passion of mine and I love to share the beauty that I find in our country with others so they can see that we truly do live in God's country and he has blessed us with beautiful gifts all around to enjoy and get pleasure from.

It is now getting late, so I am going to retire to the bed real soon. My room is really warm, so have to get the fans going to cool down. It was 102 deg. in Phoenix today -- YIKES!! I do NOT like Summers here -- they about kill me!

Until next time, smiles and hugs to all!

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Today is my first time for blogging and because of the new site I am now on, I feel that I should introduce myself and become a part of the Farm Girl life, so thanks to everyone on MaryJanesFarm for the inspiration to get me moving and doing something I have been wanting to do for a very long time, now.

My name is Gayle, but have, for some odd reason, been given the name of GiGi and very affectionately, too, by the children who live in the home I live in. You see, I live with a friend of mine (my very best friend) and she has 3 small children and instead of confusing them about who their grandmas are, they decided to name me GiGi for Grandma Gayle. I like it, actually. And, since I already have 11 grandchildren of my own (with one more on the way), it just worked out to be best to call me GiGi. The interesting part is that the name has caught on in all circles of my life and now most of my friends here in Arizona and the people I work with, call me GiGi. But, I am NOT Grandma to all of them -- friends, for sure.

I am a mom to 5 lovely daughters and as said, 11 grandchildren with one more on the way. My daughters all live in different parts of the states and one is overseas, so this ole Mom gets quite homesick for them A LOT! One lives in Tacoma, Washington; one lives in Tremonton, Utah; one lives in Raleigh, SC; one lives in Tucson (yippee -- she is only 110 miles from me here in the Phoenix area); and the youngest lives in England where her husband is stationed at Lakenheath AFB, so needless to say, I have a lot of traveling to do. Oh, Darn! Just kidding -- I can't wait until I can travel more.

I was born and raised in Billings, Montana, but I have lived all over the United States. However, I love the western part of the United States the most and if I had my druthers right now, I would be living in Montana, Utah or Washington and the goal is to get back to one of those places and get to live closer to at least one more of my daughters. I just can't spread myself thin enough to be with all 5 of them at once.

So, with that said, I will end this for today, but will pick up more and write more as time permits and as I learn this "art" of blogging. Thanks for reading and I hope to get to know more people as time goes on.

Smiles and Hugs to all of you out there in blogland!

GiGi