Catherine Evonne

The morning of April 7th was pretty typical around our house. Mark was off to work - actually I was about to cart him off to the airport for a quick business trip - when his cell phone rang. He glanced at the Caller ID and said, "Cory Hendricks". And yes people, that was the beginning of Mark and Kim's marathon trip to Lubbock! The call came in at 9:00 AM and at 1:00 PM we were in Lubbock and ready for our Granddaughter to make her grand entrance in to the world. And, a grand entrance she did make - be it almost 12 hours later!

When I look at Cate my heart swells with love. I can't wait to watch her grow, to see her first tooth, to see her little bottom crawl across the floor. I can't wait to hear her first words and see her wrap her Grand Daddy ever so sweetly around her little finger. I want to be there to teach her to build a sand castle and chase crabs with a flash light. To be a part of her life is such a gift from God and I already cherish every moment we will share with her. I look at Cate and the sweetest song goes through my mind - and it is just for her and Cory and Jess...

Isn't she lovely
Isn't she wonderful
Isn't she precious
Less than one minute old
I never thought through love we'd be
Making one as lovely as she
But isn't she lovely made from love

Isn't she pretty
Truly the angel's best
Boy, I'm so happy
We have been heaven blessed
I can't believe what God has done
Through us he's given life to one
But isn't she lovely made from love

Where Have I Been?

Actually I've been a lot of places lately and I plan to memorialize each of them here sometime between now and the end of eternity (multiple posts to follow!).

First things first though. In March I decide the Reaves' master bedroom needed a serious makeover. Of course, what I deem to be a simple 5 day project can never actually end up as such.

It started out as planned. We, well not actually we but the contractors re-textured the ceiling and walls, installed crown molding, trim and new baseboards, painted, ripped out the carpet and installed new flooring. The crown molding proved to be a little challenging as our entire home is apparently, well, crooked. Several days and lots of frustration later they somehow got it done.

Now, more about the room. The walls are the color of Hershey's Cocoa and the crown molding, boarders and bedding are white.



I went junk shopping and found a couple of old antique doors. Senior Reaves got crafty and mounted them for me and we now have a funky new headboard.





We added a gorgeous Persian style rug and some powder blue accents and we now have a warm and cozy master bedroom that I love.





I have as of yet to hang anything on the walls and am considering not doing so. There is something very calming about having a warm, simple room to lie down in each night. The room almost has the feel of a space from long ago - soft white linens and big fluffy pillows - they inspire a feeling of times gone past. The days when Ma Maw and Pa Paw were young, when folks slept with their windows open and enjoyed the breeze - a breeze whose movement created shadows across the wall that softly rocked them to sleep at night.

I love that one can create such feelings and conjure up memories by using color, texture, fabric, light. What a fabulous gift from God the senses are.

Savannah...

Mark and I recently visited Savannah, Georgia. To say Savannah is a "charming" city is such an understatement that it could almost be taken as an insult to the city herself.

Savannah is a magical place. You can almost feel the spirit of the many men who gave their lives there as you pass through the tree covered squares draped in Spanish moss.





Street after street is lined with beautiful row houses, historical homes and mansions all built in the 1700 and 1800's. Most of them have their own little plaque stating the year they were built, and in many cases, who they were built for.







We stayed in a gorgeous B & B on Jones Street. Jones Street was named by Southern Living Magazine as the "Most Beautiful Street In America" and it is easy to see why. It is a red brick street that literally is covered it its own canopy of decades-old trees with Spanish moss flowing lazily from their limbs. The trees give the illusion of a tunnel as you take in the length of the street. Horse drawn carriages slowly clop-clop along as tourists take in the sites.




Our room...



I LOVE oysters and, boy oh boy, Savannah is a great place to indulge in them. Too bad I didn't take a few pictures of them. They were the perfect size and very pretty! We also had a nice dinner at a restaurant called Alligator Soul. The food was good, the service was excellent and the room was beautiful.



After dinner we took our own cozy carriage ride. It was very romantic!





On the tour we saw the famed Mercer House from the movie "Midnight In The Garden of Good and Evil".



We also saw the house where the scene from the movie "Something To Talk About" was filmed in which Julia Roberts character says, "Yeah, I just want to ask how many people here has NOT had sex with my husband?"! That is one of my all time favorite movie moments and it was fun to see the place it was filmed!

Forsyth Park Fountain...



St John's





And, of course, I had to see The Lady and Son's Restaurant. We didn't eat there (the reviews are just NOT THAT GOOD!) but here is a picture of a line of folks who were waiting to check out that ever famous buffet.



We also took a drive out to Tybee Island.



Tybee Island is like a blast from the past! It is just a little island beach town and we fell in love with its simplicity. There are no high-rise hotels. There are some 3 story condos but mostly it is filled with funky-little-beach houses. Of course, Mark and I are funky-little-beach-house kinds of people so Tybee got us to dreaming about the day that we will have our very own funky-little-beach-house.
Hopefully that day is not so far off.

I've thought a lot about Savannah since I've been home. I've tried in my mind to describe the feel and taste and smell of the air. To write words that accurately depict the architecture, the fountains, the gardens, the iron work. The perfect words did not come. I researched what others have said before me and found what I believe to be the perfect words. They are from The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America, Bill Bryson:

"I stood agog in Lafayette Square in Savannah, amid brick paths, trickling fountains and dark trees hung with Spanish moss. Before me rose up a cathedral of linen-fresh whiteness with twin Gothic spires, and around it stood 200-year-old houses of weathered brick, with hurricane shutters that clearly were still used. I did not know that such perfection existed in America."

Given the opportunity, visit Savannah.

I've Been Told....

"The Only Thing You Can Really Count On In This Life Is Change". The people I've heard this from were, of course, people from my "professional" life.

I've Been Told...

"It's not personal, it's just business" - also from those in my "professional" life. I've even heard myself say that one from time to time. Luckily, I've always been all too aware of the fact that even if it is "just business" it is very personal when you are the one affected. And, after 10 years, I am the one affected. Yes, my days at Grande are over.

I've Been Told...

"Some Things Never Change". I think the folks who use this one are normally referring to unpleasant things. For me, not the case. I have had an outpouring of love and support from my family and friends. Rarely a day that goes by that I fail to recognize how blessed I am to have Mark in my life BUT wow, oh wow, he has been a super star through this ordeal! I am so blessed - not only to have Mark but to have each and every one of the kind souls who have called "just to chat" or sent that email "just to say hi". These are people who throughout my life have supported me through the good times and the bad. So yes, it is true, some things never change. And for that I am thankful.

"every new beginning comes from some other beginnings end"
semisonic

A Beautiful Baby...

Jessica, Cory, Bryan, Mark and I all loaded up yesterday and went to Stork Vision to have a peek at baby Hendricks. All I can say is, wow, what an emotional experience. I had never seen a sonogram live - the heart beat brought me to tears. The main goal of Jessica's trip to Stork Vision was to learn whether her beautiful baby will prefer ribbons and bows or snails and puppy dog tails. And, drum roll please, the ribbons and bows have it - introducing baby girl Hendricks...


Sucking her thumb...



This is a 3-D picture - amazing technology - if you look closely you can actually make out her entire face...



We're in love!

Deck The Halls...

Okay, it seems to me that maybe this year my halls aren't decked with their usual flare. I'm hoping by posting a few pics of what I have done so far I will be inspired to do a little more. Of course, it is four days until Christmas and I haven't wrapped a gift or baked a single cookie so the odds of massive Christmas decorating taking place today aren't good. And really, does it REALLY matter? Okay, here's what I have so far...

The kitchen tree - otherwise known as "my" tree...



It is full of peace and love...











And, of course, the stockings are hung by the chimney with care (and next year there will be a new one for Jessica and Cory's beautiful bundle of love)...



And then there is the living room tree. It is full of snowmen, handmade paper ornaments, Santa, silly stuff and souvenir ornaments from the places Mark and I have visited along the way. It is so fun each year to look at the various ornaments - they all have a story and, after all, who doesn't enjoy a story?









So maybe we're a little more decked than I thought we were. Now if I can just force myself to get those packages wrapped!

One more thing - A speaker I heard the other day made what I guess is one of the most simple and poignant points I may have ever heard. Basically he said that the only things we as humans really have in this life are faith, hope and love. It occurred to me how true this is - at the end of our lives these will be the only things that ever really mattered. Not the job, not the house, not the car, not the money - only faith, hope and love. It is my hope for each of us this Christmas season that we will explore our faith, our hope and our love and that we will never lose site of the true meaning of Christmas.

So much going on...

In the past few weeks we have been on vacation, celebrated a beautiful marriage and closed the door on the 2008 election.

Our trip to Playa was nice - although very, very wet - and not from being in the ocean. We took a chance on Playa during the rainy season and boy did we get rain! Oh well, it was still a lovely trip. We did have a couple of afternoons of "scattered sunshine". We also practiced our bar-hopping-in-the-rain skills and found that we are still pretty darn good at it.

Laura and Cody's wedding was wonderful. Becker Vineyards in Fredericksburg was the perfect venue. The good Lord smiled down upon them with a picture-perfect day and I have the pictures to prove it! (I promise to post them if I can ever get them off the camera!)

We spent the weekend in Fredericksburg in a rather funky B & B. It is a huge old house with lots of doors, windows, decorations and dust! It had a fabulous courtyard where we were able to enjoy the above mentioned picture-perfect weather. The beds and bedding were wonderful and the breakfast was pretty dang good. For those of you who don't know, my secret dream is to run a B & B. By the time we left I had done lots of renovations and made fabulous changes to the house. Okay, so they were only in my mind but man-oh-man was it fun!

Today we have a new President-Elect. He wasn't my candidate but, hey, that is what democracy is all about. Now, it is time to put the election with all its negativity behind us and move forward. It is my prayer that the people of our country will embrace him, his family, and his administration and work together to solve the many challenges we face. I will include each of them in my prayers and I hope you will do the same.