Long overdue Nashville trip, June 2012

Okay.  So...there have been some of my TN people that somehow I've not seen in about 2 years (give or take some months).  I'm not sure as to how that's happened...but it did.  So this past weekend, I tried to change that.  Finally.

There are two very special boys in TN, and they both had birthdays this week.  So I made this a birthday trip, in their honor.

I left work at noon last Friday (the 22nd) and drove down.  Hit a few places in Cool Springs (shopping!) and then checked into my hotel.  I don't normally get a hotel...but I had a little extra money on this trip...and I thought it might be fun to have a big room without piles of my life scattered all around.  ha ha.  Not to mention a big screen TV right next to the bed (although as it turned out, the remote didn't work and the buttons on the tv wouldn't change channels...so I had to watch NBC the whole time...but whatever).  Oh... and the fact that I had complete and sole control over the thermostat?  Yeah.  That was worth the money right there.  I spent the night in a nice cold 65 degrees.  Pure awesomeness.

So after I checked into the hotel, I headed toward downtown Franklin (my old stomping grounds... well, some of them, anyway).  I was headed to the Alabaster house.  :)  But first, a stop in at Mellow Mushroom to pick up a pizza!  Mmmmmmmmm.....Mellow Mushroom!  I had not eaten a Mellow Mushroom pizza in almost 3 years.  There is something wrong with that.  It felt great to be back on the Franklin Square, too.  After the jog down Memory Lane and with a pizza in my hand, I headed back to the car and headed West.

I arrived at the house and was greeted by a hestitant Cole and even more hesitant Emery.  Bryce, their dad, is a former boss of mine, and I love that he and Erin have remained friends.  :)  They are the kind (as are all of my friends, really) of friends that no matter how long you go in-between visits....you can just pick right up where you left off.  I remember when Cole was born...I remember Bryce bringing pictures into the office shortly after, and all of us (girls) "oohhing" and "ahhing" over them.  :)  Cole sure was a cute little bugger...and he still is!  He's just bigger now.  ha ha.  I began babysitting Cole when he was about 9 months old, I think.  He also served as one of my early photography subjects for the "people" categories in the Fairs.  :)  This week, Cole turned FIVE years old!  I can't get over that.  It just seems crazy to think that he will be starting Kindergarten this Fall.

Baby Cole kisses!

Cole, Summer 2008

Cole, Spring 2009

Two summers ago, Bryce and Erin had another baby.... Emery.  Now...she's quite the cutie, too.  I just don't really know her...and she doesn't know me, since I moved back to IL before she was born.  If I had stayed in TN, I imagine that I would have been her babysitter, too.  :)  She's a fun kid, though, even if I haven't had much time to hang out with her.

The last time I was at Cole and Emery's house, they looked like this... (2 years ago)

2010 - Cole and Emery

While eating pizza, Cole began to ponder...  Here is the dialogue...

Cole - Did you used to babysit me?

Amanda - Yes.

Cole - Did you know me when I was 3?

Amanda - Yes.

Cole - Did you know me when I was 2?

Amanda - Yes.

Cole - Did you know me when I was 1?

Amanda - Yes.

Cole - (while slapping his hand on his legs) Did you know me when I was 0?!

Amanda - Yes.

Cole - (giggles)

After dinner, we went outside and Cole opened his birthday presents from me...then the kids posed for pictures for me.  It went something like this...

Emery

 

Cole

After some great visiting, I eventually left for the night.  On Saturday morning, after checking out of the hotel, I did some more shopping.  Surprise, I know.  Then headed over to Lavergne, to hang out with my OTHER special birthday kid, David.  David turned NINE this week.  He was my first pretend-nephew, and is the one who first called me "Aunt Manda."  His mom, Heather, and I were roommates in college, and did a LOT of traveling together in the "old days."  :)  I stole her away when I got to their house, and we went to lunch and did a little shopping (apparently, shopping is my favorite pastime).  Then we had pizza for dinner (after I ran back to town to fill up the Jeep with gas for $3.02/gallon!  Woo hoo!!!!!!!  Eventually we all passed out after watching a movie, and called it a night.

Here's a collage of pics through the years...the most recent one being from 2 summers ago when they stopped here in IL on their way home from a vacation.  That was the last time I saw them, until this past weekend.

And then here is this past weekend.  Quite a difference!!

With David and Heather

Laughing!  :)

The next day (Sunday) I got up and met some friends for lunch before heading home.  I had seen Vanessa back at the end of November, when Ava was maybe a month or less old (at the moment, I can't remember).  Now she's much older than that!...  Here's a then and now.

Baby Ava

Lunch also included Jennifer!  Yay!!  I hadn't seen her in FOREVER, so I am exceptionally happy that she was able to join us.  :)  It was a great way to round out the weekend.

Vanessa and Ava

Jennifer and Amanda

Girls' Lunch at Las Palmas! (Ava was more concerned about the cars driving by)

Yay!!!  It was a fabulous weekend!  I had a lot of fun catching up with great friends.  I hope to be able to do it again soon!  

Dakota photo-shoot weekend fun!

Dakota and I hung out this past weekend... We picked him up on the way home from dropping things off at a county fair.  That was Saturday afternoon.  He spent the night, and then we all met for dinner Sunday evening and made the exchange back to his parents.  :)

Needless to say, there were tons of pictures taken.  I had realized the week before...that all of the shopping trips I'd been on in the past few months...and I had all of these cute outfits for Dakota.  He obviously wasn't wearing any of it, because it was all still in shopping bags!  So I requested a sleepover.

We had lots of fun, and even though he's not as cooperative as he used to be with taking pictures...I managed to get a few keepers.  Dad also got out an old wading pool that was tucked away out in the shop, and Dakota was able to go splashing.  Yeah...I know I said "splashing" and not "swimming".  That's because all he wanted to do was splash you.  Not himself.  Just everyone else.  He thought it was quite hilarious to make you run or jump back screaming.  And truth be told...it WAS kinda fun.  :)

Here are some of my favorite pics of the Master.

Those were all from Saturday afternoon and evening.  Saturday night, Dakota and I baked some cookies.  Now, mind you, they were the pre-bought dough kind.  I don't think either of us have the patience at this point, to make "real" cookies together.  ha ha.  So we made Cars cookies...that had been in the fridge since Easter, just w-a-i-t-i-n-g for the perfect time to bake. 

Sunday began like this...  Dakota coming in and waking me up, then wanting up on my bed.  He practically shoved me out, so that he could hog all the pillows.  Notice Lincoln in the background with his face to the wall.  That's pretty much what he thinks of Dakota, even though I think Lincoln is Dakota's favorite cat at our house.  :)

Then it was time to get dressed and go take some more pictures!  Surprise!... bwahahahahaaa...

By the time the afternoon came around, Dakota was only wanting to be outside.  Nothing could make him happier, than being outside with his Papa (he even says "my papa").  So they watered the plants around the gazebo together...and it looked like this...



Filling up the bucket with leftover pool water (what didn't get splashed out!)





Playing and "watering" for Papa while Papa was watering elsewhere.  Notice Benjamin is supervising here.

 Anyway...it was exhausting...but super fun times!!  :)  I love hanging out with my nephew (as if anyone would ever question that, right??).  :)

Memorial Day cemeteries, Part 4

This is a little belated...but here it is, none the less.  The final Memorial Day cemetery entry for 2012.

We used to include Herrin in the North Side run...but a couple of years ago, we began making it a seperate trip by itself.  Since it's the closest place, it's easy to just go after I get off work in the evening.

When you approach the cemetery on the main road, we are the first turn in past the stop sign (on the left).  We own 8 plots there...6 are taken.  I believe the story is that Grandpa Carlisle's parents bought them when Grandpa Carlisle died.

First we have Charles and Mary (Miles) Carlisle (my great-grandparents).  Charles is the son of James and Elvira Carlisle (buried in Rosiclare) and Mary is the daughter of James and Elsie Miles (also in Rosiclare).

Charles Carlisle, 1880-1958
Mary (Miles) Carlisle, 1882-1954



Charles Carlisle




(the original picture)
Nolan, Charles and Clara Carlisle
**This is the only picture I know of to have Charles in it**

Next to Charles and Mary are my grandparents... Arthur and Flossine (Rosan) Carlisle.  Even though Arthur is my grandfather, I have never called him that.  I guess since I never knew him, it feels strange to call him "grandpa".  So I just call him Arthur.  :)  He died when my mom was almost 6 years old, and she says she doesn't really remember him.  Then with Grandma, there are sooooo many memories that it should probably be reserved for a blog all by itself.  :)




Arthur Carlisle Sr, 1904-1951
Flossine (Rosan) Carlisle-Hawn, 1911-2000




Arthur Carlisle, Sr.




Arthur Carlisle, Sr. (I think this is one of my most favorite old pics)



Arthur Carlisle, Sr. and a cousin



Arthur Carlisle, Sr.




Flossine Carlisle-Hawn




Flossine Carlisle - Hawn (this is one of her Senior pictures... 1929 Christopher High School)




Flossine Carlisle - Hawn, working at Herrin High School




Flossine Carlisle - Hawn, 1994

Behind Arthur and Flossine is my uncle, Art (Arthur Jr.).  One big memory I have of him, is when he had been living in New York.  I don't remember if he had come for a visit...or if it was when he moved back to IL.  But he brought me a stuffed gorilla, and I think it's name was Gordo.  Now...I don't know if he'd named it...if there was a name on the tag somewhere... or if I named it that.  But I kept that gorilla forever.  And truth be told, it's probably around here somewhere if I looked hard enough.  :)

Next to Art is my older sister, Tina.  For obvious reasons, I have no memories of her.  But sometimes I wonder how different life would or wouldn't be if she had survived.



Arthur Carlisle Jr, 1933-1997



Art and Flossine



Arthur Carlisle, Jr.



Tina Trill, 1974

Across the cemetery from there, we find Pop.  I recently posted on Facebook about him, and had people post some of their memories of him.  He was a great man and loved his family very much, both his blood relations and those of us who just got lucky to have him.  He was born and raised in the hills of Tennessee, and moved up here to IL for work in the coal mines.  He was married first, to Maude Sexton (also of TN).  They had one son, Hollis, who died as a baby.  He is buried beside them.  Their other son, Gene, I remember well.  I used to have an old Johnston City High School yearbook of his, that I'm sure I'd borrowed from Grandma's house one time...and it just never made it back.  ha ha.  I don't know what year it was from...just that it was old.  Maybe the early 1940's?  Anyway... Pop always worked in the mines.  One that he worked in was here, in Ferges.  Preston brought home a map from possibly the 1940's (?) recently.  An aerial view.  I didn't see it...but mom told me that you could see a path from Pop's cow pasture, through the fields and over to the mine.  I'm sure he could have walked that path in his sleep.  Anyway... his first wife passed away in 1976.  He then married Grandma in 1978.  And I clearly remember the night he passed away.  He had been in the hospital (I don't remember what for), and had needed to be taken somewhere else to be cared for (I don't think Grandma was capable of that kind of care at the time).  I remember knowing he'd been moved to a nursing home...then I remember the phone ringing and dad answering it.  It was Don (Pop's grandson), informing us that Pop had died.  That was the middle of my junior year of high school, and just about a week before my birthday.



Burl Hawn, 1902-1993





Burl Hawn




Burl and Flossine (I absolutely love this picture)



Burl and Flossine (not sure what year this was taken...but may have been around 1990-ish)


After Pop, we go up the little road and jog to the right...then left...and we're at Frieda's grave.  Frieda was like another grandmother figure for me.  She was my babysitter, but in today's terms, she would have been called a Nanny.  She came out to the house, Monday through Friday, and kept me while mom and dad were at work.  She would leave when dad got home (he got off work at 2pm those days, I think).  I remember going into Herrin and going to Sonic for tatertots.  I'd put the glove compartment door down and set up my food.  Then we'd go out to Herrin Park and feed the ducks a lot.  We used to walk all around Ferges.  One story is that she wore out my stroller from walking the Ferges roads so much.  :)  I used to love spending the night at her house.  She lived on the top floor of the high-rise building in Herrin.  We used to make the elevator doors open by saying "Open Sesame"...I just KNOW it was because we said it.  :)  And you could see the Ferges watertower from her bedroom window.  After I went to school, she found other babysitting work...but then Preston came along and she came back to take care of him, too.  I always wanted to stay home from school and play with her.  We loved to play Yahtzee and card games.  I'd pop popcorn and butter it up really good, add some garlic salt...and we'd sit at the kitchen table and play games all day.  We were VERY lucky to have her in our lives.




Frieda (Neber) Reimer, 1916-1999




Frieda Reimer, about 1976 (at grandma's house for a Sunday School event)



Frieda and Preston, down by the pond

That's it for Herrin Cemetery.  I also put a little bunch of flowers on Frieda's sister, Gladys' grave.  I can remember going to visit Gladys at her apartment in Herrin.  She was always really nice.

I also have a few people in Johnston City that I put flowers on...but I didn't take pictures of those this year.  I decorate three graves in Lakeview Cemetery...

• Mrs. Katherine Kowalis....  One of my high school teachers.  I know I had her for Speech, and one year of English.  I think it was Sophomore English.  She was always such a nice person, and you could just tell that she dearly loved her students.  Her husband owned the one grocery store in JC. 
• Mrs. Georgia Long...  She was my 4th grade teacher, and to this day, one of my most favorite.  She wrote me a note the last day of school that year, telling me to be true to myself and always believe that I could do or be anything I dreamed of.  I still have that note, although now it's a lot more rumpled and creased. 
• Paul Eberhardt...  He was in my class.  I know we were in band together...but I don't recall if we had any regular classes together or not.  He and another boy in my class died our junior year, in a car accident.  I remember very clearly, the day after the accident (it had taken place at night, I believe).  There was an assembly (of course), to inform everyone what had happened.  I know we left school that day, and just everyone hung out together, off campus.  I can remember going to someone's house for a while, then a group of us went to Marion for pizza.  Anyway...I found Paul's grave just a couple of years ago, so I added him to my flower list.  We were friends (shoot, everyone in our class was friends with each other...there were so few of us), but we didn't really ever hang out one-on-one.  He was a good guy, though.