Fake nails....

I have fake nails.  I love them.  I hate them.  About once a year, I start wanting fake nails.  I'll put it off for a few weeks and then I go to Raleigh...about 1hour 20 minutes from my home.  Don't they have nail salons around here???  Yes, of course.  But not like this place, nor these types of nails.  These nails are called Solar Nails.  They are put on clear...the fill-ins are every 3 weeks, and they look real...seriously.  People ask me all the time about them.  I chose the American Manicure (no white tips).  I actually pass out business cards/flyer's to friends here at home and many have gone that far for this treatment.  It's so worth the drive.

Back to the nails.  After a few weeks, I hate them.  I hate how they feel, how long they get so quickly, and the fact that it is difficult to pick up things, open clasp on jewelry or scratch!  They get on my nerves.  So, I'm gonna take them off!  Then it will take about 6 months for the nail to grow out and lose the "ridge" that the filing has caused.  Argggh.  Then no doubt I will want them again!  It's a cycle.

The nail salon I go to is hands down the greatest.  That is why I go there.  I have never found another one like them...and I've been to a few over the years.  They are Vietnamese and it's a family business and everyone is truly so kind.   That, for the most part, is pretty average for nail salons.  However, they undoubtedly give the best pedicure around.  They are known for this  The pedicure takes 45 minutes...and they use hot stones and heated oil/cream for a calf massage all while you are sitting in an elite, cushioned, soft leather, vibrating massage chair...and give you a glass of wine...all for $25.00!!!   Unbelievable I know! 

So, if you're ever in the Raleigh...go to Lux Nails on Creedmore...it's worth the drive.

hmmm...I may have a bug

If you read my post from last evening, you know I wasn't feeling up to par.  Thought it was due to my hectic schedule of the last couple of weeks.  I have now decided I think I have a "bug" of some sort.  Having been without food since lunch yesterday, I awaken with the same full feeling that I went to bed with last night.  Not such a good feeling in the morning.  I'm attending a conference this week and so I'm not in my home nor routine.  So, after forcing myself to dress and get to the expo site, I forced down a pastry and actually started to feel like living again.  However now, about and hour later, I feel "icky" again.  Hate feeling like this when I'm not in my own home.  But alas, the sessions will be over @ 3:30pm and I will head home with my co-workers.  Life is still worth living.  Got to get better before tomorrow's schedule comes.....have a fun day!!!~~~Sue  (picture of Topsail Island...where I'd like to be today!)

I'm too tired to eat...

Well, I have been super busy for days...weeks, maybe even months now. It's all a blur. 

See, I've been on the run lately...alot.  I was in Washington DC for 4 days. The evening I got home, my son, wife and their little Diva's came over so we could have dinner together. Then my sister's and Mother arrived a little later, and we jumped in the car/truck and headed to the beach arriving after 10pm.  The mini-weekend vacation was anything but restful.  Then we left the beach on Monday and I got back to work on Tuesday trying to play catch-up for the rest of the week.  Then we had the pleasure of having the little Diva's spend the weekend while their parents were out of town.  It was awesome, fun and thrilling to experience life through their eyes for the weekend, and oh so tiring! But I still loved it. They got back on Sunday afternoon and then I left at 3:30pm to pick up the girls from work so we all could proceed to our state association's leadership conference about an 1 1/2 hour drive away.  We arrived around 5:30pm or so and left about an hour later, headed out to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner.  It was great, by the way. 

Got back to the hotel around 10pm~ish.  Today we got up at 6:30pm to start sharing a bathroom between us 3 females.  We went for breakfast and the classes began at 9:00 with an awards luncheon in between....followed by an expo with vendors following the class at 5:00pm.  Then...we were scheduled to go eat at the Chop House @ 7:00pm with a vendor that was "wooing" us...but, I bailed out.   Yep.  JUST SAID NO!  Everyone else went but me.  I thought..."if I have to go out one more time...even for good, free food, I will die"!  I just wanted to get in my pj's and crawl in the bed with my laptop on my lap and the TV on....and just relax.  That is where I am now...and doing just that.

I'm old.  I know it and accept it.  But, I just know one thing, I'm too tired to even eat....and besides, got class at 8:00 in the morning, leave for home at 3:00pm and then an all day fundraising Golf Tournament on Wednesday ...followed by the 7 hour trip  to Tennesee on Thursday...

I'm even more tired just thinking about it....maybe I'll be so exhausted that I will sleep on the way home Sunday...instead of crying the whole way back....I'm tired...no, I'm dog tired.                

Confessions of a Social Media Junkie!

My sister is a great blogger...(http://beth-thomas.blogspot.com/)  I love reading her post.  She has been blogging for some years  now and had made it seem so good but just didn't have much time for it.  So, always up for something new, I tried it...and failed.  I just didn't make the connection.  I noticed I blogged once in 2008 and once in 2009 and never "got" it. 


Well, something triggered in my brain about blogging lately.  I was in Washington DC at a Social Media Class for Home Care & Hospice 2 weeks ago.  They discussed the importance of blogging for marketing purposes.  Sharing thoughts or ideas.  Making the connection with your readers.  I came home on that Friday and left almost immediately to go to the beach with my sisters and Mother for the weekend.  When I got home on Monday, I had so many emotions and thoughts about my Mother's condition that I decided to put in on paper...so I opened up my old blog.  I had  forgotten the password, went through the process and got it up and running again.  And...a blog lover was born!!! 

I now crave it!  Sick huh?!?!?  I'm such a social media junkie.  Yes, I my space, twitter, linkedin, 3 email accounts and, well, in fb alone, I have 2 profiles and 3 pages that I administer!  Sick, I know!  Haven't done a You tube...but its on my list.   I've not had much free time this weekend with the Little Diva's here, but when I was able to squeeze in some time, I was reading blogs...or changing my background  (like 5 times!)...or looking at others backgrounds...  I LOVE BLOGGING!!!   I do everything is excess...unfortunately.

So, I've said all that for this...I'm leaving this afternoon for another conference for work.  Not sure I will have time for blogging...but no doubt, I will try and find an application for my crackberry!   

(This photo is from last years vacation at the beach...My husband, daughter and son's computer all open for business!   Hmmm.....maybe I'm not the only one with an addiction!)

~~~~later, Sue

The Little Diva's...

Poppy & I have the Little Diva's for the weekend. Their parents have gone to Knoxville to get things ready for their move next weekend. (That's another whole post!) But anyway, the Diva's are here!

One of their favorite things to do is put on makeup! At ages (almost)2 & 4, their girly side comes out in full force. Tell me they don't know what girls like! So, when they come to ZuZu's house, they know they have their own vanity loaded with fun stuff!

Ally, the 3 1/2 year old loves telling me she loves my blue eyes...meaning my kohl-blue eyeliner. So, when she proceeds to put on blue eyeshadow, heavy I might add, she then says "I look just like my Grandma ZuZu's blue eyes!"  Oh my, I certainly hope not!!! If that is how I look, then I definately need a makeover!!! Big time!

When the girls, I mean Little Diva's, are here, it reminds me of my age. God certainly knew what he was doing when he gave young women babies! They wear me out! Don't get me wrong, I love them here. But I'm truly exhausted...all the time. Their energy is endless, and being they are not at their own home, they want to be entertained!  Last night, after dinner, we walked to the pond, then back to our yard for trips in the wagon. How can pulling 2 small children in a wagon be tiring?!?!? But it was. Followed that up with a long fun bath...until the youngest decided to "poodle" in the pool...yuk!!! But so funny too! Poppy and I have to tag-team bath time so no one is left unattended. We're both old!!! Tonight, our routine will include pedicures with their choice of nail polish...have to look cute for church tomorrow of course!

Well, its 9:00am and I'm already tired. We've breakfasted on pancakes, played in the sunroom, watched a few of their faves on TV, and 30 minutes of make-up and "take off" time...I'm worn out!!! (...and YES...we got up way earlier than normal!)  But loving it!


Thank you God for these little diva's....what a joy!

My plate is full....

I feel that I am living in a whirlwind these days.   Last week, I flew out to Washington DC on Tuesday for a National Hospice & Palliative Care Conference; flew back in on Friday evening.  Quickly packed and left on Friday evening for the beach weekend with my Mother and Sisters (Monday's blog) and returned home Monday afternoon , emotionally drained.  Began work yesterday with a meeting marathon followed by lunch. But my week is only starting. We are keeping our precious granddaughters this coming Friday through Sunday afternoon while my son and daughter-in-law go to Tennessee to sign the lease and look at the place they are moving to the following week.  I then leave Sunday afternoon for the NC State conference for Home & Hospice Care.   I will return on Tuesday afternoon and have a LONG day at the golf course on Wednesday for our Annual Golf Tournament which is one of our biggest fundraisers for our Foundation...and I know nothing of the game of golf...but my presence is required. Then bright and early Thursday, we leave, caravan style, to make the 7 hour trek up the mountains to Knoxville, TN where my son and his family are moving.  We will stay and help them settle in and then on Sunday my husband and I will return, lonely and broken hearted, to our home...7 hours away from them.

I am trying to squeeze in all the time I can find to spend with my precious granddaughters.  They are the most wonderful gift from God.  If you're not a grandma, then you really don't get it, if you are a grandmother, you absolutely know what I am talking about.  They are just at such a sweet age to.  Ally will be 4 in August, and Annie Grace will be 2 in August.  We have such fun.  Tea Party's are the best.  Don't let me get sidetracked.  I could go on and on....typical Grandma!  But, back to my story.  I stopped by the store to pick up some things for dinner on my way home from work yesterday and when I got home and was greeted at the door by the Little Diva's that had come to see ZuZu and Poppy and have dinner. It was then that I realized that I had left some of the groceries at the store!!! How frustrating.

Again, back to the whirlwind!....My schedule is extremely tight right now. I look around my room as I type before heading to the office.  I have 2 suitcases on the floor...begging to be unpacked.  One from my Washington trip and the other from the beach trip...I don't have time yet.  I simply run and pull out what I need at the moment!  I'd rather spend my hours with them...the suitcase can wait until Sunday when I leave again!...or maybe it will be 3 suitcases ont he floor waiting to be unpacked!!! 


When I think of them moving, I do see the positive...but the negative...I feel.  Of all the times of the year for their move, why now?  We have no doubt that this move is of God's greater plan.  But why now, why not next month when things are slower for me.  Doesn't God know my schedule of events?  I couldn't even be at our church Sunday for the commissioning service for their farewell due to previous plans.  Why now??  I want to stomp my foot and say, can't you see I'm swamped already!!!  Lord, what are you doing to me!?!?!?  Silence......Oh, but that's right, this isn't about ME!!!  How I forget.  I'm not usually a selfish person, in fact, I consider myself a selfless person... ...hmmm, or do I? 

If you're a believer, you have to know that God Almighty has a plan.  Very seldom does it immediately make perfect sense or come at OUR right time.  But that is the beauty of living a life for Christ...His plans are perfect, mine are busy...His are for the ultimate good, mine, well, evidently they are for me.   I get caught up in the whirlwind and my focus goes astray and is cluttered with the debris of ME. How sad. So glad GOD is in control and not me.

What an awesome reminder.  It's not about me.  

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)                                                    

Growing Old Isn't for Sissies....

Just coming in from a week-end at the beach. My sisters, Beth & Patsy, brought Mother to my house on Friday evening...and we continued on the trip to our destination: Topsail Island, NC. That all sounds pretty normal. Why, folks go on girls weekends all the time. BUT...this trip was anything but normal. See, it was actually a miracle for all of this come about. Our Mother is in very declining health. She's almost 89 years old, very frail and just recovered from a bout of CHF that was nearly fatal and in fact the MD was ready for her to become a Hospice patient. She hasn't been to my home in at least 5 years; probably more like 7 or 8 years. In fact, it's been so long that I've lost count of the years...if that tells you anything. So, needless to say, it was a bit ambitious for us to think we could do this thing...but, "WE" McKnight girls are hard to stop when we put our minds to something. Just ask any of our husbands! LOL!

After arriving at Ken & Laura's beach house late on Friday night, we then were faced with the challenge of getting Mother up the 18 steps into the house...one of our fears. Being very typical of coastal living, this precious house is built on stilts. I must say, she made it...with a few "behind" lifts from us. The 2nd of many miraculous feats was accomplished. Not going to go into all the details of the weekend b/c frankly, they are just too numerous. But we made it.

Mother, we are convinced, is flirting with Alzheimer's...undiagnosed of course. She repeated herself so many times. Same questions, same concerns, and us with the same answers...with a twist, thinking that maybe this time...it would stick. But no, it didn't. The best solution was to change the subject and give her mind a reprieve, however small, from the relentless statements she couldn't "file" in her brain so that she could recall later. It was a hard weekend. Hard for her "doing" and hard for us "seeing".

I guess I've said all of that, to say this...when nothing else remains in your brain such as birth dates, places, names of your children...it all comes down to the "CORE" of who you are as a person. Mother's "CORE" is God. Unequivocally. No doubt. Hands down. The End. She prayed the blessing for most of our meals. Her prayers were beautiful. Deep. Connected. Spiritual. Serene. Powerful. We took turns providing her care or overseeing her actions so the others could rest, watch TV, work a puzzle, etc. One evening, during my time with Mother so my sisters could watch a movie, I convinced mother to lie down for a "rest". She was very anxious, wanting to immediately get up. So, I asked her to sing with me while we laid there holding hands on the big, King-Size bed. She was all for it. We sang Jesus Loves Me, Amazing Grace, What A Friend We Have In Jesus, The Old Rugged Cross....a few oldie but goodies in the Hymn arena. She was at peace, even if just for a while.

All this made me give a lot of thought to my core. Mother taught me much. All my life, she taught me that Prayer Changes Things....one of her favorite sayings. She taught me that you need to be kind, reach out to others in need, share your blessings and share your faith.

As we got back to my house for a quick potty break before continuing their trip home to the Piedmont of N.C., I watched Mother apply her lipstick before getting out of the car. I was reminded of another lesson she taught me around the age of 12 years old..."No lady is dressed until her lipstick is on"!

I love you Mother. You're an amazing woman of God...your "CORE" is healthy. If I can only be a little like you.

This post is dedicated to my Mother...Annie. ...may her legacy live on in her "Girls". Thank you God for this weekend.