Time Marches On

How cool to have a friend that you were really a friend with before you were ever born!

My friend and I were expecting at the same time. Ryan was born in January and Michael in May. They were best buddies for years. I loved watching them play together. They took care of each other. Stood up for each other. They took Taekwondo together. They collected baseball cards together. They laughed a lot! They went to the beach together and then slept with their cute little sunburns the whole way home.

They were in Royal Rangers together.

Once Michael got in big trouble with their teacher for helping Ryan with the answers behind the teachers back.

And they helped each other pass all the steps to get their badges.

And they had the same taste in clothes!

( This was Easter Sunday one year.)

And then we moved to another church and the boys didn't see each other as much. And as they grew into teens, less and less. But, they had a friendship that was so special and a couple of weeks ago, we got to see Ryan again.

And here they are. Grown men. Still friends. Michael and Ryan.

Very cool.

Colors of the Wind

With spring coming, the back porch furniture told me they thought they were needing some color. I thought that was a good move. So...the back porch color make-over project began. Funny, it hadn't rained in forever but, about the time we got everything set up to paint. Down came the rain. This was my Grannie Creels front porch furniture and she had it for a long time. Even before I was born. It was white and then when I inherited it, I painted it black. I was in a "spray- paint- everything- that -doesn't- have -legs- black" mood for a while.

Here I am on the front steps of my Grannies house when I was about 18 months old. I am the one in the middle with the cast on her leg. Yep, broke my leg. Still have that cast in storage. I know. Gross. I guess I'm attached to seeing how little I used to be. See the chair in the background? Same one that's about to get some new color.

I don't know who the boys were. Wow, even back then... all the boys just flocked around my sides. Ha! Some things just never change.

Some sanding.

A lot of spray paint. A lot. More than I thought.

And everything looks happy, fresh and new. What do you think?

It makes coming out to sit on the back porch a little more inviting.

Look at my little helper! She loves to sweep!

Now, if we can only stop the cats from pooping in all the plants. They are making it stink out there. Silly cats. Any dirt means a litter box to them.

Here's to spray paint and giving old furniture a new look! Hope you like it!

I really do.

"13"

Sometimes in your life you get a chance to be a part of something really special. Something that involves a lot of different people. People you know and people you don't know. It only comes around to a few people. That happened to me. And I will have this in my heart forever.

The Musical, "13" by Jason Robert Brown.

Leon High School has the greatest Performing Arts Department

E V E R!

I was priviledged to be in their band as they performed this show last October and they did soooo good that they were invited to perform it at State in Tampa on March 18th. And they took us, the band with them. I mean there is some serious talent within this group of teenagers. They can sing. They can dance. They can act. They can make you laugh. They can make you cry. And they make me SMILE everytime I see them.

The teachers that worked with them are the very best and they were able to get the very best performance out of each one there. I met some teens that I will never forget and I already miss seeing them.

This show covered all aspects of the musical theatre world. The stage hands and sound techs were so professional and worked so hard in Tallahassee and in Tampa. The sets were very professional and the lighting was A plus plus.

The music in this show was a challenge for me personally and it took me a solid week of playing hours a day to get where I could read through it. Jason Robert Brown doesn't keep anything simple and I am so glad to say I can play some of his music now. And if you know anything about key signatures. Lets just say that the more flats and sharps, the better he likes it.

The way it works is the school rents the music books for a hefty price and we can use them but, we have to return them when the show is over. I miss my book already as I just love those songs.

I'll be singing them the rest of my life.

The show was centered around a boy, Evan, who was about to turn, "13" and everything in his life was a pending disaster. His parents divorced, he had to move away and make new friends and go to a new school. He was going to have his "Bar Mitzvah" and needed cool kids to come to his party.

He goes to great lengths to make friends and it all blows up in his face. The show covers many of the topics that 13 year olds face every day.

It ends with a song, that the kids absolutely nail time and time again.

I never failed to get musical chill bumps at every practice and performance.

I was able to take my Grandprincess along to several rehearsals over this 5 month period and she rarely missed a show when they were performing.

During that time, she memorized almost every word to every song and she learned all the dance moves .

Plus....plus....she had her first crush on the main character, Evan. That's him above in the Yankees shirt.

I really think a few of these teens are going to take that talent a long way.

They will be fabulous at whatever they do.

But, a few are going on to do Theatre after graduation.

You can watch some of the bigger numbers on YOUTUBE and we pretty much watch atleast one everyday!

I think we are addicted.

Yep. Pretty sure we all are. The whole family.

Stew played the drums.

Jay played Guitar 2, accoustic and electric.

They are brothers.

Jon played keyboard 2

And Jason played bass.

They are brothers.

My son, played Guitar 1, accoustic and electric.

And I played keyboard 1 and we are Mom and Son.

It was a family band and we enjoyed it more than we can say.

I think we all are having withdrawals. Here's a shout out to the teens of "13" who totally knocked it out of the park with their talent and thanks for letting me be a part! I love you all!

Sweet Home Alabama

This week we were able to take a little trip to visit relatives in North Florida and Alabama. It's my Dad's side of the family and we went by my Grannie's old house. She lived on the corner of Faith Street and Creel Street. I love that. She was a Creel who lived her life by faith.

My grandprincess and her cousins were all buckled up in the back ready to take the trip. And though, they are age 20 months, 2 and 4.....they already knew how to ask the question.

Are we there yet?

We stopped by the cemetary where my Great Grandparents, my Grandparents and other "Creel" relatives are buried.

My Mom and my Aunt were replacing the urn flowers and they were completely stuck. They had a nice game of tug-o-war.

My Grandaddy and Grandmother.

Since this is another generation of "Creels", they weren't able to ever know their Great-great grandparents.

This is my Dad and his two brother and his baby sister. My Uncle had a great big tractor and it was hard to keep the kids off of it!

This is my Mom and my three Aunts.

This is my Uncle. We have always called him Uncle Monk. ( short for Monkey). I have never found out why. But, I love him. He's a great story teller and this is his first Grandson who lives far away so, they were really enjoying being around him.

My other Uncle had a "mule"and we all got a long nature ride on it. The little ones had a great time.

My four year old cousin was thrilled when the tractor was cranked up and he got to take a ride with his other cousin.

There are all the cousins that were there that day. It's fun to see everyone. Our family has gotten to be huge!

And on the trip home. We had three completely pooped little younguns. They all slept the whole way. It's a blessing to spend a day with extended family. I am thankful !

The Cats in the Cradle

If you don't see me or hear from me in a while.
It could be because this cat, P.D, has mauled me to death in my sleep.
She can open the door to our bedroom and she scares the dickens out of me in the middle of the night.