Can't even believe how long it's been since I've posted here. I've probably lost what followers I had, but once I prove to myself that I'm back to stay I'll let them know and maybe they'll revisit. At any rate writing here is more about an "outlet" for me rather than information for them. I realized that today, it was interesting and kinda fun to go back to the beginning of this blog and "catch" up. So much has happened and changed since my last post in '09, don't know if I can catch up but I know I can go forward.

Hematite, MO June 28 - July 6

This is where I go every chance I get. My Aunt Bus and my cousin along with her family live there in houses next door to each other. This is where I go when I need to get away from my life, it's a place where I know I'm loved and my company is welcomed. Don't get me wrong I also go there because I miss them and just want to spend some time with them.

I should have taken notes as we did things because now can't remember the order of things but...I do remember what we did. Madonna and I made jewelery, with her guidance I made a bracelet and earrings. It was really fun, though I can't wait to get better at it.

We also shopped for plants. Every year I buy a couple of new plants to take back to my office, I like to buy them in Hematite. It's just fun to shop for plants with others who like to do the same.
This year they took me to a place called Bayers, wow they had EVERYTHING!. I did end up with several plants, not just a couple.


Can't forget Krispy Kreme, we always go there too when I'm in town. This time was a bonus. As we were getting ready to take pictures of each other there, this women offered to take one of all three of us. As we chatted with her we found out that she was the owner of the place and asked us to email her the picture and she would use it on their website. It was such a pleasant time, she ended up giving each of us a coupon for a dozen free donuts. YUM!

One day while I was there we hooked up with Crystal, she and her husband were in the city because he had some training to attend for his job. So, we picked up up and we all spent the day together. A few weeks before my visit they had asked me if there was anything special
I wanted to do while in the city. All I mentioned was to maybe get close to the Arch so I could take pictures. I had never been to the arch, I've only ever seen it from a distance. Well, we didn't get close to it. We went all the way up to it and underground to the shops and museums. Awesome! I took several pictures of the arch and some inside. It was neat actually touching the arch and having my picture taken right beside it.
I wasn't interested in going up in the arch but we did have our picture taken in one of the units that they take you up in. That's as close as I was willing to get.


I took tons of pictures that day, too many to put here. We had such a great day that day, really fun spending time with Aunt Bus, Madonna, Crystal and visiting the arch for the first time in my life.

Some other things we did that week...browsed a Christian book
store and bought t shirts for the 4th of July. Had lunch at Burger King, we sat outside at a picnic table. It was a really nice day and nice sitting outside for a change. Aunt Bus and I went to KFC for supper one night. We visited the nice new Library in Festus where I checked out two books (but that's another story.)

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As we prepare to spend the day in the city we put 4 boxes in the back of Madonna's van, 1 for each of us. We went to several Goodwill stores and found lots of goodies. The box on the right with the most in it? That's mine. The last picture is all the "booty" I came home with. Pretty good haul huh?

One of the things I love to do whenever I'm there and the weather is cooperating is to sit on the porch and read. So this trip I did that whenever AB had to work. It was nice and peaceful.

We also went to DQ for blizzards one night, had dinner at Cracker Barrell, put flags out for the 4th of July, watered flowers each night, rented a DVD from the Red Box, visited Primrose Place, checked out the YMCA, painted AB's front door and one day while
AB was at work I redid some pictures for her. On the 4th we had
enough food for
an army. Madonna cooked hot dogs, hamburger, chicken and pork steaks on the grill, I made potato salad and deviled eggs, AB made baked beans and pineapple cake and Madonna brought over several desserts and side dishes. It was all sooooo good.

At about 9:15 we headed over to the church to watch the fireworks, once we got there we were told that due to the earlier bad weather they had been postponed until the next night. When we finally got to see them they were well worth the wait. I was surprised that such a tiny town put on such an awesome fireworks display, they completely rivaled the ones in Rantoul.

Monday July 6th, time to end the vacation and head home but first we'll have our usual parting breakfast at Bob Evans.

Grissom Family Reunion (June 28, 2009)

This year it was held at the Senior Center in Casey. It was very nice and I (as well as others) appreciated the air conditioning we had on that day. I hadn't been to this reunion in many years and was struck by the differences between the reunion's when I was a kid and the ones now. When I was a kid they would be held at the Casey Fairview Park and there would be tons of people, food and kids. The reunion this year only had 3 maybe 4 small children and maybe a few teenagers. Most of the people there were my generation and older. But it was still very enjoyable. The food was awesome (as usual) and the visiting with cousins, aunts, uncles as well as my brother, his wife, my nephew Kyle and his wife and kids and last but not least my mom. As mom said the only thing that could have made it better was if Kelly could have been there.

25th McCullough Family Reunion June 17 - 21

Wednesday (6/17)
Left Rantoul at 3:00, got to my mom’s at 4:30. We visited a little bit and then I went over to see an old friend from High School. Was with her for a little over an hour and then went back to mom’s. We had dinner, she had a made a yummy stew with ramen noodles and I made a shortcake with chocolate chips and then we put strawberries and cool whip on top, YUM! I went to bed about 11:00, read my book for awhile and then was out like a light until early morning.

Thursday (6/18)
Was awakened about 5:00 a.m. by a really noisy thunder and lightening storm. I went back to sleep and then the next thing I knew it was 7:00 and mom was waking me up. We were supposed to be headed to Max’s (my brother) by 8:00 but the storm was still going strong and the power had gone out. We continued to get things ready to go while we waited for the power to come back on. By the time it did we were ready to go and took off at about 8:30. We picked up Max in Greenup and then we were on the road for the day. We stopped at a rest area on the other side of St. Louis and had a picnic lunch. By then there was no sign of storms at all. We made it to the Willow Winds Resort about 5:00. We checked in with the office, paid for our room and picked up the keys. Spent the next little bit unloading the car, unpacking and putting things away. Then we headed out to find some dinner. We ended up at this place called Becky’s. It wasn’t much of a place to look at but the people were really nice and the food was too good and very reasonably priced. Mom had ½ order of Biscuits & gravy, Max had Fried Catfish, baked potato and a side of fried okra, I had a ½ order of smothered breaded tenderloin. This consisted of texas toast on the bottom, then a huge breaded tenderloin and a scoop of mashed potatoes on top of that all covered in gravy and topped with onion rings. It was sooo much food I had to take pictures of it. The first picture is of the plate untouched, the second picture is what I took back to the room with me and the last picture is what I left on the plate. I barely even made a dent in the whole dinner but boy was it scrumptious….major comfort food. We went back to the resort and visited with Uncle Joe & Aunt Fran in their room along with Uncle John & Aunt Betty for about an hour.

Friday (6/19)
Max and I were up fairly early, I took my coffee cup and we were off in search of coffee. Found it in Joe & Fran’s room then they invited us along to John & Betty’s room for breakfast. So we had yummy biscuits & gravy, fruit and a good visit. We decided we’d all go down by the pool and visit. Had a good time there for about an hour or so and then everyone went their separate ways to spend the day however they liked. Mom, Max and I went for a walk first and then we came back and put together a picnic lunch and headed out for the day. We went to Goody’s Resort first to check things out and see how much had changed. We had spent the first 6 years of reunions 25 years ago there. Even the same people still own it. Then we went on cruisin to see what other beautiful sights there were to see. Along the way we stopped off at a state park to have our picnic lunch. It was nice. We got back to the room in time to rest up and cool off before going to dinner. For dinner mom stayed back at the room and made her own, Max and I went to Becky’s. This time I had fried catfish, baked potato and corn, Max had a ground beef steak with mushrooms, baked potato and corn. Once again it was scrumptious and cheap. At 6:30 we went down to the pavilion for the McCullough Family Reunion Business Meeting. Lasted about 30 minutes then we watched a DVD that they had put together of 25 years worth of family reunions. It was very well done. Then went back to the room to chill and watch tv before bed.

Saturday (6/20)
This morning started off with a Crockpot Breakfast for the whole family down at the pavilion. Followed by mingling and picture taking. Then we spent some time hanging around the pool talking. Once the day started to heat up and heat up it did everyone adjourned to their rooms to hide out with the AC. This day we ate lunch in the room, mom and I had leftover picnic food and Max had a sub sandwich that he’d bought the day before when we were out running around. A storm rolled in so we stayed in the room and watched the ballgame but I ended up falling asleep in the recliner and missed the bulk of the storm and the Cubs win. At 6:30 we all went to the Pavilion for a catered supper. There were huge tins of roast beef, turkey, bbq sauce, baked beans, potato salad, cole slaw and two cakes decorated with the 25th year anniversary logo. It was really, really good but the temperature and humidity had risen so much it was just miserable sitting around outside. Mom stayed down and visited for awhile but Max and I went back to the room and watched a movie that we had rented. By the time it was over it was time to turn in so we could be ready to leave early in the morning.

Sunday (6/21)
After hugs and more picture taking we headed out of the resort about 7:30 planning to stop for breakfast at Shoney’s with Uncle Joe and Fran. We had a good breakfast and a good visit and then we hit the road toward home. Mom and I got to Casey at 5:00 and I headed toward Rantoul shortly after that. I was finally home at 6:45.

First Of Three

School is out for me for about six weeks so I have three mini vacations planned for that time. I'll be leaving today to my mom's house in Southern, IL, spend the night there and then in the morning she, my brother and I will leave for Willow Winds Resort on Lake Pomme de Terre near Wheatland, MO. We'll be there from Thursday - Sunday. This is for the 25th annual McCullough Reunion. My dad's side of the family. My dad passed away when I was a child so I've been more a part of my mom's side of the family than his. Especially since my g'ma Hunt died 25 years ago. Over the past 25 years I've been to this reunion in various locations maybe 5 times. Consequently, I'm a little nervous, excited, hopeful....etc. I plan to take a bunch of pictures and have a really good time.

Trip #2 will be June 28 to the Grissom Reunion in Casey and then afterwards I'll be going to my Aunt's house in Hematite, MO and will be there through the 4th of July.
Trip #2 will be July 16 - 19 to a scrapbook retreat in Mt. Auburn, IL with a good friend of mine Kim Peck.

The Reason

I thought it was time that I introduce you to "the reasons why I live." They are my kids. Out of respect for their privacy I'll just use their first initial. The oldest is my son R, next is my daughter H and the baby he's J. They are 23, 18 & 17 years old. R has been out on his own in an apartment since he was 19, he works at Monicals and has for 4 years. H has been in her own apartment with her boyfriend for around 9 months, she's worked at KFC/Taco Bell for a year now and has just made manager. She is taking her GED test this Saturday and is talking about going to Parkland next year. J is still at home with me and is still in high school, next fall he'll be a senior. His claim to fame is "he lives to sk8!!!! I am very proud of all three of them and have made it my life's mission to be their mother. They have never had to doubt my love or committment to them, they know that my love for them is unconditional. It's probably the thing I'm most proud of.

More Pottery

Last Sunday my friend Tina and I again went to paint pottery. My plan...to make a piece for my mom for Mother's Day and also ended up making a piece for myself as well. The tulip vase is for
my mom, it has three tulips in it. They represent me, my sister and my brother. The
other is a box to have in my bedroom to put
earrings and such in. We are planning to go again next Sunday. Haven't decided yet what I'll be working on but I'm thinking of making something for my desk at work (school).