I found it!

Does anyone else remember when "I found it!" was a religious slogan - - - and a very popular bumper sticker?

Well, it wasn't religion I found yesterday (and anyway, I'm theologically reformed...so my bumper sticker would have to say something like "HE found it, and gave it back to me before I even realized it was missing, wretched worm that I am."), but I did find my camera. It's been missing since we got back from Savannah over a week ago.

I did what I always do when I'm desperate and have looked everywhere for something...I offered a $5.00 reward to the person who found it. So, tomorrow I'm going to go get a chocolate chip frappacino with the reward money that I paid myself for finding it.

Next time I just might offer a big enough reward to buy myself a brand new camera. (My children are taking logic at the classical school, but, lamentedly - it's too late for me to start making sense.)

That's my excuse for posting these pictures so late (with no blogging in between)-and that's why my kid's scrapbooks (if they had them) would have to say "Fourth Day of School Pictures", unlike Lea's kids who have a Scrappin' Mom if there ever was one. She also makes a mean dish of blackberry grits, which she served Jodi and me at the Boo Hoo Breakfast on Monday, after we all abandoned, er....dropped off our kids at school. None of our kids go to the same school so it was fun comparing notes.

And as far as I could tell, no one did any Boo Hooing. I did almost cry when one of my children came home and excitedly told me they learned the Greek alphabet that day ...I'm guessing that would be the same Greek alphabet I had taught them JUST LAST YEAR! But really, I don't mind sharing the credit with a new teacher they'd never even met until four days ago. Really. I'm not about getting the glory. It's perfectly fine that I've pretty much sacrificed every spare minute of my life for the past 8 years, had no hobbies, and pretty much ruined my mental health. Share the glory. That's my new motto.


But back to Savannah, where we visited our married daughter, Jacqueline, her husband Nathan, our Granddogs Zulu and Bella (pictured below with their "Pop", aka Bo, aka HOH), and our new grandchild (also pictured below.)

I just happened to squeeze in time to visit Paula Dean's completely adorable gift shop. I didn't want to seem like I was in there to try and get a glimpse of her (supposedly she comes in about once an hour), so I purchased a bottle of her water (not pictured, because someone ....someone who obviously doesn't know a Dasani from a Lady and Sons spring water... put the bottle in the recycling bin! It's amazing what kids don't know these days. I mean how hard is it to distinguish an overpriced souvenir bottle of water from some indistinct plastic container?)

I stood in line for 15 minutes to get the doggone bottle of water so I'm understandably bitter about the recycling snafu. I only bought the bottle of water so I could show it to you (always thinking about you, dear readers...even when I'm on vacation...It's just part of who I am.)

And anyway, I'm not stupid enough to stand in a long line just to buy a dumb ol' bottle of water. I picked up a cute, embroidered linen dish cloth on my way to the checkout counter. I had hoped to get a picture of me holding that special dish cloth, but the newly-found camera isn't currently working. Even though I just put new batteries in it Very Recently.

My friend, Jodi, whose side-job is to help me out with spiritual accountability - reminded me that I have complained about my camera quite a bit in the past. She didn't come right out and say that God might have put the whammy on my camera, but the insinuation and accompanying guilt was blatant. So I want to publicly confess that I have taken my camera for granted in the past and that if God will heal my Kodak Easy Share I will never complain about the way it eats batteries, or the fact that you have to take action shots WAY Before the action actually starts, and I'll try not to compare my camera with Lea's or Jodi's perfect cameras ever again. Sounds sort of like a camera's death bed conversion, doesn't it? :)

OK, as usual I'm trying to make up for all the non-blogging days by telling you everything all in one long post. In the comment section for last week's post (which btw, was very entertaining and makes me One Proud Blogging for Dummies convert), Lea suggested we motivate ourselves to blog more often by having a September to Remember contest. Hey, I'm game for another free lunch! Just let me know the rules and where to meet to eat my prize.



Here's all the kids (except Daniel who is headless because my camera's view window is much larger than what you actually 'get'), going up the stairs from the Riverwalk near downtown Savannah.


This is Bo pointing to some stranger's boat. Even if we were done investing in uniforms, braces, school supplies, piano lessons, food and deodorant for our four current teenagers,(and maybe a new camera)...we still probably wouldn't buy a boat.
But a man can point, can't he?



Can you see my grandbaby? Jacqueline has always been thin, so it's fun to see her with a little bump. My bump is bigger than her bump, but we won't go there.



The beach at Savannah was disappointing. It's been years since I've been anyplace so crowded. There were four 'tiers' of beachgoers, and we were just a little too close to each other for my oceanic comfort. Plus everyone, and I mean everyone, had a tattoo. It's an artsy town with the Savannah College of Art and Design located there, plus two armed service bases nearby. Apparently servicemen and art majors are very into decorating their bodies. And naval piercing- It's all the rage with teeny boppers. And smoking. Even the non-tattooed people were smoking.

My children showed their "artsy" side by sculpting a dolphin in the sand.










My daughter lives very close to all kinds of cute shops. This soda shop had the most amazing chocolate malts. Jax has given up coffee and replaced it with slushies, so the owner knows them by name.


We can make almost any spot look very popular just by all going there at the same time :)



Pop (in the Hawaiian shirt), Zulu (naked) and Bella.




I walked into the kitchen and saw Jacqueline eating a pickle and couldn't resist snapping this pic. Isn't her apron cute?!





This is the happy pregnant couple on the ferry at the Riverwalk. Nathan looks handsomer without the scrunched up face, but Jacqueline is photogenic 24/7. And I'd say that even if I wasn't the Grandmother of her baby :)

Stay tuned for Back to School Pix and the much-anticipated answer to the burning question of the day:

What's it like to be alone in your house for the first time in 27 years?
The answer may surprise you.

Debbie