Family Day Trip, Monday, September 8, 2008

Before I get into this post, I want to thank everyone
who's offered up prayers and warm thoughts
for me while I've been sick, both by your
comments and by email.

I'm feeling better but not back to 100%.
My allergies are still acting up but not as bad
as they were earlier in the week.
My sugar is still up and down but hopefully
that will improve with diet and after I see
my doctor for medication next Friday.

Thank you all again for your concern for me.
I appreciate it more than you'll ever know.

Almost 2 weeks ago, JESSICA, CECIL,Emmy, Sue and I

took a short road trip to Southaven, Mississippi via
Memphis, Tennessee to eat at Red*Lobster.
Red*Lobster is probably my favorite place to eat
and I don't have the opportunity to go very often,
so I really appreciate it when I do get to go.

I said "short trip", but it takes about an hour and a half
to drive it, according to the traffic and how heavy
your driver's foot happens to be.

We had a perfect late Summer/early Fall day for our drive.
It was about 75F or about 24C and sunny, with a few puffy
white clouds scudding along in the sky.Jessica, our pilot for the drive.Cecil, Emmy and Sue, the backseat crew.Are we there yet?I'll give this tour one leg up!Ain't she a stinker?And a ham!
(Notice Sue giving me the evil eye here? :o)Here we're leaving West Memphis on the
Arkansas side of the Mississippi River, on
the I55 bridge, or the "old bridge" as most
of us call it around here.
Notice that the river is back in its banks.
The last pictures I took of this area, the
Mississippi River was flooded out of its banks.On the bridge itself. The center of the bridge
marks the state line between Arkansas
and Tennessee.Looking to the East at the Memphis,
Tennessee side of the river.
A view of the river bank
and some tugs, barges, etc.I tried to take some pics of the scenery from Memphis
to Southaven, but the sun was almost directly overhead
and the glare on the car glass was so reflective that
it ruined most of my efforts. It didn't help things that
we were moving at a pretty good clip and most of the
pictures were blurred anyway.

Also, by the time we got inside and seated, Emmy
was starving so all our attention was on getting her
something to eat and drink before we got
thrown out of the restaurant.

All that to say, it never even occurred to me to take
any pictures of us inside the restaurant, our food, etc.
I ordered the endless shrimp, scampi and breaded,
and a salad and baked potato.

They always give you the famous cheddar bay biscuits
and as usual everything was delicious.
Emmy loved the biscuits and just about
everything else we gave her.
Jessica ordered her some chicken strips
and fries, but she sampled from all our plates as well.Here we're headed home.We're all full as ticks and Emmy passed out
before we even got back to Arkansas.Another of my stunningly brilliant self-portraits.
I'm thinking it probably has as much to do with
the subject as much as my non-existent
photography skilz.I like the way sleeping Emmy is framed between
me and Jessica in this shot. I'll admit that that's
probably its only redeeming quality.Almost home. I don't remember why Sue was
so amused.These last 2 pictures have nothing to do with
our trip, I just thought they were cute and wanted
to share them.

These were taken Sunday, September 7, 2008 at
Jessica and Jason's place. Jessica got down in the
floor to play with her cat, and Emmy took the
opportunity to use her Mama as a jungle gym.
At one point she even turned a somersault,
head over heels, off Jessica's back.
Boy, did Emmy ever look surprised!
It didn't hurt her at all, just startled her.
And I got video of it with my camera. ;o)I hope you all have a wonderful, blessed weekend.
Lord willing, I'll be back later Saturday evening
with my Sunday Dinner post.