Cummings Family Fence Post

2010 GET TOGETHER

2010-08-24T10:24:00.004-06:00

Visiting with Brad & Sandra is always lots of fun.

Amy, McKinsey and Ian. Sorry I missed getting a pic of Eric.

Double mint Sandra's

Doug & Treasa are always fun to be around.

Jim & Courtney's family minus one. Jim made a spot for him.

Jana & Scott were lots of fun. I heard that Jana runs over people with her car.

Doug, Treasa and Kimberly. Kim didn't swim in Jack and Sandra's pool in the back ground, but she did throw her phone in to see if it could swim. It couldn't.

I missed getting a pic of Jack (see Eric you weren't the only one I missed) but I did get one with Sandra & Lee.

We enjoyed visiting with everyone and had lots of laughs. Hope to see you all next year.

2008-12-20T22:02:00.003-06:00

So I noticed that the Fencepost was way at the bottom of my updated blog list....so I decided to share a couple of funny Grandma/Grandpa stories....

Grandpa only allowed me to make his coffee once. I was so excited. But I was a coffee novice. My expertise was is hot chocolate. You know, 4 big spoonfuls of cocoa per cup. Yeah, I put 4 BIG spoonfuls of coffee in his cup, microwaved that puppy and presented it for inspection. One sip and grandpa's eyes were HUGE!! He said it was like they gave him in the war. One sip and you're up for a few more hours; the whole cup and you're up for 24!! He never asked me to make his coffee again. Come to think about it Damon makes the coffee in our house......

I LOVE grandma's bread recipe. One day I was at their house and grandma wanted to bake bread (likely to ease the nagging of a certain granddaughter!). We got the ingredients out...the phone rang. We creamed the shortening and sugar, I turned the radio up (my station of course....they had so much tolerance for that music...RIGHT). We formed the dough ball and ran low on flour. Then the phone rang again. Then grandma forgot to check the dough (it was HUGE!!). Finally the rolls were cut, placed neatly on their pans, and placed in the oven to bake. I am telling you all my mouth is watering thinking of that smell (anybody have that recipe??). The timer went off and we pulled the first batch out of the oven. They didn't look like the usual roll. Actually they looked more like hockey pucks. We thought maybe, just maybe they would taste alright. WRONG!! Not only were they hard as rocks, but they tasted HORRIBLE!!! We threw them all away, as well as the dough! And then we laughed, and laughed, and laughed. At least grandma had a good sense of humor!!!

Okay, I have to include an Amy story here too, but it happened at grandma and grandpa's house..... Amy and I were always...no, ALWAYS trying to one up each other. We were playing some really weird game where we made strange combinations of food and the other HAD to eat it or lose the game. I combined ice cream and mayonaisse, and I don't think I told her about it. She ate a couple of bites. Then she started throwing up everywhere! Game over......so sorry Amy....I really have felt bad about that all these years. I promise to never feed you ice cream and mayo again.....cross my heart!!!

She Sure Do Clean Up Right Nice

2008-03-17T17:24:00.006-06:00

You can click on any of these images to see more detail.
It always takes Dad a bit of extra encouragement to put on his super happy wedding face.

This is the view from the back of the garage on the back porch.
These stairs lead straight back to Dad's workshop.
You may notice the addition of stone to make the sidewalk wider. The wedding took place under the two oak trees in the back.
This was the scene of the toilet bowl throwing contest of '06.
A little shot of the flower girls.

Now, please rush over to Susan's blog and thank her heartily for taking these pictures for me.

Check it out!!

2008-03-13T18:44:00.001-06:00

Mom has a blog....next we're getting Brad and Sandra on this train!

Kwaj Life

Cousins

2007-12-27T22:24:00.000-06:00

Mema and Me-Jack

2007-12-27T22:15:00.000-06:00

2007-09-10T12:09:00.001-06:00

Now, did any one see this one coming?? Like father, like son!

Root Pickin'

2007-08-25T07:42:00.000-06:00

For the record:

I picked Jim knowing full well the family that came with him! I must say; I couldn't have picked a better collection of roots for my boys!!!

I'm proud to be a part of this God-fearing, crazy, dedicated, loving, forgiving, caring, fun, eccentric, eclectic family. . . I wouldn't give it up for anything!

P.S. I also picked out a faboulous pair of suade and leather boots last year. . .so I guess I'm 2 for 2. . .not a bad record ah!

Red Neck Roots

2007-08-09T18:04:00.000-06:00

You can pick your clothes, or pick your nose. You can pick your date or pick your mate. You can pick your boots but your roots are picked for you. I picked some funny pics.

We had a blast at the Cummings Family Reunion. It was a fun packed time for everyone. It looked like trailer town in the Dodd's back yard. It was shocking to see how much the kids had grown. Scott needs to get a cannon to keep the boys away from his door.

Thank you Brad and Sandra for putting up with 30 people invading your house. I know it was a lot of work for you. You are a gracious host and we love you for it.

Reunion pics

2007-08-07T19:46:00.000-06:00

Thought I would share with you all..... We had a blast. Courtney keeps asking when we are going to "Coston" to see those boys and that girl. I don't have time to rearrange them all to make sense...Ms. Piggy is hungry again (ALWAYS!!)
Enjoy!

What's this Waldo up to?

2007-04-04T09:23:00.000-06:00

Well.......... I got up this morning at 5:56am and my dogs let me know they were more than ready to get up and get outside!!! Then I turned on the coffee, took my shower and started the process of getting ready to go to work (which took about an hour and a half). Left for work at 7:47am (yeah....that sounds like an airplane) and arrived at 7:58am. I got the Jr Sr Banquet room confirmed for the 20th and turned in the menu for the banquet. Went in for our prayer session at 8:30am(we always have prayer with office staff every Wednesday morning). Got out of prayer session around 9:30am. I started working on the announcements for Wednesday night classes and getting the elders agenda ready for their meeting after church tonight. Lunch from 11:00am-12:00noon (I brought fresh fruit for lunch, however was tempted to go to Sonic) Temptation won ..........I LOVE SONIC CHERRY LIME. Jana called while I was at lunch so I talked to her during half my lunch time (love it when my kids call)
I'll just tell you what the rest of the day usually goes like........I'll update the announcemnts as information comes into the office through the day, help answer phones, etc......I get off work at 4:00pm then I'll go to Planet Fitness ...work out for about 30 minutes, walk on the tread mill for about 30 minutes, get home around 5:20pm, rest for just a minute, fix something to eat before getting ready to go to church. I have to be in the office at 6:40pm, 20 minutes before class time and then again 20 minutes after so I'll leave church at 8:20pm . When I get home I'll put in a load of laundry. I'll work for a while on the dinosour blanket I'm making for Joel (my youngest granson). I usually get to bed around 10:30pm or 11:00pm on Wednesday nights (never know what time Jack will be home on Wednesdays).

What's this Waldo up to?

2007-03-31T16:43:00.000-06:00

I want to thank my good friend and cousin for getting the ball rolling on this one. I know that I cannot compete with Gina for exciting, but I sure will give it an honest try.
My typical Monday through Saturday begins at 7:00am. Let's pause here for Gina's jealous groan.
*still paused*
I wake to the smiling faces of my dear children who seem to think I am responsible for every food item they ingest. I don't like to mock their flawed thinking so early in the morning so I trudge to the kitchen and prepare breakfast. Sometimes I make cinnamon rolls the night before and bake them in the morning. Aunt Sandra made them for me one fine morning several years ago and she inspired me to try it myself.
After breakfast the kids get dressed and I get my coffee, or rather, my cream and sugar with a splash of coffee. Eric is generally gone to his office by then, but if he has no appointments scheduled he is at home in bed. This means that I set my coffee mug down and go tell him to get up. He asks his Mom for five more minutes (she lives in Wisconsin. I don't know why he asks her and I wonder why he thinks she can hear him). Fifteen minutes or so later I return to wake him and he rushes to get ready, plays with the kids for a good bit and heads out the door.
With Eric gone, I take a quick shower, start the first of 3-5 loads of laundry, feed the dog, unclog the toilet (or sink, or tub, or whatever the kids have clogged up that day), wash the dishes, vacuum, sometimes shampoo the carpet (like a good Kirby wife and dog owner), make the beds, and straighten the kitchen up.
Then it is lunch time. I desperately search the kitchen , get struck by culinary genius, and prepare something that I had no idea I could out of my kitchen. After lunch is cleared away the kids go to their room for quiet time and Mommy stares at a wall for an hour. Then the kids come out of their rooms and it is game back on.
About 3-4 times a week I pull out my kickin' sweet stroller and the kids and I walk to the store, because that's how I roll. We also walk to the park, to the book store and to a really neat thrift shop near by.
Several times a week I have good girlfriends who stop by to look at me. I am pretty old school (read: cheap) in a lot of ways and I think this makes me kind of like a historic museum exhibit. "See, children. This is how Mommies used to make loaves of bread in the old days."
Of course, all of this excitement is peppered heavily with simply hanging out with the kids, reading books, listening to the songs they write and watching the shows they enjoy.
I cap my day off with a meal they refuse to eat and a bath they refuse to keep from spilling onto the floor. We end our evening with a twist on an old favorite. I read them a chapter of a book (currently reading Pippi Longstocking) and then I go to their individual rooms where they tell me a story. Mackenzie's stories usually involve fairies and Ian's stories usually involve race cars, or trains, or trash trucks, or basically anything that he would love to drive someday.
I put them to bed at eight precisely, not because I am structured, but because I am that ready to have the precious angels out of my hair.
After they are in bed, I have a few hours to finish up my housework and splash on some make-up before Eric gets home. And when Eric gets home, we put on hoe down music and dance a jig. Unless it is Tuesday.

Roll Call

2007-03-31T15:25:00.000-06:00

Okay, so we have done a "where's waldo" type roll call. Amy and I discussed it, and I think she hasn't gotten to making this post because she wants me to do it, but this week's roll call is......

"What is Waldo up to?" Pretty much, what is a typical day like in your family?

I'll start....

At the awful hour of 5:00 a.m. my alarm starts reminding me that I must get up. Kind as it may be, I still give it a good whack and roll over hoping to catch at least 8 more minutes of sleep. This continues until about 5:30. I get up get my self ready for the day and then proceed to wake grumpy-pants up. Contrary to your thinking that is not Damon. It's Courtney. She is not a morning person. She likes to wake up...not be told to wake up. We do our morning routine of me begging her to go potty so she can get dressed and go to school. I tempt her with what she wants for breakfast, seeing her teachers, and then I just plop her rear on the toilet seat kicking and screaming (her, not me). 30 minutes or so later we are headed out the door and somehow we managed to get breakfast to fit into the whole mess.
I teach all day and Courtney goes to daycare a.k.a school. I am blessed that the school where I teach also has a daycare attached (gotta love the private schools!) so she is very close by. After 8 long hours of teaching I usually drag myself over to her classroom pick her up and we head back home. Unless of course it is a Tuesday or Wednesday. On Tuesdays Courtney has a gymnastics class, so we usually run around until that starts (once I am home, I don't want to leave!) On Wednesdays we have been known to do the same for church....but since it starts so much later, I sometimes come home. We have so many other activities scattered here and there, but not on a regular basis. The larger my belly gets, the more I want to just get home and chill.
We try our best to eat at home, but cooking for 1 1/2 is really hard, so my child is a lover of most fast foods! She is especially fond of Taco Bell and Pizza Hut (at least she is loyal to the company....maybe it's because I drank so much Pepsi while I was pregnant with her). If we drive by a TB she will say, "Oh mama, look it's a bell....I need a soft taco without any lettuce and a sprite." Sure you do kiddo. Maybe when daddy comes back home we will eat at home more often.
We have a pretty strict bedtime of 8:00...oh wait that was a complete lie. The ideal bedtime in our house is 8:00. Lately it's been more like 9:00, but who's counting. If we weren't on daylight savings time it would be 8:00. We call daddy before we go to bed most nights, if he's available. That usually turns into her talking for 5 minutes and I talk for an hour, so unlimited long-distance (which ironically covers Guam) is our life line. Then we are off to bed so that we can start another day in the Blankinship Bungalow!

So now that I have wasted Courtney's nap time and my floors aren't mopped anymore than they were when I started this....what's life like in your house???

2007-03-29T15:54:00.000-06:00

Just curoius....did the fence fall down or are we all too busy right now? I am on the too busy side, but spring break is on its way....PRAISE GOD!!!

Roll Call...Pets...a week late, but I brought my excuse with me!

2007-03-08T19:04:00.000-06:00

Okay, so I have been a little busy lately. Actually the truth be known I have been breaking speed records (especially for pregnant ladies)and I have finally started to slow down. I am actually getting to post because I am sitting at my computer trying to fix my brand new memory card. One use and it thinks it's done.....not for what I paid for it!!!
Anyhow....pets. Ask mom and she will tell you I am a big animal lover. I have had pets around most of my life. About 8 years ago (gosh that's a long time!!) we acquired Jodi and Sugar, two miniature long-haired dachsunds. Damon's aunt was a breeder and told us that one day we could have one of her dogs as a wedding gift. She had a massive heart attack and passed away and so the time for our "gift" came earlier than expected. We had just been to her farm only 2 weeks prior and had seen a new litter of 3 weinie dogs (which look like cocker spaniels when they are born....could you imagine giving birth to that nose!). We thought nothing of it. As the dogs were being disperced Damon mentioned the "gift" and we were told to find a dog. We decided we wanted a cocker spaniel-like dog and started looking. I came across this one lonely pup, who looked very much like a cocker spaniel. He was fuzzy and snuggly and almost matched the coloring of my hair. Apparently he was the lone survivor of his litter. I fell in love. I was snuggling with him on the couch to take a nap and up pops this beautiful red and black weinie dog. She snuggled with me and we all took a little nap. Turns out that beauty was the mama of the cute little pup I was in love with. He was only 4 weeks old and not weened, so as Damon's uncle put it "ya gotta take the mama too!" So much for any cocker-like puppies. I called my parents and begged them to take their precious grand-dogs in until we could keep them (the univ. apartments forbid pets). Mom's a sucker and said yes. We were initially going to name them Cinnamon and Sugar (hince the girly name for our boy dog). Turns out that Jodi has a few tattoos (she had a few too many to drink I guess...that or it was her wild streak) and one revealed her name, Jodi, given to her by Damon's aunt. She was one of the house dogs that kept getting into the pens when she wasn't supposed to. Even in her old age she is still sneaky.
My parents can tell you all sorts of funny stories from when they lived with them (about 3 years). Like the time Jodi brought them a dead squirrel. Or how they would eat the rotten tomatoes mom threw into the yard and suddenly mom had many, many tomato plants all over the yard.
Over all they are good dogs and Damon and my first babies. They really have taken a hit on the totem pole as the kiddos have come along. But I will admit to the world that I still love them.....at least for now!

Saturday Roll Call...Pets

2007-02-26T14:31:00.000-06:00

Jack and I have three Yorkies...Teddy B's Shebe Abby, HerShe Shada, and Trey Runtster Cricket. Abby and Shada are 11 years old. Cricket is 8 years old. Abby is the Leader of the pack, although Cricket likes to get a challenge in ever once in a while. Shada grawls if one of the others look at her (she thinks she should have been an only puppy). Cricket is Abby's puppy and Jack seems to think she is the most spoiled dog you will ever meet. I can't imagine why he thinks that. One day I told Shada to go get her blue ball (they had a blue and yellow ball), she would look at me, cock her head and turn in a circle. Abby was sitting on the chair watching and listening, after I told Shada about four or five time to go get the blue ball Abby got off the chair, went into the bedroom, came back with the blue ball, dropped in at my feet and got back on the chair. I think she got tired of listening to me!!!!!

Saturday Roll Call

2007-02-17T16:09:00.000-06:00

I forgot to assign the roll call for this week (or last week for that matter), so I am going to do it myself. Take a moment, hold my hand, and let's have a fence post chat about family pets. I'll go first.
We got Rocco three years ago when he was real little and we thought the kids were ready for a family pet. We named him Rocco because something about him struck us as being a bit of a meathead hooligan. He grew from puppy hood to be a massive Cujo looking dog who strikes fear in the hearts of all who encounter him. What is truly sad is that Rocco is far from any kind of vicious dog. He charges at people and leaps on them because he wants to be their friend. It isn't until he has been maced that he realizes perhaps his expression of wanton friendship isn't entirely welcomed. He still likes to cuddle up in my lap, though it is a bit awkward. He was formerly an outside dog, but he proved too tender footed for that. With Eric working the long hours that he does, I find comfort in having a dog that can strike fear in the hearts of men five times my size.

See? That wasn't so hard. Now you do it too. Write about any pet you wish. A favorite childhood pet, your current pet, a pet you wish you had. Whatever. Just write.

First car

2007-02-13T15:11:00.000-06:00

Posted by Jack........

My first car was a 41 Chevy.......I worked all summer and earned $50 to buy it.
I really impressed Sandra with that car when we went on dates. The front end
of the car would bounce down the street (no shocks). The gear shift broke off and
I replaced it with the end of a broom stick.

......and Jack just couldn't understand why I always wanted to take his dad's car on
our dates.

2007-02-12T08:13:00.000-06:00

Okay I know I'm late again........thats just how I live. Most of you know that Scott is a furloughed pilot for American Airlines and has been building houses since Aug of 2005. He was scheduled to go to class at American Eagle in Aug. and the night before he was suppose to go (at around midnight) he woke me up and said IM NOT GOING!!!! I replied OK then started praying!!!! He is a hard worker and things are fine. He did get called back to fly but has turned them down for now (he has up to 3 years to go back) I am the school nurse at the Intermediate and Jr High schools in Celina. Brittany is a shuttle bus driver at Texas A&M and is in her second year there and doing well. She wants to be an editer and is getting her degree in English and a minor in business. Erin is a senior and will go to ACU next fall. She wants to be a physical therapist. Megan is a freshman and pretty much just keeps all of us in line. We live in the country we have 3 dogs, a cat, 2 horses and a bird. I am not an animal person. I believe that Scott was born to be the father of daughters!!! Not only is he really good with our girls but He is REALLY good at intimidating all the hairy legged boys that are up to no good!!! Maybe that is the real reason our girls want to go off to college. Love ya'll Jana

Lonely's First Car

2007-02-10T12:59:00.000-06:00

I don't remember my first date or my last date,......but it was probably with Not Hertz. I remember my first car was a gray & white 1956 Chevrolet, 235 six cylinder, power glide automatic. I payed $210 cash for it. Sure wish I still had it. My Dad wanted me to establish some credit at the bank to buy the car. When I found out that they were going to charge $6.00 in interest I pulled the money out of my savings account and bought the car. The banker called Dad before I got back to the station and Dad was mad that I did not borrow the money to establish some credit. I must have that Alz. disease. I can't remember how to spell it or what I did this morning, but I can remember that car and my 1965 Riviera, 425 2/4 barrel carborator, positive track rear end blog, blog, blog, blog, .................Lonely

Calling all Cummings Men

2007-02-09T16:26:00.000-06:00

Maybe a better draw for the guys would be describe the first car you ever owned and share a memory about that car or truck. And we can talk about sports next week.

Saturday Roll Call: Brought to You by Not Hertz

2007-02-09T13:59:00.000-06:00

This one is for the fellas. Why no chatting at the fence post? Do you find the ladies so interesting that joining is intimidating? Maybe that's it.

Lonely & Not Hertz

2007-02-09T13:24:00.000-06:00

Lonely and Not Hertz live in a land far far away called Oklahoma with a state motto of
Oklahoma,.... OK., whatever that means. Sounds blah to me. Lonely has worked for 4 different divisions of Xerox for the last twenty years. Not Hertz is a homemaker, not to be confused with a home builder. I also help run the little red head to school and keep her after school (also known as a granddaughter).
Lonely's favorite flavor ice cream is whatever is in the bowl in front of him. Not Hertz's favorite ice cream is a strawberry sundae, only when you get old things start not liking you. Hey Amy, does this count for my "getting old" comment?
I have a suggestion for the next topic. Why are all the men straddling this fence post and not participating? How about it MEN!

Where in World. . .

2007-02-07T10:02:00.000-06:00

Welp. . .after being shunned by my mother-in-law for not hanging out at the fence post, my family and I have relocated to an undisclosed location once inhabited by VP Chaney.
The boys have taking up scuba diving and Jim and I are enjoying our days on the glistening sand by the crystal sea! We've assembled a small band of followers and now refer to ourselves as JIMACRATS. . .
But since that information is supposed to be kept confidential, we live under the false identity of an Air Force family residing in Texas. I teach Girl's Bible, Drama and Computer Applications at the largest Christian school in town. Jack, Jimmy and Joel are in the fifth, second and first grades respectively. Jim is awesome. He tests for his next promotion in the next month or two and he treats me like a queen!

Where am I and how did I get here?

2007-02-04T16:35:00.000-06:00

Okay, listen up! This is very important information that I am about to tell you! Those of you that have not gotten this information may end up surprising a middle-age- man who is completely shocked and confused as to why you would want to spend the week-end (first week-end in August) at his house. That being said, Brad and I now live in Round Rock but we still attend church in Austin. Brad serves as an elder and I stand next to him and serve as a nervous deer-in-the headlights spouse.
We are currently rebuilding a house in Round Rock and hope to have it finished by the first week-end in August. We have been living in the back yard of our house in a travel trailer since October of 05 as we labor over our home. . I believe that makes us the only ones in the family that officially qualifies as trailer trash. If we are not quite done by August hammers and nails will be handed out at the door as you arrive. I am so looking forward to seeing ALL of you! (my favorite Ice-cream?) Blue Bell Vanilla! Somebody has to make a stand for the boring!

Blankinship Fam Facts

2007-02-02T23:27:00.000-06:00

Damon , my hubbie of almost 10 years, and I live in NW Louisiana. He is in the Air Force and we are stationed at Barksdale Air Force Base. He is currently on deployment to paradise otherwise known as Guam ( I hate when he tells me all about the beach there!!) I am a third grade teacher at Calvary Baptist Academy.
We have 2 little girls..so far. Courtney is a lively and very active 2 year old. She is due to turn 3 in April...barring any horrible behavior incidents! She has a little sister, Mariah, that lives with her great-grandma and great-grandpa Cummings in heaven. We are all set to have another little doosey in about 5 months. I have yet to find out if we will be painting in blue or pink...my brain says pink, but the doc will tell us next week...barring any crossed legs or ill placed hands!!!

Family Facts (as per Aunt Sandra's request)

2007-02-02T10:01:00.000-06:00

Eric, my husband- not my brother, owns his own business here in Round Rock, TX. He sells vacuums door to door. While he is out knocking doors, I stay home with Ian, 4 and Mackenzie, 5. Currently I am coaching 7th grade girls drama for LTC. I also make terrible homemade tortillas.
Oh, and my favorite ice cream is Blue Bell's "Moolinium Crunch".

Family Facts

2007-02-02T09:19:00.000-06:00

Does Waldo come to mind?????
We need to know where everyone in the family is!!!!!
For example: Jack & I live in Lubbock, TX (I know everyone out there is surprised to find that out)
Jack is the Involvement & Family Life Minister at Green Lawn Church of Christ.
I am the Youth / College / Elder Secretary at church.
My favorite flavor of ice cream is Pralines & Cream, what's yours?

2007-02-02T09:17:00.000-06:00

I guess Im a little late on this one but.........My very favorite memory of Grandmother is the last time I saw her. She knew she was going to die. We talked for a while and laughed alot. I asked her if she was scared and she said she was scared of how she was getting there but not a bit scared of where she would end up!!!!!! She always talked about prayer and I am very blessed because of her prayers for us I hope I can pass this great legacy on to our children.
My funny memory is when we had gone to Lubbock for a visit once I think I was 12 or 13. We were sitting in the car waiting on Grandaddy to lock the door or something and he starting heading to the car and she said " OH HORRORS! That stomache" this made me laugh!!!!

Next Roll Call and Some Other Stuff

2007-01-30T16:13:00.000-06:00

Next week's roll call question will be coming to you from our own Aunt Sandra. Well, she's my own Aunt Sandra. She may be your mom, or your Grandma, or your mother-in-law. All the same, she's bringing the next question, so get your thinking caps on.

Just to clarify the answering of the roll call questions:
-Do use a new post to answer the questions. Feel free to leave others comments about their posts, but answer the question yourself with a new post.
-Also, re-post the question of the week in your title so that everyone can readily see what the question of the week is.

Now, get off your keisters and get to work! There's a lot of us on here, but we could have more. Get your family involved. I know our family can make a lot more noise than this!

2007-01-29T14:56:00.000-06:00

I will always APPRICIATE Bonnie (the most wonderful mother-in-law ever) for how encouraging and positive she always was to me. Jack and I married so young and I know that had to give her cause for concern.
She never complained about her life of pain even on her worst days.
Memories......there are so many good ones.
One of my favorite MEMORIES of Bonnie was how she could make the best and even joke about any situation she found herself in. Like the time we were called to come to Lubbock because she was having to undergo yet another surgery that they didn't think she could make it through (she had just had a surgery a week or two before). We got there just as the nurse was getting ready to take her into surgery. We said our good-bys and went to wait in the waiting room. Art & Blanche Beck (they were living with Jimmie & Bonnie while going through Sunset School of Preaching) were there along with the family. Bonnie came through the surgery fine, however she didn't think she was going to and she told us later that when she was waking up she thought to herself "surely heaven doesn't smell like a hospital". When we could visit her Blanche told her that we were all in the waiting room praying for her to make it through surgery. Bonnie said that from now on we all needed to be on the same page with our prayers because she had been praying that she would go ahead and go "home".
My most PRECIOUS time with her was when she was in the hospital and Sandra and I would take turns staying a week at a time with her. It was my honor to help her at that time and just be there with her when she needed something. We talked about a lot of things and that was just a very special time to be able to tell her how much I loved and appriciated her for all that she meant to me.

2007-01-27T20:39:00.000-06:00

I was sitting here thinking of other awesome memories I have of grandma and grandpa. I think the thing that comes to mind over and over is how loving and gracious they were.
My halo was misplaced somewhere around the age of 12. I gave my parents a heavy helping of grief. For those of you that are shocked, I also became really great at wearing masks. As I grew into my teenage years my rebellion and crazy stunts only escalated. I honestly thought that I had everyone of the extended family fooled. In all reality mom and dad were reaching out to grandma and grandpa (which may be one of the reasons I am still alive).
When we moved back to Lubbock, grandma was in the hospital. I spent quite a bit of time up there just talking to her. Her stories were memorizing. I think I could listen to her for hours at a time. One night she asked me to stay the night with her. I agreed. That night she told me that she knew of the choices I had made. She told me that even though they didn't make her happy, she still loved me. She told me that she thought I was a beautiful young lady and she knew God had great plans for me. She told me that she loved me not only because I was her granddaughter, but because I was a child of the God she loved so much. I remember that day just like it was yesterday. That night she taught me of forgiveness and grace. She taught me that my past was my past and with Christ's blood, it is as far as the east is from the west.
After Mariah died, I often thought of how grandma must be up in heaven, free from pain or stiffness, rocking my sweet baby to sleep.

Memories

2007-01-27T19:40:00.000-06:00

I have too many memories to pick a favorite, but I doubt if I ever forget the day Grandpa asked me to put the sprinkler on the North/West side of his front yard. If you know me well, then you know that I only just recently got left/right down, start giving me directions that belong on a compass and I just blink. If you knew Grandpa very well, you knew not to ask for clarifications because he would also just blink.
I tried, oh how I tried. I thought really hard about where the sun rose in relation to their house and I tried to remember if the cowboy rode to the sun setting in the east or west. I'm not going to explain that, it made sense to me.
After the grass in the far South/East portion of their lawn had received a good soaking, Grandpa went out to check my work. He had no idea the time I spent trying to figure out his orders. He seemed surprised that a ten year old can make it that far in school and not know directions. That was the day he decided I could help sweep the porch and he would handle yard watering strategy.

My Funny Father

2007-01-27T18:38:00.000-06:00

One of my favorite dad (Among Many) funny memories but at the time was the most horrifying. As a young school-girl I worked very hard at being a wall flower. I never wanted the spotlight shining on me because most usually anytime I experienced “center of attention” it was not a very pleasant time. So my whole goal was to try to fly under the radar as much as possible. Having a dad like mine made this quite difficult. You never knew what he might try, do or say but one thing for sure whatever it was it would take you by surprise. He even surprised himself at times.
We lived across the street from a park and my journey home from school would take me through the park. This meant that you could see our house for three or four blocks before you were actually got there. I was horrified one day as I was walking home from school and saw my father vacuuming our yard. It was his version of a Kirby leaf blower…

My favorite memory

2007-01-27T12:23:00.000-06:00

My favorite memory of Jimmy's sense of humor was when he said he wanted all his sister-in-laws to be his pallbearers. He loved to hear his family sing so we all went down to record some of the worst "non-professional" hymns ever recorded in a professional recording studio. But it was music to his ears. He said he wanted all singing at his funeral then have the preacher get up and say "He was a sorry SOB. Now turn to page 728B in your hymn books.

For you young whipper snappers, women pallbearers were unheard of then, not to mention if you doubled the number of his sister-in-laws they could not have pulled the task off. Page 728B was a supplement page that was glued into the back of the church songbook that Jimmie loved.

Jimmie knew he was a sinner but he did discover that he could not out sin the love and grace of God. Definitely a message for us all.

testing 1,2,3

2007-01-27T10:49:00.000-06:00

I R here. Are you there?

Saturday Roll Call..or whatever Amy calls it!

2007-01-27T09:58:00.001-06:00

I almost forgot that I am supposed to do the Saturday thingy on here....I need lots of reminders.
So here's my discussion starter....

What is your favorite Grandma/Grandpa Cummings memory?

You are twisting my arm so I guess I will be the one to start.

I love, no wait I LOVE grandma's rolls. As a matter of fact if anyone has that recipe, I'd love to make an attempt at making them. One day I begged grandma to make rolls and being the sweet soul that she was, she agreed. As she was trying to teach me the fine art of roll making the phone rang a half a dozen times; I decided we needed music and turned her little black radio that sat on the kitchen counter to MY favorite radio station; we got half way through the recipe and realized we were missing an ingredient and had to make substitutions. Three hours or so later grandma and I had made 2 dozen of the most delicious rocks known to man. We thought they had doubled in size when we let them rise...apparently it was double in hardness. We laughed as we shot them into the trashcan like little basketballs. The sound of them hitting the bottom of the trashcan still rings in my ears.

Now, what's your favorite memory??

PS Damon leaves on deployment at 4:30 AM tomorrow...keep him (and us) in your prayers!

First Official Saturday Roll Call

2007-01-19T23:37:00.000-06:00

Okay kids, here it is. Our first official assignment. This week we are going to talk about getting old. How do you feel about aging? Everybody does it, some with more grace and some with complete denial. How are you doing?

*edit*
I just decided that we will all share the responsibilities of the Saturday Roll Call. Next week's roll call question will be brought to you by Gina.

2007-01-19T21:02:00.000-06:00

Hi from our end of the fence. . .

2007-01-19T19:04:00.000-06:00

Hey...guess I made it here too!! I like this internet fencepost thing...much easier on the ragweed allergies....
Hey have my folks officially joined???? Just curious, and I wanted an excuse to hit the ? key several times!!
DUH!!! That would be not hertz...sorry, baby's sucking my brains out again!!!

I made it!!!!!

2007-01-19T14:08:00.000-06:00

Hello everyone I'm here! Hello? Hello? is any one here?.. I am so glad to have made it!!! i have never blogged before and look at me.. I think I have entered into the next century after all. Who would have ever thunk it!!!

2007-01-19T12:56:00.000-06:00

Well.......I guess I'm on and I'm looking forward to see what everyone writes!!!!
Aunt Sandra

Frequently Asked Questions About the Fence Post

2007-01-18T21:52:00.000-06:00

Well, not really frequently, or even really asked; I just thought I might pre-empt any questions.

Is this really free?
Yes. Unless you stole your neighbor's computer and are currently pirating his DSL. In that case, it is not only not free, you are officially disqualified from the cookie offer.

If I put my name on here, will I get my identity stolen and my credit ruined by unscrupulous web criminals?
No. But to be sure, avoid posting your address, SS#, military ID#, phone number, or any other details that might make you a "mark"(a little cyber criminal lingo I picked up on Dateline).

Can anyone join the Cummings' Family Fence Post?
No. We are an exclusive club formed solely by those who have the good fortune of being born into, or married into, the Cummings Family. Wannabes can wistfully comment, but only a true family member can post. (I'm sorry, I was kind of a nerd in high school and I always wanted to be in a clique. Lesson One is that cliques have to be brutal for street credit.)

I'm a family member, how can I join?
Send an e-mail to ericswifeAThotmailDOTcom with the e-mail address that you regularly use. You will be sent an invite to be an author on this blog.

I'm not very interesting and I don't think I have anything to offer. What would I write about?
Don't worry! I'm not the kind of girl to invite you to a party and not tell you what to wear. Check in ever so often and I will post topics and such to keep the ball rolling. And besides that, if CBS's Sunday morning news program has taught us anything, it's that everybody has a story.

What's a "Saturday Roll Call"?
Every Saturday a question will be posed and all family members are encouraged to post a response in an effort to get us all better involved with each other.

Do you really intend to make cookies for all family members who take part in the blog and attend the reunion?
Yes. But you will have to share. I'm no Martha Stewart.

The Cummings' Family Fence Post

2007-01-18T21:07:00.000-06:00

I remember hearing Grandma and her siblings talk about all their memories of growing up together and then of growing old together. They were a part of each other's lives through all the stages of childhood, marriage, parenting, empty nest syndrome, and retirement. I was staying with Grandma and Grandpa one night when Aunt Juanita came in dressed for a country/western hoe down. She just stopped by to chat and check in. I hoped that some day I would find myself aging with my family like that.

Years have passed and we have most all moved beyond the borders of West Texas. We don't have fence posts to chat over anymore and we only hear brief reports from each camp about what is going on. You may know that Uncle Lee lives in Oklahoma, but do you know what his favorite breakfast food is? And who in our family knows exactly what it is he does for Xerox?
Let's hear it for the internet, for it has returned us to the fence post. I hope we can all take advantage of this bit of modern technology to get back to what is simple: keeping up with family.