It’s  like my Facebook wall, or a scrapbook. The patches and pins I wear each have a story. For example, the patch I wear on my back is this one:

Bikers and riders who belong to an MC, RC or MM wear their club patch on their back, usually with nothing else, especially if they have to earn the patch.  Because Randy and I aren’t affiliated with any club, we wear this patch to show honor and respect to our military.  (We do belong to the Patriot Guard, but it’s not considered a club.)

Along the bottom back of our vests, we wear patches that tell about significant events.  I’ve got a patch from the Tail of the Dragon (where I learned to trust myself in curves, as well as trusting God to take care of me in all situations), the Apalachicola  Escort (we were part of a mile’s worth of bikes riding to escort the moving wall through parts of Florida, while thousands of people stood along side the road to salute the Viet Nam veterans who rode with us), and the 2009 Thunder Beach Spring Rally.

The front of my vest has pins that have special meaning to me.  On my right side, under my name patch are ten little metal heart charms, one for each of my grandchildren: Hunter, Dylan,  Chloe, Khloe, Layney, Destiny, Nevaeh, Reid, Talan and Esme.

On the left side, under my PGR patch, are mission pins.  Some missions were funerals for military or emergency first responders; others were welcome-home missions.

Some patches are for specific people- Bill “Snap” Lines was a great friend to everyone in the PGR; when he was killed in a traffic accident, some of his friends had a special patch made up.

And finally, I have some that are funny, but tell a little about me;  for example this one:

I always enjoyed watching “I Dream of Jeannie” when I was young; no matter how much she tried to help, she ended up causing trouble more times than not. I kinda feel like that most days.

Of course, these are only some of my pins and patches; you’ll just have to check out the rest of them the next time you see me. If you have other friends who ride, check out their vest as well.  Every one is individual, so you’ll probably learn something.

And as for the question of leather chaps and jacket – I do enjoy the look and feel of the leather, but  I wear my leathers for the same reason I wear a seatbelt – safety.  If I go down, they offer another layer of protection between the road’s surface and me.

See you on the road!

Talan at Grandmama's House

Our youngest grandson and his mom and sister were at my mother-in-law’s house today; his mom says he loves to put things on his head, as evidenced by this photo.  It’s funny- my kids never wanted to wear hats or anything else on their heads, and here’s Talan looking for things to use.

We headed out early on Friday morning (day after Thanksgiving) headed to Ft Bragg. My Aunt Betty, my brother Lee, his wife Ashley, and their kids, Ryan and Morgan and I all packed into Lee’s van.  It’s about a ten hour drive, so we watched LOTS of videos on the DVD player, and we saw lots of interesting things – one place that really caught our eye was South of the Border.  We started seeing signs for the place about 5 miles out- it reminded me of the Rock City signs you used to see everywhere. By the time we got there, our expectations were really built up – it turned out to be a small theme park with a flea market, antique store and fireworks stand, plus some huge cement animals and statues of Pedro. Looked like it might be a fun place to kill an hour or so- maybe on another trip.

We finally made it to the hotel late in the afternoon and got checked in. Then we headed over to Zully’s house for supper- because Will, Zully and the baby hadn’t been able to come to us, we had decided to take Thanksgiving supper to them. We took turkey, dressing, peas, carrots, “green stuff” (Will’s childhood name for pistachio salad), lemon pies, sweet potato casserole, deviled eggs and Grandmama’s sweet tea.

It was a blast to see everyone- Esmerelda had on the prettiest little red and black outfit that made her look like a china doll.  Her nursery looks really sweet- lots of Pooh and friends pictures, and her name in wooden letters above her bed. She has grown so much – she’s already over 12 pounds! She is doing great- so many babies now seem to have problems getting settled on their milk- I’m glad Zully isn’t having that problem.

We also got to meet one of Will’s buddies, and I think everyone enjoyed getting together.

We left out early Saturday morning headed back; it was a short trip, but I sure am glad I got to finally see the baby, and to see Zully again.  Will’s planning on making a short trip here right after Christmas, so we’ll be seeing him soon.

So many things going on here now, I thought I’d give you a general update along with my thoughts on them.

• our oldest son Brandon and his family moved up here from Crestview week before last. The girls are enrolled in school and for the most part are enjoying it. Dyllan will start this week (he moved up the week after everyone else).  They all attended their first Luverne High School football game on Friday night and seemed to have a good time. Brandon explained the basics of the game to them, and how to read the scoreboard, so they got very enthusiastic every time Luverne had the ball. it’s been so much fun being able to see the kids every day.
• we just adopted a miniature schnauzer a couple weeks ago. Her name is Tinkerbell and she’s 8 weeks old tomorrow. She gets along well with Cookie the shih tzu, and all three cats: Ricky Bobby, Garfield and Junior. She thinks she’s a rottweiler from the way she behaves, jumping on Cookie and wrestling him to the ground over any toys he’s got that she wants. I’m working on getting her used to the sound of the bikes so I can teach her to ride with me.
• our pastor’s last day was last Wednesday night, so our church is officially looking for a new pastor. We had a guest speaker yesterday morning, and last night we had a short devotional. I know this will be a challenge to our church, but I believe we’re going to grow together through this, and it will make us stronger as a family.
• our town’s homecoming weekend is next April, and we’re starting the planning meetings soon- I hope to have as many good workers this time as we did for the first one. We want to grow it into a nice festival and I think we’ve laid the groundwork for it.

Now, I’ve got to start getting my Christmas list together, and start working on our family’s Christmas card.