Party room- a place for fun, pity, commiserating, or any other thing you come up with

[Mark N]

It seems like everyone has gone on vacation and left me here all alone. Penny and I will be leaving Tuesday evening to go down to Tyrel's boot camp graduation. I don't know how I will make the 8 hour drive but I am determined to get there and watch him move on. We were watching one of the ceremonies and they have the dad put on a lanyard on their son;s uniform as part of the ceremony. It is going to be a very physically demanding trip but I can collapse when we get back home evenif it takes me a month to recover.

It looks like we are in for a warm rainy weekend here. It will be nice to have the temps in the low 70s even if rain comes with it. Too bad the cold will be coming in the following week pushing us back down to the low 30s or into the 20s.

[Mark N]

We got back from our trip on Sunday evening and I spent all day Monday sleeping to catch on the the sleep I missed driving back home Sunday. My time down in Georgia wasn't
bad as I slept well each night and several days I also got in a good long nap. I was really glad we got to go as Tyrel really wasn't expecting us to make it due to my inability to travel very well. It worked out well though as I was able to make the two ceremonies and the free days Tyrel took his mom out shopping while I was napping. They went to the Army supply store for the things Tyrel needed and then to the mall so Penny could shop around. The first ceremony was the turning Blue which is the ceremony designating their transition from boot camp to becoming soldiers. At the end the parents got to go down into the ranks and take pictures while the dads put the blue lanyard on our son's uniform. That day was rainy so the ceremony was in a covered outdoor area. The next day was the graduation ceremony and drill. The Army band did a great job firing us up with familar tunes to help fight off the cold, rainy, and windy conditions. Then the Army did a presentation of a platoon attacking the grandstands coming through a smoke screen that had been laid down. Once the platoon advanced they then explained each person's position, responsibility, weapons they carried, their equipment they wear, including the safety equipment they have on. It was a moving speech that talked about the history of the Army and the values they instill in the troops but the most moving part was the emphasis on unity and working together. If we had a madatory draft many young people would gain valuable skills and discipline and I truely believe our country would be more united as they would have a shared experience of sacrifice for this country and each other.

It sure was nice to get home but the cold weather has really hit since we got back. I hope this Artic air mass moves soon so we can get back to normal Winter weather temps.

[Mark N]

Checking in this week to see if anyone is visiting the room. Not a lot going on other than cold, snow, ice, and windy weather. I hope it warms up soon but Feb is supposed to be the coldest month this year. Our son is in the middle of his airborne training and will start parachuting in another week. Grom there we will have to wait and see if he stays in airborne or moves on to special forces training. We are going over to our daughter's house to visit today and watch part of the Super Bowl. We will come home and I will watch the rest of the game here.

[Jo6]

Hi Mark. I am so glad you got to come down and see son. I know it was a hard trip for you, but it's sounds like you faired better than you expected. I know you are very proud of him.

How are the little angels doing? I can just see your face light up when you talk. Can't say I blame you. All our grand s are in their twenty e

The youngest is not quite two. She is the Apple of our eyes. She has taken to flying thru the house y e liking for her papa Ken....That just ticks Me off....She is supposed to yell for grannies first!!!

I will some back soon. My eyes are closing . Take care Mark.

Kiss the girls for me . My love, Julia. s

[Mark N]

Julia, it is good to see you stopping by the room. If you want you can see my darling granddaughters on my facebook page at Mark Newlin. Audyn - 5months old - has now started holding her arms up when she wants you to pick her up. It is so nice to walk over and see her reaching up to have me pick her up. She has the cutest smile with big dimples just like her older sister Emery. We are fortunate that we can see them every week and some times twice a week. We could see them more but we don't want to intrude on momma and daddy time with the kids plus the other grandparents are in town too so we have to share. Tyrel has finished Airborne school and is now in Ft Bragg NC for special forces qualifications. He would like to be in special forces but would be very happy in Airborne if that is where he ends up.

I was having one of my sleep days but woke up for a short time in the early evening to hear my wife cooing. I laid there knowing she doesn't coo at the cat but I couldn't figure out what was going on so I went upstairs. I found Audy sitting on Penny's lap just talking up a storm. The kids took Emery out to dinner and left Audyn at our house. I walked in and Audyn had the biggest smile on her face and reached out for me, something she has just started doing. I stayed up for a short time as the kids and Emery got back but I was falling asleep standing up so I had to go back down to my chair. I was dozing but Emery and Darrin did come down to say goodbye before they left.

Don't worry about your little one calling for grandpa because Emery was my best buddy for a while but is now spending more time with grandma:(. I hope you are doing well and can stop by now and then and I will add you to my FB if you tag me.

[Mark N]

Well another week has gone by and the room sees little action just as the site seems to be at a standstill. I hope everyone has found a good place to be and that you haven't lost this place with nothing to turn to. We went out to eat with our daughter, AIL, and grandbabies. The infant has the best smiles for grandpa and she just kept looking over so much that I finished eating before anyone and took her from her mom so mom could eat. Audyn had such a good time and Penny had Emery next to her so she kept Emery entertained. Both of them were very good for the meal and then they came over while mom went to Walmart to shop for groceries. Penny and Emery stayed upstairs to play and after just a little bit I went up and got Audyn, Emery and Penny were in the middle of a game, and brought her down with dad and grandpa. She was smiling and laughing the whole time. She has such chubby cheeks and big dimples that her whole face lights up.

Tyrel continues to call and keep us up to date on how he is doing. Now that training at the Special Forces center have started I don't think we will be getting calls very often as training takes up all the day and most of each week so he doesn't get much down time. He is still happy doing what he is and looking forward to getting quaified but it is a long process if he stays with SF as it takes 2 years of training before they get out in the field. He and I have talked a lot about combat and all the different outcomes along with different circumstances he will face and I know he is prepared for it and it is something he wants to do. I guess it is the Marine in me that doesn't worry about him because he is doing something he wants to do. I know he will have experiences he couldn't get many other ways even if he has all peace time duties.

Friends stop by and pull up a stool and kick your feet up just to relax. The bar and grill is open and Guido can and will fix whatever you want. I know many times when I was low ordering here at the bar and grill gave me some good memories to squeeze out some of the pain I was dealing with and I hope you can too.

[Jo6]

Hi Mark. Yes, I have noticed. The room is emptying of the time. Of course you are faithful to keep the door open and the lights on. I appreciate your love and kindness you leave even when things are slow. My computer has died.. Men's whole system got a heavy dose of lightning, it wiped everything. out. He is part of a group that write different programs. Now all 5 or six of his computers are kaput!! He is slowly trying to get them on line. It is not a happy house we live in right now.

I am using my Kindle Fire, but it is difficult
Please try to bear with all the mistakes,if you can't read this try to just sound it out. lol

I enjoy reading about your family. Your son is very lucky to have a father that will sit down and talk with him about important things in life. He will carry these talks with him the rest of his life

I've got to go rest a bit, but I will .be back soon. My love to you and your family, Julia. s

[Jo6]

My gosh, when will the snow storms ends? Mark, are you snowed in? I hope not, it looks like you might be.

Weather man here said we might get some this time around. I HOPE NOT!! All of my hurting places are flaring to high heaven.

Hope you and your wife are having a good day or at least the best you can.

Take care, Julia

[Mark N]

Hi Jo, sorry to hear about the lightning knocking out the computers. We have had a lot of rain and only a dusting of snow. We will be back in the 60s in another day. The East coast is going to whacked by a big snowstorm so I hope you didn't get rained out the past couple of days. Tyrel is at Fort Bragg so he isn't too far from your area. He has also decided to stay in the Airborne unit as he is tired of losing friends because training changes every three weeks and it is wanting a more stable situation. He had hinted at wanting to stay with Airborne but felt like he should see what SF training was like before deciding. It also helps that a hometown buddy is in the 82 Airborne too. Audyn went in for her 6 month checkup and she is growing as expected. She is a bit behind where Emery was but Emery was pretty advanced compared to our kids development. Penny commented the other day that she knows Emery is just 3 but she seems like a 6 yr old.

Not much going on around as the days keep going by. Jo I hope you have a happy house by now as I know the computer hassles aren't much fun.

[Mark N]

We had the kids and grandkids over for pizza tonight and it was a pleasant evening. Our 5 month old granddaughter is the sweetest thing always looking at me when sitting on someone's lap and waiting for me to see her. Her face lights up with the biggest smile and she just beams at me. The 3 yr old walked down to the pizza place with me and her dad. She is a cutie too and becoming independent. She is very smart and quick on the draw about things. They were leaving and she walks outside saying "it sure is dark out here." I got to talk to my son and see what he was doing now that he is assigned to airborne. He and two other guys are on base perimeter security duty. They are out there for two weeks camping and keeping the base secure in their area. He will then go back in to the base and do his regular duties.

It was warm enough to get outside and do some yard work today. I just cleaned out a little bit of the flower beds then went out later and painted a wicker chair that we use for decoration in the beds. I rebuilt the bench a couple of weeks ago and it will also go out in the flower beds. On the next nice day that I am feeling good I need to go out and get more flat stone rocks to work on the stacked wall for the new flower bed that has our new river birch tree. I will also refresh the other short walls in the other flower beds. I got some weed and feed for the lawn on sale and I need to get it out soon before the weeds start germinating.

I hope others had a good day and week.

[Mark N]

I see not much is going on around here just like it is at our house. After sleeping all day Sunday and part of Monday I got around today and got a few things done. I am reading alot on my nook racking up money but it isn't too much. I took apart two end tables that are tall and skinny, that Penny got at the second hand store, because they were very wobbly and unsteady. I put in some shims and wood glue tightening up every joint and they are very stable now. We both like the tables as ther are decortive and have dark wood. It was windy and cool today so I didn't get outside.

I will check in later to see you Jo and if anyone else comes in.

[Jo6]

Hi Mark. Hope you have had a good week. I tell you Mark I have been losing whole days lately!! ' you think it Is contagious? Lol

I know I stay mixed up for days. after. You know it seems like everybody has gone else where. I miss them too. Have you heard anything. from Kat? It's been ages. ages. Also I miss Hummer from chronic pain.

It's really an unhappy around here these days. Ken has been working almost around the clock on his system.He is totally shut down. He was sharing my computer when mine crashed. He went to
Wal-Mart l last night to get grocery& came back with a Laptop for me. I have been wanting one, but haven't felt much like getting out to even look for one.

He set that thing in my lap and to l d me to find t h e tutorial and learn how to use it. Now that wasn't nice because I know Nothing about computers. I guess I'll figure out what to do it by guessing and by fishing. So, I just don't talk to him cause he is working hard to get his back online. I may even try driving that new mini van we bought last June. I have not been under the wheel. I didn't drive it for 6 Months be a ugly as of the horrible seizure. I haven't had any more and I thank God for that.

Mark, if y'all come back this way to see Tyrell let m e know and I if I'm good for the ride maybe we could get together for a . meal. I would love to meet you and Penny. May b e the girls? Think about it.

Ken has supper ready so l better run. Take care Mark, Jo

[Mark N]

Jo, I would love to meet you but the trip is too much for me so we won't visit him as he will have to visit us. I hope the laptop is just an open and push the button to start and it starts up with you. It is good to hear the siezures are over and I hope you can get back to driving when you want to. I can't drive for much more than 45 minutes any more as I drop off just like someone is sleepy. Used to I could drive about 3 hours and recover after the trip but now it is just a 45 min trip that does me in and I won't risk wrecking when my brain shuts down suddenly.

It is good to see you here in the room as I am think we may be the only two left. Take care, Mark

[Jo6]

HI MARK. YES, I DO UNDERSTAND THE traveling. I GUESS I STILL LIKE TO DREAM. MY SISTERS USED TO GO TO PIDGON FORGE EVEFRY FALL WHEN THE LEAVES WERE TURNING. IT WAS A SPECIAL TIME FOUR US. WHEN MOM DIED I GUESS WE ALL FELT LOST. WE WERE CLOSE TO
MOM . AND WE WENT TO THE BEACH IN THE SPRING. WE DIDN'T FEEL MUCH LIKE GOING TO THE BEACH AFTER MOM WAS GONE..

THAT'S WHEN THE 4 OF US STARTED GOING TO THE MOUNTAINS. THEN ABOUT TWO YRS AGO ONE OF MY DEAR SISTERS DIED. THAT WAS WHEN I ENDED UP IN THE HOSPITAL FOR TEN DAYS. ITS TAKEN ME A LONG TIME TO GET THRU THAT ORDEAL. WE HAVEN'T GONE Back to the MOUNTAINS SINCE EVEN THE THREE OH US SWORE,OVER LADY CAROLINES CASKET THAT WE WOULD STAY CLOSE AND GO PLACES TOGETHER.

SORRY MARK,DIDN'T MEAN TO GET WEEPY. I HA V RAJ D ALL OF THEM ON MY MIND TODAY. WE DID HA V E SOME GOOD TIMES AND I :HOLD THE MEMO4ES CLOSE TO MY HEART.

I'VE HAD SOME PRECIOUS TIMES I RGEHERD AND I SHALL NEVER FORGET THEM.


MY LOVE TO YOU MARK AND EVERYBODY THAT HAS BEEN A PART OF THE PARTY ROOMM

JULIARGE TREE

[Mark N]

Jo, not worries about being weepy here in the room as it is for anything for what we need. We live in Southern Indiana along the Ohio River surround by hills and forest so we have a great color in Fall that is beautiful. I hope you and the rest of your family can get back to getting together in the mountains. My grandkids, daughter, SIL, and Penny are going up North to see her family especially the dad that has dementia and not thought to have much more time. They will drop me off at my mom's along the way so I can visit her for a few days until they come back through. Mom has been in real good health until the past 6 months as back pain has really flared and she can't shake it any more. Other than that she still gets around pretty good and can drive down to see us but I know that won't keep going on much longer.

We were in the low 70s today and it was nice to get out in the yard. It won't last long as it is getting down to 36 tonight and staying there all day with the Canadian air serrling down over us. Semper Fi