Canton Experience

Upon awaking Saturday morning, everything seemed to fall into place for a great day! We picked up Tommy's mother (who we call Memaw) and his great-neice, Zoe and headed to Canton First Monday Trade Days. We had a great drive out there with pleasant conversation and great weather. We arrived at the Canton Marketplace which is a nice newer climate controlled building to start our shopping. Memaw rode on her scooter and was having a great time. We saw lots of really neat things, and my favorite, FUDGE!!!! (I got some on our way out before going home). After the indoor shopping, we caught the trolley and it took us down to the main grounds. The place was packed with people. Inside the pavilions it was so crowded you had to take tiny steps, stopping each few steps because of the people in front of you who would stop for practically nothing!!!! That made my feet hurt and we had hardly started yet. So we made it through some pavillions and decided to hit the outdoor shops next. We were walking on the backside of the Paul Michael store and some kids were playing on the 2nd story balcony, which looked like it was used for extra storage. All of a sudden we heard this "poof" and I was hit! Those kids were playing with a BB gun and shot me right in the neck. It shocked me and stung like wildfire! I had stinging and chills from my feet to the top of my head. I just knew that it had penetrated my skin. But luckily it didn't. We yelled up there and didn't get any response. Within seconds it started turning red, welping up, and swelling up. I went to the bathroom and Tommy went to find out who's parents were letting them play up there. He figured it had to be a vendor, and it was. I went to find him and someone in the store had gone to find the parent of the boys in question. When they told us where she was, she was talking to the boys as we arrived. Oh, she was so gentle with them like you would speak to a toddler. These boys were probably age 8-12 and needed a harsher punishment, but they may have when they got home. Tommy told them that they could have hit me in the eye and caused blindness or worse! Two of them apologized and the smaller two just looked down at the floor. The lady apologized and gave me a bag of ice and said to let her know if I had any repercussions from the damage they caused me. Mom was being irresponsible to allow them to play with the guns in a place where THOUSANDS of people were walking around. They were supposed to be hitting "targets" upstairs.....yeah, I'm the target! It still hurts today and still have a bump and about a 2" square area of pain, but I'll survive. I'm just hoping that the redness of the BB hit is not a permanent scar. So be careful if you go to Canton! If anyone wants to go to Canton, come to McKinney Third Monday TRade days instead! We will be a vendor there this month, October 17, 18, and 19th. I will only be there the 18th and 19th with my jewelry, but Tommy will be there all three days selling his furniture and wood cutting boards. Our spaces are #X-9 & 10. You can find a map and directions at www.tmtd.com ........................................................................... I'll be there on Saturday and Sunday selling my jewelry. I'll have both fashion silver plated jewelry and Sterling Silver. I use genuine stones, Swarovski Crystals and Pearls, and other fantastic elements on my jewelry. I'll also have some Mary Kay products there for purchase. Get started on your Christmas shopping early. Come see us!

Happy Birthday Steven!

Happy 17th Birthday to my son, Steven Bryant on Sept. 8, 1991. We had a few people and some of his friends over to our house for cake and ice cream. We had fun visiting and playing with our grandsons, J.J. and Ayden. They did enjoy the party! I had my camera ready to go, and I only took one picture......and that was before the party! I'm a bad mom...... Steven's cake was chocolate decorated in red with blue and red Spiderman rings on it. He liked it and it tasted Yummy!!!

Labor Day Weekend 2008

Western Hills Lodge 2008 Another weekend spent having fun with the McMurtrey's at Western Hills Lodge at Sequoyah State Park in Oklahoma! This is a family tradition since 1969 for the "Furnell's and the McMurtrey's" to meet up and spend time together. We left on Friday, 8-29-08 and arrived around 9 p.m. There was alot of traffic getting out of Dallas. But we were glad to finally arrive at the lodge and see some familiar faces. This is a really nice lodge. It's relaxing and fun, too. We had a poolside room with a nice patio. The beds could use some updating.....a 'double' bed is just not big enough for Tommy and Me at the same time! I didn't sleep well at all; always felt like I was going to fall off into the floor. Steven got a twin bed all to himself! Lucky! We'll have to get a king size bed next year and make Steven sleep on the floor! haha On Saturday the guys all played golf....and Jeannine played with them. It was Tommy, Bill, Jeannine, Steven, and Mark. They enjoyed spending time together on the golf course. I left and drove to Wagoner to the Walmart, which has also become tradition! I like to find new OU Sooners memorabilia. The only thing OU I got this time was some big nail file emery boards. They had a cool pair of tennis shoes, but I'll look for them next year. Pam and Bailey went swimming in the pool, and so did Sammy and Rachel. The guys went swimming after golf to cool off. Jennifer, Judd and Campbell didn't get to come this year and we all missed them dearly, but will see them next year! I'm glad that Bill and Pam brought Bailey with them. She had alot of fun, especially in the pool. She swam in the big pool with just her floaties. She'll be a fish in water pretty soon! We're hoping that Jon and Karin will join us soon too and bring our grandsons to have a great time in Oklahoma. I know J.J. would love to swim in the big pool with his MoMo, PoPo, and Bailey. And there's a baby pool for Ayden, too! We ate our meals in the Lodge dining room, as we usually do. They have a buffet at every meal, or you can order off of the menu. The food is good, but can stand some improvement. My favorite food this year was the Fried Zucchini with Ranch Dressing. YUM-YUM!! And Sweet Tea! We didn't go out to our usual Sunday night dinner at Las Fuentes in Wagoner this year, we just stayed at the lodge and enjoyed good company. There's a new addition to the family this year! Sweet little Anna Grace! She's 6 months old and is so precious! She loves her Aunt Liz!! (I just had to throw that in!) She's a sweet baby girl and was sooo much fun to play with. I hope I get to see her before we meet again next year! She'll be walking by then and running all over the place! I better get that "bottled energy" invented to keep up with her. She has the best parents, Jacki and Mark. They love Anna so much! She got to swim in the baby pool for the first time and seemed to like the water. She looked so cute in her bikini. I think she likes her stroller too. She seems to be teething and sometimes gets a little irritated. I would too if some big teeth were trying to tear through my gums! The lodge in on a pennisula on Lake Fort Gibson. It's really pretty and there were alot of people out on the lake this year in their boats and jet ski's. Lot's of fun in the sun. Speaking of sun....I got a horrible sunburn. I stayed in the pool for probably 4-5 hours, but I did use sunscreen spf 60! It didn't work too well. But I did have fun. I love being in the water. I just wish I could swim better and hold my breathe longer! Where's the cake??? We all gather in Jeannine's room right before we leave to go home for Birthday Cake. We celebrate all the summer birthdays which include alot of us! She passes out little trinkets, and money to the kids who have birthdays. She gives the little ones $2 bills and gives the bigger kids a $5 bill. That is very nice of her to do that and to bake the cake. She always brings a Chocolate Sheath Cake with nuts on top. (or you could call it Mississippi Mud cake). Whatever you call it, it's delicious!!!! Thanks for the cake Jeannine!!! We love you! Here are Winfield's 3 girls, Sammy, Katie, and Rachel. They are all growing up so fast!!!! I remember when each of them were born. Hopefully when they have children and we are gone, they will carry on the Western Hills tradition. Well, there's Winfield! He's the eldest of the McMurtrey children. Rachel is his daughter, here with her Uncle Mark. Rachel loves riding her scooter all over the place. The weather was great the whole weekend. They only made us get out of the pool once, due to some lightening far away, but close enough to see. Well, all good times must come to an end. It's back in the car for the 4-1/2 hour trip home. We'll stop for a snack at McDonald's and at my favorite stop, The Peanut Shoppe in Durant, OK. I want some fudge instead of nuts, so that's what I'll get! See my sunburn?? It's worse today! My forehead feels like it's 190 degrees! Hopefully it will turn into a tan! Until next year, see ya!

Our Cruise

We survived the cruise!! We couldn't wait for it to get here, now we can't wait to go again! Cruising is so much fun. We left the Galveston port on July 20, 2008, which was a Sunday. We traveled with our friends, Sharon and Richard Trousdale, and it was Sharon's birthday! What a day to spend your birthday! On a ship! Happy Birthday, Sharon!! Our first port was Jamaica. We docked at Montego Bay, Jamaica. After breakfast we left the ship to go on our excursion. We hopped a bus and were headed to a Sandals Beach Resort for the day. "Mama" was our excursion guide and was alot of fun. She taught us the main Jamaican lingo ...... "yeah-mon", "no-mon", and "no problem-mon". Sandals was really nice. Beautiful white sand beaches, outdoor bars, lots of sunshine and blue water! We spent a few hours in the beautiful ocean, then went into the dining room for an all-inclusive lunch which included Jerk Chicken. It was very nice. Then we went swimming in the pool. (We got pretty sunburned and I'm still peeling from it.) Afterwards, we boarded the bus and headed back to the ship, via the poor countryside of Jamaica. The people lived in shacks with laundry hanging all around. People rode bikes and walked and got oh so close to the bus! Back at the port, we shopped at some of the gift shops before boarding the ship again. The next day we were in Georgetown, Grand Cayman. It is British Rule there, as well as Jamaica. With no dock available for the big ships, the ships weigh anchor in the ocean and send "tender" boats out to pick us up and take us to the dock. You can fit alot of people on those tender boats. We arrived early to make sure we had enough time to look around before our land excursion. We walked a few streets and went in gift shops. I kept falling off the curbs and couldn't walk for some reason! If Richard hadn't been in front of me, I'd probably landed face first on the pavement. Thanks Richard for the block! Later we boarded a tour bus and drove around the island, the driver pointing out sights of interest. We saw the govenors house, which was on the shore. We drove up in a cove next to it and saw the water and some of the native landscapes of Grand Cayman, mainly the sea grape tree. We drove on to another beach to walk out on the pier. We watch these 3 fisherman get their boat ready and sail out to fish. It was a small boat, so I hope they didn't go out too far! We continued on to the Turtle Farm. There the turtles are raised mostly for eating; but some are released back into the wild. There were Iguanas roaming around freely, but they didn't bother us. Then back on the bus again to the town of "Hell". We stopped at another gift shop, and behind the gift shop was "The Devil's Gate" which lead to an open field of black jagged rocks that they called Hell. It was interesting, but definitely a tourist trap! haha. Then on to the Tortuga Rum Factory! Free samples of Rum! Yum! Man, it was nice....and samples of Rum Cakes! I think we ate them all! We shopped in there, then jumped back on the bus for the ride back to the ship. We stood in a long line to wait for the "tender boat", but it did go pretty fast. Oh yeah, we did see a Dairy Queen in Grand Cayman. For those of you who don't know, Tommy is addicted to DQ Blizzards! Chocolate Covered Cherry Blizzards! When we got back on the boat, this guy got on with a big 'ol DQ Blizzard and Tommy was having a fit. We had to give him a hard time about it. Next day were were in Cozumel, Mexico (again, for the 4th time). We said we were only going to lunch and get back on the ship. Well, we got off the ship and went to the usual shops and walked around awhile, then went to Carlos & Charlie's for lunch. We had so much fun. It was loud, lots of music, people up and down, funny waiters (I danced with ours), and good food. Our cokes were served in these 2 ft. tall plastic souvenier glasses. Cool! I brought home 3 of them. Then back to the ship! Some people say that the prettiest water is in Grand Cayman, but if the pictures don't lie......Cozumel is the prettiest I've seen!!! We arrived back in Galveston on Sunday morning. We were one of the first people off the ship because we carried our own bags off. Man, everytime we cruise we say we are not going to pack as much this time, but we always do! On the way home, I had to insist that we stop off at Collin Street Bakery in Corsicana, Tx to get me some Cherry Ice Box Cookies (my ultimate favorite). We did and I was happy again. Needless to say, the next day was a day full of doing laundry and unpacking, and trying to rest. Then back to work (for me anyway). Tommy has been out from work with a neck, back and leg problem, but will be going back to work tomorrow. That's the extent of our vacation. Hope you all had a good time too while we were gone. "Wish you were there"! Liz

Happy 4th of July 2008

Happy 4th of July! America's Independence Day! We have so much to be thankful for. Despite the high cost of gasoline, many people have still shared their Holiday with family and friends all over the country. My heart goes out to all the soldiers who are celebrating their independence in another country. Our long weekend began on Thursday afternoon. We went out for dinner with Marianne to Dos Banderas, our favorite Friday night hotspot! But I completely forgot it was only Thursday! We love that place. If you haven't been, you have to try it. It's really good Tex-Mex in Downtown Garland by the square. Then we went to my husband's favorite place, Dairy Queen, and got Blizzard's!! He's hooked on them! We had a garage sale Friday and Saturday. We did pretty good! Better than I have ever done with a garage sale! It is soooo hot outside! I really need a swimming pool in my backyard to cool me off. We visited my sister-in-law, Edith on Friday evening. I like visiting with her. She's really nice and fun to talk to. Steven went with some friends to Terrell to shoot fireworks and ride 4-wheelers. Fun was had by all. My Uncle Paul passed away this weekend. He lived in North Little Rock, Arkansas and was my mom's brother-in-law. He was such a nice man and was on of my favorite uncles. We won't be able to attend his funeral, but I will be with him in thought and prayer. Rest in Peace, Paul! I love you. I'm still working for the Chiropractor part-time. It's a great job and I love what I do. I'm still making jewelry and may try to sell some in Canton this fall. My husband is making cutting boards from exotic hardwoods and we will sell those too along with some antique furniture. My nephew, Kenny, and his wife, Meike, have purchased a house right across the alley from us. It is great having them for neighbors. My neice, Jennifer and her family have moved to Sealy, Texas and are enjoying their new home and new friends. Jennifer and Judd have 2 beautiful children, Bailey who is almost 3, and Campbell who is about 8 weeks old. We are about to start packing for our vacation. We leave on July 19th to go to Galveston. Then on July 20th, we board the Carnival Conquest and embark on another adventurous cruise for 7 days. Can't wait!!!!! High gas prices can't keep me here this time! I hope that everyone is well and is enjoying the Holiday weekend. For those of you who are not well, or have other troubles and situations, my prayers are with you. God Bless,

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!!!! This year we spent Thanksgiving at the home of our friends, Kay and Steven Johnson. They have a warm and beautiful home and had lots of family to share with us. We had 23 people and lots and lots of food! We visited, prayed, ate, watched the Dallas Cowboy Game. My brother and his family were in Colorado playing in the snow. We are so thankful for God Jehovah, the blessings He has bestowed upon us, my family and friends. We are very blessed to know all of you. Friday morning came early for us! We got up and went to Oklahoma with some friends. We drove to Thackerville, OK (never heard of it myself) and went to the Winstar Casino. We arrived about 8:30 a.m. and left at 4:00 p.m. A fun day was had by all......plus 4 free buffets! Yum! Today is Saturday and it seems that Tommy cannot get enough turkey! We fried one and took it to Kay's on Thursday, but he is going to fry another one this afternoon for our dinner. We are having a few friends over to enjoy it with us. He loves that turkey frier! Last summer we had a big Fish Fry over at our house and used it for the fish. It was perfect! Hope that the rest of the weekend is bountiful for all of you. Spending time with family, friends, traveling, eating, relaxing, and sharing the Love is the biggest Thanksgiving Blessing we can give to others. Goodbye and God Bless!

Catching Up!

Hey stranger! It's been a long time since I have blogged, so I'll catch you up on The Cummings Family Blog. We just returned from our annual Labor Day Weekend trip to Oklahoma. We have been to the same place for 39 years; Sequoia State Park. We stay at the lodge and have lots of fun. We meet the McMurtrey family from Arkansas that weekend every year. It's kinda like a reunion of sorts. They are old family friends and just like family. We don't get to see each other during the year, but still keep in touch by phone and email. We had lots of fun swimming ("mimmin" as Bailey says it), visiting, golf, horse rides, lots of food and fun. The weather was fantastic, in the 80's and no rain at all. School started for Steven on August 27th. He's a sophomore in high school now and loves it. Saturday is his 16th birthday, and he gets his driver's license on Sept.24th. He's a good driver, but still has years to practice!! We bought him a truck, a 1996 Dodge Ram 1500. You can hear him coming from a distance, as it has Flowmasters and 300 Watt speakers behind the seats! Ugh! He absolutely loves it! Steven had a rough summer this year. Right after school was out, he came down with Mono. He was sick in the bed for 2-1/2 weeks, and lost 18 pounds. Later, with more testing, we discovered that he also had Lyme Disease. He was on a 4-week regimen of antibiotics and is hopefully cured. We go back in October to re-test. The week of August 20 we went on another cruise. It was with Carnival and was pretty fun. Because of the hurricane in the Gulf, we only got to go to Cozumel. Our first stop to Progresso was cancelled. We walked to Downtown Cozumel and shopped and looked at the sites. On our walk back to the ship, it came a downpour of rain! We were soaked by the time we got back to the ship, but it was still fun. My most fun was just being on the ship! I started back to work in July. I'm working part-time, about 20-25 hours per week in the mornings for a Chiropractor in Garland. I love it! It's the perfect part-time job! Hope it lasts forever! I lost a friend in July. Rick Kelley ("Kel") passed away in his sleep. He was married to my friend Cynthia (Estrello). They have a beautiful daughter, Monica, who was soooo close to her daddy. Everyone who knew Kel will surely miss him!!! He was a nice, sincere man who never had a bad thing to say about anyone! I'm still making jewelry! A friend got me into the jewelry-making business and I love it. I haven't sold much yet, but give me time. I'm still working on my website. Making jewelry is so relaxing and fun. You can see some of my pieces at www.myspace.com/Liza60 Yes! I have a MySpace! Someone has to watch the kids! Well, it's time to say good-bye for now. Hope your day is going well. Liz and Tommy 2