A Circle of Friends

I have been thinking a lot lately about how this little circle of friends has grown and how far it reaches. I was reading in my Bible and found a great verse to encourage us in our quest for friendship:

Ecclesiastes 4: 9-12
Two are better than one,
Because they have a good reward for their labor.
For if they fall, one will lift up his companion,
But woe to him who is alone when he falls.
For he has no one to help him up.
Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm;
But how can one be warm alone?
Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him
And a threefold cord is not quickly broken

Frienship is a blessing in any form.
Thank you God for our circle of friends:
Susie, Seeker, Saur,Slick, PrayerfulMom, Anne, Cheryl,JamieDawn, Jennifer,Ted, and all our visitors.

I pray that I am an encouragement to you and maybe make you laugh a little. I hope I haven't offended anyone with my strange sense of humor. Thank you for encouraging me and sharing your gift of friendship with me and mine.

Hoping everyone has a wonderfully long weekend.........


PS When I spellchecked this , the computer wanted to replace JamieDawn with "comedian". How funny is that?:o)

Lunch

I just spent my lunch break in a parking lot hooked up to someone's wireless internet blogging. How pathetic is that?

Blog more? YESSSSSSSSS

New Year/ New Adventures

Now announcing my wishes/prayers/desires for 2006:

Pray every day
Memorize a verse a month
Read every day
Stop and LISTEN to my kids
Fold my socks
Throw away the mismatched ones
Clean out my closet
Aggrevate my husband more
Blog every day
Bug Slick every day
Hug my kids everyday
Hey so far this is pretty fun and sounds pretty easy!
Drink more coffee! ( I can't believe I missed out on this for so long! YUM!)
Buy stock in Mack's Ear Plugs
Don't forget to spellcheck
Get movin more (that dreaded "e" word...exercise!)
Be on time to work
Shop the ads
Ask Joe to shop the ads for me
Clip coupons
Cut off cable
Fix my front door
Learn to make pie crust from Joe
Go to more music practices
Try not to sweat the small stuff
Remember it's not about me
Remember to say please and thank you
Sing a special in church
Learn to play something besides "Winter Wonderland" and "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" on the piano
Learn how to change my blog template
Be a better friend .
Don't interrupt
Listen more and talk less
Laugh at life more
Be a good example for my daughters.
Eat at a Thai restaurant
Sew something
Stop hiding the mouse from Joe


I reserve the right to change/delete/edit this list at my discretion.

New Blood

Hey y'all....please go check out:

slick's blog

He's new.

BINGO!

Got an email from G-mom. She is hosting a BINGO game for all the little girl cousins today! What fun that will be. Anything at G-moms is always fun. She is a really fun grandmother. She is so nurturing and sweet to the girls. She showers them with love an affection and gives such neat gifts! The prizes will be interesting and fun.....

My 16 yr old niece is in from Texas so they are going to have a fun day with her and spend the night. That will be a treat for me and Joe! BINGO! I smell a date night......

Last night Joe called Ted. Ted is remodeling his house. Ted needed help. We went to Ted's. Ted was half-nekid. Ted made a mess. Joe and Ted cleaned it up. Josie, Carly and Cassi left Joe there and went to the mall. :) I don't think they missed us.

Cassi has a loose tooth. Front left tooth. It is so loose, yet hangs on for dear life. I have pulled and pulled on it and can't get it out. She is a brave soul too...she will let anyone yank on it. She will be so cute when they are both gone! One of my favorite pictures of Carly is one when she has her two front teeth missing.

Why Cassidy Loves Sugar

Today when I came home for lunch Cassi was bouncing on the bed with sweet abandon and saying, "Guess what I had for lunch today Mom??!!! Cereal with SUGAR!!!"

Uhh. I left shortly after that.

ZZZZZZZ

I need an iv push of coffee this morning. My late night job is catching up with me quickly. I predict an early bed-time for Josefina tonight. :o)

Joe is cooking supper tonight....way to go Joe! Pasketti. One of my faves, and he will doctor it up right. (usually with a secret ingredient that I have to guess...I hope it's chocolate!!)

gotta get back to work
z
z
z
z
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Bed Head

I realized this morning at 8:05am that I forgot to change the message on the clinic's voicemail. You can hear my sleepy voice say, "Thank you for calling Muskogee...blah blah blah" you can also hear Cassidy in the background calling the dog with kissy sounds.

Today is Room Cleaning Day for Cassidy Faith. Her room looks like a cyclone hit, and that doesn't even include her loot from yesterday. After we get that cleaned up we plan on going to a movie with the whole bunch. That should be fun. We will smuggle in some kettle corn and go the Dollar Tree for candy too. :o)(if BigMouth Cassidy will keep her mouth shut!)

Last night while laying in bed Cassi was trying to figure out what all had happened this weekend. She kept saying, "Santa hasn't come yet. When is he coming? I saw you with all those presents we opened. You bought them." I replied, "So what does that tell you?" She said, "SANTA HASN'T COME YET!!" My poor little innocent baby. She is so confused. I will never do this again.(Have Christmas with them on Christmas Eve morning) Other people will have to wait, not our family.

Bloggin for Christmas

I think this has been the "funnest" Christmas I have had in a long time. We spread the joy out over 3 days so it was not so stressful trying to get everywhere we needed to be, and I had a good time shopping for everyone.

Joe's mother has Christmas on a different day so schedules are a little more cooperative. We started this tradition about 5 years ago after we all went to The Nutcracker ballet in Tulsa. We had an epiphany trying to schedule our get-together and had a spur of the moment gift exchange and supper. The only thing G-mom had on hand was tomato (look joe no 'e'!) soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. It was a fun day! So a tradition was born. We have tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for supper then open gifts on a non Christmas day. It has worked for us and G-mom gets us all to herself.

My family has a different situation. My brother and aunt's birthday is Dec 24th so we go out to the local "Sizzler" for lunch to celebrate their birthdays. They really get jipped. No birthday cake or party for them,just a steak, but I think they like it that way.

We had Christmas with our girls yesterday morning and that confused Cassidy, the little one, a bit. She was actually surprised when she woke up this morning that there was no new toys, only stocking stuff. I didn't make a big deal of it and she didn't ask too many questions.

We have another Christmas get t0gether with my family on 24th afternoon. We don't draw names or anything, we just bring a woman/man gift and draw numbers. I wanted what I brought but didn't get it. (two really nice bracelets--I love jewelry) I got a huge pillow and some ornaments. I bet I will have to fight my husband and daughters for the pillow. It is a large oversized pillow and very very soft. I imagine it will end up under Joe's butt while he is blogging. I hope he covers it with a towel or something. Who wants butt-cooties on their pillow? Not me. How disgusting!

After all that partying we have yet another get t0gether to go to. It is a appetizer supper along with good company with my paternal aunt and her family. Between all of us (5) cousins we only have 4 kids so it isn't too hectic, although Cassidy makes enough noise for two or three kids! We enjoy getting to visit with them and only let the kids exchange gifts.

This morning we got up and went to church. It was PACKED!! We got there during the "Greeting Time" and had to sit on the front row! We sat by the preacher and he is such a goof ball. I was just singin' my heart out on the Christmas songs and he leaned over and said, "Since I am sitting by you and I can hear you sing,you are now in the choir." I think I blushed. I felt sure that with so many people singing no one could hear just me (other than Cassidy who was on my lap the entire time) We had a nice service and shared the Lords Supper. That is always a special time.

Joe got me some nice onyx earrings, a Wizard of Oz tin and plate, a movie and some custom made lotion. I will be smelling good, looking good and having a good time later. :o) Watchin' the movie!!

I asked Joe what his fave gift was and he said it was the Batman puzzle I found for him and Cassidy to put together. (ages 4+) I quickly lost out to a Jazz CD collection from my father in law. Hmmph. I can't compete with a guitar, never have won and never will I guess. haha

Has anyone heard of Michael Buble? He is a "crooner". I got Joe his new cd and it is so fun! I totally recommend it. It has a great song called "Home". We all got in the kitchen and had tag-team dancing to an upbeat one. Joe really got his heart rate up on that one!

Well that is about all I can afford to blog today. We are at my parent's house right now and Joe is about to leave me here. He is such a bosses butt.

Hope you all are having fun and not reading this silly post. (I can say that to myself, but none of you can.)

Merry Christmas to all! (Or should I say, Disgusting Fingers?! Check out Jamie Dawn's blog for an explanation on that one.)

Moobie Night

I think Joe and Susie stumbled onto a good idea. A Blogger Movie Circle. A circle of blogger friends could all watch the same movie on the same night and discuss/pick apart/slam/praise the movie in blog-land.

We could rotate the movie selector....that should give us an eclectic selection of movies.


Who's in?

Tap Dancing in Hades

Cassidy's dance class held their annual Nursing Home Christmas Program last night. Oh.My. Goodness. It was SO flippin' hot in there!! I know that the little old people need it warm due to their poor circulation, but please think of the healthy visitors! Whenwe got done we rushed out of there to the frigid night air to catch out breath. Our cheeks were all rosy and Joe and I were parched. We came home and drank a whole container of orange juice!

My sweet sister in law tacket tinsel to the bottom of our girls dance skirts and they looked adorable. I hope to have a picture to post soon. Alli (her daughter) and Cassidy aren't in the same class, and they were of COURSE the best dancers in their respective classes. Cassi is the oldest in her class and is pretty good! It was just so sweet to watch them.

After the dance we went around the room and shook hands with the residents and said Merry Christmas! I was surprised at the children for doing it because some of the residents were a little scary looking, but very sweet and grateful for the attention.

When we got outside, Carly said, "Mom when we leave Nursing Homes, Nana says we always have to wash our hands." Funny, but true.

So, who knows what Joe is getting me for Christmas?? :0) heehee

Cassidy AKA Rachel Ray

Today while I was making Christmas cookies, Cassidy was having some play time. She was Rachel Ray,of the Food Network's 30 Minute Meals. Apparently there was a taping right at my kitchen table.

What was the menu you ask? Toe Jam. (Yes Toe Jam.) Here is the recipe:
First you mush it up, then pinch it up.
Put it in the oven til January a month ago and then it is done.

Tell me my baby's not gifted. Can your child cook toe jam?! :o)

I am still laughing!!!

She even had commercial breaks! She would go back to the table and say, "We're back cooking toe jam....."

I am a little off today

Ha! A day off! So, why was I up at 5:30 watching Batman Begins? Because Cassidy, otherwise known as Sleeping Taz came to our bed this morning at 3am. She doesn't do well in group sleep settings. She requires a lot of room. Did I also mention that she suffers from nocturnal voice emodulation? Yep she talks and sometimes yells in her sleep. Needless to say, Mom was not getting a good night's sleep. This may be the day that a nap takes me as Joe says.

I have some big plans for today if I can find some wonderful soul to watch Cassidy. Grandma is contagious with an eye infection and we really don't care to share that wonderful affliction with her so we will have to make alternate arrangements for her. Joe wants to date me today and go to a movie. I hope it's not King Kong. I heard large apes are from the devil so I am scared to go.

We got a light dusting of snow last night. Just enough to make all the cars/rooftops white. :o)

Most Excellent Weekend!

Got my shopping done, now I just need to wrap it all. There is not ONE gift under our tree yet. That is worrying the girls a bit. :) I have all their stuff hidden. You know I never know whether to wrap their gifts up or not. One year I did and they wanted them not wrapped, so the next year I left them out and what did they want? Wrapped. I can't win.

The girls and I went to my niece, Salani's Christmas program last night. I hated missing our adult's program cause my friend, Shannon had a big ad-lib singing part. The choir director asked her not to "growl" during the ad-lib and I was sure hoping she would do it anyway. She is such a rebel. Joe said she did it a little and it was good.

This is the first day of Joe's Two Week Torture with Carly and Cassidy. I tried real hard to get the living room cleaned up last night so it wouldn't seem quite so bad. Almost got it done, just needed to vacuum, and I thought that would be a good day-time job, not an eleven pm job. :)

Well I got to work early, so I guess I will get to work early.

10:45am: I really need to spell check these posts before I publish. I found funny errors. The girls are worring me. Yep that's true. They drive me crazy. And Shannon was asked not to "grow" haha!!

Yummy Dessert

Here is a yummy dessert I had recently. Thought someone might like to try it for Christmas. :) Let me know how it turns out.

Philadelphia Cherry Danish Dessert

2 cans (8 oz. each) refrigerated crescent dinner rolls, divided.
2 tubs (8 oz. each) Philadelphia Light Cream Cheese Spread.
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, divided.
1 egg white.
1 tsp. vanilla.
1 can (21 oz.) cherry pie filling.
1 to 2 Tbsp. fat free milk.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Unroll one of the cans of crescent dough. Place in greased 13x9-inch baking pan;press onto bottom of pan to formcrust, firmly pressing seams together to seal.Beat cream cheese spread, 3/4 cup of the sugar, egg white and vanilla withelectric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Spread onto crust;cover with pie filling. Unroll remaining can of crescent dough onto largesheet of wax paper. Pat out dough to form pan, pressing seams together to seal. Invert over pie filling to form top crust; discard wax paper.

Bake 30 to 35 min. or until golden brown. Cool at least 20 min.

Gradually add milk to remaining 3/4 cup sugar, beating until will blended and thick. Drizzle over warm dessert. Store leftover dessert in refrigerator.

My name is Josefina and I am a re-gifter

I went to the "Sister Party" yesterday (My mother and her 6 sisters host a party for all the daughters/daughters in laws at Christmas and Mothers day each year) and I ended up with the gift I took. It was my own doing. I didn't like any of the other gifts and decided I would just take mine back and get something for someone else. I also got some unwanted booty from my sister in law to regift to my step-mother in law. Hey every penny I can save helps me out, and just why would I want to keep something I will never use? I wish I had thought of re-gifting those nose hair clippers.

I got to feeling a little bad at the party and left as soon as it was over. I thought it was from the 5 cheese balls that they had and went home to lay down. Turns out I had a slight fever. Joe snuggled with me till I fell alseep and I felt much better after a short nap. I like naps. I don't get to enjoy them much any more though.

We have found a nice circle of blogger friends over the past few weeks. What fun you all are! I was afraid of blogging at first because I was afraid of some random creepy person reading/commenting on my posts. You all are nice, normal (well mostly normal) people and I am glad to have you! You all keep me laughing and thinking all the time! I actually miss it when I am at work and sneak off to the ONE computer in the building that has internet and blog a line or two. :o)

Only ONE week til Christmas!! I can't wait for Joe to see his gifts! I am planning another early morning trip to Walmart tomorrow to try and finish up my shopping. The kids are out of school and they will be asleep when I leave. Joe will be stuck with them for two whole weeks. Please pray for them! (really. they wear him out. )

Joe is behind me on our bed indulging in a nap. I think I will join him for a little rest before church tonight.

Random Things About Josefina

1. My first wedding was the first civilian wedding in the fort at Ft. Gibson. My first marriage ended in the first divorce at the fort too.

2. I hear voices that tell me to steal my husband's mouse.

3. I peel the top off pizza and eat it first, then the crust.

4. I hate celery but will eat it for $100 per stalk. Joe paid me once and I choked it down. :) $$

5. I have a terrible weakness for toilet humor.

6. I sleep with ear plugs because someone in my bed snores.

7. I have had three broken bones.

8. I have never taken drugs or smoked. Well once I had one drag and nearly choked.

9. I share my given first name with my mother and my paternal grandmother.

10. I am ditzy and I know it.

11. I don't like reality shows. They aren't reality.

12. I saw a tornadoe once. Joe and his friend stood out in the yard and watched it. I stayed inside.

13. My favorite movie is Joe vs the Volcano.
Just kidding. It's The Wizard of Oz.

14. I worked as a waitress once. (See #10 to know why I quit)

15. I twirled a rifle in high school.

16. I am the oldest of three siblings (brothers)

17. I won a waterbed in a radio contest once.

18. I met Joe two weeks after I got divorced. We have been together since. (14 years)

19. I have never met anyone famous (that I can recall.)

20. I have three jobs, one of which involved collecting urine for drugscreens.

Lunch-time shopping

Hey I have a new diet: Lunchtime Shopping Diet. It is very easy. Shop your whole lunch hour away and don't eat! I even tried to go to McD's but had to abandon my order because we not only have a drive thru, but one with TWO lanes so I got behind about 4 people and only 3 minutes to get back to work. I settled for a tuna-pack and some left-over cheese-ball from the party.

Went to do some shopping for Uncle Joe and found some treasures. I can't wait for Christmas morning! :)

My mother is taking my 6 yr old Christmas shopping later. This should be interesting. They let the grandchildren buy whatever they want for their parents. One year I got purple measuring spoons. My daughters are very practical gift-givers apparently. (hey measuring spoons are better than nose hair clippers any day!)

The Office Christmas Party

We went to the boss' house for our annual Christmas party tonight. It was actually one of the more fun parties we have had. We have some party-poopers at work and some who think a party must involve alcoholic libations. The latter indulged in their libation of choice prior to their arrival at the party. The former didn't come and I am glad. (She is a buttinski-meanie-know-it-all) Some of our past parties have gotten pretty wild after we left of course, so I was glad this one was fun but tame.

Uncle Joe accompanied me to the affair and assured me he could turn on the charm at will if needed if the party got dull. Thankfully he did not have to.....we all had a good time visiting.

We have 13 employees and most came with their spouses. A drug rep sponsored the food, so we had some nice appetizers and desserts. We had been rat-holing money away all year for the party and since we didn't have to spend it, maybe we could talk the boss into another party!

We drew numbers for the gift exchange and I got a wonderful man-gift: a rechargable spotlight. (There was only one man who participated and he wouldn't listen to me telling him to choose his own gift....so he ended up with some nice Freesia scented bath products. haha) I think I will re-gift it to Uncle Joe. Who cares that he saw me open it up?

As I sat enjoying my newly discovered treat....coffee with vanilla creamer, Uncle Joe accused me of only starting to like coffee to get on his good side. How absurd! I have always loved the smell of coffee. I discussed with my friend, Murff, that we should make an alarm clock that emitted coffee scent to wake you up. Doesn't that just sound devine? I have even gone so far as to pour a cup and just set it on my desk for the aroma before I discovered this wonderful vanilla creamer!! When Joe was the Coffee Man I was turned on to cappaccino, and as the time has passed, I mixed more and more coffee in it till I can drink just coffee. When I arrived at work one day this week and poured a cup before I went to my desk I had a revelation: I am finally grown up! I like coffee! It was a good day. Joe, you should be proud of me. :) That is also why I am still blogging at 11:30pm! haha Maybe I should think about some decaf next time.

Why Santa Really Won't Visit Uncle Joe

The day before yesterday, before I went to bed, Uncle Joe told me, "I think I will fast from blogging tomorrow."

Yesterday, when I got up I took a shower and then checked email and popped in on Jamie Dawn and Saur to see what they had posted for the day. I had a feeling he was going to cave in and I had a naughty thought: Take the mouse so he CAN'T blog. I pushed the thought away because it sounded a little mean.

I went on my merry way to work and left him to deal with the Two Drama Queens and get them off to school.

I had a break at work mid-morning and thought I would check in and just see if he was being strong. WHen I called I heard the most annoying sound...booop-booop-booop. THe line was busy. I thought to myself, "I have a sneaky feeling he is cheating on his fast" so I logged on to Jamies blog and lo and behold he had been there and told her not to tell!!!! He was busted. (See her post for 12-14-05)

I wrote a very "stern" :0) email to him and before I could hit send he was calling me at work. "Research" he says, "I was doing reasearch." I responded that comment on blogs was blogging.

When I went home for lunch he was watching t.v. When I got ready to leave, I just quietly went into the bedroom and put the mouse in my pocket, kissed him goodbye and went out the door. Just before I left he said he was needing a nap so he would feel good for our RoadTrip that evening. (More on that wonderful experience later)

I got in my car, put it in reverse and DID NOT EVEN MAKE IT OUT THE DRIVEWAY when my phone rang. All he said was, "You mouse stealing Bitty." I laughed all the way back to work and laughed the rest of the day. :o)

I just helped a soul in need afterall. He did get to rest a little. He said he could get the icons to work a little without the mouse, but he couldn't navigate very well, so he gave up and did something else.


Thank goodness he wasn't too mad at me. :) It was all in good fun afterall. He has dished out some doozy practical jokes in his time, so it is high time he get some thrown back at him. Keeps him on his toes don't you think? HAHA

P.S. Thanks for keeping him honest Jamie!

Encore!

The Girl Scout's play went off without a hitch....and the District Leader was there. She is in charge of entertainment for the Area/District Christmas party in Tulsa and was scouting for entertainment. Our girls may get to perform for all the District Leaders. What an honor that would be! The night was great.....except those giggly squealy girls wouldn't be quiet while we were waiting for the curtain to open, but as soon as it did they put on their best manners and performed the best they ever have. I think we had 20+ people there, so that was good in itself.


Hubby had to miss the play. He had one of those naps where "the nap takes him" and has a vague recollection of my call to wake him up to come to the play. I know he felt bad for missing it. When we got home he said, Bad Dad!" We did get it on video so he will have to watch that today and probably go to Tulsa if that pans out as pentance don't you think? :) haha

Cassidy

Last night while Hubby and I were snuggling in Cassidy's bed (the 6 yr old) she said something funny.

Hubby and I were snuggled together and she got jealous and said, "Dad get your hand off Mom's breath."

He looked at me and we just cracked up. His hand was not on my breath....

I am a little worried about that statement .....

Monday Monday

I have to get up at 5 flippin 30 in the morning to get a turn on the computer! My hubby is addicted to the BlogWorld! :) I teased him yesterday about all his BlogBuddies.....don't y'all work??

We had our Christmas program last night at church. Both our daughters were in it and let me tell you it was so cute!! My oldest daughter had to stand in the back row because she is so tall so I could hardly see her...but I could see that she was right where she wanted to be where she could hide. I saw her pretty fact peeking out at me several times and would smile at her. I don't know if she saw me or not, it was hard to tell. My baby (Who turned 6 yesterday) was in the elementary choir so they were in the front. She is also tallest so she was easy to spot. She on the other hand is a ham.

I am ready for a day off. I need a day to do some shopping before Christmas, but I have to wait for payday! I think I will ask for Friday off and finish up. We don't have a lot to buy for this year so that is nice since we really don't have the funds. It will help us remember what Christmas is really about.

Our Girl Scout play is tonight. I will be glad for it to be over. The girls have worked hard, but I am just ready to get on to something else.

My weekend was very full. Saturday we had company all day and I got stuck at home with 4 giggling, squealing, dancing, mess making girls and had to miss a fun time with Hubby and his band members and their spouses. Then Sunday was full of church activities including the program above, the prep for the play with the Girl Scouts. It was a fun but tiring weekend.

That's My Man

Yep, I get to go home with that cute guitar player! I just love hearing my man play guitar with the band. I know I am guilty of taking him for granted because I hear him play alot at home, and I am reminded of that when I hear him play &/or sing in public.

We went to a benefit for a fellow church member who has been diagnosed w/ a rare brain cancer. He was originally diagnosed in 1998 and has had several surgeries, and one of the more recent surgeries required removal of his right eye and a portion of his facial bones. He is a deacon in our church and has led us all by his example. He is very young, 31, and having to deal with all this illness has brought on his family has been devastating. He and his wife, Amy, have two young children and there was a time before the last surgery that we didn't know if he was going to make it or not. Thank God he was a surgical candidate and they got all the tumor. He had developed terrible headaches and seizures recently and had to return to NYC for more surgery, not even knowing what they were going to find. Thankfully, it was all scar tissue causing those problems and now that is has been removed, he is on his way to recovery.

Anyway, Hubby and two different bands played tonight and it was very nice. I look at him up there and I get a big smile on my face. That's my man and I still think he is very handsome and you know, he can still make me get weak kneed and have butterflies in my stomach. I guess that's a good thing after being married 12 years

You know, they (and I have no clue who THEY are) always say that the toughest year being married is the first. I didn't find that to be true. I think it is different for every body, but that first year was the best! I think it was a few years after our second child was born that it got tough. I feel so wrapped up in daily life that we neglect each other and our relationship. I have made a conscious effort of late to let him know how I feel and show him more respect and consideration. Let's face it our life is not wonderful, but it is ours and we have to make the best of it TOGETHER. God please help us to remember that we will be long after our children are gone from our nest and not to lose sight of each other and what we mean to one another.

Favorite Christmas _____

What is your favorite Christmas______________ ?

You fill in the blank. Could be fave cookie recipe, fave ornament, fave memory, fave activity.......whatever.

My favorite Christmas decoration(s) is a pair of penguins I got at a Secret Sister gift exachange 6 years ago. We were playing Dirty Santa and the number I drew was 27 out of about 30 women, so I had a long time to ponder whose gift I was going to go for. I saw what I wanted and who had them and kept my mind on that. I was pregnant at the time and was about to burst. My belly was hurting a little and I just didn't feel all that good, but I wasn't leaving without those penguins! (My husband loves penguins and I wanted to surprise him)
When my number came up I got tears in my eyes and said, "I want the penguins that Carol has and I am going home because I don't feel good!" I took my penguins and left. I went into labor that night and my baby girl, Cassidy, was born the next morning. :) I still have the penguins and I think of that night every time I pull them out for Christmas.

My favorite Christmas memory is the Christmas my husband proposed to me. We had been dating for a year and I had hoped he would propose. I was living in a little one bedroom apartment at the time and was just so pleased that I had made it on my own that year after my divorce. He came in with a little Christmas tree and in the middle of it was a box. It was wrapped in Christmas paper with a picture of Santa on it. He had written on the beard: Will you marry me?. I have a picture of our kiss after I said yes. It is one of my favorites. We look so young! We have been married 12 years now. :)

One of my favorite things to do for Christmas was prepare a secret stocking for my grandmother, Nan. All the grand-kids would pitch in a little something for this huge red stocking and we would put in on her door for her to open the next day when she went out to get the news paper. We put all kinds of things in it....some silly some practical. She was 91 years old and had what she needed. We just made it fun for her. She always loved it and told my aunt that she looked forward to seeing what Santy Claus would leave her. She died this past October. I suppose I will have to find another sweet little lady to pass the stocking to. :)


My favorite Christmas Carol is Holy Night. I sang it in a duet at Church years ago and I loved the harmonies.

Strange Christmas Gifts

What is the strangest Christmas gift you have received over the years??

Mine was a nose-hair clipper from my husband's grandmother. Sad to say I actually tried them out too. :) ha

Making a dent

No, not on my car or on Hubby's head, although he deserves one. (Love ya Joe!)

I woke up at the butt-crack of dawn (as my niece erroneously said one time) this morning and got a wild hair to go to Walmart at 6am. I totally recommend early shopping and vehemently discourage late night shopping after I saw a drug deal go down right in front of the store while I had my daughter and two of her friends with me at a midnight escapade. (It was a slumber party and we wanted to go in our pj's) Early shopping in a crazy store like that is the way to go and avoid all the crowds. I used to love our little Walmart and since we have gotten the Super Center I HATE HATE going there. I hate it that they have the lowest prices and there is little other choice, unless you want to make numerous stops and still not get what you want. ( I even heard they are putting in a medical clinic there! Now tell me who wants to go to Walmart and go to the doctor!!?? I have a real problem with that but we'll save that for another post)

I have two daughters as you well know and I went in the store with a few ideas and came out with their Christmas mostly purchased. I was very pleased with myself. I even purchased a few things for Hubby while I was there. I really agonize over gift giving. I want my choice to be well thought out and the perfect gift. Sometimes I hit the jack pot and sometimes I flop. I found some boots my youngest daughter wanted and a cd player for my oldest, and _____ for Hubby. (sorry he might read this and I can't give away the secret!)

I agonized most over a gift to take to my Mother/Daughter Christmas party. It is all of my mothers sisters and their daughters and daughters-in-laws, and we play Dirty Santa. Let me tell you they get pretty nasty in the gift snatching. I hate playing that game because:
1. I always get my gift snatched
2. I hate snatching someone elses gift
3. I get way too emotional about it, and get mad if someone snatches a gift that the recipient really likes.
4. I am sad if my gift is not the one getting snatched. Lets face it you are judged somewhat by the gift you
bring...we all want to bring the gift that gets snatched the most!

That's why I always bring a gift I want, that way if it is getting too out of hand by the time my turn comes I will just pick mine. This year I chose a themed gift: Making Cookies. I got a cookie sheet, a silicone baking pad, a scoop to measure the cookie dough, a "Spoonula", a spatula, a serving tray and some cookie mixes. Not a bad gift. If I get it I am taking some of it back though....is that wrong? Too bad if it is. Haha you have no control over me and who would know what you think anyway since I rarely get comments! HA so there!

We went to our Sunday School Class Christmas party last night at a friend's house. Boy what fun that was! I was worried because I hardly know any of the other wives and when faced with situations where I don't know the people very well, I tend to turn into the Hostess' Helper. Hey, I may not make good conversation but I know how to get set up or clean up! I made myself just pick a group and talk....and it went fine. I just feel so weird sometimes......

We played Dirty Santa with White Elephant gifts. ( a "gift" from your house that you don't want any more) The funniest thing to me was a welding hat. I took (on behalf of Hubby) a Viagra clock and pen that seemed to get a lot of laughs, especially since the newly wed husband got it! I (0f course) got my gift stolen and stole Bethany's gift and almost managaged to keep it the rest of the time until a Big Mouth said to the last person, "Hey Josefina has something cute!!" I had been at the back of the group being real quiet like a mouse and had the cutest little church candle thing, but alas, some Ding Bat stole it! I ended up with a cute Santa and a candle so it wasn't all for naught.

The best part of the party was after most everyone left and the only people that were left were the "funny ones" (with a weakness for toilet humor apparently.) I am ashamed to admit it but our conversation got stuck on farts, being accidentally nude in front of someone, and peeing outside. I got one of our substitute teachers SO good. He was laughing about the fact that he and his two sons pee out the back door every morning (no matter how cold it is ...yikes!) and I mentioned the fact that at his last visit to our house I was at the computer by the back glass door and saw him go behind our garage to take a leak. The look on his face was priceless! I had told Hubby about it but he failed to mention it to Sub-Teacher! I laughed so hard my jaws were sore from smiling so much! That is a good feeling.

I actually got our Christmas tree up early this year. Usually I am having to force myself after Cassidy's birthday on 12-11 to get it up in time to enjoy it for a while. I just love to look at the lights in the dark. It is so relaxing. Wish I had a big furry blanket to lay on with my hubby under those lights.......

I really want to focus on what Christmas is really about with my daughters this year. Partly in cause by the fact that the pickings will be slim and I want to teach them that it is not about GETTING. I want them to know that it is about GIVING. God gave us His only Son at Christmas time and we should follow Him and give also. I am not sure how to get the point across to each daughter since they are quite a bit apart in age. This will take some thought, I will need to employ the thoughtfulness of my husband for this one.

I am grateful this season for my job. We got to cash in some vacation time and that funded my fun day today. I sure was going to hate not having any money, but praise God we are going to be ok.

Inferior Blog

I must be the most boring person in the Blog World.

I don't ask for much just a little attention now and again, just to let me know you're out there.

Is anyone out there?

HELLOOOOO!

Oh, there you are Peter.......(my favorite line from Hook)

I must have insomnia tonight. Stayed up paying bills and now I am awake and poor. What a sad state that is.

Is the Blog World real? Are you people who/what you say you are? I have often wondered how honest people are on their blogs. I think my blog is a true reflection of me. I am simple, but not simple minded! I don't lead an exciting life to some, but I enjoy seeing my life in print. I am not the most versed writer, but I enjoy blogging....just looking for new friends.

For These Things I am Thankful......

Jesus who saves us
God who loves us
Holy Spirit who convicts us

husbands who smell good (Obesssion -Yum!)
daughters who love me
parents who let me make mistakes
bosses who trust me
mother-in-laws who help me

laughing
crying
laughing til you cry

chocolate
Diet Pepsi
dumplins
diet dinners

health
my job
insurance

spell check
good books
music (especially the kind sung by my daughters)

doctors
teachers
preachers

freedom
grace
love

my life. simple and wonderful.

Wednesday

My friend Beverly's seizures have still not stopped. All the tests that the dr.'s have done are all within normal limits so they are chalking the seizures up to her family history of seizures. All the Dr. can do now is just control them with the right medications. She will hate the idea of taking medicine for the rest of her life possibly. She is very independent and headstrong and will not be thrilled at the additional fact that she will not be able to drive for a long time.

I see now that it was a blessing that she was here when she had the initial seizure. God was handling the situation....what if she had been home a lone or even worse, driving! The results would have been catastrophic. Thank you Lord for you hand in the situation.

We went to visit her last night and she was a little "drunk" from the medications. She kept us laughing the whole time but has no recollection of the visit today. I guess it's ok to laugh at the situation. (Hey it's better than crying!)

Went to lunch with a friend today.....and just didn't have enough time. Why is it that no matter how fast we talk we always have something left to say when it is time to go back to work?:)

Well I am supposed to be working so I guess I will put on a good show for the last hour. :) haha

To all who read this, Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving!

Scare at work

Today my friend Beverly had seizures at work and scared us to death. We had to end up calling EMS to come and get her to take her to the hospital.

It was a very strange ordeal and I will be curious to see what the dr.'s think is causing her problems. My layman's theory is that the fact that she has been not eating over the last three or four weeks has something to do with it. Your body will do all kinds of strange things when it is starved. I know she is not literally starving herself, but she is not eating near the amount that will keep her going. She has lost about 15 or so pounds lately. Some of it is due to stress about some other medical problems but the biggest part of her stress is lack of attention from her husband.

She passed out at home last night and cut her hand and she had to have stitches this morning. She is allergic to all the 'caines' used to numb wounds for repair so she had to get Benedryl into her wound to numb it. I believe it was the medication partnered with her out-of-balance system. Just my opinion.......

When she was in the midst of the seizures all the dr's in the clinic were with her and I felt so out of place. I just put my hand on her and cried out to God on her behalf. I wanted to literally cry out but I just prayed silently and earnestly. What do you do when you are physically helpless to assist?

Please keep her and her family in your prayers fellow believers. She is a good friend and I hate to see her go through this. I pray that God will teach her a lesson from this and that her husband's heart will be softened and he will yield to her cries for his attention.

Husbands love your wives!!!

PMS

PMS really sucks.

What I am really afraid of is that there is no such thing and this is really just the way I am. (I saw that on a plaque at CoachHouse Gifts)

Today I felt on edge and like everyone was pulling me in different directions and everyone was breathing just to annoy me. Why do hormones have such an effect on us?

I really try to keep it in because I know what I am feeling is unreasonable and crazy but sometimes it slips out!

Birthday

Today is my first born daughter's birthday. This time 11 years ago I was in the hospital in labor wondering when she was going to arrive. Would it hurt? What will it feel like? What will she look like? ( and I actually remember worrying that she would be ugly and people would still say "Aww what a pretty baby" and I would know they were lying!! She was so beautiful! The nurses even said she was prettier than most babies because she had eyelashes....big long eye lashes.)

In the blink of an eye I passed through the veil to parenthood, a lifelong journey I am taking with my husband and daughters. It is exhilerating and exasperating. It is exhausting and invigorating. It is wonderful and heartbreaking.

My daughter is so beautiful. Fair skin, dark hair, beautiful, deep eyes with long full lashes and lips to be jealous of. She is creative and full of emotion. She is hornery and thoughtful. She is growing so fast...not a teen not a little girl.

I am a she-lion and she is my cub. I would fight to the death for her.

Happy Birthday Carly

Things I love about my Hubby

I love how we met.... at a friend's house by chance. He had the feeling there was someone there he should meet.

I love it that we liked the same things when we met the first time.

I love it that I KNEW he was the one the first time we kissed.

I love it that he proposed at Christmas.

I love it that he can save money better than me.

I love it that he wanted to be a "girl dad" (We have two)

I love his lips.

I love his chocolate brown eyes. I especially like how they light up when he smiles.

I love his beard. ( I love men with beards!)

I love it that when he plays the piano he plays loudly! (At least I know he is at home with me)

I love it that he loves to play music with his friends.

I love it that he is a good story teller. The girls love his bed-time stories.

I love it that he will take time to color with our 5 year old.

I love it that his voice calms me down.

I love it that he can deal with our 10 year old with tenderness.

I love it that he takes/picks the girls up from school every day.

I love it when he comes to visit me at work.

I love it when he calls me and teases me.

I love it that he knows my bad habits and he loves me anyway.

I love it that he can read me like a book.

I love it that he is creative and sensitive.

I love it that he is funny!

I love it that he loves his mother.

I love it that we go to church together.

I love it that we like a lot of the same movies.

I love it that he cooks for us.

I love it that his hands are very soft now.

I love the way he whispers French in my ears and drives me mad.

I love it that he knows my secret pleasures.

I love it that he notices me and things about me.

I love that he sings Frank Sinatra tunes in the shower.

I love it that I know his secret pleasures.

I love it that he is mine.

I love it that God lead him to me.


I love my Hubby.

Party Day

Today my husband and his mother are sponsoring a party for our Sunday School Class. They had originally planned to have it at her house outside and call it The Carport Jazz Festival. (Very cute name I think) The weather is not cooperating and the alternative at their house was in the garage. That is all fine and good for adults, but with all the children we have we thought having it in the Fellowship Hall at church would be a better idea. It will be a little louder because it is so big and there is no carpet but everyone will feel more comfortable inside.

They also planned a "Feed the Band" supper so that will be fun. Hubby's Aunt Lil who owns a barbecue joint is catering. Aunt Dodo is coming to help G-mom get everything ready.

I love to be around the sisters when they are together. They laugh and sing ALL the time. They make you feel special and you know they love you and each other.

I look forward to this evening and hope everything goes well. I think all this planning and decision making has worn Hubby out. Since he has been sick he is not the most decisive person and this has really tried him.

We have two singers and two bands, a couple of people who are going to play guitar. It should be fun fellowship anyway.

Gotta run. Breakfast is ready!

Busy Monday

Wow Mondays are hard. I felt like I had to DRAG myself out of bed this morning. Hubby actually beat me up and he is rarely first-one-up these days. I was only 2 minutes late, so that was good. Good thing I live a mile away from work! haha

We have the opportunity to move back to my home town to life in Nan's house. I am torn about it.....I would love to have a newer home, be near my family, and be in a nicer neighborhood, and have a lower house payment. There are lots of pro's and con's...we have to talk more in depth about it later. I prayed hard about it today, begging God to help me and lead me and be very clear. Friend "C" plz pray for us. I want to do what is best for my family without taking advantage of the situation but I want a good deal on the house if we buy it. That's not wrong is it? I hate change sometimes.

Well I just got home at 8:15 from work/girlscouts/shopping for dance paraphenalia for Daughter #2 who is starting dance class tomorrow. (She looked so cute in her stuff!) Had to go to three stores including Super Walmart which I hate to get everything.....should have just started there in the first place.

I must go now I have something very important to do......

Lazy Sunday

This day was anything but lazy! Got up early to get Hubby and Daughter #1 ready to get going. Hubby had to be at church at 8am and Daughter had to be ready for a road trip by 8am.

I took advantage of the time and got lunch ready...totally ready by 9:30! Woohoo! (Don't get too excited, it was only potato soup.) We were having company over for lunch and I didn't want to spend all my time preparing when there was good visiting to do.

Hubby filled-in for a musician at a local church for a drama/musical they were having. It was really good. At the end they played a very dramatic song with sign-language interpretation and also played a couple of scenes from "passion of the Christ".

When I really take time to think about what Jesus actually did for us it just puts me in awe. He left Heaven to come to earth to try and show us how to live and how to love God and our neighbors. Why? Love. In the end isn't it love that really matters?

It sure isn't the worldly JUNK that fills this house. It isn't the junk we fill our minds with on TV. It isn't the clothes we wear, the friends we have or even the car we drive.

It is the things with eternal value that matter. Am I spending my time investing in things with eternal value? Not as much as I want to and not as much as I know I need to. Why? The world gets in the way. The world says I deserve a break today so I take it camped out in front of the TV or doing housework.

~Oh God please help me. Mold me and use me. Fill me up with your love so that when some one is near me they will see you shine through me. Help me to keep my eyes on you, my heart tender to your Holy Spirit, and my will conformed to yours. Help me to see the world for what it is: a temporary home. Thank you for my eternal home in Heaven. Thank you for my ticket in Jesus. ~

Yesterday we were at Nan's house cleaning out closets...actually my mother and my aunt were doing it, Cassi and I just happened to show up. We found a picture of my great great grandfather and it looked EXACTLY like my middle brother Tom. It was eerie! Exactly like him...facial expression, body type, everything! May have been a fluke because another picture doesn't look like him but how neat to see how his look passed on through generations.......Look at the picture attached; he is the one in the apron on the right of the photo.

It was neat to see all Nan's pictures. I had never seen them. I am going to thump her when I get to Heaven for not showing me them. They really were neat. There were very few of her. She was the third child and her father left them shortly after she was born, so they were very very poor during her up-bringing. I hope we get the chance to look at all her stuff and learn more about her. ( I hate it that we didn't take time to talk to her more about it. Anyone reading this please take the time to talk to your grandparents about what they know...you will cherish it when they are gone!)

Well this lazy Sunday is really a wonderful day. I am going to go enjoy it now!

Dad's Birthday

Today is my fathers birthday. He still has not made a public decision regarding rededication of his life to Jesus. I was encouraged however that he went to church Sunday to see my mother and her twin sister get baptized. The preacher's message was right on and very convicting, to me anyway, so I hope it made a dent in his heart.

I heard Adrian Rogers quote D.L. Moody yesterday: The world specializes in hardening hearts and God specializes in softening them. (Paraphrased)

Boy isn't that the truth. My dad and brother have really bought into what the world thinks they should be. They seem to me to be too afraid/proud to ask Jesus to meet them where they are and help them.

I hope and pray that I am soft enough to be molded. I know my righteousness is a filthy rag. Jesus plz cover me today. Strengthen and encourage me. Please let me know you love me today.

And now for something completely different: Our Drug Screens on Demand venture is off and running. We are official now, with a tax id#, accountant and checking account even!!! Lord please bless this venture. We have submitted it to your will and give you glory for all that will happen. Please watch over us, keep us alert and in tune with what is going on and and direct us.

I was up early because Cassidy was thrashing around and coughing all night. It was a long night.

Wow what a post. Wonder who reads this stuff besides me? And if anyone does read it doesn't it BORE you to tears? My life is pretty calm really. I love my life and I really love my husband and family. Thanks God.

Good morning, now let the stress begin. haha :)

Sweet November

Man, wasn't that a bad movie in the 90's?? Just awful.

I can't believe it is November already. I have not done any birthday shopping yet. One daughter's b-day is Nov 16th and the other is Dec 11th, so we have an expensive 2 months ahead of us!!

My almost 11 yr old is wanting to have a party so bad....and I am trying to encourage her to just have a regular party and not a slumber party. She really has a hard time at slumber parties. If the guests don't pay attention to her the whole time she gets upset and starts acting badly and that stresses me out. I want her to just have a party, eat cake, play and go home!

My 5 yr old is still little enough that a skate party will make her happy. She is finally big enough to do that so that is the tentative plan for her. I really like those parties....show up w/a cake and a birthday kid and you're done! They do all the rest. :)

It is a strange thing

mourning. The death of my grandmother has affected me worse than I ever dreamed it would. We had to wait 6 days for her funeral and it was the longest 6 days of my life. It was a logistical problem with the cemetery and the funeral home that held up the services. I think it was God. It gave time for my oldest cousin time to get home from a mission trip from Banglesh and hopefully time for my dad's heart to become tender to the conviction of the Holy Spirit.

I did not see Nan a lot, usually two or three times a month but I have just felt empty and lifeless this week. I tried to go shopping for a new outfit for the funeral and just couldn't do it. I feel on the verge of tears constantly and don't understand it. I know she is in Heaven, and that should keep me laughing for cryin out loud! (Maybe I am just hormonal)

I know I have to grieve in my own way and in my own time. I just never dreamed it would hurt so much. I am sad for my dad and his sister, and my middle brother and my mother. They helped her with her daily life; shopping, styling her hair for the weekend, yardwork, house hold repairs etc. They probably feel a hole much bigger than I do.

Life goes on and all that jazz.

Maybe if I could dream of her I would feel better. The only thing that helps right now is prayer, and that is always a good thing. God speaks to me in that still small voice and reminds me that He is with me and will carry me through this.

Nan's passport to Heaven

Tuesday, October 18, 2005 my Nan cashed in her ticket to Heaven. It was her most treasured possession. She has had it since 1929 and it was dog-eared with daily use.

She had surgery to remove a malignant tumor from her ovary and made it through the surgery with a few complications. Her doctor told us it was worse than we had originally thought because she had two tumors...the cancer had spread to the lower portion of her colon. No wonder she was having such a hard time and such pain!

The whole time the doctor was telling us of her options after recovery I was feeling in my soul that we would not even have to worry about treatment options. I knew that she was not going to see the next day. I knew when I kissed her sweet little face right before she went into surgery that it would be the last time I saw her alive. She was 92 years old for Heaven's sake....the surgery would be hard for a young person to go through, much less someone her age. But the risk of the surgery far outweighed the thought of her suffering and being in the pain she was in the rest of her life.

She died just like she would have wanted and just like we have always prayed for. She just went to sleep. Sometime between Recovery and ICU she took a down hill turn and was not able to recover. I think it was her heart because they had to give her 2 units of blood and I think it put her in to congestive heart failure....she just couldn't pump the blood effectively.

She had signed a DNR and had a Living Will and did not want any life saving measures. It was hard for her doctor to watch her die and agonizing for my family members who were there too. Her children were not present, only my two brothers their wives and my mother. I did not make it to the hospital in time either, and that hurt me so bad. I wanted to tell her not to stay here to go on to Heaven if she could, that we would be ok and we would see her again. I know she knew that but I was selfish and wanted to say it. Partly for my peace and partly for hers too.

She was an independent little woman who lived alone til the day she died. She didn't want any unnecessary help but did require some help with small daily tasks. She live simply and humbly, loving her family, and happily reconciled to her life. She had a wonderful lifesong and now it will sing through me by the things she taught me by the example of her life.

If anyone reads this please pray for my dad's rededication of his life to Jesus. His heart is at its most tender right now and I pray that this will be the day that he turns back to Jesus. My dad is a good man but just not living for God right now, and thinks that being a good man is enough. I adore him and prayed that if God has to break him to get through his tough exterior that it happen now.

I am really happy that Nan is in Heaven with Pap. She has been alone for 20 years without him. I know she longed to go home. When we told her we thought she would see 100 yrs she said, "I sure hope not, how BORING!!"

I believe she knew she would not make it and that may have been her way of controlling her death just like she controlled her life. She told my Dad right before they left for the hospital, "If I don't make it tell everyone that I love them and I will see them again in Heaven." I look forward to that day. I have my ticket already.

It was a good day because my Nan went to Heaven. I hope they have icecream in Heaven because my Nan loved icecream.

Freakishly Short Post

Wow! It has been a while since my last post. Been busy working, too busy to blog. No one reads this anyway, so who cares??

If there are believers out there reading this, please pray for my Nan. She is having surgery to remove a malignant mass from her ovaries next week. She is 92 years old and in relatively good health, but I am still scared for her. She is a believer and I don't worry about her salvation. She is a wonderful Christian example, and has been all my life. She was the one who took us to church when we were little children. What memories those are!!

Gotta run.....my daughters are still up and it is past 9pm. It will be another hard morning!

Freakishly Long List About Me

I was on-line last night just surfing through the blogs and found a site that had one of my favorite things to do on-line: a list of questions for the author to answer about themselves. "500 Things About Me" I thought I would try it and just see what all it illuminates about me. I may or may not put it on here since it is freakishly long, and may illuminate some of my bad habits, or just may be TMI (too much information!)

I know I know, who really cares about all these crazy things but me? You know what? It's my blog and you don't have to read it. Go ahead, push the "next blog" button.......

Oh, you're still here? OK. Here is some of the list:
001. What is your name: Suzanne
002. Spell your name backwards: Ennazus
003. Date of birth: Feb 24
004. Male or female: Female.
005. Astrological sign: Pisces (not that it matters)
006. Nicknames: Suz, SuBo
007. Occupation: Office mgr of a medical office
008. Height: 5-7
009. Weight: my drivers lic says 140. That’s my story and I’m stickin to it.
010. Hair color: Dark brown.
011. Eye color: Blue
012. Where were you born: Muskogee, OK
013. Where do you reside now: same
014. Age: 36
015. Screen names: Aunt Josefina
016. E-mail addy: confidential
017. What does your screen name stand for: My husband’s screen name is Uncle Joe after his Joe Passe guitar
so I thought of the female version of Aunt Josefina
018. Pets: one dog
019. Number of candles you blew out on your last birthday cake: That's the same as #14!
020. Piercings: ears only…one ear has two
021. Tattoos: None
022. Shoe size: 9 1/2
023. Righty or lefty: Righty.
024. Wearing: pink undies and white embroidered night gown….my fave.
025. Hearing: The quiet breathing of my sleeping daughter
026. Feeling: tired and sleepy
027. Eating / drinking: nothing, although now is a good time to take a break..

So there you have it. The first installment of "A Freakishly Long List About Me"

Casting Crowns

Splurged on a purchase for myself yesterday. Casting Crown's new CD: Lifesong. WONDERFUL!! They have done it again. I am amazed at the lyrics that Mark Hall writes. They are so insightful and convicting. I whole-heartedly recommend it for all!

Their concert schedule was included in the cd and they aren't even coming to Oklahoma.....we'll have to petition them to come I guess.

G-nite Moon

Die Monster Die!

I am happy to report the Laundry Monster has been conquered, and mostly disposed of. Small remnants remain to be put to rest tomorrow. Whew! What a job. Too bad it won't stay conquered for long. That's what I hate about laundry. The time that all of it is done is so fleeting......

Tick Tock

It seems the only time I have to write a post is Sunday night.

Everyone is cleaned up and relaxing in bed waiting to go to sleep. (Thank Heaven) It has been a busy day. My oldest daughter spent the night with a friend, went to church with her and played at her house after lunch. She came home exhausted and I made her go to bed early, otherwise we will pay for all the fun she had this weekend tomorrow morning when I try and get her up for school.

My five year old is running around the house in a leotard telling me she wants to be in gymnastics again, and she tells me, "Grandma will pay." So matter-of-factly. I would love for her to go back because she really liked it, but it is expensive, and right now we just can't afford it.

My husband is still waiting to hear about his disability. We have appealed his denial and pray that it goes through. We have made it the last year, but it has been hard. I won't lie. It has been hard on all of us. He has had to be more of a care-giver for the girls and it has been difficult for him because he gets so fatigued and I have had to take on more jobs and that isn't all that fun. I see why that women were not made to be head of household. I get emotional about everything and have to have a pity party occassionally and just get to feeling sorry for myself and my family. THEN I pray about it and just give it to God, and you k now what? I feel better. Sometimes after balancing the check book I don't know how we will make it to payday. One time this summer I prayed.."God I don't know how you are going to do it, I don't know where I am going to get the money for _____ this week. Please help us." and you know what? There was an anonymous note in my mailbox, mailed days before with a $100 bill in it. He knew my need before I did, and truth be told the money was in my mailbox as I prayed. I just burst into tears of thankfulness.
Everyday isn't like that and some days I wallow in my pity, but generally I am pretty reconciled to my life and my happiness.

I went to Webbers Falls, OK last night to hear my husband and the band he is in play for a little River Festival. It was informal and mostly secular music. They played contemporary Christian music and did a fine job. They really have fun playing and I enjoy watching them perform. ( I don't however like to hear them practice......) Their lead singer is having nasal surgery this week so they are taking a break. (Hubby says he will have more time to devote to helping out around the house now......yea!!! ) I got tickled at Sean, the lead singer, when they took the stage, he said, "And now for something completely different." (the preceding and proceeding bands all played country/Southern rock music)

Instead of blogging I should be in the living room conquering the Laundry Monster. There is a pile of clean clothes on my couch calling my name so I will conquer them now. I will. Here I go.............ok now here I go. really. yep. I am on my way in there to fold clothes now............g-night.

Weekend Update

Well our weekend is just about up. Sometimes I just hate 4 day weekends. They are nice, but everyone tries to cram so much into it you are worn out by the time you get back to work!

Tomorrow we are going to the Oldest Town In Oklahoma for lunch with my family.

I took off Friday from my regular job and went to anther part time job I have and then to work at my home based job so I really didn't have any time off at all. Saturday I went back to the part time job early in the morning to get as much done as I can which is hard. I go in at 6am and boy do I get sleepy! I have to get up and walk around sometimes to stay awake. I have the music going and I just sing to my heart's content and sometimes I even dance a bit. Wouldn't that be a sight to see for someone driving by?

There is a lady who always brings a trunkful of trash to (illegally) dump in the dumpster in front of the office I work at on Saturdays. She comes every Saturday about 8am. Her tags are from Arizona. She is very thin and doesn't have a lot of trash. I guess since thin people don't eat much they don't have a lot of trash either! haha I stood in the window and watched her. I have way too much time on my hands Saturdays at the office!

Today was church and believe it or not I actually got to take a nap.I fell asleep watching Alton Brown's Kitchen Remodel on the Food Network. He is my fav chef. I love his scientific explanations! My nap lasted until my 5 year old decides to drag out a toy that she just HAPPENED to desire to play with today. A BAG FULL OF MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS, PARTICULARLY A TAMBOURINE! Good thing I woke up and took away the thrill of waking me up. She hasn't even looked at those toys in a year and today the urge to play with them was just overwhelming I guess. What a little mischeivious thing she is. I do not look forward to adolescence.

I don't think I got all of my nap out so I am going to bed, but before I do I am hiding the tambourine. :o)

Hurricane Refugees Coming

I just heard that up to 5,000 refugees from Mississippi and Louisiana are coming to Camp Gruber in Braggs, OK. WOW!

Our Girl Scout troop will be getting together some supplies to help out. I wonder if our Super Walmart will be able to support the influx of people trying to help out and buy supplies? I am just glad our area has room for them to come. I know Muskogee County will help them out in any way we can. Oklahomans are very generous and want to help our neighbors. Good thing we have a Georgia Pacific in our town. They can donate some toilet paper, napkins and paper towels hopefully. Whitlock Packaging may be able to donate some juice, and Griffins may step up with some donations too.

I don't get to watch much TV because of my schedule (and the fact we only have one tv with cable so the girls watch Disney Channel alot) so I haven't heard as much as others have about the hurricane, but looting?? How crazy is that? I hear that the looters aren't taking necessities, but tv's, radios, etc. THey don't even have electricity and they just steal for the sake of stealing? It is a sad sad state.

I pray that we are able to recover from this. Unfortunately I think the New Orleans that we knew is gone. How could they possibly rebuild on the same ground?? They were so far below sea level, I am surprised it had not flooded before now.

My FIL/MIL have been in Houston and there were a lot of refugees at the hotel they were staying at. It must have not been that great of a place because they said the people were kind of scary. My MILbrought up a good point that I had not thought of. Some of these people they were seeing were probably on drugs and hadn't had a fix in a while, and no money to buy anything, and no prospects to find anything. That explains a lot about some behavior. They left the hotel they were staying at and came home for a break. They said they don't even care if they don't have a place when they go back for more treatments. Must have been pretty bad for them to say that. They don't have anything bad to say about many things.

LIsten to this

I am forever grateful for God's hand on my life. Listen to this:

Today I was approached by two co-workers about doing some extra work FOR one and WITH another. One would be a professional service of my home-based business, and the other is a new business venture that I would be a partner. How exciting is that? Of course I said yes to both

Our family could really use the extra money right now. My husband is still waiting on disability to come through, and what a long wait it has been. He has a heart condition that keeps him from working. He was diagnosed last year.

I pray that both these ventures work out. What a relief that will be. :)

Hump Day

Hump Day today. Boy I am tired. Got interested in "Divine Secrets of the YaYa Sisterhood" movie last night at 11pm and stayed up to watch it! I got in bed about 1:30am, and the ceiling fan was making an annoying clicking noise. Couldn't have that....so I turned it on high. Fixed that right up. Got snuggled in one more time and my Dear Hubby (DH) was making an annoying sound. Can't turn him on high to fix him so I just punch him and make him turn over....just long enough for me to fall alseep.

He must have known I punched him because he woke me up poking me, prodding me and pestering me in general. Hmmph. He really is sweet most of the time, but let me just tell you I can't do that to him. He can dish it out but he sure can't take it!! :) haha He hits me back and growls at me in the morning....just like my 10 year old. My five year old wakes up so happy most days. Her eyes open and her mouth starts flapping. She talks/sings/squeals from the time she wakes up til she falls asleep at night, and sometimes at night she even talks in her sleep!

My SIL has asked me to be a co-leader for our daughter's GirlScout troop. I am pretty busy working all I can right now, but I have wanted to help out with the troop, so I said yes. Well it just isn't a matter of helping out. The GS council makes sure that all it's helpers are trained properly. So, there is a training we have to go to one Saturday soon. I will just be a worker-bee so that will be nice. I am a good worker bee. :)

Giddy

I am actually a little giddy about seeing Hubby today. I am trying to get ready and found myself primping!!

I suggested to the girls that we get ready early and go to Tulsa and mess around at the mall before we pick Dad up. They were all for that, even with the condition that the living room be cleaned up before we leave. They hate to clean up so they must really want to go.

I have tried really hard to get the house cleaned up, but my time has been interrupted by this or that. Yesterday I babysat Bailey so that took up a lot of time, then we had a birthday party to go to. (Boy was it hot!!!) Oh well you can tell we made an effort. Hope he notices

We slept late today and didn't go to church. Bad I know especially after my entry last Sunday. See what I mean? Lack of committment.

Well I better go get the girls started on getting all their Barbie parephenalia out of the living room.:)

Home again home again, jiggety jig

My hubby has been in Houston for 4 days. (His father is at MD Anderson receiving experimental drugs for leukemia. He had a mild heart attack this week and Hubby felt like he should go and help out and give some support. Papa has been in Houston all summer and it probably did them both some good to be together. )

He I am beginning to miss him a little. The first three days I was working all day and when I got home the girls kept me busy til bed time so I didn't get to miss him that much but today, Saturday, has been a different story. I am used to him being here to annoy me and I hate to admit it but I miss it.

Some good things about him being gone:
The yard is neat and tidy. My dad came over to weed eat for me and we got it all spiffed up. The girls have been pretty good, no major melt downs (of mine) and few fights actually.
I still have the gallon of milk I bought Thursday. (Hubby eats a bowl of cereal before bed every night)
That's about it.

Some bad things about him being gone:
I have to ask someone else to pick them up after school. They LOVE Dad picking them up.
We have all had some melancholy moments of loneliness.
I still have the gallon of milk I bought Thursday. It will probably spoil before I can drink it.

He arrives tomorrow at 6pm in Tulsa. The girls and I will go pick him up and give him big hugs and kisses and I will promise to welcome him home in my own "special" way later. ;)

I have diclosed this blog to a friend of mine. Let's see if she reads it. I still am a little anxious about others reading this. I am confusing a diary with a blog I guess.

My daughters and I made it to church on time today. A major accomplishment in our house. My husband left early. He was tired of listening to three females ages 5-30something try to get ready in one bathroom. Men. They can get ready in 15 minutes and it is just not fair! We have to coordinate clothes, shoes, panty hose, jewelry, make up and hair accessories. (That s just for my 10 and 5 year old!) I am usually the last one ready after having to stop forty-eleven times to help them. I know I know I could get up earlier, but what fun is that?

My house hold has some getting up early issues. None of us likes to do it. I have learned to do it as I have gotten older, but that doesn't mean I like it!!

We had a wonderful service. We shared the Lord's Supper, had a little lesson from the preacher and heard a wonderful message in song from our choir. We were doing what is important. We were in church as a family, teaching our daughters it is not a chore to go. It is a privilege.

The message in song was particularly convicting today. I sat there with tears of shame falling down my face, knowing that I have not had the faith I should as of late. I have not had the committment I once had and certainly have not been the person that I know I should be. I vowed there in my pew today to not let this be the standard in my life. I left with more that I came with today, and that is how it should be.

Be gentle it's my first blog

This is my maiden voyage into the blog world. I figure since I have read so many lately I might as well put in my two cents worth into cyberspace. So here we go.........