Depressing...

Yes, I am depressed. I made my annual trip to the VA ABC store to buy my two mini-bar bottles of rum. A total of $ 2.60. I know, I know I go all out for my once a year full-fledged pina colada that I drink in my home.
So what is so depressing.... This is the first year I was not ID'd. I left so sullen and down. That means at my ripe old age of 36, I must actually look 30 as to not ID me, since the law is if you look under 30 you must be ID'd. I have reached that look now. Oh so depressing.
The slight good news is that the cashier was really thinking and looking long and hard at me and I could tell he was wondering if he should have ID'd me. Even the other cashier on the other side was giving him the look. Either that or they think I am a boozer and bought the mini-bar version because that is what all the homeless men do when they scrounge up enough dough begging.
Oh , if they only knew that I feel like I have entered a porn store when I walk in there in the first place but I do not know how that feels either because I have never been in a porn store or will ever go either. I just think that is how I would feel if it happened. Honest , honest to goodness.
Have a nice New Year's Eve everyone. You know I will be watching the ball drop in the comfort of my own home with my once a year pina colada from my mini-bar version of rum.... Yum, yum!
P. S. Jen, I better hide this post from the Deacon Baord too.

Making Memories at Christmas

I had already turned the computer off when I made a funny memory with my mom this evening and had to post about it.

Every Christmas for years my grandmother made Christmas dinner and it always included red Jello. My sister loved this. We never knew why but this Jello she looked forward to for months. As my grandmother aged , she let it slip that the Jello was made out of wine. You see , we are a non-drinking conservative family. ( I lie, Mom and I enjoy a pina colada on New Year's Eve and I make my annual trip to the ABC store to get the smallest bottle of rum available.) Anyhow, my grandmother can not cook anymore, you know she is 91 but my sister and others wanted the wine Jello. I have never been that fond of it, personally. My mom went out today and bought a bottle of wine. She knows nothing of buying wine and found the cheapest bottle at $4.99. I never gave it a second thought. After years of working at a grocery store, I did know cheap wine was a screwtop. Guess what? This had a cork. What does this mean for a non-wine drinking household. It meant I had to figure out some way to get that cork out with no cork thingymajig.

I tried a knife, no luck. I tried the sharp end of a bottle opener, no luck. I tried another knife, no luck. I tried to push the knife and get suction, no luck. She went out and found a screwdriver. It worked, oh did it work. It pushed the cork all the way in but not out. The cork stayed in but wine splashed out all over me and my mom. Whooh, does it smell awful. It was all over our faces and hair. It smelled horrible, you know the booze smell. We could not stop laughing. That $4.99 bottle of wine was priceless for our memories of laughing with wine everywhere.
So since we did this at midnight, guess what we have to clean off the wall tomorrow, yeppers wine. What would people think if they had to come in our house tonight.... oh those boozers. Oh the memories we have created.
Merry Christmas! Remember Jesus is the true gift of Christmas! Without him we would be lost.

IT WAS BEAUTIFUL!!!

Went to here last night, http://www.christmastown.com

It was beautiful because in Williamsburg last night it snowed.

We went into the show REJOICE, which is great. They opened the exit doors and all you saw was snow. It was awesome almost like a prop. I wish I had taken a picture but my hands were too cold to get the camera out.

You have to understand here on the coast , it rarely snows. Yes we may see a dusting once a winter , if that. But last night in Williamsburg it was beautiful, it was like the weather was special ordered for us. AWESOME!

The downer, 30 minutes down the road at my house, nothing but rain, too close to the water. I guess.

Frustrated

Frustrated because I am not feeling good. I accepted a job tomorrow morning to substitute high school and I just do n0t feel good. Is there such a thing as a sub for a sub? LOL! I am too early in the game to cancel a job.
Frustrated because I intended to go to the store to get some stuff for lunch tomorrow. I am not familiar with the school's lunch line for teachers so I always pack something until I know and am comfortable. I was at Big Lots and they had fresh bread so I grabbed some sandwich thins to make tuna.
Frustrated because after I got home I discovered we had tuna and no onion. I can eat tuna salad with no onion no way.
Not frustrated but thankful that we had peanut butter and jelly.
Frustrated at my progress of Christmas shopping.
Frustrated that when I hit spellcheck that I had left the second r off of the word frustrated, not once but twice.
Just plain frustrated right now in general.

Funnies ...

Received a beautiful Christmas card today from someone at church. She sent one to show her appreciation for the children's program last week. The design is from a famous artist with the initials ME. Well this artist also does a Christian line. So what is so funny:

#1 A Christian sent it to me.
#2 The artist draws and writes Christian cards and pictures.
#3 The card read..... Make of Yourself A Light. BUDDAH

Yes a saying from Buddha. I just had to chuckle. I wonder if the lady from my church realized it said Buddha or if she just loved the angel and the picture on it. Oh my!

Yesterday I was working at our bookstore when the phone rang as I was coming out of the restroom. I thought I did not have a phone and I am walking toward the back counter looking for one because I could hear it but not see it. I kept turning into all directions to find it , you know like a cat chasing it's tail. I could not find it but it was close I could hear it. Dummy here, had it in her back pocket. No wonder I could hear it so good. Sometimes I am just ditsy.

As for an update on subbing, I have had some great days. Not that the kids have been great but I have enjoyed subbing and so far my favorite grade is 8th . Now I am wishing I was trained in something to teach them but Marketing is not for middle schoolers, unfortunately. I scheduled myself a half day today and they called me in early for a last minute call out. I was asleep in my bed wand warm. I got up, showered, make-up , dressed and hair and was there in 40 minutes. That was a miracle. I am never dressed that fast. I went into that class and within an hour and a half it was there lunch period, so I went to lunch. After lunch I was called back to my original plans and within 45 minutes it was their lunch period. So I had two lunches, oh boy! ( I only ate at one though) By the way , one girl made my day. When I walked into the history class, all I heard was , " Oh, she is so pretty." I was flabbergasted.

Toodles for now....

Now I have to surf the web for Christmas presents but without money I won't get too far because I don't think my good looks will get me too far.

Well lady, you tried.....

Well lady, you tried to get one over on me but it did not work.

I was a substitute the other day but the teacher only had two classes so they assigned me the job of assisting a child that just needed someone to sit next to them in class for my last class. I do not know the reason that he has to have someone sit next to him but I was being paid to sit there so that is where I headed. I was intercepted by the school's permanent substitute assistant who had been assigned to substitute as an assistant in special education. See she thought she was pulling rank and taking the easy job of sitting on her rump for an hour and a half while I went to take her assigned job for the hour and a half of assisting special ed. She chuckled as I walked away. I was not happy but I willingly went to where I was supposed to go.

Well, well, well lady. I had a blast. These kids I assisted in special education were awesome. Just awesome. There were only 5 of them on this day and this was their work training hour. The boy I assisted had the job of wrapping fake hamburgers in wax paper. He needed help with his timer and registering his time. He also had to alphabetize index cards and count out 5 sheets of paper and paperclip them until he had a set of 10. He was awesome. I was blown away at his ability and the ability of his classmates to read their instruction cards and perform their tasks. Four of the five kids were excited for a new person to help them but one would shut down when I came around so I left him alone as he did his job. These kids were bright and well-behaved. The teenagers at the main school need to take a few lessons from these kids. They were awesome. Their teacher took my name down so that she can look for me on the system to assist or replace her when needed.

So if I could tell you lady, I would tell you that I got the better end of that deal that day and I was able to go home early since the special education classes leave 20 minutes early. HAHA to you!

I hate it when I look like the fool...

I stated in my last post that I picked up my nephew from school the other day. Well here is the whole story. I got in the car line and realized I did not have the tag to pick him up, my dad had it. It was right when school was letting out so I knew calling someone to bring the tag was not an option. I got out of line and parked my car. I then walked into the school and into the office. The office workers were not there nor was the principal. The office workers know me because I sign in when I go eat lunch with him regularly. The principal also knows me because she sees me at lunch coming and going. She is a great, dynamic woman. Her light was out. There was a woman that I had never seen before working in the corner alone. She asked what I needed and I explained to her that I left my tag in another car and I needed to pick my nephew up. She asked his name and teacher and then proceeded to call that room over the intercom. I heard her say she needed little man to come with all his things. He came. I walked out of the school with my nephew. Do you understand what I am saying? I WALKED OUT OF THE SCHOOL WITH MY NEPHEW. No id check, no card file check to see if I am authorized, nothing. I was shocked. I could have been a child molester stalker whatever person.

This also had me thinking that this same thing happened last year with the nurse. He went home sick twice and I took him home and the nurse never asked or verified who I was.

Well I mentioned it to my sister in which she was shocked too. She was going to talk to the principal the next day. Well the next day came and I was at work minding my business and had stepped to the back. I saw in the camera that a woman and child came in and were inquiring about minister robes. I walked back up front to start shutting down when I realized that woman was the principal. We did small talk and then I inquired as to whether she had talked with my sister. She said she had not. My sister did ask to talk to her that day but the principal was in a meeting. So I told her what had happened and she was shocked too. She explained that one of the special ed teachers (whom I had never seen or met) was doing dismissal and she may not have remembered school policy. She thanked me for being comfortable enough to talk to her about it in a caring way and being concerned because essentially it is her job on the line.

Today, I go by my sister's house and the first thing she says is the principal came to me and told me that the dismissal lady that day knows you and knows you belong to little man. I was flabbergasted. THAT LADY DOES NOT KNOW ME. How would I know a special ed teacher? Little man is not special ed. I know only a few people there. His teacher this year and last, the lunch monitors and the secretaries which I repeat were not in the office that day. That is it. I have never seen this woman before in my life.

Essentially, this woman covered her tracks with a lie and made me look like the fool. So now I am mad and want to approach this woman on her lie but know I have to let it go. She was covering her tracks. I thought about this more, even if she knew me she did not know if I was authorized to get him so she still failed at her job either way. She looks good though to the principal and I look like the fool. I am not a problem-starter and would not have mentioned anything if I was not concerned. We are in the times that extra measures have to be taken to ensure the safety of our children.

I leave with this bit of information though. My sister along with a hundred other mothers were taking their kids home early today after a celebration. Every mother had to show id and the cards were pulled to ensure the safety of the children.

So if I had to be a fool to ensure the safety of my nephew and his school, so be it... I am the fool.

Dam or Damn

I picked my nephew up from school yesterday when he discovered some kids book in my car with the words "mad scientist" on it. Well smartypants is learning to read and decided that he found out that mad spelled backwards is dam. He thought he was bad with his new word. I explained to him that dam is a word and it is what beavers make in a river or stream to stop the water. I also explained to him that we really should not go around saying dam because it is also means a bad word when we put a n on it. One may ask, how does he know that word anyways.....Well you can blame his Nanny because this summer she hit the fence and was mad and used the one with the N on it. He repeated it and received a lecture. Also his Nanny and Bebob were having a heated argument one day when I took him outside in the rain so he would not hear it but munchkin was listening through the storm door when his Nanny said it in anger again. In her defense, that is the worse word she knows and it only comes out when she is mad. I found out later that his mommy uses it too in a fit of anger. SHHH!

On with the story, so he sits in the back seat saying...Oh Dam, Oh Dam, Dam. I turned around and told him that we do not say that word and he knows that and that I was just trying to explain the difference because he is so smart now. He looked at me with a straight face and informed me that he was not saying the Dam with the n on it but the beaver dam. I thought I was going to bend over laughing but I kept a straight face and gave a stern lecture. He may be smart but not smart enough for me to explain the context of what he was saying. He just thought he was getting away with a bad word.

Ohh to get in the mind of a child.

This reminded me of a story of me as a child in church. I was questioning the use of the word a$$. I did not understand why it was in the Bible but I could not say it. I just did not understand. My dad tried to explain to me that the use of it in the bible as another name for a donkey. ( He used the word in his sentences, though) Then he explained that it is a derogatory word now in today's society.
Well the next week in Wednesday night church, the subject was things we want God to forgive us of or others of. Well my mind was going. I knew my dad had used that word to explain to me the difference in context. In my mind I knew he had said the bad word. I wrote on my paper that my dad needed to be forgiven for bad words. The next day I was telling my mom all about Wednesday night church and forgiveness and I told her that I wrote my Dad's name down for saying the A word when he talked to me about it. I also told her the leaders were going to post them in the foyer so the church can see we are learning and asking for forgiveness. She about went through the roof. Needless to say a few phone calls later and my forgiveness poster was intercepted. I was still clueless as to why she was so upset that I had written for the whole church to see that my daddy needed forgiveness for saying bad words. I was being oh so honest on my forgiveness project.

Update... Should I be scared...

Yep, I did get scared.... one minute before my class. Nothing to do then but go forward.

I will not say I blew it away but I think I did a pretty good job. The professor told me she gave me all threes and fours out of a zero to four scale. I was happy. There were a few things I left out. I had a great closing. The students(my peers pretending to be high schoolers) were interactive and just loved when I hit on certain subjects. The professor afterwards told me to not pretend to be a teacher and to go up there as a marketing professional and my natural teacher will come out. She said when I started using my personal stories that the learning took off and my natural teacher came out with fire on the subject. I will heed that advice.
I did have to reprimand a few students. One was running late today for school but I had to treat him as a tardy student in my class. He is a really nice guy but I had to do it. I gave him his notes and quietly told him that Marketing is a Business class and in business it is important for us to be timely. I did not reprimand him in front of the class but quietly at his desk. When I finished the lesson and we evaluated it from the professor's point of view and from the student's point , he mentioned this. He said that he knew he was late but that I quietly reprimanded him but did not embarrass him. He said he knew I meant business and if we had class tomorrow he would be there on time and early. The other students were role-playing 11th graders so they were trying to chit-chat and over talk me. They received the teacher look and stopped, mostly.
Overall it was a good experience. Now , I just need the paperwork for my provisional license and for a job to come available. Please keep that in your prayers. I really need a good paying job with health insurance. In the mean time I will continue to lean on God. He knows my future.

Should I be scared...

In less than nine hours, I will stand in front of my classmates and present a 50 minute lesson on a marketing class. Yes, a 50 minute lesson to a bunch of adults that have to act like high schoolers. This will be my first "real" teaching as a teacher. I teach preschoolers every Sunday and sometimes do not prepare until 10Pm on Saturday night. I should be scared or worried, right. I substituted and had to teach a lesson on how to draw ladybugs but they were elementary schoolers. Should I be scared?

I know the material but have never had to present it in 50 minutes to real people before, just fake people in my imagination. Should I be scared?

Yes, I guess I should be a little scared but I am not. Maybe it has not hit me yet. I don't know. Maybe I guess I can wing it with no problem. I don't know. Maybe it is just the Lord letting me know this is where I need to be.

If you read this before 8:15 AM on Saturday , please lift a prayer for me to keep this peace and do great tomorrow.

With God All Things Are Possible.

I an do all things through Christ who Strengthens Me.

Then my ultimate favorite: Jer 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

You Butthead....

Yep, that is what I called a lot of people on my way home today in Hampton Roads traffic. But there was one big butthead in particular today. She was driving a new big tan Tahoe. Yep , you thought you were bad by not letting me over to get off on my exit with your big over sized SUV. No, I did not procrastinate getting over. Your entrance was right before my exit. See I slowed down so I could get behind you but No you slowed down too. Then when I sped up to get around you, you sped up too. I missed my exit because of this. When you finally sped passed me I looked over at you and you know what you were doing.... You know of course but now all of my two readers will know..... YOU WERE SUCKING YOUR THUMB !!!!

Yeah so you think you were big and bad but seeing you sucking your thumb really ruined your big and bad car syndrome. Actually reminded me of Little Man Syndrome. You earned the name BUTTHEAD today or should I say... THUMBSUCKER GROWN WOMAN HEAD!


Oh and an apology to my spiritual best friend Jen K. She already knows about this or I would not be blogging about it but I called her a butthead today too because she rang my cellphone as I was crossing five lanes of oncoming traffic and about scared me out of my pants. I did not know it was her , I just said, " what butthead is calling me now "after my heart rate went to about 199 after it rang. See I was not really calling her a butthead, that could have been anyone on the phone. I was calling anyone a butthead not her, yep that's my story and I am sticking to it.

Adoption Truths....

If you read my blog enough , you know I am an adoption advocate. You also know my sweet nephew is adopted. He was brought into our family at three months old. His biological mother gave him up at birth. His biological father would not come sign the papers because he did not want to acknowledge the birth. The adoption agency convinced him he had to for the baby to be placed. He did this after three months. See it was an affair and he finally convinced himself for it to go away he needed to do this. I thank them everyday even though they do not know it. We were given a great gift.

Well "little man" has become quite inquisitive about pregnancy lately. The subject did not come up and we did not talk about adoption or pregnancy. He told me awhile ago that he knows he came from another woman's belly. I asked my sister if they had talked about it and she said no and was puzzled. Today we were having lunch after church at a steakhouse. A pregnant woman walked by and "little man" told everyone she had a baby in her tummy. Then he asked his mommy if he had been in her belly before he was born. She told him that he was not in her belly but in another woman's belly. That woman loved him but could not care for him so she gave him to mommy and daddy. He asked why. She explained that the woman knew they wanted a baby boy and could love and care for him. He looked at her just as serious. We were all thinking, what is he thinking and what is he going to say next. The next thing he did was put his hand over his mouth, we all gasped not knowing what he was thinking. He then blurted out....."Mommy your breath stinks."
She had been eating sauteed mushrooms and garlic. He then walked over to his daddy and hugged him and said, " Her breath is real bad, daddy. " Well my sister and I chuckled it off but I had to go to the bathroom so that I could really laugh.

Oh, to get in the brain of this 6 year old .

Living with the Tide

Blue font because when I came home tonight I had waterfront property. Some people pay vookoo bucks for this and all I had to do was have a Northeasterner come through the area and voila.

When I left for work this morning, you know when you have a small business you must be open at every possible moment to earn that penny that someone may want to spend in the middle of what Mother Nature sends us, my street was beginning to flood. I had to go down another street which had a little less flooding. I went to work thinking , why are we open. We had a few customers come in but it was pointless. I was the one in charge today and knew that high tide would just wreak havoc on my already flooded street. No I do not live near the beach but when it is raining constantly and high tide , the water has no where to go but up. It cant go down. I decided at 2 to close. I called ahead and guess what , it was not high tide yet but my street was completely flooded. I had to go to my sister's house. The roads were horrible. So bad that I had to make a decision to drive or make a u-turn and try different routes that could be worse. I chose to move forward and pray that my not so old car made it through. It did, Praise the Lord.

I spent the afternoon at my sister's house with my nephew running wild because this is day three of no outdoor play and he is an outdoor kid. I decided to to have my brother in law drive me as far home as he could which was only about three houses into my street before dark. I then waded my way home. Just think this still was not high tide.

I never knew that my day would revolve so much around the tide. WOW, what a day!

Comfort Zones

We all have our comfort zones. I had lots of them. Had is a big word. These past few months I have had to step out to make some changes for the better in my life and future. What have I had to do?

• Start school again. Although only a 10 week program, an intense 10 week program. This will help me to progress in getting a teaching job in marketing. I have had to drive to a new school 30 minutes away and enter a class full of strangers, make these strangers my friends and the school mine for the time being.
• Observe at a public high school. That is a scary step if you have not been in a public high school in 18 years. I had to navigate my way to the specific classroom and observe the teachers and the students. Believe me when I say that today;s high school student is way different than I was 18 years ago.
• Introduce myself to a teacher who views me as a threat because I am fresh in the teaching market but have lots of marketing experience they may not have. They do not have tenure yet so the friendliness and helpfulness was lacking. I had to continue this for 3 solid weeks in which at the end they were a little friendly, I guess because I was leaving.
• Start substitute teaching. Oh my! That was an experience. I will not go into details, some of you have already heard. I will say as advice to anyone else that may step out of their comfort zone into teaching...Don't let your first day be at a downtown low-income school. Trust me, not a good combination of new substitute and street kids. I always loved fresh new crayons, it does not phase them. Crayons= break and make a weapon. I also was exposed to more than a street kid, ummmh way more of that street kid than I ever wanted to see.

As I have experienced many new things and challenges by stepping out of my comfort zone. I have to remember that God has placed me in every position and some good will come of it some how. I hope and pray I will have a real teaching job soon. In the mean time I hope I have made an impact in the lives of people that have crossed my path. Despite my terrible day as a substitute, one little girl found me later, hugged me and said , "I really like you." Lord, please let me remember that moment forever especially as more things change in my life that require that comfort zone to stretched. May I reflect your light in all I do and you are preparing me for my new future.

Thanks to all my encourager's, especially Jen at Noodles Nest on my side bar for keeping me on track and pushing me to step out of that zone. Thanks also to Mike T, the hubby of Jenn #2 on my side bar for that special prayer you wrote me this week to encourage me. You made me see the bright point of my bad day and the lasting impression that I may have had on that one little girl.

Several Things

Life has been so busyfor me the last few weeks that I have been meaning to post some things but remember after I turn the computer off to go to bed. I also am the one that thinks in my head about the blogs I read... well when are they going to update, it has been a week already. Yet I am guilty myself.

My life has been so crazy. I have returned to school to prepare for my teaching license through Virginia Department of Education and Old Dominion University. This has required commuting alot to Virginia Beach in rush hour traffic two nights a week. This should be a 45 minute drive at most but in rush hour it is almost a 2 hour drive. I also have to observe a high school marketing for 30 hours before the program ends November 21 but since the last week is school Monday through Saturday 8-4, I have to have observations over by November 13. Of course, the high school that was chosen for me was the high school farthest from where I live in my city. On top of all this I am still trying to work at the bookstore to make ends somewhat meet ( at least get gas money). I also have been writing a lesson plan that I have to present to fellow peers for 50 minutes in November. Today was the deadline for turning it in and at the last minute I had all these thoughts to add. Pray for me to lose my nervousness on the November 20th. I am more intimidated teaching peers than I am high schoolers. As of today , I am now a substitute teacher for my city which involved orientation too. I also am in a ladies Bible Study one night a week.I am a preschool Sunday School teacher and help out on Wednesday nights with Kids Ark at church. I also try to fit my nephew in as a priority. He and I have an awesome bond and he calls me to see if I am coming to see him or if I have to go to school every night. So my posts have been few because of a lack of time and mental capacity.

Now for the posts I have thought about:

Last Wednesday night, church was cancelled because H1N1 hit the children's department. I had planned to go see my nephew but his other grandaddy took ill so they took off for Ohio. (His grandaddy had a heart attack but is doing better.) So I found myself with an hour or two to myself. I took off for Target. I only had enough money for shampoo and a few necessities. I scrounged enough for the popcorn and soda combo before I left. It was a very nice teenage black male working the register. He told me my total was, " one sssssssssssixty sssssix." I smiled and gave him my money. I was thinking about telling him a story about my brother having a terrible stutter when he was young or not to tell him. There was no one behind me so I said, "I noticed you stutter with your S's." He agreed. I went on to tell him that my brother stuttered bad when he was young but that now he can stand in front of a congregation and preach or give a lecture with no problem. He smiled from ear to ear. His response, " Thank you so much for telling me that." I told him to keep working on it and not to let people bring him down or tease him and he agreed and wished me a great day. As I walked away and looked back, he still had that big smile on his face. See I almost did not tell him that story but God nudged me. I will never know the outcome but I walked away knowing I did what I was supposed to do.

On to another subject. My nephew came back home last night and yes I skipped Bible Study to go see him since he was away six days. He does not like me going to school at all. It disrupts his "aunty time". He asked me if I had school the next night and I told him that it was Wednesday and then asked him what we do on Wednesdays. His response , " We get to go to church." I reflected on that because I was thinking , tomorrow is Wednesday and I HAVE TO GO TO CHURCH. What a thought that child put in my head. I don't have to go to church on Wednesday , I get to go to church and have that freedom. Wow, what you can learn from a six year old.

This will leave you laughing hysterically or upheaving hysterically. I was at church in the parking lot running my mouth to my co-worker and I inhaled. Now get your mind out of the streets, nothing illegal. I inhaled a bug. Yes, a BUG. I was jabbering so much he flew in when I inhaled a deep breath. Nothing I could do then. I tried to make him come out by coughing and trying to dry heave , it is one of the only times I have every wanted to dry heave but he was gone for good. My nephew said, "Just stop it is just a bug." Just stop it is just a bug means try harder it is a nasty bug. Little did that buggy know his life would end that way and little did I know his life would end that way. So in a day or so I report that I am not feeling well it will be because I really do have..... THE BUG.

Well folks, that is a few of the posts I have thought about lately and have been meaning to blog about. Instead of several small ones you get one big one. Bigger is better, right.

72 Years!!!

Long before I was thought about and long before my mother was born a man and woman met and fell in love. Today my grandparents celebrated 72 years of marriage. KUDOS to them and Praise God!

What an accomplishment! We celebrated at a bitter sweet short reception at church. Sweet because of the celebration of their marriage. Bitter because this is one of their last visits to church because it is too hard on them to get up and going now. We then went as a family out to Red Lobster. It was a nice day.

Disappointment...

All day yesterday and today I was looking forward to going to the local Greek Fest and purchasing my pastitio dinner that they only offer twice a year. Yesterday because of a misunderstanding I did not go. Today I ate a light lunch and was waiting for my mom to get off so we could go. We arrived and my pastitio was sold out. I was so disappointed.

I need to marry me a Greek man so I can have his momma cook for me. Is that being too picky?

Fall Fest last week

Just thought you might like to see a few cute pics of my nephew and his friend from church we have been entertaining on Sundays to give Grandma a break since she is a full-time caregiver to him while momma is away in the military.

This area they had was a small hay area for kids, I mean small. They had hay strewn all over, pumpkins, kiddie pitchforks, shovels and rakes. These two boys played for hours in this little area. It was great.

Bowling Alley Fries

I love bowling alley fries. You know the crinkly cut fries that are cooked to perfection with just the right crisp and saltiness with loads of ketchup. UMMMH! How do I know so much about them? Well I grew up spending every Saturday hanging out at the bowling alley. I was there so much I would cook my own. UMMH! You wonder why I am fat.

Well , I just discovered that the chinese restaurant near our business sells french fries. Not just french fries but what I refer to as Bowling Alley fries. In the last two weeks I have had them twice and that is once too many. I am in trouble now because they cook them just right too. The right crispness, the right brownness, then I add my own salt and ketchup. OH BOY!

I know this is not on my healthy lifestyle and exercise kick but see I have flopped. I am in school again two nights a week and all day on Saturday. I have committed to a Bible Study one night and then have church the other night. I am also trying to work full-time too so I have back-slidden and lets not talk about exercise. No wont go there, will I.

Here is my agenda.... I will stay away from the chinese bowling alley fries for at least a week. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can. Thats a small goal. I can succeed.

Two years ago this week...

Two years ago this week my sweet cat disappeared. He went out when my father went to get the paper even though to this day he swears it did not happen. For those of you who followed my AOL journal you know he was found five days later underneath my neighbor's deck. We were ecstatic.

This morning at 7 AM I knew he was on my blanket. I fell asleep on the recliner and woke up at 7 am and he moved because I repositioned. I went back to sleep and when I awoke he was gone. He did not bulldoze the door down when I was in the shower like he does every morning. He was no where to be found. My first thoughts were that my father had went out to get the paper and oh mercy he ran out. This would be out of character though since he went out two years ago he stays clear of the door unless a stray is out there. There is a new stray out there now too, a real ugly one .( Side note my other strays have disappeared the last as recently as Sunday and I miss him because he was adorable. I lose one I gain one, they know where to come for food, God must send them)

We tore apart the house looking in every nook and cranny this cat could go. No cat. I have been to every room like I did two years ago, no cat. I am shaking his treats and calling his name for almost an hour, no cat. My dad has been in the garage, no cat. I go outside, there is a cat, not my cat, it is the ugly stray. I go back in totally distraught. I go back through the house again, no cat. I go back in the garage and sit there for a few minutes and shake his treats and lo and behold he comes out from the Christmas tree. He had evidently snuck out when my father went out there to get some clothes out of the dryer. Needless to say I was very delighted to find him and he was very delighted to be found.

Glad he was found but next October he is going on a leash.

Christmas Shopping

Well I started Christmas shopping today online, that is. Usually by now I am almost done because I pick things up all year and at the after Christmas sales. Normally I have this nice pile of gifts. This year because of the economy and my financial situation, I have not been browsing stores and picking up all year and I did not make it to a single sale. This really stressed me the other day.

I can now proudly report that I have bought half the presents for two people. WOOHOO! I found these cool leakproof hot/cold beverage containers for my parents.

Now only 15 more people and two halves to go. AHHHH!

Why waste the cake?

I was so excited today for my preschool Sunday School Class. We had a birthday, we have not had one in a few months. I splurged and bought chocolate cupcakes with buttercream white icing. Every single little munchkin licked all the icing off and left the cupcake. So next time I am going to get me an icing pipe and just make these cool designs with sprinkles on wax paper and let the kids go to town because all they do is waste the cake. They could have at least broke the tops off and eaten the big pile of icing with a little layer of cake, like I did myself :) It was good too. My new philosophy with them.... DONT WASTE THE CAKE JUST SEND ICING.

Two Signs that made me chuckle today...

Yes red font because I was full of rage and anger this morning in traffic. This traffic has never affected me because when I was going somewhere it was not during peak traffic. This week I have had to drive to VA Beach everyday for school. Monday was not bad but Tuesday-Thursday I have had traffic problems.

Today my drive was almost two hours. It should be 45 minutes. I crept all the way to the tunnel which was at a halt because of car break-down at 5:30 AM. It is now 7 AM and it is still backed up. Then traffic cleared and there was another back up because of an accident. As I sat there going about 2-10 MPH. I saw this sign...... SPEED CHECKED BY RADAR BY AIRCRAFT. Well my goodness that is a waste of tax payers dollars if they use the helicopter today. Though you know a high speed of 10 MPH may warrant speeding at this point.

On the way home there was another traffic delay. Once again the maximum speed had to be 10 MPH and we were bumper to bumper. This sign read.... CONGESTION AHEAD BE ALERT. Wow, congestion is ahead, woohoo then this must be free-flowing traffic.

When you are stuck in all this mess you have to find humor in something. I had all sorts of things to say to all the drivers around me and VDOT today but I will save you from that because they were not so funny. :) The plus side to this is I have had some things to blog about. Right!

F.Y.I.

I believe that when I get myself in a situation and learn something that I should share it, especially when it has happened twice.

I was doing my homework this evening and laid my heavy book on the keyboard. When I removed the book , it hit some keys and the whole screen turned sideways. I was not happy.

See, this had happened before when my nephew was playing with the keys. I had no idea how to fix it and either did my guru cousin. I finally resorted to turning my monitor sideways for a few days. Then I did something to fix it but did not know what.

So I researched this tonight with my whole screen sideways and my head too trying to read how to fix it. Here goes..... Hit the control key, alternate key and the arrow key in the direction you want it to go. Well I had to do it twice to get it right side up, but that is me, part blonde. Voila! A right side up screen.

Now you can make me feel good when you comment by saying that happened to you one time because I know I am not the only crazy person in the world that this has happened to...I just know I am not. Well obviously I am not since there was a link on how to fix it. Maybe it was created just for me though.... You never know.

Confessions of Meanness

Yes this sweet girl can be quite mean sometimes.

Yes, I did refuse to let a guy over today after being stuck in traffic for 40 minutes. No I was not going to let him over when he knew for miles he needed to get over and he rode the closing lane all the way to the end to get to the front.

Yes, when he tried to nudge his car in front of mine, I did move my car forward so he could not sneak in.

Yes, I did shake my head no when he motioned for me to let him in.

Yes, he did flip me the finger.

Yes, my evil twin came out and laughed as I drove by him.

Yes, I was late for class but he did not get in front of me... Have I said that already.


UPDATE: The Lord wanted me to learn a lesson for being mean. I have a flower picture in my room with scripture. I can not quote the whole verse but here is the summation.... Be known for the Beauty that comes from within, the Beauty that only God can give..... I was not showing my Godly Beauty yesterday at all. Sorry!

I'll take care of it myself, Grandpa

Kids, you have to love them. You never know what they might say or do. It can be quite comical sometimes.

Just now I was at the front of our store with the door open. A little girl about three was walking the sidewalk with her Grandpa. He had told her that if she just gave him whatever item she had in her hand that her walk would be so much easier. I can not tell you exactly what she had but it was small enough to have in her hand yet big enough to be a nuisance obviously. She looked at her Grandpa and said , " I don't need to give this to you. I'll take care of it myself." As she finished her sentence she proceeded to pull on her waistband pants and place it in her panties. Grandpa just looked at her.

You know I had was cracking up in the store because you never ever know what a kid will do. Do you? Now, I just hope that what she had can not hurt her because she just put that somewhere that I do not thing Grandpa is going to venture to fetch it.

Kids... gotta love them.

Scared me to death...

I wonder if the heart attack rate has increased since GPS systems have become so popular. See, mine scares me half to death when I am driving alone minding my business, singing to myself or praying then all of a sudden I hear this voice, " Keep left ahead." It scares the heeby-jeebies out of me and I totally forgot she was on. You know if you are on the verge of a heart attack that she would send you right into one.

The GPS also likes to turn on by herself sometimes. I am heading somewhere around town and she all of a sudden tells me to make a u-turn when possible. First off,I have to recover my heartbeat because she has scared me again. Secondly, I didn't know she was on . Thirdly, where is she trying to send me after being off for a week or more and mysteriously turning back on. It is a wonder I have not had an accident or a heart attack.

Maybe my Tom-Tom is just possessed. Hmmh!

Is it feed a cold and starve a fever...

Is the old wives tale... Feed a cold and starve a fever or vice-versa. What if you have a cold and a fever, do you starve or eat.... hmmh.

Today I am fighting a cold. At first I was not hungry but as the day progressed, I was hungrier and hungrier. I ate and ate.

You know you are true food addict when you eat it but you can not taste it but you keep eating it because in your mind you know it is good.
Now that is bad, real bad. HELP!

Question of the Day...

Were mosquitoes created because of sin?

and how about the fly too?

Both are about to drive me crazy.

Prayer Request

This past week has been a whirlwind. My 95 year old grandfather fell going into the dentist office last Wednesday. He went to the ER and then was transferred to another hospital and had a minor heart problem in the ambulance. He was kept two nights for observation and tests. Everything turned out fine.

Today he took a swig of his nutritional shake. He told my grandmother it was not good and then started getting extremely sick. My mom rushed up there and discovered the Ensure was not Ensure but something blue. See she had seen a bottle laying around the house earlier in the week that looked unused and put it in the fridge thinking my grandfather took it out and never drank it. Come to find out he had been using this can to hold a cleaning liquid with no label other than the Ensure label. Poison control was called and it was looked up, it was non-poisonous, Praise the Lord but he was still extremely sick. She decided to take him to the ER in which they looked it up also and said it was non-poisonous and gave him some nauseous meds and sent home. She is staying the night to keep an eye on him tonight.

Please pray for him to gain strength and feel better tomorrow. She feels so bad about the situation. She never thought there was anything in there but Ensure. Please pray for my mom emotionally too because if something happened to him from this incident I dont think she would ever forgive herself and I know her sibling would not because her sibling has already said this was her fault along with him falling last week. Last week she was helping him to the dentist's door and he pushed her away and told her he was fine and to go get her mother out of the hot car. She listened to him because he is a very proud and stubborn man. As soon as she got to the car to get my grandmother , he fell.

I told her none of this is her fault. At the dentist office he pushed her away and this bottle should have been labeled. Anyone of the younger great-grandkids could have opened it thinking it was chocolate milk and been sick too.

I have a few choice words for her sibling because things are going to happen on my mom's watch because she is there so much taking care of them while her sibling is out and about doing her thing. Her sibling thinks meeting them at the doctor's office is taking care of them. They should not have to meet her at 91 and 95. She should pick them up. Refer to one of my previous posts where they got lost trying to find her and a stranger calls me to tell me they are lost and confused.

Only problem with all this stress is I turn to junk food and sodas. I know I shouldn't but I do.

I love blogs. I can vent and not blow up about things in person but soon the time is coming to blow up at a certain family member.

What you need to hear when you need to hear it..

This evening I was at my cousin's house for a joint birthday party for two of her children. The living room cleared out and I was sitting caddy-cornered to my grandfather. I had been looking at my reflection in the glare in the window and thinking what a mess I was. My hair and I are not getting along right now. It also needs to be colored and/or highlighted again. My stomach was sticking out and my spare tires were being accentuated. I was sitting there thinking , wow you are pitiful. Look at that stomach, look at your fat face in that reflection, your clothes are out of date and non-becoming, your hair is sad. You are one ugly thing right now and you are in a funk and looking uglier and fatter by the day. All of this was in my mind as I looked at my reflection.

All of a sudden , out of the blue, my 95 year old grandfather looked at me and said....
" You sure look pretty tonight. I don't know why tonight you look so much prettier than usual but you really do."

I wanted to cry. It is like God made him say that because only God knows my thoughts.

I hope to remember that in years to come and a special memory of my grandfather and saying what I needed to hear at the moment I needed to hear it.

Working with Family and Pringles

Working with family is such a joy!

Well sometimes it is and sometimes it is not.

Saturday I bought a can of Pringles. You know the new Super Stack with 100 chips in there. No, I was not going to have the whole can but figured I would eat them with lunch the next week. Every time my mom came up to the front to talk to me she had some of my Pringles in her hand. I did not say anything because I am nice like that. This morning I came in and glanced at my desk and it looked normal. I went to the office to my brother's desk to say something to him and there was a can of Pringle's. MY PRINGLES. You see my desk looked normal because I do not usually have Pringle's on my desk but he usually does but these were mine. I guess working with family you learn that what is mine is yours and what is yours is mine.I guess I also can not fuss because there have been many times that he thought he had some Pringles in his can before his day off and came back to an empty can. OOPS! Did I do that?

What a Bummer!

It was one bummer of a night but we made the best of it. On Saturday nights in August our city has movie night at the Fountain. We went to almost all of them last year. Last week's snuck up on us since Saturday was August 1, so we did not go. Tonight we went to see "Hotel for Dogs". Well we thought we were going to see it. We found a good spot to put our chairs. My nephew was having a blast rolling down the hill. I went walking to find dinner. I should have known when I found a Mexican restaurant, ordered and what should have been 10 minutes was 30 minutes that it was going to be a bummer night. Guess what now? When I stepped outside it was raining. I was so frustrated. We stayed for awhile hoping it would pass over. Then we went to the car to eat after they announced we were under a severe thunderstorm watch and tornado warning. See it was raining so bad we could not see and we had a motorized scooter on the back. Well we waited and ate and waited and waited and waited. Yep that long. We finally left the lot at 9:30 and it was still raining. It took us 30 minutes to get home and it should have only been a 15 minute drive. Well we tried to make the best of it. We ate our tacos and turned the DVD player on with Casper, so we still had a movie....but I was really looking forward to "Hotel for Dogs."


WEEKLY UPDATE ON THINGS

Speedo man was back at Water Country on Wednesday. Oh Joy! This time he even practiced his muscle competition poses. Oh Joy! There is still something not so right about a man in a Speedo more or less an old man in a Speedo. Muscle man or no muscle man, men do not need to wear Speedo's.

STRAY CAT UPDATE

I guess she can not be called a stray anymore when she lives under my house and I feed her. Today I came home early and was calling her. She came running from the backyard with her catch of the day, another bird. I was horrified but she dropped it and was meowing away at her present. Needless to say she did not get praised. Sorry but I sprayed her with water and said, NO NO! Well not a lot of water just enough for her to know that it is a no-no. I know it is natural but after two opossums, three birds, a rat , a mouse and bunny. I am horrified. I may have to stop feeding her. Maybe when my cousin builds her house in September on the farm in NC , she will take this one with her. I love all animals but I do not like casualties.

I am mad...

I am mad. I am very mad at a family member. Same family member that almost had me kicked out of Rockefeller center two years ago after the Rockette's when she decided to get in my face when I called her out on something. I do not do this until I have really had it and I had really had it with her in NY. I thought about not posting this because of this person but only one person that reads my blog knows who she is in real life and I do not really care right now. It is my blog and I can write whatever I want.

This aunt of mine, well she is a doozy to deal with. She is the oldest child and is manipulative and needs to be in control and feel important. She has informed my grandparents, her parents ( my mom's parents too ) that she is the only one who can take her parents to the doctor. She is in control of them medically. She has also bought them through the years and they never stand up to her either. Well you see, both her and my mom have power of attorney, she is not in control. My mom has decided some battles are worth battling and some are not so she has stopped battling until today. You see last week while on vacation my aunt broke her arm and can not drive. My mom and my cousin both informed her that my mom could take my 91 and 95 year old grandparents to their doctor's appointments during this time. Oh no, she would have no part of this. She has convinced my granddad at 95 to come pick her up at home before going to appointments. Well, today she had an appointment within one hour of an appointment for them. She had her daughter take her to her appointment and informed my grandfather to come pick her up. She gave him some shoddy directions. I get a phone call at our business from a familiar number but I did not recognize the voice. To cut some details out,it is my grandparents cell number and I am informed from this lady that she is in a parking lot with my grandparents and they are confused and lost. See my aunt had them going to a place they had never been. I left work to go meet them so at this point I am furious. Furious because she is so selfish and controlling that she sent them to somewhere they did not know and put them in a vulnerable position. I get to where they are and tell my grandfather I am driving and he quickly got out despite being 95. He usually will say something to defend her. He knew I was mad, not at them , but at her and he had nothing to say.

I was told to go pick her up. I went to look for her and at age 36 with the directions she gave me, I could not find the place. I am just getting madder and madder. At this point, I called my mom and said a few words like.. "to h*&# with my aunt, I am taking them to their doctor's appointment and she can sit at the office until someone comes to get her. " ( Sorry guys, I only use profanity when I am mad and that word is actually in the Bible.) My mom is in another part of town and is the go-between because when I tried to call my aunt she did not answer her cell phone. I would love to have seen her face when she found out I was not coming to pick her up and I was taking them to the doctor , not her. When my mom informed her, you know what she said..."Well how am I going to get home?" No inquiries on how her parents are, only about her. I almost called her back to tell her butt to walk home but at this point my mind is on getting my grandmother to her appointment. Well we get there and I get her in the office and I am in the office with my grandmother and the doctor. She comes waltzing in, she had my cousin come and get her and take her to my grandmother's appointment. She walks in and I am the one talking to the doctor and she is not happy. Even after she arrives the doctor continues to talk to me and not her and I just sat and listened. I know it was killing her. I was actually blocked and could not leave. I saw my police officer cousin in the hallway beckoning me to come out. Number one, he was scared there was going to be an argument in the doctor's office and was trying to get me out before words were exchanged. You see his wife was in NY when the fallout happened at Rockefeller Center and she was scared. Number two, he was my ride back to my vehicle. My aunt looked at me and said, " Thank you sweetie, you are such a sweetheart." See ever since the Ny incident she has kissed my butt because she knows she pushed me too far that night. I have been cool to her ever since. I gave her my look that kills and answered her with this, " Fefe has to go to the bathroom." . You see I know when the proper time is and when it is not. This situation is far from over though. Far from over.

Do you know that the wrong person could have been in that parking lot and taken full advantage of my grandparents? There are some crazy people out here.

How can she be this selfish and controlling? Well I could write a month of blogs on that one.
My sister called me and was mad at me for not driving my grandparents home. She was afraid my aunt would be mad and yelling at them for getting lost. She probably would. I could not drive them and her back home because then I would be 35-40 minutes from my car with no way home. Wow, how did someone get mad at me for trying to find them and getting them to where they should be? How did I become the bad guy?

I had to borrow $5 from my cousin to get a late lunch because I flew out of work with nothing but my keys and license, nothing but $2 in my pocket. Did you know that $7 at Fazoli's will only buy you a double slice of pizza and a drink. I was starving and very thirsty and had to decide between food and drink. I finally saw pizza and a drink was $6.11. Did you know a double slice of pizza from Fazoli's is equal to one slice of pizza anywhere else? Did you know when I took it back to work, my mom was hungry too and ate part of it?


Did I also mention this was the last night of VBS at church and the AC would not cool the room below 81 all week?

What a day!

Just think, Saturday is a work day for me. No rest for the weary.

I was beat up today...

I really was beat up today but not by a customer... I know it will happen one day when I lose it on a crazy person and go ballistic.
I was beat up by objects and things. This morning I hit my hip on an opened drawer in the kitchen. It hurt too. I went into work and scratched my arm on a sharp edged box. Then just a few moments later someone had placed a plexiglass object under the counter but had the corner sticking out. You got it, I hit it. It caused a poke and a scratch on my leg. We had VBS at church and I was helping with the projector and somehow scratched my other arm and was bleeding but I was clueless until someone pointed it out. Oh it does not stop there. When I came home the cat was blocking the bathroom door and evidently he was in a mood too and decided to smack and bite the other leg because I moved my foot too close to him.
Is it bedtime yet because I really do not have many limbs left today that are willing to take a punch or puncture?

A thought and a rant...

Why do you keep eating fresh salsa from a mexican restaurant even though it is so hot your tongue is burning and you are crying?
Honestly, I kept digging in for more. I guess I was thinking that if I kept eating the heat would go away. I just don't know why I punish myself sometimes. Yes it is fresh and good but that zip is just too much but I keep on dipping. Oh my why !

And now for the rant....
Why would you come in my store and ask for my help for a bridal shower gift and then find something wrong with everything I show you? Honestly, I do not think you wanted my help. I showed her all sorts of things. Everything was too small, too big, too much, too cheap and on and on. Then she asked if I had a devotional the young lady could read. I go to that section and pull some great books. Then she responds, that she does not know her denomination so she does not want a devotional. I am frustrated at this point and politely tell her to look around and I am floating if she needs help. She looks in the book section and appears with one of the devotionals I showed her that she did not want. Can you guess what she said? She said, I found a book here I think she will like. Oh yeah she found the book that I had already suggested. ARRGH! Sometimes it takes all my might to keep my mouth shut. I did suggest she buy a gift card to someplace the bride is registered at , she informed me that when you buy a gift card then they know how much you spent so she was going to give her this book with a check in it. Ok, I know she does not know what you paid for the little book but she will know what you wrote the check for which is no different than a gift card. ARRGH!

Another one.
One lady came in today wanting me to tell her how to start a library . Honestly, I have no idea. I am a bookstore not a library. Go to a library and ask them how to start a library. Actually what she was hinting at is that she wanted to know who our book distributors were and where we get our books. Sorry but that is classified, I want to still be here next month. You can buy your books for your library from us, thank you. Bookstore business is tough. I had another lady come in and wanted all of our old catalogs so she could order some books from the companies. Come on people, we have not been in this business for 30 years to just give out all the information we have learned.
One man came in asking for a Bible stand, as I pulled out a catalog and turned to the page he kept asking me if he can order it direct, I told him no that I could drop ship it to his home. Come to find out he is a business and was trying to find out who my vendor was. I was distracted by another customer and he turned the book getting the information off the back of the catalog when I curtly removed the book from his hand and informed him that was my information and it would remain that way. You would never believe what we go through. Some may say we are not helpful, no we are not when you are trying to cut our throat. We already compete with the big chains, internet, the Wally Worlds , publishers selling direct and so much more. So no I am not going to tell you where I get my books from as a retailer.
WOW! Sorry I am done ranting now.

Those of you who know me in real life, know that I am not an aggressive person. I am pretty much laid back and go with the flow. When it comes to the business and fighting for every dime so I can be ensured a paycheck, you bet I become aggressive. I actually get so flabbergasted at how bold people are these days. Sometimes I really think that I am the abnormal one in society and all of these customers are normal. That is scary.... By the way, I think I need a vacation.

A Rant and a Rave...

Two part post... First the rant.

Why do people want to act like being adopted is bad or a joke?

Today I was behind some young adults on a train at Busch Gardens. They were joking on each other and their mommas. Two of them must have been siblings because at first he said that his momma was her momma and what not. She turned and laughed and said, my mom isn't really your momma because you are adopted. Oh my, something inside of me raged. I did not say anything but boy did I want to. The first thought was that I was so glad my nephew was not with me this time on the train. Then I wanted to cry.

Adoption is awesome. God placed the child in that home as a blessing. I thought about approaching them in kindness and saying that adoption is nothing to tease about, really it is great. Love is not based on birth or blood. I love my nephew so much and it does not cross my mind 99% of the time that he is adopted. He looks like us and acts like us. ( Except the kid loves to be outdoors all day, biological father was a construction worker) When does it cross my mind, well when we are out in a big place like Busch and wonder if his biological parents are around. It took me a long time to call them his biological parents because they really are not his parents, my sister and her husband are his parents. But then I think they did love him enough to know they could not care for him and provide him a good life that they placed him where another set of parents could. I am thankful for this everyday.

People, being adopted is not shameful and it is not to be joked about. Your parents are who raise you and love you regardless of bloodline.

We are told a lot that my nephew was blessed to have us and I correct them and tell them that no we are blessed to have him. He is such a delight in our life.

Now on to my rave... You may just need a staycation.

Today our plans were messed up because my brother-in-law ended up being off and we would not have munchkin. He had asked us if we wanted to go to Busch Gardens and we told him to call us when he decided to go. Well he went and did not call. Sometimes he is inconsiderate. We eventually called him and met them at Busch for about an hour. Well after that we decided to enjoy lunch at one of the restaurants that we want to go to because every time we go we are always having to please munchkin or my dad. Well we went to the Smokehouse for some ribs, good chicken and brisket. We took our time eating and my mom even had dessert. From there we headed to the Caribou Pottery where we used to paint ceramics. My mom finished a piece she was working on and I sat , read and conversated. It was a great afternoon. I called it our mini staycation. We did not really go anywhere but we were away from all the stress of work and family. As much as I love going to Busch with munchkin , it was refreshing to be there with no obligations.

If you need to get away, you don't always have to go away. Just find a local park or coffee spot and leave the stress at home or work for a few hours. It really is refreshing.

Happenings...

WARNING ANY MEN MAY WANT TO STOP HERE...

TODAY IS A WOMANS POST

Today I was blessed. I went in for my yearly checkup from my surgery in 07. I was prepared to pay for the visit even though I was broke. I had borrowed money to cover the visit. The receptionist said, put your money up you have a $154 credit. I was flabbergasted because I have no medical insurance now and knew that I would be getting a bill from my previous visit between my copay and the uninsured amount. I did give praise the to the Lord for that and continued to do so throughout the day. I still tried to figure out the credit but can not figure out where it came from. Oh well, I guess it is not meant for me to figure out. Praise the Lord!

Now for you women that procrastinate your well-woman check-ups. JUST GO! I learned in 07 that if you procrastinate it only makes things worse. Then you may end up in the hospital where all the doctors want to look at your HOOHA. Go yearly and it is just you the doctor and the nurse. Well that is unless you are me and then it is your doctor, his resident, the nurse and guess what, she was training a nurse too. So four people were in there for my much hated appointment. Talk about uncomfortable. It was still less in that room than in my surgery room in 07 and I am sure less than the number in the delivery room too. My point is just go and have it done, get it over with. The worry is worse than the few minutes of embarrassment.

On to other things. I think I am going to hire my nephew to work with us at our christian bookstore. Since he is 6 , he has the ability to say things and get away with it. Today a lady came in and asked if we carried film for a camera. I told her no and he responded too. He said, " Film for a camera, Golly, we are a Christian Bookstore, we don't have film." He had me rolling. If I had said that, I would have been rude. A six year old says it and it is cute, go figure.

Oh well, off to rest, I was up at 5:30 AM because I was afraid I would out sleep the alarm at 6:30 AM for my doctors appointment. I don't do mornings very well.

Pondering Thoughts 2

1- We were Blessed yesterday. My mom picks one weekday to go and spend the day with my grandparents. She goes to stay a few hours but because of their needs she ends there all day doing various things. (Side note: She also goes up one day on the weekend if they do not go to church.) Well because of this and my work schedule, no dinner was fixed. I received a phone call from a dear friend that lives two houses down who had just buried her grandmother the day before. Their family had been given so much food from their church that they were wondering if they could send us a tray full of spaghetti. We were delighted. They were able to bless us with things that people had made to bless them during their grievance. They are only a family of four and they had enough food for 30. She was also able to bless another neighbor too. Thank you , Lord.

2- I have no tolerance for 8-12 year old girls. I can not go into detail because I always worry someone will read it and know who I am referring to. I have not figured out if I really do not like this age girls or if the three girls I have encountered in three different places are not the normal girl in that age group. One whines constantly and nothing is ever fair, one mooches and is manipulative, oh I could tell you some stories on her that would make your head spin, she has everyone snowed but me and my mom then the last one just rewords or asks questions that I already answered. For instance, we discussed flip-flops. I told her I don't care for flip flops. She asked why. I explained that I do not like the feeling of things between my toes. Her response, why don't you like things between your toes. I wanted to scream because God made me this way. We then continued onto other questions in which she would ask a question based on what I had just answered. She was the 12 year old too. I felt like my nephew was back in the "WHY? Three year old stage". I had to deal with this girl for hours. If you have a girl in this age group , maybe I need to come hang out with you to see if these girls I am dealing with are abnormal. I really hope these three are abnormal because I really do love kids .

3-I really need a pedicure... Anyone have $25 I can borrow?

4-Please uplift my friend Angela and her family in prayer. Less than a month ago they had to put their dear 6 year old dog to sleep then last Sunday her grandmother died. I know you cant put a pet's life on the same level as a human life but that is a lot of heartbreak for one family in one month. Please also uplift another friend of mine, B, she is going through a lot with medical issues with her mom and husband right now.

5- For those of you that read my blog will be happy to know that I threw away a pair of shoes, it is a start. GO ME!

6- Why do people feel the need to talk and smack their lips when their mouths are full of food? We offer free cheap cookies at work and customers pick one up and continue to chomp, munch, grunt and smack their food while they are asking me a question. I really hate that and have considered doing away with the cookies for that purpose.

7- Why do customers feel that I am not worthy of their attention while they are on their cell phones while I wait on them? So many times I have almost said, when you are done on the phone I will wait on you until then I am not. People this is so rude. The cashier or salesperson is worthy of your attention too. Do you think they really want to know about your brother's woman or what Sister Carol is going to make for Wednesday night supper? Oh and don't get peeved if someone hears your conversation and says something about what they heard, you are the one broadcasting it to everyone. You want it to be private, have the conversation in your car or at home. It is not eaves-dropping if you are talking loudly in a public place. What would life be without a cell phone? Peaceful, maybe.

8- For tourists and a lot of locals that frequent tunnels around here... Why do you put your brake on as you enter the tunnels around here? Honestly, I want to get in and get out, not stop and look around. Just keep going. Your one brake light causes at least a mile of more brake lights. Besides, if there is a leak , do you want to be in there, oh no, I want to be in and out fast. JUST GO!

9- I finally figured out how to start a new paragraph when blogger is giving you an attitude. I remembered my old HTML code ,,,, you have to use the less than sign then letters br and then the greater than sign. I cant show you because then it would just start a new paragraph when I posted this.
Well that is it for now folks. This is just a glimpse of part of my week and my crazy thoughts.

Pondering Thoughts...

1- When I was a kid , did my parents have to worry about what movies I was watching? My nephew stayed the night last night and he found his Scooby-Doo DVD that I thought I had thrown away about five times. Well it keeps reappearing. What do I have against Scooby-Do0? Well until this DVD nothing. I watched it when I was a kid, I did not care for it but stations were limited and at 6PM, it was the only thing on besides the news. This DVD talks about witches. Ok, I don't believe in sheltering our kids from make-believe. I do believe in imagination and they should know the difference in real and make believe and he does. But this DVD not only has witches but it talks about and mentions WICCA. Now you are hitting reality. He did ask me why he can not watch this and in the past I just said... "Because I said so." Well last night I decided to tell him in a 6 year old way without mentioning WICCA or witches as to why I do not like that DVD. I told him that it mentions things that go against what we learn at church( at home too). That DVD mentions things that go against Jesus and God and we believe in Jesus and God not other things. You know what he said... OK and we took it out. I personally believe witches are make believe but WICCA is another story, they take it to another crazy level.
I dont remember my parents having to be so cautious back then. Although, I do remember watching Dirty Dancing at my best friend's house and thought my momma would kill me. She now watches it with me.

2-I got on the scale today and am only 7 pounds from what my lowest weight was last year. Most people would be discouraged but I was encouraged. I had gained 15 but have slowly lost the 8, so I was happy.

3-How come movie theater food is so expensive? We took advantage of the free family movies at Regal today. We saw Madagascar 2. The movie was free but the snacks were $12.50 for a large popcorn and soda. WOW! I could have had a steak. Granted you get free refills and believe me I got a refill before I left even if I fed the birds with it. That was $12.50. Oh and don't think about sneaking snacks in, they do a bag check when you enter. They wanted me to throw away my bottled water that I always have in my purse and I refused.

4-Why are people at the Y so inconsiderate of others? I chose to workout during my nephews Karate camp at the Y. I was getting on a machine that had been empty for a few minutes and this woman came up and said, " I am not done with that machine." Well excuse me for assuming because it had been empty for a few minutes that it was not in use. Previously she had been sitting there talking and not working out. Well I gave her one of ugly looks along with the man beside her that knows me and was with her. He knew I was mad. I walked away. Yes, I had some things to say but I chose to walk away. Some people are just so rude.

5-Anybody have any extra money they want to share? I have three medical appointments this month and no medical insurance. Oh did I also mention working in my family's small business that I am also behind in my paychecks because money has been tight. Please pray that the options I have thought about and am pursuing will work out.

6- Has to do with #5, I finally updated my resume to pursue new options. I have been doing this for weeks, if not months. I get on the computer with the intentions of doing my resume and then I wander online to facebook, blogger, QVC, Eharmony, you name it, it has distracted me. I think I have adult ADD or maybe it is just plain PROCRASTINATION.

7-Is it fair to punish your child from playing with your neighbor's child because your child did something wrong today? My nephew is an only child and looks forward to the kids coming home all day. Well the neighbor's kid was bad and was being punished. He can still play outside with his siblings but not with my nephew whom he loves to play with. This neighbor has a pool and my nephew is always welcome in it with them but not today because of their kid getting in trouble. So who is really being punished, my nephew who did nothing wrong. Seems to me that the neighbor's child should not be able to play at all rather than not play with my nephew. Sometimes life is not fair. Wouldn't it be more effective for the other child to be inside watching his siblings have a blast with my nephew and he can't because he got in trouble? Confusing to me. ( The kid was in trouble for having a paint fight at preschool camp for those of you who may think he may have done something he learned from my nephew, nopers.)

Down by the Riverside....

An awesome thing happened tonight during our annual 4th of July picnic. It was a first time for our church despite our location.... We had a baptism .... Down by the riverside and ummm our church is called Riverside Baptist too.

My brother, who is a Deacon was doing the baptizing because my Pastor has medical issues. So this was an extra special baptism. Oh yeah, the man being baptized. I won't say he was saved because of our store but he had a spiritual moment at work after running from God for years. He talked to someone at work and they told him about our store as a place to find a Bible. He came in and happened to catch my mom on a day she was on the sales floor and they talked for long time. She invited him to church and he has been coming ever since. He has joined the men's class and is a professed, baptized Christian now. Praise the Lord.

Now let me tell you in these pictures my brother is scared to death. This was not a beach baptism, it was literally a river baptism. They had to climb down rocks to get there and there was a bad current.

Ohh and he will be baptizing again tomorrow but he is glad this one will be in the baptistry. Praise the Lord for all these souls won to Christ.

P. S.... one of these days I will learn to edit pictures around my posts.