My personal nag....

I did not realize how much it bothered my nephew that I was in the ER on Christmas morning until yesterday.

Back up to Christmas Day.....I get to his house and immediately go lay down after leaving ER. It was requested that I try to go to the other room for our family Christmas, that lasted about 10 minutes before I had to go lay down again. He came in the room with me and was playing his new Just Dance 3 while I rested. I went home around 1 and slept all afternoon. I returned to his house for Christmas dinner around 6:30 feeling a little better. He asked if it was ok if he could sit by me on the couch. I told him I was not sick sick but was sick on the insides. He came and sat with me until dinner.

After dinner, he came in the kitchen and took the last Pepsi. I was joking with him that I was going to drink that. He went in the next room and brought me another one. I told him that was sweet but Aunt Becky was just teasing him and because of my tummy right now that I can not have Pepsi, just water and non-carbonated drinks. Little did I know that this information was stored in his little brain and would come back to bite me three days later.

We went to Putt-Putt and Arcade yesterday. He and I had not had lunch so I ordered us some lunch and sodas. Oh no, I asked for a Pepsi. He sat there having a literal hissy fit that I ordered a Pepsi and I was not supposed to drink Pepsi. I did try to get a non-carbonated drink but they only had Gatorade. He kept getting louder and louder and more persistent. Then he said, " Aunt Becky, you remember you had to go to the hospital on Christmas Day because of problems with your tummy. You told me you cant have Pepsi and you are not going to have one now." That statement showed that it must have really effected him by me missing Christmas and being in the ER. So, to his much persistence, I changed my order to water. He was happy.

Wow is all I could say on how persistent the little booger was.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Mine started off in the ER with stomach pains which I suspected was a UTI. I was right. I have been sleeping most of the day. I missed out on my nephew's Christmas but had to be where I needed to be. I see him everyday and that is a blessing.

Random

I have been battling bronchitis for the past few weeks and have been exhausted because of lack of sleep because of coughing. I thought I was getting over it and really wanted a milkshake. I ordered a small one. BIG MISTAKE. Chocolate plus sugar plus milk product when having bronchitis equal coughing ALL NIGHT. Lesson learned.

I also have had the munchies. I opened the refrigerator about 50 times to the same nothingness.I thought  that if I kept opening it that the refrigerator light bulb man would run to the grocery store and put some better food in it. IT DIDN'T HAPPEN. Bad refrigerator light man.

Well that is it for me for the moment. I had something else to post but I forgot what it was .I think I left it in the refrigerator with the little light bulb man. Maybe if I go open it one more time the light will come on and I will remember what I was going to post about. HAHA!

When things were quiet...

Things have been quiet..... then she struck again.

The crazy woman just called here in tears. My Mom asked her why was she in tears yet again.  Her response was you have Daddy's money and I am the executor and I have to have it. The money in question is the wallet that my grandfather gave my Mother with the instructions to keep it until which time the estate is settled. If she does what is right then my Mother is to split it, if she does not do what was right then my Mother was to keep it. My Mother informed her that it was a gift with specific instructions and until the time comes she is the one who will keep the instructions and the wallet. Then her husband got on the phone stating he was calling the lawyer to make my Mother legally turn over the money because they have a signed letter that she was given the purple bag. Well the purple bag does not contain the money. The purple bag , he removed the money from and put in his wallet and then gave the wallet to my mother as a gift with strings attached.

Several people have told us to watch out for her husband because they think he is shady and after the money... him getting on the phone today has proven that right. This is not his business.

Why?

Why ?

Why is it that the people that are closest to you hurt you the most?


:(   Hurt twice this week deep by family members. Not the crazy lady this time.

Happy Thanksgiving !

Happy Thanksgiving to all my three bloggers!

How was my strange Thanksgiving? Very nice overall but very different.

The day started at 7:30 with a phone call that my Brother-In-Law needed a ride to the hospital so that he could drive my sister home who had just passed out at work. I was flabbergasted because she had only been at work for an hour. I took him not knowing she was still in the ER and I would have my nephew for most of the day. I do love him so I did not mind. In the long run, she was dehydrated which caused her sugar level to go off whack and she passed out. In the mean time, because of her previous infection they wanted to make sure there was no infection anywhere else so that ordered a CT scan. Once again because of a wild freak inconsistency in her blood sugar and dehydration, a test was run looking for one thing and found something else. They discovered that she has a fatty liver and needs to see a specialist on Monday. This was unrelated to her dehydration that caused her to pass out today. God knew.

I then came home with him , did some things around the house, cooked and watched the parade.

They still were not home by noon. We had signed up to go serve the needy at the Y , so we took munchkin with us. He did not want to go. He only had to serve a few people but he had such a great attitude about helping. At the end, he was hungry and ate a plate of food. When he says he is hungry, we feed him because he rarely says he is hungry.

Lastly, we ended up at my brother's house for ......no, not turkey but chili and clam chowder. I was not looking forward to this and I have my reasons  but it turned out to be a nice evening even without the stuffing and turkey. I will get that on Sunday with the big family gathering.

I did miss having my stuffing on Thanksgiving today and was contemplating going to the store for Stove Top but I did not. The neighbors were frying a turkey and I was tempted to steal it when they went inside but I did not. It smelled so good.

So Sunday , when you are tired of your leftovers and scrunge your face at the thought of turkey or possibly you are eating turkey chili. Remember me when I will just be celebrating with that tasty food and it will be hot and fresh.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Where have I been?

Where have I been?

Well, Very busy with a project idea that I experimented with Super Glu but had to break down and buy a hot glue gun. It was well worth the $2.49.

Tada! THis is the finished project . Just turn your head sideways because as smart as I am with technology, I did not move this to another program to flop it. Sorry.

They are about 8" tall made out of bells from the Dollar Tree. Ornaments from a discount store. Ribbon mainly from Dollar Tree. Total costs without the cost of the glue gun is less than $3 a  piece. This picture does not do their beauty justice. They are beautiful. I have made 13  of them as of tonight and have sold two of them at our business for $8  a piece. The silver is my favorite. I will post a pic later of that one. I have materials for at least 10 more.

If you are on my list, you know what you are getting, :)

FYI

Some useless information you may need one day if you decide to use SupeGlu from the Dollar Store.

FIRST...Don't use SuperGlu from the dollar store. It sticks to your fingers way more than the object you are gluing.

SECOND...Don't believe what the first Internet search turns up for getting SuperGlu off hands. Laundry detergent and warm water don't work.

THIRD...My bright idea of Listerine does not work either.

FOURTH.... Do listen to the second Internet search and try salt with a little of water. It took 80% of the glue off the 8 of 10 fingers that were superglued.

At least my fingers are comfortable enough to live with for the next few days. I was miserable.

Getting back in the groove

I went back to the doctor for a diabetes check up. I was disappointed because the scale did not show that I had lost weight. Yet, my clothes are too big and people are telling me they can tell I have lost weight.

I did not let this discourage me though. I decided to start going back to the Y and I did. I only went for 30 minutes but it was a start.

I did observe a water aerobics class I used to take and am going to start going after Thanksgiving. I did reactivate my weight training account and will start back with that the next time I go.

I did decided to take some of my Thanksgiving Day and help serve the lonely and homeless at the Y on that day. We dont celebrate until Sunday , anyways.

All this trying to be encouraged and then lost it when the doctor does not like my numbers and wants to increase meds as soon as he gets my A1C checked again. In August it was an 11 and it should be a 6.

Just a health update for anyone that cares.

It's back.....

My older computer with the big screen and the bigger keyboard is back temporarily. I will only be using it to type things because the computer is old and slow. Real slow but for typing it beats the mini.

I do have good news to report.

Though I have not weighed myself, I am having to give away two pair of pants that are way too big. I bought them a size too big a few years ago but got away with them being slightly too big. I bought them too big because I bought them online and usually their clothes run small. These did not but if I had bought the next size down then they probably would have been slightly too small. Well I wore them the other day and spent most of my day pulling them up. So, showing some improvement.

I bought two shirts recently, one my size and one a size larger because that is all they had and I loved the shirt. Well both shirts are too big, one just big and the other way too big. I wear it anyways.

I know mentally I need to buy the next size down but I have not needed that size in so long that it is hard and then I worry about it being too small and wasting my money. If it is too big I can still wear it, you know.

No lectures please on the fact that stores have fitting rooms. I HATE trying on clothes. Really I HATE trying on clothes and that is being nice about it.

A Nice Gesture....

It really was a nice gesture to make a sympathy note for your teacher who lost her Father that week BUT.......get a dictionary.

This is what it said, word for word. It was nicely stenciled too.

Outside:   Sorry for your lost...

Inside:    But it was his time to go on and become an angle.


Yes, this was someone at least in the 9th grade. Sad thing is it is also my Alma Mater. We were taught good, can't you tell.

Kudos for her having a great heart and making the card for her teacher.Kudos for giving me my laugh for the day. Her math teacher should be proud. I have seen many images of Heavenly Angels but have yet to see a Heavenly Angle. Maybe she knows more than we know, who knows.

Quiet...

I know I have been quiet lately. It is not because of lack of things to post. I have plenty but I am still on the mini-laptop and not happy about it. I tried two used keyboards on the main computer and they were both bad then the mouse went bad too. Oh Boy!

So the latest thing my mom's sister has done to send us in a tizzy.....

We had grandchildren day last Sunday. All of the grandchildren went up at some point and took the things we wanted. I took some knickknacks and then requested the antique tea cart if no one else wanted it. My Sister did want it but is going to take it until I have a place of my own because she knows I did not take much. My sister took some things. My brother and sister-in-law took some things. My cousin took a lot. I mean a lot. She has not had a house for 2 years so she took a lot of dressers and furniture. My Mom's sister kept saying,, Well after the grandkids are gone there will not be anything to sell at an estate sale. Then she got even more upset when my decided to take the antique sewing machine. She knew it was worth a lot of money but it really was not. Her husband followed us all in the house watching every item that we were taking. That was not his business.

Well she called today and accused the grandchildren of taking things to sell and that she was not talking about her daughter. So once again she makes accusatory statements about my Mother's family. None of us took anything to sell, We took a few things to put in out homes so they would not be sold and stayed in the family. We all also agreed should we not want something years down the road that we would offer it to another family member before selling it or giving it away. Where out of all this she decided that we were trying to make a profit off my grandparents belongings, I don't know. See she is the one trying to make the profit,. My Mom finally finished the conversation by saying.....Once again, you are making accusations that are untrue about my family members and my family members would not take something that I could make a profit with to benefit themselves.

This woman is unbelievable. She wouldn't even let the man that stayed with my grandfather for a few weeks  for free take some old barrels from the garden. She was going to make him buy them. The things I have found for sale are unbelievable. An empty Glade glass from a candle,an empty Yankee Candle glass. It is crazy.

Time is ticking until we are done with her... and my Mom still has not seen the will.

Dont judge...

This is for the woman at the movie theater line who gave me such a pitiful look when I told my nephew that I could not afford to take him to the movie that afternoon. See, we had already decided to go to the kids playhouse with a mouse. We only walked down to the theater to see if a certain movie was playing yet. I can afford to take him to a regular movie but not the $4 extra per ticket because it was only in 3D. He does not like it in 3D anyways. He told me he would like to see it so we walked down there to see the times. I was not expecting it to be $11.50 a ticket because of 3D. If you need a calculator that is $23 for two of us for an hour and a half movie with no snacks.If you add snacks, it would have been over $33. I had a coupon for the mouse place. You see for two dollars more than just the ticket price,we had 2 hours of fun plus a snack and drinks and I have half the tokens left to go another time. Win on my part. We get to go another time and I only have to buy a soda or snack.

Just so you know ,lady, I did offer him to go to a regularly priced movie that he also wanted to see but he told me that yes he wants to see it but he would rather go to the mousey place.

So next time, dont be so judgmental with your looks and make me feel guilty. He had fun anyways and gets to have fun again with the little money I did have. Maybe next time you want to give the looks maybe you should go into your pocket and help pay or eavesdrop on the whole conversation before giving judgmental looks. You only heard one part.

Fat fingers....

u already know i m trying 2 get rid of my jellybelly. it should come to no surprise to you that i have fath fingers. WHAT!

I left a water cup out by the computer over night and the mischievous cat spilled it on my keyboard. It is messed up which leaves me on the mini laptop. Mini laptops are for skinny people. My fat fingers hit all the wrong keys on the keyboard on the mini.Thus u r getting my shorthand a lot.

I can not post what is on my mind or n mylife because I hit two keys at once adn end up misspellign or having other things popup by accidentally doing shortcuts i dont know about.

so bare with my til i get the new keyboard. i can tell u things are rough in the family. thanks for the email for being concerned.

please keep praying 4 my mom....more 2 come soon.

Pappy was Happy

Pappy was happy today. Pappy is what my nephew called my grandfather. My nephew was an honorary pallbearer. He walked with his Daddy and then behind the casket at the grave site. I was so proud of him.

We went back to the grave site to release some balloons my cousin forgot at the funeral. It was a huge beautiful butterfly.

On the way home, we stopped by Putt-Putt Arcade as a reward for how great my nephew was today. My Mom felt weird going there on the day she buried her Father but also agreed it would be good for my nephew. We only went in for 15 minutes. In that 15 minutes, my nephew won the jackpot on one of the games and won 450 tickets. At the arcade you exchange your tickets for prizes.Sometimes we are there an hour and never get close to that number. He was so excited. I mean so excited.

I got in the car and told my nephew and Mom that Pappy was so happy that he rewarded Cameron today with all those tickets. You see these tickets are like money to a kid. My grandfather LOVED money. So Pappy was happy for Cameron today.

My smirk said it all....

My smirk said it all... Yes, it did. I walked down for the processional behind my parents with this really weird smirk on my face. I know the congregation thought it was strange but it was a victory smirk. I know that sounds horrible at a funeral but yes it was a victory smirk but it was not just for me it was for my grandfather too. It was a " See What We Did to Make Her Mad" smirk.

Well, they started to line us up to walk down the church. She , you know the crazy lady , had told the funeral director that the grandchildren should be lined up oldest to youngest with their families. One problem, that left me on the end with no one. I had already asked my Mother if she wanted me beside her because I know my Dad is not a "comforter". She said yes. The crazy lady was having no part of this. It had to be oldest to youngest. Why? Because her kids would be first because my brother , the second oldest was upstairs doing the sound system. How convenient, her kids first, even in the obituary, her kids first. She kept insisting and so did the funeral director. All four of us that were downstairs took a stand and refused. The director was at a loss. She kept fussing and was holding up the funeral fussing. So my cousins took two steps forward and told her ok we will go oldest to youngest. She was happy. Once she started down the aisle with her husband, we changed the order back around to where I was with my Mom, then my cousins and their family and my sister last with her family because she chose to be.

Ohh, the look on her face when she looked down the pew to see that I was not her son. That face scrunched all up with disapproval. I looked at her with my smirk and grinned from ear to ear. We trumped her. Then I was thinking Saxe you would be so proud, we got her. The last few weeks he almost hated her and definitely regretted his anger decision a few months ago towards my Mom. Like I said, it was too little too late but oh he would have loved to have seen that face too.

She is such a control-freak hung up on the "oldest child " syndrome. That is what she says to my Mother all the time. I am the oldest child. I was born first. So this little stand we took may seem small to most families but it was huge to us. It meant, #1 we are tired of the control, #2 we are tired of her putting such importance on the first born pecking order #3 we were tired of her and  #4 we were all united and she was not winning. She did not win this battle. Oh she thought she did until she looked left and saw it did not go her away. She stewed the whole funeral. It was so worth it.

Side note.... My father proved me a little wrong. I said that he was not a "comforter". Well during the funeral, I was the one comforting my Mom with my arm around her. I was planning on walking down the aisle with her and holding her hand while he walked with his walker. He shocked us all at the recessional. He took his walker with one hand then reached out for hers and held her hand down the aisle with the walker. That made me cry even more. My Dad just does not do that. I was so proud of him ......well until he pooted in the limousine.

Had to leave you with a chuckle.

Well not really. One more thing. My grandfather gave my Mother his prized wallet weeks ago full of money. Almost 10 grand. He told her to keep it until the will is read. If the will is read that everything should be 50/50 then they should split it. If the will is not read that way, my Mom is to keep it until which time her sister did what was right. If she did not do right then my Mom was to keep it as a gift. On the limo ride home from the cemetery , her sister asked for the wallet. She said it either it needed to be split or put in the trust. My Mom simply said that she had just buried her father and wishes not to discuss such things on this day. Her sister was peeved again. She will be even more peeved when she has the notarized last wishes written by my grandfather 5 weeks ago put in her face at the reading of the will.

Tired....

I am beyond tired tonight and have tomorrow to get through too. Maybe when I am not so tired I will link his obituary.

I could tell  you stories to make your head spin. Here are a few quickies.

• Crazy woman was on another vacation when he passed. She was shocked he died while she was gone. HELLO! He was in hospice.
• Crazy woman was on a bus tour across New England when he died and could not get an immediate flight home so she and her husband rented a car and drove 10 hours.
• While they were driving she refused for the funeral home to come remove the body. She needed to see him. She needed to lay on him and have a pity party.
• It had been almost 15 hours by the time she made it to the house.
• She could care less that the rest of the family was at the house all day with a dead body in the next room. It is all about her.
• I had to go to funeral home to take a picture because she forgot, you know the executor in charge of everything.
• I had to referee the rest of that appointment.
• They would ask her a question and the answer would be something that was not asked.
• The funeral director was so overwhelmed with her that he forgot to offer the use of the powerpoint and cd.
• He pulled me to the side and asked about the pianist and organist because he forgot that too in all the confusing questions, discussions and arguments during the arrangements.
• I scared the funeral home director because she signed the paperwork and I told him he was a fool for letting a person with Alzheimer's sign a legal document that had to do with $11 grand. His eyes were huge when I told him.
• The cemetery man pulled my Mom back in to initial his documents because he was so flabbergasted at her sister's behavior. He said ... something is wrong with her.
• On her 10-12 hour drive from her vacation the day he died. She called the realtor and is putting the house back on the market next week. He is not even in the ground yet.
• She refused to allow deep dark red flowers in the fall arrangement for his casket topper. She showed up for visitation in a deep dark red suit.
• She told one of our visitors that she was with him the two days before he died. She left Sunday  morning at 6:15 AM. That means the last time she saw him was Saturday morning because Saturday  night to Sunday morning was my Mom's shift. He died Wednesday morning. Does that add up? How can she be in two places at one time.
• She asked her cousin of 74 years at the visitation if his brother was coming. He is an only child.
• My grandparents had a set of friends for 70 years of their marriage. Everyone knew them. All of us. They were at everything we did. She asked my Mom who the man was tonight.

I have more...... We have discussed the option of filing the incompetent suit because of this craziness. At this moment it has been vetoed. Why? It would draw things out and at this point we are ready to be done with her. So, unless she just goes completely loopy next week, my family will put up with anything in order to be done. As much as I love my grandfather, it is time for all this to end. He deeply regretted what he did with the will and her being executor but it was too little too late. I personally think that is one reason he hung on so long was so he could change things. She argued again that my grandfather forced her to go to the lawyer. He didn't put a gun at her head. My Mom just reminds her that he asked my Mother to do the same the month before and remove her sister. Then my Mom says... I had too much integrity, as for you... you have none.
She stands there looking dumb.

Please pray that this is a fast process. ( I want it to be fast but still think calling the realtor and setting up appointments the day he died is ridiculous. The body was not even cold yet .) I know this will not be peaceful, so now I just pray for speed. The sooner it is done , the sooner it is done.

Off to bed, long day tomorrow.

BEEDABO!

BEEDABO! A nickname given to me from my grandfather when I was knee high to a grasshopper. Only he was allowed to call me that. My late Uncle Leroy would try and I would tell him he could not do that, only my grandfather. My cousin would tease me but he knew better. I outgrew that name over time. As you age , you get embarrassed about nicknames.

BEEDABEEDABOBO BEEDABEEDABO! Sounds similar. I was flabbergasted when out of the blue my nephew started singing this to me. He knew nothing about my nickname. It was words he just came up with. I have him recorded on my phone singing this. I then told him what my nickname was and he laughed and will occasionally sing this to me. I don't get mad because I am fascinated.

I write all this to say that on Sunday I went to visit my grandfather and he was not doing well. It was just a week before I visited him and he referred to me as BEEDABO again out of the blue. That will be the last time I ever hear him say that in person because it will always be a memory now. My grandfather went to be with Jesus this morning. He is happy and rejoicing. We are sad.

We had good times and we had a  LOT of bad times.  He made mistakes, he regretted some mistakes. One of his mistakes was showing favoritism to the oldest grandchild and to the youngest grandchild, myself. The other three were ignored. See he really favored grandchild #1, the other 3 were second fiddle and then when I came along years and years later he tried to change. The other three have dealt with it , forgiven and moved on. This is good.

 In the end, all that matters is he was the best grandfather he knew how to be.

Saxe April 14, 1914 to October 12, 2011  REJOICE Saxe you are with Jesus and Marie (FeFe)

Pumpkin Patch Fun

I took my nephew to a local corn maize and pumpkin patch. The maze was nothing small. In an hour and a half all we did was walk and walk and walk. After all that time we had only completed half the maze. Good thing I had been walking a lot lately. I am completely exhausted. It was a great day.

Grin and Bear It...

Sometimes you just have to grin and bear it.

I was in a home ec class today. My last class had 28 regular ed students and 4 special ed students with their teacher's assistant. It was a 6th grade class, not my favorite. There was one overweight child in with the special ed students that would just get up and walk around. On one of her trips around the classroom, she walked up to me and out her face in my face. OK, a little bin uncomfortable for me, she is now in my personal space. Then she says to me...." You need to go on a diet and exercise program so you can be skinny like me."  I stood there with no response. Nothing I could have said would have made a difference anyways. I did want to say.... You think you are skinny. HAHA!  I did not though. I just put a big grin on my face and went with it.

Changes....

My mind is changing. I went to our local fall festival. The highlight of the festival is usually the food. I usually get butterfly fries, roasted corn, soda, and some other fried or fattening food. The only thing fried that appealed to me were fresh mini doughnuts. So I knew that would be ok as a splurge and I would be sharing with my Mother and nephew. So I looked for what I wanted to eat. Nothing was appealing to me but grilled chicken teriyaki.This was appealing to me because at the chinese restaurants this is fried but here it is grilled. It was delicious. I chose to get the roasted corn which was great too. I did get the dozen mini doughnuts with cinnamon sugar but I shared them. Oh they were delicious fresh and warm. Almost like being at Krispy Kreme when the Hot Doughnuts Now sign is on. As for the soda... I brought my own water with a lemonade packet. Go me! Not only did this save me calories but money. Since I eat at home so much I dont like to pay money for what I can make at home. I especially dont like to pay ridiculous money for fair food I can cook at home. I will spend it , however, on things I dont usually cook at home. I don't cook grilled chicken teriyaki because I have yet to find a sauce that is not sweet. I do not roast corn at home, too much trouble. I do not cook mini doughnuts at home, I would be in so much trouble if I did.

I did walk my butt of to get to all the exhibits and have been walking at least a mile almost everyday. My legs can feel it in the muscle that has been awaken by walking harder and longer.

The best part of my mind changing..... The highlight was not the food but watching and enjoying my nephew as he played in the hay maze and enjoyed the old time exhibits.

Stories from the job....

• Met a young woman in a freshman class who asked me if I had children. I replied with no but may adopt some day. She asked if I would adopt her. I laughed it off and told her I would want a younger child so I could show them about life and take them places. She said, I have not been many places or done many things. I chuckled and said good try and she laughed too. I then listened to her conversations with her friends. She lives with her brother because she asked him to please file for custody of her because her mother was not caring for her and she knew her older brother would. He did. My heart broke.
• Talked to a senior today. I overheard him say something about working two jobs. I was flabbergasted and asked him about it. He said his Mother wanted to go back to school to be a nurse so he works two jobs so she wont have to work as much and go to school. He gets up and works at a manufacturing facility from 4-6 AM then goes to school from 7 AM to 2 PM. He then heads to a fast food joint to work from 3-10. Then goes home, does his homework and goes to bed. My heart broke.
• Talked to another senior today. She is very active in school. Her part-time job ended with the business closing. She is worried because her parents are down on their luck and she feels she needs to work to help them with the rent. My heart broke.
• Talked to a junior the other day. Her goal is to become an RN. She wants to make enough money to get her mother and herself out of public housing. She wants to care for her Mom who is on disability and not have her depend on the government to care for her for everything and provide for everything. My heart broke.

I never had all these pressures. I did start working early but that was for my WANTS. My parents had enough to provide for my NEEDS but struggled. I knew if I WANTED something I needed to buy it. No pressures to provide for the family. I was blessed.

Now the head turning story.....

I had a computer class. I am harder on computer and business classes because I try to leave a good reputation because this is my area of teaching. One student decided he wanted to surf the net and not do his work on the computer. I know this teacher, I know what she expects. I was not going to look bad for him playing and not watching what he is doing. I was on his back. After the 4th warning, he still decided to play. There were others playing too and I was reprimanding them too but he was the worst. I warned him, if I come back over here again and you are on the Internet, I am going to log you off then you can explain to your teacher why you have not completed anything. He looked at me and said " F*&% OFF". Then he spelled it for me too. I told him thanks for the spelling now I know exactly how to spell it on the referral form. He was shocked I wrote him up. See, I actually don't hear the cussing anymore when they are talking to each other but when you say it at me and in my face, oh yeah, I hear it. I had the form taken to the proper principal. I went back around the room where he was still on the Internet. I told him , " Hey B, I am really disappointed you did that. You have always been ok when I have had you in classes." That turned into that it was my fault for riding his back about the Internet and his work. MY FAULT.... Ok, MY FAULT that you have gone against authority and ignored your assignment to play on the Internet.  His teacher returned early from her field trip and he was nailed not only by me, but her and now has to deal with administration with his language. Time to grow up and be accountable for your own actions.
The thing of it is , I am pretty laid back. As long as you are attempting your work. I don't care what you do as long as it is legal, orderly and quiet. There are some teachers that I know so I have to be firm because I know their expectations. This was one of them. Oh and after 4 warnings, wouldn't you take the hint that I am watching you. I think he knows I am not playing next time.

Another situation, a Mother came in to reinstate her child from suspension. She was mad because no one could meet with her for another 30 minutes. It was written in her letter that they could not talk to her until after a certain time but she came before that time anyways. She was hostile and mad that no one could meet with her. Well the administrators are in the hallways, doing their morning duties. There is a reason they gave the woman a certain time. She was raged and left with her child. She said she has to work for a living and her son only did something stupid. Well your son did enough to get suspended and why not be mad at him for the suspension. He is the reason you had to come in there, not administration. Oh, and what moral did it give him for you to get mad and leave with him. It is just another day that he is not in class learning. Use your brain, Mom.

Ohhh, the things I hear.

Trying to do better

I have been trying to do better with eating and exercising. I am working more veggies into my diet. If you remember, last year I struggled big time with my lunches. I have been packing a salad every day . A good salad. I like beets, onions, cukes, peppers and chick peas in my salad. I make a fresh one every night.

To make it easier to eat healthy and not make getting lunches ready such a chore, I have created a shortcut. I took one of our larger mixing bowls and I store all of my salad ingredients for my salads in that bowl. SO every night when I go to pack lunch. I just have to pull that one bowl out and everything is all together. I only have to slice things. This has been so much easier than looking for all of the individual items all over the refrigerator. I know I could cut down more time by pre-cutting all the veggies but they get limp so fast that way.

The funny thing is when I am enjoying my lunch in the teacher's lounge, all the other teachers are envious.

My other big secret is pickles. I have been eating a lot of pickles, Claussen to be exact. I get the crisp and the salt of snack foods with none of the fat.

Anyone have other suggestions that they would like to share that may help me?

My body, My soul....

The Lord has been working on my heart and mind about my body and its state of being at the moment. I have been trying to adjust my eating to lower my blood sugar. I do good most days and sometimes I think I am ok then check it and it is high. I have cut out my sodas. I may  have one a week which is better than one a day. I have tried diet, don't like, wont drink it. I would rather have water.

In the mean time, I have just been burdened with my weight. Is it really a reflection of God and how he wants me to be? A book reappeared beside my recliner. It is called Fat, Fit and Fabulous. I have had it for a few years but never read it. I have been reading it but wont tell you that it has wowed me into eating and exercising. It has however given me food for thought, no pun intended. God did not intend for us not use our bodies. They were not created to sit. Why would we need all that muscle? We were meant to move. The book is a hard read because it is written by an Scottish doctor and is written sometimes with the Scottish dialect, it is not American simple English. She weighed over 230 pounds and is short. She started going to the gym and decided she wanted to run a marathon and later moved onto wanting to compete the Iron Man. She never became skinny. She realized it wasn't about the weight but about keeping our bodies fit.

This book really has had me thinking and reflecting. I did start walking again this past week but them we had one rainy week. I tried one day to do my Leslie Sansone Walk Away DVD but couldn't find my new one and gave up that day. I tried the next day and only found her Firming DVD. I did it anyway and was sore the next day. On Saturday I decided I would find one of her regular walking DVDs and I did and walked a mile. I am sore now too. It feels great when you finish. So why am I so lazy about getting started? Just the thought of it , really.

My new goal is to walk 4 out of 7 days the next few weeks. In a few weeks I want to start swimming again at the Y a few nights a week. I can do this, God wants me to. I need to put aside my own concerns and realize I am being faithful to God by taking care of my body which he has given to me.

As for two other books that have crossed my path and popped out to me which I will begin this week: PrayFit by Jimmy Pena and Bible Cure for Weight Loss. These two books have been placed in my path. I have not looked for them. The PrayFit is like a 60 day devotional that concentrates on making your body God's Temple. It also gives suggestions on new exercises each day. I am going to start that one on October 1. I made it a goal and October 1 is Saturday so not too far off.

If you are interested in any of these books, I think you can order them from our website  www.agapechristianbookstore.com

I will end this with.... Remember ,,, our bodies are a reflection of God. Treat them that way.

Mosquitos....

Mosquitoes.... arent they the eighth plague? Oh, I hate them. How can something that small bite you and make you itch so bad? Reminds me of a flea. Honestly, how big can that mouth be that I can feel it bite me and suck my blood out?

I enjoy playing outside with my nephew but those pesky things eat me up. One brand of spray does not work at all. Another brand smells so bad that you have to shower as soon as your get home.

Oh, them stupid skeeters.

HELLO!!!

Hello! I have had a lot of things I wanted to blog about but getting used to school hours has hurt me. By the time I get on blogger and want to write, I am worn out. This includes this evening.

SO quick update... Grandfather still hanging in there. I went to see him Tuesday and it was sad. He very lightly lifted his arms to wave at me. That was it. Even when I took his hands and held them he did not acknowledge me. My Brother saw him the next day and his description of him was... He looks like death..Literally , yet his heart keeps ticking and he has been eating.

Sister, healing very slow and depressed. Her diabetes is causing everything to heal slowly and she is frustrated.

I should be back tomorrow with other thoughts going through my head.

Carbs, Carbs, Carbs....

I love carbs. I mean I LOVE carbs.

I have been adjusting to my diet to adjust to my diabetes. I do great during the daytime at school. It is night time I am having a downfall. At night, I want carbs. The problem is the carbs make me want more carbs. I have to have some carbs so I can not cut them out completely.

HELP! My name is Becky and I am a carb addict.

Silence....

Had some things I wanted to blog but decided instead to leave in silence on this particular day. WE had silence during church today and I sat and prayed for all of my kids in church that they will never have to face a day like 9/11/01. That they would never have to go to war or be hurt due to such an awful act of terrorism. I pray that I will never have to face a day like that again. I have been on the verge of tears all day just thinking and reflecting.

I will end in...... SILENCE.

Found it...

I prayed all night that the Lord would lead me to my wallet. I went out this morning and looked all over the ground. No luck. I started back in the car. No luck. I did find my work badge that I lost last year about this time. I started to get out of the car when I glanced at the crack between my seat , the door and the backseat floor. There it was.

UPDATE on my sister. My sister had a huge, I mean huge abscess bothering her last week. She went to the doctor on Friday who referred her to a surgeon the same day. He said she only needed an antibiotic. She went into the ER Monday because of the pain and was admitted. They drained it and it was highly infected. At one point she was isolated because they said it was MRSA. It was not, Praise the Lord. It was another form of a bad infection. Because of the infection she has been in the hospital since Monday and was projected to get out again on Monday. I think things have changed again. Thursday she had a machine and sponge installed to help drain the infection. Yesterday the infection doctor removed it. Today I just received a call that the weekend doctor does not like how it looks and is taking her back to the OR this morning to work on it some more. Please pray for her. She knows she will be out of work at least six weeks. This also has been embarrassing to her because she works at this hospital.

Prayer Request Again

Continue to pray for my sister. She is doing better but still in the hospital fighting the infection.

Please pray for the Lord to lead me to my wallet tomorrow. I know it was in my car and I only went home and to my Sister's house. I really dont need this right now.

Thank you.

Prayer Request

PLease uplift my sister in prayer. She is going through a hard time medically right now. SHe will be ok, just scary at the moment.

Death Angel Thoughts

I have never really thought about whether there is or is not a death angel.

My grandmother in her final weeks would see a man from time to time either over her bed or just in a room. She described him as being a bald man, that was it. She saw him and a little boy all the time.

I do know she had dementia and could hallucinate.

The last two days my grandfather has seen a man standing over his bed or sitting in a chair in his room. He has seen kids but not just one boy. Today he asked my Mom why this man was sitting in the gold chair in the living room and wanted to know who he was. My Mom just looked and was speechless. Later , she had left the room and when she returned he asked her where the man went that was just there. She did get a little spooked because it is just her and him there. He told her that the man took his hand to take him somewhere and my grandfather refused to go.

I do know he has been confused with his power being out for 2 days.

My Mom's sister just called to tell us that he asked her to tell the man in the gold chair to leave that he had been there all day and he was tired of looking at him just sitting in his living room. I am getting spooky chills typing this. At this point , his power and lights had been restored for several hours.

Is there a death angel? I am beginning to wonder.

We survived

Well, we survived Hurricane Irene. I discovered that the houses in the neighborhood I live in were built to last. If I was in the living room, I could hear very little of the wind. I kept looking out at our cedar tree in our yard thinking that it wasn't moving much. I forgot this cedar tree is solid. It is our neighborhood landmark. It barely moved so I was fooled. The few times I ventured into the side rooms, oh boy was the wind whipping. We lost a small limb at the beginning of the storm and during that storm that limb went all over our yard.

I kept my car around the corner at the DMV because it is higher ground and should we need to leave for an emergency with my Dad we could get out by walking and sloshing through water. Our street only flooded halfway the first half, my house is halfway, unfortunately. The second half it flooded all the way but never up to our houses, Praise the Lord.

As for others, they were not so lucky. Early in the day a tree fell on an apartment complex less than a mile from my house. The Mother was able to escape but her 11 year old son did not escape and perished. Heartbreaking. Please pray for this Mother. They had just moved to this apartment on Tuesday, so you can imagine she is rethinking her decisions of moving there right now.

As for others in my family, my grandfather, brother, and sister all lost power. Long story and drama later about my grandfather, the hurricane, the aide and my Mom's sister. My Brother's property was the worst hurt this morning in the family when a gigantic tree landed on his detached garage. Praise the Lord it was the garage and not the house.

Tomorrow , I have received the message that our church will be used as a sleeping shelter for disaster relief workers and I am on that committee so I may be busy manning the church during the next few days.

Below is a picture of my brother's former garage. Smashed to smithereens.

Update...

AS of the moment , I still have power. It has flickered twice. There has been a lot of rain and wind but the worst  will be here around 2 Pm today.

Our street has not flooded, yet but it will probably in the bad wind and rain later.

Please keep us in your prayers.

Questions...

I just asked the question.... If we are forced to evacuate for Hurricane Irene, where will we go?

All of our family is here. My sister and her family will go to Ohio or Florida to be with his family. My brother and his wife will head to Illinois to be with her family. Where will we go? My Dad has family in Connecticut but that is in the track too. We also are not close to them to go raid their house for a few days. What about the indoor and outdoor cats? I am not leaving without the indoor one, at least. I will want to take the outdoor one too but because of her outdoor instincts we may lose her somewhere. She stays in a garage most nights that has an upstairs so she can get to higher ground. Wow, I can only imagine what the residents of New Orleans felt as they had to make these choices. We have not been told to evacuate but all these things are going through my mind at the moment.

As for my Grandfather. My Mom's sister will have to take care of him because of my Dad's health problems we will have to get him to electricity and air condition somewhere.

Hopefully , we wont have to face any of these problems.

Earhquake...

Earthquake... What earthquake?

I went to Busch Gardens this afternoon with my Mom and nephew. They were busy and I was fussing about how far we had to park. We get on the tram and head to the entrance. We get in the park, stop at the restroom and go straight to Loch Ness Monster roller coaster which is closed. Then we head to another ride, which was closed. Strange, very strange. Then I remember when we walked in that they also were closing the skylift. All sorts of things are going through my head. Then I look on my phone and my sister had text me asking if we were ok. I responded, yeah why. It is not like her to be so concerned about us. At that moment one of the employees told me there had just been an earthquake. I was shocked. My sister said the hospital shook. Evidently , we were on the tram. Strange day. We went shopping in some of the shops we never go into. My nephew was fascinated by some magnetic rocks so I bought them. We spent about an hour at a picnic table playing with the rocks and eating lunch. We made the best of it until the rides re-opened. It was definitely a day to remember. Now every noise or vibration is freaking me out now. There have been some aftershocks but I have not felt them either.

We will get over this shock and now prepare for Hurricane Isabel which is projecting to hit us Saturday.

This song is in my  head..... It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine.

UPDATE...

My Grandfather is hanging in there. He is surviving off ice chips then maybe two to three spoonfuls of yogurt. He is heading back home this weekend where he wants to be when he dies. He is still alert and knows everything that is going on. He has been very concerned about the way he has left his will. He has felt guilty and worried about the power he has left my Mom's sister. He wrote a paragraph stating that he wanted everything divided 50-50 between them. We did a little inquiring and found out that if it is notarized, it is legal. It was notarized yesterday.
My Mom's sister at the moment has no idea that my Mom has co- medical power of attorney. We think she will find out today because she found out last night that the nursing home called my Mom to tell her something and her sister was not happy. We know she will go and inform them that she does not want my mother called when she will find out about my Mom also having Medical Power of Attorney.
My Mom's sister was approached by her daughter about the Alzheimer's issues. She denied she had it. My cousin had to admit that she found out from the doctor. My Mom's sister had never told her husband either. Great honesty in a one year old marriage. She finally did admit she has Alzheimer's or dementia but said she will never add my Mom to any of their father's affairs. She was warned that legal proceedings may begin under the circumstances of her being in control with Alzheimer's. She stormed out of the nursing home and told my cousin that she was after blood this time. We do know she went to the doctor and removed my cousin from the forms of her doctor's office. I think she will come up with a forged note from her doctor saying she does not have Alzheimer's. I know it will be forged because she also forged a DNR for my grandfather. She is evil.

As for other news.... It is 2 weeks before school starts and I have no job prospects. That is depressing.

I went for a Blood pressure check up the other day which was great. Unfortunately we did a random blood sugar test because of my last blood work and I have diabetes. I also had my throat checked out because I had a soar throat for days. It wasn't strep but he said it was something weird and also a nasal drip. Finally after 8 days it is starting to reside but now I think I have bronchitis. I hope the antibiotic is strong enough to kill the bronchitis too.

Pray for positive changes in my life.

Prayers Needed

The psycho sister is back in town and with a vengeance. My Mom went up to the nursing home to help show her how to feed my grandfather the proper way so that he wont choke and aspirate. She refused to listen. Even at one point started yelling at my Mom for no reason and shoved my Mother. Yes she shoved my mother. My Mother called the nurses in so that she would have witnesses of her trying to explain. The psycho woman kept talking and over talking my Mother even making fun of the food they were feeding him. All of that the nurses witnessed but not the shoving. I am so mad right now that if I was not in charge of my nephew today I would be up there giving that woman a piece of my mind right now. It is useless though, she is that crazy. Finally the nurses told her you have tried, walk away and my Mom did. The nurses then proceeded to inform her sister that she was in the wrong and they would not explain anything to her because she had refused to listen. She then walked over to my sleeping grandfather, sat beside him and said "Poor Daddy, I see all the stress you have been under all week." STRESS... He had no stress until she returned. He is due to come out of the nursing home Friday , this date has been pushed up since she came back. SHe still thinks he is ok at home by himself. He is so weak he cant situp by himself. This woman is PSYCHO and can not see that he is dying or sees it and is denying it.

Update...

My grandfather was able to eat some babyfood today with a thickening agent added to it.  It was only about 1/4 cup of food all together. He was fed this over a course of an hour or so. She gives him very small spoons of food so that she makes sure if he chokes or aspirates it is a little amount. The nursing home will not feed him but we can feed him at our own risk.  My Mom just can not sit there and watch him want to eat, be hungry and not feed him. His esophagus is 99% closed. He was very quiet today but alert and in a good state of mind. He is no longer on an IV.

Speaking of IV. Here is a quick quip of what we go through with my Mom's sister. My sister told me this story earlier today because she was up there last night during a huge confrontation between the nursing home, my Mom's sister and medical power of attorney. That story in a moment. My Mom's sister was telling the nurse that my grandfather had an IB at the hospital. The nurse looked at her quizzically. My sister insisted she explain what she is talking about. She responded that an IB was that needle in your arm to take fluids. My sister corrected her and said it was an IV. "A what?" she said. An IV. V as in Victor. Her response was... "Who is Victor?" My sister gave up.

On to the drama. The drama started because she decided that he needed his diabetic meds even though his sugar is running fine because he is not eating. Sometimes it is 41 and she gives him the meds to lower it. Yep, she is a smart one. The doctor at the nursing home decided he did not need it any more. She decided her power of attorney over rides the doctor. Read on.... We finally are at a place where no one is scared of my Mom's sister. She is not happy. She was extremely not happy when she proceeded to plop her Power of Attorney at the nursing home administrator, doctor and the nurse. They looked at it and proceeded to inform her that the paper was not the Medical Power of Attorney. You see her Power of Attorney is for the financial end of things and in our state you must also have the Medical Power of Attorney to make all the medical decisions. She had a hissy. They argued for about an hour then she finally left. Then when she left they pulled out some legal paper work in which my Mother is now the Medical Power of Attorney. The Christian woman she is , she also listed her sister but nothing can be done medically to him without both agreeing unless one is out of town. So for the weekend my Mom is the sole Medical Power of Attorney and her sister has no idea. She will win in the end , somehow here on earth she always wins. They said in order to change this paperwork now that has my grandfather's signature on it she must bring in a lawyer, a notary, and two witnesses. I don't put it past her and to manipulate his signature. She is that evil.

My sister did say it was nice to finally see some nurses and doctors stand up to her and do their jobs and not buckle under her bullying and threats. In the mean time, she is in Pennsylvania and New York on vacation while her Father is here crying that she left him in this condition.

Please continue to pray.

Not going well...

My eating has not done well this week at all because of disappointment and stress.

Stress: My grandfather is going downhill fast. I am ok with him going to heaven. He has lived for a long 97 years. The stress is the things his daughter does to hurt my Mom. It never ends. My grandfather is being put in a nursing home for 21 days. I don't think he will be here for the full 21 days. His esophagus is pretty much closed. He was born with an irregular esophagus and now it is closing. He cant eat without choking which in turn causes him to aspirate which in turn causes pneumonia. He has had no food since Sunday night. The hospital will not feed him because of the risk of him choking. He has refused a peg feeding tube. He decided this long ago. So now we just sit and wait for the end. Right now he is still perked up because if IV's but that will soon slow down. Last night though he did start talking out of his mind. He insisted it was raining and it wasn't. Then this morning my Mom's sister went to see him and he asked her how she knew where he was. So the end is coming. Please pray for peace. Oh, by the way, my Mom's sister is due to start vacation tomorrow and she is still going despite the circumstances. Does this surprise you? Remember last year when both grandparents were in the hospital, she never came home from that vacation. Yet , she is the one in charge. Make sense.

Disappointment: I was really psyched about a potential part time job teaching. I thought I did great on the interview. They even called me and asked for a copy of my license and references. Then Tuesday, I received my "thanks but no thanks"letter. I sulked for awhile then put my big girl panties on and moved forward looking for last minute job openings. Please pray!

Confession Time

I have been doing pretty good with my eating this summer. A few mishaps here and there but mostly pretty good. NOT TODAY!

It started off a confusing day. I had to rush out the house with my nephew to pick my Dad up from an appointment at the hospital because my Mother had received an emergency call from my Grandfather. He was crying to his homebound nurse to call my Mom and only my Mom because he was dying. She rushed up there and in the mean time he was admitted to the hospital for pneumonia. I will leave out all the drama with her sister not being called first and refusing to go to the hospital because he was not sick. Blah Blah Blah drama.

I did not have breakfast, needless to say. My nephew had managed to eat two pieces of raisin bread while I took my record time shower. I went to the hospital to wait and wait and wait on my Dad. Even went upstairs to visit my sister at work as a nurse. Came back down and waited some more. Finally he comes out. I have needed to get a prescription from Target so I went there since we  were out there.

I went to the Target snackbar and bought a pretzel unknowingly drenched in butter and a large Pepsi for me and my nephew to split. That is where it all went bad. Starting off my first beverage of the day with soda and not water.

Then my nephew and I went skating, well he skated. I sat at the booths at the snack bar in which I was hungry and ate a chili dog, nachos with chili and cheese and a large Cherry Coke.

I did ok until 4ish. Then I had chicken tenders and water. Then just now I ate spanish rice, a lot of it.

I cant brush it off if I post it and tell everyone then I have to deal with it.

Ok, its over time to move on and hope I dont eat anymore spanish rice tonight. I love that stuff.

Really......

I was at the pool the other day ease dropping on other's conversations while I sat and relaxed. Is it really ease dropping if they talk loud enough that you have no choice but to hear what is being said.

They are smokers and were enjoying their cigarettes while I was peeved that I was outdoors in fresh air and had to be subjected to their smoking. I was a good distance from them but you know how the cigarette smell just permeates.

Well the topic of their conversation was smoking at work. Their place of employment has become a no-smoking facility. After many complaints the management has agreed to give them two parking spaces in the parking garage as a designated smoking area. Instead of being glad that management gave them a space, they were complaining. Get this.... they don't think their designated smoking spots should be in the parking garage where they will have to breathe in all the exhaust fumes of passing cars.

REALLY..... You are worried about exhaust fumes while puffing something that kills your lungs.... REALLY!

I just shook my head thinking what a DUMB remark. It is OK if I kill myself with a cigarette but it is your fault that I must breathe in exhaust fumes.

PRAISE THE LORD!!!!

I believe in giving praise when you lay out your worries in prayer and it is answered.

I was way behind in my student loans. I am not unemployed for the summer but denied unemployment. I had asked for an unemployment forbearance but was given the run around.

This morning I checked my account and my unemployment forbearance was granted.

Praise the Lord.

Every little bit counts.

Cats....

Cats are so funny.

How can a cat that has never had human food love ice cream? I can drink milk or anything else with cream and he leaves me alone. Let me sit down to a bowl of ice cream and I will have a companion trying to help me eat it. No, I don't let him eat out of my bowl. I will put a little on his nose which will occupy him for awhile after that he is usually satisfied. Let me tell you though, if he does not get a sample, he does not give up. He is very persistent.

This evening he was in the back part of the house. I was in the front. I scooped myself just a half cup. I did not even sit down and he was in the living room sniffing out the smell. It is crazy. Now he received a little on his nose and he is happy. I wish that little amount made me happy because I wanted more after that 1/2 cup but I was good.

It is funny how old memories pop up with something so silly. My Mom was vacuuming tonight when my cat went and hid in my room but right at the door. My late cat, Pudder, she hated the vacuum because we would powder the floor with flea spray. This was before the times of Frontline. She would refuse to touch the carpet anytime the floor was vacuumed. She would go to all extents to avoid the carpet. She would jump from the kitchen to the lounge chair then maneuver herself on all the furniture. She would then stand on the last piece and plot her next move as to touch the carpet as little as possible before entering my room. It was always so funny to watch her. She always associated the vacuum cleaner with the powder whether we used the powder or not. Memories are so much fun to remember and smile about even though it hurts when you lose the loved one whether furry or real.

Speaking of ice cream and my late cat, she loved milk and ice cream. The only thing is she did not like plain milk. It had to have sugary cereal in it before she would eat it. She was a sugar girl. By the way, she ate human food. She knew you had fried chicken from the minute you entered the front door. Beware because she would go to all extremes to get it.

Another memory of her was when I was eating a Subway sandwich in the living room. I left it to go to the bathroom. I returned and my sandwich was gone. I found the sandwich on the floor minus the cold cuts. She had pushed the sandwich over, removed the meat and taken off to the corner with all the meat. She was a character.

Life, cats, and memories.

God Happenings...

Several things happened recently that prove God exists and is all around us.

The first was a death. My former employee was diagnosed with Stage 3 pancreatic cancer a few months ago. Her testimony is not that cancer won but God won and wanted her home. I have been keeping several of my former employees up to date on her illness over the last two weeks. I was the one who had to call and email all them to let them know of her death yesterday. One emailed back and knew I was going to email her that day about that. See she was channel surfing when she stopped on the 700 Club. She had an overwhelming need to pray for our dear friend. She said, I prayed that God would take her home peacefully and without pain. It was during that time our dear friend and co-worker entered the Gates of Heaven. She is now singing and rejoicing with our Saviour. Please uplift her family during their new season of life as they mourn their dear Godly Mother. Well done good and faithful servant. Rejoice in your rewards

The second includes a wallet, my brother's to be exact. He drove off yesterday but was waved down by his mailman. His first thought was what kind of legal trouble am I in now. The mailman had a package he had to sign for. My brother signs it and the mailman takes off. He then opens it to discover his wallet that he did not even know was missing. He has no idea where he lost it at but some honest person found it and anonymously mailed it to him with everything still in tact. He only had a dollar in cash at the time at that dollar was still there. Thank you God for protecting. Please bless the anonymous finder with wealth, health and happiness. There still are good Samaritans in this world.

The final was VBS for my church. I took on the task as VBS coordinator. We did not have many kids last year by having VBS during the week. We decided to have it during church time on 5 Sundays in the summer. During the week last year my high attendance was 5. This Sunday I had 10 and are expecting more this Sunday. The adults rallied around being helpers and it was great. I left church on such a high Sunday.  We used Group's Pandamania and they make it so easy. I gave the craft person her kit. The recreation leader his kit. The music person her kit.The snack coordinator her kit and the teachers their lessons. Then I just had to get the kids from one station to the next. We even had a "panda" visit. We are calling her Panda Patti. I was ecstatic and can not wait until Sunday morning.

God is good.

I had to show you a picture of my outdoor kitty, Cocoa. You know the one that showed up at our doorstep with no hair and bumps all over two winters ago. Yep, she has taken up residence here. She is great with my nephew. You can see that she catches a lot of prey because she blends in with my dry grass environment. The funny part of today's photo, you cant see. What you can not see is that my mother, my nephew and myself were in the middle of a kickball game. Yep, she came and laid down right in the middle of all the action. If the ball came near her, she would just look at us like I know that ball is not going to hit me. If we were heading to base we would have to run and jump over her. Typical cat attitude.
I wish this picture did her a little more justice but it is with my camera phone. She really is a beautiful calico.
I will repeat her history. We were feeding two other orange tabby cats just like my indoor cat when she showed up looking awful. I mean even I could not stand to look at her. She was all bones, skin, bumps and no hair. I finally started feeding her and talking to her. Her hair started to come back and she became affectionate. We took her to get spayed and rabies shots. We were informed that she was already spayed. So she was someone's cat who probably kicked her out because of her skin problems. Yes, we did check the papers for lost cats but nothing ever appeared. So over time she has become ours. She stays in our neighbors garage at night that has a dog door. They dont care. On really cold nights or hurricane threats she stays in our garage so we know she is ok. The funny thing is that she never ventures past my house and the houses on either side of us. We have new neighbors moving in so that may change.
What I find so amazing is wherever she sleeps she can hear when someone wakes up in the house because she is at the doorstep waiting for food and water. She has her own bowl under the faucet outside. I moved it the other day to mow the grass and had it in my hand to put back but evidently I was too slow. She came up to me and swatted it out of my hand because she wanted water and she wanted it THEN.
She has snuck in a few times but my indoor cat has made it clear that this is his territory. She now will not cross the front door. They each have their territory.
I have no idea why I decided to share all this tonight. I guess because I have never had a solely outdoor kitty with such a great story and deposition. I really wish I could bring her in but Lilbit says NO WAY.

What I saw...

This is not a post about my trip. It is a post of my plane ride home.

I normally select an aisle seat because I have broad shoulders and can lean over into the aisle until the beverage cart arrives. My flight from Phoenix to Charlotte and Charlotte to my hometown were great. I had the seats to myself and could look out the window.

How can anyone question God's magnitude? I was on the other side of the clouds. Literally... on top of the clouds. Oh my they were beautiful. It looked like big puffy cotton and spools of cotton candy. We usually only see it from the ground but from the air it is awesome. How could something so beautiful been created by a big boom or aliens? It can only be the work of God. Beautiful and majestic is only something God could create.

Out of the blue the following lyrics from a song came to my mind and I quietly sang it.

O Lord O Lord how Majestic is your name above the Earth. O Lord we praise your name. O Lord we Magnify your name. Prince of Peace. Mighty God. O Lord God of everything.

The clouds and lightening that I saw we so awesome and just small part of what an awesome God we have.

I also give credit for God for the invention of airplanes and him keeping us safe. They are huge yet that big piece of machinery carries thousands of people a day and flies through the sky. How can something that heavy fly. Only God. I was at the wing when I realized that wing is huge. We learned alot of aerodynamics from the birds God created. You can never deny it with the wings.

Wow! What a powerful and awesome God.

Tired

Weddings over and I am tired, tired , tired.
Ready to head home but will enjoy two days of site-seing.

From East to West

I flew from one coast to the other coast yesterday for the wedding. I am still on East Coast time. I was up at 5:55 AM Oregon time.

My flights were pretty good and sat by some interesting people too. The last flight was a mother /daughter from England. We talked the entire 2.5 hours.

Well, will post more later.

My Greatest Blessing...

BUT I DONT WANT TO GET IN THE WATER....Does that face say that? Eight years ago today, a woman gave birth to what would become the greatest blessing I have received. Thank you to his biological parents. You have blessed my family beyond imagination in good times and in bad.

He was being a booger today. I took him and his friend to our church landfill to play ball. They were arguing and fighting after about 15 minutes. I took the friend home. See , my nephew is a great child most of the time until this friend enters the picture. This friend brings out his ugliness. So, I solved it, I took the friend home. The ugliness did not stop. He was then mad at me and I ruined his birthday. Yeah , right. I had to run an errand and by this time he had calmed down. I tried to get him to run in the fountains at our local shopping center. He refused. I then told him to walk in the middle and I would meet him on the other side. Well he never made it to the other side, you know why? He stopped and was playing in the water fountains and laughing and smiling. I title this picture..... BUT I DONT WANT TO GET IN THE WATER.

Just how old do I look?

In the same weekend I have been complimented and insulted about how old I look.

The first was Friday morning. The cable guy had been dealing with my Father but when he returned with a new modem, I answered the door. I knew who he was and let him come in. He then asked if the man he had been dealing with was my grandfather. Well , either he thought I looked real young or may Dad looked real old. Personally, aside from my Father's walk, I don't think he looks 73. So I assume the guy thought I looked real young.

The same day, I went to my sister's to feed her cats because they were out of town. The neighbor's grandchildren are always over the house and the little girl came running to my car. She gave me a hug. When I left , she and her brother were in the yard waiting for me to come out. They were discussing my name. They both know me because I am at my sister's house all the time and they are at their grandmother's house all the time. The 6 year old boy was explaining to his 4 year old sister that my sister, Mrs. Debbie, was Cameron's mommy and I, Miss Becky was his GRANDMOTHER! I was like no, no, no and explained to them that I was Cameron's aunt and I was younger than Mrs. Debbie and could not be Cameron's grandmother. So that burst my bubble from the cable guy earlier.

Lastly, I drove across the bridge today to get some delicious spaghetti near my grandfather's house. I noticed that cigarettes were cheap . I called a family member and they agreed they were cheap and to buy a carton. I asked for the specific kind. The man said, I will get them when you tell me and show me how old you are. I looked at him and said way over the legal age for cigarettes. He told me to prove it. I did and he laughed and said I never would have guessed. I felt so young because the legal age is 16. I was honored to be carded but truly and honestly the guy was being a little ridiculous. I look way over 16.

I do know when I substitute and I mention to the high schoolers that this is my 20 year high school reunion. They calculate , well those that can add, my age and sit there astonished. You dont look 38 is usually the replied. Well thank you, thank you very much.

I am becoming my Father...

I know it is scary that I am becoming my Father. My Father likes complete silence all the time except his television when he wants to watch it.

Tonight I want complete silence and am not getting it. All I am getting is lots of background noise. I have been in the presence of a 7.95 year old ( he will be 8 Tuesday) for 10 hours. He left me alone at the pool but some other kid needing attention kept pestering me. I was nice but I wanted to tell him to leave me alone.

This is what I am getting

• One tv with more irritating music reality on. I think it is more the screaming and clapping that bother me.


• One tv in another room running. I cant turn that off , that person is watching it.


• The air condition is running non-stop and the filter needs to be replaced so it is also rattling.


• On commercials from the irritating tv with the music show, she is in the kitchen washing and clanking dishes with the water running.


• Then the other day our neighbors dead limb landed on our power line. So the power company has been outside for over an hour , yes it is 10:22 PM trying to get the limb down with his diesel truck running.

To top it off , my internet service is slow. They are coming tomorrow to boost the speed. The bathtub isn't draining properly. Then a million flies have some how scooted in the door and are zooming around everywhere.

Praise the Lord, the power truck pulled off. One piece of background noise down.

I think it is PMS, lol. I dont get that though cause I am a depo shot junkie.

Pray for me tomorrow morning as I interview for a part-time teaching position.

I enjoyed my conversation...

This is what my mom's sister told my cousin about her conversations with me on Sunday."I really enjoyed my converstations with Becky today". I was flabbergasted because I would not call it a conversation. I just answer her questions if they are directed at me. Today she was the happy part of Jekyl and Hyde.

Her: Have you found a Full-Time teaching job?
Me: Nope
Her: Are you substituting right now?
Me: Not any more.
Her: It is a real shame because you are so educated then you went back to teach and get your license. It just is not fair.
Me :( Just stare at her. She didnt ask a question. I only answer her questions if she asks one.)
Her: Your Dad says you are going to Robert's for dinner? ( Robert is my brother)
Me: Yes.
Her: Have I eaten there before?
Me: I have no idea.
Her: Isn't it down that road?
Me: Yeah ( Well my brother does live down a road).
Her: What do they serve?
Me: ( Look at her like she has totally lost it )
Her: Robert's, right?
Me: Yeah Robert's house.
Her: It is called Robert's House.
Me: That is what I call it. (at this point I realize her Alzheimer's has kicked in and she forgets I have a brother name Robert, so I am being mean and playing along. )
Her: I forget where exactly is "Robert's House" and what do they serve?
Me: Hamburgers.
Her: (flabbergasted) Hamburgers.
Me. Yep , off the grill. ( At this point I am chuckling and knowing I am giving her a hard time)
Her: Robert's House and they serve hamburgers off the grill. OH! You mean Robert W. , your brother's house.
Me: ( Just smiling and looking at her like she is dumb)
Her: What is your sister-in-law cooking?
Me: Nothing
HEr: But you are going to their house for dinner, right.
Me: Yeah Rob is cooking hamburgers.
Her: What is his wife cooking?
Me: Nothing.
Her: NOTHING.
Me: Nothing, Robert is cooking.
At this point my MOm walks in the room.

Her to my Mom: What is Rob's wife cooking?
Me: ( Looking at her like she is crazy again because I just answered this question.)
My MOm: Nothing
Her to my Mom: What?
Mom: NOthing.
Her: What is nothing?

I kid you not this is what she said. What is nothing? Alzheimer's again. At some point out of the blue she announced that she had a gem replaced on her 25th anniversary ring that her second husband gave her. She was only married to him for 8 years before he died. So how could he give her a 25th anniversary ring. That ring was from my uncle who died in 1991 whom she was married to for over 30 years. Then she told my Mom that the new ramp that was built in the front for my grandfather's wheelchair was built by her second husband ( she mentioned him by name) this weekend. He died about 5 years ago and she is currently married to husband number three who built the ramp this weekend. This is the woman who is in charge of everything with my grandfather. Really!

End of conversations. This is the longest conversation I have had with this woman for two years. So she was so excited that I spoke to her. You see, I dont "talk" to her. I just merely answer her questions , which is all I basically did. This is also the first time since my grandmother died that I have been in the same room with her at my choice. It was my choice to be there since it was Father's Day and I was there to see my Grandfather for a few minutes. It was only coincidental that she was there . I was not going to make my grandfather get hurt or suffer because I did not go into that room because of her. I have more integrity than that. Usually if she is in a room, I am not.

Now the mean side of her Jekyl and Hyde was leaving nasty voice messages with my Mother again yesterday questioning her as a Christian again because she wont talk to her and subject herself to the verbal abuse during another situation.

Just a little insight of what we go through with her and this was somewhat of a good day.

THoughts...

I have not disappeared. My internet did from time to time but I did not.

This was my second full day of being out of work. No subbing in the summer and yes I am scared financially. I have started applying again for mystery shops but most of that is very low pay.

Here are some of the thoughts in my head right now:

• I am so over the music reality television. You know, Idol and The Voice. I finally figured out that I am not a music fan. I dont like to sing. Yes, I like to listen to some music, mainly country and Praise and Worship. I live with someone that loves these shows and the computer is in that room. Even the background beat of some of it just drives me nuts. I am over it, really.


• I leave a week from tomorrow for my friend's wedding. I am excited but also scared because I know I have very little money to survive off while there.


• My first real day of summer, yesterday was a bummer. We were heading to Busch Gardens but it was raining. We decided to go bowl with our kids bowl free membership. My internet service was down so I could not print the coupons. I then went to my sister's house to use her computer and it is slow as molasses. It took two hours but we finally made it to the bowling alley only to leave and find out it was a beautiful afternoon after all and we should have kept with our original plans for Busch Gardens.


• I received a call from one of the school district's I applied for last week. I was so excited thinking it is interview time. The excitement ended fast when the secretary told me that my transcripts from my community college were wrong. I was flabbergasted. You see it was addressed to me but it was not my transcripts. It belonged to a male who majored in music. I am not a male and refer back to my first bullet, I don't care for music. I had to request another transcript and send it back to them, I can only hope this one is right. I have 10 copies on my desk but they are sealed copies, if I open them then they are not official. So do I open a few or not? Positive side of it... they were interested enough to call me and request another set. Just hope they look over that one D in psychology. All the rest are A's and B's.


• My grandfather has really come down recently. I know this is selfish but I keep thinking , I leave town in a week for a week and I dont want to miss this trip. I dont feel too bad because my cousin leaves Thursday for the weekend and was thinking the same thing. My Mom has helped by telling me that even if something happens that I have been there for him when he was alive and that is more important than being there when he is gone. So if something happens during that time for me to continue with my plans.


• Today , members of my church stopped by to visit him for a few minutes. It was amazing how his spirits were lifted after their visits. He even ate some chicken and dumplings after they left. He is eating very little.


• Speaking of his eating. We have been desperate to find anything that he will eat. He doesnt even want oysters anymore. Out of the blue Friday night, he asked for brains and eggs. How disgusting! I remembered from my grocery store days they sold them in a can. My mom made it for him the next day and he ate it and said it was delicious. How gross. We mentioned that to our church visitors today and a number of them had eaten it before and enjoyed it. BLAHHH! Look it up on the internet, it really does exist.


• I never posted on my trip to Arlington, VA to visit my great friends that have accepted a pastorship at a church. I had a great visit with them that day. They have their work cut-out for them in their church for church growth but have such potential in this area. I can not wait to see how God works in their lives, their new position and in their church. I love this couple. I have watched the two of them grow to have an awesome marriage, family and spiritual life. They are a role model to me on the subject of marriage. SHe took us on a drive-by tour of DC. I have never been into DC so I was fascinated. I can not wait to put it back into my schedule to go visit them again. I really want to go to the DC zoo.( I want to see them too) They are literally minutes away from everything. If I was not leaving on Wednesday , I would go up there this weekend but it is too much for me to do in one week.


• Please continue to pray for my job search. I am hopeful.

Well I am tired and heading to bed. Munchkin will be here at the crack of dawn. I have not decided on Water COuntry or the pool for tomorrow yet. This is the last day I have him until I come back July 6. I want to make the most of it.