Car 54 Where Are You?

That's the email I got from Kim this morning. It seems everybody forgot that I was on vacation this week and they have been calling her looking for me. I wonder what kind of problems they guys are having? If Vance gets my car fixed tomorrow, I may have to go in and see what's up. It's so nice to be needed....... :)

I didn't wake up until almost 11:00 this morning. I'm really getting some much needed sleep. I've had a headache for two days and waking up hurts. I'd rather be asleep. But, I've had headaches that lasted over three years before 24/7, so this is nothing. I'm used to pushing the pain away out of my consciousness.

I worked a little around the house while Vance worked on the brakes of my car. He ran into all kinds of problems and only managed to finish one wheel. Good thing I'm off all week. But, I didn't get to go and visit Jodi and Leighton. Terrible person that I am, I didn't even call. There's that headache messing with my memory. I would think about calling, then get busy doing something (like cleaning and throwing things away) and I wouldn't stop to make the call.

After I finished with the room I was working on, I stopped and ate leftovers from our supper with Chad and Tabitha the day after Christmas. Still really good.

I've decided to take the 365 Challenge from a blog I read last night. You are supposed to take at least one picture every single day for 365 days and post to your blog. I can do that. I always carry my camera with me wherever I go, so that won't be hard. I'm also reading a lot of blogs about photography and I'm learning things about my camera that I didn't know before. I just can't understand the instruction manuals, but these people make it easy to understand. Now, if I could just get some help with the web page I'm trying to develop, I'd be ready to go with a photography blog of my own. Maybe even sell some photos...... Wouldn't that be nice? I've learned how to watermark them, but I want a really cool watermark so I've sent an email to one of the bloggers to see if she can help me develop one. I've really getting into this blogging thing. I could read blogs all night long, but I better not. I've found out that not getting enough sleep causes weight gain. HELLO! Could be one of my problems! That and not eating enough of the right foods. Not eating enough period. I came across some notes I had taken at a doctor's visit a couple of years ago and my doctor said I needed to eat at least five small meals a day and to never skip breakfast - which I usually do. I just don't get hungry in the mornings. I'm making a resolution right now to take better care of myself in 2009. Goodbye sweet tea (again!). Mrs. Sandi has asked us to go on a 21 day fast starting Jan. 1. We choose the one thing that we want to fast. It could be TV, sugar, etc. I'm giving up sweet tea. If Vance gets my car finished tomorrow, I'm going to the health food store and buying powdered Stevia to make tea with. And, I'm going to limit my tea drinking to 16 oz. per day (per my doctor). That means I've got to start drinking water again. How boring is that?

Check out my first photo post. This is my Christmas present from Vance and what's left of my pumpkin bread.

Goodnight and God bless............

Welcome Leighton John!

Where do I start? Because of my long nap yesterday, I was up late. About an hour after I got to bed, I was up again with the dogs. Don't know what their problem was, but they kept me up most of the night going in and out of the house. I would get to sleep and one of them would start scratching on the door to go out. Then, more scratching to get back in. No barking, so there was nothing in the yard. But, I was totally exhausted when Vance woke me up this morning around 8:30. I had to get up and get ready to take Mama to her doctor's appointment. She had called me several times over the weekend to remind me to pick her up, saying that I was so forgetful that I would probably forget her. No, I wouldn't. I don't forget something that important. I forget to go to my own doctor appointments, but I don't forget to take her or Daddy to their's.

I checked my email before I left and had a prayer request from Brenda. Jodi was in the hospital about to deliver her baby 8 weeks early. I prayed and sent out another prayer request.

I got to her house a little after 10:00 and she walked out with no oxygen on (remember this later). She got in the car and wasn't even breathing hard. She took her time getting strapped in and putting the oxygen on. She brought two more bottles in case we needed them. We got to the doctor's office and had to wait an hour. She was getting worried that she would run out of oxygen. While we are waiting, a man and woman come in and the woman is having difficulty breathing. Her husband tells the receptionist who calls a nurse. It takes about 15 minutes before they take her back into a room. I guess they examined her and decided she really was having problems, because they send her husband to get the car and take her out in a wheelchair. I'm assuming he took her straight to the ER.

They finally took us back to a room and the PA came in and said the biopsy was benign, but he didn't trust them. Boy, what a negative person! We waited another 30 minutes before the doctor came in. He said the biopsy was benign, but he thought the flat line polyp should be removed and he wanted her to see a surgeon. She could have it done within the next few months or up to a year. He said his office would set her up with the surgeon. She said she wanted to have it done as soon as possible. I asked him if there was a different way to clean yourself out before the test besides drinking that nasty stuff and he said no, but he did not recommend the 2 small Fleets drinks because they have been known to cause kidney failure. Great, those are the only kind I've ever had. He recommended the 1/2 gallon of stuff. I told him it was too salty for me and the salt caused me to have dizzy spells and vomiting. He didn't think it would bother me. Well, I'm still not convinced. If I do decide to have another colonoscopy, I'm going to go the natural way and get a colon cleanse and just fast beforehand. Rather be safe than sorry.

Okay, so now we're at the checkout window and I'm looking for my keys. They are nowhere to be found in my purse. By this time, Mama's oxygen tank is going into the red zone and her other tanks are in my locked up car. I told her to sit down in the waiting room and I'd go outside and see if my keys were locked in the car. She argued, but I made her sit down. By this time, I'm getting panicky. I could have used some of that oxygen. Sure enough, I get to the car and my keys are on the console. I called Penny and she was at work which is just a few blocks away from where we were. I told her it was an emergency and she was going to have to come get Mama and take her home before she ran out of oxygen. Then, I called Vance to come unlock my car. Penny was there by the time I went in to tell Mama. They made it home before she ran out of oxygen, but she kept saying she was getting dizzy. Nerves is what that was. I sat on the hood of the car and waited for Vance to come. I may be fat, but I had a guy wave at me as he passed by in a truck. That made me laugh. God knew I needed something to lighten my mood. I was feeling so bad about Mama. But, I knew she could make it without oxygen for a few minutes. Her doctor has just got her so convinced that she needs it 24/7 and that she will die if she doesn't have it. Not so. I've seen her walk and not get out of breath without her oxygen, like before going to the doctor.

After Vance came and unlocked my car, I went straight to the locksmith and had four keys made. Two of them, I attached to my wallet. Don't know what I'll do with the other two. Fran suggested I keep them at work in case I need somebody to come get me. I might just do that. After the locksmith, I went by McDonald's and got a burger and went to the marina to eat. I needed some peace and quiet. I had called to check on Jodi and she was doing fine. Then I went by the Credit Union and on to the hospital to see about Jodi. She and Scot were there and she was in great spirits. I stayed a few minutes and told her about our two little miracle preemie babies from church and they were excited about them. They are putting their trust in the Lord to see them through and to take care of the baby, who they named Leighton John Rutherford.

I left the hospital and carried the oxygen bottles to Mama. She didn't run out of oxygen. She still had some left. I told her I knew she would be fine. I figured the red zone gave you a warning, but that you would still have a good 15-30 minutes of oxygen left. It must be about 30. She probably won't ask me to take her anywhere again. Tabitha called and asked me if I could watch Hope for about an hour. Her schedule and Chad's were overlapping today. I said no problem, so I headed home. She brought Hope over and we played around on the computer and I printed some pictures out for her to take home. Chad came and got her. He was exhausted. He said the owner of the shop will pay for him to take a food handling course and take the test in November. He can become a crew leader before the course, but can't be a manager until he has the certificate. The owner really likes him and sees great potential in him. Right now, he's getting more hours than anybody else. That's good for paying the bills.

I've had a headache ever since the episode with Mama this morning. Vance brought home some fresh collards. I cleaned them and cooked them and he made my famous pork chop/potato/cream of mushroom soup casserole. Supper was good tonight. I was afraid the collards would be bitter because there hasn't been any frost, but they were good. Maybe there was frost wherever they came from.

Brenda called and let us know that the baby was born. He weighed 4 lbs. and is doing fine. The cord was wrapped around his neck twice. God was watching over him and every decision that had to be made was the right one. If they had done a C-section, he would have died. He is even rated high on the CPAS (CPAX??) scale. He won't have to have the tube down his nose to help him breath. Jodi is doing great. She was asking for a Cahall's chicken salad sandwich. It had been over 24 hours since she had eaten anything. I hope to be able to go up there tomorrow afternoon if Vance gets my brakes fixed in time. I can't wait to see little Leighton.

I think I better take something for this headache and go to bed. Hopefully, tonight won't be as bad as last night. I pray that the dogs sleep all night.

Goodnight and God bless..............

After Midnight

After Midnight - isn't that a song? Once again, it's after midnight (today is Monday, Dec. 29th) and I'm still up. Does this happen when you get older? Both my parents are usually up after midnight, but my older-than-me husband goes to bed usually around 8:00 every night. Guess it's in the genes and not age. Or, it could be because I drink sweet iced tea all day long.......

I've been playing around with Photoshop Elements the past couple of nights trying to figure out a way to put watermarks on my photos so they won't be stolen off the internet. I've been following a website (Blissfully Domestic)that just happened to have a tutorial on how to put watermarks on your photos. How awesome is that? So, I've been playing around with it tonight. Some of the instructions I couldn't figure out - like how to bevel the watermark or import a logo - but I got enough to be able to watermark my photos. I may have to buy a program that does it for you so that I can watermark several hundred at a time. Can you see the watermarks on the pictures I've uploaded?

Saturday, I started cleaning the house and decluttering again. How do I accumulate so many things? I just don't know. One room we never got to was the bathroom, so that's the room I tackled. I organized my jewelry, which I have a ton of - all costume, of course. I'm not into the real stuff. I've got my diamond engagement ring, diamond eternity ring that Vance gave me for our 25th anniversary and a diamond ring that my mother gave me that was given to her by my brother Earl. She gave it to me last Christmas because I took care of Earl when he had cancer and she said she knew he would have wanted me to have it. I cried like a baby when she gave it to me, but I don't wear it much. Just for special occasions, which are very few and far between in my life. I'm not the type of person who likes to flash expensive jewelry around. I like being able to have more of something rather than spend a fortune and only have one.

Yesterday (since it's already after midnight) I went to church. It was pretty cool what Mrs. Sandi did. Pastor Sammy is out of the hospital (after having triple by-pass surgery). She called him on the phone and put him on speaker, so we could all tell him we loved and missed him and he told us that he was so thankful for his church family, he loved us and he hoped to see us next Sunday. He sounded really good.

Judy and Jamie brought their new baby, Jaden, to church for the second time. She's one of the prettiest babies I've ever seen. Wish I had taken my camera. I never think to use my cell phone camera and I've always got it with me. Crystal and Jarrett and their little girl, Abbigayle, was there, too. She's a doll baby. They just got back from a trip to Alaska. A place I'd love to go. I'd just like to go anywhere new where I could take pictures.

Well, I guess I better try and get some sleep. I've got to take Mama to the doctor around 10:30 this morning. She's already called a half dozen times to make sure I don't forget. Then, I'm going to come home and start on one of the bedrooms. Penny is bringing back the bed I loaned her, so I need to set up that bedroom. I'll be off until Jan. 5th, so I hope to get a lot done around the house.

After church, I ate, watched a little TV with Vance, then took a five hour nap. Maybe that's why I can't go to sleep.......Ya think???

Merry Christmas

Happy Birthday Jesus!!!! Merry Christmas Everybody!!!

It sure is strange waking up whenever you want to wake up on Christmas Day, not having any place to rush off to. Just because it was one of my traditions when the kids were young, I stayed up till 3:00 A.M. I used to stay up practically all night wrapping presents and putting toys together. Vance would help with bicycles and such, but I put together the other stuff after he went to bed. I might or might not get to bed. If I did, it was usually for maybe an hour, then the kids would wake us up and want to open presents. I was just as excited as they were so it never bothered me that I didn't sleep. Hey, it was a tradition that I loved. So, last night, I waited until the last minute - after midnight - to wrap the few presents that I had bought for Hope and Trent and Vance. Vance had already given me my present earlier. It was an Espresso/Cappuccino maker. Since the store closed right before he got there, he couldn't buy any espresso; so I used regular coffee and made a cup. You can't use regular size coffee cups; they have to be very shallow. While we were doing the home makeover earlier this year, we gave away all my shallow coffee cups. But, I did have my green depression glass coffee cups and they were the perfect size. I made a cup of coffee and went to make the frothy milk topping and the cup was the wrong size again. You're really supposed to use a cold, stainless steel cup. Guess I'll have to see if I can find one of those and buy some more coffee cups. I don't want to take the chance of breaking my depression glass cups. They were my grandmother Lightsey's. While making the frothy milk, I sprayed milk all over the place. I didn't realize that it was just air that made it frothy and I pulled it away before shutting off the machine. Milk everywhere. It was really funny. I got the hang of it today and made a cafe mocha. Pretty good stuff.

I slept till about 7:30, then got up and got a shower. Vance, Michelle and Fox called to wish us a Merry Christmas. I showed Vance the video of Fox wishing everybody a Merry Christmas. It is soooo cute! Vance loved it as much as I did. Not too many things make him smile, but that sure did.

Chad, Tabitha and the kids came over and brought brunch around 10:30. Tabitha made a hashbrown, sausage, egg and cheese casserole. It was really good. Afterwards, we let the kids open their presents. I was so proud of Trent and Hope. They told everybody the real reason we celebrated Christmas - that it was Jesus' birthday and we got presents because it was our birthday, too, if we believed in Jesus and were born again. I thought that was precious. After they left, I curled up on the couch and slept for about five hours. Not your typical way to spend Christmas, but I needed the rest. Vance worked in the yard. Basically, it was just another day to us. But I did think about the story of Jesus' birth and how much we have to be thankful for.

I called Mama and wished her a Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas. Yes, today is her 78th birthday. She's not feeling very well since she had the colonoscopy on Tuesday. Her refrigerator went out and Chip and Angie came over and went and got the extra one Penny had and replaced hers. Angie went to her house and brought Mama leftover food from yesterday when we were all together at their house, plus chicken and rice. I offered to come over, but she said she wanted to take a nap and didn't want me to come. I told her I was off tomorrow, so I'd come check on her.

Penny called and wished me a Merry Christmas. She had a wonderful Christmas. Mikey bought her a big screen TV, plus all kinds of other stuff. But, she said she hasn't even been able to watch TV because they got Guitar Hero and a Wii and they've been playing games all day. I told her I'd have to come over and play baseball with her. We both used to play softball together, so that ought to be fun. Especially if we can get Tiffaney to play with us. I've always wished that the three of us could have played softball together. Maybe this way, we finally can. It'll be fun......

Vance and I watched some John Wayne movies that we've seen a dozen times, but we both still love John Wayne. It's after midnight and I'm playing around with photos I took the past couple of days. I'm still real upset that I've lost the Book of Our Lives when I switched to Adobe Photoshop Elements 6.0 from 3.0. I lost a lot of my creative albums. I've looked everywhere that I can think to look and just can't recover it. I really wanted to add pages, but 6.0 doesn't have the same creative ability that 3.0 did. With 6.0, you create and have to send to Kodak and buy your creation. Sorry, but I like to do my own work. I've got the binder machine and want to do it myself. I've also got Printshop Deluxe Version 22, but it is not as user friendly at the very old one I used to have. I also have a problem with it that I don't know how to fix. When I try to upload a photo into the project I'm working on, it automatically puts a picture of yellow flowers in place of the picture I'm trying to upload. I've tried deleting the flowers, but it still pops up every single time. So, that program is virtually useless to me. I think I will try to uninstall it and re-install it and see if that helps. I've got several days off so I can work on it along with other projects around the house.

It's 1:00am, so I think I'll work on my photos for a little while before going to bed. Goodnight and God bless.................

Happy Monday

On the way to work, one of the guys called to see if I was going to be at work this morning. I said I was on my way. He told me to meet them in the break room as soon as I got there. So, I did, along with Kim and John. They guys had taken up money and gave us gift certificates. That was so cool and very appreciated.

More curves were thrown to us with the timekeeping system, but we will work through this. I'm very confident that we will be able to make this work. I've decided to start looking at things with a more positive attitude instead of complaining. It will make life so much easier.

We had a great weekend. Vance, Michelle and Fox came in on Friday. I worked till 6:30 and then went to the motel to pick up Michelle. We went to Books-A-Million and got coffee in their coffee shop - Peppermint Bark. It was scrumptious! I was glad I got a medium one instead of a small one. It was that good. Made me wish I'd gotten a large. We walked next door to Toys R Us and she helped me shop for all the kids. We got some good deals. I was so glad she was with me. I really don't like shopping and I'm so out of touch with the little kids. She really helped me, cause she's around those ages nearly everyday.

Saturday morning, Tabitha called around 8:40 and woke me up. What's with me sleeping late on Saturdays? That's just not like me. She and Chad were going to garage sales and she wanted to drop some stuff off at our house. I hurriedly dressed. They came over and after they left, I mopped the floors. That about did me in. I just don't get enough exercise. Had to make potato salad to take to Chip and Angie's. While I was in the shower, Vance, Michelle and Fox came over. It just blesses my heart to see Fox walking again. Michelle said Fox described his entire accident from start to finish while they were driving. And he didn't leave out a single thing. He's so smart. While we were riding over to Chip's, Fox kept asking "Where's PawPaw?" I told him he was golfing, but would meet us at Chip's. And Vance got there about 30 minutes after we did. We had good food and everybody got to see Fox walk. Mia is walking now. She's Angie made over. Tonya said she looks just like Angie's baby picture. I'll upload all the pictures later. (It's midnight now, so I better not get started or I'll never go to bed.) Even Aunt Margurete, Uncle Bobby and their daughter Diane and her husband, two sons and daughter came. It was so good to see them. They all wanted to see Fox, cause they and their churches have been praying for him.

We came home and Fox took a nap before we had to go to Skip and Brenda's. Fox wanted me to ride with him, so we let Vance carry the presents and food. I mixed up this candy mixture of caramel corn, peanuts, dark chocolate M&M's and chocolate-dipped peppermint sticks. Vance sampled it and said "Mom, this is wicked (or something to that effect), meaning it was good. I had mixed the caramel corn and peanuts together from a recipe I got from SouthernPlate.com I think it was. Then, Fran gave me a bag of dark chocolate (my favorite) M&M's, so I just mixed them in. It kinda tastes like a chocolate Payday. It's so good. See photos to get a better idea.

We had a great time at Skip and Brenda's. Grandma Rosie has been sick (she actually had a mild stroke). She and Grandpa Mac came and she got to hold the youngest great-grandchild. It was so good seeing her. Last time I saw her was in the hospital and she didn't even know who I was. She knew all of us Saturday.

Sunday, we had a great program at church. 0ur youth and younger kids put it on and did a fabulous job. Tina and Kayla are great with the kids.

Okay, I'm getting sleepy, so I'll close for now. Goodnight and God Bless..........

What a Day!

Mrs. Sandi called after Pastor Sammy went to the doctor this morning. They are planning on doing open heart surgery (triple by-pass) on him on Friday. We're still praying for a miracle to happen before the surgery. Please pray for him.

Our new timekeeping system was supposed to be downloaded overnight and it was, but it still doesn't work. Kim and I spent the morning working on entering info in one field of the account number because of an email we got this morning. Why we had to do it, we don't have a clue. It seems nobody in Pensacola or anywhere else has even tried to enter time, because when Kim called the guy in charge, he didn't know there were any problems. What a mess!

We (Kim, Jeff and I) got on a conference call with Mark in Pensacola and tried to make sense of what was going on. We thought we had it figured out, but after lunch we found out what we had done was wrong and the system should fill in that field automatically. All the work we did was for nothing.

When I talked to Jimmy, the Substation supervisor, he had not even heard that there were going to be changes made. They just have not communicated to anybody! Usually, when we are going to change the system, we work dual systems - the regular one and then a test system. We enter time on both and see what bugs are left in the new version. We usually do that for several months before it is changed. Not this time. There has been no testing at all that we can see. None of the timekeepers were kept in the loop. We were the very last to find out and only through other people. We didn't received any of the emails. Now, it seems the supervisors didn't get those emails either.

Jimmy had called early and invited Beth and me to lunch. He wanted to show his appreciation for all we do for him during the year. We decided on Red Lobster and all met there at 11:30. Had a great lunch. Jimmy and Vance went to school together and we talked about Vance. Jimmy said that Vance was very, very smart in school. Never had to study. I said "That's where the boys get their brains from; definitely not me." What is even funnier is that Jimmy and I lived about three doors down from one another and probably played together when I was in the 2nd through the 5th grade. I don't remember any of the kids from the neighborhood (too many years have passed), but I know that we all played together. Small world, isn't it?

Got back to work and decided to try to enter a timesheet since Mark said everything should be working. WRONG!!!! The account numbers still are not valid. Boy, this is putting me way behind. I had hoped to take a day off this week and take my niece, Natalie, shopping. That's not gonna happen. I may not even be able to take off the day after Christmas. But, I'm glad I have the week after Christmas off because the timekeeping system will be down that entire week. I would have just been sitting at my desk twiddling my thumbs unless I could find something to do. I pray that the system is working tomorrow.

I had an appointment with Marsha after work to get my hair colored. That's the one thing I do for myself every 5-6 weeks. I used to color my hair myself, but now I let Marsha do it.

Okay, it's after midnight and I read an article today that says people who don't get enough sleep cannot lose weight. I'm sure that is one of my problems, cause I sure don't get much sleep.

Goodnight and God bless...

Christmas Is Getting Closer

Did my husband do good or what? Check out these roses that he sent me for our 38th anniversary. He's such a sweetheart. He may act tough, but he's a teddy bear underneath.

Saturday, I slept till around 10:15. Just wasn't feeling very good. I managed to do a little cleaning, but that was all. I took Dayquil and that was a mistake. At least, I think that's what caused me not to sleep last night. I took one around 4:00 and went and got supper. Watched a couple of Christmas movies on TV and made an ornament. I could not go to sleep until around 4:00 this morning. Got up at 7:00 and got ready for church. You just don't know what to wear these days. One day, it's freezing and the next, it's in the 70's. I wore a jacket and that was too much. I think it got up into the 70's today. I also think that's why so many of us are getting sick. But, that's Florida weather for you. I carry three different coats around in my car from light-weight to heavy - just in case the weather changes. And, in case someone else forgets theirs and it gets cold. Ya just never know!

We had a very good service today. During Praise and Worship, someone came up and got saved. I wasn't there last week, but Pastor Sammy said that six people got saved last Sunday morning. Praise the Lord! That's what it's all about.

One of our preemie babies was in church today. Little Jacob and his parents were there. He is adorable! He cooed through the whole service. It was so precious. Just another miracle that God has performed in our midst. And, I got an email from Sierra - Cameron now weighs over 3 lbs. He still has a way to go, but he's getting there.

I stopped by Sonic and got a burger. Came home, ate and waited for Tabitha to bring the kids over. She had to go to work and Chad wasn't off yet. They came in and Hope wanted to make an ornament. We looked in their pictures in my photo files and I let them pick the one they wanted on their ornament. I printed them out and let them pick out the stickers they wanted. I was going to let them put the ornaments together themselves, but they took off outside with the dogs. So, I did the ornaments and Chad came in and helped.

Chad and I talked about his job. The worst part is standing all day. He said he likes it when it's busy, but the other workers would rather it be slow so they can just stand around and talk. He's not one to just stand around, so he is always asking the manager what he can do. He'll sweep the floors or do anything to keep busy. Let me tell you how God worked all this out. Chad used to work with the manager many years ago, but had not talked to him until about six months ago. He ran into him in a store and the guy and his wife had just had a baby. When we really started praying for Chad to get a job, out of the blue, the guy called to let Chad know that they and his wife were expecting another baby. He asked what Chad was doing and Chad told him he was looking for a job. The guy told him to go online, fill out an application and come in. Chad did and was hired. They are even telling him that if he takes a food class, that he can become a manager himself. I think they really see something in Chad. Coincidence? No, it's a God thing. And, get this, Kim dreamed that Chad owned his own Firehouse Subs right after he got the job. Who knows? Anything can happen with God's help.

After the kids left, I sat down in the chair and fell asleep. I slept past the Bible Study party. I totally forgot about it. I guess I just needed the rest, but I sure would have liked to have been around all those other people. It's always fun just fellowshipping together. And I'm sure the food was great.

Vance and I had breakfast for supper. He's still not feeling good, so he took some Nyquil and went to bed around 7:00. I think I'll stay away from the Nyquil/Dayquil. I'd probably be up all night again.

Fox is Walking!!!

You've got to check out Vance's blog (just click on the link on the left of my blog) and see the video of Fox walking. It made me cry - a very happy cry. I just thank the Lord for being able to see that. I thought it hurt really bad when something bad happened to your own child, but it hurts just as much when it's your grandchild. Right now, my heart is so full of joy. Thanks, Michelle, for videoing him. I can't wait to see you guys next weekend. I hope you have a wonderful weekend with your family. Give them all my love.

Boy, today was a busy day. I didn't think I would get through with my timesheets, but I did - without having to work overtime. Even with a lot of interruptions. Starting next week, we will be trying out new timesheets and new time entry codes, all without any training. I think it's going to be harder on the guys. Me, I can probably figure it out, but it's going to slow down their production time. And, so many of them are on vacation, so they will be hit with it as soon as they get back, and it goes into effect Jan. 1, I think. If not, then this next pay period is the real thing.

Had not planned on taking a lunch, but Daddy needed his medicine. It was better to get it at lunch in case I got bogged down at the end of the day. He's not been feeling very well - sore throat and coughing - so he needed more than just his regular prescriptions. I guess it's my fault that he's gotten sick. I haven't taken him in for a flu shot, but when I was at the pharmacy, one of the pharmacists said she would never take another flu shot as long as she lived. She got sick from taking it and said she knew several others working there who also got sick. I've read that the vaccination is not a live virus, but evidently it is. Personally, I'll never take one unless it's administered against my will. It's just a gamble as to which strain of flu comes around and the national news even said last year, they gave out the wrong shots because they were expecting one type of flu when another one actually came around. To me, its a waste of time and money. I'll just load up on Vitamin C and take my chances. I'd rather go the natural route. The FDA is pushing drugs through way too fast and killing way too many people as far as I'm concerned. Give me a drug that has been tested for years and has a track record; not one that go pushed through by some lobbyists and hasn't been tested long enough. Look how many drugs are being pulled off the shelves because they kill people. Okay, I'm going to get off my soap box now.

After work, I came home and then went to the Ladies Mininstry Christmas Party. There were 11 of us. We had a lot of fun and I ate too much. I'm still miserable. I don't usually eat much food. I ate a salad, pasta primivera and cake for dessert. I never, ever eat that much. It would have been a salad or pasta and no cake, but not all of that. You just get caught up in the moment and eat. Not a good thing where I'm concerned. I'll probably have to sleep sitting up to keep from having the acid reflux problem. There are times like this when I wish I was bulimic, but God made sure I couldn't make myself throw up. I just don't have that gag reflex. If I did, I'd probably be skinny or dead. Instead, I'm miserable..........

It's after midnight and I think I'm going to try to go to bed and see how long I can stay there. Goodnight and God bless.............

Sick Today

It seems everybody around me has been sick. I was hoping and praying that it would just pass me over, but it didn't. I've had a sore throat and sneezing for several days and last night my head started getting stopped up. This morning, I woke up and would have been able to go to work except the stopped up head created some balance problems. My equalibrium was off, so I was afraid to drive. I let work know and went back to bed until around 1:00. Feeling a little better tonight.

I really need to clean my house. It is a mess!! I just feel so inadequate right now. I can't seem to get anything done around here.

My mother-in-law will be getting out of Healthsouth this weekend. My sister-in-law and niece will be here on Friday to stay for 10 days to help out. It will be great to see them. They live in South Carolina and we don't get to see each other very often. I wish they would move back here.

Tomorrow is mine and Vance's 38th wedding anniversary. I haven't bought him a thing -not even a card. Had planned on doing that today, but I didn't get out of the house. What do you get a man you've been married to for 38 years whose only interest is golf? I've bought him as much golf stuff as he could possibly have. Maybe I can find him a warm sweater tomorrow at lunch. I guess I'll have to take a lunch and go shopping tomorrow and just work late tomorrow and Friday. We're starting a new timekeeping program next week and we've got to tweak the fine points before then. I sure hope I don't have to go in on Saturday. Why couldn't they have waited until the first of the year?

It's almost midnight and I guess I better get to bed. Goodnight and God bless.......

18 Days Till Christmas

Christmas will be here before you know it. I was just reading some blogs and read Cristy Jordan's blog www.southernplate.com which led me to read another blog mainly for quilters, but it's pretty cool for scrapbookers, too. Wish I could remember the name........ Check out Southernplate and you can find it. Cristy just won an award from this blog. Anyway, there was a quote that really caught my eye. It said "There was only one Christmas; the rest are anniversaries." I never really thought of it that way, but it's true, isn't it?

Hang on a second. I've got to get up and dance. Okay, I'm back and out of breath. Whew! But, I just cannot sit still when I hear the song "Shackles" - take the shackles off my feet so I can dance......... I'm sitting here listening to Mandisa "True Beauty". Love it!

Yesterday (Saturday - well, actually it was two days ago since it's after midnight) was a pretty busy day for me. Started off sleeping late, until my mother called and woke me up around 10:30. Never could get back to sleep. My house is a wreck, but I just don't seem to have the energy or time to straighten it up. I went and found my little silver Christmas tree that I bought last year to put my vintage mercury ornaments on. Fran had brought a bunch of ornaments that she had left over last year from Holly Fair and she was selling them for $1.00 each. I bought a bunch and that's what I decorated the tree with. It's cute, but I had planned on pulling out my big tree after I rearranged the living room. Didn't have time to do it because I needed to eat something and wanted to go to Dazzle Wear and check out their big sale before I picked up Swayde. I did got to DW and bought a cute little jacket and a red Christmas shirt. They were having a pretty good sale and I had a $5.00 off coupon that I had gotten in the mail.

Then, I went to Sonic and got a grilled cheese sandwich and tea and ate it on the way to Penny's. I sat around with her for about 30 minutes before Tabitha called to tell me they were on their way to the school for Hope's concert. We met them there. The "Sandbox Singers" were so cute. I'll upload pictures later - tomorrow maybe. We were there from 4:30-7:00, then we went to Popeye's and ate. There were seven of us. We decided to go look at Christmas lights. I took Trent with me and Swayde and we followed Chad, Tabitha, Lee (her cousin) and Hope. We went to South Port and saw a few good displays, then to the Country Club near my house. Not as many people are putting up lights this year. I guess because of the economy. We met at my house and I gave Trent back. Vance came out to see what the dogs were barking at. I took Swayde back to his house and sat with him until Penny came home from her office Christmas party. I wish I had taken my camera in. She looked gorgeous. The dress she had on was just like the one Marilyn Monroe wore in that famous picture where she steps on an exhaust grate and the wind blows her dress up. Except, Penny's dress was black, where Marilyn's was white. And Penny's hair is dark where Marilyn was blonde. My sister looked good! She said she got a lot of compliments from the doctors. None of them even knew she had a good figure. Those scrubs leave a lot to be desired. They definitely don't do anything for your looks. Makes me want to lose some of this weight I'm carrying around. Though I would never look as good as Penny. She's just a natural beauty. So is Tiffaney. You can see that in the picture at the top of this blog. There are a lot of beautiful women in our families - Penny, Tiffaney, Angie, Tonya, Katie, Brenda, Stacy, Jodi, Robbie, Natalie, Michelle, Tabitha, just to name a few.I hope I didn't leave anybody out. I was glad Penny had fun. She deserves it. Swayde and I had fun, too. He's a good kid. He and Trent really enjoyed spending time together.

I came home and Vance had chili cooking in the crock pot. Yummy!

Went to church this morning. Pastor Sammy was back. Yeah! He's been out sick for so long. He was in the hospital in quaranteen for 3 weeks with a bad infection. If anybody went to see him, they had to scrub up and put on masks (he said they all dressed in the same Halloween costume. He's so funny.) We had a great service. I got him to pray for my ears because that dizziness was coming back. He prayed for that and the pre-diabetic condition I have. He talked to me about that and told me some things to do - mainly a low-carb diet. Carbs are not my friends, but I sure do love them. I would rather eat carbs than anything else on earth. Anything sweet is my downfall, especially sweet tea. After all, I'm a true Southern girl. We just can't live without sweet tea. I guess I'll go to the health food store tomorrow and buy some Stevia and make my own tea. Bye-bye Sonic...... :(

I went to see Mama after church. She's been bugging me for weeks to bring the title to her car so she can sign it over to me. She won't ever drive again, though she has been able to get off two of her inhalers since she quit smoking. She is doing so much better. I visited with her about two and a half hours. Penny came by to get her grocery list and went and bought her groceries. Thank you, Penny, for helping out. And Aunt Margurete, I appreciate you more than you will know for all you do for Mama.

I took a nap after eating a bowl of Vance's famous chili. It was good. Got up and went back to church to help decorate the Christmas tree. We had a lot of help this year, so we finished at 9:00 instead of the usual 10:00. It looks beautiful. Will post a picture later.

Chad starts his new job (Thank You Lord) on Tuesday. I may have to chip in and pick up Hope on the days that Chad and Tabitha's schedules overlap. I'll just schedule my lunch for 2:00 in the afternoon. That won't be a problem.

It's way past time for me to be in bed. It's 12:45 a.m. I've got to get up and go to work in a few hours. Goodnight and God bless.............

21 Days Till Christmas

Okay, how many of you out there are ready for Christmas? I'm sure there are plenty who are. Not me. I haven't even decided if I'm going to put up a tree. I probably will, but I don't know when I can slow down long enough to get it done. I'm one of those procrastinators who will put everything off until the last minute. I thrive on pressure! I used to wait until Christmas Eve to buy the presents and then stay up all (and I do mean ALL) night wrapping and putting things together. I loved it! Well, now the extended families get together up to a week before Christmas. That just ruined all my fun! But, I'll still wait until the very last minute. That's just the way I am and I'm too old to change. So, for those of you like me, you've only got 21 days before Christmas. Better get out there and get to shopping! Or, do like me and wait until the last minute. There are some pretty good deals on Christmas Eve. You get a whole lot more for your money, believe me.

I had such a good day today. Didn't get caught up on my work, but I'll get there if I have to bring work home every night next week.

God is really moving in our internet prayer group. When Ruth left the church, the prayer requests started coming to me. Was I ready to take over a prayer group? No way! Me, of such short, simple prayers? I sure didn't think so. Isn't it funny how God uses the ones who feel least equipped to do something for the kingdom? Ya reckon it's because you will have to rely totally on Him to get the job done? In my case, that is truly what is happening. I thought it would be a temporary position and I could pass it on to someone else. I tried to get Kim to take it. She prays such anointed prayers and she has a much better memory than I do. Especially for scripture. She can read something and remember where it is in the Bible and usually can quote the scripture verbatim. Not me. I've tried to memorize scripture, but it just doesn't happen for me. I tried for six months to memorize Psalm 91 and the only part I can remember is 91:11 - and He shall give His angels charge over you to keep you in all your ways. Sometimes, bits and pieces of the whole chapter will come back to my mind, but certainly not in any order. You ask me what the preacher's message was the same day he preached it and I'll have to go look at my notes. We all have gifts in the church and I know for sure mine is not being a teacher. As a matter of fact, I took one of those giftability surveys today, but got to the last page and it wouldn't give me my answer. The web page was down. Of course, I could probably take it every day and come up with something different. Just depends on how I feel about myself when I take the test.

Enough about me and my memory problems. With prayer, that is going to change, too. I'm declaring right now that I have a sound mind and I will start remembering scripture. Back to the prayer group. We are seeing people being healed of cancer; on their deathbeds with heart and lung problems and God is restoring their health. Babies are being touched. I think the devil is trying to kill the babies before they are even born because there are so many women giving birth prematurely or having miscarriages. People send me the prayer requests/praise reports and I send them out to the intercessors. It started out with just our church intercessors, but it is expanding all over the U.S. There are people out there who just love to pray for others and they have joined us and they pray and they send requests to us and we pray for them. I get calls all the time. I stop what I'm doing and type up the request and send it out. (Maybe I need to get a Blackberry so I can have access to my email all the time.)My sweet sister-in-law Brenda is a member of our group even though she goes to another church, and she keeps us informed on my mother-in-law's condition. We know that prayer is what turned her around so quickly. The doctor's believe she got encephalitis (an infection on her brain). It caused her brain to swell and she had a stroke. Mac called Brenda and Brenda got her to the hospital. They started giving her antibiotics and it brought down the swelling. At first, she didn't know anybody but Brenda. She didn't know Mac or me when we were visiting her. She would just smile at us with that sweet smile of hers. By the next night, her mind came back and she made the nurse call Mac so she could talk to him. Now, she even knows the names of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. I think her memory is sharper than mine! But, you see, that's the power of prayer. Even the doctors were amazed that she is recovering so quickly. See what prayer can do? God is ready to answer if we will just ask. No, sometimes His answers are not what we want; but I guarantee they are the right answers. Only He knows the future and what we need.

Kim and I were talking today about why some people don't get healed. She found a scripture in the Bible (the best place to go for answers) that says even the righteous will lose their lives (or something like that. I told you I can't remember very well.) We talked about it and I truly believe my brother Earl was healed of cancer the same night he gave his heart to Jesus. I witnessed it with my own eyes. When we walked in the church, he was walking with a cane, his skin was jaundiced, he could hardly speak without slurring his words. But after he said the sinner's prayer with the evangelist, he just fell to the floor (was slain in the Spirit for you non-Pentacostals). His Nurse Practioner, who was the first to find the cancer, was there and she held him in her lap and prayed over him until he came around. When he was just laying there, we began to see his skin turn from yellow to pink, like a baby's skin. When he started to get up, I went to hand him his cane and he said "I don't need that." He got up by himself. The evangelist came back over to him and said "Son, what just happened to you?" Earl said "Jesus healed me." Then they walked back and forth across the front of the church several times. Earl did not limp at all. I believe he could have taken off running at that point. His words were clear and he was one happy man. He and Jennifer sat up all night reading the Bible. But, a few days later, he began to slip away quickly and in less than two weeks, he had gone on to be with the Lord. Why have I told you all this? Because I believe that God looked into his future and saw things that Earl would not have been able to handle, so He took him home to be with Him to keep him from having to face the future. Do I wish that Earl was still here with us? You bet I do. I miss him every single day and he's been gone for a little over 10 years now. Would I ask him to leave the presence of God and come back? Not on your life! But, I do plan on seeing him again one day. How I look forward to that first hug. You just don't know.......

A friend of mine is also in our prayer group because her church won't allow one. They believe it is just a gossip group. I beg to differ. I see people getting healed, not talked about in a negative way. We are very discerning about what goes into the prayer requests. There are things that people have told me that will never be shared with anyone but God. If I have to, I will just type "unspoken request" because God knows what we need before we even ask Him. I only go into detail when the person asks me to share the details. I'm really excited about what God is doing.

Here's an example of a praise report: My son, Chad, has been without a job since August. He was working in the plumbing business and construction is down, so there are no jobs. What once was a booming business is just falling apart right now. (I believe that is going to turn around, too, because God's people are praying like they have never prayed before.) Anyway, we have been praying for Chad a job. Tabitha was the only one working, but God always provided their needs. They never went begging for bread. As a matter of fact, they even have helped feed others during their own time of need. That's what God tells us to do: give out of your own need and He will bless you. Today, Chad got a job. Praise the Lord! And, he's signed up to go to the college and get his GED. I see greater things in his future. It was spoken over him when he was in the 6th grade that once he graduated (key word there), he would own his own business and become a millionnaire. I have held on to that word all these years and believe that it will soon come to pass. Who knows, he may invent something that will instantly promote him to millionnaire status. You never know what God has in mind.

Well, it's almost midnight and I'm getting very sleepy. I have to get up a little earlier tomorrow cause I've got to wash my hair. This time of the year, my scalp gets flaky and has to be washed a little more often.

I will be out in the field tomorrow observing the line/service crews do their jobs. It was on my performance plan and the time to get it accomplished is the end of this year. Gotta do it tomorrow, because I plan to take a few days off after Christmas. First time in years!!! I'm excited. With holidays and weekends, I can stretch five days of vacation into 12 days off. Woo Hoo!!! I know I will pay for it when I go back, but I'll face that next year. :)

Goodnight and God bless...............He sure is blessing me!!!!

Back to Work Tomorrow

It sure has been nice having off for four days. Even though I spent most of the time on the couch trying to keep the dizzy spells from coming back.

We had a very untraditional Thanksgiving this year. My mother-in-law is in the hospital recovering from encephelitis. Which is really weird, because my aunt had the same thing last Thanksgiving. My MIL is doing fine. We thank the Lord for her quick recovery. It took months for my aunt to recover, but she's fine, too.

So, our Thanksgiving was celebrated at my MIL and FIL's house. Mac is recovering from hip replacement surgery, so we went to him. This year, 10 members of the family were out of town visiting the wive's families. My kids were among them. Brenda decided to order our meal from PoFolks instead of everybody cooking and bringing dishes (to tell you the truth, the best cooks were out of town). We did have some very special guests this year. Troy and Stacy's boys, Michael and Corey, brought their girlfriends. And our nephew, Chris, brought his wife and two children. We haven't seen Chris in eight years. Had never met his wife and kids. He has a boy, Colin, who is three and reminds me so much of Chris when he was that age. And, they have a little one month old little girl named Elijah. She is so precious. But, she has acid reflux really bad and stops breathing. She has some sort of monitor attached to her chest to go off if she does stop breathing. Please pray for her that she will be totally healed of this problem.

Friday, I slept late. That's very unusual for me. But those dizzy spells seem to be trying to come back. I think I know why. Last week, I ate a lot of salty stuff (nachos, tostitos)and that is what caused my last big episode - salty fries from McD's. I was on the floor of my bathroom throwing up for over five hours. After being picked up from Cato's by Vance, where the problem started. I spent an hour in their bathroom so dizzy I couldn't open my eyes without throwing up. I spent most of the day Friday on the couch, until Daddy called needing some groceries. I got dressed and went to the store and spent about an hour with him looking at paperwork that we need to fill out for his medicine.

Saturday morning, Vance went to play golf with Troy. Again, I slept late. Got up and moved to the couch and stayed there till after Vance got home. Because I slept so much, I couldn't go to bed until around 3:00 this morning. When I tried to get up to get ready for church, I almost fell down. My balance was off really bad this morning. So, I called and left a message for Karen that I wouldn't be there, and I fell back asleep. Kim called around 10:00. She had gotten to church and didn't see my car, so she called to see if I was okay. She is so sweet. I went back to sleep and slept till around 1:00. I'm feeling better now. No more salt for me, that's for sure!

Yesterday, I put a package of 15 bean soup mix in the crock pot along with ham that Vance had smoked, added a few extra spices and let it cook. It wasn't done by suppertime, so we ate the ham and beans that we had cooked the night before (he cooked the ham, I warmed up a can of Southern Style pinto beans). We did eat it for supper tonight and it was pretty good. I even made cookies for Vance's sudden sweet tooth. He had me make cinnamon rolls last night. That's the most cooking I've done in ages. He's always the one to cook. I'm planning on making Pumpkin Bread for Christmas. Chad really missed it last year, so I promised to make it this year.

Penny and I talked last night and neither one of us had potato salad for Thanksgiving. That's always one of the things either Mama or I make. It's been a tradition all my life to have it for Thanksgiving and Christmas, along with everything else you can imagine. I know most people usually only eat it in the summer, but both sides of my family always had potato salad at every holiday. I guess I'll just have to make some for Christmas.

I guess I better start getting ready for bed since I have to go to work tomorrow. I'm sure I'll be busy playing catch up on timesheets. A lot of the guys will be on vacation till the end of the year, so I won't have too many to do. That's a good thing.

Well, goodnight and God Bless.............