Had a Weird Dream Last Night

For those of you who know me, you know that I am terrified of spiders. Just typing the word makes me shiver. One reason I'm so scared of them is because I was bitten by a brown recluse about 20 years ago. I am just so thankful that it bit me on the shin bone and not in the muscle or fatty tissue of my leg. It was bad, but not as bad as it could have been. Ate a hole in my leg, but didn't have much to feed on because there was nothing but bone underneath. All you have to do is mention the word and I freak out.

So, for a person who never, ever dreams (how can I when I never sleep?), I had one weird, creepy, scary dream last night. It started out great (don't they all?). I was on vacation in a beautiful valley with lush, green rolling hills surrounding it. I was staying in this beautiful old hotel and decided to take a walk around the property with my camera, of course. You know me, I don't go anywhere without several cameras. So, I was walking along this beautiful path and saw a spider web stretching across the door of a barn. It was a perfect circle with a big spider in the middle. The spider was about four inches long. The sun was hitting the web in such a way that it just sparkled. That drew me closer, so I forgot my fear and started taking pictures. As I got closer and started snapping away, I realized that the barn was full of spiders of all shapes, colors and sizes. Before I realized what was happening, a huge orange spider had a hold of my leg. I'm talking huge! The size of a car tire. The legs and body were bigger around then my arm.

I started screaming at the top of my lungs. A young man with long, thick, blond hair, appeared out of nowhere and started beating the spider with a huge pipe. Legs were flying everywhere. I was still screaming and ran out of the barn. The young man was dressed like a gardener. I ran so fast back to the hotel that I never saw him again.

The next scene in my dream was me laying in a beautiful four-poster bed. As I was sleeping, I was awakened by something on my left leg. I woke up and saw a huge orange spider grabbing my leg as other spiders - all shapes and sizes - were falling all over my face and my arms and my body.

Let me tell you - I woke up from that dream fighting and could still feel those things all over my body. I jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom to make sure there weren't any spiders on me. Freaked me out!!!! Needless to say, I couldn't make myself go back to bed. I went to the couch and then was afraid to fall back asleep. I was afraid the dream would pick up where it left off. I eventually fell asleep and didn't dream of spiders, or anything else for that matter.

I sure didn't want to wake up this morning. I was so tired from fighting spiders that I just wanted to roll over and go back to sleep. But, I got up and got ready for work. Missed having coffee with Kim this morning. She was at a meeting in Crestview.

A friend told me that Cato's had some great clothes in, so I went by there at lunch and checked out the clearance rack. Yes, they have some beautiful fall and winter clothes; but I don't know what size I will be in a couple of months, so I tried on some clothes off the clearance rack. I ended up buying a size 12 pair of jeans (YAY!) and a couple of tops. One is a medium. I've gone from size 18 to 12 since March. I'm so excited. My goal is to have lost 50 lbs. by October 31st. I think I might make it. One of the guys at work asked me how much I had lost already and I told him 47 lbs., but needed to lose about 22 more. He was shocked when I told him that. He said I looked skinny now. He couldn't believe that I still weighed over 160 lbs.

Filled up my gas tank, got a side salad from McD's and went back to work. Ate the salad and went over to the auditorium and got a 15 minute deep-tissue massage. It hurt so good! I am so tight across my shoulders that she actually used her elbows to do some parts. I could feel the fluid breaking up. They were promoting a new benefit from the company. If we sign up for 12 months, we get one massage a month for an hour for $54. I would love to sign up, but I've got to get off Jenny Craig first. I just don't have any extra money right now. But, I will definitely splurge and go from time-to-time and take advantage of a deep-tissue massage. I really believe they could help the pain in my right shoulder and the numbness in my left hand. She told me she needed at least an hour to an hour and a half my first time out, cause I was in such bad shape. That might be what I give myself for Christmas or get Vance to give me the money instead of buying me a gift. Sounds like a plan. They are at Pier Park, so that would give me an excuse to go to the beach.

After work, I went by and picked up our taxes. Yes, I wait to the very last minute to file. I just couldn't concentrate on tax stuff when I was having vertigo so bad. It kinda clouds your thinking process. Anyway, the wait was worth it. We're going to get some money back. Thank You, Lord!

Vance had to go to a meeting after work to find out how to re-apply for his job through Civil Service. They are no longer contracting out his job, so he has to apply with others from around the country for his job. I am praying that God will show him favor above all others and he will be able to keep his job and will get benefits, too. A raise would be a nice thing, too. Otherwise, he would become unemployed in March and he's not old enough yet to draw Social Security and he doesn't have any retirement. Please keep him in your prayers. I just believe everything is going to work out for the good.

Went to Praise & Worship practice. Had a great time. Then, prayer time was awesome. The worship just flowed and I believe the prayers were touching the heart of God. We got some great news - McKinley will be getting out of the hospital and coming home on Thursday. She is the baby we have been praying for that had open-heart surgery a week after she was born. She had a stint put in the day she was born and then had surgery for acid reflux last week. She is doing great and we can't wait to see her. She's a miracle baby for sure.

Well, it's getting close to midnight and I'm getting tired. Didn't sleep too good after that nightmare last night, so I guess I'll start winding down.

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

God Shows Up in a Cemetery

Last Saturday, I had the privilege of going to the funeral of Pastor Sammy Stewart's dad, Hollis Stewart. I rode to Dothan, AL, with Carol and we had a great time of fellowship on the way. As soon as we got to the funeral home, the photographer in me exploded with ideas of photographs. Mr. Hollis' funeral was to be a veteran's funeral, so the sidewalks were lined with veterans holding US flags. I didn't pull out my camera, but I wanted to. But, you really don't know what others would think - taking photos at a funeral? How disrespectful is what I was thinking.

We walked in and Pastor Sammy and Mrs. Sandi met us. After hugging us and thanking us for coming, they both said we had to see The Weeping Angel statue. I said "I'll have to take a picture of it." Pastor agreed. Then, they told us that we had to check out the bathroom. So, I did. It was beautiful. The whole place was gorgeous. I've never been in a funeral home that made me feel so at peace and a place that I could live in, even knowing that it was a funeral home. It made me want to move to Alabama just so I could be buried there.

The funeral was very nice. Pastor Sammy and Rev. Doug McCormick did a great job. As we walked outside, the veterans were standing on both sides of the sidewalk holding flags. I felt honored to walk between those flags with those men and women who had served our country so proudly holding them.

There is a helicopter on a pole that hangs above the place where the outdoor service takes place. There is a flagpole beside it that has the US flag and a POW/MIA flag flying on it. There was a tent set up for the family to sit under and we all gathered around the outskirts, with the veterans forming a semi-circle with the flags behind us, as Pastor Sammy thanked everybody for coming and said a prayer. Then, the canon was shot off as a substitute for the 21-gun salute. A Navy soldier started playing Taps. Taps always gets to me and makes me cry. This is where God showed up. I looked up at the flags above the tent and they were flying straight out. A breeze had picked up and I turned and looked behind me. Every single one of the flags that the veterans were holding began to stand straight out and wave in the breeze. My breath caught and tears flowed like rain down my cheeks. I could not take my eyes off those flags. I wanted to pull my camera out of my purse, but I didn't want to be disrespectful. The instant the last note of Taps was played, the flags dropped straight down again. It was the most awesome sight. I just wanted to laugh and cry at the same time.

After the service was over, Carol and I asked where the angel was and it was pointed out to us. Oh, what a beautiful sculpture. A lady in China carved it out of one piece of marble. It will take your breath away. I took several pictures of it and then other statues on the grounds. As I was taking a picture of the eagle and the flagpole that sits beside where Mr. Stewart will be buried, the family started walking up. We stepped back to the Weeping Angel and let them have a few moments at the graveside. They all come into the pavilion where we were and asked if I would take pictures of the family. One of the aunts had brought a camera, so it was handed to me and Wanda McMullon took my camera and took a few pictures. She gave it back to me for the last picture of the entire family because I had a good vantage spot to get them all in the picture.

Before Carol, Wanda and I left, I told Pastor Sammy and one of his brothers what I had seen with the flags. It really blessed them. I'm telling you, I haven't been the same since. I have felt such a peace this week that I just can't explain. God really touched my heart when He showed me those flags waving in the wind.

Carol, Wanda and I stopped and ate, then headed home. We made a couple of stops on the way for me to take pictures of hay bales, or do you call them hay rolls now? Got some good pictures, but for some reason, I can't get them to load on my page. Will try again later.

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

God is Moving in My Life

Have you ever just been driving down the road and somebody's name pops in your head and you wonder where they are today and what they've been doing since the last time you saw them? Well, for about two weeks, that would happen to me. I'd be driving home after work and the name of my friend, Diane Etress, would just pop in my head. I'd say a little prayer for her and ask God to watch over her. I haven't seen her in so many years, I can't really remember the last time I saw her. We were so very close as teenagers. I practically lived at her house. When she got her new car, we drove around downtown the first night and timed it just right where the odometer would roll to 100 miles when we drove in her yard. Her dad woke us up from a sound sleep the next morning screaming and wanting to know why we drove out of town the night before. We told him we just drove up and down Harrison Avenue all night, but he wouldn't believe us until we got the policeman who we all knew and saw at Hardee's to call him and tell him that he had seen us several times driving up and down Harrison Avenue.

Diane was with me when I met Vance at the Power Mile Service Station on Hwy 231 after he got out of the Army. I was driving my mother's Studebaker station wagon and we stopped for gas. She wanted to date Vance because he had a Corvette, but he ended up being more interested in me than her. He met us later that night at Hardee's by Bay High; and while I talked to the guy I had met from the skating rink who was teaching me to waltz on skates, she was talking to Vance. I walked up just as she was giving him her phone number and he asked for mine, too. I gave it to him, he called the next day and the rest is history. Three months later, I was her Maid of Honor and a week later, she was my Matron of Honor.

But, back to Diane. As I said, we lost touch. Today, I got a call from the front desk that Diane Etress was there to see me. I practically ran over to see her. We hugged and she said "I lost Larry (her husband)last Friday and when you weren't at the funeral, I realized you didn't know." I never read a paper and in her grief she had forgotten my last name so she couldn't call. She just took a chance that I still worked at Gulf Power. We talked for several minutes and exchanged phone numbers. Her husband died of cancer. I felt so bad that I hadn't been there for her when she needed me the most. But, you see, God knew that she needed my prayers and He put her on my heart for two weeks. What an awesome God we serve.

Lately, He has been bringing more and more people back into my life that I have lost touch with. It has been such a blessing to me to reconnect with people from my past. We are able to pray for each other's needs, share in the joy of grandchildren and just get to know one another all over again. I thank Him every day for the many blessings He has bestowed on me. If you are reading this, I thank Him for you. I may have never met you in person, but you are a blessing in my life. And one day, I will meet you in heaven if Jesus Christ is your Savior. If you don't know Him, just ask Him into your heart today. He loves you so much and wants to have a personal relationship with you.

Please pray for Diane and her two daughters, and the rest of the family as they go through this grieving period. May God Bless and keep you.........

My Mama's Hands

Just something I wrote to go along with a picture I took of My Mama's Hands:

As a baby, they held her source of nourishment. As a toddler, they held on to things as she learned to walk, even catching her as she fell. They petted and cared for the many animals she came in contact with. They tilled the earth as she planted vegetables and flowers. As a teenager, they held hands with the man she loved. As an adult, they held her children tight. They cooked, cleaned and sewed her children's clothes. They made flower arrangements, cakes, cookies and all kinds of crafts to make her home more beautiful. They re-arranged furniture that her husband would trip over if he came in late at night and forgot to turn on a light. They tended to the stray animals her children were always bringing home. They brandished the switch she used to keep her children in line. They sewed the tiny Barbie clothes as a Christmas present for her oldest daughter one year when money was scarce. They wiped away tears, bandaged scrapped knees, and continued to hold on to her children as they left to start families of their own. They held grandchildren and great-grandchildren one-by-one. Now, as she has gotten older, they hold on to things that make her happy - pictures of her family, the TV remote, the phone; and they hold us close for a hug when we visit. My Mama's hands are still beautiful to me and I pray that my hands will be remembered one day by my children as Hands of Love, cause that's what my Mama's hands mean to me. Written by Patricia Sue Brown Rutherford, August 20, 2009

I Think I'll Write A Book

Yesterday, Penny and I had to go to Mama's and be interviewed by a man who works for the attorneys who are suing the tobacco companies. He wanted to see the things that Mama could do and hear about the things she used to do.

Being the oldest, it was decided I would be on camera first. And I'm not talking a little video camera. Nope, this was the same kind of camera they use for TV. And, he was taking really, really close-ups. I was a little nervous about that. After all, I am in my late 50's, so there are some wrinkles on this face. One thing he did tell me and Penny confirmed - he brought out the blue in my eyes. He said "This will soften the skin and make those blue eyes pop." Naturally, I couldn't see, but Penny said they really did.

He wouldn't give us the questions first. Oh no. He started by asking what kind of mom she was when I was growing up. Now, I could have told how strict she was and how she never spared the rod, but I knew that wasn't what he wanted to hear. So, I told him that she was very active. She could do back bends and splits and run like the wind. She was a great water skier; could even kick off a ski and slalom. She used to chaperon field trips and go to PTA meetings. She was involved in all our activities. She was a stay-at-home mom who had a garden, both vegetable and flower.

He asked if she always smoked. I told him that she and Daddy both smoked and my bedroom was right beside the living room. I would have to shut my door and open my window year round and sleep with my pillow in the window to be able to breathe. The smoke was so thick in the living room, it looked like you were in a bar. He asked me if I ever asked her to quit. I gave him that "are you kidding?" look and said "Back when I was a kid, you didn't ask or tell your parents to quit smoking. For one thing, the doctors even promoted cigarette smoking and for another, that would have been very disrespectful to talk to your parents about quitting." I would probably have been told to go get a switch, so she could teach me some manners. "No, you didn't talk to your parents that way while I was growing up. After I was an adult and after watching my grandfather die of emphysema, I begged her to quit smoking. She couldn't quit. If anything, she smoked more and so did her brother."

He said "Have you thought about the outcome of this disease and what's going to happen to her?" I said "Yes, I know the outcome. She's going to die a horrible death. I just pray that they come up with a cure before then. Or, let me die first so I don't have to watch her suffer." By this time, I was sobbing. I don't even remember what else he asked, but he hugged me and apologized for making me cry. Of course, Mama and Penny were crying, too.

Penny was next. She told how Mama worked three jobs and she hardly ever got to see her. She and Daddy had gotten a divorce when Penny was about four, so Mama worked in a school cafeteria, then as a housekeeper at the hospital, then out to the beach to work in my aunt's liquor store until after midnight. She would go home, take a short nap, pick up Penny and Earl from my house, fix their breakfast and get them off to school, sleep another couple of hours and start all over. She still kept up with the chores around the house and her flowers, cut her own grass and cooked. She just wasn't home much.

He asked if Penny had asked her to quit smoking. Penny was from another generation than me, so she did ask Mama to quit. And when Penny had Tiffaney, Tiffaney used to hide or throw away Granny's cigarettes. Penny also broke down and cried when he asked about what was going to happen to Mama because of smoking. That was something that I have tried to block out of my mind and not dwell on because it's so horrible.

After the interviews, he got me to take out the garbage and Penny to check the mail, because we have to do those things for Mama. I gave him a photo album that I had made up from the time Mama was 17 until just this Mother's Day. It even had three pictures of her with cigarettes in her hands. He gave me his email address in case I came across more pictures of her smoking. We left to go back to work and he interviewed Mama.

Penny called me on the way back to work and said "I never knew Mama could water ski." I had never thought of it before, but there is a lot about Mama and Daddy that Penny never knew. So, I think I'll write a book. I would love to get a video camera to interview Mama and Daddy, but I guess my little tape recorder will have to do the job. I'm going to try to sit down tomorrow night and write out questions and then set up a Saturday when I can sit down with them (one at a time, of course - can't have them in the same room with one another) and ask questions about what it was like when they were growing up and what they remember about us when we were little. I talked to Mama this afternoon and she doesn't remember going to PTA meetings. She was dealing with an alcoholic husband and you tend to forget a lot of things that go on around you. I learned that when I was in counseling for Adult Children of Alcoholics. Anyway, I think it would be nice to get stuff down on paper for the generations to come. So, I'm going to write a book..........

More Miracles Are on the Way

I am bursting to overflowing tonight from the things I see God doing in my life and the lives of those around me - Mary Spence going home after having a brain aneurysm burst around Thanksgiving and being in a coma for months, then waking up and now able to speak some and can mouth scripture even if she can't speak the words. How awesome is our God???

Tonight, I was on the phone with my sister for about an hour. She was telling me about Swayde and how she loves the summer school that he's in. It's a Christian school and he is just excelling and loving the work. He's made friends and is learning about God. The other night, he and Penny were laying across her bed watching "The Cleaner" and Swayde was commenting how he knew people that the guy could help here and wondering if they could call him to help these people get off drugs and alcohol. When it was over, Penny told him he needed to go to bed. He started out the door and said "Wait, I've got to say my prayers." (Swayde has never been to church before and he only knew Jesus as "The Heaven Man.") So, Penny gets off the bed and starts to kneel down by the bed. Swayde says "No, I have to stand by the window so God will see me." Penny explained that God saw him no matter where he was. He insisted on standing by the window. Penny said the only prayer she could think of was "Now I lay me down to sleep...God bless Mama and Daddy...." Somewhere in the prayer, Swayde said "and forgive me of my sins." Then, he turned to Penny and said "What's sin?" So Penny began to explain to him that sin was hurting someone, being mean to someone, cheating, stealing, lying, etc. Swayde wanted to know what cheating was. She explained that cheating was when you copied somebody's paper while taking a test, or you cheated while playing a game. Swayde yelled "Stop!" and jumped up and ran to the window and said "Dear God, please forgive me for cheating on that game I played today. Amen." At that point, I totally lost it. I was laughing and crying at the same time. It still cracks me up while typing this.

Then he asked her if she would buy him a Bible. She said she would get him one and they would read it every night. That's when the tears really started to flow. I have prayed for years for Penny to come back to the Lord. Now, God is using Swayde to bring her back. I am so thankful to God right now. I've prayed for 41 years for my entire family to be saved and they are beginning to come in one-by-one. Thank You, Jesus!

Number 6 of Number 6

I'm playing along with Michelle by uploading the 6th picture of the 6th photo file on my computer. If I can get the image uploaded. Having a bit of a problem connecting right now. I did go take a look at the photo, so I'd know what to write about. The 6th picture in my 6th file just happens to be a photo of flowers that my husband gave me for our 37th wedding anniversary on December 11, 2007. I had even added a verse of scripture to the picture, so that's pretty cool.

Before we got married, Vance told me to never expect flowers or jewelry, because he just wasn't that kinda guy. So, I never did. Well, he's surprised me time and time again with flowers, usually "Just Because." And, he's right - don't expect them for Valentine's Day, birthdays, anniversaries - cause you may not get them. But, then again, you just might! He may even forget to give anything on those days. But, out of the clear blue, he walks in with a bouquet of flowers. How special is that!

Now, he was right about the jewelry. Oh, he's bought me jewelry before, but it was usually something really cheap. Except, for our 25th anniversary. That year, he splurged and bought me a diamond anniversary ring. And, he was so excited that he couldn't wait until our anniversary. He had to give it to me two days before! That year, he also sent me a big bouquet of flowers to work. Since then, he has bought me a few good pieces of jewelry, but I don't ever expect any. And, I'm not one that goes for all the diamonds and glitz anyway. I would never trade my 1/4 carat diamond engagement ring in for a bigger one. This ring means way too much to me. It's all Vance could afford when we got married and it means more to me than a huge diamond ring. I look at this ring and I see love and commitment. A bigger ring would just not mean that much to me. I have a much bigger diamond ring that my mother gave me and I don't ever wear it. It makes me uncomfortable. I don't want people to look at me and think that's all I'm about. So superficial. I would rather give money to help others than load myself down with diamonds and jewels.

Hope you like the picture.

A Day in the Life of a Meniere's Sufferer

Saturday started out a normal day. Get up, eat breakfast, take a shower, go to Jenny Craig to weigh and get food for the week. Felt great. I've lost a total of 31 lbs. so far. One more pound and I'll be half-way to my goal.

I came home and put the frozen food up and ate lunch. Called a new friend that I met on Facebook who's in town and invited her to church. Sent her the directions to the church, then decided to go out and do some photography. I was headed to St. Andrews where I planned to do a few drive-bys and then get out and walk around and take pictures. I got to the airport and started thinking maybe I shouldn't be out in the heat, so I turned and headed towards TJ Maxx where I was going to look for some clothes - shorts and tops. I pulled into the parking lot and decided I didn't want to go in. So, I started driving again and thought I'd go visit my mom, but felt an urgency to get home. I stopped by McDonald's and got a side salad, came home and ate. I settled down to watch a movie "Saving Emily" and about 15 minutes into the movie, the room started spinning out of control. I managed to make it to the bathroom and started vomiting.

When an attack hits, you can't open your eyes or you will start vomiting uncontrollably. It is the most violent of attacks. In between times of vomiting, I try to lay down on the floor. Sometimes, I can take a quick nap before the spinning wakes me up and I start vomiting again. My husband came home and I asked him to wet a washrag for me. He feels so helpless when I have these attacks, because there is nothing he can to do make it better. While I am vomiting, I start sweating and burning up, then I get so cold that I shake uncontrollably. If I were to stick my tongue out, I would bite it off. That's how bad I shake. I asked Vance to bring me two pillows and a blanket.

My dogs get so upset. Vinnie came in while I was laying on the floor and laid down beside me and started pawing at my arm. He wanted me to put my hand on him. I guess to make sure I was alive. I would pet him and lay my hand back down. He would paw at me and then lay his head down on my hand. So sweet. The whole time he was laying beside me, Shadow was laying at the door watching over us. They never left me. One or the other or them would be at my feet when I was laying down.

Kim and Tabitha called while I was in the middle of the attacks. They wanted to know what they could do to help. I just told them to pray. There is nothing anybody can do.

I would lay down on the floor between attacks of vomiting. Even though I was laying on a plush rug, that tile floor was so hard. I think I've got bruises all over my body. Losing weight off my hips has taken away a lot of padding and my bones and tile floors just don't get along very well.

Around 11:00, the spinning stopped, so I thought I could go get in my chair in the living room and sleep the rest of the night. Vance was asleep in his recliner. Bless his heart, he just doesn't know what to do to help me. I had barely gotten sat down before I felt the urge to vomit again. I took off running to the bathroom with my pillows and blanket. This time, it was only acid that came up. That's the worst part - when you have nothing in you for the acid to eat, so it comes up. I had to sit up the rest of the night, because if I laid down the acid would come up.

At 2:00 and 5:00 I had more violent attacks of vomiting up the acid. Finally, it all stopped. I managed to move to my chair around 7:00 and I called Donna to let her know I wouldn't be at church tonight and to look for Shaneen and let her know why I wasn't there. Tabitha called to check on me and I told her to also look for Shaneen. I hate that I missed church. It was Homecoming and I really wanted to meet Shaneen.

I spent the rest of the day in my chair dozing off and on. I ate a muffin around 2:00 to see if I could hold it down. I ate some of Vance's pot roast around 5:00 and I'm feeling better.

Kim called to see how I was doing and asked if I knew what brought on this attack after so many months. I believe I know. Years ago, the specialists tried to put me on a diuretic, but every time I took it, I had an attack. Thursday, when I went to the doctor about having vertigo for three weeks because of fluid in my ears (which she confirmed - classic case of vertigo, not Meniere's), she gave me samples of a diuretic to take to dry of the fluid. I took one that day and drank about 12 glasses of water because it was drying up my saliva. I was going to the bathroom about every 15 minutes. That night, I noticed that my eyes were dialated and would not change when I closed my eyes and then opened them. Kim even noticed them the next day. They looked weird. Friday, I was still drinking water, but noticed that I was not going to the bathroom much. I decided not to take anymore of the medicine. But, I think I had enough in me to cause the attack.

I'm praying that this will all go away and never return. Please join me in this prayer. If you want to know more about Meniere's Disease, please Google it and pray for all those people who suffer with it.

Miracle After Miracle - I'm So Excited!!!

Alan went home today. What a miracle he is. I hear he's hoping to be at the Rescue Mission Friday night. Revival may break out in that place after he gives his testimony of breaking his back and God healing him - doing a very quick work, too. I hope he's at church Sunday. It's homecoming for our church, so there will be a lot of unsaved loved ones there. I can just see people flocking to the altar after his testimony. Who knows, revival may break out in our church. That would be wonderful.

Then, we find out about Mary Spence. Mary works with me and she had a brain aneurysm around Thanksgiving. She was in a coma for months, then begin to slowly come out of it. Now, she's having physical and speech therapy. She is now able to answer questions with "yes" or "no" and is saying 50 words. She recognizes people and puckers up for a kiss whenever her husband walks into the room. She is definitely a miracle. She was not expected to ever come out of the coma, but look what God has done!! He is working miracles in her life and it is so exciting. I have been pumped all day about the news of Mary and Alan. Just can't contain my joy. God is so amazing!

Well, guess I better cut this short. I've got a CD of pictures to copy and some other things to do before I go to bed. And, I'm getting really tired. Don't want to stay up too late tonight. Goodnight and God bless.........Be on the lookout for miracles all around you.

Accident Behind Our Office Today

Had some excitement at work this morning. It was around 10:00; the temperature already in the high 90's with the heat index over 100 degrees. I was walking down the ramp where the line trucks park going from my office to Kim's office when I heard a loud crash. I turned around thinking someone had dropped something on the concrete. Didn't see anyone or anything, so I proceeded to open the door. Saw the lights blink, so I walked into Kim's office and asked her and Jeff (my boss) if the lights had just blinked. Jeff said "No, you must have blinked and just thought it was the lights." I threw back a comment "Well, I guess I just got too hot walking down the ramp and I'm seeing things." I walked into another office and when I came out, several people were standing on the steps looking outside. Curiosity got the best of me and I asked what was going on? Kim said "You were right. Beth said the lights did blink and there's the reason why." On the street behind us, there was a lady in a blue Grand Am sitting in front of the pole that she had hit. The police were already there telling her to stay in the car because the downed power lines were still energized.

Well, you know me - photo op! I went to my office and grabbed my camera. Walked out near the fence which was also energized. I kept the ditch between me and the fence. I got pictures of the lady still in the car, the pole laying in the road - all the way through to the paramedics removing her from the car. We don't know why she ran off the road and hit the pole. It is a straight road and we didn't see any other cars. She could have been on her cell phone, adjusting the radio, picking up something off the floor, eating, or even passed out. I guess we won't know until the police report comes back. Her air bag deployed, so that saved her some injuries. The pole she hit was an old pole so it snapped off easily. Had it been a green pole, I'm afraid she would have gotten hurt a whole lot worse. I never saw any blood and she seemed very calm.

She had to sit in the car in the heat before a crew could get there to drop out the line jacks to de-energize the line. If it had happened before they left this morning, it would have taken them no time to get it done. But, all our crews were several miles away at the time of the accident and had to fight the heavy traffic to get back to the shop. She didn't seem to be in any pain and was just sitting patiently in her car.

After they took her away in the ambulance - without lights or sirens (good sign), several more crews showed up. All-in-all, it took four crews four hours in this extreme hot weather to get the new pole set, wire restrung and new directional lights hung. In the meantime, our Substation Department was out of power the entire time. I'm glad it didn't affect our office. The substation crews were all out in the field, so it didn't affect them either. Those of us who have to work in the office would have been miserable with no windows to open.

I just pray that the lady was not injured in any way. One thing I am thankful for is that there was no child riding in the car seat that was in her backseat. I would have found it very hard to watch and wait in 100 degree heat while a child screamed from the backseat scared and possibly injured. How do policemen, firemen and paramedics feel in a situation like that? Pretty helpless, I would imagine.

It's Been Another Blessed Day

On my way to work this morning, I stopped in Sonic to get a Route 44 unsweet tea - Stevia now, no sugar. As I was pulling out, my sister was pulling in. She waved and smiled that beautiful smile of hers, then called me on my cell phone. We had a nice conversation until we both got to work. I sure do love my sister. She was asking about Uncle Rudolph's funeral because she couldn't get off work to go. I told her how nice it was and the stupid mistake I made in thinking the burial was at Evergreen when it was all the way across town at Greenwood. She thought that was funny - me racing all over town just to be able to see the family one more time.

Mama beeped in, so we hung up. Mama had gotten her power bill and wanted me to pay it. That's one thing I do for her - pay her bills. Penny buys her groceries and Aunt Margurete takes her to the doctor, Chip cuts her grass. With Daddy, I do it all.

After talking to Mama and paying her bill, I got a call from Melissa at Hollywood Thrift Shop. I stopped in there two or three Saturday's ago to check it out and bought a couple of tops and a pair of capris. She was having a drawing for a Father's Day basket to help out a family whose father has cancer. He's only 28 years old. I bought six tickets and as I was walking out the door, I prayed "Lord, please let me win this basket so I can give it to that young man. His family doesn't have money to buy extra things and this man deserves something nice on Father's Day." I prayed for his healing and then just forgot all about the raffle. Well, guess what? I won the basket! Melissa called to tell me that I could come by and pick it up. Without even hesitating, I said "Melissa, would you please give it to the young man that you were trying to bless with the raffle proceeds? I really want him to have it." She started crying and said that her husband was going by to visit with him today and he would take it to him. See, God does hear our prayers. And He blessed me so much by allowing me to win that basket so that I could bless someone else. I am just in awe of His grace and mercy and goodness. I do pray for his complete healing so that he can be around to see his children grow up and get married and give him grandchildren. I don't even know his name, but God knows him. If you are reading this, please just say a prayer for him. I just can't stop praising My Father. I am so blessed!

Trent called and asked if I'd pick him and Hope up for church. Of course! I love to take them to church. We had a good service again tonight. Pastor Sammy has been sick and out a lot, but he did a great job tonight. Praise and Worship was so sweet. God is really moving in our song services. We don't perform; we worship with all our hearts. It's great to see the young people get out of their seats and line up across the front of the church and worship with us. No inhabitions. They are free to worship in our church. And even to see the little children leave the security of their parents to come forward and clap and sing along. What a moving experience. You know it comes from the heart because they don't act up; they truly worship.

It's getting close to midnight and I need my beauty sleep (all I can get!!). Goodnight and God bless...........

Homegoing

Today was my uncle's funeral. Uncle Rudolph was the District Commander for the Royal Rangers for many years and there were many nice things said about him and his love for the young men who were in the Royal Rangers. My sons were RR's for a couple of years during his reign. I think they really enjoyed their time there. My cousin Beverly's daughter, Ashley, sang a song in honor of her Grandfather and it was so beautiful. She has an amazing voice. I never knew that about her.

The preacher actually preached a sermon of my uncle's on the 23rd Psalm. It was so good and such a blessing to hear. Yes, my uncle was also a pastor. How he found time to do all that he did, I just don't know.

I took Daddy to the funeral, but he wasn't feeling up to going to the cemetery so I rushed him home and headed to the cemetery. I flew up Hwy 231 to Evergreen and no one was there. I knew they couldn't have all left that quick, so I looked at the little funeral announcement I got at the church and realized I was at the wrong cemetery. He was being laid to rest in Greenwood - clear across town. So, I'm talking to myself and debating "do I go or do I just go back to work?" I decided to go and see if anyone was still there. Well, I got there right after the service was over, but I did get to speak to everybody and hand out my cards so they would all have my email and phone number.

My cousin, Bucky, promised to email me and he did through Facebook tonight. At least I know I'll stay in contact with Bucky and Melissa, my 2nd cousin. We have got to get a reunion together sometime soon. Cousin Ronnie promised to email me when he got back home. I think he and his daughter are coming back in a few weeks. Maybe we can all get together then.

I realize we are all busy and have jobs and families of our own, but I miss seeing my cousins, aunts and uncles. I've reached out. Let's see how many reach back. :)

I went back to work and had an appointment after work to get my hair colored. It sure did need it. I had about a two inch gray streak running down the middle of my head. I'm just not ready to go gray yet. Maybe when I'm in my 70's.......

I missed Praise and Worship practice, but I made it for intercessory prayer. God is so awesome and all He wants is our love and praise and thanks for what He has done for us. Sarah reminded us "Give Him praise no matter what the circumstance." I plan on doing more of that.

Sarah pulled me aside after prayer and said she had to tell me something about last Wednesday night. She said she had been praying the scripture "Faith is the substance of things hoped for; the evidence of things not seen" over a situation in her life. I had taken my granddaughter, Hope, to church. She hasn't been in awhile and as we were walking to the car after church, she said "Nonna, aren't we going inside?" I said "If you want to." She said "Yes, I need to see some people and hug them." So we went inside. She ran up to Mrs. Sandi and gave her a hug and Pastor Sammy, then she went looking for Sarah. She ran up behind her and hugged her. Sarah turned around thinking it was Little Sarah and was surprised to see that it was Hope. Hope squeezed her and told her "I love you", then she was ready to go home. Well, as Sarah was leaving church, the Lord brought back to her remembrance the scripture she had been praying and in her spirit, she heard "Tonight I brought you Hope to let you know that I love you." He used my little Hope to minister to Sarah. Isn't He an awesome God?

It's been a very tiring day and I'm going to bed early tonight. Goodnight and God bless............

Reconnecting With Family

Today was a pretty normal day at work - busy. But, I like busy. I don't like just sitting around looking for something to do.

After work, I went and picked up Daddy to go to the funeral home for my uncle's viewing. It is a crying shame that a death has to occur to bring families together. The last time I saw all my cousins was at my Grandmother's funeral. You just about feel like you need to introduce yourself. Know what I mean? I did have to introduce my sister, Penny, to a few of them. My cousin, Ronnie, has lived overseas just about all her life and they've only seen each other a few times. So, I walked up and said "Ronnie, this is your cousin, Penny." We had a good laugh over that. As a matter of fact, we did a lot of laughing tonight. You see, when you know that the deceased is in heaven having a reunion with Jesus and other members of your family and he's lived for 80 years, you can laugh and not feel like you are dishonoring his memory. He loved to laugh, so I'm sure he would have been laughing right along with us had he been here.

I talked to all my cousins and told them we needed to start getting together again and not let years go by without seeing one another. They all agreed, so I came home and made my own personal business cards with my name, address, phone number and email address on it. I'm going to pass them out tomorrow and see just how many of them respond. We've all got old pictures that we don't know who the people are, so I think we should all bring the pictures to the remaining three siblings - Daddy, Rosa Lee and Betty - and let them tell us who these people are and the stories that are going to be lost if they don't tell them. I will volunteer to scan the pictures and put a book together for everybody that wants one.

I guess I better get in bed. It's going to be a long day tomorrow. Pray for the family and especially pray that those who are not saved will hear something tomorrow that will bring them to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Blessings and love to all.............

Miracle Updates

Had an awesome day at church today. Praise and Worship was so good. Then, before Mrs. Sandi preached, Donna gave an update on Alan. Alan had surgery and the doctor told them that all he had to do was clean up the area and install rods to strengthen his back because Somebody had already done the surgery. We all know Who that Somebody was, don't we? Alan is up walking and the Dr. told him that he would not even have to have rehab! He will have to wear a back brace for a little while, but that's all. What a miracle he is!!! Alan expects to be in church Wednesday night to give his testimony. I can't wait to hear it. I wouldn't miss it for anything. They even had the pictures of the MRI's from when he went in to the ER and what was taken the day of the surgery. I didn't get to see them, but they say they look like two different people's MRI's, but we know for sure they belong to Alan. I am so excited about this!!! God is doing some mighty works in these last days.


Just wanted to give that update. It's now after midnight and I need to get to bed. Goodnight and God bless........

More Miracles

Today didn't start off very well. Daddy called around 8:30 to tell me that his brother, my Uncle Rudolph, passed away in his sleep last night. That was a shock. Daddy asked me to call Penny and Chip and let them know. I told Daddy I'd take him to see the family anytime he wanted to go. I called Penny and Chip and then Aunt Rose. She said Uncle Rudolph had been having some problems with his legs and was in a wheelchair. He told his wife that he didn't want to live that way and had been praying for God to carry him home. I guess he got his prayers answered.

I went and weighed in this morning. I've lost 28.6 lbs. While I was there, they asked me if I could take a picture of some kind of pink junk food so they could post the names of people who lose weight around it. I had made one of some candy with the inscription "Nothing tastes as good as being skinny feels" and they had been using it, but wanted to change it out. So, I went next door to the Dollar Store to look for pink candy, but couldn't find anything but pink iced animal crackers. Bought a bag and came home and took pictures. Nah, that's not what I want.

I just sat around watching movies until Vance got home. Kim called after she dropped Hope off at home and asked if I just wanted to ride around. I told her about the assignment and she came and picked me up. Vance wanted to take a nap anyway. We went to the candy store in the mall and they let me take pictures, then we decided to drive out to Pier Park and take pictures at the Candymaker Store. Also took pictures of the original carousel that used to be at Miracle Strip. Kim had never eaten a burger from Five Guys Burgers and Fries, so I told her I'd buy supper. She didn't want to do it because she didn't want to compromise my diet. I told her it was okay. I ordered a small hamburger, ate just a few of the fries and had water. While we were waiting for our order to come up, I had been watching the lady put the burgers together. She seemed a little familiar, but I couldn't place her. She looked at me and motioned me over. She said "What's your name?" I said "Pat." She said "Patsy?" and I knew right away that she was Jennifer's mother. I walked over and she came to the counter. I asked how Jennifer was and she said she had just talked to her today. They now live in Mobile. I wrote down my phone number and asked her to give it to Jennifer. (Jennifer was my brother, Earl's, wife.)I have been praying that I could reconnect with Jennifer and Anthony, my nephew. Jennifer's mom said Anthony was tall and had hair just like Earl (very curly) and had Earl's personality. I just burst into tears. She said she would call me and get my address and send me pictures of Anthony. He was only three when Earl died and that's been 11 years ago. I haven't seen him since he was about four. I hugged her and walked back over to Kim. Kim asked if I needed to go outside. I told her "No, these are happy tears. That was Jennifer's mom and I'm just praising God for answering my prayers. I don't care if people see me cry." What a blessing and miracle from God. I am so excited.

When I got home, I called Penny to tell her. She was excited and amazed, too. She said "Isn't it great that God sent you there?" We both want to go see him if she will let us. Thank You, Lord, for answered prayer.

Now, I've got to go to bed. It's almost 1:00am and I've got to get up and go to church in a few hours. Can't wait to see what God is going to do next.

Miracles Are All Around Us

What an awesome day I've had. Just have to share another little tidbit about Alan. Kim has been praying for him all week, like we all have. But, she said when she prayed, she saw him walking with Jesus and the song that Patsy Cline sang "After Midnight" kept going through her mind. The words were changed a little, but the tune was the same. It was "After midnight, we'll be talking. After midnight, we'll be walking." She shared this with our internet prayer group this morning and Donna wrote her back this amazing testimony. Donna said that every day when she visited Alan, she would pull up the covers to look at the color of his legs and feet to make sure the blood was circulating. And every day, Alan's feet looked dirty. They didn't look that way in the beginning and she knew he hadn't been able to get up and walk, so she asked him why his feet were dirty. This is where it gets good! Alan said that after everybody had gone and most people were asleep, he would see himself and Jesus walking and talking. Is that not the most awesome testimony you have ever heard? In the Spirit, Alan and Jesus have been walking after midnight and the evidence is on Alan's feet! How great is our God!!!

I had a great lunch at Sweet Magnolia's with several of the women from SUMC. Lynn was there again. Lynn and I were blessed to have Donna and her granddaughter, Wanda, Olga and Jasmine join us. Jasmine is one of the youth and she still looks as beautiful as she did when she was in the youth group. She now has two children. (Yes, Pat, you are getting old.) Hopefully, we can get another group together next week. This is getting to be a lot of fun.......

You remember from yesterday's post that Trent asked me to go to VBS with him for Family night. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to get off in time, but I actually finished the timesheets an hour before time to get off. I figured lunch would have put me behind, but God had plans for me to hear another awesome testimony. I got to the church at 5:30 and the doors were not open yet. I followed a couple of ladies into another door and we decided to sit together. Never met either one of them and they had never met each other. We were all there for our grandchildren. We sat down and one of the ladies started telling us her story. 15 years ago, she was in a horrible car crash in Baton Rouge. She broke every bone in her body, including three breaks in her back and her neck was broken. Her left arm was crushed and 1/3 of her brain was damaged. She had internal injuries. When she got to the hospital, two doctors were arguing about whether to even treat her. They only gave her 1% chance to live. One percent! When her daughter got to the hospital, she told them they better do everything they could possibly do for her mother. Well, they said they would probably need to amputate the left arm because it was in such bad shape. Her daughter said no, so they put titanium rods in her arm. She was in a coma and on a ventilator for over a year. When she came out of the coma, she had to relearn how to talk, eat, walk. It was just like she was a newborn baby. For 12 years, her family had to do everything for her and she even learned her ABC's with her granddaughter. This woman is a walking/talking miracle. She does not even walk with a limp, her arm is perfect. You can only see a few small scars. She started driving a little over a year ago. What a testimony she had of a miracle-working God. I felt so blessed to be allowed to hear her testimony. I never got her name because the program started and we didn't speak again the rest of the night. And the kids did a great job. The whole VBS theme was on worship.

Speaking of miracles, I have to share a miracle happening to my dog, Vinnie. Back in November, he got a spot on the top of his head that just kept getting bigger. I was sure it was a tumor, probably cancer. At the time, we didn't have money to take him to the vet. He's 17 and had just about lost all of his hearing. But, I'm just not ready to let him go yet, so I started laying hands on him every day and praying for him. One night, I had a dream that the thing was going to dry up and fall off. I've been holding on to that as a promise from God. Well, the tumor kept getting bigger until it was about two inches long and an inch wide. It actually looked like a brain on top of his head. It never seemed to bother him. He never seemed to be in pain at all. Sometimes he would bump it on the wall and it would bleed a little, but he never whimpered when I would touch it. I kept praying. Well, guess what? God even cares for our pets. The thing is now smaller than a quarter and he's even getting his hearing back! You used to have to be right on top of him for him to hear you. I started using sign language to get him to come and stay. Now, he hears my car drive up again and runs to the door. He hasn't done that in over a year. My husband is amazed. I had told him that I was praying for Vinnie to be healed and he's the one who told me that "not only is the thing on his head getting smaller, but he's able to hear again." Who knows, it may be through the healing of Vinnie that draws my husband back to God and gets him in church. I will take it any way I can get it. I should have photographed that thing on his head, but it was so gross that I didn't want a reminder of it. I've prayed for God to extend his life longer than a normal lifespan for dogs (and for Shadow, too). Our dogs are like children to us and they bring us so much joy. And Vinnie always knows when I'm sick or hurting emotionally and he will not leave my side. He's another miracle in the making.

I just can't wait to see what God is going to do tomorrow. Goodnight and God bless...

Summer is Definitely Here

Wow! It sure was hot today. I praise God everyday that I work inside where I don't have to sweat. In fact, I'm always having to turn the A/C up because the guys come in and out of the hot weather, so they have it turned to 68 degrees. I get so cold, I reach up and flip it to 75. I leave the office and back down it goes. We play this game all day during the summer. Now, when I was going through menopause, I didn't change it, except in the winter. I'd turn on the A/C when they wanted the heat. Maybe they are getting back at me???

I've been having some issues the past couple of weeks with vertigo. Last week, I missed church and two days of work. No, it's not Meniere's raising it's ugly head. God healed me of that and I'm not taking it back. This is a classic case of vertigo. I know because if I lay on my right side, the whole room spins. I can turn over to the left side and it stops. I also can't tilt my head back to look up. I'll fall down if I don't have anything to hang on to. This morning, I woke up dizzy again. After spending the day yesterday sneezing, my sinuses were messed up. I called my boss, took some Musinex, laid back in the chair (been sleeping sitting up for most of the past two weeks) and went back to sleep. Woke up around 9:30 and was fine. Fixed something to eat and then took a shower and went to work. Felt great the rest of the day. I worked till 5:30, then went to Wal-Mart to pick up a couple of things for Daddy. Spent about an hour visiting with him.

There have been some awesome things happening the past few weeks that I'd like to share with you. Because of Vance and Michelle, I got hooked on Facebook. I have had a blast reconnecting with girls that I went to elementary and middle school with. Some of these girls (now grandmothers), I haven't seen in 40 years. Most of them have moved away from here and we got to talking about places from our past. So, with camera in hand, I headed out to photograph those places. I go most of the time at lunch with my little Canon Power Shot A1000IS. This is what I call my "drive-by shootings". You have to be safe when you do these shootings. You certainly don't want to hurt anybody, or yourself for that matter. I always make sure there are no vehicles behind me so I can slow down as I go by the site that I am shooting. I wrap the strap around my left hand, put my finger on the button, eyes on the road, right hand on the steering wheel and shoot. It's been so amazing how great the pictures have turned out. Most are perfectly centered and straight. Some are a little crooked, but that adds to the charm. I post them on Facebook and the girls love to see the old places and how they have changed. It makes them feel like they have visited home again. A few shots are taken with the car fully stopped, but the best ones are the drive-bys.

Through FB, I have also reconnected with several people that I used to go to church with at Springfield Methodist. Some are the youth that I worked with. Now, they are all grown up and have children of their own. Boy, do I feel old! Not really!! Anyway, last Thursday, five of us got together for lunch at Olive Garden. Our matriarch, Mrs. Lena (Pastor Fred's wife), her daughter Connie (our P&W leader), Lynn (keyboard), Connie and I (expressive worship & choir). We had a great time and some of us are planning on meeting again tomorrow. There will be new faces and I'm so excited about that. I think a couple of the younger girls are coming. We're even planning on having a reunion in the future. Inviting the whole family to that. I'm so excited about that.

Now, for the icing on the cake. Last Thursday, one of the young men (Alan) in our church was doing his job, which is cutting trees. He was up 40 feet in the air in a pine tree when the limb that he was tethered off to broke and threw him to the ground on top of limbs that he had already cut. He landed on his back across one of those limbs. He tried to get up, but his legs wouldn't move. So, he started praying over his legs to move. The paramedics came and his cousin had to cut trees and shrubs from around him so that they could get him out. He was taken to the hospital and was told that he had broken his back. But, when he got there, he was able to feel his legs again and move his toes. Still, the prognosis was not good. Well, we all know that God can perform miracles, so we all started praying for a miracle. Alan would not allow anybody to speak any negative words over him. He would preach to anybody who came into the ICU to see him. They would go in to minister to him and he would end up ministering to them. This morning, Alan had surgery on his back. The doctor said when he opened him up, it looked like Somebody had already started doing surgery on his back. He said it didn't look like the MRI's, CT's or x'rays that had been taken the day he was brought into the hospital. Three hours after back surgery, Alan was sitting on the side of his bed with his feet on the floor swinging his legs and praying for strength to allow him to get up and walk. This is a man who has been flat on his back for a whole week unable to move his legs, other than just wiggling his toes. I believe Alan will be in church testifying of the greatness of God either Sunday or Wednesday by the latest. Just another miracle that we have seen in our church. And there are many more to come. THE SPIRIT OF EXPECTANCY IS THE BREEDING GROUND FOR MIRACLES. And, we are definitely expecting miracles, salvations, signs and wonders. Those things did not stop when Jesus died. He said that we would perform even greater miracles than He did. But, only through Him can these things happen. I'm excited about the days to come.

I had a lot more to say, but I'm exhausted and it's going to be a long day tomorrow. It's timesheet day, I'm meeting the girls for lunch and hoping to be able to get off on time so I can go with Trent to the church where he has been attending VBS this week. Tomorrow night is Family Night and Tabitha has to work and Chad won't go. So, I'm praying that I can go and be with Trent. Goodnight and God bless........

Had a Very Busy Day again today....

Woke up to a very cool day. I was worried that I would burn up today in my FR (flame retardant) clothes that I have to wear when I'm around the crews. Long sleeves, heavy jeans, steel-toed boots (actually, they are steel-toed sneakers). But, the temperature was in the 60's. Went to work and sat through a very boring safety meeting, then waited for my boss to take care of a few things before we went out to check on the crews. Well, that never happened. He had been off three days last week and had to catch up on his work. Didn't bother me. I asked to have the afternoon off. Ate my lunch and left at 12:30.

Came home and got busy moving living room furniture from one side of the room to the other, so I could sweep and mop. Could only do a little at the time. The stuff I was using to mop with was strong and I had to come in the computer room and sit down in front of the open window to get some air. It took all afternoon, but I got it done! I even re-arranged the furniture, which has never been done before. At least, the couch has never moved from it's spot since the day we moved in. I moved it under the front window and moved my chair in it's place. The chair is more comfortable to sit in and watch TV, but the couch is more comfortable to sleep on. I just won't be able to watch TV when I'm sick and laying on the couch. What we really need is a TV on a swivel - like you see in hospital rooms. :) My next project is cleaning the furniture. The couch and chair need cleaning really bad. And Vance needs a recliner. His is broke and he has to prop it against the wall. I tried to buy him one several months ago when we had our income tax money, but he wouldn't let me spend $300 on a new one. He told me tonight that I needed to start looking at used furniture stores. I guess that's what I will do Saturday.

Now, it's time for me to go to bed. Goodnight and God bless..........

It's Been a Good Day

Had a great service at church this morning. Came home and worked in my room. It's beginning to look a little more organized. Was supposed to go to a baby shower and completely forgot about it. I was so involved in my room that I forgot. Does that ever happen to other people? I was also looking for my school annuals. Since I'm re-connecting with some of the girls that I went to school with, I wanted to see what they looked like back then. I finally found them.

Went to the grocery store and bought a few groceries. Got some of the biggest strawberries I've ever seen. Just got through eating three of them and they were really good. I was afraid they wouldn't be sweet, but they were.

Yesterday, I met up with a friend from school who used to live down the street from me and we went to an estate auction. It was the first one I had ever sat through and actually bid on something. I bought some jewelry and then got two bookcases for $11.08 - one about 6 ft. tall and the other one about 2 1/2 feet tall, both white and they looked brand new. They match the pieces that I already had in the room. I spent the rest of the afternoon and this afternoon organizing my used-to-be dining/ but now my craft/computer room. It's looking better.

Ate supper, then mopped the kitchen floor. The dogs came in and it already needs to be mopped again. They are so sloppy when they drink water. They just dribble all over the floor. I'll do the living room tomorrow after work. I'm supposed to ride with the boss again and check out the crews. I hope they are doing something interesting tomorrow.

Guess I better get to bed since I have to get up early and be at work at 7:00. Good night and God bless.......

20.4 Down So Far

Yep, I've lost 20.4 pounds so far. Still loving the Jenny Craig Program. The food is so good. Just finished my double chocolate cake. So good. I don't know what I'm going to do when I have to start cooking for myself again. I'm really gonna miss the convenience of their food. I've still got about 15 lbs. to lose before I have to worry about that. People are noticing that I'm losing weight. Some have even said it was about time to stop. I don't think so! They don't realize (and couldn't believe it when I told them) that I am just down to 189 lbs. They think I'm smaller than that. Are they blind? Oh well, I may not look to them like I weigh this much, but to me, I certainly do.

I've been so hooked on Facebook that I haven't taken the time to blog lately. Who reads these things anyway?

I've been doing a lot of what I call "drive-by shooting" with my camera around an older part of town. I go at lunch and drive real slow and try to stop in the middle of the road to take a picture of some landmark that's been around as long as I have. It's been so much fun to post them on Facebook for all my friends who live away from here to see. They love it and I'm having so much fun. Found out from my friend at the antique store in L.H. that they are going to tear down our water tower, so I had to go take a picture of it. I parked in the funeral home parking lot and took some pictures. Don't know when it's going to be torn down, but she said it would be soon. They are tearing down the old jail downtown, so I've been going by there several times a week to capture the progress. Will try to go by there Thursday or Friday at lunch. This week has been very, very busy at work and I didn't even leave the office yesterday for lunch. Had to run to the grocery store for Daddy today at lunch. Tomorrow will be so busy, I won't have time to go out. Timesheets have to be in early this week so they can shut down the system for a week. That will really put a load on me the next pay period, but I'll have five days with nothing to do. I just don't know what to do with myself.

Our air conditioner is not working, so it's been too hot to do anything around the house. I wanted to really give the house a good cleaning this past weekend, but only got so far as sweeping. Almost passed out from the heat, so that was as far as I got. The guy was supposed to come out today to look at it, but I guess he got too busy, cause he never showed up. I sure hope he comes tomorrow. Tonight, it's been pretty cool, so I haven't even broken a sweat. It's been so nice. (Just as I typed this, a cool breeze blew through the window. Thank You, Lord.)

Saturday, after I cooled off a little, I went and bought some curtains for my kitchen and dining room. They really brightened up the place. Michelle, you would be proud. Once I get the a/c back on, I'm going to try to paint my kitchen. But, I can't do it now. Too hot! Maybe I'll take a couple of days off while the timekeeping system is down and paint. I'm ready for a change.

Sunday, we had a good service at church, then I went by to see my mother. She was doing pretty good. Supposed to have had a perm today. Haven't talked to her yet. Will call her tomorrow after I get the timesheets locked in. Came home and ate, then Vance and I went to the nursing home to see his mom. She was sound asleep, so we just left her gift and came home. Vance went back to see her yesterday. He said she told him she had fallen asleep when Mac was there, slept all afternoon and through the night. I'm glad we didn't wake her up. She really needed the rest. Healing comes with sleep.

I've been getting to bed before midnight for the past several weeks, so I'm going to get off here and go to bed. Goodnight and God bless............

18.4 and Counting

Went today to Jenny Craig and weighed. I could not believe it. I lost 3.4 lbs. this week. So, that means I've lost 18.4 lbs. since March 1st.-8 weeks. I think I'm doing very well. And, I'm still loving the food. They have added a few new items and so far, they are really good, too.

We found out this week (Wednesday) that Michelle and Vance are having a girl. How exciting! That's pretty rare for the Rutherford family, but I think Chad and Tabitha broke the curse, cause now other members of the family have had girls. Our nephew, Chris and his wife, Amanda, had a girl the end of last year; and our great-nephew, Corey and wife, had a girl on March 17th of this year.

I came home after church and Vance had bought me flowers to celebrate the news about our granddaughter. Isn't he the sweetest?

Thursday, I went to intercessory prayer at church for the first time in a very long time. Mrs. Sandi said it lasted exactly an hour, so that's what I told Vance. Well, wouldn't you know, it went until almost 10:30. We had emergency prayers being called in and I didn't even realize the time. I had left my phone in the car, so I didn't know that Vance had called three times. I tried to call him as I left church, but he didn't answer. I got home and he wasn't there. I knew he was out looking for me and I felt awful about worrying him. Sure enough, as I was getting out of the car, he drove up and I could tell he was mad. I told him I had tried to call and he yelled "I don't care!" and went into the house, then out the backdoor. I just sat on the couch and waited. I guess he was out for about 20 minutes, then knocked on the door cause it was locked. I opened the door and he apologized for yelling at me. He told me he was scared to death that something had happened to me, then he got mad. I apologized for worrying him. He really was scared that something bad had happened to me. Does the man love me or what??? I don't think I'll be going to prayer again for a little while. Or, at least, I won't give a time limit, cause you just never know when you may have to pray longer. He goes to the doctor on Tuesday and is going to ask for another prescription of Chantix to help him stop smoking. Cause I told him I didn't want him to get sick like my mother.

Speaking of Mama, she's doing pretty good. She's cooking for herself and is even vacuuming the floor. Penny texted me today and asked if I could buy groceries for Mama tomorrow. She's not feeling good.

Today, after going to weigh, I stopped by the antique store and bought four old postcards of P.C. landmarks. I think I will go to those places and take pictures and make scrapbook pages "Then and Now". Cause all of them have changed and some of them are not even here anymore. The Dixie Sherman Hotel was the first building in the U.S. to be imploded in 1969 or 1970. Daddy used to have a key to one of the rooms. I wonder if Mama still has it. I could make a shadow box with the postcard and key. And a picture of the demolition if I can find one on-line.

Well, I guess I better go to bed. Olga and I have just been on the phone for an hour and it's past midnight, so I'm headed off to bed. Goodnight and God bless........

15.2 down and only 56 to go

This weekend sure has flown by. Friday was timesheet day and I had to stop and go weigh in. I've lost 15.2 lbs. so far. I'm loving it! Jenny Craig is adding some new food and I think it's going to be even better.

I finished my timesheets early, so I decided to take an hour vacation so that I could go to the drug store for Daddy and then go to Vance's mother's to see Robbie before she left. So, at 3:30, I walk out the door of my office, get in my car and realize I have left my rings on my desk. I took them off when I put lotion on. So, I drive around to the front of the office, grab my office keyring and lock my car. I go inside and retrieve my rings and back out to the car. The key on my keyring that I thought was to my car door wouldn't open my door. So, there I stand with three sets of car keys inside my car and not a one outside. Stupid, stupid..... I called Vance to come and unlock my car. He came and it was 4:30 when I finally left the office. Spent the hour's vacation waiting for my car to be unlocked. Vance went to pick up Hope and I went to get Daddy's medicine. After I finished with him, I went to see Robbie. Hope called to find out where I was and to let me know that she and PawPaw were on their way to see Robbie. We sat around and talked for about an hour, then Vance left Hope with me and I brought her home. I had planned on taking pictures of her, but she decided she didn't want to do a photo shoot. So, we just watched TV and talked. She and I went to Captain D's and got us some food.

Saturday morning, I got up early and took a shower. Hope came in and wanted to take a shower, too. I wrapped her in a towel and put her on the couch and went to get dressed. When I came back to her, she was sound asleep. I dressed her while she was asleep and she woke up while I was putting on her shoes, climbed up in my lap and said "Nonna, I'm just not a morning person." Vance and I cracked up. I took her home and then went to the beauty shop to meet Marsha. She colored and straightened my hair. We finished up around 1:30. I heard on the radio that it was supposed to rain on Sunday, so I called Mama and asked if I could buy her groceries instead of waiting until Sunday. You see, I can't get my hair wet until Tuesday night. The Keratin Complex straightener has to stay on until then. Can't sweat, either. I've prayed for cool, dry weather. Bought Mama's groceries and spent a couple of hours with her. She's doing good. She's cooking for herself and cleaning her house again. Chip came by and cut the grass.

Today was another beautiful day. Wore a skirt to church. Haven't worn a dress in ages, but I finally was able to get into it again and decided to wear it before it got too big. Then, I'll give it away. We had a great service.

Came home and didn't do much all afternoon. Cleaned the kitchen. Vance had washed clothes and folded them before I got home. He worked on the Oldsmobile and worked in the yard. I organized my stamps and some other craft supplies.

I guess I better start getting ready for bed (or should I day, couch?). I can't really sleep laying down. Have to try to keep my hair from getting crimped, so I sleep pretty much sitting up on the couch. Poor dogs. They don't know where to go when I'm on the couch. They always stay close to me, but at night Vinnie is in our room and Shadow is laying in the hall outside our bedroom door. When I'm on the couch, they go back and forth between me and Vance. They don't know who to sleep with. I don't know what I will do without them when they die. They are both getting old and I know it won't be much longer. I cry just thinking about losing them. I pray very long lifes for both of them.

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

Wednesday Night After Church

Today has been a really good day. The guys in my office were gone all day to a meeting out of town, so I had the whole place to myself. It was so quiet and peaceful. I got so much work done. I still worked till 5:30 to get caught up, cause I'll have a lot to do the next two days. We sent crews to Birmingham to help with the outages there, and I haven't gotten any of their timesheets yet.

Been having so much trouble with the internet, so this is the first time I've been able to blog. Had a wonderful weekend. Saturday, I went to Tally to visit Vance, Michelle and Fox. Poor Vance was sick the whole time I was there, but Michelle and I took Fox to a birthday party/egg hunt and Vance was able to sleep while we were gone. Took Fox back home and put him to bed, then Michelle and I went to Kohl's. Got Fox a cute outfit and bought Michelle, Tabitha and myself a blouse. We couldn't find anything for Vance. We stopped by Anna's house and she gave Michelle a massage to get rid of her headache and worked on me to get rid of numbness in my left hand. I could tell a difference immediately. The ring finger was no longer numb. She said I needed more work over several days to get the little finger fixed. It has been numb for about six months. I need to find somebody here to work on it. Had a wonderful supper and then I headed home. I had a great time.

Sunday, we had a great time at church. The youth/children put on a wonderful program. Chad, Tabitha and the kids came. Tabitha had a flat tire, Chad changed it and then came to church with them. The whole church was full. Afterwards, I gave Tabitha her blouse. She loved it. She, Chad and the kids went to see Mama. I went with Penny, Tiffaney and Swayde to Tonya's to see the rest of the family. Haven't seen them since Christmas. We had a good time. I met Tonya's babysitter, Keely Raquel. She is gorgeous and a country singer (hoping to break into the business). She also works with the young kids at her church. Check her out on my Facebook page. Or go to Keely Raquel on MySpace. Listen to her music. She writes the songs herself. She's really talented and so sweet.

So far, I've lost 14 lbs. on Jenny Craig. I go on Friday to weigh-in. I have been a little bad the past three days. I was asked to made potato salad for Sunday and had some left. I'm sorry, but I love my potato salad and I've had some every night for supper. I sure hope that hasn't slowed down my weight loss. Tonight was the last night, so I will get back to normal tomorrow. According to my scales at home, I've lost another pound. Hope their scales show the same or better...... ;)

Monday night, we had a guest speaker at our Ladies Meeting. She was so good and has an awesome voice. She's one of the P&W Leaders at Living Word Fellowship. She prayed over me after the service. I didn't get home till almost 10:00 and my sweet husband was waiting up to make sure I got home safe. I love that man!

It's getting late and I think I want to get to bed. Got two big days ahead of me.
Goodnight and God bless.........

Early Friday Morning

Took off work yesterday because of a horrible headache. Went back to bed and slept till almost 11:00. Ate breakfast and swept the living room. Tabitha called and asked if I could pick up Hope. Ran in and dressed real quick and threw on some makeup and went to school and picked her up. We stopped in at Office Max so I could pick up some ink for my printer. They had photo paper on sale, so I got some. I only buy it when it's buy one, get one free. I do so much printing, I'm not about to pay full price.

We went to Beef O'Brady's and hung out while Tabitha finished work. I ate a salad since I hadn't eaten lunch. We had so much fun. Roberta, one of the other servers, sat down with us and ate her lunch. We cut up and told about pranks people have pulled in our places of business. We were laughing so much, one of the other servers got jealous and told us to be quiet. We weren't desturbing anybody, cause there were only a few people there. Of course, that only made us laugh more.

I'll be off today, too. Going to Jenny Craig to weigh in. I am still loving the food. Haven't gotten bored yet, but this week, I had a hard time getting all my food in. Like today (yesterday I guess it would be). I missed a fruit and my lunch. The salad was only part of the lunch. Was supposed to have Swedish meatballs.

Wednesday night at church, we had a lady come and explain the Jewish Seder meal. It was so interesting. I took pictures and tried to take notes at the same time. Found out, I just can't do that. I either missed the notes, or missed a great picture. Gave up on the notes and focused on taking pictures. Sat down and talked to the lady afterwards. She is an interesting person. She's in the process of writing a Christian play. I can't wait to see the finished product.

Planning to go to Tallahassee on Saturday. Can't wait to see Vance, Michelle and Fox. Will be going to a birthday party with them, too. I've just been missing them and need to see them. I sure don't want Fox to forget he has another grandmother.

Well, it's almost 1:00am. I guess I need to get in bed. Goodnight and God bless.....

It's Cold Outside

Yep, here it is - April - and we are having our usual Florida cold snap right before Easter. It seems to happen every year no matter what month Easter falls in. I can remember buying a pretty, short sleeved dress for Easter Sunrise Service and having to wear a heavy coat because it was freezing outside. Never took my coat off the whole day. That was a waste - buying a new dress and nobody even saw it. Not even going to bother buying one this year. Will wear my usual black pants and a pretty top to church. Didn't think we were doing Praise and Worship, but we are. Then, the children and youth will take over with their special program. I know it will be great. They always do a great job.

Yesterday, I got to go out with my boss to observe the crews. We decided to go out and observe a different crew once a month for my performance evaluation. Since I love what I do and have no desire to learn a new job, we had to come up with something to put as a goal. It was a good experience. I got to see them work on a bad underground cable that had been chewed up by a squirrel (he finally got fried while chewing the aluminum). It happens all the time. For some reason, they are attracted to aluminum. Then, we went and watched a crew change out a transformer. I got to wear a traffic vest, hardhat, my steel-toed boots and safety sunglasses. You get bad hat hair from the hardhat, so I had just pulled my hair into a ponytail and didn't bother with straightening it. The guys at work have seen me at my worst - during hurricanes with no makeup and a month of just bursting into tears when my brother died. They are like brothers to me, so I really don't care about impressing them with how I look. The only man I want to impress is my husband. He loves me no matter what. He's such a great guy.

Called and talked to Trent this morning. He's in St. Augustine on a field trip. Tabitha and I were a little concerned about him being so far away, but he seems to be having fun.

Guess I better get to bed. Work tomorrow and that test. Goodnight and God bless.....

Weekend's Almost Gone-Flying By!

Boy, the weekend sure flew by. I took pictures yesterday at church during the Easter Egg Hunt. Actually, I didn't take picture "during" the hunt; but we had props set up and I took pictures of families afterwards. Took a little over 100 photos. Printed out 123 of them and took them to church this morning. We sold most of them (donations) and made $90.00. I donated all the developing costs which I did myself. That way, I could edit them. I love playing around with Photoshop. The money will go for the children/youth trip later this summer.

Mrs. Sandi preached this morning and it sure was good. She talked about Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread and First Fruits. She's trying to find someone who will prepare a Passover meal Wednesday and explain all the elements involved to us Wednesday night. Should be great. I went to Niceville about 20 years ago to a Passover Feast and it was awesome. I was a member of our Expressive Worship team and we signed and danced to some Jewish songs. You could really feel the presence of God in that place. I wonder if they still carry on that tradition?

I came home and took a nap. Haven't been doing that the last few Sundays. Then, I spent the rest of the afternoon playing around with some of the photos I took yesterday. Made a cool slideshow to play at church maybe Easter Sunday.

Now, I'm really exhausted, so I'm heading off to bed. Goodnight and God bless.......

Still Losing

Yep, I'm still losing - 12.4 lbs. so far. I'm real excited. I'm still loving the food, though I did eat a few mixed nuts the other night. About 10 - and I put on my menu under the question "unplanned foods eaten and why" - because I wanted them. Leslie, my counselor, loved my comment. And she told me a little secret, but I can't tell, cause it's a secret. :>)

I'll try to get someone to take a picture of me tomorrow at church. I'm going to be there taking pictures of the kids - portraits, actually. Should be fun. They will be hunting eggs, watching the puppet show, having praise and worship and eating hot dogs. Should be a lot of fun.

Did it rain yesterday or what?? It was scary to say the least. Kept hearing reports of funnel clouds spotted, but they never touched down. Thank You, Lord! Heard there was one right over the main gate at Tyndall and Vance works just a few blocks from there. I called him and told him to get to a safe place. I was worried about him. The lightning was spectacular. Wish I had my camera when one bolt struck several times in the same place. It lasted several seconds. Never seen anything like it. There was a tornado that touched down in Vernon, so we sent crews up that way and they worked through the night, rested a few hours and headed back up there today.
Today was sunny and beautiful. Heard a lot of P.C. folks on my Facebook page headed out to the beach today. I'm not a beach person, but I could have been talked into going if I didn't have to work. Will I ever get a day off where I can just go and do something fun???

Was supposed to buy groceries for Daddy yesterday, but it was storming too bad. I told him he'd have to wait until today. Right now, I'm a little upset with him. He's not supposed to be drinking. That's what caused him to get so sick and almost die five years ago. Well, he's found some neighbor who will go to the store for him and buy him beer. He's knows I won't. So, now, he's drinking again and getting mad at his landlord (wants to find another place to live), cussing like a sailor. I'm going to have to have a long talk with him about that. It just grates on my nerves some of the words he uses. When he's sober, he's so respectful of my feelings. Not so, when he's had a few beers. I don't enjoy being around him anymore, but I go do my daughterly duty because I do still love him.

Kim is off in Tennessee having a blast. I'm so glad she got to go on vacation. She really needed a break from work. It's really been rough on all of us lately. These new programs are the pits. They make our lives miserable because we have to keep making corrections to things we didn't do because the systems won't talk to each other. They should have developed friendlier programs. These guys just seem to have bad attitudes and won't work together.

Today, after I weighed in, I had to rush home to take the frozen food and put in the freezer. I knew it would thaw out by the time I got Daddy's groceries. So, I ended up taking a 2-hour lunch. No problem, just made it up at the end of the day. On my way back to the office, I passed this 18-wheeler with a huge flatbed with nothing on it. Or, so I thought. Right in the middle of the flatbed, an old Tonka dumptruck was strapped down. It made me smile. Chip and I had Tonka dumptrucks just like that one. You know, the real metal ones. Not plastic like they make today. These were made of metal and you could sit on them and they wouldn't bend. Wish I still had mine. The kids would love playing with it. I was able to snap off a couple of pictures.

Mama is doing pretty good. I bought groceries for her last Sunday. Penny was sick and couldn't. She wanted to make chicken and dumplings and cabbage. That's the first time she's really cooked on the stove in about a year. I think she's doing pretty good now that she has the right amount of oxygen.

I'm very tired, so I guess I will go to bed. Very busy day tomorrow. Goodnight and God bless...............

It's Been A Very Busy Week

Last Wednesday, the 25th, was my youngest son's 32nd birthday. That's hard to believe that my baby is 32. I guess that means I'm getting old, huh?

Tabitha and I met up at Lisa's Nails on Thursday night. She treated me to a manicure (or pedicure if I wanted one. I decided on a manicure.)It was a late birthday present. She also gave me my favorite perfume and body lotion from Victoria's Secret. How did she know I was just about out? We had a lot of fun. She got acrylic nails, so I waited around and just sat and talked with her. The guy that did my nails was an older gentlemen from Viet Nam who has been in the business 20 years. He wasn't very talkative. The young man who did Tabitha's nails was only 20 years old and he was a lot of fun to talk to. Especially when he said I didn't look much over 39. Yeah, right!

We had a fish fry at work on Thursday and the weather was horrible. The execs couldn't fly in, so I was asked to take pictures and send them to P'cola. I didn't take very many, but I did take a few. I did so good not eating. I sat down with the guys and only drank unsweet tea. I know the meal was great, cause I had it before; but I wasn't even tempted to eat any of it. After it was over, I popped my meal into the microwave and ate. I was very satisfied.

Yesterday morning, I went to Jenny Craig to weigh-in. I've lost 10.8 lbs. and 10 inches. I was very excited. I'm still enjoying the program. I went to Hobby Lobby and walked around just trying to get some steps in. I went to Chad and Tabitha's to pick up Hope and take bring her home with me. They were planning to go to Pier Park and the weather was too bad for Hope to be out in. She's got a bad cough and complaining of an earache. We enjoyed playing with stamps and just watching TV together. She wanted me to do a photo shoot of her, so we took a few pictures. I don't know where she is coming up with the model poses, but she's got them down pretty good. :>)

Vance didn't play golf. It was raining. The last three days have been really bad weather around here. He was watching TV while Hope and I played in the dining room. I took her to meet up with Chad and Tabitha and I think I lost my pedometer in the parking lot of the Dollar General Store. I guess I'll have to buy another one. This time, I'm going to tie a ribbon on it and tie it to my jeans belt loop. I have never been able to keep a good one for very long and I get cheaper ones and they don't work.

I missed Friday night prayer. Our church had a prayer service from 9:00 p.m. till 6:00 a.m. I had planned to go, but a friend came to my office reeking of cigarette smoke. She stayed for about 30 minutes, then hugged me when she left. I am very allergic to cigarette smoke and I had the smell on my sweater. I got a terrible headache that I just could not shake. It got so bad that I knew I wouldn't be able to see to drive and I was getting nauseated. I didn't have any migraine medicine, so I just took two Aleves. It didn't work, so I went to bed early. They said it was an awesome night of prayer, praise, worship and some teaching. You could tell this morning that something had happened, cause church was awesome. Pastor Fred always talked about an open door in the heavenlies and we just had to step through to another level. Well, I think our church stepped through today. Awesome time of ministry going on during praise and worship. I believe a man got healed of MS today. And a lady got saved. We don't have to wait for altar calls to have the freedom to get saved. I'm excited about what is happening.

Penny called this afternoon and asked me if I could go get Mama's groceries. She is sick with a migraine. She is dealing with some upsetting health issues and I think the stress is getting to her. I went to Mama's and got her list and went to the store. We had a nice visit when I got back. She is actually wanting to cook chicken and dumplings. She hasn't cooked in about six months, so I know she's feeling better.

Came home and scanned a few pictures. Didn't get a nap, so I'm planning to go to bed in a few minutes. My computer would not connect to the internet for very long for the last few days. It was getting pretty aggravating. I couldn't check Facebook. I'm hooked on that. I love being able to keep up with old friends. I'm connecting to girls I went to grade school with. This is lots of fun. And, of course, I'm addicted to Puzzle Bee. I hate all the quizzes and extra junk on there, so I just don't participate in that.

Well, next week will be very busy, so I guess I need to get some rest. Goodnight and God bless...........