Almost forgot about the safety meeting this morning, but I made it on time. Left Vance at home to watch the tree get cut down. He said they showed up about 15 minutes after I left and went to work. He called me around 10:00 to let me know he had his cell phone in his pocket if I needed to call. I asked about the tree and he told me they had cut down a lot of it. I asked about my golden rain tree in the front yard and he said they dug it and my two gardenias up. I decided to go home at lunch and check it out and take pictures. I couldn't believe how much they had gotten done. My whole front yard was full of limbs. Good thing they dug up my stuff. They had a big crane sitting in our driveway with the arm going over the house attached to the trunk of the tree. They had already cut off all the branches and were working on the trunk when I got there. I started walking toward the backyard and three guys stopped me, then yelled at the guy cutting the tree (later found out he was the boss) to stop so I could go in the backyard. They made me stand in front of the garage and I took pictures. I got to see part of the trunk get hoisted over the house. Impressive work these guys do. Wish I had stayed home to watch.
Daddy called this afternoon to let me know he got his $300 check from the IRS and wanted me to come pick it up and bring him $100 when I got off work. When he first sent off the paperwork to get the check, he said he was going to give it all to me to pay me back for all the money I've given him. Then, last week, he got a letter saying the check was in the mail and he was so excited about what he was going to do with it. Yeah, go to the VFW and AmVets to drink and play pool. I took his checkbook away from him because he was overdrawn every month and I was having to pick up the overdrafts. At least I'm able to keep him from doing that anymore. I got money from the credit union and carried it to him and then carried him to the AmVets. He has to be there to see if his name is called for the $3000 pot.
Got home and the tree was gone, the stump was ground up and my trees were replanted. Took pictures. One of the guys who was working on the crew wants the motorhome. Vance told him he had to get it before next Monday and he said he would. That is great! Thank You, Lord, for answered prayers. I would love to do some landscaping in the yard. Just wish I knew what type of plants to try and grow. Now, that we have a lot more sunshine. It was amazing how sunny our backyard was when I got home. I didn't realize just how much shade that tree put out.
Got an email from Sharon. Sandra and Christopher had their baby on Vance's birthday. That's exciting.
Got to get to bed. Goodnight and God bless...........
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Very Early Sunday Morning
It's just past midnight on Sunday morning. I took a long nap yesterday afternoon, so I'm not sleepy yet. Vance just went to bed. He took a nap so that he could stay up and watch the race. Kyle Busche won again. We're big Dale Earnhardt, Jr. fans, so we were disappointed. At least, Dale is ranked No. 2 in the overall standings. Go Jr.!!!
Kept Trent Friday night. He is so good when he's over here. He's so quiet you don't even know he's around. He'll sit and watch cartoons and do crafts or play with his army guys. The only time he asks for something is when he's hungry. I was going to go get us something to eat and he said all he wanted was grits. Nothing to go with it, just grits. He ate four bowls. It's funny - most grandmothers have cookies and cakes for their grandchildren when they come to visit. I have instant grits. Trent and Hope always ask for grits when they come over. My nephew, Swayde, does too. So, we had grits for supper. And Trent didn't want to sleep on the couch either. He wanted to sleep in the chair in my craft room. It has an ottoman, so he stretches out and sleeps. Whatever makes him happy.
When he got up yesterday morning, he asked for grits for breakfast. Then, he and Vinnie played hide and seek. He would hide and Vinnie would find him. Vinnie is going deaf, so he couldn't hear Trent. He had to search for him. Trent loved the game. And Vinnie found him every time but one. I forgot to ask Trent where he was hiding that time.
Took him to Wendy's for lunch. He was wanting a chicken sandwich. I had a taco salad. Haven't had one from Wendy's in a very long time. It's actually is better for you than Taco Bell's taco salad; but I like Taco Bell's better. Of course, I would choose the one with the most calories. We sat and talked about his vacation, him getting lost in the woods - it really scared him. Hopefully, he won't go back into the woods unless Chad goes with him. Chad called and asked where we were. He came and picked Trent up from Wendy's. We stood around and talked for awhile, then they left.
I went to Michael's and bought some mats and frames. I decided since they were having such a good sale, I might as well take advantage of it. Then I went to Sam's and picked up the Adobe Photoshop Elements 6. It is supposed to be so much better than the edition I have. Now to install it. I'll try to do that tomorrow. Hope I have enough space on my computer. Ran into Danny Craig in Sam's. He said his mom and Karen were there, too. I never saw them. Danny and I talked about the puppies he and Tori have - Australian Shepherds. They have seven for sale - $600 each. He showed me a picture. They are beautiful dogs. If we didn't have two dogs already........ No, I couldn't afford the price tag.
I have to tell you about this message we got on our phone. Somebody called and we don't know who it was from. An automated voice said "Press 1 to hear the message, Press 2 if the person is not at home (what? If you're not at home, how can you press 2?), Press 3 if this is a wrong number." How would we know if it was a wrong number when they didn't say who was calling. And how would we know the person wasn't at home if they didn't ask for a specific person. Who thinks up these things? Vance and I both laughed over this one. I looked on caller ID and it was a long distance call, so we don't have a clue who it's from.
Friday night, I reinstated my membership to Picture Stock. I'm going to submit some of my photos and see if I can sell them. I'm also going to take the pictures I had enlarged and put them in a gallery downtown on Tuesday. Pray that I will be able to sell some. God gave me a dream several years ago that I would have a gallery showing of my photographs, so I'm believing that the dream is about to come to pass.
Well, it's almost 1:30 in the morning and I need to get a little sleep before I go to church. Have a blessed Sunday.
Goodnight and God bless..............
Kept Trent Friday night. He is so good when he's over here. He's so quiet you don't even know he's around. He'll sit and watch cartoons and do crafts or play with his army guys. The only time he asks for something is when he's hungry. I was going to go get us something to eat and he said all he wanted was grits. Nothing to go with it, just grits. He ate four bowls. It's funny - most grandmothers have cookies and cakes for their grandchildren when they come to visit. I have instant grits. Trent and Hope always ask for grits when they come over. My nephew, Swayde, does too. So, we had grits for supper. And Trent didn't want to sleep on the couch either. He wanted to sleep in the chair in my craft room. It has an ottoman, so he stretches out and sleeps. Whatever makes him happy.
When he got up yesterday morning, he asked for grits for breakfast. Then, he and Vinnie played hide and seek. He would hide and Vinnie would find him. Vinnie is going deaf, so he couldn't hear Trent. He had to search for him. Trent loved the game. And Vinnie found him every time but one. I forgot to ask Trent where he was hiding that time.
Took him to Wendy's for lunch. He was wanting a chicken sandwich. I had a taco salad. Haven't had one from Wendy's in a very long time. It's actually is better for you than Taco Bell's taco salad; but I like Taco Bell's better. Of course, I would choose the one with the most calories. We sat and talked about his vacation, him getting lost in the woods - it really scared him. Hopefully, he won't go back into the woods unless Chad goes with him. Chad called and asked where we were. He came and picked Trent up from Wendy's. We stood around and talked for awhile, then they left.
I went to Michael's and bought some mats and frames. I decided since they were having such a good sale, I might as well take advantage of it. Then I went to Sam's and picked up the Adobe Photoshop Elements 6. It is supposed to be so much better than the edition I have. Now to install it. I'll try to do that tomorrow. Hope I have enough space on my computer. Ran into Danny Craig in Sam's. He said his mom and Karen were there, too. I never saw them. Danny and I talked about the puppies he and Tori have - Australian Shepherds. They have seven for sale - $600 each. He showed me a picture. They are beautiful dogs. If we didn't have two dogs already........ No, I couldn't afford the price tag.
I have to tell you about this message we got on our phone. Somebody called and we don't know who it was from. An automated voice said "Press 1 to hear the message, Press 2 if the person is not at home (what? If you're not at home, how can you press 2?), Press 3 if this is a wrong number." How would we know if it was a wrong number when they didn't say who was calling. And how would we know the person wasn't at home if they didn't ask for a specific person. Who thinks up these things? Vance and I both laughed over this one. I looked on caller ID and it was a long distance call, so we don't have a clue who it's from.
Friday night, I reinstated my membership to Picture Stock. I'm going to submit some of my photos and see if I can sell them. I'm also going to take the pictures I had enlarged and put them in a gallery downtown on Tuesday. Pray that I will be able to sell some. God gave me a dream several years ago that I would have a gallery showing of my photographs, so I'm believing that the dream is about to come to pass.
Well, it's almost 1:30 in the morning and I need to get a little sleep before I go to church. Have a blessed Sunday.
Goodnight and God bless..............
Friday, July 11, 2008
Safety Dinner
Yeah! Kim is back today. Her house is done and her kids were here. What a blessing she got out of something the devil tried to take away from her. Her son and his wife and kids came and helped her repair the damage and stayed with her. She had a houseful, but I know she was blessed to have them all. And Rufus can cook, so she had some great meals. He actually went to chef school. I believe one day that Rufus and Carrianne will own their own restaurant. Brandi and Kim will also work there. There is so much talent in that family in the culinary sense. They are all wonderful cooks.
We had a special lunch today to celebrate three years without a recordable accident. The food was really good. Several of us were called up before everybody and honored for going so long without an accident. I held the record - 38 years. Sunday is my 38th anniversary with Gulf Power. They took our picture. When I get a copy of it, I'll share it with you.
Trent called me this afternoon and asked if he could spend the night with us Friday night. I told him "of course". I'll pick him up after I get off work.
Chris, my neighbor and co-worker, found somebody who wants the shingles. I am so thankful that Vance and Chad don't have to move them. They will be going to The Covenant House, a place of refuge for men coming out of prison. They will come pick them up tomorrow morning.
When I got home, the tree removal people were there. They had already cut down several of the limbs. The guy climbed the tree and told Vance he was going to have to rent a crane because the tree was not safe. It had been struck by lightning and was in bad shape. He's only going to charge us for one hour of crane rental ($250.00), but he says it will probably take 3-4 hours to take it down safely. He's not going to charge us anymore than that because he can sell the wood and make the rest of the money back. I thought that was very reasonable. Vance and I both know how much it costs to rent a crane, because we've dealt with the crane people through our jobs. So, he put the limbs through the chipper and cleaned all that up before he left. He will be back on Monday with the crane.
Now, we've just got to get rid of the motorhome and get insurance. I know we will be able to get a good insurance and not have anymore trouble. God is faithful.
I'm really tired, so I'm cutting this short and going to bed. Love you all. Goodnight and God bless..............
We had a special lunch today to celebrate three years without a recordable accident. The food was really good. Several of us were called up before everybody and honored for going so long without an accident. I held the record - 38 years. Sunday is my 38th anniversary with Gulf Power. They took our picture. When I get a copy of it, I'll share it with you.
Trent called me this afternoon and asked if he could spend the night with us Friday night. I told him "of course". I'll pick him up after I get off work.
Chris, my neighbor and co-worker, found somebody who wants the shingles. I am so thankful that Vance and Chad don't have to move them. They will be going to The Covenant House, a place of refuge for men coming out of prison. They will come pick them up tomorrow morning.
When I got home, the tree removal people were there. They had already cut down several of the limbs. The guy climbed the tree and told Vance he was going to have to rent a crane because the tree was not safe. It had been struck by lightning and was in bad shape. He's only going to charge us for one hour of crane rental ($250.00), but he says it will probably take 3-4 hours to take it down safely. He's not going to charge us anymore than that because he can sell the wood and make the rest of the money back. I thought that was very reasonable. Vance and I both know how much it costs to rent a crane, because we've dealt with the crane people through our jobs. So, he put the limbs through the chipper and cleaned all that up before he left. He will be back on Monday with the crane.
Now, we've just got to get rid of the motorhome and get insurance. I know we will be able to get a good insurance and not have anymore trouble. God is faithful.
I'm really tired, so I'm cutting this short and going to bed. Love you all. Goodnight and God bless..............
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Hump Day
It's late and I'm tired, so this will be short. Had a great day at work today. Kim was out again - still trying to get her house repairs done. eSTARS managed to stay up and running all day, so I got caught up. Shouldn't have to work overtime anymore this week. Still finding a lot of things wrong with the program. Hope to get all the bugs worked out soon.
At lunch, I went to Michael's and bought a presentation/portfolio case to carry my photographs in when I take them to the gallery. Want to look professional, don't ya know. They were having a great sale on frames and matted pictures. Of course, I didn't care much for the pictures, but you can't buy a 16x20 mat for $3.00. I bought 2 white and 2 black. Bought two 16x20 black frames and two 11x14 black frames. Came back to work and framed the two stained glass pictures - one with a white mat and the other with a black one. Asked several people which one they liked best and it was the black one hands down.
Came home and Vance had been home all afternoon trying to get the backyard cleaned up. The tree removal person came and gave us an estimate of $900 to take down the huge oak tree in the backyard - the one hanging over the house that the insurance company said had to be removed. We had gotten a bid from Mark, who used to work with me, for $2000. I think we will go with this other guy. He is the man who Mark used to work for before he started his own business. He will come tomorrow and get started and have it finished by Friday afternoon, grind the stump and remove all debris. The Lord is good. I'm glad now that I listened to Vance and didn't let Mark take it down. That would have been a waste of money. Called Chip and he said we could get rid of the old motorhome. It doesn't run and we can't find a motor for it. He doesn't have any need for it. Chris might be interested in it. I'll ask him tomorrow at work. I called him and let him know the estimate we got. He's interested in having a tree taken down in his front yard. It keeps dropping big limbs and he's afraid it will hit his house.
Wrapped up the black matted picture of the stained glass and carried it to church and let it by Pastor Sammy's office door. Didn't put my name on it, but he immediately knew who it came from. He came to the platform while we were practicing and thanked me for it and said he had already hung it up in the office. Had a good service. Afterwards, he thanked me again and told me that he was at Springfield Methodist when they bought the stained glass window. The children raised all the money to buy it. It cost $700. It would probably cost over $7000 today. I thought that was pretty cool; that the kids of the church were the ones who purchased it. I've always loved the picture of Jesus holding out His hands. It reminds me of the verse "Come unto Me all ye who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest....." I'm going to give the other one to Mrs. Lena.
Came home and Vance was asleep in his chair. He was so tired from all the work he did this afternoon. Chad is going to come help him Sunday morning move the shingles from behind the motorhome. I wish Chad could find some friends to help. Those shingles are so heavy. I helped Vance unload them and stack them up.
Okay, I'm getting really tired, so I'm going to bed. Goodnight and God bless........
At lunch, I went to Michael's and bought a presentation/portfolio case to carry my photographs in when I take them to the gallery. Want to look professional, don't ya know. They were having a great sale on frames and matted pictures. Of course, I didn't care much for the pictures, but you can't buy a 16x20 mat for $3.00. I bought 2 white and 2 black. Bought two 16x20 black frames and two 11x14 black frames. Came back to work and framed the two stained glass pictures - one with a white mat and the other with a black one. Asked several people which one they liked best and it was the black one hands down.
Came home and Vance had been home all afternoon trying to get the backyard cleaned up. The tree removal person came and gave us an estimate of $900 to take down the huge oak tree in the backyard - the one hanging over the house that the insurance company said had to be removed. We had gotten a bid from Mark, who used to work with me, for $2000. I think we will go with this other guy. He is the man who Mark used to work for before he started his own business. He will come tomorrow and get started and have it finished by Friday afternoon, grind the stump and remove all debris. The Lord is good. I'm glad now that I listened to Vance and didn't let Mark take it down. That would have been a waste of money. Called Chip and he said we could get rid of the old motorhome. It doesn't run and we can't find a motor for it. He doesn't have any need for it. Chris might be interested in it. I'll ask him tomorrow at work. I called him and let him know the estimate we got. He's interested in having a tree taken down in his front yard. It keeps dropping big limbs and he's afraid it will hit his house.
Wrapped up the black matted picture of the stained glass and carried it to church and let it by Pastor Sammy's office door. Didn't put my name on it, but he immediately knew who it came from. He came to the platform while we were practicing and thanked me for it and said he had already hung it up in the office. Had a good service. Afterwards, he thanked me again and told me that he was at Springfield Methodist when they bought the stained glass window. The children raised all the money to buy it. It cost $700. It would probably cost over $7000 today. I thought that was pretty cool; that the kids of the church were the ones who purchased it. I've always loved the picture of Jesus holding out His hands. It reminds me of the verse "Come unto Me all ye who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest....." I'm going to give the other one to Mrs. Lena.
Came home and Vance was asleep in his chair. He was so tired from all the work he did this afternoon. Chad is going to come help him Sunday morning move the shingles from behind the motorhome. I wish Chad could find some friends to help. Those shingles are so heavy. I helped Vance unload them and stack them up.
Okay, I'm getting really tired, so I'm going to bed. Goodnight and God bless........
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Had a Wonderful Weekend
I left Friday morning (in Vance's truck) around 7:00 on my way to Tallahassee. Had a good drive. Stopped at McDonald's in Blountstown and got a sugar-free vanilla iced coffee. I was not even thinking about it having absolutely no sugar in it. Got back in the truck and headed off down the road. Took the first sip - YUCK!!! I thought "OK, I can drink this. I'll learn how to drink coffee without sugar. I'm thirsty. I can do this." Wrong! It was awful! When I got to Greensboro and pulled into a store looking for a box of Splenda or Sweet-n-Low. They didn't have any. So, I found a cold Frappacinno and poured it into my no sugar coffee. That worked. I was able to drink it then.
Got to Tallahassee and got to see Fox. He is getting so big and is so smart. He's talking up a storm. Will repeat anything you say and is speaking in full sentences. He had to show off for me. He is just so cute! Naturally, I had to take pictures. I loaded them onto Photoshow, but it wouldn't save due to some type of server problem. It takes all night to upload and I had put music and 4th of July fireworks to them, but couldn't get it to save. Can't use Picasa anymore - I've already filled it up. Guess I will have to delete some of my albums, so I'll free up some space. Not tonight though. I'm too tired.
Michelle picked lettuce and cherry tomatoes out of her garden and we had BLT's for lunch. Really good. She has some huge tomatoes growing on the same plant as the cherry tomatoes. Really weird. We went to a church - can't remember the name - to watch the fireworks. We got there around 6:30 and the fireworks didn't start until 9:30. Saw Danielle and Mark and their son, Aiden. Christopher, Sandra, their kids and Sandra's dad were there. Saw other people who go to their church. Fox had a great time playing in the dirt, eating snowcones and other snacks. We had explained to him that the fireworks were very loud. When they started, he said "WOW" several times, then fell asleep. He woke up in time to see the finale.
I slept good on their couch. Michelle was going to borrow a mattress for me to sleep on. I told her that I would rather sleep on the couch. I sleep on our couch half the night, so I slept really good. It's comfortable. Slept late the next morning, too.
Played with Fox. When he took a nap, Michelle and I went to Wal-Mart. I bought us all July 4th t-shirts and one for Vance even though he wasn't there. We took Vance and Fox and dropped them off at a birthday party. Michelle and I went and did a secret shop at two bagel places. We had to sit down and eat a bagel, so we shared one at each place. I drank blueberry coffee. That was an experience. I drank it hot, but they also have it cold. It was pretty good. I bet the cold version was really good, too. Went by Steinmark and bought me a cooler, cause Vance was giving me some Healthy Choice meals that he didn't want. He's tired of eating them. Like I'm tired of eating salads everyday.
Called Vance and he said he had a terrible golf game. He said he slept fine last night. I found out when I got home that he hadn't slept at all the whole time I was gone. He did take a nap on Saturday afternoon so he could watch the race. He told me he lied about sleeping good. He said he never sleeps when I'm gone. Isn't that sweet? He misses me.
We went to Sonny's for supper. Fox is such a good eater. Got pictures of him eating corn on the cob. He loves it. Had another good night's sleep. Sorry, Vance. I sleep fine when I'm away from home, because I don't have the dogs waking me up to go out in the middle of the night. He found out, cause Vinnie woke him up around 4:00. He said he had just gotten to sleep, and Vinnie woke him up.
Went to church with Vance and Michelle. Vance did a great job on the Bob Dylan song. Their preacher was out of town, so somebody else preached. He did pretty good talking about Independence and Dependence as it pertains to the scripture.
We went back to their house, packed up my stuff and I followed them to Bagel Bagel for lunch. It was storming. I almost couldn't see their taillights;it was raining so hard. Had a good tuna melt. I left for home right after we ate. Got into rain several times. Had a Highway Patrolman follow me from Blountstown to Hwy 231. I expected him to go around me, cause I was going a lot slower than the speed limit. It was just raining too hard to drive 60 mph. But, he never did pass me until we turned on 231.
Got home and it hadn't rained at all. But, it started about an hour after I got home. Yes, Vance did miss me. And so did the dogs. They were all over me when I walked in the door. When I got home, I found out that our house insurance had been cancelled again.
Had planned on going to Bible Study, but Vance wanted me to fix supper. I think he wanted to spend a little time with me.
Went to work this morning in time for the safety meeting, but got to the gate and it was locked. My card wouldn't open it, so I drove around to the other gate. Parked in my space and had to open our office door, cause both the guys are on vacation. Robert didn't have a key, so he was waiting on me. I didn't make it to the safety meeting. But, I did walk down to get the timesheets and a cup of coffee. A new employee came in looking for Ronnie. I talked to him until the meeting was over. He is a contract engineer and seemed very nice. He and his family moved this weekend from Ft. Lauderdale. He's a product of down-sizing at FP&L.
Kim took off to work on her house. I had so many timesheets to do. Also, had to call the insurance company to see why they wouldn't insure us. Because we have a huge oak tree hanging over our house and cars in the backyard. Vance is rebuilding a 1967 Plymouth Belevedere, but they consider that junk and won't insure us. Cheryl called and tried to get them to extend till the first of August, but they said they were cancelling on the 24th. Even if we clean up, they won't insure us. She said she will probably have to go with Citizens which will be more expensive. Vance was off today, so I called him and he said he'd start cleaning up.
Daddy called and needed groceries. Plus, he needed me to call in three prescriptions. Mama called and needed me to find some papers for her. I told her to call me after 7:00 tonight because I have too much on my mind to remember what she wants and I planned on working late to try to catch up on my work.
I worked through lunch. Took 15 minutes to eat one of those Healthy Choice meals from Vance. I decided that I needed to borrow money from my retirement to have that tree cut down. At 2:00, my timekeeping program crashed. I called IT and they already had other calls. They said they would call me back when it came back up. So, I called Merrill-Lynch and got a loan during the time it was down. I also started filing. 10 minutes before 4:00, it came back up. I worked till 6:00.
As I was on the way to the grocery store, I remembered that I hadn't called in Daddy's prescriptions. I feel bad about that, but I just can't remember everything. I went to Winn-Dixie and it took me 45 minutes to find about a dozen items. I hate these new stores. It makes me that much more anxious when I'm running around trying to find things. And they have everything so mixed up, nothing is in a logical place. It's just another way to get people to buy more by having to go up and down every aisle and seeing things you might want.
Got to Daddy's house and put up his groceries. Sat down just a couple of minutes to visit with him. Kim called. She asked if I knew anybody who had crutches. One of her granddaughters sprained her ankle and needed crutches. I said I had some. The girls wanted me to send them to Goodwill when we were cleaning up, but I knew somebody would need them sooner or later. She told me to call her when I got home and she'd come get them.
Came home and Vance had managed to get the parts car pulled over by the gate. He's going to call somebody to come pull it off. He'll put the one he's working on in his garage. That just leaves the motorhome and shingles to get moved out. Guess we need to call Chip to come help with the motorhome - it belongs to him. We've had it for years. They never could find a motor for it. Then, we will have a nice backyard again. Maybe we can plant container gardens and grow our own vegetables like Vance and Michelle.
Okay, I'm winding down. I'm tired and need to go to bed. Goodnight and God bless......
Got to Tallahassee and got to see Fox. He is getting so big and is so smart. He's talking up a storm. Will repeat anything you say and is speaking in full sentences. He had to show off for me. He is just so cute! Naturally, I had to take pictures. I loaded them onto Photoshow, but it wouldn't save due to some type of server problem. It takes all night to upload and I had put music and 4th of July fireworks to them, but couldn't get it to save. Can't use Picasa anymore - I've already filled it up. Guess I will have to delete some of my albums, so I'll free up some space. Not tonight though. I'm too tired.
Michelle picked lettuce and cherry tomatoes out of her garden and we had BLT's for lunch. Really good. She has some huge tomatoes growing on the same plant as the cherry tomatoes. Really weird. We went to a church - can't remember the name - to watch the fireworks. We got there around 6:30 and the fireworks didn't start until 9:30. Saw Danielle and Mark and their son, Aiden. Christopher, Sandra, their kids and Sandra's dad were there. Saw other people who go to their church. Fox had a great time playing in the dirt, eating snowcones and other snacks. We had explained to him that the fireworks were very loud. When they started, he said "WOW" several times, then fell asleep. He woke up in time to see the finale.
I slept good on their couch. Michelle was going to borrow a mattress for me to sleep on. I told her that I would rather sleep on the couch. I sleep on our couch half the night, so I slept really good. It's comfortable. Slept late the next morning, too.
Played with Fox. When he took a nap, Michelle and I went to Wal-Mart. I bought us all July 4th t-shirts and one for Vance even though he wasn't there. We took Vance and Fox and dropped them off at a birthday party. Michelle and I went and did a secret shop at two bagel places. We had to sit down and eat a bagel, so we shared one at each place. I drank blueberry coffee. That was an experience. I drank it hot, but they also have it cold. It was pretty good. I bet the cold version was really good, too. Went by Steinmark and bought me a cooler, cause Vance was giving me some Healthy Choice meals that he didn't want. He's tired of eating them. Like I'm tired of eating salads everyday.
Called Vance and he said he had a terrible golf game. He said he slept fine last night. I found out when I got home that he hadn't slept at all the whole time I was gone. He did take a nap on Saturday afternoon so he could watch the race. He told me he lied about sleeping good. He said he never sleeps when I'm gone. Isn't that sweet? He misses me.
We went to Sonny's for supper. Fox is such a good eater. Got pictures of him eating corn on the cob. He loves it. Had another good night's sleep. Sorry, Vance. I sleep fine when I'm away from home, because I don't have the dogs waking me up to go out in the middle of the night. He found out, cause Vinnie woke him up around 4:00. He said he had just gotten to sleep, and Vinnie woke him up.
Went to church with Vance and Michelle. Vance did a great job on the Bob Dylan song. Their preacher was out of town, so somebody else preached. He did pretty good talking about Independence and Dependence as it pertains to the scripture.
We went back to their house, packed up my stuff and I followed them to Bagel Bagel for lunch. It was storming. I almost couldn't see their taillights;it was raining so hard. Had a good tuna melt. I left for home right after we ate. Got into rain several times. Had a Highway Patrolman follow me from Blountstown to Hwy 231. I expected him to go around me, cause I was going a lot slower than the speed limit. It was just raining too hard to drive 60 mph. But, he never did pass me until we turned on 231.
Got home and it hadn't rained at all. But, it started about an hour after I got home. Yes, Vance did miss me. And so did the dogs. They were all over me when I walked in the door. When I got home, I found out that our house insurance had been cancelled again.
Had planned on going to Bible Study, but Vance wanted me to fix supper. I think he wanted to spend a little time with me.
Went to work this morning in time for the safety meeting, but got to the gate and it was locked. My card wouldn't open it, so I drove around to the other gate. Parked in my space and had to open our office door, cause both the guys are on vacation. Robert didn't have a key, so he was waiting on me. I didn't make it to the safety meeting. But, I did walk down to get the timesheets and a cup of coffee. A new employee came in looking for Ronnie. I talked to him until the meeting was over. He is a contract engineer and seemed very nice. He and his family moved this weekend from Ft. Lauderdale. He's a product of down-sizing at FP&L.
Kim took off to work on her house. I had so many timesheets to do. Also, had to call the insurance company to see why they wouldn't insure us. Because we have a huge oak tree hanging over our house and cars in the backyard. Vance is rebuilding a 1967 Plymouth Belevedere, but they consider that junk and won't insure us. Cheryl called and tried to get them to extend till the first of August, but they said they were cancelling on the 24th. Even if we clean up, they won't insure us. She said she will probably have to go with Citizens which will be more expensive. Vance was off today, so I called him and he said he'd start cleaning up.
Daddy called and needed groceries. Plus, he needed me to call in three prescriptions. Mama called and needed me to find some papers for her. I told her to call me after 7:00 tonight because I have too much on my mind to remember what she wants and I planned on working late to try to catch up on my work.
I worked through lunch. Took 15 minutes to eat one of those Healthy Choice meals from Vance. I decided that I needed to borrow money from my retirement to have that tree cut down. At 2:00, my timekeeping program crashed. I called IT and they already had other calls. They said they would call me back when it came back up. So, I called Merrill-Lynch and got a loan during the time it was down. I also started filing. 10 minutes before 4:00, it came back up. I worked till 6:00.
As I was on the way to the grocery store, I remembered that I hadn't called in Daddy's prescriptions. I feel bad about that, but I just can't remember everything. I went to Winn-Dixie and it took me 45 minutes to find about a dozen items. I hate these new stores. It makes me that much more anxious when I'm running around trying to find things. And they have everything so mixed up, nothing is in a logical place. It's just another way to get people to buy more by having to go up and down every aisle and seeing things you might want.
Got to Daddy's house and put up his groceries. Sat down just a couple of minutes to visit with him. Kim called. She asked if I knew anybody who had crutches. One of her granddaughters sprained her ankle and needed crutches. I said I had some. The girls wanted me to send them to Goodwill when we were cleaning up, but I knew somebody would need them sooner or later. She told me to call her when I got home and she'd come get them.
Came home and Vance had managed to get the parts car pulled over by the gate. He's going to call somebody to come pull it off. He'll put the one he's working on in his garage. That just leaves the motorhome and shingles to get moved out. Guess we need to call Chip to come help with the motorhome - it belongs to him. We've had it for years. They never could find a motor for it. Then, we will have a nice backyard again. Maybe we can plant container gardens and grow our own vegetables like Vance and Michelle.
Okay, I'm winding down. I'm tired and need to go to bed. Goodnight and God bless......
Thursday, July 03, 2008
Countdown to the 4th
Just a couple more days and I'll be in Tallahassee. I am so looking forward to seeing Vance, Michelle and Fox.
I stopped by Burger King and got a chicken biscuit and decaf coffee on my way to work. I only took two bites of the biscuit. I thought I wanted something to eat, but I really didn't. I knew I wouldn't be eating lunch because we had a Spa meeting at lunch. Sue has started selling BeautiControl products. She and another distributor showed us some of the products. It's skin care products. We got to try a lot of them out. I was impressed. I've used so many different types of products, but I've never felt anything like this on my skin before. It is so soothing. There is one product - Detoxifying Bath Soak - that Sue said helped her backache. She was bent over in pain and decided to take a bath in the product. She said when she got out, her back was free from pain. I'm pretty skeptical about things like that, so I asked if I could rub some on my elbow where I was hurting from tendonitis. I rubbed some on and then we tried the lip balm and hand treatment. Those were great. You could feel your lips and hands getting smoother. (It's been almost 12 hours and they still feel smooth. Normally, I have to put lotion on my hands several times a day, but I haven't since lunch.)Believe it or not, but my elbow quit hurting. I was amazed. I've used all kinds of creams, a brace, heat and it would still hurt. I figured the pain would start back after I started typing again, but it hasn't hurt since lunch. You can bet I ordered some of that stuff! It should help Vance with his pains in his back and legs, too. I may have to become a distributor just so I can get a discount on this stuff!
Worked hard all afternoon. Still trying to catch up from all the overtime they worked over the weekend. Sure hope we don't have any more days like that since this is a short week.
Went to Sam's after work and picked up more pictures. Also went to Hobby Lobby looking for a presentation case so it would be easy to transport these pictures. They had some, but the largest one was only 14"x17" and my pictures are 16"x20". Don't think I could squeeze them in. I'll have to look other places or go on-line. Or, just have them enlarged to 11"x14".
Came home and Vance was cutting up another limb that fell off the big oak tree in our backyard - the one right up next to the house. Thank the Lord, it didn't fall on the house. I knew we should have had it taken down when we had the money last year. Now, we don't have $2000 and it will probably be even more than that now. I guess I could go and take money out of my retirement fund to have it cut down. Or, just let the limbs fall one at a time......
Had a great service at church. Pastor Sammy was back. He'd been sick, but he's back now and was in rare form. Good preaching. Tabitha and the kids didn't come. I will have to call tomorrow and find out if anything is wrong. Haven't talked to them since Sunday.
When I got home from church, Vance asked me if I was still going to Tallahassee on Friday and if anybody was going with me. Told him yes and no. He said I could use his truck if I filled it up when I got home. No problem. I really didn't want to take my car. I want some new tires before I drive it out of town again. I don't think I've replaced the tires in five or six years and after watching the ABC report, I think I need new tires.
It's midnight and I'm really getting tired. I'm going to bed now.Goodnight and God bless............
I stopped by Burger King and got a chicken biscuit and decaf coffee on my way to work. I only took two bites of the biscuit. I thought I wanted something to eat, but I really didn't. I knew I wouldn't be eating lunch because we had a Spa meeting at lunch. Sue has started selling BeautiControl products. She and another distributor showed us some of the products. It's skin care products. We got to try a lot of them out. I was impressed. I've used so many different types of products, but I've never felt anything like this on my skin before. It is so soothing. There is one product - Detoxifying Bath Soak - that Sue said helped her backache. She was bent over in pain and decided to take a bath in the product. She said when she got out, her back was free from pain. I'm pretty skeptical about things like that, so I asked if I could rub some on my elbow where I was hurting from tendonitis. I rubbed some on and then we tried the lip balm and hand treatment. Those were great. You could feel your lips and hands getting smoother. (It's been almost 12 hours and they still feel smooth. Normally, I have to put lotion on my hands several times a day, but I haven't since lunch.)Believe it or not, but my elbow quit hurting. I was amazed. I've used all kinds of creams, a brace, heat and it would still hurt. I figured the pain would start back after I started typing again, but it hasn't hurt since lunch. You can bet I ordered some of that stuff! It should help Vance with his pains in his back and legs, too. I may have to become a distributor just so I can get a discount on this stuff!
Worked hard all afternoon. Still trying to catch up from all the overtime they worked over the weekend. Sure hope we don't have any more days like that since this is a short week.
Went to Sam's after work and picked up more pictures. Also went to Hobby Lobby looking for a presentation case so it would be easy to transport these pictures. They had some, but the largest one was only 14"x17" and my pictures are 16"x20". Don't think I could squeeze them in. I'll have to look other places or go on-line. Or, just have them enlarged to 11"x14".
Came home and Vance was cutting up another limb that fell off the big oak tree in our backyard - the one right up next to the house. Thank the Lord, it didn't fall on the house. I knew we should have had it taken down when we had the money last year. Now, we don't have $2000 and it will probably be even more than that now. I guess I could go and take money out of my retirement fund to have it cut down. Or, just let the limbs fall one at a time......
Had a great service at church. Pastor Sammy was back. He'd been sick, but he's back now and was in rare form. Good preaching. Tabitha and the kids didn't come. I will have to call tomorrow and find out if anything is wrong. Haven't talked to them since Sunday.
When I got home from church, Vance asked me if I was still going to Tallahassee on Friday and if anybody was going with me. Told him yes and no. He said I could use his truck if I filled it up when I got home. No problem. I really didn't want to take my car. I want some new tires before I drive it out of town again. I don't think I've replaced the tires in five or six years and after watching the ABC report, I think I need new tires.
It's midnight and I'm really getting tired. I'm going to bed now.Goodnight and God bless............
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
July is here!!!
July - yep, summer is definitely here. We've had the summer afternoon thunderstorms, the very high humidity (takes your breath away, it's so bad), the lightning, temperatures in the 90's. Yep, it's summer in Florida. But, I like living in Florida. That's where God decided I should be born and I guess that's where I will stay until He moves me. And I know Vance ain't moving! I can't even get him to go anywhere, so I'll be here until I go home to be with the Lord.
Had a busy day at work. Boy, I think every one of the linemen and servicemen worked over the weekend. I usually don't have but a few timesheets from the weekend. It seems like regular days that I was entering, except they were so confusing. Some of the guys worked over 16 hours without 8 hours of sleep, so they get paid time and a half for any of their hours that they work that would normally have been straight time. Confusing, isn't it? I've typed more emails to supervisors today than in weeks. Just to find out what the guys really meant to put on their timesheets. But, that's what my job is all about. Makes things interesting sometimes.
I called Sam's to see if my pictures were ready yet. The lady said they had been ready the afternoon I dropped them off. I didn't realize she did the posters on site. I thought she sent them off. I could have gotten them last week. So, at lunch, I went and picked them up. I had two 11x14's made of the picture of the stained glass window from Springfield Methodist that I took years ago. (Had to climb a very high ladder to take that picture.)They turned out great. I'm going to frame them and give one to Pastor Sammy and one to Mrs. Lena Melvin. The other two were of an old barn. Had one print in color and one in black and white. I believe I like the black and white one better. I had those two put on poster board so I won't have to frame them. Gave her another negative (different view of same barn) and had two more made. I had to see how they would enlarge before I had them all done.
After work, I had to take money to Mama. Aunt Margurete was sick today. I pray that she is better even as I type these words. She does so much for so many other people. God has a special crown waiting for her in heaven. I love and appreciate her so much.
When I left Mama's, I went back to Sam's and picked up the pictures. They were good, too. Dropped off another view. Asked her if she could make pictures from a CD and she said she could. I'm going to make a CD of the St. Marks Lighthouse and have some of those blown up. Hopefully, I can go at lunch on Thursday and put these barn pictures in the gallery. Pray that I will be able to set a price and sell some. I've got a lot of pictures to go through and pick out ones that I want to try to sell. Pray that I find the negatives of some of my older ones. I've got a picture of a dog peeking under a fence that should sell. I've just got to find the negative. Don't remember what I did with it. I know it's in an envelope somewhere.
Vance went to Home Depot to buy the lights and stuff he needs to put in his garage. I guess he'll start working on that this weekend. Then the electrician will come back and run service to it.
He got home just as I was about to leave to go to church for practice. We practiced two new songs that Karen has written. One with the help of everybody. Had prayer afterwards. We have so many people wanting to come to church, but they don't have vehicles. Several from the Rescue Mission. We are praying for vans or buses. We've got people running everywhere picking up the ones who don't have a way. But we need vans or buses. Please help us pray that God will make a way where there seems to be no way.
Okay, I need to make that CD, so I'll go for now. Have a blessed day!
Goodnight and God bless..........
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
2008 is half over
Can you believe it is already the end of June? Christmas will be here before you know it.
I almost forgot to go to the safety meeting. Why do they keep changing the day we meet? I got used to Wednesday "Hump Day" meetings; now they changed to Monday. Maybe it's to keep us confused??? Well, it's working.
Had all my reports to run today. That keeps me busy for most of the day. Then, the adjustments for Friday's time. I project their time for timesheet Fridays to keep from having to work over. Then, you have to make the adjustments. We had a lot of overtime this weekend due to thunderstorms. Seems like everybody was working.
Went to Taco Bell for lunch. Got a taco salad and a Mango/Strawberry Fruitista Freeze. I'm loving those things. Since I can't have tea anymore, I had to find something besides water to obsess over.
Daddy called and wanted me to bring him a check for his rent. I'm not getting him anymore checks, so I write his rent check and pay myself back when his check comes in. I still end up in the hole every month, but you have to take care of your parents. But, I refuse to buy him cigarettes or beer. He had the audacity to ask me if I'd buy him a 12 pack of beer Friday. I told him "Nope, I don't buy beer for Vance and I'm not going to buy it for you. Especially since the doctor said you were not supposed to drink because of what it did to your kidneys." He said "I'm not mad at you. I just thought I'd ask." I didn't care if he got mad or not; I wasn't buying beer for him. Besides, how would it look if I ran into somebody I knew from church, or worse, somebody I've been witnessing to? Nope, if he wants beer, he'll have to get somebody else to buy it for him. At least he's not smoking anymore.
It was raining when I dropped Daddy off at the AmVets. I drove through Starbucks and got a coffee. Haven't had one since I was in Tallahassee. Not supposed to have them anyway, but I was craving one. It's better to go ahead and give in then to agonize for days and then finally give in.
I played around with some of my photos when I got home. Kim suggested I check the settings on my computer to see if I was printing in photo mode. I wasn't to begin with, but I changed the settings and the pictures still aren't very colorful. Something must be wrong with my computer program. It's not the printer, so it has to be the computer. I just don't know what it is. I've been turning off and unplugging my computer every night because of the thunderstorms we've been having. Pretty severe lightning and I don't want to lose my computer. I uploaded a few pictures to MySpace of the kids that I took at church yesterday on the water slide.
Got an email from Sharon. We may finally get to meet this weekend. Sandra is about to have her baby and Sharon is going to Tallahassee to be with her. I'm going to see Vance, Michelle and Fox. It's going to be fun.
Well, I better go to bed. Vinnie is ready to go to sleep, but he won't go lay down until I go. He's standing here begging for me to go to bed.
Goodnight and God bless...................
I almost forgot to go to the safety meeting. Why do they keep changing the day we meet? I got used to Wednesday "Hump Day" meetings; now they changed to Monday. Maybe it's to keep us confused??? Well, it's working.
Had all my reports to run today. That keeps me busy for most of the day. Then, the adjustments for Friday's time. I project their time for timesheet Fridays to keep from having to work over. Then, you have to make the adjustments. We had a lot of overtime this weekend due to thunderstorms. Seems like everybody was working.
Went to Taco Bell for lunch. Got a taco salad and a Mango/Strawberry Fruitista Freeze. I'm loving those things. Since I can't have tea anymore, I had to find something besides water to obsess over.
Daddy called and wanted me to bring him a check for his rent. I'm not getting him anymore checks, so I write his rent check and pay myself back when his check comes in. I still end up in the hole every month, but you have to take care of your parents. But, I refuse to buy him cigarettes or beer. He had the audacity to ask me if I'd buy him a 12 pack of beer Friday. I told him "Nope, I don't buy beer for Vance and I'm not going to buy it for you. Especially since the doctor said you were not supposed to drink because of what it did to your kidneys." He said "I'm not mad at you. I just thought I'd ask." I didn't care if he got mad or not; I wasn't buying beer for him. Besides, how would it look if I ran into somebody I knew from church, or worse, somebody I've been witnessing to? Nope, if he wants beer, he'll have to get somebody else to buy it for him. At least he's not smoking anymore.
It was raining when I dropped Daddy off at the AmVets. I drove through Starbucks and got a coffee. Haven't had one since I was in Tallahassee. Not supposed to have them anyway, but I was craving one. It's better to go ahead and give in then to agonize for days and then finally give in.
I played around with some of my photos when I got home. Kim suggested I check the settings on my computer to see if I was printing in photo mode. I wasn't to begin with, but I changed the settings and the pictures still aren't very colorful. Something must be wrong with my computer program. It's not the printer, so it has to be the computer. I just don't know what it is. I've been turning off and unplugging my computer every night because of the thunderstorms we've been having. Pretty severe lightning and I don't want to lose my computer. I uploaded a few pictures to MySpace of the kids that I took at church yesterday on the water slide.
Got an email from Sharon. We may finally get to meet this weekend. Sandra is about to have her baby and Sharon is going to Tallahassee to be with her. I'm going to see Vance, Michelle and Fox. It's going to be fun.
Well, I better go to bed. Vinnie is ready to go to sleep, but he won't go lay down until I go. He's standing here begging for me to go to bed.
Goodnight and God bless...................
Monday, June 30, 2008
Happy 17th Anniversary Straightway Christian Ministries
Boy, did we have a storm last night! And Vance and I slept right through it. Kim called be as I was getting ready for church and told me that the wind ripped her carport off her house and it fell on her car. She asked us to pray for her. I prayed for her over the phone.
Today was our church's 17th anniversary. We had a great service. Pastor Tommy McCormick was our guest speaker. He talked about seeing things in the spirit like Peter, John and others in the New Testament. Like when God gives you a vision for your life; you know, a goal as the world would call it. God has given Pastor Sammy a vision for what our church will be like and there's more to do. We've all got to catch that vision and walk along side him to make it come to fruition. I know I've caught it. I've seen many buildings on our property and a school to teach people skills and a home for abused women and children. I'm looking forward to the things that will begin to happen in the near future. Our music is already changing and ministering to people.
It rained most of the morning, but when it was time to eat, the rain had stopped. Pastor Sammy had said we would move all the chairs out of the sanctuary and bring in the tables, but Mrs. Sandi felt like the weather would hold out for us to eat outside. It didn't. We were all eating when a huge storm blew in. The only people who didn't get wet were those sitting in the middle of the pavilion. Tabitha and I got soaked, but we kept right on eating. A little rain didn't stop us! And it was so good. I even ate some angle food cake with mandarin oranges. It was so good. Found out from Tabitha that angel food cake was Chad's favorite. I never knew that. I used to fix angel food cake when I was dieting, cause it was allowed. I guess that's when he started to like it.
After eating, the kids played on a big water slide - the rain had stopped by then. I took about 100 pictures. They had so much fun. I stayed around till 2:30, then went and checked on Kim. Her son had come and they were able to get her car out from under the carport and drop it on the ground. It did tear up the eaves of the house, but I don't think it will cause the roof to leak. I like the way she's painted the inside of the house. It's beginning to look really good. Makes me want to do more in our house, but it's just too hot to do anything right now.
I came home and uploaded the pictures to my computer. I thought I was having problems with my printer, but I found out it's my computer. I print the pictures from my Adobe program and the color just isn't right. It looks great on the computer, but comes out dull on the printer. I decided to put the memory card in the copier and see how the pictures came out. They were perfect. Now, what do I do? Most of the time, I delete the pictures from the card and upload them to the computer. But, if they aren't going to print right, am I going to have to keep investing in memory cards and just store my pictures on them? That will get expensive. Those cards aren't cheap. I don't know what to do.
Talked to Vance and Michelle yesterday. I think I'm going to go visit them this weekend. I'm off on Friday, so I'll just get up and go. Tried to get Vance to go, but he won't. I just don't know what's wrong with him. He just won't leave the house, except to play golf once a week. He usually buys groceries because he does the cooking - that way he can eat what he likes, he says. Meat and potatoes...... I don't mind. Anyway, he went to Winn-Dixie and they are remodeling their stores. I hate it cause I can't find anything. It took him an hour to find the few things he wanted. And he asked some of the employees and they couldn't tell him where they were. He told the manager that he would not be coming back; if he wanted to shop at a new store, he would have left and gone to another store a long time ago. He knows it's not their fault, but he plans on shopping at Publix from now on. I really don't like Publix, cause it's usually more expensive and I can't find anything there either. But, I guess it will be Publix or Save-a-Lot. I hear they have really good prices and good meat. Jim Lynch is the meat manager at the one in Lynn Haven and I've heard the meat is good quality. The steaks he brought for the Men's Ministry were really good.
I guess I better get to bed. Our safety meetings have been changed to Monday's and I need to go in early tomorrow.
Goodnight and God bless.............
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Whew! What a Week
This has been a very busy week, very emotional week. Work has been busy. Today was timesheet day and I was super busy. But, I did manage to leave work on time today. Praise the Lord.
Daddy called and asked me to get him some groceries, so I did after work. Sat and talked to him for about an hour and told him all about Trent's little adventure. I'm glad I hadn't called him while it was going on, cause he would have been a nervous wreck. He said he would have called the Sheriff and gotten a ride to the woods and he'd been out there trying to help find Trent. He's in no shape, but I appreciated the thought.
Came home and almost fell asleep on the couch. I was so exhausted. Got up to take my contacts out and Mrs. Sandi called. She had been at camp with the teenagers all week, but they had gotten word to her that Trent and Brandon were lost in the woods, so she prayed. She waited to hear news and had planned on grabbing all our teens and bringing them back home if the boys had not been found. But, praise God, she didn't have to. She was so glad they were okay. She knows Brandon, too, so she was concerned about them both.
I went to get us something to eat. Vance ate and went to bed. I'm not too far behind him. I'm really tired. I think brain work is more exhausting than physical work. I may sleep in tomorrow to catch up on my sleep.
Goodnight and God bless............
Daddy called and asked me to get him some groceries, so I did after work. Sat and talked to him for about an hour and told him all about Trent's little adventure. I'm glad I hadn't called him while it was going on, cause he would have been a nervous wreck. He said he would have called the Sheriff and gotten a ride to the woods and he'd been out there trying to help find Trent. He's in no shape, but I appreciated the thought.
Came home and almost fell asleep on the couch. I was so exhausted. Got up to take my contacts out and Mrs. Sandi called. She had been at camp with the teenagers all week, but they had gotten word to her that Trent and Brandon were lost in the woods, so she prayed. She waited to hear news and had planned on grabbing all our teens and bringing them back home if the boys had not been found. But, praise God, she didn't have to. She was so glad they were okay. She knows Brandon, too, so she was concerned about them both.
I went to get us something to eat. Vance ate and went to bed. I'm not too far behind him. I'm really tired. I think brain work is more exhausting than physical work. I may sleep in tomorrow to catch up on my sleep.
Goodnight and God bless............
Friday, June 27, 2008
Thankful Thursday
I am still so thankful to God for watching out for Trent and Brandon yesterday. I don't think they really realize the danger they put themselves into when they went farther than they were supposed to. With the forest fire in the area, that means wild animals and snakes were running for safety. They could have come in contact with coyotes, bears, rattlesnakes and other wild animals. Animals that were scared because of the fire and could easily have attacked them. But, God was watching over them and they only heard things in the bushes. They never actually saw snakes or animals, but they did hear something.
Today was pretty much work as usual. Had several problems with the timekeeping system, but was able to work my way through it. Since I was off yesterday for awhile when Trent was missing, I worked until 6:00 today to make up for it, so I wouldn't have to take vacation. I needed to catch up anyway since the system was down so much yesterday.
At lunch, I went by Barron's Furniture and talked to Lisa about recliners. She had one that I really wanted - sage green micro suede. It was a smaller chair that didn't swivel or rock, but it laid all the way back. I could have slept on it. It was really comfortable. It cost $335. I called Vance and he said no, that he would not spend that much on a chair. He said he'd wait until they went on sale. Well, I hate to burst his bubble, but I don't think they will be putting them on sale since the economy is the way it is. He'll just have to sit in a broken chair. I should never have told him to go get one. I should have just gone and bought one and had it delivered as a Father's Day gift. Live and learn.......
Vance called and told me to go by the store on my way home and get an onion. He was making his famous hamburger, pork & beans, onion, mustard, ketchup skillet dinner. It sounds terrible, but it's really good. They are remodeling all the Winn-Dixie's (again) and all of them are laid out differently. I get so lost. It takes me twice as long to shop because I can't find anything. And you ask the employees and they are at a loss, too. Of course, finding the onions was easy, but I needed bread and orange juice and instant grits (that's the only snack the grandkids get when they come to my house). They are nowhere near where they used to be. And they don't have the signs up over the aisles yet, so you have to walk down every aisle to find something. It was almost 7:00 when I finally got home.
Watched a Clint Eastwood movie tonight - Millionaire Baby. It was about a woman fighter (Hillary Swank) that he trained to become world champion. She was sucker punched in a fight and broke her neck falling on the stool in her corner. I loved it up until the very end. I won't tell you the ending. Just didn't end the way I would have hoped.
Guess I need to get to bed and get some rest. Tomorrow is going to be a very busy day. I pray that you all have a blessed day.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Thank the Lord for Protecting Trent & Brandon
Trent and Brandon.
What an afternoon we had. After lunch, probably around 1:30, Tabitha calls me all upset and says "Mama, start praying right now for Trent and Brandon. They are lost in the woods behind the house and there's a fire heading in their direction. The Sheriff's office are out looking and they are sending up a helicopter. I can't tell you anymore - just pray!" Normally, I am a very calm person, but I freaked. I have never been so scared in all my life. Walter was in my office talking to me and I said "I've got to get out a prayer request." I was shaking so hard I couldn't type, so I ried to call Kim to get her to put one out. Her phone was busy, so I explained real quick to Walter and went running down the dock to Kim's office. I saw that she was on the phone and my bosses light was on in his office, so I burst in there. He had someone in his office, but they could tell something was wrong. I hurriedly explained that I had to leave. He asked if someone could drive me or go with me. I said "I'll be fine, but I've got to go now!" I went in Kim's office and told her to put out a prayer request. She started praying and typing and said "I'm coming right behind you." I ran back down the dock and grabbed my stuff and told Randy where I was going and got in the car. I called Vance to tell him and then called Marsha to tell her I probably wouldn't make my hair appointment. Had to leave a message. I broke down and cried before I hung up. Kim called and said she had called her ex-husband and they were rounding up people with 4-wheelers to help in the search. I wanted to call Vance and Michelle, but my battery was low on my phone and my plugs don't work in my car. I had to save the battery in case I needed it in the woods. Cause I was planning on heading into the woods as soon as I got to Chad and Tabitha's.
I turned onto Pipeline Rd and met a Sheriff's car coming in the other direction. The speed limit is 25 and I was already doing 45. I was not about to slow down. As a matter of fact I was doing 55 soon after I passed him. I looked in my rearview mirror and saw him turning around. I thought to myself "Big boy, you're just gonna have to chase me, cause I'm not stopping until I get to Chad's house." He did not pursue me. He probably radioed ahead to get the other cops to stop me.
As I got to the curve, I saw several vehicles with lights flashing and saw Chad's truck, then saw Chad as he and the policemen and firemen were heading into the woods. I stopped my car and jumped out and ran after them. Just as I got to them, they got word that the kids had just shown up back home. Thank You, Lord. I called Vance and Kim and told them they were safe. Kim said she'd go back to work. Vance said he was going home. He had left work as soon as I called him.
We went to Chad's and as I walked into the house, Brandon jumped up from the couch and hugged me and said "I was so scared." Trent just looked like he was dazed. I grabbed him and hugged him. Tabitha was just beginning to calm down.
Billy, Brandon's dad, came over and we talked. I re-introduced myself. I haven't seen Billy in years. Olivia reminded him that I took his and Belinda's wedding pictures. He is a fireman and just happened to be off today. (Isn't that just like God?) So, he was able to call out the calvary and get results faster than Tabitha could have. He was coordinating the search and was talking to Brandon and Trent on the phone. As they were talking, a train happened to be going by on 231. He said "Do you hear the train?" They said they did. He told them to face in the direction they heard the train then stick out their right arm and head in that direction. They argued with him that he was sending them west and they knew they were at least 3 miles from home. (If they had been 3 miles away, they would have walked up to somebody's house.) But, he convinced them to do it and they walked that way until they heard Olivia calling them. They had been lost for about 45 minutes, but both are saying they won't be going back in the woods any time soon. Billy will be leaving in a couple of weeks to go fight fires out West, so keep him in your prayers. He spends the summer out West fighting forest fires.
After I calmed down and made sure Tabitha and Chad and the kids were all calmed down, I headed back to work. Had been having trouble all day with the timekeeping program, so I was behind on my work. Marsha called to see if we'd found the kids and I told her they were safe and I'd be able to make my appointment after all.
I got off work and went to get my hair colored. Marsha said as soon as she heard my message, she told her customers and they joined together and prayed. It's such a blessing having Christian friends who will pray in times of trouble. While Marsha was drying my hair, an old friend called. I haven't seen her in at least five years, but the Lord put her on my heart a couple of weeks ago and I sent her a card. She said it came at a time when she really needed it. Her sister was in a bad automobile accident that caused her to roll her truck and was thrown through the windshield. She received multiple injuries and the artery in her leg was cut and she would have bled to death if a nurse hadn't come up on her right after the accident. Two farmers also showed up. They kept pressure on the artery until the ambulance arrived. The nurse had quit her job to take care of her mother who just happened to live on that road. She had turned her back on God because her brother had died and she blamed God. While she was trying to keep Ann alive, she heard angel's wings all around them. She told Ann to hang on, that the angels were all around them. Right then and there, she gave her life back to God. Praise the Lord! I'm sure those angels were singing, too. She just couldn't hear them. Ann has been in ICU for four weeks in Birmingham. I remember praying for her when Carol and I and several other women used to meet in the Food Court in the mall to pray one day a week at lunch. Carol requested prayer cause Ann was on drugs and drinking a lot. Well, with tubes running all in her, she also gave her life back to the Lord in the hospital. What the devil meant for evil and destruction, God turned it around for good. She said the whole community has changed and come together over this accident. Praise the Lord!!!
Vance went looking for a recliner to replace his broken one since he was already off work. I called him from the salon and he said he wasn't about to pay the prices they wanted - $300 and up. So, I guess we'll have to look at garage sales or Goodwill or the Salvation Army to find him one. I was expecting $400-500, but if he doesn't want to pay that much, then we'll just look for a used one. He just doesn't realize how expensive things are.
I went straight from the salon to church. I was late for practice, but was able to sing cause church hadn't started yet. Pastor Sammy is still out sick and Mrs. Sandi is at camp with the teenagers. I had to give a testimony about what happened today and how God was with the boys while they were in the woods. Pastor Jim preached. He's always good. After church, I sat and talked to his wife for a long time. She was so happy that Trent and Brandon were okay. She knows Brandon, too. When Tina got the email, she called her mom to pray. There were a lot of people praying and God honored those prayers.
Oh yeah, the fire that was headed in their direction. It got started last night from a lightning strike. Vance said he drove through a lot of smoke this morning going to work. It had been burning all day and could have reached Trent and Brandon if the wind had changed directions. God was in control of the wind and it never turned. While we were talking to Billy, he said another fire had broken out around Deer Point. It had probably smoldered all night and got stirred up today after everything dried out and the wind picked up.
I'm exhausted from all the excitement, so I'm going to bed now. Just want to say once again, "Thank You, Lord, for keeping Trent and Brandon safe."
Goodnight and God bless................
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Another Busy Day in Paradise
I know my writings are pretty boring. Go to work, come home, go to church, work on photos - that's my life.
Yep, I went to work today. Signed on to my computer and my timekeeping program was down. Oh no! I'm already days behind! Went over to the Credit Union to deposit our check from the IRS. It came in yesterday. Thank You, Lord. We can sure use it. Vance's recliner has been broke for months and I sat in it the other night and my back was hurting in just a few minutes. No wonder his back hurts. I told him to go to a furniture store and get another one.
While I was in the CU, my aunt Margurete came in to get money for Mama. It was so good to see her. I told her how much I appreciate all she does for Mama. It really helps me out. She said she knew it would be a lot on me since I'm taking care of Daddy and she didn't mind helping.
When I got back to my office, the program was back up. Thank the Lord. I sat down and didn't get up till lunch. We've got a lot of tension in my office. I work with two men and they are bickering like little kids. They get to yelling at each other and walk out of the office and really yell at each other. I've asked to be gotten out of there, but there are no offices available. A closet would be nice. Or, just let me work from home. Now that our program is on the internet, I could work from home.
Went to Sam's at lunch and dropped off a couple of negatives. I'm going to start getting some pictures enlarged and put them in the gallery downtown. We'll see what happens. I also checked the prices on those digital frames and just can't see purchasing one of those yet. I need to enlarge photos and see how they look before I put them out for people to see and want enlargements and find out they look terrible. Once I get a good supply of enlargements, I'll think about putting them in one of those frames to be put in the gallery.
Came back to work and sat down again. Things were a little better for a few minutes, then the yelling started again. They act like little kids. I'm learning to tune them out. Started playing music to drown them out. I'm not going to let them bring me down. One thing they were talking about is that SoCo may be going to 4, 10 hour days. I wouldn't like that. For one thing, going to work at 6:00 is not my idea of fun. I'm just waking up at that time. Plus, working till 5:00 would put me late for practice and church. If that happens, I'll see if they won't let me work from home. I already have a fax machine that they could send timesheets to. I could go in one day a week to do filing and see everybody. I would get lonely at home.
Bambi came from Pensacola and talked to me for a few minutes this morning. She and I went to Atlanta together last year when they were testing our timekeeping program. She is getting married in December in Key West. She is the sweetest young lady and I am so happy for her. I told her I wanted to hear all the details and see pictures of the wedding. Wish I could go down there and take her pictures for her, but it's December 22nd - too close to Christmas.
I worked till 4:45. Didn't have to work late because I'm almost caught up. Talked to Vance a little before I had to go to practice. He said Tyndall was also talking about going to 10 hour days. I'd rather do that, though, than lose my job. Angie was telling me that over 200 teachers in Tallahassee have already lost their jobs and she is afraid she will lose hers along with all the other administrative assistants. At least she can retire and have money coming in. But, she said she'd have to look for another job. Same with me. I don't know if I could just sit at home all day.
Went to Praise and Worship practice. We just jammed tonight and tried to write a song. Got at least the first verse and part of another one. I think it's going to be a good song.
Well, it's almost midnight and I really need to get some sleep. Just read that not getting enough sleep contributes to obesity. That could be one of my problems, cause I never get enough sleep.
So, Goodnight and God bless..................
Yep, I went to work today. Signed on to my computer and my timekeeping program was down. Oh no! I'm already days behind! Went over to the Credit Union to deposit our check from the IRS. It came in yesterday. Thank You, Lord. We can sure use it. Vance's recliner has been broke for months and I sat in it the other night and my back was hurting in just a few minutes. No wonder his back hurts. I told him to go to a furniture store and get another one.
While I was in the CU, my aunt Margurete came in to get money for Mama. It was so good to see her. I told her how much I appreciate all she does for Mama. It really helps me out. She said she knew it would be a lot on me since I'm taking care of Daddy and she didn't mind helping.
When I got back to my office, the program was back up. Thank the Lord. I sat down and didn't get up till lunch. We've got a lot of tension in my office. I work with two men and they are bickering like little kids. They get to yelling at each other and walk out of the office and really yell at each other. I've asked to be gotten out of there, but there are no offices available. A closet would be nice. Or, just let me work from home. Now that our program is on the internet, I could work from home.
Went to Sam's at lunch and dropped off a couple of negatives. I'm going to start getting some pictures enlarged and put them in the gallery downtown. We'll see what happens. I also checked the prices on those digital frames and just can't see purchasing one of those yet. I need to enlarge photos and see how they look before I put them out for people to see and want enlargements and find out they look terrible. Once I get a good supply of enlargements, I'll think about putting them in one of those frames to be put in the gallery.
Came back to work and sat down again. Things were a little better for a few minutes, then the yelling started again. They act like little kids. I'm learning to tune them out. Started playing music to drown them out. I'm not going to let them bring me down. One thing they were talking about is that SoCo may be going to 4, 10 hour days. I wouldn't like that. For one thing, going to work at 6:00 is not my idea of fun. I'm just waking up at that time. Plus, working till 5:00 would put me late for practice and church. If that happens, I'll see if they won't let me work from home. I already have a fax machine that they could send timesheets to. I could go in one day a week to do filing and see everybody. I would get lonely at home.
Bambi came from Pensacola and talked to me for a few minutes this morning. She and I went to Atlanta together last year when they were testing our timekeeping program. She is getting married in December in Key West. She is the sweetest young lady and I am so happy for her. I told her I wanted to hear all the details and see pictures of the wedding. Wish I could go down there and take her pictures for her, but it's December 22nd - too close to Christmas.
I worked till 4:45. Didn't have to work late because I'm almost caught up. Talked to Vance a little before I had to go to practice. He said Tyndall was also talking about going to 10 hour days. I'd rather do that, though, than lose my job. Angie was telling me that over 200 teachers in Tallahassee have already lost their jobs and she is afraid she will lose hers along with all the other administrative assistants. At least she can retire and have money coming in. But, she said she'd have to look for another job. Same with me. I don't know if I could just sit at home all day.
Went to Praise and Worship practice. We just jammed tonight and tried to write a song. Got at least the first verse and part of another one. I think it's going to be a good song.
Well, it's almost midnight and I really need to get some sleep. Just read that not getting enough sleep contributes to obesity. That could be one of my problems, cause I never get enough sleep.
So, Goodnight and God bless..................
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
I Love Photoshow
Managed to make it to the safety meeting this morning. It was a very short one. I'm behind on my timesheets, due to the supervisors being in meetings last week and getting them to me late.
Went to my new favorite restaurant at lunch - Taco Bell. Hurried back to work so I could get as many timesheets in as possible. We had a retirement party this afternoon, so I stopped working and went and took pictures. It was very nice. Jim has worked at GPC for 42 years. Only four years more than me. He and his wife are retiring on the same day.
I worked over about 45 minutes. Went to the gas station to get gas. It was $3.97 a gallon. Not as bad as some places I've seen.
Last night, I stayed up real late because of the long nap I had taken. I worked on Angie's Family Reunion photoshow. I uploaded 248 pictures and left it working when I went to bed. I must have a slow computer, because it was still working when I got home from work and didn't finish until around 7:00. Then, I added the music and captions. I called Angie to tell her that I had sent the link to her. She called me back around 9:30 and said she couldn't pull it up. So, I got in the car and went to her house. She only lives about a mile away. I couldn't get it to pull up either. Hopefully, she will be able to pull it up at work tomorrow. I just love playing with this program. You can check out Angie's Family Reunion at http://www.photoshow.com/watch/wZ9Ga8PP
It's almost midnight, so I guess I better get in bed. Goodnight and God bless........
Went to my new favorite restaurant at lunch - Taco Bell. Hurried back to work so I could get as many timesheets in as possible. We had a retirement party this afternoon, so I stopped working and went and took pictures. It was very nice. Jim has worked at GPC for 42 years. Only four years more than me. He and his wife are retiring on the same day.
I worked over about 45 minutes. Went to the gas station to get gas. It was $3.97 a gallon. Not as bad as some places I've seen.
Last night, I stayed up real late because of the long nap I had taken. I worked on Angie's Family Reunion photoshow. I uploaded 248 pictures and left it working when I went to bed. I must have a slow computer, because it was still working when I got home from work and didn't finish until around 7:00. Then, I added the music and captions. I called Angie to tell her that I had sent the link to her. She called me back around 9:30 and said she couldn't pull it up. So, I got in the car and went to her house. She only lives about a mile away. I couldn't get it to pull up either. Hopefully, she will be able to pull it up at work tomorrow. I just love playing with this program. You can check out Angie's Family Reunion at http://www.photoshow.com/watch/wZ9Ga8PP
It's almost midnight, so I guess I better get in bed. Goodnight and God bless........
Monday, June 23, 2008
Busy weekend
I kept the grandkids Friday night. Let them paint a "Prince" and "Princess" placque. Hope wanted hers pink. I didn't have pink paint, but had red and white, so I mixed up a fushia color. They ended up mixing all the paints together and making a huge mess, but they had fun. That's what counts. Trent had just come back from a Christian Kid's Camp and he was telling us all about it. He taught Hope the songs they sung. He told me he loved the music and wished he could go to church every night. Wow, that's a change! He got real sick while he was there. He's on medication for ADHD, which makes him not hungry or thirsty, so he would play and play and never stop for snacks or to drink anything. By Wednesday, he was so dehydrated that he almost passed out in the shower. He couldn't walk without help. He ended up in the Nurse's office and she filled him full of fluids and they carried him back to his room in a golf cart. He said he couldn't walk by himself. His counselor sat with him part of the time and Kayla (from our church) sat with him the rest of the day. He slept most of the day. He got up for church - didn't want to miss it. I told him we almost came and got him. He said "Nonna, I would have been so upset if you had. I really had fun at camp." This morning, when Kayla was asking the kids in front of the church "How was church?" all the other kids said "Fine, good", but when she came to Trent he shouted "AWESOME!" They sang a song for us. Trent really got into it.
After Chad picked them up yesterday morning - in a bad rainstorm, I went to Penny's and we (Penny, Tiffaney, Swayde and I) went to Pier Park shopping. Wow, I didn't know there were so many stores out there. Old Navy, Tilly's, Dillards, Penneys, American Eagle, Tootsies Bar and Grill, Five Brothers Burgers, Borders,As Seen On TV, Victoria's Secret, Bed, Bath and Beyond........ We went in so many stores.I bought two shirts for myself and one for Vance. Bed, Bath and Beyond was having a big sale, so we went in there. I love their shower gels and soaps and body lotions. I stocked up. We ate at Five Brothers Burgers. Had the best hamburger I've ever eaten. Would recommend them to anybody who likes burgers. We left there at 3:00 because Tiffaney had a wedding to go to. Tiffaney is going to church now at The Dove. She loves it. I am so glad. She started playing softball on their team and the players are required to attend church. Praise the Lord for whoever got her to play for that team. I'm believing that she will turn her life back over to the Lord and start living for Him again.
I came home and Vance was already home. He had had a good day playing golf. He said he played with a guy who looked and talked just like Kyle Busche, except this guy had a beard.
We were watching the Busche race and Vance fell asleep in my lap. He hasn't done that in ages. Of course, as soon as he was asleep, Vinnie wanted outside. I made him wait for about 15 minutes until I was sure I wouldn't wake Vance up when I got up. Put a pillow under his head and he slept right on.
Church was good this morning. We had a lot of visitors. Two new families came in. I talked to one lady who brought in four children. Invited her back and she said she was looking for a place where the children would get good teaching. I told her we had a good Children's Church. She said she was raising the children. She is either their grandmother or a foster mother, because the children were Hispanic and she's not. Next week is our Homecoming and we're having dinner on the ground, Tommy McCormick will be our guest preacher and we'll have a huge water slide for anybody who wants to play - children and adults. Not me; I'll be taking pictures. I invited her for that and she said they just might come back. She said she really enjoyed the service. Mrs. Sandi preached today, cause Pastor Sammy was sick.
When I got home, I ate and then took a turkey to Chad that Vance had smoked for them. When we ate with them on Father's Day, they talked about wanting turkey legs while they were in Orlando, but they were too expensive. Vance decided to smoke a turkey for them so they could have turkey legs. Chad was very appreciative and said he couldn't wait to cut into it. Vance smoked a turkey breast for us. I had a turkey sandwich for supper. Do you know the turkey breast cost more than the whole turkey? I couldn't believe it when I got home the other day from the store and looked at the receipt.
I slept the rest of the afternoon. Was supposed to go back to church for Bible Study, but when Vance tried to wake me up, I just couldn't wake up. So, I stayed home. Woke up feeling sick to my stomach, but felt better after eating the sandwich.
Now, I think it's time I get ready for bed. Monday comes way too fast..........
Goodnight and God bless.......
After Chad picked them up yesterday morning - in a bad rainstorm, I went to Penny's and we (Penny, Tiffaney, Swayde and I) went to Pier Park shopping. Wow, I didn't know there were so many stores out there. Old Navy, Tilly's, Dillards, Penneys, American Eagle, Tootsies Bar and Grill, Five Brothers Burgers, Borders,As Seen On TV, Victoria's Secret, Bed, Bath and Beyond........ We went in so many stores.I bought two shirts for myself and one for Vance. Bed, Bath and Beyond was having a big sale, so we went in there. I love their shower gels and soaps and body lotions. I stocked up. We ate at Five Brothers Burgers. Had the best hamburger I've ever eaten. Would recommend them to anybody who likes burgers. We left there at 3:00 because Tiffaney had a wedding to go to. Tiffaney is going to church now at The Dove. She loves it. I am so glad. She started playing softball on their team and the players are required to attend church. Praise the Lord for whoever got her to play for that team. I'm believing that she will turn her life back over to the Lord and start living for Him again.
I came home and Vance was already home. He had had a good day playing golf. He said he played with a guy who looked and talked just like Kyle Busche, except this guy had a beard.
We were watching the Busche race and Vance fell asleep in my lap. He hasn't done that in ages. Of course, as soon as he was asleep, Vinnie wanted outside. I made him wait for about 15 minutes until I was sure I wouldn't wake Vance up when I got up. Put a pillow under his head and he slept right on.
Church was good this morning. We had a lot of visitors. Two new families came in. I talked to one lady who brought in four children. Invited her back and she said she was looking for a place where the children would get good teaching. I told her we had a good Children's Church. She said she was raising the children. She is either their grandmother or a foster mother, because the children were Hispanic and she's not. Next week is our Homecoming and we're having dinner on the ground, Tommy McCormick will be our guest preacher and we'll have a huge water slide for anybody who wants to play - children and adults. Not me; I'll be taking pictures. I invited her for that and she said they just might come back. She said she really enjoyed the service. Mrs. Sandi preached today, cause Pastor Sammy was sick.
When I got home, I ate and then took a turkey to Chad that Vance had smoked for them. When we ate with them on Father's Day, they talked about wanting turkey legs while they were in Orlando, but they were too expensive. Vance decided to smoke a turkey for them so they could have turkey legs. Chad was very appreciative and said he couldn't wait to cut into it. Vance smoked a turkey breast for us. I had a turkey sandwich for supper. Do you know the turkey breast cost more than the whole turkey? I couldn't believe it when I got home the other day from the store and looked at the receipt.
I slept the rest of the afternoon. Was supposed to go back to church for Bible Study, but when Vance tried to wake me up, I just couldn't wake up. So, I stayed home. Woke up feeling sick to my stomach, but felt better after eating the sandwich.
Now, I think it's time I get ready for bed. Monday comes way too fast..........
Goodnight and God bless.......
Friday, June 20, 2008
Tearful Thursday
Today has been so awesome for me. I can't tell you how many times God has revealed Himself in His creation. I just look up in the sky and see His Glory. First thing this morning as I was heading out to my car, a beautiful red cardinal was waiting on me. He was at the bird feeder right outside my front door. Normally, when I walk out they fly off and I don't see them for awhile. Not his morning. He flew to a bush in the yard and just waited a few minutes, then he flew up on the roof and watched as I backed out of the yard. He was so pretty. "Thank You, Lord, for that beautiful bird."
Then, as I was backing out of the yard, I looked over and saw a beautiful flower that was blooming on a vine that didn't even look like it was going to live last week. I guess the rain we had a few days ago was just what it needed. "Thank You, Lord, for that pretty pink flower and for the rain that gave it life."
Had a pretty normal day at work. Took lunch to Mama and ate at her house. Went through R&L Catering to pick up our food. Lynita is so sweet. She and her husband own the place and we have become friends. She always calls me Mrs. Pat and is just such a blessing. She and Randy always have something good to say and always make me smile. "Thank You, Lord, for people who always show Your love."
Went to Office Max after work, cause I was out of ink for my printer and I need to print some pictures. Praise the Lord! All the paper I use was buy 1, get 1 free. I stocked up. "Thank You, Lord, for that blessing."
Came home and cleaned up a little around the house. Mrs. Sandi called and told me that the kids would be coming back from camp tomorrow between 12:00 and 12:30. I had thought it was 1:30 and I'd told Tabitha that I would pick Trent up. I've got lunch plans with Debb and Kim at 11:30, so I knew I couldn't get there on time. Tried to call Chad and Tabitha and kept getting a busy signal. So, I drove over there to let them know. Nobody was home. Then, I remembered Tabitha was at work, so I drove to Beef O'Brady's. She said she could pick him up. She said Hope would be so excited to see him. While I was there, I ordered some nachos. As I was leaving, I looked up into the night sky and saw the most beautiful orange moon. There were three little clouds crossing the face of the moon and it was just an awesome sight. I broke down and cried. How can people not believe in a Creator? I just don't understand. I thanked Him for sharing that with me. I wish I had been able to take a picture of that. It was so breathtaking. I had to stop just a minute before I left the parking lot just so I could take it all in. If you just look around, God is everywhere you look. "Thank You, Lord, for the beauty You share with the world - saints and sinners alike."
With that said, I'm heading off to bed. Goodnight and God bless.............
Then, as I was backing out of the yard, I looked over and saw a beautiful flower that was blooming on a vine that didn't even look like it was going to live last week. I guess the rain we had a few days ago was just what it needed. "Thank You, Lord, for that pretty pink flower and for the rain that gave it life."
Had a pretty normal day at work. Took lunch to Mama and ate at her house. Went through R&L Catering to pick up our food. Lynita is so sweet. She and her husband own the place and we have become friends. She always calls me Mrs. Pat and is just such a blessing. She and Randy always have something good to say and always make me smile. "Thank You, Lord, for people who always show Your love."
Went to Office Max after work, cause I was out of ink for my printer and I need to print some pictures. Praise the Lord! All the paper I use was buy 1, get 1 free. I stocked up. "Thank You, Lord, for that blessing."
Came home and cleaned up a little around the house. Mrs. Sandi called and told me that the kids would be coming back from camp tomorrow between 12:00 and 12:30. I had thought it was 1:30 and I'd told Tabitha that I would pick Trent up. I've got lunch plans with Debb and Kim at 11:30, so I knew I couldn't get there on time. Tried to call Chad and Tabitha and kept getting a busy signal. So, I drove over there to let them know. Nobody was home. Then, I remembered Tabitha was at work, so I drove to Beef O'Brady's. She said she could pick him up. She said Hope would be so excited to see him. While I was there, I ordered some nachos. As I was leaving, I looked up into the night sky and saw the most beautiful orange moon. There were three little clouds crossing the face of the moon and it was just an awesome sight. I broke down and cried. How can people not believe in a Creator? I just don't understand. I thanked Him for sharing that with me. I wish I had been able to take a picture of that. It was so breathtaking. I had to stop just a minute before I left the parking lot just so I could take it all in. If you just look around, God is everywhere you look. "Thank You, Lord, for the beauty You share with the world - saints and sinners alike."
With that said, I'm heading off to bed. Goodnight and God bless.............
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Celebrating with Another Retiree
Today at lunch, the Substation Department had a fish fry for one of the guys who will be retiring the end of this month. They invited me to join them. Hey, I'm not going to turn down a free meal! When I walked down to their building, they had deep fryers going with fried catfish, hushpuppies made from pancake batter with corn added. They are sooo good! I've got to get the recipe. I could have made a meal just on those alone. But, I only had three. The catfish was perfect. I had a little potato salad, cole slaw, baked beans and a taste of banana pudding for dessert. Way more than I usually eat, but it sure was good. And, I didn't eat any supper tonight, so I'm still probably way under on my calorie intake.
The new Power Delivery secretary came and I invited her to sit across from me, so I could get to know her better. She's been here about six weeks, but I haven't had a chance to talk to her. We had a good visit and I told her that she and Kim and I would have to go to lunch together one day. She said she'd like that.
Got a call from Sammy Miles. Trent had gotten sick at camp and threw up this morning. The nurse said he was dehydrated. He's been playing so much that he doesn't stop to drink anything. Actually, it is the medicine he's on. If you don't force him to eat or drink, he doesn't have any desire to do so. She filled him full of fluids and kept him from playing today. He said he didn't want to come home; he was having way too much fun. Got up with Chad and they decided to just let him stay unless we got another call that he was sicker. I think he will be fine. Now that he knows he won't get to play unless he drinks, he'll be more conscientious about getting fluids into his body.
Went to church tonight. Bro. Jim preached on casting your cares on Jesus. In this day of higher gas prices which drive up the price of everything else, people are getting very stressed and worried. Well, worry is something the Bible says we should not do. When we worry, we are telling God he can't help us. But, we know that God has everything under control. I've had a peace about this whole economic situation. I know that God will supply all my needs according to His riches in glory. No, I'm sure I won't get all my wants; but I won't go hungry.
Went to see Chad and Tabitha after church to carry them Liz's camera and the pictures on CD that they took on vacation. Had a nice visit with them.
Got home and opened my email. I met a lady in Sam's about a month ago. She was selling Demure makeup. I bought some and really like it. Anyway, something clicked with us and she gave me her email address and she had mine because it was on the sales receipt. She contacted me and we've been writing each other. She's from Mexico and is the youngest of 10 children. They are all going back for a big family reunion in the next couple of weeks. She promised to send pictures. Anyway, tonight her email said that she was a Scientologist. Maybe God put us together so that I can minister to her. Pray that I can say the right things to her whenever we write back and forth. She said she could tell through my writing that I had joy and peace in my life. I just pray that it will be revealed to her where my joy and peace come from. Her name is Cristina. Please keep her in your prayers that her eyes and heart will be opened to the Truth of God.
Well, it's past midnight (again) and I need to get to bed. Never did get to look through my pictures to find some to put in the gallery. Hope to have some hanging there next week. I had a dream a few years ago that I was having a gallery showing of my photographs in a very nice gallery (like something you'd see in New York). I was wearing a long black dress and was thin (something I have to work on) and my hair was long. When I had the dream, my hair was very short. Maybe that dream is going to come true in the near future (as soon as I lose weight, maybe?). Anyway, I know my photography is a gift from God and I want to be able to make money to give back to Him to be used for His kingdom. One of my dreams is to be able to take pictures of abused women to show them that they are beautiful - kinda like glamour shots. And to be able to take family pictures of those families who can't afford professional photos. But, that takes money. I'm praying that I'll be able to sell photographs to be able to fund this project. I know God gave me this gift and I want to give something back to Him. So, please keep that in your prayers, too.
I love you all. Goodnight and God bless................
The new Power Delivery secretary came and I invited her to sit across from me, so I could get to know her better. She's been here about six weeks, but I haven't had a chance to talk to her. We had a good visit and I told her that she and Kim and I would have to go to lunch together one day. She said she'd like that.
Got a call from Sammy Miles. Trent had gotten sick at camp and threw up this morning. The nurse said he was dehydrated. He's been playing so much that he doesn't stop to drink anything. Actually, it is the medicine he's on. If you don't force him to eat or drink, he doesn't have any desire to do so. She filled him full of fluids and kept him from playing today. He said he didn't want to come home; he was having way too much fun. Got up with Chad and they decided to just let him stay unless we got another call that he was sicker. I think he will be fine. Now that he knows he won't get to play unless he drinks, he'll be more conscientious about getting fluids into his body.
Went to church tonight. Bro. Jim preached on casting your cares on Jesus. In this day of higher gas prices which drive up the price of everything else, people are getting very stressed and worried. Well, worry is something the Bible says we should not do. When we worry, we are telling God he can't help us. But, we know that God has everything under control. I've had a peace about this whole economic situation. I know that God will supply all my needs according to His riches in glory. No, I'm sure I won't get all my wants; but I won't go hungry.
Went to see Chad and Tabitha after church to carry them Liz's camera and the pictures on CD that they took on vacation. Had a nice visit with them.
Got home and opened my email. I met a lady in Sam's about a month ago. She was selling Demure makeup. I bought some and really like it. Anyway, something clicked with us and she gave me her email address and she had mine because it was on the sales receipt. She contacted me and we've been writing each other. She's from Mexico and is the youngest of 10 children. They are all going back for a big family reunion in the next couple of weeks. She promised to send pictures. Anyway, tonight her email said that she was a Scientologist. Maybe God put us together so that I can minister to her. Pray that I can say the right things to her whenever we write back and forth. She said she could tell through my writing that I had joy and peace in my life. I just pray that it will be revealed to her where my joy and peace come from. Her name is Cristina. Please keep her in your prayers that her eyes and heart will be opened to the Truth of God.
Well, it's past midnight (again) and I need to get to bed. Never did get to look through my pictures to find some to put in the gallery. Hope to have some hanging there next week. I had a dream a few years ago that I was having a gallery showing of my photographs in a very nice gallery (like something you'd see in New York). I was wearing a long black dress and was thin (something I have to work on) and my hair was long. When I had the dream, my hair was very short. Maybe that dream is going to come true in the near future (as soon as I lose weight, maybe?). Anyway, I know my photography is a gift from God and I want to be able to make money to give back to Him to be used for His kingdom. One of my dreams is to be able to take pictures of abused women to show them that they are beautiful - kinda like glamour shots. And to be able to take family pictures of those families who can't afford professional photos. But, that takes money. I'm praying that I'll be able to sell photographs to be able to fund this project. I know God gave me this gift and I want to give something back to Him. So, please keep that in your prayers, too.
I love you all. Goodnight and God bless................
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
To Go Where You've Never Gone Before
Olga has been trying to hook me up with a gallery owner downtown. She said the lady sells art (including photographs) in her gallery. Yesterday, they were closed. I asked Kim what she was doing for lunch and told her I would buy her lunch if she would go with me to check this place out. We went and talked to the young lady (Sylvia). She just opened up in February and she hasn't got any photographs. People have said they would bring some, but they never have. She said she would love to have some of mine. Mind you, she hasn't even seen any of my work yet. She gets 30% commission off the sales. I told her I wouldn't even know how to price my work. We looked at some of the paintings there - there was one abstract orange something that had a price tag of $1000. Do people really buy this stuff??? A small, probably 12x12, painting of a morning glory bloom was $350. I have some great photos of morning glories. That's an idea. Now, I've got to start picking out pictures. She said they didn't have to be framed, but I would probably mat them. She suggested I buy a digital album and put a bunch in it and she'd put it out to run all the time so people could see all the pictures and pick out what they want and order them. I don't know if I want to invest in that before I see if any of the photos will sell. I may just take an album of 8x10's and then mat some, too. I don't know........ Pray that I can pick out the right photos to put there.
After talking to Sylvia, we walked down the stairs and decided to check out Gaston's restaurant. There was a couple outside working and I thought I recognized them from when I went to church with them as a teenager. We asked them about the food and they said it was really good. So, we went in and we both ordered red beans and rice. It was a good size bowl with two big pieces of garlic toast and a piece of sausage on the side. We both had water. It cost $23.30 for our meals. We decided we wouldn't be going back there. Of course, it was cheaper than my salad and smoothie from Tropical Smoothie the other day. That cost me over $11. Won't be eating there again either. Looks like Taco Bell is the cheapest place to eat. Anyway, while we were in there, the man and his wife ate their meal. She walked out and he stopped at our table to see if we were enjoying our meal. We told him that it was very good. I asked him if his name was Max. He said it was and his wife was Evonne. He said "You look so familiar to me." I told him I used to go to church with him over 40 years ago and told him my name. He remembered me. He said that time had been very kind to me and that I had a beautiful face that he could never forget. (Did that make my day or what?) He called his wife back over and re-introduced us. She didn't remember me, but I remembered her. She always wore her hair very short and spiked when everybody else had the long hair, parted down the middle and the older women wore their hair in buns. We were in a very traditional Pentecostal church, so she stood out like a sore thumb. They are very sweet people and he told us they have been married 40 years. I actually remember when they got married. It was right after I started going there. Anyway, they are still going strong and both looked great. She still has a great figure, with that punk rock haircut.
We had a great time at Praise and Worship practice tonight. We worked on one of Donna's songs. Karen told us next Tuesday was going to be a jam session. She said for us to pray all week that God would give us new songs. She wants the musicians to play and see what they can come up with and maybe one of us will come up with a song. Scottie, Donna, Wilburn and Tony do that all the time, so it should go well. Scottie has already written three songs since Pastor said he wanted new songs to come forth out of us. I'm praying that we all will be able to write songs.
Well, it's thundering outside, so I think I will unplug my computer and go to bed.
Goodnight and God bless...............
After talking to Sylvia, we walked down the stairs and decided to check out Gaston's restaurant. There was a couple outside working and I thought I recognized them from when I went to church with them as a teenager. We asked them about the food and they said it was really good. So, we went in and we both ordered red beans and rice. It was a good size bowl with two big pieces of garlic toast and a piece of sausage on the side. We both had water. It cost $23.30 for our meals. We decided we wouldn't be going back there. Of course, it was cheaper than my salad and smoothie from Tropical Smoothie the other day. That cost me over $11. Won't be eating there again either. Looks like Taco Bell is the cheapest place to eat. Anyway, while we were in there, the man and his wife ate their meal. She walked out and he stopped at our table to see if we were enjoying our meal. We told him that it was very good. I asked him if his name was Max. He said it was and his wife was Evonne. He said "You look so familiar to me." I told him I used to go to church with him over 40 years ago and told him my name. He remembered me. He said that time had been very kind to me and that I had a beautiful face that he could never forget. (Did that make my day or what?) He called his wife back over and re-introduced us. She didn't remember me, but I remembered her. She always wore her hair very short and spiked when everybody else had the long hair, parted down the middle and the older women wore their hair in buns. We were in a very traditional Pentecostal church, so she stood out like a sore thumb. They are very sweet people and he told us they have been married 40 years. I actually remember when they got married. It was right after I started going there. Anyway, they are still going strong and both looked great. She still has a great figure, with that punk rock haircut.
We had a great time at Praise and Worship practice tonight. We worked on one of Donna's songs. Karen told us next Tuesday was going to be a jam session. She said for us to pray all week that God would give us new songs. She wants the musicians to play and see what they can come up with and maybe one of us will come up with a song. Scottie, Donna, Wilburn and Tony do that all the time, so it should go well. Scottie has already written three songs since Pastor said he wanted new songs to come forth out of us. I'm praying that we all will be able to write songs.
Well, it's thundering outside, so I think I will unplug my computer and go to bed.
Goodnight and God bless...............
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Where Did the Weekend Go???
The weekends just don't last long enough. Now that they have changed the safety meetings to Monday, guess who forgot to go? Yep, didn't even think about it until right before lunch. Kim forgot, too. We are creatures of habit and when they go change the rules on us, it takes time for us to adapt.
I was busy running all my bi-weekly reports, which takes me half a day to do. Olga called to see if someone from Apryl Showers Gallery had called me. Yes, she called yesterday, but I didn't get to call her back. Olga said they take photographs and sell them, so I decided to go down there at lunch to see what kind of photos they sell. Wouldn't you know it, they were closed. I'll try again tomorrow. Maybe I have something that I could put in their gallery. Or, see what sells and go out and shoot something similar. My problem is that most of what I shoot is people. That means lots and lots of model releases that I should be getting and I'm not.
This afternoon, I worked on adjusting the Chipley timesheets from Friday. That's one group out of the way. I actually got off work at 4:30 today. It looked like it was about to storm as I walked out and ran into Lynn, our security investigator. I lock the East gate when he's not on site. We talked about wanting to lock the gate permanently, but we haven't gotten the go-ahead from management yet. He will be gone Wednesday and Thursday, so I'll have to lock up on those days. Pray that it's not raining and lightning. That's not fun when you are locking a metal gate.
Debb called to see if Kim and I could go to lunch one day this week. I was invited to eat lunch with the Substation/Transmission guys on Wednesday. One of the Substation Electricians is retiring the end of this month and they are having this lunch in honor of him. Since I want to go to Apryl Showers Gallery tomorrow and we get paid on Friday, we decided to go then. We're going to TGIFriday's. Appropriate, huh?
I ate a salad from Tropical Smoothie and got a low-fat Peaches N Silk smoothie. Lunch cost $11.21. That's the last time I eat there! I'll go back to Taco Bell and eat for less than $4.00, and that includes a drink. Their Mango/Strawberry Fruitista Freezes are soooo good. Everything is getting so expensive. I saw gas at $4.07 yesterday. It's still $3.95 where I buy it.
It rained really hard when I got home. Vinnie is so scared of the thunder. He has to get right in our lap.
Trent went to camp this morning. I sent him a card. I hope he's having fun and will be ministered to.
Okay, I think I better get to bed.
I was busy running all my bi-weekly reports, which takes me half a day to do. Olga called to see if someone from Apryl Showers Gallery had called me. Yes, she called yesterday, but I didn't get to call her back. Olga said they take photographs and sell them, so I decided to go down there at lunch to see what kind of photos they sell. Wouldn't you know it, they were closed. I'll try again tomorrow. Maybe I have something that I could put in their gallery. Or, see what sells and go out and shoot something similar. My problem is that most of what I shoot is people. That means lots and lots of model releases that I should be getting and I'm not.
This afternoon, I worked on adjusting the Chipley timesheets from Friday. That's one group out of the way. I actually got off work at 4:30 today. It looked like it was about to storm as I walked out and ran into Lynn, our security investigator. I lock the East gate when he's not on site. We talked about wanting to lock the gate permanently, but we haven't gotten the go-ahead from management yet. He will be gone Wednesday and Thursday, so I'll have to lock up on those days. Pray that it's not raining and lightning. That's not fun when you are locking a metal gate.
Debb called to see if Kim and I could go to lunch one day this week. I was invited to eat lunch with the Substation/Transmission guys on Wednesday. One of the Substation Electricians is retiring the end of this month and they are having this lunch in honor of him. Since I want to go to Apryl Showers Gallery tomorrow and we get paid on Friday, we decided to go then. We're going to TGIFriday's. Appropriate, huh?
I ate a salad from Tropical Smoothie and got a low-fat Peaches N Silk smoothie. Lunch cost $11.21. That's the last time I eat there! I'll go back to Taco Bell and eat for less than $4.00, and that includes a drink. Their Mango/Strawberry Fruitista Freezes are soooo good. Everything is getting so expensive. I saw gas at $4.07 yesterday. It's still $3.95 where I buy it.
It rained really hard when I got home. Vinnie is so scared of the thunder. He has to get right in our lap.
Trent went to camp this morning. I sent him a card. I hope he's having fun and will be ministered to.
Okay, I think I better get to bed.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Sarah and Mike's wedding pictures
The link shows the pictures I took at Sarah and Mike's wedding on May 31.
http://www.photoshow.com/watch/pQ2DQ8Wm
http://www.photoshow.com/watch/pQ2DQ8Wm
Happy Father's Day
Well, today is Father's Day and I'd like to wish my husband and sons a very Happy Father's Day (and to any of you fathers out there who might come across this blog). I really had hoped to be spending today in Tallahassee with Vance and his family, but my car had to go in the shop and today was the only day the mechanic could get to it. If it hadn't been a safety issue, I would have just let it slide.
I hope Vance had a good time and that there were plenty of classic cars at their Dad Fest car show today.
We had an awesome church service today. Of course, we honored all the fathers. There were quite a few there today. We've got several men who come by themselves. I don't know if they are married, single or divorced, but they have children; cause they stood up when Pastor asked the fathers to stand. That's something you don't see very often - men coming to church alone. It's usually the women. We have quite a few of those, too; me being one of them.
It was so good seeing Tabitha and the kids in church. They haven't been since they got back from vacation and I really missed seeing them there. Hope ran up to me after church and jumped in my arms and said "Nonna, I really missed you." That just touched my heart. Trent even came over and gave me a big hug. He usually doesn't do that around his friends; he's getting too big for hugs. But he didn't let that bother him today and I was blessed by it.
Since we didn't get to go see Vance, Tabitha and Chad invited us to come to supper. Chad requested potato salad, so I made some to take. We went over there around 5:00. Supper was good - ribs, baked beans, corn and potato salad. The kids were sooo excited about their vacation and had to tell us all about it. Trent leaves for camp tomorrow and he was really excited about that. But Hope was a little sad. She said she was going to miss Trent and he would be gone five days. They are really very close. Trent watches out for his little sister. And she adores him.
Chad gave me the camera they used so I could download the pictures and make them a CD. It was a borrowed camera from one of their friends, so I made them a CD of their pictures, too. Now, they can delete the pictures and free up space on the memory card. Chad and Tabitha got some good pictures. They went to Universal Studios, Wet N Wild and one other park, but I can't remember it. They didn't go to Disney World. The pictures tell the story - they all had a ball! I'm glad they got to go on a real family vacation. I hope they get to go someplace every year. Making memories together is a good thing.
Tomorrow it's back to work, so I guess I better try and get some sleep. Goodnight and God bless..............
I hope Vance had a good time and that there were plenty of classic cars at their Dad Fest car show today.
We had an awesome church service today. Of course, we honored all the fathers. There were quite a few there today. We've got several men who come by themselves. I don't know if they are married, single or divorced, but they have children; cause they stood up when Pastor asked the fathers to stand. That's something you don't see very often - men coming to church alone. It's usually the women. We have quite a few of those, too; me being one of them.
It was so good seeing Tabitha and the kids in church. They haven't been since they got back from vacation and I really missed seeing them there. Hope ran up to me after church and jumped in my arms and said "Nonna, I really missed you." That just touched my heart. Trent even came over and gave me a big hug. He usually doesn't do that around his friends; he's getting too big for hugs. But he didn't let that bother him today and I was blessed by it.
Since we didn't get to go see Vance, Tabitha and Chad invited us to come to supper. Chad requested potato salad, so I made some to take. We went over there around 5:00. Supper was good - ribs, baked beans, corn and potato salad. The kids were sooo excited about their vacation and had to tell us all about it. Trent leaves for camp tomorrow and he was really excited about that. But Hope was a little sad. She said she was going to miss Trent and he would be gone five days. They are really very close. Trent watches out for his little sister. And she adores him.
Chad gave me the camera they used so I could download the pictures and make them a CD. It was a borrowed camera from one of their friends, so I made them a CD of their pictures, too. Now, they can delete the pictures and free up space on the memory card. Chad and Tabitha got some good pictures. They went to Universal Studios, Wet N Wild and one other park, but I can't remember it. They didn't go to Disney World. The pictures tell the story - they all had a ball! I'm glad they got to go on a real family vacation. I hope they get to go someplace every year. Making memories together is a good thing.
Tomorrow it's back to work, so I guess I better try and get some sleep. Goodnight and God bless..............
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Half Way to the Weekend
It just seems that the days are moving faster and faster. Before you know it, it will be Christmas again.
I was extremely busy yesterday since we had that super long safety meeting Monday. By the time I left work yesterday, the muscle in my right shoulder was in excruciating pain. I used to go to a chiropractor every two years for three months, three times a week to get the knot worked out. It's been 11 years since I've been. I wish I had the time and money to go now.
I was able to send the pictures to Sheila by someone who was going to the beach. She sent me money and I put it in the Credit Union. I'm going to save up enough money to either get a laptop or that really nice Canon printer that prints the large size pictures, art quality. I actually made money on this wedding. I've always lost money before, cause I'm too nice to charge people. But, Sheila wouldn't let me lose money on this one. And her ex-husband still wants to do some type of organization in our house. I need to go talk to him and see how long the offer is for. We'll need to put down flooring in either one of the rooms I choose. And Vance just isn't up for it right now. He still hasn't finished the ceiling in the living room. His back starts hurting and he has to stop.
Mama called to get me to go to the Credit Union to get money for her and I had to take it to her when I got off work. I had planned on working late, but I couldn't because I knew I'd have to stay and talk to her and then I had Praise & Worship practice to go to. I stayed with Mama for about 1 1/2 hours, went by the house to see Vance and then on to practice. We practiced a song that Donna had written. Karen and Steve were both sick. There's a lot of sickness going around. Kim is still sick, but she was at work.
Today, I was so busy, I only took 30 minutes for lunch. I worked till 5:00 and was exhausted and hurting. I just wanted to go home! Vance was late cause they are having a big inspection next week, so they have to clean and paint everything. The military just wants it to look good. I had a few minutes with him before I left for church. We had a good service. Pastor Sammy is on fire! He's been preaching/teaching on the Holy Spirit and Fruits of the Spirit and Worship and Praise. The last 4-6 weeks have been great. We had a lot of visitors tonight. Alan just keeps bringing them in. He used to be the biggest drug dealer in our town. Now, instead of selling drugs, he sells Jesus. He's preaching in the gym, at the Rescue Mission and anywhere else he goes. He's in construction and preaches there, too. He's an awesome young man. Always has a testimony of the good things God is doing in his life.
Now, I've run out of things to talk about. I'm tired and ready to go to bed. It starts all over again tomorrow.
Goodnight and God bless..............
I was extremely busy yesterday since we had that super long safety meeting Monday. By the time I left work yesterday, the muscle in my right shoulder was in excruciating pain. I used to go to a chiropractor every two years for three months, three times a week to get the knot worked out. It's been 11 years since I've been. I wish I had the time and money to go now.
I was able to send the pictures to Sheila by someone who was going to the beach. She sent me money and I put it in the Credit Union. I'm going to save up enough money to either get a laptop or that really nice Canon printer that prints the large size pictures, art quality. I actually made money on this wedding. I've always lost money before, cause I'm too nice to charge people. But, Sheila wouldn't let me lose money on this one. And her ex-husband still wants to do some type of organization in our house. I need to go talk to him and see how long the offer is for. We'll need to put down flooring in either one of the rooms I choose. And Vance just isn't up for it right now. He still hasn't finished the ceiling in the living room. His back starts hurting and he has to stop.
Mama called to get me to go to the Credit Union to get money for her and I had to take it to her when I got off work. I had planned on working late, but I couldn't because I knew I'd have to stay and talk to her and then I had Praise & Worship practice to go to. I stayed with Mama for about 1 1/2 hours, went by the house to see Vance and then on to practice. We practiced a song that Donna had written. Karen and Steve were both sick. There's a lot of sickness going around. Kim is still sick, but she was at work.
Today, I was so busy, I only took 30 minutes for lunch. I worked till 5:00 and was exhausted and hurting. I just wanted to go home! Vance was late cause they are having a big inspection next week, so they have to clean and paint everything. The military just wants it to look good. I had a few minutes with him before I left for church. We had a good service. Pastor Sammy is on fire! He's been preaching/teaching on the Holy Spirit and Fruits of the Spirit and Worship and Praise. The last 4-6 weeks have been great. We had a lot of visitors tonight. Alan just keeps bringing them in. He used to be the biggest drug dealer in our town. Now, instead of selling drugs, he sells Jesus. He's preaching in the gym, at the Rescue Mission and anywhere else he goes. He's in construction and preaches there, too. He's an awesome young man. Always has a testimony of the good things God is doing in his life.
Now, I've run out of things to talk about. I'm tired and ready to go to bed. It starts all over again tomorrow.
Goodnight and God bless..............
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Happy Early Father's Day
They have changed our safety meeting from Wednesday to Monday now. And today was a mandatory meeting - Workplace Violence. That took an hour, then we were put into a safety stand down because of a couple of accidents that happened last week. That was another 2 1/2 hours; ruined my whole morning. I had to keep moving around to keep from falling asleep.
By the time I got back to my office, it was lunch time. I am so far behind. The team leaders were all gone most of last week, so I got almost a weeks' worth of timesheets faxed to me this morning. I had worn a pair of sandals that had elastic bands crossing the top of my feet and by lunch, my feet were swollen and the elastic was cutting into me. So, I went to Wal-Mart and found a cheap pair of shoes to wear. Much better.
After lunch, I got to work trying to play catch-up. I put a dent in the pile, but didn't get it all done. Sheila called. She's excited about getting the wedding pictures. She was very pleased with the CD's I made. She couldn't get off early enough today to pick them up, but we will try to meet half-way tomorrow.
After work, I had to stop by Winn-Dixie to get garlic bread, foil and two cakes to carry to church. The Ladies Ministry was treating the Men's Ministry to steaks and all the fixings - an early Father's Day celebration. Came home for a few minutes, then had to go to PoFolks to pick up fried chicken and tea for the ladies. Made it to church right on time. We had 12 men and at least that many women and a few kids. Had a good time. I wish Vance would come to church and get involved. I really think he'd like the people, but he's just such a loner. I think he likes it when I leave so he can be totally alone.
Before I left for church, I called Angie to find out about McKinley, her granddaughter. She said that McKinley has had times when she would just zone out and stare into space. The doctors said it's a type of silent seizures. But about a week ago, she had a real seizure. They took her to the doctor and he put her on medicine. They are going to take her to a doctor in Pensacola. Please pray for her. She's only two years old. Angie said they took her to church and had her prayed for and now Angie has a peace about it.
Guess I better get to bed. I've been staying up way too late this past week.
By the time I got back to my office, it was lunch time. I am so far behind. The team leaders were all gone most of last week, so I got almost a weeks' worth of timesheets faxed to me this morning. I had worn a pair of sandals that had elastic bands crossing the top of my feet and by lunch, my feet were swollen and the elastic was cutting into me. So, I went to Wal-Mart and found a cheap pair of shoes to wear. Much better.
After lunch, I got to work trying to play catch-up. I put a dent in the pile, but didn't get it all done. Sheila called. She's excited about getting the wedding pictures. She was very pleased with the CD's I made. She couldn't get off early enough today to pick them up, but we will try to meet half-way tomorrow.
After work, I had to stop by Winn-Dixie to get garlic bread, foil and two cakes to carry to church. The Ladies Ministry was treating the Men's Ministry to steaks and all the fixings - an early Father's Day celebration. Came home for a few minutes, then had to go to PoFolks to pick up fried chicken and tea for the ladies. Made it to church right on time. We had 12 men and at least that many women and a few kids. Had a good time. I wish Vance would come to church and get involved. I really think he'd like the people, but he's just such a loner. I think he likes it when I leave so he can be totally alone.
Before I left for church, I called Angie to find out about McKinley, her granddaughter. She said that McKinley has had times when she would just zone out and stare into space. The doctors said it's a type of silent seizures. But about a week ago, she had a real seizure. They took her to the doctor and he put her on medicine. They are going to take her to a doctor in Pensacola. Please pray for her. She's only two years old. Angie said they took her to church and had her prayed for and now Angie has a peace about it.
Guess I better get to bed. I've been staying up way too late this past week.
Monday, June 09, 2008
Busy/Lazy Weekend
I slept late yesterday morning. I guess I needed the extra sleep since I've been staying up past midnight every night working on those wedding pictures. Finally got them finished Saturday night. All in all, I'm pretty happy with them. Sheila has seen the CD's I made of them, so she's happy, too. I hope Sarah and Mike will like the albums I have put together. My biggest problem is how do I charge for the work I've done? That's why I usually give away all that I do, cause I don't know how to charge; or feel that what most other photographers charge is way too much. Most of the photographers around here start out at over $1000 and don't give near the amount of pictures I give to the bride and groom. I took over 300 pictures and that's what they will get. I can't see making somebody choose 20-30 pictures out of 300. How fair is that? That's why I would never make it as a professional. I don't think like they do. And, I don't take pictures like they do. My weddings are from start to finish, some of the normally staged ones, but mostly the ones that really capture the meaning of the day. I like to catch that glance that nobody else sees, the kids playing around when nobody is looking. I like my pictures to tell the whole story.
Today, I went to church and slept most of the afternoon. So, I guess I really did need a lot of sleep to catch up on all that I've lost.
I'm reading a book by Debbie McComber "Twenty Wishes". If I had 20 wishes, what would they be? My number one wish is to see all my family saved. After that, I'm not sure what I would wish for. Do you have any wishes? Things you have dreamed of doing, but haven't done them yet? I'd love to see Alaska and the Grand Canyon.
Okay, it's after midnight again and I think I need to get to bed. Back to work tomorrow and it's timesheet week, so it's gonna be a very busy week.
Goodnight and God bless.............
Today, I went to church and slept most of the afternoon. So, I guess I really did need a lot of sleep to catch up on all that I've lost.
I'm reading a book by Debbie McComber "Twenty Wishes". If I had 20 wishes, what would they be? My number one wish is to see all my family saved. After that, I'm not sure what I would wish for. Do you have any wishes? Things you have dreamed of doing, but haven't done them yet? I'd love to see Alaska and the Grand Canyon.
Okay, it's after midnight again and I think I need to get to bed. Back to work tomorrow and it's timesheet week, so it's gonna be a very busy week.
Goodnight and God bless.............
Saturday, June 07, 2008
Happy Friday!
Today seemed so long. I guess because it's Friday and I'm ready for two days off. Kim was supposed to go to Tennessee to see her mother, but she got sick and is at home in bed. I'm glad she didn't get on the road and get sick somewhere and have to stop and be in a motel all by herself and too sick to take care of herself.
Of course, I was busy all day. The days of having a time to sit back and read for awhile are gone. It's work, work, work from now on. People keep asking me when I'm going to retire. No plans in the near future. What would I do with myself if I didn't work? I'm used to being around people. If I retired, I'd be stuck here at home; cause Vance doesn't want to go anyplace. I'd have to find another job to keep me busy.
Went to Office Max at lunch to get more ink for my printer. All the HP paper was "buy one, get one free." So, since I knew I was about to run out, I bought more 4x6 paper. I love those kinds of deals.
After work, I had to go to the grocery store and buy groceries for Daddy. Found some more "buy one, get one free." Pork chops and ice cream and he just happened to have them on his list. Thank You, Lord, for bargains.
Sat around and visited with him for awhile. Vance called and tried to get Fox to talk to me. Of course, he said a few things, but I could hear him talking away in the background. He's talking in full sentences and he sounds so cute. I want to go see them so bad. Vance called to remind me about Father's Day at church. There's going to be a lot of classic cars and other activities. I want to go. Hope I can talk my husband into it. I'm also going to try to get Chad and Tabitha and the kids to go.
Came home and told Vance. He didn't say no, so that's a good thing. He asked me when it was. I'm praying he will want to go.
Tried to call Chad to see how they are doing down in Orlando. He didn't answer, so I left a message.
Since I got home, I've been printing pictures from the wedding. I stopped long enough to run to Captain D's to get us something to eat, then I started back printing after I ate. I'm getting very sleepy, so I had to stop. I'm getting close to being done. I already have an order for reprints from the grandmother of one of the groomsmen. She wants all the pictures her grandson was in.
Too tired to type anymore. I'm going to bed. Goodnight and God bless...........
Of course, I was busy all day. The days of having a time to sit back and read for awhile are gone. It's work, work, work from now on. People keep asking me when I'm going to retire. No plans in the near future. What would I do with myself if I didn't work? I'm used to being around people. If I retired, I'd be stuck here at home; cause Vance doesn't want to go anyplace. I'd have to find another job to keep me busy.
Went to Office Max at lunch to get more ink for my printer. All the HP paper was "buy one, get one free." So, since I knew I was about to run out, I bought more 4x6 paper. I love those kinds of deals.
After work, I had to go to the grocery store and buy groceries for Daddy. Found some more "buy one, get one free." Pork chops and ice cream and he just happened to have them on his list. Thank You, Lord, for bargains.
Sat around and visited with him for awhile. Vance called and tried to get Fox to talk to me. Of course, he said a few things, but I could hear him talking away in the background. He's talking in full sentences and he sounds so cute. I want to go see them so bad. Vance called to remind me about Father's Day at church. There's going to be a lot of classic cars and other activities. I want to go. Hope I can talk my husband into it. I'm also going to try to get Chad and Tabitha and the kids to go.
Came home and told Vance. He didn't say no, so that's a good thing. He asked me when it was. I'm praying he will want to go.
Tried to call Chad to see how they are doing down in Orlando. He didn't answer, so I left a message.
Since I got home, I've been printing pictures from the wedding. I stopped long enough to run to Captain D's to get us something to eat, then I started back printing after I ate. I'm getting very sleepy, so I had to stop. I'm getting close to being done. I already have an order for reprints from the grandmother of one of the groomsmen. She wants all the pictures her grandson was in.
Too tired to type anymore. I'm going to bed. Goodnight and God bless...........
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord. In everything you do, praise ye the Lord. Just had to say that. God deserves our praise no matter what we are going through, because He is going to bring us through it. Why do we always complain (hey, I'm guilty), when we could get through things faster and with less pain if we'd just start praising the Lord in all our circumstances.
I've got to give Him praise for what He's doing in our church and the lives of the people around me. Pastor Sammy called Mrs. Sandi as she was walking in the church tonight and made her put a microphone up to the phone so we could all hear what he had to say. The man who owns the liquor store on the corner and the asphalt/paving business between our church and the liquor store called Pastor today and told him that his business was slow right now and he wanted to come and pave our entire parking lot for us - FOR FREE! He has been supplying us with rocks to keep the driveway from getting so many holes in it, all for free. Now, he is going to bless us with a parking lot. All he asks in return is that we remember him in our prayers. Isn't that awesome? God is so good.
Was very busy at work today. I don't think there will be many days from now on when I'm not busy. Walked in the Line Service building and the A/C was out again. In the main building, too. My office has it's own A/C unit sitting right above my head, so we were cool. Kim was about to pass out; she was so hot. I went back to the warehouse and got the huge fan we have and pulled it down to her building and plugged it in in the hallway in front of her office so the air would blow in through the open door and into her office. It made a big difference and she was able to work without passing out until they got the unit repaired. The other office has bought portable air conditioners that they can set up.
I haven't been able to exercise since the four times in April, but I've lost some weight anyway. Praise the Lord! My elbow is getting better. It only hurts if I pick up something or turn it wrong. I haven't had to wear the brace in awhile. It's hot and I'm really glad I don't have to wear it. The x-rays came back normal, so it was just tendinitis.
Right after work, had to go to the funeral home. One of our employees passed away this past weekend. Robert Martin was an engineer who went out on disability a couple of years ago. One thing that I remember about Robert was when my brother had cancer and I was taking him back and forth to Pensacola. Vance worked nights at that time and the boys were never home, so I was home alone a lot. I was very depressed and on my worst nights, the phone would ring. Robert would call and would not just chat. He'd ask about my brother, then he would ask if he could pray for my brother and me. Of course, I always said yes. And when he prayed, I would feel the depression lifting. God always spoke to him to call me when I needed it the most. I made sure I told Peggy, his wife, about it. She said that was just like Robert. He was sensitive to other people's pain. I also knew Robert's brother, Darrell. Darrell used to be the Praise and Worship leader at SUMC. I would have to take Vance to church early and would watch them practice. Darrell kept on until he talked me into joining the choir. And the rest is history. I've been in the choir and on the praise team ever since.
One of our neighbors down the street passed away this weekend. His son, Dexter, was one of Chad's best friends. Dexter has kept our A/C running for the last two years. The funeral is Thursday and I'll be there to represent our family. Chad and Tabitha are in Orlando for the week, so Chad won't be able to go. It broke him up when I called him and told him.
Well, gotta get to bed. Was going to print out some pictures, but I'm just way too tired. It's been after midnight every night since Friday, so I think I need some rest. I missed my usual Sunday nap, so I'm tired.
Be blessed and remember to Praise the Lord! If you don't, the rocks will cry out in your place. I'm not gonna let a rock steal my praise. How about you?
I've got to give Him praise for what He's doing in our church and the lives of the people around me. Pastor Sammy called Mrs. Sandi as she was walking in the church tonight and made her put a microphone up to the phone so we could all hear what he had to say. The man who owns the liquor store on the corner and the asphalt/paving business between our church and the liquor store called Pastor today and told him that his business was slow right now and he wanted to come and pave our entire parking lot for us - FOR FREE! He has been supplying us with rocks to keep the driveway from getting so many holes in it, all for free. Now, he is going to bless us with a parking lot. All he asks in return is that we remember him in our prayers. Isn't that awesome? God is so good.
Was very busy at work today. I don't think there will be many days from now on when I'm not busy. Walked in the Line Service building and the A/C was out again. In the main building, too. My office has it's own A/C unit sitting right above my head, so we were cool. Kim was about to pass out; she was so hot. I went back to the warehouse and got the huge fan we have and pulled it down to her building and plugged it in in the hallway in front of her office so the air would blow in through the open door and into her office. It made a big difference and she was able to work without passing out until they got the unit repaired. The other office has bought portable air conditioners that they can set up.
I haven't been able to exercise since the four times in April, but I've lost some weight anyway. Praise the Lord! My elbow is getting better. It only hurts if I pick up something or turn it wrong. I haven't had to wear the brace in awhile. It's hot and I'm really glad I don't have to wear it. The x-rays came back normal, so it was just tendinitis.
Right after work, had to go to the funeral home. One of our employees passed away this past weekend. Robert Martin was an engineer who went out on disability a couple of years ago. One thing that I remember about Robert was when my brother had cancer and I was taking him back and forth to Pensacola. Vance worked nights at that time and the boys were never home, so I was home alone a lot. I was very depressed and on my worst nights, the phone would ring. Robert would call and would not just chat. He'd ask about my brother, then he would ask if he could pray for my brother and me. Of course, I always said yes. And when he prayed, I would feel the depression lifting. God always spoke to him to call me when I needed it the most. I made sure I told Peggy, his wife, about it. She said that was just like Robert. He was sensitive to other people's pain. I also knew Robert's brother, Darrell. Darrell used to be the Praise and Worship leader at SUMC. I would have to take Vance to church early and would watch them practice. Darrell kept on until he talked me into joining the choir. And the rest is history. I've been in the choir and on the praise team ever since.
One of our neighbors down the street passed away this weekend. His son, Dexter, was one of Chad's best friends. Dexter has kept our A/C running for the last two years. The funeral is Thursday and I'll be there to represent our family. Chad and Tabitha are in Orlando for the week, so Chad won't be able to go. It broke him up when I called him and told him.
Well, gotta get to bed. Was going to print out some pictures, but I'm just way too tired. It's been after midnight every night since Friday, so I think I need some rest. I missed my usual Sunday nap, so I'm tired.
Be blessed and remember to Praise the Lord! If you don't, the rocks will cry out in your place. I'm not gonna let a rock steal my praise. How about you?
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
Had a Busy Weekend
Got up Saturday morning after Vance left to go play golf and started getting things done around the house. Ate a bowl of cereal. I don't usually eat breakfast, but I did Saturday.
Around noon, I called Sheila and told her I was heading to Lucas Lake to help her set up for her daughter's wedding. I got there around 1:00, cause I stopped for gas and turned around and went home and changed into work clothes. The wedding was outside at the lake. Of course, the lakes around here are all way down, but you could see it faintly in the background. I helped them set up tables and whatever they wanted me to do. Started taking pictures around 3:00 and finished up around 6:30. Chris, the bride's father, was very good about bringing me something to drink. He could tell I was hot. He pulled me off to the side and said "We want to do something special for you. Whatever you want done in your house that we can do, we want to do it to bless you." (His business is closet organization.) I cried, because it was so sweet of him and I'm not used to accepting gifts from people. I'm a giver, and I have a very hard time accepting when people want to do good things for me. But, I guess I will get with him and see what all he does and see just what he wants to do for us. I know he does good work, cause I've seen some of it and his business is growing. He started out working by himself, now he has people who work for him.
You know, God wants to give us good things, but sometimes we are just too stubborn to accept them. We don't feel worthy, or whatever. Well, I'm going to try to accept the blessings He wants to bestow on me from other people. Tabitha and Michelle, I may need your help deciding what needs to be done.
The wedding was beautiful and the preacher is very untraditional. He basically preaches a sermon during the ceremony and tells the husband what his duties are and the wife what her duties are in the marriage. It was all right out of scripture. He also tells people about Jesus dying on the cross and the salvation message. I wish I had a tape of all that he said. Believe me, it was very different.
The bride was beautiful and everybody looked so nice. I felt sorry for the guys in their black suits. I know they were hot.
I finally got to sit down with a cold glass of lemonade around 7:00. Remember the bowl of cereal. Good thing I ate, cause I didn't have time to stop and eat anything during the reception. I grabbed a cube of cheese and that's all I had until I got home. Thank God for a husband who takes care of the meals. He had supper ready when I got home. What a blessing he is. I ate and he went to bed. I stayed up till midnight uploading pictures and printing.
Sunday was church and we had an awesome time. Pastor Sammy has changed and the anointing is so strong on him right now. What a time we had and such a good sermon about the gifts of the Spirit.
Came home and ate, then sat down at the computer to start printing pictures from the wedding. Stopped around 5:30 to go to Bible study. Came back home around 8:00 and worked on them until midnight.
Went to work today and ran all my reports and helped Kim some. At lunch, I went to Office Max and got more ink and to Target and got two beautiful wedding albums. Target always has the best albums.
After work, I had to go to Winn-Dixie and get groceries for Daddy. Boy, what a mess! They are re-doing all the store and changing things all around so you can't find anything. Even the workers can't find anything. What usually would have taken me about 10 minutes to do took over 30. I only had to get 5 items, but had to walk down every aisle to find them. Even asked and the workers didn't have a clue.
Sat and talked to Daddy for awhile, then came home and got back on the computer. I'm still printing out pictures. Hope to finish tomorrow. But, my problem is what to charge. I could never go into business, cause I hate to charge people for my work. Maybe I should just accept the new closet as payment. I just don't know what to do. I had said I wouldn't do anymore weddings, but Sheila is so precious and would do anything for me, that I just couldn't turn her down. I've turned one down in October, but I've got a lot of birthdays to celebrate in our family in October. I'm not about to schedule a wedding and then find out it's on Fox and Michelle's birthday, or Trent's or Daddy's. Just about every weekend that month is set aside for birthdays.
Guess I better get to bed. It's almost 1:00 am Tuesday morning. And, I've got to get up and go to work in a few hours.
Be blessed..................
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