I've Had Better Days

I didn't make it to work today. Went to bed last night and was asleep about an hour when I woke up suddenly feeling like I was going to get sick. Ran to the bathroom, but couldn't throw up. That seems so great to me that I am back to normal and can't throw up anymore. Whenever I had those attacks, I couldn't stop throwing up. That just tells me that the Lord really did heal me completely. Praise His name!!! I slept on the couch the rest of the night and was feeling rotten this morning. I slept most of the morning after calling in and telling them I wouldn't be there. Felt bad all day and ended up with a migraine. Maybe that's why I felt like throwing up.

I think Shadow just killed and ate an opposum. She and Vinnie were barking and I could hear them banging on the fence. I walked out with a flashlight and sure enough, there was a possum on top of the fence. Shadow could just about jump high enough to get it. I managed to get Vinnie inside, but Shadow would not come in. About 10 minutes later, I tried calling her again. She came walking towards me with something in her mouth. I ran back inside and slammed the door shut. I didn't want her bringing an animal in the house - dead or alive. A little while later, she started banging on the back door to get in. I went to the door with a broom in my hand to make sure she didn't bring anything in. She didn't. But I really believe she killed that poor possum. Nothing survives in the backyard when she's out there. She's killed rats, birds, squirrels and a baby possum. This was a grown one, but I think she killed it too. Being around her, you would never think she could do something like that. But she will protect her turf - the backyard. Vinnie is the protector inside the house. I guess if anybody hurt me, Shadow would attack them. I'm pretty sure she would, cause she almost went after Vinnie one time when I was playing with him and he acted like he was going to bite me. I knew he wouldn't, but she didn't. The hairs on her back stood up and she pounced at him. I stopped her before she got him and told her that we were just playing. I started making Vinnie growl again and she finally realized that we were just playing. Now, she doesn't even pay us any mind when I make Vinnie growl.

As you can see, not much went on today. Now, it's time for me to head off to bed. I do plan on going to work tomorrow.

Good night and God bless............

Surprise!

Had to rush to get to the safety meeting this morning. Just did not want to get out of bed. Good thing I made it though. It was one of the "required" safety meetings.

Not much going on at work. So many people are out on vacation because of Spring Break. Kim left for Tennessee today, so I won't get to see her again until next Monday. That means nobody to talk to. Bummer! It's nice having somebody to talk to over morning coffee. Oh well, I'll survive. Maybe I won't drink as much coffee. I've noticed that I don't even finish a full cup.

Had to go to the grocery store for Daddy at lunch, which meant I missed the exercise time again. Maybe I can manage to go on Friday. Sylvia dropped by to see me and Kim, but I told her Kim was on vacation. Sylvia's brother-in-law is in the hospital in Birmingham with cancer and she said he isn't doing very good. She went to visit this past weekend and said it was so sad seeing him like that. She took their little dog up to visit him. He was able to come out of ICU for a few minutes to see Nikki. He is in need of a miracle.

When I got back to the office after lunch, I got a call from the insurance adjuster who was working on the claim from our accident in January. I thought it had all been finalized. He wanted to know if I had thought of anything that they needed to pay for - any personal effects that might have gotten damaged in the accident. I told him no. He said he had checked with Allstate and they had paid my medical bills. He asked if I had gone back to the doctor and had any outstanding bills that they needed to pay. I told him that I did not go back to the doctor because I was fine and saw no need in going to the doctor. He asked if he could send me a check for $250 and call the case closed. I said "No! I don't want your money. There is nothing that you need to pay me for. I'm fine and nothing else was damaged." He said "Okay, how about I send you a check for $100 and you and Vance can go out and have a good meal?" I said "You don't have to do that." He said "I'll put a check in the mail today in your's and Vance's name. Go out and have a good meal." I said "God bless you, Jim. You really don't have to do that." He again told me that he was putting a check in the mail. Can you believe that? I've never heard of an insurance company begging you to take their money. I just didn't feel right about it, but I guess we'll be getting a check in the mail in the next few days. That has been the most wonderful experience with an insurance agent I've ever had. He's been so nice and so concerned about us. They gave us more money than they normally would have given on Vance's truck just because it was so clean. I got off the phone and immediately called Vance to tell him about the conversation. He was as shocked as I was. I just wish I had asked Jim how the girl was who pulled out in front of us. She had wanted to move here from Houston, but I don't know if she did or not. I've a good mind to call her uncle and see how she's doing. I sent her a card after the accident to let her know that Vance and I were okay. I didn't want her worrying that she might have hurt someone. It just seemed like the thing to do.

Went to church tonight and we had another great Praise and Worship service. They are just getting better and better. Pastor preached tonight. He seemed to be feeling pretty good. I missed Kim and Carrianne and the girls. Tabitha and the kids weren't there either. As soon as I got out of church, I called their house but nobody answered. I don't know if they went to see her mom in Dothan or where they are. It's just not like her to miss church.

It's time for me to get to bed.
Good night and God bless.....................

Terrific Tuesday

Today was a little busier at work. I like it that way. I hate just sitting around trying to find something to do.

When I got to work, I realized I had left my cell phone at home. That's how everybody gets up with me including doctor's offices, so I knew I had to go get it at lunch. Went home for lunch and sure enough, Daddy had called four times. I called him back and he wanted to know if I could go to the store for him. He said he was out of groceries and cigarettes. Now, I just talked to him yesterday and he told me he had plenty of groceries. Yesterday, I didn't have plans at lunch that I couldn't break and I had nowhere to go after work. I had to tell him that he'd have to wait until tomorrow, because I was at home for lunch and I had a hair appointment at 3:30 that would last at least two hours and then I had Praise and Worship practice at church. I asked him why didn't he let me go yesterday when I asked. He said he didn't have a list made out yesterday. Well, he could have made the list out while I was driving over there. Normally, I would have dropped everything and gone to the store for him, but I decided I needed this time to myself and my hair was looking worse than it's looked in years. I knew he had fresh eggs that he could cook and he wouldn't go hungry. As for the cigarettes, well...............that could wait, too. The doctor has been trying to get him to quit. I guess it just hit me wrong today. I'll put off exercising at lunch tomorrow and go to the grocery store for him. I'm hoping one day I'll be able to start exercising. The doctor told me I needed to lose at least 10 lbs. to get my bloodwork back to normal.

Kim came in for about an hour to work. She's leaving first thing in the morning by herself going to Tennessee. If I had gotten prior notice, I might could have gone with her. But, I can't just up and leave on the spur of the moment. I would have to make arrangements for somebody to run errands for Daddy. And Vance doesn't sleep when I'm away from home overnight. I would have loved to have gone, but not for five days. Not without Vance.

I went to see Marsha at 3:30 and she colored my hair. It looks so good. It made me feel so much better about myself. Vance loved it when I ran in the house to kiss him before I went to practice. My mother keeps telling me I should go lighter since I'm older, but I like the dark auburn. It makes my blue eyes even bluer. And Vance hates my hair lighter. He loves it dark. I think I'll go with what my husband likes - I do have to live with him. Penny called while I was getting my hair done. She had gotten the results of my ultrasounds and she said they were perfectly normal. Praise the Lord! I love it when I'm told I'm normal. Cause I am far from it! But it's nice to hear anyway.

We had fun at practice tonight. Several people told me my hair looked great and Sammy Miles was picking on me about it. He said it looked a lot better than it did Sunday. Sunday, it was all curly and had that silver streak down the middle. He said when the lights hit it, that streak just shined. He said it looked like that Gremlin with the stripe down it's head. Didn't they call him Stripe or Streak or something like that? Steve told him he wasn't using a lot of wisdom talking to me like that. But, I can take it. Stuff like that just doesn't bother me. I make fun of myself all the time. I called it a skunk streak.

Came home and Vance has almost finished the hall floor. It's looking good, but I get so tickled watching the dogs. They love to jump around and play and instead they slide around. It is so funny. I guess I need to start moving everything out of Vance's old bedroom and get it painted so we can start laying the floor in there. I've still got to go get that bedroom suite from my Grandmother's house if we can ever get up with my aunt. She makes herself very scarce.

I'm heading off to bed now.
Good night and God bless.........................

Quiet at Work

I think half of our people are off this week for Spring Break with their kids. It was awful quiet at work today. I managed to stay busy all day, but the day just drug by.

At lunch, I went to Target and spent the gift card my boss gave me for my birthday, plus more. I had to buy workout clothes. A few of us at work are going to start working out at lunch. I didn't have a thing to wear. Didn't have a pair of shorts that fit. But I did find something, so I'll be ready to go.

Daddy called to let me know that he still hadn't received his check from March. I'm hoping it will come in sometime this week. I asked him if he needed me to go buy him any groceries and he said he had plenty. That big refrigerator has been a blessing. His old one didn't hold very much frozen food, so I would have to shop at least once a week and sometimes more. We bought plenty of canned goods, so he's in business. He said he was doing fine. I kinda miss going over there and talking to him, but it has been nice being able to do something for myself once in a while.

Talked to Mama today. She seems to be in better spirits. Wants me to go over and dig up some of her amarillas and plant them in my yard. She said she has so many that she'd like to share. I'll have to do that one Saturday. I think it would be pretty having a bed in the middle of my yard with them blooming. But I really want to get the inside of my house in order before I work on the outside.

I came home and started putting my winter clothes in a big Rubbermaid container. I don't think we are going to have much more cold weather. We didn't have enough to kill the bugs. Fleas are taking over everywhere. Everybody is talking about fleas in their houses and in the yards. We've already fogged our house twice and it's time to fog again. Vance is going to have to spray the yard or we will never get control of the problem. It's not as bad as it was one year. We just didn't have enough freezing weather to kill them. And we have a very sandy yard, which makes it worse. I hate fleas! Unfortunately, they love me. They don't even get on Vance. Could it be the nicotine in his bloodstream turns them off? Maybe he has nasty tasting blood....

Penny called. Haven't talked to her since last Monday when she called apologizing for not calling on my birthday. She's been having it rough at work. She told me Chad was sick, so I called to check on him. Stomach bug going around again.

Well, not much happening today. Will write more later.

Good night and God bless...................

Happy Birthday, Chad!

I cannot believe my baby is 30 years old today. Where has time gone so quickly? Seems just yesterday that I was holding him in my arms, like Vance and Michelle are holding Fox. Cherish your time while you can. Before long, you will blink and that little baby will be grown.

This morning was a very busy morning. I realized that I was out of gas, so I had to stop before going to church. Trent called to see if I could come pick him and Hope up for church - Tabitha was visiting another church this morning. A girl she goes to college with goes to a church that has expressive dance and today was the day they were dancing. She was invited to go, so she went. I stopped and got gas and headed for their house. Trent decided to go with Tabitha, so I grabbed up Hope and off we went to church. She chatted the whole way there. It seems one of the kids that came to Chad's birthday party last night told her there were monsters and that's all she could talk about - the monsters at her house. I assured her that Jesus had angels watching over her and no monster could get past her angels. That seemed to help her. I wish I could get my hands on that little boy. He needs a good talking to about what not to say around little children.

We had a great service today. Praise and Worship just keeps getting better and better. The anointing is so strong during song service. People come to the front, go to the altars and you cn see them getting ministered to right in their seats. That's what church is all about. Hurting people getting ministered to.

Mrs. Sandi preached on the Passover which is coming up next Monday, April 2nd (from sundown on the 2nd until sunup on the 3rd). She talked about the 7 blessings of Passover found in Exodus 23:20-30: 1) God will assign an angel to you, 2) God will be an enemy to your enemies, 3) God will give you prosperity, 4) God will take sickness away from you, 5) God will give you long life, 6) God will bring increase and inheritance and 7) God will give you a special year of blessing. But, He requires an offering from you like the lamb at the original Passover. It should be a sacrificial offering. I'm believing for my family to get saved and my mother to get healed of her afflictions. I'm going to start standing in the gap like never before and pray earnestly for my family. There's no limits to what God can do!

I took Hope home and wished Chad a Happy Birthday. We visited for about 30 minutes. It was a beautiful day today. Temperature in the 80's. Vance refuses to turn on our A/C, so I'm pretty miserable. He and Troy played golf again today. He enjoyed playing with Troy - said Troy beat him by one stroke. That's pretty good - a close game is much more fun than someone just walking away with it. Vance bought a new grill. He grilled hamburgers and turkey burgers for me. I took a really long nap - about three hours. I just have to have my Sunday afternoon nap or I don't function too well the rest of the week. Speaking of the rest of the week, it's gonna be pretty miserable without Kim to talk to. She's going on vacation for a week. I'm going to be pretty lonely.

I washed a load of clothes when I woke up. Have to have clothes to wear to work. Didn't manage to get anything else done this weekend around the house. Was just running too much. Hope next weekend is better. I haven't even hooked up my new printer yet.

It's after 11:00 and I guess I better get to bed. Good night and God bless...............

Another Busy Saturday

Vance went to play golf as usual. But, he had a golfing partner today. Troy (our nephew) called him last night and wanted to play. They have played before with Skip and Scot.

Mama called right after I ate breakfast. She likes to know what I'm doing on Saturday's. I told her I had a lot to do today. She was waiting for Chip to come and fix her kitchen sink. I hope he made it over there.

I got up and dropped off some film at Walgreen's then went to Big Lots looking for a rake for Chad. That's what he said he wanted for his birthday. Now that they have a house, they also have a yard to take care of. Wouldn't you know it - no rakes to be found. I got two big Rubbermaid containers to put more stuff in to put in the garage while we are trying to redo our rooms. Since I couldn't find a rake at Big Lots, I headed to Wal-Mart. Was able to find one there. Next stop, Publix. Decided to try them out. I usually shop at Winn-Dixie. Got potatoes so I could make potato salad for Chad's party this afternoon. Tabitha called when I got home to see if I could go by Party America and pick up the balloons for Chad's party. Told her I would as soon as I got the potato salad made. Vance came home from golfing. Said he had a good time, but didn't do too well. He and Troy were together and they saw Ron, Penny's ex-husband. Didn't play with him though. Vance and Troy are going to the Country Club to play tomorrow. While Vance was gone to get a haircut, I ran to get the balloons. Came back and mixed up the salad and rushed it over to Chad and Tabitha's. Also carried one of my cameras over for them to use. Came back home and Vance and I went to Appleby's to eat. For some reason, I could only eat half of my food. I felt so stuffed. Maybe it's the medicine the doctor gave me for acid reflux that is making me feel so full. If so, maybe I can lose some weight. That would be a nice side effect.

I didn't get half of what I needed to do accomplished today. I had wanted to mop my floors, but I was exhausted when I got home from Appleby's. Speaking of exhausted, I think I need to head off to bed. It's already Sunday morning - almost 1:00am. I've got to get up and go to church, so I better get my beauty rest.

Oh yeah, I uploaded some pictures of my trip to Callaway Gardens (my birthday present from Kim). Check them out at http://picasaweb.google.com/rutherford.patricia/

Good night and God Bless..................

TGIF - I'm so glad it's Friday!

Boy, did I have a busy day. I had to go to Bay Medical Diagnostics for a couple of ultrasounds first thing this morning. The first one was an abdominal ultrasound. That meant no food or drink since midnight last night. No problem. It took about an hour to do, then she sent me to get something to eat and I had to drink 32 oz. of water. Got a biscuit from Hardee's and ate it in the parking lot while drinking the 32 oz. of water. She told me that I could probably come straight back and she'd do the test. Well, of course, that didn't happen. I went back inside at 9:20. By 9:45, I thought I was going to explode. I thought I was going to have to reschedule, but the technician said I could go to the bathroom and let a little out. Do you know how hard that is? But, I did it and I felt better. I finally got back in there around 10:10. I was still uncomfortable, but figured I could make it. She started the test (pelvic ultrasound) and my bladder was so full, she couldn't see around it. She made me go to the bathroom again and let a little more out. I managed to get through the test okay, but it sure was uncomfortable. I finally made it to work at 11:00.

It was timesheet day, so I was really, really busy. I had three days worth of timesheets to do - supervisors were lagging behind because of meetings. I walked down to my boss's office to get the timesheets and Kim asked me if I had eaten anything for lunch. Told her no. Sid had given her two tickets to a fish fry, so she went and picked up plates for us - grouper, hush puppies, cole slaw and baked beans. It was so good. I scarfed it down and hurried back to my timesheets.
Finally got them all done around 4:00. I was exhausted when I got through with them.

After work, I went by Best Buy to check on my printer. The manufacturer were supposed to send it back and they would trade out with a new one. Well, it had never been sent back, but the guy said they knew it was coming, so we could go pick out another printer. They didn't have an Epson as good as the one I had, so we went with an HP Photosmart printer. The guys assured me that it was even better than the Epson. We'll see. I haven't even taken it out of my car yet. I've got to rearrange my computer room so I can set up the printer and the fax machine I bought a couple of weeks ago. I guess that's what I'll be doing tomorrow. I've also got to go get a rake for Chad's birthday (that's what he asked for), make potato salad for his party and get some film developed from last week's excursion to Callaway Gardens. I promised to make Kim a CD of all the pictures we took.

I think I will try to clean off my desk before I go to bed.

Good night and God Bless...........

Oops! Forgot the Safety Meeting

We had our Safety Luncheon yesterday to celebrate one and a half years of being accident free, so I didn't think we were having a safety meeting this morning. I was wrong. Randy said it was nothing to worry about; cause nothing they talked about pertained to my job. That's good to know.

At the luncheon yesterday, Kim presented the Red Raiders with our new mascot - Elmo dressed up in jeans, gray t-shirt, hard hat, a cell phone and a skinning knife. They loved it. She did a great job finding just the right clothes and accessories. This is Elmo "Red" with my boss, Kenny. He was born the year after I started working for Gulf Power. Boy, does that make me feel old!

I went to the doctor today to get the results of my bloodwork. I have got to lose some weight. A few of the things were a little elevated and she said it was all related to being overweight. She is also a dietician and Life Coach and said she could help me make a lifestyle change. I may take her up on that. I seem to do better when I have somebody to be accountable to. This week, I've already begun to eat more fruit and salads. She told me to try buffalo meat. It's leaner than turkey and tastes like beef. You cook it slower and at a lower temperature than beef, but it's really good. She said she used to order it off the internet, but Publix carries it now. I think I will try it out. She said it's a little more expensive, but it's a lot better for you than beef. I'm supposed to get some more tests run and see her again in two weeks. She'll tell me more about her program at that time. I was in the doctor's office two hours. I don't think I've ever waited that long before. By the time I ran through the drive-through at Chick-Fil-A and got back to the office, I had to take one and a half hour for vacation. I'm not taking sick leave cause our policy has changed and we lose too much. If I really got bad sick, I wouldn't have much to fall back on, so I take vacation for doctor's appointments. I scheduled this one around lunch thinking I could get there, see the doctor and back to the office in an hour. Boy, was I wrong!

I called Marsha today and made an appointment for next Tuesday to get my hair colored. I think I'm going to start letting her color it from now on. Yeah, it costs more, but I've got so much hair and my arms get worn out trying to get all the color on, plus I miss spots. I think it's time I splurged on myself and let a professional do the job. After all, I've been doing it myself since I was 15 - that's 40 years. Summer Blonde was my first attempt and it turned my hair a horrible orange color. I stuck with regular blondes after that, then went to red later in life. I didn't color it all the time when I was young; I just started doing it regularly when I started turning gray about 10 years ago. But, I think it's time to let Marsha do it. I am going to start doing things for myself. The doctor said I had to or I wouldn't be around to take care of everybody else. I've got to start exercising. I think I'm going to have my treadmill repaired, so I can start walking on it. Once, I lose about 15-20 lbs., then I may start back kickboxing with Mrs. Sandi.

Time for me to go to bed. It's almost 11:00pm.

Good night and God Bless....................

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today is my 55th birthday. Do I feel 55? Well, I don't know. What does 55 feel like?

Yesterday, Kim came and got me at 5:00am (I had only gotten three hours of sleep) and we went to Callaway Gardens in Georgia. When we stopped to eat breakfast at Hardees we realized the temperature was dropping and it was getting cold. Good thing Kim brought an extra sweatshirt or I would have been miserable.

First stop in the Gardens was the Butterfly exhibit. I've never seen so many different kinds of butterflies. They were everywhere. But the lady at the entrance told us a Carolina Wren has somehow gotten into the exhibit and is eating the butterflies. They have not been able to catch it, so they have lost a lot of their butterflies. I didn't know Carolina Wrens ate butterflies. I handed Kim a camera and we started taking pictures. I guess we stayed there almost two hours. It was such a beautiful place. Made me want to plant some of those plants to attract butterflies to my yard, except I have a family of Carolina Wrens that use my Christmas cactus hanging on my front porch as their nest. They have been raising babies there for at least 6 or 7 years. If I attracted butterflies, they would eat them. That's a Catch 22 situation. We walked around some of the trails, but not much was blooming. In a couple of weeks, the place will probably be absolutely beautiful.

We went to the beach (lake) and ate the lunch that Kim had prepared. We found a picnic table out in the sun, but it was still cold whenever the wind blew. She packed a great lunch - chicken or tuna salad, grapes, strawberries, apples, crackers, and sweet tea. She even brought me a cupcake for my birthday. She is such a good friend. She has become my birthday trip companion. She said "since your husband doesn't take you anywhere for your birthday, I'll drive you around so you can take pictures." Last year, she drove me around in the woods around Ponce de Leon and I got some great pictures of Confederate Roses.

My second favorite place in the Gardens was the Horticulture Center. The plants inside there were so beautiful. As you walked in the door, there was an orchid blooming that smelled heavenly. I don't remember the name, but it had a fragrance that I would have liked to bottle up and bring home with me. I would love to have a place with all those plants to be able to look at every day. That would be so peaceful. Makes me want to get busy planting flowers in my yard, but again, would I lose the butterflies to the birds? I don't want to lose my little wrens. It's fun watching the babies learn how to fly. This year, I hope to be able to catch them and take pictures.

When we left the gardens and headed home, we stopped in Dothan to see Karen. She was so happy to see us. I love her house. She should be an interior decorator. Her house looks like it could have come out of a magazine. She's always had the knack for making her house look beautiful.

We got home around 9:00. It was a long day, but I enjoyed it so much. Thank you, Kim, for helping me celebrate my birthday.

I sure didn't want to get out of bed this morning. I guess I was exhausted from no sleep Friday night and walking so much yesterday. But I got up and showered and started getting ready for church. Couldn't find a thing to wear. The skirt I was going to wear has a lining in it that somehow got twisted when I washed it and caused the skirt to bunch up. I didn't have time to straighten it out because I had to deliver some Vemma to Dot on my way to church. I ended up wearing black slacks instead of a skirt. I'll have to fix that skirt and wear it next week.

Church was good. Pastor is still preaching on Breaking the Curses and Receiving the Blessings. He spoke on Witchcraft again today. At the end of the service, he said "I must be doing something right, cause I've made the devil mad. If you were here Wednesday night you know how excited I was, how on fire I was for the Lord. The anointing was so strong Wednesday night. Well, Thursday morning I came in to work and opened my email. I received several death threats against my life and a demand for $30,000. If I had $30,000, I'd buy me a new truck! Being a former deputy sheriff, I called the Sheriff's Dept. and filed a report. Don't get upset about this, but do cover me in your prayers." Yes, we need to keep him lifted up.

Mrs. Sandi had birthday presents for me and Tabitha. Tabitha wasn't in church, so I stopped by their house on my way home from church. She had called me yesterday when I was at Callaway Gardens and asked me to pray for her because she was dizzy and throwing up. I stopped right where I was and prayed for her and asked Kim to agree with us for her healing. She was better today, but wore out from yesterday. I know exactly how she feels.

I stopped by Sonic and then came home, ate and took a nap. I had the beginning of a migraine. Deb called to wish me a Happy Birthday. I took my migraine medicine and took another nap. It finally eased off. Chad called to wish me Happy Birthday. (He will be 30 next Sunday.) He was helping Dexter work on his vehicle when I was over at his house, so he wasn't there. We talked for a good long time and I layed back down. My son, Vance, called to wish me Happy Birthday and I found out his poison oak episode was worse than his blog had said. The poison oak has gotten into his bloodstream and he's breaking out all over his body. It's been two weeks since he got the poisoning and it's not getting any better. He went to the doctor and got a shot, steroids and antibiotics. I prayed for him over the phone and I'm believing that it will dry up and go away. Please keep him in your prayers.

Guess I better get to bed. I've got to go back to work tomorrow. Will try to post some pictures from my trip tomorrow.
Good night and God bless.............................

Fabulous Friday!

I had the best day today. I took off from work (birthday holiday) and met Deb, Steve and Megan for breakfast at Chick-Fil-A. They drove over from Crestview. Haven't seen Deb since June of last year. She and I graduated high school together and didn't see each other again until June. She found me at Classmates.com and contacted me. When we met again, it was like we had never been apart. She is such a sweet, beautiful woman who loves the Lord and her family. We have a lot in common, so we never have a lull in our conversations. It's great. After breakfast, we walked over to Hobby Lobby. I found a pitcher and bowl in the exact colors that I want to do Vance's old room. They were on sale, so I bought them. I can take the bowl to Home Depot and they can match the colors. I plan on painting the walls in the blue color and painting the furniture in chocolate brown. I saw a room on HGTV done like that and it was beautiful - so calming. I want to make that room a sanctuary where someone would feel peaceful if they spent the night.

At 11:30, I hurried home to wait for Karen to call about lunch. She had left me a message, so I called her back and we made plans to meet at PoFolks at 12:30. While I was waiting, I swept the floors and straightened up a little. When I got to PoFolks, it was packed. Karen wasn't there so I sat down to wait. I let four couples go ahead of me until the manager said I better go take a booth before they all got full. I found one where I could see Karen when she came in and I told the manager I was waiting for someone named Karen. As soon as she came in, he asked her if she was Karen. Freaked her out. We had a great time. She brought me a cross with the verse "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." I have been wanting something with that verse on it for years. I ordered the Joshua placque from Home Interiors five times and they were always out of stock. I never did get it. We ate and visited for about two hours, then she had to get home to Dothan. Karen and I share the same birthday (March 18) and have been celebrating together for 22 years. She was with me on our birthday in Pensacola when we found out that the doctors couldn't do anything else for Earl and he had only a short time to live. I couldn't have made it home without her. She was there for me when I really needed someone and I'll never forget that for as long as I live.

After leaving Karen, I went to Gulf Power to see Kim and finalize our plans for tomorrow. Also went to the Credit Union to get money for our trip. Then, I went to Cato's and bought some blouses that were on sale. I really need tops. Then I went to Wal-Mart to get some things for Daddy. (He called when I was in Hobby Lobby this morning.) Ran into a lady that I used to go to church with at Springfield Methodist, Betty McCart. We stood and talked for at least 30 minutes. Her husband had been in the hospital for over 30 days with heart problems. The doctors didn't expect him to get enough strength to have surgery, but God performed several miracles on his behalf. The doctors said he was going to die, but God showed them that He's still the Great Physician. Charles is doing fine now.

Stopped by to carry Daddy his stuff and visited with him for about 45 minutes. He's doing so good. He's exercising his arm and he's able to raise it straight out and hold onto things now. I guess he hurt it during the fire. The doctor said he'd have to have physical therapy, but he didn't want to me to have to take off every day and take him, so I told Daddy he could exercise it himself. He's really been working at it. He says it hurts like crazy, but he's determined to get it working again. I believe he will, too.

Washed some clothes when I got home and went to Captain D's to get us something to eat. They were so packed. It took me 30 minutes to get our food. But it was good. They have new items on their menu. I had the baked talipia. It was really good. I like it better than their regular baked fish.

It's 11:00 and I'm supposed to leave tomorrow morning at 5:00 to go to Callaway Gardens, which means I need to get up around 3:45, so I guess I better try to get some sleep. I'm not sleepy, but I'll try. Really looking forward to taking a lot of pictures.

Good night and God bless.....................

Today is My Friday!!!

Yep, today is Friday for me. I'm off tomorrow - birthday holiday.

I didn't sleep too good last night. Kept feeling like I was gonna get sick. Not the dizzy sick, just the vomiting. I think it was eating too much spicy food for lunch. I could only stay in bed for about an hour, then I had to move to the couch so I could prop up. Almost didn't go to work, but I pushed myself and went anyway.

Had a splitting headache and it began to affect my eyesight about an hour after I got to work. I knew when I was getting ready for work that I shouldn't wear my contacts. But I wore them anyway. My distance vision was perfect, buy my near vision was so blurry I couldn't read the timesheets. Had to get out my reading glasses to be able to do my work. Good thing I keep them in my purse. I managed to get my timesheets entered into the computer, then went to Kim's office to finish the work I started yesterday. Around lunch, Tom and Kenny asked me and Kim if we wanted to go to lunch with them. Kim was meeting a friend for lunch and I told them I was just going to get a milkshake to see if it would cool off my stomach. I wish I had been feeling better; they went out for Chinese. I would have loved to have had Chinese for lunch. Told them I'd have to take a raincheck. I think I was running fever, too. If I shut my eyes for more than a second, I'd fall asleep. That wasn't from not sleeping, cause I did get sleep last night. I felt a little better after lunch, but not much. Then, I remembered to take my Vemma and I felt even better after drinking it. It gave me energy, so I wasn't falling asleep.

Before I left work, Michelle called. She told me the newest antics of Fox. Now that she's finally seen him turn over, he's doing it all the time. They try to lay him down for a nap and he flips over. It was funny listening to her tell about his little escapades. I'm so blessed to have daughters-in-law who love me and like sharing their lives with me. I have the best daughters in the world - they just happen to be married to my sons. But, I love them as if they were my own flesh and blood. I spent many years praying for these girls before they ever knew my sons. I started before my boys were teenagers praying for their wives. And God honored those prayers. Like I said - they are the best!

After work, I stopped by the Christian Bread Basket and bought some birthday cards and a couple of Liz Curtis Higgs' books to read.

Came home and Vance told me to go to Chad's and get his ladders. He's taking down the bookcase in the hallway so he can finish putting in the flooring. I drove his truck and headed their way. Tabitha's mom and aunt are visiting today and tomorrow. Tammy jumped up and hugged me when I walked in. We got off on the wrong foot before Chad and Tabitha married, but we really love each other now. Before I left, Tabitha's sister came in. Tabitha was telling her aunt that I wasn't the typical mother-in-law. No horror stories to relate about me. I had to leave before her brother got there. I haven't seen him in about two years. Hard to believe he's driving. Hope showed me her room now that it's got all it's furniture in it. It looks good. I noticed the girl already has a collection of shoes started. A girl after my own heart. I love shoes, too. I visited for a few minutes then headed back home. Vance called to tell me to stop and get a quart of oil for my car. He's making sure it's ready to drive to Callaway Gardens on Saturday.

I watched a movie on the Hallmark channel about a woman and her horse and how they both faced adversities, but won in the end. It was such a good movie. Don't remember the name, but it was so good. Of course, I cried at the happy ending. I'm a sucker for animal movies. Good ones; don't give me Cujo movies. You know, Steven King's story. Years ago, I used to read all of his books, but I don't anymore. None will ever be as good as The Stand.

Tomorrow is going to be a busy day for me. No work!! Yeah! Then, Saturday, Kim and I are going to Callaway Gardens. I'm so looking forward to that. Pray for good weather.

And before I close, I want to share some good news - Tonya is expecting a baby. She's 5 1/2 weeks along, so please keep her in your prayers. We'll have another new baby for Christmas. I love it! Love having new babies in the family. There is nothing like seeing the world through a child's eyes.

Even though I'm off tomorrow, I really do need my beauty rest. Good night Ya'll!

Good night and God bless.........

Wonderful Wednesday

Wow! What a day it has been. I've had so much fun today. I almost didn't get up, because Vance didn't set the alarm. He was taking off today to play golf. I had to wash my hair, but I didn't have time to dry it, so it's a curly mess today. It's beginning to look better curly, though. I guess enough of the straightener has grown out that it's almost all natural again. Not to mention how much gray has grown out. I never did get to color it. I have got to do that tomorrow night for sure cause I'm meeting a couple of friends on Friday. One of them is bringing her husband who I have never met. I don't want my hair to have a skunk streak down the middle!

We had our safety meeting as usual, so I managed to get to work early. Didn't get to stop by Sonic for my morning tea. That's probably a good thing. I drank water all day instead of sweet tea. That probably saved me about 1000 empty calories.

After the safety meeting, Kim and I talked about going to Callaway Gardens on Saturday. I looked up info on how much it cost to get in and some of the sites to see. We will leave here around 5:00am. I'm so excited. I will have all four of my cameras with me so Kim can take pictures, too. I hope the azaleas and other plants are blooming. And I can't wait to see the butterfly exhibit. I've never been to Callaway Gardens, so I'm really looking forward to it.

Kim and I went to lunch at Chili's. We split the sampler platter. It was just enough to eat. I didn't feel stuffed like I normally do when I eat there. And no dessert this time! Afterwards, we went to Toys-R-Us to find a mascot for our safety team. The Game Cocks have a stuffed rooster for their mascot, so we decided to get one for the Red Raiders. I suggested Elmo since he's red. We found a big Elmo that talks. Neither one of us could understand what he's saying. I guess we're not young enough. We changed his name to Red. Anyway, we tried to find a football helmet, but TRU didn't have any. We went to Play It Again Sports and found a used batting helmet (for $4.99) that has a face guard on it. It looks close enough to a football helmet (the used ones were still around $40). Left there and went to Lowe's for red spray paint. Kim is going to paint it red. It's my job to design the logo for his chest, back and helmet. I'm going to print two out on artist canvas and whipstitch it to his chest and back, then print two out on sticker paper and put on his helmet. We are going to give him to our boss next Tuesday morning to unwrap at our lunch celebrating 15 months without an accident. He is going to be so cute. I can't wait to see the reaction of the guys when we unveil him on Tuesday. I will definitely take pictures and share them here.

After lunch, I helped Kim do some filing and made some copies for her. She has so much work to do and she wants to take a week's vacation the last week of this month. I'm going to do everything I can to help her get ready. She left at 4:00 and I stayed in her office until 4:30 (forgot to leave early again). Right after she left, our boss came in with a piece of cake that his wife had made for a meeting he was in. It was some sort of caramel cake. It was good.

Came home and started designing the logo for Red, our mascot. Got a birthday card from Vance and Michelle (Thank you so much.) Sunday will be my 55th birthday. WooHoo, I'm not getting older; I'm getting better!

Then I had to leave and go to church. What an awesome service. First the Praise and Worship was out of this world, then Pastor Sammy preached. He and Mrs. Sandi are still doing the series on Blessings and Cursings. It has been so good. Tonight, he preached again on the power of the words we speak. We can bless our lives and that of others or we can bring down curses just by the words that we speak. I have got to remember to watch what I say. Even psychologists will tell you that you can harm a child by always saying "you're no good. You'll never amount to anything." It's in the Word of God and we need to learn more about God's Word. Anyway, it's been a great teaching. By no means do we believe the "name it and claim it" doctrine. But we do believe that we should speak health over ourselves instead of always saying things like "I can't remember anything; I've got Alzheimer's." You have just cursed yourself and later on you just might develop that particular disease. Always speak good things over yourself and your family and even over other people. Be careful what you say!

I came home and had a message to call my Aunt Rose. We were hoping to go get the furniture tomorrow, but her son is out of town. She said Saturday would be better for her, but I told her I'm going out of town. I need this time away from here. I need a vacation if it's only for one day. So, we're back to square one - don't know when we can get the furniture.

Well, guess I better get to bed. I've got work tomorrow, then I'm off Friday. Will be meeting Deb, her husband and granddaughter for coffee and a little shopping at Hobby Lobby and then meeting Karen for lunch. I've got a busy day Friday. And Friday is Tabitha's birthday. I need to do something special for her.

Good night and God bless.....................

Terrific Tuesday

Wow! I can't believe it! I actually slept all night in our bed without waking up once. Amazing. But, I woke up feeling drugged. I hate that. I don't know why that happens. When I get the "normal" amount of sleep, I feel terrible the next day. When I don't get but a few hours sleep, I have a lot of energy. Yep, Penny, I think you're right - we must be aliens. Everything works just the opposite on us.

Went to work and apologized to Kim about not doing the task codes and having Gene jump down her throat because they were wrong. I told her I would email everybody concerned and take the blame for it. She came around her desk and hugged me and said no way. I asked when did Sheila send the email out saying I would take care of it. I thought maybe it was right after our accident and I just didn't remember. No, it was Jan. 2nd. I was on vacation all that week, so I couldn't have said I would take care of it, unless it was the last week of December that we talked about it and I just don't remember it. If I don't write things down, I forget them within minutes. I may or may not remember it later. It depends on how many things I'm doing at one time. I tend to multi-task, but sometimes that's not a good thing. I'm still thinking I must have talked to Sheila or she wouldn't have sent the email saying I would handle it.

At lunch, I was going to go to Taco Bell and get a taco salad when I started to pass Captain D's. I remembered they had several lobster dishes, so I turned in to order one. I have never eaten lobster before, so I thought I'd see what it tastes like. I ordered the langostino lobster/crab cake dinner. I did not notice what came with it until I got back to work to eat. There was a piece of fish, about 10 popcorn shrimp, fries, hushpuppies, cole slaw and a lobster/crab cake. I ate most of it and was totally miserable. I think the taco salad wouldn't have made me that miserable. It was good, but I'm still not sure what lobster tastes like. Couldn't tell; it was mixed with crab. I just know I was miserable the rest of the afternoon.

Called Mama on the way home. She went for a CT scan today to see if she's eligible for some type of lung surgery. She won't know until she goes back to see her doctor on the 23rd. I sure hope she can have the surgery.

Got some boxes from work and came home and finished unloading the bookcases so Vance can take it apart. We have tons of books. Vance and I are both voracious readers, so we have a lot of books.

On my way to church for P&W practice, I called Karen in Dothan. She and I have the same birthday, so I wanted to wish her an early Happy Birthday. She's going to be in town Friday, so we made plans to meet for lunch. I've decided to take the day off for my birthday holiday. Maybe I can get my fax machine hooked up and straighten up my computer room. I just feel the need to get my house in order. It is such a mess. I'm a packrat and I'm becoming overwhelmed with stuff. I've got to get some organization into my life. I think that's one reason I don't sleep at night. My mind is so full of things that I need to get done.

We're practicing a song that we are really having problems with. I love the song "History Maker", but the musicians are going to have to transpose it into another key. I either have to sing real low or squeal in a higher key. I don't like to squeal, and the lower range is just too low for me. I sound like a barritone. Not pretty. I just haven't been singing, cause it is such a struggle. I think the musicians are going to try to work it out for us. None of the women singers have found a good range. I think Kyle just needs to sing it as a solo. Donna brought in a song by The Lily's called "He Knows My Name." I loved it. The words were so meaningful. I could listen to it over and over all day long. I think we are going to try to get the music for it and do it. What a wonderful worship song.

Well, I guess I better get in bed. It's 11:00 and I'm beginning to get sleepy.

Good night and God Bless.....................

Monday Madness Again

I don't know what is wrong with me. I didn't sleep again last night. Still wasn't feeling too good. When I went to bed, my mind just would not shut off. Plus, the ole acid was back, so I couldn't lay flat. Had to get up within an hour of going to bed and head for the couch. Good thing Daddy has moved out. I don't know what I would have done. Probably slept in the recliner. Finally, around 3:00am this morning, I dozed off just to have to get up again at 6:00.

Made it to work on time and headed for the coffeepot. Felt like I needed a cup to jumpstart my morning. Kim and I talked for a few minutes, then I headed to my office to start the day making corrections of last Friday's timesheets. I needed to box up the rubber gloves, but never got around to it. I'll have to do them first thing in the morning, so we can get them on the truck going back to Pensacola tomorrow.

Daddy called before lunch to ask me if I could get his prescriptions refilled. He wanted to start using Walgreens, so I stopped by his apartment and got his prescription bottles and went to Walgreens. Dropped those off and stopped by Radio Shack to pick up a phone splitter and a cord so I can hook up my fax machine.

Daddy called again before I got off work and asked me to stop by somewhere and pick him up a 3 qt. saucepan and a couple of other things. Ice trays for one. His landlord changed out his refrigerator today and this one doesn't have an icemaker. I found a couple of tops that I liked, so I got them, too. Went by Walgreens and picked up his medicine and headed back to his place. He really likes the apartment and the fact that he has a front porch to sit out on. He got a little sun this morning. I sat around chatting with him for about an hour. He wanted to read over the Power of Attorney papers to see if they fit his needs. He said they did. We'll go see Fran and get them notorized this week. I also need to check and see if there is some type of medical care form that he can sign so I can sign medical forms for him. He's been trying to get me to do this for almost three years now. Guess I've put it off long enough. I told Daddy that I had bought the two shirts on his check and would transfer the money back into his account when I got home. He said "no you won't. Just consider it a gift for your birthday." I tried to argue, but he said he would take no for an answer and I was not to transfer the money into his account. That was sweet of him to even remember that I have a birthday coming up.

Came home around 6:45. Was supposed to go to the Ladies Meeting tonight at church, but decided to help Vance with the unloading of the bookcases in the hall. He can't put down any more of the flooring until he dismantles the floor to ceiling bookcases. We boxed up about 10 boxes of books. Some will go to Goodwill, some will be passed on to others and some will be kept. I just have to go through the boxes at a later date and make that decision. I found two books that my grandmother had given me back in the 60's. No way would I part with them. They didn't even get put in boxes. I put them in my computer room. Found some books that Trent will enjoy. He loves to read. I even found Chad's baby book. I thought I had lost it. It's been missing for years. Glad I found it.

Kim called and it seems I made a mistake that she got blamed for. Sheila had sent me an email to make some type of correction earlier in the year and I didn't do it. I told Kim that I don't remember the email and if it had Blanket Orders in the subject line, I would have deleted it without reading it. We don't use the beach blanket orders, so I just delete the email when Sheila sends it. This was one that they needed me to do something on and I didn't do it. I have wracked by brain all night trying to remember if Sheila called me about this and I can honestly say I don't remember. Of course, my memory isn't what it used to be. If I don't write things down, I forget them in a matter of minutes. Tomorrow, I'm going to get with Kim and find out who I need to send an email to and let them know that I was to blame for the mixup. It really bothers me that Kim got yelled at because of something I didn't do.

Well, it's 11:00 and I guess I need to try to go to bed and get some sleep.

Good night and God bless.........................

Daylight Savings Time

Did any of you forget to set your clocks last night? Vance went around setting ours at 7:00 last night to make sure we didn't forget. I didn't forget, but I almost overslept anyway. Last night, I went to bed and an hour later had to jump up and run for the bathroom. Thought I was going to throw up, but never could. It would get to my throat and come no further. But I sure did feel bad. I don't know if it was what I ate last night (hashbrowns and fried shrimp) or just the acid reflux problem. Anyway, I ended up on the couch propped up on several pillows. I didn't feel good when I woke up this morning, but I had promised Debb I would take her home from church, so I got up and got ready. Felt pretty good at church. Debb didn't come.

Stopped by Sonic and got popcorn chicken for lunch. I still didn't feel too good, but I knew if I didn't eat, it would only get worse. I guess I really need to call the doctor and have another endoscopy to see what's going on. I just don't want to take all their medicines. I need to get back to take my Vemma religiously. I felt so much better when I took it every day. Didn't have the pain in my arms and shoulders, didn't have the indigestion and acid reflux problem, my hair and nails were growing like crazy and I had more energy. Yep, I've got to get in the habit of taking it again every day.

After eating, I laid down on the couch and took a nap. Penny called and wanted to stop by to pick up Swayde's TV. Told her to come on over. I don't get to see her very often. She stays too busy.

After she left, I napped again. Watched the race, read a little in Bad Girls of the Bible. That's really a good book. If you haven't read it, I'd suggest it as good reading material. Liz Curtis Higgs is a good writer and an even better speaker. I really enjoyed her at Hope for the Heart this year. I have a feeling she will be there again next year. We'll have to wait and see, but that's just my feeling. If she is, I will definitely be going again. I think I'm going to order some of her DVD's. She makes the Bible come alive.

Guess I better go to bed. My computer clock says 9:41, but I know it's really 10:41. I've got to figure out how to set the clock. I'll figure that out tomorrow.

Good night and God Bless................

Sunny Day

It was beautiful weather today. Too bad I didn't have some place to go photograph. But, I don't like going gallivanting around by myself. Kim had to babysit all day. We were talking the other day about her chauffering me around when we went on our last photo excursion. She was telling the guys that I become very bossy when I'm looking for just the right picture. I do tend to say "Stop, go back! I just saw something!" She says my aggressive personality comes out. Nobody at work believed her. They've never seen that side of me.

Washed a couple of loads of clothes, then headed out to Best Buy to check on my printer that I had sent off to be repaired and to buy a cheap fax machine. There have been several times that I have needed to receive faxes so I decided to buy a cheap one. Who knows? One day I may be working from home. Whenever our timekeeping system converts to E-STARS, I just might be able to work from home on those days that I'm not feeling too perky. There are several of our Customer Reps who work from home. Anyway, the only fax machines Best Buy had were the scanner, printer, copier, fax machines. I don't need another scanner, copier, printer. I already have two (except one's in the shop). The salesman told me to go across the street to Office Max. Then I went and checked on my Epson printer to see if it had been repaired yet. It took the guy a few minutes to find out, but I've just got to give the Lord more praise. The guy told me that the repairs would cost more than a new printer, so they were sending my printer back and they would trade it out with a new one. Praise the Lord! I have truly been blessed. So, next week, I will be getting a new Epson printer.

Went across the street to Office Max. Found a Brother fax machine that also has an answering machine built in. It was only $79. I'm not fond of Brother products, but the HP was $99 and it didn't have as many features. Now, I've just got to figure out how to hook up a fax machine in the same phone jack as my computer. I wonder if they sell splitters? I've got to go back to Office Max and ask. I could put the fax machine in the kitchen, but that would mean we couldn't use the cordless phones. Vance said he wanted the fax machine in the same room as my computer, even if I have to have another phone line put in. I need to talk to somebody who knows about these things. I really don't want the expense of another phone line.

Headed back home and stopped by the new Lynn Haven Arby's to get a sandwich. Got a steak flatbread. It was pretty good. First time I've tried one of those. Had intended to get a Martha's Vineyard Salad, but got side-tracked. Folded some clothes after eating my sandwich, then went to Wal-Mart. I wanted to find some jeans. Ended up with a pair of jean capri's. Couldn't find any petite regular jeans. And I don't have a good enough sewing machine to hem up a pair of jeans if I have to cut them off. I need to find out where they sell Gloria Vanderbilt jeans. They seem to fit me the best. But, I need them to be on sale when I find them. They are just too expensive at regular price. I look everytime I go to Ross, cause that's where I found my last ones. I haven't had any luck in over a year.

Man, I really am itching to go someplace. I want a vacation! I want to go someplace and take pictures. Dream on, girl. Just dream on! I did not know until the six o'clock news that today was the Scottish Highland Games. I could have gone there. I also didn't know there was a big car show at the beach. I could have gone there. I just am never home when those things are announced on TV and I don't ever read a newspaper. It has to be word-of-mouth or I don't know about what's happening around town. The flowers are blooming and it's so beautiful outside.

Well, I really need to get to bed since Daylight Saving Time begins tonight. I don't want to be late for church tomorrow.

Good night and God Bless...............

Friday at Last!

I'm so glad it's Friday. I got up, took my bath and washed my hair. Usually I try to dry it and straighten it, but I just didn't have the time this morning. As I was putting on my makeup, I was having a problem with my curly hair getting in my eyes. When it's curly, it has a mind of it's own and just goes where it wants to. I brushed it out of my eyes and could still see something right in front of my eyes. I got the feeling that I should step back and when I did, I realized it wasn't my hair that was in front of my eyes - it was a spider hanging on a web from the ceiling! I HATE SPIDERS!!! A spider caused me to break my foot five years ago trying to kill it. So, I started jumping up and down screaming "Oh, Jesus! Oh, Jesus! Jesus, help me!....." I was shaking like a leaf. I grabbed the toilet brush and got the spider on it, then I took my shoe and killed it. Now, it wasn't one of those hairy, ugly spiders. It was one of the skinny, ugly spiders. I really don't care what they look like. I'm scared of spiders. And I have to kill them when I see them, because I'm so afraid one is going to get on me. I've dove out of cars because of a spider dropping down in front of my face - slammed on brakes, pulled to the side of the road and dove out of the car until I could kill the spider. Oh, yes, I really have a "thing" about spiders. I'm glad Vance was already gone to work. He would have thought I was crazy. Kim had a good laugh when I told her about it. Needless, to say, my hair stayed curly today.

I went to Bay Medical to have the bloodwork done that I was supposed to have done back in January. But, with all that happened to Daddy, I forgot about it. Decided I better get it done today. Didn't take long and the girl did a great job at finding the vein and drawing the blood. Sometimes, they have to stick me more than once. I have small, rolling veins. After I got it done, I stopped by the coffee booth and treated myself to a Mocha Latte, then headed to work.

Was busy all day with timesheets. Plus, the guys are back doing ARMS, so I had them calling all morning. I really like inputing the orders, so it doesn't bother me to have to stop and take down the information from them.

I went to Cato's at lunch. I've been wanting a pair of dark brown jeans and I found a pair, but they are capri's. I liked them and bought them anyway. Couldn't find any full length dark brown ones in my size. Also, got a shirt set in teal. That seems to be the rage this year. It's got me wanting to paint Vance's old bedroom a light teal and paint the bedroom furniture in a chocolate brown. I saw it on HGTV and it was beautiful.

Came home and paid bills. Vance was outside using the blower to get rid of the leaves on the driveway. My Aunt Rose called. She had gotten a letter from the lawyer about the house and wanted to know if Daddy had gotten one. Daddy hasn't gotten any mail for the past couple of weeks. She was going to fax it to me, but I don't have a fax machine, and I don't remember how to set my computer up to accept faxes. (I'm going to go to Best Buy tomorrow and buy a cheap one.) I just jumped in the car and went over to her house. My cousin, Cindy, was there. She's been remodeling the bathroom, so she's sleeping there some nights. We sat around and talked from 7:30-10:30. We are supposed to be able to go to the house this Thursday and get the furniture out. I guess I'll have to find somebody to go with me to move it. Maybe Tabitha won't have to work that night and I can get Chad to go with me and Vance. There is no way Vance can move that heavy furniture by himself. Maybe I can find somebody from work to go with us.

My emotions are much better today. I've had a really good day. Now, it's time to get to bed.

Good night and God bless..................

Better Today

Yep, I'm sure it was hormones. I'm in a much better mood today. Guess the weepiness is over. Praise God!

Was pretty busy at work. Had several calls from a couple of other timekeepers asking for help in putting in the double time for the storm crews that went to Americus, GA over the weekend. I was able to answer all their questions, but I still haven't had time to put my crew's time in. Tomorrow is timesheet day, so I guess I will have to get it done then.

Kim and I went to Chili's for lunch. That's the only time we can go. Vance doesn't like their steaks, so we won't be going there together. Kim can't afford to take four people with her, so we try to go every few weeks. Today, we were trying to be good until she looked at the dessert menu conveniently lying on the table. Yeah, we had to do it. We ordered the Molten Chocolate Cake, but we did split it. Of course, that thing is so big, we could have split it with two more people. Miserable afterwards? You know it! And Kim ended up getting sick. I think it was too much cilantro on the tapilia. She swears they poisoned her with hemlock. I didn't get sick, so we know for sure it wasn't dessert.

Had to take off at 3:30 to take Daddy to the doctor. The doctor walked in and immediately asked Daddy what was wrong with his right shoulder. Daddy has been having trouble with his right arm - can hardly use it at all. The doc seems to think he might have injured it getting out of his trailer when it was burning. He told him he had to exercise it or he would lose all use of it. He wants to send him for therapy. I don't know if I can take him as often as he should go. I won't have any vacation left at all and will have to start getting my pay docked later in the year.

Mama called after she went to the doctor. He wanted to put her in the hospital to clear up the congestion in her lungs, but she refused. He gave her a prescription for steriods. She is going to be tested on the 13th to see if she is a candidate for some type of surgery where they scrape the lungs to remove the emphysma. I could tell she wanted me to take her for the test, but that really is no big deal. It's just a CT scan. Now, if she has the surgery, I will definitely take off and go to that. But, a CT scan, she can drive herself to. I think she is going to ask my aunt to take her.

I feel so pulled in so many directions. I have to do everything for Daddy cause nobody else will and now Mama is going to start needing somebody to do everything for her. Guess who that will fall on? Me, cause everybody else just has too much going on. I don't even get to take a vacation for myself, cause I'll need the time to take off for doctor's appointments for my parents.

Sometimes I get so upset at my parents because they let their addictions cause these illnesses. Mama smoked from the time she was 8 years old until just a couple of years ago and now she has emphysma. Daddy smoked and drank since he was about 8 and he has nerve damage in his legs and an enlarged prostate and he could bleed to death if he drinks.

Did I say I was over the weepiness? Well, guess what! It's back. I was over at Mama's last night trying to show her again how to work the cell phone and she seemed put out that I go to church so much. Well, you know what? If I didn't have my faith to keep me strong and my church family to help me, I'd probably not be around to take care of everybody. I'd probably have an addictive personality just like them and I'd be dead. So, praise God, I have Him to carry me through when things get bad. I know I can count on Jesus when I can't count on anybody else. He's my rock, my fortress, my provider, my healer, my deliverer. I'm an overcomer because of Him. And I know that He will help me do whatever needs to be done. And He will provide all my needs because I am His child and He loves me no matter what.

Well, I better go to bed and try to get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be another busy day.

Good night and God bless...................because He really blesses me!

Weepy Wednesday

Do you ever have days where you seem to cry at the least little thing? Well, yesterday and today were those kind of days. Don't know why everything seemed to affect me that way. Even funny things made me cry. And there's nothing going on in my life that would cause me to be so weepy. Hormones, I guess. I can always blame it on hormones.

It was a real busy day at work. I helped Kim with some of her work, then we got the faxes of the timesheets for the crews that went to Americus, GA to help restore power to those hit by the tornadoes. Had to decipher those.

Kim and I went to Subway for lunch and got salads. We are really trying to do better with our eating habits. Talked to a young lady who had an 18 month old little boy. He was so cute. We noticed her signing to him and asked her about it. She said that a lady in her church had taught sign to her and she was teaching it to her little boy. She said he caught on real quick and it was great being able to communicate with him before he could talk. I've heard that children who learn sign language don't have as much trouble in the terrible 2's because the trouble is usually caused from them not being able to communicate. Makes sense to me. I think it is a wonderful thing. Jodi signs to Keyan; Tonya signs to Mario and I'm sure Michelle will sign to Fox when he gets a little older.

Yesterday, I took Mama her cell phone that I bought her for Christmas. She kept saying she didn't think she would ever use one, so I just never took it to her. But I decided that maybe she would use it if she had it. Showed her how to use it. She called me today and couldn't get it to turn on, so I went back over there when I got off work. She just wasn't holding the button down long enough. Hopefully, she will know how to use it if she needs it when she's away from the house.

Had to rush home, brush my teeth, kiss Vance and head for church. We had a good service. Pastor showed a short film on "Rain". It was really a good example of how God loves us. It was about a man with his little one-year old baby boy who were walking around a lake and got caught in a bad thunderstorm. The little boy started screaming and the daddy took him in his arms and held him close to his heart and kept saying over and over that it would be okay and that he loved him. That's the way God is with us when we are screaming out to him for help. He takes us in His arms and tells us that He loves us and will see us through whatever it is that we are going through.

On the way home, Tabitha called and told me that I knew the little boy's mother that Trent plays with since they moved into their house. She used to play ball with me. I couldn't believe it when she said Belinda. I was just thinking about Belinda last week, wondering where she was and how she was doing. I got so excited. I will definitely be going over to see Belinda when I go visit Chad and Tabitha. She and I used to go to church together, sign together, play softball together, sing in the choir together, mime together. She and I have history together. I used to say that she could be my daughter because I was old enough to be her mother and I'd claim her if her parents ever gave her up. I believe I was told that Belinda teaches Children's Church now. She would be good at that. She came up under Mrs. Sandi. I can't wait to see her. Tabitha will love her. Chad already knows her, so they can feel good about Trent going over to her house. He will be safe there.
This is a picture of our sign group back in the 80's. I'm sitting on the far left and Belinda is sitting on the far right. We were in Tallahassee and we signed on the steps of the House of Representatives. We were there for an Intercessory Prayer Conference. I miss those days.

I need to go to bed now. Another work day tomorrow and I have to take Daddy to the doctor tomorrow afternoon.

Good night and God bless........................

Marvelous Monday

Woke up around 3:30 and moved to the couch. When I woke up at 6:00, I didn't have a headache. I'm beginning to think my problem is my memory pillow. I think it's just too hard for my head. Looks like I'm going to have to go pillow shopping. I was fine when I woke up this morning; first time without a headache in several days.

Work was about normal for a Monday. It was cool today, but a beautiful day. If the wind hadn't been blowing, it would have been perfect.

Kim and I went at lunch to see the Duncan Fife drop-leaf table that I had on lay-a-way. I wanted it for my living room, but I don't think it's going to work in there now. I wanted to be able to pull it out, pull the leafs up and have room for all of us whenever the kids came over to eat instead of using card tables. I may just have to put it in my angel/computer room instead. We got food at KFC and then went and looked at a house that's for sale. It has a mother-in-law apartment in the big backyard. It's an older house, but I see a lot of potential. Kim is going to check on it and see what it looks like on the inside. The big house is empty, but someone is living in the apartment and they have a lease until December. You can tell they party, cause we saw beer cans everywhere. I told her leases can be broken and if it's meant for her to have it, we'll just pray that those people will move out before she moves in. She wants the little house for herself and the big house for her daughter and three granddaughters.

Daddy found out his social security check had been sent back to Jacksonville. I guess somebody stopped the mail from going to Grandmama's house. He spent $10.00 worth of time on his phone trying to call the social security office to get his check sent to his new address. Never did get through to them. We will probably have to go down there and just sit and wait for somebody to help him.

I went to the beginning class of the new 12-step program we are starting at church. We had five (six if I include myself) who signed up to go through the program. I'm planning on helping with the program, but decided to try to kick the addictive food habit that I have while I'm at it. I do have an addictive personality as far as food is concerned. Most people do drugs or alcohol; I do food, mainly sweets. So, I may as well go through the program to see how it works so I can help others later. What can it hurt? Maybe I'll be able to kick the habit and lose some weight.

Well, I'm getting tired, so I better get in bed. Good night and God bless..................