I Did It! Got My First Week's Food from Jenny Craig

We are having so many problems with these new programs they have installed in work. They just don't communicate to each other and we're having labor charges being doubled, material being doubled. It seems none of the jobs are working out right. Kim and I have not been able to do our jobs the past two or three days, because we are having to make adjustments for things that we didn't do. I go into my timekeeping program and everything has been put in right, but another program doubles the charges. Then, they send me emails to delete the charges from my timekeeping program. I don't think the corrections should be done on my end. What I have entered is what was on the timesheets. If it is showing up in another program wrong, I think that's the program that should be adjusted. But, what do I know?

At lunch, I went to Jenny Craig and signed up officially and paid my money and got a week's supply of food. Fran has said that everything she has eaten is very good and she's a picky eater. If Fran likes it, it has to be good. I rushed home and threw everything into the freezer and headed to pick up Hope. But, Tabitha called and said Chad had gotten sick at work and would go by and pick up Hope. She told me that he has been sick about a week and a half and for me to call him and suggest he go to the doctor. I called him and he said he just wanted to go to sleep. Tabitha called back and said they were at the walk-in clinic and that they took him right back because they said he looked weak and malnourished. He has lost weight and Chad is skinny anyway (just like his daddy), so I imagine he does look bad.

The devil tried to put fear in me and tell me he was sick like Earl. I had to pray hard over that. I sent an email for the intercessors to pray for him and then I sent an email to my boss and told him I had to leave and go see about him. My boss was already gone for the day, but I have to document things like that. As I got to the clinic, Tabitha and the kids were walking out. Chad was already in his truck. They did bloodwork and said his blood count was good and it just showed that he had a flu-like virus. Gave him a prescription for Fennegrin (nausea pills) and told him to go home and go to bed. He took a note from them to work showing that he wouldn't be able to work tomorrow. He was supposed to pull a double.They were very understanding.

But, he did have some great news. He made an "A" on his food handling test - higher grade than his manager. I knew he could do it! I'm so proud of him. Now, this will give him the confidence to get his GED if he can get off long enough from work to be able to take the classes. They are working him from open to close most days. Doesn't leave time for family, much less school. Please pray for him.

Tabitha and I went to Hope for the Heart. It was great. Babbie Mason and Donna Douglas are so good together. Babbie has an awesome voice. And Donna writes most of the songs. I'm looking forward to seeing the CD's and books available tomorrow. Sat with Fran, Joquita, Pat, Becky, Flo and Maxine. Flo and Maxine signed up for Jenny Craig today, too. They are so funny. They walked into the center with Starbucks coffee. We can have coffee unlimited, but certainly not Starbucks! :>)

Got to see Kresta's newest baby, Sadie. She's six weeks old. Has a headful of hair. She's beautiful. Got to see Heather, Kresta's twin sister; and Darby their mother. Darby came to the platform to get me after the service was over so I could meet Sadie. Also saw and talked to Theresa Melvin. Her son now has a baby girl and Johnny (her husband) told her before the baby was born "Now, don't go overboard on this baby. It is not going to change our lives." She said the other day, he was holding her and said "She's beautiful and so sweet", then he kissed her on the cheek. Yeah, this baby is not going to change their lives. I think she's already changed his. That is so funny to me. She's just a few weeks old and already has him wrapped around her little finger.

Took Tabitha home and prayed for Chad. He still feels so bad. Got home and Dexter had called. He is Chad's best friend and the one who gave Chad the truck he's driving. Dexter has been going to the revival all week - the one I went to Monday night. He said Sunday they would be having a salvation/healing service and he called Chad and asked him to go. Chad said if he was feeling better, he would go. Dexter asked me to pray and believe with him that Chad will get healed from head to toe throughout his whole body, etc. God had put the exact same words in my mouth as I was praying for Chad. Everything Dexter said was what I had prayed, so we are in agreement with one another. We are both believing that Chad will go to church and his life will be changed forever. And if Chad and Tabitha and the kids decide to go to Dexter's church, then I'm all for it. I will miss them terribly, but I want them where God calls them and where they will get what they need. I also asked Dexter to pray that Chad's friends who have abandoned him will not come back into his life. They were all users and too when Chad lost his job, they all left. He couldn't feed them every day. There were several of his friends that would come every day and mooch off of them. Just take and take, but never give back. These were people who made twice as much money as Chad and Tabitha. Now that Chad has a job, they are wanting to start coming around again. They call, but Chad won't return their calls - Praise the Lord. I'm praying for Dexter to introduce him to some really good Christian young families. I would love for he and Tabitha to have the kind of friends that Vance and Michelle have. Friends that can be counted on when you are in need. None of Chad and Tabitha's friends offered to help them with food or other needs when he lost his job. Vance and Michelle's friends would have been bringing food every night. Pray for those kinds of friends for Chad and Tabitha.

Guess I better get to bed. Have to be back at church at 8:00 tomorrow morning for breakfast. Blessings to all.............

Jenny Craig, Here I Come! Valerie, Move Over!!!

Well, I was torn about going to Jenny Craig until I talked to Fran this morning. She started today and said the food was very good. I researched it online and WebMD seems to think it's a good program. I went at lunch and talked to Jessica. She used to work for LA Weight Loss, so we had a lot in common. She really likes the program and did not push for me to go with the most expensive program. Because I have a few health issues, she has to contact my doctor to get permission for me to join. I'm sure my doctor will give the OK. The reason I have these health issues is because of my weight. My doctor said if I'd just lose weight, I wouldn't have anything to worry about. I go back tomorrow at lunch if they get the OK. When I got home, I asked Vance about it and he told me he wants me to sign up for the full program. He wants to keep me around for a few more years and my weight could prevent that if I don't do something soon. I'll be getting a bonus next Friday, so that will pay off some bills, so we can afford to do this. And the really good part is that I won't be doing it alone. This time, I'll have four other friends to compare notes with. I also like the fact that you don't have to go three times a week to weigh in. You just go once a week to weigh and pick up next week's food. If I get the okay tomorrow, I'll get my food and start on Sunday. I've got Hope for the Heart tomorrow night and Saturday, so I decided to start on Sunday. It will also make it easy for me to go every Saturday and pick up my food - unless I'm out of town, then I can go earlier. That will give me a reason to get out of bed on Saturday mornings.

Had a very busy day at work. Didn't have to pick up Hope today, but now I wish I had. Tabitha was rear-ended going home. If I had picked up Hope, she wouldn't have gotten in the accident. It didn't hurt her car or Hope, but she said her head and shoulders hurt. That's from hitting the headrest. Same thing happened to me when I was in the wreck in Vance's truck two years ago. But, x-rays showed everything was alright. I told her if she kept hurting to go and get x-rays taken.

Daddy called and said the remote I got for his TV wasn't working and he needed me to get him another one. I called Radio Shack and they said the one they gave him should work. If not, bring it back and they'd give me the money back. So, I went on-line to see if I could find a site to buy from and found several. I went after work to Daddy's and was going to get all the info so I could order one. But, before I took it, I decided to try and set it up myself. In less than five minutes, I had it working. Surprised the heck out of me. Made me feel good about myself. I may be over 50, but you can still teach this dog new tricks! :>)

Now, I'm going to do something that I did when I lost weight with LA Weight Loss. I took pictures of myself throughout the entire journey and made an album. If I can find the album, I'll post it one day. But, today will start the beginning of my Jenny Craig Journey. Consider this Day 1 even though I'm not officially on the program yet. I've posted my first two pictures and I'll try to take a picture each week I'm on the program and you can follow my progress. I'm even going to do something most women wouldn't dream of doing - I'm going to be very honest and tell you my weight as I go through this journey. And, if they measure me, I'll post that, too. LAWL used a copy of my album to encourage others that they could lose the weight. Too bad Daddy got sick and I never got to go through maintenance and learn how to keep the weight off. Plus, I didn't have time to cook for myself because I was running him to the doctor several times a week. So, I started skipping meals and had to go for fast food that I could eat on the run. That caused me to gain all my weight back, plus 10 lbs. Today's weight is 209.4 lbs. I'm getting excited about this new phase of my life. I will grow old and see my grandchildren grow up and get married. I may even be the photographer at their weddings.

Blessings to you all.............

Should I Sign Up For Jenny Craig?

That is the question. Several of my friends have signed up with Jenny Craig to lose weight and feel that I should, too. I know I do better with structured diets at Weight Loss Centers. I considered going back to LA Weight Loss, but they closed here. That was really the best diet program I've ever been on. My only problem is I don't have time to cook all the good stuff I know I'm supposed to eat. Heck, I'm never home long enough and I sure don't feel like cooking after 10:00. Vance does all the cooking here (God bless him), but he doesn't cook anything but meat and potatoes, pasta and stuff like that. Absolutely no vegetables. The only time I get anything green is if I eat a salad for lunch. So, I'm trying to decide if I want to invest money in getting healthy.

This morning, I woke up with a migraine. I took my migraine medicine, called and left a message with my boss and climbed back into bed. Had to cover my head with the blanket cause the light coming through the windows hurt my eyes. I slept till around 9:30 and thankfully the headache was gone. Got my shower and was just about to walk out the door when Kim called to tell me Debb had been taken to the hospital by ambulance. She was out walking her dog and they found her unconscious on the ground. She had had a seizure. Carol from church went and sat with her and carried her back home. There is nothing the doctors can do after a seizure except bloodwork to determine if you have the right amount of medication in your blood. She was low in something. Then they just send you home to rest. I picked up lunch for Kim and me and we ate when I got to work.

Fran called and told me all about her visit with the Jenny Craig counselor and told me I needed to sign up. She also told me that she and several of her friends walk the bridge every day. I wouldn't be able to do it most days, because I'm not home before 5:30. But after the days get longer, they will go later and I should be able to go with them.

I had to pick up Hope after school. Yesterday, when I picked her up, they had a baggie full of snow to take home. I just dropped it in her backpack. When Tabitha came to pick her up, she showed it to us. It was cold! So, today I asked her teacher how did they make the snow. She showed me the jar of powder. I think it's called LiquiSnow (really not sure), but they have it at school supply stores. She said they used five jars about a month ago and made a sandbox full of the stuff and let the kids play in the "snow." She even made some for me to take home. It is so cool. I don't know what it is made of, but it has to be non-toxic for kids to use it. It would be fun to play with the kids. I may have to buy some since we don't get snow in Florida. I don't know if you could make snowballs or not. That would be fun if you could. I can see Hope and Trent having snowball fights. Fun, fun, fun!

Hope got her hair cut Monday. Check out the picture above. Doesn't she look cute? Trent got his cut, but I don't have a picture of him. His is still pretty long. The lady said his was beginning to turn curly. Oh boy! He's going to hate that. I gave him a flat iron when I got my new one, so he will probably be using it a lot in the years to come. Or, going to get his hair straightened like I do. I absolutely love my hair now that I can straighten it. Even though I've got three friends who would love for me to let it go curly again. They loved it curly. That's because they all have straight hair.......We are never satisfied, are we?

Looking forward to Friday night and Saturday - Hope for the Heart. Babbie Mason and Donna Douglas will be the guest speakers. I know it's going to be good.

I went to a revival Monday night at First Assembly. Saw several miracles. God is still healing people. One lady was blind in her right eye - couldn't see a thing out of that eye. She left seeing out of both eyes. Another lady couldn't walk without help. She left walking on her own. So many miracles happened. The revival is still going on, but I won't be able to go back. Tomorrow is the only night I have to spend at home with Vance. I need to wash clothes, too.

Well, it's after midnight, so I better get to bed. Goodnight and God bless.........

Storm Messed Up My Inner Ear

Last night, we had a storm and I guess that's what messed with my inner ear (or fluid in my ears), cause I ended up getting dizzy. I have a little weather band radio that will go off in case of a weather warning of some type. I went to bed and slept about an hour, then got up feeling sick so I moved to the couch so I could prop myself up.

Probably about an hour later, I was awakened by the radio going off. I sat up and immediately fell back on the pillows - dizzy. I was so dizzy I don't even remember what the warning was about. It could have said there was a tornado over my house and I wouldn't have heard it. I turned it off and layed back down. I don't remember Vance kissing me goodbye, but I had an alarm set so I tried to get up and get ready for work. No way; too dizzy. I do remember calling my boss and Kim and telling them that I would try to be in around lunch if I didn't get any worse. Went back to sleep and slept till 10:00. Felt better, so I got up and took a shower. That's something I would not have done if I had been dizzy. I have a fear of falling in the shower, knocking myself out (or worse) and having paramedics pick me up completely naked. I do not want to be found the way I came into this world. I don't care what they do to my body after I'm dead - I am not opposed to an autopsy and I would gladly give my organs to someone in need if they are in good enough shape.

I got lunch and went to work around noon. Worked all afternoon with no problems. Thank You, Lord! I thought I was going home at 4:45, but got some more timesheets faxed to me, so I stayed and finished them so I wouldn't have a backlog tomorrow. I don't want to be rushed tomorrow.

It was a beautiful, sunny day today. Gorgeous outside. A beautiful day to take pictures and I was locked away in an office. Thank the Lord for my job. I'll sit inside as long as I have a job. But, the other day, I did take a picture of the Ice Cream Cone down the street from the office. It was built sometime around the early
80's. Someone said 1981. It had the best peach milkshakes back then. Then, it closed for several years. Somebody just reopened it the end of last year. I haven't stopped in yet, but I need to give it a try one day. Anyway, that's the story behind the picture today.

Got a call from a long-lost friend. She was in need of help getting power turned on. Hopefully, they were able to get to her this afternoon. She's moving into an apartment with nothing - no furniture, no pots and pans, nothing. I wish she had called when I was getting rid of all the stuff in my house. I'm going at lunch tomorrow and see what I can pick up for her.

Now, I think I will try to go to bed and get some sleep.

Calling 911

We had the strangest thing happen late Friday night. It was raining and I was on the computer reading Facebook and blogs, playing solitaire, etc. Around 12:15am, the phone rang. Well, that's not a good time for a phone to ring when you have kids who live out of town, a mother with emphysma, a dad whose health isn't perfect, family, family, family living here. Get the picture??? Fear tried to grip your heart before you can even say hello. I answered the phone and heard "Hello, this is the L.H. Police Department. Are you alright? We just received a 911 call from this number." I said, "No, not from this number. I've not touched my phone and my husband is asleep. It couldn't have been this phone." "Well, we have an officer on the way to check on you." I said, "Thank you." and waited for the officer to come. A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door and a police officer was standing on my porch. I asked him in while he was asking me questions. I had to produce my license to prove that I was who I said I was. He said sometimes the rain will cause a phone to dial 911. I never knew that. He left and I went to bed.

Next morning, Vance leaves for golf. I'm asleep on the couch and someone is knocking on my door. It's 8:15. I open the door and there's another police officer standing on my porch. They got another 911 call from our phone. I assured him I was okay and he said to call the phone company and have them come out and check the phone lines. I did and they said they would send someone out. Then, I got a little paranoid. What if someone was tapping into the phone line and dialing 911 and getting the police to come out several times. Would they come out if I really needed them? What if we were being stalked? I have been stalked twice in my life and it's very scary. Once as a 14year old. The guy would call and tell me what I had on, where I had gone that day, who I had talked to, etc. He was following me everywhere. I never saw him, but I got so scared every time the phone rang. This went on a couple of weeks. Finally, he called on a Saturday. We were out in the yard talking to my aunt. I freaked out, started shaking all over and crying. My poor aunt didn't know what to think. Mama ran in the house, answered the phone and cussed the guy out, told him the phone was being monitored by the police and he never called back. I was still scared to go anywhere and wouldn't go anywhere alone or be alone at the house. We never heard from him again and I don't know how much longer he watched me.

Then, after Vance and I got married, an old boyfriend started stalking me. He would sit out in front of our house and watch me. My next door neighbor came over and told me there was a guy watching the house. I looked out and sure enough, it was him. This went on for weeks until he followed us to a tennis court, walked out on the court, introduced himself to Vance and said "I'm -----. I just want you to know that I care deeply for your wife and if I ever hear that you are mistreating her, I'm coming after you." He turned and walked away and never even looked my way. We never saw him again, but I heard from someone at church that he had told them that he was in love with me and he better not ever hear that Vance was mistreating me in any way. I don't really guess you could call him a boyfriend, cause I only went out with him in a group from church. I never even kissed the guy. I remember he called about an hour before my wedding and tried to talk me out of getting married. That's the first indication I had that he really cared for me more than just friendship. I don't know if he ever got married. A friend told me that he always asked about me when he came into town and that went on for about 12 years. He had gotten a good job making a lot of money and traveled all over the world. I sure hope he found a good wife. Why on earth would anybody care that much for me when I had never really known them that well? Like I told Vance tonight - in high school, I was one of the invisible ones. Very quiet, never got in trouble, never called attention to myself, very, very shy; not involved in any clubs. Invisible......

How did I get off on this? I guess those 911 calls just brought all this back to my memory. Something I had buried deep inside until I started typing. Weird, huh? I guess that's why I became a little worried that someone might be messing with the phone lines. But, I'm too old and fat for anybody to want me now, so that should not be a worry. :>)

Vance called me around 10:00 Saturday to tell me that I had a flat tire. Good thing Ruth had called and postponed the photo shoot because of the rain. It would have really upset me to go get in the car and not be able to go. Of course, Ruth would have come and gotten me. We had already talked about that. So, I sat home all day, wanting to go someplace, anyplace..... Just cleaned house. Bummer! And Vance was late coming home because they sat in the club house for a long time waiting on the rain to stop. Some Valentine's Day I had! All alone, except for the dogs, a police officer and a phone repairman. Oh, he found out what was wrong with the phone. It seems the box we are connected in had been run over and crushed. He said it was a long time ago (probably when Chris had his fence put up). One of the wires got a short in it and the rain caused it to dial 911. He disconnected us and connected us someplace else until they could come out on Monday and replace the box. That eased my mind.

Sunday, we had a good church service. Pastor Sammy and Mrs. Sandi tag-teamed preached. It's always good when they do that. They were preaching on the idols we all have that keep us away from spending time with God - like TV, sports, hobbies, Facebook....ouch!

After church, I went to Chad and Tabitha's for lunch. Tab's mama was down and we all enjoyed time together. I walked in and there was this beautiful chocolate brown shag rug in front of their couch. I said "I like your rug." Tabitha said "My Father in heaven gave that to me." Then she explained how she had just been driving and decided to go see a friend. As she drove down her road, she saw the rug on the side of the road. Thrown out with the trash. She spent a few minutes with her friend and came back by the rug. She passed it and then decided to turn around and check it out. She figured it must be all stained up or something, so she rolled it out and there was nothing wrong with it. It looks brand new and there was a matching runner to go with it. God is so good. It looks great in her living room. We looked at the back of it and it really does look brand new.

I came home and took a long nap. I've had a headache since Friday. Sinuses I guess. I almost didn't go to work cause I was feeling puny, but I pushed myself anyway. Still had the headache, but I managed to forget about it while I was working. Had my performance evaluation and got a really good one. We talked about the new timekeeping system and how my office is really noisy in the morning and hard to concentrate. He told me I could come in any time I wanted to as long as I got my 8 hours in or just hang out at the coffee pot or talk to Kim until my office cleared out. He knows that I am faithful to my job and will work the 8 hours or more, so I am officially cleared to work flex-time. I told him to please communicate that to the guys so they won't think I'm just coming in late. He said he would. I get so much work done in the afternoon after 3:30 when I'm alone and between 12:00 and 1:00 when they shut down for lunch. I try to go to lunch at 11:00 so I can be there while they are gone. I probably get as much accomplished during that hour as I've done all morning. We would love to find me an office by myself, but there are none available.

Okay, it's now almost 1:00A.M. Tuesday morning, so I guess I better get to bed. I'm not tired or sleepy, but I need to at least try to sleep. Goodnight and God bless....

Happy Wednesday!

Can you believe how fast time is flying by? We're already into February. I'm just getting over Christmas. No, wait, I'm not over it yet. I just realized I still have my little bitty Christmas tree still up. But, take off the Christmas bow on top and you've got a tree with nothing but angels on it, so I guess I could leave it up all year if I wanted to. Nobody comes to visit anyway and Vance doesn't care how I decorate. One year, I left my large tree up until after Valentine's day. I just took the Christmas ornaments off and put roses and baby's breath on it. I thought it looked pretty for Valentine's Day. Then, I took it down the next day. I don't know yet when I'll take down my angel tree. It adds a bright spot in that corner of the living room.......

Boy, did I have a busy day yesterday. Was off Monday, so I had to play catch-up. Tabitha called to see if I could pick up Hope from school and Daddy called to remind me that he had a doctor's appointment at 3:15. All morning, I was busy trouble-shooting and putting out fires because of our new accounting/timekeeping system. Our systems just don't seem to be talking to one another and that's not good. So, I got calls from Pensacola requesting help, which I was very glad to do. I like the detective part of finding out the problem. I think I mentioned in an earlier post that I wanted to be a police officer, but could not afford to go to college. Went to work as a secretary instead. But, I'm getting off the subject here. I knew that I would have to leave around 1:45, so I jumped right into finding out the information to help the lady in P'cola. She couldn't give me much info to go on, but I ran a few reports and came up with just the right information she needed in less time than we both thought was possible. I was pleased that I could help her immediately and not have to put her off another day.

I was running late this morning, so I forgot to grab something from home for lunch and couldn't stop at Sonic (too crowded) for a breakfast burrito. So, no breakfast. I was so engrossed in the research I was doing that I totally forgot about lunch. Thankfully, my body didn't remind me or I would have been miserable.

At 1:45, I shut down my computer and left to pick up Hope. (Had already cleared it with my boss.) Since Tabitha has my booster seat (I think her sister left with Hope's car seat), I couldn't stand transporting Hope without proper restraint. I've seen way to many videos about children getting their necks broken or flying out of a regular seat belt. So, I picked her up and cautiously drove to Target - about a mile away. We bought a new booster seat and I installed it in the parking lot, put her in it and we headed across town to pick up Daddy. He was waiting outside for us. Drove back across town to his doctor's appointment. The nurses fell in love with Hope and gave her magazines to take home. She was so polite and talked to them all. She's very well-behaved. After leaving the doctor's office, Daddy wanted to go to AT&T and get a new phone. He's been having a lot of trouble with his old one. So, we went to the store and a very nice lady (the manager) showed us the phones, then told us to go to Target or Radio Shack to buy one. She said it would be so much cheaper. God bless her. She didn't have to do that, but she was just so sweet. So, back in the car, I called Tabitha and she had just finished up her shift. By now, it's 4:00. So, we drive about 3 miles to drop Hope off with her, then back across town to Radio Shack to buy Daddy a phone. Yes, it was much cheaper - about $50 cheaper. Got that taken care of and stopped at the drug store to pick up Daddy's medicine and then I took him home. I wish I had checked the odometer to see how many miles I drove. Quite a few, I do know that. I got home at 5:30 and was starving. It finally hit me that I had missed eating all day. We had a Healthy Choice Steamer that I popped in the microwave and ate. Then, I had to go to praise & worship practice. Worked on two really good songs. Had so much fun. We have the best group of people on the platform. We never have any arguments and Karen is always open to any music anybody wants to bring in. After I got home, I ate a sandwich and half a baked potato. And, then I worked for two hours making up the time I was off.

Today was a busy day, too. But, I didn't have any calls from P'cola. I did have to make some adjustments to the Ice Storm Team's timesheets. That took almost all day to do. Picked up Hope and brought her back to the office for about 20 minutes before Tabitha could pick her up. She worked at "her desk" drawing me pictures while I worked on timesheets.

Went to church tonight and Pastor Jim preached on "God's Stimulus Package for America". It was really good. If we just follow the Bible, we wouldn't be in the mess we're in now. The main scripture was II Chronicles 7:14 (I think)"If My people will humble themselves and pray and turn from their wicked ways........" Then, he went to Deuteronomy. I'll have to check my notes tomorrow and let you know where. It was a really good message.

Kim and I may be going to Tennessee for four days in March to celebrate my birthday. Sylvia has a house in Tennessee that she has said we could stay in. Hopefully, Sylvia will be recovered from her knee surgery that she had today and we can all go together. We can't go the week of my birthday, because I have to do timesheets, but we are planning on the Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the next week. I would love it! I'm already thinking of all the pictures I could take.

Speaking of pictures, I've got a senior portrait shoot on Saturday for one of the youth that used to go to our church and they have been coming back the past two Sundays. I'm hoping the family comes back for good. We've all missed them terribly.

Well, it's almost midnight, so I better go to bed. Goodnight and God bless.........

My Angels Were Watching Over Me

My day started out pretty normal. Woke up when Vance kissed me goodbye as he was on his way to play golf. I rolled over for about 30 more minutes, then got up. Made myself some coffee, cleaned the kitchen, washed a load of clothes, checked my email, then got ready to go out and shoot some pictures.

My first stop was at Seldom Rest Antiques to give Cindee the pictures I had taken last Saturday. Ran into a friend of mine from church. We all talked for awhile, then I went to Sonic and got a corndog and sweet tea. Ate the corndog and decided to go down to the marina and see of I could spot the osprey and the bald eagle that Olga's husband has spotted down there.

When I got past Tally Ho, a police car was blocking the road, so I had to detour. I drove through Bay High's parking lot and proceeded south on Magnolia. Every time I came to an intersection, I would look right to see if Harrison was blocked and it was. I did not realize there was a Mardi Gras parade today. I don't keep up with stuff like that. I never read the newspaper. There's never any good news, so why read it? When I got to Magnolia and 6th St. the light turned red. I stopped and waited. It turned green and I looked right again as I took my foot off the brake and the next thing I knew, I saw a blur on my left and then there was a jolt and I saw a silver car spinning to the right of me. He had run the red light and I had hit him in the back passenger door. I glanced up at the light and it turned from yellow to red as I went under it. I stopped in the middle of the intersection and just sat there not believing what had just happened. Of course, the police were there in a matter of minutes since they had the streets blocked off for the parade. I tried to call Vance, but couldn't get him to answer before a policeman walked up to my door and asked if I was okay. He then told me to drive the car into the gas station lot. I did. I got out and looked at my car. Just the bumper and grill were messed up. The other car had spun and just missed hitting a power pole head-on. The damage from my car wasn't much, but when he hit the curb, it messed up the undercarriage (at least, that's what he said). Before I walked back across the street, a woman came by and said "I'm not surprised." I asked her what she meant. She said "Those cabs just fly through here all the time. I'm not surprised one of them got into a wreck. Serves him right." She was reeking of alcohol. I told her I was the one who was in the other vehicle and she said "Oh, baby, I'm so sorry. Are you alright?" I told her I was and she walked off.

I walked back across the road to see if everybody was alright. The car I hit was a taxi cab carrying a man and woman. I talked to them and they both said they were okay. They said they were from Tennessee down here looking for jobs, but hadn't had any luck so they were going back to Tennessee. I pray they find work somewhere. I was so shook up, I failed to get names of anybody, but the police took all that info anyway.

The cab driver, a nice black man wearing a "Jesus is Awesome" ball cap said I pulled out in front of him. I know that I saw the light turn green. The policeman asked if I was distracted in any way. Was I talking on my cell phone? I told him no, that the light turned green, I looked to the right and the next thing I knew, I had been hit. He said he wasn't going to give me a ticket, because it was my word against the other driver, but he wanted me to know that another witness had said I pulled out in front of him. Unless that other driver was looking at the light when it happened, I don't see how she could say I pulled out in front of him. I'm just so thankful that nobody was hurt. If I had pulled out when the light was red, he would have t-boned me. That could have been really bad. I just know that my angels were watching over me. I think the car will be fine, just some minor damage. The old girl is tough! I let them tow the car because I was afraid to drive it in case something was wrong.

I finally got in touch with Vance. He was just leaving Sunny Hills, so I had to wait over an hour for him to pick me up. He was just glad I wasn't hurt. We went by the place where they took the car, but it was locked up. We'll have to wait until Monday to go take a look at it. I did take a picture. Of course, I had my cameras with me. I was going to the marina to try to take pictures after all. Also, my motto is "Never leave home without them." You never know when you might run across something to photograph.

I posted on Facebook and Dot called to check on me. She prayed for me. She called Olga and told her that it was all Ron's fault. :>) So, Olga called. We laughed about that and she said next time she'd take me on my photo jaunts. That would be nice. I don't like going alone anyway.

I guess I better go to bed. I'll have to borrow Vance's truck to go to church tomorrow. I'll probably stay home Monday since I won't have a vehicle to drive. I don't want to spend the money to rent one.

Goodnight and God bless...........I am so thankful to Him that He sent His angels to have charge over me today and everyday of my life.

Brrrrrrrrr, It's Cold in Florida!

I woke up this morning and didn't realize it was so cold outside. For some reason, it was not really very cold in the house. That made me think it wasn't cold outside either. You see, we don't have central heat anymore. Haven't for over five years. It died and we just bought small space heaters for the rooms we use. They are only turned on when we are in those rooms. They keep the house (or rooms) warm and our heating bill went way down, so we just haven't replaced the heating system. Since I usually wake up sometime during the night and move to the couch to sleep, I will turn on the heater in the living room about 30 minutes before Vance gets up and turn on the one in the bathroom, so it will be warm for him. We don't sleep with any of them on. I just don't trust them, since that's what caused my dad's trailer to catch on fire. We turn them off and unplug them if we leave or go to bed. I sleep so much better when there's a chill to the air. And I love sleeping under my grandmother's quilt, which I never could do when we had the heat on. I just about suffocate when I have to sleep with the heat on.

I keep the heater in the hall facing the bathroom door while I'm getting ready in the morning. Nobody is home and I can leave the door open. If I shower with the heater closed up in the bathroom, I can't breathe.

I put on a lightweight sweater with a fleece vest and headed out the door to work. I stepped out on the porch and that cold air hit me full force. I was so glad to see that my plants were okay even though I had forgotten to cover them. I went back inside and grabbed my coat and headed to work. Another thing I don't like is leather car seats. They are sooooo cold in the winter and so hot in the summer. I have an afghan that I sit on in the winter. I'm going to go to Pep Boys or some other auto accessory store and look for seat covers this weekend.

Stopped by Sonic and got a bacon, egg and cheese breakfast burrito and splurged on a caramel hot latte. Ever since I've been getting one and eating a cup of mixed, unsalted nuts for a snack in the afternoon, I've started losing weight again. The week that I was off work after Christmas, I ate all day long (mostly junk food) and lost weight. Started back to work and quit eating and gained it all back. So, I've decided I'm going to eat small meals all day like I used to do when I went to LA Weight Loss.

Was busy all day today at work. Yesterday, Kim and I met Sylvia for lunch at Sweet Magnolia's. It's such a quaint little restaurant in old Millville with great soups (love the lemon squash soup), salads and sandwiches.

I went to Kohl's at lunch because they had a huge winter clearance sale. I bought four sweaters. One is lightweight, but the other three are warm. I will definitely be wearing one of those tomorrow because it's supposed to get down in the 20's today. What's really bad is that the azaleas, tulip trees and camillias are blooming. I wanted to stop this morning on the way to work and take pictures of several bushes that were covered in ice, but I didn't have time and they were on the wrong side of the highway. I would have had to turn around and go back to get pictures of them. They were very pretty though. I'll try to leave a little earlier tomorrow and get some shots of them if they leave the sprinklers on again tonight.

I'm hoping this weekend is warmer. I'm itching to get out and take more pictures. I've got to go back by the antique store and take Cindee the pictures I took last Saturday of the displays in her store. I think I'll walk through and take some more while I'm there.

I had to go pick up Hope from school this afternoon. Tabitha was late getting off work. Hope loves going to school. She has two of the sweetest teachers, both Christians who really love their students. Tabitha picked her up about 30 minutes after we got back to the office.

I stayed and worked late to get caught up on the timesheets. We've got 10 of my guys who are out in Arkansas working the ice storm. I've seen pictures and I know they are miserable. Most of the places they are working, you can't use the bucket trucks so they have to climb the poles. They work 16 hour days, so you know they are tired. I think they are hoping to have everybody back on by the end of the weekend and then they will head back home.

Guess I better get to bed if I plan on getting out earlier than usual tomorrow morning. Goodnight and God bless............

Gallivanting Around Town

I woke up this morning and it was a beautiful day. I have been wanting to take pictures so bad, so that's what I decided to do today. Washed a couple of loads of clothes first so we'd have something to wear next week. Talked to Kim. She was babysitting all her grandchildren. We had hoped to do something together today, but it didn't happen.

I decided to just drive around Lynn Haven and see what kind of photos I could find. I should have taken pictures of all the flowers that are in bloom. I'll get them next weekend, or I may go out again tomorrow after church. The azaleas have started blooming; tulip trees (I think they are Japanese Magnolias) and camellias are in full bloom. You would think it was springtime instead of mid-winter. That's Florida for you.

I took a couple of pictures of some of the historical buildings, then stopped at a new antique (isn't that an oxymoron?) store that just opened up. The lady graciously allowed me to take a few pictures. I plan on going back. It's called Seldom Rest Antiques and it's on Ohio Avenue (Hwy 77) in an old historical house. Found a lot of stuff that I would love to have, but where would I put it???

Grabbed a corn dog and tea while driving around. Just drove up and down some of the streets, then to the bridge where I stopped, got out and ate and took a couple of pictures. Sylvia called and said Casey was looking for a house to rent, so I took a picture of one with the sign and called her back on it later. She said she'd give the number to Gloria to give to Casey. It was a cute little house, for rent or sale.

Decided to go out to the beach when Olga suggested some good places out there to go to. I saw Chris Parker and his son and pulled up beside them at a red light and talked a few minutes. He has Straight Stripe and does the striping in parking lots. He was headed out to Pier Park to work.

I stopped at a few places, then went to Pier Park to see what I could find. It was so busy that I decided not to stop. Couldn't find a good parking space anyhow. Went to Target and found a bedspread set on sale for the bedroom we've painted and never set up. I'm going to get Daddy's bed back from Penny and set it up. I love the bedset.

Drove down Front Beach Road until it pulled off to Middle Beach. Took pictures of places that were there when Vance and I dated 38 years ago. Hard to believe there are still some old landmarks left. I thought Reid's Trailer Park had been sold and turned into a condo, but it's still there. I had passed it before I realized, so I didn't get a picture. I think I'll take a day and just drive up and down the beach and take pictures of things that were there 30 or so years ago. But, I'd like to have somebody to go with me. It's more fun when you have somebody to reminisce with. I got back home around 4:00.

Vance worked on the car a little while. I sat at the computer and edited the pictures and posted some of them on Facebook. Watched a movie on the Hallmark Channel and cried. I think it was called "Candle on Bay Street." Wonderful movie.

It's right at midnight and I'm about to fall asleep at this computer, so I bid you Goodnight and God bless..............

I Can Tell Now! Vance and Michelle are expecting a baby!

Whew! I've been holding that in for too long. Several times, I've almost let it slip, but then I would change the subject so I wouldn't tell the news. But, Michelle let it out on Facebook, so now I can let the world know. I'm going to be a grandmother for the 4th time. Does that make me feel older? Nope. It just makes me feel excited, expectant, overjoyed.....Need I say more?

I think Fox will make a really good big brother. I was allowed to tell Chad and Tabitha, Trent and Hope. Trent asked if they were going to name the baby "Hound". I thought that was so funny coming from a 10 year old. Michelle says "No way." But, you've got to admit, Trent has a sense of humor.

I think I must have been having sympathy sickness for Michelle yesterday - shaky, nauseated.... I pray that she has it as easy as I did with both my pregnancies. I was only nauseated about a week with both and only threw up once with each. I loved being pregnant and would have had more children if we could have afforded them. I wanted five boys. I didn't think I could be a good mother to a girl because I never could fix hair for either of my nieces. I grew up such a tomboy that I didn't think I could handle a girly girl. I knew I could relate to boys playing ball cause I was good at that. Ballet? Didn't think I could handle that. I'm sure if I had been blessed with a girl, I probably would have adapted, but God knew my comfort zone and He was gracious to let me have two boys. I love having a granddaughter, but I still can't fix her hair. I can play with her and we can scrapbook and play with stickers and stuff like that and I can take pictures of her, but I'm still not good with the hair. I guess it's because I've always had such problems with my own hair. I've just now gotten to where I like my hair now that I've had it straightened. I did go through a few years that my curly hair looked okay, but I have always wanted straight hair.

I've noticed that people relate to me differently when I have straight hair (even though I'm overweight). Salespeople ask if I need help, people come up and talk to me in stores. I can go back to the same store, same salespeople the next day with curly hair and they act like I don't exist. Curly hair and overweight make you invisible I guess.

I worked today, but didn't go to the safety meeting. It didn't pertain to anything I do, so I opted out. Worked on my bi-weekly reports instead. Tabitha called to make sure I could pick up Hope after school today. I told her I'd pick her up and just go on home instead of taking her back to the office until 4:30. She gets out of school at 1:50. Tabitha said to come by B-O-B and she'd buy us lunch. So I ate just a little around 11:00 and had a cuban sandwich when we got to the restaurant. We stayed about 45 minutes. I went looking for a kid's consignment shop (we had two in LH) to find a carseat to go in my car since I'll be picking up Hope until we can get the Osmobile fixed. Both the shops had closed, so I tried Goodwill, but couldn't find a parking space. They must have a good sale on Monday. I guess I'll go looking Saturday for a carseat or booster seat. Vance said it may be several more weeks before he gets the other car running. I wish he would just take it to a garage and let them fix it, so Chad and Tabitha wouldn't have to be without a car. I told Tabitha that I would pick Chad up when he works till 10:00pm so she wouldn't have to wake the kids up and get them out in the night air. I'm up anyway, so I may as well be doing something productive. I used to go pick him up at 2:00am when he worked at Wendy's on the beach and closed. Most parents would find that an imposition, but I'm up anyway. I find it something to do when I'm bored.

Well, I guess I better get to bed. I've got work in a few hours, then it's off to see Marsha to get my hair colored, then Praise & Worship practice, home for a couple of hours and then pick Chad up. Busy day tomorrow. And I'm supposed to hear from Michelle when she gets out of her doctor's appointment.

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

Had Fun With the Kids

I woke up around 9:30 and checked out Facebook before eating some grits. Yeah, I'm from the South in case you don't know. And I love grits, with butter and sometimes cheese.

Tabitha called around 10:00 and told me they would bring the kids over in about an hour. Just enough time for me to get ready. I was putting my shoes on when they got here. Tabitha and Chad left to go to the library to study for Chad's food handling test. Oh, he was made manager Wednesday and given a raise. He will be given another raise next month when he passes the test. Not bad for only working there about a month. I'm so proud of him. And I'm proud of Vance, too. Go to the left of my blog and click on Vance's blog and you'll see why. I have two very intelligent sons. They must take after their dad........

The kids were here about 30 minutes when we decided to go to the mall and then to Kim's. She had her three granddaughters and two other kids so we couldn't meet somewhere to take pictures. Besides, it was misty raining when we went to the mall. As we were walking through the mall, we came to a kiost and the girl stopped me. She was selling straightening irons. She sat me down and showed me how it worked and it also can be used to curl your hair. I had planned on going to J.C. Penney's and buying a Chi, but I really liked this one better. And I was able to get a zebra pattern (Trent picked it out; I was going for the leopard print; Hope wanted me to get pink, her favorite color). It came with a comb and a tiny straightening iron for doing bangs or shorter hair. So, I bought one, then I bought Trent a used PlayStation game.

When we came back outside, the weather was beautiful. I had called Kim and suggested pizza for all the kids, so she ordered it. The kids wanted to play on the trampoline before they ate, but they soon got hungry. We all ate pizza and then it was back outside. I took pictures, but it was hard getting them to stand still long enough to get good ones. I ended up using two cameras because I filled up my CF card on my digital camera. I started using my Canon Rebel as a backup. Don't want it to just sit in a bag somewhere and not use it. I must admit; my digital takes better pictures. I never thought I would say that, but the pictures speak for themselves.

We stayed at Kim's until almost 4:00, then headed back home. Vance was here and he was picking on Hope. She got aggravated with him. After Chad and Tabitha came and got them, I tried to upload my pictures. For some reason, my computer is running very slow and Task Manager keeps jumping up and won't go away. I got antsy to see my SLR pictures, so at 7:15, I headed to Sam's. Vance was asleep, so I left him a note and took off. I got there just in time for the lady to be able to do one hour. I shopped around until she finished and then came home. I tried to upload the CD from Sam's and never could get it to load. The program kept hanging up and Task Manager kept popping up. Then everything just hung up. I finally turned the computer off and went and straightened my hair with my new straightener. I loved how it worked and my hair looks great.

It's after 1:00am, so I think I better get to bed. Got to get up and go to church in a few hours. Goodnight and God bless.............

Back to Work-Tuesday

I didn't think we were having a safety meeting today since we are having a big safety kickoff on Friday. Boy, was I wrong. And did I miss it! I heard it got pretty hot in there. Maybe I'm better off missing it. I don't like confrontations.

I spent the entire morning looking for a timesheet with a bad account number on it and it doesn't exist. I ran reports, flipped through a whole month's worth of daily timesheets and could not find the account number the lady in Pensacola is saying is kicking out. It just doesn't exist. Three hours wasted, which put me even further behind on my timesheets. When I finally emailed her back, I got back an "out of office" reply. All that work for nothing. She's not even there to talk to! I ended up working till 6:30 tonight and was late for Praise & Worship practice. Which was okay, cause they hadn't started yet. They were trying to get the copy machine to work.

I took a Healthy Choice Steamer to eat for lunch. But, the carb count is way too high. Not good when you are trying to cut down on carbs. I wish somebody would start making TV dinners for diabetics (which I'm not, but that would mean less carbs). Kim and I talked about that before. With Carrianne's restaurant background and her and Kim's cooking abilities, they would be great for the job. We need to talk further on this. Might be another career for all of us.

Didn't manage to take a single picture today and just too tired to try to find something in the house to take a picture of. I'll be keeping Trent and Hope all day on Saturday, so we may just go somewhere for a photo shoot. That would be fun.

Boy, was it cold today! I had thought it was warming up until I started to work in only a sweater and jeans. I always keep jackets in my car and at work, so I was okay. Just miserably cold whenever I walked outside. I feel so sorry for the guys who have to work outside in this cold. But, at least we don't live up north where it snows. It was so nice yesterday - in the 60's. I don't think it ever got above 40 something today. And I heard it's supposed to be in the 20's tonight. Brrrrrrrr....... Putting on my really warm jammies in a few minutes and adding another quilt on the bed. We don't have central heat - it hasn't worked in about 6 years. Really saves on electric bills. We just use a little space heater in the rooms we're in and none of them stay on all night. Since Daddy's trailer burned down due to an electric heater, we make do with extra cover and warm pj's. It makes for a cold shower in the morning if you don't get up early enough to turn on the heater in the bathroom. I've got to wash my hair tomorrow morning, so I better set my alarm a little earlier, so it will be toasty in there. Now, it's time to go put on those warm pj's, get the extra quilt out of the dryer and climb in bed.

God bless............

Long Weekend is Over

It's after midnight on Tuesday, so I've got to go back to work in a few hours. Had a pretty good day yesterday - Monday. Kim, Debb and I went and tried out the new Chinese Restaurant - Chow Time. It was pretty good. They had so much to choose from; I think anybody would be able to find something they liked there. The very first thing I saw was boiled shrimp and oysters on the half shell (yuck, don't like oysters). Their dessert bar was bigger than Golden Corral I think. I just glanced as I walked by. I'm trying so hard to stay away from sugar, especially since I'm having trouble with "my" sugar, if you know what I mean. I don't even want to say the word.We girls had a good time, but the waiters were trying to hurry us out. The guy tried to take Debb's plate while she was still eating off of it. I thought she was going to slap his hand - just kidding. I couldn't believe how many waiters they have running around in that place. One thing you can say, the service is good. They don't let you run out of drinks and they offer to get anything for you.After leaving Kim and Debb, I went to see Mama. I sat with her about 2 hours, but I got the feeling that she didn't want me there or wanted to hurry me out. I don't know if I came when her "program" was on and she wanted to watch TV or what was wrong, but she kept looking at the clock and telling me I needed to go home and get some rest. I just kept talking and she'd look at the clock and tell me I needed to go home and take a nap. But, I don't get to see her very often; so I stayed. I left her house and went to the health food store to get some real Stevia. Not like the stuff I bought in the grocery store that called itself "Stevia in the Raw" and the first ingredient was dextrose (sugar)with stevia added. I consider that false advertising. I'll stick with the real thing, thank you very much.I came home and uncovered my plants. It had gotten cold a few nights ago - high 20's.It was back up in the 50's-60's today. I didn't want to smother my plants. I'm afraid to bring them inside since I saw so many black widow spiders on them this summer. I sure don't want spiders in my house, especially poisonous ones. Right before midnight, I remembered I had not taken a picture today. I looked around and found a jacket that has some pretty beadwork on it, so I took a picture of that. This P365 is hard.......

Let's Play Catch-UP

Friday, I woke up with a migraine. I had been suffering with a headache since Tuesday, but it was just a mild inconvenience. Not so on Friday. I woke up nauseated, feeling drugged even though I had not taken a thing. I try to just let them work themselves out. I hate taking drugs. I called my boss and left a very disjointed message that went something like this: "Hey, Jeff, this is Pat. I'm not going to be able to come to work today. I've got a migraine. I'm going to take my migraine medicine and go back to bed. I'll see you tomor...no wait, isn't today Friday? I think it is, so I'll see you Monday. No, aren't we off on Monday? Okay, then, I'll see you sometime next week. Have a great weekend. I'm going back to bed." I'm sure he thought I was losing it when he got that message. I did just what I said I was going to do. I took my migraine medicine and turned off the phones and went to sleep. I had talked to Kim after calling Jeff to let her know where I was and she said she'd get the prayer group to pray for me. I know they were praying, cause when I woke up, I felt so much better.

Saturday, Vance went to play golf as usual. I slept till around 10:00. Took my shower and ran some errands. Went to Sam's to have a roll of film developed. She said it would only take 30 minutes, so I just walked around and looked at everything. I almost talked myself into buying a very small Canon Elf digital camera. But, I knew I needed the overtime money I had made for car repairs. I also bought some of their natural mixed nuts. I use them for snacks at work in the afternoon. I found I was actually losing weight when I had an afternoon snack. It was cold outside, and since we don't have central heat, I bought some really warm and soft pj's.

After Sam's, I went to Tropical Smoothie and got a tuna melt and went to the marina to eat and watch the birds. I took a couple of pictures. See above. Then, I went to Mary's Comestics and bought some makeup. I was out of my mineral makeup and I just don't like the Mary Kay mineral makeup. It turns my face orange. Fran has the same problem. I like Bare Minerals, but you have to order that since the lady here went out of business. I'll have to see if I can find someone else who sells it. That's by far my favorite. I used Demure and it's good, too, but I don't really like to buy much online and they don't come to Sam's often enough. They were in Pensacola this weekend, but I wasn't going to drive 200 miles round trip just to buy makeup. The stuff Mary sells seems to be pretty good. I like the way it looks. It covered up the redness pretty good. And Mary is so sweet. I will probably buy from her again cause I like giving my money to the Mom&Pop type stores. Even though it's a little more expensive, I like helping them out. And, it wasn't that much more expensive. Vance came home and tried to work on the car, but got sick. By 9:00, he was throwing up.

Today, I went to church. Started getting another headache. I have suffered with it all day, thinking it would go away, but it's getting worse, so I'm going to take some migraine medicine and go to bed. I have the day off tomorrow and I plan on enjoying it. Hoping to go to lunch with friends and try out a new Chinese Restaurant. Vance says he's feeling better today. I think he tried to work on the car some, but is having difficulties. He's never worked on a front-wheel drive car before. Say a prayer for him. Chad and Tabitha really need this car.

01/15/09 Thursday

I've given up on trying to come up with cute titles for my blogs. I do know that I'm really having a hard time with the 365 Project. I can see that most of the women who are involved are stay-at-home mom's, so they have many more chances to get pictures during the day. When you work full-time, don't always leave work at lunch and it's dark when you leave in the afternoon, it's really hard to find something to take a picture of. I thought this was going to be so easy and really get me out of my normal life and into a more exciting one. WRONG, SO WRONG! It just makes me feel like I've failed once again at a project that I had such hopes for. So, like people who make New Year's Resolutions and then fail at them before they really get started, I quit! I will post pictures from time-to-time, but I won't allow myself to feel pressured to take a picture of just anything so that I can get one on my blog. \
Okay, I've changed my mind. I found my Press Credentials and decided to take a picture of them. I haven't had the chance to use them yet, but I could.......I'm certified anyway. Who knows, that may be what I do when I'm retired. Wouldn't that be fun?

Cameron, the baby who was born in October weighing only 1 lb. 2 oz. finally came home yesterday. Debb called me this morning and she was babysitting while Sierra went to fill out papers at the pediatricians office. Debb was so excited. She said Cameron is such a sweet baby. He's still tiny, only 4 lbs. He won't be able to go out in public until April, so he still has a long way to go. Please continue to keep him in your prayers. I will try to get over to see him soon and get some pictures to post. Had things I had to do yesterday and today when I got off work.

Debb and Eva came and got me yesterday and took me to lunch. That was a special treat. I don't get to see them very much anymore. I talk to Debb several times a week, but don't get to see her. We went to Captain D's. They both ate fried food, but I stuck with my baked tilapia. I really like it, so it's not hard to eat right when you like something.

Haven't really had a chance to get into the book I bought about dieting. I really had to laugh when I got off vacation and realized I had lost 4 lbs. And I know why, too. Even though I wasn't eating the correct food, I was eating all day long while I was off. So, my body said to itself "Hey, we're finally getting some fuel. Let's burn it up and quit storing it. She's no longer starving herself." Yep, lost 4 lbs. and ate cake, pumpkin bread, candy corn and peanut mix. Not to mention the dressing, potatoes, turkey, etc. L.A.Weight Loss was right - you have to eat to lose. When I'm working, I don't think about eating until I get to feeling bad or my stomach starts growling. I tried to do better this morning. I ate some yogurt around 9:00. But, I ate a meatball sub from Firehouse Subs for lunch - the small one on wheat bread, no chips (can't have the salt). It was so good. It wasn't the one Chad works at, but I figured it would be supporting him anyway since the owner owns all the shops here. Chad loves his job. I'm so glad. He did say he hated walking out smelling like food. I laughed and said "Well, it could be worse. You could work in a sewer." Smelling like food didn't seem so bad after all.

I think I'm going to go ahead and go to bed. I've had a terrible headache all day and I think I'll try to get some sleep. Hope everybody has a great night!

Missed My 365 Photo Today

Well, I knew it would happen. I missed taking a picture today. Yes, I still have 30 minutes before midnight, but I'm out of ideas as to what to photograph. I have got to get outside sometime! I stay either cooped up in the house or the office or driving. Not much of a life for photography, is it? But, that's okay. Right now, it's my life and I kinda like my life.

Was busy as usual at work. I really wish I could get an office by myself. There are just too many distractions working in the warehouse where everybody comes to hang out when they aren't working. I try to tune them out, but sometimes I just can't. I think I'm going to talk to Tina and see if she will talk to the people in charge of the buildings and see if they will let me move into the office across from my office. It used to be the warehouse supervisor's office. The A/C is broke, but I found out today that the heater still works. I could come in on the weekend and paint it myself. The only thing I need to find out is if there are connections for the computer. If so, I can live with half the floor with tile and half the floor concrete. I'm very easy to please. We may even have some old carpet squares left from when they redid the carpet in the front office. I don't really care what it looks like. One thing I do like about it - it has three huge windows. I could finally see outside and when I want to be undisturbed, I can close the blinds. I could even lock the door so nobody can come in unless I want them in. A girl can dream, can't she?

My Aunt Betty left a message on my phone asking me to get Daddy to sign the papers for Grandmama's house to be taken out of probate. I called him and he said he'd sign it. Maybe they can finally get the estate settled and Daddy can get a little money ahead.

Mama called and said she's just not eating. She said nothing tastes good to her, so she won't eat. I think she's just giving up. She's supposed to go see the surgeon the end of next month, but she believes she won't be able to have surgery, cause she will be too weak. She was anemic, but doesn't want to take the iron supplements for more than a month. I told her she would probably have to take iron for quite a while to get her blood normal. I know when Penny and I get anemic, we have to take supplements for a while. Penny has had to have a transfusion. I came very close. The doctors thought I was bleeding internally and sent me to an oncologist/hematologist, made me have a colonscopy and endoscopy, CT scans, ultrasounds.... They never found anything wrong, praise the Lord. The O/H doctor said I was just anemic and that was all that was wrong with me. I've been anemic off and on all my adult life. Couldn't give blood because of it. I just make sure I get blood work every so often to have it checked. My mother's sister is just the opposite. She has a condition where her body produces too much blood and she has to go and have some drained off. That's a bit weird. This, from a woman who passes out when she sees blood. I guess she doesn't look.

I ran by the drug store for Daddy, then picked up the papers that we need to mail to the attorney. I'll drop it in the mail tomorrow. I had forgotten to call Vance and tell him where I was going. He called around 5:45 to find out where I was. I was almost home at that point. I apologized for worrying him when I got home. I saw a car accident on the way home. When the light changed in front of me (there were about 5 cars ahead of me), this truck was going fast against the red light. He slammed on brakes right before hitting the vehicle in the intersection and a car behind him slammed into him. Tore up that car. He jumped out of his truck and ran back to the car. I couldn't tell if anybody was hurt or if he was going to hit them. I didn't stop because there were a bunch of witnesses closer to the accident than I was. I just heard the brakes squeal and "bam". I didn't actually see the accident happen. His truck didn't look too bad. It had a heavy-duty bumper and it didn't buckle the bed of his truck at all, but the little car behind him basically came apart from the windshield forward. There were parts all over the road.

I came home, kissed Vance, brushed my teeth, kissed him again and went to P&W practice. We had a good time. We're doing some really good songs lately. It seems the songs are what are drawing the people to the altars to be saved. They get saved before anybody even preaches. That's what is so amazing. Then, the healing miracles are taking place after the service. We have been seeing some awesome miracles. The Word says in the last days there will be miracles, signs and wonders and I believe we are living in the last days.

One minute before midnight; better get to bed. I said I wanted to start going to bed earlier. I've been getting there around midnight, so that's about two hours earlier than usual. Goodnight and God bless.............

Half Hour Before Midnight on Monday 01/12/09

Still staying up late. Good thing I didn't make a resolution, huh?

My 365 picture is of some of my clear stamp pads. Pretty, aren't they?

Got to work early enough to go to the Safety Meeting, but just didn't want to go. Started making more corrections to the account numbers that they haven't worked out yet. Things just keep popping up that they don't know what to do with. Kim and I are just taking it in stride and trying to help them figure it out. I'm meeting more people over the phone than I've met in years. And, they have all been very nice. I've learned if you are nice to them right off the get-go and offer to help in any way that you can to fix the problem, they will bend over backwards to try and help you. It just doesn't pay to get upset over it.

One of the guys in Power Delivery (he's an engineer), decided to have a Gator celebration and bought 20 large pan pizzas from Pizza Hut for us at lunch. Hey, I'm not passing up a free meal. I ate a couple of pieces, then went back to my office to run some reports.

Tabitha called to see if she could bring Hope by around 3:30 for me to watch so she could go to work. Chad didn't get off till 5:00 and I would need to pick him up. No problem. Everybody is gone by that time, so there's no danger of her getting hurt walking through the warehouse. She just sits in my office and draws and talks to me. I needed to go to Office Max to pick up a toner cartridge for the fax machine in our office, so I took off at 4:00. Plus, I had only taken 30 minutes for lunch. We went to OM and I got the cartridge and we walked around for a few minutes killing time. She wanted to push the buggy. She would say "I want that." I'd say "You may want it, but do you really need it?" "No, mam." We left there and went and sat out in front of the Firehouse Subs waiting on Chad. I took them home and then came home and washed a load of clothes.

Been reading a lot of blogs on photography. I'm learning some things and finding out most of the instructions on how to manipulate the photos require Photoshop, the real expensive program - about $700. My piddly Photoshop Elements won't do the things I've tried out. Oh well, I like my photos mostly the way I take them. A little cropping here and there and turning from color to black and white if fine for me right now. Maybe when I have more time to really explore what my program can do, I'll try other things. I was just excited to be able to watermark my photos.

I said I was going to bed before midnight, so I better cut this short. I've got 15 minutes to get ready for bed. Good night and God bless............

Sunday News

I found it very hard to get up this morning. A shower didn't even wake me up, but I managed to get up and get dressed for church. It was so muggy this morning. I was in a quandry as to what to wear to church. I usually wear black jeans or black slacks with a top, but both were in the dirty clothes. It's been such a long time since I've worn a skirt that I didn't even know if it would fit. Praise the Lord, it did! I put on a short sleeve top because it was so hot. I always grab my camera as I'm walking out the door, but today I debated about carrying it. Finally, I did grab my camera bag. Figured maybe I could take some shots of "something" before I came back home.

Got to church and found out we were dedicating a baby today - Little Jacob, one of our preemie miracles. So, after Praise & Worship (which was awesome), I ran out to the car to grab my camera bag. Boy, did I get a shock. It had turned cold! So, I grabbed my jacket, too. I always keep one or two jackets in the car - just in case. In Florida, you just never know how the weather is going to turn out. It may be hot one minute, and freezing the next.

Little Jacob was wearing a christening gown that was worn by his great, great grandfather. It is 102 years old. It was beautiful. Several members of his family have worn it before him and it will be passed on to many more. I thought that was just so cool. One thing I noticed during the entire dedication - Jacob never took his eyes off Pastor Sammy. Not once did he look up at his father or mother. He would turn his head to make eye contact with Pastor Sammy. Pastor could not hold him, because he's not allowed to hold anything over 8 lbs. because of his heart surgery just a couple of weeks ago. He's really not even supposed to be at church. So, he got Pastor Jim to hold the baby while he poured water over his head and prayed for him. Hopefully, we will have Cameron in a few weeks or so to be dedicated, too. He's supposed to be coming home on Tuesday. That baby is definitely a miracle. He only weighed 1 lb. 2 oz. when he was born. Medical technology has come a long way. Years ago, he would have died within a few hours after birth. I praise the Lord for his life.

I came home, ate and took a short nap sitting up in my chair. Vance and Chad had pulled the Osmobile over to the house, so Vance could start working on it. He had to go borrow a book to see where to start. He's never worked on a front-wheel drive car with the motor turned sideways. I'm praying that it won't be anymore difficult than all the other cars he's worked on. He just amazes me; how he can take a motor apart and then put it back together with no parts left over. That's a gift and I think Vance (son) and Chad both have that gift, too. The men in my family are so smart, so talented, so handsome, so sweet, so caring..... You get the picture. They are the best!

Tabitha, Chad and the kids were going to come over and dry some clothes, but Tabitha took a longer nap than she meant to, so they took the clothes to the laundromat. We had planned on getting some fried chicken from PoFolks, so they came over anyway. It was good having them over. I gave Tabitha the Charles Capps booklets I bought yesterday. I'll go back tomorrow if I get a chance and buy some more. They were real cheap - less than $2.00. I'm also going to look for a book by Kay Arthur that Mrs. Sandi told us about this morning - Studying the Bible in 28 days, I think was the title. Mrs. Sandi has been studying the Bible for years, but she said this put a whole new perspective on it and really helped her. I think we all need that book. Tabitha and Chad are planning on doing a Bible study together, so that might be a good book to start with.

Chad has started studying for his manager's exam. This is actually a college course that he's taking. Isn't that just like God? He's taking a college course before he even gets his GED. God brought him to this point and God will see him through. I believe he will ace the test. The book cost $180. College books are just way too expensive. There should be a law against charging that much for a book. What's really bad is when you go buy a used book at the college bookstore and pay a couple of hundred dollars for it, then find out it's not the book the professor is using. They won't give you your money back. I know several people who found that out the hard way. I also found out his store owner is a Christian who teaches a Bible Study and the manager who hired him is also a Christian. Just what I prayed for - that God would put him in a job surrounded by Christians. I believe this is the year Chad will take his place as the spiritual head of his household. And his daddy won't be far behind. I saw it happen last year with my brother and I declare it over my entire family - this is the year of salvation!!!We will be a generation that serves God!

Tonight, I start taking care of myself by going to bed no later than midnight. I started reading the book from yesterday. Haven't gotten very far, but I will finish reading it and start applying it to my life. With God's help, I'm going to turn my life around. My health will begin to line up with the Word of God. I am healed and I will lose weight and take care of myself this year. I have to start finding time to get myself back in shape or I won't be around to take care of my parents or anybody else. I've allowed myself to put everybody else first and I can't do that anymore. Yes, I'll still take care of my parents and whoever else needs me, but I'm also going to take care of myself. I want to be around to see my grandchildren get married and have children. If I stay on the path I'm going right now, that will never happen. So, right now, I commit to taking steps to become the woman of God that He wants me to be - healthy and whole. I'm His child and He wants the best for me. How can I not want that, too?

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

After Midnight Again

Yeah, I know...... I need to learn to sleep more. Tell my body that! I refuse to take pills to make me sleep, cause then I would need a pill to wake me up and the cycle would go on and on. I DO NOT take pills unless absolutely necessary.

Let's recap what I did Saturday: slept until 10:45am. See, I do get sleep. It's just not when I'm supposed to be sleeping. I know I can't retire. You know what I'd be doing all day - sleeping. Nope, let me work so I'll have someplace I have to go every morning.

So, what did I do with myself after I woke up? I watched a movie on the Hallmark channel about a horse and I cried. I talked to Kim on the phone and we talked about the perigee moon that was supposed to be happening tonight. The moon was supposed to be really, really big and I was planning on taking photos. Well, our weather just did not cooperate. Cloud cover was so thick you couldn't even see the moon. Very disappointing.......

I took a shower and got ready to just get out of the house. Vance called around 1:30 and told me he was going to be late. They had decided to play another 9 holes of golf. I had just got through praying for the family and friends of Morgan Hooper, the 16 year old girl from Vance and Michelle's church, who got killed in a car accident on Wednesday night. After I prayed, I realized that I was an hour late because Tallahassee is an hour ahead of us. I just broke down and cried, cause I had wanted to be praying while the funeral was going on. I was praying for the Pastor to say the right things, for the family and especially for the teenagers who would be there; that they would search their hearts and surrender to Jesus. I was devastated when I realized I was an hour late, but then something amazing happened. God dropped this little nugget into my spirit: "I knew before you ever prayed what you would be praying for and I heard your prayers before you even prayed them." Sometimes we forget that God knows the future. He knows ahead of time what we will be doing and thinking. We are the ones who put limits on what God can do. I felt such joy after that. Isn't God awesome?

It was after 3:00 by the time I got ready to leave and I realized I had not eaten anything all day. I had made myself a blueberry cobbler cup of coffee with my new Espresso machine, but that's all I had other than water all day. I scooted by Sonic and got a corndog and tea (I've cut down on my tea drinking. Don't drink it every day.) Then, I decided to go to our new Starbucks and see if they had a stainless steel cup that I could use with my Espresso machine. You're supposed to use a stainless steel cup to make your frothy milk. Nope, couldn't find one, so I got a medium Strawberry and Cream Frappiccino. That kept me from checking out the new Dairy Queen down the street. It satisfied my sudden sweettooth.

Maybe next Saturday I will check out DQ. They used to have great chili dogs. I went to the Winn-Dixie parking lot and ate my corndog, then went into the Christian Breadbasket to check out their books. Talked to the lady who works there. She is super nice and so helpful. She asked me to pray about the vacant shop next door. Several people are praying for a Christian Coffee Shop to open up where Christians can get together, hear live Christian bands and just have a great time of fellowship. I sure will be praying for that. How about helping us pray? I bought a couple of little booklets by Charles Capps and the book you see at the top of the page. I'm going to try real hard this year to get my body back into shape and get healthy again. I've started doing a little exercise every night and I believe it's helped. I've lost 4 lbs. in a month. That's great considering all I did was eat while on vacation last week. That's probably why I lost those 4 lbs. My body finally began to think I wasn't starving it, so it released some of the fat it was holding onto.

I went to Ross' next. My dad needed some glasses and he wanted real glass. I had bought him plastic ones at Winn-Dixie (cause they didn't have real glass). I found four glasses for $3.99. Nice, thick ones. I looked around for a stainless steel cup, but no luck. I'll probably have to order one from somewhere. I probably should have gone next door to Bed, Bath & Beyond, but Vance had called and wanted me to run by the store on my way home. He was home and cooking spaghetti and wanted garlic bread to go with it. So, I didn't go any further. I turned around and headed home. For some reason, the bottom of my left foot had started hurting and I was having a real hard time walking. I don't know what caused that. It almost felt like a stone bruise, but I knew I hadn't stepped on anything. Vance said he had a great time playing that extra nine holes. He actually shot a better score than on the two previous nine holes.

He went to bed after eating. I think he was pretty tired. I let the dogs out and Shadow didn't want to come back in. She was stalking something on the back porch. I knew I shouldn't have gone out to see what it was, but I was curious. I moved a piece of wood and there was a huge rat behind it. It ran behind the refrigerator we have out there, which is right beside the door. I was so afraid it would run into the house when I opened the door, but I managed to get inside without the rat coming in with me. The picture at the top of the page is Shadow after stalking. Looks like she was tired. I don't know if she got it or not. Usually she gets what she's after and kills it. In this case, I sure hope so. That was a big rat; not a little mouse. I sure don't want that thing inside my house.

Okay, I guess I'd better get to bed. Can't wait to get to church and see what God is going to do. We've been having some great services.

Friday, Almost Midnight 01/09/09

I just can't stop thinking about the 16 year old young girl from Vance and Michelle's church who was killed in a car accident Wednesday. My heart just breaks for that family. I can only pray that the family will be strengthened through the prayers of others. The funeral is tomorrow, Saturday, at 1:00. If you read this, please be praying for the Pastor as he shares Jesus with everyone. Pray that people will be reached and saved and that the devil won't get the glory for this tragedy. That something good will come of it. That Morgan's short life was not in vain. God bless that family.

I didn't get a chance to blog last night. I worked in my office until 9:15pm, then got hungry, so I came home, bringing a pile of work with me. Tabitha had made chicken and dumplings for us, so I ate as fast as I could, then got back to work on my computer at home. I worked until 2:30am. Would have kept working, but the server went down. I think that was God's way of telling me I needed some rest. I think I fell asleep before my head hit the pillow.

I got up this morning, reluctantly. Jumped in the shower and took a long shower to try to wake up. Had to blowdry and straighten my hair, but I didn't get in a hurry. My boss is so good about letting me come in late because he knows that I work late to make up the time and usually work over. Sometimes I charge the company overtime and sometimes I don't. This week, I charged every single hour just so they would know how time consuming this new program is. I believe I've made enough overtime to be able to pay for all the repairs on the car. Isn't God good? He knows just what we need and makes a way for us to have what we need. By working overtime, I won't have to touch our budget. I called my boss on the way to work and told him I was running late. He told me to take my time, so I told him I was going to stop and get a cup of coffee somewhere. I had on my mind tea, a breakfast burrito and a hot latte from Sonic. Pulled in there and the line stretched around the building. Next stop would have been McDonald's, but I couldn't even turn in there. The line stretched out to the road. So, Burger King was next. I really didn't want BK, but I knew they had good coffee, the regular kind. That used to be the only place I stopped when I was taking my brother back and forth to Pensacola for chemo treatments. Sometimes, I would have to leave him overnight, so I'd stay with him until midnight or after and then drive home. I knew where every BK was that stayed open late and I'd hit every one for a cup of coffee. Coffee and Stevia, no sugar, but a lot of Half & Half.

I got to work about five after eight and put out fires all morning. Bad account numbers again that HAD to be adjusted today. I didn't even get to enter a timesheet until after lunch - another HC Steamer. (Oh, yesterday I had a good lunch. Our retiree was honored with a fishfry, so I ate with them. I have to tell you a funny story on myself. I had taken pictures on Tuesday of his retirement party and came home late from work and downloaded the pictures into my computer. I was snapping pictures inside of the all the honors and presents they gave him and then asked all the Transmission people to go outside for a group shot. I took about five pictures and just "happened" to click on to see how they turned out and saw "No CFS card". Oh No! I didn't break stride. I yelled "Don't move! Let me go get my other camera." I took about five more with my good ole Canon SLR and never told them what had happened. I later confessed to several of the guys who had cameras with them and asked for copies of their pictures to put in Jerry's album. They were all gracious and said they would get me copies. Richard actually brought me a copy today. Paul is sending me a copy on CD from Pensacola. I didn't realize until I was back at my office that I had a backup card for my camera in the camera bag. Can you tell I was a little bit tired? I can laugh at myself now, but I was only upset with myself yesterday.)

I ended up working till 7:15 tonight before I got all the time entered. Needless to say, my shoulders and neck were hurting something fierce. Vance, Michelle and Fox called while I was still working. Fox was pretending to be a duck and was quacking. He always makes me laugh. But I was crying like a baby when I got off the phone. I'm just a little emotional right now, can you tell?? :>)

I called Vance and asked if he wanted me to run by Captain D's and pick up supper. That's a Friday night ritual for us. We don't go out to eat anymore, so I go pick up Captain D's. Sometimes, I go get something from Old Mexico. Those guys there pick on me and tease me every time I go in. I would love to learn to speak Spanish so I could converse with them in their own language and find out what they are really saying about me. He ate and went to bed. Said he had been up late every night this week waiting on me to get home, so he was going to bed. Isn't he a sweetheart? Won't go to bed until I'm safely home. He took Tabitha to work and kept Hope until Chad got off.

Speaking of Chad, he is studying to become a manager of the Firehouse Subs where he works. God has really blessed him with this job. He immediately found favor with the owner, who is pushing for him to become the next manager. The boss paid for the books and course that he has to study and he will take his manager's test on February 14th. I believe God has put him in this job to bless him and prosper him because he and Tabitha have been faithful to pay their tithes even in the midst of not having enough. I also believe he will own his own restaurant one day and will become a millionaire. That was spoken over him when he was in the 6th grade and I have been declaring it ever since (over both of my sons).

Haven't had time to upload the pictures for my 365 Project. Will try to catch them up tomorrow. Check out the moon tomorrow night (actually tonight now since it's after midnight), especially as it is rising. It is supposed to be huge - a perigee moon I believe they called it. I saw one back in 1997 or 1998 when Earl and I were coming back from Pensacola. We were at the top of the bridge in Ft. Walton looking towards Destin and it looked like Destin was on fire. As we got closer, we realized it was the moon. I had to pull over to the side of the road. It was the most beautiful sight we had ever seen. And, wouldn't you know it, I didn't have my camera with me. So, if the clouds don't obscure it and it's not raining and I can find a good place to go to watch it come up, I do plan on taking pictures tomorrow night. You might want to check it out for yourself in your neck of the woods as we say here in the south.

I'll probably sleep late tomorrow to catch up from not sleeping all week. Ya'll have a blessed day and keep the Lord first and foremost in your thoughts. Goodnight and God bless........