I still hate yard sales...

But today was a little better. 

My alarm went off at 6 and there was no way I was making it out of bed anytime soon.  My sinus mess kept me up late and I just had a miserable night.  I woke Andrew up and asked him to go in my place - help set up and I'll be there as soon as I can.  Bless his heart he was up and out the door quick for me.  I truly appreciate his willingness to help out when asked!

About 8:45 I was able to get up and I was at dad's by 9:30.  The sale was up and running and we had another BEAUTIFUL day for the yard sale.  Today I made $51.75 - which was nice.  We started packing up at 4:15  and true to my word, everything but one SMALL box went to Goodwill.  It's GONE!  Then we had to go get Andrew some shorts for the summer - he is still growing!  So the timing on the money came in handy!!!

I'm feeling better as long as I stay on my meds - every 4 hours.  Probably shouldn't take it that often, but I hate feeling miserable.  

We are going to figure out something for dinner and then I plan on calling it an early night!!!  I look forward to getting a good night's sleep!!!

If I haven't told you....

I hate yard sales!!!  =)

Today started at about 6am (ok ok...6:18 - I hit snooze twice) - I pulled on some clothes and woke Andrew and Kenny up.  They followed me to McDonald's (ok, so I had to FEED the free labor) and then we went to dad's to set up.  Wow....that is SO MUCH WORK!!!   But we were set up and running sometime around 8ish.  The weather was PERFECT for a yard sale - just warm enough and a breeze when it got too warm.  Dad was very successful at the yard sale and my nephew came in second with a fair amount as well.  I make a whopping $27.50 and spent $5.00 on lunch.  But it was mostly stuff that was marked .25 - .50 - so that is fine with me!  The less I had to pack up tonight the better!!!  We kinda pushed it all to the center of the yard and covered it - and now we are praying for no rain!!!  Tomorrow is the same thing - up at 6 (just me and Andrew - Michael will be working), cheap breakfast and then a long day at the yard sale.  Anything left over at the end of the sale is going to Goodwill except for a few things.  I don't want to bring it home!!!

We also had free tickets to an Indian's game tonight - in a Suite!  That was a special treat.  EXCEPT that we had to pay for the food!  Last time we had a suite, the food was covered.  Anyhow, there were 15 people there - we ordered chicken fingers, hot dogs and nachos.  We had a 6 pack of Pepsi (yuck), a 6 pack of diet Pepsi and waters.  I know the bill, including gratuity was well over $250.00!!!  And that will be split between 5 people!!!  Gosh, we could have went to LOGAN'S for that price!!!  Oh well, good thing it is payday!  They had fireworks at the end of the game and that was really cool.  

Well, I'm off to bed.  It's almost 11:30 and I've got another long day ahead of me.  I'm rather drugged up right now because of a horrible allergy nastiness going on right now, so I hope it kicks in soon!

To bed to be up at 6(ish) again tomorrow!  Hopefully I'll make more than $27.00 so I can pay for the food tonight at the game!!!  They just had the weather on and it looks like it will be dry most of the day.  

Nighters!

(((HUGS)))

Sha

3 Day Work Week!

Well, today was my Friday.  My dad's yard sale is tomorrow and I'm taking it off so I can help set up/watch and tear down.  Ya'll know how much I love yard sales.  I figured since I am going to be there I might as well throw some stuff in.  I didn't make it back to finish pricing tonight, so I'll have to finish up in the morning.

Michael has to work tomorrow (YEA!) so Andrew is going to help me set up.  And when I got from from my sister's house about 9pm, my adopted son (Andrew's best friend) was here and is going to spend the night so he gets to help set up too!!  BONUS!  :)  I love the free labor!!!

My brother-in-law's surgery went well.  They said that they found what they expected to find and they were able to do exactly what they wanted to do so that is good news.  Rumor is that they will release him tomorrow.  Can you believe it?  Home 24 hours after back surgery!!!  I guess that is good news though!

Not much else going on tonight - gonna try to get to bed early seeing that I've got to get up at 6am to be at Daddy's by 6:30-6:45 to set up.  

I hate yard sales....

But I love my Daddy!

(((HUGS))))

Tricia

Pricing Party!

Just got back from dad a little while ago. The yard sale is two days away so Andrew and I took everything over and dad and I sat in the garage and priced some of our stuff. I hate that part almost as much as I hate setting up and tearing down or sitting all day. Let's face it...I hate doing yard sales! I wish I was able to go to the one on Route 40 - that sounds like fun! Andrew cut Popou's grass while we priced things...good timing too...I hear thunder!

My brother-in-laws surgery is scheduled for tomorrow at noon...prayers are appreciated!!!

Ok...the storm is getting close...I have to log off. We have a strict rule that the computer is shut down and unplugged during storms....

I'll type more later!

Back to work....Monday, uh Tuesday Blues!

Boy, sometimes it is hard to get back to the grindstone after a long weekend!  But it was a really good day!  At work we have continuing education classes that we take - we have to take at least 3 a year and then we can take additional classes that we are interested in.  Today was one of those classes for me.  One of my coworkers did a presentation on "Improving your Verbal Presentation Skills" and it was one of the most fun classes I've attended.  The humor he used (and much of it was about the Steelers since one of the attendees is a huge Steelers fan) just made it so much fun to attend.  

This afternoon we got an e-mail from my sister that her husband is in the hospital with a herniated disk in his back.  So we have her youngest with us this evening.  We took a nice long walk over to Garfield Park and took Cocoa with us!  A good time was had by all.  I wish I had taken my camera as well as some water for the dog.  We kept waiting on the ice cream truck, but it never came.  So we settled for Popsicles at home.  Now we are waiting for Andrew to get home from Bible study so they can play Lego's some more!

Andrew has one more full day of school and then he is out for the year!  He is SOOOO ready! We are planning a yard sale at Dad's for Friday/Saturday so I have to get busy getting that stuff together.  I'm still a day off since yesterday was a holiday.  

I need to get working on my large cross stitch project.  But I'm also wanting to work on a bunch of bookmarks to give to the ladies that are going to the Great Banquet in October.  So let's see...between the two, I'm going to be BUSY!!!

Please keep by brother in law Mike, as well as Anna and Camyrn in your prayers.  One of my nieces and a nephew have both lost their jobs.  There is a heavy weight in the world right now, and the world seems to be getting smaller.  

Tonight as we lift so many family and friends up in prayer, may our hearts find peace and our minds be reminded that God is in control of EVERYTHING.  May we find His peace in everything and allow Him to guide our steps and help us to turn our will to His.

Not me! Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday!

This blog carnival was created by Stellan's mom . You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week. It is a fun graceful way to admit things that we never would admit to doing! Be sure to visit her blog for some fun reading! I didn't see her post it this week, but I kept my list going all week so I thought I would post it anyhow!

• On Sunday I did not come home from the Great Banquet and proceed to pass out on the couch. I did not miss the last two hours of the Survivor finale.
  
• On Monday I did not stop by McDonald's on the way INTO work for any icy-cold 32oz fountain coke (in a Styrofoam cup) and proceed to down that thing by 10am.


• On Monday I did not go home for lunch and proceed to fall asleep on the couch and go back to work 30 minutes late!


• I almost did not almost pee myself in the bathtub while taking a bath when a centi milli - zillion leg apeed crawled out of the overflow drain!!!!
  
• I did not spend 3 hours at the laundry mat getting laundry caught up. My father in law did not surprise me up there and take me out to dinner while everything was in the washer! I also did not spend $15.00 to wash my clothes and another $5.00 to dry them!
  
• I did not have a PG rated Instant Messaging conversation with my son THINKING it was my husband. Gald I figured that one out!!! WHEW! :)
  
• I did not wake up Saturday morning @ 7am - when I could have slept in for HOURS. Honest, that is one of my pet peeves.
  
• I did not give into peer pressure and set up a Face Book account this week...I wonder how long I'll keep it!

Memorial Weekend Relaxation....

It was a very quiet Memorial Weekend for us. Saturday found us taking it easy, cooking out and generally just enjoying being a family together. Sunday I spent 5 hours at dad's doing laundry...uh, I mean, house sitting. I got the beds stripped and everything washed and done. So I should be good until next weekend. We had a game night Sunday night and played Phase 10. That is one of our favorites. Monday I ended up at work, still trying to keep everything caught up submittal wise. Andrew came with me to study for finals this week. He is SO ready for school to be over!

Other than that a nice quiet weekend.

Also, Camryn beings her transplant this week - please keep the entire family in your prayers as well as Anna and her family. May God move in a mighty way with these families. A complete healing if he should decide - but His peace in all things as they are on these journeys. Both families have links at the top left of my page for you to follow up and to see how they specifically need prayer.

Today and everyday may we always remember the sacrifices that were made for us so we could be free in this country. And may we always remember the ultimate Sacrifice that was made for us so we can be eternally free!!

Prayers for Anna

Hello everyone!  I have another prayer request please!  The daughter of one of the contractors at work has leukemia.   Please keep her and her family in your prayers.  

They have a Caring Bridge website set up so you can get updates.

Thanks in advance for your prayers!

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/annafrost

To sum up my Great Banquet weekend...

This song has been running through my head all this past week and I wanted to share it with you.  Note that the words that say "I will walk apart" should read "I will walk the path" - I hope you enjoy it!

Some of the requested details...

I think I'm slowly recovering from my weekend. It has been a wonderful week to recover and just absorb everything I learned and felt. Although I am still digesting everything that I experienced this weekend. I finally got in touch with the ladies at my table and it was wonderful to hear that this weekend wasn't just an emotional high for them either. They also felt the hand of God move in a mighty way and His Presence is still something we can feel!

We had two ladies that drove down from Canada (and they do say "eh"!) and one that drove in from Eastern PA (she said she "reasoned" and "argued" with God the whole way down!) - and the rest were from Indiana. They could have gone to any Great Banquet, but chose this one. But again I know that this was God's invitation list and He is the one that invited these ladies to attend and they just had to say yes. It was amazing to hear how many of them had been invited time and time again by their sponsor and at the end of the weekend the first thing most of them said to their sponsor was a resounding THANK YOU for being persistent. There were many bonds formed and friendships that are going to last a lifetime. These women blessed my life and I look forward to our friendships for years to come!

I am going to share a few things with you about the weekend, but not too much, because I have invited a number of you to attend the Great Banquet and I don't want to ruin any surprises! We have 15 talks over the 72 hours. Each one builds on the one before and these talks are all done by women just like you and me. There are chapel moments for reflection as well as quiet time with God. We do Communion (if you choose) and sing praise and worship songs together. We enjoy many wonderful meals together and just fellowship and enjoy the entire weekend.

One of my favorite talks was on Priorities - and putting God first. Something else that really stands out is that prayer is our way to talk to God, and His Word is His way to talk to us. Wow! And that God's heart is to get to know US, but we need to choose to seek him - just like any relationship - is a two way street.

My Great Banquet weekend was just like this past weekend when I served on team. Every detail of the weekend is so well planned that during Friday, you learn to not worry about the time, what others are up to and you just want to go with the flow. You anticipate what is next but the anxiousness is wearing off. The is a comfort that develops in the group that puts you at ease. It's amazing how by Sunday most of the women aren't ready to go home! But part of that is from being served all weekend and knowing that as women we will be going back into our serving role.

Andrew and Kenny went to the teenage version last fall. Having compared notes, the weekends are very similar but the talks are focused towards teenagers. Both boys were blessed in much the same way as I was on my weekend and again this past weekend.

If you have any interest in finding out some more information about a Great Banquet weekend please feel free to talk to me. I would LOVE to talk to you and give you more information. Anyone is welcome to attend a weekend - no matter of your faith background (it's non denominational), where you feel like you stand in your faith walk or where you live. If you feel like you are interested, please don't hesitate to get a hold of me....I would be honored to talk to you!!!

May the Holy Spirit stir within you and may your heart be tuned to God's calling you to get to know Him better!

Not me! Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! 

This blog carnival was created by Stellan's mom . You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week. It is a fun graceful way to admit things that we never would admit to doing! Be sure to visit her blog for some fun reading! Get comfortable and get a cup of coffee - last time I checked there were almost 500 entries just for today!

Last Monday I did not procrastinate putting gas in my car so that on the way to work the "miles to go before empty" read 4 miles. I did not go to the downtown gas station that has higher gas prices and put $5.00 worth of gas in my car to just get me to a different station. I did not giggle to myself when realized that the amount of gas that you can get with $5.00 isn't enough to reset the "miles to go" gauge and I did not laugh as it went down to zero and then I did not continue to leave it at that for another two days when I finally put more gas in!

I did not get upset when I realized that my dryer broke sometime Sunday night - and I did not have a wet load in the dryer, a wet load in the washer and a ton of laundry yet to do.

I did not try to convince God that he picked the wrong person be a part of the Great Banquet. I did not get a sick feeling in my stomach as the week wore on and my weekend approached.

I did not get overly stressed about my upcoming weekend and find myself stress eating.

I did not over plan my week nights so that I couldn't get laundry to the laundry mat. I did not say a prayer of thanks that I had enough...uh, under garments to get me through the weekend.

I did not check my Google Reader in the middle of the night when I wasn't able to sleep.

I did not consider bothering the AGAPE team at the Great Banquet to go get me a McDonald's fountain coke (in a Styrofoam cup) all weekend long at the Great Banquet.

I did not let Andrew drive my car all weekend. I did not smile this morning when I noticed that he put gas it in for me!

I did not take a picture of Andrew passed out asleep at the bottom of our bed one night when he couldn't fall asleep in his room. And I did not post it here for you guys to see!

I mean, what kind of mom would do that to her 16 year old son!!! Michael did not call this the Spaghetti Jimmy picture (from the Capital One commercial where the kid wants one picture on mom's credit card but gets upset when mom picks the one when Jimmy is little and has spaghetti all over his face)

Hope you enjoyed my Not Me! post.

Blessed beyond measure!

The boys picked me up from the Great Banquet about 6:30 tonight. I am mentally, physically and emotionally drained. But my spiritual cup overfloweth! What an amazing weekend!! My great banquet weekend was a life changing weekend...and this weekend was as well, but in such a different way! I'm not sure I can put it into words, and certainly not tonight...but I will as soon as I can. Suffice it to say that God is good and He works all things together for His Glory and Purpose. I did NOT want to be a table leader on Thursday...but it was evident by Friday morning that God put me in that position to be blessed. I absolutely LOVED being a table leader and the (amazing!) women at my table blessed me in SO many ways!!! I'll do my best to find the right words - but it has to be a little later in the week - I'm pooped. :)

Tonight I'm watching the Survivor finale and going to bed...if I make the entire show!

De Colores!

Tricia

Kokomo Great Banquet #45 - Table of Ruth

Southport Great Banquet #50 Table of Abigail (Table Leader!)

PS...No, I did not have computer access this weekend...I set up my Blog to publish those two posts while I was gone!

My Bucket List....

I'm sure many of you have seen the movie "The Bucket List" - hard movie to watch at times, but funny in others. Had we not just lost both mom's and G'ma Irma, we would have enjoyed it more I'm sure.

But it got me to thinking about things I want to do before I die. Somethings I may never be able to do, but I'm going to list them anyhow for the fun of it!  This isn't a final list by any means -but only a start! I would like to cross these items off over the next 50 years....

• Visit Kennedy Space Center

• Skydive again - this time with LOTS of free fall time
  


• Be able to log the very first Geocache


• Hold my grandchildren (not till Andrew is at LEAST 25!)     :)


• Make a vase from clay (and not get grossed out with the clay on my hands)


• Get up close to a volcano in Hawaii


• Visit the actual location of groundspeak and the geocache there


• Make something by glass blowing


• Find at least one geocache in every state - and all the Hawaiian Islands  :)


• See the Northern Lights


• Watch a Hawaiian Sunset and Sunrise with Michael


• Go scuba diving...say maybe in Hawaii???  


• Own Drive a Jeep Wrangler  :)


• Find someplace remote and actually see a sky FULL of stars!

• Fit into my wedding dress again
  

Weedend Puzzle Entertainment! Enjoy!

I printed off three copies of this puzzle for us to do - it took us about an hour to find all 16. Per the rules, we did not use a bible, but instead we picked Andrew's brain (that's not cheating!) It was an hour well spent! Let me know if you want the answers!

Have fun!

Can you find the names of 16 books from the Bible in the paragraph below without the aid of your bible? (One minister found 15 of the books in 20 minutes, but it took him weeks to find the last one.)

Rules: There are no rules - just find the names - punctuation and grammatical marks are irrelevant and can be ignored as can physical placement.

I once made the remark about the hidden books of the Bible. It was a lulu;
kept people looking so hard for facts... and for others it was a
revelation. Some were in a jam, especially since the names of the books
were not capitalized. But the truth finally struck home to numbers of our
readers. To others it was a real job. We want it to be a most fascinating
few moments for you. Yes, there will be some really easy ones to spot.
Others may require judges to help them. I will quickly admit it
usually takes a minister to find one of them, and there will be loud
lamentations when it is found. A little lady says she brews a cup of tea so
she can concentrate better. See how well you can compete. Relax now, for
there really are sixteen names of books of the Bible in this.

The Great Banquet

So tonight I will be gone to the Great Banquet for 72 hours. Left behind will be my family, my cell phone, no watches, no time table--for 72 hours.

Ahead of me is time set aside and dedicated to searching who I am in Christ, what He means to me and how does that impact my life. Yes, I've been to the Great Banquet before as a "guest", but tonight I will be on the "other side" - I will be a table leader - at a table full of ladies all at different stages of their Christian walk. My responsibilities include keeping my table on topic, listening to what is both being said and what is not being said. To be encouraging. And most importantly, to let God's love shine through me and point anyone seeking to Him.

I remember my weekend clearly and well as most of the topics that were discussed. I have my notebook full of notes the bible verses clearly marked for follow up. I have many of my AGAPE gifts that were thoughtfully made and given in love. I've been told by many people who are on the serving side that I will get even more out of this weekend than my own. I honestly have trouble comprehending that. I mean, my weekend was life changing. It was a wonderful experience that is actually difficult to explain to someone who hasn't attended, but an instant bond shared with someone who has attended.

I've spent the last 3 months or so attending meetings, doing weekly devotions and praying for each of the team members as well as the guests that God is bringing to this weekend. Although we didn't know their names until last Thursday - God knew who he was bringing and our prayers were not in vain. He has been preparing the hearts of our guests as well as the team. The team is ready - this weekend is so well organized. The entire weekend will be prayed for during a 72-hour prayer vigil. Yes, God is indeed the author and special Guest at our weekend.

Although this is God's weekend, that doesn't mean that Satan won't try to interfere. There will be a million things that will be thrown at us to deter God's work this weekend. Kids will be sick, jobs will be busy, doubt, fears and worries will try to hinder the experience - for both us and our guests. Even as I type this I feel unworthy for the position as a table leader. I feel insecure - who am I to be in this position? And I know my heart is as a server. Why am I a table leader? I should be on a different team, the Kitchen team or most certainly the AGAPE team. But this is where God wants me to be. Someone very dear to me has encouraged me - yes, I have been through the Banquet and gained so much out of it...but this weekend, tonight, I have been called to this weekend to be a blessing....and to be blessed. God has called me to this position. He is faithfull and will be with me.

So, as you go about your busy weekends, will you take a moment to pray for the Great Banquet this weekend? I especially covet prayers so I can be used as God's hands and feet - and may His heart be mine.

Be Blessed in all you do,

May God guide your steps,

May the Holy Spirit stir within you,

and may Jesus be within you!

Love, Tricia

New Blog Button

Would you please pray for Camryn? She is once again battling cancer and starting next week she will be back in the hospital preparing for a bone marrow transplant. Her brother is going to be her donor.

Please pray for both Camryn and Wyatt. You can use the button at the top of my blog to keep up to date on her progress.

I've got some catching up to do!

I have to admit that Mom's birthday and Mother's day are a little hard still.  Michael and I still struggle with losing our moms.  I didn't make it out to mom's last Wednesday because the cemetery is still on winter hours (they forgot about daylight savings time apparently).  Daddy took them out for me.  I even miss Nana (Michael's mom)  - we got close especially the last few years of mom's life when mom wasn't quite herself.  So we've been a little blue thinking about them.

But my mother's day was good!  Andrew brought me breakfast up to work since I wasn't home for breakfast in bed.  Michael grilled out dinner too!  But the best part was my treadmill!!! Stacy was wanting to sell her treadmill (well, I think her husband was wanting more room in their garage for a third motorcycle and the treadmill had to go!) - so she sold it to us for a price we couldn't beat!  The boys pooled their money and bought it for me for Mother's Day!!  I've been wanting one for a LONG time so I was tickled pink when Andrew and Kenny picked it up on Tuesday and brought it home!  I did have to go into work for a bit on Mother's day, but when I came home, I spent time rearranging the living room to make room for it (yes, I made room in my shoebox of a house!) - and everyone is using it!  Cocoa hates it and Andrew thinks it is also great for playing with his hot wheels on it!  Here is a picture of it:

It is spectacular!!!  And the timing on it was perfect!  I'm going to be at the Great Banquet this weekend (Thurs - Sun) and that is such GOOD EATING - I will want for NOTHING during this weekend!  I'm going to have to do triple treadmill time this week and next to make up for it!! The boys on the other hand will be surviving on ramen noodles, frozen pizza and Chinese. Honest, I have plenty of things for them in the house to fix, and they BOTH know how to cook, but they will chose to not fix anything.  BTW - the ground rule has been set....NO ONE is allowed on the treadmill while I'm gone this weekend!!  That lessens the chance of anyone breaking anything while I'm gone!!

OH!!  My hair!  I donated 11 inches to Locks of Love and then she cut another 3 inches for my style.  I was torn between two styles and she wanted me to go with the one that was a little bit longer. She said she can always cut it shorter but she can't put it back on.  And I'm ready to go get it cut shorter already.  I HATE my hair on my neck.  If my hair is long enough for a ponytail it is in a ponytail  When I went in for my knee surgery, I told Michael to make sure as soon as I get out to make sure my hair is NOT on my neck.  When my time on this earth is up, he promised to make sure my hair is NOT on my neck.  I HATE my hair on my neck.  To me my new style is at the "in-between" stage and I HATE the in-between stage.  I can actually still pull the top back up and the back I can get it into an 1 1/2 inch ponytail.  I'll try to get a picture before I cut it shorter.   I don't think I'll get it cut prior to the Great Banquet this weekend, but hopefully as soon as I can next week!

I'm excited and nervous about the Great Banquet this weekend.  I hope that I am able to step aside and allow God to work though me.  Will you pray for me about that?

The adventures of a teenage driver....

Andrew is a good driver...honest.

Andrew is an honest kid....honest.

Apparently, Andrew suffers from teenager short term memory loss...honest.

A few weeks ago, the weather got warm and although we didn't want to turn on the central air, we gave in and decided to turn it on for a few days.

Now for those of you not familiar with our back yard, we usually park one car in back (Michael's) - occasionally all 3 (I gave up on getting an actual backyard with grass years ago).  If you are facing the house, Michael gets center, I take the left and Andrew gets the right.  Not sure why, that is just the way it is.  We like to back in when we are unloading things from the trunk (groceries and the such - I'm not carrying them up our FRONT hill).  Well, apparently Andrew backed his car in a little to far.  This is what I found when I took the cover off:

So I went back into the house and had a talk with my honest son.

This is how the conversation went:

"Hey Andrew, did you back into the air unit?"

His eyes suddenly glazed over and he got a confused look on his face like I asked him to explain the theory of relativity ... "No"

(ok...now I KNOW I didn't do it, and Michael didn't do it, so I asked again)

ANDREW...(emphasis added) - Did you back into the air unit?"

"oh, uh, yea, but that was a long time ago"  (mind you, he has only has his license 5 months at the time of this conversation), "like back in December"

"ok...so why didn't you tell me?"

"I looked but I didn't see any damage"

"Did you look UNDER the cover"

"no...sorry"

So, although according to Andrew I am the queen of lectures, we failed to cover the topic of "Hey kid, you are on MY insurance, you hit ANYTHING, you tell me IMMEDIATELY" - let's just say that topic has been covered numerous times in the past few weeks.  I think he's got it now.  I love having something new to add to my lecture repertoire.

So anyhow - we turned on the air unit and it works.  It was hit hard enough to do that dent and TURN it on it's base...I am thankful that the air unit was there to protect our house!!!

The adventures of having a teenage driver....

Happy Birthday Mom...

This is a picture of mom during my wedding.  I know it is almost 21 years old, but this picture is important to me.  My mom, grandma and greatgrandma made my dress for my mom's wedding 25 years before I wore it.  Mom hated having her picture taken - so I don't have many to choose from.  I wanted to take some daisies out to her yesterday so that when Daddy visited they would be there, but they closed the gates at 6pm (they haven't switched to summer hours yet) - so I just took them over to Daddy for him to enjoy.  

I love you still...My heart aches to see your smile, hear your voice and to just share so many things with you.  You were always there for me - always only a phone call away.  Thank you for giving me life, for showing me how to overcome, how to forgive and to ask for forgiveness. How to enjoy the small things in life,  and how to celebrate the small things each day.  Thank you for your advice and encouragement with Andrew and for celebrating with me every time I called with the little things - and always making them seem so important.  I give you and dad much of the credit with how we've raised Andrew - and for that I am so thankful.  Thank you for showing me how important your faith is.  To witness you soaking up His word and teachings and allowing them to change you to who He wanted you to become has encouraged and inspired me beyond words.   For so many years I never understood you, but as I grew up, I realized that you were so strong, you were an over comer, and you loved completely.  

Again I praise God for his plan for eternal salvation!  For the confidence in my heart that this was not goodbye - but until we meet again.  

Back to work to rest!

Wow!  What a weekend!  The weathermen blew the forecast and it ended up being sunny and beautiful!  With this kind of weather I couldn't bring myself to go into work.  So instead, Michael decided that we needed to fix the waterbed this weekend so I jumped at that! We got our waterbed with our first tax check (almost 20 years ago) and since we've been in the house (16 years now) we haven't had to drain it or anything.  Well, we knew one of the support boards in the bottom needed replaced so that was our goal to fix it.  After the bed was drained (less then 2 hours thanks to the power of gravity!) we noticed that the entire middle board needed replaced.  That was our "task" for the weekend!  We emptied the water heater twice to fill it back up (sleeping on a cold mattress will give you the WORST backache in the world) and it is perfect!  Besides that we cut the grass, my car and Andrew's car got oil changes, and tons of laundry.  I also went to the candlelight service for the Men's weekend at Southport Presbyterian Church (where my weekend will be in a few weeks)  Like I mentioned before I didn't realize my lack of energy and how behind I was. Anyhow, apparently I have my spunk back!  :)

Church Sunday was AWESOME again!  This week it was about taking time alone to study and pray as the example set by Jesus.  The skit they did was making "fun" of the reality show Solitary and very well done.  Pastor Gary didn't preach but the associate pastor Mark Miller did a great job.  I'm on coffee duty next Sunday so I'll go to the 1st service, do coffee duty the second service and go to Sunday school like normal during the 3rd service.  And the week after that is my Great Banquet Weekend!  So I'll miss the final week of this series.  Rats. :) Listening to it on the internet isn't quiet the same!

Oh, as I was going through my pictures for my big hair cut Wednesday night I found these pictures of what happened during MY Great Banquet Weekend:

Andrew tripped over the puppies (Hershey and Molly) and broke his wrist.  Since my Great Banquet weekend was in Kokomo, Michael was on his own!  They sat in the ER for over 3 hours and then they were sent home to see the specialist on Monday .  So I took the next day off to take Andrew to get his wrist aligned and then put in a cast.  Michael said he and Andrew are going to hole up in the house and NOT MOVE a muscle!!!  When Michael tells you the story you will be in tears laughing!

As far as my hair, if it is healthy enough to go to Locks of Love....I'm really really really thinking about going short short.  I'm excited and nervous all at the same time!  If you have any thoughts, let me know...and SOON!

We had fun going though the pictures tonight.  I love my digital camera (well, not really, I want a new one!) - but there is something about actually looking at real pictures.  Maybe I'm just old fashioned.  I enjoyed watching Andrew grow up over the years - and we even found pictures of me when I was a kid.  He enjoyed those as well!

Have you noticed how BEAUTIFUL this spring is?  The flowers have just lasted and lasted and the fragrance is just wonderful.  Although my lilac bush is done blooming, when I was on the interstate tonight the smell of the Honeysuckle was so amazing.  I wanted to slow down and just enjoy the trip.  But my lead foot overruled my desire to slow down and enjoy!  :(  I REALLY need to work on that!

Almost finished with my book "The Shack" - Very good book - not sure I agree with 100% (which if anyone is honest about any book of this type I double it you can agree 100%)  of it and sometimes it is very deep - and I'll have to read and reread parts of it just to try to comprehend what it is trying to say.  I look forward to finishing it and reading it again right away to kinda give my mind time to comprehend it all!!  So far it is a two thumbs up!

Busy rest of the week.  I'm looking to getting through May and then slow down a bit in June!

As we go about our days, may we take the time to stop and "smell the roses" and just enjoy the beauty of Creation in every way.  May it refresh your mind and soul and give you peace.

Weekend to recover...kinda...

Whew!  Made it to Friday!  I will admit with all this rain, I struggled to get up yesterday.  I love sleeping in on a rainy morning and listen to the rain.  I think I get that from my mom...she would just sit on the porch and listen to the rain.  

We are slowly getting caught up at work. We are both working on submittals right now - I'm going in this weekend to work on some more so Monday I can show her to to process out submittals and then we will do electronic submittals.  I will probably go up later today.  And btw, my intent was to fix dinner last night, but Papa called and invited us out to dinner (he thought it was my Great Banquet weekend and didn't want the boys to just eat frozen pizza and noodles - even though he knows I'll take care of them!) - so we all went to....Chinese.  :(  NOT my favorite place, but we had a great time.  Every time Andrew got up to get something, Michael and I would pour his coke into ours.  Then when he went to go get a coke, Michael stole his shrimp.  When the kid when to get more shrimp, we stole his coke. Andrew was and incredibly good sport (as usual) and dinner was full of laughter!

I think I've got a bit of cabin fever so last night I took off just to get out.  I went to Family Christian store (yes, I had a coupon) ended up with a highly recommended book called "The Shack" - I've heard it was a great book and so far it has proved so.  I got about 1/3 of he way thought it.  Details to follow.

Mom's birthday is Tuesday.  And I'm already struggling with it.  I'm planning on going out Monday night and putting some flowers (daisy's) out so when Daddy goes to visit they are there.  Please keep me in your prayers.  I never knew how hard this would be - I never understood the broken heart of  people who have loved and lost like I should have - for each of you, I'm sorry.  I thought that after two years it would be easier - and in some respects it is, the constant heartache is gone, but when it hits, it's as if it is fresh again.  I covet your prayers - and for Daddy and the rest of us as well.

I didn't mean for this post to end on a sad note, I'm sure the next one will be better.

 

Heavenly Father, I Praise your Name!  I thank you that we have confidence that this is not the end.  That those we have loved and lost will be with us again.  Holy Spirit, I pray that you touch the sadness and emptiness in our souls and remind us that we are just passing though - that this is not our world and no matter how hard this is, there is hope and a promise that we will be together again. Fill us with the peace that surpasses all earthly understanding.  Amen and Amen!