Still Waters

2010-01-26T15:29:00.000-08:00

Hey.... *taptaptap* is this thing on??

2009-05-21T10:44:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't been around, we're fine, just busy! We've decided to school through the summer 4 days a week so Ashley can start 8th grade on schedule, plus she wants to keep doing the subjects she's not even behind in, like Apologia Physical Science. She's not even supposed to start this till 8th grade, but she started reading it when we got it in the mail and she's hooked! Experiments with electricity! And chemicals! Physics! Be still my heart! Who am I to stop a future doctor from studying science?

I'll be back soon with a real post, with pictures! and maybe chocolate!

Diamond quilt progress!

2009-05-11T05:53:00.000-07:00

This is such an easy quilt! I love scrappy quilts, and I needed an easy project with BIG pieces after working with my fiddly tiny hexagons for a while. The magazine has it described as a Triangle Tango, but I call it the diamond quilt.

I got the first row sewed together, and the second row pinned. I glanced into a drawer in my sewing room and lo and behold discovered the blues and yellows squares for this quilt! Thankfully I only have to remove stitching in two places in the one finished row. So no big deal!

Below is a photo of what my daughter gave me for Mother's Day yesterday. It's a flower pot shaped like a teacup! I drink hot tea, English style, all day long, so this was so cute! It was filled with herbal teas, pretty dish towels and a beautiful card. I am going to get some pansies today to plant in it.

Lastly, here's a little bag I made yesterday. It's from a This N That patter, available in most quilt shops. It came together in just a couple of hours. I think the pattern is called Button Bag. The fabric I chose reminds me of chocolate covered strawberries. LOL

I'm still coming to terms with the fact that I am stuck in a restaurant every afternoon and evening for the foreseeable future. It has wreaked havoc on Ashley's schooling. We have determined to school through the summer to get her caught up, so she can start 8th grade work in September. Today I am going to try to leave the shop by 8 pm, to get Ashley home to give her a decent bedtime. If it was just me being dragged into this, I would suck it up and do whatever I had to do. But my daughter is involved and it is breaking my heart.

There's alot more to this situation than having to work in the restaurant. I can't say much, but I just found out my husband has not paid our mortgage this month. The money went into the pizza shop. For the first time, I'm concerned. I am not afraid, because the Lord knows what He is doing, but I wish I knew what His plans were! It drives me nuts, the not knowing, and being unable to plan.

Thank the Lord I can still quilt!!

Where God wants me to be...

2009-05-07T09:34:00.000-07:00

Well, the sale of the restaurant fell through. It seems that although the potential buyers had a dream of moving to the mountains and opening a restaurant, the bankers had a different opinion. I am trying to keep a positive attitude about the whole thing. Obviously this is where God wants me/us right now. I can't imagine why. I feel like every other little aspect of life is on hold. I need to stop worrying about the "why me's" and focus just on "why?" What is God's plan? I am sure this will all work out for good. I need to remember that He can see the long range outcomes, I can't. In the meantime, I have met many people, and have been able to share my faith with a few.

Time to go! I hope to come back with a quilting post this weekend!

Pay it Forward... Trying to anyway!

2009-05-02T08:30:00.000-07:00

So I came across this neat, wonderful idea on Dianna's blog called Pay it Forward. Have you heard of it? I haven't. I thought it was such a wonderful idea I signed up! I have never received mail or sent mail to or from a blog friend, so I'm kind of excited about the whole prospect! What a unique opportunity to spread alittle bit of happiness across the miles!
Here's how it works, as copied from Dianna's blog...

The first three people to leave a comment will receive a hand made gift from me.The only thing you have to do to participate is carry on the gift by giving to three more people...as soon as you have left a comment do a "pay it forward post" on your blog and continue the giving.

It's that simple! So, are you crafty? If so, hop to it! Here's your chance to spread some joy. And receive alittle for yourself!

So I'll wait patiently for three people to comment on this post. I wont tell you what I'm sending you, but remember I like to sew. And embroider. And I make a mean pizza. But alas, you probably wont get pizza in the mail.

So hurry and comment people!

Ummm... anyone want to give me a hint on how to post the Pay it Forward picture at the top of this post? I can't get it to stick!

2009-04-30T19:11:00.000-07:00

This is officially my 100th post. My how times flies! In honor of such a historical event, I bring you my "100 things about me" post that I did for no apparent reason in 2007. Updates are in red.

100 Things About Me

Updated in red!

1. I have brown hair
2. If you don't count the gray
3. I have two children
4. I can't have any more
5. My husband is 16 years older than I am
6. After I turned about age 35 it didn't matter anymore honestly, sometimes it matters
7. My mom died when she was 46
8. I was 24
9. That's way too young to make funeral arrangements for a parent
10.My dad remarried they separarated this past August
11. His new wife is crazy. I mean that.
12. She wants to live on another planet
13. I want her to live on another planet
14. I used to be a special ed. teacher
15. I loved my job
16. I loved my own children more
17. I have two cats, a dog, and three chickens now 3 cats, a dog, 7 chickens, a hedgehog, an Umbrella Cockatoo, hermit crabs and two aquariums
18. I hope to clear some land and get a couple of goats
19. I live in the middle of nowhere.
20. Our driveway is so steep the UPS man meets us at the bottom
21. I like to be alone
22. I never get to be alone
23. I love to read
24. I have a hard time concentrating to read
25. I love to sew
26. I love to bake
27. I'm not very good at regular cooking, like dinner
28. I play the piano, kind of
29. I miss my hometown
30. I miss my sister
31. I miss my brother
32. I miss my dad
33. My husband will never grow up
34. My favorite food is anything loaded with carbs which I do not eat!!!
35. I had gastric bypass surgery in 2005
36. I lost a bit over 100 pounds
37. I still fight food cravings every single day
38. Sometimes they win
39. I have gained 8 pounds since moving to TN lost most of it again!
40. I am a boring person
41. I don't like group activities
42. I am shy
43. I am not articulate
44. I worry about my son excessively
45. I worry about my daughter excessively
46. My cat is twice as big as my dog
47. He sleeps in the bathtub
48. I have 17 unfinished sewing projects
49. I finished one, then started a new project yesterday
50. I sell stuff on ebay
51. I spend everything I make on ebay
52. My favorite season is Autumn
53. I love to organize
54. I'm not very good at it
55. I drive a pick-up truck
56. I wear my clothes twice before washing (except undergarments!)
57. My daughter tries to match her clothes to whatever I am wearing
58. I have more online friends than real life friends
59. My little dog probably won't live much longer he's still wobbling along!
60. I never feel I am good enough
61. We do not have a tv
62. We do not want a tv
63. We do have a regulation pool table
64. My husband is a very good pool player
65. Our front porch overlooks mountains and cow pasture
66. Our back porch overlooks mountains
67. We have books stacked on every flat surface in the house
68. Except the pool table
69. I love old stuff
70. My husband speeds by yard sales and thrift stores without stopping
71. I want to lose 10 pounds now I want to lose 4 pounds
72. Losing weight is hard, even after gastric bypass
73. My favorite color is green
74. I was raised Catholic
75. I was named after a nun
76. She is still living and serving God
77. I am now Baptist
78. I still love the Catholic faith
79. I don't think there is only one "perfect" religion
80. It is not my opinion that matters, but God's
81. There is some mystery around the disapearance of my father when I was a baby
82. I have light brown eyes
83. I lose my cell phone 10 times a day
84. I drink hot tea all day long
85. My long haired cat is the exact same color as my carpet
86. I love that!
87. If you were to open my spice cabinet, at least 5 things would fall out
88. My truck is very messy inside
89. My husband does not know I have a blog
90. I take 11 vitamins a day
91. I have a protien deficiency resolved with proper diet
92. I do not like to wash dishes
93. I have a dishwasher I have never used
94. I am terribly afraid of the dark
95. I used to take 3 different medications for depression and anxiety
96. I miss my mother every day
97. I pray for every expecting mother I see
98. I enjoy being around people who are elderly
99. My house needs to be vacuumed
100. I can't seem to get myself off the computer
Whew!! That wasn't so bad, although the last few took me as long as the rest of them altogether. Post your list in a comment, with a link!

I've not been a very good blogger lately.

2009-04-28T08:33:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of posts. The computer is last on the priority list; not by choice mind you! What computer time I do have is spent planning my daughter's 8th grade school year, and answering emails from my son in Iraq and my sister in North Carolina. I haven't turned on my sewing machine in over a week, and I have not ran in over a month. To top it all off, my weight is up 5 pounds that seem impossible to lose. I have been working every day except Sundays, and those are spent attending two church services and teaching Sunday School to a bunch of wild and crazy 6 year olds who do not seem to grasp a work I say. To say I feel discouraged is an understatement. It's been a rough week of missing my son, my sister and brother, my dad, my mom in Heaven, my old friends back home. I am drowning in my to-do list which keeps getting longer. Still no word from the would-be restaurant buyers.

Boy what a downer I am today!! Everyone has these kinds of days/weeks, right? I am fortunate in many, many ways. A friend from church had back surgery and is having a rough recovery. My pastor has had numerous skin cancer growths removed from his neck over the years, and they decided to do surgery to go alittle deeper to hopefully rid him of the cancer long term. Well, it's not working. New growths are emerging as fast as they can remove them. So I am fortunate to be strong and healthy. I have a nice home, when so many are losing theirs. My family may be far from me, but they are healthy and happy too. I have all I could want to eat, as evidenced by my 5 pound weight gain. Our church recently delivered food to a community in KY where we met an older couple who were emaciated from simply being hungry. In America! So I'll be grateful for my extra 5 pounds, thank you. Yes my son is training Iraqi police right now, but he is alive and happy in his endeavors. He wants to extend his stay till November.

See, life is good, God is generous with His gifts. We all have trials and burdens, but take the time to tell me what you are thankful for today.

2009-04-18T07:13:00.000-07:00

Hey there! If you haven't seen the post below, please scroll down, my daughter was baptised on Easter! It was beautiful!
What a busy time it has been! I do have some good (for me!) news though, we got an offer to buy our pizza shop! One of the diners asked if he could take pictures of the dining area, he said it was so nicely decorated, he wanted to show his son and daughter-in-law in Florida. I thought that was alittle odd, but said sure. I thought it was even more odd when he photographed the bathrooms! lol Four days later a man and woman from Florida come in for lunch. This is nothing new since it is a tourist town, but they too are oohing and ahhing over the decor, the food, the location etc. The gentleman handed my husband a piece of paper and said take this home and read it. My husband read it right there and said no way! But later they sat down and talked. And talked. And talked some more. Meanwhile I'm tossing pizzas, making pasta and salads and my ears are burning I tell you! The family leave and my husband breaks the news. He expected me to be heartbroken, but honestly, I am so happy I am dancing inside! I like the restaurant, but my heart is not in it. Ok.... I hate it. I hate cooking all day, I hate the fact that my daughter is now behind in school, I miss my house, I miss my pets, I miss my sewing. I want my old life back! We are discussing price, but since we paid so little for it, their offers so far have been wonderful.
So maybe in a couple of weeks, things will get back to some kind of normal around here. We can pray!

On the sewing front, things have been slow. But just look at these hexagons! I just love them. I need some Ideas on what to do with them, but for now I just love making those beautiful flowers. So does Crazy.

Here's aptly named Crazy. She is my second-biggest quilting supporter. She adores fabric and will pull pieces off the shelves to lay on them on the floor. She's very stand-offish, as she was wild when we found her, but she's very loving in her own way.

I've made steady progress on the diamond quilt, as seen on the cover of the latest Quilts and More magazine, except mine is scrappy. The bag on the right is full of the diamonds still in two pieces. They will get their turn at the sewing machine today.

Here's the birds for the bird quilt also found on that website. I'm doing this one only to practice applique. I'm liking it so far, but it's harder that I expected. I love the freezer paper technique explained to me by a blogger friend, I wish I remembered which one! Sorry, blogger friend!

Sorry for the darkness, but here's my sewing room. Isn't it awful? This is the ONLY room in my home that looks like this. Every bit of stuff in there has a purpose, you just can't tell at the moment.

Here's my little Bonsai. He's doing so much better! He walks and potties totally unassisted now, though he stumbles and gets lost frequently. He will have blood work every 8 weeks to check for inflammation, but other than that he's a happy guy!

Harry needs no introduction. He's an awesome cat. When I sew, he lays near me, but never on me, like some others who shall remain anonymous.

Here's a great shot of Cleo. She's so shy she's hard to get on camera. She was watching the hedgehog run around in this picture. Look at that concentration!

And here's the cats' nemesis, Rocco. He loves to get down on the floor and run! He totally freaks out the cats, and they hide when he's running around, and I stay right with him so he won't chew the furniture. He's a hoot!
Well I guess I'll save the hedgehog and chickens for another post. Time to get going!

My daughter got baptised on Easter!

2009-04-12T18:38:00.000-07:00

My daughter came to the conclusion, that since she was saved by God's grace almost 4 years ago, it was time to be baptised. What better time to be baptised than on Easter?

Praising God for his precious blessings.

Just to prove I have no life...

2009-04-03T11:12:00.000-07:00

I will post about the same stuff I posted about last Friday.
Ahem.

I am still making painfully slow progress on the three quilt tops I'm working on. This would be because I have maybe 30 minutes of sewing time each day.

Diet wise, I have not lost an ounce. If fact, I managed to gain almost a full pound by eating very little and working myself to death. I think the problem is I have not been running like I used to. We used to run three miles, three times a week, now we run almost none. Well ok, none at all this week.

I finally heard from my son Andrew in Baghdad! Remember when I said no news is good news? Well I was right. Come to find out, from an email Andrew sent to my sister, that there have been explosions of varying intensities around the compound they are in at night. One such explosion blew up the Hummvee Andrew drives during the day. Needless to say I am scared for him. He does not know that I know, because the only news he tells me is what he had to eat yesterday, and what he wants to eat tomorrow. My sisters gets all the disturbing stuff, which she passes on to me. He is fine, but they are extra cautious, which is good. Did I mention he wants to extend his stay till November?
No matter what your stance is on the war going on, these people serving in the armed forces are VOLUNTEERS. They VOLUNTEERED for the service, knowing that overseas duty will be likely. My son, and many others, want to stay till the job is done. So enough with the emails about peace, love, daisies, huggs, kisses and happiness. They know what they are doing.
Done with the rant.

Ashley is doing great! She's really racking up the tips at the pizza shop. A customer called her "charming" and she had to look it up in the dictionary. Since then she has really done her best to be "charming." She really is a sweet, soft-spoken, friendly girl, so it's not such a stretch for her to be extra "charming." LOL Actually she is complimented alot, expecially by older people who comment on her work ethic and her manners. She is saving her tips to buy a mule. Not a horse, but a mule. They're smarter, you know.

Here's to a nice weekend! Let's pray for no rain for a change, and a few hours of sewing time! Whoo Hoo!

Long time no post!

2009-03-27T05:00:00.000-07:00

Geeze, it's been a week! I just don't know where the time is going! Well, I do know, it's going to homeschool, the embroidery shop, the pizza business, my little dog, and the other animals, including baby chicks and their housing needs. Not to mention housework and church!

I have been sewing, and I'm making slow progress on the diamond quilt. I'm also making slow progress on the hexagon quilt and the bird quilt. I've decided to make the bird quilt smaller than the directions state in the directions.

I made some curtains and pillow covers for my daughter's room yesterdaay, a bright sparkly pink. We also splatter painted some t-shirts. I wish I would have taken pictures of that! Since my dog was close by my side, he got alittle splatter painted too.

On the diet front, I have not mentioned it recently because I seem to be at a standstill. I have had sugar cravings like you wouldn't believe! They say you lose the cravings after not eating sugar for a while, but I have not eaten sugar, white flour, white potatoes, white rice, or any processed foods at all since Christmas, and here I am struggling with cravings. I feel great and have tons of energy, but the last 4-5 pounds dosen't want to leave. I understand it is a lifestyle, not a diet at all. And I have no plans to let junk foods back into my life, I just wish for instant results, ya know? LOL, oh well, what can you do? Just keep pluggin' along!

We have not heard from our son in Iraq for a while, but no news is good news they say. Sometimes he just can't get to a computer. Last I heard he was thinking of extending his tour. (Insert grimace smiley here.) Crazy kid.

Ashley is looking forward to the last day of school, whick for us will be June 12th. If we stick to some semblance of a schedule till then, and if we don't think of any extra topics to research and dive into. We are looking forward to Sonlight 7 next year! I'm looking forward to having Language Arts intergrated into the Sonlight curriculum! One less subject to buy and plan for, I think! We'll see, I've heard mixed reviews about it.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Tiny bit of progress on the diamond quilt

2009-03-20T05:13:00.000-07:00

Here's a few photos of what I've done so far...

I've cut 80-something 6 7/8" squares in whites and brights.

I've drawn a diagonal line from corner to corner on the wrong side of the whites.

I've paired up the bright squares with a white square, right sides together.

I've sewn 1/4" seams on either side of the drawn line.

Like this.

I've cut them apart on the drawn line. Ta Da!

Here they are opened up.

I've turned one square around to match the bright fabrics up together in a diamond shape.

I have yet to repeat this 80-something times, but I'm working on it.

Also in the works...

A hexagon quilt called Grandmother's Flower Garden

A Bird quilt

All of the designs can be found here. Quilts and More

I love the hexagons because they are so portable! I can take them anywhere, and I do! I started the bird quilt because I need to work on my applique. The magazine I got the pattern from suggested doubling the freezer paper, and it's amazing how much that helped. Also, temporary spray adhesive by Sulky is my new best friend.
I'm off to sew for a few minutes,
See ya!

Updates

2009-03-13T06:27:00.000-07:00

Thank you for the emails about my little dog. He is a wonderful friend to me. I love my three cats, and I talk about them alot, but Bonsai holds a very special place in my heart. I appreciate all of the prayers sent his way.

Bonsai is doing well!! He is walking, although he does stumble alot, he can get himself where he wants to go! I am so, so happy. He still needs help holding himself upright when he goes potty, but I think that will improve with time also. We don't know what the future will hold for him. He is not a candidate for surgery considering his age. We will just love him for as long as we can.

I finished the flower quilt I posted about long ago. It is actually hanging up already! Want to see it?

It was quick to assemble, but the machine applique around all those flower petals was a pain! I found the bunny in a thrift store for 75 cents! I collect those fancy dress bunnies, as I call them. The pattern used to be popular in the 80's. I have 6 of them, same pattern, different dresses.

For motivational purposes I am throwing in a picture of my stash wall. There is about a thrid of it on the floor that is not shown, but I hope to get it all put away neatly this weekend. If you look closely you'llsee another bunny in the top right corner.

Soon I hope to post about my new WIP. It's on the front cover of the new Quilts and More magazine. Mine is in brights and white. I can't wait to show you!

2009-03-10T04:04:00.000-07:00

I'm so grateful for the things I have in my life. If you are mindful you can find teachable moments in nearly everything. We have had many, many teachable moments around here, some sweet, some bittersweet.

Here's the sweet:

Everybody say "aawwwww! We have 5 of these babies in a child's wading pool in my sewing room. They are Rhode Island Reds. Isn't she pretty? Out of the 5, there is one chick who runs up to us when we come near. This little baby likes to climb up the front of my daughter's shirt and perch on her shoulder. So cute! We will be selling eggs this fall, so come see us!

Here's the bittersweet. My little Bonsai took a turn for the worse this weekend. He has a degenerative spinal disease, where his spine is crumbling, and the discs in his back are bulging. He can no longer walk. He is in no pain, and enjoys being carried around. His prognosis is not good, three vets have told us he will never regain mobility. If we can just figure out the going-potty part, we'd be all set, but his bladder is so spastic, urinating on his own has been difficult at best. Right now he has to be catheterized three times a day. We are hoping to get him through the next couple of weeks, as that will give us a good indication of what his quality of life will be. I'm glad he is comfortable. He does try to move his legs sometimes, and he really wants to stand up. I'm hopeful. Bonsai just turned 13 this past February. I just can't imagine letting him go.

It's been hard on my daughter. She has never experienced death before, and as we were driving Bonsai to the emergency vet's office at 11 pm Saturday night, she was sobbing. We have had some good discussions since then, It's a tough lesson to learn, but we want her to be prepared in case that decision should have to be made. Death is a very real part of life. Although Bonsai is still with us, he's not going to live forever. Depending on how he feels in the next couple of weeks, we may have to make the decision to have him put to sleep. That is the hardest part for Ashley, because why would we want him to die? It's been hard to explain. I'm trying to get her to examine her own feelings with questions like, "Why would we want him to live in pain?" "Whose needs should come first, Bonsai's or ours?" Sometimes we have to put our own wants aside to meet the needs of those we love. Poor kid, it's rough.

Well, I hate to end on such a melancholy note, but such is life.

Ya'll come back!

Life gets in the way!

2009-03-07T05:00:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to stick a quick not in here to say I'm still around, just overwhelmed with the restaurant, homeschooling, sewing, housework etc... I'll be back!

Yet another post about my weight

2009-02-28T04:45:00.000-08:00

I promise this will be the last post, for a while, about how much I weigh. I know it's boring, but I'm just so excited!

I've met my February goal! I wanted to reach 155 by the end of February, and today I am at 154!! Whooo Hoooo!

I am not a big fan of exercising. In fact I hate to sweat. But it does pay off. Since Christmas I have went from barely being able to walk two miles, to now running and walking 3 miles four days a week, and I can honestly say over half of that is running. I also use hand weights and do floor exercises (leg lifts, anyone?) about 3 days a week. Combine that with clean eating, which means no junk or processed anything, sugar, white flour or other high glycemic foods. Results just come pouring in. Thank you Tosca!

150, here I come!!

Muffin induced weight loss

2009-02-25T04:25:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I was lamenting the fact that I ate a banana muffin that I had made for lunch guests. Then I had an asthma attack during my run, I only ran maybe a mile before having to stop. This morning I got on the scale and was down a pound and a half. Hmmmmm.........

Nah....... Couldn't be, right?!

2009-02-20T16:17:00.001-08:00

Test, blogger hates me.

2009-02-20T04:24:00.000-08:00

Whew! What a week! I would say I'm so glad it's Friday, but Saturday is going to be jam packed also! Here's a condensed list of all I have accomplished so far...

I gave my Shih-Tzu a haircut. He's 13 years old and impatient and has (had) long hair, 'Nuf said.

I steam cleaned all carpets in the house. Every room has wall to wall carpet, even the two bathrooms.

Cleaned my closet and tried on every article of clothing I have, and got rid of about 1/4 of it.

Met with a new business marketing person to help promote my embroidery business and the pizza restraunt.

Yesterday we had our first trial run of pizza making. We are not good pizza cooks. Yet!

Met with a sanitation inspector and went over every teeny detail in the pizza shop.

Made a $1200 shopping trip to Sam's Club for the shop and home, home was $100.

Put away $1100 worth of food and supplies in a teeny pizza shop kitchen.

FINISHED 6 quilted purses and SHIPPED them! (I forgot to photograph them!!))

Daughter took her science midterm (late!) and scored 100%!!!!

Completed an outline for a ladies discussion at church about praying for our husbands.

Other big news, I dropped a pound the day after my weigh-in day!

I am not a person who likes busy-ness. I crave peace, tranquilty, bluebirds twittering in the appletrees. When I have prolonged stress, my hair falls out. About 10 years ago we were foster parents. Including our two children we consistently had 7 children in our care. I worked full time as a special-ed teacher, my husband was the stay-at-home parent. I was up at 5 am and went to bed around 11 or 11:30. I was tired, but I functioned well. We loved having a busy household! But now I just need calmness. I have no calmness. Is that a word?

And, since every post needs pictures....

Taken 2/6. We found a lovely new trail!

We rounded a bend and look what we saw! It was breathtaking.

I fell in love with that scraggly tree. I copied the photo and made it into a hand-embroidery pattern and am putting it on a sweatshirt with birds on the branches.

This is the trail we took. Every month we seek out a new hiking trail and load up our backpacks and spend the day on the trail. This was four miles each way, it ended at a waterfall that was about 40 feet high, nothing at all like the one in the above photo. Most of the trail was uphill over rocks. More strenous than what we usually do but we did suprisingly well and were back at the care in 9 hours, including breaks and a short detour to avoid what might have been a black bear. I did not take many photos because I needed my hands free to climb.

Time to get going. I pray everyone has a wonderful, peaceful day.

Weigh in

2009-02-16T04:01:00.000-08:00

Today was weigh in day. I am still sitting on 158. Hmmm. I walk/run/ (mostly run) 2.5-3 miles four days a week, I lift hand weights and do floor exercises four days a week, but the weight has not budged in two weeks. Oh well. Keep on pluggin' on, right?
On the bright side, my measurements have gone down. See sidebar for details. So, all in all, a good weigh-in!

In quilt news, I went with the yellow circles, as you pointed out, it is going over a working, wood burning fireplace. That's why I only have one item on the mantle; easy to clean. I despise clutter. Except in the sewing room. So, less dust-catching superpowers for this quilt! I am almost finished with the order of 6 purses. I'll post a pic when finished. They are going to be sooo cute! Next up is a shoulder bag and a laptop case! I've never done a laptop case before. You know, I'm not complaining at all, but I wish the custom embroidery side of my embroidery business would catch up to the sewing side of the business. Although I did get an offer from our local quilt shop to set up my embroidery machine in her store a few days a week. That would be awesome, except for two or three things. Homeschooling our 13 year old is my number 1 priority right now, we are in the midst of opening a restaurant, the embroidery machine weighs about 100 pounds, not very portable, and moving it so frequently may upset the calibration. Soooo.... I might have to decline that wonderful offer and work something else out.

Till later!

In Which I Learn How To Make A Real Title, And Some Quilt Stuff!

2009-02-12T04:19:00.000-08:00

So.... I go into Blogger, open the Dashboard and click on everything that is clickable, sometimes twice. I had things moving all over the place! Eventually I found the button that lets you place real titles on your posts. So I clicked it. Mystery solved!

Despite opening a restraunt and running my embroidery business, I managed to make headway on my little flower basket quilt.

The top photo shows the whole thing. Finished size will be 20"x44". The bottom photo shows my two options for the flower centers, yo-yos or flat circles. And a nice shadow of my big head. Anybody want to vote for a flower center? I NEED to get this thing done and quilted because, one, I still have my Nativity scene quilt up over the fireplace and two, I have an order of six quilted handbags that I need to start on, like, yesterday. I cannot work on more than one project at a time. It hurts my brain. So, this will be finished by Monday, and the purses started then.

Well, time to get the day rolling along. I hope yours is a good one!

2009-02-06T05:46:00.000-08:00

What's on your ironing board?

(note: That's my title. I can't make blogger let me give it an actual title, although I can do that on my other blog. Go figure.)

I saw this on another blog, and thought I would join in. Anyone with an ironing board is welcome to share! I found this pattern in McCall's Quick Quilts July 2008. The magazine shows it in pinks and pale greens and it's beautiful, but since red is the predominant color in my home, and I'm going to hang it over the fireplace, red and tan/brown it is! Or it will be. Right now I have added the green vines and small green leaves. Later, maybe tonight after everyone has gone to bed and I have washed the pizza sauce from my hair, I'll add the red flowers.

For my cat lovin' friends, here's Harry (the big one) and Crazy. (the little 0ne) Crazy just loves Harry, and she snuggles next to him every chance she gets. Harry is very tolerant, and usually lets her. When he's had enough, he leaves.

Here's my other cat Cleo. Cleo is very shy, but she's my best friend. She's also my biggest fan when it comes to quilting.

Please excuse the mess in my sewing room. That's for a whole 'nuther post!

And since I don't know how to delete pictures, here's an extra one of Harry and Crazy.

See ya!

2009-02-01T10:43:00.000-08:00

Just a quick post with lousy pictures to show my purchases from Saturday!

Pardon the horrible lighting. The fabrics are truly beautiful brown and hot pink batiks which are destined to be purses for my daughter and I. The photo does not do them justice!

The 6 little plastic bags are scraps. My favorite quilt shop, The Cherry Pit, has a bin with wonderful fabric scraps. You can fill a bag for $2.00! Many a scrap quilt has come from that bin.

The green fabric under the pink batik is so pretty, it looks like grass! I'm collecting fabrics for a picture quilt that will depict a bears-in-the-woods scene.

The brown tote with pink handles was 49 cents at Goodwill. It's that Ambercrombie brand that the cashier assured me was very popular. Whatever! I just lov ethe pink and brown, plus it's unadorned, just crying out for embroidery.

Please, somebody hold me accountable for acctually finishing a project so I can post about it! I have so many going on right now, I just don't know where to start!

And.... lest I forget, here's Rocco.....

2009-01-30T09:27:00.000-08:00

Hey there! I wanted to see a more positive topic when I visited y blog, so I decided to tell y'all about my daughter's hedgehog!

Isn't he cute? We've no idea is he is a boy or a girl, but we call him Hedgie. Original, isn't it? Handling him is just like handling a small sea urchin. Very sharp and prickly. After a minute or so he calms down and his quills lay down and it's like holding a guinea pig. Just be careful, because if he gets startled, the quills go up! Ours is an albino, hence the red eyes and no color to his body. Typical hedgehogs are brown and cream in color. He's just as sweet as can be. I think they make really good pets, because they're nocturnal, and their waste has no odor. A big plus! The only downside is they like to eat bugs and my dd is squeamish about that! So we give him freeze dried meal worms and call them french fries. LOL

In other news, I hit my first weight loss goal!! Woot! I am now at a firm 159. I wanted to be under 160 by the end of the month, and I just could not resist getting on the scale this morning. I'm glad I did, because it just made my day. My strict eating and daily cardio and weights are finally paying off. I now want to be at 155 by the end of February, the 150 by the end of March. My goals are small because I know the first several pounds I lost this month were nothing but water retention. You can't lose 6-7 pounds of fat overnight! I'm trying to be reasonable and work within the limits of my food issues and physical needs. Also I need to remember that I am building muscle. I have the wimpiest arms ever. Really, I have no upper body strength. So I do upper body three days a week and lower body two days a week, plus my run/walk/gasp for breath routine 4 days a week. Someday I hope to be able to actually run without stopping.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. See ya!

2009-01-25T10:37:00.000-08:00

Our new venture....

My husband has never been one to sit still. When we first decided to move here to the beautiful mountains of Tennessee, my husband was going to semi-retire from the finance business. It was going to be great! We were going to spend time together, go hiking, explore the area.

Well....

It didn't work out that way. We ended up opening a bike shop. Then we added custom embroidery. Life was chaotic. We didn't see much of each other. THEN he and his business partner started a vending machine business. THEN my dear husband went back to work with Woodmen of the World. He studied and researched, and got his stockbroker's license. They sold the bike shop, but kept the embroidery part for me to do in my spare time.

This brings us more or less to the present. Last week my husband bought a pizza restaurant. In a tourist town. And he wants me to work in it. He wants to offer pizza, pasta, cheesecake and other desserts, including soft serve ice cream.

Before I get into the body of my gripe, let me say that I support my husband in whatever he does. I believe it is my God given responsibility to be a support to him no matter what. If I wanted to join the circus as Bozo the Clown, my husband would cheer me on. So he will never know I am unhappy with this decision. I would never do anything that gets in the way of what he feels is best. If I have a problem with all this, it's MY problem, not his. He is so happy and excited about doing something he has never done before. In my heart, I am so unhappy with all the changes that are constantly going on in our lives, but he will never, never know it.

Here's my list of gripes about this new venture:

Remember the menu I wrote about above? Have I mentioned I don't eat that sludge? Nor do I want to cook it. Or serve it to others who should not be eating it. It's full of bad fats and unhealthy carbs and way too many calories for the average person. This is the very stuff that is slowing killing Americans. I don't want to look at it, or touch it, or handle it in any way.

Have you noticed I have issues with food? I have had a eating disorder most of my adult life. I am bulimic. I have only in the past couple of years gotten a handle on part of it. I strictly control what I eat. Every drink of water is planned, and I am constantly "on a diet" even when I don't need to be. I'm dieting now, because last year when I stopped throwing up so much I gained several pounds. The last place I need to be is working in a restaurant. My husband does not know about the bulimia. I'm working on being able to tell him, but right now the timing isn't that great.

We homeschool, and my husband is under the impression I just give her a stack of books and have her go at it. This cannot be further from the truth. I'm not thrilled about the idea of my dd spending so much time in the restaurant, I'm afraid she will miss out on other activities.

I don't like being around groups of people. ( I tell ya, I have issues!) If someone gets upset at something I have done, I'll cry like a baby.

All I want is my dream back. I dreamed of just spending time with my husband. Sometimes I am so lonely for his company. I just want to slow down. I left my sister and brother in my hometown because my husband wanted to move here and retire. Well, here we are. I still don't have my husband back.

Reading over this, it sounds more dramatic that I really think it is. But these are the facts. Restaurant work is hard work. My husband is almost 60. (yes he's much older than me!) Plus he has never worked in a restaraunt before. At home he does not even get his own water, although he does wash dishes from time to time.

So... it looks like this week will be spent cleaning the place up, compiling a food order with Roma, getting the necessary licenses, hooking up phone, cable etc. getting menus printed, advertising, etc etc. I'm sure I will get used to the whole idea, I just don't know what I'm going to do about being around all that food all the time. I'm sure it will all work out in the end.

I am so grateful that we were in a situation where my husband could do these things that he wants to do. He is so happy! And when my family is happy, I'm happy. So I choose to be happy. I will look on the bright side. I will face each day as a gift from God and smile at my husband and encourage him, help him in any way I can. Come on over for pizza!

2009-01-20T05:17:00.000-08:00

Finally! We have been without Internet for days! We have no TV, so this is my only connection to the world! I'm glad to be back!

We got our first measurable snowfall, with more expected. Since our driveway is very, very steep (we live high up in the Smoky Mountains, we are snowed in. Yay!! I love not being able to go anywhere! We keep the kitchen stocked with the basics, and we moved our pet chickens into the garage for the time being. They love to peck at the gold rims on my son's race car. Yesterday all we did was throw snowballs, drink hot chocolate, and take pictures like a bunch of tourists who have never seen snow before. The top picture is of the bird feeder near our front door. Don't you just love cardinals in the snow? The second is of our driveway. My daughter is at the top of the driveway, just as you turn right to face the house. My husband risked his life *ahem* to go down the driveway a few feet to take the picture. It is totally iced over.

We also received a short email from our son! He's doing fine, and getting used to the climate and the language barrier. He says the food is good. He says that every time we hear from him. LOL

I'm off the check out my favorite blogs. When I have time, I have more to add to my list of favorites on the right. Take care everyone and stay warm!

2009-01-12T05:50:00.000-08:00

A HUGE thank you to Kristi for helping me with my blogroll!!! I felt like a total genius adding this feature. I actually felt my I.Q. jump a few points, it was great! I even changed my profile picture. That's me and my son at 2:30 in the MORNING Christmas Day. Yup I was tired, but I didn't want to waste one minute sleeping.

Big hugs Kristi!!!! Thank you!!!

Now.... How do I make the link disappear and have it just show the name of the page? Hmmm...

Edited to add... Yay Kristi!! It worked!! I might get a job at Microsoft now, writing html!

2009-01-10T04:58:00.000-08:00

Hi there! I've got good news! My son was able to call from Kuwait as soon as he arrived, then a few days later called from Iraq! Thank you AT&T for making phones and phone cards available to servicemen and women overseas!!!! The first thing he said is the chow hall has Baskins-Robbins ice cream! LOL He always thinks with his stomach. Please help me pray for his safety.

Our new bird is so sweet. He thinks he's still a baby, he'll lean against your chest and lay his head on your shoulder. His favorite food is peanut butter. He fits in well around here.
On the diet front, I am still holding at 164 pounds. I exercised every day this past week and did not cheat once. My cycle is soon approaching, that's my big challenge. My goal is to be at 160 by the end of January.

Have I mentioned I love to quilt? In fact I have a whole sewing room dedicated to it. I have not touched a sewing machine or scrap of fabric since I made 15 Christmas play costumes for church. I need inspiration! My daughter and I are going to a quilt show today, hopefully I will come away with a few ideas.
I want to spruce things up around this blog, I'd like to link to other blogs on my sidebar, but I'm a computer idiot. Anybody know of any good tutorials on how to do that?

Time to get dressed and get some stuff done around here! See ya!

2009-01-05T05:25:00.000-08:00

Just a quickie update...

For accountability purposes, weight was 164 this morning! Woot!

2009-01-02T04:13:00.000-08:00

Hello there! How are your resolutions holding up? I thought I would post a weigh-in, to keep me accountable.

As of this morning--- weight is 167. That is a 6 pound loss overnight, but I have actually been fasting since the morning of Dec. 31, and I know it is all water weight. But I love seeing the smaller numbers. We spent the day hiking in the mountains yesterday, maybe that helped too. I don't really believe that one day of exercise will show up on the scale the next day, because of the physiology of mucscle and exertion, but one can hope!!!

As I mentioned, I've been fasting since Dec. 31. The fast is from food only, I drink 5 protein shakes a day. I get 100 grams of protein, about 700 calories and about 15 carbs. And I lose weight. Starting today I will take away one protein drink and add a small meal. I'm making Greek Chicken tonight, with rice for my husband. My daughter is a vegetarian, so she will probably have beans and rice, with broccoli and cheese. Come to think of it, my husband isn't really fond of chicken, so he may have something else. It is not unusual to make 3 different dinners around here, but fortunately my dd13 is turning out to be a pretty good cook, and since she's pretty choosy about her food, that works out well.

What about you? Any dieting or lifestyle changes going on in your life? If so, point me to your blog! I love reading about others who are facing the same challenges.

2008-12-30T14:07:00.000-08:00

Today is the big weigh in day!! I have actually looked forward to it. Not because I love gaining weight, I just love new beginnings, and a new year is the ultimate new beginning. So here's to new beginnings.

Starting weight... 173- shoot me now.

Hip measurement... 44 inches- ditto.

Yes I have had gastric bypass. No it is not a magic cure-all for weight loss. If that were true, everyone would be in line for surgery! You still have to watch what you eat and exercise. I have obviously not done that since about September, so I gained about 15-17 pounds. Normally I get in about 100 grams of protein and no more than 40 grams of carbs. I avoid white carbs and caffeine and carbonated drinks. I do not drink with meals. My modified stomach (called a pouch) can hold just shy of 1 cup of dense food. That's not much, but if you graze all day, it adds up to rapid weight gain. Anyone want to join me?

I'll post a new weight once a week, and a new hip measurement once a month.

My son left to go back to base today, and on Sunday, Jan. 4th he leaves the States to go to Iraq. Andrew is a 3rd generation Marine, so I'm familiar with Marine Corps life, deployments etc. I'm right in the front of every patriotic parade, waving my American flag and wearing a Support Our Troops shirt, but it's different when it's your son. I'm scared for him. I would never let him know that, but I am. He's going to be participating in the recruiting and training of Iraqi police, which is odd because his field is Avionics. If all goes as planned he will be home in July. Please pray for him, and all of our deployed troops. They need your prayers.

So how many are glad the holidays are over? I am! Today we got all of our Christmas decorations grouped by color and packed in labeled boxes. I feel so organized. I love Christmas. I love having a day when the Christian world recognizes and celebrates Jesus' birth, whenever the actual day might be... only God knows that. But this year I have been dealing with a bout of depression and a couple of anxiety attacks, probably due to the stress of the holiday, visiting family, and my son's deployment. Not to mention the volume of work I brought home with me do do in my spare (HA!) time. Throw in some anemia and low blood sugar, and you have yourself a recipe for depression. But even though my son is on his way to Iraq and I'm still trying to fill Christmas embroidery orders, I am feeling better. I was able to get out into the sunshine today, and that helps. We have had three straight weeks of almost daily rain. We needed it, but the dark gloomy skies make me so sad sometimes. I was glad to see some sun.

In other news... my dd13 got a haircut! Didn't she age about 5 years? Since we already have a foot-long braid from her last haircut, we mailed this one off to Locks of Love. My husband is not too pleased with the whole thing, but he does admit that she is happier with short hair, and so am I. Who do ya think helps her get all those tangles out?
Well Blogger is being a pain in the hiney, so I'm getting off now. Happy New Years everyone!

2008-12-16T19:51:00.000-08:00

My Christmas present.

Christmas came early at my house this year! This is Rocco, my gift from my husband! Isn't he beautiful? He's a 1 year old Umbrella Cockatoo. Sorry the picture is slightly blurry, it just doesn't do him justice. Honestly, this really makes my gift to my husband look kind of cheezy. I might have to do alittle shopping. And to think I thought I was getting a dryer! Suddenly I don't mind wet clothes in the dining room.

Rocco is such a sweet bird. All he wants to do is lean against your chest and put his head on your shoulder. He says "hi!" "hello!" and a car crashing sound, like something from a video game. He also has this manical laugh that he does at strangely appropriate times. I know cockatoos can get really loud and obnoxious when they reach maturity, but hopefully with some good training, we can keep his sweet personality. More pictures to come!

Also, my son is home for Christmas!

Here he is practicing his mean face. LOL See what the Marine Corps can teach you?

Here's his "I have no idea where all of the milk and bread and peanut butter went. And what do you mean we are out of cookies?" The boy can eat. It feels so good to have my family all together.

More pictures coming soon.

2008-12-06T17:44:00.000-08:00

I know I said I wasn't coming back till January, but now that I have the place prettied up, I couldn't help myself. I have so many plans for this blog. I want it to be a place where I can write about my quilts and sewing projects. I want to be able to talk about my cats, (how weird is that?) My son is leaving for Iraq on Jan. 4th, and I know I'm going to need a place to sort out my feelings. So this blog will be my therapy.

I wanted to post a few pictures, so here's a few...

I don't know how to arrange the text under each picture, so I'll just tell you who everybody is. The first one is Frank the rooster. He's such a ~~showoff~~ handsome bird. He crows constantly, especially if you're outside when he's around. He's a great watchdog though.

The middle picture is newest cat. We call her Crazy, because she is. Don't let the photo fool you! She is insane! I hope and pray that she'll settle down as she gets older, she's only about 7 months old now.

The last pic is of all three of our cats. The love to get together and watch the chickens in the yard. See the big fat one there? That's Harry, or Big Sir, as we call him when he starts slinging his emply food bowl around the kitchen. He has diabetes which is controlled by diet right now, but Harry is controlled by his stomach.

The cat on the left is Cleo. She's very shy. Her favorite thing to do is to ride around the house on my shoulder. Or lay on the book you are reading. Or lay on the fabric you are cutting. If you have ever tried to sew anything with cats in the room, you understand.

I love my cats! Weird, I know, but they have been a lifesaver to me. Blogs might be good therapy, but cats are better therapy, IMHO.

Well, I have a messy kitchen waiting for me, since apparently I am the only one in the house who knows how to actually WASH the DISHES.

If anyone has any hints for posting pictures without messing ou your text, please let me know!

2008-12-05T06:01:00.000-08:00

Just to let you know, I plan on coming back to blogland in January! See you soon!

2008-07-30T13:22:00.000-07:00

Hello! It's been a while. I have nade a few changes in my life, and there has been alot going on around here. I feel the need to talk about it, so when I get this blog thing straightened out again, I'm gonna tell you alllll about it. I'm going to clean the place up a bit. I'll be back!

2007-11-22T02:09:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Sigh. Here I am again up before 5 am because I just can't sleep. Could it be my snoring husband? Not according to him! LOL

Well yesterday was my daughter's 12th birthday. The first picture is her at horse camp this past summer. The second was taken maybe a couple of weeks ago. If you look closely you will see a teddy bear on the leg support of the tripod. She is never far away from a stuffed animal. Her party is this Saturday, but today all she wanted to do was paint a plate at the paint-your-own-pottery studio, then go to Hobby Lobby.

When I walk into Hobby Lobby, I can actually feel my money leap out of my purse. I kid you not! I watched sadly as it ran down the isle toward the registers. For $40 we bought doll stands for Ashley's porcelain dolls that have been laying down for a while now, 8 yards of fabric for a quilt (ha!), those plastic mugs with the paper inserts for my Sunday School kids to color, and some Christmas ornaments. The fabric was half off, so that wasn't too bad. Ashley has always wanted a pink and lime green Christmas quilt. So we found some fabric that fit the bill. The problem is the 9 billion projects that are ahead of it. So to solve that problem I packed up all non-Christmas sewing projects till January. They are tucked away in the basement out of sight and hopefully soon out of mind.

Ashley has been sick for the past few days, her first illness in 5 years! It was so unusual to see her feeling ill, we almost rushed her to the emergency room! I googled her symptoms and realized it was just a cold, so we stayed home. She is fine now, just a little stuffy headed. She is such a sweet person. I often wonder what we have done to deserve such wonderful, joyful people as our children. I know it is nothing we have done, it is just the grace of God.

Busy day planned, since it is Thanksgiving and all. It is just the three of us for dinner, we're having turkey, plus a non-meat turkey for Ashley, gravy, and non-meat gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, sauteed green beans, rolls, dressing, homemade cranberry sauce gifted to us, and pie. It's seems like allot of food for three people, but I am just going to call it planned leftovers and start hunting for recipes.

In honor of Thanksgiving Day, I wanted to share a list of the gifts I am thankful for.

I am thankful for my salvation, and that of my family. I scares me to think about what our lives would be like without Jesus.

I am thankful for my husband, who works hard at a job he does not particularly like to provide for us. He is steady as a rock, even when I am flailing about wearing my emotions on my sleeve.

I am thankful for my kids. They have never given us a minute's unrest. (well, maybe just a little) (then a little more)

I am thankful for our move to TN. It seemed highly unlikely to even happen, but the Lord patiently opened each and every door for us to find this house, and buyers for our old house, and our new incredible church family, and the many many blessings that have just rained down upon us since we moved in. What an incredible reminder of God's plans not being our plans.

I am thankful for my opportunity to both homeschool Ashley and work part time, just when money was starting to get tight. She has blossomed since starting this job also. She is more independent in her school work, and she has overcome a bit of her shyness and tries to be helpful to the customers who frequent the thrift shop we work in.

I am so thankful for our new church. Our old church was wonderful, but I just love the people in our new church home. They are all genuinely loving and caring people. The spirit of God is truly in that church.

I am thankful for my comfortable home. In a world where many are homeless or living in inadequate shelter I know I am blessed. And if your are reading this and are not exposed to the elements, you are too!

I am thankful for the wonderful ladies who actually read this blog! I have received some good advice, recipes and inspiration from each one of you. Thank you for being at the other end of my computer. God bless you!

I could go on and on, but it is getting to be 6 am here and I could be putting a pie in the oven. I pray each one of you will have a truly thankful and blessed Thanksgiving Day.

Mary

2007-11-05T03:35:00.000-08:00

I was suprised to see it has been ten days since I posted on this blog, and 7 days since I have been on the computer. When life gets busy my computer time is the first to go, as it should be, I think. My schedule is crazy right now, and probably will be through the holidays. Here's a quick run down:

Church: I'm teaching Sunday School to 3-4 year olds, and what a blessing it has been. These little guys (all boys) have never had their own S.S. before, they were always lumped in the nursery because of a lack of a teacher. So we are starting from scratch here. Plus I have never taught S.S. before! The Lord has given me a clear direction, and the boys have been a joy to work with!

Every year our church hosts a food drive for a needy area in the Appalacian Mountains. This year we are going to an area with less than 200 people and bring food, blankets, new toys, clothes and shoes, and most importantly, God's Word. This is our first year with this church, but it is something our church has been preparing for all year. I am helping every week to sort clothes, coats and shoes into sizes, make clothing repairs if needed, sort food into boxes etc.

Homeschool: I am happy to say Ashley has become more independent in her work, and is doing great! We started Saxon 7/6 a week or so ago, and she is progressing nicely. We also study Geography, with pauses to study government and such related to the country we are covering, Spanish, Wordly Wise, a vocabulary study, Spelling Power, BJU Science 6, covering cells right now. Oh, and co-op on Mondays 45 minutes away. Her independence has increased since taking this part time job. She loves working with me, and knows that the only way we can do it is if she gets her work done, and she does.

Violin and piano, My daughter's music lessons are an important part of her education, she has weekly lessons with a gentleman who also plays for Dolly Parton when she is in town, (We are 11 miles from Dollywood) although the is studying classical violin and piano, not bluegrass at this time. She's doing well, although violin is much harder than it looks! I study piano, but on my own right now, no lessons. I've had lessons for 4 years, so I am able to teach myself, slowly.

Keeping my home. It's all getting done. It might mean bathroom cleaning at 10:00 at night, but it's getting done.

Thanksgiving will probably be low key for us this year. We are looking for a service opportunity, but this is a popular time to volunteer in the community, but I am sure we will find something.

Christmas is coming!! I can't wait to decorate! We have a few service opportunities lined up already and our church is hosting Christmas dinner and gift exchange the weekend before Christmas so that will be fun. We are getting our daughter a regulation air hockey table for Christmas, she has wanted one for two years. (don't tell!)

We do not know where our son will be for any of the holidays, so if the chance to see him arises, we will go.

Work is going well. My feet are killing me! I am on my feet all day, hopefully I will get used to it soon. I did get some good shoes, and that has helped some.

The man I work for also pays Ashley some every week, so she is happy to have some money also. She has a heart for people in need, and that is what our job is all about.

Sewing has been neglected the past couple of weeks, and it grieves me to no end. It is something I really need to make time to do. I miss it so.

We are actively in the process of clearing some land to fence for goats in the spring! We are so excited!! We spotted a coyote in the area, so they will need something coyote proof.

There's other day to day stuff going on, but you get the idea. I have not even had time to check my mail. Things will lighten up soon! I hope! But for right now we are enjoying the ride!

I hope I got all the typos. See you soon!

2007-10-25T16:32:00.000-07:00

Hey ya'll. I'm sorry I haven't posted since Tuesday, I've been kinda busy with school, church, work and home. I'm happy to say nothing is being neglected, except my blog. I have some beautiful pictures of some mountain views that we took last weekend, and some more food pictures, but they will have to wait.

I just love my job! A few months ago my daughter and I started volunteering at a local church run thrift shop. The owner approached me and asked if i would work for pay, because he needed someone he could trust. His wife has Alzhiemers and he is a pastor. So I talked it over with my husband and together we decided to give it a try. Ashley comes with me of course and she does some of her schoolwork there. The rest of it she does before and after work. While she is there, she works. She is learning to use a cash register and to help customers. She dusts and sweeps. I pay her from my pay. One of the best benefits is I get free stuff! The owner said that anything I like I can have for free. Within reason of course. I am careful not to take advantage of his generosity. I have gotten some pretty sweaters.

I come home pleasantly tired. Not the beat-to-death tired from when I used to teach, just the kind of tired where a cup of tea perks me up and I'm ready for round two. I'm working tomorrow too, even though he has kept the store closed on Fridays in the past. Hopefully we'll have a good day.

As far as the 6 week challenge, I'm doing pretty good! Being out of the house helps. I've been getting enough protien, and I haven't missed a vitamin since Monday. That's a big deal sine i take 11 a day. I have not had much time to sew, and that stresses me out. I have a quilt I am desperate to get done in about 4 weeks and I am barely 1/4 of the way through. Not to mention 16 other UFO's. Oh well, life went on without me embroidering hand towels or hemming the tablecloth, and it will continue.

Hopefully I will have a much more exciting post up by Sunday at the latest. Ya'll come back!

2007-10-23T07:21:00.000-07:00

Make that Menu Plan Tuesday, I'm a day late! Here's what were having for dinner this week:

Monday was lasagna and salad, which was delicious, by the way.

Tuesday, leftover lasagna, raw veg. with dip, bread pudding

Wednesday, vegetable soup with croutons, fruit salad

Thursday, grilled cheese with leftover soup, fruit salad if there's any left

Friday, beef and gravy over mashed potatoes, glazed carrots

Yesterday I made a batch of bread and forgot the salt! It tasted ok, not great, but I thought we could live with it. Until I sliced the bread. The bread did not "adhere". Before I put it in the bread pan, I flatten it out and roll it into a log shape. The inside of the log did not adhere together and each slice unrolled as I sliced it. So this bread is destined for bread pudding and croutons. Lots of croutons.

Yesterday was day 1 of Lori's 6-week Challenge! I did ok. I did not have candy (yay!), I did not get any outdoor activity, unless you count chasing down my front door wreath as it blew away in the wind. I planned all of my meals, but did not stick to my plan for dinner. I actually ate a slice of that blah bread, with butter. That's a big deal for me, because it filled up my teeny stomch and I was unable to eat dinner, which would have had about 20 grams of protien. So I only got to taste my lasagna.

Today is a new day, and I am doing great so far! I will post my list of goals very soon!

2007-10-22T16:23:00.000-07:00

Hmph! Michelle took the time to show me how to post the little Meal Plan Monday picture, but I haven't planned a menu for this week yet!

Busy day! Maybe I'll do a Meal Plan Tuesday!

2007-10-21T11:14:00.000-07:00

Just practicing

2007-10-19T06:31:00.000-07:00

Eating After Gastric Bypass

Someone asked me about what I eat, how I eat and how much I eat. Three years ago I would have been rather offended! But, now it is something I get asked pretty frequently. And I don't mind a bit! It is an opportunity for me to help someone in their gastric bypass journey, whether they are just in the researching phase, or if they are an "old-timer" like me. :)

Three years ago I weighed 260 pounds. I'm 5'8". I wore a size 24. Since I am on the tall side, I carried my weight well, so they say. I don't know, because I only looked at myself from the chin up. I suffered from hip and knee pain, I had type two diabetes, I was short of breath all the time, and I had terribly high blood pressure that barely responded to medication. I also had high cholesterol that came down with improved diet and meds. I was miserable, even though no one knew it, not even my husband. I put on a happy face, all day, every day. I hated myself for being false. I was in pain all the time, I couldn't walk more than a block without giving out. I was no fun as a wife or mom, that's for sure.

I'm so glad my life has changed. I am a different person. Not only do I look different, but my husband says I carry myself differently, I have more self respect, and I'm not such a pushover anymore. And, I no longer have diabetes, high blood pressure, or high cholesterol, or hip pain. The only med I take is for my low thyroid. I do still have knee pain, but that is from the damage done by being 260 pounds. I thank God every day that He led me down this path.

On to my daily diet.

First thing in the morning I have a large cup of strong hot tea with a splash of milk and a packet of splenda. I drink this while doing my morning Bible devotion.

After a shower, I have a protien drink that contains about 35 grams of protien. I use a mix I got at GNC.

About 30 minutes after drinking this, I have breakfast, which is about 1/3 cup of dry oatmeal with 2/3 cup of water, cooked on the stove. I add in 1 Tablespoon of raisins while cooking. After cooking I add 1 Tablespoon of wheat germ, 1/2 T of real butter, a splenda packet and a splash of soy milk. I can usually finish all of it, but sometimes if I did not wait long enough after my protien drink, I can't eat it all and it goes to the chickens.

About an hour after eating I might have another cup of tea. Then for lunch I might have 2-3 oz. of meat of some kind, tuna, beef or chicken, finely chopped, and a cooked vegetable. I might mix them together if it's a good combination. If I am not full yet I might have a cracker or two or a 1/2 slice of home made whole wheat bread with butter. By then I am stuffed.

I TRY not to graze during the day. I know I eat enough, and I know I am usually not hungry between meals. I eat because I need a distraction, I'm bored, mad, frustrated, happy, whatever. I am a true emotional eater. So I try to stay out of the kitchen. I don't always succeed, so when i snack, I eat stuff like, 1 homemade cookie, made with 3/4 Splenda and whole wheat flour and 1/2 the fat when possible, grapefruit, 1/4 apple and peanutbutter, 1/2 stalk celery, strings removed, and peanut butter or cream cheese. I TRY HARD to keep it healthy. Sometimes I fall to the temptation of junk food. But I pay for it afterward. It makes me very sick, and weak for a couple of hours.

For dinner I have whatever I made for my husband. Just about 1/4 of his size portion. I go light on the "white" foods, like white potatoes, sugar, white rice and such. They also quickly convert to sugar when eaten and make me ill. I always eat protien first, then non starchy vegetables, then starches.
Throughout the day I take a Centrums adult chewable, biotin, Vitamin D, magnesium, calcium, iron, vitamin C, potassium, and B12.

This is just one day's meals, every day is different of course. I try to get in 80-100 grams of protien every day, which i do not usually succeed at. I have a protien deficiency, and I do not metabolize all of the protien I eat. I used to have long, thick hair, and now it is up to my shoulders and very thin and brittle. I never had any length cut off, except for evening up the ends when it fell out.

I struggle every day with food cravings, and emotional eating. I really thought that gastric bypass would "cure" me of these problems. But the truth is gastric bypass changes your stomach, not your brain. So I still struggle, but usually I win. ;)

Over on the right is a link to Michigan Momma's blog, where she is doing a 6 week health Challenge. Go check it out!

2007-10-18T05:07:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to pop in and say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my friend Michelle! Drop by and leave her some birthday wishes!

2007-10-17T05:09:00.000-07:00

Meet Frank, Crystal and Su-say, our Silkie chickens. We love these little guys. They're bantams, so this is as big as they'll get, although Frank may get a little taller, he's the one who is staring at the camera. He did not enjoy getting his picture taken.
The little dog is Bonsai. He's a Shih-Tzu and he'll be 11 years old in February. He has a degenerative spinal disease that makes walking hard for him sometines. He only weighs 11 pounds so we just carry him. Soon i will have to make a decision about his medical treatment. There is nothing they can do to save his spine, short of the medication he is already on. Sometimes he is in pain, and it just breaks my heart to see him suffer. The medication is hard on his liver, but we give it to him to keep him as comfortable as possible for as long as possible. If anyone prays for animals, please pray for my Bonsai. Chickens are hard to photograph, they rarely sit still! And yes the pen is made of pvc pipe because Wayne and I have no building skills at all. They really need something sturdier, because the wind up here can be pretty strong sometimes. I bought the coop off of Ebay. The chickens have their own mailbox and occasionally get "mail" from my daughter.
The white egg pictured is a store bought large egg. The pale blue one is from Crystal, the momma of the other two. The smallest light brown egg is from Su-Say, who we think has some kind of learning disability and walks with a limp.
For some reason Blogger saw fit to underline most of what I typed, and color it blue, like a link. I don't think it links to anything though.
For chicken lovers (not the fried kind!) here's a link for ya, BackyardChickens. I love this place! Everything you ever wanted to know, and then some.

Have a good day!

2007-10-14T18:07:00.000-07:00

My good blog friend Meesh, also known as Michelle has taught me the valuable skill of posting links! I am so happy! I thought I would take this time to show off my new skill and post some links for you! Be impressed!

Here is another blog I visit almost every day. This family is really in need of our prayers. Please take the time to read, and pray for Noah.

And since I am doing a study on modesty right now, here is a great article on the subject.

Hopefully I will post pictures soon of my daughter "playing" her new violin. You really need audio to fully appreciate the "music". She had had one lesson so far. 999 to go!! Imagine Ashley's brand-new-one-lesson"music" and my husband's banjo "music" (6 lessons so far) at the same time. Anybody want to bring me come cotton to stuff in my ears?

Thanks for stopping by!

2007-10-09T17:29:00.000-07:00

Posted October 12, 2007

Our Goldfinches

I love these little birds. We put out lots of thistle seed and black oil sunflower seeds, and they come in droves. We also clean the birdbath every day. They wait in the trees while we carry over the water. They are really starting to lose some of their fear of us. Sometimes a few birds don't fly away from the feeders when I am refilling them. They keep an eye on me, but they keep on eating.

We do not have a TV, but we have a front porch and dozens of colorful, chattering birds. No commercials!

We have a busy weekend planned. We have some violin shopping to do and a church hayride and bonfire on Saturday, then a church potluck between services on Sunday! Can you tell our church likes to eat? Have a great weekend!

2007-10-09T17:09:00.000-07:00

Hi again!

I thought I would post some pictures from our latest baking session.

We used a new sugar cookie recipe for these cookies. The cookies are wonderful, but the dough was aggravating to work with. My daughter did all of the cutting out and transferring to the cookie sheets. That is a true skill. I usually break at least one unbaked cooke, she didn't break any!

The bread is from the recipe I posted earlier. It really is a great bread recipe. I made two loaves, but the other loaf was already on it's way to sandwiches.

In other news... my son broke his thumb last week. He still has not taken it to the doctor, he said he will do that tomorrow. I think it's so sweet, that even though he is 500 miles away, in the Marine Corps, he still calls his mama when he gets hurt. He got a bloody nose a few months ago and he called me while it was still bleeding to find out what to do. Bless his heart, I'm glad I'm still needed! He also called me to tell me that the price of Tide laundry soap went up by .50 cents and inflation is "killing him." I about fell over laughing!

Ashley had her first violin lesson today. It was hard finding a teacher who taught "violin" and not "fiddle". We ARE in the Smoky Mountains! She has a great teacher, a retired performer, and I think they will get along just fine. Ashley is already planning her debut performance at church, sometime after Christmas.

Time to go, my next computer project is to figure out how to post images, like the menu plan Monday image, so I can participate in that. And how to post links that have the title showing, instead of the http thing. Wish me luck!

2007-10-05T03:36:00.000-07:00

100 Things About Me

1. I have brown hair

2. If you don't count the gray

3. I have two children

4. I can't have any more

5. My husband is 16 years older than I am

6. After I turned about age 35 it didn't matter anymore

7. My mom died when she was 46

8. I was 24

9. That's way too young to make funeral arrangements for a parent

10.My dad remarried

11. His new wife is crazy. I mean that.

12. She wants to live on another planet

13. I want her to live on another planet

14. I used to be a special ed. teacher

15. I loved my job

16. I loved my own children more

17. I have two cats, a dog, and three chickens

18. I hope to clear some land and get a couple of goats

19. I live in the middle of nowhere.

20. Our driveway is so steep the UPS man meets us at the bottom

21. I like to be alone

22. I never get to be alone

23. I love to read

24. I have a hard time concentrating to read

25. I love to sew

26. I love to bake

27. I'm not very good at regular cooking, like dinner

28. I play the piano, kind of

29. I miss my hometown

30. I miss my sister

31. I miss my brother

32. I miss my dad

33. My husband will never grow up

34. My favorite food is anything loaded with carbs

35. I had gastric bypass surgery in 2005

36. I lost a bit over 100 pounds

37. I still fight food cravings every single day

38. Sometimes they win

39. I have gained 8 pounds since moving to TN

40. I am a boring person

41. I don't like group activities

42. I am shy

43. I am not articulate

44. I worry about my son excessively

45. I worry about my daughter excessively

46. My cat is twice as big as my dog

47. He sleeps in the bathtub

48. I have 17 unfinished sewing projects

49. I finished one, then started a new project yesterday

50. I sell stuff on ebay

51. I spend everything I make on ebay

52. My favorite season is Autumn

53. I love to organize

54. I'm not very good at it

55. I drive a pick-up truck

56. I wear my clothes twice before washing (except undergarments!)

57. My daughter tries to match her clothes to whatever I am wearing

58. I have more online friends than real life friends

59. My little dog probably won't live much longer

60. I never feel I am good enough

61. We do not have a tv

62. We do not want a tv

63. We do have a regulation pool table

64. My husband is a very good pool player

65. Our front porch overlooks mountains and cow pasture

66. Our back porch overlooks mountains

67. We have books stacked on every flat surface in the house

68. Except the pool table

69. I love old stuff

70. My husband speeds by yard sales and thrift stores

71. I want to lose 10 pounds

72. Losing weight is hard, even after gastric bypass

73. My favorite color is green

74. I was raised Catholic

75. I was named after a nun

76. She is still living and serving God

77. I am now Baptist

78. I still love the Catholic faith

79. I don't think there is only one "perfect" religion

80. It is not my opinion that matters, but God's

81. There is some mystery around the disapearance of my father when I was a baby

82. I have light brown eyes

83. I lose my cell phone 10 times a day

84. I drink hot tea all day long

85. My long haired cat is the exact same color as my carpet

86. I love that!

87. If you were to open my spice cabinet, at least 5 things would fall out

88. My truck is very messy inside

89. My husband does not know I have a blog

90. I take 11 vitamins a day

91. I have a protien deficiency

92. I do not like to wash dishes

93. I have a dishwasher I have never used

94. I am terribly afraid of the dark

95. I used to take 3 different medications for depression and anxiety

96. I miss my mother every day

97. I pray for every expecting mother I see

98. I enjoy being around people who are elderly

99. My house needs to be vacuumed

100. I can't seem to get myself off the computer

Whew!! That wasn't so bad, although the last few took me as long as the rest of them altogether.

Post your list in a comment, with a link!

2007-10-05T02:52:00.000-07:00

Good morning, it's not yet 6 am here and I can't sleep! So I am up, drinking Chai tea and eating cheese and crackers. We have such a busy day before us, my daughter and I are helping to paint three Sunday School classrooms at church, and my husband is going with the pastor to a church is WV who may be the recipients of our year long food drive. Speaking of my husband, he starts work on Monday! After almost a year of not working, Wayne starts work for a company that does something with student loans. His background is in finance of many kinds, mortage loans and consolidation, life insurance, investments etc, so I know this job has something to do with money, but that's aout all I know right now. The Lord is so very good to us, after all this time, He kept us safe and met our needs while Wayne searched for work. He even turned my volunteer job into a paying job! Just when we needed it, and before I could even thought to pray about it! We are not perfect, by any means, but we do our very best to be faithful to God, and He is faithful to us.

I read on another blog another snarkey post about the Catholic faith. I'm not linking to it, but I get so weary of seeing "Christians" bash someone's faith. Why oh Why? Is there not one God? Who are we to point to another faith that worships the same God we do and call it wrong? I think I'm just not going to go back to that site. It does nothing but depress me. I know how to clean house, exercise, cook, and homeschool, I can spare myself the heartache of Christian bashing. I just can't take the ignorance.

You know, I am not highly educated about religion. If you had a question about developmental disabilities, or how to get bread to rise higher, or 101 ways to use scrap fabric, I might be able to help. I know what I believe, what my studies have led me to. I do know that just because you read something in a book or on the internet does not make it true. On a message board I love, a woman posted that she read that skim milk was unsafe. Several other women came on and said they were switching to whole milk, because the didn't know skim was bad for you. ???? One person said it, and the rest followed like sheep! It's kind of like this blog I read that bashed fellow Christians. One person said it, and dozens more nod their heads and say, "yup, they're wrong." Maybe it's human nature to follow along with what others say, but I like to do my own reading and praying on a matter, and come to my own conclusions. Please don't believe just anything you read on the internet. Any dummy can slap up a blog (even me!) and start spouting their thoughts. Read for yourself. It's best to go directly to the source if you can, in this case the Bible. I'll get off my soapbox now.

This will be our second Christmas with our son away from home. Last Christmas was a disaster. God was not honored as He should have been. I spent many hours crying in the bathroom. We have to pull ourselves together and do better this year. The three of us want to start new traditions, in our new home. My son will most likely not be able to come home for Christmas. It's hard for him too. But he's a grown man and he loves the path he has chosen. My daughter needs to have a family celebration with as much family as we can muster. Unfortunately we have no family here. But we have church family, and we can focus on Jesus.
I need some ideas for new traditions that can help us bring meaning to the holiday, and help us take the hurt out of not having our son home. I want to do something special for my daughter. She misses Andrew just as much as I do. Could you please tell me about your family traditions? What do you do to celebrate the day? Also, how do you handle holidays when one of your kids moves away? I so need help with that!

Speaking of Andrew, he called last night. His school moved to a new barracks that has no TV or internet. He's ok with it because he's only going to be ther for a few more weeks, then he leaves for who knows where. Maybe East coast, maybe Afganistan. He won't know till a few days before he leaves. He is doing fine, school is going well and he's learning alot. His field is aviation electronics. If you think of it, pray for him, it would mean alot to me.

Well, I'm off to see if the chickens blessed us with any eggs. And to reheat my tea. I do hope everyone has a blessed day!

2007-10-03T08:47:00.000-07:00

Today is baking day and I'm in the middle of making bread and banana muffins. The house smells so good! I thought since I can't share my bread with you, I would share the recipe.
It's wonderful! Enjoy!

The Best Bread

2 cups warm water
1/2 cup honey OR 2/3 cup sugar, white or brown
1 package OR 2 1/4 teaspoons of yeast
1/4 cup oil
1 1/2 teaspoons of salt
6 cups flour, any combination of whole wheat and white flours ( I use 1/2 whole wheat and 1/2 unbleached white)
8 teaspoons vital wheat gluten (optional) but it makes a better bread

Dissolve sugar or honey into the warm water, stir gently. Add yeast and allow to proof for 10 minutes. Add salt and oil. This is the best time to add the vital wheat gluten if using. Work in 6 cups of flour, 1 cup at a time. I start with the whole wheat flour and get that all nice and mixed in first, then start adding the white. Save about 1/2 cup of flour for your work surface while kneading. Knead for a full 10 minutes. Shape dough into a nice smooth ball. Pour a bit of oil into your dough bowl, put the ball of dough in, and turn it over to coat both sides in the oil. Allow to rise in a warm, draft free spot for at least an hour, or until doubled in size. I use my oven, with the light turned on. After rising, punch down and knead just a few times, shape into loaves, place into pans.

To shape my loaves, I divide the dough as evenly as possible into two portions. I roll each portion into a rectangle and roll it up tightly starting on a short side. Then I place this log into the oiled bread pan, seam side down. Repeat with other loaf. Allow to rise again for at least 30 minutes, or until the bread almost reaches tthe top of the pan, depending on the size of your brad pan of course. Usually 30-45 minutes is enough. When ready, bake in a preheated oven at 350 degree for 30 minutes, and Taadaa!!! Wonderful bread! I butter the top of each loaf then remove it from the pan and allow it to cool on it's side. Then I slice it and put it in the freezer.

Sometimes I make the full dough recipe, but only make one loaf of bread. From the rest of the dough I might make, cinnamon rolls, bread sticks, hamburger buns, hot dog rolls, sandwich rolls with sesame seeds on top, cinnamon raisin bread, bread bowls for soup, etc etc. Or sometimes I just put the prepared dough into the freezer for another day. It still comes out great every time. It's such a joy to be able to do this for my family and friends. I hope you give it a try!
Any questions, just email me!

Blessings!

2007-09-30T17:17:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to put this picture in my header. I've messed this up so many times I'm lucky I still have words in my blog!

2007-09-30T13:13:00.000-07:00

Good afternoon to all (or both!) of my readers! The weather is absolutely hands down beautiful here in the mountains. But really, when is it not beautiful in the mountains? I am still wishing for the crisp fall air, but temps in the 80's aren't so bad after temps in the high 90's to 100!

Here is a picture of my porch, taken sometime during the summer. I posted it here to practice putting pictures on the blog, and I thought I might as well practice with pics I wanted to post anyway. Below that is a picture of the only piece of cleared land on our 2.5 acres. We call it the "back 40". We hope to clear a bit more this fall and winter. Our goal is to have a couple of baby goats in the spring.

This little black and orange girl is my litte Cleo. This kitty was born under my house back in NC. I found homes for her littermates, but no one wanted her because she was so scrawny and mean! It took a while but she filled out and with lots of love grew into a sweet little cat. She follows me everywhere I go, and if I stand still she will try to leap onto my shoulder. Sometimes it hurts!

This big fella is Harry. He's a Maine Coon. He weighs 24 pounds. With Harry, what you see is what you get. He may move from room to room occasionally, but he is almost always laying down. His highest weight was 28 pounds, but his kidneys started to fail. He is down to 24 pounds now and still losing slowly. This guy hates an empty food bowl. He will throw his empty bowl around and yowl till someone puts something in it. It's usually not enough, poor guy.

I love my cats! We also have a Shis-Tzu, but I'll have to post a pic of him after his haircut.

Since tomorrow is October it's time for a new food buget. It's $350 now, since I do alot of baking for ourselves and others during this season. I spent $132.77 today on just food. Non food came to be $46.76. That's where I need to watch the spending.

Well, it's time to get ready for evening church. See ya!

2007-09-28T04:37:00.000-07:00

I've been visiting some blogs lately that are having a one sided debate on religion. I love to read writings like that, because I love to learn how others think and view their version of their beliefs. It is a testimony to their faith how fervently they respond to attacks and jabs at their chosen religion. I also watch the manner in which they respond; with hate or with love.

Mostly people seem to quarrel over being Jewish or being Gentile, OR being Catholic or .... what's the word for non-Catholic? I forget. It's not Christian, because Catholics ARE Christian. Anyway, I digress. This particular debate I have been watching is between Catholics and non-Catholics. This spurred in my mind my family story.

I come from a long line of Italians. My mother married the first non-Italian in our family, then "the floodgates opened" as someone once told me. Being Italian and being Catholic seem to go hand-in-hand. I am Italian, therefore I am Catholic. All was fine and dandy, I was raised Catholic, with an occasional non-Catholic church service thrown in. I never thought much of it either way, till I met and married my husband, a devour Baptist. Let me rephrase that; a devouut hellfire and brimstone, Bible toting, soul winning, salvation preaching, missionary supporting Southern Baptist. Amen! Why he married me...??? Let me be clear on this, in our relationship, religion was never an issue. Read that again if you need to. He felt that since I already knew Jesus and beleived He was my Savior, I did not need rescuing from a false religion. He (and I) believe that it is not the trappings in a religion that are improtant, it is the beliefs about Jesus, God, the Ressurection, His coming again, and His ability to rescue us from the threat of going to Hell. These are the basics that all people have the right to hear.

In my opinion, it does not matter the size and shape of the building you are in, or the amount of money your congregation or organization has, or who is in charge of the people, (as long as The One True God is in charge of it all.

I attend Catholic Mass about 2-3 times a month. My daughter used to go with me all of the time, now she just goes sometimes. That's ok. She's old enough to make up her own mind. I was "sprinkled" as a baby, and I was immersed as an adult. I consider myself "mostly" Baptist. I go to our Baptist church Sunday morning, night and Wednesday night. Thank goodness Mass is offered all day, every day. I love the solemity and order of Mass. The beauty of it overwhelms me every time. I come out of there feeling calm and rested, refreshed. The Baptist service energizes me and makes me feel like I could do anything. It gives me reassurance in God's love for me. It gives me hope for our world. Both religious services give me something. My extended family, aunts uncles and cousins, all mostly Catholic, laugh and say I have the best of both worlds, and I do. They understand that I could worship in a cardboard box, and it would not matter to God. I encourage you to find a Catholic Church and sit through a Mass. It will not be difficult to find one to fit your schedule. If you are Catholic, I urge you to find a baptist church and sit through one of their services with an open mind, because it is very different on the surface. But underneath it all, it is worship. If it is an old fashioned Independent Baptist church, you will be blown away. In a good way. :)

Incidentally, my family calls me the "brown sheep" of the family. My uncle is the black sheep, for reasons I will not mention. ;) My Aunt Julie says brown looks better on me anyway.

After church last Sunday, we stopped for pizza. Sitting behind me were four young people, about college age. They were dressed like rock stars; grungy baggy clothing, weird hair, nose ring, tattos, etc. But before they ate their pizza, they each said a short, soft prayer, thanking the Heavenly Father for their food. I must say I was impressed. Do not let first impressions deceive you. These kids "looked" like they wouldn't know God if He walked in the door. I was ashamed at my shallowness. I don't pray before eating when out in public. These kids did, each of them. I don't know what "religion" they were. It didn't matter. God knows and He heard them.

I hope you were able to read through my jumble of writing. I have a hard time keeping my thoughts in order when I have so much on my mind at one time. I might come back and do some editing for spelling and grammar and such, but the message will stay the same. God loves us. We were all made to worship Him. So get up and do that. Anywhere.

2007-09-26T04:07:00.000-07:00

Good morning!

We have three small white Silkie chickens, a mama and her two babies, a boy and a girl. When they woke up this morning, they started sqawking and flapping and jumping around like they were being attacked by something. I went out to check and confirmed they were fine, they were just being chickens. Frank, the male baby, crowed nonstop when I came out, which for some reason makes me so happy. He's very full of himself these days. He's growing up.

Every morning I take my first cup of tea to the back porch, throw a handful of corn into the chicken yard, sit back and watch the fun. You would think they have never had corn before, The stare and cluck, scratch around and peck, then suddenly get so excited as they find their treasure. It is so funny. You want to relax? Get chickens. Just a few, smally pretty ones. Sit back and enjoy the entertainment.

Today was supposed to be a regular school day for Ashley, but my dear fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants husband decided we need a day at Dollywood. Oh, the joys of living 10 miles from Dollywood. I guess in a way I do need to lighten up about school. Homeschool is learning all day long. She's doing well. She can take a day off from the book work. And Dollywood has good shopping.

Yesterday I made hamburger buns for the first time! I used my regular bread recipe. My husband commented that since we don't buy store bought bread, why do we buy store bought sandwich rolls and hamburger buns? So... They turned out great! I was very careful to make them the same size, but they rose to different shapes anyway. We also made a loaf of bread, as we were running low, and a pan of brownies. I read somewhere that if you melt the frosting, (not canned frosting) then pour it over the cooled brownies, it makes a nice glaze that hardens a bit back to the proper consistency. It makes for a smooth, professionally iced pan of brownies, till your husband hacks away at them with a spatula. LOL

I have been thinking alot about the upcoming Christmas season. I miss my family so much. This will be my first Christmas without them, and the second Christmas without my son. He wants to try to come home, but he will be at a new duty station, possible overseas, and will most likely be unable to be here.

BUT, praise God we still have our daughter at home, she is the only thing that held us together last year. She deserves a happy Christmas. She misses her brother, and the rest of the family just like I do. We have to learn how to move on and enjoy our lives in this new and different way. I just don't know how just yet. How do you empty nesters do it?

We need to start some new traditions, so I am open to ideas. What do you do at your house that makes the season special?

Time to get breakfast cooking! Till later!

Mary

2007-09-24T13:16:00.000-07:00

I think I'm back.....

I have missed my computer! What a unbelievable 5 months it has been. I never knew a person could survive this much change and upheaval at one time! I suppose I am a sheltered person. I still feel like I am recovering from "The Move", even though it was 7 months ago. But in my defense it was on top of my son joining the Marine Corps and leaving home. We were very close, and still are, but in a different way. I miss him so much! He is doing great, by the way. More on him to come.

We found a church, and are mostly happy with it. No church will ever compare to Grace Baptist Church in Jacksonville North Carolina. I never knew how much I loved and needed to be there, until we started looking for another church after The Move. No other church will measure up to the caliber of Grace Baptist. They serve the Lord in a way I haven't seen since. I miss them too.

My daughter and I started a new homeschool co-op last Monday. Today was our second day. It is advertised as a Christian co-op, but sadly I have seen no evidence of the "Christian" part yet. Most of the teens look like something from another culture, shaggy hair, unkempt, mostly black, sloppy clothes, no eye contact or manners, cursing. Ugh. It's not where I want me or my daughter to be, but my husband wants us to finish the semester because we paid for two classes.
I still haven't found any families with kids Ashley's age for her to play with. There are no girls her age in our church, and only two of the church kids are homeschooled, boys grades 1 and 3. It's a good thing we are able to have fun together, but she does need friends. I am working hard on that.
If anyone has a girl who would like to be a penpal with my daughter, please email me!

Well' it's time to but some bread in the oven. I promise I will be back later today or tomorrow. Thanks for stopping by!

Mary

2007-04-05T17:33:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody! I made a pot of tea, I have a good 1/2 hour to spend updating you about my oh so exciting life!

We had our move to TN all planned. It was going to be smooth sailing, no kinks! Well guess what, we got Kinks, with a capital K! A dear friend of my husbands insisted on moving our belongings in his trailer he hitched behind his pickup truck. This was a touching offer, we were really humbled by his generosity. The problem is his trailer was kind of small and our old house was kind of big. We said, no, but thank you so very much for the kind offer! He insisted. And I mean INSISTED. My husband just could not tell him no in a way he would accept. So, he moved our belongings. In 5 trips. Keep in mind he only traveled on weekends, AND he would only sleep at a Hampton Inn. Not at my house. In the guest room. One of those weekends happened to be race week in Bristol. There was no room at the Inn. And he wouldn't even think about staying anywhere else. So no furniture delivery that weekend.

We just got the last of our stuff the first of April. Our list of casualties are: two lampshades, one headboard (repaired) 4 picture frames, one mirror, and a lost box of books and photographs. Oh and one glass carousel horse from my collection. There is also a large scratch across the front of my antique piano. I'm not sure how to go about getting that fixed. I'm afraid the finish won't match.

He is a wonderful person, this man who moved our stuff. He really wanted to do this for us. He wanted so much to do this for us. He was so pleased to make each delivery. Now that it is over, I can look back and smile, but during the transition, being without my familiar things around me, in a strange town, it was awful. Period.

You may be wondering about our son Andrew. He graduated Boot Camp on Feb 27th. I will share pictures as soon as we get the big computer up and running. It was awesome! He was so proud of himself and we are so proud of him. After that he had 10 days leave, which we throughly enjoyed. Andrew had to relearn how to torment his sister, which he picked up quickly; he was always a fast learner! LOL Those 10 days went by way too fast, and he was off to Camp Geiger for three weeks combat training. During those three weeks we had no contact with him at all. That was a low point in my life, I'll tell more about that later. While Andrew was at Camp Geiger, which is only 20 minutes away from our old home in Jacksonville, we moved to Tennessee. We were not there to see him graduate from Camp Geiger. I was devestated. It was terrible. Our dear friend Lee, who moved our belongings in his trailer, attended the graduation in our place and took tons of pictures and video. So once again I am so thankful to this man!

Now, Andrew is stationed at Pensacola Florida, to learn how to work on jet electronics. He is so excited! He has his cell phone, and he calls every night. It is so nice to hear his voice! He talks about doing laundry, the price of soap, filling our paperwork, and making important financial decisions on his own. Fortunately he has a good head on his shoulders when it comes to money decisions, my husband is a financial planner, so he drilled into him the importance of investing, insurance, etc etc. Andrew says it's scary making those decisons for himself. He's doing great so far though. I miss him so so so much. Now I just try to content myself by making people look at his pictures and telling them about him.

Oh no! My time is up! Tomorrow I'll tell you aobut the computer virus that wiped out 11 of my friend's comuters, thanks to my email, my bleeding ulcer and trips to the hospitals (plural!),
the small fire, the carpet installation that wasn't ours, my nervous breakdown and my almost divorce. Stay tuned!

love,
mary

2007-04-05T13:31:00.000-07:00

I'm BACK!!!!!!!!

Well, mostly. I have so much to tell, tonight I plan on making a pot of tea and and telling you all about it. It's a long story!

Talk to you soon!
Mary, in TENNESSEE!!

2007-02-01T05:06:00.000-08:00

Shhh! My husband is still sleeping. I just wanted to let my reader know I'm alive! We've been so very busy! To sum it up...

1. We bought a house in Tennessee. With no realtor.

2. We sold our house in 25 minutes. With no realtor.

3. We are moving 8 hours away. With no moving van. Just a pick up truck and a trailer. And a few boxes. From a 9-room, 11-closet house. To a 6-room 3- closet house.

Yes. We are insane.

Ahh. The view from up there...

In other news...

Andrew graduates from boot camp in 23 days. I am so proud of him!!! It has been the most difficult time in my life; having him away from me. But also one of the best. I learned what he is truly capable of. He's not some kid who can't pair up his socks. He's a man who can fight for his country. All those years of saying "No hitting! Place nicely!" Down the drain!

I also learned what I am capable of. I CAN live without one of my children in my home. Really, moms do it every day. Our kids don't stay kids! Imagine that! When I was expecting each of my two blessings, I never once gave a thought to them as adults. I was having a BABY, not an adult! Yet here he is, in uniform. I still can barely grasp it. We still have some rough roads ahead. Deployment comes to mind. It's inevitable. But it's what he joined for!

By the way, we're having a Graduation Open House on the 25th of Feb. from 1 to4 pm. You're all invited!

2007-01-07T14:10:00.000-08:00

Good afternoon!
Whew! It's been raining for almost an hour now, I'm ready for it to stop! We had just enough time after church today to finish the two projects we planned to do, so the rain was timed just right.
First, we fixed the hole some neighborhood cats have made under our house. They tore out the insulation and have been coming and going as they please. The smell is awful! After we fixed the hole, we arranged a cat trap at an opening in the brick foundation, where a dryer vent used to be, to catch any remaining cats as they leave the premesis.

Next, my husband took off the vinyl siding he started on the shed and never finished, 4 years ago!!! It has been half sided for 4 years, with the pile of waiting siding on the ground next to it. We are going to pain the shed red with white trim and call it our barn.

We received another letter from Andreew, he's still doing well, although he has an ear infection that he hasn't let anyone know about. Hopefully he will soon, ore already has.

I hope everyone's Christmas holdiays were nice! I love the time to get together with friends and family and rejoice with each other!
Time to start dinner, catfish and crustless pumpkin pie, what a combination! Catfish requested by my husband, the pie requested by my daughter. LOL They're easy to please!

Take care!
Love, Mary

2007-01-05T07:56:00.000-08:00

I saw this list on another blog, and I just loved it. I think I'm done with the " Lose 10 pounds" type of Resolutions, Here's a list of what I'm NOT going to do in 2007.

1. I'm not going to call my grown son "my baby." He's not a baby. Not in size, certainly, and not in actions. My husband and I have worked diligently to raise him to be a strong, Godly man. He's my firt born, and my only son. I love him dearly, but he's not a baby anymore.

3. I'm not going to let my truck run out of gas anymore. I HATE buying gas. It's too expensive. I'm always holding out to see if the price will be lower tomorrow. SO therefore I occasionally run out of gas in the most inconvient of places. But from now on, I will fill up the tank when it gets to 1/4th full.

4. I'm not going to feel guilty for not blogging more. I'm sorry about it, but no more guilt, no more wracking my brain for an idea just to say I posted something. I'll post when I have something to say. I'm just not very talkative!

5. I'm not going to hide the fact that I've had gastric bypass surgery. There! I said it! It was not an "easy fix" despite what people might think. I have an 8 inch scar from my bra to my belly button. I still have to diet, and squeese as much nutrition as possible into a teeny amount of food. It was the hardest, most painful thing I've ever done. Would I do it again? You betcha!

6. I'm not going to wish time away! I'm going to cherish each day I have with my family. These days since my son has left home, and is now in boot camp, has taught me that life is short, and kids grow up way too fast. I'm going to make it a point to be with and throughly enjoy my daughter every day.

How about you? What are you not going to do this year?

2007-01-03T05:14:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! Well, the tree is down and the decorations are put away, except for one two feet tall nutcracker I forgot about. He'll look great around my spring decorations come March. I still have a Christmas-y tablecloth on the table, just because I need to buy a new one and haven't yet.

My husband has started his "no sugar" plan. He has diabetes, and I say it's about time. He's been successful so far, but he prowls around the kitchen looking for stuff he can't have. For the record I don't but junk food, ever. You will never see Oreos or potato chips in my pantry. (They're hidden in the linen closet. lol just kidding!) Having dealt with weight issues all of my life, I have worked hard to help my kids develop healthy eating habits. They might eat junk while away from home, like at a birthday party, and certainly over the holidays, but not on a daily basis.

We received another letter from Andrew, written on Christmas Eve. He was so homesick. But he said he was meeting each challencge, and learning how to handle stress. I bet. Everyday life problems are going to seem like a walk in the park to him after 13 weeks of Marine Corps boot camp. 49 days to go till Family Day. Whoo Hoo!

We are starting school today! Ashley is so excited! (insert rolleyes here.) We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of some new math books, but everything else is ready to go! We use Abeka for the most part, but we branch out and follow other areas of interest when we want to, if Abeka is getting boring, which it does. The history , although very through, is so dry! They present so much of it at one time, there is no way we could get it all done in one school year. So we use the book for a guide and learn about the specific topics our own way. We are regulars at the library.

I hope everyone has a great day!

2006-12-29T12:31:00.000-08:00

I'm using Blogger Beta now and so far I think I like it. I'm not a big fan of change, but switching to beta has been painless. I feel kinda bad though, because the people at Homestead blogger were so nice to me!

We received another letter from Andrew, written Christmas Eve. He was so homesick. I felt so bad reading it. He did say that he liked the structure. He liked being there. Go figure. He said he mastered the Slide For Life. Way to go Andrew! 55 days to go till Family Day and I can hug my boy again!

My house is a mess! I'm in the process of taking down the Christmas stuff. I got kind of bored with that and stopped half way through and made some cookies with my new silicone rolling pin. I love that thing! I need to get up from here and make a fresh cup of tea and pack a few more boxes. But first I think I'll go to the USMC Recruit Family Board and see how everyone's doing.

2006-12-27T16:38:00.000-08:00

Wow! Is it over already? Where did the holidays go? Believe it or not, I still haven't bought a wreath for the front door. I'm such a slacker.

This was our first Christmas without one of our children. Pardon my language, but... it sucked. Ashley opened her presents with her big brother's high school graduation protrait next ot her. She got a kick at making him look at "girl stuff".

He was able to call home on Christmas Eve! I loved being able to hear his voice!! He sounded so hoarse, tired, and sick. It broke my heart. He said strep is going around. Please pray he stays strep-free. He said the gas chamber wasn't that bad, if you followed the directions. I just can't hardly wait for Feb. 23rd.

On Christmas Eve, we had some family over for dinner. We have the same thing every year. Chicken parmesean, stuffed shells, mannicotti, salad, bread, cheesecake and canoli. Can you tell my brother has an Italian restaraunt?
Here's a pic of a wall hanging my sister gave me for Christmas:

I just LOVE it! My gifts to her seem inadequate now. I gave her a gift basket of fuzzy socks the book Chicken Soup for the Sister's Soul, candles, rose scented linen spray, some scrapbooking stuff, like paper a cutter and special scissors and such. Oh and banana bread and other homemade goodies. I think she liked it. =)

I was very saddened to hear about President Ford. I actually shook his hand when I was very small. He stopped for a public appearance at an Air Force base we happened to be visiting at the time. I was no more than six years old. My mom was so excited to meet him, she ran ahead to get a better view and left me to push through the crowd by myself! I did, and I shook his hand too!

Well, I'm off to go stalk the parent's forum. If you are the parent of a Marine or a Marine recruit, you need to go here . It's been a true lifesaver for me.

2006-12-18T17:47:00.000-08:00

Testing blogger again. OK, I officially hate blogger. If I knew how to move a blog, I would. Bah!

2006-12-18T11:37:00.000-08:00

Hey there!

We've received two letters from Andrew so far, and he's doing GOOD!
In his first letter he said the first week was hard, being away from home, the disorientation and such. He said he cried every night, and heard many other guys doing the same. He said he feels himself getting stronger mentally and physically. He likes the cammies.
In the second letter, he told about getting a military id card, and buying supplies at the exchange. He was shocked at the cost of such things such as deodorant and toothpaste! He's never bought that kind of stuff on his own before. Mama always did it.
He LOVES the drills. He loves his rifle. He said it hurts to see the other platoons having Family day before their Graduation. But overall, he said he's having a good time.

So, needless to say, I'm feeling better these days knowing my son is OK with all this Marine Corps goings-on. As parents, all we really want is for our kids to be ok. To be happy and content. Andrew's OK. He misses us, and we miss him. He's learning some hard lessons right now, but they will serve him well in the future.

Christmas is going to be a bit lonely, but even more so for him. We will get through it, and so will he. We'll be fine. (Do I sound convincing?)

2006-12-07T13:10:00.000-08:00

Hi again!

I do hope my tens of readers are doing well! We had a couple of warm days, but the temps are dropping again. Brrr!
The mom in me says, "I hope they gave those boys warm clothes before sending them outside to exercise." Never mind the fact that my son wears shorts and tee shirts year around. That always drives me nuts about him, even if it's 20 degrees, which it rarely is around here, Andrew goes around looking like he's at the beach while I wear layers of turtlenecks, sweaters and multiple socks. I miss my boy!!!!!! I worry that his bald head is gong to be cold!!!

I am determined to make this post about something other than the fact that my son left home and joined the Marine Corps.

Lemme see.....

So...

Did you see the Eagles game??

Great game!!

They won, you know.

OK enough of the small talk. In the blink of an eye, my little son, in the Batman cape and Superman "run fast shoes" grew up, left home and joined the Marine Corp. Just like his father, and grandfather. I'm so proud of him I could bust. But I am having a hard time, really. Life is never going to be the same.
Andrew was ready. He was anxious to go and get on with his life. The trouble is. I'm not ready. I want a do-over. Starting at May 5th 1987.

Here's a picture of Andrew on his 18th birthday, one of him and his dog Stormy a few years ago, (we don't have the dog anymore), one of him at graduation, and one of him and his motorcycle, which is for sale.

OK, the NEXT post will be about something other than the fact that my only son grew up and joined the Marine Corps.

OOH RAH!!

2006-12-01T08:34:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to check in and let people know I did not die from grief, yet. We of course have had no communication from him as yet, but we knew we would not hear from him for quite some time. I just pray that he's doing well and is staying mentally strong.

On the home front, we cleaned carpets, put up the tree, and decorated it. That was an experience, since the boxes of ornaments were much too heavy for me and Ashley, and no one else was home to get them from the attic. So Ashley and I devised a plan consisting of a gift bag and a piece of rope. I stayed in the attic and loaded the gift bag with ornaments, then tied a rope to the handle and lowered it down to Ashley below. She untied the bag, took it to the family room and unloaded it carefully, since many ornaments were very old and/or breakable. Then she came back and retied the bag to the rope and we did it again! It took about 10 trips to get everything out of the attic. I can't seem to find the beautiful Christmas wreath I bought on clearance last year. Just what I need, an excuse to go shopping. LOL

2006-11-28T05:41:00.000-08:00

Well... Andrew is at Boot Camp!!! Waaaaa!!!! I miss that boy so much. I did not know it was going to be this bad. We are a very close family. He's gone and it hurts. Alot.

But, as a parent you realize it'a not all about "me". This is what we prayed for. We prayed constantly for over a year for this to happen. The Lord answered our prayer and I have to remember that this is a GOOD THING for Andrew.

He was able to call home when the bus was 5 hours late picking up the new recruits from the Raleigh office. He said he didn't have butterflies in his stomach, he had teredactyls!! He called again after he arrived,: a scripted call where he read what he was supposed to say, something like, "Hello. I have arrived at Parris Island. Please do not send anything bulky, (background screaming) Thank you for your support. Bye for now. Click. We cried. My poor husband has cried more these past three days than he has since I have known him.

So now we wait. I know I'm not going to receive any more phone calls, but I can't seem to get away from the phone. I can't seem to get anything done around the house. I need to snap out of this and get on with life, for my daughter's sake, if nothing else. Blah.

Here's a pic of Andrew trying to say goodbye to my niece Paige. Paige is scared to go near him because he makes this "scary eyes" face at her all the time:

Well, I promised to get some work done today, and my husband promised to help me move furniture so I could clean some carpets. Time to start moving.

Mary

2006-11-20T08:47:00.000-08:00

AAHHH! My son is at MEPS! That is kind of like a pre-cursor to boot camp. It's where you go to get cleared by the doctors, swear in and choose a job. He is leaning toward Aviation Electronics, or Ground Ordinance Maintance. The first one will keep him in a safe zone and allow him to have terriffic job skills upon leaving the military. But the School is HARD, with a high fail rate. If he fails, he goes to combat.
The second one is slightly easier, with a lower high-fail-rate. But it means combat, as he will be repairing the large armored vehicles that are damaged from bombs and gunfire. He is pretty mechanically inclined, so this is more in line with what he likes to do, but it is dangerous. He is not afraid of combat. He is willing to fight for the freedoms we take for granted.
He readily asks our advice, and we freely give it, but ultimately the decision is his to make..

What makes it extra hard on us as his parents is that a young man- whose whole family (parents, aunts, uncles etc) attend our church, was very recently injured in Iraq, and has lost his legs and right hand. He was badly burned and cannot speak. He was not expected to live, but is breathing on his own. His name is Daniel, please pray for him.
So we are (understandably) worried. And scared. But THIS IS WHAT WE PRAYED FOR!!! This is what Andrew wants! He is on Cloud 9. My husband had to go to Raleigh today and he is upset that he can't be home.

He's on his way! He'll be home Tuesday night, then leave for Boot Camp Sunday!

2006-11-14T12:29:00.000-08:00

***UPDATE***

The medical records have been submitted to Raleigh, we await their decision! We are on pins and needles, andwe may have to wait till Friday to find out! So please pray for Andrew! And somebody come hold my hand, I'm not feeling so brave anymore!

2006-11-13T04:45:00.000-08:00

Just a quick post to let you know I'm not dead, just busy and forgetful. Mostly forgetful. We are off to Duke University Hospital with our son for his final follow-up with the surgeon who repaired his broken wrist. If the Lord agrees, Andrew will be off to Marine Corps Boot Camp as soon as the Dr.'s paperwork gets to the recruiter's office. Pray for Andrew, please! He is so excited, and anxious about this decision! I'll try to get back online tonight and let y'all know how it went.

2006-11-01T04:58:00.000-08:00

Hi! It's been awhile since my last post. I've started selling on ebay for a gift shop here in town, so all of my computer time has been devoted to that lately. Check them out here!

We are having some issues with our daughter lately. You may remember I mentioned Ashley has Sensory Processing Disorder? Well, how in the heck do you take kids like that to the dentist?? She's been to the dentist before, but her dentist was not kind about her reaction to the procedure. So the last experience was not a positive one. She has a loose tooth, a molar that is really getting in the way. She says it is very loose and bothers her constantly. She will not let anyone near her mouth to look at it, let alone pull it.
And the earring. About 3 years ago, she decided she wanted to wear earrings. She had Christmas money, so she wanted her ears pierced. We explained the procedure and she seemed fine with it. She got her ears pierced, and she has been tormented by them since. She cannot stand the thought of the earring in her ear. One of them fell ot about a year ago, the other is still there and we would like nothing more than to get it out!
You may be thinking, " Just put your foot down and do it!" Well it's not that easy. Because of the SPD, Ashley has sensory avoidance behaviors, and she feels the slightest bump as a sudden jarr. Even brushing her hair is torture for her. We want these issues resolved, but need to do it in a way that is the least traumatic.
What do you think? What would you do?
Speaking of Ashley, here's some pictures of her and her new pet Silkie chicken, named Crystal.
Isn't that bird just the cutest thing you have ever seen? She is so tame, Ashley carries her everywhere. We volunteer at a farm called Thirty Acres and a Mule. Crystal lives there. If I can remember how to link to it, I will. 30 Acres and a Mule I'm a linking fool!! Whoo Hoo!

One last note, please pray for our son Andrew. We go back to the doctor on Nov. 13 and we hope to get the go ahead for Marine Corps Boot Camp. This has been a long hard road for him, but he's doing great and is really looking forward to becoming a Marine like his father and grandfather. Thank you for your prayers!
Mary

2006-10-19T06:36:00.000-07:00

Daily Devotionals

When do you do them? Where? And How? I thought it would be interesting to see how others read their Bible.

I used to get up super early, 5 or so, light a candle, make tea and read by candlelight. I think I was making the whole experience way too ceremonial in my own head. I felt that Bible reading had to be Special, and revered above all other time during my day. My Bible reading time got shorter and shorter as I overslept. It eventually stopped happening altogether. Fast forward a few years and I started reading again. But this time, I don't get up a 5, I don't light candles, or sit in a special chair. I just flop down wherever I am, and read. I don't try to read it through in a year, or look up cross-references, unless I don't understand something. I just open the Bible randomly, and read. And you know what? God gives me something I need every day. Every day I read random Scripture that I can remember and apply to my life. I love that! Today He gave me Romans 5,
2By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
3And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;
4And patience, experience; and experience, hope:

Boy do I need patience and hope! My husband was out of work for a month, and although now he has a job, he is very unhappy there and the pay is barely above minimum wage. So he is very discouraged, and still looking for work. My son is still preparing to join the Marine Corps, but we still don't know for sure if his wrist is healed enough, or if it will EVER be strong enough to qualify. My daughter, God bless her, is a daily struggle as I work to understand her, and her needs.
I'm not complaining, I just trying to show how God used my unstructured spontanious Bible reading to help me today.

Try it! Just open the Bible anywhere, and read! You might be amazed at what He gives you today!

http://www.biblegateway.com/

2006-10-16T18:35:00.000-07:00

Testing yet again. dumb blogger!

2006-10-11T19:35:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we took Andrew to Parris Island, where they train future Marines. Andrew's life dream is to be a Marine like his father and grandfather. So we went up there to watch some training. Wow! Talk about motivation! It was awesome to see those young men, and some women too, giving it their ALL to become Marines. The drill instructors answered all ofour questions. I hope they don't recognize Andrew when he joins! "Here's the kid with the nosey parents!" I can hear it now!
Other than that it has been a quiet week so far. It has been hard getting back into the swing of things since being away from home for the weekend. I thrive on routine. I could do the same thing day in and day out for the rest of my life and be happy. Yup, I'm boring. But I like it that way!
I have had a pretty good Ebay week so far too. I made almost $100 just selling stuff I find in the closets. The extra money came in handy since both my brother and sister have birthdays this week AND I had a nail in my truck tire and my cat needed medicine. The Lord is good and He provided just what we needed!
Well it's time for bed! Hope everyone has a good night!

2006-10-05T12:20:00.000-07:00

I promised some pictures of the kitchen fix-up, so here they are! Here's the "before" picture of the kitchen wall we just fixed. This yucky wall was in my kitchen for almost a year.

Here is "after". Much better. This is where the cats eat. Yes, I let them on the kitchen counter. Just this one. It is not used for food preparation, just cats. In fact, we have to lift our big cat, Harry, up there to eat. He's too heavy to jump.

What a mess that was! I hate sanding drywall mud. You know what I'm talking about? That spackle-ish looking stuff you fill up holes or join new drywall with? We used it to patch the wall in the kitchen. You smoosh it on the hole, the when it dries you sand it smooth. A hateful thing to do in a kitchen. Drywall dust everywhere! The stickers on the cat food bowl are for Harry. My daughter used to give him a sticker every time he finished his food, which was getting to be 4 times a day. He's a big 'ol boy.

2006-09-29T07:59:00.000-07:00

Hi!

Not much time today, I just wanted to pop in and say THANK YOU for the nice comments about my birds. This morning the male bird was hopping around in a funny dance in front of the female bird. Every time she turned her back, he scurried to get in front of her so she could see his impressive display. It was hilarious!

There's been much discussion among the blogs I read about homeschooling. I wish I would have known about it when my son was young. Oh the heartache it would have saved our family!

I believe it is a personal choice. It is something that COULD work for any family, if that family wanted to make it work. It doesn't come easily or natural to many. It definitely takes a team effort.

If you stop to think about it, the time we have with our children is fleeting. I can hardly believe my son is 19! I want to enjoy these years I have with my daughter, because before I know it, they'll be gone, and she'll be 19 and all grown up too. I don't want to look back and say, "I should have done..." I want to do it now! I am so thankful I learned about homeschooling and my husband supports it. If you have kids, think about it!

Later... Pictures of my kitchen fix-up!

Thanks for stopping by! (Shameless plug for comments...) Drop me a note to let me know you were here!

2006-09-21T17:04:00.000-07:00

Here's the pictures I mentioned this morning...
Aren't they beautiful? We have neighbors who are moving to Japan, accompanied tour in the military. She said she bought them at a flea market in Winston Salem. She doesn't know what kind of birds they are. She gave them to us because the process for bringing pets overseas is long and drawn out, she wasn't sure the little guys would survive it. I just love them. The more colorful bird (the male?) sings a beautiful song in the mornings, then makes this sound that sounds like a toy lazer gun. It is too funny.

Then for good measure, here's a picture of Harry, in his favorite position; horizonal.

If anyone knows what kind of birds we have, please let me know!

Good night!

2006-09-21T10:19:00.000-07:00

Hi! It's been a while! Blogger is being tempermental again, so I can only hope this post makes it to the blog.
The weather has been beautiful! Sunny, but cool enough for hot tea on the porch every morning. I just love the cooler weather.
Today I am baking banana bread from a recipe I found on another blog, minus the nuts. It smells so good! I also have dough rising for whole wheat hamburger buns. For some reason my family does not like homemade whole wheat bread, but they LOVE home made whole wheat hamburger buns. Same recipe and everything. Go figure.

School is going great this week. Ashley seems to be learning more easily this year, compared to last year. It is probably because of the "sensory diet" she is on. It's a series of activities that provide her with sensory stimulation proir to beginning school, and during breaks. I'm so thankful someone pointed me in the right direction.

I also wanted to share with you the newest additions to our family, but blogger says no pictures till later. Drat. Guess you will just have to check back!

Please pray for my husband. He lost his job a couple of weeks ago, and he is really down in the dumps about it. Also, with the holidays coming up, we are starting to worry. You know how it goes. We know God will take care of us, and we will have everything we need, but we need to do our part too! So just keep him in your prayers. Thanks!

Remember to check back to see the "little presents" given to us by a neighbor who is moving overseas!

2006-09-13T10:32:00.000-07:00

I never remember to take pictures until I am about half done with a project. Today's project; How to clean under a piano in 22 easy steps.

Step one, unearth the piano by removing old pictures, recipes printed form the internet and never used, paint swatches from when we painted the foyer three years ago, cat toys, dog toys, baby toys, the baby is 10, newspapers, magazines, broken picture frames, and of course, sheet music.

Step 2, become inspired and play a few songs. Wince at your lack of practice.

Step 3. Notice the piano badly needs tuning, so go to the kitchen, get a drink and search for the piano tuner's phone number.

Step 4. After you find out he passed away a year ago, say a prayer for his widow, then search for another tuner.

Step 5. Discover there are no other tuners in your town, or surrounding areas.

Step 6. Gasp in shock!

Step 7. Call every piano player you know and beg for a tuner's phone number. Since no one seems to get their pianos tuned, finally call the church.

Step 8. Talk for 30 minutes about everything but pianos, then hang up forgetting to mention it.

Step 9. Sheepishly call back and get the number for a tuner 2 hours away.

Step 10. Gasp in shock at his charge for tuning the piano, plus travel.

Step 11. Go back to lining room, gasp in shock at the sight of the cleared-off piano and the junked up sofa, loveseat, coffee table and end tables. And floor.

Step 12. Take a break form the "cleaning" and get a cup of tea and sit on the porch and watch the neighbor's cat herd potty under your front yard swing. No wonder it smells so bad over there.

Step 13. Wander back into the house and hunt down a yard stick.

Step 14. After no yard stick turns up, hop in the car and run to Kmart, (no yardstick) then Hancocks, and buy a yardstick and 4 yards of Christmas fabric, and buttons and fiberfill, and scissors.

Step 15. Put away your purchases,which you will not see again till Easter 2008, and hunt down a rubber band.

Step 16. Attach a damp handtowel to the yardstick with the rubberband, which breaks. Find another and repeat, without the breaking.

Step 17. Poke the yardstick under the piano and retreive a ton of dust and flashcards and cat toys.

Step 18. Call your husband into the room to show him your findings. Watch as his lips curl up in revulsion. Laugh out loud.

Step 19, Shoo the cats away from their joyful play with their new found toys and dust bunnies. Dust monsters, really.

Step 20. Clean up the dust bunnies, then play another song. Consider learning the fine art of piano tuning.

Step 21. Wax piano with floor wax and admire the shine.

Step 22. Leave the room, feeling fulfilled as a keeper of the home, confident in a job well done. Do not look at, or even think of, the piles of stuff on the furniture from the top of the piano.
It is not on your list, therefore does not exist untill tomorrow.

How was your day?

2006-09-12T12:12:00.000-07:00

testing again, blogger hates me.

2006-09-12T04:33:00.000-07:00

Just testing, as Blogger is being a pain!

Whew, it works! I was kind of worried for a while there.

2006-09-08T18:25:00.000-07:00

FALL CLEANING, ANYONE?

I have been following the fall cleaning schedule from Mrs. Catherine's site. (pause to check out the hidden link!) Two weeks ago, I spruced up my front porch, this past week it was the foyer. And since I love pictures, here are a few for you to see.

Here is the front porch before...

Here it is after...

Here is the foyer. This is exactly what you see when you come in the front door. The papers on the wall are my daughter's school work for the day. She is more careful with her handwriting when she know the papers will be displayed.

This is another view of the foyer, from the dining room.

You can't tell from the picture, but I scrubbed the concrete porch on my hands and knees with bleach and soap. It looks tons better. I also scrubbed the walls and front door. I touched up all of the paint on the door frame and door. I painted the baseboards in the foyer and touched up the wall paint. I painted the inside of the front door mossy green. It has been unpainted now for many months and really needed some attention.

This coming week is the living room. It's gonna be a big job, because this past spring, we had our ceilings scraped and painted, and I am still finding scraped off bits of ceiling here and there.

Also, if you like to cook, this site is teriffic! She really knows what she's talking about and the recipes I have tried so far have been excellent. Check it out!

2006-09-07T04:00:00.000-07:00

I've been tagged!!!

1. Are you craving anything and if so, what?
Early morning I crave a pot of hot tea. Sometimes Earl Grey, sometimes just the store brand dollar-a-box of plain old tea. Both are equally good to me.

2. What is the weather outside, and do you wish it would change?
Right now it is 66 degrees and so humid it's misty outside, like thick fog. I wish it would be even cooler, like 5o or so, so I can sit on the porch with a blanket and my cup of tea.

3. What two websites do you think you will go to next after you are finished here? Ebay ;) I have some things I am selling right now. Then probably down my list of blogs, I think Turtle Lane is next.

4. Do you wish you were somewhere else and if so, where?
I wish I was in in the hills of Tennessee, or more accurately, the mountains of Tennessee, which happens to be where we are moving to next summer.

5. Do you wish you were someone else, and if so, who?
I don't want to be anyone ekse. I like who I am. I would like to have more patience, and be more organized. Definately more organized.

I tag Barbara and Melody
According to my counter statistic, I have very few site visitors, and I don't know who they are, except Anne, (hi Anne!), so we'll see what happens!

Ahem! I want all of my readers (both of you!) to notice I figured out how to do the link thing, I have successfully hiddent the url with a name! I'm so impressed with myself!

2006-09-05T04:28:00.000-07:00

Well Andrew had surgery this past Friday to remove the hardware from his right wrist. His recovery has been easy so far. We go back today for a follow up appointment wth the phyical therapist who specializes in hands. Please pray for his full recovery!
The trip up there was harrowing, to say the least! We decided to save some money and not get a hotel in Raleigh the night before. We decided to drive up at 4 am. It's normally a 2.5 hour trip for us. Well remember that storm, Earnesto? I do. We were in it! Driving! The storm was "only" a tropical storm, not officially a hurricane, but let me tell you, we saw trees and powerlines down from the coast to Raleigh. We saw houses, yards, fields and highways deeply flooded. I lost count of the detours we had to make. Thank the Lord for GPS. The winds were blowing our big car all over the road. We continually hit black water, and slipped and slid all over the place with zero visibility. The only reason we did not wreck was because we were the only idiots on the road at 4 am in a tropical storm. We prayed hard the whole way to Raleigh and made it without a scratch.
We arrive at the hospital, check in, and wait, and wait. You know how it is, rush to get there and wait for eons to be recognised by the staff. anyway, since my husband's main office is in Raleigh, he decided this would be a PERFECT time to go to the office for paperwork! YES! HE DID! And guess what happened? Hes back right tire exploded! Into shreds! Once again he was not hurt, but had to change the tire in a suit in the pouring rain and driving winds.
Then guess what? The spare was FLAT!!!! Yes it was! So he drove for six miles on a flat donut tire to a gas station to fill it up. Praise God it stayed inflated.
THEN guess what? On the way back to the hospital he ran out of gas! I kid you not! Then and only then did he call a tow truck who delivered a gallon of gas for $35. He went to the gas station, filled up, and came back to the hospital, paperworkless, to discover he missed Andrew's entire surgery.
Oh what a day what a day.
Fast forward to the trip home. No rain, thank goodness. Streets still flooded. Many detours. A 2.5 hour trip turned into a 5 hour trip, but we made it. Thank the Lord we made it. It's over, Andrew is hardwareless and on the road to recovery. None of us are the worse for wear. It is raining right now and we are about to leave for Raleigh again, but we will be fine. We have GPS, four new tires and a full tank of gas. Ha!

2006-08-31T11:44:00.000-07:00

Reason #579 to homeschool... it keeps the cat entertained, too.

2006-08-24T18:46:00.000-07:00

Well it's nice to get a chance to sit at the computer and putter around! My son tends to be a computer hog, he is teaching himself to play the guitar off of a website he found. He is actually getting pretty good!

Speaking of Andrew, he is scheduled for surgery on Sept. 1st, so please keep him in your prayers!

I am SO ready for autumn!!! I have even been baking pumpkin pies, pumpkin bread, and a spice cake these past several days. I can't eat much of the stuff, but I do so love to bake.
I plan to start my fall cleaning next week. I am following the schedule on Ms. Catherine's site. I will TRY to post a link. (my first link!) http://www.xanga.com/MrsCatherine If anyone knows how to change the link to look like the title, but still be a link, please let me know!

Between this blog, and selling stuff on Ebay, I am really learning alot about computers. I printed a greeting card my daughter made. It was a little complicated, as the printer was not set up yet. But I did it!

I am gathering ideas for a simple quilt top from some batik 4 inch squares I bought off Ebay. They are beautiful. I bought some plain black to go with it. I am also looking at tote bag patterns to maybe come up with a line to sell on Ebay also.
My daught has strep. She has white spots in the back of her throat, and it hurts. I called the Dr., no appointments till the middle of next week. Went to the ER, got sent away to a "Patient Services Department" where we waited an hour and fifteen minutes to be told we should go back to the Emergency Room, who THEN told us it would be a 6 or 7 HOUR wait to even get triaged! We went home. My daughter was at the end of her rope by then. They just didn't understand that for her, it was an emergency. I am going to try to beg for an appointment at the clinic we normally go to. They are short staffed right now and even had to close early. I am thankful for our health insurance, but I'm aggravated with not being allowed to go outside the network. If I have no success in the morning, we will have to pay out of pocket, and find any old Dr who will see her, if I can get HER to see a strange Dr.
We started school yesterday. We started with just Math and Bible. We will add another subject every few days till we are at our full load.
Hmmm, time for bed! I'm beat! First I'll make sure this link works... It does! (smile!)

2006-08-19T04:28:00.000-07:00

My niece attends (or attendED) a public daycare. Let me just say it up front, I am not a fan of day care. I have many reasons I will list for you if anyone asks. But here is a new reason. My little niece was hit in the face by a toy while at daycare. It left an open wound that required a trip to the Dr and three steristrips to close.

I know accidents happen, and kids get boo-boos. But this one was totally preventable. By the day care worker's own admission, she was not supervising the children. She was doing something else "for a minute." Probably to text message a friend, because my sister had seen her doing that on more than one occasion. She just needed Paige to attend at this place till the day after Labor day when her spot opened up at a "good" daycare.
My son attended afterschool care when he was 6. Three weeks after he started he broke his hand when he climbed an 8 foot fence. The day care lady told him to jump, and she would catch him. He jumped, she didn't catch. He was put in time-out till I got there, an HOUR later. He was sobbing because his hand hurt. It was the size of a grapefruit. No incident report, no nothing. Fortunately, he was old enough to let me know what happened, and I was able to ask questions. That was his first and last experience in daycare. Then, in his public school kindergarten, where he attended with his right hand and lower arm in a cast, the teacher and the assistant would not help him unfasten his pants to use the bathroom. She didn't want to be "accused" of anything. I said, "You are being accused of being negligent." I gritted my teeth and bought a bunch of sweatpants, and taught him to pull them up and down as best as he could. He was a nervous wreck about going to the bathroom, which resulted in a lot of accidents. Which they wouldn't help them with. Sigh.
I think part of the problem is, aside from that fact that people should take care of their own children, is that day care workers are not paid very well. Here we are, entrusting them with our most precious possessions, and they are paid barely over minimum wage MAYBE to care for them.
And no, I don't have an answer for the people who say they 'have' to work. I can't solve the world's problems. I just know that God gave these kids to me, not Miss Hilda at World's Best Day Care or whatever. So I don't get my nails done, I don't tan, we don't have cable and we rarely eat out, usually only for birthdays. We all gotta do what we gotta do. It is just sad when it is at the expense of children. (And no, my sister doesn't read my blog!) ;) Yet!

2006-08-15T12:29:00.000-07:00

Ashley wanted to contribute something to my blog, so she made this on the computer.

2006-08-15T06:55:00.000-07:00

Someone asked me about my daughter recently, so I thought I would just post an answer, in case others had questions too. I feel strongly that talking about this kind of stuff is good, because you never know if there are others struggling with the same problem. You just might be an encouragement to them. People need to know they are not alone in the trials of life.

My daughter Ashley, age 10, has Sensory Intergration Dysfunction, sometimes referred to as SID. It is a disorder of the central nervous system, where the information her body receives through her senses is not interpreted normally in her brain. A unexpected light touch to her feels like a punch. She has always been a "quirky" child. She never liked to wear shoes, because they "hurt", any shoe would cause her problems. Having her hair brushed makes her cry, even if she does it herself. She loves necklaces and bracelets, but wearing them makes her irritable and off balance.
She has low tone. Her body has a hard time holding itself upright. This low tone affects all muscles, including those in her mouth, fingers, feet, intestines etc. She has a hard time grasping a pencil, she is constantly constipated, and when she walks, her feet slap the ground instead of walking in a heel-toe pattern. She has a high gag reflex and cannot eat foods that do not dissolve upon chewing, like meat, or raw fruit or vegetables.
These are her physical symptoms. What you don't see is her intense desire to be away from people. She loves the "idea" of going places and doing things, but to be near strangers puts her in panic mode. When we go to the park, it is usually in the evening when the sun is going down. It's usually empty. She has learned to be able to go to stores and restraunts, if she holds my hand, or sits with her back to a wall and something in front of her, like the cluster of salt and pepper shakers or my purse.
There is a whole myriad of signs and symptoms she displays, and if taken one or two at a time, you would never think anything was wrong, because we all have those kind of issues at one time or another. But if you put them all together, it can cause havoc in a person's life.
We are in a long round of Dr. appts. And therapy appts. Her therapy consists of things that help regulate her central nervous system, such as body brushing and joint compression, swinging, and learning coping techniques.
She can now wear shoes. If they fit well and if they are laced tight. Firm pressure feels better than light pressure. We have a routine where she brushes her hair and I gather it up in the back with a scrunchie. She is getting her hair cut short this week. We met a woman online who does hair who happens to have a son with cerebral palsy and sensory issues, so she understands! AND she lives in our area! What a blessing!!
Can you imagine a child with these issures trying to make it through a day in the chaos that is public school? This is another reason we homeschool... number one, because it says to in the Bible, number two, because Ashley just could not handle it.
Well now you know!
And my public service announcement for the day: Be kind to strangers, you just don't know what they are going through.

2006-08-12T07:19:00.000-07:00

I am officially a computer idiot. I took my wireless keyboard to a computer shop because it almost completely quit working. Occasionally it would spit out a 'z' or a row of q's, but that's it. I went back the next day to pick it up and was charged $25 for 4 new double A batteries! It needed batteries. Duh.

I wanted to share some pictures of my little kitty Cleo. She is the sweetest cat I have ever had! She is also the smallest. She's 2 years old, but the size of a 5 or 6 month old kitten. She loves me to death, and the feeling is mutual. :)

Every morning when I make the bed, Cleo hears me and comes to "help". It takes me about a half hour to get the job done.

She jumps of the wrinkles and hides under the blankets and attacks me when I lean over the bed. I never get tired of it! No matter how many times he pushes her off, she insists on sleeping on top of my husband's feet. Everybody say..."Awwww"

2006-08-07T14:53:00.000-07:00

My computer knowledge is growing by leaps and bounds! Well, maybe a hop and a step, but anyway, I figured put how to put a counter at the bottom of the page!! I really wanted it in the sidebar, but oh well, it's there, and it can count to "1"! Hi! Whoever you are!
If any one has any recomendations for websites or books on how to make blogs pretty, let me know.
This computer stuff is so much fun, I am even selling some stuff on Ebay. WoW for me!!

My daughter went to VBS at our church this morning. That's a big deal for her because she has sensory integration disfunction. She did great and said that she enjoyed herself. She is going again tomorrow. Here she is at the battleship USS North Carolina as I try to convince her to climb into the engine room. (She didn't.)

2006-08-05T06:00:00.000-07:00

"Happy Birthday to me!
Happy Birthday to me!
Happy Birthday to Mary,
Happy Birthday to me!"

Yup! Today is my birthday, I'm 39. Birthdays are kind of bittersweet to me. My mom passed away in Dec. of '92. I used to always send yellow roses to my mom on my birthday. After all, it is because of her I am here. Now I have to take them to the cemetery.
My mom was not a beautiful woman on the outside. She was not perfect. She never did anything newsworthy. She was small and thin, fragile looking. She never, ever complained. She could laugh at anything, and did, often. She taught us to be strong and just face your life, take the life your given, pray for the best, but prepare for the worst.
She loved to shop. The day before died, we went furniture shopping and she bought the most hideous black lacquer bedroom furniture she could find. She wanted to put it in her country blue bedroom. Maybe she wasn't thinking clearly that day, or maybe she sensed the need for a change. Maybe she just loved a really good sale, no matter what.
She loved her family. She told one of her nurses that it was her family that kept her going. She and my dad sacrificed for their children, like most parents do. She taught me so much, without ever having to say a word. I miss her every single day, especially on my birthday. Love you Mom!

2006-08-04T11:48:00.000-07:00

Take this test and see what kind of rose you are!

You Are a White Rose

You represent youthfulness and purity.

Your vibe: Sweet and heavenly

Falling in love with you: is like falling in love for the first time

What Color Rose Are You?

2006-08-03T07:20:00.000-07:00

My Son

I mentioned before my son has joined the Marine Corps on the Delayed Entry Program. Like his father and grandfather before him, each 22 year vetrans, he wants to be one of the Few and the Proud. Many people from non-military families have asked me, " Are you going to let him do that? I always answer, " Let him? I'm going to make him!" That was always just a joke, Andrew knew for a long time he wanted to be a Marine and I am quite proud of his decision. In fact I think it should be required of our young men to serve in the military for two years upon leaving highschool, and before college. I know that is not a popular idea. I grew up in a military family where serving your country was an honor and we respected the men and women who did so. My son feels the same way. The complainers who cry about the military over in foreign countries need to remember that our soldiers VOLUNTEERED to serve. If they are going to gripe about the decisions the President makes about where they spend their time in the military, then maybe they should not have VOLUNTEERED in the first place. Hmm?

We all worry over our children. Even when they are 6 feet tall. Especially when they are 6 feet tall. My son has a motorcycle. I fought with him about buying the morotcycle tooth and nail. I lost. He bought the motorcycle and has been a responsible rider. By is own choice, he does not ride it at night or on wet pavement. He took a motorcycle saftey class. Now I don't worry as much. But I still pray hard.
It has been so exciting watching Andrew make these decisions for himself. Sometimes he's alittle irrational, but harmless, like the time he dyed his hair white. (Not blonde, it was WHITE.) Other times he is so methodical and thoughtful he puts me in all my boringness to shame.
All in all, no matter what Andrew does in his adult life, I am proud of who he is. And so glad that GOd gave him to me.

2006-08-02T06:26:00.000-07:00

As promised, here are pictures of the furniture I painted. I am sorry I don't have any before pictures,Then you could really see how much better it looks.
The first one is of the yard sale book case. I love it! It holds all of Ashley's homeschool books, I like having everything in one place.
The second is the dining room furniture I painted. It used to be a dull, flat brown, I don't know why I painted it that color. I LOVE the black.
The others are of a chest of drawers someone gave me many years ago. I painted it black and added hummingbirds, butterflies and vines.

2006-08-01T09:02:00.000-07:00

It is hot hot hot. That's not according to the weather man, that's according to me. The weatherguy says it it "hazardously hot and humid." So I decide to haul my extremely heavy dining room furniture outdoors(!) and paint it black. This is two months after I paint it brown. It is an old set that used to belong to my mother. I cannot bear to get rid of anything that used to belong to my mom. I will, of course, be posting pictures.

Our son got a good report from the doctor yesterday. He said he is healing exactly as he should, and the xrays are perfect. Andrew broke his wrist back in September of last year. We did not know it was broken and did not seek treatment. January of this year he comes to me and says, "Look, I can't move my hand." (!!!!!) To make a long story short, we saw a total of 6 doctors who said it could not be fixed and we should have the bones fused and apply for disibility. Through the grace of GOD we were sent to Duke University Medical Center where we were put under the care of D. Ruch. He happend to pioneer the technique needed to fix my son's particular problem. Now keep in mind that this hospital is not in our insurance carrier's network. There is no reason our insurance should have covered this doctor or hospital. But they did. Fervent prayer availeth much. We drive three hours each way to see the doctor, or to have therapy 1-2 times a week. Andrew is scheduled for surgery again on September 1st to have the hardware taken out of his wrist. The Doctor says he should gain back most of his range of motion after that.

Well, I'm off to scrape the paint out of my hair. And to charge the camera batteries. See ya!

2006-07-29T17:47:00.000-07:00

The pictures I took of the book case were really dark, so I deleted them. Here are some I took of our living room that turned out pretty good...
This is my daughter and husband learning about the camera.
The other is my piano and the old horse from a child's toy that i am going to make into a carosel horse "someday".

I'm trying to figure out all of the features to our digital camera. This baby can do everythig except the dishes! I did learn how to adjust shutter speed, so the pictures are sharper, but I doubt I will be able to go back and reset it without the book. I am "electronically challenged". I never knew how to set the time on a digital watch, and here I am writing in a blog and using a digital camera! Go figure! I even bought something off of Ebay yesterday! It was too easy, 'cause Ebay could be addicting!

I would love to know how to do a different background on my blog. I changed templates, but I would love something different. I'm going to mess around with it and see if I can figure something out someday.
Well, goodnight people. Or person. Even if no one reads this, it still fun! Oh, and check the first post!! My first comment!! Whoo Hoo!!

2006-07-29T12:14:00.000-07:00

Whew!!! Busy day so far! I went grocery shopping at 6 am at Walmart. It's the best time to go. The employees are almost done stocking shelves, and there are very few customers.

And, as is my habit on Saturdays, I stopped at a few yardsales on the way home. I bought a neat bookcase for $10. He was asking $35! Way too much for it! It has three shelves, not including the top, and the dividers are put in randomly making 6 compartments. He happily accepted the $10. I brought it home and painted it black to match the dining room. It's drying now. It will be perfect for school books! As soon as I find the USB cables for my camera, I will post a picture of it. I also found a pretty picture of a water-color rose in a distressed white wood heart shaped frame for a quarter. YAY! I love yardsales.

Anybody have guinea pigs? My daughter has two of them, and I was wondering of the possibility of keeping them outside. Maybe only part of the year, it is really hot right now! Yesterday we had a heat index of 107 degrees.

Monday my son goes back to his doctors at Duke University Medical Center in Raleigh to see about his wrist. They will be scheduling surgery to have the hardware taken out. Please PRAY he regains mobility in it! He broke it in September of last year, and it just has not been the same. For a while he was unable to use the hand at all, because his fingers were contracted almost into a fist. It was very scary.

My niece is coming over today, time to go!

2006-07-27T13:47:00.000-07:00

This time next year, God willing, we hope to be moving to the Great Smokey Mountains of Tennessee. My husband grew up in the hills, but has lived herein NC since he met me. That was 21 years ago.He has always wanted to return home. We stayed because my family is here. My mother was very sick for a long time before she passed away. I have a younger sister and brother who I wanted to be near. Bit they are older now, (30 and 35!!) I think they can handle life without me! (smile) I have so much to leave behind, a house I love, family, friends from 21 years in one place. But I have so much to gain by moving. It is BEAUTIFUL country. Plus I want my children to know the other side of their family too. My husband has been so unselfish allowing me to stay near my family without one word of complaint, but I alway knew where he wanted to be. In all honesty, I want to be there too. We hope to buy a piece of land in the hills, away from everything. It will only be a 6-7 hour drive away. These are photos taken the last time we were there, I think in November of last year. I just love the area. My daughter has always been a country girl at heart. Our son will be in the USMC by then, probably stationed in Florida, training to go to Iraq. THAT is a whole different post!