Love.....in this Family

Where have I been?

2009-06-25T21:00:00.004-05:00

I know no one will be looking at this blog anymore, mainly because I haven't written in such a long time. I quit doing blogs, looking and writing because I started working full time and now don't have the time to do it.

We are all fine after Hurricane Ike. Three Hurricanes, two major ones in three years is a lot and we are fortunate and blessed we have had little damage. Can't say the same for many in our area. There are so many who have lost everything, home, belongings and livlihood. The area is recovering and praying no more storms for years to come.

I wanted to "catch" every one up with news of our new grand daughter, Gracelyn Mae. She was born April 29th in Liberty, Missouri. She is beautiful and the only problem is that she lives to far from her Piggy and Pops. I am saving my money and buying plane tickets every time I see they are cheap. I have a trip planned in August and hopefully will purchase more tickets for later in the year. My hope is to see her once a month or at least every other month. It is very important to me that she know her Piggy and Pops.....more than just by name!

One question in a comment back last year, was how is Casey. My friend's daughter, Casey is doing great! She did great after her surgery. She was back doing her teaching so she could get her degree. She married in December and is living in the Ft. Worth area and will be teaching in the fall. Praise God for her continued good health.

If anyone reads this blog, please pray for our aging parents. It seems every time we talk to them, there are more and more doctor's appointments, surgeries being scheduled and just general bad health. They need God's healing hands to touch them.

Thank you for coming for a visit. I don't know if I will continue to post. It will depend on the timing.

HOME AGAIN

2008-09-22T10:00:00.003-05:00

We arrived back home from evacuation on Sunday evening. We still have no power but our boss brought over a generator and hooked us up. We slept comfortably. Only half of the house has power but it is enough to run a window a/c unit, the refrig, freezer, and some lights. Also, the hot water heater, which was great to get a hot shower this morning.

I am ready for things to be "normal" again. I have loads and loads of laundry to do and dishes piled high that we rinsed but didn't wash as we were preparing for evacuation. So my house is a wreck but I am glad to be at work where we have power and a/c all day long.

I do have a lot of catch up to do at work because we lost a whole week of working. So, I better get back to it and get some work done.

Thanks for prayers and concerns for Southeast Texas. Bridge City residents really need a lot of help and prayers and many even in Beaumont lost roofs. So far, our church family had very little damage for which we are thankful, but we are trying to reach out to the community and help as we can.

I am praying hurricane season is over for us, even though we still have two more months of season left!!!

HURRICANE IKE

2008-09-18T10:58:00.004-05:00

No, I didn't think I would be blogging much anymore. But......Hurricane Ike came to visit and because of him, I have something to blog about.

Thanks to all those who have commented and left replies. Sorry, I was away so long and didn't moderate the comments. I have been a little stressed lately.

So...on to my news!

First, my friend's daughter is doing well, really well. Thanks for the prayers. She is back at student teaching and will marry in December. All is well at this time with the family. We have had a few scares with her mother's cancer the last few weeks, but things seem to be doing better. Please continue to pray for them as they are very, very tired of medical issues.

We went to Abilene to see these friends over the Labor day weekend. We left on Thursday afternoon and enjoyed a great day Friday, visiting and eating and just being together. Then Saturday morning, we woke and found Hurricane Gustav heading our way. We have some handicap friends from church that we always help to evacuate and knew we had to get back to them. We also knew that possibly our son in law who is in the National Guard Reserves might be called up so we had to be there for our daughter and grand daughters. We headed back Saturday afternoon.

On the way back, we heard that the couple had to be out of their apartment by 6pm and we could not get there by that time. So another couple from church was evacuating anyway and took them to meet family half way. We could now concentrate on our own family. Trying to secure the house and getting ready to evacuate, we were tired. We made the decision to listen to each update and leave Sunday evening if it was indeed headed our way. Fortunately, or unfortunately for those in Louisiana, Gustav made way for Louisiana. So.....we were spared again and stayed home. What a relief.

We traveled to Corsicana on Wednesday evening to get the handicap couple and bring them home. We traveled all day Thursday from Lewisville, north of Dallas We were exhausted.

We made it through the weekend and then began to watch Ike! It appeared he would be visiting South Texas so we continued to watch and try to catch up on work, clothes washing and repacking!

I am exhausted because in all this, I have now become employed on a more full time basis. Our company let three people go at the end of August. One of them was the Benefits Manager. This was done to allow the individual dealerships to manage the benefits instead of from the central office. I am the transition person to help this take place. So.....I am working full time, doing my regular job of assisting Mr. Ruddy and learning the benefits position, without the help of the previous employee. It is quite stressful, but doable. Then add the stress of Gustav, Ike, taking care of family....you get the picture.

On Thursday, when the City of Beaumont called for Mandatory Evaucation, we made the decision to stay and watch a little longer. We reported to the handicap couple that our son in law was called up and we had to take care of Jamie and the girls. We would not be able to take them to Dallas, but we would see that they could get to the high school, where they would be evacuated. They found someone else to take them to Dallas. It turned out that Paul was to go to South Texas for reserves but as the storm began moving north, they were in training one day and the released to take care of their own families. None of us were in any condition or state of mind to sit on the road for hours evacuating. We made the decision we would hang in a little longer.

Friday came and we made the decision, along with our children and a friend of hers with her young child to hunker down and stay through the storm. We knew our house had withstood Rita, we knew we were high enough there would be no storm surge for us and we had enough provisions and a generator (thanks to work) to get us through. I keep asking myself, "What were we thinking?" I do know we were exhausted and travel weary. We just couldn't stand the thought of getting in the car one more time.

We hunkered down and all day Friday when nothing much happened, no rain, very little wind, we were in good shape. We put the three little girls to bed about 9 pm and settled in to wait it out. We lost power about 11:30 pm and the guys started the generator. We settled in, all of us in the den with the little girls in the front bedroom (north) so that they were away from the southeast corner of the house which would take the most pounding. I could hear several of the others snoring occasionally and the winds and rain began!

I can't tell you the force of those winds, the constant pounding of the wind and the rain! I can tell you I was scared. I did okay for a while, but began to get more and more troubled as I could hear limbs blowing over the roof and as the wind changed directions ferociously and I feared tornados. I think that was what bothered me most. I grew up in the Panhandle of Texas and remember the terror I felt as a little girl each time we would run to the cellar for a tornado. There was one point about 4:30 when I could feel pressure in my ears, the wind whipped up under the back porch and I just knew the roof was going to peel back. Then all of a sudden the back windows in the eating area just seemed to bend inward. I don't think they actually bent inward, but it felt like it.

Later, when talking to my neighbor and she felt the same thing and then another friend came over Saturday night and reported that the Market Basket grocery store had bricks off the building and she couldn't understand what happened because there were no trees in the area, I knew it was probably a tornado hitting it, probably about 4:30 am, If I had to guess!!! My worst fear!

I was constantly praying, all night. My sentence was a continual flow of, "Lord, please place your protective mercies around my house, keep my babies safe. Tuck us under your wing of protection. Raise those tornados above the house. Please, Lord provide your mercies to us." This was a constant flow of words out of my mind for at least 6 hours to 10 hours. Finally, about 6:30 am, I had all I could stand. I was a nervous wreck and could feel my blood pressure high! I mentioned to the group, I could not stand it any longer, please make the wind stop, when my daugther, Jamie suggested I go to the front room with the girls. I sat in the rocker near them, touching their hair and hands, watching them sleep. I am so thankful they slept through it. I have to admit the wind noise was a lot less in there. I continued to rock and pray and asking God to make the next band less wind and quieter. I finally had to chastise myself and realize I had to trust that he could get us through. Afterall, he had been with us so far! At that time, I forced myself to calm down and relax, which I did somewhat.

I waited until 7:00 am to call my daughter in Missouri where we both worked not to cry. I then called my friend in Abilene and my folks. I promised each of these people I would never put them through this again. I would always leave, especially if a storm is coming in on the west side.

Yes, we made it through. I cannot imagine the terror for some of those who were on the beach, in Gilchrist or Galveston. I don't know how they mentally made it. I barely did.

Thank you for all the prayers for the safety and comfort of those living in Southeast Texas.

The men made sure we had power from the generator and we all slept in the den on air mattresses, even the little girls, where we had a window a/c unit and fans. We slept hard and it was much needed. We packed up Sunday afternoon, cleaning out the freezer and refrigerator and headed north to Corsicana and my folks. We even brought along another friend and her mother.

Tollie and I have been in Tyler this week, working our jobs and will be heading back to Corsicana this weekend and then back to Beaumont on Monday.

Again, THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONCERN AND PRAYERS. I will not say "God is Good" as I believe God is always good. But I will say "God is Merciful" and I am thankful for his mercies shown to me and my family.

You will notice the picture above was taken on the beach. Our beloved beach is a mess, no homes and hardly any beach.

I will try to post pictures when we finally return home.

PRAYERS NEEDED

2008-08-07T14:54:00.003-05:00

I have a friend whose daughter is having surgery on Monday. Please pray for Casey. She will be in the hospital for about 5 to 7 days and we need to know that she has no cancer and will not need any more surgery for her Crohn's Disease!

Thank you to the few that check out this blog and lurk around. I know I have been away a lot this summer and have not posted much. Actually I have not had much to post, but this request is much needed. Hopefully, enough of you will lurk here and find the time to pray for my friend!

I think when you are away and no one seems to notice, it is time to shut her down. This will probably be my last post of all time! Thanks and it has been fun!

PERCEPTIONS

2008-06-23T10:59:00.002-05:00

I have not blogged in a while. I don't seem to get to it everyday, even though I come to the computer every day and read blogs! I just don't seem to have all that much to say recently. Yet, my mind is whirling and tossing around ideas, questions and even some answers. So......I want to post some questions whirling in my mind and I hope if you drop by, you will leave a gem of wisdom here on this blog.

Do perceptions define our reality? Can perceptions actually change reality?

SORRY, SORRY, SORRY

2008-06-05T08:27:00.003-05:00

So sorry, to Charmed Mom, I forget that I now need to moderate the comments. I will try to do better to watch for them!

Sorry I have not posted much lately. Been very busy walking and trying to stay connected with my new trend of eating less. Takes a lot of energy, but feeling better and better each day.

Sorry, I had only two days with our kids this past week. Trent and Mindy were here and it went by so fast.....but, we enjoyed them so much. It does make me miss them even more. All the family together was such a treat. I feel so grateful for my family and love them all.

So sorry to hear my friend did not get good news yesterday. My dearest friend in all the world (aside from my husband!) had breast cancer several years ago and was doing quite well until.....
Yesterday, she went to the doctor because she had shortness of breath and tightness in her back. She thought she had a chest cold or fighting some allergy related problem. The doctor thought at first she had pneumonia. Turns out she has pulmonary emboli or clots in her lungs. She was sent immediately to bed with massive doses of blood thinner. She is being taken care of well by her famiily doctor and oncologist who is about 2 1/2 hours away in another town. But she needs our prayers....big time.

When I talked with Gina last night, she is understandably shaken by the fact that in all probability, she should not be here today. She could have dropped dead at any time carrying the clots around. So, she is being very careful and still, allowing the blood thinner to do its magic and thin the clots out. Please pray for Gina and her family. A lot of events are coming up in their life in the next 9 months and she should be around to experience them.

Besides, I need her more than ever!

PICTURES TELL ALL

2008-05-22T08:10:00.005-05:00

I went to the doctor yesterday and I am released. My tonsil surgery was a great success with a full recovery and no problems. In fact, I am 17 pounds lighter and have more oxygen going to my lungs, heart and whole body. I feel better, more energized and ready to take on the world!

I have included in this post a couple of pictures of my mouth.

I know, it can be disgusting but I think you will see why I had the surgery and why it is a success. You can see how little airway passage I had in the first picture. I had an elogated and thick uvula. With all that gone, I have a clearer path to my lungs. I find I breath through my nose more all the time, and Tollie has stated I don't snore near as much, in fact hardly at all.

I went to praise team practice last night and sang with no problems, other than feeling tired in my throat and a little swelling last night. Tollie noticed that with that extra swelling, I did snore some. But that should improve over time as well.

I am really thankful for the 17 pound weight loss and plan to continue working on that. I find I don't mind the ellipitcal exercise so much because I don't get so breathless in a short period of time.

So, here is the plan. I eat a bowl of oatmeal or Cream of Wheat every morning. I eat a half sandwich or bowl of soup for lunch and then for supper, I eat half of what I would normally eat. I am trying to snack in the afternoon on apples, bananas and fruit or nuts and just taking my time eating and enjoying what I eat. I found while I was eating right after the surgery, that I had to eat so slowly to chew more and I would fill up sooner. So, I am trying to incorporate that now.

Thanks for the encouragement and I pray God will allow me to use this last opportunity, as I see it, to get my weight down. I told my husband I don't plan to be a model size, but I do want to get about 50 pounds off. That would be a huge difference.

This time does feel different. How? I am talking about it more, I asked Tollie for his help and I didn't even mind him helping me with some birthday cake the other day. After our son-in-laws birthday, I had a half of cake left over, Hummingbird Cake, which is my favorite type of cake. Tollie and I had just eaten a sandwich, I had eaten my half, and then cut a piece of cake. I sat down to eat it and Tollie just smiled and said, I will eat the other half when you are finished. I smiled, took a few bites and gave him the rest. I was okay with it. Then on Monday, as he left for his monthly Tyler trip, he asked if he could take the cake with him to give to the girls in the office. I helped him wrap it up and was actually glad to see him take it.

I think this time is different as well, as I see myself thinking in terms of help around each corner. When I went shopping the other day, I was rounding the corner where the ice cream freezers and thought I would get a pint of my favorite ice cream. They were pretty low on supply and I had to reach to get Blue Bell Banana Split, one of my choices. I struggled to reach it and walked away without it, thinking, "Thank you Lord, for keeping it out of reach from me." This type of thinking is unusual for me and I am happy to report is working as I see ways I want something, but God (or Tollie) intervenes. I really want to do this!

Have a great weekend and Happy Memorial Day.

NEW (& MAYBE LAST) OPPORTUNITY

2008-05-13T15:06:00.003-05:00

Since my last post I have been to Missouri to see my baby daughter, my husband has been to Russia, I have been to Abilene for a visit with my dearest friend in all the world and I don't have tonsils anymore!

Wow! I had my tonsils removed in a whirlwind two weeks of going to the doctor and bam!, they were out.

Tollie has been trying to talk me into going back to our ENT doctor to have my throat checked again. He has been concerned about my breathing at night for some time now. I had a sleep apnea study done many years back and was told I did not have sleep apnea. Yet, Tollie believed there were problems with my breathing while I slept. He says I will breathe in fine, it is the breathing out that seems to be halted and restricted. He has said I make lots of funny noises and he has believed for a long time that my halted breathing out has been hard on my heart. I have poo-pooped the idea for a long time, thinking I am not tired during the day, I don't seem to have trouble sleeping at night and I have never gasped for breath like they talk about when you have sleep apnea.

I love Tollie and respect his ideas and especially his love for me and because he asked me to go to the doctor, I called and made an appointment with our ENT doctor on Wednesday April 30. I let them know that our company was changing insurance companies the next day so any surgery might have to be postponed until all that was done. I really didn't expect him to talk immediately about surgery, I expected him to tell me it might help and when I was ready to let them know.

I left the doctor's office in a whirlwind of thoughts. They wanted to schedule the tonsillectomy on the next Tuesday, May 6th. They were already doing ten cases that day and would just add another one. It would be outpatient and I should have no problems. When Dr. Heartfield looked into my mouth that first time, he just said, "ooh, 3+." We will need to take the uvula and thin out the soft palette." He then went on to explain that I had airway obstruction and wanted to know if I snored. I told him I did snore, a lot. In fact, sometimes I wake myself up snoring. He said I would not realize how bad the airway obstruction was until it was all over and I felt better, then I would realize how bad I have felt all along.

Okay, so I call Tollie on my cell phone, telling him they want to do it next week. I go to work and find out we probably can't get everything done with the new insurance in time for next week. But, later in the day, the HR person tells me everything is in place and I can go ahead! Tollie and I looked at several dates and really the 6th was probably the best date.

I went on Friday for my pre-op stuff and found that because we have a high deductible, we would be paying everything out of pocket. Still, for around $2000 I get a new opportunity at life? Seems fair enough.

So, on Tuesday morning, May 6th Tollie and I go to the outpatient pavilion and check in. They get me back shortly after arrival and then we wait. It is after 2 pm when they finally come and get me for the surgery. I remember them taking me from my room to the surgery suite and asking me to move over to the surgery table. I moved and the next thing I remember is waking up in recovery. I am still alive. No problem. I can swallow! I seem to be doing fine. However, Dr. Heartfield comes in to say that I did fine but because of the size of my tonsils and possible swelling, he wants to keep me overnight.....just for observation.

When Tollie met with Dr. Heartfield, he jokingly asked him if he had saved my tonsils in a jar. Dr. Heartfield said he didn't have a jar big enough. He would have had to put them in a bowl. He stated that my tonsils were growing down my throat and were probably some of the largest he has ever seen. He knew I would be feeling so much better in time. This was all we need to validate that my tonsils should have come out and probably several years earlier than now!

I have visitors that night, our dear friends the McLeods come by with a begonia, another dear friend from church, then my son-in-law and two grand daughters come by with a pink soft pig and homemade cards. They are so special! Tollie goes home to get some things we had not brought such as sleeping gear for him, toothbrushes, etc. He stops by and gets me a Wendy's hamburger. I tried to eat it and only could not because the anesthesia makes me sick to my stomach. They give me something for that and later in the evening, I am able to eat part of the hamburger.

I stay the night in the outpatient pavilion with only one other patient in the place and I have my own nurse. She is great. She comes and checks on me often and tells me if my oxygen monitor sounds the alert, I just need to take a deep breath and it will return to normal. I find that as I am just going to sleep, the monitor sounds the alert. So, I take a deep breath and start to relax again. Finally, after about 2 in the morning, I ask my nurse if I can have some oxygen so I don't keep waking up. She gets it for me and sure enough I don't get woke up every 5 minutes (and neither does Tollie.

For breakfast, my nurse has ordered double for me and Tollie. We have sausage and pancakes. Yummy, I am able to eat two pancakes and two sausages. I am feeling really good. We get released and because the PA cannot find a monitor in town, I am told to sleep the night sitting up. They are really concerned that with swelling my airway obstruction will be blocked completely.

It is now a week later, and I am doing great. I have had pizza, mexican food, soups, sandwiches, toast, eggs, ice cream, popsicles and pretty much anything I want to eat. I just returned from my doctor's visit and he says I am doing great. There are few scabs and there is already healing tissue starting. My tonsils had a bacterial infection in them, but since they are gone, so is the infection. There is still some swelling and I can try to sleep in my bed tonight, but only if Tollie monitors me. No problem! He has been monitoring me the whole time. At first, I slept in the den in my chair and he on the couch. We finally got smart and moved the chair to the bedroom so he could sleep in the bed. We have both done fine, but I am ready to be in my own bed. I still take Tylenol every 6 to 8 hours and find I wake about 2 am with my ears hurting and my throat throbbing. I have discovered the pain comes at 2 am because I am not moving the tissues and drinking. They get stiff and sore. But I can take my Tylenol and in about 30 minutes I am back asleep. So tonight, I will try sleeping in my own bed.

I am so happy for this opportunity to lose weight. Dr. Heartfield told me today that probably this week, I am going to get a real hunger pang. He said to try and resist it and keep doing what I am doing. I don't think I have lost a lot of weight, although I know I have lost some. I don't have a scale at home so it will be hard to know for sure. But my clothes are fitting better and no more than I am eating, I have to have lost something.

I want to take this opportunity to continue what I am doing now, eating very slowly, small bites, chewing a lot and not eating much. I have not been hungry yet, so when I get hungry, it will be harder. Please pray for me that I can resist the temptation to eat when I am hungry and take this opportunity to continue what I am doing now. I hope to have more energy and be more likely to exercise because I feel better. I have this chance, I don't want to waste it.

GOD'S ORCHESTRATION MAKES BEAUTIFUL MUSIC

2008-03-14T10:20:00.005-05:00

My day started out usual with some expectations. By 10:00 pm Paul would be home and the Goebel Family would be complete again! Well, the first call came at 11:15 am when Jamie said that Paul was already at the Columbia airport and had been bumped up to an earlier flight. There was no guarantee that he could get an earlier flight out of Charlotte but she just wanted to put us on standby.

Tollie came home for lunch and we left as usual to go work. On the ride to work, Paul called to say that Jamie’s work phone was on the blitz again and he would call me to let me know if he got on the flight. He was second in line so he just didn’t know. There was a good possibility that if he got on the flight, his luggage would not make that flight!

At work, I checked my e-mails and made sure I e-mailed Jamie to let her know I had been in contact with Paul and he knew about the phone situation and would be calling me. I would let her know. Dad and I should be able to take off work earlier, much earlier than we planned.

I was working along, doing my usual thing, and I hear from Paul, “I made the flight. We are off.” I immediately e-mailed Jamie. It was 1:45 and he would arrive in Houston Intercontinental at 4:36. That meant she would need to get my e-mail, leave work, pick up Ashton and Emma from their classes at school, go to her house, leave her car and grab the stuff to make signs. We would drive the 25 minutes to Sour Lake, pick them up, head to Houston that usually takes about an hour and 45 minutes to the airport. Then we would park, walk to the baggage claim and we might get there about the same time! Whew! We would try!

I told my boss my situation and he understood. I would work tomorrow to get out a letter he needed to go this week. No Problem! Tollie’s office is right down the hall from mine and I ran to see, was he ready? No. He had just ordered a computer online with Dell and was waiting on the call for them “to pick up the inventory.” He was frantically doing what had to be done. I went back to my computer and printed out the flight status to get the terminal and gate numbers. Sure enough, it showed flight status as “departed” and arrival into Houston at 4:26.....ten minutes early!

I went back to Tollie’s office. He had to tell his boss, who was eating lunch with his family, we would need to leave early. We explained our situation and as we were ready to depart, my boss (the father of Tollie’s boss) started telling us a story. We politely stayed there and listened to it and then quickly made our exit. When we got to the van, Tollie immediately pronounced we were never going to make it in time.

We needed to contact Jamie and suggest to her that we pick up the girls and she go to the house and get the sign making stuff. I assured him she was probably already getting the girls and we would make it in time! There were just so many “ifs.” If she got the e-mail, if she did that, or that! I called Jamie on her cell and sure enough, no answer. Could I even be certain she had gotten my e-mail? Maybe there had been an emergency with a student and when we got to Sour Lake we would not only need to pick up the girls, but first go to Jamie’s school to get her! My mind was running ahead and I was getting dizzy! But I still knew we would make it in time! How? Don’t know that answer. Just knew.

About half way to Sour Lake, Jamie calls and tells me she already has the girls and is on her way to the house. Where were we? Were we at the house already? No, well we will meet there. Got to Jamie’s house, everybody peed, picked up water bottles and sign making stuff and loaded the van. We are off. It is 2:15 and we will barely make it in time, but we should make it.

On our way to load up the van, Ashton said, “This is the greatest day!” She was all smiles!

We left Sour Lake and I promise I did not speed. Well, not more than my usual 4 miles over the speed limit! We were getting closer, through Liberty, now through Dayton! The girls are so excited. They are almost finished with the poster. Ughhh, Emma is getting car sick, better stop drawing. Where are we now? Are we still in Beaumont? No, oh I see an airplane. Could that be his? No, not yet. It was great to hear the chatter going on in the back of the van between the girls!

We make it to Atascosita and I make the turn south toward the airport. Thank you, Lord! We are at the airport! Now! Where to park? We watch the signs and fortunately already know the terminal and gate number. Good thing! None of us saw “U.S. Airway” on the signs at the entrance. We would not have known which terminal!

Parking in my large van is always scary in those parking garages. There never seems to be enough space between the roof of my van and the garage structure! But we squeeze by. No parking down that aisle, none down that one. Ohhhhh, there is one. We park. Emma says, “I’m feeling funny in my stomach.” I think it is just the excitement of seeing her daddy. Ashton repeats that this is one of the best days of her life!

We ride the escalator up to the ticket counters. We have heard that they might let us go to the gate if we ask. Jamie finds the first bathroom and takes Emma. She is fine. Right across from the bathroom is the US Airway ticket counter. Tollie, Ashton and I are waiting for Jamie with the signs. A gentleman walks past and sees the sign. He asked Ashton if she made the sign. She tells him her daddy is coming home. I suddenly realize he has a US Airway badge and boldly ask him, “who do we see to ask about going to the gate for her daddy’s arrival? He is in the military.” He asks me where he is flying from. I give him the flight number and town. He starts his keyboard pecking. He is asking for our ID’s. I run to the bathroom to get Jamie’s. He is writing on a boarding pass, GATE PASS ONLY. While writing on these three boarding tickets, he is telling us that this is highly unorthodox. He hopes they will let him do this. He suggests we lay low, find a quiet spot and when we hug and kiss him, make sure it is out of the way of the other passengers! Then hand us the passes “Now, get out of here, before I cry.”

We are on our way to the gate and stand in line for the inspection. I notice that our “boarding pass” has our name printed on it, but we are heading to Las Vegas through Phoenix? The first lady looks at the boarding pass with a quizzical expression. I explain we would like to meet their daddy arriving. He is military. She sees our signs. She broadly smiles and says thank you, putting her initial on the pass. We take off our shoes, put them in the buckets and let them pass through the x-ray machine. Tollie has the camera, shoes, wallet, Carmex, keys, three thumb drives to put in a bucket and is behind all of us girls. I walk through, Ashton, Emma, Jamie......Dad forgot to take his belt off. He has to go back and start over. We have made it through, got our shoes on and watching for him to come through. I get his stuff-- the camera, shoes, wallet, Carmex, three thumb drives and keys. He finally makes it through and has to get on his belt and shoes and re-stuff his pockets. I comment to no one in particular, “it is a sign of our times that we have to undress to get through the airport” and sigh!

We have plenty of time. It is only 4 pm and his plane should land at 4:26. We are through inspection and gliding our way to gate A19. We find seats right across from the gate entrance! How cool is that?

As we wait, several see our signs and smile. The girls are antsy and excited. Jamie tells us that if Paul calls, we will tell him we are waiting in the baggage area. Sure enough, Paul calls Jamie’s cell. The plane has landed and they are taxiing to the gate. Jamie sits there and tells Paul we are waiting in the baggage area. When she hangs up, I say, “liar, liar, catch on fire.” We all giggle!

Tollie starts to video all us girls with the signs and a young man offers to take the video and get Pops in as well. Pops hands over the video and we all smile for the camera.....while watching the door. More people come off. He is coming? More people come off. I tell Jamie that he is probably on the last seat as he was probably the last one on the plane. Dad says he sees him. Paul spots Jamie. I can tell because a big grin spreads on his face and tears start to pour. Jamie contains herself and waits for him to pass all the other people and come to us. They embrace and then the girls grab their daddy by his legs. It is a special moment. One to remember -- one to cherish. They are a complete family again. We all hug and kiss and I have to say I am a little disappointed that he does not have on his fatigues. The army did not want him traveling in his fatigues for his safety! There are too many against the war!

Many in the crowd realize he is probably military and smile and watch the drama unfold but it was not the cheering homecoming I was hoping for. All in all, a very emotional time anyway. In fact the young man, who offered to take the video camera, told Paul a little later, “Thank You.”

As we were standing outside the bathrooms again....Paul this time!........Ashton begins to cry uncontrollably. I embrace her and we all let her know she can cry all she wants. She has held in her emotions for so long, she just cannot contain them anymore. She is crying and trying to say at the same time, “I just missed my daddy so much. I am glad he is home.”

We walk to the baggage area, hoping his bags made it and sure enough, some of the first to come out of the tunnel! Wow, thank you again, Lord. My only regret is that we did not go back by the US Airway counter and thank the man for letting us go back to the gate.

Tollie and I are in bed by 10pm. And let me tell you, God’s orchestration made some beautiful music today.

Sorry the video does not have sound, technical problem! But you will get the gist of happy homecoming!

TO RUSSIA WITH LOVE

2008-03-11T13:58:00.004-05:00

Tollie, my husband, friend, lover and companion of almost 38 years is off to Russia. Individuals in our con-gregation support children in an orphanage in Sharya, Russia (near Kostroma, northeast of Moscow) through the Hope Chest organization. Hope Chest has told us that we are one of a few churches that support a whole orphanage, especially for the size we are. There are about 26 children in the home and nearly all of them are supported by someone in our congregation or has been associated with our congregation in the past. So….every year, we send a team over to interact and work with the children.

Russia has too many orphans. Each year there are over 40,000 orphans added to the orphanages. There are many reasons for this but often the reason is simple economics. A parent or parents cannot afford to house and keep their child and therefore they become a ward of the state. It is sad and many of these children are not true orphans but are bunched in that group. Hope Chest now runs about 40 orphanages, helping approximately 2400 orphans. The children range in age of pre-school of about 4 or 5 to about 15. When they turn 15 or 16 they are sent to a Resource Center in the town of Kostroma (for our orphanage, this is the place they go to) to learn skills and living independently. Otherwise, they would be turned out on the street and become drug addicts and prostitutes. Hope Chest is trying to change the life of the child to be independent and able to make a living. That is why sponsorship is so important to these children. But sponsorship only takes care of their physical needs and that is why we send a team to interact with these children. We hope to help their spiritual and emotional well being also and give them the ability to deal with life in those terms.

It is the responsibility of each team member going to Russia to raise their funds for travel. Unfortunately, this year, the costs of the land package is more and now it costs each individual about 2800$ to travel to Russia. Tollie has raised almost half of his support and is working on the other half. If God places it on your heart to help these orphans in a special way, you may send money to Christ Covenant Church, 6390 N Major Drive, Beaumont, Texas 77713 and indicate it is for Tollie Corder. I know you can pray for these orphans and please pray for the team traveling in March to touch the lives of these kids.

While my love is gone to Russia, I am planning to travel to Bethany, Missouri to spend the same amount of time with our baby daughter, Mindy. I arranged my flights to correspond with the Russia team so that I can travel to Houston with them and back to Beaumont. Tollie and I will be apart for over a week and I have a birthday in that time frame as well. So, please pray for us as we are apart. The only reason I can stand for us to go in different directions is my love for him and these kids, and my daughter!

I am looking forward to spending this lengthy time with Mindy and Trent. Mindy is planning to take a day off work and I plan to take some hand work with me and spend time cooking and enjoying Bethany and the surrounding area. Also, Mindy plans for us to attend a Women of Faith Conference in Omaha, Nebraska while I am there. I have never attended one, nor has she and we both are looking forward to this time of worship and fellowship with sisters in Christ. I am also excited as I have never been to Nebraska and that area of the country. I am already impressed with the beauty of Northern Missouri……as a place to visit! I am trying to pack for the 30 to 40 degree high days and of course lower at night temps. That will be hard to deal with as I am already enjoying 60 and 70 degree highs here and putting in our garden already! No planting there for another month or so! How do you pack coats, sweaters, handwork you are working on and gifts, all in one suitcase? I am trying though.

I hope your Spring time is going well and you are enjoying the Son at EASTER!

BUSY, BUSY, BUSY

2008-03-04T10:30:00.004-06:00

I thought when you got older, things slowed down. Not so with us. We seem to be busier now than ever before. Although, I don't think you can ever be busier than you are with teenagers! Glad we are past that phase!

We have had something going on at church every weekend. We had Jane Pata from Argentina and she stayed with us. We had a ThinkNext seminar and Phil Claycomb stayed with us. We had Angel Food distribution last Saturday, plus the grand girls stayed with us, Friday night.

I don't think we have anything...... oh yes, Tollie has Men's Breakfast and we are having a work day at church on Saturday. Nice thought we didn't have anything!

I really need to do some work in the yard! Arghhhhhhh! After the girls left last Saturday, I kept thinking I would get out and mow, but alas a nap was calling my name. By the time I got back up, it was later and thoughtfully I decided not to mow. So, Sunday after eating out, we came home and I mowed while Tollie edged the yard. In fact, I almost got of it then! As we were leaving the resturant, one raindrop fell on me and I rejoyced. But by the time we got home, it was not raining at all. So we started in. I do have to say that God has humor because on the last round of the side yard, it started pouring! I finished up and came in. But it was done.

Now I just need to get out and work some flower beds and weed out a vine that grows across the back fence. Our neighbor put this up on their side, but it is creeping around to my side and invading my yard! I hate the stuff. I know if it put Round up on my side it will kill their side as well, so I hesitate to do that, but.....I am working and thinking!

Have a great week.

We are excited as we make preparations for Tollie to go to Russia and I am going to Missouri the same week. Separate vacations are not my choice, but I am looking forward to visiting a whole week with my baby daughter and her husband. I did not want to go to Russia, but Tollie is excited! More on that later!

BELATED HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

2008-02-15T08:48:00.003-06:00

Sorry! I am a day late. So Happy Valentine's Day to you and yours.

Mine was absolutely one of the best Valentine's I have ever had. It started on Wednesday when I decorated my husband's office, like I do every year. I think I showed you his office last year in a post. It was a great job with pictures from our lives plastered all over his office. I was afraid I could not top last year. Everyone was impressed on how great it was.

So.....this year I even thought about not decorating his office, but then I was afraid everyone at work would think something was wrong. After all, I do it every year and I didn't want them thinking we had marital problems, especially when we don't have any!

Anyway, I started putting up some small Valentine cards I had and strung a string of lights across one wall with some tinsel garland of red. As I was decorating I began to think of ways I could possibly make a great day of Valentine's. I had an empty Italian bottle of wine and stuck a candle in it. Then the day began to take shape. I left him a note with instructions that he was to start the music CD I had for him as a present. It is Chris Botti, Italia. Then at 11:30 I would bring lunch to his office for us to share.

The next day, promptly at 11:30, I arrived with my ice chest and card table in tow. He helped me get everything in and set up. We put up the card table and set it with a red tablecoth and the wine bottle candle. I had brought plates and silverware and my crystal glasses. I had baked potatoes, ribeye steak and salad. I had prepared chocolate covered strawberries. When we were ready, Delores (co-worker in the office next door) came by to ohhh and ahh on what we were having for lunch. We lit the candle and turned out the lights so only the candle and string of lights were on and closed the door! We sat and listened to Chris Botti and talked quietly, enjoying our lunch. It was so relaxing. Delores was given instructions by me to turn anyone away that came toward Tollie's office. She left for lunch and put a large note on Tollie's door "Do Not Distub".

I received a dozen red roses and a message in a bottle. I cried when I read the message.

I can't tell you how relaxing and fun the lunch was. Tollie kept thanking me for the wonderful meal. I had also prepared Lemon Lush for dessert. It was great! So, we both had a wonderful time. I laugh because I think it was partly the secrecy with the door closed that made it so fun! Everyone at his work was jealous.

Later in the afternoon, I received an e-mail from Delores stating that it was so sweet to hear Tollie bragging to his friends on the phone how special the lunch was. She said she was not eaves dropping, but she couldn't help overhearing him. He was talking real loud because he was so excited. That made me smile.

I really had ulterior motives! Usually we go out to eat or eat a big meal at home in the evening and then too full to enjoy a night in bed! (if you know what I mean!) But this time, we had our big meal during lunch so last night was a wonderful time! (if you know what I mean)

I hope you had a great Valentine's. Mine was exceptional!

HERE IT IS!

2008-02-09T08:33:00.000-06:00

Well, here is the final project! Again, it is hard to tell much about it in a picture. So......if you are ever in my area of Beaumont, Texas, drop on by and I will be happy to show it to you in person. I am very happy with it. I am a little disappointed that after framing and putting it under glass that you can't see the bead work as well. But, I still believe that it is best to put it under the glass to protect it from dirt. I am not sure I will leave it above the fireplace, but that is the best place for now. We plan to get a light to put on it or actually below it to shine up. That may help the beadwork.

Now, on to other projects! It never ends. There is never enough time!

CROSS STITCHING

2008-01-25T09:32:00.000-06:00

As I said in the previous post, I love to cross stitch. Some people say that working on something like this project would drive them crazy and they would become so impatient. Not me. It is soothing to me. I love to sit and cross stitch and watch old movies, or new movies, if they are worth watching!

Here is the finished project.
The cutwork was scary to say the least.
As you can see in the border where the ties are in the middle of tied off strings. If you compare with the previous post, the area where there is blank white around the picture! Anyway, it was scary to actually cut threads of the project and pull them out and then tie off the remaining threads to make the open triangles. It will look really cool with a bright color (yellowish) coming through the cutwork.

Someone at work asked me why the alphabet and numbers on it. What is the significance? This is a sampler. Years ago, young, "proper" women would learn to stitch and sew. They made samplers with many different types of stitches. It was a test to see how well they had learned to stitch. They would use the alphabet and numbers and figures to show off their skill.

The gate was different in that you stitched over one stitch instead of two and it was so close.

Below, is a close up of the top portion. I love the way the project suddenly gets depth as you work the outlining. It is like a painting that suddenly pops and then you see the dimensions and feel a part of the painting. It is my way of doing art.

I still can't believe it is finished. After 12 years of working on this project, to have it finished, is......well let's just say I miss an ole friend!

It is now at the framer's, being framed. I said I was going to spend big bucks on having it framed and yes, I am spending big bucks! It cost a little more than I expected, but I think the finished product will be exquisite. It was hard to choose the frame, the mats, do I go with a filler or just the mats, do I go green or purple. I went with the green mat and gold colored mat under the green. The frame is really large and big and bold and beautiful. I don't like the gold glitzy type of frames but this comes close. It is rustic and compliments it very well. The purple mat looked very good with the finished project but the green did something better.....it made it pop. I love to look at how changing the mats can make a project look so different, in just a split second of changing them out. Color is an amazing gift of God's.

I really wish you could see the finished project in person instead of on line. It does not do it justice on here. I have taken some close ups of some of the areas but really you have to see the whole thing to really appreciate all the different stitches and colors and beads.

I had planned to hang it above my fireplace in the den, but I'm not so sure any more. It may be too big to fit there and it may be too far away -- too high up to really appreciate the work. So....I will have to play with it in several areas to see how it looks. When I get it hung and found just the right place for it, I will post a picture of it hanging and give you the full effect of it.

Again, if you are in my area of Southeast Texas, come on by and see it in person. It will be worth the trip!

PROJECTS

2008-01-10T09:30:00.000-06:00

I have been working on a cross stitch project for years.....I'm talking 12 years on and off. I fell in love with this one and started it, thinking it would take a while but never dreamed it would be that long! I am not finished as of yet, but almost. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I can taste the honey of victory! I probably have another couple of weeks to work on it and I will be done! The scary part is that the last thing you do is put a border around it that involves cutting the material!

You heard me.....cutting the fabric! Wow, I know I have dreaded that. After all this time of work and the last thing you do could destroy the whole project! But I am gaining confidence as I finish it up.

Here is the project in process. I have only a small area under the top peacock to work on and then the cut work around the whole thing. I will definitely post a picture of the finished product, framed and hanging, but I wanted to share with you what I am doing in my spare time right now.

I do mean every spare minute is spent working on this project. I told Tollie after Christmas that it was my goal to get this finished before starting any other project! He has understood and is patiently watching me work hard to finish it. I think he is as ready (or maybe even more ready) for me to finish it.

HERE IT IS!

You really cannot appreciate all the work that is going into this, unless you cross stitch. This one has lots of cross stitch stitches and beads and unusual threads to work in and then the cutwork. I just wish the picture would reveal more of the story. If you want to really see how beautiful it is turning out, come on by and I will proudly show it off!

2008-01-02T14:49:00.000-06:00

I pray you have had wonderful Holiday Times! We certainly have.

We had a relatively quiet Christmas and even quieter New Years. Ours was spent at home with our oldest daughter and her family coming for Christmas lunch. Jamie had been given a spiral ham from her school so we had that with yams, green beans, crescent rolls and fruit salad. Relatively easy lunch but oh so yummy!

For New Year's, Tollie and I had planned a party at our house with old friends we eat lunch with every Sunday, but alas, Tollie had a cold and was not feeling really good. In fact, on Sunday, he went to church, but he really should have stayed home. I tried to get him to stay home, but he insisted he needed to go. We had a long nap on Sunday and then Monday we watched movies. Actually, Tollie built my shelf for the hallway, where I plan to put my pitchers. I have many pitchers of various colors and shapes. I have wanted a better place to put them, and the shelf is working out great. He cut it and painted it and then put it up, while watching movies in between cuts. I watched many of my chick flicks, like The Notebook, where I cry every time. I try not to, but it makes me cry anyway. Tollie said he didn't want to watch that one, but found himself drawn in as well and ended up sitting on the couch and crying as well.

While watching the movies, (others like Catch Me if You Can, Shall We Dance?) I cross stitched on my project I have been working on for over 10 years. It is a sampler of an English Garden with peacocks. It is very detailed and I am determined to finish it before starting any other project. Actually, I have been working on crocheting an afgan which is turning out very pretty, but I didn't get enough yarn. Of course when I went back to Hobby Lobby to get more, they are out. So.....I am waiting for them to get more in. It is their brand of yarn so I will wait.

We ended up watching Superman, The Return later on New Year's Eve and after it was over, we went to Fuddrucker's to get a hamburger and shake. I watched the ball come down on TV while Tollie slept in the lounge chair. He had taken some cold medicine and was sleeping good. I woke him about 11:30 and we went to bed.

Jamie and Paul came over again on New Year's Day and had lunch with us. Paul and the girls got out and played soccer and we just visited. The girls ended up staying overnight with us and Paul picked them up today about noon so I could come to work.

Here I am, at work, typing my blog. My boss is at a doctor's appointment and because of the holidays, I have very little to do. I am trying to catch up on my filing.

I pray you have a great 2008. I am looking forward to this year. I have no resolutions, because I cannot keep them. However, I am trying to start off right by reading a daily Bible passage and exercise regularly. We'll see how long it lasts this year! :)

Hopefully, you have thoughts which will becomes your dreams and your dreams will become reality before the end of 2008.

YELLOW ROSE OF TEXAS

2007-12-09T20:41:00.000-06:00

Well, you all know I am from Texas and here is proof. Where else can you cut roses like these from your own backyard in December?

I tell you I cut these roses from my one and only rose bush this past week and have enjoyed the smell of fresh roses in my house all week........couple of weeks before Christmas!!!!

This is my favorite rose bush. Tollie and I had visited Tyler Rose Garden many years back and found this rose bush to be our favorite there. So, I bought one for myself and have had some pretty roses before, but none as pretty as this year, nor this late! It is a Heart o' Gold Rosebush and I love the roses and the smell. Hard to find a good rose that smells good now a days with so much of the propagating they do. So.....enjoy my rose. I certainly am enjoying it.

These are the same roses several days later and how full they are now. Still enjoying them.

OUR SOLDIER

2007-12-04T08:53:00.001-06:00

Here is our Soldier! Paul is a wonderful young man and we are very proud of him. Thank you, Lord, for his safety and heart to help keep our families safe!

At this time, he is in training and we thank the Lord that he should not have to be deployed......at this time. We will trust timing will be in the Lord's hands.

GRADUATION ~ THANKSGIVING

2007-11-25T10:30:00.000-06:00

Patriotism was high that day at the graduation. A feeling of knowing that my son-in-law (who really is more my son than my son-in-law) was a part of something much bigger than us. It was a proud day. Of course we had not seen Paul since the last of July and here we were able to see him, but could not talk to him or even touch him......yet!
For those of you who do not know Paul, he is in the third row and second one from the left. He looked much different as he has lost about 30 pounds and has no hair! But handsome he is!!!!!
The little girls were thrilled to see their daddy! Ashton saw him when he first came in and started crying. She could not quit crying all during the graduation. She thought he was different and we think she thought he didn't love her because he could not say anything to her! It was very emotional for all of us. Emma kept trying to find him and I finally put her on my lap and pointed with her to count the men and she could find him. Her whole body relaxed when she saw him! It was a special moment. Of course Paul was suppose to be looking forward and not looking around. But when he saw us and saw that Emma saw him, he could not help but grin! We spent the day on Wednesday, after graduation with Paul. He could not leave the base and so we spent some time at the PX, eating and talking and walking the aisles. Later we went to the van and drove around base, seeing all the different places Paul had been during his training. At one point, we parked in an elementary school parking lot and napped and played with the girls while in the van. It was a dreary day outside and getting colder by the minute. We tried to go bowling but no lanes were open. There was really very little to do on base. I think the military keeps the guys on base so the families will spend money at the PX!!!! After all, when shopping is all you can, why not? Many soldiers and families were carrying stuff out by the basket full. It was a long, but fun day!
For Thanksgiving Day, Paul was able to leave the base. We picked him up and went to Grandmother and Granddaddy's house for Thanksgiving. It was a special day. Lots of family and a friend from the base went with us. Kris wanted us to drop him off at the mall in Elizabethtown. We were not sure the mall was going to open so we talked him into going with us to Summer Shade. He agreed and we had a great day with family. It was a special time and Grandmother was so happy we had brought Kris along.

While we were eating that evening, back in Elizabethtown, two ladies came by our table and thanked Paul and Kris for their part in serving our Country. It made Tollie and I tear up! It was a very special time. Later, Paul told us on Friday when he and about five others flew to South Carolina for their specialty training to start, a man laid down money on the table where they were eating and said thanks, leaving $50.00 for them to use to buy their meal. These times have been most touching to me.
We had such a good time at Grandmother and Granddaddy's. We played in the leaves, rode the tractor and spent some down time before going on to the graduation. Of course all of us were anxious to get to Elizabethtown and to the graduation!!!!
Riding the tractor thrilled the girls. They loved being outside and wanted to walk in the woods. The colors of fall were everywhere. Grandmother said that about two weeks ago was the peak time but we still had plenty of ahhhh moments when we would spot the brillant yellows and reds of the leaves in and amongst the trees. Many trees had already lost their leaves and were naked but there were still some shedding. It was a beautiful site.
Jamie and the girls spent a lot of time outside. It was cool but not cold. It did not get really cold until Thursday night. Friday morning packing the van was really cold! But we were happy as we had seen Paul and spent two days with him.

Here is the whole family with Kris included on the right at the back! (Actually, Jamie and Paul had already left to spend some alone time in Elizabethtown.) We will try to superimpose them in another picture and I will post it later. It was a happy day.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING. I HOPE YOU ENJOYED YOUR DAY AS MUCH AS WE DID!

VISITS

2007-11-12T10:55:00.000-06:00

Thanks Dee, for dropping by. I didn't see any of your answers here! I guess maybe that is why I haven't been back, because I don't have the answers yet, either. I keep mulling them over in my mind and haven't come up with anything profound yet!

But I am still here, just not writing much these days. I will have a lot to write about when I return from the Thanksgiving holidays. And who knows, I may have some answers to my questions at that time.

We are going to Kentucky to my son-in-law's boot camp graduation at Ft. Knox. It will be a momentous occasion for all of us and we will get to see our daughter from Missouri. The wife of the graduate and their two kids will be traveling with us and a bonus is seeing some of Tollie's family since they only live about 1 1/2 hours from Ft. Knox. We plan to go there for Turkey Day lunch, although we will have to leave the graduate family at Ft. Knox as Paul will not be allowed to leave the base. He ships out on Friday morning to South Carolina and they plan to spend all the time they can with him. The little girls and their mother, Jamie have not seen Paul since the end of July. It will be a joyous day in the Goebel family.

I do request prayers for safe travels. See you after Thanksgiving! I pray you all have a happy Turkey Day as well.

QUESTIONS, QUESTIONS

2007-09-25T11:24:00.000-05:00

I was cleaning today and began to ponder. That is dangerous, I know. My pondering led me to some questions I have had for some years now. I really don't expect many to respond to these questions, because I don't think I have that many who read my blog. I find I have some lurkers and that is okay. But I really, really need some help in defining these questions and answering those that can be answered.

You see, I don't believe that some of these questions can be answered by mere mortals. I believe we live in a society which does not understand the spiritual world and therefore, may have opinions on these questions, but no real answers. Now, I could be wrong. I would like to think that there are answers to these questions, but so far I have not found any. So........here goes.

Does God "make" things happen, such as hurricanes, tornados, death of a person, etc.?

Does God "care about" my everyday happenings? In other words, does God really care if wear a certain dress or if I read a book or go to the store at a particular time?

Does God answer prayers directly or generically?

Does God give people burdens contrary to his teaching?

Does God change his mind?

If you have an answer or an opinion on any of these questions, please help me by posting a response. I honestly desire to have some discussion on these.

Notice I said discussions, no arguments and no pat answers, but deep thought out discussions that look at all angles.

Oh, have a great day in the Lord! :)

TWO YEARS AGO......ALREADY?!?

2007-09-24T08:08:00.000-05:00

Yes, it was two years ago today that Hurricane Rita came for a visit in Southeast Texas. That was a busy hurricane year, also giving us Katrina and many others. I think there were 17 or 18 named hurricanes that year. It was a busy year and we profited finacially from her. (Government stipend and insurance money) She did little damage and we came out smelling like a rose......unlike others here and too many in New Orleans!

Today, we are looking at the Gulf once again because there is another disturbance out there coming our way. They assure us it will only give us rain and should not become a named storm by the time it hits. Of course that is what they said a couple of weeks back when Humberto was just a tropical depression and he came ashore as a Category 1 hurricane in a few days. I have to admit that was an unusual incidence but it reminds me, that with all our technology, we can see that God is still in control. He puts nature in motion and I don't care what type of technology we have, we can not out guess or out smart God and nature.

Do I believe that God caused Katrina (or put any name inserted here) to happen to New Orleans because he wanted to turn them from their sins? Or teach them a lesson? No.....but I do believe that he puts nature in motion and consequences from that nature occur naturally. Could God cause an Humberto? Yes....does he, I'm not so certain. I believe God has power to do whatever he wants, but I don't think his nature would cause him to purposely harm his people to show them a lesson.

I have written and re-written many paragraphs here and deleted them all because I am so uncertain of the direction I want these questions to go. I do have many questions. Does God work directly with storms and nature to control or discipline me? If that is the case, would he use an act of nature such as a storm for just me when it affects so many people? How could that be? I am not that important. So, no I do not believe that. But how does God work directly with me? Through me? These are questions that I have had and about the time I believe I have an answer, my answer changes. Circumstances change and then I start over with the questions. I have far more questions than I have answers.

Have a great day! Now, mine is full of questions and I will mull them over.

WHY CAN'T WE PLAY NICE?

2007-09-20T14:28:00.001-05:00

I was reading my blogs this morning and I am distressed now.

Reading Mike Cope's blog, I understand where he is coming from and appreciate his concerns. However, it brings up more distress in me and why we can't all get along nicely.

Mike mentioned in his blog that “This Message is From Churches of Christ” was said by a well known radio/TV presenter. Mike's contention is that this person seems to be speaking for all Churches of Christ and in most cases he is not. Especially in this case since it has to do with women in the church.

What got me was some of the responses to that post. It has become a most silent shouting match.

I have not responded there, but will respond here. My problem is the mindset by many in the Churches of Christ. {We are "The Church" -- just like the church in the first century and if you are not doing it just like we are, then you are wrong.} The biggest problem with this mindset is that if they looked closely at the scriptures and compared tit for tat, they would find they are no more like the first century than the man in the moon! How can they? Lifestyles are different, the world is a different place. God's word is the same as always, I know that.

The other problem is where you draw the line on Gospel and scripture. All Gospel is scripture, but not all scripture is Gospel.

Now don't crucify me for that last sentence. Not every word in the Bible is Gospel. The Gospel is a person, not scripture and not words in a book. Gospel is the truth of Jesus and him crucified. It is the person of Jesus Christ. When we bank what we do in the two hours we meet on Sunday morning on this concept, then it all falls into place and it doesn't matter that I worship differently than you do. It doesn't matter that I have classrooms for Sunday School in my building. It doesn't matter that I allow all races and colors of people to attend my worship service. It doesn't matter that a woman is reading a scripture or playing a keyboard while I worship! Just that I worship Jesus!

Well, I did respond there. I even added this paragraph.

I have heard it said "The Church of Christ" is not a denomination. That is so far from the truth. We may not have a board of directors or pope to dictate rules, but we certainly seem to have a set of rules many think we should follow!

ME, MYSELF AND I

2007-09-18T13:09:00.000-05:00

I was up until about 1:30 last night reading a particular blog. When I went to bed, I was praying that God would give me the courage, strength and wisdom to be more like the person whose blog I was reading.

Let me explain more in detail. I came across this particular blog through another blog. I have found some interesting reading on blogs by linking to other blogs through blogs I read on a regular basis. I am purposely not mentioning the blog as of yet, because I have not talked with this person and not sure I want to confide in who she is.......yet.

However, let me say she is a person I would like to meet, talk with and feel comfortable that she would welcome my descriptions and explanations here. But until I actually know this, I am not comfortable with revealing this blog.

She was in a discussion about some very controversial topics. One in particular that interest me and I have to say I have never read a blog so controversial that did not turn ugly. I think that is partly what intrigued me. Each person that responded to the blog with comments was welcomed with open arms and honesty through this person. I believe, had I commented (which I did not), I would have felt completely welcomed and wanted, no matter what I said. There were those who were diametrically opposed to what was being said, there were those in total agreement and a lot of in between. But each person was responded to with grace and love. I think that is what was so exceptional about this blog. Nobody had all the answers! What a novel thought. There was really only one or two people who I thought believed they had the "right" answer and everyone else seemed to have questions, thoughts but no "right" answers, just opinions.

The whole experience caused a community of dialogue that was intriguing to the say the least.

I think what intrigued me the most was the fact that I want to be loved by people. I want people to respect me and search me out for answers. But I think in this experience of last night I realized I don't have answers and probably never will and by openly suggesting that might cause people to search me out! Does any of this make any sense? I'm sure it does not to you, because it doesn't make a whole of lot sense to me! But that is why I am blogging about this right now. I want to ferret out what was intriguing about it, what about it that I want to emulate and what I can learn from the experience.

Have you ever had an experience where you were so enamored with some one's ability to deal with people and topics and had a way with words that you wanted that?!? This is where I am today.

WHILE WE SLEPT

2007-09-13T09:21:00.001-05:00

Well, we went to bed last night thinking that TROPICAL STORM HUMBERTO would pass through the night.

Humberto did pass through but not as a tropical storm, as HURRICANE HUMBERTO. Just before landfall just east of High Island, Humberto strengthened to a category 1 hurricane. Imagine our surprise this morning to find that out. We are fine, no damage, no problems. Just lots of rain and wind last night which kept us from sleeping soundly, especially when our touch lamps come on when the electricity coughs! But we have never lost power completely. Jamie, who lives in Sour Lake, a mere 18 miles to the west of us barely had rain and hardly any wind. Speaking of Jamie............

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ASHTON!!!!!!!!

Our first grandchild is 7 years old today. How can that be? Where did the time go? Her mother was just born........
..yesterday? Something has happened here beyond my explanation!

Ashton is such a beautiful, fun and loving child. She is so smart and can read like I don't know how to describe! She is gifted in arts as well. She would like to be an artist when she grows up. Ash and I went to Olive Garden on Monday evening to celebrate her birthday early. We had to go early because she wanted to experience the same as last year, just me and her going to Olive Garden. She would not hear of any others going with us. So......how could this Piggy refuse!?! At Olive Garden she was working on the child's menu and doing a word find of Italian artist. We had fun with the names such as Bernini, Bottecello, Caravaggio. When we got back home, we went to the internet to look up these artists to see what they had painted. Some of them were scuptors and we had fun looking at their talents. Later Ashton told me she would marry someone with inini and then she would be Artist Berninini and be famous one day. You have to admit, the girl has dreams!!!!!

Hope you have a great day and enjoy the sunshine where you are. We are suppose to have sunshine later today, in fact it is clearing now and the brightening with each hour!

BEING POOR MAKES YOU SMART!

2007-09-05T08:30:00.000-05:00

First let me say, we are not poor! And I know that we could be much worse off than we are.

I have wanted to put down new flooring in my house for several years now. I started planning on doing this right after Rita made a visit to our town in 2005. We had extra money from insurance and the government because of Rita and I was looking at doing it then, but.......Mindy wanted to get married. Do you hear a sucking sound?Shurllllllllp! There went the extra money.

About a month ago, we started getting bids on flooring and looking at tile, carpet and making some decisions. Of course, in planning out what would be best, we decided if we were going to remodel the bathroom with a walk-in shower, it would be prudent to do it first, then the floor.
In the meantime, we planned a trip to Corsicana and I went to get the van inspected and Shurlllllllllp! Do you hear sucking again? After new tires, brakes, rotors, we were down again with no extra money!

We had already bought tile for the laundry room back in the spring, thinking we could do it ourselves. In fact, on a trip to Missouri with my daughter and grand daughters, I thought I would be surprised to find a new floor down whilst I was gone! No..........a new office instead!

So, with Labor Day coming and all, what better time to do labor! I decided it was work time. I cleaned out the laundry room on Friday and went shopping to get some tools. They have some really neat tools at Lowe's, a dangerous place to go when you want something! Anyway, a paint brush, Rotozip spiral saw and scrapers in the bag, I was ready to start labor! I came home thinking I might have the old vinyl out by the time Tollie got home from work! Yeah right! I started, but that was as far as I got. It was going to be hard work. We thought of several things to try and low and behold, the new Rotozip tool had a part missing. So.....Saturday morning, we got up early (at least early for Saturday morning) and went to McD's to eat and back to Lowe's. We got home and started working! Scraping, scraping, scraping. These pictures are of our grand daughters helping us.

They were having a good time. I told Tollie we might be arrested for abusing child labor laws, but they wanted to do it. It took all day Saturday to get the old vinyl out and then we had to start scraping on the old adhesive. There were places it just would not come up. Tollie finally got his drill and "sanded" them down to the concrete. It burned up his cheap drill. (Christmas present idea!)

Sunday we planned to eat lunch after church and then back to Lowe's to get more supplies and exchange some things. But after lunch it was raining so hard, we came home and napped! We finished the cleanup of the concrete Sunday night and knew Monday morning we would begin laying tile. Got it all laid except for the ones needing to be cut around the perimeter of the room.

Jamie called about noon and wanted us to go shopping with the them for Ashton's birthday and we needed to get a wheel for the new tool to cut the tile. They came about 3:00 and we all went to eat, shop and get the new wheel. We came home and starting cutting. As you can see in these pictures, the dust was flying!

Then last night, I put down the grout and voila, we have a new floor!

I am sore and tired and have a numb little finger on the left hand and a blister on the right.

My biggest disappointment!?! What is missing in this picture?

The moral to the story is this: When you don't have a lot of extra money, you tend to learn how to do things you never thought you would do. And you keep planning because you realize it was not as hard as it looked and the end result is great!

SCHOOL STARTS TODAY

2007-08-27T08:43:00.000-05:00

Tollie and I went to Sour Lake (about 25 miles) to see our grand daughters before they went to school today and help get them to their classes.

Ashton, pictured here with her backpack, is starting first grade today.

Emma, pictured here, is starting kindergarten today.

The reason we went to Sour Lake today is that their dad is in boot camp in Ft. Knox, Kentucky and can't be there to take them their first day. So....we stepped in and helped mom get them to school and be there to take pictures of their first day.

It is so special to be part of this and get to be there for this special time in their lives. It is my job to relay all the details, fine details as best I an to their dad and send pictures for his enjoyment. He believes today and September 13th, Ashton's 7th birthday, will be two of the hardest days for him, while his is away. He wants to be there and would be, if he could.

Please pray of all of them and I will give a report tomorrow after I talk with Ashton and Emma this evening to find out how their first day of school went today. They were both excited and nervous and scared.....but ready to begin this new adventure.

I like how they see each year a new adventure. I wish I could see more of life as an adventure and be more engaged at times. I am working on doing this. Have a great day today, the first day of what ever event in your life!!!

AT WORK

2007-08-21T15:02:00.001-05:00

I am at work today. I only work four days a week and I only work half days at that! Pretty cool, huh? I am the executive assistant to the owner of the company my husband works with. Mr. Ruddy is the President and CEO of SETCA which stands for Southeast Texas Classic Automotive. My husband, Tollie is the IT man for the company and goes to all the different dealerships when they have computer problems. There are three dealerships here in Beaumont, the same town where we live and two dealerships with many car lines in Mid County which is only about 30 minutes away in Port Arthur. Then we have a dealership in Tyler which has two car lines and several used car lots. All in all, we have Chevrolet, Acura, Saturn, Nissan, Kia, Buick, Honda, Pontiac, GMC, Toyota, Mercedes Benz and had Oldsmobile until it was discontinued. So you see we have many lines of cars to choose from.

My husband, Tollie, has worked for the Ruddys for 35 years now. There was a short period of time back in 1997 where he worked for part of the company that split up and bought out other parts and then he went back to work for the Ruddy's. They are good people and I started working for them in 2000 when I was the Acura Parts Manager. Tollie had been in the parts end of the business for years and when that department needed someone, he suggested that I could do it. I did it for 2 1/2 years and loved it. The only problem was the timing. Being a grandmother and being the only person in parts, I was tied to the job to strongly. I could not take off to go see my grandchildren as much as I liked. About the time I decided to retire, my children moved to the area. But I went ahead and retired. About 1 1/2 years later when the job came open again, I strongly thought about going back to doing the job again. I really did enjoy the parts end and keeping everything straight and tidy and ordering parts and selling parts. My biggest hang up in the whole job was not knowing car engines all that well. But I was learning and learning fast. I trained the person that is there now. I have "filled" in when necessary and will continue to help them when needed. Then I started working in the corporate office helping Mr. Ruddy with special projects.....like his family genealogy and family calendars. When his executive assistant quit, I was asked if I wanted to work with him part time. I hesitated only because he has a hard time keeping a person working for him. But I said I would give it a try, only if they promised to be honest and let me go if it did not work out. I have been doing this now for almost a year. I like the fact that I can work four days a week only and the fact that I am only here half days.

Mr. Ruddy's health is declining somewhat and he doesn't get to the office until about noon. So it makes sense to only be here when he is here. Of course, right now he is here and I am doing my blog because I have nothing much else to do. I can always continue to work on his genealogy but I tire of that easily since I have hit a brick wall and can't seem to get past his great grandparents.

I am hoping to write a booklet on his family and genealogy at some point and I really guess I better close this and get started on that, before I get fired!

Have a great day.

PARENTS SETTLED IN

2007-08-20T08:48:00.000-05:00

My parents are finally settling in. We went to Corsicana this weekend to check on them and found them to be settling in and doing much better. "WE" included me, my husband and my daughter and two grand daughters. We had a good time and I was glad we went. My mother and dad really enjoyed our being there.

Please pray for my son-in-law, Paul. He is in boot camp for the National Guard Reserves and separated his shoulder....for the second time. This is not looking good. I am concerned on several levels and I ask that you pray for him, his family, their future plans and ask God to give them wisdom.

BIG BIRTHDAY!

2007-08-09T09:31:00.001-05:00

Tomorrow is my hubby's b-day. He is over the hump of 55 and sliding down the hill at 56 tomorrow!!! Who would have thought it? Can we possibly be in our mid 50's? So soon? I mean it seems like yesterday we just got married? Where did the time go? I vaguely remember the highlights, much less the details!

Why is it, that as you get older, the time goes faster? It gets harder to remember the little things and you find yourself past where you thought you were!

Wow! I have to lighten up today! My g-kids are coming in a few minutes and I will be taking care of them while J goes to the doctor. Don't want to get too deep.

I do want to say Happy Birthday to my friend, my companion of 37 years, my lover, my deepest confidant and the most humble, sweetest and caring person I have every known in my life.

I have to take better care of myself so I can be with him and certainly take better care of him to let him know that I love him deeply.

Our plan for his birthday? I don't know, how about breakfast in bed, a little "nuggie" and then.............

cruising in our '72 Olds Cutlass Convertible in the August Hot Nights Cruise in our town. Sounds pretty good to me. Have a great day, because I know we are going to have one.

HARD WEEK

2007-07-26T08:11:00.000-05:00

This has been a hard week. On Monday, Paul left for boot camp. Paul is our son-in-law and he joined the Texas Army National Guard Reserves last fall. Originally, he planned to go to boot camp this summer, continue teaching and then go to his speciality training next summer. Then it changed that he was going to boot camp the end of May and then to training sometime later in the fall. He couldn't go then, even though they went the whole nine yards of saying goodbyes in Houston, but he had hurt his ankle and they postponed his going until he was checked out. He had the ankle checked out and all was fine so Tuesday was ship out date #2.

Monday was an especially hard day for Emma. She had her pre-op visit for having her tonsils out next week. They took blood from her arm and mom "forgot" to tell her they would do that--Very Traumatic! They came back to my house after that and played and waited for Dad and I to come home. We left work about 4 pm and I cooked supper. We all ate and then said goodbyes. Let me tell you, that was very difficult.

Of course we are all crying and wailing by the time Dad and Paul left to go to Houston. Dad took Paul so that Jamie did not have to make that drive by herself. It was heart wrenching. Those girls love their daddy and their daddy loves them!!! I did my part by trying to change the subject and distract them as best I could--all the while crying myself! Finally, Emma had to go to the bathroom and I took her and talked about swimming in the pool. That seemed to calm her down and the three of us, me and Ashton and Emma got in the pool and played.

Jamie, of course, had just as hard of a time. Part of the problem is that for the next nine weeks, they cannot see each other. Paul will be in Ft. Knox, Kentucky for his boot camp. We will all go there the end of September for his graduation. He then leaves from there to Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland where he will get his speciality training. He will be there until about January 3rd. He does get 10 days off at Christmas which will help and probably will be able to catch flights home occasionally on the weekends. It is going to be a long fall and winter for these girls!

I have had so many ask me why Paul joined up at this time! Didn't he know that there was a war going on? I have asked myself that question often, but I realized something the other day. I am proud of him for wanting to keep his family safe! He was told when he signed up that "more than likely" he will not be going to Iraq. He was told he probably would be doing border patrol! I guess that could be, but at any rate, he will not be able to go anywhere until after all his training, so maybe, just maybe, things will be different in 2008! We will just wait and see what the Lord has in store for him. I am still proud of his wanting to keep our way of life intact for us.

I know that money had some lure and the fact that Paul loves the physical training. He use to be a weight lifter years ago and loves to run and keep in shape. I know that was a lot of it. Of course the fact they had a large sign on bonus helped as well. I think it will give Paul a purpose and time to decide whether he wants to continue teaching or not. He didn't really like teaching Spanish and probably will not go back to doing that. I just know he is a special person and will find where his work heart lives!

I just ask that if you read this, you pray for him and his family!

SUMMER

2007-07-16T08:54:00.000-05:00

I am posting some pictures from our trip to Missouri. The first ones are of Trent and Mindy playing softball with their church league. Mindy was so excited to get her first base run and then make it all the way to home! They lost the game but at least made some points this game.

These pictures are from July 4th. We watched the Bethany fireworks display from the bed of the truck. Trent pulled the truck to their backyard and it made a good sitting place to watch the show. The girls had fun before the show to collect fireflies in a jar. They were fascinated by them. So am I!!!!

I can't believe I am the age I am and have two grown beautiful daughters who have families of their own. They are such great wives and Jamie is a great mother! I am so proud of both of my girls. They truly love God and it shows in everything they do. Thank you God for families.

PASSING OF TIME

2007-07-10T14:40:00.000-05:00

Boy, I post on May 1 and before I know it, it is the middle of July. Lots of happenings and I won't bore you with details. Suffice to say that I have been to Missouri twice, driving the long distance and now have a new office at my house.

Tollie and I went to Missouri in May to take Mindy's belongings to her. She still had boxes of books, some odd and ends things and I took the high chair for her; not that she is ready for it, yet! But one day will want it so we took it to her. We had a great time there, although it was a short visit for the distance traveled.

On our way back, we came through Carthage and picked up boxes for our new Family Minister and his wife to help them move to Beaumont. They finally arrived a couple of weeks ago and we are looking forward to working with them in the ministry here.

We also made a quick decision on the way back to go to my parents house in Corsicana and go ahead and move their furniture into their house. We had planned to come home and then go back on the weekend, but it made more sense to take a few more days off and not come all the way home to turn around again. It worked out great. Tollie, my sister Cheryl and I were able to move all their furniture into their house. The only things we left in the store room were the "garage" items such as lawn equipment, tools, tool box and a huge stereo cabinet that we could not move. Everything else got moved and then mom and dad would be able to go over every day and work on getting their house in order.

I made it through June and planned to leave the end of June with Jamie and the girls in tow for another trip to Missouri. Of course this was planned when we thought Paul would be gone to boot camp. As it turned out, he did not leave for basic when we thought and will be leaving in July. But we decided this was the best time to go anyway and left on June 29th for a full day of travel. I am so thankful the girls are good travellers. They did not ask "are we there yet" one time. Believe me, by the time we arrived at 11 pm we were all tired. We had a great week with Trent and Mindy and enjoyed seeing them and playing with them. Mindy was able to take most of the week off and we had a lot of fun.

We again left Bethany at 6:30 am and travelled all the way home in one day, arriving about 10 pm that night. We were all tired again but it is always good to come home to your own bed!

Here it is the middle of July. My dad called in June, (before I left for Missouri) and wanted to know if I could come to help them get the rest of the stuff out of the storage. I told him I was planning to come the end of July but I could not come before then. I have a CASA carnival this weekend and the Russia garage sale next weekend. He was pretty disappointed and I felt awful.

Tollie to the rescue! Tollie and Paul went on Saturday morning and helped them get the rest of their things out of the storage building and into the storage unit in the back of their house. They were able to move things, set up things and bring back a Kirby vacuum to be repaired! So thankfully they saved the day.

When I arrived back from Missouri, I knew Paul and dad had a good time while Jamie and I were gone. They spent a lot of time together, going to Corsicana and then finding out they remodelled the office! They painted the walls, took down the corner desk and built a large desk, putting shelves in the closet and organizing all the office stuff. In fact it is so well organized, I can't find anything!

Needless to say, I am bummed, trying to clean up the organizing and getting acquainted with where everything is. Of course, when you do one room, it causes the dominoes to fall and you have to clean out another closet to make room for the things from that closet and then another closet and I am now working on my sewing room to get it organized. Whew! Not enough time in the day.

I am also trying to get the backdrop painted for the carnival. Our booth for the carnival is taking pictures of the kids behind a background. I am painting a clown and a bear. Hard work for me!

Hope you had a great July 4th celebration. We watched fireworks at two different times and enjoyed that. The most fun was watching the girls collect fireflies. I will post some pictures of that later. Take care and hopefully, it will not be as long for me to post next time.

The HOUSE

2007-05-01T10:19:00.000-05:00

Here is a picture of my parents and their new house. I think it is really cute and will be a great place for them, once we get it ready. We worked this past weekend to get wall paper off the walls in the dining room and clean up and patch walls. It will be need to be painted and carpeted and some work in the kitchen, but it is really a great place for the price.

Just wanted to share the great happenings of God through my parents. Please pray for patience for all as we get this house ready for them with busy lives for all of us.

GOD DROPPED A HOUSE

2007-04-23T08:18:00.000-05:00

My parents have been looking at houses in Corsicana and the market there is worse than here in Beaumont. It is pretty bad here since Hurricane Rita. If you find a house worth looking at, they start at 80 to 90 thousand and then you have to be careful which neighborhood it is in. So.....we have been looking here and they have been looking in Corsicana.

They called me several weeks ago concerning a house that they loved the outside. It had just come on the market and was 66,000, which is somewhat lower than most. It was only two bedroom and 1 bath but the yard was exceptionally nice and pretty. After they got inside though, things changed. The floor was pier and beam and there were many soft spots in the flooring, which they thought would have to be replaced. I explained that often pier and beam had soft spots.

The next thing I knew they had shut the door on that house. I talked with my dad and suggested they get an inspector and have him look at it and then give them a ball park figure on what it would cost to fix everything. He was pretty despondent stating that after the inspector in Lubbock, he wasn't so sure that was a good idea. I assured him that not all inspectors were like that! I also suggested they could give a really low bid and if it was accepted then they would come out ahead and could fix whatever problems there were. He said he didn't know what he would be bigging against! I told him that was the idea of bidding!

At any rate, they were not going any further with that house. I wrote an e-mail to my sister that night suggesting that I thought mother and daddy were waiting for God to "drop a house in their laps for just what they wanted in price and size."

You can imagine my amazement when I received an e-mail the next day from my sister. "Call mom and dad and ask them about the house that God dropped in their lap."

I called and sure enough, God did drop a house in their lap. They were out looking at houses and eating lunch when they got a call from their granddaughter. They knew a man that was selling his mother's house, but had no information on the size, shape or price. They could call him. They did and he had a key and would meet them to see it. It was in a good neighborhood, close to church and Walmart! It was 3 bedroom, two baths. It was in pretty good shape. The bathrooms were good. The kitchen sink would need to be replaced. You can always brighten by painting and they would want to carpet the house. So, how much? Dad and the owner were in the back bedroom looking around when dad asked, "how much you want for the house?" The man hem hawed around and told him all about when the house was built, what had been done to the house in recent years and that he really didn't want "to take anyone." He finally said, "I guess about $40,000." Daddy pulled out his checkbook and said, "I'll write a deposit check for you right now." The man smiled and said, "No, a handshake is good enough for me."

Needless to say, we are all so thankful for an answer to prayers and for God dropping a house in their lap. I am going to Corsicana this weekend to help paint and prepare for move in. They close on Wednesday! Thank you Lord for your richness and grace and for answering our prayers. All is good in the world!

PARENTS ARE MOVED!

2007-03-27T09:56:00.000-05:00

Well, my parents are moved to Corsicana. It was a full week, full of packing, saying goodbyes and tears! But it was a good week. My parents have done really well. It was hard for them to say goodbye but I think they know in their hearts that it is for the best! They are safe and sound in my sister's house and starting to look at houses. They will probably have to buy a smaller home than they had, but I keep trying to tell my mom, why not? It will be less to keep clean!

Save for the four years in the army, my dad has spent all his life in Lubbock. He was born there, lived there for 84 years. That has to be hard. My mom was born in Oklahoma and raised in Pampa, Texas. She married my dad when she was just 15 years old and they moved to Lubbock shortly after that, (when he was released from the service). All their friends, the church, their lives have been in Lubbock. When my sister and I moved away, it was hard for them. Many of their friends have died and all the siblings have died, at least on my dad's side. So, there is not much left in Lubbock for them except for church family and they were always complaining about things there. I am praying they will be happy.

I want to be happy when I am older. My parents seem to complain about so many things and unhappy at times that I have made it my goal to be a happier older person. My friend, Mark's parents are so happy. I know he gets frustrated with them at times, but for the most part, they are happy. They attend Highland and were greeting last Sunday and just seem happy! I want to work on being happier and more positive. I tend to be like my mother and I am determined to change things.

Thanks to all for the prayers for my family and I ask that now the prayers be that they find a home very soon that will fit them and be financially workable for them.

My Uncle Jack

2007-03-02T08:55:00.000-06:00

Uncle Jack was an icon when I was young. Everyone said I was just like him, that I should have been his daughter. When my mom told me I was as ornery as Jack, I took that as a compliment, given the fact I didn't know exactly what she meant. I was too young to understand it was not a good thing.

Uncle Jack was one of my favorite uncles. My dad was the 12th child and so there were many to choose from. But somehow, I connected with Uncle Jack. I remember when he lost his youngest son. I hurt for him. I remember the day he was at our house and I spilled a whole container of sugar on the floor. He was astounded that my mom didn't yell at me! We just cleaned it up. I thought it was odd that he was so astounded, but he only had boys. Maybe he yelled at them for everything! I remember going to his place of work and asking him to buy something I was selling for the high school band. He bought two! I remember when he asked me to speak at his Bible Class at his church. This was a great honor for me as it was speaking on Mother's Day about mothers. (This was also such an honor in that I would never have been allowed to speak to an adult class at my own church, but I could go to his! Strange thinking, but never the less the way it was.) He was so proud to have me there and I was proud to be there!

I tried to go see my Uncle Jack everytime I was in Lubbock. The last time I was there, remember the snow and ice storm?, I was only able to call him as I had a plane to catch. He was in the hospital and my dad thought it perked him up to talk with me. I had planned to see him in a couple of weeks when we go to Lubbock to move my parents.

This is good, as now there is nothing in Lubbock, no immediate family to hold mother and dad there.

Uncle Jack has given me some special things of his wife's; a scarf, a bottle of perfume, a promised watch when he found it. He also gave me some stories for my genealogy search of the Christian family. Uncle Jack promised me his plates on the wall. These were plates I remember as a child of him and his wife, Nola. Someone made these for them, gluing fabric and painting a face on the plate. One visit, Jack had me put my name on the back of the plates to designate that I wanted them. I hope to see them again. But I will always have my memories.

Uncle Jack went home on Wednesday. I'm glad for him, but I long to hear his raspy voice say one more time, "hello there."

Thank you for your love Uncle Jack. I always felt special and that maybe somehow I was the daughter you never had. Blessings on you and yours. I love you Uncle Jack!

Obituary from the Lubbock Avalanche Journal Newspaper:

John (Jack) Berlin Christian
John (Jack) Berlin Christian passed away on Feb. 28, 2007. He was born on Nov. 2, 1913 in Weatherford. He is preceded in death by his wife of 65 years, Nola Sanders, and a son, Richard Lynn Christian.

He is survived by two sons, Ronnie Christian of Stanton, Jerry Christian of Lubbock, and a brother, George Christian of Lubbock. He is also survived by five grandchildren, nine great grandchildren and one great-great granddaughter.

Jack was employed by South Plains Electric Coop for 40 years and known as Mr. South Plains Electric Coop. He was a member of St. Luke's United Methodist Church for 47 years, and a resident of Grand Court of Lubbock for the past six years.

A private graveside service is scheduled on Saturday, March 3, 2007. Pastor Bracken Christian, Jack's grandson, will officiate. Arrangements are under the direction of Sanders Funeral Home.

The family suggests memorials to First United Methodist Church in Midland and Family Harvest Church in Lubbock.

The family will receive visitors at Sanders Funeral Home, 1420 Main Street in Lubbock, between 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Friday, March 2.

GOD IS WORKING

2007-02-13T08:19:00.000-06:00

My sister and I have been working on our parents to move. They live in Lubbock and we both live in other parts of Texas. My sister recently moved to Corsicana to be near their daughter since my BIL had to retire from preaching. They moved into the country into a cute house they had to completely redo. The previous owner rented the house and the last renters produced meth. Needless to say, sheetrock had to be completely redone as well as updating the kitchen with new cabinets and updating bathrooms with new fixtures. It is really nice for them and they like living in the country.

In January, when my parents came down to see me, they loved T & C's house, not necessarily where it was, so far in the country, but liked the house a lot. Of course they didn't see it in its meth days so reallly couldn't appreciate all the work that had been done. Since we have been talking to them about living closer to one of us, they looked at a few houses while in Corsicana and drove around the town. While here at my house, they were a little disappointed in Corsicana, saying they really didn't like what they saw, so they were just not sure they should sell their house and move.

I suspected they would go back to Lubbock and think of every reason not to put their house on the market. When I called them last week to see how they were doing, boy, was I surprised!! Someone had just left looking at their house. They had put their house on the market two days before and someone was already looking at it. I could tell they were a little surprised by the quickness of this. They called that night, almost sounding in a panic that these people had come back to look again and was offering a contract. We talked about it being the first contract and if it was not what they thought they should get, then don't accept it or make a counter offer.

They made a counter offer and it was accepted. Now the panic really was setting in. Here they have sold their house and what now? So talking with my sister, I began to pour over the possibilities here in this area. Of course, I don't know why I bothered. My mom has stated in no uncertain terms that she does not want to move to Beaumont. She does not like Beaumont and never has liked Beaumont! But I perused the net anyway and unfortunately since Rita, housing is prime here. For the price range house they need, either a house has been damaged by Rita and needs a lot of fixing up or it is in the wrong neighborhood, somewhere I would not put my folks. There were possibly two or three that might work in a pinch.

My sister and BIL began looking as well, but housing is even more in demand in Corsicana. To get anything comparable to what my parents have in Lubbock they would have to pay twice what they would get for their house. This just wouldn't work in my parents thoughts. But.....remember God is working in all this!

Last Friday, late at night for my parents to be calling, they called to say T & C had found a house, a trailer house no less. I am thinking what? My mother living in a trailer house, I don't think so! But to my surprise, my parents are actually excited about this place. It is on three acres of land, about three miles from T & C right off the main highway. C said it has a front porch, a side porch and lots of large trees. It looks great from the road. The trailer is a double wide and is an older trailer, but in pretty good shape. They may want to update the kitchen and baths but it is in move in condition. The people selling knows my neice's husband and is willing to sell for thousands less than if they put it on the market. It is a real steal.

So, it looks like my parents will be closing on their house in March, we will go out and help move them and Lord willing, they will store their stuff in one end of the trailer, move in with my sister and work on the trailer to update it and then move in.

This is a big step for my parents as my dad was born and raised in Lubbock. Except for a short time during the war when he was in the service, he has lived all his life in Lubbock. There are several surprises including that but also, my mom living in a double wide, living in the country, living in a town they were not sure they liked!

I have been praying for peace for mom and dad. I wanted them to feel a sense of God's peace about all this. I wonder if what I said to them when taking them back to Lubbock had anything to do with this. I told dad it came down to priority and what was more important to them, living in their beloved house in Lubbock or being closer to their children? This would make the difference in what they did. When I said this, neither one said anything. I believe God is working on their hearts to realize they need to be nearer their children as they age and their bodies give out.

Please continue to pray for peace for my parents and pray that God continues to work all this out to His glory!

THE REASON

2007-02-06T09:41:00.000-06:00

The reason the elliptical rocks is this. I started using it last week on Wednesday morning. The first time I used it, my heart pounded out of my chest. I was short of breath and knew I had to heed the heart rate advise. So I checked my heart rate and checked the RPM and took note. The first time, I was going about 30 RPM and my heart rate jumped to 135 real fast and I could only do about five minutes.

Okay, the cool thing is that I found if I do about 20 to 25 RPM I could keep my heart rate in the zone of 99-124 easily. The first couple of days I did five minutes and then moved to 10 minutes and then on Saturday did 12 minutes. My heart rate would creep up if I was not careful to keep the RPMs down and I usually had HR of about 125. But no soreness, no shortness of breath, doing okay ~ just slow and easy so there is no excuses.

Today, I jumped on the elliptical. I checked my heart rate first, 89. Okay, get up to 25 RPM. I was watching TV and after about 3 minutes I looked down to notice I was doing about 33 RPM. UHHHHHH! Better check my heart rate. 117! What? Could this be right? Well, I will continue a while longer and check it again. After 7 minutes, RPM of 30 to 35 and HR 118! This is wonderful. I am not choking for breath, I am using more calories and I can go longer. So at 15 minutes, I checked again and the highest HR was at 118 and I was doing about 33 RPM for at least 12 minutes. That is so cool!

I am determined this time! I even called Tollie to report to him! That is a real first, because before (as I have posted before) if I share all this with anyone, it seems to jinks it. But not this time! Thank you Lord! I will succeed with great health this time!

ELLIPTICALS ROCK

2007-02-05T09:10:00.000-06:00

Well, not too many moons ago, I started an exercise program on my Tony Little Gazelle and was so proud that I had done a week's worth of working out on it. It didn't last! I had to put the Gazelle in the garage and then I had an excuse not to use it.

My folks were here in January and after a week with them, I have resolved to get in better health. My dad was in pretty good health, albeit heart surgery and anyuerism surgery many years ago, yet in pretty good health for an 83 year old man. This past year was hard on my dad. He had a pinched nerve in his neck and had to have back/neck surgery. He had been affected by numb hands and loosing the use of his right leg. The surgery stopped the progression but he is slowly getting back the use of his leg. He has to use a cane or walker to go anywhere, but he still keeps going!

My mom on the other hand stopped moving many years ago. Mother has been obese since I can ever remember. She tried many diets, pills and just never seemed to conquer her obesity. She really quit moving years ago, only doing things in the house and occasionally runs to the grocery store. Oh, yes, she also has congestive heart failure which makes any moving now hard to breath. Now her problems run the gamut of hurting knees, ankles, and her back really bothers her a lot. Watching her and my dad, I realized what I have to look forward to and made the decision to do something now!

My aim is to get healthier. Right now, I just want to get moving!!!!

We have been doing our homework and I told Tollie I need to not have any excuse. So I don't want to join a health club. We talked about a treadmill for our bedroom. Okay, now we are talking more -- convenient, handy -- so we do our homework. Get on line and start looking. Cost is pretty high for a good one. We go to Sears and try out every machine on the floor. They have a good selection. We try an elliptical. Uhhhhhh, my knees hurt right away! Go to the next one. It is designed different. Hey.......this feels okay. Look I can do this! I like this. This is pretty cool. Tollie tries it.

We have a distinct disadvantage to getting something we both can use. I am 5' 2", eyes of ......no they are green, but he is 6'. What feels good for me, doesn't always work for him! He gets on this Horizon RE 7.6 and he likes it. It feels good for him as well! Wow! We go home and do more homework. (We have learned in our 37 years of marriage that we don't make a large purchase on the spot. We always go home and discuss and research and pray and think and sleep and then decide!)

The internet tells me that an elliptical is better for joints. No pounding, no jerking and really better for older people. Well, that's us! The cost is about the same for treadmill and elliptical, maybe slightly less for the quality and bells and whistles. I will have no excuses. The weather will not be a factor. I don't have to go anywhere except to the closet to get my shoes on. I can make time during the day, even several times a day for this! I can read or watch TV while doing it. Yep, looks like a winner.

We bring it home, put it together. Oh and one other plus, it doesn't take up as much room as the treadmill would have and is quiet! So.....six days later, I have started out slow and determined! I told Tollie I don't want to get so sore I can't walk, so I have started out doing five minutes the first few days and today I just did 12 minutes with about seven minutes in my target heart rate. I feel looser and am proud of myself.

You see, I don't care how I look or how much I weigh as much as being able to get around and do the things I want to do!!!! I love working in the yard, but the last few springs have been harder and harder to do the things I love. I have grandchildren who need me to swing and play and be there for them.

Lord willing, I will continue with no excuses! Afterall, I don't go to work until 1pm so I have all morning to do several workouts. Did I say I really like my new toy?

One more thing, you have to try out the ellipticals. The ones I had used at the gym in years past and others at the store were designed differently. This one has the mechanism in the front and the footprints are side by side. On some, I felt like a frog trying to move! My short legs don't allow for wide widths or long strides. This one is perfect for me and the good thing Tollie is liking it as well. Happy health to you today!

WORKING, BUT NOT WORKING

2007-01-29T15:50:00.000-06:00

Here I am at work, but not working! Every been there? You are at work, but there is not much to do so you look like you are working and try to stay busy. I really like it better when I am busy. The day seems to fly by and I don't have time to take a Butterfinger snack bite from my candy jar and eat it and then feel guilty. But I am working, having another hour to look busy!

I have had some strange long-time-ago connections lately. I think I mentioned it in another post but a couple of weeks ago I had a phone call from a High School classmate. We were in band together. I have not talked to her in 37 years but she called me the other night and we talked for 1 1/2 hours! Can you believe that? I can't. Anyway, she talked more than I but I found out things I did not know at that time and she said things I didn't even remember much. At any rate, there are several band members talking and wanting to have a reunion, so we have set up a group in Yahoo and think we will plan a band reunion for next year. It will include several years of members. If you are from Lubbock, Texas and went to Coronado High School and played in the Mustang Band from 1968 to 1972, then you may want to go to Yahoo and go the Groups and look under Music, and High School Bands. There is a group called piggysband that you can leave a message and let us know how to contact you. Donna will be organizing a list for contacts.

Then I ran into (and I mean I literally ran into) a woman. She knew she knew me and I knew I knew her, but we were both struggling to figure it out. When I finally mentioned Tollie's name, she lurched across the aisle and hugged me so tight. She had gone to church with us a few years back and as I think back now, I remember her mother and her and the things going on at the time.

And then a few days ago I finally connected with a friend who had moved from our area years ago and we had kept in touch through e-mail for a while, but lately had lost contact. I thought I had made contact finally but the mail came back. I dug through and got out an old e-mail and took the chance. Sure enough, she e-mailed me back. Her boys are grown now and married and we both feel so much older than we really are! Anyway, it was good to re-connect with her and catch up.

I read today concerning the Garnett church in Tulsa and the history. I did not realize that Garnett had declined so much in the last few years, declined at least in numbers. It sounds like to me they are growing in faith and what "church" is really all about. It was an interesting read. Here is the link to let you in on the article "We Don't Do Megachurch Anymore"

http://www.christianitytoday.com/le/2007/001/1.49.html

I think you will find it interesting as well.

Gotta run and actually do some work. Hope your day is going well.

All Families are Dysfunctional!

2007-01-21T21:42:00.000-06:00

I have come to a realization lately that all families are dysfunctional, including mine. It is just in degrees. I have found in the last few weeks that my family is just as dysfunctional and maybe to a degree that I had not known before.

My parents were here for a week and while I enjoyed having them here, I was ready for them to go home and allow me to get back to my routine. Yet, as I am typing this I am so near to tears. It seems that after everyone left, I am lonely and tired and out of sorts. I don't really know what to think, except I keep thinking of the things I should have discussed and talked about and what I would have said if they had said this or that! So my mind keeps working and working until I get so tired I can't think anymore and then something else pops up that I should have said!

It is a vicious cycle. I know Tollie gets tired of hearing my whining, especially after I confessed that I want to be more positive. You see, my mother is a very negative person. She whines and complains about everything. I see myself much like my mother and I want to be a more positive person. However, today was hard to be positive. Water is at the top level of the eyes and comes out at any given moment. There was no accapella music at church. My question then is, "have we given up on accapella and will have no more?" We are having more and more Sundays with just instrumental worship. It is as "they" have said! And then Tollie says we will eat with a group, and it turns out to be all the "other church" members and I feel a little intruding! "Our group" went someplace else and it made sense that we are still two churches trying to call ourselves one. Who are we kidding?

So, positive was not my strong point today. It may not be tomorrow either, but I will continue to work at it. This then makes me think of Dr. Laura who says don't try, just make it happen. Positive will happen tomorrow, if it kills me!

I go back to work tomorrow and I am certain that will help in getting back to a normal routine. We had a great time with family and with everyone back where they belong, we can all get back to routines.

Chicks Are In the Coup

2007-01-19T21:46:00.000-06:00

Well, everyone is back home. The original plan called for us to trek to Corsicana on Saturday and everyone would come back to Beaumont except for me and I would drive mother and daddy back to Lubbock on Sunday. But.....the weather would not allow it. There was too much chance of ice and snow on the roads and we decided not to take a chance. So....I came back to Beaumont with everyone else.

As we left Corsicana, we were on FM 3194 tooling along and all of a sudden I noticed the water in the ditch to my right was rising. I then lost sight of the center stripe and I called out to the girls to hang on just as a wall of water came up over the windshield and blinded us. There was water on the road and because it was getting dark, it was hard to see. It scared the living daylights out of me! I hung onto the steering wheel and tried my best to keep the van on the road. All I could think of was, "please stay on the road." The guys were in Jamie and Paul's car behind us and they too hit the wall of water, but fortunately had seen it happen to us and were able to move over some and better prepared for it. For miles, my foot shook and I could not talk. I was really shook up over it. Later, Jamie drove and bless her heart, it rained all the way Conroe. It was strange that at Conroe and just past, it started getting hot in the van. I turned down the heater and again had to turn down the heat. It then dawned on me and I rolled down my window to find it balmy, probably 60 degrees. No need for heat! We had left Corsicana in about 34 degree weather and had passed through the front. It had not reached our area yet. When we arrived at J & P's, it began to rain again. It was an odd chain of events.

On Tuesday, we took Mindy and Trent back to Houston for their flight. Tollie & I then started up 45 to Corsicana where the plan was for Tollie to take me there and then return back to Beaumont. As we got to Conroe and further north, it was raining hard and began to change to ice. By the time we got to Corsicana, our wipers were iced over and it was getting colder. I cried thinking of Tollie driving back through all that in the dark. We talked and talked and finally he decided to go on to Tyler and work there before heading back to Beaumont. It really worked out better as he was able to get all the work done that he needed to and won't have to return to Tyler next week!

We watched the weather all Tuesday night and waited until about 10 am before heading out to Lubbock. We weren't sure we would not have to turn around and come back. But I found a truck not speeding and going a reasonable speed and being careful so I followed him. When he changed lanes, I changed lanes. When he braked, I braked. I was able to go a decent speed and yet able to watch for trouble spots. We arrived in Weatherford and stopped to eat lunch. By this time, the rain, sleet and snow had stopped. We finally had some dry roads and were able to proceed all the way to Lubbock. It was amazing to see the trucks, trailers or motor homes lying on their sides in the middle median of I20. I guess we counted about 9 from Abilene to Sweetwater. I have never known of a time when an accident happened and they just left them there. But they did this time. I guess the weather was too bad to even try to attempt to clear the wreckage. We made Ranger Hill okay and Post Hill okay. Those were my two concerns and both were fine.

When we got to Lubbock, we read in the paper on Thursday morning that a new snow storm was headed that way and I was ready to get on the plane to come home. Made it home fine and let me say I am just road weary today. I find I just want to sleep! My bed and my shower felt great today!!!!

I just talked with my parents and they did get some snow in Lubbock today. It was not as much as they expected or had been predicted. Sometimes, I wonder about these weather men and where they get their information!

Since I am road weary, I think I will close for now and just end with telling you that we had a great visit with my parents, with my children and with my family. Since this visit, my new interest in changes for myself are to be more positive. I even told my kids that I want to work on being more positive! I will explain more on that later!

THE TREK BACK HOME

2007-01-12T15:11:00.000-06:00

We leave tomorrow morning. We are traveling from Beaumont to Corsicana. Then on Sunday, we go from Corsicana to Lubbock. I keep hearing about the weather. There are storm warnings and it could possibly be icy and even snowing.

I am asking for prayers. Prayers that the roads will be clear and I can take my parents back to their home. Then I need prayers that the airport in Lubbock will be open and I can travel back on Monday to my home and see my baby daughter and her new husband for a day before they leave to go back home.

Our visit has been good. We have had some laughs, some tense moments as in all families, but good conversation. I am sorry that we have not had the type of conversations we use to have or that I would like to have but I am afraid to have these days. I don't like conflict and I am certain, it would resolve to that eventually, if these type of conversations were started. So we keep them inside and don't talk about certain subjects.

It is hard to see your parents getting older. It is hard to see your parents having to rely on others for their day to day activities. It is harder to see your parents have no more day to day activities, than getting up and getting dressed!

I need one more prayer, by the way. For the last six months or so, my sister has been talking to my parents about moving to Corsicana to be closer to them. I would love this as this would not only give them family close by, it would put them closer to me. My sister showed them a house or two last week, but now my parents are discouraged and thinking that they will not move. They may just be talking. But I need prayers that God will lead them to the right house and they will move. I would really like them to move. But I certainly want what is best for them.

2006-12-30T22:34:00.000-06:00

MORE CATCH UP

2006-12-28T08:34:00.000-06:00

And I don't mean that red kind that you put on French Fries!

I mean the kind where I give you more information than you ever wanted to know! I have not blogged in so long there is lots of information out there that you know nothing about.....and probably could go all your life and not care that you didn't know. But! I want you to know! So here goes!

My first catch up news is what is going to take place in the next two weeks. My parents, who live in Lubbock, are coming to see us! That is exciting and unusual. Unusual for several reasons. They have never liked that we live 10 to 12 hours away! My mother doesn't like Beaumont and they are getting on in years and their health is not real good right now, so this is monumental.

My dad had to have neck surgery in 2005 for a slipped disc. He had lost use of his right leg and could not feel anything with his hands. The docs told him they could not return his health but could help it not get any worse! Great news you don't want to hear! None the less, it has taken a long road to recovery and he is still working on it. He still walks with a walker, mainly for stability so he doesn't fall! The feeling in his hands is better and he can do for himself more than he was able to do. He is like the pink bunny, he just keeps on trekking and working on getting better.

My mom's health has not been great for many years. She has congestive heart failure and has been obese for most of her life. At least, as long as I can remember. The sad part is I am a lot like her. I am also obese and try to remind myself of her woes, but I still have trouble getting the weight off. Enough about me though. My mom had a set back when my dad had his neck surgery. While dad was in the hospital, we (my sister and I) had to put mom in the hospital as well, for anemia. She was on three different medications for her blood thinning and they got it so thin she was "bleeding out!" In other words, you could touch her arm and she would bruise. It was so bad, the ER doctor was mad at her doctors and said so! and they would not let her out of bed, even to pee because they said if she were to fall, she would die! It was pretty serious. In fact, the day before, she had passed out in dad's hospital room and was feeling so tired. We all chalked it up to stress, but found out we were all wrong!

The saddest part of this story is after I got mom home. I had to take my sister to Abilene so she could go home the day my mother was released from the hospital. I did not get to talk to the doctor so after we got home I was quizzing her on what the doctor said. They released her without giving her anything for the anemia and said to come back to see them in two months! What? No medication, no iron, no tests before then? What do you mean? I was livid. I called the doctor's office and had trouble talking to anyone. But I persued and finally talked with a nurse. When I explained it all, she understood my anger. Because I was leaving town over the weekend, she wasn't sure she could give me an answer. Fortunately, she called me back the same day and we had medication! I shudder to think had I not been there, what would have happened! My mother is from the generation that if the doctor does not say anything, you don't question it. He is the doctor afterall!!!!

The next saddest part to this whole story is that I had to come home. I was having company for Thanksgiving. May not seem important to you, but my potential new son-in-law and his mother were coming! I had to be home! So I left dad in rehab at the hospital. (And he didn't want to be there!) And left mom at home by herself, trying to get back to the hospital. Problem in that because of her heart condition, she can't walk a long way without shortness of breath. But they would not consider moving! In fact, my mother became quite depressed in the hospital because she was afraid they were going to have to move! They have no family left in Lubbock and they are alone, except for church family and friends. What do people do without church family?

Anyway, to finish up this post, my sister will fly from Dallas to Lubbock next week to drive mother and dad to Corsicana, where she lives. I will then drive from Beaumont to Corsicana and pick them up and bring them here for a week. There will be about three days where they will be here as well as Trent and Mindy. We will then all go back to Corsicana and my family will come back to Beaumont while I drive mother and dad back to Lubbock and hop on a plane home the next day! Whew! I am tired just thinking about it! But excited my parents are coming, they will get to meet Trent and sad at thinking this may well be the last time they will be in my home!

At least, they are talking of selling their house and moving to Corsicana. They will not look at houses in Corsicana until they sell their house. When they return in January, hopefully, they will put the house on the market. As I understand it, they are boxing up as they clean out and are making plans to move! That is encouraging. I never thought they would leave Lubbock. My dad was born there, I was born there and they have never talked of leaving. I think they know with their health and age (in their 80's) they really don't have many choices. This is the best.

So I ask that you pray for them. Pray for their health, pray for their safety and pray that their house sells quickly. While you are praying, add our visit on your list as I think things could become potentially sticky as we will be forced to discuss our church situation! More on that tomorrow!

Pictures from Christmas 06

2006-12-26T11:26:00.000-06:00

Having grandkids is so much fun!!

Emma liked what Piggy and Pops got her!

Ashton got a new CD to listen to from her parents.

The Goebel Family.

We missed you Trent and Mindy but looking forward to seeing you in a couple of weeks.

2006-12-26T09:02:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas!

We have had a great Christmas. We spent Christmas Eve with the kids, J & P and the grand babies! Only they are not babies any more!!!! Ashton and Emma were anxious to go home and get to bed! Wonder why?

We ate some snacks, watched Cars on TV, our free digital channel we get, but are not sure why we get it! We just enjoy it and don't ask questions! They left about 7:30 pm and Tollie and I enjoyed an evening by the fire!

Christmas morning brought early rising for us. Tollie and I both woke about 4 AM and not able to go back to sleep! I think we took too long a nap yesterday, but we laid and talked and then turned on the TV. We watched the large Baptist church's Christmas program which happened earlier in the month and they always televise on Christmas Eve. Anyway, we finally both went back to sleep and slept till 8:30. We got up, got dressed, exchanged presents. I must have been a good girl. I got a new set of earrings and necklace, in my birthstone! Tollie got a new tote for his expensive 3ccd camera.

We packed the car and were off to Sour Lake to be with the kids. We arrived to a house full of holiday smells. They had cooked the turkey all night. It looked great! We finished the preparations for lunch and enjoyed a great meal, together. Mindy called from Missouri and we enjoyed visiting with her while we ate. It was almost like having her there with us. Wish she could have been, with her new hubby, Trent. But they will be here in two and half weeks. We are anxious and excited about them coming!!!

We opened presents from the girls and the girls opened their presents from us and their parents. We laughed and enjoyed the time, taking pictures! Ashton got each of us a mug that said appropriately, "Sweetest Grandma", or "Greatest Grandpa", or The Best Mom", and "The Best Dad". She was so excited about giving us all our mug.

We then watched a movie, "The Invincible" about Vince Papali, football player. It was good. Dad and I then came home and I sat and got warm and drank hot chocolate and dad cleaned the computer room!

Tollie and I both are determined to clean each room of the house and purge old things that we don't need any longer. We have way too much stuff. So we are in the process.

Hope you had a Merry Christmas with family and enjoyed the quiet of the day, knowing all the while the glorious birth of our Savior!

Having Trouble with Pics

2006-12-08T09:54:00.000-06:00

Finally!!!!! I got the pics on here!

The Christian Church in Pilot Point, Texas

The inside of the church at rehearsal.
Mindy in her dress at the store!
Mindy in her dress back at the house, modeling for her dad

CATCHING UP!

2006-12-08T08:43:00.000-06:00

First, my apology is two posts down. It is done, it is published. I can move on now.

Then, here is a quick catch up on almost a year of happenings. When I last left you, back in March of last year, we were so happy that our daughter, Mindy had found happiness in Kansas City, doing her internship and that she would graduate from UT in May. Tollie and I planned a trip to Missouri in April so that we could spend some time with her and her beau, Trent. The plan was to go to Tyler for Tollie's usual monthly work run and then leave Tyler on Thursday and go to Missouri, staying until Monday and coming back then. It would be a short trip, but a good one.

We were happily surprised two weeks before our planned trip to have a phone call from Trent on April 7th, the day before Easter. Trent called to ask for Mindy's hand in marriage. Jamie was here that night and we were shouting and screaming and dancing around, so excited! Trent took Mindy the next day to a special place for them and proposed. She, of course, said yes and they planned to be married sometime in June.

This changed the whole reason for Tollie and I going to Missouri. Now we were on a mission, to make plans for the wedding that would take place in five weeks! That's right, they would be married on June 2nd. Since we had the date, we had to decide where, how it all happens and what to wear!

However......as we planned to leave on Tuesday.......
During the night, Tollie woke with his heart fluctuations. We went to the ER about 4 AM and there remained until Wednesday morning. It was so frustrating. Tollie thought we would go to the ER, they would give him medication and we would be on our way to Tyler. Tollie had a nightmare and when he woke up, his heart was doing its thing! He has atrial fibrillation and occasionally his heart gets out of sync. When this happens, they give him medication in the vein and it clears up almost immediately.

But this time, the ER doctor wanted him to have some tests. We told her this was not the first time and please call his cardiologist. On Tuesday afternoon, as we were still in the ER because they had no beds on the floor, we were told he was being admitted. When asked again, we were told his cardiologist was called. He was to have a cath the next day.

My heart began to fluctuate!!!! I figured our trip to Missouri was out. Tollie was put in a room
5:30 on Tuesday evening and I kept wondering where Dr. Brady was!!!! I went home to get a good night's sleep and got to the hospital early Wednesday morning. Our family doctor, Dr. Vardiman came by to check on Tollie and we told him we had not seen Dr. Brady yet and we had plans to go to Tyler and Missouri. I told him I thought it was caused by the nightmare (I had looked up on the internet about his condition and it stated that sometimes it can be caused by nightmares!) Dr. Vardiman agreed with me and he said he would sign him out! But.....he wanted us to see Dr. Brady before he left town.

The dear nurse, who could not believe we were leaving without tests, called Dr. Brady's office and they would see us as we left the hospital! Of course, we found out at the office that they never got the message Tollie was in the ER!!!!! ARGHHHHHH! Believe me, the next time I will call Dr. Brady's office myself and make sure he knows he is there! Dr. Brady had no problem with our traveling and scheduled a nuclear stress tests for later in the month! Yeah!!!!! we were on our way to Missouri by way of Tyler!

Our trip to Missouri was fruitful. Mindy knew she wanted to get married in North Texas. It would make it convenient for both sides of the family to travel, but not too far for anyone. They also decided to have only family, close family at the wedding. This was a big decision as that meant no close friends, no aunts, uncles or cousins. We would have two receptions, one in Missouri and one in Texas. That is where everyone could come to celebrate with the Bride and Groom.

Our search began for a church. We Googled and found a pretty white church in Pilot Point, Texas. It was a Christian Church but our efforts proved fatal as we could not reach anyone that day. The next day, I got on the phone to the church of Christ preacher and asked him if he knew how we could contact someone at the Christian Church. Fortunately, he was good friends with a member there and the rest is history. We were able to use the building. We made this decision solely on the outside looks of the building. We assumed the inside would work. Later, Ms. Wood sent us pictures of the inside. It was perfect. We didn't even have to decorate.

Our next priority was a dress. Lavonne, Mindy and I went to Kansas City on Friday in search of the perfect dress. We went to about four stores and nothing was working. There were some pretty dresses, but to stay within my budget and what she wanted, we were not having much luck. We stopped at a place downtown not knowing we needed an appointment. But they allowed us to look anyway and Mindy found a dress she liked, but Lavonne and I both knew it was not the dress. Mindy then announced she would just have to come back later to Kansas City and look more. It was at that point that I lost it. Here I was sitting on a bench, beside my daughter's to be mother-in-law, blubbering! Mindy was wondering what was wrong with me and I told her I would be alright, knowing all along it was a lie! I was suppose to be with her when she found her dress!!! I was the mother of the Bride!

Mindy suggested we go to another place we had on our list, but my hopes were diminishing as it was getting close to 5:00 and this place was across town. On our way, we called to ask the times and they again said they worked with appointments. I explained that I was in town only that day and thank you. She asked me to hold and came back saying she would take us ~ they were open until 8 pm. My spirits soared. I knew this was it. We would find the dress or I would be greatly distressed!

The clerk was a great young lady. She asked Mindy a couple of questions and brought out her most popular dress. Mindy tried it on and it was pretty~ we all liked it. She then said to wait a minute, she had one other in mind. She came back with a two piece dress. First she put on the skirt. Then she started putting the top on Mindy and I could tell by her eyes, this was the dress! It was absolutely beautiful. She beamed as she looked in the mirror and it fit her like a glove! No alterations were needed. So.... how much? Because it was "off the rack", it was well under our limit!!!!! Thank you God! It was perfect.

We were well on our way to the perfect wedding. We had the place, the dress and knew who was marrying her (I mean the preacher!) and when. Now, there was only the smaller details to finish up. It was a great trip!!!

I will continue next week on the wedding itself.

IN ALMOST A YEAR!

2006-12-06T10:07:00.000-06:00

It has been almost a year since I have posted to this blog. I have thought about blogging again, but what really pushed me today is that I have received posts on my blog, even without blogging!

So.....I decided it is time to start posting again. Hope you all out there will enjoy reading about my life, my troubles, my hopes, my dreams and my happiness. The first thing I will do.....tomorrow....is to post some pictures of my daughter at her wedding last June. Yep, Trent and Mindy got married in June. We had a whirlwind time but lots of fun. I will tell you all about it. It was great having that to do and enjoy after what Rita did to us in 2005.

Right now though, I have to get to the store. I am working part time, more part time than I use to and I have to go to work at 1:00. So any shopping I need to do has to be done in the morning.

BTW, I will post my apology this week as well! That is of necessity for myself. See you guys! and thanks for stopping by!

MARCH!

2006-03-09T08:16:00.000-06:00

Before I even begin reading the blogs today, I determined I would blog.

It has been awhile and I keep meaning to write my apology. I have started the draft for that and will post it one day! Until then, I will update a little.

I am working full time right now. The person who took my place when I retired, quit. She didn't give two weeks notice and because of that, I stepped in. It has been very draining. I like the work, but it has been almost two years since I worked the job and now I have to think so much and stand on my feet for most of the day. I am just not use to that. I am working there in parts three days a week and still doing my other job for the other two days. It will come in handy when we need the money, but I really don't like working full time.

I think I am lazy at heart! Well, I guess it really is not lazy because there are so many things I like to do and keep busy. But I just like my own time and use of that time. I think that has more to do with it. I want to do what I want to do when I want to do it. Do I sound like Paul in the NT or what. Anyway, I have so many projects going and started and needed to be started. It is my goal to finish two big projects this year. I have started a sampler with cross stitch with peacocks that I have been working off and on for now about five years. I need to finish it! And then I have also started a bluebonnet quilt. It shouldn't take that long to get finished putting together. But it will take a while for the quilting, so I need to get going on it. But then there are a few other projects I have going and need to finish first.

We also have a craft show for the Russia missions and I need to get going on planning and working that. I have several projects for that to work on. So, you can see that working full time really crimps my style in doing what I want to do.

I hope you have a great week and get to do what you want to do!

I APOLOGIZE!

2006-02-27T09:31:00.000-06:00

This is my apology. I apologize to my husband for not being the person he married!

Now, that may seem a little strange to some of you. I have been married to the greatest husband a wife would ever hope for. We have been married for 36 years. My love today is more tender and deeper than all those years ago.

I am not the person he married both physically, emotionally, spiritually, and intellectually and any other way I could not think of. I don't think I am suppose to be! But.......my apology comes mainly from the physical standpoint.

You see, I was a young, slender, long blonde haired beauty to my prince charming. Life has a way of changing all this over time. Having babies can change a woman's body to proportions she never dreamed were possible! Three pregnancies with two resulting children can do things, both physically and emotionally to scar and weigh up on a person. That is where my apology lies.

I apologize to Tollie for not being the physical beauty he married! I have allowed my laziness and control issues and fneed to comfort with food to disrupt my ability to stay physically attractive! I have done this. I am the one responsible for not walking, not exercising, not watching what I eat, but eating whatever I want and watching it too closely! I am the one who has decided everyday that I get up to eat and eat and eat.

I am trying to change this. As Dr. Laura would say, no don't try, just do it! So....I will do it! I am being conscious of everything that goes into my mouth and making decisions, better decisions, I hope. Again, I am trying to be realistic and eat some of the things I like, but not all the time. We will see where this gets me and who is really in control ~ me or food!

But there you have my apology. Since I have not written a blog in so long, I am not sure if and when Tollie will see this. But that is okay. It was more for me than for him. I needed to say it and I think he will want to hear it. So.....stay tuned!

TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE

2006-02-24T11:08:00.000-06:00

My last post was shocked to see that February is already here and now I am writing a post at the end of February?!? Where did it go? I am going to lunge in and out of here for today. I have to catch up and my life is going to get crazy in the next few weeks.

I have a few request! Please pray for a young married couple whom we are mentoring. They are in the depths of misery at this time and need prayers for prayer warriors. God knows them and their needs and names are unneccesary. Just pray for a young couple we know.

Secondly, please pray for me in the next few weeks. The parts manager who took my place several years ago, quit. The biggest problem is that she quit when her boss just had a brain tumor removed and then had another surgery last week to repair some nerve damage. It was not very kind of her to put all this on him when he is home recuperating. So.....that means I am filling in until a replacement can be found. Also, pray that a replacement has been found. I gave a name, called a friend and she responded with an interview. It may all work out very well and then I will be training her rather than working. But she will have to give two weeks notice and I will be working some then.

Thirdly, pray for my next post. I had stated in my last post that I would write an apology. I am now wondering if I have not posted because of that statement! I think there is an underlying fear of that post. But I will push forward.

Have a great weekend. It is suppose to be rainy all day and it is already overcast and cloudy.

FEBRUARY?!?

2006-02-02T08:40:00.000-06:00

February is already here? What happened to January? Where did it go? It seems just yesterday it was the 1st of the New Year and we are already one month down. I have heard that when you age, time flies. I guess you know I am aging!!!!

This will be a busy weekend for my family. My sister and her husband are coming as I posted earlier in the week. Then Mindy decided to come home as well. Her Valetine's gift from her beau was a plane ticket and Continental had a special this weekend. So.......she is coming home as well.

Saturday will be a busy day. Someone has to go to Houston to get Mindy by about 1:30 pm. The Arbonne party, (if there are any coming!) starts at 3:30 pm. We will have a family meal on Saturday night. Sunday proves to be even busier when we have practice right after services. We will run to get something to eat and I am hoping that T & C will stay to see the play practice. Then we will have a family super bowl party that night.

I plan to fix some fun things to eat on Friday. Like hot wings, broccoli/corn muffins, cheese straws, trail mix, popcorn, fresh veggies. We will have a good time. The little ones will spend the night with us on Sunday night and stay home with us Monday. Mindy wants to keep them and they will miss their daycare that day. It will be fun. I am hoping it will be pretty so we can get out and play outside or go to the park. I think Mindy will go with us to our dance lesson on Monday night and that will be fun as well.

Then Tuesday, I will take Mindy back to Houston. It will be a full but fun weekend. I always like having my familiy around me. It is comforting to me. Can be tiring but always a good tired.

I need to go do my routine today. I will do it! I have not done it all the way through in several days. I just can't seem to get back to it. I keep trying to figure out why and other than being sick last week, I just don't want to. I think being sick caused me to miss some days and that always starts the downward spiral of not doing it. So.......I will go do my routine today. I hope to get in the same amount of time I ususally do and then some.

I have been reading several blogs of late that are discussing some deep theological issues. I am enjoying them, but at the same time realizing how uneducated I really am.

Have a great weekend and enjoy the super bowl. I really don't care a thing about it, but it is a tradition. I have no desire to watch it if the Cowboys aren't playing and lately I am not even sure I would watch it if they were. But we will play and have some fun anyway. I won't be blogging for several days, since I will be busy.

My next post will be an apology. I have been forming this in my mind for several days now.

MOVING ON TO WALTZ

2006-01-31T08:21:00.000-06:00

I haven't blogged in a while. I have been sick. I started last week with a cough and then had a major head cold. Friday and Saturday I was aching and just didn't feel good. I realized on Sunday how bad I felt Saturday! It was good to just sit and not do much of anything on Saturday.

Sunday was full and I had practice for the dinner theater. I know my lines! That is a good feeling. Now we just have to get everyone else there and start really acting off of each other. I think it will be fun.

My sister and her husband are coming this weekend. It will be a fun weekend. I dread the party, mainly because I have asked a lot of people but you never know who will come and how much good it will do. My sister is now selling a line of products by Arbonne. Since they are virtually homeless and jobless, she is hoping to get this going and not have to find a job in Corsicana. I am willing to help her as much as I can, but I did tell her not to ask me to sell the stuff. I am not a sales person. I have tried several other times in my life and I just know I am not a sales person. I don't like it and I am not good at it. She said she would not ask me. Of course, she did ask me to be thinking of someone at the party who might be interested!!!

Mindy is doing well in Kansas City. My baby is all the way in Kansas City and I miss her! She loves what she is doing at the internship. I keep trying to call it a job but refuse since she doesn't get paid for it. I haven't talked to her this week but I hope she enjoyed her weekend. She and Trent were going to try to make more time for them this weekend and enjoy each other's company more. They have both been very busy since she moved there. She is flying home the end of February for her Valentine's gift for Trent. I told him to "send her home while he can." Sort of tongue in cheek humor there! (Us mother's are getting a little anxious here, waiting and wanting to know what is going on!)

Jamie and her brood seem to be doing well. The girls are so fun. I had to hold both girls on my lap during services Sunday. I had been holding Ashton and we had been cuddling. It was nice and I was enjoying it. Then Emma noticed she was being left out and had to get in on the action. So I held them both and cuddled them both. They are so fun! I am so thankful that they are here.

Have I mentioned that I prayed for three years to be closer to my grandchildren? I really thought Tollie and I would be the ones to move, but my children moved here! What a surprise and what a joy! Thank you, Lord again for this wonderful joy you brought to my life.

Gotta run and go to work. Today is Tuesday and a work day. I think I will be busy. It looked like there were projects on my desk last night.

BTW, last night, we did learn to waltz. It was great! Tollie had some trouble with his footing at times and stepped on my toes a lot, but it was fun. We did real good with the Foxtrot and although we forgot somewhat how to do the Cha Cha, we learned it back real quick. The hour went by so fast. I wondered if that meant we were doing better!?! Seemed to be a lot of fun and energy is sure spent. I was so hungry when we got home! That is good though and I really enjoy it. Now we are trying to figure out what we can do to continue this after the lessons.

Have a great week!

ASSUMPTIONS

2006-01-27T16:43:00.000-06:00

I received an e-mail the other day and was so excited about the possibilities! Then later, I received another e-mail and realized I had made some assumptions about the first one that were not there. Boy! I hate that! Talk about disappointment! Oh, well.

________________
My former boss, Fred, had a 10 1/2 hour surgery yesterday for his brain tumor. Wow! Can you imagine. It turned out he had two tumors! The e-mail I received concerning this stated that the disappointment for them was that they had to sever the facial nerve. That does not sound like great news. It also stated that they would implement several things to help compensate for this, so I am not sure what the outcome of that will be.

I realize how blessed we are health wise. Our friends from Argentina were here and he has cancer and now Fred and his brain tumor and Tollie's dad and his brain tumor and my dad and his neck surgery and my mom's health is not great. Whew! It seems like every where we turn we are facing huge medical crisis. Please continue to pray for all these people who are important in our lives.

I want to be a strong influence for Christ at work and it is at times like this that I think I can be. Most of our co-workers are Catholic and for our openness about Christianity, they depend on us for prayer. When I told Fred I would be praying for him, he stated that he was glad since he knew I had an open door for that! I was stunned by his comment. I know they see as "religious" but I want more than that. So please pray for these people and for us to have influence on them for Christ.

I got to get well so I can get back to my routine. I did not feel like doing anything today. I have sat here at the computer, took a long nap, slept in this morning and virtually done nothing. I watched a little television and now I am so disappointed in the subject matter of Brokeback Mountain. I had heard it was a love story. Just didn't know for sure that it was until today! A love story between two men! Ugh!!!!! It is moving more and more toward acceptance of homosexuality and we are being forced to accept it.

I accept the people where they are, but when they continue to choose to practice this lifestyle, then I have a problem. You will have a hard time convincing me it is natural. God had a plan and I believe his plan was for one man and one woman. That is the "natural" way. Otherwise, there would be no procreation in this world. Some things cannot be explained away by what we want, not matter how we try.

God help us understand how to deal with this to bring about resolution and not anger. I fear the impact this is having in our own families and lives.

Here is a link I found interesting:
http://www.nextreformation.com/index.html

CHA CHA! HA HA!

2006-01-26T13:25:00.000-06:00

We had our third dance lesson on Monday night and wow. We learned the foxtrot first and have done okay with it. But Monday we learned the Cha Cha and I can honestly say we were the star students of that class!

Tollie really got into it and as our instructor says, the men have to lead. It may be the one last chance for men to lead and get their glory! I know that the more confidence he has in leading the dance, the easier it is for me to follow that lead.

When we danced the foxtrot we have several hindrances. One is the confidence I mentioned and secondly, our heights. Tollie is 6' 1" and I am about 5' 2". When our instructor told the ladies to look over your partners shoulder, I laughed and asked for a stool! I have to look at Tollie's shirt pocket the whole time! The other problem is the length of the legs. In other things we do, like walking, I take about three steps to his one! When he takes off dancing I either take several steps or stretch a lot and get caught up in his feet! Needless to say the foxtrot is tolerated but not our favorite dance so far.

But......the Cha Cha was so much fun. We only hold hands and I can circle and we can do dips together! It is great and not dependent on our height, but our endurance. Sadly, I lack somewhat there. My tougue was hanging out and I was breathless during that dance. But I love it. It is great exercise!

We have not had time to practice since the class but hope to do some practice of it before our next class. We have to get some good music for it, though.
________________

We had a great weekend. Alberto and Jane Pata were here for Buenos Aires and stayed with us. These two are some of the mostly Godly and humble people I have ever met. We have known the Pata's for about 20 years and our friendship just keeps growing. Please pray for Alberto. Alberto has cancer. It started out in the prostate and has metastisized and he now has cancer in his bones. It has some back pain and shoulder pain. Although he is doing really well, the prognosis is not great.

But we know that our Lord can heal him and we ask that you join us in this prayer for this wonderful couple who is working hard and long to bring the gospel to the lost in Buenos Aires.

___________________

Today, I keep thinking of my previous boss and his wife. My heart goes out to Debbie. She is waiting to hear on Fred's surgery. Fred is in surgery as I type this for a brain tumor. The surgery could last up to eight hours. That is a long time to wait. I think I would rather be in surgery than waiting for my loved one to come out of surgery! There is belief that the tumor is benign and he should do well. Please pray for Fred and Debbie and all their family.

__________________________

I have done well with my health routine. Although this week I have been under the weather and yesterday just did not do it and then today was feeling bad. But tomorrow, I will get back on that "Horse" and go again. Between the routine and the dance lessons, I should be in better shape before long.

DEPRESSED!

2006-01-18T22:26:00.000-06:00

Tollie is in Tyler. I don't want to do anything! I think I am depressed. I told him to night on the phone that from here on out, I want to go with him. I woul only miss a day for work. That wouldn't be too bad. I just don't like being here by myself. I don't seem to get much done.

Yesterday was not a good day at work. At least, not in the work department. I didn't have anything to do. I did some genealogy stuff on the internet. Didn't really find anything new. The only work I had to do was to address seven envelopes. My boss has been real busy lately, in meetings and such. I think it will be this way for a while. So.....I guess its not too bad to get paid for sitting and playing card games and looking on the internet. But it sure makes for a long day! I think I feel a little guilty, too, making all that money and no hard work.

I talked with my baby tonight. She is enjoying her internship already. She said they have already given her some projects to work on. She spent some time looking on the internet for some information and had it ready when asked for it. The lady was very impressed she had this information so quickly. Helped to make Mindy feel needed and that she could make a difference there. She is really praying for direction as to how God will use her. Most of the people there are there to help the impoverished. But she senses that most just enjoying helping and not because they want to share the good news of Christ. She said she didn't want to be judgemental but she didn't think there were many there who were Christians, even though the whole organization was founded by Catholic nuns. It seems they want to keep religion out of everything. This will be a challenge for her!

I had dinner with my grandbabies last night. I met the kids at Chili's and it is so fun to have the girls see me and run to me and say, "Piggy, I missed you and love you." Emma says "Granma, I love you." They just hug me and hang on to me. When it came time to leave, Ashton didn't want me to go. They wanted to stay with me. That is so fun and so rewarding to have these beautiful little girls who laugh and make you laugh! God blesses me everyday with my kids and grandkids.

The dinner theater play rehearsals are going well. I have nearly memorized all of my lines. I plan to have them all memorized by this Sunday's rehearsal. I have told several at work about it and they seem excited to be invited to come. I hope it will be a rewarding time for all. I think it will be fun. I am Leah and as you know, she had so many children. No wonder, I am Leah. I love babies!

I am ready to go to bed already. Oh.....it is later than I thought. I didn't realize it was this late. It is 10:30 and so I guess it is time to go to bed. It will be a long, lonely night. I never sleep as well when Tollie is gone. He will be back tomorrow. Hopefully, before too late. Then on Friday, we go to Houston and will have some time for ourselves. We then pick up missionary friends from the airport on Saturday. That will be fun. They will come back and stay with us for a few days. Have a great "rest" of the week and weekend.

DIDN'T WANT TO, BUT I DID!

2006-01-17T09:32:00.000-06:00

This morning Tollie left for Tyler. He left early so he could get an early start and get a lot done. He has a lot to do in the next three days and wanted to spend every minute making it happen. So....I stayed in bed a little longer and relaxed. But then I got up and thought of three or four really good reasons why I shouldn't do my routine this morning. But I found myself walking that way to do it anyway! And I did it. At one point, I thought, "I could just do half now and half time later!" But you know what? I stuck with it and did it anyway. It reminded me that I can do it, even when I don't want to do it.

We had our second dancing lesson last night. It was so much fun. Tollie and I are doing better at it. We had a hard time with our steps, getting them in sinc with the beat. The foxtrot consists of slow, slow, quick, quick, which sounds like four beats. But when you are muscially inclined such as Tollie, it didn't come out in time right. The slows were like half quarter notes and the quicks were like 8th notes. It just didn't add up. After talking with our instructor we realized you are really doing three steps to four beats! Well, not exactly, you just start the fourth beat on the first beat! Anyway, it explained a lot and helped us be much smoother. Actually, I didn't have my toes stepped on as much.

We were saddened though that one of the couples quit last night. It just wasn't his thing and they left before we got started. He was just not comfortable. So....we are down to three. But I can tell you that Tollie and I are sticking it out. It is good exercise and I enjoy it. I am still trying to learn to follow! If you know me, that is a hard one for me. I want to lead and I have to be led. Good lessons all around!

My baby girl is starting her internship today. I have said new job, but really it is not a job. She doesn't get paid for this. She is working with Operation Breakthrough in Kansas City and I know she will get a lot of hands on experience. Where did the time go? Where did my baby go? She will graduate with her masters in May! Whew! I am getting older! I am so happy for her and the opportunity she has with this and the possibilities coming her way. Thank you for your prayers for her today and this week.

I want to thank her boyfriend, Trent, for flying to Tulsa to meet her and be with her on the drive to Kansas City on Friday. I think it was a real help to her and I know it showed some care and concern for her. Thank you, Trent.

I must run and get to work. When you only work two days a week, it can mean a lot to do or not much to do. We will see when we get there, but when I get there later, it seems there is more to do. Have a great day!

________________
Writing from work. There has not been much to do today! I have looked on the computer, the internet for genealogy stuff and ate lunch with four other co-workers, played a little solitaire and am thinking of leaving early because I don't have much to do. My boss wants me to do his work, not any of the other guys here and that means I have to sit and wait on him. It can make for a long day. But....I do like my job. I get paid well to sit and write and look on the internet and talk with my co-workers. Not many opportunities like that and only two days a week. The other executive assistant (to my same boss) is thinking of quitting because she just feels too bored and he doesn't allow her to help him that much. She is trying real hard to get him organized and I think every one of his assistants has tried that for years. It just doesn't work. He wants things done his way in his time! So.....you wait a lot. But that is fine with me.

I am leaving early to eat supper with my kids and g-kids. I hope to put some pictures here soon of my darling little angels. Emma was sitting in my lap on Sunday and we were watching a music video. I was singing with the video and she was looking up at me and nearly went to sleep. If the video had been any longer she would have fallen asleep. That is special moments when grandma is holding those angels.

Gotta run, we are meeting in twenty minutes.

NOT YESTERDAY, BUT I DID TODAY!

2006-01-12T08:45:00.000-06:00

My health routine is coming along. As stated, I didn't do anything yesterday, but eat. I did do my routine this morning. I was determined to get back each time I miss. Sort of, get back on that ole horse! I guess you could call yesterday a funk day. I was in a funk, a fog, a funny mood. I wanted to sleep yesterday morning when Tollie left for work and I did stay in bed until almost 9:00 am. Unusual for me! When I got up, I went straight to the shower, versus the routine! I planned to do laundry, change sheets on beds, clean the B&B room, that sort of stuff, but instead found myself just sitting most of the day, or playing tetris.

At lunch, which I knew I would not miss!, Mindy called. She was leaving Austin in a couple of hours but was eating her lunch. We talked and I found after talking with her, I was even sadder. So, I came back to the computer and looked at stuff on e-bay. In the meantime, I did sort the laundry and start a few loads. I pulled the sheets off our bed. But it was much later in the day that I found myself sitting again. Oprah had an interesting story of a child in Egypt who had a parasitic head attached when she was born. Surgeons had to remove the head because she would not live. She already had six heart attacks in her young life due to the strain of supporting the two heads. It saddened me beyond belief.

So.....I came back to the computer and was paying some bills, etc. Checking on my credit card account I realized Capital One was now charging me 28.24% interest! I nearly fainted. I have had the card for over five years and never had it been above 9.9. In fact that is why I use the card because of the fixed low interest rate! So I called Capital One. In case you ever decide to call realize that you will never get an operator if you keep pushing the numbers they give you to find a customer service rep. All you have to do is just sit there and not put in any numbers and after about the second time of going through what each of the numbers reach, you get a rep.

I visited with the first rep, explaining my situation. You see, back in October when we were evacuated for Rita, I had called Capital One to let them know I would be late on my payment. I was told then that because of the hurricane, I was being put on a special program where I didn't have to make a payment until January. Great! I probably would be making some payments, but appreciated the program. I made a payment in late October and you guessed it, I got a late payment fee charge! I called them and again they put me on the program, removing the late charge. I didn't make a payment in November and again you guessed it, December's bill had a late charge. I called again, and again it was taken off. I made a payment in January, and when I was looking at my statement on line, there was a late payment fee charge again! and the interest rate of 28.24%. After explaining all this, the lady said I would need to speak to one of her supervisors. When the next person came on the phone I had to go through the whole speal again! She indicated that she could put me on a program that for two months I would have 9.9% and then it would be come variable. I told her that was unacceptable. I used that card because of the fixed rate and expected it to be at 9.9. She stated it had changed because of my "bad" payment history. This is when the fumes started to rise from my ears!

Again I explained to her the whole story, stating that I didn't make payments or made late payments because they said I could! She wanted to know if I would accept the new terms and I stated yes, but if I was not going to get 9.9 fixed again, I would pay off the card and close the account. She stated, "Oh don't do that. You have been with us for a long time and we have had a good record with you." Duh!!!! She then said she would give me to her superivor. Again, I was given another person and had to tell the story through again. She said wait a minute. After about five minutes, a young gentleman came on the phone and stated, "how can I help you?" I said, "well, for the third time, I will start at the beginning." He then began to hem haw around stating he didn't realize I had already spoken to someone else. I quickly corrected him and stated not just one but three previous people!

He had me go through the speal again and then had the audacity to tell me that he was not authorized to change anything! Duh, again! Then why was I talking with him? I told him that I would be paying off my card and closing the account. He wished I wouldn't and said all he could do was turn in a request to look at my account and I would get an answer in 7 to 10 days by mail. Thank you.

Know what I did? I paid the card off, and after it is payed via bill pay, I will cancel the card! I get offers every day for low interest, lower than 9.9 and fixed and even no interest. Why would I want to pay 28.24%? Got me!

My day went from worse to horrible. By the time Tollie got home I was ready to pack it in the for the day! I was on the verge of tears all evening. I went to Bible Study anyway and due to some other issues, I was even more on edge when I got home. I had a bowl of cereal with bananas, which was a mistake. I tasted them all night and didn't sleep well, or at least didn't feel like I slept well. I slept too hard. I woke about 3:00 to a severe headache and dry mouth, which meant I was snoring hard and workinghard at sleeping!

I feel better this morning, if you can believe that! I feel better now getting all this off my chest. So I am off to work and to a doctor's gyno appointment. Oh thrills. But I think it will be better than yesterday.

I keep remembering, Today is the yesterday you worried about tomorrow! Although I wasn't worried yesterday about tomorrow, I just wanted to get through the day! So I hope you have a great day. I am trying!

SHE LEFT TODAY!

2006-01-09T18:17:00.000-06:00

Today was a full day. I helped Mindy pack her truck and watched her head out to finish up her few days in Austin and then she is on to Kansas City.

Mindy has not lived at home in over a year and I really don't expect her to come home to live again. So why was it so hard to let her go today? I think it is just knowing she is so far away in Kansas City! Actually, it may be cheaper and easier for me to go see her by flying than it was when she was Lubbock. But things were different then. Our relationship was different then.

I was not ready for her to leave. We had breakfast at Burger King and just enjoyed our visit. Then we finished the packing. We had to stop to get trash bags to put everything in and keep it semi water proof in case of rain. She really isn't taking a lot to Kansas City, but she has a small Nissan truck and you can't put much in the cab, especially if Trent is to ride with her.

Trent is flying to Tulsa to meet Mindy on Friday and go with her the last four hours to Kansas City. Mindy will pick him up at the airport. I am so thankful for his doing this. She won't be trying to maneuver the traffic in Kansas City, going to new places before she is ready! It is just nice of him to do it besides.

Of course, we all know that Trent is the reason Mindy is moving to Kansas City! You don't have to be a rocket scientist to understand this! I know she will be happy there and I think her opportunities are will be great.

I sat in the waiting room of the Ford dealership, waiting to have my oil changed on my van this afternoon. It took all afternoon. I napped a little, read many chapters in my current book and waited. I overheard an older couple say, "it is worse than being in the ER." It did take a long time. They just had a lot of business. At least it kept me from cleaning Mindy's room and crying longer! It is just hard to cry in a public waiting room!

This is the third day that I have not done my health routine. I intended to do it this morning but with Mindy here, needing to get her out by 10:30 and then waiting all afternoon, it just didn't happen. But it will in the morning, I promise. I can tell that I have not done it and that is a help to know that it is making a difference.

I have lines to memorize for the dinner theater in February. I am Leah and don't have a lot of lines. In fact, I have had this part years ago and some it is coming back to me. Maybe it won't be too difficult to remember my lines.

We started our small group last night. What a group. There are two single ladies, by single I mean one of them is by herself as her husband doesn't come to church with her let alone a small group and the other is single and one other couple. I hope we can get some others to come and join us as well. I think it is going to be a great group.

Life is busy and full and I have visits to look forward to coming up, with the Patas in a couple of weeks, seeing my folks in February and seeing Gina for several days while we are at the ACU lectureships.

***********
We did it! We started our dance lessons tonight. Us and three other couples were having a great time! It is hard work! We are learning the foxtrot to start off. Tollie and I had a hard time at first. I want to lead him and he isn't sure about the leading! But by the end of the lesson we were getting the hang of it. We will have to practice some between now and next lesson. We want to do this and it was fun and good exercise too!

IT IS FINISHED!

2006-01-05T09:07:00.000-06:00

For the past two weeks or so I have been working on a work project. This work involves our side buisness, Memories In Motion. We do videography for weddings and such. Earlier in December we went to a club downtown and did a video of a band, Mid Life Crisis. My pervious boss plays lead singer in it and they are pretty good. They play Rock music mainly from the 60's and 70's. It is fun to listen to them. I have had several occasions to listen, back several years ago when they first started and would practice in the showroom of the dealership and later at a CASA event where they played.

Anyway, back to the finished story.......we did the video, Tollie running mostly the still camera and I doing the moving camera. We then took the two videos and using a program on the computer were able to edit the two together and make a "demo" video for the band. It is fun to do and I have done something similar with another project. But this was my first real try at this. Tollie has done several weddings and has a lot more practice at it. I did finish the video last night and we produced the DVD this morning and played it on the TV. I am taking it to work with me to give to Fred and I am anxious to see his reaction. I really like and think he will be pleased with it.

It is good to have finished a project and feel good about it. Lots of time you finish something and when you look back you think, "I should have done that or this to it." I really didn't have that feeling when I viewed the final project. So that makes it sweeter.

I am looking forward to the weekend. My baby girl, Mindy is coming home and will be here such a short time and then she leaves on Monday morning and heads back to Austin for a few days and then on the Kansas City. My baby living in Kansas City?!?!? Wow, what a change it will be.:) I am trying to smile the whole way, even though there are tears!

I am still on a roll with my resolve to help my health get better. Still can't say the words to you or anyone, yet. Maybe in time, but I still don't want to jinx anything. It is working and I am feeling good about it and doing it great! Thanks for your prayers for me in that.

I would like to ask for other prayers, mainly for our shepherds at church who are working on a vision statement. I was priviledged to work on the statement some on Tuesday night and I pray for God's guidance and wisdom as this develops. They are presenting it to the congregation on Sunday, the 15th. They need your prayers!

Have a great day!

WELL, SO FAR SO GOOD!

2006-01-03T11:05:00.000-06:00

I have done my secret endeavor every day so far! Again, I can't tell you what that is, because I might jinx it, but I can tell you I enjoy it and was able to do what I needed to do without revealing to Tollie or anyone else what I was doing!

Why is it that when we have clandestine meetings and secrets we feel so powerful? I understand now how affairs can be so enticing:) Not that I am having an affair, mind you. I just have information that noone else has and it feels so powerful! It is like I am in control. But I really know that I am not! That is what is so funny about all this. I am no more in control than before I had this secret, it just feels like it. I have known for a while that perception is 90% of one's thinking.

No matter what the truth, if it is perceived, it is believed! My whole life involved perceiving that I had to get it right all the time, that believing the scriptures as a whole was dependent on my salvation. I perceived that salvation was dependent on what I did ~ not who He is and what He did! Therefore, everything I did had to be perfect, in order to be eligible for that salvation.

Now, I realize that scripture is scripture and not necessarily part of the good news. I read several other blogs, including Mike Cope, Patrick Mead and John Alan Turner. Lately, JAT http://www.johnalanturner.blogspot.com/2005_12_01_johnalanturner_archive.html with a title of "Light and Life" and Mead http://www.tentpegs.blogspot.com (with a title of "But Is It a Tree") have had some really insightful posts lately and have helped me come to some better perceptions. Also, Bible classes have helped in this as well.

I like learning and lately, seems I have found some interesting concepts and insights that are shaping my beliefs to what I perceive is more correct than what I had in the past.

Have a great week!!:)

NEW ENDEAVOR

2005-12-30T10:24:00.000-06:00

I am in the process of doing new things. First, I am working on a project of making a video for a client.

You see my husband has a side buisness where we video tape weddings, events and such and then he takes the video and dresses it up, doing fun stuff to it. I recently made a history video for my job where I took pictures and did basically the same thing.

Tollie and I went recently to record a band, Mid Life Crisis. They were playing at a club in downtown. We were there for several hours and did two camera views of the band as a whole and individuals in it. Now, I am taking those tapes and combining and transitioning and putting fun stuff with it to make a demo video for the band. Fun work! Fun stuff! Just hope we can do a good job!

My next endeavor is my Christmas present. I said in a previous post that I was re-gifted this year. About three years ago, Tollie gave me a present of dance lessons. Unfortunately, he couldn't find a teacher for these dance lessons, or at least procratinated till it didn't matter anymore! His co-worker is good at reminding him of buying a Christmas present for me and asking him if he has gotten it and what it is, etc. When he mentioned to her that he wished he could fulfill that previous gift, she had the solution. Another co-worker use to teach dance! Wow! We are going to have six weeks of dance lessons. Ballroom dance lessons. She says that if we learn the Foxtrot we can do most dances! So, starting in a couple of weeks on Monday nights, we along with four other couples from church are going to take ballroom dance lessons at our place of business. What fun! I can't wait and I am silently preparing for them!

I did it again this morning and was glad. I am already stiff and sore in the mornings and it helps to loosen me up. So, I have to figure out now how I can do it in the morning without giving away my secret! Tollie will be home and then tomorrow night we will be playing and "keeping" the g-kids. They will be spending New Year's Eve at our house. We plan to play and play and take them to McDonald's and just have a great time!

Ever since Hurricane Rita, they have been reluctant to stay away from home or mom and dad. The last time they stayed with us, over Thanksgiving holidays, they both cried when it came to bed time. They wanted their mommy! Hopefully, they will be so tired from playing they will be fine. I know I will be tired!

Have a Happy New Year and talk to you next year!

I DID IT!

2005-12-29T09:09:00.000-06:00

I did it this morning. I did it yesterday morning and I will do it tomorrow morning. I can do this and I will do this.

Isn't it interesting how life can hand us what we think are lemons and people tell us to make lemonade. It is easy to say things when it is not your lemons!

Please pray for a little boy named Ira. He is struggling right now in a hospital in New York. Joe and Laura Hays are his parents and his big sister Sophia. I have been reading Joe's blog for a while now. They were given lemons the past few weeks. I'm not sure they are ready to make lemonade yet ~ they are patiently waiting on the Lord to heal Ira. I say patiently and yet I can't imagine the patience it is taking for them!

I have my own lemons with my parents and I will call them today and check up on them. I am going to Lubbock the week of February 15th. I will probably leave the 14th or 15th and stay a week. I just can't go in January. I am at peace with that decision and believe it to be the best. Unless things here or there change, that is my plan.

NOW NEW YEAR'S

2005-12-28T09:12:00.000-06:00

Well Christmas came and went with little or no problems. It was actually a pretty quiet Christmas. We went to our kids house for lunch on Sunday after church services. They did the cooking. It was quite nice for a change.

The little grand daughters were so excited about Christmas. At 5 and 3, the experience is so exciting! What do you mean? At 53 it can be exciting too! Anyway, I digress. The little girls had been opening some presents and it came time for them to give me my present. Ashton and Emma had been telling me for days they had a present but couldn't tell me what it was! They were so excited. They had made the present and wrapped it themselves. I opened it and they were jumping up and down. They had made me necklaces out of curly ribbon! Ashton immediately starting putting them on me. They are so cute! (The girls) Not what I would have picked out at the store!, but I cherish them. They were so excited about it. It was so much fun. Tollie got it on tape and it is priceless!

Well, really when I think about it, Christmas was quite an awesome experience. I did things I don't normally like to do and had decided not to do and then wham! I did them.

We had a candlelight service on Saturday night at church. It was very good. We had families at appointed times get up and sing some of the songs for the season. The Goebel's and us sang Joy to the World. Tollie and Jamie sang a duet of Mary, Did You Know. Tollie had prepared a slide show from the picture book we have of the song and had it playing while they sang. They did a great job. It went well, considering I had had my feelings hurt earlier when Tollie asked her to sing instead of me, but that is another long story for another time. The whole service was very uplifting and fun.

The most humbling part was when we served communion. Earlier in the week we had been asked to help serve the communion. We said yes, not really knowing what would take place. There were two couples who were asked to serve. We were asked to come forward and we were served and then we were to stand at the aisle and I would break off bread to give to a person and then that person would dip the bread in the cup and partake. At the time we were served, we were told, "this is Christ's body broken for you, and this is Christ's blood shed for you." I was doing okay until my kids came to us for their turn and when I looked at my daughter and told her, "Christ's body broken for you," I could tell she was fighting back tears and so was I. I had them streaming down my face. Very humbling experience!

Then Sunday morning, while waiting on Tollie to finish getting ready I was reading my blogs. I was reading from John Alan Turner and it was so good! I read it out loud to Tollie and he suggested I print it out and give it to Jerry, especially since it went right along with his sermon. So I did. Tollie had a call during the morning that Robbie was sick and would not be able to do the power point. Tollie asked me if I would do it. I have done it many times, but we have a newer program at Christ Covenant and I had not ever done it. So I agreed.

We got to the building and he was showing me the program, really easy! He then took the article to Jerry, the minister and had him read it. Jerry read it and asked if I would read it to the congregation. Tollie came back and asked me to read it. What?!? A woman in the pulpit in the middle of the service? Of course, I would! I told Tollie I just hoped the ceiling would not fall down on me!

I became a little nervous the closer it got to time. We also had to coordinate Tollie coming to take my place while I read the article and then I would come back to the tower. It all worked very well. I read the article and had many tell me they appreciated what I had read. And guess what? The roof did not cave in, there was no rumblings that I had done that and all is well. Imagine that!?!

So this Christmas as been a time of new beginnings, new experiences, humbling experiences and trying to find my way back to God ~ inching closer every day.

Now, we are looking forward to the New Year and I have a plan in my mind for my health but I cannot share it with you. The reason I cannot share it with you is that as soon as I do, it will not work. I have experienced that in the past. I have a plan and I tell someone thinking it will give me support and accountability but all it seems to do is not work then. So......I am going to keep it to myself this time. Working on the plan and seeing if it works with me not telling anyone. Hopefully, you will hear of changes coming about little by little. Until then, pray for me! Actually, pray for always!

I miss my younger daughter. She is in Missouri and spending time with her boyfriend's family. I know she is having a good time, but it was hard to hear her voice Sunday and especially when she said she was really missing us and had been crying very easily lately. I miss her and just hope she is having a great time. I don't want her to think she has made any mistakes in making the decisions she has made. I think the time in Missouri will be great for her, especially as the spring comes and the weather is better and the love birds appear!!!! We will see!

My parents are not doing as well as I had hoped. My sister and her husband went to their house for Christmas. It was not planned but they decided at the last minute to do it. Cheryl says that mother and dad are depressed and that dad is not making much progress. He still has to have so much help doing anything and mother is so tired. My sister asked me to go to Lubbock in the next few weeks. I want to go and I need to go. But.......

My work is starting fresh and furious. I have new projects to do. That limits when I can go. And then my Christmas present re-gift (another story for another time) starts for six weeks on Monday nights. I will not miss any of those. That limits me again when I can go. I am trying to decide how I can go maybe from a Tuesday to a Saturday or Sunday. But then in January we have some missionary friends coming. Mindy is coming home the first of the month, iiiiiiiiiiiiiii! It is complicated and I don't know what to do. Please pray for me as I plan and prepare to do what I have to and need to do. Help me make good decisions for me and my family as well as my parents and sister! Life is complicated sometimes and I can assure you that getting old is not for sissys.

Have a great day, a great New Year and stay safe.

CHRISTMAS IS ALMOST HERE!

2005-12-19T09:12:00.000-06:00

Christmas will be here this weekend! Where did the year go? Because after next week, we will be in 2006! I remember when it was scary to reach 2000 and now we are five years later! Wow! Time is flying.

I have several hurry up things to do this week. I have decided to sew for my grand kids. I am making them night gowns. It is okay, they don't read yet, at least not blogs anyway! They are only 5 and 3 1/2!

They are so cute! I know my grandkids are the cutest and prettiest in the world! They are certainly the most fun! We went shopping on Saturday, to the outlet mall about two hours away. Ashton, the oldest has really become a home body, especially since the hurricane. She doesn't seem to want to go anywhere. I started talking about the shopping trip on Thursday, really making it sound fun in my voice. She was excited about going! Yet Saturday morning, she was lamenting the fact she couldn't stay home. She really wanted to play and stay home! But when I got to their apartment, she was ready to go and sounded okay. She did okay until after the first store. Of course, the two hours to get there was something of a challenge as well. We did some singing and laughing along the way! She was a real trooper, though.

The only thing was that I had planned to take the two girls with me alone and do some shopping for their parents. It just didn't seem to happen. So, I guess I will try again later in the week. Yikes! Going to the mall a few days before Christmas, that sounds like suicide. Maybe Walmart would be better. Walmart would certainly be more exciting to Ashton. She likes Walmart and is always ready to that! So, looks like Walmart, here we come. I will try on Wednesday and will let you know how it goes.

Only two more days to do my cooking! Every year I make a basket of goodies for those at work. I make candy, fudge, cheese straws and this year I am trying some new cookie bars. I only have today and Wednesday to finish this up because I have to take it to work with me on Thursday.

So......better get busy and get going today! Have a great day!

A WEEK ALREADY?

2005-12-18T22:00:00.000-06:00

Has it really been a week already since I last posted? They say time flies when you are having a good time. Am I having a good time yet?

Actually, I did have a good week. On Tuesday, my son-in-law, (which I hate the term because he is the son I never had!) and I went to Austin to help my youngest move her things home to my house. We arrived about 8:00 pm and went to Jason's Deli to have dinner. We enjoyed our soup and sandwich and then went to the house where Mindy has lived the past year or so. She has rented a room from a young lady whose parents still own the large home in the elite area of west Austin. The house is located in the hills and I do mean hills. The driveway is at a 90 degree angle to the house. Very interesting for parking! It also means we have stairs to maneuver as well as the steep driveway.

Mindy informed us on Tuesday night that she had to work. She had failed to mention this before, or at least I didn't remember hearing it. Anyway, she had to work from 9:00 to noon. So, Paul and I "slept in" sort of, sleeping until about 9:00 and then began packing. We had most of the large items packed in the van by 11:00 am. I had packed the van in my head several times during the night! So....it went fairly smoothly. Especially when I measured the foundation for the day bed at 76 inches and matched it to the 76 inches exactly for the space we had in the van. We were able to pack a day bed with wood frame and all, a cedar chest, dining table, plastic bin with drawers, wicker chair, all her kitchen stuff from pots and pans to groceries, hanging clothes, pictures on the walls, lamps, desk, and two book cases in my van. The only thing we were unable to get were the four dining room chairs. We actually could have gotten them if we had not planned to take Mindy to the airport in San Antonio on Thursday. I think we did really well.

Paul and I both are good packers and have good spatial sense! We decided if we ever needed a job we could start our own buisness for organizing and packing/moving. We would be really good at it.

We left Austin around 4:30 in deep traffic! And I mean deep traffic. It took us 1 1/2 hours to get to the south side of Austin. We would go a few miles and stop, go a few miles and stop. I don't know how anyone can live in Austin and like it because of the traffic. It seems it is always that way, at least every time I have been there.

We got to San Antonio where we had a room at the airport LaQuinta. We ordered pizza and watched a movie, "Must Love Dogs." It was an okay movie. We all decided watching the previews of it was as much fun as watching the whole movie! We got up Thursday and took Mindy to the airport. Paul was able to help Mindy with her large bags and get her checked in. That was a big help. Mindy parked her truck at the hotel and will be able to ride the shuttle when she returns in about three weeks. She was so excited about seeing Trent again.

I learned from Trent's mother by e-mail that Trent was a little excited too! I think they will have a great time in the next three weeks and have a Merry Christmas. Mindy then moves to Missouri in January. Coming home on Thursday reminded me that she will be moving three states away! I will miss her. Even though we didn't see a lot of her while she was in Austin, she was only four hours away. Now she will be as far away as Lubbock was, or even a little further! Looks like we will depend on airlines again.

I got home Thursday afternoon and Paul helped me unload the van. It didn't take long to unload all the stuff and pile it in several areas. Now.....I have to find a home for most of it. She will be taking some things to Missouri, but no furniture or kitchen stuff. She will be living with Aunt Betty, Trent's aunt and she has an extra room. So... for the next five months, Mindy will be living with her in Kansas City. She plans to go to New Hampton on weekends to spend that time with Trent and his mother Lavonne.

Tollie left for Tyler to work over the weekend. He is replacing all the shelving for the computer room and trying to clean up the mess there. The server was moved to Tyler when we were evacuated for the hurricane and it was decided to leave it up there. So....he had to make a good home for it and that meant a weekend, especially a Sunday when they could un-plug the computer. For some reason the sales people get a little cranky when you un-plug their computers!

I have had a good time with my g-kids. We went shopping yesterday at the outlet mall and enjoyed a fun day. Even though it was rainy and overcast, it was a good day for shopping. I plan to cook tomorrow and finish up some presents by sewing and and wrapping and mailing a package. I can't believe Christmas is here this next weekend. Where did the year go? It has been a whirlwind, especially the last few months with the hurricane and my parents struggles with their health.

Speaking of my parents, my dad is back home. They came home on Friday. Mother fell while dad was in the hospital, actually she fell at the hospital, as she entered dad's room. She had to be taken to the ER and have her gash above her eye glued together. She is not sure what happened. It is getting harder and harder to see them staying in Lubbock with all that has happened lately.

I am getting tired and ready for bed now. I hope to get a lot done tomorrow so need to get a fresh start in the morning. I hope you have a great week.

HERE WE GO AGAIN!?!

2005-12-12T22:22:00.000-06:00

I certainly hope not, but I am afraid we are at it again. My mother called tonight to say that she had to take my dad to the ER today. He had not done well over the weekend. He was really tired and she had to help him with everything. When the therapist came today he suggested they call a nurse and she heard a crackle in his lung. When they talked with the doctor's office, he said to take him to the ER. Mother called me while at home getting some things for both of them as they were going to admit him. They said first off his oxygen was too low.

My dad was a smoker for most of his life. I know this is affecting him now. He doesn't think it has anything to do with anything, but I believe it will affect him for the rest of his life. I know that was my main concern when he had the surgery. With the weather getting cold, he may have pneumonia. We will see tomorrow as more develops. At least he is on oxygen and where he needs to be.

I am leaving tomorrow for Austin to help move my youngest daughter's things home. She is moving to Missouri. It is almost here and I will certainly miss her. She has been in Austin for two years and although she was not home a lot, it was not too far if she wanted to come or we wanted to go to see her. But Missouri, that is a different story. She will not be four hours away. She will be more like 15 hours away. We are back to flying to see her or taking a week to do it.

I do hope we can make a trip out there in February or March. It will be fun to drive up and see her in her new surroundings. She starts her internship in January. She is going up there at this time for a visit, for three weeks. She will be spending the holidays with Trent and his family. We will miss her but I am glad she is going. She will be back for a short period to finish out her job in January and then permanently move then. Hopefully, she will be home for a few days in January.

Christmas is almost here and I am just about ready. I really need to get a few more things, mainly for the little girls. I wanted to do something really special, but now I'm not sure I will have the time. We will see.

Life can change on a dime! I keep telling myself that and when my previous boss found he has a brain tumor, we both lamented that fact.

Tollie is wearing a heart monitor today. He went to the doctor after they had taken him off his Toprol. He is trying to figure out what he can do about allergies and that is part of the puzzle to treat the allergies! Very confusing and complicated.

There are lots who need prayers at this time.

Tollie, for his heart and allergies!
Me and my son-in-law, Paul as we travel to Austin
My dad to get better soon
My mom as she takes care of dad and is not in great health herself.
My sister and her husband as they are now "homeless." They have sold their home and the one they will live in is not ready yet. So they are living out of suitcases at their children's homes.
Fred Schwartz, my previous boss.
Gina, my best friend as she goes for a checkup tomorrow for her breast cancer. Please, please Lord let them find nothing this time!!!!!
My attitude toward a few at church when things didn't go very well at a meeting yesterday. I am working on it real hard.
The elders, to be men of integrity and prayer and more than paper shufflers!

Have a great week! Mine has certainly started off great!?!

WONDERINGS!

2005-12-06T09:19:00.000-06:00

I was wondering the other day what it would be like if the kids had not moved close to us? Would the girls know us as well? Like us as well as they seem? Where would be spending Christmas this year? I know it does not good to ponder these things too long, but I did think about them and it brought me to thankfulness.

I am thankful that the kids did move close. I am thankful that the girls love to sit in the Pops lap and let him read them books. I am thankful that those little arms reach around my neck and hold me tight and say, "I miss you grandma!" I am thankful that Emma calls me grandma sometimes and Piggy sometimes. It is fun to hear either way!

I am thankful that Thanksgiving was so much fun and every one seemed to enjoy themselves. I am thankful that Thanksgiving gives way to promise of more fun times.

What are we doing Christmas? I have no idea. I did decorate and I am ready for whatever happens. We will be home, maybe by ourselves or maybe with the kids. Who knows? It doesn't really matter. We will be thankful for whatever happens and life will continue and we will look toward the promise of tomorrow's joys.

TODAY!

2005-12-02T08:25:00.000-06:00

I like the saying:

"Today is the yesterday you worried about tomorrow."

I had to read this several times before it made any sense! But I now know that it is my mantra. I have to remind myself not to worry about anything further along than this moment in time.

This moment in time I have stopped up toilets and cannot take my shower! Also, this moment in time, I am trying frantically to get a plumber. We called our plumber yesterday and he did not return our call. I should have known something then, but today he cannot come. He said it would be tomorrow afternoon! No way, Jose! or Johnny or Paul or Tom, Dick or Harry! I have no toilet use and my house is beginning to smell like there is no toilet use. Afterall, what are you suppose to do at night?

Let me tell you, when you get up at night and have to trudge across the house to a different bathroom and remember to not flush! It wakes you up totally. I can usually get up, do my buisness and go right back to bed, falling back asleep as I climb in bed! But when you have to do things differently, and your sense of smell is heightened and you can't flush, well you tend to be wide awake and it takes longer to go back to sleep.

So, today, at this moment, this moment that will be yesterday tomorrow, I am deprived of my normal sleep, can't shower and holding it as long as I can!!!

Yeah, I think I have found a plumber who can be here this afternoon! This afternoon? Well, better than tomorrow afternoon!

It is going to be a long day!!!!!!!

THANKSGIVING!!!

2005-11-26T22:47:00.000-06:00

I was so worried a few weeks ago, thinking I could not get everything done for Thanksgiving. Now, on the other side, I wonder why I worried so much. Actually, it was good to be gone two weeks before hand and have everything planned out in my mind. Then when I actually had to do all of it, it was easy to do. I got it all done and everything went smoothly.

We had our company, 13 people here at my house for Thanksgiving and we had a great time. Everyone seemed to enjoy it so much. We laughed and everyone pretty much did what they enjoyed doing. We played games, watched TV, took naps, went to bed early, went to bed late, watched movies, did some shopping, eat out, eat desserts, eat Turkey, prayed, talked about scripture and prayed with our eyes open. What a joyful time this week has been for me.

I had my best friend beside me all the way. Tollie was right there helping me and doing what he could. My next bestest friend was there for most of it. Gina was here, although she was feeling a little under the weather, she was here and we had some good talks. My family was here, my kids and g-kids. That is always a treat. And new friends, Lavonne and Trent. Ours could not have been happier or more fun. It met every expectation I had.

I talked with my folks today and my dad got to go home yesterday. He is doing well, sounded in good spirits. My mom is doing well, although a little tired. She is doing things she usually doesn't do and I think actually enjoying it. Home health is coming to do therapy and be there for them if they need it. That is good and I think they are surprised by the service.

Life is good, thank you God and God bless all those travelling, especially tomorrow as Mindy, Trent and Lavonne travel to Austin, drop off Mindy and continue through Texas, Oklahoma to Missiouri. Be safe!

I'M BACK!!!

2005-11-20T17:20:00.000-06:00

Well, not really. I am in Arlington at my sister's house, breaking up my 10 hour trip home from Lubbock.

To update you, my dad is doing great, my mom is doing great. I left them this morning, reluctant to leave but anxious to get home. I have been gone almost two weeks. My dad had cervical neck surgery is now in rehab, doing great. The only reason he went to rehab was because my mom was in the hospital and there was no one for dad to come home to help take care of him. It was hard the first few days. My dad is one who likes control and in charge. The first few days of rehab, he knew he was not in control and certainly not in charge. And rehab is certainly different from the "hospital". Even though he is in the same building, only on another side of the hospital, things are done differently. When you are in the hospital, people want to help you go to the bathroom and serve you lunch and take care of you. When you are in rehab, you are expected to do as much for yourself as you are able. Help is there, but you have to ask for it. For an 82 year old man who has been babied all his 62 years of marriage and has babied his wife for those same 62 years, this is a hard task. My dad does not like to have to ask for help and is certainly not going to ask twice!!!

Dad is doing great though. I am in hopes he can come home this week. There is a case management meeting on Tuesday morning and they should let us know then when he is expected to come home. It will be determined then also if he is to have outpatient therapy after he goes home. Dad is feeling much better, in fact he said this morning he felt great! He can "bounce" out of bed and go to the potty chair next to the bed by himself in the night. He can walk with a walker and get around as needed with the walker. He is able to dress himself and has no trouble eating and feeding himself. The only concern is the residual effects of the pinched nerves that cause him to have a very weak left leg and tingling in his hands.

His favorite part of rehab is the bowl of red beans. He thought at first it was odd to do this, but they had him massage the red beans in and out with his hands. He was surprised how good it made his hands feel. For a few minutes after doing this, he has "normal" feeling in his hands. They have told him they plan to have him put his feet in the bowl next week. I believe he will come home on Wednesday or Friday. Not Thursday, since that is a holiday. My prayer is for Wednesday.

My mom is doing good. My dad had his surgery on Friday, the 11th and mother was very weak and pale that whole day. The day before she had a injections of cortisone in her left surgery by her rheumatologists. She is on Coumadin and the two didn't mix well. Normally, she would have gone to her Coumadin clinic and had her PT tested, but because of the surgery, we forgot to have her do this. Needless to say as Friday morning passed with her passing out every time she stood up, we knew she was not doing well. But how do you focus on her when your dad is having major surgery. We also thought most of it was due to her stress level.

Saturday morning, she could hardly get out of bed. She felt weak, nauseated and everytime she sat up, she was almost pass out. So to the ER we went with her. My sister had stayed the night with my dad and when she came home, we knew that is where we were headed. After blood test and then repeat blood tests it was determined her blood was four times thinner than it should be and the volume was low also. They would admit her to the hospital.

Now, my sister and I had our hands full. We tagged each other as we passed in the hallways going back and forth. "Tag, you're it!" At least we kept each other laughing!! Mother was given two pints of whole blood on Saturday and although they planned to give her two pints on Sunday, it was determined she didn't need more. She had an esophageal scope on Monday. There was only a small tear found in her duodenum, not enough to cause internal bleeding. So a colonoscopy was planned for Tuesday. But Monday morning, she bottomed out. She had pain in her abdomen and her blood pressure dropped dramatically. It got quite scary for several hours. They took x-rays and more x-rays and gave her Dopemine to get her BP back up. She finally began to rally Monday evening but it was determined she could not have the colonoscope on Tuesday. It was thought that her electrolytes were out of whack and she was having too much go out and not enough liquid in. So they reversed things and took her completely off the Coumadin.

It was determined then on Monday that my dad would go to rehab. Believe me, that was a relief for me. At least he would be taken care of and we would not have to stay in the hospital through the night to stay with him. The heart institute where my mom was didn't allow family to stay the night, so we both could go home and get a good night's sleep. I was looking forward to that.

Dad moved to rehab on Tuesday afternoon, but his first impressions of this facility were not great! He was not very happy in the next few days. Mom was to have her colonoscopy on Wednesday morning, which my sister and I were glad to have done. We knew if mom left the hospital without having this done, it would not be done. Mom was not too enthused about this, but agreed. We spent the evening with her on Tuesday, keeping her laughing and encouraging her on as she drank the colyte to prepare for the test. She did great. This was surprising since she had had a panic attack earlier in the day when the decision was made to have this done!

Wednesday morning went smoothly and we were told mother had internal hemorrhoids and a polyp that would be sent off. We assumed they would keep her to make sure her BP didn't bottom out again. We left about noon to take my sister back home to Arlington. She had to go home and I was left to take care of both parents! (I was the one insisting that my sister go home. She had to get ready for their move in two weeks and had issues at home!) As I was returning from Abilene, I got a call. Mother's friend was in a panic that mother had been dismissed and there was no one to take her home. I called the hospital and talked with the nurses station and explained that I was on my way and would pick her up later that night. They were fine with that.

Remember, we are talking about people in their 70's and 80's who believe every word a doctor tells them and when they are told to go home, they believe they have to leave righ then or be thrown on the street. I called mother to explain I had talked with them and it was okay for her to stay there. I would come and get her.

So....I got mother home on Wednesday evening. She is feeling much better. I on the other hand was not happy, not knowing what the doctor was thinking. Did she still have internal bleeding? Who or when were they treating the anemia? Mother left the hospital with a card stating that she was to see her heart doctor on January 30th. A whole two months away. There seemed to be no conclusion. I called the doctor's office the next morning, asking my questions and expecting a call back. Mother said she didn't think I would get a call back.

On Friday, I called the office again and explained that I was leaving town and had to find out the answers that day. Later in the day, a nurse called me and as I explained the questions, she understood my confusion and feeling of incomplete treatment. Finally, about 5:15 I received a call stating that the doctor thought he had left mother a prescription for iron and they would call in the prescription. Needless to say, I am not too happy with her doctor and plan to write a letter to him to get the rest of my questions answered. I know doctors are busy, I know they have lots of patients, but in this case, it was neglect. I will do what I can to rectify this.

My mother is one that would have gone on and not questioned any of this. She was glad I was there to see that this was done.

I left today, after visiting my dad this morning. When we arrived, he said he felt great and I think he is well on his way to full recovery. I asked him before I left if he would be uncomfortable for me to pray for them. He said he didn't mind and I prayed over them. I am asking God's blessing and peace to be with them. This is all new territory for them and I know God will get them through this.

My mom is not one to stay by herself and this is hard for her. I just talked with her and she is okay! God, please give mom comfort and peace tonight!

CHANGING AGAIN

2005-11-08T20:41:00.000-06:00

I am in Arlington at my sister's house. I am on my way to Lubbock and stopped here to get my sister. We found out, when I was in Huntsville, that probably now daddy will not have surgery until Thursday or Friday. The doctor wants to give daddy some more steroid injections to decrease the swelling in the neck. My mother also said that the carotid artery that caused daddy an anuersym many years ago was blocked again. The doppler came back okay and the heart doctor gave the okay for surgery. But I am not sure about the artery. Mother said the doctor mentioned he would have to be very careful and work around that. So.....not sure what that means.

Needless to say, we covet prayers for my family at this time. I am praying that daddy does well in surgery and that the surgery will be soon, if they are going to do it. My sister and I are going to Lubbock tomorrow and we will come back this way by the weekend. I need to be back at home by Sunday, so I can return the car I am driving.

Thank you, Lord for working for a car dealership. A perk is getting to use a car that uses less gas than my big ole van. But, I also know that I need to get the car back so they can sell it. I am driving a VW Jetta. Not a bad little car to drive.

Again, thank you for your prayers for my family and I will try to keep you in touch by way of my blog. It may be this weekend before I can update since my parents don't have a computer. I'm not sure when I will be at a computer again. The prayer should be for the best for my dad. Thanks again.

CHANGING TIMES

2005-11-07T16:59:00.000-06:00

Well, it looks like I may be headed to Lubbock tomorrow. Dad had to go to the ER today. He could not walk and when he talked with the doc he suggested they go to the ER. I talked with mom when they put him in a room. The PA says they will do surgery tomorrow night or Wednesday night. Wow! That is quick, but so much better than the week of Thanksgiving!

Thank you for your prayers for my dad. I know you will be praying for them. Dad is 82 and has heart problems. They did a doppler this afternoon and that should be a clue as to whether they can do the surgery or not. Mom also said they were taking him to surgery to do a steroid injection tonight. Not sure what that is about, but probably wanting to see if they can delay the surgery. We will see. I will probably leave sometime tomorrow and go to Dallas and get my sister and then we will head to Lubbock.

I am having a flu shot in the morning and I don't want to not get that. I need that! So......I may be hurrying to get out of town tomorrow. But now is so much better than in a couple of weeks. I can then be home by the weekend and have a good two weeks to get ready for my company. I am sorry my dad is having this much trouble. I still am anxious about the surgery, not sure that surgery will be the answer, but I am here and they are there and I have to trust they know what they are doing. I am sorry he is having so much trouble.

Again, please keep my parents in your prayers. This is such a problem when you live 12 hours away from aging parents. Wish I were closer. But for whatever reason, we are still here, even after three years of prayers to be closer to my family. (My family, at least kids, moved here). I am closer to my kids but not my parents and they are alone in Lubbock. Thank you for the church family there as they minister to them.

PROGRESS!

2005-11-07T10:15:00.000-06:00

I have made progress. This weekend I was able to clean the garage, move the old freezer and move the weight bench out of the extra room. I need to get going this morning and now clean the bedrooms.

Yes, the kids moved back to their apartment. It was really quiet at our house this weekend. But we did have some quiet time for Tollie and I on Friday night and enjoyed being alone! But I do miss those little kisses and hugs from the girls. Ashton was so adamant that they were back in their apartment. I think it is best for them that they be home with their things and have their own space. They are such little troopers.

I will continue to clean and get the house ready for our company. Only 2 1/2 weeks until Thanksgiving and our house will be full and full of love. I am so looking forward to it. It will be such a blast. We will wish it were not over so quickly, I know.

I don't have a lot of time today as I need to get the vaccum out and start cleaning the floors. Have a great day. Hope everyone is feeling better! I certainly am.

BEING TAGGED

2005-11-05T08:55:00.000-06:00

Several in the blog world are tagging others to see what their 23 post had to say and especially the 5th sentence in that post. Supposedly, it has deep meaning. Here is my sentence:

First, I am so tired. I just want to sleep.

Yep, I guess that could sum up the bigger portion of my life! I do feel tired a lot. In fact, I use to feel so tired I wanted to sleep all the time and then I finally realized I was depressed and took "happy pills" for a while. But, now I am not taking anything! Back in the summer I went to my family doctor and the PA put me on a cholesterol lowering drug and I didn't like the way it made me feel. She tried some other medications, two different ones and each one made me feel wierd. So......back in September, I went off everything. I don't take vitamins, no glucosamine-chondroitin and certainly no cholesterol medication. I read somewhere that taking the glucosamine-chondroitin can raise your cholesterol. So I figured if I stopped taking it, then I wouldn't need the cholesterol medication any more. And.......if I don't go back to the doctor then I won't know if my cholesterol is lowered or not! I think is a form of sleeping?!? Just ignorance is bliss? Out of sight, out of mind? Of course my mind is out there anyway. Sort of broke!

So, maybe there is deep meaning in my sentence. I am asleep, so be sure you don't wake me when you come by to read and comment!

TODAY MAY BE THE DAY!

2005-11-04T08:33:00.000-06:00

Today is Friday! Friday is the last day of this week, well almost anyway. Saturday is the last day and it is a work day for me and mine.

It looks like the kids apartment may be ready at last! This may be the last day they are here, or maybe tomorrow. I think they like being here, of which I am glad. I am glad my home is such that people can come and stay and enjoy themselves. But there comes a time when I need my house back! Okay, okay, I know I could kick them out and say enough already! But I want them here! I love having my grandkids come in and kiss me good morning and say "have a nice day!" I love that Emma came to me crying this morning and just needed a hug. I love having them here!

But in the greater scheme of things, I need my house back. I need to get started cleaning and getting ready for company. I have deep cleaning to do in both rooms that are occupied. Today will be cleaning in the garage and outdoors. Tomorrow will be cleaning in the bathroom, changing out faucets. We have a problem with the faucets in the front bathroom. So....I have purchased new faucets and hopefully, they will improve the function. I need to clean the closet in there and the shower and tub and especially the floor. I need to clean my own bathroom.

I think it is funny how that as we live and do our everyday things, the room can get filthy around us and it seems to creep up on me. I know I should do somethings every day, some every week but sometimes it is several weeks before I get around to it. And then when something like Rita comes along, it may be more than several weeks! So......I have a lot to do.

I have only about two and half weeks before Thanksgiving! I spent time Wednesday looking at tile for my kitchen. I think insurance is going to pay for our kitchen damage from Rita afterall. We spoke with our agent and he agreed that it should be paid for. Our deductible is large, but it should be enough to finish out our deductible and still get some cash to do the job. I have to get our receipts copied and faxed to them. I don't want to be greedy but I do want to get what is coming to me from insurance. Afterall, I have been paying into Farmers for 35 years and have only had a few claims in all that time. This is ligitimate damage and they should pay us for the damage.

I found a pretty porcelain tile. Wouldn't you know it is more expensive than ceramic! But it is so pretty and goes well with the laminate flooring in the den. It will allow us to replace the kitchen and still have continunity into the den. I think it will make a good flow. Tollie is even talking of replacing the carpet in the hall and bedrooms. That would be great, but I don't want to use all of our funds up. It has been nice to have surplus these last few weeks. We need to keep it that way. You never know what may come up!

I spent some time yesterday getting recipes off the internet to make bar cookies. I want to make up some batches this weekend and get ready for my Christmas baskets. I think this year, instead of doing several things, I am just going to make all kids of different bar cookies. I think it will be fun to try different types and variations and then make a basket of them. You see, every year I make up baskets for those people at work. I have done this for several years and now I can't not do it. Mr. R would be so disappointed if I didn't do it. He looks forward to it every year. I have always, in the past, made a loaf of homemade bread and then added some homemade pear jelly to it. But this year, I think I will do something different and make the various cookies. It will be fun to see how many different types of cookies!

Have a great weekend. I plan to work, work, and work some more and get ready! The holidays will be here before we know it.

PS Haven't heard from my dad, yet. He should get the package today or tomorrow, hopefully!

TRIBUTE!

2005-11-02T09:45:00.000-06:00

I want to write a tribute to my husband. He is the greatest and I love him so very much. It seems lately, I have not taken the time to really let him know how much he means to me. We had so much going on and it will only get worse during the holidays.

So......this is to say that I love my man more than words can describe. I know he is great and I can't explain to you here how he makes me feel and how proud I am to be his wife! One of the best things about my Tollie is that others respect him so much. I work part-time at the same place Tollie has worked for 28 years. I have a great time at work, mainly because I am respected and valued, only because they value and respect Tollie so much. This has to be the reason because it started that way, even before they really knew me!

I thank God every day for Tollie and look forward to many more years of marriage and happiness and joy and fun with him. We have been married 35 years as of last June. We have been through many difficulties and much more happiness. And through it all, we find strength in each other after we follow our Lord's lead. I think that is one great thing about us, we have the Lord in our lives and we both look to Him for guidance and that makes it easier to deal with anything.

Tollie was and is a wonderful dad. I say was and is because his dad days have changed since our girls are grown. He was a wonderful dad in that he was involved with the girls. He made every effort to talk with them and be there for them and love them. He was not afraid to make them cry or laugh! He had their best interest at heart and made sure they knew the Lord and what he had done for him. The girls love their dad and he is special in a lot of ways. When our oldest got married, she made sure and mouthed "I love you, daddy" into the video camera set up at the front. Her dad cherishes this moment. Of course, it was a surprise to him and he loved it! There is a specialness with both girls and I thank God that he has been an example of what true love is and a mentor for a good marriage. I think my daughter has chosen wisely for her mate. We think of Paul as our son, not our son-in-law. And our other daughter will choose wisely as well. We have been concerned about some of her choices for boyfriends at times, but she has a good one now. So we have confidence she will find that right mate. One of the things their dad always told the girls is, "look for the right mate but more importantly, be the right mate." I think that shows a lot of wisdom on his part. That shows the kind of dad he is.

Tollie has always had a heart of compassion for those less fortunate. He is a hard worker and really loves what he does at work. He is a hero at work so much of the time, (when he fixes a computer, they all love him) and he is my hero all the time.

If you don't know Tollie, you should meet him and get to know him. He is special and I am thankful he is mine and I am his. We are one and I look forward to the rest of our lives together and in love and peace with each other. Come grow old with me, the best is yet to be!!!!

ANTICIPATION!

2005-11-01T08:38:00.000-06:00

I am counting the days for Thanksgiving. I was told once that if you look too much to the future, you lose the days of the present. I guess that could be true, but I am so looking forward to Thanksgiving and I don't want anything to get in the way.

So.....I am a little ticked at my dad for scheduling his surgery for the Monday before Thanksgiving!!!! I know he is having trouble and wants to get it done as soon as possible, but I think in all this I am mainly concerned that he is having this type of surgery to begin with. He believes he is going to live forever and is so determined to do whatever to get him to that point!

My dad has had some recent problems with cervical neck herniation. It started only a few months ago and when he saw a neurosurgeon, he immediately wanted to do surgery. Of course, he told him it was no hurry and it was an elective surgery! I told my sister I would like to check and see if the doc has just bought a new Mercedes or something! As far as I know, no other modalities have been tried. So why the hurry to do surger? It will be a three hour surgery, complicated with metal plates, screws, cages and done posteriorly, which I understand is not usually done, at least according to the articles I have read. He will have a long recovery time. He will have to wear a neck collar for some time and it could take up to six months for full recovery and again, according to the articles I have read, will never be the same. When you fuse the spine, it is never "like it was." My dad is 82 years old! The biggest thing is he is in no pain! He has some numbness and tingling in his arms and hands. And he is having a little trouble walking from a dragging foot. Those are his symptoms!

So.....I ask for prayers for my dad. I ask for prayers of wisdom and an open mind to other solutions to try. I ask for prayers for my mom who is there to take care of him. I ask for prayers for my sister, who just broke her ankle and is now on crutches. She plans to be there for the surgery, but is unsure at this point. I ask for prayers for me. I have given mother and daddy a choice of my being there for the surgery, coming in one day and leaving the day after the surgery or coming a week later and spending the week to help them out. It is in their hands. But I have told them, I will be home on Wednesday before Thanksgiving!

How cold and hard you say? Well, my daughter's boyfriend is coming for Thanksgiving and is bringing his mother. We have never met and I am so anxious to visit with her. We have e-mailed and I know we will be friends immediately! The Lewis', Lavonne, Trent, Mindy, the kids and g-kids and us! A houseful, but a house full of love and laughter and games and enjoyment. I have pictured it for so long and especially after Rita came through and we wondered if it would even take place. Now......I am counting the days in anticipation of a fun time.

TRICK OR TREAT!?!

2005-10-31T08:17:00.000-06:00

I find it amusing that my kids did not want their kids to have anything to do with Halloween when they were first married and first parenting days! But now, they still don't like Halloween but are in the trenches. Actually, my son-in-law Paul is in the trenches mainly because he is a youth minister and has those responsibilities. So.......our congregation is doing a Trunk or Treat. This is where members of the church decorate the trunks of their car and the kids then go around and do the trick or treating thing from these trunks. It is a safe environment that allows for the experiences without the trouble or problems associated with Halloween. We are having a chili supper first and then inviting the community to come and participate.

Last evening, Paul and I went canvassing around the neighborhood, passing out flyers annoucing the invitation to the Trunk or Treat. He confessed that he didn't mind doing it and it was the first time he had ever done anything like that. I told him I didn't mind doing it as it was totally harmless, and in fact was a first step in introducing ourselves to the neighborhood. We talked with those jogging and outside during our walk.

I must preface this event with the fact that Paul was very discouraged yesterday. He became the youth minister for our church back in the summer and has been doing an excellent job. But he is very discouraged. He has a small youth group. Really only two kids in the H.S. group and two in the J.H group. There is an additional kid that graduated but has stayed around. The problem he is having is that the kids want to do the fun things, but when it comes to doing the "spiritual" things, like the passing of these flyers, they find excuses to not do it. That is why he and I did the passing out of the flyers. He is discouraged to the point of wanting to go back to teaching and I think if he could would start tomorrow and kiss this experience goodbye!

I have been trying real hard to encourage him to hang in there and concentrate on the younger kids and do what he can. He is limited when he has so few and until we do something to encourage and get young families to visit, it will be hard. Paul has tended to "jump" from one activity to another, which includes jobs as well. I had hoped he would stay with the teaching and I believe he will return there next summer and hopefully stay. They need some stability in their young family. So, I pray for them and Paul's decisions and will try to encourage them as I can.

I am encouraging another young family who is really struggling right now. I walked out in faith a couple of Sundays ago and confronted a young man with his sinful actions in their marriage and told him we needed to talk. His wife and parents did not think he would go through with it, but Tollie and I had dinner with this young family last week and I boldly challenged them both to work, work together and save this family. They have two precious young souls counting on them to make this work and they need to put aside their own wants and desires.

I know there a lot of hurting people and especially young families who need our help, guidance, prayers and mentoring. I pray I am mentoring boldly to help save them. Pray with us as we teach young families in class and work with them each day.

HOME TODAY!

2005-10-30T07:02:00.000-06:00

Tollie will be home today. I am ready! He called last night. They were at the lodge at the base of the Chisos mountains in Big Bend, Texas. They usually stay in the desert and camp another night, but they were all tired! So, they went to the lodge, got a room and were able to shower and rest. I am so thankful he is down and okay. I did worry a little about him. As I said in an earlier post, he usually prepares a lot for this trip but this time he prepared litttle. Mainly, he prepared little because of hurricane Rita. We were gone for two weeks and during that two weeks, he was so busy! He worked constantly, getting everything back to normal. I was glad he went on the trip, but I know he would have liked to have had more time to prepare. He is okay. Now the long trip home!

Sunday! My son-in-law is preaching today. It will be a good day!

FINALLY, NO PAIN

2005-10-29T10:24:00.000-05:00

Finally, no pain when I swollow this morning. The first in about five days. I guess the antibiotic is working. I did wake during the night and had a bad sore throat on the right side and my right ear was really hurting. I finally go some saline spray and poured it down the right nostril and then turned my head to the right. I could feel the saline going down the eustacheon tube and it felt warm going into the ear. I think that is why things are better this morning. It really helped.

It is funny the things you remember. There are so many things I don't remember from my childhood, even my children's childhoods. But this I do remember. When Mindy was a baby, she had lots of ear problems. She did not like being in crowds. I mean this was when she was about two weeks old. I would be nursing her and if I talked to someone else in a normal voice, she would cry out. And if we were in a large crowd, like at church, or her baby shower!, she cried a lot. My mother finally took her to the back room and rocked her at the baby shower. She just didn't like a lot of noise. Later she had to have tubes in her ears and that helped a lot.

But her pediatrician told me to put nose drops in her nostril and rotate her head to that side and back just a little. It would help open up her ears. I have remembered this. I don't use nasal sprays much because you can get so addicted to them and messed up with them. But I do use saline spray and it really helps. I think that is one of the reason I have been sick much. For about a year, I used saline spray every night before I went to bed. I has really changed how I am able to not cough and get a dry spot in my throat that would make me cough and gag. I don't really know how to explain it, but it has helped it.

The kids are still here. Emma was sick with a stomach virus last night. So the Goebel's are all reeling from little sleep. I just hope none of the others of us get it! She is better this morning but still complaining of some nausea. Jamie said there is a lot of stomach virus going around at her school.

I didn't sleep well last night. I couldn't get to sleep. Once I got there, it was better, but I will really be glad to have Tollie back. I just hope he is enjoying his hike and doing okay.

Have a great weekend. The weather should be good here. We are suppose to get some rain on Monday night and Tuesday and I hope so, because we really need it.

FEELING BETTER?

2005-10-28T10:49:00.000-05:00

Well, I think I am feeling better. I went to bed last night with a sore throat on the right side. The left is doing much better. That tonsil is about the normal size, but the right side tonsil is still quite swollen and sore. It still hurts to swollow and my right ear has been hurting, especially last night.

But all in all, this morning I am feeling better. I think I have more energy and I feel hungry today. I was hoping I wouldn't want to eat for a while and maybe shed some of these pounds, but we will see.

Not much to report other than that. Just counting days to Thanksgiving when we will have a houseful of company and laughter will abound. Looking forward to happy days.

I am so thankful for the company Tollie and I work for. They were very gracious during the hurricane and took good care of us. They paid us for the two weeks we were off. I usually don't get paid if I don't work. I am hourly but they estimated my pay and paid me anyway. Then to top it off, I had extra hours from the previous time sheet and they gave those to me in addition! I wrote Mr. Ruddy a thank you note and I received a really sweet e-mail in return.

Yesterday, Tollie came in from work and he had received extra kudos for working during the two weeks of evacuation. Like I said, they are great people to work with and I am proud to say that I work for them. They are special people. Tollie has been with them for about 28 years and you now know why! God has certainly blessed us in this area of our lives, as well as other areas.

Have a great Friday!

Tonsillitis?!?

2005-10-27T09:52:00.000-05:00

It started Monday evening when I noticed that my throat was a little dry and I had a lot of sinus drainage. I took some Loratadine, Claritin if you will, and went to bed. I was surprised when I woke during the night and found I was sore and hurting all over!

On Tuesday, I got up and took my shower to get ready for work. I made it to work, but I was moving slow. My skin hurt! Have you every felt bad where your skin hurt? My did and it didn't matter whether I touched it or not, it was so sensitive that even clothes touching was painful! I knew I didn't feel well, but thought it was the cold front pushing through another something that I might be allergic to and just stirred up my sinuses. We had an appointment with the insurance agent concerning our adjuster's estimate about 2:00 pm. I told them at work that I thought I would just go home after that and rest. I really was not feeling great and thought a nap would make things better.

I found that I just sat all afternoon and was cold most of the day! Now that is really unusual for me. I mean we are talking about someone who has a window unit A/C above her head all the time running. I mean all the time, even in the dead of winter. I sleep very warmly and can't stand to wake during the night sweating under the covers because I got to hot! Well, when I went to bed Tuesday night, I didn't even turn on the unit. That was something real different for me. And then during the night, I would get up to pee and come back to bed shivering! So......much to Tollie's delight I cuddled with him. He is a cuddler and because I sleep so hot, I don't like to cuddle. But cuddle I did that night and found when I got warm, the aching stopped in my bones.

I woke Wednesday morning, after Tollie had left for work, to a ringing doorbell. I jumped up to see who was there. It was my son-in-law. He needed some socks before he went to work. Remember, my kids have been staying with us until their apartment is ready. Maybe this week!?! Anyway, I let him in and told him I didn't feel well and went to take a hot shower. I realized right away, my neck was swollen in all the glands and I could hardly turn my head. It hurt every time I swollowed. After my shower, I got the flashlight and took a look. EWUUU! My tonsils were swollen and had white spots all over them. This was de javu! I use to have that happen when I was kid. But never in succession enough to have them out. I remember my mother taking and "painting" merthiolate on them. That was probably putting mercury poison in my system, but who knew then! Anyway a quick call to the doctor.

Well, my regular doctor was in today. He is semi-retired and I never can remember the days he is in and those he is out! But he had not appointments. Would I be interested in seeing another doctor or even a nurse practioner? Certainly. I will see the janitor if he has a key to the medicine closet! Would it be alright to go to another location? Sure! So four hours later I was seeing a nurse practioner.

SETMA ~ Southeast Texas Medical Associates. They are a monster of a machine! I mean they have four known locations to me and employee hundreds. They probably employ more than the local hospital! The amazing thing about them is that they are paperless. You see I can go to another location because all my history is on the computer. They don't need my chart! Although when I walked in the office to face a room full of people and a long desk with a choice of about eight clip boards to sign in on, I did wonder why they had shelves of charts in the back!

I finally found the correct sign in board and signed in, noticing that only four people were ahead of me and their names were highlighted. Hopefully, they were all on their way to the pharmacy or some testing to be done! However, I was willing to wait and wait, I just need some drugs! After a very few minutes my name was called. I paid my co-pay and sat back down. In another fewer minutes, my name was called. I found the young lady at the front door. Where was she taking me? Oh, across the hall to another suite of exam rooms! I told you they are a monster of a machine. She got my info on how I was feeling and said someone would be right with me. Sure enough, the nurse practioner came in after about four minutes. Wow! That is better than any doctor! She got the repeated info and then asked to exam me. She looked in my ears and then asked me to open my mouth. I obliged to a resounding Whoa! You do have a problem! Yes.....I thought that was why I was here!?!

She began to tell me I need a flu shot but not now while I was sick. She wanted me to gargle with salt water twice a day. Oh, I like her. She uses them ole home remedies. She proceeded to tell me to take Advil, not the generic, but Advil. It would help with the pain and swelling. She asked if I was allergic to anything and I could tell by my response the wheels stopped turning. Yes, I am allergic to penicillin and Ceclor. Oh my! Those are the two best things to treat this with. So.....she pulled a trusty little devise from her pocket and said, "let's see what Stanford has to say about this." She punched the screen several times and then asked if I had ever taken Biaxin. Yes! I had. I think it was for a urinary infection or tooth infection, can't really remember which. That is what she would prescribe. She wanted to give me a shot but the only injections she had was for the things I couldn't take. She said she was do a culture for documentation but that she would be treating me the same with or without it. I didn't think it was necessary. We both had seen my "kissing" tonsils and knew there was infection. Why have a culture to tell us the same?

I left in a few minutes with a prescription and assurance that I would call if I did not start to feel better in the next few days and that I would call tomorrow if I needed something for pain. So off to the pharmacy to get my drugs. It would be a while before they could fill it so I went home and asked Tollie to go after work to pick it up.

This morning, I do feel somewhat better. I still have swollen tonsils, especially the right side. But I am not cold anymore and even slept with the A/C unit on last night. Of course, when it is cold outside, it only blows air, not cold air. So I slept pretty good. Only waking once with a really bad sore throat and took some more Excedrin because it had worked so well earlier and went back to sleep. I am up, showered and dressed, wondering if Tollie made it Uvalde okay.

Tollie left last night about midnight to start his backpacking journey. He offered to call it off to stay home with me, but I assured him I would be alright with him gone. I do have my drugs and I can sleep without any one here.

BIG BEND TIME

2005-10-26T08:22:00.000-05:00

This is the time for my husband and his friends to go backpacking in the Big Bend. I think it is a guy thing. They drive hours and I mean hours to arrive a the Chisos Basin. They will leave at midnight tonight and arrive there sometime early Thursday morning. I think it takes about ten hours to get there. It is about 673 miles from here to there. They plan to camp in the desert on Thursday night and then hike up the mountain on Friday. They will camp in the mountains on Friday night and hike back down on Saturday. Spend the night again in the desert and then head home on Sunday. They will arrive back home about 8:00 pm.

All this travel to hike up a mountain peak. Like I said, it must be a guy thing. Now I can see going that distance to attend a flea market or some flower show or craft sale! But to climb a mountain? I just know that Tollie enjoys this time and is ready every year to go. It will be cold this year. It is suppose to be in the 40's at night and he will be cold. The daytime temp will be up in the 70's so that will be good. I just hope he doesn't push it too much. The other two guys he is going with go every year and they are little more physically fit. Tollie ususally spends time walking around the neighborhood with his back pack to prepare for the trip. Because of hurricane Rita, he could not do that and I don't think he is as much prepared as usual.

*************

We had an appointment with our insurance agent yesterday. He had pulled our file and had received the same estimate the adjuster had given us. He already had some questions and had already called to find out about some stuff. He is asking for another adjuster and he said he thought the kitchen floor should be paid for as well. He also thought the food in the refrigerator and even maybe the living expenses we had while evacuated. So he is checking on those things and we should hear from another adjuster in a couple of days. I just want them to pay for the kitchen floor, or at least to count it in the estimate toward the deductible and then maybe we will get something.

We both has said as time goes by, we don't notice the floor as much as we did. So......we may not do anything but if they will pay for the kitchen floor, we will probably put down tile and then try our very best to have the laminate in the den replaced by the good stuff in the kitchen. They say it is not possible, but I think it could be done. It would have to be done a certain way and very delicately but we will have to see. I certainly plan to tile the laundry room.

I think I am cleaning out the garage today. That is if I feel okay to do that. I have not felt well the last couple of days. My throat has hurt and my ears have hurt. I know it is sinus stuff brought on by the cold front, but I think I ran fever the last two nights. I am never cold and I have been shivering when I get out of bed. So....hopefully, I am feeling better. At least I am not shivering this morning!

Thanksgiving is coming and I am counting the days. We are having lots of company and I want to enjoy all that to the fullest. Have a great day and count your blessings!

RECOVERY

2005-10-24T08:31:00.000-05:00

Things are beginning to get back to normal and about the time we think they are back, we find something unusual. After work on Friday we made a few stops for errands and then as we were heading home I told Tollie I wanted to run into Walmart. Mind you, this is a 24 hour Super Walmart. As we came near the store, we realized there were no cars in the parking lot. They had closed at 6 pm!

Then Saturday, Jamie need to run to Walmart and I went with her. We arrived about 5:45 and had to wait in line to get in the door. They let us in about 5:55 and we were able to shop and get what we needed, only because the lines in the checkout were out into the store in every line open. Waiting for them to thin down, we were able to make our selections and then head to the checkout line where we still had to wait. It is unreal!

I wonder where all the people are coming from and yet everywhere you turn, businesses are asking for employees. It seems not everyone has returned to Beaumont, yet there are so many cars and people here. At first I thought it was from the line workers and tree workers, but they would be driving their trucks, and this is just car traffic! So, I'm not sure what the deal is or what is happening but it is no fun to run errands in a short amount of time. You have to make plans for everything to take longer then it use to.....which includes eating out. There is always a wait on sitting and everything just takes longer.

But I do believe things are getting back to normal. We seem to be getting back into a routine. Our routine is not yet normal simply because we still have our kids living with us. Their apartment is almost finished and probably they will be going back to their apartment this week. It will be quiet here when they leave. I love having the little girls come to our room every morning and give us a hug and kiss. Ashton wakes me up with a nose to nose kiss if I am still asleep when she comes in. She is so soft and gentle and happy!

Tollie leaves for Big Bend this week also. So......I may be here by myself the latter part of the week! That will be different, but it could be soothing at the same time. I think we have all be dealing with post traumatic syndrome. Not the kind where people are having to seek help, but a mild form of it where you just feel tired and emotional. This has been an emotional ride for all of us. I am thankful we had no more damage than we had, but what we have we are having to fix and I think we had assumed since it has been so long, we were immune to such devastation. It was a shock to see all the damage and now our landscape everywhere has changed. I really need to work in the yard and do some different things because I have always had so much shade and all my plants were planted with that in mind. Now......I have sun, full sun for much of the day. At least my plants will be able to adjust with the winter sun and not the summer sun. That will help. It will be interesting to see who all this comes up in the future.

Have a great week. I plan to.

TOMORROW IS FRIDAY

2005-10-20T17:18:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow is Friday and usually that is just another one of my days to spend at home, doing what I need to do and sometimes what I want to do. Tomorrow though is the end of a very busy week. I have been putting on different work hats. That on top of the post traumatic stress syndrome we all seem to have.

Last night, Tollie and I both came home and thought we would rest our eyes for just a few minutes before going to Bible class. Wrong! An hour and a half later we awoke with a start realizing we had slept hard and class had already started.......without us. Then when the kids got here, they were all beat as well. It just seems we all are tired and emotional and I think it is still a residual from Rita. She packed a punch and we are still reeling.

So....tomorrow I will work in parts and sell parts all day. Hopefully, the regular parts person will be back and in full swing by Monday. (She is in jepoardy of losing her job if she does not come back soon!) I don't mind filling in for her, but I realize how very tired I am when working there. It is also brain tired because I am having to remember so many things from so long ago! Actually, it was only about two years ago, but seems a lifetime.

I realize also how much I enjoy my part-time job and how stress free it is and fun. So.....even though Fred indicated he may want me to take my old job back, I want to continue doing what I am doing and enjoying it.

How about you? Do you enjoy your job, and why?

THE WORDS

2005-10-18T17:28:00.000-05:00

Last night, my youngest daughter called me and asked for my advice! Wow! What a great feeling that was! You have to understand this is the same child that didn't want anything to do with her parents when she was in high school. That is probably an exageration but you get the picture. So this was a moment. A moment when I had her undivided attention and because she wanted me to share my thoughts with her. It was also a very sobering moment. A moment in time when what I said could have potential bad outcome or good outcome.

The best part of it all was the realization that my parenting days have not ended. I know when she went off to college and the other daughter married and has a family of her own, I felt somewhat lost. It seemed everyone had a job, but me. My job had ended. I knew in my head that my job never ends, but in my heart, I felt lonely and sad. I needed to be needed. Even though we had our troubles when Mindy was in high school, she was still home and needed me. I knew and she knew it. But when she went off to college and she grew up, all of the sudden my job was over, or at least it felt over for a time.

So you see why it was important for me last night to connect with her. I am so proud of Mindy. Actually, I am so very proud of both my girls. My oldest daughter is a school nurse and is the best mother of two precious girls. Her choice in a mate is wonderful and we love Paul like a son, not a son-in-law. And then there is Mindy. She is so beautiful and poised and mature. She has a heart for God and people. I love to hear her talk of her studies and what she is learning and how she plans for the future to help those who can't seem to help themselves. She is beautiful in and out. She has plans, but the wonderful part is she relies totally on the Lord. She is moving to Missouri in January and although she has made some connections for looking for a place to live, that is still up in the air. I worry how she is going to make it and where she will live. She has every confidence in the Lord that it will all work out and be great. I love that about her. She knows whose she is and I am thankful she has the father to place her confidence in.

So.......the words, "mother, I need your advice...." have a special place in my heart today as I rehearse the words we spoke and the advice that I gave her. She is special and I love her. Thank you God for my special girls......all of them!

INSURANCE!!!!

2005-10-17T09:24:00.000-05:00

Well, our insurance adjuster was just here. We have minimal damage. And the insurance coverage does not cover our kitchen floor, because it was a power outage not within the confines of our home. In other words, the power outage was caused by outside causes, not our lines. Go figure! I thought that would be covered, but any way, since it is not covered, then our freezer, the floor in the laundry room, the kitchen floor are not covered. The food was covered but we have a large deductible and it was only about 350.00 worth of food lost. We did have minimal damage on the roof, not much, just the northeast corner and she marked that. We had fences down and they cover that with the wind damage coverage we have, but again due to our deductible, no coverage.

So....the bottom line, we didn't have enough damage to go over our deductible. I guess that is good news and bad news at the same time. I was so hoping to have enough to cover the floor, at least. We will live with it, but it is damaged. Tollie says we will get an estimate and see what it will cost to replace those pieces. We have been told you can pop out the laminate flooring and replace them, with the right person doing it. So we will see about that.

Rita left a lot of damage in a lot of homes and I should feel very thankful and lucky that we have no more damage than we have. I guess right now I am feeling a little cheated. Don't ask me why! I really don't know. It is just a feeling and I can't explain it.

Thankfully, we have had money from FEMA and the Red Cross and that will help cover some of this damage. I don't want to be greedy. Actually, the amount we received from them covers the deductible, so if we had had a lot of damage, it would have been great. I am thankful!

Life continues on in Beaumont. We have had a lot of damage and I think you can feel that when you try to find a place to eat out. There are so many restaurants still closed and many running on low staff with minimal menus. They were saying on the news this morning that many employers are struggling in their businesses because people have not returned to their jobs. They are unsure what is causing this, if people are still evacuated or just didn't return. It will be interesting in the next few weeks to see if more return. If they don't return, believe me the jobs are open here. If you need a job, come on down and I think you would be able to get a good job easily.

Our adjuster was saying that Orange really had a lot of damage, but you never heard much about it on the news. She said they never had the military coverage that Beaumont had and yet there was no looting going on. I thought that said something good about Orange! I think there are a lot of smaller towns that are in the same boat as Orange. They had major losses but the news didn't cover them. In fact the news is still covering Katrina, even now. I guess it is the storm of the year.

How about those Astros! Yeah, I hope they make it into the World Series. That would be exciting. It was a good game last night. I don't usually watch baseball, but I watched last night and enjoyed it. I think it is more fun to be there, but was a good game. Go Stros!!!!

NEW JOB

2005-10-12T09:32:00.000-05:00

I have a new job this week. I went to work yesterday and as you can imagine, all sorts of things are happening. It is still a process of trying to gear up to work and everyone is a little overwhelmed at what has happened and how long it is taking to get things back to normal. I am trying to do whatever needs to be done and just be there for who ever needs me.

The parts person who took my job when I retired is going to be out for two more weeks. It was asked of my boss if I could fill in for her. He made a resounding no because he had already given me a job to do this week. I am the official cook for lunch for the next three days. Wow! Getting paid for what I love to do......cook. I started immediately thinking of the menus and doing a shopping list.

I went yesterday afternoon and got the groceries for the chicken and sausage gumbo for today, the Hot Chicken Salad and hot yeast rolls for tomorrow and the potatoes for the Potatoe soup for Friday. I am excited and my boss certainly is excited.

I have the gumbo stewing in the large pot right as I type this. I can smell it throughout the house. I started the potatoe salad last night and will finish it up in a minute. (I didn't know people ate potatoe salad with their gumbo until recently!) I need to get a fresh lemon pie made. We came home from Rita with one of the lemon trees intact with three large lemons still hanging on and yellow! So....I will make a couple of lemon pies for those few of us lucky enough to eat them. I am feeding about 25 people. It will be a long, but very fun day.

Are you able to get paid for what you love to do? I hope so. Have a great day!

NORMALCY

2005-10-11T08:08:00.000-05:00

There is something to be said for normalcy. Even though the kids are staying with us, Jamie is trying to keep the girls on a normal routine, as much as possible. She is getting them up in the morning and getting them to their daycare, even though she is not working yet. Her school should resume next Monday.

I didn't do much yesterday, other than picking up, making my bed and cooking supper and shopping for groceries, which is pretty much what I do on Monday's. So, things are slowly getting back to normal. I know that kids mostly do better on normal routine and it makes sense that probably most of us require normal routine to function well.

Today, I go back to work. It will be interesting to see what that unfolds. I am part-time and my boss is not back to Beaumont, yet. They just got their electricity back yesterday. So, I am going to do my own thing and interview people to find out what their adventure was during this hurricane process. It will be interesting to find out what others did and how they coped and where they went. I will then put together a newsletter to distribute to the company for everyone to see what happened to our "family". I think my boss will like the idea as well.

Life in Beaumont is slowly returning back to normal, as well. A lot of the resturants are opening and trash is picked up today! Yeah! That has been horrible. Every time you walk outside the smell hits you from all the freezer and refrigerator food! That will be a really good thing.

Is is wrong for us to have a normal routine in our spiritual life? I know we can get in a rut in everyday life when we go through the same routine all the time. So, do we get in a rut in our spiritual life as well? It has made me wonder if normalcy in our spiritual life is good or if we need to keep things stirred up to keep our relationships fresh and not so much in a rut. I would like to hear your thoughts. Have a great day, blogworld! I plan to.

HOME AT LAST

2005-10-10T09:26:00.000-05:00

Two weeks and two days ago, Rita paid a visit to our home. I left on September 22, thinking it would be my last time to walk out the front door of my home. It is a hard thing to do and I had packed all the things that I thought I could not live without. Pictures, pictures and more pictures. Picture albums, pictures framed taken from the walls. I had packed sentimental items, such as the quilt Tollie's grandmother made for us when we married. The four delicate glass bowls I had found at a flea market that called my name. The girl's baby dolls they had when they were infants. Things that money could not replace, time could not replace and actually it was very little.

The first time we evaucated back in the 1980's, we drove three vehicles piled high with pictures and momentums. Of course there were four of us then so naturally we had more stuff. But this time, it was different. I guess my priorities have changed! I walked through the house for two days trying to decide what to take and what to leave. It was hard and eventually, I just couldn't make any more decisions. I had all that I could handle and it was harder than I ever thought it would be. But at least now I know that my family and the memories we have made mean a lot more than my "stuff". I walked away from my house, really thinking it would not be habital after the storm.

But Rita had other ideas. She moved just enough east to give us her good side. There were still 120 mph sustained winds. I can't even imagine staying in a house with wind that strong! And there was some damage, mostly fences down, power lines down, trees and trees and more trees down but not one shingle was lost from our roof, at least that we can see. We are having it inspected to make sure, but we believe we came out of all this relatively unscathed. We did have some floor damage in the laundry room and the kitchen when the freezer and refrigerator leaked water. We will see what insurance will do about that and the fences and the food we lost.

What have I learned from Rita? Stuff is stuff and the important thing is to know that people are more important than any stuff. I have also learned there are all kinds of people out there. There are some really strange and weird people. I cannot imagine anyone wanting to stay in the midst of such strong, unpredictable weather! I know that I have a lot, God has blessed us immensely and I know that I am not as thankful as I should be. I will leave when another hurricane decides to visit us, no matter the size! It is just not worth the risks of staying and riding out the storm.

I have also learned that being home is really comforting. We were so blessed to be at my sister's house for a few days, worshiping with them on Sunday. They were so gracious to us and it was comforting to be with family. We then went to a lake cabin that really soothed my soul. It was quiet and I could walk in the woods and think and work on my projects and be isolated from all the news. I think that was good.!?! But most of all it made me appreciate Tollie's employer so much. They have taken such good care of us and we are most thankful. I appreciate so much our home and am ready to take better care of it and use more to the service of God. I know I have become lazy and selfish in how I use my time and my home and I want to do better with that.

The kids are with us at this time. Their apartment was damaged by flooding water and they are displaced as they fix it. It is good to have the kids here, especially the grand kids. They are so cute and I love that Ashton climbs in bed with me in the morning and loves on me. They are precious children. Emma is a hoot and I love her strength and laughter.

Thank you God for all that you do for me and my family, the way you have protected us and helped us through this difficult time. Thank you for your love and care with people who have been so good to us. Thank you for our jobs and the people that provide work for us. Thank you, thank you and thank you.

God's Grace

2005-09-28T13:03:00.000-05:00

God's grace is glorious. I can't tell you how blessed we are and we are so thankful to God and his mercy. We have fared so well in this crisis. I can't say our emotions have fared that well, but when we realize how fortunate we have been, we are thankful. That eases our emotions.

I know we are ready to go home. Isn't it just like us. We don't want to be home, going on vacation, but when we can't go home, we want to be home.

Tollie is at our house in Beaumont as I am writing this. He flew from Tyler to Beaumont on a private plane with four other men from the dealership. He is at our house and walking through, checking things out. Seems the only problem is the kitchen floor that buckled when the refrigerator freezer thawed and leaked out the water. It will probably have to be replaced. But that is all. The tree that fell in the backyard, took with it some landscape lights and concrete pathway, but only lifting them up. He stated that the tree root stands about 8 feet in the air. Our lemon tree, one of them anyway, survived, even keeping the heavy lemons on them and they are now turning yellow.

He stated that leaves are plastered on the front of the house. It will have to be cleaned. But all the furniture we left on the front porch is okay. No windows broken, no problems on the outside. We will probably have someone inspect the roof just to make sure there is no damage.

I can't thank God often enough for all the blessings.

We are staying now in Tyler and living at this point in a cabin at Whispering Pines. It is an RV resort just north of Tyler, about 14 miles. We have a deck we can sit and watch the beauty of God's kingdom. It looks like we will be staying there for the duration of our time away from home. Well, someone has to do it! Again, we are thankful for God's Goodness. The company is picking up the tab and we are thankful for that as well.

I miss my kids, my grandkids. Hopefully they can come see us this weekend.

I may not be able to post for several days as we have no connection in the country. Only here in town at the dealership.

I came today to put out the word for employees to have a contact number for their paychecks. The company is paying everyone! They have insurance for this kind of thing. Thank you, God, again for your great mercies.

Take care and Rita will not keep this ole gal down long!

NO NEW NEWS!

2005-09-26T15:53:00.000-05:00

Right now there is no new news. We are still waiting to see when we can go home. We search the internet daily for any news. It is hard to find that news sometimes. I have found that I can get a stream of our local radio station on the internet and that has helped....hearing familiar voices!

Tollie may need to go to Tyler for work. The server was airlifted from Beaumont to Tyler and now there is work to be done there. If he goes, I am going with him. He can do most everything on line but it would be easier to be there to work.

I just don't think I can be without him right now! I told him I just want us to be together. I need him and he needs me. I think the uncertainity at this time causes me to grasp the one normal. So I am hanging tight to him.

We hope to go home by the end of the week. Each new morsel of information gives us hope that things are returning back to normal. Schools won't be starting in that area for another week or two and many businesses will have repairs before resuming work. We are still uncertain if the dealership is okay. But we think it probably is. One of the guys who does all the contracting things, maintenance on the building and electrical things stayed in Beaumont.

At this moment, we are still in Arlington, helping my sister and her husband paint their house to get it ready to sell. They will be moving as soon as it sells. Tommy resigned his position as preacher for the New York Avenue Church of Christ in Arlington this past Sunday. His doctors have encouraged him to retire. He was hoping to work for about a year more, but the elders thought it best for him to retire now. So......we are trying to help them. It is good to have something to keep us busy.

Busy is good at this time, it helps to be "normal". Hopefully, we will be going home soon. We keep holding tight to the Lord and his will in all this and our faith is ever stronger.

PRAISE GOD!

2005-09-24T09:39:00.000-05:00

We stayed up most of the night watching the news. We did sleep some, intermittently. All I could imagine from what we saw on the TV was that our house might be standing but the windows and glass door on the back might not have survived.

I suggested a few minutes ago for Tollie to call our neighbors across the street since they were not sure they were evacuating. When he called, their answering machine came on! What a surprise. So....he called our next door neighbor, Terry. He answered the phone and then lost connection. Tollie tried again and it rang and rang. Then, Terry answered and said he had just walked in the door. He had spent the night in Beaumont in a hotel. He works for Entergy and had stayed close to start work soon after the storm passed. He had gone home this morning to check everything out. He said from what he could see, everything was intact and okay. He said he would call back after more inspection.

Terry called back and we did loose one of the big trees in the back yard, but since the wind was blowing from the north it went away from our house and fell in the neighbors back yard. The house was intact and there did not seem to be much damage. He had lost a ridge vent and there was some shingle damage.

Now I am in shock and praising God that we have a home to go home to. Now it will be just a matter of time to get electricity back on. I feel great knowing what I can face when I get home. Thank you God and I pray that others fared as well. The storm going into the east of us helped take the brunt to the east of us and not on us. Sorry for Lake Charles and thankful they had evacuated.

Will update more as I know more.

AFTER MIDNIGHT

2005-09-24T00:12:00.000-05:00

It is after midnight and we are, well let's make that clear, I am still waiting and watching. Unfortunately, my sister does not have cable. So.....I am on the computer searching for any recent news concerning Rita.

I found a website out of Houston for a TV station and it has helped feed me some of the information. I should just go to bed and wait till morning, but it is my home we are talking about. I want to know how the house fared. But in reality I won't know until someone goes home and checks everything out.

The best news to hear to night is that Rita is 30 miles southeast of Port Arthur. Wow! Southeast is good news. We live on the west end of Beaumont. Beaumont is northwest of Port Arthur. So that means we are on the west side of the eye wall. That could mean less damage, less rain and wind. I have to remember that Rita is very large and there will be some damage, but by being on the west side, there is less chance of tornadoes and the wind comes from the north, not the south.

I have hope. I am clinging to that hope.

LUNCH, A NAP!

2005-09-23T14:56:00.000-05:00

It is amazing how lunch and a nap can give you a different perspective.

I awoke this morning around 7:00 am. I had a restful night. I did wake several times during the night but that is to be expected since I am in someone else's bed. But each time I woke, I was able to go right back to sleep without much effort, a definite difference from the night before! So I did get a good night's rest.

When I got up this morning I turned on the TV to check the progress of Rita and bam! The I-45 tragedy struck me full force and the tears started flowing. I felt exhausted and cried at every word out of my mouth. I went ahead around 9:30 and showered and dressed for the day with a headache the size of a watermelon and just about has heavy.

My sister called about 11:00 am from her work and we all went to lunch. I tried not to dominate the conversation with our concerns and it was an enjoyable lunch. We came back to the house, me and Tollie and both fell in a restful afternoon nap.

I awoke an hour later, no headache and much clearer eyed. I feel much better.

Hurricane Rita has downgraded to a 3. She is still going to be large and dangerous and it was a good thing that we left. We have made some decisions that I feel good about. The first decision made this morning was that we will only take the disabled couple back to Beaumont when we are assured they have their apartment with adequate electricity and their assistants are back to help them. Otherwise, we will encourage them to stay here where family can assistant them. We have a work friend who is closer to Beaumont where he evacuated to and we have made contact to ask him to check on our house. That way, we will be able to determine better when we can return and what we will be returning to find. With these decisions in place, I feel better.

Is is a control issue? Yes. We have laughed that Tollie tends to shut down and he will sleep most of the day. I get into gear in these situations and work my brain when my body can't do anything and solve all the problems. I really want to allow God to be in control and I am doing pretty well in that area. But my feelings of needing to be in control are there and I am trying to distinguish what is a feeling and what is an action in that area.

Thankful is the word of the day. Thankful we are here, thankful we have a place to lay our head and thankful my family is safe.

JUST WATCHING!

2005-09-23T08:41:00.000-05:00

I am sitting in my sister's house, watching the news. I have a headache pounding in my head, making my eyes tear! Or maybe, the tears coming from my eyes are making my head hurt. At this point, it is hard to tell! It is all a blur, swirling around in my head, much like Rita!

I watch as Rita is swirling in the gulf, heading straight for my home. My home of 30 years. We have enjoyed the springs and falls. We have loved the trees. We came from west Texas where trees were sparse and the grass turned yellow in the winter. The trees, large trees with lots of shade are green all year round, because they are oaks. The grass is not as green in the winter, but stays green all year.

My home, where we added a front porch just two falls ago and have enjoyed sitting there, enjoying the rain or watching the kids play in the front yard. My rocker that came from Cracker Barrel, given to me at Christmas from my wonderful husband is sitting against the house, hopefully close enough to remain there.

I sit here wondering what to expect. I believe I will have nothing left when we return. Now I am second guessing about what I brought with me. Did I get everything I could? No, I had plenty of more room in the van. I could have taken so much more. But was it necessary. I almost got the genealogy stuff, but decided at the last minute to leave it. I have worked long hours searching for that information and why did I not get it? It was a decision and I was tired of trying to make those decisions.

Rita is swirling and my head is swirling. I am hopeful, I am here, I am safe, my family is safe and God is in control!