Wordzzle... and stuff...
The Wordzzle Challenge is hosted each week by Raven wasn't going to fix this! She realized the situation was quickly getting worse, as her little friend began to slip and slide all over the
snow and ice covering the walkway. She grabbed a blanket off the back of the couch and ran outside, scooping him into it. Her mother used to tell her, you can change the world, so maybe she would - one sad little puppy at a time. Setting him down on the kitchen counter, she peeled away the bloody blanket and wished she had used those hideous curtains hanging in the den instead of her favorite throw. On second thought, those curtains do have a certain appeal when you catch them blowing in the breeze - perhaps it was best not to use them! Sarah could see that poor little Willy-Bear was barely breathing. She clearly needed to get him to the vet, but there was no way her car would make it through the icy conditions. Tears suddenly forming, more from frustration than anything, she dialed 911, wondering if they would send an ambulance for a pet. The dispatcher thought she was quite the comedian. Now the tears poured forth - Sarah dialed her father, and prayed that he wasn't out on the tractor this morning. In fact he wasn't on the tractor, but his sleeping disorder was keeping him in bed for an awfully long time. Suddenly Gwendolyn came running through the back door shouting "do you have the TV on? The Coronation is about to begin!" Today we would have to miss the great event to save our favorite pet. "Grab your keys Gwen; we have to get Willy-Bear to the vet - it's a matter of life and death!" It took them 2 hours to get there, skidding all over the roadway, but they finally made it safely. Dr. Brindle worked on Willy-Bear for 4 and a half hours. When he came out of surgery the little canine looked as good as new. When Sarah asked the receptionist how much this was going to cost her, she replied "Do you own a home?". On that note, she called her husband to find out how they would foot the bill. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. He never really liked the dog to begin with. When he had his "premonitions" SHE overslept, and the dog died. Now he would have to figure out another way to get the dirty little mutt out of his house.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yesterday Krysti and I went up to Paint & Pottery. Mom was off for the day with Vada. It was GREAT going to P&P without her -- I was able to just relax and really get into the artwork... I'm working on another plate that I think is soooooo cute right now... but I have to outline the picture... and I'm really scared I'm going to ruin it! Krysti is making tiles for me to hang on the wall after I paint... (sometime soon I hope) -- there are 9 tiles and each one has one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit on them! I LOVE them! I hope they come out really good.Vada must have worn Mom OUT today because she fell asleep on the couch around 7:30! Dennis took her up to bed - I hope she's not up at 4:30 in the morning! LOL!
Friday Fill Ins and Stuff...
1. I'd really like to go to bed right now.
2. OW! OwOwOw! is the word you'd most often hear me say if I stubbed my toe.
3. Possession is illegal.
4. What is the big DEAL with Captain Jack Sparrow?
5. Marshmallows and fire go together like weiners on a stick.6. Mom's caretaker, Vada, talks on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to just hangin' out with Krysti, tomorrow my plans include spontaneity and Sunday, I want to Worship!
I gotta find somethin' else for Friday's... these are boring me! Any suggestions?
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Is this weird??? On January 23rd someone from Presque Isle, Maine visited my blog 4 times, put 178 page hits on it and spent about 5 1/2 hours reading. I don't know ANYone in Maine... to my knowledge I have no long lost relatives living in Maine. Is this WEIRD??? I went back quite a ways and they had not visited before... nor have they been back since. Sometimes I think site meters should be outlawed... I had gotten rid of mine when this happened once before - but MUCH closer to home - because I didn't want to know when people did weird things like this... Krysti says I'm being stalked... but they're not stalking if they don't come back... I just don't know why anyone would spend that much time with me IN ONE DAY! That's crazy!
Krysti came home for the weekend this weekend. She has an "event" at the Sherrif's Office Saturday night... She's only been back at school a couple of weeks - but I love it when she comes home! She's coming back NEXT weekend too and bringing her friend, Jules!
An Interview With ... Moi! (Part II).... and WEATHER... at last!
And so the interview continues... Dr. John asking me...4. Name five things you learned from Luz?.
Let's go in backward order on this one - K?
5. Pirates are cool! I never thought so before... but viewing them through the eyes of a 4 year old brings out the BEST in them!
4. I learned that worms make GREAT pets... as long as you don't drop them!
3. I've learned that what a child likes to do with Mommy, and what a child likes to do with Nana is two entirely different things -- and I believe God planned it that way!
2. I've learned that a great-grandchild can make a grumpy old OLD lady do things that even a grandchild could never make her do!
1. The number ONE thing I have learned from Luz is that grandchildren don't have to be of your own blood nor do they have to come in the shape of an infant in order for you to LOVE them just as though they were your own blood AND came to you as an infant! The only thing required is that they look you in the eye and call you Nana. (or grandma or gma or nanny or granny or diva or whatever name they choose!)
5. Your faith seems to be very important to you. Could you share with us a bit of your faith journey.Before I answer this let me warn you that parts of my journey have been relayed here before... just not all at once... so for some of you this will be very repetitive... but Dr. John asked and I wanted to do it right... it's waaaaaay to long - and still leaves out waaaaaay too much! Please do not feel obligated to read it...I can not count how many times I've been asked for my testimony in the past two years. I have never written one, or told one because I do not have a definitive moment when I came to know and love and accept Jesus Christ as my savior. BUT... that doesn't mean I don't have a journey. A journey I DO have. I have journeyed 51.5 years with Christ by my side! Even when I didn't really care if He was there or not. Even when he just tagged along with me uninvited. He is THAT loyal to me... even though I have not always been so loyal to Him. Soooo... the readers digest condensed version? (though it may not look like it!)
I know that God did indeed take me as His child upon my baptism as an infant. I know that because I do not ever remember a day in my life when I wasn't acutely aware that God is my Father, and Christ is my savior. If you EVER asked me directly "do you believe in God?" the answer was always an emphatic YES! But I was not what one would call a "Christian" teenager. (or a "good Christian" anything!) I look at the teens in my church today and think how I WISH I had been like them! How much farther in my journey I would BE today! I didn't "mind" church ... but it did seem to get in the way of more important things like sleep or television or the weekly top 20 countdown on WPGC. I HATED CCD class. I don't remember learning ANYthing in CCD... honestly! I was MADE to go, and skipped as often as I could! I hated school. I hung with the wrong crowd, I drank, experimented a little bit with pot - yep - me! And I got pregnant out of wedlock when I was 18 years old. And in spite of all that... God BLESSED me. He gave me the gift of a beautiful perfect child to love and to care for and He TRUSTED me to do it! And despite years and years of barely giving Him a thought, when Amanda became ill as an infant, and I thought she might die, I NEEDED to have her baptised. The hospital priest wouldn't do it because I admitted that if she lived I would probably have it done again for the ceremony! LOL! (I was 18 okay! Oh wait - actually it was my 19th birthday!) I did finally have her baptised when she was 5. At some time during those first five years, Christ and I started developing our relationship... I returned to church of my own free will and even put Amanda in CCD classes! But it didn't "stick"... it wasn't long before walking with Christ became too hard and I wanted to do things I wanted to do -- and I didn't WANT to feel guilty about them or even have to "confess" or admit they were wrong. And I certainly didn't want to think about how much I might be hurting HIM! Soooooo... I put Him back up on my imaginary shelf and I rarely even nodded at Him as I walked by. However... whenever I wasn't looking -- which was all the time -- He would shadow me! And when I got in a pickle he would always get me out of it. (sometimes I even remembered to thank Him for it - but not always) When Amanda was 3 and I was 22, I got my gallbladder out. I was working at the time and Amanda was attending a Montessori school that I could only afford because I only paid the Day Care part -- because we were so low income, she qualified for a grant for the "school" part. But when I had the surgery, I was off work for 3 MONTHS and by the grace of God, the school allowed Amanda to keep attending. I was able to pay my rent with what I was getting from Disability - which was only HALF of my income. Fortunately I was still receiving WIC - which gave us milk, cheese, eggs, cereal and juice. I made all my own bread and we survived! I remember being sO thrilled when Thanksgiving came and my work sent a Turkey to us! I cooked that turkey - and Amanda and I ate off of it for a MONTH! Just about that time the whole company received turkey's for our "Christmas bonus" and I had meat for another month! But THEN I went back to work, and I had to start paying the Montessori school back for the 3 months that they had let me slide. At that point things really got rough because since I was back to work everyone thought everything was fine now... and I was too proud to say that it wasn't! So I would pay the rent, and pay the day care plus another months day care... it would take me 3 months to get caught up! When all the bills were paid I had $30 left. For the month! Chicken pot pies cost 3 for a $1 back then! I would buy 30 of them and she and I would share one a night! That left me $20 for other things - food and non-food essentials. I still sometimes shake my head and wonder HOW we ever got through that... but we did! God provided! That's all I can say! But I know this... after 3 months of chicken pot pies, when I finally had money to spend on food again, Amanda and I both swore off pot pies for eternity! I've never eaten another one again! LOL! But God always provided. Whenever the cost of surviving got too high and I wasn't sure how I was going to feed Amanda tomorrow, suddenly I would find money on the bus... or on the street... and one time a bag of groceries just mysteriously showed up on my doorstep one morning. God is soooooooo good! He is soooooooo faithful! I wasn't going to church (again)... I wasn't even praying... but still... He knew my needs and He loved me so much he took care of me. I got bored with doing secretarial work and I was never going to make enough money to support Amanda on it... so He put a career counselor in my path, and SHE told me I needed to be in the construction trades! *a lightbulb moment!* THAT thought had never dawned on me, but I knew immediately she was right! I knew I would enjoy it! AND the pay was good! I tested for sheetmetal, electrical, and steamfitters and decided I would take the one that came first! Next thing I knew I was a sheetmetal worker! Workin' day by day with some of the foulest mouthed men in the state - among other faults! And I became one of 'em! Oh yea! I could cuss up a storm and ... well... I could cuss up a storm anyway! There was no way I would ever be able to keep up with their drinking and I didn't even wanna try! At any rate... it was during this time that God chose to bless me yet again -- uh huh! He's amazing! It didn't look like it at first - because I was dating this guy and even though I was not "in love" with him, I was still absolutely CRUSHED when he broke up with me - ON my birthday! Like I say - it wasn't that I really wanted him -- it was more that no guy had ever broken up with ME! I didn't like it! But I had this great "buddy" at work... my foreman actually... his name was Dennis and he let me cry on his shoulder. A few months later we started dating... God is goooooood! Of course, Dennis was not a Christian. Came from a loooooong line of unchurched people. When I got pregnant with Mathew, we decided it was time to get married. THIS actually started what would take me to where I am in my walk with Christ today. I knew that for me God had to be at my wedding. He needed to be smack dab in the center of it! Dennis would have rather gone to a Justice of the Peace and had a civil ceremony. THAT wasn't happening. But neither was HIM taking catechism classes and becoming a Christian. Sooooo I set out to find a minister who would marry us despite Dennis' atheism. We found Doug - a Unitarian minister who had actually married my (at the time) best friend too. At a very critical point, I suddenly changed my mind. I decided I wasn't sure I wanted to get married. I was almost positive God was telling me NOT to get married. I NEVER TOLD DENNIS that! I called my best friend, and she convinced me that I was just having cold feet and that everybody does and that I should just chill and get on with it. And that's what I did. BUT... that was NOT what I should have done. NOT because I don't belong married to Dennis. I do. God chose Dennis for me! But 22 years later, God has shown me only just recently, that He had a very definite reason for wanting me to postpone that wedding ... and IF I had listened I could have saved Dennis and I a LOT of heartbreak. God needed me to learn some things about myself -- and He was trying to get me to do it back then! I didn't listen. But He didn't "punish" me... He just let me live with the consequences of my decision. He continued to bless me! He gave me 3 more beautiful babies! He gave us a nice home. He's kept Dennis employed without fail and with the same company for all these years! We haven't always had a LOT - but we've always had enough. God has been SO faithful to me for alllllllll these years... but it could have been better. IF I had listened. IF I had listened we would have talked more... we would have known each other better... and God might have been a bigger part of our marriage - EVEN if Dennis had still remained an athiest. I might have gone ahead and had the 3 little ones baptised. In a church. A friend told me one time that I could baptise them myself in the bathtub - and I know I did do the twins -- but I don't remember doing Mathew. Doesn't mean I didn't do it - just means I don't remember doing it. But what I know is that because of MY disobedience, it has taken God a LOT longer to get ME to where he wanted me to be! And he's still working on me. The thing is... God's timing is always PERFECT. But if we are disobedient to what he says, He doesn't stop loving us. He doesn't stop blessing us. We just don't get ALL of the blessings that He had PLANNED for us! He knows what He wants to happen -- but He doesn't sit up there and MAKE it happen. He gave us choice. And sometimes we can really mess up even when we THINK we're trying to do what's right. I never told Dennis that I'd changed my mind ... I didn't want to hurt his feelings. But in the end, I hurt his feelings over and over and over again because I didn't deal with problems and learn the things that I should have learned BEFORE we married. Soooooo... now you know most of the story! And that's where I am in my journey! Two years ago, God said enough is enough! C'mon Melli, we're gonna take care of this! And He gave me the right friends and put me in the right places and he took me to the right church, and he drew me back to Him to be CLOSE to Him, now and FOREVER! And I am thanking Him and PRAISING Him every day!!! I really can not believe the changes He is making in my life! Even though I always knew he could... I guess I just never believed he WOULD... but now I know better!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Snow At Last!!!
A nice soft fluffy kind!
We ended up getting about 4 inches --
which was double the prediction!
The birds were sOOO happy to have their
feeders out there! I had to go fill them a
couple of times!
And what got spilled did not get wasted!
I'm not sure if they are pledging allegiance to the flag - or
to the seed!
Derek had his friend Bobby come over so they could
tear up the back hill!
LOL!
Next he'll be wanting a snow maker!
And Dennis was THRILLED to be able to
unleash the BEAST from the garage!
He's been wanting to play with that plow all winter!
Poor man has owned that blade for 10 or 12 years now
and has only gotten to play with it a handful of times!
Off he goes!
Have FUN Babe!
Good thing he got to do that ...
the next day it looked like
... this...
... and like this.
He doesn't like scraping windows as much as he likes
scraping driveways... *sigh*
Alphabet Photo Challenge - C & D ... and An Interview With ME (Part I)
Alphabet Photo Challenge
Week 2 - C & DI can not tell you how many times this week I have changed my mind about WHICH C & D I was going to use! Why is it that some letters of the alphabet are just found EVERYWHERE, while others are sooooooooo evasive! I have enough C's & D's to supply a 3rd world nation... if anyone is missing one, just let me know! I'll share! But HERE are my chosen ...
Letter C
I went through a phase of collecting anything "purse" ... and I still love this little purse frame! It holds a picture of me and one of the first on-line friends I ever met in person. GG does not blog, but we still keep in touch from time to time. She is a SUPER sweet lady that I really WISH did blog! She's very busy these days being a SUPER grandma though!
Letter D
Letter D comes to us from my stroll through downtown Annapolis with Luz when we went for Tea. This statue was inside the Ram's Head Inn. I almost didn't take this picture because I was busy taking a picture for a different letter further down the road! But Luz liked this Ram, and said "Nana, take a picture of this one too!" And so I did! Thank you Luz!
Sooooo... I'm not doing the Linky thing... but if you play just let me know in my comments and I will link you up here... (if you played last week I already hooked ya up!)
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An Interview With ME!( Part I )Yes... I must do this in parts or the LENGTH of it will drive you ALL away!Dr. John was interviewed here by Marlene, and when I read his I decided to let him interview me. I didn't know he was going to make me think so much! But he did. These are good questions though and I'm hoping I can do them justice. Heeeeeeere we gooooo ... 3 today and 2 tomorrow!1. I see that you have written over a thousand blogs and are moving toward two thousand. Of all those blogs is there one or two that stand out in your mind? If so tell us why.I guess different ones would stand out at different times... but for the next two weeks our church is hosting Safe Nights, which is a program to help the homeless stay warm and alive during the cold cold winter months here. Many area churches have joined in and the gist of it is that for two weeks we have 20 homeless people sleeping on cots in the multipurpose room of our church. We give them dinner and breakfast and a bag lunch to take with them to wherever they go during the day. I dearly wish that I could be up there interacting with them in the evenings - but it would require me to spend the night, and I can't do that right now. So the best I can do is to offer a meal here and there. Anyway... this brings (back) to mind THIS POST from January 2007. The problems of the homeless still bother me greatly, and at some point in my life I know I'm going to get more involved in this. I have many friends who lump homeless people into a derelict group of drunks that want to live their lives this way. I'm not buying it. I look at those people and truly think there but for the grace of God go I... because when I was a single mom there were times when I was only one step away from homeless! And there were times in my sister's life when she WAS homeless! It's not a way of life people choose. I remember when I came to First Lutheran, one of the first sermon's I heard Pastor Paul preach was about giving and sharing our gifts with others. During that sermon he mentioned that he often gives a couple of bucks to the guy holding up the sign on the street. And then he said ... "Do I knOw if that man is going to buy a meal or a beer? No! All I know is that God says I should love my neighbor. My job is to help him. If he uses my dollars to buy a beer, well... maybe if I was living his life a beer is what I would need MOST right then too!" I already loved Pastor Paul before he said that... but that sort of cinched it! I've always been a person who gave money to those less fortunate - despite my friends and family's cries of HE's JUST gonna go buy some WHISKEY and get drunk! *shrug* Could be. Sometimes I gave them gift certificates for McDonalds. Sometimes I ran and got them something to eat and brought it back. Have I ever passed them by? Yea. I don't like to... but sometimes I have. Why? A few times because I've had someone in the car who would disapprove. But usually I don't let that bother me. More often it's because I'm feeling a little "short" on cash at that moment. Then two miles down the road I think to myself ... short on cash? I knOw where I'm sleeping tonight! I've been known to turn around and go give the guy a couple bucks! I hate the fact that here in America... the land of opportunity, the land of milk and honey, the land of the free and the home of the brave, that we still have SO MANY homeless people right here!!! And I live waaaaaaaaay out in the suburbs. Good thing because if I lived in the city I would probably get so used to seeing it that I would become hardened to it. And this is a problem I really don't WANT to become hardened to.2. Ella the traveling elephant is based at your house. When did she come there and how did all this traveling begin?Ahhh! The idea of Ella the traveling elephant was actually conceived BEFORE she was purchased! It was one of those things where I woke up at 4:07 am with this BRILLIANT idea that I should buy an elephant and send her packing! I have always wanted to travel and given my penchant for giving all our money away, I will probably never have the funds to actually travel myself. Or not as much as I'd like to anyway. Sooooo I went to the build-a-bear (or in this case an elephant) factory and there Ella was born. I brought her home, introduced her to my friends, took her to the beach for a few weeks and sent her on her way! She sure is having fun!!! I really wish I could put myself in a box and mail ME to all the places she's gone! *sigh* Sadly, I would cost a LOT more to mail than Ella does. However... I would not have to be tracked... because I wouldn't mind getting lost! THAT would just increase the adventure!3. A lot of your blogs describe what your cooking or what Dennis is cooking or what you ate at this restaurant or that. If you were having a dinner in your honor what would you like the menu to be ?Really? I never realized that! Boy, now I'm really sure I'm boring... I've resorted to talking about what we eat! A LOT! Ugh! Well... since I really and truly AM getting ready to start dieting again... YES - FOR REAL this time - I will answer this and then I'm not talking about food ANY more! I'm going back to talking about exercise! *even more boring than food!* IF I was to have a dinner in my honor ... why in the world would there BE a dinner in my honor?... but IF there were to be one I would want this:
Appetizer: Crab stuffed mushrooms
Salad: Spinach salad with avacado & walnuts (no fat there!)
Entree: Seafood Platter including
cold jumbo shrimp with cocktail sauce
steamed oysters on the half shell
sautee'd scallops with garlic & butter
Alaskan KING crab legs with drawn butter
and stuffed rockfish.
I personally have no need of side dishes...
as long as there's enough seafood...
but if we MUST...
Sides: Baked Potato w/sour cream
Grilled Asparagus
Coffee and conversation
followed by
Dessert: Anything decadently chocolate
or
any cake
or
blueberry anything
or
key lime pie
or
any kind of cheese cake
or
a mixed tray of all the above
*I will have a sliver of each!*Thank you sO much for this honor!
LOL!
Now, the rules of this interview require me to offer to interview YOU! The last time I did this I had no takers. Apparently MY friends are truuuuuly afraid of the questions I'll ask... and probably rightly so! But the rule is... if you would like to be interviewed leave a comment that says "interview me"... and then I will come up with 5 questions to ask you -- and it will probably take me a few days to do that! *nodding* At least! I will repeat this public service announcement when I finish being interviewed tomorrow! ;-)
Labels: Alphabet Challenge
Ruby Tuesday...
Ruby Tuesdayis hosted by Mary, The TeachACK! What have I done??? I already gave you all the adorable pictures of Luz in her little red hat at the "tea party"... and then I went and used the RED candles for Macro Monday! Am I insane??? Well... yea... I guess I am after all! Well... I know Mary didn't ask for macro's for our Ruby this week -- but I guess it's what you're going to get anyway! I was playing around with an apple yesterday... really I was making Mom's lunch... but the apple was there -- and this is what happened!
It wasn't even Red Delicious!But it was red...and I'm sure it was delicious!Another rare moment from my extroardinarily exciting life....~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~In other news...
I began my new Ruth & Esther Bible study last night -- and it is going to be SOMEthing! Holy cow. It's another Life Light study - and these questions are sooooo challenging! OY! This is what I love the most about my Monday night study -- they are always so much deeper studies than any others I've tried... but boy - my brain hurts when I'm done!
And now... I'm EXCITED today because our weather forecast is for 100% chance of SOMETHING! ... ROFL!!! ... Indeed! Precipitation -- of unknown specification! Could be rain - but that is doubtful as it is a bit too cool for that. Could be SNOW... maybe... and Dennis would love that IF we got enough for him to plow. But I'm thinking the better chance is that we MIGHT have a little ICE storm today - and that is always fun! I do have some errands to run today -- but I don't HAVE to! So if it's icy when I wake up, I'm gonna hunker in and enjoy hot drinks and a warm blanket! ... and maybe slip out for a few minutes to take some pictures! (it's really sad to get this excited about a weather forecast...)
Labels: Ruby Tuesday
Macro Monday - Flames
Yesterday we were over at Amanda & Mathew's apartment -- Mathew's birthday you know! They're getting used to me taking 40 billion pictures of things they never think twice about... and I was at it again. Amanda had these candles ....
... sitting on the coffee table.
I was playing around and decided to try getting a MACRO of the
flame on one...
Dennis started worrying that I was going to melt my camera...
This was about the best of the bunch.
I was using the super-macro which meant that my lens
truly was almost touching the flame. Of course,
flames are ALWAYS wiggling... so it's very hard
to actually macro them without a flash.
But using a flash ruins the flame!
Very tricky business!
But it was fun!
Of course, LATER we had these flames!
Mr. 22 ...
Mathew & Luz in Ocean City last summer.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BOY!!!
My Mathew has a birthday today. Twenty two years ago today - well... 22 years ago YESTERDAY, I went to the hospital (after having been truly "in labor" for a week already) to be induced. Amanda waited as impatiently as a child could at home with our next door neighbors. Dennis and I arrived around 8:30 a.m. - they were going to start inducing promptly at 9:00! We expected to have a baby before supper! I should have known better. LOL! I had been to the doctors office every day for the past week - with real live contractions. I had been monitored and released each and every day. I had been to the hospital and sent home... everytime, the contractions would stop. It was crazy! As soon as I would get home, the contractions would start again! But they never got worse, and they never got closer... and soooo after a week I was HAPPY to be induced! Until it happened! Pitocin is evil. Did anyone ever you tell you that? I don't know if they've come up with a kinder gentler form of inducement (induction?) in recent years... but 22 years ago, Pitocin was the drug of choice, and it made a HARD labor. OR it could have been my stubborn son! But it was probably a cominbation of the two! At any rate, they did indeed start the Pit Drip at 9:00 ... and 13 hours later when I absolutely could not bear another MOMENT of it, I finally conceded to an epidurmal! Good thing I did - because he still wasn't ready! The whole thing is really still a bit of a blur to me -- but at sOMe point during the evening, I won the debate as to whether his middle name would be David or Jordan. Due to the agonizing pain of this particular labor I ended up vomiting. (what, I don't know because I had had NOTHING to eat...) At that point, Dennis looked at me and said "if it's a boy he can be Jordan!" ... And so it was! I'd EARNED it! I was still earning it! He did not finally arrive in the world until 1:51 am on Sunday! SUPER BOWL Sunday! Denver beat the Giants! (these are the things mother's remember...) Anyway... we counted his fingers and we counted his toes, and we proclaimed him Perfect. hehehehe.... He IS perfect! God doesn't make mistakes. Dennis went home to grab a few hours of sleep, and Amanda. What he didn't count on was that while we had been having all this fun, it has SNOWED outside! And it wasn't just a little dusting! It was about 8-10 inches worth! Dennis made it home, but had to shovel his way IN to our driveway. He went in, celebrated her new brother with Amanda, got some sleep, and woke up to find that ANOTHER huge storm had deposited another 6-8 inches and he had to shovel out again in order to bring her to the hospital! I was totally oblivious to all this. I was sitting cozy in a warm hospital bed with a darling perfect Mathew (with ONE "t") Jordan on my lap! All I knew was life was good! MY part of the work was over! Or so I thought.
Mathew Jordan was/is/and will always be an awesome baby/boy/man. He is/was/and always will be ALSO a handful! Mathew has always viewed life from the Happy side! When Mathew smiles, his whole face smiles! He has eyes that become half moons when he smiles and it just makes YOU smile too! When he was 3 and 4 and 5 he wanted to be a super-hero! Back then it had more to do with red boots and a long cape. He still wants to be a super-hero! But now it has more to do with wanting the world to be perfect. At least HIS part of it! Mathew does not accept the world as it is "just because"... and that is a good thing. He questions EVERYTHING. And that is a good thing. He is verrrrrry slow to conform to socieity's standards... and that can be good... it can also make life hard. Mathew's life is often hard. BUT... Mathew is a ponderer. I can remember when he was 12 or 13, Pinky & The Brain was a popular children's cartoon. Mathew LOVED Pinky & the Brain! And his favorite line was when Brain would say "Pinky, are you pondering what I'm pondering?"... and of course, Pinky would reply... "I think so, Brain ... but... [insert something obscure!]" Mathew loves to ponder. Pondering is a very good thing! Lots of learning goes on during a good ponder! Mathew is doing a lot of pondering these days. On his 21st birthday he was on a major Peak in his life. He had a job that he loved, a woman he loved, a nice apartment in an upscale high-rise, a fairly new car -- things were jusssssst goin' good! On his 22nd birthday he is in a valley. The job fell with the declining dollar (he was in furniture sales), he and the woman split (but have reunited), he is now living with his sister to share rent and ease everyone's financial burdens, he would like "less" car with a lower payment. I'm watching Mathew turn 22, and I'm impressed. When I was 22 I was in a deep DEEP valley myself. That was actually probably THE lowest time in my existence on this planet! But I had "the stuff" that wreaks survivor... And Mathew does too! And by 23 I was well on my way back UP the mountain! And I bet that by January 25th, 2010, Mathew will be climbing back up the mountain too! I know he will! He's got the right STUFF!
Labels: Birthdays
Friday Fill-Ins
Luz has her own little alphabet thing going on... One year ago she had neither the attention span NOR the manual dexterity to put this together -- it took a LOT of help! But last night she put the whole thing together with NO help! The only place she got caught up was when she asked me "Nana, what's an emino?" She was just trying to remember what letter came after "L"! LOL! I do sO looooove this little girl!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. Oh, I am so
excited!
Luz & I will have such fun today!2.
Accept changes, big and little.
3. During
the sermon, I
sneezed.
4.
Another vacation; are you kidding me???
5. Right now I'd like to be
on my hot date with Luz!6.
My garlic press is my favorite gadget.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to
blogging my day, tomorrow my plans include
starting the prep for paint and Sunday, I want to
enjoy church and see what pops up!
Sepia Scenes ...
Sepia Scenes
This is a leftover "A" that didn't get used yesterday!
Click here to see more Sepia Scenes pictures~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yesterday was a rather boring day but gave me a little bit of time to catch up with some blog reading. Today is going to be a little busy -- and Luz is coming to spend the night tonight -- and then she and I have a very hot date tomorrow afternoon! No clues... but I'll take pictures... and will surely report back! We are BOTH very excited about this!
Other than that? I got nothin' today! I've gotta get some housework done so I can go play! Y'all have a great day! Do something bloggable!
Labels: Sepia Scenes
Alphabet Photo Challenge -- A & B....
ALPHABET PHOTO CHALLENGE
Week 1 - A + B
Welllllllll... my first two attempts at my own challenge are pretty boring!
I found letter A in the electirical substation a few miles
from my house. Doesn't get much more boring than that!
And letter B was found in a parking lot! Something
tells me I might have to get out of this podunk county
to find some interesting, beautiful, or artsy type
letters.... but I'm still hoping for some good nature-ish
letters in town!
This is NOT an easy challenge! LOL!
(who thought of this anyway???)
My apologies... I tried to add a Linky - but then I remembered why I quit using them. 1) They often don't work. and 2) They slow my page load down to a crawl! Instead if you let me know that you have played in my comments, I will link you up here. Thanks!
Quilly
Carletta
Barbara H.
Jientje(half a day late - but forgiven!)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~YUM!!~
Labels: Alphabet Challenge
