Got Any Extra Prayers Lying Around?

...if so I could use a few thrown my way. This is an incredibly busy month for us, lots of activities going on around our house and church. For the last couple of weeks I have been having weird back pain, it moves around and I have not been able to pin it down to anything. A couple of days ago it got a lot worse and it started hurting when I took a deep breath. So I tried to get a dr. appt, but of course it took a couple of more days to get in. Friday....busiest day of the whole week for me I finally got an appt with the PA. They don't know what it is but did order an X-ray and gave me some muscle relaxers. She told me to take the muscle relaxers this weekend and I should be feeling better by Monday. If not, to call them back.

Well, it is late Saturday and I am not doing much better. If these things are going to work by Monday, they better get busy! I am trying to not complain a lot but this is really pretty painful. I am helping in the kitchen for VBS all next week and while I am sure they could do without me (I am not so vain to think I am indespensible) I really hate to let people down when they are counting on me for something.

So if any of you readers would like to throw some prayers for my back this way I would really appreciate it. Hope you all are enjoying a fun (and painfree weekend!) Blessings to you all!

Been Tagged!

8 Random Things About Me?

1. Met Randy Travis (country singer) in a little bitty airport in my hometown back in the '80's. He is not as tall as he looks on TV

2. Inherited my love of Coca-cola from my grandmother, who swore the stuff tasted better in 6 oz bottles.

3. None of my friends would ever be considered "normal"--just don't seem to attract "normal" friends! (I know--takes one to know one!)

4. Had severe hearing loss for almost 20 years before I learned to sign!

5. Broke my little toe the night before my hubby's 20th reunion and then broke my big toe 2 weeks later. Broke them both in the same bedroom at my In Laws house!

6. Insurance company wanted me to sue "in laws" for medical bills on my broken toe! I refused! (BTW--breaking a big toe is a bigger deal than it sounds like...causes all sorts of problems with balance and long term effects!)

7. Hubby and I suffer from two extremes when it comes to major purchases, we either procrastinate and take months and months to make a major purchase (ie. new flooring for the house, new car) or we go shopping for one thing and impulse buy something else. There does not seem to be any middle ground with us.

8. This one should not be a surprise to anyone.....I am really lousy at these Meme things.....


There you go .....if you read this post and want to do the random Meme ....knock yourself out (and leave me a comment so I can read 8 random things about you!)

Purr-fect Peace

SHHHHH Don't tell Maggie I have a picture of a CAT on my blog!!!!!

Memorial Weekend!

Today at church they showed this video, it was very moving. I don't want to turn this post into a debate about the war but if you know someone who has served in the military, go give them a hug and say "thank you"!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rd5_YZbhtl0

Once again I tried to make it a link but blogger was not cooperating with me, hope you can just copy and paste and view this for yourself!

Awww---not even just a little bit?

I just took this "How Evil Are You?" quiz and Lo and behold:


How evil are you?


Just goes to prove that I am BORING!!!!

Wedding Fairy

My darling daughter was asked to be in a wedding this summer. The theme is a fairy tale and she will be a pink fairy. This is the dress she will be wearing

and she will have fairy wings and a bucket to match. I think she will be handing out programs or favors or something. Mostly I think she will just be flittering about being a fairy! She is pretty excited about it!

(I got the picture off the ebay site that I ordered it from--I don't know how to do a link so I just put the picture up there--sure hope that is legal....I need to figure out how to do links I guess!)

Three more days of school here! Summer--ready or not---here we come!

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!

Update on the Neighbor Situation!

Thought I would give the few of you who read my blog an update on the "Loss of Innocence" post. I talked with the counselors at school about the situation and one of the counselors offered to call the other girl's Mom and explain the situation (so of course being the coward I am, I jumped at the chance to pass that messy duty on to someone else!)

So about two days later, I am in my family room and there is a knock on the door. It is the Neighbor girl, her Mom and her older brother. The Mother wants the girl to apologize to me and my child. We just kind of jump into the subject when I realize that my daughter's friend is standing there, soaking up all this info. So I stop everything and send the friend up to my daughter's room. (I am thinking "great... now I have to explain this mess to HER MOM!")

Long story short.... the Mom makes the daughter apologize and tries to tell me that it just popped up, that none of her children were looking at those sites. I put on my best diplomatic face and suggested to the Mom that she might want to look into it a little further since the girl had to type in an address for not one but two different sites. I was really proud of my daughter because, she was by far the smallest of all of us standing there but she stood her ground and she told the truth about what happened. She even told the girl's Mom that she treatened her...that she should not tell anyone about the sites. (I did not know about the threats before this point) The family was trying to blame it on the little girl but I just kept pointing out little things that did not add up. I did not want to insult anyone but I also did not want this little girl to be blamed for this completely.

I think everyone went away okay with the situation. I told the girl's mother that she was welcome to come over and play with my daughter and that I thought she was a sweet girl who just got caught up in some stuff she did not understand. I also diplomatically suggested that maybe a Mother Daughter talk was in order, since she seemed to have some mistaken ideas about women's roles, etc....

After they left, I went upstairs and gave my daughter a big hug and told her how proud I was of her. She stood up for the truth even when the adults were telling her she was mistaken. I told her I was proud that she told us about the sites even when she was treatened. (that was the info that got my shackles up, was that the girl treatened my child!)

BTW--I am good friends with the other child's mom so I explained the situation to her and she was fine with it. She laughed when I told her about it and that I was afraid her child was going to come home and say " Mom what is oral s#$?"

So I think all is going to be okay. We live, we learn and we move on to other things!

Another Scripture Sunday!

I don't have much to say today--Hope you all had a great Mother's Day!

Blessings!

Sunday Scripture

Ever Feel Like This?

Every Morning! But thankfully, God and my hubby still think I am beautiful! Ya'll have a beautiful day!

The Sun Will Come Out.....

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood here! The sun is shinning, the birds are singing. Mama got a new outfit! Life is good! Thanks to those of you who left the encouraging comments on the last post. I appreciate your kind words. I participated in some retail therapy (yes, I went shopping) today and I think just getting out of the house helped.

I decided "what's done is done" there is no going back and no use crying over what might have been. I will make sure my daughter has the information she needs and trust the Lord to keep her safe when I cannot be there. I am thankful that she came to us and told us what was going on instead of just keeping it inside.

Innocence Lost

Today was a sad day for us. It was the day we found out that our 9 year old will never be the carefree innocent babe she was just a few hours ago. She let us know that the neighbor child (only a year older than her) had showed her games on the internet that her older brother liked to play. S*x games, with graphic pictures and live models. So my innocent little girl who still likes to play with baby dolls was asking why girls should perform oral s*x on boys.

I had already started introducing her to literature and other information to help her understand the changes that are starting to take place with her body but I thought I had more time to prepare for the facts of life speech. Instead we were thrown into the discussion with no warning and no preparation.

We have always been very careful about what she is allowed to watch on TV and never let her on the computer unless someone is monitoring it with her. I am super careful about who she plays with and where she goes. I feel I have failed her by not protecting her better. I hate, hate, hate that her first introduction to s*x was something dirty and nasty as porn games on the computer.

There is no going back now, all we can do is make sure she has accurate, healthing information and somehow make her understand that what she saw on that computer was not what God intended for it to be. That it is a beautiful thing between two people who love each other and the world has turned it into something nasty and distasteful on the computer.

Please pray for us as we deal with this situation. Pray that God gives us the words to help her understand. Pray that He helps me forgive myself for not protecting her from this.

Maggie Moo does Granny and Papa's

Here's a picture of Maggie taken in my parents back yard at Easter! She had a very good time with Granny and Papa while the rest of us were at LTC. Granny says she managed to wrap Papa around her little finger...err....paw?

REAL TEXAN? FUR SURE!!

I got this off my friend, Jennifer's blog. I should have scored even higher as I have lived here all of my 43 years except for 7 (in Northern Va) in my 30's. There were some strange questions on this quiz but it was fun. My hubby gave me some help (those are probably the questions I missed!)

You are 87% REAL Texan!!

High five, you're a complete Texan. People from other states should tremble in your presence because they're simply not worthy. Let them bow before you and convey their undying adoration to you while they announce their true desire to be Texan.

How Texan Are You?

Happy Monday Everyone!

Thanks to those of you who prayed for me this weekend, it must have worked because the sinus problems were limited to Thursday and although it made getting ready to leave difficult, it did not effect our weekend.

We have some awesome kids at our church and they did a great job at LTC this weekend. We went to the convention center in Houston and stayed with about 55 kids at the Hilton (which is connected by a walkway to the George Brown Convention Center) I guess there were about 80 of us (kids and adults) from our congregation there.

Let me tell you it takes a lot of teamwork to get that many kids into all the different events--on time and with all the props they need. Hubby and I had a full weekend and we definitely did our part to make things run smoothly but so did a lot of other people. We got up early Friday, packed the car, dropped off darling daughter at the church with a friend at 8:30 (they were going to catch the chartered bus to Houston at 11 and come with all the kids) and we headed out to Baytown (other side of Houston) to meet up with my parents who drove over (90 miles or so) to pick up Maggie. In past years, they have babysat the darling daughter, this year they got to keep the darling puppy!

We met the parents at the mall in Baytown and they took the puppy home with them. By the way, we have found out that three out of four members of this family suffer from carsickness! The poor puppy heaved most of the way there and back, I will have to ask the vet if there is anything we can give her before our next trip. Otherwise, I think Maggie is going to have to be boarded. She would sleep a little while and then cry and heave (no food to throw up). Very nerve wracking when you are driving in bad Houston traffic!

We got to the Hotel about 2 and spent the next hour or two getting the rooms ready for the kids. We have to check each room to make sure the keys work (one year almost every key did not work!) and put up the $5.50 a bottle of water so the kids would not drink it up. Then we have to assign rooms to the groups of kids and adults. By the time, we do all that the bus is pulling up with the kids and the food for snacks and breakfast on Sat. So all that has to be sorted out.

Competition starts at 4:30 on Friday, so the kids have to change clothes and get to the right room wih whatever props they need. The Adults judge the competitions, so they have to be sure they are in the right place at the right time also.

Friday night they had a devotional at 9 pm. It was really uplifting. Special props go to my Hubby and also my friend Jackie, for jumping in and interpreting for me on Friday night. They usually have an interpreter for the devo but forgot to schedule one this year. Friday night is wrapped up with Pizza back in the hotel rooms.

Sat. morning we have to get everyone packed, fed and out of the rooms before the competitions start at 8:30. Our competition (Signing) always runs from 8:30 in the morning until about 3 pm. So we are either moving our kids through, or judging during that time. This year I judged at the 10:30 to 12:00 competition and then from 1:00-2:30. Darling daughter signed at 8:30 and then performed at 10:30 with the chorus group. So as you can tell it was a full full day for us.

I am just so proud of my kids, they all worked so hard and poured their hearts into it. I think they all deserve a gold medal. We will find out on Weds. night how they did. But they are all winners to me! This is getting long so I will wrap it up for now and maybe post about it again later this week.

It was a great, God glorifying weekend. I am glad I went, I am glad that we worked our tails off and I am glad it is OVER!

Ahhh, Spring is In the Air!

Make that Ahhhh Choo! Spring is in the air!

My daughter had a dentist appt today and I thought I was just being over sympathetic with her when my teeth started hurting. Then my head started pounding, when I bend over it feels like my head is swelling up! (Ha Ha I know I've got a big head!)
Progressively through the afternoon, my eyes have gotten watery and my nose burns. All these are recognizable symptoms that Spring has Sprung and my allergies have begun. (I am a poet!)

However, there is a new symptom this year that has caught me off guard.....it feels like the cochlear implant is unscrewing itself from my head. I actually feel like the little metal wires that run down into the cochlea are being slowly unscrewed from my head!

So.....either I am losing my mind completely or I have got a head full of sinus problems going on. Either way I am going to take advantage of my daughter playing at a friends house and go lay down.

I have got an incredibly busy weekend planned with a lot of people depending on me, so if it's not too much trouble----Say a little prayer for me! Thanks!

This and That!

This has been a busy week for us, the LTC program is wrapping up soon so there has been a whirlwind of stuff going on with that, Easter Celebrations at Church, etc....

I enjoy participating as a coach with LTC, it is great to see the kids learn something new and practice it until they are almost perfect. I am also glad to see it come to a close as it is a lot of time and work preparing for it. I guess that is how some teachers feel when summer break rolls around.

Need to post some new pictures of Maggie Moo, she is up to 6 1/2 lbs as of last week's vet visit. The vet gave her a cortisone shot along with the other shots and she did not keep us up all night! Yahoo! She also had her first grooming appt. last week and she looks much better, they cut off her shaggy baby hair that was going all over the place. She still looks like she has perpetual "bedhair" but in a more "controlled" sense!

Things that make you realize your "bad" day is manageable:

One one of the blogs I was reading a few days ago,(sorry I honestly can't remember which one it was...) this woman was writing about her friend. I had to check the date on this one to make sure it wasn't just an April Fool's Joke but it was actually written a month or so ago. Seems her friend is going through a difficult time and is suffering from "panic attacks". This friend is also very claustaphobic, to the point that riding in a car can be a problem sometimes. Well, her friend was going through an automated carwash, when she experienced a panic attack. Friend jumped out of car in middle of carwash, leaving car door ajar. So friend is standing in carwash getting wet, soapy and bumped around by automated wash, when the car door gets ripped off the hinges. So friend, jumps back into car which is getting a good soaping both inside and out now and tries to exit the carwash by driving backwards. Friend gets to call husband, explain what happened and Husband gets to drive car to dealer minus drivers door. My very bad, no good, rotten day just doesn't seem so bad anymore!

Lastly, please take a moment and pray for our Deaf Ministry program. We found out Sunday that one of our interpreters is leaving (immediately). Her husband has taken a youth minister position. Please pray that God sends us someone who can help us continue this ministry, as we will be working with three interpreters (instead of four) and two people who are learning but do not have the experience to fully interpret yet.

What's new with the Implant!

I realize I have not posted anything about the implant in awhile so here goes. Things have pretty much leveled off. I am not gaining anything really significant now just maybe a little here or there. I had an appt with the Audiologist a few weeks ago and she only made some minor changes, pretty much keeping things about the same.

I did find out at that appt that the Dr who did my implant will not be accepting any insurance after the first of April, so I will be looking for a new doctor and audiologist. The doctor I don't mind so much but hate to give up my audiologist as we have a good working relationship. It costs $175. an hour for me to meet with her with no insurance vs $30 for someone under my insurance plan. Since we have an HMO, they will not reimburse me for anything if we go out of their service plan. I did a little research and I believe there is one other doctor in the area who specializes in Cochlear Implants who is on our insurance plan, so I guess I will be using him. Funny thing is I believe that my audiologist used to work for him before.

Today I had a dentist appt for a crown, and they always forget and try to talk to me with their mask on. I actually was able to pick up some of what they were saying with the mask on but definitely did better when they removed them. I also noticed that I was aware of the noise of the machines. Before I don't remember hearing the different sounds of the denistry equipment. So I guess I am making progress but sometimes don't realize it since I have nothing from the past to base it on.

So there you have it, an update on the Cochlear Implant. Nothing Major to report but nothing negative either. I know I am better off with the implant because the first thing I want to do every morning is put on the processor. What a difference a year makes!

Brown Thumb!

It is that time of year again, things are starting to bloom and the urge to rush out to the nursery and buy some flowers hits me hard. The problem is I have the proverbial "brown thumb" when it comes to plants. So the question becomes is it worth it to spend the money for something that I know is going to die?

I have one real houseplant and I am trying my best to keep it alive. It is a peace lily that my Mom sent me when I miscarried my first child, so it is really important to me to keep it alive but it is looking sad! It really needs to be repotted but I am afraid that would be what pushes it over the edge. Sometime I will post a picture of it and you will see what I mean about a pitiful plant!

Anybody out there have any suggestions for plants that even a serial plant killer like myself can't kill? I love plants and flowers, but just can't seem to keep them alive. Our yard gets a lot of sun, so they need to be something that likes sun and doesn't mind hot temperatures as it will get boiling her in S. Texas in a couple of months.

Back in Town....

....and back to the old grindstone. We had a nice visit with my folks this week and got back into town yesterday afternoon. Today was busy as most Sundays around here are and will be until after LTC competition is over. Our kids are doing great with their signing and I know they will all do fine at competition.

The laundry is going and darling daughter is about to go get ready for bed and another week of school. Funfilled week of dentist appointments and grocery shopping awaits us. Hope the weather cooperates this week, could use another few weeks of cool temperatures and sunny days. Blessings to you all!

This is the day that the Lord has made, let us all rejoice and be glad in it!

AND A GOOD TIME WAS HAD BY ALL!

We survived the 10 houseguest and a good time was had by all (at least I think so!) It was a noisy, busy weekend but we enjoyed the whole crazy bunch. Really the only negative thing was the 2 1/2 hours we sat in traffic trying to get into the gates of Six Flags. We learned from our experiences and now know, do not go on opening day and take an alternate route to the park!

We had classes to teach at church yesterday and none of the guest wished to attend church with us (they all had various reasons for needed to get off) so our immediate family left the house about 20 after 9. When we left we still had 10 house guest and when we got back after church and lunch, we had none. So things are back to normal here.

It is our Spring Break and we have various activities planned for this week. Hope you and yours have a great week. Blessings!

Ever Have One of Those Days?

I really think I need to stay home and lay low for the rest of the day. I am a little afraid of what will happen next.

It started this morning when sweet Hubby was awakened by the sound of Maggie "woofing", now that is not so unusual you say but she was "woofing" at the foot of the bed instead of from her crate in the breakfast room. The little escape artist had made her way into the bedroom and was making her presence known. I am searching for presents today since I don't know how long she was out of her crate and where all she visited before coming to see Mama and Daddy!

I got up at 6 am to get darling daughter off to school and the alarm was lit up saying a door was open, so panic sets in really quickly but it turned out to be just the door from the garage into the house did not get completely shut. Hubby leaves for work and I walk to the bus with darling daughter. The bus stops on our corner, so often I just go through the yard to the side of the house, thankfully I did not today as Hubby left the garage door open when he went to work. These are minor things but when you can't hear, you learn to be very meticulous about things beings shut and locked.

To say the idiots were out today would be the understatement of the year, I was dodging them right and left all the way to the doctors office. So I decided that the safest place for me today is home. I come in and the puppy wants attention so I put her in my lap as I check my email. She bites my necklace and all the beads come sliding off. Unfortunately, some of the tiny ones land on the keyboard and get stuck under the keys. After a lot of hard work and some muttering under my breath, I think I have managed to extract them all.

It isn't even 3 pm yet, I am really afraid of what the rest of the day has in store for me. Did I meantion that I have 10 people coming to spend the weekend with our little family of 3? Fortunately, they have decided to leave the dogs at home, so we will only have our little 5 lb troublemaker to deal with.

The doctor said I was anemic and need to eat more red meat (how often do you get a doctors okay to eat red meat?) I guess I could use that for an excuse for being so tired and go take a nap instead of finishing my cleaning for my guest this weekend! Oh well, better go get hopping on those dust bunnies! Hope you all are having a better day than me!

Finally got a full nights rest!

Maggie has finally gotten her days and nights back in order. I am happy to report that we all got a full night's uninterupted rest! I think we will all be much happier now! I have a fun filled weekend of cleaning planned for my loving family. Husband's family is all coming to visit next week (13 of us in all) so we need to tackle the play room upstairs.

I have decided not to stress over it. If all goes as planned, we will have 8 adults, 5 children (ages 12-4) and 3 dogs (ages 11-3 months)! We are going to have fun, order pizza Friday and go to the Amusement Park on Saturday! Only bummer will be Day Light Savings Time kicking in Sat. night but we will just plan on napping Sunday afternoon!

Ya'll have a good weekend!

Maggie is a Big Girl Now!

We took Maggie back to the vet yesterday and she now weighs 5 lbs and 4 oz up from 3 lbs 7oz just 4 weeks ago. I think she is sensitive to the vacinations though, she cried almost all night. I stayed up with her until about 1 am and she would go to sleep and within just a few minutes wake up and whine. She finally went to sleep at 1 am but then woke up at 3 am doing the same thing and hubby got up with her. She is usually a good sleeper, she whines just a little when you first put her in the crate but then she settles down and sleeps until I let her out at 6 am. She did the same thing after the first set of shots so I think it has to be related somehow.

I have tried to play with her today and wear her out so she will be good and sleepy tonight, so hubby won't toss her out the door for good. (Just joking, he would never do that!) Poor guy, he is the one who suffers when she cries because I don't hear anything once I take off the processor of my CI. If she were not so cute, she would be in big trouble right now!

It is a beautiful day here in S. Texas, looks like Spring has come early here. Hope you are all healthy, happy and having a good week. Blessings All!

16 years and counting!

Today is our 16th Anniversary! Hubby and I have been through a lot in those 16 years. We have lived in five different homes in five different cities in two states. Hubby has worked for either 3 or 4 different companies, although he has never changed jobs (the company has been bought out) We have worshipped at three different churches together and now have been involved with Deaf Ministries at all three.

We have mourned the loss of one child and rejoiced at the birth of another. We have been together through thick and thin, sickness and health, good times and bad, for better and for worse. It hasn't always been a bed of roses but it has always been "do able" because we are together. We are proof in some ways that "what does not kill us, only makes us stronger"

Here's to my sweet husband. My best friend, the love of my life. May we have many many more years to laugh and love together! Thanks be to God for bringing us together on Feb. 23, 1991!

Out of Order

Blogger put my latest post behind the TAKS post, so if you want to read the Meme you will have to go back two post!

DING, DONG THE TAKS IS DONE!

Yahoo, Darling Daughter is done with her first TAKS test. My daughter is a bright, talented, beautiful little girl who has worried and fretted over this silly test for about 7 months now. It is wrong to put these poor kids under this kind of pressure. She has been moody and sensative for several days now and I know it is due to this test. When I picked her up today, she said it was easy and she finished it in about an hour and a half. So yeah, it is over (at least the reading part is, she will have the math part on April 17th)


--For those of you who don't live in Texas, the TAKS test is a test that the state of TX mandates that students in various grade levels must pass or they do not pass the grade level. The school districts spend an enormous amount of time preparing the kids for these test for months beforehand. There is a lot more to it than just this but you can "goggle" it if you want to know more. I am tired of thinking about it and glad it is over.

The looooong Meme

The "Lonnnnng Meme"

01. Are your parents married or divorced? Married...for almost 51 years :)
02. Are you a vegetarian? No, I love me some meat....my daughter is a sometimes vegan...unless there is bacon involved!
03. Do you believe in Heaven? Hope so, I am planning to relocate there!
04. Have you ever come close to dying? I have been pretty sick a few times!
05. What jewelry do you wear 24/7? Wedding rings and TX A&M class ring
06. Favorite time of day? Night
07. Do you eat the stems of broccoli? Yes
08. Do you wear makeup? Not a whole lot, mainly just lipgloss and mascara (because of my puny eyelashes)
09. Ever have plastic surgery? No
10. If you did have plastic surgery, what would you do? Don't know, can you get a whole body transplant yet?
11. What do you wear to bed? gown and usually fuzzy socks because my feet are always cold!
12. Have you ever done anything illegal? Not that I know of.
13. Can you roll your tongue? Yes
14. Do you tweeze your eyebrows? Sometimes, but they are kinda sparse like the eyelashes!
15. What kind of sneakers? Reeboks
16. Do you believe in abortions? NO!
17. What is your hair color? Medium brown with highlights around my face.
18. Future child’s name? We wanted to name our boy-Sean Patrick but don't think we will be getting a boy or another girl either for that matter. I think God has shut that door!
19. Do you snore? Not unless I have a cold.
20. If you could go anywhere in the world where would it be? Ireland
21. Do you sleep with stuffed animals? No.
22. If you won the lottery, what would you do first? Won't happen because I don't waste my time or money playing the lottery.
23. Gold or silver? Gold
24. Hamburger or hot dog? Hamburger with cheese!
25. If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be? Lately it has been burritos from Chipolte's but probably fajitas! Maybe Pizza or Spaghetti?
26. City, beach or country? BEACH!!!
27. What was the last thing you touched? delete key
28. Where did you eat last? Friends's House for Life Group
29. When’s the last time you cried? A few minutes ago--think I am PMSing
30. Do you read blogs? yes
31. Would you ever go out dressed like the opposite sex? I think it would be really hard to mistake me for a male, no matter how I was dressed unless we go back to the question about plastic surgery....but the answer is still no, but that does not mean I don't wear pants.
32. Ever been involved with the police? only on the right side of the law. I used to have to take them with me occasionally on work related business.
33. What’s your favorite shampoo conditioner and soap? Whatever is available in the shower so I don't have to drip across the floor....
34. Do you talk in your sleep? Don't think so usually but have been known to when running a very high fever.
35. Ocean or pool? Pool...The ocean is too salty...nice to visit but don't like to swim there!
36. Sauna or whirlpool? Whirlpool.
37. Starbucks or Krispy Kreme? Starbucks....then we can stop at KK
39. Ever met anyone famous? Randy Travis
40. Do you feel that you’ve had a truly successful life? It ain't over yet...but it has been good so far. I am child of God, I have a wonderful family and all the worldly possessions I could possibly need (not want but need) so yes, I am pretty successful (and blessed!)
41. Do you twirl your spaghetti or cut it? Twirl!
42. Ricki Lake or Oprah Winfrey? Neither! Shame on them both!
43. Basketball or Football? Football (although I have been known to root for the Spurs!)
44. How long do your showers last? Usually about 10 minutes or so :)
45. Automatic or do you drive a stick? Can drive either but prefer automatic
46. Cake or ice cream? Cake
47. Are you self-conscious? Not too much. Anyone up for streaking or skinny dipping?
48. Have you ever drank so much you threw up? No
49. Have you ever given money to a beggar? Yes.
50. Have you been in love? Yes...still am
51. Where do you wish you were? Right now I would not mind being back in Maui instead of trying to housebreak this puppy!
52. Are you wearing socks? Not at the moment
53. Have you ever ridden in an ambulance? No.
54. Can you tango? No but have fun trying with daughter sometimes!
55. Last gift you received? Box of candy
56. Last sport you played? Don't remember
57. Things you spend a lot of money on? Child and Puppy
58. Where do you live? South Texas
59. Where were you born? East Texas
60. Last wedding attended? Tim and Katies in 1998
62. Favorite position? (where did #61 go?) In the arms of my sweet hubby or with my daughter curled up in my lap
63. Most hated food(s)? Liver
64. Most hated soda pop? Creme Soda
65. Can you sing? Used to sing pretty good, not so great since I got my cochlear implant
66. Last person you instant messaged? Mom
67. Last place you went on holiday? Dallas
68. Favorite regular drink? Dr.Pepper
69. Current Song? I want to be a Worker--that is the song I am teaching my kids to sign for LTC (Leadership Training In Christ)competition
70. Tag 3 friends. Whoever wants too--no pressure at all!

Excerpts from a Dog Diary and a Cat Diary

Excerpts from a Dog's Daily Diary

8:00am Dog food! My favorite thing!
9:30am A car ride! My favorite thing!
9:40am walk in the park! My favorite thing!
10:30am Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!
12:00pm Lunch! My favorite thing!
1:00pm Played in the yard! My favorite thing!
3:00pm Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!
5:00pm Milk bones! My favorite thing!
7:00pm Got to play ball! My favorite thing!
8:00pm Wow! Watched TV with my master! My favorite thing!
11:00pm Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!



Excerpts from a Cat's Daily Diary:

Day 683 of my captivity: My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and myself are fed hash or some sort of dry nuggets. Although I make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to keep up my strength. The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape. In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on the floor.

Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet. I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it clearly demonstrates what I am capable of. However, they merely made condescending comments about what a "good little hunter" I am. The audacity! There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I was placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event. However, I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was due to the power of "allergies." I must learn what this means, and how to use it to my advantage.

Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try this again tomorrow - but at the top of the stairs.

I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches. The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released --and seems to be more than willing to return. He is obviously retarded! The bird has got to be an informant. I observe him communicating with the guards regularly. I am certain that he reports my every move. The captors have arranged protective custody for him in an elevated cell, so he is safe....... for now....



Found this on line but thought it was pretty funny! Hope you all enjoyed it! Sorry that I can't give the author credit but don't know who they are!

That Just Ain't Right!

Maybe it is because I grew up in the South (in Texas to be exact) but I saw something the other day that just struck me as WRONG!

The area we live in is going through a growth spurt, there are new buildings going up everywhere. Along a major road near my house they have built a new funeral home. It looks like a nice enough funeral home although growing up in the south I am used to funeral homes being in stuffy smelling old houses (or Mansions- often.) This one definitely has a more "Hill Country Ranch" flavor to it although given the area that is totally understandable.

That is not what catches my attention and what the title of this post refers to.....what gets me is that there is a scrolling sign out front, with the time and date on it. The business has not been open very long so I am not sure if they will be posting who's funeral is taking place that day, you know like they do at some of the Pizza Arcade Birthday Party Places. I told my Hubby on the way to church Sunday, that something about that sign "just ain't right"!

I guess for people who always wanted their name up in lights.....you could have something like...Appearing for one night only.... come and see the Grand Finally of Joan Smith....Grandmother Extraordinaire!!!! I just can imagine this going in all sorts of directions like...someone who was a really bad person might have a sign that said ....Come pinch John Black and make sure the SOB is really dead!

I realize my examples are a little extreme but the whole things just strikes me as being wrong! As we say in the South "That Just Ain't Right!

Ahhhhh A Good Nights Sleep!

Hubby and I have needed a new mattress for awhile now. Both of us have been waking up with aches and pains and the mattress had some serious craters in it. So Saturday we went out, did a little comparison shopping and "Badda Bing" we bought a new mattress. Our bank account is a little lighter but hopefully our backs will not need the Chiropracter now!

We got a Sealy Posturpedic King Size mattress and frame to replace our old queen size bed. You would not thing 6 inches would make that big of a difference but it does. I wish I did not have to give up my headboard and footboard but hopefully can find a new one that will match my bedroom furniture (or at least not clash with it)

We bought the mattress and it was delivered within an hour. I barely had time to drop hubby off at home while I went to get sheets. I called about 10 minutes after I left the house to tell Hubby something and the bed was already at the house! Found a great sale on sheets and pillows, so in the course of about two hours we had a new bed and all new linens and pillows.

I don't know if it is related or not but I was able to get alot of stuff done around the house today. I would not be at all surprised if it was due to just resting better at night! Can't wait to try out my theory tomorrow after another good night's sleep! Blessings!

Yes, Sir that's my Baby!

Here she is, Miss Maggie Moo; all 3 lbs and 7 oz of her! She is one sweet puppy!

Bride of Christ!

I just got back from our annual Ladies Retreat and our theme this year was about being the Bride of Christ. The place was decorated with Wedding dresses and wedding stuff. It is always good to get together with my Christian sisters and learn more about God's Holy Word. We talked a lot about how Christ choose to make us his bride by saving us from our sins and how we should submit ourselves to Him completely.

Tomorrow we begin our training classes for LTC -Leadership Training classes. We have one of our biggest classes ever, about 15 kids. We will work with the kids for about 9 weeks before going to Houston on Easter Weekend for the competition. It is fun to watch the kids go from knowing little or no sign language to being able to sign a whole song. Some of the kids are more experience and with them we get to work on polishing their performances and increasing their knowlege of sign language. It is fun to share our gifts with the kids. This will be the first year our daughter is old enough to take part in LTC and I am hoping it will be a positive experience for her.

Baby Maggie is doing great and I hope to post some pictures of her soon. Blessings to all of you!

A LITTLE TOUCH OF HEAVEN!

It is cold and overcast here but I have my own little touch of Heaven. I am sitting here quietly blogging with a warm fuzzy little puppy sleeping on my chest. Almost as sweet as having a baby! Blessings to all of you!

THINK PINK!

In Honor of the new Baby, we will try a pink blog for awhile! More news and pictures of the baby soon! Blessings!

THE BIG ANNOUNCEMENT

YES, SHE IS A BICHON, MORE NEWS LATER!

Thawing Out at Last

Yeah! The kids finally went back to school today! I am trying to get the doctors office on the phone to go in and get some antibiotics before this stuff kills me and the pantry is looking pretty bare, so a trip to the grocery store is probably in order! Thankfully, no one in my family was injured by the ice storm, we never lost power and pretty much it was just a minor inconvience.

Hope you all are staying well and warm wherever you are! My Dad finds out today about the surgery on his broken leg, so please keep him in your prayers and hubby's grandfather is about the same.

I need to go call the Dr. office again so Blessings everyone!

Update- Dad is going to have surgery on his leg tomorrow and I have bronchitis (again) and a sinus infection- so I am on antibiotics now and should be feeling better soon!

Due To Circumstances Beyond Our Control.......

the big news will need to be postponed a few more days. Honestly guys, I had not planned to draw this out quite this long but everything that could go wrong has (almost!) I really hope to have the news posted by this weekend (with pictures!)

Between my hubby's grandfather being at death's door, my father breaking his leg, I am still sick with what feels like pneumonia and we are housebound by this freakin' ice storm!

I know you readers from up North are going what is the big deal people it is just a little ice but us South Texans so rarely see ice, we don't know how to deal with it. If you turn on the news here, you will see IDIOTS out on the overpasses driving 80 miles an hour, the next scene you see will be IDIOTS outside their managled vehicle (if they are lucky!) shaking their head going "man, I don't understand how this happened?" DUH!!!! Here's Your Sign!

So as for me and my family, we are staying indoors, off the roads until the ice clears up and the idiots go home!(We may be in for a long wait on those idiots!) I guess I am starting to get better because I am in a really lousy mood, when I start getting grumpy then I am usually on the road to recovery!

I am ready for the child to go back to school and for me to feel better! I want out of this house! If you are so inclined say a little prayer for us, especially that God will grant me some patience and I won't go crazy just yet.

News Will Have to Wait....

Sorry you guys but the Big Announcement will have to wait til next week. I have two Prayer Request for you all though.

My husband's Grandfather is really ill with pneumonia. This is on top of lung problems already, so it does not look good right now. Please pray for him and all those who are taking care of him. Hubby's Mom is an only child and this is very hard on her.

Also, pray for my Dad. He went out to get the paper this morning at 6 am and tripped over a package the UPS guy left under the door step and broke his ankle. He needs surgery to fix it but will have to wait a week because he takes blood thinning medication. So he will probably have surgery next Friday to repair his ankle. He is 75 years old, so this is hard on him and my Mom.

Thank You for the Prayers and Check back next week for the BIG NEWS!!!!!!!!

Just a little longer........

I have got a bad cold or allergy stuff going on so you guys are going to have to wait a few more days for the BIG NEWS........by the way, they tell me it is delurking week in Blogville.....So reveal yourself already!!!!!!

--if you know the big announcement don't spill the beans for the rest! More news soon!

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas Day! Ours has been a quiet relaxing one for our immediate family at least!

Darling Daughter did a wonderful job with the reading at church yesterday morning. The program last night went off with only a few minor problems. I overcame my fears and I think I did a good job with the songs I interpreted last night. We had at least one deaf individual in the audience last night and they said they might come to our interpreted services on Sundays. So that was a wonderful, unexpected outcome from last night!

I said we had a quiet Christmas but unfortunately my Hubby's parents did not, they spent the day in the ER. My MIL had been down and out with a virus this weekend and apparently my FIL took it last night as well. She found him passed out in the bathroom today and she got him up but then he passed out again, so she called an ambulance. They were both checked out in the ER and apparently there is a really bad virus making the rounds in the North Texas area. They are back home now and hopefully on the mend. Our holiday plans with them are up in the air at this point but we definitely don't want to go up there until they are all better and the house has been fumigated!

Say a little prayer for them and enjoy the rest of your Holiday! Blessings Ya'll!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Here is wishing all of you a very Merry Christmas! We have a busy weekend ahead of us. Darling Daughter will be doing a Christmas reading at Church tomorrow morning while Hubby will be interpreting the sermon. She is excited about doing the reading and does not seem to be a bit nervous!

Tomorrow night, we will be having a special Christmas Eve Service and both Hubby and I will be interpreting for that. This will be the first time in a long time I have done any interpreting and I AM nervous. Pray that it goes well for me and I don't goof up too much.

If I don't have time to blog again. We wish all of you a wonderful Christmas full of God's richest blessings for you and your families. If you can, take a moment and say a special prayer for all the men and women serving in the military. We owe them a great debt of gratitude for all they do to keep us safe.

Yeah, with a broken halo!

You Are an Angel

A truly giving soul, you understand the spirit of Christmas.

What Christmas Ornament Are You?

HALLELUJAH!!!!!!!

I am officially done with my Christmas Shopping! Yeah! I bought my last two gifts this morning, so I am finished! Now all I have left is a little cooking and a lot of enjoying the season! Yahoo! Now if it would just get a little colder and maybe snow!

Hope you all are having a Blessed Monday!

These things are so silly but lots of fun!

You Are Dancer

Carefree and fun, you always find reasons to do a happy dance. Why You're Naughty: That dark stint you had as Santa's private dancer. Why You're Nice: You're friendly. Very friendly.

Which of Santa's Reindeer Are You?

Hot Date Tonight!

Hey, I had a hot date tonight with a really cute fella (that I happen to be married to!)and we had a great time. Hubby surprised me with dinner at The Melting Pot. Yummy! We had this cozy little corner booth for two with hardly any traffic by the table. I think we saw one couple pass the table, with the only other people being waitpeople. That is pretty amazing considering they were packed. We will ask for that table again.

We went all out and had the "big night out" dinner. It was Cheese Fondue with bread, veggies and apples, followed by a yummy Caesar salad. The main course was lobster, beef cubes, chicken, shrimp and ravioli with veggies. The fondue was a highly seasoned broth. You cook your meat and veggies in the broth using skewers. We ended the meal with Flaming Turtle, which was chocolate, caramel and pecans flambeed at the table, served with cheese cake, pineapple, strawberries, bananas, brownie cubes and cake cubes. (oh, yeah there were marshmallows too! It sounds like a tremendous amount of food and it was plenty but the portions are cut into small pieces

It was a really fun meal and we totally enjoyed ourselves! Only negative thing was it was expensive but a really fun night for once in awhile. I think I will see if the girls want to go sometime just for dessert! Hope you all had as enjoyable of a Friday night as I did. Tomorrow we clean house! Whoopee!!!!!

Please Take A Few Seconds...

...and pray for the Family of Sarah B. Sarah was a 37 year old Christian, Mother of 4, who lost her battle with Lymphoblastic Leukemia on Monday. Sarah was a member of the Fairfax Church of Christ, where we attended for almost 7 years between 1994 and 2000.

Sarah showed such faith and courage during her battle with Leukemia and was a shining example to the Doctors, Nurses and other Patients. She is at home with her Lord now and is dancing with the angels.

I ask you all to say a special prayer for her family. She leaves behind many who love and need her. She has 4 children under the age of 9. My heart breaks for them as they are probably too young to understand.

Please pray for the comfort of God's hand on her husband's head. Please pray that the family will feel the love and concern of all their fellow Christians. Please pray for a measure of peace for their broken hearts.

Please pray that somehow these blessed little children will understand that their Mother did not choose to leave them. Please pray that a cure for cancer will be found.

Thank You for taking time to read this and to pray for Sarah's family.
I only have one more thing to ask you to pray for:

Please pray to God and thank him for all the blessings that He has given to you and your family, pray that He will open your eyes and heart to the wonder of it all.

Love It

It is so great to hear to the doorbell ring or that loud beating on the door that the delivery man likes to do. I wish I had done ALL my Christmas Shopping this way! Everyday it is a new surprise as to which package the delivery man will bring! Whoo Hoo!

Yesterday Scrooge, Today Tiny Tim!

Yesterday I was having a Scrooge day but after a really cute Christmas Program at darling daughters PTA meeting and some much needed attention by my wonderful Hubby, I am feeling more like Tiny Tim!

The third grade did a Christmas show yesterday (the school figured out real quick to have the kids perform at all PTA meeting to boost attedance)and darling daughter was a cutie patootee in red! One of the music teachers used to perform at Fiesta Texas (6 Flags Amusement Park) and it really shows in the programs. They managed to include Kawanza, Hannaka and Christmas into one program and included Felix Navidad to support our Hispanic Culture as well.

I can't say I enjoyed the behavior of some of the parents at the PTA meeting. They showed such disregard for other people's feelings, it was disgusting to watch. They allowed their children to run wild, knocking people over, it was such a stark contrast to how the kids behave during the school day, so I know they are able to behave, the parents just don't require it like the school does. It is a shame that parents expect the school to teach their child discipline but then don't enforce it on their watch. Ok I will get off my soapbox now!

Think I will go do some Christmas shopping while I am still in a good mood. Hope you are all enjoying a beautiful Weds. morning! Blessings!

Just Wondering

Think I have got too much time on my hands!

Your Language Arts Grade: 100%

Way to go! You know not to trust the MS Grammar Check and you know "no" from "know." Now, go forth and spread the good word (or at least, the proper use of apostrophes).

Are You Gooder at Grammar?
Make a Quiz

You Are Midnight

You are more than a little eccentric, and you're apt to keep very unusual habits. Whether you're a nightowl, living in a commune, or taking a vow of silence - you like to experiment with your lifestyle. Expressing your individuality is important to you, and you often lie awake in bed thinking about the world and your place in it. You enjoy staying home, but that doesn't mean you're a hermit. You also appreciate quality time with family and close friends.

What Time Of Day Are You?

Good to Be Home!

Our Thanksgiving week was nice but involved entirely too much road traveling. Darling Daughter was off all week and my parents wanted her to spend a few days with them before Thanksgiving. We drove about 3 1/2 hours to meet them on Saturday, then turned around and drove home because hubby had to interpret at church on the 19th. Then we spent three days working around the house (and just enjoying some alone time together) before driving about 8 hours on Weds. to get to Arkansas for Thanksgiving with my Dad's side of the family.
My parents have a camp in Ark. which consists of a motor home permanently anchored and a little building about 12 X 12, which has a small bathroom with a shower, a stacked washer and dryer and a sleeper sofa (which is where we spend the night) while my parents and darling daughter sleep in motor home. We had Thanksgiving lunch with my Great Uncle and about 40 relatives. Then after lunch we drove to the Dallas area to my husbands parents.
Darling daughter had a blast at both places, she loves the woods and camping and she is crazy about her cousin that lives near Dallas. She is only 15 months older than this cousin so they play well together. As soon as we pulled into the driveway this cousin was running to the car and gave DD a best friend bracelet that has "best" on one bracelet and "friends" on the other.
We had a good visit with hubby's parents and two brothers (and families). My MIL has always wanted to plan a "girls night out", so this year she bought tickets for the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular for all 8 of the girls. She has three daughters in laws and 4 granddaughters. That was a fun trip. The guys went and visited with their grandparents who are shut ins now and live about 2 hours away.
Sunday we decided to leave Dallas early to beat the rush home. Boy am I glad we did. About 10:30 there was a major wreck in Waco which shut down both sides of the freeway causing all traffic to be rerouted, not just to the service road but thru town. Fortunately, we were there right after it happened so the traffic had not had time to really build up and it only delayed us about 30 or 40 minutes. If we had left after lunch like we usually do we would have had a much longer delay.
I think we figured out that we put about 1400 miles on my van this week with all the driving we did. Think I want to just stay home for awhile. Here is an interesting tidbit for those of you with children. Do not allow your children to collect acorns and then leave them in the car for a couple of days. Darling Daughter had collected a plastic container full of acorns while in Ark., left them in the car for about 4 days and opened them up on the trip home. She then let out a blood curling scream when she found worms in the container. I just slapped the lid back on and deposited the whole thing in the trash when we stopped for lunch! I don't think DD is going to be as anxious to collect acorns as she used to be!

Hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving and are ready for the Christmas Season to begin. We have our first Christmas party this friday, I guess I need to get busy and get the decorations up, so we will be in the spirit! Blessings!

Feeling Much Better!

Thanks to all who sent me well wishes last week, I am feeling much better and only have a little cough lingering. Darling daughter is out of school this week and spending a few days with her grandparents! Hubby also is off this week, so we are spending some much needed time together and getting a few things done around the house before the craziness of the holiday begins.

Hope you all have a safe and happy holiday! Enjoy your family, friends and of course the yummy food! Don't forget the reason for the Holiday! Thanks be to God for all of his blessings!

UGHHHH!

I habba stuffy nose and sore throat. I think it must be Fall allergy season!

I feel like the seven dwarfs:

1.Stuffy
2.Sneezy
3.Drippy
4. Crabby
5. Achy
6. Itchy
and hubby's favorite:
7. B*&^%y (I think you all know which one that is!)

Hope it will all "blow" over soon!

What A Way to Start The Week

I woke up this morning at 5 am to the booming of Thunder and Lightning. I tried to get a few more winks in before my 6:10 wake up call but the power went out which caused the rechargeable flashlight to light up the bedroom, conviently place by my side of the bed.

Hubby set his watch alarm and we tried to go back to sleep but with all the noise and the rude awakening, I was up! You don't think about how much of your life is controlled by electricity until it goes out. The alarm on the house has a back up battery but it starts blinking and beeping to let you know that your power has gone out (duh, I would not have figured that one out!)

I was trying to figure out what all I needed to do to get darling daughter ready for school in the dark, how to get the garage door hooked back up after we disengage it to get the cars out, if the school has power and if it is even worth getting darling daughter up for school, will the bus make it on time since the traffic lights are out?

We called the school and the answering machine picked up so we figured they had power and we should get darling daughter up for school. The power came back on at about 6:35 so I did not have to worry about the garage door and the bus was on time. So it all worked out in the end.

We had a good day at church yesterday. We have been involved in a long process to raise money for a new building. It has been building up (pun intended) with meetings, mailings and lessons all geared towards turning in pledge cards yesterday.

They had asked the families that they had designated as being "leaders" to go ahead and make their pledges last week, so we were already done with our part. They had a brunch during Bible Class and then a special service to encourage the rest of the congregation to fill out and turn in the pledge cards. The great news is that the "leaders" who turned in the pledges early (and less than half of the people that were designated as "leaders" actually turned them in) had already contributed almost 1/2 of the target goal.

There has been a lot of prayer put into this campaign and it looks like God has really touched a lot of hearts to give sacrificially and we should make our target goal. We have totally outgrown our building and there is no room to expand at our present location. I look forward to a time when we have room to all meet together in one service and plenty of classroom space to meet in but I also look forward to outgrowing that building as we continue to spread God's message to the people of this community.

It is an exciting yet scary time for us, as we try to begin this new signing ministry which hopefully with God's blessing will grow into a Deaf ministry. Please pray for all of us.

Close Call!

Whew I dodged a bullet last night! I shutter to think how close I came to a really awful situation.

It all started innocently enough, my hubby has a co-worker who recently adopted a 10 month old baby boy. He mentioned last night that co-worker is looking for someone to keep the baby for half days three or four days every week.

Being the helpful wife I am, I piped up, I could do that. It would be fun to be around a baby again. Hubby looked at me like I had lost my mind! He was right I had lost my mind!

What was I thinking? My Baby is 9 years old, my house is not child proof, it isn't even dog proofed anymore. My body is old, I don't want to change poopy diapers and chase a toddler (he is already walking).

After I did some quick thinking, I retracted my offer and told hubby I would keep my ears open for someone else who might want to keep the baby. I help teach the cradle roll on Weds. nights at church and that will do fine to keep my baby lust in check. I get to play with them, love on them, smell that sweet baby smell (except when they have poopy diapers) and best of all....give them back after an hour or so!

Yep, I dodged a bullet that time! Whew!!!!

Parable of The Toilet Seat

Once there was a family who lived all together in a big house, on a nice street, in the good part of town. One night the wife went to use the toilet in the dark as not to disturb her sleeping husband, as he was a hard worker and she knew he needed his sleep. She was very tired also from watching their children, taking care of their home and all the numerous volunteer duties she had. In her weariness, and the pressing urgency of her bladder (brought on in part from the numerous children she had bore), she forgot to check the seat and fell in with a splash.

The howling awoke the whole family as Mother, vocally expressed her shock at the cold, wet, water that now drenched her lower body and nighgown. The husband and children all had a good laugh at poor Mothers expense, Mother cleaned herself up, got all the children put back to bed (all by herself I might add because hubby was already snoring loudly by this point) and then she was able to go back to bed herself.

Little did she and her family know what lay in wait for them……From that simple fall into the toilet bowl had set in motion a chain of events that would lead to tragedy. As the family slept so peacefully, a tiny germ, introduced through the act of falling into the germ laden toilet bowl, took hold of Mothers body.

A few days later, Mother noticed that she did not have the energy she usually possessed. She shrugged it off , as we all know that Mothers do not have time to be sick. By the time the rest of the family noticed the toil the germ was taking on dear Mother, it was too late!

The germ took over her body and then her mind, poor Mother was not herself anymore. Father came home to find dirty dishes in the sink, clothes piled knee high in the laundry room, a message on the answering machine asking that Little Johnny be picked up from Day Care. Mother had simply vanished.

As for her Family, the dishes and the clothes eventually took over the house, as there was no one to clean them with Mother gone. Little Johnny was adopted by the Day Care Center Owner, as no one ever bothered to retrieve him that day. The other children have grown up to wander aimlessly around, begging from neighbors and friends. Father has taken to finding comfort in a bottle, as there is no one left at home.

So what happened to Mother? Some say she ran away to Tahiti because she knew she was losing her mind and did not want to harm her family in any way, others say she found a cure in Fiji along with a handsome young lover who does not take her for granted and NEVER, EVER LEAVES THE SEAT UP!



--This was written in response to Niki's blog about toilet seats, it does not reflect any problem in my marriage. My sweet hubby never leaves the seat up!

Remapping

I haven't written about my cochlear implant in a while so I thought I would post an update. I have made some real progress with it over the last few months. I was picking up a lot of background noise that was driving me batty, so when I had the remap session yesterday I had her change the sensativity. It seems better today.

I still struggle in noisy environments but I think I am doing pretty good in quieter settings. Music still does not sound so great to me. The audiologist says this is pretty normal and it will take longer for my brain to process the music just because it is more complexed than voices. She did make a special program that is supposed to make music sound better and it did seem to sound a little better when we tested it in her office.

Right now, I am really more interested in becoming more proficient with understanding speech. So I am not too concerned about the music, although I do miss having music in my life. I have come so far since last year, when I first started this long journey.

Hope you are all having a blessed week. Say a little prayer for my hubby as he is sick with a sinus infection and not feeling so well. Time for darling daughter to get off the school bus so I better go! Blessings!

There's got to be a morning after.....

We held on thru the night and survived the Birthday Sleepover! Whew, glad that is done with and peace returns to this house. Baby Girl celebrated her 9th Birthday yesterday. Hubby and I took Baby Girl and three of her closest (and noisiest) friends to dinner last night.

We took the girls to The Magic Time Machine. They had a blast, we were seated in a booth shaped like a hut with little windows and the girls spent a large portion of the time hanging out the windows trying to get the cast members (waitpersons) to sign their autograph (menu) books. They would scream everytime the Johnny Depp character from Pirates of the Carribean came by. He autographed by putting his sword thru the menus, err I mean autograph books. Basically, you don't go to this place for the food but it was an evening of fun.

We returned to the house for cake, presents, dress up play, movie and some impromptu dancing by the girls. One little girl elected to go home, rather than spend the night but the other two camped out on the family room rug. We seriously started trying to get them down by midnight and I think for the most part succeeded by 1 am. It was our own who had the most trouble winding down.

Hubby got up and fixed them some breakfast this morning letting me sleep in, (he is such a sweetie, I think I will keep him!) The last girl went home about 11 and took baby girl with her! So it is quiet here again. I am glad they all had a great time and I am very glad it is over with for at least another year. You would think noise would not bother a deaf person but it just adds chaos to confusion for me.

Happy Birthday to my beloved Baby Girl, we are so glad that God has blessed us to be your parents for the last 9 years. You are growing into such a sweet young lady and we are very proud of you!

Monday Musings

Hello all, here's hoping you had a great weekend. Ours finished better than it started out.

To those who care for "rest of the story" regarding the plumber. He called about 6 pm on Thursday and asked to come out and finish the job. He arrived at 6:40 and soon was working in the dark. My daughter being the sweet thing that she is, was worried that he might cut his finger or something and wanted to go hold the flashlight for him. I assured her that if he cut himself he would come to the door and I would (maybe) call 911 for him. I was not too sympathetic towards him having to work late due to the number of bright sun shiny hours I spent waiting on him. He finished the job about 8:30 and presented me with the $225. bill, then graciously took $20 off because he was such a sweet guy. I am glad to be finished with him and do not plan to use that company again. He never even apologized for all the time he kept me waiting.

Friday we had planned to leave as soon as darling daughter got out of school for a trip to my parents house but Hubby did not know if he would be able to make the trip due to problems at work. Fortunately, he was able to work everything out and we got on the road by 5pm. The only good thing about leaving here late is that traffic thru Houston was not as bad. We arrived at my parents home around 9 45.

We celebrated darling daughter's birthday on Sat. with a family party. Granny made her a doll cake, which thrilled her. I wish I had a picture but forgot to bring the camera. We visited with my brother and his family and watched the Aggies beat Missouri! Darling daughter has money burning a hole in her pocket now, as both my parents and my brother gave her money for her birthday. We keep trying to explain to her that she might (will) get some more money for her actual birthday and if she waits she might be able to buy something really nice, rather than just nickle and dime-ing it away.

Sunday, we went to church with my parent for a Homecoming Celebration. My brother and his wife came also (quite an accomplishment as my brother does not usually go to church) and we were able to see the refurbished building. The church building lost its roof in last years Hurricane and due to the delay in being able to repair it developed mold, so it took a year to refurbish and clean up the mess inside. The church had been meeting in a little annex building for the past year and there membership had dropped way down. It was great to see some old friends and renew some relationships. I guess it was fitting that it rained all day but we enjoyed the fellowship anyway. They provided a good BBQ lunch and lots of homemade desserts.

It rained on us all the way home, making the trip thru Houston rather "hairy" but we made it home safe and sound. This week will be filled with appts., birthday shopping and birthday celebrations as Darling Daughter will turn 9 on Friday. We are having a slumber party, so please pray for us as these little girls take over our home for the evening! Blessings to all for a great week!

Why I need Prosac!

I really wanted this to be a funny post about how service people keep you waiting for them but basically I am just really ticked off about this and I can't think of anything funny about it right now. This will be a rant rather than a comedy essay (feel free to check out now)

RANT BEGINS

Monday while I was out, the yard guys came by and left a message on the machine that we had a water leak in the yard. Lo, and behold , they were correct. So I called our lovely plumbing service people to come fix it. They told me they would be there in an hour, then they called and said they would be there in a few hours, then they called and said they would be there the next morning.

Hubby came home took a look at it (I wasn't sticking my hand down that hole with frogs, snakes and who knows what else) and figured out that it was a crack in the pvc pipe leading to the pressure regulator, that above mentioned plumbing service installed last year. He had us take our baths and fill up the tubs with water so we could flush the toilets and then hubby turned off the water.

Plumber came next morning and starts working on part and it begins to rain. So he put a temporary patch on it and turned our water back on. He assured me that he would be back out early the next morning to fix it, as long as it was not raining. No problem, I even had him look at the leaky shower in the Master bath. He said he would bring the part and fix it when he finished the outside job.

So far, so good, everyone is happy. This morning I wait for him until about 10:30 and when he does not show I call his company office. Oh, he will not be able to come untill 4 pm. Why didn't he tell me that before instead of having me wait all morning for him?I had several errands to run and had lost the whole morning waiting on this guy. I told them that it was fine if he came at 4 but he had to finish the job by 5 :30 because I had to leave at 5 :30. They did not know if that would give him enough time, so they said he would come out between 8 and 10am on Thurs. That would be fine as long as he is here and finished by 10:30 because I have to leave to go to work(at the school) at 10:30. Oh well, then they will have the tech call me at 3 pm because that may not be enough time, I can talk to tech and work something out. Fine.

4:15, still no call from Tech. So I call company again, oh they just talked to Tech and he will come out between 8 and 10 tomorrow morning. "Well he better come at 8 because I will be leaving at 10:30". Oh they will give him the message but he should be there before 10 or will call me and tell me he is not going to make it. I thought I was the deaf person here! Did I not just say, he had to come early that I would leave at 10:30 and they are saying he will be here at 10 am.

So tomorrow for the 3rd day in a row I will be waiting for the plumber to show up, Anybody want to lay wagers as to if he will actually show up this time? I guess they just assume that since I am a stay at home mom that I just sit around and eat bon bons all day and have nothing better to do than wait on the %$#@ plumber!

END RANT

So say a little prayer for me tomorrow that I can control my temper and my tongue as I deal with my less than punctual plumber!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAMA!

I know everyone thinks they have the best Mama in the whole world but I really do! I appreciate her more than she knows. She has always put me and everyone else before her own needs. She has been a wonderful Christian example and her grandaughter thinks she rocks!!!!! I hope she knows that I love her and I am so thankful that God made her my Mama!

Happy 70th Birthday Mama! Can't wait to see you next weekend!

It's Officially Fall!

I told my hubby that Fall had officially arrived last week, because I had my first "Pumpkin Spice Latte" from Starbucks! Yummy! It is funny that I like Fall so much because yellows, browns and oranges are not my favorite colors. However, I love the smell of apple cider, cinnamon and pumpkin bread baking. My favorite air freshener is the pumpkin spice oil from Bath and Body Works. I don't really like Halloween but love having pumpkins (prefer them uncarved) on the front porch. I love that I need a sweater when I walk out to the bus with darling daughter at 7 am. Here's hoping that you are enjoying this great Fall season where you are. Won't be long until it's "Soup and Chili Weather" but it needs to get a little colder.
Blessings!

First Interpreted Service

We had our first interpreted service for the deaf and hard of hearing yesterday. I think it went great. There are things we can do to make it better and to help it flow smoother and we are working on implementing those things this week. I think God was pleased with our work.

I was able to see some folks from A&M, who were in town for the A&M/ARMY game. It is always good to see familiar faces. The Aggies and the Cowboys won this weekend (how often does that happen?--Never!!!) So it was a good football weekend for our household.

Hope this week is filled with blessing for you and your families!

Crying Babies!

Tonight was my first night in Cradle roll at church in about 9 months. I usually help teach every other quarter but had to sit out the Spring quarter due to teaching a sign language class for the kids. Anyhow....it was good to be back.

Turns out there are only two kids in the class that were there when I left, all the others are new babies. The first one came in, a chubby little fellow about 4 months old, I think it was only his second time to be left in the nursery (Mom seemed a little nervous about leaving him) He was a cutie and it was great to be holding a baby again. Then the second baby came, a little girl about 6 months old. The third baby was a little boy, about 11 months old and then another little boy about a year old. Then all four started crying at once.

Fortunately, we had four sets of arms to hold them, but then we got two more, both about 18 months old or so. They were old pros at cradle roll and soon they were happily playing with the toys. There was actually one point in the evening where all the babies were happy and quiet. It did not last long though!!!!!

It is sweet to be with the babies again. I miss having a little one in the house. It is great to be able to give them back to Mom at the end of the hour too!

Pray for us!

Well, it is official now, there is no going back. Starting next Sunday our church will have interpreted services. This is really scary to me. I want this to happen, I want to open up these new doors but I am really scared of failing. We had a meeting after church this morning and had 6 or 7 that showed an interest and 3 people who were not able to come to the meeting. From that group, we have 4 people who are able to interprete so hopefully no one will burn out from too much work.

It is not a full blown deaf ministry yet, just an interpreted service on Sundays. It has to start somewhere though, and God will control how fast (or if) we continue to grow. Please keep us in your prayers. Most of the responsibility will fall on my husbands shoulders but I am his support team. Pray that people continue to show an interest in this ministry and that God blesses us.

Busy,Busy, Busy!

My In Laws are coming today. I am going to work in the copy room at school this morning. I need to pick up donut holes for Grandparents Day at school tomorrow. I need to mail a birthday present to my sister in law. I need to buy my Father in law a present for his birthday, because we are going to celebrate it early while they are in town. I should probably clean the house a little more. I need to fix something good for dinner, but will probably just pick up BBQ. Darling daughter has a doctor's appt this afternoon. I am still dragging from the cold that I had all weekend. I have already done all the laundry, changed the sheets on the beds, and cleaned the bathrooms! Whew, I am a little busy today but Praise the Lord I am able to do it all! I am blessed with so many good things in this life. I have a beautiful family, a lovely home, an exemplary school for my daughter to get her education at.

So why am I blogging when I have so much to do today?
Whoops! Better Get Going, Bye......

It's Raining!

It's raining, it's pouring!
I can't wait to start snoring!


Finally, we are getting some much needed rain.
Thank You Lord!

I hope it continues thru the night,
as I love to sleep during a rain storm!

Blessings everyone!

Blogger is having problems!

I apologize for the last post. I fixed it but blogger isn't correcting the post for me. In fact it will not even let me look at my post without going through someone elses blog to get here. I think it is a plot to drive us all insane!