Soap, Rain, and stuff...

I found a "pin" on Pinterest for homemade laundry soap.  Today, I bought the stuff to make it and find out how well it works.  The supplies came to $8.16 from my local Walmart.  I totally forgot to get quart jars.  Duh.  But I'm going out later on to find some.  Believe it or not, I have none in my house.

It is raining.  Constantly.  Whether just a sprinkle or heavy, it's raining.  And I love the rain.  This is the perfect weekend.  Tropical Storm Lee sitting in the Gulf churning.  And expected to churn for another two days.  While we don't need quite this much water at once, I'm enjoying it.  The last time I remember a storm sitting like this in the Gulf was Hurricane Danny in July 1997.  I had come back to the states from Guam.  My Daddy passed away on July 14th.  We held a memorial service for him and then had to wait until Danny was gone before we could go sprinkle his ashes.  I can still close my eyes and remember my brother wading into the water to sprinkle his ashes.

We are trying the trial subscription to Netflix.  I'm disappointed that several of my favorite movies aren't on it. What?  Really?  Yes, no You've Got Mail, no Two Weeks Notice, and no to several others I can't think of right now.  I did however, on the first day, manage to watch the first 5 episodes of Star Trek - The Next Generation.

Bet you never knew I was a closet Trekker, huh?  I HATED ST-TNG when it came out originally.  I was stationed in Jacksonville, Florida when it came out.  However, after we (the now ex & myself) to Japan, we started renting movies from a local video store.  We picked up the first few episodes of ST-TNG because we didn't see anything else we wanted to watch right then.  I've been hooked ever since.  Now if only I could convert my children so I could watch them while they are home and not just while they are away.  *sigh*

No kitty love yet.  Still have to wait a wee bit longer.

My daughter and her boyfriend have been together a month now.  It's a big milestone for them.  Seeing as they don't live in the same city, let alone in the same county, they have to make an effort to see each other.  They spent over 2 hours today texting each other to make arrangements to get together on Monday.  Of course, in between, she was texting me asking yes or no to "this that or the other."  We came to an agreement as long as the weather cooperates.  If not, it'll be next weekend.

I'm off to find quart jars now.  Have a safe weekend and have fun.

fireproof

This is a movie I want to see when it comes out.

hello?

It's been a while.

Summer school is over. Vacation Bible School is over (both at BAC and ESC). The kids are out at the beach with the Bloom Event that is being held for the youth.

VBS. It was good. Both of them. Chaz and Breezy both helped lead the worship portion of the daily sessions. During the BAC VBS they also were crew leaders. It is so cool to know that God is working in them and has given them a heart to minister to children. I know it didn't come from me! LOL My portion of VBS is the registration and first aid.

Since May 3rd, I've attended 5 weddings and missed 2. I'm aware of at least 3 more engagements that have occured in that time frame as well. Two of the weddings are supposed to take place before the end of the year and one next summer.

For the last couple months I have been interested in a guy at the church. He has recently come back to the church. He and I became members at the same time in '02 and he left for a season. The smile is devastating. I finally got to spend more than 2 minutes talking to him on Sunday. It was a good conversation. The subject? The defunct over 30's singles group at church and what we need for a new one. A little personal stuff about work and kids. Although there seems to possibly be an attraction, I got the impression he's not interested in a relationship. So, I can toss that to the wind. Of course, I know, it's not my timing. It's God's timing. I'm ok with that. I've been single this long, what's a while longer? I'd rather have the one that God intended for me than to screw it up again. I am teachable. It only took 3 tries to learn though. *smile*

Things have been tight around the house. No real paychecks between now and the end of August, it's real tight. The rent and the car payment is paid from my retirement check. I have a small check that comes in from some part time work. It's the electric bill, water bill, and cell phone bill that I need to come up with. Oh yeah, food and gasoline for August. Nothing too big. People tend to think I'm overly optimistic. However, I know God has provided every single year since I've been working at the school I know He'll provide again... somehow some way.

My computer is still non-functioning as well. I did 2 customer service surveys for the Geek Squad. After the first one, the manager called me and said he'd order the recovery disks for my computer. After 4 weeks, I still have not recieved the disk. I sent the 2nd survey on the 17th of this month. No response. On the 24th I emailed Best Buy. I recieved the "canned" email response saying they'd contact me within 3 days but it's now 5 days later and no word. Now to figure out what to do. My thoughts have run from contacting the channel 5 consumer department for assistance or seeing if I could start a "urban legend" all by myself. Neither ring true at the moment so I'm being patient. Out of the last 100 or so days, 42 of the days, my computer was with the Geek Squad, 30 days, my computer was not working properly, and for the last 40 days, it doesn't work at all.

I am ready to go back to work. I go back on the 13th. Breezy and Chaz on the 18th. Breezy will be an 8th grader and Chaz will be a sophmore. It is good. At the wedding this past Saturday, I was looking at a pew full of teens and realized how much I love those kids. Makes me want to cry just thinking about it. If I decide to stay with the Health Department after this year, maybe I'll see if I can move up to high school from middle school. Ya never know.

My brother will be home from Iraq for a couple weeks in August. We get regular updates through the blog that his significant other set up for him. He is safe and we are still praying for him.

Prayer. Over Spring Break, I went to our Eastern Shore Campus for a Sunday service. It was suggested that I pray Psalm 91 over my brother for his safety while in Iraq. I missed a couple days that first week but have been faithfully praying it now for 3+ months. I added my other brother, Chaz, Breezy, and my names to it as well. There is something comfortable about reading it outloud with our names in it.

Movies. The base has free matinees on Wednesdays for the first showing. The kids have seen Kung Fu Panda and Speed Racer. I saw Prince Caspian twice. I really like the movie and the soundtrack is awesome. I decided the song "This is Home" by Switchfoot would make an awesome wedding song. Guess I'll file that away for future reference.

I've got my memories
They're always
Inside of me
But I can't go back
Back to how it was
I believe now
I've come too far
No I can't go back
Back to how it was
Created for a place
I've never known

Chorus:
This is home
Now I'm finally
Where I belong
Where I belong
Yeah, this is home
I've been searching
For a place of my own
Now I've found it
Maybe this is home
Yeah, this is home

Belief over misery
I've seen the enemy
And I won't go back

Back to how it was
And I got my heart
Set on
What happens next
I got my eyes wide
It's not over yet
We are miracles
And we're not alone

(Chorus)

And now after all
My searching
After all my questions
I'm gonna call it home
I got a brand new mindset
I can finally see
The sunset
I'm gonna call it home

(Chorus)

Now I know
Yeah, this is home

I've come too far
Now I won't go back
This is home

I am thankful for my children walking with God, a home, a working automobile, friends who love us, an amazing church family, a job, sunshine and rain.

That's all for now. later gators.

welcome home....

Chaz and Breezy have been home for two weeks now. I barely recognized them when they came off the plane. Both have grown at least an inch and in Breezy's case, I think it was two. All the changes were not good. Breezy came back with an attitude that needs adjusting. She also brought back two pairs of shorts that aren't fit to wear in public. She said her aunt told her they "covered everything." Not! Nothing modest at all about 1/2 the clothes she brought home and she brought home alot.

VBS finished. Over 450 kids visited for at least one day. The high day attendance was 381. Low day was 331. That's alot of kids!

This has been the summer of the movies. With a friend's help (she works at the Rave so gets free admission for herself and a friend), I've seen Ocean 13, Nancy Drew, Live Free or Die Hard, Evan Almighty. Also seen Shrek 3, Spiderman 3, and Surf's Up. All of them were good.

We're supposed to go see Harry Potter 5 this week. And I read book 7. Very good. It's going to make it hard to see the rest of the movies with some of the plot lines that tied up in the 7th book in the back of my head.

Well, I'm off. The kids have a CORE meeting at the church for youth and I have a School Advisory Committee meeting at the same time.

Happy Birthday Baby...

Breezy turns 12 today. She's visiting with her Dad, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins in Washington/Oregon.

Her dad took her golfing (in Oregon) for her birthday since that was what she wanted to do. Her birthday party will be in Washington tonight.

Chaz played golf with his dad on Friday (Saturday?). They took 1st place in the tournament they were playing in.

Their aunt sent me a picture of all of them today. Their dad's hair is turning gray but he looks almost the same as he did when I saw him last in 2001.

Two more days of summer school and then the rest of the summer is off. Agenda is working in the library at church, Vacation Bible School, and a few movies possibly.

I have a friend who works at a movie theater. One of her perks is free movies with up to 3 people. Last week, she and I saw Ocean 13 and Nancy Drew. I liked them both and will most likely buy Nancy Drew when it comes out on video. We're going to see Evan Almighty tomorrow and planning on seeing Ratouille and Live Free or Die Hard next week.

Still need to upload pics of the last two clocks I made, the prayer window and possibly the "dead tree" I'm working on.

Time to scoot. VBS work to do.