Happy Birthday Chaz

My baby turned 16. He's not so much of a baby anymore! We are going to O'Charleys for dinner.

After trying out for soccer, he has decided that he wants to play basketball instead. It's been a rough two days because of the way this was announced. He made the varsity soccer team and now we need to tell coach he isn't going to play. Chaz thinks he will have better chance at a basketball scholarship than at a soccer scholarship. I don't know. The only person I knew to ask passed away last year. He was a scout for several universitys/colleges.

Anyway, more later. Niters.

how I spent my day off.....

With friends.

Meet Jeff Miller before he took the stage. (no this is the picture after he took the stage.)

Saw Governor Crist.

And seeing Sarah Palin in person. I am impressed. I like this woman. I believe she and McCain will be good for the country. I also believe she is being groomed for further down the line.

oh yeah. I made my first Etsy purchase today.

I get to go see Sarah Palin when she comes into Pensacola next Tuesday. I called a friend of mine on Wednesday night to tell her that Palin was coming to town and she and several other friends stood in line to get tickets. I got one!

I've been having a lot of fun with Twitter. Yeah, I know. 120 updates on twitter, 2 updates on blogger. I must admit, 140 characters from text messaging is so much easier!

I discovered House. A friend lent me the first season on dvd. Watched 3 episodes on Wednesday night and 5 episodes last night. I'm a third of the way through the season. I should finish them all by Monday at this rate. LOL

Kids are at band practice. I'm sitting at the church reading the news and will probably read a few blogs soon.

Tomorrow, Chaz will referee for soccer and I'll take Breezy to WF to let her tour the campus. Then it's off to Barktoberfest. Breezy really wants to go so we'll go.

Alabama football at 2:30 p.m. Now to find out what channel it is on.

In other things, I stuck my foot in my mouth. Nothing new I know but hey. By the time it was over, I was as red as my shirt. Pretty bad. *sigh* Yes, it was in reference to a man. duh.

Anyway, let me get to blog reading. Later gators and see ya on twitter.

Twitter

Added a twitter feeder box to the right side. At least I can post updates from my phone via text messaging now. :o)

I discovered Twitter last week. I'm going to try to add it to the sidebar.

Chaz is at soccer refereeing. (is that a word?) Beezy and I are sitting at Andrea's house. She made crepes for breakfast. I know now that it's not something I'll be ordering when I go out! LOL

I got my computer back on Thursday. Best Buy did the restoral on the system. I'm still not pleased. The left mouse button that was repaired the very first time I took the computer in is no longer working. It worked when I turned in the computer in June and didn't work when it was returned to me. Of course, because it's out of warranty, it's my problem. Reasonably, I'd expect that if it worked when I turned it in and it doesn't work when it's returned to me, then you (BB) did something to it? *scratches head* I give up. I'm over Best Buy. I'll find someone who can fix it and in the meantime, I've set up a work around using the left corner tap for my short cut menu and converting the right click button to the function of the left click.

Gotta go pick up Chaz. He's done.

oh yeah!

I won tickets to the Winter WonderSlam Tour from Power 88. Oh yeah!


Other things... Hurricane Gustav went to our west. We got lots of rain and wind but no damage. My mom, her husband, my sister, and her two sons came and stayed with Chaz and I. Breezy spent the night with a friend that evening. Played some cards and talked a lot. It was good.

Saturday morning, I went to the Humane Society to sign up to work as a volunteer. I filled out the forms, got the tour and then I got to spend about 2 hours sitting in a room playing with kitties! I love kitties. :o)

Work has been crazy busy. Learning new things. I got to do some basic training type stuff with two new health technicians who are going to schools around mine.

Anyway, I need to get busy. I came up here to do some work. Need to get it done. Later.

Wordle.net

Very Cool

Birthday

I'll be 45 this weekend.

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.

Another month gone...

School is out. First week of summer is over. Summer reading camp starts next week. Two weddings down. Several to go.

did I say it's the summer of the weddings? Two in May. Two in June (not counting the one I missed). Two in July. All friends or children of friends. Or in the case of the one yesterday, a nephew. It's crazy.

And lately, I pray that God will bring someone for the kids and I. I've been reading a book called "How to live well as a Single Mom." And today, I was wondering just how well-adjusted my children are. Are they tramatized by the divorce and I just don't realize it? Are they understanding of relationships? Do they have godly role models to follow? Am I missing something that they need?

So much turmoil lately as well. A friend whose 17 year old daughter is pregnant (and I've heard of one more who is pregnant). Another friend is in the midst of a bankruptcy that they never saw coming. The friends who are ill. I know that there are things going on in the heavenlies and on earth but so many prayers are needed.

back later.

Happy Mother's Day

Love you Mom. Love you Chaz and Breezy.

I am so proud of my children. I walked into children's church this morning and Breezy was helping to lead worship and Chaz was behind the sound board. The really amazing part is that Chaz who previously had not been all into the worship or leading of it, was standing behind the sound board making the motions to the songs the same as everyone on the stage was. No one could see him except those on the stage and a couple people behind him. I think he wasn't even aware I was watching. The tears came to my eyes so quickly it surprised me.

Chaz' taste in Christian music is even changing. Changing to more worshipful music. He's teaching himself to play the guitar. He's become a viable part of the band that Breezy is in.

Breezy is writing songs. The last one she wrote was put to music while she was in Atlanta. My friend Debi called me to share the song with me. She said her cousin could not believe that a 12 year old had written the song.

I'm so grateful to God for the changes in their lives and the call of God on their lives. A few weeks ago, they let me know they consider themselves to be "pastors kids." Wow.

many pictures...

It's been a couple weeks. We've been busy as usual. Missions Conference at church, Missions banquet, soccer, Breezy's trip to Atlanta, Chaz' trip to Panama City, my trip to Fairhope. It's been good though. Lots of pictures.

Roses left over from the missions conference. A little droopy but still beautiful.

After a little work, this is what those roses look like. When they are completely dry, I intend to tie a bow at the top and hang them on a wall. For the time being, they hang over my kitchen table where my light from the 70's would normally hang.

This lovely little bird is called a killdeer. She is guarding her eggs. Can you see them? This is on the soccer fields next to our church. Someone parked their vehicle within 4 feet of her. I felt so bad. Then on Thursday, he parked there again and kids were playing around the back side of the truck. Hopefully no one disturbed them.

One of the flower pots at church. I really like the blue color of the pot in contrast to the greenery.

I've never seen gerber daisies like these but they are gorgeous. I used one of these images as my desktop at work. Last night a friend asked for the file so she can have it enlarged and hang it on her wall at home.

These are pitcher plants. Scientific name: Sarracenia. They are beautiful plants. My friend "A" wants to make a bouquet with them. too bad they are endangered.

A close up of the flowers.

Both this picture and the one below were taken at an antique and relic shop in Fairhope. The pots were awesome. Just the shape and shadows were wonderful to see.

This one reminds me that we are all clay pots that God choses to use for His glory.

This is a flamingo that I spotted on our way back to the car. The contrast between the pink and lime green is great.

I also took pictures inside Serendepity. What an adorable little shop. Beautiful windchimes and an awesome series of angels I've never seen before. When we go back next time I may buy one. The owners were very nice and let me take pictures inside the shop.

All the downtown streets of Fairhope are lined with gorgeous flower boxes and beds on the street corners. A delight to walk on a beautiful day.

A yellow rose from Fairhope. The pier there is gorgeous. They were celebrating Earth Day. I have a lot of pictures of flowers. This would be an awesome place to hold a spring wedding with all the roses in bloom.

We were in Fairhope to help with the Eastern Shores campus outreach. We got to help give away ice cream. How hard can that be? LOL

A shot taken on NAS Pensacola at Lake Frederic. I love how you can stand on the beach and see the lighthouse, the boats coming into the marina and at the same time, see planes flying overhead preparing to land on the airfield.

Alice Limpert, missionary to Tanzania, and myself at the Missionaries Banquet at the New World Landing. Alice is such an awesome lady. She is teaching the widows and orphans skills to support themselves.

I guess that's enough for now. I have to get Breezy and one of Chaz's friends to a birthday party. Chaz is playing soccer. I'll have a couple hours free before I have to pick them all up. Later

Found via Cyn at Kaleidoscope. (Then I took some more of the test on that site.)

Your Thinking is Concrete and Random

You are naturally inquisitive and curious. You're excited by new ideas, and you are a true independent thinker. You are interested in what is possible. You like the process of discovery. You are often experimenting, challenging old ideas, and inventing new concepts. Rules, restrictions, and limit don't really work for you. You have to do things your own way, and you can't be bothered to explain yourself.

What Kind of Thinker Are You?

Amazingly accurate considering there are only 5 questions.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Your Heart is Blue and Purple

Your heart is enticing and enchanting. You are charismatic, larger than life, and fascinating. You bring fantasy and romance to relationships. You're good at making someone ordinary seem extraordinary.

What Are the Colors of Your Heart?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You Are a German Shepherd Puppy

Intelligent, quick witted, and a bit aggressive. You've got the jaw power to take a bite out of anyone you choose.

What Breed of Puppy Are You?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You Are a Good Friend Because You're Supportive

You are almost like a life coach for your best friends. You give them help when they need it... but you also know when to give them a push. People tend to rely on you for moral support and advice. You've probably always been mature for your age, so this is a role that's you're comfortable with. A friend like you is one of the rarest kinds. You are both a good mentor and companion. Your friends need you most when: They are confused or worried You really can't be friends with: Someone who only wants to complain Your friendship quote: "The only way to have a friend is to be one."

What Makes You a Good Friend?

oh yeah. If you ever see a really weird IP on your blog counter/stats, it may have been me. I'm reading blogs from my cell phone at home! LOL

stuffeth

It's been busy lately. Sometimes too busy.

Most of my family come into the area tomorrow. We are all getting together with aunts, cousins on Saturday to wish my brother the best. He's headed to Iraq in April to do counter IED stuff.

We got a new car last Monday. At least new to us. It's a 2005 Ford Focus that had 18,500 miles on it when I bought it. I filled it up for the first time on Friday. 27 mpg. Of course, 300 miles in a little over 4 days is crazy!!



I also picked up a camera. I have been wanting one with decent zoom to take better pictures with. I broke down and bought it on Wednesday. It takes gorgeous pictures. Check these ones out.

This was taken from across the water yesterday. It was WAY off in the distance. I was actually surprised when I realized it was the blue angels plane at the front gate of NAS!! LOL

This is Breezy and Chaz. They were sitting on a "couch" that was made out of sand. They had a blast for Easter playing in the sand.

And this is the fire on Perdido Key last night. If you click for the larger version, you can see the firefighter on the roof near the flames. Crazy I know.

Easter was fabulous. We spent it with friends. Breezy and Chaz spent the whole afternoon on the beach playing in the sand with some of their friends.

I've had several interesting conversations about marriage recently. The first was a few weeks ago. A friend and I were talking about someone getting married and I told her I already had the draft for my wedding invitations done. I dreamed about them in May 2005. A few days later, she called and asked if we could get together and talk. Eventually the conversation came around to the invitations. She said she had never thought of me as getting married. When I asked why, she said I seem so content. I told her I am. If God sends me a husband great. If he doesn't, we're still good. She asked what I was looking for in a man. I told her "nothing" and she looked at me like I was kidding. No, not kidding. I told her the only thing I really asked for was someone who knew I had a compulsive need to make stuff. After that, it's God's problem. (My spiritual Mom prophesized that God would send someone to us who loved me like Jesus loved the church and he would love my children like his own.) I figure God's got it under control.

Today, a different friend called me all excited. She said she had a dream last night that she was planning my wedding reception. She said we had the hardest time getting together to plan it because of all the stuff going on. Then she told me what he was wearing in the dream and that she didn't see his face. I laughed and told her it's ok.

Just makes me laugh. :o)

God, today I'm so thankful for my children and the friends you have brought into our lives.

Anyway, it's nearly time to pick up Chaz from soccer practice and head for the volleyball game.

Only 3 more workdays this week! Yah!

too much....

to remember it all.

Our tax refund came in. Both Chaz and Breezy got the money I owed them for various things over the last couple months. A and I placed a bead order. Those should come in on Monday. We all tithed on what we received.

I got a new phone, a Moto Q. It wasn't what I went in. I wanted a LG Scoop, but after looking at the things I can do with a Q, I decided to go route. I have to keep an eye on our any time minutes. Normally, we only use 350 of our 1000. Now we only have 500 any time a month. My poor cell phone service though, the battery wouldn't hold a charge... for anything. So they replaced the battery, then they replaced the phone and finally, they put the mother of all batteries (MOAB) on the back of it. It's keeping a charge now. The salesman kept asking if I had ever been struck by lightning. Nope. Been shocked but not by lightning. Guess getting shocked/electrocuted can affect how batteries & watches work around that person. heh.

Later today, I'm headed to Hobby Lobby to pick up the supplies for "Chick Night" at church. I'm going to help the ladies make a bracelet. "A" suggested getting about 10-16 inch strands of beads, 20 charms, and toggles to make 20 bracelets. She said if all the bead strands and charms weren't used, I'd be able to return them. Good idea. I may even look into ordering them from Fire Mountain. Never know.

I've gotten to catch up with a couple friends over the last week. One of them has a beau. I'm excited for her. She's such a sweet lady and so deserving of a wonderful godly man in her life. The other friend has recently suffered a disappointment in her ministry and needed encouragement. I believe that whatever God has for her is bigger than the disappointment. God's time, not ours. That's the hard part.

More later. I'm thinking.

Visit Mugs of Truth




Busy busy week again. Last week was FTE week. Don't ask me what it stands for. I have no idea. But in that week, we total all the medications we give, all the special procedures, tally all the allergies, adhd, etc numbers, and add in the number of students actually visted the clinic and turn them in. Final total: 348.

Saturday was WinterJam at the Mitchell Center in Mobile. Phenomenal!!! 10,500 people inside. The estimate for those turned away because there was no more room was 3,500-4,000!!!! The artists were amazing. I went mostly because I wanted to see MercyMe and NewSong. The worship was incredible. I have to admit that Skillet was probably my favorite. The pyrotechnics were WOW!! 15 foot columns of fire along with water mist and some sparkler type thingies. And I actually knew 4 of the 5 songs they did. Way cool. We went up with a group of 45 and another 40 or so from our church joined us there.

I managed to get my taxes filed finally. The free efile from Turbo Tax wasn't working for me this year due to a change in the way I had to file the bonus from the school so I used H&R Block as a friend recommended. Very good. We should have our refund back by the 21st. Yah! Part to the church, part to the kids, a bead order, and possibly a down payment on a car.

We are praying about a car. New or used? I don't want a huge payment so it's really weighing on me. We have got to replace the van. It needs a transmission and there is something seriously wrong with the undercarriage/frame.

I've also been sort of agitated lately. The single life and singles ministry has been on my mind. I'm torn between if the agitation is that I'm still single after being alone with the kids for 8 years or just agitated because something is missing or I'm waiting for something to happen.

I also realized I'm starting to pick up on other's emotions/feelings again. For a while I believe God softened how strongly I reacted to others emotions/feelings. But it seems to be getting stronger again.

I've been reading my Bible in the mornings after I get to school. I usually have 20 minutes or so of quiet time before my day officially starts. It's been good.

There's a song out that I think is just the bomb-diggity and I can't find it to download from iTunes or Zune. Paul Alan's "To bring you back." Awesome song. Now if only I can find the lyrics or at least the download so I can type out the lyrics.