Running out of time

I have a busy busy weekend lined up. So if you don't see me around for a few days don't worry about me. I'm only working two days this week! We had Monday off as a holiday and I'm taking Thursday and Friday as vacation days so I have to get a week's worth of work done in 2 days. But have no fear I can and will get it done! Thursday I intend on cleaning my house. I've borrowed a carpet shampooer from one of my friends and hope to at least attack the living room and the path through the dining room from kitchen to living room. Anything after that will just be bonus! I was also invited to a girls lunch Thursday, which I'll go to if time permits. I have set up a play date for a friend to come play with Peanut. AND I might be babysitting my nephew so my sister-in-law can be with her mother who had back surgery last week! Then Friday morning, Peanut and I have dress rehersal for our dance recital. My momma will be coming in to town that afternoon and the first performance is Friday night. My mother-in-law is also coming to town Friday, but I don't know when she'll get here. Peanut's planning a slumber party with her grandmas Friday night! Saturday we have more family coming in and two more performances. So, if you see someone running around like a chicken with their head cut off... it's me. Don't worry, I'll be back to normal next week!

A Long Weekend

I didn't get much done this weekend. I didn't plan on doing much, but there were a few things here and there that I would've liked to have done. Yesterday afternoon my friend Not-So-Shy showed up at out back door. She came in and plopped down on the living room floor next to me and was obviously upset.

Almost seven years ago Nickel moved me to this town of strangers. He and Not-So-Shy had been friends for many years so we naturally hit it off. For years we were inseparable but one weekend we had a difference of opinions. This difference resulted in over a year of not talking to each other. It was a very hard time for me, and probably her too. Then after some painful circumstances in my life I reached back out to her. At first we were both pretty gun shy. 'Don't get so close and you won't get hurt again' was both our motto, but we managed to reconnect. She and I have never been quite as close as we were, but that's fine. We get together and gossip from time to time. She has her friends, some I know, and I have my friends.

To have her show up at my house yesterday in tears, I knew something was wrong. She cried, I hugged. She talked, I listened. I didn't try to fix her problems. I didn't try to bash the man who had hurt her heart. I spoke and asked questions as things got confusing and offered tissues. My heart breaks for her. She spent about 6 or 7 hours here last night trying to figure things out. Of her three closest friends two weren't returning her phone calls and one was out of town but on her way back. She didn't know where else to go. She came back today, still heartbroken. Again, I tried to just be there for her. We went to the mall and walked around, got some coffee and talked. She's talking things over with her man now. I hope everything works out for her.

So I spent my weekend consoling my friend. What did you do?

It's All About Me!

I discovered that Susie tagged me with the meme so here goes-

I AM: a daughter, a wife, a mom, a sister, an aunt, a cousin, a princess!

I WANT: world peace

I WISH: I wasn't over weight

I HATE: stupid people

I MISS: my sanity most of all

I HEAR: silence. But only because Peanut is still asleep

I REGRET: nothing

I AM NOT: a morning person

I DANCE: in a recital on June 2nd and 3rd. Should be a lot of fun if you're going to be in Enid that weekend.

I CRY: at chick flicks, when my feelings are hurt, and when someone close dies

I AM NOT ALWAYS: happy

I MAKE WITH MY HANDS: phone calls, food, and little projects

I WRITE: because I enjoy it

I CONFUSE: people when ever I can!

I NEED: a maid

I SHOULD: go take my shower

I START: my weekend at 5 pm on Friday

I FINISH: what I start. Eventually.

(Yes Mom, I'll go back to college. Someday)

Want something more?

I've started a new blog. It's over here. I've decided I needed a place to focus on the flowers I so dearly love. You're welcome to stop by any time. I haven't had the time to tweek the template, but hopefully I can get to that on this upcoming long weekend! This site will still have my silly, random outburst of whatever comes to my mind including the ever famous Peanut stories.

Michelle, my oldest friend

I went shopping today at my favorite Christian Bookstore and I bought Michelle a little book for her birthday today. I even remembered to take it by the post office after Peanut's dance class. Michelle's birthday isn't until June 1st but I didn't trust myself to go back by the post office before then.

Our mothers were friends in highschool and ended up living just a few houses apart after they married, settled down, and started having babies. Because of this I can not say when Michelle and I actually became friends. We just always were.

When we were real little we would play together often but as time passed our play times got further and further apart. We had different friends, different churches, and different social circles but every year for the last 27 years we have remembered each other's birthdays.

Years ago, around the time we both ventured out into the world on our own we kept in touch by phone calls in between birthdays. We have always been so connected that when she was on my mind I was on hers. Days would go by and one of us would finally pick up the phone and we'd discover, as if my magic, the other was just about to do the same. We would talk anything and everything that was going on.

These days it's mostly just Birthday and Christmas cards that we exchange. Some years we're in the middle of the month before we remember the other's birthday has past and quickly send out a card and other years we start looking for cards the month before. But once a year we take the time and write out a year's worth of events into a single card. Michelle still pops into my mind from time time, and I wonder if even after so many years of being apart, if she's thinking of me at the same time. I like to think she is and I say a prayer for her.

Happy Early Birthday Michelle!

Italian cream Sodas, Ducks, and a Suspended License

Ok, where do I start? Perhaps I should start at the beginning of my morning. It was WONDERFUL! Quite. Nickel had a dentist appointment at 9:20 this morning and since work is 30ish minutes away it's easier for him to not go to work for an hour to drive back to town to drive back to work to drive back to town at the end of the day. So, he was still around this morning while Peanut and I were getting ready. I hinted to him that if he wanted to, it would be a great morning to take her for breakfast then he could drop her off at school and the DMV was across the street since he needed a new drivers license. Well, about 5 minutes later the house was empty and I was able to get ready for work at my leisure. I didn't let it go to waste either. On my way to work I stopped at my Fave-Or-Ite coffee shop and got a blue berry muffin and an Italian cream Soda. It was a great morning!

A while later Nickel called. I was expecting him to tell me how much it cost at the DMV so I could record it in the check book. Nope. He called to tell me that his license had been suspended due to some cancellation of our insurance. He couldn't get a new one and was now driving while under suspension.

Hmm... ok.

I called the DMV in Oklahoma City to find out if mine was suspended too and what we needed to do. I'm safe. Apparently if you cancel insurance within so many days the insurance company sends a letter to the DMV. The DMV then sends you a bill for driving around without insurance unless you can prove to them that you have insurance or have sold the vehicle. If you don't do this they suspend your driver's license until you pay or produce the documents.

Ok, but why didn't we know about this?

Because he never notified the DMV of our current address. You know, the house we bought almost 4 years ago! The letters went to the old address.

Ok, but we've never gone without insurance.

The insurance agent has to send in a letter verifying who he is, what vehicle is insured and how long it's been insured. My agent will be in the office in 45 minutes.

Ok, so finally I make it down to my agent, who by the way is the best in the whole world! She produces the information, writes the letter the DMV wants and faxes it to them. Then she sticks a copy in a letter, puts a stamp on it and puts it in her mail-just in case they don't get the fax. She gives me a copy just in case. Promises to check on why a letter got sent because in February we did cancel one policy but wrote a new one the same day because it was cheaper! Ok, so this will all work itself out.

Then I drove back to work and saw the cutest thing! Luckily I had my camera!

Ducks! Just walking across the parking lot. Mama and four babies. I told her they were adorable and looked just like her. I think she held her head a little higher after that! Enjoy the pictures!

I kept my distance so she wouldn't think I was a threat to her babies.

Kitchen Fires

Perhaps I need to invest in a fire extinguisher. I've started kitchen fires at least twice in my life. I might have blocked the rest. Don't worry, I wasn't hurt in either fire. The first one happened when Peanut was between 4 and 30 months old. That's when we lived on Elm St. I don't remember what I was cooking but I remember using a dish towel to get it out of the oven, whatever it was. The towel dropped to the bottom of the stove and the next thing I knew it was engulfed in flames. Ok, maybe engulfed is a bit too much, only one corner was on fire. I don't know how it started either! I grabbed the towel by the other end and ran it outside where I jumped up and down on it several times! Poor towel, I threw it away. Supper was still good.

The next kitchen fire incident happened, well, tonight. I made tacos. One of my Fav-Vor-Ite meals! Peanut and I were talking about her school day. I wanted to warm up my tortillia without getting out another pan the meat pan still had, well you guessed it, meat in it. So being the brilliant person I am I turned on the gas burner and set the tortillia right down. I fully intended to stand there flipping it back and forth a few times until it was done, but somehow got distracted. A few moments pass and I started to smell something odd. I looked at the stove and there was my tortillia getting very brown and black... and orange... and yellow.... oh wait, that's not a tortillia anymore... that's a fire. Oops. I grabbed the tortillia and threw it in the sink and turned on the water.

So, what do you think. Should I invest in a fire extinguisher? Don't those things have to be serviced ever so often?

A Rant

Sometimes I just about hate people. That sounds harsh, but I'm afraid it's true. I try to think the best about people and am usually the first one to chalk someone's attitude to a bad day but there are people in my life that I wish weren't.

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

If you missed the rant don't worry, it was just me blowing off steam. I'm through now.

We can all proceed with out lives.

Strong Willed Child..pttthh

They're coming to take me away, ha-haaa!!

They're coming to take me away, ho-ho, hee-hee, ha-haaa

To the funny farm.

Where life is beautiful all the time and I'll behappy to see those nice young men in their clean white coats and they'recoming to take me away, ha-haaa!!!!!

Calling All Prayer Warriors

I can't remember ever asking for prayer for someone I've never known, but I am now. This momma needs your prayers for her sick sick daughter. Go read the story here at Momrn2's site

******************************
Update 5/20

The daughter is doing much better, however they will be in the hospital for a few more days. If you get a chance go say a quick hello to Momrn2 to let her know you've been praying. Also, I'm not going to post again until Monday sometime to make sure everyone has a chance to see this post.

If you ever find yourself in a situation where you want to send out your prayer request out please don't hesitate to tell me!

The View

I have a pretty nice view from my office window. People who come in to chat with me usually end up staring out my window instead of looking at me. For the most part I don't mind. Upon walking up to my window you can see the playground to the left. The preschool children fill it up with screams and giggles throughout the morning during the school year. There is a small patch of cement next to the playground, but after that it's a beautiful sea of grass up to the fence line and the next brick building. If our maintence guy wasn't so dang particular about keeping the grass mowed I'd try to sneak out there and plant some daisies (I still might...)

Today when I looked out my window I saw Mrs. Bunny and little Hoppity. They were enjoying a morning stroll in the grass. From time to time Hoppity would wonder away from Mrs. Bunny, but then Hoppity would quickly come back. Little bunnies can move really fast!!

Where's my camera when I need it?

There was another bunny hopping next to the fence line. I couldn't tell if that was Mr. Bunny or not. It could have been Auntie Bunny, who knows. Anyway, I guess I really should get to work. I have a wedding to prepare for tomorrow so I need to get all my work done today. Can't do that when I'm bunny watching.

Maybe I have some filing to do over by the window...

Quote of the Day

When it comes to worrying or painting, know when to stop.

I hate being sick.

What Kind of Soul Are You?

You Are a Dreaming Soul

Your vivid emotions and imagination takes you away from this world. So much so that you tend to live in your head most of the time. You have great dreams and ambitions that could be the envy of all...But for you, following through with your dreams is a bit difficult. You are charming, endearing, and people tend to love you. Forgiving and tolerant, you see the world through rose colored glasses. Underneath it all, you have a ton of passion that you hide from others. Always hopeful, you tend to expect positive outcomes in your life. Souls you are most compatible with: Newborn Soul, Prophet Soul, and Traveler Soul

What Kind of Soul Are You?

Hmm... I think I would agree with what this says about me. Tell me what kind of soul you have!

Thanks Claire for the fun quiz!

Friday Picture

Got a funny caption? Leave it in the comments for all to read!

Have a great weekend.

Today's thought

Now God, don't hold out on me...Your love and truth are all that keeps me together.

Ps 40:11 MSG

***** Funny Picture to be posted later today*****

Some Changes

Ok, since I got a new banner (thanks again Emma) I updated my sidebar. I think I have my daily reads on there, if you're not on there and should be please let me know, I promise it's an oversite!!!

Check it out!

Hey everyone look at my cool new banner!!! My friend Emma made it for me and sent me the html to plug into my template! She's so awesome!!!

Thanks Emmers!

Can you sleep when the wind blows?

Years ago, a farmer owned land along the Atlantic seacoast. He constantly advertised for hired hands. Most people were reluctant to work on farms along the Atlantic. They dreaded the awful storms that raged across the Atlantic, wreaking havoc on the buildings and crops. As the farmer interviewed applicants for the job, he received a steady stream of refusals.

Finally, a short, thin man, well past middle age, approached the farmer. "Are you a good farm hand?" the farmer asked him. "Well, I can sleep when the wind blows," answered the little man.

Although puzzled by this answer, the farmer, desperate for help, hired him. The little man worked well around the farm, busy from dawn to dusk, and the farmer felt satisfied with the man's work.

Then one night the wind howled loudly in from offshore. Jumping out of bed, the farmer grabbed a lantern and rushed next door to the hired hand's sleeping quarters. He shook the little man and yelled, "Get up! A storm is coming! Tie things down before they blow away!" The little man rolled over in bed and said firmly, "No sir. I told you, I can sleep when the wind blows."

Enraged by the response, the farmer was tempted to fire him on the spot. Instead, he hurried outside to prepare for the storm. To his amazement, he discovered that all of the haystacks had been covered with tarpaulins. The cows were in the barn, the chickens were in the coops, and the doors were barred.

The shutters were tightly secured. Everything was tied down. Nothing could blow away. The farmer then understood what his hired hand meant, so he returned to his bed to also sleep while the wind blew.

When you're prepared, spiritually, mentally, and physically, you have nothing to fear. Can you sleep when the wind blows through your life? The hired hand in the story was able to sleep because he had secured the farm against the storm. We secure ourselves against the storms of life by grounding ourselves in the Word of God. We don't need to understand, we just need to hold His hand to have peace in the middle of storms.

How I became a wedding coordinator

In the last post Susiebadoozie asked:

so. i want to hear the whole story about how you came to be a wedding coordinator. when will you be telling it?

Well, ask and you shall receive. Here's the story about how I became a wedding coordinator. But I will warn you, this might be a long boring post.

From the beginning...

I started working for OCC in February of 2004 as a temp. They had to lay the girl before me off due to conflicting personalities between her and the whole rest of the staff. The first day I walked in they said to me, "No one knows how to do this job, do the best you can and figure it out, there are bills to pay and payroll is in 13 days." Well, no pressure there! I'm pretty good at figuring out different computer programs so I just hunted and pecked around for a couple of days then started writing checks. Well, after two months of impressing them they hired me on as a full time bookkeeper. The lady before me had been not only the bookkeeper but she also was the wedding coordinator and head of women's ministries for that church. They did not ask me to take over these things and at the time I was very grateful!

Fastfoward a year to 2005. Seeing that I had a firm handle on what the bookkeeper does and was doing my job so well that I had time to spare they approached me about being the wedding coordinator. They told me how much it paid, at that time a whopping $50 and a few other details, but like the last time I started doing a job there they told me that no one really knew how to do this job so I'd have to just figure it out on my own. Basically my responsibilities were to be the face that people met when they came to the church to book their wedding. I would check the church calendar to see if there were any conflicting activities, take their money, show them what decorations we have and that's it until the night before the wedding when we had rehearsal and I would supervise that and the wedding. This sounded pretty easy and looked like a good way to make some extra money on the side so I agreed.

That's how I became the wedding coordinator. I'm not a wedding planner (they get paid better then I do) I basically coordinate for the buildings. I make sure that everyone effected is aware of what's going on. This includes (but not limited to) talking with custodial so that they clean the sanctuary before Friday and then again Saturday night, security so that the doors are unlocked the heaters or ac are on, sound technician to run lights and sound at both rehearsal and the day of the wedding, the maintance guys to clear off the stage and move the catwalk, worship leader to schedule band practice earlier in the week, etc. The day of the rehearsal I help decorate for the wedding (and sometimes I do more then anyone else) and supervise the rehearsal. My boss(the senior pastor) and the sound techs and I have done enough weddings together that we've got our hand signals down so that they know when I'm ready for music, lights, and groom and groomsmen to come out of their holding tank the prayer room. Even though we've got the signals down I still want the cool ear pieces that the secret service uses around the president!

Every wedding I've done has started on time, by that I mean five minutes after what the invitation states. You'll never believe how many people show up to a 2 o'clock wedding at 2 o'clock! If people are more then five minutes late I make them stand in the hall until the wedding party is down front.

So, anymore questions?

I'm so excited!

Ok, first, I know it's Friday and I haven't put up a picture, but I haven't really found one that I like yet maybe later this weekend.

Ok, now on to the real post. I have a new favorite song! I think this song has been around for at least a few minutes but I've finally found it. Ok. Let me take you back to January.

As you know (or you've probably had the sneaking suspicion), I'm a wedding coordinator. I love it! It's one of the best parts of my job. I get to deal with stressed out brides and their mothers. I've only done 6 (I think) weddings and I have 5 on the books so far for this year and two already lined up for next year. I've only cried at one wedding my whole life, and it wasn't even my own- I was too busy laughing at my then two year old niece. The wedding I cried at was on January of this year. The groom is a worship pastor and he and his best friend/man have been singing together for years, and they were awesome! Well, during this wedding the groom picked up his guitar and sang Stars Would Fall to his bride. Oh, girls (guys probably won't be that touched by it- unless you want to make your honey swoon) you have to listen to this song! But I'm getting ahead of myself. Ok, so the wedding ended they did their thing and I did mine but I was never able to ask the the groom what this song was that I'd never heard before. It made me sad, but I didn't stress out about it.

****Fast forward my life to yesterday.****

The youth pastor at the church I attend (I don't go to the church I work for) sent me information about the church camp we're taking the kids to this summer. I got online and started playing around at the website and found out that Monk and Neagle are going to be the worship leaders. Cool. Who are they? They had a website so I followed it. On the website they talk about their MySpace page. So I followed them there. Almost immediately I came to the conclusion that this is going to be a great camp experience! Before the page finished loading the song that actually made me cry at a wedding started playing! How cool was that?!?! These guys are awesome! Now go to their website! I don't know which of 4 songs will play as you get there, but if it's not Stars Would Fall you must listen to it!!!

What are you still doing here? Oh, the website, yes. Here it is. Now GO!

Note To Self

Don't buy anymore tires from Walmert. It takes them over two hours to figure out how to install them leaving you to walk around the store in the wrong shoes.

Also, don't take a 6 year old with a bad case of of the me-me's.

Thank you, that is all.

Preacher!

I hope you can read this comic. My boss sent it out to the staff today!

Lessons from a Peanut

Hope ya'll aren't too tired of my Peanut stories, but this one is good. She's sitting here at the table teaching me all about stuff that I need to know and I thought to myself, 'This is really good stuff, I wonder if my readers know this stuff...I'll blog it for them!'

Peguins:
They love the cold. They love to eat fish. People feed them fish actually. They love to swim. Some penguins live in Nebraska. Nebraska is warm and cold. One part is cold and always stays cold. Half of it is just like it is in Enid. Some of them love to be in the warm and lot of them love to be in the cold. Some penguins live at the zoo. This is the sound they make "hon hon honk". They love little goldfish (she holds her fingers about 6 inches apart). They don't like to be bothered. They love to swim. African penguins love warm and cold. They live in Nebraska too. Some penguins live in South America. South American penguins love to eat any kind of fish that they catch. African penguins love to see people. Some African penguins live in Africa. African penguins sound like this "renck renck renck". They love little child because these penguins are very nice. You cannot feed penguins chocolate. The mommy and daddy penguins take turns diving in the sea and taking care of their child. Seals and Humpback Whales love to eat little penguins. Sharks are very very mean to any kind of creature. Penguins worst enemy are hawks. Hawks love to take the penguin eggs and eat them.

Sharks: They eat any kind of fish. They cannot break through metal. And if you swim near a shark they will eat you without any metal and some people catch a real shark and hanged them from in an aquarmium. That's serious! They're favorite food is seals. Whenever they loose a tooth another one grows in. It doesn't take all night it just pops in. Hammer Sharks have hammers. Hammerhead have hammers from their head and that's why they're called hammer head sharks.

Monkeys:
Monkeys love to say "agh agh agh". Monkeys LOVE fruit. But one of their favorite fruits is bananas. They are very friendly.

Ducks:
Ducks says "rent rent rent". If you get near a duck and stick your finger in their face they'll bite. Their poop is very stinky. You can feed ducks bread but don't stick your fingers in their face! And another thing, they love to stick just their head in the water, not their whole body.

Bunnies:
Bunnies love to hop. Some of them scratch and some don't. Bunnies can be white, pink, blue, white with black polka dots. Bunnies don't make any sounds.

Here's a little poem:
Here's a little bunny
That hops so funny
Here's his little hole in the ground
When he hears a noise he picks up his ears
And he hops to his hole in the ground.

Mmmm... Meatloaf

Ever wish you could make a meatloaf that wouldn't leave leftovers? Here's a recipe that will WOW your family. I'm not lying! Even Peanut will clean her plate and she doesn't eat anything!

Sauce: 8 oz can of tomato sauce
1/2 c brown sugar
1 t mustard (the kind you put on hotdogs and hamburgers)

Mix ingredients and set 1/2 of it aside

Loaf: 1/2 sauce mix
2 lbs hamburger
1/2 c Pepperidge Farm Herb Seasoned Stuffing
1 medium onion-chopped (I don't like onions so I usually leave them out but some people love them)
2 eggs
1 t salt
1/2 t pepper

Mix ingredients together. Make loaf. Make a small crater down the center of your loaf for sauce. Pour remaining sauce over loaf.

Bake at 325 for 2 hrs.