The Beautiful Garden of Prayer

By Elanor Allen Schroll & J.H. Fillmore

There's a garden where Jesus is waiting,

There's a place that is wondrously fair;

For it glows with the light of His presence,

'Tis the beautiful garden of prayer.

There's a garden where Jesus is waiting,

And I go with my burden and care,

Just to learn from His lips words of comfort,

In the beautiful garden of prayer.

There's a garden where Jesus is waiting,

And he bids you to come meet Him there,

Just to walk and talk with my Saviour,
In the beautiful garden of prayer.

Refrain

O the beautiful garden, the garden of prayer,

O the beautiful garden of prayer;

There my Saviour awaits, and He opens the gates

To the beautiful garden of prayer.

How about some pictures

Peanut made her daddy's favorite Banana Pudding.

And you know, the cook gets to lick the spoon!

After all that cooking we played with the new baby kitties! There are four sweet babies. Peanut is holding Curious George and I've got Tiger. She named another one, but I've forgotten what it was and the last one hasn't been named yet. But I'm not worried about it. They usually have three or four name changes before one sticks.

Lent

Ok, here's the scoop. I've given something up for lent for the past two years and will do so again this year. It has become a little tradition of my own to give up soda. This is hard because I love my cherry coke from Sonic and my favorite dessert is a coke float. I usually make it half way through lent with no problem but Satan starts tempting me the second half.

Last year with the soda I gave up chocolate. This was a dumb move on my part. Women should NOT give up chocolate unless they have to for medical reasons! I never knew just how much chocolate there was out there. I couldn't have a chocolate birthday cake. Peanut couldn't either (because of the way lent fell). I couldn't have a hot fudge sunday nor chocolate chip cookies. I couldn't have kisses on valentines day or a million other things. I won't be doing that again any time soon. I managed to go the 40 days and 6 Sundays without it, but not without whining about it the whole time.

That brings us up to this year, this lent. Again, like in the past, I'm going to give up my precious pop. I've heard from several people that if you go without pop for a while and then try the diet stuff the switch is easier because you taste buds have almost forgotten how good the real stuff is. I think I'll try that. We'll see how that goes. But also, I've learned a few things about lent in the past few weeks. I've learned that it's not just about making the sacrifice but stopping to pray everytime you want what you've given up. This year I've joined a wonderful group of bloggers atForty Days to Forever- A Lenten Prayer Blog . This is a wonderful blog filled with prayer. There are something like 26 contributers. Some might post a prayer daily, some might weekly. Whatever the case might be we are praying, together during this time of lent.

The second part of my sacrifice during lent is my home computer. Tonight when I go to bed I am turning off the computer and it will stay off until Easter. What this doesn't mean is that I'm going to disappear until Easter. Now, it just means that I'll be limited to my work hours to blog and check emails. But ONLY after my work is done. Think lunch break. So, yes, this changes the Friday caption contest slightly. I will put the picture up on Friday like normal, but since I won't be checking my email or the blog over the weekend I'll post my favorites on Monday.

Also, I'll probably be commenting less on your blogs just because I'll be limited in time. This doesn't mean I won't read them because how could I not?!?! I just might not have time to post my witty remarks, but I might, we'll see.

Ok, that's it for now. Tomorrow I'm going to have pictures of baby kitties to share with the group!!!

Sunday Potpourri

pot·pour·ri

1.A mixture of dried flower petals and spices used to scent the air.
2.A miscellaneous anthology or collection: a potpourri of short stories and humorous verse.
3.A combination of incongruous things

Hee hee hee... Ok, I think it's funny when your blog's name is FRESH CUT FLOWERS and the subject title is potpourri and you're NOT talking about definition #1.

I want to give a shout out to Parker, who might be my youngest reader! I'm glad to hear I can make you laugh!

To Mike, Tj, Doc Pontious, we missed you today! There were only three of us in Sunday School today. Come back next week!!!!

There will be a slight change to the Friday Caption Contest for the next 6 or so weeks. I'm going to end it on Monday instead of Sunday. Hey, I said it was slight! I'll tell you more about it later in the week when I talk about lent. And THANK YOU to everyone who participates. I know how much I enjoy reading the captions you all come up with. Who knew you could be so creative and funny!

Have a wonderful Lord's day everyone! See ya around the blogsphere tomorrow.

Friday's Caption Contest

Here's the three that made ME laugh the most.

Just because you don't make it into my top three doesn't mean I don't appreciate or laugh at your entry.

1. Will Smama "Help! There's an 'I' key stuck to my hand!"

2. Jennybee aka Emma "George sees Neo and now wishes he had just taken the blue pill"

3. Faith "While shopping for his wife, Harvey estimates her size for the clerk."

Faith, I hope Harvey never goes shopping for me!!!

Where's my EYE

Hmm... today my keyboard fell n the floor. Ever snce no longer have the letter ... oh can't type t because t won't type... 'll spell t out f you haven't fgured t out yet t's the letter "eye"

Can type the rest of my lfe wthout the letter eye?

Dd you really notce before sad anythng?

LOL... just another part of my "wonderful" day.

You are a Carnation:
You are friendly, energetic, cheerful, and bubbly.
You love being around people. Outgoing and
talkative, you rarely meet a stranger. Others
feel at ease around you because of your
playful nature.
Symbolism: In Victorian times carnations were given
to show fascination with another. They also
symbolize friendship and whimsicalness.

Which Flower are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Picture This

A picture is worth a thousand words. What is one place you have seen that only a picture can adequately describe?

Kit the Kat

I have a cat. Her name is Kit the Kat. She's pregnant. This is no big deal to us, she's had three litters before. However about three weeks ago I decided that she was so big that labor was soon to happen and have made her an inside cat. Since this decision she has refused to have those babies. It's been THREE weeks. Every day I wake up, she's fat. I come home from work, she's fat. She spends a lot of time looking for a small dark place to have the kittens but still she remains fat. Even my husband, who doesn't like cats has come to ask the daily question, "Is the cat still fat?" and my response is always, "Yes."

How do you induce labor in a cat? It's not like I can take her to the mall and make her walk around it a dozen time. Can you give a cat Castor Oil? I'm ready for those kittens. Kit doesn't seem to mind. She gets to stay inside where it's warm, have food set out for her 24/7, someone to clean up after her potty breaks, and lots of attention (some wanted and some not so much). The only "down side" I guess she has is the fact that I lock her in the laundry room at night so she doesn't wake us all up jumping on stuff. But even that has become a game to her. The other night I put her in her room and sat down at the computer to check my email one last time. I could hear her scratching at the door then a few minutes later I got up to go to the kitchen and there she was. SHE HAD OPENED THE DOOR! Luckily the lock is on the outside so I can lock her in!

So we wait..... and wait.... and then wait some more for these dad-gum kittens to get here! She's probably got a dozen in there cookin' away. It's pretty funny to watch her waddle around the house. Have you ever seen a cat waddle? Everyone should experience this at least once in their life. I haven't figured out how to upload a video or I'd show you Kit.

Anyway, hopefully I'll have pictures of the new kittens to show you soon!

Friday's Caption Contest

And the winners for this week's contest:
Jennybee: "You want to take my temperature WHERE?"

Ayatollah Mugsy:"What do you mean I don't get any royalties from Troll Doll sales?" said Terrence the Primate. He vowed to appeal the court's decision.

Dr Mike Kear: I'm going hunting with Dick who?!

Friday Caption Contest

This week's winners:

Ayatollah Mugsy: First the tire boot and then the sinkhole. Javier knew he shouldn't have crossed the path of that black cat. And little did Javier know that he was about to be car-jacked by that large woman who was running toward his passenger door.

Eija: Coming up! A grand car show - the most luxurious setting and the best car(s) in the territory!

Jenny Bee:Never tick off the mayor especially when it's your ex-wife.

Don't forget to tune in tomorrow for Friday's Caption Contest! I've got a great picture for you this week!!!

And the picture of the computer in this post isn't it...lol!

My Johari Window

Along the lines of Monday's blog about our "real" selves. I've found this Johari window, courtesy of the RevGalBlogPals. So those of you that think you know me...even just because we blog together, go to this site and pick the words you'd describe me as. It's not really that hard and kind of interesting to see. From there you can also create your own Johari window. If you do let me know so I can help you see the person you didn't know you were.

Traveling

Today I explored the mountains and valleys of the Grand Canyon. Then I saw the sky scrapers of Manhattan. After I left there I went to France to see the Eiffel Tower. And then I went to St Peter's Basilica and the Colosseum in Italy.




Then the pizza guy showed up and I closed out Google Earth.

The Pasta Diet

The Pasta Diet
1) You walka pasta da bakery.
2) You walka pasta da candy store.
3) You walka pasta da Ice Cream shop.
4) You walka pasta da table and fridge.

And for those of you who watch what you eat, here's the final word onnutrition and health. It's a relief to know the truth after all the conflicting medical studies:
1. The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks thanAmericans.
2. The Mexicans eat a lot of fat and suffer fewer heart attacks thanAmericans.
3. The Chinese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacksthan Americans.
4. The Italians drink excessive amounts of red wine and suffer fewer heartattacks than Americans.
5. The Germans drink a lot of beer and eat lots of sausage and suffer fewerheart attacks than Americans.

CONCLUSION:Eat and drink what you like. Speaking English is apparently what kills you

Another you?

Ok,MadCapMum has me thinking about the personalities we project on our blogs. In real life I don't know many strangers. I'm almost always smiling when I'm talking to people and if I'm not smiling I'm at least making eye contact and trying my hardest (sometimes easy sometimes not so much) to focus on what is being said. But here in cyber space you can't see my smile, you can't see my eye contact. But does my writing get that point across?

Am I able to project my true personality to those of you that don't really know me? Well, how can you strangers actually answer that if you don't know me. A couple of you I do know in Real World, do you think I'm the same online and off? Do you try to project the true you to the rest of cyber world or have you created an alterego that you wish you were?

Does Bruce Wayne really equal Batman? Does Leslee of Enid America really equal Leslee of Fresh Cut Flowers? Is there really a pug out there that blogs? Ok, I think that's enough questions to get a good conversation going.

Blog about your dog day

I bet you didn't know, but today is Blog About Your Dog Day. Yes-sir-e-bob!

This is Snoogans. He is part Eskimo and part Samoyed. He is the most mellow dog I've ever met. He came to live with us last August. After a couple of weeks of playing escape artist games he finally settled down and is perfectly content to hang out in the back yard. For the first several weeks he would pee on the Winnie dog that lived next door through the fence. But now they just chase each other up and down the fence. There was a husky that also lived right by us Snoogans and the husky would sit at the fence talking for hours. But the husky went away one day and hasn't come back. Snoogans loves the winter and gets down right giddy when it snows.

Snoogans likes long walks around the neighborhood(especially when we walk to pick Peanut up from school and ALL the kids pet him). Peanut. Treats. And taking naps under the tree in the back yard.

Birthday

I had a WONDERFUL birthday! My "sweet" Peanut woke me up at 8:30 because she was afraid I would over sleep and miss a minute of my birthday. Then her and her daddy decided to go get donuts for breakfast but not before hooking the playstation up to the tv in the living room so I could watch the movie I bought myself "Just Like Heaven". It was every bit as good as I thought it would be and a perfect chick flick! I got to watch almost the whole thing before Nickel and Peanut got home. When they arrived they brought me the prettiest potted purple tulips! I'll plant them later on the year after I've got my usefulness out of them and enjoy them forever! Around noon I finally took a shower and got out of my pajamas. My husband took us to a resturant outside of town and we had the best barbeque in the whole world (or at least the known-to-me world). We stopped at Lowes on the way home to look at kitchen sinks because we need to replace ours and lawnmowers. Then we went on home. Around 3 or so I put my pajamas back on and cuddled up on the couch and watched my movie again. It was a wonderful day and I highly recommend spending your birthday like this!

Leslee's Friday Caption Contest

And the winners are:

1. Dr Mike Kear: I'm Verdecrane from the planet Felinium 7. Take me to Captain Picard!

2. Jackie:

6 pack of beer - $15

Limes for the apitizers - $4

Cat walking in at the perfect time - priceless

3. Jayne: "And you thought blonds had more fun?"

Nickel had to help me because there were so many great entries. We might have to make a weekly habit of this! Thanks for playing!!!

If you didn't a chance to enter the contest but still have a great caption please leave it in the comments.

And the winner is...

This is the medal I received when my partner and I placed third in a dramatic duet.

Four Lies and A Truth

Jennifer at Sob'ah My Soul tagged me for this little game. And I LOVE it so I'm playing along.
The directions are to write five things about yourself with only ONE of them being true. The other four are fiction, and everyone else gets to guess which one is not fiction.

1. My parents got a divorce when I was 6.
2. I'm a twin
3. I was an extra in the movie Twister -the scene where they're at the drive in theater
4. I was on the Competition Drama Team in High School
5. I speak fluent Cherokee

Guess which one is true.
I'm going to tag five for this, but I know it's easy to get tagged out, so don't feel obligated to play. If this sounds like fun, though, and you could use some blogspiration let us know so we can come and guess your truth.

1. The crew at Emmaus Theory
2. The RevGals
3. My Canadian friends
4. My pug friends
5. Everyone else!

Finding My Voice

Since I have no great wonderful event to tell you about I have chosen today to tell you about the day I went from being a shy, quite, reserved girl into the bold opinionated woman you know and LOVE today!

Setting: 7th grade. I had permed hair. My sense of style was NOTHING like what the rest of the world was experiencing at that time. I had a mouth full of metal. I rode the bus to and from school everyday. I made good grades. I was a goodytooshoe who went to church every Sunday. I didn't use bad language. I cried when I thought I made anyone mad. I didn't have very good friends.

So one day my so called "friends" and I were riding the bus to school. Kelly and Robin were two years old then Brandy, Regina, and myself but for the most part we got along. Sort of. My "friends" would periodically decide to get mad at me for something or another. Perhaps I annoyed them. Perhaps they were just PMSing and I was an easy target. Whatever the reason I was always trying to make them feel better about themselves. I was constantly apologizing for stuff that I had no idea I had done. I was the low man on the totem poll. On this particular day the girls were all in a frenzy by the time I got on the bus. Kelly had decided she was going to break up with her boyfriend Shawn. Shawn and I had English together. That day I told him he needed to talk to Kelly. He asked me why. I didn't tell him, just told him he needed to talk to her. He asked me if she was going to break up with him. I didn't say no. Well, Shawn figuring things out decided to beat Kelly to the punch and broke up with her first. It wasn't pretty and Kelly was heartbroken. I still am unsure why.

My "friends" decided I had told Shawn about Kelly's plan and that I wanted to go out with him myself so I must be excommunicated from the group. They refused to talk to me. They refused to sit with me at lunch. And being so shy I couldn't just walk up to anyone else and eat with them. I ate alone. I stood outside after eating by myself while the girls huddled and would look at me as if to say, yes, we're talking about you. What you gonna do about it? Cry? Then they'd laugh. I was even scared that they would try to beat me up or that they'd talk one of their other friends (who was ALWAYS in trouble for fighting) into beating me up. And I didn't stand a chance. I was miserable. I kept trying to apologize for this horrible mistake I had made, but they wouldn't listen.

Later that day on the way home from school Regina was sitting in the sit behind me on the bus. She stood up and told me that they just didn't think they could trust me after what I did to Kelly. Well, that was it. I had had enough. I stood up, looked her straight in the eye and asked, "What in the HELL did I do to Kelly that effects you?!!?" Regina just stood there. Probably shocked that I could yell at her without crying (which I was known for). After a moment she just rolled her eyes and sat back down. She did not have a come back. She didn't have a defense. She had nothing. And none of the other girls said anything either. They didn't talk much on the way home. Not to me or to each other. They didn't huddle together to whisper. They didn't make fun of me. It was like I had finally proven myself to these girls. Maybe they were actually thinking about what I said.

I would love to say that magically these "friends" became the best friends in the whole wide world but they didn't. But I stopped trying to please them from that moment on. That was the first moment in my whole life where I stood up for myself, and to be honest, I liked it. But with great power comes great responsibility...(oops, sorry this isn't a Spider Man comic book...) I didn't let it go to my head. Not too much anyway. Now I use my power of self esteem to reach out to others that might need a little push...like calling a half stranger (only half because we talk via blog comments) and inviting her to lunch (Cindy, we need to do that again soon because I had SO much fun!!!).

These girls and I remained friends, and I use that word as loosely as you can, throughout high school. From time to time my mom sees them in my home town and they ask about me and want me to call them. But I don't. And it's not that I wouldn't talk to them on the phone if they called me. But I firmly believe that that part of my life is over. If God wants me to reach out them He'll let me know. But until then, I'll enjoy life. I'll laugh with good friends. I'll love with all my heart. I'll live to fullest of life that God has intended. And I'll know that God created me, he did not make me to be a door mat! A servant, yes, but not a door mat.

Blessing my friends! I hope today you find or use your voice to praise the Mighty One!

Memory Lane

Ok folk, I haven't had much originallity in me the last couple of day. Jennifer over at Sob'ah My Soul posted some pictures of herself growing up and I thought you might like to see how precious I was at one time too.

This picture of me and my brother was taken when I was taken when i was about 10 months.
Look at those big brown eyes! I was two and a half.

I remember when this picture was taken right before I was four. It was a Friday night at Walmart and a black man (the first one I ever saw) was taking the pictures. He was nice but I was a little nervous and was chewing on my bottom lip. I was shocked that he asked me why I chewing on my lip because I didn't think he knew!

This picture was taken about 6 months later at my grandma's house. Do you like my PINK POODLE PANTS?!?!? The red barn wasn't my grandmothers but I still think of her when I see red barns.

After the 6th grade graduation there was a party at the college. I don't remember how much each picture cost, but Kristi and I spent a lot of time in front of that camera. I really really liked polka dots and my mom made a lot of my clothes that year.
About a year later I was the victim of a bad perm (well... you couldn't really see it in the last picture but I had a bad perm then too). This was at least 7th grade because that's when I got the metal mouth. Remember when it was cool to wear just one strap of overalls? I don't really miss that style.

Flash forward to highschool. I think this was senior year. Haley and I have been friends for 12 years now and inseperable in high school.

Ok, another flash forward to age 19. My family tells me this was my skinny year. Probably because I lived on my own and couldn't afford to eat what I wanted. The beautiful little girl is my neice Allie.

Five Factor Personality Test

My friend Claire did this quiz on her blog and since it hit me pretty dead on I thought I'd share. Have fun with it!

Your Five Factor Personality Profile

Extroversion: You have medium extroversion. You're not the life of the party, but you do show up for the party. Sometimes you are full of energy and open to new social experiences. But you also need to hibernate and enjoy your "down time." Conscientiousness: You have high conscientiousness. Intelligent and reliable, you tend to succeed in life. Most things in your life are organized and planned well. But you borderline on being a total perfectionist. Agreeableness: You have high agreeableness. You are easy to get along with, and you value harmony highly. Helpful and generous, you are willing to compromise with almost anyone. You give people the benefit of the doubt and don't mind giving someone a second chance. Neuroticism: You have low neuroticism. You are very emotionally stable and mentally together. Only the greatest setbacks upset you, and you bounce back quickly. Overall, you are typically calm and relaxed - making others feel secure. Openness to experience: Your openness to new experiences is medium. You are generally broad minded when it come to new things. But if something crosses a moral line, there's no way you'll approve of it. You are suspicious of anything too wacky, though you do still consider creativity a virtue.

The Five Factor Personality Test

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Things about YOUR NAME

This was cute so I picked it up at Claire's site.

1. I have 3 E's in my first name

2. Most people spell it wrong on their first, second, and third try.

3. This bothered me a LOT when I was little.

4. I've gotten use to spelling it for people now.

5. I can spell my name on a calculator - 337537 now look at it upside down.

6. Lee is my father's middle name

7. Lee was also his mother's middle name.

8. It's also my brother's middle name.

9. Kids use to tease me by calling me More-Lee.

10. I wanted my name to be Lynessa (long E there folk NOT like vanessa).

11. My name means "From a chosen camp".

12. Those cute cards, pens, keychains, etc you find everywhere with names on them-yeah, you'll never see my name there.

13. In High School I was friends with a Lesley. People always got a chuckle when we'd say hi to each other in the halls. "Hi Lesley" "Hi Leslee"

Lent

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy meditate on these things.


My friend Jules has been talking about the upcoming Lent season over on her blog and it has me thinking too. For the last two years I've given something up. Made a personalsacrificee. Something that it's really hard to live without for 46 days. Both years I've given up pop (my favorite thing to drink in the whole wide world!) and last year I gave up chocolate too. I did manage to go all 46 days but not without some complaining. The pop last year was easy it was the chocolate that I had a hard time with. As you might recall Lent ran through February and part of March. Well, that meant that Lent ran through my birthday, Valentine's Day, AND Peanut's birthday.

This year it doesn't start until March 1 so it'll just run through Peanut's birthday. I'm planning on doing the pop thing again this year too. I've been told by several people that it's easier to go to diet pop once you've taken a break from the real stuff. I'll see if this is true for me.

But this verse fromPhilippianss keeps coming at me. For two weeks in a row pastor has gone over it on Wednesday Night and it pops into my mind at different times of the day.

God, you want me to do WHAT?!??

For 46 days I am going to try my very very hardest to follow this verse. Whatever things are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy I will meditate on these things. I think this might be the hardest Lent so far. But I'm up to the challenge. I think I'll have to make some copies of this verse and tape them to my computer at home and work, in my car, on my desk, beside my bed, on the fridge, everywhere that I am.

And just for the "fun" of it, I'm actually going to start today.... you know, after I spend the morning griping about my co-workers to other people... yeah, today is a good day to start.

I may spend ALL day Easter venting about the crap that goes on, or perhaps come Easter you'll see a brand new person (those of you that get to see me). I might even get to grow a little bit spiritually, wouldn't THAT be cool?

Ok, 10 minutes down and 72 days, 10 hours and 3 minutes to go! Praise God!

Another thing that made me laugh

So last Saturday I went out to eat with my bestfriend Haley and NickD. We had a great time visiting and talking about things going on in each other's lives. We even saw a couple that we went to school with. The girl was actually my best friend in kindergarten but that means nothing to her. She's a pleasant enough girl though so we spoke to them on the way out for a few moments. We then went back to Haley's apartment where her NickD's brother and girlfriend came over with the game taboo. If you've never played taboo I recommend you go out and buy this game right after you finish reading this blog. It was a lot of fun. Here is a snippet of how our game went.

NickD's word was COCONUT and he had to use other words to get his brother to say Coconut without using the 5 or 6 other words listed on this card or using any hand gestures. The following is the actual clue and response used.

NickD- Okay. *pause to re-read words he could not say* Oh, ok. Girls in Hawaii wear these over their breast.

Brother- Cantaloupes!

All three of us Girls-laughter followed by rolling on the floor hold our aching stomachs from laughing so hard!

Brother- What? They're not cantaloupes?

Name three things

So Friday night when we assembled ourselves into the meeting room we were told to pick out one piece of candy from this dish, but not eat it. Later we were to meet up with the one or two other people that chose the same candy. Once in our little groups we had to find three things we had in common. Not hard for me and the lady that chose the Kisses. I use to work for her before she closed her shop. We went around the room telling everyone the three things we had in common. Soon we got to this pair of older ladies. Their list was 1.) they were both widows 2.) they were both great grandmas 3.) (the first one said to the other) I don't remember the last one do you? (the second on) no, you were suppose to remember

So we asked them if the third thing was short term memory loss. No, no, they said that wasn't it they insisted. We were laughing hysterically! We finally decided to skip them and when they thought of it we would come back to them.

About thirty minutes later one of the ladies shouted out, "Oh yeah, I remember!" We were all laughing remembering our short term memory joke when she said, "we're both dating younger men!" Needless to say it was several minutes before order returned to our room.

What a great weekend!

Oh my! I had a blast this weekend. We were at the beautiful Sequoyah State Park in

Wagoner, Oklahoma.

Here's a picture of the bunkhouse we stayed in. It was this large building. At one end was a meeting room with a fire place and kitchen. The rest of it was divided up into about 8-10 rooms. The room we stayed in had one full size bed and two sets of bunk beds. My sister-in-law and I took the bunk beds but we got to sleep on the bottom bunk.

Friday night I woke to a sound outside my window.... What was that sound?

Oh yeah, that's what rain sounds like! It's been MONTHS since it actually rained in western Oklahoma so I had almost forgotten the sound of rain. After I realized it was rain I was back asleep in about 5 seconds. The next day my sis-in-law and I played in the rain.

We were later asked if it rained where we were from. We both answered NO!

This picture came out with a cold dark gloomy feel, but it wasn't bad at all! It was a wonderful, much much needed rain. It wasn't very cold either. Perfect for a walk in the rain.

Over looking the lake.

I'll write more about the events of the weekend as time becomes available. But right now I must tend to the house my husband and daughter occupied this weekend while I was gone. You women out there will understand. Mabye some guys too.

Peace and love my friends!

Time off

I'm officially on vacation! I'm going to my momma's. Without my husband. Without my child. Just picking up my sis-in-law on the way. Catch back up with ya'll Monday!

And now for something completely different

My friend Anna sent me the funniest (ok you English teacher's it's a word if I use it as a word) emails. With her permission I'm sharing it with you. This poor girl really needs a good man!


Okay, so, listen to this………………I finally got the nerve to write a little note to my neighbor that lives across the hall from me. I used a flyer thing Christina gave to me that was an invitation to her church Saturday night. I stuck it on his door and it basically said something about how it was nice to see that he was back in town (he’d been gone 2 months for the Air Force) and if he wanted to make a new friend he could just “knock”. Right, so, I left the note on his door not thinking he’d ever read it or respond to it. Guess what!! At 9:00 last night HE KNOCKED!!! I freaked! I froze up and just sat on my couch, heart pounding, mind reeling! Then he rang the door bell. Now, I couldn’t exactly just get up and answer the door after he rang the bell because there wasn’t a good excuse for not answering the door when he knocked…its not like I could say, “oh, sorry, I didn’t hear you knock” or “oh, sorry, I couldn’t make it to the door clear from the other side of my small, one bedroom apartment that takes 20 steps to walk from one side to the other.” So, I just sat on my couch, TV BLARING (so he knew I was there), car parked next to his (so he knew I was there), heart pounding, mind reeling. Then I heard his door shut. Whew!

So I run into my bathroom, fix my hair and makeup, brush my teeth, put on a cute shirt, and my shoes. I get to my door and stand there. I start praying, God, please help me get the nerves to just knock on his door and say, “hi, I heard you knock. My name is Anna.” But I continue standing in front of my door, staring at it. I finally get the nerve to unlock my door. Hey, baby steps. Then, I hear a vacuum…his. No!! Now he’ll never hear me knock. My phone rings…my mom. So I run into my bedroom and answer it, laughing. I tell her what is going on and she is hysterical. She can’t believe I’m such a dork…we laugh hard. I hear his vacuum shut off so I tell my mom I have to “go do this thing.” Right, so I get to my front door again…and I stand there. His vacuum turns on again. What the heck???!! Okay, so it shuts off again. Breathing, breathing, praying for courage…I open my door! I walk three steps and ring his bell. Oh no! Oh no! Oh no! Act normal…breathe!!

He opens his door and the heavens open up, angels sing, and its like “AWWWW” (singing voice). HE’S GORGEOUS!!! I already knew that, but its even better face to face. So I say, “Hi, I heard you knock. Sorry, I was on the phone with my mom.” LIAR!!! But he bought it...or at least he acts like it. Oh, did I mention he’s SHIRTLESS! Come on now, this can’t get any better. TRUST ME…IT DOESN’T. He invites me in and says, “Let me go put a shirt on.” I think, no that’s okay, I’m good…but whatever...he puts on a shirt. So as I walk into his apartment I notice something…there’s NO furniture, nothing at all! He says, “You caught me in the middle of packing…I’m moving tomorrow.” And in the most ridiculous, girly voice I say, “Oooh, Really?” So we hang out for a while and talk and laugh a lot and I finally realize there is no point to me being here since he’s leaving for Omaha, Nebraska in the morning so I say, “Well, I should probably go home so you can finish packing and cleaning.” And he says, “oh, by the way, I was going to ask you if you wanted to take care of my plant for me.” And he hands me this little baby plant. OH FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!! All this for a stinkin’ plant! This is so like a bad chick flick. So I say, “Sure, but I’ll probably kill it.” Good move Anna.

So as I’m letting myself out and he starts to grab his vacuum again, he smiles at me and says, “I’m glad you left that note. It was really cool. It’s too bad I’m moving. It would have been nice to know I was living next to you.” Lalalala, we chitchat a little more and then as I’m walking out the door he says, “I’ll see you later.” I turn to him and smile and he laughs and says, “Or maybe not.” We both laugh and I walk out. What a night! I get all my nerves up for a stinkin’ plant!

So, I guess that’s it for me. No romance in the future. So much for that dream.

And then I found grace

A couple of years ago my world did a 180 in just one weekend. I went from having a job and a family to being unemployed and childless. You see, I had a crappy job. They didn't care that they pushed me past the point of being stressed out. They kept demanding more and more from me and when I couldn't keep up and play nice with everyone they fired me. And if that wasn't enough I made a very bad choice. Reacted in a way that I never should have and slapped my child on the face. I'm not proud of what I did but I won't make excuses for it either. Because what happened next changed my life forever. I found grace. Or maybe grace found me.

For a month I jumped through every hoop the State put me through. I took anger management classes in the City two hours away. We took family counseling. I was going through individual counseling. That was the longest, I mean THE LONGEST month in my whole life! I remember coming home with my husband one night after visiting Peanut and I decided right then and there that my daughter needed to come home, no matter what, even if it meant that I was no longer here. If it meant killing myself so she could come home then that was what I was going to do. I was alone. I didn't know if my husband would file for divorce because of the crap we were going through because of me. I didn't know anything. The world around me was shutting down and I didn't know what to do. Everywhere I turned I saw evil and I was scared.

I remember sitting in my dining room, on the floor, against the wall, in the dark, crying. I had called my mom but she couldn't give me the comfort that I needed, not that she didn't try. When friends and loved ones offered their comfort it was nice, but they couldn't do anything to change my situation.

But then came grace. You see, even though these people couldn't change my situation they knew someone that could help me through it. And even though at that moment I couldn't pray words much less a single thought I cried out to God, and He heard my cries. I was on that ledge, so to speak, looking at all the evil around me when grace wrapped around me like a giant bear hug from head to toe. I couldn't see God, but I could feel Him. And that made the difference.

Soon after that day a friend called me on her way to work to give me a word. She told me about how she was praying for me when she was reminded of the story of the three Hebrew boys; Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. And she told me that God didn't rescue them from the fire. They had to go into the fire, but once there they were protected and everyone saw that the Lord was with them. And they came OUT of that fire and they didn't even smell like smoke!!!! She told me that I too had to go through the fire, but I had God on MY side and I was not going to smell like smoke!

We did make it through the court battles. Peanut, as you can tell, is back home with us and thriving. I no longer even come close to even thinking of slapping her even when she's being a total brat and I'm loosing patience. I'm a better parent. I'm a better wife. And best of all I'm closer to God. And this is the story of how I found grace... or grace found me.

Peanut's Penguin Party

Over the weekend my Peanut informed the whole family that she wants a Penguin Party for her next birthday party. Now, her party isn't until March, but she wants to start planning it now, maybe take a dry run and invite a few people over to see how it goes before the actual event. You know, so we know how it goes over and all... ok she didn't really give me that reason, but I'm sure she was thinking it.

Do you know how much party stuff there is out there in those nice neat little packages that make birthday parties so easy? Um, that would be zero. Zip. Zilch. Nada. None.
She doesn't want Madagascar (which I'm sorta happy about because I didn't really like the movie-except for the penguins!)

Yep, so now I have to, as any good mother would do, find stuff for a penguin themed birthday party. So far I've found penguin lights on Ebay. A pinata on some other website (when it comes closer to the event I'll actually buy). I figure I could do a black table cloth and a white table cloth... black and white napkins. I don't think the cake will be any problem because any professional should be able to whip up a penguin, right? For fun we might make penguins puppets from paper sacks...

Help me here, give me some ideas.

PLEASE!

RevGal Friday Five: Pleasures

Please tell us five pleasures in your life, be they small or be they guilty. Feel free to list them here in the comments, or to point us to your blog if you post there.

1. A large Davinci's Mocha... just because I don't usually spend $4 on a something to drink
2. Soaking in a hot bath reading a book while a little girl is begging for attention outside
3. A day spent on the couch in my pajamas watching tv. I have a DVR that records something like 10 different shows (including General Hopsital, all the CSIs, Numbers....) and ALL the times they come on so at any given time I might have 30 shows saved to watch.
4. A day off from work spent ALONE in my house (usually doing number 3)
5. Werther's Originals- Chewy... I can eat a whole bag in one sitting (I usually don't buy them)

LONG SHOT

Ok, I'm just putting this out there though I know it's a very very long shot. I'm looking for my friend Kate Guimaraes (I hope I spelled that right). We graduated from Tahlequah High in 1997 and I think she's in Minnesota. I don't know if she's married. I don't know much more about her. I know the names of a couple of brothers and sister.... but I can't seem to find this family in any of the online searches I've done and I'm not to the point of paying money to do a background search (because I don't care about her background, I just want to know where she is now). So anyway, if you know Kate or if she somehow finds this post I hope you'll email me.

Thank you.

2006 Resolutions

Ok, I know we're almost three weeks into the New Year but I'm just now getting around to posting my resolutions. The life of the bookkeeper is quite busy this time of year.

New Year's Resolutions

1. I resolve to read 20 books this year, half of which will be "classics"
2. I resolve to write more
3. I resolve to find lost friends
4. I resolve to be happy

Ok, I think that's about all I can handle this year. What are your resolutions?

All Over Again

*updated on 1/17 to show you a picture of my grandma.*

Today, I was talking to Flashy and thought of my grandmother. Her birthday is at the end of this month. If she was alive today she'd be turning 94. However, the good Lord knew what was best and took her home in 1998, not long after my 19th birthday. I loved my grandma.

If I could step out of time for just a year and relive a year I think I would pick the year I was 18. Not out of regret (no, that would be the year I was 24). I would relive 18 just so I could spend more time with my grandma. To make more memories or at the very least hold on to the ones I have a little better. I graduated highschool that spring and after that I had to find a job. My first job was working for Cherokee Nation as a summer intern. I hung out with the other interns mostly, we were always together during the day and most of us had went to school together. The ones that didn't go to school with us in Tahlequah quickly became part of the group. If I could re-do that summer I would stop and see my grandma every day before going home, no matter what time I actually went home (some days it was 5 and others it was 9 depending on what we did after work). And since my grandmother was a worrier, I would have to call her as soon as I got home to let her know I got there safely.

That fall I started my first semester at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah. Somedays I would get lunch, Taco Bell or Burger King, and take it to my grandma's house. I had to be early otherwise she'd warm up a pot of beans. My grandma had lost her sense of taste for most foods, but sometimes she could actually taste the tacos and burgers. If I could re-do that fall I would make sure I took her lunch everyday and a fresh boquet of red carnations (her favorite) every week instead of wasting my money on a $300 phone bill.

Sometimes if I close my eyes and try real hard I can see her in my mind's eye. She's always in a red sleeveless shirt (very hot natured only wore sleeves when it got close to 0) and black slacks. And I can always see her smiling. So maybe I don't need to relive 18, but it would be nice to hug her one more time.

Her name is DOCTOR Peanut

Ok, I know this is my third post of the day but I've got lots and lots to say!!!
This has been career week at school for Peanut. The class was visited by a Mail Man, two Police Officers (the girl talked more then the boy I was told) and today they got "physicals" from their nurse/teacher. All three of the teachers were dressed in scrubs and looked quite comfortable. The kids made Dr kits today (you can see it on her bed by the baby) with a REAL band aid, cotton ball, and tongue depressor. There were a couple of other items in their kit but I'm not sure what they were. The kids also made flashlights to wear around their heads, "like real doctors".

On the way home she told me when she grows up and becomes a doctor she'll take care of me. EVEN if it's a Saturday! And she'll drive me to her hospital! Now that's what I call service.

Ha ha! Doc Pontious, you have some competition coming up! As soon as we got home Peanut got out the rest of her doctor supplies that she got as a "we're-sorry-we-had-to-put-you-through-that-as-such-a-young-age" present from me and dad when she had tubes put in her ears two or three years ago. Sometimes she's a doctor and sometimes she's a nurse. Just depends on the day.

I've been tagged.

Jennifer tagged me for this little list of Two Things.

2 names you go by:
1. Aunty Sissy
2. Sissy Anne

2 parts of your heritage:
1. Cherokee
2. White girl

2 things that scare you:
1. Being Alone
2. losing my parents

2 of your everyday essentials:
1. Coke
2. kisses (from my husband and daughter)

2 things you are wearing right now:
1. blue jeans
2. a purple shirt

2 things you want in a relationship (other than real love)
1. Honesty
2. Communication

2 truths:
1. God is
2. You cannot spin your right foot clockwise while drawing a six in the air with the same hand
(lol, you tried it!)

2 of your favorite hobbies:
1. Playing on the internet
2. Hanging out with friends

2 things you want really badly:
1. A life... oh wait, I have one, sorta... at least online I do...
2. A money tree

2 places you want to go on vacation:
1. Italy
2. A warm beach

2 things you want to do before you die:
1. Play with my great-grand children
2. Travel the world

2 ways that you are stereotypically a chick:
1. I cry
2. I like to talk on the phone

2 things you are thinking about now:
1. Is there anything sitting on my desk that can't wait until Monday?
2. I wonder if I have a fingernail file in my purse

2 stores you shop at:
1. Old Navy (just got a couple new shirts and camis!)
2. United- my grocery store where I try to buy everything at so I don't have to go to Walmart

2 people to tag:
1.Girl
2.Cindy

Do you know what day it is?

*cheesy "scary" music playing in the back ground*

The moon is starting to look full....

The children are all acting out of control.....

Yep, you've got it......

It's FRIDAY THE 13TH!

AND TOMORROW IS A FULL MOON!

Can't I just go back to bed and not get up again until Sunday?

Welcome to Oklahoma.

Will Rogers once quipped, "If you don't like the weather in Oklahoma, wait a minute and it'll change."

A couple of days ago Peanut was playing in the back yard with her Eskimo named Snoogans. Today the snow is only a memory shared by these friends. Will Rogers was SO right. That day we received 2 inches of snow and every day since it's been in the 60's.

Snoogans hugging his Peanut.

Another story of Peanut's love life

I love it when 5 year olds are in love.

As you may recall back in December Poke's Fan proposed to Peanut. She turned him down flat, but they've remained amiable (though from time to time they fight like brother and sister). Today it seems that he has given up on Peanut ever changing her mind and has asked Hallie to marry him. She has agreed. They plan to get married in Jamaica and then attend Texas Tech. (I'm not making this up! This is what he told Peanut on the way to kindergarten today- thier bus driver retold the conversation to me). Peanut, not wanting him to think she'll die without his attention was quick to point out that two boys in her kindergarten class have crushes on her. One sits next to her.

I might have to have a conversation with the teacher.

I asked Peanut this afternoon if either of them or if both of them were her boyfriend. She said no. I think she's playing hard to get. I asked her if she liked anyone. Again, she said no but her best friend Curly Hair Girl has a boyfriend in her kindergarten class. I don't know yet if a boy will ever cause her to settle down. I'll keep you posted though.

P.S. I think Peanut is the only kid on the planet that jumps up and down excitedly when told we're having meat loaf for supper.

Snow

I woke up this morning. Can you call 2 am morning? Anyway, I'm awake. I could not go back to sleep so I got up and checked on Peanut. She was sleeping away tucked into her bed. I made sure her covers were on her and noticed outside her window that it seemed more bright then usual. Even without my glasses I could see there was standing snow on the fence. SNOW. I'm excited and I don't even like cold weather. I walked to the living room and looked out the little window in the door. I could see more snow coming down but I couldn't tell how much we had recieved. I walked to Nickel's play room to the back door to look at the snow on my car. At least half an inch, but again, I don't have my glasses on. I walked to the dining room where I looked at the back yard. I expected to see my Eskimo playing in the snow. I guess he was asleep. Smart dog. I walked to the kitchen where I again looked out the window. The snow looked so perfect. Untouched. Pure. That got me thinking, or maybe it was the Spirit who reminded me that Isaiah 1:18 said, "Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool." Our Lord died so that our scarlet sins could be washed WHITE AS SNOW! What an awesome reminder He sends us in this form of snow. Pure, life giving snow. If you want to read my prayer stop by the Cornerstone Universe.

Be well my friends. May you have snow in your life to remind you of the promise made to you!

Your Turn

Ok, I'm opening up my blog today (and maybe a couple of days we'll see how it goes) to your questions.

Ask away!

If there's a question on your mind that you'd like me answer now's your chance. I may not give you this chance again.

Every question will recieve an answer an if it's a really really long answer then I'll make a post out of it.

So, here we go!

The HouseKeeper

I fired the House Keeper today. She just wasn't keeping up like I want her to. The new one starts tomorrow. That is if my feet.... um... I mean.... HER feet feel better then they do right now. Yeah, that's it. SHE has really sore feet from being in dressy sandles for the last two days while working a wedding....

Here is the list of things I require my housekeeper to keep up with:

Sunday: Assist Princess Peanut in cleaning her room. Princess Peanut cannot remember day to day that clean clothes go in the dresser and dirty ones in the clothes hamper so each article of clothing will have to pass the smell, sight, and memory test to see where ALL the clothes on her floor go. Also toys find themselves outside the toy box on a regular basis, these must return to their home so that Princess Peanut can vacuum, her favorite chore.

Monday: The Bathroom. Clean the bathtub, toilet, sink. Sweep and mop. Mop the front entry way while the mop is out. Check supplies, write down low supplies on list in kitchen. Restock if necessary from supplies in hall closet.

Tuesday: Master Bedroom. Change sheets, fold and put away clean laundry. Put dirty laundry in laundry room. Pick up Nickel's dirty clothes because even though the hamper is in the bedroom next to the door where it's been for the last 7 years he can't seem to ever find it. Put jewlery away. Watch not so good TV and wish the DVR was in there for days like this.

Wednesday: Living Room. Princess Peanut can help out in this room because 9/10's of it is hers. She can also vacuum. This is handy because only 30 minutes is alloted for the Living Room, the rest of the evening is spent at church.

Thursday: Dining Room. I never actually seem to get into this room, well except to blog but I can't clean and blog at the same time. Oh, and neither can the House Keeper... Goals for this room are to actually find the dining room table once a week. Princess Peanut can again vacuum.

Friday: Kitchen. Though the dishes have been washed once or twice during the week all dishes must be clean before bedtime. Counter tops wiped down. Plants watered. Floor vacuumed... yes, I have crappy carpet in my kitchen but hopefully I'll get a wood floor put in someday!

Saturday: Laundry Room. Though laundry was done off and on throughout the week it must be finished and removed from this room today. Machines wiped down from lent and floor swept and mopped.

Why did I fire the last House Keeper? Well, she starts off the week great, but never can make it past the living room. Perhaps I should change it up for the next one? I'll let you know how she turns out. But she looks a lot like the last one... could they be related?

A Beginning and An End

Today was my fourth wedding as a wedding coordinator. This one was by far the best! Weddings don't make me cry, not even my own, but this one touched me. The family was awesome and willing to help out so much. The bride and the groom were so gracious and loving. I had a wonderful day and enjoyed every minute...except the last few of being in my high heeled shoes but not because of anything had said, done, or not done.

Just as I was fixing to leave my family called and requested I bring home supper. I was more then willing to oblige. I stopped at our favorite Mexican resturant and got our favorite foods and came home.

But before we could sit down to eat my husband's phone rang. Within moments we learned that our dear friend Tony had recently passed away. Tony is the only person on this planet that my husband willingly allowed to pray with him when we were going through the darkest time of our lives. Tony was great friend and will be missed.

Quote of the Day

Courage is not the absence of fear but the knowledge that something is more important than fear.

-Princess Diaries

Drama Princess Strikes Again

For Christmas Nickel got two tickets to see the New Orleans Hornets, who are playing in Oklahoma City for now, play against the Miami Heat. This probably means nothing to you, as it didn't to me, but Shaq plays for the Miami Heat and Nickel likes to watch Shaq play. After opening this present from his uncle this stoic man was obviously excited and he asked me if he had to take me. Knowing that he would have more fun with his friend J, I said no. At that time I didn't realize it was a Wednesday game and wouldn't have wanted to drive to the City and home and go to work the next day all tired. But I digress.

Last night Nickel and J went to the games. Peanut, who usually stays home on Wednesdays with daddy hung out with me. We went out to eat with J's wife then went home to start our evening routine because the next day school started back.

Peanut was in the bathtub for about 45 minutes when I started hearing this sobbing coming from the bathroom. I went to investigate. What I found was a Peanut wrapped in a towel just crying her heart out. I asked what was wrong. "I---- MIIISSSS----DDDDDAAAAAADDDDD---DDDDDDY!" she sobbed. You'd think this child never spent a moment away from her daddy.

I hugged her and told her she could watch 5 minutes of the game while we dried her hair. She spent the next 20 minutes crying off and on about missing her daddy before finally settling into her bed with a promise from me that he'd come kiss her when he got home and that he'd wake her up in the morning to get ready for school.

My Peanut is such a Drama Princess, not quite the queen because I still hold that title, but it's kind of sweet how she misses us when we're not there. Of course she randomly starts crying for the dog we had when she was 1 1/2 and doesn't really remember.... oh drama.

In other news...

A Church for Starving Artist gets the "best post I read today" award. If you have a couple of extra minutes I encourage you to go check out what Jan has been imagining. I think it's what a lot of us imagine and are too afraid to say, or too tired to repeat ourselves one more time.

Reading

Last night as I was putting the Peanut to bed she picked Green Eggs and Ham as her bedtime story. This is one my personal favorites so I was happy to read it to her. But as I was reading I realized that a lot of these words are the site words she's working on in kindergarten. Hmm.. I thought, maybe she could read to me!

So, last night was Peanut's first attempt at reading. It was quite funny. She knows the story almost as well as I do so she tried to jump ahead without reading the words. And she didn't know all the words. She knows: I A AM CAN LIKE THE... so I had to help with a lot of the other words but she caught on to some of the other words quite quickly!

About page 35 she stopped and asked me if I could read the rest and she'd just say the words she knew but I decided that reading 35 pages for the first time probably was enough and just read the rest of the story in fast-forward like I usually do.

Peanut wasn't as impressed with her reading abilities as I was but I'm still very very proud of her!

Side note, tonight she picked a book that I she didn't know many words so I wouldn't make her read! LOL. Mama ain't raisin' no fool!

The Sock Thief

Your honor and ladies and and gentlemen of the jury, my client, Ms Peanut, has been wrongly accused of leaving clean-folded socks in the living room and dining room. Evidence presented today will prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that my client could not have left the socks in the floor and should therefore be released from any punishment.

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

The defense can call their first witness.

Your honor, we call Mom to the stand.

Raise your right hand. Do you swear the tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you God?

I do.

Mom, in your own word describe for us the scene that took place in your house just days ago.

Well, I was cleaning my house and I noticed two pair of clean socks lying in the floor of the dining room on the path we take from the living room to the kitchen. Thinking that perhaps she or I had dropped them while doing laundry I picked them up and took them to her room where I placed them back in her still opened dresser.

What happened the next day?

The next day I found two new pair of clean socks lying in the floor. One under my computer desk and the other next to the desk. I then asked Peanut to take them back to her room and she did.

Did you ask her if she had got them out of her dresser?

No. I just assumed she did.

Why?

Because they were her socks.

I see. And tell me, have you seen any socks in the floor since?

Yes, I found some socks just inside the living room at 12:25 am this morning.

Had the socks been there before?

No, the socks were not there when I went to bed at 11:00 pm.

I see, and where was my client when you found these socks?

She was at her grandparents house where she was staying the night.

Did you see anyone in the living room?

I saw the cat.

The cat. And did you pick up the socks?

Yes, I took them back to Peanut's room.

And what did you find?

I discovered the dresser drawer that holds her socks was open.

Could you, then assume that the cat had taken the socks.

Objection, calls for speculation.

I will allow it. Please, answer the question.

Yes, because Peanut was not home, my husband and myself were asleep and the cat was not, and because the cat was found with the socks I believe that the cat removed these socks and has been the one taking the socks out of Peanut's drawer at night to play with them. Or she could be trying to put them on, but why would a cat need to wear socks?

No more questions your honor.

Because of this new evidence I find that Ms Peanut is innocent. She should be given icecream for dessert after lunch as a sincere apology. Case dismissed.

Post #126

Happy New Year's everyone. Ok, so I'm a couple of days early but by the time my life gets back into a normal routine it will be 2006.

Where have I been? I know I managed to post yesterday, but it was only because I made myself sit down at the computer to let ya'll know I was still alive. I've even tried to read a couple around the blogsphere and post a comment here and there. Well, to answer the question on everyone's mind, I've been on a vacation of a sorts this week.

At OCC we have what's refered to as "work lite" this week. Meaning if you have work to do, come and do it. If you don't have any work to do stay home and relax, we'll still pay you. This means that I've slept in all week. Took my time to get ready, went to the office for a couple hours then spent the rest of the day/night with my family. Monday and today I didn't go to the office at all. Not that I spent the whole day sitting at home eating bon bons watching soaps, nope I've been a busy girl and I MIGHT tell you about it next week.

So if you don't hear from me from a couple of days fear not, I'm still here and when I get back to normal I'll catch up on all my friends' lives!

Peace and Blessings!

A family tradition

A few years ago (before I was married) I started a family tradition of setting a place at the table for the Unexpected Guest. I'm not sure where I had heard it from but at the time it seemed like the thing to do. It's a wonderful symbolism of Christ coming and being ready for Him when He does. However our table barely fits the 6 of us with the kids sitting at a plastic kids table in the kitchen. We've taken this tradition to just having enough stuff to set out for the Unexpected Guest. I make sure there's an extra fork, spoon, knife, plate and napkin set out should the Unexpected Guest arrive.

My mother of course thought, and I bet if truth be known probably still thinks, it's a silly thing to do. To "waste" dishes. Then, a year or so after starting this tradition, when there was still room at the table, my grandfather showed up unexpectedly and was greeted as though we knew he was coming and showed him his place at the table. Every year I'm reminded of our unexpected guest showing up.

What I Did On My Christmas Break

I feel like I'm in third grade writing my first report of the new semester. My mind is blank. I know I did stuff. Um, we opened presents at Papa Corvette's on Thursday. This worked out well because Peanut was chomping at the bit to open presents. She got a new Barbie carring case that I'll sure to put to use... oh, I mean SHE'LL put to use, yeah, that's what I meant. Promise.

Friday Peanut and I did a quick trip around Enid and the surround country as we had a few errands to run before we could officially hit the road. We went to the farm about thirty minutes outside Enid to Nickel's grandmother's. Shared presents then came back. Peanut's been begging to get her hair cut for weeks now so with her Christmas money in hand I couldn't say no. She's not quite brave enough to let HairDresser wash her hair but after getting a trim and french braids she felt like the prettiest girl in the whole wide world. Before heading off to Tulsy-Town we let her open the presents we had picked up as well as her stocking. Last year we took them to my mother's but it seemed a little silly to pack them in the car only to return with the same things minus the paper. She of course loved opening her presents and wanted to take them all with her but I was too mean and wouldn't let EVERYTHING come.

Friday night we went to Nickel's brother's house where Nickel helped put together a new TV cabinet for their new TV. Because we hadn't been to Tulsy-Town in the last couple of weeks (not since Thanksgiving) I got to hold our new neice, Precious Neice. She's three weeks old and just perfect! No lie. She loves to cuddle and I loved cuddling with her! Peanut played nicely with her big brother making a castle out of the boxes and packing stuff the TV and cabinet came in.

Saturday is our traditional Christmas celebration with Nickel's side of the family. That morning Nickel and I went driving around while Peanut stayed with her grandma to make cookies. My mother's sister also lives in Tulsy-Town and her birthday is December 25th so we took her the little gift I had bought from one of Peanut's school fund raisers. She was so suprised to find us outside her house Saturday morning. Mostly because I've never really been able to find her house on my own without calling and saying 'where you at again' but I wanted it to be a suprise so there would be no phone calls that day. We just passed their drive way when I yelled out that that house was it! After a little Bueno (which I do NOT like) Nickel and I attempted to take naps. My attempt was much better then his because mine was sucessful. He tried to nap on the living room couch, I napped upstairs in the guest room with the door closed. My momma didn't raise no fool! By the time I woke up Precious Niece was there and needed cuddling. A couple hours later all the presents were open and everyone was excited. Peanut got her own laptop, but Barbie doesn't have internet or windows for that matter so she'll be on mine all the time. Yes, she's only 5, but she's going on 15. One of Peanut's favorite gifts came from UncleThat'sAlwaysLate, he got her snow boots that light up when she walks. She entertained everyone by singing "These boots are made for walking, and that's just what they'll do, some of the days these boots are gonna---walk---all---- over you!" She has quite the attitude while singing it. Much fun for those to hear.

We packed up the car and started singing "over the river and through the woods to grandmother's house we go..." because Nana, my mom, does in fact live over the river and in the middle of the woods. Some how Santa always finds it though, even without the city lights. I gave my mom the book I made at My Publisher and she loved it. She read it about 3 times before letting my dad read it once then read it another 3 or 400 times. Peanut went to sleep amazingly easy. My other neice and nephews hadn't shown up yet. The next morning, feeling like a little kid I woke up early. My brother and his wife were still asleep on a pop up bed in the living room but luckily earlier in the year my mother had bought a tv for my old bedroom so I watched Nick Jr until 8. Presents were all open within minutes and I made French Toast for breakfast. We had a wonderful time.

Mid-afternoon Peanut started getting crabby and we knew it was a good time to get on the road so she and I could take our naps--it's a long drive and luckily Nickel prefers for us to sleep. The house was mostly clean when we got home. I had spent the week before getting as much clutter put away so it wouldn't be so bad, but you know how it is when you travel. In the floor everything goes. Peanut was all ready to move her stuff into her room, trouble was you couldn't see her room for all the CRAP she had everywhere. I insisted she start cleaning her room before we moved stuff in. She started while I cooked an easy supper. Later I went in to help her (it really was a two person job) but before too long I insisted she take a nap, which she did, for an hour. I got LOTS done while she was in the bathtub for an hour.

Monday, today, I was able to restore our home to it's original exsistance. The tree is down, toys have been assimulated. The bathroom has been cleaned from top to bottom, my Monday chore and the laundry is right where it's suppose to be... in the laundry baskets waiting for me to put them up. Which I'll do. Just not today. Perhaps tomorrow, the bedroom is Tuesday's chore. I've skipped ahead and did Wednesday's chore of cleaning the living room, but I'm sure there will be a handful of toys that escaped from Peanut's room waiting for me then.

Ok, well, I lost count of how many words this is, but I hope it's long enough to get a A on my paper! Oh wait, this isn't third grade! Dang it.

Merry Christmas

Not much time for a post, got too much to do, but I wanted to take the time to wish ALL my friends a very

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Baking

Tonight I am baking cookies. I've tasted one and it was wonderful! But with all this cooking and cleaning to do I have no real time to sit and think of something clever to write.

Wanting cookies

Hmm... well, blogger won't let me upload a picture, but if I could I would have a picture of chocolate chip cookies on a shiney new cookie sheet as they were coming out of the oven all perfect and looking good enough to eat.....

It's almost Christmas and I'm in the mood for cookies. I like chocolate chip the best. But I also like a good soft sugar cookie and peanut butter cookie oh and of course no bake cookies. But I also like those white chocolate dipped pretzels, I know they're not in the cookie family, but they are Christmas-y if they have red and green sprinkles on them! So tell me, blogger fans, what kind of cookies and treats do you like to eat around the holidays?

Oh, and if you wanted to post a great recipie I would be tempted to make some and tell you what I think of your cookies.

No really, it's ok. Go ahead, post your secret family recipe. I won't tell anyone! I promise!

I'll need something to do with Peanut while she's out of school and begging every five seconds to open presents.

Things to do

Oh, I have a list and I've been putting it off for days now. The dishes have been washed in like a week, but that's ok because I haven't cooked in a week either so there aren't a ton of dirty dishes. I have three baskets of clothes I need to put away and about 7 left to wash and dry. I want some icecream but I don't have any in my house and it's almost 9 and I'm my pajamas so I don't want to get out. I'm whining and I know it, but there's nothing I can really do about it. Somehow doing some stretches last night I've pulled both my calve muscles which was expecially fun since I spent 6 hours in heels and panty hose doing a wedding. The bride about drove me crazy telling me what my job was but not to cause her any stress I didn't tell her where she could stick it, instead I just ignored her and didn't do what she told me. The things got handled, and on time so I'm not going to stress out over it. I did manage to get all the Christmas presents wrapped and under the tree! That's one gold star for me! However I've lost track of who I have left to buy for so I'm going to have to stop and actually think here before too long. But all I want to think about right now is the icecream I don't have and the bed that's covered with laundry baskets...

Oh, and Peanut's friend Cashew is spending the night. They're hyper and I'm ready for them to go to bed. Hmm... I really wish I had some icecream.

Some more snow

First she say go out. Now she says come in.

Dad: Eggplant casserole tonight?

Mom: Why...Yes!

We now resume with the regularly scheduled program

Mom and Dad don't value hard work and originality as much as they say they do.

Hobbes: Snow sharks?

Calvin: That guys a goner

The proposal

I interrupt this Calvin and Hobbes fest (which will probably continue either later today or tomorrow) to tell you a new Peanut story.

One of the benifits I enjoy about the church I work at is my daughter gets to attend the morning preschool for free then they take her to her afternoon kindergarten in the public school system. Peanut enjoys coming to work with me and really like going to preschool which is focused on Jesus.

Yesterday the lady who takes her to her afternoon school came up to me. She usually has a silly story to tell me about Peanut and Poke's Fan's conversation. They think they are so grown up. They act like brother and sister and have often talked about living together as brother and sister. But yesterday, Poke's Fan asked Peanut to marry him. She immediatly told him no. She wasn't ready to settle down and he didn't have a job to support her lavish spending habits. Ok, that last part I added, but I'm sure she was thinking it!

Of course by the time I was her age I had already married to Deuce. It was a lovely ceremony. I walked down the hall with my blanket over my head and he walked down the hall with my sand bucket over his. Then my brother (who later married me for real to Nickel) married us. We didn't kiss, I didn't like kissing boys, I just wanted to be married to Deuce because that's what people did when they liked each other.

I'm glad that Peanut has her priorities set. I'm sure she's thinking she needs to finish her education, become sucessful, and travel before she settles down. Besides, I'm kinda booked up right now with church weddings (7 on the books now between now and July including one this weekend) so I don't have time to plan hers as well. I hope she didn't break Poke's Fan's heart too bad, they still have a semester of school left of preschool.

Snowmen

I think we'd better get that kid to a psycholigist

You don't like my snowman house of horror do you?!

You have to admit it's slowed down the traffic on our road

RevGal Friday Five: Snow Day

1) Snow: love it or hate it?

2) First snow memory

3) Best Snow Day ever (actual or imagined)

4) Best use of snow in a movie, song, book or poem

5) What you are planning to do today, with or without snow

Phone call to God

Hello God, this is Leslee. ....

Oh, you already knew that? Ok, well, I was calling to see if you could turn the AC up a little bit. I'm a bit cold down here...

Yes.......

You're right, I should stop complaining..........

You're right I'll gripe even louder if the mosquitos aren't killed off this year and we have double next year.

Yes Sirthat's true too...

Yes Sir you have always taken great care of me....

Thank you Sir.....

Have a good day....

Yes Sir.....

I love you too.....

Bye.



There you have it folks, I tried and got turned down. Winter's here to stay.

If you read this, if your eyes are passing over this right now, even if we don't speak often, please post a comment with a COMPLETELY MADE UP AND FICTIONAL MEMORY OF YOU AND ME.

It can be anything you want--good or bad--BUT IT HAS TO BE FAKE.

When you're finished, post this paragraph on your blog and be surprised (or mortified) about what people DON'T ACTUALLY remember about you. I got this from Jules "Faith or Fiction" all the entries were hysterical, she might have peed in her pants on some of them!

So, what do you NOT remember about me?

Well no wonder

All these years I've been doing it wrong!

Christmas Shopping

When I was little we would get these free (I THINK they were free because they weren't stuff my mom would actually buy) Christmas church plays. We never had anywhere the amount of kids that would be required to do the production but I loved to play the tape that usually accompanied the play book with all the songs in it. I got to imagine the scenes in my mind and I really enjoyed this. One of the songs have stayed with me all these years. Some of the words went something like this:

So many people pushing and a shoving
Looking for something they'll never find.
Jackie want some ice skates,
Johnny wants a radio.
I want a meal and warm place to sleep.
If that's what Christmas is then who needs Christmas?
If that's what Christmas is then who needs Christmas?
I don't, do you? No! I don't, do you? No! I don't need Christmas!

The play was about homeless children and how they learned the meaning of Christmas from a Christian who came to help them. He told the Christmas story and they acted it out with what they had around them. But these words are so true. Christmas is a time of year when we should be loving on each other but instead we get attitudes and show impatience. I was driving through the parking lot at my local grocery store the other day, actually staying in the line unlike most people. But, because of a truck blocking my path I had to move over a little bit-in "on coming" traffic. This large redheaded woman coming towards us, but still far enough away for me to go around the truck safely, threw her hands up as though to say "What the heck(probably not the word she was actually using) are you people doing" and threw me a NASTY look! It's not like the truck or myself caused a wreck of any kind. Nor did we cause her to do more then tap on her brakes (because as soon as she saw me going around the truck she sped up as though to say, look you made me use my brakes!). Why does Christmas stress people out so that they can't show some common courtesy? Maybe this woman wasn't suffering from Christmas stress, maybe she's like that all the time because she hasn't found Jesus, but it just seems that a lot of people get mean this time of year. I'd rather not have Christmas at all just to have people actually be nice to each other!

I need your help

Ok you computer HTML savvy people. I've tried to put snowflakes on my webpage. I followed the directions to a T and now all you see is little Xs floating down. How can I fix this?


Oh hey, look! None of you were fast enough so God sent an angel who specializes in HTML to help me! Enjoy the snow!