Random Update

I've not posted in so long I don't even know where to begin. Life has been a little hectic since October. Daddy is doing better. His numbers seem to stay in check. However he had to cancel his last appointment with the kidney doctor and rescheduled for early in January.



My mother's aunt passed away December 13 at the age of 93. She was still feisty and cantankerous till the day she died. Some of the last words she spoke were, "No need to come now!" to my sister as she got to her bedside wondering if she would even recognize her. Well, she did!! We spent two days going through her house, sorting: to keep, to sell, to throw away. We had two truckloads of garbage! Apparently she never threw ANYTHING away! We found used foil, used ziploc bags, every jar or bowl that was ever purchased with juice, butter, jelly, etc., etc. But my favorite item had to be the bags the cereal was in from inside the cereal box. Each one was cut open, laid flat and rolled onto a rolling pin!!

We did find several items of interest though. She had several antiques I didn't know she had, such as the old victrola hand cranked record player and the records that went with it, an antique mantel clock, a full set of silver still in the plastic that had never been taken out of the box it came in, and several collectible dishes. We came across several items that belonged to my great-grandparents: several clothes items like Granny's old aprons, her bonnet, her Sunday hats, Poppa's hat, war ration stamp books, old glasses and shoes, just to name a few! And then we came across the "WHAT IN THE WORLD???" items from the cedar chests of all places! Now I should probably warn you, Kyla, my 11 year old, doesn't think I should share these stories, but they are so ridiculous and funny I have to share!

The first odd item (yes, "odd", I believe that's the word I'll use!) was a sealed enveloped, one side of it folded over and taped on each side with these words written on the outside, "Turkey breast bone 1982. Spent all day all by myself." Just by feeling the envelope we could tell that the contents of the envelope was indeed a wishbone from a turkey breast! Now grant it, this was the year that my grandfather, her brother that lived with her, died. He died in August, which means that at Thanksgiving or Christmas she was probably still mourning his death, but she was "all by herself" by her choice! I am pretty sure that if my mother hadn't invited her to dinner with us that her other brother did. And my guess is that she probably declined both invitations. She was notorious for not answering her door when we came to pick her up (because she learned to drive) for holidays! And we knew she was there because the screen door would be locked from the inside!

The second item of interest was another sealed envelope! This one was labeled simply "toenail". Our first thoughts out loud and in unison was "uh-huh!!! My Aunt Joyce who is the surgical RN and has seen things beyond what I can describe, bravely and cautiously broke the seal on the envelope and slowly (as if something was about to jump out on her!) removed the folded sheet of paper. She carefully opened the paper to reveal words written in ink, to which we all start breathing again! Just words on paper...and then...there it was...THE TOENAIL!!!! UUUUGHHHHH!!!! After we recovered from our initial reflex of gagging, we read the date the toenail was removed, the doctor who did it, how many times it had been done, and what the weather was like that day!!!

The third treasure of the day came in a small medicine jar with the lid screw on and masking tape wrapped around it to hold the seal. :) On the tape was written something about a kernel of corn that Logan had swolled. (Logan was my great-uncle, one of her younger brothers.) Sure enough, inside that bottle was a kernel of corn! So our first question was, "If he swollowed this, how did they get it to preserve in this little bottle for us to find 80+ years laters????" And again in unison, UUGGGGHHHH!! But to our surprise this was a two part treasure! Going through other closets and paper Aunt Joyce comes across and manilla envelope with a chest x-ray and a better explanation of the incident. "Logan swollowed a kernel of corn. He was 15 months old, just starting to walk but still nursing at the breast." Your thought is probably the same as mine: TMI!!! (Too Much Information!!!!)

We have laughed and laughed at our new found treasures. Unfortunately, no one in the family has been surprised by our finds. They all seem to be tipical of Aunt Mildred. But we laugh the hardest when think about her now sitting in heaven and getting the last laugh!!

So here's to you, Aunt Mil! Salute!!

Sick People

Well, it's been a very long weekend. I received a call at 6:45 Thursday morning from my mom informing me that my dad was in the process of having another heart attack. His was first was 7 years ago. Luckily he was home. He had just returned from a week long trip to Kentucky with a friend of his just Wednesday evening. About 8:30 that evening (Wednesday) he told my mom that he wasn't feeling well, but that he thought it might go away. At midnight, he decided it was time to go to the ER! Sure enough it was another heart attack. He finally made it to a Hot Springs hospital at noon on Thursday. He went straight to his room and around 2:30 they took him in to do a dye test and put a stent in. Afterwards the doctor came in to tell us of his finding. No good news! He said he saw a LOT of disease in his heart. The muscle was basically wore out. Between his diabetes and the damage from the heart disease, his old heart had just about had it! Surgical repair is not an option anymore. No more bypasses, they're done. His injection fraction is 15%. A normal heart is about 60%. That's how much blood your heart can pump with each beat. What I have learned is that if your heart doesn't pump out the correct amount of blood, bad things happen. And by bad, I mean fatal. So it's up to Daddy now. Either he can lose some weight and stick to his diabetic menu, or die now. There is no way to improve his condition, but he can slow down the process! But as Daddy would say, "he's doing tolerably well for a man in his condition." His spirits are up, and I really think he understands how serious this is. He mentioned to my mom that he wasn't in any hurry to leave to the hospital. They are keeping him until they can get all of his medicines regulated, so his heart and diabetic meds will work together and not against each other.

But the day before this happened, my mom's 92 yr old aunt had to be admitted to the hospital for congestive heart failure. My aunt is an old maid, never married, no kids, and my mother is primary caregiver. Luckily she and my dad were in the same hospital, 9 doors between their rooms! My aunt's heart is just give out too! The doctors did not have anything positive to say except that she had a lot of fight in her. And if you know my aunt at all you'll know that we just call it meanness and orneriness. Saturday she reluctantly went to a nursing home for rehab. The lady is scared to death to die, and really scared of dying in a nursing home.

Well, today I was going to go and visit with my dad again, but I ended up having to take my hubby and my oldest to the doctor. He has strep!! Luckily Ky's is just sinus congestion--no strep! Matt has felt bad for several days. He got a shot of penicillin, so maybe he'll perk up pretty soon.

Needless to say, I'm sick of sick people! But I thankful that it's better than the alternative!

Lazy Sunday afternoon

It's Sunday afternoon and I just finished my Sonic Reese's Blast. Man I love those things! I have been watching what I eat the last couple of weeks, but today I wanted the ice cream! I joined the local gym about 2 weeks ago and have been going pretty faithfully. I have been trying to attend the water aerobic classes Mon. - Thurs. and doing cardio/weights the other days. I have lost 3 pounds since I joined. However today, I am sitting on my lazy butt! I am starting a new bible study tomorrow night, so I'm not sure what I'm going to be able to do on Mondays now. I'll try to figure something out where I can exercise, shower, fix supper and get to class on time by 6:30.

One of my friends put me on to Facebook yesterday. I really like that you can post photo albums there. That's my kind of scrapbooking! Post a picture for all to see, add a little caption, viola...Lori's scrapbook!!LOL! I have also found a couple of friends from high school on there. I haven't emailed them, not sure I really want to connect with old friends right now. However, one was my best friend in HS, but I don't think I've talked to her since we moved here over 5 years ago. Just seems kinda odd to start a conversation out of the blue. What do you say?? Anyway, I found another Facebook of my friend that's in China, it's really neat to see her pictures. I read her blog, but she updates about as much as I do. Last night we were on the computer at the same time and were sending messages back and forth. It was almost like she was back home with us. I miss her! So if you have facebook, let me know and I'll add you to my friends list.

Well, about the only other thing I have to blog about is my family. Razorback season is in! We went to the game last week and took the girls. The game was a blowout and we left at halftime (thank goodness!) I am more of the tailgater type. I'd rather spend time with my friends and "people watch". I could care less about the actual game! The girls had a good time though. Except for the idiots sitting around us! There was this young guy, probably a college kid, who was sitting right behind Kyla & Kera and was talking about these T-shirts he was going to have made that said "you suck d***". And he just kept saying it over and over. Finally I turned around and gave the "Wrath of Momma" look and told him to watch his language!! Well, then the retired couple (the husband) sitting just to my left kept saying "Oh sh**" about every play the team made! I thought, "Can we not take our kids the game anymore!!!" Luckily, I don't think my girls heard anything that was said, or if they did, I don't think they understood what the words meant. So at halftime we left, grabbed some dinner at Chili's in Rogers, and checked into our hotel room. My dear husband insists that when we stay at a hotel that we get a king size bed. Ours at home is only a queen. When you do that, the only other bed in the room for the girls is the hide-a-bed. Normally this is not a problem, but this time it was!! The sofa pulled out to only a twin size bed!! Have you seen my Ky lately??!!! She and Kera will NOT fit on a twin size bed!!! So Daddy, thinking he's doing us all a favor says, "You girls sleep in the bed and I'll sleep on the pull-out." Well, you got the raw end of that deal....ME! I got stuck sleeping with both girls and he had a bed all to himself! I let him know very quickly that next we stayed in a hotel, I would be making the arrangements and we will have TWO full-size beds! We made it through the night. Got up the next morning and went swimming before we headed home! Here are some pictures from our trip:

End of PT

I have finished my sessions of physical therapy, and I have to say that I do feel better in the two areas that they were working on. However, it seems that all the others areas are either a lot worse or just more noticeable! Now I will join the gym and see how long I can stick to a workout program. Have I ever told you that I hate to exercise!! I had much rather sit in a comfy chair somewhere and watch movie or read a book or work a puzzle or surf the net or anything but sweat! But my doctor has led me to believe that losing weight and exercising will take care of some of the aches and pains that are left. He told me that I was healthy, but needed to watch my diet and be more active. So on to a new chapter in my book of life!

SOSU

Now that's a lively bunch isn't it!! This was taken after Saturday's game that my mom went to. I think Mom said they ended up losing the game though. My nephew was about the only Freshmen on the team that wasn't redshirted. He's so proud of himself!

The weekend

Matt and I celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary Friday. Usually our anniversary weekend is spent at a Razorback football game, but they had an off week. No ballgame, so we decided to go out of town for a few days, just us without the kids. Well, that was a whole ordeal in itself! It really stinks on occasions such as these not have family close enough that can keep the girls without have to plan a week's vacation three months in advance!!! Okay, maybe I exaggerated a little. We had to figure out if I was going to have to take them to my mother who lives about 100 miles away, or if she was going to come up here and stay, all depending on her work schedule. But then she really wanted to go to Oklahoma this weekend and see my nephew play college football. So then we checked with Matt's sister and she said she could come stay with them but she can't leave until 3:30, which would put her getting here about 5:00. So who's going to pick the girls up from school if we decide to leave early Friday?? Can you see where I'm going with this!! Anyway all that worked out. But then we had to decide to where we were going. There are several places that I would like to go, but we only had two days and we weren't taking the girls. I would have liked to have gone to Memphis, but then I thought the girls would enjoy that trip, going to the zoo and maybe Graceland. Then I thought about going to a B&B in Mountain Home, never been there. But my husband was too worried about sharing a bathroom with someone else or not having cable TV that I knew I would not enjoy myself! So we ended up staying at the Hampton Inn in Hot Springs. No frills! I was hoping my weekend be uneventful and restful. And it was to an extent, but wasn't really what I had in mind. We did go down to Bathhouse Row and get a massage Saturday. And we did go to Dillards Friday night and bought me two new bathing suits at 75 percent off!! All and all we had a good weekend, but I've decided our personalities are just too opposite (and since opposites attract, I guess that's how we've made it 17 years) to enjoy a weekend completely the way I like it!

Giving all

This is a lengthy post, but I think it's important, maybe not to you, but for me. This is how I experienced God this weekend, August 24 & 25, 2007 (and the months before), at the "Heart of Worship" Ladies' Retreat at First Baptist Church. As Mark preached from the book Haggai Sunday, he pointed out how the prophets dated their writings to remember what God did, and this is an experience I don't want to forget!

What does that really mean?? To give your all? Well, as a student of my Mighty God, I am a very slow learner! At our ladies retreat this weekend, that's what God wanted me to do. But I didn't. He wanted me to give Him ALL OF ME to be used for His service. But I just couldn't release control of everything. Now don't get me wrong, this weekend was a great time in His presence. Friday night we had a wonderful worship service! My dear friend Kirsten explained to us what "worship" meant, what it is and what it is not. She explained how we have to prepare ourselves to worship, clean out the insides and take out the trash.
This is a picture of her in her "cleaning attire"! What you can't really see is that underneath the wreath of flowers is a shower cap! And her rubber gloves are covered with lovely embellishments. I like to call her an "eccentric servant" when I describe her. She loves the Lord and is not afraid to tell you! She has the gift of teaching God's word. She can take the scriptures, tear them apart and explain/teach them where I can understand and apply it to me! She was showing us the trash in her life, the idols that she had put before God, but she could have been talking about any of our lives. Some of the things she mentioned were food, coffee, computers, cell phones (and by the way, if I see anyone of you on yours in Wal-Mart there better be someone on the other end of the line!!), our children, books, our schedules. Not that any of those things are bad, but when we don't put God first, they become our idols! And I serve a jealous God!!

Well, moving on, I can't say enough about the Praise Team that my friend Angela gathered together. WOW!! It's been too long since I have worshiped in song like I did this weekend. Our local church is blessed with so much musical and vocal talent! We broke tradition. We saved most of the praise and worship for after the message. Have you ever been in a worship service where the Holy Spirit is stirring and moving through the message and then you have time to reflect and to respond to what God is saying, but the music director only sings the first and last verse of the "invitation song" and then it's time to pass the collection plate? Well, not this weekend!! We let God work and walk among us. The praise and worship this weekend was intense but at the same time very freeing for me! I sang, I cried, I lifted my hands, I fell to my knees, I smiled with joy overflowing in my heart. All because I am HIS child! I hoped to have the glow that Moses did when he came off the mountain after being in the presence of God!

Saturday morning we offered six breakout sessions. So let me tell you about some of the things that God did with this part of the weekend. As a team, our prayer has been, "Lord, don't let the ladies attending see any one of us, but only you and your reflection from us." We scheduled three breakout sessions (at 8:30, 9:30 & 10:30) but they could choose three from six options.

One was led by my extraordinary friend, Jennifer. From the first email I sent asking for participation on the planning team, God walked with her every step! I love to hear her story of how she bargained with God. She said when she read the email something immediately came to mind that God told her it was time to share, but she deleted the email hoping it would go away. But God kept after her anyway. So her bargain was this, "Lord, if Lori comes and ask me I'll do it." But she wasn't going to take the initiative to come to me first! Well, as time was approaching for our first meeting, I still needed a team! The Sunday before the meeting, I sat down with Jennifer after a potluck we had after church and casually asked her if she could help me out and be on this team. Man, I wish I would have had a camera to capture the look on her face! I had no idea that she had been battling and bargaining with God. And she looked at me and grinned because she knew what she had to do! She has a past that she has hidden, but God gave her strength to share her story and give Him glory of how He had carried her through!

And then there's my friend Sandra! Sandra is a quiet, tenderhearted, lovable servant! God took her out of her comfort zone. By nature she likes to be a "behind-the-scenes" kind of person, doesn't like to draw attention to herself. But her topic this weekend was obedience! That's the journey God took her on this summer. She told us earlier in the spring that she might would lead a session, but she knew that this summer this lesson would come! And so it did. She kept telling the ladies in her session how nervous she was, but everyone of them said, "You couldn't tell except that she kept saying it!" God touched lives through her this weekend!

Now Bonnie is my friend that just oozes Jesus! Honestly, you can start any conversation with her and she will find some way to get Jesus into it! Bonnie shared with her groups our significance compared to God. How without Him we are nothing, but to Him we are everything. I didn't get to sit in on her session, but Bonnie reminded me of the simplicity of worship. How we try to make worshiping God so hard, so traditional and ritualistic, but all He says is "Come."

Tonya is has been a dear friend to me for almost all of the 5 years that we've been in Sheridan. She has been our WM director for most of that. And being on that team with her, we have grown close and she is a very special person to me. Her session was called "Believing God's Power". I didn't get to attend her sessions, but what I know without a doubt about Tonya is that she is a teacher and believer of the Word! God planted her in a small pot to grow her roots and has given her a larger field to bloom in! It's amazing and awesome (and scary and painful at times I'm sure) but God has set her and her family on a new journey with a new direction. He is using Tonya already to reach women and moms all over the nation!

Prayer Warrior. That's how I describe my friend Nelodie! Praying with passion, believing that God hears, answers and responds! So you know what I asked Nelodie to teach in her session! One thing God has shown me over the last several months is that without prayer, without building that relationship and making that one-on-one contact with Him, nothing else matters! Because if you aren't talking AND listening to Him, getting direction and guidance from Him, everything we say and do is in vain! My faith has been built and made stronger in the times I have had the privilege to pray with Nelodie!

When Faith's parents named her, they knew what they were doing. She has been down some hard roads in her life. But even through the roughest terrain, she will always give God credit and thanks to Him. God took her on a spiritual journey this summer too. Teaching her how we are to be His holy vessels. That He created each of us unique with his purpose in mind. But Faith is my friend that at a drop of the hat, she will be right by my side giving me support. Whether we eat dinner together or need a shoulder to lean on, at a moments notice, she's there!

Well, the last speaker of the retreat was me. I knew God had given me a message that I needed to share about worshiping in spirit and in truth, and to tell what He says worship is. But you see, unfortunately I didn't give that message. I asked God to give me the words. I tried for 2 months to write it down so I would have notes in front of me. I wrote it out several times, trying to have just the right flow of words. I tried to find the 3 points and the poem of what God had given me. But it wouldn't come together. Even at 10:30 Saturday morning before I was to speak at 12:30 that afternoon, my notes were so scattered and jumbled I couldn't make heads or tails of them. And I kept praying, "Lord, you are going to have to put the words in my mouth, because I don't have them." Well, I got up in front of a crowd of about 80 women and started rambling. I have no idea what I said, but for what seemed like 10 minutes (it was probably more like 10 seconds) I knew the Holy Spirit was speaking through me. Again, I don't remember what I said, but what I remember hearing was "Here I am, filling you." But then I tried to do to go back and get my own words. Ramblings...that what I call the rest. Why?? I didn't give my all to Him. What does that mean to give my all? Well to me that means giving Him ALL OF ME!! I couldn't or didn't do it. I wanted to read Bible verses and sound like I knew what I talking about. I wanted people to think I was good at standing in front of other people and proclaim God's word. And what's so ironic about that whole thought is the reason we didn't bring in a professional speaker in the first place. To prove that God takes plain ordinary people and empowers them by His will to accomplish His purposes for His pleasure! So needless to say, I walked away with a sad heart Saturday, because I knew I failed. Now I know that God can even take my ramblings and turn it into good. I guess what I'm saying is that I'm not worried really about the response from the women, because God's will be completed in spite of me. But what a lesson this has been for me. I knew when I left Saturday that I rambled because I didn't really trust God to put the words in my mouth. My heart has been so broken, because of what I didn't allow Him to do. And I have continued to pray and ask for His forgiveness. I have also been praying for Him to let me go ahead and write it down what I should have said, what He really wanted me to say, knowing full well I may never have another opportunity to share it. But as I was typing this Blog, it made it to paper. And as I realized what was happening, my heart burst and tears of joy gushed. This is actually the second draft of this paragraph. I copied the first draft to a Word document so I can finish it, print it and save it. All He ever wanted was Me!! Words to the song "The Heart of Worship" says kind of sums up how I'm feeling:

The Heart Of Worship

When the music fades
All is stripped away
And I simply come
Longing just to bring
Something that's of worth
That will bless your heart

I'll bring You more than a song
For a song in itself
Is not what You have required
You search much deeper within
Through the way things appear
You're looking into my heart

I'm coming back to the heart of worship
And it's all about You
It's all about You, Jesus
I'm sorry, Lord, for the thing I've made it
When it's all about You
It's all about You, Jesus

King of endless worth
No one could express
How much you deserve
Though I'm weak and poor
All I have is yours
Every single breath

I'll bring you more than a song
I'll bring you more than a song
More than a song
I'll bring you more than a song
I'll bring you more than a song
You're looking into my heart
Looking into my heart
You're looking into my heart
Into my heart
I'll bring you more than a song
I'll bring you more than a song
I'll bring you more than a song
I'll bring you more than a song
Public Domain
Words and Music by Matt Redman

So when God allows me to finish His message on paper, I'll share it here. I serve a mighty awesome God!

Worship

We had a Mission Celebration this morning at church. As a church we have embraced the Acts 1:8 Challenge and the On Mission Team shared their vision. Our pastor explained each area of mission and we prayed for each area, we had a commissioning service for one of our young adults that will be leaving this week for Asia, and at the end, one of our men gave a Mission Challenge to our church. Each aspect of the service was good. My Ky even led one of the prayers! :) Then we had a fellowship meal together followed by a Mission Fair. But what has stuck with me today is something Ken said in his challenge. "Here's a need...your available...God meshes them together. No coincidences!" WOW!!! That is worship!! Our retreat this weekend is all about worship. And what I'm learning is that there is no mold, no formula, no one activity that makes worship. Worship starts in the heart!! And I'll stop there for now so those that are going to attend the retreat don't have to listen to me twice!

Not sure of my reaction

Yesterday was the deadline to sign up for our Fall Retreat that is next weekend. Always knowing that there will be people signing up until the last minute (because that's just the way people are), I'm a little disappointed in the numbers so far. We were hoping to have 175-200 women, but to date I only have about 65. But I also know that God has the perfect number. I'm embarrassed to an extent that I'm even posting this. Not because of the numbers, but because of my reaction to the numbers. As we gathered to pray Monday evening, a discussion was started about how we are a reflection of who God is, and how our actions are a reaction to God's action. Did that make sense?? Everything we do should be a reaction of what God is doing in our lives. We should measure everything we say and do against His standards. So pray for me and the rest of our team as we prepare to stand before the right number of women and lead them into the presence of God for what we are praying will be a life changing weekend!

Where does time go?

Why does time fly by so fast in the summer? The girls start back to school on Monday. Things are so hectic and unplanned for us during the summer that I am ready for the everyday routine of school. It seems like we have just been on the run and can't put my finger on anything in particular that we have accomplished! I have made several "extra" trips to my mom's than what we normally do, and are going again this weekend. Oh, I've got to post these pictures that my mom sent of my dad and his dog.


The one of them asleep just cracked me up!! :) Anyway, we are going to go to the water park at the diamond mine with some of my family. A last bash before school I guess.

Well, I've been to PT for 4 visits now. Can't tell yet that I'm feeling better. Every session starts with an ultrasound treatment and a massage. At the time it feels really good, but my back was really sore last week. But they told me it would be. Then I spend about 20 minutes in the pool (walking, sitting and doing exercises) and finish up with 10 minutes in the whirlpool. They told me last week that they will start working on one of my knees this week. I can't wait! A friend of mine and I tried to do some pilates this weekend. She had a DVD that we were following. We got an ab workout for sure, but it wasn't from the exercises. We were laughing so hard, we couldn't even attempt half of the things the lady on the video was doing! Oh, to have been a fly on the wall that day!!!

Well, I must get off of here and start something productive! I am suppose to sponsor a booth at our Mission Fair Sunday and I haven't even given it much thought. Our ladies retreat is the next weekend, and I have been spending much of my time working out the last little details.

Physical Therapy

I went to my first physical therapy appointment Monday. As I walked in the door, there was a patient in the back that could not speak well, and had a very loud voice. Her words at first sounded more like screams until I could figure out exactly what was going on. But can't you imagine the initial thoughts going through my mind. There was no one sitting at the first desk and I thought to myself, "No one knows I'm here, I can sneak out and no one will ever know the difference!! I sure didn't want the therapy she was getting!" But I sat bravely instead, and waited my turn.

They are treating me for DJD (degenerative joint disease), and naturally I had to ask..."What does that mean?" The therapist said it is basically just advanced arthritis in my joints. It's not so much that the arthritis is "advanced" like you and I would think, but it is advanced for my age. And again I asked, "Because I'm too young, right??" (I asked my doctor the same question!!) And he said yes. I just like hearing people say that!! heehee! Anyway, they are going to focus the therapy on my back, but when I have to do pool exercises it will work the whole body. They did an ultrasound treatment where they rubbed that "wand" on my back and it makes the muscles contract. That was a very strange feeling. It was like having muscle spasms and that I couldn't help or make stop. Then they massaged it and I got heat therapy, which is when they put those 20lb. hot pads on my back. Ok, they probably didn't weigh 20lbs., but they were heavy. I am scheduled to come in 3 times a week for now. Wednesday when I go back they will put in the pool and start those exercises. My therapist said that sitting in a pool is going to the be the best thing I can do for my joints, to get in a pool as often as I can. I asked him if he would write that down and sign it so my hubby will believe me and not think it is just a ploy and excuse to get me a pool!! Needless to say, the hubby just rolled his eyes when I told him. So, I have been trying to walk every morning, or at least 5 times a week. I call my neighbor every morning at 6:45 and wake her up so she'll go with me. She doesn't sound very happy that early in morning, but she has been a good friend and has gone every time I've called. I'm excited about starting these exercises, which is strange for me. I don't like to exercise and I don't like to sweat!! But I'm really tired and want to sleep all night. I just hope this works.

We survived this week!

My niece came up for a week long visit. We went to Magic Springs two days this week. In the picture, that's my niece at the front of the log ride. They rode the log ride 3 times in a row and I took picture of them every time they came around to this point. This is best one of three because they were making faces and hand signals in every one!! We had a good week though. Usually when these girls are together they spend most of their time making up dance routines, cheer routines or secret handshakes and I have to watch them constantly!! We picked up Al on Sunday and I didn't have to watch a single routine until Thursday! And we took her home on Friday after another trip to Magic Springs. I think my sister was a little jealous. She had to watch a few more performances than I did when my girls spent a week with her early this summer. (Na-nana boo-boo!!)

Here's another picture from MS. I have never noticed this little waterfall before, but it caught my eye this week. The sign in the background says "Watson Falls". Watson is my maiden, so that immediately got my attention, but when I read the small print, it said this flowerbed/waterfall was "in honor of Bob Watson, a treasured employee of Magic Springs", I just giggled. Bob Watson was my grandfather's name. This was not in memory of my grandfather, but the coincidence just tickled me!

I went to my parent's this weekend. Yesterday was my dad's birthday, and mom's is next week. We all went out to eat dinner with my sister and her family. Today I took my mom to Texarkana to buy a new miniblind for her living room. We spent all day over there shopping, or "looking" would probably best describe our excursion! I found out today that my mother likes to shop as much as I do--none at all!!! We made three stops and all we came home with was a blind and a lamp shade!! I almost got a new comforter set that was on sale at Penneys, but I talked myself out of pretty quickly. We were also looking for some last minute items that my sister needed for nephew before he leaves Monday for college. I couldn't believe how conjested the traffic was in that area. Since we moved to Sheridan 5 years ago, they have really built up the businesses on the north side of the interstate by the mall. I just thought traffic was bad before! Well, we (or I, the girls stayed with my sister) had a long day and now I'm very tired and sleepy. I should get much needed sleep tonight.

The Doctor's Visit

So I went to the doctor on Monday and came away with I'm fat and lazy! Now tell me something I didn't already know!! I didn't really get a diagnosis, but he told me that I needed to strengthen the muscles around my joints so that will strengthen the tendons in my joints. He recommended physical therapy for my back and knees, or at least exercise such at pilates or water aerobics. He also did some lab work on my joints, but I'm not sure what that will tell me. He said that he was leaning toward rheumatic tendencies because of my family history (my paternal grandmother had rheumatoid arthritis) and my age. He said I was too young to be in this much pain. I thanked him and told him I thought I was too young too!! Heehee!! So I am checking into physical therapy today, to see how much it costs and how much my insurance will cover, and compare it to an exercise program that will target my back and knees. I have gotten up and walked the past two mornings. And just to update on my water excursion, I have not had but one small cup of soda since last Monday. We were at Magic Springs yesterday and the soda fountain we stopped at didn't have a water "spicket". But I can't say that stopping the aspartame has alleviated any my pain. I think I'll stick with the water and see if it will help get some of this weight off. I did learn that my home scales are off by about 10 pounds and weigh heavier that the Dr.'s scales. WooHoo!! So now my goal is to eat less, exercise more. YUCK!!

Water, water, water!!

I have challenged myself to drink water instead of sodas for at least two weeks. I DON'T LIKE WATER!! (Unless I'm really hot and dehydrated, and then I can't seem to get enough!) I have a doctor's appt. Monday afternoon because I have had lots of pain in my joints for sometime now. The reason I'm going now is because it has started in my fingers and hurts really BAD! I was telling a friend of my about this and she suggested the aspartame, such as in Diet Coke (my drink of choice), might be causing some it. So at this point, I'm willing to go without and see if it helps. I'm on day two and haven't noticed any drastic changes. It probably hasn't helped either that I have gained 30+ pounds in the last 3-4 years. Matt and I both were following the Weight Watchers plan before we moved here, and I reached my goal weight shortly after. And I guess I have been celebrating ever since!! So, I'm going to try to do better: watch my portions and lay off the sweets (sniff,sniff). And exercise...I hate to sweat! But now with this pain in my joints, it's hard to do any kind of activity for too long. Maybe it's just an excuse, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Another day

We got Ky sent off to church camp yesterday. She will be gone until Friday. They go to a camp in Lone Star, TX. Last year was her first year to go (because she has gone to Siloam since she was a year old!) and she loved it! I hope she enjoys this year as much! But as soon we got her on the van, Kera and I headed to Magic Springs with friends and met Wendy and her twins there. We had a really good day. It was soooo crowded though. I guess after all the rain last week, everybody was ready to get out of the house!

Well, despite my creativity block, I finally came up with the beginning of a poster for the fall retreat. I took it to a printer and asked the lady to take what I had and "jazz it up" so it would look professionally done. I don't know if she really meant it or if she didn't want to mess with me, but she said she would leave it just as I had done it. I pleaded with her to do some different, add color, change the font, something...,but she said, "If I were to do this, it would look basically like you've already done." I was a tad disappointed because I wanted more color, but she also informed me that colored posters cost $15.00 each!!! So black ink on colored paper looked a whole lot more professional than I thought!!! However, I was relieved that I didn't have to wait for her to re-format (is that word??) a poster, because my girls with me and they are NOT good "waiters". I'll see if I can figure out how to add a picture of it to this blog.

Oh, look! I did it!!!

Creativity have I none!

My mother is very artistic. She decorated cakes for the public for many years. She could draw anything that anybody wanted on their cake. The girls and I went down this past weekend to help her move, and as we were going through some of her stuff I can't tell you how many pages of paper we found that she had doodled pictures of her grandkids. She is a master seamstress (in my opinion!). Prom and wedding dresses weren't even started on until the day before the event! She is a jack of all trades. If it's broken, she'll fix it instead of buying a new one, which is what I do! WHY DIDN'T I GET ANY OF THOSE GENES??? I am working on a poster for our fall ladies' retreat and it just won't come together! Frustrations are raging high!! I was trying to save a little money, but I think I may have to pay someone to come up with a decent layout. I hate putting out stuff that looks like it's half-done or low-budget production. I know what I want it to look like (well kind of) but I can't get it from my head to the paper or computer in this case. Well, I better get back to it. I am hoping to get this to the printers on Monday!

Where to start?

I am excited about this blog, but I ponder on where to start. Because I am such a rambler, I fear the thought of writing something stupid that will come back to haunt me later!

I guess the most pressing thing in life right now is to get the ball rolling again on women's ministry at our church since we know that we aren't moving to NW Arkansas yet. I have heard so many women comment lately that they don't feel like they fit in and they don't have any real close friends here. And we all know that women need women!! So one of my goals is to create care groups where they can hopefully feel like they belong, 1st to God's family, 2nd to a circle of friends that care about each other. The problem I'm running into is finding women that will take on a leadership role to head these small groups! I know the Lord will provide and call these women to step up to the task. So in the meantime, I will press forward with what I believe God has given me to do.

Since Matt didn't take the day off for his birthday on that day he is taking the day off tomorrow and getting a 3 day weekend. I don't know what we're going to do, probably not much. Any suggestions for a day trip on Saturday??

Here we go!

Welcome to my world! I am been contemplating for while now whether I wanted to start blogging or not, so today I decided to plunge right in! I have been viewing blogs from some of my friends and it looks like fun!! I'm not sure how consistent I'll be at posting, but I'm hoping I can keep up! I'm hoping this will be a way for family and friends to keep in touch with our family. Enjoy!