More Hugs, Please

I have to share with you one of my happiest moments this week. Yesterday, I stopped by the babysitter's house where Clay and Livvy stay. I knocked, walked in as usual, and continued down the hall to the den where the children play. Both were sitting on the sofa watching TV, that is, until they spotted MaBoo at the door. I have never seen 2 children jump up so fast and come running up to me, hugging me and calling my name! Now, this was a real thrill to the Gran! They began telling me all about their trip to the beach, how they went to the aquarium and touched the starfish, etc. They were so excited, and so was I. It seemed that Clay had grown a foot while he was gone, maybe because he had such a cute little boy hair cut. And Livvy was as cute as ever.

Some other great moments came when they said, "We had fun at the beach and we're going again and MaBoo and PaPa are going with us!" That is correct! We are going together in about 10 more days. I really do want to go with them, but I will surely miss those loving, exciting hugs I received after we hadn't seen each other in almost a week.

Is Discipline out the Window?

My old computer is acting like an old lady lately. I can't seem to get her to even recognize me! I can see that I'm definitely going to have to take her in for an overhaul. When I try to send emails, she tells me she doesn't recognize me. When I blog, it thinks, stops, thinks, stops, and never actually gets moving. I thought I would see how she reacts this morning.

I'm glad that we are now getting plenty of rain, but I am so sorry that so many people are suffering from too much of a good thing. The loss of property is really bad, but nothing compares to the loss of life. My condolences are with those families who have lost loved ones. And, they are saying that the water still hasn't peaked. I hope everyone evacuates as told and that everyone else will be safe.

I have to tell you about my trip to O'Charley's yesterday. My sisters, my niece and I decided to enjoy lunch together at this restaurant and we had a most enjoyable time together until...yes, until this couple arrived in the restaurant with their 2 granddaughters who appeared to be around 10 and 8. They were directed to the table next to us when the younger girl started screaming (I do mean a blood-curdling scream) that she didn't want to sit there. She continued with this until Granny (probably in her late 50's) went to ask the waiter to move them to another booth. Okay, the waiter and Granny returned and they were given the booth directly across from the table. Was the girl happy? NOT! She continued to scream and scream! And, now where did she want to sit? You got it...right back at the table they had just vacated! At this point, Granny was about to break; she forcefully began trying to lead the bucking girl out of the eating area to the waiting area around the corner, the screaming girl grabbing and fighting every step of the way. The screaming continued the entire time they were out there! Granny tried to leave her there several times and the voice became louder and shriller each time. After at least 10 minutes of this, Gramps got up, left the 10-year-old alone and went out. Yes, the screaming continued while Granny returned to be with the very good 10-year-old. Finally, Gramps took the child out of the restaurant. By this time, most everyone's appetite was gone and, therefore, most of us began to trickle out. As we were leaving, waitresses who were not busy were standing by the window watching, and probably hoping, that Gramps would give the girl her due; however, when we drove out we saw them in a van where the brat was continuing her tirade. Question: what should Granny and Gramps have done? And, what would you have done? First off, the child didn't want to come to O'Charley's (we heard that first). Should they not have come there because she didn't want to? I believe they would love to have given her "what for" but they were probably afraid someone would report them to Social Services. I might would have been reported because there was no need in such behavior. I think most of my friends would have been also. Is discipline out the window now? I believe the bottom is a safe place to discipline a child and this one needed it as badly as I have ever seen! Well, so much for a quiet, enjoyable luncheon!

Staying Put

"Staying Put": I think that is probably a good old Southern phrase but one that I've heard all of my life. My mom and dad used to have many such expressions, some of which I remember with much fondness. For example, Dad always would say he would do something "directly"; this did not mean immediately as you may suspect. To him, it meant whenever he "took a notion" to do it ("took a notion" was my mom's expression and it meant whenever he decided he wanted to do something). One friend of the family always used the expression, "that's a caution", which meant that was something to behold, not something to beware. Another friend loved to say, "you go away from here"whenever she was told something she didn't know. She didn't actually mean for you to leave, just that the news was very shocking to her. I love all those old expressions. Perhaps I will share more of them with you later. (Or you can share some with me).

Anyway, Hubby has decided that we will "stay put" for the rest of this week. Even though the weather has improved significantly, he believes that, because the 4th of July week actually begins this Friday and that by the time we get where we were going, traffic will be awful. He doesn't like to travel over holidays, needless to say; therefore, we are "staying put".

My daughter is still at the coast but indicates that all is well with them. She said it rained all last night but it has been a very pretty day. I'm glad that they have been able to enjoy their vacation. In fact, she said if they received too much rain tonight, they would stay on an extra day before trying to make it back home. I just pray for their safety.

I hope that all of you "blogees" will have a great 4th. Whether you travel or "stay put", I pray for your safety, too.

Decisions...decisions

I have been on the internet for several hours just checking various sites that give weather reports. We just cannot decide whether it is safe to travel later today or not. Well, I think we will travel, no doubt; however, we cannot decide in which direction, East or West. Our first intent was to travel West but most of the weather forecasts indicate an Alert. That is making us a bit nervous. The East seems to indicate scattered thunderstorms only, no flash flood warnings or even watches. I do believe that weather prognosticators have been wrong on more than one occasion, so we are in a doubting limbo. Whatever our final decision, I hope that it will be the right one. We could forfeit our trip but, because we have family coming next week, Hubby wants to get away for a few days while the "getting is good." The only way he will slow down is to go away for a few days anyway. He is busy all day long, practically from sunrise to sunset; yet, he will take off every Sunday and some Saturdays. For his sake, the rains were a real blessing because he had to stay inside and rest. I must admit, however, that he seems to be very healthy, much more so than I. He believes that hard work is good for everything that ails you and he is probably right. I just haven't had much desire or energy to prove him right.
Maybe I will make that a priority when the weather turns a little cooler, the snakes are no longer a threat, mosquitoes are gone, Granny "Mac" no longer cooperates, I finish all my scrapbooking projects, and I'm totally bored!

Go or Stay...that's the question

We really had a terrific storm in our neighborhoods yesterday: water across the highways moving cars into the nearby ditches and fields; trees falling across the highway hampering the flow of traffic; and, rains so heavy that drivers couldn't see the highways. My oldest daughter, "Little Red Riding Hood", called and said she was in Raleigh where the rains were so heavy through the construction areas that she couldn't find her way to her grandmother's house. Her dad told her to just take the roads she had always taken; even if the signs were down, the road was still there and would take her in the right direction. The prediction is now for more rains tonight but she will be staying over again. I just hope things will be okay for her to travel home tomorrow morning. Usually, the rains come during the late afternoons and evenings so "Red" should make it home with no problems. After all, she is an early morning traveler unless she has a teenager with her.

My other daughter is at the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Their weather is supposed to be marginal I think, some scattered showers there too. I do hope their vacation is not bothered too much by heavy rains. Showers are fine and will help cool down things.

We are supposed to leave tomorrow for the mountains but we haven't decided what is best since there are flash flood watches running the entire Eastern seaboard. I guess we will just wait until tomorrow to see the weather and decide whether to go or stay.

Escape to Cooler Air

As many of the churches in our area, we're having Bible School this week at our church. The theme is "Trek to Arctic" and that's going over really well, especially with the adults. Since the weather here has been well into the 90's, just the thought of cooler places is a real treat! Some of the decorations make one long for the cool weather; therefore, I am pretending we're it's cooler until we leave on our next trip, which, by the way will be this Sunday morning. To escape some of the heat, we will be heading for the mountains, hopefully to find some cooler air anyway. The humidity here has been extremely high as well making the heat index hit 100! That's a bit warm for the month of June. My niece and husband and her cousins have gone on a cruise, I think to escape the heat wave. I hope they have a great time and stay safe. Two of them have never been on a cruise before and I understand they are quite excited, especially Robyn. I hope they don't get seasick. (I think I might. I have never been on a cruise but have crossed the English Channel in very rough weather and almost got sick. I also crossed from Maine to Nova Scotia once and that wasn't too bad).
Because we will be away and I don't know if the RV parks we will visit will have WIFI, I may be off the air from Sunday until Friday. I will blog tomorrow and also on the trip if we do have WIFI, however. Have a great day and weekend. Stay comfortable and safe.

Our loss...Heaven's gain

I apologize for being off the air when I was at home and could blog. I had more bad news Wednesday afternoon when my cousin called and said that we had lost another first cousin. Now, this one was a surprise. Blythe was at a city council meeting speaking against a re-zoning plan when he experienced an aneurizm of the aorta. He was air-vacced to Duke, operated on three times, but they were unable to save him. So my family and I spent much of yesterday in their hometown with them. Blythe was a good, Christian man who loved people. He was an excellent neighbor, and, since his retirement, had made a point to take care of all the widows in his neighborhood. I know his wife, family, and friends will miss him very much and will I.

Some birthdays end with Zero's

Although I'm a day late, I need to begin my blog by telling you about my oldest daughter who lives 100 miles away and, therefore, cannot get to me too quickly. She had a big birthday yesterday; yes, a big birthday, one of those two digits that ends with a "0". I called to wish the "old girl" a happy birthday and, can you believe this? She was at her church in a class for "kick boxing"! She is a very active person who is always, always on the go. I don't know how she ever gets still long enough to do her crafts: knitting; card-making; scrapbooking, etc. I wonder if her niece and my little granddaughter, Livvy, will be like her; she, too, is always on the go.

Marty is a very talented person as you can see by her hobbies and crafts. She's a very creative person as well. She can work on her car, lay tile, and decorate. She and my younger daughter are the ones who decorated and revurbished our bedroom, bath, and dressing room. I am so fortunate to have such talented girls. I know that, as I get older, they will make wise decisions and take very good care of me.

When Marty was a teenager, I depended on her to help with the 2 younger children. She was very good at this and I trusted her completely with them because she loved them too. In fact, when we were having to move out of that state in which we resided, I left them with her for a few days while I flew over to the place where we would be moving. She took excellent care of them. I still depend on Marty in many ways. She's a very special daughter and I wish everyone had one like her!

I'm very proud to have such a sweet daughter as Marty and glad that she is able to be so active and usually cheerful (of course, I think her 2 daughters and son have something to do with this). I just wish that she lived closer by so that I could spend more time with her; but, when I tell her this, she always says, "I'm not too far away", and I guess she is right compared to many other parents whose children live thousands of miles away. (I do have a son who live that far away and that's no fun either).

So, Marty, when you read this, know that I love you very much and wish for you and yours the very best! May God bless you real good and may you have many more birthdays that end with a "zero"!

Where is Everybody?

I opened my blog this morning at 10:10 AM and had no readers. I wondered, where is everybody? In my home county, school is out now and I have a feeling that everyone, or at least many people, are on vacation. Some of our regular attendees to church were absent yesterday, too, perhaps gone on vacations. Summers seem shorter than they used to when I was a teacher and also a student. We always were out for the summer by May 25 at the latest and we usually didn't return until the day after Labor Day. I do recall that we had fewer vacation days during the year, however: Christmas (one week); New Year's Day; Easter (maybe a week); and, Thanksgiving (2 days). We didn't get any days for teachers to plan for their year, to complete grades, to work on their classroom, or attend workshops. Teachers went to summer school and took courses to renew their license (and they had to pay their own tuition). Don't get me wrong, I'm not opposed to more holidays because I love every one of them; and, I believe that if teachers are to renew license, it should be free (after all, they are preparing the children for a successful future). My point is that summer is shorter and families often have to pre-plan for their vacations if they are going to have one.

Some of our members at church are planning a brief group trip for the summer. In 1986, our youth group began having trips beginning on Easter Sunday for 3 to 6 days (during their vacations). This caught on and it was an expected event for many years, 14 years I believe. The youth grew up and now have their own families. As a result, they are interested in continuing the tradition; however, we are looking at summer trips instead of Easter trips because some children attend different schools and their vacations vary and many parents cannot get off at Easter. Many of the attractions are closed during Easter, too, so it makes it more difficult to plan a fun trip. Sometime, I will share some of our fun experiences with you on the blog because we did have some great times!

Wherever you are and wherever you are going, stay safe!

"When I'm 64"

Did you have a favorite song that you and your spouse or significant other enjoyed? I had several, our favorite being "Strangers in the Night". However, I remember, in 1966, when my hubby and I were dating, one of my favorite songs was the Beatles' song, "When I'm 64". I would often sing that to Hubby and ask him that question. Of course, he always said yes and must have meant it because I am now 67 and we are still together. Anyway, Paul McCartney, the main Beatle (in my opinion), sang that song on their album, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (I still have that LP, which means a long-playing 33 1/3 RPM record for the younger generation). I heard yesterday that Paul had just turned 64 but the girl to whom he sang that song is no longer his wife, so I guess she answered his question differently from my hubby. I wonder if he thought he would see 64 so quickly. I certainly didn't expect time to pass so quickly. We certainly better enjoy our lives, live a clean, honest, Christian life, and not waste time because it will be behind us much faster than it stayed in front of us!

A Day for Dads

I cannot believe that the month of June is already half over and we haven't been on a single RV trip since returning from Florida in March. No wonder Hubby is getting so anxious to be on the road again! I think we will have to get serious about planning a trip.

I spent the morning visiting some of our church family who are in the hospital. One of the ladies, an invalid since childhood, I have known since she was a wee babe and her sister and I grew up to be the best of friends. Fay has a broken leg in 2 places and now has pneumonia. She is on oxygen but still having difficulty breathing. Please include her in your prayers and also her caregivers, Fran and Rob. Their plates are full and your prayers on their behalf will be greatly appreciated.

The other person I visited, also a member of our church, is having breathing problems along with other complications. His wife, who has recently been diagnosed with cancer, also needs our prayers. This is a wonderful couple who has done so much for our church.

As I walked down the halls of the hospital, I noticed several male patients and I remembered that Sunday is Father's Day. I wondered if they were fathers and if their children would be spending some time with them on their special day. Then I recalled all of the fathers in all the rest homes around the country and continued to wonder if they would be lonely on Father's Day. When my dad was in a convalescent center, I saw many men who were alone all day; no one came to visit; no one sent a flower to them; they were alone. I saw one elderly, lonely man die alone because his family had no time to come sit with him. The family was called in when the time came for his passing; they came, gathered his things, including a nice TV, and left the premises prior to his death. How heartless! The man died alone a couple of hours later. I cannot imagine the cold hearts that must have resided in their bodies. I realize this is a morbid blog; yet, this weekend seems an appropriate time to think about this. Let's all make the time to be with elderly, older adults, especially the lonely fathers. Above all, let's remember our dads on this special day by a phone call, a visit, or a token of our love. Time flies. I wish I could spend time with my dad again on this earth and if I had it to do over, I would be a better, more loving daughter.

I love Hugs!

I'm getting a lot of hugs these days and loving every one of them! My little three-year-old grandson is now being potty trained, a feat he has showed absolutely no interest in until very recently. His sister, who is also three, has been trained for some time now; I suspect she may be part of the incentive for him. The real incentive, however, is a chart that his mom designed which provides a small reward for him after he receives a specific number of stickers, each given after a successful trip to the bathroom. When he is away from home, the number is kept so that the correct amount of stickers is applied to the chart. The great part of this is when he is at my house and he uses the bathroom, he will run back up the hall shouting that he used the potty; then, with his arms outstretched and his dimples shining, he runs into my arms for a great big hug! I love it!! I know that Mommy will be happy when it is all over,but, as for me, I will miss the celebratory hugs!! Hmm...I need to come up with some other way to keep those hugs coming!

Time for Vacations

Have you been watching the Hurricanes and the Oilers swap points tonight? The third period will begin soon and I hope that the Canes can finish it off tonight with their first Stanley Cup win. (it's 10:00 PM here now, but I don't know what time this blog will appear). I understand that a few fans have been a bit creative; for example, I heard this morning that one fan actually took a big oil drum, painted it silver and made a silver-looking cup and mounted it on top of the drum, then mounted all of this in the back of his pickup truck and rode around with hurricane flags flying. Hmmm. I think that's a bit much and a lot "red"! When asked what kind of celebration there would be tonight if the Canes won, the Rec Director said, "well, we plan to serve cake and ice cream." Cake and ice cream? Not much of a party compared to what is done if it were a basketball or football celebration, is it? Now, this is fine with me; at least there would be no destruction, etc., as there often is otherwise, with drunken fans, fights, and other somewhat violent activities. The baseball team at University of NC-Chapel Hill is playing in the finals in Omaha, Nebraska on Friday. If they should win the college finals, I wonder what kind of celebration Chapel Hill will have. Of course, I want them to win also.

School is officially out in this part of the country; teachers are now free to have their much-awaited vacations, and children are excited about the days with no homework. As for my family, one of my daughters and her family will be going on vacaton soon; my son from CA will be visiting us in early July; my oldest daughter has already taken one trip to the islands and will soon be taking a week-long beach trip; my younger son just works all the time and has no definite plans for a vacation yet. Hubby is beginning to get anxious to travel too, so we may be heading out in a few days for an abbreviated trip. We do have 5 trips planned before the end of the year though. I'm ready for a change of scenery. If you are planning a trip soon, I pray that you will stay safe.

Three in One

I thought I would do a quick blog before leaving the house for several hours. It's a cloudy, misty day here in the old north state; however, it is another beautiful day! You probably think I'm some kind of weird-do, but I do think cloudy days are pretty days. Everything is just so green and fresh looking: like God thought it was time to clean all of His forests and other creations. (Not to forget that we need the water badly too, since we are about 6 inches below normal). I noticed the trees around our home look so refreshed, so relaxed under the weight of the raindrops that have rested upon their upturned leaves. (Perhaps they, too, are lifting their limbs in thankful adoration for our Master).

Our pastor preached yesterday on the Trinity, something that is most difficult to understand (even to him, he confessed). Perhaps I am naive as a child because I received a blessing from his time with the little children. I thought his analogy was perfect. He was trying to provide a meaningful explanation to the children about the Trinity by using a boom box. Now, we all know that God cannot be compared to a boom box; yet the explanation worked for me. This particular boombox had 3 major parts to it: a radio, a CD player, and a cassette player; but, the boom box remained a boom box, just with 3 different parts or functions. The pastor also used an actor who wore 3 different masks during the same play but still remained the same man beneath. God is Three in One. AND, we need to know God as Abba the Father, as Jesus the Son, and as the Spirit that dwells within all Christians. This makes perfect sense to me. Holy, Holy, Holy ... God in 3 Persons ... Blessed Trinity.

Reaching for the Goal

I just received an email saying that our small town has reached $183,000 toward the cure for cancer. Our Relay for Life was so successful; we are still receiving donations and hope that we will reach $200,000 before the end of June. Last year, we raised $215,000; even though we may not make that much this year, we will be very proud that we attained such great participation. It seems that every family is being struck by this dreaded disease. Every day I seem to hear of someone else in the area who has lost his or her life to cancer. Multiple myeloma, lung cancer, pancreatic cancer, prostate and breast cancer are hitting our area in unusually large numbers. Let's continue to remember our loved ones and pray that God will give the necessary wisdom to doctors and scientists as they search for a cure.

Are you Family?

I've been busy on the phone with Sprint (oops! Embarq) for several hours trying to determing the problem with Granny Mac. It seems that I had an inferior modem that had to be replaced. I was on the phone with them yesterday and they promised that a technician would be here this afternoon. Alas, he showed up as planned; however, he was unable to correct the problem with the modem, so he installed a newer, somewhat improved (I hope) model, a 660, DHCP, for anyone who knows what this little box is. Anyway, after a few hours of waiting, talking, providing information about Granny Mac, etc., my internet popped up! I was advised to take Granny to the doctor and perhaps get her upgraded and freed from clutter. That, I plan to do in the very near future.

Today has been family reunion day, something I enjoy and something I don't enjoy. I do enjoy seeing these distant cousins and meeting new cousins while being asked, "Are you family?"; I enjoy hearing some of their old stories; and, I especially enjoy eating some of their old-fashioned cooking. I don't enjoy the waiting around for all the important late-comers to arrive; I don't enjoy the lateness of the meals (eating 1 hour later than planned); I don't enjoy having the meeting after the meal when everyone is so full and getting lethargic; and, I don't enjoy the disruptive or rude children (these 2 were probably 10 years old) whose parents are allowing them to stand in chairs, bang on doors, mess with the church's organ, and leave entrance doors open time after time (Perhaps if I were not in charge of the new fellowship hall, I would not have been so nervous about this). Once a year, I'm sure that I can forget my "mean" senior ways and allow children to be children. The odd part is that I'm a very lenient person who believes in allowing freedom of expression; nevertheless, I believe that respect for people and property has to be taught and enforced. Overall, though, it was a very nice day. The two best things are: first, there will soon be a family history book published; and second, I don't have to worry about taking charge of our church's new fellowship building for another year.

Changes: What's Next?

Isn't it mindboggling to think about all the things that have happened in the past 50 to 100 years? All the inventions, the wars, the improvements, the fashions, the morals of the people, the faith in things versus God? For you seniors like me, it's almost unreal to even fathom all the changes that have taken place (there are several emails floating around out there that allude to many of these changes). You younger readers can also see many, many changes in your very short lives. How many of you had computers in elementary school or at home? Did you have a cell phone in your purse or on your belt? (When I was a child, we informed our parents of our whereabouts by the old black dial-up phone with a cord attached to the wall, while you say nothing and your folks know where you are). None of you had ipods and many of you still don't. I could go on and on with this; yet, I say this to remind us all of the difficult times the young and old faced in a country called Norway, 66 years ago in the 6th month. They surrendered their freedoms to the Nazis on this day. Imagine...giving up your cell phones, your ipods, your many freedoms. I couldn't do it; at least, I would have difficulty doing it. We cannot give up on our freedoms; we cannot give up on those who are fighting for our freedoms; we must stand behind our countrymen and our country. Now that more progress seems to be in the future, what can we do? What's next? We must pray, show our support, and stand up for America! Let's do it!

Summer Months

At last I'm back on the air again. I have been trying but each time I tried, I received a message saying that Blogger was down temporarily and should be back soon. Well, welcome back Blogger! Perhaps you were my problem all along and not Granny Apple. We will see how long it takes you to appear on my blog tonight!

Today has been a day for special happenings, I hope for the better. I'm happy that Al-Zarqawa was finally stopped from his terrorizing. Let's all pray that the results of this will begin to make our world a safer place.

Today was also the last day of school for the children. I see much celebration in the expressions and behaviors of the young people, the teachers, and some of the parents. When school was out for my children, I was always as happy as they were. I was excited about having them home with us all day, making plans for vacations, camping, movies, spending days and evenings at our near-by lake house, taking them with me to restaurants and stores with our neighbor friends. Summer vacations were as wonderful for me as a parent as they were for me when I was a child. I recall these days to ponder the position of so many parents today. As a retired teacher and school administrator, I often heard parents gripe and complain about children being home. "I don't think I can stand this for two months", I would hear them say; "What in the world am I going to do with them underfoot all day", they complained; and, worst of all, "I can't wait for school to start back. These kids are driving me crazy!". I think this is awful. How can they feel that way when they are yours? Your responsibility? Your blessings from God? Don't they understand and appreciate parenthood? Perhaps they shouldn't have had children in the first place. Now, I realize it's difficult when both parents work, to place the children somewhere safe. Hubby and I taught in college and we arranged our schedule so that one of us was always with our sweet children. When they were very small, I took off 5 years to stay with them (Yes, they delayed my retirement date; however, if I had it to do over, I would take off more years than that. I regret that I didn't have more time with my 4 sweeties. They grow up so fast and you can miss so much if you're gone from home). I know that most parents today have to work to provide adequately and I feel for them. It is great to take the children somewhere during the summer so they can gain needed social skills. What I'm really referring to is the attitude that these parents often display, as if their children are such a burden to them, not that they place them in daycare. The important thing is to love, love, love them when you can have them with you. Let them know you care, that they are not a burden to you, that you are so proud to be their mom or dad. And, let me personally say to my 4 grown children right here and now (if you are reading this): I love, love, love each of you; I miss you when I don't see or talk with you; and, you have never nor will you ever be a burden to me. I'm proud to be your mom every single day! (Wanna spend the day together?)

The Wild Blue Yonder

I cannot believe how slow my computer has gotten! You would never believe that I have DSL which is supposed to be fast. I have talked with Sprint and earthlink and both tell me there is nothing wrong with the system, so it must be Granny Apple. I think I told you that I quit smoking over a year ago and I plan to reward myself for being successful. (Actually, I wasn't successful alone; no, never could I have done that. Only God could give me the will power, the determination to kick the habit. One day, He just convicted me that smoking was sinful; prior to that time, I thought of it as a nasty habit. Now, I'm not saying that smoking is a sin for everyone, I'm just saying that I was convicted of this. This habit was keeping me from doing some things that I really wanted to do; it kept me from going some places I wanted to go; it made me know that I was not setting a good example for my grandchildren, nor for other children, nor for any non-Christians. I didn't want to be a hindrance for anyone else to come to the Lord. I want everyone to come to know Jesus, and I don't want to do anything that may cause someone else to falter).

Back to my reward; actually, I have been rewarded in many ways: I'm healthier, wealthier, and wiser. Yet, I do want to reward myself with some thing. I had planned on a nice HDTV. Now, I wonder if I shouldn't redirect my interests toward a new Mac. I'll see how this goes. The last blog I did is out there in the wild blue yonder. But, haven't we come a long, long way in a short, short time? So, now we complain about things that we didn't even have 20 years ago!

Troubles, troubles, troubles

I am just about ready to throw this computer out the window! It just doesn't want to cooperate with my old fingers. I thought I would never get my blog to come up; then, after I finished blogging, it didn't want to publish! When I finally got it to publish, it decided that we needed two of the same blog. All of this took over an hour. Now, I've spent another half hour trying to get one of the repeats off the blog. Maybe I will have to break down and buy a new computer. What do you think, Kendra?

Are you watching the Hurricanes and Oilers in Game 1 Finals? It's disappointing that Carolina is behind; hopefully, they will improve as the game(s) continue. A few years ago, ice hockey in North Carolina was nothing and now, the fans are everywhere. In fact, I understand that tickets were selling for up to $380 +! Scalping was also expected; however, the officials said they were ready to catch anyone who had purchased any of these tickets at the exhorbitant prices. My nephew and his friend are there I know, but I also know their tickets were not scalped ones. I have only seen two hockey games in my life, one in Greensboro, North Carolina and one in Oklahoma City, OK. It's much better live than on TV I think. I couldn't believe the amount of blood that flows in those games-unreal! I don't understand any of the rules though; I do wonder why there are not more penalties, especially when it seems like they are really trying to do some serious damage to each other. I am a sports lover, though, so I really should take some time to learn the game. I wonder where I could find a book on hockey for dummies.

Be Young...Be Safe

Today is a cloudy day in my old home state, a cool day as well. I'm enjoying the nice day, though. There is one slight problem that I have seen today. The high school kids are finishing up exams for the day and many of them are driving like maniacs through the narrow downtown street. This concerns me greatly. I know they are excited about getting out of school this week; however, I'm afraid someone is going to get hurt. We have diagonal parking on the street, so backing out of parking spaces can be hazardous sometimes. Well, 2 little girls blew their horn at this guy who was backing out and they threw their arms out of the car yelling. The guy just floored it with the car in reverse, then slammed on the brakes! The girl in the car with the guy let out a scream! (I'm glad she wasn't my daughter). The cars didn't collide but it was a close call, a very irresponsible display of behavior, in my opinion. I think we need to spend a lot of time praying for these young people, that they will be safe, that they will stay happy and healthy, and that they will think of consequences before carrying out any questionable acts.

God bless our young people! I really do enjoy being around them.

I need Ideas

Tomorrow, our pastor is beginning a series of sermons on Pentacost. I regret that I will be unable to hear this since I will be in the nursery. There are speakers in there and sometimes I can hear; sometimes, I'm too busy with the babies to hear. I pray that all present will receive a blessing from this sermon. Tomorrow will be a busy day for me: in addition to it being my turn for the church nursery, I have a meeting of the planning committe for our school's reunion. I look forward to these reunions. My high school closed in 1970 when a consolidated school was built to replace it. Now we have reunions for all the classes. The oldest graduates who attend are 95 years young! I think that's great! These reunions have been so successful that we have begun having them every 3 years. Next year is the year for my 50th class reunion so I must get busy assisting in planning that too. If anyone reading this has any neat ideas about things to do to make them more meaningful, please let me know. We want to make these as memorable and fun as possible. Of course, everything must be clean; no drinking allowed. I need some ideas since that's being placed in my hands!

Pretending: Not just for Kids Anymore

I think I have heard it all now! At least, I thought I already had until I heard this piece of news about a competition. That's right, a competition; yet, this one is quite different from anything I have ever heard about in the past. This is a guitar-playing competition, with lights, cameras, costumes, much ado about what, I'm not sure. What makes this competition so strange you ask. It's done without guitars! That's right: contestants don't play a guitar; contestants don't play instruments of any kind. What kind of competition is this? The people just jump around, pretend to be playing guitars, just as you or I would do in our living rooms. The winner is then off to some European country for international competition. We now have every kind of reality show on every network; and, to add to that, we have added some nutty "pretend" show. Who will win this weird "talent" (?) show? Will we unveil the next "Elvis"? What a hoot! Oh, to be so talented!!

Surprise Again!

Wow! Am I surprised! Yesterday, I mentioned how slowly my blogs are appearing after my laborious efforts of writing, sometimes taking many hours. I just finished my other blog no more than 5 minutes ago. Upon completion, I went back to view my blog in another field. Wa La! There was the blog I had just finished! This surprise was a pleasant one.
I hope you enjoy my ramblings as much as I enjoy writing them. If so, make a comment. Sometimes I feel that I have absolutely nothing to say that will interest anyone other than me. Well, if that be the case, that's okay. I just hope that you will keep on reading. Perhaps one day you will find that I have written a blog that speaks to you or at least doesn't bore you to tears. Let me hear from you.

Too Short??

First of all, let me say that I am a very short lady, a bit over 5 feet. I have never committed a deadly crime (though I have been and am a sinner just like everyone else); never raped; never killed; never even pulled a gun on anyone (other than when Frannie and I played Cowboys and Indians). But now I'm curious: what if I did decide to commit one of these horrific crimes. In the past, I would just know that I would end up in jail for life or some other fate. After yesterday, I have learned that I would perhaps be pardoned and allowed to stay home and do more dasdardly deeds. Is that something I was thrilled to learn? Absolutely not! I would expect to serve my time in an unpleasant environment as a result of my unlawful behavior. If my luck prevailed, as the guy's in Nebraska, I would be free to sit here and blog, watch my favorite TV shows in my very own favorite recliner, snack to my tummy's content, talk on the phone when and as much as I wished, and just enjoy myself without restraints. I cannot believe the verdict that was passed on this short, 5', 1" man! He was not sentenced to life, not given a death sentence, not even give a year in the pen for raping a little child. Why did he go free? Because he is short!! Short! He may get bullied (like he didn't bully this child); he may be picked on (like he didn't pick on this child); or he may get hurt (like this little child)! I am outraged, absolutely infuriated!! What has our country come to, at least our judicial system? What if this were your child? Or, what if this were the judge's child? Would she have made the same decision-no jail, probation only? I heard that the guy was sitting in his home there in Nebraska. Remind me not to go through that state with my grandchildren until the judicial system is corrected! I cannot believe this!!