New Job

My husband has a new job. It will involve a longer drive to work (37 miles), the old one was only down the street, and later a move to another town. Different schools once we do move, and a new job for me. His new job is good, the changes are maybe not so good.
It's the process of changing, not the actual change. The moving, not the new house, the job hunt, not the new place to work, the drama, not the new school.
For now we have to decide how we are all going to get to where we need to go. The oldest has yet to get his license, or a car (not a penny pincher like his Dad), so he can't do the school run. I have to go in to work at 7a.m., the kids school is at 8, and Hubby has a rotating schedule. I'm worried, but not stressed. It will work out somehow. How do I know this? I don't. I can only trust that God will work the details out for us. He gave us the new job, so He will have to fix the rest too.
On a good note, I have received a 20 cent raise at my "now" work, and Hubby's new job is A LOT better pay than his old one.
My Father in law was sick with a mystery illness that could have been really bad, but it is Diverticulitis. Not good, but not cancer either.
The caption for the picture with the cat sitting under the bird cage will be announced tomorrow. If anyone has any late suggestions just scroll down a few and see the picture. Kay said no one wanted to play because I wasn't giving any prizes away, I think that the great feeling of being the one chosen should be prize enough! Pride in being the cleaverest of the clever. So come on..

Man's Work

My new header picture...Leave it to a man to un-sissy a job. :)
Note the ear protection for the sweeper.

Random Thoughts

Some random thoughts...
My blogger no longer lets me choose my font size...whats up with that?

I'm back! Internet is restored for now.

Girls come back tonight. They missed the connecting flight in Atlanta, and now will
be home late tonight.

It's HOT! Exactly like walking into an oven.

When I got on my computer tonight I had 42 e-mail waiting for me!!

I had to move where we feed the cats, because Jerry cat is afraid of the bed, and can't walk past it. I told you he has to RUN past it.

And the cat (Jerry) has become my best buddy. Has to sit on me whenever I sit down. ? Goofy cat.

My sister said I was weird in her comment from my book list. That's really cheeky when you consider we share a lot of DNA.

Well, I'm glad to be back and will try to catch up on all of your blogs, I probably won't leave comments on past postings, but will try to catch your current ones and say "Hey".
Also,the picture I have at the top of the post- I would like you to send me a possible caption for it. I will gather all of the suggestions and choose one from a hat next week- how about Wednesday.

Thirteen Thursday

Thirteen Books that I have read more than once.
1. The whole left Behind Series, by Lahay and Jenkins.
2. The Odd Thomas trilogy (fourlogy?), by D.Koontz.
3. Prophet, Piercing the Darkness, This Present Darkness, by Peretti
4. The Dark Wind, by T. Hillerman
5. The first Eagle, Skeleton Man, Hunting Badger, and many more from the library, by T. Hillerman.
6. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien.
7. The Hobbit, by Tolkien.
8. Babylon Rising, by Lahay & G. Dinallo (actually all of this series too)
9. A Secret Refuge series, by Lauraine Snelling
10.Refiners Fire series, by Lynn Austin
11.Sitka, by Louis Lamour (a lot of his books more than once)
12.Memoirs of a Geisha, by Arthur Golden.
13.Nightmares and Dreamscapes (short stories), by Stephen King.
This is just a sample of what I have and do read. I was looking at my book case and got the idea for this post. Of course I could go on, but who reading this couldn't do the same. We love bookworms!!!!

Interesting

You Are 32% Nerdy

You're a little nerdy, but no one would ever call you a nerd. You sometimes get into nerdy things, but only after they've become a part of mainstream culture.

http://www.blogthings.com/hownerdyareyouquiz/">How Nerdy Are You?

You Are 40% Yankee, 60% Dixie

You're a pretty even split of Yankee and Dixie. You've probably traveled around a lot in your life.

Are You a Yankee or Dixie?

You Are Ketchup

You are easy going and very measured in your approach to life. Popular and well liked, you get along with everyone. Seriously, everyone loves you! Your taste tends to be pretty mainstream American. You go for the classic favorites: burgers, fries, and apple pie. You get along best with mustard and mayonnaise personalities.

What Condiment Are You?

Well, it's pretty close...I guess.

And God said...

Psalm 50:14-15

Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High: And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.

Jonah 2:9

But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord.

Jeremiah 33:3

Call unto me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things which you do not know.

Some Concerns

I have a few concerns I would like to share with you for prayer.
First, we (husband and I ) have lost 2 very important certificates he had. We can call and get a replacement for the most important, but it's very frustrating trying to find something that's just gone I guess.
Second, our girls are getting ready to have their summer visit with their birth mom. They always look forward to visits when they get them (about 20 some days a year is all they see her) and summer is 2 weeks. We are not as worried as when they were younger, but still they will be flying with her to New York and doing all kinds of exciting things away from us. They go this Friday to stay in a hotel with her and fly out on Saturday a.m.
Third, our boy isn't going to visit his birth mom, he has decided he would rather go camping with his girlfriend and her mother and step dad (his mom said that was fine he needed to find himself-whatever). If we let him go, hubby still has to call the mom to see.
I seem to have some major prayer requests right now, but really no more than most people have everyday. I know God loves my children and will care for them better than I can...no matter where they are, and I know God knows where those certificates are, and we will either find them or not. I am thankful that my family is healthy...some people are asking prayer for health, I am thankful I have a family...some women are waking up to find their husband gone or leaving. I am thankful that my kids have some relationship with their mom in NY, some children have no parents whatsoever, or have dueling parents. I am thankful that I have a beautiful home (a little messy at times, but that's my doing), and I'm thankful we only have one parrot. So much to be thankful for...I hope that this week all of us will take the chance to really look around at our lives and see all that God has done or provided for us, and by all of us I do mean me too...especially me.
Thank you for stopping by, and for those who care to know... I've lost a few pounds, but time is the test. Bye.

After Midnight Adventure

I have a cat named Taffy. She is a tiny little thing and kinda sweet when she needs to be. Taffy- a.k.a. Boo, is a mighty hunter. She has brought sudden death to birds at my big feeder just by jumping up and grabbing them in her mouth. She has terrorized the local mouse population to the point that I'm pretty certain that we don't have any in the yard at all anymore. She has had to relocate her hunting expositions to the neighboring fields.

Yesterday evening she just wouldn't settle down, and after my hubby ate his late dinner (10:30 pm), and went back to patrol, I just couldn't stand her so I let her go out for the night. Now, I usually don't let her stay out at night because we have had coyotes out and about before. But I was gonna stay up late and read, so I figured on letting her back in before I hit the hay. I did.

I didn't see her very clearly as she came "running" into the house, but as she stopped in the kitchen (hard floor- thank God!) I noticed the gift she had just set down.

A little baby bunny. I didn't know this at first, because my lightning fast imagination (my mutant power you know) was running through all of the species of 5 inch long grey mammals that live in this state. After I landed on bunny (no tail, and longish ears) it was up scritching across my kitchen floor...oh, by the way, this scritching woke up the big cat...really fast! It runs...I run... I grab the little cat and hold her next to my body...I grab the huge cat by the skin on his back ( no animals were hurt in this grabbing), and yell for my oldest (boy) J! J! J! See, I knew my girls were totally useless in matters involving critters and scritching and critters. He came out pretty fast and even hung up the phone first (girlfriend) and I ran the situation by him and he sprang into action.
He creeps after it...it runs...he creeps...it runs! It went all through the living room and cornered itself in the bathroom. My brave son goes in and closes the door. So brave! So sweet. I ask if he has it and he says "I'm just waiting for it to calm down a little." So sweet. I let go of the really confused and slightly mad cats and J takes bunny-foo-foo outside to the wild.
Today...I'm moving a car, and Boo comes running real fast toward me with a 5 inch grey thing in her mouth...but it's okay this one was a rat! I said "Good girl! Good girl Boo!! Stay outside"

New Life...New Me...

Okay! This is the deal... I am going on the wonderful journey of a lifestyle change. By this, I mean, I am going to change the way I fuel my body. Years ago I went through a Church based weight reduction program and lost around 50 some pounds. Other things were happening at the time as well, but I still lost the poundage. Yippy me!!! I kept it off for a few years, but then I started community college, and than got married and whoopsie! Hello!!! almost all of the weight has decided to come home to roost...so to speak. I can't count calories, and I really don't feel like exercising at this weight, and I really don't like being hungry or deprived. So I'm going back to the basics of the program I went through. I found a version (free) in a magazine, it's called "intuitive-eating". Basically, you eat like a child...look at the food and eat the parts you like the best...eat when your hungry...stop when you feel full. Below is the basic steps to follow when you eat.

1. Are you really hungry?

(you picture your tummy like a fuel tank...don't eat on full...eat on one quarter. Not empty or you will be more likely to overeat.)



2. Do you spend at least 20 min. on every meal?

(supposed to take at least that long to feel full, and eat slow.)



3. Do you use all of your senses when you eat?

( enjoy what you are eating...if it tastes yukky don't eat it)



4. Do you multitask at meals?

( don't, it's too easy to eat mindlessly...just stuffing without thinking about it)



5. Do you listen to your body's natural "stop-eating" signals?

(just as important as the "am I hungry?" signal)



6. Do you use portion control on "bad" foods?

( this one is my interpretation...why eat a whole bag of m&m's...try just 5 or 8. A bowl of chips instead of out of the bag...etc)



So, there you are! I am now accountable to the whole wide world, or at least the 6 or so people that read this once in a while... my Mom and Sister at least. Is anyone else willing to take this pain free journey with me? I also plan on using Bible study/reading/memorization to fill the emotional void that the food will leave. I have done this before, like I said, but allowed myself to fall into the lies that I can eat as much as I want to whenever I want to. I can't do that. I am going to be accountable to you as well as to God for what I put into my body. I could use a buddy for this if anyone is interested. :)

Something you didn't know about me

My mutant power is "Imagination".

Fire Works!

I love to go and see the fireworks! We go to the next town over, and sit in a big lawn ( SBU's front lawn). When the kids were little it was hard to keep them from becoming bored, but as they have grown older they are much better at entertaining...who ever is looking.
This year we went to a large Church fireworks show-they had music with it, and we went to the normal one we go to.
This year we also had our boy's girl friend along with us, and all four played "kick the soccer ball, and scare the parents that they might hit a stranger in the head" game. They didn't hit anyone in the head.
I love the fireworks! I could watch them every night...EVERY NIGHT! My fav. are the ones that crackle crackle crackle as they fall down. You sit back and when they shoot them high enough you can feel like they are right on top of you and I just love to watch them.
I think the best part about watching fireworks is that everyone is quiet. We just watch them. Yes, some comments are made, but for the most part we just watch them and enjoy the mystery and awe. I love fireworks.

Enough

Just to stand outside, and feel the warm breeze blow against my face... is enough.
Looking up into the night sky, and seeing the stars so clear... is enough.
Watching the grass(in the field behind my house) move in the warm breeze... is enough.
I don't want a lot...just enough.

Doubting Julie

I've been thinking about Thomas from the Bible. I do admit that I still have some more research to do, but this is what I'm thinking now.
We have always been taught the negative of him. How he doubted Christ's resurrection, and needed to see proof.
Well, he did doubt. But this is the thing I'm thinking...
His savior and friend and teacher has just been murdered by the Romans.
I have wondered what the "word on the street" was, did the followers of Christ, as I'm sure people knew who they were, did they get taunted, or persecuted???
Rumors, I'm sure, abounded especially with the "disappearance" of the body and all.
So, would I need to also have "proof"? Yes, I know I would. If I was alive then, I would have been doubting Julie.
Blessed are those who believe and not seen (my wording). I do believe what I have read and been taught about Christ and His resurrection. To me it's easy, but other things I need "proof" Why?
We let God save our souls and secure us eternally, but freak out that we might not be able to pay our bills. I have more study and thinking to do. What do you think?