Another Goodie from a Secret Pal

My mysterious Secret Pal at church has struck again!!

Our church ladies are having "a day at the spa" at church and she paid for my time slot!! We're getting a massage, our hair done, make-up, and nails. It's all going to be done at the church with light refreshments and good fellowship.

As I said before, I did not sign up for secret pals this year, but someone decided to take me anyway. Isn't that sweet?? I'm so excited about Saturday and looking forward to that time after bus ministry.

If you're reading my blog, Secret Pal, thank you so much for your thoughtfulness and love. I do appreciate it.

Bruce's Woodworking Project

Bruce's father gave him a love for working with his hands. It's evident in the things he makes. I wish I had pictures of some of the rooms he has done for children. Simply amazing!! Transforming a room into a farm or the Wizard of Oz's Munchkinland isn't easy, you know!

But he has done some things for me too.

He threw this together one day just to see if he could do it. There's another chair to this set but in the other corner of the porch.



We wanted to do some things to the bedroom so after we painted, he made some beautiful shutters for the window. They have an old world look to them and I just love them. They're perfect for him while he sleeps during the day too, making the room nice and dark! And when he's off, I like to open them to let in the sunlight.





We had talked about getting new bedroom furniture. But the furniture we had was still in really good shape. Broyhill lasts forever, didn't you know? It was VERY DARK and had a pirate look to it with the brass round rings for handles and everything was trimmed in brass plates. It was nice, but very old. It was my parent's set as I was growing up, passed down to me. It really was in good shape, just needed a face lift. So a face lift it got! Bruce carefully measured each piece and cut wood to fit over the old pieces. He put on new handles and even gave the mirror a pretty curved look at the top where once it was just flat.



He also took my dresser after covering it and built an armoire or an oakley at the top. However, he never got around to making the doors. With his busy work schedule, seven days a week, it was very difficult to find the time.


So I waited......and waited......and waited. Until last week. :) He was off for a few days and able to work on the doors. I was so excited to see what it would look like.

Before beginning any project, Bruce will turn on his radio. Most of the time, of course Bluegrass gospel is on. You know, the Isaacs, Rochesters, and other favorites. But I have come out of the house to the Inspirations singing to the neighborhood too.



He worked....


...and measured....


...and drilled.


Almost finished!!


His last task was putting on the brass latch to match the one he put on the shutters.


The finished product and my personal carpenter. :)


Thank you, Honey! I love it. And I love you too. OoxXXOxo

Mending Again!

Mending again!
Week in, week out, the pile is there
Of clothes that are unfit to wear,
A botton off, a rip or two,
An overall with knee burst through.

Mending again!
Perhaps the same clothes fixed before,
With buttons off and ripped some more.
We sit and mend, and soon we learn,
Like bread on waters, 'twill return.

mending agian!
Day in, day out, the Master mends
The Christian's life, so full of rents,
Some caused by our own carelessness-
A broken hert in deep distress.

Mending again!
How patiently He comes and mends
With threads of love and selfsame rents,
Broken anew, bleeding and sore,
That He has fixed so oft before.

~Clara Fennema

Here Lies Tom

Yesterday we were on our way to church when I saw Hannah's beloved Tom cat on the side of the road. We were able to keep Hannah from seeing him to and from church and when we got home from morning service, Bruce was able to remove him from the road until we were able to bury him today.

We knew it would break her little heart, so we decided to wait. She would not have been able to play in the orchestra, sing in the youth choir or listen to the sermon. So she found out after the evening service at home. She sobbed herself to sleep. Her pretty hazel eyes were all puffy, red, and swollen today.

I know funerals for animals may seem silly, especially to those of you who live on farms, but when your child has a pet they have given their love to and have developed a relationship with, a funeral just seems the right thing to do.

So Bruce picked out a little passage of scripture from Ecclesiastes 7: 1 & 2. "A good name is better than precious ointment, and the day of death than the day of one's birth. It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men, and the living will lay it to his heart." If ever a cat had a good name, it was Tom. He wasn't your typcial cat. You know, moody and snobbish. He was the kind of cat that liked to jump up in your lap for a pet. Follow you around the yard. Meow at the living room window while you're having family time until someone would come out for a little fellowship with him. Or maybe even let him in the house for just a few minutes.


We took turns saying something nice about Tom and when it was Hannah's turn, she started crying again. Bruce of course tried to console her broken little heart.



And then Bruce said something that turned her tears to giggles. Something he's always been good at. He was forever calling Tom Kitty Cat. When Hannah was crying He said, "I was hoping to one day name him Kit E. Cat." She immediately started to giggle. Daddy's can be sweet and funny all at the same time.



So in memory of Tom......





















~

Thomas ~ 2005 - February 25, 2007

A Bloggy Birthday

Courtney was kind to remind me a couple of weeks ago that my Bloggy Birthday was coming up. It did in fact come and I still forgot. February 24th was Thimble Thought's first birthday. Now that I've remembered and in keeping with what most of y'all have done, I'm going to ask my lurkers and anonymous commenters to please leave a comment.

My site meter shows I have visitors from Romania, Germany, China, Venezuela, Canada, and India. As well as stateside visitors from Missouri, California, Tennessee, Georgia, Texas, Nebraska, Florida, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Alabama, Arizona, and my own home state of North Carolina, just to name a few!

I know where you're coming from, but would like to know who you are. You don't have to leave your name....just please tell me hi!!

And let's not forget about those coming from Japan. My dear, sweet, wonderful, precious, Sister Heather, is there and always stops by with a sweet word and bit of love. She's just my all time favorite. I adore HER!!!!!!

(praise the Lord for Edit buttons, aye??)

A Sickening Saturday

I've never been the type of mother to drop everything to take my children to the doctor for mere sniffles. OK, that's not ENTIRELY true. When Justin was a baby, I did in fact have the "new mother" syndrome. But that passed quickly when I realized that they were writing him prescriptions that would make ME feel better.

I came to this realization when Justin was about two. I can still hear the doctor's voice as if it were yesterday, "He has a cold virus and it just needs to run its course. I can write him a prescription if that would make you feel better, but it won't take away the virus." I took him up on his offer and as I drove away from the office I thought to myself, Well now that's just ridiculous, giving him prescription medicine if it won't help him when I have dimetapp at home!

So home I went and Dimetapp has been a familiar name in our household ever since. Of course, Justin got older and no longer uses Dimetapp. Now he takes the Tylenol Sinus. Which he's been taking the better part of the week for fever and congestion. He and Hannah both, actually.


This morning, though, was a sure sign he would need to visit the doctor when he got up coughing blood.

The original plan was for me to go on to bus ministry and Bruce would take him to his doctor's appointment, but after talking to the nurse on the phone, a series of events took place that told me I, the MOTHER, needed to take him. Among such events, there was a new doctor in the office working by herself and the office was messed up saying Justin wasn't in their system. (He's been going to them since he was two, OK? That's twelve years, people!!!) Now, don't get me wrong, Bruce is a very competent father, but with all that was going on, I felt I needed to be the one to take him, so I did. After all, I knew when his fevers were, how high they'd been, what he had been taking, how long he had been coughing...you get the idea. Hannah wasn't feeling well either. Bruce was going to go to bus ministry but we both felt she needed to stay home too. We decided that I would take Justin and he would stay with Hannah and Harrison.

I wanted to panic when Justin told me he was coughing blood, but decided this could be for several reasons. He had coughed so much it could be coming from a sore throat or even his sinus drainage. I was right. It was a sore throat from coughing so much. His coughing has caused some pretty bad damage, but he'll be OK. He has a double ear infection and is on antibiotics. The antibiotics combined with the cough syrup they prescribed will have him feeling better soon. These prescriptions will have us BOTH feeling better soon.


I've always had the traditon of stopping at McDonald's for my children to get an ice cream cone any time they were sick. Today was no different. However, my not so little boy has graduated from a simple ice cream cone to a large M&M McFlurry. It felt good on his throat, I'm sure.

On a happier note, Bruce finished his project and I'll post pictures of it later.

Have a great Sunday!

Sounds Of Faith Radio Program

I've been meaning to tell you this for a while....but if you'll notice in the sidebar, I have the Teens-4-Christ radio. At 8:00 AM and 8:30 PM, Monday through Friday, you can hear my Pastor, J Barry Goodman and the Sounds Of Faith radio program. This is, of course, our church radio program. Tune in and listen sometime!

This is a test. Ignore me, please. :)

This is just a test...thanks for your patience.

Cross Stitch

My friend Lisa tipped me off to this website so I signed Hannah and myself up for it.

It doesn't matter if you're a beginner, Intermediate, or expert cross stitcher, I'm sure you'll find something here for you.

Once you have received confirmation of your registration and are able to log in, you'll be able to get in on their lessons plans and register your student. Also, you'll receive a free cross stitch kit for signing up!

Thanks, Lisa, for sharing this with Hannah and me. I'm looking forward to getting started.

A Very Chistoso Day

Chistoso meaning humorous.

Today was the day that daddy decided to take me to lunch for this month. Since Bruce is off, he went too. And also my mother. We had a really good time.

We decided to do Mexican and ended up at Los Arcos. They're a Mexican buffet in the afternoon and it's awesome.

Before entering the restaurant, daddy said that once we entered, we could no longer speak English. Everything we said had to be in Spanish. So naturally, being the only word we all knew in Spanish, I said, "SI!"

Well, mother took him seriously. So upon entering the restaurant, she continually repeated the one word she knew. "Si" this, "Si" that. "Smoking or non-smoking," we were asked. "Si" she replied. "What would you like to drink?" "Si," she said with a smile. The Spanish speaking employees were obviously thinking to themselves as they listened to her, "loca." Meaning she's crazy.

Truth be told, they found her quite charming. It was her accent that really cracked us up. I don't know, maybe it's just me. Spanish is a beautiful language however, when it is pronounced with a North Carolina southern drawl it loses something in the translation. You know?

She did learn some new words today. Agua (water), Gracias (thank you), and Donde esta el bano? (where is the bathroom?) OK, so she didn't learn that last phrase, but she should have. No sooner did we exit the restaurant, we had to stop at McDonald's so she could "go." LOL

We made our way to TCBY where they bought us a White Chocolate Mouse waffle cone. Oh yum. I ate a few bites of mine and gave it to Bruce. I was just too stuffed to eat anything else. But it was really good. Anyway, they took us to this little discount grocery store in town and loaded us up on all kinds of goodies and groceries. That was so sweet of them. We love this little store. It's run by a Christian couple and all along the walls are Bible verses. Their son will graduate from homeschool next year and hopes to attend Ambassador Bible College.

Bruce and I had a wonderful afternoon with my parents. A day we'll never forget, I'm sure!

My Night Life

Yesterday was a ho hum day but my night life was hoppin'!

Bruce left for work before 10:00. Just after 10:00 the kids were in bed and I was searching high and low for my massager. I had a terrible migraine Sunday and it caused a huge knot to pop up in my neck. At least I THINK that's what happened. Anyway, I searched and searched to no avail and decided to take some pain reliever and go to bed.

I laid there and finally went to sleep around 12:00 only to be awakened by my son at 1:00 seeking pharmaceuticals for his throat and congestion.

I dozed back off to sleep after Justin went back to bed only to be awakened again at 2:30. This time, by the sound of someone running down the hall. Now, that can be troubling to me since my husband works third. I jumped up and who should it be? Harrison! He was sleep walking, or in this instance, sleep running. He just stood in the middle of the living room looking at me, only he wasn't really looking at me. "Harrison, what are you doing?" No reply. Just stares. So I guided him back to his bed and crawled back into mine. I listened to see if he would try it again, but thankfully, he did not. So I closed my little eyes and drifted back to sleep.

Only to be awakened again....yes again....at 3:15, by my daughter calling out for me. I jumped up and ran to her. She was burning up with fever. So I gave her some Tylenol and something to drink. She had the chills too and was complaining about her throat....just like Justin. Poor babies.

Again, I got my child settled and nestled down on my feather pillows, under my warm comforter, and drifted back into the land of dreams.

I was asleep about an hour and a half when I heard yet another one of my family members up in the house. It was my dear hubby. He had gotten off work an hour early. After that, we all slept until after 11:00. YES! I know. I did get up to let Tipsy out, but went to back to bed shortly thereafter.

Bruce is off until Sunday and is using his time today to work in his woodshop. I'm not telling what he's making, but I will say I'm very happy.

Ho Hum

Today has been a rather blah day. Has it been that way for you or have you done something exciting that I haven't read or heard about yet?

Justin was supposed to go on a ski trip today, just a few hours up the road. He would have been gone for the day and back this evening, but this morning when I got up, he was sitting on the couch all ready to go having his devotions with flushed cheeks and glassy eyes. I felt his head and he was so hot. I took his temperature and sure 'nuff...a fever! 102.6 to be exact. Bless his heart. He had a sore throat and quite a bit of congestion with the fever. So, being the mother, I had to make the decision of telling him he was going to miss his ski trip even though the first thing out of his mouth was, "I feel fine...really." Yeah right! He slept nearly all day. LOL

That's really the only personal thing I have to share at this time, but I did find something in a book to share. From Under Construction....

The Rearward Look

A pastor, having temporary financial difficulties, said to his wife, "Dear, please cut down on expenditures, especially for clothes, until our finances improve."

Some days later the wife came home regaled in a beautiful new dress! Eyeing it with mingled feelings, he said, "It's surely pretty; but, Honey, I asked you not to buy any clothes for awhile. Remember?"

She replied, "Yes, dear, but when I was in the store I saw this lovely dress, and Satan tempted me!"

"Now, Honey, you know the Bible answer to such a situation. You should have said, 'Get thee behind me, Satan!"

Disarmingly, she replied, "I did that, Dear, but when Satan got behind me, he said that it looks good from the back too!"

Happy is the household when potentially explosive situations are defused and given a humorous turn!

Mr. Right Meme

HELLO, MY FRIEND FROM INDIA! I see you keep coming back to this post. Please click here for recent updates on Thimble Thoughts! :) So glad you're visiting.



Bruce is my best friend, but I'm at my best female friend's house right now. We're having dinner with them tonight. She knows I love pot roast so she fixed that for dinner. YUM! Thanks, Mom! While she puts the finishing touches on a very beautiful cake, I'm updating my blog post for the day.

Mother just had a very traumatic experience. Hannah brought Fudge over to let her Grandparents meet him and while we were in the kitchen talking, Hannah was holding Fudge on her lap. However, mother didn't know that and when she walked into the living room, she saw Fudge's cage door open, his honey stick on the floor and Dolly (mom's dog) standing there licking her lips. Naturally, her thoughts went to the worst and she thought Dolly had guinea piggy for supper. The Lord was called on several times from my Mother at that terrifying moment as tears were rolling from her eyes. What were we doing while all of this was going on? Laughing hysterically. We're still laughing actually. Aren't we terrible?

Mom had Bruce's brother, Bryan, build a shelf for her tea pots. He installed it yesterday. This picture really does not do it justice. She's just thrilled with it. It goes along one wall and she plans on having him go around the rest of the room sometime soon.


I didn't get to see the tulips when Bruce bought them for mom for Valentine's Day, but I got to see them tonight. They opened so pretty.


OK, so I found this Mr. Right Meme on Susan's blog and thought I would do it about my Mr. Right! My Sweet Bruce.

Mr. Right Meme

His age: 37
His name: Bruce Howard
How tall is he: 5' 11"
How long have you been together (married): 16 years
How long did you know each other before you started dating? one month
What physical features attracted you to him first? His smiling eyes and blonde hair
Eye color: hazel
Hair color: WAS blonde
Hair style: Do you remember Kojak?
Normal Outfit: Jeans and T-shirt or polo shirt
How did you meet: We both worked at Harris Teeter grocery stores
How serious is it: Pretty serious - 16 years worth of serious! ;)
Are you “in love”: Yes!
Do your parents like him: They LOVE him
Do his parents like you? Yes, very much
Do you trust him: Yes, with all of my heart.
Would you share a toothbrush with him? Eww, gross. No way. I love him but I wouldn't share a toothbrush with anyone. That's gross. I don't feel bad saying that because I think he would say the same thing. I KNOW he would. We've discussed it. LOL
Would he let you wear his pants? I've never asked. He's the only one that wears the pants in this family.
Do you have a shirt of his that you sleep in? No. But if I wanted to, he wouldn't mind.
Do you like the way he smells?: Oh, yes!! He has a wonderful collection of colognes. But even without them he smells GREAT!
Can you picture having kids with him? I HAVE had kids with him...three beautiful children.
What bothers you the most about him? Nothing...he's purrrrrrrrfect! ;)
Does he have a temper?: No, but like any person, he has his limits. And you KNOW when he's reaching it. LOL
Are you happy to be with him? Most definitely.
Does he embarrass you in public? Nope. We're equally crazy and not much embarasses us.
Does he smoke or do drugs? That depends...is chocolate a drug?
Does he have any piercings? No
Any tattoos?: Nope
Does he have any scars that you know of? He has one from surgery as a baby, one on his wrist and back from surgeries as an adult.
Does he like to party or Stay at home? Perfectly content to stay at home with his family, but does enjoy the occassional party.
Is he Outgoing or Shy?: He's definitely not shy, but he is not a big talker. He's usually quiet until he has something to say.
Does he love his mama?: Yes.
Would he hang out with you and YOUR friends? Hang out? No. Hang out with my friends and their husbands, yes.
Sing? He has a wonderful voice and I love to hear him sing, however, he is more comfortable playing his guitar in front of people. He has sung in church with me a few times.

Consider yourself tagged if you'd like to do this theme!

Happy Friday to all!

Most of you know Bruce works third shift. Well, he came home Thursday morning and his brain was working overtime thinking about things that don't even matter and he could not get to sleep. So he ended up staying awake through the day and then went to work again last night.

Usually he'll shower, give me my back rub, and then he'll go eat. But this morning, he showered, gave me a back rub, and stretched out on his pillows moaning, "Ohhhhh, I have a doctor's appointment at 8:00." So I offered to drive him and he was ever so happy to accept the offer.

He had a spot of basel cell carcinoma taken off his back a year ago and had a six month checkup today. There are several places on his back they are watching and everything looked good.

After his appointment, we went to the hospital to see my friend's baby. Her name is Sarahbeth Michelle. She is so pretty. And honestly has the longest fingers I've ever seen on a baby. She was warm and snuggled her blankie and trying ever so hard to pull her arm out to suck her thumb. So cute!

When we got home, Bruce could barely lift his feet from one step to the other going up the front porch steps, but finally made it in the house and shuffled down the hall to the bedroom. He crawled in bed and within seconds was dreaming and snoring and I doubt he'll move all day. LOL

He's off work tonight and we have plans, but I doubt he'll be going. I'll be surprised if he does. If I know my hubby, he'll wake up and come straight to the couch in his jammers and slippers with puffy eyes and a sweet smile, ready to just chill.

Hope y'all have a wonderful weekend.

Bruce shows his love....
*He won't let me just be upset at him. When he knows I'm upset, he pesters me with hugs and kisses until I finally give in and forget what I was upset about.

Thursday Friends

Usually, if I'm going to have lunch with a friend, I'll make it for Thursday. That's my "run around" day so it works good that way. Not to mention, it's payday. Woo Hoo!

So today, I met up with a friend from church....Brenda...and we had a very nice lunch. She had suggested Applebees, but I don't like Applebees and come to find out, she really doesn't either, but wanted to suggest a nice lunch spot. I thought that was sweet of her because it told me she wasn't thinking about herself. Come to think of it, I've never known her to think of herself. I like those kind of people, don't you? If the world didn't have people like Brenda, they'd be full of people like me. LOL ANYWAY! I told her to pick another restaurant for us since she was coming on her lunch break. I didn't want to take her too far from work. She suggested Fatz because she knows I like it. And I thought it was great, but she was pretty well bummed. From what we could gather, her food was partially cooked before her chicken was done so when she got her plate, the chicken was piping hot and her fries and shrimp were, well.........not. Mine was great. We did decide that the next time we went to lunch we're doing the Chinese restaurant.

After lunch, I came home to pick up my children. We dropped Justin off at Driver's Ed and the rest of us went to get my hair trimmed at Missy's. I love it when those dead, frizzy ends get cut off.

We went grocery shopping, came home to put them away, and ran right back out to Hannah's piano lesson.

When we arrived back home, Justin told me that Bruce took him to dinner at the Asian place (where I will NOT eat ever again for my own personal reasons) and ran into a man and his sons who told us that the wife had just given birth to their new baby girl, Sarah Beth. She was going to have a C-section Monday, but told the doctors she couldn't wait any longer. Although she has raised several children and still raising two sons, this is her first birth. So I'm really happy for her. I hope to get up to the hospital to see her Friday morning.

Bruce shows his love....
*He likes to sneak a kiss on the cheek in church every once in a while. Shhhh, don't tell!!

My Valentine's Day

I had an accident on a horse...well, OFF a horse, when I was seventeen. This was the result......


Yes, that's my leg. One plate and seven screws is holding it together. See that one screw by itself there at my ankle? Well, it's causing the bone to deteriorate. Which causes a great deal of pain in this cold, damp weather. And the more it deteriorates, the harder it is to walk, press the brake pedal on the car, prop it up on a recliner! Eventually I'll have an ankle replacement. Most likely in the next few years if I can wait that long. In the meantime I am in bed with my ankle propped up against the wall, wrapped in a heating pad and it feels so good! This has nothing to do with Valentine's Day, but oh, woe is me.



Bruce's daddy passed away a few years ago, so today he decided to be his mother's Valentine and surprised her at work with a pot of tulips. He said she was so surprised. I wish I could have seen the look on her face. He also bought a pot of tulips for MY mother, which earned him about a thousand points with both me AND mom, and then surprised me with tulips too. I was just telling the children the other day that tulips were my favorite flower. He also bought me some Reese's miniatures.




Aren't they pretty?

After Brother RJ preached to the youth group, they played this funny game. The kids had to pull a piece of paper out of a bowl. On the paper was the name of an animal. Rabbit, pig, goat, etc. When Brother RJ said go, they had to start making the sound of their animal and find their "partner" making the same sound. LOL

After the game, we had a special snack for the kids. All sorts of goodies to be dipped in a chocolate fountain. Cookies, strawberries, bananas, marshmallows, etc.


Mrs. Liz getting the cups of ice. She's just about ready to have that little baby.

Here's our chocolate fountain. It was a lot of fun and I would love to get one for myself for parties. It was really easy to operate and the kids enjoyed it....ESPECIALLY CLINT!



Brother RJ

Yum yum, eat up!

It was a really great day. And I did get my poem when Bruce and I exchanged cards this morning.

In this particular poem he was comparing our love to a car. Needless to say, it was a funny one~I loved it.


Bruce shows me his love....
*He rubs my bad ankle when he knows it's hurting.
*He likes to hold my hand anytime, anywhere!