New Recipes and OOPS! What Was I Playing?

There's a couple of new recipes at Blogger's Recipes. Chicken Under a Brick and Strawberry Pie. Check 'em out!

If you've seen the post below you know at least one thing I did yesterday. While I was sitting in the salon chair the phone rang. It was Mrs. Janet. Now, normally if she calls and asks what my schedule is for the day, it's usually because she wants to do lunch. Not this time! She actually wanted to know if I'd play the piano for a funeral of a man in our church that had passed away this week.

My initial thought, after I started breathing again, was Why did I answer that phone call!? But then I realized that there was a grieving family and a piano player was needed. Considering the fact that I'm constantly telling Hannah the Lord may use her piano playing in the future for times such as this, and since I wasn't playing for anyone singing oh mercy I told Mrs. Janet I'd be there. So! While Missy was busy rolling my hair and we chatted about this and that and the other, I couldn't help but think of what I would play. I rushed home, dressed appropriately, and then sat down at my piano. Do you have any idea the last time I sat down at my piano? I flipped through the song book, although I don't know why. I only play in C and by ear. Reading music is a foreign language to me. SERIOUSLY. I thought about Mrs. Anna...OH! Mrs. Anna, where is she?? She plays lovely.

After gathering about ten songs to play I slipped on my shoes and headed for the church. All the while feeling nauseated at the thought of playing in front of all those poor people grieving for their husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, uncle, cousin, etc...you get the idea. I did not want to be a distraction to them during this time.

There was one point during my playing where I started looking around shouldn't have done that and ended up fusing two songs together...Tis So Sweet and In The Garden. How in the world that happened, I don't know. I just lost track, I guess. I stumbled through the keys trying to figure out which song I was originally playing. I still haven't figured that out, by the way. I ended with....something....and MOVED ON! It's already funny today, but yesterday...not so much. I don't know if anyone noticed or not. They didn't say if they did.

I moved from the piano to the front and closest pew for the service. Brother Boone was doing his best to comfort the family and offer words of encouragement But it was very difficult, I'm sure, under the circumstances. In the back of the church sat a young mother with her infant and toddler. The infant was crying...the toddler was talking and banging the pew...the mother was SHHHHHHHHHHHHing and whispering to them if you can call it that to SHUT UP! I didn't turn around, but I could see the faces of others and decided I'd be the one to help this mother with her children. So I got up, walked to the back of the church where I met Mrs. Dockery, who had the same idea I had. Together we took the baby to the nursery. I took her from her car seat and held her for a moment. She was so beautiful. She just wanted to be picked up and talked to. Then I handed her to Mrs. Dockery who was happy to love on her and rock her while I stepped back into the service. I stood in the back, so not to interrupt the service...again...and when Pastor Goodman said, "Let's pray" I took that as my cue to rush back to the piano.

All in all, it wasn't so bad. It's just funny how the Lord will put us in situations and we are totally clueless! But there's one thing I've learned from these situations.....

Just go with it!

After Three Whole Years!

BEFORE~~~~


AFTER~~~~

Happy Birthday To Me!

ETA: The song with the video CAN be muted if it becomes too much. Which, after hearing it run through several times it does become annoying. However, you do need to hear it at least once.

My birthday was great! Thank you to all who took part in it. Those that wished me a happy day by phone, emails, blog comments and those who saw me today.

Bruce came home from work and gave me a really cute bubblegum pink external hard drive by Simple Tech. I had my files on it in ten minutes with 210GB left. I LOVE THAT!!

I received several phone calls this morning from family and friends. At 10:30 I was still in my jammies. Pam called first to see if I wanted to go to lunch. Duh! Then Janet called and asked if I wanted to eat lunch at the Tea Room. She knows I love their broccoli cheese soup. We called my mom at work to see if she could join us since the tea room was right there close to her bank. Everything was set. Now I had to fly to get ready. Janet picked me up in the church van along with Pam, Mander, Amy, Celine, Carissa, and Cameron. I was surprised and happy to see them all.

Unfortunately when we got to the tea room, they were closed today through the fifth. How dare they close on my birthday! We ended up at Pizza Hut, which was really good too. You know I love Pizza Hut. Anyway, there was way too much laughing going on. I'm surprised a couple of us weren't thrown out. The girls gave me presents, which I wasn't expecting....especially my gift from Pam. When I had told her Bruce bought me a bubblegum pink external HD, she misunderstood and thought he bought me bubblegum. We had a good laugh at that, but then we really laughed when I opened my gift bag from her and it was full of bubblegum. Very funny! The fellowship with them was what meant the most to me. I had a great time, y'all. Thanks for helping me to have a great birthday.

This evening, we met daddy at his house while we waited for mom to get off work. My mother in law was there too and Bruce would join us later after visiting the funeral home. While we were celebrating life, his best friend mourning the loss of his dad. Thankfully, his dad was saved and having his best day yet after fighting cancer these last couple of months.

So daddy has this thing he likes to do. He doesn't like to just give you a gift. He likes to make you work for it. So after finding clue after clue, which took me from one room to the next and ending at the mailbox, I finally got my gift. It was tucked in the mailbox, wrapped so pretty. I opened it up and it was a GPS....the MIO. Remember this post? I was so excited!! I've been wanting one forever. Then it was time to go. But where? Daddy gave me the directions and I used the MIO to get us there. Our final destination was Cracker Barrel. YUM

We had a wonderful meal and I opened my cards. Marie gave me birthday $$$. I'll be going shopping with that later. The kids and Bruce gave me some funny cards. And Bruce also gave me a charging home for my iPod. I was really thrilled about that gift because now I can listen to my iPod anywhere without my earphones. We made it back to the house for mom's delicious chocolate pound cake and ice cream. I couldn't eat but just a few bites of mine. She did let me bring the cake home though. I'll dig into it for real tomorrow. lol
Here's a slideshow of my birthday pics. Enjoy

Ankles, Shopping, and Another Birthday

As some of you already know, my ankle has to be replaced...eventually. At my last visit the doctor said it would have to be replaced in five to seven years. That was four years ago. Lately it has been really acting up. It pops continually and a lot of times there is a terrible pain that darts up the back of my leg from my ankle. Believe it or not, it's the most painful when I'm sitting still. Especially when I've been walking or standing on it all day like today. I am also finding that I hobble and limp more these days. My point to all of this (..is there really a point?) is I have a feeling I'll be having surgery within the next year. I am not looking forward to this at all. But I knew it would happen...eventually. Do you really care about all of that? Probably not. Sorry for
boring you, it was on my mind.

Last night, Brother Johnny led the meeting for the parents whose children will be going to Puerto Rico. Eleven days to go! We were given our handout for what to bring and what NOT to bring. So this morning, Hannah and I dropped Justin off at work, ran a quick errand to the bank, and spent the better part of the day shopping for this much anticipated trip. I do believe all that is left is the packing. We had a lot of fun together and were thankful for the many deals we found today.

Tomorrow is my birthday. Yes, folks, I'll be 37 tomorrow. Thirty-seven years old. hmph...thirty-seven. Oh, I know, that's not a big deal. I have to admit that I love having birthdays. I always have. People often ask what my favorite holiday is. I always answer Thanksgiving and Christmas. But the truth is, it's my birthday. I know it's not an actual holiday, but it is for me. lol My dad has been telling me for WEEEEEKS that for my birthday he knows something I don't know. I also know he needs a couple of hours with me, so I'm very interested in what this birthday surprise could be. And then before Bruce left for bluegrass practice tonight, he snuck a birthday surprise in under his shirt and gave it to Hannah for wrapping. That's the thing about my birthdays I like the best. The surprises!! And I know that my mom, although suffering with an infection in her legs, is at this very moment making her homemade chocolaty chocolate pound cake for me. She makes the chocolate pound cake from her mother's recipe and then SMOTHERS it with thick, gooey chocolate topping. Sounds like a great day for me tomorrow, huh? Just so you'll know, I did ask her several times to please not go to the trouble of making the cake, to stay off of her feet! But she's very stubborn, that mother of mine. So this cake will taste even sweeter to me tomorrow. Thanks, mom.

I have some small details to attend to tonight, so I'm going to close this post and, OH YEAH! Blogger finally allowed me to publish the FIFTEEN comments waiting to be moderated. Thanks, Blogger. *sigh*

Flashbacks

When I was a little girl we had one of these trees in our front yard. I thought it was a wonderful tree because it was so easy to climb. The leaves, especially, were fun to play with. I used to pinch the leaves between my thumb and index finger and run them along the stem as the small pieces would fall into my lap. Then I would put them in a little wooden bowl, crumple the pink flowers on top and pretend it was a salad. Mud pies weren't all that appealing to me, but tree salads were great. Everytime I see one of these trees, I have that memory pop into my head.

I've had a migraine today. It's been pretty bad. I felt it coming on yesterday but hoped it would go away. When Bruce got up this afternoon he took my car to have new tires put on it. He knew my head was hurting so he came home with a bottle of the one pill that works GREAT on my headaches. I've been out of them for a few weeks. They've helped a little. I think I waited too long before taking one though. Anyway, he also brought home supper. That was a nice surprise. I had already started on tonight's supper, but wasn't too far along to put it all up for tomorrow. Thank you, Sweetheart.

I took Hannah to her piano lesson. When we came home my legs felt like there were weights tied to them and I was feeling dizzy. So I laid down just shortly after 7:00 for just a few minutes. Before I knew it, it was 10:00 and Bruce was waking me up to tell me he was on his way to work. I'm feeling a little sick on my stomach, but my head is feeling a somewhat better. I'm going to take one more pill before I go to bed and Lord willing I'll be wonderful come morning. I hope so!

70 Years of Sweetness

OK, Deby, this one's for you! See my poor little burnt nose? Ain't that just so sad?

This afternoon we went to Aunt Jeanette's 70th Birthday party, hosted by her daughter, Phyllis. We had a wonderful time with the family.

Aunt Jeanette is the oldest daughter of 11 children.

My mother in law, Marie, is the second daughter.

Aunt Judy coming in as third daughter.

And Aunt Sylvia closed the deal on having daughters, being the baby girl. Can you see how they favor?


On the menu was BBQ, hot dogs, chips, slaw, tater salad, pinto beans, and corn bread.

Some of the family.....

Brian (Bruce's brother, or couldn't you tell?)


Telling stories and talking about how all the little ones are growing up so fast.

Uncle Roger and Uncle Robert

Cousin Kathy and cousin Darrin

Dale, Anna, Brian, Linda, and Uncle Fred

I don't know who this one is. She wandered in off the street, I think. HAHA, just kidding. This is Crystal. We like to cut up.

The cake. Oh, it was good!

Aunt Jeanette with her cake


My babies

Anna showing us her guitar. She plays the drums too.

Bruce's turn. He came equipped with his pick AND kapo. That's a true guitarist.

My sister-in-law, Liberty

Bruce's brother, Barry

We had a great time. Aunt Jeanette, I hope you had a great time. Somehow, I have a feeling you did. We love you!

I Love Pink

You all know my favorite color is pink. Well, when Bruce and I were out this morning I found some pink finger nail polish. It's called Twisted Pink. Which is really a twisted name for it considering how pretty it is. It's a dark pink. I used to polish my nails all the time but then I started having babies and there was not as much time for it. I paint them in a blue moon now and today it's a blue moon day. They're lookin' MIGHTY pink right now!

I've said it before and I'll say it again, if you walk around with unpainted toe nails, you should know your toes are probably ugly. Put some paint on them dogs, would ya! Nobody wants to see ugly toes. Besides they look a lot prettier in flip flops when they're painted.

Hannah just painted my toes. Too bad she's out of nail stickers. Can you tell I'm feeling girlie today?


We have plans to attend the 70th birthday party of Bruce's Aunt today. We're looking forward to that. It's always good to see family, isn't it? I suppose I should start getting ready for that now. I'll have pictures later.

I Must Confess

Blogging is the last thing on my mind tonight. LOL

We went to the Patch Quiz Bowl Saturday evening and I have pictures to share, but to be quite honest, I just don't feel like taking the time to download them and blog them at this point. For all of you parents wanting to see a picture of you being stomped by your child, you'll just have to wait another day. Sorry. Maybe I'll feel like it tomorrow.

Do you fellow bloggers ever feel like you're in a blogging rut and don't feel like messin' with it? That's how I'm feeling right now. I don't mind typing my thoughts, really, but I don't feel like messin' with the camera and putting my pictures in the correct files and waiting patiently for the pictures to upload to blogger. Does that make me a bad blogger? I don't reckon. Although I wouldn't be typing this post at all if it weren't for the fact that I'm waiting for my iPod to finish charging.

I'm just tarred. That's southern for tired, in case you yanks were wonderin'.

I had the honor of seeing a fan of my blog today. Momma Trenton was in town to see her lovely daughter, Mrs. Kim O' and grandson, John. I was walking down the hall of the church and heard someone say, "There's my favorite blogger!" I turned to see Mrs. Momma Trenton. That brought a smile to my face. It was good to see her and she's such a beautiful lady. Thank you for the kind words, Momma Trenton. They were encouraging and it was a blessing to have you in our services today!

We had really good services today. I was so happy to see a young lady that I've prayed many prayers for in the past, sitting in a pew when I came down from Sunday school this morning. She's my neighbor's daughter. A few years ago when she was just 17, her mother passed away from cancer. Growing up in an atheistic home, I know she had no peace to claim. And when our choir started singing This Is Just What Heaven Means To Me, I broke out in tears at the thought of her possibly never knowing what Heaven could mean to her. She's moved from our neighborhood now, and seeing her today gave me a new burden for her. She certainly heard the gospel this morning, that's for sure and for certain. Pray for her. Her name is Callie.

Our Sunday school class had an afterglow after church tonight. It was sort of last minute so not very many of us showed up. Basically we showed up, ate, and went home.

Justin went home with his friend, Gary, today and Hannah went home with her grandparents. Harrison was content to stay with Bruce and me. We brought home Japanese take out and chicken nuggets after church. Then we hit the sack. I slept like a log too. It was actually the best nap I've had in a while. Ain't it great to take a good nap? Especially on a Sunday?

And these are my random thoughts. Aren't you glad you stopped by?

PR.....(Procedure Room?)

I had a skin tag that decided to grow on the tip of my nose. It didn't hurt or anything but it was definitely annoying to have people say, "Kristi, you have something on your nose." Something like that can cause quite a mental disturbance. Mander said to reply back, "Get it off for me." Ha!

I clipped it off a couple of times but it kept coming back. Bruce told me to have it taken off so I made my appointment for this past Tuesday. He was surprised to find out I had actually made an appointment (cause I do not do doctors!) and suggested I have one under my arm removed too since I was going to be there anyway. I've had that one since I was born. It's never given me any problems but I asked her to get that one too when I went in. She looked at it and said, "Sure, I can get that one too."
Now, keep in mind I had thought all along I would get a couple of snips and be on my way home.
Boy, was I wrong!
She told me she would give me a shot (IN MY ARMPIT) to numb the area. While I was numbing she would burn the one on my nose and then she would cut the one under my arm. She said it was a little too large to just snip off and it would take about three snips, that's why she suggested the shot. "To be on the safe side we'll do a tetanus and I'll give you an antibiotic to take home too." Then she stuck her head out the door and told the nurse what she was doing and to"...please prepare the Procedure Room."
Procedure Room?!!
OK, so now we've gone from a couple of snips and go home to me getting shots, burns, and three snips in the PROCEDURE ROOM!
I waited in the PR by myself thinking about this. Suddenly I was scared and wanted Bruce there to hold my hand. It didn't make matters better when I saw the little table next to me baring scissors, needles, and bandages.

When she came in the PROCEDURE ROOM she could tell I had worked myself up into a frenzy. She was so sweet and calmed me down before she started.
First....the armpit shot! OW! That is SUCH a delicate place...did you know? BTW, I learned that my insurance pays better if she tells them it was my axilla and not my armpit.
Then....the nose burn. That made my toes curl and knees lock. A few seconds seemed like a full minute. I was glad when she let go. But she felt she needed to do one more.
Great.
Another few seconds and voila. I now have a blister on the end of my nose.
Next....the armpit! I couldn't feel anything, but I knew she was cutting. Yep, three snips, just like she thought.
Oh, here's the best part...."Hey, I got the little sucker, you wanna see it? Looks like it goes down pretty far, though, so I'll need to get a scalpel to cut and remove the rest."

"Scalpel?!"

"Yeah, don't let the big words scare you."

"Well, stop using the big words and I won't be scared."

She cut some and then burned it because it was bleeding pretty bad. Slapped a band aid on it and it was finally over. Oh wait...no it wasn't.

"Let me burn the one on your nose just one more time. It's actually bigger than it looks. As a matter of fact, I want you to come back in two weeks so we can burn it again."

:(

After that last burn, I sat in the hall waiting for my tetanus shot. "This won't hurt," the nurse said.

"What do you mean?"

"You won't be sore later."

She lied. She lied. She lied!

I was only comforted at the thought of my giant jug of shaved ice, waiting for me at home, given to me by my friend, Amy, the day before. Ahhhh, what a nice comfort to come home to. I sat down with my big jug and spoon and enjoyed every cool bite.

Amy, thanks for the shaved ice. Your jug is in Mrs. Janet's office.

I'll admit that where I got my tetanus is not as sore as I suppose it could have been, but it still made my shoulder sore. My nose has a little blister on it but that's going away...I think. And my underarm is still in a good deal of pain. But this too shall pass.

Poor me.

Weekend Update, with Happymama

I have had a very good weekend. My sweetheart came home from the fishing trip Saturday afternoon just as I was picking the kids up from bus church. Hannah and I raced to get to him so we could hug and kiss him. I won.

When we were all home again, Bruce pulled out a bag of goodies he had brought home for all of us. He brought Harrison a "special" pen, a game for Justin, a brush and ring for Hannah and he brought me back a beautiful bracelet, ring, thimble, nativity, and two books called Deep Thoughts. Hoorah! We love it when daddy brings back surprises.

When Bruce had unpacked and showered, we left to have dinner at Shomars. One of our friends was having a birthday and several families got together to eat there in celebration. I like Shomars gyro dinner which is made up of seasoned lamb and beef, lettuce, tomato, and onion on pita bread. They are really good. And I love the cucumber sauce that goes on it. Mmmm, now I'm hungry for a gyro!

Our family was going back to the church to catch the bus because our youth choir was going to sing at a Youth Conference about an hour or so away. Brother Fletcher was preaching that conference. His sermon was on the jigsaw puzzle of life and how we need to keep Jesus as the corner piece of our jigsaw. And we don't need to try to make pieces fit together. We need to let Jesus put in the right pieces so that when He has completed us, our jigsaw shows a beautiful journey. It was a good sermon.

I taught Sunday school this morning for my mother who wasn't quite ready to climb steps yet. I taught on King Darius and Daniel. I was pacing back and forth like King Darius and told the children that he was wringing his hands and pacing back and forth, worried about Daniel all night long. I asked them, "Why do you think King Darius was so worried and upset?" Cole said, "Because he signed that stupid law." Everytime I teach that class I get tickled. OH! Kellie, you're going to LOVE this....Benjamin was taking up the offering for the class today and as he approached each child, they were penniless. Absolutelly penniless. I said, "Benjamin, I forgot to ask Brother Bruce for some money for offering." He said, "That's OK, do you have tip money?" I said, "What?" He answered, "Do you have tip money? Like when you go out to eat? Tip money?" I did manage to pull out a dollar in change. That made him very happy. And then he ended up asking Gracie if she had a bank card. HILARIOUS!!!!! Funny stuff from this class, I tell ya. OH, and mom, a few of them saw you in the "big room" as they called it...the sanctuary...and were waiting for you to come up and teach them. They missed you.

After our afternoon nap I woke up with a very bad sore throat again and the right side of my neck was sore. My ear was beginning to hurt too. I would like for this sickness to go away and stay away. I'm sick of being sick!

Brother Bradley and I were able to sing My Friend and I tonight while Mrs. Anna played the piano for us. She did such a fantastic job. Her fingers effortlessly flow across the keys. Very beautiful. I'll admit that as much as I wanted to sing that song, I was kind of hoping Pastor wouldn't call on us because of my throat, but he did and it turned out all right.

Since Christians are boycotting McDonald's now, we were asked to tag along to Dairy Queen, which is apparently the new hot spot for after church on Sunday nights. An ice cream was EXACTLY what I needed for my throat. And boy did it feel good!

I hope you a good weekend also. I'll leave you with a thought from one of the books Bruce bought me...

To me, it's a good idea to always carry
two sacks of something when you walk around. That way, if
anybody says, "Hey, can you give me a hand?" you can say, "Sorry, got these
sacks."

Bless Our Hearts

My babies are so sick, bless their hearts. All of them are suffering with this virus going around. Stuffy head and congestion. They're so miserable!

Justin is actually doing much better than he was this time last week. Although his throat is still very sore. He's been spraying it with Chloraseptic, but it hasn't helped. Bless his heart.

Hannah never cries about anything and she never complains. But yesterday she had all she could take and told me her ears were hurting and really needed to see a doctor. Sure 'nuff, she has an ear infection. The doctor said it was a pretty nasty one too. Bless her heart.

I came through the house this morning and Harrison was sitting on the couch with rosy cheeks and glassy eyes. He was running a fever and crying with his ear. I made sure he had his bath and helped him get ready and we went back to the doctor. He was able to see his favorite doctor (Silkstone) and you guessed it...ear infection! He just got over one a couple of weeks ago, but I kinda figured he would get another one since he had all that sinus stuff going on. It was just a matter of time. *sigh* Bless his heart.

I think Bruce's back is getting a little better. He hasn't said much about it the last couple of days. Of course, we've both been worried about the children. So maybe that's why. I'll have to ask him about that when he gests home tonight. Bless his heart.

When Bruce and I got back from taking Harry to the doctor, we ate lunch and laid down for a short nap before he had to leave for work. When I woke up my own throat was sore. Oh great, I thought. Now it's my turn. So when I went to pick up Harrison's prescription I picked me up some over the counter stuff that I hope will work along with my Vitamin C and Echinacea. Bless my heart.

So we're all sick here, and it doesn't look like we'll be running any marathons this week. But things could be worse than what they are and I'm thankful that they're not.

Bloggy Break's Over!

I was going to take the entire week from blogging, but I've accomplished a good bit the last couple of days and today there was something that changed my mind on taking the whole week away from my favorite hobby. So, I'm back!

This picture is for mom. She wanted to see how my cookbooks look on my shelf. I had toyed with different ideas as to what to put on the shelf and decided my favorite cookbooks could go up there. The others are put away on a bookshelf, but these I use quite often. I also have TONS of the Kraft Food and Family magazines, which I dearly love retrieving from my mailbox. So I'm cutting out the recipes I like from those and making a scrapbook recipe book. I'll show you that when I have finished it.

Along with my cookbooks, I also put a basket of ivy and my favorite mulling spice for when I get a hankering for hot apple cider.

When I carried out the old microwave and found higher ground for the cookbooks, I couldn't believe the counter space I'd been missing. Whatever will I do with it??

Since my spice cabinet is now gone, I had to figure out where to put my spices and cake decorations. That is where, once again, my dear hubby's handiwork comes in. He had some caddies in his woodshop and told me I could pick one out.

I had thought about keeping it on the counter, but why would I do that now that I have counter space?? So after cleaning and rearranging my cabinets, this spice caddy ended up on a lower shelf, easily accessible for when I need something. There were LOTS of other things in that cabinet. Such as packages of onion soup mix, bread crumbs, etc. They ended up in another cabinet which is holding all of my baking supplies.


I've been gearing up for end of grade testing this week also. I'll be ordering their tests within the week. So we'll be pouring it on strong the next couple of months to finish out this school year. I'm looking forward to summer already!

Tomorrow is our co-op day and we'll be having a policeman who is also a member of our church, come in to talk to the children. He's K-9 patrol, so I'm pretty sure he'll be bringing his dog. I'm looking forward to that.

Due to a busy schedule this week and weekend, I don't know when I'll be posting again. But you know I will when I can!

Guess What I Got This Week!

BEFORE and AFTER

Thank you, honey, for all of your hard work this week. I love you.

Why oh, why?

I have a stye

A stye?

Yes, a stye

A terrible, horrible stye in my eye!

Why oh, why

a painful stye in my eye?

The stye causes swelling

the stye irritates

It oozes and goozes

and waters, and smoozes.

Why oh, why

a painful stye in my eye!

It's red and tender

and, me oh my

A warm compress feels good

on this stye in my eye.

Why oh, why

a painful stye in my eye!

And now I sit here

making silly rhyme

This stye in my eye

is stealing my time

Why oh, why

a painful stye in my eye!

TAGGED!

I was tagged by Kim from Down By The Ocean for the '6 Weird Things About Me' meme. Since I've done this one before, I decided to repost it because I have quite a few new readers that don't know these things about me. So, here goes!

Here are the rules for this meme:
1. link to the person that tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Share 6 non-important thing/habits/quirks/about yourself
4. Tag 6 random people at the end of your post.
5. Let each random person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.

My initial reaction was There's nothing weird about me. But I knew that wasn't true, so here goes.....
1. I have a compulsion to count things by twos or fours. I cannot enter my kitchen without counting my cabinets or look at my backdoor without counting the brass butterflies that hang above it. I'm like this with everything! I count, count, count. You can in fact count the dimples of a golf ball if you use a black sharpie to mark your counted dimples. I have to count the blocks on my closet doors by fours when I go to bed or before I get up or anytime I'm facing them. I like counting the lines in digital numbers on digital clocks. I count the lights in our church everytime I sit down from choir. I spell numbers in my head and have to move my toes when I do it. Don't ask me why. And I never retain the numbers for some reason. I just count. LOL It's crazy, I know, but this HAS to be the weirdest thing about me.

2. I have a tendency to drive my kids up the wall when they need a simple answer to what they think is a simple question. I can go on and on and on and sometimes end up in a rant from chasing rabbit trails that eventually lead to personal convictions and end up "preaching a sermon" of some sort. The kids may ask, "Mom, do I have any clean socks" and I spend thirty minutes answering this simple yes or no question that eventually leads to a sermon against smoking or how we should love our Pastor. LOL If I have ever left a comment on your blog or you know me in person, I always have a mouthful to say. Sorry about that...that's just who I am.

3. I can't sit in my recliner without my toes and feet wiggling. Justin has pointed that out.

4. I never think to turn a light on in any room I enter at home. Whether it's the kitchen, the bathroom, the bedroom, etc., Bruce is forever coming in behind me and turning on lights wherever I go. LOL What would I do without him? And I have the same reaction everytime. When a light suddenly pops on I think to myself, "Wow, that's better." But do I learn from it? Apparently not. I have learned that although light is better, I can do anything in the dark.

5. I'm scared to be in the house at night when Bruce works third, but I'm not afraid to stand outside in the middle of the yard during those same hours.

6. I am allergic to Tilex and bleach, but I must and insist that my bathrooms be tilexed and/or bleached on occasion. Usually I break out or my hands swell and itch alongside a brutal headache. Very uncomforting for a while, but I get over it and do it again eventually.

OK, these are six weird things about me.
Now, who shall I tag? Well, I have several new blog bluddies, so I think I'll tag them.

*Mike and Susan from Fruit Basket Turnover (That includes you too, Brother Mike!)

*Amy from Music and Notes

*Tammy from Carter Family

*Ted AND Rebecca from Mountains-N-Valleys

*Dana from The Simple Gift James 117!

*insert title here*

I forgot to take my camera to SIGMA tonight. It would have been good to have too because Brother RJ had the kids playing Musical Chairs. He sang, of course, and well....where is a CD when you need one? HA~Just kidding. He did fine.

I told you that Bruce just couldn't seem to get rid of this cold he's been carrying around, but he's doing so much better. He did decide to share it with me before he became completely well, so I've been feeling quite run down the last two days. I'm fighting it off with 1000-2000 mg of Vitamin C a day and my echinacea.

I had lunch cooked by noon and by 1:00 I was in bed for what should have been an hour nap, but I ended up not getting up until 4:45. Even then I didn't want to get up but I needed to get ready for church.

Since Christmas, I've been getting in bed around 2:00 AM or a little after and I gotta tell ya, that makes for some really long days. So since I'm feeling sick and tired right now, I suppose turning in early tonight would be a good thing.

My head is a little cloudy too and I can't think of anything interesting to blog about. I mean, I have things in my head, but I just can't seem to get them out. So I think I might take a break from blogging for a couple of days. I know I'll have things to blog about this weekend....that is unless something interesting happens between now and then.

~SEE YA~

Turkeys and Reposted Blog Posts.

After school today, I put a turkey in the oven. The company Bruce works for bought us one for Christmas but I never got around to cooking it, so we're having it for dinner tonight...and tomorrow...and probably Thursday. It's a pretty big turkey. lol While I worked on the turkey, Bruce took Justin to work at the mission. He'll be going back tomorrow to finish up.

I went to get my hair trimmed, ran an errand to the church, and then stopped at Wal Mart. I carried my Ipod in with me and was enjoying my tunes when I saw a friend of mine there. I went to talk to her and she asked, "Did they just page you?" I said, "No, nobody knows I'm here." She said, "Hmm, I thought I heard your name called." We talked a few more minutes and parted ways.


When I got home, Hannah said, "Mom, did they page you at Wal Mart?" I jerked my ahead around and exclaimed, "Why do you ask?" She said, "Because I called up there and had you paged. I waited for nearly fifteen minutes when I finally gave up." Apparently, I had mentioned to her where I was going after my hair appointment. So when the turkey's juice began to overflow out of the pan and sizzle onto the pan under the pan she knew she had to do something. First things first...call mom! When mom doesn't answer, take matters into your own hands. So she saved the day by taking this HUGE turkey out of the oven, transfering it to another pan, rewrapping it in foil and sticking it back in the oven. What would I do without my little girl? HUH?? So anyway, after some investigating, the pan did not overflow. It was one of those tin foil pans and there was a hole in the bottom of it. How it got there, I do not know. And I never did see it to begin with. Anyway, it's great to have a daughter who knew what to do! AND! She fixed a spice cake with cream cheese icing for dessert. Of course since her favorite color is lime green (aren't you proud, Courtney) she decided to color the icing lime green. lol


Mrs. B from Cherish the Home has given permission for me to repost one of her blog posts here at Thimble Thoughts. I thought this was a good message and one that needs to be shared. I love missionary families. They have a special place in my heart and I'm proud to say that we attend a mission-minded church. I hope your church is mission-minded also. That's why the church was established....AMEN?

Anyway, I copied and pasted her post in it's entirety. Hope it's a blessing to ya.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We were extremely blessed to have a missionary family (they're missionaries to Uganda) visiting with us at church last Sunday. I absolutely love missionaries!--I wish I had a million dollars to give to all of them. But this missionary stated something I found so interesting. He said even though financially supporting missionaries is vital and important he stressed that it's even more important that we pray for them in a real and meaningful way (2 Cor 1:11). And then during Sunday school he taught us how to pray for missionaries and their needs in a very clever way using the days of the week.

He started with (James 5:16b)--"The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much."--Prayer is our weapon.

~oOo~

**Sunday--Spiritual life. (2 Peter 3:18) He said if missionaries aren't careful, they can get so caught up in the ministering aspect of missionary work and the difficulties of the day, that the day is suddenly gone and the Bible hasn't been opened and real, meaningful prayer hasn't happened. The culture in other countries is so different, things like bill paying, food preparation etc. is much more difficult and time consuming. And then they still have to minister to the people in their church or the surrounding area.He said it's very important that we pray for missionaries to stay in the word and stay close to the Lord through prayer.

**Monday--Money. (Phil 4:14) Support needs, personal stewardship, wisdom to know who and when to give financial help, when asked. He said that the dollar is not worth as much as it used to be and this has caused many missionaries' support to become less. And then there are people who come and ask him for financial help. He needs wisdom to know when to give financial help and when to say no or perhaps give food or something else in place of money.

**Tuesday--Temptation. (1 Peter 5:8) (Ephesians 6:11) The temptation to be lazy or inactive (Hebrews 13:18). To give up. Or to be impure in mind or body.

**Wednesday--Witnessing. (Acts 4:29) Boldness to preach the gospel. Learn their language. An ability to present a clear presentation of the gospel (Acts 8:4).--There are many expressions used in English that don't make sense when translated to other languages. The missionary must keep this in mind when preaching or witnessing. Spread the gospel quickly.

**Thursday--Team Members. (Col 3:12-13) Pray for the missionaries who are working together to get along with each other. Also to keep a right relationship with the Nationals. A missionary can't have the attitude that they are superior to the Nationals.

**Friday--Family. (1 Timothy 5:8) Their wives and children need them to spend time with them and to not neglect them. Also pray for their safety.

**Saturday--Safety. (Psalm 3:3) Traveling, physical health, protection etc...

And two final Scriptures he shared with us:

-Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me; (Romans 15:30)

-Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you: (2 Thessalonians 3:1)

I hope you all found this as helpful as I did. (o:

Blessings,
Mrs. B

New Bloggers Have It Made and Packing Tape is Under-rated!

For the last hour and a half I have been redoing some things in my template. Basically, removing links of blogs of people that don't visit here any longer, or maybe I don't go there, and adding ones I should have added ages ago and ones that are brand new to bloggy world.

In the new templates, blogger does everything for you. Browse...upload...viola! It would have taken me no time to make these changes on the new template, but with my template, you have to type in all the codes and you better get it right! Or, like me, you end up going back doing multiple changes because you forgot a "." or a "/" or a "<>" or one little letter that you keep missing as you scan over the code and over it again....and then one more time to finally view your mistake. And then you spend another thirty minutes clicking on the newly added links to make sure you've added them correctly. I'm just really happy right now that it's finished.

Today we went to my mother-in-law's house to take her Christmas tree down and put everything in the attic. She ordered Pizza Hut for lunch. We had a nice visit. I was showing her all the pictures I have on my ipod and that was fun. Then it was time to leave.

Bruce felt like he was running a little fever today so we (the kids and I) left him behind while we went to my parent's home to take down their tree and decorations and carry them to their building. We opted to just carry the tree, as is, to the building. Works for me, folks! But mom and dad like that flaky snow on their tree so when the tree was carried out of the house, ten billion and one little snow flakes rested on the floor to be vacuumed by Hannah. Then mom wanted her nativity put back in its white box. So I went to the building for the white box and came back with the wrong one. She told me exactly where it was so I went back out to get the white box and sure 'nuff...right where she said. It probably would have helped me the first time had she told me the white box was actually a styrofoam box that came in two pieces. Anyway, after trying to figure out how all the nativity pieces went into their styrofoam holes, which by the way is like working a puzzle, they were all securely nestled in their proper places, the styrofoam taped shut numerous times with packing tape, and then carried to the building, not to be seen again until next Christmas.

While I was taping the styrofoam, I was suddenly reminded of my dear Maw Maw, daddy's mom. She lived in Ashtabula, Ohio when we lived in Greenville, SC and would send us packages in the mail several times a year. Maw Maw would be out and buy anything she saw she thought us kids would like. She never seemed geared to a certain taste. As a matter of fact, daddy said she really had no taste. She just grabbed anything and everything that wasn't nailed to the shelves. Then she would pack everything in a nice big box, stuff it down real good, and tape the box with as much packing tape as she possibly could. Every corner, every line of the box, and then some. Most of the time the addresses were written across brown packing tape. She would buy puppets, coloring books, hats, pens, perfumes....OH, THE PERFUME! We were always excited to see a box waiting for us on the kitchen table, especially when it came from Ohio. We knew we were getting ready to open the box of unknown surprises. Oh what excitement! What intensity! We would begin to tug and pull and pull and tug on the packing tape that held our greedy little hands at bay. Frustration would grow as the tape would stretch and mingle together only making it more difficult to break. And of course, we weren't allowed to play with knives. Alas! John would begin to gnaw with his teeth. "GO, JOHN! GO!" YES! A break in the tape! A pause of rest for about three seconds, just long enough to look at one another. And then six arms and thirty fingers began to dig and place claim on the goods that lay inside. All the while, mom and dad laughing at our insanity of trying to open the package from Maw Maw. If she were here today, I would thank her for the memory.

Moon Pie Mystery

Just so you'll know...I found my moon pie. Well, Bruce found my moon pie. I didn't want y'all worrying about that all day and having it mess up your Sunday so I thought I'd put your mind to rest and let you know the moon pie is no longer lost.

Apparently, when I got in my car leaving my mother-in-law's home, I flung it across the car and it ended up on the panel between the seat and the door. I didn't bother looking over there because I don't remember throwing it. That's the only way it could have gotten there...I think. I drove to church this morning so when Bruce opened his door to get in, there it was. YAY, Bruce!

And you know how you can eat breakfast on Sunday morning, but come about ten to fifteen minutes before service is over your stomach starts gnawing on your ribs and you're tempted to pop into the nursery for animal cookies or gold fish, but you can't because you have no reason for actually being in the nursery except to steal cookies or gold fish? Well, fortunately for me today, I'm nursery mother this month. When I left service to make sure everything was in order before mommies picked up their babies, I reached my hand into the jar for some gold fish and popped a few in my mouth, only to look down to see five pairs of eyes looking back up at me. Some with outstretched hands and little voices saying, "Fis...pees" Aww, sweet little younguns. The joy of church for them is gold fish.

Of All The Nights....

...to be without a camera!

Brother RJ had a game for the kids in SIGMA tonight that would have made some great video footage.

Each team was given a couple of minutes to think of three separate skits, based on three different Christmas songs of their choice. It was so funny. And I must say, the Nu Delta Fishermen had it in the bag. They were hilarious. I was so upset that I didn't have my camera! I remember grabbing it off the table, but I put it down to put my jacket on and left without it. WAAAH!

I've come down with a cold and I'm feeling rather........blah! Bruce and the kids had a cold a couple weeks ago and I thought for sure I had escaped it flying under its radar. But apparently not. I just took a dose of medicine that daddy came by and now I'm going to drink some hot tea, choke down some echinacea and vitamin C and hit the sack.