My Husband "Subvet" says that when our first son "Sonshine" was born the sun rose on our world, when our second son "Gator" was born the sun laughed and when our daughter "Sugars" was born all the flowers bloomed. That says it all.

"Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass...
It's about learning how to dance in the rain."
Anonymous

Your mind is the garden, your
thoughts are the seeds, the harvest can either be flowers or weeds. — William
Wordsworth

Saturday, May 31, 2008

Please watch where you pee.

I post this for all my cop-friends.
This'll piss you off......




Earlier this month, 75,000 people gathered in Waterfront Park in downtown Portland to hear Obama speak at a pre-primary rally.

Officer Thomas Brennan, a seven-year veteran with the Portland Police Bureau, said he was happy to help at the rally after being called in on his day off.

"On short notice, a lot of people had to cancel trips. But they were glad to do it," Brennan said. "It was very memorable, in more ways than one."

Brennan, who controlled the crowd near the Portland Police Memorial, noticed several Porta Potties set up in the middle of the memorial. Brennan had been at the site five days earlier for an annual memorial service and a flag was still set at half mast on the day of the rally.

"There was plenty of room elsewhere so space wasn't an issue," Brennan said. "So someone used some really poor decision making, whoever elected to put them there. I mean, it's somewhat hallowed ground, I guess you could call it."

Friday, May 30, 2008

For you who cried with me.

So, "on a whim" so to speak I went to a blogger's place who had mentioned she was a teacher in a comment at cheeseinmyshoe. I asked her, as a complete and utter stranger, if she had any insight on my earlier post, "I cried". Her response to me was so uplifting and insightful that I asked her permission to share it with all of you good folk.

Let me introduce Jacquie, she is a teacher, mother, and quilter. So, of course, I love her to death!

Here is her insight:

Gosh Sarah,
I don't know if I have any insight, but I do have an opinion. First, I obviously don't condone what happened to this child. I will tell you that one year as a 4th grade teacher I got my class list with 32 students. One of those students was a lovely child named P. P had Asperger's syndrome. I received a 5 minute talk with the special ed teacher and was told that he would have an aide with him for maybe a couple of hours each day. The aide was a mom from our community with no special education training or experience. I spent a year with P and spent most of my free time learning, reading, talking with his mom and doctors and any special education expert I could find. I was given a child I didn't know how to handle and wasn't trained to handle. For many reasons, lack of funding, lack of trained personnel (we were a very rural district), lack of local mental health resources etc etc. I was who P had to depend on. I will tell you it was very hard on the rest of the students in my class who were scared by his outbursts and confused by his behavior. I spent as much time working with the rest of the class to develop empathy for P and they learned skills to help him cope and learn. I was attacked, bruised, and loved by P. My best moment with him was when he was able to attend a performance of the Nutcracker without incident. He had never before been allowed on a field trip. It was a proud moment for all of us. I worried about P leaving my room at the end of the year. His family moved and left the district. Who would he have next year? I spent as much time as I could with his next teacher (in a different district) letting her know what I had learned and the benefit of my experiences with him. I still wonder and worry about him today. I also wonder if I did my best for him and for the other 31 kids that were my responsibility.
I have a very good friend who has taught severely mentally handicapped kids for almost 30 years. She has worked diligently in a system and society who doesn't understand the needs of her kids and parents. I talked with her the other day and she is spending one day a week with L (who has so many handicaps I can't list them all) so that his parents can have a day off each week. She is doing this out of the goodness of her heart, no charge, no strings. This family has already spent the equivalent of a private school college education on helping this child. He is 6. When to mainstream children is a tricky situation. Many times teachers are at the mercy of legislators that make rules and regulations the consequences of which they don't understand. Often we don't have the professional latitude nor the resources or personnel to do what is right and in the best interest of our students.
This teacher violated in my mind all sense of what is human decency. As a teacher I am sickened and saddened when I hear and read stories such as this.
I know there are folks in my profession that don't have the skills to do the job they have been hired for. Many are being put in situations they never imagined they would have to deal with.
There are many issues in education that need to be addressed as are there many things right with the system in our country. I have worked my entire career to develop and support competent, caring professionals and to establish a system that supports all children.
I have worked in the profession for 29 years and have heard more horror stories than I care to repeat. I have also seen countless professional educators who work tirelessly to teach children who are not their own, yet care about them like they are. My hope and prayer is that the public will one day understand that they are all our children: poor kids, minority kids, kids who are blind, kids who read when they are 3, kids who grow up with abusive parents, kids who don't behave like we would like them to...and we will pour resources into all schools and we will be able to honor the people who choose this profession.
As a last thought, another of my friends just took the job as a principal in a low achieving school. He has 23 openings and only 16 candidates and none for any of the math, science or special education openings. It isn't hard to understand how difficult our job is when we can't find quality people to do difficult work. Many times we have to take what we can get and work like dogs to develop them. I could go on. There are so many issues. Just know this, there are people out there who aren't crying, we're gritting our teeth and working our hearts out to make things better for kids in this country.
I hope this wasn't more than you wanted. It hurts me to the core to read stories such as this. It reflects on me and my profession.
Take care and have a good day,

Jacquie

Show and Tell

Show and Tell


I have finished more projects!!!

First off, I made two of these aprons. One for myself and one for a friend who wanted to do an apron swap with me.



They are backed in bottom weight denim. They are almost identical...only I know the 2 differences between them! heeheehee. The fabric for the fronts came from "my stash" and was left over fabric from a quilt I made my brother when he graduated from the Culinary Institute of America 3 years ago. The denim for the backs was fabric I inherited from my grandmother. As usual for me, I "made it up as I went along"...so don't ask me about the pattern or how I did it. :-)

Once Subvet saw the finished aprons he asked if I could make him one...he wanted it to say "Shut Up and Eat!"

Well, we had to negotiate the saying as there are children in the house who will learn to read sooner or later......



I was able to finish it just in time for Monday's cookout! I used a "one size fits all" pattern from Simplicity....but I had to add 10 inches (yes, ten) to the length so it would be more than a bib for my hubby. Interesting fact, Subvet and I have the same inseam. 32". He is 6'3, I am 5'5. Just goes to show that one size does NOT fit all!! (or any in this house). The fabric was more of that denim from my grandmother (I have no idea what she'd planned for all that heavy denim, it's 60" wide and I think she had 6 yards or so of it!) The black felt for the letters was left over from last Halloween

So there you have it!

I went to the quilt store Saturday :-) and bought the fabric to make Sugars' baby quilt so that will be the next thing for me to start....oh and my mom requested an apron/bib when she saw the one I made for myself Sunday so that's added to the list...along with the pattern I bought to make each hooligan a Yoyo-bear for Christmas...and the Christmas ornaments that we're going to start on in Aug....and.........

Thursday, May 29, 2008

YYYEEEEEEHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I got a JOB!!

I got a New JOB!!!

I got a Job that's 1/2 the distance from home as the crappy one.

At a hospital that's been established for >7 years and is expanding. And is owned by the company who owns all the Presbyterian and Methodist hospitals in the Dallas area.

I just sent in my resignation via email to the Manager, Director of Nursing and CEO so that I can have the weekend off before I start the NEW JOB. :-)

OH yeah, the next 2 weeks will be hell at this place (they have a habit of dumping on the outgoing nurses) but it ain't gonna bother me too much!!!!!

ooooo oooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

doing the happy dance!!

OH YEAH!

Thesaurus Thursday, Answers, Winners, and Words

Don't Forget To Scroll Down For Newer Posts!

Just in case this is your first time by here on a Thesaurus Thursday, the "rules" of Thesaurus Thursday are as follows:

First and foremost, leave as many funny definitions for either word (or both) as you can think up in the comments!! The ones that make me laugh the hardest will be given the Silly Goose Award.

Last week's Silly Goose Winner is:

Jungle Mom said...
Plaudit:a plural audit

Levant:levis for ants????



Next, if you know (or think you know) the true definitions without looking them up then be sure and leave those in the comments too!! All definitions that are correct (or close enough for government work and Mighty Mom) will win the Smarty Pants Award!

Linda, Stephanie, and Diane J all knew Plaudit



Official Definitions:
Plaudit - 1) an enthusiastic expression of approval 2) a demonstration or round of applause.

Levant - to run away from a debt.



Now, our words for next week are.....

jipijapa

jingo


Have fun now ya hear!!

I cried

I read this and I cried.

I cried for hours, literally.

The little girl in me cried for the memories of being ridiculed, shamed and humiliated by my teachers in elementary school.

So I cried,

And I cried.

The mother in me cried for the fear that this could one day be my baby who is ridiculed, shamed and humiliated by his teacher.

My baby who is so sweet and loving, and so different.

So I cried,

And I cried.

The nurse in me cried for the boy who spent the rest of the day in the nurse's office and now screams when approaching the school after being ridiculed, shamed and humiliated by his teacher.

So I cried,

And I cried.

The American in me cried for the loss of respect this story will generate toward the good and caring teachers that are working to make a difference in each child's life, without ever having a child ridiculed, shamed and humiliated.

So I cried,

And I cried.


I have spent most of today crying about this story, this situation.

Now I'm mad.

Subvet-ism #230 "You're either a part of the problem or a part of the solution."

Here's how to join in the solution.

Sarah's Simple Sewing Secrets.

OK, on to our last installment of Sewing for Beginners.

Sorry it's taken me a bit to finish this off, as you will be able to see on friday, I've been rather busy.


Once you've stuffed the pillow, the last step is to close the hole.



There are several ways to do this, I'm going to show you the easiest.

First, hold the front and back of the pillow together in your left hand, be sure that you've got the seam allowances tucked inside the pillow. Tie a knot in your thread and start to the right of the end of the seam you previously sewed. You want the two seams to overlap just a bit to reinforce where they end.


Now, holding the opening closed and the fabric together, sew back and forth a little down from the folded edge of your fabric.


Continue across the hole till you've passed the end of the previously sewn seam by a little bit.

Tie a knot and cut your thread.

Closing the hole this way will leave a small ridge of fabric where the hole was.


Congratulations on your pillow!
You now have all the basic knowledge you need to make anything your heart desires!


If you run into any difficulties on this or another sewing project, feel free to leave me a comment and I'll answer to the best of my ability.

Happy Sewing.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

One Yummy Weekend!

So, what happens when you give a man a reason to grill and the money to do whatever he likes??











He also grilled onions (my favorite) and baked potatoes.

The recipe for the steaks is here.

Can you tell that each steak was 3 meals??

We can't do it often and won't be doing it again any time soon. But it sure was good!

Thesaurus Thursday, Answers, Winners, and Words

For the foreseeable future. I will tell the week's winners in the next week's Thursday post. So you're gonna get winners from last week and words to ponder for this week at the same time. You're also gonna get a whole, entire week to come up with your definitions, so should you be having a harsh weekend you can jump in later. I shall also post-date this post so that it'll stay at the top so folks won't forget to come by and give us a guess! (once I figure out how to do that, seems blogger's gone and made improvements...I was just getting used to the lack of improvements myself!

So Don't Forget To Scroll Down For Newer Posts!

Just in case this is your first time by here on a Thesaurus Thursday, the "rules" of Thesaurus Thursday are as follows:

First and foremost, leave as many funny definitions for either word (or both) as you can think up in the comments!! The ones that make me laugh the hardest will be given the Silly Goose Award.

Last week's Silly Goose Winners are:

Diane J
Katabasis: The foundation of that sailing vessel known as a katamaran.

Pinky
Keck: a mixing of 'heck' and 'crap'
ex. Oh keck! Another huge mess to clean up!



Next, if you know (or think you know) the true definitions without looking them up then be sure and leave those in the comments too!! All definitions that are correct (or close enough for government work and Mighty Mom) will win the Smarty Pants Award!

Linda said...
Katabasis - Isn't it a military retreat or something like that?



Official Definitions:

Katabasis - a retreat, esp a military retreat, as that of the Greeks after their defeat at Cunaxa.

Keck - 1) to retch 2) to feel or show disgust or strong dislike.



Now, our words for next week are.....

plaudit

levant


Have fun now ya hear!!

Monday, May 26, 2008

Hero

Happy Memorial Day.

I am reposting this post. Take a minute, even if you've seen it before and reread it. Ponder what it says. There are many great Memorial Day posts floating around the internet this weekend, this is mine.



Look at this man.


Look into his eyes. Look closely. Notice the expression on his face. Note the way he wears his uniform.

Look again. Can you imagine what he may have been thinking when this picture was taken?

What do you think his plans for his life are?

Look at him again. Look at the set of his jaw, the shape of his ears.

Would you like to shake his hand?

What do you imagine you would say to him?

What would he say to you?

Look at this man.


"This painting is of Clint Gertson, who gave the ultimate sacrifice for his country, and to help insure the freedom of the Iraqi people. This painting is done by Kaziah Hancock, a well known artist who paints these works of art of our true American hero's who have given all.....for free.

My wife and myself considered ourselves honored and privileged to know Clint's wonderful parents, Susan and Gayle Gertson of Eagle Lake, Texas, for they too have made a great sacrifice...

If you, or someone you know has lost a son or daughter in combat, you can contact Kaziah at Project Compassion by using this, or the above link.....

Kaziah, may God Bless you and your staff for the wonderful work you have, and are, doing for these families that have given so much for their Country......"
Cookie

Look again at this man.

Can you tell him thank you? For all the things he saw....and all the things he didn't live to see?

Every week Subvet posts the names and ages of our soldiers that have fallen.

It's a list of names.....every name has a face, just like Clint.

Look at this man. This man died for you.

What have you done today to honor him?

Again, look at this man, remember him, honor his sacrifice.

Saturday, May 24, 2008

prayer request

Three prayer requests for y'all to ponder in your quiet time.

First up, Airborne Poppa's better half, Gretchen of Gretchen's Candles lost her father Thursday AM after an extended illness and hospital stay. Please join me in giving her prayers and love.

Next up, Cookie of The Cook Shack lost his life long best friend Thursday PM. Cookie has posted a loving and moving tribute to the life of his friend, grab a hankie and go give Cookie your love.

May God encircle these grieving families with love, support, peace and hope. Amen.





Last, y'all, my job sucks on toast. I mean really, really sucks. I'd have to say it sucks so hard it farts. I'm really hoping to get out of that place as it's not a safe place to work. Not safe personally and not safe professionally.
I have interviewed with another hospital and it looks very nice. I have a final phone interview with HR Tuesday at 9AM. Please join me in prayer that I get this other job at a comparable pay rate and that the work environment I transition to is a much happier place to be.

Thanks folks.

No one guessed.............

"You Gotta Have a Hat!" who can name the singer of that song?


Here's the answer:



and you know I love this guy right???



Monday, May 19, 2008

Thesaurus Thursday, Answers, Winners, and Words

I FEEL A CHANGE COMING ON!


************************THERE'S NEW POSTS BELOW THIS ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!**********************



Well, I like the colors right now, so I'll have to change something else......

For the foreseeable future. I will tell the week's winners in the next week's Thursday post. So you're gonna get winners from last week and words to ponder for this week at the same time. You're also gonna get a whole, entire week to come up with your definitions, so should you be having a harsh weekend you can jump in later. I shall also post-date this post so that it'll stay at the top so folks won't forget to come by and give us a guess! (once I figure out how to do that, seems blogger's gone and made improvements...I was just getting used to the lack of improvements myself!

So Don't Forget To Scroll Down For Newer Posts!

Just in case this is your first time by here on a Thesaurus Thursday, the "rules" of Thesaurus Thursday are as follows:

First and foremost, leave as many funny definitions for either word (or both) as you can think up in the comments!! The ones that make me laugh the hardest will be given the Silly Goose Award.

Last week's Silly Goose Winners are:
MammyT
Katzenjammer - A stiff corset traditionally worn by Jewish women in Victorian times, it was invented by a a man named Bernie Katz.


Now this was made stinkin hilarious by Mammy's co-winner's followup comment
DianeJ
Dang that Bernie Katz!



Stephanie
As for kaross, well I'm going to take a wild guess and declare it to be a cooking utensil of some kind. It just looks like that's what it would be.




Next, if you know (or think you know) the true definitions without looking them up then be sure and leave those in the comments too!! All definitions that are correct (or close enough for government work and Mighty Mom) will win the Smarty Pants Award!

As no one knew the correct definitions for these words, I'll say I won. That is to say I acheived my goal for Thesaurus Thursday and taught us all 2 new words this week!

kaross - a cloak or rug of animal skins used in S Africa

katzenjammer - 1) the unpleasant aftereffects of excessive drinking; hangover. 2) uneasiness; anguish; distress 3) an uproar; clamor.



Now, our words for next week come off the same dictionary page:

katabasis
keck


Have fun now ya hear!!

answer

No one could guess this movie

It was Maverick with Mel Gibson a "modern" Western and a very good one at that!

weight, pics, and forgiveness.

I'll actually go in order this time as that would be quite different for me! :-)

Photobucket

OK, now, I FINALLY made it past that zero!! Don't know why I got stuck sitting on that zero for so long, but as of now I have lost 9.1 lbs.


So our boys had their end of school program last Thursday. It was sooo cute! It lasted 10 min total! :0) (Perfect!)

They said the Pledge of Allegiance, sang a couple songs together, then each class (all 6 of them) sang a song then they all sang another song, one of their Spanish songs and said goodbye!

So, Subvet and I joined the Parent Paparazzi



It's nice to see someone else Gator-wrastle for a change! Notice how she has those hips anchored? She's a PRO!



Sonshine's class sang "ABC Rock" here you can see "Joe Cool"



Here's that sunrise I told you about, one of the day nurses said it was like driving to work under a big mattress the clouds were cool! This is the view from my floor.



I thought the way the sun hit the hallway was pretty


"You Gotta Have a Hat!" who can name the singer of that song?


FAT ROLLS!!



Now, we all make mistakes, but why is it so hard to forgive ourselves? We're quick to forgive others, as the Lord is quick to forgive us, but we're not nearly so quick to forgive ourselves.....??? any thoughts?

Sunday, May 18, 2008

yak yak yak

Well, yesterday the morning sun came in our windows so I took a bunch of cute pics of the kids, but of course I'm stuck at work for the 2nd of my 6 nights almost straight so you may have to wait a bit to see them.

So, as I sit here hoping that my Diabets patient doesn't go into shock on me (blood sugar of 557 at 2130, and 103 at 0200, and 80 at 0500 for those of you who're interested) I'm reflecting on the stories I've heard from these old folks. There was the 77 yr old lady who had seen Roosevelt, Carter and Ford in person during their presidencies in her lifetime. Her mom took them to see Roosevelt on one of his train tours of the country. She told me about standing on the platform for hours just waiting for him to come out and waive. Then she told of how Ford came to her son's college graduation. There were all these really nice cars with flags then this old beatup station wagon pulls up and out steps the President. She was so close that she stood right next to a Secret Service agent, made her a bit nervous.

Then there's the 98 yr old lady I have this week who you'd never hear from if you didn't go down there. She does everything for herself. A real sweetheart. She has fewer health issues than I do.

There was the 95 yr old lady who's smarter than all of us put together (this was AFTER her stroke). Said she makes a point of learning something new every day. And reading something thought provoking daily. Her eyesight started failing her so her kids came daily to read to her.

I'll tell you the truth, it all boils down to Newton. That which is at rest tends to stay at rest and that which is in motion tends to stay in motion. (yes, I'm paraphrasing) Also refered to as use it or lose it!

So, fess up people!
What do YOU do daily to stay mentally active

Friday, May 16, 2008

lesson learned

Well folks, I just learned a lesson that I thought I'd share with you. While sitting here blogging Sugars threw her toy out of her crib. (Don't ask ME why she's awake and playing at 1AM!) So I leaned over to pick it up for her.

Life Lesson #2496021958302094821.

When sitting in a rolling chair on a concrete floor.

STAND UP before you lean across the room to pick up toy.

Otherwise you will

A) have chair roll away from you

B) fall on your ample, but not-quite-padded-enough BUTT

C) have chair fall on your ankles

and
D) have a very hard time not waking the household swearing and laughing at yourself.


Learn, people, Learn!

Tuesday, May 13, 2008




TINY TALK TUESDAY is once again upon us. Go see Mary at Not Before 7 to see more of this fun event.


So, Sonshine was flipping through a book I'm currently reading. He came across this page.




And he very excitedly points to the picture and says

"Mom!! It's.......it's ...... it's.... IT'S GOD!!"

not quite dear.

Later he picks up a magazine, points to this picture and says


"Is it Daddy??"
nope. but there is some resemblance...sorta.


And here's a little something I keep on my dresser mirror. Just thought I'd share.

Have a good day folks.

Monday, May 12, 2008

update

So, nobody guessed the movie??? anyone wanna try???

I'll give you a hint, it's a Western without the pasta.

I should add that by morning the lady and I were great friends. What changed the tide? A little love and understanding... a lot of prayer. Do you tell strangers you pray for them? I pray for my patients every night. When trying to get my lady to take the medicine to bring down her bp she said "well ok, but it'll be a miracle if it works." to which I promptly replied "I'll say a prayer for you and I do believe in miracles." She stopped and looked at me. I guess she didn't expect an honest answer to her sarcastic remark but it's true. And by the end of my shift her bp was 168/80 so I guess it worked.

Diana, I knew that song was just right for you! It makes me cry too. It's on Bon Jovi's Have a Nice Day album.

Here's another song from that album that I love.



Bells Of Freedom


I have walked all alone
On these streets, I call home
Streets of hope, streets of fear
Through the sidewalk cracks
Time dissapears
I was lost, on my knees
Only Eve hugged a field
As i choked back the tears
There's a silent scream no-one could hear

So far away from everything, you know it's true
Something inside that makes you know what you've got to do

[Chorus]
Ring the bells, ring them loud
Let them ring here and now
Just reach out and ring the bells of freedom
When your world's crashing down like you've lost every round
Stand your ground
And ring the bells of freedom

Up the steps of the church
Through the fields in the dirt
In the dark I have seen
That the sun still shines for the one who believed

So far away, so full of doubt, you needed proof
Just close your eyes, and hear the sound inside of you

[Chorus x3]

And yes, I had a good Mother's Day, Subvet took me out to eat and the hooligans behaved themselves..all was well.

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Blame MammyT

She stated in no uncertain terms that she expected an update from me soon.

So here you have it. My night.

I get to work at 6:45 to get report. Before 7:30 I have a pt with 236/98 blood pressure (you know, it's supposed to be 120/80). I go to give this lady her BP meds and she argues about what she's taking because she ONLY wants HER cardiologist to prescribe for her. I explain that he doesn't have priveleges at this hospital and we need her to take this medicine as her BP is very high. Well, before 8:00 she's called 911 and told them that she needs to go to an "Emergency Hospital" so that she can see HER cardiologist. By 8:15 a crew of about 10 Firemen (CUUUUTIES) show up to take her off, I have her daughter on the phone who keeps asking ME what to do about HER crazy mother....and I finally got the lady to take the medicine....well, daughter talks lady into staying in this hospital and lady tells me to get lost, then tells the EMTs that I was her problem in the first place (HAHA). I leave lady alone and have my tech take her BP regularly as it's still in the 210s/100s. I call MD and he says, "if she refuses the med just chart it so when she strokes out you're covered." (THANKS DOC). I tell lady I have another medicine I need her to take from our doctor to bring her BP down quickly as it's too high. She refuses....BP stays high (SURPRISE!) At about 3AM I get her to finally take the med our doc ordered, but only half a dose. She apologizes for calling in the troops but says she's scared to take the med. (she's 84) So I repeatedly reassure her there's no reason to feel bad about what happened...blah .blah...blah. Her BP stays high, although it's now down to 208/100 of course if she'd take the other half of the dose......

Then, it's 4am and I'm finally taking my lunch when a ceiling tile in the hall outside the lounge where I'm peacefully eating my homemade apple pie (YUMMY) falls to the floor with a bang and a piss. Oh yes, you read that right. Apparently some numbskull discovered a leak in the ceiling....so they placed 2 of the big pink buckets that hospitals are famous for ON TOP OF the ceiling tile to catch the drips. UMMMMMM early Sunday morning and said bucket overflows getting the tile wet and you know the rest.

Oh, this is all after Sonshine cried that "I go to work with Mama!! I go work!!" when I got ready to leave last night (again).

NAME THIS MOVIE. The first line (or thereabout) is "Lord, I don't know what I've done to piss you off...." spoken by a real hottie.

MammyT, aren't you glad you asked? Some days you laugh to keep from crying.

Happy Mother's Day!

To one and all!!

I read a Dear Abby once from a man whose wife refused to stand when their church honored mothers on Mother's Day. She said it was sad for the women who wanted to be mothers and aren't and she wouldn't add to that. He said she deserved to be recognized for all that she'd done raising their children.

I remember well those years when we were wanting to get pregnant and couldn't how it felt to not be a mother on Mother's Day. We also have a very good family friend who never did become a mother....and now her peers are having grandchildren. I have "adopted" her as my kiddos' Grandmother and I send her cards and such on Mother's Day and throughout the year when I send them out to the other Grandmothers. I hope this is a happy thing for her and not a sad thing. But I strongly believe that the only thing you have to do to be a Grandmother is love a child, and I know she has loved my kids from the time we first knew they were coming.

So, on this Mother's Day I challenge you, oh faithful readers.
Think of a lady who has loved your kids/grandkids who does not have children of her own, and send her a card/flowers this week.

And should a childless woman happen by my humble abode this week, remember, we are all called to different lives and bearing/raising children is not the only way to share your love with children. I would encourage you to find an overworked, worn out mother to "adopt" (we're not hard to find) and offer your time, love and support.

Remember, true adoption happens in the heart, not in the lawyer's office.

Friday, May 9, 2008

Thesaurus Thursday

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR PRAYER REQUEST UPDATE

Just in case this is your first time by here on a Thesaurus Thursday, the "rules" of Thesaurus Thursday are as follows:

First and foremost, leave as many funny definitions for either word (or both) as you can think up in the comments!! The ones that make me laugh the hardest will be given the Silly Goose Award.


Next, if you know (or think you know) the true definitions without looking them up then be sure and leave those in the comments too!! All definitions that are correct (or close enough for government work and Mighty Mom) will win the Smarty Pants Award!


Awards will be given out in TUESDAY's post, so don't forget to come and see if you won!

This week's words are:

katzenjammer

kaross

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Praise the Lord

Brian's home!

Brian is a coach/teacher and my Aunt says that the other coaches and Moms have all pitched in to help Brian and Jessica with the kids, etc. I know this is a wonderful blessing to the family.

Thank you for your continued prayers as he recovers from this accident.


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Also, please remember Cookie in your prayers. He is losing his very best friend of many many years (as in longer than I've been alive, although he may not appreciate me telling you that.)

We know that Glory awaits us, but sometimes the transition from here to there is a rough row to hoe.

May God ease his pain and comfort his friends and family.

And the people said....

Amen.

Email Goodies

When in England at a fairly large conference, Colin Powell was asked by the Archbishop of Canterbury if our plans for Iraq were just an example of 'empire building' by George Bush.
He answered by saying, 'Over the years, the United States has sent many of its fine young men and women into great peril to fight for freedom beyond our borders. The only amount of land we have ever asked for in return is enough to bury those that did not return.'

You could have heard a pin drop.

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Then there was a conference in France where a number of international engineers were taking part, including French and American. During a break one of the French engineers came back into the room saying 'Have you heard the latest dumb stunt Bush has done? He has sent an aircraft carrier to Indonesia to help the tsunami victims. What does he intended to do, bomb them?' A Boeing engineer stood up and replied quietly: 'Our carriers have three hospitals on board that can treat several hundred people; they are nuclear powered and can supply emergency electrical power to shore facilities; they have three cafeterias with the capacity to feed 3,000 people three meals a day, they can produce several thousand gallons of fresh water from sea water each day, and they carry half a dozen helicopters for use in transporting victims and injured to and from their flight deck.. We have eleven such ships now in place or on the way; how many does France have?'

You could have heard a pin drop.

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A U.S. Navy Admiral was attending a naval conference that included Admirals from the U.S., English, Canadian, Australian and French Navies. At a cocktail reception, he found himself standing with a large group of Officers that included personnel from most of those countries. Everyone was chatting away in English as they sipped their drinks but a French admiral suddenly complained that, 'whereas Europeans learn many languages, Americans learn only English.' He then asked, 'Why is it that we always have to speak English in these conferences rather than speaking French?' Without hesitating, the American Admiral replied 'Maybe it's because the Brits, Canadians, Aussies and Americans arranged it so you wouldn't have to speak German.'

You could have heard a pin drop.

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AND THIS STORY FITS RIGHT IN WITH THE ABOVE...

A group of Americans, retired teachers, recently went to France on a tour. Robert Whiting, an elderly gentleman of 83, arrived in Paris by plane. At French Customs, he took a few minutes to locate his passport in his carry on. 'You have been to France before, monsieur?' the customs officer asked sarcastically. Mr. Whiting admitted that he had been to France previously. 'Then you should know enough to have your passport ready.' The American said, 'The last time I was here, I didn't have to show it.' 'Impossible. Americans always have to show your passports on arrival in France!' The American senior gave the Frenchman a long hard look. Then he quietly explained. 'Well, when I came ashore at Omaha Beach on D-Day in '44 to help liberate this country, I couldn't find any damn Frenchmen to show it to.'

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Prayer requests.

Some of you have asked "What happened" with me and the Methodist church. In exploring our faiths to determine the best course to take with the children Subvet and I decided to delve deeper than "I like this church...." As a part of that process I bought the 2 books of "bylaws and resolutions" for the United Methodist church. My pastor had told us that Methodists were, by doctrine, pro-life (as we would expect a Christian Church to be). However, in researching I found the pages that I scanned and posted yesterday. This is the ONLY reference in either book to abortion/woman's choice and is therefore the definitive answer as to what this church's governing body believes.

IT'S A BUNCH OF POLITICALLY CORRECT B.S. ENDORSING THE SINFUL MURDER OF INNOCENTS.

I cannot abide by this. Therefore the Methodist Church and I, as of last night, have come to a parting of the ways. (I emailed these pages to my pastor and am still awaiting a response)


Some of you have gotten the following in an email (or 2). I am asking for prayers for my cousin Brian. This came today from his mother (my Aunt Bev)

"He is doing better today after almost 5 hours of surgery last night. Hopefully will go home on Thurs or Friday. Who could know that an air bag could cause so much damage.



For those that haven't heard yet, Brian was injured in a head on collison Sat evening about 6pm. He was hit in the face by the air bag which resulted in multiple fractures to his cheek bones, upper jaw, nose, brow bone and orbits to his eyes. Basically,his mid face was floating and he was mm's from death. God is so good! He has had Brian in the palm of his hand through all of this. The surgery last night required 12 screws and many plates to put his upper jaw, eye orbits and cheeks back together. This took so long that the plastic surgeon did not want to continue and fix his nose. He wants the upper jaw to heal and become stable before Brian's nose is repaired. So in 6-8 weeks Brian will have surgery to fix his nose. Please continue to pray for his healing



There are many blessings and many lessons in all this....that we all are learning. I praise God for Jessica, Brian's wife.....she is a rock! She has been so level headed, taking care of everything on her own. One step, one day at a time in God's will not mine has been the example she lives. Please pray for her continued strength, wisdom, and God's hand on her.



Psalms 31 and 32 have been what Brian has held onto....and the poem Worth by M. Baxbaum.



Thank you for all your concerns and prayers.....and I could use a little more energy and endurance to keep up with these 3 and 4 year old very active, very mischievious grandchildren."


He was driving home from a friend's house and dropped his cell phone, he looked down to retreive it and drifted into oncoming traffic. Resulting in a head-on collision. The people in the other car walked away uninjured. (Praise the Lord).

He and his wife live in Lafayette, La with their two children Brynn (girl, age 4) and Brock (boy, age 3).

Thank you for your prayers over these 2 situations in my family.
Sarah

a parting of the ways.







I'm "church shopping". Any suggestions? (Subvet's vote is Catholic)

Sunday, May 4, 2008

a day

well, here I am at work,.....again. I'm not sure exactly who I ticked off to get to work 5 weekends in a row...but I guess I dunned it good.

sigh, I've been working for almost 4 months now, and I think I'm ready for a vacation!

So, Ms Sugars is now crawling on her knees and elbows. She's a happy little thing, sweet as can be.

Sonshine is talking non-stop about whatever crosses his mind.

Gator-boy is also talking. Mimicing more words and starting to use words and phrases to make requests.

Potty training is never-ending, Sonshine will TT in the potty on demand, but won't demand to go TT and Gator-boy is just barely starting to train. I got a new book yesterday, hopefully it has some good tips.

I've been kind of neglecting the old blog here this week, I'm working overtime and it seems that since I started working my ability to find funny things to write about has dwindled. There are always funny moments, but I seem to forget them between when they happen and when I'm able to get online. I'm thinking about carrying a small notebook around with me to write those moments down...but I'm afraid that would make me a bona-fide Bloggy-Geek.

What do you think?

Friday, May 2, 2008

New Song

So, I'm driving home this morning and I hear this song come on the radio. I laughed all the way home cause DAMN, That's Subvet!!!



And Thank God!


Love you Darling.

Thursday, May 1, 2008

FIXED!!! Wow

SCROLL DOWN FOR NEW POSTS



This Ray Stevens song is new to me. But I believe it deserves it's own post. I think you might agree.




Just says it all doesn't it?

Sarah's Simple Sewing Secrets.



The curse of having blue eyes.


OK, on to our next installment of Sewing for Beginners.

Now that we've sewn our pillow and removed all the pins, cut off the corners of the seam allowance. Making sure that you leave a small bit outside the sewn corner. Cutting off all this excess fabric at the corners will allow the corners of your pillow to be square and flat...otherwise all this fabric will bunch up and the corner won't look like a corner.





Next step is to turn the pillow right side out, through the un-sewn space between the hash marks.

Use either a small finger or a pencil to poke out the corners.

Next get some poly-fill stuffing and using about a handful at a time stuff your pillow. The firmer you stuff the less lumpy it will end up, however always make sure that you can close the opening on the sewing line. Don't forget to poke it down into those corners.

Have fun and we'll sew the last stitches next week.

A couple good posts.

National Prayer Day


Soldiers returning from battle facing terrible living conditions at Ft Bragg