Smash and Grab

While my children and I were in church this morning some thieves came into the church parking lot, broke out the window in my car and took all my electronic equipment. Along with plenty of other items. Four or five other cars got hit at the same time. We didn’t hear a thing. It wasn’t until we came outside that we saw the glass everywhere. I was (and am) sick to my stomach over the whole thing. This happened in broad daylight, next to a well traveled road, while people are inside worshiping. The forensics officer who came with the crime lab to get finger prints and lists of items stolen said it was a smash and grab. Whatever they could pawn they took. If you ask me, it takes a real piece of work to steal from others. The officer said people often do this sort of thing to get quick cash…usually for drugs. In the big scheme of things they did just steal “things”, and no one was hurt. That is what matters the most. It doesn’t take away from the frustration of dealing with fixing the broken car, and dealing with insurance. It’s not fair….but then again life isn’t always fair, is it? Lots of bad things happen to good people. I know the Lord will take care of us. We’ll be fine, even if it is a nuisance to deal with. I have a feeling that the people that did this are a lot worse off then I am. The pain they caused from the material things they stole is nothing compared to what’s lacking in their hearts.

Scaring the Postman

My oldest son takes medicine and I had to go get it from the post office this morning (our insurance allows us to get it through the mail). I was looking quite attractive. (giggle,giggle) No makeup at all. Hair pulled up in a clip. Jogging pants and a sweatshirt. To my credit I did wash my face and brush my teeth:) I was looking at myself in the rear view mirror of the car on the way over to the P.O. Don’t worry I am a careful driver, I didn’t stare at myself for very long…. I just spent a few seconds observing that I look totally different without makeup on or my hair curled. Really, it’s amazing. Kind of like those before and after pictures where the one looking at the picture says, “Is that the same woman?” HaHa. Luckily, I’m confident enough in my own skin to be able to laugh at myself. Hey, I still have a nice smile, even without lip gloss on!!

Samson the Shedder

I’ve mentioned before that we have a cat named Samson. Samson is a long, long, (did I mention long?) haired cat. He is a cat that sheds. It drives me nuts. I’m constantly getting the lint brush after him. I have even gone so far as to get one of my used dryer sheets to wipe him down. (Hey, he does have that lovely lavender scent after I get through with him.) He is a very laid back cat, which in the big scheme of things is good. He pretty much lives in a crazy house so he’s used to anything we throw at him. (not literally) So here is the deal with Samson and me this week. A belt broke in my spiffy G5 Kirby vacuum cleaner. I LOVE my vacuum cleaner and I LOVE to vacuum. Just between you and me I probably need some therapy for that…..Anyway, the belt broke so I have not been able to vacuum. Not only was this traumatic for me, the fur got out of control. Tonight I could stand it no longer. I took the plastic pet brush to get Samson’s fur out of my rug. I pulled up so much fur it looked like a dead rat laying there on the floor. (Get the picture?) Ewww…..I called the kids in to look at it. They laughed their heads off. I could have knit a sweater from the stuff. Gross. I want my vacuum back!!!

Speaking of knitting a sweater out of pet fur…..you want to hear something gross? This is the honest truth. I saw a story on TV the other night (probably FOX). This couple loved their two dogs very much and the dogs got old and passed away. The man and woman had the dogs fur spun into yarn and she made his and hers sweaters out of it! Can you believe it?! There was a picture of them wearing the sweaters. Yuck. I’m sorry but they looked like dog fur. I just think that would be yucky. I mean wouldn’t that be the equivalent of us making sweaters out of our hair? Ick.

Okay. That was my thought for the day. Sad, I know. That’s the best I could do:)

Do Me A Favor?

I’ve been blogging for a little over a year and have really enjoyed it. The writer in me is having a ton of fun. So here is the deal….My husband fixed me up with a blog map so that I could see the places that people are logging on at to read my blog. It is so cool! I have readers all over the United States, Canada, Poland, and Australia. I’d really love to have my readers make comments just to say hi and tell me how they came across my blog and the state or country they are from. Thanks!

Okay. I Confess…

Alright, I confess…I’m having a stay in my pajamas type of day. I know I need to get dressed eventually but for right now I’m pretty comfortable. I’ve been REALLY busy the first two days of the work week, and I will be REALLY busy the last two days of the work week so I am taking advantage of the down time and am having a relaxing day today. Wearing my pajamas around the house is part of that:) I was looking at my Classmates.com site and had an enjoyable time catching up with former classmates. It is interesting to read and find out what ones former classmates have been up to over the past 20 plus years. Whew! For me to even say 20 plus years is a little shocking. I graduated from high school in 1986. Good grief, where in the world did the time go? My kids think I’m ancient. I said, “No I’m not! I’m still cool.”, to which my son replied, “see, cool isn’t even the word anymore! That just proves you are old.” I was defeated….and by an almost 13 year old. Boy that stinks. This is the same child that,when at age 6, he saw some of my “old” records thought they were the “most biggest” CD’s he’d ever seen! I had to explain that it was a record (not a CD) and that mommy used to listen to these on a record player. It was a humbling experience. I felt like a museum curator…..having to explain about ancient artifacts. Hmmmppffff!!!! Old or not, I loved the 80’s. The Class of ’86 Rules!

Give Me A Break

Don’t you hate it when twig people (movie stars, models) say something like, ” oh yeah. I used to be fat when I was growing up.” Puh-leeze they used to weigh 100 lbs instead of 95! Arrggghh! I was flipping channels the other day and a former model was on talking about how she gained weight since she quit modeling. She looked normal if you ask me (and I realize you didn’t but that doesn’t stop me:). What is the deal with that? Don’t you just wanna smack people like that? Those of us that wish to lose some weight look at these women and think, “Give me a break lady! 115 lbs on a 5’9″ frame is not fat! My goodness you look like a stick figure.” The whole thing frustrates me to no end and makes me want to give up and go eat a scoop of chocolate peanut butter ice cream!

Baptism of A Famous Muslim

Hmmm……What to think of the converted Muslim man who was baptized by the Pope on Easter? Now, this man says his and his wife’s lives are being threatened. Hmm…….again. Muslims upset that he converted and upset that he felt the need to be baptized in such a public way. I don’t know his reasoning for requesting such a public baptism, but nonetheless that was his decision to make. He had to know that it would not be taken well within the Muslim community. They are highly offended by this action. I just wonder what will happen, if anything, because of his conversion? In many of the more militant Islamic countries of this world, conversion would mean sure death. It got me to thinking about so many brothers and sisters in Christ all over the world that live under daily persecution for their faith in Jesus Christ. I like to believe my faith is so strong that I would rather die then forsake my Lord. Scary. Who knows? Maybe some day it will come to that. In the meantime we, as Christians, need to remember our brothers and sisters in Christ who face life and death challenges every day—and do so because of what we celebrated yesterday. A God that lives! They know the Truth. Everyone comes to a time in their own life where they must ask them self the life altering question—What do I really believe about Jesus? I either think He was a lunatic, a liar, or truly is Lord. After all, Christ, claimed to be the Son of God. He said, ” I am THE way, THE truth, and THE life”. He didn’t say he was ONE of the ways. He IS the way. He claimed, No one comes to the Father but by ME. So the question to ask yourself is this: What do I believe? Do I think he was crazy and talking out of his head about nonsense? Therefore He is a lunatic? Do I think he was a liar and was trying to deceive people? OR do I believe Him and take Him at His word and call Him Lord? Think about it. Seriously, think about it. Your answer will change everything.

Because He Lives

Because He lives I can face tomorrow….because he lives all fear is gone…because I know who holds the future, my life is worth the living just because He lives. Christmas is special because it is Jesus, the Son of God, coming to Earth as a baby. Easter is amazing because it is the death and three days later the resurrection of this same Jesus. He lives. Death could not stop Him, it could not keep Him, and it certainly did not conquer Him. With His death He paid a debt I alone could never repay. He sacrificed himself so that I might live. God’s plan for salvation is simple yet is one that many do not understand and because they don’t understand it they choose to either ignore it, condemn it, or believe that is a” nice story” for some people but not for them. But the truth is God loves each of us so much that He sent His only begotten Son so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Because Christ lives we can live too.

Happy Easter to all my family and friends!

Building Forts

As a child I was outside a lot. I remember riding my bike down our country road, hitting bumps and trying to make my bike go airborne. I remember trekking through the woods with my sister and neighborhood friend, Missy. We made “a fort” in the woods over behind the clothesline in our backyard. I remember asking mom for “a roof” for my fort on the front porch. She gave me an old bed spread to use and I played out there for a long while. I went for walks. (not to mention the half mile hike to and from the bus stop each day:) In the summer we would swim in the two fresh water ponds that Missy’s grandparents owned. We swam with snapping turtles, fish, clams, and water snakes. I had enough silt in the bottom of my bathing suit after swimming it would clog the tub drain!! But boy did we have fun! I think it was the winter of ’79, I would have been in 5th grade. It snowed and snowed and snowed. Then it drifted. We were out of school and wow, could we make some forts. I remember digging and digging making tunnels in the drifts. Snow fort!

Do kids still play like this? I had such a good time being outside and using my imagination. Now it seems like kids of the present generation like to play in a “virtual” world… instead of the one they’ve got. They’d spend hours in front of the TV playing games if we let them. Now, it is true, times have changed. I really don’t want my kids to go too far down the road because I’m scared of the nuts that are out there that might hurt my children. There isn’t the same kind of freedom to roam around as there used to be. It’s a shame really, because I think they are missing out, and yet they don’t even realize it. Sure they are more technologically advanced then any other generation before them. They know their way around a computer keyboard, can text with lightening speed, and know all the latest gaming news. But are children as creative as they used to be? I don’t know….I’m just wondering. Now, their virtual worlds are created for them, instead of having to “make” their play world on their own. I just think they are missing out on something valuable.

Lord Willing and The Creek Don’t Rise!

I’m sure everyone has seen the flooding all over the midwest. They say that it’s going to get worse before it gets better. This morning I watched a story about some people in their truck (with a long horse trailer behind them) that were stuck in the middle of rising water. Evidently, the road had been dry at 3 am but by the time they had packed their stuff to leave the water had gotten high…they thought they could make it across since they had a big truck, but alas even big trucks can stall out. Have you ever been stuck in a flooded area? It’s pretty scary, especially if the water is moving fast.

Here is Tennessee we have flash flooding. In the Spring schools have actually had to close due to flooding. In the early 90’s I was on my way to a friends house on a major highway through town when BLAM! I was in deep water before I knew it! There was a small compact car caught in the middle of the street. The water had rushed into the car and the two ladies had to get out and walk (knee deep) to higher ground. I hugged the concrete median in my Toyota Corolla and prayed that my car wouldn’t stall. I was scared to death. Once you are in the middle of something like that you can’t really turn around, and you’re scared to go ahead, but just sitting there you will for sure get water in your car…so on I went. I made it, but was a nervous wreck for the rest of the trip. Unknown water can definitely be a scary thing.

Really if you think about it water is a mysterious thing…water in its steam or boiling form can burn us or be used for power, in its frozen form we can have dangerous driving conditions or use it to cool our tea, in a vapor form it can give moisture to dry air but too much and it causes mildew, rain is necessary for our crops to thrive, but an abundance of rain can cause severe, damaging flooding. We have to drink enough water or we will die. A large part of our body is made up of water, as is most of our Earth. Water truly is an amazing thing.