Happy Birthday Baby

Thirty-eight years ago today I remember exactly what I was doing and where I was. I was in the Maternity Ward of our local hospital. She weighed 7 lbs. 4 oz. and her name is Teresa. She's one of my pride and joys.

Today was a good day. Nothing exciting but still good. The sun was shining and the temperature was around 43°. I took care of a few things around the house, then Bob and I went to WalMart to get some things. We picked up a few items for our Thanksgiving dinner next week. The rest I'll get later so I know they're fresh.

We saw my sister at the store and talked to her for a few minutes. She'd just gotten off work and she looked so tired. I worry about her. Her job is taking so much out of her. I don't know how much longer she's going to be able to keep this up. The job is taking it's toll on her physically.

After Bob and I checked out with our groceries, we brought them home, put things away then we went out for supper. We have a nice family restaurant up on Main St. that we like to go to. They have the best fried chicken, a salad/soup and hot bar. And home-made pies. It was dark when we left there, so we came into the house, turned on the TV and here we sit.

Today I am thankful for my little house. We lived in the country for several years, a half-hour drive just to buy a gallon of milk, and now that we live in town, I love being close to all our shopping. Our little house might not be very pretty, but inside it's warm and comfortable. Where anyone is welcome. Our children and grandchildren love to come here for get-togethers, where we always have a good time. And usually lots of food to go with it. In the summer we have backyard cookouts and in the cold weather, we play games on the kitchen table where we always get to laughing. My little 3-bedroom bungalow on a tree-lined street in a small town is where I live and that is a blessing I'm so thankful for.

Take care.
God bless.

"That's Where I'm From"

A boy born and raised in our little town had dreams of going to Nashville and recording his music. I went all through school with his mother and he was born the same year as my youngest daughter.

Well, Joel made it to Nashville and recorded his first song a couple years ago. Then it was made into a video. I thought you might like seeing it. All the scenes are my town and all the people I have known for years.

Murky Monday

My Sunday was a good day. Weather-wise it was beautiful. It got up to 70°, lots of sunshine, but the wind wanted to blow my hair off my head. Traveling the 10 miles to the baby shower in my van was a struggle to keep it on the road.

The baby shower for my great-niece went well. They held it in the community building because Ashley's mother sent out 80 invitations! Of course not everyone showed up, but she did receive some very nice gifts and everyone had a good time.

Looking out my window..... it's SNOWING! Well, this is November. When I went out to get the paper this morning, it felt so cold. After yesterday's warm sunshine, today's temperature is going into a downward fall into the 20's. No wonder my joints here.

This coming Thursday is our baby girl's birthday. Teresa will be 38! I feel so old. Then Saturday is her baby's birthday. Bryan's our youngest grandchild and he'll be 6! The years are just flying by too fast.

That explosion in Indianapolis yesterday has several people scratching their heads. It was horrible. The devastation is unbelievable. 80 homes destroyed! As of right now, I don't think they yet know what caused it. There's been stories of a plane crashing into the houses. Or a meth lab. Or a gas leak. But according to the latest reports, all of those scenarios have been ruled out.

I got a message from my baby brother in TX. He and his wife coming up next week and will be here over Thanksgiving. This was a surprise. It will be good to see them. His son and his 2 kids may be coming with them. We haven't seen his son in years.

Why do some motels put a chocolate on your pillow? I ate a chocolate last night, then tossed and turned all night. I couldn't sleep. I should know better because that happens every time. Chocolate gives me energy.

Today my thoughts turn to my brother. He's 6 years younger than me and when we were growing up, he was a real pain. He loved to pick on me, but he and my sister were just 18 months apart, and they fought all the time. Even physical fights. I hated it but couldn't stop them. Now we're adults and he has become my close friend. He's a good man with a kind heart. He's dropped everything to go to someone's aid. He loves his family deeply and cried on my shoulder when his wife had cancer and he was so afraid of losing her, the love of his life. Today, I'm thankful for having my brother in my life.

I hope you're having a good Monday.
God bless.

Springlike Saturday

Our weather was beautiful today. It was 71° and warm sunshine. Bob took care of some chores outside that he hadn't gotten to plus he mowed the grass one more time before the snow falls. We both enjoyed the weather.

I had to run an errand while he was mowing, then got home just in time to help him adjust the cables on one of our garage doors. When our work was done, Pizza Hut delivered our supper. It's been a long time since we've had a pizza, it tasted SO good.

I picked up a couple more little items to put in the gift bag for Ashley's baby shower tomorrow. I love to give gifts, but I'm always a "practical" giver... giving those items that I'm sure they can use.

I love Christmas movies. And I like to watch the Lifetime Channel. Now they're doing their 'countdown to Christmas'. I get to watch 2 or 3 movies every night until Christmas. It may just put me in the mood. :) I have to get through Thanksgiving first. I'll have all our girl's families here for dinner. There's 15 of us.

I just got a text message from our youngest daughter. Her 8 yr. old son loves army films and tonight he was asking her about our family, if anyone fought in the war of 1812. I've been doing our genealogy for years so she told me that he has lots of questions for me. She said for me to get prepared. He can't wait to come over. I'm looking forward to it too. It doesn't matter how many kids you have in a family, there's always those that don't show any interest in family history. So when one grandchild wants to know, it does my heart good. I hope I have someone to pass all this information down to.

What I'm thankful for..... my husband. We've been married 46 years. He graduated from high school in 1964. We had already been dating a year by then. I then graduated June 1965 and we got married the following Feb. He's been my best friend, my lover, my provider, my helper, my support and the father of my 3 beautiful daughters. He's worked hard to provide for his family, hardly missing a day, even when he was sick. I would love to go back and do it all over again.

I hope you have a wonderful Sunday.
God bless.

Friday Nov. 9, 2012

I tried to think of a word that would go with "Friday" to describe my day, but I couldn't think of one. All of my days are just 'quiet'. I probably should enjoy them while they last. The holidays are approaching fast and then my days will be busy.

This morning I had to work. I talked to our ad rep at our local paper about our auction ad. Then my boss sent me more work to do for him. That took most of my morning.

Then this afternoon Bob and I went to the store to buy some baby things. No, it's not me. HaHaHa. My niece (my sister's daughter) is going to have her first grandchild. That will make my sister a great-grandmother. Wow! And I'm older than her. My grandchildren aren't ready to be parents. I hope. Anyways, the girls are throwing Ashley a baby shower Sunday.

Our weather was fairly nice today. Sunshine and 60°. Not normal Nov. weather for us. I can remember one November day when our weather wasn't normal either. In fact it turned deadly. The temperature went up into the high 70's and the sun was shining. We were all enjoying it until the storm sirens went off. They screamed for almost an hour. It was terrifying.

Nov. 12, 2002....
"F4 tornado damage at Van Wert, Ohio (winds 207 to 260 mph). Tornado touched down near Willshire and moved northeast for 53 miles to central Henry County.  The tornado lifted near Malinta, Ohio.  F4 damage occurred on Lincoln Highway west of Van Wert.  F4 damage also occurred at the intersection of Dull-Robinson and Zook roads.  There was one fatality at this location, as well as an injury.  A couple was in the upstairs portion of their home.  As the tornado approached the husband attempted to cover his wheelchair-bound wife.  As he was doing this the home was hit, and a projectile struck the husband in the back of his head.  His wife was sent to the hospital in critical condition.  Another casualty occurred when the tornado swept a car off the road near Van Wert's Twin Cinemas, killing the driver inside."

My husband and son-in-law were standing out front of our house in the street, looking for signs of a tornado. I was standing in the doorway. I had my daughter and 2 grandchildren in the hall, with blankets and pillows. I was watching my husband outside. Then I saw both of them turn and run for the house. When I saw their faces turn white I knew we were in trouble. The tornado was almost 3 miles wide and crossing our street a mile down. That's when it turned and followed the creek and hit the movie cinemas just a mile over from our house. Another smaller funnel broke off from the big one and came over our house. There was some amazing stories that came out later about the movie theater. Several miracles took place that day. But it was also the scariest day of my life. During all this, my phone rings. My brother in Texas was listening to his satellite radio and heard the announcement. He calls to make sure we're ok. He had no idea the tornado was just a mile from us. 

I have no idea why I got started on that subject. 

What am I thankful for? In the spirit of this story, I have to say.... I'm thankful that God kept us all safe.
Psalms 91:11 ... I stood on His promise that day.





 

Thursday Thoughts

Not much going on around my little house today. Bob and I had to run out to WalMart today to get some things we were out of... all those taxable items that I won't get at the grocery store because they're too expensive. 

I had to do some more work for my boss today. These 2 auctions he has coming up is keeping us both busy. 

We just heard on the news there was another murder in the county just south of us. The man is still on the run and could be headed this way. We're all on alert for his vehicle. This is getting crazy. We used to live in such a safe area.  

My youngest grandson will be 6 yrs. old next week. It's hard to believe. My daughter is having a party for him, but it's also a party for her. His birthday is the 17th... her's is the 15th. And I don't have the slightest idea what to give either one of them. She keeps telling us -- NO MORE TOYS. Ok, but what about  Bryan? 

I've been hearing all day today of several companies beginning to lay off workers. And so it begins.  Obummer told employers to wait until after the election to announce any lay-offs. Which is illegal. But has he done anything legal since 2008? 

Yesterday we watched the stock market take a big dip and the price of gasoline jump up 30¢ a gal.!! More Obamanomics. 

I'm thankful for my mother. She raised 3 of us on her own. She worked a hard, tiring job in a uniform factory, sewing men's pants, for a small wage, just to keep a roof over our heads, food on our table, and clothes on our backs. Our father walked out on us when we were young and she had to be mother and father both. She taught me so very much. She was the strongest woman I know. She died in 1989 and a day doesn't go by that I don't think of her and miss her.   

Well, it's time to get ready for bed. I have a few things to take care of first, then I have a date with a good book. 

Tomorrow is Friday already. You know what that means ...................... the weekend!!

Take care.
God bless.

The day after the election

All day I've felt lost, like the slats have been pulled out from under me. I can't believe that man got re-elected. Half of this country decided to give him another 4 years to completely destroy us. It's unbelievable.

I made a comment on Facebook this morning about the 'stupid liberals' and I was put down for it. I know I shouldn't have said that. And I am sorry that I had resulted to doing the same as others have in this campaign. Name calling.

Now I need to move on... concentrate on each day... and leave the future in God's hands. I did my part, what I could do, and that's all anyone can do. The rest is out of my control.

Our weather was beautiful today... lots of sunshine. It was still chilly, high of 48°, but all in all, not bad. The rest of the week is suppose to be really nice, in the 60's. I just may go for a walk tomorrow.

I was doing a load of laundry this morning when I got an email from my employer. He sent me a list of personal property his client is selling at the auction Nov. 24th. I had to call him, then finished my housework before I went into work mode. I spent the afternoon working on the advertising and the scheduling with the newspapers, until it was time for supper. I fixed some fish and vegetables, cleaned up the kitchen, then sat down to relax in front of this computer.

I'm so thankful for a loving God and Savior. He has opened my eyes and heart to His love. He literally saved my life and He's walked with me every day since.

Take care.
God bless.