Updates From Old Posts

For those of you who emailed and commented asking about my knee . It is completely better. Sorry I failed to post an update over the weekend. I didn't have to go to the doctor. When I got up the next morning, it was all better. Thanks!

Now, remember the gecko post? Dirk mentioned to me the other day that he hadn't seen the gecko in a while. So, I was possibly thinking that it was time for me to start checking the mail again. Since our conversation last week, I hadn't really thought about it anymore. Well, today Morgan was coming back from a walk and went to get the mail before coming in. Guess what? There the stupid thing was having a field day crawling all over the mail AGAIN! Now I am really getting the creepies! Okay, I know that this is way out there...but the mail is nasty enough. Now, I have to (choose to) think about gecko poop and slobber all over the mail. Even worse it might try to sell me some insurance!

On a happier note, remember the post about our girls having a contest each week and one of them being rewarded with ice cream from Baskin Robins? This has REALLY worked! The girls are still taking the contest very serious. We have not had an issue with them keeping their rooms clean since we started this. The girls are really happy about this. We thought that it might wear off just a little, but not so far. I must say that because they are so serious about it, this is now keeping us on our toes to check more often. I am still shocked at how well it's still going. Like I mentioned in the previous post, my girls LOVE LOVE LOVE ice cream and especially from Baskin Robins. It costs us $4.50 a week to maintain this and it's worth every penney to save the arguments in this department!!

Daddy's Not Strange

I was desperately trying to explain to Jae, our youngest, why she couldn't have a friend over when I wasn't home. She felt the need to remind me that Dad was going to be home, though.

So, our conversation went something like this;

"Mom, since Dad is going to be home, can't I pleasssssssssssssssssse have a friend come over?"

"Jae, you're just not allowed to have friends over when Mom is not at home"

"But, why?" she asked.

"Well, some Moms really don't like their little girls to be around strange men." I said.

"Mom, Dad is not strange to me."

Thank God that Dirk walked into the room in time to help me with this one.

"Dad, can you help explain to Jae why little girls can't come over when I'm not home?" I asked.

"Well, Jae, like mom was saying, some Moms don't like for their little girls to be around Dads when the Mom is not at home."

Okay, we both felt like we were talking in circles and because of Jae's age, it's still really hard to explain this to her.

She finally just said, "Well, that's just weird."

We've just never allowed our girls to have little friends over when I am not at home. This may sound strange to most people, but we would like think of it as being wise.

I mentioned this to a friend earlier today and she was telling me that she'd never even thought of the possible repercusions of allowing her little girl's friends to come over when she wasn't at home.

I know that this is way out there for some people. We've just never compromised on this with our girls. Even more so today, it's just not worth taking a chance on things getting twisted.

Alright, tell me your thoughts on this.

Menopause ~ The Musical

A friend and I went to see "Menopause, The Musical" last night. It was one of the funniest musicals I have ever been to. One of my neighbors mentioned to me earlier in the week that she had gone to see it. At the time, I'd never even heard of it.

After hearing how much fun my neighbor had going to this, I checked into it. By the time I called the next morning, they had seven tickets left before being sold out at every show. I snatched a couple of them quick.

I have since learned that the musical has been in 200 cities and is now traveling again. Friends, you gotta see this. It is absolutely hilarious! I haven't laughed this hard in a long time and it was worth every penny!

Okay, so what that I'm (you're) not going through the change yet! If you find out that's it's coming to your city, try and go see it.

I've also attached a video clip to sum it up better than I can even begin from the lady who wrote it and also the audience speaking about it.



It is not a "dirty" show, but it is oriented towards adults and it has one scene with adult matter.

I promise you won't be disappointed!

I've Been Tagged!!

I've been tagged by one of blogging buddies, April, to post 6 random things about myself. Oh my! This will be entertaining for some of you.

Here goes;

1.) I used to eat dirt when I was kid! I know some of you, considering what a picky eater I am, may find this hard to believe.

2.) I am deathly afraid of animals of any kind. The strange thing about it, is that I've never been attacked by one. I just don't do well around them. It is something that I am working on and I pray that one day I will be normal like the rest of the world and be able to touch or perhaps even hold an animal of some sort. When Dirk and I first got married, we went to visit his mother one weekend. She'd forgotten to put the cat outside. The cat came into the living room and I jumped over the couch (LITERALLY)!

3.) I sometimes eat Lay's potato chips mixed in vanilla ice cream.

4.) I rear ended someone while driving in the rain. The retarded thing about this is, a few months after my car was repaired I rear ended another person in the SAME EXACT SPOT! The only difference was my car was completely totalled after this last accident and I had to buy another car.

5.) I am neat freak! I mean.....an abnormal neat freak. I don't do well at all with things being out of order whether it's at home or at the office. I do realize to a degree this is not healthy, alright?

6.) I can not text message if my life depended on it! Seriously, the few times I've tried, it has taken a minimum of 15 minutes to type the first WORD! If my life had to depend on me text messaging, I would surely not make it!

Alrighty! Now that most of you totally think that I am the strangest person anyone could meet, let me tag some blogging buddies.

Now, if you're tagged, here's what you do:

1. Post the rules on your blog
2. Write 6 random things about yourself
3. Tag 6 people
4. Please pass it on for fun...

I've tagged:

Jessica & Matt
Thinking Out Loud with Jenn
Chameleon
I Am a Beautiful Mess
Loving Each Day
Lily's Pad

Have fun!

What Was I Thinking???

So, I should have known better...

Being that I am blind as a bat in the first place, why in the world would I make a move without my fake eyes?

Last night as I was washing my makeup off, I went ahead and took out my contacts at the same time. I usually take them out after my shower. My mind must have been in overload or something because I didn't realize that I couldn't see until I was already in the shower. Okay, it's not like I was driving, or trying to read a book or even walk around the house without my contacts in, I was in the shower. Short of falling (which I guess, now that I think about it, is more likely to happen without my fake eyes), I should have been fairly safe, right?

Well, as I was getting out of the shower, I didn't remember or see the stupid door. I CRASHED right into it. I literally lost my breath and thought that I was going to pass out.

Okay, you can stop laughing at me.

I finally wobbled into the office to seek pity from Dirk. He's such a sweetheart.

Unfortunately, I couldn't walk for the rest of the night. Pretty dumb move, huh? My right knee was throbbing very badly and it started to swell up a little bit. I was praying that it would be better this morning. It was better, but not enough for my limp to go unnoticed at work today. As the day progressed, it seemed to get a bit better, though.

Now that it's night and the doctor's office is closed (of course), my knee is hurting again and it feels like something is moving around inside it. Crazy, I know? Seriously, I can't explain it. Maybe there's nerve damage. I don't know!

Anywho, if it is not completely better in the morning, and because I tend to run to the doctor for anything that is slightly off with me or the kids, I will be heading to the doctor first thing.

Katie (my wonderful sister-on-law), if you're reading this, I think that I am getting to be more like you in this area. We might have two hypochondriacs in the family. :)

I'll never try this again. How r-e-t-a-r-d-e-d! Okay, don't agree with me. Just pray that my knee is all better in the morning and I don't have take time to go to the doctor.

Harley Davidson/Hollister

Weird combination, huh?

Even on my birthday I didn't feel that I was "getting old". However, I had a couple of incidents happen on the same day that made me think that maybe I'm older than I thought.

A friend was cleaning out her closet for a garage sale and gave me this t-shirt that had "Hollister" plastered across the front. Okay, I must also admit that it was a verrrrrrrrrry loud orange shirt with the word "Hollister" in dark bold blue writing. It's not a shirt that I would normally wear out. In fact, Morgan had asked that I never wear it out in public. The one time I decided to wear it in public, I had someone laugh out loud (almost hysterically) at me. His wife punched him in the arm for doing so. He said that people my/our age usually wouldn't wear Hollister clothing that was so obvious. Don't get upset for me friends. I know him; it wasn't like he was a total stranger. He is a jokester for the most part, but I think he was being fairly truthful. His wife punched him in the arm again.

I made the mistake of telling Morgan about this.

She reminded me, "Mom, I told you that only a teenager would wear that shirt."

I laughed out loud.

While talking to Morgan, another subject came up. I asked her if she knew if her youth pastor had gotten a Harley Davidson.

"Mom, please don't say 'Harley Davidson'. Call it a 'Harley'."

Again, I laughed out loud.

"Mom, seriously, people will laugh at you if you call it a 'Harley Davidson'."

I couldn't control my laughter as she continued to look at me with a confused look on her face which read, "I'm trying to help you out, old woman."

Needless to say, I will not be seen outside my home with this shirt again as I got the hint this time around and I won't be having any public conversations about "Harleys." I don't even sound right with just saying, "Harley."

We can sure count on our kiddos to be honest with us when it comes to stuff like this, huh?

I Had Alot of Fun With This!

I saw this while visiting another blog last night. Dirk and I had sooooooooo much fun with this!

Go to http://www.yearbookyourself.com/ and try it for yourself. Okay, so you don't have to return the favor and post your pictures if you're too embarrassed to show what you would have looked like back in the day.....longgggggggggggggggggggg ago!

Anyhow, see how far Dirk and I have come.... LOL























WE'VE COME A LONGGGGGGG WAY, BABY!!!!!

And Our Decision Wassssssssssssssssssssssssss...

If you don't have a teenager, or perhaps don't remember being one, this whole post may totally confuse you...

Meaning, things change like the drop of a hat! This time the change of plans worked in our favor.

Sooooooooo, our decision was to let Morgan go to Heather's house after her school photo assignment tonight.

And guess what? ALL THE PLANS TOTALLY CHANGED!!!!! I know, totally crazy,huh?

Morgan no longer wanted to go to Heather's house. Apparently, Heather changed it to be a sleepover with a few other girls as well. Morgan on the other hand, wanted it to be just the two of them. She said that she was also afraid that the other girls would want to go out driving around and she didn't want to be the only one who couldn't go if it came to that.

I tell ya friends, I think this was a pretty wise decision she made (all on her own).

Whew! And as usual, I stressed for nothing.

Thank you ALL for your input on this!

I'm Really Struggling With This...

Okay, I know that part of what I am about to discuss may sound... crazy, overprotective, possibly even a bit controlling, or perhaps living in a bubble and not the real world.

Here goes;

When Morgan was much younger (before 7th grade), we would never allow her to go to a new friend's home without first getting to know the new friend's parents. However, her friends have always been welcome to come to our house. Fortunately for Morgan and for us, most of the time it has worked out with the friend(s) coming to our home.

Through the years, Morgan hasn't always agreed or liked this rule and has even been embarrassed at times when her friends would ask her to spend the night and we said no, but, all in all, she respected the rule and knew that it was something that we weren't willing to give into. In fact, she stopped asking to spend the night at a new friend's house back in 2nd or 3rd grade. Seriously...no joke!

Fast forward...

Morgan is now a sophmore and this same rule applies to a degree. Meaning, she is allowed to hang out a friend's home for a few hours but no over night stays if we haven't met or don't know the parents.

It sounds crazy, but she's only been able to spend the night with the same old friends that we've known since grade school.

Welllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll tonight we got a big surprise!!! Morgan asked if she could spend the night at a friend's house tomorrow.

My first response was, "Absolutely not. We've only met Heather's parents once and don't really know what they're about."

"Mom/Dad, I'm a sophmore and much older, I can look out for myself," she said. "Don't you trust me?" We reminded her that the issue has never been that we didn't trust her, but that we didn't trust people we didn't know. However, we also realize that Morgan is old enough to make sure that nothing happens to her that she doesn't want to happen, for the most part. For instance, no one could molest her without her being able to defend herself. Neither could she be tricked into doing something "wrong" without her knowing better.

Before the conversation went any further, she asked if we would at least think about it.

Okay, we've thought about it, talked about, thought about it again, and talked about it again and decided..........................................................................................................................................................
that we'll pray about it and give her an answer in the morning.

I don't mind....tell me your thoughts.

Welfare Republicans

As I was waiting for the elevator this morning at my work, I overheard the most ridiculous conversation between these two men. At first, I was really surprised that they continued the conversation with me standing there. I’ll tell you why I THINK they continued the conversation at the end…

Anyhow, their conversation went something like this,

“Man, I can’t believe you’re a Republican! Don’t you know that you have to make at least 300K a year to be a Republican?”

The other guy had this look on his face, which to me read”What an uneducated idiot!”

The guy who was doing most of the talking then said, “And man, even if you only make 300K a year, you’re considered a welfare Republican.”

I was tripping out! I couldn’t believe that I was hearing this.

Okay….. so let me also inform you that these two guys were both African American and I believe that the loud mouth guy continued his conversation because one, I am black and two, he obviously thinks that all black people are (or should be) Democrats.

This guy was a trip!

I really don’t like to discuss politics because of the quick arguments that usually arise from the difference of opinions.

BUT, I really considered saying something to him like;

a.) Don’t assume that all black folks are Democrats
b.) I know many African Americans who make under 300K a year and who are Republicans
c.) And I know a few white folks who make waaayyyyyyyyyyyyy over 300K and who are Democrats

Don’t worry! I kept my mouth shut.

As I was getting off the elevator, the loud mouth guy started saying, “And man, don’t you know that if we still made our own money at the fed building that our country wouldn’t be in debt now…..”

Hey, I’ll be the first to say that I don’t a lot about politics, but it was obvious that this guy was not only clueless, but also totally confused about some things!

I laugh just thinking about this all over again!

I Can Only Do So Much...

I kept having to remind myself of this statement many, many times at work today.
In fact, just by saying it throughout the day, I was able to remain calm, peaceful, energetic and for the most part, happy.

Unfortunately, my Houston office is shut down due to Hurricane Ike. They are without power and, at the moment it doesn't appear that they will be open tomorrow either. This being said, I have handled ALL of their files and phones calls since last Friday. We're talking easily another 250-300 files thrown at me.

Fortunately and unfortunately, our business never stops....hurricane or not. Well, maybe a teeny tiny bit. In this particular case, the hurriance did not stop the business. However, it left a lot of residences and businesses without electricity.

I got to the office around 8 this morning and did not leave until 9 tonight. Morning will come quick since I plan on being in the office around 7.

Sooooooooooooooooooooo, I might not be up for much blogging this week unless you pray for me to have an abundance of energy. I know that you, my loyal fans, really enjoy hearing what I have to say, so I trust that you're already praying. LOL.

Seriously, please pray for me this week as I am feeling a little overwhelmed with this.

And although I was able to remain calm and collected today, I'm just not sure how I will be tomorrow or the rest of the week if I have to cover for my Houston office the whole time.

YIKES!

Orphans of God

As I was driving into work one day last week, I heard this song and it just really ministerd to me. It's another one of those songs that I can't get out of my mind. I found it on You Tube and wanted to share it with you all.

Listen to the words and I am sure that they will minister to you as well.



Pretty powerful words,huh?

THIS is Hunk Cheese...

Okay, for all you white folks reading this but have not a clue what hunk cheese is...

Your previous comments really tickled me. I did ask Dirk (my wonderful husband, who also happens to be white) what would a white person call our “hunk cheese”. Some of his thinking is now on the black side after 18 years and he couldn’t think of what you would call it. So, after reading Jennifer’s comment that most people (meaning, I think white people) would call it “block cheese” made a little bit more sense. LOL

And although I totally disliked the Kroger brand fudge bars, their hunk/block cheese is just fine!

A Slow Me Down Test

Today I was extremely exhausted for some reason and just wanted to get home from a long day at the office.

Unfortunately, we were all out of hunk cheddar cheese and ice cream at the Reeves' household. Sooooooooooooooooooooooooo, I felt that I had to make one stop at the grocery store on the way.

I rushed into Kroger only to find that they were extremely busy! There were lines everywhere. I picked up my hunk cheese, rushed over to the frozen section in the store, and grabbed 2 boxes of frozen fudge bars. Okay....back up, Blue Bell wasn't on sale and because I am so frugal and I refuse to pay for even BB at full price ($5.99 a gallon), I decided to go with the only brand that was on sale, Kroger's brand. I never buy store brand ice cream...but I thought that it just might be pretty good.

Fast forward, my turn finally came to be checked out. I was getting more and more excited to finally get into my car and be home in about 7 minutes. As I started my car, it dawned on me that it didn't seem like I was charged enough for the items I'd picked up (2 hunk cheeses and 2 boxes of fudge bars). I yanked my receipt back out of my check register and looked at it. Sure enough, the cashier had not charged me for all of my products.

"Are you kidding me?"

I SO DID NOT WANT to turn the car off, get back out of my nice warm and cozy car, run in the rain again, carry my two bags back inside, and stand in line AGAIN! But, I knew that I had to.

I slowly turned the car off, slowly walked back into Kroger, slowly walked up to the customer service line and advised the worker that I was not charged for everything. Unfortunately as he was trying to take care of me, his machine ran out of receipt tape. It took him forever to go and get the receipt paper, then to load the machine and then to ring up my now melted ice cream. I was too tired to even go back and switch it out.

In any case, I believe this was a test for me in a couple of ways:

God is still trying to slow me down and help me not to be so consumed with my plans and my on-time schedule all the time.

One other thing that came to mind was that, other than me, only God knew that I was not charged for the second box of fudge bars. I could easily have kept them without going back as I really don’t think that Kroger would have missed the $2.50 or the fudge bars for that matter.

If this is God’s way of testing me with the small things in life, I’ll take it any time.

Btw, the cashier never even said, “Thank you.”

And after having one of these fudge bars tonight…………………YUK! They taste awful!

In fact, the girls looked at me like I was stupid for buying them when they tried them as well.

So, I’ll slow myself down even more tomorrow when I return them!

...And Happy Birthday to Me

So, today was my birthday!

I took the day off and spent most of it with a close friend, Wilma. I really enjoyed our time together. As hard as it was, I tried not scheduling everything out. You would be proud of me!

Anyhow, after my visit with Wilma, I decided to stop at the mall. Nowadays, most of my mall time is spent either buying for Jae or running from store to store with Morgan. Not only was it totally awesome to walk through the mall looking for something for me, it was even better that the mall was TOTALLY dead. Seriously, I walked into 3 different stores and I was the only customer in the store. It was sooooooooooo nice!!! As I was walking through one store, a couple of employees were so bored, they were dancing to the music (weird music) that is usually playing in the mall. They jokingly said that they didn't have anything to do and were trying to entertain each other. Hmmmmm....whatever. Anyhow, I enjoyed this little two hour stop. I didn't buy much, but just having the time alone in a mall by myself was wonderful.

Tonight, Dirk and the girls treated me to dinner. And , no (Jessica) I wasn't treated to III Forks by Morgan. (LOL) We ate at our usual place, the Olive Garden, and I enjoyed it just as much.

Dirk asked me, "Without thinking about it, how old are you?" And without thinking about it, I said, "38". He laughed and asked me to do the math. Okay, so for those of you who already asked me this question....I was wrong. I am 37 years old today! I know this sounds crazy me forgetting how old I am, huh?

All joking aside...

At one time during the day, I started reminiscing about my childhood. I have shared with many people of where I came from. My mother (a single parent) did a wonderful job in raising me and my two sisters, but life (as a young child/teenager) was very difficult at times. I remember even at a young age having such BIG dreams. Most of those dreams have been fulfilled through my adult years. Anyhow, as I was celebrating my special day, I never felt any sadness about getting a year older, or regrets over things that I still haven't done, or thoughts of what ifs in my life. Instead, I was thanking God for bringing me this far and for blessing me in more ways than I can count. I still have dreams and they are bigger than they were back in my younger days. I believe, like I did then, that they will be fulfilled as well.

Our Journalist In the Making

Morgan was chosen as the newspaper/magazine photographer and assistant photo editor for her school this year.

She has been very excited about landing this new position.

In fact, she had her first assignment at last night's football game. She was soooooo nervous. She must have said at least twenty times, "I hope I get good pictures." Dirk and I had not planned on staying for the game. We were just going to drop her off and go back home. While driving there it was almost like the Lord pricked my heart that we needed to stay and give her moral support. So, we stayed and were very glad that we did.

Morgan hates when I use this word...but, she looked adorable!

She had all this camera equipment on her back and around her neck. She was wearing her little press pass (that gets her in for free). Getting in free will be a plus since she will be attending a lot of different games this year!

It was very exciting to watch Morgan out on the field taking pictures. She looked like a little pro.

She ended up taking rouhgly 400 pictures. I asked her to let me post some of her favorites that she will be submitting to the school newspaper/magazine.

Okay, I have no idea who any of these players are. Just enjoy the shots.

Didn't she do an AWESOME job on her first assignment?

We're so proud of her.

Words of Wisdom From a 7-Year Old

I know that some of you really get a kick out of me sharing about Jae’s conversations with us. She is truly unique and one of a kind when it comes to the mind of a 7-year old.

As we were getting ready for school yesterday, I asked her if she wanted cereal or oatmeal for breakfast.

She asked, “Mom, did you buy any Pop Tarts when you were at the store?”

“Nope, I did look for them, but Target didn’t have any. So I picked up oatmeal instead.” I said to her.

“Mom, was the oatmeal on sale?”

I had no idea what her little mind was getting at by asking the question.

“Yes, the oatmeal was on sale Jae, why do you ask?” I said.

“Mom, why do you ALWAYS buy things that are on sale?” she asked.

After she asked this, I knew that she was remembering past conversations that I had with Morgan. As Morgan finally figured out that if I can’t get something on sale…we’re not buying it.

Anyhow, I laughed when she asked this, but proceeded with…
“Jae, we buy things on sale to save more money.”

Her exact words…“Mom, then why don’t you just shop at Wal-Mart for everything? Everything is on sale at Wal-Mart. ‘Save money, live better’ is what the commercial says.”

I would have never guessed that she would say something like this.

Jae is so smart and we often have some pretty unusual conversations with her, but she continues to catch us off guard by some of the things her little mind comes up with.

Cute, huh?