No Computer

Well, it's been awhile since I last posted. My computer crashed some time ago and I don't know when I'll be able to get another one. But......today I'm going to take a test for a new job. If I get this job I'll be making $2.00 an hour more than I'm making now. Plus, in 6 months I'll get a $2.00 more raise. I'm not positive I want this job but I'm trusting God to give it to me or not. If I get it, fine, if I don't, fine. If I don't get this job, after Christmas I plan on getting a part-time job. Then, maybe, I'll be able to get another computer. Where I work they are always getting new computers. But they won't let the employees have the old ones (that still work!). Doesn't make alot of sense, huh?

I'm glad the election is finally over. My candidate (Sarah Palin) didn't win. I hope she runs for President next time. When McCain won the primary I had heard rumors he was going to pick a pro-abortion V.P. I had made up my mind if he did, I wasn't voting for him (or Obama) and writing him a letter telling him why. Anyway, I was very excited when he picked Palin. I feel she kept McCain from losing from a landslide. It's going to be a very interesting 4 years, but I feel like we got the President we deserve. We as Americans selected him. God give him the wisdom to lead this country.

My Hero

We have been working long and hard on our new room addition. Of course this is after we get home from work. My dad is a "retired" carpenter. In just the last year or so he quit working carpentry for a living and is "preaching full-time" as he puts it. He recently sold us the house we live in and sold it to us cheap enough so we can build a big family room on. He has all the skills to build it so our labor is "free", all we have to do is buy the materials. The labor may not cost anything with money, but it is not free. My dad will be 71 years old this year. He has always been very active and has always been young for his age. But he's been working so hard on this room. Sometimes at the end of the day I just come into the house and cry because his body is getting older and can't do everything he wants it to do. But he keeps on doing it....for me. One day I felt like I was killing my dad because he's doing such hard work for me on this room. He always helps people and never expects anything in return. He nevers throws it up in their face that "he helped them, now why don't they help him?" I cried alot that day. I can imagine how David in the Bible felt when he wanted a drink of water from the well in Bethlehem and 3 of his Soldiers secretly went behind enemy lines to get him a drink from it. David wouldn't drink it when they brought it to him, but poured it out. To him it was the same as the blood of the men who got it for him. My dad is giving me alot of his time, sweat and labor. All because he loves me that much. There's no way I can ever repay him. The only thing I can do is try to be like him and also when he's helping someone else, I can help him help them. I hope when this room is done he'll be able to enjoy it for years and years with our family.

(He laid all the blocks himself for the room and helped tear off the old roof on our house)

I've tried to upload some pictures of my dad but they won't work, I'll try again later.

Goals...

I'm thinking I should set some goals. Maybe like...a goal of writing in this blog at least once a month. Hehe. I enjoy other's blogs so much I don't make time for my own. Everyone has such interesting lives and thoughts....and then there's me. :) I think of things...but then I don't have time (or don't make time) to write them down.

For instance....my birthday was in February. I just knew they would make a big deal out of it at work. Blah! I hate being the center of attention and almost called in sick. Everything was decorated. Signs were everywhere. Cake, presents, I didn't think it was ever going to end! I'm not good at being on the receiving end of these kind of things but I just told myself I'm going to enjoy it whether I wanted to or not. And it actually wasn't too bad. Most people didn't know how old I am, and they were very surprised when they found out my age. That always makes me feel good. Now everyone knows. At least they didn't sing "Happy Birthday".

My husband had a surprise birthday party at my mom's house for me the Sunday before my birthday. Every Sunday during the winter we have dinner (12:30 pm on the dot) at my mom's. My entire family comes. What a madhouse! It was a surprise because my mom was in Florida at the time and I didn't know we were going to have dinner there that week. Well, actually I did, but I never told anyone. My grandson asked me about having dinner and I said I didn't know anything about it. That kind of gave me an idea. Then my dad said something about if my husband had everyone lined up to bring food. So.....that was the give-a-way. I never told anyone I knew coz that would have ruined everything for them. Anyway....I always love to spend time with my family. It was great! And yes...they sang "Happy Birthday" to me...if you want to call that "singing".

My dad took me geocaching after I got home from work. I've found over 500 now and he's working his way to 1000. And....a reporter from a nearby town got ahold of me since a mutual friend told them I'm a geocacher and my dad, another friend and I made the paper (with pictures). It was a nice article about geocaching.

I would love to post a picture of my daffodils. They're so beautiful but my camera doesn't like using the discs anymore and I'm not exactly sure how to use the memory stick. I'd like to plant some more. I've figured out deer don't eat daffodils and iris's.

Yesterday I went to a baby shower for my cousin. I don't know if this is an "American" thing or not. Do people in other countries have baby showers? In case the answer is no, I'll explain it a little. I got an invitation to come to a baby shower with the time and date on it. I bought a baby boy's outfit (since she already had the baby boy...2 weeks old). Everyone wrapped up their presents and took them to the shower. We ate cake and tea or coffee, and watched her unwrap her presents, and took turns holding the baby. A kind of new thing around here is that more men are attending baby showers. Men never used to go to showers, then it seemed like the new father attended...and now more and more men are coming. I guess times are changing. Sometimes we play games at showers, but we didn't yesterday. It was just nice to see cousins I rarely see.

Would you believe I've never used "spellcheck"? I just clicked on it and it doesn't like the words "coz", "geocaching" and "ahold". Oh well... :)

It's good to have the internet back. Something was wrong with it for over a week. Now I gotta go check out "Inspired's" blog.....http://backhometostay.blogspot.com/







Oh...btw...I turned 50

LET IT SNOW!

Alot of the country has been hit by an ice/snow storm and we got some of it here too. Everything was shut down for 2 days and we were out of power for 10 hours. There are lots of disadvantages to all this snow, so I wanted to take a minute to post some good things about all this snow. Here are some I came up with:

1. Staying inside where it's warm(er) watching the birds eat. I gave them a whole bunch of sunflower seeds and they eat it all in a day. I have to fill the feeders every night!

2. "Diamonds in the snow". We don't have to be rich enough for real diamonds when God gives us millions of diamonds to enjoy as the sun hits the snow as it glistens in the sun. And they're all FREE!

3. Walking in the woods seeing animal tracks to see where they've been and where they're going.

4. Listening to the crunch crunch as I walk through the woods.

5. Snowed in! 2 days off work cause of the ice/snow storm (it snowed last night and is still snowing now) Woo-hoo!

6. Power outage. Yes, there's some advantages to that. By the way--always have at least 1 phone in your house that isn't cordless. They won't work when the power is off. It's amazing how many phone calls are made and recieved when the power is off. I like it. People connect more. Maybe we should all shut our TV's and computers off more often...

7. Electricity. I'm thankful for the people that go out in blizzards to get the power back on. Whatever they get paid, it's not enough. It also reminds me of my friends in Iraq where this is a "normal" part of everyday life (power outages). I don't think a person could ever "get used to it."

8. FUN FUN FUN THINGS! Snowmen, snowballs, snow angels and sledding. My dad used to make us snow ice cream when we were young after a big snow.

9 It's beautiful! I love watching the snow fall and just imagine....no 2 are alike!

I stole this idea from a blog I discoverd a couple of days ago. To see her 13 things she loves about winter check out: http://grammy55.blogspot.com/2007/02/chilly-thursday-thirteen.html

I wonder why I never come up with 10 things to even it off........


Luke 12:6,7 What is the price of five sparrows? A couple of pennies? Yet God does not forget a single one of them. And the hairs on your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are more valuable to him than a whole flock of sparrows. (NLT)

THANK GOD FOR LITTLE TOWNS (from i'm inspired)

I read alot of blogs and "i'm inspired" is one I try to read every day. She writes from Texas and also lives in a small town. She posted this about little towns a couple of months ago and I'm just now getting around to posting it on here. I hope to put some links to more blogs I read in the future. Here is her link: http://backhometostay.blogspot.com/

A little town is the only place on earth where people past middle age are called by their first name when they saunter down the street.
A little town is where you don’t have to guess who your enemies are.
Your friends will tell you.
A little town is where everybody knows everybody else’s car by sight and also where and when it goes.
A little town is where you don’t use your signal light because everyone knows where you’re going.
A little town is where you drive into the ditch 5 miles out of town and word gets back into town before you do.
A little town is where the pickups on main street outnumber the cars three to one.
A little town is when you get a wrong number you can talk for 15 minutes anyhow, if you want to.
A little town is where it’s hard to walk for exercise because it takes too long to stop and explain to people in cars who stop, honk and offer a ride.
A little town is where city folk say there is nothing to do, but those who live there don’t have enough nights in the week to make all the meetings and social functions.
A little town is where everyone becomes a neighbor in case of need.
A little town is where businessmen struggle for survival against city stores and shopping centers.
A little town is where these same businessmen dig deep many times to help with countless fund-raising projects.
A little town is where many teenagers say there’s nothing to do and then are surprised to learn that their big city peers are saying the same thing.
A little town is where you miss a Sunday at church and you receive a get-well card.
A little town is where someone asks you how you feel, then listens to what you say.
A little town knows all the news before it is published. They just read the hometown paper to see if the editor gets it right.
A little town is when all is said and done is a great place in which to live.Thank God for little towns, and the people who live in them.


UPDATE ON ME: I'm in the process of borrowing the money from the bank to buy the house I live in. Since I'm buying my house off my DAD....he is selling it to me ALOT cheaper than it's worth. Which means I'm going to be able to build on a big dining room/family room...which I'm going to be calling my "play-room". I plan on having a ping-pong table in there with lots of fold-up tables and chairs.

Most Sundays my family gathers at my mom's house for a big family dinner. When I get my room built I can take some of those dinners from her and have them back here. Some people get the idea that Americans aren't close to their familes. Maybe they get that idea from TV, I don't know. But I know alot of families that are close. Like I said mine gets together almost every week-end. Most of us live within a couple of miles of each other. A few live 20 miles away and 1 lives 3 hours away. I e-mail my family a sheet of dates with birthdays, sports event the kids are in and anything else I think they might be interested in. I would like to start a "family newsletter", but I'll have to learn more about this computer first. (There are 6 birthdays in my family this month...that's NOT counting cousins, aunts, uncles, etc.) But that is counting mine...... :) Lots of volleyball games the last 2 months...and my husband got baptized last month. I know, I know, this is only interesting if you're in my family. Anyway.....I'm posting a picture of what my new room looks like before anything is started. We've got a LOT of work to do! That's our snowman in the picture. He fell over.

Psalm 127:4-5 Children born to a young man are like sharp arrows in a warrior's hands. How happy is the man whose quiver is full of them!

THANK GOD FOR LITTLE TOWNS

I was trying to copy and paste something from a fellow blogger's blog, but for some reason I couldn't get it to work right. I'll try again later. For now....here's a picture of one of my Christmas presents I received for Christmas. A new flag:

So much to say...so little time...

I've been thinking I really should let inspired know I didn't win the money that night. :( My team of 3 were very excited and thought we would have a chance. But....here are my reasons for not winning. Everyone participating joined in a large group and heard the "rules". Ok..fine. He handed out papers and away we all went. Everyone to the same clues. I know..that was weird. It wasn't very organized, but that's no reason for not winning. By the time we got to the last clue we just couldn't find it. According to the paper, we were looking for a man's name. Well, when it was all over and done with, what we were looking for was a DATE....1790 I think it was. It made no sense whatsoever. But then I remember the guy said, "yes, some of the clues and misleading and don't make any sense". That was an understatement. Oh well, it must have made "sense" to 10 groups, coz 10 groups got to go on to the next leg. We went home after that. It was late and getting cold. But......I'm not discouraged. I never got a chance to tell you about a contest my husband and I won 2 months ago. The paper had one and from the clues we had to go to different businesses in several different towns and collect "letters". Well, we got them all and sent them in and won $100!! (3rd place) So....this month they're having another contest. It's alot easier and I'm sure alot more people will be entering this one coz all you have to do is find certain things in the newspaper and send them in....for 15 days. How easy is that?? The prize is $500 given right before Christmas. It seems like people like to give away money this time of year so I'm taking advantage of it all. :D

Another subject I wanted to let you know about is to pray for a family that lost their son a few days before Thanksgiving. He was 15 years old which is a big thing in a small town like mine. It was a hunting accident. He was deer hunting and his gun discharged and killed him. It shakes up the whole town when something like that happens. We have 1 funeral home in Small Town and I'm guessing at least 1000 people were there for visitation. They had to hold the funeral at the high school gym because of the crowd. I think they have had to hold it there only 1 other time.

Yesterday was Thanksgiving and I'm wishing a late Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. Hubby and I went geocaching all afternoon until dark because we've had 3 Thanksgiving dinners to go to this year but none were actually on Thanksgiving Day. I love Thanksgiving because I can just enjoy my family (and food) and not worry about having to buy any presents and figure out who wants what. At my mom's my dad had everyone tell something they're thankful for. Mine was that I'm thankful for my family, friends (that means you) and all their family and friends and I want to be with them all in heaven someday. :) Even tho I've never met any of you that read this face to face I hope and pray we will meet in heaven and I have no doubt we will know each other there. JUST BE THERE! I love you all!

Philippians 1:3 Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God (NLT)