Whirlwind days!!!

Wow what a quick holiday! Thanksgiving at moms, shopping,birthday party for Dad, decorating the church and church services. Getting Rebecca where she needs to be because it is raining and so much more...Whew! What a whirlwind weekend.

Christmas Concerts are coming up and you all are invited! I will post dates later.
A trip to Operation Chrismtas Child on Dec 13th is coming and it is great to have a good trip like this.
I also want to make a trip to Greenwood soon to see my friend. I hope that I can do that soon. So much I want to do and so little time to do it in.

Rebecca to take SAT on Saturday at Irmo and William will find out soon if he will be the basketball manager. Kids!

Best news of all. WE HAVE RENTERS!!!! Yes. We will not have $ to show for it until Feb. so that is not good, but a light at the end of the tunnel.

November is Here!

Today is the end of another week. It is just beautiful outside...like it is March or April. I went to get lunch and it gives you the feeling like you just don't want to come back.

I will have a slow weekend and will make alot of plans for this month.
1- OCC and all that goes with that....lots!
2- Gettin approved to receive OCC inappropreiate items for FC to distribute back to the community
3- Decorating FC for Christmas!

It's all good, but very busy!
Everyone do some GoOd this week and log onto Facebook and search for the group: Friend Church.....lots of good going on there!
Love ya all-

Marching season is over!

Ok- marching band is over and we did not make state finals---this year. You have to understand all the changes that our band underwent this year and still came in 9th. New band director which means new way of marching, breathing and even teaching some to read music. We improved a great deal musicly and had some fun getting to know our new director too. So we are now in concert season and a time for mr. brady to actually work on the music with kids. Rebecca got handed a wooden clairnet yesterday to use during concert season. She was so excited! Wooden clairnets make such great tones and sounds than beginner ones do. That is what she has - beginner clairnet. William inherited some sticks from Rebeccas boyfriend and he thought that was just great!
Now we got report cards and Rebecca had all A's and 1 B (92). William had 3A's, 2 B's and a C (which was 1 point from a B. This is great for him.

Operation Christmas Child is just two weeks away so I hope everyone is shopping for those things to go in their box! If you want a poster to go up at work or business then let me know, I will have it at church on Sunday.
Invited several families to church...yeah! Trying to DO GOOD!

Shoebox Packing Party! Nov 15th at 7:00pm Friend Church in the Warehouse. Bring a finger food or whatever you like and lets eat and have fun together as we pack shoeboxes for OCC. You can bring your items to pack and we will have a few filler items too. So come and have some fun that night! Just DO GOOD!

Great Weekend!

I had a great weekend! Our band did great as they did a clean sweep of everything at West Oak HS- Westminister SC.
We took the following trophies home: Best Drum Major, Best drumline, best band front, best hornline, Division 4 Champions, Div 3& 4 Champions, Overall Grand Champions....whew! That was great! If you want to see the run you can see it on my facebook!

Another thing with OCC this weekend. Sunday night I went and talked to a Catholic youth group. Showed a DVD and Challenge them to be creative and own this project! They were all talking and coming up with great ideas! I hope that this is a start of something beautiful for this youth group.
Greg preached that morning about finding your JOB, your PLACE where God has gifted you and do that Job. I really never considered occ a job more like a passion. Someone talked behind my back one time and said...Pat will be one of those that will talk in front of lots of people. I never thought of it until now how God has allowed me to do that and how that person saw something in me at that time that I never saw in myself. Since then I have told that person that I heard what they said and was flattered they even thought that of me. Sometimes others see thing in you that you don't see in yourself. Take compliments from others as far as your gifts and stop and think.....is that my job? Take ownership of that and go with it. You will never know how God is using that for even Bigger plans down the road.

Jeremiah 29:11
"I know what I am doing. I have it all planned out...."

Go with what God has planned for you...not what you have planned for you!

Have a great week! Start packing those Shoeboxes!!!!

Emotions...

Right now with everything going on in my life and my family, today I have mixed emotions.

First- I heard from my best friend in China and I am glad he is coming home safely...another 30 hours on the plane doesn't sound fun, but I know he will have a great sermon when he gets back. So I am excited about all that.

Second- Band practice was really bad yesterday.....really bad. Our band director was not going to continue practice because kids were acting lazy and it was being non productive. Don't know if the kids will have another chance to perform before this weekends competition. If it rains tonight...most likely will...they will not go to the Lexington Football game. This means they will not perform again until the competition at West Oak HS. Unless...he lets them do a run through before leaving the high school on Saturday. So I am kinda sad about that for my kids and all the kids that has worked so hard. This is not our State competition...we have 3 more practices before that happens. Just want them to walk away from this season feeling good about marching and the new director. He really is good and knows what he is talking about...some just don't believe him. This is sad.

Third- Worried about how many shoeboxes our church is going to do. I have only gotten 300.00 vs the 1500.00 that I got last year for shoeboxes. I think I will need to ask for people to bring items such as washclothes, soap and toothbrushes. I have collected other stuff but not alot. Lots of stuffed animals but would love to do more. We will see.

Forth- Hopeful, that I have a renter for my house! 3 girls that wants to rent. I hope so because I will have to pay taxes on this soon and hope that all the financial stuff will work itself out..really tight on money for everything....I do mean everything!

Fifth- Exhausted. We are really close to having my sisters business in order. I worked over 7 hours after work this week on Wednesday to get things out. We are so close. I just need to push her a little bit more to finish the last 5 schools. I am learning a little bit about her systems and I want to learn how to edit and create memory videos. In my spare time right?? LOL

So as you can see, I am just all over the map with my emotions today and have been that way for awhile. I just want to see some normal stuff happen. Then there is nothing normal really, define it...normal...can't! i think of the song 'Life is a highway'. i have been riding it all day and night long.. Lol

Have a wonderful weekend and a wonderful day! Love you all.

Short Rest!

Ok- this weekend was a short rest. We didn't have competition and I didn't plan anything but catch up on house cleaning and resting. This week we start all over again. We have a game at Lexington and we have a Competition at West Oak HS in Westminister. Someone told me that you go to Clemson, go past it, go to the woods, get lost and you are there. LOL

Our Band is $15,000 less in sponsors this year because of the economy so- Fruit is for sale. You buy it anyway so let me know if you are interested and I will email you the list.

I am asking too that you- my friends- pray reallly hard for a renter in my other house. Two mortages is really hitting our family hard as well.

I will repersent Operation Christmas Child on November 16th at one of the Largest Churches in Columbia - Shandon. This is exciting as God keeps opening doors for us!
Please pray for OCC as the season has started full open.

Yes- my blog is all about band these days. We have about 5 weeks til State and then its over for the year. If you have time take a look at our show!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gX_rdeaZqPI

We are very proud even though we have a long way to go. If you don't know alot about marching band then that is ok. Enjoy the music and appreciate all the hard work these kids have put into this since July 28th.

I was happy that I got to talk to 7 girl scout troops last night about Operation CC. I have another youth group to talk to on the 26th. Yea! All of this will be over on Nov 24. Things will quiet down for awhile.
My sister is still in the needy stages and greiving stages. This has been emotionally taxing on me along with everything else. Please don't get me wrong..I love her and I am glad we have grown closer together, but I am also so confindent that Stephen is with JC that I am willing to let go. You have to understand...I have known Stephen as long as Pam has and when he dated her for 8 yrs he also dated me...in a sorta way. I knew him longer than I have known my own husband.
I don't know what I would do right now if something happened to my hubby. I am trying to be patient and understanding...but the other side of me says...we must live, we must move on. God has great plans and so lets do this now! Stupid thing I know, but that is where my relationship with JC comes in...confindent and sure, close and trusting.
Pam wants to make me partner in the business. I will have to think about this. she is the one that has to make a living.
That's it for now....taking friday off at 2:30pm. Gotta get ready for the game!
Yes!
later

Busy time with the family!

Another weekend of band competition is upon us! Yes...it is a great time for our family to do this together. To share this experience together. To win and lose together. We all put time in, kids more than us, but we all have something to talk about at the dinner table too. We all will be traveling to Wando (charleston) this weekend for Competition. We are expected to do well at this competition. We have never scored in the 90's before this year...so with the detail cleaning we are doing now it should even be better. I say that, and then you have different judges with different opinons. You have to take those and work with your band with those opinons and get back tot he field and work some more. These competitions boil down to one thing....STATE!
On Nov 1 we see who is the best band in the STATE. Yes we have never had those bragging rights and want them as badly as the next band. It's hard when you have MEGA bands with 200+ kids. We still believe we can do it and somehow we will, as long as we do better than last year (9th place- didn't go to finals) our job is done.
Our new band director is amazing! He has made Rebecca want to be better and want to practice. He offered her his wooden clairanet to practice on and hand picked her and 3 others to go to Winthorop College to do a Regional Clinic. She is excited to go. This is the first year DF has sent anyone to this clinic. You still have to audition, but only out of a select few do you get to go.

Interim reports came out this week. I am so proud of William. He has gotten 4- A's and 2 B's. Yes. I don't have to prod him to much about doing his homework - this is good. He is learning with being with the HS band that you have use your time management skills or he will end up sleepting trying to do his homework. So band is teaching him great skills.
Rebecca interms look like they always do. A's across the board. Yeah. She is striving for top 10 this year. She wants to have a full ride...this is why she is taking so many AP classes. Those classes has gotten to her this week. Lots of Lab reports and papers to write and not alot of Rebecca time other than band. She purchased her own Letterman jacket this week. She earned the letter 2 years ago and wanted a jacket to put it on. She wanted it so bad she paid for it herself. She wants to go back to work after band season...she has a thanksgiving and Christmas job lined up at Honey baked Ham but will be looking for a weekend job.
We are still looking for renters...please let us know if you know of anyone! Payments are killing us!!
Love you all--

March and blow!!!

DFHS Siliver spirit Band will march this weekend- ALOT!! They will march at the football game on friday night for the first time in full uniform. This is exciting. Then they will march in the Okra Strut Parade on Saturday morning. On Saturday afternoon is their first competition at Irmo HS. I don't expect alot. They sound really great. Flags has to get their act together. Some are still walking around. Some don't get it that competitions are it and they are here! It is what they have been working for since July 28th. I pray they will step up their game. We will see.
Our competition is Effingham HS and White Knoll. Even though I have not seen WK we will see how they do. If you are not a parent of a band geek then you don't know that the parents put in just as much time and money as the kids...prob. more money. We all want our kids to suceed, but like in life it doesn't happen like we want it to as parents, but as they want it to as to how much effort they put into something...life, job, marching.
Rebecca is locking her self in her bedroom as she is taking 4-AP coarses on top of band. I know she can do it. i then handed her a book called "Atlas Shrugged" and told her she has a year to read and write a paper---100,000 dollar scholarship connected to this one. I believe that she can write amazingly. She doesn't think so, but she can.
William is doing great and having fun in band pit.
Douglas is surviving as I just tell him what is on the schedule for the weekend...he says OK. Gotta love my hubby!
Still looking for renters at our house in W.Columbia. Please pray.

So...march and blow and do your best this week!!
If you would like to come out and watch all sorts of bands including Chapin and DF come to the Irmo Stadium at 3:00 and it runs til 9:00pm. Big bands start at around 5:30pm. Cost $6.00. Its cheaper than a movie and alot more fun if you love music! It really is amazing at what these bands can do.

Go BAND!!!!

Enough!!!!

We all get busy. When is enough enough! I know I have to much on my plate and some will go away in November and some things I don't know if it will ever go away. I have had enough and I wonder if anyone cares about how I am feeling or doing emotionally. We go to work eat supper and turn around and do it again. The words "What are we having for supper" for as much as I love to cook has turned into a chore. The stopping and doing something for me or about me i wonder does it cross anyones mind. Now I am not trying to have a pitty party or anything. Just wondering besides Jesus does anyone in the world actually care about me.
Don't get me wrong...marriage is ok...kids are ok...just wondering where is the compassion for each other gone to? Compassion for each other and stopping and showing that to each other gets caught up into busy stuff. So when is enough, enough!

Loving each one of you!

SHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

SHHHH! It is quiet today in the office. some people are out sick, some out working in the field and some are quiet by nature. Today the phone is not ringing off the hook. I asked why? My boss said shhhhhhhh! I agreed!

A few weeks ago Greg talked about being quiet and not having anything on in the house. No TV no ipods in the ears, just quiet. That is today. With everything going on in my life right now, I just need quiet.

Find some quiet in your day today. (I would suggest a nap if you can - where you wake-up on your own- not because you have to get up and do something else.)

Love you all,, - shhhhhhhh!

Proud Parent!!!

I am so proud of my kids! Ok- we all have the times when we have chased our kids with the leather belt. We want to crawl under the table when they have said something they should not of - even though it is the truth. Today I am so proud of my kids!

William has taken the steps to be apart of the HS marching band and deciding a little late, he is still learning and memorizing the music. His first performance is tonight at the game. Yeah! He will understand a little more tonight what dedication is and what he will need to step up his game as the competition goes on. Some friends of mine has said - i don't want to get involved with the band because it is to much work. I will tell you that to be a family and have something to do together as a family is not work. If you are a family where your child is in any sports, you should get involved! Kids might not love you at the time, but your observations about relationships they build around them and how to help them through the rough spots are great teaching tools.
I have always told people - TALK TO YOU KIDS!!! I should write a book! LOL

Rebecca just keeps amazing me. We got the ranking today for her Junior class...#17! out of 506!!
Yea!!!!! This means money for college! I pray and will you pray with me for a full ride! Mom is broke and will be doing good to take care of her other needs while at college.
Even though she looks and acts grown up, I still have to remind her she is not. So much she has not learned and so much more responsibility is coming her way. I know she can handle it, but I know she is not ready. She turned 17 this Tuesday.

You can call me a proud parent if you want.....but you have been there too! (Grin)

Breath, just breath!!

ok just when you can't breath we all take a breath and go again.
I can remember when the kids were little and I would sit in a rocking chair and when all seems to be going wrong at the time, problems just melted away when I just sat down, held them tight and just took a deep breath! It made things better. I wish I could just bring that time back.

I was at church on Sunday and saw a great friend. I really haven't seen her since everything in my life had been turned upside down. She came up and gave me one of those hugs that just melted everything away. I needed that so much today. She seem to take all the burdens off my shoulders, even if it was for just that moment. Everyone has a friend like that and I hope you appreciate that you have one in your life. Call them today and hey to your friend.

Please pray for me as I walk thru a rough patch with my sister.
So breath, just breath.

Life goes on...and on...and on...

This week doesn't feel normal. Our schedules are all which a ways. School is starting in a few days and making sure everything is taken care of due to registration and clothes etc.
Many things have changed in the last month. I have drawn closer to my sister and I am glad of that, but not because of these conditions.

Band- Parent show is tonight at DFHS at 5:30pm. If any of you want to come out and see our show please stop by. It will be good and I have stayed away from practices to see the show tonight I am Chaperon Coordinator for that as well....will my jobs ever end....and I need to spend today to get that ready.

Church- I really have missed my church family and it felt good to see everyone this weekend. We have friends that are going to help Douglas with some repairs to the rental house...it is back on the market...praying for renters now. To say that church family for our family is important is a real understatement. We have friends we know we can count on and have some of the best friends because of church.

OCC- It has been tremendous what God is doing here! We have partnered with Dollar Tree and have collected over 6000 items. YEAH! Think about how many shoeboxes that will fill and spread the gospel. A friend of mine just got a note back from a boy in Uganda that just got a box in August. Yes- it does take that long sometimes. Thanks to all that participate...whats next??
Letter writing campaign!!

Please let me know what is going on in your life...
love all my friends..
Pat

READY, SET, not ready to go!

I never thought I would say that I would miss having a routine. August is here and things will change again! Band Camp and practices have started and so has things with Operation Christmas Child. It will all fall into place, but it is difficult when I factor in the sharing of a ride with a co-worker to work several days a week.
I may stop that until November, because it is not fair to her all the stops I have to make along the way.
Douglas has gone back to work in the Service department and they are taking the truck away, so that means another difficult decision on how to work out rides for everyone. Scheduling can be a pain, especially if you don't know what is going to happen week to week or day to day.
Let's throw in me helping my sister with her business too. Lots of stuff going on, yet I guess I will find time to do it all. I will breath again at Thanksgiving!!! It is so close, yet so far.
Church was great and some feel to normal in my life this week. You miss one entire weekend of not seeing the people in your life that is important to you and you feel as if you have been gone forever. Kevin's sermon ended great.. Would love to know the last statement again.
Everyone have a safe and great week. See you when I see you!
Love you all....

Just gotta laugh

Sometimes you just need a good laugh. Hope you enjoy this picture!
Love you all..

Freedom in God

The last 6 days have been draining!! My brother-in-law passed away at the age of 46. Stephen Lee Crabtree was a sweet and loveable man. He was great to my kids and they loved uncle stevie. I have felt my twin sisters pain. For thoes of you that don't have a twin the sayings about feeling each others pain and thoughts etc is so true. I have been brave and there for her yet our thoughts about his passing have been the same....PEACE!
After seeing stephen in the ER after his passing, we were not sad. Yes there were tears but those of selfishness and those of our not wanting him to leave. The Peace is that we know that he is dancing and praising God. He is also running all the sound and lights...lol! My sister, Pam, is a very strong women and she will make it thru it.
She will continue to work Virtual Media and as we talk everyday we see the path in which God is laying for her. She is not making any major decisions right now, but is taking it one day at a time.
We are praising God for the FREEDOM he has given us and with that comes Peace and Comfort.
Please pray for my family as we deal with things this year and her business that she will run.
Love you all-

Birthday Time!!!!!!!!

What a birthday I will spend. I will have to spend it painting the rental house. We will get it going this week. We have invited some people to help us so that it can get done quickly. It will be more fun this way. We have water so we will have a bathroom at least. We are going to order pizza and have some fun along the way. This is not my first choice on how to spend my birthday, but oh well. You gotta do what you gotta do. Fun comes later....
If anyone reading this wants to help me then just give me a call or leave a message. It would be very appreciative.
Happy birthday to me......( sing with feeling will yall!) Happy birthday to mee...........
(crashing of symbols) Happy birthday to Pat....... happy birthday to me!

Later my people

Birthday month!!!!!

July is the B-day month in our household. Tomorrow is Douglas' B-day and he will be 45! He actually took a day for himself this year. If you know him at all you know he will not do this alot.
So today is his day. He did the dentist appointment and then who knows.

July 26th is my birthday and right now I have nothing planned. Maybe a day at the beach with my twin. This would be good. I don't spend my birthday with my twin every year so this may be a great year for us to do that!

Happy B-day to all that have them this month....(so you can't say I forgot)!!!

later-------

Just when you think your going to relax....

do you ever go on vacation just to wish you were back at work where you can rest??
This 4th it seemed a lot of things happened and we had to adjust.
We spent the best part of our time at Douglas' brothers house in West Columbia. He lives on a pond and the kids went fishing. They all caught a really big catfish. I am talking at least 10 lbs. I am not kidding. Lon and his friend Mark get excited about doing the fireworks over the pond. Neighbors even throw a big party and call them to ask if they are doing fireworks this year. It is cool. Now you have to understand these are not little roadside fireworks. These are professional and huge over a small pond. It was great! It was impressive as always! This was the great part of my vacation.
Of course, what goes up must come down. Our renters in our rental house moved out last week and this was the first chance we got to go and take a look at things. Can you say "losers" out loud and be depressed too. We have lots of water damage to the house and have our homeowners ins to help us pay for the repairs. I think we are looking at over $5000 worth of damage. I don't understand how people can not take care of something that doesn't belong to them. It is just sad.
More for us because this is where we raised our kids. We are thinking about selling it, but now may not be a good time to do this. Please pray that we do the right thing.
After the ins guy left i did feel a little better, I met with a plumber friend of mine and I think he made me feel even better about the situation too. There is a lot of work to be done. Then the decision to rent or not comes to our plate. This all is stressing me out! AHHHH!
But I noticed today as I went to Publics' today for sushi that I was smiling and feeling good about life. As I looked into many peoples faces in the store, they didn't smile back. I guess the difference is I know with all the things going on in our lives, God is the one in control. I can't change what the renters did to the house, but fix it and go on. I can't take that stress away so I might as well be happy today and do what I can do to glorify him.
The song, "Don't worry....be happy" comes to mind!
I hope you all have a great week.....love you all.

My Hubby!

My Husband is the best! I met him when I was 17 and a senior in High school. We both worked a Winn Dixie grocery store on north main st. It is no longer there. We will be married 21 years in Aug.
He is the best husband in many respects in that he is the head of our household, even though I am the organizer. He is the one who covers us with prayer everyday and rolls with the punches when times gets tough. We have had our tough times and that is when he is the strongest. Even though he is very quiet...he is the strongest of us. God really knew what he was doing when he put us together.

We have all had our moments (ham story to long to write) but that is ok. It makes us laugh and grow old together!
I love him! He is there for his family, church and friends when they need him. I only have a few friends that can say this about their spouce...so I am still excited to be his wife after 21 years!

Life Lessons

To many coats???
As our preacher talked this weekend ' In the JIM' - the book of James. James talked about works and faith. Faith + Salvation....works. This is so true for me.
This summer I am trying to teach my children that doing something for someone is not always about money.
When I was growing up you did things for 'older people' because they asked you to. Not because there is money involved. We would bring groceries in for our great grandmother that lived two doors down. Help wash her dog. Help with picking up pecans and then shelling them for Christmas Cookies- the cookies you didn't share with anyone- everyone got their own bag at christmas. You would help set the table and getting ready for family gatherings. You did it because they asked you to help. These were great life lessons that I will never forget. Kids today think that whamo everything just happens.
We have an elderly lady in our neighboorhood that has very little family that helps her. She is a fanactic about her lawn and will mow it at least once a week. She can no longer do this because of health problems. William and his friend in the neighborhood helped her mow the lawn and blow her driveway. I had to explain to both of these boys that they will look back and say 'I remember that....' A lesson learned is that it not always about money.
Going back to the sermon from Sunday...it is not that you have a coat, but that you share the others with those that don't have. This is a life lesson not just giving because you have.
Also this week I gave away an old lawnmower to someone who wanted a broken one to fix and sell. Douglas is an electrician not a mechanic so I gave it away. The next day a friend of mine asked me if I knew anyone that needed a lawnmower. God blessed us again. Again, give from your heart and God takes care of your needs ( not all the time, but sometimes your wants too).
Life Lessons are all around us...take the time to experince them for what they are and not be greedy about time or resources. God will bless you.
Til next time!

Summer Plans

If I did this right you should see a picture of William and his friend Jack. They have known each other since birth - they are only 6 months apart and as friends they know they have each others back. Isn't it great when you know you have a friend that 'has your back'?
Summer has started as Rebecca is working in a plant nursery. William is staying with friends going to the church as a leader in Kidz kamp. Soon trips to the beach are being planned and trips to camp are in the works....ahhhh. Now to figure out when I am going on vacation.

Family vacation is not something my family did when growing up. Douglas family did. In turn for this family if I don't plan it, it doesn't happen. Now friends have told me that there is no reason that we should not have a vacation. It all boils down to money...for some reason it always does. So maybe I will plan another trip for the weekend to see friends in Greenwood. ( the only friends we have out of town). Something fun as a family. Soon Rebecca will be to old to not to be even seen with us- right now we are pulling her along.

Before we know it Band season will be on its way and we are excited to have a new director this year. Yes- I am one of those band geek parents and proud of it!!! It is exciting to see 122 kids work together and produce some of the most wonderful entertainment that is great and wholesome. It was definately the best years of my high school days. Rebecca says I am trying to live my high school days through her....my answer ' so what'! LOL She loves it and would not give it up for anything.

Til next time- Find that friend that 'has your back', plan a vacation - even on a budget and be apart of your kids lives...it really does make a difference.
See ya!

Babies everywhere!

It seems to me a rash of people around me are having babies. I am thankful I have my children and love them dearly. However, I don't want anymore of my own. I know many that have gotten to my point. Many babies in our church, Friend Church, and some people at work. they are everywhere.
I have started crocheting again and it seemed only fitting that I start with baby blankets. I have done 4 so far and I am hoping that people that I have given them to appreciate all the work that goes into a small blanket like that. It takes me almost 2 weeks working on it every night to finish one. The prettest one I did was to go to little ABE, but it looked too girlly ( didn't want him to have girly man complex) so I started another one. As I was working on the second one for him, he decided to come sooner. God has used Little ABE as a way to show his parents that He will always be with them and that He has surrounded them with people that care for them of all ages! As I crocheted (sp) this blanket and finished it up I found myself really not focusing on the blanket but praying for the child it will cover. His health, wealth, and life that God has prepared for Him. It was kind of theropy for me to relax and focus on what really matters in life.

Question: Have you taken time to really focus on relaxing and taking the time to destress? Have you really taken inventory of what matters to you? If not, the present time is the best time.
TIME- OUT!!!!

Event Planning!

It seems that everyday of my life is an Event! I have to plan it all out and know all the details of the day. This is even more so since the oldest child- who is not a child, so she thinks she is an adult- has her drivers license and a job. My husband, Douglas is having to drive our car to work instead of the company van that sits in our yard. ( stupid reasons). Half days at school is not helping me either. So everyday is an event!
I am about to kick-off two other events in the community and in our church. I have to think thru all the details and connect with all these people too. Life is an Event!

Have you ever gotten that invatation to the Event of the year just to find you can't go? You got the invatation the day after the RSVP was suppose to be in. I just got an invatation to a wedding and the next day you had to RSVP by the next day. I don't have internet at home and I don't have the stuff to RSVP with me here at work...so what to do? Again- planning the details don't hurt. Comes to let me think too, we were not first on the list.

Events were all over my calendar for Sunday evening...but I decided to take a break, grill a little this weekend and spend it with my family. It was a learning experience as we don't do this often and the family was totally thrown off! Well I guess I must express my plans so they can plan it into their life events. LOL

My challenge to my friends is to let loose and if you need an event planner...let me know- far in advance.

Getting the hang of this!

Getting the hang of anything for me seems to be a long drawn out thing. It seems to take me longer to get the changes in place in my life it then changes again. I have learned though that change is good. Life would not be fun without it. Some change is hard to take..like loosing the best job you ever had, or having to rebudget your gas money. Ahh! Some way some how God seems to teach me and my friends through change. Now the kicker here is do they even realize what God is teaching them? This is where relationships come in. They are always changing but it is the only thing that is important to invest your time and effort. Family, Friends and how we can inspire and then what we leave behind. Stuff is just that STUFF. No one will care about the stuff as it will all eventually disappear. Kids, family and friends we can inspire and encourage to do more than they ever thought they could.

So here is to my friends that has inspired me the most over the last 3 years:
Greg and Missie Dowey
Bob Morgan and his Morganisms
Josh Walters - Helping me raise my kids!
Kim Wickersham for the encouragment for me to do what I thought was impossible!
Phil Barks- Who leads OCC with a wonderful Heart!
Lisa Warren- who has been there when I needed her most!
My Daughter Rebecca who will be remarkable at whatever she puts her mind to and gives me lots to think about as a parent!

Til next time!
Buy into relationships and not stuff today...it will CHANGE your life!

How to Blog 101

ok- Lets try again.
I hope this gets out there this time.
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Life is all about relationships....not the stuff!