Thursday, March 31, 2011

3 Things Thursday!

Happy Thursday Friends. Hope you are all doing well!

1. Great Quotes Found This Week -
"Things come to those who wait - but only things left by those who hustle." ~Abraham Lincoln
"Celebrate what you've accomplished, but raise the bar a little higher each time you succeed." ~Mia Hamm
"Do not strike the match if you can't put out the fire." ~Author Unknown
"All you get from riding the fence are splinters." ~Author Unknown
"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." ~Theodore Roosevelt

2. Back to Tuesday - Our internet went down on Thursday of last week. I am a smart girl & had tried all the things they tell you to do (you know the things you feel stupid for NOT having already done when you call someone for help). Called Comcast & set up an appointment for Tuesday at 1:00. Requested 1:00 pm specifically but to call first so I wouldn't be wasting my time waiting. My neighbor calls at 1:50 to tell me an internet guy was in my driveway. SO I leave work & call Comcast to ask that they contact him & tell him to wait because I work 24 miles away (it takes me 30 minutes to get there). They actually said they had no way of getting in touch with him. I argued, argued some more, until it became quite heated. I told them that he could just sit there all afternoon if they couldn't guarantee me that he'd be there when I got there. Then, I turned around & went back to work. Supervisor called me & it was fixed first thing yesterday. Because other things had happened at work that day, it was the icing on the cake. Thankfully the rest of my week has been better. However - I can honestly tell you that if you want good customer service, you ain't gonna find it at Comcast.

3. Rain, Rain, Rain & MORE Rain! - Most of you live in Mississippi - and it's WET and COLD. Where did spring go? We have had bad weather, hail, LOADS of rain, winds, everything short of tornadoes. Usually it's "April showers bring May flowers". Wonder what March showers bring? I really like fall but this year I have Spring Fever in a really bad way. Getting our house painted, gonna redo all my flower beds, work on the patio & backyard, etc. Come on sunshine!!!

I'm off to get dressed for work. Everyone have a great week! BTW - look for my next book review coming soon. I'm reading Life Without Limits by Nick Vujicic. If you have no idea who he is, google him ......I can guarantee that you will be glad you did. WONDERFUL inspiration. Great gift book for those people in your life who are always negative....you know, the ones who always say "Why Me?".

Monday, March 28, 2011

A Conversation with God for Women: If You Could Ask God Anything, What Would It Be?



“A Conversation with God for Women”, by Marcia Ford, is an easy read for those seeking the surface of Biblical truths. The book is organized with each chapter answering questions about a specific topic with answers appearing to come from God, Jesus, Mary and other people from the Bible.

The questions are interesting and thought provoking but with the answers seemingly being provided by God, Jesus or other Christians made the format seem odd to me. I prefer and understand Bible truths better by reading facts, not by them being told to me like a Bible story. The answers are real enough (with footnotes quoting sources and scripture locations in the back) but the book seemed a extremely elementary to me. I also think that the book is helpful as long as the reader understands that real truth comes straight from God’s Word (the Bible).

On the other hand, I do not find that the author claimed at any time to be speaking for God, Jesus or Mary – she says she is answering the questions as if God, Jesus or others were speaking directly to the reader. Perhaps she attempted this so as to make it more “reader friendly”. And, maybe elementary is good for the new Christian or for those searching for truth, but as a seasoned Christian, I found myself wanting to speed-read due to boredom with the format of the book.

If you’re looking for a quick read or refresher on some basic Christian Bible truths, this is the perfect book. Both women and men who are seeking such a refresher would enjoy the book. However, if you’re looking for a more in depth source or study of God’s word, you might want to look elsewhere.

Note: I received a free copy of this book, “A Conversation with God" from Thomas Nelson Publisher's to read for review. My opinions are expressly my own, and are in no way made positively or negatively, due to receiving a review copy.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

3 Things Thursday

Short and quick today! Busy girl......

1. Local news has been fun this week. Where to start? Stuart Irby says brain damage once again is the cause for his stupid actions. Riding a motorcycle drunk, getting arrested for DUI and a subsequent house arrest. When will the judge(s) stop taking bribes and put him in jail? Two illegal aliens attempt to rob a Gold business in Pearl dressed as women (with moustaches) with guns. One is dead and one is critically wounded. If he lives he's deported for sure - hopefully word spreads around to other illegal aliens in the area. Fourteen people arrested for insurance fraud - including three BCBS of MS employees. They have an issue - two other employees were recently arrested for fraud as well. Finally.....and certainly NOT least - A much loved and admired Madison Police Officer dies riding his personal motorcycle to work. Please keep Officer Jimmy Brooks family in your prayers.

2. Friday Field Trip!! Pray for me and other Rankin County parents tomorrow. The annual Brandon Elementary 5th grade field trip to the McWane Science Center in Birmingham is tomorrow. Over 690 students, teachers & parent / grandparent chaperones have to meet at a local church, load up on 14 charted buses for the trip. Lord help us - I only hope that if I am assigned other children besides Cassie to chaperone that they are children who are well behaved and listen. Been there and done that with not-so-well-behaved children and I am not up for it this year. We are also stopping by the Galleria mall for supper before heading home. What I want to know is who's responsible for making sure that all 697 people get back on those buses LOL :-)

3. Running again & feeling GREAT! I officially started back at it this week and it's been wonderful to run without pain and without exhaustion. Losing 20 pounds and getting health issues cleared up has made all the difference. Now - on to my goal to hopefully enter some races this year.

Until next time :-)

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Cassie-isms...........

My oldest daughter is blonde – she didn’t get it from her Daddy or me. His mother and his younger brother are both blonde – as a matter of fact she looks like she could be his brother’s child. From what I know of my birth parents & their families, she strictly got the blonde hair from the Jordan side of her father’s family. She is very social, very bright, VERY talkative, very active and loves life to the nth-degree. However, she has her own unique way of thinking and communicating. Needless to say, it is not the same language her highly logical, common-sense mother speaks……..and only a few people probably speak her language as well as her. If you are blonde, I apologize but my daughter fits the notorious mold of the Ditzy Blonde and makes life quite entertaining at times.

She cracks me up on a daily basis………here are some of the recent “Cassie-isms” that I’ve heard.

1. She is learning all 50 states and capitals (this is a review). She was explaining to her younger sister that she knew the large states well but that “when you get to those smaller states up north like, Maryland, West Virginia, New Hampshire, Pelahatchie, and Ohio, I can’t remember the capital names”. Well – after a few seconds of considering what she had said I asked her, “Did you just say Pelahatchie?” She rolled her eyes, giggled and said, “Pelahatchie, Pennsylvania…….you know what I meant Mama”. I reminded her that her teacher might NOT know what she meant on a test if she puts Pelahatchie for Pennsylvania. For those of you out of state, Pelahatchie is a small town in Rankin County in Mississippi – it is not up north and it is not a state of the United States.

2. Likewise, she tells me last night (Tuesday) that she has a test on the 50 states and the capitals on Thursday. Her teacher notoriously does not communicate and sends no newsletters home. My child is spacey and forgets things at school on a regular basis so I asked my daughter where her study sheet was? I get told that the teacher took it up and didn’t give it back. Today, I email the teacher sort of complaining for the short notice, the fact that I had received no newsletter and that the test was sort of quick notice. She explained that the test is only on one section of the United States, not all 50 states. Maybe I should email her back and warn her that Pelahatchie is now a state?? LOL Maybe she would see the reason I keep bugging her about a newsletter.

3. Another mom was talking to me about how shy her daughter is and said that my daughter was not shy like her daughter was. My daughter was sitting there with us. Somehow we got off on something else and about rating things on a scale of 1-10. My friend told her she rated her (my daughter) an “8” (just to see what she would say). My daughter very quickly responded, “Oh I’m not 8, I’m eleven (11)”!!! My friend got so tickled she couldn’t respond.

Her zest for life is very catching but I’m old, tired and my brain is so logical that I don’t get it. I live in a state of confusion caused by conversations that I can’t follow. Those conversations usually contain multiple subjects with multiple tales of woe and activity and we generally skip from subject A to subject B to subject F, back to subject A, on to subject C…….you get the picture.

I hope your children give you much joy and as much entertainment as mine do. I just that maybe they don’t make you as mentally tired as I feel some days LOL. At least I've got somebody to keep me on my toes I guess.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

3 Things Thursday!!



1. Everyone loves an Irish girl! - Redhead's Rejoice! Happy St. Patty's Day! (Even if you're not redheaded, have a great day :-)

2. Good Weather! - Hopefully spring has finally arrived. Or maybe it's the time change that makes me think so. It's great to get off of work and not feel like the day is over. Makes it easier to run and exercise which makes for a happy mood and an energetic body too. Everyone get outside - your body is craving some Vitamin D!

3. Thankfulness - If you're having days where you wonder why life is worth living, why the world is in such turmoil, just remember that the world has always been in turmoil. Has been for years. The only difference between 2011 and 1911 (or any previous year) is that the news media now stands willing and ready to tell you everything bad that is happening in the world. They thrive on it - all day, on all channels, every day. My solution is to turn off the TV. Read a good book (the Bible is a good start), pray for God's peace and good will in your life. Nothing you can do will change the world or prevent bad things from happening. BUT, you can come to know God, seek his salvation and know that no matter what comes your way, you and God can handle it.

~An Irish Blessing~

May the sun shine, all day long,
everything go right, and nothing wrong.
May those you love bring love back to you,
and may all the wishes you wish come true!

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

For The Love of Books!

All of my friends (at least I think so) know that I love to read! As a child, I would read 15 books a week during the summer and usually awaited the Book Mobile's arrival at the local convenience store beside my house during the middle of the week if we had not been to town. To this day, I will still go back and read old favorites from time to time.....Little House on the Prairie series, Anne of Green Gable, Nancy Drew, etc. The lady at the Brookhaven library was obviously not a "children's" librarian because she was not pleasant at times and even accused me of not reading "all those books I kept getting". Needless to say my mother quickly corrected her.

I could read a book, shell butter beans and watch TV all at the same time. I would shell faster than anyone in the house without wasting beans but I could still tell you what I reading and what was happening on TV. Multi-tasking is truly an illness I can assure you. Now that I own a Kindle, my addiction has grown into loving both hard copies of books from favorite authors as well as all the great books you can get for free on the Kindle. My Wish List keeps growing and growing. It is now so large that I have a spreadsheet of books that I want to read one day. The list also references the book genre, author and whether or not I want the hard copy of the book or the Kindle version.

Do you like to read? If you do, you totally understand this blog post. If you do not, then you do not know what you're missing. Life is hard, complicated, full of stress and day-to-day duties and books give you a chance to escape to another realm or world....even if only for a few minutes of your day. It's like watching a movie but better. Several of my favorite books have been made into movies and the norm is usually that I'm disappointed in the movie because the book was much better.

I have two daughters. My oldest is right brained, creative, lively, very social, very talkative, and can't sit still although she is not ADD or ADHD. She hates to read "chapter books" as she calls them. On the other hand, she loves the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, Genis Book of World Records, or the Book of Yuck. At first it really bugged me but now I'm thankful she reads. My youngest daughter is a clone of me. She is me with red hair (my childhood friends will vouch for this). BUT, she is also a brainy, nerdy, book-loving nerd like me. If her older sister is not around to distract her, her nose is in a book. She goes into "THE ZONE"....where she hears nothing, she sees nothing, she is totally distracted.

When I complete any of those "About Me" sections on applications, reading is the first thing I put down. What about you? Do you have a love or a hobby that has held true with you from childhood? As we grow up, we often let things slip away from our grasp that were so very special to use at one time. If you have done that - sit down and reminisce. Go back and try a childhood favorite activity again. I can guarantee that your love and addiction will still be there! It will bring back so many memories and open new doors for you today. You're still young at heart...but only if you keep childhood things dear and things from your past in your heart while opening your heart for new possibilities at the same time. Now go have some fun!!!

Everyone is the age of their heart. ~Guatemalan Proverb

Youth is a wonderful thing. What a crime to waste it on children. ~George Bernard Shaw

The idea is to die young as late as possible. ~Ashley Montagu

Thursday, March 3, 2011

3 Things Thursday

1. Do you ever wonder...? What is wrong with the world? What is wrong with people? What is wrong with governments? What is wrong PERIOD?? My mother used to tell me that when I was around 3 years old I would ask question after question after question. I don't think I've ever stopped. I watch people and want to know what makes them tick. I watch world events and I wonder why cultures are so different. My eight year old asks very thought provoking questions and sometimes they are very hard to answer or explain. She stumps me sometimes (yes, I can be stumped LOL).....but I hope she never stops asking.

2. Cookies!!!! Everyone knows that it is Girl Scout cookie time. At this present time I have about 16 cases of cookies in my garage and on Friday that will increase to 46 cases. All those cookies and I've not eaten a single one........NO - it's not will power. It is a desire to feel better and since they contain soy and gluten products I am staying away. Those of you who know me well know that I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the Thin Mints. I love them so much that I've found a gluten-free recipe to make them at home and after we are through selling them this weekend, I am going to make some. If you have not bought cookies this year, this coming weekend is your last chance!! Come to Flowood Walmart this Saturday from 4:30 to 6:30 pm - we will be selling at both doors.

3. Time..... Time is flying by this year and too fast! And I bet we are all guilty of running and running without stopping to smell the roses. Let's all slow down and spend time together with our families. I mean at home just relaxing too - not running to ball games, to parties, to the movies.....really enjoy just being together. Our family tries to stay at home as much as possible but I know families that they have to be going every minute of every day. Parents have raised their children to expect it so they are not satisfied unless that is what they are doing. Your children will really remember the times you played games, watched movies at home together, sat on the patio and grilled, dug in the dirt or just laughed. Really make an effort to make some memories-----before time passes so fast that they are grown and gone and you wonder what happened!

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I am a mother who works full-time but who is also a chauffer, chef, seamstress, fitness instructor, teacher, maid, gardener, runner, organization expert, salesperson, secretary and wife. I love my family and life is always busy but fun! Come along with me for the ride:-)

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