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Ok...so I just finished making homemade biscuits. They're in the oven as I type...
But I almost forgot to add the butter....
...which means I essentially almost served my children baked homemade glue. :o)
That's what I get for trying to cook without the recipe in front of my eyeballs!
I had just gotten off work and felt a bit sleepy. I promised myself that I'd buy some bread, flour (for homemade biscuits) and aluminum foil on my way home from work, so that's exactly what I did.
As I left my vehicle and locked the doors, I noticed a woman watching me. At first I was going to ignore the gaze, but I decided to be friendly and say, "Hi!"
She returned my smile and said, "You know, you look so refreshed! I wasn't sure how you would receive this, but you look so lovely. It's great to see a woman who dresses like a lady!"
Then she hugged me!
We chatted for a minute. Then I thanked her and said, "I definitely see you as a blessing today. Thanks again!"
Isn't God sweet? Total strangers do not normally walk up to me and shower me with compliments.
Niiiice.
For supper I made some ham sandwiches and sliced some potatoes for fries. It was yummy!
In a bit, I'll head to Bible study. I'll write more later.
I woke up feeling refreshed and, well, happy.
I'm excited about what God is up to in my life. Meeting new people is fun!
Be happy, friend! I'm smiling with (and praying for) you today!
God bless!
DISCLAIMER: I am NOT a photographer.That said, let me share some pics from the graduation party. I would like to begin with Josh, my buddy who received his diploma! Woo hoo!!!!
This is Josh's buddy, Eric, with Josh's mom - - - who happens to be a whiz at gardening.
This is the next door neighbor, whom I love because he thought I was Josh's friend from school. He couldn't believe I'll be 38 in two months. 
The neighbor's wife, Donna, is soooooo friendly! I ended up going next door to see her garden (which is magnificent), and she invited me to stop over any time. I think I'll take her up on that.
This stone angel and froggy are chillin' on top of some bricks from the local high school that was torn down this spring. I am now teaching in the new high school building (and love it)!
The killer dog growled at me when I put my hand up to the fence, but once I walked through and introduced myself, he was a big baby.
I tried to end the post with a picture of myself with my son, but he wouldn't take a picture with me. He was busy making me an omelet for supper, and he did not want his picture taken. This was the best I could do...
This afternoon was absolutely fantastic! I got a phone number from a new gal pal; we will definitely go for coffee sometime.
Someone else gave me a compliment on my legs. That's always nice.
My evening ended with some friends and prayer. I couldn't ask for a more enjoyable day!
How was your evening?
"God's love doesn't prevent trials; it helps us through them."
Isn't that beautiful? If I could remember who said it, I'd tell you.
Any stressful situations I face are merely opportunities for God to exhibit his love for me. What a positive spin for my attitude, eh? ;o)
I was up really early this morning, so I'm off to take a nap. If I have time, I'll share pics from the graduation party. See ya later!
Dr. T. just e-mailed my grade: A. Yay! One class down, one to go...
For the first two days of summer school, I have tried to get my students to work as independently as possible. I do have one child who is incredibly demanding of my attention, but she's quick to say things like, "You know, I hated you, but now I love you!"
Seriously...that's a verbatim quote of hers from this morning.
As a teacher, I always want to be in control of every situation. I do not want behaviors to become so wild that no one listens. On the other hand, I'd like the kids to enjoy themselves while they learn. It's a delicate balance, but I think I've got this class where I want them. I'm lenient, though; it's difficult for folks to focus for six hours on one subject (especially if it was failed during the regular school year).
So far, every single kid has a C or better! (Thank you, Lord! Please help them to keep it up!) One young man said, "Man, you're really nice, and I understand this (persuasive essay assignment) now."
As I sit here reflecting on the day, I am pleased that I let God control everything. He helped me deal effectively with some classroom conflicts without resorting to discipline tickets (which remove them from the classroom).
I have tried to let the same thing (allowing God to be in control of me) happen in my church life, but sometimes transitions are hardly smooth. I find myself longing for the peace and excitement for "church" that I had two weeks ago. Now I am bracing for an uphill battle that won't be pretty.
I asked for some advice from you here on my blog. Since I haven't gotten any responses, I suspect that I'm not the only one who may have reservations about giving advice on how to deal with difficult people.
I have exasperated my arsenal of witty, endearing comments for those giving me grief at the moment. Sometimes I can use humor in the classroom to totally diffuse a situation, but that hasn't gotten me anywhere at church.
You know, I'm just plain weary of getting emotionally beaten up by the very folks I have tried so hard to support and love. God is calling me to continue, though, so I will...
On a happy note: Tomorrow should be fun! A couple of friends are going out of town, so they'll miss a graduation party for their son's buddy. I was asked to take pictures, so I will try my best. My less-than-professional snapshots will have to do.
Hmmm....on second thought, perhaps I should give my camera to someone else for the afternoon!
:o)
Enjoy your Friday evening!
Whoa...
Michael was only 13 years older than me.
So sad.
The funeral of my friend, Jenny, and the passing of Michael remind me to thank God for every day. We are not promised tomorrow (nor will I be disappointed if I don't get another one). If you think about it, we probably won't want to come back once we've experienced heaven. :o)
Despite the loss I've felt recently in my personal life, I am still happy. I'm looking forward to things to come, and I'm so glad the Lord will be with me every step of the way.
Aren't you?
I couldn't ask for a sweeter group of kids in my junior/senior summer school English class.
Most of them are taking parts A and B, so I'll have them for 19 more days. They are a pure joy! I have kids from several surrounding school districts (including the one in which I teach), and they're getting along well. In fact, I don't foresee a need to ever use a disciplinary card.
My classroom is across the hall from one of my best friends, Melanie. It's cool to be so near to her; during the regular school year, I'm in the basement while she's on the third floor. I'll get to see her every day!
My boys were invited to the movies, so I'll have the whole house to myself for several hours. What will I do? I'm exhausted, so I'll probably just play the piano/sing some worship songs, watch one television show, and then go to sleep.
I know...I know...it doesn't sound very exciting, but that's exactly what I want to do. Have a good one!
I am finally completely, utterly finished with this project! It's not due until Friday, but I am DONE!!!! I can turn in this puppy tonight, and I am sooooooooooooooo happy!!!!!!
I had a chitchat with my pastor this morning and into the early afternoon. I have a serious question to ask you, and I need an honest response, ok?
How do I make amends with someone who is extremely angry with me but won't tell me what I did? You also need to know that when she fussed at me (in front of several other folks), not a single person in the room agreed with her (that I think I'm better than everyone else, not approachable, offensive....those were the implications, but I still have no idea what I did to make her feel this way about me).
I'm trying to keep peace, and I don't want to do anything to make matters worse.
I need to take a shower, pick up a bag of clothes (for me from a friend) and drop of two bags of clothes (for the mission), go to college, make some copies, get to class, give my presentation, attend Jenny's funeral, and come home.
I probably won't get on the computer because I'll be exhausted (since I never had a chance to go back to bed this morning and had a total of 4 hours of sleep).
*** I am VERY interested in your answer to my question. ***
I have asked this woman to explain what I did, but she won't tell me. I'm not going to do anything until I pray some more, but I thought I'd throw my predicament out there in case you guys have a wise answer for me.
Thanks! See ya tomorrow.
I figured I'd just write short notes throughout the day so that people can pick and choose what to read (instead of one really long blog entry).
Tonight I met Nancy's sister, who thought I was beautiful and couldn't believe I was old enough to teach high school. (She got a great big 'ol hug for that one!)
Nancy's momma is doing better today because there was no radiation treatment. Hopefully, she'll go home tomorrow, so I'm glad I was able to get up there today. Please pray for Nancy's dad; he's understandably having a rough time.
I have a 9:00 a.m. meeting tomorrow; all of the summer school teachers have a meeting with the summer school principal (my friend, Mary), and then we'll have time to get our classrooms ready for the young uns on Thursday.
My buddy, Marlena, called, and she has more clothes for me. As she loses weight, she gives me outfits that don't fit her anymore. I'm going to give her two bags of clothes (that are too big for me) so that her residents can see if there's anything they'd like. I'll pick up her bag of goodies on my way to class tomorrow evening.
I'm going to work on my project again now. Then it'll be sweet dreams! Have a good one!
A friend of mine passed away last night. She has been ill for a long time; we've known she wouldn't make it, but it's still soooo sad. Please pray for her husband; he has his own health problems, and I'm sure his heart is aching terribly right now because of this loss.
I have a project due tomorrow, but maybe my professor will let me leave after my presentation so that I can attend the 8:00 p.m. funeral.
Right now, I'm on my way to the hospital to see a friend's mom. After that, I'll go to Bible study and try to stay focused on the Lord and the scriptures.
Man, I need a hug. I'll get one in a little while at Bible study. Bye for now.
I've been listening to some awesome music this morning as I spent some time with God.
Wanna hear a couple of songs that minister to my heart every time I hear them? Here ya go:
http://www.tangle.com/view_video.php?viewkey=d706775a547abac9e0f0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOXVn6k_i4E
Enjoy!
It has been 9 years since my father passed away, and I miss him terribly.
Wanna hear how much God loves us? Here's my last memory of my Dad:
I never called off work. I never used my personal days because each one is worth money, so I saved them for my family. I saved my sick days in case my mom ever needed me if she went into the hospital (and she did). Because of my frugality, I was able to spend a week by her side in the hospital and then three weeks by her side at home, helping her any way that I could.
My parents babysat my boys while I went to teach at a local high school, but they did NOT like getting up early. So every night I drove the boys to their house where they took their baths and went to bed. Then I'd go downstairs and chat with my Dad for an hour or two. :o)
One day, I was sitting in the teacher's lounge getting ready to call my Dad. The Lord put it on my heart to use one of my personal days. As the Spirit spoke to my heart, I picked up the phone and called my Dad. He answered on the first ring, as always.
"Hey, Dad! The Lord was dealing with me to take a day off and rest tomorrow. I'm actually going to take a day off! So I won't bring the boys over this evening. You can take Mom to dinner and have fun!"
He laughed and said, "Fantastic! A date!" Then we spoke for a little while longer....
That was the night he died.
He had a massive heart attack, but my mom was able to spend those precious last minutes with her sweetheart instead of worrying about trying to protect my children (who would have been there if I had planned to go to work).
God in his sovereignty knew that he wanted to bring my daddy home that night, so he worked out a plan that would protect my boys, give my Dad a bit more privacy with his wife as he faced a path we'll all have to take eventually, and allowed my mother to focus totally on her husband.
Lord, thank you for blessing me with your love, mercy, forgiveness, and grace! I especially appreciate how real you've been to me, especially lately, and I know that you are always with me. Please let my Dad read this letter, ok? If not, then just let him know I miss him.
Dad, if God is letting you read this, please know that I love you! I miss you, and so do Shaq and Jamil. I'm trying to be a daughter you'd be proud of, and I hope you are...even from heaven. I miss calling so that you can help me work through my struggles, grinning that lopsided smile when I do something stupid, and just calming me down when I'm stressed. You were so protective and encouraging, and I miss that most of all. Thank you for doing such a great job, Daddy. I miss you.
With love always,
your daughter
I'm listening to this song right now.
This afternoon has been difficult, but God allowed this awesome worship song to minister to me today.
I'm healing...
I'll write more tomorrow. God bless!
A sweet, cute, friendly couple is getting married tomorrow, and I get to provide the music. Yay!!!!
I went on-line to try and find some more love songs in sheet music form (just in case), but I don't like any of it. I already have most of the free sheet music for public domain classical songs, so I think I'll just bring some of that. If they need more music, I'll have it ready.
I was invited to go to the rehearsal dinner tonight, but I barely know the names of the bride and groom. I was also wearing jeans, and everybody else looked so beautiful and handsome! I would have felt like a dork.
I would have dressed up, but I've never played for a wedding before...I figured it was just "practice." Now I know; I'll dress up, even for the rehearsal if I'm asked to provide music for future weddings.
Pray please; I don't want to screw up tomorrow. I've been practicing all week - - I want to play perfectly.
Have a fantastic weekend!
I called the hospital's billing department today to make sure I'm not over-paying on anything. (Lord knows my budget is extremely tight. I don't have money to waste.) As of today, I've paid off 9 of 11 medical accounts due to my surgery in January. I only have two more, one of which is a whopping $1100 for the hospital stay. They'll be paid off soon (in Jesus' name). ;o)
Anyway, I had a nice little chit chat with the guy on the other end of the phone. With a giggle, I said, "Okay, buddy, let me have it. Give me a run down so I can figure out who gets what today." He laughed, and that was the beginning of a really cool conversation.
He turned out to be my age, and we chatted for a while about his family (mom and sisters are dealing with cancer...please say a quick prayer for them). He couldn't believe how positive my attitude was, especially since I recently had a cancer scare myself. I told him, "You know, I'm blessed to be on the phone with you right now. Things for me could have been much worse."
He must go to a pentecostal church cuz when I gave him my testimony, he started whoopin' and hollerin'! It was so cute! I must admit, though, I did feel an anointing as I spoke life into his family situation.
Today was the first time that a bill collector ever thanked me for blessing him.
Cool, huh?
Lord, thank you for allowing healing for this man who is already in your kingdom. Thank you for using me to bless him today! I don't know that man and will probably never speak to him again, but it was fantastic talking about Your goodness and blessing in my life! Thank you for his appreciation of me, too. It's nice to make someone smile. Father, I pray that you will continue to use us for your will, in whatever way you see fit. I pray for him and his family as they battle cancer and its repercussions. Bless them, Lord, give them peace and joy, and heal them completely - - - if it's your will. In Jesus' name, amen.
Please pray for my mom's friend, Ola. She has cancer that has left her tiny...just skin and bones. She is 86 years old and has confided to mom that she is ready to "go home" (heaven).
The cancer is spreading quickly and is inoperable. I guess I'm asking that you pray God's will be done, even if that means she goes to heaven soon.
Lord, please touch Ola's body. Make her more comfortable than she is now. Help her to rest and sleep. Father, I pray that you bless her, even if that means you bring her home to you soon. In Jesus' name, amen.
Tonight I went to a women's Bible study that wasn't a Bible study at all.
Once per month, we will forego our usual Bible study so that we can take time to split up in pairs and visit the sick and shut-in. My group had three since we had an odd number of women show up this evening, but that was still lovely!
One woman simply needed a bit of "girl talk." Her husband broke his hip, and she's alone for the time being. Sadly, we couldn't see one woman because she took a turn for the worse and ended up in ICU; they only allowed family members (and probably clergy). The nurse was lovely, though, and agreed to take our card back to Jennifer. :o)
When all of the teams were finished, we met at Jan's house to pray together.
What a humbling experience!
Several people told me that I looked beautiful because I was "glowing." Apparently, my joy is oozing onto my face. Yay! I'm horrible at being phony, so I don't even try. But that means people can see when I'm hurting or sad. That's why it's so lovely to hear that folks can see my happiness and peace.
Lord, thank you for blessing me with a happy, healthy, vibrant family who loves one another so completely! Thank you for allowing us to have everything we need: food, water, shelter, clothing, etc. I feel blessed and loved by You tonight! Please continue to help others to see my joy (not sadness or pain) from now on. I would much rather be a blessing to Your people! In Jesus' name, amen.
She knew we had a ton of work to do (all of which is due next Wednesday), so she chose not to lecture tonight.
She gave us the night off! WOOO HOOOOO!!!!!!
I stayed in the computer lab with my group so that we could finish our project. Now it's done!
Tomorrow I will exercise (my daily 8 miles), cut the grass, get cleaned up, write my paper that's due Friday, cook supper, and then go to Bible study. It will be a full (but totally enjoyable) day.
I will try to take pictures. I keep forgetting to take the camera with me!
Have a fantastic evening!
I proctored an ACT test this morning, and it was LOVELY! Man, I wish all of my classes could be that quiet for 4 1/2 hours! :o)
I did my workout and stuck to my eating plan for the day.
Then...
My mother brought KFC over.
I will not eat any...I will not eat any...
Alas, my willpower is pretty much shot at the moment...so I'm going to sleep. I can't eat fried chicken if I'm not awake! :o) I have been working too hard to ruin it with a little piece of chicken. Perhaps I'll have a skinless piece tomorrow for lunch, but I'm all out of points for today.
Sweet dreams!
I'm so sleepy! Here's what I did today:
1.) I slept in until 7:19 (instead of getting up at 5:00). Niiiiiice.
2.) My breakfast was an English muffin with 1 teaspoon of strawberry jam.
3.) I already finished the research for my paper on the weekend, so I organized everything and actually wrote the paper itself. My brain was fried, so my wonderful son proofread it for me before he disappeared to skateboard with friends.
4.) I made some Shake-N-Bake chicken and baked potatoes for supper.
5.) While dinner was cooking, I worked out. I did Taebo last week, and I was abnormally sore. I guess I'm just anxious to get this post-surgery weight off for good. My insides hurt for days. I know, I know...I shouldn't have started with Taebo, but I love doing all of those kicks and punches. Oh well...Leslie Sansone gave me a decent workout today. It's a "walking" video with gentle moves that left me smiling (instead of squirming from pain).
6.) I took a 1-hour nap.
7.) Class this evening was long but informative. I (and the rest of my classmates) had to present my paper, and it took almost the entire three hours to get through everyone.
8.) I made a little trip to Wal*Mart to get some veggies, fruit, and low-fat snacks for me and the boys.
9.) I blogged...and now I'm talking to you. :o)
I have been going, going, going all day, but I also enjoyed myself. One thing I did NOT do is read my Bible. I will try to start my summer mornings with prayer and scripture; otherwise, I'll get tired and won't do it.
I hope you have a wonderful evening!
Have you ever wanted to simply get home, but someone decides to putz in the passing lane?
Thankfully for him, I do not have laser vision...or he might have become dust tonight.
It's all good, though. I just put in a Christian CD and sang.
Today was the last day of school for the kids, and tomorrow is mine. I have a paper due on Wednesday, which will probably get finished tomorrow afternoon. Then I will get to rest! Hallelujah!
How was your day?
Yep...I've been asked (by the music director herself) to lead worship for every Sunday evening service, starting next week.
Pastor usually has 2-3 songs, but he asked me tonight, "You're not playing 1 or 2 songs, are ya?" I said, "How many would you like?" He replied, "5...6...or more..."
:o)
I get to lead worship every week! Yay!!!!
Tomorrow is the last day of school, and I'm looking forward to doing the finishing touches on my classroom. Most of the big materials are put away; it'll take me 1 hour tops to finish getting ready for summer.
I'm planning on putting some stuff in a crate for summer school, but everything else must be stored in a locked cupboard. I'm so grateful for the storage space! I don't have to bring anything home this year! WOOOO HOOOO!!!!
Have a great week!
Praise God! My boys loved youth group tonight!
Hallelujah!
I didn't want to make them leave prematurely, so I sat in the car and read for my grad class while I waited for them to be dismissed. The door opened, and I looked over to see the Pastor jump in to sit and chat for a few minutes. He said that the boys really opened up and seemed to enjoy themselves, but he didn't push them too hard. He wants them to feel comfortable; if they want to speak, that's great....if not, that's great too.
On the way home, I heard music to my ears from my little one: "Mom, I want to go every Thursday. That was way better than I thought it was going to be."
(*** insert a big 'ol smile on my face here ***)
Thank for your prayers! :o) [And thank you, Lord, for listening and blessing!]
Please pray for the lack of motivation in some of my students.
Yesterday they were given an assignment: Write a personal letter to me including the grade they would assign my teaching this year with supporting details.
They were allowed to think I was terrible, but they had to write WHY I was terrible.
As simple as this assignment was, I still had folks who refused to do it, even if I provided paper and a pencil.
They are forcing me to fail them...and I hate that.
On the other end of the spectrum, one of my advanced classes earned all A's (with the exception of one B and one C) on the final exam! :O) Woooo hoooo!!!!!!
We still have two more days of finals, and I hope the rest of my classes do this well!
Tonight my boys will go to youth group for the first time. That is such a blessing to me! My Mom forced me to go to church when I was younger, and that resulted in my rebellion later. That's why I didn't make my own kids go to these youth meetings since we've been back for a month. God is good, though! I've been hoping they'd show interest; they already know Pastor W., but all of the young people are folks who have joined the church after we left several years ago. They'll meet some new friends this evening!
Have a blessed day!
I got an A on my first paper....only 5 more projects to go...
I haven't been up this late on a school night in quite a while. Thankfully, ALL of my written homework is finished for this week!
Unfortunately, I couldn't complete the reading. I will try to get that done tomorrow afternoon by 4:30....which is when I need to head to class.
I forgot all about commencement tonight. I had planned on working straight through from 2:18-? to complete all of my homework, but I had to stop from 5:45-7:30 for graduation at school. It was beautiful! My job was to dispense programs...but only one per family. That always irritates some folks.
I finished writing, copying, and labeling make-up tests and then organized everything for tomorrow. It was 9:30 p.m. as I pulled out of the parking lot to go home. I had instructed the boys to make their own supper, but alas, they were waiting for me to cook when I walked in the door. So I made some ghetto spaghetti: I couldn't find a single box of real spaghetti, so I used my last box of pasta (lasagna). I couldn't make real lasagna because I didn't have all of the ingredients. I threw in a bag of frozen veggies to thicken the sauce, melted some mozzarella cheese on top, and voila! They had supper at 11:00 p.m.! ;o)
I'm not entirely upset about cooking so late at night since I now have a very nice lunch to take to work tomorrow. That way, I can eat at work and head to class as soon as the last child leaves my room. I can get quite a bit of reading done between 3:30 and 6:00 when class begins.
Thank GOD I don't need to keep up this pace much longer!!! Tomorrow is the first of three days for final exams (should be quiet at work for the rest of the week). Then Monday is basically a free day (and an early release day), so I will simply distribute final exam grades, 4th quarter grades, and year-end grades. I rarely see more than 40% of my kids on the last day of school.
As of next Wednesday, I will be able to work every day on my 19th c. American lit. class. I will be finished by June 24th, and then summer school starts on June 25th.
Let the good times roll...
This may not seem like a lot of time to you, but it's fabulous when your professor ends class early!
Yay!
Thankfully, my next project (the one due Wednesday) will definitely be finished tomorrow. I am NOT a night owl; in fact, I'm going to sleep in a few minutes. I will wake up early to work on it. Perhaps it will be finished before I go to work so that I can relax in the afternoon. That's my goal anyway. We also received the next assignment (due next Wednesday), but I won't even begin to do the research for that until Friday. It's finals week; my plate is full!!!!
I made some chicken in the crock pot, but it's too late to eat. The boys had supper while I was in class; there may not be any for me anyway. I don't exactly like chicken legs, so I won't be disappointed if it's all gone.
prayer request: Please pray for my friend, Kim. Her back hurts, and I'd like God to heal her asap! :o)
Have a wonderful Tuesday!
