Awwww! I got the Honest Crap, scratch that...Honest Scrap Award. I'm not really sure if that is a play on words and Jill really thinks I'm honest, yet crappy. Haha. Still, she must know that I am in constant need of the acceptance of everyone around me. Yes, I'll seek therapy.

1. I still have my childhood blankie that my Granny crocheted for me.

2. So far, I am loving my 30's.

3. I woke up at 4:15 this morning to cook my husband breakfast...because he deserves it.

4. I love my family - all of it, not just immediate...aunts, uncles, cousins, everybody!

5. I LOVE Jesus. I love to study the Bible. I love that every time I read God's Word, it is Him speaking to me and I don't have to be a great theologian to understand. There are no spiritually elite!

6. For Christmas, I am going to buy my daughter a...oh wait, I am SO not telling. I know you read this Abbie!! Haha.

7. I got married way to young. Or maybe just too spiritually young. But God can work all things to His glory for those who love Him. Praise Him for that!

I....am having a hard time...

8. My daughter was born 14 weeks premature.

9. My husband and I are newly addicted to reruns of the show "Wife Swap". You probably know it - two very different wife/mom's trade places for two weeks. It makes us feel so good about our lives. People are soooooo screwed up.

10. I am running out of steam and I gots to go feed m'ladies, i.e.:the chickens.

Sorry to bore you! I am a snoozer!

I don't mean to beat a dead horse, but...

Did anyone catch Bettye Not-So-Fine Collins tonight? Her quotes were priceless: "It's not all bad" and "We survived". How about "The people see how hard we will work for them" Haahahhahahahahahaahhahaha...I'm so sorry...hahahahaha......give me a minute...

Whoooooo....Come on Jefferson County! Tell me you all see how (bad word alert) stupid (that was it) she thinks the people are. "It's not that bad. We survived [the fiscal year]."

WHO survived? She and the other greedmongers of the JCC, I guess. Scratch that - I KNOW. I am certain the 1051 employees who are out of work and the rest of the population paying $300 water bills would disagree.

Okay, okay, moving on...I just can't help it sometimes. Sorry to be a downer. Moving on moving on. Ummmm, can't think of anything. Field trip tomorrow, I'll take my camera and it will be a happy time! Although, it will be in Jefferson County....

WoW! It is getting absolutely cold outside. I do enjoy the fall, but once temperatures are below 78 degrees, it's sweater weather for me. So now it is continually harder for me to shave because I'm fighting off chill bumps in the shower. I blame it on my thyroid. That makes me feel a little less wierd.

Who wants to save money??

Okay, if you live near me, I have GREAT news for you! A genius that I go to church with is going to hold a class on couponing. Yes. "Couponing". It is now a verb. It is only a few okays away from being an Olympic sport.

Anyway...this girl KNOWS her stuff. She has a family of six, and monthly she spends $100 on groceries, gas, and eating out combined. Do you understand?? COMBINED!! And it's not dirty and underhanded so that retailers will catch on and quit doing these awesome coupon programs. It's totally legit.

The class is open to anyone and she is asking for a $5 donation to go to a new ministry. The ministry is going to help others with grocery bills and helping them learn to save, stuff like that. The class will be on October 15th, 6-8 p.m. I so can not wait...she said that for my small family I should be spending about $20 on groceries, especially since we garden and have our own eggs! She asked how much I am spending now, but I wouldn't tell. I was waaaayyy to embarassed.

If you want to attend, please let me know and I will get you directions to my church. It is open to anyone and everyone. We won't even make you dance around with the rattlesnakes (that's usually a second or third visit). Really, though, it's just all about coupons and saving. so be there!

Happy Birthday and I hate you...

Happy Birthday to the best guy ever! Yes, my husband. He is now closer to 40 than he is 30 and he may be freakin' out a little. The same way he did when I turned 30. Being that I am five years younger than him it was always a nice consolation to know your wife was still a young little thing in her 20's. But then one day I wasn't anymore. I mean in my twenties. So now I am in my thirties and he is closer to 40 and things are really unravelling.



So just kidding. He truly gets better every year and I love him more now than ever. Who was it that said you're the sweetest before you rot? Good sentiment there.



Now on to the I hate you part. I know, I know, it is a terrible word and I don't allow it, so what can I replace it with....sheer and utter disgust...abhor...displeasure...scorn. No, those are all bad. And no, this is not aimed at my sweet husband (not today anyway), but at his employer. The infamous (not to mention insane) Jefferson County Commission.

Can I just tell you that I like Sheriff Mike Hale as does my husband. He has stood up first, for the citizens of the county and second, for the employees. He has done it with professionalism and grace and he has done it all while standing by his wife's side during her ongoing battle with breast cancer. And what does he get in return? Vile spewing of contempt, self righteous actions and attitudes, and personal vendettas (you know it's a fun day when you can work in the word "vendetta").

Rather than just accepting responsibility for years of mismanagement and admitting to the public that this is a horrid, awful, monstrous (okay, I'll put down my thesaurus), situation, but let's work to fix it. Nooooo, the JCC uses up every description of the political profile: deny, lie, shift the blame, and repeat.

So all we have heard is Mike Hale this, Mike Hale that, "he's not a team player", "he needs to come off his funds", waa, waa, waa. Well, let me tell you something, o' ye members of the JCC (maybe I've been reading too much 15th century history - sorry), Mike Hale and the Sheriff's Department are not the people who got us into this mess. You need to remember that you are elected officials and you can be taken out as quickly as you were put in. The bad part about that is, common sense seems to have left the building and I no longer feel secure in thinking that immoral and reprehensible behavior will be duly noted and NOT reelected. Maybe I caught that feeling from my cousin at The Perry County Herald.

Well, I suppose you guessed it - yes, my husband was notified of his lay off last night. Happy Birthday! But guess what JCC? What you meant for evil, God will use for good. We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God (Romans 8:28). My husband, being as perfect and sought after as he is, already has prospective jobs with better positions that he is checking into. It is looking okay, right now.

Either way, "LORD, You have treated Your servant well, just as you promised. You are good and You do what is good (Psalm 119: 65 and 68)." I could go on for hours, days even, speaking of the goodness and faithfulness of Christ, but I beseech (15th century history again, can't help it)you to look for yourself. Allow God to speak directly to you.

And have mercy, pray for the JCC honey.

Honesty IS the Best Policy...

We enjoyed a nice night at church tonight. Unfortunately The Deputy has to work during the Sunday night service, but I do get to snuggle up with our Favorite Girl, since now she goes to "big church".

On the drive home she says so many wonderful things like,
"I just couldn't stop loving on you because you are the best Mommy!" and
"God couldn't have given me a better Mommy!"

I know! So wonderful, right!? Then she tells me that she is probably just going to always live in our house forever. Aaaaahhhh, the sweet innocence of thinking there is no better place than right under Mom and Dad's noses.

So then she adds,

"I mean, this will be better because I really don't want to have to spend all of MY money on a house! Are you going to let me have everything when you die?"

Thanks.

Can't I just write a check?

Maybe I have let on that I have many friends. Well, what I mean to say is that I have mini friends. Yes, I know that the majority of the population is mini compared to me, but seriously. For some reason most of my friends are cute little teeny tiny women with an impeccable sense of style. I think I am the token big loud gawky awkward friend. In other words - I make them look so much better. Not to mention charitable!

So anyway, one of my cute little fashionable teeny tiny friends is all about running now. Well just go ahead and add that to the list. Oh and it's not even a little selfish either, like she wants to look even better. She's doing it because her husband got involved in it and is all into running these things called "threeks and fourks". Well now I don't know why you would put a "k" on the end of a 3, but I know for certain what to do with a "k" on the end of a 4 and it ain't run. Unless I'm chasing my meal and in that case it can't be worth it and I'm calling in some take-out.

She has somehow convinced me that this activity of pretending that I am trying desperately to get away is fun. Fun! Hahaahahahaha, hang on...gimme a minute...okay, I'm good.
Now I'm in trouble. All I remember is the cookies from Edgar's bakery topped with yummy light frothy chocolaty goodness and then saying "yes". Evidently I didn't say yes to what I thought I said yes too. I mean what just happened here? I think the cookies were laced. That no good...
I started saying things like "good to have a goal" and "something positive to work toward". What?! WHAT IS HAPPENING TO ME!?!
I have now committed to one of her nutty "threeks"!! Is it too late to back out? Is anyone planning on dying that weekend? Let me know...

Ugggg

Is everyone having as hard of a time as I am getting back in the routine today? Let me just be honest - carnival food and staying up waaaaay past my bedtime has caught up with me big time.

But how can you say no? Gyros, funnel cakes, caramel apples, lemonade, massive piles of greasy fries, philly cheese, cream soda, ice cream, mmmmmm. Then, late nights with Mr. Darcy and Madea.

Well, I better get back in the routine soon. Right now I have to go scrub the finger nail polish off of my child's hands. See? I'm paying for it...

Festibal Fun!

You know how kids say the cutest things? And you know that you need to correct them but the older they get the cute things make way for signs of growing up? So you just hang on to a few things as long as you can. So we don't call M&M's "Auntie Em's" anymore, but I can't let go of "festibal". And it seems the rest of my family can't either. We all say it to be funny, but my Fave is none the wiser. She just knows she fits right in.



We had so much fun visiting the fam in Charlotte. Cousin John Allan went with us to see cousins Katie, Joel (her husband), and Scott and Aunt Trish and Uncle Hugh. John Allan's girlfriend, Caroline, met us there so that was an added bonus. She is great and we are keeping our fingers crossed (wink wink).We were also able to see their friend Jorge again, but were so sad we missed Aunt Trish's twin sister and her family. They chose the beach house over us - imagine that!



Their town is so great and they put on an awesome festibal. First stop -



Yes, I know...every mother's dream. She wanted to wash it off within five minutes which, of course, it still hasn't come off. Katie told her to remember that feeling when she is 18 and "everybody else is doing it." Good advice.

This ride is "The Storm". Awesome time if the overwhelming urge to puke is your thing. She of course squealed with delight the whole time so it was good.

And the last stop - Much better than the first! We HAD to do this before we left to go home. She was all smiles so I think it was worth the last five bucks. He is going to fire it and Aunt Trish and Uncle Hugh are going to bring it to us on Thanksgiving (NOT Katie and Joel, but that's another post).

Such a good time! We three cousins are as different as we can be, but we love each other and always have a good time. I couldn't imagine my life without them! I am so thankful that family is so important to Granny and Granddaddy. They took us grandkids on camping trips every summer and it made all the difference. They made sure that we would be life long friends. Thanks to my Charlotte fam for putting us up and thanks to Granny and Granddaddy for making sure it would happen.

P.S. - I only almost got left this time. Sigh....the plights of the invisible cousin...