Monday, January 28, 2008
Some Links
The Cake!
This is a pic of the award-winning Spongebob Squarepants cake! :) I know Patrick is a little skinny and Plankton is prob'ly a bit large in comparison to the other characters but.... Nickelodeon and Deco-Pac liked it enough to pick it as winner of the top prize. Out of 200 entries :)
Just had to show off a little.........
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Who? ME!
Sometimes I have this little problem.... when it comes time to stand up and say things the hinge on my jaw refuses to open. Fortunately (for me) my fingers don't seem to have that problem. So I'm going to type some things I really need to say: a little synopsis of who I am and who I'm not... what I can do and what I will not do anymore.
I am a Christian. I believe God sent His son Jesus who hung on a cross to be the sacrifice that enabled me to receive entrance into the kingdom of God. Agree or disagree with me, it's ok. The Holy Spirit is the Best Friend I have no matter what anybody may think or say about me. I'm not here to fight about my faith. It's just a part of who I am.
I am a Mom. I believe that the 3 kids that came into this world thru me are my biggest responsibility and my absolute greatest joy. YES I will serve them. Yes I WILL get up in the middle of the nite and run to them if they call. I will protect them. I will defend them. I will get them a coke even if they DO have two legs and can easily get up and walk to the refrigerator. Because I am also a daughter. I can look back and see that the time I spent in my mother's house is less now than the time I've spent out of it. I am looking in the face of the last few years I'm going to enjoy having my kids under my roof. I am going to make the most of it. I am also looking forward to becoming a grandmother. I have every intention of being surrounded by my grandchildren for as long as God allows. I will spoil them. I will help them get out of trouble with their parents. I will hold them instead of letting them play on the floor and I will let them sleep beside me if they want to. Like I did for my own. This is another part of me that I'm not here to fight about. THIS IS WHO I AM. And I'm not apologizing for it anymore. I began looking forward to being a mom when I was just a little girl. As a teenager I very seriously planned on finding a sperm donor and living as a single parent if other arrangements would not have come about. (IE: marriage and a husband.) If ever my financial circumstances allow it I would love to become a foster or adoptive parent to help provide a loving, stable environment for a child who doesn't have one.
I would give my last drop of blood for my kids. If they needed my last breath they could have it. If I had to fight with only my bare hands I would shred anyone who tried to hurt them. Because I'm their mom.
I am: Independent. I don't need anything, or anybody outside the aforementioned children God brought into this world thru me. And I need God. HE is my provider. If I need a friend He'll bring me one. When I had nothing He was there. I know if I am ever at that point again, in Him I will not be disappointed. He has provided for me beyond my wildest dreams. Maybe He even used some of you to help when I was in need. :) (And I know He still DOES!!)
I am: Creative. Gullible. Emotional. Smart. Learning. Compassionate. Self-sufficient. Nurturing. Affectionate. At peace.
I am NOT: a Doormat. Stupid. Argumentive. Mean. Looking out for number one. Here for everyone else's convenience. (Unless your name is David, Melody or Jon.)
I can: Draw, write, sing. Decorate cakes and prepare gourmet foods for formal events. Make people laugh. Remember the words to songs I haven't heard in 30 years. Balance a checkbook and stay in budget. Pay my bills on time. Get myself out of debt. Make intelligent decisions. Make sure my children know they are loved and supported even thru the worst of times. Love and support the rest of my family.
I cannot: Be someone I'm not. Shut off my emotions or my need to serve and provide for my kids. Always say the words that are raging in my head. Continue to allow people to push past my boundaries. Not help someone or something that is in need if I have the means to help them.
I lived for 17 years with a person who has a borderline personality disorder. I enabled and codepended. I almost disappeared. I won't put myself in that position ever again. I won't be abused. I will see straight. (eventually) And I will listen to the people who love me who can see things clearer than I can. Even if at first it makes me mad.
This is who I am....... God made me this way and has given me the strength and wisdom to continue to grow, learn and change. I have to be who He made me. I will embrace the fact that I'm Wonderfully Made.
No more hiding. No more apologies.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
a side note
Did that make sense?
Anyway he's way better at blogging than me so I thought I'd give him a plug.
Love ya Bro!
cuz I'm the MOM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxT5NwQUtVM
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
k - SO
Anyway... my boss actually called the newspaper office today to tell them. Maybe they're gonna put my pic in the paper. Maybe I'll be famous for that 15 minutes we're all supposed to get. Wouldn't that be cool???
It'd be ok if they just put a pic of the cake in the paper. But in my mind I'm going over my whole life story just in case they ask!!! HaHa.
Maybe someone from a big city will see my work and offer me a job that pays big city money. (but then I'd hafta move to said city..... therein lies the rub.) Already my visions of grandeur surface.
(I'll post a pic of the cake as soon as I can get a copy and scan it to my pc.)
I'm happy!!
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Today
Anyway.... as we worked I started feeling really bad. My mom is on oxygen 24/7. She can't do much that doesn't get her short of breath. I can't imagine for the life of me why it took so LONG to figure out that she might need help around the house. I am ashamed of myself!
I love my momma. All my life she was who I wanted to be when I grew up. She still inspires me to be a better mom. I wonder if this happens to everyone as they get older.... I know how it feels to miss my kid so suddenly it crosses my mind that I might need to spend more time with someone who misses me? Life is so full of ironies...... You never get to enjoy a clean house til it's empty. You don't figure out life til you're too old to live it. Your body (ok - MY body) will prob'ly never lose weight unless it gets sick and can't enjoy being skinny.
The biggest irony of all is that love lets go. I learned that one while someone did his best to control me. His tightening grip only made me more determined to get away.
I'm beginning to feel as tho I don't have anything figured out at all. The world as we know it is upside down at best. So maybe I live under poverty level but maybe that simplifies things. I have to buy a clunker car.... but a clunker tag will cost less and so will the insurance. I can't buy a house (yet) but when things go wrong I get to pass them off to my landlord. (Not that it helps....) I think that I have truly learned to count my blessings..... I almost.... sorta.... like living life on the edge. (FINANCIALLY.......... lol) I can't go in debt. Nobody will lend me any money. (ha!) I've learned what's important cuz I'm too poor to get distracted.
Today when we were finished cleaning my parents house they put in a Gaither video. My parents LOVE those. They know everybody. Who sings with whom, whose kids are with which band... who died this year and what part he used to sing. It was a really cool moment. They shared their favorite song with us. It was a great song too. I guess it's another irony. We don't appreciate our parents until our time with them gets short.
I know this post has rambled all over the universe. This is what happens when I try to figure out the universe. It's a Sagittarius thing. I'm gonna call and visit my momma more often. And maybe when I'm old all my kiddos will remember to call and visit ME.
Some things you should know
1: I sneeze every single time I eat at an all-you-can-eat buffet. Be it Chinese, Mexican, American..... it doesn't matter. Both Lawrence and I know when I'm done.... cuz I start to sneeze. At least 5 to 7 sneezes. And I have no idea why. It's not an over-eating response, I don't think. (altho it could be.... cuz I don't eat normally at those places.) I've tried to figure out if it's the way I sit... maybe my fuller-than-usual stomach pushing up on my diaphragm or something. But even when I try my best not to slouch.... they still come. I even posted this issue at Yahoo Answers. But nobody had a good response. It's my little mystery.
2: I have an HSD. Hormonally Sad Day. I know it's gonna be monthly, REGULARLY, right around the 20th. I'm giving you all a heads up on this because it will definitely show up in the things I write around that time. It's kinda like if life were a stereo system and instead of someone cranking up the bass they crank up the SAD..... The HSD is usually followed up by an IID. Irrationally Irate Day..... The day where MAD is cranked up and I'm cussing the woman in the car in front of me cuz she has unreasonable huge HAIR. After all these years I know myself well enough to not take myself too seriously on these days. Hopefully those around me will give me the same grace.
3: Sometimes I KNOW things. (lol) I ALWAYS know when the phone rings and it's gonna be Lawrence or one of my kids. Little things happen in my day-to-day life and I'll just know. Like if I should wait to tell someone something or answer the phone when it comes up oddly on caller ID. I can't explain it but it's there.... I'm trying really hard to listen to it better. It used to pop up for BIG things.... like the time I had a car wreck.... I heard a voice in my head tell me it was gonna happen but I pushed it out as being ridiculous. Then there was the time I went to this particular nite club (a LOOOONG time ago!) and they had a diamond contest and I knew I was gonna win. And I did. But as I get older it whispers for littler things. I know you probl'y think I'm crazy now. (But I knew you would think that!)
So what's YOUR trivia!???? I really wanna know!!
Grrrrr
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Songs I can no longer listen to :(
Brad Paisley: Letter To Me; Mud on The Tires
Trace Adkins: You're Gonna Miss This; Arlington; Then They Do
Billy Ray Cyrus: Ready, Set, Don't Go
Nickleback: Far Away
Toby Keith: American Soldier
Tracy Lawrence: If I Don't Make It Back
Avenged Sevenfold: Seize The Day
(This list will prob'ly grow..... I really miss my kid. Not a good day :(
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Just for the record
Anyway... there's Star Wars AND Harry Potter fic there is anyone is interested. The other fan link is Harry Potter only.
We were just talking about how we need to get back to writing!!!! Just need some new inspiration................
Progress
I got 2 letters from David! He sounds ok, but was still in reception.... so had not gotten a huge taste yet of boot camp. He said he saw Aaron (his cousin) and they are both bald now :) But they didn't really get to talk...... He said he has 9 weeks til graduation. I need to check the calendar.... Somewhere around the 10th of March we'll be going to Missouri! I'll have to wait til I talk to him again to get an exact date. I hope it's a weekend thing. Of course then he's only half-done in Missouri... he'll have to go thru 10 weeks of AIT. (don't know what that stands for....) If he doesn't see Aaron much during basic they will prob'ly be together some in AIT cuz they're both training to be MPs.
The hard thing is that he doesn't have a personal address yet so I can't write back!! I really NEEED to write back! To tell him I love him and all that stuff I used to get to say every day. I'm one of "those people" now.... the ones who say "Oh I have a son in TX." or "My daughter lives over in GA." I just hope Dave's out-of-stateness isn't permanent. I'll feel much better when he's HOME!!
Thursday, January 10, 2008
An Addendum
PS: He also said bunches of nice, sweet things about ME!!! :)
LOVE You Lawrence!! MWAH!
Thankfully
Please say a prayer
She has also done some things to turn her life around and I'm proud of her. She no longer hangs with that crowd, is taking responsibility for 2 jobs and spends alot more time here at home with me. There's alot more communication between us now. I'm hoping to get to tell the judge that.
I'm pretty sure she's gonna be nervous.... and I'm praying for favor with the judge. It really was a stupid mistake.... it's not her lifestyle. (I just love that word now) We just have to remember to hide the fact that the other night I let her get a tattoo..... (I'll save THAT for another post!)
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
WWJD?
Part of me wants to post a blog of my own at myspace... go down the line and rebut all his twisted accusations. But another part of me knows that it really won't make a difference in his thinking and the people who know and love me (and my kids) already know the truth.
I prayed for forgiveness today.... for getting all mad and sinking into that "battle-mode" again. I don't want to let someone else's problem become my own. But I also prayed for just one little iota of justice. Of truth to win out. I know that's probl'y not a Godly prayer.... But for one little instant I'd like to know that his lies and facade have been exposed. I hate that he keeps getting to lie about us.... just because we commited the unpardonable sin and disengaged from him because of his destructive behavior.
Anyway.... I'm not gonna talk about this anymore because I don't want this blog to be about him. he's not my life anymore and he no longer controls me. But when things like this happen I DO need to VENT!!!
What Would Jesus Do??????
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Clarifying
Lawrence is one of the GOOD GUYS. He has shown me his love and caring committment faithfully for a while now. He is there when I need him. Emotionally.... physically.... financially he's gone above and beyond any other person in my life. I know love can't be pinned down or analyzed but these things show me he loves me. I hope I have shown him the same cuz I DO love him. I'm excited to think about us living together. I'm even willing to get married again. To him. Cuz I trust him.
I didn't mean for my remarks about marriage to confuse things.... and I'd hate for Lawrence to think those comments meant that I wasn't sure about HIM. I AM :) It's just that little piece of paper... that ceremony....
Those kinda make me nervous.
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Crud Cutter
It's a really nice french provincial chest. It has a partner piece that somehow never got stickered so when we move Mel will have matching bedroom furniture. I'm glad I could get it clean without messing up the finish. That crud cutter stuff is really good.
The adhesive on Lisa Frank stickers is really stubborn, but the last one off was The Spice Girls. I don't know what they used on that one but I had to take a scraper to it. Life keeps moving on, whether I like it or not. Sometimes I think a mom's job sucks.... to love someone so much only to have to let them go in the end. Find yourself on hands and knees cussing the Spice Girls....
But those stickers were way awesome cool while they lasted.
Church
I tried a new church, Lifepoint. They preached a good game but when it came down to it they were everything that I think is classically bad about nondenominational churches. They have a "face" they want to put forth and if you don't fit the face you don't get to be in on any kind of ministry, unless it's wiping bottoms in the nursery. Let's just say I didn't fit the face, and after so many tries..... it's much easier to stay home and sleep late Sunday mornings.
One church wouldn't go away tho. The ladies from FBG would come to the bakery at lunch and always ask me to come back and sing in the choir. After several of these invitations it occured to me that maybe I should go where I was wanted. Maybe it's different from the kind of church I thought I'd end up going to. But the new music director and a man from the choir even came to my HOUSE.... so here I am. I can't really tell you how cool it is being a part of such a southern tradition every Sunday morning tho. It just feels right. And I s'pose that's what it's all about. If it wasn't God's leading then it wouldn't feel right. Right? I hope....
Today on the big screen in front of the baptismal was the verse about faith being dead if it doesn't have any works. I can lay in my bed and pray and pray and believe and trust and all that. But maybe that isn't enough. I need some works to go with my faith. So right now my church is my works. Whatever I can do there.... just be myself and share what God has given me to share... that's what I think He wants me to do. Even if it doesn't make sense. Even if a staid, traditional church is not where I thought I'd end up.... Faith without works is dead. So I'm getting ready to go back to work! (In more ways than one)
Thursday, January 3, 2008
As for Melody...
Right now it's just me and Mellie. When Mellie is home. It's still Christmas vacation for her so... right now it's just me. And the dogs. I look forward to spending more time with my girl tho. I always wished that I had waited a little longer between her and Jon, cuz she kinda got lost in the shuffle as the middle kid. Now I'll have that time for just her and me. If she'll come home for a while!!! She's very special to me. We've gotten closer these past few years. I'm glad she can enjoy Dave's bedroom.... Can't let her get TOO comfy in there tho....
So it Wasn't That Bad
"heyyy im in montgomery now and everything is going great so far...i cant wait to get up to missouri and get everything started...i was talkin to the recruiters before i left and i AM gonna get to drive a hummer!!! haha its gonna be great...im lookin forward to startin everything and ill talk to ya soon...i love ya"
It's hard to stay sad after that. I laid in bed last night counting my blessings.... and it was actually a happy moment. I've been praying that David would find direction for his life. I didn't know it would come on quite this fast but this is definitely a direction.
It's still weird tho... I keep thinking he's here. When I make that mental grocery list in my head, or lock the doors at night. This morning I was getting dressed for work and it hit me that I don't have to close the bedroom door anymore against the chance that he might walk out of his bedroom and get scarred for life. Cuz he's not IN his bedroom. Trust me.... he was prob'ly still in Albertville when his sister took over that bedroom.
10 weeks and counting now. Til graduation from basic training. Then 10 more weeks of AIT. Then he'll be home.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
First Steps
David was stubborn even before he was born. He got comfy and didn't want to turn in the right position. I remember feeling his hard little skull right up under my ribcage. He must have liked the position cuz when his birthday came he was still there. They did an emergency C-section when the exam revealed a foot and umbilical cord in the birth canal instead of his fuzzy little head. The first time I saw him was thru the glass between me and the nursery. He looked like an eskimo baby. MY eskimo baby. Such a sweet little boy.
His first word was "No." I nursed him till he was two. He hated school and I had to pick up his little five-year-old body and physically put it on the school bus in the mornings. At night he couldn't go to sleep without our bedtime prayer. So it became a ritual right up til he was about 15 years old. I lost that year with him when he decided to live with his dad. I guess I kinda ruined his life. But he came to live with me and his sister a year later, and I couldn't have been happier. I bought him a Ford F-150 truck. A '94. It got stuck in the mud so many times.... cost me a fortune replacing the engine, redoing the front end 4 different times. He loved that truck. So did I. But he left it in the mud by the lake one night and somebody trashed it. Brad Paisley's song "Mud On The Tires"- it was all that. And more.
Hailey was his first gf. She is such a sweet girl. He took April to her prom in '05 I think. Then him and CarolAnne were together for a really long time. My favorite was Cassandra. She is like - the perfect chick! Beautiful and sweet and I love her still. I think he was playing the field right up til the time the recruiter talked him into the National Guard. I prayed for him to find a direction for his life. Who knew a month later he'd be gone?
He is excited. His myspace mood was "Adventurous." So what else can I ask for? I held him really tight and told him I love him and then let him go. Watched him take his first steps. Again. Out into his own world.
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
And so he goes.....
First Post - Fresh Start :)
Ready.... Set... GO!