Randomness

When I posted the Friday Feast on Friday, I had every intention of following through with my weekend plans. However, I didn't realize I would spend the weekend in bed sick! I'm blaming my boss. She has a cold and she used my office phone one day last week before she was out sick Wednesday - Friday. I did manage to do some laundry and basement organizing yesterday, but that's about the extent of my physical exertion. Unless you count watching 12 episodes of CSI on DVD. You know I was sick when I didn't drink any coffee this weekend!

One day last week, I went to the grocery store. I hate grocery shopping. As I was leaving the grocery store, I crossed the line of traffic on the marked pedestrian crossing. Traffic going both ways is to stop for pedestrians. I'm walking across and this car is kind of drifting past the stop sign, like he's going to hit me! I put my hand out and mouth to him, "Slow down there, buddy!" And I got safely to my car before he hit me. When I got back to my car after returning my shopping cart to the proper place (I hate when I find shopping carts in parking spaces!), the driver of the car that almost hit me came up to me and apologized. This is what he said, "I'm sorry about that. I didn't see you. I was daydreaming." People - I am not hard to miss - he must have been doing some serious daydreaming!

This week is shaping up to be kind of quiet. I have no plans for tonight, tomorrow is dinner with Vickie and the kids, Wednesday I'm planning to go clean mom and dad's living room and bedroom, Thursday is my regular weekly Stop, Shop, and Crop, and I plan to get a perm and haircut on Friday.

On Wednesday, I will celebrate my 22-year work anniversary! I need to distribute my wish list to my co-workers! LOL

I hope everyone has an enjoyable week and remember to keep Heather and her family in your thoughts and prayers.

Friday Feast #2

I was at a conference last weekend, so I didn't get around to doing a Friday's Feast. But here are my answers for this week's edition!

Appetizer

How fast can you type?

I haven't timed it, but I can type fast! My boss is amazed. =)

Soup

What is your favorite online game?

Mah Jongg

Salad

On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 as highest), how intelligent do you think you are?

6

Main Course

Name three of your best teachers from your school years.

Mr. Humbert, Mrs. Sale, Mrs. Harmon

Dessert

What are your plans for this upcoming weekend?

Sleeping in on Saturday, doing some laundry and cleaning, creating a Story Book, organizing my basement, reading, watching CSI DVDs (I'm addicted; I signed up for Blockbuster's DVDs by mail since I am a new CSI addict - started at Season 1; just started the first Season 2 DVD); then church on Sunday morning, followed by a singles luncheon, Sunday afternoon nap, and more CSI DVDs.

Let's Bless Heather!

Today's the day! Go here to make a donation through PayPal to help Heather! Just click on the Make a Donation button in BooMama's post.

Click here for Heather's story. If you aren't able to give (the minimum donation is $1.00), then please pray for Heather and her family.

What are you waiting for?? GO!

I'm Ready to Rally!

I was shocked when I ready Heather's post that she has a brain tumor. I know she is a believer and her faith is in Jesus. And I knew I wanted to help in a more tangible way. So I emailed BooMama and asked if she would, once again, organize a web-a-thon.

She being the kind, caring, lovely person she is, heartily agreed. She is ready to rally!

So now, in addition to praying for Heather, we can help with her travel and medical expenses.

Please join in on Wednesday, April 18th with whatever you can give. I believe we can raise enough money to help cover all of her and Mark's travel expenses and then some. As BooMama says, it's our opportunity to love on Heather and her family!

Let the lovin' begin!

The truth of God's love is not that He
allows bad things to happen. It's that He'll be there when they
do.

Friday's Feast #1

This is my first Friday's Feast!

I've seen them on several blogs and thought I'd give it a try this week.

Appetizer

When you were a child, which crayon color was your favorite? Probably purple, my favorite color.
Soup

On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being highest), how likely would you be to change jobs if it required you to move? 6
Salad

Take all the numbers in your birthday and your phone number and add

them up, one by one. What’s the total? 2,023
Main Course

Have you ever “re-gifted” anything? If so, what was it and who did you pass it on to? I don't think so.
Dessert

Name something you need from the store. Hamburg, to make meatloaf for the Kreiger's dinner tomorrow.

He is Risen

I serve a risen Savior, He's in the world today; I know that He is living, whatever men may say; I see His hand of mercy, I hear His voice of cheer, And just the time I need Him, He's always near.

He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus
lives today! He walks with me and talks with me along lifes narrow way. He lives, He lives, salvation to impart! You ask me how I know He lives? He lives within my heart.

In all the world around me I see His loving care, And tho
my heart grows weary, I never will despair; I know that He is leading thro all the stormy blast, The day of His appearing will come at last.

He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today! He walks with me and talks with me along life's narrow way.

He lives, He lives, salvation to impart! You ask me how I know He
lives? He lives within my heart.

Rejoice, Rejoice, O Christian, lift up your
voice and sing Eternal hallelujahs to Jesus Christ the King! The Hope of all who seek Him, the Help of all who find, None other is so living, so good and kind.

He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today! He walks with me and talks
with me along life's narrow way. He lives, He lives, salvation to impart! You ask me how I know He lives? He lives within my heart.

30-Day Organizational Challenge

Laura of I'm an Organzing Junkie is hosting a Spring 30-Day Organizational Challenge!

I'm a little late in getting around to this post. I had wanted to be ready to start the Challenge on April 2nd because I will probably need 30 months instead of 30 days to organize my basement!

I can't believe I let it get to this point! I shut the door to the basement so I don't have to look at the mess and I only see it when I do laundry.

I have way too much stuff for one person! So it's past time to get this basement cleaned out and organized. I'll be throwing away, packing away, donating, and boxing some stuff up for a yard sale in June.






I didn't photograph the 15 storage tubs of decorations I have stored under the stairs! Nine of those tubs are Christmas/Winter decorations, three are Thanksgiving/Fall, one for Easter/Spring, one for silk flowers, and one that includes New Year's, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, and Independence Day decorations! But those are organized!

Good Friday

(I couldn't figure out how to make this article bigger, but if you click on it, it should open in your browser and be readable.)

Spring Reading Thing 2007

Okay, I finally got my books picked out for Spring Reading Thing 2007. I have a pile of "to be read" books. I picked 5 for the Spring Reading Thing:

Covenant Child by Terri Blackstock
A Time to Embrace by Karen Kingsbury
A Time to Dance by Karen Kingsbury
Stranded in Paradise by Lori Copeland
Gardenias for Breakfast by Robin Jones Gunn

These are all from Women of Faith; and I have about 4-5 more that I haven't read. I think I ordered 10 at one time from www.cbd.com! If I finish these first 5, I'll add more to my list!

I just finished the Annie's People Series by Beverly Lewis. I wish there was a fourth book in this series!

Now I'm ready to start the Spring reading challenge!

Happy Reading!

Happenings

Wow my last post was 11 days ago. A lot has happened since then.

My dad was in the hospital last week. He ended up losing half his blood and had a blood transfusion, all from an abnormal blood vessel. The doctor cauterized it during a colonoscopy. Thankfully, he's home and doing well. He's still tired; and he's not had a cigarette since Wednesday, March 21st! He's been a smoker since he was 11; he's 69. We're all encouraging him to not smoke!

On Friday, the 23rd, we had our board meetings at work. We celebrated Susan's 20th work anniversary, as well as mom's 20th work anniversary! Here are the flowers mom received. I didn't take a picture of Susan's flowers. And mom's arrangement was more full - she gave some of her flowers to nephew #2, who just loves flowers. He's so darn cute, too!





We were to celebrate my sister and brother-in-law's birthdays last Sunday at my parents, but mom had a pain in her neck and couldn't move. She ended up going to the chiropractor for an adjustment of two of her vertebrae. She said it hurt, but she felt better shortly after.

We celebrated birthdays this past Thursday. It was great to be together - the whole family. My brother left at 7:00 to drive to DC; he had a 6 AM flight on Friday to California. He's a groomsmen in a friend's wedding, which took place today.

My youngest nephew, who's 2, got new glasses on Thursday. Is he not the cutest?!

My nephew and brother in their glasses

I believe spring has finally arrived! Although it's chilly, we haven't had any snow since March 16th!

Yesterday, I went shopping with my youngest sister. We went to lunch and then I did some Easter shopping, grocery shopping, and stopped for gas on the way home. Paid $2.67 per gallon. Next time, they'll be asking me to lob off my right arm to pay for gas! I babysat for my associate pastor and his wife last night. They had their annual neighborhood progressive dinner. They were able to give their testimony and plant some spiritual seeds. Their 3 kids and I watched a cute movie, which I can't remember the name of!

After church today, I went to lunch at Red Robin with 4 friends. I had a yummy salad. Then Vickie and her boys came to my house for dinner. I made macaroni and cheese and stewed tomatoes.

This week is kind of busy. I have a church council meeting tomorrow; on Tuesday, I go out to dinner with Vickie and the kids; I plan to visit my grandmother on Wednesday - she's almost 93 and getting frail; I have a Creative Memories workshop on Thursday; and a Good Friday service at church. I have nothing planned for Saturday, and hopefully I keep it that way!

I hope your week is filled with many blessings!

Proud Aunt

My sister sent out this email yesterday. Her son, Caleb, is my favorite oldest nephew! He's 9 and a half. I am proud of him, too. I can just picture him giving these answers! It's funny and touching, just like he is! He's a hoot, yet he has a sensitive heart.

Caleb was interviewed by The Witness (our church newsletter) for its very first edition. I wanted to send it along so you could read it. It’s just precious and totally him. (Ok, it’s pretty funny too!) I’m so proud of him and am just overwhelmed sometimes with how blessed I feel to be his Mom.

The Witness - What does Easter mean to you?

Caleb - It means talking about Jesus rising from the dead at the tomb.

The Witness - How did he get in the tomb?

Caleb - Roman guys put him on the cross and then he died and then they took him to the tomb.

The Witness - What kind of tomb was it?

Caleb - It was a small cave with a cylinder rock and there was a bed and they put oils on him so he didn't stink.

The Witness - How long was he in the tomb?

Caleb - 3 days

The Witness - Then what?

Caleb - Mary, his mom, came and an angel and they got the tomb open and the angel said he rose from the dead.

The Witness - Why did he rise from the dead?

Caleb - To save us to be able to go to heaven and save our hearts from sin.

The Witness - Which holiday do you think is more important, Christmas or Easter?

Caleb - We don't really know when Jesus' birthday was. We give presents and have dinner. Santa doesn't have anything to do with Christ except the giving part. Easter, we're talking about a really, really important day where if it didn't happen we'd be in a different place. It would be horrible. The Easter Bunny (lengthy pause) comes in and gives eggs in your basket. It has something to do with Christ because he or she is giving.

The Witness - What will you do on Easter?

Caleb - Go to my grandma's house and have dinner or stay home and Mom would say "close your eyes and pray". It is a big possibility that we will go to my grandma's. We will have mashed potatoes and stuffing and gravy. My favorite foods are mashed potatoes, stuffing and gravy…and crab. I only get crab at Red Lobster or if we go for Chinese.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I am part Irish, so I wanted to wish you a Happy St. Patrick's Day!

It's a calm Saturday morning; I'm enjoying my coffee.

On my agenda today is laundry, cleaning, scrapbooking, paying bills, and running some errands. Exciting stuff, I know! But I love Saturdays like this - nothing really "planned."

Next Saturday, however, I'll need to leave the house at 5:45 AM (gulp) to set up for an all-day scrapbooking event. It'll be a fun day, but it will be a long day, too.

Yesterday was a snow day so I didn't go out of the house except to shovel. I was reflecting on how many blessings I have and being thankful for those blessings:

My health

My home - it's warm and
cozy

My job, which allows me to
afford heat and food and many other necessities and fun things. If I'm
cold, I just turn up the heat or add another blanket to the bed. It seems many people aren't able to do that. They're having to choose between heat and food or food and medication. It's sad.

My family - my mom, dad,
two sisters, brother, brother-in-law, and 3 adorable nephews!

My friends

And many other people and
"things"

What are you thankful for?

Oh, the weather outside is frightful!

Just two days ago, it was 70 degrees out! Today, it's snowing and 28 degrees with a wind-chill factor of 20 degrees! So it's cold outside:


But I'm warm and cozy inside my house! After shoveling snow, I made a white chocolate latte and poured it in my favorite snowman mug!

While sipping the latte, I read a few chapters from this book:


The perfect snow day! Even though some of you are having spring!

Here's the recipe for the white chocolate latte:

Prep: 5 min., Cook: 5 min

2 cups milk
1 cup half-and-half
2/3 cup white chocolate morsels
2 tablespoons instant coffee granules
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
Whipped cream (optional)
Garnish: cinnamon sticks

Stir first 4 ingredients together in a small saucepan over low heat until white chocolate morsels are melted. Stir in vanilla and almond extracts; pour evenly into 4 mugs. Top with whipped cream, if desired. Garnish, if desired, and serve immediately.

I cut the recipe in half for myself and I didn't have any almond extract. It was still yummy!

Cuteness

This 4-year-old little guy is too cute! And he's not even my nephew!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQPEsa5e7K0

I tried to embed the video, but it wouldn't work!

It was my lucky day!

Yesterday, I decided to park at a parking meter in front of our office building instead of the parking garage several blocks away since I was running late.

I pulled into a parking space, gathered up a total of six quarters from my purse, which would give me an hour of parking. That's right - only 10 minutes of parking per quarter!

When I pushed the button on the meter for my space, I noticed that the empty space next to me had some time on it so I pushed the button for that space. It had 2:52 minutes on it!

I got in my car, backed up, and pulled into that space, added my 6 quarters, which gave me 3:52.

After lunch with Mom, she asked me to add quarters to her meter. I didn't have any more quarters with me, so being a Mom, she gave me some! I was just going to risk it for the afternoon. The meter maids haven't really been giving out tickets.

I added to her meter first. I put the quarter in, it added 10 minutes, and the quarter came back out! I continued to do this for many times, enough to give her 4 hours on her meter!

I put in the same quarter for my meter, it added 10 minutes, and the quarter came back out! About the 20th time, it kept the quarter, so I put another one in, it added 10 more minutes, and kept the quarter. I added another one, it added 10 minutes, and then I got all three quarters back! Well, all three of Mom's quarters!

It was a lucky day!

Spring Reading Thing 2007

Katrina over at Callapidder Days is hosting a Spring reading challenge, Spring Reading Thing 2007. She also hosted Fall Into Reading; I didn't participate in that one, but I'm looking forward to the Spring Reading Thing! I love to read and I have a pile of books on my bookshelf; yet I just don't seem to make enough time for reading.

Not so for this Spring! I'm going to participate in the Spring Reading Thing 2007! It starts March 21st and concludes on June 21st. AND, AND, there's a prize for one random participant ! Who doesn't love a prize?!

I'm going to be putting my reading list together for this challenge! How about you?

Head over to Callapidder Days to read more!

Catching Up!

Wow, it's been a while since I wrote a post!

It's snowing again today, and I closed the office! All the schools are closed, so that works for me!

I'll have to head outside to shovel the snow shortly, but on the inside of my house, I am ready for spring!

On Saturday, February 24th, Vickie and Ellie came to my all-day scrapbooking event at my house. We had fun scrapbookin', chattin', and eatin'!

I babysat my two youngest nephews this past Friday night - overnight! What an adventure! They both woke up crying around 11:00. It took a while to get the youngest settled, so Aunt Jada didn't get much sleep! LOL Mom came down Saturday and we went out to lunch. The boys and I took naps Saturday afternoon. They slept for over 2 hours!! It was a fun and memorable time, and I'll look forward to babysitting overnight again!

They liked the paw prints on the picnic tables; they're 'ordering' lunch.

Here's a picture of Penni, stuffed in a shoebox, all of her own volition!

Winter Wonderland

It's a winter wonderland where I live, if you consider snow and ice a winter wonderland! I've been home from work for three days now! Never imagined that! I did bring home some work on Monday evening, but I finished that on Tuesday when I was home, thinking I'd be able to go in the office on Wednesday. Well, the ice storm came and with it being so cold and windy, it's not getting any better.

I'm home again for now today. If the parking lot and roads improve, I may try to go in for a little bit. But all the schools are closed and there are a lot of accidents, so I may not risk it!

I am almost out of milk! LOL I have about a glass-full left and I've been rationing it! I hate being out of milk!

Hopefully, we'll be able to get out tomorrow.

I do have this to say. I don't see many of my neighbors often, just because we have different schedules. But we do see each other more in the winter, when we're out shoveling! I shoveled yesterday, early afternoon, but couldn't get the thick ice off my car. My neighbor rang my doorbell and offered to clean off the ice from my car, since she was already bundled up, and then move my car so our parking spaces could be cleared . I watched from the warm inside while three of my neighbors got the ice off my car! That was so kind! And I was touched by it.

Stay warm and dry if you're in a winter wonderland! And enjoy your favorite hot beverage!

Happy Valentine's Day (a little early)

I sent out my Valentine's yesterday to my three nephews and my best friend's three kiddos. The clerk at the post office assured me they'd arrive in time for Valentine's Day, and really, they should, since they all live within 20 miles of me!! Anyway, even though I don't have a "Valentine," I wanted to share this with you all.

Updated:

I found the website where I got these graphics:

Be sure to visit! She has some of the cutest graphics!

A Meme

I came across this meme at Susie's Space and thought I'd try it. I did leave some blanks!

Rules: Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following…They must be REAL places, names, things…NOTHING made up! If you can’t think of anything, skip it. Try to use different answers if the person in front of you had the same 1st initial. You CAN’T use your name for the boy/girl name question.

Jada

1. Famous Athlete: Jackie Joyner Kersee
2. 4 letter word: joke
3. Street name: Jefferson Street
4. Color: Jade
5. Gifts/presents: Journals
6. Vehicles: Jetta
7. Tropical Locations: Jamaica
8. College Majors: Junior High Education (?)
9. Dairy Products:
10. Things in a Souvenir Shop: Jewelry
11. Boy Name: Jared
12. Girl Name: Jocelyn
13. Movie Titles: Jingle all the Way; Jack Frost
14. Alcohol:
15. Occupations: Jailor
16. Flowers: Jasmine
17. Celebrities: Jada Pinkett Smith
18. Magazines:
19. U.S. Cities: Jacksonville, FL
20. Pro Sports Teams: Jaguars
21. Something found in a kitchen: Joy of Cooking cookbook
22. Reason for being late: jet lag
23. Something You Throw Away: junk
24 Things You Shout: Jump!
25. Cartoon Character: Jetsons

Do you want to play? Consider yourself tagged! Then let me know if you do, so I can come read your answers!