WHAT TO DO ON A BLAH DAY.......GIVE

GET READY TO LAUGH AT THE END OF THIS POST...but first a stroll through some of my favorite pictures from this past year in the BLOG WORLD!

THIS IS WHAT THE SWINE FLU LOOKS LIKE

Remember this picture and POST (of the All American family) when Jack was guarding his territory at OUTBACK and DID NOT want Pop to hold GRAYSON...EVER

As you are reading this post, please remember that the last paragraph happened while I was waiting for these pictures to load...Everything else was written and I was ready to hit POST, but first I had to take BELLA out. And now I am wondering if this was ALL for you to have a laugh for the day! UGH

BACK TO THE ORIGINAL POST!

This has been one of those days...a day I have thought too much, a pajama day (which I normally LOVE) but today was one I didn't! Most of you know I have an anxious week coming up with my husbands heart cath on Tuesday. I really get that people have heart caths everyday and they are fine and I am praying that will be our story. We just happen to have a LONG AGO cardiac history that makes me a little more anxious. The details are in previous posts and I feel guilty even talking about it. I am spending the weekend alone, at least today. I stayed in bed too long, then got up and read some email and then caught up on several sites that I read daily. If you don't read them, please do.....Kate, Mike, and Jenny and leave them a word of encouragement. I go to bed each night with them on my mind.

Mike's wife has a way with words that few people have. She is a beautiful writer, raw and honest.

So really what was just a BLAH DAY, was a WORRY day, that was really a FEAR day, that led to a GUILT day. Guilt that others had some REAL GIANTS in their lives. Guilt that I was not counting my blessings. There was the guilt that I needed to get dressed and get something constructive done, guilt that I had eaten too much junk ( and I am not normally a STRESS EATER), and guilt that I was not just trusting....

Jack is out of town with a college baseball team and while I know he is concerned about Tuesday, you would NEVER EVER know it. The kids are worried. I hear it in their voices. Then I got the sweetest email from a friend and decided I was going to change the coarse of this day. I got a box of cards out and am determined that in the next few hours I am going to send a card of encouragement to every person that I can think of that is going through a trial. I also decided that what makes me happiest is GIVING! So tonight, instead of just a few WINNERS on my BLOG ANNIVERSARY, there are going to be TEN! You still have a few hours to comment, as it will be a few hours before I draw the winners. It will take a little time to get all the names together.

OK, on to the laugh. Remember I had to take Bella out. That is only my job when Jack is out of town. Not a JOB I even like. Let me set the scene. Normally I wear CUTE pajamas. Today was NOT one of those days. I actually had the top of one pair on and the bottoms to another pair on. Not CUTE. Add to that, I had not even run a brush through my hair all day, had no make-up on, nor a bra. I take Bella out through my shop and then a gate to the back yard. I have done it 100's of times. She does her business and we come in. BUT tonight as I walked back to shop door I realized not only had it closed but it was locked. NOTE TO SELF...Do not EVER go outside without my cell phone. Add to this Bella is the most hyper dog ever, a post for another day. I take her out on a leash and pray that she does not drag me and cause me to let go of it. I then walk to every door of our house, silently praying that I might have left some door unlocked. All locked. I can get in my car, as I have one that you can unlock without the keys, but you cannot drive it without keys. There is one place in our house that you can get in,if you are the size of Parker,but Parker's not here. Then I realize that last night it was a little warm and I had cracked a window in the bedroom, but I would have to take the screen off, then push a chair over and then I MIGHT could climb in. In the meantime, I am holding hyper Bella by her leash and realize that I can NEVER get in and hold her at the same time. So I walk back in the dark, put her in the back yard and threaten her. Out loud I told her if she dared to get out, I would not chase her. She was on her on. Then back to the front of the house, finally get the screen off, push the chair over and in a very contorted position, climb through the window. Then get on my knees and thank God that I did not have to go to a neighbors looking the way I did. NOW LAUGH!!! THIS IS BELLA!Check back late tonight or early tomorrow and I will have all the winners posted.

NEW BLOGS THAT I LOVE and FAVORITE PICTURES FROM THE LAST YEAR!

THIS FIRST PICTURE IS JUST TO MAKE MY KIDS LAUGH....Just looking back over some of my favorite pictures from the last year.

In the next post I will share some more of my favorite shots from this past year in the BLOG WORLD! These people are the TRESURES of my LIFE!

Keep the comments coming....Besides drawing for the card boxes on SATURDAY night, I am going to give away 3 more Beth Moore CDS's, so there are lots of prizes to win.

I am celebrating YOU! I cannot express what a blessing my blogs friends have become in my life. When I began blogging I was really doing it for my kids. I had no clue that the blogging community would be such a warm and welcoming place.

I know it is unusual for me to post so often. It is just one of those weeks! I have very few commitments so am staying home, praying and trying to calm myself. I will admit I am very anxious over my husbands heart cath next week and I HATE anxious. Your words of encouragement have meant so much. Thanks for all the stress relievers...Some of YOURS are MINE!

My comfortable laptop JUST STOPPED, so I had to send it off. That would be a laptop that spent most of its time in my LAP. It had several keys that Mr. Jack had pulled off, as in GONE to never be found again, plus I had two letters that stick, so it was time for a good refurbishing. Thank goodness for the extended warranty plan....So I am typing on a new laptop and its faster but not as familiar so there will probably be more typos.

If you have not read Beth Moore's post about Jackson, do not miss it. From another Grammy that is drunk on babies, her every word is my heart.I also want to share some new blogs that have become everyday reads for me....
BENEATH MY HEART a blog that always touches my heart
GLAD CHATTER Please pray for Lisa! What an incredible faith she has!

HOPE IN A BOYS WORLD This is such a sweet story and family !
THE FANCY FRITTER Stacy actually lives in my town and her Mom works with Greg and Dana. SMALL WORLD. She has a cute blog and lots of cute things to sell!

SNOODLINGS..if you do not read my friend Amy you are missing out.

That's enough for tonight. Stop by and visit these blogs and then in your comments let me know ONE that you really liked. That will get you a couple of extra entries in the drawings on Saturday night. I REALLY WANT YOU to WIN...I love putting goodies in the mail. So I will be BACK SATURDAY NIGHT WITH WINNERS and some more of my favorite memories.

WINNER OF THE BETH MOORE CD AND ANOTHER GIVEAWAY

Thanks for all your sweet comments. Some of you have ask about my husband. Thanks so much for your prayers....We met with the doctor today and Jack is scheduled for a heart cath next Tuesday, the 23rd...We could have done it tomorrow, but typical Jack, he did not want to miss a bus safety meeting this week or an obligation he had to a coach/friend to drive a baseball team on a trip, plus he did not want the kids to have to rearrange their schedules. always thinking of others...that's his trademark. ALWAYS! The doctor said it was not an emergency but that the stress test showed enough to warrant going in and seeing if the bypasses are still open. I had not seen this doctor in a few years and had forgotten what a kind, compassionate and encouraging man he is. You come out feeling like you are his only patient and that's unusual these days. We had Parker with us today since school was out and I had ask the nurse if he should be in another room, as I did NOT want him to worry about Pop....but the Dr insisted he stay with us and he explained everything to him like a little adult (10 going on 20).... and then went right into talking football with him, so Parker came out feeling like everything was fine with his POP.
Wow, do I love this TWEEN! From the day I met him ten and half years ago, it was LOVE at first sight. I fell madly in love and that's been the story every day since!
So that's my prayer, that everything with his POP will be fine. Jack takes him to breakfast every morning and then to school and many days he picks him up from school, so they are TIGHT.
We WAIT and PRAY that even when 18 year old bypasses should be closing up, that they will be open or at the least just need some minor work. I will keep you posted...and I covet your prayers...I am not good at waiting.
Let's keep celebrating my BLOG ANNIVERSARY and YES, I am making progress on a new design. Hope to share it with you SOON. For the next GIVEAWAYS, I am going back to a FAVORITE...THE CARD BOX. EVERYONE that won one back in the early days of my blog, loved them and it is still one of my number one basket requests in my business. I am a card sender and I can never remember a time in my life when MORE people need ENCOURAGEMENT. Even if you don't win a card box, send someone a card today. Snail mail is becoming extinct, but what a sweet thing it is to get a card in the mail.AGAIN, all you have to do to enter, is comment on this post. Let's make it a little more fun...tell me your NUMBER ONE stress reliever... I may need some suggestions this next week. I will give away 2 card boxes on Friday night. So you have 4 days to comment....and if you tell a new friend about the blog and they comment you will get 5 extra chances. Parker loves to figure out everyones chances. He is a math whiz!

TONIGHT'S WINNER OF THE BETH MOORE MARRIGE TAPE and its a recent one....is Leigh of Bloggeritaville !Congratualtions...send me your information and its on its way to you....and for the rest of you stay tuned, I have some more Beth CD's.

AND for those of you that ask, I think Jack was calling his Mom and tattling because I would not let him JUMP from the COUCH to the COFFEE TABLE and then make a HUGE JUMP to the floor. Just a day in the life of Jack

HAPPY HEARTS DAY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOTHER AND MY FIRST YEAR BLOG ANNIVERSARY GIVEAWAY

A LONG TITLE on SEVERAL TOPICS that I needed to get in ONE POST. I think that just might be a run on sentence. First off, if you missed this post and this post , they did not stay up long, you might want to read them. I never post daily, but wanted to write about my Mom today.

Today would have been her birthday. She died 2 years ago. I would love to do an entire post on her, but as strange as it sounds, I don't feel like I really knew her until after her death. She and my Dad had been married almost 60 years and died 3 months apart. It was a hard season in my life to say the least. My Mom did not live a happy life. Her journals are a vivid portrait of her life. I will just leave it at that. But what a treasure she left us. She journaled everyday for at least 30 years and I have most of those journals. Some are heart breaking, some are hurtful but they are all brutally honest. I never felt like my Mom liked me...loved me yes, but liked me, NO. I found treasures in those journals that told me different. And strangely enough those that I thought she loved so much, she had real issues with. I have read the journals over and over. Her words were beautiful and her love for her grandchildren was so evident. When she could not say it, she could write it. She would have LOVED BLOGGING. She loved to write and this would have been a great way for her to make friends. Maybe that's the reason I finally made the JUMP into the BLOG WORLD. I want my kids to have our lives documented in written word...I want them to know how much I love them. So today, I say thanks Mom for leaving me your words. In many ways, they healed my heart.

By the time I post this it will be Valentines Day. I have been the queen to a man for 37 years and not a day goes by that he does not express that. I know that is not the norm, but how I thank God for giving me a man that knows how to express love. Jack Powell, you are one in a million!

This is the week that my ONE YEAR BLOG ANNIVERSARY BEGINS. Last week I ordered some Beth Moore CD's and one of them is
INSIGHTS ON MARRIAGE, a great talk she gave recently at Focus on the Family. I listened to the CD last night and it is one of my favorites. So that is my first giveaway of the week. All you have to do is make a comment on this post..That's it. I will draw Monday night. I want to put lots of gifts in the mail next week and bless many of my new friends. You have made this year so much richer.

We had a REAL SNOW WEEK here, so I had two little boys spending lots of time with me....Enjoy a few pictures of my HEART!

SWEET JACK

THIS IS THE LIFE

HE TAKES MY BREATH

THE BEST BIG BROTHER EVER

JACK CALLING HIS MOM TO TATTLE ON ME