Wisdom and then some

I was watching the show 16 and pregnant the other night and I usually just like watching the show not because it is all that interesting to see a 16 year old pregnant, but that so they can see it's not as simple as they perceive it to be with a baby so young and yet so naive. When the show comes on, I will call our 17 year old daughter in so she can see the show too so that she will know that if you get pregnant while living in my house, there will be cirumstances to pay. One episode I was watching really wanted me to jump inside the television and just shake some sense into this 16 year old whose baby had not turned one yet and then found out she was pregnant again with yet another child. (And I wanted to shake the baby daddy too)

Her boyfriend was saying that a condom just don't feel right and the young lady was saying that she forgot to take her Depo shot and didn't know she could get pregnant if she didn't take it. Girl you know. Stop acting like yall are dumb to the fact that you don't know stuff. I mean, it's our job to tell you but it's your job to listen. We, as parents, need to teach our children, the young men and ladies alike to keep their private stuff to themselves and stop trying to please every Tom, Dick and Harry. Young girls need to keep their legs closed and young boys need to stop trying to force them open.

I grew up with three sisters in the house (no brothers) and my mom told all four of us girls that she wasn't gonna follow us 24 hours a day but she also put the fear of herself and The Lord in us. None of has had no babies while we were in high school nor living at home. I'm not saying what my children will or won't do but I have told them they better not bring no babies up in here or they might as well forget going to games, hanging with their friends and all the fun stuff teenagers like to do and I'm not gonna be home sitting raising no grand-babies, I already raised my children.

The girl from the show finally agreed to have an abortion and it really made me sad because there are too many people who want children and can't have them. Then she wanted to say that after all that, she should have listened to her mom and waited. The only thing that is open at 2 a.m. is Wal-mart and legs. Do you know where your children are?????????

The way of the fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice. (Proverbs 12:15)

So remember, “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.” Proverbs 4:7

Lovingly yours,

My money vs. your money

My mother had given both children a gift card to use wherever they wanted to. Our daughter got an American Express one and our son got a Visa. They were thrilled to have "money of their own." So when our daughter asked when we were going to get out of the house so she could look around, we decided that today would be a good day. It wasn't too cold outside so I and hubby went with her. She wanted to go to one particular store and so I agreed to do so.

When we got there, our daughter wanted to try on a few things and I sat and waited for her to do that and so she said, "So mom, this is what I want." I said ok and she put her stuff in the buggy and we looked around a little bit more before we decided to go to the check out. When we got halfway to the check out, our daughter was in amazement that I wasn't paying for her purchase. She said that if she knew she would be paying for it with her American Express gift card, that she decided that she didn't want it anymore.

Excuse me!! She said that it's different when it's my money and her money. She said that she just wanted to walk around with money on her card knowing that she had money to spend. I looked at her and told her that she will spend it when she get to the register and that I wasn't buying her anything. She began to look sad and so I said to her, "You either buy it or you won't get it." She was shocked that the sad face didn't work. She went and paid for her purchase and we then went on home.

Lovingly yours,

Huh???

I rarely watch news except to track a hurricane or catch the weather here and there. The news is for hubby and then he tells me what I need to know; but as I was getting dressed to take our daughter on an errand, I caught a glimpse of the news in bits and pieces and wondered what the sheezy fa heezy!

One person said that marriage is becoming too overrated and of course the old saying, "Why buy the milk when the cow is free" is really overrated. I mean, seriously, are you calling them a cow? Or that they are a milk-producing machine?

Another person on the news was talking about some sicko writing a book about how to be a freaking pedophile. This sick freak just left me speechless!

Then, there is the don't ask, don't tell mumbo jumbo.  I sort of turned that around and said to myself, "What if my boss came up to me one day and asked what I was doing. Could I use the don't ask, don't tell policy on her?" Boss: So, Barbara, you got a lot of things going on today? Me: Don't ask me, and I won't tell ya. Nah! Even though I know it would be used totally in the wrong context.

Then of all things I saw on the news is the one where Santa is about to get ready and start making his runs......PAUSE......SILENCE.....Are you serious? Are you totally, like, for-real?

And the reason why I don't watch the news is because it is either depressing or stupid TO ME. I'll just leave the news watching to hubby and I told him to just let me know if a hurricane is coming our way....OR NOT!!

Loving yours,

Where are my pills?

Ok, I must admit that I am really laughing at myself. Why? Because I really think that I am beginning to act my age because I have missplaced something and don't know where the heck it is. Our 17 year old daughter said that I am just getting old and that very well may be true, but getting old is mandatory; growing old is optional. Ever so often I may get a headache and I will need an aleve to quickly get rid of the pain. My daughter also needs one right before she starts cramping. So she came to me and said, "Mom, I need an aleve bad." The first thing I would do is just reach for my purse and give her one.

I started reaching in my purse and digging and digging. You would have thought that by the way I was digging that I was digging a grave. So I emptied everything out on the bed. No aleve! Hmmm, where are my pills? I thought to myself. I sat for a minute and pondered and tried to think that maybe they were in another purse and I hadn't changed everything out. I just sat there. Our daughter then exclaimed, very loudly I must say, "MOOOOOOMMMMM, I NEED AN ALEVE!!" Oh wow, Cruella Deville has just been released out of her. I calmly said, "Hun, I don't know where my aleve's are and besides, Jesus dealt with pain." I sort of kind of think that was not was she was hoping to hear. "MOOOOMMMMM, I AM NOT JESUS!"  Was she yelling? Bah humbug, nahhhh, she was just in pain. But it didn't help either when I burst out laughing. It was like she was the devil and any minute she was gonna say that her name was Legion, meaning many devils.

She asked me if I was trying to torture her. I really wasn't, however, that was a good idea. But I really do declare that I didn't know where my aleve were. She said, "Mom, I think that since you don't have cramps that you like me to be in pain." Nah, I would never wish pain upon anybody, except...........nah, just kidding. But I told her that if I wanted her to be in pain, then I wouldn't be sitting there trying to find my aleve. She said she was just kidding though about that but needed some relief. I told her that she may have to take some advil or midol or pamprin and I already know that she has tried them and the only thing that works for her is an aleve.  Poor child. I have gone through other purses and I guess my aleve just got on a reindeer and jumped ship and left. Oh well, off to the store I go to get another bottle.....and I just bet that just as soon as I go and buy some, the other ones will show up.

Lovingly yours,

Christmas in my heart

Society has made Christmas too commercialized and we fall right into what they are marketing and selling. Our children see stuff on billboards and television and all we hear is, "ooooo, I want that, I'm gonna die if I don't get that." Well yall might as well get ready to come to a funeral  because both my children will be in their graves then. True enough, we celebrate Christmas and go with the traditon of getting this or that for the kids, but we are not about to go in debt and break the bank because we know the real true reason for Christmas is Christ. No Virginia, there really is no Santa Claus. Boohoo, cry me a river!

A couple of weeks ago, my friend asked me if I was ready for Christmas. I told her that I was ready January 1 of this year because I celebrate Christmas every day. She gave me that puzzled look and I said, "Girl, waking up is a gift all by itself and for that, I'm already grateful. She agreed. I told her that Christmas should be in your heart and not about buying this or that. I mean, think about it, we get stuff all year long. There is Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Birthday, Anniversary....and really we do have ENOUGH stuff.

Not only with life, but health and strength, food, clothing, shelter, bills paid, color tv's, cameras, indoor plumbing, more cars to drive than there are people to drive them, floors with carpet, central heat and air, fake hair, fake nails, security alarm systems, private jets and so forth and so on.WOW! But yet, we still want more, and more and more. This isn't Christmas. When are we going to wake up people!!

I once told the children, "Why would I buy you all this stuff and then you won't have anything to buy when you get older and get your own job." The reply was, "Moooooooooooooooommmmmmmmm!!!!!! Ugh, Ugh, Ugh!

Keep Christ in Christmas and let it shine in your heart. Remember without Christ, it MAS not be. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

Lovingly yours,

God's Favor

Well, well, well....I've taken finals and now I am just waiting on my grades to be posted. But in the meantime, let me talk about the favor of God. Here goes:
After being at work all day and hen going to school at night, I'm mainly exhausted by the time I get to classes. So I basically prefer the instructor to talk and say what she gotta say instead of me having to talk as much. I mean, if I feel that there is something that I don't understand, I can e-mail her. Simple. Right? Ha! This past August when another semester of classes began, I went in to my Wednesday class thinking it was gonna be somewhat laid back like my Tuesday night class. NOT EVEN!! My instructor had the mind set that this is how it was gonna be, end of discussion.

So she mentioned on our very first Wednesday night what she expected of the class (keep in mind that this is August) and that she wants us to read the info in advance and then get to class and she go over a little here and there, but in the meantime, she said that she would just randomly call on us for us to answer questions. My mind was like, "Great! Just what I was hoping she was NOT going to do." So after that first class, I prayed as I was driving home and MY GOD said to ask for the desires of your heart and so I began to ask the Lord for favor in this class and that after work, I was tired and did not want my instructor to call on me but that at the same time, I wanted to be able to understand what she was saying in my own little way. 

The following Wednesday, I went to class and sure enough, she called on people left to right, but she didn't call on me. So after class, I got in my car and thanked God for his favor that night. The following Wednesday after that, the instructor pulled out her roll and started calling on people again, and she looked my way, but she did not call on me. I thanked God again for showing me his favor. As time went on, each Wednesday would come and go and the Lord kept showing me favor.  I was not called on and each Wednesday night after class, I would thank God again. Well, right smack in the middle of the term at the 8 week mark, my instructor came to me in the form of the devil after class and said, "I see you sitting there and I know I haven't called on you, but I will." I didn't say anything except, "Yes Ma'am" and then I left.

Yall, I wish I could make this stuff up but honest to goodness truth, week 9 came, week 10, then 11, all the way to the 16th week and not one single time in a 16 week period did my instructor call on me. Not once! And each single time I saw where the Lord showed up and showed out, I thanked him yet again because He didn't have to do it. When I mentioned it to my co-worker at the end of the 16 weeks, she then said to me, "Yeah, yeah, you got away this time, but watch and see that you will have to speak out in class next semester." I was like, "Get thee behind me, Satan." I don't know how God will work or when he will work. It may be for a semester, it may be through the entire time I'm in school, but this I do know is that what God has for me, it is for me and not for anyone else. I thank you Lord for favor.

Lovingly yours,

Stranger Danger - A must read!!

Everybody ain't good people and we, especially parents, have to let our children know and instill that in them that even though there are some good people in this world, there are still very bad people too. With that being said, this morning hubby needed to take me to work so he could use the car. No problem. So we walked out the house and got in the car that hubby had already warming up. As we sat for a minute or two, we waited for a school bus to pass us and pick up a few elementary children that had been standing at least two houses down. Right before hubby put the car in reverse, we heard a sound that was screaming...."Wait, wait." We thought it was one of our children but when we looked at the door, no one was there, and then hubby said to me that a young boy from down the street was screaming wait. He had missed the bus and this young boy, probably no older than 8, was running as fast as he could behind the bus. He had his backpack on his back and he was going as fas as he could.

Just when he thought he had gotten closer to the bus, it left. I saw this young kid just fall to the ground and started crying. I don't know why he didn't go back home and tell his mom he missed the bus or even if someone was home to take him, but it was cold and he just stay there in the middle of the street crying. Ya'll know I felt so sorry for him so when we backed out to head to work, I asked hubby to pull up beside him. I rolled down my window and asked him what school did he go to. He told me the name of the school and it would have been just maybe 5 minutes out of our way to just drop him off.

Hubby told the young boy to get in the car and that we would take him to school. The young boy got in the car and I'm thankful that we were just kind and decent people, but this boy didn't know us from Adam and Eve. He got in and was very manerable and kept saying, "Thank you sir, thank you so much." Hubby told the young boy our name and that we live on this street and that we would get him to school safely. Hubby asked the young boy what his address was and he told us his address. Hubby mentioned to me later that he was just going by his parents house to let them know what happened and that we could have been anybody and the parents wouldn't have known where their child was.

When we got to the school, the young boy was still thanking hubby. I thought about that young boy as we continued to drive and thought that every parent don't teach their children the way we have taught our children about strangers. True enough, we were trying to help but that young boy could have only seen us with decent clothes on and that we were nice. But yet, we are still strangers to this boy. He wasn't reluctant about getting in our car and he didn't know where he was until we pulled up at the school and he said, "yeah that's the school", even though we did know where it was. I am grateful that it was us who was able to help him and not someone who was a bad person.

Lovingly yours,

Driver license renewal

I had to go in and actually renew my driver license. The last time I renewed was online and that was about 6 years ago, so when I tried to renew it this time, I got a message saying I needed to come in and take another picture. I made an appointment and had it set that I would go in and get this picture taken and be done. NOT!! Well, I didn't have time to go by the bank and withdraw the money I would need to pay for my license, so I just figured I could just pay for it with my debit card that has a visa logo on it.

I was already flying through traffic when I left work so that I would not be late for my appointment and when I arrived and found a parking spot, I looked at my watch and realized I still had a few minutes left. I hurriedly walked inside to find a line and wondered if I could skip this line by telling them I had an appointment.....until I saw this big sign that said, "We do not take Visa, but we take Discovery and Mastercard." What the sheezy! Now what am I gonna do!!! I kindly asked someone in line where was the quickest ATM. The young man pointed up the road and said that one was at that store.

I looked back at my watch wondering if I got back in my car, then went to the ATM, then get back, would I still be on time or would I have to reschedule. Hmmm, no time to think...I hopped in my car and drove to the store....until I got to where I had to cross and wait for a light....that light took FOR-EVVVVVER to change. I kept praying the whole time that I would not have to reschedule. The light FINALLY changed and then when I got to the ATM, them jokers wanted to charge me a freaking $1.75 to use my own money. Holy crap!! I had no choice. I was up turd creek with no toilet paper. So I got the amount out for my license and proceeded to head back to the DMV......NOW WHAT!!!!!! Gotta wait for this darn long light to change again. By the time this light changed, I could have walked to Atlanta and back.

I finally arrived back at the DMV, short of a minute of being late.....but this time, no line. Whew. Thank ya Jesus! The lady asked me to come forward and I'm glad I had every document I could think of just in case because she asked for my passport or birth certificate (I had them both) my SS Card, a utility bill, my old driver license, and my car registration, and then it was over in an instant.... Now instead of the 6 years, Florida has changed it where we keep it for 8 years; but I got a pretty picture done that will last me until the next time.

Lovingly yours,

Back at work

After returning to work after being off for a whole week, I walked in to find piles of work on my desk. I somewhat expected that and looked up at the clock and thought to myself that it's going to take me all day to get it done. I didn't see anything that had any deadlines on it so I just started at the top and worked my way to the bottom. Yes, the bottom. I finished every single thing that was on my desk because I am one of those people that even if I don't finish the work that at least my desk will be clean.

Now I am sitting back just waiting on the time to roll around so I can go home and start it again on tomorrow. Whew, that exhausted me......Side note: only 14 more days to go until I will be off for two more weeks for our Christmas break. Halleluyer!!

Lovingly yours,

Maxed out

Here I am, at home. No work this week. We are allowed so many hours of annual leave, 330 to be exact. If we go over 330, then HR takes the excess and does something or another with it but the thing is, if you go over 330, then you can't get them back. I was like, "Huh!" Ain't no way I'm gonna be having hours that I've earned and for them to be floating around in a sick leave pool somewhere. It was a good thing I checked on this and when I did, I had just rolled into 330 the very same day. I told my boss that I needed to take a couple of days off because I was at my maximum number of hours and I didn't want to lose them. She agreed. I told hubby that I may want to take a couple of days off throughout the year so that I won't be forced to take off.

So here I sit at home...WITH PAY....of course and not doing a dog gone thing. I told myself that I would take this time off to work on my paper for class. When I woke up on Monday morning, I just laid around on the couch trying to find me a few lifetime movies to watch. Hubby said he was glad to see me resting and relaxing and actually NOT doing any school work, because it seems like that is my life now. It did feel good to do absolutely nothing but I will be working on my paper later on today and tomorrow also. I will not be working on no paper during Thanksgiving. That's gonna be my family time. I'm not even gonna take any books with me when we go to MS to see my folks. Somebody, please write that down! That's gonna be a miracle.

Lovingly yours,

Birthday Blah Blahs

On yesterday, Sunday, November 21, 2010, I awoke to my 40th birthday. I was indeed grateful and thankful that the Lord allowed me to see such a glorious day and year. I had been waiting for my 40th birthday for such a long time. I can't explain why. I had wanted to go all out and throw a party for myself. It was something I had talked about for at least two years prior but nothing came into play. Life is what happened and I got busy doing STUFF. If it wasn't one thing, it was ten-thousand more. School had/has me busy like I'm writing a journalist column or something and then after my car ended up having to get fixed TWICE in one year, it just didn't happen.

I expected to feel some kind of difference on turning 40 but I didn't. You know like when you walk into a glass door expecting to walk inside or outside but instead you hit that door or when Patti LaBelle does her songs and it makes you feel like you are a backup singer for her..... WOW!

There was no one jumping from behind a door to punk me like Ashton Kutcher is always doing and Richard Gere didn't even take a limo here and surprise me. There was no cake and no ice cream, and not even no barbecue ribs off the grill. I do know one thing I did: I went to church and got a wonderful message and since there wasn't anything planned, I decided to pose for the camera a few days prior and have fun my own self. So here are my birthday pics just for you. Gotta luv yourself cause I know I luvs me sum me. :-)

Lovingly yours,

How mess gets started

I was sitting at my desk trying to do a little work and an instructor came in and wanted to know if he could just sit and chill until his next class got started. I didn't have a problem with him sitting in there as long he didn't interrupt me from doing what I had to do.

Well he wasn't in my office long, when he said, "You drinking rum?" Yall know I had to look at him quiet strange because first of all, I don't drink and then second of all, it wasn't his business if I was. So I asked him what in the ham and cheese made him ask me that?

This is what he saw on my desk:

except that he said the other part was covered up and all he saw was rum and he was gonna ask me if he could have some. Even Stevie Wonder could see this wasn't what he thought it was. Some people, I tell ya!

Lovingly yours,

Party like a rockstar!!

Whew, hubby and I have been the uncommon party peeps lately.  We went to our next door neighbors wedding one weekend, then we had free tickets to attend an Ashley Brown concert at the college where I work, then we were  invited to a 50th birthday party this past weekend and will be attending a 40th birthday party next weekend.

Hubby and I have really been enjoying ourselves because there was a point where we didn't go many places without our children, or we didn't bother with a baby sitter; but as they have gotten older, shooooot, we leave them rascals at home and party on, like totally!

We were in for a shock our ownselves when the 50th birthday party didn't kick off until 8:00 p.m. - normally, by that time, it's close to heading back to the house. I told hubby that we should get out more often and live life and enjoy ourselves more. Shoooot, we got our daughter, who is a senior and our son, a freshman, and you would think we could and should go out every now and then and party like a rockstar.

I will say, we had a fantaboulous time and is looking forward to the next shindig that we will be invited to.

Lovingly yours,

Dear Abby,

I received something that was so unbelievable that I decided to share it with you. The thing I received was a letter from my co-worker, via e-mail at that. See what had happened was this, I send out a newsletter every two weeks informing the department of pertinent information they need to know about grades, last day to withdraw, meetings and so forth. I don't change the way I type it up and I always keep it in the same format because I do know that some of my instructors are not computer literate and I've been doing this for four years. The only thing I change is the information. Well, this do-do brain of an instructor calls me and tells me that he can't read it. (DUH! Why are you calling me?) So I asked him what did he mean that he couldn't read it, and he said the font was too small. I tried to offer him a solution as to how to go in and change the font from his computer to a larger font where he could read it, and I guess he didn't like that, so he hung the phone up on me and then sent me this e-mail:

Each time I ask you anything, your tone of voice indicates to me that either I’m asking an assinine question or you just don’t want to be bothered. I must admit that I’m not as adept at using computers as some are, but I DO NOT appreciate being made feel that you feel that my questions are a waste of your time. From now on, I will do my best NOT to ask you any more questions. But I must add that I am not the only one who feels the way I do about your phone manners.

Well I was a little thrown off because I was trying to help the old man and I've been nothing but helpful to everybody in my department, especially on the phone. What I wanted to respond back to him and say was this:
Dear balding greyhaired man, If your tail go on and retire, since you are knocking on the door of 90, then your deceiving eyes won't be playing tricks on you cause it seems to me that you are blind in one eye and can't see out the other one. Yes, you are wasting my time by calling me with that crap that I am tolerating and my patience has worn out on your pettiness. It really doesn't matter if you DO NOT ask me any more questions, that will be less of your elementary drama that I have to deal with. You are beginning to look more and more like an oompa loompa anyway and if anyone else has a problem with me, then they need to take it up with me instead of having you be their little prissy maidservant. God Bless You.

BUT I DIDN'T.  I typed up the letter and erased it because I felt that I was bigger than that. I refused to stoop to his level, just because he couldn't get his way. For goodness sake, the man is 84 years old. It's way past the deadline of retirement. I didn't even respond to him, I just kept on smiling and went on about my joyful and blessed day.

Lovingly yours,

What do you want in life?

Going back to school is good but I tell ya, when you have so much other things in your life, it's like when will I be able to catch up? My cousin called me this morning from MS just to see how I was doing and I said I was doing fine, then he went on to ask me if I had plans this weekend. I said that I would be doing homework, as usual. My cousin said that everytime he calls me to check up on me, I'm always doing homework and on the weekend at that. Although that is a true statement, I have homework all the darn time and not really any time to just chill and do nothing.

The homework is basically a lot of reading that I have to go and re-read because sometimes I don't understand what I read the first time. Not only that, I'm writing papers to make sure they are turned in on time for both classes. My cousin then said to me that he was just too old to go back to school and I interrupted him and told him that he was never too old. College wasn't my thing when I graduated high school and as I got older, I realized just how important that piece of paper would mean. The majority of my high school classmates had gone off to college but I couldn't follow in their footsteps, I had to do my thing, in my own time.

My cousin then asked how much longer I had until I finished up school and I mentioned about 2 more years and he said, "whew, that's a long time", but then I thought about it. Two years isn't really that long to have something for a lifetime. I told my cousin that nothing from nothing leaves nothing.  Yes, going back to school is hard, especially working full-time and with a family; but I am determined to get it because I want it just that bad. The tunnel seems dark right now but I know I'm more closer to the light. It doesn't matter if it takes me 4 more years to finish, because our Pastor once told us, "It's not how you start, but how you finish." I'm working toward the finish line.

Lovingly yours,

Breakfast....Fast!

I'm normally the first one up and I'll get myself going and then get the kids up. I have the routine in my head that no matter which child I wake up first, that our son will still be the first of the two to get up. He'll go in the bathroom and do his manly business, wash his face and then head straight for his favorite cereal and milk. This morning when I walked in the kitchen, our 14 year old son was just pacing back and forth like he had something on his mind. I asked him if he was ok and he said yes, so I asked him what was the problem.

He said that he was going to get some cereal but we didn't have any milk. { I don't know that we don't have milk unless they tell us we are out. } So I know how my son loves to eat, I tried to suggest other things that he could eat for breakfast until we go to the grocery store on tomorrow. I said that there were some chicken tenders in the freezer....and before I could go on.....our son was laughing and saying, "Chicken??? For breakfast???" I'm like, who said you had to eat a certain thing at a certain time of day.....if you're hungry and want it, just eat it...shoot!!!

So son asked me what his other options were and I saw some instant grits and mentioned that to him and then I started being real funny...I said to him that I see some english peas and a few cans of cream corn and some potatoes....we both are laughing at this point, but his thing was....he wanted something fast....like his cereal, he didn't want to take time out to cook him an egg or something.  I told him that he could always use water in his cereal and  he gave me that look and I looked up at the clock and had to get out of there before I was late for work.

Lovingly yours,

My children are aliens

Hubby and I were sitting in the living room this morning as I was about to leave for work when our 14 year old son came in and just went straight for the kitchen. Normally, when he walks in the room, he says good morning and then go on about his day. So hubby said good morning first to him but I said, "Excuse me, son, but do you not see us sitting here where you couldn't say good morning when you walked in the room?" Son replies, "I was gonna say it....when I got done with breakfast." What kind of nonsense is that! By the time he finishes breakfast, I will be gone out the door. Our 17 year old daughter then yells out, "I GOT TO PEE" like she had Tourettes and that you had to catch the train to get to their bathroom.

Then on Sunday, our son was caught with his cell phone in Sunday School and he was highly upset this his S.S. teacher came to me and said he was texting. When I asked son about this, he said he wasn't checking and that he was checking the time....(anytime ya'll see stupid on my forehead, can somebody please tell me cause my kids won't tell me, mainly because that's what they see) I asked son why would he need to check his cell phone for the time when he wore a watch...and he stuck to his story, but I wasn't texting....Ok, let me put my mommy antennas on.....aha!!! He probably wasn't texting, BUT he was checking to see if someone had texted him. I told him he doesn't have a need for a cell phone while he is at church and he can either leave it at home on Sundays or leave it in the car. I also told son that if anybody is texting him on a Sunday, then maybe he should invite them to church.

Then on that very same day after church, our son locked our daughter out of the house just to get himself a laugh. She said if you don't hurry up and open this door...and then hubby told son to open the door and stop doing that to his sister. Our son replies, "well she does it to me." Wrong answer. Open the door!!

Our daughter then says, "I'M BORED!!" I said well read the Bible, it'll scare the hell out of you.
Who have these young people become?

Lovingly yours,

Bless her heart

You know in the south, people use "bless their heart" when they just really don't know what else to say in certain situations and it doesn't mean it's bad or good. One part of my job is that I turn in all the time that the instructors do in my department and it's about a good 70 instructors. So when I am doing payroll, it takes me about three days, not that it's a tedious task to do, but that I want to make sure each person is getting all their hours turned in and that they are being turned in on time. After doing that, I go back and re-check just to make sure I'm not under paying or over paying anyway.

Well, one of my adjunct instructors came to me after she got paid and said that she needed to talk to me about her pay. At that point, I was nervous because I never like to mess up with people's pay and I do know that we are human. I stopped doing what I was doing and listened to her when she said that she got her check and it was more than what she was used to getting. She then said to me that she think I over-paid her and that she has more money than usual and didn't know what to do with all that money. I keep a log of all hours I turn in and how much I turn in every other week, so I said to her that I will check the records to see how many hours were turned in for her.

We both agreed that she worked a total of 22 hours and that is what I had on record for her. I said, "There it is, 22 hours on the dot." The little lady then said, "This is a mystery, I can't explain it." I then asked her if she was at the meeting where it had been announced that all adjuncts got a raise. She said, "No, I didn't go to a meeting....A raise, you say?" I said, "Yes, you all got like 4, maybe 5 dollars an hour raise." She said, "Now, that explains it, cause I thought I was gonna have to cash my check and bring the excess to you."  Bless her heart!!

Lovingly yours,

Powerful message

When I went to Sunday School yesterday morning, our teacher brought out a really powerful message. She said that God could not have only placed you in the position at work you are in just to get paid, but that he could have placed you there to either be a witness to someone or get witnessed to.  She then said that God could places us in positions until he is ready to position us somewhere else maybe bigger and better. WOW. I sure am glad that I don't know everything and that I am always eager and ready to learn more about the greatness and goodness of God.

Lovingly yours,

School Daze

The classes I am taking are some really hard classes and these days, I've been in a daze over them. I could be wrong but I believe that my Wednesday class is trying to set us up for failure. Would an instructor really do that? See what had happened was........we took our mid-term exam for my Law & Society class on Wednesday, October 13, 2010, but on Wednesday, October 6, 2010, my instructor said that we would do a review of the exam. Instead of reviewing, she just handed us a three page review sheet. I glanced at the long list of questions and said to myself that some of this stuff we haven't gone over yet. Before anyone could raise their hands and mention this to the devil, she said, "I know that we haven't gone over some of this material but you can go home and read the chapters and come back next week and take the exam." WHAT THE HECK!!

So, let's get this straight....I'm suppose to go and read this stuff and then study for the exam!!! YOU ARE THE INSTRUCTOR, YOU TEACH IT, I LEARN IT. Some of the readings are difficult to understand and then we go into the classroom and ask questions about what we read. We didn't get a chance to ask any questions regarding the readings that were just thrown at us, neither did we get a chance to have her to explain it to us. She also told us that on the mid-term exam, there would be two, yes, two essay questions on the mid-term and the rest of it would be just matching definitions to the answers. Sounds pretty simple, huh? Until.........the night of the exam. When 5:30 came, the instructor said for us to remove everything from our desk and all we needed was something to write with. Now, how many essay questions did I say that she said would be on the exam? TWO! When I looked at those 9 pages of stuff, can anybody tell me why was every question in essay format?

No, you don't have to do a double take because you read it right. EVERY QUESTION was in essay format. Not only that, every question had several questions within a question. My mind just wasn't prepared for that because I'm like if you knew all the questions would have been in that way, just say what you mean and mean what you say. Don't come up here the night of the exam and spring surprises on us.  On that Thursday after the exam, one of the ladies from my class e-mailed me and said....WHAT WAS THAT ABOUT LAST NIGHT WITH THE EXAM? I didn't have an answer for her mainly because I was still in shock my own darn self.

Lovingly yours,

Mixed Feelings

Is it selfish of me if hubby wants to do something and I don't? Well, in this situation, I'm just gonna have to be selfish. Hubby wants us to be foster parents and he hasn't said I was being selfish, but we can't always give in to what the other person wants. He has voiced his concerns that we would make excellent foster parents and I wouldn't doubt that we would not but I also mentioned to him that even if I wanted to, that time is not of the essence right now. He says that he doesn't want to pressure me but yet he keeps asking me if I've thought about it or not. I told hubby that I did think about it but not how he wants me to think about it.

I'm at a point in my life now that I have patience for our kids, and a few of our kids friends, mainly because their friends know I don't take no junk and they know the rules when they come to our house and they know where I stand on things. I am trying to go to school and patience for other children would definitely be an option. Our daughter is a senior and everything that goes with being a senior, such as the teenage drama and I want to focus on her and make sure she is doing everything she needs to get that diploma and then make sure my son get that bonding from hubby, now that he is high school now. I do feel that bringing a foster child in our home, especially at this time, is just not a good idea. I feel that he or she would not get that loving motherly and fatherly attention that a child deserves. Some of my fears are what kind of child would it be? Does he/she steal? Lie? Run-away? Curse? Fight? Uggghhhh, too much stuff to try to think about or deal with.

I don't think it's selfish of me to have waited until both kids are in high school for me to go back to school and do something for myself that I've wanted to do and putting it on hold again will just keep delaying me. Our children won't be children forever and then I will just have a job with nothing else to show for my life. Does it sound like I'm talking about me, me, me and I, I, I? Well, hubby should understand what I've been telling him and if time permits after all my schooling is over, we can consider the topic then. But in the meantime, I will just be selfish cause I am liking life just the way it is.

Lovingly yours,

Religious views on religion

We were talking about Religion in our Constitutional Law class and what was constitutional and what wasn't. I know I have to learn the stuff to pass the test and the class, but that doesn't mean I have to agree with it. What that being said, my opinion is just that, my opinion. My instructor doesn't care one way or the other what my, or any one else's opinion is on the situation, as long as you follow what is being taught. I can dig that.

I can't understand how one doesn't want prayer in school because it is said it violates their constitutional right when the Bible says to pray without ceasing but yet they want to use the Freedom of Speech clause to cuss on television even when it's a family show. The system is all screwed up everywhere. One girl had so much to say when this topic arose in class and each person has the right to believe in whatever and whoever you want, but one thing I do know that people think differently but I still believe in One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism. That's what I've grown up to believe all these years and if I've been taught wrong, blame it on the a-a-a-a-alcohol!

So the instructor asked the girl who was asking all these questions, "What does that have to do with what we are discussing in class?" That was kind of a low blow but she wanted the instructor to justify that her beliefs were right and the book was wrong. It could very well be, but just because they are my beliefs don't mean you have to believe in what I believe in. I know I wasn't created from no darn monkey but if the question is asked on a test, heck yeah I'm putting that as the answer because that's what they teach. Just because I deal with things doesn't mean I have to agree with it. Now let the church say Amen.

Lovingly yours,

Deal or no deal

We are suppose to take a lunch here at the college, even if you do like me sometimes and go and sit out in the car and do homework. It doesn't matter if you play hopscotch or hoola hoop around the campus, your lunch is your lunch and one can do whatever the heck it is you want to do on your lunch. The deal is that if you don't take a lunch, that you can then leave an hour early on that day or another day, or however you and your supervisor have it worked out, but you can't work overtime.

Well, when my car had been out of commission for three weeks, I didn't take a lunch on any of those 14 days and not only worked through lunch, but didn't get to leave early either. So my boss and I had talked about it between ourselves that when my car got back up and running, that she wanted me to use those hours (along with lunch) and just take off at the end of the day each day until all my hours had been used up. She asked me if I thought this was reasonable and I said yes. To be clear on things, I asked her if I would be leaving at 3:00 everyday for the next 14 days instead of 4:00, she said yes.

When the beginning of the week came, I shut down my computer and was ready to leave at 3:00, then on Tuesday, then Wednesday, but on Thursday.....that's when the trouble came. My boss came to me and asked me how many more days did I have to leave early. I told her that I just started on Monday and that I had Thursday, Friday, and then all of the following week and then a few extra days to get to 14 days. She said that a few people had been asking why I was leaving at 3:00. I told her that it was none of their business and that she and I had discussed it. She then asked me to tell her again why I was leaving early. I gave her the look as if to say, "Are you for-real???" I said, "Remember when my car was down...." and that's all I got out and she said, "Oh I remember now." I asked my boss if it was a problem that I was using up the hours that were due me and if so, to let me know now. She said it was not a problem and that she just wanted to know what to tell people.....this is what I wanted to tell her to tell them, "Stay in your lane and let me do the driving in my lane and now here is a broom so you can sweep around your own door". But I said, "Tell them, you got this and it's personal and we have already discussed this." She said she didn't think about that at first.

Yeah right. My mind was saying that she felt that she needed to have a reason to validate things to others to make herself look good. You are the boss. Handle it. End of discussion.

Lovingly yours,

Going back in time

Our 17 year old daughter tells me that she doesn't want to grow up and that it is a fear of hers to turn 18 and then 19 and then 20 and so forth and so on. I told her that life happens and it is just like an energizer battery and that it keeps going and going and going. She says that she enjoys being a child and doesn't want to enter the adult life.

So while we were just sitting in the living room, chillin' and watching television, our 17 year old says to me, "Mom, why don't you read me a bedtime story like you used to do when I was younger?" My reply, "Child, now I end up in bed before you do now." We laughed and then she said, "I want to go back in time where you used to bathe me and tuck me in at night." My reply, "When I washed your booty, it stayed clean, now that you are washing it, ain't no telling what kind of crust has grown on it." All we could do is laugh and she said, "Mom, you are so hilarious, now can you pick me up and carry me?" My reply, "You have lost your everlasting mind, you will break my arm and my back." She fell out on the floor and laughed. Laughter and then more laughter.  Life,I tell ya,  it's all about living.

Lovingly yours,

Help Wanted

Here is the situation. I think I do my job very well and I have it down to a science. I could do it with my eyes closed. That's how down pack I know my job. Well, my boss came to me and said that she think I needed help with my job. She said that she thinks we need a part time person in the evenings after I leave to help out with this and that. I don't mean to sound ungrateful but I really don't need help with what I do. Even with the jobs that seem difficult, I've created a system where it's really not so difficult and it works for me. She says that with me in school, that she doesn't want me to get too bogged down where I can't focus on my school work. I am trying to understand where she is coming from. My hours will not be cut and my check will still be the same but if I pass off work for someone else to do, then I won't have nothing to do.

I'm sure many of you are probably saying that you would love extra help doing what it is you do. It's not that I wouldn't mind extra help....if there was something for the other person to do. I have a routine going and it works. I'm saying now I have to pass off some of my work to someone else and then still be productive all day. I am appreciative of what my boss is trying to do by helping me try to succeed in classes but I hope someone gets what I'm trying to say without sounding like I am unappreciative because I'm really not.

Lovingly yours,