Flashback Friday

I love posed sweet pictures and 

 have lots of those of my sister and I from when we were growing up.  

But I also love those pictures that tell part of a story

or those that make you wonder what was going on as it was taken. 

This picture is one of those pictures and I love it!

Here is what I do know about this picture.

It was taken on our front porch-

 before my sweet mother let my sister and

 I pick out the new color of our house-

 which was a bright turquoise color. 

I'm pretty sure I am two in this picture which means my sister is 5. 

Judging by our matching clothes it was Easter 

because we ALWAYS wore matching clothes on Easter. 

Clothes that my mother

 (a single mother trying to support two little girls all by herself with no support)

sewed for us. 

However, judging by the look on our faces, 

there was obviously something else going on in this picture. 

What it looks like to me is that my sister 

(who is standing there looking all sweet and innocent)

had just done something to me and

 I was pointing at her and running to tell on her. 

It cracks me up every time I look at it. 

So, what do you think was going on? 

Any ideas? 

Hamburger

When I was in the 11th grade

 I vividly remember going to the movies
 to see the Eddie Murphy movie Raw.

My 40 year old self is absolutely SHOCKED to the core that

1. My mother would let me go see that movie. 

(so wish I could ask her- what were you thinking?)

2. That I would even consider going to see that movie. 

3. That I went to that movie on a first date with a boy 
I was absolutely smitten with.

(and had been in love with for a very LONG time)

I remember that neither that sweet boy nor I had even the slightest idea 

what type of movie it really was and 

I was so nervous and excited to be going out with him

 that I would have watched anything.

Absolutely anything. 

Seriously.
Even a bloody horror movie- and I HATE those.

(oh the things we do for love!)

I vividly remember sitting in the theater turning
9 million shades of red as we watched Raw.
I couldn't believe I was watching that movie
and that I was watching it next to J. 

The language in that movie was horrid. Seriously horrid. 

The f word was said what seemed like at least 2,000 times.

I don't remember much about the movie at all other than the terrible language 

and the fact that
 I was so stinkin' excited to be there with J that I could barely sit still!!

But there was one bit in the movie that

 I still remember over 23 years later
  (good night nurse I am old!) 

because it absolutely cracked me up! 

I found that bit on line last night and it had me almost crying watching it. 

There are a few (3 I think) ugly words in it (but not the f word)

so be warned if you watch it. 

But if you need a laugh today, watch it because it is a hoot!
(and if you do watch it, check out the gloves he wears the whole time- talk about an 80's flash back!)

Week 17- Hiding God's Word in Your Heart

1,263,978 Questions

We are in the midst of state testing here in Texas and 

yesterday I had the joy of testing a little boy we will call Matt.

 (not his real name of course)

Matt is a student that REALLY struggles with focus, 

moves and makes noises CONSTANTLY,

and therefore needs to be tested individually. 

Here are just a few of the 1,263,978 questions he asked me 

during our time together yesterday.............

1. Why do we have education?

2. Who came up with education?

3. How could people come up with education when they hadn't had any education?

4. Why do we have to take this test?

5. When does school get hard?

6. Why can't I play on the computer?

7. Why can't I talk?

8. Why can't we play a silent game?

9. Why is there school? 

10. Why do we even need education?

11. When will use all this school stuff we are learning?

12. Why do I have to stay in here when I am done?

13. Why can't I go back to my class?

14. Why aren't they finished in my class?

15. Why do we have to do this? 

16. Who came up with pencils?

17. Why do pencils break all the time?

18. Why do they give us snacks?

19. I didn't eat breakfast.....why do I have to eat something?

20. Why can't I draw on my test book?

And my favorite......................

My mom says all we need is God, family, and love. 

So why do we need to learn all this stuff? 

My response to every single question was the same..........

We can't talk right now Matt, 

you have to focus on taking this test and doing your best. 

It wasn't exhausting, not at all. 

(HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA)

And guess what?

Today, I get to administer the reading test to him. 

Won't that be fun? 

Randomness on a Tuesday Morning

1. I had a sweet friend send me an email that said.........

 You do NOT really have panties in your drawer, do you??

So Karen O., this is for you: 

 

Here they are in the drawer, next to other important things like lotion, a lint roller, 

Advil, a Tide pen, and on top of a Bible. :) 

And here they are on a table in my office. I put the Sonic drink there to show perspective. 

They truly are some BIG girl panties! 

(And if I die anytime soon, will someone please promise to come and delete all the pics off of my work computer? Because if someone saw some of the RANDOM things I take pics of, they would assume I was CRAZY!) 

2. This video that my sweet friend Dayna tweeted about? 

It had me in tears. Tears!

3. Today is a state testing day here.  
For teachers that means a LONG LONG LONG day. 
And today my Sonic's drink machine was BROKEN! 
That is just all kinds of wrong! Seriously wrong. 
(Thankfully I immediately sent a text to my sweet friend Jenny 
who lives near another Sonic and she is coming to my rescue! Praise the Lord!)


4. And this video that my sweet friend Karen P sent me is awesome! 
A motivational Christian rap- love it! 




5. Notes left on my desk by sweet friends
 and their super cute 3 year olds named Lu
ROCK!!!

6. My sweet girl made drill team (YEA Maddie! So proud of her!) and has already started practicing for a Spring Show to be held next weekend. 
I just wrote my first two checks and holy cow- 
I'm thinking I'm gonna need a part time job so that she can do both dance and drill team. 
(Maybe my Sonic is hiring?)




7. At a craft show here in town this past weekend I bought some homemade pasta. 
Some CHOCOLATE dessert pasta. 
Chocolate pasta. 
Isn't that crazy? 
I just couldn't not buy it and 
can't wait to try it out on my book club ladies in two weeks. 




8. Speaking of book club- our September book is Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. 
It's 1,200 pages. 
1,200 pages. 
So I went ahead and bought it- and so far.....not so great. 
(Do they still make cliff notes? 
Because I'm thinking I might just need some. Seriously.)

Monday Morning Question of the Day

What is the most random thing

 in or on your desk today? 

I'll go first.....in my right hand desk drawer is a pair of big girl panties. 

BIG big girl panties. 

For those days when I needed to be reminded to 

"put on my big girl panties"!! 

Flashback Friday

This picture was taken on the night of my senior prom

of my sister and I and it absolutely cracks me up! 

I can't help but think of the letter B when looking at this picture. 

B for.........

bangs -sprayed to an inch of their life with rave hair spray

(that hair did not move a single inch all night long- not an inch!)

blue eyeshadow- LOTS of blue eyeshadow

brows-obviously I did not have tweezers back then

baby's breath- in my hair? nice huh?

bubble skirt- you can't see it but it was there

butt- my butt must have looked huge in that short bubble shirt dress 

(why oh why did my mother let me get that dress? seriously?)

A few other things that make me smile......

-the lovely side ponytail hairdo that I am sporting

-the snazzy shirt my sister is wearing and how it almost matches 

the snazzy wallpaper behind us

-remembering that night and how excited I was to be going to prom

 with a sweet boy I was totally in love with

(who did not realize I was totally in love with him at the time

 but whom I ended up dating for several years and am still friends with now) 

Week 16- Hiding God's Word in Your Heart

RAoK

A sweet friend's daughter lost her best friend in

 a tragic accident several weeks ago here in our town. 

Lauren was a beautiful 16 year old girl who would today turn 17. 

My friend was inspired by all of the RAoK done on my birthday,

so she suggested it to Lauren's mother, 

and so today RAoK are being performed

 all over town by Lauren's friends and family. 

Click here to read the news story about it

or here to join the Facebook group. 

What a way to bless the memory of a sweet girl!

Will you join us?

Monday Morning Question of the Day

I was talking with a friend recently about friendship. 

I shared with her somethings that I have always believed about 

having, making, and keeping good friends. 

So my question(s) for you today are.........

1. Do you think you need to be a good friend in order to have good friends? 

(Basically do you think these two are related?)

2. Do you think it's difficult to maintain good friendships?

3. What are three qualities do you most treasure in a friend?

A Work of Fiction

At a certain age, your child goes from wanting you to

 tell funny stories about them to everyone, 

to NOT wanting you to, AT ALL.  

And my Madison, well, she's reached that age. 

So today, since I can't write about her,

 I'm going to write a totally hypothetical story. 

It is in no way related to anyone I know at all. 

Pure fiction. 

NOTE: All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. 

Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead,
 is purely coincidental.

Once upon a time there was a girl named Adison.  

Adison was 13 and loved to dance. 

She danced at LouAnn's School of Dance and

 had been taking lessons there for 8 years. 

She was at that age where she started getting her monthly "friend". 

Her mother Fannon had taught her to always be prepared- 

to have "supplies" with her at all time- 

in her locker at school and in her dance bag. 

Well one night while at dance Adison called her mother 

and said that she was out of "supplies" and urgently needed some. 

Her mother, even though she was a tad 

irritated since she had told Adison 

over and over again to be prepared,

 brought one to Adison right away. 

The "supply" that Adison's mom took to her was the last one in the house,

so when Adison's dad Rony picked her 

and her best friend Matie up from dance

they headed to the store to purchase some more "supplies".

Now Adison did NOT want to purchase these supplies, 

because she was embarassed.

Rony, however did not mind a bit taking her to the store 
and buying them as he's often had to do that for his wife. 

So, as Adison and Matie hid at the end of the asile, 

pretending to look at something else,

Rony looked for the supplies. 

Since the girls wouldn't come closer to him, 

Rony YELLED down the asile 

"Do you need regular or maxi?"

Of course Adison and Matie were MORTIFIED and ran and hid. 

Rony sent his wife Fannon a text message
 to find out what he needed to buy,

picked them up and went off to find the girls. 

As he found them in another part of the store, 
he held the package up and said VERY loudly 

"Are these the right ones Adison?"

Of course, the girls were again horrified and ran away.

As they got their other purchases and were standing in line to pay, 

Rony again held the supplies up and said 

"Gosh, these things sure are expensive Adison!"

So, the moral of this completely HYPOTHETICAL story is two-fold:

1. Listen to your wise Momma and always be prepared.

2. If you are too embarrassed to buy your own "supplies" at the store, 

don't take your dad with you because he will embarrass you for sure! 

The END.

Week 15- Hiding God's Word in Your Heart

Eating Out

As a young child eating out was a 

HUGE HUGE HUGE 

treat! 

It rarely happened and when it did it was either a very special occasion 

or a trip to Luby's cafeteria.  

I remember how excited I got when I

 found out we were going out to eat. 

I remember vividly enjoying every single sip of my Coke 

because in those days there were no free refills. (remember that?)

I remember how good the food tasted 

because it was special and different.

Now days it seems so very common to either go out to eat or 

pick something up to bring home to eat

 from a restaurant or fast food place. 

As someone who enjoys cooking, we used to eat out only once per week. 

But I've noticed that in the past year or so- as Madison's schedule has gotten busier and as I've gotten older (and more tired :), we've started to eat out more and more often.  Tony's in charge of dinner on Friday nights which means he brings something home from somewhere.  

We almost always then eat out on Sat. as a family and 

sometimes on Sunday after church.  

And then because of Madison's dance schedule, at least one night a week I pick up some fast food for her to eat during her break at dance and

 occasionally pick up Subway for all of us. 

 In addition to that because I don't cook on the nights we eat out, 

Tony doesn't always have a lunch to take to work and ends up eating lunch out on those days. 

I started thinking recently about how unhealthy 

and how expensive all that eating out is.  

When I added it all up it equaled at the very minimum $300 a month.  

I don't know about you, but $300 a month is a lot of money

 AND a lot of unnecessary calories and fat I'm sure. 

So much to the chagrin of my family,

 I decided that from now until the end of May we will not be eating out. 

This will help us save a little money

 and help us to eat healthier at the same time.  

I can't say my family was thrilled about this idea,

 but I think I eventually convinced them. 

(Madison was VERY sad because that girl loves some Chikafila and Chicken Express. )

I do realize it's going to be hard at times but I'm hoping 

that after a month and a half of not eating out, 

maybe our habit will be changed. 

What do you think? 

Will we be able to do it? 

Anyone want to join us?

(FYI- Sonic drinks are not included only because I have LOTS of gift cards from Sonic right now so I'll be using them instead of cash.  Thank goodness! :) 

Monday Morning Question of the Day

How often do you and/or your family eat out? 

Not just going to a sit down restaurant and eating out,

 but running through the McDonald's or Sonic drive-thru 

or picking something up at Subway?

A. Never

B. 1-2 times per week

C. 3-5 times per week

D. More than 5 times a week

I have a specific reason for asking this question, 

am interested to see what everyone says, 

 and will share with you why tomorrow! 

Flashback Friday

This is one of my all time favorite pics because it was taken 

the day my dad adopted my sister and I. 

We called it "A Day" and is one of my first vivid memories. 

Here is what I remember:

I remember that we all stayed home that day. 

I remember that I ate Rice Krispies with my dad in the living room 

while watching The Three Stooges and Speed Racer. 

I remember that my dad did my hair 

(he was awesome at doing braids and ponytails!).

I remember going downtown to court and being scared of the judge. 

I remember telling the judge I wanted him 

(pointing to my dad) to be my Daddy. 

I remember going out to lunch to celebrate. 

I remember the cake we had to celebrate. 

I remember after that day having to carry around my new last name 

on a piece of paper so I could remember how to spell it. 

(If you don't know what it is- just know it is 10 letters long and includes an X)

I remember how happy I was on this day

 to get the best Daddy in the world! 

I LOVE this old pic of my sister and I taken on that same day  for so many reasons!

1. First, the lovely bookshelves behind us.  The fact that not only are they red, white, and blue- but that the candle on top is also red, white, and blue cracked me up! I obviously inherited my need for everything to match from my sweet mother. 

2. The fact that my sister is holding what I remember to be a book about places from the Bible.  I remember that book vividly for some reason and why she's holding it? Not a clue. 

3. The fact that I am also holding some random book- certainly not a kid book.  I am certain I didn't want to be left out so I grabbed something off the shelf behind me.  So funny!

4. Our snazzy lace tights. I so remember these! 

5. The fact that I still have this dress because it was such a special day. 

Week 14- Hiding God's Word in Your Heart

Random Acts of Kindness by My Sweet Friends

I know I am blessed with precious friends and family. 

I don't for a second take that for granted.

 But I think this birthday truly showed me

 how amazingly kind and loving and creative and good  

and big hearted my friends are. 

So many fulfilled my birthday wish
 by performing random acts of kindness

 in my honor on my birthday that it was overwhelming to me.

I truly can't tell you how fun it was to get texts, emails,

 and Facebook messages all day long telling me of their good deeds. 

Some even took pics- which I loved and so many were SO very creative! 

It truly was like getting present after present 
and it absolutely made my day!!

So here, in no particular order, they are:

Amanda: Made cookies for her daughters bus driver

Donna: 
1. Cleaned her friend Martha's kitchen
2. Made coffee
3. Fed the cat for her

Darby: Made her parents bed for them

Jen G: Took Route 44 Sonic drinks to the EMS station in her town.  The other paramedics were out on ambulance runs, but this man, Joe, accepted the drinks on everyone's behalf and will pass them out when everyone returns to the station!

Kelly: 1. Her husband has five guys that work for him at Sherwin Williams and she brought them cookies to work during her lunch.  

2. She took some flowers to a lady that works at her baby's daycare, Cindy.  Her mother's health is not well and she lives very far away from here.  Cindy is struggling with what to do about that situation.  So she  gave her some flowers and a card telling her that she was praying for her.  

Jeana: Paid for the person behind her in line at Starbucks. 


Jared: Bought lunch for the girl in front of him in line at Quizzno's.


Stacey S: 1. Taped change to 3 vending machines at work
 2. Paid for the person behind her in line at Sonic.


Dia: 1. Took baby clothes to a local home for pregnant teens 
2. Took Girl Scout cookies to the construction workers near her house. 
(The GS cookies were as a tribute to our GS days- troop 2211!)


Sharen G: 1. Kidnapped a friend and brought her out to their property
 to see the wildflowers in bloom
2. Paid for the car behind her at Chicken Express.


Shannon W: 
1. Washed and folded towels for a sweet friend whose dryer was broken

2. Took Gatorade to the construction workers by her house.

3. Took sweet treats to the firehouse. 

 

4. Gave away cookies at Jimmy John's. 

 

Lori: Took a much needed neb mask to sweet baby Mykah. 

Kim: 1. Gave a friend a gift of a cute little chubby bird

2. Bought dinner for a friend

Luke: Picked up trash at the gas station. 

Charly: 

1. While taking pics of a pregnant mother,

 she ended up helping to deliver the baby! 

That is a serious HUGE RAOK!

2. Decorated a bucket and clipboard for

 the math specialist at her school. 

Sally:

1. Found a $ on the group, knew it wasn't a young mom's 

but pretended it was and returned it. 

2. Wrote an email bragging on a co-worker and sent it to their supervisor. 

DeAnn: Took goody bags to her son's daycare workers.

Suzan: 

1. Gave a tip the same size as the cost of her lunch to the drive thru girl

2. Spent an extra hour at a patient's house

3. Took some chocolate to a friend's house

4. Left a bowl of chocolate at the home health office

5. Left a gift card and a note of encouragement on the door of an older

 travel trailer parked in the Wal-mart parking lot. 

(Her sweet kids Jess and Luke also contributed money to this too!)

6. Left a gift card of their mailman. 

Karen O: Offered to keep her babysitters daughter for the night and take her to school the next morning because the babysitter is having surgery. 

Debbie M: Picked up all the neighbors trash cans because it was a windy day and they had all blown down the street. 

Jessica: 

1. Bought a gift certificate at the teacher supply store with instructions for the owner to give it to a teacher in need. 

2. Let her two year old hit her in the head with a blue balloon while shopping. 

3. Left coupons all over the store for anything she had coupons for. 

Sharon: Had an extra long visit with her Nanny. 

Robin: Watched a lady's things in the waiting room while her husband was in surgery. 

Sherri B: Picked up my daughter and fed her dinner since I went out of town with Dory. 


Stacy G: Paid for a drink and chip combo for the next person at Circle K. 

Wendy and family: 
1. Picked flowers in school yard and passed them out to old people at Wal-mart
2. Gave a $20 gift card to the person behind them at Wal-mart
3. Delivered 2 pizzas to 2 families as their surprise dinner
(love this idea- so fun!)
4. Took donuts to the firemen by their house

Karen P: 

1. Paid for an elderly couple's meal at Wendy's

2. Took a complete stranger home from AMCMS after 

dropping her daughter off at volleyball practice. 

(The next time she saw him he thanked her again and gave her a rose. How sweet is that?)

Amy: She did something but wants to tell me in person so I'm not sure what it was! 

Betty and Jenny: Anonymously gave a cash gift to a single mom in need. 

Peggy:

1. Bought lunch for the office staff

2. Didn't honk at the drivers who cut her off in traffic

Diana D: Made a birthday cake for a friend who did not get to celebrate her birthday

Mary Beth: Made a donation to a family with three small children whose father was killed in a motorcycle accident. 

Martie: Made gluten free brownies for Jessica

Bonnie: Wrote a letter to her husband's cousin who is getting a divorce.

Erin: 

1. Sent chocolate and notes to the bank tellers

2. Left a sweet treat for the mailmain

3. Paid for the Sonic drink of the person behind her in line

Lana: Gave flowers to the secretary at her school

Tony: Bought drinks for the 6 workers working for him

Jamee:

1. Took fudge pops to the ER

2. Took magazines to the ER

3. Left new sidewalk chalk at the park. 

4. Bought coffee for 2 people at McDonald's

5. Left a note on a friend's car

6. Made coffee for her husband (which is usually something he does)

Hannah: 

Left a quarter by the candy machine at the mall

Dory: Rode all over creation with me, put up with my insane idea, 

and took pictures of all of my 40 RAOK. 

That is a grand total of 80 Random Acts of Kindness! 

Add in my 40 and that is a total of 

120 Random Acts of Kindness

 done on March 29th. 

How cool is that? 

It truly is amazing and brings tears to my eyes. 

I am blessed beyond measure.

Note: If I didn't include your RAoK and you did one-
 please either email me or leave me a comment and I'll be sure to add it to the list!