I'm up and running on the Dell computer but it's so much different from our old HP computer that I'm really lost. I waited all week for a email response from our ISP with instructions on how to switch our service over to this computer but never received one. I'm not good at talking on the phone to folks I don't know but today I called our ISP and was very pleased that I was talking to a pleasant man named Mike. He gave me instructions step by step and our service was up in less than 10 minutes (I told him I was slow and he said thats fine take your time). After getting the service going he asked me if there was anything else he could do for me and I told him I hoped not. He then told me if I had any problems not to hesitate to call him back. I thanked him and told him I really appreciated his help.
Right now the desk is sitting out in the middle of the floor because I have other things that need to be installed before we move it back against the wall. I did find that there is an electrical plug-in missing from the speakers. Our old speakers didn't have an electrical plug-in so I guess we need to see if we can find one at Staples. I can't believe how much brighter the colors are on this computer compared to ours. It's going to take me quite some time to get used to this and the firewalls already installed that weren't on the old one. I realize now that there were things on the old computer that I should have had my nephew move over while he was here last Sunday. Live and learn I guess.
I'm really feeling guilty about having this computer now though. Last night I called my sister as she was walking in the door and she told me a few minutes later that their computer was sitting in the floor and her sons laptop was sitting on the computer desk so she guessed something had happened to it. She said that last week it was acting up after a thunderstorm and her son told her he thought it may have been struck by lightning. He unplugged it, plugged it back in and it started working again until yesterday. I told her I would bring this computer back to her it hadn't been hooked up yet but she said "no, they had been thinking about buying a new computer anyway and her sons laptop was there if anyone wanted to use it". My sister doesn't use the computer, she doesn't even know how to turn it on, but she does get her daughter to look things up for her. I hate that this has happened just a few days after she gave me this one and it does make me feel guilty because it's here and they should be using it, not me.
I haven't tried leaving any comments on blogs since it's been hooked up but I did go to Terri's blog to see what it would do. I had been getting an error on her blog but tonight it seemed to be ok except I couldn't see her pictures and the computer told me there was a pop up blocker blocking me from viewing them. I think I have that straightened out now but I'm not sure.
We are under a weather alert for tomorrow afternoon and night for possible severe thunderstorms. I like to sit out on the patio and watch all the neighbors fireworks on July 4th but if the weather does what they think it's going to do there won't be any. I hope all of you have a safe and happy holiday weekend.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Heavenly Weekend
When Dad's brother and his wife moved back to PA to be with their children and grandchildren we thought it would most likely be the last time Dad & Uncle Cliff would see each other again. The death of their daughter to cancer brought Uncle Cliff & Aunt Margaret home more than a month ago to make arrangements for her funeral. After my cousins funeral they forced themselves to go back into their home here and prepare to put it up for sale. They made the decision to stay here until the home sold. Their home sold in less than 2 weeks from putting it on the market.
One of my brothers has been taking Dad to visit them at least once a week. My sister had mentioned to Dad that it would be nice if we could all get together before their son comes to pick them up in July. Dad really didn't think his brother would feel up to it with his health issues but when my sister called them they said yes.
This morning one of my brothers made a trip to town to pick them up and bring them to Dad's for a family gathering. Dad's home soon filled with kids, grandkids & great grandkids. It was a delight to see the joy on Dad's face & theirs, lots of hugs, I love you's, laughs & a few tears. Loads of pictures were taken for special memories.
Everyone was stuffed after they went through our buffet of: turkey, dressing, noodles, mashed potatoes, turkey gravy, bbq'd boston butt, spaghetti (Mom's recipe), potato casserole, green beans with ham, fresh corn, slaw, yeast rolls & your choice of soft drinks. If you possibly had any room left for dessert you had your choice of Almond Joy Cake, Chocolate Eclair, banana bread & chocolate bread.
My Uncle & Aunt told me I should open my own BBQ business, my boston butt is the best bbq they'd ever eaten. I told them when we lost our jobs at the furniture factory Gary had suggested that my brother Steve & I go into that type of business together. My Aunt said she would like to fix boston butts like that for when their son comes home to get them so they could have it for sandwiches and wanted to know how I fix mine. Gosh, it's hard to tell someone else how I do it because most of my cooking I don't measure ingredients. My nephew had asked me to write down my recipe for my dip for bbq a few years ago & all I could do was tell him the ingredients not measurements. Boston butt freezes really well after being bbq'd and I have a gallon freezer bag full left. I told Gary tonight I think I will make a trip to my Uncle & Aunt's this week and give them that because my Aunt doesn't need to be caring for a grill of meat for an entire day. Though I love to BBQ it is very tiring so I know it would be exhausting for her.
My sister used to cut my Uncle's hair for him when they lived here so he asked her if she would cut it for him while they are here. She brought her clippers with her today and he was one happy man. She cuts several of the male members of our families hair and after cutting my Uncle's she did several more tonight. Somehow, don't ask me why cause I don't know how the conversation turned to her cutting my hair "What?". I always whack off my own hair & Gary trims it if I have a few strays uneven. Terri starts talking about my sister cutting bangs for me, "Oh, hell no!". My brother comes in packing a ruler teasing me about how many inches I want her to cut off 6 or 7. I was almost afraid to look in the mirror after she got done with me. But, she did a great job & I'd say she probably cut off around 5 inches. She was talking about how soft my hair is, I don't use all types of hair products, I simply use Pert Plus shampoo and that's it. She can't believe I haven't got any more gray in my hair than I do (it's there but it blends in well with the natural color of my hair) she's been dyeing her hair for years because she has so much gray but her natural color is also much darker than mine.
We all had a great time at Dad's today and some wonderful memories were made for all of us as we're almost sure when Uncle Cliff & Aunt Margaret leave to go back to PA it will be the last time he & Dad will see each other. Dad plans to visit them as much as he can before they leave.
Yesterday afternoon I made a trip to Terri's to borrow her large crockpot. (She's doing great after her visit to the oral surgeon). When I pulled in our driveway I noticed a car that I thought I recognized but I wasn't sure until I looked at the license plate. My nephew & his wife from Somerset stopped by for a visit. I was so excited because it's been awhile since we've seen them. They are expecting their first child in September, a little girl, I'm so happy for them. We all sat around for a couple of hours chatting and catching up with all the happenings in our lives. It was great!
After I left Dad's tonight I followed my sister and her husband home to pick up the computer she had gotten for us last weekend. Her son & his wife are home on vacation this week (they shared their good news 2 weeks ago that my sister and her husband are gonna be Grandma & Granddad in Feburary, first grandchild). Her son asked me if I was going to be home tonight & I said yeah. He came over and moved all my pictures & my favorites over to the newer computer. Believe me when I say he had me lost as soon as he started, he was bringing up stuff I'd never seen before & probably won't see again, ha ha ha. He said, "gosh you have a lot of favorites" and grinned. I said, "gosh Chris I weeded a lot of them out this week and got rid of them, I read a lot of blogs" ha ha ha. Chris asked me if there was anything else I wanted him to move over while he was here, "heck I don't know you lost me a long time ago". Oh well, I'll get hooked up to this other computer one of these years. I sent an email to our internet service tonight asking for instructions on what we need to do to move our service to a different computer because Chris tried to see if he could do that too but he couldn't. I sure hope it's simple I'm not too sharp when it comes to computers but this newer computer sure looks good, lmao.
One of my brothers has been taking Dad to visit them at least once a week. My sister had mentioned to Dad that it would be nice if we could all get together before their son comes to pick them up in July. Dad really didn't think his brother would feel up to it with his health issues but when my sister called them they said yes.
This morning one of my brothers made a trip to town to pick them up and bring them to Dad's for a family gathering. Dad's home soon filled with kids, grandkids & great grandkids. It was a delight to see the joy on Dad's face & theirs, lots of hugs, I love you's, laughs & a few tears. Loads of pictures were taken for special memories.
Everyone was stuffed after they went through our buffet of: turkey, dressing, noodles, mashed potatoes, turkey gravy, bbq'd boston butt, spaghetti (Mom's recipe), potato casserole, green beans with ham, fresh corn, slaw, yeast rolls & your choice of soft drinks. If you possibly had any room left for dessert you had your choice of Almond Joy Cake, Chocolate Eclair, banana bread & chocolate bread.
My Uncle & Aunt told me I should open my own BBQ business, my boston butt is the best bbq they'd ever eaten. I told them when we lost our jobs at the furniture factory Gary had suggested that my brother Steve & I go into that type of business together. My Aunt said she would like to fix boston butts like that for when their son comes home to get them so they could have it for sandwiches and wanted to know how I fix mine. Gosh, it's hard to tell someone else how I do it because most of my cooking I don't measure ingredients. My nephew had asked me to write down my recipe for my dip for bbq a few years ago & all I could do was tell him the ingredients not measurements. Boston butt freezes really well after being bbq'd and I have a gallon freezer bag full left. I told Gary tonight I think I will make a trip to my Uncle & Aunt's this week and give them that because my Aunt doesn't need to be caring for a grill of meat for an entire day. Though I love to BBQ it is very tiring so I know it would be exhausting for her.
My sister used to cut my Uncle's hair for him when they lived here so he asked her if she would cut it for him while they are here. She brought her clippers with her today and he was one happy man. She cuts several of the male members of our families hair and after cutting my Uncle's she did several more tonight. Somehow, don't ask me why cause I don't know how the conversation turned to her cutting my hair "What?". I always whack off my own hair & Gary trims it if I have a few strays uneven. Terri starts talking about my sister cutting bangs for me, "Oh, hell no!". My brother comes in packing a ruler teasing me about how many inches I want her to cut off 6 or 7. I was almost afraid to look in the mirror after she got done with me. But, she did a great job & I'd say she probably cut off around 5 inches. She was talking about how soft my hair is, I don't use all types of hair products, I simply use Pert Plus shampoo and that's it. She can't believe I haven't got any more gray in my hair than I do (it's there but it blends in well with the natural color of my hair) she's been dyeing her hair for years because she has so much gray but her natural color is also much darker than mine.
We all had a great time at Dad's today and some wonderful memories were made for all of us as we're almost sure when Uncle Cliff & Aunt Margaret leave to go back to PA it will be the last time he & Dad will see each other. Dad plans to visit them as much as he can before they leave.
Yesterday afternoon I made a trip to Terri's to borrow her large crockpot. (She's doing great after her visit to the oral surgeon). When I pulled in our driveway I noticed a car that I thought I recognized but I wasn't sure until I looked at the license plate. My nephew & his wife from Somerset stopped by for a visit. I was so excited because it's been awhile since we've seen them. They are expecting their first child in September, a little girl, I'm so happy for them. We all sat around for a couple of hours chatting and catching up with all the happenings in our lives. It was great!
After I left Dad's tonight I followed my sister and her husband home to pick up the computer she had gotten for us last weekend. Her son & his wife are home on vacation this week (they shared their good news 2 weeks ago that my sister and her husband are gonna be Grandma & Granddad in Feburary, first grandchild). Her son asked me if I was going to be home tonight & I said yeah. He came over and moved all my pictures & my favorites over to the newer computer. Believe me when I say he had me lost as soon as he started, he was bringing up stuff I'd never seen before & probably won't see again, ha ha ha. He said, "gosh you have a lot of favorites" and grinned. I said, "gosh Chris I weeded a lot of them out this week and got rid of them, I read a lot of blogs" ha ha ha. Chris asked me if there was anything else I wanted him to move over while he was here, "heck I don't know you lost me a long time ago". Oh well, I'll get hooked up to this other computer one of these years. I sent an email to our internet service tonight asking for instructions on what we need to do to move our service to a different computer because Chris tried to see if he could do that too but he couldn't. I sure hope it's simple I'm not too sharp when it comes to computers but this newer computer sure looks good, lmao.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Everything happens for a reason
I was never one to believe that everything happens for a reason until ten years ago. Or, could it be for the past ten years I've visioned life as it unfolds with a sharper eye for detail? Now, I pick the reasoning apart with a fine tooth comb. It may take days, months, or years to see the clearer view.
Judy's sister-in-law has been sending out emails titled message for the day every day for the past couple months. This is the one she sent out Friday:Yesterday is a canceled check.Tomorrow is a promissory note.Today is cash. Spend it wisely.
Friday, I went to Dad's and visited him for the afternoon for Father's Day because I had planned to BBQ here at home on Sunday. We had a nice visit and I left in time to stop at our little country grocery store on the way home to pick up Boston Butt's they had on sale. I went to bed early Friday night, tossed & turned as usual, said the heck with it around 3:30 AM, got up and drank a few cups of coffee. Since I was up so early I decide to go ahead & BBQ on Saturday. I called all the kids at 8:30 and told them it would be ready around 6PM if they wanted to come over. My stepson told me he couldn't make any promises because one of their friends was coming to give them all haircuts and he didn't know how long it would take her. After putting the meat on the grill I made potato salad, shucked fresh peaches & cream corn & cut it off the cob, prepared ingredients for tossed salad & mixed ingredients for baked beans. The temps have been in the mid to upper 90's here with the heat index being around 107/108 but on Saturday there was a bit of a breeze so I hopped on the lawnmower & mowed the yard while the meat was cooking. The meat on my bones cooked faster than the meat on the grill, ha ha ha. I had told the kids to come any time they wanted to. My stepdaughter & our granddaughter Emma arrived soon after I finished mowing. I was running my bath water when she arrived so when Gary got home I hopped in the tub and took my bath while she visited with him. Terri & Jeff arrived soon after. We all had a nice time together but I sure was tired by the end of the night.
Saturday night I stayed up late because I wasn't sleepy. I went to bed around 2 AM, tossed & turned as usual for several hours and finally dozed off. I got up late Sunday morning, fixed my coffee & took one sip before the phone rang. It was one of my brothers telling me that another of our brothers was being rushed to the hospital by ambulance with symptoms of a heart attack. Dad was riding in the ambulance with him. Oh, SHIT!!!!!!!! I was a bundle of nerves & couldn't imagine how Dad must feel, he's been through so much heartache. I took a quick bath, hopped in the car & headed to the ER. Everyone was there except my youngest brother who lives out of town, my other brother who lives out of town just happened to be home for a wedding on Saturday night, he and his wife were on their way to Dad's house to visit him before heading back home when they received the phone call. My brother didn't have a heart attack. Thank God! All the test came back with a diagnosis of pleurisy & it will take 2 to 3 weeks for the stabbing pain to subside. I spoke to my brother this morning and he says he's feeling better though the medication he's on has a side effect that sends him running to the bathroom. Though not a good way to spend Father's Day, it truly was a Happy Father's Day for Dad, it could have been so much worse.
One of my brothers lost his job in a round of layoffs a week ago last Friday. When shaking his coworkers hands before leaving the plant he told some of his friends, "You guys are next". My brother didn't go straight home after leaving & one of his coworkers called Dad & asked Dad to have my brother call him. Problem was my brother didn't know his phone number. After my brother and the others who had lost their jobs that morning left the plant management had a meeting with the rest of the plant. At that time they told the rest of the employees that it was just in the talking stage but they were considering merging this plant with one of their other plants & closing this plant down. My brother has seen the writing on the wall for quite some time but none of his coworkers wanted to believe it. When my brother went to the plant on Friday to pick up his last paycheck they allowed him to go to the department he had worked in. His former coworkers said, "You were right!".
This is the third week Gary has been working by himself. His coworker injured himself a few weeks ago with a small cut on his hand. Hmmm, seems strange his injury is so bad he can't work but this weekend he stopped and picked up some of his tools at the shop to put a motor in someone's car at his home. Nuff said about that..I'm a believer of the concept that things can & will come back to bite you in the ass.
We don't subscribe to our local paper so my sister has been on the lookout for a somewhat newer computer than we have because I know this one is on borrowed time. Saturday morning there was a garage sale ad with a desktop computer listed. She arrived at the garage sale before opening time to make sure she had a chance at looking at it. Normally the computers you find at garage sales have something wrong with them but this one didn't. The reason why the couple was selling it is because they had purchased 2 laptops for themselves & no longer had a need for it. My sister bought the computer plus a brand new 3 in 1 printer for a total of $75. The computer she bought is a Dell, the one her family uses at home is an HP. Her son is coming home next weekend and he's going to check it out for her to see which computer has the most GB. She plans to keep the one with the most GB's because her daughter stores hundreds of pictures on their computer. The computer with the lesser GB's she's giving to me. I offered to pay for it but she won't accept payment she says it's a gift to me. Yipeeeeeee!
Judy's sister-in-law has been sending out emails titled message for the day every day for the past couple months. This is the one she sent out Friday:Yesterday is a canceled check.Tomorrow is a promissory note.Today is cash. Spend it wisely.
Friday, I went to Dad's and visited him for the afternoon for Father's Day because I had planned to BBQ here at home on Sunday. We had a nice visit and I left in time to stop at our little country grocery store on the way home to pick up Boston Butt's they had on sale. I went to bed early Friday night, tossed & turned as usual, said the heck with it around 3:30 AM, got up and drank a few cups of coffee. Since I was up so early I decide to go ahead & BBQ on Saturday. I called all the kids at 8:30 and told them it would be ready around 6PM if they wanted to come over. My stepson told me he couldn't make any promises because one of their friends was coming to give them all haircuts and he didn't know how long it would take her. After putting the meat on the grill I made potato salad, shucked fresh peaches & cream corn & cut it off the cob, prepared ingredients for tossed salad & mixed ingredients for baked beans. The temps have been in the mid to upper 90's here with the heat index being around 107/108 but on Saturday there was a bit of a breeze so I hopped on the lawnmower & mowed the yard while the meat was cooking. The meat on my bones cooked faster than the meat on the grill, ha ha ha. I had told the kids to come any time they wanted to. My stepdaughter & our granddaughter Emma arrived soon after I finished mowing. I was running my bath water when she arrived so when Gary got home I hopped in the tub and took my bath while she visited with him. Terri & Jeff arrived soon after. We all had a nice time together but I sure was tired by the end of the night.
Saturday night I stayed up late because I wasn't sleepy. I went to bed around 2 AM, tossed & turned as usual for several hours and finally dozed off. I got up late Sunday morning, fixed my coffee & took one sip before the phone rang. It was one of my brothers telling me that another of our brothers was being rushed to the hospital by ambulance with symptoms of a heart attack. Dad was riding in the ambulance with him. Oh, SHIT!!!!!!!! I was a bundle of nerves & couldn't imagine how Dad must feel, he's been through so much heartache. I took a quick bath, hopped in the car & headed to the ER. Everyone was there except my youngest brother who lives out of town, my other brother who lives out of town just happened to be home for a wedding on Saturday night, he and his wife were on their way to Dad's house to visit him before heading back home when they received the phone call. My brother didn't have a heart attack. Thank God! All the test came back with a diagnosis of pleurisy & it will take 2 to 3 weeks for the stabbing pain to subside. I spoke to my brother this morning and he says he's feeling better though the medication he's on has a side effect that sends him running to the bathroom. Though not a good way to spend Father's Day, it truly was a Happy Father's Day for Dad, it could have been so much worse.
One of my brothers lost his job in a round of layoffs a week ago last Friday. When shaking his coworkers hands before leaving the plant he told some of his friends, "You guys are next". My brother didn't go straight home after leaving & one of his coworkers called Dad & asked Dad to have my brother call him. Problem was my brother didn't know his phone number. After my brother and the others who had lost their jobs that morning left the plant management had a meeting with the rest of the plant. At that time they told the rest of the employees that it was just in the talking stage but they were considering merging this plant with one of their other plants & closing this plant down. My brother has seen the writing on the wall for quite some time but none of his coworkers wanted to believe it. When my brother went to the plant on Friday to pick up his last paycheck they allowed him to go to the department he had worked in. His former coworkers said, "You were right!".
This is the third week Gary has been working by himself. His coworker injured himself a few weeks ago with a small cut on his hand. Hmmm, seems strange his injury is so bad he can't work but this weekend he stopped and picked up some of his tools at the shop to put a motor in someone's car at his home. Nuff said about that..I'm a believer of the concept that things can & will come back to bite you in the ass.
We don't subscribe to our local paper so my sister has been on the lookout for a somewhat newer computer than we have because I know this one is on borrowed time. Saturday morning there was a garage sale ad with a desktop computer listed. She arrived at the garage sale before opening time to make sure she had a chance at looking at it. Normally the computers you find at garage sales have something wrong with them but this one didn't. The reason why the couple was selling it is because they had purchased 2 laptops for themselves & no longer had a need for it. My sister bought the computer plus a brand new 3 in 1 printer for a total of $75. The computer she bought is a Dell, the one her family uses at home is an HP. Her son is coming home next weekend and he's going to check it out for her to see which computer has the most GB. She plans to keep the one with the most GB's because her daughter stores hundreds of pictures on their computer. The computer with the lesser GB's she's giving to me. I offered to pay for it but she won't accept payment she says it's a gift to me. Yipeeeeeee!
Friday, June 5, 2009
Giving from the Heart
In February I wrote an entry to spread the word of a blog my friend Mary had opened for those in need so they could ask for help & for those who could give to lend a helping hand. You can view that entry in this link if you haven't done so ->
http://boondocksflapdoodleandbeyond.blogspot.com/2009/02/give-hand-up.html.
The request on the Giving blog have been few and most request have been for used items not new. I applaud and give a standing ovation to the generous folks who have given from their hearts. It's unfortunate that Mary has been receiving negative feedback. What purpose does such negativity serve for anyone? It doesn't! It's extremely hard for someone to ask for help when they feel they have nowhere else to turn. Do we need to know the complete history of their circumstances before we're willing to give? No we don't, it's none of our business.
When we moved here our neighbors were both elderly ladies who were widows. Mrs. E was in her upper 80's and she & I became very good friends. She was the only surviving sibling of 9 children, her husband had polio and one of her daughters had mental & physical handicaps and both of them had passed away several years earlier. She felt safe with us living nearby. On one of my visits with her she told me about another visitor she had. She said there was a knock on her door and when she opened it there stood a man she didn't know. He told her he was hungry and asked if she could give him something to eat. She went in her kitchen and fixed him a plate full and invited him in to eat it. He thanked her but told her he would sit on the front porch. The man never came back to the door and when she looked out the plate was empty so she went out to get it and found a thank you note written on a scrap piece of paper. She told me she believed it was God at her door that day. Since then I've had my own experience.
One night when Judy was ill her sister-in-law had come to spend the night with her so I came home to spend some time with Gary. I was sitting in the living room at midnight watching tv when someone knocked on the door. Any other time I would have been a nervous wreck and would have run and got Gary out of bed but for some reason I got up and calmly opened the door. There was a woman standing there crying and she told me she had been abused by her husband and had been able to get away from him and call her brother to come and get her but they had run out of gas in front of our house. She asked me if we had any gas they could use. I told her that we don't normally keep gas during the winter but I would ask my husband. I woke Gary up, told him what was going on and he told me we had 5 gallons in the garage. So I went outside and told her to follow me. While in the garage she told me her husband had held a gun to her head & that it wasn't the first time this had happened. I hugged her and told her how sorry I was, that I had a wonderful husband. She cried on my shoulder for awhile. I gave her the gas and her brother put it in the car then they brought the gas can back to me and thanked me. She hugged me and asked for my name & address so she could repay us. I told her my name was Debbie and said there was no need for repayment that I wished her well with her life. She said she wasn't going back to her husband this time, she hugged me again and they left. I thought about what Mrs. E had told me and the next day when I went to Judy's I told her what had happened. Judy said she would have been afraid to open the door at that time of night. I said, "Judy what if that was God at my door?" Judy's sister-in-law looked at me and said "Debbie that was God at your door".
Was it God at our doors? Were we being scammed? What I do know is I put my trust in this person that she was telling the truth and it felt good to be able to help someone in need.
People give from their hearts and the blessings they receive in return are greater than the gift they gave. My life has been touched by many of those blessings.
http://give-a-hand-up.blogspot.com/
The request on the Giving blog have been few and most request have been for used items not new. I applaud and give a standing ovation to the generous folks who have given from their hearts. It's unfortunate that Mary has been receiving negative feedback. What purpose does such negativity serve for anyone? It doesn't! It's extremely hard for someone to ask for help when they feel they have nowhere else to turn. Do we need to know the complete history of their circumstances before we're willing to give? No we don't, it's none of our business.
When we moved here our neighbors were both elderly ladies who were widows. Mrs. E was in her upper 80's and she & I became very good friends. She was the only surviving sibling of 9 children, her husband had polio and one of her daughters had mental & physical handicaps and both of them had passed away several years earlier. She felt safe with us living nearby. On one of my visits with her she told me about another visitor she had. She said there was a knock on her door and when she opened it there stood a man she didn't know. He told her he was hungry and asked if she could give him something to eat. She went in her kitchen and fixed him a plate full and invited him in to eat it. He thanked her but told her he would sit on the front porch. The man never came back to the door and when she looked out the plate was empty so she went out to get it and found a thank you note written on a scrap piece of paper. She told me she believed it was God at her door that day. Since then I've had my own experience.
One night when Judy was ill her sister-in-law had come to spend the night with her so I came home to spend some time with Gary. I was sitting in the living room at midnight watching tv when someone knocked on the door. Any other time I would have been a nervous wreck and would have run and got Gary out of bed but for some reason I got up and calmly opened the door. There was a woman standing there crying and she told me she had been abused by her husband and had been able to get away from him and call her brother to come and get her but they had run out of gas in front of our house. She asked me if we had any gas they could use. I told her that we don't normally keep gas during the winter but I would ask my husband. I woke Gary up, told him what was going on and he told me we had 5 gallons in the garage. So I went outside and told her to follow me. While in the garage she told me her husband had held a gun to her head & that it wasn't the first time this had happened. I hugged her and told her how sorry I was, that I had a wonderful husband. She cried on my shoulder for awhile. I gave her the gas and her brother put it in the car then they brought the gas can back to me and thanked me. She hugged me and asked for my name & address so she could repay us. I told her my name was Debbie and said there was no need for repayment that I wished her well with her life. She said she wasn't going back to her husband this time, she hugged me again and they left. I thought about what Mrs. E had told me and the next day when I went to Judy's I told her what had happened. Judy said she would have been afraid to open the door at that time of night. I said, "Judy what if that was God at my door?" Judy's sister-in-law looked at me and said "Debbie that was God at your door".
Was it God at our doors? Were we being scammed? What I do know is I put my trust in this person that she was telling the truth and it felt good to be able to help someone in need.
People give from their hearts and the blessings they receive in return are greater than the gift they gave. My life has been touched by many of those blessings.
http://give-a-hand-up.blogspot.com/
Thursday, May 28, 2009
I Remember
My nieces Ashley & Chelsey graduate from the same high school I graduated from in 1973 tomorrow night. Knowledge didn't come easily for me. I worked hard for the grades I received and graduated with what was considered a B+ average at that time. Mom & Dad were proud of me and I was offered a scholarship from the owner of the business Dad worked for, the same business I went to work for after graduating. Truthfully, I knew with the struggles I had in trying to achieve better grades in high school college wasn't for me.
I remember when Ashley was born she is my sister Linda's only daughter, the youngest of 5 children. Our family was so excited that they now had a little girl. Our family was so excited that a birth mother had chosen Judy & her husband to be blessed with a child by adoption. I remember being at Judy's when she received the call telling her she was the Mother of a newborn daughter & the call she placed to her husband at work. To see your sister hold the child she thought she'd never have can't be described other than you could see the love in Judy's eyes, you could feel her love/her fear that her child would be taken from her before the adoption was final.
Ashley & Chelsey were born 6 months apart. Growing up in their younger years they were two peas in a pod they were like sisters in every sense of the word, they fought like sisters, they loved each other like sisters. Along the way they grew out of that somewhat, they have mutual friends & they have friends of their own.
Both of them were at our house quite a bit when they were little and one of the first things they would do when they'd get there was check under the couch cushions to see if any change had fallen from the pockets of Gary's work pants. I can see the sparkle in their eyes now if they found a penny, nickel, dime or quarter & we let them keep it. They thought they were rich (they were richer than we were & Terri would have been richer than they were had she known there was change under those cushions, haha). We had a set of plastic coasters I'd gotten at a garage sale for a quarter, Chelsey would play with those things for hours, she called them dishes and she was playing house.
Mom & Dad bought my brothers house when he and his family moved to another town so they could be closer to a school for the hearing impaired as their youngest son is deaf. Mom had wanted shelves in the pantry and my brothers had offered to put shelves up but Mom wouldn't let them, she knew exactly how she wanted them, she wanted to do it herself. When Mom passed away the pantry still didn't have shelves so my brothers built shelves like they wanted to a few years earlier. I remember that day and though we were all dealing with grief there were still things we could laugh about/smile about. Mom kept a couple of sippy cups for when the younger grandkids were visiting if they were thirsty. Ashley & Chelsey found those sippy cups, became thirsty & poured themselves a drink. When Judy saw Chelsey drinking from her sippy cup she told her she wasn't a baby anymore the sippy cup was for babies. I couldn't keep from laughing when I told Chels, "You are the baby of the family aren't ya Chels?" Chelsey ate that up she said "Yeah Mom I am the baby in the family!". I always called Chelsey *Terri Junior* she had a smart mouth just like Terri did when she was growing up. Terri grew up to be a wonderful young woman that I'm quite proud of.
And though Judy isn't here I know that she's walking with Chelsey every step of the way this week. Chelsey is Salutatorian of her class, her best friend Ally is Valaditorian, Ashley is at the top of their class in her achievements also. Last night Chelsey made her speech at Baccalaureate. I'd like to have a copy of her speech, I wasn't there, I've heard what she said. It's been a tearful night for me.
I remember when Ashley was born she is my sister Linda's only daughter, the youngest of 5 children. Our family was so excited that they now had a little girl. Our family was so excited that a birth mother had chosen Judy & her husband to be blessed with a child by adoption. I remember being at Judy's when she received the call telling her she was the Mother of a newborn daughter & the call she placed to her husband at work. To see your sister hold the child she thought she'd never have can't be described other than you could see the love in Judy's eyes, you could feel her love/her fear that her child would be taken from her before the adoption was final.
Ashley & Chelsey were born 6 months apart. Growing up in their younger years they were two peas in a pod they were like sisters in every sense of the word, they fought like sisters, they loved each other like sisters. Along the way they grew out of that somewhat, they have mutual friends & they have friends of their own.
Both of them were at our house quite a bit when they were little and one of the first things they would do when they'd get there was check under the couch cushions to see if any change had fallen from the pockets of Gary's work pants. I can see the sparkle in their eyes now if they found a penny, nickel, dime or quarter & we let them keep it. They thought they were rich (they were richer than we were & Terri would have been richer than they were had she known there was change under those cushions, haha). We had a set of plastic coasters I'd gotten at a garage sale for a quarter, Chelsey would play with those things for hours, she called them dishes and she was playing house.
Mom & Dad bought my brothers house when he and his family moved to another town so they could be closer to a school for the hearing impaired as their youngest son is deaf. Mom had wanted shelves in the pantry and my brothers had offered to put shelves up but Mom wouldn't let them, she knew exactly how she wanted them, she wanted to do it herself. When Mom passed away the pantry still didn't have shelves so my brothers built shelves like they wanted to a few years earlier. I remember that day and though we were all dealing with grief there were still things we could laugh about/smile about. Mom kept a couple of sippy cups for when the younger grandkids were visiting if they were thirsty. Ashley & Chelsey found those sippy cups, became thirsty & poured themselves a drink. When Judy saw Chelsey drinking from her sippy cup she told her she wasn't a baby anymore the sippy cup was for babies. I couldn't keep from laughing when I told Chels, "You are the baby of the family aren't ya Chels?" Chelsey ate that up she said "Yeah Mom I am the baby in the family!". I always called Chelsey *Terri Junior* she had a smart mouth just like Terri did when she was growing up. Terri grew up to be a wonderful young woman that I'm quite proud of.
And though Judy isn't here I know that she's walking with Chelsey every step of the way this week. Chelsey is Salutatorian of her class, her best friend Ally is Valaditorian, Ashley is at the top of their class in her achievements also. Last night Chelsey made her speech at Baccalaureate. I'd like to have a copy of her speech, I wasn't there, I've heard what she said. It's been a tearful night for me.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Throwing caution to the wind ~ Scene one ~ Take 2
For those of you who follow blogs on your dashboard my sincere apology for a blank entry from me on Sunday. Yes, I did write an entry but after I published it I couldn't get back into my blog so I deleted it.
Here's the scoop...many of us have been having issues with using IE as our browser on Blogger. If you scroll down on your dashboard to the Help section and click on Known issues you will find that Blogger is aware that we are having these issues and are trying to find a fix for this bug. They believe our issues are being caused by the Followers gadget but in reading the help forum I noticed that several who have followed their instructions are still having the same problems.
If any of you recall many of us started having issues when IE8 was released. My youngest brother doesn't have a blog but he is having the same issues all of us are having he uses IE as his browser. So it's not just us bloggers having this problem.
I miss commenting on blogs and on Sunday threw caution to the wind because I was concerned about my blogging buddy John @ My Brain Is In Pain. Welcome back John! Honestly, I had feared the worst and am glad to know you've pulled through once again.
I'm throwing caution to the wind completely if I read something I want to comment on and it will let me leave a comment you may be hearing from me (Jack you were crusin' for a brusin' in your entry to us ladies yesterday, haha thanks for the chuckle).
I've been reading a blog for awhile that I'd never left a comment on until today. Maire @ A Pulse Of My Heart (link on sidebar) and her husband need our thoughts and prayers. Maire having dealt with her own battle with cancer is now a caregiver to her husband who is battling throat cancer. Please stop by Maire's blog and lend them support. It took 4 tries for my comment to publish on her blog but it finally went thru so this may happen to you as well.
Speaking of throwing caution to the wind I should have done just that today. I had planned to mow the yard but they kept calling for thunderstorms with winds and large hail. I kept checking the local weather map on my computer and the storms looked pretty rough. I kept hearing loud thunder but wouldn't you know it so far we haven't received a sprinkle it's barely missing us. Oh well, I guess if we don't get storms tonight I'll be mowing tomorrow.
Keeping my fingers crossed this entry will publish and I don't have to delete it like the last one. The joys of blogging never cease to amaze me, here we go....
Here's the scoop...many of us have been having issues with using IE as our browser on Blogger. If you scroll down on your dashboard to the Help section and click on Known issues you will find that Blogger is aware that we are having these issues and are trying to find a fix for this bug. They believe our issues are being caused by the Followers gadget but in reading the help forum I noticed that several who have followed their instructions are still having the same problems.
If any of you recall many of us started having issues when IE8 was released. My youngest brother doesn't have a blog but he is having the same issues all of us are having he uses IE as his browser. So it's not just us bloggers having this problem.
I miss commenting on blogs and on Sunday threw caution to the wind because I was concerned about my blogging buddy John @ My Brain Is In Pain. Welcome back John! Honestly, I had feared the worst and am glad to know you've pulled through once again.
I'm throwing caution to the wind completely if I read something I want to comment on and it will let me leave a comment you may be hearing from me (Jack you were crusin' for a brusin' in your entry to us ladies yesterday, haha thanks for the chuckle).
I've been reading a blog for awhile that I'd never left a comment on until today. Maire @ A Pulse Of My Heart (link on sidebar) and her husband need our thoughts and prayers. Maire having dealt with her own battle with cancer is now a caregiver to her husband who is battling throat cancer. Please stop by Maire's blog and lend them support. It took 4 tries for my comment to publish on her blog but it finally went thru so this may happen to you as well.
Speaking of throwing caution to the wind I should have done just that today. I had planned to mow the yard but they kept calling for thunderstorms with winds and large hail. I kept checking the local weather map on my computer and the storms looked pretty rough. I kept hearing loud thunder but wouldn't you know it so far we haven't received a sprinkle it's barely missing us. Oh well, I guess if we don't get storms tonight I'll be mowing tomorrow.
Keeping my fingers crossed this entry will publish and I don't have to delete it like the last one. The joys of blogging never cease to amaze me, here we go....
Friday, May 15, 2009
Hunkaversary
Gary was looking at the calendar Monday night and grinned as he announced that Saturday would be my Hunkaversary. I'm happy he can still grin after all these years. Tomorrow MY HUNK & I will be married 22 years. It doesn't really seem like it's been that long since we said "I do" to each other.
Our personalities are totally different. Gary is witty, has a great sense of humor & laughs alot. I'm not witty, seldom laugh & he says I'm the only person he's ever seen who can watch one of the funniest shows/ movies or listen to a funny joke and never crack a smile. WE click!
He & I have both suffered great loss in our years together. We've stood by each others sides every step of the way. One of the things I love most about Gary is he doesn't put himself first. Any time the need arises in my family he tells me, "to go, take all the time you need, I can take care of myself", and he has. I've done the same for him. WE click!
The path our lives have taken hasn't always been a easy one. We've walked those paths together. We know we're not alone. We have each other. WE click!
We have no special plans tomorrow to celebrate. We both enjoy ribeye steak but because it's so expensive I don't buy it. Today, I purchased 2 nice ribeye steaks and plan to make Gary a nice Anniversary meal. He deserves that much recognition for being the wonderful husband he's been to me.
I'd say "I do" to him again in a heartbeat without giving it a second thought. I love you MY HUNK!!!!!! Happy Anniversary!!!!!!
Our personalities are totally different. Gary is witty, has a great sense of humor & laughs alot. I'm not witty, seldom laugh & he says I'm the only person he's ever seen who can watch one of the funniest shows/ movies or listen to a funny joke and never crack a smile. WE click!
He & I have both suffered great loss in our years together. We've stood by each others sides every step of the way. One of the things I love most about Gary is he doesn't put himself first. Any time the need arises in my family he tells me, "to go, take all the time you need, I can take care of myself", and he has. I've done the same for him. WE click!
The path our lives have taken hasn't always been a easy one. We've walked those paths together. We know we're not alone. We have each other. WE click!
We have no special plans tomorrow to celebrate. We both enjoy ribeye steak but because it's so expensive I don't buy it. Today, I purchased 2 nice ribeye steaks and plan to make Gary a nice Anniversary meal. He deserves that much recognition for being the wonderful husband he's been to me.
I'd say "I do" to him again in a heartbeat without giving it a second thought. I love you MY HUNK!!!!!! Happy Anniversary!!!!!!
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