Trip to Nashville

Before I start telling you about my flight, I want to fill y'all in on my internet issue. There is a Dunkin Donuts nearby Virginia's place and I can walk to it with no problem and have been doing this for the two weeks I've been here. Problem is they keep telling me that their WIFI is not always working and they don't know why. Every afternoon when the heat is beginning to drop down to about 90ish, I would venture down there and guess what? That's right no internet connection. So I have been able to spend a lot of time in word re-writing New Beginnings. This has been very good and I can also do this at her apartment. Today is the second time we've gone into the city of Nashville where we can get on a different but working DD WIFI.

Now for the flight info. I was suppose to leave Rochester and be in Nashville in 3 hrs. That is with a quick change of planes in DC. As we were getting near time to land, the pilot announced that due to a thunder storm we were in a holding pattern. He said that if we couldn't land in twenty minutes, we would have to divert to another airport to re-fuel. Now I had been stressed all day before the flight due to excitement but the minute I entered the plane I was calm. Oh, the peace of God is so great. Even with this new issue, I was still at peace.

Next the pilot said we were going to land in Harrisburg for fuel. Okay, no problem. We were on the ground waiting our turn for fuel for over a half hour. Now we get gassed up or whatever they call it. Now we have to wait our turn to take off again because DC is not allowing any planes to take off for their airport until....yup you guessed it, too many aircraft need to land there now.

When we were finally allowed to land in DC it was 9:30 instead of 7:30. Now all the planes to Nashville have left for the night. The first plane was at 7:40 the next morning. We all had to wait in line at the courtesy desk for a ticket for morning and a coupon for a motel and a number to call to try to get a room. They gave us a discount, not a free room because it was not the airlines fault, they said.

When they sent our bags down, my wheel was broken off of my small bag, but I didn't notice it for a little bit. I meet a young woman who was also stranded on her way to Nashville to visit family. We started talking to the line and I asked her if she would feel comfortable sharing a room and the expenses. We both would save and neither one of us would be alone. She said she would. "Thank you Jasmine, I enjoyed getting to know you." We got checked in and to bed about midnight and had a 5:30 wake-up call due to our shuttle leaving at 6am.
Now the rest of the trip was uneventful, thank the Lord. I felt like I wanted to bless her with my book, What's Done is Done, so I gave her one.

I hope her trip back to Rochester was a good one. FYI for Korana and Lesley. My friend's name is Jasmine and she lives in Greece off of Latta Rd. I can't give you her last name here for privacy reasons but you know how small our world is, I think you might run into her sometime. Well, her aunt picked her up and Gin picked me up and that was my 3 hr. trip that turned into something like 16 hrs. Thanks for reading.

Love to all, especially my wonderful husband,who now has a decent computer and can read this too.
Until next time,
God Bless Y'all

View my blog?

I have come to the conclusion that I don't update my blog often because I have no idea if anyone views it. I have a few followers but I can't even tell when they view it. Without comments, I'm at a loss to decide if to continue this or not. Sorry, I just lost the few things I had written. I guess I need to take a blog class. Learn how to put pictures on it and so forth. I will continue to pray for wisdom in this area. Feedback is welcome as usual.

If you have read this blog from the start in 2009, you know that what started as a blog for my book quickly turned into a family blog. I started with trying to give my life story and then went from there. Since I am working on my next novel, I don't have other books to show as I have seen in other writers blogs. That's okay. I am not other people, I am just the unique person God made me to be. I will strive to be me and only me.

I am taking a trip to Nashville in a few days. I wonder what God will have for me there. In the book of James in the New Testament he(James) states that if we lack wisdom just ask God because he wants to give it to us. But we must have faith with no doubts. Isn't that the hard part? The no doubts!

Look forward to hearing from anyone who wishes to share insight with me.

Until next time,
God Bless Y'all

How important are keys?

An example could be when you drop your daughter off after you both went grocery shopping, make sure no one has left the keys in the trunk before it's closed. Then thank God when she reminds you that she has an extra car key for you. But, that is a key for the ignition and not your trunk and you soon find that out. So, you  drive home and find that you need to park in the shade so that the sun is not beating onto the trunk and baking  your food.

Now, you are positive that your husband has extra keys and you begin to search for them, only to come to the conclusion that even though  he doesn't always take them to work, that he usually does because he has house keys with the car keys. See if you aren't home he might like to get in anyway.

You need to be watching to see if the shade is disappearing and the sun is getting close to the back of the car. Then you would need to pull it forward to save your precious groceries. The clock is creeping  along and you have only been home an hour, and you have at least another hour or more before you will be able to get your hands on a trunk key.

Look for the good things! I do have a gallon jug that is frozen solid in with the yogurt and butter and maybe that will be enough. Smile or cry, you have a choice here. I want to cry but choose to smile and say, "it's all good." Really?? No, but what choice do I have. Okay, writing this has helped me, so thank you for listening.

Yep, I really need to go out and pull the car forward. Next time I'm out I think I will get another trunk key made. I try not to repeat my mistakes if I can help it.

Until next time.
God Bless y'all

Nurture

Good morning,


 I have a question that sometimes nags me endlessly. Do you ever wonder why the person that you are closest to can't meet your most important needs? Well the answer is right in front of me. He is not suppose to. He wasn't created that way. It's wrong of me to even expect he would be able to do this for me. 


Why?
He calls me beautiful and in his eyes I'm sure this is so. But then there is an ugly side of me that I don't even like. So what do we do if we feel like we need more? Is there anyone who will love me when I'm unloving and unsure of myself? Someone who will always understand me, even if I can't?


Does every little girl want to be pretty like Cinderella, or in my case like Annie Oakley. Ya, I was a tom-girl from head to toe. But, the point is that we were all made to be loved unconditionally and only the God of the universe can do this. I need to take the pressure off my love, husband and  partner in this world. To allow God to be who is wants to be to me.


After a few days of being AWOL, I'll ask the Lord where He is, and if I sit quietly and put away the distractions of the day for awhile, he will let me know that He has always been there with me. It's just that I have let my 'stuff' get in the way of spending time with Him.


"Wow, is it that easy, Lord?"

Yes and no. Yes is really is, if I make a conscious effort to to this, and no because I allow things and distractions to get in there instead. Here is the bottom line for me. God loves me unconditionally and wants to let me know that I can never do anything that will change this. But I am the one responsible for making the time to deepen my relationship with him.

 I hope you know that this information was from my experiences but it could be for you too. Men and women alike need to nurture relationships. Hey, if we don't we get distanced from our friends and family.  If so, how much more do we need to grow in love with Jesus?

Until next time,
God Bless y'all

Day

Today is the last day of May. Is this important to you. I don't think so. I just needed to get a title up there so I could move on with this blog.

We arrived home last Friday afternoon about 5 ish. Okay, so ish isn't a word but I use it a lot. Our weekend was kind of laid back. We attended a Bible Study on Saturday evening but that was just for a couple of hours and we were home pretty early. Well, shortly after dark. On Monday our neighbors at our complex were having a picnic but we didn't go. It was very hot outside and we were too tired to be hospitable if that makes any sense to  you. We just did not feel like being around other people. About 4pm we decided to ride in to check out a movie. That was almost a very bad decision because the movie was very offensive. We left after about 10 minutes and told the manager about it and we were told we could get a rain check, or go to a different one. We chose a different one. We exchanged language for violence but we stayed. I wish we had more good, interesting, real life movies for adults without the extras. The things that some people like us would rather avoid.

Tuesday was back to work for John and back to Curves for me. I think I got the best of the deal. I also needed some groceries, but still I wasn't on a work schedule. The trip home I might add was so long or at least I thought so. The motel was quiet and relaxing so that was a good thing. Last night I worked for a few hours that I had not planned, but it was okay.

This afternoon I am returning Korana's car and picking up our's. I hope to be able to see some grand-kids for a short time while I'm in Greece. Strep throat has visited one family and some kind of virus has been trying to get in the door at the other one.

New Beginnings is becoming a fun thing to re-write. As I work and revise I think the story is flowing more smoothly and I'm pleased with this.

I will need to leaving for Greece soon so I will get back to everyone soon.

And Ketura, feel better real soon, honey.

Until next time,
God Bless Y'all

Tennessee

Good afternoon everyone,

I had the great idea on the way to Ohio. I would start a vacation trip journal and be able to let y'all follow me on his trip. Well after a short time of planning how to do this and make is interesting, I realized that I had no access to the internet in the car. So I thought I would update this(How do you update something you haven't started yet)not important. Right!!!

Okay, so my aunt and uncle are doing okay for their age and at this point they are still living in their home alone. They have a lady that helps them with housework, cooking, taking them out, and so on. Our couple of days there were very nice. No blogging because I didn't want to take any time away from the visit.

Then on to Nashville, Tennessee. Our two grandchildren who live near here were graduating in two days and so we were excited. Virginia doesn't have internet so we just concentrated on the big event. We have been busy everyday like vacations are suppose to be.(I guess) Graduation was big but I couldn't get the camera to work so I might have been a little frustrated for a short time. We went out to eat at the Outback after and actually closed them down for the night. We arrived at ten and the sign said they closed on Thursday's at 10. But before we could turn to leave the man at the door asked if we had just come from the Blackman Graduation and we said yes, and he said, "we are staying open late tonight because of it. Kind of late to eat but were there for over an hour and the food was wonderful.

The kids live in Murfreesboro and so it was at least a half hour ride back and forth from Nashville. We have done this several times in the last few days. Wait till I tell you about yesterday. We took Bryan and Samantha to a town called Cool Springs, I think, anyway we all played Laser Tag. It was so much fun and I couldn't believe the workout you could get trying to shoot at the other guy and not get shot yourself. And all this in the dark. I wonder if we have anything like this at home? Today Gin's back to work and I'm at DD using their WIFI.
We will be heading home on Thursday morning. Staying over somewhere and hope to be home in time to go to city and get Dad's ride for work ready for the day after Memorial Day.

Okay, I know y'all are waiting to the weather report. Everyday has been nice since we left home. Tennessee has been hot compared to what we left. Today it is cooler. They said to expect cooler than normal temps. Only expected to be in the upper 70's.

Mary has put me to shame, she has been going to Curves and well, you know it's vacation, but I did promise to do some visits too. Yesterday, I took my travel pass and went to Curves and I plan on going again in a little while.

New Beginnings is in the re-write phase. I need to get some more done now so I'm going to close. I'm getting totally excited.

Until next time,
God Bless Y'all

Blog

A Web site that contains an online personal journal with reflections, comments, and often hyperlinks provided by the writer. Okay this definition came from a friendly dictionary. When I think about my past posts, reflections and comments really do describe this.

Currently, I have been having some problems with my computer. I know you've heard this before, but this is not the one I had a problem with earlier. I hope the problem is fixed now because I really need to get the rewrite of New Beginnings done and published. Some nights I can't go to sleep because I get a scene in my mind and it excites me and I just want to write. Sometimes I get up and write and at other times, I just force myself to relax and finally fall asleep.

I've read about authors who say your characters can't seem to be real, and others who say they positively become like real people to them. Well like anything else everyone has their own opinion. I need to keep in perspective that they are fictional people, and yet writers spend a lot of time with these people and get attached. When I write scenes about Beth, for example, I feel her pain, her excitement and concerns. I even cry with her at times. So in a way she is real for me. Now let me say that I relate to other characters also. That's how I function.

I just want to let y'all know that if there is too long a period without a post, it could be that I am not able to get on here or am busy with my rewrite. I look forward to your comments and thank y'all for them. The encouragement keeps me going.

Until next time,

God Bless y'all and have a happy Resurrection Day this Sunday

Family Update

Goo9d evening,

When I started this blog in 2009 I told the story of my life. Well, most of it. I just went back through it and re-visited some of it. I will admit it's kind of interesting. I thought tonight I would just run through the family as it is today and sort of give y'all an up-date.

Our first child, Todd, married his childhood sweetheart, Gail and they had one daughter and two sons. Their daughter Heather in now married to TJ and they have been blessed with identical twin girls last fall. Son, Joshua is single and a mechanic like his dad. Son, Aaron was married last fall to sweetheart, Jenny.

Next child, Bob, married his high school sweetheart, Judy and they have one beautiful daughter, Ketura who is single and not in a hurry to be 'not single' and one son, Matthew who is in college, also single.

Frist daughter and third child, Mary is happily married to her husband Rob. Met and fell in love very young. Sound like her mother? Ya, if you read all the history. They have three sons. RD and his wife Rose moved to Florida and have three girls. James, who is single and has steady girlfriend. Seth who is in college.

Next daughter and fourth child, Virginia, lives in Nashville Tennessee. She has three children, one son and two daughters. Bryan and Samantha who live with their dad in Murfreesboro Tennessee. Ginny's first daughter, Jillian went home to be with the Lord at five months old.

Sammi is looking into colleges. Bryan is graduating from high school this spring.

Next son, and fifth child, Wayne is married to Korana, they met when she was in high school. They have three girls. Korana is a coach part of the year for girls volleyball in the Greece school district.

Next son, and sixth child, Scott is a bachelor and his best friend is his dog, Dozer. He and his high school friend Kathy get together often. Scott is a mechanic, chef, and into car and truck restoration.

Next came our miscarriage so we have yet to meet this child.

Last son, and seventh child, Shawn is married to Lesley and they have two boy's and one girl. Lesley is currently at home, finding out about being a full time mom at least temporarily. Wayne, Shawn, and Korana all work for the same company. First child for Shawn and Lesley became Shawn Jr. therefore making our last son a Sr.

I'm going to post this, but if I find I forgot anything I will get back to Y'all soon.

Until next time,

God Bless y'all

Taxes

Today is the big day. You know the one that is full of dread, until the tax lady tells you that, yes you will be getting some money back after all. Well, some years it's good news and some it's not. We'll know by late this afternoon.

It's been snowing all day and I guess most of last night. Still, we only have have about an inch. It's pretty and I'm going to enjoy it for the next two days. Then if starts to warm up like the weather man says, I will totally enjoy seeing it disappear. I'm loving this winter.

I am also missing my family. Life is so busy, and then it's evening and everybody has worked all day (except for a couple) and then I'm too tired to drive 45 minutes to visit anyone. We are still planning on going to Tennessee for the kids graduation in May.

New Beginnings is coming together nicely. I'm getting excited and can't wait for the finished product. WHAT"S DONE IS DONE has received a nice review from a contest I had entered it into and actually forgotten about. All encouragement is greatly accepted. It's what keep me going when I really need to push forward.

I guess it's a little late to stop giving first names for prayer requests and family issues. So for adults, I guess I won't change this. If you are family or friends of our family you will know who I mean anyway.

We, (John and I) are looking for a new church. We are sad about this but understand why our little church is dis-banding for awhile. Our pastor wants us to get involved somewhere else for at least a season. I don't like it. I don't want to visit churches and try to figure out where God wants us. I don't want to follow just anyone to another place either.

Prayer would be great for our situation if you wouldn't mind.

Okay, please, I need some help here. Send me a comment on using first names or not. I don't want to infringe on anyone's rights here but I read other blogs and names are used. It's not a lot of fun to write and say a son or a daughter. But I will respect and consider anyone's opinion.

Oh, I forgot to tell y'all that I did some spring cleaning a while ago. You wouldn't believe the things I got rid of. It's a lot easier to manage our apartment now. Still would like to move, maybe in the spring.

Well, I've got to get ready to go get the taxed done.

Until next time,

God Bless y'all

January 2012

Hi everyone,

Today is a special day. I work up breathing and the sun is out so that is always a bonus in my book. I can't remember a winter like we are having this year. We have had mild ones but this is beyond mild.

Sometimes I can't seem to find my heart. Well I mean that when I think about what I will write in the next post, I decide to share my heart and that is a great thing. Usually. But when I sit down to write I am at a loss at what to put down. I also want to update this often and get so busy that this does not happen. Do you ever get down on yourself because you just don't seem to be able to 'get it together' and there is no one else responsible but you? I guess that's where I am.

I read blogs where people say cute things about what goes on in their house, I sometimes wish they had these things called computers when our kids were growing up, boy would I have been able to give you an earful back then. Reality is that this was a long time ago and at times I am real lonely thinking about the past. I will tell you that I am still struggling with the empty nest thing.

Now, I need to tell you that my life hasn't stopped because they are grown, and most have families of their own. This year we saw each other more because of weddings and events they we went to together. But for some reason I feel separated from them and that can be where the lonely feelings come from. Old news, new page. I think you have all heard this is a past blog.

Ava and Rylie were four months old yesterday. They are growing and are so adorable.

The sequel is coming slowly and that is a big project that I have for the next few months. Finish, edit, edit, and find a publisher. My goal is to find one who will publish WHAT'S DONE IS DONE with NEW BEGINNINGS following it. Not sure how to go about this but with God's help and his will, this will be done.

I just finished reading a novel called 'TWO WOMEN', and at first I thought I couldn't get into this so let's just forget it. But I kept going and even though it was a far cry from what I'm use to I did enjoy it a lot.

Today is Monday and I have to work for a few hours this evening, so I need to get going on some things pretty quickly. I pray God will enrich your lives with the fullness of his love and joy.

Until next time, the Lord bless y'all.

Today is?

Good afternoon. Today is Thanksgiving Day. I am delighted that God has seen fit to bless us in our little corner of the world with sunshine and chilly but not cold temperatures.

Today I am thankful for the complete faithfulness of God, the beauty of life and the blessings that our family bring into our lives. I am grateful for the air I breathe and another day to live and enjoy.

I am thankful that God gave his only son to die for me. Why? Me, who am I ? I can't understand this but I am so happy that he did. Did you ever stop and think about it? Would you allow one of your children to willingly die for someone? Would you have given him birth knowing that this was going to happen. I think I would have chosen not to have children if this was the case. I know I certainly would not have willingly wanted or allowed this. But God knew all this when he created the world. He knew what mankind would be like, and he had Jesus ready from the beginning of time.

If this sounds like I'm sad, I'm not. I am rejoicing today because of this. This is what I feel Thanksgiving is all about.

I love each and everyone of you, my dear family. I will see you on Saturday for our "family day". Thank you all for loving me.

Until next time.

God Bless y"all

P.S. Feel better real soon, Lesley. Prayers still coming your way daily.

NAME? NONE

Good afternoon everyone. Some days I spend too much time trying to decide what to put in the title line. So, let's forget it today.

Saturday we went to a wedding. Yep, another one. We have never had a summer and fall like this. We probably never will have another one, but with the size of our family anything is possible.

New Beginnings; Did Beth really see Barry?

Who the heck is Paige and will she be a important part of this story?

William who? And what is he going to do?

Does Courtney continued to have medical issues,(seizures etc.)?

What are Neil and Mae Hurley up to?

Leah, remember her?

What's up with Dora?

And Chad's mom, Miriam?

Well the answer is I am working on it and not everyone will be in this book. I guess you'll have to wait and see.

Sorry I need to get back to work.

Until next time.

God Bless Y'all

P.S. Happy Birthday to Todd and Gail, Denver and Ketura, and Xandra.

Can not sleep

Good evening everyone. As usual I have been very busy and when I plan to write in the evening I'm just too tired.

I guess I haven't written in a while because Ava has been home since the week after Rylie came home. They are so beautiful. Ave is starting to have some nice puff to her face. In other words she is visibly gaining weight. TJ and Heather seem to be doing good. I won't say they aren't tired, how could you have twins and not be?

I have been super busy and the days seem to fly by. I definitely need a housekeeper. Fat chance of that on my budget. Most days I am out doing errands, curves, and then research for New Beginnings, which is really coming along very well. But it's the revisions and editing I am not looking forward to.

I think I mentioned that WHAT'S DONE IS DONE is now on kindle, nook, iPod and I can't think of the name of the other thing. Oh, wait I think it Druid or something like that. Can be ordered through Barnes and Noble, iuniverse, and Amazon.com. I have my sisters Kindle now so I can read it from there. Just got it last night so haven't started it yet. So far I really like a paperback book to curl up with but I am going to give the ebook a try. I may possibly take off some time and write a couple things for our grandkids for Christmas. I need to pray for ideas if this is going to become a reality.

I have over three hundred emails waiting to be read or deleted. So many are just advertisements and I don't have time for them. Forwards are another issue.

I just finished reading an interview in Writer's Digest with James Lee Burke and I learned some great information about perseverance. I will put this into practice starting now. It kinda goes against my personality but I believe he has the right idea. I will take this invaluable information and use it for my writing.

This is how I would sum this interview up, (my own words not necessarily his)a writer writes because that's what we do. We have to do it. Ideas come at all times day and night. Other peoples opinions are not going to stop me because I'm not writing to please others but writing to become true to myself. What a legacy to leave my grand-children and great-grandchildren. Be true to yourself and God and you can't go wrong.

Prayer request for this time is; one of our granddaughter's is sick with an ear infection, and a little bit of pneumonia. The word 'little' or 'tiny bit' is from her daddy. Please pray that the medicine will do it's work and God will give her a speedy recovery.

Until next time.

God Bless Y'all

Didn't plan to write

Good evening everyone, I really didn't plan to write tonight but I'm excited about a couple of things and wanted to share them.

The girls are doing fine but I don't have a current answer for; how much do they weigh now? The best news is that Rylie has gone home today. Born on the 8th and went home today the 23rd. Fifteen days old. That is very good and I am so happy for TJ and Heather. Ava needs to gain some more weight and might be there a couple more weeks.

Scott is cleaning out our storage unit that we have rented for more years than I can count, and has found all of the pictures I wanted for so long. Pictures of the kids when they were small and even some baby pictures. School pictures, graduation pictures and even more surprises. Our 25th anniversary album was there too.

How great is this news ladies and gents?

Until next time

God Bless y'all

Fall

Fall weather is arriving and I can't do a thing about it. Actually it feels okay compared to the 95 plus humidity days. Well we all knew it was coming, didn't we?

New news for the Kelly family is: Tomorrow Aaron and Jenny are being married and starting their life together.

Heather and TJ's twin daughters were born on the 8th. They were one week old yesterday. Ava was 2lbs. 10 oz. and Rylie was 3lbs. 13oz. They came almost 6 weeks early but are doing very well.

I hear that there is a new kitten in the Shawn Sr. family.

And I understand the Wayne Kelly family has added another dog, a very cute puppy to their household.

Scott and Dozer have moved a few days ago into their own studio apartment. Dozer had a trip to the vet and has new medicine for his ears and it's working nicely.

We are not only excited about the wedding but it will give us a chance to see all of the kids and families. This is always a treat for us.

News Flash...WHAT'S DONE IS DONE has been put into ebook form and can be purchased from Iuniverse.com or check at Amazon and Barnes and Noble etc. This can be purchased to fit on a nook, ipad, kindle etc. I was told that a kindle version needs to be purchased from amazon to be sure it will be compatible for the kindle.

This is exciting news because so many people aren't into reading a hand held book these days.

We will be going to Ohio for a long weekend on Sept. 30th. My cousin Chris is getting married and we want to be there.

This summer has been overflowing with weddings, an anniversary party, baby and bridal showers. I wish our winter could be that busy, then maybe it would seem go faster. The days and nights after Christmas seems to just make the long winter drag on. Maybe we will go somewhere.

Until next time.

May y'all learn more and more about God's special love for you.

God Bless.

Getting it together

Hello everyone,

My 'thank you's' are mailed and have probably been received days ago, I hope. It took me days of writing because I wanted to add something personal to each one. Probably a crazy thing to do but it adds a personal touch that I really wanted.

I especially want to thank our family for the time, money, and effort that they put into making this a wonderful party for us. Virginia and Sam were here for a week and we had a wonderful visit. We missed Bryan very much and hopefully he will be able to come on their next visit.

Who knew how God was going to guide and bless our life together fifty years ago? Except for God of course. We have had ups and downs, but the downs seem like nothing in comparison to the wonderful blessings He has bestowed upon us as a couple. To get frustrated with each other occasionally is so normal, but to still be in love is amazing to me. I pray for this kind of lasting love for my kids and my grand kids.

Soon we will be welcoming twins into our family and I am excited. Of course this means less sleep for Heather and TJ but they will get through it. They have family on both sides who will jump in to help when needed I'm sure. This includes Nana.

Our personal lives are taking a change. We are probably going to move in a few weeks and that is scary and exciting at the same time. But for now it means cleaning out nine years of stuff I have put into this little place.

I am looking into getting WHAT'S DONE IS DONE on kindle soon. We'll see. I'm kinda excited about this.

Until next time dear family and friends.

God Bless y'all with His love as you learn to know Him more each day.

50 years?

Can it possibly be fifty years of living and loving the same man?

The day started out hot and muggy, a heavy mist seemed to lie in the air. I had an idea that this wasn't going to improve as the day wore on. It didn't.

My first stop was the hairdressers and I wondered what miracle junk they might have that would keep my hairdo from wilting. I shouldn't have been surprised that I walked out of there with wonderfully stiff hair, makeup in place, and totally ready to hit the next stop on my way home. Now, if you really know me you will not be surprised to hear that this stop was at the nearest Dunkin Donuts. And it didn't matter that the temperature was nearing 90.

The next stop was back home to do my nails and get dressed. Well, we were suppose to be at the Harrison Lee Post 283 in Livonia Center at 4 which was the time is was to start. At about ten till four I was still trying to get into my dress without killing my hair and putting on my new high heals which I don't wear. Ever. Comfort before beauty is the motto the feet had decided on a few years ago. But come on, today was different, special. Surprisingly my feet didn't hurt until about 9. I had taken a spare pair of shoes but didn't need them.

We enjoyed the next five hours visiting with old, and new, friends and family. Sadly our date did conflict with a wedding in John's family, so we were missing some people that we would have loved to have seen.

Our kids hired a DJ. And we also had a lovely friend of ours, who just happens to be a professional photographer, and Korana's aunt came and did pictures.

It was a quite an important milestone for us. It wasn't that we thought our marriage wouldn't last this long, it was more of a surprise that it has been this many years already. God has truly blessed us. Now I need to get busy writing thank you notes.

Until next time,

God Bless y'all (getin use to it yet Shawn?)

Clutter

I've spent the last half hour thinking about the clutter in my life. Sound interesting? Probably not but I'd like to tell you about a little of it anyway.

In my house clutter comes in the form of books all around because I'm reading more than one at a time or because of my need to get organized. I want a neat and orderly home but never seem to achieve it. We have too many 'things' but I can't decide what to give up. You know as soon as you give something away you will want to use it. In my apartment, we have dust. Dust on shelves and dust under dressers and the bed. Dust everywhere. Now John is allergic to dust mites so I really need to keep at this stuff I call dust clutter but it's so easy to forget. This is just a taste of what I deal with on a daily basis and can't seem to get a handle on it. I usually blame this on lack of energy. But call and ask me to go to lunch or shopping and see how fast my energy level can pull it together.

Please don't get the wrong idea, I've watched some of those hoarding tv shows and it's not like that. I realize that people who do this can't stop themselves but for me, my kind clutter is frustrating also.

There is another kind of clutter that is much more damaging and for me that is spiritual clutter. I find myself distracted at the worst times. Sometimes I can't pull myself out of it and it can wreck the best worship time or get in the way of a good sermon. My mind will wander away form God to stupid things like what will I buy at the store for dinner or what do I need to do the next day. This might not be an issue for any of you but it's a big one for me.

Spiritual clutter can be things that we need to take care of with the Lord and haven't, so they get in the way with our relationship with Him. The first step is to admit we have a mess and then go to God with our clutter, and at times we might need prayer support by going to a trusted Christian friend to pray with us to help us over the slump of not wanting to move forward and allow our heavenly Father to deal with the clutter. After all He above anyone else wants to help us clear this junk up. I look forward to giving all my spiritual clutter to Him and be free from it once and for all.

So you ask, what happens when it slips back in? Be quicker this time to turn it over to Him. This is His will for us and I don't believe there is a number of times before we run out of forgiveness or repentance. God's word backs this up for us. Matt.18:22 states that we need and can keep forgiving others(and I believe this means forgiving ourselves too).

Is it a sin to have spiritual clutter? Only you can answer this? For me I need to go back and realize that God judges my heart. This goes for all Christians.

I hope you have enjoyed 'Clutter'.

Until next time.

God Bless y'all

Journal

Today I feel that I am so far behind with my blog that I just feel like throwing out my feelings for a few minutes. If I were to open my journal (which I used to do daily)it would read something like this.

Darn why can't I get up early instead of sleeping most of the beautiful morning away? I know it's because I can't go to sleep at night and this has been going on for years. But every year I tell myself that in the summer I want to get up early and totally enjoy the warm, sunny morning before it gets too hot out. But this almost never happens.

Now I walk up to the kitchen window, look out and hear a strange clicking sound coming from the air conditioner. No! We need this. Why does this have to happen in July when we need a little cool in the house? Then I look at the school across the street where they are doing a construction project. Neighborhood rumor has it that they are putting in a new bus loop and moving the playground to make room for it. Okay, I'm frustrated with the noise of the trucks and heavy equipment but maybe it won't take all summer. But the AC is something I don't want to do without. Please Lord.

I know, maybe John or Scott can take it apart and oil everything and it will be fine. We have done this with fans and other stuff.

I turn off the air conditioner and wait for the fan to stop turning. It seems to take forever. Now what! It's off and I still hear the clicking. How can this be? I lean my ear close to the window and can still hear the sound. This is more frustration than I can handle without my morning coffee, so I head out the front door and low and behold the clicking is coming from one of the big construction machines. I smile, turn around and head back to the kitchen for the long awaited cup of coffee that I deserve on this 'early' July morning. I ask God to forgive me for jumping to conclusions and thank Him for the glorious day ahead.

My new years resolution is early this year. I am planning on blogging much more often.

Until next time,

God Bless Y'all

Tidbits

Good afternoon everyone,

Right now I'm sitting in my favorite coffee shop getting ready to give you a couple tastes of WHAT'S DONE IS DONE. I have decided not to do a complete chapter but just some glimpses of a couple of chapters.

This is part of chapter one:

Beth stood on the front porch of her parents home. As she looked out across the the freshly plowed fields, tears trickled down her cheeks. Just then she heard a truck coming down the lengthly driveway. She recognized the low roar of Chad's truck before it was even visible. He and her brother Charles had been best friends since childhood. As he got out of his truck, Beth quickly wiped the tears from her face. "Hi Chad, what bring you out here today?"

Chad smiled at Beth, his blond hair blowing in the breeze.

"I'm going to help Charles with that '55 Chevy we're restoring. We should get a good price for it when it's finished."

Chad noticed that Beth's eyes were red as if she had been crying.

"Beth, is there anything wrong? You know if there is anything you want to talk about, I'm here for you kiddo?" Just hearing the word "kiddo" brought her back to reality. He always treated her like a kid sister. They had developed a bond of friendship over the years but she didn't think of him as a brother. She already had four brothers and a sister.

"I'm fine, Chad, there's nothing for you to worry about." Beth turned quickly, her long dark hair swinging from side to side as she rushed into the house with the screen door banging closed behind her.

Chad thought about her all afternoon as he and Charles worked on the old vehicle. He finally asked Charles if anything was wrong with Beth.

"Now that you mention it, she has been pretty moody lately. It's probably nothing to worry about. You know how females can get."

Chad was hoping to see Beth before he left. He looked around as he walked to his truck but he didn't see her. As Chad drove home, he continued to wonder what was going on with Beth.

The following is from chapter four:

On the way home from work Chad stopped at the grocery store for some milk. As he was approaching the front entrance, he saw Beth walking toward him.

"Oh, hi, Chad. I haven't seen you around much lately. You're probably getting ready for the big day."

"Yeah we are, but I still can't believe you got married before I did."

Why, Chad, because you're older?" she asked with irritation in her voice.

"No, it's just because I didn't know you were that serious about anyone."

"Well, that makes two of us," she said with bitterness in her voice. Then without saying another word, she turned and walked to her car. Quickly she got in, started it and drove away. When she reached a small park down the road, she pulled in and shut off the car. She sat there shaking. Tears were pooling in her eyes but Beth fought to keep them from falling. She wiped at them with the back of her hand. Beth remembered that when she was much younger she had a crush on Chad. Her father had pitched a fit about it because he was so much older. Over the last few years she thought she and Chad had become good friends until she saw him today. The feelings she felt when she looked at him weren't the feelings of friendship. They were much deeper than that.

There you go folks, it only gets better from here. More exciting and more people to meet.

Until next time,

God Bless you richly