Tennessee

Good afternoon friends and family,

We are nearing the end of our vacation. I am amazed at how we plan things in our lives and then they have a way of diverting from our plans all by themselves. Basically, we have had a very nice vacation.

First I want to thank Mike and Cheryl for allowing us to visit with them in Florida and enjoy their house. I feel bad that we didn't have much time with Cher because she had to head back to N.Y. But Mike was a gracious host. He took us where we needed to go and never complained once.

We went up to Crystal River and had 3-4 days with

Rose, Robbie, and their girls, Xandra, Starr, and Anyaka. We had a wonderful visit. Thank you so much.

As you know we were also looking for a car because ours was terminally ill. Much of our time was spent on this venture. A lot of days in Palm Bay and Crystal River were spent looking at prospective vehicles. Nothing we agreed upon showed up. Give up I said. Please let's just get one back in N.Y. I heard that vacations were suppose to be fun.

So we gave up and gave it to God and next day as John was taking a ride before we had to return our rental that we had for one week, Yup you guessed it. He found the car that he really wanted and the condition was good, work had just been done, the price was okay and the fellow he bought it from was in the Navy, drive from

Cape Canaveral to meet with him, and took John to the tag place to get a 30 day tag to get it home and licensed in our state.

We are now in Tennessee visiting our daughter and family here. Sadly to say we have left the 77 to 85 degree days but it's still March and we did avoid a snow storm at home. Tuesday we will start heading home.

A Beautiful Day

Hello friends, it's almost four pm and the sun has been shinning all day. What a wonderful encouragement this is. It makes me want to go around looking for those little flowers that like to peak out even when there is snow on the ground. Spring is coming. Okay, if you don't believe me just ask that little ground hog what's his name. I am sure that he makes it official. Ha,Ha.

Here is a small tease from, New Beginnings:

Chad felt a little better as he dried off from his shower and climbed into bed. When he put his head on the pillow, he felt Beth's hand on his arm, he turned to face her. "Hi," he said, gently rubbing her hand with his fingers.

She gave him a weak smile, "I'm sorry about earlier." She hesitated for another minute and then continued, "I think I might have seen Barry today."

Chad's eyes seemed to grow into large circles. "Are you sure?" he asked, as he lifted his head up from the pillow.

Barry might be out of prison and back in Maple Grove? Chad couldn't sleep, he just tossed and turned the rest of the night. Dawn was approaching before he finally drifted off to sleep.

Okay folks, I hope that has wet your appetite just a little. I'm sure you noticed that I left out Beth's response to the question.

Until next time,

God Bless Y'all

March

Good evening, the date of our vacation is getting closer everyday. My only issue now is that I need to make a list of the small things we have to do. We are planning on shipping our clothes down so we don't have to lug baggage around. I need to get out some summer clothes and also plan on getting most of March bills paid before we leave.

Tonight we are enjoying one of those rare nights at home. We had turkey breast,peas and mashed potatoes for supper. Scott is cooking something different. He likes to eat a couple of hours later that we do.

Seth was home for the weekend. He went back to college last night. I saw him for about five minutes just before he left because he stopped to pick up a bag of food. I guess the welding club he belongs to is doing a food drive for the community in the area.

Matt is also back to Ithaca till spring break. I'm so proud of these guys. I told them I couldn't wait to see them at spring break, then I remembered that we will be in Florida while they are home. So I might not see them again until May when they come home for the summer.

My friend Sarah has had an allergic reaction to some medication. I hope you are feeling better today, Sarah.

Until next time when I hope to give you all a sample of the book . I need to say goodbye.

God Bless each and everyone of you.

Good Evening

Hello everyone,

They say we are in for a whopper of a storm. It's suppose to start tonight and and continue into tomorrow. The last time I remember a lot of places closing for an up coming storm, we didn't get it and many people were mad at the weather men. But I think they did their best to predict with the technology they had at the time. I am pretty sure that with todays technology they are probably correct this time. All programs have closed and John doesn't have to in tomorrow, just call and check in about 10 am. I guess we better go up to Save- a-Lot and get milk tonight. Maybe even bread for those of us who can eat bread made with wheat floor, which includes all white floor.

We got the muffler on our car fixed and that is a good thing. The appearing in court next week because we weren't able to get it fixed within the 24 hrs. and paying a court fine is not so good. What a way to throw away good money. Darn.

Don't know what's going on with my new laptop I got at Christmas time because I can work on my book at home and then use my flash drive to put it over to the laptop but for some reason I can't move the stuff from the laptop over onto my Dell at home. So I can't do what I wanted the laptop for and I'm a little frustrated. I think it's just a small issue once we find out what it is. Yes, I realize as long as I use the flash drive I have it for either computer but what if I lost it? I just won't plan on losing it and that will solve my issue. Right?

Will try to keep you posted about our big storm, I know some of you don't live in this area.

Until next time,

God Bless Y'all

P.S. Gail, happy wedding shopping with Heather. Love you both.

Long time

I seem to be writing about once a month and would like to at least do this weekly. So, this might be another one of those I'll try to get better things. The truth is sometimes I just forget. Other times, I sit and wonder what I will write. Silly, I know. So today I think I will give you some truthful things about me.

1. I absolutely hate cold weather and so does my husband but I refuse to move away from my kids. Do I have 'kids', yes I do. Not age wise but they will always be my kids no matter how old they get. And we have tried twice to move away and 7 months was the longest we could stay away and that was because we were near one of them. Trips are fine, staying away is different.

2. I am frustrated with New Beginnings, not because I don't want to do it, but because I don't seem to be moving fast enough for me.

3. I just gave my daughter in law some advise and now I wish I had kept my mouth shut. You see even if people ask, we are all different and handle things differently. I would call her now and tell her to ignore me, but once she reads it, the harm has been done. I just believe today's young parents are so different than years ago and this bothers me at times.

4. Where have the families gone is my question? Where are the people who would not think twice about taking in elderly parents, they wouldn't have it any other way.

5. If a certain person should read this and wanted to ask us to move near, do this please. Don't stop just because I need to vent today.

6.I need to feel needed and I have a problem with that at times. I'm not talking about babysitting and things I feel too burned out to do but needed in other ways.

Now, I'm bawling like a baby and there is a good chance no one will read this because I might just delete it.

Sunday, John had a chance to visit with his cousin. This is especially good because he thought his cousin had passed away. He never told me this. I guess he decided he would just keep the regret of not re-connecting with him to himself. I never realized the hurt he was feeling until we finally discussed the situation.

My point is that when we choose not to communicate with those we love, we usually all lose in some way.

Some of you might not be happy with this blog but someone recently told me is none of my business what someone else thinks of me. I still have a problem with the wording of that one.

Until next time,

God Bless y'all (smile Shawn, oh to be a fly on your wall)

Three day weekend

Friday starts a three day weekend for us. John has Monday off and we plan on leaving for Ohio on Friday afternoon. We usually take Korana's car but this time my hubby said we will take ours. I know her car is a little better on gas, but it's okay I just want to visit my family. I 've had to postpone this trip twice because of weather, either here or on the way to Ohio. The other plus in going now is I won't have to drive alone. I'm not too keen on driving on trips alone. Who am I kidding, I don't like to drive much period.

Christmas seemed a little different this year but we still had a good time. Being with family is the important thing. If we didn't have kids involved I'd say forget the gifts.

I have a new laptop for when I'm on the go and also for vacations and stuff. I am still getting to know it. John got me a cordless mouse for Christmas. I was having trouble getting use to the thing they call a mouse on laptops. And if you are wondering, New Beginnings is still in process. I am waiting for editing on a couple of chapters now. Sometimes I wonder why it takes so long to put ideas on paper. I guess the answer is that after you get them there they need to be revised and this is the most time consuming part of the writing.

I am heading a new outreach through our church, Family Worship Center in Geneseo. It is for anybody who needs help or who wants to help people. This is how it works; If you have something you would like to bless others with, you just call me and tell me what it is, and if you need something you call me and tell me what you need. I keep the items on a list with your first name and phone number, then when I get a match I call one of you and then you call the other person and make your own arrangements to get the item. Our first call was such a blessing. A lady called me because she wanted to give away a chair and during our conversation I told her someone had a need for a frig. and another had a need for an electric stove. Well, in the end this lady donated a frig. and so now we can bless the family who needed it. Isn't God good? So in closing I will add my phone number for anyone who is in need or just interested in giving something that they don't need. Please only offer items that work and are in good shape.

Just contact Sue @ 585-582-2702.

Until next time,

God Bless Y'all (smile Shawn)

Good Morning

Good morning everyone, I hope you are enjoying this fine winter climate we live in. Yesterday we went shopping in Geneseo and John was freezing but for some odd reason, I wasn't. I told him that I felt a chill in the air and knew it was cold but it didn't bother me that much. He looked at me like I was crazy and I understand because I am usually the one shivering and complaining. I love to watch the large fluffy flakes as they come floating down through the air. Our yard turns into a winter wonderland. Now, I would be happy if the stuff just didn't drop on our roads. Yes, I do live in a fairytale world. Why not?

Happy Birthday, Mary. I won't mention how old our oldest daughter is today but at 10:10 this morning she was officially one more year older.

John's mystery calls have stopped and I miss them. But at the same time I understand. Our secret caller probably just got tired of no response. Looking back I wish I had answered when I was home, but some of the time we were both out. I was under the impression that he would keep calling until Thanksgiving but the last call came in Nov. 19 th at 11:26 am.

Nice, my appointment for this afternoon just got changed until Wednesday afternoon so I have a lot of things I can do instead Like going to the bank and post office, getting the mail and visiting our Birthday girl, then taking a trip into Henrietta. Oh, and planning a supper for my sweetheart. You can't forget to feed the guys who bring home the money for the bills including the food money.

Still can't get pictures on here. I know my kids are busy with their own lives so I try not to bug them anymore, but it's so frustrating to have this scanner and can not get them to where I want them to be.

Well friends and family, it's almost Christmas and I hope, time for us all to think about the real reason for our celebration. I've heard people argue that December 25 th was not the date Jesus was born. They say probably September. So what guys, the important thing is that God did send him to earth especially to die for us. I used to say, "If you were the only person left on this earth, Jesus would still have willingly died for you." Then I started to think about this. Did I truly believe this for myself? Did I believe Jesus would have willingly died just for me. It took prayer, Bible reading and searching my own inner being before I could make the statement, "Yes, Jesus would have died just for little ole me." THANK YOU JESUS!

Until next time, allow the God who created everything that is, to bless you abundantly.