When is it enough?

I am going thru my "scrapbook" stuff and finding things that are making me wonder when enough is enough. I have saved everything, or rather my parents have saved everything for me, from grade school thru high school. And all thru now. I save Christmas letters/cards, birthday cards, general letters, newspaper clippings, wedding invitations/programs, obituaries, EVERYTHING!!! I save EVERYTHING!! EVERYTHING that is paper anyway. It's not overtaking my life just yet, but I don't have a lot of room as it is. I am going thru my "scrapbook" stuff for reasons I am unsure of, and I'm just finding things that are really fun to look at and at the same time I'm finding things that I'm wondering why I saved it in the first place. I have tons of programs from musicals and plays and the like. They are things that show my accomplishments on paper. Now if Peter could come here, I'd probably get rid of 75% of those things. (Peter from Clean Sweep). But then the cycle is just going to continue with my kids. If I don't get a handle on this now, I'll never be able to handle it. I feel like every time I turn around, quite literally there is one more piece of paper that I feel I can't live without. I want to take responsibility for this, but I really believe that this is my parents fault. At least my dad's. He saves EVERYTHING. Besides, isn't everything supposed to be my parents fault? lol. I haven't gotten a very good/clear answer on what important papers to keep and so as far as that is concerned, I'm still keeping EVERYTHING there too. Ok, so enough of this. My point kind of is this: the other day at work, one of the girls was talking about her cousin who lived right on Lake Poncitran in NewOrleans. After 4 hurricane warnings, they decided to pack up and move to higher ground. Well, they have lived thru hurricanes before and came out with no problems. They packed for a weekend getaway. They didn't pack thinking that they'd never be able to come back to their home, which by the way was swallowed by the hurricane and the level of the lake rose so high that their address no longer exists. THEY HAVE NOTHING!!! ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WHATSOEVER. NO PICTURES OF THEIR BABIES, NO MEMOROBILIA, NO VIDEO, NO WEDDING DRESS, SO ON AND SO FORTH. But they have each other. In the scheme of life, isn't that what counts the most? You don't know what you have till it's gone. I need an outside support system to help me wade thru my papers and give me solid advice on what to keep and what to get rid of and make it ok. This is just so sickening. I don't know if it would help me or not. Ok. Enough.
~E.

On Top of Old Smokey

Hi there! On Tuesday, I went to Christian Women's Club. It was really a lot of fun!! There was a woman who spoke of her walk with the Lord and the things that happened in her life. It was really nice listening to her speak. She spoke of her family and her children and just things in her life and so on. The thing that really stuck out was when she told of her daughter who at the age of 3 was tragicallky killed in a car accident. It was so sad, if I'd been by myself, I would have just started bawling. One of the things that she said about her was that she seemed to know very early on that she believed in the Lord. The woman said she used to call her "the angel with a dirty face" because she was always playing in the dirt and getting dirt on her face. Oh my heart was just breaking. Anyway, one of the things she remembered about her daugter was that she always would sing a song, sung to the tune of "On top of Old Smokey". I asked the woman if she would give me the words to the song, because I thought it was so neat and she was gracious enough to share them with me. Here are the words:"I'm glad I'm a Christian, I trust in the lord, I'm reading the Bible, believing His word. The past is forginven, from sin I am free, A mansion in Heaven is waiting for me." I just thought this was so neat. I hope you will too. Enjoy.
~E.

Oh industry

So, AWANA is over now. I'm really tired. It's nothing but full blown excitement for about 2 hours. Action packed and go go go. Sometimes I wish I wasn't so obsessive about it. My hubby is gone and wants to limit talk time. I really miss him. Just to hear his voice would be something for me to grasp at. Well, must see tv is on. Gotta go. Sadly, E

ten

A blonde is sitting on a train reading the paper, when she comes to the heading that reads 12 BRAZILIAN SOLDERS KILLED. She shakes her head, closes the paper and says to the stranger next to her......

HOW MANY IS A BRAZILIAN?

I got a kick out of that joke and thought I'd share.:)

I'm getting ready to go to AWANA. I am looking very forward to that. I spend a lot of time getting ready each week and I know the payoff is just so great! As the head secretary, I have a lot of responsibility. Not to mention the fact that I help my one friend a lot also. She's the director of Sparks~that's the name of one of the clubs. There are 3 total clubs within the organization. They are: Cubbies~ for children who are in pre-school. Then there's Sparks for children who are in Kindergarten-2nd grade. Then there is Truth&Training (T&T) for kids who are in 3rd-6th grade. My husband and I both help with AWANA. My husband is with the Sparks group and the T&T group. My mother-in-law helps in the nursery. It's so nice to have the whole family involved. Of course my kids go to nursery, as they are too young for AWANA yet. But it won't be long, and I'll be wondering whatever happened to that time.:) Right now they are playing with the curtains and jumping on the couch. I still need to put my shirt on and then we are ready to go.

It's been a great day today. I ran a bunch of errands and mailed off a bunch of letters and stuff. I went to the store and got pictures developed. That was fun. I have to send some of the pictures off now. I probably won't do that till tomorrow. I have to work tomorrow. I wish I didn't have to work at all. It felt really productive today. I mean I didn't really clean my house or anything, but I did some other things which are important too. In my opinion, I guess. Well, I need to freshen up and get ready for real. Have a nice night.

~E

It's good to be home.

So I made it home. My sisters and I got home around 11:00p.m. which is really good timing considering all the driving. I then drove what would be a typical 45 more minutes except that I think it took me more like an hour and 15 minutes. It was pouring rain. Rain was coming down in sheets. Sometimes I couldn't tell if I was just going backwards and stepping on the gas or really moving forward that's how hard it was raining. I really wanted to get home last night so I kept on going. The water on the road was causing me to hydroplane a little, but I was driving very cautiously. I was the only on the road and that allowed me to drive in the middle of the highway. At one point when I had to drive on the other side of the highway due to road construction, I went thru a huge amount of standing water and it jerked my car to one side. It was kind of freaky because I wasn't expecting it. It kind of scared me. By the time I got to my town, the rain had nearly subsided. So that was nice. I was listening to my favorite CD which is a mix of Christian Music. I was really singing to the hills and that really kept me alert. I wasn't that tired. I even stayed up about another half hour and checked my e-mails and my regular mail. I got a lot of both:). But most of it was just junk mail.

So I woke up earlier than I thought but my kids were so happy to see me. That's the best part!! And another reason I wanted to come home ASAP. I missed my kids so much while I was gone. It was nice to get away, but I would have taken my kids in a heartbeat. I am really glad that I didn't though as it was nice to just be able to relax.:)

Well, on his way, my brother's car got broken into and his laptop, palm pilot, cash money from his wife's purse-but not the purse and a cell phone were all stolen. Him, his wife and their kids had just stopped off somewhere and checked out the sights. They figured they were probably gone 10-15 minutes. When they got back to their vehicle, there was a guy getting into his car which I guess was parked right next to their car and he seemed to be in a big hurry, slammed the door fast and just drove off before they could even figure out what had happened. Both my brother and his wife probably wouldn't have noticed that the smaller things were gone except that their son commented that the lap top was gone. When my sister-in-law looked in her purse, she noticed that her money and her cell phone were both missing. It wasn't until much later that my brother noticed his Palm Pilot was missing. The guy broke in to the passenger door they figure, by jamming some kind of un-locking mechanism into the key hole and just manipulated it just right. The door still locks, but entry by key to that door is not possible. The laptop was from my sister-in-laws work and she called work to let them know what had happened, and it sounded like it wasn't going to be a big deal to replace that. They had it along so the kids could watch movies on the long trip. They called to cancel their phone policy but will have to pay the cancellation fee since they were under contract. Even though the guy didn't steal the purse, they contacted all their credit cards companies and put alerts on all their cards. They figure he didn't steal the purse so they wouldn't notice right away that anything had been stolen. It's just so awful that this happened. I had my purse with me wherever I went, even just to go to the bathroom, and of course my sister locked her car up. There were sometimes when we went into a store and my sister wasn't even watching her purse. She just left it in the cart while she was looking elsewhere. I am just amazed that she does that kind of thing. Oh well, I didn't know what to say to warn her. Fortunately nothing like that happened to her. My brother and his wife filed a police report and their stuff should be covered by either car insurance or work. They are hoping not to have to file a claim.

The wedding reception was really nice. My sisters and I helped my dad and his wife who were the caterer's do a little prepping. It was kind of hectic because when we got there it was just rush rush rush. We hadn't even checked into our hotel room. We weren't all that much help, but even a little helps. And then dad and his wife had to rush to get to the wedding. They almost didn't make it.

I guess the wedding which took place in a chapel, was really small and crowded. I am all for a small church wedding any day!! The reception was beautiful and huge. The bride and groom didn't sit at their table, they were so busy getting pictures taken and so forth. They had these itty bitty bells that would be great for Barbie and Ken and made hardly ANY noise. The purpose of the bells was to ring them and then the bride and groom would kiss. Well, they weren't even sitting still long enough for that to happen. I forced it a little and made them kiss eachother so I could take a picture. My camera is not something that I am most happy with lately. It doesn't take good pictures in low lighting, or at least I don't know how to get it to take good pictures in low lighting so I was so frustrated by a lot of the pictures I took. It was kind of like can I take your picture? Ok hold it there, and again, oh wait, it still didn't turn out one more. Ughh!! What is wrong with this stupid camera? I really like my digital camera for a lot of reasons, but gee, I'd go 35 mm anyday!!!!! The bride is my cousin and she looked really beautiful. Her sister was her maid of honor, who by the way caught the bouquet. I think it was kind of planned that way. She also caught my wedding bouquet. She's not on her way to the aisle any time soon. Though she does have a boyfriend.

Well, it was a really nice trip. My sisters and I got along for the most part. There was the usual bickering that happens when siblings usually get together. But we had a really nice time together. It probably won't be until Easter 2006 that I see all of my siblings together again. That seems so far away. I am not sure what we are doing for Christmas, but Easter we are all going to my brothers. My dad will be in Idaho by then and so we are thinking that for Christmas we will all join together and send him and his wife tickets to come home for Easter. That should be interesting!!

I hope you have enjoyed my homecoming story.

~E.

My bags are packed. Am I really ready to go?

Well, My bags are all packed. I hope I haven't forgotten anything. I would like to paint my nails before leaving. Not sure if that will happen. If not, oh well. I'll figure something out.

So, I just got this strange e-mail. I was invited to go to a Pampered Chef party in another state. I replied to the girl letting her know that I wasn't going to be able to make it. She told me thanks for letting her know, as her and my sister-in-law were going to get a few people together so they could have a party for the home based business that I do and then the trip would be worth my while. I didn't quite know how to take that. I'm a planner and I would have needed more time to prepare. I don't even have any catalogs. This would have been nice to know sooner. I just thought it was so strange that she said that. I can't commit anyway, as I'm going out of town.

So, I'm going out of town. Yes, that's true. I am on my way to my cousin's for her wedding. Travel time will be most of today and part of tomorrow. I'm going with other people though so that's cool. So I must go and paint my nails and do a few more things before leaving.

~E.

Why are people the way they are? Why am I the way I am?

Today was a hard day at work. There is a woman that works there who just doesn't want to "play" nice. It's almost as though she doesn't care what the "rules" are. She just frustrates me so much. For example, she never puts the butter scoop back in the water, and she's kind of bossy and not so much in a sweet way either. Yoo hoo, your order is up, hello? And then she'll say it kind of condescending too. And for some reason, today was the MOST frustrating day that it's ever been working with her. I usually get along very well with everyone. I think bad things and want to say bad things. She causes me to be stressed. Stress is that confusion created when one's mind overrides the body's basic desire to choke the living daylights out of some idiot who desperately deserves it. I used nice words, the real quote has swear words in it, but I am trying very hard not to swear. She could drive me to drink. NO not really. Drink coffee or coke maybe. I really enjoy my job and everywhere one works there will be an ogre, but things would be better without this one in particular. Then again, since the workplace will always have an ogre, then it'll never change. OR maybe it's me. I have prayed about this situation, but perhaps not enough. I just don't know what to do. This woman drives me nuts!!! Or perhaps it is my focus on her that is driving me nuts. Ughh!!!

The weather. It rained pretty hard today. I was on my way to my church for a meeting, when the rain started to come down in sheets. It was unbelievable. The visibility was down to nothing. As I turned into the parking lot, I was worried that I might get hit by an oncoming car. I sat in my vehicle listening to the radio watching it rain. Then the sirens came on and I decided to go back home and skip the meeting.

I feel much better now and hope that I won't be overcome with the onslaught of comments. I really love my job a lot. I know that it isn't the place I belong, but it is a place I enjoy being, if I have to be away from my kids. Supper is ready. I gotta go.

~E.

nine

So, today a reli got married. She looked so beatuiful. All nice and thin in her gorgeous wedding dress. I wish I could be half as thin!! The wedding was really nice and simple. My camera, which I bought 6 months ago and still haven't read the directions for, kind of sucks. I like the whole digital thing, but it's such a hugely fussy thing. I am almost tempted to say I hate it. I'm learning that having the best isn't always the best.
I have been trying to help a friend find something nice to wear. I told her black pants and pretty much anything for a top would be great. She thinks that when one wears black pants there is a huge break in the way a person sees the pattern and so they look up and get to the top and then there's this break and then they see the rest of the clothes. I think she's crazy. I told her that I was going to hook her up with the What Not to Wear team and she thinks that they only work on teeny tiny people. She's wrong. You should see some of the dumpy looking people on that show. She just doesn't have an open fashion mind. She's got too many "flaws". Well, who doesn't? Join the club I say!!
I have to work 2 times this week. I need to get more hours. The man and I are having a few financial difficulties. I'm thinking of asking my MIL to help us out. She always helps us though. It's time to cut the apron strings and just take care of this problem ourselves. The crazy part is that my husband thinks that we can still somehow afford a house. My sister suggested som housing opportunities that we need to take advantage of, but I wish my hubby would look into that instead of making me do it. But whatever. Well, I'm hot, and it's late. I will tell more later.
~E.

EIGHT

Red is my favorite color. I thought I would go with something new, change it up a bit.:) Too bad there aren't any emoticons. It would be fun to do some of those. Oh well. I guess I'll just stick with the basics. I'm watching tv right now. I't's around 9:45p.m. I just put the kids in bed. It's a little late for them, but I think they'll be ok. My husband is bowling. The new season just started tonight. He bowls Fridays too, but not this Friday. He has to leave to go to Guards. He'll just be gone the weekend though, so it won't be so bad. I have a wedding to go to with my M-i-L. I have a friend coming over to watch the kids so we can attend the wedding kid free. That'll be nice.:) The tv show that I was watching is new to me. I don't usually watch it, but I will probably start. There will be lots of competition between the 2 different channels that I really enjoy watching shows on. I haven't recognized what a waste tv watching is yet, so here I sit on my bum wasting away. I feel as though I can't shut the tv off, because I'm not the only adult to make that decision. What else would we do anyway? Who wants to play games all the time?-just kidding. If it was something I thought of, I would probably love it, as would my kids. We just don't have a lot of board games that are geared toward my kids. I'm doing the best I can, I guess. Now I'm tired and must go to bed. ~E.

7

When I woke up it was thundering and lightning out and the rain was coming down pretty good. I'm glad that it was raining because we really need the rain.

I made it thru the weekend camping with my family. It was so windy though, I just couldn't believe it!! We got to our campsite pretty late in the evening on Friday. By the time we got there, the sun was almost set. We had enough light though. My mother-in-law's air mattress had a hole in it, so it leaked during the first night. How frustrating. By morning, she could feel the ground. I felt bad for her. My dad provided one for her the second night. It worked much better. My whole family went camping; it was like a little reunion. I haven't seen my siblings since around January when we did the Christmas thing. My dad and his wife are moving but I don't remember where to. I think Oregon or Idaho. I just wasn't paying close enough attention to know for sure. It's somewhere far away though. They haven't sold their house quite yet, but they are pretty sure it's a done deal. There is a piece of furniture that they have to leave behind because it's so mammoth. Dar was disappointed because they are leaving it with the house and the people buying the house were willing to buy it in addition. Oh well.

Last night we rented a movie called "The Cutter". It was a really interesting movie. It starred Robin Williams. The DVD had a few glitches in it so I had to take it back. What a waste of time. The second one I bought also had som glitches in it. So now I'll have to take that one back as well. I can only exchange it though, so hopefully the next one will work better. Third times a charm, right?

Today I have a lot of things that I need to do and I really hope I get most of it done. I have to go work at my church. I volunteer there and help where I'm needed. I'm working in AWANA so I have a lot to do for that also. AWANA starts tonight. I'm so excited. I'm going to do some face painting on the kids. It should be fun. I'll have to be sure to bring my camera along.

That's all for now, folks.

~E.

Six

Woe is me. My husband called me as I was getting off of work yesterday, to tell me that he'd been called to volunteer for the relief efforts in Louisianna. Though I want him to go and be of good service and wonderful help, my heart is just breaking because I so desperately do not want for him to go. We have all these wonderful plans and I just don't want to put them on hold. We are supposed to be going camping this week, but it looks like it'll just be me and the kids and my M-i-L. I was just so looking forward to spending this time with my family. I'll still be spending the time with my family, but it just won't be the same. Woe is me. I told my husband that I really didn't want him to go, but that I didn't want my emotions dictating his decision. He'll have a job when he gets back, and we are going to be enrolled into a different healthcare. I'm just so bummed because it seems he's been gone a lot this year, but not compared to last year when he was gone the entire year. Again I say woe is me.

So today, I have to get a few things together before my husband leaves. We don't know for sure when he'll be going or for sure how long he'll be gone. It could be 2 months; maybe more, maybe less. I just know I'll miss him terribly, probably worse than last year, but just like last year, I'll get thru it. I just pray that God will be watching over me. The Lord is my strength.

Well, I need to get ready for the day. It won't be long and the kids will be waking up.

~E.