Happy Halloween!

I am ready to scare kids. I colored my hair yesterday, just wanted to get rid of some gray, and it is still there! My regular hair is hard to describe, so I'll put up a picture later. Should be an interesting day at work, I'll get it cut later, but you will still see the color.

It doesn't look as bad as I thought it would, all the girls at work like it and mom does too.

I did get it cut a bit, just a little off the top.

Catch up day

So much has been going on, I don't know where to start.
A few weeks ago I promised to put the sermon on my blog because it was such a good one. Here are the five principles that we need to retain in order to live a life full of faith and conviction.
The message title is "Doubtful Disputations" by Rev. Travis Moger.
1. Don't judge others. This should be self explanatory, but we all do it and really need to stop.
2. Don't go against your convictions. This too should be easy, but often we compromise and don't stand up for what we believe is right.
3. Do what pleases Christ whether or not it pleases you. Usually it won't, but God won't have you do anything that is detrimental to your health and well being.
4. Don't put a stumbling block in another person's way. Just because you do something, doesn't make it right for everyone.
5. Keep a good testimony. Use your liberty in Christ, don't abuse it.
If everyone did these five things, how much better would our world be? Instead of each person worrying about their "freedom" we would be concerned for the greater good. Food for thought.

This past Sunday we had a guest pastor, Chuck Price, deliver a message based on the Book of Esther, and the three points he brought out to make us more like Jesus were:
1. God has a plan for your life, He puts you where you need to be to accomplish this.
2. God's will will be accomplished, with or without you! Isaiah 46:10 "I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please." God's plan will be attained.
3. Partnering with God involves risk. It is not always safe or comfortable.
See above, God won't put you in a position that will cause harm, but it most likely will cause some growing pains.

We have been blessed at RHBC during our interim time and it is my wish that we can (and do) bless God at least half as much!

Steph came home over the weekend, but I didn't get to see much of her. We had lunch together with Jim and Mom at Mario's and then went to Wal-Mart before the Nicewarners took her back to BC.
Matt's soccer team won State, he leaves this week for Nationals!
I start Old Testament History today, just am waiting for my grades from New Testament history to see what I need to improve on.

Super Saturday

Today has been a good day, so far. The dogs let me sleep late and then I was able to eat a good breakfast and get to work on my paper on the Trials and Prisons of the Apostle Paul. I also was able to put together a slide show for my screen saver. It bugged me that the darn thing would go black when it was asleep and I always worried it meant the thing broke. These pictures are my favorites from the last 10 years so they will bring back some memories.
Brett and Tara have gone to a wedding. I donated my hydrangea candle for a gift since they were going to do a Home Depot gift card. I hope the bride appreciates the candle and Rick will certainly like the card.
Jim has gone over to his moms so I am home alone. Gonna get a lot done, wish me luck!

Important things to remember!

This can serve as my online to do list!
Pictures http://usera.ImageCave.com/mamato31b/no_avatar.jpg
6 pm on 11.13.08 frg at Fort Polk, LA phone number: 238-7872
Brett interview Tuesday, 10.21.08 13:00 360 Herndon Pkwy SSN, DL, Certs
Reschedule Dr. Luy, change to Dr. Bahzaz in Purcellville
Lotto donate blood 10.23.08 3:15 Blue Ridge Vets
Write paper Saturday am

Been busy!

I have been busy so not much to post. Nothing going on anyhow. Busy at work, busy at home, busy with school work, busy with the dogs. It helps me not to miss my girls so much! Darn Dodgers rolled over and played dead last night, so it is up to Tampa Bay to put away the Bosox tonight and bring on the World Series!

Finally Friday!

It is finally Friday. The only problem is that it will seem like Tuesday tomorrow. Why is it weekends are always so fast? The joke at work when school gets out is "See you next week". Cause that is what it feels like. Have you ever noticed how long a dentist visit is? But a roller coaster is only 3-5 minutes long. Cindy, you and I still need to do that! Enough of the Andy Rooney whining.
I am almost done with my paper on Pauls missionary journeys. Steph is home courtesy of memaw and off to be with friends. Leslie called, she and Matt are hosting a party this evening and Brett is off to Sterling to clean the house and apparatus for Sterling Fest tomorrow.
I am going to try to edit the posts with the pictures, but I think they are pretty self explanatory. The Dodgers and Phillies are playing right now and the Rays and Red Sox will be gearing up around 8:30 so I might not get around to it tonight.

Pictures from Missouri

Crossed Pistols at entrance to Memorial Grove
Military Police Motto



Leslie and Carissa
Leslie and Matthew
Crossed Pistols from inside Memorial Grove

Maryland Fire Equipment Crab Feast

Prelude to a weekend

It is Thursday evening, my favorite time of the week. A weekend to look forward to, only one more day at work, and Survivor. I admit it, I am a huge fan of the show, even filled out an app but chickened out and didn't send it in. Tara, Brett, Jim and I will all watch it together and make our predictions on who gets voted off the island. I can hear Jeff now, "Once the votes are read, the decision is final. I'll read the votes." I even have the cadence down now with the dramatic pauses. I need a life.
I have a new friend on fb, but I am not sure who she is. She is friends with classmates from PVHS 83, so I asked for her maiden name. I am so embarrassed, but hey, it's been 25 years!
I am off to a good start on my paper for this week, spaghetti is ready to be eaten by whoever gets here first and the laundry is almost done. I even cleaned the kids bathroom so Steph can take a long, hot shower in a clean bathroom. Not that Brett dirties it up, but you know. Soap scum and stuff like that.
I am rambling so will get back to the Apostle Paul, it is safe to say he never rambled!

POTC 4

I just read that they are making a Pirates of the Caribbean 4: The Fountain of Youth! I knew they had to because of the ending of Worlds End shows Jack with the map. I am so psyched over this!

Is it only Tuesday?

This week seems to be dragging. I guess it is in part to having Monday off for Columbus day.
Steph is coming up for fall break so it will be nice to have a girl around. :-) Leslie is enjoying Texas immensely, she may be disappointed in Louisianna when she gets there.
Work is okay, I will be training Carmen on the register to break up up the routine a bit, plus it gets me out of the dish room tomorrow. We had a decent lunch count today so that was good. I am so glad I got a 90 on my last paper. I hope the one I just turned in is as good. I have one to write by Thursday so I can enjoy my weekend, wish me luck.

Phone call!

Leslie just called from Texas. She made it fine and I can now relax a little. What a day it has been, getting different text messages from Knoxville, TN and Arkansas. She let me know when she got to Texas as well so I could follow along on the mapquest map.

Texas!

Last text I got from Leslie was she was in Texas. Jim says she is about 3 hours from her destination and so I am expecting a call sometime around 9 or 10. What an adventure for her and I am so glad it has been uneventful. At least, I don't know about anything that may have been a problem. Children try to protect parents just like we try to protect them. I am not going to complain about that!

Quietness

After a busy and noisy day at work it is nice to come home and see the dogs. They are always so glad to see me and we go for a walk each afternoon. Then it is off to the computer to check on any message board posts for GCU and/or FB or email. (Not necessarily in that order). Today being Friday I wanted to get a good start on my paper which is due Sunday. I got it done, just like to let it perc a bit and see what can be done better. Saturday is going to be a busy one here around the house with things I have neglected and my list is ready and waiting.
We decided to put the dogs in Leslie's room at night, so I did have a good night sleep without Lotto in my face or on my legs. That only adds to the quiet, unless it is early enough and the XM radio is still on or if Jim is snoring.:-) He says I snore too, hard to argue since I am asleep and don't listen!
In the past I would come home and turn on something just for the noise factor, but I am finding it really is beneficial to "Be still and know that God is God".
Blessings to all!

Bye Bye Baby

Leslie left today. She got her X-Terra from Brown's Nissan and left today for Ft. Hood. She stopped by BC to see Steph and have lunch then off she went. She just called and is staying at a hotel over night and will get up and go when she wakes up. Her room is clean again...

Christmas in September

On that Saturday, we were able to meet Mom and Poppy at Lone Star for dinner. It is Leslie's favorite restaurant and she invited Catherine and Alison. It was the first time the five of us had had a meal together since May, I think. It was so nice, and I got pictures but they are on Stephs camera so this will have to wait a while. I am going to try and post some pictures tonight, so bear with me.

SURPRISE!!!!

Brett was home when we got here and Leslie didn't know it, but Stephanie was upstairs. Finally I got Leslie to take her stuff upstairs to start laundry, and she did. When she walked into her room she saw the Brett Favre cut out poster and said Hi. Then she saw Steph and said Hi. Then she yelled What the H*** are you doing here and tackled her. Good for Steph they landed on the bed! That made my day and I went to sleep. I think they were up all night...

The long way home...

Friday we wanted to be on the road somewhat early, but lingered over breakfast. Finally we got her loaded up and we headed out around 9:00 am. We were making good time and only had a few stops for a bite to eat at Arby's and gas. She drove about 12 hours and when they switched we didn't refuel. Whoops! About 20 minutes south of Winchester on I81 we ran out of gas. The gage said another 50 some miles, but what a time for it to be off! It happened exactly at 12 midnight too, so that was kind of creepy. I called Stephanie and asked her to call her Matt's parents, who were close by and they brought us some gas. At 1:00 am we fill up and head home with the promise of some brownies for their troubles. The Nicewarners are such great people and we are very blessed to have great friends like them.
At around 1:30 or 2 we pulled into Round Hill.

Cards game at the New Busch Stadium

After an hour and a half drive into St. Louis we got to the stadium. It is amazing. The parking is right there, people are so friendly and we were able to find our seats with assistance from the guides. The seats were fabulous. We were just to the right of home plate up on the top deck with an incredible view of the whole field and the Gateway Arch. Later in the game when Albert Pujols went deep the fireworks sounded like they were right in my ear. During the National Anthem the concession stands were quiet as were everyone in the building. Never have I seen such respect for the song, except in church maybe.
The Cards ended up beating the D'backs and knocking them out of contention for a playoff spot, so that was kind of rewarding. My team isn't in the playoffs, so neither is yours! After a quick jaunt around the building to the car it was time for the ride back to the hotel. We decided to stay an extra night in FLW since Matt had come up from Texas.

Graduation Ceremony

On Thursday we knew where the ceremony was going to be held so didn't leave the hotel as early as we probably should have. The line to get into the Fort was very long and I had visions of Stephanie's graduation and standing on the sidelines. Fortunately we got in and got real good seats for the event. The DS called the cadence and in they marched. On this occasion they were in their digital camo's and I think they looked sharp. We think Jim got the processional taped, but haven't looked at it yet. Each Platoon was then called on stage and they individually called out their name and home town. Leslie was real loud, but I was concentrating on getting a picture more than being in the moment. I think the picture is too dark, which is too bad.
After all was over we met her and Matt Duckwitz, her friend from Ft. Hood, Texas. He is a firefighter and former student of Jim's from Sterling. He will be returning to Iraq in January for a second tour. We loaded her gear and headed over to the USO for cake and soda, then off to the hotel to change.

The Flying Pickle

Outside we were mingling, looking for Leslie during the push ups when suddenly they all got up and then started looking for family. We walked over to some grass on the side of the building and all of a sudden she came out of nowhere and grabbed her daddy so tight. Her shoulder hit his jaw and I am so glad she didn't knock him out! She then turned to me and I got a hug, she was so solid it was like hugging a rock. She is amazing and I am so proud. We got her into the suburban, she drove of course and we went to lunch. Then we got a tour of the base and saw where she trained and got her tags after bct graduation. We toured the MP museum but I thought it was going to close soon b/c my watch was still on the wrong time. When we realized we had more time with her than we thought we went to dinner and then she reported back to base at 18:30.

Wednesday, the big day!

Wednesday I over slept! I am so used to getting up with the dogs at 6:00 and I did get up, I just went back for a minute. So, we are hustling around and go downstairs for breakfast. While in line at the coffeepot Jim asked the lady behind us if she had a child at FLW. She did and she mentioned her daughter was finishing MP training and an honor graduate. I knew then that it was Leslie's battle buddy's mom. Sure enough, what a small world! I knew how well Carissa had done from Leslie and so we were able to connect. After getting on post we drove around aimlessly looking for the right place. After my wrong suggestion we stopped for help and finally found the Abrahms Theater. There were so many people there and we were all so desperate to see our kids. Finally, you could hear the DS call the cadence and we all stood when they came in. She looked so beautiful, my green pickle! The smile was glorious and she looked so healthy. What a relief and I was so proud that I was crying and laughing at the same time. It is possible to do that.
After a short ceremony and some awards we went outside to see them doing pushups in their dress uniform and looking so sharp it was incredible.

Where to begin

On September 21 we had to take Stephanie back to Bridgewater. After that it was on to the church business meeting and then home to watch the final home game at Yankee Stadium. What a shame to let such a hallowed hall be torn down, but out with the old and in with the new is the way things are. If anyone told me Derek Jeter would go 0-5 I would have laughed, but he did. Doesn't matter, the Yanks won the game and that is the way it should be. Yes I am an O's fan, but hey, its Yankee Stadium.
On Monday the countdown begins. After a crazy morning at work getting things squared for the girls while I am gone Dad and Poppy brought Mom up. I put her to work and we were able to get out of there at a very reasonable time. On to Costco to get provisions for the trip and the slice of cheese pizza and coke I can't resist! Later that night it was DWTS. Thats Dancing with the Stars and we really enjoyed watching that. After packing and cleaning up a little off to bed.
Tuesday dawned bright and sunny, put the dogs out and packed up. Got as far as the mountain and Jim realized he forgot his phone so we turned around. Left for real at 7:30 and made decent time. We got into St. Robert around 11:00 pm and went to sleep.