Teen Drivers

I wanted to post a NOT ME MONDAY post like Emma does. The neighbors Internet kept kicking me off last night, so that post is scratched.

Teen Drivers
Why am I letting her practice drive at 14...its gonna take 2 years of practice driving or more...

Usually on Sunday afternoon, while Taylor is at choir practice, I buy groceries. I didn't feel like it Sunday. Me, being the living on the edge, super cool, ultra hip, aunt that I am, decided to let Mary Margaret drive me around. The Lucy Van is down right now, so we are driving Tim's Nissan Exterra, high off ground, super tight steering, it darts to the right every once and a while, and brakes are amazingly tight.
Stop sign = comes to a complete SUPER FAST stop, 3 car lengths before the stop sign.
Don't do that again, plus you choked me, gentle stops, easy gradual stops.
Gravel roads 50 miles an hour, me gripping the OMG handles, loudly saying SLOW DOWN SLOW DOWN.

Highways (we have some that are not that busy) she goes 20 miles per hour! Gravel 50, pavement 20! I picked the day that all the tractors were out and about. She comes to a complete SUDDEN stop in the middle of the road waiting for the tractor to pass us, a tractor that was BTW as wide as the road. For those who don't know, the passenger side invisible gas pedal works just about as good as the invisible brake pedal and steering wheel.

She gets into the turning lane, like I instructed, and stops. Just as soon as the truck is in the turning lane she stops. The turn is about 3 or 4 car lengths ahead of us. I look a her and I ask, Where are you planning on turning? Upthere. Don't you think we should be CLOSER? Oh, yeah, I guess or we could just driver over there on the shoulder.

We truck on down HWY 350 which takes us to the busy HWY 1. I tell her we are going go down HWY 1 for just a little piece and turn off onto a gravel road that connects us to Hwy 306. She does fine watching for traffic and makes it out on the road safely then SLOWS DOWN. This is a heavily traveled highway, speed demons race down this road and we are going 30. Someone whizzes by and passes us and SHE LETS GO OF THE WHEEL AND SLAMS ON THE BREAK. I can't grab the wheel because the stupid seat belt has me pinned against the seat, and again that gas pedal was not working in the passenger side.

We make it to the gravel road connecting to 306. Make it onto HWY 306 and I remember, its a very curvy road. Since she has been slowing down to like ZERO to take curves, I decided that we needed to turn around and get back on a straight road. We found a nice spot she could use as a turn around. She did great.
Wonderful. Things are looking better.

WRONG

We are headed back towards the gravel road we came off of and I tell her to slow down turn on the blinker for a right turn and gently turn onto the gravel road and keep it slow. (my teeth chatter the first time around we were going so fast) She gently slows to another complete stop and starts to turn too sharply...
ME: Straighten the wheel
HER: okayyyy
ME: seriously straighten the wheel (voice several octaves higher)
HER: I'VE GOT THIS!
oh, yes she did.

I was almost in the ditch and she screams at me "I've got this!"

She don't "got this". Not now and maybe not ever. I screamed calmly said back to her...after I grabbed the wheel and steered myself away from the ditch, made her put it in park and look me in the eye..

Don't you ever say to me "I've got this". You've only driven a dozen times. You do not get the privilege of telling me "I've got this".

She says...

How about, I can handle it.

She is breathing, lucky for her.

Bible Verse Challenge: Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Psalm 2:11

Pepper

Toby Keith our cat of 4 years, decided that we were not the family for him, he ran away to find his real family.

We got a replacement cat. We call her Pepper. My sisterinlaw picked her up for us last night, Dianne got 3 of the kittens.

I'll post more later...I still have MM's Challenge to do.
Bible Verse Challenge: Verily verily, I say unto you, except a man be corn again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. John 3:3

Drum roll please....

I tried really hard to find a link the the weekend story where I saw the swifter exercise, it was on the Today Show, cheap ways to exercise in todays economhy, not GMA. We did our best to do the exercises as I remember them. Mary Margaret did work up a sweat. I do not use the swifter thingy. I believe in a good old fashion mop, lysol, and elbow grease. What did I find on the store shelves? Swiffer thingys are EXPENSIVE. I bought the $2 Floor Sweeper Redi Wipes, Dollar General Brand. I mean, we are going for cheaper exercise! Dianne told me the Dollar Tree carries floor sweeper, so save another dollar! BTW, did anyone besides Dianne notice that I was spelling Swiffer wrong? I thought all this time it was Swifter, nope its Swiffer. Getting started was job! I had to clean the kitchen, move out the table which led to "Hey, I need to clean behind the fridge" so I did, swept and mopped (with a regular mop) and finally we were ready for the fun to begin! Put the swifter's on the floor and step on (you don't have to size 11 feet like MM's) This child was not forced to do these exercises. I said "Hey, wanna try a new exercise with the swiffer thingys, let me record it, and put you on my blog?" She said "Yep, do I get to use duck tape?" Thats a true Arkansas RedNeck in the making right there!


a little of this


and finally (I could not remember anymore of the exercises)



What we learned: The lunges could possibly cause broken bones. You really look silly. This is cheap exercise, no gym fees, no jazzercize fees, and free floor cleaning labor. You could just walk at the track, no charge, less dangerous. Well, unless you are MM and jump the hurdles.

Bible Verse Challenge: Children, obey your parents in the Lord; for this is right. Ephesians 6:1

Get Ready

Get ready for disappointment.

Last night at Butler Manor there was no swifter exercising.
Reasons:
-I forgot to buy the swifter thingy's. Paper towel would work, but it looks so much more fun with the swifters.
-It was 8:30 pm when we made it home from Church, we stopped and grabbed dinner.
-During dinner, the girls wore me down, by the time we were finished I had listened to the stories from youth group, what movies they were going to watch when they turn 16 (because I will not let them watch R movies), what kind of cars they are getting when they turn 16, next years classes for the 8th grade, can I be grounded until graduation or maybe just next week, fought over what the art teacher said in one class and what he said to another, fought over the next coke and candy sale, and the list goes on and on and on....
-Got home, remembered I was supposed to buy the swifter thingy's
-Got home, remembered I didn't leave the fans going and it was HOT
-(9:30ish)sank in my chair, closed my eyes, opened my eyes to see who was still up and it was 10:00pm everyone was asleep.
-Took my book to bed fell asleep again.

I will buy the swifter thingy's today. You will get to read the post tomorrow...

Bible Verse Challenge:
Blessed be His glorious name for ever: and let the whole earth be filled with His glory; Amen and Amen. Psalms 72:19

Exercising with the Swifter

I was watching Good Morning America Weekend Addition a couple of weeks ago, they were introducing ways to save yourself a gym membership fee in this economy, a new exercise craze, Swifter Exercise. We, here at Butler Manor, will be trying this exercise tonight.

The idea: Buy a box of Swifter mop pads or dust cloths. Clear out your room that does not have carpet. We will be doing the kitchen. Let the fun begin. There will be pictures explaining the positions, pictures of the girls, not me, I own the camera, my rules. This may only accomplish getting my kitchen floor clean, so be it.

Rules while Reading the Result Blog Post: Emma, you must refrain from drinking while reading. Snorting your drink is not allowed. Dianne, if you read this early in the morning, please set down your coffee, we are not a burn center and can not help you. Dianna, do not eat Reese's Pieces, no one know the Heimlich maneuver at your house (and I can't have them so neither can you na na a boo boo). Anyone who could possibly have a heart attack,stroke/faint while laughing, provide your own CPR person, this blog does not come equipped with one.

Aren't you all just on pins and needles, the suspense must be horrible.

My Bible Verse for Today...


In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed. Deliver me in thy righteousness. Psalms 31:1.

I ended up reading the whole 31st chapter of Psalms. I like it. MM's challenge is making me read my Bible everyday!

Today's Verse

Here's my verse for today, and this is the 430th post.

There is none holy like the Lord; for there is none beside thee, neither is there any rock like our God. 1Samuel 2:2

Don't forget to stop by Mary Margaret's blog, grab her button and leave her a comment. I think she's doing a great thing!!!

Tomorrow afternoon at Butler Manor (drumroll) there will be....

a project involving...

swifter dust thingy's...

and exercise...

I know the suspense is killing you.

*Disclaimer* Not responsible for drink snorting while reading tomorrow nights post. Bring your on CPR person.

Mary Margaret's Challenge

Mary Margaret challenged me to post a scripture everyday this week. You can read her blog, Tales Fromm 7th Grade. She says the Daily Bible Verse Gadget I have does not count. She challenged Taylor too, but she is SOOOOO GROUNDED for like EVER because of her part in Mary Margaret getting called ugly names at school. It was so disappointing to find out.

I'm taking Mary Margaret's challenge and uping the challenge...I challenge her to use facebook as an "Every Believer a Witness" tool, and I'm going to tweet on twitter too.

Today we travel to Paragould for MM's last track meet.

I brought my grandfathers Bible with me to work today, I got his Bible after he passed away. Opened it up and picked the first verse I noticed uderlined. This Bible well worn and wrote in. Somone told me once "If a man's Bible is falling apart, you can be sure he isn't". I love using it. Please leave me comments if the verses I use speak to you in anyway.

Train up a child in the way he should go and, when he is old, he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6

Feel free to take this challenge, I don't have one of those fancy button thingy's, just let me know!

He delievers.

*Disclaimer - I reserve the right to delete any comments that are not appropriate!*

MEME Tag

I've been tagged by Dianne at Country and Lovin It with a meme, which works out perfectly because I had nothing to post about today! AND it involves my ipod.
Do you remember the WalkMan? (MM so just asked me if that was a phone or an iPod ha ha ha ha) No, MM, it is the DINOSAUR model of the iPod. It played.......CASSETTE TAPES..... I so had one in Pink and one in White. I wore them both slap out. The last one I had, I used tape to hold it closed so that the tape wouldn't fall out. That was just a few years ago.

A Meme for your iPod
Instructions:
1. Put your iPod (or MP3 player) on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN AS YOUR ANSWER, NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS!
4. Tag some Moms you admire who could use a laugh and a song.

Dianne's was soooo funny. I'm tagging anyone (that is a Mom - MM you are not a mom sorry)or that reads this post. Seriously. Do the MEME.

HOW DID YOU BECOME A MOM?
My Deliverer (Mandisa)

WHAT DID YOU THINK THE FIRST TIME YOU SAW YOUR BABY(in my case nieces)?
Amazing Grace by Chris Tomlin

WHAT DID YOU DO THE FIRST MORNING AFTER A SLEEPLESS NIGHT?
We Will Rock You by Queen

WHAT DO YOU SAY WHEN SOMEONE COLORS ON THE WALL?
Over and Over by Nelly and Tim McGraw

HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH A TODDLER’S BODILY FLUID ISSUES?
It Feels Like Tonight - Daughtry

IF SOMEONE SAYS “Can I Have a snack? YOU SAY?
Please Don't Stop The Music - Rhianna

IF SOMEONE LEAVES THEIR STUFF ON THE FLOOR, YOU SAY?
I'm a Survivor by Beyonce

IF SOMEONE ISN’T SICK TODAY, YOU SAY?
Glamorous - By Fergie

HOW DO YOUR KIDS ENJOY YOUR COOKING?
Should Have Been A Cowboy - Toby Keith

HOW DID YOUR KIDS DO IN SCHOOL TODAY?
I Want to Rock N Roll All Night - KISS

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF WHILE SITTING IN CARPOOL LINE?
This is My Hearts Desire by Newsboys

HOMESCHOOLERS, WHAT IS THE FIRST SUBJECT TAUGHT OF THE DAY?
Live Like You Were Dying - Tim McGraw

WHAT DO YOUR KIDS WANT TO BE WHEN THEY GROW UP?
I Don't Even Know My Last Name - Carrie Underwood

WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY AS A MOM?
See You Again - Miley Cyrus

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE’S PURPOSE AS A MOM?
There She Goes Again by the Jonas Brothers

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO AS A MOM?
Save A Horse Ride A Cowboy by Big and Rich

HOW DID YOU KNOW YOU WERE REALLY A MOM?
Down By The Boondocks - Little Big Town

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT MOST OFTEN AS A MOM?
Oh Play Me Some Mountain Music - Alabama

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY AS A MOM?
God Of All Nations - Newsboys

WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET AS A MOM?
To The Left - Beyonce

WHAT IS THE BEST THING YOU’VE EVER DONE AS A MOM?
He Reigns - Newsboys

WHAT DO YOUR KIDS DO THAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
S.O.S. Someone Help Me - Rhianna

WHAT DO YOUR KIDS DO THAT MAKES YOU CRY?
No Air - Jordan Sparks and Chris Brown

WHAT DO YOUR KIDS DO THAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?
Say My Name - Destiny's Child (I am not great with technology I put some songs on the Ipod 2 and 4 times this is one of them)

HOW DO YOUR KIDS DESCRIBE YOU AS THEIR MOM?
Santa Clause Is Coming To Town - by Chipmunks

IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?
It's Raining Men - by who ever sings it

WHAT WILL YOUR MOM OF THE YEAR CERTIFICATE SAY?
Amazing Love - Newsboys

Back In the Day Part 2

Back in the day, music was my life. I still love music, just don't have the time to lay around and listen to it as much as I did as a teenager.

Dianne had this cool little alarm clock that she plugged in her MP3 player to the other day at lunch. Prince, Billy Ocean, Vanilla Ice were a few of the songs that she has on her MP3. We started talking about songs that we loved in our youth, as we are old, well one of us is older than the other.

I wasn't allowed to buy rock cassettes growing up. I could buy all the gospel, not the hip gospel, old time gospel that I wanted and I got to buy BLANK cassettes so I could dub them for my mom. What did I do with those extra blank cassettes? I spent my nights, locked up in my bedroom listening to FM100 or Z98 or Rock103 with my blank cassette loaded and my fingers on the play/record buttons waiting for my favorite songs to come on. I was lightening fast with that play/record button. I was the best tape mixer EVER!

During the summer, if I wasn't baby sitting, I was "laying out" in my fold out lawn chair, with my Panama Jack Dark Tan Lotion, Sun In spritzed in my hair, with my jam box right beside me, ready to record at any second. I remember waiting for the new Bon Jovi, Never Say Good Bye to play. Sometimes I forgot to be quite while taping, you could hear me in the background singing along. All the long hours of tanning and taping were worth it. I had some mixed tapes and a vicious tan and some totally rad highlights in my hair.
This was the heart throb I was looking for...

I was never a New Kids fan

I so wanted to be Carol from Growing Pains

Here's what takes me back:
Journey's, Don't Stop Believin"
Bon Jovi, Never Say Goodbye, Makes me always think of Tim
Lionel Richie, Say You Say Me (great now I've got that one stuck in my head)
Sweet Home Alabama
Bon Jovi, You Give Love a Bad Name
Bon Jovi, Shot Through the Heart - takes me back to the Skating Rink Days
Michael Jackson, Thriller and Say Say Say (Im not a Michael fan) Skating Rink
TNT - usually played during the backwards skate at the skating rink
Beastie Boys, Fight For Your Right To Parrrrrty! - again the saking rink
Why Can't This Be Love - White Snake, I had a crush on somebody
Beat It - always makes me think of Wierd Al's Just Eat It
AC/DC Back in Black - takes me back to the first ride in Tim's ski boat. WE were so cool slicing through the water at Heber.

Comments please. I'll even turn off the moderation.

Live Feed

I have a live feed on this blog. I like to look at it from time to time and see all the places you read from. Sometimes I get lucky and find an interesting google search that sent you to me.

Wonder what this person thought when this search...
Toronto, Ontario searched google for. . . moon, rear, end, buttocks

got them this....

"Will Yoga Help My Big Rear End?"

Bet they weren't expecting that!

I get to finish Anna's Senior pictures today! I'm excited and hope they turn out well. I'm going to miss my babysitter when she graduates! Hope she knows how much we love and appreciate her!

Sorry ya'll, I've had to turn on the comment moderation for a while.

Easter

We spent Easter weekend with my sisterinlaw Nicole in Little Rock. Saturday there was an Easter Egg hunt at Nicole's church, Otter Creek Assembly of God. We got to see the Easter Bunny and the Easter Otter. It was our first time to ever see an Easter Otter. I could tell that Nicole was surprised to see the Easter Otter, pretty sure it was a first for her too.

Went to Magic Springs to play a little on opening weekend and get our season passes! Only a few rides were open, we still had a blast. Of course there was resturants...On The Border and The Great Wall of China! While we were eating at the Great Wall...
Nicole says: Boy if I keep eating I'm gonna get fat!
Alyssa: No momma, your not fat, you are just puffy, and Kaye Kaye is really puffy.

Saturday night, on our way home, we made a few shopping pit stops. One of my favorite purchases was the Cleranced Ice Cream. This is probably the reason why my sugar was so high right before bedtime Saturday night.

Sunday, we went to Easter Services with Nicole to Otter Creek Assembly, made me miss Wynne Baptist. It was raining and way colder than I had planned for!

Sunday afternoon we had planned to shop at the Park Plaza, closed. Target, closed. $1 movies, OPEN. The girls split the cost of my ticket. Wasn't that sweet? They each spent a whole 50 cents on me. We saw Mall Cop.


We drove home in the rain. I hate driving in the rain.
I came back with a cold. My nose feels like a volcano that may errupt at any second or that it might make my eyeballs pop out of my head. I feel sorry for those in my path when it happens. Yesterday I had to sneeze in Wal-Mart, one of those long sneezes that takes a while to happen. My fellow shoppers were all staring at me, is she gonna blow or not, they were probably thinking. I finally sneezed. I suggest you take some hand sanitizer down the frozen dinner isles and wipe off the handle to the door in front of the Health Smart section before you touch...

Update

I have an update about my friend's husband. There is no cancer.
Thank you for all the prayers.

I appologize for my previous post, I have removed it. I was told that I hurt feeling and I am sorry. I ment the post to be one of astonishment as to how kids behave today, including my own, verses "back in the day". No matter how hard you try, as a parent, to teach your children right from wrong, kids will surprise you. No one knows how they truly act when you are not around.

Say What?

Say What is a regular post around the Butler Diaries. Today you all are in for a real treat. One of the "say whats" did not come from Mary Margaret or Taylor. I know! Amazingly, I've discovered that almost all 13-14 year olds think alike. Scary.

I'll set the scene...
Church, this past Sunday, Bro. Matt was talking about Palm Sunday. He asked a very simple question to the congregation.

Preacher to congregation: Why do you think Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey?
MM whispers to me: I'm not sure
ME to MM: Listen
Taylor to ME: Duh, they didn't have cars back then.
I'm glad I didn't have gum in my mouth, I would have choked right there in church.

Track meet, Tuesday at the Wynne High School
*This is not a MM or Taylor say what*
Dad to his daughter: Why did you let that girl jump ahead of you like that in the 100 Meter race?
Kid: (really high pitched) Uh, Dad, gosh, how was I supposed to know where she was going?
Parent (not to this child): Um, she was going around the same track you were.
Kid: Oh, yeah, I forgot. But I still won.
I thought this was hoo-larious

Wednesday night on the way home from Church I call my sister-in-law, Nicole, to discuss when we are leaving for Little Rock and what we will do all weekend.
The girls are listening to me talk.

Nicole: Sunday, we'll go to Easter Service, there will be a play, blah blah
Me: Great, MM has a Easter dress, I haven't gotten Taylor's. Are you still going to the church down from your house?
Taylor interrupts...
Taylor (really whiny): But you Promised!!!!
ME: Promised what? (I'm not a mind reader)
Taylor: You Promised me. You even promised the preacher, Bro. Matt!!!!
ME: ????? I've promised the preacher something? When did I promise you and the preacher something and what did I promise????
Taylor: You promised we would be in church on Easter.
ME: We are going to church, just going with Nicole since we will be out of town.
Taylor: You promised we would go to our church EARLY so that we can eat the cinnamon rolls and donuts!!!! When you promised me in church, that was a promise to me and the preacher. Now I'm gonna miss it. I want to stay here by myself so I can go to church.
Nicole has been listening to all this says: OMGosh. She's worried about missing the food?????
ME: Yep, that's Taylor. Worried about the food and listening in church to the important parts!!!
Can't you see her little mind working? I bet she was thinking, she'll have to go to our church if I tell her she promised the preacher!

Taylor is trying her best to talk me into letting her have a sugar glider. Google them. I can tell you now, it ain't happen' here. I'll let Drake in the house before I buy an expensive rodent. Drake is worse than the dog on Marley and Me.

Taylor and I walked at the track yesterday. It felt good to be back outside! I'm sure the treadmill and my house are thankful that I'm not jogging inside today!

Still Working on My Fitness

This week sure has been a busy one. I've not done as well on my dieting this week. Mary Margaret has been telling ya'll all about it on her blog! She's really come a long way with her blogging.

TRACK
MM had her first track meet Tuesday. The whole WJHS Lady Jackets were awesome. They placed in every event, they all get ribbons! The boys did great too. Mary Margaret does the discus throw, I believe her total feet was 54.5 feet, I'm not sure, Taylor was chattering away in my ear, anyway she placed and gets a ribbon. I saw more blood during the track meet than another sport I've watched this year. Mary Margaret was not the only one who tripped over hurdles. They ran ten sets of hurdles, one girl (Green County Tech I think) tripped over the next to last hurdle and slid on her shoulder, she had to be carried off the track. The Niesler boy on the Wynne Team tripped and bloodied his shoulder up real good. Several of the other schools had kids that tripped. I never thought this would be such a bloody sport.

WORK
Business is slow.

CHALLENGE

We are participating in the 30X5 Challenge over at 2nd Cup of Coffee. MM is filling her 30 minutes easily because of Track practice. Taylor and I are finding other places to walk during that time. We've walked around the local park and we've even waited out the track practice and walked afterwards. Last night, because the meet lasted until 6PM, we couldn't walk after or during. I shoveled the dust off the tread mill and cranked it up during Biggest Loser/American Idol for Taylor. She walked/jogged for 24.5 minutes. When she was finished, she flopped down in the chair and looked at me and said...Dang, I like the track better. Sweat was poring down her face and her face was beat red. That's what I call a work out.

How did I work in my 30 for the challenge? I spread mine out during the whole day yesterday...
a little of this...

I'm counting the attic stairs at the funeral home. I went up and down these babies yesterday about 20 times in a row. Why? For the fun of it. Not.

and a little of this

I made the trip from the funeral home to my van several times yesterday because I kept forgetting stuff. Yep, I'm old and forgetful.

Later last night...
I decided that I can't let Taylor get ahead of me so I take to the tread mill. I think I'll start out around 2.5. I'm thinking, wait a minute, Taylor jogged, I've been jogging at the track, I'll jog too. My house is not built for me to jog on the tread mill. The floor rumbled, pictures shook and I stepped off the moving tack several times, after about 10 minutes I decided to get off. I realize now that my little tread mill is not like the big ol' fancy ones at the gym. It's not wide and there is no automatic incline. I thought during the walk, I sure would like to make the incline steeper, I would have stop, turn it off, remove the pins, raise it up, put the pins back, lower the walk, plug it back up and start all over. Too much work.

Today, we will walk the track after track practice is over. So much easier.

What have you been doing to get moving? Tell me...

No Fluff

I have struggled with to post or not to post. I've decided, as you can tell because you are reading and/or skimming for the good parts, to post. I won't post any names, and I hope, she knows how much I love her and her family. And no, I'm not doing this to make anyone cry...so dry it up now. (Oh, that was my momma coming out in me right there, scary!)

My heart goes out to someone very dear to me. We were sisters from the first time we met so long ago at NorArk Paging, 13 years ago. Gosh, thinking back, we were just babies. We talk every morning, about our kids, our husbands, the world, everything in that 30 minutes. I talk to her more than anyone, just look at my Alltel bill... We've been through a lot together. Today, as we talked, our daily morning chat, I had to struggle to hold back the tears as I am doing right now. She doesn't need me breaking down, she needs someone strong as she and her family begin this journey. Her husband has a biopsy this week, it is possible pancreatic cancer, to go along with all the other health issues. Everyone tells me what a great job I do at work. How it must take a strong person to do this. I'm not so strong. My heart is breaking for her having to face this at such a young age and her girls so young. They are in my prayers everyday. I pray that God keeps his hands on this family and show them the way through this, whatever the outcome may be.

We never know how stressful, emotionally and financially this is, how mad it makes you, how humble it makes you until we deal with it one on one. I do not know how she feels. I can only give her my support and try my best to shoot straight with her, I'm a firm believer in looking down the road to what needs to be done next. It's okay for her to look ahead. She has children to think of.

You know who you are...DON'T give my any more of this bull about how I probably don't want to hear all this whining. It's my job as your sister/friend and its not a job that I take lightly. I know you already know all this. I just felt you needed this today.

God is always just a whisper away.
I love you. I am here. I am not leaving.
To all my readers, remember them in your prayers.
Now, seriously, go get some tissues, and dry it up.
Talk to you this afternoon.

30 X 5 Challenge

Yesterday was Day 7 of 30 X 5 challenge. Taylor and I walked at the track after the track teams finished their practice. Did I mention that Mary Margaret made the disc team in track? Only two girls made it. I'm proud of her. Back to the challenge. I have to tell ya'll, the track was busy.

My best friend Dianna stopped by the track to show me her new hair cut. Looking good! She got it cut really short and I think it looks great. Made her look almost as young as me!

There are the regulars: A group of four women were just starting out, I call them the Wal-Mart Walkers, I'm almost 100% sure that the all work at Wal-Mart, at the halfway point of an hour, these ladies do an about face and walk in the opposite direction. I wonder why. Three boys were horsing around when we got there. Taylor knew them all. I noticed that every time Taylor passed them (she's jogging the whole time now) these boys gave her the "nod" and she "nodded" back causing one of them to blush.

I get encouragements from an older couple, I'm sure that I know them. I think that they may attend a lot of funerals at the funeral home I work at. The gentleman always says, "I can't believe you walk up and down those bleachers, you're doing a great job, keep it up!" One of the boys on the track team is always there with his dad. They race each other and I can see that the boy is proud of his accomplishment and loving the time with his dad.


Yesterday there were a lot of new people. The beautiful weather must be drawing everyone outside. Mary Margaret had piano lessons yesterday so she missed out on our walk, but is counting her track practice as her challenge.


I want to give a shout out to a young lady. Emily. Emily is one of Mary Margaret's friends, a very nice and polite young lady. She has joined the gym here in town and is doing a great job. Her mother told me (I saw them at the grocery store) that Emily is really working hard and losing "inches". Go Emily!!!!


Time for a quick update. I have gotten the blood pressure completely under control. My sugar is running around 100-115 during the day. My fasting sugar is still running 120-150. Since January, I have lost 20 pounds. Taylor started working out and taking salads for lunch to school and has lost 5 pounds. Mary Margaret has not fat to lose, but, I can see her toning up, which I'm sure is causing her to loose inches. I can tell the we all feel better.


Last night we made it to Revival at our church Wynne Baptist. It was, to quote MM, "totally awesome". Dennis Nunn was the speaker. He spoke about everything from being filled with the Holy Spirit, sexual peer pressure, to Gossip. We all needed to hear this message. He made his message apply to the adult and the youth. It was just awesome. It's awesome to watch the girls grow spiritually. He asked all to come to the front and "empty" our sins. I can't explain the feeling I had as I watched both girls in prayer. I did watch them for a few seconds before I prayed. Their personalities are so different. Mary Margaret is so full of passion, I saw that last night, she got on both knees and bent over all the way to the floor, you could hear her little whispers. Taylor is the timid one, she was real careful about kneeling and silent in prayer. We were asked how do you witness. I've got a wonderful group of blog friends. I believe that we are all on the right track, we use our blogs as a witnessing tool. It counts if you reach just one person who "stumbles" across your blog. I need to give a shout out to Mary Margaret for bravely trying her best to be a witness at school and trying to be a good example. She sure has come a long way over the past couple of years. I need to give a shout out to Taylor for the same thing. How many kids do you know that would read her Bible for her required 30 minutes reading for English? I love you girls.

Yoga for Babies??!!??!!??

My boss brought me some magazine for diabetics yesterday. I'm excited to read and brush up on a lot of things. One magazine was all about fitness. This Yoga stuff is like a stalker. It's everywhere I go. I get about half way through the magazine and start reading about how to get your teens involved, way to spend time with them and get them healthy. That's great! The girls and I already do this and I don't know about them, but I'm loving the fact that they are not shut up in their rooms anymore. I'm enjoying it. Flip to the next section.

YOGA FOR YOUR INFANT.

Seriously?

I want to be in that class. Sign me up, where's the baby class?

Wait, what if all the babies can do the Yoga better than me? Now I'm really feeling intimidated. The picture was of the baby doing the Cobra pose, which was the easiest pose ever, they should have started the baby out on something a little harder, like a combination of Sun Salutation straight into the Shoulder Stand. Take that baby. Lets see who's bawling now.

How's your April Fools going?

Today, we were running late, got the girls to the school at 3 minutes until the TARDY bell rang. I wanted to add my new 3rd Day cd to my music library and the VAN will not give up the cd. It's stuck!
I get up and read Mary Margaret's post this morning. What has happened to my "you are ruining my 14 year old life" child. Is it possible that I'm finally making progress? Finally getting through her thick head? whoopie!!!!
I walk in Taylor's room this morning and she was sitting in front of her mirror with her makeup spread out in front of her. Who are these half-grown people?