Annette Thomas

More summer time fun

2009-08-13T10:44:00.000-07:00

Well it was another great weekend out with our extended family. We spent the weekend at Salt Springs Resort and I would recommend it to anyone that loves the outdoors. This place has 2 bedroom "cottages" that are actually small houses, and they are $90 a night. With your rental you have access to all the amenities of the park including 2 pools, a hot tub, miniature golf, shuffle boards, tennis, horse shoes, an indoor game room, and of course the lake. The lake is what we enjoyed the most. We took the boats out again and we rode all day Saturday and Sunday. The lake is huge and the swimming area is sand bottom and roped off so it is safe for the kids. We cooked out Sunday's lunch on the grill right at the lake side picnic tables. This will probably be the last hoorah for the summer, so I'm glad it was fun. I'm sure we'll be back next year for a week.

My Sister-Delene Martin

2009-08-13T10:22:00.000-07:00

I get my daily reading in at a website that my sister writes. She is an AWESOME writer. She writes love stories, suspense, fiction, and she even has a feel of a tribal story teller. I wish I had her talent. Since I don't, all I can do is tell her with the little writing talent I have with a poem to honor her. Love ya Sis.

Oh, to be a writer
Able to tell a tale.
The ability to swing a pen
And your thoughts you can sell.
Into your mind, what a beautiful world
The words come to life with the stories you've told.
Oh, wonderful artist
To I see what you see.
Oh, to be a writer
What a gift that would be.

If you want to read some of her stories go to www.delenemartin.com

Summer time

2009-07-31T06:49:00.000-07:00

Another week has come and gone, and now school is less than a month away. I had taken on a second job taking care of a neighbor that had a stroke a year ago and now has to have help. He lives alone and has started falling. I went over last weekend and spent all day cleaning and preparing to start his new routine on Monday evening. I will take him dinner after I get home and get it cooked and then give him a bath and clean up the dishes, and do routine care. Little did I know that this job was going to be short lived. I finished cooking dinner on Monday and went straight over to get him taken care of. I pulled up in the driveway and there he was, laying in the yard, sunburned and cover with ants! I called 911 and they took him to the ER. They admitted him and have discovered that he is in atrial fibrillation and has probably had some more strokes and will be going into a nursing home instead of coming home. His son wanted me to start trying to take care of him to prevent the nursing home because he isn't going to be receptive to going into one, but now he has no choice. We'll see how he does, I hope for his sake he adjusts well.

Life

2009-07-15T06:40:00.001-07:00

You know, life just keeps you in check everyday. It won't let you forget that your life is not forever, that it's not consistent, that it's not fair. People are born, people die, and life goes on. Saying this, I learned this weekend that my best friend uncle died. The 2nd uncle in less than a year. They died unexpectedly, just as her dad had 5 years ago. Then today I looked at the local internet obits and learned that another friend's dad had died. I know that this is how life works but it really puts you in check. Right now my health is doing fine but now Mark's blood pressure and sugar are out of control. I always worry that things happen in 3's and I don't need another reality check to hit close to home. I am listening God, I know life's not fair but......

Graduation Party

2009-06-23T06:14:00.000-07:00

Well, as I told you in my last post we went to Hontoon Landing for Faith's graduation party. I must say we enjoyed ourselves tremendously. Even Jake was good all weekend except for when we decided to tube down Blue Springs. He wanted to go, we walked the mile long trek to get to the spring head and then when we got there he changed his mind! He kept insisting that he couldn't swim (which was pointless any how since he had his life jacket on!). I told him he would be on the float with Cody and I and that he would be fine. He then proceeded to throw one of those fits than makes you, as their parent, want to crawl in a hole and die. I told him he WAS going to ride since every one else was already in the water. He did the whole "cat in the bathtub move". His little fingers grabbed a hold onto the handrail and as quickly as I would pry one hand loose the other would grab back on like Velcro! Then the screaming began. By the time I got him on the raft I had probably 10 people staring at me like I was the worst parent on the planet Earth! Needless to say, I refused to look at them in embarrassment. I just hope they came down to the end of the run where 15 minutes later Jake was jumping off the dock and swimming like a fish (Not drowning, obviously!). Other than that memorable moment, we rode the pontoon boats up and down the river and swam, fished, and just sat and talked in a peaceful environment. It had rain the entire weekend at home but since we were and hour and a half away we only had a few passing showers on Saturday. We took advantage of the rain by going to the boats and fixing lunch under our canopies, so the rain was actually nice since it cooled everything down a little. The only thing that was bad about the weekend is the fact that Mark now wants to do it every weekend! If that's the only bad thing, well, I can live with that!

Happy Mother's Day!

2009-05-13T11:09:00.001-07:00

I had the best Mothers Day this year! The kids all decided to plan the day. They took us (Faith's mom and I) out to the lake with the Air boat, the jet skis, and a friends bass boat. We rode the tube behind the boats, rode the jet skis, and went sight seeing on the air boat. We played in the lake all day and just relaxed. Faith's mom experienced a few new things. She had never ridden on a jet ski or an air boat. She was a little apprehensive about riding the jet ski at first but after a few times around the lake she commented that she is gonna have to get one of those. She also wants to get an air boat too! She's so funny! We are all planning to go out on the river for a few days after Faith's graduation and rent a couple of pontoon boats and head for Blue Springs. I am really looking forward to that weekend too. I think this summer is going to be full of outdoor activities since we got the jet skis. I know Johnnie would be on it every day if we lived on a lake. (and I probably would be too!LOL)
I hope all Mothers had a great day themselves! Happy Mother's Day

2009-03-17T06:11:00.001-07:00

Wow, it has been a while since I posted! There has been many changes since my last post. I started working in October. It has been a big relief to the budget. The income hadn't increased but he cost of living did, so we were really starting to struggle. I know we are not in that boat alone. I really know God has blessed my family with this job, I haven't held an office job since 1994 and all I could do was pray. I got the job over 52 other applicants and I know that was only through prayer.
My oldest son Johnnie, just graduated from the Police Academy and then took the state certification test and passed it! He has made us so proud. He is now working until the next semester starts again. He won't pursue becoming an officer until he completes his BA and BS degrees. He only has 3 semesters left and then he can start applying to the different police departments. He really wants to work in the Gainesville area but until he is 21 they won't consider him, which is actually a good thing. That way he won't be tempted not to finish his college education. He is seeing a wonderful girl named Faith. She is so much like him it is scary. She is a Senior in hign school, goes to College full time, works and is still has time for him. They are inseperable ands I think we love her as much as he does.
Jacob and Cody are doing good also. They are going to school and seem to be adjusting to me being at work now. I was really concerned about it since they had never known anything except me being at home. But as they say, kids are resilient. I think maybe more resilient that I am. it has taken quite a while to get in the groove of work and home responsibilities. Mark has also had to adjust. He helps with the dishes and vacumes and what ever else I can't seem to get done. He has really stepped up.
I must say. I am blessed!!

Almost there

2008-07-23T18:03:00.000-07:00

Yippee! School starts in 1 more month. This has been a long summer. We, like many others, have been so broke we can't afford to do anything. With the price of gas, we can barely afford to go back and forth to work. I told my hubby that soon it will cheaper for him to stay home than to drive to work. He kinda looked at me funny with that deer in the headlights look. I think he thought I was serious. NOT!
I feel sorry for the kids but they are managing and they are really learning the words "We can't afford that". I was talking with my college and careers class about the economy and the importance of getting right with their careers and their money. As I explained to them, their generation (those under 30, especially) have never had to do without the extras. They don't know what it means to be broke and that it doesn't mean we can only spend $300 on an Ipod instead of buying the $500 one! I am really scared for the young people that are going to have to learn this lesson the hard way. They have a very false sense of entitlement and that they deserve everything they want just for being them! Many haven't even held part time jobs, bought their own cars, or paid for their own gas and insurance let alone pay an actual bill. They are not being very well equipped by their parents and it's a sad thing to see when they graduate and don't plan to go to college and find they don't even have the basic skill that McDonald's is looking for in an 18 year old.
I just ask that everyone prays for our youth. They have so many obstacles to overcome just to get through high school let alone get out into the world and to prosper as human beings let alone financially.

Slow down world, I need to step off for a while!

2008-06-01T19:59:00.000-07:00

WOW! Life has been extremely hectic lately and it won't slow down for at least 2 more weeks. The class I blogged about last finally kicked off this morning. We also started a new music program called P-W-P (praise, worship, and prayer). I must say it was a success! We had a great time this morning singing praises to the Lord without a hymnal. We are not actually actually singing praise and worship music, but more of the contemporary stuff. There has been some rumbling in the church that we aren't versatile in our music so we thought it would be great to offer this along with our College and Careers class. We have also invited anyone else that would like to come but we are gearing it to the younger crowd.
This Friday is graduation for my oldest son, Johnnie. We have been gearing up for the past month for everything that happens at the end of the year along with the graduation stuff. 2 weeks ago was the prom and this week will be practice twice and then graduation Friday. Saturday night is the party, so I have to finish all of the shopping for that. And then comes all of the cooking. I am planning to make about 25lbs of potato salad, 5 gallons of baked beans and 50lbs of BBQ chicken, and that's just my half. Since we are doing a party for Johnnie and his best friend Eli there are going to be ALOT of people there. We also have all of the decorating to do on Saturday morning. Jake and Cody also have their year-end water days (Both on different days) so I have that to attend also.
Just when I get through with school and parties, the VBS for our church begins on Monday at 9am. I have to figure out when I am going to get the decorating and planning all completed for that too since I am teaching the pre-K and kindergarten class. They are expecting about 30 kids for that so I will be drained by the time I get home. All of this after I run a bus to and from VBS to pick up the kids that I brought with me last year in my Suburban. I have accumulated even more kids that want to come with me so I told them I need a bus to get them all there.
You know, my life is so blessed! I wouldn't trade it for anything but I would love a little more time between everything! I'm having difficulty stretching myself thin enough and there's ALOT of me to stretch to get thin!LOL

Major Changes!

2008-03-31T07:09:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been a while since I last blogged but I have been very busy with some exciting Church changes. I have been conflicted with many things that go on in our Church lately. The elders of the Church don't seem to be very receptive to change, but change is what we need so badly. They don't realize that the youth need to be taught and "pumped up" and a different way than the 50-80 year old members of our congregation do. They don't like what is referred to as "7-11" music, 7 words repeated 11 times. Well, neither do I and that is not what we were trying to bring in. We tried to introduce mild, but contemporary music and have the words projected on the walls. They approved the cost of the projectors, had them installed, and they worked wonderfully! Until....we started using them for the purpose they were purchased for. Then the uproar began. Needless to say, we don't project music on the walls anymore. The only use they get is for re-reporting the bulletin that you are handed as you walk in the door, and occasionally for a special type of video presentation. Our music and choir director were heart broken and devastated since they felt that their ministry was attacked. They are also forward thinking people that have similar ideas of what potential our Church has for growth if we would be open minded to other forms of music and different teaching strategies. We have a big movement of young adults about to take place. They have nothing being offered to speak to their hearts in the way that their generation has been taught to experience things. Visually, musically, and technically. The youth today have been inundated with video games, music TV, cell phones, texting, and other electronic devices almost from birth. Now we are asking them to come to Church and unlearn how to be their age! You are trying to cram the "elderly church" down the throats of young adults and they are choking to death on it.
We are going to be graduating almost 75% of our high school youth group in June and as of last month we had no where for them to go for Sunday school either except in with the "adults" that range from 30-70. The class is great but it isn't really relevant to the student coming right out of high school and going into college. They need a more specialize type of class that stimulates them at this time in their life and it also needs to deal with the junk that the "world" is throwing at them at every turn. Some of the students had come to me and another lady and asked us to start this class for them. As many of you might know, the stats show that this is the age that seems to "get lost" and they don't return to Church until they are married and begin having children of their own. It breaks my heart to think that these "kids" that I have grown quite attached to might leave our church or Church altogether. In the past 2 years I have been to more teen functions than I did as a teen myself and I have been blessed by these experiences more than anything else I have done. I not only get to spend time with Johnnie, my 18 year old son and his girlfriend, but I am also privileged to be on the inside of the lives of these people. I have seen so many of them come to Christ through our youth activities and it just makes my heart sing with joy!
Our pastor, L.D. asked that we have a month of prayer in March. We planned to have people come to the Church daily and do a prayer walk on our campus and ask for God to bless everything that goes on in our classes, offices, and the lives of our members. Based on God promises to us as faithful believers L.D. scheduled a revival in April because God would do amazing things for us. I know that because of our prayers God spoke to me very loudly about the needs of our young people and placed these ideas on my heart. I went to L.D. and told him what I felt we needed to do and with God's help many of the walls were broken down and there hasn't been protest to any of our plans, yet.
Well, back to the changes. Beginning June 1st I will be co-teaching a new college and careers Sunday school class. In addition to this, we will be initiating a 30 minute praise-worship-prayer time prior to our class (which is "More MAJOR" than the SS class because of the elder difficulties). We need all the prayer we can get since this is going to be a challenge for us. We are dealing with an age that is opinionated, intelligent, "grown",(and if any of you have any kids this age you know exactly what I am talking about) and confused and conflicted,(wait, that might be me) and they need spiritual guidance, but without them feeling they are being guided at all. So, please say a prayer for us every day that we can be a conduit between them and God.
I am working on a website that will be linked to our class. When I get it up and running I will post the address on my Blog so if anyone would like to keep up with our progress you can see for yourself. I will keep that site updated more regularly than this one most likely.

Good Morning, America

2008-02-26T06:28:00.000-08:00

I have a few minutes this morning to blog for a little while so I am taking advantage of it. I haven't been working for the past few weeks due to a budget cutback with the school board. They are associating it with the newest tax votes allowing people to get $50,000 in homestead exemptions. It just totally amazed me that within 1 week of the vote that the cuts have already affected their budget! We haven't even been given the credits on our taxes yet. I just love the politics of our state (and country, as far as that goes). We are all feeling the crunch due to the high gas prices but the government doesn't see fit to put some kind of price freeze. Our entire economy is being affected by the gas. I know that the company my husband works for has just raised their Diesel fuel to $3.66 per gallon and it will be going up again this week. Our trucking companies cannot continue to operate when the largest portion of their budget is for fuel alone, on top of what they have already been paying for outrageous insurance . The government can regulate a lot of what is damaging our economy, but chooses to allow big oil companies to ONCE AGAIN make record billion dollar profits! They are allowing insurance companies, in Florida alone, to cancel policies, jack up their rates, and then not pay out when a claim is filed! I have been a republican and plan to continue to be one but I certainly hope some one wakes up and realizes that the "little man" doesn't have the unlimited resources of income available when the cost of living goes up but the pay doesn't. Worse yet the dollar we are working for is even losing it's value so we are working harder to get less money to buy stuff that costs more! Will someone please wake up and smell the coffee!

My broken Break!!!

2008-01-31T20:02:00.000-08:00

I told you that when I get a break it is usually broken and sure enough I got a break from work and then Jake came down sick! He was home Monday and Tuesday hacking and barking with a nasty cough. It turned into a wet cough but it seems to be finally on the clearing side now. Tomorrow I am chaperoning Cody's field trip to the medieval fair in Gainesville. They are calling for a 50% chance of rain so I imagine we will be home early. I am driving us over instead of riding the bus so if it does get nasty we can leave when we want. I hope it is nice for at least part of the day so he can enjoy a field trip with his class mates.

Gosh, I'm tired!

2008-01-27T11:34:00.000-08:00

Well, I just got home. I went to church this morning and made it to Sunday school and then covered Children's church after that. We had a meeting that pertained to our Wednesday night classes and then home. I feel like this past week I have been playing catch up. I worked all week at the middle school and the classes were good for the most part but you know there is always one that has more than a few "turkeys" in it. Thank goodness that it was my 6th period class or my patience would have been shot first thing in the morning and I wouldn't have had any left for the rest of the day.
I am probably going to wind up taking Jacob, my youngest, to the Doctor on Monday. He is coming down with this "crud" that is going around. It is a little of this and a little of that. Some are complaining of sinus' and others are complaining of cough and sore throats. I think Jake might have a touch of both. I hate to take him to the Dr if there is nothing they can do but I also hate to wait and then it turn into something worse. Some days you just never catch a break and I think today the break I caught was a already broken!

A rainy and cold day today

2008-01-16T08:57:00.000-08:00

We are finally getting some much needed rain. When we woke up this morning it had already started to drizzle. The weatherman said the rain wouldn't really getting going until this afternoon and continue through the night so I figure since it started so early for us we will really get a good soaking. We have been in need of rain and if we don't get it we will be in for a time this spring. We have problems in our area with idiots that think it's funny to start woods fires when we are under fire warnings. Since it has been so dry for the past few years it has been rather scary when they announce the fire warnings.
When it's cold and rainy all I want to do is sleep, but this morning after I went to the bus stop with the Boys my dogs were sitting at the door begging to come in so I was bathing dogs at 8:30 this morning. It's a good thing they like the water because Petey (my male Boxer) has gotten up to 85lbs! All I have to do is point to the tub and tell them to get in and they will! Tosha, my female also must have the blow dryer after her bath. She LOVES her baths and she just thinks she is the Queen when she is sitting getting the dryer blown all over her. We also now have a new Princess. One of their daughters has come back home. A gentleman called and said that "Sugar" wouldn't get along with his wife. She kept peeing on his wife while she was in bed so he offered to return her to us. We have had her almost a month and have had NO problems. She has actually adopted Johnnie as her own and now they are inseparable. She has turned out to be beautiful. She is a flashy fawn like her daddy but has her moms playful personality. She is 17 months old and is already bigger than Tosha. I have posted a pic of my dogs to show them off since I do breed them and I am proud of them.

Happy New Year ? I think.

2008-01-15T11:42:00.001-08:00

Well, as you can see the whole blogging thing has not been working out for me. I guess I exercise my brain the same as my body and it shows! I am not making resolutions since I probably won't keep it any ways, but I am going to set a goal as my sister-in-law said. I hope I will get better at doing this blogging thing since it gives me time alone each day just for me. (which is why I am not getting it done. I have to have time for sleep somewhere in my day.) The past year was a struggle in many places in my life. Health, financial, Church, and spiritually so these are where my goals lie.
Health....My husband found out he is diabetic in November and now we are struggling with getting his sugar back in control. He is doing great with it but I know how we both are. We start out strong but get weak rather early on. So we HAVE to make changes in that part of our life and not look back.
Finances..... Well, I guess we are in the same boat as the rest of our country with gas prices jacking the prices of everything else up! I had to take a job as a substitute teacher. My neighbor asked me what we were saving up for and I guess my look must have shocked him as much as my response. " So we can eat and go back and forth to work!" We haven't taken on any new bills but it now costs almost $100 a week to get back and forth to work and almost $200 for groceries with milk costing $4.00 a gallon and bread at $2.50 a loaf. I told Mark is costs $100 a week just to eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with a glass a milk! My goal here will be to try to economize where possible and work at making a little extra to get us by.
Church...There has been some turmoil with usual stuff but it just got to me a little. I have a problem when people don't want to help in the church but are the first to criticise the ministries of those that are working very hard! I have had a lot of praying to do and God has answered most of them so I will just leave it with him and know that his will be done not mine!
Spirituality....I have to learn to pray more and have a more loving heart and stop being judgmental. These are areas in my life that I have always struggled with and now I am being convicted of it since I KNOW what God expects of me. Before I could just go through life and say to myself, "If I can get through that stuff, why can't they?" But I am learning that God gave me trials to grow me in a different direction than the next person so I need to use what he grew me into to help others that need his wisdom and unconditional love to shine through me.
These are the goals I am shooting for this year. I ask that anyone who reads this to please help me by putting me in your prayers at night and ask God to show me the path he has for me.

I guess I have made step one toward my goal!!!!! Now for step two.......

School begins.....

2007-08-23T19:27:00.000-07:00

Well, my boys made it through the first day of school with only a few hiccups. When I took Jacob, my kindergartner, to class he put his things in his cubby and proceeded to play like it was home. So off I went with Cody, my 3rd grader, to his new class. I can tell he is apprehensive today but I figured it is the new school or just the first day jitters. I look at him as I am telling him goodbye and he has that "deer in the headlight" look and then here comes the tears! I was thrown for a loop! I though Jake would be the crier and Cody would be the easy one. His teacher let me take him into her office and got him settled down and then I had to leave with him still unsure about his new surroundings. I worried for hours until I figured his teacher would have called if he hadn't calmed down yet. I asked him how his day was when he got home and he said it was fine, he had seen some kids from his old school and it made him feel better. I think he will be fine be Monday, just like the usual Cody.

In memory of Mom

2007-08-20T22:12:00.000-07:00

"A Mom's Love"
Dedicated to Mae Thomas
9-8-1927 to 8-25-2003

Her love was sweet and pure,
No binds on her giving.
No ties by our blood,
Only tied by the living.
Always told with love,
Her words were honest and true.
No harsh tongue to cut,
None said to make you blue.
Always warm and caring,
She love without restrictions.
Total love and devotion,
Always free of constrictions.
Never knowing that kind of love,
Never knowing that existed.
Now that she's gone,
Never knew how much I would miss it.

Annette Thomas
Feb 14, 2006

Just another week UNTIL Paradise

2007-08-14T11:21:00.000-07:00

Well, in 7 more days my kids will go back to school. YEAH!!!!! I love my kids to death but I need a break. I think Mark and I had 1 night out all summer and that was the night of the reunion. We had a great time, but once every 10 years just isn't enough. We are going to have to start planning some more time alone. Mark is looking forward to when the kids are grown and gone. I told him that is 13 more years and I guarantee we will have grand kids by then and will still have a house full of kids all the time. Mark's answer to that is "We'll send them home to their parents and let them deal with them after we sugar them up and spoil them rotten!" LOL

My youngest, Jacob, will start Kindergarten and I hope he does better this year. Last year we tried Pre-k and it didn't work out. He stayed in until Christmas break and then we didn't send him back. This year they HAVE to keep him!!! LOL I hope he has matured over the last 8 months (if that was the problem) or maybe the new school we are transferring them to will have a better approach with him. They couldn't get a teacher that was qualified last year so the inconsistency was an open door for him to keep trying each new one that was brought in. The last teacher had the wrong idea with Jacob. "Boys will be boys" doesn't cut it with him. If he is allowed that attitude then he will show you just how "bad" a boy can be. He needs a very firm hand and no gray area. He does much better with defined boundaries and consequences for his actions. So we will see.

Cody, my middle son will be going into 3rd grade. He has no problems in school so the transfer shouldn't bother him too much. He is so easy going that he should fit right in. He tested at the end of last year for Gifted and he passed with flying colors. I hope the program at Interlachen will challenge him and maybe open his eyes to a field of study that might lead him into a nice career.

Then there's Johnnie. He is entering his Senior year and will be turning 18 in September. Oh the world on a platter, what a tough time! I feel for him since he does have more opportunities than I did. He CAN go to any college in the State or stay home for a few years and attend Jr College and then go to a 4 year College or any specialty school he wants. He has had his heart set on being a game warden but now he is hearing that the pay is not that great and almost ALL of the current game wardens are having to work 2 jobs to have a decent lifestyle. I hope he really thinks about that. I know it's great to love your job, but if you can't make a living at it then it's really not worth loving! I have suggested he check into some other fields that have to do with agriculture since he wants a job that he can be outside and not cooped up in an office environment. When he takes the aptitude tests they all show that he should be a mechanic or something like that. He already is a shade tree mechanic and is pretty good at it but he is just too smart for that! He has a brain and I hope he finds a career that challenges him to use it!

We are planning on taking the boats out to the Springs this weekend so Johnnie can try out his new Air boat and we can take a weekend off and just relax. Mark has been working almost every weekend and he is getting burned out. The gator hunt starts on the 22ND and so he will get some boat time this summer but it's not the same. My brother Jesse got the permits this year since last year kicked Mark's butt. He enjoys hunting but he is getting older and he can't hang like he used to, by the 2ND or 3rd night of being up all night he is really wore-out. This way he can go until it's not fun anymore and then he can just relax the rest of the week. I think he's going to enjoy it more this year than he has in the past.

How do we protect our kids from other kids?!!

2007-07-30T20:16:00.000-07:00

I have been very protective of all 3 of my children. I don't drink in front of them (on the rare occasion that I drink at all), I quit smoking so when they decide to try it I won't be screaming about the health problems associated with it as I cough up a lung as proof! I don't let my kids stay away overnight except with their cousin across the street and I try to monitor their television viewing so they aren't exposed to all of the sex and nudity. But how in the world to you keep them from being exposed to the sexcapades of the kid's parents next door. There are only 5 kids in our neighborhood and we are so far from other kids that you have to plan a play date for them to play with others. The only one that is not related to us is the little 5 year old girl next door. Her parents have recently separated because Mom (if you want to call her that) decided she liked her boss better than Daddy and the daughter so she moved down the road with him. Now she only sees the daughter occasionally and obviously isn't 100% attentive when she does have her since the daughter is telling people that she has been watching mom and the new boyfriend having sex on the dining room table in the middle of the day! I am at a loss as to whether I should ban this child from playing with my children since she is probably telling my kids about the show she has been exposed to, or if I should (as I have been) continue to be the only positive female in her life. When I told her father about the incident he didn't seem surprised and wasn't nearly as mad as I was at what his daughter was exposed to. I really want to rip her head off so she can look at herself and see what she is doing! I am going to follow back up with the father and see what he is going to do and then take it from there. I sure HOPE someone in that household starts thinking about their child as much as I do!

A Fun Time

2007-07-30T03:07:00.000-07:00

The reunion was great! Melinda did a great job finding people and getting everything organized. I think there were more people there this time. It was so good to see that everyone was doing well. Some people haven't changed too much and others had. We got updates on some that weren't able to make it and there are others that have just disappeared.(Maybe that was their plan! LOL)
I was glad to see that there had been changes in a few that didn't seem so well 10 years ago. I guess it takes time to get into the groove of life for some, or maybe they were just in a different groove than I was. Some of the update on others were troubling. We lost one classmate to an overdose, a few others have had troubles and have turned to alcohol to drown their problems. The one I was most surprised about was our class President. The good looking, smart, jock type that you just know is going to conquer the world and every woman in it, just kinda fell apart when his entourage of adoring fans weren't there to cheer him on. It is sad because I really thought the world of him. He was a nice guy even without the other stuff. I hope to see him at the next reunion because the update only gives him a few more years to live and that is just such a waste of a life.
I think everyone was married at least once, but several couples had been married at least 15 years and in todays world that's REALLY saying something. Mark and I were included in that group as the 2nd longest married couple of almost 19 years. I was proud of that fact, not in a boastfull way, but knowing the challenges that we have been through it is something to be proud of. We didn't take the easy way out and just go find the someone else to start over with. We just started over with each other when the world would knock us down and it has strengthened our bond of love and our endurance. I think at times we are like marathon runners that didn't train as well as we should have for the environment we will be taking on. We started out strong but when the hill came we lost some steam and had to walk for a while. When we caught our breath again we were off and running. We didn't anticipate that there would be alot of mountains to climb because we trained for the flat road that was sunny but cool and always had a nice tail wind. NOT!!!!! We have ran this marathon in the Gobi desert in the summer time and up Mt. Everest in the winter. We did have alot of nice weather and many miles of flat lands but those times of challenges were definately building our character and our marriage. I hope that all of this cross training we have been doing is going to pay off in the next 20 years of marathons!

20 Years already!!

2007-07-24T21:33:00.000-07:00

Well, as I said when I started this blog I have been out of school for a while and my brain is going to mush. I guess that wasn't enough of a wake up call, but on Saturday I am going to my 20 year class reunion. I have stayed here in our small hometown and am raising my 3 sons with my husband. We have been fortunate that I have been able to stay at home and raise our kids, but I also feel like the odd man out since our society doesn't see the value of being a stay-at-home mom. I am worried that I will only have my husband, kids, and church to reminisce about since that has been my life for the most part. Don't get me wrong, I love my life and I wouldn't change it for anything, but you know the saying, "The grass is always greener on the other side". I guess I will just feel the grass between my toes for a few hours and then gladly jump back into my own backyard.