To Lea's House we go..................

   Jessi, Butterbean and I went to my sister's house yesterday to see them and  pick up my dad.  Any time I am with my sister,  it's an adventure.  Nothing is ever normal when we are together and yesterday was no different. 
  Lea locked her keys in her car.  Not only did she lock her keys up in her car,  her spare key was in the car also.  Who does that?  Of course, it would be Lea.  So after a hour and a half of us trying to get into the car,  she decides to ask the neighbor guy to help.  He had a stout hanger that he used,  while we were using a flimsy one.  Thank you Chip for helping us!
  Then when I told daddy we were ready to go he decides then that he needed to smoke a blasted cigarette first.  All that time and he waits till I'm ready to go.  He knows that he is not allowed to smoke in  my car.
  She wanted me to take their cat Drizzy.  I have told her I couldn't have the cat but she kept insisting.  But when we got ready to leave the cat was MIA.  I think someone helped her hide.
  Finally, we are on the road.  Traffic on Gray Highway is horrendous.  If I could find a way to bypass Macon to get to Gray without going too far out of my way,  it would be a God send.  I really hate Macon.
  I love being around my sister.  She is my best friend and we have a good time together.  She makes me laugh. 
  I finally made it home, in one piece.
  As Ricky said it's always nice to go but NICER TO COME HOME.

 

Thanksgiving

 Today we went to Ms. Alice's for Thanksgiving.  We had so much food - there was enough to feed a small third world country.  And it was all good. 
  I love to cook.  It's kind of a hobby to me.  I don't know if I can cook good or not.  My family seems to like it and I haven't killed them yet.  But sometimes I feel like they tell it's good to keep from hurting my feelings. 
  That is, until last night!

  I made three pies.  An egg custard pie, and two pecan pies - one regular pie and one with molasses.  They looked so pretty too.  I let Ricky have a slice of the molasses pie.  He took a bite and had to spit it out.  I spit my bite out too.  It was horrible.  Lesson learned was don't cook with molasses.  The other two pies were devoured so I assume they were fit to eat.
  I have never made pecan pie before but I wanted one.  Ricky wanted me to buy one already made but I like making stuff from scratch.  So I found a recipe and made it.
  The older I get the more I miss things that my mama and granny made when I was coming up.  Mama always made pecan pie at Thanksgiving and Granny always made congealed salad at any family gathering.  I attempted to make that too!  It was edible but not as fluffy as I remembered.  I hae trying to cook with jello.  I have no luck with it whatsoever.
  I had been wanting a cooked banana pudding just like my Granny used to make so I found a recipe for it.  It wasn't hers but it came close.  It has pudding made from scratch along with a merengue topping, OOOOHHH,  good for my tummy.
  How I wish I had taken an interest in cooking way back when I could have learned alot from them.  But by the time I did,  my Granny had alzheimer's and my relationship with mama was strained.
  It's days like this that I miss them both, but especially my mama.  She could have told me what to do with that blasted pie.
  I had a great day and enjoyed everyone's commpany.  But the best part was I got to see my very own Beanie baby- Butterbean.  It was her first Thanksgiving.

New found Faith

   I was raised by a very strict baptist preacher,  my father.  He was very strict and took the Bible very literally.  Especially the part about sparing the rod spoils the child.  My dad only knew one form  punishment and that was to whoop our butts for any infraction mo matter how small or unintentional. 
  My dad was a good preacher but he was one of those hell-fire and damnation preachers.  And he was very dogmatic about it.  If you didn't believe that way he did then you were the one that was wrong.  My sisters and I have literally had the Bible beat into us.
  I was raised in the church.  Knew my hymns and Bible verses,  can still name all the books of the Bible by heart.  We went to church everytime the doors were open.  We went twice on Sunday and then again on Wednesday.  Never got a sick day, always had to be there.   You see, with my dad,  God and church came before family.
  Somewhere along the way,  I seemed to have lost my faith.  Well,  not really lost it,  just misplaced it.  I just don't think that God intended for a building and the people in it to be more important than your family.  I also don't beleive that one religion or denomination is more important to God over the others.  I mean baptists don't have a monopoly on heaven or God's love.
  When I married Ricky,  I found a freedom.  I didn't HAVE to go to church if I didn't want to.  It has become a habit not to go.  Then I stopped reading the Bible and eventually I even stopped praying.
  A few years ago,  God decided to remind me that I still needed him.  I mean we literally lost everything and had to start over.  Ricky lost his job, we lost our home.  He was out of work for almost 2 years.  And I started praying.  I began telling Ricky to be patient that God had something good in store for him.   I started believing it and so did he.  Finally afer months of praying and asking for God's will,  he was hired at Blue Bird.  He is very happy with his job.  He loves to weld.  He told me once that I had enough faith for both us.  Lea once said to me that God doesn't put more on you than you can handle and I replied back to that I was at my limit. Sometimes I felt like God was up there , looking down at me saying "HMMM,  she hasn't cracked yet,  let's see what else we can throw at her."
  I am back to reading my Bible and praying.  I can see God working daily in little things.  I post alot of bible verses on my facebook wall. Sometimes I see a verse that fits my life at that particular moment and I just have to share.  I still don't go to church.  Churches to me have become nothing more than a social club.  But I will work on this.
  So don't misplace your faith.  If you look and pay attenttion,  you can see God working.  You just have to know in your heart that He is.
  I have forgiven my dad.  After all the way I was raised helped to make me the person I am today.

A week from Hell

  Yeah, so this week has been a rough one.  Ricky has been sick all week.  I think he had the Flu but he wouldn't let me do a flu swab to find out.  You know you have to put a long q-tip up your nose and it feels like your brains are being scrambled.  So yeah, he wasn't up for that!  But, he is better today!  He did pay me a compliment today.  He sd " You know,  you are a tough old bird"  and I asked what he meant by that and he sd " When you wake up sick or not feeling good or hurting,  you just get on up and get dressed and go on about your business and just work through it.".  It's just what I do.
  We were super busy at work also.  And that always makes for a long week.  But it is a good thing to be busy -  not good that people are sick  but you know sick people are our business.
  Wednesday night on the way home,  I had a blow out.  I was still in Peach County.  It was dark and almost 7:oopm.  I pulled over and called Ricky.  He was 40 minutes away.  It was dark and scarey.  I was trying really hard to concentrate on not being afraid.  You know that's how bad things happen to people.  I got to thinking that I needed a weapon but all I had was a buck knife on my key change that had only an inch blade.  Ricky asked me what I was gonna do with that little blade and I told him that if you juge in the right place you can do some damage.  Yesterday I found a 4 inch pocket knife that my son put in there so I would have something bigger if I needed it.
  I am glad this week is over.  We had a good day today at work.  Dr. Giles took us out to lunch at Cheddars to celebrate Glenna and Victoria's birthdays.  It was good to get away and just enjoy each others company.
  So let's just pray that next week is better.