He really needs a haircut and a bath, but he sure is a sweetheart. I will blog a lot about him later, but for now, I have to go play!!!
Until next time...
This is the real life story of a girl who became a wife and mother and who is trying to seize everyday living under God's grace and by embracing this verse... "fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Monday, October 31, 2011
Sunday, October 30, 2011
A WORD of advice
Every once in a while, we meet a stranger that touches our lives in unexpected yet delightful ways. This past Thursday, I attended the Coast Big Band concert at the Mary C. Wes plays trombone for the group. Surprisingly, I had the pleasure of sitting next to, none other than, Mrs. Word Taylor. During the two-hour concert, we shared a very entertaining conversation. Although, unintentional (I think), she shared many words of advice.
That trumpet player always get the solos. His tonguing is terrible. That is what happens when you get old. Your tongue gets sloppy just like the rest of you!
Do you have children? You better get off of that stuff that's keeping you from having babies. Before, you miss out on a great joy!
The guitar player should be in the front of the piano. He is good!! When you've got it, you need to show it off.
In life there are seasons, it a takes a mature person to know when and how to change with each season.
I told my 26 year old granddaughter that it is dangerous to talk on the cell phone in the car. She did it, anyway, while I was riding with her. I called the police on her. It was the biggest fight we've ever been in, but IT IS DANGEROUS!
I may never cross paths with Word, again, but I will not soon forget her.
Until next time...
XOXOXOXOX
That trumpet player always get the solos. His tonguing is terrible. That is what happens when you get old. Your tongue gets sloppy just like the rest of you!
Do you have children? You better get off of that stuff that's keeping you from having babies. Before, you miss out on a great joy!
The guitar player should be in the front of the piano. He is good!! When you've got it, you need to show it off.
In life there are seasons, it a takes a mature person to know when and how to change with each season.
I told my 26 year old granddaughter that it is dangerous to talk on the cell phone in the car. She did it, anyway, while I was riding with her. I called the police on her. It was the biggest fight we've ever been in, but IT IS DANGEROUS!
I may never cross paths with Word, again, but I will not soon forget her.
Until next time...
XOXOXOXOX
Shop CVS this week, get a $10 giftcard
There is a really good deal going on at CVS this week. You buy $30 worth of selected items and get a $10 gift card. You can use the card to purchase more CVS stuff or choose from any of the cards available at CVS and purchase an early Christmas present for someone. Here is how I did it....
Transaction #1
2 Planters mixed nuts/cashews 2/$6
1 Charmin ultra soft $5.44
1 Carmax healing cream $4.99
1 Iams cat food $6.99
2 Covergirl (powder and concealer) B1G1 50% off $5.99/$2.99
Used:
$4 off $20 email coupon at CVS
$.25 Charmin coupon
$8.00 off 2 Covergirl coupon
Total paid w/ tax: $22.14
Received a coupon for a FREE $10 gift card
Transaction #2
1 $10 CVS gift card
Used:
FREE $10 coupon
Total paid: ZERO
Transaction #3
1 Swiffer Sweeper Starter Kit (the handle broke off of my 8yr old one) $8.99
1 Swiffer Sweeper refill kit $3.99
Used:
$.50 off a Swiffer product
Buy a Starter Kit get a refill FREE coupon
Total ticket: $9.40 paid with gift card.
In summary...
Total CVS ticket: $80.21
Total saved: $58.07
Total paid: $22.14 (I still have $.60 left on the gift card.)
Until next time..
XOXOXOX
Transaction #1
2 Planters mixed nuts/cashews 2/$6
1 Charmin ultra soft $5.44
1 Carmax healing cream $4.99
1 Iams cat food $6.99
2 Covergirl (powder and concealer) B1G1 50% off $5.99/$2.99
Used:
$4 off $20 email coupon at CVS
$.25 Charmin coupon
$8.00 off 2 Covergirl coupon
Total paid w/ tax: $22.14
Received a coupon for a FREE $10 gift card
Transaction #2
1 $10 CVS gift card
Used:
FREE $10 coupon
Total paid: ZERO
Transaction #3
1 Swiffer Sweeper Starter Kit (the handle broke off of my 8yr old one) $8.99
1 Swiffer Sweeper refill kit $3.99
Used:
$.50 off a Swiffer product
Buy a Starter Kit get a refill FREE coupon
Total ticket: $9.40 paid with gift card.
In summary...
Total CVS ticket: $80.21
Total saved: $58.07
Total paid: $22.14 (I still have $.60 left on the gift card.)
Until next time..
XOXOXOX
Thursday, October 6, 2011
A shopping cart, a toe, and a boy
While I have been debating on whether to blog about this story or not, I have decided it is just too funny to go untold.
Can we stop by the grocery? I need to pick up a few things, Brooke asks, as they near the red light. Sure, but I will stay in the car, Wes replies.
She reaches for the 2-liter Coke Zero, turns in a haste as to not keep him waiting too long, and feels the pressure of some type of conflict with the shopping cart wheel and her big toe, curses, and looks down only to see the big toenail on her right foot turning dark purple. Before her brain can even process the color, it happens.... BLOOD!! Blood that is pouring seeping out from under her toenail getting on her silver sandal, getting on the grocery store floor. She feels their heat, the burning in her eyes. She searches frantically for a napkin, a tissue, anything. She spots napkins on the deli counter at the same time she feels the wet warmth of a tear roll down her check.
I am not crying in the grocery store. I AM NOT CRYING IN THE GROCERY STORE! Okay, it hurts BAD, I am crying in the grocery store. Just get the groceries and get OUT!
Of course, she could not leave without her needed groceries, now that would be a tragedy. She limps her way up and down the necessary isles trying to control the tears. Everyone looks at her like she is crazy, but much to her delight, no one asks if she is okay. She flings open the truck door, slings the groceries into the back, opens up the flood gates, and sobs, Babe, I got hurt REAL BAD!!! He comes around to her side, assesses the damage, and patiently and lovingly agrees she is hurt but maybe not REAL BAD. He agrees to get the groceries out of the truck while she tends to the toe.
Oh my gosh!! The milk spilled in the back seat of my truck!! Seriously!!
8 day later....
She is sick with a cold. She explains to her class that because she cannot breath they will watch a movie on snakes. One loving child wants her to feel better so he walks up, arms spread, gets a little too close, and steps on the BIG toe! She gasps, my toe!! Leans forward still in his embrace, feels the heat, the burning in her eyes; it hurts BAD! The class gasps. She tries to recover, but her voice is shaky. Oh, it's okay! My toe was already hurt. It is not your fault. She quickly puts the students to a task, runs behind the desk, rips off her shoe, and sees it. BLOOD! She limps through the day and is pretty sure she is going to loose the toenail on her big toe on her right foot.
And just when she thought she was going to be able to get a 10 toe pedicure. You see, the toenail on her big toe on her left foot just grew back in from an unknown injury a year ago. Oh, the toe trauma.
Until next time...
XOXOXOXOXO
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Prayer for a Dear Friend
A friend who I spent many days drinking cherry Dr. Pepper with and laughing my head off with is in need of your prayers. She was recently diagnosed with a form of leukemia and is undergoing intensive treatment.
Her sweet sister is keeping a blog to update us all with specific prayer requests. Follow her at www.jennifer-sample.blogspot.com and take a moment to lift her, her husband, and her family up to God.
Until next time...
XOXOXO
Her sweet sister is keeping a blog to update us all with specific prayer requests. Follow her at www.jennifer-sample.blogspot.com and take a moment to lift her, her husband, and her family up to God.
Until next time...
XOXOXO
Sunday, September 11, 2011
September 11, 2001... We remember!
Kosciusko, MS, Brooke. September 11, 2001, I woke up before the blazing sun which was quit unusual for my 20 year old self with a part-time job that didn't start until 1pm. Never the less, there were muscadines to be picked and sold to the local grocery store in an effort to pad my savings account for the apartment/house I was determined to rent and furnish by the end of the year. As the sun came up and began to beat down on my body, I had 2 five gallon buckets of berries and headed inside to cool off and possibly take a nap.
As I pulled my boots off at the back door, I heard my phone ringing but didn't get in a hurry to answer it. A quick glance at my phone showed 6 or 7 missed calls from my boyfriend, Frankie. Knowing that was extremely strange because he should have been at work, I called him back, immediately. There was no hello, only, "Turn the TV on, something bad has happened!" I did as I was instructed in a blur of confusion. He said, "They are reporting we have been attacked by terrorist."
The first thing I saw when the TV came on was a lady running as fast as she could down a New York street and ducking behind a car. She was covered in ashes. Frankie nor I spoke, but I continued to hold the phone to my ear as my brain began to comprehend what had happened. Planes had hit the North and South towers in New York, one plane crashed into the Pentagon, and one went down on a field in Pennsylvania because a group of courageous people fought back. By this time, the first tower had already fallen, and you could hear urgency and hysteria in all the reporters voices. At some point Frankie and I must have hung up with one another because I called my mom at work to make sure she knew what was going on. I had not moved from standing in front the TV in my parents living room. I remember her saying, "Oh, it is so sad, Brooke." I responded with, "Oh my God, the second tower just fell; I am watching a live news feed!" Tears filled my eyes, as I explained, "Momma, all those people just died." She tried to reassure me and herself by saying, "Oh no, I am sure it was just a replay of the first tower falling." I assured her; it was not.
The rest of the morning was spent staring at that TV and sorting out what had happened. I finally rushed through a shower not wanting to miss a second of the news before I had to leave to go work at the public library. Between the hours of 1pm-6pm, not a single soul entered the library. We (the employees) took turns going upstairs to watch the news. We, like the rest of the world, found ourselves in state of shock that has yet to wear off.
New York, NY, Wes. 1, 159 miles away in New York City, I received a phone call from my girlfriend, Rebecca. She cried in hysterics as she explained that while riding the ferry to work she watched two planes fly into both of the towers that made up the World Trade Center. I lived in West New York/New Jersey and could see Manhattan Island from my apartment balcony. Not yet comprehending what was happening, I looked out my window and saw smoke billowing from the towers. I woke up my roommates, immediately, and turned on the TV. The TV screen and the view from my window were mostly identical.
Reporters were just beginning to speculate that America had been the victim of a terrorist attack. I saw the first tower begin falling on the TV and watched it crumble to the ground out of my apartment window. I, then, called my sister who lives in NY to make sure she was okay. While leaving a message for my mom to let her know I was safe, I watched the second tower collapse outside the window.
The thing I remember most about that day was how beautiful it was... no clouds in the sky, cool temperatures, and the bluest skies. I remember how quiet it was, no planes in the sky, no traffic, no one talking as they returned from the city either by ferry or by foot as all traffic was closed in and out of the city. You could finally hear the birds singing. Around mid-day, the scent of an electrical fire made its way to my apartment. My skyline view of the twin towers was replaced with pillars of smoke. When asked what it was like that day, I can only respond with the word, shock.
Until next time...
OXOXOXXOX
A special thanks to Wes for sharing his story with me.
As I pulled my boots off at the back door, I heard my phone ringing but didn't get in a hurry to answer it. A quick glance at my phone showed 6 or 7 missed calls from my boyfriend, Frankie. Knowing that was extremely strange because he should have been at work, I called him back, immediately. There was no hello, only, "Turn the TV on, something bad has happened!" I did as I was instructed in a blur of confusion. He said, "They are reporting we have been attacked by terrorist."
The first thing I saw when the TV came on was a lady running as fast as she could down a New York street and ducking behind a car. She was covered in ashes. Frankie nor I spoke, but I continued to hold the phone to my ear as my brain began to comprehend what had happened. Planes had hit the North and South towers in New York, one plane crashed into the Pentagon, and one went down on a field in Pennsylvania because a group of courageous people fought back. By this time, the first tower had already fallen, and you could hear urgency and hysteria in all the reporters voices. At some point Frankie and I must have hung up with one another because I called my mom at work to make sure she knew what was going on. I had not moved from standing in front the TV in my parents living room. I remember her saying, "Oh, it is so sad, Brooke." I responded with, "Oh my God, the second tower just fell; I am watching a live news feed!" Tears filled my eyes, as I explained, "Momma, all those people just died." She tried to reassure me and herself by saying, "Oh no, I am sure it was just a replay of the first tower falling." I assured her; it was not.
The rest of the morning was spent staring at that TV and sorting out what had happened. I finally rushed through a shower not wanting to miss a second of the news before I had to leave to go work at the public library. Between the hours of 1pm-6pm, not a single soul entered the library. We (the employees) took turns going upstairs to watch the news. We, like the rest of the world, found ourselves in state of shock that has yet to wear off.
 |
| AAE bulletin board 2011 |
Reporters were just beginning to speculate that America had been the victim of a terrorist attack. I saw the first tower begin falling on the TV and watched it crumble to the ground out of my apartment window. I, then, called my sister who lives in NY to make sure she was okay. While leaving a message for my mom to let her know I was safe, I watched the second tower collapse outside the window.
The thing I remember most about that day was how beautiful it was... no clouds in the sky, cool temperatures, and the bluest skies. I remember how quiet it was, no planes in the sky, no traffic, no one talking as they returned from the city either by ferry or by foot as all traffic was closed in and out of the city. You could finally hear the birds singing. Around mid-day, the scent of an electrical fire made its way to my apartment. My skyline view of the twin towers was replaced with pillars of smoke. When asked what it was like that day, I can only respond with the word, shock.
Until next time...
OXOXOXXOX
A special thanks to Wes for sharing his story with me.
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