[crk05]

Happy Friday everyone! I am just taking a breather from homework so this is going to be a quickie. It's been a good week for me - I found out I lost six weeks in my first week "Back on track" so I am really happy about that. Classes have been good, already keeping me busy, and the weather has been beautiful. We are starting to plan for my son's first birthday - when did that happen?! - and it is overwhelming with all the different kinds of party stuff you can find out there. We're just going to keep it simple though. Should be a lot of fun!

Have a wonderful weekend!
and prayers for all of you!

[Shy Moment]

crk
WOW 6lbs in a week. That is wonderful. 1st birthday. Yes it is amazing all the stuff they try to sell parents, like the child ever remembers it. I remember one of my friends had pony rides and a clown at her sons first birthday. I was thinking what the heck, the child doesn't even know what is going on lol. You have a wonderful time at that birthday party. They grow up so fast. My daughter just turned 17 and my son will be 21 at the end of the month. Doesn't seem possible. You will blink one day and wonder where all the years have gone. In some ways seems like I have had them all my life lol on the other hand there is a glimmer of memory when I use to get to have fun lol.

Justwant
The nice thing about getting a car in the winter is that you generally get them for a better price. Not so many people out buying cars. I am feeling better today. Must have just been a bug that one of the kids gave me. I have one of those candles that you screw in a light for it to work. I keep it on my night stand. I know one of these days something is going to be eating one of my kids on the other side of the upstairs when the lights go out. I of course won't know about it till morning because I AM NOT STUPID and I KNOW there are things out there in the dark and I DON'T leave my room LOL. Hubby just laughed and said he is going to have to put a camping toilet in the bedroom so I can use it when the lights go out lol. Will sure keep you and the car in my prayers. Things are so expensive these days. Not many of us have that kind of money to toss around at a moments notice. God will provide.

Counting
I was wearing " ladies " clothes when I was to young to wear them lol. Tailored skirts and penny loafers when everyone else was wearing mini skirts and fish net stockings. I am 46 not 90 but I happen to not like jeans and I like lady like clothes. Jeans and t shirts are for mowing the grass lol.

I have seen the clothes out there for offer and I am not impressed. I have one pair of pants and one suit left from when I weighed 120. Glad I have them because the few times I have taken my daughter to buy clothes, I haven't seen much I would wear.

I do like the long shirts-short jumper type dresses, not sure which they are lol that are worn over leggings. My real problem is going to be getting tops. I have a decent size chest and it seems everyone wants the chest to hang out all over the place. I like mine to be covered.

Last summer all the girls were wearing shirts that make them look 5 months pregnant. I am not that fat anymore I don't want to look pregnant lol. What happen to shirts that had bottoms to them? They have no top and they don't have enough bottom to cover the top of your pants. If I want my belie to show I will wear a two piece bathing suit lol. What is it with woman and girls these days wearing their underclothes on the outside? I wanted some pretty camisoles. My gosh woman are wearing them as shirts anymore. I looked all over and they were in the regular clothes. I thought good heavens, no matter how thin or well built I was I still wouldn't wear my underclothes on the outside of my clothes lol.

I haven't tryed those DVDs they sound very nice.

Doit
Very glad the check up went well.

Wima
You are a very selfish person . We don't want you to be sick. You just aren't thinking enough of us We want you to get using that ball so we know how well it works . We have had enough . It is time for you to get better and get on that ball . Really hope you feel great soon .

[Justwant2Bhealthy]

JUST POPPED BACK IN to say ... that you ladies reminded me about those WOPE dvds I got for Christmas; after I posted, I got DH to set my DVD player back up in the livingroom (my exercise room) so that I could try them out. I did the one-mile walk and watched the 2-mile, doing some of the muscle toning with the stretchie band (arms). I really liked it; at first, I thought it might be too hard for me, but once I got into it, I did OK.

I think I found what I have been looking for; the music is really peppy and that gives me motivation, and you can move at your own pace as well. One lady on there lost 60 lbs just doing those walking sessions ~ WOW! Have a great weekend everybody ...

ROSEBUD

[Shy Moment]

justwant
Along with good healthy eating habits a person can really tone and lose weight with exercise. Wish exercise helped me lose weight but it doesn't I was loseing a lb a week before I did any exercise at all, still loseing a lb a week lol. I am getting more toned and more in shape than I was and that is what matters to me. I love the walking/arboic vidoes, I have so much energy after I do them.

[CountingDown]

Just checking in, spent most of the day working on PowerPoint presentations for the church services tomorrow, cleaning, and laundry - in other words - a typical Sat.

Rosebud - if that is the DVD I am thinking of, I really like it. It uses interval training with the stretchie and walking. It takes about 30 minutes. It is one of my favorites. And - it IS a good workout - the walking sessions are very fast. DH and I did it Friday after work. I believe that WATP are really good workouts. I really enjoy them

Did you get your car working? Or decide on a different one?

Christina - sounds like you had a GREAT week! Enjoy planning that party, but I agree with Shy - don't go overboard. First birthday parties are more for the adults than they are for the kids. The pictures are usually great keepsakes too I remember making a big bird cake for our oldest - but because we only let him eat healthy things, the cake was really carrot bread, and the frosting was cream cheese with tofu. No wonder he is such a health nut now


Dawn - you are definitely right about a lot of the clothes out there right now! I picked up several shirts at Kohl's ($10 of a $10 purchase coupon has to be used right?) and the neckline is quite low. I put a t-shirt or cami under it and it works pretty well. And, I didn't look good in baby doll tops in high school (I looked pregnant in them then too - which prompted all sorts of rumors - it was pretty ugly) so I avoid the at all costs. That being said, I really like some of the skirts that I see now, and a lot of the jackets/blazers are really nice too. I am hoping some new styles come out for summer, since it will probably be summer or even maybe fall before I hit my final goal (secretly hoping for 130 - which may not be possible).

You are also right about the kids growing up so quickly. I blinked and they were grown!

Speaking of which - everyone, please keep youngest DS in your prayers. It seems that he did not do as well as he had hoped or told us he was doing last semester. Thus, he needs to either find a job, or find a community college where he can take some classes. I've given the situation over to God, since I can't even talk to him right now without getting angry.

Blessings all - prayers ascending

[Justwant2Bhealthy]

HELLO EVERYONE ~ well, we had sunshine again today; I just had to go outside and stand in it for a while. Fed the birdies and pushed a bit of snow off the deck.

SHY ~ that is quite good to lose one lb a week; over the summer, I only lost one pound a month ... lol! I'm trying to figure out what to modify; decided to work on the exercise and food plan. I've been a little stressed lately and am catching myself munching a bit; gotta watch that! I don't like the clothes out there at all; they don't suit my body type in any way. I have managed to build on my wardrobe from a second-hand place here. Most of the clothes today don't cover enuff skin for me; and I'm not impressed with the styles or the colors either ~ LOL!

COUNTING ~ the car was worse than we thought; our mechanic cannot fix it so we are going to get another vehicle. I think that is the best solution all round; we should have it by next week. Will definitely pray for your son for direction; that does happen more than people think. When I was in college only 33% of students actually graduated from their chosen courses.

One of our family members had the same problem this year; couldn't keep his marks up in enough classes, so they advised him to leave and choose another path. He didn't realize how hard the program was going to be and he even hated some of the courses; that's not good becuz you must at least like what you are doing if you want to be somewhat successful at it as a career. I knew others who took the program and had troubles with it as well; some courses are not suited to everyone. Will pray for him ...

Dh had some friends over tonight. We are just having a quiet weekend at home right now; no wheels anyways ~ haha! Hope you all are having a great weekend and a lovely Sunday; your fellow encourager ROSEBUD ^prayers^ continue ...

[crk05]

Good morning everyone! I hope you are doing well! I am having a nice quiet weekend. I have class starting back up for the week tomorrow, so I'll be back to being BUSY!

Shy and Counting Down ~ I totally agree with you on the 1st birthday parties. A lot of my mommy friends (With kids around the same age as my DS) are spending hundreds of $ on fancy themed parties for their babies' first birthday. While I think the planning of something like that would be fun, I think it is expensive for something that is really (a) to please the parents and their friends and (b) to take lots of cute photos for the baby book. DH and I talked and we're just going to have a cake and ice cream party with some food. The "theme" will be whatever are the cutest paper plates from the party store. For us it's really about getting friends and family together to celebrate DS's special day!

[EZMONEY]

GOOD MORNING GALS

I finally have time to catch up. Although I do check in often I don't post because it takes me too long to type! But remember I am ALWAYS praying

Angie and I spent most of yesterday and last night at church. We had to put 1,000 packets of information together, for the new building project, in the afternoon then hand them out before service. Afterwords we met in our meeting hall for dessert (none for me! ) for a question and answer period. We had planned to go back today but it looks like we don't need to My ex-wife worked with us all day yesterday, along with several other . Brenda has to be at church today for both services anyway, for her "secretary work" on the project ,so she will oversee our VERY DEPENDABLE crew that will be working today.

It is good to get a little break as we have a lot of work coming up in the next few weeks....plus we had two nights of meetings this past week for 4 hours... I am so blessed to be a part of it though! Thanks be to God!

My weight has been going up and down a little more than usual. I am really not complaining just a little confused. I don't usually have 3-4 pound swings from one day to the next. I was at 173 this morning though...up a pound from yesterday...Angie and I walked 3.5 miles yesterday, with the dogs, for our Saturday morning Starbucks....but then I had leftovers cheese enchiladas for breakfast ...but they sure were good

Angie just took off with the mutss for a 3 mile+ run, she is in training for her 10K Mud Run in 6 months. I will get some treadmill work in during football games.

CHRISTINA ~ WOW! First birthdays are so much fun...I am jealous Although, even though my kids are 23 and 26 now, we still have fun getting together at birthdays when we can. We spent way too much money for toys and stuff when my kids were little...OK...I spent too much $$$...I had so much fun with their toys When we had b-d parties for the kids we just had a theme (cartoon,etc of the day) cake, then we just had family and friends over for BBQ or Pasta dinners. Always had a lot of fun...take lots of pictures! Great job on public speaking class....boy do I ever have trouble with that!! Have fun back in the lab

LAURIE ~ prayers for your young son as he "figures" out what he is going to do. I go through this with my nephew...he is so smart...scores very high on his testing but WILL NOT do his "job" on a steady basis. He has decided to join the NAVY in a few months when school is out. I think this will be good for him, however, I do not encourage or dis-courage it in any way. I just tell him to pray about it, do his research (we have many friends and family that are or have been NAVY) and make HIS OWN decision. I tell him I will give him advice on college but not something so important as joining the military...all on his own there. I hope the weather clears for you. You sound like you were busy at church too!

SHY ~ I have not forgotten Angie's chicken caccitore recipe...she just wings it...she keeps saying she'll write it down...haven't seen it yet Angie does most of her clothes shopping at Kohl's. I love the Nativity story...so awesome..even the "cremation"!

ROSEBUD ~Dang dear! More car trouble I have been praying for your SWEETIE...so sorry about the tumor. I am so not looking forward to my goldens aging, but they sure are...although a pain in my..., such an enjoyment now! Wishing great success on the WOPE dvd's. Our prayer vigil will be in a week and a half. It will be for 24 hours starting at 6pm on Tuesday and ending at 6pm on Wed. The walk will be from 6pm until 11pm on the first day. The sanctuary will be open all 24 hours for those wishing to pray inside and don't want to do the walk. The walk will go around our church grounds, stopping at the youth group room ~ school classrooms ~ Pastor's office ~ music room ~ etc. Each stop will be about 10 minutes with prayers for each destinations concerns. Inside the church we will be praying for whatever people have put on their prayer cards. Everyone in the congregation will have the opportunity for prayer requests wether they come to the vigil or not. We all sign up for one or as many hours as you want. Angie will lead an hour of walk on the first night, I will go in at 3-5 am the next morning before work. There will be leaders for each hour.

AUNT SUE ~Great news on the check-up! Have a great time on the cruise

WILMA ~I am glad you are feeling better...now no excuses for that exercise I hope the kids are all well and good!

LORI ~ Are you still putting away Christmas toys? Are those kids glad to be back at school? Bet MOM is

KAREN ~ Hopeing the new year brings in new home lookers! I hope all is well with your family and the weather is not too cold....brrrr!

Have a great week ladies...off to the store for groceries! Such fun....

[Justwant2Bhealthy]

HAPPY SUNDAY EVERYONE ~ we had beautiful sunshine again all day; boy, is that ever appreciated! I took another picture of the snow here; now it's up to the top of the garden fence; unbelievable! It has melted quite a bit twice; good thing or we'd all be buried ~ lol!

GARY ~ Thanx for the info on the PRAYER VIGIL; sounds like a great idea. You could very easily hold one of these each year; and the whole church and community could participate and benefit. Thanx for the prayers for our SWEETIE; we are giving her antibiotics for three weeks as well; she seems to be perking up a bit today. I thought that picture of your girls with their SNOOPY BABIES? was really cute ...

CHRISTINA ~ the plan for your son's 1st birthday sounds great; hope you and yours have a lovely time ...

*** GREAT UPDATE *** ~ My Aunt sent me great news last night about my uncle TOM; we have seen some wonderful answers to prayer. 1 - the cancer has not worsened since first diagnosis. 2 - it is totally isolated in the lungs. 3 - it has not spread anywhere else in the body. 4 - the cancer has been down-graded from stage 4 lung cancer to stage 1 colon cancer. 5 - this kind of cancer cell isn't as serious. 6 - that means there are treatment options available. 7 - a lower stage cancer like this can be totally cured with treatment. 8 -- TOM will be starting CHEMO-THERAPY next week in our nearest city so he won't have to take any more longs trips, once the connecting tube is installed early next week. I advised her to write down all these amazing things so that they will remember them in the future. My Aunt sends her thanks to everyone for their prayer support; she says this has given her the strength she needed to continue supporting the family through this ordeal.

HELLO TO EVERYONE ELSE ~ hope you all had a nice day and have a great new week coming up as well. Your fellow encourager ROSEBUD ^prayers^ continue, as always ...

[CountingDown]

Thanks all for your prayers for DS. I told him I want an update on Wed. with what progress he has made. I'm not hopeful, except that I know that prayer is powerful and all things are possible for those that trust Christ Jesus

Rosebud - how wonderful and miraculous is your news! So thankful that you posted the update!

Gary - glad to hear that the building project kickoff is going well. It sounds like your hard work was worth it. And I know that this is only the beginning of the task ahead. We will continue to keep it in our prayers!

Cristina - that sounds like a great party plan! I think first birthdays SHOULD be special, just not so over the top as I have seen sometimes - honestly, it seems more like they are planning a wedding (oh, don't get me started on how much people spend on those these days either - LOL)

Dawn - looks like we are on the same TBL team - I'm so excited!!!!!! I can't wait to see how great we will do in this challenge. I just know that we are gonna do GREAT!

Church went well today. The PowerPoint matched the altarscape that our parish assistant put together - PERFECTLY! God's inspiration for my design was a great addition to the service

I spent 2 hours cleaning out my closet - 74 items that need to be donated since they are too large. Sheesh - I must be a clothes horse!!!! I am thrilled that there are still enough clothes in the closet to keep me from having to go to work naked . Thank heaven's for second-hand stores. I joke with the clerks (they know me by name now) that I am just renting the clothes in these in-between sizes. Some of the things I bought in September are now on the donate pile. I'm a very happy camper tonight

[EZMONEY]

I wasn't sure if I should bring this up or not since it is so disturbing. The man you are about to read about is my brother's ex-wifes son...the half brother of one of my nieces. He doesn't live near us and we have little contact with him. I am asking for prayers for his family and my niece as she struggles through what her brother has done. He has been schizophrenic for some time.


US man sees `mark of the beast,'' cuts off and microwaves hand
AP
Posted: 2008-01-09 16:17:23
HAYDEN, Idaho (AP) - A man who believed he bore the "mark of the beast" used a circular saw to cut off one hand, then he cooked it in the microwave and called police, authorities said.

The man, in his mid-20s, was calm when Kootenai County sheriff's deputies arrived Saturday in this northern Idaho town. He was in protective custody in the mental health unit of Kootenai Medical Center.

"It had been somewhat cooked by the time the deputy arrived," sheriff's Capt. Ben Wolfinger said. "He put a tourniquet on his arm before, so he didn't bleed to death. That kind of mental illness is just sad."

It was not immediately clear whether the man has a history of mental illness. Hospital spokeswoman Lisa Johnson would not say whether an attempt was made to reattach the hand, citing patient confidentiality.

The Book of Revelation in the New Testament contains a passage in which an angel is quoted as saying: "If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, he, too, will drink the wine of God's fury."

The book of Matthew also contains the passage: "And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into ****."

Wolfinger said he did not know which hand was amputated.

[Shy Moment]

ez
That is so sad. I will sure keep everyone in my prayers.

Counting
So glad we are together for this challenge. We are going to do wonderful I walk into the good will and thrift store and they wave and say hello. One of the woman even saves a few things back that I might like.

Just
So glad to hear about the good news. God really can work miracles. I munch from time to time. Am hard on myself and make myself do without the extra carbs or what ever I took in that i shouldn't have the next day. Makes me not want to munch to often lol. I like Koles for the sales racks.

crk
Give that baby lots of hugs everyday. In about 1/2 a blink of an eye, he will be graduating from high school.

[Karen31]

Gary, That is really terrible. I will keep you all in my prayers.

I am doing pretty good here-- still waiting for the house to sell but pack a few boxes everyday or so just to stay a little ahead. I know the house will sell and I just have to be patient!

We have a lot of cold weather headed our way tomorrow! High temps up around 8 and lows around -10! And of course, there will be snow to add to that mixture! Glad that I can do my exercising inside!!

Everybody take care and I'll catch up sooner or later.

[CountingDown]

Karen - I will keep an eye on your weather - it usually works its way to MI sooner or later. Glad you are keeping a positive attitude about the house. God has a way of making things work out - often in ways that we don't expect

Dawn - Great job on the 3 mile workout - that is awesome. The 3 mile ones are HARD to do all at once. You have come so far!!!!!! You are doing GREAT

Gary - thanks for letting us know the burden on your heart. I will keep the whole family in my prayers.

I hope everyone is doing well! Church finance committee meeting tonight. January always brings a change to committees in our church. Last year was very difficult, with a group of folk that did not have a shared vision for where we need to go. It looks like this year will be much better. Thank the Lord!!!!!

Blessings to all Prayers ascending...

[Justwant2Bhealthy]

HELLO EVERYONE ~ Got more wonderful news for you today! DH picked up our new car: a Mercury Crown Victoria Grand Marquis. It is fully loaded with a great heater and an air conditioner and automatic everything (it's not brand new, just newer and better than the last one we had); it only had one owner from manufacturing. Tomorrow, I go for my first ride in it; DH has been driving it around getting a feel for it. He's been going over the car with a fine tooth comb checking it all over to make sure everything is OK!

THANKS FOR ALL YOUR PRAYERS. We also got some more great news about a house that we may be able to get in town. Hope the weather is good, as we have to go see the lady about it tomorrow. That would be very exciting to get a house in town; to be near all the amenities, parks, services, and stores; we'd save on gas too. It's exciting; we'll find out all the details soon.

KAREN ~ will keep your situation in our prayers too (about your house selling). Glad you have such a good attitude about it.

SHY ~ got Dh to get rid of some of those munchie stuff; he's handy for that. Better him (skinny minny) than me ~ LOL! Today, was a good day!

GARY ~ will put that sad situation to prayer, for the whole family! Thanks for that PRAYER REQUEST THREAD; that's a great idea. One answer already.

COUNTING ~ Praying that your DS will find a job; and/or maybe find something in a college course that he would like better. There are many programs that he could look into that he'd have a degree in one year; one of my nieces did that. They recommend that to students who are not sure what they want to do. She took two different one-year programs that complimented each other, and now has a wonderful career in the health field that she loves.

And yes, the news about TOM is great; his appt for the tube insert is in two weeks; they had hoped for it to be for this week, but maybe a spot will come up sooner. He's anxious to get things rolling; and can't blame him really!

Well, that's all the news from here; we've had some great news this week. Thanks be to GOD and his lovely Son, JESUS CHRIST, for these wonderful blessings and answers to prayer; HE IS FAITHFUL! Take good care, your fellow encourager ROSEBUD ^PRAYERS^ continue for you and yours ...