Gee, I have to say, it is good to be back here!

Ronni- I will be praying for you and DS3 and his issues. It is tough when it appears that a door has been closed to a kid- they do not have the maturity to know that the Lord opens another door- we just have to keep our minds open and trust Him! Hope your day went well, with shopping and all. Are you changing colors in the kitchen or sprucing up the exisiting color?

Lots of wash today, and just getting some housework done. I needed a day like this! Next week will be very busy for me, we have our kindergarden education program 4 out of 5 days and I am involved in that. And the board meeting Monday night (this will decide the fate of the layoffs in my area).....gotta sneak to a WW meeting Tuesday after work, somehow, as I missed last weeks meeting. Can't wait to get to church tomorrow...just need some time in church to help sorten out my thoughts after a tough week.

Enough of me venting! Better go start up the vacuum and clean up this messy house. Have a great day
Ginny

ECmom (Ginny)-shopping was as shopping always is with a male along. I'll never know how a species that can actually sit and watch 500 laps of cars running in circles can't manage 30 minutes in Walmart:lol: But, we got done what we needed to do. Decided to change the color in the kitchen from blue to a nice squash-hued yellow. More neutral next to our maple (orangey) cabinets. Thanks for the prayers. Enjoy your chores:lol3: Guess I'd better go do some of those too!

Ronni, they drink water out of a water bottle or their portable water bowl if we remember to bring it... we just tell them it's coffee ;) but then we tell them we are taking them to Disneyland too...dummies get all excited and it's only a walk in the park!

Angie at yoga teacher training...be back in a sec...time to turn oven on.

Angie is at yoga teacher training again, just had to warm oven up to throw in the spinach lasagna I made last week-end. We didn't get around to eating it so cooking tonight is easy for me!

I am really not to hungry though...I had to sample the new deli by us. I got a KNUCKLE sandwich....over 600 calories....but oh so yummy! My daughter was up here for the day to visit and my sister had a garage sale going out of my garage. Plenty of family here today...as usual.

I should finish my current project at work around Tuesday then be off for a couple of weeks...with a day here and there. I have time on the books so that is OK. I should start another large project around the middle of November.

I will be going to church alone tomorrow..:( Angie has yoga teacher training again but before that she has to do her last meeting at the Dog shelter to finish her training to be a volunteer.

RONNI ~ Angie can't stand artificial sweetners. Good but mixed news on your son....basketball is pretty much a "contact" sport these days though. There has got to be something he can do to keep him busy and active.

GINNY ~Sure is good to see you back here :) Good luck with that busy week next week. Prayers for your DH and his job.

SCOOTER ~ RAY OF SUNSHINE ~ WILMA ~ BARGOO ~ ROSEBUD ~ COURTNEY ~ AUNT SUE ~ KARIN ~ TRISH and the rest of you :hug:

Gary-I'm not sure I even want to know what a knuckle sandwich is! And, I can't believe you lie to the dogs;) :lol: Sorry you have to go to church alone. I have to do that all the time (well, except for the DS's) DH won't go anymore cause he's mad at the world. I think he needs a :kickbutt: but I guess I'll just keep praying for him instead. Hope you enjoy your day anyway! I know you'll enjoy your time off!:lol:

Hope everyone else has a great day too! :hug::hug::hug: to you all!

Ronni the sandwich had pastrami, cheddar, mozzarella, parmesan, lettuce, tomato, olives, mushrooms, mayo, butter on sourdough.

I am blessed with a wife that knows how easy it is to "not go" to church on a regular basis. We really-really make it a point to start our week there.

Prayers for your husband to turn around.

Wow - get sick for a couple days, and I really get behind in my posting! I had a stomach bug and pretty much slept for 2 days. Recuperated just in time to fly out to CA (our annual trip to see the kids).

Gary - glad Angie is progressing on her teacher training. DIL really enjoys being a yoga instructor. I'm really excited about being able to attend her class this week :) Sound like you are doing just fine with her done for a bit. Glad you are going to have some extended time at home though!

Ginny - nice to meet you! Glad you are back :) Prayers ascending for your school board meeting! We aren't at layoff point yet in our district, but we had to cut $1 mil from the budget and with the current economy, Michigan may be prorating our apportionments and layoffs may be coming. These are scary times to be an educator!

Courtney - prayers continuing for your family - especially your Gram.

Ronni - sorry your DH won't go to church with you. I will keep him in my prayers. We have a hard time getting DS2 to go with us regularly. We have been able to get him there once a month but ...

Congrats for not stress eating! It is really, really hard not to turn to food for comfort when stressed - at least it was for me. But, I think you are right - planning and staying focused really helps break that behavior. You are doing so GREAT!!! You have lost over 30 lbs!!!! :D

Sunshine - hope you DO get back OP tomorrow. I find that getting back on as quick as possible is the ONLY thing that keeps me from backsliding back into old behaviors when life gets stressful or busy! But, the more I stay on plan, the easier it becomes :)

Bargoo - prayers continuing for you, girl. I can't even imagine how difficult it is for you right now. But, I am ever thankful that God holds you in his palm and surrounds you with his love. He is all powerful and WILL keep you in his perfect peace.

Rosebud - hope you are doing well today. And that the house hunting is progressing.

Hello to everyone else - I hope EVERYONE has a blessed Sunday. It is time to get ready for church. What a blessing to be able to go with the kids. Those of you that live near your children are so fortunate!!!!

I think I may just be strange, but I have HUGE anxiety about going to a new church, especially if I have to go by myself. Then again, I have anxiety about unknown situations in general... anyway I've been in a new town for almost 2 months and still have not gone to a church service because I always wake up Sunday morning and get too nervous to actually go wherever I planned.

This week I'll be finishing up midterms so I should be able to go back to my grad student bible study. I think maybe the best thing to do would be see where the other people in my study group go to church and try to go with one of them next Sunday.

Angie and I took the dogs out for 3 miles before I headed off to church and she headed off to her final training session for the dog shelter. She came home after I got home from church with many new dog smells on her....my mutts were so :snooty: jealous :lol:

Just hanging out watching football and some baseball a little later. Back to work tomorrow but I should be home by Wednesday :carrot:

IRISWHISPERS ~Continuing my prayers that you feel comfort in searching for a new church. There was a time in my life that that would have been difficult for me...what if they do/don't commune...what if I sit in somebody's spot...(I have my own personal pew ;) )...what if...what if. I found out that all the churches I have visited have been very nice to me! I try to wish everyone a good morning when possible, I look out for new comers too but we have a fairly large church, with 3 services...2 Sunday and 1 on Saturday, and it isn't always easy to tell visitors from regulars. I will say no one ever seemed offended when I introduced myself to someone that had been coming for awhile that I thought was visiting. I hope you find a church buddy soon! :hug:

SCOOTER ~Glad to hear you are feeling better and with the kids. My kids live reasonably close, son and dil are about 10 miles away and daughter and sil are about 35 miles. My son goes to late service, when they go and my daughter usually doesn't come up here for church unless it is Christmas, Easter and mom/dad's days. She used to be the only one we knew would be there, until she moved away. She does go with her husband to his/his mom's church on Saturday afternoons on occasion. My step-daughter and nephew are CEO's...:tree: Christmas and :easter3: Easter Only.

I realize it is a personal relationship with Christ. I encourage them but quit making them go once they were of age to drive themselves. They all know they better have their butts in MY pew on :easter2: ;)

But it truly is nice having them close enough to come by for a visit, as my daughter did yesterday and as both of them did last week.

Angie is almost done with her training :carrot: Looking forward to staring her teaching to the congregation, if we can find a spot for her since the rooms are all being torn down for the new building!

now...back to the games ;)

Too funny about the pew...

:wave: HI THERE ~ it's windy and raining here. We have been very busy house-hunting (THANKS, GARY ), and we are having some success, but we are waiting for landlords to get back to us and tenants to move out.

THANKS for all your prayers for us and our housing situation; we are very grateful and we are starting to get a lot more response after I put a new ad in the local paper.

It's getting late now; came in to read and post a bit. Will be back soon (GW) ... ^^PRAYERS^^ still going up for you and yours, esp those with health concerns at this time. Take care, :hug:ROSEBUD:hug:

Just a short hello- I am really tired and still have lots to do.

Iris- prayers to you and your church hunt. Look at it this way- you are not rejecting Him- it is just that particular house of His that you might like or dislike. Every church has its own "flavor" and many are not wrong, simply not the best choice for you. I think if you are honest from the beginning and mention that you are looking for a new church home, most will understand.

Rose- househunting is stressful.......not one of my favorite activities. Hope all goes well.

Gary- Angies yoga class sounds like a hoot. We had step aerobics at our church ( one of our members is a gym teacher) until his wife had another baby. It was so much fun......great way to stay in shape and fellowship.

Ronni- love the color you are painting- nice fall colors!!

Counting- hope you are over that stomach bug- and I know how tough it is when you miss a day or so posting here.

I did not go to the board meeting tonite- lots of reasons, one of which is that I am exhausted. I have a very full week at work, so if I do not get some rest, I am sure I will get sick......

Sorry if I missed anyone. See you tomorrow.
Ginny

Thanks EZ and ECmom. =) The nice thing last time I was church-searching was that I had a friend who was doing so at the same time, so we went together to services. But really, I'm in a christian fellowship group at school (i'm a grad student) and I KNOW most of the people there would be willing to introduce me to their church, it's just a matter of asking. Seriously, me and my anxiety! But I will do so on wednesday night, because we have bible study AND a potluck, so it'll be a little more fellowship oriented.

blessings to all.

:D HELLO EVERYONE ~ we've had a very productive weekend and today, as we went to see another place and loved it ... SO, WE TOOK IT!!! And yes, it is for sure, because we gave them a security/holding deposit.

We can start moving in on November 1, 2008. It's a nice duplex and the rooms are a nice size, so all our furniture will fit, which was a concern. It's all ground level, and we have a back yard for NIKO, which we are so pleased about. Our new landlords are fun and cheerful people to be around: they just felt so very right. A lot of my prayers were answered here. I just knew that it was the right place for us as soon as I walked in; it had everything that I felt we needed to feel comfortable, so that had to be an answer to our prayers.

THANKS SO MUCH to all our faithful friends here, who have been praying for us all through this stressful time. I had forgotten just how harrowing that house-hunting could be. But now we can relax for a bit too, as our present landlord gave us an extension so that we could move at the right time as well.

Anyways, it was a nice way to spend a rainy day; thankfully, it stopped by the time we went out. Then afterwards, to celebrate, we when to a RIB & STEAKHOUSE for my 50th birthday dinner and it was healthy and delicious too.

ANYWAYS, I'm so tired that I am falling asleep at the helm here; will talk more tomorrow. Take good care and thanks again ... :hug:ROSEBUD:hug:

Rosebud - :D !!!!!!!!
Congrats on finding a place! AWESOME news!

Ginny - hope you are feeling better tomorrow. Take care of yourself!

Iris - prayers continuing for you finding a church. Asking around at the potluck sounds like a splendid plan. Take the risk and ask! Let God take you into uncomfortable territory. You can do it!!!

Gary - LOL - DS2 is a CEO, but we are working on him!


We had a great day at the Oakland zoo today. It was a glorious day in CA!!! And we had dinner at a wonderful Japanese restaurant. I'm in heaven with all the ethnic eateries out here!

Hope you all had a blessed start to the week!

Prayers continuing for all!


Laurie