Hi everyon

Have still been busy with the house. The new house will be ready around mid-April. We would like to stall out till late April cause my daughter graduates in mid-May from high school. But we still have to sell this one first.

My mum is still visiting for one more week so exercising has been put on hold for now. Don't like to leave her here alone when I go to the health club.

Next week is also busy cause our former youth group from Canada is coming to visit. This is their mission trip where they perform two plays that they have written about teens and salvation. My son was origianally in the first play about Columbine. It was scary for me because he was one of the shooters. The play is written from the prospective of the christian girl Rachel who was killed. One of the lines that my son had to say was to call out for his parents to save him as he realized that he was going to perish. This broke my heart as I sat there. I wanted to run up on the stage and snatch him back from Satan, but I realized that no matter how much we love our children we can not save them. They must cry out to Jesus on their own and accept his free gift of salvation. The youth group has had a very powerful response where ever they have preformed this play. I am now looking forward to their new play.

Gary thanks so much for the recipies. They are great when I can't think of what to make.

Marilyn I pray that things are starting to fall into place with your house and van. I get really miserable when things break down unexpectedlly.

Wilma and dance4joy it is good to hear that your BP is going down. Sometimes all it takes is to lose a few pounds. Keep up the great effort.

Sue it is good to hear that Frankie seems to be recouvering. Reaching out to others is so important in this life.

Everyone have a great day tomorrow and I will try and catch up sometime before the weekend.

Nancy (Have to figure out how to use all the icons)

I haven't been around as have been very busy taking care of things-Frankie passed away on Monday morning at about 3:am. I got woke up and I talked to the Dr. She said He paged the nursed and said He was starving he wanted a sandwich to eat, so they ordered one, and before it came up he went into repiratory arrest. It has been a depressing week, but in truth it really was a God send, as we know He alwyas knows best. Frankie was going to have to start dialysis, and I was really upset about how he was going to cope with haveing to go back and forth to hospital several times aweek. He doesn't have to do that now. Thanks you to all who prayed for him. Then we had to have the county pay for the burial, we have big $1800 from them. So there will be no viewing just a memorial service, and later a service at graveside. So, I have been busy getting pictures together, and all that for the memorial service, which will be tom. night. We keep looking pictures crying, laughing ect. tough week.
Dance for joy- I absolutely loved Alaska- take a coat, if your going anywhere near the glaciers, it is really cold there. But absolutly beautiful
Sprout- Hope you were able to enjoy the skating, and pray that all things start coming together, and that your feeling better as well.
Mavnan- My youth group does a missions trip every year, this year its in New Brunswick. They do singing and skits ect. That play sounds great, very moving. They did a skit about a couple of friends who get killed in a care accident by a drunk driver, one is saved and one is not, because the one friend didn't share Christ. So the angel in white comes for one, and the angel in black for the other, that was a powerful little skit because it is so true, you never know, when you'll be called home.
E.Z. your dinner sounds yummy as usual.Sounds like fun relaxing to some tunes!
Well gotta run, Hi to all MIA's, thanks again for all the prayers. God Bless

Hi Sue

I am so sorry to hear about Frankie. You are in my prayers.

About Alaska... uh oh I don't OWN a coat; never wear one here in Seattle. But I will take something extra to put under my fleece shirt!!

Hi! I thougt I'd send a quick message before heading off to bed. It's been a couple of tiring days and with a new employee starting tomorrow I am going to have to find some more energy.

I wanted to let you know that DS found a temporary job. Temporary is good! It could lead to other jobs. He is on his feet for approx 4 hours and is finding it really hard on his knees. The therapy is working but he still feels pain when he works them too much. He feels so much better about getting out and earning some $$.

Other than that nothing major has been happening around here. I'm still waiting for spring and that could take another month or so.

doitforme: I'm so sorry to hear about Frankie. My condolences.

Nancy: Where in Canada is your youth group from? My son did something like that in high school. Only, instead of doing skits they helped people with home repairs, etc. It was a real stretching experience for him. He still talks about it even after 6 years.

Sprout: It sounds like you're doing great. Looking forward to seeing that ticker move. Mine is going very slowly. I'm starting to get more into exercising. I plan on doing a bit each evening and build up to when I can get outside (without snow!!) and go for long walks.

dance4joy: I would love to go to Alaska. One of these years!!

Gary: That recipe sounds awesome! I must try it. Quiet days once in a while are nice too!! My DH is gone a lot right now driving the ice roads up north so I don't see him too much. I look forward to spring when I get him back again.

Well, I'm starting to nod off so I'll say goodnight.

Sorry it's been forever since I posted...I re-started 1/1/06 with Weight Watchers on my own. Thought I better still stick around for the support. Now as more time passes, I realize I do need it. Miss you all!

It's been a few days. This past weekend, the family went to visit a college for oldest DD. She is still a junior in high school, but we are trying to start early. Wonderful Christian University - Howard Payne University. It is located in the middle of Texas in a small town called Brownwood. A very quaint town nestled beside another quaint town called Early, TX. She loves the idea of a small college (1200-1300 students) They have a very wide range of degree programs for being so small.

Afterwards we went to visit brother-in-law, girlfriend, and neice. That was a pleasant visit. Considering..........we got a call from DS, who stayed home. One of our cats was very sick. He and my father took him to the vet. Ended up he had a severe urinary track infection/blockage. With 1000-2000 dollars they could operate and treat, but there was no guarantee. So DH and I made a heartwrenching decision and gave permission to put to sleep. Never an easy decision.

Wilma That is so great about your DS finding a temp job. Yes, I have in my working life found 2 permanant jobs working on temp jobs that were only supposed to last a few days. It does feel great to be earning again.

Also, way to go on the BP. A triumph to kick the medicine. Prayers for more good BP readings in the future.

Dance4joy So you are making a trip to Alaska. How awesome! I think it would be beautiful. My parents are taking a cruise to Alaska in a couple of months. Wouldn't that be a hoot if you ended up on the same boat. They talked about going in May. Alot depends on how my mom feels. She will have just finished up her radiation treatments.

Doitforme Sorry to hear about your friend Frankie. He is in peace now and whole and healthy again. He was very blessed to have you and Anne in his life. I think many times that "adopted" families can be more special than real families. It sounds like it in your case.

Manvan So exciting about your new house. Prayers that your house will sell at just the right time needed.

My kids are involved in youth group at our church. A play sounds like an awesome way to convey the message of salvation to other teens. I wonder if our youth director has thought of that. They go on mission trips, but usually the traditional kind where they go and build something, but a play would be great. Thanks for the idea.

Marilyn Glad to hear that the First Place Program is working great for you. Our pastor's wife (also named Beth) approached me last week about starting some sort of nutrition/weight management program at our church. I think I am going to do some research on it. I already checked out the other thread. It would also be so much closer to me than my other weekly meetings (TOPS - which is also good).

Gary Yes, it is sad about Kirby Puckett. He was so young. I remember seeing him in person at a Twins game. He had already retired, but was a guest of honor at one of the games.

Thanks for the new recipe. I have gone back and copy and pasted many of the recipes in a word document.

Everyone who is MIA. Come back soon. Prayers for all.

Take care and God Bless.

Oh no Beth, I'm sorry about your cat. *hugsss*

I am doing good the wake is over, we'll bury him in May after the mud season is over. It just happened so fast.
Dance- Thanks! what cruise line are you going on, we went on carnival up and princess back.
Wilma- Thanks! so glad DS found a job and things are looking up for him
Welcome back Jackay, keep posting and let us know how your doing!
Beth- Thanks Sorry to hear about your cat, it is hard losing a pet, My niece is going to a small christian university Cederville in Ohio.
Sprout- So happy to hear the program is working for ya

Prayers to everyone else, God bless!

Hi... We are going on the Sun Princess. My niece is coming out from Missouri and going with me. We are celebrating my birthday (will be during the cruise) and her college graduation. What did you think of Princess?

I decided to change my tracker to show my first goal. That way it doesn't seem like such a daunting task to accomplish. When I finally reach below 200 there will be a huge celebration on my side of town.

Hi everyone! I've been one of the guilty MIA Christian encouragers so it was about time I stopped by.

Things have been CRAZY!!! Over the weekend I went on a law school visit (UNC Chapel Hill). The campus was the most gorgeous thing I've ever seen, the people were fantastic, and I attended the most charming Episcopal church on Sunday, but I'm not convinced that the law school is the right one for me. I'm not ruling it out, but I'm not sure. It was a wonderful trip, in any case! I have another visit coming up on March 24 and a third one on April 3. I have been accepted to six schools now, but I am down to three in my decision-making process.

Then my inlaws were in town for a visit, and we ended up going off to Disney World. Last minute decision. I haven't been in a while, and it was the last chance I (probably) had to go before leaving FL, so it was all good. I rode all my favorite rides, the weather was perfect, and the park wasn't that busy.

And tomorrow I have a big school presentation. It's one of the last major milestones before I defend my PhD thesis (whoa, when did that happen?!) so it's pretty important. At 12:00 (when it should be over) I will be celebrating!

Oh, and my mother broke her arm Fell while trying to open a window. She is doing all right. It's just more incovenient than anything. Luckily she has a lot of people around to help her out.

So that's all from me. I must go catch up on posts now!

Goodnight all!

Had an extremley stressful day today. Youth group arrived (along with my son he hitched a ride cause his college has gone on strike). Things were going well till we heard water running somewhere. When we checked one of the upstairs bathrooms had over flowed and the water was starting to seep through the ceiling below. I couldn't believe this was happening. Tried to mop up the water. Went and rented a carpet cleaner to suck up the water that had gone through the bathroom wall into my bedroom carpet. This helped some. My husband then decided to call the insurance company and they wanted a company to come in a fix the problem. So now I have huge fans in three rooms, plus dehumidifiers running all weekend. They cut a whole in the ceiling in the family room to let the air get at the wood in the floor above to dry it out. All this has to be done quickly so that the carpet and floors don't get any mould in them. Needless to say the house is now off the market till we can get it fixed up again. I just pray that everything is dry by Monday and that it smells alright. Then we have to find someone to repair the drywall in the ceiling. I just can't believe that this is happening right now.