Paul Harvey, good night...

If you have scanned the radio lately, you know there's precious little out there that's truly entertaining or thought-provoking. Sadly, radio is missing a legend today as Paul Harvey as left this world at age 90. It seems that I can't help but think... now he knows the rest of the story...

Goodnight, Paul Harvey...

the "Eye of God"

I ran across THIS today...what awesome photographs! It made me hum one of my favorite songs...

Lord of all creation,

of water, earth, and sky,

The heavens are your tabernacle,

Glory to the Lord on High!

God of wonders beyond our galaxy -

You are Holy, Holy!

The universe declares your majesty -

You are Holy, Holy!

Lord of Heaven and Earth!

Lord of Heaven and Earth!

Early in the morning, I will celebrate the light.

And when I stumble in the darkness, I will call your

name by night!

God of wonders beyond our galaxy -

You are Holy! Holy!

The universe declares your majesty!

You are Holy! Holy!

Lord of Heaven and Earth!

Lord of Heaven and Earth!

Hallelujah to the Lord of Heaven and Earth!

Bye-Bye Baby!

Baby Makhiah's mommy achieved her goals at TWH, so they returned home to their family on Tuesday. Monday evening we had friends over to the house for a Cupcake Party to say goodbye to Makhiah and Kiara. Baby had her first expierence with cupcakes...at first she didn't know what to think exactly, but before the night was over, she was a big fan of the treats! Oh! How sweet!

Here's to my blonde sisters everywhere!

Thanks to my good friend...let's just call her "The Weezle"... I got a good laugh today!

Hope you enjoy...

The very first ever Blonde GUY joke!

An Irishman, a Mexican, and a Blonde Guy were doing construction work on scaffolding on the 20th floor of a building.

They were eating lunch and the Irishman said, 'Corned beef and cabbage! If I get corned beef and cabbage one more time for lunch, I'm going to jump off this building.'

The Mexican opened his lunch box and exclaimed, 'Burritos again! If I get burritos one more time I'm going to jump off, too.'

The blonde opened his lunch and said, 'Bologna again! If I get a bologna sandwich one more time, I'm jumping too.'

The next day, the Irishman opened his lunch box, saw corned beef and cabbage, and jumped to his death.

The Mexican opened his lunch, saw a burrito, and jumped, too.

The blonde guy opened his lunch, saw the bologna and jumped to his death as well.

At the joint funeral, the Irishman's wife was weeping. She said, 'If I'd known how really tired he was of corned beef and cabbage, I never would have given it to him again!'

The Mexican's wife also wept and said, 'I could have given him tacos or enchiladas! I didn't realize he hated burritos so much.'

Everyone turned and stared at the blonde's wife. The blonde's wife said,
'Don't look at me. He makes his own lunch.'

Some girls are "purse girls" and some are not.

I am a "purse girl". I always carry a purse wherever I go. The bigger, the better. I have important things in there. Sometimes there's a little cash, sometimes. But then there's the lipstick and the nail file. Gum. Hand lotion. Keys. Spare keys. Pens and pins....safety pins, bobby pins. Quarters, dimes, and nickles that fall to the bottom of the purse (it adds up over time, you know!).

Just last week, I was in the waiting room at the doctor's office when a little pre-school age boy named Seth was driving me crazy running all over that waiting room. Loud. Oh my goodness was he loud! A light bulb flashed in my brain when I remembered my purse. I reached in and pulled out a secret weapon...a Hotwheels Camaro. Hey Seth...look at this. Seth took the car and retreated from my nerves for a little while.

Don't ask me why I had a Hotwheels in my purse. I just did. I'm glad I did, though. My purse is pretty valuable to me.

I remember a time when someone tried to steal my purse. I was in the library at college. I rode up the elevator with two gentlemen. No big deal. I walked to one of the little study-cubicles-built-for-one and left my books and my purse. I walked away just a short distance to a shelf where I needed to get a book. One of the elevator-guys came up to me and asked for help locating a book. For a second, I fell for it. They're trying to steal my purse I thought to myself. I pointed him in the right direction and dashed back to the cubicle, found his partner-in-crime reaching out, palm down, fingers fully splayed, with his hand only inches from my purse. Hey! What are you doing? That's mine!

"Oh, I'm sorry," he said as he walked away quickly.

I stood there stunned for a minute. Then I got mad. I went looking for the dudes... like my big, bad self was going to do something about it. Never found them. Shocker, shocker, right?

It was rather stupid of me to just leave my purse right there unattended, I know, but that was my purse, my life. Someone tried to steal it! The nerve! How rude!

That reminds me....

There really is an Enemy out there whose goal is to kill, steal, and destroy my life. Your life. Your children's lives. He desires to destroy any treasures that we store up here on earth and as well as prevent any efforts we might make to store up treasures in Heaven.

How does he do it? Like I know..., but I have a sneaky suspicion that he's sneaky about it. I suspect that he might distract me at the bookshelf with one thief while another thief snatches my purse, i.e., my life.

Let's all cherish the blessings of our lives, protect them, and not neglect them. Let's all be wise to those things that distract us, the things that destroy our lives, and the things that can destroy our families. Let's fight hard against the things that lead us away from Christ and the things that bring dishonor to the very name of Jesus.

Beware of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, for these things will bring us down every time. Greed. Selfishness. Gossip. Unforgiveness. Bitterness. Addiction. Impatience. Apathy.

I don't know about you, but my purse life is full of good things. God has blessed me with more Hotwheels than I even know, and I don't want the Enemy to take what God has given me. I would rather give my Hotwheels to little Seth, bless his heart...

I know I'm simple, but...

Sometimes I just can't believe that there are people out there who actually spend their time reading my thoughts. I mean, seriously...sometimes my posts are just lame. I know.

I will confess that about most things, I am rather simple. This is precisely why I steer clear of writing too much about my political preferences. I have my thoughts and opinions, typically very conservative, but I just don't really feel informed enough to just put it all out there.

I just have one thought-slash-question about our current political-elephant-in-the-room...

What exactly does the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 mandate? I mean, really? I've googled it. I've Fox'ed it. I've CNN'd it. There are many summaries out there, lots of opinions...haters and lovers. But I can't find an actual copy. What am I missing here?

THIS is about the closest thing I can find to actually learning exactly what is going on here. 1588 pages???? Seriously??? My Chronological Bible has about 1600 pages in it, and this includes the introductory info and indexes in the end. The Bible!!! God's story from eternity to eternity!!! Is this piece of legislation really that deep?

Is is just me, but for some reason, I have a sneaky suspicion that nobody has read it. Probably not even President Obama himself! Can his blackberry even contain nearly 1600 pages of data? By the looks of the Dem vs. GOP voting record for this bill, the congressmen had a clearly laid out plan for voting, so I suspect their time has not been spent pouring over the details of this huge bill but rather yukking it up with their cronies, plotting and planning their united (or maybe ununited is more appropriate) front for voting day.

Today on the Rick & Bubba Show, I heard a discussion of some of the projects which could possibly be funded by this Act. You can review some of the projects HERE , then evidently, you can cast a vote for each project as to whether or not you believe this project to be critical in regards to the needs of the people and the effect the project will have on our economy. There are some doosies listed, let me tell you.

Even this "StimulusWatch" website is incredibly overwhelming and difficult to understand. I have a Master's degree, for Heaven's sake. I've read more scientific research articles in my time than I care to recall, but I can't comprehend what I'm reading on this site.

PLUS...who on earth does anything with my "StimulusWatch" vote. That vote seems meaningless to me...almost as if the government has put this "transparent" website out there to appease me, to make me feel as if my voice is being heard, to make me feel as if I am "in the know" of what's happening with our tax dollars... I don't mean to sound paranoid, but...

I'm recalling the days of working in long-term-care when we would allow our little old Alzheimer's ladies to sort socks and fold dish towels...little did they know that they were sorting the same half-dozen pair of socks over and over...but they were appeased. That's sad and cold, I know, but it's true....and that's exactly how I feel when I try to educate myself about this new law.

Here are some suggestions, America...

• Do not put your hope in a piece of legislation


• Live within your means


• Teach your children the meaning of a strong work ethic


• Utilize government entitlement programs only when necessary, for the shortest period of time necessary rather than generationally


• Families, take care of your family members


• Stop with the frivolous lawsuits


• Humble yourself


• Pray


• Repent


• Seek Christ

...maybe easier said than done...

holy crap, Marie!

Sometimes you meet someone and they just "get you".

That's how it was from the time we met. My friend Jennifer and me, that is. We both used to work at Jackson County Nursing Home, and we just clicked from day one. During my first week at work, we went to lunch at yummy Kim San (Chinese, yum), and I remember clearly responding to something she said with "Holy Crap, Marie!" Well, she just laughed and laughed at my reference to Frank and Marie Barone from Everybody Loves Raymond. From that day forward, she has been the nosey "Marie" and I have been the crabby "Frank".

We've both moved on from JCNH, but we very much stay in touch. She's busy with hubby, kids, and working as an occupational therapist, but she's never too busy to shoot a random 'sup Frank? text message my way! I will usually respond with something like bout to pull my hair out Marie!

Marie is a cancer survivor. In fact, she celebrated her 5 year cancer-free milestone last June. She was so supportive and encouraging of me when I had my little bout with cancer, and I am so, so thankful to have had my Marie!

It appears that the ugly c _ _ _ _ _ has reared its ugly head in her life again recently. We are both mad as fire (Imagine the southern slang "far," please, rather than "fire" if you want to get the full effect of exactly how angry we are!). I just want to punch somebody and scream #%*!!^$@#!!!!! But the good thing is, I know my Marie is a strong woman with strong faith, she has a very supportive family, and a fantastic life. She's beaten worse than this before!

I feel strongly in my heart that Marie is going to be just fine. I just know.

On a lighter note... I had lunch with my Marie today. As a toast to a good lunch with a good friend, I think we should all enjoy a little Frank & Marie Barone...listen for Frank's signature line!!!

Erica Turns 20

Erica turned 20 on Saturday! Like the go-getter that she is, she worked her shift at Ole Tymer's Blues and Barbeque. After work, good friends from church, Kim and Garry, came over for birthday burgers and cupcakes. Garry brought his rockin' karaoke rig...complete with more songs than you can imagine, huge-I-don't-know-how-many-amplifiers, and 4 wireless microphones. Way to go, Garry! Arabian and Erica had a blast! What a fun birthday party!

Two Thumbs Up for "Jukebox Diner"

Friday evening I attended the annual dinner theatre of the DeKalb County Children's Advocacy Center. This year, the play "Jukebox Diner" starred my very good friend and hero Stephanie McFall. I always tell Stephanie that she is a modern Lucille Ball, and on Friday she once again sparkled on stage like the beautiful star that she is!

The play was full of lively characters, witty one-liners, and..get this...humorous "sight gag" (Stephanie taught me that theatrical term!). Ultimately, however, if you so chose to look for a deeper theme in the play, the question was examined of whether or not happiness and contentment in life is a choice.

Can a person simply choose be happy and content in life?

Do our circumstances not highly influences our happiness?

What do we do with the mundane circumstances of everyday life?

What if we are not born into privilege?

Must we pursue happiness?

I think maybe the operative word here is happiness. In my opinion, happiness comes and goes. Those irritations in life we experience day in and out may indeed affect our happiness. For example, I WAS NOT happy to wake up this morning to discover that an animal had gotten in our big garbage can outside. I WAS NOT happy in the least while I picked up the empty ketchup bottle, last night's supper scraps, and dirty poop diapers that were scattered in the yard. I was content in knowing, however, that this is my job, this is life, and sometimes a stray dog gets in my garbage.

It was a choice to be content, not allowing the irritation to ruin my whole day. It was human nature to be unhappy when I saw the garbage all over the yard.

Unfortunately, bigger irritations than stray dogs in our garbage cans do come along in life. Frequently. If we are human, we most likely won't be too happy about it when the irritations come, but we can make a choice to be content.

Happiness is peripheral, contentment is central.

On the flip side, sometimes we can be completely happy with our circumstances...life can appear to be good with minimal irritations, finances are good, work is good, it's all good. But centrally, way deep down, there is discontentment. An emptiness. An ache. An itch that just must be scratched.

That's the place that only Jesus Christ can reside. He is contentment. Sometimes He moves us to another place to fill that space. Sometimes He asks us to walk away from habits or relationships so that He can fill that empty place with Himself. Sometimes He brings us to our knees. Sometimes He takes us high upon the mountaintop. Sometimes He shows us something in His Word to bring contentment. He does anything He wants to do...He's God.

Are you happy today?

More importantly, are you content today?

Could Jesus have a nickname?

Just for tomorrow ...Valentine...:)

Today I heard a news story on the radio about this elderly Chinese woman who had been released from a prison where she had completed a 2-year sentence. Evidently she had been imprisoned and tortured because of her Christianity.

I just had one of those moments where I wanted to hang my head in shame.

When I'm down in the dumps, in order to soothe my selfish-self, I say to myself somewhere in the world today, someone lost their job, OR somewhere in the world today, someone lost a child, OR somewhere in the world someone was given a terminal diagnosis today, OR somewhere in the world today, someone....

Today, I was reminded that somewhere, no actually it's MANY PLACES in the world, people are being tortured for the sake of Jesus Christ.

There are bigger things in life than diets and exercise. There are bigger things in life than Democrats vs. Republicans. There are more important issues than the cover of Vogue Magazine.

God bless you, little Chinese lady. May you sleep well tonight.

Biggest Loser Night!

Tonight is Biggest Loser night. It's the one show I don't miss. In case you are unfamiliar with the show...it's a reality show featuring two personal trainers (Bob and Jillian) who have a team of very overweight contestants, living on the "Biggest Loser Ranch", all competing to lose weight for a financial grand prize. Every week, one person gets voted off the show until eventually one person is left, thus "The Biggest Loser".

The show has everything you need in a good reality show...drama, cat-fights, competition, sweat, and tears... Unfortunately, it's not always exactly Christian. If you watch the clip from the show below, you will see what I mean. Sorry, folks, for all the bleeps, but I just love this clip.

In my pursuit of better health, sometimes I just feel like dumb ole Joelle. Excuses, excuses, talking, talking. I don't think Jesus would be particularly happy with Bob's choice of language, but maybe He would support Bob in his telling of the cold, hard truth to this gal.

Today I took a good long walk with friends Jerry and Shelli, a.k.a Bob and Jillian. Just so you know, they didn't yell at me. In fact, they were very encouraging. Unfortunately, I have some ugly blisters on my feet after a workout with them...but I'm not complaining, Bob, really I'm not.

Anybody have some band-aids???

Thanks alot, Facebook...

Please tell me this is not a prophecy of things to come...

Why, oh why, did I even click on this little test to begin with?

I was invited to take the Which Andy Griffith Show Character Are You quiz on Facebook. Mindlessly, I clicked on the quiz and answered the questions.

Which character on The Andy Griffith Show do I most resemble???

You guessed it...

Aunt Bea.

...oh good grief...

Why can't I be Helen?

Maybe there's a reason Brother's kid's call me "The".

step aside, Globetrotters!

I wish that i knew how to attach sound to my blog posts. I will work on that....but in meantime, just whistle the Globetrotter's themesong, Sweet Georgia Brown, while you read this post.

Saturday I watched my nephews Jaxson (4th grade) and Grayson (3rd grade) play some basketball. I know I might be a little biased in this matter, but these little guys are quite the little athletes. Grayson is the steady and controlled Point Man and Jaxson is a rebounding maniac at Post. I shouldn't fail to mention that they have a fantastic coach who I call Brother.

Early in the 4th period, Jaxson jumped head and shoulders above the rest to get the ball. The next thing I knew, some little kid got his feet all tangled up with Jaxson's, Jaxson fell backward, and he hit his head on the gym floor. It echoed throughout the gym like thunder, and you could just hear the whole crowd inhale. I just knew that little guy had cracked open his skull. It took him a second to get up, but he did get up.... with a big goose egg on his noggin.

I talked to Brother yesterday, and he said Jaxson is doing just fine now!

HEART for Women

Today is National Wear Red Day. Oops...I guess I missed it.

But tomorrow is the Throbbing Heart 5K Run/Walk at Goosepond in Scottsboro. I plan to participate, so perhaps I am doing my part to decrease the risk of heart disease in my life as well as in the lives of many others. My cousins Ashleigh and Chris are coming from Culman to participate, too, and I can't wait to see them.

Untreated heart disease in women is a very real problem. I believe to my very core that my mother had a heart attack that was undiagnosed...one week later she had another one that she did not survive.

Did you know...

• Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women and stroke is the No. 3 killer of women. Heart attack, stroke and other cardiovascular diseases kill more women than the next five causes of death combined


• Since 1979, the death rate for heart disease in men has declined by more than 17 percent, but the death rate for women has declined by only 2.5 percent over this same period


• More than 90 percent of primary care physicians don’t know that heart disease kills more women each year than men.


• Women are less likely than men to receive certain diagnostic testing and treatments, such as angioplasties and stents, for cardiovascular diseases.


• Drug and medical device effectiveness may differ in women and men, yet doctors and researchers often don’t know how safe and effective a particular medicine or device is for women.

You can help. Read more about the HEART for Women Act (Heart Disease Education, Analysis and Research, and Treatment Act) which has already been passed in the US House of Representatives and will be presented in the Senate this month. You can send a letter to your congressman directly from HERE. Just fill out your information in the section on the right side of the page, and the American Heart Association will send the letter for you! It's that easy!

My Birthday Wish: Lurkers Come Into the Light!

I have a great host of friends and family who "lurke" around on my blog all the time. I suppose to "lurke" means to frequently visit the blogspot without commenting. Now, let's be clear, I'm thankful, honored, and quite frankly, I'm SHOCKED, that anyone would spend their time reading my thoughts. So after today, lurke away!

But just for today, would you humor me with some comments, please???

Attention All Lurkers!!! Now is the time to Come Into The Light!!!

Uncle Jack, this includes you too!!!

I would like to wish a happy birthday to Rita at The Jungle Hut... the inspiration for today's post. She has an interesting blog that you might enjoy!

***********************************

UPDATE:

I have seen the light....I have a great host of friends and family who are stubborn Lurkers to the bone! But that's ok...that's your business!!! LOL :)

Thirty-Five

I never write about my good friend and boss, Alice.

She went and made me mad today, so I must vent.

It's the day before my birthday...the big THREE-FIVE, and I was weepy about it.

Don't ask why. I just was.

Alice, who is the big TWO-NINE, says to me, "Well, at least you're not fifty-three."

It will be your turn soon enough, Alice.

I then told my boss to shut up.

Not nice.

Really, that was not smart.

She did not write me up. Thank heavens she has a sense of humor.

To celebrate, I will write 35 reasons I'm thankful in my 35th year...

1. I will be 3 years cancer-free! Yipee!
2. I have almost no gray hairs....thanks to my good and beautician friend Quetta
3. My car is paid-for!
4. I have a job I love....most days.
5. All my senses are fully functioning...sight, taste, touch, smell, hearing.
6. I can read and write.
7. Music. I'm so thankful for music.
8. I have cute dogs.
9. I have cute nieces and nephews.
10. I have a lot of cute shoes and purses.
11. Hey, I'm cute.
12. I had 32 years with a Mom who loved me.
13. I've still got a dad who loves me.
14. Big Brother. He takes care of me.
15. I have a good memory.
16. I have a fantastic church.
17. My mattress is sooooo comfortable.
18. Our pantry is full.
19. Our deep-freeze is full.
20. I think my acne-days are over.
21. I have good teeth. There's nothing like a problem-grill!
22. People actually read my blog.
23. I'm a GRIT (aka Girl Raised In the South)...the best place on earth.
24. I will run (or at least run/walk) the Turkey Trot in November....everybody keep your fingers crossed on that one!
25. I have a personal Mouse Wrestler...everyone should review that post just for fun!
26. I have a great pair of running/walking shoes.
27. Chocolate. Enough said.
28. Grace
29. Mercy
30. Forgiveness
31. Spiritual blessings
32. Eternal Security
33. The WAY
34. The TRUTH
35. The LIFE

...made you smile!

Today somebody told me about this blond girl who heard the news reporter announce that 2 Brazilian men were killed in an explosion today.

"Wow!" she said. "How many people was that???"

:)

Great Party!

Saturday evening was a fun party to celebrate the marriage of my dad and his new wife Kathy. Unfortunately, I did not even get a good picture of the happy couple, but you can see their wedding pictures HERE.

The reception was held at Macedonia Baptist Church in Crossville. There were about 100 friends and family in attendance. What a great party!