CLICK HERE FOR THOUSANDS OF FREE BLOGGER TEMPLATES »

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Picture time









Tuesday, July 29, 2008


Wrapped in the pages was this moment in time.....

They appeared as mini-superheroes
Through the mother's eyes
Her tired body, slumped in the chair of the coffee house
Weary for the anticipation of the drive
The boy's uncanny ability to breathe life to an inanimate teddy bear dressed in kacky pants and a fishing hat
He actually has a side bag and pockets you can stick your fingers into, the bear, that is
The girl is curious also
She, however, has moved slightly past that age, into another age of beauty
Uncanny, almost, untimely beauty that is too soon for a mother to want to see on her precious baby
The one her mother breast fed only eleven years prior
But here she stands defying time, with bangs dipped, reddish on brown
Porcelain skin, timely fashion, and pink lips money cannot buy
Then there is the eldest daughter, sitting humbly, asking for nothing
Apologetically posed against her seat of disappointment
Trying to not feel too bad for not doing the things her Mother expects of her
Ahhh Mother Expectation
Kin to Father Time?
Perhaps a sister to Mother Superior
Ruler slapping hands not mine
In her heart the mother wants to give her children everything
In her heart the mother cannot give her children everything
It is as though she is the gatekeeper, rationing out gifts
So clearly she saw it, in a dream
The Superhero Mother stance with arms outstretched at her sides
One hand receiving and one hand giving
One hand yielding and one hand open
The traffic controller to the influx
Never too much too fast
For lack of appreciation
Nor too little
For the pain of want
The mother wants, hopes, yearns for a life of goodness and mercy for her children
The mother prays always
For safety and health
The mother teaches gratitude
The mother gifts with love
If only the pages of this comic book drew the end
As happily ever after
The mother could fall asleep a little easier

It occurs to her the answer is in the Gift of Love
That should be showered and not
Rationed
No punch card required for a dose of
Patience, kindness, or encouragement
No waiting til next month for more
The shelves of Super Mothers' heart are always stocked
Especially when her kids are low
Thanks to the Endless Supplier
The Glorious Giver
The Lover of her Soul
Her Father in Heaven
That never counted her wrongs and His disappointment in her

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Happy Anniversary to me!


I cannot believe it is twelve years! Wow. I am so mushy, I have this Barry Manilow, Looks Like we Made It tune running through my mind. We are going to www.theturtlerestaurant.com for dinner tonight. My husband, the terminal foodie. I guess I just wanted to say thanks to all of you that help us in life. Being married is not an easy thing. Being in love and married is awesome.
I recently had a revelation about how I love my husband. I was mad at him and felt like God asked me if I loved my husband. I thought sure I do. Then I felt like He asked if I was "loving him" like this...1 Corinthians 13:1-13 - Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.
I thought, nope.
I am far from the perfect wife, but I try to remember this when I start counting what he does "wrong". Anyway, back to happy, blessings to you all. I hope you all know the kind of love that endures all things.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Memory lane sort of

I have had so many posts that I kept in my head lately. I thought I would take you down memory lane today. This evening Joel and I had dinner with Jennifer Elva and her beloved Tony. I mentioned some unknown super powers I possess. She encouraged me to post a few things.


In 1980, I had a pretty major fascination with Wonder Woman. I think if it were not for the inspiration I would not have won the presidential seal of athletic performance that year. (I WON first place for the fifty yard dash, flexed arm hang, and sit-ups) too bad you can't live off the past forever.

Anyway, I was on the playground, some boys were throwing rocks at me. I. instinctively, lifted my hand and the rocks were deflected off of my wrist. I felt very much empowered, super-powered, maybe even a future wonder woman in training.

Of course this was also the year Roger Moreno asked me to "GO around". The note said, "circle yes or no".
My sweaty hand wanted so badly to say yes. But, I really did not know what that meant. "What did I have to do if I said yes? Is it like getting married or something gross like that?" I slowly circled no. Sigh.

I went home because my corduroys were too tight and my stomach hurt. After my dad picked me up he bought me some fried chicken and I watched cartoons the rest of the afternoon- stomach ache free.

This was also the year, I won the spelling bee, I know Erica and Pam, be jealous. And also wonder how smart the kids were at my school since I am a terminal mispeller.

I wrote a report on the TV show Dallas, I mean who really cared if Sue Ellen was a raging alcoholic and J.R. was having affairs with everyone. It was really good acting. I could figure out how the "Man from Atlantis," got on that show. (If you don't get that one, don't ask).

Anyway. 1980-81 was a good year to be a kid. Except when Reagan was shot.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

What is next?

I can't wait til vacation. I am slotted for the last week before school starts. I am really excited that my cousin has a time share he is going to let me use for the time we are there at a seriously discounted rate. I am planning Orlando, Disneyworld! Universal Studios and fun! I am not sure why I wanted to go so bad, but I am excited that things are looking like they are going to happen. I am working lots of extra shifts to get this paid for. SO I am a little more tired. But hey, that is what vacation is for.

We are planning our family strategy for the fall. Nash Cornerstone, Bella Clyde, Nash Football in Abilene, Bella Soccer. This eats up serious amounts of time! I am nervous about Nash and football. I wish he just wanted to play tennnis or golf. I am going to cry.

Tru blu is working on Fall menus and strategy.
Chef Joel is working on Changing the way kids eat locally and a Food Network possible pilot show. Prayers welcomed.

We are working on how to move forward with our single parent budget. I was standing behind by a single dad in Abilene. He had been raising his kids for five years. His daughter was 6, and son 9. He became a dad at 15 years old. The mom got hooked on drugs and left him. He was talking about how he could not afford for both of them to be involved in something. I tried to tell him that I was not in line behind him by coincidence. I wanted to help him though the funds we had available. He was just "weirded" out. I think he thought I was a creep. I really don't know how to do this. I told him he did not have to do anything for it. He just could not grasp it. Please pray for me to have the ability to offer help without being scary. In the mean time if you guys are hungry around 6:30pm today, come over. Lots of food.

Off to the walk-in today so my house might be a mess, but we will be mostly outside anyway.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Ode to my Uncle Eddie

I think everyone should have had and Uncle Eddie. He was amazing. My uncle Eddie died Saturday night. I am here in South Texas (Mc Allen)getting ready to go to the funeral. I was thinking about his humor, (he even did stand up comedy). At the traditional Catholic Rosary last night they had a slide show of pics. He really was a nut. He could do the Donald Duck voice like no other. Except maybe Donald Duck. He was extremely articulate and intelligent. People usually thought he was a lawyer, just because he was so analytical and logical. Which leads me to another point. He loved Old School Star Trek, I am not sure if he liked Spock for his logic or Jim for his passion, but being who he was I am sure he liked them both. It seems part of their characters were part of his character. He had polio as a child, he married a beautiful lady in 1991, much younger I might add, but they never had children. He had children in his many nieces and nephews. He loved us with a grand love. He always encouraged, always leaned the glory fire of God into us. His goal was to light a candle into our lives. One of insight, passion, life lessons or just pure fun. I know that each and everyone of us has a story about Eddie. A joke he told, a first concert, the teaching of a the first chords on guitar. I like the example of that one. Uncle Eddie taught my brother his first few chords on guitar. My brother Matt does not make a living playing guitar, but the compositons that have stemmed from the inspiration will last a lifetime. I predict that some of Matt's Flamenco style guitar will be studied for its form. To me this is an example of the glory of God being in a persons live that honors another life with what they know. Eddie knew relationship. Son, brother, father to Aaron by choice, uncle, cousin, nephew, friend, co-worker, husband, but there were others, Eddie the philosopher, writer, poet, dj,comedian, inspirer, musician, worshipper of God. Multiple intelligences is what a personality test would reveal. But words cannot capture the man. I thank God for the experience of being loved and influenced in becoming the person that I am, in part to my Uncle Eddie. I love you. I will miss you.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Ready, Set, GLOB

I guess I have sort of felt like the opposite of BLOG. So my absence perpetuated the lull. SO to nullify the lullaby, I hereby update.
Joel went to the Grand Canyon with Aaron. It was the best long trip-away from the family without any mishaps ever. Joel did leave me a present. TWO parties to cater. BACKtoBACK! If it were not for my old faithfuls, ERICA, JAMAL, and the lovely AMANDA. I could not have made it. Well, maybe I could have painfully, gouging my eyes out made it.
Anyway, he came back a man that could not complain about TEXAS HEAT. Having experienced his own personal hell. I don't think hell has a 53 degree river/creek in which to cool off, or a waterfall in which to gaze at the beauty of God's creation. I hope hell does not have any of my friends there either. This includes you Aaron.
The garden is in full swing, as are other bloggers in the network. We have some gorgemousginormas sunflowers, some going to seed. I will post pics soon. Joel says we will grow hundreds of sunflowers next year. We do not have near the production level we need to survive the possible impending doom many predict for the next four years.
We harvested organic/pesticide free corn ( a little starchy), lots of okra, Salmonella free toms of varying types, some golden beets, lots of lettuce that has now gone to seed. Fennel, Basil, Lavender, Rosemary, Oregano, Cilantro, no dill. Lemon cucumbers. I have a couple of cantaloupe, watermelon, strawberries(low yield first year), asparagus( low yield first year). Got lots of new plants just for pretty sake.

Mia came for a visit. It was sweet to see my big girl carry herself with confidence, but come home cause she missed me.

I am liking my newer job, I have had it two months now. I am working for three family doctors part-time, covering vacations for them. It is good. I am free, have less expendable cash, no benefits at this time, but it is better than working so stressed that I need to use my benefits.

I am going to highlight health point of the month. WEAR SUNSCREEN! Malignant Melanoma is real. My Brother in Law is 39 years old. He is a STAGE 4, in Liver and Brain. Pray for my him, my sister and their family.

All you beautiful fair skinned people. Listen up. The ABCDE's of skin screening are as follows:
Asymmetry: If you were to fold your mole in half would it line up?
Borders: Are the Borders of the Lesion irregular?
Color: Are there more than 1 to 2 colors in your mole/skin lesion?
Diameter: Is it greater than five millimeters in size?
Evolving: Are there new lesions or moles next to it? Has it been changing, itching or bugging you?

Call your doctor or nurse practitioner and make an appointment!

I do not want to steal Erica's thunder, but my kids are going to be in a play next Thursday that Erica is directing, I will let her fill you in on the details, Fran's kids are involved also. I am going to have to have it filmed, because I work Thursdays, If we are slow I might try to get out to go watch. Insert small hopeful prayer here.

Joel is brewing up some serious stuff in regards to farm to table in our community. I am really excited for all of us. I might let him guest blog to fill you in. He is such a talker I might have to film it and post a video blog with real live interactions. I would like to do a documentary on the transformation of a school district before good food and after. We have dubbed the next generation, a really cool term. I can't tell you all of the stuff, but, my husband is sooo cool.

I am applying for a legislative intern position in Austin, 1-2 days a week from January through May. This may not seem like much to you, but it is so awesome. I used to want to be a lawyer, but I am not. SO this would be way cool to learn to read legislation and lobby for the rights of NPs in Texas. I WOULD LOVE, love, love it! Insert another prayer here.

I would say something about our fundraiser, but I don't want to . God taught me a lot about obedience through that situation. All I can do is apologize to all of you that read and say that I hope what we did to raise money for single parents was not divisive or offensive. I pray that you would forgive us if we offended you. We offended ourselves and will try harder to move when God says move. What happened was not our initial concept, yet it was blessed financially. We believe God did not empower those he wanted to empower through this. I believe He will redeem it.
If you would like to be part of how funds are invested in single parents, please call us. We would love to have anyone involved that feels called to be part of what we are doing. Everyone except Fran. By the way, my relaxation techniques will require you to get a babysitter and us to go to lunch or dinner and talk.

I guess that is all for now. Peace out.