Joshua Update and Drive Through Money Making Opportunity

Joshua made the trip. He called me last night and was IRRITATED at me because I made him tense for the trip. He told me that the trip was easy, the highways were clear and nothing like what I had envisioned. He further stated that old beat up cars were zooming around him. What he is not realizing is that those road conditions were an answer to prayer. A lot of prayer.... from a lot of people. Thank you God. So don't get snappy at me..... I just prayed you a great trip.

Last night at work we got hungry and the only thing open at 2am is Burger King. I went to get three meals for the staff. First of all you must understand that they only will take one order at a time if you are paying separately. I have learned my lesson from past trips so I made my first order drove up to pick it up and told her that I was going to be driving around 2 more times. She kindly told me that since no one was behind me she would break the rules and take the new orders at the window. I paid with a credit card for one order and for mine I gave her cash. She handed me my ticket and somehow my change flew out of her hand hit my car and fell to the ground. I had to pull up and away from the window and get out and locate my 63 cents amid the muck on the ground. I hit a bonanza. I found over $1.50 extra that was not mired in dropped milkshake, food and gra-dou(that is nasty stuff that has no identifiable markers). Being in the Christmas Spirit and since she did give me my three orders without me wasting my gas, I gave her the somewhat sticky money as a tip. She was happy and I had an idea. I am going to hit the open-all-night drive thru places and check the place just below the pay window. My problem is how to get the money without being seen. I may have to contract the job out to a child or a short person because I can't squat and walk anymore and God knows I am not going to crawl thru that mess. I may need to start carrying gloves with me. I know!!!! I'll just drop my change myself and then get out and pick up all that loose silver!!!!

Remember despite how great the roads are up north, please pray for the safe return of my son.

Josh In Iowa for Christmas

It's Christmas time again and my favorite time of the year. Joshua is off for his trip to Iowa to visit dad Steve in Decorah. It's snowing. Bad. I am of course the panicky-worrywart-anxious mom. I even wrote Steve about the trip maybe being dangerous when I got a call from my sister, a fellow Iowan telling me the roads were horrible. Steve assured me that while there was snow it was safe with precautions(not his exact words)I was discussing this with my friend and remembered that I never let Joshua go anywhere at Christmas because that was MY HOLIDAY. I informed her that I felt that I had really grown up about the whole issue. She looked at me and said...... cripes he is 31 years old, don't you think he can go where he wants to when he wants to??? Well that took the air out of my self-congratulatory balloon. Yes my baby is 31 and he can go where and when he wants. What I wish is that nauseated worry feeling would abate with both my kids aging. I don't want to be one of those moms that everyone talks about but I think I am. I am the natural worrier. I packed 2 sleeping bags in the car for him just in case. He has water, snacks, his phone, presents for Steve and Peggy and his first niece. I made sure that the insurance cards for the car and his health were in the right place. I prayed over the car, sent a text message with a prayer to him, and I have covered him with angels. I HAVE to let my kids grow up and run their own lives without my interference. I keep thinking that I have and then I worry. A lot. As I recall my mother worried too. Maybe it's a genetic anomaly and then when my two have kids they will worry too. What justice. I don't sleep well when my chickens aren't near the roost but that is why they created benadryl and if that fails, Dalmane or wine, or champagne or whatever. I can only do what is the most important and that is turn them over to God and try to let him handle the situation without my interference. So here it is.... God you take care of my boy and my girl and my new son-in-law in all their daily travels. You bring them home safe and while they are gone make them an example of your love and allow them to help others in your name. AMEN

Snow and My Birthday

Stan took me out for a belated birthday dinner and I made a grand entrance at Blackberry's Restaurant. Blackberry's is located at the casino in Opelousas and is a great place to eat. Thank God that Wednesday is slow and only one other couple was dining because I fell into the restaurant. I tripped and went head first onto the floor. I know the staff was figuring that I was going to sue... believe me if I could have gotten out of there I would have but I couldn't get up off the floor. BWS: Beached Whale Syndrome is the hazard of being overweight. With the help of multiple people I was able to get off the floor, reassure the staff that I wasn't going to sue and go about my birthday dinner.
I had various aches and pains during the night and awoke early. Stan came out to walk Elizabeth and called to me. Sometime during the night snow had fallen and was still coming down. We had about an inch: our entire lawn was covered, the cars were covered, the tree limbs were covered. It was a winter wonderland and I was in awe... for about 30 seconds before it hit me that I was in Louisiana and I really hate being cold. I really lost it's appeal quickly. I slowly moved my aching body inside and sat in my recliner and covered with a blanket. As bad as I cannot stand to be cold my thoughts turned to my childhood and remember that magical moment when I looked outside and saw the first snowfall of the season. It was so white and soft looking and it sparkled. I remember going outside dressed from head to foot in snow gear to keep me warm only to throw myself in the stuff and make an angel. I remember opening my mouth for the first cold taste of clean snow. I remember snow men, snow balls, hot chocolate with marshmallows, ice skating at Westgate Park, the crunch of the snow when I walked and chains for our tires. I remember just how hot my face was when I came in from the cold. Most of all I remember hoping and praying that it would snow for Christmas. By afternoon there wasn't a hint of the snow anywhere to be found except on my camera phone. Do I miss the snow? No. I would like to visit it sometime but don't ever relish living with it for the winter months. My memories are good enough and they keep me warm.

Grandma Memory: Where's my Floor

Gosh it was fun writing about the snoring and while I was driving home this morning I remembered another funny incident with my mom. I was 15 or 16 and we didn't have a lot of money and certainly not enough to redo the ancient flooring in the kitchen. The floor was an old linoleum dated back in the 50's and it was yellowed and cracked in places. In the cracked places a wide planked wooden floor peeked thru. I got the brilliant idea to redo the floor by myself as a surprise to mom. I had it all planned out, after she went to bed I would stay up and remove the old floor, wash the wooden one and throw a spot of wax on it and the next morning she would be thrilled. I mean how hard could it be... the old floor was just lifting up by itself. Mom went to bed and I started in and discovered a problem about 2 feet into the removal. The old linoleum was affixed to the floor with a black tar like substance with the consistency of cement. I had a knife and a wall paper scraper. When I realized the problem I couldn't go back because the old linoleum broke apart as I lifted it up. I continued on hacking and scraping thru the night. My hands were a mess but I had broken piles of linoleum everywhere and managed to get them out of the house. I made very little headway on the black tar like substance and I cannot describe just how awful the kitchen looked, it was already morning and she was up. We had the old kind of coffee pot, a drip type, and I made coffee for her and sat myself at the kitchen table awaiting my fate. She came down stairs and walked into the kitchen, said good morning and went to get her coffee. She poured a cup at the stove and I can still see her beginning to drink when she just stopped and stared straight ahead. She looked down and said Oh my God someone stole my kitchen floor By this time I was weeping and she repeated Debbie someone took my floor Her tone of voice was shocked puzzlement. For that moment she really thought someone had come in and taken the whole floor. When I tell you it was a bizarre moment I kid you not. She finally realized I was crying and asked me what was wrong. Thru the hiccups, runny nose and tears I told her what I had wanted to do and showed her my hands and continued to cry. Man she was unflappable. She just hugged me and told me it was all right that she would fix it. We ended up having to have it sanded off and sure enough under the tar was the floor that I had seen in my imagination. My mom ranked right up there with the best, snoring and all. She appreciated the 'gift' for what it was and never held against me the mess that I had created. I miss her.

Memories: Grandma's Snoring and The Big Pin

Seeing as how this is my blog and I get to write what I want I have decided to occasionally start putting in memories of events that were special to me. So I will begin with Grandma and her snoring. My mom was a world class snorer. She has sleep apnea and would snore and sputter and gasp her way thru the night. She could be heard thru out the house and if you didn't get to sleep first it would keep you up for a time. Now all of us girls took turns in sleeping with her. She had the big bed and it was comforting to get to sleep next to mom... except that she snored. She was nudged, poked, prodded and awakened to stop the constant noise. We could have slept in our own rooms but the noise wasn't that much less. I read one day in a self help column(Dear Abby or Ann Landers) that you should pinch or stick the offender with something sharp. Made sense. I must have been at least 14-15 because I remember being very cocky(hard to visualize, huh) and the night I got to sleep with mom I went armed. My mother, God rest her loving soul, did not cuss. Ever. She would not tolerate anyone using our Lord's name in vain. When the snoring commenced she was on her left side and I took my weapon, a pin, and stuck her in the butt. She leaped out of bed screaming Jesus Christ something just bit me in the ass!!!
I leaped out the other side of the bed and stood there with my hip cocked and my hand on said hip with the pin in my other hand. Mom turned on the light on about the time I said (can you believe I was this stupid?) I did it, I stuck you with a pin to make you quit snoring. She slowly turned and looked at me... her face was purple but she quietly asked What did you say? Like a fool I repeated myself. She was furious... but her voice was quiet and oh so controlled and she informed me that this was her house, her room and her bed and if I didn't like what I heard I could return to my own room. That memory is so vivid but it stops there. I know she didn't beat me and I don't remember if I told her I was sorry and I also don't remember where I slept that night. I was undoubtedly traumatized from hearing her curse and from the overall lack of sleep. Folks, my mom was a saint.

Black Friday and the Shopping Frenzy

I have never, ever gone shopping on the day after Thanksgiving. I don't like going to the mall in the first place because of the daily crowds and never could get into the idea of shopping on the biggest sale day of the year. I am normally at work on Thanksgiving so honestly I have never had the opportunity to partake in the shopping event even if I wanted to. Here I was OFF on Thanksgiving and I developed the desire to see what the hoopla was all about. I woke up at 2am... I am a night person thru and thru.. and by 4am I was getting excited at the prospect of hitting the sales. I woke Stan to see if he wanted to go and we were dressed and out the door by 4:30am. Going to the mall we passed Walmart and the lot was full with people still in the drive trying to get in. It looked like sharks in a feeding frenzy. I kept saying to Stan how excited I was to finally take part in this yearly event. He was not nearly as excited. The mall was not busy and we went into Macy's first. My excitement dwindled as I expected to see massive discounts that were not in evidence. I had no plan exactly I just wanted to be hit by the 'buy-me' buzz that accompanies big discounts. We went up to housewares and I felt I HAD to buy something because I did come out after all. I bought myself a Tassimo single cup coffee maker that I had wanted. I saved 10 bucks and I had a tiny zing on the excitement scale but it didn't last. I wandered around but really nothing appealed to me. We went into Sears and there I purchased a toaster, two hand towels, a cookie sheet, and some cooking utensils for non-stick cookware. Apparently my zing-ometer was dead. I found myself bored and wanting to leave as I was waiting to pay for my purchases. The highlight of the shopping trip was standing in the pay line when we struck up a conversation with a gentleman from Canada. He moved to our area when he was recruited by Stullers. We discussed what a great company that was and moved on to the wonderfulness of Lafayette and Louisiana as a whole. To that nice gentleman's wife: you are getting a fabulous mixer and an electric grill. However the absolute best gift of all is that your husband loves you dearly and thinks that the sun rises because of you AND he is not above telling strangers what a wonderful woman you are!!! I got a great ZING out of that!!!! My overall disappointment at the sales was over shadowed by my meeting Mr. 'Canada' and hearing about his wife. I left the mall to go home feeling pretty good about the trip even though the gift buying was a bust(except what I bought for me)
Will I go again next year???..ummm no, probably not, unless I have a great shopping plan or wish to exchange airborn bacteria with the vast mulittudes looking for a bargain.

Thanksgiving 2008

Thanksgiving at the Garrards was a wonderful event. It represented the first 'family' get-together after the wedding and it was a combined effort of Shane, Becky, Benny Frances, Stanley and me.
Benny fried the turkey and for those of you who have never had a fried turkey you just don't know what you are missing. It cooks in one hour and it melts in your mouth. Becky used her new china to set a lovely table and prepared a pumpkin soup. The flavors burst in your mouth according to Benny and he was right. It was fabulous.We started with the soup then filled our plates with casseroles and topped the meal off with Pecan pie prepared by Frances.

As noted in the next three pictures, the men ate and settled back to watch the game.This year has been a wonderful year and there are many things for which I am thankful. My son is doing well in his business. There are a few glitches but I believe that things will work out. My daughter and her love, Shane got married in the 'Wedding of The Year' if I do say so myself. I am thankful for my health, my family, my new son-in-law, 'my' new in-laws Benny and Frances. I am thankful that I have family that I love and admire from Iowa to Ohio to Florida. I am thankful for my job that allows me to get to know and treat a variety of people. I am thankful for my many friendships that have blessed me over and over. I will end this entry with a prayer:
Dear God,
Thank you so much for taking care of those that I love. Thank you for our freedom paid for at a great price by our soldiers. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to take care of others and give me patience and love in dealing with all people. Thank you for your abundant mercy as we struggle in our daily lives. Thank you for my family and for the love that is always there. Thank you for my son and daughter and now my son-in law for in them I am indeed wealthy beyond measure. Thank you for Stan and protect him as he goes about his daily work. Thank you for our food and our shelter. Thank you for allowing me to see glimpses of your love and mercy in the patients that I care for and thank you most for your Son. In Jesus name I pray.