September 11, 2014

I will never forget.  Simple words, big promise.  I usually do not work on this day because I spend my time in front of the TV watching the events of that fateful day.  This year my schedule got ahead of me and I did not ask off so I have watched in moderation but still spent my time reflecting on those devastating events of that September.  I didn't cry as much as I usually do although the pictures of those poor people jumping to their death still makes me cry out.  What did bring tears to my eyes was the interview with Patricia Smith, Sean Smith's mom.  He was one of the ones killed in Benghazi during a 9/11 terror attack that our government lied about from the beginning.  She was able to talk to the three security officers who attempted to save her son. She looked at them and stated that they were the sons that she no longer had.  My heart ached.  Hillary and Barrack have the blood of the Benghazi 4 on their hands and I hope nightmares haunt their every sleeping moment.  We cannot forget or let our children forget what happened when America was attacked.  We must be diligent to protect our future and those of our children.  The America I am giving to my grandchildren today is a pale imitation of that which my mom gave to me.  We have so much to answer for and so much to correct.  I still believe in the America that my mom gave to me.  She is there hiding in our hearts and I believe will be strong again.  Never forget.  God Bless America

Americans Stand Up for Your Country

I have not posted since May and have not posted anything relating to current events in a long time.  Every day I listen to the news and get the itch to blog  my personal opinion of what is occurring in my beloved country.  I then fall into a psychological black hole with the thought of what difference does my opinion  make.  Nothing will change, I will still wake up in the morning and my country will still be a mess and getting worse each day.  Tonight I realized that I blog for my children and my grandchildren.  I want Winston, Aries, and Allison and whoever else is in my daughter's future to know what I stood for and what I felt was happening to my country.  I am glad that others read my blog and even offer opposing views.  That is what I love about my country, we don't have to think alike and we should respect each others views.  I belong to a private face book group that is open to any political view with the only rule being that you cannot get ugly with each other.  I have orally invited progressive/liberal  friends and received comments like "I would never get involved with people who only listen to Fox news" or " really a group of uneducated rednecks... just what I want to belong to" or how about "sounds like a group of racists".  I really wasn't surprised.  To coin a old phrase: Our country is going to hell in a hand basket and adding the addition that it is Obama and his administration that is carrying that hand basket down the merry trail that will lead to the destruction of our United States.  Honest to God if I hear one more time that it is Bush's fault I am going to puke. Bush had his faults but  this administration is plagued with scandals and until recently was largely ignored by the mainstream media.  I will say it again.  I watch all news channels but if I really want to know what is happening I go to Fox and THEN  start looking for supporting data. When I have confirmed the news then I watch with amusement  as the mainstream Obamamaniacs ignore what is happening.   I have said this in face book posting that if this current administration was Republican and if the same scandals existed as they are the progressive left would be screaming, rioting and demanding impeachment and the news media would climbing up the butt of the Republican POTUS.  So I ask you liberal progressives would you accept being targeting by the IRS, would you quietly accept a POTUS who goes on a fund raising trip while the mid east is exploding  and our borders are leaking like a sieve.  I am sure that you would scream about a Republican POTUS who was  the guest of honor at a fundraising dinner that cost upwards 30 thousand per couple to attend while less than 500 miles away we have thousands of illegal aliens, mostly children, in detention centers in horrible conditions.  You would loudly state that fundraising money should be sent to assist those in need.   Would you have accepted the decision to hand over 5 dangerous terrorists for a man who at best is a deserter, more probably a traitor. Think about it.  You are hypocrites, you really are.   .

The world is exploding.  Our friend in the east, Israel, is engaged in a battle for survival.  Let me correct that previous sentence. Israel was our friend in administrations past.  This president leaves much doubt about what kind of friend he is to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In a recent OP ED in Haaretz an Israeli news source he condemned the violence against the innocent teens both Israeli and Palestinian.  He praised Palestine president Mahmoud Abbas(Abu Mazen) and did not mention Netanyahu.  For those who do not know: Abbas has a pact with Hamas, a US designated terrorist group that is tied to Iran.  Hamas controls the Gaza Strip.   Obama did say that Israel has a right to defend themselves.  But instead of monitoring the escalating situation, offering military support or at least sending John Kerry(snort) he is at fund raising dinner

Also in that neck of the woods ISIS ( Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) is marching thru the mid east killing Shia Muslims.  Understand that the Sunni Muslims and Shia Muslims have been at war with each other for centuries so this is nothing new but ISIS hates the West( that would be us) and vows to destroy everything that we stand for.  Oh and on a disturbing note they now have all kinds of weapons including chemical and biological weapons. Obama is really worried about this.  He is at a fund raising dinner in Texas.

Here in America we have continued threats about gun control with the left screaming every time some idiot, and I mean that literally, takes his guns and shoots up a school, movie theater, etc. I am heartbroken at the loss of innocent life but NOT ENOUGHT to give up my right to bear arms.  What I find strange is that over the 4th of July weekend Chicago was subjected to  84 shootings that left 68 wounded and  14 dead.   Mayor Ralm Emanuel is enforcing strict gun laws but it doesn't seem to make a difference.   What is being blamed is lack of police coverage, poverty,  lack of jobs and universally lax gun laws. So if we take all the guns away from the average citizen then they will be safe from the criminals.  Hummm, not sure that is going to work    Ralm you need to call Barrack about the economy...he owns it now, its been 6 years and he cannot blame Bush anymore.

EPA now has the right that if you have a violation against one of their rules that they can garnish your wages without  a court order.  You can fight it but it will be at your expense. The EPA gets to pick the place for the court fight and the judge and you have to pay. So the EPA holds all the cards.  It really is more extensive than that but if I go into it now I will never sleep.

On a final note for this blog, people are saying that the current immigration mess at the border is going to be his "Katrina".  You progressive/liberals remember the screaming that commenced when Bush did a flyby to look over the damage that was left in the wake of Katrina. All because he didn't stop.     They are saying that if Obama does not go down to look at the detention centers that this will be his Katrina.  Huge difference here: Katrina was a natural disaster and if I recall correctly the decision was made for Bush to be able to see the area but not be subjected to the unsafe situation.  The current "humanitarian crisis"  is a disaster but one that was caused by his failed policies and lack of leadership.  But if you heard his speech tonight it of course is not his fault.  The fault lies with Congress.  Poor Barrack.  He stated that he did not want to go down for a photo op.  What he really means is that he is trying very hard to distance himself from the issue and if he goes he cannot ignore what is happening.  We have been "blessed" with a president who has diminished us as a country, he cannot lead, he has no real policy, he has made enemies out of friends.  He has allowed criminal behavior to go unpunished in his administration.  I have an African-American friend who brightened my day about a week ago.  She told me "I should have never voted for that SOB".  We have another 2 years.  God help us all. 
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When Can You First Celebrate Mother's Day

Rebekah has had an issue with last year's Mothers Day and I completely missed the boat on that one. She missed the actual day giving birth to Winston by about 18 hours and feels just a little cheated.  Especially when we told her it didn't count until the baby was OUT.   When we were discussing it this year and I realized how she felt it made me feel just a tad guilty that I was so quick to tell her that this year would be her first Mother's Day.

Last year's Mother's Day my daughter was sitting at home feeling pretty miserable.  But while sitting there she was nurturing, protecting and feeding her son Winston.  Granted she wasn't "holding" him in her arms instead he was nestled under her heart waiting for just the right time to make his entrance.   So my darling Rebekah, accept my apology, because you were so very right.  This is your second Mother's Day!

Mother's Day.... Missing Ina Lee

I have so many mixed feelings on Mother's Day.  I love the fact that I am a mother but miss my mom so much it makes my heart hurt.  If I could have one wish it would be that my mother could come back for a day to meet Rebekah and Joshua's children.  She would just love  Winston, Allison, and Aries. I would want part of that day to tell her how much I love her and how the things that she taught me and believed are ingrained on my heart. I just want an hour or two just to touch her and hold her.   She was a Christian.  She read her bible daily and believed in her salvation.  She prayed daily for her family and I know that she shed tears for all of us at one time or another when we struggled with our own faith.

I was a latchkey kid during a time that most mothers stayed at home.  She was divorced and had to work to keep a roof over our heads and food in our stomachs.  We would have qualified for any number of modern day government programs.  We would have had food stamps, and medicaid at a minimum.  But my mother was a very proud and independent and would have viewed any assistance as charity and would have refused to accept the help.  We survived.  We had food.  We had heat in the winter and a warm home.  She worked hard at  two jobs but she did what she needed to do.  I knew that I was loved.  She taught me by example that hard work was honorable and that to provide for your family was a joy.  Mom was my rock and she loved me unconditionally. Nearly every day something will happen and I will think "I need to call mom, she would love this",  That it catches me off guard,  after all this time,  amazes me.  She died on Mother's Day in 2002 and I still have moments  that think she is a phone call away.  I frequently dream when I sleep and on occasion have dreamed of my mom and I sitting having a conversation.  Usually I am going over a painful struggle with which I am presently dealing  and she is sitting there listening with such intentness on her face and she gives me advice.  I have often woken up in tears but also feeling that I have been given a gift, created by my imagination, fed by years of knowing her beliefs and I have the answer that I am seeking.

I miss you mom.  I love you.   This year.  Every year.

He Died for Me

I went to bed last night realizing that I had not written anything in awhile  regardless of my wonderful intentions and  I am grateful that I don't depend on the written word for my dinner or I would starve to death. As I was lying in bed my mind was bouncing around like a ping-pong ball: peeps( yellow vs. pink), my diet, winning the lottery and what I would do, my hips hurting, should I cut my hair short, wanting to be on a before and after TV spot where someone offers to give me plastic surgery.. and would I do it, paying my bills, thinking about the grand kids, and what could I do to make more money. No kidding, all those thoughts were going through my busy brain and the final thought about more money segued into different professions that I could do to increase my financial well being and then to those professions that I was glad I hadn't done.  That segued into me thinking about Easter and feeling like I was glad that I wasn't a preacher and having to come up with a different inspirational, soul saving sermon every week.  I fell asleep with the sentence " he died for me" as my last thought.  I would love to tell you that I had a fabulous Easter dream of redemption.. but I didn't.  I did dream I was on a boat and it had been hijacked by terrorists.  My entire family and grandchildren were there along with a bunch of friends and loads of people that I didn't know.  We were all standing on the top deck and they were going to kill one of us.  They were going to take one of my kids and I stepped up and said no take me instead. My family was crying and I remember looking at them thinking that this was okay.  My life for theirs, I was good with that.    In the dream the man was curious about my willing to die for my family so he went through the passenger list.  I really didn't want to die and when he got to people that I had never met I was really thinking that I didn't know who that person was so maybe it would be okay for them to be pushed overboard instead of me.  I was saved from making a decision because a Seal Team came in led by Sean Connery  and they killed the terrorists. I am not kidding, that was my dream.

I can see myself standing in front of a gunman to protect my family and not thinking about it.  The need to protect "mine" is strong in me.  But to offer my life up for a perfect stranger is not something that I would push through a crowd to do.  I believe in that circumstance I would be making myself as small as I could, keeping my eyes closed and repeating the mantra " NOT ME,  NOT ME".

Jesus died, with some reluctance,  for our redemption. He didn't want to die.  Luke 22: 42 -44 "Father if  you are willing,  take this cup from me; yet not my will , but yours be done." An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him.  And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.   Mark 14:36 "Abba, Father," he said, "everything is possible for you,  Take this cup from me.  Yet not what I will, but what you will."  He died for all those people who cheered for his death because in doing so he saved them all.  The wonder of it all was that he didn't die for just those people on Calvary but for all of us.  People he didn't know, people who were not even born yet.  He died for me.  I am insignificant, a sinner, and not worthy of the gift of His life but he did it anyway so that I would have a chance to enter the kingdom with him at the end of my time.  This was a good man, one who did nothing to earn his death but he followed the will of his Father, paid the ultimate price and was resurrected to prove that there is life after death.  The blood that he shed and the life that he, albeit reluctantly, gave is our promise that life does not end but goes on in glory.   He died and rose again for me and for you.  Blessed Easter,  HALLELUJAH  Jesus is risen.

Happy 37th Birthday Son

He believed in puppets, Santa Clause, the Tooth Fairy and in me.  This birthday marks the time that you are a father of two  little ones who I hope have your sense of wonder and imagination.  If they didn't get that gene from you my dearest son I hope that you will introduce them to the magical world that is just a blink away and teach them to embrace the happiness that imagination can create.  I have always been and will always be so very proud of you.  I love you more than the stars in the sky.

Christmas Letter 2013

I used to be so very good about sending out Christmas cards mainly because I loved getting them. I have let that go years ago and my mailbox is not as heavy as it used to be.    My favorite cards contained a letter from the sender about what had transpired in their life in the past year.  Not to diminish any person who sends me a letter but my hands down favorite Christmas letter sender is my niece Carrie White.  I usually end up laughing till I am crying because she is so honest that not everything is fabulous as some would have you believe!  I am sending this blog in lieu of my Christmas cards... I know I can feel the eye rolls from here but I am long on desire and short on time.  My tree isn't even up yet so bear with me.

This year has gifted me with two grandsons.  My daughter Rebekah gave birth to Winston Charles in May  and my daughter in law Sydni gave birth to Aries in November.  Both were big boys and are of course beautiful.  I have a granddaughter from Josh and Syd named Allison River who is the spitting image of her daddy.  I understand now what the big deal about being a grandma is all about.   I sit for Winston on my off days and every day brings about changes.  He discovered that his wrists twist a few weeks ago..  only a grandma would find that hysterical and give proof just how intelligent he is.

Rebekah is a nurse practitioner working in a clinic and loves her job but is acutely aware of the negative changes affecting our health care.  Joshua is still teaching dance now at the Acadiana School of the Performing Arts and based on a few videos he has recently posted still has that special "thing" that makes him so great at what he does.

Stan is retired and busy at hunting, and babysitting.  I am still working in the Emergency Department at St. Martin Hospital in Breaux Bridge and love my job.  I just had my 62 birthday a week ago and a very BRILLIANT and ASTUTE  patient told me the other night that I looked like I was in my early 50's.  I love patients like that!

I have been on a diet since a year ago November. I started the diet 2 weeks before we took our last year's cruise and told my nurse practitioner Aimee Guidry that I was NOT dieting on a cruise and for that matter was not dieting during the week before and just after Christmas.  I really like this diet but I love Christmas goodies. I also cook a Christmas feast that swims in butter.  I have lost a considerable amount of weight and I am proud of that fact however I do cheat.  I should have lost 100lbs by this time.  Here we are at Christmas again AND I just got back from a cruise and I gained a few pounds It's a great diet but it has no room for cheating.  The thing is that I feel so much better when I follow the program.  I have more energy and my joints don't hurt.  I will be at my goal by June.

Our Christmas is actually going to on Christmas this year. I am off for the first time in about 4 to 5 years.  We are still going to do it all on Christmas Eve with the dinner and present opening just after.  This year is going to be fun because I got to buy toys again now for the grand kids.

I have been writing this over the last few days and I am now taking a break from picking up the clutter in my house so that I can get ready to re-clutter it with Christmas decorations.  In the past I was always decorated by the middle of November but with the cruise and work I had delayed the removal of all 27 boxes from the attic and closets.  I suggested to Rebekah that since she has the big beautiful house that she host the Christmas celebrations.  She seemed reluctant and now I am glad.  There will come a time(and I can feel it getting closer) that she will be the family hostess for big celebrations but for now I am still the Queen.  Next year I will go all out because the grand kids will be older but  this year I will count myself lucky if I can get up just one tree, get batteries in all the singing animals, position my collection of Santa statues,  and set out 3 or 4 nativity sets.   Jill Mary Forbes is coming over as I type to help me decorate.  For the past several years she has given me the valuable gift of her time for my birthday present to help me get ready for Christmas.   I have cookies to bake and presents to wrap, I wonder if she can stay for a week?

I am making an effort to get this out before Christmas so this should be my last installment.  Jill and I did the house and while it doesn't have half the stuff I have accumulated over the years it still looks like Christmas. I have not really baked because I had to return to work last Wednesday so I will bake after Christmas for my work peeps.  I STILL have not wrapped a single present and I work until the morning of the 24th. I will shop for the traditional casseroles tomorrow on the way home from work and tonight I am leaving early to go get the rest of the stocking stuffers for all my "kids". My plan is to prep all the food on the 23 and leave detailed instructions for Stan on how and when to put them in the oven on Christmas Eve.  I have to pick up the table cloths at the cleaners and set the table and dust off the good china.  This is my holiday and I love it even though I am wondering how I will get it all done in time and still get in a nap.

In all the bustle of the holiday please keep your focus on the Child in the manger who was born to save man.  As the saying goes Jesus is the reason for the season and in all of our gift giving keep your focus on Him.  We are facing prophetic  times that are frightening and our purpose and our Lord are under attack from all sides.  It is not popular to be a Christian and our nation is  so focused on being politically correct that saying Merry Christmas is considered verboten because it might offend your neighbor.  Tough.  MERRY MERRY CHRISTMAS to everyone.

As you read this I want to request at end prayers for several of my face book friends who are battling cancer.  Please pray for God to heal Susie Stelly and Bob Phillips. I have several friends who are struggling with financial issues and depression.  God can and will answer the prayers of believers and I thank you for the time you will take to pray for my friends.

The best gift I can give you is love.  So this Christmas I send all of you an abundance of love and know that I will pray for your needs and rest assured that this next year God will move in your life.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!