Because Jesus Came.....

the Goodwife and her Daddy

My Dad has pancreatic cancer.  He had surgery to remove the cancer on December 23rd, and he came home from the hospital on the 30th.

It was/is a scary diagnosis, but you know what?  

Because Jesus came, we don't have to worry.

Because that little tiny baby was born, we don't have to fear.

Because of that little baby, that grew into a man, and was hung on a cross, we don't have to be afraid.

Because of our God who loved us so much, He was willing to send that baby to grow into a man to take the punishment for us. 

Dad is saved.  He is a child of God.  We've talked at great length about it, and I'm so thankful that God has given us a relationship that allows that. 

We've prayed for God's will to be done.  We've prayed for strength to handle what comes.  God is good!  God is Almighty.  God gives life, and it's His to take it away.  To me it doesn't make sense to question God's plan.  He is GOD.  I'm just thankful it was His plan for my Dad to be born, and more importantly I'm so thankful Dad is born again.  

They were able to remove the cancerous tumor, part of his pancreas, and his spleen.  They also removed and biopsied the lymph nodes in the pancreas which came back clean. That is wonderful news, but pancreatic cancer is a very aggressive cancer.   

 But guess what?   Dad is a winner either way.  He belongs to God, not to us.  We must simply be thankful for every second we've got, and trust in the Wisdom of our Father.

 Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.  
Isaiah Ch 12

A Day With Steve....

This morning we woke up to our first really chilly day of the fall!  I had thought last night that The Youngun and I would can some black beans today, but I woke up in the mood to play with Steve so off to my fabric stash I went!

I was looking for some pretty fabric to make an apron for my Sister.  My beautiful sister got married when she was 17...... and about 5 months or so ago, she got divorced..............after nearly 22 years of marriage.  She wanted the divorce, and even though it goes against my Christian beliefs to get divorced in most cases, it wasn't a bad thing.  She is a totally different person.  Her husband had tried his best, and mostly succeeded, in stopping her from having a relationship with me, or our folks, and I REALLY missed her.  We've talked more in the past 5 months than we have in the past 5 years! 

Anywho, she was here over the summer with my folks and she saw my chicken apron.  She requested that I make her one just like it.  I said, "Chickens specifically?"  To which she replied, "Oh does it have chickens on it?  I just noticed it was black and pretty!"  HA!  She's not exactly observant, but we love her anyway! 

I couldn't find anything that suited me in my fabric stash, so The Man, The Youngun and I ran to town.  They just opened a Jo-Ann's and I hadn't visited it yet, but I found the perfect fabric there today.

See she loves frogs, and she's struggled all her life with the words that are printed on this fabric.  I'm thankful that God led us to find it.  I think it will mean a lot to her!  I needed one yard to make the apron, but I got two yards, and am going to use the other one to make her either a bag, or some placemats. 

This is the back after I sewed the pleats.....

Now the front showing the pleats.....

Here I am sewing the bias tape on.  It's tedious work, but it sure makes the finished product look nice!

With the bias tape sewn on around the edges and the pockets on.  Had to finish the yoke, straps, and ties......

And the finished product!  As with the chicken apron, the pictures really don't do it justice!  And please excuse the condition of the model, I was ready for supper and a shower!  :)

In other exciting news for our family............lookie here, lookie here!

Guess what that means??  Shhh...I'll tell you  next time!

I remain yours in Christ....

Kentucky Bound, and Tragedy Strikes........

Installment one, two, and three.....

I'm going to take the time now to tell you a little about The Man's sister.  She is his older sister and his only full sibling.  She has two young adult children and at the time of our move was married to a man 12 years older than her.  Her husband Ron was very ill with diabetes and heart disease.  He had lost a leg several years ago.  Ron was a character to put it mildly.  He was the kind of person either you loved or you hated, with no middle ground. 

A couple days before our move, The Sister and Ron drove out to California for an experimental medical treatment.  A last ditch effort.  You see the doctors had told Ron there was nothing they could do for him.  I don't know how many heart attacks he had, but in January of this year he was in the hospital for over a month, and they spent last Christmas in the hospital with him as well.  He also had one two days before they left for California.  The doctors told him he would simply continue to have small heart attacks until he had one big enough to kill him.  The Sister was his rock.  She was his caregiver, his lover, his friend, and he was her knight in shining armor, albeit his trusty steed was a wheel chair and a golf cart instead of a shining destrier!

We made it safely to Kentucky and got everything unloaded.  By Sunday July 3 (The Man's 38th birthday) we were totally unpacked and settled in.  As you may remember we don't mess around when it comes to work!  My folks left to go home on the 4th and we began to acclimate ourselves to our new home.  Champ and the goats were over at his aunt and uncle's 100 acre farm and I went over every day to tend to them.  The Youngun decided maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all and we were excited to see where God would send us.

Early the morning of July 12, The Man's aunt and uncle came over to tell us Ron had suffered a massive heart attack and passed away.  The Sister was in the room with him, alone, more than two thousand miles away and she performed CPR on him until the paramedics arrived, but he was already gone.  Our niece, who is 18, was across the driveway home alone, so The Sister had called Aunt and Uncle W to come over and break the news to her, and also to let us know because she couldn't get us on our cell phone.  The Man and I immediately thought perhaps this was God's reason for sending us here.  It took almost a week for The Sister to get home and it's been a long road with the grieving process but they are all getting there. 

At Ron's memorial service a wonderful man preached the service and we were in awe at his passion and devotion to the Lord.  He is pastor of a church about 5 miles from the house and we've been attending every Sunday since the memorial service.  What a blessing it's been to us to find a church that is truly about following God!!  Every single Sunday Brother Willie says, "Mind the Lord children."  Truer words were never spoken, and how wonderful our lives become when we truly do mind the Lord!  To say that things have been totally smooth and easy would be a lie, and I'm going to tell you more about that in the next installment.


To Be Continued......................

Sherriff Ed Earl Dodd....................

Do you know Ed Earl?  He's the character played by Burt Reynolds, opposite Dolly Parton's Miss Mona in that most wonderful of movies, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.  In that movie Ed Earl is trying to keep the Chicken Ranch open and he gives this impassioned speech to the governor......

"I've been fightin' crime all my life but let's not confuse crime with committing a sin. You can't legislate morality. Those girls out there have never caused any trouble to anybody. They're healthy, tax-paying, law-abiding citizens who supply a demand and provide an economic asset to the community."  

Now at the risk of whackin' a hornets nest, I've got to say I wholeheartedly agree.  You simply cannot legislate morality.  You cannot force people to be good.  The idea of a "law" regarding a moral issue in my opinion is ridiculous.  A moral person would never do it, and an immoral person isn't going to care one whit that it's illegal.  For example, I, as a sane person, would never murder my neighbor for walking his dog on my lawn.  Does it piss me off?  Sure, but I'm not going to kill the guy over it.  That would be immoral.  Now lets say that murdering my lousy neighbor for letting his dog pinch a loaf on my yard was suddenly made legal.  Am I going to sit on my porch with the 12 gauge loaded with deer slugs and just wait for that sucker to come by?  I should hope not because even if it was legal, it would still be immoral.  Killing somebody over a little dog poop is just plain wrong.  Now if he is coming into my home uninvited with the intent to harm me or my family, that is another ball of wax all together.  Is it still illegal to kill him??  You bet.  There will be an inquest and all sorts of investigations and whatnot.  If I live in the right state I'll probably get off with no charges, but it's still illegal.  However, in that case, is it immoral?  Not to me it isn't. 

There is a headline in St. Louis right now that says.........

"Belleville woman sold kids' Christmas gifts for crack"

Hmm..........isn't crack illegal?  I'm pretty sure it is, last time I checked anyway.  Now, if the use of crack were legal, would a moral person steal their kids' Christmas gifts to get money to buy said crack?  In my honest opinion, drugs are a moral issue and illegality certainly hasn't stopped the use of them.  I'm not saying all drugs should be made legal, but making them illegal has surely not helped the people who are addicted.  If the pull of drugs is so strong that you would steal from your own children, then you need serious help, not necessarily jail time.

Laws were/should be created to protect people from others.  They should protect children and animals.  I don't need a law to protect me from myself.  Murder is, of course, wrong, rape, child abuse, animal abuse, of course all wrong.  Gay marriage............polygamy.......smoking, alcohol, drugs................the use of seat belts............purchasing raw food products..............what I can and can't buy at the store?  None of this has any business being legislated by our government in my opinion.  If you are an adult or two consenting adults it is nobody's business what you are doing as long as you aren't harming anyone else.  How do I feel about all these issues I just mentioned?  Well that doesn't matter because they are moral issues and something you must decide on for yourself.  For the record, I really don't care what you do as long as you leave me alone to live my life the way I want to live it.  How I choose to live my life is between God and I and quite frankly it's no-one else's business.  I'm an intelligent adult.  I have the capabilities to make decisions for myself and I respect the abilities of other adults to do the same.

In closing, I'd just like to say this...............

We are born with free will.  This is how God designed us.  He is the Supreme Creator.  He could have created us anyway He chose and He chose to give us free will.  God wants us to be good and moral, but He doesn't force us.  He wants us to choose right.  If our Creator and Savior gives us the right to choose, how in hell does our government think they know better?  How can they possibly think they can make the world a more moral place through the passage of laws?  Please don't misunderstand me.  I'm not saying we should throw all caution to the wind and have no laws.  That would be anarchy.  We need laws to keep the populace safe.  We don't need laws to keep the populace moral.  Morality must be taught at home.  We must teach our children right from wrong, and right from wrong can be subjective.  I'm sorry and I know that may really honk some folks off, but it's true.  I'm a very black and white person, but even I know that right to some is wrong to others.  We don't drink.  I have no use for alcohol and I hope that The Youngun doesn't drink.  Does that mean I think alcohol is immoral?  Of course not, it just isn't for us.  In our home, Jesus is The Way, The Truth and The Life.  I wouldn't want to live in a place where my right to that belief was taken from me.  If I want my rights preserved, then I have to fight for the rights of others to be preserved.  Is it wrong to not believe in God?..........well in my home it is wrong, but if I want to be able to believe how I wish, and raise my daughter to have those beliefs then I must respect the beliefs of others.  How could it be otherwise?

As always during my rants, I must give you my disclaimer.  I love a good debate and as long as you keep your comments polite, plenty of passion is ok!  ;)       

PS, The Man had to go into work at 1:15 AM because we are having an ice storm.  After getting him off to work and laying back in bed, my little pea brain was a swirl with these thoughts and I couldn't get back to sleep until getting them off my chest. 

I hope you are safe and snug this fine December morn!

God Bless....................

The Oreo Tree.............A Birthday Party, and A Happy Thanksgiving!

Yesterday we had my family here for Thanksgiving..........most of my family that is. 

My folks aka Granny and Pop Pop

My sister and her husband and daughter

Darling Auntie and Uncle Dino
Cousin Dee and her New Man

Uncle Big Dog, his Longtime Woman, and her two boys

And then of course the three of us.

Missing was, Cousin Dee's two kids who were at their dad's,  Aunt Kitty and Uncle 4, along with Big J, Little D, and Q-baby.  They were all at Big J and Little D's for the day.  Also missing was Aunt Kitty's daughter Mass-A-Ash, Mass-A-Mike and their 4 kids who live in Massachusetts.  Aunt Hoggie, Uncle Alki, and their two adult children who got to Uncle Alki's family for Thanksgiving.

That made a total of 16 for turkey and all the fixin's.  It was a lovely day and such fun! 

Some of my readers may remember from last year that The Youngun's birthday is on Christmas Eve.  Because of the busy-ness of December, we celebrate her birthday at Thanksgiving. 

(Every Christmas Eve we take her to a movie matinee and out to lunch and then have cake and presents here at the house with just my folks.)

After gorging ourselves on way too much good food, it was time for The Youngun to open her birthday presents.  The first present was from Uncle Big Dog and L.T. Woman, that's her in the picture helping The Youngun get it open.........

What could it be you ask??  Well it's an Oreo Tree of course!! 

This is Uncle Big Dog......he's my Daddy's baby brother.

Ever since my little girl was born, Uncle Big Dog has been telling her he has an Oreo Tree in his backyard in an attempt to get her to come stay all night with him.  Well this year the Oreo Tree had babies so he gave her one for her birthday!  I truly think this is one of the greatest presents I've ever seen!  I'd like to figure out a way to shellac the cookies so that she can keep it forever, so if anybody has any ideas, let me know!

This morning when I was getting ready to do this blog post, I put my picture card in the computer and I found this......

Lordamercy!  This is my blood people.  This is the man from whose loins I spring.........Help me!  I called him to ask if he had fun playing with my camera.........He said he did, but he bout had a heart attack from it.  I guess while he was making self-portraits he laid his teeth on his belly.  He then got up to get some more to eat and forgot his teeth!  He was in the kitchen before he remembered and was afraid somebody would've stepped on, and broken them by that time, but no, praise be, they were on the floor safe and sound............Again, I say it.......this is my blood ya'll. 

I loved having so many of my family members in my home.  It was a lovely day, although since we don't have TV some of the family was a little bereft without the football game.  My sister was able to get it on an itty bitty screen on the computer though so I suppose they managed. 

Hope your day was blessed as well!

God Bless..........

The Building of Darling Auntie's Fence.......

It was a family affair which is always nice!

 

The Man and I got up around 6:30 and got Black Betty all loaded up with our fencin' supplies.  Black Betty by the way is soon going to be in the infirmary.  She's got tranny troubles, so very soon we'll be pulling it and getting it to the tranny doctor for rebuilding.

When we arrived at Auntie's house they were standin' in the yard with their coffee waitin' for us.



Pop Pop (my dad), The Man, and Uncle 4 are conflabbing on how best to get about the fencin'.



Pop Pop lookin' on as The Man digs out a posthole and Cousin Dee looks on.  Cousin Dee is the owner of the black pugs.

Uncle 4 is ready for his GQ photo spread, the post drivers of Illinois...

That's my Mama (aka Granny Bob) walking towards us and my cousin Big J looking at the camera.  His woman Little D is walking away.  We are running a string so we can make sure all the steel posts are in a nice line.

Little D and Q Baby.  Q Baby was a big help with his own personal Black and Decker tool set.

The Man and Little D putting the clips on that hold the fence to the steel posts.

The Man, Big J, and Q Baby.  Q Baby is makin' sure that his daddy and The Man are "doin' it right"!

And we are done! 

This is my dad holding Q Baby.  My dad is his Great-Uncle

Little Sassy is ready to be free!

Sassy exploring her new fence while The Man and Uncle Dino look on

Sassy says.......Thanks for the fence guys!  We love it!

God Bless....

Darling Auntie.......

That beautiful lady in the center of the picture is my Darling Auntie.

  I actually have three darling aunties, but this is The Darling Auntie.  She has never had children of her own, so you can imagine how much she loves us and spoiled all of us growing up.  She is now on to loving and spoiling the next generation.  She is always giving and sometimes gives so much of herself that I worry there will be nothing left! 

She has 4 pugs of her own (the fawns) and more often than not she has her daughter in law's pugs as well (the black ones).  She recently moved into a different house and hasn't got a nice fenced in area for her 6  pugs.  The Man and I decided that since she is always doing for everybody else, we were going to fence her back yard in for her!  She didn't want to let us do this, but I asked her to not cheat us out of doing something nice for her.

So that is what the 4x4's from the "boat dock" are going to be used for.  We will use those to brace up the corner posts for her fence.  That is our weekend project for tomorrow.  The whole family is coming to help and it will be so exciting to do this for our Darling Auntie! 

Stay tuned for pictures of happy pugs running wild! 

God Bless..........

Memories of Grampa and Gran'ma.....

My grandpa was a salty old soul.  Only went through the 6th grade as so many boys of his generation did, he was in the Army and fought in Korea before marrying my grandma.  He was a paratrooper and got shot in the lower back.  Grandpa has a purple heart among other medals, but I don't know what.  I've never seen them and he never talked about it to anybody except for me.  About the only thing he ever said was he asked me if I'd ever eaten sushi.  He said It wadn't bad except for the eyeballs.............  He told me stories about being a young boy and rollin' up corn husks and smoking them and he taught me lots about fishin' and gardenin'.  He was a truck driver for most of my dad's childhood and then he worked at Mobil Chemical until he got sick and couldn't work anymore. 

Grandpa and Grandma with their Christmas present of pictures of me and my sister.  I'm on the left in the Ernie shirt...

I don't ever remember my grandpa not sick.  He got sick the year after I was born, so I don't remember him any other way.  He had diabetes, congestive heart failure, gout, and a slew of other troubles.  He taught me a lot about how to be.  No matter how sick he was, you could go in the bedroom and say How ya feelin' Grampa?  and he'd always say Purty good, or Oh I'm tollable...... On his good days he'd go out to the garage and sit in a padded rocking chair and tinker.  He made bird houses, and picnic tables and all kind of stuff from that chair.  On his bad days he'd have a TV tray set up next to the bed with a dismantled VCR on it.  He'd roll over, reach out and tinker for a few minutes, then roll back over to rest.  He never complained, EVER that I'd heard of.  Oh he'd get grouchy with others but he never complained.  When I was a real little girl I used to love going to visit him in the hospital.  He was always on the cardic floor and the nurses would take us in the little room and show us our Grandpa's print out.  She'd tear a big long sheet of it off and let us take it home.......See, that's your grandpa's heart beats!  He always, always saved part of his supper for us, and I grew to love hospital mashed taters and gravy.  I'll never forget once when I was older, probably about 15 or 16, he was in the hospital and I was up there with Gran'ma.  He'd just put a big ole wad of skoal in and the doctor came in.  Grandpa got all wild eyed and frantically started brushing the sheet off where he'd spilled skoal.  The doctor came sauntering over, looked at Grandpa appraisingly, and said....Open your mouth Charlie.......Grandpa shook his head no.....Charlie, open your mouth......again, a kind of a grunt and frantic head shaking No!  Charlie, OPEN your mouth.....Grandpa took a big ole gulp and when he opened his mouth there wasn't nary a bit of skoal in sight!  It's so funny cuz there was little bits of chew all over the bed, and he'd been spittin' in the trash can.  It wasn't like he was foolin' anybody! 

Me with a catfish...I was 3 years old.  That is Dad and Sister 3 in the background...

He and my grandma used to take me and my sister camping in the old slide in pickup truck camper.  I was just amazed by the gas lamps that were on the wall!  My gramps was an amazing fisherman.  He's have 6 poles lined up on the bottom, fishin' for catfish.  He'd hook a fish and then holler Come'ere Skunk! and real this 'un in for me!  I never lost a fish that Grandpa hooked for me no matter how long it took my little 5 year old self to get it hauled into the bank!  We used to fish at a place called Lake Greenwood.  Fishing there with my daddy and Grandpa are some of my earliest and clearest memories.  There was a big sandy washout and we'd walk down that and sit on the spit of sand at the bottom to fish.  Grandpa always fished out of an old metal folding chair, and the legs of that chair would sink down so far that he was almost sitting on the ground.  I remember once trying to set the hook in a fish like Grandpa did..........my line came flying outta that water so fast!  It smacked into the bank behind us.  Grandpa just chuckled and shook his head.  Oh how I loved that man. 

Spending the night at Grandma and Grandpa's I'd get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and Grandpa'd be standing in the kitchen with a spatula in hand.  Want an fried egg samwitch? he'd say.  Grandpa....it's 1 in the mornin!  Why would I want a fried egg samwitch?  He's the first person I remember making me an ice cream cone at home. I thought that was just amazing...ice cream cones at home!  When I was little, every Sunday after church we went to Grandma and Grandpa's for sunday dinner (meaning the noon meal).  All my dad's sisters would be there (except for Sister 3) and his brother.  My cousins would be there and it was such a good memory.  I miss those times. 

Now don't get me wrong, Grandpa had his faults.  He was a crotchety old sort and especially hard on my dad, (his oldest child).  They never did really get on too well, but the three of us spent lots of time together and they loved each other.  They were too much alike to get on very well, just like me and my dad are, although my daddy and I have a much better relationship than he and grandpa had.  He was hard on my Grandma too.  They were pretty much just like Archie and Edith Bunker, you know, from the TV show?  I don't remember him ever saying a cross word to me though.  I could ask him anything and I spent lots of fond hours at his knee, soaking up anything he wanted to tell me about.  He taught me about the proper way to raise livestock, how to make things grow and thrive.  He died when The Youngun was 18 months old and I still miss him so much. 

Left to right...Dad, Grandpa holding the Youngun, me......

Grandma got cancer when I was a senior in high school or maybe it was shortly after I graduated. 

It was such a shock to us because she was always so cheerful and happy,  always so healthy.  She got sick and they gave her 3 months.  She lived 3 years after that, always cheerful and hopeful. I miss her so much too.  When she gave you a kiss, boy you stayed kissed!  She's put both hands on either side of your face, scrunch it together and pull you in for a nice hard pucker right on the mouth.  Oh how I'd like to have one of those kisses right now!   She was always there when we needed her.  She'd call every single day (even though she lived only about 6 blocks away) to see how ever'body was.  Just callin' to see how you'uns was doin' is all.....  She died when I was 3 months pregnant with The Youngun.  A mercy at the end with the cancer and all, but it sure doesn't make you miss them any less.  The Youngun was her first great - grandchild and she never got to see her.  She did know about her though and that makes me happy.   Such a packrat Grandma was!  I remember once cleaning her freezer out for her.  I found bags of peaches in there that were 20 years old!  Grandma never took a music lesson in her life, but Grandpa bought her an old organ at the sale barn and she could sit down at that thing and play hymns by ear. Complete with chords and everything!  I don't remember Grandma ever sayin' a bad word about anybody.  She was always smilin' and happy. 

Grandma in the background, isn't she lovely!  My sister, me on the floor, who knows what I'm doing...Grandpa laying down.

Grandma, me, my sister

I do remember a time when she got fired up at me.  I was a young teenager, and Grandpa was havin' a bad spell.  I went down to visit them and talk with Grandpa, see what I could do.  Grandma went in the bedroom and said Charlie, Sarah is here and she's gonna have some toast with us.  Now I'd already eaten breakfast and wasn't hungry and was trying to lose weight.  I said Grama, I don't want no toast, I'm not hungry.  I'll never forget her lookin' at me with her eyes blazing......You are gonna eat some toast because I think if you eat Granpa will eat!!  Brother, I ate toast!  LOL! 

She willed my grandpa back from death I don't know how many times.  And then when she got sick, he kept himself going for her.  He was determined not to die before she did.  After she died, he just wilted away.  He pretty much stopped eating.  He was always a big solid man, a good 300 lbs in his prime.  He wasted away down to nothing after she died.  He'd go all day and eat nothing but a chicken leg.  I made a sort of spice bread/fruit cake that he really liked, so I'd make those up for him and he'd eat that.  They had brandy in them and I've never made one since he died.  Still have half a bottle of that brandy in the cabinet. 

Grandpa opening Christmas presents.  This was The Youngun's first Christmas as well as the second Christmas without Grandma..  Left to right...Grandpa, my mom, The Youngun, Dad, cousin L.  Sister 1, me in striped sweater, cousin K, cousin M (white sweater)

So many things make me think of Grandpa and Grandma.........every time I use a pressure cooker.  Every time I make vegetable soup, or cook neckbones.  Everytime I go fishin' or work in the garden, or hear an organ they come to mind.    He and Grandma were such a huge part of my childhood, such good influences on my life.  I like to think of Grandpa up in heaven, sittin' in his old fishin' chair, catching catfish and Grandma playing her organ and waiting for the rest of the family to get there so we can have a big ole Sunday dinner again!  They had a hard life financially and with Grandpa's health, but a rich one in other ways.  I love them both so much and am thankful to have had them in my life for as long as I did.

Till next time..........God Bless!

Well well well............

Weigh in this morning I was up again.  Total weight gained from my two month sabbatical from living right.......11.6 lbs.  Am I proud of myself?  Nope, but I'm not going to beat myself up either.  As my WW buddies say, it's a marathon, or it's a war not a battle.  I'm back on the train, back to feeling centered, back to wanting to be healthy. 

I'm lifting again, and running again and it feels good.

There are five kids in my dad's family.  In this picture they are from left to right.....Baby Bro, my Dad, Girl 2, Girl 3, and Girl 1

My dad is the oldest, then the three girls, then his baby brother.  Baby Bro had a heart attack Sunday night, he's isn't even 50 yet.  Girl 1 has a multitude of health problems, Girl 2 had bipass surgery last summer, Girl 3 needs knee surgery on both knees, and my dad is a mess from top to bottom with diabetes, high blood pressure, and he's had 2 back surgeries.  They are all (with the exception of girl 2) more than 100 lbs overweight.  I love them all so very much and I don't want this to be me.  It will NOT be me.  I'm still healthy and I intend to stay that way!

Till next time.....I'm fighting the fight, and I'm going back to walking the walk, till I'm once again unTHICKINand soTHINNIN!

14 years.........

14 Years ago today, I became a wife.  Before God I stood up and declared from this moment on, just as the Bible says in Genesis; chapter 2, verse 24, I would be one flesh with this man.  Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.  There are so many places in the Bible that refer to marriage and how it should be, but this is the first one.  Marriage is important and I take it very seriously.  It is important enough that woman is created in verse 22 and the first Biblical law regarding marriage is mentioned in verse 24.  When I talk to The Youngun about marriage, we talk about this verse.  I tell her.......If you don't love the man enough to leave your Daddy and me, then he just isn't the right one to be marryin'!  Marriage is forever and you need to choose your partner very wisely.  I pray for her future husband all the time.  I pray that she will have the good sense to wait until God sends her the right man, and not to get married just because. 

Anywho, 14 years ago today I became Mrs. Man and they've been 14 good, good years.  What's that?  You want to hear the story of how this all came about?  Well pull up a chair, getcha some tea, and here we go!

Our story begins way back in June of 1995.  I had just graduated high school and my dad decided for me that I needed to get a job........as in he came in the living room one morning and said GET A JOB......TODAY!  LOL!  So I waltzed into the IGA store an unemployed high school graduate, fresh faced and eager, and waltzed out an 18 year old with a full time job, complete with benefits!  Have you figured out yet that God had a hand in this from the beginning? 

I worked in the deli there at the IGA with a lot of really fun older (than me) ladies.  The meat department manager was a guy named Mike, and let me tell you he was a BEAR!  The other ladies didn't like dealing with him, so they decided to send the new meat back there to get the chicken each day.  I would bounce back there all perky and happy and just let his grouchiness bounce right off me.  After all, I grew up with the grouchiest person on the planet (DAD)!  There was this other fella that worked in the meat department, and he was younger, cuter, and not near as grouchy, but it was a little while before I really noticed him. 

About a month after I started working there, I developed this crush on the produce guy, a kid of about 19 named Casey.  I was trying everything I knew to get Casey to like me, but he just wasn't bitin', not at all.  We would talk and that sort of thing, but he wasn't interested in me romantically.  I spent alot of time in the produce room, which was adjacent to the meat room and at that time, just happened to be where everybody went for smoke breaks.  I didn't smoke, but I wanted to be wherever Casey was so I was back there a lot. 

Then this little blond meat guy started coming up to the deli every morning as soon as he got to work to buy a fountain Mt. Dew.  My ever so helpful older co-workers always made sure that I rang him out.  Me being the friendly sort asked him his name and then every morning I would say Hi! ----!  He would blush a little, and grin, and say hi back.  This went on for several months, until we were into winter time. 

In late December, Casey had a birthday.  I was still trying so hard to get him to like me (poor thing), so on my day off, I baked him a spice cake, and set off in a blizzard to bring it to him.  Every day at work, I wore my IGA polo, with a ball cap on and my ponytail through the back.  So this day I got myself all dolled up, hair curled, make-up on, the whole nine yards just so Casey could see how good I cleaned up.  I took that cake back in the back and said Happy Birthday.  He wouldn't even eat a piece of it.  As a matter of fact, he told me to lose 40 lbs and come back.  Nice fella huh??  Well The Man happened to be sitting back there smokin' a cigarette and he came over to see the cake.  When Casey said he wouldn't eat it, The Man said......I'll eat it!!  And he proceeded to eat about half of it.  After that we started talking pretty regularly, and he was trying to get Casey to take an interest in me.  Meanwhile, one of the older meat guys stopped me one day as I was walking past the meat case.  He said........We sure do tease him about you!  I said........Why?  And he said........Cause he's got a really jealous girlfriend who'd kill him for talking to you.  I was horrified!  I said..........Well I'll quit talking to him then!  I don't want to cause him any trouble!  And Mac said.........Don't you dare!  He'd kill us if you quit talking to him.  It makes his day!

Along about the end of December '95, first of January '96 The Man and I started talking about deeper stuff.  Hopes, dreams, life goals, morals.  We talked about the relationship he was in and how it wasn't good.  I asked him.........Don't you want to get married?  His reply........Not to her.  Don't you want kids?  Not with her.  That made me unbearably sad and I asked him why he didn't end the relationship.  He said Cause I buy a dog when it's a puppy and I keep it till it dies.......That may sound corny to you, but that spoke of a deep commitment to relationships to me and again made me very sad for him. 

Mid January 1996, I was talking about my birthday coming up.  The Man came to work one day and said, You wanna go out for your birthday?  Me being the ever so sophisticated one said suspiciously.......With who?   See I knew he had a little brother and thought he was trying to fix me up with him.  He said.....With me.   To which I tartly replied....Not as long as you are living with that girl! 

The Man came to work the next day and told me he moved out of his house and would I go out with him on January 30 (my 19th birthday).  I said yes. 

Meanwhile he had a time getting her to move out and accept that things were finally really over this time.  It took 3 days and he had to stay at his folks the whole entire time.  Unbeknownst to me at the time, he had already went and bought an engagement ring during those three days, before we ever went on our first date.

January 25, 1996 The Man asked me if I would like to spend our day off together and go visit his grandparents.  I said sure, at this time still thinking this is just a casual date.  We spent the day together and had our first kiss on the way home that afternoon.  That evening when he took me home he told me he loved me.  I said.......excuse me?  He said he loved me and I told him he was 7 kinds of crazy.  He said.....no I'm not, I love you.  I thought he was nuttier than a pet coon!  Good gracious, who says I love you before you've ever even had a real date??  I also thought he only wanted in my pants and I told him so.  He said.........no, I love you.  I said.......What if I don't say it back?  He said........That's ok, I'll wait till you do. 

I fell in love with that crazy 23 year old boy right then and there.  I loved him because he loved me first and that is a beautiful thing. 

January 30, 1996 I had to work in the morning and got a dozen roses delivered to the deli that morning.  After I got off work, I went home, cleaned up, packed a bag and informed my mama that I wasn't coming home.  She was so wonderful about it.  She said to me, I knew when it happened for you it was gonna happen fast and I'm so happy for you.  The Man picked me up, we had a flat tire, went to Steak n Shake, went back to his house and snuggled on the couch together.  From that moment on, in 14 years, we've never spent a night apart.  I'd also like to say (even thought it totally falls under the category of TMI), that we did not consumate our relationship until our wedding night.  Remaining a virgin until marriage was always a huge priority to me and The Man knew and respected that.  We got married on March 30, 1996 exactly 2 months after our first date, but in my heart I was his wife the first night I spent in his arms. 

Our marriage is rock solid because we put God first.  We look to Him for guidance in every thing.  I strive to be a good wife, a wife that is a loving helpmate, supportive, kind, and generous.  The Man is exactly the husband the Bible says he should be, a good provider, the head of our household, and he cherishes me.  He doesn't use flowery words, or expensive gifts, instead he shows his love in the ways that really matter, never leaving the house without kissing me and saying I love you, showing me respect when I'm with him and even when I'm not.  He would never be out with the guys and discuss another woman, or flirt with a waitress.  He even gets teased about that from the other guys.  We are completely open and vulnerable with each other, we have no secrets from each other.  We don't believe in "girls night" or "boys night out".  We married each other because we love each other and love being together.  We are apart for the 12-14 hours a day that he works, and that's enough!!

I lost a friendship with a woman who simply couldn't respect my marriage.  It bothered her no end that we did everything together.  She liked to tell me I needed a life of my own.  As I stated in the beginning of this post.........when I married The Man we became One Flesh.  I can't have a "life of my own" because without him, I'm half a person.  I joined my life with his and we became one life and that's the way I like it and the way I want it.  I don't force my views on others........you can have whatever kind of marriage you want and I'll respect it.  I may not understand it, I may not agree with it, but I'll respect it.  All I ask is that people respect my marriage as well.

It's been an amazing 14 years!  I love The Man so much that I can't even put it into words.  He is my lover, my husband, my brother, my best friend in the world.  When something exciting/scary/funny/great happens he is the first person I want to tell and I thank God every day for sending us to each other.   I could go on and on, but since you've probably already fallen asleep at the computer, I'd better stop for now. 

Till next time...........GOD BLESS