HARD COUPLE OF WEEKS!

It seems like all days and weeks are hard now, but some more so.  Gracie and Mickie got in a fight over rawhide bones.  This resulted in Gracie getting an infection and having to have surgery to put a drain tube in.  Just as she was recovering, last Sunday, the big dog that lives on the hill behind us, broke his chain, came in my yard and attacked Lucy.  She had to have exploratory surgery Monday morning, but Dr. Brown was unable to save her.  She was my baby of the three.  She was the Alpha dog for sure....she let the others know when it was time to eat, play, go outside or even get in my lap.  She was fiesty for sure....she loved people and especially their feet and shoes.  I will miss her always.  This same dog injured a friend of mine's dog when they were visiting and killed our little Desi, again in my yard.  The owners had promised to keep the dog chained during the day.  After this happened with Lucy, they came down and assured me that the dog was given to someone in Benton.  I don't know why things like this have to happen!  Lucy wouldn't hurt a fly.  Gracie is recovering well physically, but I can tell that she and Mickie just don't understand what happened to Lucy.  Sometimes, life just doesn't seem fair.  I know that we are not supposed to question why things happen, but it sure is hard.

I went to the card making group at church yesterday.  We get together to make cards for the church to send to people on our prayer list....this is close to my heart...this has been my ministry for a few years now.  It is good therapy, for sure.  Kimberly went with me too.  I spent the night with her, went to church this morning, had lunch with her and then came back home. 

I miss my Mom so very much.....it is hard to believe that she has been gone for ten years.  I ache for Jennifer, I can't believe that she has been gone seven years now.  Sometimes, it seems like they have been gone forever and other times, it seems like only yesterday.  I have my memories to cherish of them, I am grateful for that and I know they both knew how very much I loved them.  I know that I will be with them again.  I miss Pete so much everyday....it still just doesn't seem real!  It seems like he should still be here on the porch watching the birds in the morning while we have our coffee.  Next month, we would have been married for 43 years!  That is a long time to be with someone almost everyday, then it be taken away.

Aunt Toots, my Dad's sister, will be 90 years old next Sunday.  She lives in St, Louis with her daughter now, but we are celebrating her birthday in North Little Rock next Sunday.  She is such a strong and amazing woman.  She and Kimberly are going to come over here next Saturday for a visit.

I hope everyone had a great day and if you are fortunate enough to still have your Mom, I hope that you were able to hug her and tell her that you loved her!!

SEVEN YEARS!!!

It is so hard to believe that my precious Jennifer has been gone for seven years....sometimes it seems like it was only yesterday!  I miss her so much and know that I always will....grateful that she has her Daddy with her now and that I will see them both again!  Yesterday was the anniversary of her death.  Our church has a mission in Kenya.  Yesterday at church, I was able to make a donation and have a tree planted in the memory of Jennifer and Pete!  Jennifer had told me many times that she wished that she was able to go on one of the mission trips with our church.  Pete and I always tried to plant a tree or bush in her memory each year.....this worked out to be a perfect thing to do! 

Another thing that was close to Jennifer's heart was the homeless.  Yesterday, was our Sunday at church to feed the homeless under the Broadway bridge.  It was gorgeous day out and we had a huge crowd....we actually ran out of food....last month, we had food leftover.  It was good worship service.  There were two women there that were pregnant.....I so wanted to bring them home with me and care for them!  I will keep them close in prayer!

I am hoping that Spring is here to stay....this weather has been crazy going from hot to cold and back.  I know that in a couple of months, we will be wishing for the cooler temperatures. 

When I got home yesterday, my sweet neighbors were out working in the garden and planting....it was finally dry enough!  I know that we will all enjoy the fruits of their labor!

God is good and He is good ALL the time!

WHAT A DIFFERENCE!

It really is true that you get what you pay for!  As stated in my last post, getting my craft room finished was quite an ordeal and a very stressful time, to say the least!

The man came to do the siding on the outside of my room.  He came on Monday morning around 7:30 and worked until 4:30!  With the threat of bad weather, I wasn't expecting him to be able to work on it yesterday at all.  To my surprise, he was here about 6:45, worked through a couple of light showers and was finished by noon!  What a blessing and the best part is that he charged LESS than his estimate, because Pete had some of the materials he needed!  What a nice, professional and Christian man!  He said he does work the way he would want it done for him.  He had given me an estimate on doing the room for me, but he was on the high end of the three estimates we got.  We decided to go with the middle priced guy.  We would have saved alot of stress and frustration had we gone with him to begin with!  You live and learn.....I learned alot!  My motto has always been to treat people the way you would want you or your family treated....Hats off to Don Leake....he did just that for me!

God is good and He is good ALL the time!!!!!  He is in control and He has the plan for each of us! Sometimes, we just have to be patient, keep our faith and wait!

YAY! IT IS DONE!

Thanks to my wonderful sister, I finally have my craft room....all that is left is the organizing and decorating.  I have been on such a roller coaster trying to get this room done.  When Pete was so sick, he would do a little on it everyday....trying to get it finished.  Kimberly and I tried our best....going to Google and You tube, trying to learn how to do stuff.  My sweet nephew, Bobby, came over and set and framed the windows.  We found a guy to do the rest, which was a trip in itself.  A two day job ended bei ng two weeks.  His team that he sent were very stressful, not knowing what they were doing....the room had to be repainted because they painted one side of the room one color and used another color for the other side.  One of the helpers, which I called "Butterfly Tatoo Lady"  kept me pretty stressed the whole time.  On the last day she was here, she told us her throat was bleeding because she had throat cancer, smoked and people made her talk all the time.  One day while she was here, I timed her and she talked non stop for 55 minutes.  I finally went down there and asked her who she was talking to....she didn't use her inside voice either.  She said she was talking to Steve, the other helper.  I said well, I don't see him.....she said he was outside.  She had an excuse for everything.  They didn't even clean up their food and drink trash, much less the mess they left with paint cans and other trash.  Oh well, you live and learn.  I am just thrilled to have them out of my house!  I consider myself a pretty patient person, but this was a little much for me.  It's finally over....not perfect....but over.  Now, I will have the joy of putting the room together.  I can hardly wait to have a ya ya day and elebrate.

I had my first hummingbird yesterday.....God is good and He is good ALL the time!

HARD WEEK!!

I know that all weeks are harder for me now, but this week was really hard.  Thursday would have been Jennifer's 35th birthday!  We always enjoyed celebrating her birthday and had such good times planning it.  I always tried to make that day so special for her.,,,,she was my greatest gift in life!  She was my light and brought so much joy to me.  God couldn't have given me a better daughter to love and cherish.  Since she passed away, Pete and I would buy a tree or rose bush to plant in her memory on her birthday....I am still trying to decide what to plant this year.  The weather has been pretty rainy, so I didn't get one this week.  I will try to find another angel face rose to plant.  We lost our other one in the ice storm a couple of years ago.  I have been trying to find another one.  It is a purple rose and is so beautiful.  My sweet friend, Missy, gave me the first one.  She has one too and always sends me a picture of it, when it first bloome.  Missy is such a sweet, caring and compassionate friend. 

Today I am having everyone over to celebrate George's 50th birthday, which is tomorrow.  Since tomorrow is Easter, we are having the get together today.  I so enjoy cooking for everyone....it will be a bittersweet day.  I am happy that I will get to see everyone, but will be hard having our first family gathering without Pete.  I don't know who will be our new meat slicer....that was always Pete's job.  I guess I will hand the electric knife down to someone else LOL!

I hope that everyone will stop and remember why we celebrate Easter!  Jesus died for us, so that we can live!  On one of the Easter cards I made this year was the sentiment....We live and die, Christ died and lived!!!  AMEN!

NOTEBOOK ON LIFE!

How many times in the past six weeks have I asked myself.....why didn't I pay more attention to the things that Pete did around here???  How I wish I had kept a notebook on such things as how to set a mouse trap, where the septic tank is,  how to open the door to change the filter on the heat and air unit etc. etc.  You just take such things for granted, I guess.  I am just thankful for the knowledge I can get from You tube and Google....that helps alot.  I am learning, but it would have been so much easier had I kept a Notebook on Live.....just saying!!!

WHAT A BLESSING!

My church, Fellowship North, has a ministry feeding the homeless under the bridge.  I have wanted to be a part of this ministry for a long time.  I have given socks and things to the ministry, but I wanted to physically be involved, serving the homeless in person.  Yesterday, I was finally able to do it.  It was freezing cold outside, but our hearts were warm.  There was a nice church service with a message and singing praises.  I feel so grateful for having a roof over my head and warmth.  My heart aches for these people, knowing that they have no place to go.  We were cold and were shivering, as we served them, but then we were able to leave in a warm car and go to a warm house.....these people do not have that option.  I will pray for them daily and am already looking forward to helping next month.  Thank you Mica and Karla for letting me know that you were doing this and encouraging me to sign up....can hardly wait until next month...God is good and He is good ALL the time!!!