Let Spring Break Begin

Evan is home for a whole week because her Spring Break started today! Yay! So it's time to do laundry and catch up on everything! Dane was home for supper and then had to go back to Cape to work tomorrow. (He came home last night for doctor and dentist appointments today.)

Book Group was so fun. We met at Darla's house. She is so funny. She had gone online and looked at how book groups "usually" proceed. We picked who's house would be next - mine. We picked how we would choose our next book - by birthdate. We picked who would facilitate - the hostess. Julie got to pick the next book because her birthday is in January. We are going to read The Rain: A Story of Noah and the Ark. After all the "business" was taken of we started talking about The Shack. We all were in agreement about this being a very moving book. I liked hearing everyone else's take on how the author portrayed God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. I would recommend it to any and everyone. We all gave it a thumbs up. :D

I have piles and piles of laundry to do this weekend! Maybe I will be finished before Monday!

Is it Wednesday already? Unbelievable! What's even more unbelievable is the fact that there are only 3 more days left in this month. Wasn't it just yesterday that I couldn't believe that January was already over? February was quite an eventful month. (2 no school days, 1 sick day, 2 funeral days, Dane being gone, and Evan thinking her appendix needed to come out.) After having the last week of January off because of snow, it doesn't feel like I worked much more in February. :D Oh, well. I have a feeling that March may drag by! 

Back to that Evan thing. She called me yesterday afternoon to inform me that the campus health nurse thought she needed to go to the emergency room because she thought her appendix was going to burst. After blood work, poking and prodding, and a ct scan. She has a few small cysts on her left ovary. So good strong pain killers and anti-inflamatory drugs in hand and she's doing GREAT! The good side was that her ER doctor was a real hottie. (This made Evan and her friends very happy.) She will be home Friday for Spring Break. We get to hang out together Monday. 

Tomorrow night is Book Club Night, FINALLY! I am so excited. I feel very scholarly.:D I've never been in a book club. I've read hundreds of books and I have never gotten together with a group to discuss any of them just for fun. I've read books and taught lessons out of them with discussion included. But this is the first time that I have been in a group where we all read the same book at our own pace. I'll let you know how it goes. In case you forgot; we are discussing The Shack. I've been going back through it and looking at the notes that I took while I read it. The book is really good. I think that it is worth your time to read. I'm anxious to see what we pick to read for the next time. I have a few ideas. I hope the others bring ideas too. 

I'm liking the DirecTV thing. We have DVR. I never knew how wonderful it could be to record something and have it be right on the TV and just be able play it back. Better than a VCR (I don't have to hunt for any tapes-just scroll through the list.) I highly recommend it. 

DeWayne and I went to his grandpa's and brought home all the old photo albums. I have been sorting pictures again. This time they are Whitlock ones. I have been scanning them too. It's fun to look at his family. Some of the pictures are of his grandpa as a child in the early 1900's   (@1915 or so) There are many, many pictures from the 70's. Funny, funny! I will be sharing some of them on the Whitlock Memory page. 

The Whitlock Memory page just keeps growing and growing. I scan and upload pictures all the time. It will probably never be "finished". I love working on it though. 

No more for tonight. Probably no more until Friday!

What a wonderful Friday afternoon. I only had to work for 3 1/2 hours today. We had the afternoon off. Yay! I cleaned my computer lab this morning. The tables and the computers were yucky. Dust, fingerprints, and goo. What a great combination! Everything is sparkling fresh now. Of course,  they'll be grubby again in no time! 

Dane will join the grownups today. He's buying a new truck. He's very excited. Of course, when he receives his payment book (do they even do that anymore?) he might not be so excited. He's been driving the Tracker since his senior year of high school (2004). So he's ready for a new car. It seems he's been around the world in that tracker. 

The school board meeting didn't go as we, the West Side teachers, were wanting it to Tuesday evening. I was not able to attend because of the funeral visitation but our whole staff went in unison to ask for Scott back as our principal. Several of our staff worked on a presentation for the board; presenting facts and data as to why younger children need a male role model in a leadership position. The board pretty much laughed in our faces. So if you read this and your child goes to Harrisburg to school, find a school board member and ask them about their decisions and whether they are for the children or for their personal agenda! We as the staff had taken the high road and kept a positive spin on how we approached this difficult situation. We were under the "Pollyanna" assumption that good does prevail if you are nice. NOT!!! So the gloves are off. Four school board positions are up for reelection this spring and I am encouraging you to vote! It's time for a change. A small side note: Todd Fort is also up for reelection and he was very humble and sorry about this. He voted in our favor in this issue and was outnumbered. I don't usually get involved in politics or seriously backing candidates but this is an issue that is close to my heart. I work with children. I love these children. I work for a principal who also loves these children and cares deeply for them. He is what every child who does not have a father figure in their home needs to see everyday!

The Bible tells me not to be anxious about anything. And this was what my InDeed devotion just happened to be about this morning. God is so Great that he put this in front of me just when I needed to see it! I love it when that happens.

"Anxiety comes from strain, and strain is caused by too compete a dependence on ourselves." Thomas Merton

Isaiah 43:2

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. when you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned.

So right now, while I am feeling defeated by people who seem very evil, I must remember that God is with me. I must depend on Him and not on my own strength. He has all power to take care of this problem. We (I) must let Him!

Sweet Aroma

I finished Exodus and started Leviticus this morning. In the first three chapters, I read the phrase "sweet aroma to the Lord" six times. Each sacrifice and the directions of how to offer that sacrifice ended with this phrase. (I thought Exodus was full of details - Whoa - Leviticus is the winner on details!) The sweet aroma phrase made me really think. We don't have to do animal sacrifices anymore (thank you Jesus!) but is what I am doing bringing a sweet aroma before God? That led me to think about the garbage dump and even our trash cans. Sometimes the smell is so disgustingly bad that you have to hold your breath.  Am I a sweet aroma or am I a disgusting smell? I know sometimes my actions and my words take my own breath away and not in a good way but because they wreak! 

Ephesians 5:1-2

Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

1 Samuel 15:22

But Samuel replied: "Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams."

So to obey I am to do as asked and an offering is something given to God as an act of worship. Obedience and offerings bring me in to a closer relationship with God. I see the offerings as what I do because I am walking in obedience. Not because I HAVE to but because out of my desire to please God I WANT to. Okay, I'm talking in circles and the rings are getting tighter. :D

Dane is home! They finished up yesterday and he drove home last night. He has the rest of the week off. He doesn't have to go back to work until Monday. We have a lot of catching up to do. I'm glad that he's home and he was safe on his job. I'm also glad that most of the people in Missouri have power again.

Thankful List:

1. Dane's home

2. heat for the winter and air conditioning for the summer

3. doctors and nurses

4. WBVN the Christian radio station I listen to

5. Evan's home too

Off to spend the day with my kids. YeeHaw!!!

Quiet Sunday

It's a quiet day again. They seem to be the norm. Evan just left to go back to school. DeWayne is at work (working a fill-in 2nd shift) and Dane is still in Missouri. It's not going to be a quiet week though, DeWayne's grandpa passed away early Saturday morning so there will be a lot of activity this week. 

Grandpa Hal was a good man who worked hard all his life. He would have been 97 on his birthday in May. Everyone in Raleigh knew him because he was the Raleigh road commissioner and also because he was related to almost everyone. :D  I will miss his smile the most. It always reached his eyes. 

Tuesday I will drive down to get Dane unless they finish up in Hayti first. He is very ready to be home and sleep in his own bed!

Yesterday was Valentine's Day. Happy 28th Anniversary of mine and DeWayne's first date!!! Our first date was on a Saturday too. Evan came home for the weekend to go to see "Sabrina Fair" with us in Marion. We went shopping in Carbondale and Marion before the play. DeWayne LOVES to shop! Not really, he's just a good sport! I found a few things at Old Navy and GAP. I also found two really good books at Barnes & Noble (big surprise).

I finished The Year of Living Biblically. I liked it and it made me laugh but I was a little disappointed that he didn't seem to make a permanent change. He skirted "relationship" with God but he didn't get any closer. It made me sad for him that he might not ever know Jesus and eternal life. Maybe his Bible reading will continue to sink in to him. Maybe just the right person will send him an email explaining more to him. I can only pray for that. I did buy A.J. Jacobs first book - The Know-it All. This book is a retelling about how he read the encyclopedia from A to Z. It's probably really funny too. I'll keep you posted.

More good stuff this week in INDEED:

"What does it really mean to love God?

Not theology - ask a Sadducee

Not work - ask a Pharisee

Not emotions - ask a Zealot

So how do I love God? I lie at His feet and tell Him I am His. I seek to honor Him in all I do. I want to be like Him. I crave His fellowship. I pray His desires. I am consumed with His ways, His works, and His will. The theology, the works, and the feeling will come. They are good but only after devotion. Love always comes first."  2-13-09

1 John 4:19

We love Him because He first loved us.

"God doesn't accept me because of the way I am, He accepts me because of the way Jesus is. And what He asks of me is that I carry a cross that no one else sees. No one else realizes how much effort it may take for me to be kind to others, to extend hospitality or simply to do the right thing. My need keeps me close to the cross. Even though we commit the most heinous of sins, His desire is that we will suffer and repent. He is such a mystery to me, but I am compelled to keep looking, keep listening, keep struggling, keep confessing what I see in myself and keep rejoicing in what I see in Him. God is much more interested in what we choose to struggle with than what we choose to live with. It's the struggle with our sin that keeps us dependent on His forgiveness, not the things that we decided to accept and move on with." 2-14-09

I love cooking breakfast on Sunday mornings for the kids. It is probably one of the highest points of my week, every week. This morning we cooked over 10 dozen eggs, several pounds of bacon and 5 loaves of bread for french toast. It was so good. We fed a whole lot of people, not just transportation kids. Breakfast is so good everyone wants to eat! DeWayne got to help today. I love it when he's there. He washes the dishes for us!

Thankful List:

1. Little Chapel Church

2. Beautiful sunshine

3. clean drinking water

4. whoever invented pizza

5. books

I better finish up for now, it's getting really long. :D

Happy 200th Birthday Abraham Lincoln!

Because the great state of Illinois claims Abraham Lincoln as theirs we get the day off. Maybe next year we will take President's Day like the rest of the country!! Getting a day off (and not including snow) is a real treat. And...the sun is shining and it is actually a beautiful day. Wow, isn't God great! Yay, God!!!

I've done laundry and put stuff away that always seems to pile up on my table. Now, it's just me, my laptop and maybe another cup of coffee. Some days I wish DeWayne's schedule and my schedule would work out. He's on midnights so on this fabulous day; he's asleep. Boo!!! There's always Spring Break. Maybe we'll have a day or two off then together!

The kindergarten and first grades had their Valentine's Day parties Wednesday. The second grades are having their parties tomorrow when we get back. Plus it is second grade RIF day. So looks like another crazy day at West Side. I love it! (RIF is Reading is Fundamental. The kids have a program and get a book and a gift. Very fun.)

I've scanned more pictures this morning and I have gone through the external hard drive looking at a whole lot more. I'm still having fun with this project. I like the fact that I can go to our Whitlock Memories page and see these pictures anytime I want and they are in some kind of order. It's fun sharing. 

Thankful List:

1. getting to sleep an hour later this morning

2. seeing buds on my forsythia bushes

3. indoor plumbing

4. electricty (it was out for several hours yesterday)

5. the children at West Side School

Dane is still working many long hours restoring power in Missouri. He's very tired. At this point he wants to get finished and sleep about 3 weeks. DeWayne is going down tomorrow to see him. Too bad it's not today so I could go too. Maybe next week they will be finished. I'm sure the people where he's working are tired of not having power. Ours was off several hours yesterday because of the wind and I was very ready for it to come back on.

Evan lost another goldfish. Maybe she needs to try another variety of fish. They last about 2 weeks and die. Oh well, it's just $2. I remember when fish were 25 cents at the Dime Store in Eldorado. I told Evan that and she just laughed at me. I guess I am old!

Perhaps I should get something major accomplished today. Or, maybe not! :D

100th Day

For anyone who has a child in early elementary school, today was a really big day in my building. It was the 100th Day of School. We are all 100 days smarter. We have counted the days to reach this milestone. We have counted by ones, by fives and  by tens to reach 100. We've brought collections of 100 things and we've displayed them proudly. So, today was about showing off counting skills. We also had cake and cookies and candies and whatever else we could to celebrate. Let's just say I've eaten cake and I've had a few pieces of candy today. Sugar high and sugar low. I'm glad I went to Curves after work to work this off. :D

Thankful list:

1. the two warmer days we just had

2. teachers and staff who love children

3. DeWayne's cooking skills (he grilled amazing chicken tonight)

4. having a car to drive

5. DeWayne having a car to drive too

I'm in Exodus in my Bible reading. All those very detailed details about the temple and the ark and the priests clothing. It's very hard to read sometimes. But our God is an amazing God of details. I love that. He made me. He put me in this exact spot. He knew how I was going to turn out before I was even formed. So sometimes the details seem boring or not relevant to today but in reality it's just the fact that He knows the details. He CARES about the details then and now! It makes me so excited that I can hardly type. I can't type as fast as my brain is working. :D So I think I'll keep plodding along in Exodus. I'm almost finished with that book anyway and I just started Luke. I feel like I'm flying through the Bible!!!

I am about finished with "The Year of Living Biblically." Each chapter is the months broken down. He's in month ten and he's exploring the New Testament and Jesus. I'm cheering for him to get to know Jesus and fall in love. My hope is that he turns his heart to God and Jesus and a relationship with them! I'll keep you posted.

Remember:

Life is too short to not pay attention.

Glorious Sunday

Every time I post a Sunday it's to say how amazing our service was this morning. Well, today was no disappointment. Never, in the time we've been going to LCC has Jeff shown a DVD on Sunday morning instead of preaching. Well, this morning he showed us a DVD with Louis Giglio. The DVD was from the How Great is Our God tour. Here is a You Tube link to one of the most powerful points.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_e4zgJXPp14

People who are struggling to believe that God could create us and the universe need to watch this clip as well as the whole video. Nothing as big as this universe that is completely in sync could be a happenstance creation. 

Psalm 33:6-9

By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth. He gathers the waters of the sea into jars; he puts the deep into storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord: let all the people of the world revere him. For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.

Good Stuff!!!

Thankful List:

1. my cell phone

2.choices of food to eat

3.that the ice has finally melted away

4.the opportunity to cook breakfast at church every Sunday

5.Grandparents that made wise choices as an example to me

As this list goes on, I have a feeling that each entry may not be only one line. :D

Evan came home for the afternoon. It was fun to hang out with her and watch TV. Oh yeah, the DirecTV guy finally came yesterday afternoon at 3:30. It only took him 3 1/2 hours to hook up our TVs with all those 120 channels. I've watched a couple of movies that I hadn't seen and I've channel surfed. It will take me awhile to figure out where the channels are. I may have to make a little cheat sheet of my favorites. 

I actually watched "Akeelah and the Bee." I really liked this movie. It is about a little girl from California that wins her local spelling bee and competes at the national level. The story was very good. I give it a thumbs up. :D

I get to go back to work tomorrow. Yay! We only have a four day week this week because of Lincoln's birthday. Of course, that's on Thursday. I think I'll either go see Evan (and shop) or see if I need to take Dane some stuff. I won't make that plan until Wednesday. 

I'm really excited about Valentine's Day. DeWayne got tickets for the play Sabrina Fair. It's going to be at the Marion Civic Center. I can't wait. Sabrina is one of my favorite movies (both the old and the new version). Valentin's Day 1981 is when DeWayne and I had our first date. We've been a couple for a LONG time! We celebrate this anniversary in a bigger way than our wedding anniversary. 

Better quit for tonight - more tomorrow!

Oh well!

Well, the DirecTV guy didn't make it again today. They overbooked themselves. They have sworn they will be here first thing in the morning. (I know, Saturday!) We'll see. I'll believe it when they pull down my driveway!!! :D If not, what's a few more days without 120 channels. I've been living without them for 4 years now. I only miss them when network TV is awful (which is at some point every day!).

After I got off work DeWayne and I headed to Missouri to see Dane. We stopped at Lambert's in Sikeston and ate supper. Yum! I hadn't eaten there in many years. It's still very good. As we were leaving many, many Linemen from the PIKE company arrived. We tried to count trucks and men but lost count. There were probably 60 or 70 men there. It made me ready to see Dane. After we left the restaurant, I texted Dane and told him we were on our way. He texted back that they had just had 3 poles go down so they were still working. Needless to say we turned around and came home. Very disappointing. I was so ready to see him. Grown up or not a mom needs to see her boy! I have Thursday off for Lincoln's Birthday; maybe I can take him supplies then. 

I posted more pictures on my memory page last night. Time consuming as this project is; I am having a good time. I like looking at all the old pictures and posting all the captions about them. 

It's late for me (almost 10:30 p.m.) so I'm outta here!

A Very Long Week

Every time we have a short week followed by a full week of school, it seems like the week lasts forever. Tomorrow is Friday and I thought it was Wednesday all day. Talk about confused! I am very happy that tomorrow is Friday (and it's payday!). What more could I ask for? Well, DeWayne is off and the DirecTV guy is supposed to be here tomorrow. Those are two more good things. 

Thankful list:

1.InDeed Devotion book

2.our dog Brody

3.the dishwasher

4.our digital cameras

5.my MacBook

Today's devotion in InDeed was great. I could retype the whole thing for you here but it would probably be really long. The verses are from Philippians 1:12-26.

 A few of the good quotes:

"In both ministry and life, Paul's concern was the gospel and the name of Jesus."

"We assume that God's goal for us is survival, and that He has teamed up with us to ensure a happy, healthy life. But God's definitions of happiness and health are far removed from ours. While we are busy about surviving and maybe even accomplishing something for ourselves or our loved ones - or even our Lord - God has a change of heart in store for us. This life we're living isn't about us; it's about Him. We're not to be preoccupied with our survival. We're to be preoccupied with His reputation in this world. The name of Jesus should be the food we eat and the air we breath."

"This leads us into a glorious freedom. We no longer need to obsess about our work, our children, our lifestyle, or our image. We can obsess about His name and let Him take care of the rest. It doesn't mean we don't care about the other things; it means that if we concern ourselves entirely with His mission, He concerns Himself entirely with our needs. There's no simpler, freer way to live."

That's good stuff. It truly spoke to my heart this morning. In all things, in all ways, I must be building up Jesus' reputation in this world. The way I look reflects Jesus. If I am trying to be self-sufficient in all ways, I am not a great example of Jesus' provision. We serve an amazing and awesome God. Give Him the chance to show you how GREAT He can be!

The ice and snow are staying around for awhile this time. Probably because the temperatures have not been above freezing except for 1 day. There is still snow and ice covering the ground and I STILL have about 3 inches of ice on the driveway. I don't mind the snow but I really don't care much for the ice. Oh well, after it rains this weekend while it's in the 50's the ice should just about be gone. (I hope!)

I'm going to try to scan more pictures tonight. I haven't added any new things to the Whitlock Memories page since Monday. I look at it at school like some little picture fairy is going to come and add pictures while I'm at there. No, just me and I need to do that tonight. So I better sign off!!

More later-

Brrrrr!

Last Tuesday the ice and snow arrived and today it's still lingering because the temperature dropped to unbearable. It is really cold because of the north wind. We have two days of this wonderful single digit weather forecasted and then by the weekend it's supposed to be 65. Oh well, as I have said before. If you don't like the weather today just stick around it will be totally different tomorrow.

Today I am thankful for:

1.Curves

2.my washer and dryer

3.a toothbrush and toothpaste

4.my Bible

5.the ability to read

DeWayne made it home in one piece last night and tonight he actually gets to go to bed and get 8 hours sleep! He described some of the ice damage he saw. He said almost all the trees he saw had no tops. Very sad :( He didn't get to see Dane; he hadn't made it back in yet from work. He did talk to him and he's doing all right. I'm going to start missing him before he gets home I think!

I'm still keeping up with reading the Bible all the way through in a year. It was encouraging to look at January's calendar and see all those days marked off in red. (I used a red colored pencil to circle the Bible chapters as I read them and then marked the day off.) It made me want to keep on going! I'm excited about God's Word. It is so alive and speaks fabulous truth in to my life EVERY DAY!!! 

I get so excited watching the Biggest Loser on TV. When those people weigh and lose huge amounts of weight I cheer for them! It encourages me to want to get tougher on my eating choices and start losing weight again. Over the year, I have lost right at 50 pounds. (I had actually lost a little more but that had to do with the flu I had. :D) I'm kind of at a standstill with my weight. I'm comfortable in my clothes and with myself at this time in my life. I would like to lose 20 more pounds but I have to weigh the cost. To get further down the scale, I am going to have to cut about 250 calories a day out of my diet for a month or two. So, it's time to get serious again.

Back to Work

What an interesting day yesterday was. I didn't even post. 

Church was awesome! Jeff is continuing his talks about righteousness and truth and justice and yesterday he added grace. I love that he's not holding anything back. People need to hear the hard truths. Being a Christian has to cost something and that cost has to be my choices. The world or Jesus! I choose Jesus!

I helped with breakfast yesterday but we didn't have any bus kids only parking crew and stragglers. :D  

The snow turned to mush yesterday and became very hard to drive in. I got stuck at church and had to be pushed out and then I got stuck right in front of my garage. Needless to say, I didn't go anywhere last night. Evan, on the other hand, had to go back to Evansville. So she and I spent over an hour digging and pushing her car out of the slush. YUCK!!! I am so sore today because of the pushing and shoveling. But once she got out she didn't have any trouble driving to Evansville. :D

I have become totally obsessed with my Whitlock Memories page. I have looked at pictures and scanned pictures and made pages and albums. I had a good time at work sharing it with my friends. Of course, they all think I have way too much time on my hands. Probably so!

School wasn't too bad today. I think the kids were all asleep because they were all really great. In the computer lab anyway, they did everything I asked them like they hadn't missed a beat. We'll see what tomorrow brings! I'm tired tonight. I'll be completely exhausted tomorrow.

DeWayne worked a double shift yesterday (off at 10 p.m. last night) and then worked day shift today (back to work at 6 a.m.). He headed to Missouri after he got off work today to take Dane some supplies.  He's going to be exhausted when he finally gets home. 

As I was driving to work this morning, I was thinking about all the things that I am thankful for. I guess what made me think most about this was seeing a bus stop in front of a house in Harrisburg. A lady got off the bus, went to the door and helped a disabled student walk to the bus. I am very thankful for people who so lovingly care for the disabled children in our school district.  

My list could be very long and never ending! Perhaps that's what I'm going to post this month:Everyday - five things I am thankful for!

1.DeWayne

2.Dane

3.Evan

4.A warm comfortable bed

5.Running water

I'll try not to repeat. Just know that I am thankful for DeWayne, Dane and Evan. They are always at the top of all lists. :D

I almost forgot - The groundhog saw his shadow. Six more weeks of bad weather. Well duh! Spring isn't for 6 weeks so what do you expect?!? Oh, well! After last week a lot of people were wishing for an early spring I guess.