Hawaiian Wishes

In this post, I talked about all that Hawaiian decor Heather and I put out. So, who is going to Hawaii? Me? Noooooo. Not me. Better than that. What could possibly be better than ME going to Hawaii? It's that this young lady is going....







In December our company raised money for charity to sponsor a terminally ill child's wish. With the help of our customers and employees and a local retailer in our area, we were able to raise enough money to grant a wish. The approximate cost of one wish is $7000. And that's what was raised. Even at Christmas when people may already be a bit stressed about money, and even in the down economic times, people gave. And they gave. And they gave. We raised almost $5K of that $7K in a period of just 2 days.

This young lady's wish was to go to Hawaii. She was diagnosed with cancer last year and was given a 35% chance of beating it. With a lot of help from St. Jude Children's Hospital and healing from the Lord, our true Healer, she is now in remission....

Her story is not complete without her Mom. Her Mom has literally battled cancer right along with her child. Two months ago, she underwent a double mastectomy for breast cancer. She came, and I thought she looked lovely. This would be Mom with another one of her children, her son....

I was grateful to be a part of this event. Grateful for our employees who sacrificed a lot of their time to help with the fund raiser. Grateful for people who gave even in tough economic times. Grateful for volunteers who work selflessly behind the scenes....


She and her family will leave for Hawaii on Sunday. ALOHA!!

This post is linked at Emily's Tuesdays Unwrapped

Blogs I Love...

I really, really don't think I've been in the blogging world long enough to do this, but I'm doing it anyway. I don't think I formed those deep relationships in my little blog life...yet. And that is what Bloggy Friendship Days is about. However, in my short stint with this blog there are a few ladies that I already adore.

Dawn at Beyond Grace. I believe she stumbled upon me at Emily's Tuesdays Unwrapped. But unlike some people who visit during a linky session and then never come back, Dawn came back. And she came back again. And she came back again. And then she started "Following Me". And as you know in this blogging life, if you find someone who really cares enough about your posts to leave consistent comments, it means the world. She's also a really good writer. She's deep and reflective. She's a grateful lady. So, check her blog out.

Jen at Unglazed She's a recent find who I found through Dawn. She does A to Z Mondays. I think it's Mondays? Anyway, she does A to Z posts where you have a letter of the alphabet...like say "C". Your post for that day will have to be about a "C" word like cat, coffee, Cuba...whatever :) Anyway, not only that be she takes AMAZING animal pictures. Lots of bird pictures. And I love me some birds. And she can tell cute, funny, little stories with her pictures. Even my children like to look at her blog...and that says A LOT. What blog is interesting enough to please a child? They usually look at a blog, and are like "Eh. Whatever." But they love Jen's animal pictures. And like Dawn, she's been coming to see me just because I left her a little comment about her pictures.

And finally, the one, the only Susie Harris This lady is one of the sweetest, kindest, most genuine people that I have gotten to meet. I've actually MET The Susie Harris! It was at Blissdom in February when I was tagging long with my IRL best buddy Heathahlee. And I do mean tagging along, because I didn't even have a blog at the time. I only went to get some girl bonding time with Heather. Anyway, as big as Susie's blog is, and as much as she has going on, she also takes time to visit my little corner of the world. I'm just a blip in this blog life, and Susie is huge in Blogland, but she remembers me from Blissdom and probably how I followed Heather around like a puppy. She treats me like I'm her friend. Her blog slogan is "Where Friends Become Family". How sweet is that!? I heart her. She simply has the sweetest spirit about her.

My next post will fill you in on WHO is going to Hawaii and why Heather and I did all that decorating! :)

A Servant's Heart

I'm quite convinced that the picture which should go along with the word "servant" in the dictionary should have HeathahLee's picture by it.

Our company had a function at a restaurant tonight in which we needed to have a Hawaiian theme. When I hit Heather up for a favor, I like to give her advance notice. So, I gave her a whole 2 hour notice this morning to get herself ready, and then drag her and her Kiddo around in the heat (it's 100 degrees here) with me to get together what we needed for said company function. The thing is that I do this to her all the time. And she loves me anyway. She has come to my rescue more times than I can count. Like when I needed a singer for a wedding that was at my house for people she didn't even know. Like when she spent the entire day of that wedding running around with me getting stuff and coming back to my house and helping me decorate. And then she sang. And then she helped clean up after the wedding. I could go on and on. Stuff she probably wouldn't even think of or remember. Why? Because not only is she a servant, she's a humble servant.

Oh, how I heart this woman.


If you don't have a friend like this, you seriously need to get one! And if your dictionary doesn't have her picture by the word servant, you probably need a new one ;)

And just why did we need to decorate with a Hawaiian theme?

Well, somebody's going to Hawaii. Stay tuned and see :)

Oh, and finally, this post is linked at Emily's Tuesday's Unwrapped. This day would have been just rush, rush, hurry, hurry without Heather in the mix. She made my super busy day fun and light hearted. We ate lunch. We laughed. We giggled. And we put out cheesy Hawaiian decor. Well, we hoped it didn't look cheesy. Or not too cheesy.

And may we all have a servant's heart...

Expected.

Well, today is the day. That day I'm supposed to weigh in. For some reason I thought this would be a great thing to do? Oh yeah. Accountability. And my results are not what I wanted, but what I expected. Actually I expected less, so I guess I should be glad for a 1.6 lb. weight loss. This week I lost 1.6 lbs. I have to explain here that I don't feel like I've really done well unless I lose at least 2 to 3 lbs a week. A minimum of 2. I know that to do well I'm going to have to face my nemesis.......

I have a real love/hate relationship with that thing. And please do notice that I have no curtains or window treatments other than the blinds. I am decor challenged that way. Anyway, I'm off to walk a mile or two. No pain, no gain. Or loss. Whatever.

Oh, and I'm changing my day to weigh to Friday. When I was officially doing Weight Watchers and facing the lady at the scale, I weighed on Fridays. That worked really well for me. So, you won't have to endure another weigh in post for about a week and a half :)

I am what?!

When I saw this on another blog, they were The Kitchen. I thought, "Oh, I bet I'm the kitchen", and I took the test. Then I got THIS result.....

You Are the Bathroom

Overall, you are a healthy person. You enjoy taking care of yourself. You are also quite attractive. Looking your best makes you feel your best. You are conscientious and detailed oriented. You stay on top of things. You are very honest and open. Privacy is not something you need a lot of.

What Room of the House Are You?

Oh. my. goodness. I laughed out loud when I saw my answer. THE BATHROOM?! The one thing that it says that I know does not fit me is, "Privacy is not something you need a lot of." Ummmm. I just don't think that fits. I love me some alone time. Love it. Crave it. Need it. Anyway, if you're up for some fun, find out your room :)

Father's Day Shopping...

So, I went Father's Day shopping today. This year The Bob will receive the usual shirt and socks. We also got him some cologne as he was completely out. I'm struggling with giving him the usual this year, because THIS is what he gave me for Mother's Day....

So, do you see my dilemma? I know it's not just about the gift, but about the heart in it. The problem with that is that he gave up something he treasured to buy me the car. I asked, begged him not to, but he did. And so I know, it's not about the gift, but this year Father's Day has me feeling a bit out of sorts. Last year with the usual shirt and socks, I wrote him a little poem kind of thing and framed it to give to him. So, I'm going to post that now. If fits him just as much today as it did when I wrote it a year ago...

This Man

This man serves others and not himself

This man sees the best in people and not the worst

This man delights in reading the Word of God to his children

This man sacrifices his wants for the needs of others

This man has strength of character and gentleness of spirit

This man makes the most of any situation, good or bad

This man works hard for his family

This man is the father of my children, my richest blessings

This man completes me

Happy Father's Day

June 15, 2008

~Kat

Yep, all those words still fit him completely, and I am blessed....

My Struggle...

I think I might be a tad bit crazy for putting this out there for everyone to see. But I've decided I've got to get some accountability or I'm never going to get what I struggle with under control. I struggle with..........food. My struggles with food come. And they go. I thought when I joined Weight Watchers last fall that the struggle would be gone for good. Wrong. Once I reached goal, I made the mistake of stopping my weekly weigh-in. And slowly over the last 3 months, I have gained back (gulp!) 10 lbs. Oh. my. goodness. How did I let this happen? So, I don't want to pay all the fees to sign back up with Weight Watchers. And I know how to do it. And I subscribe to their Online stuff and am already paying for that service. All I need is the lady at the scale. The lady at the scale who would weekly look at me, look at the scale, look at me on the scale, and write down my weight. Every single week. That motivated me more than the meetings. Way more than the meetings. The meeting was pretty much just a pep talk. For me, it was all about being accountable to the lady at the scale. The few people reading this blog will now become the lady at the scale. Didn't you always want to be the lady at the scale? I'm weighing on Tuesday's and on my Weight Watcher's Online Profile I had to record the ugly weight of.......oh, this is painful.....157.7. There. There it is. I had lost down to 147 way back in February. So, now I'm 10 lbs up...almost 11! Ugh. So, if you look to the right just under my family photos, I'm tracking my weight. I'll put down my weigh-in every Tuesday. Thanks for being the lady at the scale.

Did you know?

Did you know that yesterday was Flag Day? I didn't until I read Dawn's Blog this morning. Thanks, Dawn :) Even though we didn't know yesterday was Flag Day, it just so happens that we did put up a new American Flag yesterday. What a wonderful coincidence!

Other activities for our Sunday....

Rupert does The Dog...

Granny comes for a visit...

And we take in the Lord's beautiful creation...

Fire & Ice...How to turn Store Bought Pickles into Homemade!

The Bob and I like to try and have a weekend getaway once a year. Our spot choice for the getaway, or Minimoon (as in short honeymoon), is Natchez, Mississippi. We love it. I love the old antebellum houses. They have something like 25 that you can tour, and there are more than that on the historic register. I love the old civil war history of the town. Example: The reason Natchez still has so many old, antebellum homes is because the Union Army thought the town was so pretty that they did not want to burn it when they took control of the town during the war. Anyway, we looooove our yearly voyage to Natchez. I also love their local cuisine. They have some dang good eatin' there! Pearl Street Pasta, King's Tavern, The Carriage House, Magnolia Grill. Yuuuuummmmy! On our last trip, we tried a new place called Fat Mama's Tamales. I don't normally like tamales. When I think tamales, I think about those nasty ones that come in a jar from the store. My Daddy used to eat those. Bleck. Well, Fat Mama makes homemade tamales. There is a world of difference, and I really, really liked them. But what I liked even more was Fat Mama's Fire & Ice pickles. Sweet pickles with a bit of a kick, a little spice. They were the best I had ever eaten. When we left Fat Mama's, I bought several jars of pickles to bring home like any good tourist would do. As I was paying for them, the cashier said, "You know you can make these. They start from store bought dill pickles." I'm sure Fat Mama would not appreciate that cashier letting customers know that. Although they did not give me the exact recipe, however. My Mom ran down a recipe online, and they are sooooo good. Just like Fat Mama's. Fat Mama would be so proud. I made them from our online recipe, but changed them just a tad, so here you go:

Fire & Ice Pickles
1 quart of whole dill pickles
1/2 tsp. minced garlic
1/4 HEAPING tsp. red pepper flakes
2 cups sugar

Empty jar of pickles draining off all juice. Cut into slices that are not too thick and not too thin. Mix in garlic, red pepper flakes, and sugar. Stir all ingredients and let them set on the counter for 3-4 hours, stirring occasionally. Over time the sugar will bring out more juice from the pickles and turn your dill pickles into sweet pickles. After several hours put back into the jar and chill. I think they are the absolute best when they've had a chance to get their chill on.

Also, I heap my tsp. of red pepper flakes, because I like the extra, little kick the red pepper gives. Sweet yet a hint of spicy. Yum.

Learning to be grateful...

I hope we are teaching our children to be grateful. We are trying. Last week Moose had a birthday party, and we are having him send Thank You notes to those who brought him a gift. It's something The Bob and I are serious about. Thank You notes, that is. We are serious about sending Thank You notes. Moose feels like it's torture. He hates to write. He is thankful for his gifts, but he does not see a need to hand write everyone a note. He'd rather give thanks in person. But in the day of high technology, there is something wonderful about a handwritten note. It says you took time. It says you were mindful and thoughtful. Really, don't you just love to get a handwritten note or letter from someone in the mail? I do.

I don't think I've always had an attitude that was as grateful as it should have been. No, I know I didn't. Especially in my teens and twenties. I think those are days that many young adults are completely absorbed with self. At least I was. Since then and over time, I have learned to be thankful and grateful for what others do. I have even gone back and written a couple of people who I never properly thanked or told them how much their love and support meant. People need to hear that...even if it's years later than it should have been.

So, I hope I teach my children to be grateful and thankful along the way. In doing so, they will not only find an attitude of gratitude, but also an attitude of humility.