An Unlikely Friendship

Fep likes birds. I'm not sure if it's normal for a 10 year old, almost 11, to like birds as much as she does. The Bob calls her our Jane Hathaway.

There is a man who The Bob met through work that is a serious bird watcher. He goes out every weekend and has for years and years and years. He is 70 years old, and Mr. Jeff is his name. Fep and The Bob have gotten to go on a couple of bird excursions with Mr. Jeff, and he has been able to show her birds that we'd never find in our back yard. Can we say Painted Bunting?

Over the past month, Fep has taken to the computer. Not to play games on the computer...okay well maybe she does do that, too...she is still a normal 11 year old even though her passion for birds isn't normal for an 11 year old...she gets on the computer to email, Mr. Jeff. Not her best little girlfriends. Not her family. She emails back and forth with a 70 year old man. They talk about all their bird finds and stories, and she asks him questions. Lots of questions. And Mr. Jeff is so kind that he takes the time to correspond back and forth with her. I was thinking the other day what a lovely and unexpected friendship. Not many children today gives a hoot (get it? Hoot...Owl....Bird. hee hee) about our elders and the wisdom they hold. And there are those elders who are just annoyed by youth. But Fep and Mr. Jeff, I think, have found something special....an unlikely friendship.

"When you're smiling..."

"When you're smiling, when you're smiling, the whole world smiles with you." Do you know that song? We sing it all the time. Anyway, these are just a couple of the many things in my home that makes me smile. First I give you...

This was the first Christmas present Fep ever bought me herself. She was around 5 years old at the time. In additon to Heather, I have another best buddy, Lisa, who took her to Dollar Tree so she could have something to give her Mamma that she picked out and that she paid for herself. I remember that Fep even wrapped it. You can imagine what 5 year old wrapping looks like. This little angel only cost a dollar, but I wouldn't take a hundred for it. It warms my heart every time I think about the thought that went into it.

Then another smile maker is....

Heather gave me this this past Christmas. I love it. I absolutely love it. It sets of the china cabinet beeeeyouteeefully. Real nice, it does. Oh, and if you love it, too, she makes them and sells them in her Etsy Shop. And I'm sure yours would make you smile, too. And really, this is not just a Heather promo because we are best buds. I love that tassel, and I've gotten compliments on it. It's a real smile maker.

And finally....

I made this blueberry jam this morning. It will make me smile when it's in my belly ;)

For more smiles....

Make Her Smile

Heathahlee is having a linky party Monday. You can see her posts here and also here for the scoop. Check out her posts, and then link up on Monday. Monday is the day. It's Monday. Not Tuesday. Not Wednesday. Monday. Butterfly Genes. Be there or be square ;)

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.