imagine christmas

We'll be watching for you. Imagine Christmas at the Rock of Wilmington, NC.

Dec 16, 2007 10AM and 6PM

christmas in florence

To read the stories associated with these pics go to www.conisong.wordpress.com

see you there.

It is my new blog site

ten awful minutes

more owie!!!! This is me for the last 8 minutes of tortu.... um... traction.

traction or torture

Medievil or just evil?

How is retirement so far?

I will not over eat tomorrow.

I will not over eat tomorrow

I

Locks of Love

So... ya wanna know what I got to do today?

I know some of the coolest people and they let me do some of the wackiest things with them.

This is my friend Jack.

He hasn't had, what he calls, a sit in the chair haircut in about 12 years.

Today, we cut 23 inches of his hair off. He is donating it to Locks of Love. They will be able to use it to make wigs for children who have lost their hair to chemotherapy. He has wanted to do this for a while now and today, I got to assist him. We left enough for him to start on the next donation. We figure he should be ready for the next sit in the chair haircut in January.

I think Jack is cool.

New address

I am making some changes. My new blog will be on wordpress from now on. Just easier for me to keep track of. So.. here it is - http://conisong.wordpress.com
See you there from now on OK?

Eat her up

Anne Geddes, eat your heart out!

Is this not the sweetest sweet pea you have ever seen? She is Natalie Glenn Cook and she is destined for mighty things. I know this because I have laid my hands on this wee one and prayed for God's destiny to be completely fulfilled in her life.

Her Mommy and Daddy, Becky and Nate, have a very important role in raising this future mighty woman of God and I believe they are fully equipped to do it. After all, look at the awesome work they are doing so far.

New meaning to hump day

I will be going to the chiropractor for a loooonnng time.
My ex rays show that the curve in my neck has straightened out. and it leans to the right. Apparently not a good thing. It is causing a hump in my neck and back known as a Dowagers Hump. Happy hump day. Yeah, I know, lame joke.
I am in sticker shock and could use a good chuckle so don't be afraid to share any good joke with me. I had to take out a new loan (seriously) to pay for 84 visits. I have 3 visits per week for the next... I don't know how long. For the love of Pete!!! Someone make me laugh!! Sorry, I lean too easily on the drama.
I really am not too freaked out about it. I have known for years that I am not properly aligned. (Insert your own alignment joke here.) And, please, feel free to share. You can't hurt my feelings as long as you share the love too.
I also know that God will see to it that Ed and I are not in need. Ed is going through treatments for his knee at the same time. Ahhh, together time.
God has always provided for us and I believe He has a good plan for all of this. The good news is that now I know what has been causing the constant shoulder and upper back pain and making my arms and hands go all pins and needles in the middle of the night. And it is fixable.
So, my plan is to stay close to home until after the first of the year. That means I will be available to work in my studio if anyone is looking for a hairstylist. Hello!
Unless Spielberg calls me to come do hair on his next movie. Then, I'm outta here. Crooked neck, tingling hands and all.
I am also going to be involved in The Rock Christmas production. It is going to be amazing!! I get to sing a duet with one of the very talented singers in our choir / praise band. I don't want to give anything away but, trust me, this production will be way beyond average! You will be entertained, encouraged, touched and ready to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas. Imagine.
OK. I might turn down Spielberg for this. Mark your calendar for Sunday, December 16. We will have a 10AM performance and a 6PM performance. Be there for one or both. You will not regret it.

Cuter and cuter

At the risk of sounding weirder than usual, I just have to say that I am getting cuter with age.

I just got my new do and some REALLY RED highlights and I couldn't help but wish that I were 20 years younger. I would definitely have piercings and tattoos in abundance. And my hair would have some purples in it for sure! To do it now would just be, what my friend Jennifer refers to as, "mutton dressed as lamb." It is just too stinking bad that I had to wait until I was in my mid fifties to have the courage to look and be the way I want. Heck, it took me this long to even know what I want. I was such a people pleaser that I would be devastated if someone didn't like me. Now, I meet people all the time who don't like me and I have discovered that, for the most part, that are too insecure to let me know that they don't like me. So, they fake it but it always comes out some how. Oh, It isn't that they are being polite at all. If that were the case, they wouldn't be talking behind my back... or yours.

I have decided that I am the only one who has to like me. That means that I need to behave in a manner that makes me comfortable. I am not always successful at this. There are times that I hear something come out of my mouth and wish I could inhale it right back into silence. Sometimes my thoughts offend me. That is easier to deal with because I bring those right to Jesus and say, "Here. I don't want this. Will you discard of it for me?" He always says, "yes". And sometimes He has to remind me to get my grubby little paws off that because it doesn't belong to me anymore!! Jesus knows just how to speak to me and to make me laugh. I love to laugh. I love wearing spiky hair with red highlights and purple glasses. I don't need any more tats. I don't need any more holes in my body to hang jewelry off of. I am 55 years old and I have acquired some lovely diamonds over the years and I love to wear them. I am cute mutton, hear me roar. baaaa

Comanche Moon

How blessed am I that I could take these pics while working?

My friends Jennifer and Rita called me to come work on this TV mini-series for a few days in Albuquerque, NM. It is called Comanche Moon and it will air on December 30, Sunday night on CBS. The story takes place in the 1800s. Those of you who know anything about my work, already know how I love to do period hairstyles and wigs! I had an absolute blast working on this. The work was easy enough, although the conditions were tough. Wind storms every afternoon and the altitude had it's way with me a bit. I got a bloody nose every day. We had to turn young, rodeo riders with crew cuts into Natives from 1800. That means wigs, glue, wigs, tape, wigs, pins and occasionally, some black hairspray to cover the highlights on the women. I learned how to make a scalp lock! It is a braid that hangs from the crown of a man's head. Ten hair stylists, ten to fifteen make up artists and hundreds of extras in a tent on the side of a mountain. Make up and hairspray were billowing out the sides of the tent. Oh, and add to that the smoke from the sage that the shaman burned to bless the day. I met some of the coolest folks there.

We stayed in a casino for a couple of nights. Had to walk through the smoke and the clanging of machines and the ringing bells and the lights and the people. A real treat for my ADD.

I love what I get to do for a living. It will be nice to get to do it a little closer to home for a while.

I turned down yet another job today. I will know when the right one comes and when the time is right.

LUCKY

The following is from an assignment that I did for the Rockguild writers class. We were asked this question; "If you bumped into someone you had not seen in a long time, how would that conversation go?" Hmmm... here is my answer. It is a bit long but I enjoyed writing it and hope you will enjoy reading it.

Lisa loved the smell of this place. As she stood in line waiting for her turn to order her usual morning coffee she noticed that there were no familiar faces behind the counter. It appeared that there had been some changes made to the ordering process and the line was much longer than normal. A little annoyed, she glanced up to the overhead menu to make sure that hadn’t changed as well. Just then she felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around to see…
“Lucky!” she exclaimed and threw her arms around his neck.
“Hi Sis. Long time no see.” he said.
“I’ll say!” she chuckled. “I just can’t believe I am looking at you! You look fantastic.”
It felt to Lisa like they were the only two people in the coffee shop. Her heart was pounding with joy at the delight of seeing this brother that she missed for so long. He had a way of disappearing from the family for months at a time but this time had been ten long years. And yet, he looked young and vibrantly healthy. He looked very different from the last time she had seen him. There was something she had never seen before in the eyes of this previously tortured soul.
“I know there are a hundred things running through your mind right now.” he said, breaking the spell of the moment. Lisa had made up her mind in an instant that she was going to blow off work for as long as she and her brother could spend together.
“I think of you often. Sometimes I play over our last conversations in my mind and hope that I said all the right things.” Lisa was feeling a bit awkward. “I really wanted to see you paint the mural on the wall at the playground like you had planned. That was such a positive and ambitious goal. I know it would have been beautiful and it would have made the children so happy.” she babbled excitedly as they both took a step forward in the line. She thought about some of the imaginative paintings her talented brother had created.
“That was the clearest my mind had been in a long time and I knew exactly what the mural would look like. I just wanted to give something back. It seemed like the place to start giving was to the kids.” Lucky’s smile was warm and genuine.
“What it is like?” Lisa almost whispered.
“I knew you would ask me that” he said with a twinkle in his eye. “I spent the longest time just standing there. Staring. It is not possible to drink it all in with your understanding. I don’t know how I can describe to you what it is like to look at the Lamb on the Throne or to hear the angels singing. Everything has a feel to it, even the air itself. It lands on your skin like a soft, fine mist. It feels like … love… acceptance. It is everything you promised it would be and more.”
These words were coming from a man who knew heart ache and rejection.
His given name was, Paul Joseph Palombi, Jr. He was named after his father who deserted his family when Paul, Jr. was in high school. After a failed marriage of his own and a dishonorable discharge from the Army, Paul served two years in a NY prison for armed robbery in the 1960s. A year or so after his release he joined an outlaw motorcycle club called the Devil’s Disciples. It was during this time that he acquired the name which he would be called for the rest of his life.
He had been caught shoplifting and in an attempt to dodge the store manager who was chasing him, Paul ran away from the store. The unfortunate thing was that he left his motorcycle parked in front of the store and someone recognized it as the shoplifter’s. The police impounded the motorcycle and instead of turning himself in and getting his bike back, Lucky and his friends decided to steal his bike back. They all got caught and they all were arrested and Lucky had to sell his motorcycle in order to pay for a lawyer. It did not take a Rhodes Scholar to see a pattern here. Someone in the club decided that a fitting name for this unfortunate misfit should be Lucky. There you have it; a legend was born.
He moved his way up in the ranks of the Devil’s Disciples until he was arrested again. Lucky and his brothers in the club were selling drugs out of their clubhouse. A federal agent tried to befriend them and infiltrate the operation but the guys found out what he was up to. They tied him up and forced him to drink from a bottle of wine telling him that it was laced with their best LSD. They then placed the frantic agent in the trunk of Lucky’s car and drove him around Boston for a couple of hours before releasing him. He immediately made his way to the nearest hospital and identified himself while insisting that the doctors pump his stomach. He instructed the medical personnel to keep the contents of his stomach as evidence. To his dismay, the contents revealed a mixture of Bali Hai wine and Bayer aspirin. Lucky went to prison for six years on charges of kidnapping. When he came out, the club that he felt such a part of had completely changed and he didn’t fit in anymore.
Lisa had gone from being his little Sis to being one of his drinking buddies. They came from a dysfunctional family and these two siblings used their offbeat senses of humor and their talents to get them through life.
Both had become alcoholic at a young age but Lisa reached the end of her rope first. To her brother’s surprise, she went to Alcoholics Anonymous, got sober and stayed that way. Five years later, she had a spiritual awakening, gave her life to Jesus, met a decent, sober man and got married.
Lucky continued to drink to excess. He was a shattered soul who had a hard time holding down a job. At one low point of his life, he worked in a bar and lived in his panel van.
One night, Lisa was at a Gospel Music concert and she was touched by a song titled, “Don’t call me lucky; call me blessed.” It was as if God was answering her prayers for her brother by telling her what to pray for. She knew, first hand, that God could change the very nature of a person. She was living proof of that fact. Other stories rang in her memory of Abram being changed in name and nature to Abraham; Sarai to Sarah; Jacob to Israel; Saul to Paul. Lisa began to pray that God would change her brother from Lucky to Blessed. She asked God to change the name and the nature of the lonely, mixed up man.
The last time Lisa and Lucky spoke was over the phone. He was living in Boston, Mass. and she was in North Carolina. The doctors told Lucky that he had a very aggressive form of cancer in his throat. Radiation therapy had burned him so badly it resulted in a tracheotomy. His physician gave him the bad news that they had done all they could. He called his sister to tell her.
When she got the devastating report, her first thought was, “Where will my brother spend eternity?”
She screwed up her courage and said, “Lucky, the most important thing you can do now is make sure you are all right with God.” The silence on his end of the phone felt like an eternity. Lisa knew it was painful for him to talk through the tracheotomy, so she was trying to give him some time.
“I don’t think that God is so mad at me that He won’t let me fish in the big pond when I get there.” he finally responded.
“Are you sure you are going to get there?”
“I believe in God. I’m just not sure if he believes in me.” Lucky confided.
Lisa thought that was the saddest thing she had ever heard. She understood how he felt and, immediately, the Bible story about the thief on the cross came to her mind. She told her brother about how the condemned man had messed up so badly that he was being put to death for the crimes he had committed.
“God believed in him, Lucky and you ain’t no badder than him.” She had slipped back into her street jargon but it was a language they both understood. “And Jesus promised that criminal that he would be in Heaven that very day!” Lucky realized that he was not so unique. He saw that there was hope and he made a decision to believe that Jesus knew all about this man called Lucky and yet, still loved him enough to want to forgive him of all his sins.
Because he had talked for so long, his throat was in a great deal of pain so Lisa offered to pray on his behalf. She told him that she wanted this prayer to reflect his own words to God, so if she said anything that he did not agree with, he should stop her. Lisa prayed and at the end of the prayer she heard her brother croak the word, “Amen.”
Lisa had been so lost in all these memories that she was startled by the sound of a buzzer. She was quickly brought back to her place in the coffee shop.
“When did they get a buzzer in this place?” Lisa turned her attention to the young man behind the coffee counter. He was ceaselessly pushing the annoying buzzer. Lisa thought she saw yellow numbers reflecting off his forehead. Turning around to see where the reflection was coming from, she saw her alarm clock blinking a yellow 6:55AM.
Lisa sat up in the bed, realizing that she had been dreaming. She looked at her clock again which also showed today’s date. It was June 10, 2005. Ten years to the day when she received the phone call telling her that her brother Lucky had been found dead in his Boston apartment.
Filled with gratitude for the gentle, loving way that God reminded her of the things that really matter, Lisa started her day with prayer.
“Thank You, Lord, for displaying to me that You have the grace to transform the life of a man who never should have been called Lucky. You never abandoned Your child. You knew his real name from the beginning of time and You have called him Blessed.”
In the recesses of her mind, she heard a strong, sure voice say, “Amen.”

PS. Most of this story is true. I am missing my brother today so I wanted to share it. Thanks for hanging in to the end.

Reality Check

Alright, I admit I have become engrossed in some reality tv. This is akin to sin in my profession, none the less, I sit in front of the TV on Tuesday evenings, switching channels between The Biggest Loser and the voting off of a couple on Dancing with the Stars. I love that Dancing is a live show. If it were not, we would never have seen sweet Marie Osmond faint, dead away, on the floor on national TV. She still managed to look sweet, by the way, in a heap on the floor. She appeared to be fine on last night’s show. I always liked Marie.
BUT…. Oh my, what a turn of events on BL!!! Human nature fascinates me. Living my whole life with feelings of rejection and not being worthy of someones loyalty and love is, no doubt, the reason that I watch life with the eyes that I do. And, WOW, what these eyes saw last night. It would take far too long to go into all the events that led up to last night’s episode so I will attempt to paint you a snapshot picture of the debacle that haunts me today.
We are into week 5 or 6 of the contest and this week they split up the teams that had all begun together. Now, the teams consist of 3 members each and not everyone is happy about the break up. Apparently, the former blue team made a pact with each other that they would do everything possible to make sure that a blue team member would be the winner in the end. Not an awful thing to think, maybe even a bit noble. Oh nay-nay.
One of the blue team, Neal, has been put on the team with 2 former black team members. It was a tough week with a lot of drama going on and every contestant had their struggles. The trainers are amazing to me. They attempt to push these dis-functional fatties into a healthy lifestyle by teaching, nurturing or demanding, whatever the need may be. I respect the trainers for their ethics and desire to see unhealthy folks acquire healthy living skills and thereby not die an early death due to complications from obesity. I admire the courage of the Losers. They push themselves beyond what they think they are capable of and discover great, positive things about themselves along the way. I cannot imagine the courage it takes to take off your shirt on national TV and let the world see what 100 lbs of over-weight looks like on you. These folks inspire me in my constant weight struggle and help me to see positive things in myself too.
The weigh in is the coup de gra. The team that loses the lowest percentage of weight has to eliminate a team member. The catch is that all the other teams get to vote who should be voted off the losing team.
Neal decided to sandbag the results of the weigh in by drinking 2 gallons of water right before. He gained 16 pounds!!! Blue team members who are now in other groups were all in on this plan and they voted off one of the other members. I hope you are following this because this is astounding to me how many people are affected by this dishonest, conniving behavior. The poor guy that got voted off is the one who formed the teams and, unwittingly, brought Neal onto his team thinking he would gain an advantage. Betrayed at the end. Every contestant is realizing the GAME just took on a new twist. Neal is the shnook that brought it to another level. I am so mad at him you would think he was a relative! (joke) Everyone else in the GAME caught on to the rouse and, trainers and contestants alike, have voiced a disdain for what he has done. Neal’s defense is that this is a GAME and the GAME is on. Let’s just say, Neal is not going to win the popularity vote. His trainer, Bob, was so mad that he had to be bleeped a few times before he stormed out of the room. He felt betrayed and that his integrity had been compromised. One other trainer told him he disgusted her because he was messing with peoples lives. Ouch!
Soooo, life lesson anyone??
Be careful of the promises you make and the oaths you take, no matter how valliant they sound at the time.
Your character is who you really are. Your reputation is merely who people think you are.
I have been Neal.
I would like to think that I could not be Neal again.
If I were the guy voted off and Neal repented, how long would it take me to forgive?
If Neal never repented, how long would it take me to forgive?
The world is full of Neals. I don’t like that I believe this last one.
Leave me some of your thoughts on this one. I think it is chock full of life lessons.

No drought about it

the porch of our cabin

This is how I spent my weekend! I am so blessed!

We headed for the mountains at 6AM on Friday. My girlfriend, Nancy, rented us a cabin that was incredible! It was almost to the top of a mountain and the road that led us up to it was no more than a side winding bicycle path. Our resident excellent driver, Mr. Glen, had to take over the wheel. I get so nervous when I am not in control of the vehicle but this is one time I was glad not to be in control. The cabin was in the midst of a stunning autumn setting. The scenery and the chance to get away with our best friends and spend some quality time was just what the doctor ordered. We drove all over the place, ate out, played pinochle, cooked breakfast, the guys washed the dishes, we had devotions together and prayed together, went to a dinner theater, slept til 9AM, went to the farmers market and stopped by the apple ladies farm on our way home. And we are still best friends. Oh yeah, we saved the life of a box turtle by stopping the car and kicking, um... nudging it with my foot.. off the side of the road

What about those bikes in the picture, you ask? Well, first let me tell you that the monument sign behind us informs us that we are at the highest peak of the Blue Ridge Pkway. It was exhilarating and left us breathless in more ways than one. As we were taking the scenic photo above, I saw the look in my girlfriends eye. She gets this little twinkle that reminds me of a little kid when she is up to something . She was looking over my shoulder at these guys who had just pulled their bikes into perfect formation in front of the sign. (Probably so they could take a lovely photo.) Before they had their helmets all the way off, my girlfriend walked right up and asked them if we might be able to pose with their bikes. I would have loved the ability to read minds at that moment. They were great sports and took the pics for us.

This is what has captured my mind from this weekend. A resident of Bryson City told us that some of the old timers from that region say that it is a fallacy to believe that the foliage is not vibrant when there are drought conditions. They say that it is actually just the opposite. The lack of water forces the leaves to change, making them more vibrant than usual. I don't have any idea if that is correct or wives tale. But, here is my thought: Can it be that when people go through times of distress, hardships and sorrows, those circumstances force them to be more vibrant and alive? I think there is a sermon in there somewhere. For now, I will just ponder that.

Three of my favorite things

I love a pink sky at sunset. Got this from my front yard.

Ever vigilant, ever watchful guard dogs. Keeping me safe from intruders in my office. In reality. just hanging out with Momma.

Sharing another birthday with best friends Nancy and Glen Kling. Nancy and I did not plan ahead to dress like each other. Look at those handsome hubbies. We are truly blessed.

Only a dozen.

This is not a suggestion, it is a command from the Lord. Sometimes, I grumble at the thought of forgiving some of the jokers that have made my life difficult in one way or another. There have been more than a few times in my life when I whined the "I didn't do anything to deserve that" song. There is no need to go into all that because we have all heard it a thousand times, however, I would like to share some things I have learned along the way. If you can read this with a tone of voice, please make it an understanding one and not a condemning one.

1. Refusing to forgive keeps me in bondage to the offense, making me a prisoner of the pain.
2. Sometimes it is wisest to forgive without ever seeing the person again. Never put ourselves in physical danger. Use wisdom.
3. Sometimes we can forgive without speaking to the person again. Manipulators who are forgiven will still manipulate.
4. Forgiving someone does not mean I am responsible to help them see the error of their ways.
5. Keeping numbers 2 and 3 in mind,; it is possible to forgive someone who has passed away.
6. Some people do not deserve to be forgiven by any rational standard. Forgive them anyway.
7. Resentment in the Latin means to feel again. When I allow a resentment to remain, I am feeling the hurt all over again each time I think of it. And I think of it a lot. It is mental torture.
8. Just because we haven't completely forgotten the pain does not mean that we have not truly forgiven.
9. Forgiving is not a feeling, it is a decision.
10. Unforgiving requires a hardened heart and hard hearts don't hear God so well.
11. Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation for Thine is the kingdom and the glory and power forever.
12. Sometimes I can be the one who is big enough to forgive; sometimes I need someone to be big enough to forgive me.

I am forgiven. I am forgiving. I am moving forward.

The list

This is a list of things that God can not accomplish.
#1.

Saturday in the land of A.D.D.

I love that I have A.D.D. The initials, by the way, stand for Adorably Diligently Detoured. That is my version of it .
I did not realize that A.D.D. even existed until I was in my 40s. Then, I heard a talk show on Christian radio explaining this behavior. I don't believe it is a disease or a disorder. It is just the way some people are wired for goodness sakes. Calm down people! (Not you, the ones who keep looking for new diseases.)
Anyway, as I was listening, I said, THAT"S ME! Now that I have a little understanding of it, I find myself able to reign my thoughts in more often. I am able to start and finish something. I am capable of getting work done and have even discovered that I can run a hair department on a tv series or movie. Amazing! I discovered that I do not have secretarial skills or organizational skills but I have best friends that do have those skills. I am an idea person and an artsy fartsy person but I can get bogged down if I have to go through too many hoops to accomplish something. Then, my mind wanders and I find something else to do.
Today, I got caught up in the yard...again. I cut back my 4 rose bushes and moved a few potted plants around and put white stones around my backyard rose bush and sprayed weed killer in the beds and played with the dogs and colored my hair and showered and styled my hair. All that after I made oatmeal and raisins and ate with Ed and let the dogs out and let the dogs in and tidyed up the kitchen. Then I started reading some blogs and started writing this. Now, I have to go get my make-up on and get dressed for the Every Woman meeting in an hour. I said I would be one of the greeters. This meeting is called a Challenge and tells me I might be using some skills I might not know I have. I am up for a Challenge, just hope I don't have to organize something.
That's all for today. Remember, Just keep breathing.

day after hump day/brain dump

• note to self: Garlic lover's humus + chocolate soy pudding = tummy ache (p.s. with or without whipped cream)
• I am getting the hang of this unemployed thing. Kinda digging it.
• I am very excited that I will be in Wilmington for our Christmas presentation with Glory Academy of Fine Arts. Big production.
• Our Creative Arts team is awesome. I get to participate this year: doing hair and singing somewhere. Two of my favorite things to do.
• Ed got a shot of oil right in his knee joint today. Didn't even cry (very long). teehee. I am glad I was home to go with him and to do the driving.
• Our family physician belongs on a reality show. He is a trip.
• Port City Java House Blend is strong coffee.
• I love hanging out with my dogs. They love me even when I act like a jerk.
• Sounds like the screenwriters are going on strike soon. Might be out of work for a while.
• Matthew 6:34 Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of it's own.
• Bill Wilson (co-founder of AA) was very wise to say, "Live one day at a time."
• Nancy K. puts it this way: "Don't make tomorrow's check due today."
• Worry stinks.

comment away!

I just ate garlic humus and rice chips. Then, chocolate soy pudding with a dollop of whipped cream. Not a good idea. Maybe the whipped cream was too much.
Anyway, Some of you have informed me that you coould not leave a comment without a Google account or something. I just changed some of my settings so you don't have to sign in to leave a comment. Now... let me have it.
I gotta go lay down first. Not feeling to good. :(

Relationship

I love coffee in the morning!

Look PA, I did this w/out a Mac. Just teasing because I am a little jealous of your Mac.

Lately, I have been thinking about relationships. Family, friends, co-workers and church family.

My marriage is my most important relationship for sure. Ed and I can finish each others sentences and sometimes, read each others minds. That can be scary but it is so good to have a human who knows me so well and loves me anyway. We made a commitment to each other that, no matter what, we would stick by each other until the end. We turned that promise into a covenant when we invited Jesus to be the Head of our marriage. Now, 25 years later, we are still devoted to seeing the best in one another and sacrificing our own wants for our partners wants and needs. Aw, we don't get it right every day and in every situation, but we just keep trucking. It is a difficult thing, to put someone else before your self; some days it seems like trial and error. Mostly error.

When I decided to go on the interferon/ribaviron treatment for Hepatitis C, Ed was behind my decision 110%. It meant me taking meds that had me sick, listless, depressed and grumpy for 6 months. Then came another 6 months of recovery time. The man is a saint! I lost 35 pounds and 50% of my hair. As I would lay on the couch, near tears because even my skin hurt, he would tell me I was beautiful and that he loved me. Every day! He prayed over me every night too. He was my rock. I love you and I trust you with my life Eddie.

That was in 2004. My Pastor prayed over me at the end of my treatments and he asked the Lord to go further than putting me in remission, which is what the doctors told me my results could be. My Pastor had faith to believe and ask the Lord to wipe the hepatitis out of my system entirely and completely heal me. Today, I am still Hep free and my doctors have declared me healed. Hallelujah! I love You and I trust You with my life Jesus.

Family and friends were also praying for me during that time. Fawn called and prayed with me over the phone sometimes. What a blessing to have a kiddo who knows God. Some folks sent me cards, plants or flowers. We went to a small group pretty regularly and shared some sweet fellowship and more prayer. (Hey, faith and prayer are two of the highest common denominators in sick people getting well.) Other friends came over to play cards with me and Ed, even though my mind was so affected that I forgot what a pinochle was. My partner would shake her head sometimes at the cards I would play, but I knew she loved me anyway. She is my best friend. The day that I decided that she was a keeper was also set around a health issue.

Maybe I will go into that one next time. I don't want to sound like one of the old folks at the nursing home telling hospital stories. "Wanna see my scar from my last surgery?" No thanks.

Got humor?

I love to laugh. I love the sound of real, bone tickling laughter. I hold the dubious distinction of making one of my co-workers laugh so hard that she wet her pants. I love that! And she didn't even get mad about it.
I have discovered that I like redneck humor. Who would have thunk it? One of my favorite comedians has to be Larry the Cable Guy. I know, right? Some of his humor can be off color but the observations he makes about life and the humor he pulls out of those observations resonate with me until I am laughing my butt off. The topics he finds humor in are real life, every day situations. When he starts one of his stories, I find myself nodding my little bobble head in understanding agreement with family relationships or shopping experiences. Yep, got an uncle just like that or mm hm, seen that before. And then I am bellowing at the punch line. He wraps up some of his funniest stories by saying, "I don't care who you are. That right there is funny."
Sometimes it helps me to cope when I can see the humor in human nature. We all have our foibles. Like the propensity I have to worry about things every now and then. For instance, this week I was thinking, "have I lost my mind to turn down every possible job on the horizon that didn't turn me down first?" "Will I ever work on a film again?" "What if I can't keep my health insurance?" These are the thoughts folks, and that spells w-o-r-r-y.
God speaks to me in ways that I can understand and sometimes He makes me laugh out loud. Today He said:
"I don't care who you are. This right here is truth;
Who of you can add a single hour to your life by worrying?"
Can't say that I am bellowing in agreement, but I do get the point.

Hump Day Birthday Brain Dump

Every birthday is a miracle. Due to my reckless youth, I never thought I would see age 21.

• OMG I am 55 years old.
• Man, I look good for 55.
• Nothing can take the place of your Mom saying Happy Birthday. I miss her today.
• A daughter that sends a goofy card and a husband that sings off key and gives roses sure do make a heart feel better.
• Dinner in a nice Italian restaraunt with best friends tonight.
• It is late afternoon and I haven't showered yet. I love me a lazy day.
• My dogs bring me joy.
• This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it.
• Be real. Walk in the blessing.

Ciao for now.

Moss rocks

Visual people understand a message best when it is accompanied by a picture illustration. That's me. God wired me that way, so, He knows how to drive home a point with me.

Sitting on the stone bench in my garden this morning, I was trying to read the Word, pray and seek direction for the day. In a little while, I put my coffee down, closed my Bible and got up to walk the path and pray. I began by confessing what I know about God. He is great and greatly to be praised. I lay out my concerns to Him and I know that He can handle everything that occurs in my life today. Then, I prayed for the people He has put in my life and laid on my heart.

My ADD friends will understand this next step. My right brain friends will just have to bear with me... again. (BTW I love you for this.)

I shifted from walking and praying to digging up moss. As I began fitting the moss together between the stones on my path, God made an illustration for me.

First of all, when I told the landscapers that I wanted moss in my garden, they looked at me like I was speaking Martian. Then they gave each other that poor dillusional woman look. They simply could not behold the beauty in moss. To them it was more of a nuisance to be removed instead of something to be cultivated.

Some people are like the moss. There is a beauty in them that few can see and many would view them as a nuisance that need not be nurtured but should be shunned. A moldy mark on the landscape.

Moss comes in different shapes and colors. Some of it even has a scent to it. I have read about a moss that releases the scent of lemon thyme when it is stepped on. I am still looking for that one.

I am a lot like moss. Some have seen me as a moldy mark on the landscape of life. Shunned in Junior High and High school as a bad girl, I was involved in drugs, skipping classes and selling pills. I was an angry and rejected teen ager acting like a blight on society. I am thankful that the Gardener never lost sight of the beauty He saw in me.

Moss does not grow roots. It gets it's nourishment from the air. Like moss, I was always off the path, on the sidelines, growing up the side of a tree, a nuisance reaching into thin air for nourishment that could not be found anywhere else in my life. Never fitting anywhere in life. Disconnected.

As I dug my shovel into the etherial green gauze on the edge of my garden I looked for just the right spot to place it between the stepping stones. I observed that the blue-green stones, which are a delicate in color, almost blended in to the beige of the sand which held them in place. When I placed the rich green moss over the sand, however, the color of the stones popped in contrast. There also exists a delightful contrast in textures from the hard stone to the soft carpet-like fabric of the moss.

I began transplanting some of the moss a while ago and those first pieces have adhered to the stone already, looking quite natural and like they have always been there, although it does not yet come together to cover all the sandy spaces in between. This will be a lifetime endeavor.

I have been transplanted from the kingdom of darkness into the light of the Glorious Kingdom of God. (Col.1:13) I am still learning and growing. I am still trying to cling to the Rock. This will be a lifetime endeavor. In the mean time, I will be able to come to my garden whenever I have the chance and see the transformation happening. It helps me to remember that God is not finished with me yet.

Thanks for the visual, Lord.

Hump day brain dump

Butterflies in my stomach when I sit in front of this computer to blog. I am so concerned that I am going to say something dumb that will be read by people. Then I will become known as a dork and doomed to eternal dorkdom. It is like the toothpaste being squeezed out of the tube. Once it is out, you can't put it back in. Once the dorky thought is made known you can't put it back into the privacy of your brain. I just looked at PA's blog and saw the photo of 2 of our Pastors. I guess I am OK, no matter what I say here. So, having used my disclaimer, here is my hump day brain dump.

• You can't poke your mind's eye out so be careful what you look at.
• Ed has officially begun the retirement process. He will keep a couple of small cleaning jobs and the carpet business going. I am so proud of him.
• God does not make junk. I am a blessed and highly favored woman of God.
• Today, Sept. 26, is the eleven year anniversary since my Mom went home to Jesus.
• He really is the hound of heaven. Thank You Jesus for never giving up on my Mom. She received Jesus as her Savior at age 72.
• Forgive.
• I am a blessed and highly favored child of God.
• There is a job out there for me.
• Doing hair excites me.
• I want to go to Tigi Academy and take a class.
• I am excited about our upcoming Christmas production at the Rock. We have the talent and the resources we need to touch the hearts of people for Christ.
• Imagine Christmas.
• Make it a great day.
• Be creative.

This is my little piece of Heaven.

Ed loves sitting out here with the dogs and a cup of coffee in the mornings. It has taken us 15 years to get the back yard the way we want it. I like to walk the paths and pray. I am working on not getting distracted by every breeze that blows out here. After about 5 minutes, I usually end up pulling, planting or digging someting but it is relaxing to me so it is all good.

When we first moved here, this was all wooded. I read Jack Hayford's book Glory on your house and was inspired to pray on each of the four corners of my property, dedicating it to the Lord and asking His protection on it. I held out my hand in the direction of the wooded corners and prayed from the safety of the back lawn. No need to test His provision of protection right away by tromping through the snake habitat. We have seen an occassional water mocassin and black snake out there, but not since finishing the garden.

Life is good.

I'm tired of the Dee word

This has been a time of big Deecisions for me and Ed.
Ed has made a date with retirement. I have turned down three jobs in the past two weeks. We are NOT moving away from Wilmington, NOT buying a condo in Charleston and NOT committing to long term jobs for right now.
It is empowering yet scary to make such declarations for our lives. It is too easy to let fear of the unknown take over and take our eyes off of the awesome God who has provided for us all these years.
All I need to do is think back to where and what I was 30 years ago. Devastated. Stuck on welfare with no job, no skills and a child that I was ill equipped to raise. I was coming out of the fog of 10 years of alcoholism and drug addictions and living in a cottage with tilted floors and no curtains. My fancy home design was Mateuse wine bottles lined around the walls in the living room and beer can tabs strung together and hung as curtains around my windows. Oh yeah, and the pot plant growing in the bathroom window. No, I didn't mean to say potted plant. I meant pot; as in, marijuana. I was sad, sorry and mean as a snake.
A loving and all powerful God had a plan for my life. I never could have imagined the life I have now and it all came from surrendering to God. I am no longer angry about the things that caused me pain and torment in my childhood. Rejection was like a garment that covered and suffocated me.I have forgiven and moved on. I stopped listening to the tapes that recited that I was a loser and could never accomplish anything worth while. I was given the courage to follow my dreams.
Ed and I have made some important Deecisons this month. I am excited to see the next step in our life journey.

Observations

• Some people claim that A.D.D. is just an excuse to be flaky. Oh look, a chicken.



• If a person constantly overeats could they be suffering from anorexia dyslexia?



• Dogs rule. They get us to feed them, walk them, play with them and snuggle with them and we still think we are their masters.


• I am learning that even in my fifties, I am still learning.


• If at first you don't succeed, sky diving is not for you.

Things I never thought I would hear my husband say:

I was working at turning the soil in my garden so that I could prep it for fall planting. Using my hoe, I decided to make it a work out and very soon was into aerobic mode. Ed came out behind me and said, "You are a very good hoer."

"Umm, er... thanks honey."

life dance

I am still surprised when it happens.

I sat down to begin my new blog 2 hours ago. Since it is a rainy, middle of the week day, I figured it would be easy to just sit at the computer and jot down some thoughts. It took me a long time to write my profile and find the one picture that best defines who I am.

My black lab mix, Bella, came into the room to let me know she needed to go out. Ever the dutiful master, I arise and let her out the back door. I am one step away from the computer room when the buzzer goes off, informing me that my clothes are dry. I could leave them in the dryer until I am finished writing but then they would be wrinkled and I would have to drag out the dreaded ironing board. It'll just take 5 minutes to hang them up.

Bella is barking to be let back in. She is sopping wet and needs to be dried off with the big, blue towel that we leave by the back door on rainy days. Just who is the master in this relationship? She is standing in front of her empty food bowl, looking alternately at the bowl and then at me. I will just dump some food in her bowl so she will settle in.

Now my stomach is growling, reminding me that I haven't eaten yet today. I make a quick salad and as I reach up to grab the rice crackers I notice the humming of my cell phone alerting me that I have a text waiting for me. My friend wants me to email her something. I decide THAT can certainly wait until I have entered my first blog.

All settled into my computer room and writing typing away, my husband walks in with a cheery "hello" that scares me to death. Then he sweetly asks if he can read over my shoulder. I guess I am done writing for now.

How come I feel like I didn't accomplish much today? There goes the buzzer to tell me that my sheets are dry.