Just a Cup o' Joe

Now, isn't this an incredibly handsome young Marine?!

As you can imagine, I've become a strong advocate of supporting our troops.  Whether they serve stateside or overseas, in a combat zone or an office, these are OUR people.  They depend on us to support them emotionally, mentally and spiritually while they defend us and others.  For anyone who thinks they don't have what it takes to start "a movement" to accomplish this, let me tell you - it doesn't have to be anything on a herculean scale!  It can be prayer quilts, care packages, or writing letters - almost anything you can think of to remind these brave men and women that they are NOT serving alone.  And you don't have to be the one to start it - just join in with someone else's effort, if you're looking for a way to help.

A group of ladies at my mom's church (thank you, Seward Road Baptist!) made a patriotic quilt for Nick.  They assembled it, tied it (which my mom helped with), and prayed over it.  He took it with him on his deployment - exactly what those sweet ladies intended for him to do!  This wonderful group of women has been making quilts for everyone in their community, from accident victims to troops deploying to those with debilitating illnesses, so while my mom didn't start the project, she was able to participate with them in their efforts.

Now, let me tell you about my favorite way to show our troops that I'm thinking of them and praying for them daily - the Cup of Joe for a Joe program through Green Beans Coffee Company.  (their motto - "Honor First, Coffee Second" - says it all, doesn't it?)  For just $2 per Cup of Joe, aka COJ, you can send a cup of coffee (or smoothie, or iced tea, or iced coffee) to troops serving overseas.  You can pick the amount you want to give, include a note of thanks to the troops if you like, and add your email so they can thank you personally.  You wouldn't BELIEVE how much a simple cup of coffee means to these men and women!  It's something we take so much for granted here in the States, with a Starbucks on every corner and hundreds of other ways to get our daily caffeine fix.  The gratitude I see in the thank you notes our servicemembers send is remarkable.  It's certainly a small sacrifice for me, but such a big boost for them!  I've heard several times that the cup of joe I provided was what turned a yucky day into a GREAT day. 

So, if you're looking for a way to connect with our troops, and provide something you know they'll appreciate and enjoy, check out the Cup of Joe for a Joe program here http://www.greenbeanscoffee.com/coj/.  It's super-easy, and I promise, you'll never regret it!

So blessed!

My Marine deploys tomorrow.  I'm concerned, as any mother would be, but I'm trusting the Lord to take care of my boy.  HIS boy.  The hardest thing I've ever done is place my son in the Lord's hands.  We moms are supposed to take care of everything, right?  Make the cupcakes for tomorrow's school party that we just found out about tonight at 8:30, kiss away the boo-boos, soothe the broken hearts, scare away the monsters, protect our kids from the bad things in the world.  But when your son is going halfway around the world, heading right to where the bad things are, you just can't protect them from that.  Only the Father can do that, but trusting Him with your baby while your Mother's Heart is still beating is the most wrenching thing ever!

Folks, I have to tell you, I'm more blessed than I could ever possibly deserve.  My neighbors (Upper AND Lower 4th Street!) have been around for a long time, since before this whole Marine Corps journey started, and tonight they have once again stepped up to support my son and our family.  My husband took me to dinner tonight after work.  Nothing unusual about that - we eat out pretty regularly.  On our way home, we slowed down and came to a stop at the stop sign at the end of our block.

And suddenly I saw it - a yellow ribbon on a tree.  Then, another yellow ribbon on another tree.  And I swear, it was just like the movies, when the whole scene just slowly comes into focus.  EVERY TREE on my block had a yellow ribbon tied around it!  I just sat there at the stop sign, stunned and sobbing.  I'm so thankful I only had one more block to drive, because I'm telling you, I couldn't see a thing through the tears!

My sweet, wonderful, precious neighbors had been planning this for days.  Bruce's job was to get me out of the house - they took care of the rest!  I couldn't have been more surprised, and they couldn't have done anything that meant more to me than this.  Just a hint: if you know someone who is deployed, or who has a loved one deployed, ribbon-up your tree.  They will appreciate it more than you will ever know!

Thank you Jackie, Neil, Sophie, Marissa and Aaron - you have blessed me beyond what words can express!

  

But where is it on a MAP???

Upper 4th Street has a nice little ring to it, doesn't it?  Sounds like a pleasant place to live, right?  Well, the correct answer to both of these questions is "yes".  But try finding the place on a map!  In my town, it doesn't exist -- unless you ask those of us who LIVE on 4th Street.  Oh, we know exactly where Upper 4th is, because we created it!

You see, it all started with my husband, the Brew-meister. (or, as he's also known, the Bruce-meister)  He's a home-brewer, and a very talented one, at that.  He makes terrific beer (or so I'm told, since I don't drink the stuff), and he happily shares it with our neighbors and friends.  There are informal block parties on a pretty regular basis on our street, and if there's something in the keg that's ready to be shared, well, you better believe that keg's coming out!  If there's nothing in the keg, never fear!  You won't have to drink cheap, yellow-water beer - at least not from our house - because Bruce won't allow it!  In his estimation, the various beers available in the local grocery stores are hardly worthy to even be called 'beer'.

Over time, he's turned many of our neighbors and friends into 'beer snobs'. (are they enlightened, or have they turned to the "dark side"??)  However, before that transformation, there was lots of teasing about Bruce's taste in beers.  And the comment was made by our neighbor Aaron (who lives on the other end of the block) that obviously there was higher-class beer served on "Upper 4th Street" than could be found on "Lower 4th Street" (where Aaron and his wife Marissa live).  And although the quality of beer served on Lower 4th Street is improving dramatically, the titles seem to be permanent.  Strangely enough, they've become more a common bond than divisive.

So now, on our street there is Upper and Lower, though no map will show the distinction.  Even so, it doesn't matter if you live on the east or west end - friends always seem to meet in the middle.

Until next time, be blessed.

My passion!

Anyone who's ever met me knows my first passion is my family.  Do what you want to me, say what you want about me, and we can probably get past it (heck, some of it's probably true!).  But never, ever mess with my family!  I would kill or die for my children, and every mother I know will say the same about her family.

But now let's talk about my second passion - needlework!  I've been stitching since I was around 13, when I saw a piece that my mom had started but not finished.  There it sat, next to a chair in our living room, just screaming for someone to finish it up!  I had no idea what to do, so I asked mom to teach me.  Aside from the 'she's a lefty/I'm a righty' part, everything went very smoothly and I began to stitch.  I was moving right along until I got to a part that stumped me.  So far, the symbols I'd seen on the chart for various colors were your basic 'x', '.', 'o', '/', '*'.  These were pretty easy to get done, but when I got to the @ sign, I began to have trouble.  You see, up till this point, I thought I had to stitch the actual symbol on the chart, so I had been making slanted lines, and dots, and circles, and x'es, and asterisks.  But that @ sign really threw me - how in the world could I stitch THAT?!?  I don't recall if she actually laughed where I could hear or see her, but I'm sure my mom was laughing on the inside when I asked for her help in making that symbol!  After she explained that every stitch was just an X, and the symbols were only to tell me what color to use, everything got MUCH easier! <haha>  And now you know the story of the auspicious beginning of my second passion.

Needlework has been my livelihood, it has saved my sanity, it has kept my family safe when I thought I was going to completely lose it with them.  It has brought me many dear friends, has taught me new things, and has fostered in me an appreciation for the simpler things in life.  It has taught me to enjoy the journey and not just the destination.  It has taught me to be patient and know that anything worth having is worth waiting for.  It has even nurtured my self-esteem with the knowledge that I am VERY GOOD at something in this life.  While it might not seem like anything important to most people in this instant-gratification, mass-produced, disposable society we live in, needlework is, has been, and will continue to be - my passion.

Until next time, be blessed.

Mmmmmooooooooooooo!

Last night was CWS night with our very good friends David and Diana.  What is CWS, you ask??  It's our oh-so-imaginative name for "dinner and a movie night" in our little group of 4.  After all, why be like everyone else and have just plain ol' boring "dinner and a movie night" - ours has a NAME!  We had been meeting for food and a flick rather sporadically for quite a while, but last year, it was suggested that we make this a monthly happening.  Since Bruce and I happen to like David and Diana a lot, we thought this was a great idea!  So now there's a ritual - if there's a movie in theaters that we want to check out, we'll go to the Warren, sit in the balcony and have dinner and drinks while we watch the show.  (The Warren Theater is probably the most amazing theater-going experience available in central Oklahoma, so if you get the chance - GO FOR IT!)  However, since a lot of what's coming out these days is drivel, our monthly get-together usually entails dinner at one of our homes, and selecting a previously-released film.  During our first at-home movie night, we found ourselves standing around in the kitchen eating dessert, rather than sitting at the table like civilized folk.  Since dessert that evening was a particularly delicious chocolate cake, every couple of minutes you'd hear "mmmmmmmmm" from one of us, in the middle of all the cross-talk and simultaneous conversations.  Between bites, Bruce mentioned that it wouldn't be too off-the-wall for us to actually go to the table to eat our dessert, like normal people.  I replied, with a mouthful of wonderful chocolate-y goodness, that we probably shouldn't bother since we usually ended up gathered around whatever area the food was laid out in, and simply grazing.  David commented (while scraping the last of the frosting from his plate) that "grazing" was probably an appropriate word, since we sounded rather like cows anyway.  And then I said those immortal words - "That's us - cows with SILVERWARE!"  By this time, we were all laughing hysterically (chalk it up to a very late night and extreme loopy-ness, which made every comment funnier than the last), and once I put forth this little pearl of wisdom, that was it - stick a fork in us, we were DONE!  And just like that, CWS was born!

If you happen to notice the less-than-smiley looks on our faces, it's because our photographer (our neighbor Jackie, below) was having a difficult time working the camera-phone.  And she wasn't too happy when we laughed hysterically at her continuing efforts to get a decent photo!  Seriously, though, we do appreciate that she took the time to come and help us out - we're also pretty thrilled with the comic relief she provided for us! <ggg>

Here's a suggestion for you - if you have good friends that you don't see as often as you'd like, change that.  You'll never regret the time you spent developing those relationships more, and when you're 90 years old, rocking on your front porch and watching the neighborhood kids play, you'll have some great memories to recall.  Mmmmooooooooooo!

Until next time, be blessed!

Happy birthday, Marine!

This past Monday was my son Nick's 23rd birthday.  I can't believe how time has flown!  It seems like yesterday that he was the adorable toddler who had stolen my heart the very day he was born.

Then there was high school.  What a handsome young man he had become!  And then college - my, what a time that was!

And now here we are, 3 1/2 years later, and we aren't preparing for a graduation - we're preparing for a deployment.  In April 2009, he called and asked me to gather some info on the USMC.  When I figured out that it was for him and not a buddy, I was shocked.  He had never mentioned the Corps, or any military branch at all, and suddenly he was asking about the Marines.  I guess he took to heart the motto "Go hard or go home"!  He headed off to boot camp Jan. 2010, and I cried and prayed for 3 months until I saw his face again.

And now, 2 years after that momentous phone call, I have a jarhead on my hands.  And not just any jarhead - that's LANCE CORPORAL jarhead to you! :)  My precious toddler has grown into a big, bad Marine, and he's heading off to war.  I've always been very proud of my son, and I'm even more proud of the man he's become (and is still becoming).

So happy birthday, LCpl. Jackson, my precious boy.  Be safe where you're going, and know my prayers go with you.  Do the job you've been trained to do, and come back home to the family and friends who love you more than anything.

Semper Fi, Marine - ooh-rah!

All my love forever, 

Your Marine Mom

My poor baby girl!!

This is my beautiful daughter Alexandra, with my handsome son Nicholas, who is also her best friend. (Biased!?  Who - me?  Naaaaaaaahhh . . . .)

She had her wisdom teeth cut out this morning, and this was the "after" version of her, this afternoon.  You might think she would be upset that there are actual pictures of her in this condition, but no!  She said before her surgery that we definitely had to take pics of her when she "had chipmunk cheeks", so here she is, in all her chipmunk-y glory! 

Another very important member of our family is Miss Bear.  Alexandra got her from Uncle Jerry and Aunt Tiffany when she was only 3 months old, for Christmas.  She has been loved endlessly, repaired frequently, and Alix has never been without her.  When Alix recently moved into her own apartment, Miss Bear moved, as well.  Looks like that was a good thing, because it seems that Miss Bear is very much needed.

After my class today, I took her half a dozen red roses in a black vase (favorite flower, in a vase that is one of her favorite colors), to make her feel better.  I hope it works, but it seems that I'll have to wait a few days to find out for sure!  I also took her a bag of Sonic ice, because it's smaller and it works better in the ice packs around her face.  Sonic ice is good for SO much more than just Sonic drinks! :)

Feel better soon, Sweet Precious Angel!  I'll say more prayers for you tonight, and I'll see you in the morning!  I love you!

Taking the plunge

Well, I was told several weeks ago that if I started a blog, people would actually read it.  Really?!?  Ya gotta wonder why someone would read anything I put out there.  I don't consider myself a great orator or writer, and I don't believe I'm all that wise.  I can do the first two with a bit of skill, but wisdom is, I'm sure, still a good 4 or 5 years out.  So why would anyone read me, let alone follow me?  Again, that wisdom thing eludes me, because I just don't know.  But here I am anyway, writing a blog.  Let's see how it all shakes out, shall we?
So, a bit about me.  I was raised in a small Oklahoma town, and wouldn't trade that experience, those growing-up years, for anything in the universe.  My mom raised my brother and me alone, and if I say so myself, she did a spectacular job of it!  We're both respectable, active, contributing members of society.  We have wonderful families of our own now.  We work hard, pay our taxes, love the Lord, discipline our children (although I'm an empty-nester now, so that part of my job is over), and treasure our families - and I owe every bit of it to Momma.  She is my very best friend, and she is everything I want to be when I grow up.  But until I'm 'fully-growed', I work as a Communications Specialist (911 dispatcher).  When I changed jobs at age 43, I knew it would be a challenge, but wow - a spring chicken I ain't!!  There are days when I think I've got a pretty good bead on things, and then there are days when I feel like a bug who just met a windshield up-close-and-personal.  Sometimes I can almost feel my brain stretching to absorb all this knowledge - and then the gray matter turns to mush. <sigh>  We all have to do it, but growing up isn't easy, is it?
So now, here I am, taking the plunge, putting my thoughts and feelings out there for the world (or one or two folks) to see.  Let's hope taking the plunge doesn't lead to my unfortunate demise.
Until next time - be blessed!