Update on USO Girl

I received a text from USO Girl this morning--they are safe. No power and some property damage, but safe. I told her I'd pass it on, I know many of my friends are hers as well. Bubba's Sis evacuated, so I'm confident they are okay as well.

Such a tragic weekend with the hurricane and the train collision...

My Friend's Neph Is An American Idol (Practically...By Marriage)

And THIS is why I don't watch Idol. Luke Luke Luke...dude you done your uncle Mark proud! (Mark, Gina's hubby, was on for a second--he was one of the two men lifting him in congratulations when he made the cut...very cool for his kids)

**Oops, I realize the initial title kind of sounded like I knew the kid--I don't, it's my FRIEND's nephew, not my friend. Sorry?

I've been fortunate enough to have a dear friend in Gina for ten years. Gina (shown on the left) was my neighbor for ten years....and Elaine (middle, next to me) is her best friend. We've all three since moved from the neighborhood, but remain good friends. Gina and I attend the same church, so it's easy to keep in touch.



I'd love to tell you more about them, they taught me a lot about what friends should be to each other. But right now (are you ready for this D and B/S?) I'm blogging about Gina because her nephew will be Conetestant Number 8 on American Idol tonight!

Luke Menard, Number 8:

Even though I'm not an American Idol fan, I will be tonight. So because Gina, called and asked us to vote then fired up the computer to email us (little faith in our ability to retain information?) I'll do it! I'm sure with a face like that who cares if he can sing? he's amazingly gifted. Gina's been talking about him for years now, I finally get to hear him sing myself!

Live Simply, Simply Live, Give Simply, Simply Give....The Shirts Are Going Outttt

Oi! (Stole that from you, GiGi, is that okay?)....Ethan, Youth Pastor at our church just emailed me and asked how many shirts I wanted to order and I realize...I didn't follow up on this! I'm fixin to get these addresses to all who indicated they wanted to play along with The T-Shirt Post. I'll be emailing you today or tomorrow for those addresses. Then no reason I won't have time on Friday to get those going, and I cannot WAIT to see the blog posts!

I have, however, been giving the living simply phrase a great deal of thought. Is this living simply, or is it living....simply?

My inclination was living simply, learning to do without the 'things' I have grown accustomed to, so that's where I'll take this (some things, such as Tab, I didn't get to choose! WHERE IS TAB?????). Yet there are things I am willing to do without so that I put myself in a position to help my friends in the nursing home as well as the two kids we have sponsored through Compassion. I am turning more and more to the store brands, because while I scoff at saving $.50 on a bottle of "Meinz" ketchup, if I did that just ten times through my shopping trip, that'd be $5.00. Five bucks per week would be $20 plus a month. My little guy, Gervasio, could purchase something useful in Kenya for that. The trick will be to dedicate that savings to them, write it down after each trip and save it.

I've got other convictions. I don't need to go to lunch with friends each week, I've save tons there. I don't go often anymore. And when I do lunch, I don't need to be the hero and pay for everyone (I do that often, I think it's insecurity on my part--they shouldn't pay to be with me, I should!). I am beginning to look at my life, see how discipline has been as absent as a man at a bunco party.

Even more important, I need to tithe more and on a regular basis. Put that money in the basket FIRST, then everything else will follow....or not. Maybe I do without for a few weeks. That scares me, I am struggling with that. But over the years, I've come a long way in my thinking about money, about life emphasis. And I trust my church to know best where to put that money--there are people helped in ways I'll never hear about. But I know if I need them, they'll be there, and my friends who put money in that week won't know about it either. I guess that's my goal for the remainder of this year and the year coming up.

So...the confessions are out on the table, you see I have been and still am selfish with my worldly possessions. I'm going to send out the shirts along with a Sharpie....first to the North, going to Coffee Mom in Canada, and the Southern one starting with D in Texas.....and they'll keep the chain going (I'll put in the addresses of the next in line) and perhaps add some friends of their own to that list.

If you want to OWN one of these shirts, the proceeds go to charity...they cost $10 plus a few bucks shipping (I'll pick up the handling, lol). Ethan knows the little girl who designed it and prints them. Let me know, give me the size you want (XL is quite large) and I'll see that you get one ordered. I plan on making these shirts part of my Christmas shopping, it really is a nice little shirt, good quality, the black and white is simple, goes with any pair of jeans you'll find in any given consignment shop!

I Can Justify Just About Anything--After All, I Am The Teacher!

Eileen thought she'd add to my credentials box, although I think she's got the wrong Stacey at JameeForever! This is what the award, An Apple For Teacher Award, is about:

"for those people who spend much time and energy teaching ushow to do things on blogs, encouraging us, enabling us, instructing us and enthusing us."

Now Eileen, I can see why you would receive this--you're always teaching me, mostly while you retell your workday. I'm not sure what I taught you, but lemme try to justify me keeping this award (because I am)!

These are things I could have taught you:

Basic airplane construction

Maybe it was my tutorial on how to avoid double-chinned photos:

Very possibly you learned what Pilot John taught me--despite what it reads, keep this t-shirt ON, do not take it off before flight! (or just that Pilot John is sky candy, idk, not sayin he is or he isn't): That even the quietest church ladies can learn to throw up the deuces right there in front of the church if you don't tell them they may or may not be flashing gang signs (gosh it seems I have a thing about contorting my lips when I take a photograph--I'll work on that!):

That I shouldn't go around asking if my BFF GiGi has tanner (or thinner) legs than I do...it'll be a yes--that's Gi on the left, duh!:

That it is PERFECTLY fine to pick the best picture of yourself with your friends, and that Cat shouldn't have been trying to pick up a potato chip with her toes!:

But in case said friend doesn't like you after that, go ahead and put up a better one of her:

And finally, I do believe I can accept this award if I think I might have taught you that even if you don a fun little cowboy hat and hold your breath, you will eventually be booted off Top Momma anyway!

I think I learn something from everyone I frequent, but I have to choose a few, so for this award I'm going to pass this onto:

GiGi --I didn't have to think about this one! She shows me how much easier it is to get through life laughing at myself most of the time. And when the situation calls for it, is a friend (BFF) and a daughter, a wife, a mother, a sister. She's so many things for so many people and reading this blog has made me a much better person--no getting around it.

USO Girl and Bubba's Sis for the same reasons--they're best friends, their daughters are best friends, and reading their blog shows me EVERY single time what amazing ways best friends, truly best friends, will do for our lives. Put someone else in front of your wants every single time and you will never be sorry--these girls illustrate that well.

Sharon--You know by now I adore Sharon and I covet her sewing skills. She constantly updates with projects she's been working on, tips, gadgets (the turner thing for spaghetti straps I have yet to get but need) and now she teaches her readers how to pose for the camera. Sharon, I still think going the FBANXPOR route with that blue skirt would have been the way to go. But you're the expert, but think about it.

Surjit--Threw a new one in there to throw ya! How do I describe this man--I don't know that I can fully do that. He's got a blog that really does teach--and it does so by forcing me to think. When he first met me on a blog link community, he picked up on my description 'my blog is all about me, me, me, me, me' and of course needed to see who this woman was who thought so highly of herself. Hopefully he knows by now that's not really me.

I Think, I Blog...I Blog..I Think (Usually)

This could sound a bit nerdy, but I've always coveted The Thinking Blogger Award. And finally I get to put it uppp on my credentials case! The lovely Katja has bestowed this upon me at her blog Skimbaco, and on her 100th post no less. So happy 100th and thank you, Katja, I think we're practially twins too. Okay, sans the beautiful hair and drop-dead figure she has going on. Me, that is. You--you're all that AND a candy apple (they've been on my mind lately, I'm fighting it but idk, may need to hunt one down).

So now the award gets passed on from here, and this is the part I seriously dislike--how do I pick one and not the other? Here goes--and if your name isn't uppp, it's not that you don't think, I just didn't think, that's all.

Funny, funny funny and loveable GiGi. I'm not sure it's legal to be a pastor's wife and be this funny and slightly bent, but she is. But it IS South Missouri, where she resides, so maybe this is okay. (giggle) She's a wife, a mom, part time computer geek, and daughter of missionaries. I thoroughly enjoy those posts, I never considered until now what it felt like to be outside my comfort zone so completely for so long.

Sewing is a passion, but only second to clowning around. Seriously, my friend Sharon and her father do the clown thing for real! Complete with face painting and balloons, as a community service. And it doesn't stop there....no no no...she's also a dancing librarian, she dances with library cars in parades (could I MAKE this up? it's TRUE). Her words crack me up from time to time, her energy makes me feel 100 years old, and I am a better person for knowing her.

My friend Cheryl at Word Quilts has about the most generous heart I've seen. She sees a person in need of lifting and lifts (I was recently blessed enough to be on the receiving end). Cheryl is exactly the kind of person I want around me when my day isn't going well--she chooses her thoughts (emails as well) and carefully blogs them. I've learned a few things about empathy from this lovely lady.

I have a new friend, "D" who lives in TX under the name USO Girl. Love that her blog was originated to entertain Coastie Bro, her brother who is in the military as we speak. Funny funny funny, entertaining and often remembering to put in a little something for her brother when she posts. I'd be missing her if her blog washed away with all that Texas rain she talks about! She's the BFF to my last award winner, B/S.

Finally, and this one is completely different than my usual--Ethan. Ethan is the youth pastor at our church and usually posts only on Fridays. When he posts, I think. Which is what the award is about, right? If you're needing some theological insight to life, or if you just need to know how long it took him to read Harry Potter, then say hello to Ethan. He's really very good at this writing/thinking thing. (Ethan, that gets me out of overnight youth duty for another year, right??)

I know y'all get sick of the spiel...but I truly mean it when I say I wish I coulda picked ALL of you. I adore ALL of you more than you know. Blogging is a way of opening up a new window into our lives, reaching out to people we wouldn't have gotten to otherwise, and I love that part! Think on think on....

PS--I think I'm doing a giveaway soon---what do ya'll think of me giving away some custom CDs straight from my blog? Pretty much 70s & 80s with my face pasted on the cover...is that too narcissistic?