So far, we have not lost power totally. The lights have blinked and gone dim several times since last night. More ice and snow are expected tonight. Many in our area are without power. A family to the north of us had a house fire this morning. I feel so blessed! We may not get out again until spring but that's alright as long as we are safe and warm! Our driveway is blocked due to tree limbs. Every time they fall it sounds like a gunshot or an explosion. They started falling about 2:00a.m. and have been falling all day. Just about the time I dosed off this morning, the phone rang at 3:45a.m. We have an automated phone message system in our school district. They were calling to say that there would be no school today.... Anybody with half a brain would have known that there was not going to be school today! After the phone call, I was wide awake worrying about the weather. I hope if we get a call tonight it is at a more decent time! Hope you all are safe and warm! Lesa
We are smack dab in the middle of a line of ice. We could get anywhere from 1-3 inches of ice tonight. I stopped by the grocery on the way home to get a few things and that is all they had left - a few things! I had to make the ever dreaded trip to Wal-Mart. I could barely get in the parking lot at 4:00. I grabbed the few items I needed and scurried home like a squirrel going to bury my nuts for the winter.
Let's see..... I have: - bread - milk - batteries - ice cream - Cheetos - popcorn - 3 new books - Dr. Pepper What more do I need? Lesa
This picture is my brother enjoying his life to the fullest.
It’s who he was – enjoying his “refreshment”!
Three years ago today, I said goodbye to my only brother, Herby. It seems like only yesterday that my sister and I held his hands as he left this world for a much better place. His body was ready to go. At 48 years old, he was not. He loved life. His life choices may not have been the best but he lived his life to the fullest.
He was three years older than me and was the typical older brother. His main goal in life while we were growing up was to irritate my sister Susan and I in any possible way. There was never a dull moment when he was around. He could cheat at any game and never get caught. The only give away to his winning schemes was his smirky grin. When we played cards one time, he had a matching deck under the table so he could pull out the cards that he needed to win. He even had extra Monopoly pieces to place around the board when you looked away. I learned very early to never look away especially when I had something really good to eat!
He was the master mind of many devious plots when we were growing up.
One time, Dad brought home an old parachute from the army base where he worked. Herby and my cousin Mike, decided to attach the parachute to the cat (Felix - very appropriately named) and throw him off the roof of the house to see if the cat would fly in the air with the parachute. Mom was in the bedroom as the cat passed by the window. Luckily, the cat landed on his feet in the middle of the mound of parachute. They didn’t mean to hurt him they said. They were just testing the parachute. Next thing I knew, the parachute was tied to the back their dirt bikes while they rode down the gravel road. Oh - the fun we had entertaining ourselves!
I’ll never forget the time he hid under Susan’s bed one night waiting for her to get in. She was probably five or six at the time. Being eleven years older, he barely fit under her bed. He waited until she turned out the light and got snuggled down in her bed for night. As she laid there he held up her talking Bozo the Clown doll beside the bed making him dance like a puppet. “That’s a rootin’ tootin’ trick!” Bozo said as he pulled his string. Susan screamed while running in mid air out the door of her bedroom. I don’t remember if Mom ever really fussed him – I’m sure if she did - it probably went in one ear and out the other!
Before he passed away, Susan and I spent many nights with him in the emergency room. His mind would ramble in so many directions while we tried to keep him in the bed and off the light fixtures. One night he kept asking the same question over and over again for hours.
“Did you ever think about thinking?” he kept asking.
“Hey Susan! Did you ever think about thinking?”
“Hey Lesa! Lesa! Did you ever think about thinking?”
We would keep answering over and over again. Yes. No. Maybe. Hum.
Just when we thought he had dozed off, he would come back around and ask again.
“Did you ever think about thinking?”
Today I can answer that question.
Yes.
I have thought about thinking.
I have thought about you each Christmas, birthday, and many days in between.
I have thought about how much you would love Jennie.
I have thought about how much Susan and I love you and miss you.
“When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh may I then in Him be found.
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.
On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand;
All other ground is sinking sand.”
"My Hope is Built on Nothing Less"
by Edward Mote, 1797-1874
I thought of this song today as the new president took his oath of office and said the words, “So help me God”.
To be found in Him and standing on solid rock is all we can hope for when all is said and done.
I may not support everything our new president stands for but when a man takes an oath and says “So help me God”, I don’t want to be the one standing on sinking sand and trying to support him. We all need to have our feet firmly grounded on what this nation was built on so many years ago.
Faith.
Hope.
Trust in God.
Unity.
The least we can do is stand on the Solid Rock and pray that God will help him.
My Mom and Dad gave of each us money for Christmas. It was a very simple solution for them. My Mom has Alzheimer’s and doesn’t do very well shopping or buying things for others at this point. She was so funny asking us several times Christmas Eve if we got our cards with the money from her and Dad. (She had just handed us the cards 20 minutes before she asked the first time.) She told us that they put their money together this year since they didn’t know what to get any us for Christmas. She stated this as if they each had two separate incomes, extra jobs on the side, and took up a collection between the two of them! My parents have been retired for many years now and have had the same bank account for a long time. When Mom asked several times if we got our cards with money, one of us would say we did and how much we really appreciated it. Somebody even said it was their favorite shade of green! After she had asked a few more times, I finally spoke up and said that I was going to buy some new underwear with my money.
My grandmothers always got me new underwear for Christmas when I was little. Nanny, my grandmother on my mother’s side of the family, always gave me cotton “panties”. They were so soft and comfy. Sometimes they would be in soft pastel colors. I loved wearing pink panties! Granny, my grandmother on my father’s side of the family, was a whole different story in the pantie department. She always got me the silky feeling, itchy kind. She called them “step-ins”. I remember her telling me that nice little girls only wore white step-ins. Not pink or lavender – just white. Apparently I had a problem with showing my panties when ever I wore dresses. Granny gave me step-ins with lace on the rear end in case my dress came up. I guess it was OK to show your step-ins if they were silky and had ruffles on them.
I had this discussion with Mom on Christmas Eve after I mentioned buying new underwear with my money. My mother actually remembered Granny putting the itchy things on me every time I went to visit. She said that I would start scratching as soon as they touched my behind. Maybe that’s why Granny put the ruffled ones on me. In case I started scratching with a dress on.
I’m sure if Granny was still living she would also tell me that nice girls don’t discuss their step-ins in public.
I like to cook and try new recipes but I hate to clean up the kitchen! I love to spend time with my family and friends. I also love to take pictures. All the pictures I use on my blog were taken by me.
So far, we have not lost power totally. The lights have blinked and gone dim several times since last night. More ice and snow are expected tonight. Many in our area are without power. A family to the north of us had a house fire this morning. I feel so blessed! We may not get out again until spring but that's alright as long as we are safe and warm!
Our driveway is blocked due to tree limbs. Every time they fall it sounds like a gunshot or an explosion. They started falling about 2:00a.m. and have been falling all day. Just about the time I dosed off this morning, the phone rang at 3:45a.m. We have an automated phone message system in our school district. They were calling to say that there would be no school today.... Anybody with half a brain would have known that there was not going to be school today! After the phone call, I was wide awake worrying about the weather. I hope if we get a call tonight it is at a more decent time! 
