Fresh lemons

Mom has a couple of patio size lemon trees. The fruit of one was ripe enough to pick last weekend, but we didn't know if they were really good lemons, ormore of an ornamental type fruit. They were nice big lemons, so we decided to see what they were like.

I went over, prepared to juice them & freeze the juice in single servings. I was pleasantly surprised. The lemons had thin skin, & lots of juice. Most of the lemons yielded about 1 1/2 ounces of juice. I ended up with 11 servings from the first tree. The other tree will probably produce 7 servings. I froze the juice then thawed one a couple of days later. I made a hot lemonade from it. That was the best lemonade I've ever tasted. The lemons didn't have the bitter twist that most grocery store fruit has. All I tasted was the tart lemon flavor, & the honey. Yumm. Wish I had more of those lemons to do me through the winter.

10 years, already?

Wow, time flies. 10 years ago, I went to work as a contractor for the company I'm with. In a way, it seems like I've been there forever, but in a way, it seems like yesterday. That's what happens when you go where God sends you, instead of going your own direction.

I had done some odd jobs, but nothing with any real substance. No one wanted to hire anyone full time, so I went 2 years without work. Hubby & I talked about it, & we decided that since I couldn't find a job, I'd make one. I filed all the paperwork, printed business cards & brochures, & went from one business to another handing them out. I told everyone I knew that I started a new business, & a few people I didn't know so well. I gave a business card to a friend at a health club swimming pool. He gave it to his son, who works at the local electric company.

I got one offer, but it lasted a few days. After that contract fell through, I told God that since one door closed, He could open another one. Next day, I got a phone call. It was from a guy who worked at an electric company, & got my name & number from a business card given to a guy in a different department, across town.

So much had to fall into place for that card to land in the hands of the man who is now my boss. October 1, 1999 was my first day. I've seen quite a few changes, but I love working with the people in our office. I'm truly blessed.

Peach preserves

Made some peach preserves, today. I didn't have fresh peaches, or the time to peel & slice them, so I used frozen fruit. 5 pounds of peaches turned into a total of about 3 pints of fruit & 6 pints of peach honey. I wish there would have been more fruit.

The letter

Our preacher shared a letter with us from one of the guys who worked on the building. I don't remember the details well enough to share the whole letter, but the gentleman said that they came expecting to give, but they received a lot more than they could have ever imagined. He said they were all extremely blessed by the reactions of the kids & adults.

These guys were a real blessing to us, as well. The kids are more excited than I've ever seen them.

This evening, we moved all of the craft stuff & everything into the new building. Most of the kids were happy to help. We got it done with time to spare. After we got everything moved, & some shelves assembled, the kids played charades. I also told them that we're working on getting a new Youth Director. I told them that the preacher has one in mind, & everything looks promising, but they weren't getting rid of me, yet. I wanted them to know what's going on, & that I'm not going to abandon them to someone else. They have been abandoned too many times, as it is. Not necessarily intentionally abandoned, but parents end up in jail, or prison & the kids still feel abandoned. I am finally gaining their trust, & am not about to derail that, now.

A couple of kids are having to deal with their Dad going to prison for 2-5 years. I don't know the reason, but figure it was drug or alcohol related. Their Mom came to church last week, & today. I told her that she has great kids & that we love them, too. Then, I thanked her for sharing them with us.

The work crew came in Friday night, & worked all day yesterday, & half a day, today. Our building has undergone an unbelievable transformation. The outside looks the same, but only due to lack of time, & too much wind.

16 guys came in & put linoleum in the front area, built a wall inside, painted the big area (about 1600 square feet), took out cabinets that were no longer usable, installed doors, put in a dropped ceiling, tweaked some electrical wiring, & left the place as clean as it was when they got here.

Wednesday, the kids & I will set up tables & chairs, & possibly put together some shelves. Some of the kids have seen the building, & they were so excited that it showed when they talked to the workers. The workers said that made the whole trip worth it.

Child needing prayer

One of my church kids got some bad news, today. We have a 5 year old who just found out she has cancer. I don't know any details, except her older sister had the same cancer when she was 2. Everyone thinks she'll do well, but it will be a long road for her. She's such a sweetie. I ask that you pray for her & her family. Her name is Isabelle, but they call her Issy. They say her immune system will suffer greatly, so they will end up having to quarantine her part of the time. I'll post updates as I find out anything.

Awesome kids

We have a great bunch of kids at church. The church bought the building next to us, & the kids are helping get it lined out for use. Since they had been working so hard, the church & I rewarded them with a pizza party.

We also surprised the teens with guest speakers. A dear friend, Squeaky Walker, came in & talked to the girls about personal conduct, including abstinence. She is awesome with the kids, & has an amazing love for the Lord. She's extremely inspirational.

The boys were with the preacher & one of our young men who just got out of prison. The young man is 25 years old, & got into trouble mostly for hanging with the wrong crowd. He didn't know the preacher was going to ask him to speak to the kids. With no notice, this young man started telling the boys where he'd been. He spoke like a pro, keeping lines open for conversation with the boys, but getting his point across.

I stayed in another room with the younger kids & a couple of other adults. We played games & colored.

When it was over, everyone seemed to be having a good time.

Time flies

I can't believe how time flies. I've lost track of so much. I should slow down, but not sure I know how.

I feel like I missed a lot of the holidays. We went to Colorado for Thanksgiving, then I made my annual run to Vegas. Things were pretty scattered as usual for Christmas, but day after Christmas, Misty & Alex came & stayed with us for almost a week. I forget how energetic a 3 year old can be. We had a lot of fun, though.

I've spent the last 6 months getting the youth group going at church. I have no idea what I'm doing, but just following God's lead. We have 15 kids who are fairly regular attendees. So much going on with these kids. The church bought an old building next to the church, & we are fixing it up for use as a family center. The kids are working really hard to help make it happen. They make me so proud.

Last week, I had upper respiratory junk, like everyone else around here. Finally went to the doctor, & he first thought it had developed into pneumonia. We dodged a bullet there. I had 2 projects at work with heavy duty deadlines. In spite of taking 2 1/2 days off, I still made the deadlines.

I started a cooking marathon. Saturday, I made green chicken enchiladas. Sunday, I made stew, chili, & mushroom pork chops. I got lazy & took this evening off.

This week, I will have a little tweaking to do on the deadline project, but things will be back to normal on that. Wednesday, I'll have to see what I can get going with the youth grouop. I'll do some cooking for the marathon some evenings, & Saturday. I think I'll take a break on Saturday to go with the preacher & his wife to pick out linoleum for the church building.

I hope my friends are all doing well. I hate that I've been so wrapped up in stuff that I haven't kept in touch.

What a summer!!!!!!!!

Man, things have been busy. Now, if I can remember what all I have going. :D

I went to San Angelo last Friday & spent the night with my nieces. My niece, Samantha, has a 6 month old daughter. She's adorable, of course. My niece, Laurie, has a son who graduated from kindergarten. These ladies make me feel a little bit old sometimes. Oh well, I have a blast with them. We got in Sam's pool & had a blast. I did learn that you are supposed to wait a little bit longer after applying sunscreen & before getting into the water. Oh well, I didn't burn too bad. Just a little red & not painful.

During the July 4th weekend, I got a pool for our back yard. I've been in it almost every day. Yesterday, while working out in it, I had a muscle cramp in the back of my thigh. I had trouble getting it worked out. Next thing I know, both legs are cramping from the hips down. I got out of the pool, & Mike & I got the cover back on it. I'm still having some cramping, today. Mostly in my ribs & arms. My legs are just really tired. Last time I talked to the doctor about it, he didn't have any new suggestions. We've already gone through all of them & they worked for a god while. I guess they will settle out, eventually.

This coming weekend, we're going to pass out flyers from church. We're going to go door to door at 835 houses in the neighborhood to invite everyone to come to the Neighborhood Fandangle the next weekend.

On the 25th & 26th, we're having the second annual Neighborhood Fandangle at church. On Friday, my friend Boyd Chisum will be back. I'm looking forward to that. Good chance I'll be running the sound board for him, & a visual program, too. On Saturday, a couple of ladies will be here to sing, as well as our praise team.

On Wednesdays, we're now having a youth group. We started just over 2 weeks ago. First week, we had 3 kids, & last week we had 7. Last night, we only had 1, but most of our kids were out of town. It will get better. I have some new projects for them. I have canvas aprons for them to paint & embellish to start with, then we will start working on getting ready to start quilting.

Oh yeah, on the 6th, we're probably going to Colorado. Looking forward to that. Will be a nice way to finish out the "summer".

Memories

I was chatting with some of my computer buddies who were posting You Tube links to music they like. They were posting Neil Diamond & Carpenters links. I got to thinking about some of my old favorites. I just had to go to this one. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2N_tmH6y7ng

I'm having a blast this week. Mike's daughter is here with her son. He will be 3 in September. He's getting so big & tough. I'll have to post pics, but not tonight. :D

Lots of stuff going on this summer. I go to Dallas in a couple of weeks. I go on the 11th, & will have meetings that evening. I'll have classes & meetings most of the day on the 12th, & on the 13th, I'll meet up with my friend, Boyd Chisum. Hopefully, my new friend Steve Oglesby will be there, too. We're going to go over details for the Neighborhood Fandangle at church, which will be July 25th & 26th. I'm going to try to slip in my annual westward run on July 4th weekend, but haven't made any arrangements to do that yet. I haven't checked anyone's schedules, yet. I'll do that as soon as I find out for sure if I can go that weekend. We'll probably go to Colorado in August to see Misty & Alex. Oh yeah, I'm going to start working with the kids at church on Wednesdays starting mid to late June.

I'm hoping to get time to set up a pool in our back yard, which shouldn't be too hard. Getting time to get in it is a different story. I'm having a little trouble getting down time, but if I set up the pool, maybe I can make "appointments" to get in it often. I used to work out in a pool, & it was a great workout. I just don't want to take 2 hour lunches to be able to do that again.

Neglected blog

I've been so busy that I've let this go by the wayside. Not sure where to start playing catch-up. Current events need a little background, so I'll give it a shot. The events are intertwined, so to keep everything straight, I'll tell each story as a unit.

Several months ago, Mom & I were talking about a friend we hadn't seen in around 20 years. He used to be a singer in clubs & honky-tonks. Ok, so I didn't always hang out in the best places, but I did meet some great friends. Just lost track of them when the band split & everyone went separate ways. I had seen a couple of the guys since, but the lead singer just faded into the sunset. I decided to see if I could find him using the internet.

Found him. http://www.williamboydchisum.com/home.html. I sent him an e-mail through the website, not sure if he would remember me. Sort of figured he would, but you know what time can do to some of the memories. He e-mailed me back. To make a long story short, he remembered Mom & me, we talked quite a bit, then set up a concert at our church. It was awesome.

During this time, Mike & I were going to Colorado for Easter. A 12 hour ride lends itself to a lot of time to think. Since I'm not good at long periods of time with idle hands, I worked on a project that was a no-brainer. I like those while traveling because my hands stay busy, but I don't have to worry about distractions & stuff. The no-brainer stuff also gives me quiet time. This particular quiet time lended itself to God talking to me. A nice thing about it is as the girls get older, they can help with mentoring the younger ones, creating a self-supporting cycle.

The conversation started as a reminder of how women used to get together for quilting bees, then went to how women talked during the bees about their daughters who were available for marriage & then when daughters were of age, they went to the bees to learn how to quilt, but also to learn about certain adult interactions. By the time this conversation was done, I'm sitting with the idea of a "club" for the teen girls at church. In this club, the girls would keep a journal of things for the week, then on Wednesday evenings, we would discuss whatever they want to share & learn how to handle things in a Christian manner. To keep their interest, we would also teach classes on some crafts, including quilting & some sewing. We would also teach some cooking, as we get facilities to do so.

After we got home, I talked to the preacher's wife to get her take on it. She liked the idea, so I talked to the preacher. Because of everything else that is going on, I put the idea on the back burner. Last weekend, the idea resurfaced. Too much is happening for this to not be God's idea. Now, I'm in the process of organizing & trying to get some people to help.

Now that I have the teen girls part in the works, I need to figure out how to get someone to help with the teen guys, & the younger ones.

Work has been crazy. Rumors are flying & deregulation meetings are creating a stir. It was looking like they were going to close the one power plant that our group maintains. We don't have any definite news, but maybe we squeaked by again. The routine of being told to grab another job if it becomes available is getting old. I love working with these guys, but corporate is playing mind games, again.

A member of our praise team at church just had surgery for breast cancer. She's getting better by the day, but is still in a lot of pain. I wish I could take some of the pain away.

In july, our church is planning our Fandangle. It's going to be 2 evenings where we have an air castle for the kids, concerts for the adults, & food for everyone. We hope to have William Boyd Chisum back. We don't have the dates set yet, but will start working on it as soon as possible. It will probably be a Friday & Saturday night. More details as I get them.

Family visit

Photos from our visit September 22-25, 2005

Alex loves his Now.

Proud Grandpa.

Grandma gets to hold Alex.

Daddy feeding Alex.

Alex & his Mom. Grandpa is standing by.

Alex photos

I'm really looking forward to seeing this little guy along with his Mom & Dad. Can hardly wait.

Potato Cake recipe

This recipe is my Mom's favorite. Mike & I like it pretty well, too.

It's a good use for leftover potatoes, but since I put pepper in potatoes for meals, I usually don't use leftovers. It's so easy to bake potatoes in the microwave that I do that, or use instant potatoes. We don't care for instant to go on the table, but since the potatoes don't leave a taste in the cake, it's a good way to cheat. You will probably want to use a mixer, instead of just a whisk or spoon to mix this. It makes a really thick batter. Mom likes it covered in fudge, but it tends to be a little too rich for me. I prefer to drizzle ice cream fudge topping over it then sprinkle nuts on the fudge.

POTATO CAKE

1 cup butter or shortening ½ tsp cinnamon
2 cups sugar
½ cup milk
4 eggs separated
2 ¼ cups flour
1 cup mashed potatoes
2 ¼ tsp baking powder
1 cup nuts
2 Tbsp cocoa
½ tsp each, salt, allspice, & cloves

Mix, adding egg whites last. Bake @ 375° for about 30 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.

Grandson's home

Alex & Mom went home from the hospital on Tuesday. The family is doing well.
I'll post photos of Alex as soon as I get them.

Alex's Mom, Dad, Now, & Grandpa


Alex's Mom, Dad, Now, & Grandma


Alex's room

Samantha's Wedding

My niece, Samantha married Scott Gully on August 20. The wedding was beautiful & I thought I would share some of the photos. Great couple. I'm looking forward to getting to know Scott & wish both of them the best of everything.


Father of the bride getting ready for the wedding.


The wedding cake.


Samantha with Dad, Lee Roy, & sister, Laurie.


Getting the dance off to a great start.

Sam tossing the bouquet



Scott retrieving & tossing the garter.




Texas version of a stretch limo.

About Me section of blog

In case you're wondering, I'm running 2 blogs from this site. This one, & the one for the software I use for work. The About Me section shows the same for both blogs, so I figured I should set it up for the professional world. I'm learning as I go on both of these, & hope they will get better with time.

Arrival of Grandson

Our new Grandson has arrived. He came on the scene yesterday morning weighing in @ 7 pounds 8 ounces. He's 19 1/2 inches long. His name is Austin Alexander Mann. Some of us may call him Peanut, but most will probably call him Alex. I will post photos as I get them.

Welcome to my page

I'm still working on this to see what I can get it to do. We found out, today, that the grandson, who was going to arrive last Monday, may arrive tomorrow. The excitement is building. Our best wishes to the new Mom & Dad. This is Jim & Misty, the proud parents to be.

Just getting set up

I plan to have photos & recipes as I get a chance to work on it between other projects.