Katie's costume

Katie's costume was so adorable that I just had to get pictures. She was a Hershey's kiss!

Well done, thou good and faithful servant

This past weekend, a true man of God, Pastor Bob Kelley, pastor of Grace Baptist Church in West Columbia, went home to be with the Lord. He was a giant among men and everything you could ever want in a pastor, a friend, a husband, a father, and a grandfather. He touched so many lives and will be GREATLY missed.

Brittanie attended Grace for 9 years so we have many fond memories of Pastor Kelley, who always had a bright smile on his face. But two memories impacted our lives forever. 4 years ago today, I was in the hospital, having just given birth to Katie. We had been visiting Grace because Brittanie was going to school with kids who attended Grace and her Bible teacher, Mr. Goforth, was/is an outstanding youth leader. Well the pastor of the church we belonged to came to the hospital to visit since that is part of his job...to visit members in the hospital. Well my mom had gone into the bathroom before he got there so I took the opportunity of us being alone to explain to him why we had been visiting Grace. I wanted him to know that we had no problem with our church, it was just something we felt God wanted us to do for Brittanie. All I got out was "I wanted to explain to you why we have been visiting Grace" and my pastor looked at me and said "I didn't know you were visiting Grace. I wish I had known because I wouldn't have come here." He then told me he had to go and left. He was gone before my mom got out of the bathroom....that's how short his stay was. Well I was crushed. He didn't even see the baby. Later that afternoon, Pastor Kelley came by with a big bright smile on his face. He held Katie and told me she was beautiful and just made what started out to be a bad day so much better and we weren't even members of Grace at the time! Two weeks later, Katie had to be hospitalized with jaundice. I made Tom go to work and Brittanie was at school and I stayed with Katie at the hospital alone. Well Pastor Kelley had heard through Brittanie's teacher that Katie was in the hospital and he wasted no time coming up there to see if there was anything he could do. We still weren't members of Grace at this point. Our pastor never even called to see how Katie was. I had a good talk with Pastor Kelley that day and he was such a comfort to me. I was terrified standing there watching Katie laying naked under those purple lights not knowing what would happen next. But after Pastor Kelley left, I had such a peaceful feeling. He truly was one of a kind and a TRUE man of God.

When he stood before God the day he passed away, I just know God told him "Well done, thou good and faithful servant." He was loved by everyone he touched. Please join me in praying for his family, his friends, and his church family. To know Pastor Kelley was to love him so I know my family is not the only family mourning the loss of this wonderful man.

Grace Baptist Church website

Flooding

When Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana, Democrats everywhere were quick to blame President Bush. He has become the punching bag for our frustrated country. But the problem New Orleans residents faced was NOT President Bush's fault. He sprung to action and offered help to Governor Blanco early. She said she needed 24 hours to think about it. What's to think about? She has residents who can't get out and the flood waters are consuming the city, the criminal element that has always consumed that city was raping, pillaging, and plundering while she was thinking. We are a democracy and the President can't go swooping and taking over the authority over a state.....although I wish he could have because President Bush would have done a MUCH better job.

Well it has been over a year since Katrina hit New Orleans and of course people down there still blame President Bush. But who is to blame for what the flooding in St. Landry Parish last week? The blame game is rampant. Residents say the canals are always stopped up with trash and debris, as are ditches. Parish government officials say it isn't their district, even though the flooding affects their residents tremendously. Last week people had water in their cars and homes. The schools were shut down. This isn't a new problem because I went to high school in Opleousas, which is the parish seat, and I can remember leaving school to go to my job at McDonald's and going down a street that had a casket floating down the road from the cemetery down the street. It happened often. It was especially creepy for me who has never been fond of anything related to death and dead people.

According to the residents, they have been complaining to the parish officials for years to help with the flooding and got the same response....it isn't our problem. Are we supposed to believe that Governor Blanco didn't know about the flooding problem in St. Landry Parish? Whether she knew or not, it just goes to show how effective she is. Louisiana suffered for years under the leadership of Edwin Edwards. He was and always will be the same type of disgrace to Louisiana that Bill Clinton was to our country as both "men" totally lack morals or character. Louisiana needs a champion to stand up for the little guy and not just worry about it's tourist attraction, New Orleans.

New Orleans has gotten alot of attention because of what the residents have gone through. But that's where the press focuses its attention. Right now, I feel more sorry for the rest of Louisiana that have had to accept the criminal element that escaped from New Orleans and is now reigning terror over the rest of the state. Opelousas had its own problems before Katrina but add New Orleans criminals to the criminals that were already taking over the city and I'm scared for my mom to go to Wal-Mart anymore. It just isn't safe.

Why is it that only the local press in Opelousas is talking about how ineffective Governor Blanco is being? The answer is simple. The liberal press wants to make sure we continue to blame President Bush for Katrina so that the Democrats can once again take over the White House. Well I'm saying it loud and clear for all of my readers, Governor Blanco was to blame for not getting the people out of New Orleans while hundreds of buses at on the streets flooding as citizens drowned. That was NOT President Bush. And it is once again Governor Blanco to blame for not doing something about the flooding in St. Landry Parish as well. If the local level won't do anything, it is her job to crack the whip but maybe she is still thinking????

If you want to read the story, check out the DailyWorld website.

Just like her daddy

We always laugh about Tom flinging his arms around when he talks....joking that he has to be part Italian somewhere down the line. Well Brittanie is just like her daddy, as you can see in this picture. She was telling a story and it got animated. lol (Check out Katie clinging to Randy. She is soooooooooo jealous of Brittanie.)

Katie's birthday party

Katie is turning 4 on Monday so to celebrate, we had a party for her at Chuck E. Cheese's today. She got lots of nice gifts and our closest friends and family in South Carolina were there to help us celebrate! Here are some pictures from the party:

Katie and "Boo-Boo" (Samantha) enjoying the show

Melissa and her son, Hunter. Isn't he precious?

Tom's cousin, Harry, and his son, William.

Katie had a Madagascar cake.
Katie had a piece of cake in front of her but she preferred to lick the cake and icing off of each of the characters and trees on her cake.
Katie and Chuck E. Cheese.Katie received lots of nice gifts. Here are three Veggie Tales CD's we gave Katie to play in the van and Daddy's truck on the way to and from school.
Here is a Littlest Pet Shop Play Center that Uncle Jesse and Aunt Melissa gave her.
Here is Katie and Randy's little brother, Blake, opening her "I can play piano" game system. Boo-Boo (Samantha) and Mamie (Sandra) gave her two game sets to go with it and Brittanie also gave her a Christmas game set to go with it as well.
Grandma and Grandpa gave her a Hide and Seek Care Bear. When we got home from the party, Daddy and Grandpa helped her play with it.
Brittanie's best friend, William, gave Katie this little jaguar that roars when you squeeze his belly. She hugged it tight when she opened it and said "Awwwwww." She loved it!
Katie loves race cars. Here she is driving one while Grandpa puts his foot on the gas since she can't reach. Here is William having fun in the 4-wheel drive.

We had a great day! We really enjoyed being with our friends and family. Then after the party, we went home and cooked jambalaya and Tom's parents and his brother, Jesse, and his wife, Melissa, spent the rest of the day with us. We don't all get together very often anymore but it sure was nice to all be together today. I really like my sister-in-law. I wish we lived closer. I think Melissa and I could be good friends.

State of Emergency declared

Louisiana's governor has declared a state of emergency in several parishes, including St. Landry, which is where I grew up and where my whole family still lives. My mom told me it has rained so much that it is flooding everywhere and they closed the schools Friday. Mom still lives in the town I grew up in, Krotz Springs. If you look at a map, you will see Krotz Springs sits on the edge of the Atchafalaya River with only a levee to protect them. After hurricane Katrina, I worry about the levee. In all the years I lived there growing up, I don't ever remember them cancelling school because of rain. I remember a hurricane or two closing the school but not a rainstorm. Please pray for the people who are dealing with all of this. Louisiana is flat and some parts are below sea level so when you have rain like they have been having....mom said 6 to 8 inches have been reported in Port Barre.....it can be devastating. So keep them in your prayers!

Cautiously optimistic

Thursday, I let Brittanie get out of school early to go on a job interview at Sonic in West Columbia. She didn't have an appointment. It was first come, first interviewed and they were only interviewing from 2 to 5. So she showed up there at 2 and got the job. The next person that came up was told they were only hiring one person that day and Brittanie got there first. So it was worth it! Anyway, she is going to be making 20 cents more an hour than she was at Subway. They will start her out at 15 hours a week until she is fully trained and then move her up to 20, which is what she needs. She starts on Monday. It is basically the same uniform...black or khaki pants, polo and visor. She won't be a carhop. She will be working inside, which is great since it is about to get cold. I've talked to the owner several times over the years. He is a softball coach at Mineral Springs and always let Brittanie's teams have car washes and even stand in their drive thru with a bucket accepting donations. He was always nice to me. I've even been there when he was working the drive thru and was very nice then too. I really hope this works out. I want Brittanie to have positive working experiences.

My home town

I found a new site that combines blogging with mapping. It is really cool. I'm very proud of my home town, Krotz Springs, LA. Thanks to platial.com, I can show it off a bit. Krotz Springs is very small so the satellite imagery isn't as good as it would be with bigger places. But I still thought it was cool. Check out my page.

Think she's sincere?

Today when I picked up Katie from school, her teacher was buckling her into her booster seat and told me today wasn't a very good listening day for Katie. When we drove away, Katie said "I was bad at school today but I'm a little sorry." I had to turn my head so she wouldn't see me laugh. She's a nut. You never know what she is going to say next!

Vonage

I have really come to love Vonage. For parents of teenagers, this is a GREAT solution to the phone problem most parents face. When Brittanie became a teenager, the phone became permanently planted on her ear. Tom and I hate talking on the phone anyway but if we did get a call we had to take, we felt like she had a stop watch on us. She would never say anything because she is too respectful but you could see she was on the edge of her seat waiting for us to get off the phone. So we decided to get Vonage so she could have her own phone line. Well I didn't know when we signed up but Vonage keeps a call log of every out going and incoming call, complete with phone numbers, times, and length of call. It's a parent's dream! We had trouble with her "losing track of time" and talking after 10pm. She and her boyfriend both have a house rule that forbids being on the phone past 10pm. But somehow they always "lose track of time." Well Tom created a script to run that shuts off the port that Vonage runs on at 10:05pm every night and turns back on at 5am, because her boyfriend calls to wake her up in the morning for school. Funny how that script keeps them from "losing track of time." They have been getting off the phone at 9:55 every night because they don't want the connection to drop before they say their goodbyes. lol

They have recently had a rate increase but it is still ALOT cheaper than BellSouth. She has all the features of the complete choice package at BellSouth, PLUS voice mail, which costs extra with BellSouth, and unlimited long distance, which is $30 with BellSouth. I pay $27 a month for what BellSouth would charge me over $50 for. Unfortunately, I can't get Vonage for our house phone because our high speed internet that is required to run Vonage is through BellSouth, which requires you to keep a phone line with them in order to get their internet service. But as second phone line, especially for teenagers, Vonage is a GREAT solution!

I can sympathize....but not agree

Sunday in Philadelphia, a dad pulled out a gun and threatened his son's pee wee league baseball coach during a game. Why? Because his son wasn't getting enough playing time. I totally disagree with what this dad did. He was totally and completely wrong!!! BUT I can relate to his feelings. When Brittanie was playing softball, she had made the All-Star team at Mineral Springs....which had the best 8 and under team at the time. It was an honor to be chosen. The problem was that it was her first year at Mineral Springs so all of the other members of the All-Star team had been playing together for 3 years. Her coaches, Tom Atwood and Robert Braxton, decided that though she was good enough to make the team, she wasn't actually good enough to play. It was heartbreaking to watch as each week we would attend tournaments and she would barely play. She wanted to quit. We taught her not to be a quitter and since she started it, she had to see it through to the end. Then we went to a tournament in Charlotte, paid for a hotel and everything, and watched as, once again, she was sat on the bench....crying. I finally had enough and told off her coach for not letting her play. He said this was All-Stars and he wasn't obligated to let her play like he was during the rec season. Obligated? This isn't cut throat major league baseball! This was about a little girl crying because she is never allowed on the field after practicing two hours a day every day leading up to every tournament in the hot South Carolina summer! I had enough and told her to get her stuff because we were going home. At that point, seeing my daughter cry and knowing Tom Atwood was the main reason for it, made me want to punch him in the face for being so heartless! But I didn't. Parents need to realize that life isn't fair and keep things in perspective. You don't want to send the message to your child that when things don't go your way, it is ok to resort to violence. I think I handled the situation appropriately. I didn't tell him off in front of the other players and I didn't roll over and continue to let him hurt my child either. Emotions run high when you feel your child is being wronged but we, as adults, need to keep things on a mature level and set an example of what proper behavior is.

The good news is that the 8 and under All-Star coaches from Cayce, Butch and Sherry Davenport, had coached Brittanie in All-Stars the year before and asked her to join their team. She hadn't practiced with them all summer and there was only one tournament left. But they let her play in that tournament and she had a great time. By the way, when they played against Mineral Springs, Brittanie got up to bat and hit a line drive to right field and got a triple that day. I wouldn't have taken a million dollars for that hit!! We need more coaches like Butch and Sherry Davenport coaching our kids. Their team came in second to Mineral Springs alot but every one of their players loved them, felt like they were an important part of the team, and most importantly, they had fun!! And that's what youth sports is supposed to be about!

Katie's first report card!!

She's doing pretty good. Needs to work on her D's but other than that, she is doing great! If you can't see it, just click on it and it will open it up bigger.

Katie's foot rest

Randy came over tonight to watch movies with Brittanie. When Brittanie got up to get something to drink, Randy stretched out over the sofa and Katie couldn't wait to jump on his back. But she decided he would make a great foot rest as well.

Count on WIS....unless you are in Gaston or Swansea

For years we have noticed that WIS really doesn't cover our area well. WLTX is more than happy to come out here and do reports. Well today there was a bomb threat at Swansea High School. Brittanie called me and told me they were in lockdown for an hour while police and bomb dogs searched the building. Parents were outside frantic and trying to get their kids out of that building but weren't allowed in until the lockdown was over. When something like this happens, you can count on rumors. I wanted to know the truth. I called WLTX and they said they are investigating and will air their findings tonight. I called WIS and they told me they are aware of the situation but it won't be on the air. REALLY? Why is that? Is this not news for WIS? With all the children bringing weapons to school in our area and the shootings at other schools around the country, you don't think a bomb threat in a little town like Swansea, where things are normally so quiet, is news? I never cared for WIS anyway. From the minute I moved here, I have noticed the lack of coverage our area receives by WIS. Then when I started working with the Collard Festival that's when I started seeing who cares about the people of our area. WLTX was always interested in our festival, in our area, and in our citizens. That's why my loyalty has always been, and will continue to be, with WLTX.

I won't post any rumors in regards to what happened at Swansea High School today. But when I see on WLTX tonight during the newscast or see it on their website (which I check SEVERAL times a day), I will post it here and let everyone know what they found out.

Katie's trip to the South Carolina State Fair

Tom took Katie to the state fair yesterday. She was so excited to go that her little mouth was going 100 miles an hour. They passed by the University of South Carolina Gamecock stadium and Katie said "Look daddy! A gamecock like on mama's myspace!" She will be a CSI investigator one day. This kid is so observant and listens to every word we say!

She had a blast at the fair but after 3 hours, she was ready to go home. She is like Tom and I, she HATES crowds and it was pretty crowded. She also has my patience....or lack of. So she was frustrated with having to wait in line. There were some rides, like the spider, where you get loaded on the ride, then you have to wait while other they load up the other riders. Well Katie didn't like waiting while they loaded the other riders and would ask Tom to get off before the ride even started because she was tired of waiting. Sounds like me. hehehe

She loved the animals. She wanted to put her finger in the geese pen. Tom told her those geese will bite her finger off. She told me last night she still wanted to do it because it wouldn't hurt. Little Tom isn't afraid of anything.

I had a letter published in The State

I had blogged on here my distaste for Governor Sanford's critics who were attacking him for making a literary reference. Well I also submitted basically the same entry to The State newspaper and they published it Monday. Here is the web version of my letter as it appeared in print. Click here.

I didn't know it was even published because we don't get The State. I had actually forgotten about it until I got a letter in the mail yesterday from Governor Sanford's office....hand signed by the governor himself. Here is the letter. I blurred out my home address so I could post it on here. If he didn't already have my vote, he would have it now. This is the kind of personal contact that elected officials need to do more of and let voters know, as Governor Sanford has done here, that they are listening to what we say and they care and appreciate us.

Tom's weird/mean sense of humor.

Tom loves the Vonage commercial where the blond girl gets hit in the head with the Vonage box when she starts to run to see the dolphins (which are really sharks). He loves the sound the girl makes when the box hits her head. He has such a warped sense of humor and a TiVo......what a combination! He replays that sound over and over and just laughs and laughs. He's a nut. In case you haven't seen it, here is the link to the commercial on youtube. Click here.

New pictures of Katie

Katie was playing with Xena tonight and it was so cute that I had to take a picture.

Every night we have a problem making Katie eat. The only thing she ever wants to eat is junk. Well that isn't allowed. She HAS to eat her supper or she has to go to bed. Well she is a drama queen and we can never get through a meal without her saying it is nasty and/or disgusting and she doesn't want to eat it....complete with faces. Tonight I captured one of her "nasty" faces.

Boycot Subway in the Midlands!

Brittanie has been taking alot of crap from her manager, Kyle, since she got there. Well tonight was the last straw. A girl called Brittanie today and asked her to work her shift tonight. Brittanie was only scheduled for two days this week so obviously she took it.

Well I received a call from Britt at 7pm telling me that Kyle told her to cut onions but he couldn’t find the goggles that you are supposed to cut onions with, knowing that she has sensitive eyes, and made her cut them anyway. When she finished cutting the onions, he pulled out the goggles and laughed at her that he had them the whole time.

Kyle told Brittanie that Cindy (the owner) doesn’t want her to work the register. Then asked her how she "f'ed (he actually said the word) up working the register?" But that doesn’t surprise him because she is “f'ing (again used the whole word) retarded.”

Well Tom and I had enough. Tom threw on his shoes and grabbed his keys and I said "you're going up there?" He said "Yes I am. I'm going to put the fear of God into that punk. He isn't going to talk to my daughter like that!" So Tom went up there to have a talk with Kyle. He claims that he was looking for the goggles and didn't intentionally keep them from her....denied laughing at her. Then denied telling her she was "f'ing retarded." Tom told him that this isn't high school. This is the adult world and he can't act like that or talk to employees like that and if he talks to his daughter like that again, he will report him. He then turned to Brittanie and told her that if he treats her bad or says anything ugly to her after he leaves, to call him and he will come back up there and sit there the rest of the night if she wants to stay or she can just punch out and quit because she doesn't have to put up with that. Brittanie said the whole time Tom was talking to Kyle, Kyle's face was red and his eyes were huge. He was scared. That was the intent. He needs to learn how to treat people.

Right after Tom left, Cindy called and asked Brittanie why her dad went in there and didn't believe her story and threatened to call the police and have Tom banned from her store saying it was unprofessional. UNPROFESSIONAL? How about telling an employee that they are "f'ing retarded?" Brittanie is not the only one Kyle has cursed at and been unprofessional with. He chased a girl named Jessica with a big knife....that can be proved by the cameras in there....Cindy called and told him to stop playing with the knives. He was just joking but this is a MANAGER playing this way! The other night he got on the microphone and called a guy named Justin a "dumb a**" and it could be heard throughout the store. These kids won't tell on him because they need their job. But Brittanie doesn't need any job bad enough to put up with abuse. Needless to say, the conversation with Cindy was that Cindy told Brittanie that Kyle was one of her best employees and Brittanie told her that if she was going to take up for Kyle then she quits. Cindy told her to just go home for the night because obviously she is having a bad night. But Brittanie told her that she quits. She doesn't want to work there anymore.

Oh! And they still owe her pay from September 11^th and 12^th. Cindy told her "it may be too late" to get paid for that. We will see! First thing Monday morning, I'm calling the labor board to get that money and also to tell them what a hostile working environment Mr. Kyle created to the point where Brittanie had to quit.

Maybe this will wake Kyle up. Either the other kids don't tell their parents about the verbal abuse they are taking from this guy or the parents don't care. But we aren't parents like that. Nobody is going to do that to one of our girls and get away with it. Tom is reasonable. Kyle needs to wake up because the next daddy may not be reasonable and could whip his butt for treating his child that way.

Cindy owns 12 franchises in the Midlands. I'm asking for solidarity! Let's boycott her restaurants. Maybe then she won't turn a blind eye to the way these kids are treated in her restaurant. Those cameras need to have sound so she can hear the things Kyle says to those kids!

Deal or no deal

I never watch Deal or No Deal. We just don't care for it. But we watched it last night because one of the teachers from Brittanie's school was on last night. Her name is PJ Dykes and she is from Swansea. She represented our area well. She is beautiful, was well dressed, and conducted herself wonderfully. The world has a perception of what southern people, especially from small towns, look and act like and PJ showed them that their perception is wrong. She will be on again tonight going for the big prize as she kept saying "No Deal" last night.

If you want to see if she wins the big money or not, it will be on tonight at 8pm on NBC.

Wednesday update

I took Katie back to the doctor today for her recheck and she still has plaques on her tonsils. She got another shot, which she as NOT happy about and cried and screamed for the entire 15 minute waiting period. I called Tom and had him talk to her and within 2 seconds of being on the phone with her daddy, she stopped crying and was calm. Parenting a little meanie like her just comes natural to him. It just doesn't for me. But we are home now and I'm about to put little meanie down for a nap because I need one! She is in a real nasty mood. I told her to eat and then we are going to lie down. She told me "You are so mean to me! I don't know when you started this but you are going to stop it!" They really are human tape recorders, aren't they?

By the way, when I picked Katie up from school, the Monday newsletter from Grace was in her bag and on the back of it was an information flyer that they would like all of us to pass along. So here is my way of passing it along.
I am sure it is too small to read like this. Just click on it and it will open in another window so you can read it better. I never really cared for Wal-Mart. It is always too crowded and with ALL those registers there are never enough open so the ones that are open have lines that go on for miles. I'd rather pay a little more and get in and out quicker. That's why we shop at Fred's and Food Lion. If there is something we can't get in these two places, we would rather go to Target or K-Mart.

For those sceptics, I'm married to one so I always check before passing stuff along, snopes says it is true as well. Here is the link to the Snopes article on it: Snopes

I have the best husband in the world!!!

Tom is such a GREAT daddy. Katie has been sick since Sunday. She is a daddy's girl and he LOVES it. He basically took care of her while he was awake Sunday. When he went to bed, I stayed up all night to type and check on her. He called several times Monday to check on her. When he got home, he took her from my arms and held her till he put her to bed at 10pm. Yesterday morning we heard that dreaded puke sound and he sprang out of bed, scooped her up and brought her to me. He then stripped the sheets off the bed and put them washing. Then he got in bed with me and Katie and 15 minutes later she sat up and he said "do you need to throw up?" She said yes and before I could move he scooped her up and ran her into our bathroom, she did her thing and he wiped her face and put her back in bed with me. He went around the bed and grabbed his clothes to get dressed and she went and stood in front of him and she got sick again...in his hands! He cleaned his hands and told me he was calling in sick that day because he handles puke better than me. I don't know about better but he is definitely faster. She got sick one more time and we gave her medicine to stop that and she sat on his lap watching Veggie Tales first then Blues Clues. He was eating it up that she was glued to him like that. It is a rare thing because she is so hyper when she is healthy that she doesn't sit still even when she is sitting on you so you can't usually enjoy her sitting on you. But how many men, who aren't single fathers, would actually take off work to care for a puking child? He is awesome! I'm so blessed!!!

Brittanie's kitten

I finally got pictures of Brittanie's kitten, which she named Zena....as in warrior princess. For some reason the pictures make her look brown but she is actually gray. She looks like a tiger. She is so sweet. We have to keep her upstairs in Brittanie's room when Tom is home because he hates cats. But Brittanie did bring her down tonight so I could take her picture. (By the way, you can see the bracelet Randy gave Brittanie for her birthday in some of these pictures. It is so pretty.)

Pictures

I was up all night Sunday night typing and checking on Katie and went to bed relatively early Monday night. Well at 2am, I heard Katie coughing. Tom had just gotten in bed and told me that he just gave her some Ibuprofen cold. I checked the label and it has nothing for cough in it. So I rubbed her chest with Johnson's baby soothing vapor cream and gave her some Prolex DM for the cough (which she almost didn't keep down....that stuff is nasty!). While I was up, I decided to check my e-mail and saw that my wonderful father-in-law had sent me pictures he took at Brittanie's drill team competition at Keenan High School a couple of weeks ago. They came out great so I wanted to post them.

Here is Brittanie before the drill team competition. That's Major Norton behind her with the sunglasses and Master Sgt behind her and to the left. Major Norton is in charge of the entire Swansea High School JROTC program. Master Sgt is an instructor and coach of the drill teams. We love these guys! Not as much as we love 1st Sgt but shhhh that's a secret! hehehe

Here is Brittanie leading her platoon, either about to start or just finishing their routine. By the way, that's Randy in the back row on the left.

Here is Randy leading his squad in the armed drill competition. That's our batallion commander next to Brittanie.

As you can see, Katie had fun at Brittanie's competition that day as well. At one point, during the awards ceremony, Tom thought she was walking towards Grandpa and all of a sudden she darted out in the middle of the ceremony, making Tom have to chase her and getting a big laugh out of the cadets who were trying to be serious.

1st Sgt. told Brittanie that she had to drop something. He thinks she has too much on her plate right now. So she decided to drop rifle team. I was not at all happy with this decision but it is hers to make. There is a girl on her rifle team that has been a pain in her neck for over a year now and at the Keenan competition she outshot Brittanie and couldn't wait to rub it in Brittanie's face. I asked Brittanie if she does that to her when she outshoots that girl. She said no. She doesn't even hang around for the results. Brittanie sees it as a team sport whereas this girl sees it as an opportunity to annoy Brittanie. Things got heated at the Keenan competition and the girl just about got her butt kicked. So I guess it is no surprise that Brittanie would choose the drill team over rifle team so she wouldn't have to deal with this girl anymore. She said drill team is more of a challenge as well. So even though I'm very disappointed, I have to respect her decision. Maybe next year she will do rifle team again since that girl is graduating this year and won't be a factor next year!

Katie update

I was having some stomach problems today so Brittanie took Katie to the doctor for me. The doctor did a rapid strep test on her and it came back negative. So she ran a CBC and it indicated a bacterial infection. Brittanie took the finger prick for the CBC worse than Katie did. Brittanie HATES that. Katie just said "Ouch!" But she really cried when the nurse gave her the Rocephin shot in the leg. I have to take her back for a follow-up on Wednesday. She is still running fever tonight. We are still having to give her alternating Tylenol and Advil every two hours. Hopefully she will be better tomorrow. Tomorrow is make-up picture day at Grace. She obviously can't go to school because she is contagious but her pictures were horrendous (not the photographer's fault) and I paid $40 for them. I want some good pictures! So unless she is really not feeling well in the morning, Tom is going to run her in to have her picture made and then bring her back home to me.

Tonight, I had some fun with Brittanie. I told her to go check the mailbox at the road and she claimed she was scared. So I got in her car and we drove down to the end of the driveway to check the mail. There was nothing in the box. I saw she was low on gas so I told her to drive to the gas station and put gas in her car. Well she argued with me that she didn't have auxillary power in her car. I told her that with most foreign cars, you turn the key forward, not backwards like my van. She didn't believe me. So I showed her and she was so convinced that when she opened the door the radio would stop. Well it didn't stop. So I had a good laugh at her because she just thinks she is so much smarter than me. Well she got out of the car to pump the gas and left the key in so I could listen to the radio. So I locked her out. She laughed and begged to be let back in after she finished pumping the gas. She turned her back to me and I unlocked the door but she didn't realize it. She decided to clean the windshield since she was outside of the car anyway. Well I took that opportunity to squirt her, which also turned on the windshield wipers. I did that a couple of times and then let her finish cleaning then entire window. She was so proud of how good it looked. She walked around the car to put the squeegee back in the bucket and I squirted the washer fluid again, messing up her perfect windshield. Well we went to the post office and checked the mail there, drove home, and when we parked, Brittanie locked the doors to her car. Unlike my van, you can't open the passenger door when it is locked. Everytime I would try to unlike it and grab the handle, she would lock it again. So I grabbed her keys out of the ignition and threw them in the yard. She finally let me out of the car and was laughing about me locking her out of her car and her locking me in her car. I said "Yeah well let's see how ya like it when I lock you out of the house." But she beat me to the door before I could do that. Tom told me I was acting like a teenager. It was fun. I don't get much fun time with Brittanie. Between school, her job, her rifle team, drill team, and her boyfriend, she is spread pretty thin. It was good to have some time with her.

Katie

Thursday night, Katie and I waited in the van while Tom ran in Best Buy to pick up something for work. Katie was saying something that she shouldn't and I told her "You shouldn't say that. That makes God upset when you say stuff like that." Her reply? "He can't hear me! I'm the van!" I had to hold in my laughter while I explained to her that God was everywhere. She's something else.

She is sick today. We had homecoming at church today and she showed her hiney during the dinner on the grounds after church. I put her to bed as soon as she got home and she woke up with a fever. It has been difficult to get the fever down. It finally completely broke around 11pm. I am going to take her to see her pediatrician in the morning. She just had tubes put in her ears on the 27th of September so it probably isn't an ear infection but she does have alot of upper respiratory junk going on so you never know. But she will get a Rocephin shot to help get her over whatever this is quickly. Oral antibiotics give her serious stomach problems. Rocephin is faster and much better. With the state fair starting Wednesday, she needs to get better quick so she can go and enjoy the fair again this year.

Brittanie got a kitten from Joanie today. She is grey and fluffy with white paws. She is beautiful but Tom hates cats so she will be staying upstairs in Brittanie's room when Tom is home.

Unreal!

I'm seeing red today. I check dailyworld.com everyday to keep up with what is happening where I grew up. Well I read a story earlier this week about the church secretary at a Catholic church in Port Barre being arrested for stealing money. Well in a surprise turn of events, the priest has been arrested too. Here are the stories, in case anyone is interested: First story and second one

It talks about how residents are shocked over the priest's arrest. I'm not shocked, I'm outraged. The Catholic diocese all over the country has, for years, kept tight lipped about priests molesting little boys. They tried so hard to keep that quiet and moved the molesting priests all around so they could molest a new batch of children. Not once did they call the police. But DON'T mess with their money! Now THAT is important! I'm not trying to say that stealing is ok. Obviously it isn't. But I would have anyone arrested in a heartbeat for inappropriately touching children before I would arrest someone for stealing. I know in God's eyes sin is sin. But stealing money will not psychologically scar a child for life the way child molestation will.

This whole thing is sad and lets everyone know what is important to the Catholic Diocese.

Governor Sanford's "tar baby" comment

The people who are attacking Gov. Sanford for his comment about dancing with a tar baby, need to pick up a book. This attack on the governor is embarrassing for the state of South Carolina because it shines a bright light on the fact that we aren't well read enough to realize that he was making literary reference. These people need to read a book and stop looking for reasons to be offended. I read the comment to my 16-year-old daughter and she knew immediately that he was making reference to a story about Brer Rabbit. Now if she knew it immediately, why didn't the critics know?

Democratic State Senator Robert Ford said, "I don't want an apology," he says. "I try to watch what I say, I chose my words. Sanford is supposed to be the smartest governor in the history of America. He has enough words in his vocabulary to use other terms. He doesn’t have to use that."

Sanford showed his intelligence when he made this literary reference. But less intelligent people like Senator Ford don't have the mental capability to appreciate or understand it.

Bottom line for the critics.....read a book or at least google it before you go off ranting and making yourselves look ignorant and illiterate.

Cute Katie story

Katie has been having problems with a girl in her class named Ashley. She says Ashley is mean. Well I know my child so I bet she is just getting what she is giving. But today she told me that Ashley pushed her and that she told her "You can't push me! God wants us to be kind to one another so you can't push me because that isn't nice." Ashley rolled her eyes and walked away and Katie said "You're not nice....BRAT!"

Now if that isn't the pot calling the kettle black, I don't know what is! hehehe

Brittanie's job

Brittanie is loving her job at Subway!! Last week we were a little worried as she was only scheduled to work two days, one of which was Wednesday. Since she said at hire she wouldn't work Wednesdays because she goes to church, she ended up only working one day on this pay period, which was last night. We were worried because working one day a week won't get the car insurance paid so she would have to get another job if that is what her schedule would continue to be like. Well she was told last night that they had a bunch of new hires that needed training and that's why her hours were cut last week. But last night she received her new schedule that starts tomorrow and she will be working 18 hours in the next week. Now that's what she needs! She called me while she was mopping the bathrooms (can't get her to do that at home!) and she was so happy with all the hours she was given and really excited that she wouldn't have to quit her job because she loves it.

She made us laugh with the little stories. What I found interesting is what people call things. Like she had a customer refer to black olives as "intertubes." HUH? I have NEVER in my 37 years of living heard anyone call black olives intertubes. She said customers also refer to the white bread as "American" bread. Technically it is Italian bread but whatever. When I order from there, I just say "on white" and they know what I mean. But I have never heard it called "American" bread before. But in Louisiana it is called Po-boy bread. So every area has their own vocabulary. (By the way, my mom still refers to subs as po-boys.....no matter where you buy them from or what is on them....they are po-boys.)

But we prayed about this job and God blessed her with a good job that she enjoys!! She is truly blessed. Now we are praying that her boss will let her off of work the week after Christmas so we can go to Louisiana! I miss my little sisters and my nieces and nephew and of course my mom.

Something helpful

This morning my work was disturbed by a couple of Jehovah's Witnesses. I have a VERY low opinion of these people as my experience with them has been that they are argumentative and can brain wash people. I don't even listen to them. Well today I was visited by two of them. I had to stop my typing and answer the door to find them standing there wanting to indoctrinate. They are very friendly but I know what they believe and am not interested in listening....at all! My mom has a sticker that she bought at church that says "No Visits by Jehovah's Witnesses Please." So I decided instead of selling them, I would provide a public service. All you have to do is buy sticker paper or you can print it on regular paper and tape it to your door. For all of you who don't want to be bothered by these people, this is for you! (You can click on the picture and it will open it in a new window and you can print it from there.)

GO PANTHERS!!

Our Panthers pulled it out today against the Saints beating them 21-18!!!

Tom really needed the Panthers to win today. He had a rough day yesterday. I think he is still stressed out from his test Friday and it gave him a killer migraine yesterday. He went to meet his parents at Britt's rifle and drill team competition yesterday and by the time he got home, he took an Imitrex and went to bed. He got up later and took another Imitrex. He got up later, still in MAJOR pain, and I made him take two Vicodin to break the migraine cycle and that worked. But it upset his stomach. He was already nauseous from the migraine and the meds didn't help. He is better today from a headache standpoint but he feels hung over and his muscles throughout his shoulders and neck are killing him. So he really needed his Panthers to win today and help him feel better.

Before anyone asks, yes I am from Louisiana and love my home state but I have never been a Saints fan. When I was growing up Saints fans wore bags over their heads. I wasn't going to be one of those. I prefer to pick a better team than to wear a bag to support my team. So I was a Dolphins fan until Marino left. Now I support the Panthers. It also helps that we have a Cajun boy leading our Panthers to victory!! Brittanie and I love Jake Delhomme!!