Another milestone

There are so many milestones parents cherish in a child's life but the milestone I had with Brittanie yesterday was one I could live without. I took Brittanie to her first court appearance. A couple of weeks ago she got a speeding ticket in Swansea. Randy got one there last month and I told her then that she better NOT get one because it is a matter of public record that the town of Swansea is over $300K in the red and their police force will be trying to help them recover. Obviously my lecture fell on deaf ears. She was stopped doing 79 in a 60. Tom wanted to sell her car but I managed to talk him out of it. Brittanie, being the drama queen she can be at times, told us to sell it because "obviously she is too stupid to drive." One of her thoughts was that if she got rid of the car she would no longer have to work. My response? "Who told you that? I firmly believe that all teenagers should work, whether they have a car or not." I got a job with the JTPA in Louisiana when I was 12 and have been working ever since. So whether she drives herself or I drive her and she pays me for gas money to take her to work, she WILL work. I also told her that we aren't buying her another car ever in the future. We bought her a car and that's the only one we are buying....period. So unless she wants to hitchhike to college, she better take care of this car.

So she got over that drama, which was an obvious ploy for sympathy. But anyway, I went to court with her yesterday afternoon. The officer, when he gave her the ticket, told her if she went to court, he would reduce the fine and points. Well he didn't. So she had to pay all $180 of her speeding ticket but he did, thankfully, drop the points. She was devastated. Teenagers live in the moment. She doesn't care that dropping the points was the best deal because will save alot more in the long run. She just knows that most of her money is gone. In my opinion, that was the best thing that could have happened. Now she will make sure she doesn't speed because she knows it will take all of her money if she does. She will have to work 33 hours to recover the money she paid for that ticket. Lesson learned!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

My mom and Kathy on Thanksgiving day.

Kathy and Randy on Thanksgiving dayAmber and Katie on Thanksgiving day.

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving! Ours was GREAT!!! My nephew (Randy) and his wife (Kathy) and daughter (Amber) came down with my mom in tow and we had a great time! We had quite a feast....turkey drumsticks, rice dressing (or as they say in South Carolina...dirty rice), cornbread dressing, corn, green beans, potato salad, rolls, pound cake, and Mississippi Mud Pie. Brittanie's Randy joined us for Thanksgiving dinner too. It was his first Cajunized Thanksgiving and he was sweating a bit by the time he finished eating but he ate it all without complaint! I couldn't believe he had never had Mississippi Mud Pie before. He really loved that.

Katie had a blast playing with Amber. Here she was sitting on her and rolling her eyes when I told her to get off because she may hurt Amber.
Katie LOVES Randy. She always has. She LOVED having him here! Katie loved having Maw-Maw and Nanny here too! She made them laugh all the time!

Thanksgiving night, we went to Irmo to see the Christmas lights at Saluda Shoals Park. They are beautiful! We all enjoyed that!

My mom asked Brittanie for clippers. Well Brittanie isn't used to the accent and thought she said slippers and that's what she brought her. Check out the Panther slippers! lol
Katie had a blast playing with Randy and Tom. She loves playing rough!

When my family from Louisiana comes to visit, the squirrels drop dead from fear right there in our yard!! lol Here are some pictures of the squirrels getting cleaned. Katie was thoroughly grossed out by this. She saw them just after they died, as they were being cleaned, and in a bowl to be washed and bagged. She couldn't stop saying "EWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!" They are taking four back for the New Year's Eve gumbo!Is this gross or what???Friday, Tom and Randy took Amber and Katie with them to pick out a Christmas tree. When they got back, we ate jambalaya and some pineapple dessert mom made, then Tom put up the garland and lights on the tree. That's when he handed it off to Katie, Amber, and mom to put the ornaments on, then Tom put the train around it. It looks great. I'm sticking with the LSU purple and gold again this year, as you can see!I told Katie to turn around so I could take her picture and this is what I got! She's a smartie!
The finished product

They are leaving Saturday after lunch and I'm sad to see them go. I really really enjoyed having them here!!

Teens seem to get more stupid with every generation

In the last two weeks, Dutch Fork High School has lost three students in car accidents. The first was a senior who was drinking and driving and went around the train barrier and was hit by a train. The latest accident involved two boys, aged 16 and 17. We don't know if there was alcohol involved in this accident or not but it is the reaction of some of the students at Dutch Fork that concerns me. There are literally students talking about throwing a drinking party to celebrate the lives of these kids who were taken way too young. Is that the dumbest thing you have ever heard or what?????? This reaction to death concerns me.

In the four years I was in high school, I saw more death of teenagers than one should ever see.

1. Our pastor's son, 19, fell asleep at the wheel, hit a cement culvert and died instantly.
2. A freshman in my high school had a 3-wheeler accident in which it flipped onto his chest and he died in his brother's arms. His brother was a classmate of mine.
3. My best friend's brother was killed by a jerk driving a truck too fast that hit him (as a pedestrian) on April 1st at 14 years old.
4. The very next month, my best friend's only sister was killed on Mother's Day at 19 years old.
5. One of my friends from church died of leukemia on my 16th birthday. He was 14.
6. My boyfriend in high school, Tommy, lost his first cousin and his girlfriend....both 19, in a motorcycle accident.

That's 7 teenagers that I knew personally that died in my four years of high school. Through all of that, not once did anyone suggest throwing a drinking party in honor of our friends we lost. That's saying something because I was raised in Louisiana where we do believe in celebrating the life of the person we just lost. But the death of a teenager is so tragic that I can't imagine celebrating and I definitely wouldn't have compounded the insensitivity by drinking.....which is illegal as a teenager! It is an especially heinous thing to do in the case of the girl who lost her life while drinking and driving. They haven't learned a thing from her death. That makes them stupid beyond words.

I'm seriously concerned because it seems teens progress to new levels of stupidity with every passing generation. What will our world be like by the time Katie becomes a teenager??? It is a scary thought!

Gramercy Bonfire Festival

Tom, Brittanie, and I lived in Gramercy, LA for 5 years before moving to South Carolina. In Gramercy, they had a bonfire festival. I found a website that had pictures of it. It was beautiful. Check it out.

http://www.650motorcycles.com/CajunChristmas.html (scroll down to where the pictures of Gramercy start) That's setting up before lighting the bonfires.

Here is the night of the festival...Christmas eve. http://www.650motorcycles.com/CajunChristmas2.html

The food vendor booth made me laugh...shrimp on a stick, crawfish, catfish, Po-Boys....can't get that here! lol

It is a beautiful sight to see. I highly recommend it if you are close to Gramercy on Christmas eve!

Another daughter on the way?

My niece and I have been trying to get her girls' daddy to let Taylor (her oldest daughter) come to stay with us and go to school here. Taylor is 12 and going to a horrible school and is already saying she can't wait to turn 16 so she can quit. Of course we don't want that to happen. I called Taylor's daddy tonight and talked to him and he has agreed to let her come here. She will come home with us when we leave Louisiana on New Year's Day and we will bring her home after school is over in May. Then it will be up to her daddy if she goes back with us after the summer is over. He has agreed to this once before and changed his mind 5 minutes later. Hopefully he won't do that this time. I know he is going to miss her but Taylor has a learning disability that isn't being addressed in the school she is in. Our schools are MUCH better. So if all goes well, we will be bringing Taylor home with us after Christmas and starting her in school on the 3rd of January!

Please help us pray that God's will be done in this situation. I don't want to do anything out of the will of God. I want what is best for Taylor and God knows what that will be.

Katie's 4-year-old picture

I had this taken at Wal-Mart and the whole package was $6.82. It is true that you get what you pay for. I don't like this picture. The smile is fake so evidently the photographer wasn't that great. But that's ok. I am taking Katie and Brittanie to Anderson, SC in December to have pictures made to give as gifts for Christmas. I saw this photographer in action with the kids at the pageant yesterday and I also saw her pictures. They were incredible. So I will just get her to take some extras of them alone, as well as together.

Off to see the Panthers!!

One of the guys at work gave Tom two tickets to see the Panthers play today. They were so excited because this is the first game they have been to this year. They usually make at least 4 games a season. I wish I could get them season passes but they are crazy expensive and as cheap as Tom is, he would have a duck if I bought them. But anyway, here is a picture of my Panthers fans right before they left for the game.
Tom cleaned out his office yesterday and we were shocked to discover we had hard wood floors in there! hahaha It looks so much better now. While cleaning out everything, he found a giraffe that Jonathan had given Katie a couple of years ago. I wondered where it went to. Well it was brand new to her and she has been holding it ever since and even slept with it last night. Here is a picture I took of her with it this morning after she got up.

Brittanie was scheduled to work from noon to five Saturday at Sonic. Friday night, Brittanie was at a movie with Randy and Sonic called and asked if she could come in at 8am instead of noon on Saturday. I told them she would be there at 8am. That was the first time she has ever worked that long...8 to 5. She was dead on her feet when she got home. We told her, "Welcome to the real world!" That is the best thing that could have happened to her! I am going to remind her of that when she goes to college. That should be an incentive to get her degree!

Yesterday, I judged a pageant in Lexington. I was there at 9am to judge photogenic and we didn't finish up until 6:00pm but I spent 20 minutes talking to a grandmother who wasn't happy with me for not scoring her child higher. Well after I got home, the pageant director called me crying. Someone stole her binder that had her money bag in it. So everything she took in that day was gone! It was on the corner of the judge's table in front of where the auditor was sitting. Obviously the auditor didn't take it because the auditor was her husband. I told her who I saw around there and the last time I saw it. But my heart is breaking for her. I had a child steal $150 from me a few years ago and that still makes me angry when I think about it. If I lost as much as she did, I would react the same way she is. I prayed last night before I went to bed that if it is just misplaced that she would find it and if it is stolen that it would be returned. If it is stolen and not returned, I pray they are miserable and their conscience eats them up. That's a horrible thing to do to someone!

Cadet Sightler

Even though Brittanie doesn't take JROTC until next semester, they still asked that all of the leaders in the program dress in Class A's on Thursdays whether they are in the program this semester or not. She was looked so good with everyone on her uniform that I had to get a picture. But, once again, she refused to smile because she said that you never smile in uniform. Whatever! Anyway, here's my cadet.

Brittanie's ring ceremony

Brittanie got her class ring tonight! It is very pretty but she decided the purple stone is too dark and almost looks black. So she is going to send it back and get her birthstone. But she can't do that till December 1st. So until then, she gets everyone to turn it and hopefully will be done by the time she has to send it off again. My battery was going dead on my camera so the pictures of her on stage are dark and blurry. But the pictures of her with Randy and her friends came out fine. Anyway, here are the pictures.

Here is Brittanie walking up to accept her ring from her principal, Dr. Maddox.
Here is Brittanie and Randy....check out the rings!
Here's the crew. DJ, Aaron, Randy, and Brittanie...Class of 2008!

Brittanie's ring is a traditional ring in 10kt white gold. It has her name on one side and 2008 on the other. Here are the emblems she has on the sides of her ring: (I got these from the Josten's website so obviously her ring doesn't have Susan or Steven on it but I wanted to show what she chose to put on the sides.)

A blast from the past

We start our kids early in computers! Here is Tom with Brittanie on his lap. She wasn't even a year old. Check out that ancient computer equipment! lol

What a GREAT night!!

Tonight our friends, Lynn and Frank came over with their daughter, Rhiannon, and her boyfriend, Shawn. We had a great time talking and playing Pictionary. We try to get together with them once a month and each time we just really enjoy being with them. They are so much fun! Here are a couple of pictures I took of them tonight.

Bushisms

It is no secret that I'm a die hard Republican but our president isn't very eloquent. He actually sounds like me when I get nervous! This video was just too funny not to show. So here it is:

Phobias

Dr. Phil says that the biggest influence on a child is the same sex parent. Unfortunately for my girls, that's me. I have passed on my irrational phobias to Brittanie and, without realizing it, to Katie as well. I have been corresponding on myspace with a girl I went to elementary and high school with and I got my yearbook out to show Brittanie that the girl hasn't aged a bit since high school and is actually even prettier now. Well the yearbook I got down was from my Jr. year of high school and it has a big clown on the front cover. Don't ask me why. The whole book has a stupid clown theme. I have always been creeped out by clowns and so is Brittanie. Well I put the yearbook on the bookcase and didn't think anything of it. Later, Katie was going to do her normal routine and climb on the bookcase to get to her movies and spotted the clown yearbook. She jumped back like she had touched a hot stove or something. Tom asked her what was wrong and she pointed to the yearbook. She told Tom she was scared of clowns. So now Tom is the only one in the house who isn't creeped out by clowns. Tom isn't scared of anything though. It must be nice! Brittanie and I are both scared of birds. I'm MUCH worse with it than Brittanie is though. Brittanie has a fear of spiders. I hate all bugs, especially the ones with wings.

Hmmmm sounds like our family belongs on Dr. Phil. hahaha

Need your prayers!

Yesterday, my mom called to tell me that my nephew's wife, Kathy, had been driving to work on a gravel road, lost control and ended up going down into a canal, 12 foot below the road. She totalled her truck. Randy, my nephew, had taken off work because he was having muscle and joint aches all over. He went and got her and brought her to the hospital. While they were x-raying her, he had, for the second time in two months, an episode where he started sweating, got nauseous, and passed out for a few seconds. It was witnessed by a nurse and they wanted to take him to the ER but he refused. He said when he knows Kathy is completely ok, then he will go have a stress test done. It really scares me. He is 38. There is heart disease all over my dad's side of the family. My dad had heart disease diagnosed at 50. My brother, Randy's daddy, is 58 and had stents put in recently after a cardiac episode. These are first degree relatives. Randy really really really needs to have a cardiac evaluation. It scares me. I adore him. If I lost him I don't think I could handle that. It would be just as bad, if not worse, as losing my dad because Randy and his sister lived in the same house with us till I was 16. He is more of a brother to me his dad is. So please join me in praying for him and his wife that God will heal them and watch over them.

By the way, the picture is Randy, Kathy, and Katie taken in April, when we went to Louisiana for spring break. Katie stuck to Randy like glue during that trip. She is VERY excited that they may be coming for Thanksgiving. With all that happened yesterday, we will be very lucky if they come afterall.

It's a great day to be a Republican!!

With the election day behind us, the state of South Carolina can breathe a sigh of relief as the Republicans have prevailed. Unfortunately, the nation as a whole wasn't as lucky. But I'm not going to worry about that right now. I want to enjoy the victory we have won in South Carolina. I am VERY disappointed in the House District 96 results. It was the only time I have ever supported a Democrat. I hate that Kit Spires is going to be representing my district. Everyone hates negative campaigning, whether it is true or not. When Kit Spires faced off against Ken Clark in the summer to get the Republican nomination, Ken ran a clean campaign. He knew what many of us knew about Kit's personal life but chose not to bring that to light in order to not "hit below the belt." After meeting Kit Spires and having him lie to my face last summer, I'm not sure Kit would have done the same if he had the same information on Ken. But we will never know. But Ken Clark is a Christian and would prefer to lose with his reputation as a Christian intact rather than to mudsling. Unfortunately, because the majority of voters never found out this piece of information that would have made a BIG difference in this staunchly conservative area, we are stuck with Kit Spires for 4 years. But that is the biggest disappointment in our state for me.

Being raised in Louisiana and enduring year after year of amoral Democrats leading the state, it is so great to live in a conservative Republican state!! I admit that I was torn on the Lt. Governor's race as I'm NOT a fan of Andre Bauer. I only supported him to keep my party in office. Personally, I think Andre Bauer is a narcissist, who thinks WAYYYYY too highly of himself than he should. But thanks to term limits, this will be his last term as Lt. Governor.

But I think the results that made me happiest would have to be Joe Wilson winning US House District 2 again. Joe is not a politician. He is a real person who genuinely cares about the people of South Carolina. I've had the honor of meeting him here in Gaston on a few occasions and can honestly tell you he is such a nice man and so intelligent. I am thrilled to have him continue to represent us.

So anyway, that's my ramblings on the election. Bottom line, I'm proud to be a Republican!

Flashback to 1985

I know this isn't 1985 but watching the Miami Dolphins beat up on the Chicago Bears yesterday brought me back to the good old days. Every week, I looked forward to watching Dan Marino do his thing with his bullet arm and watching Mark Clayton and Mark "Super" Duper make play after outstanding play. I mentioned in a previous post that I was a Miami Dolphins fan as a teenager. I didn't mention that I hated the Chicago Bears back then. Lead by Ditka and McMahon, they all had bloated egos, so much so that they even came up with an obnoxious song to celebrate their bloated egos. But in 1985, my Dolphins punched them right in the ego with a hard fought 12-0 win. It was a sweet win back then and it was a sweet win yesterday as well. Tom reminded me that this is a completely different team than the 85 Bears. I understand that but I was soooooooo sick of the arrogance of the 85 Bears that unless Dan Marino comes out of retirement and joined the Bears team, I think I will hate them forever.

Anyway, congratulations to the Dolphins. They have struggled so much since the season started but in true 85 Dolphins fashion, they conquered the Bears yesterday! WOOO HOOO!!!

Tom's blog

Some of the guys that Tom works were talking about how he does everything on his laptop from his recliner. From work to blogging to looking up stuff on the net, Tom's recliner is where it all happens. So he changed his blog complete with a picture of his actual recliner from the La-Z-Boy website. I thought it was funny. Check out his new improved blog. Click here.

Good day!

Today, I worked the concession stand for Swansea High School's JROTC rifle, drill, and color guard competitions. I really enjoyed being around Brittanie's friends. Made me feel both young and old, if that is possible? lol Randy was leading the drill team that placed 2nd today. I am very proud of him and his cadets.

Tonight I got home and my Randy, my nephew in Louisiana, called me and asked me if I wanted company for Thanksgiving. Of course I was thrilled to hear that he and his wife and daughter and my mom are trying to work it out so they can come here for Thanksgiving. They will leave the day before Thanksgiving and go home the Saturay after Thanksgiving. It is only 2 days but I'll take it. I'm so excited!!! I sure hope everything works out.

Yall have a good weekend! It is 8:17pm and I'm pooped and going to bed. It is a good tired though!!

Brittanie's first day at Sonic

Today was Brittanie's first day at Sonic. She is working the drink station. She said it was rough because they are very busy and there are thousands of drink combinations. But she got the hang of it. They are much more professional to work for, which is definitely a good thing.

God doesn't like ugly!

Now THAT is a funny joke!

I'm sure most of you have heard about John Kerry's "botched joke." For those who haven't, let me tell you what happened. Kerry was speaking to a groups of students in California on Monday and he said "You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq." Well it was the shot heard round the world and President Bush called for Kerry to apologize for those remarks. Well first Kerry refused to apologize on Tuesday. But then his fellow Democrats asked him to apologize. So Kerry claimed that his remarks were a botched joke. He claims what he meant to say was "You end up getting us stuck in a war in Iraq. Just ask President Bush."

Well even if that is really what he meant to say, it just goes to show that God doesn't like ugly. And in true Democrat fashion, Kerry now blames the White House because the whole nation is mad at him, calling it a "smear and fear" campaign. WHAT??? So Kerry says something totally insane and that's the President's fault? No matter how you feel about George W. Bush, aren't you glad Kerry didn't get elected. He, like sooooooooooooo many democrats, prefers to blame others for their mistakes instead of taking responsibility for his actions.

Well as the godmother of a Iraqi Freedom veteran, who served two years in Iraq, I don't think Kerry's joke is funny. My godson is not stupid and neither are the other people who have served and are serving there. To even suggest such a thing, especially while we are at war, is irresponsible and makes Kerry the stupid one.

By the way, even if I believe that this was just a botched joke, I have always thought it was very inappropriate to insult the President/Commander in Chief while our country is at war. We should come together as a united front and support our president, our country, and especially our troops. Without those men and women risking and losing lives in wars like we are fighting in Iraq, John Kerry wouldn't have the freedom to say the idiotic things he says!

Great lessons from Pastor Kelley

Brittanie went to Pastor Kelley's funeral today and brought home the program. There was a message from his wife inside that made me cry. But the back of the program had something I wanted to share with everyone.

"The Greatest Lessons I have Learned as a Preacher of the Gospel."
- Dr. Bob Kelley

(First given to his Timothy Club and preacher boys)

1. Your best sermon is your family, love your wife, and teach your children to stay close.

2. Empty wells produce dead cats and dry leaves - personal devotions are a must to prevent burn out and keep a fresh presence of the Lord.

3. Love people as they are, rough edges and all, and never, ever give up on them.

4. You do not get what you want in life and ministry, you get what you are - character matters.

5. Never, ever lose your burden for souls.

6. Guard your tongue.

7. Learn to calculate what is worth making an issue - learn the difference between convictions and preferences.

8. God called us to build people, not ministries or buildings.

9. Make good friends.

10. Have fun! Stay excited! Laugh! People ought to want your job!

11. Die to self, and don't be all day in doing it! Rise early and get going!

12. The best protection against falling into sin is to practice hating it.

13. Count your blessings - then record then. Don't rely on your memory to recall all of God's goodness.

14. Say "thank you" every time and every way you can. A thankful attitude covers a multitude of sins.

15. Exercise your faith. A faith that cannot be tested is a faith that cannot be trusted.

16. Keep your shoes shined, stay neat - first impressions matter.

17. Never forget the Judgement seat of Christ.

18. Always remember - God can get along fine without you!

Scary Halloween night

We live in a quiet little town of about 1200 residents. Just about everyone is family here. But last night our comfort and security were shattered. Our neighbors/cousins down the street from us called to let us know there had been a shooting right around the corner! It happened around 6pm. As usual, WLTX reported it first but I'm going to post what WIS put on their website only because it is more detailed:

(Gaston) November 1, 2006 - One man is recovering in the hospital after being shot in the jaw Tuesday night in Gaston.

The Gaston Police Department is investigating the attempted robbery and carjacking that happened on Ball Park Road.

According to the Chief of police, the victim and another man were stopped at a stop sign when the suspects pulled up behind them flashing their headlights. That is when a man came up to the driver's side window demanding money.

After getting the money, the man demanded and got the keys to the car. Officials say the suspect then fired a shot, hitting the victim in the jaw.

The shooter fled in a small four-door red or burgundy car.

Investigators have identified a person of interest.

I love that Gaston is growing and we have less and less reasons to go into the city because of new businesses in town. But with growth comes the criminal element. I think for Christmas we all need to get concealed weapons permits so we can protect ourselves in our car. I will definitely be talking to Brittanie when she gets home about not stopping for anyone but the police. That should be common sense but sometimes we just don't think about the dangers, especially in a town like Gaston where nothing ever happens.