Animated Sci-Fi - gets a thumbs up!!!

What do you get when you mate ET with R2D2? WALL-E!!!!!!!!! The Hubster and I took in the movie WALL-E last night. The theater was empty except for one other couple and one lone woman. So nice! No seat kickers. No teens texting during the movie. No babies crying. It was awesome! The Hubster and I are self-proclaimed overgrown kids (but we don't kick seats, text during movies or cry...not out loud anyways) and we loved WALL-E; he is adorable. He has a 'head' reminiscent of ET (with some amazingly similar vocals) and a body similar to that of R2D2 (and beeps and whistles like him too!). He has some packrat tendencies and a tender heart (powersource???) . The funniest characters are the humans who are hovering-lounge-chair-bound blobs (due to obeseness and diminishing bone structure due to lack of excercise) who wear StarTrek-like jumpsuits. Those characters helped me remember my Weight Watchers limit...about a cup and half of popcorn (no butter) and 6 peanut M&M's. That was plenty. (The good thing about being on WW is that after two weeks your stomache shrinks dramitically and reduced amounts of any treat can be satisfying!).

Back to the movie...WALL-E falls in love with Eve, who reminded me of a sleeker, quieter, less matronly Rosie (from The Jetsons). The corriders of speeding robots and hovering lounge chairs reminds me of the traffic in one scene of The Fifth Element. Cute movie, a bit long for animation, okay for little kids (wonderful animation, no bad words, no blood or guts, some giggles) and big kids and adults can enjoy also (wonderful animation, glimpses into the future, message about taking care of earth and ourselves, and a love story) - which is a Pixar trademark. It has elements of many of my favorite sci-fi movies, that's an extra! I give it a thumbs up.

Doing the Happy Jig!

Me and Arthur are doing the Happy Jig tonight! We attended our WW meeting and Arthur has lost a total of 9 lbs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have lost a total of 4.2 lbs and I am shocked! I wasn't sure I did so well this week, but I did pick up my intensity in jogging and walking. I drank more water. But I still ate! Smaller portions are key. Adding more exercise helps too. Just little things like lifting dumbbells and doing some sit ups. Parking a good ways from the grocery store is another small way to add some steps. A BIG change I have made is I eat breakfast even if I am not hungry. The rest of the day, I eat when I actually feel hunger pangs. And if I feel hungry at bedtime, I have a little snack and a glass of water. All these LITTLE changes are making a difference for me.

Arthur says the hardest thing to give up is sweet tea, but she has done it! And she has cut back on the creamer in her coffee. She orders WW meals from Applebees and keeps up with her points in a food journal. She eats better, but she still allows herself to have a 'treat' nearly every day. Obviously, these small things are working for her too! Nine pounds in 3 weeks is awesome!

One Man's Trash...

You know the saying...'One man's trash is another man's treasure'. Oh! How true this is! My most favorite Aunt, Judy, came over early this morning that we could go GARAGE SALE SHOPPING today! Oh! Oh! Oh! There were garage sales in abundance today! How I love to drive and see those neon yellow, green and orange poster-board signs announcing GARAGE SALE, YARD SALE, and my most favorite CHURCH SALE!!!!!!!!!!!!! At the very first sale I got a set of 40 paper punches - all in a carrying case for $4.00. I nearly fainted when I found this, because I have paid upward of $6.00 each for paper punches! (Judy spotted it first, but I convinced her if she would let me buy it and keep it at my house, she could come over and use it anytime. So now we have a scrapbooking session planned for one day next week!). Next, I found a perfectly gorgeous metal plant stand for Arthur's front entryway (now gotta get her a plant) - $3.00! Then, I found two cookbooks for 25 cents each (I made banana bread from a recipe in one of my new cookbooks - using very soft bananas given to me by a friend) - a box full of brand new plastic drink stirrers adorned with pelicans, pineapples, etc. for 25 cents (if I never use these, no big deal, they were 25 cents) and a replacement lid for a casserole dish for 25 cents. I got a tabletop, pre-lit, Christmas tree with gold ornaments for $2.50. (Rarely can I pass up a good deal on a Christmas deco). I got a BRAND NEW, tags on and everything, excercise bra for $1.00! I got an almost new pink t-shirt with sailboats for my Momma - 25 cents. Oh man! Those were my monetary treasures.

I also received treasures of the soul today. My best friend's dad, who is 88, said he liked my 'beehive' hair-do, that it made me look pretty. Had to hug and kiss him for that! (We stopped by his house in route to garage sales). An older couple (young 80's) commented to us in the Hardee's parking lot if we had 'left any food for them to eat'. I replied we left two biscuits and a few tater tots. We all had a good laugh. My father law, whom we also stopped by to see, who is 89, told us to watch out for the 'crazy B@$t@%#s' on the road (hey, he's a transplanted yankee, and he's Catholic on top of that - he curses like a sailor (actually he's a retired Airforce pilot), but I love him regardless). Yes, I love old people. (and Catholics. I am married to one, you know) The oldsters remind me of my granny, who is my angel soulmate.

We met all sorts of people today, who were doling out treasures of the soul in helpings of all sizes. One couple sat in there carport under a fan, hawking their wares (cast off household items); they had the sweetest shy smiles. One mother and daughter selling team who had the best dispositions even though some customers were trying to chew down their prices to near give-away. The worker at Hardees who called me 'sir', then we both laughed when he realized his mistake. So many wonderful people.

But, I did have a few episodes of Garage Sale Rage (yes, there is such a thing). Once at a sale with NO price stickers. I refuse to go up with an armload of stuff and have to ask 'How much is this?' I mean, what if they quote and outrageous price and I have to lay it back down??!! How embarrassing is that? Buy some pre-printed garage stickers folks! At another sale, Judy found a food processor before I did - $4.00!!!!!!! Brand new!!!!!!! But, that only lasted a few seconds. After a moment I felt all warm and fuzzy for her that she had found such a great bargain.

Then, there are the freebies. One lady wasn't having a yard sale, but she had a Jenny Lind type crib in her driveway marked FREE. I made an illegal u-turn to go back. My church needs a crib for the nursery. It was clean and mostly complete and in working order. Perfect! Now, I couldn't get it in my car. But this lady said she just HAPPEN to be coming to my neck of the woods later that day, she would deliver it to the church! When I gave her my phone number so she could call me to meet her at the church, (I ripped out a deposit slip from my checkbook, tearing off the account number of course) and she looked at my name on the slip and declared - 'we have almost the same last name' - was pronounced the same, but spelled differently by two letters. This woman so graciously gave away the crib, delivered the crib and provided an amusing story as to how she met her new husband. (She was walking around at an outdoor fundraising function looking to borrow sunscreen when a sweet, shy man offered her his!) Sometimes the freebies are the best treasures found!

Kitchen Cabinet Clean Out!

Today I am rejoicing because I DON'T have a job...I am getting so much done today! I have removed all the dishes from my kitchen cabinets and intend to weed out all the unused bowls, the stained Tupperware (and imitators), chipped coffee cups and lids with nothing to cover. I have too many cups, glasses, bowls, travel mugs and water bottles. I am CLEANING OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEEEAAAHHHH!

I also emptied out my 'spare cabinet' located in the garage. It is a holding place for out of season serving dishes, cupcake carriers, plastic pitchers and other little used items. The back of the cabinet was lose in all but about 3 places so for an hour I tacked little nails all around the perimeter of the back of the cabinet to reattach the backing. That is why there was so much dust on my stuff! Everytime I use something from that cabinet I have to wash it first. I am hoping I have fixed that problem!

Yesterday I was so bummed over how well I thought my job interview DID NOT go! Today I am just happy to have all this free time to do stuff I've never had time for!

Selling Yourself

I hate job interviews. It is all about selling yourself. It is about putting your best foot forward; putting on your best interview suit, having the perfect hair and makeup, having the perfect answers for those ridiculous questions they are going to ask-not to mention your resume needs to smartly list all your qualifications for this particular position in a one page format that will blow any manager's socks off.

I had a job interview today. I am not so sure I sold myself. The display just wasn't up to Neiman Marcus quality. It was more like an end-cap at Walmart.

I say this because, A) my interview suit felt a little outdated. My last job did not require me to dress to the 'Nines', and honestly, I just wore something hanging in my closet. I suppose I should go shopping for a real, stylish, interview suit. Something in navy blue, gray or black. And get some heels and maybe put on a string of pearls. Yeah, I wore brown today. With boring brown flats. Hoop earrings. B) The perfect hair didn't happen. I have not had a hair cut in about three months. I want to grow it out. Why? I don't know. I guess I like looking like a witch or something. So, shoulder length, baby-fine, gray at the roots hair, not so sharp. Yes, I did wash it and even put it up in hot rollers. The heat wilted the curl when I stepped outside to get my car. C) I forgot I was out of foundation. So I dug out what was left of the little pot and made do with what I could scrape out and powder and blush. Hmmm. D) The questions...oh man, I got tired of those after I realized my interviewer was asking the same question over and over, but just re-wording it so as to try to trick me. Or maybe she just wasn't getting the response she wanted?

Here are some of the questions....and the answers I WANTED to give, but didn't. Because I am too polite (a.k.a. chicken).

1) Why are you interested in our Accounting Position?

Because the economy really sucks right now and yours is one of the few job openings I have found that actually pertains to my area of expertise. I don't really want to drive this far for a job, but hey, I'm beginning to feel desperate. Unemployment benefits don't last forever you know.

2) Describe your job duties at your last job.

Well, I was the office manager and was in charge of accounts payable, receivables, billing, human resources, payroll, receptionist, and head doo-flunky. Of course, the last year I worked there, there may have been three checks received per week, four invoices to produce, six bills to pay, and only two other employees besides myself on payroll, so I spent most of my time reading for school or doing crossword puzzles on-line.

3. Describe a time you were challenged in your job to not lose your temper.

You see, we had this delivery person who delivered stuff to us that we had ordered and when he came in everyone in the office hid but I couldn't because I sat at the front desk and he was from Louisiana and he was very difficult to understand and he would go on and on about his pet dogs and pet cats and then he would see pictures on my desk of my kids and my cats and he would ask questions like what are their names, how are they, (not just the kids, the cats too) and then he would tell me about Poopsie who died twelve years ago and Fido who is eighteen years old and pukes up his food everyday and poops in the house but he loves him anyways and he and his wife let Fido sleep in the bed between them because they never had kids, they couldn't have kids and well, Fido was like a child to them....yeah, every time he came. It went on for at least 40 minutes each visit. I took the pictures of my kids and cats off my desk.

4. What did you do at your last job?

Hmmm. Well, I input cash received, I billed out the work we did, I paid the employees, I answered the phone. As long as it lasted.

5. Would you describe yourself as aggressive?

I don't think so. Once my boss told me what a relief it must be my Granny died, that I don't have that burden anymore. I wheeled around and said 'She was not a burden'. I felt really aggressive and ticked off. And he said, 'Did you say something?'. I said 'Excuse me. Gotta go to the bathroom'.

6. What would you say the most challenging part of your job was?

Uh, trying to stay busy and trying to look busy when I wasn't busy and trying to find something to do when I was tired of trying to look busy.

7. So, why did your boss lay you off?

Your kidding, right?

The Matchstick Reminder

Arthur and I had our 3rd WW meeting tonight. Arthur is doing so good. She lost another 1.8 lbs, for a total of 6.4 lbs (at the end of two weeks). Me, not so good. I had lost 1.4 lbs the first week. I gained .8 back. I think several things contributed to this gain...the fact that I was out of coffee creamer and couldn't rely on coffee as a nighttime snack. I only walked twice this week instead of the almost nightly walks I usually take. Me and the Hubster had two movie nights this week instead of one (which means popcorn and chocolate). Finally, the Hubster twisted my arm and made me eat at Waffle House Sunday evening. Yeah, Waffle House and Weight Watchers don't really sound good in the same in the sentence. So this week I brought home the 'magic journal'. This journal is used by a different person in the WW group for one week, and then passed on to someone else the next week, and so on and so on. The 'magic journal' makes you more accountable because you want to be a good example to someone else who uses it in the future. It makes you more diligent about food journaling. According to recent news reports, food journaling is a very helpful tool when attempting to lose weight. I won something from the drawing again this week, a chocolaty bar looking thing. I am hiding it from myself until I feel like I just HAVE to have something. (Which has been quite often this past 7 days). I wanted to win one of the the two WW magazines in the give-away, but others won those. I can't eat those, so they would be more helpful. But at the end of the meeting our leader hands everyone a match. After we all have a match she tells us to look at it, and each time we look at it to remember, 'You don't have to be stick thin to be red hot!' Kinda cute, huh?

All Tuckered Out!

Poor Lex! He is all tuckered out. He spent all morning watching out the back window, his eyes fixed on the bird bath, and tail swatting back and forth. He watched as the robin took her morning splash, the blue jay taking a long, leisurely drink, and the wren who took little sips and then wiggled her tail and took off. But mostly, he was captivated by the squirrel. The squirrel crawled several feet up the neighboring tree and then lept over onto the bowl of the bird bath. After looking left and looking right, he put his front paws just inside the rim of the bowl to brace himself, then lowered his head and drank. If Lex could have gone through the window, he would have gave chase. But the squirrel is lucky. Lex is strictly a house cat. He has been declawed and hasn't set foot outside in over two years, since he came to live with us. We can't let Lex or his companion, Blacky, out for two very good reasons. A) They might bring in fleas and the Hubster is extremely alergic to flea bites. B) They are declawed and it would be very hard for them to defend themselves. They can't climb trees and any attempts at swatting would be harmless.Also, we have two dog neighbors who would love to kill them. One is a chihuahua/terrior mix and the other is just a mutt. They are rather pampered and spoiled by their people. They are never leashed (even though we have a leash law in Walton County). They come into my yard and do their 'business' even if I am hanging out my window screaming and yelling and shaking my fist. (A whole nother post subject for another day). They once killed a stray cat that was hanging around my house. The kitty and about four of his siblings and mother had made a home on my front porch. I gave them food and water while I contemplated what to do with them. The neighbor dogs were let out about 11:00pm one night and they came on my porch and made much noise chasing and barking and knocking things over and they killed one kitty, leaving his lifeless body on my driveway. Leaving me saddened that my porch was not a safe haven. (I never saw the other kitties again). So, you see, I cannot let my cats outside. So, to compensate, I let the blinds up and leave water and food for the wildlife. The back window provides many hours of fun watching the birds, squirrels and chipmonks. The front window looks out onto the porch and they enjoy watching the tiny green lizards and the wasps that get trapped between the screen and window. We are having our porch screened in. When it is finished my cats will get a step closer to the great outdoors! (I am so excited for them). But for now, they have to be content with open windows. And some days, Lex is so tuckered out he just collapses on the sideboard. But after he rests, he'll be up again.

The Four Blessed Looks

THE FOUR BLESSED LOOKS

Look back and 'Thank' God.
Look forward and 'Trust' God.
Look around and 'Serve' God.
Look within and 'Find' God!'
'I asked God, 'How do I get the best out of life?' God said, 'Face your past without regrets. Handle your present with confidence. Prepare for the future without fear!''

'Without God, our week is: Mournday, Tearsday, Wasteday, Thirstday, Fightday, Shatterday and Sinday. So, allow Him to be with you every day!'
'Life is short, so forgive quickly. Believe slowly.. Love truly. Laugh uncontrollably. Never regret anything that makes you happy. And have a wonderful journey!!

-----

What's your dangling carrot?

Back in the days of our grandparents, (great-grandparents maybe?) mules were often used on the farm for plowing and such. " The mule possesses the sobriety, patience, endurance and sure-footedness of the donkey, and the vigour, strength and courage of the horse", according to Wikepedia. Mules are also known for being stubborn. In fact, the word mule comes from the latin "matule" meaning "stubbourn".

Sometimes during the course of farm work, such as pulling a plow or a cart, the mule would stop dead in his tracks, stiffen his front legs and and refuse to budge. The ingenious farmer (you know, Great Grampy Elmer), would arrange a pole that extended over the mule's head, and tie a carrot to a string and hang it off the end of the string; dangling it in front of the Mule's line of vision but just out of reach. The mule would then move forward to try to reach the carrot. This 'encouragement' ,of course, is cruel, unless at some given point the mule gets to have the carrot.

At mine and Arthur's first Weight Watcher's meeting our leader ask us to write on a slip of paper the answer to this question; 'What is your dangling carrot?' First of all, you must understand, all persons who are on 'diets' are similar to mules. We start out gung ho, ready to tackle that task, ready to get the job done. Then, somewhere down the line, we say, 'Wait a danged minute! Why am I pulling this cart? (excercising so much). Why am I plowing this field? (spending so much time and thought preparing meals). Why do I want to take one step farther? (denying myself to eat when and what I want to). And you just STOP. So, like the mule, we need a 'dangling carrot' to get us motivated again.

My dangling carrot is to lose the extra pounds that spill up over the waist band of my jeans forming the old 'Muffin Top'. (A lady in WW said that the 'muffin top' analogy was originated by Elaine on Seinfeld. Don't know if this is true or not, but an interesting little bit of trivia.) When I graduated high school I weighed 89 lbs. I was underweight. In the 29 years since I have graduated high school I have gained 33 pounds. I don't want to go back to 89 lbs., but would like to be someplace in between then and now.

Arthur's dangling carrot is to someday look really pretty in a wedding gown. Now, being her mom, I feel like she would be beautiful regardless, but I would like for her to lose weight for her health. She has lost weight before on WW, and she looked so much more healthier and her back stopped hurting.

We had our second meeting this week and I lost just over a pound and Arthur lost 4.6 pounds!!! I am so excited! Both of us reported less acid reflux which is a big plus! Now, when our 'muleness' comes out, we can just remember our dangling carrots and get motivated again.

What is your dangling carrot?

Chick Flicks

I have a new movie to add to my list of Top Ten Fave Chick Flicks. 'The Holiday' with Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law and Jack Black. This movie came out back around Thanksgiving, 2007, I believe, and I am just now getting around to watching it. The Hubby had asked me to pick up a movie for Friday Night Date on the Couch Night and I chose three, hoping he would like one of the three. I got 'The Holiday', 'Cleaner' with Samuel L. Jackson, and 'The Savages' with Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman. He went straight for 'Cleaner', the Orville Redenbacher Movie Style popcorn and the Whoppers. The movie got a thumbs up.

Saturday night I snuggled up on the couch alone with 'The Holiday'. I have not liked Jude Law very much since the whole 'nanny' scandal...but he has redeemed himself, somewhat, in this movie. I had forgotten how darned cute he is! Jack Black is a goof ball and I really don't like him in a lot of his movies, but he was decent in this role. Of course, Cameron is a cutie pie as always. Kate Winslet, in this role, reminded me way too much of her character in Little Children; the not quite pretty, but not ugly, low-self-esteem-suffering 'grey' personality type girl. I just think she frowned way too much. She can be soooo pretty. Almost Daughter passed through the living room and commented that if I ever wanted to go to London before, this movie will make that longing a hundred times worse. She was right. The scenes of snow covered valleys and dales, complete with sheep, just made me sigh. And the shots of little villages, complete with church steeple and the roofs dusted with snow, and strings of Christmas lights....oh me. I could go on and on.

The Hubby will submit to a Chick Flick on occasion. He pretends he doesn't like them, but secretly, he does. What makes a movie a Chick Flick? In his opinion, any movie that displays copious amounts of emotion. The worst are the kinds that are strictly romance stories and the absolute worse are the kinds that make women (me) produce tears. The first time I ever saw The Hubby cry at a movie was in 1993, My Life, with Michael Keaton, a movie about a terminally ill man. He won't admit it, but I think sometimes he needs to watch a Chick Flick to help him get in touch with his inner woman. To me, a Chick Flick is any movie which makes me feel empowered, or makes me laugh a lot, or cry deeply, I admit it.

My current Top Ten Fave Chick Flicks (in no particular order):

1. Moonstruck
2. You've Got Mail
3. Pretty Woman
4. Home For the Holidays
5. The Family Stone
6. Sex and the City
7. Bring it On
8. Clueless
9. My Best Friends Wedding
10. The Holiday

Note: This list can change without notice. Also, my Top Ten Fave Teeny Bopper movies sometimes coincide with Chick Flicks (see #7 and #8).

Oh, and after I watched The Holiday, the Hubby wandered through as The Savages was coming on. He ended up sitting down and watching it with me. Yeah, it's a Chick Flick, sort of. But he liked it. It helped him think about the sadness of his Dad growing old. See, Chick Flicks even have a purpose.

Thunder and Lightening

Yesterday we got lots of thunder and lightening. Just about time for me and Courage to take our daily walk/jog, the rumbling started, it grew dark and lightening lit up the sky. Needless to say, we tucked our tails and went back to the house. I am not afraid of storms, but I'm not stupid either. I just heard a newscaster say yesterday, "if you are close enough to hear the thunder, you are close enough to be struck by lightening". I will take his word for it.

Growing up, my Mama took perverse pleasure in a mid-day, summer thunderstorm. At the first rumble, she herded me and my two younger brothers to the central bedroom, the one with no windows, and piled us all in bed. She told us we needed to get quiet. She told us no, the dog cannot get into the bed and no, the cats cannot get into the bed; for they 'draw' lightening. You cannot hang your head, arms or legs off the bed either. That 'draws' lightening also. So you know what happened, we were in a dark room, we had to be still and quiet, we were bored. We three kids fell asleep, of course, and she had an hour or so to herself. So what if it was storming.

I think my Papa Knight loved thunder storms for his own reasons. When a storm brewed, he parked himself on the porch in the swing. He just sat and watched the lightening all around him. I think it was his way of communing with nature. Oh! How I wanted to sit out there with him, but my Granny had pretty much the same idea as my Mama. She didn't always make us take a nap, but we had to stay inside, away from windows, and be quiet.

The worst thunder and lightening storm I can remember being in was in a little boat out in the middle of Lake Lanier. A friend took me out on his little speed boat out on the lake and we were having a grand ole' time until it started storming. He said it was safer to shut the boat off and wait out the storm rather than to drive back to the dock in the rain, so that's what we did. The boat had a small top that you could pull closed and we sat huddled under that and were tossed around and got quite wet. It reminded me of the opening scenes of 'Gilligan's Island'. Honestly, I was way scared and my friend's attempts to be romantic failed because I screamed every time the thunder clapped and the lightening streaked.

I am looking out the window now, and it's getting really dark and the trees are bending back and forth in a flutter of leaves. I think we are having a repeat performance of last night's storm. You know, I think I'll go to my room, shoo the cat out and lay on the bed. (Yawn)

Communion - My preference

Today, we had communion at my church. We always have Communion the first Sunday of the month. Communion is special to me, for it is a reminder to remember...to remember Jesus' body was broken for me (us) and his blood spilled for me (us). We are a small group and as we are a new church, we do not yet have a kneeling alter, therefore, we take Communion by way of tincture. Each person approaches the alter, accepts a bit of bread, which represents the body of Christ, with hands folded in a cross. You are than offered the cup of wine (in our case, grape juice), which represents the blood of Christ, and you dunk your bit of bread into the cup. The other way of receiving the cup offering is each person receives their own individual 'cup' of the wine; little more than a thimble full. I find either of these methods acceptable, and this ritual is comforting to me.

I had the opportunity a couple of years ago to experience another form of Communion. I do not know what it is called. I can tell you though, it caused me much stress.

People who know me quite well know that I have a real phobia of eating or drinking after another person. The only people I can truly share a utensil or glass with are my husband, and my two daughters, Arthur and Courage. My Granny fell into this category too. I am so afraid I will catch a cold, the flu, or worse, herpes (cold sores). Ash Wednesday, two years ago, I could not find a church near my office that offered a noon-time Ash Wednesday service, so my boss, who is Episcopalian, invited me to go with him to his church for their service. I figured, Episcopalians are Christians too, how different can it be from what I am accustomed to? Wow! Was I in for a treat!

First of all, at the appointed time for the service to begin, the priest (or two) entered the worship area carrying a big stick of some sort, with a cloth covering the top of it. I soon found out this was the cross. It was uncovered and leaned against the wall behind the pulpit, where it appeared to be ready to slide over in the floor at any time. That was different. I also learned that the Episcopalians get a good work out during worship service. They are constantly getting up and down to kneel on a little bench that popped out from under the pew in front of us. I was pretty much able to follow along with the help of the program provided, but sometimes they would recite (scripture?) that was not in the program and it sounded like it was in another language, maybe Latin. And then it was time for communion.

We went, pew by pew, to the kneeling alter. I bowed my head and folded my hands to form a cross. It was taking awhile so I peeked. I thought my eyes were deceiving me, so I peeked again. At this point I realized what was going on. The first priest came along with the bread-like wafers, placed it on the tongue of the opened mouth, (think baby birds), and the second priest had a cup. Wait! I think. The wafer is in the mouth. How do they dip the wafer? I watch and then see the cup was brought up and pressed to their lips. The priest holding the cup then put a cloth to the cup and pressing the cup along the rim, giving the cup a quarter turn. (Audible gasp) EVERYONE WAS DRINKING FROM THE SAME CUP!!!!!!!!! These were people I had never laid eyes on before in my entire life, and I was going to drink from the same up that two dozen people had already drank from? I was no longer peeking. I was staring wide-eyed in horror!

Beads of sweat developed on my brow and my arm pits immediately felt sticky and wet. My stomach felt sick. I seriously thought about putting up my hand and passing on the cup, until I actually saw someone do just that, and then the horror of it sank in; she had just rejected Christ's blood! I resigned myself to drink from the cup. I tried to reason that probably not one of the two dozen or so people before me had a serious disease or illness that could be passed from a minute droplet of saliva that could possibly be left on the rim of the cup after the swipe or back washed into the cup. Okay, when I thought of backwash, I again became physically ill. But this cup represented the blood Jesus' shed for me. I can endure this, I thought. But, I felt faint. All of these realizations and thoughts all occurred in less than a minute and the person next to me coughed right before the cup came to him. (He did turn his head). It was my turn. I accepted my wafer and felt it on my tongue. Then the cup came up to my lips and I drank. I watched the hand move the white cloth over the rim where my lips had touched. And then the cup was going up to my boss's mouth. I didn't faint. I closed my eyes as the ash was placed on my forehead.

After I returned to my pew, I realized the grape juice wasn't grape juice. It was wine. Real wine! Cool!

No, I did not get a bad cold or the flu. And to this day no cold sores have appeared. But I assure you, individual cups are my first choice for receiving Communion. Tincture is my second choice. But if it were only offered in a communal cup, I'd survive it. Especially if it were real wine in the cup. (Maybe the alcohol in the wine helped sanitize????)

I saw a church sign that read: 'Jesus gave His life for us. The least we can do is live our life for Him.' I agree.

4th of July Celebraters

Me and Arthur, in our coordinating shirts for our 4th of July celebration! We ate burgers, baked beans, corn on the cob, chips and dip, and fries while waiting for the fireworks to start. Then we had cupcakes and icecream. Oh, by the way, we are starting weight watchers next Tuesday! This was our last EATING HOORAH!

God Bless America! My Home Sweet Home!

Today is the 47th time my country has celebrated Independence Day since my birth. This was the first year I actually watched fireworks in several years. The first time I took Arthur to see fireworks, she was about two and half. I took her to Briscoe Park, Snellville, to see the fireworks over the pond. She cried. I just held her in my lap and covered her ears. The first time I took Courage, she was probably a little more than a year old. We parked in the lot by what we now call the 'Dollar Movies' in Lawrenceville and sat on a little hill on blankets and ate hotdogs. Of course when the fireworks started, she cried. The spot by the 'Dollar Movies' became our choice spot to watch over the next 10 years or so, until the kids lost interest in going.

Tonight, Courage is off with the BF and his family, taking in the display at the Lawrenceville Court House. (The same display we watched from the parking lot spot). The hubster went to feed his dad and put him to bed. I got invited to Arthur's to watch a big display a neighboring church was having. Me and her and her BF sat in her bitty backyard and watched and ate cupcakes and icecream. It was fun. Except the bugs biting our toes! Neighborhood kids ran and squealed and played. A few eager beavers sat off little firecrackers and sparklers. Some folks across the way had 80's music blaring from a car stereo. Just good old fashioned red-neck fun.

I am so thankful to God that I live in the U.S.A. and that we can celebrate our Independence. I am so thankful to all the men and women, young and old and in-between, that have given their time, their care, their lives, so that me and everyone else in the U.S. can be free.

Ten More Reasons To Be Thankful:
10. I am free to go to the church of my choice.
9. I am free to go where I like and not be questioned.
8. I am free to marry and have children; there are no limits to the number of children I am allowed to have.
7. I can choose to accept or turn down a job.
6. Me and my children can go to school, as long as we wish to go.
5. I can own property.
4. I have the right to speak freely and write freely and read freely.
3. I can vote.
2. There are people braver and smarter than myself, who fight to keep me free.
1. I can love God, I can worship God.

I wish everyone a Happy and Safe Independence Day!