Just to keep you up to date.

I'm glad you weren't at my house yesterday! You would not have like the way I reacted to this, and yes I'm about to tell you what happened. I was sitting on the couch waiting for the computer to finish running a program, out of habit, I looked up to see how far along it was and I noticed instead of the beautiful picture I usual have on there, there is this blue screen telling me that it had to do a memory dump. I'm praying none of you have ever had this happen! Anyway, about the time I realize that my computer is on the fritz, to put it mildly, I hear this loud thump from inside the tower and the computer shuts down. Since I put this thing together I figure it shouldn't be too hard to fix, right? Wrong!!! One of the clips had broken and the fan that keeps the cpu cooled off had fallen on top of my video card. Now, being the very intelligent person that I am, I decide to reach right in there and grab the fan. Don't ever do something like that!!!! That thing was so hot that I'm just now getting feeling back in one of my fingertips and it's been over 24 hours. That made me realize that I needed something else to pick it up with so I grab a pot holder from the kitchen and use it to remove the fan. Just so you know, the base the fan was attached to is metal. I told you I was intelligent! Because of this, I had to spend today trying to find a fan that would work with the prongs that I had left. Luckily I found one at a place in the next town. The gentleman that assisted me even went so far as to make sure my computer was still working after this fiasco. I was very blessed that all I lost was one of my ram sticks and the video card that was in there. Thank You Jesus!!! Things could have been so much worse. I have an AMD processor, and for those of you that don't know about this cpu, it has to have a fan to keep it from over heating.

Oh well, I'm just glad that things weren't worse than they were. I also learned several valuable lessons yesterday and today. 1) Don't touch metal when it's hot. (You would think that at the age of 39 I would have already know that one.) 2) Don't be afraid to ask an expert for help. 3) Always be willing to learn new things. The gentleman at Gigaparts was so helpful to me today I just had to let everyone know. He went out of his way to not only make sure my computer was working but made sure I understood what he was doing and why. I know that basically all he did was remove some parts but he didn't charge me for his time when he could have! He was so polite and helpful. Never once did he make me feel like a dunce. Some guys will jsut because I'm a female. He treated me with respect. Because of his attitude today, I know I'll go back to that store when I need different computer parts.

Anyway, that's it as far as my day went. I've got my computer up and running again. I even learned a few things about it that I didn't know.

I hope your day was better and pray that God watches over you.

I have a challenge for you

As most of you know, I recycle to help fund this program. I challenge each of you to start recycling and use the money to help a charity organization. It doesn't have to be my program, I just want you to realize how much you can help an organization by doing this.

Call your local recycling center to see what they pay, then start saving those items. I usually go on a weekly basis that way I don't have a lot just lying around the house. Save all the money you've made for one month, earmark it for whatever charity you decide to help and see how much you've raised by not throwing away those cardboard boxes, soda cans, old newspapers or whatever. Not only will you be helping a great cause, you'll be helping the planet.

God's blessings with you all.

Whatever

Have you ever had one of those days that nothing seemed to go right? That was today. I ended up getting a worm on my computer. How? I have no idea! The kids had to pick today to argue with me over everything. Hubby , well, hubby was just being himself. At least I did get the worm off, at least I think I did. The kids are asleep and so is hubby. So now I have the house to myself and I'm enjoying the quiet time, which comes to seldom around here. The bad thing is, I wouldn't know what to do without all this activity! I know, as most parents do, that if the kids are too quiet, they're up to something! And you never really want to know what it is, but being a responsible parent, you have to go check! I guess things could be worse. Sometimes I just like to complain, but it doesn't take me long to realize just how good things are here. I have to kids that are healthy enough to be making noise. Some parents aren't so blessed. I have a hubby to fuss about, some people don't have that either.

Thinking about that makes me think about Daniel's parents, which in one way, makes me feel bad for fussing, because, the very things I'm fussing about, they wish they could be. I really feel for them! I can't even imagine what they're going through. It's not something I've ever faced. Have you ever noticed that when you go through some terrible tragedy, one of the first things people say is, "I understand what you're going through." When they have never been through the same situation? I guess that's why I don't. How can I understand what loosing a child feels like? I've never been through it. Thank God, my children have never really been that sick. I know I fuss and complain about my family, but something always makes me realize that my life isn't that bad. There is always someone out there in worse shape than me.

Okay, enough serious time here. Let's get into something else. I got this as an email and since most people that come here are parents, I thought you might enjoy it as well. I don't know who wrote it, but I hope you get a laugh out of it. If you know, please let me know as well. I would like to tell the person, "Great Job!!!"

"Reacting to Federal Guidelines, the state of Florida, which has been highlighted as a role model for student testing by the Bush Administration's Department of Education, has released the following memo:

In response to President Bush's Federal No Child Left Behind Act, students will have to pass it to be promoted to the next grade level. In the hopes that it will be uniformly adopted by all the states, thus illuminating Florida to a glorious front runner position in education, it will be called: the Federal Arithmetic and Reading Test (FART).

All students who cannot pass a FART in the second grade will be retested in grades 3-5 until such a time as they are capable of achieving a FART score of 80%. If a student does not successfully FART by grade 5, that student shall be placed in a separate English program, the Special Mastery Elective for Learning Language (SMELL).

If with this increased SMELL program the student cannot pass the required FART, he or she can graduate to middle school by taking a one-semester course in Comprehensive Reading and Arithmetic Preparation (CRAP).

If by age fourteen the student cannot FART, SMELL or CRAP, he will earn his promotion in an intensive one-week seminar This is the Preparatory Reading for Unprepared Nationally Exempted Students (PRUNES).

It is the opinion of the Florida Department of Public Instruction that an intensive week of PRUNES will enable any student to FART, SMELL or CRAP.

This revised provision of the student-testing component of the House Bill 110 should help clear the air."

May God's blessings alway be with you and your loved ones. Always remember, no matter how bad life seems, there is always someone in a worse situation than you are.

More about Daniel

I have the information about where to send items to Daniel's parents. Even if it's just a small letter of sympathy, I'm sure that will help.
Parents of Daniel Rodgers, c/o Apostolic Truth United Pentecostal Church, 8018 HWY 53 N, Toney AL 35773.

I know the Lord has a plan for this family! I may not know what it is, but I trust him to be there for them and comfort them. God has stated that He will not put more on us than we can bear, and I believe that. He's also stated that no matter what happens in our lives, it will all work to our good if we trust Him. I realize that sometimes that's hard to do, especially when something like this happens, but that's when we need to trust him the most. Please keep this family in your prayers. I know they need them.

God be with you always.

UPDATE

I just found out that one of the children I send these pages to died yesterday. It would have 4 years ago today that he was first diagnosed with cancer. Please pray for this family. I can only imagine what they are going through. How do you tell someone just how sorry you are that this happened to them? How do you make the pain of this loss go away? I'm a firm believer that parents are not supposed to outlive their children yet this kind of thing happens all the time. Remember, children are a blessing from God. He only lends them to you for such a short time. Take care of them, love them, protect them to the best of your ability. If you decide you want to help this family, as soon as I get an address, I'll post it here.

God's blessings to you and your family always.

Ebay

Have you ever wanted to use ebay like a professional? I found this gentleman that will actually help you do this. He's got a journal out where he talks about what he's learned over the years. I went through and read a couple of post he's got and I have to say, he sounds like he knows what he's talking about. If you've ever wondered about this, you really need to check this place out. Here is where to go. http://www.make-money-on-ebay.blogspot.com/


The church is going to the zoo today, so if you're at the Birmingham Zoo and notice a large group of people acting crazy, that's probably us. I'll write more about what happened when I return. I know we'll have a great time there. Marcus has been before but he was too young to remember that much about it. Now he's old enough to remember. I'm surprised we have so many going. We only have 16 members in our church yet we have over 30 saying they are going. Now if only we can get more people in our church. Oh well. I'll just keep praying over that. The Lord will bring more people there when He's ready to.

Have a great day and may the Lord bless you.

Going on Vacation

I just wanted to take a few minutes to let everyone know that the family is going on vacation soon. We're going to Florida to see my new nephew. I can't wait to hold that little bundle of joy in my arms! If for some reason you don't hear from me, that is why.

I also wanted to share the link to my other sister's wedding. The link is Mary's Wedding. You'll get to see her children as well. I've got some handsome neices and nephews. At least I think so anyway. I've asked everyone else to start a photo album so I can share those with you as will. As I get the links, I'll share them with you.

Pray for me and my family while we're gone. Pray that the Lord keeps us safe during our trip.

Know that my prayers are with you as you read this. I pray that you are safe and happy. If you ever need me to add you to my prayers personally, just drop me an email and I will.

God's blessings with you always.