Carolina Pink

Ray asked me if I wanted to drive down to Carolina by myself today (Tue) and he would come tomorrow. I just didn’t want to come by myself so I said I would wait and go with him tomorrow. Then this afternoon when I was just goofing off in between loads of clothes, he asked me what time I would be ready to leave. I said, “Today?” He said “Yes.” Talk about scurrying around getting things packed and taking a shower.

J...... came by and picked up some clothing that I found for her. I was so glad to be able to give her two pair of almost new tennis shoes. Just her size too. She brought the children with her. She is a single mom who works at Walmart. She has been diagnosed with bi-polar disorder and the children have problems from her self-medicating with alcohol while she was pregnant. Pastor Dale asked me to mentor her. She had no phone, so I got her a cell phone. I gave her 200 prime time minutes. She has unlimited calling nights and weekends. I was frightened that she would have an emergency with the children. 

After the things I have gone through for almost 2 years, I am becoming less and less materialistic. I found out that if something happens to me, no one wants my stuff. And, I have some really nice stuff. I am starting to get rid of things that are still good but that I have not used or worn in a while. I donated an ironing board and a BabyLock machine to my quilting group. We are making quilts for children who are patients at CHKD (Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters). It is so satisfying to know that you are doing something that will help someone else. ( I have a picture of one that I did that I will upload when I get home.)

The Bible Class that I take on Tuesday nights is studying a book called Genesis One. It is very interesting. Imagine a decent sized book that was written all about the first chapter of Genesis. It is amazing the things that I have found out. God did not write the Bible for us, but to us. He wrote it for the ancients or early Hebrews. Things were very different then. A lot of the things that are in the Bible we take too literally sometimes... Things that don't make sense to us, made perfect sense to people living in the time the Bible was written. We try so hard to understand it, not stopping to realize that it was written in another time about a very different people. The lessons we learn from the Bible were written to us more as examples. This is what I am getting from it so far. I will keep you up with what I am learning.

We are in NC and have had our Thanksgiving Dinner. We ate at my daughter and son-in-law's home. I made Spiral Ham, Green Bean Cassarole, Cornbread Dressing and Gravy, Fruit Salad, Deviled Eggs, Sweet Potatoes, Pecan Pie, Rolls. Rhonda made the Turkey, stovetop dressing, Corn, Collards, Jello Salad, Mashed Potato Salad. For dessert: Pecan Pie, Apple Pie, Pumpkin Pie, Chocolate Flan, Spice Cupcakes, and Pumpkin Roll. And, then there was the clean-up. All the women agreed that if there was such a thing as reincarnation, we all would want to come back as men. Must be nice to eat a dinner that took someone all day to prepare and then sit and watch TV while that person cleaned up the mess after dinner. Most times I am too tired to eat very much at all. But I still have to clean up. I helped Rhonda and then I had to come home and finish cleaning up the mess I made cooking. Don't men realize that there is something very sexy about a man washing dishes or pushing a vacuum cleaner. LOL!

Black Friday: Here I am typing on my computer when I should be packing to go home. In a lot of pain this morning. Everything is stiff. I did too much yesterday. Rheumatoid Arthritis really hurts if you push it too far. I will rest this morning and maybe we can go this afternoon. Barbara K. is watching the house in VA.  I will be glad to get home. I cannot get TweetDeck to load here. At least I can catch up tonight and tomorrow. 

Guess I better go get a shower and clean up so we can get on the road. I love you all and I hope your Thanksgiving was all you wanted it to be. God is Good, All the time, Barbara

TGIF PINK

TGIF - Funny how many ungodly people use that phrase. I wonder if they know that if they say Gosh, it is also a phrase used for God. Why do we Thank God its Friday? Are we looking forward to a lovely weekend, culminating with the Worship of God. Or, is it just we can do what we want on Saturday and play golf, go to the movies, sleep, on Sunday. Personally, I thank God for every day. If you have been through or are close to someone who has gone through cancer, you should thanks God for each day.

As I told a friend on learning of her son's Stage IV cancer, do not be afraid of the 'C' word. It loses out to the 'G' word (God). 'God is good, all the time' is one of my favorite phrases, mainly, because he is. Sometimes we may be disappointed in what we receive, but in the grand scheme of things, there is good waiting out there for us at all times. I feel we must earn it and the only way to worship God is to serve others. If God is pleased with your service to your fellow men/women, then he is more likely to show your his goodness. If you do service with a greedy heart, it is not service. That is to say, you only do good for others if you get something out of it. We should never ask or expect anything for our service.

 I did something significant that the Lord asked me to do a few years ago. It was not an easy thing to do, but I did it anyway. It took five long years and loads of praying, but it came to pass as it was God's Plan. I asked for guidance and prayed that the Holy Spirit would enter into the hearts of the ones who didn't think it was a good idea. Eventually, the day came that everything worked out and it was one of the happiest and most significant days in my life. It made a difference in our community and changed the dynamic is the area of town where it happened. A pastor who was involved told me that when I get to Heaven I will have a crown of rubies for my head. I never thought of that, but it sounds heavy. Have you ever heard the expression that I use all the time? "You talk to God-it’s called Prayer. God talks to you, you tell someone-it’s called schizophrenia!" That was what was going on. Sometimes God talks to us in that still small voice and we just have to do what he says. Other people said to me afterward that they thought that God had been speaking to them for years about the same thing. I guess it just took God to whisper it into the ear of a 'big-mouthed woman who was not scared to speak His mind.' It worked out for good of all those who live here in Newport News whether they know about it or not. Homes and families have been saved, babies born that would not have been born, people fed, etc. God is good, all the time.

THANKSGIVING PINK

I was thinking the other day of all the things that I have to be thankful for. How about you? What have you got to be thankful for? Here is my list:

• Thank You Lord for taking the cancer away from my body.
• Thank You Lord for giving me such a good husband.
• Thank You Lord for giving me such wonderful children and grand children.
• Thank You Lord for my wonderful Christian Friends.
• Thank You Lord for my friends who are not yet Christians.
• Thank You Lord for the Holy Spirit who will be instrumental in making more friends Christian.
• Thank You Lord for the health of my family and friends.
• Thank You Lord for letting me know those who are sick that I can pray for.
• Thank You Lord for this wonderful country where we are free to express our opinions and be all we can be.
• Thank You Lord for connecting me with so many people on Twitter, FaceBook, LinkedIn, Blogger, etc., so that I may share my faith with them.
• Thank You Lord for my Rheumatoid Arthritis so that I may know how it feels to show compassion for others. 
• Thank You Lord for all the blessings that You have bestowed on me and my family.
• Thank You Lord for providing me and mine with a home where we will live with You forever and ever in Heaven.
• Thank You Lord for being You and Loving us so much that You would give Christ to us to deliver us from sin. 

Lord God, we love You and praise Your Holy Name. Amen

15 Inspiring Breast Cancer Survivor Blogs PINK

• I received this email and decided to share this with you since it is Breast Cancer Month. I believe it is imperative for everyone to get the best education they can. Online options are great.. See the email  below:

We at Toponlinecolleges.com recently came across your blog and were excited to share with you an article “15 Inspiring Breast Cancer Survivor Blogs” was recently published on our blog at ( http://www.toponlinecolleges.com/blog/2010/15-inspiring-breast-cancer-survivor-blogs/ ), and we hoped that you would be interested in featuring or mentioning it in one of your posts.
 Either way, I hope you continue putting out great content through your blog. It has been a sincere pleasure to read.  
Thanks for your time,
Jennifer Lynch

Anyway, today is Friday and my daughter, Rhonda, and granddaughter, Taylor, are coming. I am so excited. They hardly ever come to Virginia. Jesse and Garrett are going on a Boy Scout trip for the weekend. It is very difficult to get Jesse out of North Carolina. Rhonda is going to help us with our Poker Run for the Lions Club tomorrow. 


See http://nnlions.blogspot.com/ for the details of what is going on. We entered the info in the HRTownSquare.com over 2 weeks ago but we didn't make into the Daily Press today. I sure hope people show up at the Harley-Davidson Shop on HW 17 in Grafton in the morning. This is our first one but we are thinking of doing it once or twice each year and maybe even creating a Motorcycle Lions Club. Wouldn't that be awesome? I don't know why they even have HRTownSquare any more. The Daily Press just doesn't do much free advertising for non-profits any more. They are really becoming a thing of the past and HRTownSquare is so confusing, I don't think it will ever take the place of the paper. I don't think they have upgraded it at all since they put it into play a few years ago.                                  


Yesterday was a real bummer.The lady at the Vet Clinic that was going to give away a 3-year old Yorkie decided not to give her away. So I cried and got over it. I really want a little dog to keep me company when Ray is out working. I think I have talked him into it. When we had Precious and then Pepe, he was the primary caretaker. I was working at Langley then and it was difficult for me to take care of them. But, now that I cannot work, it would mean a lot to me to have a little dog to love.
I was reading an article in Arthritis Today about having pets is good for people with arthritis.


It is a beautiful day today. I hope everyone is having a lovely day. I did my FollowFriday's this morning on Twitter already, but I am sure that I will do more later. I am busy watching Regis & Kelly and their annual Halloween show. They are wearing lots of costumes today. What fun. Maybe I will be Lady GAGA since I have the perfect wig for it. LOL.


The Rheumatoid Arthritis has been giving me fits. I never really knew what it meant to have this terrible disease. I thought arthritis was arthritis, but this is an auto-immune disease and a connective tissue disease, so sometimes the pain isn't even in a joint, it is in the connective tissue and can cause absolutely excruciating pain. The doctor gave me some prednisone to take if the pain gets too bad because pain medication doesn't seem to do very much. Although, I have found that XanGo works for the inflamation. I mix it in my 7-Up and drink it all day. It really is a wonderful drink. 


The O2 Breakthrough with @ZnaTrainer works also. I am doing the exercises and it really seems to help with the pain. Thank you Zna for all you do.



It has been a difficult week. Dr Norman Edwards passed away in his car on Wednesday. He was waiting at a stop light and the driver behind him found him and called 911. It was too late. Norman was in our choir and a wonderful baritone. He sang solos occasionally and people loved to hear him read. His wife Benita is a friend. She was on the Board of Commissions for years and she was a member of my Women's Club. She has been having memory issues for the past year. I am worried that she won't be able to live on her own now with Norman gone. I imagine she is in her late 60s but I am not sure. 


I had to unfollow over 1400 people on Twitter yesterday. I hate to do that, but if you get too many people who are not following you, but you are following them, it creates an uneven balance and you cannot add any more people until you get it down. I don't know why people don't follow other people. It doesn't clog up your feed. It is really kind of awesome because your feed moves and you get to see a whole lot more of what is going on. TweetDeck is awesome because I have 5 columns that I can see what is going on. 2 columns are ones that I created so I see my favorite peeps there and #SweetTweet them at least once a day. 


It is amazing how once someone has said to you, "It's cancer" you never get over it. Even when the doctor tells you that it is gone and you are "cancer-free" you never really believe it. It is like waiting for the ball to drop. I don't know what I would do if I didn't have faith in Christ Jesus. He keeps me grounded and positive. He is my source and salvation. If you would ever like to discuss this aspect of treatment, please don't hesitate to contact me. 

• Love to All, God is Good, All the time.

I WORE PURPLE PINK

On Wednesday, I heard on TV that we should wear purple in support of those who had been bullied and/or committed suicide. It said gay but I think it is for any young person who has been bullied. If you have the time, I have a story for you:

There was a baby boy who was born in England and traveled with his military parents, brother, and sister back to the United States in 1960. He was so tiny, but so precious. His brother was 14 and sister 12. The sister cared for baby Paul as if he was her own. It was like playing with a real doll and really took the pressure off her mother. She loved to rock him to sleep at night. A couple of years later, her mother had her baby sister, Cindy. Paul was the good boy and Cindy was the one who always caused a ruckus. Paul grew up into a fine young man who was very popular at school and was considered a real catch. He was in the band and played the trombone and Cindy played the clarinet. He had a girlfriend and they seemed very happy. They were in Louisiana by then and the older brother and sister had made families of their own.
Paul went off to school at North Western and I am not sure if he discovered it there or had been hiding it, but he was gay. He didn't want the family to know, so we didn't. His parents moved to Dallas and his mother started her business there as an interior designer. Paul worked with her a few years and decided to get a more regular job with benefits. He went to work for American Airlines. Flight attendant was a good job for him. He was a nice person and a real people person. Unfortunately, the lifestyle for male flight attendants swings toward homosexual. There being so many opportunities to travel and vacation in exotic places was a real perk. He did this for a few years and then he came back to Dallas. His sister had moved to Dallas to work  for his mother and he would stop by occasionally to work in the shop when he had a customer. He told her he was gay and then he told his mother and father. It didn't seem to matter to his mother, but his dad took it really hard. Soon, his sister left and moved back to Virginia.
A couple of years down the road, his sister received a phone call, Paul had AIDS. He was still working for AA and never missed a flight. One day, his supervisor called his mother and told her that he hadn't shown up for work and that just wasn't like him. They were really worried whether he was alright or not. Mother found him in his apartment just sitting and staring at the wall. There was a  tumor in his brain and he couldn't recognize anyone unless they spoke to him.  He was in the hospital for a short time and sent home to die. His father stepped up and even took care of him until he passed. He was a kind, loving person who was sweet and caring. He had been through some bad times being gay. He was bullied by some. I think that is why he didn't tell anyone until he was older because he was afraid of the bullying.

When Paul died, AA flew all the brothers and sisters to the funeral in Dallas, First Class. They provided flight attendants as pall bearers. AA was very supportive of my parents and made sure that things were expedited in a timely manner.

No one should have to put up with being bullied. Paul had to put up with it from his father, who was a bully, so why open himself up to others. His father, my stepfather was basically a good man at heart who had a terrible temper when things didn't go his way. He bullied us all, beat on us until we all left home, one by one; we escaped. We went home occasionally, but not too often. If you were around too long, it would start again.

Paul Burns was my brother. I loved him very much. The upshot of this is that after living with a father who was a bully and a brother who was gay, I wore purple in support of those who have been bullied. I had also married an alcoholic who spend his life bullying others, not with violence but with his mouth.
Breast cancer is not the worst thing that can happen to you in life. It feels like it sometimes, but when you have a past that takes over your life, you can see that there are other things that can be even more devastating. Make it clear to those that you know that you will not tolerate a bully. Anyone who is a bully has no place in your life, whether it is a friend or relative.

There is no one in the world who has the power to bully you if you won't let them.  Don't let them. If you need to, report them to someone. If they are physically violent, make sure they spend some time in jail or treatment. Don't put up with a bully. If you are married to one, remember the bully is not just changing your life but the life of your children and your family. Nothing is worth the pain a bully costs. There are people out there who can help.

DON'T PUT UP WITH A BULLY!

GOD LOVES YOU AND SO DO I! God is good all the time!

Shrimp & Grits Pink

We went to NC last Friday. We didn't get there until late in the evening and fixed a DGiorno Pizza in the oven. It really did taste like someone just made it. We stopped at Sam's Club on the way through Greenville to  provision our weekend stay. Rhonda was at our house when we got there. She had taken all the plastic drop cloths off the furniture and was vacuuming. She is a wonderful daughter. She knows the troubles I have gone through and she helps when she can. She had bought me a pot of gold mums and in the birthday card she had two coupons: one for painting the porch and one for a complete detail house cleaning. When Jesse got there with Garrett and Taylor, they gave me their handmade cards. They are so cute.
Ray and I slept in on Saturday and just rested most of the day. We got together with Rhonda, Jesse, and the twins and went to the MUMFEST in New Bern. It was nice. It is held in the old downtown part of New Bern on the water. There was a band there but they had it closed off so you had to pay to get in to see them. Since we could hear the music, why pay? I guess I am used to the cities around here. They usually provide the Entertainment in a effort to get people to come to the event. Anyway, the children had fun on the Ferris Wheel, teacups, and bumper cars. We walked much further than I am used to. I found a pretty necklace, earrings, and bracelet from Africa. We bought drinks from the New Bern Lions Club and I met the President of their club whose name is Barbara too.

After MUMFEST, we went to Annabelle's Restaurant in New Bern. I don't think I ever said it out-loud before, but I love shrimp and I love grits. The thought that someone actually took two of my favorite foods and made such a luscious dish as shrimp and grits is almost beyond my comprehension. It was awesome. Actually, I would have put more shrimp in it and maybe a little Old Bay Seasoning. But it was really good. Then my precocious granddaughter told the waiter that we were having my birthday dinner. So the waiter brought all the other waiters and presented me with "Death by Chocolate." (with 6 spoons, thank goodness)

Garrett stayed the night with us. He laid down with his blanket on the sofa and fell right to sleep. I fell asleep in my recliner. We were all so exhausted that we stayed in bed late on Sunday. I think I overdid it Saturday. When I got up, I made pancakes. Rhonda came and got Garrett. Ray fixed a few things around the house and I cleaned up what I could. Then Ray and Jesse went to a barbecue restaurant to get dinner. They brought home barbecue chicken, Carolina Pork Barbecue, potato salad, cole slawb, but there were no hushpuppies in the bag. And I really had my mouth set for hushpuppies. LOL! It is about 20 miles to New Bern and too far to go to get the hushpuppies. Oh well, we made do. Jeff, Sharon, and Dillon came out and had dinner with us. It was good to see them. Rhonda was trying to get the children's things together for the week so they didn't stay long.  It sure was nice to see them.
Ray and I got up and got the car packed and came back to VA on Monday. When we got home Ray turned on the computer and it didn't come on. I went to the HP site and went through everything it said and still nothing. We tried to call a friend from church on Tuesday but he never called back so Ray called Geeks and they sent someone to fix it. He was here about the time I left to go to my Genesis class. Anyway, he replaced the power supply and Ray was working on the computer when I got home. He didn't lose anything. I am so glad. It was a wake-up call for him. He will be backing up everything every day now.

BACK IN THE PINK!

If you have been following me on Twitter, you know that I have been having some issues. My rheumatoid arthritis is worse and I have been on antibiotics for over 10 days. I had the most awful flu or something. Doc said it was an infection. It made me miserable. I couldn't breathe, barely get around and was becoming a woman with cabin fever. Then I thought, @ZnaTrainer had been calling a tweeting me. She knows how sick I have been and she also knows that she has to keep pushing me to exercise. Needless to say, I hit bottom. I was just miserable and decided to try the O2 Breakthrough again. It is so amazing. It is a shame that I think I have to quit when I feel better. I don't think I will be able to quit again. It really makes a difference in how I feel, my flexibility, and the pain. The pain goes away! All I have to do is do the "Power of Perfect Ten" and the endorphins begin to flow. I actually went through 2 workouts this morning, one right after the other. Zna told me a new one this morning that you stand up and I can do it periodically during the day when I have a couple of minutes by myself. I am committing myself to do this and do it well. Zna is one of the kindest people that I know. Zna, You are a life-saver!

I have stayed with Xango and starting today, I am drinking a half a bottle a day. I figure I have enough to last a month and I will see how it works for this. Along with the O2 Breakthrough, I should be one of the healthiest people around. LOL! I will publish my results. I am making a smoothie in the morning and one in the afternoon. It is supposed to increase my energy. All things being equal, I should be better next week. 

As for things in my life, they are going well. I learned a friend, Margaret (Peg) Clarke passed away. She was a dear lady. Her husband, Ed, was in my Lions Club. Peg worked every bit as hard as Ed even though she was not a member of the club. She is also a member of the GFWC Newport News Women's Club. She has been living in Richmond for the past few years with her children.

We are going to celebrate my birthday on Friday by going to the Blue Iquana in Fairfax VA on Friday.

I love that restaurant. My wonderful husband, Ray and I will be in Fairfax at the Hyatt Fair Lakes (http://fairlakes.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/index.jsp). It is a lovely hotel. We stay there about once a year when we have our NAP Conferences. I won't be able to eat in the meetings, because of all the people. I will stay in the room and snack prepared things from home. It is difficult for me to eat out anyway. I will go to the classes, because I can sit in the back away from everyone. My immune system is so low. I just know the O2 Breakthrough is going to make everything better.

Today is dinner at church and I will be picking up Dot and Kitty at the Chesapeake at 4:15. I hope they go today. It sure is raining hard but we are going to brave the weather. We are all so glad to see the rain, it seems like months since it rained. I sure hope it saves my bushes in the yard.

Ray and I have really gotten into Dancing With the Stars. I cannot believe how interested he is this year. Since that is the way we met, I have always thought it was strange that he did not watch it. We both love dancing and that was actually how we got together. He could dance very well because he had Ballroom Dance lessons. I asked him to teach me and the next thing I knew, he asked me out to the Rockola Cafe. The rest is history.

I am coming up on this birthday on October 1st and that always makes me take stock. I can say that over this past year and a half I have met some awesome people on Twitter, Facebook, and other networks. I have also learned so much about my church family and just how dear they are. Despite my illnesses, they have shown me how to be the hands and feet of Christ and I love them all so much. My family has been very supportive. Although I don't think they realize the severity of the rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis. I wasn't aware of it. I though arthritis was arthritis. Rheumatoid arthritis is an auto-immune disease that can really knock you down in a relatively short time. 

 We are getting a new Samsung Fascinate. It was supposed to come yesterday, but I guess it will be here today. I am trying to be patient. LOL. 

·       God closes doors no man can open & God opens doors no man can close..Have a blessed day and remember to be a blessing...

God is Good All the Time.