Shopping Time!

My sister and brother in law came to Weatherford this past Thursday and she and I along with my friend Vicki took another little trip to Canton. Vicki and I have been 2 months in a row and we are about to get this shopping thing down to a science. We know where to park, where to shop first, go back to the car (which isn't too far away), empty the cart and start over. This time my sister went with me and although she is an expert shopper, maybe even to the professional level, she had never, no never, been to Canton. Of course she loved it and of course it was a marathon shopping day. When we finished we went to some of the shops in Canton outside the First Monday grounds and got home about 10pm last night.

We had just a couple of mishaps, one with the shopping cart, Martha was pushing it, went over a drainage grate and the front wheel jammed which caused the cart to stop and Martha of course kept going, right over the top of the cart. Hilarious moment, Vicki and I had to laugh about it several times but so did she. Of course no one notices you until you do something embarrassing like fall over your shopping cart. : ) She is fine by the way, just a little sore, but it may be the end of shopping days for the cart. : )

My sister is probably one of the most naive and pure minded persons you would ever meet, which made the next experience really funny but since you don't know her the humor in the next story may escape you. I mentioned we went to some other shops after First Monday closed down, the main one being a shop called Laurie Anna's. I would say it was a fairly exclusive shop, very top of the line things. In one room of their shop was clothing and jewelry and sign which read, "Please do not remove clothing or jewelry from this room, a salesperson will assist you." When Martha got ready to purchase a ring she asked the saleslady, "How do I purchase this ring?" She tells her, "We get you one of these buckets and then we put your initials on this card and place it in the bucket. What are your initials?" My sister does not reply with her name, she just says, "MF". The sales lady looks at her kind of funny then Martha said, "MF, Martha Fairchild". Of course you know what ran through my mind but I figured my sister had never even heard those words before, so I didn't say anything and on the way home that night she said, I never thought about my initials being MF, no wonder that clerk had that funny look on her face, I will just give them my name from now on." Of course Vicki and I laughed and laughed.

Men don't get the shopping trips women take. Women don't get the hunting trips that men take, but it is all about the laughter, the sharing and the bonding that takes place when you spend some time with the people you enjoy most. So thankful today for special friends like Vicki and my sweet sister. So glad for the time we spent together on this gorgeous Halloween weekend.

How Cute?

I had an experience with my granddaughter Mallory Thursday night that blew my mind. Her mom had to work late so I picked the girls up from daycare and took them to eat at Cici's Pizza. Everything was clicking right along, Mallory was eating away and a little guy with a spikey haircut and black T-shirt walks up to our booth and starts chattering away to Mallory. He walks over to her and puts both arms around her and gives her a hug, just like they have seen adults do I am quite sure, and then she gets out of the booth and hugs him back. I was sitting there in shock I think. I have never ever seen a little boy in the first grade walk up to a girl and start TALKING let alone hug her. I was thinking, they are way too young for this, but part of me was thinking, that is too cute. Mallory never meets a stranger but this little guy was way out-talking her. I asked him if he was in her class at school and he said, "I was last year." I really couldn't believe it then, this kid wasn't even in her class this year and he was still completely uninhibited about talking to her. I asked what his name was and Mallory said, "Pweston" (she can't say her r's), so I said, "Weston?" and he said, "NO, PRESTON." Her little sister was sitting beside me and her face was as red as a beet, she is a little shy until she gets to know you, but she was watching them like a hawk. I thought I wish a had a picture of this and about that time his mom came over with her cell phone and asked if she could take their picture and my first thought came back to me that they were both way to young to be so comfortable with the hugging and talking at such a young age, her Papaw would have had a fit probably, but he wasn't there and it was just so darned cute!

The Help

I just came from a new book club that some of the ladies from our Bible study have started. I don't usually care for book clubs BECAUSE when someone says I have to read a certain book something in my brain kicks in and says, "I don't want to read that." I love to read. I have always been a reader. Most mothers would be thrilled to have children that loved to read but not mine, she thought I was lazy because I was always sitting or laying around in my room reading. She would say, "Debbie Sue get up from there and go outside and DO something." She didn't like for us to be idle. After the age of about 10 when we had moved to a new town and I was getting a little old to be "playing" outside, reading became my passion. After we moved away from all the neighborhood kids I knew and played with, after petting the dog and cat and maybe riding my bike up and down the road, I wasn't quite sure what the excitement was about being outside. I was happier sitting in my room reading. She just never understood it because she didn't enjoy reading. If you share my enthusiasm for books you understand how I feel about reading. If the author does her job well you become friends with the characters in each book. You know exactly what they look like, how their voices sound when they speak and they become your friends and family or maybe your enemy sometimes. If I am really involved in a book and its characters, I so hate for it to end because I feel so lonesome and miss them and imagine what happened to everyone after the book ended.

That being said, we talked about the book "The Help". It is an awesome book. I highly recommend it and could not put it down. I spent 2 nights of sitting up past 1am and then I was sad I was finished with it. The author left it wide open for a sequel though and hopefully she will write one. I didn't think this was a book I would be interested in and wouldn't have chosen it for myself but will never forget the stories told by "the help" in an era I grew up in. If you enjoy a good book, easy read, but not easy to put down or forget later, then you must put this one on your list. Excellent book!

Way to Go Rangers!

I can't believe it has been so long since have posted anything on my blog but watching the Ranger's basking in this historic win made me want to just say Congrats to them along with everyone else in Texas. I am not a huge fan, I have been an avid fan of the Astros at one time when my boys were growing up. We spent many vacations at Astro games but we spent a few at the Ballpark also. I know how people who are tried and true fans for years on end hate it when everyone jumps on the winning bandwagon but without the fans you lose the excitement.

I don't know a lot about the players on the Rangers but you would have had to have been living in a cave to not know about Josh Hamilton's testimony. What an amazing story and seemingly a great Christian athlete for little ones to actually be able to look up to. A few moments ago they were talking to Josh and asked him if this way the highlight of his life and he very calmly said, "No that will be when I stand before my Lord and Saviour". Wow! What a blessing to hear him give God the honor and glory for where he is in his career and giving God the credit for bringing him out of the darkness that had enveloped his life.

As fun as this win is for North Texans in particular it will be nothing like being together one day in heaven with our Lord and all our loved ones that are already there, talking about all of our races that we had to run here on earth and in looking back we can see that the painful losses we endured don't really matter any more. We made it, we are home, now that will be some great celebration!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Beau

Well, Friday was my oldest son's birthday. I went to Canton that day (it did not perk me up much, see previous post) and Beau and his little family went to the Fair so I didn't even see him that day. He has always kept his phone by the bed so that I could be the first to tell him "Happy Birthday" but this year when I called he hadn't even put his phone by his bed. It made me sad, okay, I know he is 33 but he will always be my little boy. It made me feel special that he wanted to hear from me first on that day. All moms know what I am talking about. It makes me feel so strange to know that he is almost middle age, when I feel like I should still be middle age. Isn't that the weirdest thing? I even qualify for some senior discounts in restaurants now, how humbling is that? : ) Time goes by so quickly, and I know when you are younger it doesn't seem like it, then the next thing you know, your children are the ages you feel like you should be.

I would just like to tell you that I am so very proud of the way my son has a tender heart to the things of the Lord and that he is learning so much about God and what it means to truly worship him. I am thrilled beyond measure that he has come to know this at a younger age than I have. We are almost walking this spiritual journey parallel to each other and I am so thankful the Lord has brought both of us into an intimate relationship with him and that we have each other to share the things we are learning about the Lord. I don't think a Christian mother can ask for, or be more thankful for anything than that. I was so privileged he wanted to share their church's worship experience with us and thankful that we could go this morning. The Lord has truly blessed their family and given then a wonderful church home at First Baptist Euless.

Many of us spend our lives going to church, singing hymns or praise music but until we truly learn to worship the one and only God of this unbelieveably vast universe at those services intended for worship (or any other time), I think our lives truly lack the sense of wonder at who He really is and the abundant life He promises us in His word. I feel so truly blessed to know my child is learning this right along with me, at different churches, but learning to love and worship the One True Living God of this World. Thank you Lord for all the blessings you pour out on us and for my precious son.