What's happening? Does anyone know?

I have just been slammed over the past few weeks. Of course if you keep up with me you know I'd much rather be busy than sitting around with nothing to do. So although it's been crazy, it is my preferred lifestyle. :)

For those of you wondering what happening with me and new found life with politics, as you may know, the petition to request a grand jury got thrown out because we didn't have enough signatures. (big oops on our attorney's part) And although the "other side" reportedly had a victory celebration because they had "won", "winning" apparently was not enough. During this last week there was an investigation by the DA's office. To my knowledge six of the petition carriers were accused of misdeeds and turned in to the DA's office. I was included in the six. It's my understanding we were being accused of either forging signatures or allowing people to forge signatures. Of course the accusations are completely and totally without standing, but the accusations do reinforce the opinion that people wouldn't sign the petition because they were afraid there would be a retaliation. It's a little hard to believe his statement in the newspapers that he "holds no malice" toward any of us. Sure looks like malice to me, but hey, that's just my opinion!!

So, for now, I continue to support our school and other school board members by doing whatever I can to help out. Of course, I understand our school and administration are not perfect, but please point me to someone in this world who is. None of us are perfect, we all make mistakes. Too bad we all can't just admit our faults and be honest with ourselves and others....

iPhone

I got an iPhone yesterday. It's so cool. I love it. I've been looking around and shopping for a smartphone and I finally decided on the iPhone. It does so many really cool things, I am thrilled to have it. I was kidding with my staff about when it came in I would be a walking office. And yep! it's true. I am a walking office. Isn't that cool!!!

Okay, so maybe I'm a little overboard about my new toy..I mean tool...but it is really exciting!!

School of Ministry

We had our first inquiry yesterday about the school of ministry. I was so excited when I hung up the phone!! (Yes...I know...it's the little things in life) :-) We also went to a minister's meeting last night and found out there are lots of people out there who are talking about enrolling with us.

I, of course, wanted this school of ministry to be "successful", but having the reality of people actually calling and talking about their plans to enroll is unbelievable! It just seems too good to be true!!

It's funny how sometimes when you're doing exactly what God wants you to do, everything seems so simple!!!

My daughter...

...this isn't actually a picture of her, but we have pics that look identical to this one. I almost didn't post it as it doesn't really carry very good memories. It was a very difficult time in our life having to face the choices we had to face.

For those of you who know us personally, some of this will be a bit redundant, but for those you who don't know, let me share just a little with you.



We have four children, our second child was born with heart disease. She had open heart surgery at 9 days old to correct Transposition of the Great Vessels. Basically that means they cut off the artery and vein going to heart, criss-crossed them and sewed them back on. She has done very well since then. Basically leading a normal life.



At age 11 (literally on her 11th b-day!) she had to have a pacemaker put in. This came about over a two week period. We were in complete shock since she has had little to no issues since her surgery as a baby. But over the past four years we have adjusted to the pacemaker and for the most part she still has very little issues.

Until today....

Her heart apparently skipped a few beats and then her pacer kicked in to correct the issue and she must have "felt" it all happen. She called me from school to let me know what was going on, I called her pacemaker clinic. We did a download from her pacemaker for the clinic to look at, and ultimately ended up at the ER!

Of course, it's kind of like taking your car to the mechanic, it never messes up once you've arrived at the shop. Well, she had 3 more episodes after talking to me on the phone the first time, and once we got to the hospital, nothing. So we stayed for a few hours while they ran blood test and took x-rays, and then sent us home because they couldn't find anything.



I'm thankful there was nothing to find. Quite frankly it could have been really bad. We are so very blessed that our daughter is in good health. God's hand of protection has been on her the past 15 years, and I have no doubt he will continue to cover her. I am so thankful to be a part of his kingdom.





Thank you God for the blessing of a child!

Good choices or God choices

We have been working really hard at getting out of debt. Although we still have a ways to go. I am thrilled to report we have eliminated one of our monthly bills. We took our 2007 refund and paid it off. I was so excited about the whole thing, I didn't even wait for Patrick to get home from Hawaii. I just called the creditor and took care of it.

Now we are focused on our vehicles. We have about 18 months left on both of them. My goal is to have one of them paid off in 12 months, and the other in 16 months. That means Jan of 2010 I should be reporting to you that we have both cars paid for. I think that's very doable!!

In all of this babbling please don't forget who makes this possible. Everything we have belongs to God. He allows us to keep 90% of what we earn and use it in whatever way we choose. God is blessing our choices and we are focused on continuing to make "God" choices!!

Have a great week....

Hawaii

My husband returned from Hawaii Sunday. He's really tired. The jet lag was pretty hard on him. He was actually on the island of Hawaii, the pics are a few shots of the sights he saw while driving. He was amazed at the diversity of the landscaping, these are all from the same island!