Addendum to the Previous Post

Callie has informed me that she, too, likes the Christmas music, so here is my official printed retraction about the torment of Callie. I apologize for any misrepresentation.
It seems only the male gender of the house will be tortured this season. (smile)

I Am Excited About....

XM!!!

I have difficulty listening to radio anymore, because I have been spoiled with commercial free XM! I have my husband, the Gadget Man, to thank for that.

My home system is quite sensitive, so when someone driving past my house is changing their XM channel, consequently, so does mine.

I awoke to a sports channel this morning and as I was resetting my regular station, going through the line-up of channels, I spot Holiday! What? Was that Holiday? Yes, it is! Holiday!

You must understand, I have been dubbed, "Little Miss Merry Christmas" because of my love of the holidays. Not to mention, my family celebrates Christmas together at Thanksgiving, so it is perfect timing to put me in the proper festive spirit of the season.

I was overjoyed! Jubilant! This means from now until New Year's Day I will be able to listen to my beloved Christmas music 24 hours a day, 7 days a week! I am ecstatic! Gracie is too. She is a girl after her mom's own heart.

So it begins. The ecstacy of Laura and Gracie...the torment of Callie, Micah, and most especially, the Gadget Man!

"It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas....fa,la,la,la,la,...la,la,la,la!"

It is Just This Middle Part That I Hate!

The Good Shepherd cares for His sheep.

Today began as any other, with the exception of being the day for school photos. I had to help the girls with their coifs, so they would be beautiful for posterity's sake.

Michael and I had our morning coffee, Lee arrived to start the work day and off they went to get parts for a job. When they arrived at the office of our largest supplier, Michael was informed that he no longer had distributor privileges. No letter of notice, no email, no phone call, just waited until he showed up to buy parts and notified him of the change at that time. Shoddy way to run a business.

What this means for us. Micagra will still be able to service the systems this company sells but the parts will cost us more, which will in turn cost the customer more. It will also mean, and this is the big one, that we will no longer be able to use their system to upgrade existing systems in the facilities. Ouch! That is where our biggest income lies.

We knew this was on the horizon. It had happened to other small businesses that do what we do. We just didn't know when the axe would fall. Well, today is the day.

This will mean a major shift in our business. We had already begun working with another product in anticipation of this event. Now we must shift into high gear with that. It will involve investments into equipment and parts from the new company and a large building where Michael and Lee can produce the previously pre-fab equipment and parts they once were able to purchase. It will take more time to make them and thus take away from time in the field. Another ouch.

There is nothing they cannot make themselves and it is only a kink, but it comes at a time when we were on the verge of investing in our new home and the uncertainty of the political/financial times are weighing heavily on us.

Dilema, confusion, questions. All parts of that bigger issue uncertainty.

We will pray for guidance. We will talk about our options, think about it, talk some more, pray, think, talk...it will all work out in the end, of that I am sure. It is just this middle part that I hate. God has always watched over us and taken care of us and I am sure He will now. That part I do not doubt. The uncertainty of the "getting to that point" is excruciating with decisions to be made, the rights and wrongs of it all, the"what ifs" to consider, the "what to do and how to do it" stuff.

Recently, I filled out a "Get to know you better" email. One question was what do you like least about yourself and my answer was my indecisiveness and how excruciating it is for me to make important, major decisions. It makes me wonder if God is stretching me and growing me. Maybe it is an exercise in trust. Since I know Jeremiah 29:11 says,"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." and I believe that. And Romans 8:28 reads, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

I guess now is the time to put my faith into action. In my Sunday school class, we were talking about Noah and how he had such faith to trust what God said when the whole world, more than likely ridiculed him for doing so for about 120 years! As a trust exercise, I had my children stand in front of me with their arms outstretched and fall back into my arms, promising them I would not let them fall. It took a couple of times for each of them to finally relax and fall back, without stepping back, and trust me to catch them. How ironic. Or coincidental? Or maybe just God preparing me to do the same with him. I didn't understand why they were so hesitant to fall back when they knew I was there to catch them. Hmmmm.....I am learning that it is scarier than it looked.

A Little Taste of History

I had the honor of driving Miss Gracie and three of her 4th grade classmates to Fort Toulouse/Fort Jackson for a field trip yesterday. Although the rain dampened the ground it did not hamper our good time.

We saw re-enactors dressed as Native Americans, French soldiers, Colonial American soldiers, and men and women who would have just lived and worked in the 1700's and 1800's. They showed us how life was lived in those days and boy, do we have a better appreciation for modern society!

When the rain began, we found a spot to shelter and keep dry. It was under the canopy of the musicians who played a violin, fiddle, fife, drum, and hammered dulcimer. Being products of an interactive, technological culture, I thought the children would tire of listening to the music and singing, as we waited for the rain to subside. Instead, they asked if the musicians knew any Christmas music and when the music began, the children began to sing along! They made quite an impression on the re-enactors and I must admit, I was pretty impressed myself!

Autumn Splendor From Fort Toulouse

A New Leader, A New Era

I don't know what I think about our new President-elect. He doesn't seem to be a raving lunatic at first glance. He actually seems to be a pretty nice guy. I just wonder how deceiving are the looks.
The world at large seems to approve of our choice for new leadership. Some may think that is a good thing and maybe it will prove to be. I consider it unnerving. Maybe I am just too suspicious, but for whatever reason, my instincts have the hair on the back of my neck raised a bit.
I am offended that he is being touted as the "first black president". I understand how proud African-Americans are that he has been elected and what that means for their people and I do not intend to put a damper on any of their jubilation. Still, the fact remains that our new leader is bi-racial and it seems to me he would use that to help bridge the gap between the races. I happen to think that is one of the good things about him. I have a niece and nephew that have been through some difficult times because they are bi-racial. I know what it would mean for them, if Mr. Obama would celebrate his dual ethinicity instead of allowing the media to only focus on his African heritage. I hope he will consider this. To date, I have not heard it from him.
I hope that we have enough common sense people in Washington to keep a balance. So far, I have yet to hear HOW Mr. Obama expects to do all he wants to do, without taxing us to death.

I really think health care is something that we should be responsible for ourselves, not something the government should provide for us. I am not crazy about the quality of government supplied goods and services and I like my healthcare to be of the highest quality, thank you very much. BTW, we have an HSA so we pay out of pocket unless something catastrophic takes place, so we don't have tiny medical co-pays, covered RX's, dental, or eyecare. All that comes out of pocket, but I have the choice of who cares for our needs and that is important to me.

I know Mr. Obama is big on "sharing the wealth", and I don't mind sharing. I just like to decide with whom I share. I don't think it is sharing when the government takes my money and decides for me , to whom they will dole it out. They do enough of that already.

We have become a society that feels "entitled" to have, without doing to achieve. That is not what made America great and it may be the very thing to cause her downfall.

I hope Mr. Obama will remember that he still has to earn the trust and confidence of 48 percent of the populace and act accordingly.

My photos above are Callie's class at school celebrating Veteran's Day with a Patriotic Program.

I can't help getting emotional with the realization that our America, the America we know and love may be forever changed. Hopefully, (my eternal optimism shows through here) it will be for the better. God bless and keep us as we embark on our journey of "Change we can believe in"

So Angry I Could Spit Nails!

See the buckets that yesterday were FULL of pecans that I picked up?

See the now half empty buckets?

See the pecans lying on the ground that yesterday were in my buckets?

See the sweet, happy faces of the three wonderful children who emptied the buckets while having a pecan war?

See the children all looking at their feet as they search for pecans that will be twice picked up?

That is not what they are doing in the photo, but it is what they will be doing when they arrive home from school!

The joys of motherhood. (sigh)