Mom Update

Here I am. It has been a tough road and the journey is still ahead.

My Mom has been diagnosed with small cell lung cancer. She was a smoker for 49 years. She quit when she found out about the cancer. We all wish it would have been sooner. She has started chemo & radiation. She has 13 radiation dates left & 4 months of chemo.

She has been in & out of the hospital since around the middle of August. At one point in time she was staying with me. She can no longer walk & falls all the time, so she can no long be here. This is very heartbreaking to us.

She is currently in the hospital waiting transfer to a long term facility. She will go there first with the hopes of beating this cancer. Then after that go to a rehabilitation center to learn to walk again.

She was 201 lbs and now is 136 lbs in a matter of 3 months. She has lost most of her hair & looks about 80 {she is only 66}...

I will be back to blog more. I just wanted to update my blog, I have not been here in a long time. I miss it here. I just need time to get all my thoughts together.

6 years ago we lost my father to cancer, 5 years ago my aunt, 20 years ago my uncle. This is not something new for us---yet we are raw every time....you never get numb to this kind of stuff.

I will close with some joyous news. The Lord always has something in His plans. During this time, my relationship with my brother has been restored. And.......My Mom accepted Christ!!!!! Can you believe it????? I can't. I have to keep telling myself!

I will be giving this testimony in church on Sunday.

Be back soon. Keep praying for my Mom.

UPDATE

I just wanted to drop a note to say, everything is ok. I will be back soon, my Mom is in and out of the hospital right now....Be back as soon as I can..Please keep my Mom in your prayers.

Love

I know I started with the word 'hope', I will go back to that, I think love is needed for right now. Maybe not in your life so much, but, I know I need it in mine & I know there are millions of others who do also...God's love is where I wanted to start....

Tell me if you know this one: "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but, to save the world through Him." John 3:16-17

How many times have you heard this Scripture? I, myself, not only hear it all the time but read it all the time, recall it and bring it to memory....why?

It's simple.............Our Lord sent His Son, His begotten, into this chaotic, crazy, fallen, sinful, idolatrous, {need me to keep going?} world---to die for it. Meditate on that for a moment. He died for everyone---everyone. The young, the old, the poor, the rich, the well, the sick, the adulterer, the prostitute, the drug user, the drug dealer, the violated, the violator, the betrayed, the betrayer, the lied to, the liar, the abused, the abuser........the murdered, the murderer...I still can not wrap my mind around how He sees sin. I, myself, have a hard time with God seeing a lie the same sin as a murder. Hard to understand in our mere human minds. I know I can not. I can not fathom what it is like to love and die for everyone.....everyone.

That's how much His love is.........we can not even fathom....we can't. There is no way the human mind or understanding can understand God's love....when Jesus was dying on the cross He said, "Forgive them Father for they don't know what they are doing."....who was He talking about? He was talking about those that had falsely accused Him, arrested Him, spit on Him, mocked Him, stripped Him, slammed a crown of thorns on His head, whipped Him, punched & kicked Him, put a cross on Him to carry, betrayed Him, pounded nails through His hands, pounded nails through His feet, put Him on a cross.....do I need to continue? He loved them that much that He died for them! ....Wow! Doesn't it just blow your mind?

I know it blows mine.....it may be a common Scripture for lack of a better term, but, it is powerful! Powerful! It shows His love and how much more and more He is above us....that we can not figure it out---we need Him....His thoughts are not our thoughts, His ways not our ways....Can you imagine if He left us in charge of being judge and jury.........

Meditate on that Scripture a bit---He loved us enough to die for us!

In Christ,

Lill

Just Thunder & Thunder

I was just at someone else's blog & they were talking about the hurricane named Dolly. I am happy they made it throught it & I found myself talking about our weather in NY.

I love summer thunderstorms....majestic & powerful, our Lord in His glory. Yet, I have to say this summer has become ho-hum because of them. It does nothing here but rain, rain, rain, thunderstorm after thunderstorm after thunderstorm....then when it's not wet, its extremely hot & muggy. We have been doing nothing because of it! Just sitting in the house, waiting for a small reprieve so we can get to the bus to get to the market or on the hot days we are using them to cram everything we need to do in those couple of days.

Saturday night all it did was thunder & pour....the thunder just rolled and rolled and rolled for hours! I am not exaggerating....upstate New Yorkers support me here....there is just too much wet. Last Friday and today are nice days. So today I have to run to the market because I have to get fresh veggies & a couple of items I forgot on Saturday.

Ok now, forgive me for complaining....

No exciting news to talk about right now. I talked for some time yesterday to Nonny's paternal grandmother & she wants to come get Nonny overnight next week before school starts again which is very soon.

There is a play date down at my friend Dee's house this coming Friday. But it is during the time I am working so I am hoping she can pick up Nonny & then I will come down after work & pick her up.

I am going to pull out my camera & go nutty with it a little later---always fun---and give some pics to you....

Be back soon!

Lill

What I Did On My Birthday

My birthday went great. Nonny & I did the grocery shopping. We used the bus to go to Hannaford & home. We bought 3 bags of groceries {I use the cloth grocery bags & a hot/cold bag} & cat litter & it cost me $111.67....still trying to figure out why. Then after we arrived home & all the groceries were put away, my friend CR called, she is our church office manager. We talked for 3 hours! It was great....she had called to just say Happy Birthday & we talked about everything....My daughter as I have told you before is a fish and CR has a lake right by her house, so, next Sunday after service we are heading out to her home.

Then Nonny & I headed out to dinner. We go out to dinner 2 times a month. She wanted to go to MJ's which is a nice restaurant a few blocks away. It is a historical building built in the early 1800's & was used for many things & now it is a restaurant. I love it because the inside of the structure has not been altered & when you sit at the table, under the glass are historical newspaper clippings of the town I live in.

Then we went to CVS pharmacy & picked up prescriptions, 3 of them and it came to $75.00!!!! It is amazing how the health care industry has made this our health into a billion dollar business. I could not believe it---one of the medz is new for Nonny's asthma.

After that we went to Stewart's. For those of you who don't know, Stewart's is a convenience store all over upstate New York & I believe there are a couple in neighboring states also. They sell everything. They can be a little pricey.....but being that it was 86 degrees & I didn't want to stand at the bus stop with milk, half & half, eggs & ice cream, I needed to go there & thats what we bought there....Nonny got a pint of ice cream called Monkey Business, it's banana ice cream with chocolate swirls going through it & I bought a pint of Raspberry Fudge Torte, frozen vanilla yogurt w/raspberry swirl & pieces of chocolate.

After we arrived home my friend S showed up with birthday gifts for me! {I love presents & my friend knows this}. She bought 2 towels & a pkg of washcloths & 2 beautiful pictures to hang on my walls {photos later}. Then the rest of the night was relaxation. I had a glass of wine & watched America's Most Wanted {did you know the FBI is now 100 years old---and on my birthday}.

I did a little reading before going to bed & got my next couple of movies set up on Netflix because they will be coming this week. I ordered the first disc, season 2 of Punky Brewster for Nonny & The Golden Compass for myself. We just returned the Spiderwick Chronicles { I didn't like that too much} & The Legend of Waterhorse {which is the legendary story of the Loch Ness Monster--remember him} and this movie was actually pretty good--it was pretty much told thru the eyes of an 8 year old little boy.

I did enjoy my birthday, nice & sweet.

Ok, have to get ready to go to church---be back later to talk again, we are catching the public bus today.

Happy Birthday to Me

Happy Birthday to me, happy birthday to me! happy birthday dear Lill...Happy birthday to me!

Thank You Jesus, for a wonderful year. With all the joy & grace, the mercy & love, the correction & discipline, the struggles & victories. Thank You for choosing me out of this world & making me Your own....Thank You Yahweh--for giving me another year & for loving me anyway!!!


Thank You for reaching down from on high and pulling me out of the mirey pit! If I had never met You, I don't know where I would be today--and that is just alright with me! To You is all glory, honor & praise. I love You Jesus!

Lill

Mexico Missionaries

The missionaries to Mexico left for Mexico this morning out of JFK airport in NYC. The last update is they were flying over the Gulf of Mexico.

Please pray for those who went on this trip. This is a wonderful opportunity to share Christ's love. They will be with the sick, needy, poor & lost. They are definitely out of their comfort zone. Most of them have gone every time there was a missions trip there---a couple of them are new.

This is an exciting time & opportunity for our brothers & sisters in Christ in missions all over the world.

Please keep our church in your prayers when you pray for missionaries, for they are your brothers & sisters too.

In Christ

Lill

No Bake Mac & Cheez

This recipe is really simple and you can mix up ingredients to your liking. Any pasta will do as will any cheeses. This is easy for kids {use your best judgment because they will be near a stove}.

We enjoyed this recipe tonight with sweet corn & peas, cajun bratwurst & papaya.

Ingredients:

• Any pasta. I find that wide egg noodles are to my liking for this recipe & that is what I used tonight. Use the amount you would use for your family.
• Butter/margarine. I use I Can't Believe Its Not Butter -Light. It is my favorite spread
• Salt & Pepper to taste.
• Any cheese. You can use one cheese, 2 cheeses---10 cheeses if you like. I always use what is available in my fridge. Tonight it was American white & Mexicano mixed. I used a half of a slice of American on each plate & then sprinkled the Mexicano cheese on top.

Boil water, cook pasta to al dente, drain pasta {do not rinse}, return pasta to pan and add a tablespoon of butter/margarine for about every 1.5 servings that you are using.

Now I put a serving of pasta on individual plates & let people add their own cheese just because some don't like it really cheezy. Now you can also layer or mix & put in a microwave safe bowl or casserole dish, microwave on high until the cheese melts. Add salt & pepper to taste

This is a great dish for your mac & cheez fans--who don't want to turn on the oven in this sweltering heat & don't want the box mac & cheese & as you see the kids can do it too..............

Have fun!

Ole Faithful

There are no colors left on this chair, it is full of old stains. It is beaten up, one side I think is broken, not pretty to look at....yet it is the most comfortable chair I have ever sat on in my life. And anyone who sits in it will tell you the same thing. I even sleep in it alot. Nonny & I have made mad dashes to get to it when getting ready to watch a TV show/movie.

It was part of a sectional set, probably mid to late 80's. It was given to me some time ago & it has proved to be faithful. I curl up in it with books, my devotions, pop the legs back & push it back & fall into to lala land in no time. My cat finds her way into this chair & sleeps for hours in it.

It made it through the fire I had in 2006. I lost alot of stuff, but, Ole Faithful stayed true to its name.........It still sits in the corner of my living room & though it does not look attractive---you will melt right into it......I don't know what it is going to take for me to let it go....

Do you have a favorite couch, chair, piece of furniture that no matter how bad it looks or sags, you will not get rid of it? Let me know!

White Picket Fence? .....Maybe

I think I have made up my mind to go forth & see what is out there for me as far as buying a house. I spoke with some other who went through a federally funded program & were given federal grants so they could have a home. I called that program today & I am eligible.....The money I make is under the limit of what they allow for my household size. In September I will be going to an orientation and then start applying. They have all kinds of classes to take, that I am interested in, such as:home improvement & home repair, principles in landlording, what to look for in a home....Of course I have to find the lender & the house...Their inspectors will go through the house to make sure it is ok for me to buy. I will update as I go.....just the thought of having my own home has kind of made me feel "giggly", like a Princess in His Court---ya know? I spoke with one of our Elders wives today, Dee & she confirmed that this is something she not only sees me doing but is something I should be doing. So I am going for it.....keep me in your prayers as I go on this journey.

This is what I am looking for: 3+ bedrooms {I need one for work}, backyard (fenced, we are animal lovers & we like our privacy), single family, good sound structure {I am so tired of leaking roofs}, has to stay in the city I live in because I don't drive & I need to be near my church, buses & shopping. Oh yeah, the lady I spoke with at the program today said that you can apply for home improvement grants and/or loans also, like, new windows, new roof, new heating system, new hot water heater---anything that will improve the way of life and improve the property....so if I like a home and the only thing that is keeping me from going for it is the water heater---I could get money for that....and on down the line. So fellow bloggers & Brothers & Sisters in Christ, this has been a desire of mine for a long time---I have been pondering & praying for quite some time & I believe that this is something that can be brought into fruition.....and I think Dee helped me make that "final" decision, she was confirmation....

I will let you know how it all goes---I am quite nervous about some things that I won't share here on the blog due to they are private, just please keep us in prayer about this....

Breeding Grounds

When you give an encouraging hug, a shoulder to lean on, a word that makes someone's day, an encouraging Word from the Scriptures.....this becomes a positive breeding ground. When you help the poor, the needy, respect your leaders, your parents, teach your children the way to go, spread the gospel, lay hands on people, pray & intercede...also a positive breeding ground. When you love someone 'anyway' no matter where they come from, where they are, who they are, what they did to you in the past, what they are doing to you now, what they wear, where they work, where they live, what they say, how they eat, what they eat....this is a positive breeding ground....nothing but good can come out of building each other up, encouraging each other, loving each other, doing the work of the Lord......so what is the opposite of that?

When you don't love, when you cause arguments, you speak gossip, you tear someone down, you sit back & do nothing, you find faults in your leaders {cuz they are supposed to be perfect.}, you look at an outward appearance & judge, you argue, bicker, cause division.....this is a breeding ground for negativity AND a doorway for satan.....the power of the tongue, "Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell." {James 3:5-6}

Or how about---"With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth comes praise and cursing.My brothers this should not be." {James 3:9-10}

So why do people do this? Here we are saved, Jesus died for us......He gave His life. And His bride is hurting each other, causing strife, bitterness and you know what happens when we allow a brother or sister to gossip to us? tear down someone? do you know what happens....well, the breeding ground starts---and before you know it--you are doing the same thing..............

We need to be an example of Christ.....I remember hearing one my elders say: "If your attitude is bad, if you walk around miserable all the time, if you treat others badly, or snap at them or swear or anything in the matter............how do you bring others to Jesus? How do you do it?"

I think that if we are negative and are not standing out, not the salt of the earth......not loving and kind.............why would they want Jesus? If we are miserable with attitudes....if we are no different then what they already deal with---geez, I could hear myself saying "If that is what happens when you accept Jesus---well, why would I want Him?"

Think about it............if someone is doing something and you see it is hurting others and that person says "hey you should do this, it's the only way you live." hm....well, would you want it?

Meditate on the things that are good, that's what Paul said....think and speak on the things that are pure, right, Godly and just.

Think before you speak AND before you act..............................

Hungry

Last night at the ministry went great. I spoke with Brenda {Pastor Dave's wife} & she said in children alone was 110 heads. There was turkey w/gravy, mashed potatoes, stuffing, corn, cranberry sauce, bread, baked beans watermelon,grapes....there were a couple more adults to volunteer. There was beading go on with the kids, that is where Nonny & my friend Brezo jumped in. I got to serve corn & baked beans. The food was great, everything was homemade.

I forgot my camera--it was raining on & off so it was held inside Pastor Dave's church CORE. I am hoping they get more adult volunteers. I hope some people from my church want to jump in & help out.

There were some elderly, homeless.....some of them came for seconds. There was a small group of children who touched my heart there, 4 of them. They come every time there is food and they must come up 3 or 4 times for full plates. We don't know their story--yet, but, Jesus does. We thought at first they might be dropping it or throwing it away or something--so one of the ladies followed them to see what was going on--they were eating all of it. Not only that, but, there were other children that would be getting up to throw their plates away & they would tell them they would take it & they would eat that too.............The community leaders, they need to see that...there are your hungry children--the children they say don't exist. They are little one's too....

We know right now that this ministry will be going on every Monday, Wednesday & Friday all summer--don't know what is happening in the Fall right yet. Pastor Dave also feeds them breakfast on Sundays and then lunch after service, that gets done all year.

They also have a bookbag ministry, where they hand out school supplies to all the children that have a need. They need everything...everything. There are not very many donations for them this year.

It's early in the morning right before I have to start work. I know there is so much more I want to say about this......I hope I remember my camera next time, which is Wednesday.

What Hungry Children?

Tonight is Monday and it is time for the Feed A Kid Ministry I told you about before, under "Pastor Dave" in my blogging friends list.

I sent a couple of emails to 2 of our Elders and found out that our Senior Elder will be meeting with Pastor Dave this Tuesday to discuss this ministry and a few others and also some long term suggestions.....I am so excited about this---there are already 3 churches involved and now my home church! Jesus is taking over.

Pastor Dave has shared that he has received some resistance from community leaders...they want him to take it inside the church. I told him, well, you know why that is don't you? Because once Jesus takes over the streets, they don't have that title anymore....they have had the opportunity for YEARS to find ways to get the children off the streets, away from gangs, drugs & prostitution, to get guns off the street, to become a part of their lives---and now there is a Bible based church & churches that are doing what the Lord called us to do---and they are a little resistant? hm.....yeah.

Tonight on the menu is supposed to be hot open faced turkey sandwiches {yummy}...I hope some of the people let me take some pics to share with you. Because it has been raining so much here, the ministry might have to be inside tonight. All the news coverage they received the first night has led to much bigger responses. Some community leaders do not believe there are hungry children here---well, I can remember being without work and depending on our government to help me and my daughter and we were at food pantries & soup kitchens and we would not have got through the months without them---AND there are times when we still need them....so if me, a full time working person who makes "okay" money to the US standards, needs help here and there---what about those on the "slim line"??? More children.....how about those children who are not on their parent's priority list?? What about them?? Do we say "NO, your Mom has a job, your Dad gets food stamps" .....

No, we do what Jesus would do.....we preach the gospel. Part of preaching the gospel is doing what He would do if He were here in human form walking the streets......He would be there, right in the midst of the chaos, the drugs, prostitution, gangs...homeless, destitute, pushed aside, walked over....yes that is where He would be.....maybe some of those community leaders have not been exposed to the truth---the truth on the streets & the Truth of our Saviour.....if they did, they would be there, handing out plates, washing dishes, changing the garbage, standing in the trenches, loving them anyway---doing it all for Him........washing feet, yes, that's would they would be doing.

Sometimes people are afraid of the truth, whatever it may be....especially if it is foreign to them...they have never lived it. They have never been addicted to a drug, felt unloved, hungry or been without a home---kind of makes you feel sad for them too--because they are caught up in the same lie as those they claim to be leading.

I know the Lord pricks my heart right there---right in the heart of all the chaos---it's like He calls me---over here Lillian--over there---him right there Lillian--her over there....it's this filling up that makes you want to explode!!! And until you do it ---it fills and fills till it is brimming and bursting ----

Have you ever sat down and had a conversation with someone nobody else "sees"? Laid hands on someone nobody else considers "clean"? Talked to a child whose Mom is home sleeping off a hang over? A little girl whose father is in prison? A prostitute that everybody spits on? An elderly man whose life partner passed away and the family is too busy to see him? A single Mom with 5 kids who works hard and still no getting ahead? Someone who just needed a hug? A smile? A kind word? If you have not....you should come down to this ministry.....come and see what the Lord is doing there. People are coming together....these people who have never even been given a second thought to are being reached out to by Jesus....He calls me there....Come over here Lillian, I am here, in the midst of the chaos.....I am the Calm here, the Calm in the storm....

"Preach the gospel at all times and when necessary use words." I don't remember exactly who said it, it sits at the bottom of the stairs when you come out of our church's sanctuary to enter the fellowship hall---it always struck me---and it is appropriate right now...................

I am grateful that He pricks my heart there and for other outreaches and missions---I just get my socks blessed right off................

Road Trip!!! Woo Hoo!!!

I don't know whether I have posted about this or not, my church is going on a missions trip to Mexico. They leave Friday, July 25th and will be returning Aug 4th. They are going to leave JFK Airport in NYC so there are people who are going to drive them down to NYC and then people who are going to go get them. So on Aug 4th, Nonny & I will be riding shotgun with another person from the church to go pick them up! I love road trips & I can not wait! Of course I will be bringing my camera for a picture documentary. We will leave home Aug 4th around 7 pm and then we should get there by 9:30-10:00 pm depending on traffic, the plane arrives at 9:00 pm and they have to go back thru customs and bags and all that, so we will probably be leaving NYC around 11:00-12:00....And arriving back home approx 2:30-3:00 am, again depending on the traffic.

I will keep you updated on all the info as time goes on.

Flea Collar Alert

For those of you who have been reading my blog you know that my cat, Lilah, has seizures. When we moved down here to the first floor she had not had one in 2 months, so I figured {why? I don't know} that whatever may have been causing the seizures was upstairs....well, I was wrong.

Friday night Lilah had the worst seizure ever. It took a long time for it to go away & I had never seen it that bad before. Guess what? Our local news, http://www.cbsalbany.com/ had coverage on a woman in Ballston Spa who had a cat who had seizures & it died. Cause? Hartz 2-in-1 Flea Collars. Found out alot of kitties are having seizures and every single one of them that has/had them are from the collar.....On Friday night while she was having the seizure, I prayed the Lord would show me what was causing these things so I maybe, could get rid of them......So many people have kitties who are having seizures. A lady at my church told me her cat had them also. If you call the emergency number on the back of the box, noone answers. I called the vet, he told me not to buy any over the counter collars----thing is he told me that before---but me, in all my wisdom {duh} thought that he was saying that because he wanted me to buy what he had......

I have had animals all my life....all kinds and we always used Hartz products. So why would I think any different???? Why would I think something has changed???? Something did, somewhere along the line..............because I have heard & personally spoke with quite a few people whose kitties were affected by these collars, with seizures & sometimes death.....

This Is Going to be Lengthy: Flying Felines, Homeless & Hungry, Dancing and Colds

So here I am...I have been very busy!

Pastor Dave {he has a blog here, see his link "Pastor Dave" on my Blogging Buddies list on the left hand side of my blog} is a man in my community who has a church right smack dead in the middle of the crime ridden area of our city. He has joined up with 2 other pastors -Pastor Willie and another one, to take back the streets. Our kids, our families are dying out here. They started a feeding children ministry--which they have not given a name to yet....LOL, don't we always look for "names"? On Monday I went there---and wow! Pastor Dave had been given an empty lot right across from his church and here were all these people from all these different churches....from our church was me, Nonny and a friend. There was hot dogs, chicken wings, macaroni & cheese, potato salad, corn on the cob, watermelon, juice, water.....it was great!!! They are doing this every Monday, Wednesday & Friday as long as the Lord allows. I want to be there as much as I can. Pastor Dave is also looking to invest in a building to have a ministry for children. Pastor Charlie over across the river in Albany has a ministry for children to have hot meals and lunches everyday....this is something Pastor Dave is looking to have here in Troy. He wants it so there is clothing, cooking lessons, help with homework, art & crafts, mentoring...........yes how wonderful! Do I want to be a part of that???? Absolutely....I would love to help with the cooking lessons and homework that is a definite....I think this is wonderful and he does have the back up of Pastor Charlie, Pastor Willie and the other Pastor {I keep forgetting his name!}. Oh how the Lord is working....I will keep you updated on this....

Also on Monday we had a fllying feline! Yes you heard me right---I have placed her picture on this post. I found out later her name is Patches. I live on the first floor and there is an addition to this apartment that has 2 rooms. One of them is my bedroom and the other one is the office. Early that morning I heard a thump as I was getting up---we have a neighbor who has a huge SUV and when he shuts the door he shuts hard and sometimes it sounds like something hit the house--that's what I thought it was....until I was bringing Nonny to the boys& girls club, and when I came back I hear meowing but I know it was not my cat---and I look up and right there on my roof {remember it is an addition so it is only one story} is a calico cat---I walk up the back steps leading to the second floor apartment and bring her in my house....I recognize her as a neighbors cat and go to his home next door and find out from others he is at work for the day. I went back outside to try and figure what had happened when an elderly gentleman came to my fence and told me she fell from the 3rd floor window onto the addition.......WHAT?!?!?!?!, He said he saw the whole thing---she was in the window and then all of a sudden on my addition---wow!!! she fell 2 stories!!! she seemed fine. When her owner came home he was very distraught and very worried about her---he said that the screen in the bathroom window had torn and the landlord was replacing it, in the morning he opened it to find out how the weather was and must have forgot to close it and that is how Patches made it to the ledge and fell....his other cat Sasha and his dog Mike however never went to the window....This cat was so happy to see her Daddy and he was so happy to see her---

Wednesday we went to the soup kitchen at my church and it was packed. Seems more and more people are showing up there. Pastor Joe and his wife Donna use our church's fellowship hall to do a soup kitchen every Wednesday {The Lord willing Donna would say}. It has been so hot and muggy that they made a bunch of salads...tuna salad, macaroni salad, toss salad, corn, pickles, bananas and cake....I brought some of my clothes there and the women were so happy to get them.

When we got home Wednesday, Nonny went straight in her room and went to sleep. I knew then that she was getting sick so I prayed. She woke later on with a headache and sore throat, checked, no white patches---thank YOU JESUS. No fever, gave her some ibuprofen, prayer and a freezy pop.

Wednesdays and Thursdays we watch, "So You Think You Can Dance", and we were very please with the show, we love Joshua, Gev, Twitch, Katee, Courtney & Chelsie, yes thats alot but we love them....Yesterday Gev had the least amount of votes so he had to leave. No worries, he is in the top ten and will be in the tour around the world.

As of last night Nonny had a slight fever 99.6, so she took a tepid bath and she felt much better, with some prayer her fever broke before she went to bed. Needless to say she has not been going to the boys & girls club and they won't let her come back till she is fever free 24 hours, so she misses her miniature golf trip today because they said she can come back Monday if she is fever free....she did not seem too disappointed {?} I also think when you are sick you are not thinking of those things.

It has been a busy week....I hope to get here tonight and tell you more and do some posts on Bible study and all that.................also thank you for all your kind comments and for visiting my blog....I have to go to work now....which is next to this computer!!!

What we did Sunday 07/06/2008

This is my nephew B

This is my nephew O
This is their Mom, BAM my baby sister and my Nonny
Here they are with their new bikes
that is from left, Shir,Keith & our step grand popsy, Nonny's great grand popsy

Sunday was my twin nephews birthday, they turned 2 years old. We had a blast. There was a ton of food: burgers, dogs, potato salad, tuna salad, pasta salad, green salad...chips, dips...The cake was great, it was marble, the frosting was a little too sweet but all in all it was good.

They got new little bikes and helmets and were just having a great time. Nonny and my sister BAM {mom of the twins and my baby sister} had a water fight and they both left having to wear BJ's clothes. BJ is my other sister, where the party was held. We got see my step-grandfather & great Auntie. It was a beautiful day, temps only went to 85 yet it was hot! The twin B went four wheeling where his brother O wanted nothing to do with it at all.

See some pics up top...you can see what a great time we had. I will add some more later. Be back really soon!

Oh yeah, hurt my back, so I walk like a duck!

What We Did Yesterday

Yesterday I spent the day at my good friends home. Their daughter, HRB, graduated from high school, so yesterday I was at the graduation party. {see slide show in post below}. She is on her way to FIT {Fashion Institute of Technology}in Manhattan. We had a really great time. The food was awesome. There was fruits, veggies, pasta salad, pasta w/pesto, BBQ chicken, burgers & hot dogs, Italian sausage, ziti, baked beans. The cake was great. It just could not have been better, the weather was great also. My Nonny got to go swimming.....so she could grow another fin..lol. That is their house and the graduate on the right.

When I get paid this week I am getting HRB her present. She will be living in a dorm & pretty limited on what she can bring. I am going to get her a laundry bag & stuff it with some towels {thanks for the idea Faith} & her faves of green tea & applesauce. I wish when I was just recently in the City I would have thought to get her some subway tokens. I will also get her some colored pencils and sketch pads.

Today is another fun filled adventure and I will be back to tell you all about it & to upload another slide show.

Have a wonderful day! Talk to you soon.

HRB Graduation 2008...Congrats! Great Job

Fried Chicken Recipe #1

I have a few different recipes for fried chicken. One that I will share with you today is simple.

To do 5 whole chicken legs {whole being the thigh & leg as one} I use the following ingredients:

1 egg, beaten
Approx 2 1/2 cups of Italian breadcrumbs w/garlic
Canola or Vegetable oil---enough to cover the chicken half way
5 whole chicken legs

Put the oil in a large frying skillet and set your flame on medium or 6 if you have an electric range.

While the oil is heating: clean & rinse your chicken.

Put beaten egg into a bowl, in a separate large bowl put the breadcrumbs. Dip pieces of chicken one at a time into the egg and then into the breadcrumbs.

When the oil is hot {I take a little dab of water on my fingertips and fling it in the oil, if it responds it is hot enough}

Carefully place chicken into hot oil and then turn your heat UP. Yes, UP. If you have an electric range go to 8 and high on a gas. Reason you are doing this is because when you put the cold chicken in the oil it cools the oil and the chicken will not come out great. Cook until done---yes the oil will be very hot---it will boil like water. I flip every 5 - 7 minutes until it is done { I do cut in to a piece and make sure it is done}

Please note then when frying with breadcrumbs the look of the chicken will be darker than when frying with flours.

While the chicken is cooking line a large bowl with paper towels or napkins {I use a glass mixing bowl}, don't use plastic, when the chicken is done, carefully remove from the oil & set in paper towel lined bowl, the paper towels will soak up the oil.

And then: ENJOY!

We are having this tonight with corn on the cob & left over spanish rice from the taco cafe and macaroni salad left over from the soup kitchen.....no BBQ for me this year, just resting.....fireworks tonight though!