Last night Evan was playing Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004 on the PS2. I walked by the TV and he was setting up his character. He told me you could set up your character to look just like you and he was creating his. I stopped and stared at the blonde man on the screen and said “uh – you have brown hair”. He told me he wasn’t done yet and continued to work on it.

He then came out and asked if I wanted to play and I told him I had fun things to do like cleaning up the kitchen, ironing, etc. Todd eventually sat down with him and started working on his character. I walked through again and had to laugh at the image on the screen. There was a semi bald man (Hair only on the bottom part of his head). Evan told him he had to put 100% on the midsection. This guy turned from a muscular guy into a middle aged man with a big gut. It was kind of funny to watch and I chuckled as I saw his character come to life. Of course Evan had lots of advice as to how his character should look.

After I finished the fun things I was doing I sat down with Evan because I knew Todd had tons of stuff to do to get ready for a business trip he was going on. Of course I had to create my character. Things that I thought were funny earlier started to not be so funny. I started getting the advice of my 8 yr old son as to what to do about my nose, mouth, hair, etc. As a matter of fact there was no hair style that matched mine because mine is so outdated. That was a sad thing to see and be reminded of. But hey – if you had my straight thick hair you would not know what to do with it either. Then he told me to make sure I increased my midsection too. My perception of myself was way different than what Evan’s was of me. I don’t think I have a big midsection. I’m not skinny but I don’t have a huge stomach either. Anyway – I increased it some and finally finished my character which I didn’t think looked like me at all.

We started to play some serious golf. Evan’s character appeared and I just had to stare at the muscular, tall, good looking man on the screen. Wow – I don’t recall him working out like that. Every time my character appeared Evan kept saying how big my backside was. That’s the last time I let my son help me create something that supposedly looks like me. He kept telling me how cool his guy looked and how big my backside was. Yeah – that’s what happens when you increase your midsection. Your backside gets bigger too!

Rachel is the winner of the book "Same Kind of Different as Me" from the Dog Days of Summer giveaway. Congratulations Rachel!

A coworker of mine told me about this news story on abcnews.com.

There is a cat named Oscar that knows when nursing home patients are going to die. He will curl up next to them during their final hours. Excuse the pun but he has been “dead on” with predicting when these patients will die. So far he has done this with 25 patients. Since he has this ability it has led the nursing home staff to contact the patient’s families so that they have a little time with them before they pass on.

I am amazed at what animals can do. They are truly amazing. I’m afraid though that dear old Oscar probably doesn’t have too many friends at the nursing home. That’s one cat that I would not want snuggling up to me.

I wrote in an earlier post that I won this book in a book giveaway and that the author, Karen Ball, was kind enough to not only send me this book but 2 of her other books. I was anxious to read this book since I’ve never read any of her books before. I sent Karen a thank-you note to let her know how much I appreciated her kindness and told her I would be reviewing her books on my blog. When I went to start this book I was a little concerned about telling the author that I would review it. What if I didn’t like it? What would I do then? I’m a very honest person so there was no way I was going to say I liked it just because Karen might read my review. So I started the book and my concerns melted away.

I really enjoyed “Kaleidoscope Eyes”. It is a story about Annie who has synesthesia. This is an actual condition where a person perceives colors in numbers and letters. The author has a good friend who has this. Anyway – Annie is an artist and also part of a search and rescue team with her dog, a German shepherd named Kodi. Because of Annie’s synesthesia she always feels like she never fits in. This is a story of suspense, faith, and romance. I highly recommend reading it.

One of the neat things that Karen incorporated into her book was a quote from a famous person and a Bible verse at the beginning of each chapter. Below is one of my favorite quotes I found in the book.

“People are like stained-glass windows.
They sparkle and shine when the sun is out,
But when the darkness sets in,
Their true beauty is revealed only if there is light from within.”

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

Shannon over at Rocks In My Dryer is hosting a Dog Days of Summer Bloggy Giveaway. I tried to think of something neat to give away and the one thing that just kept coming up was the book “Same Kind of Different As Me”.
I just loved this book and know that it would bless someone else so that is what I’m giving away. This is a new book. I'm keeping my copy to share with others. To see my review of the book click here.

Please visit Shannon’s site to see all of the blog giveaways. She has a pretty nice blog so even stop by and read some of her posts if you have time.

To be entered in the drawing for the book, leave one comment below. Only one entry per person will be accepted. If you do not have a blog you are still welcome to enter. Just make sure you leave an email address so I can contact you if you win. This giveaway is for US and Canada only. I will accept comments up to 5:00 pm EST on Friday, July 27th. The winner will be announced on Friday after that time.

Saturday night we did something we haven’t done in a long time. We watched a movie. I don’t know why but we rarely go to the movies or watch them at home. We have heard from a few friends that “Facing The Giants” was a good movie so we thought we would rent it. We were not disappointed. Yes – the actors in the movie probably weren’t the best Hollywood could buy but they made the movie on a $100,000 budget and many of the actors didn’t even get paid.

The movie is about a Christian high-school football coach that has had a losing season for 6 years. It is about what he finds he needs in order to have a successful football team. He decides to turn things over to God and the story unfolds from there. This is a good movie for all ages. We really enjoyed the movie and sharing time together watching it.

Jules tagged me to answer the meme, “Why do you love Jesus?”. She has an awesome story so make sure you check out her response.

It has been a few days since I’ve been tagged and I’ve been trying to think about how to put the answer to that in words. I don’t think I truly can. It’s just too big for words.

However, I will state a few simple things that come to mind:

• I love Him because he loves me no matter what.
• I love Him because he lived on earth and has experienced anything I will ever go through. He can always relate to me.
• He knows everything about me – good and bad – and still accepts me.
• No matter how far I go away from Him he is patiently waiting for my return.
• He died for me and paid the price for my sins.

I have to admit this is my first meme. I would like to tag Todd, Julie, and Lori. However, if you are reading this and want to share your thoughts please do so.

I read this devotional this morning that I got from Proverbs 31 Ministries. It really hit home because I had this type of opportunity last night to be selfless but I chose selfishness. Yesterday was a very busy day. I saw Todd in the morning before he left for work and various meetings he had outside of work. I think it was around 6:30 am when he left for the day and I knew that I would not see him much.

He had a school board meeting at 4:00 pm that lasted awhile and I had taken Evan to piano lessons at 6:00 pm and didn’t get home until 7:00 pm. I fixed dinner and left some out for Todd so he could eat in between his school board meeting and a church meeting he had at 7:00 pm. Even though we didn’t see each other he left a wonderful message on the answering machine while driving to his church meeting. He thanked me for the nice dinner and told both of us he missed us and loved us.

After his 7:00 meeting he called and said he was going to meet with some other people from church for awhile. He got home around 10:00 pm. I can say that I was bothered that these other people were taking him away from his family. That is the way I was looking at it. That was the selfish way I was looking at it. When he got home I wasn’t very welcoming. I wasn’t mean but just quiet. I realize now after reading this devotional that I was not really supporting Todd in the things he was doing yesterday. I was thinking more of myself and the fact that he wasn’t at home when I wanted him to be. It is frustrating sometimes because he is involved in a lot of things that take him away from being home. However, he deserves a wife who supports him and someone who is going to sew positive seeds in a marriage. I know I need to work on this. I do love my husband very much and am very glad that this devotional came my way today. Funny how that happens.

“”… for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap” Galatians 6:7(NAS)

Devotion:
My friend Amy really made an impression on me by one simple little thing she did recently for her husband. She had scheduled a hair appointment on the day Mike was off work. She didn’t tell him about the appointment; she just knew that he loves to be with his little girls and that he’d agree to be home while she went to her appointment.

The day before, however, Mike said he was planning to go golfing with a friend on his day off. Now here’s where she impressed me! She simply said, “Sounds great! Have fun!” She didn’t even mention the hair appointment!

She could have responded in so many different ways. She could have begrudgingly responded, “I have a hair appointment, but I’ll reschedule.” She could have dug in her heels and said, “No way. I already have plans, and I need you to watch the girls.” She could have complained about her lack of freedom, as she’s the mother to two little girls and her husband travels frequently.

But she didn’t. Instead she responded selflessly. With her gracious response to her husband, she lived out Philippians 2:3: “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves” (NAS).

As Amy sows into her marriage godly principles such as selflessness instead of selfishness, she’s reaping the blessings of a unified, intimate, and joyful marriage.

Let’s ask ourselves today: What attitudes and actions are we sowing into our own marriages? Here’s a few to consider: Respect or contempt? Thankfulness or complaining? Submission or rebellion? Gentleness or harshness? Patience or irritability? Forgiveness or unforgivness?

If we’re experiencing strife or distance in our marriages, we need to ask God to show us if we might be reaping what we’re sowing. God will reveal to us any attitudes or actions which grieve Him. Then we can confess them and replace them with obedience to God’s principles for us as wives.

• A coworker who has been off work for over a year waiting on a liver transplant. We were told she is not doing well and will not leave the hospital unless she receives a transplant soon.

• A friend who had a 14 yr old nephew drown on Sunday.

• Another friend who’s cancer has returned after being in remission.

• The mother of our sponsored child from Ethiopia. We received a letter from Berkeit yesterday stating that she is ill and needs prayers.

• Our 10 yr old puppy Abby who has not been feeling like herself over the last several weeks.

My friend Liz from work introduced me to Terri Blackstock last year. Come to think of it you could think of Liz as an enabler. Yes – she is feeding my book addiction problem. I just discovered that fact. Someone really needs to come in and do an intervention. LOL!

Anyway – Liz was reading the “Restoration Series”. Terri writes her series with 4 books in it. Liz and I read the first two in the “Restoration Series” called “Last Light” and “Night Light”. They were very good. Terri just came out with the 3rd book in that series that is called “True Light”. I’m anxious to get that one but I think I’ll wait until I catch up on my 50 some books first. Or you never know – Liz might just get it and pass it along.

The book that I just read, “River’s Edge”, is the 3rd book in her “Cape Refuge Series”. I have already read the first two, “Cape Refuge” and “Southern Storm”. Terri is a Christian author that I’ve really enjoyed. Her books are easy to read and all of them have been full of suspense. By the way – you can read a book in the series without reading the preceding ones but I recommend reading them in order.

River’s Edge deals with the murder of the wife of one of the candidates in a mayoral race. There is a psychic involved who somehow knows where the body is. There are scripture verses that the author includes which deal with the topic of psychics and what is said about them in the Bible. Even though this is a fictional story I found this part very interesting. Basically the book is about solving the murder mystery. It deals with all kinds of human relationships. I highly recommend anything that Terri writes. I have never been disappointed with her books.

Okay – I swear I didn’t spend a penny on another book. Really – you believe me don’t you? I won the book “Kaleidoscope Eyes” by Karen Ball from Katrina over at Callapidder Days. Well yesterday when I got the package it was pretty big for just one book. Low and behold there were 3 in there along with a nice note from the author Karen Ball. She stated that she was including 2 of her other books as a gift. I thought that was such a nice thing to do. She gave me “A Test Of Faith” and “Shattered Justice”. I’ve never read any of her books but am excited to get started. Right now I’m finishing up a book by Terri Blackstock and will review it when I get done. It’s a good one.

Last Friday Lori, from Lori’s Comfort Zone, nominated me for this award. I have never received a blog award before so I was very surprised to get it. I don’t remember how I came across Lori’s blog but I have been visiting it on a daily basis and enjoy reading about her family. She has a son that is around Evan’s age and he is an only child too. Lori and I appear to be around the same age so I just felt at home reading her blog and enjoying her stories. Thanks Lori! You definitely rock!

When you get these awards you are supposed to pass them along to some well deserving people. I do read several blogs on an almost daily basis and have found that some of them have already received this award. I will pick a few of them and share them with you.

First off there is Jules at Maced With Grace. I met Jules by seeing her post comments on my husband’s blog. Jules is a fantastic photographer and always has cool nature pictures to share. She is also very open with her life and the ups and downs of it. I have learned a great deal from Jules and I look forward to seeing what she posts each day.

Another great blog is Katrina at Callapidder Days. She has all kinds of interesting things to read about. She reviews board games and other games for kids. She has Books Galore giveaways, and a Fall Into Reading and Spring Reading Thing challenges. I have not participated in these reading challenges because I just started reading her blog recently but I am looking forward to joining in the fall. I liked seeing what books her participants read and their reviews of them. I find her blog really fun.

And the last one I’ll mention, although there are many more great ones, is Antique Mommy. A day without Antique Mommy is like a day without sunshine. Her blog is wonderful and full of great stories of her son Sean and the adventures they have together.

So, I should probably make some wonderful speech about how I dedicate this award to my husband and son who have supported me in my attempts at blogging. LOL! I wish I had something fun to blog about each day like so many others but for me I just write something when I get inspired which isn’t all that often.

Rock on!

I was at work one day and saw my friend Liz reading this book during her break. The cover is very bright and it caught my eye. I asked her if it was good and she said it was and that I could read it when she was done.

I have to admit that it wasn’t a book I would normally pick out on my own. I have been reading mostly Christian fiction lately so this was different for me. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised.

This is a story about a man who likes to live life on the edge by doing a lot of high risk activities such as being dropped off out of a helicopter and skiing down treacherous mountains. He happens to mention to a friend on one of his trips that if he ever got to the point where he wasn’t really living he would rather be dead. His friend informs him of the “Death Angels” who are people that you hire in advance to end your life if it gets to a point where you are no longer really living. The person who hires them gives them a set of criteria to go by to know when it is appropriate to end their life. Once you sign the contract and pay your money to the “Death Angels” there is no way out. You cannot change your mind.

This book is full of suspense and will keep you entertained. I would give it 4 out of 5 stars.

Oh – and by the way. I’ve been doing fairly well with reading my 50 some books that I have. However, we stopped at a garage sale last Saturday and I got 2 more books. Hey – they were only 25 cents a piece. I couldn’t pass up that bargain. And just think – once I read them I’ll review them so you can read them too if you like.

Last Saturday we left for a week at Grand Lake. I have really enjoyed being there. We have spent some time away from the lake house and that has been fun too.

Sunday we went to Bear Creek Farms. We looked on the internet for things to do in the area and found out it was only 35 minutes away. If I had to sum up our experience there in one word it would be “smelly”. LOL! They were having some major sewage problems there and I had to hold my breath when going inside the building. Using the restroom was a really smelly experience but hey – when you got to go you got to go. We aren’t sure if it was just because it was a Sunday but it seemed like a ghost town there. Outside we had the smell of farm animals. Now I can handle that much better than the sewer smell for some reason. We did have fun there despite the odors. We walked around and had this really strange cat (we named him Tom) that followed us around for awhile. When he first came toward us I thought he was singing. There were some people singing and it sounded like it was coming from him. I really thought he was possessed. He acted like a dog by walking right beside us. It was pretty funny. We ended up eating there and playing miniature golf. (One of Evan’s favorite things to do.) After we left there we saw about 8 Amish carriages traveling home from church. It was really neat to see them. Some of them waived at us. It really made me think about how different our lives are from theirs.

Monday we went to see one of my college roommates and her kids in Indiana. Her son Dustin, who is 10, and Evan, who is 8 really have a blast together. They speak a special Pokemon language the whole time we are there. It is really interesting to hear them talk about all of the various Pokemon and the powers that they have. They are always in their own little world. Then there is her daughter Olivia who is 7 and always wants to be my best friend. Well this time she has a friend of hers over so I didn’t spend as much time with her but she is always drawing me pictures or making me some special bracelet or necklace out of beads. We went out for lunch and then headed over to the miniature golf course for 36 holes of fun. We went back to their house so the kids could play and we could visit. All in all a fun day.

Tuesday I drove 45 minutes (instead of my usual 20) to work while Todd and Evan had some father and son time. That evening we took a walk along the lake after much whining from Evan and also took a golf cart ride. We heard no whining on the golf cart ride by the way.

Wednesday we got up and had a major crisis. Our internet and cable TV were not working. I knew this would be a major thing for both Evan and Todd. Evan loves to play on the computer. He spends way too much time on it. His friend Dustin had showed him a website to create Pokemon on and he was wanting to get online and work on that. Todd is also on the computer a lot between blogging and doing stuff for work. We actually took 2 laptops up there with us and I took a picture of them with my new digital camera on Tuesday where they are both facing off on their laptops. Once I figure out how to get the pictures off of the camera I will share those. Abby and I took a long walk around the lake and ran into a man that lives in the area and ended up walking and talking with him for awhile. Well Abby didn’t talk but she did the walking part. It was so nice and peaceful to walk around the water and take in the beauty of it all. Anyway – we left after lunch and went to my dad and step-mom’s house back in our hometown. Fran’s son’s and their families were there. We had only met her sons before so it was nice to meet the rest of them. We played some games outside and had a nice time visiting with them. We came home, played ping pong, air hockey, and went for another golf cart ride. Then we had a wonderful time outside playing with sparklers and pop-its. Almost everywhere around the lake people were setting off fireworks. The people right next door were setting some off that were fun to watch. It was such a great time. Evan really enjoyed it and we did too.

It is Thursday now and I’m back at work. I miss Todd and Evan. It seems strange to be here and have them at the lake. I’m hoping they are sharing some special time together today. I’m sure the top thing on the list is getting a new cable modem. LOL! The TV is now working but we think the cable modem needs replaced. I’m looking forward to going back after work, eating pizza, and hanging out with my 2 special guys. I’m also looking forward to the rest of our days at the lake. It’s our home away from home where we can relax and enjoy being with one another.