Monday, November 05, 2007

I'm Listening God....

Today I'm searching for myself....Looking deep into who I am and what I want out of life. You know those days when you feel like, something is missing...So you think what is it? Well I've been looking a long time and I'm close to finding it, I know. I met a girl last week who was a vendor at Christmas Village at he BJCC. She makes hand bags and shoulder purses, hand knit scarves and ponchos. She put such a cool touch on her things, I immediately knew I'd found my favorite booth at Christmas Village. For a moment I found my self quite envious...Then as I bought one of her many items we talked and I quickly found that this person mirrored my personality. She said she'd found her way and her niche' by sewing Christmas stockings for her four children and had to "screw up to find out what she could really do". She said "God put it in her lap". I felt encouraged to hear her echo my thoughts of what inspired her and what doesn't and to see even still how successful she is! Her name is Heaven, and she's my new friend! Check out her site for really hip hobo bags, hand knit items such as scarves and ponchos. She has some beautiful things that any girl with great taste would love!!! I bought a shoulder bag with a leather flap. Heaven burned (branded) my initial in the flap along with some cool designs. It's awesome. The Bag Girl is located here in Alabama. http://www.thebaggirl.com/Browse.html


I'm listening for a voice inside of me. My creative voice, the call of nature that drives me to cook, pick out clothing for my kids, decorate the house for Halloween, create birthday themes, come up with crazy stories to tell my kids, rymthes and songs and even write. The drive that lights the way to go, to find the spark in me for once. I know it's there, but I can't make it happen. I feel like I could burst at times in frustration because I know there's something that God wants me to do. I want so badly to tap into the creative side of me that I know is there, but for some reason won't show it's beautiful face. I feel like I can do thousand things '"well" and for that I'm thankful, but I can't for the LIFE of me find the one thing that will catapult into a fun past-time and the passion that sooths my soul. This girl found hers and talked to me at lenght about how she got started. What a true inspiration!

So this is my prayer today~ Lord, please lead me in the direction you have intended. Help me to be faithful in you, that you will show me that path to explore and help unveil what is that I cannot find alone. Thank you for your blessings, Lord. I pray you'll bless my family and the people who lead me to you and your son, Jesus Christ, my savior and redeemer. Thank you for my blessings of loving family and friends and those who have help shape my life.

So excuse me, I've got work to do...I'm jumping in to find what it is I'm meant to do. I sorta feel Like Earl Hickey (my Name is Earl). Thanks for reading. I hope that God leads you where you want to go today.


Nurse Jenny

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Gone With Our Old Ways!

It's diet time. The hubs and I are on the wagon...the diet wagon that is. Ahhhhh we've hit late 30's and we both realize that weight isn't mysteriously falling off of us. It makes logical sense that with age and time, you just get FATTER. I have managed to maintain and sometimes lose a pound here and there...but I can't comfortably get into those really good jeans without feeling the 'dun lop'. We all know what dun lop is...The hubs keeps a sense of humor about it as he does most everything. Last night he said he had "Dick- do". His stomach sticks out further than his 'dick do". Okay, I had to throw that in for a laugh. Back to the plan.


We laid down some ground rules; NO McDonald's and No Reese cup bars (His favorites) No Apple Turn Overs or Taco Bell for me. No more Mexican lunches with salsa, chips and queso. We can't finish the food our kids don't eat for them (those calories do count! )and no eating late at night. We've increased fiber and water; those things should help. Neither of us wants to kill ourselves dieting, we will commit to making 'better choices' though and try to sneak in time on the tread mill that is quietly collecting dust upstairs in our house. What a waist of nearly a grand.


My goal is to lose 20 lbs...His is 30. But we aren't racing or competing, just helping each other along t he way. For the first time, this diet thing was his idea and not mine...I agreed since I do all the cooking. We both know how to diet, we just manage to make bad choices and chose to eat the things we love, which are usually terribly fattening. I love to cook, and since we're in the South, the influence is people like damn Paula Deen! (smiles) She truly is my hero. She is a Goddess in the kitchen. I love her dearly, but I'm putting my love for country fried steak, mashed potatoes with gravy, Bread Pudding made with a dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts and all her other WoNdeRful recipes on the back burner (no pun) for the moment. I will treasure them, along with my Celebrations Cookbook and save her sinful but delectable collections for special occasions only. I'll close for now and hope to report back with some progress.

Focus; About two weeks ago, I had my first Thickburger from Hardee's. In a word-FABULOUS! It was after my son's ballgame on a Thursday night, Brad was working late, we drove through for a bite. After I got home, I unwrapped the burger and said to myself, "Oh I won't eat all of this" pushing down the guilt...and five minutes later as sauce is dripping down the side of my face, it was GONE. Every ounce....GONE! There was no need for fries, I had no room and didn't care. That was by far the messiest, best damn burger I've ever put in my mouth. Oh I'm sure there will be a weak moment when I fold and find myself in the drive through salivating like ravenous animal. I'll order another Thickburger and devour it in the car, clean up the mess, and no body gets hurt.


Don't: Buy into fad diets. I've researched some fad diets...www.skinnyondiets.com. It's a great resource to the fad diets and helps you steer clear of diets that yield little results, and only cheat you out of money. That's money better spent on a Thickburger.

Do: Set goals for yourself, achievable ones. There really is no replacement for old fashioned moderation and exercise. It's slower, but sure to help. Reward yourself when the job's well done.

Take care of your body, no one else will. (and your lover will thank you!)

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

Jealousy Beaming From AU Fans

Aubies turn away now and do not read this. You'll be disappointed to find no pictures to copy and paste to your stale emails making fun of Alabama's new head Coach (or our dead one). You won't find "Sabear" as you call him, propped against a goal post next to a ghostly figure of Coach Bryant. Newsflash...AL fans know that we won't win every game in 2007. However we do know we have an awesome coach. But we need no reminders from a team that was nearly upset by a PAC 10 team (oops, that is wrong) I mean a BIG 12 team last Saturday of how to play a ball game or what to expect this season. Most of us aren't naive enough to think that simply because we have a signature coach, super practices, filled with mental, as well as physical conditioning, that it guarantees a winning season and a shot at a national championship.

We are simply proud. Proud to be excited about football once again. We're also proud of Bear Bryant for what he made Alabama football and the legacy he left behind. What's not to cherish? But a mockery of the University by claims that we worship a dead coach, I think is scraping the bottom of the bad joke barrel. To make fun of a University and a football program who has contributed so greatly to this state and to it's sports history, is tasteless and low-rate humor of anyone. (crickets ...)

Is it humanly possible for our state rivals to understand that Alabama Football is about tradition and pride, the same pride they have for their school and coaches? Okay, I was on drugs two seconds ago when I asked that.... Of course they can't understand, they have no PRIDE or TRADITION in Auburn. If they do, where is it? Was it Shug Jordan?? Does the average person even know? They don't have any statues erected of them, do they? That must be why we get so much grief about the statues In T-town. Aubies are jealous because they have no statues. Finally, I understand. And to think all this time.... Do they have a statue of Bo down there? No, again. He must not have been so important either. They do, however, have a LCD, big screen at the stadium. (applause, applause)


I'm sick of hearing our coach referred to as the 'Thirty million dollar Coach". It is what it is ... and isn't that between him and the University? Sure, it's public knowledge but can you stop now... please? That horse is dead already. It's just money...His money and it cannot buy AL a championship. So -get over it already...and careful Auburn, your envy is showing. I'll just throw up if I hear the media call him The thirty Million Dollar Coach again or read it in another forward/ email from my Auburn friends. (hey guys, we've seen Saban as The Bear (100 times) NOT FUNNY ANY MORE! Saban has been Jim Carey and even mirrored as Chuck Norris ... I would be willing to bet if you tracked those emails they'd all originate to some poor soul sitting in a small office down in Opelika with nothing better to do than screw with photoshop to superimpose Saban's face to the likes of Bear, Jesus and Elvis. Those silly little pictures of Coach Saban dressed like Bill Lumbergh from the movie "Office Space" and Jim Carey in "Liar Liar", hey guys....try again....Those aren't funny either. Who's next? Is this like the movie Groundhog Day? Because I feel like I've been beat with a monotony stick with all those stupid Saban emails. Show me AL Borges' face on Rosey O'Donnell, jello- wrestling Michael Vick. That, for a moment might make me smile..... Auburn fans need to concentrate on their team's inability to play a football game the first three quarters instead of what they're doing down in Tuscaloosa today. Jealousy is not very becoming.

Roll Tide anyway.


Nurse Jenny

Friday, August 17, 2007

Dog Days In Alabama

I am only happy when it rains...Or so it seems. It's a great song and it pretty much sums up my attitude. Especially since it's been in the triple digits here in the South. These are the dreaded dog days... I hate the hot, humid, hazy late Summer days in AL. It's downright miserable. These are the days when I long for Fall...those pretty blue sky, seventy-something degree days where you can actually take a stroll, work in the yard, cook out with friends and ponder...football. Yes, football season is upon us...with days away, all the trash-talking has begun. Just today I got an email titled "weather update" that I'll share;

CNN NEWS SPORTS & WEATHER According to a study to be published on Friday, two of the world's leading climatologists have gone on record saying that the extreme heatin the Southeast is not a result of global warming. The two Swedish experts have identified the source of the heat as being centralized inthe great state of Alabama. According to their findings, it is a localized phenomenon that has occurred 9 times in the last 25 years. Apparently, every time the University of Alabama hires a new footballcoach the collective hot air espoused from the "Bama Nation" about National and Conference championships and premature recruiting"commitments" actually causes a significant increase in air temperatures in the Southern US. The study went on to confirm that the naturalp rogression of the following events will cause the heat wave to subside rather rapidly after the first of September.

The first of September is "D" day. The first game that launches us directly into the throws of twelve Saturdays of sheer bliss. Saturdays of awakening to my husband in and out of the house, clad in his lucky Bama shirt and hat on backward asking me if it's too early for a beer? (before I've even had my coffee). It runs in our veins, the heart- stopping plays you long to see, the turn overs, the sacks... And this year, the anticipation of what kind of team will hit the turf under our new head coach, Nick Saban. I've heard him called everything from, Uncle Nicky, "Sebear", Nick the Almighty, Seban the Savior. I don't care what you call him, the man deserves some respect. I'm sure none of it truly bothers him but it's typical mostly of the Aubies to label him out of spite....After all they go on and on about how over-rated our new coach is, that he doesn't have as good a winning record as Tubby, yet all the while it's SO obvious that jealousy and envy are seeping from their pours. So with the above email, I dug and found a post on an AL forum from Tommie Mac. The question was, Auburn scared or just jealous?? Tommie Mac so brilliantly answered and I couldn't have said it better;

"I don't know if they're scared, but you can bet your hat and arse that they're more than a tad apprehensive. And they should be. It's gonna be a whole different thing going against CNS coached teams rather than against Shula's badly coached, badly conditioned versions.""As for jealousy, they've ALWAYS been obsessively jealous of BAMA. Don't believe it? Just go to a barner forum and witness their hatred and vitriol of all things ALABAMA. They know that they'll never be able to accomplish even a fraction of what BAMA has and it constantly eats at them. That's why they put more importance on beating us than any other accomplishments on the field. They know that without those wins, they'll revert back to just being allbarn, i.e. insignificant."

Whoops, did he say insignificant?? (bursts of laughter) I love it!! And I received lots of kudos for a great pot stir today! I think I may have lost a lunch date over that one. That's just part of it, love it or hate it...or love to hate us. It's SEC football.but mostly ALABAMA FOOTBALL!! And it's just 15 days away...In my heart I don't think that we'll be disappointed in Alabama football. Coach Saban seems genuine, no frills, no fuss- no muss and absolutely no nonsense kind of man. He's admirable, there's no doubt. Just don't ask him how practicing in the heat is and if you want to carry half an ass home just ask him about Karate. This season's going to be exciting for sure. It's nice to get excited about football again. Roll Tide!

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Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Homage to the Hokies

Its been some time since I've taken time to post. I enjoy talking about things...bouncing things around, pitching them, putting them on a screen and off my mind for perhaps anyone (hopefully) to read and enjoy. Last week was a somber week for the entire US. The VA Tech massacre was ....I don't even have words.... I can only think and shake my head in saddened disbelief. We were all touched by that day in some way.

What's on my mind today?? Copycat crimes after a major event. The whole copycat "bomb threat/ terrorist threats" on High Schools that have peppered the US since the VT massacre. As if it isn't hard enough to watch on television and imagine how horrific that was for everyone involved, we have Idiots, self-centered, spoiled- ass brats that play on the increase tensions and fears from the recent attack in VA in THEIR VERY OWN SCHOOLS. When I was in school, if you had a problem, you talked to a friend, wrote a note, talked to your parents or prayed. Now, you make a threat, act goofy and try to get attention...

If I only had a day with schools ...I'd call students in for mandatory assembly. I'd lay it down for them all. I'd stand and look at each face and simply ask," If you even think for a second...any ONE of you wants to harm another or yourself, let me make myself clear....If you so much as even make a problem or even walk down the halls with a distasteful smirk on your face...You're ass is GONE to Juvie camp. So today my friends, you're invited to JUST LEAVE! Here's your chance... If you want to cause havoc, you can, but you can't do it here. There's the door, Hit the road! GET THE HELL OUT! If you want to stay, and enrich your life, learn and promote yourself to become someone some day, I invite you to stay...Will you stay or will you go?"

Its sad that schools have become a literal battle ground. Our Country went wrong a long time ago (I think I'm old enough to say since I was there when they did it) Schools should have the right to paddle some asses!!!!...And maybe, just maybe problems would be solved early on and on a much lower level that when they go so far out of your control you're standing around scratching your head and asking..."How did this happen?"..and " How could we have prevented it?" SMACK THEIR ASSES!!! Discipline doesn't have to be abuse...It's called RESPECT! And it starts at home.

On a much lighter note...ahhh it's springtime. I wish I was at home right now, digging in the dirt in my yard...making things pretty; potting plants, pulling weeds, sipping on a cold beer with XM blaring.... That would be a good day's work. I have Gerber Daisies to plant, along with some variegated ground cover to put in the large bed. I grew some wild flowers, Morning Glories and Sunflowers from seeds and their going in this week. It's soothing days like this past Saturday playing in he yard, that I love...Those days are few and very far between. It didn't hurt that it was 80 degrees and not a cloud around. So nice...The only thing that would have been better was being off work another week to do it all over again.

Well that's all the venting I have time for. Do something nice for someone today! Random acts of kindness; cut your neighbors yard, buy your friend a book or flowers....let someone know their important in your life. You never know when it might turn their day, week or even their life around, if only for a moment....That's all i think...I'll leave you as I usually do.

Today's Focus: God rest the souls of the victims and bless the families of the VA Tech Massacre and the family of Cho Sung Hui. You are not forgotten.

Today's Phrase: "Open a can of whoop ass". Typically a very Southern phrase. You don't hear it much anymore...but it holds great meaning. My Mom used to say, " Jennifer Anne, I'm gonna whoop your little ass". And she did!

My Daily Dose;

Don't stand over people and read their email. That's rude and could be hazardous to your health. I need a fly swat to turn around and smack the shit out of my boss when he comes in and 'acts' as if he isn't reading my email. "SMACK....oh i'm sorry...I didn't see you standing there reading my fu*!%#$# email".....

Do: Quickly close the screen or switch to a program with a page of documents that will bore even the most ADD man you've ever worked with to tears.

Take Care of your kids...No one else will.

Nurse Jenny