Catching up

So,I haven't updated my blog since Mother's Day weekend. I hate feeling behind, especially on something that I don't really have a schedule on but I do like to keep up with what is going on in our lives, if for nobody else but me. So, trying to catch up....

My mom came down for Mother's Day, the guys fixed steaks on the grill and I made baked potatoes and had bought fresh strawberries to have with Angel food cake. It was a really good lunch and a really good day.

I had went to the new boutique in Greenup a few weeks before and bought myself the fabulous necklace. I decided that day, I would need to go there to get Mom her Mother's Day gifts but when I wore the necklace to church that Sunday, she really liked it. I tried to get another one just like it but to no avail. I did however find two more that I thought she would like but with the understanding she could have mine if she wanted it. I got to keep my necklace, she loved hers!

Something else really special happened that Mother's Day. I didn't have any idea he had done it, but Andrew bought Mom a card just from him. Yep, that guy is pretty well perfect in my eyes.

So, the next day, Mom and I went to see my gastroenterologist, Dr. Peterson. He normally is the one who calls me "slightly overweight"; he has lost weight, about 60 lbs. so he was on me to do the same. He is doing the Paleo diet, and going to Crossfit. Well, the nearest Crossfit is Effingham....not happening and when I read the Paleo diet, yeah, that's not happening either. I have made some changes but will explain that later in the post.

Life was pretty calm after that until last Saturday. There was an auction in town that had a really nice refrigerator that I wanted to bid on for Robert. Andrew had the whole day off so I asked if he wanted to go. I may never take him to an auction again. We ended up getting Robert a truck.

Let me backup...Last November, I believe I posted about Robert's Grand Cherokee breaking down. With the house, and the winter and work, he hasn't had time to work on it. He is really going to need help and Garrett is more than willing to help but he is in the same boat as Robert, too many projects and not enough days (like the fact that Garrett is getting married a week from today!) So, he has drove the farm truck all winter. The farm truck is exactly what is sounds like, it was meant to be used to haul water from the creek a mile away, to take seed to the other places on the farm. No air conditioning, and the only way the heat works is when you get the truck up to 60 for about 20 minutes.  You can imagine the winter he had as well as the summer he had planned. And, to top it off, Robert is a coffee person and it had no cup holders, AND it was a manual, so there were times you couldn't just hold a cup of coffee all the way to Charleston.

We were at this auction and nobody was bidding on anything, I got a ton of steals that day. So, we went to see the truck sell and nobody was bidding. Andrew said, "seriously, you should bid on it for Robert", so I did. As I said, nobody was bidding, so we ended up with a truck.

Robert's not going to appreciate me for broadcasting this, but when his dad called him and told him he bought him a truck, Robert thought his dad was talking about a model. When Andrew convinced Robert that is was a really nice, '99 Ford F150, extended cab, complete with air conditioning, Robert cried. He hung up from his dad and called his Nana, he was still crying. He was on his way home from work at the time, so as soon as the truck went, they went in the house. By the time Robert got to the auction, he had a fridge too.

Andrew and I had decided that even if Robert hated the truck, we were way under trade-in value to get something else, no worries there though. Robert loves his truck. It has four cup holders. He has taken coffee to work every morning since he got it tagged. Good things seem to come to those who wait upon the Lord. See, Robert never once complained about the old white truck. We worried it wouldn't make all those trips to Charleston but it did. Andrew said last Sunday night, God may not always give us all our wants, but he gives us all we need. It seems like when you are happy with that, he gives us a lot of those wants as well. Robert being a car guy, there were certain engines that the truck could have had that he wouldn't have been happy with, there were three to choose from and only one that he would have wanted. Guess which one the truck had? Yep, the right one.

So, one more thing pertaining to Robert, his house. They have the entire West wall now restored, new seal plates, new top beams, new actual wall where it needed it. They have all the interior walls out of the west side of the house as well. They found out this week that the seal plate on the south wall will have to be redone as well, they weren't happy but the good news is, the actual wall is good, they just have to get a new board that connects the wall to the foundation under it. It isn't easy but they are getting good enough at this, that they do at least know what they are doing. I really figure two more weeks and all the structure on the west half of the house will be done. We are still looking at him moving in in August.

On the workfront. LIHEAP officially ended yesterday, until September. Lots going on at work, we have a couple of outreach workers leaving so we will be having new faces. I got two out of the three computers that I needed to change to Win7 finished this week. The third has to now wait a couple weeks as I need to talk to Xerox about a program we have on it. I was going to get this done yesterday but the girl I needed was out of the office.

Monday, three of us will head to Springfield for the LIHEAP/ Weatherization conference. We will meet up with some of our Weather guys as well as some others are coming up Tuesday evening for the Wednesday portion of the meetings. I am in high hopes of learning a lot but also, looking forward to seeing my friends from across the state.

We will be back in our office next Friday. Then I am home for a week, work the 16th and the 17th, Andrew and I leave for Kansas City for the National Energy Utility and Affordability Conference. I have said it before and I know it will come up again. I LOVE this conference! It is usually what I need to get my "umph" back into what I do. So many good ideas to help people and gaining knowledge, on a national level of what is going on in the utilities markets. The fact that I get to take Andrew with me is just icing on the cake. He will have Wednesday and Thursday all day to putter around KC, which is something he has never done. I have a feeling it will be good for him too. We will have most evenings to ourselves as well as my conference is over at noon on Friday and we are there through Friday evening. Saturday morning, we are heading northeast to see his Grandma. We haven't seen her for two years. Robert was there, almost a year to the day last year, when he went to get Adam's car.

So, LOTS coming up in June.
Now for my "revelation" of sorts. You all know I've been doing Weight Watchers for almost two years. The first year, I lost about 45 lbs, the second, I lost another 15 for a total of 60. Unfortunately, the last few months have not been good. I couldn't seem to "get in the groove" and I needed a change. Pair that with the fact that I haven't even had time to go to meetings for the last month and we kinda have a "no-go". Andrew already quit a couple of months ago and I quit last Tuesday. Counting points was fine, as well as wearing my activelink and counting points there but truly I was ready to move on, to step it up, so to speak. So, we spent around $45 a month to subscribe to WW.   I spent $80 this week and ordered a fitbit and found My Fitness Pal app on my iphone. You can see, that is less than two months of WW. My fitness pal is just what I needed, it counts calories but also counts percentage of carbs, fat and proteins so I can see what I am doing. It even counts how much of the essential vitamins I am getting. It will sync with the fitbit when I get it as well. I feel like I have graduated to a higher level and the plus side is I'm down 4 lbs since Tuesday!

I started the 1 fit widows 30 day training, but since I started it at a weird time, I may start over or find another one that starts June 1. With it, you walk at least 20 minutes outside every morning and then have a series of exercise that you do sometime each day. I do my morning walk as normal and then do my exercises of an evening. I like it, but as I said, may search around today for something new for June.

That's life in a nutshell.

I have decided to do something at least one evening a week for me, since I am honestly home along most of the time right now.

Two weeks ago, I went to the Jr. High Spring Concert. I loved it, those kids are doing so well. I love the legacy. It kinda made me twinge a little when I realized if Robert has kids, they won't go to Newton to school, but that is a long way in the distance, especially since there doesn't seem to even be time for girls right now.

Last week, I went to dinner with Kathy Walk, a dear friend of mine who does the same job I do  but for CEFS in Effingahm. I didn't really get anything in there during the week this week, but I did get to visit with my friend Patty yesterday when she came by the office and today I am going to have my hair cut, so that's something. Next week, I'm gone all week so that may be hard, but hoping to figure out something with Patty for the next week and then the next week is going to be spent with Andrew.

Life is good. God is good...all the time.

Happy Saturday!

Borrowing the Browningblog

Hey all, we are celebrating our 50th Anniversary of Community Action and the War on Poverty. Today, at our office we are having a picnic and the following videos are ones we wish to share.

To make it easier on me, I am embedding them in my blog.....so, if you are here to read the latest about the Brownings, today you get to see a little about why I do what I do......

Happy Mother's Day!

I am getting ready for a totally AWESOME Mother's Day. First off, I made a request for my own Mother's Day present. I not only got it, it got installed yesterday!

This is something I have wanted on this porch, basically ever since we owned the house. Of course, I wanted to new ceiling and we did that last summer. With everything being about Robert's house right now, I'm not asking for too many projects done on ours but was so thrilled when this got finished!  I have the tree that needs cut down scheduled to be and then I need to paint the porch and buy a new rug. I plan to get those things done myself this summer. Next year hopefully we can finish the entry way and the new flowerboxes I want in front of the house. Oh, and if you are driving by now, sorry about the weeds. Hopefully today Robert can help me get the weedeater started. It seems like the first time is the hardest and from then on, I can get it myself.  Anyway...


I have been thinking a lot about Mother's Day this weekend. I have a friend, who was an AWANA clubber of mine, that is experiencing her first Mother's Day. I got so tickled at the fact that she realized as excited as she was to be a mom, she now placed a lot more value on those mom's in her life. That brings me to my own mom. She is Awesome. I don't understand why God chose her to have all the trials in life He did but I do know He knew she would be like Job.

When I was growing up, she had strategically placed this poem right beside the front door.  Last week our preacher asked us if we prayed daily. That was so funny to me. I had been raised that God is with us, all the time. Who in their right mind would spend all day with someone and not speak to Him? I'm sure, because I am a talker, that there are times God wishes I would give Him the silent treatment. Just kidding, but I was taught at a very young age, that prayer changes things.

Oh, the poem, I have a copy of it...

I got up early one morning
And rushed right into the day!
I had so much to accomplish
That I didn't have time to pray.

Problems just tumbled about me,
And heavier came each task.
"Why doesn't God help me?" I wondered.
He answered, "You didn't ask!"

I tried to come into God's presence;
I used all my keys at the lock.
God gently and lovingly chided,
"Why, child, you didn't knock!"

I wanted to see joy and beauty,
But the day toiled on, gray and bleak.
I wondered why God didn't show me.
He said, "But you didn't seek."

I woke up early this morning,
And paused before entering the day.
I had so much to accomplish
That I had to take time to pray!

My mom instilled in us that, because God was with us, we could pray anyplace, anytime. I learned over the years that starting off the day with prayer was best but I certainly never limited prayer time to morning, but that is my "big" prayer time. 

I have always had prayer in the morning and as Robert was growing up, I would pray with him before he walked out the door to school. We continued this right up through college. In fact, the morning Andrew lost his job, Robert declared it was because of what I had prayed about. As hard as all of that was to accept. God did answer a prayer there.

As I was saying though, it is because my mom instilled the importance of a relationship with God. My relationship has grown through the years from reading My Daily Bread really quickly and having pray to getting up early enough now that I don't have to worry about time. At a minimum, my first half hour of the day is with my Lord. And again, I thank my mom.

We had always went to church, to the church that my Great, great, however many, granddad had helped establish. My granddad had helped build onto and my own dad helped rebuild after a fire. Life was good. But it would have been so easy for my mom to turn her back when God took Dad away from her. Then just 11 months later, she ended up in the hospital for three months and came home with one arm and hand that would never be the same, let alone the fact that she had several feet of her bowels removed, which still complicates life to this day. She didn't turn her back though, she clung to Him. She taught me that God was good in the good time but God is AWESOME in the bad time. Learning that and really knowing it gives you a sense of peace in times of trial that nobody can take away from you.

So, I am looking forward to this awesome weekend. Today, Mom and I are taking my dogs to the groomers and doing some shopping. Tomorrow, she is coming down and the guys are fixing us steaks on the grill and then Monday, she is going with me to Springfield to see Dr. Peterson. I am so thankful I still have her and she is able to do all these things. I know the day will come that she can't. 

As I close to get ready for the day, I want to wish every one of my friends and family a Happy Mother's Day. If you are a mom, congrats, but celebrate those ones in your life that are YOUR moms.

The greatest gift my mom gave to me was sharing her love of Christ. I believe the greatest reward I get from that happens every time I am having a bad day and Robert texts me and says, "I'll be praying for you, Mom" and I know he means it.

Happy Saturday and Happy Mother's Day!

I Can

I have had some revelations this week. Mainly from the book I mentioned I was reading; "Made to Crave". Chapters 18 and 19 may just have to be earmarked as life changing for me. Seriously, I wish I could just quote every single word in 19, but I can't. I had mentioned in an earlier post that I might just read this book over and over; I seriously might.  Because of some things mentioned I decided to start a new spiritual journey with God this week. One into discipline and self-discipline and learning that God wants better for me than what I am giving myself. God doesn't want me to get into stuff in the fridge and cabinet just because I am home alone and can. He wants me to have more power over food than that, He has given me the victory over it and I am LETTING Satan tell me otherwise, maybe I should rephrase that, I WAS letting Satan tell me otherwise. I walked 3.1 mile Tuesday morning, that's a 5K for those who don't know. I haven't been out on the road since because the cold has kept me in but I have done other exercises and the goal for this coming week is to get my workout area cleaned up a little better downstairs so I can start a serious weight lifting program. I am down three pounds this week and seriously, it is because God has given me a new mindset. I CAN. I CAN workout for an hour at a time, I CAN eat veggies of an evening instead of junk. I CAN make good decisions about my health. I guess some of the things that woke me up this week is realizing that I make decisions everyday to try to improve other's lives and yet come home and stick a spoon in the peanut butter jar. This week I grabbed carrots instead, and then I used PB2 (it's powdered peanut butter) and made a 1 point frozen banana with my PB2 peanut butter in it. I cooked real food for me AND the guys and when they came home for dinner at 9 pm, I ate my banana. I won. Every night this week, I Won. We went to Ruby Tuesday's last night. I planned, I had seafood and spaghetti squash and the good things on the salad bar. I won. Since Monday, I have won with 3 pounds down showing on the scales today.

Tomorrow morning, it should be warm enough to log another 3 miles. I am heading to Springfield to a conference tomorrow afternoon. That will mean lots of high calorie, indulgent meals set before me. I will almost guarantee that there will be at least one meal with a big fat piece of cheesecake sitting in front of me, one with some form of chocolate cake (usually with multiple layers of different chocolate) and at some point in time, there will probably be carrot cake--really good, really thick carrot cake. I am already planning on only taking a bite or two if we have chocolate cake, eating only half of the cheesecake and if there is carrot cake, it is SO mine, start to finish. So, I have decided that I will be very careful about the breakfasts, stay away from the bread basket and watch how much of the other foods I eat. It's not a sacrifice, it's a plan and I am excited to see how it serves me. I normally tell myself that I'm just not going to eat those things and then feel defeated when I do. Not this time! I am planning on amping up my workouts up there too. The Hilton has a workout room, pretty decent too, I will be there. I feel so empowered making these decisions.

I have had a very productive week. The Weatherization building is completely Windows7 now. Next project is our own office. Seriously, I think there are only 4 computers that need switched out, there are several that need replaced because of age. My goal is to have it finished, or at least plans in place for every XP computer by the end of the month.

LIHEAP is winding down, still lots of people getting shut off. We were giving a $7,500 donation from AARP this week. I wrote a program to help people 50+ (stipulation of donation) with disconnection fees in June. Really excited because it is the first time since I have been coordinator that we have gotten anything like this and it seems like AARP likes what I planned.

We did our PIPP recertification training this week. Getting that started is always rough because it is something we do once a year, so the first few each person takes are strenuous.  We actually start doing apps next week.

This conference that I am going to is the one I talk about every year with the Family of Distinction Awards. That is tomorrow night. It is truly my favorite night of the year. I wish we could invite all those people who says the war on poverty isn't going anywhere. These people ARE going places. Sometimes I think people don't want to believe there are any problems other than people are lazy. People AREN'T lazy, they are not educated on how to get out of where they have been all their lives.  They have been treated badly, and truly believe that because others have told them they have nothing to offer the world, that they can't move from where they are. When we show them that yes, it takes work, but they can do it, the results are nothing short of miraculous. We see it CONSTANTLY. I wish you could too.

I know I have mentioned in previous posts that Mark Shriver is one of the speakers. I am reading his book about his dad right now. I cannot wait to hear him speak. He is basically our pep talker, the one who will remind us that what we are doing is worth doing and eventhough we are facing lots of battles in congress, the White House, and the press, we need to keep changing the world.

Then there is Donna Beagle, who I have heard before. She always reopens my eyes to things I am taking for granted. I am expecting a great conference and have every intention of coming back renewed and ready for battle.

Robert's house has had a big week too. They have a new wall in place between the two bedrooms. The original wall wasn't actually on a beam, so they moved it 8 inches, making the guest room 8 inches bigger. Here is a picture:

I didn't take pictures of the outside before they started, really wish I would have but here are some now. Yes, a ways to go but it will get there.

As you can see, on this side, they have most of the outside wall redone, When they get finished, this side facing the road is supposed to have a front door and hopefully someday a porch. Long way to go but they have come a long way.

Robert already has tenants. They were born in either January or February. Andrew and Robert are never short on entertainment when they are at the farm.

My favorite place on Robert's farm though is a ways from the house. He has started keeping it mowed since he has the mower. I went out Wednesday evening and took pictures. You can't see the big pond well but it's there. I have always loved this place, it is so tranquil. I love that he loves it. Somehow my uncle knew he would.

So today, I am planning on getting the house straightened, laundry done, heading to work for a few minutes just to clean up and get stuff to take to Springfield, heading to Tuscola (I have too many coupons expiring not to go!) and then making it to Olney to hear my dear friend Patty speak at their relay for life event. Robert has talked me into going to Hogs and Dogs and bringing home ribs for supper. Sometime in there I need to pack......Life's an Adventure!

Happy Saturday!