Check out this link where Obama gets ahead of the teleprompter.

http://www.politico.com/politico44/perm/0409/obama_gets_ahead_of_prompter_3813cbcb-1e4a-44c6-b1e7-26017e7b70c2.html

One day, you're gonna have to learn, buddy!

Okay..........so dinner.

My parents are out of town for a few days and I get to cook! Woohoo!! I love to cook. I don't cook big, huge, fancy dinners. Just fun, nutrious, yummy things. Mostly Southern foods. Southern cookbooks are my absolute favorite to cook from. Their soups are light and there aren't very many stews in the cookbooks. :) The vegetable recipes are yum and they have awesome desserts!

I decided to make oven-fried chicken tonight (fattening) and mashed potatoes and gravy (fattening) because my parents weren't here. The recipe I was using called for chicken strips but I decided on drumsticks. I got a bag for $4.99 at Jewel this afternoon. Score one for a deal!!!

The recipe said 30 minutes total for the chicken to be in the oven. I have had problems in the past with uncooked chicken. But that's a totally different story. With about 10 minutes remaining, I poked the meat thermometer in one of the drumsticks and it oozed a little pink. Not good!

The main reason why I had to hurry with dinner tonight was because I had to tutor from 4-5pm then another kid was coming at 6:30. That left an hour and a half window. Which really should have been plenty of time. But I forgot that Geoff had to leave at 6pm. This presented a slight problem.

I called my Mom and she thought that the chicken should be in there for at least 45 minutes. Oh great!!!! That's at 6pm. Well, I checked it at 6pm and it smelled so yummy and delicious. It looked yum. It was sizzlin' in the pan. But somehow from oven to table something went wrong. I really think it could have stood another 10 minutes in the oven. It was a little tough (!!!!). The temperature inside the drumsticks was 175 degrees. But I don't know........I'm not for sure if it was done!

I'm such a hypochondriac and feel like I'm getting sick! My poor brothers. They are so unlucky. All of my mistakes from cooking have happened to them. (Don't forget we lived by ourselves one whole summer. Many unfortunate cooking experiences occurred during that time period.)

Has anyone ever cooked and eaten (possibly) (slightly) undercooked meat?

Dinner was so totally not pretty tonight.

Details later after tutoring......if I don't end up in the hospital with food poisoning.

Have I mentioned I'm a little bit of a hypochondriac??????????????

PS - I made dinner tonight.

rushing-rushing-rushing

On Monday, I worked for the Pape's (my fave's to work for). It was hectic.

Here's what I did:

• pick-up Maria from school at 11am
• tennis at 12pm
• art at 1pm
• pick-up John at 2:30
• drop off John for hockey
• drop off Maria for dance at 4pm

I was so frenzied when I came home from rushing-rushing-rushing. Plus, add to that the fact that I misplaced my phone. I was not in a pretty mood.

SO, I determined in my heart that I would never rush around like that when I had a family. I was going to post this big-ole' long diatribe about it in a blog post.

On Monday night, my parents and brother were at a banquet at church so I did several things "ahead of time" to prepare for the week because of the conference at our church. I thought that if I'd determined that I wouldn't run my family like that, I might as well start while I'm single.

And then I thought maybe I was being a little unrealistic. Everyone goes through busier times. And no, the house isn't always going to be perfect. So I scrapped the blog post.

UNTIL, the last preacher of the conference preached on last night "The Jesus of the Bible". He made a statement that struck a chord with me. It wasn't even a point in the sermon, just something he mentioned during a point. He said, "Jesus was always pressed for time [he was very busy] but he was never rushed."

SO, I determined right then and there that I was going to run my household that way. My new mantra....NO RUSHING!

I was taking a nap today after work because I stayed up ridiculously late last night talking with friends. I was trying to drift off to sleep but I had things running through my head that I needed to get done. I'm also thinking....NO RUSHING....and....Jesus probably didn't take naps during the day. :)

It's my new resolution to get things done ahead of time because rushing never brings out the best in me. I don't know about ya'll but calmness is something I enjoy!

me and maria!

This little girl is the only daughter of a family that I work for. Isn't she the cutest thing EVER?? This picture was taken on Sunday afternoon at Maria's art show. She takes art lessons at a center in town.

I am going to work for them in a little while. I don't do just cleaning but rather whatever Janine needs help with. I am so burdened for their salvation. Janine's husband is very successful in the business world, yet they are very down-to-earth people. VERY down-to-earth and so nice. I am so blessed with awesome people to work for.

PS - if you click on the picture, it should enlarge and you can see her artwork above our heads and to the left of us. She's only 3 (almost 4)!

I must explain my absence

This week at our church is our annual conference. When I was in high school, it was a huge deal because there were competitions to win scholarships to our college. There is a service Tuesday through Thursday mornings and then a service each night with two speakers those same evenings. So, I've been busy with that plus sprinkle in work and extra obligations at church. Random, random, random things were floating in my mind on what to blog about. So random that I don't even think I could generate a post on each point. Here's a weird little list.

• So why in the world do I cough into my right hand, the hand that I use to shake other people's hands? WHAT in the world? A pastor that our family has known for years came last night with his wife and a few people from his church. It was so good to talk to them. However, somehow, someway, I got something caught in my throat at the most inopportune time and I was coughing. Weird, weird, weird!
• INCREDIBLE messages last night. INCREDIBLE!!! And ya know, the devil always finds ways to stir up teeny little grievances after awesome services. Nothing big. Someone came to me with a misunderstanding and I am still totally confused but I realized that the devil is laughing his head off because little things come up after awesome services to make you forget what you just heard. Ever have that happen to you before?
• I have had two girls come and finish badge work for Master's Club since Thursday night. Our last (!!!) Master's Club is after the conference and so they're trying to earn a few more badges before the end of the year. That's encouraging!
• I have cello lessons today and am totally and completely not ready. I seriously want to cancel. I've been so busy practicing things for church and the conference that I haven't had time to practice my lesson stuff. Scream!
• AND, I have to leave for work in a little while.

Have a fabulous week, everyone!

my list

When I arrived at Janine's house on Thursday, her little son John opened the door. He hid behind the door but held out this paper from where he was hiding. He had generated his own list of things for me to do while I was there. So cute! I asked him why his room was on the bottom of the list? I love working and helping out this family!

the competition

The top ad is my brother's which can be found in our little town's paper.

The second ad is his "competition". Notice the spelling mistake and an editing mistake or two.

We sure got a chuckle out of this one.

if only it were mayberry....

Sometimes we joke here at our house that our little town is like Mayberry. What cracks me up the most is this one couple that I work for. They are true "Ch-----tonians". They totally know just about everyone in town and any news that accompanies each person in town. Anyways. For the most part, Ch-----ton is a great place to live.

However, there has been a spike in vandalism and drug abuse, as well. There was an article in the paper about a month ago regarding the drug problem. It's serious. Part of the reason is because it is an upper-middle class type town, so the parents aren't around to supervise the kids. PLUS the real reason is that these kids and their parents need the Lord.

About 45 minutes before work this morning, my brother called and told my Mom that the entire pavilion (except for the chimney) at the back side of our church property had been burnt to the ground. Between our house and the pavilion is a horse pasture. ok. so that's close! Plus, we park our big white van down in the college parking lot and two windows were busted out of it. What in the world is going on?

Wait. I have to explain what the pavilion is. A few years back, the men in our church built a really nice covered shelter with a fire place, seating area for picnic tables, a kitchen, plus a bathroom. It was used for activities with bus routes and the college, etc...It's not around any other buildings on the church property. It's nestled a little in the woods.

I definitely don't know very many details. And there is crime scene tape around the area that's burned. The Ch-----ton cops said that it might have been electrical. Right. And on that same night, windows were busted out in a van about 100 feet away. Right.

It just makes me sad because of the condition of our country. It truly is being evidenced in our little town. That voted for Obama. Yah. You read that right. I'll never forget on election night seeing a map of IN on ABC and up in the left corner were two little counties colored blue and ours was one of them. Ick!

My brother told me as I was driving down our street after work today that when my Mom called a glass company, they told her there has been a lot of vandalism in our town. I just think that's so sad. So our town really isn't Mayberry. Bummer!

I can't complain

Saturday night, I was laying in my bed and reading my Bible and thinking about how lucky I am. You see, I was thinking about some of the kids that I know through our church's Sunday school bus program. How in the world can I complain after what some of these kids go through?

I definitely don't know very many specifics about this situation but there are two kids on my brother's bus who have been required by court to live with their mom. It is an absolutely horrible situation. And the girl (who is 12 or 13) is the sweetest thing ever. I'm serious. She is honestly so sweet. Everyone who meets her, loves her; she's that type of kid. I've never met her brother.

But anyways, I was so burdened about them on Saturday night. I felt like the Lord laid them specifically on my mind and heart to pray for them at that moment to keep them from danger, protect them, and allow them to be able to come to church the next day. (They did!)

I was so convicted. Here I am laying in my safe, comfy, warm house yet I gripe (maybe not outwardly but inwardly) about how I don't have this or that. Not even necessarily material things but priviliges or "rights" or opportunities. I was so chastened in my heart while I was praying for these children.

I don't post pictures of the kids on my bus on my blog for privacy issues. But I wish ya'll could meet some of the kids. A lot of our kids come from fairly stable homes. Our bus route is way out in the country so it's different than an inner-city type work.

But regardless, I am so blessed. I hope I don't forget it soon.

teaching tips

On Monday, Tuesday, and sometimes Wednesday nights, I tutor a few kids for school. I started tutoring as a way to keep teaching a little bit. I just thought I would pass on a few ideas that I use. Maybe some of these ideas will help someone else!

My aunt (who has been a teacher for 30+ years) gave me this idea. Throughout the tutoring session, when Andrew misses a word (only from the extra-curricular books that we read), I jot the word down. Then after the lesson, I write each missed word on a small notecard. We review these cards at the beginning and end of each lesson.

I think it would become discouraging to have a huge stack of cards over the course of several weeks. So after he reads the word on the card correctly, I highlight one side of the card. After all four sides are highlighted, that card is tossed! I had thought about keeping the cards and reviewing them every once in a while but that's not good motivation. I figured that if a word comes up again that he is continually struggling with, a new card will always be started.

I came up with this idea on the spur of the moment tonight. While I was taking the class "Teaching Reading" in college, we were required to memorize "the charts". If you are familiar with the A Beka phonics program, you probably know what I mean. We also had to do exercises where we had to "circle the rules" in words on a page. I thought that might help Andrew. I don't want him memorizing the rules just to memorize. There's a reason we memorize "c" in "city". It's not the "city" part that I'm concerned about but rather the "c" part.

I didn't think that he would circle so hard in pencil because I was planning on re-using these cards. Tonight, I wrote a word on the front and on the back (bottom card in picture) will be the answer or rule for that particular card. In the future, I plan to laminate the cards so I can re-use them. When he comes to an unfamiliar word, I think this little exercise will help him with sounding that word out.

from a distance

this is the sinful, cynical side of me that doesn't show up very often

Do you know what really irritates me? It's when people who are younger than you think they have the knowledge corner marketed for the little routine called "dating" or "courtship" or whatever lingo you use. It stinkin' irritates me.

JUST BECAUSE I'm not dating DOESN'T MEAN that I'm naive to how guys and girls act towards each other and how relationships SHOULD be.

JUST BECAUSE I've never dated a guy longer than 3 months doesn't mean that I don't know how a relationship should be. NO I may not have the experience but I do have a little head knowledge, Bible knowledge, and common sense knowledge.

Is it "normal" for guys and girls to continually fight and disagree and argue in a relationship? Is it just me or is that abnormal? I think it should be abnormal. I know that couples are going to have their disagreements, especially as they move closer to engagement and marriage. That's only natural. But continual fighting. OH! But I just "don't understand" because I've never dated longer than 3 months.

I went to a missions conference a few summers back. There were four single girls (including me), one single guy, and two married couples. On the way home, we had a wonderful time of testifying. Each couple gave the story on how they met all the way to the sweet, happy marriage part. Each story was uniquely different. The leader of the group pointed out that the common thread between the two relationships was that God had worked the relationship out. Totally. Completely. It was amazing. I guess I have to share tidbits of each story so you know what I'm talking about.

Couple #1 - I hope no one is sensitive when I say this because I don't know how else to say it except that this couple is "black". (That just sounds weird; but you have to know that part for the story.) So of course there aren't tons of options in that department at our college. The guy dated every other girl that he could at our college; he was even engaged to a girl. But his sweet wife (now) continued to pray for/about him, that if it was God's will, that He would lead them together. And He did! Through amazing circumstances. But GOD did it!

Couple #2 - Met and fell in love in college. But then the guy had a disagreement with his girlfriend's dad. The dad broke off the relationship for a while (I think if I remember correctly it was over 2 years). Even though this couple knew that they were meant for each other, they honored her dad's wishes. After much prayer and time, the dad finally consented and they were married. But GOD did it!

I am just of the opinion that girls (in particular) try to push relationships too much instead of letting God lead and letting God be in control of their life and subsequently, their relationship.

So there's my little opinion about the dating corner of the world. Not that I have any experience but common sense and the Bible definitely count for something!!