Drama...Drama!

It would be an understatement to say I had "one of those days" yesterday. You know those days when everything just seem to go wrong. Nothing major happened but it was just a day of craziness. I started my day early to run some errands. My first stop at the library started my day off wrong. A book I had placed on hold was not there when I got there, even though it should have been. No biggie really, they would just re-order it and I would get it in a few days. I'm not going to let that ruin my day.

Off to the next stop: Sam's club. I've discovered that an easy way to shop at Sam's club is to use a service they call "click 'n' pull". I've used this service a few other times and has find it very beneficial especially when you have to tow around two young children when you go shopping. Yesterday, however, was not as easy as it usual is. When I got there, they did not have half of my order. Once again, I'm determined to stay calm.
So, the gentleman helping me asked me to wait while he got the items. I decided that I would help him and told him I would get 2 items if he would get the others. We parted ways to retrieve the items. Upon my return to customer service (where you pick up order) this man was MIA. I waited patiently until someone else offered to help. Finally everything was sorted out and although it shouldn't have taken so long, we were finally done and had gotten everything we needed except one item because they didn't have it in stock.

We left Sam's club and I came home feeling like I could just relax a bit in my chaise and read while the kids take a nap. Unfortunately, there were a few pressing phone messages for me to return immediately. One of those calls had my blood pressure rising. I won't get into details since it will only frustrate me even more. Let's just say it involves money. Speaking of money- -our A/C has been leaking in our garage and we had someone "fix" it on Saturday and it's still leaking. Therefore, that was another issue I had to deal with yesterday. Now, it looks like it's going to cost us a lot more money to get it fixed and I honestly can't tell if we are being ripped off but I get the feeling we are!

On to more drama...
Last night, I put the kids in bed at their regular bed time and went in to take my shower. After I finished, I went in the kitchen to make a cup of tea and I hear the kids playing and making noise. It's supposed to be bed time. After scolding them, I returned to my room to watch TV. I'm now thinking they are asleep because it's been a good while. Next thing I know Arjay is in my room (he's been climbing out of his crib now). I took him back to bed. In less than an hour later, I turned the TV off and started going off to sleep when I feel someone climbing into bed. I think it's Adryana (she loves coming to our bedroom begging to get in our bed) but it's Arjay! He usually loves to sleep in his crib. I'm now half asleep and didn't feel like walking back to his room (we have a split floor plan so we are in back of house on one side and they are in front of house on another side). I allowed him to sleep with us and we didn't sleep very well with him in bed. He's not a good sleeper.

Finally, I was getting some zzz's and at 5am I hear the alarm blasting. Greg forgot to turn off the alarm. Greg decided to go running this morning and he has to get to work at 7am so he left for running at 4:30am (I know it's crazy, trust me, I am always worried). Next thing I know Adryana is up in her bed screaming and crying that Arjay is gone. I got her calmed and then she came into our bed too. We are finally falling asleep when Greg came back home and went to shower before work. So, neither Adryana or I could sleep with him moving around in master bathroom/bedroom. Finally, he leaves for work and we were able to get a little sleep before we started the day. So now I'm extremely exhausted and cannot wait to get to my bed and sleep. I hope tonight will be a less dramatic night! We desperately need some sleep. Jesus help us.

Please pray...

for my cousin's husband who is scheduled to start chemotherapy on July 2nd. His name is Erik. The last time I wrote about him, he was having surgery to remove a tumor from his neck. He has been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Please pray for healing. And for salvation.

Also pray for my cousin, Trecia. It is a difficult time for both of them right now. But, I know God is able. Right now, this is hurting my heart so much and I am at a loss for words. I know that nothing is impossible for God and that is all I can cling to right now. Thank you for your prayers!

If you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'move
from here to there, ' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you
(Matthew 17:20, NKJV).

Sunday's Reflection

Sunday was not a sunny day here in Tampa. It rained again pretty much all day! My daughter was really upset yesterday because it was raining and she wanted to go swimming. She's been taking swimming lessons since the day after Memorial Day and when she first started out she hated it.

In fact, on her first day of swimming lessons, between screaming and crying she said, "this is the worst day ever!" We laugh about it now but she was really terrified about putting her face under water. It has been a long journey but she's now really comfortable in the water and she's made so much progress. She's now a bit obsessed with swimming and wants to practice as much as possible. So, on Saturday she wasn't happy because her dad had promised to take her swimming but couldn't because of the rain. We even heard her praying and begging God to stop the rain (oh, the faith of little children; you gotta love it!).

We were not able to go swimming Saturday so we went yesterday after church. We were lucky enough to get a break from the rain after church. We went swimming at a pool by Greg's work. We were able to stay there for over an hour without any rain. So my daughter got alot of practice and she did awesome! I'm truly proud of her and all the progress she's made. The whole time she was smiling and saying, "this is the best day ever!" Funny, huh?

Later that night, she prayed and thank God for stopping the rain just for her so that she could swim. I told her that God smiled on her and she said that it's because God loves her. I love to listen to her talk about God. She's so in love with Jesus and God. It's exhilarating to watch her and hear her pray. My prayer is that she will always have this love for Jesus and have a passion to do His will.

Tag

1) What were you doing ten years ago? I was attending Florida International University, where I met Greg and we would have been dating for 2 years by that time.
2) Name five things on today's "to do" list:
-attend church (actually teach children's church)
-catch up on my reading (I have a library book that is due tomorrow)
-wash dishes/tidy kitchen
-make dinner
-wash my daughter's hair and give children a bath, then put them to bed
3) Things I'd do if I was a billionnaire...
- help my friends and family (especially those in Jamaica that are less fortunate)
-start my own charity organization
-invest
4) Three bad habits:
-mood swings
-high expectations (prefectionist)
-Emotional shut down when overwhelmed/stressed
5) Five places I've lived:
- Jamaica
-Fort Lauderdale, Florida
-Miami, Florida
-Tampa, Florida
-Odessa, Florida
6) Five jobs I've had:
-Waitress
-Sales Respresentative
-Front desk/Receptionist
-Recreational Therapist
-Substitute Teacher/Teacher
7) Five people I'm tagging: you

Sleepy Saturday

Today was a very rainy day where I live. Everyone decided to take a nap sometime around 2 pm. Since I don't usually nap, I decided to lie in my bed and watch TV. About 2 hours later my eyes got so heavy that I couldn't barely keep them open. Just as sleep was taking over, in walks my precious daughter, just waking up from her nap. I convinced her to climb in the bed next to me and then I handed her the remote.

I told her she could watch her show but honestly I can't even remember her changing the channel. I was so exhausted that I fell asleep immediately. My husband was already sleeping in the bed next to me so my daughter was up by herself. It was sometime after 4pm now when I fell asleep. I did not awake until 6pm. I needed the sleep.

When I got up I was happy to see that my husband was up and tending to the kids. I felt so guilty that I fell asleep and left my daughter up. Generally, I will not go to sleep if my children are awake unless my husband is awake and can tend to them. You never know what can happen. Frankly I think it is irresponsible and I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something happen to any of my children while I was asleep.

Anyhoo, thank God my husband woke up while our daughter was in the bed watching TV and so he saw that I fell asleep and he got out of bed and took her out of the room so that I could rest. He knows I don't usually sleep in the middle of the day unless I am exhausted. I am happy I got some rest because I really needed it. It's not that I wouldn't want to nap in the daytime, it's just that once I'm up I just go and go and go. I usually have to unwind at night time since I am a night owl and could stay up for hours into the night. I've been trying to get myself to go to bed before midnight nowadays because with 2 young children I can't sleep in as I would like.

It's so awesome to have days like this: I really enjoyed my sleepy Saturday!

Meme

I got this meme over at Pastor Deanna's blog.

1) What is your favorite day of the week?
Saturday...when my whole family is home together!
2) How do you usually do your hair?
I like it straight and "bumped" at the ends.
3) What is your favorite item of clothing?
jeans
4) Where would your dream vacation be?
Paris with my husband.
5) Who is your favorite author? book?
Right now, Karen Kingsbury.
6) How often do you log on?
I am usually log on in the morning and then I check periodically throughout the day.
7) What is one of your favorite Internet sites to visit?
All my fave bloggers.
8) Coke or Pepsi?
Pepsi.
9) Healthy snacks or junk food?
Not a big junk food eater but not the most healthy eater either. I'm just a picky eater so it's more important that I'm in the mood for whatever I'm eating and that I also like it.
10) Are you a morning person or a night owl?
Night owl. I'll stay up as long as I have to and keep going even if I am tired. However, once I crash I don't like to have to wake up until I'm good and ready (this happens very rarely since I have 2 young children).

Yesterday...

was a very productive day for us. The kids spent Wednesday night with their auntie and also part of Thursday. Wednesday night, after hubby got home from work, we saw a movie. It was really nice to have a date night because I've been wanting a break lately. After having my brother and niece here for a week, I was feeling tired and kinda burned out.

Thursday morning we got up and had the most productive day (as far as home improvements is concerned) we've had in a long time. We cleaned our garage. It took us a few hours but we got rid of a lot of "junk." We had some things that we needed to throw out and also some things to donate. We made 2 trips to Goodwill and Salvation Army (only because Goodwill wouldn't take on of our donated items). It felt so good once we got done. We were tired of course but our garage is a lot cleaner and we are happy!

Besides cleaning, we were also able to have lunch together at Chili's. They have an "endless" salad, soup and chips lunch. Definitely worth trying :) Greg ordered the "endless" soup/salad/chips lunch and I ordered quesadillas. We didn't realized until later that "endless" really meant all you can eat. When Greg ordered it we hadn't paid much attention to the name So when the waitress asked Greg if he wanted more soup and salad we were already too stuffed. Now we know and so next time we'll go on "really empty" then we can fill up. (lol)

It was so nice to have a lot of "us time" without the kids. We got alot done but we also had time to spend with each other, which doesn't happen as much as we would like. Thank God my friend offered to keep the kids over night. Of course my daughter has been begging us to allow her to sleep over my friend's house for a while. I am usually a little hesitant about letting my kids stay over anywhere. Unless it's their grandparents. In the end, I am really glad we did!

What???

I recently saw http://wetv.com/video/1586421884/jack-ruby on television and I was so annoyed. I mean this is really absurd! The thought of dogs getting married is so ridiculous and I can't believe that WE TV will run a program like this. I guess some dog lovers cannot get it into their heads that animals are NOT people. Just knowing that they spent so much money to do something as stupid as this has me really upset. There are too many people in this world starving for us to be doing something as ridiculous as this.

I realize that some people might find "puppy weddings" entertaining but I think this is just a little extreme (even if it's just for entertainment purposes). I love watching weddings...but dog weddings? What's next? We already have to endure watching many dogs live a life of luxury. While people are starving and dying of AIDS, some dogs are going to spas and living a lavish lifestyle.

I know that many "dog lovers" will disagree with me and think this is cute. Let me reiterate that I ABSOLUTELY DO NOT find this cute! I will definitely NOT watch this program, even though I love watching wedding programs.

I will also add that marriage is scared and should only occur between a man and woman just as God intended. Not 2 men or 2 women and CERTAINLY NOT dogs.

I'm Back!

I've been MIA from cyber world for over a week now. I know, I can't believe it either. The truth is I have been crazy busy and just too exhausted to get my thoughts together to sit and blog. My younger brother who's 12 and my niece who's 10 were both here with us since June 6th. It has been a lot of work caring for 2 extra children and I was wiped out these past days.
Last week my daughter and my niece attended Vacation Bible School (VBS) from 9am-12noon. Although that helped to minimize the time spent at home, it was also very taxing on me. Along with that my daughter had swimming lessons so I felt like I was going all over town all week and that was very tiring.

In addition we have been having alot of visitors for the last few weekends. This weekend Greg's cousin and his wife and their baby were here. We had a great time with them. Greg's cousin's wife was also my room-mate in college and she and I are very good friends. It was really nice spending time with her. When we get together we can talk for hours and that is exactly what we did Friday night.

We left all the kids with the 2 men and went out for coffee and desserts followed by a movie. We had so much fun talking and laughing that even when we returned home we spent another 45 minutes in my van just talking. We knew everyone were already sleeping so we didn't want to come inside and wake them up but we still wanted to talk. I love having conversations with friends that I click with because we could talk forever and we would not run out of things to say.

Unfortunately these friends are living in Ft. Lauderdale (as are most of our best friends and our family) and we don't see them as often as we would like. Can you tell I'm missing Ft. Lauderdale??? I admit, I do miss it; not so much the place but more the people (at least my peeps) that are still there. I do love Tampa though; I just wish I could combine my 2 worlds. That's exactly how it feels too like we are living in 2 worlds. Anyway, God is good and we are thankful to be blessed no matter where we are. We are able to make it work and that's what we've been doing. We go to Ft. Lauderdale as much as we can and we have friends and family come visit us too. So, it's all good!

The men also got a boys' night out too. They went out for sushi Saturday night. They also went to Channelside and they watched Hulk, which they really enjoyed. All in all we were all able to have a great time of fellowship with each other. So, now we are trying to get back to our normal lives.
Adryana was very sad to see our visitors go. She really misses the kids. They were also sad to leave. I'm sad for them too but I won't miss the extra work.

Well, I'm logging off now. I have tons of laundry to catch up on. Also, while I was MIA from blogging I was also not reading any of my fave blogs so I need to catch up with them now.

Rejoice!

Today is my Mom's birthday and I celebrate her. Happy Birthday Mom! She is a very sweet lady and is also the most wonderful mother. I love her very much! She and my Dad will be here for a visit and I cannot wait to see her. They should arrive before bed-time tonight. It's extra special to see her today since it's her birthday. I've also not seen her in a couple of months. They live in Ft. Lauderdale, a four-hour drive but with the hike in gas prices we've all cut back on our traveling there and here.

As I am preparing the house for my parents, my thoughts are far away. My cousin's husband is in surgery today to remove his neck tumor. Once the doctors remove the tumor they can do a biopsy. They are thousands of miles away and I am so worried for them. I know that God can reach everyone no matter the distance. We've all been praying for her and him but we are still awaiting an update. There is a 6 hour time difference between our countries so we are patiently waiting for news about his progress. Thanks to all of you who have been praying for them. We really appreciate it.
While my thoughts drifted back and forth to my cousin and her husband, I am also praying and this scripture has been on my mind:
"Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:4-7).

I will also add 1Peter 1:6-9 to encourage anyone going through a difficult time too.
6In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Blessings to you all!

Have You Ever...

heard your phone ringing and knew before you picked it up that it was going to be bad news? Minutes before church yesterday we received a phone call just like that. It seems as if the mere ringing of the phone was screaming out the news at us. At first, I froze completed. I panicked and then tried to convince myself once I looked at the caller ID that the person calling just simply wanted casual conversation and had no idea that he or she was going to make me late for church.

I didn't even realized that I had muttered something like, "why is she calling?" Next thing I knew, Greg was saying, "if she's calling NOW it must be important!" Of course I knew that, but the mind is a powerful thing and my mind had already convinced me that the news was too BAD for me to even listen to. I didn't know whether to run and hide or pick up the receiver. My brain couldn't wrap around the idea of receiving devastating news when just minutes ago we were all talking and laughing while getting dressed for church. My soul felt tormented and I started to think of every doom imaginable. By the time I picked up the receiver, my voice betrayed me because the way I said hello was surely as if I already knew the reason for the call.

The moment the person heard my voice and spoke, we both started sobbing like crazy. All of a sudden, I was desperate for information. I'm sure I had stop breathing at this point while waiting in anticipation. I started screaming, "what happened? what hapenned?". I did this repeatedly because I wanted to postpone the inevitable-- the info this person was going to tell me. In the end, the news was BAD. I couldn't find the words to say to my very dear friend who was just reporting that her husband was diagnosed with cancer. I cried with her and I said whatever encouraging words I could say but I can't remember half of what I said now.

My heart aches for her and her husband. I'm so torn. I'm torn because I want to pray for healing but I also need to pray for the husband's salvation. This to me is more important. After I hanged up the telephone, this bothered me the most because I knew he is not prepared to meet Jesus. I am so sad about this but I know there's still time. I am praying for his redemption and healing. I want God glorified in all of this situation and I know He will be. Your will God, your will be done.

I was sad while at church and I just felt like I was in a daze most of the day. The worship songs touched my heart and I got emotional a few times. Then the message by Missionary Ben King was AMAZING!! It resonated in my heart throughout all of yesterday and even today. The most important part that I took away was how important it is to win souls for God's kingdom. I just kept thinking yes Lord I hear you! The message confirmed what I was already thinking about my friend's husband. He needs Jesus! There are other lost souls all over this world and they all need Jesus! We need to keep telling everybody we know about Jesus, before it's too late! Help us Lord. Help us.