A Beautiful Song

We sang this at church last Sunday night.  It is a beautiful song

and I wish you could have heard it being sung.

Remind Me Dear Lord

Written by Dottie Rambo

Verse I

The things that I love, and hold dear to my heart

Are just borrowed they’re not mine at all

Jesus only lets me use them to brighten my life

So remind me, remind me dear Lord

Chorus

Roll back the curtain of memories now and then

Show me where you brought me from

Oh, and where I could have been

Remember I’m human, and humans forget

So remind me, remind me dear Lord

Verse II

Nothing good have I done to deserve God’s own Son

I’m not worthy of the scars in His hand

Yet He chose the road to Calv’ry to die in my stead

Why He loved me, I can’t understand

Repeat chorus, then:

So remind me, remind me dear Lord

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving from our house to yours.

I went back and read about our Thanksgiving from last year and we had been so hopeful that this year Mom would be with us.  Well, she wasn't with us this year but we could feel her with us.  My brother-in-law said a beautiful prayer that included being thankful for our meal and about how much Memom was missed this year.  By the end of the prayer, we were all in tears.  Our menu today included several of her recipes.

Thanksgiving Menu:
turkey and dressing (dressing made by Dad)
spiral ham (BJ)
corn casserole (RAW)
greenbean casserole (raw)
sweet potato casserole (me)
*brocolli rice casserole (me)
greenbeans

rolls (BJ)

bread (me)
*jello mold salad (BJ)
cranberry relish (BJ)

lemon icebox pie with cherries (BJ)
pumpkin pie (BJ)
*buttermilk pie (RAW)
butter pecan bars (me)
spritzer cookies (me)
**Mom's recipes

After eating ourselves to full, we watched Bedtime Stories and we are now watching the A&M vs Texas game.  I hope that your day was filled with family and thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving to our beautiful Mom.  We missed you so much today.  Today just hasn't been the same without you.

I Think I Can, I Think I Can

I am trying to get as much of my stuff done early for Thanksgiving so I don't have to stress and run around.  I am also trying to get Christmas stuff done early for the same reason.  We are having our annual Ladies Christmas party for the ladies at our church at my Gmom P's house this year so I have to get started decorating early for that and I just hate rushing and being stressed but it always happens.  My husband says I have no concept of time.  He may be right but I would never admit it to him!!

I hope that you aren't too stressed about Thanksgiving.  I have one of my casseroles put "together" for the most part and will be doing the other one and some baking tomorrow.  I will share the recipes on my recipe blog when I have a few minutes to get them posted!

Hope you're having a great week!

Keep Your Fork

This was my blogpost on the blog I have about our journey with my Mom's illness but I thought I would bring it over here to share with you.

KEEP YOUR FORK
A woman was diagnosed with a terminal illness and given three months to live. She asked her preacher to come by her house to discuss her funeral.

She told him which songs she wanted sung at the service, what scriptures to read, and what dress she wanted to be buried in. She also requested to be buried with her favorite Bible. As he prepared to leave, she suddenly remembered one more thing. "I have one more request," she said excitedly. "What's that?" the preacher replied. "This is very important,: she continued. "I want to be buried with a fork in my right hand."


The preacher looked at her, not knowing quite what to say.


"That surprises you?" she asked?


"To be honest, I am puzzled," he replied.


The woman explained, "In all my years of attending church fellowships and potluck dinners, I always remembered that when the dishes were being cleared, someone would inevitably lean over and say, 'Keep your fork.' It was my favorite park, because I knew that meant something better was coming. . .like velvety chocolate cake or deep-dish apple pie. Something wonderful! So I want people to see me in that casket with a fork in my hand. When they ask you, 'What's with the fork?' Then I want you to tell them, 'She believed the best was yet to come.'"

I received a copy of House to House, Heart to Heart from the Jacksonville church of Christ in Alabama and this was in there. It made me think of Mom for a couple of reasons, one being that Mom loved dessert. . . .a lot and second she believed that the best was yet to come and now she is being able to enjoy it. BUT that doesn't make us miss her any less or hurt any less. It does help to remind me that she is in a much better place without the worries, hurts, problems that we have. I love you Mom and I know that you are enjoying the best.

Catching Up

Wow, I can't believe that it has been over a week since I have really posted on here.  I have been busy but not that busy.  I did some subbing, lots of cleaning, making reservations, planning my part of our Thanksgiving meal, grocery shopping and well, I can't remember what else!  Oh and I read four really good books.  I have also spent some time trying to think of something cute to make for the ladies in my hubbies office (if you have any suggestions, please pass them on!) and what to get the rest of the people on my Christmas list.  Speaking of Christmas, I can not believe how many people in blogland have already begun or are finished with their Christmas decorating.  My goodness, I still have my lighted pumpkins on my front porch from Halloween!  Why can't we just get through one holiday at a time.  It is bad enough that the stores are already decorated but people's homes?  Anyway, Christmas will not be arriving at the Giggles home until after Thanksgiving.  Even the new Christmas sock monkey I bought last weekend is just having to hang out until after Thanksgiving.

I am excited about our Thanksgiving meal this year.  It will just be our immediate family which includes me, Mr. Giggles, Daddy, RAW, Bec, SRJ, Tatortot and Madcow.  Here is what I can remember of our menu:  turkey, ham, sweet potato casserole (made by me), broccoli rice casserole (also by me), corn casserole, green salad, cranberry mold, rolls, butter pecan bars (by me), chocolate pie.  We will also have taco soup but not on turkey day.

Because I am nosey (or so my hubby says, I think I am just curious about others) I would love to know what your plans are, what you are cooking and what is your favorite Thanksgiving food.  Just leave me a comment and let me know.

This year I didn't do my what I am thankful list but I am pretty much thankful for the same things.  One think that has changed is how thankful I am for my Dad.  I don't know what I would do without him.  I miss my Mom so very much and I know my Dad does too and we just have to lean on each other now.  We are closer than we ever have been.

Well, this post jumps all around but that is all I can come up with tonight.  Oh and Texas A&M beat Nebraska tonight WHOOP and my alma mater won too!!

Remembering

11 years ago today a tragedy occured that changed the lives of 12 families who lost their children and 52 others whose children were injured and 100's of others whose lives were somehow touched.  We remember.

photo courtesy of Wikimedia

At approximately 2:42 a.m. on November 18, 1999, the stack, consisting of about 5000 logs 40 feet (12 m) high, collapsed during construction. Of the 58 students and former students working on the stack, 12 were killed and 27 were injured.  Within minutes of the collapse, members of Texas Task Force 1, the state's elite emergency response team, arrived to begin the rescue efforts. Rescue operations took over 24 hours; the pace was hampered by the decision to remove many of the logs by hand for fear that using heavy equipment to remove them would cause further collapses, resulting in further injuries to those still trapped. Students, including the entire Texas A&M football team and many members of the university's Corps of Cadets, rushed to the site to assist rescue workers with the manual removal of the logs. 

Within minutes of the collapse, word of the accident spread among students and the community. Before sunrise, the accident was the subject of news reports around the world. Within hours, 50 satellite trucks were broadcasting from the Texas A&M campus. At noon, students held an impromptu prayer service in the center of campus, at Rudder Fountain. An official memorial service was held less than seventeen hours after the collapse. Over 16,000 mourners, including then Texas Lieutenant Governor Rick Perry, packed Reed Arena to pay tribute to those who died and those who had spent all day trying to rescue the injured. At the end of the service, as A&M University President Ray Bowen presented roses to the families of the dead and injured students, the crowd spontaneously stood in silence, linking arms with those standing next to them, before quietly singing "Amazing Grace." Only after all of the rescue workers and family members had left the facility did the audience depart.

On November 25, 1999, the date that Bonfire would have burned, Aggies instead held a vigil and remembrance ceremony. Over 40,000 people lit candles and observed up to two hours of silence at the site of the collapse, before walking to Kyle Field for yell practice. At the stadium, fans spontaneously relit their candles as the Parsons Mounted Cavalry fired the Aggie cannon twelve times, once for each victim. Former President George H. W. Bush and his wife Barbara and Texas Governor George W. Bush and his wife Laura attended the remembrance ceremony.

The following day, the Aggies upset the Texas Longhorns, winning 20–16 in the annual rivalry game. The game began with a flyover of F-16 jets, all piloted by former A&M students, in the missing man formation. At halftime, the Texas Longhorn Band dedicated their performance to the students lost and injured in the collapse, and ended by playing Amazing Grace and Taps, then removing their white hats in a show of respect as they walked off the field. The Fightin' Texas Aggie Band also played a tribute to the fallen and, contrary to the usual tradition, marched off the field in a silent cadence. Aggie students, who normally sit only when the opposing band plays, stood throughout both performances and gave both standing ovations.

The Bonfire Memorial Commission collected the hundreds of thousands of items that were left by grieving visitors at the site of the collapse. At the Systems Building, Texas A&M leaders erected pictures of the deceased students. There, over a dozen seniors left behind their Aggie rings, permanently donating them to the students who did not live long enough to earn their own.

information from Wikipedia

Bonfire Memorial

http://hospitality.tamu.edu/bonfirememorial

This And That

I hope everyone has had a good Veteran's Day.  I went to the Veteran's Day program at the middle school today because I helped them practice their songs last week while I was subbing.  They did a good job.  The program was very nice.

Today the temp has been hot.  It does not seem like fall at all.  I think that there is supposed to be another cool front coming this weekend.  I hope so because I am ready for it!

Tomorrow I am subbing at my old elementary school in Art.  I love this assignment and the teacher is great.  She always leaves us something fun to do.  Tomorrow we will be creating "Holiday" cards for a district contest.  The winner's card will be used as the district card.  The kids and I always have a good time.  I like subbing with these ladies and they are always happy when I am subbing for them because they know that I will do what they have ask.  It is a win=win situation.

Occasionally I will go to the blog I have about my Mom's journey to see what was going on this time last year.  I had forgotten how worried we were about her at the time.  She couldn't talk or do much of anything else and we were so scared.  Little did we know that what we were experiencing was only the beginning.  I wish I could tell her how much I love her, how much she means to me and how much I miss her.

Well, that is all for tonight.  I have a couple of things to do to get ready for tomorrow.  Thank goodness it is Friday.

Thank You

We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude. ~Cynthia Ozick

Mrs. H and I picked the same quote today and I think it is so appropriate for today.  Thank you to all of the men and woman today and in the past along with their families who have given so much so that we can live in the most wonderful country in the world.

Happy 235th Birthday to the United States Marine Corp!
(this was actually yesterday)


Home of the FREE
 because of the BRAVE!

Almost Wordless Wednesday

The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings. ~Eric Hoffer, Reflections On The Human Condition

What A Day!

Giggles has had a very long day. My day started at 5:00 (because we only have one bathroom and for Mr. G to be able to leave at 6:55 am and for me to have enough time that is what we have to do)  with me heading out at 7:10 to SWV elementary to sub in music well, the job was cancelled but no one let me know until after I arrived early and had to stand outside the front doors for almost 10 minutes.  Then they sent me to the high school where I spent time in the library dusting the glass shelves and cleaning the windows in the display case and reshelved books (using the Dewy Decimal System). Then I was sent to CSMS (Dads school) where I spent 4 periods in adaptive behavior, 30 minutes in the library and one period in a special math class. I had to help actual people with some math work. . . . .some was fractions (no wonder my head hurts!).  If you know me, you know that math is very painful for me.  And when I say painful. . . . . .I mean painful.  When I had to take my education math classes and the additional math class to get in all math credits it was a pain for Mr. Giggles because he is a math whiz and had to help me (who is no a math whiz).  It was nice to have some of my kids from last week smile and say hi to me as they passed me in the hall.  Anyway, I am absolutely useless this evening.  Thank goodness I am not working tomorrow!

Yesterday I subbed at the hubby's school for a bunch of third graders.  The first group I had asked me in the morning if my husband was the bald man they would see.  Well, I knew that he goes to the cafeteria a lot to get tea so I said yes, it was.  Well when I went to pick them up from lunch, the lunch aide that they were confused about who he was.  They were asking one of the aides (a tall bald man (due to shaving his head) but not my tall bald man (due to genetics).  He was with me when I went to pick up the kids I told them and showed them who he was.  As they passed him while leaving the cafeteria they said hi to him and some shook his hand.  After we got back to the classroom, they said "Your husband has a shiny bald head" (giggles!) and now we know who he is.  I told them that he will always have on a tie unless it is Friday in case they forget that he is the shiny bald guy!

I thought I would share these two pictures with you.  They are from my birthday with my family.  You will notice that my sister and I got sunburned when we went to an outside craft show.

 Well, that is all for now.  I hope you are all having a good week.  So far even though mine has been crazy, it has been ok.  Tomorrow will be busy as I try to catch up on the house cleaning, dish washing, towel folding and plant planting.  But at least I don't have to wake up at 5:00 am!

This Week

Busy week coming up.  Tomorrow teaching third grade, Tuesday teaching elementary music and Friday teaching elementary art.  Last week was three days of junior high choir (loved it).
Yesterday Mr. Giggles, Dad, RAW and I went to see the movie RED.  Really, really good movie.  We all enjoyed it and laughed a lot (out loud laughter) during the movie.  It was nice to get to do that together.
Today was church and as always, it was great.  The two cuties sat behind us again this morning and I told their Mom that I have child induced ADHD (I can't help but look at them) .  They are that cute and that good.  During the sermon tonight Cutie Boy saw that I was looking up the scriptures in my bible (he was too!) so he leaned forward a couple of times and whispered the chapter to me.  It was so stinking cute.  My Dad was standing at the front during the singing of the invitation song and he always winks at Cutie Boy and so Cutie Boy was trying to wink back at him!  Ladybug smiled the biggest smile at me this morning and she had on the cutest outfit that had been her Mom's when she was a baby.
Well, I am heading to bed.  Hope you have a good week.


Weekly Menu:
Monday:  homemade chili frito pie (thanks Daddy)
Tuesday: salad or baked potato
Wednesday:  fend for yourself
Thursday:  homemade potato soup from my mil
Friday: out to dinner
Saturday: fend for yourself

Why?

Why does it seem like when I am finally getting my footing back, something knocks me flat on my rear?  Not once but twice this week I thought of something that made me immediately think. . . .I need to call Mom and tell her such and such.  It hurts so much.  I miss her.  Today while at Mom and Dad's house, I just stood outside and watered her plants and thought about all the times I had stood out there with her while she watered or worked in the yard.  No matter how hard Dad and I work to keep up the yard, it just doesn't look like it did when she was doing it.  I don't like how nothing will ever be the way it was, especially since we never dreamed that we would lose her so quickly.

Just Checking In

I am giving myself ten minutes to type of this post because I am ready to go to bed.  Ok, past ready to go to bed.  Here is just a quick glimpse of what I have been doing this week well, since Tuesday.  Tuesday I met the plumber at my Dad's house to get a leaky toilet fixed.  I unpacked some more stuff, hung some pictures and wreaths and cleaned the bathrooms for the church 42 party on Friday.  Then I met him for lunch and went to the post office.  Mr. Giggles called and the back brakes were out on his truck and he was out of town.  I hung out in town until he got back and met him at the mechanics (second car in the shop this week).  Picked up Mr. G, picked him up some lunch and went home so he could head out to work (he had been our of town for work).  That evening I picked up some stuff at Walmart including medicine for my sister, took it to her house and dropped it off (she was out of town for a vball playoff game) and then went to visit with my Dad a little while.  Wednesday I subbed in junior high choir, came home to wait for Mr. G so we could go pick up his truck and then church.  Today I again subbed in choir, came home and cooked supper and then went to a soccer game to watch Mr. H and his brother play.  It was very cool outside! They tied their game and ended the season undefeated.  Congrats guys.  Came home to eat dinner and watch some tv and now to for bed.  Goodnight all.

Monday Excitement

I got to spend the day with Mr. Giggles today and boy did we do some exciting things.  First we went to the dentist to get our teeth cleaned.  His teeth are of course "perfect" and mine are in need of one filling and one crown.  I think my teeth took after my Moms.  The rest of our exciting day consisted of going to the tax office to get the registration for our trailer, eating lunch at Long John Silver's, another appointment for Mr. Giggles, two pawn shops, Walgreens and Goodwill.  Oh and we started out the day by taking our suburban to the car doc.  Thank goodness it only needed a new battery.  I stopped at the library on my way home.  Once we got home we just vegged out for the rest of the evening.  I like days like today even if they are kind of busy.