My Mom's Miracle

Today I am participating in Miracle Monday, hosted by Beth at A Mom's Life.

I want to tell you about a little miracle that happened to my mom last week.

If you remember last Friday was the day of our little snow. I was driving to work later than usual, but still wanted to call my mom, as I do a few times a week. I had just dropped off Quinn at daycare and while I was driving on to work, I called my mom. I had wanted to thank her for the diapers she had brought to our house on her last visit, because I had to take more diapers to daycare that day.

We had only been on the phone for a few minutes when I heard this weird crackly static sound. I thought one of us had driven through a "dead zone". I asked Mom what in the world that sound was. There was a small pause, and then she spoke the words that sent a chill down my spine..."I've just been in a wreck and it's real bad." Then the line went dead.

Oh My Goodness. I had heard the wreck happen! The crackly static was actually the crunching of cars and squealing of tires! And here I am, 3 hours away. Is she ok? What could I do?

PRAY. and PRAY. and PRAY!

I dialed my parents' house and my dad picked up. I'm sure I scared him to death. I said, "Daddy, get dressed and go find Mama. We were talking and she had a wreck." So Daddy went after her, following the route she usually takes to go to work.

And I waited. And PRAYED. And waited. And PRAYED!

About an hour or so later Mom called! She had been approaching an intersection and would have been the first one in line. She had let off the gas and when she tried to apply the brake, nothing happened and she slid right through the intersection.

Her car was totaled....but she was not! Not even a scratch or a bruise.

God was with her that day. She could have been seriously injured or worse. Cars can be replaced, but Mamas cannot!

If you would like to read about more Miracles, click here.

Gotta love those snow days!!!

Since I am a teacher, it makes it easy for me to "think like a kid".

So when the meterologists start talking snow, my ears perk up. That always means a delay or an unexpected day off of work. Even as a kid, I remember the excitement and anticipation as you go to bed, praying that God would let it snow. I don't pray for snow anymore, but I still wonder what I will find on the ground when I wake up.

Somehow, I missed the snow talk yesterday. I don't remember it being mentioned, or maybe I was still half-asleep since Quinn didn't sleep well on Wednesday night. Whatever the reason, you can imagine my surprise when I woke up to see a light dusting of snow on the grass and the deck! It's not even Thanksgiving for crying out loud! I wasn't expecting snow this early in the season. But of course, the "kid" in me kicked in and my first thought was This is enough for a 2-hour delay!!

I ran to turn the TV on only to find no school delays scrolling. Oh well. About half an hour later, the phone rang. I thought who in the world is calling me at 5:45 in the morning. It was the call center from the school system advising us of......A 2 HOUR DELAY!!! WooHoo!

Being a teacher does have its perks, you know!
:-)

Blogging for 5th Graders

At school these days we are taking various trainings and workshops dealing with technology and helping prepare our students for the 21st century. One point that was mentioned is that the jobs the kids of today will do in the future have not even been invented yet! Isn't that amazing?

I got to thinking about what I could do differently in my class that would also fit with these new ways of thinking. And it finally occured to me....I could create a class blog!

I talked with my students about what a blog is and why people make them. We talked about what a teacher and some students could do with a blog. Then we decided to make one. We are going to use this blog to discuss what we are reading (books that are assigned, as well as books the students read for fun). We are also going to write about daily activities, such as guest speakers, assemblies, field trips, etc. The kids are doing the writing, but I am posting for them.

I can't even begin to tell you how excited the kids are about doing this. Especially when they found out it would be on the Internet for anyone in the world to read. We already have some comments from some of the other teachers. I'm hoping some of the parents will start looking in on it too.

Due to privacy issues for my students, I'm not going to disclose the name of my classroom blog. If you would like to view it, I will email you the link. If you choose to look at it, feel free to comment, but know that these comments must be approved by me first. And also, please DO NOT share this link on your own blog.

I only wish I had known about blogging years ago!

Why I've been M.I.A

Well, I haven't made a post in almost a week. But I've got some good excuses.

The main reason was that the computer crashed. Hard to make a post without a computer. I really discovered how much we use the computer in this day and age, especially when you need to use it and can't.

Thursday is my "pay the bills" day. Couldn't go online to get the bank statement. We went out and bought the fanciest virus software they sell....couldn't get the computer to work.

Friday--Quinn had to stay home due to a fever (That's my other reason for not blogging). While at school dropping of the lesson plans, I printed the bank statment. Came home and had to pay the bills the regular way, since I couldn't go online and pay them that way. Friday night we went and got a new computer. Not the plan we had in mind, but it is nice.

Saturday and Sunday I spent trying to keep Quinn happy. He has cried more this weekend than he has in his entire 10 months of living (and that includes the crazy first couple of weeks). We found out Sunday that he has an ear infection. Praise the Lord for "by appointment only" Sunday Doctor's hours!! We've got the antibiotics, and he seems to be getting better.

So, there you go. That's why I haven't been here in about a week.

And since I'm home today with Quinn as well, let's see how much housework I can get done....

An Update on the Citizen's Arrest

Last week I posted about Buddy being able to help his boss locate a stolen truck.

Our local news has a link about this on their webpage.

I read this article and I am just amazed. This guy is just a year younger than us, and now he is in for a world of trouble.

To see what happened to this guy, click here.

Buddy said his boss emailed this link to everyone at the office and mentioned that Buddy had a hand in helping find this guy. If Buddy had not noticed the car while driving behind it on the interstate, then this guy might have made it back to the county he lives in. Justice is served!

Thank You Veterans!

Today is Veteran's Day, a day to honor our men and women who have served or are currently serving in the military. The men and women who have put their lives on the line so that we can enjoy the freedom that our forefathers fought so hard to earn.

What strikes me a little funny about today is that I am off work. This would be a perfect day to teach my students about what Veteran's day is all about. Instead, I'm just sitting here enjoying a day at home. A guy on our fire department mentioned last night that it is ironic that he, a Vietnam Vet, has to work today of all days. Interesting.

I got to thinking about all the men in my family (13 of them to be exact), who have served in the Armed Forces, and I wanted to do something to honor them. So I called my mom and my grandma, and here is my Soldier Salute for Veteran's Day 2008.

On my Mom's side of the family:

• Grandpa was in the Navy. He joined during WWII after Pearl Harbor was bombed. He drove PT Boats (like JFK did) and was also the chauffeur for the Admiral.
• Uncle Bus and Uncle Doug (my grandma's brothers) were both in the Navy.
• Uncle Taylor, Uncle Marvin and Uncle Melvin (my grandma's brothers-in-law) were in the Army. Uncle Taylor was wounded while fighting on the European front of WWII.
• My cousin's husband, Scott, is in the Air Force. He was in Iraq during the first Iraq war back in the early 1990s. His group dropped bombs on Baghdad. He is still in the service as part of the Air Force National Guard.

On my Dad's side of the family:

• Uncle Herman (dad's brother) was in the Army.
• Uncle Howard (dad's brother) was in the Air Force during the Vietnam War.
• Uncle Randy and Uncle Tom (dad's brothers) are both retired from the Air Force after 20 years of service each.
• My cousins Danny and Frank (Uncle Howard's sons) were both in the Army.

Thanks to these men, and countless other men and women, we as Americans can continue to enjoy our freedoms. God bless our troops, and God Bless America.

Our Weekend

We found out late on Thursday night that Buddy's dad would be in town this weekend and not traveling for work. We decided to take advantage of this, and headed to SC for a quick trip.

We had a lot of fun visiting with them. A lot of people apparently have trouble dealing with their spouse's parents, but not me! Buddy's mom and dad are wonderful people, and I always enjoy getting to spend time with them. When introducing me to others, they call me their "fourth daughter"! It's a nice feeling.

So anyway, we got to their house on Saturday and just hung out for a while and ate lunch. Quinn had fun playing with some toys that his Nana and Papa had gotten him on their trip to Germany. We also took some time to go to a store that had a large selection of CLEMSON shirts and sweatshirts. (Since we now live in the middle of Wake Forest, Duke, NC State, and UNC fans, we can't have enough CLEMSON stuff.)

The highlight of our trip was dinner on Saturday at the Rio Grille. This is a Brazillian style restaurant in downtown Greenville. Mr.Staton had eaten at this type of place on a business trip to Brazil last summer, and when he found out a similar place was in town, well, he wanted us all to try it.

You pay one price, and you can choose items from the salad bar (mostly pasta and bean salads) and then you get all the meat you can eat. Seriously! The waiters and waitresses come by with slabs of meat on this long skewer that looks like a sword. They announce what kind of meat it is, and if you want some, they slice it off. You get a small set of tongs with your silverware, and as they slice the meat, you use the tongs to put the meat on your plate. If you continue to want some meat, you take your coaster and turn it to the green side. If you want to take a break, or if you are finished, you turn your coaster to the red side.

They brought around chicken drumsticks, chicken filets and beef filets wrapped in bacon, sirloin, flank steak, scallops, tuna steaks, pork tenderloin, pork ribs, and grilled pineapple with cinnamon. Let me just say, that if you leave this restaurant hungry, it's your own fault!!

If you would like to see more about this restaurant, click here.

After we ate dinner (thanks for treating us Mom and Dad S), we went for a walk around downtown Greenville. When Buddy and I were dating, we came here a lot. There is lots to do, and since we've moved to NC, there is even more going on. We are definitely going to have to come back here in the daylight. I didn't get any pictures, because it wouldn't have done the town justice in the dark. Maybe I can get some pictures when we go back at Christmas.

We are back from our relaxing time at Buddy's parents' house and are already looking forward to our next visit! Thanks for a wonderful weekend!

Citizen's Arrest! Citizen's Arrest!

(Can you name the TV Show that made that line famous?)

I've just got to tell you all this crazy story that happened to Buddy this week.

Over Halloween Weekend, Buddy's boss's truck was stolen from his driveway. He told Buddy about it at work on Monday. Tuesday after work, while driving home on the interstate, Buddy saw a truck that looked similar. (He's only seen this truck once.) He called his boss and described the truck to him....and it was THE TRUCK!! But the truck exited the interstate while Buddy was in a different lane and he lost track of it.

Buddy's boss called us this evening to tell us that the police caught the guy! Because Buddy saw the truck in our town (his boss lives in a different town) it helped the police track it down easier.

I don't want to give out too many more details, but let's just say that this incident wasn't the guy's first pony ride...if you know what I mean. At least he's off the streets, and will be for a while.

Thanks to Buddy's obsessiveness in noticing and paying attention to details, his boss got the truck back!

Election Day 2008

picture credit click here

Today is Election Day. Buddy and I got up early so we could vote before work. There's just something about voting on Election Day that just seems more patriotic to me. I don't look down on people who did early voting or voting by mail...I"m just glad those people voted!! For me, it was all about casting my vote today. This was my third time voting for President and all three have been crazy. The 2000 election was when Al Gore won the Popular vote, but Bush got the Electoral vote. 2004 was the year of the "hanging chads". 2008--I think that unless you've been living under a rock, you know how crazy this one has been already.

My polling place happened to be our fire station. By the time I got there at 6:30am, the parking lot was absolutely full. I actually had to park in the grocery store parking lot that is beside the station and walk up the street just to get in line. I waited for an hour and a half in the RAIN. Luckily for me I was able to grab my umbrella before leaving the house.

At my polling place I actually had to bubble in my voting card...no electronic screens for me. As I was bubbling in my sheet, I prayed that the Lord would take this vote and make it count. All we can do now is pray that the right man gets placed in the White House. Either way, I will be praying for our President and that he will make the right decisions for our country.

Did you vote today? Did you vote early? How long did you have to wait? I'd love to hear about your Election Day.

Way To Go, Adam!!

When I think back on my childhood, a lot of my memories involve my cousins, as I am an only child. I grew up on a street full of family. My grandmother and her three sisters (my great-aunts) all lived on my street. I actually lived in my great-grandpa's house. Most of my weekends were spent playing at various aunts' houses, with whichever cousins happened to be visiting their grandmothers that day.

One of these cousins I grew up with was Adam. His grandmother had a pool, and he and his sisters and I spent many afternoons swimming and driving the golf cart all over our grandmothers' properties.

Adam is now married to a sweet girl named Ashley, who also has a blog. I haven't seen them since they got married a few years ago, but now that I know Ashley has a blog, I've at least gotten a small peek into their lives.

Today, Adam ran in the New York City Marathon. Yes, I said "marathon". That is 26.2 miles to be exact. Whew. It makes me tired just to think about it.

Since I am not a runner, I had no idea just how much training is involved in getting ready to run a marathon. I thought I would share some posts that Ashley wrote.
Click here for a post on how she helps Adam train.
Click here to see how much eating is involved in training for a race.
Click here to see what a 20 mile training run looks like.

According to Adam's Facebook page, his finishing time was 4 hours, 24 minutes, and 27 seconds.

Congratulations, Adam!!

So Much Love

I read an article in our local paper the other day that really made me think.

The article told about how police had to shut down part of an interstate so that a mother bear could rescue her cub, who had been hit by a car. Apparently the cub was already dead, but the mother bear didn't realize that yet. She just knew her cub was hurt and she wanted to get to it. She had tried a couple of times to get to it, but couldn't due to the large volume of traffic. The article doesn't say how the police got involved, but I guess someone must have called and reported it.

So, the police shut down an interstate for 20 minutes so she could get to her cub and pull it off the highway. The article also said that when she realized the cub was dead, she would eventually leave it behind.

It just made me think about the love a parent has for their child. This mother bear was risking her life to get to her baby, just as any of us human parents would do for our own child. She was determined to help her baby no matter what the cost. How many of us feel that way about our children? All of us!

All this led me to think, that no matter how much this bear loved her cub, or how much I love Quinn, God loved me so much more. So much, that He gave his ONLY Son to die for me, so that I would have life eternal with Him in Heaven one day.

Just remember this: When you think you couldn't love someone more than you do, God loves you more than that!