People, people, people -

- if you want to ask me a question, please don't send a message to my inbox on facebook and ask me to call you the next day when I get to work. Just call me yourself the next morning. That would seem to make sense to me. What if I didn't check my facebook inbox for 2 wks or what if I forget to call you because I am busy - somehow this is going to be my fault if I don't call you back. Ugh!

- if you are going to share a story with me about someones tattoo, please don't talk so loud and for goodness sake make sure they are not sitting 3 tables away. YIKES! LOL

- as you are driving down the road, I know you must use your cell phone, because you have an important call or perhaps an important text; or you are lost and need to use your GPS; oh my that hair of yours - gees get it combed before another driver sees it; change the channel on your radio quickly - that song sucks; BUT MUST YOU USE YOUR COMPUTER TO WEB SEARCH???????

Seriously I did indeed witness this first hand. A guy was driving a nice sporty car, going slow in the right lane on interstate, speeds up, slow downs, speeds up, slows down - you get the point. As I past him, I look over and GASP he has a laptop in the passenger seat and is using it.

-please do the job you get paid to do. PLEASE! I so don't want to be like you, sorry but you abuse the system. And stop playing dumb - what? oh you're not. Oops! my bad.

OK, enough whining.........until next time!

My Sunday so far.........

Up this morning and off to church without the hubby. He had to stay home and work in the chick houses because they are leaving us in the wee morning hours on Monday. It was weird going without him, but there are times when the chicks can't be left alone.

If you read my post yesterday, I was determined to have a crisis free weekend.............ha! listen to this. We had a birthday lunch for my MIL at my SIL / BIL's house. Everything was going great and then.............two of the SIL's were having a squabble, nothing dramatic but you knew something was up. So SIL "W" comes in the her daughter's room, where we are playing with the genia pig and wanted to talk to her daughter. It seems that SIL "L" 's son is complaining that "W "'s daughter was picking on him during sunday school. These two kids are the same age (only 5 weeks apart in age) which is 11. So they talked about the situation in front of me, which was fine until SIL "W" looks at me and says, "I am going to get "L" and I want us to clear the air, will you (meaning ME) stay in here while we talk?" GASP!! (Remember I am trying to have a crisis free weekend) GASP! again. I'm thinking what does this have to do with me? Duh, nothing! So I say "NO, ABSOLUTELY NOT." I must say "W" was shocked that I said no. I am thinking its time for us to go. I texted my 2 sons and said "time to leave, things are going to get bad." I go to the hubby and told him that I was ready to go, NOW! He knew something was up by my tone. So, no questions ask, we left.

When leaving I told hubby what was going on and I told him what I said. YAY! he says, I am proud of you for saying no (you see I'm a fixer, but not this time). Good that we are leaving before the battle began.

Another bullet dodged! So it has been a crisis free weekend. I am so happy about that.

Donna

Saturday

It is raining again, which is fine. I love the rain, but of course do not want flooding. The rain makes me so lazy and I can't be lazy today - way too much to do. T's girlfriend is moving today and the rain is making it a little difficult. I don't want to complain about the rain because I fear not having any, which is not fun if you have ever been there.

Yesterday at work was crazy. Lots of people with real problems and some with not so real problems but loved to whine about it. We were so far behind and that really gets to me - I hate being behind. Of course, being over booked doesn't help that situation. People were hurting, complaining of the wait, yada yada yada. Finally by 6 pm it was over. Thank goodness.

I am hoping for a wonderful weekend without crisis (hint hint). So far so good.

Live, Laugh, Love
Donna

Happy Birthday!

Today is my son J's birthday. He is 28 - Wow, where has the time gone? It certainly has moved fast. I remember my mother saying "the older you get the faster time goes." Of course I was alot younger then and thought she was crazy. However, I now know that my mother is a pretty smart cookie.

So where is J in his life right night? He moved out of our house in July into an apartment. (not tearing up) Also, in July he became engaged. He is now starting the process of building a house. He has become a wonderful young man. I am so very proud of him (ok maybe a little tearing). I love this child with all of my heart and love watching him moving on in his life as an adult.

Off to another subject - I am wondering if any of you blogger buddies have heard or participated in an online bible study course called: Lords' Table. It is a "60-Day interactive course that will teach you to enjoy a newfound relationship with the Lord and how to find freedom from bad eating habits." I am seriously thinking of participating in this bible study. If you know anything about this study please give me some feedback.

Wait there is more.... I found this quote online last night from Erma Bombeck and wanted to share with you.............

"When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, "I used everything you gave me.”

Praise God!
Donna

What the cupcake??

So lets see - you spend your morning talking, not doing productive work and get paid really good for that. Then as the morning becomes afternoon and we are almost finished, you politely send the rest of the staff home - WHAT? I still have a lot of crap going on and have to clean up and we know that you are not going to help me. So where does that leave me?? Oh, I know - its just Donna, she doesn't have anything else to do on her afternoon off. WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? Yeah I am upset!!!!!! SCREAM, SHOUT, YELL !!!

I did it again..............

I let my guard down and WHAM!!!!!

it got me again.

The monkey never learns!

"Those who gossip to you will gossip of you"

Lazy Me

This has got to be the laziest weekend I have had in forever................and it was great! We did nothing but hang out at home until today, which of course we went to church. It was a great day in the Lords' house. This evening after church conference meeting it was back home to be lazy again. And shortly after this post, I am going to put the PJ's on, read my book and hopefully get a really good nights sleep. I have been totally useless this weekend....something that was long over due.

Night all!
Donna

Football!

Let it be known that I am not a football van. I just don't get the game, even when my kids played. I was always confused about the plays. But today, the Gators play the Vols. My kids and most of my family are huge VOLS fans. However my boss is a Gator fan. The boss is at the game putting highlights on facebook. T is at a friends house in Raleigh watching the game and the friend is a gator fan :( J is at home watching. So I am going to watch the game and pretend that I understand it (hehehe). I will be texting the boss and hopefully rubbing in the score and checking out his facebook updates.

So lets get started. GO VOLS!!!!!!!

Rainy day

I love rainy days!! and today it is raining. I love to lay in the bed with the window up and listen to the rain. It is so relaxing. I am off from work today and this morning (and last night when I wasn't sleeping, again) I layed still in my bed and listened to the rain............ahhhhhh.

So what is this day going to be? A very lazy day - catching up on reading, maybe a little laundry, and hopefully some time with the hubby. Otherwise, nothing but relaxing and enjoying the day with no schedule. Now that is a great day!!

Live, Laugh, Love
Donna

Closure

This is going to be a long post, so if you don't read it that's ok. It is mostly for me to get everything out and have closure.

Several years back, my best friend of many years embezzled money from our church and quite a large sum of money. She was the treasurer and I was the financial secretary. My position was to keep track of the tithing and sign checks only if necessary. She being the treasurer had complete control of the money. She did indeed supply reports to the Finance Committee and to the Admin Council, however NO ONE ever looked over her back and always accepted the reports she gave. Basically we trusted her and why should we not, she was the branch manager of a bank. GASP! Supposedly there were audits being done, but by someone she worked we at the bank - that was so not true. She used her bank position to move money from one church account to another and cash checks. yada, yada, yada and the story goes on and on and on.

The calls start coming in to the church about bills not being paid. Church people were complaining about not being able to cash reimbursement checks. This went on for several months. Obviously something is wrong, right? I discussed my concerns with our pastor many times, in which sometimes he ask her and sometimes he made up excuses, as did she. She was very smart at what she was doing and always and I do mean always had a great excuse for what ever question was presented to her.

Finally, after seeing that I am getting no where with answers that I needed. I decided to go to the bank and see for myself. I will never forget the day I did that, my husband said to me "do you really want to do this? what if you don't like what you find out?" I will never forget those questions. I really did not expect to find anything bad because she was going thru a really bad time and I thought she just was not making the deposits in a timely manner.

Man was I in for a HUGE shock! The church had a general account and several other "special fund" accounts. The general account was in the negative!! One special account had been closed and 2 other "special fund" accounts, which should of had large sums of money in them was empty. Something is not right, where has she put the money?

Moving on, basically she took the money, paid herself a salary monthly for a volunteer position(signing my name to the checks), wrote checks to her family members (again signing my name to the checks), sent her kids to college (again signing my name to the checks) and I have no idea what she did with the rest.

After many many months of putting the pieces together, bank visits, DA visits, lawyer visits, I just totally fell apart. I would go days without sleep, yes really daysssss with no sleep. Then came the headaches -really bad headaches and of course depression and anxiety. I no longer had the desire to exercise, thus comes the weight gain. I HAVE never been like this - I am always a strong person and a fixer. I was so tired of fighting the battle. It was all that I could do to get through work and life each day. The headaches got so bad that I had to go to a neurologist, CTs (in case I had a brain tumor). Finally on to the Psychiatrist. Between the two of them we finally found the right mix of meds to aid with the headaches. The headaches are better, but I still continue to see the psychiatrist.

I placed a lot of the blame on myself - why did I not see this before?? Now of course I can look back and see some signs that I totally missed.

For several years it was days of calls and meetings with the bank, lawyers, DA, pastor - over and over and over. Through all of this time I never saw her except the day we met at the lawyer's office and only at a distance. It upset me so bad to see her that I had to be put in another room while part of the mediation was going on.

Finally things were settled without having to go to court. Since that day I have not seen her, which is great because I had so much hatred, dislike, and questions for her. Yes, I prayed lots. God and I had many conversations over the years, but I could not get the closure I needed. I also thought that as a church we should have ministered to her and her family, but we didn't. What kind of people are we if we don't reach out to her? Yet I could not do it myself. I expressed the concern to many people, but no one wanted to go there. Why??? aren't we as Christians suppose to forgive, reach out to the lost sheep? So many mixed emotions.

I did have a great support system with my family - who was there for me every step along the way, but couldn't not always answer my questions, but gave me love. I also confided to my new BFF. She has been so helpful, considerate and a great listener. She was the outsider of the situation that I needed.

Finally I have felt in the last month that I am actually starting to make progress in letting go. I am actually feeling better - not at the TOP yet, but getting up and moving, smiling, laughing, enjoying life.

And then............last week I saw her - face to face we ran into each other at a pharmacy. She looked like she had seen a ghost and I was startled. She said hello in a low voice and I said Hi and went on my way. As I get into my car, suddenly it hits me - I had no bad thoughts toward her, this was not as bad as I thought it would be. I said nothing ugly, I did not have the urge to punch her out, trip her, or smack her. The only thing I felt was sorrow for her. WOW, I admit I was surprise with myself.

But then it happen, I finally have CLOSURE!

Praise God for always being there for me, for answering prayers in his time and not mine. For loving me no matter what, forgiving me of my sins, for his love for everyone, no matter who they are or what they have done in their lives. I pray that "she" has reached out to God for this guidance and forgiveness, and that she can pick up the pieces, move on and have closure.

Thank you my loving family and friends who have been there for me. May God bless you!

AAHHHHH! Life is good!

9/11

Where were you on that September day? I remember exactly where I was and how I felt.

My prayers are with the families and friends of all the people that passed and survived that September day!

I am thankful and praise all who were involved in the rescues. I am also thankful to ALL our armed forces who put their lives on the line for our nation.

I am proud to be an American. God Bless the USA!

Boys will be boys

My two boys went on a baseball trip. They left last Thursday, drove to Baltimore - saw a game on Saturday. Then on to New York - Sunday the Mets game, Monday the Yankees game. Then Tuesday on to Boston for the game.

Last night around 10 pm I get a text picture from J - it shows a police officer putting handcuffs on T and the text read "need money to get T out of jail." So I am pondering calmly for a moment and finally decided this must be a joke because I don't see T taking this so lightly (he is very high strung) As the texting goes along I do learn that a very nice police officer helped them play a joke on their parents. Oh yeah - HA HA HA!

Today, the boys are flying home from Boston. I am sent a text around 3:30 pm from T - "just got to the airport and heard that a plane was hijacked." Well during the time he texted this to me I was getting a massage and a facial (much needed), so I don't get the text until 4:30 pm. Hummmmm, do I fall for this or not? So I text back telling him to not be so mean to his mother. Reply from T - I am serious a plane was hijacked and one has crashed in Arizona. Hummm, is this for real?? At this point I don't know whether to believe him or not. He is just joking again?

When I get home I look on the trusty Internet and...................YES a plane was hijacked in Mexico. No worry they are no where around Mexico. and YES a small plane did crash in Arizona. Again no worry.

Boys! They so love to harass their mother, especially when it comes to planes, because I don't like to fly.

UGH!!!!

Surprise!!

Well much to my surprise, we had a finance meeting at church and all went well. People finally listened and get it, which is - can't spend it if you don't have it. This was probably the best meeting we have had in a long time. Everyone seemed to be on the same page for once.

It is so nice to know that no matter what we face in this world, God is in control. I am so thankful for his many blessings and unconditional love. Praise God!