— 1 —

And the weekend is once again upon us….Finally Friday, free again…..Everybody’s working for the weekend….Friday, Friday, gotta get down on Friday.…and our neighborhood is having its 2nd annual block party (barring rain, then it moves to Saturday night)…my girlfriend reminded me about some cookies I made last year.  Sooooooooo, my pumpkin-chocolate-chip cookies are baked and ready to go ( you KNOW that sounds good, and this time of year, I am ALL about anything pumpkin!).  if the party is postponed I’m not sure how long I can hold my gang off the cookies though…

— 2 —

Almost a whole week down of “Clean Eating” and I must say that so far so good.  Planning ahead with the meals worked FABULOUS and I felt satisfied and my only cheat was testing out the cookies mentioned in #1….but actually I only had about three and I’m good….didn’t even eat the dough….HUGE accomplishment on that!!!  HUGE!!!  Who doesn’t eat the cookie dough!??!?!?!?!

— 3 —

In my usual procrastination fashion, with Halloween a mere 3 days away, it appears we will be getting into high gear of the whole putting-the-costumes-together-last-minute-and-all.  In all actuality, we have the costumes in our possession but certain little girls can’t seem to make up their minds, certain boys suddenly want to trick or treat ONE LAST TIME….but fear not, it ALWAYS comes together somehow!

— 4 —

I have an opportunity to share how God has worked in our lives over these past 8 years:  before, during and after incarceration.  An actual writing project—fo’ REALZ.  I’m a little queasy at the prospect. That’s coming WAY out of my wheelhouse!!   However, prison ministry is an area that is hugely important to our society.  It shows the unloved that they ARE loved, if not by their own family and friends, Christ is ALWAYS present.  I haven’t done the research (yet) but I’m quite sure it’s safe to say that the majority of society have blinders on when it comes to prison and probation.  “Don’t ask, don’t tell” and “as long as I don’t have to deal with it, I’ll just mind my business”.  The problem is, it’s ALL of our business when prisoners are released and return to society.  The more positive reinforcements they receive and support groups on the outside, the more likely they will be to be productive in society.  And I can assure you, the prisons are overcrowded and understaffed and rehabilitation comes to very few.

— 5 —

I started to grumble about my Monday afternoon “Taxi duty” of the drop off, pick up, drop off, pick up and repeat and repeat and THEN it occurred to me.  At this time, we only have ONE day during the week where it’s that bad, I have other friends who do it multiple times a week.  Who am I to complain?  I am glad that our kids are involved in extracurriculars.  It gives them a great outlet physically, they meet friends and they open up their interests.    Sure, some seasons it’s more intense than others, but each year goes by more quickly, the kids keep getting taller and one day I am going to miss all this chaos.  And only because I can look back on their toddler and baby years and ACHE for that time again do I know it’s true.

— 6 —

Our youngest diva daughter and I had an appointment with the Deacon at our church this week to address her bedtime-anger issues.  It was time to pull in a third-party because it’s a little BEYOND ridiculous.  I have learned that sometimes, when you parent, you have to realize you need someone else to tell your kids the same things you’ve told them a million times, because their voice is different and for some reason they actually HEAR them.  whatever.  I’m good with it.  She appears to have taken the conversation to heart…..so far.  Her attitude is much better and PRAISE BE TO GOD, we haven’t had to go back in a second time ALL week-long!!!  Glory, that’s a huge celebration!!!!

— 7 —

Last week I cut my hair.  It’s been long for quite a while this time.  I only went to my shoulders, long layered.  It’s so FUN!  My head feels so light and when I drive with the windows down I can still see what’s in front of me.  I love a good haircut.

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