Dear Mom,

I just wanted you to know how much I miss you. Twenty years ago today, I got that dreadful call, telling me that you died unexpectedly. I had just talked to you that morning, I simply did not want to believe it. My life has never been the same since that day, and I think about you every day. So many things remind me of you, and for that I am thankful.

I miss how you were always singing, humming and even dancing. I miss your devilish smile, the way you would raise your eyebrows when you were thinking something, but chose not to say it. You were the life of the party, and none of our parties have ever been the same without you.

I miss how you would tip-toe into my room on cold winter mornings, and tell me I could sleep in. We would watch Julia Child, The Galloping Gourmet and then bake cookies. You would keep an eye out for the milkman so you could get him to give us some ice cream off his truck. I loved how you would let me cut up magazines and glue pictures onto a box for a cool collage. You could turn nothing into something, and make washing the windows fun.

I miss your fabulous cooking, but I am so thankful you always let me help you in the kitchen. You never complained about the mess I made, it just didn't bother you. I learned so much because if I was in the kitchen with you, you were telling me all about the techniques, with proper French terms, and all your secrets. All those cooking secrets! You would be thrilled to know how good of a cook I have become, all because of you. Every time I cook, Mom, you are with me.

I miss how you were my biggest cheerleader. You were always so positive, but also honest, and made me feel good about myself. You gave me confidence when I lacked it, and helped me to realize I could always do more.

I miss how you were always giving. I have never met anyone else in this world that gave like you did. Your generosity was sometimes overwhelming, but now that I am older, I admire it more than ever. I used to tell people not to say they liked your blouse, because I feared that you would take it off and give it to them. Thank you for teaching me to go against my selfish nature and be giving.

I could easily go on and on about the thousand things I miss about you, but I know you are too humble for me to keep bragging about you. The hardest and most painful things I miss, are the things I never got to experience with you. You never met my husband and you were not there for my pregnancies, births or babies. You had 12 pregnancies, so I am sure you and I could have talked for hours. I think I suffer the most pain from the things that never got to be. You would love our little house in the woods with the screen porch. You would love that I had my own little store and how I make quilts. You would absolutely love these precious boys God gave us. They are such good boys, and they have such sweet spirits and how some of their traits are like mine when I was little. You have no idea how much it hurts me that they never knew you.

Mom, you were the best mother I could have ever asked for. You were my best friend. I miss you every day, with all of my heart.

Christmas Highlights 2009

I already have every stitch of Christmas packed up and in the attic. I love Christmas, but once it is over, I am ready for it ALL to be over. We have had a nice season of visiting Christmas concerts, programs, watching movies, baking cookies and of course unwrapping presents. We kept it simple and we even stayed on budget!

Here are a few highlights:



Don't you see the victory on his face? A WAY cool Lego set!

This was the year of the knife and the gun.... andWarHammer...... Keith finally got the GPS he has been wanting and I got a luxurious wool scarf and glove set. I think everyone was please and I am just thrilled we are all healthy and blessed with a job that pays the bills. I hope you are feeling blessed this holiday season, and the new year to follow!

Who knew?

The ultimate snuggler!

So, Michael finds this precious lost kitten under our barn, and plops her on the island. Oh, no! We are not adopting another cat. The last several adoptions we have made have been complete failures. Cats these days are just lousy. There are none that can hold a candle to our beloved Chloe, who blessed our lives for nearly 17 years. She made the car trip to Louisiana, survived the addition of four boys and then came with us to Georgia, where she received loving, elder care from all of us. Every single stinkin' cat we've tried to add to our family since then, has been a total loser. Two of them received hundreds of dollars of vet care and then left in the middle of the night. One of them has been banished to permanent outdoor life because she was pooping in the beds and wailing all night long, while pacing the hall outside our bedroom door. No, thank you!

One was given to us, and he thought it was a good idea to pee in our bed at 2am. I literally tossed him out the front door. Within a couple weeks, he was taken to the shelter for attempted murder on Mittens. Good-bye, Sammy. (I did get a call from the shelter saying he got adopted.) Then came Lucy, who is not too bad, but does not like you to pick her up. Her evil growl is very intimidating.....

Anyway, so our luck with cats has been terrible and I have sworn I would not get any more cats unless they were Chloe clones.

You would have kept her, too!

Until 2 weeks ago, when that cute little puff of orange was placed in our life. Daisy is a wonderful cat! She is loving, playful and SO CUTE! Even Lucy the grouch likes her. I would have never guessed Lucy would take to another cat, but it is obvious that she loves Daisy! I always thought older cats had a secret pact to never accept another cat into the family, but I was WRONG! Who knew?

Lucy & Daisy

Let there be snow!

I LOVE snow! Love it, love it, love it! Being in the south, we rarely get snow, so when we do get some snow, we enjoy it to death cause it will be gone within a few hours. Here are some snow pictures to enjoy!

I want to be a One Minute Friend

How long do you have to be a friend to someone before you share the Gospel with them? One minute? One day? One week? One month? One year? I saw this on my favorite show the other night (Wretched) and it really spoke to me. I want to be a one minute friend! But how? I think it is somewhat easier if you have a church home to invite them along with you, but we are without a church home right now. How do you share the gospel with strangers? Please give me some suggestions - I am ready to be a one minute friend.

Can I brag just a minute?

I simply can not shout this loud enough how proud I am of my sons! They are such wonderful boys, but much more than that, they have a heart for God! Over the last 20 weeks (so sad it is over!) we have attended a class with some friends. It was on financial freedom, but not Dave Ramsey's approach, but a more spiritual approach. Anyway, it has been the best 20 weeks of spiritual devotion I have ever invested. I think you could find out about it at Institute in Basic Life Principles.

So, the leader is my boss (I work for him part-time doing accounting work) and he is very gentle, but with very high expectations. It's all good. We were given a challenging memory verse each week, for 20 weeks. He challenged us to meditate on the verses every day, and commit them to our heart. Then he challenged us to recite all 20 of them (KJV mind you) at the final night for a little competition.

Of course his daughter took first place - she learned them so easily! Such a SWEET girl!!! You would love her! Guess who took second? Yes, of course it was Chris. Third??? Any guesses? Of course it was Andrew! How about fourth? Who would take fourth? ME!!! The Braud hat trick! Gotta love that, and ALL for His GLORY!!!

I may go into a depression now that we are not meeting for the next 2 months....

Thanks for letting me brag a bit, which, if you know me, is something I rarely do.

A Tale of Two Cows

A person has two cows, and depending on what type of government he lives under, these are his options:

SOCIALISM: He must give one of his cows to his neighbor who has none.

COMMUNISM: The government takes them both and then gives him the amount of milk they think he needs.

FEUDALISM: You have two cows. Your lord takes some of the milk.

BUREAUCRATIC SOCIALISM: You have two cows. The government takes them and put them in a barn with everyone else's cows. They are cared for by ex-chicken farmers. You have to take care of the chickens the government took from the chicken farmers. The government gives you as much milk and eggs as the regulations say you need.

FASCISM: You have two cows. The government takes both, hires you to take care of them and sells you the milk.

RUSSIAN COMMUNISM: You have two cows. You have to take care of them, but the government takes all the milk.

DICTATORSHIP: You have two cows. The government takes both and drafts you.

PURE DEMOCRACY: You have two cows. Your neighbors decide who gets the milk.

REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY: You have two cows. Your neighbors pick someone to tell you who gets the milk.

BUREAUCRACY: You have two cows. At first the government regulates what you can feed them and when you can milk them. Then it pays you not to milk them. Then it takes both, shoots one, milks the other and pours the milk down the drain. Then it requires you to fill out forms accounting for the missing cows.

PURE ANARCHY: You have two cows. Either you sell the milk at a fair price or your neighbors try to take the cows and kill you.

CAPITALISM: You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull.

**portions of this should be credited to http://sabbah.biz/mt/archives/2007/01/07/politics-explained-with-two-cow-analogy/