Dang It.

How bizarre it feels to walk out into the yard

and realize that you've lost your car.

What frustrates me the most is the 8 foot wide hole I now have in my rock wall.

Scholarship

It's been a long time since I've been as busy as I am right now.
I'm not whining, but thought I'd share why this blog may be a bit more silent than usual.

The 3 Cheerleaders annual signature fund-raising event is one week away and I am completely overwhelmed with the amount of support given by the businesses in our community.
I am also amazed at the tireless devotion of my family to this cause that they believe in.

When we first began this scholarship, it was for selfish reasons. We did not want Jae Lynn to be forgotten. Putting her name on a educational scholarship seemed to bring some of her presence and permanency into the school hallways where she belonged.
We were crazy with pain and didn't have a clue what we were doing. We just had so much emotion and channeling it into something positive seemed like a good thing to do.
Sure. Sure.
Wait until we are ripped wide open and shattered emotionally, spiritually and physically and THEN start the biggest endeavor of our lifetime.
Who in the world does things like that?

Tens of thousands of people.
Survivors of catastrophe often feel like they have nothing to lose,..so they go for it all. They do hard things and overcome barriers that would have stopped them cold in their "old life".
Unstoppable.

My family and I miss Jae Lynn every morning that we rise and every evening that we lay our heads down. We speak daily, daily I tell ya, of how badly we wish she was still with us.

I am past feeling unstoppable.
In fact, I'm feelin pretty durn stoppable every single day.
Tonight I feel like I'm not even go-able.
If you think about us anytime during the next couple of weeks, please say a prayer of strenght for the whole big lot of us. We want this weekend's event to be a success and bring honor to our Lord at the same time.
Both are of the utmost important to all of us.

(PS: Hey! Come join us! Sherwood Forest 3/14/10, drop in around noon for lunch.)

Standing In The Need Of Prayer

I may not post on here for a few days.

My brother Bob is terribly ill and in the hospital.

(Please pray!)

Lunch fundraiser coming this Sunday.

(please RSVP!)

Casey heading out this Friday for 4 days on some whitewater trip in Arizona.

(Pray again!)

David is running the LR marathon.

26 miles.

(pray some more)

The girl on the right was me this morning.

Love you all.

Thanks for being my friend.

Headlights and Hankies, part I

Going to and coming home from work today was full of surprises.

Going:
My Mazda is actually a pretty cool car, but I have always had a bit of an issue with my headlights. Like most vehicles, mine is equipped with "dims" and "brights". But unlike most vehicles, when I have my "dims" on, it is a near equivalent of driving with two flashlights strapped to my hood.
Dim indeed.

My brights have been out of balance for several months. We have often laughed that we were able to see night life in the trees because of the upward direction of the bright beams. Seriously. They point almost straight up.

The other day, we noticed that I have a headlight out.
One of my dims.
Down to one flashlight.

This morning (very dark still) I had an errand to do and when I re-entered my car to take off, I did not notice that I now had NO headlights on! I did not notice, that is, until the police pulled me over. The nice policeman seemed truly frantic as he ran up to my car and blurted out "DID YOU KNOW THAT YOU DON'T HAVE ANY HEADLIGHTS? NO HEADLIGHTS! NO TAIL-LIGHTS! NO NOTHING!"
Of course, I then yelled back "WHAT? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? WELL NO! OF COURSE I DIDN'T KNOW THAT!" and then I flicked them on and off to prove to him that they did work.

This is how the rest of the conversation went:
him: "Mrs. Russell, did you know that when you turn them on (his emphasis) one of your headlights is out?"

me: "Yes I did officer. In fact, that's probably why I did not notice that I had NO lights on. I'm accustomed to driving in the dark."

him: "Mrs. Russell. It's very dangerous to drive with only one headlight."

me: "Yes officer, I know. That's why I try to drive with my lights on bright. I can see better."

him: "Mrs. Russell, you can not go around driving in town with your lights on bright."

me: "Well, nobody usually cares, because they point straight up."

In retrospect, I'm surprised he did not pull me out and give me a breathalyzer test right there!

The kind officer called my license into his dispatcher, but discovered that I have always been a very good girl and have had no tickets in years and years.

He let me go on to work with only a warning.

Merry Christmas to me.