Ode To girls!

I am so blessed in my job! There are actually 2 businesses that operate from this building. I manage the furniture store, and we have a Radio Shack satellite store in the front quarter of our building. The owners of the Radio Shack, KC and Becky, are like my sister and brother. We go back a longgggggg way!

KC and Becky have two of the sweetest girls I've ever met!
Chloe is 8 and Skye is 5.

They come to the store most days after school.
You never know what these goofy girls are going to come up with!

The other day, Chloe came in and asked
"Miss Jacki, just what IS a tree hugging hippie"?

I cracked up!

It turns out that at home, KC has been banished to the outside while smoking.

The other night after supper, Chloe went outside and found KC smoking around their new trees! She threw a fit !
He asked her...."what are you , some kind of a a tree hugging hippie"? lol

When she asked him what that was, he told her to ask me!

So just what are you trying to say, K.C.? lol

Chloe and I had quite the discussion about "Tree Hugging Hippies". She said she wanted to be one! So we went outside and I took her picture.

Presenting.....Chloe ....the tree hugging hippie!

Isn't she beautiful?

Becky is from Britain. She and the girls just came home from a 2 week visit with their Nana and Grandad in England. They sent me this picture of them on their trip!
Gotta love girls!

Ever had one of these?

Did you ever have a day that God put a song in your heart, and you just can't let it go?
I woke up with this song in my head and my heart this morning. I'm not sure why...but I LOVE IT! Thought I'd share!

What a Hottie!

There is this new group on Facebook. It's all about the history of my high schools marching band. I wasn't a band geek (I was in choir), but Chuck and both of my kids were. Imagine my surprise when these pictures posted of Chuck today! He was the field commander of our marching band for a few years. I didn't know him back then. He was just a freshman my senior year....but I think he was a total hottie! (He still is to me!!)
I think I would have loved him even back then!

Chuck the field commander


Chuck and Tracey In Full Uniform

WHAT'S YOUR GORILLA?

They showed this video at Celebrate Recovery last night. It cracked me up!!
Just a preview of what we do! lol What's your Gorilla?

YET ANOTHER REASON TO WASH YOUR HANDS!

I'm participating in Renee's "In The News Fridays".
I really thought this was news worthy!



Deadly new flu strain erupts in Mexico, U.S

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – A strain of flu never seen before has killed up to 60 people in Mexico and has also appeared in the United States, where eight people were infected but recovered, health officials said on Friday.

Mexico's government said at least 20 people have died of the disease in central Mexico and that it may also have been responsible for 40 other deaths.

Mexico reported more than 1,000 suspected cases and four possible cases were also seen in Mexicali, right on the border with California.

The World Health Organization said tests showed the virus from 12 of the Mexican patients was the same genetically as a new strain of swine flu, designated H1N1, seen in eight people in California and Texas.

"Our concern has grown as of yesterday," U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention acting director Dr. Richard Besser told reporters in a telephone briefing.

Global health officials were not ready to declare a pandemic -- a global epidemic of a new and deadly disease such as flu. "So far there has not been any change in the pandemic threat level," Besser said.

But the human-to-human spread of the new virus raised fears of a major outbreak and Mexico's government canceled classes for millions of children in its sprawling capital city and surrounding areas. All large public events like concerts were suspended in Mexico City.

Close analysis showed the disease is a never-before-seen mixture of swine, human and avian viruses, according to the CDC.

Most of the Mexican dead were aged between 25 and 45, a Mexican health official said, in a worrying sign. Seasonal flu can be more deadly among the very young and the very old but a hallmark of pandemics is that they affect healthy young adults.

Mexico has enough antiviral drugs to combat the outbreak for the moment, Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova said.

The WHO said the virus appears to be susceptible to Roche AG's flu drug Tamiflu, also known as oseltamivir, but not to older flu drugs such as amantadine.

"In the last 20 hours, fewer serious cases of this disease and fewer deaths have been reported," Cordova told reporters.

Humans can occasionally catch swine flu from pigs but rarely have they been known to pass it on to other people.

NO CONTAINMENT

The CDC's Besser said it was probably too late to contain this outbreak. "There are things that we see that suggest that containment is not very likely," he said. Once it has spread beyond a limited geographical area it would be difficult to control.

But there is no reason to avoid Mexico, CDC and the WHO said. "CDC is not recommending any additional recommendations for travelers to California, Texas and Mexico," Besser said.

Worldwide, seasonal flu kills between 250,000 and 500,000 people in an average year, but the flu season for North America should have been winding down.

The U.S. government said it was closely following the new cases. "The White House is taking the situation seriously and monitoring for any new developments. The president has been fully briefed," an administration official said.

Mexico's government cautioned people not to shake hands or kiss when greeting or to share food, glasses or cutlery for fear of infection. Flu virus can be spread on the hands, and handwashing is one of the most important ways to prevent its spread.

The outbreak jolted residents of the Mexican capital, one of the world's biggest cities with 20 million residents.

One pharmacy ran out of surgical face masks after selling 300 in a day.

"We're frightened because they say it's not exactly flu, it's another kind of virus and we're not vaccinated," said Angeles Rivera, 34, a federal government worker who fetched her son from a public kindergarten that was closing.

The virus is an influenza A virus, carrying the designation H1N1. It contains DNA from avian, swine and human viruses, including elements from European and Asian swine viruses, the CDC has said.

The CDC is already working on a vaccine.

Scientists were working to understand why there are so many deaths in Mexico when the infections in the United States seem mild, Besser said.

The CDC said it will issue daily updates at http://www.cdc.gov/flu/swine/investigation.htm.

The last flu pandemic was in 1968 when "Hong Kong" flu killed about a million people globally.

This is soooooo funny!

@ Yahoo! Video

Another Award

Lea sent me this award this morning!
Thanks Lea!




Now for the rules for the award:
Put the logo on your blog or post. Nominate the blogs with great attitude and/or gratitude. Be sure to link to your nominees in your post. Let your nominees know they have received the award by leaving them a comment on their blog. Be sure to link this post to the person who nominated you for the award.
I would like to nominate some of my favourite blogs at the moment, there are many more, but these ones in particular have special meaning to me:
Betsi
Jennifer
Laura
Jane
Karen

There are so many women out there that inspire me and lift me up....but this post would go on for day if I named them all!

a Bit Overwhelmed!

I feel like it's been forever since I've posted, or even read a blog lately. I'm just a bit overwhelmed!

Things with my brother have really taken a turn for the worst the past few days. We actually felt at ease enough to pick Lyric up for the weekend and go to church Sunday morning.
We go to Celebrate Recovery every Friday night, so on Sundays we have been sitting with Mike so my sister, Patti, can attend her church on Sunday mornings.

Friday, Mike had an appointment with his ortho doctors. That did NOT go well! We were there from 9:30 until after lunch. Most of the time spent waiting.We found out that his arm is not healing at all, and as a matter of fact, he has a huge tumor in his left shoulder now too. We expected him to loose the use of his legs soon, but had never considered loosing his arms!

We got up Sunday and Chuck cooked us a yummy breakfeast. I had Lyrics clothes all picked out for church, and was just about to get in the shower when the phone rang. It was Patti telling me that she had an awful morning with Mike and didn't know what to do. He was all but paralyzed! And...he was screaming in pain. He was stuck in the bathroom and she could not get him out! (not near as funny as that sounds).
Anyway, I grabbed a quick shower and we headed over there. WOW! What a difference 24 hours makes!

We called Hospice, and they told us to give him his meds again. (he had just taken them 3 hours earlier). They assured us it was ok, and at this point we just needed to do whatever it takes to make him comfortable. We were to call them back if he got no relief in a few minutes. So we gave him more meds, and he went back to sleep.

It became obvious that Mike can no longer use either of his arms, and his tumors have grown out of control in the past 3 days.The pain is unbearable! I feel so helpless watching him suffer this way!
He cries out to God that he has done everything he has been asked, and tried to live his last days doing God's work.....so why is God making him suffer like this? I have no answers! I feel so helpless!

Hospice came this morning and evaluated him again. They told Patti to increase his medications again, and do not let them wear off under any circumstances. He is obviously in his very last days, but he's so young that his mind is doing everything it can to fight.

PLEASE pray for comfort for Mike! AND for Patti! Mike is staying at her house and she is carrying the brunt of this load physically, as well as the heartache we both feel! I am so gratefull that God gave my sister the gifts and strength in the areas that I fail in! She is truly amazing!

Bear with me if I'm absent from the blogosphere for a while....I'll be in and out as my heart allows.

I've been tagged!

Robyn tagged me with this 8 things meme today. I thought I'd give it a go since it was kinda sorta fun, and distracted me anyway! So here ya go!



**8 Things I'm Looking Forward To**

1. Going to visit my sister in Missouri this June

2. The garden centers getting their spring flower shipments

3. Going to Celebrate Recovery tonight

4. The smell of Summer flowers

5. The return of my 100's of humming birds

6. FRESH GARDEN TOMATOES!

7. planning Chuck's birthday

8. A CURE FOR CANCER!



**8 Things I Did Yesterday**

1. Went to work

2. screamed at my computer (at work) when the internet was down all freekin day!

3. went to a staff meeting in Clarksville

4. watched Survivor

5. ate a HUGE bowl of Death By Chocolate ice cream

6. thought about, but didn't do a blog update

7. won 2 badges playing Pogo

8. Hugged a pug!



**8 Things I Wish I Could Do**

1.See my Mom again

2. Make my brother all better ! :0(

3. draw something more than stick people

4. loose 40 pounds (see #5 above)

5.sing like I used to do

6. go back to Germany for a visit

7.take a vacation!!!!!!

8.learn to like Max and Ruby



**8 Shows I Watch on TV**

1. American Idol

2. Survivor

3. Dancing With The Stars

4. Criminal Minds

5. Lie To Me

6. A Baby Story (I heart TLC)

7. Good Morning America

8. What Not To Wear



**All of the above only when time allows....HOWEVER...I NEVER miss Idol!



Now I tag:
Alicia
Renee
Erin
Jill
Jamie
Daria
Amber
Wanda

HAPPY EASTER

Wishing everyone a Happy Easter, the joy that our Risen Saviour offers, and the gifts of family of friends!

THIS IS AWESOME!!

It takes me about 20-25 minutes to get to work every morning. On my way...I have the best time listening to our local Christian radio station, WAY-FM.
They do this awesome show called Mornings with Brant.

This morning, Brant was talking about new pictures that were sent back from the Hubble Telescope. Scientist have found 2 new galaxies that Hubble finally sent sent pictures of.
The first is called "The Crown Of Thorns"





and the second is "The Hand Of God" !

GOD IS AWESOME~~

What Part Of Spring Are You?

I snitched this from Renee's blog! I'll do anything to bring on spring!

You Are Blooming Flowers

You are an optimistic person by nature. In even the darkest times, you are hopeful about the future. You feel truly blessed in life and can sometimes be overwhelmed with emotions. You have an artist's eye. You are always looking for beauty in the mundane. You have a good sense of aesthetics, especially when it comes to shapes and color.

What Part of Spring Are You?

Trust Lessons Learned

We had what has to be one of the most stressful weekends I can remember in years!

Saturday, I was at work selling sofas and just doing my thing. The day was going well! The I got a phone call.....
Don't ya hate that?

My co-worker, June, came to me with the phone and a funny look on her face. I could hear someone screaming through the phone lines. UH OH....

I thought it was one of those irate customers we occasionally get (you know, the ones whose dogs ate their sofa cushions and they don't understand why that's not covered by warranty). If only it was that easy!

Very very long story short.....the caller was one of my sisters friends former classmates.
She was calling me to tell me to tell my sister to quit calling her and harassing her! What???
Call her yourself, I said.

Then she goes on and on about some money she is supposed to owe my sister but
shereallydoesn'tbecausesheletPattitaywithher4yearsagowhenPattiwashavingproblemsandfriendsdidnotaskfriendstorepayfavors.....
You get the picture!!!! Breath Girl....Just Breath!

When she finally takes a breath, I kinda get the jest of the call. Patti was upset pissed because she found out that her friend former classmate had stolen some of my brothers medications from her house!
ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Who would steal meds from a cancer patient?

I tried to take a breath....found out I couldn't breath! Panic set in! Did Mike know this? Why had Patti not told anyone! Was Mike going without his meds? OMG!!

Sooooo....I left work to try to figure this one out! I was going to have to move Mike to keep him and his meds safe, not to mention away from people that would steal his medication!
I called a family meeting, Mike and Patti excluded, and we hashed out what to do and where we could put Mike. Would Hospice let us move him? Could he survive a move?? It's the weekend.....no time to ask questions, just do something! I could NOT believe that my sister would allow this to happen!

Around 4:00, Patti called me. My friend has gone crazy she says. I don't know what to do!
Then she admits to us that during the ice storm, while Mike was in the hospital, her friend stayed at her house for a few days because she had no power or water.
The doctors had just told us to remove all of Mikes old medications from his house because he was self medicating. They were giving him very controlled new meds. So Patti went over and had picked all of them up. She told us she had flushed them, as instructed, but she hadn't! While her friend was staying there, she had stolen them! Hundreds of dollars of them! Controlled narcotics! Now she was accusing Patti of selling them to her and Patti wanted the money!!!

Finally, I called Randy, our Celebrate Recovery director.
He came right over and sat with us until about 10:00.
We talked, cried and prayed ALOT. Did we tell Mike about this? Should we move him???

Have you ever had one of those "Wow" moments where things just make sense? You know, where you feel total peace after making a decision? I had one!
Randy said that it was Mike that had decided to move to Patti's house, knowing some of the friends that came by there. During the days he has been there, Mike has done a mighty work witnessing to those friends and their families. Randy said maybe this was Gods final work for my brother to do! WOW!
He (ever so kindly) reminded me that God knew everything going on, and God had my brother in his hands!
I just needed to pray and trust.GOD was in control of this situation, not Jacki!
WOWZERS!
I knew this was true, I was just to upset to think about it ! So we decided that we would leave it all alone for the night. We'd pray and listen....really listen to what God was saying.

Chuck and I got up Sunday and went to Patti's to "babysit" Mike for the day.
Patti went to work, and Mike began to talk! Patti had told him the whole story !!
He all ready knew! He had made the decision to stay there.
He feels that God put him there for a purpose, and he was going to be obedient!
He said that all of this had happened before he had moved in there. He was not happy that Patti had not disposed of his meds, but none had been missing during the time he had lived there. She was taking great care of him and he knew he wasn't in any danger. He asked us to trust him, and God. (there's that statement again).
OK GOD....I GET IT !

So Mike is still at Patti's house, and happy to be there ! If any problems come up, we'll just pray and deal with them as they happen! And I have peace!

AIN'T GOD GOOD?
My brother is amazing!!!!!

Gosh, I check my Google Reader every day, but it seems harder and harder for me to write a post!
I guess because where I am right now is not a happy place, and I don't want to constantly write all doom and gloom!
Don't get me wrong, I KNOW how blessed I am, but this dark cloud seems to be hovering over me and the sun doesn't shine very brightly right now. So please bear with me!

Mike seems to be doing ok. He's comfortable anyway. Hospice is awesome!
It seems like anytime he is in need, they are right there to do what ever it takes to help him out. His nurse and social worker have even made it a point to drive 25 miles to my job every time they see him just to keep me informed! We are definitely seeing a bit of decline in his neuro function testing. That's to be expected with the tumor on his brain stem.He does NOT let it get him down though. I wish I had half of his spirit!
He is still going to Celebrate Recovery every week and teaching his class! I know how uncomfortable it is to move him, but he insists! The people there really give him an emotional (and spiritual) boost.
What an amazing program it is!
I'm having such a hard time comprehending the fact that my brother sits up every day, works on his laptop, still cracks jokes and has his wits about him.....yet he can be taken from me in an instant! I guess that's true of all of us, but when you have doctors and Hospice preparing you every minute, it's a bit different!

I rest in the fact that Mike is safe in the arms of Jesus, and is looking forward to his new home in GLORY!
He has made it his mission to witness to as many people as possible, and do God's work every minute he has left on this earth! What a guy!

Jill over at Sneaky Mamma sent me a button for Mike. It's on my sidebar. Feel free to copy it and add it to your blog as a reminder to Pray for Mike!
Thanks Jill! You are such a doll!

It's the prayers and concern from all of my friends, church family and blogosphere that keep my head above water. I truly appreciate each and every one of you! And Kristy....what can I say? God certainly blessed me when he gave me you! You are ALWAYS there to do what ever needs done, when ever it needs it! I love the fact that my daughter and I are best friends! Not many people have that relationship with their daughters.

I'm going to leave you with Mikes "Life Song". Our family has learned to cling to this song! It gets us through the hard times.
ENJOY!!