Julie’s mom has been moved to hospice care and is in good hands. I appreciate everyone who has left comments here and on Facebook for her and her family, as well as for all of us, her friends. I count myself lucky because I have a great many memories of Julie’s mom and I cherish them all. Especially those in which she was there for me in ways that my mom was not. I will miss her greatly but I know she will live on in my heart and in my memories.
As with anyone who is going to die, I don’t want her to go, but I sure don’t want her to suffer either. I feel selfish sometimes because I don’t want her to die. Because I am not ready for this. I know Julie and her family is not ready to let her mom go, but I also know that God has a plan. It is difficult for me to accept that right now. I love Julie’s mom with all my heart and I will miss her greatly. I will update as I know more. Thanks again for all the support and prayers. I will need some in the coming days I think.
48 hours. 2 days. 2880 minutes. 172,800 seconds. Not enough time to say good bye. Not enough time to say what I want to say. Not enough time to do anything. Today my best friend’s mom was given 48 hours to live. I can’t help but to think about all the times I have had with this woman. She is like my mom. I love her. I am devastated that I can not be there with her. If anyone out there is of the praying sort, please pray for her. And for me. I am not sure if I can get through this. I am not ready for this. I am not sure when I will be here posting again.
When I read the blurb for this book, I was really interested in it. It seemed like an interesting concept to base a book upon. The concept is this, Nick Cominsky is invited to have dinner with a man who says he is Jesus. How many of us have always wanted to sit down with Jesus and ask him questions? I know that I have. So this book caught my attention before I could even open it and read the first word on the first page.
The whole book takes place from the moment that Nick receives the invitation to when Nick returns home to his family. It mainly focuses on the dinner between the two men. During this dinner, Nick asks some really good questions and is quite skeptical at first. I mean who would really believe that they are dining with Jesus?
I think that this book is a good read for the Christian in your life and the non Christian as well. It is a wonderful story told simply and without the distractions of other sub stories weaved in, you can really concentrate on what is going on in the story. David Gregory has written a wonderfully inspirational book. This book is relatively short and easy to read. Once I got into the story, I read the whole book in less than a day.
You can find other reviews, a study guide, and more information about the author and book here.
I found that I really enjoyed this book and I think that lots of other people will as well. It is a wonderful book.
I got this book for free for the express purpose of this review from WalterBrook Multnomah
Not that I honestly don’t totally slack any other day, I am just willing to admit it today for some reason. I think it is the insane, most unbearable heat that has settled in here in Michigan. It was supposed to reach 100 degrees today. Not really sure if it did or not because face it, I did not want to depress myself with that information. The A/C is still working well, thank God because some people I know in Redford are without power as of yesterday. Honestly, I think if we had stayed at the house we would be counted in those numbers. So, I am glad we moved because for the 2-3 summers before that we did lose power in the summer time for days at a time. I sure don’t miss that!!
Okay, on to why I am a slacker today. I had a plan of what I was going to do today and in that plan was write my review for Dinner with A Perfect Stranger: An invitation worth considering by David Gregory (no, no relation to me, I don’t think). It was a short read and a good book, but honestly I can’t bring myself to review it right this second. I know, I know this whole entry about how I am slacking could be the review itself. I get it, but it isn’t. I am just not feeling inspired to write this review and since I totally loved the book, I want to be able to do it justice in my review and not some just half assed review for the sake of doing it.
I am hoping to get it done tomorrow maybe. Well, I am going to run. Ciao!
You know in all the tech dealings I have had, they never ever go smoothly. When we lived at the house and we got U-Verse, it was supposed to be an 8 hour thing but ended up being 12 because something went wrong. When we got Comcast here, something went wrong, so it is safe to say that when I was expecting AT&T I figured that something would go horribly wrong.
Well, the AT&T tech was here on the early side of the appointment time and he was a nice guy. Very funny. Had everything set up and working by the time he left so all I had to do was wait on the gateway to get here. I had to wait on UPS and normally on Tuesday, we go to dinner about 6pm. Which is about the time UPS is in the building. I waited and it was about 6:30 or so and finally Doug had gotten tired of waiting so I left a note on the door for UPS and we went to leave. Got downstairs (I live on the 8th floor) and saw the UPS truck, so I ran back into the building , grabbed the elevator and when I got to my door, here comes the UPS guy with my gateway and my blogging for books book. (More on the book later) I signed for them and put them inside and we left for dinner. I could not hook the gateway up until after 8pm anyway so no big deal.
After dinner came home, opened the box and set to work. It was so EASY!! The instructions on how to hook the gateway up were spot on. Let me tell you, that is not always the case!! I had the gateway up and running, the network secured, my wireless working, and the Wii hooked into the network within an hour. I honestly think that the longest thing was the registering the account. So all in all, I am one happy camper! Everything is working well so far. There was one small glitch today with the voicemail, but it is taken care of now. Thank you AT&T for understanding customer service and doing what it takes to make customers happy. I so appreciate it!! Happy here on the tech front once again, Ciao!
My appointment time with AT&T was for 8-12 and the tech guy was here at 9am. So, my phone has been switched over already and since my DSL is self install I have not gotten my gateway yet. It is on the UPS truck for delivery today. So I am waiting now on UPS. The DSL signal is strong and up and running, so I know I don’t have to worry about that. The tech tested it before he left this morning and said it was just fine.
My gateway is on a rebate, it will eventually be free. Which is good. I guess I also qualified for a rebate card as well when I set up service on line. The person I talked to said $100 but online it said $200. I don’t know which it is, but I will be finding out soon. So, between the rebate of the gateway and the promotion cards, it could be like $260-$360 extra.
I am amazed by how quickly the AT&T tech showed up, I honestly was not expecting him until like 11:30am. I forgot that AT&T actually does know about customer service, at least on this side of the business. I spoke to the tech about the reasons why I was switching and he told me that he has heard them from others here in the building. So far, I am happy now if I would only get my gateway soon, I would be ecstatic!! Ciao!!
I don’t really have one big post for today, but a lot of little things to mention all at once. My mind is kind of scattered right now and I am not really concentrating well. Sigh. The last couple of days I have slept a lot, which is good considering that I have these nasty nightmares that keep me from sleeping more often than not. So, I am sleeping while I can.
In my Blogging for Books program, they are going to start offering e-books now, which I think is so cool. I personally like both, but for this program I like the printed books more because I get to keep them when I am done with them. This program is free and if you are interested, click on the link above to check it out. I really have been enjoying it a lot. The next book I have coming, they are sending me two of, so I am excited about that!
Doug has been home because of his foot. He had a very deep, open wound on the bottom of his foot and has been going to a foot doctor for a couple of months now. They were worried because he is diabetic and it has not been healing as well or quickly as they like. There was some talk of putting him in a walking cast and being off work for at least 6 weeks. Luckily that is not the case just yet. They inserted this stuff called gel foam in the wound and it is supposed to help healing. They then wrapped it and told him he could not undo it or get it wet. I am not sure why he told work he could not work. But okay.
I got emails from AT&T confirming my appointment on the 19th and I honestly can not wait. Comcast has been so very frustrating to me and I will be happy to be rid of them once and for all. Those commercials that say that Comcast is better than AT&T are so very wrong. If I could I would get cable through AT&T but I can’t, well not living here anyway.
For the last couple of days I have had a migraine and it does not seem to want to go away. I thought it had faded enough earlier, but I was wrong because it is back with a vengeance. Ugh. As much as I hate these, I had to admit that I somehow hurt my right shoulder. So it is a double whammy as it were. Yay.
The good news is that the A/C is working wonderfully well and it is once again cool in the house. In case you missed it, my A/C died on Saturday, but I have to commend the Lincoln Towers maintenance staff because they were here quickly and attempted to fix it the first time. When he came back he replaced the unit. No questions asked. I am very grateful.
On next Tuesday, my phone and internet will be switched from Comcast to AT&T and to say that I am happy would be a great understatement. I have had nothing but issues with the wireless connection with Comcast and they did finally come on Saturday to switch out the gateway that kept resetting it self randomly.
I am hoping that I won’t have many problems after the switch and I am actually anticipating none. In the long run, it will be better because we will be paying less. Well, I think that I will go relax and try to get rid of this headache. Ciao!
Facebook for me has at times been a surreal experience, mainly because of the fact that so many people that I have not seen or spoken to in multiple years are there and it is like an online high school reunion at times. Most of the memories are good, some even wonderful. Some not so much. It is not that I am not happy to see these people now and learn about them, it is more that in some cases I am rather embarrassed about who I once was when I think about it. Yes, the idea that I was a kid and I had no idea does come to mind, but honestly for me now, that is not at all acceptable. I guess that is why they call it growing up.
It is at times painful and hard, but it must be done. With all these memories sometimes so thick you can cut them with a knife, I have sometimes thought of the past and wished I could do some things again. They say that hindsight is 20/20 and of course that is very true. The past is the past and it can not be changed. As much as I wish that I could change some things and could have missed some things and even done some things I did not do. I can’t.
Having some time to get perspective it is not hard to realize that all the stuff in high school was just that, high school stuff. There comes a time when you have to put away childish things and move forward. As much as I did not want to do that, I have. I have learned more hard lessons and had some dreams crushed like glass under a heavy boot.
These days I am happy with simple things and not so concerned as to what others think. I have come a long way and still have some ways to go. I am not always happy, but I am working on it. I have loved and lost, but in some cases I am all the better for it. Yes, it is hard letting go of things, especially my past. It is time to let some things go. It is time to move on and finally look to the future. What ever happens today, well, it is what happens. I can not change the things I have done to people, but I can say I am sorry and mean it.
Here Burns My Candle is another novel by Liz Curtis Higgs, a few months ago I reviewed Mine is the Night, which happens to be the novel after this one. As I had read one of her novels again I was happy to see this one because I wanted to know more of the story of the main characters, Bess and Marjory. As it turns out, this book ends as the other begins, so this is not exact the beginning of the story but rather the middle.
I was very enthralled with the story telling and details of eighteenth century Scotland. In this novel, we learn how all is lost for Bess and Marjory and the details of their disgrace in Edinburg. I actually read this book very quickly and was sucked into the story rather easily. Although like the other book, I had trouble for the first few chapters getting used to the terms of eighteenth century Scotland, but it made the story more real for me.
This story has it all love, loss, a man’s betrayal of his wife, forgiveness, hope and even the characters finding God. The characters are well written and quickly become your friends and you find yourself hoping that everything turns out alright, even when you know in your heart that it most likely won’t. You still find yourself rooting for them to work out the issues that they have and find their way back to one another.
Bess is married to Donald, who is titled, wealthy and a womanizer. She loves her husband and eventually does find out about his cheating ways, although in his own ways he does confess to her. She is faithful to him and refuses to believe what she hears as rumors but when he admits it before he goes off to war, she is devastated and does forgive him. When he is killed in battle, again she is devastated, not knowing what she will do without him.
Janet is married to Andrew, the younger brother who is not titled, but is wealthy. Andrew and Janet were an arranged marriage and it seems as though not all that loving. They seem kind of cold towards each other and very indifferent. Janet seems to be in it for the money and prestige but not for love.
Marjory is the mother of Donald and Andrew, her husband having been dead for sometime, she is the head of this family. She is at first very snobbish and unfeeling. She looks down on Bess because she comes from common highlanders and not from wealth and privilege like she does. In the end, Marjory chooses to back the wrong side in the war and loses everything. She looses her sons, her money, her title, and her home. She is forced to rethink the way she has behaved and to make great changes.
All in all, this is a great book and I encourage everyone to read it, I honestly would read it in order. I am looking forward to reading the first book in this series.
You know, I should learn one thing, that waiting 24 hours can in fact bring great changes. So, the fight that I had with my friend last week? Over. We talked yesterday and things are back to normal, well as normal as my life can actually be without me melting or bursting into flames.
That was the most difficult week of my life and honestly I do not want to go through that again. I was totally miserable and it just plain assed sucked. No, not everything is perfect, but it is a hell of a lot better than it once was and I am okay with that for now.
On to more pressing matters, so do any of you know how to get someone thrown off of Facebook? I don’t but have been accused of doing so. Okay, I will start from the beginning… It seems that my ex,( my kids dad) was thrown off Facebook and he and my 13 year old daughter seem to think I did it. Now, honestly, IT WAS NOT ME. I have no idea how to get someone thrown off Facebook. I never really cared that much about him being on Facebook to begin with. I had him blocked anyway after the comment he left on my profile. So, he was not bothering me.
The only thing I have ever heard of is if he was spamming people and they reported it all the time. I have no clue. Well, I am going to go.. Ciao!
This last week has been hell on me and I an trying to shard to get past it. It seems like when I am finally getting to the point that I am okay once again, something reminds me of what I was so sad about and I am sad again. Sigh. I am trying to stay with songs that I know won’t bring me down. Lots of Limp Bizkit and Kid Rock lately.
Well, the phone and internet will be switched back to AT&T on the 19th and I am so glad. I am changing the phone number to the house phone. I changed my mind mainly because there are a few people who have that number that don’t need to have it anymore. So now they won’t and it will be unlisted as well. Some people I don’t want to be able to find the number. I am happy about that.
Speaking of Kid Rock, I am listening to his album Rock N Roll Jesus as I write this. One of my very favorite albums for sure. I about wore out the CD when I first got it. I also have Born Free and it is of course amazing. I am hoping that this weekend is better than last for sure. Well, I think that is it for now, Ciao!!
It is no secret, I totally love music and I always have some form of music going. Music is the one thing that soothes my soul, well that and water. I totally love listening to my favorite music when I am down. Lately I have been down. Some songs make me feel down too because there are too many memories attached to them. So, here is a shuffle list of some music on my MP3 player for you.
Heartbreaker by Pat Benatar- I totally love her and all her music. She has a voice on her and this is one of my favorite songs of hers. I have many, but this one is one of the best.
Blondie- Call Me- One of the best known songs by Blondie. I do love this song, it is something that I grew up with. Still holds some good memories for me.
Fast Car by Christian Kane- For those who don’t know, Christian Kane was in Angel and Buffy. Lately he can be found in Leverage. He has a wonderful voice and I love every one of these songs on his first album. Worth a listen.
Bodies by Drowning Pool- I totally love this song, so gets the blood flowing!!
Trouble by Lindsey Buckingham- I love him, he does some amazing music and when he is with Fleetwood Mac, even better!!!
Crazy E-Girlfriend by Miranda Lambert- I have loved her since Kerosene. Crazy ex girl friend is a song full of the things that I wish I could say and do.
Cotton Eye Joe by Rednex- If you have ever been to a sporting event, you have heard this song. I totally love it and listen to it a lot. Fun to dance to.
Heaven by Warrant- This is one song that can go either way with me. I love this song so, but it has a lot of memories attached to it. Mostly high school memories.
Not a Moment Too Soon by Tim McGraw- This is one of his earliest songs and I still love it. It reminds me that some things come when we so desperately needed.
Ain’t No Sunshine by Bill Withers- I love this song so much, it always makes me feel so much better when I am down.
Today I changed my phone and internet back to AT&T from Comcast. I called on July 5th to find out why my phone and internet went down all of a sudden. My gateway reset itself while I was on the phone with the person from Comcast. Neither one of us reset it. So, he set up an appointment for that morning between 9:30-12:30 just to get the modem replaced. No one showed up or called.
I contacted them at 12:45pm on the 5th to complain and I got a $20 credit, I thought another appointment had been set up that day, well according to the rep it had for today 8-11am. No one called or showed up. Today was the last straw honestly. When I contacted them, they say that there was no appointment set up. None. I was furious.
So, I went to AT&T because I loved their service and I never had a problem with their service. The issue I have is that I can have phone and internet with AT&T but not cable tv because I live in a building that has an agreement with Comcast. Actually, by switching I will be paying less every month with AT&T and Comcast cable than if I kept it all Comcast. Go figure.
I am hoping that I can keep the same phone number, well I will be able to I think. They tell me that I will will, so I will take their word for it. For now anyway. I am happy with this now.
I went to email a friend today because it is his birthday and my email bounced back. He just emailed me on the 4th. I don’t know. Sigh. I am just having a really bad week this week. I honestly want to sit down and drink until I can‘t see straight. I know it would not solve anything, but honestly I would forget for a while and I could deal with that. Oh, Mr. Jose Quervo, where are you????
So, yesterday was a massively bad day for me. Sadly I wish I had stayed in bed and hid under the covers, it probably would have been a far better day for me then.
In case, you are wondering, no I have not been to bed yet. I can’t get my brain to shut off and let me relax. See, I made a couple of mistakes yesterday, although one was not made exactly yesterday, but I found out about it yesterday. So, I figure that I will not be able to sleep until I do something about this.
Last month apparently I spaced out and wrote the rent check for $28 less than it should have been for. Now, I checked my checkbook to make sure I actually did this and I did. So, I am admitting this mistake. I am not sure why it happened and honestly, I can not remember writing the rent check last month, so… I fucked up. I admit it.
It will be fixed in the next day or two when I write the rent check for this month. I feel bad about it. I am not perfect and never have been, so sometimes mistakes happen. I will do my best to see that it does not happen again.
I also upset someone that I care about yesterday. I spaced out in the middle of our conversation and did not hear exactly what had been said, but it sounded like a question, so I answered said question because I did not want to admit that I spaced on the conversation. I tried to explain, but the damage has been done. I have been thinking about this all night and honestly, this is what is keeping me awake. I spent most of the night crying because I don’t know how to fix this and I want to. Badly.
I made a mistake by not listening to begin with and then by not asking what was said before answering. Sigh. I have such a migraine from all of this and I am not sure how much sleep I will get today. I hate it when people are mad at me. I hate that I feel like I can not fix this. Well, I am off to find something to do. Ciao.
