Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to those Fathers of the two or four-legged variety! I hope you have a wonderful day today!

Happy Father's Day Dad!  Love you!

I'm ba-aa-ck!

I spent Thanksgiving at my real Dad's house in Abilene, Texas, and it snowed! Yes-REALLY! While I lived there it never snowed (thank you Lord!), but over the three days I was there for vacation, it did. For those of you that live in the northern regions, you're probably wondering what the big deal is, but I moved to Florida when I was 12--and haven't seen snow since then, so this was a BIG deal!

My step-brothers were making fun of me because I kept looking outside to see if it was still there. After we ate, I went outside to play for a little bit. Let me tell you, after 10 minutes, the thrill was gone. Unfortunately, my brothers decided to lock me outside in the freezing cold! No, I'm not exaggerating--look at the temperature!

In any case, I made some snow bears. The snow wasn't wet enough to roll and make a proper snowman, but I was able to pack it and make the mommy and baby snow bears.

Thankfully, my Dad finally felt sorry for me and let me back in. He had the fireplace roaring, so it didn't take long for me to thaw out. Yippee!

Unfortunately I was only there for three days, so we didn't get a chance to do too much. I didn't even get a chance to see my friends, which was a bummer because there's only so much t.v. that I can watch at a time. We did venture out for a bit on Black Friday

and I was given my Christmas present early--a Zune!!!! (It's Microsoft's answer to the iPod.) Yea--I can finally listen to my music everywhere I go--especially at the airport when I had to leave on a 6:30 am flight. Yep--you read it correctly--that was A.M.--as in o'dark early! It was so early, that I was able to see the sunrise from the plane.

Now, I'm back in sunny Florida! Just look at the pictures I took from the plane!

HELLO TAMPA!!!

In any case, I'm now back to the daily grind and I'm trying to get everything finished before Christmas. YIKES!

Prayer Request:

I'm in the process of looking for another job--whether it's still in the library profession or something completely different--I'm open. God and I have been discussing many things here recently and change is one of them. I've been holding some things very closely (computer time, job, finances, etc.), and He's telling me that I need to loosen my grip and trust Him to take care of me. (Kind of hard for someone that has to do everything for herself or it doesn't get done.) Just keep me in your prayers. Thank you!!!

Smokes Alive!

Did anyone else wake up to the choking smell of smoke this morning? I started to grab Madison and run out the door in my PJs when I first woke up this morning because the smoke was so thick. As the sun began to rise, a haze settled over the Tampa Bay area due to fires up near Gainesville and just a couple hours South in Sarasota. YUCK! (These pictures are from the online Tampa Tribune site.)

After I realized that we were not in any trouble, Madison was able to enjoy the comfort of the cranked air conditioner so that she wouldn't have much trouble breathing while I had to suck it up and go to work. Yippee.


The sad thing is, Sunday I spent a WONDERFUL day at beautiful Clearwater Beach. My sister Rachel is in town from Washington (the state) for a couple of days, so we decided to go to the beach--her favorite spot. (I love the white sand and the crystal colored water. The pirate ship was fun too.) Check out some of our pictures....





Okay, Okay...I've tried to avoid the subject--after all, I've had a day of moping about...Danielle and Eric won The Amazing Race. I must admit, while I definitely DID NOT want them to win, they did pull together when it counted and that's what helped them win. Oh well....Of course you know I'll be checking the CBS site for applications for the next go-round.

There are only a few more weeks left with the children! Yippee! Then I can actually sit down and read some of the books that are sitting in my growing pile. (Too bad I don't have time to read at work.....I used to actually think that's what librarians did all day long...little did I know that the only time I would see the inside of a book was when I sat down at home with one.) In any case, since I do not have a summer job (YIKES!) lined up completely, that's what I plan on doing until I find one. Does anyone need me to review books for them for money? (I promise, I can crank them out over the summer!)

On the funny side, my dad decided to go to Europe to visit my brother (who lives in London). He was supposed to fly back today, but apparently missed his flight in London--what a dork! (I can say that because he NEVER worries about the little details like time, etc.) The last I heard, he managed to get a later flight, but is going to Philadelphia first. Hopefully he gets a flight back tonight, because he doesn't know that Rachel is here to surprise him, and she leaves tomorrow evening. Talk about drama! In any case, he'll get a great laugh at it all in a few days. I can't wait to see the pictures!