Husbands

Edited to link in the original site :) (Click on friend's blog (if....etc. etc.)

I saw this on a friend of a friend's blog (if you are that "friend of a friend" and want me to link you, leave me a comment :) I'd love it!) but it has been spinning around in my mind since I read it yesterday and I wanted to throw it out to all "my girls" as a little weekend challenge so to speak...

This comment was taken from http://girltalk.blogs.com/ I haven't spent a TON of time here but I am encouraged by what I have read and I hope you are too. Let's lift our husbands up ladies. They are our providers, our God given heads of our households. They are the only one who REALLY know us and love us by CHOICE anyway. They picked us. They (in most situations I would assume) asked US to be with THEM forever.

What blessed women we are. Pray for your man. Pray for your families and lift your man up. Regardless of your circumstances, your finances, your mood, your emotions, love on them a little extra. Bless them in the way that only you can. Be thankful for your Husband and let him know.

"Titus 2:3 exhorts the older women to teach the younger women. Today we can learn from four wise, older women—all have been married for more than twenty years—about ways each has learned to do her husband good.

One way that I regularly strive in to do my husband good is by not complaining about my work in the home, but instead embrace it with joy. We have a large family, and the duties that fall on my shoulders throughout the day are many.

Early on in our marriage, when I was just learning homemaking and trying to do a good job, I would feel overwhelmed by my tasks. With young children underfoot, I would be tempted to think that my husband should do more to lighten my load, even though he was gone all day working hard to provide for us himself. I learned then that I need to submit my heart to the Lord daily to undertake my responsibilities to serve my husband and family with a willing and joyful spirit.

I accepted the fact that it is not my husband's job to lighten my load, but my responsibility to take my "load" to the Lord and let Him lighten it by my finding that "the joy of the Lord is my strength." I have to remind myself that I am my husband's helper and not the other way around.

This is not to say that a husband should never help his wife, but when we embrace our "helpmeet role" with faith and vision we can better appreciate the way the Lord designed marriage to produce the most fruit. By my being efficient in housework, consistently training our children, diligently home educating them, teaching them to honor their daddy, and being a cheerful homemaker and wife, I can bring tremendous joy to my husband when he returns home from a hard day at work.

As Proverbs 31:11 says, "The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain."

Mary Happily married to Dan for 27 years and blessed with 11 wonderful children."

I'm taking my own challenge... and looking forward to it :) I love this man! :)

Halloween and the Eve of Halloween....

I really do HATE this holiday...I don't even want to CALL it a holiday... but this helps...tee hee hee....

Lil' Stinker.... isn't he SO cute! :)

And just a little sneak peak at the post that will be coming (I'm TYE-YED this AM and chose to stay in bed longer vs. posting... :) but a little peak for yah...

The Blessings Box

Would you consider this?? CLICK HERE

I think I will...

Not quite how we had planned....

the night to go.... we had PLANS to go to Mama and Papa H's house to try a new dish... (yum BTW!) HOWEVER....(insert warning for those of you with weak stomachs.... stop reading now)

When I got home and Husband I went to get changed into comfy clothes to wear over there he casually mentioned that I needed to look at something on his shoulder blade that was causing him some discomfort.... yah think? There were TWO TICKS on his back... one was very small and I was able to get right off but the thing had been gnawing on him for a while and the 2nd was BURIED. I pulled most of its body out and the head was too far under the skin. I did what any girl who grew up in the country and who's Dad has worked outside his entire adult life did... I called my mother. She was very concerned and told us to immediately if not sooner, get to the ER. My father ended up calling us right back to talk to Husband and again stressed the importance of GETTING TO THE HOSPITAL.... eeeeee booooyyyyy. Not quite how we had planned the night to go but as you can see below I was more than willing to cooperate :)While this one is making jokes and pretending that his joints are starting to stiffen and he's coming down with Lyme Di$ease as we sit there... yeah. He THINKS he's funny....Again... (insert sarcasm) HYSTERICAL (end sarcasm) If I only had $1 for all these lovely little bracelets Husband has collected over the past year... and I'm telling you the MAN DOES NOT GO to the Dr. so the fact that we've been to the hospital this many times.... again... eeeeeee boy.... So a N.P. came in, dug around in his back to get what she COULD (oh yes, totally left part of the tick in HIM!) Threw on some bacitracin (sp) and a band-aid and sent us home. All the while making us feel like IDIOTS for being in there. Nice. Real nice. Lady, I grew up in the woods, we LIVE in the woods, we have a DOG who PLAYS in the woods, we pick ticks of the dog, we've picked ticks off EACH OTHER we are not here because we are WOOSIE! We are here because there is a red puffy circle on my Husband's back!!!! She gave us two doses of antibiotics and shooed us out of there. Funny when I told Glory the description of the N.P. she knew JUST who I was talking about... grrrrrr....So 2 hours later we were headed to see the H family.... aaaahhhhh good food, good friends and a great margarita. It's amazing how much better life can look.... :)

Their pooch is a funny one.... Oh yes, here he is....

And clearly P.Q. had so much fun with us he just couldn't stand it anymore... :)

Thanks H family for taking us as we were AND 2 hours LATE :)

Trouble

Do you know what the trouble is with spending an entire weekend with Muffinman is???

I MISS HIM LIKE CRAZY!!!! :)

*Can't wait to see you on Thursday little man!!!

The Weekend Report....

As always fun was had with the game "Spouseology" :) On Saturday night we got together with J.T and "The Dude" for dinner at their "new" (although they have been moved in I think almost a year!! :) From their house we went to CountryMum and CountryDad's to hang out with J.T.'s parents and some family friends... Stare at your spouse for 60 seconds and try not to smile...

Look how red CountryDad's face is and look... there's CountryMum... CHEATING!!! J.T. is clearly having a hard time keeping it together with CountryDad snickering in the background :)

These guys ran away with the game... course it helped that they rolled two extra credit cards... here they are... well... you can figure it out... SQUARE DANCING?? :) While singing "She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain" Good thing CountryMum jumps at any chance to sing ANYTHING :)

51...AS IN FIFTY-ONE years and these guys walked away with THREE.... as in 3 ANSWERS RIGHT!! (out of about 20+ questions) We were all intimidated to play with these two but... whoa! :) Glory is convinced it is what keeps their marriage spicy :) What? Not talking to each other!?!? :) :) hee hee hee... they had a GREAT time and ended up going home with the game. :)

And here is the video I promised you all... enjoy... we gave them the extra point... I think they deserved it :) :)

Sunday took us north to get Husband's hunting jacket and look who came along for the ride!! :) We (girls) were not psyched to hang out with the bright orange and ammo so we headed to the CHOCOLATE STORE :) Not a bad way to spend a GORGEOUS Sunday.... was a good time....

Crunch Time...

It is coming down to crunch time for our next Presidential Election. Educate yourselves. Please.

Tracy sent me this link... CLICK HERE....take some time to look around.... While you are at it...check out THIS and THIS and THIS as well....








*Yeah yeah, I know you are all here for the weekend pics... I hope to get them up tonight... including a funny video... that ought to keep yah comin' back... :)

GO SCOPE HER OUT!!!

I have literally been friends with this girl since our mothers were PG with us... our Dad's have been friends since high school and I have made mention of her... here... and here.....

Click HERE -------> SHE CREATED A BLOG!!!! :) Now be good friends and go show her some lovin' in her comments!!! You know we love it when we suck another one in!!! :)

OH YEAH!!!

I chopped all my hair off. :)

Well, technically I DIDN'T... but SHE did :)

Survival of the fittest

Nature has a way of weeding things out. Recently, (ok so it was this afternoon when it finally CLICKED to me) on my commute home I had seen a duck with her little flock of baby ducks. (insert sound of screeching) What? "You live in Northern New England Country Mouse, why are there baby ducklings out and about now? Shouldn't all the birds be headed to see Tracy in her warm 70 degree weather?"

Why yes... yes they should. CountryMum confirmed this when today (after two weeks or so of noticing this brood hanging out on the side of the road during my commute home) I called her to ask if this was "normal". Today it caused me some concern because in the past few weeks I have had to wait while this Mama has taken her flock across the road and there were at LEAST a dozen or so... ok, I might be exaggerating. I have been known to do that now and then. But SERIOUSLY there were at LEAST 8-10. That's no joke.

Today, I drove by and there were just 3-4. Mama Duck was bathing herself in a sad little (freezing cold I'm sure) puddle at the end of a development that's going in with her little chicks not a foot away from her. And the flock had DEF. dwindled in size. OH. NO.!!! This was concerning. (Hence the call to CountryMum)

For those of you that know me... I mean REALLY know me... I HATE BIRDS. I actually loathe them. The horror film, The Birds, yeah, I'll never watch that. I eat chicken and I'm HAPPY about that. Husband once asked me if I could eliminate from this earth one species what would it be. Birds. Hands down. I HATE them.

But a Mama and her babies... at the end of October...when our nights have been getting down to below freezing and she's down at LEAST 4-6 babies... that just is NOT ok. :(

I called, of course, CountryDad who informed me that they were wild animals and it is illegal to put them in captivation. Who knew? He also told me that was nature. My response... "I don't LIKE this part of "nature" :( So I called the Audubon Society who of course had gone home for the night, I called the Animal Shelter who also did not answer and then I stopped...

Luke 12:6-7 ~ Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. 7 Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

Matt 25:37-40 ~"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' 40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

Psalms: 139:13-14 ~ 13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

All these came to mind. How thankful I am, how grateful, how blessed that no matter what "issues", trials, physical hindrances I have... GOD LOVES ME. It is ok if I am not the healthiest, the strongest. He has a plan for me regardless.

He loves that little family of birds and He IS concerned about them. But how I can REST in His love, His forgiveness, His mercy and be lifted up. I am NOT the fittest. I would not "survive" in nature... but God protects me. He loves me. He LIFTS me up.

I'm not sure what will happen to those birds. I will try calling again tomorrow but I'm not optimistic. I'll keep you posted....

Party PARTY!!!! (Part 2)

Tuesday night had us out again for a celebration of sorts. At least that's the way I'm going to view it so I don't get teary-eyed. Dave and Joyce came up to close the camp this past week... they are headed back home until June (ish) I keep pushing for May... :)

Special prize to whomever can tell me with JUST THE INITIALS in your comment, WHERE we ate dinner... remember... JUST the initials or I will delete your post. JJ and J, you can't count! :)

Can you GET too much MUFFIN? Yeah? well... too bad. It's my blog and I'll post a gazillion if I want to. Why do I feel like I've said that before? :)


I'm adopted. Let's just get that right out on the table once and for all. A-DOP-TED!
I love LOVE love this girl and I sure do miss her while she's gone. Thank the good LORD for the internet and prayer. :)


You're right Joyce. He's warming up to you. Think about how warm he'd be if you were here ALL the time :) :) eh... you can't blame a girl for tryin' :) See you in May-une. :)

Party PARTY!!!! (Part 1)

Monday night, ON her ACTUAL b-day... celebrated a few years for this girl... I'm not sure if you have heard me talk about these two before??? :) hee hee hee

Mama and Papa H were there...fun times sharing family with these two... even if I DO have fight for the smeg (sp??) with Mama H :) hee hee hee
Seriously. Cute. Seriously.

Not sure who was more excited about the Mike 'n Ikes for her b-day... TiTi... or PQ?? :)
And a picture that Husband said should just be deleted... wrong wrong wrong :)

A little friendly competition...

A couple of weekends ago Tracy mentioned on her IM message that she was enjoying a beautiful Maine summer day in Nashville....yeah well... THIS is what we had going on that weekend... how do you like THEM apples?? :) oh yeah... you do like them since your Mama had to mail them to you from our GORGEOUS state... :)

The view from MY yard... :)

tee hee heeeee :) Can't wait for you to be rubbing in the 70 degree weather in April 2009 when we have just been "blessed" with our 20,856 snow storm of the season...

Something to think about...

Stolen from another blog...

OPINION
DOW JONES REPRINTS
The Health Insurance Mafia
By JONATHAN KELLERMAN
April 14, 2008; Page A15

Most discussions about the rising cost of health care emphasize the need to get more people insured. The assumption seems to be that insurance – rather than the service delivered by doctor to patient – is the important commodity.But perhaps the solution to much of what currently plagues us in health care – rising costs and bureaucracy, diminishing levels of service – rests on a radically different approach: fewer people insured.

You don't need to be an economist to understand that any middleman interposed between seller and buyer raises the price of a given service or product. Some intermediaries justify this by providing benefits, such as salesmanship, advertising or transport. Others offer physical facilities, such as warehouses. A third group, organized crime, utilizes fear and intimidation to muscle its way into the provider-consumer chain, raking in hefty profits and bloating cost, without providing any benefit at all.

The health insurance model is closest to the parasitic relationship imposed by the Mafia and the like. Insurance companies provide nothing other than an ambiguous, shifty notion of "protection." But even the Mafia doesn't stick its nose into the process; once the monthly skim is set, Don Whoever stays out of the picture, but for occasional "cost of doing business" increases.

When insurance companies insinuate themselves into the system, their first step is figuring out how to increase the skim by harming the people they are allegedly protecting through reduced service.Insurance is all about betting against negative consequences and the insurance business model is unique in that profits depend upon goods and services not being provided. Using actuarial tables, insurers place their bets. Sometimes even the canniest MIT grads can't help: Property and casualty insurers have collapsed in the wake of natural disasters.

Health insurers have taken steps to avoid that level of surprise: Once they affix themselves to the host – in this case dual hosts, both doctor and patient – they systematically suck the lifeblood out of the supply chain with obstructive strategies. For that reason, the consequences of any insurance-based health-care model, be it privately run, or a government entitlement, are painfully easy to predict. There will be progressively draconian rationing using denial of authorization and steadily rising co-payments on the patient end; massive paperwork and other bureaucratic hurdles, and steadily diminishing fee-recovery on the doctor end.

Some of us are old enough to remember visiting the doctor and paying him/her directly by check or cash. You had a pretty good idea going in what the service was going to cost. And because the doctor had to look you in the eye – and didn't need to share a rising chunk of his profits with an insurer – the cost was likely to be reasonable. The same went for hospitals: no $20 aspirins due to insurance-company delay tactics and other shenanigans. Few physicians became millionaires, but they lived comfortably, took responsibility for their own business model, and enjoyed their work more.

Several years ago, I suffered a sports injury that necessitated an MRI. The "fee" for a 20-minute procedure was over $3,000. My insurance company refused to pay, so I informed the radiologist that I'd be footing the bill myself. Immediately, the "fee" was cut by two thirds. And the doctor was tickled to get it.

A few highly technical and complex procedures that need to amortize the purchase of extremely expensive hardware will be out of reach for any but the wealthiest patient. For that extremely limited category, insurance might work. A small percentage of indigent individuals won't be able to afford even low-cost procedures. For them, government-funded county facilities are the answer, because any decent society takes care of the weakest among us. But a hefty proportion of health-care services – office visits, minor surgeries – would be affordable to most Americans if the slice of the health-care dollar that currently ends up in the coffers of insurance companies was eliminated.

When I was in practice as a psychologist, I discussed fees up front with prospective patients, prior to their initial visit. People appreciated knowing what to expect and my bad debt rate was less than 1%. That allowed me to keep my charges reasonable and, on occasion, to lower them for less fortunate patients. And I loved my job because I was free to concentrate on what I went to school for: helping people, rather than filling out incomprehensible forms designed to discourage me from filing them in the first place.

Physicians and other providers need to liberate themselves from the Faustian bargain they've cut with the Mephistophelian suits who now run their professional lives. Because many doctors are loath to talk about money, they allowed themselves to perpetuate the fantasy that "insurance is paying." It isn't. There is no free lunch and no free physical exam.If substantial numbers of health-care providers shook off the insurance monkey on their back, en masse, and the supply of providers was substantially increased by opening more medical schools, the result would be a more honest, cost-effective system benefiting everyone. Except the insurance companies.

Dr. Kellerman, clinical professor of pediatrics and psychology at USC's Keck School of Medicine, is the author of numerous crime novels and three books on psychology. His latest novel is "Compulsion" (Ballantine, 2008).

Happy Birthday SIL L!!!

I call you my "idol mama" for a reason... well, for many reasons :) but you are also my sister and I am so thankful to have you in my life. How you have handled things that have been "thrown" at you over the past years, how amazing your relationship is with your children and your husband. Your relationship with your Mama, sister and us. I'm so thankful for your match-making skills (wink) . You are amazing in how you just embrace people into your family, wether they stay forever, or are just part of our clan for a brief time.

I love you and hope you have a VERY VERY Happy Birthday!!!