Rose quartz

This is on elastic cord but when I get a magnetic clasp I'm going to restring it on regular beading wire. The rose quartz beads are not good quality so it pains me to have them strung with the purple amethyst because those are of good quality.  I got those for $18 for a string.  And when I first started beading I really didn't get the different between base metal vs sterling silver and a couple of the spacers beads had tarnished so I think the spacers are sterling silver.  The focal bead has hearts on it so I'm thinking about using craft wire to see if I can form some head pins with a heart to make earrings.

I fiddled with a variety of beads to get a good combination with the rose quartz, then I realized sometimes it's best to stick with simplicity.

I like the feel of these on my arm even though I don't care for the beads themselves.  I think I'm liking smooth, shiny semi-precious stones.

Etsy says do not use a flash when you photograph jewelry so I photographed it in natural light on the coffee table. 

Next I'm going to try making a seed bead bracelet.

Carnelian

Mayela came over today at about 1pm and we had a nice long visit.  We ate tamales for lunch then watched Passion of The Christ, then sat down for more tamales (I had chicken soup) and she, my husband, and I, talked over dinner for an hour.  Then we did a Bible study on the Parable of the Sower aka The Parable of the Four Soils.  Then at about 9pm she left.  Tomorrow we might go shopping.

So I took my bead box out a last week, or rather I had my husband get my bead box out of the shed.  I love going through all my old beads.  It's like seeing old friends.  All the plans I had that I never followed through on...hopes, dreams, desires.  Anyhoo, I decided not to go to bed until I made something.

I used 1 mm Stretch Magic elastic cord.  I prefer elastic bracelets and I thought I was making it for myself.  This one fit rather high on my arm but it felt good.  Or I could let it go to the bottom of my wrist and it wasn't too annoying. The stones are so big that they felt smooth and weighty on my wrist instead of light and flittery.

I love the look and feel of these stones.  The findings are all leftovers.  The stones are actually several of my least favorite of the string but still gorgeous to my eyes.

Carnelian is a quartz that has a waxy luster and is usually brownish red to orange but comes in a lot of shades and colors.  Geologists classify is as a chalcedony in the quartz family.  It has the same chemical makeup as agate so what one person calls carnelian could be another person's agate.  I suspect these have been heat treated to make the hues and lines stand out.  Some carnelian is naturally very red, but heat treatment enhances the color and beauty of carnelian.  It has a hardness on the Mohs scale of 7.

As I gazed at it while the glue was drying it did occur to me that it looked like a something Mayela might like.  She came over and I showed it to her and sure enough, she liked it.  I kind of wanted it for myself, but she'll wear it more than I ever would.  It looks real purty on her arm.  She wears bracelets every day.

So my first bracelet made in a long time went to a home where it will be loved.

My husband got me Rosetta Stone to learn Spanish!  I'm installing it now.  Merry Christmas!  One week of 2011 left.  We got our son a butler bag which is an all season sleeping bag good to minus -20 degrees.  He needs it for trail riding in the wilderness with Anthony.  We got him the book Killing Lincoln and a red patriot pen from the O'Reilly site.

I desire to go to Costa Rica with Mayela next year.  She's invited me.  I only worry some about my body.  The Zyrtec works very well but this morning it started at 6:00am and part of my hand is swollen a little.  I took a Zyrtec at 6:40am.  I should have done it as soon as I felt the slightest itch.

Whenever I leave my husband I go into entropy - inevitable degeneration.  I gotta find my man pants, but once I pull them up can I keep them on for a few days in Costa Rica far, far from home?

My back is killing me today.  I don't know exactly how I did it, but my lower back is aching like last year when I rode that mule for 45 minutes.  I'm just chilling with it today as if you can chill with pain.

Husband and son are gone to Cruces to get gifts.  I told my husband not to go get me a gift today because I want him to sit with me and watch football (this means I'm on my computer and he watches football) but he flat refused.  They went earlier this morning and came back after they did a 360 on the interstate.  It's snowy and icy here.  They got to Cruces okay on their second trip in the afternoon because the road is thawed out now.

I just don't know how I did this to my back.

Talked to my dear old Dad.  They're expecting company.  His voice was quiet.  I'll call my sis in a little while.  I hear she has a cold so they aren't going to Dad's today.

The new Zumba DVD has a routine with Celtic dance on it and I'm crazy about it.  Can't wait to learn it.  I have it half way learned already.  I think a sign of excellent choreography is when it's easy to learn.

Totally want to go see War Horse this coming week.  I want to take our son to see it too.  It's supposed to be excellent.  The horse is played partly by the same horse who played Sea Biscuit.  The story is based on a fictional novel written in 1982.  Set in WWI.  Directed by Steven Spielberg.  Supposed to be awesome.  Hundreds of extras and horses used for the acting.  I was surprised by how many horses were used to play Blackie in True Grit.  They are so super careful to treat the animals well nowadays.  I'm so glad.  In the small part where Blackie swims across the river five horses were used and one was a mechanical horse.  Amazing!  I'm always trying to figure out which shot is the mechanical one.  I think it's the shot were you see a close-up of Blackie's breathing and laboring through the water as he swims.  I think that three-second shot is the mechanical one.

Got infected by a computer virus this week.  Husband was able to get rid of it for me.  It's the second time in two weeks.  It was coming down via an automatic update from Adobe Reader.  It was a fake update.  I went to Adobe Reader in my Programs list and selected Edit, Preferences, Updater, and chose "Do not automatically update."  I had to check it a couple times too because once it unchecked itself.  Evil people have nothing better to do than design malevolent viruses to attack innocent people.  Some people need a life. 

November hair.  Uncombed.  I need to measure.  Will I ever reach 50"?  Will I ever reach knees?

Aw, I didn't get the job.  They said they'd call today and last time she called me for the clerical test she called at 10:00am.  Someone did better than I did on the interview and clerical test and that's not a far stretch to figure on.  Shoot.  So it was practice for the next job interview.

Right now I'm making some Christmas ornaments out of candy to keep my mind occupied.  They're super easy and kinda cute.

I used a hot glue gun instead of frosting for putting it together because no one will want to eat them after fingers have been all over it.  I used red pipe cleaners instead of string.

Tonight at 7:30pm we're going on a horse and carriage ride with Laura.  We saw her and Joe driving by to set up last night.  It was like a caravan going by!  It'll be cold out but should be a neat ride.  I wonder where she'll take us.

On my way home from Zumba Tuesday night I got stopped by the coppers!  I'm such a ditz.  I was driving my new car in the dark with the headlights off.  Seemed like I could see fine.  Surely I would have noticed they were off eventually.  Anyhoo, I don't know where he came from but suddenly, bam!, he's right behind me with enough lights pointed on me to light up a stadium.  I pulled over and sat in my car and waited.  He took a long time to come over.  I was waiting for him on my side of the car, but he knocked on the window on the passenger side and I jumped.  I suppose it's safer for him on that side.  I already had my wallet out and he told me my lights were off.  I was flustered and checked and sure enough someone, named "my husband", took the headlight control off of automatic.  Soooo.  That's why they were off.  The policeman never asked for my I.D.  He was very nice.  I got home and told my husband never, never take the lights off of auto again or I will get stopped by the police!

I love Tebow.

Zumba was fun tonight.  Eleven people.  We did a new routine that's humorous - a funny song called "Chocolate (Choco Choco)."  Next week I'm adding a bachata!  I'm excited about it.  It'll be a brand new style for our class.  I hadn't even heard of bachata before Zumba.  I sold one pair of sticks too.  I couldn't decide whether I should buy more to sell because I don't make all that much money by selling them, so I asked Mayela.  Ha!  I can't make decisions.  She said get some.  So I did.  Then I told her I have 12 more to sell and she asked why so many.  Because to get the best price I have to buy 12 at a time.  But she thought I'd get a few pair.  Oh well.  Now I have TWELVE more to sell. Praise the Lord.  I'm into saying "Praise the Lord."  It's my new saying.

I hope I get a call for that job on the 15th.  I hadn't thought of it till my sister reminded me of it on the phone tonight.  Actually, she didn't remind me but I told her about it and so I reminded myself.  Darn.  It was better when it wasn't on my mind.

I'm thinking of taking Zyrtec every couple days whether I need it or not because I do need it every two or three days.  This way, theoretically, or is it hypothetically, I don't have to freak out every night wondering what's going to be swelled up tomorrow.  I'm paranoid about getting a job then what do I do if my eye or lips swell up.  I'll have to call in sick.  I hate calling in sick.  I don't want to make a reputation for being sickly and missing work.  That's not me at all.  Who wants to be the new girl and call in sick the first month?  Serenity Now.

Church was sublime this morning.  I learned about typology.  I learned about Eljah and Elisha.  Elijah was a prophet.  Well, yeah, he has his own book in the Old Testament, so I kind of knew that. Elisha was his servant, as in, student.  Elijah was Elisha's mentor.  I was never sure if the two names were the same person or two different people.  It's two different people.

Our Zumba presentation at the Veterans' Home went swimmingly.  They liked us!  They smiled and the employees smiled.  We all wore the deer antler headbands I bought.  And we got sweaty.  I might need to pick some slower routines next time.  I wore a snowman headband to the market and it was the darnedest thing.  Everyone was smiling at me everywhere I went.  It put me in such a happy mood.  I guess the snowmen bouncing on my head caused people to smile.  And when they looked at me smiling, I smiled back.  And felt good!  I spread a bunch of Christmas cheer around the store and it didn't hurt at all!

Speaking of hurt.  My hand and one eye swelled yesterday.  I was severely bummed.  But I went to Zumba at the Vet's Home anyway because from far away I hoped no one would notice one eye was little.  But at church today three people hurt my hand.  They shake it too hard and the swelling in it is down, but not gone. One lady, bless her heart, she shook my hand then smacked the top of it a few times (she was being friendly) and yowser, that woke me up alright.  My husband is going to buy me a thingy of some kind that I can put on my hand and that way on Sunday people can't squeeze it and stuff.

Getting a cold sore on the inside of my nose and part of my nose is red.  Man, I am falling apart here.  Had a giant stomach ache after dinner last night.  Spaghetti sauce apparently didn't agree with me.  I took Maalox and it actually helped.  In an hour I felt fine.  Praise the Lord.  I feel pretty good at the moment.  I have some Zovirax for the cold sore and Abreva topical for it so it ought to pass quickly.

I would like to do a hot oil treatment on my hair, but I am also very sleepy.  My big job of the day is I need to thoroughly clean Bella's water trough.  I'll do it right after...my nap.

I feel kind of bad today.  Just generally.  Sort of.  All around.  Could be my friend's sadness.  Could be the Zyrtec I took which helped tremendously but kept me from sleeping.  Could be for some reason I keep thinking of abortion and can't get it off my mind.  Keeps coming back.  Could be I'm done with the interview process and have only to wait.  Could be I want to know what is God's ultimate plan for me and I don't know the answer.  How can I use my gift(s) best and what are my gift(s)? 

Pastor's wife asked if we could have any gift we wanted what would it be.  That's like asking what would you do if you knew you could not fail.

I wore a reindeer antlers headband to Zumba tonight to make sure it doesn't fall off.  I liked wearing it.  I got a pair for each of the Zumba ladies who are going to do Zumba on Saturday at the Veteran's Home.  It should be a lots of fun!  We're spreading some Zumba cheer for Christmas.

Well, I guess I'm still in the running.  I did well enough at the interview that they've asked me back for testing.  I hope there's nothing about ratios on the test.  I can do the basics.  I took a practice online clerical test tonight to sharpen up.  It'll be 30 to 40 minutes she said.  Didn't give me much notice to brush up.  Human Resources called this morning at 10am and the test is tomorrow at 3:30pm.  I will do my best!  Say a prayer for me.  Did I say I want this job?  I do. 

I had seven peeps in Zumba and man, it's cold outside.  It was in the 20s.  Last night they closed the 10 and the 25 and truckers were parked all over the place.  They opened the civic center for people to sleep there.  We had a power outage for several hours from about 7am to 10am.

Again, I missed my own blog anniversary.  It was seven years on November 10th.

Today I am teaching myself samba.  It's the hardest of the Zumba steps, but technically not difficult.  You gotta get that little bounce in there to look good.  I want to add samba to our class.

I did all right.  Not stellar.  Just okay.  There were three or four questions for which I had to say no because I did not have the experience.  At all.  Can't lie about what you ain't got.  They asked if I had a certain certification for which I had to say no.  So I got a bit deflated right there.  Wondered how I got selected for interview.  Kept my chin up though.  Afterward I whipped out the job description (which I already read over and over) and it says nothing about this certification.  I will say I liked the interviewers quite a bit.  They were easy to talk to.  I liked them and think they would be good people to work for.  Maybe something in the future could come up there that I will be more qualified for.  I wore my new black skirt and cowl neck sweater, hair in a French twist, and I looked nice.  I had on nylons and pumps and pearl earrings.  Maybe I'll wear the outfit to church sometime.

So needless to say, ain't expecting a call anytime soon.  Sigh.  Onwards and upwards.  My job is out there somewhere.  Maybe I will take the circuitous route whatever that means.

All my blood test results came out normal.  I do not carry the RA Factor for rheumatoid arthritis.  Thanks be to the Lord.  He will reign forever.  They tell me they think it's an allergic reaction.  To.  Something.  I have no idea what it could be.  Doctors being doctors, they warn of the most dire reaction.  My throat could close and kill me.  Well, as the visiting pastor said when they were told his wife would likely die of a brain tumor - I will say like he did, "Not in my case."

That which is in a woman's heart is what comes out of her mouth. 

I will start keeping track of everything I eat.  I'm gonna hate it, but I have to do something.  A swelled up face is no good.

My new car has five colors of ambient light that I can use for the interior.  Sweet.  I found a fast way to adjust the base.  My husband is a talk radio man so he doesn't like extra bass.  Me, I like all the bass I can get.  Now we can easily change it back and forth.  He has big hands though and he was getting frustrated because every time he turns on the car the wipers in front and back come on.  That's embarrassing you know.  He asked if it happened to me and I said no, never.  This morning he figured out his big old hand inadvertently presses the windshield button.  Hehe!  Well, it is a little car.

My interview is tomorrow at 1:30pm.  How will I do?

My lip swelled up.  I looked like a duck.  Now my lip is down but I have a big welt on bottom of right foot.  I can still wear my heels though.  I tried them on and was able to walk fine.  Can't walk fine flat footed though.

Took a Zyrtec at 5pm and hope it resolves my problem well enough to look fine tomorrow; and to walk fine.

What does the future hold? Is this my job?  I want it real bad.  It's 28 hours per week.  If I don't get it there will be another, but I think this is the one I want.  I have to have all the gates open in my mind and comprehend the purpose of each question to answer it best.  Don't hesitate to think quietly for a moment before speaking.

God is great and greatly to be praised.  My husband bought me a new car today.  Black.  Cute. Sport suspension. Ten speaker Sony surround sound with 8" woofer.  Keyless entry and push button start.  Nav system with voice recognition.  Bluetooth (which I don't have, do I need it?).  Heated leather seats.  Dual climate control. Extended warranty which he's never ever bought in the past.  Built by a company that pays its debts with its own money.  Rides smooth and quiet.  I can zoom around town and drive 70 miles to Cruces on two gallons of gas! 

I could use a job to make the monthly payment that's on its way in January!

Gosh, why didn't I say let's go out for Thanksgiving.  The bird is in the oven.

Went shopping with Mayela and Kathy and it was a little slice of heaven.  I had such a good time with them.  They helped me tremendously with shopping for an outfit for my big interview.  I have an interview for part-time clerk with the county on the 29th.  I will prepare with all my heart.  I hope I will be good enough.

Today I was trying skirts on and the sales lady was watching me.  Odd she was looking at me the way she was looking.  Then she said, "You know, you're wearing that skirt backwards."  Hahahaha!  I am so out of shape for shopping for work clothes.  I turned it around and said, "Oh, it fits a bit better now, thank you."  She was super nice.

Kathy and Mayela found two totally cute outfits for me.  One was a flirty little skirt and the other a black pantsuit.  I could have bought either but I stayed focused on choosing just the perfect thing for an interview.  I did not stray.  The flirty skirt and red and gray sweater would have been great for dinner out or something.  The pantsuit, amazingly the pants fit well and were comfy on me.  I left them at the store though.  I only need what I need.  I spent my own Zumba money on what I bought so I feel very independent.

I spent $4.30 at The Dollar Store.  I bought two sparkly beak clips for my hair, blue and purple, and noticed when I got home a crystal is missing on one already.  Boo.  Well, it was only a dollar so it doesn't hurt my feelings too muchly.  I bought two seed bead necklaces with matching earrings.  I love seed beads.  I thought I bought a pair of socks but I must have dropped them because she didn't charge me and they're not in the bag.  All I can think is I dropped them before I got to the register.

I bought a black skirt and a black sweater top with a big cowl neck.  A little gray herringbone suit, way on sale, lined jacket and skirt, peplum waist, fit me perfectly.  But alas, I would have been overdressed in it for clerical job.  I stressed over whether or not to buy it, such a good price, and I finally decided to pass.  There will be other suits, yes?  I tried on two pair of shoes.  One, very cute, but did not have a pair that fit me.  Second pair hurt my feet and cost $69 so, thank you no.  I'll wear my black heels from the '80s.  They're a little higher than I'd like, but they're comfortable and they will do well enough.  I don't want to invest more than necessary and then perhaps I won't get the job in which case I'd have shoes that I'm not crazy about and that hurt my feet.  If they're gonna hurt they should be ruby red or gorgeously glittery so it's worth the discomfort.  I wished for a low heeled shoe, round toe, 1/4 or 1/2 inch platform, but they did not come to me.

Bought Kathy her first Bible.  I picked a NKJV for her.  Purple cover.  Jesus' words in red.  I hope she will like it.  I wanted to pay in full for it but she had a little fit and said she would feel bad about it and I know that feeling and didn't want her to feel bad so we split it.  I'm so happy she has it.  She was born again last week at church.  Hallelujah!  I missed praise and worship practice this week and am so looking forward to singing tomorrow.  I should be asleep now or I'm gonna have circles under my eyes tomorrow.

My left hand swelled very large yesterday.  Husband took me to the walk-in clinic.  It went well I think.  Firstly, no horrifying wait.  Secondly, they took blood there, four vials, so I didn't have to make another trip to a lab or wait another day to do it.  They will call me with results in a week which I suspect will be a week and a half on account of Thanksgiving is next week.  What they're looking for is signs of rheumatoid arthritis and I hope I don't have that.  I'm taking five days of Prednisone and I must say I feel great.  My hand looks normal now.  It took a whole day for it to get normal again. The usual pain I feel in mornings is gone.  I hope that's not a bad sign.  God is great and greatly to be praised and whatever my lot is to be I am prepared to face it.  I pray for a good report.  A good diagnosis.  I am not afraid.  I'm a little afraid.  Psalm 103:1-4  Psalm 103:1-4  Psalm 103:1-4.

I earned $80 bucks tonight.  Yay!  Seventeen students came to Zumba tonight.  Lately I've had between 5 to 8.  I did "The Sock Giveaway."  I've been advertising that three lucky people will win a pair of socks and they really enjoyed it.  Maybe I should do another giveaway sometime.  The socks cost me $10 so even when I subtract that I still earned $70.  If I subtract shipping it would be a little less.  And insurance, if I subtract that, a wee bit little less.  And rent.  I pay 10% in rent.  Hmmm.  And my $30 per month fee to receive my Zumba instructor DVDs each month.  I buy Zumba clothes once in awhile because they say we should look Zumba-ish when we're instructing.  I cheerfully tithe into the kingdom of Jesus every week because he gave me these arms and legs.   

Hmm.  Maybe I didn't earn as much as I thought.  Maybe I should quit and stay home.

No!  I keep going!  I must forge ahead!  Zumbaaaaa!  Woohoo!  As long as I have some of my own money to buy another little something for my hair I will be happy.

I made a new hair sig.  I worked on it for two hours before dinner and clicked save, but I saved a different image than the one I had open.  I didn't realize it.  So.  I closed the document I was working on and reopened it and...nada.  None of my work was on it.  I had a blank background.  [Silent scream]  I'm out of shape.  So what can you do.  I started over.  Luckily I had saved pieces of it, so it was faster putting it together the second time.  I really want a good hair down photo for the standing photo, but don't have a recent on that I really like.  I used the modified figure 8 pic for the full length photo.  My regular sig is from 2009.  Time flies!

I must have spent two hours today trying to make a good hairstyle for some new photos.  Had my husband all lined up waiting for me.  I couldn't make anything I liked.  Maybe it was because I had just washed it.  My husband asked if I had hair block.  Haha!  Yes, I must have.

My hair today.  I washed it last night and just lay it over the top of my pillow when I sleep.  I have hardly any tangles in the morning.  There have been times when I thought I should cut it because it's not as thick toward the bottom as the top.  I'm glad I didn't.  I like having long hair.

No welts today, but I burnt my hand pretty good on a cookie sheet.  Sheesh.

I got a welt on my foot late today.  I put shea butter on my feet last night.  I'm not using it anymore.  I hope I don't get any more mystery welts.  Fortunately it was on the side of my foot so it didn't bother me for Zumba.

I submitted an application for part time clerk with the county.  I hope, hope I get called for an interview.  If I don't I'll have to rethink this whole job search thing.  I'll have to volunteer somewhere or something.

Two hair pretties are on their way to me this week.  Looking forward to receiving them.  I bought a vintage beaded hairnet for $9.99 which came a couple days ago.  I had one for years until a certain little boy when he was a baby got hold of it with his sticky little two year old fingers and I never could untangle it after that.  The original package says 39¢.  My purpose has been shopping for unique hair claws and I have found everything but.

I shall keep shopping.  It's work, but somebody has to do it!

Zebra for Z

My sister always called zebras "beezrus" when she was little.

I think I might be allergic to my new Spectrum unrefined coconut oil for hair and skin.  I'm bummed.  I quit using it today so we'll see.  I am getting giant welts on the soles of my feet.  They go away in one day.  Last Friday I had to limp around all day.  I had to hobble all the way in and out of Walmart to buy ribbon for my hair.

And my fingertips are swelling up now and then.  It's very weird.

Y is for Yaqui

YHWH are the consonants in the Old Testament that stand for the name of God.  And Y is for Yaqui Indian, which, until my husband was an adult he grew up thinking he was half Yaqui Indian.  His mom told him he was.  So one day my husband asked his dad, "Am I half Yaqui Indian."  His dad said no.  My husband was in his mid-30s when he learned the truth! Apparently his mom was ashamed of being Mexican so she told her son a fib!  His mom knew the Yaqui as fierce warriors.  Back in the day, the Yaqui were feared where she came from.  His dad said in Mexico they learned enough of the Yaqui language so that when the Yaqui came by the town people could trade with them instead of getting killed by them.  That's an interesting Y story!

Today I'm going to do the hot oil thing for my hair.  I'm getting ready to do it right now. I wore a new, gorgeous crystal barrette to church this morning but it slid so far down my pony that I had to take it off.  I wore it yesterday with a figure 8 and it stayed.  So, figure 8 in, single pony out, for the new purple barrette.

I'm cooking a chicken for chicken noodle soup.  I'm really pleased with this chicken my husband bought.  He bought it because it was the only one there, but it's a natural kind of chicken - no antibiotics ever, free range, no cages.  Very cool.  I always feel bad about the chickens I get that have bruises.  I look at their little bodies when I wash them in the sink and wonder how they grew.  I think about one night during the wee hours of the morning.  We were traveling in southern California and it was a miserably hot summer day with daytime temps in the 100s.  It was still dark at about 4am.  We stopped at a gas station and a semi was there full to overflowing with chickens squawking.  They were thirsty and I'm guessing hungry too.  I didn't eat chicken for a weeks after that.  It was horrible.  There should be a law.

A label on it says "Raised by the Charlie Mann family."  I looked up Harvestland.  The chickens are raised in Kentucky.

X is for Xylophone

My sister had a colorful toy xylophone when she was little.

I talked to her today.  And tonight we went to Cristina's for flautas (we call them taquitos in California) and beans and rice.  We drove 30 miles to get to her house.  We had such a nice time.  I felt happy.  She thinks there's a ghost in one room of her house and she wants me to go in and pray so it'll leave.  Apparently my friends recommended me.  Can I do that?  I'm a daughter of God.  I can pray.  Bible says submit yourself to God and the devil will flee from you. But I asked about demonic influences in their family and there are some access points for the enemy to penetrate their family.  I don't even know if she's a born again believer.  What is it she's afraid of in there?

W for Watermelon Skies

I do love the watermelon sky of New Mexico. It's when the horizon is pink and above it is blue. Very pretty. It's a watermelon pink color. I think I want to try to photograph it. I've gotten plenty of fiery orange sky, but not a single watermelon sky.

My friend, my best friend, filed for a divorce today. Her heart is broken and stomped upon in a bad and ugly way. I pray that I will be a good friend to her. I pray to be one who can help point her to the light. She's real down but she is doing the days as usual. Although she missed Zumba today.  It's extremely unusual that she missed Zumba and didn't tell me first.  She's missed about five classes ever since I started and always she texted or told me in advance, but she did not sleep all night last night. She could not fall asleep no matter how she tried.  So she fell asleep before Zumba.  Emotionally expended.

Twenty-seven years of life and love invested in a marriage and it comes to this.

U is for Uvula

And there's not much I can say about that.

T for Tebowing

Tim Tebow is a football player. He's a quarterback for the Denver Broncos. He's an unapologetic Christian and tends to say a prayer on one knee now and then on the field. On tv. So now everyone calls it Tebowing. I tebow a lot but I've never done it on one knee. I've done it on two knees? Yes.

Tomorrow I'm going in to do my school volunteer hours, but not as Zumba instructor. We'll see what we see for what I end up doing. I hope I can find something to do that I'm good at and that I like to do. It would be nice.

Am doing my hair a new way tomorrow. Serpentine Medusa Wiggle Bun. (Update 15 minutes later: Oh no! This is way too much twisting. Gonna take me all night. I have to hurry to YouTube and find a different 'do.)

S for Stairs

Husband walked outside to empty the trash and the porch broke. It's just a good thing my dad wasn't the one walking outside. The UPS guy is being funny leaving my package on the top step.

Good news! Pastor is going to change the schedule so play practice will be during Zumba. She asked me if it would be okay with me. Very sweet of her. Woohooooo! So happy. I will miss my front row kidlets. They were truly a pleasure. I shall not miss several students one iota. I required everyone to move today under threat of receiving a "minus." And I explained at length that Zumba class is the easiest class to get an A in and thus raise their GPA. Today they all participated well, but for me to have to hammer them daily to get them to move is a lot of work. I just want to teach Zumba! It's been a learning experience I suppose and I am glad to be moving on. I now understand why a college degree in teaching requires so many courses in what they call "classroom management." I used to think it pathetic that there weren't more course on teaching, but evidently teaching is only part of being a school teacher.

Oh, in the process of being the disciplinarian Zumba instructor today, I caused one student, a little girl about ten years old, to cry. Yes. I, Liliana, brought a little girl to tears. I felt lower than a snake's belly.

R is for Remnant

Romans 11:5, "It is the same today, for a few of the people of Israel have remained faithful because of God's grace--his undeserved kindness in choosing them."

When Jesus left he told everyone to wait for the promise. About 500 heard him say, wait, tarry, but of those only 120 stayed. The rest had errands or work or something more important to do than wait on the Lord. I suppose it's the same today. Easy to find other things to do instead of pray or study. Sometimes a week goes by and I haven't cracked open my Bible. I wonder, what is wrong with me. I think of God every day. But I need to open my Bible more often. I get my Bible, get the other Bibles in the house (we have four now) and I dig around and get Google involved and spend a couple hours with it. I need to spread it out more and do it more often. I want to be like one of the 120. Steadfast.

Today! I get to use my new unrefined coconut oil with my heating cap. So excited to do it. Yes, indeed, this is the excitement of my day. I've been using the coconut oil for my skin as well and it likes it. Wore my dragonfly Flexi-8 to church this morning and got a compliment on it. I am now a Flexi-8 fan. Also got a compliment from another lady for all the different ways I wear my hair which I thought odd because I wear it with the Ficcare every day the same way. Color me perplexed.

We saw a lady at McDonald's with a braid almost to her knees. My husband commented on its thickness and I punched him in the arm. It was as thick at bottom as it was at top. Color me dubious. I don't know, but I wondered if it was real because it looked like it might be attached at her neck to her real hair and it didn't move right. It looked like it may have been cheap, fake hair. If it was her hair, she dyed it solid jet black from top of her head to the ends. She was around my age.

Q for QWERTY

QWERTY keyboard. That's the name for the arrangement of keys on a typewriter or computer keyboard. Very good to know for a game of Scrabble.

I was a typist in 1982. I typed huge books of numbers for engineers who had barely legible writing, eight to 10 hours a day, six days a week. I got up for work, drove son to babysitter, drove to work, worked, drove to pick up son, drove home, went to bed. That's all I did for months. On the ten hour days I went to bed at 7:30am and got up at 4:00am. They were the bad old days.

I met my husband there. Then began the good days.

P

Whoops. I did N, then O, then N. I forgot I did N. And I guess I forgot P comes after O.

P is for peanut butter, which, I had peanut butter toast and chocolate milk for lunch.

I thought Pastor didn't read my whole email yesterday saying that I'm gonna quit teaching Zumba after this semester. Saw her today and she did read it. She was still real nice. That's one thing I notice about this church. If you start something and it's not for you, they let you go without hammering you about it. That's nice. She didn't even ask for a specific reason. She said she'll make other arrangements for next semester. I don't feel too bad. I made an effort. I have 24 hours in a day and I want to expend them best I can. Being miserable with other people's poorly behaved teen-age girls is not my cup of tea. And now I don't have to fret about going out in the cold this winter to do Zumba. Yeesh. It's either hot, windy, or cold outside and the pad is cement. I do feel physically fine in spite of it. At first the cement hurt my hips, but it doesn't hurt now. I can't imagine it would be good for my body over the long term though.

I'm making cupcakes and brownies for the church Fall Festival for the kids tomorrow. Don't call it Halloween though. Meh. I'm glad they're doing something for the kids of the community. There is a lady, Laura, and she's really gettin' it done. She's something else. I told her I'll volunteer from 3pm to 6pm tomorrow. I wasn't going to but she's working so hard. I'd like to say the Holy Spirit moved me to volunteer, but it's just plain old guilt.

N as in Not

Okay, I'm not giving up on Zumba with the kids yet. Not...yet.

O for omelet

O for Omelet. I've been cooking egg omelets on the week-ends. They're not too bad. I like doing it. I knew I would use O for Omelet for days. This Sunday I plan to invite Mayela over after churchity-church and make her an omelet. I do it just plain with cheese, but I need to think of something special to make it a special omelet for her. I'm not much of a cookity-cook. Usually I cook everything too fast because I'm hungry. I don't plan ahead for the hunger much even though after 50 years of getting hungry I should know to plan for it. My husband does. He's very good that way.

I woke with the song "We are stardust, we are golden, and we've got to get ourselves back to the garden." I thought the song was so deep. Now I think the lyrics are idiotic.

Started a Zumba class for Wednesday nights and six people came. Nice. I have really nice people in my class. I wondered if anyone would come.

The Zumba kids class is a see-saw for me. An emotional see-saw. I'm not really built for see-sawing. It wears me and gives me a stomach ache. I need stability. Children are not stable. One girl yesterday yelled out "I hate Zumba." And she was flopping around like a rag doll instead of trying to do the simplest move. She's 15 years old! Should I have stopped the class and marked her down for it? I don't know. I know I don't like disciplining other people's large children. And I don't mean large as in too big, but as in a very big child who should know how to behave politely in a group setting. I wonder what's really wrong with her, I mean, inside her heart. I think she's afraid to apply herself. I think it's easier to be a clown than to try, so she's a clown, albeit a mean one. The other girls, two of the teens, are afraid she will turn on them, so instead they try to be friends with her so she won't insult them. The younger girls are aware of her bad behavior and do not follow suit. They boys couldn't care less what she does. It's playground politics as Dr. Laura would say.

N for Nary

I've nary a thing to say about the letter N.

I have Zumba with the kids today in 45 minutes.  I don't want to do it next semester.  I need to tell the pastor.  I know she'll ask for a reason.  Why do people always need reasons.  Can't I just say no and leave it at that?

M for Moxie

I went to see a lawyer once when I was 25.  She said I had moxie.  I thought it was something good because of the way she said it, but I wasn't sure.

My Flexis.  I got them today!  I bought size mini, small, and medium.  I have to order a large.  I thought large would be too big but the medium is too small to hold my hair in a French twist.  Guess I underestimated my hair size.  I am happy with the two smaller ones.   I do like the butterfly on the medium but it doesn't matter what light it's in, my beads are not purple as the ones depicted on the website.  Mine look dark and colorless.  I'm thinking about exchanging it.  Question is, do I want to wrap it, take it to the post office, and spend five bucks for an exchange?  I emailed them and asked if they will make me a size large with a heart, but with bright blue beads substituted for the crystal (white or clear) beads.  I think they'll say yes.

First photo is from the Flexi site and second is of my Flexis.  The mini green one is gorgeous.  I'll use it when I put a very little bit of hair into a half-up, which of course isn't really a half up, but that's the idea.  The size small dragonfly is real pretty to me and it contrasts with my hair nicely enough.  I can use it for a half up with more hair or with a full pony in the back.  My hair barely fits as a pony with the small, but I am able to use either the small or medium for a pony.  I've been wanting to wear a low pony tail to church for the longest time but had nothing to hold my hair.  Now I do. 

I finally used my Mastex hot oil cap on Sunday.  I bought that thing about three years ago.  No kidding.  Finally tried it out.  I used olive oil.  It worked!  I want to do it every week now like Lori and Cinnamonhair.  I think they deep condition weekly.  I used Prell to wash it out and though it all came out of the ends, near my scalp there was some residual oil.  It's wasn't too bad, but would have been better if more came out. I did a super de dooper good job applying the oil section by section.  I got oil all over the bathroom counter though.  I cleaned it up with Fantastic.

I sat with the heating cap on for 20 minutes then left the oil on for about three more hours due to laziness.

But the biggest change I'm making is no more hair elastics at the bottom of my hair.  Had an epiphany.  My hair is growing but I have to keep chopping the ends because every six months they look haggard.  A year and a half ago I hit 47".  Got a trim again a couple weeks ago and I'm at 47".  Well, I've been wearing my hair in a single braid a lot to Zumba for over a year.  Those little girl elastics are ruining my ends.  I have to get off of them!   

I saw a good example at the forum that shows how to wet a piece of ribbon, wrap it around the bottom of the braid, then put an elastic over that.  That's what I'm doing from now on.  We'll see if in one year my ends are good enough to keep.

I'm having a hair revival lately I guess.  Next, I hope to get a new comb.  I want a wooden one.  It's supposed to not get static like my broken Madora one does.

This is the ribbon in my hair right now and the pink elastic over it (you can see barely if you look for it).

I was in the bedroom taking about 70 pics of my ribbon and my hair.  All engrossed in myself.  My husband came in to check on me (I guess I was quiet too long like you have to check on kids when they're too quiet for too long) and he saw what I was doing and he came over and kissed me.  I was kind of embarrassed.  Lucky he loves me and doesn't make fun of my self-engrossed-ness.  Here I am holding my braid in a myriad of positions all around the bathroom and bedroom to take a photo of a bow.  Sheesh.

M...is for myriad.  That's serendipity.

L for Limpid

I always liked the analogy, "Her eyes were like limpid pools of azure."  My favorite eye color has always been brown though.  My little sister had big blue eyes when she was little and so they were average to me since I saw them every day.  When we moved to El Centro all the Mexicans had brown eyes and I thought they were beautiful.  My husband has brown eyes.  At first I thought the word was "lipid" pools of azure, but that would be disgusting.  Who wants eyes like the chicken fat that was floating in my Campbell's chicken soup today at lunch?  Nobody.

L is for Mr. Limpit, i.e. The Incredible Mr. Limpit, a movie from 1964.  Don Knotts turns into a fish.  I loved that movie.

L is for 'limit' in the song "Take It To The Limit" by the Eagles in 1975.  It climbed to #4 on the Billboard chart.  I was 16.  I remember listening to it like it was yesterday. 

K for Kiddles

Okay, well I looked at Jules' blog and her word was 'Kids,' so I got stuck and Liddle Kiddles came to my mind.  I can't look at her blog because I can only think of the word she picks if I read it.

1968.  Mattel.  Kiddles were a teeny doll.  Mine was Lily of the Valley and she came in a plastic bottle, very small, and had a fragrance.  I got one for Christmas in December 1968.  I was ten years old.  I liked her very much.  I remember breathing in the delicious fragrance, but I don't actually remember the smell.

I couldn't bear to leave her home alone so I took her to school in my brown lunch bag on the first day of school in January after Christmas vacation.  Ate my lunch, threw the bag in the dumpster, and not much later it hit me.  I realized my Kiddle was still in the bag.  I had inadvertently thrown her in the garbage!  I was quiet so I didn't tell anyone.  Waves of sadness washed over me. I never got another Liddle Kiddle.  Back in the day, if you lost a toy you didn't get a replacement.  I've relived the internal trauma over and over again - realizing I'd thrown her into the dirty, filthy school dumpster.  I still suffer emotional damage from the memory of it.

She's alive!  She's on eBay!

J for Jump

I'm taking all the jumping out of the Zumba routines for the Saturday class.  I'm making it into a low impact Zumba class for seniors and anyone else who wants a gentler dance fitness workout.  I'm looking forward to it.  I have one new routine already but am now wishing I'd picked something else because I had to choose a version with about three edits for bad language, and there's still a section that I just don't like because it grates my ears.  Might try to delete that section myself.  I wonder if anyone will come on Saturday and I wonder how many will and I wonder if it'll gain popularity.  If I can get a steady ten people it would be very nice.

J is for jewelry.  I have blue owl earrings. They cost $1.00.

Zumba was good and not so good tonight.  I got my . last night and it threw me for a loop.  A mean one.  I knew I'd feel better once I started class, and I did, but I felt not so good for a short time too.  My cool down stinks.  Got a great song, but I can't improvise very well.  One night I was feeling the music and I did well with it, but I don't always feel the music.  My poor students.  I gotta fix that cool down for them.

I is for I

At church we do a confession before we study our Bible.  It goes like this:

This is my Bible

I am who it says I am

I have what it says I have

I can do what it says I can do

Today I'll be taught the Word of God
I open my eyes and my heart

To receive divine instruction

From this day forward

I will never be the same

Never, never, never

Because the entrance of God's Word

Brings

Understanding

It has six I's in it.

H is for Hair

Of course, of course. What else could "H" be for! I've been planning ever since "G" to take a hair picture. Didn't get it done. I took other pictures, but not the hair.

Last night had a big, shall we say, discussion, with son in which I yelled like a banshee. It's not my best look. It's not my best side. Then I watched stupid tv for half an hour with my husband, stewing all the time. Turned off my computer and went to bed. That's why nothing at all got posted last night. I did think about "H" though.

Updated:

My hair laying on the bed.  Olive oil lightly applied last night.  Scalp wash today.

My hair looking forward to wearing brand new Zumba winter jacket!

G is for girls

I like pretty girls.  I like the saying that pretty is skin deep, but ugly goes to the bone.  My favorite saying is, "Hoo-rahed by a little girl," a line from the western movie True Grit.  If my husband is watching a movie I ask, "Are there any girls in it?"  Because movies with all guys are usually boring.  I do like one oldie movie that has all guys, The Treasure of Sierra Madre. My daughter-in-law and I were talking about how we always take notice of what female Fox News commentators are wearing and how their make-up and hair look and we have to comment about it before we listen to what they're saying. Haha!

Candid shots.

There was a 14-year-old girl at the lake.  The daughter of a friend of a friend.  She was quiet.  Serene.  An unusual quality for one so young.  Her profile was classic.  Big nose.  Indian.  American Indian.  I surmise she'll be an exceptional beauty when she's older.  She had gorgeous, silky black hair which she never tucked behind her ears.

She saved one of the babies from a bad water experience.  My granddaughter, the fearless three-year-old, boldly stepped toward the deep, then ran forward, and, unable to stop her momentum she went under not understanding that people cannot breathe underwater.  The older girl saw it.  Without hesitating for a moment and ran/swam through the water to the rescue.

F is for furry

I'm doing the alphabet challenge with Jules of New Zealand. I missed A through E so will start from F and advance forward from there.

F is for Furry

Firstly, F reminds me of Angel's fur.  She is the sweetest cat I ever knew.  She gets into everyone's lap.  If you sit, she will climb up to your lap.  She especially prefers our son, but if he's not here she'll get into my lap.  I'd like to let her into the house but son is allergic.  Plus, she rolls in the dirt.  I've often contemplated the question, "Why does Angel roll in the dirt?"  I googled it since Google searches are known to uncover a treasure trove of information.  The best answer I found was this one, word for word, letter by letter, begging for punctuation and proper choice of article:

"She might have a itch. Cats exhibits all kind of strange behavior that no one can explain. If we knew boy could we make money."

Is that an answer or is that an answer.   

She's a great huntress and has no tail.

F reminds me of fairground and number fifteen, our son's number this year.  

The fair barn.

Getting ready for the horse show.

Dawn breaks.  Kids work preparing animals for show and will get to enjoy the carnival tonight.

And fuzz.  One day I saw a fuzz stuck on a piece of grass.

I trimmed my hair and like it so much better.  Today I ordered some Spectrum unrefined coconut oil.  In the past I've used the refined and liked it.  My monoi oil went rancid so I had to buy something.  I hope the fragrance isn't overpowering.  I read that it dissipates quickly.  I got such a nice hair compliment today and she asked me how I grow my hair.

Church was good this morning.  

I'm opening a new night for Zumba in a couple weeks.  I'll be doing Tues/Wed/Thurs evenings.  The new Wednesday night class will be a later one - from 6:30-7:30pm.  Hope people will come.  It was requested so somebody better come!  I'm changing the Saturday class to a low impact class and will market it as Zumba for seniors.  I am looking forward to it very much.  It'll be easier for my body and still fun.  I've already found a cute Zumba Gold routine that I'm learning.  I don't know why Zumba isn't offering Gold training very much.  Seems to me a good demographic.

I am liking Herman Cain very much. But I think the political machine will only accept Romney or Perry. If the election was today I'd cast my vote for Cain. I don't see how Obama can win again. Even his democrats aren't behind the new jobs bill stimulus. They see how the first stimulus went and there's little chance the new bill will get through. I fail to understand why Obama doesn't let parts of it get through. He's all or nothing to his own detriment. My husband and I are gonna have a big party when Obamacare gets repealed. My health insurance, which Obama promised I could keep, unchanged, went up again. Yeah, thanks for that. Maybe the Supreme Court opinion will be that it's unconstitutional.

I need an attitude readjustment for my Zumba kids class. Half the kids like Zumba, half don't. Usually, as in normally, you only have people signed up for Zumba who want to be there. It's, how do you say, a challenge. And today an older girl, who surely knows better, came to class in socks. You can't do Zumba in socks. It's been announced. P.E. clothes, they know, are required. So I tell her she needs shoes. She says, "I know. I didn't bring them today." Okay, I say. You'll get a minus for today then. She sharpens up and says, "I have softball shoes I could wear." I asked if she'll slip in them. I'm thinking of softball shoes with nubs or cleats on the bottom. She says, "They're in the car." She comes back in regular tennis shoes.

Well, where I come from we call that a L I E. Either you have shoes or you don't, but don't make me stand there and listen to a lame lie. I love Zumba, but I do not like repeating the same things to the same teenagers over and over. That. Is lame.

But then tonight I felt a little sorry for her. She's not doing well in school I gather. I gather she doesn't apply herself. Hmmmm. Who does that remind me of. Me? Unfortunately, that's a big, fat, yes.

I feel behind in Zumba. I'm not ready with a new routine this week because I haven't practiced for two weeks because of company. I'll catch up though. I hope.

I'm dog tired. Today was the fair. Son's horse, Bella, came in third. I was so sure she'd do better than that but the competition was stiff. A grey came in first. It's a gorgeous grey. And a black horse came in second. Next year he's going to sign up for halter, and showmanship, and one other thing.

Tomorrow at 7:30am is the piggy show. Hope little Petey places. He weighed in today at 275 pounds. He's kind of sad being at the fair. We hate it too. He looks beautiful though. And he was super easy to clip. Everyone can tell son has spent a lot of time with Petey.

The babies are gone. And our son and his wife. It's terribly quiet here now. No babies! Boo hoo!

I made a video today.   Of our son's toenail coming off. 

Now my eldest son and his wife and children are here.  I had a Déjà vu moment.  It's a piece of heaven at my house now.

My dad is here.  And Ann.  It's been such a nice visit.  I hate for it to end.

Went to first football game.  Been meaning to go for six years.  I don't really understand why people go to high school football games as I was never into sports in school.  But this night I watched and experienced as if outside myself.  It was sweet.  Kathy said, c'mere, c'mere, and we all stood in long line on either side of a giant Tigers banner.  The high school boys, the football team, came tearing through the banner running at top speed, all full of testosterone.  The people on each side hollered and cheered and let go of their balloons.  I clapped and smiled and accidentally started to cry.  It's something like what the sound of bagpipes do to me.  Chokes me up with emotion.  I don't know why.  I don't even like football.  But I do think it's wonderful that people go a support the team, watch their children, watch the neighbor's children, playing football.  The stands are so small.  They don't even extend half way around the field.  Only about an eighth of the distance I suppose.

The team got skunked.  Zero to 42.  It's not fair really - pitting a tiny school against a school that comes from a much larger city.  

The men are doing pre-algebra in the Zumba room.  Son will also be reading more of "The Light In The Forest" for school.  He rode someone else's horse tonight.  They've been having trouble with their horse and wanted to see how our son would do on him.  He said the horse gave him trouble only one time, and to top it off he encouraged a girl to ride uphill with him.  She was afraid to, but he helped her do it.  I'm glad.  It's good to be an encourager.

My friend and I talked a long time today.  I was of no help.  I felt bad about that. 

I dreamt of a large beautiful tree.  The air was crystal clear.  Green grass.  Keen horizon of blue and white.  Perfect clouds.  I kept trying to catch it with my camera but someone bumped me.  After that, I could not get the elements framed rightly no matter which way I tilted my camera.

Is there meaning to it?  Or is it one of the Microsoft desktop photos that came with my laptop.

I got two new tops for Zumba.  I like them both.  Discountdance.com.  One is blue (basically) and the other orangeish with purple.

The bottom one is my favorite.  They fit perfectly.  Snug but not tight.  I needed some tops with a crew neck for my kid classes at the Christian school.  I noticed the handbook says no cleavage allowed and almost all of my Zumba racer back tank tops show cleavage when I bend over.  I wish they'd stop making the necklines on the Zumba clothing bigger and wider and deeper.  My very first Zumba top that I ever bought is just fine.  All that I've ordered since that one have gotten lower and lower in the neck line.  I might stop ordering Zumbawear tops.

The order turned out so well that I went to dancewearsolutions.com and ordered a few more crew neck styles.  They were cheaper and I hope they'll fit since a couple were on sale and therefore, nonreturnable.

I had 16 students in my adult class Tuesday!  That's a jump up from the eight or so regulars that have stuck it out with me all through this miserable hot summer.  Finally the weather is decent and some peeps I haven't seen since May have come back.  Sold more toning sticks.  I'm so happy for that.  The toning routine addition has been a hit.  I want to add another one - the African song one.

My sis got to attend my class last night.  She was a hoot.  Noisier than most of my regulars and she made the class so fun with her clapping and woohooing.  She loves Zumba as much as I do.  She burned 500 calories.  I was disappointed I didn't make her burn more.  I wanna second chance!  I can do better!  She did say her bum is sore today and so I think I can take credit for that.  Yay!

Maranatha.  I looked it up.  It occurs only once in the Holy Bible at the end of the book of 1 Corinthians.  It means "Our Lord has come" or "Our Lord, come!"

Took my sister to the airport today and now we miss her a lot.  I have to sleep without her tonight.  I don't want to.

Son is excelling in horse lessons.  I think he's doing fair in school but has an Eeyore complex.  He's down talking everything about it. 

Saw the pills my dad is taking.  There are so many of them.  So many bottles.  Looked like a dozen bottles in a large Ziploc.  It took him an hour to get his pill box ready for the coming week.  The chemo pill is making his hair thin.  Gave him nausea one day.  His feet are swollen.  Today he feels fairly well though.  It's good for him to be up and about as much as possible.  Our son gave him a new, cool hat and he liked it especially since he forgot to bring his own hat.  Made me happy that our son did that and did it all on his own. 

My dad.

Today my husband drove with my sister to pick our new horse trailer! It purty.  It's pewter colored.  He said in the time they traveled my sister talked more in five hours than I did in the entire six years we were on the road.

How did all these dust bunnies get in?  Is there a secret entry somewhere?

My niche

I think I've found my niche.  The Zumba with kids went super duper well today.  It was a joy to have such a big group - about 25 kidlets age 9 to 13.  I think they liked it.  I heard the principal is pleased with it.  She was outside with us for a bit and when I saw her sit down I completely forgot my train of thought.  I had to change the subject.  I talked at length about good posture - head straight, shoulders down, chest open, abdominals held in, pelvis tucked under.  I named and demonstrated some dance steps and they did them with me.  I will review posture and steps next week and see if anyone remembers.  I need a little oven timer so I can watch the time.  My husband told me what time it was and I didn't realize I was talking so long!  The kids all listened well.  Oddly, none of them got antsy or looked bored while talked.  The principal did have to separate two teeny bopper girls.  I couldn't tell why but they did ignore me while I was lining them up at the beginning of class.  I had to say, "Yoohoo, you need to move."  I did perceive some attitude in that corner when I began class. Hehe!  I was ready for it.  I think their hearts softened a bit by the end of class.  It's nerve wracking, I know it is, when you're a teen and you're told you have to do Zumba.  I hope the teen chickadees will end up enjoying it.

When I entered the building to collect the kids everyone was talking about Zumba!  I could hear a general murmur going on about Zumba.  I couldn't see them but heard some girls saying, "Zumba isn't dance.  It's just shaking your butt."  I bet it was the talk of the school when I brought them back after class.  Several of the children on the way back told me they loved Zumba.  Bless their hearts.  Made me feel so good.  So good.  Especially the 10 and 11 year old age seemed to be very positive about it.

My wonderful husband put a cover out for me so I didn't have to stand in the sun.  Good thing too.  I don't think I could have done it in the sun.  That reminds me.  I need to instruct the kids on how to jump correctly to ease the impact on their skeletal system.  We're outside on cement.

I had a case of the almost-throw-ups before class.  Sheesh.  I had to lie down on the bed and relax myself.  It's just kids and I still got nervous.  Me and Adele.  I read she throws up before a performance.  I hear she's a very good performer too.  I've never actually thrown up though so I'm not exactly like Adele.  Haha!  She's very beautiful too.

I think I've found my niche.  Pastor says when we are older, kids are raised, we should be teachers.  Everyone has something to share, experience to pass on to younger people.  It resonated with me.  I think he's right about that.  Although I'm 52 and husband is 70 and technically we're not done raising the last one.  :)

If you have Jimmy Hoffa on your side, it ain't good.  Neither is an on-stage introduction that includes obscenities.  Obama says he didn't hear it.  He didn't hear his pastor for 20 years.  He didn't know the Republican debate was on the same night he scheduled (yet another) speech. 

At a week-end program of religious observances for 9/11, there will be a rabbi, a bishop, a lama, a hindu, an imam, the president of the Islamic Society of North America and a Muslim musician.  No Baptist or representative from any of the 400+ Protestant denominations in the world has been invited. The White House probably overlooked it.

And another stimulus is coming down the pike.  It's our president's best idea to turn the economy around.  It hasn't worked before and it didn't work when Bush was in office.  A stimulus (Pelosi has deleted the word from all publications) causes a blip as it gets spent then it's over - similar to Cash for Clunkers, but on a bigger scale.   Zero percent job growth last month - it's the worst since WWII.  Keep doing what you're doing and you get more of what you've got.

Over 1700 waivers for the Affordable Health Care Act have been given to companies who want special permission to not be part of it.  An unusually high number of waivers were awarded to businesses in Pelosi's own district.  It's such a good program that Congress has their own separate health care program instead of this excellent one passed on Christmas Eve for the People Of America. 

Chicago politics are transforming our federal government.  My United States government has gone corrupt.  I mean, more corrupt than usual.

This morning I'm teaching Zumba to the kids at the school.  I hope it goes well.  I'm going to start off talking about good posture and the names of various steps.

First day of school tomorrow

Our child is going to private school tomorrow after 13 years of homeschooling.  He'll be in ninth grade.

It's the beginning of a new chapter.  I've heard good things about the school.  I'm expectant, happy, and sad.

I love the Lord so much.  I've been studying tonight.  But will I retain anything?

My husband dried dishes during the commercials.  I washed extra slow so there would be less for me to dry.  He didn't notice.  I'm so slick!

Bella is learning how to walk.  You wouldn't think a horse needs to learn how to walk, but to become a trail riding horse they have to learn to walk up and down and over rocks and keep their balance.  Laura was riding her and she tripped and fell all the way down to her nose.  She was on her front knees.  Bella was wondering what to do.  Then she figured out how to get up!  They walked for ten miles today.  Bella was real tired after that.  She's realizing she had the good life when all she had to do was stand around, eat, sleep, and poop in her corral at home!

48"

I'm at 48" and it's in good condition still.  Go figure.  Just 7/8" more and I'll be up to my all time longest.  Then comes 50".  Technically, January 1, 2012, I ought to hit 50".  It grew 3/4 of an inch this month, but it's doesn't grow every month.  More likely, I'll hit 50 by, hmmm, March.  Meh.

Bella's gonna start taking biotin.  Laura recommended it for her feet.  They are cracking and biotin will strengthen them.  I told our son that a lot of women take biotin for their hair and that I'm going to take some of Bella's biotin.  Told him biotin for Bella will be cheaper than buying the identical stuff for people at the store.  He said, "Well okay, but you have to take half a can of it."  Haha!  It comes in pellets.

Man, did I waste the day or what. It's been an achy breaky day. Tomorrow is sure to be better. I've been in this recliner all day long and now it's time for bed. My husband was nice and got the reading lamp from the Zumba room and put it here in the living room. I got my new, cool archeological study Bible and it was worth the wait. I love it. I got it embossed with "Little Mamma." That's what my husband calls me.

So I found a lovely cool down song with choreo for Zumba. It's Psalm 100 in Hebrew. Really beautiful and I love knowing it's a Psalm. It will be good for everyone's ears and heart.

Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.
Worship the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the LORD is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Whew. Nice verses. Makes me breathless.

The best news about a friend. She is interested in coming to church. My wonderful new best friend is talking with her and giving her blessed encouragement. It's like the touch of a touch of a touch of God. It's wondrous. And I did a second Bible study with my friend. It went well. Exceedingly well. I am much encouraged. It's extremely edifying to share the Word of God with someone who loves the Lord. There are, I'm thinking, people who have fire in them for the Lord, but they need that spark of it to be lit. They need the right person to reach out toward them. And if maybe no one ever reaches out, think of that. That's a terrible thing. It's like treacherous. It's cruel.  Or maybe it's them reaching out, not me, and I was just the one there at the time. So then, if that's right, you gotta be ready.  You gotta study and talk and share and live it because you never know who around you is going to reach out and what their need is.  Because each person is a little different.  They are in a certain place and you need to be able to recognize it.  No.  It's not me, who recognizes.  It's the Holy Spirit.  I don't have the ability to know the right thing to say, but our Comforter and Counselor, the Holy Spirit, does.  Hmmm?  Okay, that's settled.

Some will, some won't, so what, keep going. That's how you have to approach it. I was so afraid of not doing any good that I did nothing for a duper long time, rather than something. It's easy to do nothing and likewise it's not that hard to do something. I suppose our adversary, the devil, is aware of that moreso than I am.  I just thought of that.

Writing is good for the soul.

I've got an M.O. (Modus Operandi).  I pray.  I say something.  I pray. Then I wait. And pray. See what comes of it. Be patient. Wait for a question. Wait for a look.  Then pray some more.

I invited another girl to church.  I wonder if she's thinking of it.  She's sometimes all broke up and sad and aching.  She should come with me.  Another woman, I want her to come, but she speaks Spanish and I speak English.  It's a problem.

I ordered new Zumba clothes.  Hope they fit.  I am set to start teaching Zumba to the kids at the Christian private school next month.  I hope it'll be well received.  Kids are fun, but teens can be a tough crowd.  I'm tougher than they are though.  Rawr!  We're doing Zumba in the hot sun for 30 minutes.  I better go try it tomorrow.  I'd hate to pass out and faint in front of everyone!

Came home Thursday and Petey the Pig was half way up the block.  He's moseying along like nobody's business.  I got home and told my husband and he phoned our son.  Son came home and brought Pete back home too.  There was a dog barking at Pete and I thought he might hurt him but my husband said Pete can take care of himself.  Then I remembered how Winston, our pig from last year, got in a fight with a pig in the pen next to him at the county fair, and boy howdy they can fight.  So I realized I was silly to think the dog could hurt Pete.  Pete's bigger than most dogs now anyways.  Sometimes he runs to me like crazy, ears a boppin' up and down, when I call him.  Likes to have his belly rubbed.

Son went trail riding in the mountains today with friend.  Had rain and thunder and a bit of lightning.  They left at 7am and got back at 6:45pm.  He's asleep now.  Sleepin' like a baby.  I'm so glad he's not sitting around.  That boy sure keeps busy.  I guess it's his gift.  There'll be no moss growing under that stone, that's for sure.

Oh.  I've been so proud that the trainer says Bella is smart.  She is a smart horse.  But we all have our weaknesses too, eh?  Well, the trainer says Bella is...lazy.  Shucks.  Our Bella?  Actually, I'm not too surprised.  Her mama is lazy.  And I hear her daddy is too, so she got a double dose of lazy genes.  We'll work on her.  She is a thinker though!  Laura says Bella thinks of things overnight and then does better the next day.  That there is a smart horse, for sure.

Tomorrow is Monday.

Cowboying

I'm feeling that I'm going to be the mother of a cowboy. The real kind. This wouldn't have happened in California. In California, the only people I knew who had a horse were either well off and had gorgeous homes with expansive, well-kept property or people who kept a horse in a rented stable. When we went to meet a 4-H mom in Redlands once, I completely missed her mansion because I didn't know that was the house she lived in!

Bella has been in training and is doing well. It will be two months of training by the time she's done. Laura, the trainer, says Bella is smart. She is. Although she hurt her leg a week ago by kicking the fence and it swelled up. The swelling is gone now and she's walking fine, so training resumed this morning. All the hours our son has spent with Bella, with friends Anthony and Laurie, and others like Manny, our old ranger, have affected the direction of his life path. Every morning he's up early to go to training. I'm so joyful that his summer is not wasted.

Well. Laura's husband asked our son if he wants to do some cowboying. Actually, I'm not precisely sure what the definition of cowboying is but I think it might mean rounding up cattle - actual, real cattle. Anywho, son said yes. And Joe said, "If there's nothing else you learn about being a cowboy, at least you must learn that the best thing for the inside of a man is the outside of a horse." I like that. It's an old cowboy saying. I used to think cowboys were complete dorks but I've met many that I like here. Some are mean and some are gross, but a lot of them are good and interesting men.

We bought a used saddle for our son yesterday. Got it for $300. Tack is expensive. Tack means all the stuff you need to ride the horse. We still need a bit and reins and I don't know what else. But first Bella is learning to whoa on command with voice commands only and no reins or bit. I think it's a wonderful way to train a horse.

And Laura's brother has offered to train our son on how to shoe horses. Bella got her first set of shoes yesterday. It's called getting shod. Every time I hear it it sounds like getting shot. My pastor said he shot his horses and I wondered why he wasn't crying, but he didn't shoot 'em. He shod them.

Which reminds me. Crystal, a sweet dog up the street got run over yesterday. She followed her eight-year-old boy master around all the time and took care of him. She was sure a wonderful dog and we'll miss her around the neighborhood. But Crystal never stopped running in front of traffic. Finally, she got hit.

Email dog

I got this in my email, but it's at YouTube too.  What a talent for putting in the words. It's a funny one.  And this dog has the sweetest face, has he not.

151 lbs

I have a friend and I'm thinking of asking her to church soon.  I would be so happy if she would come.  I told her I'd pray for her and she said okay and asked for more prayer.  I can do that.  For sure!

Little Petey is doing well.  He had two visitors yesterday.  The man we bought him from came and looked at him and the 4-H coordinator for the county dropped by and weighed him on a big portable scale.  Petey weighs 151 pounds.  The other day I got home from Zumba and called him and he ran to me!  So sweet.  Then he plopped down and rolled to his side for me to rub his tummy.  When he lays on his side his four feet stick straight out into the air.  He has a nice smooth tummy.  He's got kind of a lot of nipples though.  Twelve of 'em.  And he's a guy.

Zumba was good.  Only five people.  It's so, so dang hot.  I wonder if classes will grow when school starts and/or when the weather cools down.  During the week I had only eight or nine each night.   I'm doing a new routine next week with the song "La Loca" by Shakira.  It has one instance of "Oh God" in it that I wish I could edit out.  A guy online said he would but he hasn't.  I don't know if he's gonna do it for me or not.

Bella hurt her leg.  The swelling has decreased tremendously and it looks like she can restart her training on maybe Tuesday.   We sure miss having her in the front yard.  The other day I was walking through the yard to the pig pen thinking, I can't believe I'm here, I can't believe I'm here.  Our son is learning to be a horseman and I'm going to pet the pig.  I'm living in the desert in a little cracker box house, and we are content.  Then I noticed some trash on the ground.  The wind blows and I'm forever picking up bits of garbage off the ground.  How long will we live here and where will we go next?  I have no idea.  I know I don't want to move this furniture anywhere ever again.  That's fer sure.

Son got fine compliments from the woman who is the horse trainer.  She's had an extremely good effect on him: on his life and self-worth.  I rather dislike the whole "self-esteem" thing so I say "self-worth."  I suppose 'worth' has more to do with quality and 'esteem' has more to do with opinion.  He's so unlike me.  He doesn't sleep late.  He showers and goes to bed by 10 or 11pm to get up early for work.  He's earned at least $500 this summer.  All on his own.  Apparently word spreads.  He was asked to help pick-up a load of hay and earned another $25 yesterday.

I think I'll watch my new Zumba DVD that came in the mail today.  Hope they have a super routine I like.  I also ordered a new Bible for myself.  I ordered the Archaeological Study Bible (NIV).  I don't have an NIV Bible.  I have King James and Amplified in one.  I got my name on my new Bible too.  There's no tracking though.  I wonder if they mailed the book at rate shipping or what.  I wish it would hurry up and get here.  A lot of customers mentioned it's too large to be carried around much, but if I like it I'm gonna lug it around no matter how big it is.