7.5" cut

Here's the photo of the hair my son cut off last week.  Definitely two inches needed to go.  The rest, I told him cut where he thought would look best.  I know, I need to take a length pic still.  I'm at 42" now which for me is comfortably classic.

I made my first paranda.  I'm crazy about them.  When I make the next one I'll take a profile shot too.  It gives me a big, gorgeous bun!  I tucked the tail in too far so I think the orange ends are sticking out in the middle of the bun.  I used olive oil before I braided to give it some extra shine.

I was thinking last night about the two thieves and the Titanic.  I said the captain of the Titanic said she sunk in one piece.  Only thing is, the captain went down with the ship.  I might have to fine tune that analogy.  Haha!

I had to tell my husband I accidentally ran over the power cord reel.  Twice.  And then I had a bad dream about it at night.

Something I really hate is a hoax about health.  Got a forward about graviola.  It's a fruit touted as the cure for cancer.  I say, stomp out cancer hoaxes.  It's just cruel that they're out there and they make me mad.

Yesterday someone said, "Don't ever cut your hair."  That was nice.

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I'm prepared for somebody to tell me there are contradictions in the Bible.  Now I just need my first guinea pig to test myself.  Hope someone brings it up before I forget everything.

There are no contradictions in the Bible. What it contains is more accurately called paradox.  Paradox is something that on the surface of it appears contradictory, but is nevertheless true.  In other words, there are differences to be found in the Bible, but a difference is not necessarily a contradiction.

Take for example the sign over the cross.  Matthew said it read, "The King of the Jews."  John said it read, "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews."  So which is right.  Eh, both are. It said, "Jesus of Nazareth, The King of the Jews" and it was written in Aramaic, Latin, and Greek.  That's as easy one though.  One I found more interesting is about the two thieves crucified with Christ.

In the book of Mark (Mark 15:32) it says both thieves reviled Christ, "And they that were crucified with him reviled him."  In Luke (Luke 23:43) it says one mocked and one defended.  So?  It's a contradiction, right?  Wrong.  We know that the one who defended was told by Christ, " Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in paradise."

Something happened to change the mind of one thief.  What could it have been?  Could it have been knowing about all the miracles Christ performed while on earth?  Could it have been hearing him pray for the Romans, asking God to forgive them, His enemies, even while they were cruelly torturing Him? Could it be the darkness he saw come over the land (Matt 27:45)?

Whatever it was we know he was saved by his faith.  The other thief said, "If."  If you can save us...  "If" demonstrates lack of faith.  Course, he was mocking Jesus too.

Some insisted that the Titanic went down in one piece.  Other eyewitnesses say it broke in two.  It was found in three pieces at the bottom of the ocean.  Maybe the last break happened on the ocean floor somehow.  Who knows.  In any case, the Titanic definitely went down.  Argue in how many pieces as much as you like.  Same way with Scripture.  The Bible is a set of 66 books all inspired by God.  He doesn't make mistakes.  He's perfect.  "For now we see in a glass darkly" says the Bible.  In heaven, we will know God even as He knows us now.  How well does God know us?  Pretty dang well.

So I believe the Bible is true, accurate, infallible.  It's an instruction book for life.  I live my life by it.

I think this is the cutest.
Paper Mache

Paper Mache is gone.  I will never know why.  It's always sad when a blog you like inexplicably disappears.

This was the highlight of the Zumba night.  Tanya, on the left, with the shaved head, is my favorite.  I sat in my car for all but ten minutes of the concert because I couldn't stand the crowding.  Now I don't want to leave my house ever again.  But.  I had to.  I had to go to Walmart and I had to drop off my flash drive with church announcements at church, and I watered the horses, though technically Becca is a mule not a horse, and I kicked a bunch a weedlets up with the point of my cowgirl boots on my way back in the house. 

I went to a huge Zumba concert and I did not have a good time. 

Becca is afraid of cookies.  She's afraid of Angel The Cat.  And she jumps when we break a carrot in two to feed her a snack.

I don't like Blogger's change.  Are they trying to get rid of people?  I remember before Geocities went away they made it less and less user friendly until finally they closed down.

Test post.  Blogger has changed and they didn't ask me about it at all.

We got a new mule

We have her on a try-out basis till Monday and so far I like her very much.  Son loves her and wants her badly.  We told him we'll pay $500 and he can pay $500 if he likes her that much.  She'll need some reining training, but she comes from Nebraska and originally sold for $5500 so we're getting, I think, a good deal. 

Her name is Becca.  Becca and a Bella.  They will become good friends.  Becca has been alone and Bella has been alone so they'll be happy to have company.  Mules make better pack animals and walk faster and better on rough terrain.  Son will be doing a lot of trail riding this summer I think.  I'm so glad he doesn't sit around during summer.  He's going to have a remarkable summer this year.

Hair yesterday

I took down the ugly pic and replaced it with this one which I like to think is a more accurate rep of the hair.

So tomorrow is the day we have Ryan and his crew teaching a Zumba class for me.  I hope we get 20 people.  I paid for a massage and hot mineral bath soaks for them so sure hope I make back that money.  We won't be able to meet JR because JR is still in the hospital.  His next round of chemo begins April 4.  I do hope he can come home to refresh his soul before then.

Got the video announcements done for churchity church.  They are pleased with them so it makes me very happy to do it.  It's very rewarding.  I love putting them together.

We're doing a new thing at church.  The youth pastor has taken over praise and worship.  I have to say I miss our regular pastor and his songs, but I am loving the new sound and the new feel too.  I believe the group has great potential.  Right now it's all in transition.  Transitions can be bumpy.  Some people fall away and other new people are pulled in.  Some people will always be unhappy with change. Such is life.  I think it's a mistake to get too comfortable because too much comfort contributes to stagnation.  I try to remain dynamic.  Sometimes I even succeed at it.  Haha!  But it's a rush standing in the music.  Being in the sound.  And calling on the Holy Spirit.  There's nothing like it.  It's even better than head banging.  Gotta keep it fresh because there are so many souls out there that are lost.  We must reach them.  Music reaches out.  Like Kathy says, we need to reel them in!

I had a couple weeks after the fundraiser of feeling no energy for learning my new routines.  But then all of a sudden it came back.  Now I have about five songs and routines I am loving and practicing.  It was a little blip on the radar I suppose.

I am happy.  Next week-end the fantastic Zumba instructor from Las Cruces is coming back to town and he's going to teach a class for me.  He's bringing his "staff" too - three girls, women, who dance with him.  They're very good.  I so hope that I can get a big enough group so I can pay the women a little something.  And I hope I can make a little bit of money for myself since I will be giving my class time to them and foregoing my own class.  I will have big expectations.  Gotta get the word out now.  I had six students today.  If I could get 20 that would be good.

I'm cooking fried chicken for dinner.

Fundraiser vid

I made a video of our fundraiser.

49"
Ends are still straight and in pretty good shape as far as I can tell.  I did a hot oil treatment today. Some teens asked me why do I have long hair.

In October had it trimmed back to 47" on the full moon so it's grown two inches in five months.  Not bad for a 52 year old.

For church tomorrow we have to wear black and white.  I'm going to wear a black sweater cowl neck and blue jeans.  The top I'm not too fond of.  Blue jeans are neither black nor white but I don't have black or white pants that I like.  I don't want to wear clothes I hate and be in front of everyone.  The youth pastor has taken over praise and worship.  I am excited but a little anxious.  There are two songs he has us do that have a lot of jumping or stepping and the youth usually do them.  Since the church has only seen the youth do the songs they identify those songs with the youth.  I'm not too thrilled about us olders looking kind of stupid doing youth oriented songs.  We have to do something for the lady who is older than I am.  She's been in praise and worship a long while but she can't do those two songs so she has not been singing these past two weeks.

Our fundraiser went well.  It was energizing.  As soon as the music started I knew it was a success.  We had 75 people come even though the weather outside was in the 30s.  We raised over $2100.00 for the family.  I was well pleased.

Today is the day.  We are prepared.  I am prayed up.  Got my words ready and signs and sign-in sheets done.  I think we've thought of everything.  Mayela stayed with me till midnight last night.

The fundraiser is on Saturday.  Things seem to be going well.  I'm not too nervous.  That's good.

We've collected about $230 so far.  I hope people will come on Saturday.

I bought some rubber Zumba bracelets to toss out to the audience.  Three women ordered Zumba tops and they'll be happy to know they were delivered today so they can wear them Saturday.

Need to go by the newspaper and see if they'll run an ad for us.  I might need to off this recliner to get that done.

Celia has done the decorations and I'm excited to see what she came up with.  She's exceptionally good at decorating.  I know it's going to look really pretty whatever she does!  I'm so lucky to have met her.  She's quiet.  I like her very much.  She has pretty hair too.  She wears it about shoulder length and it's salt and pepper.  Her hair is strong and healthy.  I'm sure a reflection of her physical and probably emotional well-being.  She seems well anchored.

We are having revival for three days at church.  Last night was as full as the morning meeting.  I've never seen an evening service so full before.  The music was great.  The preaching was great.  Pastor Ayers was funny and thought provoking.  This is my first revival. 

The fundraiser is going well.  I'm praying people will come.  A local deejay offered his sound system which will be even better than my one speaker so I'm overjoyed about that.  Got two good women working the door.  Decided to give the water out for free.  Need to get playlists from other instructors.  Need a couple coolers with water for the ice.  Need to compose and send out email.

I had to abandon the two routines I've been trying to learn.  Sometimes I find Beto's stuff too hard to follow.  I picked two YouTube videos by Zumba instructors instead.  They're much easier and in three days I have them almost learned compared to three weeks of practicing Beto's and still not getting his timing down. 

Gee, where has the time gone.  The city had donated the use of the Civic Center for the fundraiser.  They only required a deposit which one of the ladies in my class paid.  So nice of her.  I made flyers and they turned out beautiful if I do say so myself.  Very blue.  The office supply store in town printed 60 for us as a donation.  I am keeping notes and after it's over I will run an ad in the paper to thank all the people and entities who are helping this fundraiser come together.  A t-shirt seller who is donating money from the t-shirts will have a table at the event.  A lady is offering some of her hand crafted jewelry for a raffle.

Today I did some practice with a group of about seven high schoolers who are gonna dance a routine with me.  They even choreographed a couple parts of the song for themselves.  I'm so proud of them.  They will not regret participating.  I told them today not to get hung up on technique.  The steps are secondary.  I told them have fun, ham it up, and even if I or they make a mistake keep moving.  I explained that if they're having a good time the audience will pick up on it and they'll have a good time.  If you are anxious the audience will pick up on it and they will be uncomfortable.  I think they'll do well.  I want to contact two more groups of kids and my goal is to do three routines with three different groups of kids.  I envision one set of kids running on stage for their song, then running off at the end as the next group runs in.

Checked the audio available at the Civic Center and it's quite sad.  It's only a PA system.  My music was no good on it.  Thought I was going to have to find a DJ.  But husband said to me to try my speaker out.  I didn't think my speaker would have enough power but guess what.  It did!  It's sounds way better than the PA system.  Happy, happy me.  Location, sounds, flyers, water.  The grocery store is donating water. Check, check, check, check.  Now to find donations for meals and gas for the instructors coming to town.

Got a bit of excitement when yesterday the Civic Center manager told me the 10th was double booked.  He was wrong.  Thank you for that.

Have a small glitch in that the other instructor here in town that I invited to dance has a Zumba training on exactly the day of the fundraiser.  She was supposed to do 30 minutes of routines.  Either I have to work something out or I'm going to have to do an hour instead of 30 minutes.  She does not yet realize her training is on the fundraiser day.  I don't think she's terribly organized.  Lucky for me I noticed it.

I got the church announcements done and they look pretty nice.  Pastor and his wife have both commented on how much they like it.  Pastor even used the word "awesome."  Funny thing is, I look at it and see all the parts I want to do better.  I think it's just okay.  I want to do better!  My hand is tired though from doing our flyer plus announcements video plus making tickets.  Ladies in class want to sell fundraiser tickets which is a grand idea but another thing I have to do on computer.  I need to figure out how to make a dashed line in Microsoft Word.  I tried so many ways to make tickets myself but to no avail.  Time wasted.  I can't put numbers on them that's for sure.  Too much work.

I'm developing a thick skin regarding my playlist for Zumba.  After we went to Cruces for a Zumba class and the teacher was so great I came home and hated my own playlist.  Ha.  Sad.  Some people in class want faster, some like slow, one wants more this, one wants more that.  Sigh.  Think I'll try making Mondays a faster class and see how it goes.  I can do faster it's just that my class grew when I slowed it down a bit.  It's a challenge keeping people happy and I really want to work on student retention this year.  I want to keep them coming back.

Mayela had a fab idea.  She wonders about setting up a class in a town that's 30 miles away and has no instructor.  I told her if they have 15 people who will sign up for a six week session I will do it.  We'll see what comes of it when she mentions it.

My hair.  It is about two inches from my knees!  Just noticed it yesterday.  And even better, the ends are good.

It's a small town here.  One of the girls in my class put out a flyer and tells me the boy's mama was at hospice and signed him up for hospice.  Hospice.  

He had a very, very good day today with no side effects.  He's visiting with family who came to see him and everyone is loving on him and the family very much.  He went to school one day last week and had a good time and everyone wanted to see him.  He seems exceedingly well adjusted, considering.   

The next round of chemo, a stronger chemo than before, begins next week. 

With much help from my Zumba crew, I have spearheaded a Zumba fundraiser to raise money for little JR.  I am scared and excited about doing it!  The date is set for Saturday, March 10th, 4-6pm.  We haven't yet got the location we want.  Must do it Monday.  It's not much time, but it would have otherwise had to be after May.  I've got five, maybe six instructors who've agreed to come to town from Cruces.  One is Ryan Grovey who seems to have a big heart.  The spirit of God is moving in our town.



 

My cousin died a couple days ago. Age 68.  In Vermont.  Fell on ice, hit his head, and died.  His sister got an email about it.  Usually you'd think a phone call would be in order but things are not all that they could be.  Things are broken.  So he's gone.  And it's very weird to think of that.