I'm not all there anymore...

Well, I guess it is true.  I'm not all there.  Let the jokes commence...

At least I haven't been all there since this past Saturday, anyway.

Friday night, I thought I was dying.  As in, "Dear Jesus, please forgive me for my sins.  I need to make sure that I am alright with You, Lord, because I'm coming to meet You any minute. In Jesus' name, amen."

(Please don't think that was sacrilegious, because I was dead really serious.  I thought I was meeting my Savior.)

You see, I was hurting.  Hurting with a capital H-U-R-T.  I couldn't get comfortable, my tummy hurt, and my chest hurt.  And, boy, did my chest hurt!   Felt like a vise grip was getting me.  Don't ask how I know what a vise grip feels like...   Trust me, I do, though.

I thought I was having a heart attack.  (I could insert a funny gif, or funny picture, or something funny here, BUT there is NOTHING funny about heart attacks, or even how badly I felt.)

Sweet Hubby J took me to the local triage center (an emergency room affiliated with a hospital but not attached to a hospital), and they hooked me up to all these machines.  Thank You, Jesus, it WASN'T my heart...

It was my gall bladder.  That tiny little sac o' stuff was making me feel like I was dying...  This little offender had to come out, and it did, after 2 tries on Saturday...   But that is another story!!!

I'm recovering well, sore and cranky and tired, and it hurts like heck to yawn, sneeze, or cough, but at least I know I ain't dying!!!

So here is my PSA.

Public Service Announcement: 
PLEASE If you have any of the following symptoms, get yourself checked out at a doctor's office or to the hospital:

1. Pain in the upper right abdomen
2. Nausea or vomiting
3. Pain that radiates from the front to the back of your chest
4. Tightness in your chest with any pain after you eat (aka feeling like a rhinoceros is sitting on your tummy so that you cannot breathe after you eat)
5. Indigestion after every meal
6. Heartburn, heartburn, heartburn
7. What you put off as "gas" that doesn't go away
8. Anything out of the ordinary

I don't want you to go through any of what I did, so PLEASE, for all that you love, get yourself looked after.  It might be a gall bladder issue, or it might be something more.  It might be something less, too, but you never know.  

You cannot fill up others from an empty cup, and you cannot take care of your family if you aren't at your best.

We only get this one body, and we have to use it wisely and take care of it.   Until they start doing full body transplants.   I hope I'm gone on to glory before that happens. But hey, I could leave this one to science.  Maybe someone will want it, even though it isn't all there!

An Open Letter To My Son

Precious boy, I'm watching you "sleep in" this morning.  Your sweet little face is calm and peaceful, and the whole house is quiet.  It is almost like it is preparing itself for Hurricane J.  Most people don't get to see this side of you.  They mostly see the grins and giggles and the laughs and loopy play time, and, oh my goodness, the energy. And yes, sometimes all they see are the tantrums and times I cannot figure out what triggered a meltdown in the middle of the store.

If I could bottle that energy up, I would be able to power the universe!  You never seem to run out of it... In fact, you even wiggle in your sleep.   Those little feet and arms and hands never seem to truly get still.

What a blessing you are, sweet boy!  You have taught me to rely on God's still small voice as I pray for you daily.  You have taught me what it means to have my heart beating outside my chest. You have taught me to love unconditionally, all the time.

Never lose that sweet spirit you have inside, little man, that loves babies, animals, justice, and fun. Never let the world harden your heart, even though it will try to.  Go ahead and cry if you want to over puppies, and movies, and disappointments, and joys.  Show the world that a hug and a kiss can make it a better place.  The strongest man is the one who knows how to be gentle.  

Never let anyone dim the sparkle in your eyes when you learn something new, even though we "old folks" like to do that because we have seen it all.    Keep learning and growing.  Forever.

One day, you won't run to mommy and daddy when you learn something new and special. We won't be your best friends anymore.  Cultivate good friends who love God and their parents.  Love them like brothers and sisters, and have their backs.  If they don't have your back,  seriously and prayerfully seek the power to distance yourself from them.  Know you don't HAVE to allow anyone in your life if you aren't comfortable with them or if they don't love you for who you are.

You are special, my beautiful boy.  The world wouldn't be the same without you.  You make this world an amazing place. Your daddy and I wouldn't know what to do without you.

We love you!

Oh My Pickles!

It has begun:  the yearly launch of preserving, canning, and pickling season.  One of my most favorite times of the year!   These are the first three jars of pickles for this season that I canned last night.  AND, they are my own recipe!

If you know me, you know I am enamored of anything "vinegar-y" and will drink the pickle juice out of the jar.  (After the pickles are all gone.  Not while the pickles are still there.  That would be...well, you know.)

My love of pickles and pickle juice is hereditary.  I think I take it after my sweet Granny.  She also loved pickles, vinegar, buttermilk, and other things that I love as well.   Granny was an amazing lady...   An amazing cook, an amazing Christian, and the owner of the greenest thumb I have ever seen!  About ten years ago, she was given some roses.  She literally just stuck one in the dirt at the back porch, and that thing is STILL blooming every year!  

But back to the elixir that is pickle juice.

In the past, I have read Granny's pickle recipes, and the other time-tested recipes in the Pauley Swamp Baptist Church cookbooks, and every other cookbook, Pinterest post, and website I could find.   Every single one had its own little twist that made it unique.  Some folks used a cold canning method.  Some recipes called for boiling the cucumbers in the brine.  Some called for canning salt.  Others called for waiting for a couple of weeks to be able to eat them.   As much as I like pickles, there is NO WAY I could wait a week or more to eat 'em!

After looking at all that, this year I produced my own recipe.   Apple cider vinegar, sugar, a little salt, and pickling spice.  That is it.  That is all I used to make these little jars of goodness...  It is a little spicy, a little sweet, and has that vinegary bite that makes pickles, well, pickle-y.  (How do I know that?  Well, I might have tasted the vinegar mixture.  Or maybe it was more than just a taste.  Don't judge!  Every chef has to make sure their creations are edible right?)

And I cannot wait to break that seal and dig one of those spears of pickle-y delight out of the jar.  Maybe for a midnight snack... or maybe right now...

I'm heading to the kitchen.  I'll let you know how they are!

Well, here I go...

...into the land of blogging!   I have never been one to dip a toe in and check the water temperature.  I usually just jump in feet first and have at it!

This is my first attempt to begin blogging, so let me introduce myself:

I'm a Christian.  A sinner saved by grace.  I don't deserve how much God loves me, but He does.  He loves you, too!

I'm a wife and mommy.  My handsome hubby, Joey, and my cute as a button little man, John, are my world.

I'm a country girl.  I am blessed to have grown up in the country, and I LOVE it!  I live in a farming community, surrounded by fields, woods, farms, and family.  I'm so glad I can have my family's garden in my backyard and reap the benefits from it.  I'm looking forward to canning and preserving all kinds of stuff this summer.

I'm a teacher.  By trade.  I choose to teach.  I love to teach.  It is life-changing.  I've been blessed to be in the lives of middle-schoolers for 16 years.  Wow, I cannot believe I've been doing this for 16 years!  It hasn't always been easy, but it has always been rewarding!

I'm a proud Plexus Ambassador!  Plexus has blessed and changed my life in so many ways in the past 6 months.  Even though it is a recent addition to my life, it is a part of who I am as much as the things above.

I want this (hopefully) daily blog to be beneficial to me, as well as an inspiration to you.  If you choose to make me a part of your online world, you will read about:

1. Christ's saving love, 
2. my family and its wild and crazy adventures, 
3. recipes and country "stuff" I have tried and loved (and that may have failed miserably), 
4. school stories (with names with-held:)), and 
5. Plexus.

Thanks for giving me a read!  I'm looking forward to getting to know you!