Little Girls

Happy Birthday Gracie!

Be still my heart

I love these looks he gives me. It is as if he is saying, "Woman! Get a life and get your lips off my face. How many times are you going to tell me that you love me? And how beautiful I am? And how precious I am? I appreciate all your words of affirmation, but they are a bit much."

The Baby can talk!

And oh! how precious it is. He says it with a very Southern accent and of course it is just too cute! When I arrived on Saturday to sit for him he was surrounded by a house full of 10 year old girls and he was ecstatic! He kept pointed at all of them with his chubby little finger and screaming, "Bye Bye" in his little Southern accent and waving. He was saying it with every fiber of his being. His whole body would tighten and he had this funny crazed look on his face. He has been saying it for over a month now, but he must have gotten a little burned out on it because everyone was making him say it all the time. This is my first ever personal video post. Brace yourself, there's more where this came from!

Happy MLK Day

If you have not been to the Martin Luther King Center in downtown Atlanta, you should go. It is a very moving experience.

"Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice. Justice at its best is love correcting everything that stands against love". -Martin Luther King, Jr., Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?, 1967.

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that". - Martin Luther King, Jr.

http://www.thekingcenter.org/

Testimony

There is power in a testimony. It gives God the opportunity to do it AGAIN! So, yesterday I was sitting at my desk and the girl who works across the hall got a disturbing phone call about her cousin. She is 6 months pregnant and was having pain and contractions and called her doctor and they were sending her to the ER. So I went into her office and we prayed for her. Just a simple prayer of life and of health and God's will of LIFE and HEALTH and PEACE. About an hour later we heard from the cousin. They were sending her home. They found nothing wrong. She was totally fine. Just a little dehydrated. Yeah, God!

for Gracie

I have no idea why someone set this Song to Cartoon Network, but it was the only version I could find that played the full version by the original artist. Ignore the Video, turn it up and dance. Love.

Happy Birthday Gracie Girl

"Gracie" turns 10 tomorrow!

I remember when Carla found out that Emma Grace was going to be a girl, she gave Kevin a card as part of the surprise that had a dainty, petite baby girl on it. From that picture that stayed on the refrigerator for a few months, I guess I envisioned her to be a tiny, petite, all girl, baby, with bows in her hair. This wasn't the case. She was fat. I actually think Nathaniel is bigger now than she was, but at the time I thought she was the fattest thing I had ever seen. She looked miserable at times, she was so fat. So many rolls. She would have to wear a much bigger size in pants just to get them large enough around the waist and we had to roll up the legs. She wore a lot of those "leggings" and cotton dresses with empire waists as a toddler. She had dimples in her elbows for the longest time. As soon as she could talk she changed her name. Carla intended for her name to be "Emma Grace" and for her to be called "Emma Grace", but Gracie had other plans, and named herself. At around 18 months she decided she no longer liked her position at the kitchen table, one that had been established before she was born. Carla, Kevin and Catherine all had their "assigned" seats. As soon as she was able to communicate, one day Carla noticed that little Catherine was sitting where Gracie once sat and Gracie had taken her place. She is a leader for certain and I admire her fearlessness and tenacity.

flared nostrils- a continuing tribute to The Birthday Girl

She can never NOT make a face!

Gracie the Ham

These were all taken around December 2005/January 2006- when she was 7. You can see her making a monkey face in front of her cake on her 7th birthday. She is such a goofy little thing and it's funny that her little personality shows so much in pictures.

Don't cross her

This is the birthday girl about 4 years ago. So that would make her 6. She refused to swim because this lifeguard blew his whistle at her and told her to stop running. She got kinda embarrassed and he scared her and she got mad. She used to kinda have this little developmental speech "thing" and it was so cute and I miss it. It has gone away now. But she looked at me and said, "It's no fun with a lifegward". And she used to say, "oooo-ga- lee" for "ugly". But now she is all grown up and pronounces everything correctly and it makes me sad. Now she reads and writes poetry and draws and paints and likes to play "Pioneer Girl" and "Indian Girl" and she is tough as nails. She fears nothing. This is good and bad. You don't want to cross her. Don't blow your whistle at her and tell her not to do something. She has determination and wit and intellect and a big heart. Oh! I love her so much it hurts.

Emma Grace

One of my favorite people on earth is turning 10 this week, on the 15th. So I am going to dedicate this weeks postings to her. She is amazing. She is kinda like me, but she's tough. She is a natural born leader. She is smart. She is funny. She does imitations. If you stick around long enough, she will do one of you. She is honest. She is sweet. She is creative and artistic. She has big cheeks with freckles on them and silky dark hair. I love her to bits. These two photos were taken at two different weddings, with her in a frilly dress, running. That's my girl. Don't let those patent leather Mary Jane's slow you down Sweetheart.

And here she is on two different occasions, at weddings years apart, blowing bubbles. I love her cheeks.

Thanks Terra

Broken For You - Brian and Jenn Johnson

Speaking of Dad

We Have the Best Dad - Rick Pino

My Dad

The older he gets

the more he begins to look like

Bill Cosby

This girl

Used to be in my Biology 101 class with Dr. Hitt at North Georgia. Our Sophomore year, she lived on my hall in the dorm.

Then, she was in my History class with Dr. Jones and we studied together. We would make up silly acronyms to memorize all the dates and events and kingdoms and wars, Istanbul, Constantinople and such. She would also make up songs about them too. We would laugh so hard that our tummies hurt. She was the best study partner ever!

Then she moved to the trailer park, Laurel Heights (This was a cool thing to do in case you were wondering). So this meant that every time it rained, I heard her knocking on my screen door. (Storms in the North Georgia Mountains are to be taken seriously!)

Then she moved in with 'Nessa and me in that hot-as-blue-blazes house we lived in. She drove a grey Grand Am. One time when I was riding in the car with her, a guy was riding her tail. Laura is the most laid back, kind, sweet, gentle person I know, and I was watching her closely to see how she would react. She says, "Watch this!" and pulls the lever on the steering wheel for the windshield cleaner. The little things on the hood were warped or bent or something and squirted so high I don't think any fluid even landed on her windshield, but all over the guy behind us. Sure enough, he had to clean his windshield and he backed off. What was so funny was her defiant attitude of how she has this guy right where she wanted him and was going to use her "secret weapon" to cut him off her tracks.

Then, I was in her wedding and watched her marry a man in a uniform, John.

Then, she moved back in with me for a tiny bit, when she finished out a semester at NGC and Lt. John was in Hawaii.

Then, I got to go to Hawaii and visit her. And we laughed and giggled again till our tummies hurt. There were lots of limousines in Hawaii and Laura said they were all David Hasselholf, stalking us to be on Baywatch. We shopped in Tiffany's in our bathing suits and coverups with sand on the backs of our legs.

Then, she had a baby, a girl, Hailey.

Then they moved to Alabama and I went to visit. We went to the tanning bed as there was absolutely nothing else to do in Dothan, AL. But I am sure we laughed and giggled till our tummies hurt.

Then she moved to Tennesse. I visited there too. We made cake.

Then she moved to DeRidder, LA. She made a few trips home to Fayetteville, GA during this time and we met at the infamous Fayette Pavilion and shopped and laughed and giggled some more. She bought me a t-shirt on one occasion that said, "I love you, but I am not in love with you" that she forced me to wear to send a message to a certain someone and I did, because I didn't want to let her down. Turns out he was so dumb, he didn't even get it. We would close down the TJ Maxx and even try on clothes in aisles after they closed the dressing room and rely on each other for approval. One time, we showed up wearing the same shirt! A GAP favorite tee.

Then, she had another baby, Owen. He is soooo cute.

Then, just yesterday, she moved again, to Kansas. I have already checked flights to Kansas City, and found one way flights for $59! We only see each other about once a year, but we talk almost every day. She is amazing. She is a great mom and cook and a Pilate's instructor! She talked to me in the car as they were driving to Kansas as if she was just going to Wal-Mart. I would have been a basket case! And she had a baby in the backseat! She never ceases to amaze me. I envy her life and she envies mine. I make her appreciate her life and she makes me appreciate mine. Proverbs 27:17 (NLT) As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.

The 2nd Monday in January

For the past 11 years- yes, 11. I have watched men in suits (and a few women) gather in the halls of the Gold Dome and shake hands and hug and laugh and meet and greet on this, the first day of the Legislative Session of the Georgia General Assembly. It is coming up this Monday. My poor little toes hurt just thinking about it (I refuse to wear flats). I could write a book about all that I have seen and experienced since I have been here. But, I want to keep my job so I will remain silent and most of it would be self incriminating anyway. I will try to post from time to time on my life as a Policy Analyst. You can find the real gossip at http://www.peachpundit.com/
These days, I simply look forward to Peanut Butter & Jelly Day when the Georgia Peanut Commission serves grilled peanut butter sandwiches! The peanut butter has some kinda jelly or honey mixed in already, like the kind you used to have in the school cafeteria. So good. And they serve them with milk! So good. Currently we are all making efforts to get what Betsy Howerton calls, "Session Ready". She used to make casseroles to freeze or big pots of chili on the weekends to have sustenance for the week. She is doing a pre-prepared Gourmet Meal something- or- other this year. We all go to the doctor, dentist, get your oil changed, and the like because your life will soon be over for the next "40 days and 80 nights". I picked up my dry cleaning yesterday. Just looking at those blouses makes my toes hurt!

another half

81 DAYS AWAY!

It has been well over a month now since the Thanksgiving Day Half-Marathon. Dodie likens it to child birth. Not quite in level of pain, but that you forget how bad it was. For me, a week of sitting on the couch giving myself "downtime"(okay more like three weeks) has been enough. I am doing the ING on March 29th. Training during the 09 Legislative Session will be nearly impossible, but I am going to do my very best.

The race is all downtown and should be great scenery. "This urban course is a showcase of Atlanta's and Decatur's diverse neighborhoods. Highlights along the course include the birthplace of MLK, historic houses, eclectic Little Five Points, tour of 4 college campuses, Piedmont Park and much more". I still cannot imagine running the Half and then turning around and running back again. So I still have no desire to do a Full, but the Half is fun and a great goal to set. Join me! Oh! and I hope to beat my time from the last one!

Vegetarian Chili

Today was my first complete day of the Daniel Fast. I had this for dinner. It's not quite the same without cornbread. But I really do like this recipe.

2 medium-sized green peppers, chopped
1 medium-sized yellow onion, chopped
1 zucchini, sliced
1 yellow squash, sliced
2 tablespoons salad oil
2 tablespoons chili powder
¾ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground red peppers
2 cups corn kernels (fresh or frozen)
2 16 oz. cans tomatoes (juice and all)
2 16 oz. cans pinto beans (juice and all)
2 16 oz. cans black beans (juice and all)
1 4 oz. can mild green chilies
1 4 oz. can of tomato paste

Chop and sauté in oil the peppers and onions. Add the sliced squashes, chili powder, salt, ground red peppers, and corn. When all the vegetables are soft but still firm, add the tomatoes, all the beans, the green chilies, and the tomato paste. Stir until just blended.
Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat. Let simmer for 20 minutes stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.
Yield: 6 generous servings