A Love Story

One of the ladies my husband knows from work husband recently died. Of course, she has gone the range of emotion that any woman would face after loosing her soul mate. Her birthday was this week. Someone sent her a bouquet of flowers. No, she didn't have a secret admirer, they were not from a friend, not even from her children. They were from her late husband. Her husband knew that her birthday would be soon after his death, so he gave money to a friend and he signed the card that comes with the flowers. The friend made sure that she got exactly what he had asked for. I had never heard of this before. I got chill bumps all over and my eyes began to tear up as I thought wow, even in death she knows how much he loved her. He loved her through his pain. He loved her in their happiness. He loved her even when times got rough. He loved her passionately. He just loved her. He loved her even as Christ loved the Church! You know, his love mirrored that of Christ. Because even in death, you can find out just how much Christ loves you. He loved you through His pain. He loves you if you are happy, or if your just having a rough spot in life. In fact, like her husband, Christ loves you passionately. HE JUST LOVES YOU! Sometimes, we need little reminders of how we should treat others. Their story reminded me this week that I am supposed to love passionately and to remember that no matter what I just need to love. After all, everyone is someone whom Christ died for.

J-U-L-Y... That's why I love summertime! Growing up July was always a fun month for me. July meant lots of things like going to stay at my aunt's house, watching my cousin play on the all star baseball team, Canada Day + 4th of July= Freedom Fest, hanging out at Elizabeth Park. Pretty much July always meant I was never home! I love to travel and while growing up and as a young adult I did a lot of it. The first time I went to Dallas it was July- and it was smokin HOT! Most things I did in July as a kid involved getting to see my Dad. Most of the time as a kid I only saw him once a year... A lot of memories were made in this month... Stuff like ordering bacon in a Canadian Restraunt and getting Canadian bacon instead of the crispy delight we eat here; Having breakfast in New York City and the waitress looking at me like I was from space or something asking me"What is a grit?"; Sunrise in Virginia Beach; train rides from Windsor to Toronto, Seeing oil wells in Oklahoma thinking they looked like dinosaurs; Rice fields in Louisiana; the big barges sailing the Mississppi River, camping at Lake Erie, Watching the tides change on the Great Lakes and being amazed that the lakes had tides just like the ocean, Watching a guy fall of the banana boat in the Port of Tampa, having a surprise trip to Toronto to see The Phantom Of The Opera at Pantages Theater, having dinner at the Winter Palace (french Restraunt), professional baseball games, yes, I would say July was always so awesome as a kid /adult. But one thing that I have filed in my mind as the most spectacular thing to ever happen in July was on July 23,1994! That was a fantastic day. I remember the details like they just happened yesterday. I remember all the pretty flowers and plants, the emerald green gowns the brides maid wore and the pretty little dresses the flower girls wore, The beautiful brocade satin dress that was made from 3 different patterns especially for me, the only time I have ever seen my husband in a tux. And one of the very few times I have seen him cry! Yes folks it was our wedding day! We had a small wedding consisting of about 40 guests.We were married at the Holiday Inn in Lakeland and enjoyed our honeymoon in Daytona Beach! You know, that was the best day of my life--- I married my best friend! (my second best was giving birth to our daughter) Looking back at our wedding pictures, boy were we young! YIKES! The last 14 years have been filled with good times mostly and a few bumpy times. I thank God every day that He put the two of us together. I am convinced that even though we were not serving the Lord at the time we dated, were engaged, married and the first few years of marriage, God had a plan for us... It has been my pleasure to be call Mrs. Bobby W. McCue. Gee, I still think I just may be the luckiest girl in the wide world!

Recycle on Freecycle

Freecycle rocks! Freecycle is a website that you can post stuff on to give away or you can also post wanted things on there. It is all handled by email and a phone call to the person offering the item. Freecycle is making life easier... For instance, this morning I posted 3 items to give away and within 10 minutes I got an email from somebody who is going to pick it all up by 10:00 today! You may be wondering how is this making your life easier? Well, it just gets it outta here and Bobby will be so happy! Not to mention that now I dont have to mow around the unused picnic table or fool with a section of unused picket fence or an old french door. So, I did a little bit of posting on the internet and somebody will come move all this stuff and the best part is it is all free! Check it out sometime! www.freecycle.org Do you freecycle?

Spread Your Wings Baby Bird

As you may already know, Taylor has been at camp this week. She went with Heartland Community Church to X-FUGE in Ridgecrest, NC. Of course, she was so excited about going to camp. I was excited too. Going to camp was always a blast when I was a teenager. So this week has been different around the house. It hasn't slowed down any at all for Bobby and me. Our schedules have been jammed packed between work, going to the Ray's game, family group and church stuff. But some ways have been quieter- there hasn't been any jokes being played, no wrestlemania in the family room, no arguments about cleaning the bedroom, no giggles, even our dogs seem a little less excited about life this week. (of course all they really do is just sleep all day and soak up the airconditioning- worthless mutts!) Taylor has called a couple of times. While talking to her, it dawned on me that she is so mature! She has been taking responsibility for herself this week. It was so cool to realize that her growing up is kinda like a momma bird pushing the baby bird out of the nest to learn to fly. In a sense, that is what we do with our children. We teach them how to do life and then at some point it is time to fly. Dont get me wrong this little birdy isnt quite ready to fly on her own yet, but I know that she is on the right path. It is really exciting to see her grow. She is growing in so many ways- physically, mentally, spiritually... What a gift that God gave to us when He allowed us to be her parents. A poem comes to my mind, I cant remember who wrote it, but the words permiate my mind. "Who gets more pleasure from this rocking, me or this baby of mine?" I read that when Taylor was in the NICU after she was born. I made my mind up that precious little girl was always going to know what a pleasure she is to me and that I could only hope that she would always have pleasure from me and would be able to pass it on to her children and grandchildren someday. I cant wait to see my baby bird come home to the nest on Saturday night.

Life, the Sea and God

Have you ever considered that life is like the sea? I love the ocean. We can learn a lot about life from the ocean. It can be beautiful. We can see things crystal clear like the waters in the Carribean. We may experience vast storms like those of the North Atlantic- fearce and cold. We have precious treasures in our lives- family- like would be found along the shore of the beach. There are even mountains in our lives like the ones on the coast of California. Our lives can be as beautiful as the coral reefs of the Great Barrier Reef. Our lives are complex like the ocean. There are so many life forms under the water. There are so many explorations to take. There are so many wild and wonderful events to happen. We even sometimes come across bottom feeders. Then we quickly swim away! We even see miracles that were performed in the water. Christ walked on it! He even calmed the sea just by speaking. God did a miracle when the sea was parted for people to walk across. Imagine with me for only a minute, that if the Lord did all of that, what can He do in your life? The sea is huge, but HE is bigger! HE is more beautiful! So, no matter how much I love the ocean, I just have to tell you that my love for HIM is so much more magnified! I have seen him calm storms in my life and work miracles that I never thought possible. We need to trust in HIM. He can turn our lives into something more beautiful than we would ever imagine!

Work it baby!

OK, so in case anyone is curious... We went to the gym tonight. It was great! At least the part where we actually got to exercise! Lets see-- treadmill, bike & the eliptical thingy... Now that one was a trip~ I am not very coordinated sometimes so I am so sure that was a sight! I was laughing at myself because I would get how to do it and the bam outta nowhere, I would loose step! Taylor and I had a good time hanging out... However, the question did come up about do we have to stay together while we work out. I knew it was coming just not this fast! So I guess maybe I am not the cool mom after all.. Who knows, I am thinking that I really must just be the ride to the gym oh and how about the money machine paying for her to condition her bod???? Whats up with that???? So, then on the way home I call Ginny up and tell her about the trainer trying to convince me to join the CULT!!! Yes, he actually said that for his services it would be 1300.00 a month. (Isnt that illegal in Florida) Ooops, sorry he wasnt asking to escort me-- just run my body through the ringer so I cant walk the next day! I politely turned him down... After all, that is more than my house payment. So back to the phone call, Taylor was trying to ask me a question so I asked Ginny to hold on... Taylor said no I need you to hang up so I can ask... Ok Ginny I gotta call ya back. She wanted to know if she could invite a boy to the gym with us! Like oh my goodness!!!! And the boy wasnt even her dad!!! So now I was like freakin' out! Then she wanted to know if I would give him a ride... Oh yes to be the mom of a teenaged girl who has discovered BOYS!!!!! Yikes! Oh to have the problem Travis had this past weekend with his precious little girl and her friend! Trade ya! But I just have to reflect on what Exodus 14:14 says--- anybody with a teenager should memorize this verse--- I will parphrase it for you... God said "I'll fight the fight for you- be quiet." Ok so my version of this is--- "I got your back just shut up and I will handle it for you!!!!" Isnt God just so good?! His word is truly alive and applicable to my life and yours--- trust me if you are a parent of a teen, had a teen or know somebody who does, this should prove it! Trust Him, He will see you through! (I will just be glad when he returns that sweet child I gave birth to!)

Turning leaf... No not the wine, but actually turning a leaf. Today was different. I have been talking to Taylor about joining the gym for sometime now. Well, I made it down to the gym. Nervous as anything. Pulled into the parking lot and my stomach did a flip. I was scared! Found a parking space... Sat in the car for 5 minutes working up the courage to go inside. I had visions of knock out blonde babes in a meat market. Oh look a new dollar tree store, I havent been in the wig store in a long time, I didnt know there was a pancake house overthere... Ok focus.. You can do it... Dont be silly... I forgot about that consignment furniture store... STOP!!! STOP!!! STOP!!! FOCUS for goodness sake! I had to physc myself out to even walk inside. Ok so I joined! Guess what? There were not really any meat marketing going on- some people were larger than me, some were elderly, some were just normal and a few muscle head looking guys. So all that made me feel a lot better. I didnt work out. I wanted to wait for Taylor to get back from Orlando before I started. We will be going tomorrow! So now I have to think about goals. GOALS! Holy cow! Where do I start... Lets see maybe I will take it slow and set a goal of exercising and trying my best and watching my diet. Maybe I dont want to set something unattainable. Slow and steady should do it. My circle of influence, has never seen me skinny, in fact its been a long time since I have been thin a long time since I wore short skirts and high heels---- I dont want to go back to 21, but I am intrested in improving my health. Oh yeah turning leaf...

strange combo

So last night after picking up Taylor from babysitting, we stopped in at Walmarts to pick up a couple of things for her that she needs for the pageant this week.
blank cd's- check
body shaper- check
ballet socks- out of stock
blue bell french vanilla icecream- check

We get home and of course the first thing that happens is Taylor tears into the icecream like it was Christmas and this was the "big gift" she makes her dad a giant bowl of delicious creamy dreamy french vanilla ice cream. Then makes her a bowl of the same with a twist--- however I dont know about the twist until a few minutes later.

So I am sitting there watching TV and Bobby is devouring his icecream and out of no where I start hearing "crunch, crunch.." It was coming from Taylor's direction. I asked "what are you eating?" She smiles and says "Doritos mixed into my icecream" YUCK!!!! She swears that they were delicious... I say that is weird. What say you?

Like most kids, I too experimented with flavors. Remember when the fountain drinks first came out in the convenience stores? Yeah, remember those suicides? Or did you ever mix stuff together to try to create a new receipe?
It's kinda weird to watch history repeating itself thru my daughter. Wonder what her next kitchen creation will be?

Memory Lane can be quite a trip

Purely by coincidence, we decided to take a little trip down memory lane. What started out as going to lunch in Lakeland on Saturday afternoon, soon turned into a cruise thru the Dixieland Historic District and also the Lake Morton Historic District. It was amazing to see how these old bungalows have been tastefully restored to their original beauty. As we were working our way around town, Bobby showed me a small house near Lime Street that he had lived in as a boy. He told me about who lived their with him. He asked what I thought- the only thing I could think is "wow! how did ya'll fit so many people into that little house? " His grandma sure could pack them in when needed.

We took Taylor by the first house that we lived in off of Crystal Lake. The old neighborhood still looked pretty good. I got to doing the math and it has been nearly 17 years ago that we lived there... Then we took her to show her the house we lived in the first 3 years of her life. I was amazed at the way the house looked- nothing like when we were there... We did however have a good laugh about the boganvilla in the back yard that would rip apart Bobby's arms when he would cut them back... Many years ago, I pledge to him that never would there ever be a boganvilla planted in any ground anywhere that we owned.

Sometimes, it is good to look back on our past, not to dwell on them, but to reflect. Yesterday has burned an impression into my mind. I have taken for granted the many ways that the Lord has truly blessed our family! When we came home to our home, I just looked around and silently thanked God for all that he has been so gracious to give to us. Ya, so we dont live in the gated community or the biggest house on the block, but what a blessing that he has delivered us from our past and has shown so much blessing to us. I am thankful that HE has done so much for us and that HE has allowed us 10 years of living here. I never really knew exactly why we moved to Winter Haven in the first place. It dawned on me yesterday- this is where God wanted us to be. He knew that we needed to be here.

The Cat was away-- the mice did play!

Whew! The weekend went by in a blur! It was just Taylor & me for the last 4 days. Bobby has been in Georgia with Timm, Miranda, Mike and Travis. They headed to the woods to work on some stuff for "Living Room Environments" @ our church. I can't wait to see what is going to be unvailed! Seems like these past few days have flown by for me, non-stop.

Of course with the "Cat away, we did play" 3 malls in 2 days!(Lake Wales; Lakeland & Brandon) Oh what joy! We definately got our shopping fix! We did some major Max'n & Relax'n. It was P-A-R-T-Y at the McCue house this weekend!

Sunday afternoon, I was trying to teach Taylor how to skateboard. At one point, one of our neighbors was standing at his window shaking his head. Yeah, so it's been a long time since this ol' girl has been on a skate board and I am not quite as skinny as I used to be, but I think if I dig in deep enough, I still got it goin' on... Well, with 40 not too far away, maybe I won't get on a ramp or anything, on second thought staying on the board on flat ground probably is a really good idea... Taylor was freak'n out! She kept saying that I was going to bust my butt... I told her I would only fall once and then if I didn't get up not to worry, call 9-1-1 or she could wait for a few more minutes and our Family Group would be arriving at the house and they would help rescue me! Yeah, this ol' girl's got it going on- for just a brief couple of minutes, I felt like a kid again- laughing like crazy at myself and just having fun hanging out with my girl! Remember the neighbor? Well, the other neighbors drove up and stayed outside (pretending not to be watching) then another one across the street came outside and stood at her doorstep. You know secretely, they probably had visions of getting a good laugh themselves watching me wipe out... Sorry to disappoint! Lesson #1 in skateboarding 101 wen pretty good. Taylor will be shredding it up soon and I get to file this memory in my mind forever! What joy God gave to me when he gave me my daughter! Just because she is a teenager now, doesn't mean that the days of first's are long gone. We have plenty more first to celebrate together as a family. I look forward to sharing them all with her dad (and the love of my life) Bobby!