So....I have been OK about updating but not great. I will continue to improve on that. There has been SO much going on lately. Let's see, the weekend of April 9th Starla and I took off on another one of our mini road trips. We always make it home before the day ends but often get lost a number of times along the way. That is part of what makes it so fun. We venture off somewhere new and always see something a little scary and something amazingly beautiful it seems. We have a good time though rain or shine. We ended up making a huge day of it and went all sorts of places and found all sorts of "new" places. New to us at least. We finished off in Johnson City with dinner and then started our drive home. It was supposed to have stormed all day but ended up being sunny and beautiful. Just as we were headed out the rain started. Just as we entered the Green Co line on I81 there was a tornado warning over the radio and about that same moment we started getting pounded by hail the size of golf balls and even bigger. Needless to say it made the almost full hour that we sat there, moving no further than maybe a quarter mile if that - VERY LONG! Let me just say, the abrupt Tornado Warnings is not something that happens around here. When it does, it usually doesn't end well. I guess we can say that is one down fall of living in these beautiful mountains! It was not fun for sure! When all was said and done and when the reports from Green Co residents and officials were coming over the radio before we even made it home I was just THANKFUL. My sister said that mom called her and told her when she spoke with me (while I was sitting in the storm with nowhere to go) that I was handling this all quite well. I was. I just kept reminding myself (even though I just had my car repainted!) that this is why I have insurance and that Starla and I were OK. We even got out of it without any broken car windows unlike a lot of other people. We were safe and in the end that was really all that mattered. They had a tornado come through when my mom was little and one of her sisters (my aunt) actually got picked up by one and is still with us today! I will try and remember to upload the video we took on the interstate later, don't have it with me at the moment.
April 27th-28th - This event already has a Wikipedia page! That is just crazy! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tornadoes_of_2011 Of course, this page is not fully updated and will continue to change. That last streak we had like this I believe the news said was 1974 and even that when did not create the death toll that this past week did. Over 342 was the last count released over 6 states. Alabama, they were absolutely pounded by the fury of mother nature. Greene Co, Tennessee (mind you, where Starla and I sat on the interstate just on the 8th) was hard hit in our area. They are still cleaning up. Everyone is still cleaning up in all 6 states and several are still doing "Recovery" and there are news posts of tons of "missing". It has all just been crazy. It catches everyone off guard here because Like I said, especially in the area I live in, this sort of thing just doesn't happen every season! Lots of thoughts and prayers still going on in my heart and mind for ALL who are dealing with this.
 |
| His daddy doesn't allow his face on the internet but he is a doll! |
 |
| I love having this park so close to me! |
 |
| Biltmore Gardens |
May 1, 2011 (US)
US forces kill Osama bin Laden in Pakistan
'Justice has been done,' Obama says; 9/11 mastermind is buried at sea after deadly gunbattle"
Well now, this has clearly been a long time coming. From the moment it was announced I have watched the posts on FB and read peoples comments, not saying too much on the matter. I have a friend currently in the Middle East who will be leaving in another week or so headed for India. I have another friend, hopefully, on their way here now. They were in Dubai and headed this way but by the 20th will be heading straight back to the Middle East (using this loosely, I know, can't really give out a specific location). I hope they both along with everyone else are safe as they travel. There has been a lot of talk in regards to the US respecting the Religion of this man. Without getting into religion it can be simply put that we are taught from a young age that "Two wrongs do not make a right". I think that for us to stoop down to the level of our enemies does nothing but show we are no better than they are. This is a pretty clear rule that we have learned at one time or another in our lives. It is also a good thing to point out that in being respectful of that we are not out to enrage others just so we can behave like a bunch of jerks! If you want to get all religious about it. As Christians we are taught to love all of God's children. That does not discriminate between race, sex, religion, region or anything else. It is a simple and clear rule. We are taught that it is not our place to judge others, that is God's place. If we choose to be disrespectful of someone elses beliefs then you are not being very "Christian". It goes to the whole being a hypocrite thing. It is like "selective hearing", so many people chose to be "Christian" but only when it suits their current needs. They have created "Selective Christianity". I would like to say that everyone's disrespectful outbursts will have no role in what the future now holds given this recent and long awaited news but I feel that more than ever it will not go as planned. I guess only time will tell. I have saw a few people that have spoken well in their response. I will share what my friend Rita Davis posted with you as it is the one that resonates with me.
pray that in this instance - we will be thankful and somber at the events unfolding. None of us can correctly judge this man, situation or these people for eternity... let's keep that in mind - we will all stand before God at some point. But by Grace We Will Be Saved! Let's not be self righteous.
I think that everyone truly needs to make more of an effort to be respectful of others. I have a lot of friends with very different views in life. Some are straight, some are gay, they are of all nationalities, some are true Christians and some don't believe. I DO NOT Judge them based on these things. It is simply not my place to. I need to live my life within the boundaries I set for myself, not someone else. I embrace all of my friends and all of their differences. If I don't want someone telling me that I can't believe in GOD and I can't believe in loving whom ever it may be that I choose to love then I clearly have no right telling someone else. They have the same right I have and if I expect them to respect mine I have to respect theirs as well. In the end, for me, we are ALL children of GOD and it is his place, not ours. I appreciate the eclectic group of people I have in my life and I learn something from all of them and in the end if they can learn something positive from me, I am happy with that. If they were all just like me, well I would venture to say my back yard would be filled with holes 6' deep....LOL
My mom just LOVES the word HYPOCRITE! Ha ha ha. I remember one day my brother using that word and mom turned and immediately asked for the definition of Hypocrite, when Brandon could not tell her he ended up writing the definition until he could never forget it! LOL Trust me, there is an upside to being the baby in the family. The first time I told my mom that she "irked" me, I damn well knew the spelling and definition. I knew better! Gotta love my mom!
By the way mom, thanks for waking me up! I call and check on mom every morning as I am driving to work so when I had not called and it was later than my normal time she called me.
I hear this wonderful song in my ear, I keep turning it down though because I am sleeping! Finally I hear more lovely music in my ear and I pick up the phone and see mom's smiling face:
me: grrrrr Hello!
mom: what are you doing?
me: I am laying here!
mom: Are you still asleep?!?
me: No, I am waking up....geeesh.....
mom: You are supposed to be at work! You overslept!
me: OH CRAP!
mom: You better call work!
bawhahahahahahahaha......Happy Monday Morning!
It is not sufficient to be worthy of respect
in order to be respected.
~ Alfred Nobel
Respect for ourselves guides our morals;
respect for others guides our manners.
~ Laurence Sterne
No comments:
Post a Comment