What is wrong with somewhere in the middle?

Have you ever noticed during an election year, the "media" which is always liberal and for the democrat candidate period.....will start labeling people. Conservatives are racists freaks and the democrats are the only ones who have a brain because they are the only open minded ones. I was sitting there watching the most liberal of liberal CNN and wanting to throw something at the TV over Sarah Palin. Do you know right now I love America more than ever? The stupid moron journalists really don't get what the average "joe" American is getting......no matter what we will make history in November. We WILL have either the first African-American President OR we will (hallelujah) have a woman in the White House. O.k......begin ranting......why is it whether in the home, workplace or politics...if you are woman who is intelligent, professional, progressive, hard working you are a b*&^$. I am thrilled beyond words that my daughter (someone also with an opinion and a mind of her own) is watching history in the making. I am pumped. I am excited! There are moments that have shaped America forever I do believe this one we will look back on and see a major shift in America (no matter how you vote). So where do I stand? I have always been a card carrying Conservative. The older I get the more my convictions are not so cut and dry. HEAR ME....there are some issues I will not sway on because they are based on the WORD OF GOD! The MOMENT OF CONCEPTION IS THE MOMENT OF LIFE! But you know before then YOU WERE ALREADY THOUGHT OF. I DO BELIEVE in the right for a man or WOMAN to bear arms and protect themselves. Now more than ever considering where I live. I DO BELIEVE in the equality of MEN AND WOMEN no matter the skin color, religion or sexual orientation. That is where I think I draw more of a moderate side to what I believe. I do believe in the American dream and I believe the only thing that should matter in the interview process of a career is if you are QUALIFIED for the job..... Alot of my conservative friends would probably disagree with me. I could go on and on about what I WILL NOT SWAY ON but I must admit there are truly social issues that I think we need correcting. HEALTHCARE IS A HUGE issue for me. I DO NOT BELIEVE IN SOCIALIZED MEDICINE because I have worked in the healthcare field for 20 years...I have seen it work at it's best and I have seen it at it's worse. I have seen the rich guy (who didn't even have his insurance billed) receive the best care and I have seen tests not ordered for the poor (both black AND white). That is why I am pumped about this election. But FOR GOODNESS SAKES MEDIA.....open the floor for true debate. Quick worshiping your candidate and allow this beautiful free process of AMERICA THE HOME OF FREE AND BRAVE to play out. ALLOW WE THE PEOPLE TO MAKE OUR DECISION. And again, no matter what AMERICA get pumped you are watching history unfold right before your eyes!

Don't eat that you will get man boobs!

I absolutely love to laugh. Whether it is my daughter's wonderful second language, her brother and her together, commercials on TV or just the thought of my friend Shelia saying "happy place, happy place, happy place". It doesn't take much for me to laugh. It is something in my life that is consistent. I know that no matter how bad a day I will come home and SOMEBODY will say something, move, dance, make a noise that will make me bust out laughing. I guess that is why God says it is the best medicine! Take for instance today, it was a rather stressful day. There is just a lot of heartache in the this world, my inner circle, my family, my friends....a lot of pain. It doesn't take much for me to get overwhelmed in grief and overcome with sadness over so much pain. I think we SHOULD feel.....be sympathetic to those around us who are hurting, give a shoulder, money, advice maybe just simply be there. Have you noticed or is it just me how much cancer there is around...how much disease. Just today two more people I know got this devastating diagnosis. Yes, I know it is not always a death sentence but it is a life sentence no matter what! So when it is too much, I must admit, that when it is simply too much I literally run home to the ones I know will get me laughing in seconds flat! It is a look, a hug that is a little longer than normal...there is a moment in my sweet family where they pick up on the fact I need the world to go away and the laughter and love to begin! So tonight, as my very slender, very in shape husband reached for chocolate and pretzels my daughter said "don't eat that you will get man boobs!" and the laughter, payback, tickling and utter silliness began!

Saying Goodbye

I can't believe once again the moment has come for my oldest to go back to school. I have watched him turn from an unsure, not so steady on the feet young teen to a strong, capable, confident, assured man. It feels like this process took forever and yet as I watched him pack up his car to return back to Starkville, it felt like a second had passed since he was a small child. There is something so awful about saying goodbye. I saw a Mom and Dad do it yesterday as they watched their oldest go down the aisle into the arms of the man she loved. Things will never be the same again. The wedding was beautiful and Liz was such a gorgeous bride but I couldn't help but watch Pat and Chet's face. Their little girl will now live somewhere else, have her own dreams, turn to her husband instead of them for MOST things. AS IT SHOULD BE, I KNOW, but still so sad to a Mom still so sad. I watched another Mother dance with her son for the Mom/Son dance. He smiled, a bit embarrassed by his Mom's tears, and yet she cried anyway. I can understand her tears. I watched as a teenage girl who is so desperate to spend just a few more moments with her brother asked to stay with him, drive home with him, be with him. She doesn't want to say goodbye. So, today I said goodbye to my little boy once again. I am so proud. I am so excited for him. He is doing EXACTLY what he needs to do...and yet as I watched him go down the driveway my mind immediately went back to a little boy who dressed in a power ranger outfit begged me not to go to work one day..."Please don't go Mommy...I miss you so when you are gone." I know exactly how that little boy felt.

Totally insane.......

Yes, I am doing one of those random/ review things...because I have not blogged all week and my mind is just spinning.
1. What Olympic Judging School do you go to to judge like these ignorant judges?
2. Did you see the weightlifting guy who turned his elbow inside out? OWWWWWWWWW
3. I absolutely hate the stupid Pizza Hut commercial where the girl acts all french....STUPID!!
4. Tomorrow I will attend Brandi's sister wedding and it occurred to me that unless Val beats them to it, the next wedding I will attend from that family will be Scott and Brandi's wedding. Wow!
5. I can't believe Scott goes back to school this weekend. Where did the Summer go? It makes me want to cry. I will miss him so much!
6. My girl is absolutely AMAZING on the vibraphone? If you don't know attend a BHS game and let her turn you into a fan.
7. After 7 months of work, I called in sick yesterday. I wanted to go a whole year without a sick day....URGGGGHH
8. My husband is the most incredible man in the entire world.
9. My Mom is one of the funniest "proper" people I have ever met.
10. My Megan and Ashleigh have a language all their own....the last conversation they had mentioned milking camels and what is Ash's Dad really was a woman. THEY CRACK ME FLAT UP!
11. I can not quit listening to Passion's God of This City CD!! Tomlin is just amazing!
12. I love my church and can't wait til Sunday. I didn't see anyone from my old church until lately and now I am seeing EVERYBODY! Wow! Where did they come from?
13. I have a friend at work that I never saw coming. She is black and as you know I am white...and we are 100% comfortable with each other. She can dare to be herself and I can too without reservation. I am so grateful where God is taking me. Oh so grateful.
14. I am making an AWESOME dinner tonight for my family!

Later!!! Gotta cook!

I love these moments

This was on of the weekends that will stay in my mind and heart as a great memory. Scott and Jeff headed south to move Scott's back into Mississippi State. I guess it didn't break my heart as much because he actually brought Scott back home with him. Brandi's sister is getting married this weekend so the kids get to stay one more week. One more week.......in this last week....the extra laundry doesn't bother me, or the fact that he leaves his clothes sitting around like the rapture occurred. NO not this week. Well, while the men were away the ladies played. Actually, we went to Liz's wedding shower and then hung out. I absolutely love hanging with my daughter. So much is biding for her attention, and Mom will slowly go to the bottom of the list. But, for one weekend I was Queen! When nothing else is louder than me, we can have the best talks. She is growing up to be so compassionate, funny and discerning. The one thing that blew my mind was that I heard her saying things like me. She would respond to people as I would respond to people. It hit me like a clap of thunder that I am instilling in her some of my ways...both good and bad. This weekend, I was so proud of the fact she has developed my concern for the older generation. She has developed my concern for people who have that "look" on their face of discouragement. She has become a people watcher. To end this great weekend we attended church where we started a brand new series called Parenthood. Our Pastor was so funny. If you were not there you would not understand any of this but you must ask for chocolate covered oreos, YES I do know the song "Delta Dawn..what's that flower you have on" AND we only have a window, a very small window to instill in our children, our generation's love of Jesus.....and the window is closed and they open their own beliefs, prejudices, successes, etc. Oh Lord....I want a wide open window with my precious daughter. I am thankful for the talks, I am thankful for the hugs, and the "you are the greatest Mom."I am grateful for a husband of 21 years who shows my daughter how a husband MUST be. Oh Lord I am grateful. I loved this weekend!

82, 41, 33, 27.........

82, 41, 33, 27.....These are the ages of the people in my life that I found out had cancer this week. Those are the ages of people who will forever be changed. Two men and two ladies. I find myself shocked, still, even going through all my Mom has gone through. Seeing the waiting room packed every time I am at West. I am still awed as I watch a life changed forever because of cancer. After your breath is taken away, you have that numbing moment....you know not really got your breath back and just beginning to feel the sting. And four different times, talking to four different families I relived the moment our family was changed. There is a distinct look on a family face, it is a look of being lost, out of focus, nothing seems real. Everyone is going about their every day life, but you are in a fog trying to imagine if life will ever be the same again. I think one of the most real statements said to me by one of these precious families was "I never thought we would end up like this...this just hit us out of nowhere." And of course, there from the beginning, whether you believe or not..is God. It is amazing to me, how much you talk about Him in moments like this. With 3 of 4 of these amazing families, I had never talked about God more than talking about loving church this weekend, or how He is blessing my family. But a dead serious discussion about God didn't happen until things got dead serious. I am quickly reminded that there is a purpose in everything good and bad. God is with us in these drastic moments but He also wants us to use these drastic moments for His glory..for His purpose...for Him. A Grandfather, a father, two husbands, a farmer, a businessman, a new wife, a mother, a church secretary, a daughter, a student, college graduate, politician....four cancer patients....four families with one huge thing in common....common ground...united in a battle for their lives against the same enemy in different forms. As my Mom would say, it is not a time for sleep you must get up and fight.

Breaking dawn......LITERALLY

O.k. so the latest craze in this whole world is the Stephanie Meyer's Twilight series. My daughter and all her friends absolutely love it. I love my daughter loves to read anything and everything. Thank you to all the authors out there who are writing relative books for these young girls. Well, this Friday night was the premiere @ midnight (so that would make it actually Saturday) of the latest of the series "Breaking Dawn". Now, let me side track just for a moment. One of my very friends rebuked me for allowing my daughter to read a Vampire series. This same friend went to go see The Dark Knight and talked about how wonderful it was and wanted to see it again and again. Now...(she knows I am mentioning this by the way)....here is how I won the debate...IT IS ALL ENTERTAINMENT. So, when you see a man dressed in a purple suit with distorted make up walking down the street, I will tell my child to quit reading FICTION! Anyway...back to the premiere. Growing up in the Graves Home was different in alot of ways. My father was disabled and could not drive. My Mom never learned to drive (I don't blame her....crazy drivers) and so we walked or took the bus to where ever we wanted to go. I LOVED to read myself. My Mom knew this and knew that my favorite book was coming out. We saved up ( trust me very little money for extras). Our saving included bottles (yes you could get money from them) and looking for coins in the sewers (yes I did that too). Anyway, when I finally saved enough for my book...my Mom walked me to the store to buy it. Now when I say walked......we walked MILES to our nearest store. During this walk, we talked about EVERYTHING. I can still remember the talk, I can still remember the warmth of my Mom's hand. I do not remember being tired from the walk....as a matter of fact I don't remember it being trouble at all. Now for my Mom, who had worked all day in the house and had three other children to deal with...I am sure she can remember aching muscles. It is with this wonderful memory I wanted to create a memory for Megan. So, yes, I stayed up WAY past my bedtime and took Ashleigh and my Megan to the midnight party for this book at the Davis Kidd Bookstore. They did a wonderful job premiering this book! There was vampire smoothies, tons of giveaways (which Ashleigh won one) and then the final moment with the 10 second countdown. There is something about a new book that smells so good. After they came home, I gave them permission to stay up ALL night and read. About 4:00 a.m. I peeked in to see them both flipping pages. At 6:00 a.m. I peeked in and both were sound asleep and Megan with the book on her chest. At that moment I was proud of my Mom moment. The greatest part......Megan hugging me so tight and said "I will never forget this...you are the greatest Mom in the whole world!". Well, actually I am the second greatest Mom in the whole world but I did have SOOOO much fun!