Baby Garner

When I was a senior in high school, there was a song called “New Age Girl” by a band called “Dead Eye Dick.” They were a one-hit-wonder band and this was their only real hit, mostly famous for it’s line, “She don’t eat meat but she sure likes the bone.” *evil grin* I thought about being a vegetarian and, when I finally moved out of my parents house and into a dorm and took control of what food I ate/provided myself, I tried it. I did good. I gave up meat for a whole 3 months and then caved and went to eating mostly poultry. I still ate red meat some, but poultry was the backbone of my meat diet.

Later, at a different college and stage in my life, I joined PETA. Yup. I also joined NOW (National Organization for Women) that year, too. Oh, that was the year Rush Limbaugh ticked me off by calling all members of NOW a “Femi-nazi.”  Grrrrr. That’s another story for another day.  So, here I was a meat eating member of PETA. I didn’t tell a single one of them. I was scared those people would duct tape me to a tree, pour water all over me and leave me like that on a cold January night. They scared me. I don’t scare easy, either.

As the years went by, I have tried to live a “green,” eco-friendly, “crunchy” lifestyle as possible. Partially because I was raised by a frugal mom and a former hippy, and partially because I have always felt we each need to do our part to take care of this Earth that we’ve been put on. Taking care of animals just seemed natural because they’re part of our eco-system, too.

I was given a fur coat when I was 7. I read the label and it was made of rabbit and I honestly hated wearing that jacket after I read the label. I cried. There was some cold, naked bunny out there that had given up it’s fur for my jacket (Hello?!? I was SEVEN. I didn’t realize that the bunny had given up much more than it’s fur so that I could wear a cute coat to church on Sundays.) In high school, when all the other girls were getting brown leather bomber jackets, I said I wanted one so I could look like the other girls, but secretly…. I wanted to go to Space Camp, but knew there was no way in heaven my parents could afford that. I didn’t think my parents could afford the leather bomber jacket, either, but somehow… that Christmas morning, that’s what I got. I wore it. I wanted my parents to know I was grateful for the sacrifices (overtime) that they’d made so that I could be just like everyone else. That’s what most high school kids want, right? To be just like everyone else.

When I accidentally spilled nail polish on it at a sleepover at Jenny White’s house, I was horribly upset not because I’d ruined the jacket, but because my parents worked their tails off so I could have such a nice luxury and I had been careless with it.  I then “stole” my dad’s canvas London Fog coat and haven’t drooled over leather since. I started trying to buy shoes that were made with vinyl, even though they’re cheaper both in price and usually in quality, I felt better about buying them. Same with everything else…I avoid leather and fur.

I never thought that I was trying to fit into a culture or a lifestyle. I just thought I was doing what I felt was right. Now, I have found myself eliminating red meat from my diet totally, eliminating pork from my diet, and I’ve decreased the amount of poultry I eat to about 25% of what I used to.  Recently, I’ve started eliminating dairy, too, to find that without it in our diets, our skin conditions are clearing up. I started eating tofu…and I found that I like it. A lot. I started driving by cattle ranches and crying knowing that most of those adorable cows that my kids are yelling, “MOOOOOOOOOOO” at will end up on someone’s plate at Ruth’s Chris or in someone near and dear to my heart’s hot dog bun. (Tee-hee)

I see pigs and I don’t think bacon, I think pet!! (Did I mention I tried to have one, once?  Just didn’t work out in this city house…I need to make friends with someone with a farm that’ll let me keep my pet piggy there…. oh, yeah, Kara’s got a farm….. oh Karaaaaaaaaaaa…..) Anyways, after that Honeybaked ham sandwich said “Bah-Ram-Ewe” to me….and to this day, I swear that sandwich moved it’s mouth and talked, I couldn’t eat pork for a year. It paved the way for giving it up entirely.

About 9 months ago, a new friend breezed into my life in such a way that I know our friendship was meant to be. She’s a vegan, at least she tries her best to be. No one’s perfect. Last week, she struggled when people from two circles of her life got upset in a Facebook post.

Lately, I have realized that I’m leading more of a “vegan” lifestyle than I thought. I don’t want to label myself as that, or anything else for that matter, though. I just want to be me. I don’t want to try to fit into anyone else’s mold. I won’t be able to. I just want to do what I’m comfortable doing and live my life without having to define my beliefs and lifestyle. I want to let my freak flag fly and I want to embrace it without having to justify it to anyone.

Why do people want us to fit into compartments, anyway? Do they think it’s just easier than accepting us for who we are, in the entirety that we are? Not a single one of us fits into one circle completely without fitting into any other circle. We’re all multi-faceted. Why is it that some people don’t accept us as such?

I love my friend and all her facets, just as I love all of my friends and their facets. I know they love me, too, with all of my many sides. I’m one very blessed woman to have so many truly amazing people in my life. People that accept me for who I am, without judgement and without caring that I feed my kids beef when they request it or that I have a leather bomber jacket with nail polish all over the left front pocket hanging in my closet still. People that are ok with the fact that I do eat processed foods every now and then and I have been known to hit the soda when I’ve had a hard day (which, in case you didn’t know, if you ever see me with a full on soda….it’s been THAT BAD of a day). People that are just as ok that I spend extra money on my meat from Earth Fare, my vegetables from an organic co-op, and I pay extra for fair trade coffee and that it takes me months to find a pair of shoes I want to purchase because they don’t have any animal products in them.

I can only pray that everyone finds friends like mine.  Each of my friends are a jewel and I love you all.

I saved the best for last. I’m grateful for my husband, Richard. The word “husband” does not sum up all that this man is to me, though. He completes me; he is my best friend; he is my rock:  He’s my everything. When I have royally screwed up, this amazing man has forgiven me and never brought it up again. He stood by me during rough times and stood back when I needed him to. When I have been down, he lifted me up. When I began to stray from the right path, he waited patiently and gently nudged me back. He is the most generous man I know. The man has never told me no (well, except for telling me we can’t have a pig nor a goat as pets… Which reminds me, I haven’t asked him for a chicken yet, hrrrrrrrrrm….). He’s never told me no otherwise, though. I’ve never really had to ask for much, either. He’s given it freely and completely and sometimes, when he didn’t want to, he gave it anyway with a smile and a shake of his head.

I know very few men that would be comfortable with their wives having as many guy friends as I have. Yet, Richard sits back and lets me be myself and doesn’t restrict who I build friendships with. When I’m having a rough time with one of them, he’s there to offer advice and hugs, but has never once told me to stop caring about someone. He knows I couldn’t stop caring if I tried and he loves me for that, too.

I thank God every single day for you, Richard. I would be nothing without you. Then. Now. Always.

Strange happenings….As most of you know already, I’m on a mission. It’s not a diet. It’s not a fad. It’s not a mid-life crisis….ok, well maybe it is. I am a changed woman.

In fall of last year, I wasn’t happy with what I saw in the mirror. I started dieting. I saw a photograph of me taken at the Women’s Retreat for our church. I honestly didn’t recognize myself. I STARED at the photo wondering who that woman was that had on a pink shirt like me and jeans like me with brown hair like me. Then it hit me. It was ME! I was THAT FAT.

The fire that was half-dying roared to life.  I let the holidays slow me down, but in the spring, I gained back my momentum and I have lost a total of 31 pounds since I started back in the fall. I am SO HAPPY. I won’t stop. I don’t WANT to stop. I started exercising and I LIKE IT! I look forward to those bike rides where my legs are burning and I push on. I get excited when I go for a walk/jog, now. I have this grin on my face before and after (sometimes during, but not always).

This strange thing is happening to me. I am finding my arms getting more toned. My legs are shaping up. I am dropping clothing sizes like a toddler drops a bowl of food. I am finding myself looking in the mirror more and I’m happy about what I see there. I’m not to where I want to be, but I’m happy. I find myself looking at food totally different. Dave Ramsey taught me to be smart about how I spend money, now I’m learning to be smart about how I spend calories. I’ll pass on the cheese sticks, thanks. That “a’plenty” at The Beacon?….nah, just the sandwich, please. I’m turning down things that I just used to eat and not think anything about. I can walk on by Little Debbie. She’s not crying because she doesn’t miss me and I’m not crying because I don’t miss her.

We only get one body. We’re only here for a limited time. Sure, I’m praying my place in Heaven is secure, but I don’t want to go there tomorrow. I want to hang out here as long as I can. There is too much that I want to see and too many things I want to do. I’m going to get this body back into a healthy condition and I’m going to keep it there. I’m also going to start working on my “Bucket List.” I don’t know why I waited until now.

Look out, world. I’m on fire and I’m still just a pile of kindling. Watch my glow get bigger and brighter.

Susan’s Bucket List

1) Ride on a motorcycle

2) Go to the Grand Canyon and take the donkey tour and the helicopter tour

3) Watch Old Faithful in person

4) Find that redwood tree with the road in the middle of it and drive through it.

5) Go to New York and tour all the Ghostbusters locations.

6)Australia!!! SCUBA dive in the Great Barrier Reef, Sky-gaze the skies that we don’t get to see here.

7)Get my college degrees finished up.

8)Backpack in Europe

9) Walk along the Great Wall of China

10) Swim with Dolphins and Manatees (obviously, not at the same time)

11) Go to Hawaii, rent a kayak and blare the Magnum PI theme song while I’m kayaking.

12) Own a restored VW Microbus. Have it painted chartreuse and have “11 long haired friends of Jesus” words put on the back. Watch people’s reactions as they try to get it.

13) Drive a Lamborghini Cointach–I dunno. I just think they’re PRETTY

14)Sky dive

15) Rent a plane and buy a banner that reads “Free appetizers and beer at Mulumbaika Cafe in Myrtle Beach for the next two hours! Hurry!! ” to watch how many people leave the beach. (ok, not really on my list, but it’s funny to think about).

Thanks for reading this and thanks for being my friend. I hope I started a little fire in you, too.

Peace out and lots of love!!

We don’t take a lot of week long vacations. We prefer weekend trips. We got into this habit when we were broke and couldn’t do much. Here are some of the places we’ve visited and some ideas for cheap trips.

1. Lake Lure and Chimney Rock –  You don’t need to drive to the beach and fight traffic to find a beach.Lake Lure has a beach, water works, and picnic area.  It’s $8 for adults and $6 for kids 3 and up. Take a boat tour of the lake for $14 per adult and $7 for kids. Right now, Chimney Rock’s elevator is closed for renovations. This means more walking for you, but also it means cheaper prices! $14 for grown ups and for kids 6 and up it’s $6. Under 6 is free! They have some beautiful trails and you can walk up to the top of Chimney Rock for fabulous views of Lake Lure. There’s also a relatively short (1.5 miles, I think, one way) hiking trail to Hickory Nut Falls. It’s gorgeous.  Lodging can be a bit expensive right there on the lake. I suggest you find something in Hendersonville, NC that’ll suit your needs. It’s only 20 minutes or so away, so it’s not unreasonable to go back to Hendersonville for sleep.  Hendersonville also has a great park that’s got walking/biking trails and playgrounds for getting those wiggles out before you head home. Lake Lure has some bottomless pools that are pretty cool to look at.

2.Lake Norman State Park is also a great place to find a beach. They’ve added what they call a WaterWorks area, which looks like a few slides from the photos I’ve seen. It’s in Troutman, NC. Wanna save big time on hotels? Camp! There’s a campground there in the park.

3. Stone Mountain, GA is a wonderful park with something for everyone. It’s got a sky gondola that takes you up the mountain where they even have church services on Sundays. It’s really neat to walk around on the rock, but windy, so take a jacket. The park itself has minigolf, a train ride around the mountain, a “4-D” movie, a ropes course for older kids, and parades at Christmastime. You can’t forget the laser show, either. It’s a 22 minute long commercial for all things Southern, pretty much, but they’re in lasers shown on the rock wall of the mountain. It was actually pretty cool, if you can get past all the rednecks that yell out when “Sweet Home, Alabama”  starts up. You just can’t theme anything Southern without playing it, for some reason. Coca-Cola and Chick-Fil-A are big names that are featured because they were founded in Atlanta, which is nearby. Speaking of Atlanta, while at Stone Mountain, visit the Fernbank Museum. GREAT little museum. It’s got dinosaur skeletons and TWO wonderful children’s areas. Good luck  trying to get the kids out of that. If you stay in Stone Mountain at one of the Marriotts, it will be a little more expensive, but this is offset because you can get a package that’s good for not one day in the park, but two days in the park. So, if you spend one day and you’re done, you’ve already got your tickets that don’t expire for another trip! There are cheaper places off site to stay. There’s a water park there, too, as well as The Ducks!! The Ducks are DUCWs from WW2, I think. They’re vehicles that can be boats or can be trucks on land. The tour takes you around the mountain and then into the lake, where the tour guides let the kids “drive.” Each guest gets a quacker noise maker and they play upbeat music like “Who let the dogs out” but you’re supposed to sing “Who let the DUCKS out” and quack your quacker. Another good luck getting your kid away from that. It’s extra, but it’s something really cool. It’s a great weekend trip.

3. Columbia, SC —not just for day trips! Stay overnight and go tubing, visit the zoo, walk the Riverwalk park off of Huger, visit the State Museum (which has a kid’s area in the basement), visit Ed Venture (the children’s museum is great for the 3-8 range, but I feel it’s over-priced, personally.) I plan on buying a membership to another children’s museum that has a reciprocal program that includes EV. (EV’s membership is $160 in order to get the reciprocal program. Oak Ridge, TN’s Children’s museum membership like that is only $120 and I bet you I can find one cheaper than that…. give me a couple of hours and I’ll post it. Buying memberships to zoos and museums is an awesome, awesome way to save money on trips. Plus, you get the benefit of being able to go to that attraction when you are home any time you want. ) Columbia also offers our state’s Capitol building which is great to walk around. If you go on a weekend in the fall, you might be able to catch a Gamecocks Football game or the State Fair.

4. Helen, GA (stole this one from Lynette!) She traveled there for a weekend full of tubing, mini-golf, checking out waterfalls, and there’s a model railroad there, too, for all of you that have train fanatics in your group. There’s gem panning and if you go in the fall, there’s a corn maze and wineries, too, if that’s your thing. The town is made to look like an Alpine Village. How cool is that? There is a wide variety of accommodations available. Check out www.helenga.org for more information.

5. Chattanooga, TN– There is so much to do here! There is a fabulous Aquarium that takes up two buildings, the River Adventure and the Ocean Adventure. Ticket prices can add up depending on family size, but it’s well worth it, I feel. There’s an IMAX theater and river tours on a boat for additional cost. Right out front, though, for free, is a really neat water play area. It’s designed to look like a creek in the middle of town. Kiddos kick off their shoes and play in the water while parents sit down on a bench or toss down a blanket to sit by and watch. The whole area there is great just to hang out and wander around. There are lots of city parks with cool things to do and the Chattanooga Zoo, while small, isn’t expensive at $8 for adults and $5 for kids over 3. It has a very nice carousel. The merry-go-round is $1 extra, though. The park that it’s located in has a waterplay area, too, for free.  Also in the area, there’s Lake Winnie amusement park which has BOGO wristbands on Fridays if you bring in a Coca-Cola can. We love that park. It’s also got a sprayground and a playground, too, and picnics are welcome. Since it’s a wristband, you can leave and come back anytime during the day.

Rock City Gardens are GORGEOUS! There are some really great formations there (well, except for the fairyland cavern area…that was cheesy).  Still, on a clear day, you can see seven states from the top of it. That’s so cool!  At Christmas time, they have a night tour which is really pretty with all of the lights. Nearby is Ruby Falls and the Incline Railway. Honestly, the Incline Railway was a bit of a let down, but the kids liked it. Ruby Falls is a waterfall inside a cave. It’s really pretty and on a hot day, it feels fabulous down there. Watch out for weekends, though. Crowds get bad and the tour goes from being a 1 hour tour to a 2.5 hour tour because you have to keep waiting for other groups to pass by. It was a really pretty sight, though. They let you walk behind the falls, too, and look down which is really neat.

I didn’t mention the train museum, either. There’s a train museum with different length train rides and some cool trains you can climb in and on and through. The famous Chattanooga Choo Choo is in down town and has been turned into a hotel where you can spend the night in a remodeled train car. This is closer to the expensive side, so we’ve not done it.

There’s so much to do in Chattanooga, you’ll find yourself wanting to go back. Things we’ve not done yet include the highly rated Creative Discovery Children’s Museum and The Ducks (which are like those at Stone Mountain, GA). The children’s museum gets really crowded on weekends, too, I hear. We’ll have to go during the week sometime. It’s $11 per person, kids 2 and up.

6. Blowing Rock/Boone- Blowing Rock City has The Blowing Rock, which has a story behind it about someone falling over and the wind picking them up (I forgot the whole story). It’s a small fee to check out, but neat. The town itself is a cute little town with lots of little stores to check out. There’s a nice park right there in town that the kids can play at as a reward for being good in the shops. Tweetsie Railroad (I know y’all saw this coming) is a fabulous little theme park and isn’t horribly expensive. If you go after 3, the next day’s admission is free, so you can get that extra 3 hours in and only pay for one day. Food is allowed, so tote your own picnic or leave it in the car and get your hand stamped. There’s picnic tables in the parking lot and a great area to lay down a blanket for a picnic, too. Take your own drinks in and just enjoy not having to spend that extra $. It’s got a deer park and a train ride with “cowboys and indians” and all kinds of rides for the kiddos, even the older kiddos. If the chair lift isn’t your thing, you can take the bus ride to the top.  We love Tweetsie because it’s clean, it’s family friendly, and all of the employees seem genuinely HAPPY to have a job and work there. They are all very great with kids and I have yet to see one that wasn’t smiling. Right next door is Mystery Hill, which is a pretty neat hands on musuem and gem panning. In Boone, there’s mini-golf, all kinds of hotels to choose from, dining, and Appalachian State football! There’s a corn maze/farm right up the road if you go in the fall, also. You are practically on the Blue Ridge Parkway, which has lots of beautiful overlooks and scenery as well as Grandfather Mountain. Grandfather mountain has a nice bear exhibit, and is home to “The Mile High Swinging Bridge” It’s a mile above sea level, not a mile above the ground as one might think. It’s got a great picnic area and some hiking trails and a neat nature museum, too. Right down the road is Linville Caverns. They’re small, but super. They still have bottomless pools and fish in them…blind fish. Isn’t that cool?? Linville Falls is a little further down the road and about a 1.5 mile hike, so we’ve not done them yet. I hear it’s beautiful, though. The falls are free, for anyone to stop and check out as most everything on the Blue Ridge Parkway is. Linville Caverns is a cheap $7 per grown up, $5 per kid over 5. Grandfather Mountain’s $15 per grown up and $7 per kid over 4.  All that within a 2 hour drive. How awesome is that?!?!

7. Gatlinburg is a gimme. The mountains, the national forest, the cool things to do in the national forest that are free…the walking around the town of Gatlinburg, the mini-golf on the side of a mountain and the aquarium make this a wonderful weekend trip. Pigeon Forge is just up the road one way and that has a world of stuff to do from outlet malls to Dollywood. Dollywood’s pricey, but if you go after 6 on one day, you get the next day free, so it’s great to be able to have that extra time in the park.

8. Myrtle Beach in the WINTER- Fantastic prices! Even at the places that have indoor pools/indoor water parks. You won’t find me going there during anytime past May 1st. Seriously. I refuse to pay that much for a hotel room. Some rooms are as cheap as $35 a night!! You can still check out the Broadway at the Beach area and Magiquest is open year-round with a free “garden” quest that takes place by sending the kids on a scavenger hunt of sorts through the Broadway at the Beach marketplace. I think the amusement rides are open on some days, but when we don’t want to spend the money, we steer the kids away from them. The aquarium is pretty nice, but is pricey, so if you go during the winter, it’s less crowded and you can use the money you saved on rooms to take this in.  There are some nice parks in the area, but check with a couple of locals first. Once, I was going to take the kids to a park to find out (thankfully before we got there) that it was where the local homeless community hangs out and was full of panhandlers.

9. Camping ANYWHERE! Don’t like camping? Check out a campground with cabins. They have pools, playgrounds, bike rentals, and you can just spend the day there at the campground hanging out meeting people from all over, enjoying being disconnected from tv, internet, and just being with your family. Take food along and cook there! A lot of them have nature trails, or are near things like creeks or lakes you can fish in (most are catch and release, though).

I’ve got more, but the kids are getting up, so it’s time for me to transform into Super Mama! Where-ever I go, I try to find a room that’s got a kitchen or at least a micro-fridge. I try to cook as many meals in the hotel room as I can and we sometimes stop at rest areas or city parks for sandwiches. It really helps us a lot. It’s $25-$30 average for us to go for fast food like Chick-Fil-A or Subway and $50 something for a sit-down meal for all of us. It might cost $15-$20 more for the room with the kitchen, but it’s more economic than paying to eat out. If I can’t get a room with a kitchen, but one that has a microwave, I use my tupperware stack microwave cooker for pasta and toss in some sauce I’ve warmed up in another container, for example, or I’ll just serve different types of sandwiches all weekend.

I hope I helped some of you with cheap trip ideas. We live in an amazing area with lots of possibilities within a 4 hour drive. Go out and enjoy!!!

I have a confession. Dennis, I’m sorry. The real reason I didn’t want to take the SCUBA class with you is because I was embarrassed to admit that I was PETRIFIED of the idea of taking a perfectly good breathing apparatus out of my mouth underwater. I did want a woman teacher, but I also didn’t want to face that fear in front of people I know. I didn’t want anyone I know to see me come out of my confident facade as the nearly freaked out mess I was Saturday for a little while.

Instead, I faced my fear (after 3-4 small anxiety attacks) in a class of 5 teenage boys and 1 just barely not a teenage boy firefighter.  I did it. I laid down on the bottom of a pool and I took my regulator out and then stuck it back in my mouth. I have a small mouth. The mouthpiece on my regulator was HUGE. I gulped pool water (and that’s ok with me…know why? It’s chlorinated pool water… ya catching my vibe, Mandi? ). I had to open my mouth wide open and let water rush into it in order to put the regulator back in and clear it. I was so happy I conquered a fear!!!!!  Since I passed that test, I could stay underwater for the rest of the class and I did. I hung out with the guys and we played underwater football with one of those torpedo float thingees. I loved it. I can’t wait to get certified totally. I am still working on that other issue of swimming in fresh water, but I’ll take some  more baby steps and get there.

I also did something REALLY cool for me and it had NOTHING to do with SCUBA, well almost nothing. I’ve lost so much weight that I needed a new swimsuit. I bought a nice one piece, and the biggest thing different…. NO SKIRT! I went all leg. It’s the first time since I was pregnant with Christopher that I wasn’t wearing something to try to hide or cover up my toosh. I know it’s still big and so is the belly, but they’re shrinking away and are NOT coming back. I’m stoked! (I know….I know… simple pleasures….dot dot dot).

I spent today with the church family at Vaughn Chapel Baptist in Lenoir City, TN. I was over the moon to see everyone, again. I hated to leave. The pastor spoke on Galatians 5:16 and walking with Jesus and not giving in to sins of the flesh (it lists a whole bunch, not just the sex ones). He reminded me that people are watching, even when we don’t think anyone is. God is watching always, of course. It was a great short and sweet sermon.

The reason I love VCBC is the people. I never once felt like a visitor. I didn’t have to fill out some piece of paper and throw it into the offering plate, I didn’t have to wear a name tag. Heck, everyone knew us before we got there, it seemed. Our van’s SC license tag stuck out like a sore thumb among all of the TN ones, but we didn’t stick out at all. We fit right in. We were treated just like we come there every week and we’re their family, too. Brittany picked up Becca out of her car seat and Becca soaked up every minute of the attention. Wesley was grabbed up by Micheal, who pulled him up in a big bear hug before I was even done making sure I had the sippy cups out of the car. My kids were on cloud nine! There were three shining stars that weren’t there today, but that’s ok, we’ll catch them next time.

When we were in the car on the way home, I told Richard how I felt and he replied “We’re not driving 6 hours to go to church.” I said, “It’s not six, it’s four and a half and we won’t. We’ll just move here.”  I got a “heh”  in response, but that’s probably because he couldn’t figure out if I was joking or serious. By the way, Babe: both.

Ok, this blog’s long enough. I’m headed off to dreamland. I have to pick up our Summer buddy in the morning and I promised Wesley a train museum tomorrow since he missed out on the train ride at the Chattanooga one.

I leave you with this:

Things I learned this past week:

1) If you go SCUBA diving or swimming in a lake or quarry– wash your gear off. It stinks!!

2) It is possible to go home to a place you’ve never been.

3) I need a minuscule mouth piece for SCUBA.

4) Mandi Lamb goes to a restaurant and checks out the shoes on other ladies, but won’t ask them where they bought them.

5) People look at you funny in a SCUBA class when you say, “I checked the motion sickness line.”

6) I am forever more taking along a jug of sweet tea I’ve made at home on trips. It was SO EASY to refill tupperware cups and sippy cups instead of running into a store or a drive through every time someone piped up “I’m thirsty!”

7) When you’re at a hotel, there’s people of all walks of life in there. It’s just a coincidence that all the ones over 70 are incredibly nosy people.

For some reason, I guess as part of an urban-renewal plan, a LOT of cities are building VERY nice parks in the not so very nice parts of town. What’s up with that? Because it’s a nice park doesn’t mean I’m not scared to leave the car for fear that it might be on cinder blocks when I get back from walking that trail beside a storm drain ditch you call a “greenway.”

9)Cathy Potter likes candles.

10) I like SCUBA and I CAN TOO do anything if I try hard enough and pray about it.

Eight years ago, this month,  I found out that I have a condition called Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome, or PCOS. It’s a form of diabetes. Essentially, my body doesn’t process carbs and has a hard time with sugar. You’d think I would have changed my habits for good a long time ago, but I changed long enough to get pregnant and then I went back to eating what I want, and just watched my sugar intake. The next time I wanted to get pregnant, I did the diet and then right after I got the positive result, I reverted to my old ways, again, just limiting my sugar intake. Baby #3? Same thing. I did the coconut diet, which is an awesome diet, by the way. I found out I was pregnant and the diet went out the door again.

In October, I went on a women’s retreat for my church. A few weeks later, someone posted photos of it and I didn’t recognize myself. Honestly, I stared at that photo for about 3 minutes trying to rack my brain as to who that was. I have a shirt like that and she wore glasses, too. Then it hit me, I was THAT FAT.  I cried and cried at how fat I got.

I knew that I was obese. I just didn’t know that I was *that* obese.

No more. I am tired of not being able to walk up a flight of stairs without huffing. I’m tired of having to buy clothes in the “Women’s” Department (at Kohl’s, they usually have nothing but a bunch of clothes that look like moo-moo’s).

I started last fall with what I thought would be just another diet. It’s since evolved into a lifestyle change. I’m exercising daily and my husband and I are getting the kids involved. I’ve spoken to my eldest and explained to him that Richard and I are not the size we should be. We’re obese and it’s affecting our health. I have had blood pressure issues and I don’t want them again. I don’t want to be prone to heart disease or diabetes.

I’d joined Spark People, but I wasn’t sticking to it. I joined My Fitness Pal and I’m having a great experience with it. It’s like Facebook where I can get support from others and we can comment on each other’s food diaries.

I’m really doing this thing this time around. It’s going to be permanent. I am in Fat Rehab and I’m not getting out of here until I’ve totally changed all of my habits for good and don’t need the Calorie Tracker to keep me on track.

I’ve set several goals for myself.

July 2011- I want to be at my Pre-Becca weight of 200 lbs. (I’m close, now).

October 2011- I want to be at my Pre-Wesley weight of 190 lb.s

December 2011- I want to fit into the size 16 red dress that I LOVE. I might not have anywhere to wear that dress, but I want to put it on and dance around the house in it.

2012:

Sometime in 2012– I want to run a 5K. I’m planning on starting Couch to 5K soon.

I’m sure I’ll add more goals as I continue this journey. I’m excited and motivated. This is going to change my life and I can’t wait. I finally got mad enough to check in to Rehab. It’s going to be a great life and I’m going to soak up every minute of it instead of eating myself into an early grave.

So, anyone wanna join me? It’s a great place to be!!

When you were a kid, did you ever make yourself a treasure box out of a shoe box or something small and hide it where only you could find it? I trusted my gems to my metal Heathcliff lunch box after I was done using it for school. It had a squeaky lid that always annoyed me, but every time I opened it, I overlooked the squeak because I was getting to look at my precious things. I hid it in a hole that was under my window that led to the crawl space under the house. There was a hole that was about two feet wide and one foot tall in the brick skirt foundation and my dad had a board propped up to close it up so the cats couldn’t get in. I put all sorts of stuff in it that I didn’t trust to leave just laying around my room.

As we grow up, our “treasures” change. I once had a yin-yang necklace from an ex boyfriend that was special to me and my Hard Rock Cafe Guitar Pin collection. Now, my treasures that I hold dearest to me aren’t pieces of jewelry at all. They’re my children. I accept and admit that part of the reason I enjoy homeschooling them so much is that I get to keep them around me all the time. I soak up every moment I have with them, even the ones when they’re fighting. They’re only going to fight for a few years. I’ll blink and they’ll be graduating from an Ivy League School with Honors.

I didn’t “get it” when I became a nanny to Gabriel and Angela. I loved and still love those kids and I tried my best to take really great care of them. I goofed sometimes and I made way too many sun catchers with them. Their parents were awesome about all of my mistakes. They knew my heart was in the right place. When I became a Mom, I finally “got it.”  They are a parent’s greatest treasure and more valuable than anything material.

Now, someone else has trusted their treasure to me and today told me I can take their other treasure pretty much anytime I want (just to ask, first). I can’t explain how honored, excited, happy, and humbled that made me. They trust their treasures to ME. ME! I get to be a part of these children’s lives and I get to watch them grow, play, and learn. I get to be there when they’re having a bad day and need support, hugs, or just a chat. It’s amazing and I enjoy it all. I’m incredibly blessed to have such great friends and I’m even more blessed to have the opportunity to be in these children’s lives as much as I am. I feel so special  and grateful that they’re allowing me to watch them.

I promise to be the best treasure chest I can be. Even though I have some flaws, like the squeaky lid, I promise you, I will always cherish your treasures as I cherish my own. Thank you for this. I’m learning and growing just as much as they are, if not more. <3

Have you ever felt like God was trying to tell you something, but you just couldn’t get what He was saying?  That’s where I am. Last year, I was hesitant about dropping my kids off at a new VBS at Second Baptist Church. I don’t know what led me there, it was just this feeling that I couldn’t explain. I just felt this tug at my heart that I needed to do that. I walked in and after the first few confusing moments of confusion, I felt totally at ease. I felt as if we belonged there. I became  enamored with the youth group and was surprised to find out they’re from another church almost 5 hours drive away and they come here as a mission trip.

I always thought mission trips were to far away countries or impoverished areas. I never imagined they would be to 1 mile from my house. I found myself sticking around during the VBS just to talk with the kids and get to know them.I thought about them all year and so did my kids. Christopher wanted to send his teachers Christmas gifts this past Christmas.

This year, when the signs went up in the church’s front yard announcing VBS, I got excited because I’d get to see them again. On Monday night, I was more excited to take the kids to the church than they were. I practically bounced up and down in my car seat.

While I did grieve for the loss of a friend this week, the week at Second Baptist was amazing. I got to know more youth this year and I got to know the ones from last year a little better. I felt moved to provide them a meal. I wish I’d thought about it more in advance and I would have been able to provide more for them. I honestly wanted to invite them all to my house to hang out and watch a movie. I wish I could get all of them in my small house. LOL

I was upset when it was time to leave on Friday night. I didn’t want to leave the group. They were being a bit wild and I should have put on my Mom Voice and started giving them what for, but I could only find myself looking at them and trying to make memories of each of them.

I told Richard that if he didn’t have such a great job here, I’d be willing to move there. I want my kids to be around those kids. I want them to become like them. I want my kids to feel 100% comfortable kneeling at an altar to pray in front of a bunch of people they don’t know and I want them to have the support of all of their friends. When one of them went up to pray, it was an amazing sight to see the rest of the youth group en masse go support him and pray with him. It was amazing to see the hugs and pats on the back he got afterwards as he was in tears. A teenage guy in tears with other teenage guys supporting him. WOW. Just…. how can you NOT love that and want your kids to be able to get in on that?

I’ve added some of them to my Facebook and I’m already planning a trip to see them at their church next month. I LOVE this group of kids. Truly. There’s GOT to be a reason why. This is not ordinary. They are extraordinary.

So, what’s the message? What am I missing?? What is God trying to tell me? There’s got to be a reason for the “feeling” I got last year to go there and there’s got to be something more than just seeing these kids once a year. I feel it in my soul that there’s more to this than I’m seeing. God’s just not revealed the plan, yet. If He has, I’ve not deciphered it.

I’m praying and waiting for the answer to come to me. I’m not sure when it will be, but I can feel that God’s working with me. I am excited and I can’t wait to see which direction He’s going to take me. Where-ever it will be, whatever it will be, I will be giving Him all the glory I can and rejoicing His name in every way I can.

As most of you know already, my neighbor, Bobby Thompson, passed away at the age of 48 this past Wednesday. He left behind his wife, Norma, also 48 and their two children, Britney (26) and Josh (24).  Bobby had been fighting cancer for 8 years. That man fought like I’ve never seen anyone else fight before. He didn’t let anything stop him from doing what he wanted to do. A couple of months ago, he was building and installing built in shelving on one side of their fireplace and a built in desk on the other side. Before that, he replaced their deck. He didn’t just do a repair job. The man replaced it totally by himself and fighting cancer the whole time. He always had hope and Jesus. He never ceased to amaze me.

I know that Norma and Bobby never realized how much they meant to me and my children. My kids ran to the window and banged on it and hollered out hellos to them every time they saw them. It was one of the sweetest memories I have the moment Bobby first heard Christopher say his name and the reaction on Bobby’s face was priceless. Bobby watched my children grow and he watched them play. I’d kick the boys outside to play for a while and I’d stick my head out to discover Bobby on their back porch just watching them with a grin on his face. Bobby came to birthday parties and family gatherings and he and Norma invited us to theirs. Today, I arrived just in the nick of time to the service as the family was being seated and I was asked by an usher if I was family. I almost replied,” Close enough” because that is always how they have treated us.

When I started a team for Relay for Life and everyone left me alone by 10 pm, it was Bobby that helped me move my tent and table closer to their campsite so that I could hang out with them. It was them that got me involved in being an advocate for The American Cancer Society.

It was them that led me to going back to church. I saw him and Norma going weekly and how happy they were. We were happy with each other in our marriage, but I saw that we lacked that glow that The Thompsons had. So, one Sunday morning, I watched them leave and I made my mind up. I walked to the bedroom and woke up Richard and told him I wanted to go to church. I considered myself Christian, but I had gone astray. Two weeks later, I rededicated my life to God and I discovered what the glow was and we had it.

There are nice guys, great guys, and then there’s Bobby. He was on a whole other level of a wonderful human being. He was an Air Force Desert Storm Veteran, a Rock Hill Fire Fighter, and he was a Rock Hill Bearcat.

The funeral today was the most unique, but best funeral I have ever been to, if there is such a thing as a great funeral. There was a flower arrangement in the shape of the RHHS Bearcat “paw print.” The opening song was the RHHS Alma Mater. The moment the first finger was raised (Bearcats know what I mean), I lost it. I haven’t ever cried as much at a funeral as I did at this one today. I had to bite my finger and thumb to stop myself from weeping loudly. I was a blubbering mess and in no shape to drive, so I actually handed the keys to Richard.

When we were leaving the graveside, I noticed the USC Gamecock logo on the corners of the casket and I lost it, again. I couldn’t even bring the words to my lips to explain to Richard what I was pointing at.

We will miss Bobby greatly. I will miss seeing him almost every day, walking around the yard, sitting on his front porch with his feet kicked up reading the newspaper, taking the T-tops off of Hope, his green camaro, hearing his laughter and conversation as he and Norma sat outside and enjoyed the weather, watching fireworks with them, watching thunderstorms roll in, watching his kids and now my kids grow up, etc. He was more than my neighbor. He was an amazing friend, role model, and one fantastic man.

Goodbye, Bobby. Thanks for everything you never knew you did and thanks for being who you were.

DOO-do-doooooooo WAAANH-WAAANH-WAAAANH *Old West Bad Guy Musical Intro*

I stared at my nemesis. I looked him up. I looked him down. I flipped him over and rolled him around. I googled. I planned. I attacked. I whacked off the top. I whacked off the bottom. I stared at him some more. I paced. It looked at me and said, “See? You can’t cut me!!! You can’t even cut a TOMATO!!!” I had it. I took off one of his sides. He spat at me. The juice somehow got in my eye behind my glasses. OH!!! It burned, it burned!!! I let him think he’d won. I looked for the Candid Camera hidden camera.  I found some goggles. I pounced when he had his back turned talking to Miss Honey Dew. Yes. He had his back turned and I stabbed him in the back. I’m not proud. He rests, now, in pieces in a nice Tupperware container picked out by his cousins, Straw and Blue Berries.

Tomorrow, we will have a memorial brunch for him. Just for kicks, we’re calling it a Father’s Day Brunch. Really, though, it’s to celebrate the death of Pine Apple. The most sour fruit to ever lay down on my cutting board. Murdering Pine Apple taught me a few lessons, though.

1) My friends will love me even though the pineapple bits in the fruit salad aren’t perfect (none of us are).

2)It is worth the extra money to get the pre-cut kind.

3)I need to give up looking for that hidden camera. If I keep looking for it, someone’s going to think I’ve got a paranoia about being watched.

4) I finally confessed to myself. I buy the Roma tomatoes not because of the taste, but because they’re easier to cut.

5) When I next volunteer to prep food for an event, I’ll find out exactly what foods I’ll be prepping first.

6) Googling doesn’t always help, but it sure is fun to say.

7)  I need a bigger knife.

8 ) The Bible just said we can do all things through Christ. It didn’t say we’d do them well.

9) Don’t get cocky and turn my back because someone might be standing behind me with ill intent.

10) I need to recognize and remember my flaws, but not dwell on them.

11) I really don’t like pineapple (nor Pina Coladas…but getting caught in the rain ROCKS).

Farewell for now, folks. May your knives be sharpened and your sense of humor intact the next time you prepare food. <3