2006 - Another year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

The end of an era

As I walked to my car, I looked back over my shoulder with a brave smile and there she still stood on her porch, also wearing a brave smile. One last time she waved her hand in that beauty pageant contestant way and said "I love your hair, hope you win!" as we've done a million times before, and I blinked rapidly at the moisture gathering and waved back and said "I love YOUR hair, I hope you win. You've always been a winner with me"

I turned back quickly before the tears could fall and nearly ran the last few steps to my car. I got in and swiped angrily at the tears that wouldn't be contained, started my car and looked back, but she was gone.

And as I drove away, I felt the end of the chapter, the end of the era. We've grown up now. Twenty-five years as friends and neighbors, confidants and sisters... we've seen each other through heartaches and failures and amazing victories. We've consoled and celebrated each other. We've fought bitterly and loved deeply. We've been down so many twisted crazy roads together, but this is one road I can't see her down, an unavoidable fork that has forced us onto different paths. A part of me goes with her, and a part of her stays with me. I wonder if we'll ever be completely complete again. And I heave a deep sigh of sorrow. I can see her house in my rear view mirror and her lovely smiling green eyes in my mind, and I miss her already.

Guide to loving a cat!

All true cat lovers know that the first step to loving a cat is accepting a few things about them that make them uniquely feline. Cats are proud and independent and vain; but they are absolutely gorgeous animals after all so they have plenty of reason to be vain. They are graceful and sleek and playful and moody. Cats are truly loyal creatures, and gaining the trust of a feline is one of the most precious and difficult things to acquire, and one of the most delicate possessions to retain. It is truly worth the effort to have a loyal cat.


There are few pleasures greater than a cat who will curl up in your lap and vibrate and purr as you tickle her chin or stroke her back or rub her tummy. Cats are completely hedonistic and devoted to a sensual lifestyle. A playful cat will afford you hours of amusement with household items as simple as a string or a ball, and a loving cat will keep your lap warm for hours on end. And a cat who will sneak up on you and pounce for fun is worth her weight in gold!


The most essential skill of a cat lover is reading a cat’s body language. They will tell you what they are feeling. Do not try to play with a cat in a loving mood or love on a cat in a playful mood; you may catch the end of her claws.


Do not be fooled, a kitty is a big commitment. While dogs are overtly present in your life, a cat has a more understated and elegant presence. One of the essential differences in cats and dogs is that while a human may tame a dog, a cat will tame her human. If you take good care of her, she will lower your stress, preen for your pleasure and give you hours of love and affection. But if you neglect a cat or fail to give her the attention she deserves (or has come to expect from you), you can only imagine her kitty-claw wrath.

Cats are truly complex creatures. Something vitally important to remember about cats is that each one is completely unique with her own personality and characteristics. Cats can be as varied and unpredictable as the humans that love them.

So this is your introduction to loving a cat. Now don’t you wish you had one? ;)

Halloween Party

Pics from the party last night... we had a blast! And it should go without saying but, Ghezal is HOT!
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Ransomed! (for His Glory!)

So Mosaic sponsored a college and singles camping trip (if you can call staying in a very nice cabin camping, that is!) in Tahlequah Oklahoma at the Illinois River this weekend... and as usual, I went crazy with the camera! Here are the photos... keep in mind they are shrunk for web-viewing, and if anyone would like a CD of the photos, just let me know, I'll be happy to oblige!

Celebration!

Thank you, friends, for all of your congratulations and encouragement. You all are just simply amazing!

Friday night, several of us (all of my co-workers and many of my friends) went out to CityWalk in OKC to celebrate our passing the test. So... here are the very few pictures we managed to take. =)


Celebration Photos!

I PASSED!!

Woowooo! I passed the test for my company. It was easily the hardest most brutal test I've ever taken... but now its past, and I'm certified. Yippeee! So glad to have it behind me. =)

Thanks for all the prayers and words of encouragement, my friends. It helped me so much!

T-Day!

Yes, that's right... Test Day is upon me. In 12 hours I'll be dressing and heading into work to begin the three-day test process. An awful-lot of people are confident I'll pass...good thing I'm one of them! hah!

While I'm not exactly excited about the test, I do think I'm ready, and more than that, I'm ready to get it over. My friend, LeAnn, said to me today, "Fake it until you make it!" which is funny, but exactly what I'm planning on.

So anyway, pray for me, but don't count on hearing from me for a few days! If you're really bored, you can go check out My Xanga Home and see what my community is up to! I'll talk to ya on the other side!

Worth...

Have you ever written a note on your hand; a reminder, or a name or a number or something? Having no intention of keeping it there, just a temporary minder until you can find a more permanent place to store the information... then you rub spit on it until it comes off, or if its really stubborn ink, you give in and go find soap and water.

I think that's a common enough practice, that I will be surprised if anyone can honestly deny using their hand as a notebook at some point in their life.

This week I've been reminded of my worth to God several times over, but I really want to share this extraordinary passage from Isaiah 49:15&16:

"Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me."

Engraved me on the palms of His hands! Now, I admit to writing notes or names or numbers on my hands, but I've never engraved anything there! I've never wanted anything quite that permanent or painful on my hands! But God has engraved us on the palms of His hands. My first thought was... What big hands! And they are! They hold the whole world, not just world, but entire universe, known and unknown, in them... and considering that, I realized how important we must be, that He would support an entire universe in His hands, but ENGRAVE us on His hands. What permanence and worth and love in that act. How a Creator so great could find enough worth in me to engrave me on the palms of His hands, I cannot fathom, but I know it is true, and I am humbled by Him!

:Not studying!

Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26

Yes, so I should be studying... instead I'm remembering that ALL things are possible with God. And if I know anything, it is that I have God. The outcome of the coming test is so insignificant in comparison to trusting Him for EVERYTHING. Now if I can just hang onto the feeling in this moment... that's the challenge!

:End Not Studying!