More of the Powerhouse, Vestal Goodman

Had to post one more video of a more recent Vestal Goodman. RIP, Vestal!

floridapanhandlegal.blogspot.com is now nwflgal.blogspot.com

Quick note and a funky video for y'all. I decided to change the name of my blog after it came to my attention that it looked like florida panhand legal.blogspot.com. So the new name hopefully will do me for the duration.

I fnally got the lawn mowed today. The back yard had not been done yet this year. See earlier blog from 3 weeks ago! Dad happened to be by one day and by some sort of magic touch was able to start it and he mowed the front yard.

Satisfied indeed was I when after disasembling the dadblame carburetor, cleaning it (flushing my eye for 10 minutes after getting dangerous carb cleaning chemical spewed into eye), putting it all back together and it STARTED! Finally, after trying everything under the sun, it starts every time now. Cool!

Here's a funky video of Vestal Goodman (great old gospel singer now passed) as requested by cousin Joan:

Sick Days

I went to bed at 10pm last night, after a day at my backbreaking cleaning job (it was better - I totally have a system now). This pic is what I woke to at 11:30 am. A picture speaks 1000 words. I'll leave it at that. Dogs are great aren't they? Ever present comfort. Other comforts: Jesus, advil, pseudofed, Mama Gladys, Cousin Joan, iced green tea with honey/lemon...


What's on my mind today:

All of these shootings are sad and scary. Here's a prayer for all involved, the souls of the murdered, the shooters, the folks that are contemplating such acts, etc. Please include all those dealing with the Swine Flu outbreak here and our neighbors in Mexico, their families, Mexican brothers and sisters here in the US.
Prayer is from this link -> http://www.scborromeo.org/prayers/guadalup.htm:

Our Lady of Guadalupe, mystical rose, intercede for the Church, protect the Holy Father, help all who invoke You in their necessities. Since You are the ever Virgin Mary and Mother of the True God, obtain for us from Your Most Holy Son the grace of a firm and sure hope amid bitterness of life, as well as an ardent love and the precious gift of final perseverance.

Dearest Lady, fruitful Mother of Holiness, teach me Your ways of gentleness and strength. Hear my prayer, offered with deep felt confidence to beg this favor.

O Mary, conceived without sin, I come to your throne of grace to share the fervent devotion of your faithful Mexican children who call to Thee under the glorious title "Guadalupe" - the Virgin who crushed the serpent.

Queen of Martyrs, whose Immaculate Heart was pierced by seven swords of grief, help me to walk valiantly amid the sharp thorns strewn across my path. Invoke the Holy Spirit of Wisdom to fortify my will to frequent the Sacraments so that, thus enlightened and strengthened, I may prefer God to all creatures and shun every occasion of sin.

Help me, as a living branch of the Vine that is Jesus Christ, to exemplify His divine charity always seeking the good of others. Queen of Apostles, aid me to win souls for the Sacred Heart of my Savior. Keep my apostolate fearless, dynamic, and articulate, to proclaim the loving solitude of Our Father in Heaven so that the wayward may heed His pleading and obtain pardon, through the merits of Your Merciful Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Amen.

Our Lady of Guadalupe is the patron Saint of North America.

Puppy Linux 4.1.2 Barebones Retro

Pic is from photobucket and, of course, is of some super old computer gizmo, not the one I'm speaking about below.

Hello All. It's been a couple of days since I posted I think. On top of all my unemployment disappointments, I have a sore throat and feel blicky! Waaahhhh!

I've spent this sick day working on (read killing time, playing, etc) getting this old Toshiba 1625cdt/4.3 laptop going with linux. I am a total linux newbie and came across it when I was trying to reload windows 98se with a boot disk. Now I know that can't be done. I messed up the hard drive partitions, basically. Other facts about this laptop: around 400 mhz, 192 ram, 20 gig hard drive. I'm posting from it right now!

Puppy Linux os has been interesting to take a look at today. It comes bundled sort of like windows and it's free. You make bootable disks from the internet and it runs from your cdrom. After messing with it a bit I got it to save settings, boot faster, and cdrom is usable. I still have to boot with cdrom. It's been fun fiddling with it. Seamonkey browser seems to work ok. It's a bit slow, though. I can't get video to work and not sure about sound. I finally got a word processor to work and I think it's called Text master or something to that effect. It is free also. Linux Puppy was the only Linux thang that wasn't over my head and people use it on old machines. It will be great for camping (lots of koa's have wifi), using in my car, etc.

Being Earth Day and all, I decided to get this old thing going because I know what great machines they are. It's about 8-10 years old, clunky, and has been used very little. I hate to throw it out. Happy Earth day to all!

Oh, thanks to Amy for the comments. I also wanted to mention how great it is to be around my neices - watching Natalie get ready for the prom, and Casey navigating young adulthood/college. They're great girlies! I miss that Matty (nephew) in WY immensely!

Bobbie! Play Penduli Pendulum!

I've had another full day on the computer putting into effect all the things the feller at Computer Masters in Navarre told me. Well, I did spend a little too long this a.m. on an old beater computer I was using to practice on. Thankfully I had an old wireless notebook card lying around. Otherwise I would've been in a pickle, as I wouldn't have had Internet access for drivers. Blah, Blah, Blah.

Thanks, Mardi, for all the thoughtful comments!

Still haven't heard from Cloud10. I'm firing off an email this eve, now that the computer is pristine and in hyper deluxe working order. Time will tell.

Above is a video of a longtime fave, Bobbie Gentry. The title of this post refers to a long running and comical bit of silliness between my pal Amy and me. We joke that if Bobbie were to ever come out of her reclusivity (No one really knows where she is!) and had a concert, we would hold up our lighters and plead "Bobbie! Play Penduli Pendulum!". You had to be there, I guess, AND you have to hear the song.

The song in the video is "Fancy" and her dancing cracks me up. Every move is planned and she has that soulful, scratchy voiced thing going on. She's awesome and I thought it fitting for my first video post. I finally figured out how to do it.

Peace!

Divine Mercy Sunday

Pic is from photobucket.com

Get ready. I'm going to wax spiritual for a minute here. Today is divine mercy Sunday. This is an important feast day for me. Before I became Catholic I was going through some hard times. Toward the end of it I came to a spiritual understanding that soothed and calmed my soul and continues to do so even now. This was not a revelation or vision. It was just an understanding of the ways of God. I knew that I was loved by God and that I was supposed to trust Jesus. So, when I learned about St Faustina, the divine mercy image and the inscription at the bottom of the image (Jesus, I trust you), it was a confirmation of sorts. Everything I'm quoting here, I know to be true from other sources (pamphlets from church, St Faustina diary, etc). The folks I use for quotes explain more clearly than I ever could, instead of explaining it all myself.

A bit about this celebration from Wikipedia:

According to the notebooks of Saint Faustina, Jesus made the following statements about this day: "On that day the very depths of My tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of My mercy. The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. On that day all the divine floodgates through which grace flow are opened. Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet. My mercy is so great that no mind, be it of man or of angel, will be able to fathom it throughout all eternity." (Diary of Saint Faustina, 699)

Famous quote of Pope John Paul II on first celebration of Divine Mercy Sunday, 2001:

The elevation to the honors of the altar of this humble religious, a daughter of my land, is not only a gift for Poland but for all humanity. Indeed the message she brought is the appropriate and incisive answer that God wanted to offer to the questions and expectations of human beings in our time, marked by terrible tragedies. Jesus said to Sr. Faustina one day: "Mankind will not have peace until it turns with trust to My mercy" (Diary, 300). Divine Mercy! This is the Easter gift that the Church receives from the risen Christ and offers to humanity at the dawn of the third millennium.

About the image (see picture above) from Wikipedia:The painting shows Jesus raising his right hand in a gesture of blessing and pointing with his left hand on His chest from which gush forth two rays: one red and one white (translucent). The picture by Adolf Hyla contains the message "Jesus, I trust in You!" (Polish: Jezu ufam Tobie) shown underneath to emphasize the meaning of the figure. The rays streaming out have symbolic meaning: red for the blood of Jesus (which is the life of souls) and pale for the water (which justify souls) (from Diary - 299). The whole image is symbolic of the mercy, forgiveness and love of God.

My comment: When we receive mercy, we are able to be merciful.

Keep On Truckin'

This is just a quick post, primarily because I don't want to get out of the habit of posting every day. Haven't heard back from Cloud10 about rescheduling training. Choosing not to worry about it.

Boring details:

1. I finished up laundry for my backbreaking cleaning job tomorrow.
2. Ran to Pensacola with my dad to look at the possibility of getting a new computer. We did not because it's hard to get them new with Windows XP - a Cloud10 requirement. A requirement I'm starting to disagree with. (Chuckle - the visual of my dad and me actually running to P'cola - by the bay, on 98, over the bridge, etc -Silly).
3. Suffered most of the day with cramps (I'll leave it at that).
4. Ended up talking again to Computer Masters Tech guy extraordinaire, Steve. He gave me some good advice about wiping my computer again and a better way to reload Windows. He also ruled out the possible problem with the headset, which I had pretty much already ruled out with some other tests.
5. Spent eve in recliner with adorable wee min pin, Coco, snoozing at my feet on recliner while I loaded every possible necessity and driver onto thumb drive. So's I kin git to crackin' on the reloadin' of the Operatin' Seestom tomorrah eve. Oh, all occurred while Les Miserables played on the DVD and Cheryl commented often to my "uh huh". (You KNOW Les Miz viewing was inspired by the lovely Miss Susan Boyle. )

Yahoo Cap'n Phillips (Sp?) has made it home safely!

Funny pic of a sleepy Coco taken by me.

More Setbacks and an Open Door

Man, I've had another trying couple of days. As you know, I was all set to begin my training with Cloud10 this past Tuesday. My computer had other ideas. The tech folks at Cloud10 are outstanding! They are patient and do everything possible to get you up and running, but to no avail.

Last night I had to completely wipe my hard drive and reinstall windows. Today all of the Cloud10 stuff had to be reinstalled, a process in itself. When it got down to trying my headset, all was lost again and my computer froze with the dread "kernal error". I have to either get my computer looked at by a computer shop or try a new headset. I'm waiting to hear from my supervisor, as we speak, to see what my options are with Cloud10, since training is under way. Bummer. WITHOUT ME!

The good news: Ever the Polyanna, I got all my training info for www.homeEDdirectory.com yesterday and soon will be up and running with the selling of the ads for this homeschool directory started by a homeschooling mom out of Phoenix. Thankfully, this iron in the fire is sparking up at the same time the other iron is smouldering.

Just continuing to jump through hoops as they are coming in front of me, one jump at a time.

My mind turns to others: Our US Gov't as it seeks to deal with our country's issues, all of us working stiffs as we try to deal with our country's issues, hostages on pirate ships, all the folks who go hungry every day in our country and abroad, the children in Africa who are missing a whole generation of parents, our priests and religious and other caregivers in our nation and abroad. The innocent unborn are included as well.

The pic was taken by yours truly of our Easter feast. (Sis Cheryl behind the lily, Casey and her beau Tyler on her left, and Natalie and her beau Chris on her right. Quick aside: I read a bit today about the Easter season and the jyst(sp?) was that it can be seen as a time of alms, prayer, and feasting. Instead of the alms, prayer, and fasting of lent. Live and learn!

God bless all who happen upon my blog this day!

An Erratic Few Days

Wow. It seems like whatever could go wrong has gone wrong over the last few days. Sunday morning I was to go up to Birmingham to welcome my cousin into the Catholic church. I had some nausea and was unable to go. She ended up bringing all of my stuff from Birmingham yesterday, spending the night, and heading back up today. Very sweet!

:THEN after my Dad, the steadiest fellow in the world, made arrangements to buy some property, he decided it wasn't a good idea after all. See earlier post about said, GIDDY property. The property will not be purchased. Oh well, I'm disappointed, but easy come easy go. My dad is getting older and can't quite manage business transactions the way he used to.

My plan to change a lot of my ads over to fair trade and "green" ads has not panned out. I've been turned down by quite a few. Mostly because my traffic is too slow - I guess.

The last straw was during my first night of training tonight with Cloud10. I'm going along great for the first 3 hours. Everything was working great. Computer and headset were giving me no troubles whatsoever. After the break, my computer starts running slowly, and I can hear not one thing. Thankfully one of the other students transcribed everything that was going on through the chat feature. The first few days are for getting kinks worked out, so I didn't miss any content. But, dang, it's been an up and down few days.

Oh well. Life spins this way sometimes. An old, old country gospel song comes to mind: "Praaaayyeeeeze Gaaawwwdd Ennyhowwwwww"! I am an annoying Pollyanna. My sister Cheryl would probably not agree. Just call me Crankella Deville. GRRRRRR!

Pic is of sis Cheryl's dog Gracie. My sentiments exactly...

Choctawhatchee River

New Interest: boating and birding on the Choctawhatchee River and Holmes Creek - outside of New Hope, FL.

I'm fortunate to have outstanding parents. I didn't always think so, but now in my 40's I have enough real world knowledge to KNOW that I do.

My dad called this morning to inform the 4 of us kids that he bought each of us a lot close to one of the aforementioned rivers. It is a financial move, but all can be used for camping, boating, fishing, birding and the like. Mine has running water and a septic tank.

Picture is from photobucket of a Hooded Merganser. I've seen these during the spring of the year often in my parent's pond outside of Chipley, FL. They're diving ducks. I love water birds!

Easter - Alleluia

Sorry for the font color Rog T. I was trying to add some effect. It was supposed to look red.

Here's the first part of Pope Benedict's Easter Vigil Homily. I haven't read it all yet. I worked my backbreaking cleaning job today and went to St Sylvester's (Navarre) Easter Vigil. It makes me tear up during baptisms, confirmation, and folks coming into full communion with the Church.

You can find Pope Benedict's Easter Vigil homily at this link:
http://www.radiovaticana.org/en1/Articolo.asp?c=279700


Here's the first part:

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Saint Mark tells us in his Gospel that as the disciples came down from the Mount of the Transfiguration, they were discussing among themselves what “rising from the dead” could mean (cf. Mk 9:10). A little earlier, the Lord had foretold his passion and his resurrection after three days. Peter had protested against this prediction of death. But now, they were wondering what could be meant by the word “resurrection”. Could it be that we find ourselves in a similar situation? Christmas, the birth of the divine Infant, we can somehow immediately comprehend. We can love the child, we can imagine that night in Bethlehem, Mary’s joy, the joy of Saint Joseph and the shepherds, the exultation of the angels. But what is resurrection? It does not form part of our experience, and so the message often remains to some degree beyond our understanding, a thing of the past. The Church tries to help us understand it, by expressing this mysterious event in the language of symbols in which we can somehow contemplate this astonishing event. During the Easter Vigil, the Church points out the significance of this day principally through three symbols: light, water, and the new song – the Alleluia.

Picture is from photobucket.



I'm off to Birminham, AL tomorrow to celebrate my cousin Joan coming into full communion with the Church!

Good Friday

This is taken from the following link: http://www.catholic.org/clife/lent/friday.php

On Good Friday, the entire Church fixes her gaze on the Cross at Calvary. Each member of the Church tries to understand at what cost Christ has won our redemption. In the solemn ceremonies of Good Friday, in the Adoration of the Cross, in the chanting of the 'Reproaches', in the reading of the Passion, and in receiving the pre-consecrated Host, we unite ourselves to our Savior, and we contemplate our own death to sin in the Death of our Lord.

The Church - stripped of its ornaments, the altar bare, and with the door of the empty tabernacle standing open - is as if in mourning. In the fourth century the Apostolic Constitutions described this day as a 'day of mourning, not a day of festive joy,' and this day was called the 'Pasch (passage) of the Crucifixion.'

The liturgical observance of this day of Christ's suffering, crucifixion and death evidently has been in existence from the earliest days of the Church. No Mass is celebrated on this day, but the service of Good Friday is called the Mass of the Presanctified because Communion (in the species of bread) which had already been consecrated on Holy Thursday is given to the people .

Traditionally, the organ is silent from Holy Thursday until the Alleluia at the Easter Vigil , as are all bells or other instruments, the only music during this period being unaccompanied chant.

The omission of the prayer of consecration deepens our sense of loss because Mass throughout the year reminds us of the Lord's triumph over death, the source of our joy and blessing. The desolate quality of the rites of this day reminds us of Christ's humiliation and suffering during his Passion.

The picture is from photobucket.com



If interested, http://nwflcatholicgal.blogspot.com/ has daily faith posts.

Check Out Today's Daily Reflection from the USCCB Website

Wow! Today's daily reflection is really powerful. Check it out on the USCCB Website: http://www.usccb.org/video/reflections.shtml

Just click on today's date in the calendar. Also you can listen to the daily readings, for those of us who are auditory learners.


Photo Credit: Tate Gallery, London/Art Resource, NY

Busy Day Ahead

The grass IS getting mowed today! Me thinks me blogging has caused a delay in me household chores - oops.

Yesterday my "getting operational" session went down. The lady was nifty who guided 8-10 of us through the process at cloud10. Props to Portia, the tech multi-tasking guru. In this age of the Jetsons it's pretty stellar that you can do so much over the internet and phone airwaves. Man, we are all sitting in our home offices and getting work done. So neato.

There ARE some crummy things being said about cloud10 on the internet due to a DTV project issue. I chose to stick with cloud10 because so many people in the WAH forums stood by their side. So far, and I realize it's just been a short while, I've seen very patient, professional folks.

I'm slowly changing over some of my ads, and thinking toward having several blogs: Florida Catholic Gal, Florida Online Mall Gal, Florida Cracker Cooking Gal, Florida Living In a Dream World Gal, Florida I Need to Get Off My A*% and Mow the Grass Gal...Har Har Harrrr...

Happy Holy Thursday. If there happen to be any local folks viewing, the Easter Triduum services at St Sylvester's in Navarre, FL are at the following times:

Holy Thursday Mass: 7pm
Good Friday Liturgy: 7pm
Easter Vigil Mass: 7pm
Easter Sunday: 9am & 11am
Easter Spanish Mass: 5pm

Father Kelly has an amazing gift of preaching, so be there or be square :) . Our Lord has done so much for us, can't we be there for Him?

Here's the link to St Sylvester's:

http://www.parishesonline.com/scripts/HostedSites/Org.asp?ID=14435

Blogger 101: Where did my blog traffic go?

This is a curious thing. Earlier this week I had all these folks coming to my site. By yesterday my traffic dropped off to a trickle. It makes me wonder how they got here and why they stopped. I'm looking into it.

Does blogger/Google drive folks to your site for you to get a leg up? Were there pop ups on my site from affiliate program ads that scared my peeps away? Are people still coming but my counters not tracking them? The number from the Blogger monetize tab is different from my counter by about 20. The more I learn the more questions I have. From reading I've done so far, you have to market your site in various ways. One thing I've done is listed my site on my local newspaper website. I may list it on the backs of local Catholic church bulletins. Time will tell.

Speaking of time, mine is running out this am. I have to go set up my modem and phone for my "Getting Operational" session at noon. Dearest Coco the wee min pin is at my side and will be sad when I have to banish her, Festus, and Gracie to the garage for my session. The pic above is of coco taken by her Aunt Cheryl. Keep my computer and me in your prayers this day ;).

Replacing most of my ads!

I had a brainstorm (frightening). Sometimes you just need to see stuff on your site to realize you need to change something. I've decided to replace most of my ads with fair trade ads, ads of interest, and catholic merchandise ads. Stay tuned.

"Getting Operational" was Postponed

Well, I spent pretty much my whole day tweaking this blog. The picture under the title is one I took last November just before driving home to the Southeast. I would like to say right now that I love Picnic App on Flickr. It let me crop and make that pic look better than it actually is. Cool!

I am hooked on blogging! Geepers. Truthfully, my goal is to have three blogs going and to write 330 articles for ehow.com in 6 months. Hopefully my day will consist of writing 2 articles in the a.m., selling ads for 2 hrs/day for www.homeeddirectory.com (really cool site - happy to be getting started with them), working 6.5 hrs/day for Cloud10, posting on one of the three blogs every night. Blah, Blah, Blah. Do anybody really care? Thanks for letting me vent. Long story short: I'm learning blogging so I can quickly make other blogs for income, using my gifts, doing something I enjoy, and spreading Gospel at the same time.

The other two blogs will be a.) Florida Cracker Cooking and b.) Catholic Voter's Guide/Social Issues based on Papa Bennie's Intentions (that's Pope Benedict - I like him a lot, said like the dumb and dumber guy). For that 2nd one I have a couple of guest authors in mind.

Shew, so there you go. Cloud10 was having technical difficulties today and my session was rescheduled, I blogged my bottom off, and I missed my pal Amy's phone call today because my phone was in my bedroom charging. Shout out to that gal who is on spring break up in Media, PA! Here's a prayer for her ailing Gram from www.ourcatholicfaith.org:

Prayer for the Sick
Dear Jesus, Divine Physician and Healer of the sick, we turn to you in this time of illness. O dearest comforter of the troubled, alleviate our worry and sorrow with your gentle love, and grant us the grace and strength to accept this burden. Dear God, we place our worries in your hands. We place our sick under your care and humbly ask that you restore your servant to health again. Above all, grant us the grace to acknowledge your will and know that whatever you do, you do for the love of us. Amen.

How about the earthquake in Italy last night? Please pray a prayer for the departed, their families, those working in and around the area, those affected, the injured, etc.

Father, thanks for another grand day. Amen

Pleasant night to all...

How about this stunning, serendipitous pic taken by dad between Jackson, WY and the Jackson airport.

The Cathedral of the Sacred Heart

Wow, I loved the Palm Sunday mass at the cathedral in Pensacola at the 5:30 pm service. I was kind of bummed that we didn't process in, though. The building is old and cool, with its Spanish flavor. Not one for the more modern influences at a mass, I enjoyed the electric guitar, drums, etc., and I wasn't even put off by the big screen at the front with the words to the hymns projected on it. In fact, I thought it would be a great place for protestant family and friends to attend with me because so much is on the big screen - readings, Nicene Creed, etc. When I first started going to Catholic churches, I remember being sort of flummoxed as to what was going on. Any time family or friends go with me they always ask something along the lines of "what if I don't know what to do?".

Anyway, I'm rambling. I'm such a night owl. It's 1:20am, and I still have some stuff to do to my computer to get ready for my "getting operational" with my new job tomorrow. I better get crackin'. I'm feeling better about my lentin(sp?) journey, I guess. It's not that it's been particularly bothering me, really. It's just that I wanted to include more prayer in my day and wanted to start volunteering at a local homeless shelter. Maybe I can get more of that set up this week. Well, to all a good night. Let's go out with a prayer. Hmmm. Here's the Anima Christi from the EWTN website:

Soul of Christ, sanctify me
Body of Christ, save me
Blood of Christ, inebriate me
Water from Christ's side, wash me
Passion of Christ, strengthen me
O good Jesus, hear me
Within Thy wounds hide me
Suffer me not to be separated from Thee
From the malicious enemy defend me
In the hour of my death call me
And bid me come unto Thee
That I may praise Thee with Thy saints
and with Thy angels
Forever and ever
Amen

Pic is another my Dad took in Alpine, WY

Holy Week

Well, Holy Week is upon us.

My Saturday cleaning job at Navarre Beach kicks my butt so much that I wasn't able to make it to St Sylvester's at 11 am as I usually do. Happily, I've found a 5:30 pm mass at the cathedral in Pensacola that I can make it to. Also, as I said previously on my blog, I've been remiss in my practice of lent and hope to salvage what time I have left. The following link I found helpful to see what's happening in the Western FL panhandle as far as Lent requirements and Holy Week are concerned - hope others find this of use as well: http://www.pnj.com/article/20090404/LIFE/904040304/1004.


Also, I want to post a bit from that link re. the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Pensacola, especially because of my own need for sort of an 11th hour confession service:

"- Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, 1212 E. Moreno St. Holy Week: Mass with palms, 4 p.m. today (Saturday, April 4) ; 8, 11 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Sunday. Formal blessing of the palms by The Rev. John H. Ricard, 11 a.m. Sunday. Communal Penance, 3 and 7 p.m. Monday. Chrism Mass, blessing of the oils to be used in Baptism, Confirmation and Anointing of the Sick with lunch to follow, 10 a.m. Tuesday. Parish and RCIA Seder supper, 5:30 p.m. Wednesday. Mass of the Lord's Supper with The Rev. Ricard, 7 p.m.; 8 to 11 p.m. Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, Thursday. Good Friday, reading of the Passion and Eucharistic, 3 p.m.; Stations of the Cross and Veneration, 7 p.m. Friday. 438-3131."

It seems that God always provides, even in my disorganized ways. I just came into the church last year, and sometimes I don't get everything done. I'm not making an excuse here, just stating reality. The changes in my life, even in my sloth and disorganization, are undeniable, and a testament to God's amazing provision and Love through his son, Jesus Christ.

Our Father...

Photo by Phyzome from Wikimedia Commons of a Red Bellied Woodpecker.

Note about bird photos: I will often post photos of birds common to NW FL because of my love of birds and because of one of my favorite passages from Matthew 6: 25-34. Basically, God's provision is illustrated in this passage (Matt 6:26) from the NAB:

Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are not you more important than they?

BTW, I gave up worrying for Lent :).

What to do when your washer doesn't spin.

Our dryer stopped working yesterday, which was a mild pain in the A. Sis and the fam were getting ready to head back home and didn't want to take nasty wet stuff in their suitcases. My other sister, Cheryl, aka my housemate, went online and found this great youtube.com howto to solve the problem. What did we do before the internet! It turned out to be the switch on the lid. See video...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYOP0_KCYT0

A Recap of the Week

Wow, a lot has happened this week. Wait, Coco the Min Pin is whining big time to get in my lap. I will post pics of this sweet girlie at a later date.

Let's see, back to what has happened. I'm so ADD. Last Sunday, I believe, I got an email from Cloud10 sayingto schedule a project interview. For this particular work at home (WAH) job I had already taken all of the preliminary steps to be hired and was just waiting for a suitable project. It took about a month before I heard back from them about a project.

I scheduled my interview for Monday. The interview was brief, and I was asked about my work history, and was told about the project. This company has a bit of a harsh, by-the-book tone saying things like once you say "yes" at this interview and if you decline later, you can never work for Cloud10, and you will not be considered for any other projects. It seems from all the forums out there on WAH jobs that many folks who do this type of work need super flexible work because of families and whatnot. Cloud10 is more like working at an actual company, with little time off, and an offering of more hours. It sounds to me like that is the upside. I will be able to work 32.5 hours per week, not hoping to get 10-15, of which I may only be paid for calls and may get few calls.

Speaking of which, my sister works for LiveOps and for 6 months or so, maybe for even a year, she really made very little money and had to devote quite a bit of time. Now she is averaging $18/hr and has plenty of hours. It has been great for her because she has fibromyalgia. The hours are fairly flexible, so if she is not feeling particularly well one day she can work in spurts.

But, I digress. My sister (Joy), her new husband (Mike), and their sons, Matt (Joy's) and David (Mike's) got here on Sunday also. No, wait, Mike rolled in on Monday. Anyway, it was really stellar fun. I posted on that earlier. Basically, the boys both 17, skateboarded in a couple of different spots, and hung out at the beach. Mike and Joy spent some time at the beach. One day we all went to Pensacola. Unfortunately, there has been tons of rain, and the day we went to Pensacola, there was some flooding in the streets, Tornado watch, etc. -- typical Florida Springtime. Mike and Joy were able to check out some spots they would like to live in a couple of years, after the boys are done with school. They currently live outside of Jackson Hole, WY in Alpine, WY. I think definite highlights of the trip were being around the boys, going to Juana's and buying Mahi Mahi and Shrimp at Joe Pattie's in Pensacola. I love hitting that place, walking around outside, checking out the specialty foods and getting some crazily fresh seafood. Joy and Mike fixed up some good vittals. You better believe Old Bay played a central role. Nice!

The posted pic is when Joy and Mike got married under the arches in Jackson, WY with the boys looking on, all in view of the webcam. We all got to look on from all corners of the globe. They were married in March, and I am very happy to welcome the Cranfords into the family. Thanks to my cousin-in-law, Mandy Johnson, for the pic. (Hope it was ok to lift, Mandy).

I took them to the airport in Fort Walton today (sob). This evening I got back and went to my orientation for Cloud10 via computer. It's been a busy and wet week! At some point I started this weblog. Thanks for viewing and God bless.

Let's end up the night with a prayer for those folks who don't have employment. Maybe a person's name can be inserted as sort of an intercessory prayer. Let the Lord guide. This is from catholic.org:

PRAYER FOR EMPLOYMENT

God, our Father, I turn to you seeking your divine help and guidance as I look for suitable employment. I need your wisdom to guide my footsteps along the right path, and to lead me to find the proper things to say and do in this quest. I wish to use the gifts and talents you have given me, but I need the opportunity to do so with gainful employment. Do not abandon me, dear Father, in this search, but rather grant me this favor I seek so that I may return to you with praise and thanksgiving for your gracious assistance. Grant this through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Fun

Not much time to write tonight. Here's just a quick note about a jivin' little place at Navarre Beach known as Juana's. It's like a big Tiki hut with sand on the floor and a fellow playing guitar and singing. My sister Joy, her hubby Mike, my sister Cheryl and I hung out there and had a few beers. I know it's an overused cliche', but, Good Times. There's something to be said about laughter, goofing off, and hanging out - simple, easy, good, clean fun...Nice. It beats the heck out of being frozen under the snow of Wyoming. (Check out a cool pic my dad took in Alpine, WY.)

Transition, Lent, and Work at Home

Wow, there is a lot to learn on this here internet. I just spent probably half an hour trying to figure out how to affiliate with amazon.com. Anyhoo, I'm learning my way around the blogger site and enjoying it immensely. Soon, though, my time will be limited, as I've taken a job with Cloud10. Apparently, I will be a tech support person for a large cable company. The best part is I will be working from my home! It's been 4 months since I've had regular work, and I can't wait to get started. How incredible that I can go to work in my PJ's and step into the kitchen for lunch - lovely. Well, I just thank God that life is so good and so hopeful.

On the God front, a beloved priest once told me that sometimes our spritual life is sort of like an amphibian's. We travel up and down, coming up for air when we need it. I guess his hand gestures don't really translate. My bad. Basically I was going through one of these times where I just feel like I'm going through the motions, my prayer is off, and I'm just sort of "not into it". I figure it's sort of like when you married folks sort of settle down into life and some of the spark is gone. I know it always comes back, and it makes me trust Jesus the same, but I just feel like I'm not a very attentive follower. Does that make sense?

So, I've been in such transition for the last four months, that I feel like lent came and went before I really participated in it. If anyone is reading, give me your comments, perhaps what you gave up for lent (if you're comfortable doing so) and how lent has been for you this year and years past. God bless and to all a pleasant sleep...

APRIL 1 WORM OR VIRUS

THIS IS FROM AN EMAIL I RECEIVED FROM ZONE ALARM ABOUT THE APRIL 1 WORM: The Conficker worm is scheduled to possibly cause widespread damage April 1, 2009.
Severity: High Risk

What is it?
The Conficker worm is a type of virus that lives unnoticed in your PC while spreading itself to others over the Internet. Currently the worm does not harm infected computers, but it has the capacity to cause considerable damage at a later time. Experts fear it may cause damage starting April 1. Steps should be taken to protect your PC from this worm.

Who is at risk?
Users whose computers are not configured to receive patches and updates from Microsoft and who are not running an up-to-date anti-virus product are most at risk. All customers who have a ZoneAlarm product that includes antivirus have protection, including ZoneAlarm Antivirus, ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite and ZoneAlarm Extreme Security. Each of these products not only includes anti-virus, but also the OSFirewall which monitors and blocks dangerous behavior within your operating system.

AGAIN, I DID NOT WRITE THIS. I THOUGHT I WOULD POST THIS TO HELP GET THE WORD OUT.