Creepy Dolls @ Affair of the Heart

What a great time I had Saturday with my family! Saturday my husband and I went to the City to meet up with our kids; sadly our youngest had to stay behind to work. When we got to the City we split up, boys left to do boy things, like look at wood, girls went to do girl things like ooh and awe over blingy stuff at Affair of the Heart. I love going to Affair of the Heart because it's just so girlie. It looks like someone just vomited glitter and rhinestone on anything that could possibly be glued, stapled or blasted with sparkles. There are 7 building full of blinged out anything you can imagine, all in high definition. It can be a little overwhelming, even to those who don't suffer from sensory overload. Toward the 6th building you could tell that the three of us were winding down. As we were walking out of one of the buildings we saw a woman with two babies in her arms. They were the real looking babies. I saw a news program about 40 something women getting these life like dolls and pretending they are real newborns to the point of changing the diapers on a regular basis and putting them in a stroller when they go shopping. I told the girls, that would be me if I didn't get grandchildren soon. My daughter said she would start looking for a home to put me in. In the next building we were standing looking at the hair on the wall... Seriously when you're really tired and are seeing dots because you've looked at too much bling for one day you just have a tendency to stop and stare trying to

comprehend what the heck this booth represents... or at least we did. It was a hair piece booth with a wall of hair, which at that point in the day if you stared at it long enough was kind of creepy. Then I saw two dolls at sitting at the end of the booth on a shelf. They were those real life dolls. I picked the dolls up and insisted on the girls holding them because their bodies are filled with sand or something and they feel so real. The owner of the booth had kind of wondered over and was listening to us when my daughter said... "They are so creepy!" The lady stepped up behind her, jerked the doll out of her arms, cradled it in her arms and replied... "They are not creepy! I looked at my daughter and told her that she had totally just offended the lady. The lady said... "Yes I am offended. I make them myself, I hand paint them and each and every hair on their head is put there by me with a pin. I even painted little veins on her hands." I just couldn't help myself... "Eww, that makes it even more creepy." to which the crazy baby lady had to agree... "Yea, it kind of does." We stepped away from the life like creepy dolls as she soothed their hurt feelers and wrapped them back in their baby blankets. Yea, we didn't make friends with anyone at that booth, she was a little sensitive. As we were wrapping up the last building, trying to maneuver though a land mine of strollers with very upset real life babies who weren't creepy at all, one of them pointed a gun right at me as an explosion of bubbles blasted me in the face... "Oh!!! That is so cool" I told the kid, then I asked the mom where she got it. We went to the bubble gun booth and I told the lady I wanted a bubble gun, in fact just give us three! She wanted to know how old the kids we were buying them were, I looked at her totally hurt and offended and informed her we were buying them for ourselves. She seemed a little shocked, although I'm not sure why bubble blowing adults would be shocking, but she determined we were age appropriate and let us buy three bubble guns with laser lights... When we felt like we couldn't take one step more, we called the guys and had them come pick us up. We told them our creepy baby stories, shot them with bubbles and then went to fix dinner. They wanted to know what we had bought besides three bubble guns. We told them we got ponytail holders that you have to have an engineering technical degree to use, a dog bone place mat for Aja's messy cat, a electric cord cover and Kathleen bought a dress. We made out like bandits. It was a wonderful day and not just in a creepy doll kind of way.

A Dozen Roses for You

Valentine's Day is right around the corner. Time for flowers, chocolate and all sorts of mushy love notes. When I was small, my Pastor used to tell the congregation to give people their roses while they are living. It is so true that often people influence us, impact our lives and they never even know it.

A man we used to go to church with, wondered in my office this afternoon. He immediately recognized me and called me by name. We chatted for a few minutes, I directed him to where he needed to be and then I sat and allowed myself to walk down memory lane with the memories I had of him... I found myself smiling and actually laughing at the thought of some of those memories. I thought to myself what an impact he had on me and my husband in those early years of marriage. What a shame that I didn't say that to him while we were talking. Mr. Gary Criswell is a person who just makes you feel better after you've been in his presence. I've never seen him without a smile or an encouraging word. That's why I'd like to hand Mr. Criswell a dozen roses of appreciation today. Thank you for the times you've made me laugh, taught my Sunday school class and yes for being in the church play with me. I believe you've made my life a better place to be and I just want to say Happy Valentine's Day and thank you.

When Mike and I first married, our Sunday School teacher was Mrs. Helen Jones. She was always sweet, funny, and was just a wonderful person. She is celebrating Valentine's Day with the Father this year. I'll never forget the time she came for a visit after the birth of my baby. I was the typical flustered new Mom and she gave me no warning she was dropping by. She is one of the few people I would open my door to without advance notice. She came in and made herself at home on my couch. Lucky for me the house was tidy, but it was in need of a good dusting. As we talked she absentmindedly doodled in the dust on my coffee table. Had that been anyone else I would have been mortified, but I knew that Helen wasn't sitting there judging my housekeeping skills, she was there visiting a new Mother and offering words of encouragement. I'd like to give Helen a dozen roses for Valentine's Day and tell her how much her unconditional love meant to me as a new mom. She may be gone but she is not forgotten.

Some people just have a way of capturing your heart and never letting it go. Robin and Larry Hutto, along with Fontaine and Billy Yates came into our lives, forever changing the texture of our spiritual world. We rarely see Robin and Larry because they moved, but Fontaine and Billy still go to church with us. If I have a special prayer request, Fontaine is the first one I notify. She is a special woman and our church is so blessed to have her and her family with us. Robin, Larry, Fontaine and Billy, I'd like to give you a dozen roses for Valentine's Day and to tell you, how very much I love and appreciate every little thing you do and just the special people you are. You have made a difference in my life!

I've been blessed by a multitude of people who have impacted my life for the better. Valentine's Day is the perfect time to stop and reflect on those you appreciate, say a prayer of thanksgiving and then go out there and impact someone yourself. I'm getting my shoes on, I've got work to do! Happy Valentine's Day Friend.

Women Tools for Men

I admit it! I've got an ornery streak about a mile wide. I had been corresponding with my golfing partner at work, about an unresolved issue. Clearly neither of us thought the other was doing things as they should be done and I'm pretty sure neither of us are the type to take things lightly... Well, except for a good joke. I wasn't quite sure he had the tools he needed to communicate effectively with a woman, so I thought I'd help him out on that matter. When he came to the Tuesday yard meeting he had a brightly wrapped gift waiting for him. The guys from the office told him it was from me and encouraged him to open it. He refused. Apparently, he's had a bad experience with gifts others have given him in the past and he wasn't convinced they were telling the truth about the source of the gift. I got a text from one of the engineers that said... "You should call or text Cecil that he has to open his present now." Okay, just for the record, if someone hands me a brightly colored gift, I'll have that thing ripped open in 2.3 milliseconds. No one has to tell me twice to open a gift. Heck, if you're being slow, I'll open your gift for you (just a warning). Is this a man thing?! So I sent him a text telling him to open the gift I got him. A few minutes later I got another text from the engineer that said "He skill won't open it." I know, spelling isn't a pre-requisite for getting an engineering degree at OU, but I let it slide and assumed he meant that Cecil still wouldn't open his gift. So I sent Cecil yet another text that was a little more pleading, if not somewhat threatening.... "CECIL! You are being rude (insert angry face here) and you're hurting my feelers (insert crying face here). I'm not sure what type of abuse they have been subjecting him to during the meeting, but he still was not convinced the gift was from me, or that I was the one texting him. So, my phone rings.... "Jackie is that really you?" I assured him it was really me, and the gift was really from me and that it would not bite or otherwise injure him. He agreed to open the gift and we hung up. Inside the brightly colored box was a pink tool kit with instructions...

There was a pink floral hammer...

For when you want to really drive your point home

A pink floral box knife....

For when you just need to cut through the crap

A delicate little tape measure...

If you insist on digging yourself a hole, you can measure how deep it is before you jump in

Word has it, he got a big kick out of his tool kit. In fact he made the comment (or is it a compliment)....

"Jackie is very intelligent... for a woman."

Yea, I'll be adding a few more tools to that box.... To be continued.....

Near to You

"Battled scarred, I am workin' oh so hard to get back to who I used to be."

Mahjong playing Star Bellied Sneetch

My new obsession is playing Mahjong on my my Kindle Fire. My husband is obsessed with the game as well, but we have totally different Mahjong playing styles. I play with my pinkie sticking out like it's in an invisible cast at a make believe tea party with the Mad Hatter (Something I don't personally recommend). I know I look like an idiot with my pinkie flying like a flag, but try as I may, I cannot get that pinkie to stay down!...  If I play for an extended time,(like when I'm watching marathon episodes of Toddlers and Tiaras(Those Mom's are psychos!) I'll get a pinkie cramp, that's when I know it's time to back away from the Kindle. My husband plays angry Mahjong. He touches his screen like he's crushing roaches. I keep waiting to find dent marks on his screen. I know it's just because his ego is a little fragile because I'm way better at Mahjong than him. I'm like a Star Bellied Sneetch with stars upon thars and he's a Plain Bellied Sneetch with none upon thars.I love Dr.Suess and Mahjong that's for sure, but I love my Plain Bellied Sneetch a lot more.

The Proposal

It's the stuff dreams are made of... The moment your child finds the person they will spend the rest of their life with. They both knew it was coming so the trick was to make the non-surprise a surprise.... Throw her off track by telling her not to make any plans next weekend. Paint pictures depicting moments they've shared together and have the tearoom (their
first date place) display the paintings.  Take her for a quick
cup of tea. Who knows, maybe she'll say yes..

A mushroom... When we first met

A cup of tea... First date

Watching old movies together....

How we get around....


The game we love to play....

The music we listen to...

The big question???

Get ready for the ride of your life because life is one big surprise!!!!

Freed

I'm the one who determines if my past will control my present,  if old fears will haunt my future and if memories long faded will be the nightmares to my dreams. Hands that twisted my ability to think clearly have no strength to torture my tomorrow unless I give them power. The strength that brought me out will be the strength that fuels me forward to a life that could not be held back by walls you sought to build. I reflect on the darkness you brought into my life and thank God for his grace which brought me out of the darkness into the light. Once freed, I determined I would never return to captivity, yours or anyone else's.... All these years later, that has never changed.