Bentley's First Christmas!

(WARNING: this post is completely ridiculous!)

Christmas 2010 was Bentley's first Christmas...let me enthral you all with his experiences (some good, some not so good!)

We arrived in Walnut Hill on Tuesday afternoon. He did excellent on the trip over and while I did a few errands in Pensacola...which might have included a two hour visit with old co-workers! Nevertheless, he did awesome! I finally arrived at my parents house and let the "bull out of the shoot." He absolutely LOVES being off his leash! He pranced around, marked his territory, and chased everything that moved!

Tuesday was by far our best day! Wednesday, he was ok...not the best behaved puppy, but he fared well. I spent all of Thursday afternoon baking and he never left my side. He can aggravate the mess out of me when he stays under my feet all day. However, we was the best vacuum I could have asked for that day. If I dropped something, he cleaned it up for me!

Moving on to Christmas Eve, Bentley decided to go on a little excursion. I was letting him run leash free because he was doing really good at listening. Apparently that all changed on Friday! We were out in the yard and he pranced a little ways down the driveway, looked back at me (I guess he was measuring his distance from me) and then just took off down the driveway! I was not prepared for a morning run...especially since I was in slip on shoes! I took off after the sweet little angel and when I rounded the curve in our drive he was no where to be seen. Well, it was going to end one of two ways and there was nothing I could do about it. I just so happened to turn and look over toward our neighbor's and there he was....sitting all nice and quiet between their house and the tree line. We had a nice "come to Jesus meeting" on our walk back to the house. He spent most of Christmas Eve in the pin...maybe next year he will understand the repercussions of being on the naughty list. I did let him out later on that day. I couldn't leave him locked up all day, I do have a heart, or as PKD so sweetly said to me "you do have a heart, it's not just a gizzard," plus I knew he still needed to run some energy off! However, things continued to spiral. My brother had just come in from feeding the cows and was giving me an update on Grace (my favorite cow; I will blog about her later on this week) when I asked "Is that cow shit on your pants?" Teasingly he called Bentley over to sniff it and of course he does! Although, he did not stop at sniffing, he decided it smelt so good that he needed to lick it too! Just FYI to anyone who is curious...dog breath that smells like cow shit is ten times worse than just regular dog breath. Denta Bones came into play on this incident.

Christmas Day was doozie...most of it is my fault. I will admit to my faults and take the blame when needed. I was the first one up on Christmas Day, not because I was ready to open presents (ok...maybe a little) but because cry baby was ready to go out. Maybe cry baby is a little harsh considering he is still a puppy. Regardless, I am the one who has him on a schedule. I like a little structure in my life and so by default he has structure in his. We went out in the blustery cold weather and by the time we came back in, daddy was up. Daddy and I drank our coffee, chit chatted and then I decided that Bentley needed to be a little festive since it was Christmas Day, so I proceeded to put a ribbon around his neck. That lasted all of about three minutes...just long enough for me to take a picture. To worsen this early morning activity, I decided he needed his picture made in front of the tree with the presents. Why, why, why do I do these things to myself? Of course, the picture shows a cute little puppy...the picture doesn't show the whole truth. Just remember that!!

My best friend, Courtney, was home for Christmas so I went to visit with her and her family on Saturday. I left him with mom and dad, but when I returned I knew it was bad when he was already put up. Apparently, he took a bathroom break in the living room floor. That of course did not go over well. Especially since I've been waiting on the whole Letter to Santa Scam of 1986 to take effect, when I asked for a puppy my dad will let me keep in the house in my letter to Santa. Santa was in no hurry to put a rush on getting my request granted. He and I haven't seen eye to eye since! Well, not only did he relieve himself, he also ran around the tree touching every ornament with his nose and he also decided to chew up my grandmother's gift. Not too bad...just needed a new wrapping job!


Then today happened. Sunday's for us was usually when all hell broke loose...or so it seemed. I remember years ago (I was 6 or 7) I had just learned what the word "piss" was and I decided to use it in a sentence...toward my mother...on I believe, a Sunday. I loved to dance in our living room and make up routines and I am sure she told me to stop dancing, turn off the music and get ready for church. This was when I used my new word...I boldly asked "Who pissed in your cornflakes?" I did not know the true extent of the words I had spoke...lets just say we all needed church that morning. Anyway, back to Bentley. He seemed to have picked up on our Sunday "no-no's." While I was getting ready for church, I heard my mother yelling...and she has been sick so I knew her yelling meant something bad! Come to find out, Bentley found a snag in the wall paper and decided to tear it off for her. I am sure he was just trying to help, but his helpful gesture was not viewed that way!

The question that remains is "Will we make it till Friday or will we be asked to leave sooner?"

31 Years of Love

My wonderful parents are celebrating 31 years of marriage today. I am so proud to call them my parents. God has blessed me and Heath with such great parents who show us everyday their unconditional love for us and each other. People come and go in our lives but our parents will always be our parents. Using the same book I spoke about in my earlier post, today's concentration was "Seek Wisdom." The quote that is used is "If you seek wisdom over opportunity, opportunity will usually follow." This is very obvious within my parents relationship. God's wisdom was sought and many opportunities followed. I love you both very much and I thank you for setting such good examples for us.

"How wonderful to be wise, to be able to analyze and interpret things" -Ecclesiastes 8:1

After 31 years of marriage, I'm sure you have had many chances to gain wisdome by analyzing and interpreting each other! Happy Anniversary!

Being Still and Knowing that HE is God...

Wake up and hop in the shower and cry. Hear a song that uses the term "grandfather" or any word used for that and cry. Drive to Walnut Hill for a visit and cry. Leave my grandmother's house for the first time since his death and not getting to say (yell) the words "Bye Paw Paw" and cry. Tell my mother while I am at home that "I'm gonna go for a drive" (she knows I go to his grave) and cry. Knowing that I won't see him round the corner coming into our living room on Christmas Day this year to see what all we got makes me cry now and so does typing this. I'm not the best as expressing myself, so I find that typing it out for all to read without me saying anything face to face helps me a lot.

Last night, laying in bed, I thought about all my memories I have of him (more than I had mentioned in an earlier blog) and I just became overwhelmed with tears. I think that living so far away makes it worse, but at time it makes it better. Over the past week or two, I've been wrapping Christmas presents on my kitchen table. That table holds so many memories so it's hard not to think about him. I have the table that we all would gather around in Dutch Bend. Whether we were playing cards, having supper or just talking it is a piece of furniture that will always mean the world to me. I sit and wonder how we all fit around it. Paw Paw, grandmommy, mom, dad, Heath, and me. I'm pretty sure I was always Pawpaw's lap or daddy's (both were/are tightly wrapped around my little pinkie!) I remember sitting at the end that was closest to the living room, Paw Paw would be reclined back in his nasty black vinyl chair that had duck tape all over it to cover the tears. I would always rub his bald head (I'm blaming him for my love of bald men) and he would just laugh.

I remember being 3 or 4 and living in our old house and I had left my bike in the middle of the drive that went to both our house and the barn that use to be there. Paw Paw came flying in one day and ran over it. I remember crying to him "paw paw you ran over my bike!" and he simply answered "you shouldn't have left it there." Plain and simple. How could you argue with that answer? On my 18th birthday, he insisted that he have a special present for me. It was a small jewelry box with butterflies all over it. He made a big to-do over it and made sure I knew it was only from him and that he picked it out himself. How could I not know? He had my aunt Luanne write his name in the lid of it! He was so proud of it! While I don't really care for butterflies, I will cherish these forever. It still sits on my dresser and I dare anyone to mess with it.

We all get so busy with life and things that life throws at you. Some days I can get so angry about stupid stuff that I can just crawl you up one side and down the other. The perfect example of this was a phone call on Friday morning. Men don't usually like to hear they are wrong from a woman. What makes this worse is a young woman telling an older man. Hey, I can't help that you don't know how to do math right. I was ready to lose it and it still was bothering me today. I decided to see what my daily Bible verse/topic was for today out of my "Keeping God in the Small Stuff" book that my Aunt Lisa and Uncle Horace got me for graduation from Auburn. Just picking up this book made me think about Paw Paw and how he had to miss my graduation because he was sick. Not to mention that after graduation, while we were all back at my place, my grandmother had to leave because Uncle Billy called to say Paw Paw had been admitted to the hospital for pneumonia. The topic for today was ...Anger. There it was staring me right in the face in big letters and the verse that went with it was "Stop your anger! Turn from your rage!" Psalm 37:8. What a slap in the face. I know this was God's way of saying "Be still and know that I am God, Stacey. I've got it all under control." While I don't read this every day, I have read all of it in bits and pieces over the last 5 years. So out of curiosity, I went back to that day in August...August 25th...

August 25th-God is in the Big Stuff. Three short paragraphs to read so I read them and the last one was even more of memory for me. "Remember, when God's people pray, God listens, and He promises to "heal their land" (2 Chron 7:14). We should never think that God can't work in the big stuff as well as the small. And when He does, we shouldn't be surprised." What caught my attention was "Heal their land." This is a song that the choir sings and has always been a favorite of mine. Paw Paw sang his heart out in the choir and I can imagine him singing this song in Heaven, just as he did at church. I haven't been able to go to our church yet. I'm still not ready to do that just yet. Especially since he would always come and sit with me if my grandmother was keeping the nursery or doing the sound booth. Maybe at Christmas...although that is just two weeks away.

I also looked at the days following his death leading up to the funeral.

August 26-What You Have isn't Yours. God makes this very obvious to us. Everything we have is not really ours and of course we are His. He will take us whenever he pleases. "The rich and the poor have this in common: The Lord made them both." Proverbs 22:2

August 27-Sharing and Holding Back. Simply stated "Share your blessings with others, but keep your whining to yourself." Paw paw was very quick to share the word of God and to share his blessings with others. I hope that one day I can have one ounce of that. "Though they have been going through much trouble and hard times, their wonderful joy and deep poverty have overflowed in rich generosity." 2 Corinthians 8:2. No doubt, this fits Paw Paw to a "T."

August 28-Is God Too Weak? God is powerful enough to save a nation, and He is loving enough to save you. "When our enemies and the surrounding nations heard about it, they were frightened and humiliated. They realized that this work had been done with the help of our God." Nehemiah 6:16. Why does this seem to fit, you may ask? Because the verse we used for Paw Paw was "You have fought the good fight." We may be weak in flesh, we will fight our own battles, but we can't do everything on our own. God is never too weak to bring us home and watch over us. He will never put us through something that we (ourselves and God) can't handle.

August 29-What Motivates You? "Let your primary motivation be the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit." My dad gave us all an excellent speech the day of the funeral. He spoke about the hard work (the motivation) that is instilled within us from Paw Paw. Heath and I never had the chance to be lazy. If daddy wasn't "motivating" us, Paw Paw was. Sure, it's easy to want to do nothing, but wanting to and actually doing nothing are two separate things. The drive within us won't allow it. There are many days I say "I'm not doing a thing today" but within an hour, I'm up doing something productive. The day of the funeral, I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to speak. I slipped away that morning so I could call Keith and he gave me additional motivation. I kept saying, "I don't think I can do this" he was quick to tell me it wasn't about me and that I had to do it for Paw Paw. When I got home from the funeral, he had also sent me a text that said "We all go through it. It's something we have to deal with. They know we love them. Keep your head up and be strong. Everything will be fine knowing they are looking down on us telling us to hurry up, this place is awesome." We all find our motivation. Whether it is instilled within us or from someone who God brought into our lives unexpectedly when you weren't looking. He absolutely knows what and who is best for us. "When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth." John 16:13

Going, Going, Gone...

Thats right! A whole month has passed by and I have not blogged! Let's take a look at what's been going on this past month...

My dad and brother came over in October and we met my uncle and cousin at the Ag Expo in Moultrie. While they are two different men, who married sisters...you can tell that the way their wives think have rubbed off on them...hense: they wore matching outfits! It was a great day! I took off work and spent the whole day with my daddy and brother! What more could a daddy's girl and little sister want!?!?

Now that I think about it...that pretty much sums up the month of October...now on to November...

While other's recognize November 11th as a holiday and people usually observe this day...I not only love it due to the fact of our fantastic veterans, but I love it because it's daddy's birthday! I actually had to work and was suppose to have a house burned that day (I told daddy this was my gift to him!) turned out the burning was cancelled so I went home for the day! It's a long drive, but until you move away from your family you will never realize how fast you will jump on the opportunity to go home whenever you can! I got home just in time to ride a few rounds in the cotton picker with daddy...just so happened that they finished up for the year that day!! SO GLAD I got to go home!!

Well...that's pretty much it for now...more to come after Thanksgiving

When it comes to Sunday afternoon projects, mum's the word!

This weekend I stayed in Thomasville and was almost a complete bum. I say almost only because I did manage to get some house hold chores done. Saturday I ran to Target to pick up a few things and was back in time to watch the Auburn game. If I bit my nails, I would have been down to nothing during the third quarter. My boys were worrying me! They totally pulled it off and I am really looking forward to next weeks clash with those dirty Cajuns! One of us will no longer be undefeated after that game. Hopefully, it won't be us since LSU had a run for their money by Northview High School...I mean McNeese, whoever they are. Bentley started off really good, but slowly digressed...please observe the three stages of Football Bentley...

Paying attention...

Loosing interested and at this point lost interest with his stuffed cow too... And down for the count...The only thing that woke him up from this slumber was when PKD called

Sunday morning was wonderful! While it was chilly outside, it was the perfect kind of chilly. Just enough crisp in the air to really make you enjoy the warmth of your coffee cup in your hand. Bentley spent his morning on the balcony. This is his new favorite place because he can harass everything that moves or passes by. He may be sweet and innocent looking, but don't let him fool you...he totally profiles!

By 10am Carolyn, her girls and I were on our way to Tallahassee to do a little shopping. I finally picked up some mums for my balcony. It was looking a little bare...We all had a great time shopping and taking our time in the stores. However, I think Cameron had the most fun cause she partied till she passed out!

As soon as I got home, I planted my mums and now I am hoping that they will make it! I didn't move all my plants here from home. They are in the care of my grandmother right now. I do miss them, but I just don't have room for them...what I really need is a yard...and a house would be nice too!

This is my pig watering can that hangs out on the among the plants

This is my frog, he really needs to bite the dust but there is a memory attached to him...he broke one day and daddy and I welded him back together...and I burnt the hell out of my finger because I wasn't paying attention to daddy. Lesson learned and memory made.The yellow mums didn't have a great trip up the stairs to my apartment. A rough and tumble fall broke a few flowers, but hopefully they will bounce back!I know this is ugly, but he's so ugly he's cute! I found him hiding at the Fairhope Arts and Crafts Festival one year.

Not that you can see this one real well, but these are my garnet colored mums. They are such a pretty color that I couldn't resist not getting them! I am a complete fool for fall!

Sorry the pictures aren't that great in detail, but ever since I moved I cannot find my camera USB cord so I have to use my phone. Maybe one day it will show up!

Weekend Review and A Not So Manic Monday

First, I have to apologize for my rant about floral bedspreads, and this is why... My bedspread is floral! How could I forget that?!?! I see it everyday! However, it does not have quilt backing!!
Anyway, this weekend I had planned on staying home and laying low. Middle of last week my cousin, Brad, calls and asks if I want to go to the Florida-LSU game. Well of course I do!! What southern girl doesn't want to go to a football game?! Granted, it wasn't Auburn, but Florida does have a nice campus and stadium. The stadium is nicer than Auburn's, but what I don't like is they do not continually run the scores of the other games that are being played. Auburn has a whole screen dedicated to this. That is my only beef with Florida. It was really hard to keep up with the AU KY game! I managed through friends though! Brad's two cousins, Brandon and Colton, went with us. It was their first Florida, and college, game. They were pumped up!! I'll admit, I even got into the Gator Chomping too!! Here are a few pictures from this weekend.

Brad and I sporting the Gator Gear

The boys being good sports while I take their pictureThe UF Band in the shape of FloridaBrad clapping so fast his hands look like "jazz hands" on acidHere is where the boys lost me...they saw Gator Mania...I saw Payless Shoes, Buy one get one deals...I love me some shoes!!!Brad got his son, Barrett, this helmet cap but he wanted to break it in for him!!

I would have to agree with my dad about UF, it is a pretty campus. I received a 75% paid academic scholarship to anywhere in the state of Florida when I graduated high school. I, being the real dummy I am, did not take it. I knew what FSU was like and I just was not interested in UF so I followed family tradition (everyone but PawPaw...who actually graduated from UF!) and went to Auburn. A few years ago dad went to UF for a board meeting and when he got back he was quick to tell me that if he had seen that campus when I was getting ready to go to college, that is where I would have been going!

My first day back after being gone for almost a week was not too bad. I definitely made the right decision when I hired Kim. He has been great and I do not know what I would do without him! Well, I do know...I'd be working till 7 or 8 pm every night like I use to just to stay caught up with things! Tim, on the other hand, gave me nothing but grief today. Not only did he schedule a burn for Wednesday, when he knows I have a meeting and cannot come to see the only true excitement I get out of my job, he straight up gave me hell about a new computer program I am trying to get set up! Just kidding Tim, you were great today in your ever-so-cleaver "come meet me so we can talk about Wednesday's burn cause I know that you are ready to get outta the office" call. He's right! This country girl does not handle staying indoors all day very well! By 2pm, I'm looking for any reason to get out of the office!!

The next post will probably be about something Fall-ish. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE FALL!! The shoes, the clothes, the snugly weather, the football, and there's no humidity so my hair doesn't fro! LOVE IT ALL!!! So, Happy Fall Y'all!!

Where's Bentley? That little hell raiser is back from Blountstown. He was a country dog for about a week and a half and he still hasn't quite got back into the groove of apartment living. Honestly, I haven't either and I've been here a year! When I open his cage he's like a bull coming out of the shoots. He's a little psycho, but I love him non the less...I do love me some crazies!! And for a little flash back to Fall of 2006, Bodacious (Bo, my absolutely gorgeous yellow lab) and his Halloween pail. He loved this thing!! Bo's life was cut short at the ripe age of 18 months. I know he looks huge in this picture! He was about 112 pound of pure love for me! He was in a fight with a pitbull...it wasn't pretty. He was missing from my house one night when I got home from work and unfortunately I drove up on the fight while I was looking for him. Somehow, during the fight, his diaphragm was punctured and his internal organs were beginning to float through...huge mess. Bo had to be put down a few weeks later. When you don't go home to anyone but a lovable lab and all of the sudden that lab is gone, you definitely feel a void in your heart.

GACE...and a bug bite on my face!

The past few weeks have gone by SO fast! I've been to Auburn the past three weekends and this week I went to Lake Lanier for the Georgia Association of Code Enforcement (GACE). I admit that there is about 10% of my brain that is straight up scatter brained and unorganized, and unfortunately that is where "book room at lodge for conference" fell. Ugh! Those who know me well or have traveled with me know that I am a complete hotel nazi! The mere fact of sleeping where 100's...maybe even 1000's of strangers have slept is enough to make me freak. I mean, I will even take Clorox wipes to wipe down the bathroom if it is a little sketchy. Anyway, since I missed the deadline, I still tried to reserve a room at the lodge since that is where the conference was being held. Negative ghost rider. ALL BOOKED! What an unwelcoming adventure I was now faced with! I was left with one other choice at that particular exit...dum dum dum.....Comfort Inn and Suites. I quickly googled them and promptly looked at the pictures. Especially the bedspread. This, folks, is where I draw the absolute line. I prefer duvet covers. Why? Because they are easily removed for washing purposes, that's why. The absolute worst is the floral bedspread with quilt backing underneath. My reasoning for this is because everyone needs to shed their epidermis. That's right, your dead skin. I imagine that every time this backing rubs up on someone stranger's legs, their dead skin flakes off and is now stuck in the backing waiting to touch YOU! Ok, that's enough of that...my skin is crawling just thinking of it.

Tomtom, who I've named Richard, ever so faithfully helped me arrive at my destination (remember later on how happy I am with Richard now). Great job Richard! I don't know where I'd be without you, seriously, no clue! I parked in a parking spot close to the hotel building and I walk to the back to start unloading my car. Ever get the feeling that you are being watched? I sure did! I turned around to see 3 rough looking men staring at me. Oh Shit, I think to myself, this should be entertaining. Well, I don't let it show that it bothers me so I be-bop on into the lobby where it's more rough looking men. Was DMX having a Rough Riders Reunion that I was unaware of? I didn't see any "Welcome DMX-RRR to Lake Lanier" so I'm guessing NO! I checked in and found my room. It was on the third floor, of a three story building. In the back corner. By the fire escape. Where no one can hear you scream. Now, I know this is a little dramatic, but I am very cautious of my surroundings...my job has enabled this characteristic of mine even further, so yes I am going to be a little dramatic about where I am staying for four days and three nights. I got to the room, finally. after walking down what seemed like an endless hallway. The bedspread, while not floral, was still nasty. I was not staying here!

To speed up the story, I finally found a hotel two exits up. Was it any better? You tell me!

While it was the worst, I sucked it up for safety reasons. What good are nice accommodations if you're dead or missing? I may be dramatic at times, but I am still VERY level headed and reasonable! Regardless, as you noticed in the title, I woke up one morning with a bug bite on my face! I am SO hoping that this is from something that bit me while I was walking to my car and not a bed bug!

The conference was really good. I aced my test of legal tactics on the first day and the second day held non testing classes of FEMA and Supervisory Skills. It was in these two classes that I met the CE for Pelham (just up the road from T-Ville). She is hilarious!

Anyway, here are some photos from the Lake...

This was the beautiful sunrise I saw every morning!

This is my FAVORITE! Just image a beautiful spring wedding here! I say spring, however, I'd love a fall wedding. The one drawback to being a farmer's daughter is, if you want your dad to be at your wedding, don't have it during harvest season! However, I think daddy would be totally fine if I just came home one day and said 'I'm married.' Mom, however, would NOT!!

This morning after closing sessions, I headed back to Thomasville. I was missing my daddy so I called an talked to him for a bit. We keep our conversation short, but we manage to tell and say everything we need to in few words. It is what works for us. It's days like today when I am very jealous of my brother who gets to see and talk to him everyday.

As I started traveling back toward ATL (Hell), Richard and I began to have a heated discussion. Richard eventually became Dick and I began to yell. I am not one to yell at any person, but I will yell at a device. Especially if that device is telling me to "Stay Left, Stay Left" and then suddenly yells at me to "Exit Right! Exit Right, now!" What the crap, Dick? Obviously, you can't see the 6 lanes of traffic I do! I only had in one contact today (not real sure where the other is...I put it in, or at least I went through the motions of poking my eye so I thought it was in) and I could plainly see this was about to turn ugly quick! Dick proceeded to begrudgingly tell me alternate directions. Basically, he told me to get off at the next exit and turn around. Wow...what a concept. Ugh. Anyway, I am now home. There were only a few state troopers to be seen, but since this is GA and not AL, I'm not too worried about it. I am still unsure if that AL trooper meant I was to never come back to AL or he, in particular, never wanted to see me again in AL...I'm gonna go with the later part. :)

Where's Bentley? He is staying in Blountstown with my Aunt and Uncle. They were nice enough to take him in while I was gone. They are awesome. God has blessed me with a great family!