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bballmama
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Name: Susan
Interests: Jesus Christ, my family, my church kids and all the good things that go along with that.
Expertise: teaching, technology, teenagers (not always in that order!)
Occupation: Computer related
Industry: Computers (Internet)
Message: message me
Member Since:
10/12/2004
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| How dare them!
How many times have you heard that change is good? Usually if I use that statement, I'm trying to convince myself that the changes I'm experiencing really are good! Why is it that we are so stressed out by things that are unfamiliar to us?
Here's the scoop. My eBay account has been compromised. It's note they stole the $5.00 I leave in my Paypal account or anything. After all, that's a separate account entirely. But, someone has my name on eBay and they have listed items for sale as well as bid on items. I got a message indicating I had a question from a bidder. I knew that I didn't have anything listed, so I sent it to eBay for verification. They just got back to me with a fraud report.
According to eBay, someone definitely got my password. It was a good one, too -- full of upper and lower case letters and numbers. I know how to do it right. But, I probably didn't change it often enough, so that is definitely "my bad." And on eBay, the main thing you have going for you is your reputation. So, if my name is floating around out there and getting a bad rap, I may be in real trouble!
I am not sure what items they listed under my name, but I do know that someone bid over $4,000 for a custom Harley.
The interesting thing is that I haven't actually used eBay in ages. I go through real spells and I am gearing up for a big sell where I will sell loads and loads of stuff.
Anyway -- go change your passwords. This really sucks to be so violated. | | |
| I’m sleepy!
I just had one of the single weirdest experiences of my life. For a couple of years now, I have had problems sleeping. I’ve spent a long, long time thinking it was a phase, or I’d get over it. But it has finally gotten to the point that it is really bothering me.
I mentioned it to the doctor & a few blood tests later, he decides that I need to visit a sleep lab. In a weak moment, I agreed. Last night, I went for my first (and only, I hope!) sleep test.
I was led through a maze to a part of the hospital that normal people never visit. I was told to bring my pjs, my pillow and my clothing for the following day. I was not to wear any makeup, and not to have any hair product on. Finally, they said that if I wear nail polish or fake nails, I should have 1 finger with no nail product on it. I should be there by 8 p.m., and I would be ready to go by 6:30 a.m. Crazy, huh?
There was 1 sleep lab technician there with a lot of machines and it was her job to watch me sleep. I had a regular-looking bedroom if you discount the monitors, the weird plugs in the wall, and a variety of tubes hanging around. Oh, yeah, and then there was the video-camera in the ceiling. It was in one of those security bubbles, just like Wal-Mart.
I put my jammies on at about 8:30. I got new ones for Christmas, and I saved them just for this purpose. My grandma would be so proud….. The first thing the tech did was to take a blue pencil and mark about 25 spots all over my head, neck, face, chest and my shins. I never knew this, but marking “X’s” all over my scalp makes my skin crawl! Then she had to get an abrasive cleaner and clean those spots off really, really good. There is nothing like a good sandpaper scrub to make you relax, right? They put 2 velcro belts around my waist and then she proceeded to measure the distance between all of these marks. Then she attached electrodes to most of them and made a lame joke about being glad there were no thunderstorms tonight. These things were sort of taped to my skin and then glued down. Then she took some kind of miniature leaf-blower to dry the glue. She dropped 2 electrodes down my pants and glued them to my shins. The whole thing was plugged into this brick that I wore around my neck. Finally, she pulled out a gigantic syringe and said, “Don’t worry…..” She said she wasn’t going to give me a shot, but was going to inject gel into those little glued down spots where the electrodes were.
OK, so I did get to sleep, but I was most annoyed. During the night, she woke me up to tell me to turn to my left side. The bed was a queen sized bed, and I had been told to sleep in the middle so the camera would take good pictures. She would get on the bed with me, and pull all of this cabling around while I turned over. Then a while later, she came back and woke me up, and had me turn to the other side. I NEVER sleep on my right side. Apparently, I did fall back on my back, but that was OK because she came and woke me up again! The last time she woke me, she was standing over me with the gigantic syringe because I needed a refill of my gel inserts. She was careful to tell me everything she was doing, but it was still unnerving to wake up like that. And then, she had to get up in the bed with me to squirt the stuff on me, or in me, or wherever it went!
I woke up on my own at about 3:00 a.m. Funny story – that’s why I went to this place to begin with! I asked if I could turn the TV on again, because that usually knocks me out. She said that the doctors don’t like that, because it doesn’t give them a good video. Well, boo hoo. At about 3:15, she came back in and said “I can tell from your readings that you are not getting drowsy. Will the TV help? Gee, you think? So, after reading the Community Bulletin Board on the tube for 15 minutes, I was completely awake. She said that she’d just go ahead and unhook me and I could either go home, or I could go back to bed without all the trappings.
I think I flunked my sleep test……… | | |
| We had another funeral at church on Saturday. Shannon Carthron's Mom died over the holidays. There were more than 300 people in attendance. If you've ever been in our building, you'll know what this means. I entered through our kitchen door at the back of the building, and I couldn't get any closer than the water fountains in the middle of the hallway. Mrs. Carthron had 14 brothers and sisters. 8 are still living, so most of the chapel was full of her family. Sadly, Mrs. Carthron's brother was killed in a hit and run accident last week. He had a stroke a while before that. Also, this brother's wife was shot and murdered earlier, too. In many ways, this family is full of faith, but please lift them up as they go through thes 3 deaths at the same time. I know that Shannon takes great joy in knowing that she will see her Mom again in paradise.
I taught my Bible Class to my teens & Young Adults today. The basic theme is around our New Year's Resolutions. Most of us resolve that "I will not....." or "I will stop ...." etc. As in, I"m going to stop smoking, or I'm going to stop overeating. This makes us focus so much on the things that we no longer can do and that usually sets us up for failure. In the Bible, God gives us a particular list of things that we are NOT supposed to do. This is called the 10 Commandments. You know them, right? Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, etc. etc. etc. So, rather than focus on these things that we cannot do, focus on what God does allow. For instance, a lot of teens and young people have a problem with "Thou shalt not commit adultery." They all think they want to go for a "test drive" before settling on the final answer, right? Well, if God says not to commit adultery, that means that he has a wonderful, fulfilling, perfect soulmate just for you. You can really take every one of the 10 commandments like that, so take a while to think over them. If God tells you NOT to do something, what is the gift he gives you in replacement? | | |
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Fresh Praise & Worship
In so many ways, my brain has turned to mush in the past couple of weeks. There are so many details to manage at Christmastime. And I have a load of issues and details to manage at work that are associated with year-end. So now that I am past some of that, I am really trying to get the gray-matter back in gear. And of course, the New Year means that you can not only get back to normal, but you may even have the chance to do something better.
One of the things that I want to better is our Praise Team rehearsals. We spend a lot of time getting music together, or having the vocalists sit and wait while the musicians agree on a key and a tempo. We also have a lot of discussions that go something like this: “Are we doing Verse, Verse, Chorus, Verse, Verse?” “No, let’s do “Chorus, Verse, Chorus, Verse, Chorus, Chorus…..” But we really love what we do and we spend some time at each of our rehearsals with our own Team Devotion and prayer. I don’t think that we are simply practicing our music, but we are also practicing our faith.
So, I have some songs on my mind that we need to pull out of our library but I’m also in the mood for something new and fresh. A few of these are new to me. I’ve heard them on CD, but haven’t had the chance to sing or play them yet. Here’s a list of what is on my mind. Send me a comment with the P&W stuff on your heart:
How Great is our God – Matt Redman
Indescribable
Sing to the King
Ancient Words
Amazing Grace
There Is No One Like You – David Crowder
All the Earth Will Sing Your Praises- Paul Baloche
Everyday - Joel Houston
Glory to the Lord - Lynn DeShazo
God is Great - Marty Sampson
I Will Lift Up - William Duane Clark
Let Everything That Has Breath - Matt Redman
Let My Words Be Few- Matt & Beth Redman
Lord, Reign in Me - Brenton Brown (an oldie but a goodie!)
My Reward- Paul Baloche
Once Again - Matt Redman
Only a God Like You - Tommy Walker
Power of Your Love - Geoff Bullock
Thank You for Loving Me* - Tommy Walker
The Potter's Hand - Darlene Zschech
To You - Darlene Zschech
Today (As For Me and My House) - Brian Doerksen & Sandra Gage
Your Grace Still Amazes Me - Shawn Craig & Connie Harrington
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| Happy New ???
Well, it isn't New Year's Day or New Year's Eve, but it may be my favorite day of the post-Christmas season! It's Tournament of Roses Parade Day!
WHen I was a little girl,my parents were divorced, so I always spent Christmas at my Dad and Step-Mom's house. About half the time we returned home by New Year's Eve, but about half the time we stayed with my Dad in Texas. We generally went to the Cotton Bowl Parade and the Cotton Bowl game. I learned to love football at a very early age! But, being a "band nerd" I love the parades!
Some of my favorite memories are of the Watch Night service at my home church surrounded by several grandparents, cousins, Mom, my brother and other loved ones from my Corps. We would hurry up and say Amen and then run to the parking lot so we could honk horns and do fireworks. Then the next morning, I would crawl onto the couch with my Mom and we would "OOH" and "aah" over the Rose Parade! My Aunt Margaret lived in Chino, California, and they attended the parade on occasion. My Mom and I would always dream about that! Mom didn't get to see that dream here on earth, but I imagine that she watches the parade from heaven -- not theologically correct, I know! But very comforting, all the same!
A few years ago, my oldest daughter was in the parade and many of us Smiths atended. My sister-in-law works for Southwest Airlines, so her family and my in-laws could fly at no cost. Jamie was one the representatives from the A-OK Division to the Salvation Army's band. We hope that our youngest daughter will get to do this same thing someday soon, because we're ready for a return trip! It's an event that has to be seen to be appreciated. There's nothing else like it! I've always regretted that my Mom wasn't around for that trip. Not only would her dream have come true, but seeing her granddaughter in this parade would have been over the top!
I am so hopeful that the parade won't be a complete wash-out! Like always, I'll be watching for our A-OK people! This is the kind of event where I completely love my TiVo. You can stop the action, rewind when you want to, freeze-frame. So, we'll use it a lot this morning and then we'll probably wear it out for the football to come!
Much love & Happy New Year! | | |
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