Had an absolutely wonderful day. Very productive day at work, great walk this evening, supper with my boys! The little one abandoned us and ate at the table with his friends. (3 beautiful young ladies!) You go, P-man!!! Walked for about an hour and then went back to watch the band practice. I am so proud of them. They are doing an outstanding job. Can't wait to see them tomorrow night in uniform doing their completed show. This will be the first home game in 2 weeks, so we will get to see them perform, instead of looking at their backs while they perform for the home side! They go to contest on 10/9, so they are in the process of perfecting their show. I am amazed at the progress that I have seen in just one week, and I thought they looked super last week. I sure hope that someone with a video camera films them at contest. I would love a dvd.

At work we are gearing up for the Carrollton pilgrimage next weekend. I am starting tomorrow, cooking up chicken, dicing it and freezing it to make it faster to make chicken salad next week. I am cooking up a bunch of turkeys, slicing them and measuring them out for sandwiches to save time. Going to put the cheese on them and freeze until we need them. Should save a lot of time. Will do the ham the same way. Betty is going back to Sam's tomorrow to finish getting what we need. We are going all disposable dinnerware for the weekend. Last year, we had to wash and rewash dishes to have enough to use, so we are getting smart! I guess last year we really didn't know what to expect, but hopefully we will be ready for the crowds that we are expecting! I guess ole Belinda will be working A LOT next weekend.

Re-read a great book this week; QBQ by John Miller. QBQ is the "question behind the question". What to really ask yourself to eliminate blame, procrastination and complaining. You should never ask, 'why', 'when', or 'who', but 'How' and 'What'? I read it before, but was falling back into the "victim mentality" so re-read it. Did you know that the only person that you can change, is you? I decided instead of taunting my enemy, I would be overly helpful. I would change me. I decided instead of asking, "when is _____ going to do ____________?" I would ask, What can Belinda do to help this situation? I'll probably have to read it again before long, but maybe I'm back on track. There is a great definition of "wisdom" in this book. Wisdom is What we learn, after we know it all. I love it! Did you know that procrastination is the friend of failure? Sometimes if we don't take care of the little things while they are still little, then they escalate into BIG things that maybe catastrophic. Great little book takes about an hour to read, and is an easy read.

Tomorrow is Friday! I am so excited! Home football game. The Tigers are 5-0 and are looking to be 6-0 after they face the Whippets of Kosciusko tomorrow night. I hope they will be 6-0 anyway. They are looking great this year. I am looking forward to seeing Patrick perform at halftime more than anything. It's a great day to be a Tiger! Well, must go to bed, big day tomorrow; lots to do and see. God is great and God is good! All the time.

What a beautiful morning that the Lord has blessed us with today! Patrick and Sidney are at Brotherhood breakfast this morning. Mr. Lazy butt wouldn't get up and go. Elizabeth came home last night after work. Allen Reed has been working nonstop getting his beans in, so she hasn't seen much of him in a while! Poor baby has been really sick this week and then had to take the Praxis II yesterday. I sure hope and pray that she did alright. She said it was 6 hours long! I read my sunday school lesson this week and it was really a great one. We are studying the Psalms of ascent and this week was Psalm 124. How beautiful is it that when God is for us, then what can our enemies do to us? Consider what a situation would have been like if God had not been in our lives. Awesome to think and chew on. Have a great day and remember Jesus loves you!

I believe that I have been to more weddings in the past 12 months that in the other 48 years of my life! Last September was Liz's best friend, Julie. Julie gets the award for the longest Baptist wedding in history and the best reception! Next was Chase and Ali, who are Jon's friends. He was one of the groomsmen in that wedding. Short and sweet! Didn't go to the reception. Jon said Chase spent the evening trying to hide beer from his granddaddy, so it wasn't very fun. Next came BJ and Meggie McKay. BJ was kind of like an adopted child that lived with us for a couple of years 10 years ago. Both boys were in the wedding. This was Patrick's first wedding to be in. It was pretty. Took place in the Emmanuel church in Winona. Very cute, formerly Episcopal church, but now mostly used for weddings. The Episcopalians have died out there, I guess. Reception at the Country club had the most food I had ever seen! Meggie's aunt did all the work and I just don't know how she did it-or where she stored it! They must have rented a refrigerated warehouse! The next one was Jessica Brewer and James Paul Bowlin's wedding in July. Jon also was in that one. He and James Paul had been friends since 4 year old kindergarten and they live in rock throwing distance from each other. Nice traditional wedding. Jon was paired with his beautiful girlfriend and it kinda brought a tear to my eye to see all the boys that I had known for so long all grown up and all DRESSED up! Nice reception, but nothing much legal for south beach, so I went home very hungry. You know there was not even a diet coke to be found? Yesterday we went to another wedding. Kaitlyn and Jonathan had been really good friends since fourth grade when he started to Winona Elementary. She was always such a sweet person, very genuine. Jon was not in this one, but we all went as a family and Kaitlyn was very pretty. I am trying to get used to all this country music played over a loudspeaker, but I really prefer live instruments at a wedding and traditional music. Church of Christ doesn't allow live instruments; don't really understand why, since the music played had some instruments in it! Didn't go to the reception. Decided to go eat supper instead. We rode to Inverness to eat at the Hometown restaurant. Mark was so funny. He came out to see us and told us that we didn't have to dress up just for him! We were a little overdressed for the Hometown, but it was fun nonetheless! We were able to enjoy outdoor dining last night. Up until now, it had been way to hot to try out Mark's new additions of a courtyard and screened porch. Jon was excited to show his sister his new truck which she liked! It was good to see her and she got to spend a good bit of time with us, since their crowd had not arrived yet. We even arrived home before nine, which is not usual for us even when we eat out locally on a Saturday night. We usually don't get started quite so early, though. I don't think we have any more weddings that we are obligated to attend for a while! I think that all of Jon's friends are married now! CJ and Adam won't be doing that any time in the near future, I don't believe. We don't know any of Liz's Cleveland friends and all of her Winona friends are married. Maybe Allen Reed will come around and ask Liz to marry him. Then we'll have another one! Three years of dating should be enough! it was for Sidney and me!

men of character cont.

I posted recently about my father-in-law and what a great guy he was. Well, I was so fortunate in life to have a wonderful father of my own. My dad was great; when I was little he could fix anything from broken barbie dolls to bicycles! It was later that I learned that he was really only human! I remember telling a friend that "My daddy is superman!" My dad was a little older than most of my friends' fathers. He was 34 when I was born and I was the oldest! My dad lost his own dad at the age of 9. He was murdered. I'm sure this affected Daddy very much, although he never talked about it. He was raised by a single mother and their home burned to the ground when he was a young teen. You know what though? He rose above it. He joined the Navy after high school graduation. After he was discharged from the service, he hitchhiked back and forth to Hinds Jr. College in Raymond. He then transferred to Ole miss and received his BBA. He went to work for Lawrence Printing for several years, retiring with them. He left for a short time during the fifties to open a service station in Cleveland, MS. My Daddy was a Christian and loved Jesus with all his heart. I still miss our discussions. If I ever had a question regarding morality or scripture, he was always there with an answer. If we missed him, he was usually in his study reading his Bible. If you asked him what denomination he was, he would tell you that he was a Christian who belonged to the Baptist church. He believed that the Baptist beliefs were the closest to the New Testament Teachings. He didn't quite hold to the tee totaling beliefs of the Baptists, though. He loved a cold beer! He taught 10 year old boys Sunday school for years. When asked to teach an adult class, he told them that nothing you teach a child is wasted, but an adult's heart is already hard and his mind is already made up. I learned after his death that one year for Christmas he bought Christmas presents for a relative who couldn't afford gifts for their children. He didn't want the kids to not have gifts at Christmas. He never told us this. I found out another time that a man came to our church in Greenwood looking for a little help. Seems this man worked in the printing industry and had a run of bad luck and was trying to get back home to chicago. Imagine, asking the church for help! Seems like a logical choice, but apparently not. The janitor, who knew the type man my daddy was, told the man to walk up the street to Lawrence Printing and talk to Robert Knox; he would help him. Daddy bought the man a bus ticket back to Chicago and fed him a meal before he left. He never told us this either. My daddy was a humble man who did things for other people just because it was the right thing to do. He never bragged about it, nor even mentioned it. I'm sure that there are other things that I never knew and may never know that he did for folks, but that's ok. He didn't do it for us. He did it for Jesus! He loved us and mama with all his heart; he provided for us and sent us all to college. He was so sweet. The last words I heard him say was, I love you and I don't know what I'd do without you. He died the next morning. I was devastated. It took me a good 9 months or so to get through church without crying. Every hymn reminded me of him. The worst time was when a soloist sang "The Holy City". Suzy Haynes sang this at Daddy's funeral because it was his favorite song. When I heard it again so soon, it just melted me.

The Holy City. S. Adams

"Last night I lay a sleeping, there came a dream so fair, I stood in old Jerusalem beside the temple there. I heard the children singing and ever as they sang, Me thought the voice of Angels from Heav'n in answer rang: Me thought the voice of angles from Heav'n in answer rang.
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Lift up your gates and sing, Hosanna, in the highest, Hosanna to your king.
and then me thought my dream was changed, streets no longer rang, Hush'd were the glad Hosannas the little children sang. the sun grew dark with mystery, the morn was cold and chill. As the shadow of a cross arose upon a lonely hill. As the shadow of a cross arose upon a lonely hill. Jerusalem, Jerusalem, hark! how the angels sing. Hosanna in the highest, Hosanna to your king.
And once again the scene was changed; new earth there seem'd to be. I saw the Holy City beside the tideless sea. The light of God was on it's streets, the gates were open wide, and all who would might enter and no one was denied. no need for moon or stars by night, or sun to shine by day. it was the new Jerusalem that would not pass away. it was the new Jerusalem that would not pass away. Jerusalem, Jerusalem, sing for the night is o'er! Hosanna in the highest, hosanna for evermore, hosanna in the highest, hosanna for evermore!

Goodbye my sweet Daddy. I love you and miss you still!