spend more time with people I care about

On Tuesday when Hallie has Kid Creative, I meet with the other mothers for a “connect group.” I have to go outside my comfort zone to be with them. but I am so grateful when I do. They inspire me with their courage and faith. I love them all. This week one of the young mothers, mother died. Then she was held up at gunpoint at the post office. Makes me feel small becasue I want a manicure, pedicure, and massage to make me feel better.

Erin is my friend from my Connect Group at Oasis Church. Love her and her kids, Alana, Trey, and Jayden. After church on Sundays, Erin and the kids come to my place for lunch. We either go to the pool or take a NAP!! Erin and I are taking classes that start at 4. We eat lunch and nap until it is time to go back to church. Jonathan, Hallie, Alana, Trey, and Jayden play so well together.

Also, Erin has gotten me to serve on the FIT-First Impression Team at Oasis. We set up the parking signs and call for shuttles to the parking lots, when needed. We serve the 8am service then attend the 10am service. Works out well.

Lyle and I have cooked out the last two nights at my house. Lyle is so good at grilling out. He uses a charcoal grill….tonight the food no kidding was the best I have ever had..steak and chicken.

We are a lot alike in weird ways. He may beg to differ! :)

Today Jonathan, Hallie and I went to Beech Bend Amusement Park. I bought season passes so now we can come and go at will! We had a pretty good time! We stayed at the water park/pool area for two hours then we spent a couple of hours riding rides. We had fun. My neck is killing me and I have a headache but other than that I am doing wonderfully!

Penny, Eva, and Mickey came up to KY for Memorial Day Weekend. We had a great time together as always!! Penny and I are first cousins. Her mother, Verna, and my mother, Phyllis, are sisters. When we were kids we spent a lot of time together. Those memories are some of the best in my whole life. Penny is beautiful, smart, generous, and a great parent.

I plan to go back to New Orleans this summer to help Penny paint Eva’s room.

This is Penny when she was a little girl. Now she is all grown up and still a Diva!

I spent some quality time hanging out with Kristina today. She is my true friend!!

Marie and I have been friends for 18 years. We met when I lived in North Carolina. We were neighbors in a duplex. I could hear her when she would bathe her son through my medicine cabinet. At first I felt like I was spying on her because I could hear what she was saying. Then once we got to be friends we would talk to each other.

She is such a strong person, mentally and physically. When she was nine months pregnant with her second child, Christa, she push mowed her lawn. I was in awe of this woman. I was only 18 and had never been pregnant. She was a tough cookie, still is.

Marie lives in Indiana now. Zach is a senior and Christa is a Junior! Hallie and I went up to see her in October 2005. I had been wanting to go to James Dean’s hometown of Fairmount, IN for years. Marie took the day off from work and drove up there with me. She is not a Deaner like me, but she went and had fun. I think she had fun watching me get so excited whenever we would see a James Dean bill board. I would stop the car on the interstate to take a picture of it. I was freaking out.

Marie is a beautiful woman. She is so much fun to be around. We share secrets and giggle like we are in 3rd grade. I only live about 3 hours from her. I need to get my butt in the car and go up there to visit more often!!

Barry is my 2nd cousin. We have a great time together. He is one of the funniest people I know. He never meets a stranger and always has a hiliarious story or song. He plays guitar and sings. He has written a song for each place he has been arrested. It is too funny. What I love about him is that he does not give a crap about what anyone thinks about him. He speaks his mind. It seems like he know the lyrics to every song ever written.

This Christmas we wennt to his grandmother’s house, which is my aunt. My dad and his grandfather are brothers. We went riding on the farm in a dune buggy his nieces had gotten for Christmas. We had mud on our clothes and in our hair. Then he took all the kids for a ride too.

When our family members are having conversations, we can look at each other and give a “look.” It is like saying “Yeah like that really happened” or “Why is this person not in an asylum.” He is cool. I love him.

Kristina and I have been friends since 1999. We work at the same school. At first I thought I was going to hate her. I thougth she was too hard on my son. Actually she had higher expectations of his ability than I did. He was my baby and it was hard to cut the cord and let him go. She taught him how to read in Kindergarten.

Kristina and I love to lay out in the sun together during the summer, have an adult beverage, talk, and read. We went on vacation together last year to the mountains in North Carolina. In November 2005 we went to the Marine Corps Ball together too. We had fun. She is a great friend. Since we work together we see each other at lunch occasionally, but I would like to do more things together for fun.

Amy and I have been friends since 1992. We met at East Carolina University in an Oceanography class, which we both failed. We never understood anything the professor said.

Amy lives in Texas now. She is book smart, but a nut when it comes to common sense sometimes. She called me a few years ago crying because she had heard that Elvis had been under FBI protection and he was going to have a come back tour. I thought she was drunk. She laughed and said that was what her mother had said when she had called her about Elvis’ tour. I told her to watch CNN and if Elvis was indeed alive, it would be on the news.

She has been a very good friend to me. We have had some incredible times together.