Kids are so cute!

So I must admit that I am a sucker for cute kids, but I am especially bias towards my nieces and nephews. My sister Jill sent me this picture the other day and I just loved it so I thought I would share it with all my friends. I am pretty sure they may be some of the cutest kids ever (maybe because they are related to me). Anyway - I think the blue clothing really brings out their beautiful blue eyes. It is hard to believe that Kamryn will be four in a just a couple months and Hayes is now 16 months. Wow - how they grow. I can't wait to see them along with my brother's kids (Paige and Matthew) at Christmas time.

One reason I love having them around on Christmas is the excitement that they bring. I love my family but since it is just Dave and I with my mom and dad, Christmas morning can be a real dull time. Dave doesn't really talk or smile or get excited about Christmas, nor does my dad so my mom and I talk to each other and show each other what we got. But later in the day when the kids come, life gets fun at the Grant house. Four grandkids, five grant kids, three spouses, mom and dad, cats, dogs...let's just say it is crazy but fun!!

OCC Trip Highlights

So I must say that one of the highlights of this years trip to Charlotte would have to be the song that Brittany and Emmy wrote and performed for me. It was amazing. Take a few minutes and watch this - you will clearly be impressed! They are such fun kids!

Operation Christmas Child

So we are here in Charlotte North Carolina along with my kids and some adults - it has been a great trip so far - The kids have been awesome and I am so proud of how well they worked yesterday. The trip down was uneventful - but so good that we didn't have to drive. I love taking the bus - it saves so much energy, although - despite being excessively tired I could not sleep on the bus!!! I was like a child with ADD - I couldn't sit still!!! We got in around midnight and got to bed around 1am the first night. Last night my kids were all in their rooms by 10:30pm...where did these kids come from - they are so good!!! It must be their leader :)...anyway..there are some really cool videos of our trip on You Tube, but last time I tried that I got two copies, so until I get a little assistance from my friend Joel I will have to refer you to his blog to see the videos... to see his blog go to www.joelsnyder.net

So until I write again - check out his blog and his video - it is really cool!!

Good Friends! God's Blessings!

Well, I can honestly say that this is the best that I have felt in a few days, maybe a few weeks, maybe this whole month. I was graciously reminded today about God's goodness and faithfulness and his ability to provide, when hope is lost.

It seems as though his timing is impecable!!! (I don't really know how to spell that word but it sounded really good!) Anyway - I was having some financial burdens because of my medical condition and it was stressing me out - and killing my bank account, in fact today I went to get my mail and I was negative 200 - that is bad, but I knew that God would provide, especially since tomorrow if payday (thank goodness!) But much to my surprise I found an envelope on my dresser from my friends, with enough money to pay my taxes and several of my bills. WOW - God truly does answer our prayers! It is funny how he brings people into our lives for such a time as this! Last year at this time I had just met most of these people and over the past year have grown to love them like brothers and sisters.

I still can't believe it - I am so honored to call them my friends, I am humbled and thankful for God's provision in the midst of one of the biggest challenges of my life. God is good, even during the hard times!

Waiting!

I hate waiting.... I hate waiting for many things.... like for instance I hate waiting in line at the grocery store, I hate waiting for my food to cook, I hate waiting in lines at Christmas time (that won't be a problem since I am not buying any gifts this year) I just hate waiting period. The reason that I am writing this blog about my hatred for waiting is that I am currently waiting for test results. It just makes me crazy having to wait for them, especially since the tests were done on Friday, you would think that by Tuesday afternoon someone would have read them and they would have had the decency to call my doctor to let him know, so that my doctor could then call me and let me know, then I could stop waiting. Sigh, deep breath.... patience I know, I just need to be patient. And speaking of that don't ever pray that God would help you learn patience unless you are really serious about learning it, because he will put you in situations that will require a ton of it. Okay I am done ranting and raving for a little while, and I will sit back and wait some more in hopes that they will call me and let me know what is going on in my brain!!!!!

The cold hits Central PA

Much to my disdain I had to turn my heat on....not just in my room but the whole house! Ahhhhhh!!!!! And worse yet.... electric heat is supposed to go up 17% in January...for real...what is going on that makes the price of electricity go up that much - that is ridiculous!!!!! AHHHHHHH!!! Okay so I guess this is more of a venting session than it is a blog....but hey that is what I am thinking. At least it is free to blog so even if I have to freeze to death I can still blog, or better yet I could sleep in my office - it is much warmer here!

Harvest Festival

When I think about the crazy things that I do to make kids laugh I must now add this weekends Harvest Festival. For over an hour and a half I wore these ugly teeth and talked like a redneck... if it didn't make the kids laugh (which I think it did) it sure made the parents laugh. The event took a lot of work but it seemed to be a big success, we had games, food, worms in dirt, pies in faces (mine and braedon's) and lots of other fun stuff... not to mention the Virginia Reel - that was super fun also. I must say I was exhausted at the end of the night but it was well worth it!

320 Boxes Packed

So Midnight Madness was a great success - we had lots of kids and adults show up to prepare, shop, wrap, and put together 320 shoeboxes. It was a pretty amazing night and I am glad that all the hard work and preparation paid off. I have to admit that earlier in the day I was a bit nervous that no one would show up, but thanks be to God - I was wrong - we had a great turn out and everyone seemed to have a great time. A special thanks to all our volunteers from our church and from the local Kiwanas group - I could not do my job without you!!!

Technology is not my thing...

So if you look at the post before this one you will learn really quickly that I hate technology and it has taken too much of my time just to try to get the video posted and then for some reason I am so good at getting the video on that I decided two copies of the video would be better! Ughhhh!!! So I have about four other things to blog about but I should clean my desk instead!

New Orleans

One of my boys did this video about our New Orleans Mission Trip. It is really cool - you should check it out!

Midnight Madness

It is OCC Time again and with that brings our 5th annual or maybe it is the 6th annual (I am going to need to check on that) Midnight Madness. You may be wondering - what is midnight madness...well it is an All-Area Shoebox packing party. We wrap shoeboxes, go shopping, and pack close to 300 shoeboxes. It is open to all Youth and Families, so feel free to come and join us from 6pm to....who knows when maybe 10pm. There will be pizza and snacks served, so come on out and join us! Oh and for those of you who are wondering why it is called Midnight Madness, well it is because if I am not home and in bed by Midnight then I am mad the next day! Isn't that a great reason to name an event! Like I said before all are welcome to come, we would love to have you join us!

The Heat is on!

So much to my dismay, I broke down and finally turned my heat on, despite the fact that my air conditioner is still in the window. I usually am very good about not turning the heat on until the very latest...however my house is freezing and it is a shot night. It is about midnight and I just took my shot about a half hour ago, it was a bleeder, I hate when that happens, I just hope I can sleep through the night, that is my big hope.

Last week my shot prize was a candy bar this week it was Easy Mac, it was not my top choice but it was one of my few options. I will explain my lack of food in a later blog. So with all that being said, I have turned into a wuss and turned my heat on to deal with the chills that I usually get along with my shots.

My girls win, Tucker is bad, MS Sucks

So the title gives away my roller coaster of a day. First the great news, my Lewisburg Girls won the district championship in Cross Country...in fact Casey Miller (one of the nicest and hardest working kids ever!) from my youth group came in first. She along with another girl from my youth group Shannon Wright finished in the top ten or close to it. The boys ended up getting 4th place but ran very well, Great Job today - I am so proud of you!

The down part of the day, I guess watching cross country really did me in today...I was having trouble standing by the end and almost fell asleep at lunch. So I came home and laid down, as I was sleeping my dog decided he was going to search the house for things to destroy and eat and break....

Tucker ripped out the bottom of my box spring, he tried to bite my ear while I was sleeping and was successful in eating my glasses, well they are not completely eaten but they are ruined! He has been so bad - I think he needs exercise but I can't get up without feeling like I need to sit down...which leads me to my last point...MS Sucks!

I so hate the fact that at one moment I feel pretty good, I feel like I can get out and do things, and then the next day it is all I can do to get out of bed...so I did this morning, but then I was back in bed all day, no energy, dizzy, and just exhausted, so because of that I had to stay home tonight and skip Young Life, where I was supposed to give the talk...I guess my role tonight is to just pray for the kids! I know God has a purpose in all of this, I just wish I could see the big picture!

Shot Night

So my shot night had to be switched this week due to several obligations on Tuesday. It wasn't as bad as last week so that is good, my new trick is to have a reward for myself as soon as I am done taking my shot - last week I wasn't allowed to eat dinner until I did it, this week it was a candy bar, which is a funny story. During middle school youth group tonight we shared our favorite candy bar with everyone - I was trying to explain my new favorite but I couldn't remember the name, I said it was crispy, crunchy something, but it can be found on the top row by the check out at Walmart - well one of my boys (Daniel) said I am going there tonight I will get you one - and that he did, his mom delivered it on their way home.

So thanks Daniel for making my shot worthwhile and thanks Hershey for this new candy bar it is delicious!!!

A rainy Day in Central PA

What is your favorite thing to do on a rainy day.....many people would say nap. Boy would I love a nap right now but that doesn't seem to fit my craziness for the day. Some people would say relax and read a book. Well as I sit here I am looking at a book called MS and Your Feelings and I am not sure I am ready to dive into that one. Some would suggest a movie, that is a good idea, but not the one that I am going for tonight. How about a football game! Despite the fact that sitting in the rain can be a very soggy experience, I actually enjoy experiencing it! Especially if it is going to be on the warm side, which tonight is supposed to be. So that's it folks - my rainy day in central PA choice for the night is FOOTBALL - I must be crazy! Good Luck Tigers!

MS Challenge Walk

Well the 30 miles are complete and I can still walk....actually I feel great, which is a nice change to how I felt last week at this time. It seems like my energy comes and goes and last week it was gone and fatigue seemed to be my best friend. But by the weekend, thanks to many people praying I was able to complete the 30 miles. It was a beautiful walk, we explored different historical sites, we walked through a neighborhood of mansions that had streets lined with Sycamore trees! It was so neat! And being competitive I felt that I should just walk but I should walk at a brisk pace....we ended up doing 16 miles in 3.5 hours. We finished in the top 10 people out of about 300....now it wasn't a race, but being the competitor that I am I wanted to walk as fast as I could just to see if I could do it! And I did! I was pretty sore that night and was thankful for an afternoon nap. That night they did a candle lighting service, it was nice, many tears were shed as people shared their stories, but it was also a night filled with hope for the future.

Day 2 was just as beautiful but a different setting, we walked through the horse farms in the Brandywine historical area, there were more hills and I was a bit slower, but thanks to Tim and his insistant prodding, I stayed well hydrated and learned to tolerate Gu (an energy supplement). We finished out our 14 miles in Longwood Gardens which is a beautiful place I just wish that I had more time to just look around, but we were on a mission to finish and that we did, in about 3 hours. We celebrated at the end and had a little ceremony, it was a great weekend and I am so thankful that I was able to finish the 30 miles and feel pretty well (other than being sore!) I am thankful for my friends that made it a point to be there for the finish (Erik and Elias - that poster was great!), Biz - thanks for being a great bathroom buddy, Braedon - thanks for skipping work to be there, and Tim - you are a great walking buddy, even though you hate you the rah rahs!!

Thanks for all those the prayed - I am sure that is the reason I did so well!!! God Rocks!!

The Walk if finally here!

So yeah - I am about to depart for Philly for my 30 mile MS challenge walk. Last year at this time, I would not have thought twice about walking 30 miles, it would be an easy knotch in my belt, but this year brings a whole other twist on walking 30 miles. My body has been about 10 steps behind for the past month or so, so I am a bit nervous. Many people told me that I just shouldn't walk - which you know me that makes me want to do it all the more. Then others say just do what you can and that will be a great success - actually that is what I would tell someone in my position, but for me - it is not a pride thing - it is a physical task that I more than anything want to finish, especially since I have felt so frustrated in my ability to do physical stuff.

So anyway - I am off - we will see what the weekend brings! I will report more later!!

Office Privacy

So the great part about my office is that I can clothes both of my doors if I need some privacy or I am working on something important. Now it doesn't always work, but at least it deters some from just walking right through. Our secretary (or Administrative Assistant) does not have that luxury so she often has to put her work on hold and do everything for everyone, as well as hear conversations that she would prefer to not hear. She is basically at the mercy of everyone who walks through the door...Until now.... thanks to my creative juices along with the help of my trusty assistant we built Sharon her own private office on her day off. Now those that enter must ring a bell for service and then enter through the streamer wall to get assistance!

If you are having a similar problem at your office, try streamers - they work wonders and are a great conversation piece!

Cutting Costs

Do you know how much it costs to use your dryer to dry a load of clothes??? It can cost up to 3.50 a load - that is a lot of money especially when you have to wash all your closes do to a flea infestation from Potter County. So my solution to the high costs of drying clothes....turning my back yard into a huge drying rack - my neighbors must think I am nuts! The great news is that so many of my friends have seen my yard and laughed, and have offered to build me some laundry lines because of it! Pretty good deal, A!

Rescue Dog!

Yes - my dog - although he has not been trained yet to do so, has now been crowned rescue dog for the Himmelrieich Christian Resource Center. Here is the story, Tucker and I were in my office at church with Braedon getting some work done, when our Librarian came into my office and asked if I knew how to get a squirrel out of a building. I mentioned that I was not an expert but maybe Tucker could help...and that he did - he chased that squirrel right out of the building and rescued all the patrons from the potential to contract rabies from the crazy confused squirrel that inhabited the library.

Alas - all were saved by my little four month old puppy! I am just so proud! He will be signing autographs next week at Pets R Us - Super Rescuers!