Jim's upcoming surgery

I'd like to ask everyone to say a few prayers for my husband in the coming weeks. He's having shoulder surgery on Jan 6th. He has a torn ligament and they need to go in and repair it before his rotator cuff gets damaged. The surgeon says it's a quick in-and-out surgery but total recovery will take months.
He started having trouble with it several months ago and went to see our regular doctor. She gave him a shot and that helped some but didn't last long. Then one day at work it got worse so they sent him to their doctor. Long story short, after x-rays and an MRI it was decided he needed surgery. Luckily for us, this is a workers comp claim as it happened in the plant at work.
The doctor says he'll be out of work for 1 to 2 weeks but will have to do therapy and won't be 100% for 3 to 6 months. When they release him to go back to work, he won't be able to work out in the plant, which suits him fine.
I'd just like to ask everyone to pray that the surgery is a success and his recovery is quicker than expected.
I'll fill y'all in as much as I can after surgery and as he goes through the process of therapy and getting back to normal.

Thanks and God Bless!

Dennis the Menace ain't got nuthin' on Glory!

Let me fill y'all in on the most recent antics of Glory, our Elf on a Shelf...


We woke one morning to her playing in the girls makeup and hair bows...


This morning, she was hanging from the chandilier in the dining room...


Yesterday, she got out games to play and colored in Cassidy's new coloring book. It seems she found a picture of two elves that reminded her of some she must work with back at Santa's Workshop...


And lastly, there's the morning she'd been into our crafting stuff and was making a fuse bead puppy dog.

Ahh, the girls are having a blast with Glory but I'm just counting down the days til Santa picks her up and takes her home so I can get a year of peace and quiet....
Wait, I still have my two kids, three if you count Jim, so I guess the dream of peace and quiet will be just that, a dream.

Merry Christmas and God Bless!

World's Greatest Husband 2009 goes to...

... Jimmy Proctor! He is a devoted husband and father, great provider and wonderful friend. Not only does he help around the house without complaint but *gasp* he listens to his wife! Melissa told us how he got her the greatest Christmas gift all because he listened. "I have hinted and mentioned wanting a Nikon D3000 DSLR camera for some time now", said his lovely wife. She goes on to say, "last night, I was allowed to open an early Christmas gift, as were our daughters. Imagine my surprise when I unwrap a Nikon D3000 camera!"
There were 5 finalists running for the coveted award but his thoughtful gift and ability to hear what his wife says pushed Jimmy ahead of the other candidates.
Congrats Jim and good luck to all the candidates for 2010!

I thought elves made toys not played with them...

This morning Glory was busy at the kitchen table playing with the girls gifts we let them open last night... Weak, I know. BUT Jim told me I could have an early gift if the girls said so and they said yes only if they got one. It was all abit of manipulation but everyone was happy in the end... I'll post about my fabu gift in a few...

Elf... in the tree?

This is what we woke to Friday morning. Apparently she either likes making a mess or she was trying to replace the angel with... herself!

Candy, TV and mischief

Glory is causing quite a stir at our house and it's only day 2!!
Day 1, we woke to her sitting on the sofa watching cartoons, drinking Kenzie's Gatorade. She'd doodled a picture and eaten one of Jim's Reese's. The girls found this cute!
Day 2 brought even more mischief as she seems to be more comfortable with us. She snooped through the kitchen cabinets, dragging food and candy out everywhere. This was just too humerous as the girls laughed and laughed. And of course, Mama pretended to be so upset over having a mess to clean up. That just made their morning.
More mischief is coming, I'm sure. I'll keep ya posted!

Meeting Glory!!!

The official introduction of my girls and their elf was last night and it went better than expected. She was waiting in our Christmas tree with a letter from Santa. We were home for over an hour before she was spotted and I was wondering if I'd have to point her out! Kenzie finally saw the letter first and read it to me then we found Glory. My girls are soooo excited to have her!!!!!!!!! Here are a few pictures of them after meeting her. Her first mischievous act was last night... I'll post pictures and details later today.








Merry Christmas all!!!!!!!!!

Glory the elf

It's the Christmas season and seems we parents will do and try anything to make our kids behave above and beyond what we normally ask. We tell them Santa is watching and that he knows what they are doing and when.
I've taken it a step further this year and will be having an elf that checks up on the girls and reports back to Santa. Yes, we are doing the Elf on a Shelf thing this year and I hope it's a magical experience for them. I really want it to be more of a fun, exciting experience than a reason for them to behave... but behaving would be a nice bonus!
Now, I've just got to come up with ideas of mischief for Glory to get into during the night. I have a few ideas that I "stole" from a friends blog... hope she doesn't mind!
I plan to blog each activity and event that occurs with Glory here with pictures so I'll have a lasting treasure of this magical time.
She will make her appearance today. She's already hiding in our Christmas tree for them to find when we get home.
Here's the letter that Santa (AKA me) wrote to them:

Dear MacKenzie and Cassidy,

This is Glory and she’s a Special Elf you see,
her job is very important to me.
She has came to stay with you awhile
and see when you cry or smile,
During the day she’ll stay hid out of sight,
but she comes to life at night.
That’s when she tells me whether you’ve been bad or good,
whether you’ve acted as you should.
She may get bored when she comes to life
and cause you some strife.
Check each morning to see where she is and what she’s done
as she enjoys having fun!

I’ll pick her up when I come to your house on Christmas Eve
but don’t be sad that she has to leave.
Her special job will bring her back year after year
to watch and hear.




Love,
Santa Claus

I miss my friend...

I lost a dear friend several years ago to a horrible car accident and I always get melancholy around Christmas. Josh was a friend to everyone, and I do mean everyone. He'd give the shirt off his back for anyone that needed it. I remember him being there for me several times I needed him. When one of our other friends had a bad car wreck on his graduation day, Josh rushed to Vanderbilt to be there. I could go on and on about the wonderful things he did but this blog isn't that big!
One of the hardest parts is that I pass by the spot where his accident was twice a day going to and from work and sometimes more. There is a lovely cross with his name on it. Some days I pass by and have happy thoughts and smile. Some days, like today, I pass by and get sad. Christmas gets me every time. You see, Josh was in his 20's when he died and he never got the chance to celebrate Christmas as a parent. He never will get that chance either. I look at my kids and think about how I'll slip Santa gifts in and what I would do if they woke up and found us "being Santa". My friend will never have that joy. He'll never see the wonderous smile on a childs face when they wake to see what Santa left and the cookies eaten.
His family... Oh, that gets me too. There are loving parents and 3 sisters that have to celebrate each holiday without their son and brother. There are neices and nephews that don't get to play with their new toys from their uncle. As a parent, I cannot fathom how empty it feels to see that empty seat that the Thanksgiving table. As a sister, I cannot imagine not having my sis to call when I'm having a bad day. As a friend, I cannot begin to understand why I can't call Josh when I need a shoulder to cry on.
Yes, I miss my friend but I will smile through the tears because I know that he is happy. He is in the presence of our Lord! He will celebrate Jesus' birth WITH JESUS!!! How amazing is that thought?! And it's that thought that puts a smile on my face when I begin to get sad. Yes, I miss my friend but I know I'll see him again someday and what a joyous day it'll be!
To Josh- I miss your smile, your laugh, your kindheartedness. But I'll see you soon and I'll hug your neck when I do! PS...tell Jesus happy birthday for me!

Thanksgiving lunch with Kenzie

Today, my mom and I went to Kenzie's school to eat Thanksgiving lunch with her. It was pretty good food and even better company!




As you can see, she was pretty happy to see us


I believe the pie was her favorite part! lol

My beautiful daughters

Here are a few pictures I took of the girls last Sunday. They are wearing pillow case dresses that my sister had made for them from pillow cases her Grandmother made years ago. Cassidy is the little blonde, she's 5 and Kenzie is the dark haired beauty, she's 8.

The weekend

Finally, I have something good to post! I had a great weekend and honestly, there wasn't anything spectacular about it.
Starting with Friday, I was off work (I work 4 10's) so I got some housework and the grocery shopping done. I just love getting that done child-free! Then I went and had a nice lunch with my mom and sister at O'Charleys... shameless plug! lol. Friday night we had Girl Scouts which went nicely. Then home where we had lasagna roll ups for supper... yum-o!
Jim finally got a weekend off so Saturday we got up and just hung out at home for awhile. Then the girls and I ran errands while Jim rested. Kenzie went to her friend Isabella's to spend the night and we got Nana to take Cassidy... Yippee, a date night with my hubby! We went to Lebanon and ate at Outback. We were both somewhat disappointed and decided Outback isn't our fav anymore. Texas Roadhouse or Longhorn are much better. Then we saw Couples Retreat- very funny, a must see! Another shameless plug...
Sunday was church for the girls and I then home to work on the rental property. Ah, let me explain alittle more. We decided since we spent so much on the last contractor and got ripped off not to hire another. Jim has several friends that do carpentry and offered to help us finish it ourselves. We tried to call the old contractor to ask about our tubs and guess what? His phone is disconnected... Ahh, lovely! lol. So, anyway our recommendation for Christopher Michael Robinson aka Wildwood Builders out of Westmoreland/Gallatin area is NOT a good one. They had stomped several rooms ceilings before they quit but done it wrong so we spent yesterday scrapping it off to get ready to restomp it ourselves. Hopefully if we can work on it this week and weekend, it'll be move in ready in a few weeks. We got the painter lined up and just need to pick out the tile and a chandelier for the dining area.
What about that weekend was so great, you might ask? Working sounds like no fun at all, you say. But to me it was a perfect weekend with my family which is a rare occurance with the hours Jim's working lately. It's nice to stop and appreciate all the wonderful people God has blessed me with sometime. Everyone should do it... won't you now?

Contractor update

Okay, here's the latest with the contractor drama I blogged about earlier. I did get ahold of him on the phone last week and it wasn't pretty at all. Several of my friends were in the car with me at lunch when he called. At one point, they were laughing so hard they couldn't breath! I'm pretty sure I threatened to kick his a$$. Real mature, I know. My excuse is that I'm a Taurus and we are mean and bull-headed. lol So I tell him off then my husband calls and pretty much does the same. He's saying his crew doesn't want to finish until they are paid. Seriously? This less-than-stellar guy wants me to pay everything without the job done? I didn't just fall off the turnip truck.
Then there's a discussion between him and my husband about the $3,000 worth of concrete we've already paid for that he's not poured in my driveway yet. Let me explain something here. We had a 24' wide garage built with TWO doors. We discussed the driveway being 10' wide until you get to the garage then it would widen to get in the doors. DUH! He says we never discussed that and he's only doing 10' wide all the way up which has it ending in the middle of each door. Who, I ask, in their right minds wants a driveway not wide enough to get in their garage? Do ya see how stupid this guy is being? All that is a civil matter as we had a contract so that'll be a long, drawn out process.
The remodel at the rental isn't in a contract though. This is where it gets good. We paid for most of the items needed for the remodel, including two tubs. What does the genius do but buy the wrong size. Um, ever heard of measuring first??? So he says he'll exchange them on the right size and took the tubs a few weeks ago. As you can guess, he never brought them back or the new ones. Soo, technically that's theft. (I work at a police dept so I know this technical stuff! lol). Guess what I'll be doing in the morning since I'm off on Friday? Yup, filing a report with the sheriff's dept and having them take out theft warrants on him.
Oh, will the drama ever end????? Check back to read the latest as it develops!

God still speaks; it's up to us to listen!

I am so excited that I serve such an amazing, loving, wonderful God!!!! I have to share my God moment from yesterday. Jim and I have been having a rough time lately. There are issues that go back years we are still struggling with and the added stress of "the contractor". (see other blogs about that issue) Plus Jim's working 7 12+ hour days. So anyway, I drive past a church every day that has a sign out front that has Col. 3:17 on it but the verse isn't listed. Now, you bible scholars may already know what that verse is. But I didn't and I've been meaning to look it up. Well, yesterday as I'm driving home and praying about the issues at hand, I notice that sign again. I kept driving and praying and something told me to look it up right then. Here I go, pulling over on the side of the highway in the semi-dark. I pull out my bible and flip to it. Col 3:17 says "And whatever you do,whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." What does that have to do with marriage, you ask? Ah, this is where my God gets so amazing! It wasn't Col 3:17 He wanted me to see. As I'm about to close my bible thinking "um, okay God, what was that?", I notice I had previously underlined the next three verses. Wanna guess what those verses say??? Okay, I'll just tell ya. Col 3:18 "Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord." Making sense? Col 3:19 "Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them." Now tell me that my God isn't loving and great! There He was,telling me that all would be okay if we just trusted Him. I immediately called my sister to tell her and texted Jim to tell him. Our issues and stresses didn't automatically go away but I did get such an overwhelming sense of peace. God didn't promise us we'd have perfect lives and always be happy. Matter-of-fact, He said just the opposite. We will have trials and tribulations and hard times, to bring us closer to HIM. I worshipped with my contemporary christian music on the way in this morning and I feel revived! Can I get an AMEN?!

AMEN!

Contractor drama

Okay, so we having some serious drama with our contractor. Let me explain just a little. We (mostly Jim) felt we needed a garage... funny this "need" arose after he bought a nice new Mustang but I digress...
Anyway we find this guy that gives us an awesome price along with sayin he can put the garage up (24' by 24') AND concrete our drive in just over a week. WAA WHO! What a great deal, right? WRONG! We signed the contract 5, YES FIVE, WEEKS AGO and our garage ain't finished. It's up and got the metal on it but the doors aren't hung or even on site and the driveway ain't done. Oh it gets better. We own rental property and about the same time we had to evict our renter because she trashed our house. Like to the point we just decided to gut it and start over. Do you see where this is going? Yes, like dummies we hired the same bone-headed contractor to remodel our rental house. In our defense, he had just started the garage and we didn't know he'd be such a slacker. SOOO, now we have a half completed garage AND half completed remodel job and our contractor is now MIA. We call, he doesn't answer; we text, he doesn't answer. He's removed all his tools.
"Call another contractor to finish", you say. Not so easy considering we've paid him for ALL the materials for the garage (doors included) AND all the money for the concrete thats yet to arrive. We've not paid for any of the labor costs yet but materiels we've paid for to do both jobs is around $10,000 already. We really can't afford to pay out alot more to finish either job. Plus, I REFUSE to buy another set of garage doors or more concrete.
I want to scream and yell at him but it'll do as much good as pissin' in the wind! I do have his business address so my next step is to go by there and see if anyone can tell me anything.
Does anyone know a GOOD, dependable contractor in Lafayette that'll finish my remodel job without ripping me off? I need that job done so I can get my sister moved in and start collecting rent again. Why my sister is going to rent from us is another story for another day.

Hello everyone! I have finally decided to join the 21st century and start my own blog. I never thought I had enough to say to have a blog but have realized that I have plenty to say! I'm sure some people would argue that I've always had too much to say!
Let me start with some personal information. My name is Melissa and I'm 30, married and a mom. My family and I live in a small town in TN, Lafayette. Please, I ask you, do NOT pronounce it like Lafayette, LA. We are country folk and we say it like laf-ette not la-fa-ette. It's 2 syllabols not 3 here. That being said, I type much like I speak so I may have to do a "redneck dictionary" on here somewhere!
As I said I'm married and have been for 7 years to the most wonderful man! He's put up with all my "craziness" like a pro so he's worth keeping around! Plus, he helps keep me grounded. We have two beautiful daughters, MacKenzie and Cassidy. Kenzie is 8 and she's the oldest. She looks just like me and, unfortunetely, acts just like me. She's a tomboy and don't care who knows. Cass, 5, on the other hand is the EXACT opposite! She looks like her father when he was young. Matter-of-fact, as soon as she was born I said "that can't be my child!". LOL. She's the most girlie-girl that I know. She's the sensitive one of the family. My girls keep me busy with school and Girl Scouts but I wouldn't trade it for anything in this big ole world!
I am a career gal. I am a certified crime scene investigator and work at a local police department. It has to be the perfect match for me and I'm thankful every day that I found my dream job! It truly makes getting up every day (or in the middle of the night) to go to work worthwhile. Working with police officers is different than any people I've worked with before but I feel 100% safe with my life in their hands on a daily basis. That fact alone makes us all like one big, happy family.
I think that's all for now... I'll begin posting regularly with stories, funnies and all sorts of goodness!

Blog On!