THURSDAY THIRTEEN

1. It is so cold today. I want to go check the mail but don't want to walk to the mailbox.

2. Yesterday I hurt all over, been like that since it's gotten cold. Friends tell me arthritis.... if this is true Arthur is not my friend and I'm only 43 and this sucks.

3. I got my wii yesterday,I know what people mean when they talk about wii arm now. I kicked butt in boxing but not so good in baseball. Maybe I should wear my glasses so I can see how close those balls are to me.

4. I got new glasses in August and had to pay full price. The Dr. says he'll send me a reminder in Dec to come and get another pair when it's time for my insurance to pay for some. So, I go yesterday to get my "free" pair and they end up costing me $87! Is that what free means these days?

5. OK they would have been free if I had not gotten the no line bifocal. I don't want lines. I don't even want glasses  and I have 20/20 vision! My muscles are tired and don't want to swiutch back and forth so I wear bifocals with 20/20 vision...... bleh!

6. I really need to do a review on Faces in the Fire by T.L. Hines but not today.... maybe tomorrow. Good book even if the chapters were crazy.

7. I'm half way to 13 and I go blank.....

8. I haven't done any crafting, sewing,painting...nothing but reading mostly. Maybe that is why I feel so blah lately. I would like a warmer day where I can go outside and do something...or nothing but breathe fresh air and walk.

9. Don't forget the book giveaway. If you are a reader this is a must read book. I really enjoyed it.

10 Also the cereal coupons giveaway. people this is free cereal and not that yucky kind that starts with a K. Up to $6 off any size General Mills cereal. You can't beat that!

11. I need to get an appointment for my Daisy Monday. The vet wants her on some heart meds and hopefully with that and the fluid pills she will feel better.

12. I really have to get to moving and lose all this junk I have accumulated over the Holidays. I seemed to think that from Thanksgiving until New Years was calorie free eating! Well it wasn't and I can see every where those calories went.

13. It's back to work tomorrow..in the cold. Unless the freezing rain happens then I'm staying in and being safe. I hope it doesn't freeze though because that might mena no electricity and it's just no fun when the electric goes out.

Y'all stay warm!!

Prayers for a fireman

Firefighter David Curlin Injured When Wall Collapses

MAIN STREET FIRE DESTROYS BUILDING, INJURES FIREFIGHTER

By Ray King/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Monday, January 4, 2010 11:14 PM CST

The cause of a fire in downtown Pine Bluff Sunday was still unknown and an injured firefighter remained in intensive care in a Little Rock hospital Monday.

A Sunday fire destroyed Clements Office Center at 604 S. Main St. and left a Pine Bluff Firefighter in critical condition at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Medical Center in Little Rock. The cause of the fire is still unknown.

Pine Bluff Fire and Emergency Services crews were back at Clements Office Center at 604 S. Main St. Monday morning to douse spot fires and to allow the fire marshal to conduct his investigation.

Meanwhile, Lt. David Curlin was listed in critical but stable condition in the Intensive Care Unit at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Medical Center where he was transferred from Jefferson Regional Medical Center Sunday.

Curlin was injured when part of a wall fell on him Sunday.

“He made it through the night, and they were supposed to reassess him today,” Lt. Shauwn Howell, fire department spokesman, said Monday morning.

Curlin received multiple injuries including a concussion and severe internal bleeding after one of the walls collapsed while firefighters from throughout the city battled the blaze, which was reported at 4:45 a.m. Sunday, Howell said.

Howell said Curlin, who is in his 14th year as a firefighter, is a lieutenant assigned to Station 3 at 30th Avenue and Ash Street.

“He’s an instructor and has been a deputy fire marshal,” Howell said. “He’s been very involved on the training side and is one of our really good guys.”

Initially, four fire companies and both ladder trucks responded to the fire, but Howell said at various points, personnel from all seven stations, an estimated 25 firefighters, were on the scene of the fire, which was finally extinguished about six hours after the first call.

Howell said volunteer fire departments from Watson Chapel and White Hall assisted in fighting the fire.

No damage estimate was available Monday but Howell described the building and its contents as a total loss.

Currin Nichol Jr., who maintained an office in the building, said it was built by members of his family in 1918, and replaced a house and mule barn that his grandfather, Charles Alexander Nichol, had constructed in the 1800s.

The building formerly housed one of the first Safeway grocery stores in Pine Bluff, Bowen’s Buffeteria restaurant, a store that sold refrigerators, a lawn service and a Western Auto store, among other businesses, Nichol said.

The office supply store moved there after their former location across the street was acquired as part of the business incubator project by the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff in 2006.

“It’s a devastating thing for Main Street, but we will just have to make something positive out of it,” said Joy Blankenship, executive director of Pine Bluff Downtown Development.

Blankenship said she could envision another building, a parking lot or even a mini-park with green space at the site where the building stood.

“Pine Bluff is fortunate in having a good collection of older, viable buildings that other cities don’t have,” she said. “This one of course had a lot of history behind it and it was not only a viable building, it was adding wealth to our community.

“I believe that something good can come from something that right now looks so bad,” Blankenship said.

Monday night, Pine Bluff Fire Chief Dannie C. Smith told the city council that he visited Curlin and his family in the hospital Monday morning and other Pine Bluff firefighters have been rotating spending time with them around the clock.

The fire department will be conducting an “after action review” in the coming days, something officials do when there’s an injury — to try to identify and learn from any mistakes to avoid them in the future, Smith said.

Smith also mentioned the David Curlin Fund has been set up with Simmons First National Bank for anyone wishing to make contributions.

There will be a blood drive in Curlin’s name at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Fire Station One (downtown). North Little Rock and Little Rock fire fighters are also organizing a blood drive, Smith said.

This is a friend of my brothers and I was just wanting to ask prayer for him. 

New Items: Taking Orders

I was playing around and made a few pillows for Christmas presents and just because gifts and now have orders from people who have seen them!

I made 2 Faith pillows for the girls but only have pic of one.

Kelly I will send it soon!

I made this one for Nikki and Chris. It has their last name on it. It looks kind of hard to see in the pic. It's Goodloe in case you can't make it out.

I have orders for pillows like this one more so than the other. The pillow is probably 14 to 16 inches long.

If your interested in ordering one let me know in the comments!!

Eurotote Giveaway

Is this not the coolest baby tote? I'm trying to win it and you can TRY too...just don't win! Check out the giveaway at MY MAMA ROCKS.

THE MIRACLE BUS

**Story taken from Chocolate for a Woman's Heart.**

It was a freezing December night. Exhausted from an intense day of work and the holiday frenzy, I stood at my usual bus stop, on Broadway and Ninth Street in Greenwich Village. Since I hadn't had a spare second to chow down, I was stressed to the max, and my blood sugar level was dropping rapidly. Huddling beneath Woolworth's faceless windows, appreciative of the shelter their awnings provided from the whipping wind, I wondered why every other bus but mine seemed to roll by.

I yearned to go home,curl up under my covers, destress,veg out,but I was on my way to see a new printer, having procrastinated until the final moments before my photography exhibition. I was musing on all this when my bus -M6- finally pulled in.

"Do you go straight down Broadway,below Canal?" I queried. Last night the bus had randomly decided to turn. So much for the consistency of Manhattan mass transit!

The bus driver, a big black man, smiled reassuringly.

Token in slot, I collapsed into the first single seat - designed for one passenger only, it is the favorite of lone New Yorkers. Across the aisle, two men were seated together, the bus'e only passengers besides myself. The first, a tall, lanky African American, holding a large book, The Now Bible, greeted me with a warm "Good evening!" The second man, a dark, mustached Latino, winked a welcome.

I giggled!

Then, without pause, the men and the driver broke into a gleeful, foot stompin' gospel tune.

"Do you sing together in a choir?" I managed to interject.

"Oh , no, we just met!"

Soon sounds praising the Lord, singing of angels and "The Good World a-Comin'" reverberated throughout the bus. I found myself tapping my feet, swaying to the beat, and humming along.

Miraculously, the bus never stopped to pick up any other passengers, and I was the grateful recipient of a spontaneous private concert.

I was so blissed out, I missed my stop and had to walk back several blocks.

But when I emerged from that bus, smiling, I was relaxed, peaceful, and ready to embrace the world.

"Thank you, thank you,thank you!" I called as I got off.

Just think, if all the buses in New York City were filled with song, what a different place it would be!

Jill Lynne

I was telling Kelly not to long ago that it was hard to be grumpy when you praise the Lord!

 

UPrinting 100 4x6 postcard giveaway WINNER

The winner for the UPrinting 100 4x6 postcards is....

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

1
1
2
1

Timestamp: 2010-01-02 17:52:32 UTC

Which makes Gayle the winner!!

 gayle said...

I am new to these contests but I will give it a try. If I win I will use them to write to my Aunts all over the US that don't do the computer!!
Would love for you to follow my blog!!

December 23, 2009 7:45 PM

I'm sending you an email now Gayle!!

Congratulations and thank you to all who entered!








If you didn't win and your interested in UPrinting postcards or any of the other great things they have to offer make sure and click the picture up top!!

Thomas Nelson BOOK REVIEW: The Sweet By and By by Sara Evans and Rachel Hauck

This is the first book I have read in a long time that I didn't wanna close it until I had read the very last word in the book. Jade has her own business and is getting ready to marry a fantastic man, life is great. Right? Like all of us on some level, Jade has secrets and has built walls. But walls fall and secrets spill out. This is a book about God and His love and forgiveness. His for you therefore teaching you how to forgive others. I highly recommend this book and also having a box of kleenex near because you will need them. The book was written by multi platinum recording artist Sara Evans and Rachel Hauck.

If you would like to buy a copy visit Thomas Nelson Publishing.

If you are interested in reviewing books for Thomas Nelson click the link and get started!

Disclosure:  I received this book (as part of the Thomas Nelson Book Review Program) in exchange for an honest review. No monetary compensation was involved..

Would you like to win this copy? Leave me a comment telling me your favorite book and I will pick a winner on January 15.