Baby Shower, Milo, Welcome Baby!, African Ancestry

Wednesday, March 6th, we found out that Ashley had a condition called cholestasis. This is uncomfortable for the mother (itching), but can be dangerous for the baby. Cholestasis can cause up to 60% of preterm deliveries, up to 33% of fetal distress, and up to 2% of babies die in the womb. So her doctor decided they would induce her at 37 weeks on March 22nd. They put her on medication to help with the cholestasis. They were also going to do ultrasounds once or twice a week and monitor the baby. Cholestasis usually goes away on its own after the baby is born.

 

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Friday, March 8th was a busy day. Milo had an ultrasound done of his liver, I ordered the cake for the baby shower (strawberry buttercream from Maxie B's), got groceries, bought gifts for Sean/Ashley/Lydia for the baby shower, and made chocolate chip cookies for the shower.

 

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Saturday, March 9th, was the baby shower. I picked up the cake from the bakery about an hour before the shower, brought it to the church, and waited for the shower to start. I had a few people helping me with decorating and food. (Rene, Kaley, Jennifer, and Kristin.) I couldn't have done it all myself. Plus, I'm not a party person, so it's not my area of expertise. They did a great job.

The shower started at 2:00. It was a lovely time of conversation, food (cake was delicious!), and gifts.

 

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Monday, March 11th, Ashley's water broke before dawn. Sean called me after 5:00 AM to tell me. Ashley called her doctor and he or she told her to go to the hospital. Ashley was 1 centimeter dilated. I told Sean it would take all day for the baby to be born. I waited for Charlie to get home from work and then we went to the hospital. We got there shortly before 6:00 PM.

They gave Ashley an epidural when she was about 3-4 centimeters dilated (I think around 4 or 5 PM). By about 6:45 PM, she was 6 centimeters dilated. She was fully dilated around 7:35-7:40 and began pushing shortly after that.

Lydia Jane was born close to 9:30 PM. 6 lbs. 5.9 oz., 20 inches long. She came out sideways and was very blue, but breathing and was crying soon after that.

Because Ashley was 35 weeks pregnant, Lydia had to go to the NICU and is still there. She had a breathing tube until the morning or afternoon after she was born. She also had a feeding tube for the first couple days and then they removed it, but they had to put it back in (through her nose this time; it was in her mouth before) the next day because she wasn't getting enough food from the bottle. She still isn't eating enough (though she has finally started gaining weight), so she still has the feeding tube.

I've been to the hospital a few times to see her and hold her. (I would go every day, if I could.) She is so sweet and so cute! She's so much smaller in person than she looks in pictures. Such a sweet, tiny face. She makes such cute noises, sometimes sticks out her tongue when she stretches (so freaking cute!), and loves to hold Sean's thumb. Right now, it looks like she has Sean's eyes, Ashley's nose, and mostly Sean's face shape, but I think she may have Ashley's jaw.

I love that little girl so much! People have asked me what I want to be called and I told them "grandma" is fine (I don't think I'm the Gigi/Nana/Meme/Nona/whatever type), but whatever she chooses to call me is also fine.

So weird being a grandma. I don't feel old enough to be a grandma. But, at 51, obviously I am. lol

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We got Milo's ultrasound results back this past Monday. Pretty much what they told us when we had an ultrasound done a few years ago. Liver is shrunken and nodular. Probably fibrosis. (I think that's what she said.) He's 13 years old, so we're not going to have a biopsy done. He's still not wanting to eat his hepatic food, but the vet said that the most important thing now is his comfort and quality of life - whatever he wants to eat and continue medications. He acts like his normal self still - loud, playful, happy, crazy, annoying. lol

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A few years ago when my aunt Wanda (my mom's oldest sister; passed away last January) had her DNA done, it showed a small amount of African - south central hunter gatherers (Namibia, Botswana, South Africa, Angola, Zambia, and Tanzania). Last night, I was doing some things at Ancestry and went to the DNA section and then "matches". Aunt Wanda is my second closest match and I decided to click on her and check her ethnicity. (I had never thought to check hers each time there was an update.) It now says 2% Cameroon, Congo, and Western Bantu Peoples for her African ancestry.

So that area of Africa is where the African ancestors that are in my family tree came from. This is on my mom's mom's side of the family. To be more specific, my maternal grandma's mother's mother's mother's side of the family. (My great-grandma Lessie, great-great-grandma Nelie Britt, 3x-grandma Penelope Ivey's ancestors.) It's cool to know a little more specifically where they were from.

Photo Finally, Pippin and the New Vet, Loki, and Books

I became an Ancestry.com member several years ago and have found pictures of all of my great-grandparents (and some 2nd and 3rd great-grandparents) since becoming a member, except for my paternal grandma's dad. (Though the picture I have of my paternal grandma's mom was sent to me through email from my dad a year or two before he died in 2006.) I had contacted a few Tracy second and third cousins through Ancestry (DNA matches) and Facebook and either they told me they had one and didn't share it with me or, in most cases, I heard nothing from them. Until recently.

A Tracy third cousin I contacted through Ancestry sent me a scanned picture of my great-grandpa Tracy a couple weeks ago. It's not the best quality, but I'm just glad to finally have a picture of him. Most of his sons are in the picture with him. I wish I had pictures of the rest of his children. I have pictures of my grandma, of course, but I'd love to have some of her when she was young. I have pictures of my maternal grandma when she was a teenager. I love seeing those.

Great-grandpa Tracy, seated. Standing, left to right: Dick, Howard, Ray, Jim, and Billy.

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I brought Pippin to the vet on Tuesday. He was a few months passed due for a check-up. The vet I used to bring our pets to closed in November. Another vet's office contacted me through email because someone who used to work at the old vet's office (Karen, from England) had our pets' records. They said they would send me the records or I could use them as our vet if I hadn't found a new one yet. I figured it'd be easier to try them since they already have the records. Plus, it takes about the same amount of time to get to them as it did the old vet.

Anyway, they were crazy busy when we were there. The appointment was for 4:30 and we didn't get out of there until after 6:00. :-/ They said Pip looks good and his heart sounds good. Blood work showed some elevated values with his kidneys. They weren't able to get urine (Pip had gone pee before we left the house), so I need to get that to them or bring him back to get some so they can check.

Milo's appointment is in 10 days. He hasn't been in a few years, so he really needs to go. Then I'll try to take Loki.

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Speaking of Loki, I've been a little obsessed with the Marvel character Loki lately. I'm actually not big into the Marvel movies, though I've seen them all once or twice. (Except for the newest one, which I refuse to watch because SPOILER!!! [highlight to read] Loki dies in it.) But I am big into Loki. Sure he's considered a villain, but I say he's not bad, just misunderstood. Abandoned and left to die as a baby by his real father, didn't really fit in in Asgard, not loved the same by his peers as they loved Thor, not really treated the same as Thor by his adoptive father Odin. Loki told Thor that he just wanted to be his equal. He cried when he said that to Thor and he cried when he was talking to Odin about who and what he really is. Poor Loki.

lol

So, I've recently bought a Loki T-shirt, two Loki Funko Pop key chains (one from Thor: Ragnarok and one with the horned helmet), a Loki Funko Pop figure (from Thor: Raganarok), and a Loki action figure (from Thor: Ragnarok). I want to get the Funko Pop of Loki in the horned helmet next. If I can't find it in stores I'll order it. I also want to get a Loki sticker (his helmet) for my car. :-D

Loki shirt I ordered from Hot Topic. I'm wearing it right now. :-)

And I've been visiting a Tumblr called Daily Loki. I go through about ten pages a day of gifs and fan art. I'm on page 91 right now. Don't know how many pages there are.

I watched the first Thor movie last night. (Thursday night.) I had only seen it once when it came out several years ago and couldn't remember much about the Loki scenes. I'm doing a watch of only the Marvel movies that Loki is in. The Avengers is next, then Thor: The Dark World, and then Thor: Ragnarok. Avengers: Infinity War is the next and most recent, but as I said earlier, I refuse to watch it. I'll probably watch the next Avengers movie though.

Yes, I know. How geeky of me. lol

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I finished reading After You by Jojo Moyes a couple weeks ago (I gave it 3 stars at GoodReads) and started reading The Martian by Andy Weir. I haven't gotten far with that one. A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas came out May 1st and I started reading it May 4th. I'm on page 57 in that one. I'm liking both books, but I've been falling asleep before I can get far. Reading tends to make me sleepy. One of the reasons it usually takes me about a month to read a book.

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~*~Nocturnal Queen~*~
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Movie, Books, New Roof

This will probably be a short entry. Not much going on beyond the day-to-day.

Sean has taken two of his final four tests and has passed them both. Not with flying colors or anything lol, but he's passed.

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Charlie, the kids, and I, and Sean's girlfriend Ashley went to see Wonder Woman this past Friday night. They really wanted to see it and I'd heard it was a great movie. (I hadn't been all that interested in seeing it before hearing the reviews and praise from people who'd seen it.) I liked it a lot more than I expected to. Very good movie! My favorite so far this year.

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I finished the Fever series of books about 2½ weeks ago. It took me a little over a month to read all 9 books. I really enjoyed them. I gave each book 4 out of 5 stars at GoodReads.

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We're supposed to be getting our roof replaced sometime. We had a roofing company and our insurance people out here a couple weeks ago and signed a contract with the roofing company last week. No date yet to get it done. I don't know what the hold up is. I'd be more annoyed/worried if the insurance agent hadn't told me that they work with that roofing company a lot and trust them.

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No clothing purchases for myself since my last entry. (I did recently get Kelly a few new T-shirts from Hot Topic and Target.) Shocking, I know. I really haven't been shopping as much. I'll go to one or two stores, sometimes three, and then leave empty handed. And sometimes after a couple stores, I just want to go home.

Besides, I'm trying not to shop or spend as much. We're still trying to pay off Sam's vet bill (the balance is around $500 now, I think) and we'll soon be paying our portion (deductible) of getting the roof done, whenever that will be. And, surprisingly, I just haven't been as interested in shopping lately.

Oops, I just remembered that I did get a cardigan on sale for about $18 from JC Penney a couple weeks ago. lol

The color is called Rose Smoke. It's a little pinker than it looks in this picture.

 

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~*~Nocturnal Queen~*~
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Merry Christmas!

Christmas Day is here! I hope everyone is having a beautiful and joyous day with your loved ones.

Here's a Christmas meme/survey I did about 4 or 5 years ago. Some of the answers are different this year. :-)

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?
Usually wrapping paper. It depends on the shape and size of the gift. Some things are too awkward for wrapping paper.

2. Real tree or Artificial?
Artificial.

 3. When do you put up the tree?
Right after Thanksgiving.

4.When do you take the tree down?
Soon after New Year's.

5. Do you like eggnog?
I've never tried it, but I probably wouldn't like it.

6. Favorite gift received as a child?
Anything Barbie.

7. Hardest person to buy for? 
My husband Charlie.

8. Easiest person to buy for?
My son Sean.

9. Do you have a nativity scene?
Yes, a small glass one.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards?
Mail. Though email is fine too.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?
Maybe socks.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie?
There are several I like (White Christmas, Holiday Inn, It's a Wonderful Life, Elf, The Santa Clause, How the Grinch Stole Christmas), but I don't really have a favorite.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?
Early December. Every year I tell myself that I'm going to start earlier, but I never do.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? 
No.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?
The only thing I usually eat at Christmas that I don't eat the rest of the year are candy canes (just a few), so I guess I'd choose that.

16. Lights on the tree? 
Multi-colored. White lights are boring to me. No offense. :-)

17. Favorite Christmas song?
O Holy Night. I also really like It Came Upon a Midnight Clear, All I Want for Christmas is You, O Little Town of Bethlehem, The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting...), Ding Dong Merrily on High, White Christmas, Angels We Have Heard on High, Sweet Little Jesus Boy, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, What Child is This?, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, Breath of Heaven, Carol of the Bells, Sleigh Ride, and Winter Wonderland.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home?
Stay home.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer?
Dasher, Dancer, Donner, Blitzen, Prancer, Comet, Cupid, Vixen and Rudolph.

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? 
For years it was an angel, but last year I replaced it with a star.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?
I let my kids open one present each on Christmas Eve and their stockings. They open the rest the next morning.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year?
Cold weather. Especially if it rains. The crowds don't really bother me. Though it does bother me if people get impatient and rude, but I don't really notice a lot of that.

23. Favorite ornament, theme, or color?
I have a lot of favorite ornaments. I don't really have a theme. All the glass balls on our tree are red. There does seem to be a lot of red on our tree, but red is popular in Christmas ornaments.

24. Favorite for Christmas Dinner?
Some years we do a big dinner, some years we don't. Other years we might do lasagna or Mexican (tacos, enchiladas, refried beans) or something simpler. This year we're having chili. My mom will be working today and wants us to go out as a family for Christmas dinner tomorrow.

25. What do you want for Christmas this year?
Believe it or not, I want a DNA test from Ancestry.com. It will tell me (or should tell me) where my ancestors came from, going back 1000 years. And it will tell me if any members at Ancestry.com who have also taken the DNA test are related to me.

The other thing I want is for Charlie to go to church with us. Nothing would mean more to me than that.

Our Weekend, Date Night, Getting Ready for Christmas

 Friday evening, Charlie and the kids went with me to do the grocery shopping. (It's usually just Kelly with me.) Of course, having Charlie with me meant that much more than what I had on the grocery list got put into the buggy. Instead of the usual $150 (give or take), groceries ended up costing about $240. Goodness. lol

After bringing the groceries home and putting the refrigerated and frozen foods away (I put the rest away later), we went to Red Robin for supper and then saw The Hobbit. This was the third viewing for me and my kids, the first for Charlie.

Saturday afternoon, I went shopping for stocking stuffers (found several at Party City), as well as a gift for our mail carrier (mug that came with a spoon, hot chocolate mix and marshmallows), and after coming home, Kelly and I went to see Breaking Dawn part 2 again (fifth viewing for me, fourth for Kelly) and then we went to Olive Garden for a late supper.

Sunday was church. There was mostly singing (Christmas songs, of course). Even my pastor sang a song, which is rare. When he stepped up to the mic, I thought the singing was done and that he was going to speak for awhile, but then the music started and everyone cheered and applauded. We cheered and applauded a couple times during the song and again at the end of it. Many of us got out our cameras, cell phones, and iPads and took pictures and video of him singing. Pastor did speak about love for a few minutes after he was done singing and then he asked us all to come to the altar and pray with our family members who were there with us before dismissing us.

Sunday evening, Charlie and I went on a date for our anniversary (which was on the 17th). When we went out to the car, Charlie opened the door for me. :-) He hadn't done that in years. He opened the door for me most of the night. Aww. :-) We went to the movies first and saw Playing for Keeps. Cute movie. We then went to Red Lobster for dinner.

We went to my mom's after eating and hung out at her place with her and the kids for a little bit before coming home. Once it got to be after midnight, I let the kids open their stockings since it was technically Christmas Eve. They loved what they got.

Sean - UNC Tar Heels golf balls (we already gave him his new set of golf clubs since he went with Charlie to pick them out and was really excited to have them), UNC "tattoos", UNC decal (overlapping NC w/ #1 Fan below that), 2 packs of Kit Kats, a small thing of M&Ms, a green silly whistle (I don't know what they're actually called lol), a $10 Target gift card and a Tar Heels toothbrush.

Kelly - a Jackie Evancho Christmas CD (she's been wanting a Jackie Evancho CD for a long time), Hunger Games book light, Lindt chocolate bear, 2 packs of gold coins (she really wanted those in her stocking lol), a silly whistle (blue), a dolphin key chain, gummie bears and gum.

I started getting a headache Sunday evening and by late that night, my head was killing me. Even after taking 3 or 4 ibuprofen. I slept about 11½ hours that night/yesterday morning and woke up with my head still pounding. I took four more pills and still my headache didn't go away. My head hurt all day and I didn't feel up to doing much of anything, despite having a lot that I needed to do. I did get a load of clothes washed, cooked supper and cleaned the kitchen.

By late last night, I couldn't put things off any longer and decorated the tree and wrapped presents, with Charlie's help. Charlie and the kids helped me out some by clearing off the dining room and coffee tables and Charlie swept the kitchen and dining room.

I still need to do some more cleaning (vacuum the floors and clean the bathrooms mainly) and of course cook Christmas dinner. I'm baking a whole chicken (seasoned with Sylvia's chicken rub seasoning - so good!) with red potatoes. My mom is making the stuffing, cooking the vegetables and I think the black eyed peas. If not, I've got some I can cook. I'm also cooking the yeast rolls and a pumpkin pie. Mom's already made Christmas cookies and we've been enjoying those since Sunday night.

Looking forward to the kids opening their gifts and having family (my mom, my brother and his wife and baby son) over for Christmas dinner.

Merry Christmas!!!

Down at the Docks in Simpler Times

It was a warm afternoon and the fishing boats were coming in. We road with Mom to the docks on the Cape Fear River in Southport, wind blowing in our hair, laps unbelted, legs sticking to the vinyl seat.

Mom pulled into the gravel parking lot at the fish house, parked the car and turned it off. My little brother and I got out of the car with Mom, our bare feet barely noticing the rocks we stepped on. The strong scent of fish was in the air, as it always was. It was not an offensive smell to me. It was as normal as any other smell.

I went straight to the drink machine, wanting a Grape Nehi. Mom happened to have some extra change and got my brother and I each a drink. We stood there drinking our sodas while we waited for our dad and watched the fishermen go about their business of unloading the fish and getting them ready to sell to local markets and seafood restaurants.

Things were taking a little longer than our impatient little minds could stand, so my brother and I, with our mom following, walked down one of the old, narrow, rickety docks to look at the water and the other fishing boats. My brother, who would grow up to be much more daring than I, was a little more wary about getting too close to the end of the dock.

Me, age 5. Del, age 4.

After a while, Dad was about done for the day, so we headed back to the fish house.

When it was time to go, we all piled into the car. Dad's face was red from the sun reflecting off the water while they were out at sea, his hair was windblown, his skin was grimy from the salty air. He couldn't wait to get a shower and relax on the couch at home.

The road home seemed long with its endless sea of tall longleaf pine trees on either side and its lack of curves. My brother and I often fell asleep in the back seat when it was nighttime. The wind was cool as it blew into the car at night, even in the summer. We would huddle under jackets, listening to Dad's Gordon Lightfoot 8-track playing in the car stereo until our heavy eyes shut and we drifted off to sleep.

Finally we would come to the little dirt road we lived on. We passed Grandma's house on the way to ours. She lived about a half a mile, if that, from our house. Many times my brother and I would walk to Grandma's without telling Mom ahead of time. She always knew that that's where we'd gone and never worried. Different times.

Our little brick house sat across from the train tracks. There were tall pine trees to the right of it and behind it. They seemed to go on forever. Through the woods was a small lake we played in all the time. Blackberry bushes were also nearby. When my mom's dad would visit we would sometimes walk down to the blackberry bushes and pick blackberries.

It was a simple life. We were poor, but my brother and I didn't realize that. It was just normal life to us. We had our own chickens and grew some of our own vegetables. Dad brought home clams whenever he'd go clamming with his dad and brothers and would make clam chowder with them. He also hunted deer, the meat of which was sometimes used in meals instead of beef, and he sometimes brought home fish. Flounder was my favorite and still is to this day.

Though things weren't always as they should've been in my childhood, I still look back on my early years in Southport and Boiling Spring Lakes with nostalgia. Life was simpler, safe, more innocent.

I always get homesick for Southport in the springtime. I didn't get to go last year and I'm really hoping I can this year.

This and That

A redbud in our front yard.

Kelly is sick with a fever. No school for her today. Probably no school tomorrow.

Sean has a project for social studies class. Which means I have a project too. :-/ It's due tomorrow and he hasn't even started on it yet, so no Karate tonight.

Today is a beautiful day with temperatures in the 70s. It's supposed to be pretty for at least the next several days. Although Sunday is supposed to be in the mid to upper 80s. Blah. A little too hot for me. But the other days this coming week - beautiful.

I finished reading The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks a couple nights ago. My mom really likes his books and always lends them to me (without my asking) because she wants me to read them too. I probably wouldn't choose to read a Nicholas Sparks book, but I read them because my mom wants me to. Nothing against Nicholas Sparks. I actually kind of like some of them. They're fairly quick reads. I just usually prefer other books.

On the subject of other books, I'm now reading Drums of Autumn, the fourth book in the Outlander series.

Sean's birthday is this Saturday. He'll be 14. I need to go birthday shopping tomorrow. He wants to go bowling on his birthday, so I guess that's what we'll be doing. Though I'll probably just watch. I'm not into bowling.

Ornament Exchange, Kelly Update

Every year, some online friends and I do an ornament exchange. Our theme this year is gingerbread. A friend in Massachusetts got my name and sent me this lovely ornament:


I love it! I think it's really festive. As you can see, my friend painted my name and the names of my husband and children on the gingerbread people. She also painted the year and our last name (which I blotted out for privacy reasons) at the bottom of the ornament.

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Kelly's still fevered, though it thankfully hasn't been a high fever. The highest it's been is 100.9° She did okay on our grocery trip. We had Sean with us. I wasn't feeling well enough to go in the morning and took a nap. By the time I got up, showered and got ready, there wasn't time to get groceries and get back in time to get Sean from school. So we got him first when school was out for the day, then made our way to Petsmart (for dog food for Pippin), Target, the gas station and Food Lion.

We watched Eclipse when we got home. Sean hadn't seen it before and seemed to like it. Especially the fighting, of course.

Sean has Karate this morning. I'll be dropping him off and going back later to pick him up. I don't want to bring Kelly in there when she's sick.

Y'all have a great Saturday!

This and That

I laughed so hard at Sean last night. He wanted to glue a handlebar back on a toy motorcyle and grabbed the Elmer's glue. I told him it wouldn't work, but he used it anyway. A while later, he came up to me with the motorcycle and said, "Remember how you said the glue wouldn't work? Look." He then grabbed the handlebar and it came right off. You should've seen the look on his face. It still makes me laugh when I think about it. He kept saying, "It's not that funny", which just made it funnier. I laughed for a long time.

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I was outside with the kids for a little while yesterday evening. We saw a large spider (orb weaver? something like that) making a web on the front of our house and watched "her" (I keep calling it a her for some reason) for several minutes. Kelly said to me, "How can you look? Don't you think it's creepy?" I said, "Yes, but it's also fascinating." And it was. Watching her go up and down as she created her web. Kelly threw a blade of grass into the web and we watched as the spider cut it from her web and then rebuilt it.

Click to enlarge.

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I have to take Sean to get a haircut today and get Kelly new church shoes. Hopefully I can find some for a good price. Preferably $20 or less.

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Those who believe in prayer, please pray for my pastor's 16 year old daughter, Savannah. (The older girl Sean has a crush on. He keeps asking questions about what a burst appendix is and so on. I think he's worried about her.) She went into the hospital Wednesday with what they believed was a burst appendix. There has been a "little complication" (don't know what) and the doctors say she could be in the hospital for 5 or 6 days. Pray God heals her and that she can leave the hospital sooner than that. She is a sweet girl who loves the Lord.

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Love is patient [suffers long] and is kind. It does not envy. It does not boast. It is not proud. It is not rude. It is not self-seeking. It is not easily angered. It keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices in the truth.

It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres [endures all things].

Love never fails.

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"There are four things you can never recover: The stone after the throw. The word after it's said. The occasion after it's missed. The time after it's gone."

"What is a man profited if he gains the whole world but loses his family in the process?"

"Love is a house we enter and commit to never leave, so lock the door behind you and throw away the key."

First Day of School

Today was my kids' first day of school. They both enjoyed their day and said that they like their teachers. Kelly has a new hairstyle (double braids) and said that she got compliments on it.

Sean says he wants to join the volleyball team. (He had been talking about joining the basketball team, but I guess talking to the volleyball coach after school today made him interested in volleyball.) He said he needs a physical in order to join and that there will be tryouts or something after school tomorrow. I told him to bring me a paper or form about it from the coach.

Church tonight. Looking forward to that. :-)

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"Sacrifice is giving up something good for something better." -- Anonymous

"Never hold on to any identity associated with pain, hurt, lack of forgiveness, or regret." -- Matthew Barnett

"You never hold a grudge. A grudge holds you." -- Rev. Run

"There can be no relationship without sacrifice." - My Pastor :-)

"For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone." -- Audrey Hepburn

"Kindness is the greatest wisdom." -- Author Unknown

"Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around." -- Leo Buscaglia

"By swallowing evil words unsaid, no one has ever harmed his stomach." -- Winston Churchill

"The most important trip you may take in life is meeting people halfway." -- Henry Boye

"Treat everyone with politeness, even those who are rude to you - not because they are nice, but because you are." -- Author Unknown

"If you haven't any charity in your heart, you have the worst kind of heart trouble." -- Bob Hope