It must be one of the 'I'm up late' moments. But I was thinking about what is important about going to bed early verses staying up late and, should I say, enjoying the peace and quiet.  I stay up way too late most nights and get up late in the morning.  I have all sorts of things I do when I stay up, entering giveaways, blogging on my family's site, working on HTML codes, emailing (not that I email a lot of people, it's just reading all the mail from email subscriptions.).
Which brings me to my question, what is important: going to bed early or staying up late and getting things you want done? That's something I haven't figured out yet. What about you?
Today marks a year since I paid my first, and I hope my last, visit to the ER for a severe sore throat. We were spending Thanksgiving with Momma's family and we all had varying degrees of sore  throats, runny noses, etc...  On Friday, I was feeling awful, though it's hard to remember about it. I do remember that breathing fast helped my throat feel a little better and that my fingers and around my eyes were tingling and I remember being very cold and crying because I hurt all over. I know that they drew blood (another first, that I hope not to repeat in an ER), because it hurt when she took the needle out and I had a bruise there. When Daddy took me back to Nona's house, I went right to bed and slept most of the afternoon. The next morning, Momma and I left early in the morning to go to Macon from North GA, Momma took me to see the oncall doctor at J's pediatrician, because the antibiotic wasn't helping and the pain meds didn't do anything to clear whatever it was up. Dr. G gave me a prescription for steriods. I was to take them for six days. By the second day, I felt so much better and I was able to work with J on his tubing and check 'n' changes. Momma and Daddy and K did them while I was sick. That is one experience that I wouldn't like to repeat.

This year, Nona, Poppa and Uncle E came down on Wednesday and we had a great visit. Thursday, we all ate Thanksgiving dinner together. It was delicious!
I am so excited! I found a great website with tutorials for the HTML code challenged people like me. Simply Fabulous Tutorials. Why not check it out? I was finally able to put a navigation bar for my family's business site that I get to set up and she also links to a website, My Live Signature, where you can make your signature. That's what I did. Now to figure out how to set it up to add my signature every time I post.
Tonight we had the privilege of watching Taking Chance. We heard about this film shortly before it came out on HBO. We signed up for Netflix the other day and Taking Chance was one of the first films we looked for. It arrived today and we watched it during dinner. I'm finding it difficult to express the movie in a few words. So here's an excerpt I found on Amazon...
Lt. Col. Mike Strobl's first-person narrative of his voluntary mission escorting the body of a fellow Marine killed in Iraq. Strobl (played in the film by Kevin Bacon) hadn't known Lance Cpl. Chance Phelps but, noticing they'd been born in the same western town, he requested temporary leave from his duties as a manpower-deployment analyst at Quantico in order to accompany the 20-year-old's body home. Home, as it turned out, was no longer their shared birthplace in Colorado but the high-country Wyoming town of Dubois. The journey would take Strobl deep into the heart of his nation, and his own heart as well. There's no overstating the power and beauty of what he encountered: one instance after another of not just military personnel but airline employees, passengers, and bystanders doing honor--mostly wordlessly--to Chance's coffin and his escort as they passed by.                                                     -Amazon commentary
It would be hard to describe the movie. It reminded me of a quote that was on Facebook on Veteran's Day. "Only two people have ever offered to die for you -- Jesus Christ, for your sins and the American soldier, for your freedom." I'm sad to say that I really didn't know what happened after a soldier was killed overseas. It also made me wonder if we really appreciate everything our military forces sacrifice for us. They are away from their families for long periods of time, they run a risk of being wounded and killed and they see their buddies killed before them.  Taking Chance was, in a way, comforting. That sounds odd, but when I saw the people at the airport and everyone who showed respect for Chance and Lt. Col. Strobl, it made me feel that Americans do care and are thankful. We hear in the news about this 'terrible' war and all the casualities and how we should get out of this war quickly, but it seems we rarely hear about the patriotism of the Americans. It really adds a new perpective to the picture. I would really recommend seeing this film. Yes, there is one word in the movie that I would have left out. But it doesn't spoil the movie!  This is one movie that I want to show to my family someday, to remind them of what America was made out of, and to not forget those who gave their lives that we might have the freedom of speech, religion, and the right to train our children in the way they should go, so that when they are old, they will not depart from it. Next time you see a service member, thank them for their service and thank them for everyone in America.
Semper Fi!
Today I was working on my math. Problem 17, if you want to know:)... It was a trapezoid and isoceles in one, and I had three different numbers, two right angles and I needed to find the area. I couldn't figure out what it was and finally looked in the answer book to see if they gave any information to help me. The only thing I learned was that the answer was 640mm2 and that just told me that I was waaayyyy off. So I asked Momma to help me and she couldn't figure out what was going on either. I knew one of the numbers was a dud and knew which one. I was all set to wait till Daddy came home and ask him(because my Daddy knows everything!) Just then, K told me that J's diaper was leaking and could I go and change it? I headed out the door and immediately, I knew how to work the problem and get the answer I needed. It just took me a leaky diaper!
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Acts 9:18 NIV
Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized.

That's my BirthVerse! I have to say, BirthVerse  is unusual! Most of the verses you get when you enter your birth date and month aren’t what you’d expect.  What is your verse?
Wedding dresses are something that has bothered me over the last few years, because of the lack of  modesty.



These are wedding dresses from 1861. Not only are they gorgeous, but they are modest. However, I would like to point out that these dresses are huge and I don't see myself wearing them. But the basic style - highneckline and longer sleeves is what I'm mainly looking for.
The mark of the man of the world is absence of pretension. He does not make a speech; he takes a low business-tone, avoids all brag, is nobody, dresses plainly, promises not at all, performs much, speaks in monosyllables, hugs his fact. He calls his employment by its lowest name, and so takes from evil tongues their sharpest weapon.
Ralph Waldo Emerson, The Conduct of Life 1860
Now compare those wedding dresses with one that is common today.




Quite the difference there, wouldn't you agree? They are all beautiful dresses, but there is definitely a difference in between the two pictures. Yes, for some people, this is a modest dress and compared to others, it isn't. The main question that keeps appearing is, what is modest? I think that I Peter 3:4 answers that question very well, "Rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God." I believe that there are standards for modesty and that our parents should have a large say in what we wear. I would be among the first to say that I don't always agree with my parents on modest clothing. But I have found that they are always right if they have a check about my clothes and usually my momma doesn't object if I have a check about something either and we'll either pass it down to the next sibling in line or give it away.

According the dictionary, modesty is:
  1. the quality of being modest; freedom from vanity, boastfulness, etc.
  2. regard for decency of behaviour, speech, dress, etc.
  3. simplicity, moderation.
Modesty isn't just what we wear, but what we do and say. Proverbs 31:30 says "Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, but a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised."
Yesterday we got the go-ahead from J's surgeon to start putting saline (we made ours, since it didn't need to be sterile) into J's mucous fistula to flush his colon. I was a little nervous yesterday, but it scared me today when I encountered some resistance while I was sliding  in the tube. It made me wonder if I was doing anything wrong and if it was possible to puncture the intestines. I would think not, especially with the tiny foley catheter, but....  Right now, J seems to be tolerating 1 oz flushes every 3 hours or so.  I'm thankful that it's going smoothly so far and J is still able to run around and play.  But I'm still a little nervous when I've put the catheter in. Maybe its good to be nervous and to have that extra check... Because I'll be doing this several times a day for at least two more months.
In the world of blogs, this is just another one. But this blog is my journey to becoming a keeper at home.

I am homeschooled along with my other siblings. I am learning to keep a kitchen clean, during and after I cook. I'm thinking about becoming a nurse. Or studying herbs. But nothing is definite, except for one thing, I am a follower of Christ. This is my story!