Welcome to Friday -1.23.15

Psalm 9:1  I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.

How are you doing today?  How was your week?  Did things go well for you as expected or better than you expected.  Tell me what was the absolute best part of your week?  What was the most exciting thing that took place for you this week?  What blessing are you most thankful for?  I hope and pray that you had a good week filled with love, joy and success.  And even now I am thinking of you, wishing and praying that you are doing well and that you have an outstanding day.  I am praying that your day will be filled with excellency, joy, love, and tremendous success.

Welcome to Friday

It took me a while to sort through it all, and the list of gratitude didn't flow like water, but after some time on the keyboard I realized that I have a lot to be thankful for.  All in all, considering the highs and lows, it turned out to be an amazing week and kick started by the long holiday weekend.  I am so thankful for:

• The rest and relaxation of a long weekend
• Enjoying time off on Monday and celebrating the life, legacy, and leadership of MLK
• Watching documentaries
• Discussing and sharing with the kids the importance of equality, justice, education and history
• Being reminded of trailblazers, how far we have come, and how far we have to go
• Success at work with critical issues and product goals
• My team resolving a critical server failure that was problematic for two weeks
• Getting our next product release ready for the market
• Getting additional help in my new role at work
• Getting a compliment on the positive attitude that I have in the midst of new responsibilities
• Spending time with the younger four girls over the weekend
• Having lunch
• Playing UNO and Monopoly deal
• Watching Ava light up when she won UNO - needless to say the rest of us weren't so happy!
• Safe trips for Cassarra and Gabbi
• Safe trips to breakfast with their grandma
• Safe travels to and from Philly with their Aunt Felicia and Uncle Craig
• The stories and memories they have made are amazing
• Hearing about the Philly trip and the fun they had
• Being able to attend a celebration of life for a church member and family friend
• Being reminded that one person can make a huge difference
• Seeing a diversity of people come together in support for each other
• Teaching moments with Ava who wanted to know about Jesus and the cross
• Answering the questions with Ava on the Bible App
• Showing her the story of both the cross and the empty tomb
• Smiling as she kept going back and forth between the pictures of cross, tomb, empty tomb, and Jesus with his disciples
• Surprising Trish and the girls with some new recipes (good recipes) for dinner
• I made my own version of Mac-n-Cheese from scratch and no notes
• I also made a new version of scalloped potatoes with fewer calories (less butter)
• Great report cards from the girls
• Laughing with Ava and Emma who tried every excuse to stay up late on Wednesday night
• Trish treating me to coffee and lunch over the weekend when we weren't able to go out together

I have had a really good week.  It started out with a wonderful weekend of joy and opportunity, friendship and celebration.  There were definitely some moments this week that were tough, like trying to work through several critical system failures at work.  The problems were magnified by having the executive staff in the office this week.  It was also tough to get started with potty training Emma.  The week also featured some really funny and spectacular moments, more than I can count.  For example, from the "I think my parents are rich file," Cassarra and Gabbi were in the laundry room with Trish early this week.  As they stood around talking Cassarra noticed the breaker box and before opening it Gabbi asked Trish if this was our "safe."  When Trish asked why she thought we had a safe, they both commented that they just thought we had a safe to keep all our money - or something like that.  Trish asked if they thought we were that rich. All night we kept making jokes about our secret stash of cash, and our safe.  Another set of great moments included finally fixing on of the IT failures this week at work, completing a meeting with the COO and getting a good start on the new goals.  I also had a friend share the good news of his promotion, and my former manager was also promoted at a local company in the area.  We had a good extended weekend and watched some wonderful documentaries and shows on MLK day.

The older girls kicked off the long weekend by going to brunch with their grandma, and then going with their Aunt Felicia to Philadelphia.  They were so excited about both events.  It is odd to see teenagers getting up early without grumbling and complaining, especially on their "day off" from school.  They were all jacked up to get their big weekend underway.  They definitely enjoyed all of it.  I couldn't stop hearing about the time at breakfast, the jokes with their grandma and their cousins.  After they got back the inside jokes and experiences from their trip filled the house for hours.  They talked about all of the driving, food, breaks and then finally the actual game.  They spent more time talking about Matthew's room than they spent talking about the actual game.  They really loved the experience and game back sporting their bookstore treasures.  

Meanwhile, Sydney and Paige enjoyed not having the big sisters, and extra"bosses" around.  Paige took care of being the resident night owl for the weekend.  Sydney took over the roll of big sister.  I know Sydney enjoyed being the oldest for a few days and Paige enjoyed having all of the electronics to herself and the remote control.  They also got a chance to have lunch with dad and few interruptions.  We had Chick-fil-A.  I probably enjoyed it more than they did.  I know they enjoyed having more of their mom's attention as well.  After about midday on Sunday though, Sydney was ready for the older sisters to come back.  She said, she was actually getting a bit tired of the "big sister" role and having to do so much.  I'm not really sure what she was doing so.  I don't recall asking her to do anything more than clear the table and put the dishes up, but maybe she was talking about the notion of being the oldest.

Ava and Emma missed the girls on Friday night and asked about them occasionally, but for the most part the extra freedom, two less eyes watching, and more time with mom was appreciated by them.  I know Ava definitely enjoyed the notion of two fewer eyes watching and correcting her. We started potty training Emma this weekend and that really meant fewer eyes on Ava.  I learned this weekend and during the week that potty training is no joke.  I'm sure I knew that already, but it didn't get any easier since we last did this initial training with Ava.  Thankfully we only had a few minor accidents and surprises.  Most of which came when you let your guard down for that one extra minute.  Honestly, so far it is going pretty well and Emma seems to be getting better at it.  We have a ways to go, but it is coming along.

Trish is doing well.  She has been working on the potty training, some projects around the house, and trying to get some things done for the church.  She is truly amazing.  As I worked with Emma by myself on Sunday morning I was reminded that she is spectacular.  I was reminded that if it was all up to me, the girls would still be in diapers.   had these grand plans for how I was going to get the potty training started, work on my book, finish reading a training manual, and fix dinner and lunch.  The truth is I nearly called her to come home from church, burnt my first attempt at lunch, overcooked the first batch of macaroni noodles, paired down the dinner plans, managed only two pages an  hour on the book, and took about two hours to finally get dinner in the oven.  When Trish got home things seemed to go smoother instantly.  And now Emma is doing 10 times better with the training than she was under my watch on Sunday.  I'm telling you, they'd still be in diapers if I had to do it all by myself. She has a knack, passion and brilliance for working with all of the girls.  They are definitely blessed to have her and so am I.  Although we didn't have a babysitter for our date night, we managed a mini-date at home.  We had a small picnic and an at home coffee break on Sunday afternoon and Wednesday morning.

All the girls did really well on report cards.  Paige and Sydney have all A's.  Gabbi and Cassarra have A's and B's.  I am really proud of their efforts during this nine weeks.  Gabbi and Cassarra did a lot of good things, put in a lot of study time, and spent time in tutoring.  I was so glad to see their hard work pay off for them.  Even Paige saw an improvement in her grades due to an increased effort in school.  I also think her extra reading has helped.  She is working on reading 30 books this month, mostly children's books to Ava and Emma.  

Well, I hope you had a great week. I hope you enjoy your weekend and that you get to spend your weekend surrounded by friends, family and those you love.  Thanks again for being a wonderful part of my life and journey.  I pray that you will surely and fully enjoy your day and again... Welcome to Friday!

May the LORD GOD, the marvelous and majestic One, 

clothed in dominion, full of might, power and glory - be with you.

The Almighty, enthroned forever and ever, 

bless you with his steadfast love and abundant grace.

May God be your stronghold in your time of need, 

your refuge when you need rest and the One 

you trust and fall in love with day after day!

Welcome to Friday

With love (& in triumph),

Cassius

Welcome to Friday - 1.16.15

Who is like you among the gods, O LORD - glorious in holiness, awesome in splendor, performing great wonders?  Exodus 15:11

Welcome to Friday

Welcome to Friday!  I hope you got off to a great start to your day and that you are excited, ready and anticipating a wonderful weekend of joy, love and rest.  So, how are you doing today?  How was your week overall?  How did you do in regards  to your goals for the week?  I hope you were able to do what you planned and you were successful in reaching your goals for this week.  

Today is Friday, and I am ready for the weekend.  I had a great week.  I'm still calling it a great week even though I wasn't able to take off today as I had planned.  I was supposed to have the day off, but some requirements at work and a few unexpected snags and challenges forced me to cancel my day off.  That said, it has still been a week filled with fun, joy, and accomplishments.  I've been amazed by how many doors God has opened for friends, family and co-workers this week.  I've been blessed by encouraging words spoken by other people to me, and blessed to hear people encouraging one another instead of tearing each other down.  Bible study was amazing on Thursday, as my friend and co-worker continues to share insights from his study that bring me joy, and excitement.  This week he talked about how easy it is for us to think of what we lose in service to others, instead of the joy and blessings we gain when someone who was hurting is helped, someone who is lost is found, or someone who was hungry gets fed.  I had a great time this week going into the office and trying to complete a new project release ahead of schedule and with high quality, and I am slowly managing to learn the new roles and responsibilities at work. 

My blessings this week include:

• Receiving the best annual performance review since 2006
• Received accolades for my positive attitude
• Received appreciation for willingness to step into new positions
• Received appreciation for handling tough situations and difficult employees (i.e. a testament to the power of prayer)
• Finally securing compensation for some long time employees on my team
• Sydney getting honorable mention honors at the science fair
• Cassarra having a successful audition at Region Band
• Getting Cassarra to chat about school, friends, plans, challenges, and a host of things when we were out and about
• Paige returning to normal activity without any hiccups
• Lots of laughs around the dinner table on Sunday night
• My parents coming up from Georgetown to hear my share a devotional at church
• I was so nervous at first, but felt like I managed to regain composure at the end
• Emma deciding that she needed to help me preach was hilarious (she talked the entire time I talked)
• Ava running around the other morning trying to eat the middle out of everyone's cinnamon role.  She gets it honestly.
• Giving hugs and kisses during bedtime with Ava and Emma.  
• They have turned it into a game of calling their parents one at a time for a goodnight hug and goodnight kiss.
• Spending time with Cassarra and Gabbi as we dashed out for a late night snack
• Finishing my Bible reading plan from 2014

This has been a truly remarkable week and I am so thankful for all the blessings of friends, family, prayers, love, compassion and grace.  I can truly say that although the trials have come and the challenges this week were real, the blessings were also real.  The blessings and triumphs were real and really good.  

At home there were some amazing moments around the dinner table, outstanding dinners made by Trish, funny and fun moments with the girls.  Gabbi traded a week of extra chores for opting out of eating collards.  If you ask her, she'll tell you that she got the best end of the trade.  

Wednesday night we discovered that the heat upstairs was set on a balmy 75 degrees.  Which is much too high for our wallets, and explained why the upstairs felt like a small oven.  When we got to the bottom of it, we discovered Paige.  She politely confessed, "I turned it up, because my room was cold."  This coming from the girl who sleeps on top of her covers most nights. 

One night when I went out with the older girls I had a moment of bold insanity.  After sharing some "advice on boys, faith, and peer pressure," I was feeling pretty good.  The girls hadn't shut me down, they seemed engaged, asked questions, and I felt like they got the message.  Unlike sometimes past, I managed to balance between preaching, teaching and listening pretty well.  I was feeling good about our time together.  So, I looked at them and asked, "Is there anything you want to ask your parents that you were afraid to ask?"  I just knew the answer would be "No, Dad."  Or, at worst, "Why do you always.....?"  Or, even could they have something that was previously denied.  Boy was I wrong.  The first question was a zinger and suddenly the questions were coming in rapid fire mode.  It felt like Cassarra and Gabbi had been holding things in for years, waiting to ask what they thought were delicate questions.  I answered some, deferred a few until they were older, and stepped on the gas as hard as I could.  That mile from my house and Wal-mart never seemed longer. 

Another great moment happened last night, dinner was so late that when I walked in with pizza Emma immediately went to her high chair.  She actually began pushing it up to the table where we all have dinner together on Thursday night.  Ava started calling her sisters for dinner and then Emma tried to say copy her to say, "Dinner time!"  Emma was so cute trying to boss around her bigger sisters to get them to come down for dinner.  Ironically, she barely ate her dinner.  She pretended she wasn't hungry, but as it turned out she was mainly interested in eating the meat and cheese.  After eating all of the toppings from her slice, she begged Trish to eat the pepperonis and sausage off of hers.  I also had fun making dessert last night.  I made a batch of peanut butter cookies.  The first batch didn't do so well.  The looked like big saucers and tasted more like fluffy cakes with a hint of peanut butter.  The second batch was better.  The were crisp and tasted closer to Cassarra's, the gold standard.  

I'm looking forward to the weekend.  I plan to enjoy the rest, spend some time working on some more projects and figure out the next Bible plan to use for this year.  We are also going to try and potty train Emma this weekend.  I'm hoping that it goes smoother than the first try with Ava went.  The girls have their plans for the weekend.  A pair of them will be traveling and enjoying an amazing weekend away.  The middle two have been making plans all week for their weekend.  They wanted to come to work today, but my office culture has changed and Trish and I weren't sure it was a good idea.  Maybe when things settle back down.  They also have plans for breakfast tomorrow morning.  Hopefully Trish and I will get in some time over coffee and we won't be too exhausted to enjoy some conversation as well. 

I hope you have a great weekend.  I hope that you get to spend time with friends, family, loved ones, and people that make you smile.  I hope that you will have a blessed remainder of the day.  Have fun, have a great day, and...

Welcome to Friday
Life is good when lived in the safety, security, and love of the Almighty God.

God of grace, mercy and wonders divine -

bless and anoint us, help us and deliver us.

In our times of need and want, be our

all sufficient help and strength.  

In times of darkness and despair, be our

ever-shining light and all-wise guide.

In times of peace and joy, be our

God, our King and the rightful recipient of our praise.

God of grace, mercy and wonders divine -

bless, and anoint us, help us and deliver us.

With love (& in triumph),

Cassius

I made cookies

Well, they actually look like big plates or mini-pies, but they are actually cookies.  Last night, with no sweets in the house, but a large jar of peanut butter, some sugar, and eggs I decided to make cookies.  

First batch peanut butter cookies.

The first batch tasted more like fluffy cake and not crisp cookies.  The second batch was a lot better.  The second batch was delicious.  I'm sure there will be very few of them left when I get home.  

I enjoyed making the cookies.  It has been a long time since I made my own batch from scratch.  It actually reminded me of my days in Home Economics class in middle school.

Not bad for a first time in a long time, but not quite up to Cassarra's gold standard.  I'll keep trying.  

Welcome to Friday - 1.9.15

But as for me, I will look to the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation.  My God will hear me.  Micah7:7

Welcome to Friday!

Welcome to Friday!  This has been a very good week.  Monday was excellent as a kickoff and I am faithfully and prayerfully expecting that this Friday will cap the work week off with delight.  In fact, Emma was so excited to help us kickoff the morning that she got us up at about 3:00 a.m.  So, how was your week?  Please tell me, how did things go for you on the first full week of the New Year?  Were you able to kick things off the way you hoped and planned?  Did you get a good start on the plans and resolutions you made and the goals for the New Year?  What resolutions did you make, if you made some this year?

I hope that you are doing okay and I hope that things went well for you and that your New Year started off in the positive direction.  I am just filled with excitement, joy, and expectation that this year will be a wonderful and amazing year for you, your family, your friends, and those that you love and care for.  Your joy, peace, and blessing have been in my thoughts and prayers.

This has been a good week and I am grateful for:

• Having time off from work
• A great weekend of rest and gearing up for the first back to work/school week
• Health and strength
• A good doctor's report for Paige
• Not having the flu
• Getting some medication to kick this nagging sinus infection and head cold
• A safe return back to school and work
• A quick resolution to the challenges at work from Tuesday evening
• God is good, all the time.  And all the time, God is good
• Trish's prayers and encouragement coming at the perfect time
• A beautiful spiral of clouds marking the evening sky
• A gorgeous, almost indescribable sunset over Lake Murray on Wednesday night
• No busted pipes from the cold weather, and the hot water heater leak is fixed
• Being able tor read bedtime stories to the girls
• New roles and responsibilities at work have started with only a few bumps
• A weekend date with Trish where we laughed and talked and got lost in the time
• Sydney's science fair project was insightful and well done
• Ava and Emma readjusting to our back to school routine pretty quickly

Monday was my first day back in the office in the New Year.  It was also the first day back to school for the girls.  We all managed to get out of the house in a reasonable amount of time, especially after such a long period of being at home taking it easy.  The smaller crew, Ava and Emma, missed all the excitement and didn't wake up until the house was all clear.  Sydney and Paige were up pretty early and were very anxious to get me out of the house early.  Sydney was keeping her word that she was going to push me to get her to school earlier in the New Year.  Cassarra and Gabbi were not excited about going back to school, but they managed to get themselves pretty well adjusted by the time I left for work.  

The rest of the week unfolded pretty well also.  Of course there were some challenges at work.  I had an issue at work on Tuesday and Wednesday morning, but things smoothed out really quickly late Wednesday afternoon.  It all turned around when I turned it over to Jesus, and I truly experienced one of those moments where you see God rearrange things n your favor.  Thursday was quite busy at work as I was trying to adjust to my new role at work and prepare for my first key meeting.  After running around like a "chicken with my head cut off" for most of the day, the meeting that I was preparing for was cancelled.  The other team manager, my peer in the new role I have, has the flu.  I"m am so thankful that we have dodged the flu.  I had a really horrendous headache and congestion on Monday night, but it turned out to be a sinus infection and nothing more serious.

The cold weather has made us all a little slow to get out of the warm beds, but thankfully we have made it safely to the end of the week.  The girls had a really good week.  On Monday, Trish said that Ava and Emma were looking for their big sisters all day.  By Tuesday I think they had returned to normal programming.  They got up to see the girls off and then seemed to return to playing, laying on Trish, and asking for breakfast.  Cassarra and Gabbi got over their haze and seemed to enjoy the return to school, if for no other reason than socializing.  Sydney and Paige were both excited this week.  Paige is excited about Math and Science and things they were doing in class.  Sydney was excited about the Science Fair at her school.  She did a great project on growing basil and the affects of natural fertilizers.  Her experiment used coffee grounds.  Her project also made the finals of the Science fair and she will receive an award.  

Trish is doing well.  She was glad for the break from school and for the vacation I had over the holidays.  Now that school has restarted, we are now trying to get back in the routines.  She is working on Ava and her letters and numbers.  Here is how Ava describes it, "I have to show mommy my letters in the mornings so she can trace them."  According to Ava, she is the teacher and mommy is learning how to trace letters.  Trish has also started working on another couple of projects with photos, picture books, calendars and a book to the girls.  

Well, I didn't really make any resolutions this year.  However, I do have the goals of being better this year than I was last year, making some progress on some writing projects I started two years ago, and to focus on gratitude. 

This weekend I hope to get some rest, continue to making progress on my writing projects and papers, and handle some of the shuffle of activities..  Cassarra will be performing for the band this weekend, and the girls will be in meetings and practice.  Trish and I will hopefully get some time to ourselves and a nice cup of coffee to go with conversations.  

Well, I wish you a great day, a day filled with love, joy, laughter, and grace.  I wish you a weekend filled with rest when you are weary, peace from all troubles, and love and compassion from God, the Father of us all.  

Welcome to Friday!

 

God is strong, powerful, holy, amazing and wonderful.

God is good, compassionate, merciful, and gracious.

God is Creator, Father, Redeemer, Savior, and Lord.

God is madly, passionately, eternally and unconditionally in love with you.

Blessings to you in an unfailing and unceasing abudance.

With love (& in triumph ),

Cassius 

Devotional: Project

On one of my television shows, a seller showed up pulling a trailer with a snarly looking Ferrari.  The front fender was held on by a strip and a bolt.  the right side door looked like it had played a game of twister and lost.  Much of the ascetically pleasing parts were flung somewhere between the inside of the car trailer and the rear seat of the car.  The rear bumper was cracked, chipped, dented and missing a large chunk on the right.  The front hood was destroyed and no where to be found.  The tires on the right were missing, the seats had vanished and it looked less like a car and more like a horrible experiment gone wrong.  The damage looked like it was the result of going too fast, too long, and too near a barrier or tree.  I'm sure the road was wide and inviting and the destruction was unexpected and grave.

After unloading the car, the seller and the restoration shop owner agreed to a price and the hard work would soon begin.  The shop owner believed that despite its bumps, bruises and twisted metal the heart of a great car still existed and there was a tremendous amount of value still left.  For the owner, it was worth the price, and it would be worth the hard work of rebuilding and restoring.  

Does this car remind you of something?  It reminds me of my life.  I went too fast on a road that wasn't quite right.  I went too long on this track and I got too close to the edges and barriers; too close to the "tree" and I never corrected my course.  In the fast lane of life I crashed and my life became twisted, wrecked and my condition was grave.  Outwardly I'm sure there wasn't much that looked attractive when he found me in my brokenness.  But the one who found me, he knew a thing or two about restorations. He saw my true value.  Beneath the wreckage, dirt, and damage he saw a child worth dying and rising for.  He saw someone he could restore, redeem, and save. 

The hard work of the car restoration took time, effort, money and patience.  The crew had to tear out, and rebuild.  Some parts of the car had to be replaced and others were restored to their original condition through loving hands; sewing, welding or sandblasting.  It took time.  It went in phases, a little at a time.  The restoration of the car is so very similar to what God does in our hearts.  It is taking time.  He is making all the effort and paid the highest price.  There are parts that must be chiseled and cut out, some places that need to be welded and permanently fixed.  Attitudes and thoughts must be remade, restored and renewed.  Our role in all of this is to be chiseled, welded, unhooked, re-fabricated, sandblasted and restored while patiently waiting and depending on Him.

  

Welcome to Friday - 1.2.15

Welcome to Friday

Happy New Year, and welcome to Friday!  How are you doing?  How are things going with you and your family?  How did you close out 2014, were you at church, home, or celebrating elsewhere?  How did it feel to ring in another new year?  Did you stay up and watch the ball drop or countdown to midnight?  I hope that you are doing well and that you have had a great week.  I hope that you are off to a great start to 2015 and that you are excited and thrilled for the journey, the blessings, and the wonder that is in store for you this year.

I am doing very well.  I am enjoying my vacation time from work.  This year I managed to save up enough time to take off nine days at the end of the year.  It was amazing to be able to relax at home and spend time with the girls and Trish.  It could not have come at a more perfect time.  I need the rest, the holidays were upon us, we had a lot of things to get done, and the girls were out of school at the same time.  My vacation was wonderful.  I have been able to enjoy the holidays in peace without a lot of worry about going into the office, or rushing back from Georgetown because I have to work.  Even with my new position at work, God was faithful to my prayer to be able to concentrate on my family.  

On my vacation I've spent a lot of mini-dates with Trish.  We'd grab a quick bite to eat, or just coffee and a bagel, and then dash through the stores and malls.  Sometimes we were shopping for Christmas, some dates we were window shopping, other dates were spending gift cards, and an occasional mini-date was to return something.  It was great!  I've also spent a lot of time playing games with the girls.  We had a marathon round of Uno, and Jinga.  We also played musical chairs, but the game ended when I tried to pull the chair away from Cassarra.  Unfortunately for me, she landed in the chair just as it landed on my toes.  I also hurt my knew in all the commotion.  That ended the game, but thankfully not the fun of the vacation.  We played more games that night, safer games, like trivia.  I've slept in a couple of mornings and had some of the laziest days in over a year.  This morning I overslept and got going around 7:00am.  One morning I got up at 7, but just hung around in my PJs until nearly 10 o'clock.  The rest was refreshing.  I've also been able to spend some time working on new projects, trying to finish some older projects, and cleaning up the office at the house.  I spent about two hours writing and organizing some new poems for a poetry collection.  I cleaned up a stack of devotionals and filed them away.  I plan to go through them and put together a 30 day devotional book.  I also managed to get the office organized just enough to clear the desk top.  The clutter was starting to get a little ridiculous.  

This morning the girls and I started 2015 with breakfast.  It didn't go as well as I hoped, but we managed to recover and have a few good laughs.  The biggest laugh coming when Ava and Emma decided to sneak extra doughnuts.  Yep!  We did Krispy Kreme today.  Normally, we do McDonald's or Chick-Fil-A, but we decided to shake it up a bit.  Things were so rough this morning I was ready to throw in the towel on 1st Friday breakfast, but a dinner date put some new light on things.  After breakfast I was back to work on cleaning out some clutter, putting away some decorations, and getting ready for lunch with Trish.  

Trish and I got a chance to have a really good lunch.  We talked, laughed, and struggled together.  It was a good start to 2015 to focus on our marriage and our friendship.  I'm looking forward to an amazing year together and for our family.  After lunch I took CBR for a bite to eat and some conversation.  She was amazing and had a lot of really good things to share.  She shared a lot about school, friends, and the things that interested her.  WE talked about everything from kindergarten friends to Marilyn Monroe (curious, I know).  We chatted about how she was doing and probably could have talked longer if we weren't trying to let the waitress get her table ready for the next customer.  

The weekend promises to be fulfilling with trips to Manna Station and worship.  On Monday my vacation ends and I will jump into producing one of the most successful years at STC.  I will celebrate 15 years at the company on Monday and will also get things rolling so that in 15 years from now we are all talking about this year and the way things jumped off from here.

All in all it has been an amazing week.  I am so thankful for:

• Vacation time off from work
• breakfast with the girls
• dinner and coffee dates with Trish
• healthy kids and family
• spending time with family and friends
• Christmas (yes, I'm still thankful for Christmas blessings, gifts, and family time)
• seeing a new year
• ringing in the New Year with Trish and the girls
• celebrating 15 years at the same job
• getting time to work on a poetry project
• playing with Cassarra some Christmas carols.  I played trumpet and she amazed us all on the flute
• time with Ava and Emma reading new bedtime stories, especially "Happy Birthday Jesus!"
• spending time with my parents over the Christmas holiday (yes, still thankful for this time)
• only having to work one day out of the last two weeks
• laughing and smiling at our traditional New Year's dinner
• trips down memory lane provided by photo albums and emails from friends and family
• friends and family saying prayers for a blessed new year in 2015
• getting free coffee (Starbucks) and a free bagel (Panera)
• Sleeping late and the girls sleeping late too

Well, I hope you have had a great holidays, a wonderful week and an amazing Friday.  I'm thankful for you and I pray that you will have an amazing new year.  May God fully bless you, open your eyes to wonder, joy, and love and prosper you.  Happy New Year and Welcome to Friday!

Welcome to Friday!

The God of wonders, the Awesome and Amazing, bless you and keep you.

The Living God, the Eternal, bless you to not only live, but to thrive in the new year.

Lovely

Trish and Ava share a moment of fun...

My lovely ladies

     

Nothing but cuteness here...

Hi

Ava says hi