"They don't really - understand - do they?..."

I had a great Thanksgiving break... and am VERY thankful for it!! ONE bad note to any bit of it... my uncle, Roddy, has cancer. So pray for him... I ask you to pray hard and pray bold.

I had a great time with my family in Albany. Lots of good food... and my bloodsugar was fine the whole time!! Although I weighed the other day and I've gained five pounds... DON'T LAUGH, it's not funny!! I'm not being upset though... it'll go back away and I'm still not up to a size 18 again and my 14s still fit. Actually, the 14s may fit better, so I may be gaining muscle?? Which is okay... I'd just also prefer to weigh fewer pounds, too, in addition to being smaller...

I had a fantastic time Saturday night with Cliff and JJ. We got tickets for Rent, chilled for bit (I actually hung with them on a music conversation!!), saw Rent, and went to dinner. Rent is good but not for "the faint of heart" in terms of what you can take in a movie. It's a bit rough to take in spots.

Say a prayer for me, too... I think I have some really awesome opportunities coming up.
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Had to share...

[ROGER][Rent, the movie/musical; One Song Glory]

One song
Glory
One song
Before I go
Glory
One song to leave behind
Find one song
One last refrain
Glory
From the pretty boy front man
Who wasted opportunity
One song
He had the world at his feet
Glory
In the eyes of a young girl
A young girl
Find glory
Beyond the cheap colored lights
One song
Before the sun sets
Glory -- on another empty life
Time flies -- time dies
Glory -- One blaze of glory
One blaze of glory -- glory
Find
Glory
In a song that rings true
Truth like a blazing fire
An eternal flame
Find
One song
A song about love
Glory
From the soul of a young man
A young man
Find
The one song
Before the virus takes hold
Glory
Like a sunset
One song
To redeem this empty life
Time flies
And then - no need to endure anymore
Time dies
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HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYBODY!! I hope you all have a wonder next couple of days!! I'm heading this afternoon to Albany to my grandmother/aunt's in Albany and will be back Friday... not that you necessarily asked or care THAT much, but hey. Don't forget amidst the turkey, et al, to take a minute to be thankful for what all you have. We had our mid-week services last night and had an excellent presentation on what the average family has in other countries. It's really pretty astounding how richly blessed we are in this country... even just to have access to safe running water (no matter who you are or where you are or what your circumstances are).

Welp, I should run... Lana and I are decorating the atrium here in Harris this morning... more on Friday...

el Dios le bendice y via con Dios...
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I am SOO EXCITED!!! I had a check-up this morning with Dr. Moon. I was so worried I was about to be put on meds for my diabetes... I hadn't checked where I was falling routinely on that chart that converts it all back and forth from what my meter tells me and the A1C test. And I didn't know how my other numbers were going to do either. Well... let me just tell ya...

- I have lost 21 pounds in the last 4 months...
- My blood pressure is back to normal... 128/80...
- My cholesterol is down to 218 from 301(?)...
- My A1C is down to 5.5 from 7.8... which means my levels are normal again...

I'm still on cloud nine!! I still need to bring my cholesterol and weight down. BUT they're going in the right direction!! I go back in February... an extra month to recoup from the Holidays... he's not putting me on cholesterol meds at least until then. He thinks, and I agree, that I might can bring it the rest of the way down if I keep everything up in terms of diet and exercise. And my weight... hopefully the last 40 will come off reasonably easy like the first 21.

BTW, I hate it being dark when I get off work!! I don't like walking in the dark!! I made myself the other night though... it wasn't insufferable, I just didn't like it... I guess I just suck it up and deal with it or utilize my other walking arenas. And I was getting attached to my walks...

el Dios le bendice siempre...
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Something to ponder... my fave...

Psalm 139 (The Message)
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

Psalm 139
A David psalm

1GOD, investigate my life; get all the facts firsthand.
2I'm an open book to you;
even from a distance, you know what I'm thinking.
3You know when I leave and when I get back;
I'm never out of your sight.
4You know everything I'm going to say
before I start the first sentence.
5I look behind me and you're there,
then up ahead and you're there, too--
your reassuring presence, coming and going.
6This is too much, too wonderful--
I can't take it all in!

7Is there anyplace I can go to avoid your Spirit?
to be out of your sight?
8If I climb to the sky, you're there!
If I go underground, you're there!
9If I flew on morning's wings
to the far western horizon,
10You'd find me in a minute--
you're already there waiting!
11Then I said to myself, "Oh, he even sees me in the dark!
At night I'm immersed in the light!"
12It's a fact: darkness isn't dark to you;
night and day, darkness and light, they're all the same to you.

13Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;
you formed me in my mother's womb.
14I thank you, High God--you're breathtaking!
Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
I worship in adoration--what a creation!
15You know me inside and out,
you know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
16Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;
all the stages of my life were spread out before you,
The days of my life all prepared
before I'd even lived one day.

17Your thoughts--how rare, how beautiful!
God, I'll never comprehend them!
18I couldn't even begin to count them--
any more than I could count the sand of the sea.
Oh, let me rise in the morning and live always with you!
19And please, God, do away with wickedness for good!
And you murderers--out of here!-
20all the men and women who belittle you, God,
infatuated with cheap god-imitations.
21See how I hate those who hate you, GOD,
see how I loathe all this godless arrogance;
22I hate it with pure, unadulterated hatred.
Your enemies are my enemies!

23Investigate my life, O God,
find out everything about me;
Cross-examine and test me,
get a clear picture of what I'm about;
24See for yourself whether I've done anything wrong--
then guide me on the road to eternal life.
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Hey gang... Just thought I'd let you know... It's American Education Week! Soo... your "homework" is to say thank you to the person in education that influenced you most. I think we can all think of someone in our academic careers that made a big impact on us. I'm writing a letter to mine... or well, finishing one I started long ago...
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This is a song from Big River that I think is VERY entertaining... pardon the one word...

THE BOYS

If the bunch of us all stick together
And we all go down as one
We could be highway robbers
We could be killers just out to have fun
And if any of you can't keep a secret
We'll cut your throat if you tell
Then lay down 'neath six feet of ground
'Cause we were born to raise hell

Chorus:
All together now were the boys
All together forever and always
All together now we are the boys
We're together forever and always

If the bunch of us all, now listen,
'Cause here's the part I like the best
If we all got a hold of some horses
We could ride like the boys out West
We could hoot shoot, and we could holler
We could ride like the devil wind
Then go back to the cove and sleep all day
And do it the next night again
(Repeat Chorus)

If the bunch of us all stick together
And we all go down as one
We could be highway robbers
We could be killers just out to have fun
And if the bunch of us all form a circle
And surround all the ladies of the town
I said hey, hey hey we'll take them to the cave
And dance them till they all fall down
(Repeat Chorus Twice)
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I am so excited... despite having to work tomorrow!! ;) (It won't be bad at all... just time...)

I'm having dinner with some dear friends from college after work tonight. They're in town and we're getting together for Homecoming. My aunt and uncle are also coming into town tonight, which I'm excited about. I don't know how much I'll get to see them even if they are staying at the house?! My parent's also have friends coming into town, which is always fun. So there'll be LOTS of festivities this weekend to enjoy and lots of friends to hang out with!!

It'll be a long weekend, but a good one!!

Ooooohhh... and I'm almost through with Angels and Demons!! FANTASTIC book!! I highly recommend it!! It's by Dan Brown, the guy who also wrote The deVinci Code. This book is a prequel to it. Wicked is up next on the reading agenda!! I'm stoked about that one since I'm going to see it in May in Atlanta!!

Need to go...

el Dios le bendice siempre...
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Who I am is not my fault...

I say that joking, but to some extent it's true. If I had been left up to my own devices and had no encouragement from others as far as how I should live my life and who I should be, I don't want to know who I would have ended up being. I probably would have ended up someone most people would have deemed immoral for something... someone addicted to something (who knows what it could have ended up being... anything is possible)... someone I wouldn't like very much.

But I'm thankful to God for the family and friends and acquaintances he's give me over the years. I've been rebuked and chastised for things. I've suffered consequences for things and been rescued from the consequences, too. I've been given strength to make it through some very trying times in my life... sometimes just from knowing I had friends to stand by me. I've been given conviction to do what I know's right and not what's wrong... also conviction in who I am and what I believe.

It's so many people I can't possibly start to name them all. If you're reading this, you're probably one of them... so thank you!!

Te adoro!
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