This morning I received a great email from a new friend, Deb. She said that I always make her laugh. The funny part is that SHE ALWAYS MAKES ME LAUGH, TOO! It made me think about the fact that we don’t always take time to see the humor in life. Sometimes humor can keep you going when times are tough AND it’s better to laugh than to cry. (Crying can make your mascara run) HA!
WHO or WHAT can you always count on to make you laugh?
Take time to laugh today!!
Today’s post is all over the board but had lots of updates and thoughts to share……….
I want to update everyone on my family friend, Teresa, who is still at Vanderbilt. I think this is something like day 39 of her stay there. She is still improving, slowly but surely. She still has to have a breathing tube due to the damage to her lungs. She is desperately trying to talk and communicate but the tube is definitely hindering it. She still has to have her colon “washed out” from all of the toxins in her system. Overall, things are going MUCH better in her recovery. Just this week, she mouthed that she wants to go home and also smiled at several friends who came to visit from home. Her oldest son became engaged and she mouthed “wonderful”. Thanks again for the many thoughts and prayers. The whole family has felt them.
So, school started today for Bailey. She is now going to Nashville Christian and is super excited about it. Her grade (5th), only has a total of 40 students. With such a small class, she is sure to get a lot of individual attention and instruction which is wonderful. On the other hand, I think of the size of the classes that I had in school. They were much larger and I had a very diverse group of friends as a result.
Sam starts school on Monday and is also pretty excited about his second year at Meigs Magnet Middle. He’s still not finished with his summer project which has to be turned in next Friday. The assignment required him to read 3 books and then create a newspaper from characters, events, etc in the books. He had to write an editorial, a cartoon, a review, 3 ads and a character sketch. Talk about a lot of work for a summer project in 6th grade!
We have had a great week at the MediSpa - maybe one of our busiest ever. We are in Clipper Magazine and are about to be in CouponMint. It sure was hard to part with the $$ that it costs to advertise in these, but we have already broken even and we still have people calling to book consults and appointments. Thank you, Lord!!
Last, but certainly not least, HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my best cuz, Whitney. Her birthday is actually Sunday but I believe she’s been celebrating “Birthday Week” which is something we strongly believe in!! We will celebrate with her on Sunday with a special birthday lunch after church. Have a great one, Whit….love you bunches!!
What does your weekend look like? Doing anything special? Do tell!
Sam and I just returned (last evening) from our mom/son trip to ATL. We had a really good time, despite the heat and rain! We saw two Braves games (they lost both), went to World of Coke, Georgia Aquarium and the Atlanta Zoo. We had never been to World of Coke or GA Aquarium and let me just say that BOTH were really great. I took some great pics and will try to post them soon. There are so many other attractions in ATL, it is definitely a great place to spend a few days having fun.
I’m off to Center Hill Lake this afternoon with around 10-15 sorority sisters (ADPis from our days at MTSU). We will relax, eat, sleep, boat, swim and maybe do some water sports. Mostly we’ll just enjoy hanging out together without any real responsibilities for 48 hours.
Hope everyone will try to have a little bit of FUN this weekend!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my Dad today!! He’s turning the big 6-0. To look at him, you’d think that he is MAYBE 50. Hopefully, I have inherited this eternal youth gene!!! I know I have inherited his off-beat sense of humor, as well as his intellect ;), his eyes and his love for peanut butter and ice cream (not necessarily at the same time, however that’s a pretty good mixture!).
I am an only child so when my Dad wasn’t busy, he would often have to entertain me. One of my favorite memories is when we were wrestling and my earring accidentally punctured him in the nose. Without knowing it, we stumbled upon a major new trend! One other fun memory is when he let me “roll” his hair. We had those big pink curlers that you slept in and I somehow would get a little bit of my Dad’s hair to stay in those curlers. He was so cute!
One not so great memory is when, at my birthday parties, my friends wanted to hang out with my Dad instead of me. I threatened to not allow him at my parties if he was going to “steal” my friends. HA!!
My Dad is one of the most intelligent, dependable and trustworthy people I know. He is very ethical and is a solid Christian man. He loves to dabble in computers and technology so when I have a question or issue, he’s the first one I call. He also has developed a real interest in Nascar in the past few years. I have also discovered that I, too, find it very interesting and entertaining. Maybe one day we’ll go to our first race together.
Have a great birthday, Dad and here’s hoping for 60 more!! We love you BIG MUCH!
Lo and fam
I have good news to report on Teresa Bradley. She has made steady improvements all week and her doctors are pleased with her progression. She still has a VERY LONG road to recovery. They are slowly taking her off of many of her meds but she still is sedated due to pain. She will be slowly weaned off of the ventilator so I guess you could say that they are taking it slow but steady with her. Her recovery looked somewhat bleak there for a short time so this steady improvement is truly God’s hand of healing.
I would like to ask for prayers for her continued healing, as well as strength for her husband, David and her two sons, Chip and Max. They will have to somewhat try to resume “normal” life soon. David is a dentist and has only been to his practice a short time in the past 3+ weeks. Max is in high-school and will have to start back soon. Chip is in college at MTSU. They have always been one of the busiest families I have ever known so this series of events has been a true challenge. They have established a site for her on Carepages.com if anyone would like to keep up with her healing and progress. Thanks again for the many prayers that you have lifted up for them!
THANK YOU SO MUCH to everyone who has been praying for Teresa. The prayers are working so keep them coming. I am getting text message updates from my aunt and uncle around 2-4 times a day. Today, she had improved vitals, less swelling and they were able to change around some of her meds so that her body is able to function more normally. She’s still very critical, but there has been definite improvement the past two days. Thank you again and her family says a heartfelt thanks to everyone who has lifted them up. They have certainly felt it.
For the sake of getting this urgent prayer request out very quickly, I cannot write the entire history of our dear family friend’s health crisis. It all stems from a very bad car accident around 2 and a half weeks ago. Teresa Bradley is a wife, mom, volunteer, sister, aunt, friend and is one of my favorite high school teachers. Her life hangs in the balance today due to injuries from the accident. She is in Vanderbilt and is in extremely critical condition. Her husband, David, request prayer for acceptance right now. Acceptance of the outcome of the many different ventilators that they have tried, none of which has worked. Her organs could begin shutting down if doesn’t respond quickly to the last ventilator.
My prayer is selfish. I don’t want God to take her yet. She has so much life to live, so many gifts to offer but I know that this is not my decision. Her husband’s faith is strong and his heart is calm.
Thanks everyone for lifting them up.
I thought about letting Sam guest blog for me today but he’s REALLY busy playing video games. Ahhhh, the joys of summertime. No homework, no early bedtime, no responsibilities. Don’t you wish all adults had the summer off, no matter what their profession?!
Ok, back to why I’m posting. Sam and I are heading to Atlanta in a few weeks to watch a few Braves games and basically just have fun. Besides the games, I think Sam wants to go to Coca-Cola World (not even sure if this is what it’s called) and maybe Stone Mountain. We need some suggestions of other fun, cool things we could do for either free or almost-free. 
Gimme your suggestions!
Your Skin and the Sun
Since we’ve opened the MediSpa, I have become much more educated on our skin. I’m now educated to the point of being scared of the sun. Yes, I’d heard and read a lot about how bad tanning is and how we should wear sunscreen, but to be honest, I didn’t really want to know the truth. I’m a sun-lover from way back. Each summer, my friends and I would see who could be the darkest, the most tan. I continued to tan through my 20s and even into my 30s. I love to be tan! As someone once said, “tan fat is better than white fat”. Funny but pretty true! Now, I use self-tanners. The ones that I use the most are made by L’Oreal and Jergens. They are not expensive and for my skin-type, work very well.
Since it’s not too realistic to stay completely out of the sun, wear a broad spectrum sunscreen every day. Even if you’re not deliberately in the sun, you are still going to be exposed to harmful rays. The following info is from the AAD or American Academy of Dermatology.
The sun produces both visible and invisible rays. The invisible rays, known as ultraviolet A (UVA) and ultraviolet B (UVB), cause most of the problems, including suntan, sunburn, and sun damage. There is no “safe” ultraviolet (UV) light, and there is no such thing as a safe tan.
Sun protection helps prevent skin damage, wrinkles, and reduces the risk of developing skin cancer. Newer broad-spectrum sunscreens contain products to block both UVA and UVB rays. Sunscreen should be reapplied at least every two hours to work. The American Academy of Dermatology recommends that you seek shade when possible. Avoid sunbathing, wear a wide-brimmed hat, sunglasses and protective clothing.
A typical white tee shirt has an SPF of 3. Colorless dyes are available as laundry products which increase the SPF of fabrics to an SPF of 30. If you must be in the sun, use a broad-spectrum sunscreen with a sun protection factor (SPF) of at least 15, even on cloudy days. Sunscreens, however, are not perfect. Because some ultraviolet light may still get through sunscreens, they should not be used as a way of prolonging sun exposure.
Sunscreens that block UVB rays are composed of some or all of the following chemicals: padimate O, homosalate, octyl methoxycinnamate, benzophenone, octyl salicylate, phenylbenzimidazole sulfonic acid, and octocrylene. Broad-spectrum sunscreens add oxybenzone or avobenzone (Parsol 1789) to block UVA rays. Mexoryl is a chemical that blocks UVA; its broad-spectrum characteristics allow sunscreens to be made with very high SPF factors. Physical sunscreens/blocks or chemical-free sunscreens contain titanium dioxide and/or zinc oxide, which reflect UVA and UVB and are especially useful for people allergic to chemical sunscreens.
When I think of the many times that the kids have been outside and unprotected, I could just kick myself. The sun that they are exposed to today will be the sun damage and possible cancer they will have to endure when they are my age (or younger).
I hope this info is useful and that I could enlighten you somewhat on my first “FYI Wednesday”.
Happy 4th to everyone! God Bless You and This Great Country We Live In!!!
Ok, so Sam has taken up fishing as his #1 summertime hobby. He wants to go EVERY DAY! I have never seen anything like it……….so, my question is two-fold. First, who would like to “borrow” him for a day of fishing? Ok, just kidding on that one!! 
The real question is actually a poll: what are your top 2 or 3 favorite PUBLIC fishing spots in the area? So far, we have only been to the Harpeth River and to Burns Park. I wouldn’t say that either of them was great, but they are both very close to the house which is important in these times of ridiculously high gas prices. Any suggestions?!
