Thankful...

Steve has been being productive to bring in income everyday. He was offered a side job working for Kathy's husband. He drives to Austin & picks up parts that have been ordered for his company. Tuesday - he picked up parts, Wednesday - he donated, Thursday - he's picking up parts again and Friday - will donate again. He already has an odd job lined up for next week too.

Making a Difference...

Following is something I have wanted to post for a while...

"ONE person can make a difference. My attitudes. What I say or don't say. It has to begin with me." How can you find hope in this perspective, even when the circumstances are so huge? Apply this statement to yourself: what needs to begin with you?

God can use you & He will use you! You just have to submit to Him & follow after Him to start making a difference. Whether the difference is in your family, your job, your church or in another situation. One person CAN make a difference through prayer, fasting & their own attitude.

My Crazy Job...

As many of you know... I have more than one job! When I worked at the furniture manufacturing plant (Swiftex), Go Figure! (Kathy's Place) was my 2nd job. Since I was laid off from the plant in December, Go Figure! has been my primary job.

Some of you may know that I've been feeling frustrated & like my season is over at Go Figure! I'm tired of feeling like the a whipping post & being blamed for alot of what goes wrong there. I am really tired of the disorganization, cofusion & over all chaos there.

I am a happy, smiley person that tries to find a way to laugh about everything. When you are fed so much negativity, you do not feel so happy. Even Steve & my mom have told me lately that I need to smile more & have a better attitude.

I already have a great deal for a job in the works right now. It is for a man that I have known for about 5+ years & that believes in God. He needs someone to do accounting & other office work for the company he has now. He also has another company that has been on hold for a while but he would like to get it rolling again.

Please pray for God's will to be done for my job situations & for Him to lead me. Also, please for Steve to get a job soon ~ at least a part-time one. He has helped my mom & dad & would like to continue to be there for them.

Feeling Better...

I'm feeling much better! I still have a little congestion, a cough & drainage but I'm doing better. I've been told I have Swine Allergies, the Pig Flu and so on (what else are friends for?!). However, Steve is now suffering from it all ~ guess he has the Swine Allergies now.

Have a Great Day!

I hope everyone had a good day! We went to church & of coarse they honored the mothers & our pastor's wife. After church we met mom & dad to eat in Bastrop. It was nice to spend time with my special mom. She is truly my angel & my hero! I love her & am glad God gave me to her. Also, I am glad God has allowed us another year to be together.

Reuniting...

Yesterday I received a phone call out of the blue! It was my childhood friend Rhonda that I hadn't talked to in 4 Years because of dufus. He contacted her on Facebook & wanted to add her as a friend... now why would she want to be his friend?!... Especially after he acted so ignorant the last couple of times we saw her. She called me & needless to say we are catching up & she's happy that I'm on with life (without him).

Well, this was actually his 2nd attempt to contact old friends. Last week he called Nick to chit-chat. Nick asked him why he was calling him & being nice after all the crap he talked about him & the rumors he spread.

Makes you wonder... is the guy trying to find out what I'm up to or does he realize he made a mistake?! Why in the world would he think that people want to be his friend after all that he did?! He's really out there!!!

Dealing With Difficult People..

After ALL the drama this weekend & being targeted as the whipping post @ work... I had to look up this info & read it for myself so I thought I would share it with you too.

Can you recall the last time you had to deal with a negative or difficult person? Or the last time someone said something with the intention of hurting you? How did you handle it? What was the result? What can you do in the future to get through these situations with peace and grace?

No matter where we go, we will face people who are negative, people who oppose our ideas, people who piss us off or people who simply do not like us. There are 6.4 billion people out there and conflict is a fact of life. This fact isn’t the cause of conflict but it is the trigger to our emotions and our emotions are what drive us back to our most basic survival instinct; react and attack back to defend ourselves.

In these instinctual moments, we may lose track of our higher selves and become the human animal with an urge to protect ourselves when attacked. This too is natural. However, we are the only animal blessed with intelligence and having the ability to control our responses. So how can we do that?

I regularly get asked “How do you deal with the negative comments about your articles? They are brutal. I don’t think I could handle them.” My answer is simple, “I don’t let it bother me to begin with.” It wasn’t always this simple, and took me some time before overcoming this natural urgency to protect myself and attack back.

I know it’s not easy, if it was easy, there wouldn’t be difficult or negative people to begin with.

Why Bother Controlling Our Responses?
Hurting Ourselves - One of my favorite sayings is “Holding a grudge against someone is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.” The only person we hurt is ourselves. When we react to negativity, we are disturbing our inner space and mentally creating pain within ourselves.
It’s Not About You, It’s About Them - I’ve learned that when people initiate negativity, it is a reflection of their inner state expressed externally and you just happen to be in front of that expression. It’s not personal, so why do we take it personally? In short: Because our ego likes problems and conflict. People are often so bored and unhappy with their own lives that they want to take others down with them. There have been many times when a random person has left a purposefully hurtful comment on TSN, and regularly checked back to see if anyone else responded to their comment, waiting eagerly to respond with more negativity.
Battle of the Ego - When we respond impulsively, it is a natural and honest response. However, is it the smart thing to do? What can be resolved by doing so? The answer: Nothing. It does however feed our ego’s need for conflict. Have you noticed that when we fight back, it feels really satisfying in our heads? But it doesn’t feel very good in our soul? Our stomach becomes tight, and we start having violent thoughts? When we do respond irrationally, it turns the conversation from a one-sided negative expression into a battle of two egos. It becomes an unnecessary and unproductive battle for Who is Right?
Anger Feeds Anger. Negativity Feeds Negativity. - Rarely can any good come out of reacting against someone who is in a negative state. It will only trigger anger and an additional reactive response from that person. If we do respond impulsively, we’ll have invested energy in the defending of ourselves and we’ll feel more psychologically compelled to defend ourselves going forward. Have you noticed that the angrier our thoughts become, the angrier we become? It’s a negative downward spiral.
Waste of Energy - Where attention goes, energy flows. What we focus on tends to expand itself. Since we can only focus on one thing at a time, energy spent on negativity is energy that could have been spent on our personal wellbeing.
Negativity Spreads - I’ve found that once I allow negativity in one area of my life, it starts to subtly bleed into other areas as well. When we are in a negative state or holding a grudge against someone, we don’t feel very good. We carry that energy with us as we go about our day. When we don’t feel very good, we lose sight of clarity and may react unconsciously to matters in other areas of our lives, unnecessarily.
Freedom of Speech - People are as entitled to their opinions as you are. Allow them to express how they feel and let it be. Remember that it’s all relative and a matter of perspective. What we consider positive can be perceived by another as negative. When we react, it becomes me-versus-you, who is right? Some people may have a less than eloquent way of expressing themselves - it may even be offensive, but they are still entitled to do so. They have the right to express their own opinions and we have the right and will power to choose our responses. We can choose peace or we can choose conflict.

Just a Swingin'...

Have you ever wanted to go outside & just sit on the porch swing & just swing & swing away while you enjoy the fresh air & the breeze?!... Well Steve & I went to swing & did just that (for a few minutes at least).

I could have stayed for a while but we had to get back to reality!!! So life goes on...

Charlie...

Here is an adorable picture of Charile outside. He's definitely Steve's buddy. He likes to go for rides in the car, hang out at the barn, play with his toys & beg for treats. I think he is definitely part Chihuahua & part pug... look at his cute little face! Isn't that a face that you could easily fall in love with?!