JT Asks...

JT is selling Entertainment '09 Coupon Books

We use ours all the time and have saved a lot of money between the restaurants and movie passes we've used.

If you like to go to the Alhambra, they have a buy one get one coupon that will save you up to $42!

Check out the discounts included at:
http://www.entertainment.com

Then let me know if you would like to purchase one. $20 for the Jacksonville edition if purchased from JT direct.

They make great gifts too! If you'd like a city other than Jacksonville, you can buy them online.

You can also visit http://www.entertainment.com/email to purchase an Entertainment Coupon book. Be sure to enter my Seller Number, 269183, so my group gets credit.

Thank you!

God & Country

JT recently earned his God & Family Religious Emblem. This is the 2nd of 5 religious emblems he can earn while in the Scouts program. In order to earn each of the emblems, he has to complete a multiple week course of study which includes a workbook that he completes. His counselor checks it and then our Pastor reviews it and signs it.

While a Cub Scout he earned the God & Me emblem. Now, as a Webelo, he earned the God & Family emblem. He will have the opportunity to earn the God & Church, God & Life and God & Service emblems as he progresses further into his Scouting experience.

These medals are to be worn for dress only and are medals that can carry through with him as he progresses into adulthood. This is one recognition Tim never had the opportunity to achieve as a Scout.

We are proud of JT's accomplishments so far and hope he continues on the Scouting path he's on and becomes an Eagle Scout like his father. We also hope that the God & Country curriculum also helps build his faith and his walk with God as he matures into a young adult.

Tropical Storm Fay Update

We've been cooped up in the house for 3 days and we definitely have cabin fever. The rain has been relentless for the past few days and comes in waves along with the bands of the storm. You can see a band of the storm coming in over the ocean in the photo to the right. (I didn't take the photo, but wanted to show you want the bands look like.)

During one of the breaks in the rain today, we got in the truck and took a ride just to get out of the house and see how things looked outside. Plus, we were in need of a chocolate fix! There's something about being stuck in the house during a storm that makes us eat way too much... it seems like that's all we are doing. We'll probably each gain 5 lbs before this storm is over! (We did stop at the grocery store and pick up some cookies)

This storm track photo shows that the storm has already passed us by quite a bit. What it doesn't show is that all the bad stuff is to the East of the storm (where we are) and so we have been getting pounded with rain for the past couple of days while Fay just stalled over us. We had one tornado scare, but fortunately it was about 10 miles south of us and didn't come where we are.

Tim has been out of work for 2 days. JT has been out of school for 3 days and I have been having to share the house I'm used to having to myself with the two of them. Poor JT has already used up 3 of his allotted "weather days" so it looks like the holiday weekends will be shorter for him now.

During another break in the rains today JT and I went out so he could play in the puddles and do some skimboarding. He's not had alot of experience with it so he's just learning. He had a couple of good rides though. I was worried he was going to hurt himself and have to miss Karate graduation tonight. Unfortunately for him, that apparently was cancelled tonight. He's due to get his brown belt so he's pretty excited about getting it. He'll have to wait though. Unfortunately for Tim and me, this was also supposed to be a parent's night out and we were supposed to go on date. Hopefully they'll reschedule that too.

It looks like we'll have a couple of more days of rain, but other than that, it shouldn't be too bad.

You can view the rest of the photos we took today at
http://picasaweb.google.com/rtungett/TropicalStormFay

Hope everyone has a great weekend! We're looking forward to seeing the sun again... maybe Monday.

Tropical Storm "Fickle" Fay

For those out of town keeping up with us, here's the latest forecast for the weather here.

Wind: 35-45 mph; gusts to 55 mph; 1'-3' tide rise, bands of occasional heavy rain mostly Wednesday, becoming heavier and steady Thursday. Isolated tornadoes possible Thursday night; potentially 6-10 inches of rain.

School has been closed for the past two days and will be closed again tomorrow. Tuesday was really a wasted day off since we just had a bit of rain. Today hasn't been so bad yet here.... the wind is just starting to gust outside, but it has been raining all day.

Tim got a call this morning from his boss saying his work campus was closed, so fortunately she caught him before he left for work. Too bad she didn't catch him before he got out of bed and showered.

So, here the 3 of us sit.... still in our PJ's, watching TV, reading, playing video games... whatever. The lights have flickered on and off a couple of times, but so far we've had no outage to speak of. I'm sure that will change as the storm moves in more and the big bands of rain hit us. We are in an area that has a lot of trees and trees are always falling causing damage to homes and power outages. I just pray we get no trees falling in our yard. There are a couple in the back yard that make me nervous.

Another transformer just blew down the street - lights flickered. I better post this before I lose my connection totally.

First Day of 5th Grade

It looks like my "baby" is growing up. This year is his last year of Elementary school. I look at him in awe at how much he's grown and what a wonderful young man he's becoming. Although some times he can make me crazy, he is my heart and he makes me so proud! He's got this quirky personality that makes him JT. He's funny, he's caring and compassionate, he's smart and he's so full of energy and wonder. He's stubborn and he doesn't back down easily, he questions "why" and he has no problem challenging anyone and telling them when they are wrong. He has an excellent memory - except for when it comes to school - and he loves to learn, on his terms. He's a great prayer and I believe he's got a special connection with God. He never ceases to amaze me with his thoughts about God or how he pieces together things of faith.

He is truly a wonderful blessing and I am so blessed by God to have him in my life. Yes, WE (Tim and I) are blessed, but I am the one writing this! :) We've had him in our life for 7 years. Time certainly flies.

In a mere 5 years, he'll be behind the wheel of my car learning to drive. He'll be kissing a girl for the first time in just a few years. He already wants to ask a girl out on a date - but he has at least 5 more years before that's gonna happen. In 8 years he'll be heading to college. 8 years isn't far enough away!

Where is that little 3 year old who used to actually fit in my lap?!

We had a bit of a scare this morning...

We had a bit of a scare this morning. We were sound asleep and heard a noise around 6:15 am. It sounded like popcorn popping to me. Balto, our biggest dog and the only one who barks at noises, barked and Tim jumped out of bed thinking someone was breaking into the house.

I laid in bed listening to see if there was a reason for me to get up and then I just heard Tim making these little strange sighing noises. So, then I jumped out of bed and ran out and found Tim on the floor with Kobe, the dog we got a few months ago. Kobe was frothing at the mouth, he had lost control of his bowels, and his legs were thrashing about. His heart was beating wildly and he was burning up. We didn't know what was going on. He's always getting into something so we were worried he had gotten into something bad. Whatever it was, it looked bad and we thought he was going to die.

The "popcorn" noise I heard was his paws smacking up against a plastic laundry basket he was lying next to. We had no idea how long he had been like this since we had been asleep, but at this point we knew it had been several minutes so Tim scooped him up and headed to the Emergency Vet. It was a little too reminiscent of the morning we had to take Winter to the vet early one morning and have her put down.

I called the vet and let them know he was on his way and I woke up JT and we got dressed and headed to the vet too. I was sure we were going to tell Kobe goodbye. Half way there Tim called and said that Kobe had snapped out of it halfway to the vet's office. By the time I got to the Vet's office, Kobe was pacing the floor but clearly a bit out of it.

After consulting with the doctor, it was decided that he had some sort of seizure. To our knowledge, he had never had one before, but we've only had him less than 4 months. The vet checked him over and everything seemed normal. We were told to take him home and keep a record of any seizures he has and how long they last. He said he could start having them regularly or he may never have another one. If he starts to have them regularly, then he'll look at giving him meds. To be honest, I hope we never have to experience him having another seizure.

He's been pretty tired today as we would expect after such an expenditure of energy during he seizure but he's been "okay". He seems back to normal now after spending some time a little out of it.

We are just thankful that he's okay because we really thought he wouldn't be coming home with us.

Hair Play