Good News for the Kitchen

We officially have a Food Service Director hired. He will be coming to camp to start work on the 3rd. His name is Ralph and he seems like a great guy. He is moving here from Arizona so the desert of Ceta Canyon is okay with him. :) When he was here for his interview he came down and worked with us in the kitchen at 6am until he had his interview. I am telling you he can pan up some sausage. He panned it up quicker than anyone I have ever seen. He does have some experience on us though. He was a Food Service Director at a camp for 31 years. His wife helped him as a baker. She was diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer and they both retired and he took care of her for a little over a year and then she passed away. He has remarried and has been married for a year now and says that retirement is for the birds. :) I am really excited. Out of the 3 applicants that we were looking at seriously he was my choice. I am sure it will take a bit to get him settled into the position but I believe he will be able to catch on fast and hopefully he will be ready by the time my family reunion gets here. :) It sure would be nice to go to east Texas and see my family.

Hope for My Car

I have talked with State Farm and they will help me get my car fixed. After a couple of phone calls they will be sending an agent out to camp to estimate the damage and cut me a check. Once that is complete then I can take it to the body shop my Dad found when he was here to fix my car before. It does look like it won't be in the shop till the 7th in the evening or possibly the 8th. I saw him today and he said it would take 3-4 days and plan for 4 days. Honestly this is the best and the worst time for this to happen. With summer quickly approaching I don't use my car at camp nor do I leave camp much either but the hard part is taking the time to get it to town. :) Thank the Lord for car insurance!

Hamlett Elementary

Today I had the wonderful privilege of serving food to a very polite group of children. They were so sweet and it is always a blessing when children leave our kitchen loving the food and their stomachs full. A little girl today asked Kaye (a lady I work with) if she could have seconds and Kaye smiled and told her she could eat till we ran out. The little girl smiled and said how thankful she was for the food. Some of the children that come to camp don't get to have the kind of meals me serve. I really feel like we make a difference in the lives of these children when they leave our kitchen with smiles on their faces and making statments like "this is the best meal I have ever had". I am thankful that I have the privilege of feeding people in the name of the Lord!

Is This Month Ever Going to End?

This month has been a tough one! I really feel like I am being attacked. It has been one thing after another. I am so ready for June to get here so that instead of having the start of a new day maybe I can have the start of a new month.

Wednesday I had gone into town to get somethings for camp. I had to go to both United and Wal-Mart. Well today when going to United for work I found something disturbing. I had forgotten my mobile phone in my car and turned around to go and get it and my car had been scratched up on the passenger side of my car. I am guessing a hit and run from the looks of it. I was so frustrated. The only day it could have happened was on Wednesday because at camp my car is parked at my trailer and it would literally be a miracle for someone to hit the passenger side of it. I talked with a State Farm agent today and got a claim put in but I won't know anything till possibly Tuesday with it being Memorial Day on Monday.

New Swimming Pool

Today I got a swimming pool for the pups. Wreckless has been scratching the water out of their water dish because it has been so hot lately. I found this one for $10 so we will see how long it will last.


I tested the water level by putting Daisy-Rose in it. I didn't want either pup to drown and I also wanted to make sure she could get out if she got in. She isn't too fond of this new pool. I couldn't keep her in it long enough to even take a picture. So here she is jumping out of the pool.

Wreckless on the other hand loves it! He has a new way to torture poor little Daisy-Rose. Here are some pictures of him playing and some of her fighting with him and pictures after Wreckless got her drenched! He would jump in the pool and get all wet and then run up to her and jump on her. By the time we finished with pictures they were both wet and my trailer stunk of wet dog!

If you look really close you will see Daisy-Rose showing off her teeth

(she means business but boy is she cute when she is mad and I know Wreckless thinks it is funny)

Prayers for Mom

Please be praying for my mom. My dad called me at 12:30am this morning because my mom was talking out of her head. He happened to get up to use the restroom and heard my mom crying and upset. She couldn't figure out how to turn off her computer, what meds she needed, how much, and she wasn't making any sense at all. She was mumbling really bad. He called an ambulance and she went to Snyder's hospital but they have transported her to Covenant in Lubbock where all her doctors are and the specialists are for her diabetes. She went in with really high blood sugar and currently she isn't coherent and by what my family has said she is unconscience. She hasn't woken up yet and they aren't positive but they think she may have had a stroke. We will know more when she wakes up what has happened for sure as far as the stroke goes. I just talked with my dad and he said that the doctors think she may have an infection and they are doing tests to find the source of it. They aren't for sure but they are trying to find out what is going on for sure. My dad is staying in Lubbock with her. Please pray for both of them! I am sure this is going to be a very exhausting time for him and pray for her healing and wisdom for the doctors to figure out the severity of her problem. This is the worst she has ever been as far as with the diabetic aspect of it. It just doesn't look good at all. Thank you for your prayers! I will probably be in Lubbock on Saturday morning after I work to be with my parents this weekend.

Report from the Urologist

I went to my doctor appointment with the urologist today. He did release me to go back to work with no restrictions which is great! He is concerned though due to my age and the extent of my problem with my kidneys. He is going to have me do more tests both urine and blood as well as labs on the stone I passed this week. I will see him in September to go over the results unless he finds something to be concerned with in that case he will call me in earlier. I am also suppose to call him if I have anymore problems too. For now everything looks to be good though. I am suppose to keep my diet as normal unless he finds something then he may change it later. The doctor at the clinic told me that most of the time it is due to lack of water that this problem happens so I have been drinking only water, orange juice, and the milk quota I am suppose to have for my stomach problems. I am going to try to stay of the cokes!

Getting Back in the Grove

Yesterday I was doing a lot better since all my kidney problems started about a week and a half ago. I got out yesterday and walked to my mailbox, made homemade vanilla ice cream, and planted the tulip bulbs I had in my new flower bed. It felt so good to be outside again.

If any of you have any ice cream maker recipes please pass them on! I would love to have some!

Boy Scouts Came to Visit!

On Saturday morning my neighbors Mark and Nikki hired some boy scouts to come out and build her a garden and clean up some around their trailer. They didn't have a lot for them to do so they asked if I would want them to do anything at my place to make the drive and work worth their time. I was so excited they asked because I have been wanting to clean up the front of my trailer for a long time and get some flower beds made. Because of them I have finally gotten done. We had 7 people all together 5 kids and 2 adults and they did a great job. It is now manageable and doesn't seem overwhelming. They did the work while I was still healing from all my kidney problems so when Mark got home from work at lunch he took over and helped them out so I could rest. They did such a wonderful job and it was worth every bit that I was able to pay for them to do it. They even found 2 snakes that was in all the weeds. The man claimed they were good snakes but in my eyes no snake is a good snake. :) Yesterday I was beginning to feel myself again and got out and planted the tulip bulbs I had. It feels good to get back to normal. :)

On Saturday afternoon one of my friends Audrey came down and hung out with me all afternoon and evening. We watched movies, talked, had supper, and baked cookies. It was so much fun to have time with her and it was so nice of her to come and keep me company. I was really needing people time. :)

How Can Something So Small Cause So Much Pain

My kidney stone has passed and it seems so strange that this little thing could cause so much pain and trouble.