And Baby Makes Three...

Ultrasound picture of my new grandson!

This past weekend I attended a baby shower for my youngest daughter at First Baptist Church Midwest City, where we attend church.  She is 34 weeks pregnant.  She had an absolutely wonderful shower!  There were many people in attendance and she received a ton of gifts.  I am so excited for her that it went so well.  I can hardly believe that in just about six short weeks I will have another grandbaby to hold and dote over.  She is having a boy so this will make two grandsons.  My oldest daughter is also pregnant and is due the end of July (gender yet to be determined).  God has been so wonderful to bless our family with three new babies in such a short time!

What Now???

Since I started working on my Master’s Degree two years ago, I have had many people ask me how I plan on using my degree.  What am I going to do with my life?  I always wish that I had some grand response for them, but the truth of the matter is that I don’t plan on changing my life at all.  I am quite sure that I will continue working where I work now until I am ready for retirement.  Everyone always assumes that I started down this path to better my career in some way.  In fact, I did it simply for the self-satisfaction and feeling of fulfillment that completing a higher education degree gives a person.  I don’t have any grandiose visions of doing or becoming something great.  I have the same plans and goals for my life that I did prior to starting down this path.   Haven’t you ever wanted to do something just to see how it would feel to accomplish it, to overcome the obstacles to achieve something greater?  Well, that’s just what I did.  I decided that having a Master’s Degree would be a good achievement so I set out to do it.   I used to feel bad when people would ask me what I plan to do after I graduate and I had to tell them “same thing I’m doing now”.  But it doesn’t bother me any longer.  I’ve come to the realization that achieving something just for the sake of achieving it is as good a reason as any.  So, to those of you out there who have been sitting on the sidelines wanting to do something bigger but couldn’t find a good enough reason for doing it, you now have your reason; just because you want to!  The biggest decision I have to make concerning what to do with my diploma is how to frame it!!! 

Employee Safety First?

When the Oklahoma City area was hit with a blizzard last week, my place of employment closed for two days, as did most businesses in the metro.  On Thursday, we were expected to report back for duty.  It seems only logical to me that if a business expects its employees to report for duty that the management of that business would do all they could to ensure their employees would be safe.  This was not the case!  Management had a whole day after the snow stopped falling to bring out the proper equipment to clear the parking lot.  Instead, they chose to do nothing.  I am not talking about a small business operation here.  I’m talking about one of the largest employers in the area.  Employees had to trudge across a parking lot covered with snow well over our feet to get to the building.  Not to mention all the trouble people had just trying to park!  Cars were getting stuck right and left and people were pushing and pulling each other out.  It was a huge mess!!!  Now we have another snow storm staring us in the face in a couple of days.  Do you think our management might have learned any lessons from the last storm and take better care of employees this go round???  We shall see. 

In Loving Memory

Today I am reflecting on the memories of people who have come and gone throughout my life that have helped shape me into the person I am now.  There are a lot of people who I would like to thank and so this is in memory of…

In memory of my grandmother, Daisy, who died when I was only two years old.  I’m thankful that she was a wonderful Christian woman who helped mold my mother into such a fabulous Christian mentor.

In memory of my grandfather, Freeman.  He was a very Godly man who rightly divided the Word of God from the pulpit.  He was a great influence on my life and also helped mold my mother into the Christian woman she is today.

In memory of my grandmother, Lela, who always showed me love.  She was a Godly woman and helped influence my father in his Christian faith.

In memory of my grandfather, John Alfred.  He always let me tag along with him when he fed his quail, moved eggs into the incubator, or whatever else he was doing.

In memory of my father, who made sure that I was raised in a home where the Bible was taught and who took me to church every week.  He always showed me love and compassion.  He did his best to make me laugh when I was sick and would rather cry.  He worked three jobs when I was very young so my mother could stay at home and be the kind of wife and mother she needed to be.  He taught me right from wrong and was swift to discipline when it was needed, but always out of love.  He gave me many wonderful memories to cherish and carry with me for the rest of my life.

In memory of my third grade teacher, Mrs. Dennis, who made me stick with it and learn to write in cursive when I wanted to just give up and vow to print for the rest of my life.

In memory of all of my Sunday School teachers who taught me stories from God’s Word week and week, year and year.  Especially Mrs. Mayes!

In memory of my sixth grade teacher, Mrs. Williams, who showed me that she cared about me as a person.

In memory of Dorothy, who always opened her home not only to me but to any and all of the kids from our church who wanted to hang out over there.  Thanks, Dorothy, for all of the great meals that you cooked for us at Falls Creek!!

There is no possible way that I could ever acknowledge all of the people who have gone home to be with Christ who have made a difference in my life, but these are a few of the people to whom I owe a debt of gratitude that I can never repay.

Is Bigger Always Better?

In December, Midwest City patrons voted down a $191 million bond issue that would have closed several elementary schools in the Midwest City-Del City school district.  The proposal missed being passed by a mere .32%.  Mid-Del Officials want the proposal to come to a vote again so they can have the opportunity to really let the voters know exactly how the money will be used.  The proposal would have consolidated some schools and built new bigger ones.  Officials say the bond would have saved the district money.  The Mid-Del school district is facing an almost $10 million budget shortfall this year.  School officials say close to 90 percent of the budget pays for teachers and staff.  If they can’t find a solution to the shortfall, it could mean teacher jobs.

I have mixed emotions about this.  I am all in favor of my grandchildren having nice, new schools to go attend that have all of the latest bells and whistles.  However, I am concerned that consolidating elementary schools will mean longer commutes for children, longer bus lines, extreme traffic congestion in the area surrounding the school.  I have a hard enough time now driving past the school by my house in the afternoon.  Traffic is always backed up from parents trying to turn into the parking lot.  Imagine how much traffic there would be if the school was two or three times the size!

I certainly do not want to see teacher’s lose their jobs because of funding shortfalls.  It seems cuts could be made in other areas.  I realize that in government there is always talk of different colors of money or different pots of money.  But can’t we borrow from Peter to pay Paul?   I certainly don’t claim to have an answer, but it just seems like there must be one somewhere.  By the way, how much does the Mid-Del School Superintendent make a year?  It is my understanding that person earns more than the Oklahoma State Superintendent.  Maybe the administration needs to look a little closer to home to start making some of the funding cuts.  Just a thought.

Why Glad Grad?



I thought I would take this opportunity to explain why I am a glad grad.  I graduated from UCO in 1994 with a Bachelor's in Education.  I was on the 15 year plan since I graduated from high school in 1979. 

I spent a lot of time going to class

in this building (Old North) before

it was condemned!

After graduation, I continued to raise my children and work.  When my oldest daughter graduated from UCO with her Bachelor's degree and started talking about getting her Master's degree, it got me thinking about my own goals.  I decided that I should go back to school and so in November 2008 I enrolled for the 2009 Spring semester.  I have spent two years now going to school, including two summers, and now my hard work is about to pay off!  I have had to sacrifice a lot to get this accomplished.  I have given up time with my family and friends, as well as passed on many social events and church activities.  I am very fortunate that I have an excellent support system in my family and friends.  They have all pushed me when I wanted to give up and were understanding when I couldn't do things with them.  I truly don't know what I would do without them.  So, here I am in my final semester.  By the end of March I will have completed all of my coursework and then it's time to just sit back and wait for that glorious graduation day in May.  Soon I will don a cap and gown once more, take that walk across campus to Hamilton Field House, 

and proudly walk across the stage to
take my place among the group of UCO

graduates who are all proud to call ourselves GLAD GRADS!!!   If you would like more information on how you to can begin your journey to join the ranks of the glad grads, you can go to the UCO home page at  http://www.uco.edu/index.asp .

One Proud Grandma!

Isn't being a grandparent just the best thing in the world?!?  I never could have imagined just how much fun I would have or how much I would love my grandchildren!  I have one grandson right now, but there are two more babies on the way.  I spend as much time as I can get away with loving and spoiling my grandson and I intend to do the same when the next two come along.  I'm trying to get my grandson, who is 15 months old, to learn to call me Gammy.  So far, he's managed to get as far as "MiMi".  That's certainly alright, I'll take it as long as he calls me something!  If you would like to read some cute poems about grandchilren, you can visit http://www.familyfriendpoems.com/family/grandchildren-poems.asp .