Handsome in his "man collar"

Wanna see handsome? My son used to collect these things when he was younger and today when I got home from getting groceries (which is just too exhausting and shocking these days!) I found this:

My husband and son were calling it Rico's "man collar." After all, a boy would NOT wear a necklace! He's quite the stud, isn't he?

My son loves to fool with the dogs. He did this to the other one

She looks terribly annoyed!

While I'm on the pet subject, here are our turtles having a snack

Before getting groceries I went to the library and got 3 more books - one of them Karen Kingsbury's Just Beyond the Clouds - and 4 more audio's (3 of them from the Left Behind series and one James Patterson.)! I'd better get busy because I haven't finished the book I'm on! I like to listen to the audio's while I'm working in the kitchen, cleaning or laying in bed at night. Actually, I like to read in bed at night before going to sleep, in order to still my mind, but when my husband is home I can't do that so then I put headphones on and listen to an audio. He drives truck and right now they don't have work for him. Like the economy isn't scarey enough...It's exercising my faith.

Leave me a comment so I know you're reading!

This is SOOO Incredible! The Greatest Things Since...(toilet paper?)

Someone whom I was friends with about 22 years ago is a great engineer and inventor. He has developed something totally awesome, totally incredible for the military but is having a hard time getting it through all of the bureacracy. It should be on the field NOW as it would certainly be saving lives.

You have got to SEE this, though. This creation is half robot, half vehicle. Especially if you have family in the military or have lost someone there. http://www.americanagility.com/powerofJake.asp Click on the JakeTM Video to see it in action and read along side the video all of the capabilities it has...

"ballistics protection, medevac, IED jammers and sensors, sniper sensors, chemical and explosive sniffers, 3D mapping, networked intelligence, tactical tools, small aerial and ground robots, advanced lethal and non-lethal weapon systems, with stealth electric operation available to be quiet and peaceful in interface with civilians, and yet equipped to immediately respond to any threat"

Please, please, please, check this out! I keep trying to come up with a way to help with the fund raising on this. With the economy as it is, it's hard enough to raise funds for Cystic Fibrosis or Heart Association (my husband), but I definitely feel The JakeTM(patented- how do you make that little patented mark here???) warrants fundraising to get it out there, too.

What is it with them?

My husband has been complaining about gaining weight. Constantly. I really like to bake and he's been COMPLAINING about that lately.

"Don't bake anything else. I'm better off it it isn't around."

So I don't bake anything.

"What is there for dessert?", he asks tonight.

I reminded him that he told me not to make anything and that I complied. He got really defensive and said "Ok, ok! I don't need anything, I was just asking." As he loads up a dish with ice cream, topping and whipped cream.

I just can't get it right!

Vacation

A few weeks ago we went to Tybee Island Beach and Savannah, Georgia. Little did I know when I reserved the Condo, that it was on the 3rd floor. If you count the parking below, then we were on the 4th floor. That meant that my husband had to carry my Oxygen Concentrator up 7 flights of stairs (2 per floor, other than the parking) and that was no easy feat! If you have never seen an oxygen concentrator, they are about the size of a large suitcase and mine weighs about 70-80 pounds! But never fear, my husband is strong!

There is always a positive side to things and in the case of our Condo being on the top floor, that would be the wonderful view. We had a 120degree view of the ocean and were able to watch many ships passing by. I took this picture from our living room.

One day we took a horse-drawn carriage tour of Historic Savannah.

During the day I couldn't go out to the beach with my son and husband. With my lung function in the low 40% range it is very hard to breathe when it is humid and between my medications, and my whatever else!, my heart starts racing in the heat/sun and I will start getting a rash and swelling up. It's just too hard to breathe. In the evenings I would wear my portable oxygen and go for walks on the beach with my husband and son. It felt so wonderful to enjoy that normalcy with them!

Oh, joy! My son just came inside and told me that he just shot and killed a rat with his air soft gun. No, it wasn't in our house and it wasn't in our yard. But it was close enough. It was in the empty lot next to our property. I HATE RODENTS! I'm glad it's dead, but is there family nearby?

Please pray

One of my favorite sites to visit is http://mycharmingkids.net. (I've been trying to figure out how to list my favorites along the side, but haven't mastered that. I guess that answers your question about my perfection). Be in prayer for MckMama. If you take the time to check out her site and her post today, you will understand why.

People talked to me!

We visited a new church last week and returned today. For the 2nd week in a row people TALKED TO ME! PEOPLE MY AGE, not just the older folks. It felt so good. We'd been attending a church since we moved last year and it seemed that only the older people would talk to us. I was feeling so lonely. Moving to a new state where you only know your parents and you don't work at a job...it's just hard to meet people!

But today I did and it felt great! I really liked the pastor, too, and was so happy when one of the teenage girls got saved at the end of the service.

On a totally different note, I need to figure out how to do things on here. I'd like a picture at the top of my blog, or at least the lettering scrolled across, but I can't figure out how. I also would like to list my favorite sites and blogs. I thought I did, but I don't see them so I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong.

I don't know why

I'm starting a blog. I don't do a lot worth telling about. We moved to a different state last year and we haven't really gotten settled into a church yet. I can't work outside the home. It's been hard to make friends. Actually, I haven't made any that I talk to on any regular basis. So I've been gathering my social life through the web, lately. There are some great blogs out there that are so uplifting, so many that make you smile and laugh.

I have Cystic Fibrosis and can't be as active as I used to be. I am very restricted in being outside because so much triggers my sinuses and allergies and infections. Because I don't respond to oral abx (antibiotics) I need to be proactive with my health which alters my lifestyle a little.

I homeschool my teenage son, which also keeps me home.

So, I'm trying out blogging.

I don't know how to blog. I'm learning as I go, so bear with me. It might be a little ugly at the beginning- hopefully I'll learn to "pretty it up" as time goes on. It might be boring at times.

I titled my blog "Then Am I Strong" because of the verses II Corinthians 12:9-10. "As he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee; for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong."

If I wasn't "sickly" God wouldn't have near the opportunities to show me His strength. I would be able to rely more on myself and not Him. He gives me Strength.