Ok.. this morning I was BAD.. really BAD.. I let my dog out only to realize that Jehovah's Witness' were coming around the neighborhood.. Good LORD.. I was NOT in the mood this morning to EXPLAIN to others why I believe the way I do.. and I really wasn't in the mood to listen to someone else tell me why I was WRONG to believe the way I do.. Take take me wrong.. I have had some GREAT Jehovah Witness friends in the past ( whom I've lost touch with) that I totally respected.. and still do.. but some mornings.. just plain UGH.. so What did I do?? I quickly ran to the computer room.. grabbed a piece of paper and my sharpie and wrote "NO SOLICITING.. sleeping family"...Ok.. I was awake.. but seriously the rest of the family was sleeping!! My husband noticed the sign after and giggled..he wondered it why it was there... He works hard during the night while I sleep with one eye open to listen for our son, who is famous for NOT sleeping even at the age of 11.. sighhhhhhhh.. darn ADHD!!! so anyway.. this past week working and scrubbing the home ( which still isn't finished) I found a picture of my grandparents.. the only set that I knew... My gram( Lucille) is gone.. and my grandfather (Earl) JUST turned 80.. you know when you're a little girl you think that your grandparents are invincible.. and you always imagined them being "older".. They possibly could never have been young.. HA HA HA!!

Well this picture says otherwise... They celebrated 50 years of marriage... FIFTY HARD years... They raised 5 kids and endured one stillborn death ( their first child)..my grandfather was a hard alcoholic while my father was growing up.. and was never around.. he worked daily.. but at night it's been "whispered" that he would be with other women... My grandparents were PERFECT to me when I was little... I would never have believed it... but as an adult.. and the real world in front of my face.. I have no doubts.. it wasn't to long after my grams death ( about a month) my grandfather had a girlfriend... and then another...sighhhhhhhhh....

I praise God for my husband.. NOPE he's not perfect.. he leaves his underwear hanging around.. but I'm thankful that the underwear lays on my floor.. and nowhere else.. I know that you can NEVER say never in this life.. but I know that he is devoted to me.. as I am to him... So God brought me to the ...The Wife of Noble Character... Proverbs 31:10.... The verse that stuck out today was-- end of 10 She is worth far more than rubies... 11--Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. I am to be my husbands Crown.... through all his faults and failures my grandmother wore her crown!! I'm sure there were days when she wanted to throw it away and never look at it again.. and I'm sure there were some days when her crown felt like thorns... but to her granddaughter... I saw it as a Halo of example!! I know my grandmother would LOVE my husband. She was not an affectionate grandmother, but an honest, hard working wife, mother.. woman.. whom I adored and could look up to!! This picture is one of the very few things I have of my grandmother and that too in itself is a copy...But her examples of truth and hard work were part of what chiseled me into the woman I am today!

Just a recipe to share....

Maple Fudge

1-7/8 cup extra-fine sugar

1 cup maple syrup ( REAL maple syrup!)

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 cup nuts, chopped ( optional)

Boil together sugar, maple syrup and cream in a heavy saucepan to soft boil stage ( 234 degrees.)

Set aside until lukewarm. Then beat until thick, add nuts and pour into a buttered pan. Cut when cool and wrap each piece individually in foil. Makes about one pound.