my "off"day

has been funny! i did something today i have not done in,oh almost 7 years. i went and got my hair done! you see, i'm graying prematurely. that's ok with me. at least i know what's best for my graying clients as well. my cousin SA does my hair, and we're too too busy to "work me in" as we normally do. so today, liz came with me. we ran to the beauty supply (oh the joy life of a self-employeed person on their day off) and then to grab some lunch and head back to the hope for my hair. SA got not only me but bev (the owner) today. he was so busy, liz actually had to rinse the color out of my hair. that was exciting to say the least. it's really not as easy as you may think! and if you've ever had the pleasure of having SA shampoo your hair and have him massage your scalp/neck, you would never ever want anyone else to do it but him! seriously! so why the rush on my hair?

you see, Easter is Sunday. we have a special program at church. i have a solo and this past week found out i was in the lights. not the big big spot light, but definitely have lots of lights on me at the end of the program. SA told me quickly we would "fix" my problem soon. so we did. it's weird being a "client". of course i did some things to help out - washed,dried and folded towels, rinsed bev's perm, washed some color bowls,brushes and bottles ... you get the drift.


so here's a hilarious funny -it may have lost it's hilarious-ness since i left the shop,or since no one would care about the "back story"

this guy,R, who has known bev 99% of his life came in just to "visit" or something today. we couldn't get him to leave, and we weren't exactly open for business. bev was getting her hair rolled up when he was there. he was seriously there for 30 mintues for no reason, other than it was freaking me out! when he was leaving, he told SA to tell bev hi for him. bev was,and had been, sitting right there in front of him the whole entire time! we laughed so hard it wasn't even funny!

we had several clients to stop in (which is weird b/c they never do that ... just stop in to make appointments) and none of them knew us right off! i wonder do we really look that different with color on our hair, perm rods in our hair, and not in our black jacket/vests? or maybe these people are just to crazy and need to leave us alone....

afterall crazy has "struck" again ... more to come later ....

hope you're all having a wonderful hair day! and enjoying the sunshine!
Britt

first day of forever

this post is actually 2 days late. as i posted last week about  mr k, a church member/client of mine found out he was eaten up with cancer last monday. i rejoice,yet mourn, that saturday morning at 3:30 he passed away. i can only imagine what his "first day of forever" was like in Heaven.

mr k was wonderful piano player, and a joker! he used to unlock the church on sunday mornings and would greet our pastor (he's been there like 35 years)  who is also a friend of mr k's, and say,"welcome to new salem baptist church! we're so glad you came." sometimes that maybe seemed annoying, now it's precious.

mr k and his love for music, also led him to be a member of our church's choir. several years back our music director,g mc, had us do fall concerts. about 2 years ago i was given a solo part, along with my cousin S(the one i work with too) and the choir backs us up. we love the song. mr k did too. we talked about one time what our "first day of forever" would be like. i know today all he'd hoped for was fun and a piano.

the words to that song have comforted me all weekend since i heard the news, so i thought i would share the lyrics. i'm not 100% sure who wrote it, but mike speck rearranged it. it has an old,but one of my favorites "i'll meet you in the morning" at the end. i do apologize i couldn't find a video of it being sung ....

the day is getting closer
the time is drawing near
i feel it in my spirit, i'll soon be leaving here.
and in my mind, i've gone there a thousand times before,
oh, how i just imagine forever with my Lord!

chorus: the first day of forever
what a day that will be!
the first day of forever,
with the One who died for me.
unending day of gladness,
like i've never known before.
the first day of forever,
i'll rest forever more ......

i know i'll see my loved ones,
yes we'll gather over there.
but there is no reunion that could ever quite compare.
to that wondrous when i stand before His throne,
and hear the voice of Jesus say,"my child welcome home!"


chorus .....

i'll meet you in the morning.
with a how - do - you,
and we'll sit down by the river,
and with rapture,auld aquiantence renew

chorus

on a much lighter note. everyone seems to find humor in the fact that mrs k showed up for her weekly hair appointment. my response - "she still needs her hair styled ..." but yes, with 3 hours of sleep she still showed up right on time,and very at peace. she was even able to laugh.

it's hard to be sad as i think about his funeral,i'm sorry celebration, service this afternoon. but i am. cousin SA also owns a florist. he had placed a white rose with a white bow on "the red songbook"(an ole timey songbook that was mr k's fav) on the piano yesterday. that was kinda sad. i know there will be parts that are today, but im jealous. i'm jealous he is on his "first day of forever"!

With a sad,yet rejoicing heart ...
Britt

quiteness and helplessness

Tonight I had planned to make a quick run into town (keep in mind going to town is driving like 20 miles),but some storms blew into town and I hate driving in hard rain and storms. I waited out the storms at work,only to not have time to go shopping. I needed to go,still do,but its not a life or death matter. Just some center piece ideas for some things at my church. But at the end tonight,when I got in my car to go home - all I could think about was being quiet.

I talked to one of mr k's daughters today. My heart is breaking yet rejoicing with this family. He's fading very fast. At every moment today when things got a little stressful or I had a mental pity party I reminded myself on how blessed I am. That's not my father,grandfather,uncle,brother,or cousin fast yet slowly passing away. It is a dear church family member. I have two families you see - my biological family and my church family. Loosing one like this hurts the same no matter which family it is.

Tonight when I left work,I was tired,sad,happy and hungry. I thought my mom had cooked dinner so I just headed home only to find out there was a miscommunication between my mom and I about supper. I barely spoke to my parents tonight. I made myself a light supper,checked my facebook,and then asked for the living room tv because that's where the dvr is to watch greys and private practice. I think my parents knew that I needed to just be quiet tonight.

Have you ever felt that way? That you just don't want to talk about "it" - whatever the it is? Have you ever just felt so helpless because you can't think of anything you can do to help the k family. And in the midst of that,another friend of mine lost his uncle to cancer during the night last night. I can't think of anything to help these friends of mine and it hurts.

With a quiet heart,
Britt

simple things

just doing some thinking tonight ... normally on wednesdays i would do a "not me". welp, not tonight. not that i couldn't think of 1,000,000 "not me's" mind you.

ive been looking.listening,and hearing people and how we all stress over things we shouldn't. we are focusing on the negative side instead of the positive side of most every aspect of our lives. i,too, have been found gulity of this. for far to long i've been adding the negative on top of the positive and have missed many blessings i believe. i've also figured out i'm not managing my time as wisely as i should for the important things. my heart is very full,yet saddened tonight by a "revelation" that came all through an UTI a church member/client of mine got the end of january,first of february.

you see, this 85 year old navy vet, is hilarious!,strong, talented, spunky, and all things inbetween. his family found out a year or so ago he was in the beginning stages of alzheimer's. that is a terrible disease! 3 of his 4 daughters (well, he also has a son) are nurses. when they found out he was having symptoms with his UTI, right to the doctor they went. which led to a hospital visit. this man,i'm very sad to say, is dying. my heart is absolutely broken. i do his wife's hair every saturday at 1030 prompt,and i love her. she's so strong. she took care of her aging mother for 5 years,and mr k was right there helping too. now, thanks to that uti they have found he has cancer. at first, it was just a tumor. now, they found it's pretty much everywhere! bone,liver .... i know he has such a better home ahead of him. he told mrs k saturday after her beauty shop visit that it was his time. he also told her how he wants things done. the one that doesn't surprise me the lease is after the funeral service and burial, he wants us to come back to our church and have a good ole timey gospel singing. it just won't be the same without him there making that piano talk and sing.

he is one of the most talented pianist i've ever known. he actually played for me to sing at a funeral the day after thanksgiving. he jumped at the opportunity. i was a little nervous b/c of his alzheimer's,but he said, "start singing, i'll find you". i did. he did. we made a great team. i love that memory of him.

i'm sorry this has been such a long post, but my heart is oh,so heavy. this is the first time i think i've accepted what's happening and now have started praising God for this man, the time i've got to know him and his family, that i'll see mr k again after he leaves this earth, and grieving because i havent heard his tenor voice in the bass section behind me or heard him "tickle the ivories" in several weeks. i know joy will come in the morning. not just for him, his family and friends, but for everyone for any situation.

this all has me thankful for the simple things ...

sister's elbow healing - her now being able to type with both hands, tie her shoes, buckle and unbuckle her own seat bealt, even her being able to shampoo her own hair again (of course now she doesn't get a scalp massage) and seeing her small baby bump.

having an un-planned supper tuesday night at my brother's

getting to see,kiss, and know my nephews are healthy and happy

seeing my GA girls at church,and the excitement on their faces about learning about Christ and the Great Commission

hearing the choir at my church singing about the true meaning behind and about Easter.

seeing a new screen and projector in the back of the sanctuary at choir (now the choir finally can see from anywhere the words to songs and we aren't staring down the right side of our church anymore)

decorating for a little girl's 1st bday party

planning my papa's 75th bday party and going to it this saturday

buds on trees

and just seeing someone smile and maybe even laugh ....

the simple things.

Britt

fun times

and some down time. somehow my mondays have become oh.so.busy at night. work is fine and not overwhelming on mondays. mondays are actually perfect at work. i have clients yes, but i'm not super busy,it's all spread out, and i get a chance to breath and prepare for the rest of the week. i'm pretty tired on mondays from working hard and long on saturdays and then church on sunday (here lately ALL day long). don't get me wrong! i love my job and my church. i'm just tired on monday nights. but tonight was a new kind of fun.

i went shopping with a friend of mine from church who sells premier jewelry (which absolutely makes me swoon! i just got to order $275 in free jewelry today!) for her daughter's very first birthday party! how much more precious does it get?! i remember how i helped with her shower at church last year, and how excited we were about baby K, now i get to decorate for her bday party! preciousness!!!

over the last few years, i've been going to, helping with, or hosting showers of some sort for someone. i love it. last year, i would have loved it if my sister would've let me more for her wedding. i enjoyed planning her bridal tea and such. you see, sister, isn't much of a fru fru kind of gal. she wanted nothing to do with shower games or sitting in front of a bunch of ladies while opening up pots,pans, towels,toasters,etc and everyone "ooohhhhing" and "awwwing". so we had a simple tea at our aunt's home. i could've gone all out and done more, but since i didn't, that leaves me with ideas for her baby tea in august (yes, i already have a date all penciled in, a place reserved, and a time set with a few hostess names in my notebook). most of my friends tell me i should be an event/party planner. i'm just about there with them! it's so much fun! oh course, buying for little girls is always fun. one thing i never thought about, is wow you can really spend a LOT on just decorations! i'm pretty thrifty, so i  hope that helped MM out some : ) guess we'll see how it all turns out when we decorate later this week : )

Looking forward to Tuesday (mainly because i'm off on Wednesday),
Britt

p.s. did you notice i finally figured out the "link" button. my A-D-D or A-D-O-S (attention def.oooo shiny ....) must have gotten the best of my mind. i've never noticed that little button.

oh the little exciting things!

if i were

so, i'm going to be a copy cat. my creative juices aren't exactly following this week today, but this seems like fun. now my wonderful friends,emily and heather, didn't go into much detail with their answers. if you know me, you know me and my details ... sorry, it's just a quirk of mine ...

if i were ....

If I were a month, I'd be May

(not to hot,spring has sprung and summer is coming. and my birthday haha)

If I were a day of the week, I'd be Sunday

If I were a time of day, I'd be late afternoon early evening on a summer's day

If I were a planet, I'd be Earth

If I were a sea animal, I'd be a Dolphin

If I were a direction, I'd be in more than just one, like south east ... 

If I were a piece of furniture, I'd be a dining room table

(oh, the love,laughs,tears,and good times at tables)

If I were a liquid, I'd be strawberry lemonade

If I were a gemstone, I'd be an emerald

 

If I were a tree, I'd be an oak

If I were a tool, I'd be a hammer

If I were a flower, I'd be a lily

(blooming on my own,easy maintenance spreading my self around my neighbors to help them ...)

If I were a kind of weather, I'd be about 80 degrees,no humidity,sunshine with a light breeze ...

(oh,spring and summer where are you?!)

If I were a musical instrument, I'd be a piano

If I were a color, I'd be something bright that could be toned down ...

If I were an emotion, I'd be cheerfulness

If I were a fruit, I'd be a strawberry

If I were an element, I'd be wind

If I were a car, I'd be a corolla

(despite the recent recalls - cute,can be sporty, adn always dependable)

If I were a food, I'd be cake

If I were a place, I'd be in the country,close to the city, with views of the mountains and valleys

If I were a material, I'd be cotton

 

If I were a scent, I'd be the smell of my mom's kitchen

If I were an animal, I'd be a puppy

(they're somewhat independant,but at the end of the day they need the ones they love most)

If I were a facial expression, I'd be a smile

If I were a body part I'd be eyes (oh the beauty that eyes bring)

If I were a song, I’d be something fun,yet intense (just like life)

If I were a pair of shoes, I'd be cute and comfy

What would you be?

Britt

the future

... has me excited,thankful,planning,thinking, planning but most of all praying.

i've had a wonderful weekend! minus all the crazy errands friday night and the fact that one of my church buddy's mother-in-law's had passed away and i had to make a run by the funeral home. my best,kel, is home for a few days for spring break! i'm so excited i surprised her by taking her out to dinner at one of my fav italian places. we shopped, talked, watched a great funny/sad movie, and laughed. i'm so happy she got to come home! i had a premier jewelry party - im obsessed in love with their jewelry. it's all i wear, well almost. and then today was church day. one of my best days of the week! i got to sunday school late thanks to staying up to late,sleeping to late, and that stupid detour on my way there. i got there, and wow! i love my church. i was so excited because i knew something not everyone knew just yet. service was great, lunch with friends was great, back to church to plan decorations for baby showers that we're having the next two weeks, choir practice, then it was time for a special service. one in which we broke ground for a family life center (that's what i knew in ss that not everyone knew yet)! i'm so excited and thankful! a few years ago, we had the thought of building. the plans we had were too much for us in many ways, and it wasn't God's plan for us.

You see, God led us down a path we didn't want to take at first, but looking back it's been the.best.thing.ever! i'm so thankful for faithful leaders of our church that searched and followed God's plan! now, we're being rewarded with a new FLC that we need, like this week! my dad has been voted to be the over see-er of the project by the church. this is a huge blessing for my family,him, and my church.  tuesday, things will really start moving! starting with the ground!

what else is in my future? well this week  other than work... saturday is girls night with the girls from church at my fav place ever, friday is my dad's bday, thurs im off and get to spend extra time with the nephews and hopefully rest up from wednesday, wed - is my off day,spending time with kel and the nephews, and then a LOCKIN at my church for k-6th grade (i loved loved loved lockins when i was younger and am so excited! i hope i can stay up with them! haha!) tues - who knows what after work, and monday i'm hoping holds time for me to get some things done! i'm so far behind on cleaning,book work and yucky tax stuff! april 15 will be here before i know it! yuck-o!

Looking forward to "facing tomorrow because HE live",
Britt