Kathleen Smith's Blog, page 22

No Blog this Week

Been on a family vacation so no blog this week. But next weeks blog will be great! Here is a sneak peek… Can you guess where we went? 

Wait!

Have you ever noticed how often people ask you to wait for something? Or how often you tell someone to wait? It isn’t something we like to hear at all and yet we usually have to wait for something.

Think about it from the time we are little kids till we become adults we always hear someone tell us to wait.

When kids want something from their parents like a cookie they are told to wait till after supper. When they want a toy or something similar around Christmas time they are told to wait, see what they get for Christmas presents first.

When teenagers want to start driving they are told they have to wait till they get their driver permit. Or they might want to know when they can get the latest Xbox game they are told to wait.

When we become adults we still have to wait. We wait to find out if our bids have been accepted on a house. We go to the doctors for physicals and we have to wait for the test results. We go for a job interview and we have to wait to find out if the company liked us enough for a second interview and then hopefully we get that job. There are so many other things people have to wait for. It can get exhausting or even worse nerve wracking!

Lets not forget about what it’s like waiting for a family vacation and lets face it kids and adults alike always have a hard time waiting for their family vacation. My family is no different!

There is one other waiting that people need to do. This kind of waiting isn’t easy either. This kind of waiting is — Waiting on the Lord. The kind of waiting when your praying about something and your waiting to see what God has to say.

When you pray and pray and pray some more and God makes you wait for an answer. This isn’t an easy wait, but always worth it. Sometimes God makes us wait for a little while before He answers our prayers and sometimes He makes us wait a long time before He answers our prayers. Waiting on the Lord for His direction is also never easy, but it is worth it.

Waiting probably one of the most difficult things people have to do. And yet we wait for things all the time. It is quite the process!

Psalm 27:14 Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

 

Diners

I imagine most people, if not everyone, has a favorite diner they like to go to. There can be many different diners to choose from near where people live, but there is always something special about that one particular diner.

Maybe it’s the location of that diner. Maybe it’s the food. Maybe the waiters and waitresses are really nice people. Maybe it’s the place to be on a Saturday night or Sunday afternoon.  There are so many different reasons why people have that special diner they like to eat at.

My family and I are no exception. For the longest time we were trying different diners out to see which one we liked the best. We didn’t care which direction we drove in. Sometimes we didn’t care how long we had to drive to get to a diner either. If we heard about one that we hadn’t tried yet we would give it a chance.

For awhile our family thought we had found our families favorite diner. But then it was starting to take two hours before we were served. We then decided it was time to find a new diner. Not long after that my husband heard there was a diner that was only about ten minutes from our house. We decided to give that place a try one Sunday. I have to say the food was very good. We knew we had to try breakfast at this place to see if we would really like it. So the next weekend we went there for breakfast on Saturday morning. Their breakfast was so good! The name of this diner — Gibby’s.

Yes, Gibby’s passed our families breakfast test! From their coffee to their eggs and everything in-between: their breakfast is the best. Our next step was to try their desserts. So what did we do? Yep, One Friday night we went there for dessert and oh was it good!

So far everything we have ordered at Gibby’s is delicious! Coming from me, a picky eater, that says a lot. I love their Roasted Turkey Club Sandwich. I love their burgers. I love their big chocolate chip cookie Sunday. Should I keep going? Every once in a while my family will go to Gibby’s twice in one weekend. Once on Saturday morning for breakfast and then again on Sunday after noon for lunch. Otherwise we will do one or the other on most weekends.

I think it’s pretty safe to say we now know the waitresses there well enough and vice versa to have a nice conversation with them too. I would highly recommend to any of my family or friends who are reading this to try Gibby’s. I also suggest to anyone who lives in Upstate to try this diner. You won’t be disappointed.

If anyone would like this is Gibby’s FaceBook page. You can like there page and also find out where they are located.

 

OBGYN

OBGYN — This is what it means…

OBJECTIVELY the readers of this blog will be wondering what I mean when I say “this is what it means”. Most people should know what these letters stand for however I am going to show you a different meaning. Keep reading to find out what OBGYN means.

BEGINNING with the above paragraph you should be wondering — “what is she talking about?” “Of course we all know what OBGYN stands for.” You would think that everyone know’s what those letters stand for. I still say the same thing. Keep reading to find out what OBGYN means.

GOOD your still reading this blog to find out what the letters OBGYN  means. It isn’t a complicated meaning. Not at all. Quite simple actually.

YOUR probably still wondering when I am going to tell you what these letters stand for. You would think by now I would tell you what they mean. Well, at least what I think they mean. We are almost there!

NOW that we are finally at the end of this blog I can tell you what OBGYN means to me! These letters mean:

Objectively

Beginning

Good

Your

Now

OBGYN — You see I told you those letters have a different meaning to me! And if you actually read this entire silly blog… Kudos to you! HAHAHA

 

Why I was Dreading Mother’s Day

Mother’s Day! Oh Mothers’s Day how I was dreading you this year!

For the last couple of weeks whenever I went into a store like Walmart I felt like I was getting slapped in the face with Mother’s Day card and such. Seeing all the different cards, gifts, flowers and “I Love You Mom” mugs.

Seeing people looking at the cards. Trying to pick that perfect one for their mom’s. It made my heart hurt. It made me miss my mom. It was that nasty reminder that I can’t buy a card for my mom because she passed away. It hurt to see it all.

Then this weekend came. And all of a sudden people started wishing ME a happy Mother’s Day. I was surprised to hear these people say that to me. From the waitress at my favorite dinner – that cashier at Walmart.

Then last night (Saturday night) while my daughter prayed for our food she thanked God for her mom – ME. Then it hit me “OH yeah, I’m a mom too!”  My family is thankful for me their mom. For the first time in years I was feeling good about Mother’s Day.

That same night I scrolled through my FaceBook newsfeed. Just about everything that night were my lady friends posting pictures of them with their moms, telling everyone how lucky and blessed they were to have their mom’s. That was enough to make me sad again. Missing my mom. Wishing I could tell her how much I love her.

Today is Mother’s Day and I can tell you I’m doing okay. My family made me feel loved and special with their gifts. My daughter’s have repeatedly told me how much they love my new top and me.

We had a nice lunch at Panera Bread (my pick). And I’m hoping for a nice day at home.

I still miss my mom, but I’m thankful that my family showed me their love today. And reminded me that I’m a mom too.

 

A Day in NYC

Growing up I loved going to NYC with my parents. Depending on where we lived we either took the F train or the R train. Either way it was about an hours worth of a train ride for us. Our day trips to NYC weren’t that often and were always on a Saturday. One of the biggest reasons why we would go was for my dad so he could buy what ever he needed for his drum set. There was a musical instrument store he liked in NYC so that is where we went.

After he was done with that store we would start heading towards Fifth Avenue. We loved walking along that avenue looking at the different stores. We also liked going to Rockefeller Center, FAO Schwartz and Central Park. I always liked seeing the horse drawn carriages and thinking how much fun that must be.

When we got hungry we would find the closest food vendor and we would each get a hot dog. Sometimes if we were still hungry we would each get a second hot dog. When we were ready to head back to the train station we would each get a pretzel and enjoy it on our way home. I usually fell asleep on the train home while I leaned my head on my mom’s shoulder.

These days I still enjoy day trips to NYC, but now it’s different. Now I go with my husband and our kids. Now my family and I wake up somewhat early in the morning, and we drive about two and a half hours to get to NYC. We usually go on Saturday’s, but sometimes we go on a week day. We love walking along Fifth Avenue, walking through Central Park, going to the shops at Columbus Circle and lastly walking around 42nd Street.

I remember the first time we went to the shops at Columbus Circle, my son was a little boy. We didn’t know about the big fat naked statue directly inside this shopping center, so when my son saw it he stopped in his tracks looked up and said “What is that!”  My husband and I couldn’t help but to laugh. We told him and we moved on.

When we get hungry we look for a food vendor and depending on what we each want we either eat hot dogs or we get gyros. After some more walking we sometimes get milk shakes from Godiva. Every once in a while we will save up some money so we can go to Serendipity 3 for some Frozen Hot Chocolate. Or whatever other dessert the family wants. Me–I like to stick with the Frozen Hot Chocolate.

Our family loves our day trips to NYC. It’s one of the few things we are all willing to get up early for. We love the drive and we love the time in NYC. We have made some great memories on our day trips and look forward to making many, many more.

 

A Letter to My Husband

Dear Husband,

It’s been years since the last time I wrote you a letter. In fact it’s been 21 years since I last wrote you a letter. I remember how we used to write to each other when we were dating. We used to tell each other how much we loved each other.

I have to tell you my love for you has changed a bit since then. I love you so much more today then I did when we were dating and writing letters to each other. My love for you has grown deeper each year that we have been married.

Yes through the good times and bad times. Through sickness and health. My love for you has grown.

My dear husband I want to thank you for marrying me. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for having three children with me. Thank you for standing by me when we had three miscarriages. Thank you for always supporting me in everything I do or want to do.

Thank you for all those times you reminded me that I had the strength to do something I needed to do, but didn’t think I could. Thank you for being an amazing husband and a wonderful father. Thank you for being a Godly man and always doing your best to point me in the direction of God.

You mean the world to me and then some. I love you with all my heart and wanted to let you know that. You know over the years we have heard many people tell us we are a match made in Heaven. That’s because God put us together.

I will always be thankful to God for giving you to me for my husband. And I thank you so much for asking me to be your wife.

I Love YOU!

 

A Work in Progress

Did you know I have my moments of doubt?

Did you know I have my moments of jealousy?

Did you know I sometimes forget how blessed I am?

Did you know sometimes okay a lot of the times I let “stuff” get to me?

Did you know sometimes I feel defeated?

Did you know I’m only human?

Lately I’ve been feeling a lot of all of the above. I don’t like it when I feel any of it at any time and yet I get these feelings. It’s a struggle that I have and it isn’t always easy to stop.

There you go. Now you know I struggle with all of the feelings above. Sometimes I feel like I struggle with it all at the same time. Sometimes I struggle with some of them some of the times and some of them at other times. Either way it’s a struggle. I don’t like it when I get any of these feelings, but I imagine nobody does.

I’m also thinking there is no way I’m the only person who struggles with the above feelings. There has to be other people who struggle with doubt, jealously and all the rest of these nasty feelings. I’m guessing these other people don’t like these feeling either.

I know for me when I start to feel any of these feelings especially jealously I get very upset with myself. I want to know why some people get to have the success that they have in different things like lots and lots of books sales. I mean I am happy for these people, but then there’s that ugly feeling of jealously that pops up. Then I start asking “why can’t my books sell like that person’s books”? It’s a real struggle I have. Or when I doubt myself over what ever thing that happens to be bothering me. I DO NOT like it when I doubt myself. It makes me feel terrible.

When I get like this. When I get these nasty feelings about myself or towards other people I end up talking with my husband. I tell him everything I’m feeling. I ask him why do these people get to have all the publicity for there books and I don’t. I ask why I have to doubt myself so much. I ask him why I feel so defeated

My husband usually doesn’t have ALL the answers, but he does have some very good answers for me. He reminds me of the fact that where my miscarriages book is concerned, that it has helped women all over the world to get through their own miscarriages. He reminds me of all the blessing God has given to me like our house and our kids. He reminds me that I need to be happy with myself, the person who God made. He reminds me to be happy and content with what I have since God has given me so much. He reminds me NOT to compare myself to others and to be content with who I am. He reminds me of how much he loves me. Last but not least he reminds me of how much God loves me.

After having a good talk with my husband and being reminded of all that I am and all that I have, I think about it. I start to feel grateful for all that I have again. I do my best to forget about everything else and concentrate on what God has given me.

Like I said earlier I am human. So I will have my struggles with all of these feelings. If I could keep my eyes on all the positives and blessings in my life things would be so much easier.  In the mean time I need to keep working on it all and remind myself that I am a work in progress. I figured this is a good thing since nobody is perfect. I will do my best to keep my eyes on my blessings and keep reminding myself that I am in deed a work in progress. I will keep reminding myself that God isn’t finished molding me. I am — A Work in Progress.

 

Work in Progress Concept 3D

 

 

Family Heirloom

 

Last Sunday was Easter Sunday. On that Sunday we had some family and fiends over to celebrate Easter. Just like every Easter Sunday for the last oh I don’t know maybe 6 years I used the good China plates my mom gave to me. These are not your every day plates, rather special occasion plates. At least as far as I am concerned they are.

Last Monday as I was drying these plates, after they were washed I stopped for a minute. I took a good look at these plates that my mom gave to me. They had a special place in my heart. As I kept looking at them I realized the flower is a pink rose with a gray stem. As I stared at them for a little bit longer I realized that flower with its stem are my two favorite colors. I absolutely love the colors pink and gray. I even made sure my blogs colors were pink and gray. I started to feel like these plates were made for me. Yes, they were my mom’s first. There is something about these plates though that have my name written all over them. Not literally obviously.

When I started to put these plates away I made sure I was very careful with them. They have a very special meaning to me.

I have always loved these plates. growing up I would always admire them. I would think how nice it would be to have a set of China ware like these. Even better to have my mom’s China ware. Growing up I can remember telling my mom how much I loved her plates. I don’t think either one of us thought much about it, just that I really liked them.

I remember on one of my families trips down to Brooklyn to see my parents, my mom and I were in their room that had her China ware. I looked at them and I remember saying to her how much I always loved them. Right there and then my mom said to me “Why don’t you take them home with you?” I couldn’t believe my ears! Before I agreed to this I asked her if she was sure about that. She told me she never uses them anymore and she knew how much I loved them. She told me she knew I would put them to good use.

There was this pride in my moms eyes that day. I could see it. I’m not sure what it was for. Maybe because she was giving her Good set of China wear to her daughter. Maybe she really did know I would take good care of them and remember her every time I used those dishes.

I take great pride in these dishes my mom gave to me. These good China dishes that I use every Easter and Christmas Day. These dishes that remind me so much of my mom who I miss so very much. I hope one day I will have the privilege of handing them down to one of my two daughters. I hope which ever of my two daughters I hand them down to will love them as much as I do. I hope that daughter will cherish these dishes as much as I do. I hope that daughter will remember all the Easter’s and Christmas Days that these dishes were used on.

I am truly thankful for these dishes, the good memories they have given me and most of all for the mother who gave them to me. My mother!

  

My Election Rambling!

I’m not sure how to start today’s blog in all honesty. I’ve been wanting to write a blog about voting and the candidates of both the Republican Party and the Democratic party. I know depending on what I write people are either going to be with me or against me. They are either going to agree with me or disagree with me. At this point I don’t think I care anymore which way people’s feelings go.

So here we have for the most part on The Republican side Donald Trump. Yes, I know there are still Cruz and that other guy, but let’s face it we have Trump. Then on the Democratic side  we have Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.

I have to say that I have been enjoying watching the GOP debates. Mostly because I enjoy listening to Trump. I haven’t bothered with the Democratic debates because I don’t like or trust Clinton or Sanders.

I have also been listening to Rush Limbaugh, Hannity and other radio stations about the candidate. How people are reacting to Trump and Clinton especially. I do believe I love listening to Rush Limbaugh the most. He has a way with words and I agree with him. There was this one commercial my husband and I were listening to. It was some ladies “quoting” Trump and trying to make him sound like a terrible man that hates women. These ladies completey took what Trump was saying out of contexts. I know because I heard his speeches and remember what he was saying. That commercial made me mad.

Last but not least I have also been reading all the different articles and statuses from my family and friends on my Facebook feed. I must say between my family, friends and other Christians out there I am surprised at their reactions towards these Presidential Candidates and here is why.

Near as I can tell most Evangelical Christians like Trump and want to vote for him. There are some though that don’t like trump and I can’t figure out why. They come up with so many different excuse like he’s been married three times, he’s a business man, they think he’s a liar. Guess what nobody is perfect. I wish these same Christians would remember that Kennedy had a bunch of affairs while he was married to his wife. And as for lying, who hasn’t. We are all human and have lied to people at one point or another in their lives. I do wish all Christians would get together to support Trump instead of some saying Yes to voting for him and some saying no way. I know none of these Christians like or want Hillary Clinton for President.

Personally I like Trump. I like the fact that he is a business man. I think that’s what this Country needs in our next President. I think Trump would make a great President just like Ronald Reagan. Remember Reagan was a Hollywood actor before he became President and he did a great job. So why not have a business man for our next President. It would be refreshing to have someone in office that has never been in politics before. Trump knows what needs to be done and he WILL get the job done. I do believe he will bring jobs back to our country and build factories here.

I would love to see every person in this Country vote for Trump as our next President. I know that won’t happen so how about almost every person. This Country needs a change. This Country needs trump. At least in my opinion we do.