Sweet Home, Jerusalem

I found this YouTube video and being from "Sweet Home Alabama" .....just had to share it!!

The Dr. Pepper Dog!

Well, everyone really seemed to enjoy the last photos of Buddy, so I thought that I would share some more. This is what Buddy has been up to lately. Alex swears that Buddy will always choose a Dr. Pepper can if he is given a choice. I guess that he may be right...... I caught him outside a few days ago and look what he had!! Yep, it is a Dr. Pepper can...and check out the affect it has on him!

Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow!

Well, I guess we will start with yesterday. It was certainly not a typical Shabbat. First, Bruce and I had to drive to Montgomery for a mandatory parent meeting at Evangel for the new school year. Not only did we have to drive up on the Sabbath, but we had to drive in all of the rain and wind from tropical storm "Fay". The bright part of this day was that it was Alex's 17th birthday. Yes, that is right my baby boy is now 17 and about to begin his senior year of high school! I can hardly believe it....seems like only yesterday that Bruce and I brought him home from the hospital. The remainder of the day was filled with wind and rain...lots and lots of rain.

As far as today goes, well the sun is shining now and the rain seems to have moved on for the time being. I began my day by listening to my favorite .....Rabbi Greenbaum. His live lesson and chat started about 10am and concluded a little after noon. After lunch, I began preparing for tomorrow....which is when we plan to begin school. I gathered all of Clemmie's books and started preparing my lesson plans...at least for the 1st week. Alex has cleared his desk and is ready to begin......I still can't believe that this is his 12th grade year! I certainly hope that I can follow through and get started tomorrow.....it is so hard to get going....but I know that we have to do it.

Tomorrow...hopefully the school bell will ring around 9am here at "Croley Academy". This year Clemmie will have math, science, spelling, language, history and health. Alex's classes consist of physics, American government and economics, language arts, health, consumer mathematics, advanced math and the CompTia A+ certification (computer) classes. I may have omitted something, but I hope not since that looks like quite enough work to me. I have not yet prepared any lesson plans for Alex, but he can get started without them. We are also considering Alex taking some dual enrollment classes at a college located in Evergreen. We didn't check into it soon enough for the fall quarter, but perhaps the winter quarter will be available.

Shavua Tov!!

Upcoming Anniversary!

This Tuesday, August 19, Bruce and I will celebrate our 20th anniversary. Needless to say, I am spending a lot of time thinking about the past 20 years. I often have a hard time remembering things, but I can recall everything about that day back in 1988. We married on a Friday evening at Calvary Baptist Church in Georgiana. The church was decorated with peach colored flowers and greenery. It was so beautiful. I wasn't nervous at all, until it was time to walk down the aisle and I saw my Daddy crying. It made me want to cry too, but I couldn't.... I was so happy. Bruce, on the other hand, was quite nervous.....at least that is what I have been told. You all know how shy he is now....you should have seen him then! LOL

It has been a wonderful 20 years and I wouldn't change a thing. Bruce is a terrific husband, friend, father and provider and I dearly love him. He is one of a kind and that is one of the things that makes him so special. He walks to the beat of his own drum and doesn't try to fit into anyone's mold. I could go on and on talking about my husband and how much I LOVE him, but all of you already know that about me. I am going to try and add a slideshow of some of our wedding photos for all of you to see.

A Content Feeling!

I am finally beginning to feel that the void in my life is once again being filled. For the past 3 Shabbats, we have attended services at Agudath. We have gone to either Friday evening or Saturday morning services each week. I truly love the services and everyone is making us feel so welcome. It is very important to me to have a place that I can go to fellowship and gather with people who love G-d. While it is true that we don't need a physical place in order to worship G-d, I believe that it is important (at least for me) to be able to gather together with others and share in worship. Even though we had been to Chabad several times and really enjoy the services there, I was anxious about Agudath and whether or not we would feel at home there. Our first visit there I was able to put my fears aside. We were made to feel so welcome. Each week as we go back, more and more folks welcome us. I do believe that this is where HaShem is leading us.
I am so excited about the fact that we have started going and will be able to have a place to go for the High Days that will soon be upon us. The memories from this time last year are not good ones and I am hoping to make wonderful new ones this year. I experienced something new at the services last evening. Rabbi Kramer talked to us about Tu B'Av (the Jewish Valentine's Day). He had gotten long-stemmed red roses and had all of the men come up and get a rose and some chocolates for their wives. It is the most beautiful red rose! The Rabbi was so sweet to do that for us and so sweet to also present roses to all of the older ladies who were there alone.
Rabbi Kramer also began what he said would be a series of talks about the Shema. He shared some rather interesting Midrashic tidbits about the Shema with us. I hope to be able to be there and hear as he builds on this teaching. I guess that I don't have to keep saying it, but I am so happy to now have a place to go. I look forward to each and every weekend now....there for a while the Sabbath made me sad...something that simply wasn't right.
Shavua Tov!!

Remembering my Daddy

Today would have been my Daddy's 76th birthday. He was born right here in Butler County in a little white house that is still standing. He was one of three sons born to Mary and J.T. Bush. Daddy's given name was Marion Oliver Bush......but no one knew him as anything other than "Ollie". In 1950, November the 4th to be exact, he married Ruby Lee Gipson. On December 9, 1963, the happiest day of my Daddy's life (his words not mine), a baby girl named Tammy was born!
Growing up I always believed and still do believe that my Daddy was the STRONGEST man that ever lived. He had huge upper arms and could carry 200 pound bags of fertilizer ......one on each shoulder. He had always worked hard...mostly either pulp-wooding or logging. He dearly loved my Moma and me and always found a way to provide our every need. My Daddy never spanked me........all he had to do was raise his voice and I was heart broken. When Daddy wasn't working, he was either coon hunting or riding horses. He truly loved his animals......I believe that Clemmie inherited this from him.
I can honestly say that I can't remember a time when I was growing up that we didn't have either horses or dogs and usually both. Daddy really loved to coon hunt. He absolutely loved to hear the dogs as they chased the coon and then to hear them when the coon was treed.
I have spent most of this day remembering my Daddy. I must say that most all of my memories are good ones. The only not so good memories would be from the time following my Moma's death. Moma died suddenly from a heart attack and Daddy never really got over her dying. They had celebrated their 51st wedding anniversary on November 4, 2001 and on Thanksgiving of that year Moma died. Daddy said that half of him died that day and bless his heart the other half started dying then too.....or so it seemed. He was never the same....there was something missing from his eyes...something that never returned. Three years later almost to the day, Daddy died. He was sick almost the whole 3 years.......he simply didn't have the will to live. As much as I know he loved me, Alex, Clemmie and Bruce.......he loved Moma more and longed to be with her. As much as I miss him, I am glad that he no longer has to suffer. Some days I feel really sorry for myself........sorry that both my parents were taken from me, but not today. Today I am choosing to feel special......special that G-d chose me to be born as the only child of Ollie and Ruby Bush. I am choosing to spend this day remembering the good things about and the wonderful times spent with my Daddy!!
The picture was taken in 1999 ...... it is my Moma, Alex, Daddy, Clemmie, me and Bruce.

First Visit to Agudath

A few weeks ago Bruce and I had a meeting with Rabbi Kramer, the Rabbi of Agudath Israel-Etz Ahayem. It was a really good meeting and we left feeling that we would be completely welcome anytime that we wanted to visit. We decided that this past weekend would be the week that we would go for a visit. Bruce, Alex, Clemmie and I went for services on Friday night and it was so good. Rabbi Kramer goes somewhat slower than they do at Chabad........ so I was able to almost keep up. LOL
After the service was over, everyone was so nice and made us feel so welcome. Mrs. Irene, the Rabbi's wife, was especially sweet and wanted to take us home for dinner, but we told her maybe next time. She asked if I knew that she was a convert and offered to help us and answer any questions that we might have. I felt very comfortable there and do plan to go back. Is this the place for us.....I don't know yet, but I do know that it was so great to be able to go somewhere and feel so welcome. Looking forward to next Shabbat!!