Daddy's tribute

First of all let say that I am deeply honored that MercyMe allowed me to use their words when I was unable to reach inside to find my own. However, last night, around 3 AM God woke me up with this on my mind. I have to repent for not having a pen/paper around, so not all of it is here. This is only what I was able to capture after note pad opened up... This is what was read today at my daddy's funeral service. The honor guard was there for the 21 gun salute & played taps for him making it an altogether lovely service, fitting for a man who served his country, his family and his God with all he had until his last breath.

Daddy,

As you saw into heaven

and your praise began to rise

I felt so humbled and honored

to be at your side.

As God drew close to draw you near

You raised your hands in praise

As Hallelujah filled the air.

The legacy left by your good name

Is a blessing beyond all wealth or fame.

You knew how to love and live in His grace

You walked in His favor and His blessing

Always seeking His face.

In my heart you'll always be here

Your words will always resound in my ears

"I love you princess" you would say

And I've never doubted it- not even today

If you could come back

But for one brief hour

I know your words to me would be

"Hold on to Jesus, baby."

To say I'll miss you doesn't even reflect

The emotions I'm trying to keep in check

I'm SO HAPPY YOUR HOME!

Even though I am sad that you are gone.

I love you daddy, but I'll see you again

When its finally my turn to come home

And join you again.

Goodbye Daddy

On Thursday daddy went on his journey to heaven. Sometimes His breath of life is our last. There were moments sitting at his bedside when daddy would begin to sing. Words muffled, melody fading in and out but never the less a beautiful song of praise as I believe he was seeing into heaven. The last distinguishable words he uttered was when he raised his hands and said Hallelujah! Glory to God.

I can not even begin to think of a more beautiful way to pass from this journey to the next than praising the God of Glory. I am so much like him, and one way is my love for singing (constantly lol) I pray that when my day comes, I too raise my hands in praise and glory and honor to the creator of this universe, the lover of my soul.

Good bye for now daddy. I hope your still singing when I get there! I know that you've always loved the things that I write, but right now I can't wrap my mind around a goodbye letter to you, so if you don't mind I'm going to let MercyMe say it for me.


Bring the Rain MercyMe/ Coming up To Breathe/2006
I can count a million times
People asking me how I
Can praise You with all that I’ve gone through
The question just amazes me
Can circumstances possibly
Change who I forever am in You

Maybe since my life was changed
Long before these rainy days
It’s never really ever crossed my mind
To turn my back on you oh Lord
My only shelter from the storms
But instead I draw closer through these times

So I pray
Bring me joy, bring me peace
Bring the chance to be free
Bring me anything that brings You glory
And I know there’ll be days
When this life brings me pain
But if that’s what it takes to praise You
Jesus Bring the Rain

I am Yours regardless of
The clouds that may loom above
Because You are much greater than my pain
You who made a way for me
By suffering Your destiny
So tell me what’s a little rain

So I pray
Bring me joy, bring me peace
Bring the chance to be free
Bring me anything that brings You glory
And I know there’ll be days
When this life brings me pain
But if that’s what it takes to praise You
Jesus Bring the Rain

I'm forever singing
Holy, Holy, Holy
Holy, Holy, Holy
Is the Lord God Almighty
Is the Lord God Almighty

Third Day on the third Day

As I laid in bed this morning, not wanting to start the day just yet, I spent a couple of moments staring at my hands. Remember the funny little thing we used to do as kids where we locked our fingers together and said, "Here is the church, here is the steeple, open the doors and there's all the people."

For some strange reason that came to mind this cold morning as I tried to nestle in for a few moments of sleep. Using my hand to grasp the covers close I thought how cool it is that when we curl our hand all of our fingers are the same length. Yet when we stretch out our hands they are different lengths. So if we didn't smash our fingers together into the "church" but rather simply bowed down, we'd all be equal.

Christmas is here. Tragedies abound. Grace, Peace, Love, Hope and Joy abound too! I'm thankful that God can show us his glory and mercy today and everyday, in this season and in all of the seasons of our lives.

I will be packing up the computer this Saturday and won't be connected again for a little while. (Thank you Toshiba for not delivering my lap top in time to prevent the gap! *sarcasm duly noted?* ) Twitter will remain turned on to my phone, however I can not follow all of you in return. If I appear to be ignoring you... please forgive me!

Have yourself a merry Christmas!!

Renee is the best surgical tech ever!!!

If anyone wants to hire her and pay her more-money-than-a-tech-should make, just call me and I'll hook you guys up.

OK Renee, happy?

This is my last week working at TOPS surgical in Houston. I will be sad to go. I am glad that I get to go home to visit with the family for most of December and the Christmas holiday season.

AMN/ Preferred has finally gotten all of my payroll issues worked out. I can now testify that they have made good on my pay. Its almost scary to change companies right now. What if I start over with a new company and I have to start over with the same problems.

From all of the message boards that I've been keeping up with, all of the travel companies have these same problems. Once you know how to cover yourself, understand all the guidelines, deadlines and rules then you are set.

At this point I'm not sure that they even want to keep me on! LOL. I guess I can be a little "wordy" at times. Although, when communicating face to face, I am respectful and polite. Who knows where everything stands at this point.

Daddy is in a hospice hospital now. I'm not sure when he is going to be transferred to the house. I know Mom is looking forward to having me home when he makes the transfer. This will be one of those times when my home health care experience is handy.

My Dawgs lost to Ga.Tech. Texas Tech is being shut out from the BCS National Championship game... The Jags are currently losing to the Houston Texans. EVERYTHING on the sports front pretty much sucks for me! I wonder if UGA is even gonna get a bowl game this year :-( *Sigh* OH well... next year is only a couple of weeks away ;-)

Some Updates on my travel assignment with AMN Healthcare

If you are just joining my blog-o-thon regarding my wonderful new job as a travel nurse, please start here to read from the beginning to the current.

Now I have Craig helping Nick to work through my issues to get this resolved. On the phone, everyone sounds so nice, and appears as though they honestly want to help get this resolved.

However I got an email from Amy, after being told that my insurance forms with proof that they were faxed in the first 30days, were received and things were "taken care of." The email reads:

Hi Janet,

I have received your insurance enrollment form. However, at this time you are not able to enroll as you are past your eligibility period. All enrollment forms must be turned in within 30 days of your assignment start date and we are unable to accept late forms.

Please let me know if you have any questions!
Thanks!!

I want to scream!!

Moving on....

I turned in a time card that had the correct hours listed in the right column and they all matched the column at the bottom. However, when I entered them individually I had a number wrong. Yes they went with the one wrong number and not the other 3 correct ones. Now I have to go back and re-do my time card for this week. I corrected it and turn it in but I need my OR manager to refill out and sign the corrected form. She wasn't happy Monday when I had her re-do the form from week one that Craig said they never received. She sighed, reached into a drawer, and pulled out the already completed and turned in form.

Speaking of time cards. The facility that I'm working out is aghast that I have to go through and fill out the "call off" form each week, and then still not get paid correctly. They have agreed that I can stay by myself every evening just to watch the time pass to reach 8 hours everyday to avoid the hassle.

I have not discussed with them yet the fact that IF I don't get the full 80 hours, and I don't fill out the "call off" form...then I OWE THE COMPANY I WORK FOR $8 an hour for every hour short.

So, follow me here, if I work 30 hours and don't fill out the form properly, get my double signatures and then fax it off to a different number than the number that I fax my time cards too, I will owe $8 an hour for the additional 10 hours that I'm not getting paid for.

I'll let that sink in. Not only am I not getting paid... I'll owe money not to work.

I'm still in shock and disbelief that I negotiated days off into my contract. Prior to being hired, during the initial interview, at Nick's encouragement of full disclosure, I requested 3 days off in October. All were in agreement. Then I get this lovely email:

Thank you for traveling with Preferred Healthcare Staffing. In an effort to keep you informed of your paycheck status and funds, we want to inform you that there will be an unearned housing benefit deduction of $182.00 from your next paycheck. As disclosed in your Professional Services Agreement, the deduction for the unearned housing benefit is calculated based on the Minimum Hours in your contract: 80 hours required each pay period, with 22.75 missed hours deducted from your next paycheck.

This is for the "vacation" days everyone agreed upon prior to the start of the contract. But what did I honestly expect, full disclosure? That I could just take days off without getting paid and not owe somebody?

I think a portion of my whole "misunderstanding" is that prior to this job, I worked in a position that was salaried, with benefits. Part of my benefits were vacation days. I was allowed so many hours per pay cycle that I could save and use later. I had the understanding that I was not going to accrue those days anymore. But coming from a background of being salaried, I didn't expect "guaranteed work week" to be much different. Paid for 40 hours a week. Not, paid for 40 hours a week if I get a separate form faxed to a different number signed by me and my supervisor.

I'm going to request my travel assignment to verify for me if they are paying AMN Healthcare dba Preferred Healthcare Staffing for 40 hours of work a week. Or are they paying a different amount each week based on hours actually worked.

I'm just curious if THEY are getting guaranteed pay, paid correctly each pay cycle, regardless of MY actual work hours!!

AGAIN if you are a travel health care professional, either RN, ST, PT, or CRNA. I'd love to hear YOUR stories. Are all agencies the same? Have YOU gone through anything like this before? Any advice for future travel?

Third Day on the third day

I have never finished my Texas trio Music Builds reviews... San Antonio is the only one left to go...

I've know for years that the last will be first and the first will be last but... Trying to beat the Houston show I knew was going to be a hard thing to accomplish. To make matters worse my seats were in Row M, going against the "If we ain't front row we don't go" Gomer motto. For Jars Of Clay, I knew the crowd weren't going to be in their seats yet so I did snag an empty front row seat for that. Chance and I left to go stand in the meet & greet line for Jars but did not make it to the front before the band was whisked away. We missed most of Robert Randolphs set in an effort to rehydrate before taking our place in the back of the front section for Switchfoot. Everything I've ever heard about the acoustics being better from the back, and the view of the entire stage & crowd response jargon was TOTALLY DISPROVED by these seats. My camera was dead, and I really didn't want pictures from back there anyway.

After the "Friends of the Foot" took off for their meet & greet I snagged a second row seat. One "legal" seat that was to belong to Tim, and 3 illegal-empty-seats that did have very young energetic kids. I will never understand why people come to a show (late at that) holding second row seats and then want to SIT DOWN for a show, but that is what happened~ half way through Third Day's set. (They also picked a slow song when everyone is praising to try and get to their seats... if anything else was moving on that song...they totally distracted it) I always wonder about the arms-crossed-sitting-people too. I wondered why they even came to the show. Then I decided to just praise anyway. They decided to remain seated.

After the show I got to meet some more Gomers who I had talked to, but never met face-to-face. Very lovely people! If it weren't for meeting them I'd probably list this as one of my least favorite Third Day shows.

I'm looking forward to the fall tour dates because NEEDTOBREATHE is our on tour with Third Day. My "Dream Line-Up" would be: DecembeRadio, NeedToBreathe, and Third Day.... ahhhhhh two out of three ain't bad!!

DAY TWO: HOUSTON TEXAS/ The Music Re-Builds Tour

The original venue was the Cynthia Woods amphitheater. All of the MBT shows were set in outdoor arena type venues. Due to Hurricane IKE, there was a last minute venue change. There were a lot of last minute changes making this show one of the special evenings of the tour. First, instead of rising money for Habit for Humanity, ALL proceeds for this show went to rebuilding the Houston/Galveston area. This show was broadcast live on KSBJ and filmed for later TV viewing audience. RED had turned things down a bit. My seats for this show were front row, and since it was indoor arena the seats were closer to the stage than the ones for Dallas.

I was able to get some great photos of all of the bands for this night! This is a picture of Stephen Mason from Jars of Clay.




During the show Tai Anderson began to give his, bass-player-with-a-mic routine that he starts off with, “Earlier this year we had the chance to tour Iraq.” Only tonight it too was different. No sooner had he gotten the words out, he was given (what the band later has stated as) the longest standing ovation of the tour! It was very moving, to witness the gratitude of the crowd towards the men and women of the armed services, no matter what side of the election you are on.

This show had the largest amount of Gomers than any other on the entire tour. Gomers are THE main reason I attend so many Third Day shows each year. As a member of the Third Day “Wired” club, I got backstage passes for the meet & greet. As it turns out it was more about meeting up with fellow Gomers than spending time with the band members. Occasionally they would interject into our conversations, as if we would/could leave them out!


Again I ended up being one of the first to get to the venue, and one of the last to leave. (Hence the Gomer motto: Come early, stay late & WEAR ORANGE!) Of all three days of living-like-a-rock-star this was my favorite! Seeing old friends makes for time well spent! I got to sleep in my own bed this evening for another whopping 4 hours then…Off to San Antonio!!!

Safe to Land by Jars of Clay~ Lyrics

I have a tracker that compiles stats for me from this blog. The number one search engine request that directs people to this blog, after the two years or so that I've been up is: Safe to Land by Jars of Clay~ Lyrics

Let me say that I have interviewed Jars Of Clay. And I have written a review of their new EP CLOSER. However I am in no way affiliated with the band, their management, promotion team (even though I'd love to do that for a living!).

This is what I believe the lyrics to Safe to Land are (feel free to leave me a comment if you feel as though I have gotten any of them incorrect and I will edit) :

Getting tired from all this circling
Not much grace left on a broken wing
I feel the wind trying to push me down
It happens every time I get to town

I search for shelter near the mines we swept
I guess forgiveness hasn’t happened yet
There are no words that I can say to you
That turn this careless sky from black to blue
So I’m asking you is it safe? Is it safe to land?
‘Cuz I’m not going far on an empty heart
Is it safe? Is it safe to land? It’s the long fall back to earth is the hardest part

I’m in no weather for apologies
I need your runway lights to burn for me
And if you say that I can come around
I’ll love you right, yea I won’t let you down, I won’t let you down

‘Cuz I’m coming home, if these wheels touch down
I’m coming home I’m waking you up in the middle of the night I’m not giving up
I’m gonna stay ‘til we make it work
We’re not going down even if it gets worse
We’ll work it out. Yeah we’ll work it out.
I need light to guide me in
Oh, Yeah is it safe?

Music Builds Day one...

All and all we’re just another brick in the wall…

The Music Builds Tour has rolled across America laying the foundation & building awareness for Habit for Humanity. I joined the “tour” with a handful of my favorite people, the Third Day Gomers for what we dubbed the “Texas Trio.”

They say everything’s bigger in Texas. Not sure if that’s entirely true, but having seen the MBT in Nashville in April I can yesly tell you that Texas was a rocking set of shows.

Late planes and Dallas traffic almost foiled the pre-show kick off party for us. But in true Gomer style we focused on what was the most important thing to us, each other. Yes there was this little thing called a concert but what was most important was that we were seeing each other for the first time in YEARS. For some it hadn’t been that long, for others it was a first “in person” meeting. (We live together online at www.Thirdday.com/boards) I love this community of people. There is nothing that we wouldn’t do for each other… *single tear drop*… OK in all seriousness, we always make fun when we get together.

For the concert? Oh yeah, the concert. My seats started off on row 2 stage left. RED was too loud. There is no other way to describe them. I like their music on CD. But live? My ears were literally hurting, and I had ear plugs in. WAY TOO LOUD RED. (and NO I’m NOT TOO OLD!) Jars of Clay is hit-or-miss with the audience response. Their stage show is very good. I love the all white outfits. It was strange to see how the crowd in one city sat with arms folded while the next city rocked…the set/delivery was exactly the same. One of those things that make you go, hummm. Switchfoot delivered a great show. Its always a crowd pleaser when Jon Forman jumps off the stage and runs through the crowd. Security nightmare I’m sure, but good theatrics. Due to the sound ordinances each band cut their show a little shorter so we didn’t get the same set each night. By the time Third Day took the stage, the “Friends of the Foot” had cleared out to go to their meet & greet with the band so I was able to get front row. Its always fun to have Third Day say something about their psycho fans (as Mac has so lovingly dubbed us). After a short but rocking set we all headed back stage for some face time with the guys. It was nice to see the wives there interacting with the fans as well. They’re always a treat. After the show back out to eat with the Gomers. Surprisingly not at Waffle House either! Then off to the hotel for the first night of 4 hours of sleep. God its great to live like a rock star!!!

Love done right

Every once in a while you meet, "When love got it right." Not too often. Mostly you hear complaints of everything bad. Enough ammunition to keep me single. Maybe you just know someone too well and thats why you endure all the "dirt" and none of the praise in their relationship. Some of my friends never say anything good or bad about their spouse...makes ya wonder.

I got a chance recently to meet a good "love story" couple. You can follow her here.



Nice to meet you Stephanie!! :)

If the World could vote

I got an email today with a world map asking the question, if the world could vote, who would the next President of the United States be.

You can click the link and check it out for yourself.

Don't forget to VOTE!!!

Jars of Clay MBT interview

I originally submitted this to the site I write for as a new article, prior to the end of the Music Builds Tour. However it never made it to "print" so I edited it as a past tense version. Since they've never posted it, I'm going to.

This interview was recorded at Cypress Gardens Florida earlier in the Summer. Enjoy!


I heard Bono proclaim that, “I don’t believe that Rock-n-Roll can really change the world.” The Music Builds Tour rolled across America this year in hopes that Rock-n-Roll could really change one person, one place at a time. Hoping that if they can draw attention to cause of Habitat for Humanity, then maybe they can raise the level of awareness needed to make a difference in someone’s life. And that my friends would begin to change the world.



This tour featured 3 Redlight managed bands: Third Day, Switchfoot, and Robert Randolph and the Family band, along with the independent Jars of Clay and RED.



I recently sat down with Jars of Clay to discuss their involvement in the Music Builds Tour. What I found was not what I expected. Who knew that Jars of Clay were such funny guys? When asked, “How did you guys get involved with this tour?” Matt Odmark chimes in with, “Strategery.”

“We’re not even sure if we’re really on the tour” adds Stephen Mason. Laughter is the main recording of this whole interview.



When this tour was first announced, and the details began to become hot topics on the various message boards and forums for the bands, there was a cry of outrageous ticket prices, with a minimal amount donated back to Habitat for Humanity. Dan Haseltine from Jars of Clay offered a very eloquent rebuttal on the Jars of Clay message boards. “I suppose the point is not that $1 per ticket is the end of the giving opportunities for Habitat during the tour, it is just one of the ways Habitat will raise funds. A tour like this has layers, just as most do. The tour is very high profile, so that will give Habitat a bit of exposure. It is also just a great line-up.”



I read on your blog that your in the studio working on a new CD. Do you have a release date for that?

“We have an EP called CLOSER” Charlie Lowell
Closer to being done with the CD?

“Closer than a couple of months ago!” Charlie

“For the [CD] we’re probably looking at March of ’09. But the EP is going to have a few sneak peeks on it. You’ll also be able to digitally get the EP. So it will only be available on the tour or digitally online. So those not lucky enough to make it out to the Music Builds [Tour] you can still pick it up on iTunes or wherever you go[online].” Matt





By now Jars of Clay has pretty much toured America . Is there any city that you’re excited about playing again, or excited about going back to?

“ Chicago ” Stephen

“ Des Moines ” Matt

“We’re not in Des Moines ! Oklahoma City guys!” Charlie



Oklahoma City was on my list until the dates changed. Now I’m just doing the Texas Trio.



“Fair enough” Charlie



Being a recent Houston transplant, I was hoping that Texas would have been one of the “favorite” hot spots.

Stephen, the jester I’m assuming, quips, “Well we love our Texas . We love our Texas food. We love our Texas people. We love our Walker Texas Ranger.” (Laughter rolls again like thunder) “We didn’t realize how many warehouses with empty boxes there were in Texas!”



“That he can just run in and blow up” Charlie



“Ne'er-do-wellers living there.” Matt



“Shenanigans!” Charlie


More laughter rolls out of the tent holding the interview. The tour manager is now popping over to see what is going on in this interview. Sanity has been misplaced, replaced by sheer humor accompanied with laughter. Sensing a loss of control over the interview process, I asked one last question. “Have you ever sat in these interviews and wished that [the interviewer] would ask you a particular question and they never do? If so what would that question be?”

“No, I’m usually up for whatever you find interesting. Then I try to bend that toward what I’m interested in!” Stephen



“There’s the trick.” Matt

“The secret of the interviewee” Charlie

Matt adds, “I’ve sat in some interviews and wished someone would say, hey man you need $20?” (Roar of laughter)



So if you ever see Matt, ask him if he wants $20, or you can just donate it to Blood Water Mission on behalf of Jars of Clay.



Jars previewed some of their new music from the EP CLOSER with good crowd response. You can pick up the new EP online from JarsofClay.com , or from iTunes.

Preferred Healthcare Staffing/ American Mobil Nursing

The sole intent of this blog post is that I pray it comes up to for anyone doing a google search for Travel Nursing, American Mobil Nursing or Preferred Healthcare Staffing.

For my very first travel nursing assignment, I chose Preferred Healthcare Staffing. I drove out to Houston Texas on September 4th to start my new assignment on September 8th with TOPS Surgical Hospital. I was interviewed over the phone by both Preferred Healthcare Staffing. and TOPS for a position as an 11-7 circulating RN in the operating room.

On my first day as I was being introduced to everyone, my OR manager said, "This is Janet, she will be doing the 12-8 shift." I didn't correct her but did come home, check my contract and called my recruiter, Nick. Nick assures me that he had no idea the hours were to be 12-8 but asked me to be flexible for now. I agreed. One hour either way wasn't that big of a deal, right?

As the first week progressed, IKE headed for Houston. I was the "last man standing" as it were, in the OR. I did the last case of the evening, I stayed later than the "staff" of the OR did, to secure the equipment used during my case. The rest of the equipment had already been taken care of. We faxed in my time card for the first week without the last shift's hours since we had to cover and unplug the fax machine prior to leaving for the day. The OR manager stated that it wouldn't matter because I was guaranteed my time anyway, right? It was for 19.5 hours.

The Monday and Tuesday after IKE the OR was damaged and we were told not to come to work. There was no power or water. The staff had a meeting and it was determined that they were going to be paid for the three days that the facility was closed. For the remainder of the week we were told to come in at 9:30 to re-sterilize the equipment, and clean up the OR. Lunch was provided because there was still no power. We were working on back up generator. We worked a grand total of 20hrs that week cleaning. On Thursday of that week I got my first pay check. And it was for 19.5 hours. NOT the 40hrs guaranteed that I was supposed to get.

Upon calling into payroll I was informed that this facility was not a guaranteed pay week facility. I protested. I have a contract. It says guaranteed hours! They agree. Yes it is guaranteed. We're sorry. "Since its so late today we'll wire you the money on Friday." Friday comes and goes and still no wire. I called back. "OH I see where it was to be wired. But since its so late today, we'll wire you the money on Monday." Monday comes and I get a wire for 8hrs of work. Wait. 8+19.5 does not equal 40!

Payroll explains that I'm confused about the wording of my contract. Forget that my recruiter, Nick, had told me on the phone, "Your guaranteed 40hours no matter how many you work." And my OR manager had said, "Your guaranteed 40hours no matter what, right?" Payroll says that I'm to be paid for 40hours IF the facility cancels me MORE than 24 hours in a pay week. Forget that the contract says "24 hours per assignment, which are cancelled by the Facility and cannot be made up during the pay cycle."

So basically, I've been hired to do a shift that only gets around 30-35 hours of work every week. The OR schedule is finished most days by 6pm. So I work 6-7hours a day. If I try to break the contract, I owe them $8hr for the rest of the contracted 13 weeks. (I have 10 weeks left or $3200) I've packed up, moved 900 miles from home, to work part time.

When I spoke with payroll last night the voice on the other end of the phone made the comment, "Its a common mis perception regarding the guaranteed work week." Indicating to me that out there somewhere is another RN who thought, was mislead to believe that she/he was getting paid for 40 hours a week on this new exciting career with American Mobil Nursing or Preferred Healthcare Staffing.

I would pay to have this blog post be in the top google searches if it saved someone else from American Mobil Nursing or Preferred Healthcare Staffing.

I'd love to hear from you if you too have been mislead by American Mobil Nursing or Preferred Healthcare Staffing.

9/11,12,13,14 Houston Texas- IKE

Finishing up the last case of the day on 9/11 there was an uncertainty in the air of Houston, TX.

A waiting. An anticipation. An anxiety. People were unsure about future plans. To stay or evacuate. All eyes, all ears, all channels tuned to find the latest news, information... hope. What would the storm bring? What should we expect? What do we do now?

Then came IKE.

Friday found all who were uncertain before scrambling for plans now. To evacuate or not a mute point. It was clear IKE was here & it was too late to change coarse now.

I am one who was among the 3million urged to "shelter in place." Not close enough to run from the waves, told to hide from the wind.

I am a native Floridian. Not a stranger to hurricanes. I moved to Houston one week before. Just after tropical storm Fay brushed by Jacksonville. Blowing down trees, dumping rain. I worked through that storm. Home care never stops.

Here in Houston, I'm back working in the operating room where its a safer feeling for me. I've worked in an OR, for the most part, since 1992.

I packed up my son and piled in with my cousin Angie to 'hunker down' for the storm. While her home in Katy was technically further South, and therefore closer to the areas that would presumably be affected, it was a home and not an apartment building. There is no place like home. No feeling like being with loved ones.

Friday night was long. We stayed up. Eyes glued to the T.V. Where was IKE? What category? Where was the eye going to land? And where was Jim Cantore? [He's my favorite meteorologists but you never want to be in a storm & hear he's in your neighborhood, because that means the worst is headed to you!]

Katy didn't get the break from the passage of the 'eye.' It was non stop. We sat, napped, stared, twitterd & prayed through the whole storm.

Here's a log of some of my actual time storm tweets:
* getting the first of tropical force winds here in Katy 11:40 PM September 12, 2008
* @dannylondon is it raining in Seattle? 12:15 AM September 13, 2008
* @sunnieM getting some winds&rains but still a long way2go before the eye&the bad side hits us (should b in AM) 12:48 AM September 13, 2008
* praying for daylight.... 01:09 AM September 13, 2008
* power surging off&on again... 01:36 AM September 13, 2008
* power just went out.... I think I'm gonna try &get some sleep 03:10 AM September 13, 2008
* woke up this AM the winds haven't stopped..the 'eye' isn't going 2 cross us 2 give us a 'break' 06:21 AM September 13, 2008
* we're really taking a beating the house is holding up no tree damage to Angie's house or any ones car no flooding turning phone back off/love yall 06:27 AM September 13, 2008
* BTW we can't get calls in/out but we can get/send text msg (Aunt Alice/Angie&I are sleeping/praying in intervals little scared but were gonna be OK 06:39 AM September 13, 2008
* if u r watching flooding breaks in Addicks/Bear Creek/ Copper Field would be our "area" 06:41 AM September 13, 2008
* funny how at times like these songs float through your prayers... I will Praise You in THIS Storm!! 08:08 AM September 13, 2008
* getting tired from all this circling...not much grace left on a broken wing......(thanks JARS great song!) 09:04 AM September 13, 2008
* still raining here in Katy 02:46 PM September 13, 2008
* the forecaster was right today... windy & rainy here in Houston:) 03:17 PM September 13, 2008
* I know it seams a little trivial now but we have no power so all we have is local news on radio/IKE fatigue/would love some updates 4 UGA game 05:29 PM September 13, 2008
* @corrine_mamag yup! @marklee3d & @barihouse helped relieve some IKE fatigue! nothing on radio/tv but constant damage updates/nothing new 06:35 PM September 13, 2008
* @marklee3d that's cooler than the window ac unit we've gt hooked up 2 the generator 02:47 AM September 14, 2008
* I hate how I have no contact w/ outside world then my phone all-of-a-sudden acts like its having a seizure as I get a plethora of tweets at once! 02:53 AM September 14, 2008
* God your grace is enough 4Houston& 4me. I know that nothing but the will of God can come4 us who choose You&Your will4 our lives. 03:04 AM September 14, 2008
* So right now as an act of my will I choose2 praise You! In the storm/thru the storm/in spite of the storm because U R still God & U still reign! 03:07 AM September 14, 2008
* Its raining n Houston again BUT the anchor holds tho the ship is battered&the sails r torn,I have fallen on my knees as I face the raging c 03:28 AM September 14, 2008
* the anchor holds in spite of the storm! (Rich Mullens?) 03:30 AM September 14, 2008
* network still unavailable for wireless web...no power...now the waters out& its still raining...BUT God! 08:58 AM September 14, 2008
* God I praise you that gas is only $3.43 here 10:02 AM September 14, 2008
* I also thank you that Shipleys is OPEN!!! 10:22 AM September 14, 2008
* Shipleys didn't have kolaches :( but got my donuts! (its the little things in life...game scores...good memories w/ friends&sweets) 10:34 AM September 14, 2008
* I HAVE POWER!! and Cable...it truly is Comcastic...waiting to see if the net is up :) 03:14 PM September 14, 2008


Minimal damage to Angie's home. But she still doesn't have power. I'm back at my apartment now.

On the Third Day God created vegetation

I wish I could sit and "veg" today. But tomorrow is moving day. I really hate that moving means I'm going to have to miss Third Day at Rock the Universe, and Third Day in Savannah, GA with all the girls, and Third Day in Ocala, and Third Day in Tampa...wait why am I going?

If you are a member of Third Day's fan club "WIRED" today begins the pre-sale. You can also sign up for meet&greet passes to most of the shows. Its a pretty sweet deal (if your into that sorta stuff)

I saw Third Day LIVE this past weekend at Wild Adventures in Valdosta GA. I have pictures up on my FACEBOOK account. I'm looking forward to the rest of the Music Builds Tour!

Almost unbelievable!

Pop Corn téléphone portable micro-ondes
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Generation Kill

Has anyone been following this show on HBO? I would love to hear from some service people. Tonights episode, Burning Dog, starts off with our military watching a village, identifying only women and children. Then blowing the village off the face of the planet. Please tell me this isn't a truthful depiction of what is really going on. If so, can anyone explain the logic?


Hey Jennifer & Jason thank you so much for installing my new closet. I won't keep repeating the same mistakes. ;) Thanks for your unconditional support of all of my harebrained ideas too. Your the greatest!! LOL

On the Third Day

On the third day of every month. We Gomers blog about Third Day. Its the Gomer thing to do. This week was street week for Third Days new CD Revelation. There were secret shows, earthquakes and lots of twitters to celebrate the release. The hype is not over rated. This is one of Third Days best CD's to date. Even if they don't thank the fans, if some of the songs sound like wire...blah blah blah I've heard all the negative and guess what? Its still not enough negative to take away from the positive attributes of this CD. From start to finish, REVELATION ROCKS!

My favorite song is OTHERSIDE. Co-written by Mac Powell and Tai Anderson, it has the strongest punch of pure energy on the CD. With Robert Randolph playing the pedal guitar on the CD I'm hoping that he joins the the band on stage for the live version of the song too.

The Music Builds Tour is going to be the hottest ticket of the fall. I have already purchased tickets to 4 of the shows. I'd suggest that you do the same. Get them early because you will not want to sit in the back for this show!!

Alright, Lets ROCK IT!!

Is it safe to land?

I have just written a review on the new Jars of Clay EP CLOSER (available on iTunes now). It tends to take a while for it to make it up to inReview but I wanted to share it with you. If your one of those who cant afford to buy another EP/CD right now, do yourself a favor and download the song Safe To Land (for $0.99). It could be one of the best Jars of Clay songs ever. Let me know what you think about it. (I wish that I was in love. And that he would write a song like that to me.)


Jars of Clay is at it again. In the studio working on a new CD. To whet the appetite of their fans they have released an EP of songs to iTunes called CLOSER. When I heard the first song released, the title track Closer, I was taken back by the lightheartedness of the song. Usually a Jars of Clay song is deep and multi layered. They can be considered a “deep thinking” mans band. Not that the casual listener won’t like their music, but without much thought you really don’t understand or grasp the full meaning of most of Jars of Clays material. So listening to the casual, almost silliness of Closer had me wondering if I was hearing a new Jars of Clay. The song has a catchy chorus even if the first lyrics are somewhat basic/ elementary. At first listen, I didn’t like it. But I held out criticism until I could hear the whole EP. I am glad I did. With every listen I like the single Closer more and more, however it was love at first listen to the song Safe To Land. WOW this is a powerful song. One that every person in love will wish that their mate would have written to them. I’m coming home if these wheels touch down/ I’m coming home/ I’m waking you up/ in the middle of the night/ I’m not giving up/ I’m gonna stay until we make it work/ We’re not going down even if it gets worse/ We’ll work it out/ I need your light/ guide me in/ is it safe?”

The band has reworked Love Song for A Savior and Flood (New Rain) in such a way that makes you want to listen to these songs again as if they were new. Rounding out the EP is Prisoner of Hope. Yet another classic thought provoking song that invokes true emotions in its listeners, “Let the wind run out of breath/ make you bleed from the heart/ and ache from the mind.... Fall into me/I’ll turn your ashes into flames...Prisoner of hope it won’t be long now/Prisoner of Hope you can be strong now/Prisoner I hope you carry on now/Prisoner your love can’t be held down”

If this EP is indicative of what lies in store for Jars of Clay I’m glad that they are back at it. I’m looking forward to hearing these songs live on the Music Builds Tour and anticipating the full release of their new CD due out in the Spring of ‘09 on their independent label Grey Matters. Jars of Clay has come home, and I think its safe for this EP to land. CLOSER is available on iTunes and will be available at their live shows.