IT's FRIDAY....

God Bless America

Thoughts about the day: Once again the media. RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR. They are SO biased and self-promoting. They think they know all and they go on and on and on. They are so one-sided! BUT I said thoughts--plural, so more: How lucky we are to live in this country. I know we are down and there are so many scandals, people out of work, in an undeclared war and on and on, but there still is no other country like this. Other countries watch our peaceful transfer of powers and have to be in awe...and ENVY. Our pomp and circumstance every four years is wonderful (I don't know if it is $170 million wonderful, but nonetheless) and it reinstills pride and patriotism. We get to relive so much of our wonderful history on this day. We get to make history on this day. We are reminded of how great it is to be an American. No matter who we wanted to be president, now is the time to pray for the best, hope for the future and work for the good. Now is the time to remind ourselves what it means to be an American. Now is the time to go back to the values on which we founded and built this country. Now is the time to drop to our knees each night and say, "God Bless America."

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME

Old age. It is the pits.

Puppy Love

Fielding Jourdan Lucas

All I Have To Say........

Boomer Sooner --Boomer Sooner--Boomer Sooner--Boomer Sooner

Boomer Sooner--Boomer Sooner--Boomer Sooner--OKU!!

I'm Sooner born and Sooner bred and when I die I'm Sooner dead,

Go Oklahoma --
Go Oklahoma--

Go Oklahoma--

My Number One!!

In the past nine years: We've played in the National Championship FOUR times and produced TWO Heisman Trophy winners. One National Championship. Anyone else have those kinds of stats?

My Soapbox for The Day

I come from a long line of journalists. Journalists that believed in being unbiased and 'reporting' the news, not 'making' the news, or 'opinionating' the news. For about the last six months...or more...I have often wondered what my grandfather would think about the media today. I am tired of it all. I am tired of the media. I am tired of journalists (for lack of a better word) that report the news how they 'want' to report it. This biased media slants stories from football to presidential politics. I am tired of it and do not see it getting any better. I am a news junkie. I like to know what is going on in the world each and every day. To that end, I notice the bias and liberalism more and more. Is it ever going to get any better? What can we do about it? Does anyone else sense this and feel the disgust?

Liberty Rebekah Ferguson

Libby (the pretty one in the above picture!) was my ONLY niece for 17 years. Now, I like to say she is my favorite "older"niece. There were so many boys and only one niece! Today Libby celebrates her 22nd (gulp) birthday. Libby recently became engaged to Sol (pictured above!) and they have a huge wedding planned for July 4th. Libby is beautiful inside and out. She is a gentle soul. She is kind and loving and talented. She is proud of her Lebanese heritage and can cook all the wonderful food that comes with that heritage. When she was born I was so excited to become an aunt. She loved to be at our house and play with our "older" kids (who were 2, 3 and 5 when she was born). Then a little over a year after Libby was born, along came Coulter. Libby was so mad about Coulter. Everytime I held Coulter she would get mad and try to crawl up into my lap. Alone. She did not want to share me with any baby! (Libby has long since forgiven Coulter and is nice to him now!)

Libby plans to be a teacher or something in the educational field. What lucky, lucky students those will be. She will be patient and kind to every student that she encounters. They, like everyone that encounters Libby, will see God's love through Libby's presence. Her heart is full of grace, love and kindness.

As I have said so many times before, the main reason we moved back was to be around our families. Helping Libby with her wedding this summer will be one of those highlights we get from moving back!

Happy Birthday Libby Lu. You will always be my favorite 'first' niece.

There is no getting around it...........

There is no getting around it. No matter how much denial I am in, no matter how much I try to not think about it, no matter what I try to do, the truth of the matter is that I have to go back to school...........And in just a few hours. Here I am spending my last night up till the very wee hours of the night. Why? I guess I just want to enjoy every last bit of freedom that I can. School starts tomorrow and 100 high school students will be waiting on me. Notice I did not say waiting to "learn", but they will be waiting on me nonetheless. It will be a chaotic day trying to get them back into the swing of learning and school. The two week break was wonderful. Did I say wonderful? I meant WONDERFUL. Now it is time to face reality and get ready for second semester. No lazy days around the house, no taking my time to enjoy the little things. No cooking and trying out new recipes...In just a few short hours it is off to the races. I'd best be ready...because there is no getting around it...........

Taylor Clancy Lucas

Happy Birthday Taylor. Twenty four years ago today Taylor made her debut into this world. She was due on December 18th. Because of previous complications, the doctors had done several scans and tests and all due dates came back to December 18th. Note today's date: January 3rd. Yep, Taylor waited FOREVER to make her way into this world. That is pretty much the same personality that Taylor still has today. She takes her time about everything. She is slow and methodical. She never, and I mean NEVER gets into a hurry about anything. She wouldn't have even arrived on January 3rd if they had not induced labor!!! Taylor loves animals more than anyone I know. She has a huge compasionate heart and cannot stand to see people or animals mistreated in any way shape or form. Taylor loves the underdog. She is the personal cheerleader for anyone or thing that is thought of as second-rate or unworthy. Taylor is one of the smartest people I know. Brain-wise. Her common sense.........????............hmmmm...sometimes that leaves a little to be desired!!! Taylor loves facts. She remembers facts. She recites facts. She lives to 'out-fact' me. Taylor understands numbers. What I find frustrating, she accomplishes easily when it comes to anything to do with math. Unlike most math minds, she also is an accomplished writer. She has won several awards at state level for her writing. Taylor can do most anything she sets her mind to do. IF she sets her mind to do it. But like I said, Taylor has her own time and that is slow and easy. :)' . Taylor is the middle child of our family and every bit the middle child mold. She has answered to many names growing up from Tots, Totsy, Tater Tot, Clancy, to Taylor Clancy Car (for whatever reason she called herself this!!). Taylor is has the dark complexion of the family and beautiful coloring. She is extremely pretty. She is left-handed and I like to say this explains her 'quirks.' She is quick to point out that a large number of presidents or those that ran for president are also Southpaws. (Another one of her facts. She can quote all the above by name!) When Taylor (finally!!!) arrived that meant that our oldest, Fielding, had two little sisters and he was not yet three!! Fielding loved to call Taylor 'happy face' when she was a baby because she was always so happy. Others called her "Me Too" because she had a (BAD) habit of saying that everytime her (year) older sister Annie would say anything!! When Taylor was little she talked with what we like to say was a "Boston" accent because she could not quite pronounce her words correctly! It is hard for me to believe that my third child is now 24. Where has time gone? Happy Birthday Taylor. May you continue to flourish in this world. We love you SO.

LISTS......

Lists... So much to do before school starts again on Monday. In my effort to get super organized there seems to be a never ending list of things to do. >Clean the icebox >Get the Christmas boxes put into storage > Get all the sheets washed and bedrooms cleaned >FINISH THE GARAGE (where all the items that all SEVEN of us don't know what to do with end up)>Cook birthday dinner for two of my children>Upload all new pics>Get ready to teach on Monday morning.........and the list goes on.....

Welcome 2009

Another year. Another chance to start afresh. Another chance to "fix things".
What do I want for the new year?
After last year I hope things are less stressful--emotionally, financially, physically, and psychologically.
A little recap of 2008: We endured the ice storm and no power and the coldest weather ever. Ever. We began to look for jobs back in Oklahoma. On the day before Hubb's Big Interview we once again were encased in snow. Hubbs had to call the place where he was to interview and explain that there was no getting out of our driveway, much less out of town. (That always looks good to potential employers!)
Nevertheless, we did both find jobs. At the same place. MAJOR prayer answered.
We watched the last of our five children graduate from high school. That was tough emotionally. Not only to watch Luke graduate, but knowing that so many chapters of our lives were closing; but also so many new chapters were beginning.
We found a wonderful--although so much smaller house---in a nice town in Oklahoma. We began to pack up. .............We began to pack up 17 years, 5 children, one packrat (me), and our four-story house. That was SO emotionally, physically and financially hard.
We left everyone our children had known and grown up with behind and headed south 300+ miles. We did it to be around family. We did what we really needed to do.
There were just SO many intangibles that go with uprooting.
We began our new jobs and our new lives.
We are happy here. We are still adjusting.
What does 2009 hold for us? (Besides recovering!!!!!!!!!!!!???????????)
We shall see. :)