Important Things

So, ever since last Wednesday I have been planning to blog on Monday (today). I "bought" a car that day and knew that I would be picking it up today and had planned on putting pictures and such telling all about it, ect., ect. This is not going to be that blog. That blog will probably come, just not today. Today, I am blogging about something much more important. Actually, just something important. New cars really don't even fall into the "important" category.

Last year (I wish that I could remember exactly when or how but, I can't. No surprise to those of you who know me :^) I met Haley Nichols. Before I tell you about her and their family, I need to tell you a little something about myself. I am, as most of you know, 28, single (never married), and have no children (please try to contain your sympathy sighs and no need to rack your brain on who you can set me up with....it's not as bad as it sounds :^) I grew up like most other girls thinking that I wanted a house full of children, a husband, of course, the whole 9 yards. Then I turned 22 and saw all my friends get married and start to have children. My blinders came off and reality hit of how hard it actually is and how wonderful having the freedom of no children, husband is. It's almost intoxicating and addictive. I am well aware of how selfish I sound here but not just that, I just started too see parenting from the parents perspective instead of the child's and it left me having two good reasons that I probably wasn't cut out for parenthood.

First, I love my family, especially my sisters, way too much. I worry about them way too much, I care about everything in their lives too much, I am way too overprotective and defensive of them. You may be saying that this isn't possible, but I assure you that my sisters would disagree. I just got to thinking that if it was this hard just to be someones sister that the mother/child love might put me over the edge. I still feel that way but have been convinced that if God can send me someone that I would actually be willing to give up all that I have for and want to have children with, He could keep me from going crazy with love for that child. Literally, crazy.

The second point (and the one that is eventually going to lead me back on point) is that I am not like other parents. I am way more laid back about things (clothes, hair, ect.) that seem to drive parents. No knock here, I just don't care. I mean it might change but, I honestly don't need my kids initials embroidered on everything from their socks to their hats. I don't see spending more on a rambunctious 4 year old's dress, that she may wear for one season that I do on one for me that I may wear for five years. I have no desire to be a parent who freaks out anytime a speck of dirt comes near my child or they get a hole in their pants. Like I said, this could change, I just wouldn't count on it. In comes, Haley Nichols (and from the best I can remember, my mom. But like I said, now I see things from a parents perspective where all I remember is from a child's) She is the coolest, most laid back mother. Not that she never disciplines her children or that they run around covered in dirt and in rags. Quite the opposite actually. Her kids are always cute, very well behaved, and clean. Her whole attitude towards parenting is just so much like I figure mine would be and I see how happy and wonderful her children are and I think, "Oh! I COULD raise a happy, healthy child!" And, not just her attitude towards parenting, but her attitude towards life. I just really love her. Back to point.

Haley is married to Coach Jim Nichols the head football coach at Faulkner and also my boss. As I stated in my last blog, I love them and their kids. She is in between 3-4 months pregnant and does have a history of miscarriages. She started having a few complications last week and now is on bed rest and things are not looking good. I remember when GinGin (my aunt) had Jessica (who has down syndrome and was born with a lot of problems that come with that) and Melissa (one of my best friends from home) found out about Janey (she found out in her third month that she had anecephely and Janey died, just a few hours after being born) really having trouble sleeping and just waking up in the middle of the "night" thinking about it and spending countless hours praying. That was again where I found myself at 5 o'clock this morning. Awake and praying.

I write all this so you will have a little understanding of the situation and, most of all, to beg of you to pray. Haley has 2 very big Dr's appointments this week and I KNOW the power of prayer and so do Haley and Jim. Please pray that things will turn out for the best for this family and that God will find a way to keep this baby healthy. It is not to me to question why these things happen and I won't start now but this is a Godly family who is raising Godly kids, the kind of kids this world needs more of and I am praying that it is His will that this baby be born and born healthy. Please also pray and ask anyone you know to pray too. I know that it is mostly mothers in this world and weather you have ever had a sick baby or a unhealthy pregnancy or not, you know how traumatic this can be. If you or your ladies class, ect would be interested in sending Haley a card of encouragement that would be great, just e mail me at Laurierwalker@yahoo.com or lrwalker@faulkner.edu and I'll be happy to give you their address. Thanks for reading through all of my rambling to get to this important point.

So much to blog about.....

....so little time to do it in!!! So little time seems to be a running theme in my life lately! Whew! Where to even start? I'll just have to do this chronilogically.....

Thursday (September 11) was a very sad day in my life and not just for obvious reasons (see previous post). Thursday one of my most loyal friends died. My wonderful, most faithful car (a.k.a. "ol girl") died. It wasn't completely unexpected but, as most of you know, you are never really ready. I just didn't know that on that faithful morning when I left work and went to the Chiropractor in Millbrook, that I would never drive her again. {insert sigh and sniff here} So, now, not only do I have to worry about her final arrangements, I have to be on the hunt for a new car! And, the worst thing about that is....a new car payment! That is something I haven't had in over SIX years! Boo!

Friday (September 12) I was just in a all together rotton mood, made even worse by NO sleep, the before mentioned loss, and working in a office full of boys who love to pick when you are aggervated! So then what did I do?? I went to a used car lot. Let's just say that it started out with the car salesman (who is about my age and three times my weight) walking up to me (at this point I am by myself), sticks out his hand, and says "Hi, Sweetie" Now, don't get me wrong, I am by no means some hard core "women's lib" psycho but when you (a used car salesMAN) walks up to me (a seemingly young female who is by myself) and calls me "Sweetie", he is just saying to me "Ok, little lady. I am the big man who knows all about cars and I am in charge here and about to take you for way more than you're worth. Unfortunately for him, I was in no mood for it. This was my response (after giving him a look that I feel certain made him regret it before I even opened my mouth), "Hi. And, don't do that. Don't call me Sweetie. You don't know me, you're not some sweet old man, and you have no idea if I am sweet or not. Therefor, you are just trying to intimidate me and it is really just ticking me off more than intimidating me. Now, my name is Laurie, let's start this over." Needless to say he quickly got too busy to help me and handed me off to a salesman named "Rooster" and it was all down hill from there! Thanks Louise for your backup, sorry about that two hours we're not getting back!

Saturday (September 13) was the first Faulkner home football game and my debut as a sideline reporter! Whoo! It was our cross town rival, Huntington, a school not much larger than us and literally only eight miles away. Also, with a relatively new football team (I think this is thier 5th or 6th year). OK, well they won and it was heartbreaking, made more so by the fact that I am getting to know the players, coaches, and everyone else involved more and more and I know how much time, heart, and energy they are putting into it! My "reporting" is probably not going to get me a job anytime soon but it was fun. Sideline reporting probably just isn't THE BEST job for someone with such a bad case of ADD as I have (LOL made for some interesting moments!), there is a lot to take your mind of the voices in your headset when you are down on the field!

Sunday (September 14) I went to class and then to "late church" since I had not worked the night before. (I am just going to insert here, not dwell on the fact of how ridiculosly happy I have been having four days off and staying here in town but I will tell you that I had NUMEROUS people notice the difference in my personality and energy level.....I LOVE sleeping at night and not going to 911 Communications Pkwy!!!) During the service I had quite a little surprise when my boyfriend, Peyton, walked back durin the song pre-preaching to sit with me! Peyton is very tall (for his age), beautiful curly, blonde hair, blue eyes, and the sweetest personality in the world. He has a smile that absolutely makes everything in the world better. OK, OK, whatever, he's three. But I LOVE him! I told him that Ol Girl had died and that I was getting a new car and he said to make sure I got a blue one :^) His siter, Gracie, who is 8, gave me the thumbs up and said, "YES!" when I told her. Some people..... Anyways, after service, since I didn't have to run off to bed, I was able to go out for lunch! It was me, Louise, Dirt, Leigh, Nathan, and our visiting friend Barry (who received a Bible for leaving our congergation that morning! I mean, I knew we were having problems outgrowing our building but whille most congergations give Bibles to NEW members, we are now rewarding people for leaving???? ;^) all went out to O'Charleys. I decided to forgo the old diet and stick with my new nutritionist advise to eat serious red meat twice a week....I had prime rib :^) I LOVE that new Dr! Here, is where I made my biggest mistake, Dirt asked if Iw anted to go riding on his bike with a group that goes riding from University CoC. I said no, that I still did want to ride but that I was taking a nap that afternoon. Wrong choice. I am going to start a new paragraph for the coninuation for this because it is it's own story.....

After Dirt's long ride he came to my house to pick me up for p.m. service (another luxury that I don't get when I am working) and I rode his bike with him for the first time since he got it. I have kind of been avoiding it because of my notorious lack of need for speed. The one time I was taken for a ride on one I DID NOT love it and I don't like that general open air, fast feeling. Not a roller coaster girl. So I put my big girl panties on (not literally, obviously...), strapped the helmet on and hopped on. I LOVED IT!!!! I mean LOVE IT! So, here's the big announcement.....I am TOTALLY getting a motorcycle! I don't mean I'm dropping 40k on one nor am I now a biker chick who will be wearing chaps to work everyday but I am getting one and soon. I really, really LOVE it! And what a gas saver!!

"On the day when buildings fell....."

"....hero's rose." I write this with tears in my eyes and no great insight or thoughts to share. I just couldn't allow this day to go by without mentioning it. I hate that I lived during this time in American history and I hate that my children or nieces and nephews will never know the kind of America that I grew up in and that kind of (albeit, false) feeling of safety. However, I loved the feeling of patriotism that I received that day and still hold onto today. September 11th will always be a day that breaks my heart and I hope that I NEVER forget what that day felt like. I wish that so many others had not already, especially after such a short amount of time. I thank all of the patriots and their families who lost their lives that day and all that have fought for our continued safety and freedom since that day. I will never be able to remember this day or almost any other day without thinking about Adam and his family. As always, I beg your continued prayers for Erin, his girls, and the rest of his family. Most importantly...................
GOD BLESS AMERICA!

Politics, Religion, Football, and other politically incorrect social topics!

Politics.... I love Sarah Palin and I am learning to love John McCain. Here are my reasons why, and quite honestly, I don't care if you agree or not. As was pointed out in another blog (shout out to Audrey) it's my blog, my thoughts, and my memories. I am pretty sure that my blog is not set as the home page on your computer so, feel free to navigate away if it is too upsetting!


First, I am a fan of smaller government. It is fine if you like the government sticking it's nose into every aspect of your life and would trust them with your checkbook, I just do not and would not. That is why I choose to live here instead of China or some other communist country. I also do not believe that throwing money (especially MY hard earned money) at problems makes them better. Here, you may also have a different opinion and my opinion on your opinion is that you are wrong. Also, I love that we try to work problems out diplomatically but I love more that we have the world's GREATEST military to back up those pretty words and that we are not afraid to use it and the world knows it. I love that we are not a country of pansies and if you think I am wrong about this you might want to quit reading here and google some history lessons. I think experience is not the most important thing you can look for when choosing a president but I think that experience, a clam head, good history of making good decisions, and patriotism are some of the most important things! It's obvious who I am voting for and I am just praying that we are not really just a nation of stupid sheep who can make the most important decision for our country based on pretty words and well written speeches!





Second, religion....OK, I don't really have anything to add to this but I needed it for my title ;^) I think most of you know how I feel on this topic and I would be more than happy to debate or talk about anything relating to religion by e mail :^)





Third, football.....for the love. Let's just say that it was a TOUGH weekend. I did my first radio broadcast for Faulkner and loved it (even though I was in terrible pain thanks to a small "surgical procedure" that I had on the Friday before) and must have done ok because I'll be back on as the sideline reporter this Saturday for the big Huntington game under the lights! I am very excited and as a note concerning this game, if you are in town you should definitely come out and support these boys! AND wear black!! We are previewing our new black uniforms (VERY COOL, if you have ever seen Ga's or So Carolina's!!) and we want to "black out" the crowd, meaning everyone wear some form of black shirt, so spread the word! Back to this past Saturday, it was, er...tough. Well, let's just say that we knew going in that we were playing a much bigger, more experienced school that plays in a much tougher division and has lots more experience and scholarships. These are not excuses, just facts. Here is the last fact I am quoting from that game and then I am moving on, we lost 62-0. I know, girls from the "old days" at GCS, it brought back a lot of bad memories! Moving on, I am also trying my hand at fantasy football this year (you know, in all of my spare time...HA!) For those of you who don't get this it is basically where you take real players and their real stats and put together your own "fantasy" team and compete against others and their "fantasy" team. The way that you win is by your players doing well and earning you more points than the other teams in your league. You have to keep up with their stats and make sure that all of your players are playing (not hurt and their teams are not having a bye week) and put in the players who you expect to do the best that week. My quarterback for the first week was Tom Brady. For the love. He was the best (statistically) quarterback last year and seemed to be a good choice. He went down in the first stinking quarter with a season ending knee injury. Just my luck. With the shellacking (sp?) that Faulkner took and Tom Brady going down in my fantasy league I was just SO thankful that Tennessee had a bye week! I am still hurting from last weeks game from them!





Other politically incorrect topics..... something that was brought up on a friend of mine's blog is mothers that either stay home or working while raising children. Her point was that some mothers who have the choice and make the choice to stay home with their children should not make those who can't and/or don't make that choice feel like their children are any less loved. I am not going into her details but I am going to offer my opinion. My mom (through choice or the simple economics of how ridiculously expensive it is to put three kids in day care and all of my in town relatives worked full time) stayed at home with us but took many part time jobs. She worked at many retails stores part time and seasonally to make sure we had great Christmases and birthdays, could not only attend private school but participate in whatever extra curricular activities that we wanted, and sometimes just to make the stinkin ends meet and put food on the table! Her, not only working but saving money by being a good, sensible shopper enabled my dad to teach and coach and a Christian school and impact many other young lives besides the three of ours. The thing that her hard work gave us was much more than just great presents, parties, educations, and basic necessities, she gave us the knowledge that as mothers and women we can do whatever we want but that you DO do whatever you have to, to do the best for your family. I know that this is what she did and most of the mothers I know do. So, to all of you mothers, who work outside the home and otherwise, thank you. You all have made sacrifices in one way or another for your family and children in order to make this a better world for them and for all of us.

Last thing......

GO EAGLES!!!!!

and what can I say, I'm a die hard, glutton for punishment, non bandwagon fan.....


GO VOLS!!!!!!

DISGUSTED

dis·gust (dĭs-gŭst') dis·gust·ed, dis·gust·ing, dis·gusts



1. To excite nausea or loathing in; sicken.
2. To offend the taste or moral sense of; repel.



n. Profound aversion or repugnance excited by something offensive.

adj. Filled with disgust or irritated impatience




Just wanted to make sure that everyone understood how I felt. This is how I feel about first of all, the way that the main stream media is treating Sarah Palin. They are out of control and all of these women's lib groups, Democratic and Republic should be making a call to arms! How dare they not only insinuate, but out and out say that she cannot be a good mother while being a good mother at the same time! How many people criticized the democratic VP pick for leaving his very recently motherless, small, injured children for a Senate job and he was THE ONLY parent at home? I am not criticizing him for the decision he made I am just pointing out the EXTREME sexism and bias! If elected, her children would live with her, in a house just a few miles from her office, and her husband has already agreed to be a full time stay at home dad! Speaking of her husband, the media has been very critical of his DUI from 22 years ago (before they had any children). Now, I am obviously not condoning the behavior AT ALL, however, I need the media to focus on the fact that at the same time that this VP nominee's SPOUSE received a DUI another PRESIDENT nominee, HIMSELF, admits to doing illegal drugs!! And, on a matter that is VERY CLOSE to my own heart, if you are any part of a rumor involving a BABY, especially with any special needs, you are the lowest kind of human being and don't deserve anything good. I could use lots of different words to define how I feel about the main stream media's treatment of Republican VP nominee Sarah Palin but for now I will stick with disgusted!

The second thing that I am disgusted with is the Tennessee Volunteers (also with obnoxious AL and Fl fans, but that goes without saying) The way that they looked Monday night was embarrassing to all Vol fans. I am not sold on not a fan of this new "offense" (even calling it that is a stretch) nor am I am fan of our quarterback (never have been). But the way that they looked like they were giving about 20% during that UCLA game was hard to watch as a Tennessee fan. I would have been disgusted even if they had found a way to win at the end, they just looked like a team with no heart. I hope that this show was not indicative of the rest of the season and the best thing that came from that game was that we don't play again for almost two weeks!!

On the same note of football but away from being disgusted, today is the first Faulkner football game. Most of you know that I am working in the Faulkner football office part time so I know how much hard work these guys have been putting in and I am so excited that game time is finally here for them. Also, I am working with the Faulkner Radio Network this year and will be splitting my time at the games between color commentator, side line reporter, and on site producer. Today, at the game against Samford, in Birmingham, I will be having my debut as color commentator. Depending on how it goes, it could be my final presentation so you better listen in! :^) GO EAGLES!