October 13....A sad day/PLEASE pray for us.

Today has been a sad day in the Hammond home. We had to have our beloved cat, Smokey, put to sleep. I knew that she was old and sick, and to keep her here would only be selfish. I thought I was prepared for this, but I definitely was NOT. I ended up crying all morning.

Having to deal with putting the cat to sleep did give me permission to cry about some other things. I have been so focused on keeping a positive attitude about Tommy’s loss of employment that I have sometimes been unable to cry. I determined in May that I would have a positive attitude, and be a “big girl”. I have “sucked up” the tears so much that I almost couldn’t even cry when I needed to. Tommy has been unemployed since May 1. After applying for well over 300 positions, he STILL has not found a job. I really thought he would be working by now. We were prepared for him to accept a lesser position due to the economy, etc. We just weren’t prepared for it to take this long. Financially, we are doing okay. God is providing, and we continue to count our blessings.

There is something you can do for us if you are reading this:

First, and most importantly, please continue to pray for us.
Second, please let us know if you know of a position that Tommy might be qualified for. He was in production management for over 20 years, but can also work in shipping/receiving, quality control, and several machine shop positions. One of his former supervisors told me once that he really believed that Tommy had a “God-given” talent for management. He has a superior work ethic, and leads by example. He worked in a variety of places in his early employment years including a tire store, hardware store, and 13 years for L&N Railroad (now CSX). He has been employed since he was 12 years old, and thrives on work and handles every task as if it were personally stamped with his name on it. Simply put, he would be an asset to any company he worked for. In his previous job, he was normally the first to arrive, and the last to leave. On weekends he was also on the job, checking on the equipment, or just trying to make things smoother for the week ahead.

We continue to believe that God will take care of us, and will work a miracle in our lives. Will you continue to pray for us?

By the way, if you need a copy of Tommy’s resume, we can e-mail to you in a moment’s notice.

To the birthday girl.....

Happy Birthday Laura (a/k/a LuLu, Lu, Lola, Lucy, Lula Bell, Bucky, Bossy-Butt, Peaches)!

My daughter is 23 TODAY, and I have to say that raising her has been one of the greatest joys of my life. She is the best daughter that I could ever hope for. I'm so proud of her! Who knew how special she would be when she came into this world at 10:16 PM DST in the evening of September 4, 1986.

Laura,
I hope you have a wonderful birthday! I'm so glad you'll be home this weekend. I cannot wait to see you. I love you more than words can even express!

One year ago/Summer recap

One year ago on this date we were pretty busy in the Hammond household. It was the day before Laura's wedding, and we had LOTS to do. Planning the wedding was so much fun. The end result was a beautiful wedding worthy of the wonderful daughter that I raised. I do not regret the money or time that we spent because it was certainly worth it. I cannot believe that she has been married for a whole year AND living away from home. I miss her, but know that living away has given Laura & Michael lots of time to build their relationship without much outside interference.

For all of you young moms who think that your children will be small forever, please take the time to stop and appreciate where you are at this moment, because they will grow up faster than you could ever imagine. You will be sitting in a church surrounded by flowers and family watching them getting married and wonder where all the time went.

When I imagined Laura's wedding there was one thing that continued to plague my thoughts. I could imagine all of the wedding with me smiling and happy, but I kept thinking about how I just did not think I could take it when she walked out of the reception hall....never to be "my little girl" again. It turned out that my sweet grandson Luke had fallen asleep as I was holding him when she left. Yes, I did cry, but having him in my arms was so special at that moment. He was only 8 months old at the time, but he gave me so much comfort. It is a moment that will forever be in my memory.

As I near the end of this STRANGE summer, I must continue to count my blessings. Since Tommy lost his job on May 1, we have spent lots of time together, and we have gotten to do things that we never could have done if he was working. We can always make more money, but we can NEVER manufacture time.

We did get to enjoy some time with Nick, Christy, Luke, Laura, and Michael that would not have been available to us had Tommy been working. We got to go to Holiday World with Nick, Christy, & Luke which was lots of fun. We visited Laura and Michael and went with them up to Lake Michigan on the actual day of my birthday. Laura, with the help of Tommy, Nick, Christy, Deb, Nancy, & Deina, threw me a fantastic 50th birthday party. We got plenty of Luke-time too which we cherish. I think that Papaw (Tommy) has become his favorite. He loves his Nana (me), but he is really into "Papaw" right now!!!! I'm so jealous!

I will go back to work on August 12. Please continue to pray for us, since Tommy has not found a job yet. He REALLY wants to go back to work. He is diligently searching, but there are not a lot of job opportunities available right now in this area. I really do not want to re-locate or anything like that, so PLEASE remember us in your prayers!

Turning 50, etc.

Yes, it's really true. I will be turning 50 in just a few days. I wonder how I got this old when I feel like it was only yesterday that I was graduating from high school, getting married, and having children.

I must say that my life has been truly blessed. I had wonderful Christian parents who taught me all the truly important things in life--that God has the answer no matter what the question. I am blessed with two great children who are Christians, involved in church, and have chosen wonderful Christian spouses. My beautiful 20-month grandson, Luke, has brought so much joy into our lives. It's hard to explain the grandparent thing, but it is as good as everyone always told me.

My sweet daughter, Laura, was in town this weekend because she wanted me to have a party for my birthday----and what a party it was. I was surrounded by family and friends, people that I love who for some reason love me too, even with all my short-comings. Laura, Nick, Christy, Michael, and Tommy did an excellent job planning the party. They enlisted the help of my sister Nancy, Tommy's sisters Deb, and Deina, and the result was wonderful.

Please continue to remember us in your prayers as Tommy continues to search for a job. He is a dedicated worker, and being out of a job is difficult for him. He is the kind of employee that "gives his all" to any job he does, and he thrives on work. He can only cut the grass so much.........he NEEDS to work!!!! The perfect gift for my birthday would be a job for Tommy!!! Seriously, we feel that God has something important for him to do. We ask that you pray for God's guidance in this area of our lives.

My Sister.....

Wow! It's been a while since I've updated. My excuse is that my life is not ALL that exciting, and sometimes I'm just too busy to blog.

Today, though, I have something extremely noteworthy to blog about. My sister, Nancy, is participating in the mini-marathon as we speak. You cannot begin to know how proud I am of her. Last year, she was very inactive and was starting to have lots of health problems. My niece, Nancy's daughter (thank you, Kelly), encouraged her to start working with a trainer. In the last year, I've watched my sister turn into the most positive and amazing person. Now to me, she has always been amazing. Since she is several years older than me, she sort of filled the gap when both of our parents died. I was worried about her because she was started to seem old. I worried that I could lose her. Because I love her so much, you cannot imagine how just thinking of this alarmed me. I will tell you that the Nancy of today seems at least 10 years younger than the Nancy of a year ago. I wanted SO badly to be at that finish line to see her cross it today. I didn't have anyone to go with me, and thought I might get lost so I decided to write about it about the time she might be finishing up. I have been praying for her all morning, and I'm almost in tears just thinking about her right now.

Next year, IF I can keep up with her, I want to be right there beside her. By this time next year, if she keeps going that 14 years in our age difference will probably seem like very little age difference at all.

YOU GO NANCY!!!!!! You are, and always have been, my wonderful, beautiful sister that has always given me so much joy, but today you are my HERO. I love you with all that the love a sister can possibly possess!!!!!!!