I was very cranky most of the day Saturday. I finally got to lie down and drifted off to sleep around 630. Steve called around 830 and was telling me when he planned on leaving from Ft Hood to come down on pass for Nate's baptism on Sunday. We chatted for abit, and then I crashed for another hour or so.

Got up again and walked out to find my son playing Zoo Tycoon...with the volume basically turned off so he would not wake me. We got ready to go, and off we went to JCPenneys.

He got really stressed out shopping. He never was able to explain why. We kept the selections to the more restrictive 'dress code' that the ex and his wife use, as they find some of the clothes that the school allows to be 'innapropriate'. bunch of control crap if you ask me. So, he got 2 new pairs of jeans, 5 shirts and a backpack and a nike ball cap. I've got them all still here at the house, because I need to write the ex a letter and make sure his lawyer gets a copy of it stating that if he does NOT want the clothes he must return them to me, that way I can return them to the store as they were bought on my husband's JCPenney card.

We went to Great Hall Games after that. Its a game store that specializes in minatures and board games and puzzles. None of the electronic stuff. Brandon wanted at least 4 different things that wouldrun over 100 dollars. I said he could have one of the 15 dollar ones, and we sat down to 'negotiate'. He got REALLY stressed over that because he ended up feeling guility because we added telling the truth to the chore list, so it gets rewarded like any other chore he does, voluntarily, without being asked. Or if its a harder one or one he's not accustomed to, he can be asked to do that and still get rewarded. He ends up getting reallys stressed out and acting out too. Including walking off. VERY unlike him. We went to KFC to grab a drink, and we started talking about it and what happened. He got more comfortable with the situation, and then asks me 'well, what about the trash?"

OOPS. I forgot that he had taken the trash out without me asking before we left. He had even asked me about where the liners were. If I had remembered that, I would have gotten him the $15 minatures without hesitation. It totally disappeared from my mind. Sheesh, not only was I cranky on Saturday, I was forgetfull too! Then he realized he forgot his hat at Great Hall, and was stressing over it. We remeinded him that we were going back there anyway to get the minatures so he could get his hat while we were at it.

We ate dinner at the Caboose...this was after my husband got done playing with the fish pond, the pool and fixing the lawn mower.  It wasn't even 830 when I called it quits for the day.

Nate's baptism was...interesting. I've never been to an evangelical church before. Melissa and Joe are members (as well as Joe's mom, dad and twin sister) of St Barnabas the Enourager (Evangelical Covanent). I've never been to a Christian service where the not only are the Gifts accepted, the use of them is persued actively. The energy level was high, postively charged. I've been to a lot of churches but I'd never experienced something like this. All the other churches I've stepped in to are...somber, ritualistic, subdued. The clergy have an air of superiority to them. This one was different. When they baptized Nate, the pastor brought up ALL of the children so they could get up close and personal and truly experience what was going on. I thought that was neat for them to be included. Brandon was asking if he had been baptized, and I was able to tell him yes. He asked what it was like and I told him we will probably sit up front being we are part of the family so he would get a good look at what it was about. Needless to say, he was utterly THRILLED to be able to observe that close. The pastor also made sure to include the children in the rite. At the end of the rite, he splashed what was left of the blessed water on the kids....saying that if they were baptised, they had now been given a renewal of it, regardless of faith. And, if they weren't baptized, well then how many people do YOU know get to play in the water at church? He was so involved, that when they went to sunday school/kids church, he went right with them. *smiles* I'm glad to see he is curious and wanting to learn about faith.

The sermon was about the main pillar of christianity. The pastor flat out said, I dont care what you call God...what makes a Christian a Christian is the fact a Christian believes that Jesus died and the rose from the dead to save our souls. I dont think I've EVER heard it put so succinctly. It was based on a passage from Romans, and tied into passages from Galatians and Paul. Now, the fact I come from a family that has both a nun (dad's sister) and a priest (mom's brother), and my mom was a novice nun (did not take final vows) I was raised in a highly religious family (we went to church every week, sunday school, etc). I knew my Bible well enough to teach summer bible school. I've been in a LOT of different faith churches, and I have never heard a church take the statement and keep it that way. After the sermon, was communion. The kids came back at that point.

Towards the end of the ceremony they were talking about what they called their Intercessory Prayer group. My impression is that a bunch of them get together and pray for people. Sounds logical. And its totally accurate....except, here is where it starts to get REALLY interesting. Before the congregation was dismissed, he had the announcements from the week prior's intercessory prayer session. He described the visions and messages they received. Some of the descriptions were quite detailed, and a lot of times there was no way for them to know what was going on in that person's life...one lady was diagnosed with a throat problem after the intercessory and had not yet told anyone. What came next made Brandon turn white as a sheet. He described a young person who kept hitting a wall and bounced back forcefully. How that person was trying to do the right thing and kept getting bounced back. How that person felt he had lost hope in trying to attain his goal.

The service was dismissed, and refreshments were served, including cake for celebration of Nate's baptism. Brandon took Joe to see the youth center...for all that Joe is a member of the congregation, he didn't know about the building. His father teased him about not reading his email when they eventually came back. Until they came back, we all thought Joe had taken off with Brandon. Joe and Brandon often discuss quantum physics as related to the science fiction realm. One time, Brandon and Joe were doing homework together (Brandon was doing 6th grade math and Joe was doing some college level math). They got into a discussion about one of Joe's math problems. Brandon got it right. During this time, David (Joe's dad) came up and took a picture of me with two other women. Pretty ordinary right? Well, generally, you would think that there would have been at least a minor headbutting. It was the mother-in-law (Joe's mom), the stepmother (me) and the biological mother (veronica). The three of us get along really well as long as Frank (Veronica's husband) isn't around. Veronica is Steve's exwife, and the bio mom of his 4 kids.

So, after that I get introduced to the pastor, Jeff. It was an unusual meeting. I know that I am an intimidating person...I am comfortable in myself and my gifts and my power, so to speak. I am very strong willed, and most people are intimdated by this, especially male. Even though it disappoints me, I have become accustomed to it. When Jeff shook my hand, something happened. He started to release it, and then during that, got 'zapped'. Instead of letting go quickly and stepping back, he strengthened his grip and got zapped more. I have no doubt in my mind that he was reading my aura and picking up on things that make me who I am. He said to me, It is a pleasure to meet someone like you...will you becoming around more often? We need someone like you. Steve chuckled quietly, while I said I would be coming by at least once a month with my son (who, prior to taking off with Joe, asked me if we could come more often). He said he was sorry he had to make it short, but he and his wife needed to go do something. Brandon came back at this point, and I introduced them. I also told Jeff how Brandon reacted to the bounced back lost hope comment. We (Steve and I) took a couple of steps back and started talking with Joe and Melissa and Steve's Mom. What happened next, I didnt expect as he had said that he had to leave. He says to Brandon let's go sit down. They talked for a good 20 minutes. Brandon came back looking uplifted, relieved and more than a little bit perplexed. It is the first time he's ever dealt with people with gifts outside of the family. At this point, he is pretty much demanding to come back every chance he can. Right up to the point that he wants me to address this with the ex. I asked him what they talked about, and he said he told Jeff everything. Jeff came back with if you tell the truth repeatedly, in 5-6 months you will get it. I asked him what 'it' was. He, point blank, says to live with you. Jeff and him also prayed together.

so, we got to Rudy's afterwards. BBQ joint, usually gets best BBQ in Austin when rated. And they are a local chain at that. Steve got to feed Cade his first banana pudding, and Angela (oldest daugher) was laughing. Meanwhile I am talking to David and Linda and Rachel (Joe's twin sister), with Brandon listening, about my impressions. Especially the part about the visions. I do not mention what I can do. She laughed...what, you cannot tell me you do not see things, you know....me: *blink*. Turns out the whole darned family on Joe's side (Joe seems to be the exception at the moment) is highly perceptive. So, in the middle of this restaurant, we have having a discussion about the gifts and how we use them, etc. Brandon is utterly astonished. Not only are there other people like him, me and Steve....we are talking about in public! *grins* Brandon walked away with quite a few lessons by the time we got home. Steve took a nap and then went back up to Ft Hood. It will be about 2 weeks before he can even think about getting a weekend pass. He's going to try to call me tomorrow a couple of times because they have a field ex that starts at midnight, and goes to 4am thurs morning, with a mandatory off period of 4 hours, and doing more of it on Thursday. Chances are, after tomorrow afternoon, I probably won't hear from him until Thurs.....if I am lucky. Its more than likely going to be Fri before I hear from him.

so, afterwards, we run to Camp Mabry...Steve had forgotten the power charger for the digi cam so I can load up pics to Ebay to start auctioning things that I make. While I'mchatting up a friend I do not see very often (Stella, who's a vendor like me, she'd not made a sale all day, so I ended up spending $25 I didnt have on yet another crystal - but the chain was neat lol - so she would have at least made something) Brandon and Steve go into the PX and Steve buys me my own digi cam. I wasnt expecting that. More than likely we will trade off cams when he goes to Kosovo, the one he got me has a smaller footprint than the sony mavica that he has. I dont have a problem with this...but its right now just an option we are talking about.

Brandon played with his minatures, and Steve's (Steve gave him a bunch he'd not painted up and told Brandon that he could paint them for him - they currently have taken over the kitchen and dining area ) while Steve took a nap. After he got up, we checked on why the difficulty with Chase...and they ticked me off. They would not talk to me at all, even though I had the POA and was willing to fax him a copy, and all I was doing was reporting a problem and didn't expect any feedback other than the problem was noted. He tells me I have to fax the POA over during M-F business hours and it would take at least 2-3 DAYS before they got to it, and I had to call them to check to see if it had processed before he could do anything. USAA has spoiled me. Chase really has gone down hill since they were bought out by JPMorgan. They do not even have anything on the Soldiers and Sailors Relief Act on their site. Needless to say, I'm pretty torqued at them for their poor service and unwillingness to work with me. I'm toying with the idea after I get that card under the SSRA of talking with USAA and upping the credit limit on that credit card so I can pay off Chase totally. Not to mention that they will not inform you if the interest rate increase is less than .5 %. It's been going up less than .5% for at least a year. Yeah, I know its on the statement, but I've not actively looked at the statements until I started handling the bills.

So, I get Brandon dropped off last night, and turn around to come home. Stop and get gas (OUCH - and my little truck only has a 20ish gallon tank), picked up some dog food and off I go. I'm about 30-40 minutes from home (in Elgin) when I come across the inside lanes and center lane closed. There's no construcion there. It's closed off by about half a dozen cop cars and crime scene tape. There is no less than 20 vehicles pulled off the road and there had to be around 50 people watching this scene like it was a circus. There was at least one fatality that I saw. The body was covered by plastic sheeting, and a corner blew up a bit and I got a glimpse of the body. If I had not stopped for gas and dog food, there was a high possibility I would have witnessed it just based on knowing the timing of the police and such to get it to that point. There has been nothing on the news about it, so it probably was a pedestrian jaywalking across the street....oh, its about 10pm when I go through that place, so it was DARK. Probably was wearing dark clothes to boot. Got home, did a bit of paper work and crashed.

Today, I got up and busted my butt. Since my wonderful sweetie fixed the tractor, I was able to get 90% of the back 40 cut FINALLY. I'm not allergic to ragweed, but I got hit in the face by a ragweed bush, and at some points I was thinking the tractor was occasionally smoking (no smell though so thats what gave it away), when it was actually high concentrations of ragweed pollen. At the amount that was being spat up and how thick it was, even if you did NOT have an allergy to ragweed it was going to affect you, it was that thick.

*sighs* a friend's check that was given to me for some products bounced today. I absolutely hate finding out on my own as opposed to being told. *shrugs* but that's my problem apparantly.

I'm sure there is more, but I'm pretty much done for this evening....