Jacob went for his physical yesterday and he's all set for his surgery tomorrow...or if you want to call it surgery. He does have to be put to sleep though, so please remember little Jacob in your prayers, and also me that I won't have a breakdown and lose it! I must be strong for my little wee man! Michael is taking off work, and my Dad will be there with us as well. We have to be at the hospital at 6 a.m., which means we're going to have to get our showers/baths out of the way tonight so we can get up at 5, leave the house at 5:30, and be there by 6. Travis is going to spend the night at Mamaw's tonight so that he doesn't have to get up quite so early.

Also, I have a couple of rather important decisions to make coming up soon, and I ask for prayer on this also. I want to make the right decisions and do whatever it is God really wants me to do. I can't really go into detail about it now, but more on that later.

Anyway, I have some things I need to go ahead and get done this morning (aka phone calls, laundry, clean the bathroom) so I can spend the rest of the day playing with my babies, plus my Mom is supposed to come by this afternoon after school to see Jacob. Jacob has no idea what's coming tomorrow, but I want to make the day fun, nevertheless.

Adios amigos!

I haven't posted any "Tiger News" lately, and there's good news and bad news:

1. Bad news first...Sean Banks (basketball...was the C-USA Freshman of the Year last year) is no longer eligible to play...academic problems mixed with being homesick for his girlfriend in New Jersey caused him to basically give up, and so he's outta here.

2. Good, er EXCELLENT news...Deangelo Williams (football) announced Friday that he will be staying in Memphis for his Senior year, putting off his NFL career one more year! Incredibly awesome! It says A LOT about how far the Memphis football program has come.

Now about my weekend. I had a GREAT, although extremely busy, weekend. Saturday I went on church visitation and me, the Pastor's wife and another lady from our church went visiting some of the elderly shut-ins. It's a very humbling experience, and enjoyable at the same time. It's amazing how much the old folks really do appreciate a visit, and they don't want you to ever leave. I've always loved hearing stories about the past and seeing old pictures, but this one man we visited, he told us about his wife that died back in 1999, and how he always called her "Mean 'Ol Tiger". He showed us pictures of her, showed us pictures of his mother, and even pictures of himself in his military uniform I don't know how many years ago. He left his wife's sewing machine in the exactly spot where she left it...he's never used it or anything. And he does all of his own housework. You'd be amazed how clean his little trailer really was. He told us "Well I know there's no one else to do it, so I do it myself." Amazing. After a couple other visits, we all met back at the church, went over our music for Sunday, and then went to eat Mexican in Collierville. It was great getting together with everyone from church like that. When I am with them, I feel at home. I feel closer to my church family than my own family (my side of the family) most of the time.

Then we came home for awhile, waited for Michael to get home from work, took Jacob over to Wanda's (my sister-in-law) and took Travis to Chuck E. Cheese. I personally detest that place, and in my book, that establishment should be renamed Stress City. BUT it makes Travis happy to go there, and lots of other little kids, too, so that's why we go. Of course, I did have fun playing ski ball just so long as the little girl in the lane next to me didn't steal my balls or climb up in the middle of the lane. Where WAS her mother anyway?? Travis won enough tickets to get a little thing of candy and a sheet of stickers. I felt bad for him because the things he wanted all required like 100 to 300 tickets. But in the end, he seemed happy with his prizes.

Sunday was great as always. I taught Sunday School for the little ones, then we had church, then we went to lunch at Wendy's, then I had to take Michael home because he's sick as a dog, and then me and Travis came back to church for practice, then church again, and then a meeting with all those involved in music. A missionary from Conga came and preached last night, and the message he spoke was for MICHAEL, and he MISSED IT!!! I tried to find out if the message was recorded, but unfortunately it was not. It was something we all needed to hear I'm sure, but I KNOW it was for Michael, and I was sitting in my pew, tears running down my face, because I knew in my heart Michael needed to hear that message. Even the special music went kind of along with his message, which is always neat when it works out like that.

Me and Travis ended up not getting home last night until 9 o'clock because after the music meeting last night, I stayed to practice a song with the other pianist, and then I needed to put gas in my truck and pick up a Coke. We finally got to bed at like Midnight. I stayed up working on the song I was practicing at church, and played various other songs. Sometimes when I play different songs, I'm having my own little worship service...just me and God...I get chill bumps. It's a pretty amazing experience, knowing that God gave me that ability to play, and then I turn around and use it for Him.

Anyway, there's lots to do before Wednesday (the day of Jacob's surgery), so I must get back to the laundry and such!! Have a great week!