The Christianville Spirit: The Adventures of Flooring

The Christianville Spirit
The Spirit that Inspires You
June 30, 2010- TCS # 205

So, Yesterday was the near end of something We’ve been dealing with for a while now. You see, It started 2 weeks ago when My Mom first told me that something was leaking and the fact that when she stepped on our hardwood floor, little bits of water was seeping out of it. My Mom came home that night and there was much more water and we found out that it was coming from The Refrigerator. After finding that, My Mom panicked because she didn’t where in the refrigerator it came from. And, The next day, the trial began. First, They had to tear up most of the kitchen hardwood floor which meant there was just gritty concrete in the kitchen. But, oh it gets worse; next, to dry to wet spots they had to put 5 roaring fans and a humidifier. And, I’ll just tell you how loud it was! You see, Normally our TV’s Volume Number during the day sits anywhere between 15 and 20. So, when they were turning on the fans, I was watching ABC’s World News Tonight and my volume was at 17. As each fan went on, I had increase the volume so, I could hear it. By the time, the workers left from Part 1 of the project, the volume was a blasting 35 and even then, I couldn’t hear everything that they were saying. So, eventually I couldn’t take the noise anymore. So, My Mom and I started watching TV in her room. The next day, They had to put a plastic containment border around the kitchen and a little bit of the living room, which the Insurance Company required them to put up instead of humidifying the whole house. So, each time we wanted to get food, drinks, or let the dogs out we had to lower a zipper and go through. And, eventually it came to Watching TV in My Mom’s Room and eating in the edge of the living room. One night, while My Mom and I were watching TV, My Mom says “We’re really bonding as a Family!” and I said “Why do you say that?”, she responds, “Because of My Kidney Stone and now, this”. She was Right about that. So, for the next 4 Days, My Mom and I had to watch TV in her room, eating in living room, and all with fans roaring. The fans were removed one by one until finally they were gone and we celebrated with what My Mom called a “Noise Reduction Cake”. So, After That we had to clean up the house so, that they can pull up the old floors and it left more gritty concrete which really drove me crazy. To top it off, Everything wasn’t in it’s place and they had to keep moving the furniture which really confused me. Which brings us to yesterday, they finally finished to the flooring, it looks really nice. All in all, I am so thankful that it’s over.


Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Home Repairs can drive you insane. But, it’s worth it in the end.

The Christianville Spirit: Siblings, The 2nd Most Important People

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Inspires You

June 23, 2010- TCS # 204

So, I bet a lot of PTLS Families are wondering is who is The Most Important Person besides Their Parents that they need rely on? Their siblings, Their Brothers and/or Sisters. You See, a lot of PTLS Kids rely a lot of their parents because they understand them the most and they help stand up for their child if they need it. But, however though as we get older, The Parents start thinking about one hard question to answer for them, ”Who is going to take care of My Child, if something happens to me?” What makes it hard is that The Parents want to make sure that whoever is left to take care of them will do a good job. Most of the time, when it comes to who to choose for their guardian, which is the person next in line to take care of them can be the secondary parent, the sibling, or aunt/uncle.(depending on who understand them more and can support them) But, the way they choose is that The Parents and The PTLS Child themselves have to know that they can rely on their Brother/Sister to protect and support them. Let’s just say that, The Parents have an emergency out of town that they have to take care of. Who is going to take care of their child? Even as a Young Adult, I need My Brother to understand and watch out for Me. For The Most Part, I can take care of myself but, I still need someone to watch out for me. It’s important to My Mom that My Brother is there for me; I’m sure it’s same for other PTLS Parents. All in all, no matter what age, We still need someone to watch over us.



Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. If you’re a PTLS Family, Cherish The Fact that you have 2 or more Kids because it’ll make that question easier to answer.

The Christianville Spirit: The Oil Spill and Our Beach

The Christianville Spirit
The Spirit that Inspires You
June 16, 2010- TCS # 203

As most of You know, around this time of year My Mom, Grandma Honey, Myself and other family members are getting excited about our annual Smith Family Beach Vacation in Gulf Shores. But, as you can tell by the news about the oil spill, we’re most likely not going this year and if the oil isn’t stopped soon, likely stop going. Now, My Fellow Readers I can probably say that you’ve heard about and are sick of it. But, I feel it has gone on long enough that I have to say something about it. First of all, My Family’s Traditional Beach that we go to now Black from The Oil. Now, the space between the beach houses and the end of where the water washes up is still white. But, the thing is that is where no one goes there, except during a walk on the beach where you don’t get feet wet. Anyway, all of this oil stuff is making me mad because no one seems to doing anything, I mean I can say that at least BP is doing SOMETHING. But, still I think they should be doing more or either that BP should have let the other Nations like The Netherlands or Norway to help(which they have decided to do now) Anyway, The point is that their ruining 2 things, Our Family’s Beach Tradition and The best beach on the gulf. Actually, I know for sure the beaches spacing from Panama City to Biloxi/Gulfport are the best and most white beaches on the gulf. If you go farther west, The beach’s beauty doesn’t get better until around Corpus Christi and South Padre Island. One of the things that we loved about Gulf Shores were The Dolphins that put on a really good show for us every year, The Crabs that we would watch scurry across the beach, and The Sea Turtles come to nest their eggs every year at the same time, same place. But, now I’m concerned about all of them. All in all, I love my annual trip to the beach and I am really going to miss it.


Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Cherish the Places that you visit and Your Family’s Traditions because you never know when you’re going to lose them.

The Christianville Spirit: My Allergy Test

The Christianville Spirit
The Spirit that Inspires You
June 9, 2010- TCS # 202

So, 2 Days ago, I had to go to ENT because I have headaches all the time and we’re trying to figure out why I’m having them. Anyway, I had to go I had to have an Allergy Test done. Now, I had known for weeks about what it generally was and what was going to happen. But, Boy was I in for a treat. Now, Most People hate needles, including me but, for someone who hates them, this allergy testing was like your worst fears come true. This test had 2 parts to it, The first part, which I was ready for was a caterpillar-like prong with 20 small needles on it and that went on my lower arm(below where you usually have blood drawn) and that went up my arm to that point. After that was done I had to wait 20 Minutes to see if there was any reaction and there were only 2 that I saw. After the results were recorded, It was time for the 2nd part. Now, what they told me it was going to be was that they were going inject a needle just below the skin. Well, I actually assumed that it was going to be one shot, little did I know. So, the test was actually 36 INDIVIDUAL SHOTS. Yes, You heard me right 36! What a Surprise! They made 3 rows on my upper arm. Some of them you couldn’t feel much and other really hurt. The Results of the whole testing were that I was allergic to Cottonwood, Bermuda Grass, and The most surprising to me, Cats. So, all in all, It’s good to at least know what your allergic to so, yourself and others know so, they can prevent you from having an allergic reaction. But, it’s quite a test.


Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. If your going to get an allergy test, be ready for it.

The Christianville Spirit: My Mom's Kidney Stone

The Christianville Spirit
The Spirit that Inspires You
June 2, 2010- TCS # 201

So, On the Eve of my 200th Newsletter, I got up on Tuesday and everything was normal. I was having my lunch and my brother was sitting with me eating his lunch. That was until my Aunt Kathy came in and told me and my brother that My Mom was sick and had pains in her belly. So, I walk in to My Mom’s room to see if she was ok and she was laying across her bed in a curled position, quivering in pain. I asked her if she was ok and she said in a quivery voice, “No” and I asked her how I could help and she told me to put my hand on her lower back for pressure which actually helped. She turned out okay after an hour or so. Now, this wasn’t the case but, I actually thought that she was pregnant but she wasn’t. She was fine for the next couple days until she felt the same way again on Friday. But, this time Kathy and Michael weren’t around to help. Kathy was probably doing a massage and Michael was at Work. So, I was the only one at home with My Mom quivering in pain. This time since there wasn’t any help around, I panicked. I was so close to calling 911 because I didn’t know what was going on. I tried the stuff I knew, Ask Questions about how it started and if she had called anyone. She had told me she had called Kathy to let her know and so, I called her again saying “My Mom’s having an attack again” and she replied “I know”. so, there I was the only one at home and My Mom having what I called an “Attack” and waiting for Kathy to come over again. Aside from having my hand on her side, I felt so helpless because I didn’t know what to do and even if I called 911 which I was so close to doing, I thought to myself “I know the main parts of calling 911, You have the address, important details on if you have animals to watch for so the people are prepared.” but, then I thought, ”How do I describe what’s wrong with My Mom” well, after a little while of waiting Kathy comes over and help My Mom with this one. On Saturday, we decided to have a Garage Sale and she was fine all day. That was until around 5 o’ clock when My Mom and her long-time friend Judy began making plans for a cook-out that evening. But, then it happened again. But, this time I was more prepared for it. So, I did the same thing and while My Mom told me to look up “Kidney Stones”. So, I looked it up and read the symptoms, meanwhile Judy came to get My Mom to the Emergency Room. At about 11 PM she comes homes with 4 Band-Aids on her arms because she had been poked 4 times because they couldn’t find her vein. So, I was right and it was a 5mm Kidney Stone that she named Baby Huey. Since her diagnosis, she had several more “attacks”. Poor Mom! During this ordeal I felt helpless, sad, and sick to see My Mom like that. I was scared to death of what was happening with My Mom. I made me have an emotional crying/worrying spell and I was afraid she was going to die, stay in the hospital for several days and there wouldn’t be enough food for me to eat. My Mom had to assure me that she was not going to die, there would be food and people to take care of me, and that I did a lot to help her. And, in the end while I was crying to her, she told me I saved her life and I was the biggest help to her. All in all, this is has been an experience with how I deal with Emergencies. Though My Mom still chuckles when she thinks about the time she is quivering in pain and My OCD kicks in. She asked me to bring her medicine and stay and push on her back. But, I had to take the medicine back to the medicine cabinet, reminding you that I walk slow everywhere, before I could go rub her back. That’s just the way I am.




Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. I hear having a baby is less painful that giving birth to a Kidney Stone. I don’t want to experience either.