UPDATE:  Thank you to all the prayer warriors who prayer for my co-worker.  The last report I got was that she is doing much much better!  Look at the power of prayer!  She went from a 0% chance to live, to a 5% chance to live, to doing much better!  The chemo is working, she is repsonding well and they are struggling to keep her calm so she won’t pull out her IVs and tubes.  From the report I got, unless something unforeseen happens, she is gonna live and not die!  Thank you for your prayers, but don’t stop, please keep praying!

NEW REQUEST:  The below prayer request is from my co-worker and fellow Indiana-ian Trish.  Please join me in intense prayer for her dear friend, her friend’s husband and the family.  We have seen what God can do for a breast and lung cancer victim!  God loves showing off!  Removing the “worst kind” of cancer and healing Pancreatitis is all in a day’s work for Him!   I await more miracles and healings and recoveries! 

In the meantime, we aren’t stupid here, we know both situations ”look” bleak and quite honestly totally hopeless but we know a greater God who loves to take the dreariest of situations and bring light!  Please believe with me and hold Trish and her friend and family up in prayer!  I’m looking for a miracle!  I expect the impossible! 

Holla back!

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I’m sure you know kleverkathy is an interactive site and I ALWAYS encourage opinions and comments, etc. Today I would especially like everyone who reads this to communicate with us.

I am posting a prayer request and ask that you add yours and so on and so on. The power of prayer is still the most dynamic force we have to fight with and if we combine those powers… wow! Miracles will unfold, healings will happen and what seems impossible will be made possible!!! I know you have something you need prayer for. Please contribute and then let’s pray… together!

I have a coworker that was diagnosed with breast cancer. They did surgery but had yet to start chemo when she began feeling bad. She went back into the hospital and they found fluid on her lungs. At first they couldn’t identify the fluid and said it was unlike any fluid they had ever seen. Tests revealed cancer in both lungs. But by then, her health was rapidly declining. They gave her a 0% chance to live. ZERO! They called in the family and basically did nothing else. They said if she lived through Monday, they would start radical treatments of chemo. She did! Now they have given her a 5% chance of living and now they are hitting it hard! They are giving her double doses of chemo twice a day for eight days. Eight days. If at the end of those eight days she is responding, they will continue doing everything they can for her to live and not die! If she is not responding, the family has to make some big decisions to make. But… she is a fighter and I know a God that will have EVERY doctor in that hospital standing over her, shaking their head in amazement at her recovery! And that is what I am praying for!

So now we are at day five. I have been praying but I need additional warriors who will go with me and add additional strength to those double doses of chemo twice a day! I want to be a part of a 2010 miracle! The doctors have given her a 5% chance to live but without a doubt, God can make up the other 95%!

Please pray with me for her healing and total recovery, with no signs or traces that cancer ever resided in her body!

What can I pray for with you?

Holla back!

Good news! It is not too late to be a part of the Kleverkathy 2010 Couple’s Caribbean Cruise! All you need is a partner (of the opposite sex), a deposit and an attitude for fun! Currently we have 9 couples on our adventure and there are a limited number of spaces left! We’d love to have you join us! Of course you can go on a cruise anytime but here’s the thing, this one is already planned and ready to go! All you have to do is pay your deposit now, pay the balance on or before August 1, 2010 and get ready for a fun, sun filled, extraordinary excursion set on the breathtaking back drop of the gorgeous Caribbean! What more could you ask for? Because we are going as a group, there are perks and bennies that you’ll receive with the group that you won’t get if you travel alone. But…. just because you go with us as a group doesn’t mean you and your sweetie have to vacation with us!  Please take advantage of this prearranged expedition and make it your romantic getaway for two! We go as a group but we vacation in whatever style suits us best!

Please read all the information below so you will know exactly what you need to do to be a part of our exciting voyage!

DATE:
The date of the Kleverkathy 2010 Couple’s Caribbean Cruise is October 24 – 31, 2010.

ITINERARY:
Day #1 – San Juan, Puerto Rico
Day #2 – At Sea
Day #3 – Bridgetown, Barbados
Day #4 – Castries, St. Lucia
Day #5 – St. John’s, Antigua Day
Day #6 – Philipsburg, St. Maarten
Day #7 – St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands
Day #8 – San Juan, Puerto Rico

TRAVEL AGENCY:
Omega World Travel Leisure Office. Our agent for the Kleverkathy 2010 Couple’s Caribbean Cruise is Aleece Rothandler. Aleece is very happy to be working with us and comes to us out of the corporate office in Fairfax, VA.

CONTACT INFO:
Aleece Rothandler
Omega World Travel Leisure Office
3102 Omega Office Park Ste 100
Fairfax VA 22031,
Phone: 703-359-8888
Email: arothandler@owt.net

CABIN COSTS:
Keep in mind; these are all PER PERSON costs based on two occupants per cabin:
Inside cabin – $704.83
Oceanview – $804.83
Balcony – $944.83
Suite – $1443.40
What’s your pleasure? Which cabin would you like? You gotta let me know ASAP as we are already rolling!

PAYMENT INFO:
* NOW – initial down payment of $500.00 PER CABIN (not per person) is due. This holds the actual room you will occupy during the cruise.

*August 1, 2010 – Final payment is due! So after your initial deposit, you don’t actually have to pay another dime for 8 months at which time, your final payment is due. I don’t recommend waiting until the final due date, but it is up to you. I foresee February – April cruise payoffs with your income tax returns!

* Flight breaks – We will possibly be able to get deals on our flights! (Remember, flights are not included). I will stay on top of that and I will get with Aleece on flight breaks as soon as she is able to do it. Good to hear huh?

CANCELLATIONS:
If for some reason you would have to cancel your trip, you can cancel up to 60 days in advance and get your full refund. After that you loose 20%.

VERY IMPORTANT:
It is BEST to pay by credit card. If you do have to cancel and are awaiting a refund, receiving you refund after paying by cash will take up to 16 weeks, however, if you pay by credit card, you will receive your refund within 3 – 5 days, big difference. Hear me on this one! I don’t want anyone’s feelings hurt if you need to cancel and have to wait four months for your refund. You will blame me! And I won’t blame you for wanting to blame someone, but I am telling you now. If you haven’t heard anything else, please read and re-read this.  But understand; paying in cash is acceptable. Just be aware of the above stipulations before you decide your payment method.  Also, at the time of deposit, Aleece will need to know your full address and birthday.

PASSPORTS:
If you don’t have a passport, run, don’t walk to your local post office and ask them to help you get started with the process. Passports are a must have when cruising!

Q & A:
Ok, I think I have covered the initial things necessary to get started. I’m sure many of you will have questions and concerns I haven’t thought of. If so, please do not hesitate to shoot me an email letting me know. More than likely it is something all of us will want to know too.

I am always available to you!
Week days from 7:30 – 4:00 pm eastern time:
Kathy.a.curry@us.army.mil
706.545.3328

Evenings and weekends and anytime:
kleverkathy@gmail.com
Aanp37@aol.com
Kathy@kleverkathy.com
812.369.0914 – 24/7
706.225-7849 – evenings

I think that is all for now. Got a question? Just ask! That is what I am here for! I am really trying to make it as uncomplicated as possible!

Need anything…. (say it with me) Holla back!

Happy Thoughtful Thursday to you! It’s a good day! I’m doing well and hope you are too! Yes, this is a long post today, but please read it all. Maybe it will help save a life!!!

Did you see Oprah Monday? I had seen previews and purposely set the DVR to tape it. It was about driving while talking on your cell phone and texting. Wow… It was a sad show. There was a wife and a daughter whose husband and father (two men traveling together) were killed due to a young man driving while texting. Surprisingly, the young man who caused the accident was on the show also. As it goes with life, he was not part of the accident he caused and he walked away without a scratch. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail, community service and a few other mild punishments. But he was remorseful and very sorry for his actions. Although the two women lost their loved ones, I almost felt sorrier for the young man whose life is forever changed for being the catalyst of taking two lives.

Rarely do I get mad at Oprah but I was getting irritated because every time she addressed the young man about the situation she would ask questions or make statements like: “how do you feel about killing two men”? Or “after you learned you killed two people…”. I’m sure it was not easy for him to come to the show and put himself out there like that (he teared up and shed a few tears) and then to have Oprah keep making statements saying he killed the men, well I just thought it was insensitive and unnecessary. With years of interviewing skills surely she could have opened her vocabulary to a more compassionate way to address the young man. As he said and I can imagine is true, he has to live with what he did for the rest of his life! It haunts him and he can’t make it go away! But that is not why I’m writing.

I just could not believe the horror stories and statistics I was hearing. Not only did they talk about texting, they talked about simply talking on your cell phone while driving. Here are the stats. Talking on your cell phone while driving, is equivalent to driving while drunk. Chances of getting in an accident are 4 times greater when driving while talking on your cell phone. The same as while driving drunk. Chances of getting in an accident while texting and driving are 8 times greater!!! What are you going to do?

Oprah came on the screen at the end of the show making a plea to us not to use our cell phones while driving. She asked for a commitment. I have made that commitment. What she said and it’s so true, we all think: “I can handle it! That won’t happen to me! I got this!” Well… the young man on the show responsible for the death of two men said the same thing! He thought he had the skill down pat! But when he looked up one day and had crossed over the line on the highway, thus causing a fatal accident, he knew different! And I am guilty! Although I am not a 20 year old, I still fall within the “texting frenzy” age of 18 – 49 and I am by no means a shabby texter! I can hang with the best of them!!! I’ve been known to crack the 1000 mark in one month! Uh huh… And if I do it while driving, and I have, I am wrong! Living and working on a military installation kind of keeps it all in control because driving and talking on a cell is not permitted and carries a fine of $75.00. And yes, I have been pulled over once for driving while talking on a cell and was blessed with only a warning. Done with that! Next!

I can’t remember all the stats they quoted on the show but I do remember them saying that 6,000 people have died due to cell phone related car accidents. That is 6,000 too many.

One more thing. I do have one question about all of this. Weren’t the first non-land line phones car phones? Weren’t we encouraged at one time to use mobile phones while driving? Now we aren’t! With law after law coming into effect, what use to be the newest and greatest recommended innovation is becoming a no no. Because here’s the thing, forget the devices that allow you to talk without actually holding the phone in your hand, that is not what they are talking about! They are saying, studies have shown that talking while driving period is a distraction and wrong! It doesn’t matter if you have an ear piece, Bluetooth, or the real fancy systems where you are connected through your car’s system, don’t do it! Talking in and of itself is distracting. I must concur. I use to ride with a coworker to different cities. He would be hands free on his phone and I would be pointing at the exit and he would just by pass it time and again. He wasn’t texting. He wasn’t holding his phone in his hand. He was simply talking on the phone and he was distracted. I did it myself the other day, drove right pass my exit because I was caught up in my conversation. And several years back, I was that one that had an accident due to talking on my phone. Being engrossed in my conversation, I gauged what block I was on incorrectly and an SUV hit me on the back end of the driver’s side of my car. I went to the hospital but was blessed with only a giant bump on my head. Had I not sped up when I saw him coming, I might not be here writing this to you and imploring you to change your lifestyle and habits, and NOT use your cell AT ALL while driving!

I love to talk on the cell phone on the highway when I am driving alone and I think straight highway driving is safer than city driving but I am going to try to stick with my commitment and not cell and drive! It could be a matter of life and death!

Holla back!

Welcome to Thoughtful Thursday. Today I have a mixture of five random questions, thoughts and concerns. You’ll see by my list, I’m all over the place but it is a good day! Despite my circumstances or the circumstances surrounding me, I’m employed, I’m healthy, my family is employed and healthy, I’m happy, blessed and highly favored of God! Here we go.

1. I am so sad about the catastrophe in Haiti. My husband, brother, sister-in-law and I stopped there during our cruise in 2007 and got to see a snippet of that country. To know that so many families are destroyed and devastated is heart wrenching! I pray help is there and more is on the way. I pray the hurt recover and the sick are healed.  I pray every need they have will be met!

2. Is it possible that Bill Clinton really said: “A few years back, this guy would be serving us coffee” about Barack Obama? Not the man that, until this election, was deemed the closest thing to a black President we would ever have! …and are President and Mrs. Obama really alright with Clinton and Reid’s comments or is the high road just for public view?

3. Why is 99% of the Facebook community called to preach on Facebook!!! Holla!!! FINALLY a platform for all the “wanna bes” TO BE!!! Er’body is soooo deep on Facebook!

4. Why do SOME of those called to preach on Facebook, preach one day and cuss and say awful things the next? I have seen pictures and words and exchanges from kids and adults that surprise/shock/astonish/alarm me!

5. A few weeks back I brought a book that I just started reading January 1. I arbitrarily ran into it and bought it without much thought but am so impressed I wanted to share it with you. Some may already know about it. It is called: 30 Days to Taming Your Tongue. What You Say (and Don’t Say) Will Improve Your Relationship. The author is Deborah Smith Pegues. Great book! It is a quick and easy read. You only read one, 2 – 3 page, chapter a day and it takes about 5 minutes. She writes beautifully and everything she writes is based on scripture! It is written to be read in 30 days. Apparently I am on day 14. So far I have read about:

• The Lying Tongue
• The Flattering Tongue
• The Manipulating Tongue
• The Hasty Tongue
• The Decisive Tongue
• The Argumentative Tongue
• The Boasting Tongue
• The Self-Deprecating Tongue
• The Slandering Tongue
• The Gossiping Tongue
• The Meddling Tongue
• The Betraying Tongue
• The Lying Tongue

Today is The Cynical Tongue and tomorrow is The Know-It-All-Tongue. Truly I have enjoyed reading this book! Truly I have been whipped and shamed by seeing myself when reading this book but I will continue to read it and see myself in some chapters because I am determined to be better and do better! I may have to go another 30 days and reread it all again, but I intend for it to get in my spirit and be a part of who I am! I don’t want my tongue to be my demise and the reason I don’t make heaven my home!

FYI: This author also has many other “30 days to…” books including:
30 Days to a Great Attitude
30 Days to Taming Your Finances
30 Days to Taming Your Stress and many others

If you don’t get any others, I recommend this one! And there is a workbook that goes along with it!

Be blessed and holla back! I want to hear your thoughts on my five random thoughts, concerns and questions!

Today I’m happy and I just wanted to share!  I hope you are well and succeeding at whatever you are attempting to accomplish.  I hope your dreams are becoming reality.  I hope everything is working out the way it is meant to work out. 

Here are the five things I think you should know.

-The first thing you should know: my three year old Grandson can recite The Pledge of Allegiance! Holla! …and he can count to 80. (of course he can!  by the time he was two he could say and identify EVERY letter of the alphabet!)  Grandmother loves it!

-The second thing you will know by the time you get to the first thing: once your children grow up, being responsible for a three year old, even for a few hours is challenging! Holla! I explained to my Grandson what “wearing Grandmother out” means!

-Here is a big thing you should know: I was in Indiana when Jim Caldwell, coach of the Indianapolis Colts, took out the stars of the team and demolished their winning streak. As a born and bred Hoosier, I was not happy! Tomorrow is not promised to ANY of us thus my theory is, play big or stay home! And do it, everyday of your life, for each and every occasion!!!

-I’m sure you all know this one: recovery from the Christmas holiday takes longer and longer every year! Getting back in the swing of things after Christmas is a baby step process!

-The most important thing you should know: the year 2010 holds no greater promises for me than 2009 did! My blessings nor my break-throughs nor my fortune is tied to any particular year! It is tied to me and my faith and my actions and my motivation! 11:59 pm on December 31, 2009 was just as important to me as 12:01 am on January 1, 2010! I don’t believe the hype and neither should you! How disappointing to wake up in 2010 believing a miracle is going to fall out of the sky simply because it is 2010 instead of 2009! I appreciate every sermon and message I’ve heard that tells me to turn the page and step into a new glory and has promised this is my year but the funny thing is… I’ve heard it all before! And I have had hard times at some point of every year and I have been blessed and received miracles at some point of every year! God and His promises and blessings are true yesterday, today, and forevermore! This year, last year and next year!

Those are the five things you should know!  I encourage you to share the things you think we should know and as always, leave your comments, thoughts and opinions!

Holla back!

Hello! I’ve been away from the computer and kleverkathy for about two weeks while submerging myself in my holiday enjoyment! I am not all the way back yet but I wanted to quickly say: I hope your holidays were spectacular, family filled and relaxing… and I double hope the New Year brings you overwhelming joys and blessings in all areas of your life!

We’ll talk soon!

Love,
Kathy