An Introduction...Hi Everybody!! :)

I'm watching Julie and Julia (great movie with an amazing performance by Meryl Streep - no one does accents like she does...) and it occurred to me that I let my blog go south and it was time to start a new one, so here I am. Please permit me to introduce myself.

I'm Pam, a.k.a. PamLa online. I'm happily married to my college sweetheart for over 30 years. We still celebrate the day we met. We got through our struggles like everyone else, but we're really happy together. Ralph is now into his 3rd career - limo driving - thanks to layoffs at his previous job (a technician at a somewhat high profile wireless telecom company, so I won't trouble you with names). More on that later...

We live on Long Island, an hour east of New York City. Long Island is an interesting mix. Ralph was raised out here. The topography is totally amazing. You can be in an area that looks like the New England coastline in one area, an old fishing village the next, winding roads like upstate New York in another, and the city in yet another. Culturally, it's great out here too, but the taxes, real estate prices and utility rates are horrendous.

Ralph and I have 5 children, 2 boys and 3 girls, ages 11 - 29, and, in part due to this rotten recession, not to mention rental costs, they all live at home still, which makes for a rather lively household, especially since we do all of this living in a small ranch style house. We have a nice little piece of land that I dream of farming (as in an expanded garden area, chickens etc. (we're zoned for farm animals, so it's possible), but for now, my little garden patch will have to do.

Our oldest daughter, 29, teaches 2nd grade in a small Christian school. Our oldest son, 25, is a mechanic in a co-generator company, and is a musician.
(He plays guitar with a couple of local Christian praise and worship bands and plays with me when I sing (more on that later)...Our 20 year old daughter is a home health aide and loves to work with kids. Our 17 year old daughter is a future chef extraordinare and is finishing her 11th grade studies. Our youngest son is 11 and is finishing 5th grade. I homeschool them both and homeschooled all three of our older children as well.

Since Ralph was laid off, I went back to work at night part-time. I work 4 nights a week as a research interviewer for a marketing research company.
My days are filled with homeschooling and playing Mom's taxi, and my nights are filled with research interviews, playing Mom's taxi, stolen moments with my honey (when he can be home...limo driving means lots of late nights...), and, my favorite home away from home, helping to lead worship at our local International House of Prayer for 2 hrs. a month at a monthly 12 hr. prayer meeting called The Burn. I love it there...Music is like breathing to me.

We have our challenges, raising and living with a large family with adult children, homeschooling, dealing with all of the changes in our lives in the past year with Ralph's irregular work schedule and all of the changes that go with it in terms of personal time and family time, my going back to work part-time, less $ coming in than we're used to and more, yet, in spite of that, with so many folks out of work, we consider ourselves so blessed...Ralph is working, I'm working, the kids all pitch in and help and we're getting by...it's all good. God is good...

Another thing, we're all Christians living in the fullness of our heritage as Jews (I'm a Messianic Jew married to a born-again Christian). More about that as the days go on...

I think I'd like to so something special and end each post with either a Bible Scripture or a song that praises God. For this 1st entry, I'm giving you this song; I've been listening to this song a whole lot lately. After more than 30 years of believing in Yeshua as my Messiah, it still brings me to tears to realize how much He's done for all of us...even me....Enjoy...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6iPL2bCsso&feature=related