Where to find my printed books in person! #ImSoExcited #WGVGymnastics
October 5, 2020
Books in Person
Ebooks are a thing of today, but I love having real “in person” books. I love the smell, feel, and none-glare of reading from paper.
I also like to see what I’m buying before I buy it. For this reason, I love bookstores! (Honestly, I’m not much for online shopping period.)
For those of you like me, you can see some of my print books “in person” at the Pro Shop inside the WGV Gymnastics facility – and if you decide to buy one of my printed books, DVDBooks, or Audio CDs, please buy from the Pro Shop as that purchase helps support our gym!
I’m super excited about my partnership with WGV Gymnastics! Walk inside the fantastic facility, check it out, it is amazing! If you decide to turn left, dive into the Pro Shop, and just buy a book or CD, thank you so much for your support! If you want to inquire about youth events and gymnastics instruction; see the front desk and sign up for a free trial class!
Window Wall
Front Desk & Just Inside
Look at all those Colors!
Entryway! – Portal into a Glittery World
When your gymnast decides this is awesome fun and you sign up, make sure you mention that “Nancy Tart” sent you – you get a discount off of your annual registration by mentioning my name!
Thank you for reading!
You can get ebooks from this link or browse printed books at the Pro Shop!
As a family, we got to watch a new movie called “Onward” (Disney/Pixar) recently. Curled up on our couch, eating tangerines instead of popcorn, we also got to discuss this movie during the end credits.
I was pleasantly surprised at this movie.
(Spoiler Alert! If you haven’t seen the movie and want to watch it without knowing the end, don’t read any further!)
In this technologically advanced world that mirrors our own, mythical creatures have lost their magic and settled for the easier way of doing almost everything. Fairies don’t fly. Centaurs don’t run fast. Elves don’t go on quests. Wizards don’t exist.
The only relics of magic are mirrored in a game that young adults play like our Dungeons and Dragons.
The protagonist is a 16-year-old elf named Ian whose older brother, Bailey, is lost to this “gaming” world and set a little in the past with his audio cassette tapes and 70s roadie van he built himself like a hot-rod. Ian never knew his father. His mother’s centaur policeman boyfriend is a far cry from the father figure he is looking for.
After a bummer of a birthday, Ian and Bailey are given a special present from their late father – a staff and crystal and a spell that supposedly will let him come back for 24 hours to see who his boys grew up to be.
So the spell doesn’t work. Mom leaves. Bailey enters as Ian is actually making the spell work – and enters half-dad. Yes, Ian brought back a walking pair of pants with purple socks and leather shoes. Bailey knows it’s his dad because of a tap-tap on shoes game they used to play.
The boys go on a quest (based on Bailey’s game knowledge) to find another crystal and bring their father all the way back.
They end up finding the crystal but releasing a curse (huge dragon made of weird stones pulled from their school and a construction site) as the sun is going down (when dad will disappear).
Ian has realized that his real father figure is Bailey and that Bailey is the one who must speak with dad because he blames himself for being scared of the hospital and missed his chance to say goodbye to his dad in real life. Ian starts the spell to bring dad back and leaves him with Bailey so he can fight the dragon. Mom and a manticore bring in a magic sword to kill the dragon (she was on her own side quest). Through teamwork, the curse is destroyed, Ian uses magic to repair all of the dragon damage, Bailey gets to say goodbye to his dad, and magic reenters the lives of some of the people; the biker fairies are now flying, policeman centaur boyfriend is now running, and Ian now is a wizard.
The theme is love: Mom’s love for her sons and the brother’s love for each other. The lesson of enjoying what you have instead of wishing for what you don’t is also there. Ian wishes for the father he’s never known and wants to be like him while ignoring or disregarding his elder brother until he realizes that all the love he was searching for in a father figure has been coming from his brother all of his life.
We discussed how it is very easy to focus on what we want but don’t have yet miss what God has given us. In every situation, our character shines with how we choose to handle said situation. I choose to focus on what is with me now. Right now, I’m thankful to still have a job when so many I know are suddenly unemployed. I’m thankful to be able to play more board and outside games with Christina and Becky – all the girls, but they had started to get heavily involved in extracurricular activities and with Christina driving, I had seen less and less of her. Forced online college courses and the closing of CAP and the gym mean I get to hang out with her more. I’m enjoying what I have.
Live your life enjoying what you are given and love your family with a sacrificial love: that’s our take from “Onward,” a very entertaining, slightly funny, kid safe movie with real truths embedded in it.
See Lucas? See Louis? Yes. Louis is lifting Lucas up to get ice cream out of the freezer so they can use that milk on the counter because Lucas wanted to make cookies and cream milkshakes.
Sometimes you can’t reach what you want without being lifted up.
This made me think of how everyone where I live is helping each other. It’s like when a hurricane comes and everyone seems to band together and help each other. Those who cut trees up so people can get out of their driveways, those who give water or make lemonade for linemen, someone who shares their firepit or grilled food with the neighbors.
The same thing is happening now. Only instead of being shut down for a couple of days max, we are currently on the third week of shutdown. The end doesn’t seem to be in sight; especially for the young as my daughter’s senior friends are afraid they won’t get to walk for high school graduation.
Look for the helpers.
Look for the need and fill it.
This is how we pull together and make our world better.
This is how we will rise again stronger than before.
Help won’t be a pork barrel stimulus package passed because it included raises for those who passed it.
Help will be from the local community – friends, neighbors, family, churches, local businesses. We will stand up together and help each other as we haven’t before. I see it already in bits.
So instead of feeling helpless alone in your home wasting time worrying about what you can’t control (like the stimulus bill, a virus with long incubation, or the fact that your household just lost 3 of 4 jobs) do something!
Call your friends and give them an encouraging voice.
Call a church or community organization and offer to help in whatever capacity exists.
If you are one of the few with extra, support your local businesses right now by utilizing their services or buying gift certificates for later so they can pay their bills and open up when this is all over.
Brighten someone’s day (yes, especially if they live in your own home!).
Pray for wisdom in leadership.
Text and say “hi! hope you are having a lovely day!” just to do it… and expect a call or text conversation because they realize you care.
We can do these things to keep our sanity and help encourage others. Remember what a great man said after beating polio firsthand, living through the Spanish flu epidemic, and leading our country through the Great Depression… “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.” (Franklin Roosevelt)
Instead of just looking for the helpers… BE a helper! BE an encourager!
In our church Sunday, the pastor spoke about how Enoch was one of his heroes because he was remembered as one who “Walked with God” by faith. I thought about that.
In my life, there are several people no longer here whose legacy includes: “they walked with God.”
Am I living my life so that part of my legacy will be: “She walked with God?”
What does walking with God look like right now?
My translation is that it means we communicate openly with God. We listen as well as speak when we pray. We remember to ask God’s direction in everything in life – jobs, moves, vehicles, routes for the day, etc. We have a type of open communication where we speak to God as if He were a very close friend. Don’t you have friends whose advice you seek out when making decisions? God should be primary in such things.
One of the ladies I was privileged to know once told me that she “breathed in God every morning to start her day off right.” She woke at 5am every day and had her coffee outside on her little porch or in her garden. She talked about God like He was a very close friend. All of her stories included “so after praying,” “after discussing it with God,” “well, I asked God but it wasn’t what I wanted to hear,” etc. She lived life full and open. She was far from perfect, but she wanted to be as godly a woman as she could be.
She ran her race and finished strong.
Examine your heart and see: are you in a close friendship with Jesus? Would you say that you ask His advice first? How do you interpret “walking with God?” Are there mentors or friends in your life, here or in heaven, who you would say “walked with God?”
Thousands of years after he died, Methuselah is remembered for having the longest recorded life, but Enoch, who lived about 1/3 of the standard lifespan at his time, is remembered for “Walking With God.”
Once there was a little girl who
loved dogs and prayed for a little black dog.
Her mom had already agreed to take the least wanted puppy from a litter
about to happen. Her mom prayed the
puppy was black.
A few weeks later, Mom got a call – the mommy dog had shoved one baby puppy away and it needed special care. Mom said, “we’ll take it” and the tiny “runt of the litter” fluffy puppy came to her furever home. That was February 25, 2008, almost 12 years ago. And yes, other than a white spot on her tummy that grew to cover her belly and some brownish tan on her paws, the puppy was black!
Sheba with (L-to-R) Kimberly (Sheba loved snuggling on the couch), Jaquline (Sheba would sleep on the walker to keep Kimberly and Becky from “racing” the baby around!), and Thea.
Sheba became the Tart family’s
perfect dog. She loved the three little
humans who grew up with her. Kimberly
was only five months older than Sheba!
Sheba ran around, grew up, played, made doggie friends, herded chickens,
mothered lost dogs who wandered in, loved on chickens when the Tarts lived on
their farm, snuggled with baby chicks, guinea pigs, the two rabbits, and Christina’s
baby puppy, Prim.
Sheba had a wonderful doggie
life.
L-to-R: Sheba with Jaquline (Jaquline insisted Sheba loved “Snow Dogs”), Kimberly had “dressed” Sheba in a beaded necklace she made, Sheba’s favorite sleeping position on any couch.
L-to-R: Sheba in the playroom, Sheba loved the tile floor in that house!, Mom said “no more movies” and the girls couldn’t find the remote… (Sheba had it!) Sheba loved to sleep on that table for some odd reason.
(top) Sheba with puppy Primrose, (bottom)Sheba with Lady (one of our doggie friends), (right) Thea climbed up on the couch to snuggle Sheba, who was sleeping in her new, weird, favorite position.
L-to-R: Baby Lucas, Jillian, and Sheba at the end of the bed (right next to the crib), Sheba’s favorite spot in that garage (next to the food bag!), Thea rubbing Sheba (she loved her soft fur and had just learned “dog!”)
Last year she started to slow down a
bit. In December of this year, she
started feeling sick some days. The vet
said her stomach was failing. Vitamins and special food helped a little. She wasn’t able to digest all her food and
she would get skinny and we had decided once she was in pain, we would put her to
sleep. None of us wanted to lose our
Sheba. She loved being outside when it
was cool because she was bushy furry (we
teased she was an a/c dog because she slept on one of the air conditioning vents
in summer and almost refused to go outside in summer daylight!). On cooler days, she would play on our run
while we were outside. Christmas Day it
was gorgeous. Sheba said hi to both
Grandmas when they visited and ran outside almost the whole day in gentle cool
breezes. We were petting and snuggling
with her by turns. She sleeps a lot since
she’s been over 10 so when she curls down to sleep we usually let her rest. We were enjoying a Christmas campfire and
telling stories. Louis went inside to
get some water. I knew Sheba was fully
asleep when Louis stopped by her longer than just to stroke her and turned his
flashlight on. I handed Thea to Mom and
we verified that she was fully gone. I stroked her soft, fluffy coat one last
time before I wrapped her in her blanket.
The older girls came out to
help. We buried her and said goodbye to
our best furry friend. Sheba had spent
more time with me than any other dog.
She was our first family dog. My mom said, “Sheba probably found Boompa
and Aunt Mary in heaven.” Christina laughed, “oh, yes, she instantly found Aunt
Mary!” Because every time Mary would stay with us, Sheba would seek her bed out
and snuggle with her – I’d be like, “no dogs in the bed, Mary,” and she’d
giggle, wrap Sheba in a bear hug and say, “but she’s a big, fluffy stuffed
animal!” and Sheba would give us the sweet sad eyes so she’d get to sleep with
Mary. Sheba always snuggled up with
anyone who wasn’t feeling well – she always seemed to know before we did.
Kimberly said she had prayed that
Sheba would get to run loose outside, thinking of us having a fenced yard at our
new house, but Sheba had been running loose anytime she was outside lately and stayed
near the house because she didn’t feel good.
Louis set candles out on her grave
for the night. We’ve planted flowers
now. Each pet we’ve lost, we’ve buried
and planted a tree over it as a reminder. Louis called Sheba our perfect dog. That she was.
The Garden Bed we planted for Sheba
Thea’s first Christmas was Sheba’s
last. Our furry family treasure went to
heaven, “raced over the rainbow bridge” as Jillian said, after spending a full
Christmas Day with her family and “Grandmas.” It had been Sheba’s favorite
outside day, gentle cool breezes with a mild, wintery temperature where she’d
stand, face in the wind and wag that super fluffy “duster” tail. I’m going to
miss my Sheba. Two months shy of 12 full
years from her February 25th birthday – rather long for a dog. Goodbye, my sweet, lovable, playful furry
baby; I love you Sheba, run free and fast with no leash and no borders! Your
human family will miss you!
You often read that cousins are
usually your first friends. They know
all about you, love you regardless of your differences, and enjoy life with you
from start to finish…
Gaylord Pearson Family (My parents & siblings) – 2002
I always dreamed of how close my siblings and I would be as adults and prayed our children would grow up together, loving each other as true friends. Just like sisters and brothers. My sister, Katy, even started the kids calling each other sister-cousins and brother-cousins – they act like siblings when they are together. They are tight as buddies and fight like enemies – yet love each other through all celebrations and disagreements.
So this day, Jaquline, Jillian, and Anastasia had a sister outing! Becca (my sister, Anastasia’s mom) took all three of them to go see Frozen 2 in a real theater – oh see those smiles?
I didn’t hear much about the movie except, “it was good,” but heard all about the jokes, fun ride, giggles, and enjoyment of their time together.
I try to teach my littles to focus on relationships – invest rather than spend time. I also want them to have competent adult mentors to look up to. I pray they never feel they can’t talk to me, but I hope that if they feel they can’t, they know they have dozens of family members and close trusted friends they can go to. Aunt Becca is such a strong, wise aunt (and super fun), my older girls have already gleaned life wisdom from her and ask advice sometimes. (And since Mom is as much a student of makeup as they are… they honestly are waaaaay better at it… they usually ask Aunt Becca for beauty advice!)
I so admire how my very busy sister
takes time to invest in my youngsters!
They LOVE all Aunt Becca outings!
I try to invest time myself – especially in those little humans I’ve been blessed to raise. I sometimes feel time slips away. (You know, when I realize that was the last Thursday morning I’ll be required to drive Christina to college as she gets her license the day before her next semester starts in January.)
Yesterday was a day of firsts for me to watch. Theadora is just beginning to want to explore. She has this cute portable baby holder (looks like a walker, but baby just stays put in it and plays with some toys you choose to attach), you know, like a camp chair only for babies. She liked that fine for a few months – at home, outside, at work, she was happy standing there, doing squats, and playing with her turtle.
Thea in my office with her portable baby holder
Then a friend gave her a baby
bouncer. This thing is like a walker,
except it’s attached to springs on the frame and stays in one place with built
in activities and a seat that spins 360 degrees! Epic.
Thea loves it. When we get home,
that’s what she wants! Christina
introduced her to the drum set – and Thea loves that too. Banging on stuff with both hands is now a bonafide
activity.
And this is the bouncer Thea loves!
Now the portable baby holder doesn’t
cut it. Thea jumps in it and makes the
whole thing move. The dogs in my office
have differing opinions on that – Faux is cautious, Beau thinks “Yippee, new
toy,” and Lily looked up at me, whined, and vacated the office.
She loves the floor too!
Thea wants the floor or the
bouncer. No in-betweens. On the floor, she’s been pretty static. She has been rolling for about three months,
but carefully, as all the floors in her environments are hard – she seems to
have figured that slow, controlled rolling is how to do that without pain. She’s been doing what I call “Superman Baby”
since about the same time, but swivels round and round in a three-foot
radius. I could put her on her blanket
and she was good – wouldn’t leave it.
Yesterday she discovered two new
things:
She grabbed the baby holder, pulled
it over to her, and pulled herself up to sit!
Mom is not ready for that!
“Spiderman Baby” aka being spread
eagle like an X, pushes up with her arms like a push-up and toes to feet with a
shove and rockets about a foot at a time forward! Mom is really not ready for that!
Mom is not ready for Thea to be mobile! I thought this as my mind replied, “were you ready for Christina to fly? Drive? How about Becky taking college classes? Kimberly flipping around in gym? Jaquline wearing high-heels? Jillian making lunch? Lucas finally tying his own shoes?” Everything in life is a next level. I love baby mode aka infant level, but also enjoy watching them grow and mature. I enjoy being a part of their fantastic lives.
Thea just jumped from infant level to mobile baby level – watch out world! (Or, maybe just watch out house.)
I’ve been working on two projects for each of my children. One was a crocheted blanket for each – king size, crafted from their favorites in a pattern they chose. I’ve only completed one. The second is about 15 rows from completion, but I haven’t worked on it since Thea was born. It took me 17 months for the first half of Christina’s, but during one superbowl at Louis’ dad’s house, I completed the other half! So I’m fast, but it will likely be the next week I have off – and then I’ll start on the third of seven.
The second was started in December 2016. It looks like a simple book, right?
Actually, I started a journal for Christina.
It tells family stories, I write my Bible study notes, discuss issues, and write my prayers. I tell “her story” from my perspective starting from the last page moving forward. I saved the fourteen pages in between this story and my “journal” for family. I am going to ask women in our family to write encouragement and blessing to her in their own hand in the journal before I pass it on to her.
I’ve got a central core of stories I will have in each journal – all will be slightly different because I never write the same exact words each time.
I want to write all the wisdom I’ve heard in stories from my grandmothers, mothers, fathers, and mentors in a way my children can read them when they choose. Maybe they will be encouraged, challenged, or just smile realizing that they are not alone in a struggle they feel slightly too proud or too embarrassed to ask for help about. I try to relay life and our journey in these bits. I manage to write at least once a week and direct most of my writing as if I’m talking to her. This also helps me to process my thoughts. I also have a required study day if I forget. (Which, yes, sometimes I read without studying, but at least once a week I remember to write my study!)
Such a simple little book. It holds our family memories, stories, and encouragement for a young woman. (I need to get busy on Becky’s as they are growing up too quickly for me!)
I haven’t been writing for my blog often. I’ve been very busy lately! (And yes, the picture is an old one, like 4 years ago, but it’s one of my favorites of Becca & Anastasia.)
This past week was totally amazing in how God just orchestrated things to work out for good.
If you’ve been reading, you probably know my little sister has been going through some rough medical challenges. Read this if you don’t know about it. (Okay, she’s always going to be “my little sister” to me, even though she’s a very competent adult.) On Wednesday, my Mom texted me at work (she was playing taxi for Becca) with awesome news!
God had closed up one of Becca’s varicose veins! But she was already prepped for surgery and had prepaid for it so the Doctor said they’d do the worst vein on the other leg. That was so amazing! Actually, they scared her to death before telling her it was good news. The nurse with the Doppler says “stop talking” and moves the Doppler around with a serious face. Becca’s heart jumped into her throat. Then she sets the wand down. “Let me get the Doctor.” And then Becca had to find her calm place and bite her tongue as they both moved the Doppler stuff around and made comments like “I see it” and “yes, that’s odd.” Becca said finally the nurse says to the Doctor, “shall I tell her, or do I?” and then they told her it was gone. They offered, since she was already prepped, to just start in on the other leg (the worst, largest vein) so of course, Becca said yes.
The second miracle happened two days later. Anastasia has been severely allergic to eggs all her life. Like so allergic she needs an EpiPen and can’t touch anything that touched eggs. We have chickens, so you’d think our house was a definite no-no, but we are very diligent about keeping her away from our eggs and washing everything (hands, countertops, etc) to keep any contaminates from her. And we bake cookies, breads, ice cream, and cupcakes without eggs anytime she’s over. She’s really good about asking if it has eggs in it. (Louis picked up a cookie snack from Aldis when she was shopping with us & she asked, “does it have eggs?” so we put it back and Christina made eggless cookies instead.)
Anyway, so much for backstory… at the end of school, the school gives back all medications to the parents. Normally, that’s on the last day, but they almost gave Anastasia’s EpiPen back on Thursday instead. Her Dad wisely didn’t take it; he told them her Mom would get it on Friday.
So her EpiPen was at school for the party day.
And that was when she needed it. She misunderstood somehow and thought the cupcakes were eggless, so she ate one and two bites into it, her body rejected it and it ended with her in anaphylactic shock. Although she had to go to the hospital, my brave 5-year-old niece recovered fine. Becca raced from work to get to her. The paramedics let Becca drive her to the hospital and she was admitted with a “severe level 5 reaction” so the doctors had to observe her in case her reaction returned as the medicine wore off. (It didn’t.) The Doctor was extremely helpful and handed Becca his card, which had John 3:16 written on it!
God lined everything up so that Anastasia would have her medicine and get just the right care.
Our family has felt the love of God and amazing miracles in the prayers, support, and love from all of you! Please continue to keep Becca in your prayers! I just had to pass along how awesome our week had been in the way God had been letting Becca feel His presence through these challenging moments.
God always has our best. We give Him our lives with all of our stuff and He blesses us with His constant love and care. He shows us love and grace and we are the hands, feet, and arms of Jesus on Earth. Sometimes we are the givers and sometimes receivers. And sometimes God shocks everyone with something totally unexpected like healing something in our bodies!
Thank you God, for Your warm arms gathering my little sister and her baby in Your tender care!
My little sister has a big fight ahead: Spreading her story is one way I can help.
May 6, 2019
Fighting “the Silent Killer”
For the past few months, we’ve been praying and hoping as Becca, my sister, went from doctor to doctor, clinic to clinic, and eventually the hospital over an unknown infection that was bothering her on her leg. They said it was ringworm, an infection from “dirty water at work,” a spider bite, etc. She heard everything but none of the treatments seemed to help; most only caused severe pain where there hadn’t been pain. Her main complaints were a growing discoloration, open wound that wouldn’t heal, and itching.
Last week, on Friday, May 3, 2019, she finally had a serious answer. A wound specialist here in Saint Augustine told her for sure (results of several tests) that what was causing her leg problems was a condition that usually affects those over 55 – burst varicose veins causing blood clots. This is often called “the silent killer” because there aren’t any painful signs. If left untreated, the blood clots begin to travel. Once a blood clot reaches a vital organ, it causes death.
Doppler tests (like a sonogram) showed several blood clots. Three are already traveling. The specialist stressed immediacy. Becca was glad to have an answer, but she had no clue how she could pay for the six (6!) surgeries needed as soon as possible. Without counting medications, aftercare such as dressings, lack of income from missing work, and the looming bills from previous misdiagnoses, she will need $18,000.
Then a series of God-orchestrated tumblers began to fall; family volunteered to help, Becca found she could “cash in” her vacation time for an emergency, and her credit card limit increased – she was able to gather enough funds to start one of the six surgeries. Her first one is scheduled for Wednesday, May 8, 2019. We are praying and believing God will guide the surgeon’s hands, heal Becca, and cover medical costs for her.
Several of us suggested using “GoFundMe” as I always help when I see one local. Becca didn’t want to ask; so we decided to do it for her. We love our sister and although, yes, I’m sure over time she’d make it work – she needs this now. Without having a big enough fund to grab into, we have each other. Each of us, giving what we can, helping as she does for us, we can all pull together and help Becca.
The reason we like “GoFundMe” and local networks that ask for help is because it shows the power of each of us in our community. One woman needs help moving – pretty much has the whole job packed and moved in a weekend. My midwife is constantly letting us know about moms, babies, or families in need: I always try to give. Becca always gives. I find hope in seeing people help each other. I enjoy helping at food pantries and raising money for charities. I love these because everyone’s little bit helps to make big things work.
Becca started crying tears of gratefulness when she realized people donated shortly after we set it up. Thank you for showing our community’s heart. This is how we fight the silent killer.
Please pray for Becca now and if you can, please consider donating.
