The Morning Show with Mike & Susan

So a neighbor asks to use your stroller  (that you don’t need anymore) as an extra for her family and you agree.  Then a few weeks later you’re babysitting and you need to use the stroller for taking the baby for a walk - and you send the kids next door to get it - and the neighbor says NO! They’re not going to give you your own stroller for the walk -

WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

Sam and Dad

Sam

Here are some new pictures of baby Sam Kankelfritz and look at this little guy!! 

Chillin in his bouncer

We’ve got Leeland Tickets for tonight’s intimate concert event to give away! 

School is back in session for most kids and their parents - so, that first day - what kind of memories do you have?

We have moved into the new offices that our giving listeners have provided for us.  It’s great it means the majority of the KSBJ team is now in one building instead of being spread out in three. 

The building is beautiful and we’ve been decorating our own office space to make us feel at home and have a place we like to work from.  It’s terrific!

I have my own office, and I’ve worked hard to make sure it’s decorated in tasteful and “Susie” decor.  It’s peaceful and I’m surrounded with natural things that make me feel good about being here.  I love it.

But, you know it feels like the First day of school when I was a kid - I mean, everything is new and clean and you feel like you can start over - your locker isn’t stacked up with junk and your notebooks are all clean and neat and you feel like it’s a do-over.  This year I’m going to keep all of my notes straight, I’m going to keep my locker clean - I’m going to do things right this year!   This new office sort of feels like that kind of do-over.  You know this time I’m going to keep my desk straight, my files updated! etc etc…

It makes me appreciate the School supply and Back Pack collection this year..think about the way it made you feel to have all of the new things for a new school year.  How you felt you were equal to all of the other kids for that first couple of days - everyone had a new box of crayons, a new backpack stuffed with new sharp pencils,  neat notebooks just waiting for the first class when you could put your own name in them.  You were feeling like you have a Fresh Start!

But if you can imagine what it would feel like if everyone around you had that new stuff, and that new start, but your family couldn’t afford it this year - How would you feel if you had to ask someone if you could borrow their new  crayons, or pencils - ” Can I borrow some paper?”  It’s hard to feel like you can do your best if you start out this way. I mean it’s not just embarrassing - it can set the stage for the way other kids treat you for the rest of the year.

I’ve gotten a fresh look at what it really means when we can help support the School supplies and Back Pack drive! It’s like GRACE

MUSIC REBUILDS GALVESTON this weekend was amazing!  I loved getting the chance to work elbow to elbow with so many of our KSBJ people!  We were scraping and painting and hammering and putting people’s homes back in shape or close!  I got to meet Mrs Mack - Linda Acosta - and got to work on their houses for a while, both ladies are amazing women of faith who have seen alot of adversity since Hurricane Ike. 

Mrs. Mack had been working to renovate her home before Hurricane Ike hit.  She had completed most of the upstairs and was about to have the house in shape when the storm hit.  She had to gut the house again and start all over - now, ten months later - she’s still working on it and can’t live in it YET!  She was so gracious and appreciative of the work the KSBJ crew was doing during MUSIC REBUILDS GALVESTON.

But, there is something more about Mrs Mack that many didn’t even notice.  She was not only getting work done on her own home, she was helping to lead the work on a number of other houses.  She is one of those on Galveston Island that was devestated themselves in the wake of Hurricane Ike - but they’ve  dedicated themselves and their energies to also helping all of the other needy people around them get their homes back too.  She was precious.
Linda Acosta lives alone in a little house that was in one of the harder hit areas of Galveston. One block from Linda’s house it still looks like the storm was a few days ago.  Linda’s home is furnished with gifts from people that loved on her after the storm, from her beautiful living room set to the glass dining table the Catholic League gave her.  She’s had to start all over again, but she does it with such a sweet spirit.  As a matter of fact - she sent us this note to say thanks….

” Hello There! I would like to please send this message out and also a special prayer to those who help me yesterday paint my house in Galveston.  Also, would like to say a special thank you to Susan who was at my house yesterday.  Thank you Susan !!!  My home at (*****)-Galveston. “There were so many people there to help me plus by taking the time for me and also what they give.  Have a blessed day all!

Linda Acosta

That’s sweet! We were far more blessed than Linda! It was so great to work on her house - there were even some students all the way from China who were there painting. 

Then, I met Miss Mary.  Miss Mary is a woman of advanced years.  She’s tiny in size, maybe a petite 4 foot 10 or so.  She was beautiful.  Her white hair carefully in place and her make up perfect  as she stood on the porch of her home that was being scraped and painted thanking those of us who were there.  I’d been there most of the day before I finally stepped inside this big beautiful old  home.  Mary welcomed me into a house that was nearly gutted…there was a bed in the front room with a lone rocking chair nearby - she’d been living in that room since the hurricane.  It was (for the most part) the only livablroom in the house…there was no sink, stove or counters in her kitchen.  This precious little elderly woman told me she had been eating sandwiches since the hurricane from a refrigerator that you might find in a dorm room.   jThe only plumbing in the house since Ike is the bathtub and ‘facility’ - no sink.  

She’d ridden out the storm in this house that she’d lived in her whole life with her disabled brother.  They endured the wind and rain coming into the home, a tree fell on it.  Since the storm, she’s lost her beloved brother and continues to live alone in this poor house that is her home. 

She asked for nothing, was appreciative of everything and continued to stand with the same dignity she had before the storm.  I was so very blessed to meet Miss Mary. 

There are alot of people like Mrs Mack, Linda and Miss Mary who need our help still in the wake of the Hurricane on the island and surrounding area.  Music Rebuilds Galveston is a great place to start - but this is going to be something that takes a long time.

Catherine Kruppa your nutritionist  has the skinny on the fattening foods we all tend to eat at Thanksgiving and wait til you hear how many calories a Traditional Thanksgiving meal has to offer!   Get the details on the show This week or  check out  her website.

We wanted to help out the family with this website dedicated for helping families find local restaurants that let the kids eat free!

Check it out! http://www.usakidseatfree.com/territories.aspx

You could be surfing around the net and suddenly - ” Hey! That’s MY picture!”  If you want to be sure they can’t use your pictures — Go to your Facebook account

Click on SETTINGS up at the top where you see the log out link. Select PRIVACY SETTINGS. Then select NEWS FEEDS AND WALL. Select the tab that reads FACE BOOK ADS. There is a drop down box, select NO ONE.

I’M INVISIBLE. >/ > It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I’m on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I’m thinking, “Can’t you see I’m on the phone?” Obviously not. No one can see if I’m on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I’m invisible. > Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this? Some days I’m not a pair of hands; I’m not even a human being. I’m a clock to ask, “What time is it?” I’m a satellite guide to answer, “What number is the Disney Channel?” I’m a car to order, “Right around 5:30, please.” > I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude - but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She’s going … she’s going … she’s gone! > One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England. Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself as I looked down at my out-of-style dress; it was the only thing I could find that was clean. My unwashed hair was pulled up in a clip and I was afraid I could actually smell peanut butter in it. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, “I brought you this.” > > It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe. I wasn’t exactly sure why she’d given it to me until I read her inscription: “To Charlotte, with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.” > In the days ahead I would read - no, devoured - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work: > (1) No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names. (2) These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. (3) They made great sacrifices and expected no credit. > (4) The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything. > >A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, “Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it.” And the workman replied, “Because God sees.” I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, “I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you’ve done, no sequin you’ve sewn on, no cupcake you’ve baked, is too small for me to notice and > smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can’t see right > now what it will become.” > > At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my > own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride. > I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As > one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree. > > When I really think about it, I don’t want my son to tell the friend he’s bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, “My mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table.” That would mean I’d built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him > to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his > friend, to add, “You’re gonna love it there.” > > As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if > we’re doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women. > > God Bless You as you build your Cathedrals!

Improve your eating
Write off weight. To lower BMI, keep a food journal. Jotting down all bites is the top predictor of weight loss.

Befriend a farmer. Shop at a farmers’ market to balance your diet (lots of produce, no packaged snacks!).

Eat heartily in the a.m. Make your morning meal the main one. Aim for up to 500 calories. Studies show big breakfasts can keep you small.

Start cookin’. Prepare at least half of your meals at home. It’s one of the best methods to ensure you take in more vegetables and less fat.

Snack smarter. Stop smoking and munch right to help your body stay at a healthy weight. For every cup of fruit and vegetables quitters add to their daily diet, they reduce their chances of gaining weight by 13 percent, a study in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reports.

Cut calories in your cup. Limit yourself to one glass daily of soda or alcohol. Replacing caloric beverages with water can help you drop up to 20 pounds in a year.

Get your brain on board
Chill. Relaxing daily can lower the stress hormones that spur overeating, a study from Harvard Medical School in Boston finds. Carve out 20 minutes each day to commune with nature: Regular visits to areas with trees reduce stress.

Swap reruns for sleep. Replace half an hour of television watching with additional shut-eye daily and you’ll wake up with lower levels of hunger hormones. Plus, it’s easier to make healthy choices when you’re rested and energized.