I just vacumed under my couch and chair cushions...found three guitar pics, a hot wheel, some playing cards, 32 cents, and enough cheerios, raisins, etc. to make a huge batch of granola.   Gross~

MY WEAPON OF CHOICE---

I was home alone this morning.  Something fell and made a loud noise...I grabbed a harmonica and went to investigate.  It was the only metal object I could find.  Could I have hummed them to death?  Have a great week all!!

MOTHERS LOVE YOUR SONS~~

Mothers love your sons. Tell them that you love them every day. Spend as much time with them as you possibly can while they are growing up ---(and even when they are fully grown.) Raise them to be sensitive and empathetic. Raise them to be strong---to stand like a rock, and to someday be a Godly influence and loving head of their own households. Tell them often, how proud you are of them for the good things they have done---I believe that you can never tell them enough. There is an epidemic of lost, young adult souls in our world. Just love your children...show them your love every day of their lives when you're with them. They will carry that love and security with them forever~~words cannot describe how sad I am today. But for every night there's a day, for every storm there's a calm, and for every ounce of hate and strife there is love and peace. Prayers with so many today~

SANTA IN THE MANGER

My grand son Landon and I just got through doing something that some of you with toddler children and grand children might like to do. I find it such an abstract thing to try to teach very young ones about the true meaning of Christmas---that it is a celebration of Christ's birth, (they really get excited about Santa though, which is fine.) Well, last year I bought several boxes of assorted, glittery, sweet, religious themed Christmas cards for probably 50 cents each. I also have lots of Holiday stickers and return labels in the mail (since I donated to Special Olympics every organization is sending me little incentives and requests for donations.) I sat down with Landon and asked him if he wanted to fill out a card for his mom and dad. He was so excited, I let him pick out which card he wanted to give to each parent and he decorated them with stickers, colored them, and I helped him write his name in them. As we looked through the cards, I told him about each scene on the front, the Wise Men, shepherds, angels, Bethlehem, the star in the sky, baby Jesus in the manger with the animals all around...all the pics that were on the front. We opened the cards and read the simple Christmas messages that were imprinted in them. His little eyes were shining as we went through the bright colored cards. He really seemed to pay attention and repeated things that I asked him about the cards as he decorated them. After he got his mom and dad's done, I gave him the box, stickers, etc. and them let him color, sticker, etc. all the ones he wanted. I think I'll do this every year. You can get Christmas cards and stickers for a dime on the dollar after Christmas. We had so much fun, and it wasn't just all about Santa. (We did have some Santa stickers too though...we put him in the manger :) Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!!

'RED DIRT ROCKER' IS NOW A PART OF THE RENAISSANCE LEARNING ACCELERATED READER PROGRAM---BEGIN TESTING AWAY MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS!!

Hey all you middle school readers out there..."Red Dirt Rocker" is now a part of the Renaissance Learning Accelerated Reader Enterprise. Pick up your copy of "Red Dirt Rocker", (and if they do not have it in your library, feel free to request your librarian to order it), log on and start testing away!  The wonderful sixth graders at IGC Mission Middle School in Coweta are testing as we speak!  I'm soooo excited!

Happy reading y'all!! And I'd love to hear from you.  If you have any questions about the book, what inspired me to write, etc. please feel free to email me!!

You guys rock!
Jody
www.jodyfrench.com

"RED DIRT ROCKER" AND THE RENAISSANCE LEARNING ACCELERATED READER ENTERPRISE

I am so honored that my young adult novel, "Red Dirt Rocker"  will soon be a part of the Renaissance Learning Accelerated Reader Enterprise. Middle school students will have the opportunity to read "Red Dirt Rocker," and then take a test on its contents in order to achieve more points toward their yearly reading goal. This program is a great tool to aid in reading comprehension and confidence.

A big thank you to Coweta Mission IGC librarian Mrs. Susan Landers, and to my publisher Neverland Publishing for their efforts in placing "Red Dirt Rocker" into the program.

Happy reading to all my middle school fans out there.  I can't wait for you to be able to begin testing!

McDonalds and Herding Cats~~Good Sunday

What a fun morning--Monty and I took or Senior Sunday School to Sticky Buns Donut Shop for donuts, (and my daughter Jess, Caleb, Clara Jane and Landon were just pulling up to get some sprinkled pastries before church too!) Then had all of my Grand babies (except for baby Annabelle, who will make her church debut on December 16th for her dedication,) in extended session for Children's Church---We had a great group, and I loved Forrest's expression, "it was like herding cats!!" ...After we went to McDonalds with Maddy and Eddie Jett before taking them back home. Maddy had a beautiful white dress and sweater on and didn't get one drop of ketchup on her---Forrest however was wearing his best white button down. He had a napkin stuck in his tie and was bragging how he'd also not gotten a speck of ketchup on his white shirt either...enter Eddie Jett hugging him with tomato mouth right on the collar--ha-ha----Then got to cuddle with Baby Bell for a bit when we took them home (and Sky removed the ketchup from Forrest's prized Express white crisp shirt)~ Ready to put my feet up and read now~Hope everyone had a great weekend!

DIRKS BENTLEY AND CINDY CRAWFORD'S MOLE!

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I always enjoy listening to, and watching CMT music videos in the morning while I'm getting around and ready---what I don't enjoy is the moment that happens each morning when Valerie Bertinelli pops on after a cool Brad Paisley or Zac Brown video and says, "don't touch that dial!!" Then a 10 minute Cindy Crawford Infommercial ensues for her "miracle skin serum." (every day at the same time.) We get it Cindy---your rich, you're beautiful, you have great genes, you're a model, you're iconic, you have a mole that I'm sure is insured, but I DON'T want your expensive skin care serum...I want Dirks Bentley!

YOU MIGHT BE FROM A SMALL TOWN IF...

I loved the last one---as unbelievable as it sounds to my kids, I actually had a "party line" out in the Choska Bottoms. I lived as far out between Porter, Haskell, Coweta and Taft as you could get on a section line of bad road. Haskell where I went to high school) was actually considered a long distance call for me to telephone my friends, and I'd usually have to ask the neighbor if she could hang up so I could call a friend!! "Cells" were just microscopic particles in or bodies that we learned about in biology back then---but I sure loved living in the peaceful country. I knew Monty loved me when he would drive his beloved  pride and joy candy apple red, 1973 Camero out to my house to pick me up for dates----most of the time after a storm, you'd just have to pick a rut in the mud, gun it and hope for the best!  After date two, he started borrowing his dad's pick up truck!

HAPPY WEDNESDAY EVERYBODY---AND BE SAFE AT THE GROCERY STORE! IT'S A MAD HOUSE OUT THERE~

OKLAHOMA TWISTERS, CHICKENS AND ANGEL WINGS~

 I thought I would share my favorite excerpt from my book~ and a cool pic that I took in New Orleans at The House of Blues~                                                                                                              
                                           

                                    Excerpt From Red Dirt Rocker.  Chapter 5,  pgs 40-42

   Aunt Carmen says or band is as organic as the horse manure in her south forty.  I think that means that it all came together in a very natural way.  We decided on our band's name after high speed winds forced me and the boys into the farm's root cellar one stormy afternoon.  We were practicing when Aunt Carmen came busting through the barn door.  She had a sense of urgency on her face, and ordered us to follow her while maintaining a controlled panic.
     As we ran across the farmyard, I noticed the sky had turned a sickly grey-green color.  Hail the size of quarters began pelting us.  I spotted Mollie trying to squeeze through the lattice under the front porch and sprinted to pick her up.  Aunt Carmen screamed for me to let her be, but I just couldn't.  I grabbed Mollie, soaking my shirt with the skunky smell of wet dog, and jogged back to the shelter.  I handed her down to the other  boys as she grunted and groaned from arthritis.  I then insisted that Aunt Carmen climb down the steep rickety steps before me.
     As I held the door open for her, the hail stopped.  It was as if someone had flipped a switch and blackness came.  It became eerily calm.  I started my descent down the cellar stairs.  It was like a scene from a nightmare.  I looked up to see the wicked side-winding twister that had emerged from the ominous squall line.  The door fell shut with a sharp crack and we all huddled together in the darkness.  The smell of garden onions and dusty potatoes was thick in the humid air.
    Next came the sound...the forbidding sound that only a tornado makes.  A growling, rumbling, whistling sound as though the 10:00 Frisco freight train had been diverted directly across the top of the root cellar door and was ready to fall in on top of us.
    We were all paralyzed with fear as the twister roared over like an angry monster.  I've never felt so small, so scared, so close to God.  Aunt Carmen held the boys and me in her motherly arms and prayed out loud to Jesus.  Dirt and wood splinters spun violently over our heads and it sounded like someone cracking open a pop-top can.  The sucking winds ripped the door off the root cellar, but we didn't budge.  It was all over in a matter of two terrifying minutes.  The untamed twister disappeared back into the dark and thick rolling clouds.
     Jake was the first to go back up.  The boys and I hoisted Mollie up the stairs brigade-style.  We expected to see a war zone as we emerged from our bunker, but to our shock and relief, the tornado hadn't done much damage to the barn or the house.  They were both left virtually unscathed.  The only things the twister took with it were an old rusty plow, two black shutters from the house, and the creaky wooden door to the root cellar.
     The boys and I stood in disbelief as we surveyed the property.  all the color had drained from Cody's face.  He repeated over and over, "The cellar door is gone...the cellar door is gone."
     "Cellar Door Is Gone...that's it...that's our band's name," I said in no more than a whisper.  The hair on our arms seemed to practically stand up and shout, "Yes!"  The boys heard me loud and clear.
     The sun began to peek back out from behind the smeared, grey clouds.  The cold drops of rain dissipated.  Wispy chicken feathers, or perhaps bits of the snowy down of the angel wings that protected us that day, swirled around our tennis shoes. My band brothers and I shook our heads in agreement---Cellar Door Is Gone it was.

RED DIRT ROCKER~ by Jody French

Nascar Drivers and Special Needs Children~~

Visiting tonight with my cousin from Coweta that lives in Dallas who has a daughter with a very rare disorder. We are at the point of laughing at some of the crazy stuff that families of these children have to go through medically---like me and Sky killing 31/2 hours in Tulsa after Eddie Jett's first Dr. appt. today, waiting for a second referral, but the wrong address was on the paper. We arri

ve, unload, walk up, stand in line..."Hmmm...noooo...he's not suppose to be here---hmmm...he's suppose to be all the way on the other side of Tulsa, like RIGHT NOW." Then (I have to be nice here) a dude parked and blocking the entire intersection in front of the Hospital is just chatting away with his "girlfriend" in another car parked directly beside him--we honk...he doesn't move...we honk again---he waves us off--gets mad, hand gestures us, and tells his "girlfriend" NOT to move her car---that we can just sit there until he's good and done!!! (Jody, controlling her impulse to RAM them out of the intersection)... 5 minutes later---Enter traffic jam backed up for 5 miles at a complete stand still between Harvard and Sheridan---(oh Tulsa...you and your road construction!) Then my car, feeling like it's gonna break apart because it has strut issues from being rear ended twice this year, as we fly down the Creek Turnpike, yelling like crazy feinds at everyone to "get OUT of our way!" because we're NOT going to miss this appt this afternoon...mainly because Sky is trying not to go into labor in the midst of trying to get Eddie help. (Cross your legs Sky) Drive 3 times around SouthCrest (left turns only like Nascar) trying to find the right entrance----unload, I carry Eddie Jett up (Sky carries Annabelle with a waddle) and thank goodness Daddy Jeremy, who is done with work for the day, is there waiting for us! Eddie Jett leaps from my arms to his, smiles huge, and gives Jeremy the biggest hug and "oooohh" in the sweetest voice---

My cuz Shelley made me laugh so hard as she told me about her mother having to drive the "get away car" many times as Shelley stole things from the hospital to help keep her little Zoe ALIVE---(seriously) Oh, the choice words slip from our tongues every so often, as much as we hate to admit it in the midst of these "adventures." ---

Shelley's blog is great for anyone with a special needs child in their family---"Confessions of a Sleep Deprived Momma." We think Skylar should write in a guest blog :) You have to give up and laugh at some point ---Eddie Jett always does!

TRICK OR TREAT ROCKS!!

HAD A  BLAST TRICK-OR-TREATING WITH MY LITTLE CUTIES LAST NIGHT--
HALLOWEEN ROCKS!!!!!
Me and Maddy---

FALL RECIPES AND 80'S ROCK BANDS~~

Making this tonight----It is THE BEST!!!!!! One of our family's favorites----we've had the beef, shredded on rolls with the horseradish sauce (OMGeeez) and also as a roast with mashed potatoes~~Cannot tell you how delicious this is! Easy t

oo---Monty's on vacation this week---it'll be fun having time off this time of the year. Can't wait to make all the Halloween treats and decorate more Wednesday. Forrest and the band will be playing at Trunk-Or-Treat at FBC Wednesday night also...they're dressing as an 80's rock band...let's just say Forrest fit into a pair of Miley Ray Cyrus stretch leopard print jeans that are a woman's size 3---- lol Hope everyone has a great weekend---

Favorite Recipes--Beverages--Yum-Yum!!

pinterest.com

Delicious Slow Cooker Three Envelope Pot Roast Sliders

MUSIC PROGRAMS IN SCHOOL

MUSIC PROGRAMS ARE SO IMPORTANT IN SCHOOLS

MAKING PIES~

Forrest and I made pies after he got home from school today.  He made his first pumpkin pie and I made Paula Deans Chocolate Pie.http://www.pauladeenmagazine.com/recipe_results.php?id=2420.  It reminded me of when he used to go to Kindergarten for half a day.  I would pick him up at noon and we'd spend the afternoons doing fun things.  Glad he stayed close this year, and was able to take his college courses locally in Tulsa.  I sure am enjoying this extra time.  I'm a blessed Mama.

Here's the link to the pie Forrest made.  It's the droolingly-delicious Eagle Brand recipe!http://allrecipes.com/recipe/perfect-pumpkin-pie/

TAYLOR SWIFT---RED!

Best of luck to Taylor Swift on her  new CD release today!!  RED!!!!!!
Can't wait to get it!!!

"ROCK ANGEL"---WRITING WHEN I SHOULD BE SNOOZING

I do this thing.  I would venture to say that anyone else with a mind for the creative does this as well.  I wake up between 2:00 a.m. and 4:00 a.m. and begin writing in my head...I'm exhausted from only four hours of sleep last night but, on the bright side, I now have notes for two more chapters of my second novel, "Rock Angel."  I wanted to wake someone up and tell them how excited I was that my plot was developing nicely.  I lay there, beside my passed out husband, smiling at my self-proclaimed, clever ideas. I kind of feel alone, except for the voices and images inside my head---is that normal?

 They need to make a hot line for this.  "Hello---are you there...yes...ok...I have this idea for the main character.  It involves a walk around the block.  Technology has deserted the streets where years ago, skateboards and bicycles riddled the sidewalks.  Enter a cute, chubby neighborhood boy---he's  sitting on his porch eating Cheetos---she talks him into shooting hoops with her.  He gets Cheeto-cheese on the b-ball.  They become friends, she brings him a CD the next day etc., etc.  Just wait and see...it all ties in...it's heartwarming!"  Voice on other end of the phone.  "Wow!! I can't wait to read your new book!  Keep up the great work Mrs. French!!  I'm right here if you need anymore inspiration or encouragement!  Keep writing!!  Keep writing!! beeeep...Your credit card will be billed $19.95.  Enjoy your morning!"

I wish there was a device that could plug into my ear and automatically type out all the ideas I have in the wee hours of the morning. My most productive hours.  Reality hits with the rising of the sun.

AMC's "Walking Dead" just came on.  Gotta go.  Tonight I'm dreaming of zombies.

PHIL AND BRENT LEAVE 97.5 KMOD---MY RAINBOW STATION LOST SOME OF ITS COLOR~

It's October...Sooner football is in high gear, the the leaves are changing, but that's not all that's changed in the past couple of weeks.  I was saddened to find out that local Tulsa morning rock jocks, Phil Stone and Brent Douglas have left our incredible classic rock station, KMOD---Phil and Brent had been with KMOD for over 25 years.

Forrest's very first  live radio show performance was on the morning show with Phil and Brent when he was just 11 years old.  He got to sing a song from his band's original, and somewhat corny and juvenile set, and also a cover or two.  I believe he sang Metallica's, "Wherever I May Roam," and Guns and Roses."Knockin' on Heaven's Door." This set the stage for the big time buzz in the Tulsa area regarding Forrest's vocals and his band's way beyond their years talent.  Phil and Brent made he and his band mates feel so right at home in the intimidating radio studio, with all its illuminated buttons, bells and whistles.  They had us all in stitches the entire time.  Just like in my book Red Dirt Rocker, Phil and Brent razzed Forrest each time he appeared on their show, asking him how his voice could be so deep and mature sounding since he hadn't even hit puberty yet.  His lack of facial hair and dating situations were always on the forefront of their conversations.  Forrest took their good natured teasing with a grain of salt.  He would continually "see them" a clever comment, and "raise them" a quip of quick witted banter as their, never-a-dull-moment interviews ensued---  Phil and Brent were two amazing, very cool dudes to spend a morning with. As Forrest put it with such poetic elegance when he was there for his first live interview, "They were two old farts that were still a lot of fun to be around!"  I have that quote on record.

One comment I remember with most fondness as a parent, was when Phil asked Forrest if he appreciated school.  I'll never forget that when Forrest told them that he loved school dearly and was actually interested in his studies, both Phil and Brent praised Forrest for his self admitted nerdiness.  They gave him great advice, wished him the best of luck, and said they hoped he never got totally jaded by the music business, which can truly eat your lunch.   They certainly knew that if your not careful, being a rock star can get the best of you, (or should I say, can bring the "worst of you" to the surface if you let it get to your head.)  I really respected them for taking a break from all their teasing to have a bit of heartfelt conversation with Forrest.  I know he did as well.

Our Rainbow Station, 97.5 KMOD lost a big part of it's color and shine when Phil and Brent left this month.  I'm sure the great classic rock music will continue to flow from it's radio waves, but Phil and Brent, and The Morning Zoo will be dearly missed by this rock mom.

FORREST WITH TAYLOR SWIFT~~ A DAY TO REMEMBER~

BLAST FROM THE PAST~  Forrest with the gorgeous and inspirational Miss Taylor Swift at the Poll Star Awards in L.A.~~  They look like they could be bro and sis!!!  (The younger (shorter) brother :)  Wonderful memories!! Forrest said she looked just like a beautiful china doll!

Forrest on the set of the film festival short, "In Current Season."
He played the character of Sam---a young man who knows there's more to life outside of his small, home town.
The character role was spot on for him!