Cherish Me Please

Drowning

2006-09-22T16:53:00.000-07:00

I need to take a break from blogging. My life is getting away from me. I feel like I am on a fast track to nowhere. Things are just over my head right now and I need a break from the computer. I hate that I can not visit blogs, I hate that I can not post everyday, and I hate the feeling of letting everyone down.
I will be back very soon! Just as soon as I can tread water again...

Pictures of the Injured!

2006-09-19T18:44:00.001-07:00

The x-ray pictures did not come out clear.

Football Season is O.V.E.R.

2006-09-17T14:29:00.000-07:00

Friday night my son's team played in the rain. A very slippery ball and many turn overs. My son did a great job, of course!!! ~winks~ The won 18 to 0, yeahhhh!!!!! They have yet to have a point scored against them.

Saturday I took my son and his friend to see the Gridiron Gang. They really loved the movie!!
Then my son went to the park to play football with the neighborhood kids. He returned hysterical and writhing in pain. A 10th grader went to tackle him pulling him to the ground with a snap that everyone heard.
Well the snap they heard was his collarbone breaking. We spent Saturday late afternoon and evening in the hospital. They took x-rays and put him in a sling. We have to see an orthopedic surgeon on Monday.

Trying to Catch Up~

2006-09-12T06:43:00.000-07:00

My Anniversary Present from TC
How cool is this trophy?

Trampoline:
We bought the kids a trampoline. I have said I would NEVER have a trampoline because they are dangerous. I have said this for the past 10 years and meant it! I am not sure what happened or how my daughter talked me into it. But I think she is going to be a successful lawyer if she stays on her career path. I bought it from Sam's Club and it is huge! You had to purchase the trampoline and netting separately. I hurt my shoulder, mid and lower back trying to help the Sam's Club idiot get the trampoline on the cart. He could not lift it so I thought I could help him, BAD IDEA!!! It was a family affair putting this monster together.It took almost five hours. Here is a pic of the kids on it before we got the net on it. (They could not wait another a second!)

FOOTBALL
My son had his first football game after coming off an amazing season last year. They were undefeated the entire season and championship games. My son was voted best defensive lineman. (Proud Momma) Well unfortunately my boy was sick over Labor Day weekend and missed his first game. His team won the game 8 to 0, yeahhhh!!! My son kept calling his coach on his cell phone for updates. I pleaded with the boy not to call his coach anymore but he did.

This past Sunday was his first game but the team's second game. It was a home game and our team won!! YEAHHHHHHH!!!! The score was 29 to 0. My son was hot!!! He made this one tackle that was just unbelievable. This guy on the side line said who was that? who was that? I said MY SON!!!!!!!!! Then they announced over the loud speaker an UNBELIEVABLE Tackle by and gave his first and last name!!! They said his name many times over the loud speaker which was very exciting. Last year, they only called the three coaches kids names because the announcer did not know any of the other kids. Well we have a new announcer and he really followed the game. My son is on starting offense and defense so he played a lot the first half but not as much the second half. As soon as our teams goes up by 2 touchdowns they put in the second and third string kids. Then if the other team scores they put in the starters until they score. They always keep that 2 touchdown lead. Let me tell you our second string did FANTASTIC! They scored two touchdowns but missed the extra point. I was very proud of our team and my son!

Five Years Later....

2006-09-11T00:00:00.000-07:00

The sadness lives on.

WHAT????

2006-09-02T09:51:00.001-07:00

I started this blog August 27th last year. So as I just passed my one year milestone. (WOW blogging for one year) I realized I also hit another milestone this is my 300th post. I keep thinking 300?? Impressive! hehe

I think you all know just about everything there is to know about me. I have an online friend who is very special to me. We have been friends for a long time, I think 9 to 10 years. I have been trying to figure out how many years and I know I have been online for about 11 years and I met him in the beginning. We met playing Backgammon on yahoo. Well he just started reading my blog. (Waves to Stephen) He said to me that I come across really weird in my blog. LAUGHS!!! He is finding things about me that he never knew.

I originally decided to leave this blog completely anonymous so I felt free to write about everything and anything. As time passes I have revealed where I live, pictures of my children, pictures of me, my birthday and I have handed over my blog address to my friends. I guess being anonymous has fell by the waste side. But I did realize how much I truly reveal here with Stephen's statement.

I guess truth be told I am weird. Chuckles... Heck anyone who knows me for any length of time knows I am a bit odd. GRINZ!

So after 300 posts I have decided that I have a lot of favorite posts, alot of funny posts, some sad posts, many confused posts, some posts I wished I did not post, some revealing posts and other posts just craving attention. I can not even imagine the infinite number of pictures I have scanned trying to find just the right picture. The three picture posts I did for my blogroll was fun and time consuming. But truly worth every second spent to find just the right pic. All in all it has been a wonderful experience for me.

I have a toss up for my favorite post one is Innocence Lost and the other Why Children Do Not Tell.

I have a toss up for funniest post. One post was about my dishwasher saga and the second was about my space horrors.

Well it has been a fabulous year and I have made some really wonderful and lifelong friends. Thank you to everyone who has made this experience so wonderful!!!

Are you as excited as I am about the surprise party? Do you already have my present? OOOOOOOOOO very exciting!!!!!!!

If you are having problems with my gift and just can not think of anything to buy please remember cash is always a great gift.
I have been practicing my surprise face all week. I can not wait for the party.

Here Comes Ernesto

2006-08-30T11:32:00.001-07:00

Happy Labor Day Weekend! (If you are a duck, winks)

I am happy Ernesto is not a more powerful storm. I think this is the same track that Isabel took before paying us a visit in 2003. We are expecting a lot of rain and flooding with Ernesto. We have not had any rain and we are in dire of need of rain but unfortunately the ground is so hard from lack of rain that they are calling for much flooding because the ground will not be able to absorb the rain.

Here are some pictures of the aftermath Hurricane Isabel 2003 and the street where I live. (yes I know it could have been much worse)

My husband took my daughter to the Redskin game tonight. He ran into a few of his childhood friends. They were all checking out some girl and my daughter was OFFENDED. She let her dad know exactly how she was feeling about it. Go Daughter Go, GRINZZZZZZZZ! They were losing when my peeps left at halftime. Did you know the last time the Redskins lost all of their preseason games they won the superbowl. Heres hoping!!!!!!

Speaking of football!! My son's first game is Friday but I have a feeling it maybe rained out. Honestly, I hope it is cancelled. The game is on the Western shore and the last thing I want to do is go over the bridge on Friday of Labor Day Weekend, Arghhhhh!

I stole this from XMichra!!

Sophisticated and dignified, the Queen Fairy knows all about what you can do and what you can't do. She's an excellant leader, and likes being the one in control (not in a bad way; she likes to be the one that makes sure things are organized.) Some people might take her as being power-hungry, which makes her enemies, but even they can't deny that when there's a tough decision to make, the Queen Fairy is the one who should make it. Self-confident and always composed, she brings calm and efficiency wherever she goes, and makes other fairies feel more sure of themselves when she's around. She is probably the most respected fairy for miles around.

Update well Ernesto was no Isabel (THANK GOD)!!! Although he did break my flag pole holder, pulled it right off the flagpole, pouts. Hubby said he will fix it for me!

New Favorite Song

2006-08-28T09:24:00.002-07:00

This will be my second attempt at this blog post as Blogger ate my first attempt. I will be saving often during this post. GRRRRRRRRR why does blogger hate me? I have been trying to add pictures to this post all day. I have about had it with it blogger. I tried to comment on a few blogs to no avail. I just do not understand what Blogger's problem is today. My only darn day off from work and I have been fighting with this stupid program all day.

First I wanted to say that I have the best blogging buddies in the world. Blogging has been such a positive thing in my life. I enjoy reading everyone's blog and I truly miss the time I use to be able to spend reading them. I just wanted everyone to know how much I truly adore them. It is just about a year since I began blogging and it has been a wonderful experience for me. My blogroll has changed completely since I first started blogging. I have had three people ask to be removed from my blogroll and I obliged their requests. Other people seem to be dropping off my blogroll one by one as they decide to leave. I do understand why they go. Sometimes I think about going too, I get very overwhelmed when I am not able to visit blogs or post. I feel like I am letting you down. I am so very saddened when someone decides to leave blogging. I miss them very much when they go. But I guess it is just as much a part of life in blogville as it is in real life, people come and go from our lives. Honestly, I grieve for the bloggers that have left because they were part of my life. Malcom was the first blogger to leave, he was going to jail so I guess he had no choice but I often think about him and hope he is doing well. I did a picture tribute to everyone on my blogroll back on April 16, 2006 if you are interested in seeing it. There is three parts to that post so check out my archives. Even if I do not visit your blog as often as I did before please know I am still thinking of everyone of you!I wish I had the honor of meeting each and everyone of you in real life!

Okay enough of the mushy stuff, hehe... What I am really here for is because I wanted to share my new favorite song with you it is "The Riddle" by Five For Fighting.

I really like this song and enjoy listening to it. Today I looked up the lyrics and sat here crying my eyes out. It is so funny how I always have the words wrong. I remember when I was younger my friend C. would always sing the words right and I was always wrong. I use to admire her for knowing the words. I guess I just do not have an ear for lyrics. So you can guess that I absolutely love Lyrics.com. This happen to me when I read the words to James Blunt's GoodBye My Lover. I would sing along with this song and I enjoyed it. As soon as I read the words with the song it brought me to my knees. Fathers by John Mayer made me cry too but with that song I cried the very first time I heard it. Click here on their name if you want to see the post about the song or the lyrics to the song.

I have been listening to "The Riddle" all day long, over and over again. My son came home from school today and was actually happy he had to go to school and not listen to this song 300 times. LAUGHS!!!! Hey I do what I can to help my children's first day back to school painless. **chuckles**

Now I am sure the gentleman from Five For Fighting is a nice looking man but he looks just like my cousin Richard so no fantasies about him.

But James Blunt is another story because he does not look like any relatives, hehe. YUMMMY!!!!
Here are the Lyrics: Five For Fighting - The Riddle [Artist Lyrics]
Album: Unknown

Lyrics to Five For Fighting The Riddle

There was a man back in '95

Whose heart ran out of summers

But before he died, I asked him

Wait, what's the sense in life

Come over me, Come over me

He said,

"Son why you got to sing that tune

Catch a Dylan song or some eclipse of the moon

Let an angel swing and make you swoon

Then you will see... You will see."

Then he said,

"Here's a riddle for you

Find the Answer

There's a reason for the world

You and I..."

Picked up my kid from school today

Did you learn anything cause in the world today

You can't live in a castle far away

Now talk to me, come talk to me

He said,

"Dad I'm big but we're smaller than small

In the scheme of things, well we're nothing at all

Still every mother's child sings a lonely song

So play with me, come play with me"

And Hey Dad

Here's a riddle for you

Find the Answer

There's a reason for the world

You and I...

I said,

"Son for all I've told you

When you get right down to the

Reason for the world...

Who am I?"

There are secrets that we still have left to find

There have been mysteries from the beginning of time

There are answers we're not wise enough to see

He said... You looking for a clue I Love You free...

The batter swings and the summer flies

As I look into my angel's eyes

A song plays on while the moon is hiding over me

Something comes over me

I guess we're big and I guess we're small

If you think about it man you know we got it all

Cause we're all we got on this bouncing ball

And I love you free

I love you freely

Here's a riddle for you

Find the Answer

There's a reason for the world

You and I..




WISHING EVERYONE A FANTASTIC

and AMAZING WEEK!!!!

I Have a New Love Interest

2006-08-21T06:43:00.001-07:00

OOOOO Got your attention didn't I???

Well my new love interest is actually two men. Yes I know what you must be thinking and you are right, better yet they are brothers. Mario and Luigi they are so sexy and I have been spending my evenings playing with them. Mostly I play with Mario but there is some time I play with Luigi, there are mini games on the DS that you can play cards with Luigi.

I know I should be ashamed but I am not! Grinzzzzzz They are two hunky Italian men.

When my husband and I were first married and poor (hehe) we did not even have cable back then, no cell phones, no pagers, no computers no nothing. We would play cards and board games. We decided to scrimp and save so we could make our first big purchase which was a Nintendo system. It came with the Mario game and we would play that game for hours and hours. It is amazing when I think about how many wonderful hours we spent bonding over this silly game. I really believe those were the best years of our lives together. We had nothing and we really just enjoyed being together. Our first Christmas together we had a little Charlie Brown Christmas tree and barely enough money to buy gifts for our moms. Those really were the good old days. I guess that is why I am really enjoying this game; it is very nostaligic for me.

Wishing everyone an absolutely amazing and peaceful week!

Fork In The Road

2006-08-19T18:19:00.000-07:00

Have you ever been stuck? It really sucks being stuck. I have been in limbo for over a year. Some where lost between who I was, who I would like to be and a great desire to be what I once was again.

I am trying to figure out if I am just experiencing grief for a lost part of me. Or if I am just experiencing every emotion I had tucked away for a year. I was kind of numb for the past year. It was easier to have no emotions then to deal with the emotions that were in front of me. The past few months my emotions are flowing like rivers from my soul, to my spirit, to my heart and to my mind. I think I have cried more in the past few months than I have in a life time. I have cried tears of enlightment, tears of sorrow, tears of sadness, tears of remorse, and tears of happiness.

I just wish I knew where each road was going to take me and chose the path that will cause me the less pain. I wish I knew if I was really ready to leave that part of me behind or if it is time to take that part of me back and embrace it.
I know this post is vague, I am very sorry and I am sure no one will truly understand what I am trying to say. I guess I just need to get it out of my head and in text so I can move forward a little bit, towards that fork in the road.

For Big Ben: Pictures of My Tattoos and Me

2006-08-16T17:00:00.000-07:00

A Little Bit of This and a Little Bit of That

2006-08-15T12:23:00.000-07:00

Toilet Paper Dilemna:

Anyone who knows me knows I am a bit whackey about germs. Well I was watching a show called Dr. Know and it was about bathroom germs. Well the first thing they discovered was that the women's public bathroom has more germs than a men's room. Well I go into women's bathroom and see how filthy women can be. To me the most interesting fact was that every time you wipe your bottom after doing your business that there is fecal matter left on your hand. UGHHHHHH!!!!! He went onto say it soaks through the paper. ARGHHHHH!!!!!!!! I was so shocked because I use a big old wad of paper. (I have issues) So they went onto say that if you fold your toilet paper you will get more fecal matter and bacteria on your hand than if you scrunch your toilet paper. Hmmm very interesting because I am folder who is now a scruncher. Thank God for antibacteral soap and wipes.

Gas Prices:
Gas prices are outragious. We were at 3.17 a gallon the other day. My poor little piggy after paying for gas.My husband wants to get a scooter to ride around the Island. He said we could use the scooter to run the kids to practices (my daughter said she would not ride on it), to run errands on the Island, grocery shopping, and for bringing the kids to and from their friend's houses. My son is gungho but my daughter is not buying into the save money aspect of this purchase. Well how cool would I look on this???

A Quote:

"In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag... We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language... and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people." ---Theodore Roosevelt 1907

This quote is very interesting me and is so very true especially when I hear how most immigrants are here working and sending the money home to their country. Most are illegal and do not pay taxes. How does this benefit America? Again I have nothing against immigrants who arrive here wanting to be American. My husband is from Germany originally.

Midlife Crisis

I am so having a midlife crisis. I just do not know what I want to be when I grow up. I like my job okay but it is not in my career field. I feel like I am 18 years old living in an old body and when I look in the mirror I wonder where I went. I am coming to terms with being 39 and preparing to be 40. My husband thinks I am going to join a motorcycle gang when I turn forty. Because when I turned 35 I got a tattoo and when I turned 36 I got my tragus pierced. Then another tattoo at 38 and I wanted one for my 39th but hubby said no way. He hates tattoos and I love them. But I am thinking of a new one for my 40th birthday, hehe!! Like I tell him no one can see my tattoos unless they are intimately close to me and they make me happy so who is it hurting. Well he (being a smarty pants) said it is hurting his checking account. That was hard to argue with because I already have over a thousand dollars worth of ink on me.

Mistakes:

I find myself dissecting life altering mistakes I have made. I do not know why I am doing this but I wish I could stop it. I am stuck in the thought process.

Drowning in the questions. The water is rising and I am still asking myself more and more questions. How foolish is that?

It is like a puzzle that I can not put together. So this keeps me awake going through the why did you do that? why did you not make a better decision? why did the other person not seem to undertand? ect... I think I would change all this enlightment for a good night's sleep.
Wishing everyone a Happy Hump Day! Work has not calmed down at all. Home is just as busy as ever. I want to run away. Any suggestions?

I guess I should apologize I have been such a whiney baby lately!! I just really miss my blogging time.

One last thing before I sign off. When I was little I had curly hair, now it is just wavy. But I always had a curl that would sit on my forehead. Well I was quite the *ahem* lil devil when I was younger. So family members would always say the childhood riddle:

There once was a girl, with a curl

right in the middle of her forehead

When she was good, she was very good

but when she was bad she was horrid

Well with the hot and humid weather my curl has returned. My bangs turn into this curl on my forehead by mid day. Now what is up with that?? I am positively angelic now! Happy Hump Day!!!!

Celebrating the 18th Anniversary of my 21st Birthday

2006-08-08T18:38:00.000-07:00

Last week I celebrated my ~gulps~ 39th birthday but more accurately it is the 18th anniversary of my 21st birthday. **smiles** Yes ahhh much better! Normally I am not a big birthday person. I do not tell people when it is my birthday because it embarrasses me if people are wishing me happy birthday. (Yes I know SILLY, I was dropped on my head as a baby) I have decided to blog about this birthday for several reasons.

My first reason is the birthday lion sitting on my desk in the picture below. One of my fantastic blogging buddies sent me that lion for my birthday. He figured out when my birthday was by doing some math with the birthday calculator I posted on July 3rd. Honestly I did not think that far in advance to think someone would be able to figure out my birthday, but moreso I never thought anyone would even care about me that much to figure out my birthday by the calculator. Is that the most thoughtful thing you have ever experienced. I could not believe that someone thought I was special enough to figure out my birthday, it totally floored me. I was so humbled by this act of kindness. I received a wonderful card and that beautiful lion the day before my actual birthday. The lion is so soft and cuddly. Everytime I look at Leo (my birthday lion) sitting on my desk it makes me smile so big. I truly feel cherished!!!! So I wanted to say thank you very much for the birthday lion and for making me feel special. Here is a picture of my office, my desk and my awesome lion!!!!

My second reason is the hysterical cake my sister in law made for me. Here is a picture of it:

Is this the funniest thing ever??? It looks like a litter box with little turds in it. I laughed so hard when they brought this out with candles in it. It really looks like a litter box too. The turds are tootsie rolls that you put in the microwave for 30 seconds then twist the ends. The litter is crushed cookies. I have never seen anything like this so I wanted to share it with my wonderful friends!

My husband bought me a Nintendo DS. I am so excited about this game system thingy. Now I will have something to do during football practice. hehe... It is pretty cool!!! Well if the kids will let me touch it. GRINZZ~
I have the following games:

I am ready to go now lets get playing!!!

I am hoping tomorrow will be the day I can visit some blogs. I am so out of touch with my wonderful and awesome friends. Please know I am thinking of all of you and missing you immensely!

Mid Life Fun

2006-08-07T15:12:00.000-07:00

I've seen two shows lately that went on and on about how mid-life is a great time for women. Just last week Oprah had a whole show on how great menopause will be... Puh leeeeeeeze! I've had a few thoughts of my own and would like to share them with you. Whether you are pushing 30, 40, 50, 60 (or maybe even just pushing your luck) you'll probably relate.

Mid-life is when the growth of hair on our legs slows down. This gives us plenty of time to care for our newly acquired mustache.

In mid-life women no longer have upper arms, we have wing spans. We are no longer women in sleeveless shirts, we are flying squirrels in drag.

Mid-life is when you can stand naked in front of a mirror and you can see your rear without turning around.

Mid-life is when you go for a mammogram and you realize that this is the only time someone will ask you to appear topless.

Mid-life is when you want to grab every firm young lovely in a tube top and scream, "Listen honey, even the Roman empire fell and those will too."

Mid-life brings wisdom to know that life throws us curves and we're sitting on our biggest ones.

Mid-life is when you look at your-know-it-all, beeper-wearing teenager and think: "For this I have stretch marks?"

In mid-life your memory starts to go. In fact the only thing we can retain is water.

Mid-life means that your Body By Jake now includes Legs By Rand McNally-- more red and blue lines than an accurately scaled map of Wisconsin.

Mid-life means that you become more reflective...You start pondering the "big" questions. What is life? Why am I here? How much Healthy choice ice cream can I eat before it's no longer a healthy choice?But mid-life also brings with it an appreciation for what is important. We realize that breasts sag, hips expand and chins double, but our loved ones make the journey worthwhile. Would any of you trade the knowledge that you have now, for the body you had way back when? Maybe our bodies simply have to expand to hold all the wisdom and love we've acquired. That's my philosophy and I'm sticking to it!

Movies The Kids and I Have Seen (part 2)

2006-08-01T02:36:00.000-07:00

The movie reviews continued:

(Daughter's Pick)This was funny; silly funny but funny all the same. Sorry Mr. Fabulous, grinz. I would have preferred seeing this on video instead of the movies. (Son's pick, he wanted to see Monster House but his friend's made fun of him so he picked this one instead)This was a very good movie. I liked the movie The Village as well by the same guy M. Knight Shyamalan. I find that they like to advertise his movies as being drop dead scary than viewers are disappointed when it is not really that scary. This movie had a few scary moments but all in all I thought it was a great movie.
(Daughter's pick)This was highschool funny. My daughter laughed and laughed and I found myself listening to her laughter and not paying attention to the movies. I love to hear my children laugh.

This is the movie we are going to see on Monday. This week is my son's pick. We have been switching each week my daughter picks one week then my son. I am very sad that our time will be coming to an end soon. Next week it is all of us, then the week after next week my son and I go to the movies alone because my daughter will be at cheer camp. (Side note: my daughter quit one of her cheer teams ~pouts~) Then the 21st is are last week we all go to the movies. Then on the 28th it will be just my daughter and I because my son starts school one day before my daughter. Then I will be all alone on Mondays after that. CRIESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Light Hearted

2006-07-29T07:47:00.002-07:00

My friend sent me this picture. I think it is an EXCELLENT picture!! I love it!! I love that my friend's know me so well!This is my story I am sticking to it!!!!!
Bambi and Thumper (Real Life) Big AWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!

Saving the biggest Awww for LAST, this is my favorite one!!!

UGHHHHH!!!!

2006-07-27T15:14:00.000-07:00

I have missed reading everyone's blog immensely. I hate that my time is so limited. I feel out of touch with everyone ~pouts~!!
Work has been absolutely unbelievable. I thought with the arrival of the new priest finally things at work would calm down. W*R*O*N*G!!! The past two weeks have been so busy I have not had time to blog or email or anything from work. I need time with my online friends. Life at home has been equally as busy. My son started football practice which means 2.5 hours at the field every night. Last weekend we ran from Friday afternoon until Monday night with kids, parties, sleep overs all weekend and movies. I am hoping this weekend will be better spent cleaning, relaxing and hopefully having lots of catch up time on the computer.

I am also looking forward to catching up on some much needed sleep. I have not slept for weeks and I can not seem to get a good night's rest. Sleep has never been a friend of mine and on a good night I get about 4 hours sleep.

When I was young I never slept. I literally terrorized my house from the age of about one year old. I was able to get out of my crib and I was on the loose (I wrote about this in more detail on an earlier blog enter, click here if you want to read it.) Then as time progressed I never slept because I was always afraid my dad would hurt my mom. Every single night I would sit on the top step and listen to my dad yelling, degrading and humiliating my mom. I would wait until the level rose to an alarming rate and I would yell down mom I have a headache, stomach ache, bad dream ect... She would beg me to go to sleep and I would just sit there all night long until he finally passed out from the 1/5 of Vodka that he drank. I would never spend the night away from home because I always felt like I had to protect my mom. When I was 18 - 19 years old I worked two jobs and went to college. I can remember staying out all night long arriving home just in time to step into the shower and off to work 12 hours or go to school. It never affected me in the least. When my husband and I were first married if we were having an argument I would always say watch out remember I can stay up for days without sleep. He would laugh nervously and say yup you are the only person I know who can go days even weeks without sleep.
I guess old age is catching up with me because now it is affecting me. I feel sluggish in the morning. I actually wake up at 4:30am and I am ready to face the day but by 7:30ish I am ready to sleep. Then when I get home from work I feel as if I could take a nap. I make dinner then off to football practice and home again around 9. I sit down to get on the computer, I begin yawning immediately, my eyes are watering and I feel as if I can not stay awake. So I go to bed in hopes that this will be the night I finally sleep!! But alas, I lay there tossing and turning, becoming more frustrated as the minutes tick by. Then I put the television on and watch it until I finally fall asleep, only to wake up at 1:30 then 3, ughhhhhh.....

Everynight I have faith that this will be the night I get a good night's rest!

Please know I am thinking of all my wonderful friends and looking forward to catching up on your blogs as soon as it is humanly possible.

WISHING EVERYONE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND!

I stole this from XMichra and I thought it was me perfectly!

You come from the Ocean. You've always been drawn to the sea, the sound of the waves, the crystal blue water, near the sea is where you belong.

What Matters?

2006-07-19T16:37:00.000-07:00

A man found a long stretch of beach upon which hundreds of starfish had been stranded by a great storm. He observed a little girl cupping the starfish in her hands, one by one and gently placing them back into the ocean.

The man asked the little girl:
" What does it matter?

You'll never save them all anyway."
The little girl smiled softly and simply replied: "

It matters to the ones I save."

The simple pleasures of life matter

A phone call from a friend
A comment on your blog
An email from someone special
Children laughing and singing

A child's innocence

A simple thank you

A job well done

Being appreciated for that job
A smile from a stranger
A wink, a nod, or a nudge
A quiet walk on the beach
Sand between your toes

A warm kiss from the sun

The stars shining bright in the sky

Friends Like You Matter to Me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

TC's Poem and Quizes from XMichra

2006-07-17T19:58:00.000-07:00

Please stop by and see TC and Xmichra

TC has written a breathtaking post, he has an amazing way with words; click here to see his most recent post: Evil

Snatched from Xmichra; click here to see her awesome blog:

What Your Soul Really Looks Like

You are a warm hearted and open minded person. It's easy for you to forgive and forget.

You are a grounded person, but you also leave room for imagination and dreams. You feet may be on the ground, but you're head is in the clouds.

You believe that people see you for how you are, not how you look. But deep down, you know that's not exactly true.

Your near future is calm, relaxing, and pretty much what you want. And it's something you've been anticipating for a while now.

For you, falling in love is all about the adventure and uncertainty. You can only fall in love with someone who keeps you guessing.

Inside the Room of Your Soul

Your Brain's Pattern

Your mind is a multi dimensional wonderland, with many layers.
You're the type that always has multiple streams of though going.
And you can keep these thoughts going at any time.
You're very likely to be engaged in deep thought - and deep conversation.

What Pattern Is Your Brain?

Your Power Level is: 68%

You're a very powerful person, and you know that all of your power comes from within.
Keep on doing what you're doing, and you'll reach your goals.

How Powerful Are You?

True Friends

2006-07-15T09:20:00.001-07:00

Warning Warning Warning

You are entering a rant zone!!!

I have a long time friend. Well I am his friend when he has nothing better to do. We have been friends for sometime online. He is a great guy and I really enjoy spending time with him. Well the first time he had an online girlfriend our friendship fell by the waste side. Well she did not last long and he came back pretty quick. But then the second online girlfriend lasted much longer. I bet about a year and half and again our friendship ceased to exist. I was shocked when he contacted me when their relationship got a bit rocky and eventually ended. I could not believe it was him. But I was thrilled because I really do enjoy his friendship, he is fun.

I guess that was a few months ago and we talk on and off but not frequently. Well all of sudden no contact, no messages, no nothing and I thought hmmmmm.... So I messaged him and said have you met someone? He said yes about a week ago. Well I am not one to mince words so I said oh I guess you will be gone yet again just like with the other ones. He said no I will not!!! I did not respond and he said "I will PROVE YOU WRONG!!!" I said okay I hope you do.

Guess what?? I have not heard from him since and that was about 2 weeks ago.

What would you do?

My Space Horrors

2006-07-12T02:34:00.000-07:00

As you all know I have two teenagers, arggggghhhhhhh 13yr old boy and 14 yr old girl. I honestly believe these children are trying to put me in a home. I have started packing because I think they are going to win. Please just make the room padded with an internet connection.

I am a PROUD Leo! I absolutely adore lions. I think they are so beautiful and strong. So I always joke around and say the kids are my lion cubs. My husband always says they are my ducklings because when they were little I trained them to stay right with me at all times. So anywhere I would go I always had them in tow. The funny thing is if we are in the mall or in a crowd they still follow me the same way but shhhhh do not tell them. Okay POPS a Ritalin....

Back on Subject!!!

I have been looking for my children's My Space for a couple weeks or so. Well I found it yesterday. Let me back a bit first. I am very concerned over the My Space with all these internet predators. Sooooooooooo I agreed to the my space with rules. No pictures, No names, No location, No team names, no nothing!!!! Everytime there is a show on about internet predators I sit with them so they can see it, understand it and ask questions about it. I know for a fact that I have been completely clear about this. As I am sure you can tell if you have been reading my blog for any amount of time; there is very little grey in my life, it is black or white, yes or no and very few maybes... So I know I have been completely clear, black and white no questions about this my space and online activities.

So now I am reading my daughter's my space. She has her picture, her full name, where she lives, her cheerleading team's names, her school, her grade, her class schedule for next year, YES you read that right her CLASS SCHEDULE so any maniac can locate her easily. At this point things go a bit blurry, but I flew into a blind rage. Instead of telling her I found her my space, I told her someone called me who had seen it and said she had too much information on her My Space. This is what happened next:

The End

Thank you ~takes a bow~Thank you

Please hold your applause; just throw money

This broadcast sponsored by Insomnia Theatre

A Little Bit Of Everything

2006-07-11T09:06:00.000-07:00

I would like to thank my friend for sending this picture to me. It is so amazing to me how someone can know me so deeply that they are able to send me the perfect picture. I was astonished, shocked and overjoyed when I opened the email that contained this extraordinary picture!!! This picture is me on many levels, probably more than even the sender realizes. I wanted to share this amazing picture with my blogging buddies... But mainly I wanted to say thank you to my friend with much appreciation for the fantastic picture!!!

Last Monday the kids and I went to see Click. It was a fantastic movie. We absolutely LOVED it and can not wait until it comes out on DVD so we can see it again. It has a great twist in it and a life lesson. I know a lot of people will not see this movie just because it has Adam Sandler in it. Personally, I like Adam Sandler but if you are skipping this movie merely because you do not like him then you are missing out. It really is a great movie.

Yesterday my son and I went to see Pirates of the Caribbean - Dead Man's Chest. AWESOME move, unbelievabley cool affects, SUCK ASS ending!!!!!!!! I am not a fan of cliffhangers.
My mind has been in over drive lately. I sometimes reach a point in life where I feel like my past is tapping me on the shoulder for recognition and acknowledgement. My future is taunting me with a maze of turns, dead ends and way too many choices.Sometimes it is so overwhelming to me. I want to travel easily on the path of life's journey. I know B*O*R*I*N*G*.... Lifes all about the twists and turns in the road.

I have been dreaming very odd things lately. I think with much reflection and very little sleep my mind is playing jokes on me. I am probably sleeping about 1-2 hours a night and dreaming nonstop. I rarely remember my dreams but lately they have been down right comical and I remember ever single detail. Watch out you may appear in my dreams next. Chuckles!!

I wanted to thank everyone for the wonderful comments on my last post. I had mixed emotions about that post. A bit embarrassed by the content and relieved to get it out of my head!!!!

Feeling Blue

2006-07-08T07:16:00.000-07:00

I am feeling kind of down today. I am normally not a moody person. I pretty much wake up every morning with the same outlook and mood. Mean and Nasty!! HEHE no not really... just kidding! But today I woke up feeling sad and alone. I am contemplating waking up my children so I can hang out with them but mother's guilt is keeping me from waking sleeping babies (I know they are 13 and 14 but they are still my babies) So I am wondering have you ever just woke up sad? No reason, no explanation, no nothing...

I contemplated staying in bed and feeling sorry for myself. But self pity does not get anyone anywhere so here I am in blogville where just typing the words out makes you feel better. I love having this outlet because I can write it, forget it and move on. Plus I have such awesome blogging buddies that always make me happy!

It was a hellacious week at work. I only worked three days but WOW what a three days. Since I was off work for a week and a half returning was no picnic. It was just one problem after another. Well I can honestly say the end of this week went by in a flash. I am still just reeling with things that happened at work this week. We are also awaiting the arrival of a new priest so with that goes a lot of thoughts of what ifs and what is going to happen. I had an absolutely fantastic relationship with the last priest. I know that will never be matched. We have been without a priest for 6 months or so. I have been in contact with the new priest for months and we seem to have a budding friendship. We are partners in running this church both responsible for different aspects of the church and if we do not get along I will leave. It is funny how people react to finding out that churches are a business and run like a business.

Things at home were not any easier. We are still trying to accept that our daughter is a teenager; moody, emotional, trying to break away from being our little girl. This makes me so very sad!!!

I think I am already feeling that empty nest syndrome. My kids are on the go all the time between friends, sports, and technology I really MISS them. Thank God they do not drive yet at least they still need me for a ride and cash! As my son's voice changes and he eats us out of house and home because he is growing beyond belief, (we realized while on vacation that the boy is as tall as me and will definitely be taller than my husband, his feet are already bigger than my husband's) I can see the gentle man he is turning into and I just want my little boy back; curly hair, skinny, BIG brown eyes, and silly as can be (okay he is still a goofball). My daughter has gone from a cutie pie to a beautiful young woman who is truly starting her own life. I want my little girl back who had long curly ringlets, big brown eyes, daddys little girl and wanted to spend all her time with me. I really miss hearing her sing. When she was little she sang all the time. Now she only sings in her room behind a closed door. Sometimes I stand in the hall listening to her voice. I really miss being important in their lives. I am so not ready for all this!!! I want my babies back.

Is it too soon to have empty nest syndrome?

How the heck am I going to handle, college, marriage and grandchildren??

UUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH

Today I feel like this tree alone and sad on an overcast gloomy day but still strong with great roots!!!

Wishing Everyone a WONDERFUL weekend!!

Stomp in a puddle and remember life is too short to step around it!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to My Dear Friend

2006-07-06T12:29:00.000-07:00

Today is my friend's birthday, pssst he is your friend too. Click here to see who's the birthday boy and to wish him a happy birthday.

Happy Fourth of July

2006-07-04T01:08:00.000-07:00

HAPPY 4th of JULY

This is one of my LEAST favorite holidays. I absolutely HATE fireworks with a purple passion.

But I do hope all my blogging buddies who are celebrating this day will have an absolutely fantastic holiday!

But not too much fun!!!!

Birthday Calculator

2006-07-03T16:19:00.000-07:00

Click here to visit the Birthday Calculator

This is mine:

Your date of conception was on or about 11 November 1966 which was a Friday.

You were born on a Friday
under the astrological sign Leo.
Your Life path number is 8.

Life Path Compatibility:
You are most compatible with those with the Life Path numbers 2, 4, 8, 11 & 22.
You should get along well with those with the Life Path number 6.
You may or may not get along well with those with the Life Path numbers 1 & 5.
You are least compatible with those with the Life Path numbers 3, 7 & 9.

The Julian calendar date of your birth is 2439706.5.
The golden number for 1967 is 11.
The epact number for 1967 is 19.
The year 1967 was not a leap year.

Your birthday falls into the Chinese year beginning 2/9/1967 and ending 1/29/1968.
You were born in the Chinese year of the Goat.

Your Native American Zodiac sign is Salmon; your plant is Raspberry.

You were born in the Egyptian month of Paopy, the second month of the season of Poret (Emergence - Fertile soil).

The date of Easter on your birth year was Sunday, 26 March 1967.
The date of Orthodox Easter on your birth year was Sunday, 30 April 1967.
The date of Ash Wednesday (the first day of Lent) on your birth year was Wednesday 8 February 1967.
The date of Whitsun (Pentecost Sunday) in the year of your birth was Sunday 14 May 1967.
The date of Whisuntide in the year of your birth was Sunday 21 May 1967.
The date of Rosh Hashanah in the year of your birth was Thursday, 5 October 1967.
The date of Passover in the year of your birth was Tuesday, 25 April 1967.
The date of Mardi Gras on your birth year was Tuesday 7 February 1967.

As of 7/3/2006 7:05:27 PM EDT
You are 38 years old.
You are 467 months old.
You are 2,031 weeks old.
You are 14,213 days old.
You are 341,131 hours old.
You are 20,467,865 minutes old.
You are 1,228,071,927 seconds old.

Your age is the equivalent of a dog that is 5.56281800391389 years old. (You're still chasing cats!)

There are 32 days till your next birthday
on which your cake will have 39 candles.

Those 39 candles produce 39 BTUs,
or 9,828 calories of heat (that's only 9.8280 food Calories!) .
You can boil 4.46 US ounces of water with that many candles.

In 1967 there were approximately 3.7 million births in the US.
In 1967 the US population was approximately 179,323,175 people, 50.6 persons per square mile.
In 1967 in the US there were approximately 1,800,000 marriages (9.3%) and 479,000 divorces (2.5%)
In 1967 in the US there were approximately 1,712,000 deaths (9.5 per 1000)
In the US a new person is born approximately every 8 seconds.
In the US one person dies approximately every 12 seconds.

Your birthstone is Peridot
The Mystical properties of Peridot

Peridot is used to help dreams become a reality.

Some lists consider these stones to be your birthstone. (Birthstone lists come from Jewelers, Tibet, Ayurvedic Indian medicine, and other sources)

Sardonyx, Diamond, Jade

Your birth tree is

Cypress, the Faithfulness

Strong, muscular, adaptable, takes what life has to give, happy,content,optimistic, needs enough money and acknowledgment, hates loneliness, passionate lover which cannot be satisfied, faithful, quick-tempered,unruly, pedantic and careless.

There are 175 days till Christmas 2006!
There are 188 days till Orthodox Christmas!

The moon's phase on the day you were
born was waning crescent.

I Am Back With Sun Kissed Skin!

2006-06-30T15:20:00.000-07:00

We had a great vacation!

As horrible as the weather was on the East Coast it was amazingly good for the most part at the Jersey Shore! YEAHHHH!!!!!!!!! We had two days of rain but both days cleared up by the late afternoon.

Here is a picture of my daughter minus her head.

Here is a picture of a Nemo kite that was so awesome. I told my husband I wanted one but I wanted a purple sea horse. ~POUTS~ He could not find one before we left.
Here is a picture of the shoreline it was a hazy day.
Here is a picture of my son minus his head. My son went skin boarding and boogie boarding all week.

As we vacationed in New Jersey we were glued to the television as it was reported Maryland was flooding from the torrential rains. They were saying hurricane rain without the high winds. We were very concerned because on the New Jersey news they were reporting that the Eastern Shore of Maryland was flooding the worst. We stayed in contact with our neighbors and our house did well. Thank God!!!!!!!!

Click here for the story if you are interested.

I am leaving kisses for all my Italian ancestors because everyone was burning like crazy at the beach because it was hazy and overcast. My poor husband was sun burned even though he had 30spf (water and sweat proof) sun screen on. But the kids and I are sun kissed brown no sun burn and we did not even have on sunscreen.

Oh yeah and I was bit by a bug that crawled up my shirt sleeve biting me several times. OOOOO did it every hurt. The bad thing was I did not even get a chance to kill the little bastard it flew away. Well immediately my neck started tingling. I could feel this weird slightly painful sensation crawling down my arm from the bites and up my arm from the bites. Then my lip swelled up and my face was tingling. But after about 5 hours my lip started going down and the tingling left as well. I had three big bites and two small bites that spread together and then disappeared. VERY WEIRD and a bit frightening. I did not want to go to the hospital.

Here are some funny pictures, I hope they bring a smile to your face.

T.G.I.F. Enjoy your weekend. I missed everyone immensely! Thank you so much for ALL the wonderful comments!!!!!

Some Thoughts Before Vacation

2006-06-22T18:21:00.000-07:00

CHEERLEADING UPDATE

Cheerleading tryouts (For the Competitive Team)were last week. My daughter went to the first try out which is learning the routine than they go back to actually try out. Well the early morning of the tryouts my girl was SICK SICK SICK... I was freaking out. So I brought her to the try out and she laid in my car the poor baby. She could not stand up because she had the stomach flu so bad. Trust me it was not a pretty flu bug. It attacked my son, then my daughter, then my husband and finally me. UGHHHH I felt as if I would have died. I spoke to the coach and she said do not worry about it we know what she can do. So we held our breath for two days until the list was posted. SHE MADE THE TEAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are VERY VERY happy!! She has to master a back handspring before August so she still may be cut from the team.

I want to thank my wonderful Blogging Buddies!!!

Stringman, TC and Xmichra

for visiting my friend's blog and leaving a comment. I asked people to stop by and see my friend's photo blog about Montana. He has taken some amazing pictures and posted them at his photo blog. Well I remember how discouraging it was when I first started my blog and I had no comments. I can remember getting so excited when I received my first comment. So I told my friends Turbo would pay me five dollars per comment if they said Cherish sent me. Hehe... So he owes me 15 dollars, grinzz... Thank you again Stringman, TC and Xmichra!!! Please stop by and see Stringman, TC and Xmichra because they have AWESOME blogs!!!!!!! I mean AMAZING blogs!!!! Go visit them and see how great their blogs really are, you will thank me!

Father's Day

I wished my husband a Happy Father's Day. I wished my brother a Happy Father's Day. I wished my blogging buddies Happy Father's Day, I sent some Happy Father's Day cards to very special fathers in my life. Guess who I forgot to wish a Happy Father's Day to??? Dang you all are good!!! hehehe... You guessed it, I forgot to wish my Dad a Happy Father's Day, OOPPPSSS!! I mention that here because I do feel a bit guilty for forgetting him.

This is the Dad I wanted. But it is not the Dad I had.

My mind is saying he was never a father to you. He never wanted you, loved you, cared for you or protected you. I feel I have some major issues because of how I was treated by my dad.But my heart is saying how very sad he must have felt that his daughter did not wish him a Happy Father's Day. The funny thing is I imagine him waiting for the call and feeling sad, but knowing my dad he did not give it a second thought. Weird, eh?

I have been absolutely swamped at work this week trying to prepare for my absence. Plus the third week of the month is ALWAYS my busiest week at work. So I have been working from home at night trying to get everything done. So I am hoping to visit everyone's blog tonight before I leave for vacation. I feel I have neglected my friends and I am sorry. I have been busy non stop at work so I hope everyone understands!!!

Next I want to celebrate the freedom of release, there was a situation that has been haunting me for about a year. This situation has now come full circle and I feel so free now. I am floating!!!!I have been struggling with this situation. The feeling inside me was like I was lost and sinking. I felt as if I was drowning and no one could help me. I actually started this blog back in August because of the pain I was feeling.

Have you ever felt like you had a weight on your shoulders or around your neck? If so then you know what I am talking about. Then when the weight is lifted and you feel as if you can fly. Well I feel as if the weight is lifted and I am flying high.
Through blogging I have met some wonderful friends. I appreciate all the support I have received from them. They kept me a float during this difficult time period. I would like to thank my very special friends for all your words of encouragement and support!!!! Also for listening and being there when I needed a shoulder to cry on.

We are heading the Jersey Shore for a week's vacation. Two cheerleading competitions in Florida have cost us almost 6 thousand dollars and a week at the beach is about all we can afford. The kids are not even excited about going. This makes me very sad. They do not want to leave their friends, computer, xbox, playstation, and nintendo. My son actually asked if he could take his playstation and games. GRRRR.. This is the first year the kids are not excited about going away. I think it is the begining of the end. I guess at 13 and 14 their friends are much more exciting than their old parents. I know once they get their they will have fun. We had considered bringing a friend for each kid with us on vacation but after much thought I decided against it. Number one I want to hang out with my kids without their friends because at home the friends are always over our house. Number two I thought two more mouths to feed, cost of rides and games at the piers, nahhhhh let their parents take them on vacation. GRINZ!! Well both kids were disappointed but understood.
So as of right now I am on vacation until July 5th! I am going to bring my lap top but I doubt there will be a wireless connection but here's hoping!

I will miss all my dear blogging friends! I will be thinking of all of you when I am sitting in my beach chair, swimming in the ocean, shopping, or riding on the rides.

I look forward to catching up on everyone's blogs when I return!! Have an ABSOLUTELY wonderful week!!!!!!

Miss me please and Leave me lots of comments!! GRINZZZZ!!!!!

You Might Be a RedNeck if....

2006-06-20T14:10:00.000-07:00

CLAUDE MONET 1840—1926

2006-06-19T14:24:00.000-07:00

CLAUDE MONET
1840—1926

In my opinion he is the most amazing artist of all time. I can sit looking at his work for hours. His paintings speak to me with such beautiful color and tone. When I look at his pictures I walk in his garden, I feel his sunset, and I sit on the raft with my feet soaking in the water. His paintings bring me joy, sorrow, inspiration, sadness, happiness and great thought.

Information about Claude Monet:
Monet, Claude 1840—1926, French landscape painter, b. Paris. Monet was a founder of impressionism. He adhered to its principles throughout his long career and is considered the most consistently representative painter of the school as well as one of the foremost painters of landscape in the history of art.As a youth in Le Havre, Monet was encouraged by the marine painter Boudin to paint in the open air, a practice he never forsook. After two years (1860—62) with the army in Algeria, he went to Paris, over parental objections, to study painting. In Paris, Monet formed lasting friendships with the artists who would become the major impressionists, including Pissarro, Cézanne, Renoir, Sisley, and Bazille. He and several of his friends painted for a time out-of-doors in the Barbizon district.Monet soon began to concern himself with his lifelong objective: portraying the variations of light and atmosphere brought on by changes of hour and season. Rather than copy in the Louvre, the traditional practice of young artists, Monet learned from his friends, from the landscape itself, and from the works of his older contemporaries Manet, Corot, and Courbet. Monet's representation of light was based on his knowledge of the laws of optics as well as his own observations of his subjects. He often showed natural color by breaking it down into its different components as a prism does. Eliminating black and gray from his palette, Monet rejected entirely the academic approach to landscape.In his later works Monet allowed his vision of light to dissolve the real structures of his subjects. To do this he chose simple matter, making several series of studies of the same object at different times of day or year: haystacks, morning views of the Seine, the Gare Saint-Lazare (1876—78), poplars (begun 1890), the Thames, the celebrated group of Rouen Cathedral (1892—94), and the last great lyrical series of water lilies (1899, and 1904—25), painted in his own garden at Giverny (one version, a vast triptych c.1920; Mus. of Modern Art, New York City).In 1874 Sisley, Morisot, and Monet organized the first impressionist group show, which was ferociously maligned by the critics, who coined the term impressionism after Monet's Impression: Sunrise, 1872 (Mus. Marmottan, Paris). The show failed financially. However, by 1883 Monet had prospered, and he retired from Paris to his home in Giverny. In the last decade of his life Monet, nearly blind, painted a group of large water lily murals (Nymphéas) for the Musée de l'Orangerie in Paris.Monet's work is particularly well represented in the Louvre, the Marmottan (Paris), the National Gallery (London), the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Art Institute of Chicago. It is also included in many famous private collections.BibliographySee biographies by W. C. Seitz (1960) and C. M. Mount (1967); Claude Monet: Life and Art (1995) by P. H. Tucker; studies by J. House (1986), D. Skeggs (1987), and M. and J. Guillaud (1989).

Happy Father's Day

2006-06-18T09:51:00.000-07:00

Daughters by John Mayer
(this is an amazingly true song)

I know a girl
she puts the color inside of my world
she's just like a maze
where all of the walls all continually change

I've done all I can
to stand on the steps with my heart in my hands
Now I started to think
maybe its got nothing to do with me.

so fathers be good to your daughters,
daughters will love like you do,
girls become lovers who turn into mothers
so mothers be good to your daughters too.

Oh

Oh you see that skin
its the same shes been standing in
since the day you two met
i bet i was on your mind
never ever any time

Oh yeah

so fathers be good to your daughters,
daughters will love like you do, yeah
girls become lovers who turn into mothers
so mothers be good to your daughters too.

boys you can break
find out how much they can take
boys will be strong and
boys soldier on
but boys would be gone
without warmth of a woman's good good heart

on behalf of every man
looking out for every girl
you are the god and the weight of her world
on behalf of ever man
who's looking out for every girl
you are the god and you are the weight of her world

so fathers be good to your daughters,
daughters will love like you do,
girls become lovers who turn into mothers
so mothers be good to your daughters too
so mothers be good to your daughters too
so mothers be good to your daughters too

Color Me A Father

By Steven E. Miller

A child with a crayon can color an imaginary world,

With dolls of mommies, daddies, boys and girls,

Full of horses, cowboys, cars and trains,

Can scratch them out and draw them all again,

Color me a rainbow with a pot of gold,

Color me a fairy with ribbons and bows,

Paint my face, a bright yellow sun,

In a green grassy field where a blue river runs,

With mountains and trees set in a colorful scene,

Monkey bars, teeter-totters, an old tire swing,

Color my face with a bright happy smile,

In a wonderful world, if only for awhile,

I can pretend my life is happy and gay,

Not worry about the mean stuff, just for the day,

Not worry about what I will eat, or where I will sleep,

Or the cock roaches and rats that make me creep,

Color me a family with brothers and sisters,

Color me a man to call Daddy, not Mister,

Color my mom in a bright yellow dress,

Stretched in a hammock under a tree with a nest,

In the yard of the house, we can call our own,

With neighbors on each side of our lovely home,

Color my dreams carefree and wild,

Color my life always as a child,

Color me a father, color me a Dad,

Color me the life that I never had.

Color me a garden with fruits of all kinds,

Apples, pears with grapes on the vine,

Color me a crayon that's really a crayon,

Not this old sharpened pencil that I just found,

To draw my picture on this brown paper bag,

That was once filled with gin and Ole' Granddad,

Now, Dream me a dream'Once upon a time,

I had a real father that I can call mine!

I have always wanted a Daddy. I had a father. I still have a father. But I always wanted a Daddy, a soft place to fall, and someone who would scare the monsters away. My father made the monsters look less scary because as a child I would run from him to them!

Treasure your children be a Daddy or they will turn out as whacky as me!!!! Grinzzzzzzzzz!!!!! I know you all have read my 101 things and the two tags the weird things about me post. So be warned!!

How Many Days Until School Starts?

2006-06-15T14:06:00.000-07:00

The kids are out 2 weeks and I am ready for them to return to school. Between the I am sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo bored and give me money I may be jumping off the bridge soon.

School

Okay okay... I miss being home with them during summer break! We use to have so much fun during the summer. I hate working when they are home. But now all I hear is I am bored!!!! How are they bored?

bored

They have two phone lines, televisions, DVD players, their own cell phone, Xbox, Playstation, Nintendo and a computer. Not to mention bikes, a huge community pool, and a private beach. How can you be bored?

They are eating me out of house and home. These little people can eat. My son brings all his friends in for drinks and snacks. These growing boys can eat!!!!

kids eating

There were four boys playing video games in my living room screaming and laughing driving the dog nuts all evening. Honestly I do not care when the house is full of kids, this is the house the kids seem to hang out at. I like knowing exactly where my teenagers are at all times!! My daughter is enjoying the attention as well, everytime she walks out of her room she has three boys looking at her all starry eyed. I had a hellacious day at work and on the way home I get the call from my son will you please pick up D so he can come over. GRRRR I just wanted to go home, crawl into my recliner and blog about my rotten day at work, but noooooo I had to stop and pick the boy up. Okay I really did not mind except I had to cross over the highway because he lives on the other side of the island and now I have to make dinner because we have guests. I was hoping for a soup and sandwich night. Well my very good friend suggested Ravioli for dinner, yummy!! I thought great idea!!

ravioli

Dinner turned out wonderful but now I am feeling a bit green. My son was sick last weekend with the stomach flu. My daughter was sick on Tuesday with the same thing. My husband was sick on Wednesday. I think it is my turn; my body aches and my stomach is doing flip flops.

Today I came home to a total mess in my kitchen. My sweet darling youngins decided to make soup. They pulled out my large dutch oven, not even the small dutch oven or a regular pot to cook soup in but the LARGE dutch oven. I am sure you remember my entire OMG how do I wash dishes catastrophe, if not and you are interested please click here to see the post. Well they also decided to make tea so they used another one of my new pots that was three sizes too big, grrr.. Please click here if you want to see my post about my new pots and my whining/sulking/pouting when I found out they were not dishwasher safe.

My friend started a photo blog about Montana. He lives in Montana and has some amazing photographs. Please go visit his blog and welcome him to Bloggerville. It would be so nice if you left a message saying "Cherish sent me" because he is going to give me five dollars for every comment I generate, grinzzzzzz!!!!!! Please click here to visit his blog.

Montana

One last link:

Please click here if you want to read my post about "Why Children Do Not Tell" I received a request to repost that entry so I figured I would hyperlink it instead of reposting the entry.

Wishing Everyone an Absolutely FANTASTIC weekend!!! Be Safe and Play Hard!!!

Stars

2006-06-15T00:59:00.000-07:00

Laying in bed looking out the window
Looking at the stars in the sky
They are twinkling and dancing
The moon is shining bright
I know He is looking at the same sky
I know the stars are twinkling and dancing for Him
I know He sees the same moon shining bright
I can only hope He is thinking of me

as I am thinking of Him

Missing Girl

2006-06-15T00:01:00.000-07:00

Puffin asked everyone to post this little girl's picture.
Origins: The above-quoted message is a legitimate missing child alert. The girl pictured, 3-year-old Reachelle Marie Smith, has been missing from her home in Minot, North Dakota, since mid-May 2006, and an Amber Alert was issued for her on 22 May 2006. Initial reports indicated that Reachelle was believed to be in the company of a 22-year-old man named Leigh Cowen, who lived with Reachelle's aunt, her legal guardian. However, Cowen has since been found dead of an apparent suicide, and Reachelle has not yet been located. Reachelle's case has been profiled on the America's Most Wanted television program, and although the case remains open, authorities say they now have few leads to go on, and the active search for her has effectively ended:
Cops in Minot, N.D., are now searching for new clues that will lead them to Reachelle Smith. Investigators say they initially thought the little girl may have been traveling with 22-year-old Leigh Cowen. But any hopes of finding the 3-year-old with him vanished when cops found Cowen's dead body following what appeared to be a suicide. Unfortunately, the discovery of Cowen's body didn't shed any light on where Reachelle might be. But that doesn't mean investigators are giving up. As of May 26th, a force of 200 searchers continued the mission to find the little girl. Search teams scoured parks, a local river and a city landfill in hopes of finding clues. The National Guard also joined the search. But following the weekend search, police say the search is taking a new turn — things are starting to wind down in the search for little Reachelle. Investigators say the fact that they've received few new leads is putting a damper on their mission. Reachelle Smith was last seen at her house on Tuesday, May 16, 2006, at about 10:30 p.m., when she was put to bed. She is about 3' feet tall and weighs about 40 pounds. She has brown eyes and straight, light brown hair. Last updated: 14 June 2006

States I Have Visited

2006-06-13T18:11:00.000-07:00

I stole this from Mr. Fabulous while he was smooching Mrs. Fab on the couch. He has an awesome blog click here to go visit him.

Report Card Day, GULPS!

2006-06-09T10:43:00.000-07:00

My son received 6 As and 3Bs on his report card. He made the Honor Roll for every semester including this last semester. I said WHAT? HUH? Who's report card is this? Well I guess all that work we did for the past three weeks was definitely worth it!!!!! My kid is so funny. Two of his teachers said to him in the hall did you get your mom a present? He looked at them and said ummm no, and they said you should for all the work she has done on your projects. He said and I quote "Yeah I know but she really loves getting A's so she is happy"

HAPPY SUMMER VACATION

Forgotten Heroes

2006-06-07T05:13:00.000-07:00

This is Ron Lantz he was the brave truck driver who saw Muhammed and Malvo at a rest stop, called police than blocked them in with his rig until police arrived. He stopped the killing spree that terrorized MD, DC, & VA but I could not remember his name. I have been thinking about him lately because I did a post about Muhammed getting 6 life terms in Maryland for his acts during the sniper shootings. I think it was Puffin's (click here to visit his awesome blog, do not forget the links on the sidebar I try to keep them updated) comment that made me think about Ron Lantz. This gentle soul saved so many lives, he put our fears to rest and I could not remember his name; how sad is that? I am not only ashamed but embarrassed to admit that. I wonder why we forget the victims, we forget the heroes, but remember the criminals. Well at least that is how it is for me; I can not speak for everyone. I remember things about the victims like one was a bus driver and father to a large family, the agent who was shot in the Home Depot, ect... but their names escape me. Why does the media always focus on the criminals and not the heroes. Ron Lantz changed our lives in the mid atlantic area but I am sure if I asked 100 people who saved us from these monsters 99% would not remember his name.

Tagged by the Star of Dizgraceland Mr. Tim Id

2006-06-01T17:01:00.000-07:00

Tim ID tagged me for six weird facts about me. Well I was tagged by Sonya for my six weird things in April, click here for that post. I thought I did a post for Top cat on four weird habits but I could not find it. I am not sure what I named it. You would think I would run out of weird things about me. hmmmm???

I also did 101 things about me so I think my blogging friends know more about me than anyone in my real life would care to know.

kitchen

1. I do not mind if the dishes in the sink are piled to the ceiling but I can not stand anything on the counters. But the dishes in the sink have to have soap and water in them. Chuckles I have no idea why?

Desk

2. When I work my desk is a complete wreck, papers, binders and books everywhere. But when I leave at night my desk has to be completely cleaned and everything in it's place. It takes me about 15 minutes to clean up my computer (to delete my blogging history grinz), put everything away, make sure everything (staplers, roledex, envelope licker, tape dispenser ect...) is lined up and exact order. Everyone laughs at me when the see me straightening my desk. When I come in to work in the morning I want everything in it's place but within 5 minutes it is a complete wreck again!!

Spooning

3. I love to cuddle but I do not like to be cuddled. hehe... I can not stand being held it is very confining to me. I hate wearing my seatbelt. I love to lay with my head in my husband's lap or on his shoulder. I love to wrap my arms around him and snuggle in. If I am spooning I like to be in the back if it is for snuggling not hubba hubba. **blushes**

Window

4. I do not like knick knacks. I do not like pictures on my walls. We took all the pictures off our walls to paint almost three years ago and I can not bring myself to put them back up. I like the walls clear, I do not like blinds or curtains but I do have them. I like them to be open so I am able to see out of all the windows.

elevator

5. Elevators frighten me a second before the door open. I am fine getting into the elevator, riding the elevator but I find myself praying as soon as my floor number dings, I silently pray please God open the door. This panic sets in then the door opens and I breathe.

Paper towels

6. Everyone laughs at me about this next thing, I think it is perfectly normal but I figure if everyone else is laughing it must be weird. When I am at work I keep a roll of paper towels in my desk. I will not use any other papertowels but the one in my desk. That is because I opened those papertowels and I know they were in plastic. My reasoning is if you go back and take a roll of papertowels that are already open you do not know what those paper towels were used for before you grabbed them. Someone could have had that roll of towels cleaning the bathroom, they are grabbing inside the roll with UGHHH hands or gloves that has been cleaning a public toilet or they could have sat them down on the floor of the bathroom, arrrrgggghhhh.... So I have my "special" paper towels and I will only use them!!!! At home I keep my paper towels that I clean the bathroom with separated from all the other paper towels. As you can imagine cleaning the bathroom is a huge ordeal for me too. But THICK plastic gloves, lots of antibacterial soap, and a hot shower immediately following the cleaning helps me get through the very difficult task of cleaning the bathrooms. Oh and when I clean the bathrooms I will not do anything else. I start cleaning and do not stop until I am finished, no phone calls, no computer time, no snacks UGGHH, no nothing.... I want to clean the bathroom than shower before I join the world again. I always buy LOTS of papertowels because I will not use a dish towel or sponges they are a germ haven. I only use paper towels.

Wishing EVERYONE an absolutely FANTASTIC weekend!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah!!! 6 Life Terms!!

2006-06-01T09:02:00.000-07:00

Muhammad gets 6 life terms in Md. I think that says it all!!!!! This crazy bastard will never walk the streets again. Muhammad is the sniper that was shooting people in the Maryland, Washington, and Virginia area. He has already been condemned to death in Virginia. Lets hope every state he murdered in or commited a crime will prosecute him so there is no chance he will ever see the light of day again.

I wrote a post about this back in January. Click here if you are interested in reading my post called Innocence Lost. The post was about my children and this crazed psycho; the fear, panic and unknown terror that he put our family through.

I have been tagged by Tim to list six weird facts about myself. hehe.... This is taking me a while because I am just so darn normal that I am not sure I could find one weird fact about me. okay OKAY stop laughing... I have been busy at work and not able to work on the tag. I will most definitely post tonight or tomorrow morning at the latest. Thanks for thinking of me Tim!!! Stop over and check out Tim's great blog he is an absolute wiz with photoshop, click here to visit Tim.

Have a great day and may I say TGIT!!! Because I am off tomorrow, hehe!!!

And yes I love the hyper link button stop judging me. Hmmmmm that maybe one of my weird things, I LOVE to hyper link. GRINZZZZZ!!!!!!!!

Hodgepodge Part II

2006-05-29T15:12:00.000-07:00

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY

My thoughts, prayers and unconditional support goes out to all our troops at home and abroad. Thank you to all the troops past, present and future for your service to our country. My deepest condolences to everyone who has had a loved one that died while serving our country and protecting our freedom. I am very proud to be an American and I am very proud of our military!!!!

WOW I still have a bunch stuff floating around in my head. I think it is because I do not have time to post every day so when I have the opportunity to post I have many things to talk about.

Reflecting:

I did a post in November about past loved ones. I had just lost grandmother and was remembering those who I loved and had passed on. Click here if you would like to visit that post. There is also information about the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on the same post, so if you are interested in the reading about the Unknown Soldier please click here. This weekend I have been thinking about loved ones who have passed on and also thinking about our military. I just wish they could come home so we do not have to lose any more soldiers over there.

Cheerleading Update:

My daughter made the highschool team!!! Yeahhhhhhhhhh!!! We are very proud of her! She is very excited and happy but is trying to figure out if she really wants to cheer for school sports. So she may not accept her invitation. On the positive side this is the first year that our county is considering cheerleading a sport so they will be entitled to funding. In prior years the parents had to fund everything. Which is very hard because I know I am already tapped out paying out the you know what for competitive cheerleading.

Update on the Boy aka my son:

He is still daydreaming at school. I truly can not understand why I can not get him to understand the importance of his failing grades. It is almost like he has already thrown in the towel. I have a feeling he will be participating in summer school. If he receives a D or an E in anything he will be going to summer school for that subject.

He has been cleaning his room all day. It is a beautiful day but he is in his room laying in his mess.

Update: He finished his room. I am SHOCKED!!! AMAZED!!! and VERY Happy!!! I am sure his entire mess is under his bed or hidden somewhere in his room but when I walk by his door it looks great so I do not care. hehe I may care tomorrow but not today!

Beautiful Day:

It is an absolutely beautiful day. A nice calm breeze, sun shining, and low humidity. My daughter has been spending all her time at either the community pool or the community private beach. She eats breakfast and then she is gone. Thank God for cell phones because I find myself calling her every hour. This is the first year we are allowing them to go to the beach and pool by themselves. They are both private and you need an ID to get into the pool or onto the beach but still they are my babies. Last year they begged and begged to be allowed to go alone but I was not ready. I am not ready this year either but my husband said they need to spread their wings.

What the heck happened to my daughter?

She was cute and cuddly. Fun and enjoyable to be with. My husband and I remember when we were the most important people in her life. Fast foward 7 years, UGHHHH:

Now she is ONLY interested in her friends and her boyfriend, they are her everything now.

Computer Time Vs A Jealous Spouse:

I have been reading on different people's blogs about their spouses not being very happy with their time spent on the computer. My husband is slowly training me not to get on the computer. Little looks, little comments and silence makes me feel guilty about being on the computer. Personally I do not get it at all because my husband only gets on the computer to look at porn. I could careless when he is on the computer. I really enjoy being on the computer, visiting with friends, emailing and blogging. I would think my husband would want me to be happy. I am trying to limit my time on the computer to keep peace but I will not give it up completely. Why do you think spouses are jealous of our computer time? Do you think it is ignorance? fear? apprehension? I just want to know why they are is jealousy. I would like to be able to get on the computer and enjoy myself without guilt. When I am on the computer I am sitting in the same room as my husband and interacting with him. I think he would be happy.

Flower Gardens

Do you remember me talking about weeding my flower beds and how great they looked. Well my husband spread grass seed with a spreader. Can you guess what happened? CRIESSSSS... You guessed it his grass seed went into my flower beds and started growing. I can not believe it!!! You would not believe how much is growing in my flower beds. Then when I said OH NO your grass seed is growing in my flower beds he said oh well just pluck them out. Geeessshhh must be nice to think it is that easy considering it is growing in all my flower beds and lots of it took root.

Well my husband just came in, rolled his eyes and sighed so it is time for me to go. He just broke the point on my pencil so to speak!

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

Hodgepodge

2006-05-23T11:12:00.000-07:00

I am feeling totally ADD today. I can not seem to get a clear thought so I figured I would just write a few things floating around in my head.

Welcome Back

Welcome Back Stringman. I am so happy to see Stringman back from his sabbatical. Please stop over and say welcome back to Stringman!! Click here to visit his AWESOME blog!

Son's Concert

My son belongs to the school choir. This past weekend they went to a competition at Kings Dominion. They received Second Place, WOOOO HOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!

After the competition they were allowed to ride the rides. The lines were so long it made for a miserable day. The other two boys in my husband's group were bad BAD B A D !!!!!!!

Daughter's New Desk

My daughter needed a new desk. She wrote all over the other one and broke one of the doors. We chucked that desk about a year ago. Well she misses having a desk so my husband took her desk shopping. HMMM that was my first mistake. My husband does not believe in Kmart furniture that does not cost too much so if she writes on it or breaks it who cares. Oh nooooooo he takes her to a furniture store and she picks out this $400 Solid Oak Desk.I about fell over when I saw the receipt for this desk. I swear my husband has caviar taste on a beer nut budget. Well my husband goes to pick up the desk (45 minutes away) heck there is a Kmart right on the Island. He brings it home and we take it out of the box and it is a PIECE of CRAP!!!! The drawers do not even line up. So today he is bringing the desk back to the store for an exchange. I suggested getting our money back and visiting Kmart but neither him nor my daughter appreciated my suggestion.

Anonymous Blogging

Tim posted a fantastic entry on blogging and being anonymous. Click here for the post. Well I prefer to remain anonymous when it comes to my blog. That is why I do not post pictures of my children, my dog, my home or myself. I feel like even though I am here blogging about my life and me. I guess I enjoy the thought that I am here writing anonymously. I have to admit that my blog has taken a totally different direction than first intended. But I figure it is my blog and I will write what I want because I have a firm belief in the statement I have made several times "I will not be censored, I will not write entries strictly to get comments and I will post with honestly because I want to be able to look in the mirror every day without hesitation." I have learned time and time again that not everyone online is who they portray themselves to be. So I remain anonymous sharing glimpses into my life, showing you a peek into my fantasies and this way I can chose who I share myself with completely when I feel trust and safety.

Cheerleading Try-Outs

My daughter is trying out for the high school cheer squad. My fingers are crossed that she makes the team. Competitive cheerleading and high school cheerleading are so different. I truly hopes she makes the team because I have a firm belief that the busier we keep are children the less trouble they get in. A bored child is a child looking for trouble in my opinion.

Closure

It is very interesting to me how different people handle closure. You have those who will suffer in silence. Each day a little piece of them dying until they are able to put a painful situation behind them. I think this must be the most painful way to have closure.

Then you have people who will announce to the world that they are closing a painful part of their life. They will email, blog, or call people saying I finally have closure. I have done this or done that and now I am finished. I think this is a cry for attention, sympathy and pity.I have thought about myself and closure. I think I am even different in the way I handle it. When I am done, I am done and there is no cry for attention, there is no suffering in silence, and I will not try to email the person to ignite the argument all over again. I think if something or someone brings me enough pain that I am considering moving forward and leaving them behind then for my own mental health in the past is where they belong. I always try to remember all the wonderful things about them. Now that being said there are only a few people that I have completely left in the past and moved forward. I try to hold onto everyone I have ever met and bring them into the future with me. I think every single person I have met has shaped who I am and I want them with me.

Anonymous Ugly Comments

How do you handle those weasels that leave anonymous comments that are ugly and nasty? When someone leaves me an ugly comment, I like to leave the anonymous comments on my blog for all to see. Because in their words they show their ignorance. My friend had a few ugly comments on his blog that he deleted. He felt if they did not have the courage to say who they were they did not have a right to be heard. I think everyone handles those attacking comments differently. Remember your friends' comments are the only ones that matter!

Summer Vacation Too Soon

2006-05-20T09:12:00.000-07:00

My son is already on summer break, the problem with that is no one else is on summer vacation but him. The bigger problem with that is that the summer break is happening in his head as he day dreams during school!!!I am not sure if you have parent connect but it is this website where you can peek in on your children's attendance, grades and discipline actions. I must admit I rarely check the website. My children do very well in school and they are behaved for the most part. I never check my daughter's site but sometimes I peek in on my son's because he is the class clown and loves to have a good time. I accept my son's personality and I will never try to squash his sense of humor or fun. Well I had this nagging feeling about school so I gave into the feeling and signed onto parent connect earlier this week and
I pulled up his grades and SCREAMED in my head OMG!!!!! My son normally gets As and Bs in school. This year has been his best year; all As and only one B. Well this last marking period he has one incomplete, one D, one E and the rest Cs oh wait I forgot his one A in art - for joy. I felt like running away from home. I must say I am still shocked out of my mind. I keep asking him what happened and he says I do not know I am dumb. Well that is nonsense and I have told him pity is not going to get him out of trouble. Well I took his computer, cellphone, xbox, and playstation away because obviously he needs to concentrate on these grades. I know exactly what has happened he went on summer break about a month before everyone else.

I know my son is definitely daydreaming and not participating in schoolwork or homework. Although he is keeping his social calendar active. The girls are hanging around our house nonstop. Their giggling and high pitched screams are enough to drive a sane person nuts. (for argument sake lets just pretend I am sane geessh) My daughter was never one of those screamers. But it seems my son is drawn to the girls who squeal. UGGHHHH>>>> What is my honor student day dreaming about? What would bring his grades down so drastically? Well I have two answers; it is either sumer vacation or girls, girls and more girls. Well personally I think he is daydreaming about girls on summer vacation with him.

Well I contacted his teachers and I am so thrilled to hear that he is such a great kid but he is not turning in any work and he seems to be in another world, grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...... I could careless what a great kid he is, I would rather him be a complete dud but doing great in school. I am very upset that these teachers never contacted me about my child. I feel they dropped the ball just as much as he did. I know it is not their responsibility but if I was a teacher and watched a student's grade go from an A to an E, I would contact their parents. One teacher is being a complete BUTT and will not allow my son to make up anything. Two teachers are allowing him to make up a few assignments but not everything. They do not feel he should receive preferential treatment.

My son and I have been working on homework every night. My brain hurts, 7th grade is harder than I remember. They do the math ass backwards. I am just hoping to get the E up to a D and the incomplete up to a D. I just do not know what happened to him. I keep trying to see it from his shoes. I realize he has hormones running crazy through his body, his voice is changing and he is one of 4 kids that have a moustache in the 7th grade. I am trying to be patient but these grades are unacceptable.

Turning Forty

2006-05-15T07:29:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day!! (sorry I am late)

I hope everyone had an absolutely awesome mother's day. If you were celebrating your mom or your grandmother or your children were celebrating you; I hope it was an absolutely beautiful day!!! I thought I would share one of Monet's beautiful paintings. Monet is my favorite artist!! As my 39th birthday rapidly approaches I have been contemplating turning forty. I still can not believe I am going to be 40 years old. Birthdays are always difficult for me because I do not like to be the center of attention. I know this seems weird since just a few posts ago I was looking for attention and sympathy because I was ill. Well that is in blogville. In real life I hate attention of any kind. I never tell anyone if I am not feeling well because I do not want them to wait on me or feel sorry for me. I never tell anyone it is my birthday because I feel strange when people wish me happy birthday. I think your birthday is so special and I love to celebrate everyone else's birthday. I love to give them extraspecial attention but I can not enjoy it for myself.My mom had a surprise birthday party for me when I turned 30; I almost passed out. I cried for half of the party because I was not able to gain control of my emotions.I am not one for parties but if I know it is happening than I am able to prepare for it. When I turned sixteen my mom had a huge party for me and I maintained during the party, although I did cry when they sang happy birthday to me. This was mainly because I was embarrassed and everyone was looking at me but everyone thought I was overjoyed and emotional because I received a mustang from my Grandmother and passed my driver's test that morning. I start getting funny before my birthday because I am hoping there are no parties and no surprises. As you can see I am already thinking about my birthday that is not for a few months and I am already worrying about my 40th birthday that is over a year away. I wonder how I got so freaky??? LAUGHING!! hmmm no one will never know it will be one of the great un answered questions of the century. I really do wish I could enjoy it. I am already worried about my 40th because I know there will be a surprise party, although I will start this year expressing my desire for no party (this did not work for my 30th birthday). We had a surprise party for my brother, my husband, and my sister in law when they turned forty so I know I am next in line, ugghhhh!!!!!!!! My husband is equally concerned about my 40th birthday because he is not sure what I am going to do to myself, e.g. tattoo

piercing

or join the circus, LOL... I really do get whacky around my birthday.

This year I have given myself a project. I am going to start writing everything I would like to accomplish before I turn 40 years old. This will give me a little over a year to complete the tasks and hopefully keep my mind on the straight and narrow so I do not join a biker gang or join the circus (I do love Lions)or join a cult when I turn forty.

Sometimes I do not realize how strange I am until I write in my blog. I guess seeing my thoughts in print is always an eye opening experience! Looks around for the men in white jackets!

Put on Your Thinking Caps!!

2006-05-10T09:05:00.000-07:00

First I would like to thank everyone for their kind words, get better wishes, flowers, balloons, cards, cash and massages. You all have to be the best blogging buddies ever!!!! I am so very happy and honored to call you friends!!! I think in such a cynical world we are living in right now, filled with negative fake cruel people; it is nice to find people as geniune, kind, funny and honest as I have found here in Blogville with my blogging buddies!!!! Bringing flowers to all of you!!!Okay okay enough of the mushy stuff on with the test!!!
I decided to blog this little quiz because my brother and I not only both scored 14, we got the exact same questions wrong. On number 4 we both had five colors correct, missed the same color and put the same color for the one we did wrong. How very ODD and WEIRD is that???? I guess my mom was right when she kept telling us we were special and that is why we had to ride the short yellow bus!!! hahaha!!!
Put your thinking caps on. Do not worry if you smell smoke it is just brain warming up! That sometimes happens when you do not use it for a while ~winks~
No cheating!
No looking around!
No getting out of your chair!
No using anything on or in your desk or computer!
Can you beat 20? (The average is 7)

Write down your answers as you go.
Check answers (on the bottom)

REMEMBER - NO CHEATING!!! BE HONEST!!! If you cheat it is not a true victory!!! That means no looking at your phone or anything on your desk...
OK, LET 'S JUST SEE HOW OBSERVANT YOU REALLY ARE.
1. On a standard traffic light, is the green on thetop or bottom?
2. How many states are there in the USA? (Don't laugh, some people don't know)
3. In which hand is the Statue of Liberty's torch?
4. What six colors are on the classic Campbell'ssoup label?
5. What two numbers on the telephone dial don't haveletters by them?
6. When you walk does your left arm swing with yourright or left leg? (Don't you dare get up to see!)
7. How many matches are in a standard pack?
8. On the United States flag is the top stripe redor white?
9. What is the lowest number on the FM dial?
10. Which way does water go down the drain (North ofthe Equator), clockwise or counter-clockwise?
11. Which way does a "nes a "no smoking" sign's slash run?
12. How many channels on a VHF TV dial?
13 On which side of a women's blouse are thebuttons?
14. Which way do fans rotate?

You can stretch your legs if you need to but no looking around!!! Just stand, stretch, look at the ceiling and sit back down!!

15 How many sides does a stop sign have?
16. Do books have even-numbered pages on the rightor left side?
17 How many lug nuts are on a standard car wheel?
18. How many sides are there on a standard pencil?
19. Sleepy, Happy, Sneezy, Grumpy, Dopey, Doc. Who'smissing?
20. How many hot dog buns are in a standard package?
21 On which playing card is the card maker'strademark?
22 On which side of a Venetian blind is the cordthat adjusts the opening between the slats?
23. There are 12 buttons on a touch tone phone. What 2 symbols bear no digits?
24. How many curves are there in the standard paperclip?
25. Does a merry-go-round turn counter orcounter-clockwise?
WOOO HOOO You are DONE!!!! Congrats... Now lets check your answers!

ANSWERS

1. On a standard traffic light, is the green on thetop or bottom? BOTTOM
2. How many states are there in the USA? (Don'tlaugh, some people don't know) 50
3. In which hand is the Statue of Liberty's torch? RIGHT
4. What six colors are on the classic Campbell'ssoup label? BLUE, RED, WHITE, YELLOW, BLACK & GOLD
5. What two numbers on the telephone dial don't haveletters by them? 0 & 1
6. When you walk does your left arm swing with yourright or left leg? RIGHT
7. How many matches are in a standard pack? 20
8. On the United States flag is the top stripe redor white? RED
9.. What is the lowe st number on the FM dial? 88
10. Which way does water go down the drain, counteror clockwise? CLOCKWISE (NORTH OF THE EQUATOR)
11. Which way does a "no smoking" sign's slash run? TOWARDS BOTTOM RIGHT 12. How many channels on a VHF TV dial?
12 (no #1)
13 On which side of a women's blouse are thebuttons? LEFT
14. Which way do fans rotate? CLOCKWISE AS YOU LOOKAT IT
15 How many sides does a stop sign have? 8
16. Do books have even-numbered pages on the rightor left side? LEFT
17 How many lug nuts are on a standard car wheel? 5
18. How many sides are there on a standard pencil? 6
19.. Sleepy, Happy, Sneezy, Grumpy, Dopey, Doc.Who's missing? BASHFUL
20. How many hot dog buns are in a standard package?8
21 On which playing card is the card maker'strademark? ACE OF SPADES
22 On which side of a Venetian blind is the cordthat adjusts the opening between the slats? LEFT
23. There are 12 buttons on a touch tone phone. What 2 symbols bear no digits? * & #
24. How many curves are there in the standard paperclip? 3
25. Does a merry-go-round turn counter or clockwise?COUNTER

Hmmmmm.... How did you do?

WOW that good? You are VERY smart, I never doubted you for a minute!! I would never hang out with dumb people! hehe

Bay Bridge Walk

2006-05-08T09:25:00.000-07:00

If you have been reading my blog for any amount of time you know I live on an island. I absolutely love it here because it is so beautiful although in the past 10 years it has grown to new heights, sadly to say.

There are four bridges to get on and off the Island. One bridge is a drawbridge that is right next to a larger bridge (drawbridge is on the left and the taller bridge is on the right, incase it is not clear)that they built to alleviate the traffic when the draw bridge was up. This is an aerial view of the two small bridges and marinas.Then there is the two Bay Bridges that run parallel each other. This is the two Bay Bridges, with a length of 4.3 miles, the bridges are among the world's longest and most-scenic over-water structures. The original span was built in 1952 and provides a two-lane roadway for eastbound traffic. This is a picture of the bridge when it stood alone:The parallel structure opened in 1973 and has three lanes for westbound travelers. Here are two pictures of the newer bridge:During the past year, nearly 25-million vehicles crossed the Bay Bridge. Trust me most of these people go across the East bound bridge on Fridays and the West bound bridge on Sundays. This is the only way to get to the ocean, need I say more? The traffic tie ups are beyond horrible. Not to mention these are suspension bridges so when you are stuck in traffic you can feel them sway, ugghhhh... eekks I really hate that. Sometimes it can take hours to get across the bridges. When the traffic West bound backs up the idiot tourists get off the main highway and try to use the service roads. This is a nightmare. It backs up traffic through the communities, the firehouse is not able to get their engines out and the school buses are not able to get the kids home from school. In today's meme society the tourists just think only of their travels and do not take into consideration the plight of our communities. I often wonder if someone dies because the ambulance can not reach them because people are looking for a short cut; how those people would feel knowing they caused someone else's death? Steps off my soap box, sorry!!! I am here to write about the bridge walk not the tourists who drive me nuts.

Well it is a spectacular view, in my humble opinion. So one day a year they close down the older bridge and allow people to walk over it. This year they had over 20,000 people walk over the bridge on Sunday. The walk is a little over 4.5 miles. It was such a beautiful day with a nice breeze and a warming sun. Well my husband, my daughter and my son decided they would walk the bridge this year. I declined because I still feel like an elephant is sitting on my chest and I am coughing nonstop. I was afraid after a mile or so everyone surrounding me may want to throw me off the bridge because I am annoying them with my coughing. So they enjoyed the two hour walk and I enjoyed the quiet! I was able to finish the last flower bed. All of my flowers are planted, every weed pulled, and all my mulch distributed and if I may be so bold it looks GOOD!!

I am very happy it is finished!!!

Side Note:
My daughter's team came in Fourth on Saturday. They performed flawlessly and really looked like they were having fun but they were beat by better teams. The competition was very long and we did not get home until late late on Saturday night. The teams competiting came from all over the United States and they were AMAZING!!! You had to qualify and be invited to compete at this competition. Two of our teams received the invitation and two of our teams were not invited. That was our last competition. I kind of wished we did not compete on Saturday then we would have finished our season with a First Place win at Six Flags. Oh well it was a good experience for the girls and I am sure they were just as amazed as we were with some of these teams.

I hope everyone had an absolutely extraordinary weekend with lots of friends, family, parties, rest, relaxation and sex!!!!!

Thank you very much for visiting my blog!!!

A Shameful Cry for Attention

2006-05-04T09:51:00.000-07:00

I have been sick for a week. Everyday I feel just a bit worse than I did the day before. Now I am no rocket scientist but I know I am suppose to be getting better. So I broke down and went to the doctor today. YUCK!!! I hate going to the doctors.

I had a very nice blonde cute doctor who's dog just died yesterday. Well if you know me you know that my dog is like one of my children and I can not even fathom the day his journey takes him from us.

I was really hoping for a sexy male doctor. With strong warm hands, a large stethescope (hubba hubba) and a bright inviting smile. But as luck would have it my doctor was female. Now she was definitely a hottie do not get me wrong but I just wanted a male doctor. I was in need of sympathy.

The doctor's office is about an hour away. So I had to leave the house pretty early. My daughter was angry with me because she had to walk to school (which is just down the street) and all I wanted to do was crawl back into bed because I was up all night coughing and I was beat.

Since I had to go before work I was rushing like a maniac to get there right as they opened and then hit a bunch of traffic. ~Growls~ I knew I would be the first patient seen as long as I was there when they opened. I have connections! hehe My mom works there and always sneaks me in. Of course I was rushed, concerned about getting to work on time (my husband says why do you care you are the boss? but I really do care and I hate being late) plus I am anxious about seeing the doctor. I just do not like to be touched, poked and prodded. I arrive, my mom puts me in a room and guess what? My blood pressure is above normal. Well... YEEEEAAAA! I guess it is I was driving crazy to get here, but this concerns the doctor so she goes back in my records. She finds that I need a general blood work up because I am about 4 months over due. GRRRRRR.... UMMM Did someone say BLOODWORK?? Well I hate needles. It is not the pain it is the concept or something about them taking something out of my body freaks me out a bit. I had both of my children natural. Nowadays if you say that people think you mean vaginally. Well when I say natural I mean NATURAL! NO medication, No pain relief not even a tylenol, NO epideral, no NOTHING!!!!! When I tell people who had their children with some medication assistance they say stuff like oh you are a better woman than me or ARE YOU CRAZY?? well you get the picture. I did not want natural child birth, I was not being brave I was SCARED of the needles in my back. YUCK!! It was bad enough that the nurse stuck me 18 times trying to get the medication to induce labor into me. hmmmm a little off subject here, pops a ridilin and gets back on subject.

Where was I? Oh yea BLOODWORK! ~whimpers~ Enters my mom; sweet angelic kind hearted mom with a needle and three tubes for my blood. I know my eyes bugged out of my head. I said three tubes???? She just smiled and said oh that is nothing you will be fine. Easy for her to say she was the one wielding the needle. Long ago when I was in the medical field I would tell my patients the same thing. Heck it did not bother me it was their arm getting stuck. So my mother aka Vampiress starts taking my blood. Honestly I did not feel anything, but I could hear the blood gushing into to the tube. arggggg!!!!! My mom says with a big smile on her face. Wow your blood really comes out fast, I could have filled up several more tubes in the same time it would take for a normal person to fill one tube. "normal"??? Geesshh now my mom is saying I am not normal. Then she laughs this evil laugh, grabs my blood and walks out of the room. Something is not right about that crazed old woman. I waited for the doctor to return. She told me I had Bronchitis, Acute Pharyngitis (heck I could have told her that I have been gargling with razor blades for a week), Sinusitis and Ear Pain. I said ear pain? that is a diagnosis? She said well everything is so inflammed, congested and swollen it is affecting your ears causing you pain. Okay I guess she is the doctor who am I to question her my ears really do hurt but I was thinking on the lines of ear infection.

Well... I leave the doctors office to race to work which is 1.5 hours away so I will not be late. The entire drive to work I kept thinking I want to be home in bed with my lap top trying to get sympathy and presents from my blogging buddies.

So I am available to receive your pity, sympathy, and presents anytime day or night. Incase you need some ideas for presents I thought I would help you out. How nice am I??? ~winks~

Balloons are very nice and they make everyone feel a bit happier but they do deflate and end up in the trash can. hmmmm...

Flowers are always wonderful to tell someone you are thinking of them, they brighten up any room and everyone's spirit but ummm they die and end up in the trash can as well. Hmmmm... quite a quandary!

Greeting cards!! WOW cards are an awesome way of saying you are thinking of someone and care about them. They are colorful and pretty; you can read them and put them on your dresser to look at but after you read them and look at them for a few days then what are you suppose to do with them? This is very puzzling!!
OOOO a massage would be fabulous!!! My body is achey and I feel like I am a hundred and ten years old. Massages are wonderful but they only last an hour. Although you do feel good when you leave there and I am sure you can always think about the massage it will make you happy.

A house man that is SEXY, mmmmmmnnnnnnnnn and gives massages at my will.... Now that is a very erotic thought. Someone to take care of me, mmmnnn mmmmmnn YUMMY!!! If you are unable to find a sexy man to be my house man than you could always give the best gift ever; Cash, Mulah, da Green stuff.... oh yeahhh!!!!!!!!!!!!

GRINZZZZZZZZZ!!!!!!

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. I would like to wish everyone a fabulous day and evening. Be good or be good at being bad!!

Taaadaaa: I Am Back!!

2006-05-01T17:52:00.000-07:00

First I would like to thank everyone for their support during my drama filled absence. The one thing I absolutely hate is drama in my life. I know many people who love drama, love being sick, love to play the victim but not me. Although I will never turn down attention, chuckles!! But I truly appreciate the support from my blogging buddies. True and Honest friends with kind hearts are so very hard to find and I treasure and cherish each and everyone of you!!

Well Mission Accomplished!!! Yeah!!!!

I am not sure if I taught my husband a lesson or if he taught me a lesson or if I taught myself a lesson, but there definitely was a lesson learned.

I have missed everyone's blog so much, my fingers were tingling every single night to sign on. I can not want to visit blogs and see what everyone has been up to this past week.

I have accomplished a lot in the week I was offline. I have been working in my yard; weeding, planting, mulching and watering. Everything looks so beautiful and I am so thrilled to have my yard back in order. I have one more flower bed to go and I will be completely finished. It feels good to get my yard's landscaping back in order because I have neglected it the past two years. (I know Gary is saying tsk tsk tsk ~winks~ but I am back!!!) I have enlisted my children's help in the mulching and watering department. They are not happy about helping me.

I have also been cleaning. (Of course this is how I clean my house!! hehe NOT!!)

So much fun cleaning, NOT!!! hehe... I love my house when it is cleaned. But I am not obsessive about keeping it cleaned all the time. Okay little things like put your back packs away or why did you leave that hat on the floor but mostly we live in our house. I do not want to live in a museum. I love that the kids and their friends plot down in the living room (after they take their shoes off, chuckles) and play xbox, play station, play on the computer or watch movies. I just never wanted a house that is a showplace. My friend's house is so uncomfortable because it is so clean, organized, and decorated like nothing you have ever seen before. I would rather be comfortable in my humble surroundings. Well guess who I enlisted to help with all the cleaning? YUPPERS the youngins... The other day my daughter was dusting the family room, my son was dusting the living room and I was wiping down the counters in the kitchen. Out of nowhere my daughter says:

D: Mom?

Me: Yes Honey?

D: When are you getting back on the computer?

ROTFLMAO hehe haha hoho.... I about peed my pants laughing. She noticed that I was not on the computer and had way too much time on my hands. Then from the peanut gallery my son says:

S: Yea Mom, I think your friends in cyber space must really be missing you.

LMAO!! Kids are so funny!!

While I was away from the computer I noticed that I have ADD, major when it comes to television. My mind was just going a thousand different places as I watched television with no computer ~insert pout~. I had to get my hand held Free Cell game and start playing it while I watched television. I also learned that I sure did miss my husband during this time as well. I normally sit next to him on the couch, we watch television together while I am on my laptop. This way we both win because we are together, he is watching what he wants on television(which does not interest me in the least) and I am on the computer visiting blogs and chatting. During this time period of lessons to be learned, I have not been sitting with him because I wanted him to miss me being there and realize that the computer is not taking time away from him. I multi task well!

My daughter has her last cheerleading competition on this weekend. The end of the season is bitter sweet; I miss seeing her perform but I am looking forward to the month off before they start back up again for next season. The weekend before last they competed at Six Flags and won first place!!!! Most definitely not their best performance. They actually had a girl that did not go up for one of the stunts. It is funny how different the competitions are they can be right on the money, perfect and walk away with third and be so so and walk away with first. It really depends on the judges and the competition.

I was so happy we did not have a competition this weekend that just passed. I have been fighting a losing battle with a cold since Thursday. It won sometime Friday afternoon. Cleaning and yardwork are even less fun when you are sick.YUCK I hate being sick. I can not find Tylenol Sinus nighttime anywhere. GROWLS! It is the only decongestant that does not bother my tachycardia. So I am carrying around my halls, tissues, and have an excuse to eat ice cream and drink milkshakes. My poor throat feels as if I was gargling with razor blades. I swear my head weighs 50lbs, with a sign on it saying hit here with sledge hammer, by the pounding in my head I think someone is obliging me every few minutes. ~inserts a pout, sulk and even a whimper~ Geeeesshhh I better end this blog entry it seems I am turning into a whiney baby right before my eyes, ugghh.. I am at work but not being very productive, I think I left my brain at home.

Thank you again for all your kind words. I have missed my friends very much!!!!!!

Taking a Break

2006-04-25T05:23:00.000-07:00

Well my husband had a complete meltdown on Sunday. AHHH Marital Bliss... A long story short; his coffee spilled on Sunday and he went nuts. I mean a full grown adult temper tantrum. I know the coffee spilling is not what he is upset about but I am not totally sure what is wrong with him. I think it is the price of college tuition but he has not told me for sure yet.He threw the coffee pot, the coffee machine, and the trash can out the side door. Okay I know in the heat of emotional meltdown someone laughing at you does not help. But for some reason watching him throw everything out the door struck me funny. HMMMM that did not go over well at all. I think it actually made it worse; go figure. Well in the midst of his break down he started complaining about me blogging. So I have decided to take a break from blogging for a few days to teach him a lesson. I sure hope he learns the lesson soon because I MISS YOU SO MUCH!! I feel like I have not spoke to my best friend in a month and I do not know what is going on in my friend's life. I have missed reading your blogs immensely. I thought for sure I would be able to blog from work with no problem but I have been so busy that I have not had the opportunity to check blogs from work.

Please know I am thinking of you all and missing you and your blogs immensely.
Goes back to pouting and sulking; hopefully my husband will get the hint!!!!!!!

Wishing everyone a WONDERFUL week!!

Laundry YUCK

2006-04-21T17:28:00.000-07:00

My husband came home today, he took one look at me and laughed so hard. He said after 19 years you have not changed at all. He was speaking of my laundry ritual not that I look young. So as we were both laughing, I thought hmmmmmm... a blog entry MWAHAHAHA!!!! So welcome to a day in my crazy life!!! I am like the laundry nazi (thinking of the Soup Nazi from Seinfeld) I turn from nice mom to Hilter in the matter of minutes. Friday afternoon as soon as the kids walk in the door from school, I start bugging them to get their clothes in the sorters. You would think they would just put them in the sorter when they take them off but heck no, not my kids they want to see me go nuts. Well they begin gathering their dirty clothes and by the way this is not what they look like when they are sorting clothes, I never seen any smiles.I get into my "laundry clothes" which are shorts and a tshirt that I normally paint or garden in. Ummm that is all I wear no bra and no panties (I know I know WAY TOO much information, hehe) But when I wash clothes I like to make sure every single thing in the house is washed. After changing, I gather my husband's and my clothes then sort them. I am not quite sure how my husband gets out of the entire laundry process but I think it is because he is spoiled. I also make the kids get into pajamas or tshirt with pajama bottoms if they do not have any plans. I have a strict order that I adhere to every single time I wash clothes. I know you must be asking yourself; why? Well I have no idea why I guess because I am whacko.

This is the order I wash in:
(I like to get all the no dry clothes done and hung up first so they start drying)
1. Dark No Dry w/Liquid Tide and I always use the Green Downy.
2. Light No Dry w/Powder Tide w/bleach, oxywash, and Downy
3. Dark Dry Clothes (same as no dry but I use Bounce Original Sheets (7))
4. Light Dry Clothes (same as no dry but again with bounce dryer sheets (5))
5. Then my husband's work clothes (which soak for 45 minutes, then a prewash, then a regular wash, then two rinse cycles. I use liguid tide when I wash and soak them. I use downey in both rinses.
6. Then finally I finish up with my towels. Powder Tide with/bleach, liquid bleach and no downy.

Now if I see dirty clothes in the kid's room or my husband brings in clothes from his work truck anytime during the laundry process. I am like psycho mom explaining to them my plight and I am instantly a laundry martyr.
Well I wash all the no dry clothes on Friday Night so they will be dry on Saturday. I wash the rest of the clothes on Saturday. When the dry clothes are finished drying; I fold them into four laundry baskets. This way when I am done with the clothes everyone can grab their basket and put their clothes away. HMMM hubby gets out of this part too, I put our clothes away. I may have to rethink Mr. Hubby's role in laundry day. CHUCKLES! By this time all my no dry clothes are dry and we can put them away. YEAHHHHHHHHH!!!! Then laundry time is over and I can morph back into Mom. Oh wait I do have to do a final inspection of the laundry baskets and kid's room to make sure all the clothes have indeed been put away, because my children are famous for leaving their clean clothes around their room and then come Friday sticking the clean clothes in with the dirty ones.

Here is a peek into my future laundry ritual. I want this washer and dryer. I think it is really cool. At first I wanted the front loader but I have heard they have a tendancy to leak. So I have chose the Kenmore Oasis Canyon Washer and Dryer. Hey my husband does not call me Inspector Gadget for nothing. Everytime I am in the laundry room my husband sticks his head in and says HEY no breaking that machine just to get a new one. HAHAHA HEHEHE HOHOHO NOT!!!! Okay it was funny the first ten times he said it but now it is just old.

Wishing Everyone An Absolutely WONDERFUL, EXCITING, RELAXING, and Passion Filled Weekend.

The Hunt For A Good Night's Sleep

2006-04-19T14:35:00.000-07:00

I have always had a hard time sleeping. Which is very strange because I do not drink anything with caffeine. When I was younger it did not affect me at all. I could go days without sleep. But as I am getting ~cough~ older ~cough~ it has begun to affect me. I am always yawning and tired in the evenings. But by the time everyone is in bed and settled down, guess who is wide awake? Yuppers... Me!!! I have never taken a sleep aid because I am afraid I would be hooked in a minute.
When I lay down it is like my brain clicks on over drive. I think about everything and anything! GRRRRR it irritates the hell out of me. I would do just about anything to quiet my brain. My friend told me to try and figure out complex math problems. Well heck I was up all night trying to figure out the answers. Ummm if you have an obsessive personality do not do complex math problems in your head!!! I think the worse night sleep is when I get the clock watching syndrome!! Waking up in a panic every 30 minutes checking the clock because you feel like you have overslept. UGHHHH thats the worse ever!!!
But my main problem with sleep is just the stuff in my head that is left over from the day and stuff I have to do tomorrow. I started with a mini tape recorder so I could remember my thoughts. I thought that would quiet my brain. Nope... the mini tape recorder drove me nuts it was hard to work. So I tried paper and pen but once I started listing the stuff that was floating around in my head, I could not stop. So I just lay there thinking, okay okay sometimes I write stuff down if it is very important. Geeesshh you all know me too well! hehe...

While we were in Florida I slept like a rock!! I mean I was asleep between 10 and 11pm and I woke up at 5:30am. I could not believe it!!!! I have not slept through the entire night since forever. I slept on the couch right near the sliding glass door. I kept it open listening to the waves and ZZzzZZzzZZzz out like a light.

As much running as we did while in Florida, I have never felt so rested in all my life. This was a great discovery for me. The first night home I was up all night long. ~growls~ So I bought this Tranquil Moments® Sound Therapy System and I have been listening to the ocean every night. Well for the first week it did not work but I liked listening to it. I was still waking up several times during the night. Last night I went to bed at 11pm, fell right asleep, woke up at 3am looked at the clock, turned over went back to sleep until the alarm went off at 4am!! WOOO HOOOOO I felt GREAT this morning!!!!!!! It was awesome!! I think the White Noise Machine is working!!! Wishing everyone a wonderful night's sleep with dreams filled with all the things that bring you pleasure!!!

Not Tagged Part I

2006-04-16T22:25:00.000-07:00

I was not tagged but I saw this over at Xmichra's blog and loved it.

Here’s the instructions:
1. Choose a search engine.
2. Pick 5 random blog friends.

(I did all my blogging buddies because they are so special to me, check out Part 1,2 and 3)
3. Think of a word or phrase that you describes each friend.
4. Do an image search of that word or phrase.
5. Pick an image to represent your friend - share it.

Not Tagged Part II

2006-04-16T21:30:00.000-07:00

Undr

Gary

Phil

Alan

Not Tagged Part III

2006-04-16T08:40:00.000-07:00

Jack

Leesa

Still Searching

Chandira
Fred
Gunn Girl
Gina
Morningstar
Michael
Zen Wizard

Wishing Everyone a Very Happy Easter!!

Tagged by Miss Sonya

2006-04-14T02:17:00.000-07:00

I've been tagged by Sonya (who has an awesome blog stop by and see her by clicking on her name), (Sonya was tagged by Emily, who was tagged by Reluctant Housewife, who was tagged by sugarmama, who was tagged by the pajama mama).

I am supposed to share 6 weird things about myself, things I do, say, whatever....

Here are the rules-
1. Reveal six weird facts/things/habits about yourself and then tag six people
2. Leave a "You're Tagged!" comment to let the people you have tagged know they have to reveal six things (or the entire blogosphere will explode and it will be their fault)
3. Leave a comment HERE to let me know when you have completed your mission

1. I do not lick envelopes, stickers, stamps or anything. It makes me feel ill if I see someone lick an envelope. I wipe my keyboard, phone and desk down with antibacterial wipes every morning even though I have my own office and no one uses my desk but me.

2. I have never drank alcohol or experimented with any kind of drugs. (I know I am boring)

3. I do not like my food to touch on my plate. This is a trait I have passed down to my children. I can remember leaving them with my husband for the first time for dinner. I arrived home just as dinner started to my 3 and 4 year old crying because their food was touching. hehe... My husband said I have trained them to be quirky like me. I said no I just never let their food touch when I make their plates so they are not use to it.

4. I am not allowed to have a dark colored car anymore because my husband bought me a dark burgandy Blazer years ago. It was beautiful, the color was rich and it had slot mags that sparkled. It was just taken off the truck when we saw it. It did not even have .2 miles on it. They drove it on the truck and off the truck. Well my husband agreed to the Blazer begrudingly because he wanted a mini van and I am not a mini van kind of person (no offense to minivan owners). Well I brought that truck through the car wash everyday. I could not stand for it to have a speck of dirt on it. Well I wore off the clear coat and by the time the truck was a few years old the paint was dull, which made me bring it through the car wash even more to get the wax put on it. Oh boyyyyy what a nightmare. So my next car was gold and my new car is light blue, hehe the lighter colors do not show the dirt as much!

5. I have long hair that I over condition because split ends drive me nuts. I use shampoo and conditioner for dry hair but I do not have dry hair. I put leave on conditioner after I get out of the shower. I use hot oil treatments. I am always looking for split ends, my husband said it reminds him of the monkeys cleaning bugs off each other because I am always examining my hair. But I always get compliments on how soft my hair is, so that makes it worth it right?? hehe...

6. I hate mayo. I hate everything about mayo. I hate the word mayo. My husband loves mayo (I had to rethink his marriage proposal, hehe). I have this LONGGGGGGGG spatula so I can dip it into the mayo to make him a sandwich and not get any mayo on me. It makes me gag just seeing it, ughhhh!!!!! Although it is funny how we change our spouses without even knowing it. When I first met my husband he would put so much mayo on his food it made me ill. I mean like an inch think, I am turning green just thinking about it, argghhh. Well since I started making his sandwiches I guess I use a lot less mayo. I think I am gobbing it on but I am not. Well now he can not stand a lot of mayo on his sandwiches.

Taaadddaaaaa I am all done!!!

I would absolutely love to see what your six things are so please feel free to share with us and consider yourself tagged!

Our Trip

2006-04-12T19:33:00.000-07:00

This is my second attempt at this post. I had the entire post finished and accidently deleted it! I am so very frustrated with myself.

Our Trip to Fort Walton Beach!

We stayed in Destin, Florida at the Pelican Beach Resort. The sand was white and the water was emerald green and blue. (If you click on Destin it will bring you to a link of the area, if you click on Pelican Beach it is the link to the resort)

We arrived in Florida about 45 minutes behind schedule because of heavy winds and rain in Atlanta. We were very fortunate, I mean VERY VERY fortunate because after we departed Atlanta a tornado touched down later that evening.

We arrived starved and tired. We ate breakfast before we left and thought we would grab something to eat at the Atlanta Airport, can you say CHA CHING??? Oh my goodness EXPENSIVE is an understatement. So we decided to just eat when we arrived in Florida. So we rented the car at the airport. It was a pretty cool little car; it was a Pontiac GrandAm. Click here to see a pic of the car. (From my previous post) Well the rental agent annoyed the living hell out of me. Have you ever met a salesperson with that fake smile who just drove you nuts??? Well this girl was irritating me more and more by the second. I am sure it did not help that I was tired and hungry.She was not very happy with me because I would not take the insurance or the gas plan. She just kept droning on and on and I kept saying no thank you.

We packed the rental car and off we go to find a pizza place. We decided on pizza because it was Friday and we were not able to eat meat. We passed burger joint after burger joint, steak and shake, chicken place, but NO pizza places. What is up with that?? Well we are all cranky, hungry and tired. Finally about 1 hour and 30 minutes after leaving the airport we found a Pizza Hut. Oh my we all gobbled down the pizza like we had not eaten for a week. It was the best pizza we had ever had. Laughs!! I guess being completely starved helps the food taste delicious.

Back on the road to the resort. The resort was about 2 hours from the airport. We finally arrived at the resort to screaming cheerleaders in the lobby. When they saw my son they started screaming, jumping around and acting like idiots to get his attention. Well this about set my daughter off the deep end. She was furious. She felt they were embarrassing her team by acting like animals in the lobby. Well as I stood there trying to check in she was complaining and the girls were screaming. My daughter's team consists of 6th grade through 9th grade, so there is a huge difference in maturity levels. The senior team consists 10th grade through 12th grade.

We received our keys and off to the room we went. OH BOY the room was beautiful but it paled in comparison to the view!! We were VERY happy with our accomodations! Click here to see our room and view (from my previous post).

We spent our days laying on the beach, swimming in the gulf, swimming in the pool, and relaxing in the hot tub.

My daughter found great joy in hunting for the perfect seashell. She brought home 4 seashells that were magnificent!! I bet at least a hundred or so did not make the cut. She LOVED that she could see the bottom when she was chest high in the water.I would honestly say her seashells were her most treasured gift from her trip to Destin. I bought her a new beach bag that she loves, necklaces, shirts, shoes, and a sweatshirt. But she carried those shells with such love and devotion. I think she came away with a greater sense and love for nature's beauty.

Saturday night went go cart riding and had a BLAST!! We spent all evening at the go cart track riding the different tracks. The kids faces were so lit up with excitement it was fantastic!!! We went with my daughter's friend and her dad, well he is so funny anyway but seeing him buzz around the track with all the kids passing him and waving to him was the funniest thing I ever saw. NONE of my pictures turned out. **GROWLSSS** My daughter dropped my camera right as we arrived at the track.

The girls competed both Saturday and Sunday. Saturday's score counted for 1/3 of your final score and Sunday's counted for 2/3 of your final score. Well of course our girls ROCKED on Saturday. They had a flawless routine!!! The tears were streaming down my face because it is the best they ever performed.

Sunday they looked great but they had one deduction because one of the bases grabbed the flyer's foot wrong and she wobbled. GRRRR... Well that cost us second place. We lost second place by 5 points. So we came in third place and received an awesome trophy. In cheerleading 5 points is next to nothing so the score sheets will be reviewed to make sure there were no adding errors or numbers carried wrong. Just to give you an idea our senior team received second place and lost to the first place team by 80 points. We will keep our fingers crossed but third was a great victory!! We are a non profit cheer squad competing against teams that have paid dance coaches, paid gymnastic coaches, and paid cheer coaches; our two coaches are high school cheerleaders. I am very proud of my daughter and her team. Well you know my girl was the best, prettiest and most talented. GRINZZZZZZZ.... Can you believe that other parents actually thought their kids were the best, gessshhhh the nerve of them. HAHAHA!!! Laughing!!!!!

Before we knew it, it was time to return home. If it was not Holy week; which is the busiest week at work for me. I would have stayed an extra few days without the concerns for the competition. But I must admit I was very happy to be heading home to see my husband. I sure did miss him. But shhh do not tell anyone!! Hmmmm almost 19 years of marriage; am I still suppose to miss him when we are apart? Well we missed our flight because I am a complete DUH!!! I had all the papers from the airline together. Well they had changed the time of our flight and when I checked the time I was looking at the original flight plan not the updated one. When we arrived at the airport and she said we missed our flight, I almost fell over. Thank God we were able to catch another flight and arrive home a few hours late.

Back to the hustle and bustle of real life, arrrgghhh!!!

A side note: I normally do not sleep very well but at the resort I slept like a rock. I think it was the waves hitting the beach because we left the sliding glass door open. So I am going to buy a white noise machine that sounds like the ocean so I can hopefully sleep at night like I did at the resort, because the last two nights have been hell since we arrived home. Click here this is the one I am hoping to buy today!!! If anyone has any suggestions; I am all ears!!!

I would like to thank all my WONDERFUL blogging buddies who wished my daughter and her team well, and also for wishing us a safe journey. I want you all to know I greatly appreciate your kindness!!! Blogging has been an extraordinary experience for me! I have met so many kind and loving people!!! okay okay enough of the mushy stuff here is a sexy pic to leave you with, I do not want you to think I have gone soft!!!! ~winks~

My New Favorite Song

2006-04-11T20:09:00.000-07:00

This song speaks to me! I absolutely love it and listen to it over and over and over and over. I just can not seem to get enough of this wonderful song!!

"Goodbye My Lover"
By James Blunt

Click here to see the video!!
Thank you Sonya!! Huggs and Kisssess

Click here to hear a sample of the song
(I have the CD but I have no clue how to add the song here)

Did I disappoint you or let you down?
Should I be feeling guilty or let the judges frown?
'Cause I saw the end before we'd begun,
Yes I saw you were blinded and I knew I had won.
So I took what's mine by eternal right.
Took your soul out into the night.
It may be over but it won't stop there,
I am here for you if you'd only care.
You touched my heart you touched my soul.
You changed my life and all my goals.
And love is blind and that I knew when,
My heart was blinded by you.
I've kissed your lips and held your head.
Shared your dreams and shared your bed.
I know you well, I know your smell.
I've been addicted to you.

Goodbye my lover.
Goodbye my friend.
You have been the one.
You have been the one for me.

I am a dreamer but when I wake,
You can't break my spirit - it's my dreams you take.
And as you move on, remember me,
Remember us and all we used to be
I've seen you cry, I've seen you smile.
I've watched you sleeping for a while.
I'd be the father of your child.
I'd spend a lifetime with you.
I know your fears and you know mine.
We've had our doubts but now we're fine,
And I love you, I swear that's true.
I cannot live without you.

Goodbye my lover.
Goodbye my friend.
You have been the one.
You have been the one for me.

And I still hold your hand in mine.
In mine when I'm asleep.
And I will bare my soul in time,
When I'm kneeling at your feet. Goodbye my lover.

Goodbye my friend.
You have been the one.
You have been the one for me.

I'm so hollow, baby, I'm so hollow.
I'm so, I'm so, I'm so hollow.
I'm so hollow, baby,
I'm so hollow.
I'm so, I'm so, I'm so hollow.

We Are Back!!!

2006-04-11T02:47:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone had an absolutely WONDERFUL weekend!!! Mine was exhausting but fun!! We missed our flight coming home, ugghhhh and did not get home until very late. I am going to post some pics and I will make a post later. This is going to be a VERY busy week at work since it is Holy Week.

Our Hotel

Our Room

The View from Our Room

Someone arranged the chairs on the below deck and I know this message was for me! WINKS!!

Our Rental Car (with my son sticking out of the sunroof)

Kids in the Water

Well I am off to get ready for work. I will read email and visit everyone's blog very soon. Wishing everyone a fantastic week!!!!

LIFE - This Is A Long One, My Apologies!

2006-04-05T10:13:00.000-07:00

I am very sorry this post is so long. But, I just received a wonderful email from my friend Debbie that took my breath away. This email could not have reached me at a better time or day, I really needed something this wonderful today. My friend Debbie is a few years older than me and almost crippled. She always has this beautiful smile on her face with sparkling green eyes. But I can see the pain when I look deep into her eyes. She lives in pain 24/7 and I admire her so very much. I think I would have thrown in the towel by now. I am going to share the email with you but first I wanted to share a few rules that I try to live by. I do say try because I am not always successful but I will always continue to try to accomplish my rules. As you can see her email really has me thinking.

Some of my rules of life:
I always stop to feel the sun shine on my face. I always look up at the stars at night and in the early morning. I ALWAYS admire nature's beauty.

I try to always say thank you because I am so grateful for the littlest things but sometimes we forget to say thank you.

I try to let my friends know that I appreciate them. I love my friends for how they make me feel not for what they do for me. I have a friend who sends me an email every single morning and every single night to say good morning and good night, just a few sentences but it makes my day and night. I could never keep up with that, I always want him to know how much I appreciate it, even if I do not email him as much as he emails me. I have another friend who moved away about 5 years ago (I miss her, pouts), she emails me long letters, sends me cards, sends me pictures of her kids and I never can find the words to reply to her in such a vast form. I always thank her for the email and I answer all her questions but that is about it for me. But... I do call her a lot and we talk on my phone bill or my cell phone minutes, but she never calls me. One time I was apologizing to her for not being able to match the length of her email, She said "it all balances out I am better at writing and you are better at spending money; email is free and phone calls cost money." LAUGHING She is such a trip and I have missed her so much since she moved. She is Hawaiian and she calls me Mikala, and I love it!! I think if you send someone an email or a card because you are expecting to get one in return then that is just silly I would rather not receive at all. I like knowing my friends are calling me or emailing me or sending me cards because they love me and want me to have them not because they are expecting something in return.

I do not judge people because I do not wish to be judged.

I try to always forgive someone who has hurt my family, my friends or me. I have a much easier time forgiving than forgetting. I can forgive the person for causing me pain but I find it hard to forget the pain. I am hoping to grow into being able to forgive and forget. Once I have lost faith or trust in a person, I can not seem to get it back. I just try to remember the good times with them but move forward in the situation.

I try very hard to step out of a painful situation to see the other person's point of view. I always believe there is a reason behind the pain someone is inflicting upon me. I never want to be blind to the reason, sometimes I allow my emotions to get in the way and I can not see the reason. But, I know I have to see the reason, because the reason gives me peace.

I try to understand instead of hating.

Patience, hmmmm well I try to have patience but that is definitely not one of my better characteristics!!! hehehe

I try to find the good in someone even when there seems to be none. I have a great belief that we all start out to be good people, something along the road of life has changed who we are and most definitely who we were suppose to be.

I try to take my family, loved ones and friends with me into the future. This is not always possible, I try to understand why and then I bring those who are lost to me into the future by remembering all the good things we shared. I try to keep memories of passed loved ones alive and bring them into the future with me in my heart.

I think the hardest thing for me when something bad happens is to leave the what ifs behind. I always want to know why? what if I did something differently? how could this have been avoided? But with age I am realizing sometimes there are no answers it just happened. Everything happens for a reason. When God closes a door he always opens a window.

Okay I will stop now because I could just go on and on.

Here is the email:

GEORGE CARLIN (His wife recently died...)

Isn't it amazing that George Carlin - gross and mouthy comedian of the 70's and 80's - could write something so very eloquent...and so very appropriate.

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider Freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time.

We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to life not life to years.

We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space.

We've done larger things, but not better things.We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait.

We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships.

These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill.

It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete...

Remember; spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever.

Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side.

Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn't cost a cent.

Remember, to say, "I love you" to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you.

Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again.Give time to love, give time to speak! And give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.AND ALWAYS

REMEMBER:Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

THE END!

No pictures I wanted the words to stand on their own today!

As you can see this email has affected me in a deep way. It made me sit down, take a deep breath and think (I mean really think)

Wishing Everyone a Peaceful Wednesday! Feel the sun, smell the flowers and most definitely look up at the stars!!

Childhood Memory

2006-04-04T15:06:00.000-07:00

A C5 plane crashed in Delaware at Dover Air Force Base. Click here to read about the crash on this great blog! The comment section is amazing because it is from the people affected, please take a second to visit it. This recent plane crash has brought back so many childhood memories for me.

My Uncle was a pilot in the air force. He flew the C5 cargo carrier. You can not believe how big this plane is, I mean HUGE!! My Uncle took us to Dover airforce base when I was little to see the C5. We were running around inside of the plane.

It was so awesome! I was probably around 6 or 7, I just remember the feeling of complete awe. My Uncle showed us how everything worked. He explained to us about the engineers who load the plane so the plane is completely balanced.

Thank God that no one was killed in the C5 crash. There were some injuries, and six of the injured people are still in the hospital tonight.

Click here for the new's article. The military has suspended C5 flights until they finish the investigating crash.

VOTE For the Sexiest Blogger

2006-04-04T02:46:00.000-07:00

Mr. Fabulous is up for Sexiest Blogger. Click here to vote for Mr. Fabulous. Click here to check out his FANTASTIC blog!!!

Dont forget you can vote once a day! So visit daily!!! I have heard that a lot of the ladies like to vote for Mr. Fabulous while they are naked!!

Mr. Fabulous is so sexy and macho that even us manly men vote for him!!!!

We vote together because Mr. Fabulous is so awesome and sexy!!!!

One Last time:

Mr. Fabulous is up for Sexiest Blogger. Click here to vote for Mr. Fabulous. Click here to check out his FANTASTIC blog!!!

PS to my Party Post

2006-04-03T15:56:00.000-07:00

My son and I had lunch at the China Buffet before we went shopping before his birthday party. This is the fortune cookie my son received. I was so shocked!! I said oh that is so cool and my son said I wonder what will happen later?

I meant to add this to my earlier post but as always I got ahead of myself.

Party

2006-04-02T16:43:00.000-07:00

Well the party went well minus two horrible children that attended. They were absolutely unbelievable!!!

My son was so surprised. He actually fell on the floor. At first I thought he passed out.

We played bingo and gift swap. We had a 3 foot sub, pizza, deviled eggs, chips and dip, more soda than anyone could count, cookies, candy and cake. My son kept coming up and hugging me saying thank you. Plus we were out shopping all day as they set the party up. We had a great day shopping, went out to lunch and did LOTS of driving.

The party was continued at my house. My son brought a friend home, my daughter brought a friend home, my mom, my aunt and uncle came back to the house. We hung out for a bit. Then my mom, aunt and uncle left. Then another one of my son's friend came over and we played Uno attack. It was so much fun.

We had a sleepover. The kids had so much fun. They played video games on the Xbox, Playstation, computer, and watched movies. The girls went to sleep around 11 and boys were out by 11:30. The girls were lucky they were able to sleep in but the boys were not so fortunate. The boys were woke up early for Sunday School.

We came home and my husband made everyone breakfast. I think the girls rolled out of bed around 11, hehe. The boys kept wanting to wake them up. They spent the entire day playing video games and the computer. They played with sidewalk chalk and played ball outside. I made homemade meatballs and spaghetti. We ate at 3:30 then off to church to catch the last service. After church we dropped the kids off then went to Kmart. My daughter's tv broke during the week so we went to get her another one. Now, I am happily home and resting. I plan on visiting everyone's blogs tomorrow.

I hope EVERYONE had a FANTASTIC weekend!!!

Child Bride

2006-03-31T16:11:00.000-08:00

I could not believe this story when I read it. My heart is weeping. I guess it puts everything into perspective. The petty little bullshit that we have to deal with is so minute compared to the suffering of many; War, loss of children, homeless, terminal, weather ravaged, abused, molested, raped, beaten, murdered, tortured and the list goes on and on. This was an amazing article and has transformed my thinking. I am not going to sweat the little stuff anymore. Love me, hate me, like me, envy me, feel sorry for me, despise me, talk about me, whisper about me and write about me...It is all fine with me and more power to you. I will no longer worry about everyone, because I now choose to give my energy to the positive people in my life, the negative ones do not matter to me and they do not exist in my eyes. I have to be thankful and appreciative for my life. I have to be me and I will not change for anyone. I will most definitely work on being a better person for my family and myself. I have the perfect life for me. Although it is ONLY perfect to me and would definitely not be perfect for anyone else. I have to appreciate what I have and pray for those who are less fortunate. My children are healthy and safe. They have food and shelter. They have guidance and love. Nothing else matters!!!!!! I am off to read this story to my children.

Wishing everyone an absolutely fantastic weekend filled with family, friends, love and fun!!!!

This beautiful 12 year old with big brown hope filled eyes, lovely smile and hopefully a future was married at the age of 4, please read this story about this beautiful young girl.

Married at the age of four, an Afghan girl was subjected to years of beatings and torture, finally escaping to discover that within all the world's cruelty, there is also some kindness.
KABUL,
Afghanistan' name=c1> SEARCHNews News Photos Images Web' name=c3> Afghanistan - Eleven-year old Gulsoma lay in a heap on the ground in front of her father-in-law. He told her that if she didn't find a missing watch by the next morning he would kill her. He almost had already.
Enraged about the missing watch, Gulsoma's father-in-law had beaten her repeatedly with a stick. She was bleeding from wounds all over her body and her right arm and right foot had been broken.
She knew at that moment that if she didn't get away, he would make good on his promise to kill her. * * *
When I meet her at the Ministry of Women's Affairs I'm surprised that the little girl, now 12, is the same one that had endured such horrible suffering. She is wearing a red baseball cap and an orange scarf. She has beautiful brown eyes and a full and animated smile. She takes one of my hands in both of hers and greets me warmly, without any hint of shyness.
"She looks healthy," says Haroon, my friend and translator. I nod. But she looks older than her years, we both agree. In orphanages — first in Kandahar, then in Kabul — she has had a year to recover from a lifetime's worth of unimaginable imprisonment, deprivation and torture.
In one of the ministry's offices she sits in a straight-backed wooden chair and tells us the story of her life so far. She is stoic for the most part, pausing only a few times to wipe her eyes and nose with her scarf.
Her story begins in the village of Mullah Allam Akhound, near Kandahar.
"When I was three years old my father died, and after a year my mother married again, but her second husband didn't want me," says Gulsoma. "So my mother gave me away in a promise of marriage to our neighbor's oldest son, who was thirty."
"They had a ceremony in which I was placed on a horse [which is traditional in Afghanistan] and given to the man."
Because she was still a child, the marriage was not expected to be sexually consummated. But within a year, Gulsoma learned that so much else would be required of her that she would become a virtual slave in the household.
At the age of five, she was forced to take care of not only her "husband" but also his parents and all 12 of their other children as well. Though nearly the entire family participated in the abuse, her father-in-law, she says, was the cruelest.
"My father-in-law asked me to do everything — laundry, the household chores — and the only time I was able to sleep in the house was when they had guests over," she says. "Other than that I would have to sleep outside on a piece of carpet without even any blankets. In the summer it was okay. But in the winter a neighbor would come over and give me a blanket, and sometimes some food."
When she couldn't keep up with the workload, Gulsoma says, she was beaten constantly.
Gulsoma's scars
"They beat me with electric wires," she says, "mostly on the legs. My father-in-law told his other children to do it that way so the injuries would be hidden. He said to them, 'break her bones, but don't hit her on the face.'"
There were even times when the family's abuse of Gulsoma transcended the bounds of the most wanton, sadistic cruelty, as on the occasions when they used her as a human tabletop, forcing her to lie on her stomach then cutting their food on her bare back.
Gulsoma says the family had one boy her age, named Atiqullah, who refused to take part in her torture.
"He would sneak me food sometimes and when my mother-in-law told him to find a stick to beat me, he would come back say he couldn't find one," she says. "He would try to stop the others sometimes. He would say 'she is my sister, and this is sinful.' Sometimes I think about him and wish he could be here and I wish I could have him as my brother."
One evening, Gulsoma says, when her father-in-law saw the neighbor giving her food and a blanket, he took them away and beat her mercilessly. Then, she says, he locked her in a shed for two months.
"I would be kept there all day," she says, "then at night they would let me go the bathroom and I would be fed one time each day. Most of the time it was only bread and sometimes some beans."
She says every day she was locked in the shed, she wished and prayed that her parents would come and take her away. Then she would remember that her father was dead and her mother was gone.
But Gulsoma had an inner strength even her father-in-law couldn't comprehend.
"When he came to the shed he kept asking me, 'Why don't you die? I imprisoned you, I give you less food, but still you don't die.'"
But it wasn't for lack of trying. Gulsoma said when her father-in-law finally let her out of the shed, he bound her hands behind her back and beat her unconscious. She says he revived her by pouring a tea thermos filling with scalding water over her head and her back.
"It was so painful," she says, dabbing her eyes with her scarf and sniffling for a moment. "I was crying and screaming the entire time."
Five days later, she says, her father in law gave her a vicious beating when his daughter's wristwatch went missing.
"He thought I stole it," she says, "and he beat me all over my body with his stick. He broke my arm and my foot. He said if I didn't find it by the next day, he would kill me."
* * *
Gulsoma found hope after escaping
She crawled away that night and hid under a rickshaw. When the rickshaw driver found Gulsoma, broken and bleeding, he listened to her story and took her to the police. She was hospitalized immediately.
"The doctor at the hospital who treated me said, 'I wish I could take you to the village square and show all the people what happened to you, so no one would ever do something like this again,'" Gulsoma says.
It took her a full month to recover from her last beating. But the fear and psychological trauma may never go away.
"I was happy to have a bed and food at the hospital," she says. "But I was thinking that when I get better they will give me back to the family."
However, Gulsoma says when the police questioned the family, the father-in-law lied and tried to tell them she had epilepsy and had fallen down and hurt herself. But the neighbor who had helped Gulsoma confirmed the story of her beatings and torture.
The police arrested her father-in-law and "husband." They told her, she says, they would keep them in jail unless she asked for their release.
"Everyone was crying when they heard my story," Gulsoma says. Gulsoma says she stayed at an orphanage in Kandahar, but was the only girl in the facility. Eventually, her story was brought to the attention of the Ministry of Women's Affairs.
The toll of torture
Gulsoma was then brought to a Kabul orphanage, where she lives today. She takes off her baseball cap and shows us a bald spot, almost like a medieval monk's tonsure, on the crown of her head where she was scalded.
She then turns her back and raises her shirt to reveal a sad map of scar tissue and keloids from cuts, bruises and the boiling water.
Haroon and I look at each other with disbelief. Her life's tragic story is etched upon her back.
Yet she continues to smile. She doesn't ask for pity. She seems more concerned about us as she reads the shock on our faces.
"I feel better now," she says. "I have friends at the orphanage. But every night I'm still afraid the family will come here and pick me up."
Gulsoma also says that when the sun goes down, she sometimes begins to shiver involuntarily — a reaction to the seven years of sleeping outdoors, sometimes in the bitter cold of the desert night.
She says she believes there are other girls like her in Kandahar, maybe elsewhere in Afghanistan, and that she wants to study human rights and one day go back to help them.
As we walk outside to take some pictures, I ask her if, after all she's been through, she thinks it will be harder to trust, to believe that there are actually good people in the world.
"No," she says, quickly.
"I didn't expect anyone would help me but God. I was really surprised that there were also nice people: the neighbor, the rickshaw driver, the police," she says. "I pray for those who helped release me."
Looking directly into the camera, she smiles as if nothing bad had ever happened to her in her entire life.
"I think that all people are good people," she says, "except for those that hurt me."
SUPPORT GULSOMA
The Kevin Sites in the Hot Zone team has set up an email account so that messages of support can be retrieved and forwarded to Gulsoma via a local organization. Click here to email your message.
To learn more about how you can help Gulsoma and other children in need in Afghanistan, click here.
CHILDREN RESPOND
A number of children Gulsoma's age posted messages of support for her. Read the comments here.

Attention Hog

2006-03-31T02:33:00.000-08:00

Have you ever met someone who loves attention? They will go to any lengths to get attention. I have a friend who is a hypochondriac. She is always ill or something is hurting her. I feel sorry for her because I would hate to feel as if I had to be sick to get attention. She has a beautiful home, great kids and a fantastic husband. They all wait on her hand and foot because she is sick. Sometimes I want to tell her to count her blessings before they disappear in front of her. But it is not my place and there is something not right inside her that she feels this deep desire for attention.

Then there are people who love to create havoc or dismay in their life for attention and pity. Most people will fall into the trap and give them support. I must admit I love to stand on the sidelines and watch this happen. It is so obvious to me when it is just a cry for attention. Please give me sympathy... Please tell me how great I am... Please give me pity... Please beg me to stay... I often wonder what happened in their life that they have this need for such attention. I had two friends growing up who were like this, man did they grate on my nerves. They were sisters and the biggest, I do mean BIGGEST attention hogs I have ever met. We were separated by one year. H was a year older than me and C was a year younger than me. H was always sick and things in her life were always up in the air. This eventually turned her into a pathological liar. It was such a shame, C and I would try to talk to her about her lying but it never helped. C was always looking for attention but did not do the hypochondriac thing. It was so funny because we had a great time playing with each other but it always ended up with one of them having a meltdown. They grew up in the nuclear family, their dad did not drink, their mom was a stay at home mom; their lives always seemed so charmed to me. Their mom was an attention hog too, something was always going on in her life. She had the poor pitiful me syndrome too. She would also flirt with every man in the world for attention. But looking back as an adult, I know they did not have it easy because their parents did not want anything to do with them. Well as we got older they got worse. For example we would be out bowling, one would get their nose out of joint and say they were leaving. They just wanted to be begged to stay. Everyone would start begging them to stay. It will be no fun without you please stay, we love you, don't leave us.... YUCK!!!! I never begged them to stay or even ask them. The first year was rough because H was the driver. So if someone did not soothe her and make her feel better we would all have to leave. But when I got my driver's license, I always offered to drive. They would start their routine about leaving; I would say start walking and we will pick you up on our way home. H would never leave she would just pout and ruin everyone's time. But C was much more fiesty and she would pretend to walk home. She would hide somewhere outside and wait for us to come look for her. Hell I just kept on bowling (or whatever we were doing) because I knew her act. Then H would do this entire dramatic thing, crying she can not find her sister and she was so worried. HEHE I loved this because she was stealing the attention from her sister. Well the group of people we hung around would pity, soothe, calm, and give them sympathy. But... it did not take long for everyone to get really sick of their song and dance. We grew apart as time passed. I never speak to or see H, but I will get Christmas cards from C. We will get together every couple years to catch up but that's about it. When I sent out my wedding invitations H went nuts and did everything in her power to get her wedding scheduled before mine. LAUGHING... The best thing about being friend's with sisters is they tell each other's secrets. C told me what H was doing to get her wedding before mine. Well she ended up getting married one month after me. I was excited to be announced as the bridesmaid to hear my new name outloud in public. Honestly, I thought how cool it would be. Well she had them use my maiden name. hehe... she had the last laugh!! It was such a GREAT lesson growing up with them because it taught me about people. I can spot an attention hog a mile away.

I often wonder what people like this would do if they were truly sick or if something really awful happened in their life. Please do not get me wrong I love attention as much as the next person. But when you go about getting your attention fix at the expense of others is when it is totally out of control. Remember to count your blessings you never know when they will disappear!

Advanced Global Personality Test Results

2006-03-29T13:55:00.000-08:00

I snagged this from Miss XMichra who by the way has an awesome blog.

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Advanced Global Personality Test Results

Extraversion		53%
Stability		43%
Orderliness		80%
Accommodation		90%
Interdependence		23%
Intellectual		50%
Mystical		36%
Artistic		50%
Religious		90%
Hedonism		10%
Materialism		16%
Narcissism		23%
Adventurousness		36%
Work ethic		63%
Self absorbed		10%
Conflict seeking		10%
Need to dominate		63%

Romantic		70%
Avoidant		50%
Anti-authority		90%
Wealth		10%
Dependency		36%
Change averse		63%
Cautiousness		76%
Individuality		23%
Sexuality		63%
Peter pan complex		50%
Physical security		83%
Physical Fitness		10%
Histrionic		50%
Paranoia		50%
Vanity		10%
Hypersensitivity		90%
Female cliche		50%

Stability results were moderately low which suggests you are worrying, insecure, emotional, and anxious.
Orderliness results were high which suggests you are overly organized, reliable, neat, and hard working at the expense too often of flexibility, efficiency, spontaneity, and fun.
Extraversion results were medium which suggests you are moderately talkative, outgoing, sociable and interacting.

Trait snapshot:
clean, organized, dislikes chaos, semi neat freak, perfectionist, traditional, realist, fits in most places, enjoys managing others, risk averse, good at saving money, prudent, respects authority, high self control, hard working, does not like to stand out, follows the rules, finisher, resilient, takes precautions, cautious, honest, unfamiliar with the dark side of life, practical, dutiful

Take Free Advanced Global Personality Test
personality tests by similarminds.com

How To Clean Your Toilet

2006-03-28T12:56:00.000-08:00

How To Clean Your Toilet

1. Put both lids of the toilet up and add 1/8 cup of pet shampoo to the water in the bowl.
2. Pick up the cat and soothe him while you carry him towards the bathroom.
3. In one smooth movement, put the cat in the toilet and close both lids. You may need to stand on the lid.
4. The cat will self agitate and make ample suds. Never mind the noises that come from the toilet, the cat is actually enjoying this.
5. Flush the toilet three or four times. This provides a "power-wash" and rinse".
6. Have someone open the front door of your home. Be sure that there are no people between the bathroom and the front door.
7. Stand behind the toilet as far as you can, and quickly lift both lids.
8. The cat will rocket out of the toilet, streak through the bathroom, and run outside where he will dry himself off.
9. Both the commode and the cat will be sparkling clean.

Signed the DOG

Surprise Surprise Surprise

2006-03-28T05:04:00.000-08:00

Remember Gomer Pyle? I know I am dating myself but I loved that show. It totally cracked me up as a child. It was one of my favorites next to Gilligan's Island, Bewitched and I Dream of Jeanie. But I must mention my ALL time favorite I love Lucy!!!

Well this post is not really about Gomer Pyle. It is about my son's surprise party. My mother and I had planned on setting the party up on Friday. We were going to have everything at the hall completely ready for Saturday. My mom and I are both off work soooooo great plan, right? Yup yup I thought so too! But you know the old saying the Best Laid Plans. Not only do I have off and my mom has off, guess who has off school? Absolutely right!!!!!! My son has Friday off. UGHHHHHHHH So the plans change yet again. Although this actually works out better for one person and one person alone. ME ME ME ME ME ME GRINZZZZZZZZZZZZ but shhhhhhhhhhh dont tell anyone! Now my husband, mother, daughter and my brother have to set up the party on Saturday morning while I have my son at Walmart. hehehe... My mom is so awesome, she has been helping me with this party like crazy. Wrapping all the gifts for the gift swap, the prizes for the games and buying soda's like nobody's business. I always say I aspire to be like my mom but if by the end of my time on earth, I have only become half the person she is I will have accomplished a lot in life. She really is awesome. I will feel badly when I have to put her in a home when she starts slowing down. HEHEHE Ohhhh I am JUST kidding!! Although we joke about it all the time. If she forgets something I say one step closer to the home, Mom. She laughs and says just make sure they karaoke and bingo. Chuckles she is so funny....

The other thing she jokes about (which is kind of morbid) is when she dies. She wants to be cremated. She wants me to mail her all over the world and when her ashes return home. She wants me to split her ashes between my brother and myself. She would like to be placed over the refrigerator so she can watch the food going in and out at both houses. I know she is whacked but at least she is fun. Laughssssssss..... My mom has been my hero since I was a little girl. Everyone thought it was strange that my mom was my matron of honor at my wedding. But it made perfect sense to me because she was my everything since the day I met her.

A Lost Friendship

2006-03-26T23:59:00.000-08:00

Well I do think the loss of a friend is very sad. It is the person we shared our lives with, spend all our time with and shared our deepest secrets with. Our friends; they are the person we laughed and cried with. The person who loves us no matter what. It is the person we will stand next to and fight to the death with. The person that will not allow any petty jealousy, argument, or differences to come between the friendship we built.

I have a great belief in a lost love is a friend found. When you lose your boyfriend/girlfriend, lover, or husband/wife they can still be your friend. This I am trying to teach my daughter, unsuccessfully I might add. Her ex boyfriend is a jerk and she hates him(PERIOD) she is not hearing anything else. Well she is 14, he was her first boyfriend/love, he hurt her deeply and she will eventually learn the lesson that you should always try to stay friends with time and patience.

I had the best friend in the entire world, I will refer to her as H. We had an instant connection and bond that I thought would never be broken. Okay that is a bit of a lie, I had an instant bond and connection. She thought I was crazy. She was the most amazing person in the world to me. I met her through Sunday School. Our daughters were in CCD kindergarten class together. Two girls were not being very nice to my daughter and she was upset. I was going to take her out of the class for that day. My friend's daughter came up to my girl and said would you please sit with me today? I looked into the beautifully dark teary eyes of my baby and she nodded to me. My friend's daughter put her arm around my daughter and took her to their seats. It was WONDERFUL!!! My daughter is very shy and she needed that little push to stay in class that day. It melted my heart and I thought what a good girl. So I tracked down her mom and told her how wonderful her daughter was to my daughter. Well... she looked at me like I had three heads. I did not realize she was very shy. I kept talking to her because I had this feeling inside me like I wanted her as my friend. I swear I could almost see her sigh when she saw me coming, like oh no not her again. But I could not bring myself to stop talking to her. Later we were at a meeting for brownies/girlscouts. I was thrilled when I saw her and went over to talk to her, I am sure she sighed. So they were telling us where to get their uniforms. Everyone was talking and saying when they were going to pick the uniform up. The store was about 45 minutes away. Well H and I said at the same time I am going to go down in the morning. I looked at her and said would you like to ride down with me? She reluctantly said okay. hehe... Well when she pulled up to the park and ride, I was very shocked to see that her and I had matching Blazers. Mine was burgandy and hers was green but the same make and model. It was pretty funny. Off we went to Easton which is a pretty long and boring drive through farmland. I talked and talked to her like she was my long lost friend. Going down she was pretty quiet. We were listening to Barney in the car because we had my son with us. That loosened her up!! LAUGHS!!!Well we got the uniforms and headed back because we had a very small time frame to get the girls from kindergarten. On the way home she talked and we laughed and laughed, from that moment in time we were attached at the hip. We spent every moment we could together. Then it became a joke that the only reason H and I were friends was because she could not get rid of me, she tried and tried but I kept come back so she figured if you can beat her join her. LAUGHING!!!!!! When people saw us pull up they would say I know you did not get matching cars. We would say of course we did, hehe... shhhhh we did not tell them we already had them. But when our Blazers were five years old we traded them in and got new cars that were similiar but not the same. We bought bigger cars so we were able to fit all four kids in the one car. Driving separately was a pain because we wanted to talk. So we bought walkie talkies so we could talk when we were following each other so we did not use cell minutes that was back before Verizon IN plan!!! One would take the girls and one would take the boys we had so much fun always. We coparented our children; my children felt like she was a second mother and I felt like I was a second mother to her children. Well time went on and our family grew into one unit. Our kids felt like they were brothers and sisters because we always did everything together. She would volunteer in my son's classroom with me. When my son went off to first grade it was very hard on H. He had been our little travelling companion for years. She cried when he got on the bus, I wanted to cry but I had to console her. geesssshhh she stole my pity. We met all the other stay at home moms at a restaurant on the island. We always went there for breakfast on the first day of school and the last day of school. H could not even eat she just cried. When he got off the bus after his first day she hugged him and kissed him and told him how much she missed him. He did not miss us at all he met a girl in first grade and was thrilled.

Well I will fast forward because I have a gazillion and one stories I could tell you about my friend. My husband called us Lucy and Ethel. Well H had an awful marriage. Her husband SUCKED>>>> He was abusive to her and the kids. One day three years ago she had enough and asked him to leave. She then met a gentleman at work who she fell madly in love with. Well... in entered her new man and out went her best friend. She just did not have time for me anymore and I understood it. I was thrilled for her because she was finally being treated the way she deserved. After about a year of trying to fit into her life I decided there was no room for me. Everyone kept saying once the excitement wore off she would want to be friends again. Well the excitement never wore off. It has been three years and she is completely content with her new man and no longer needs a best friend. This was a great loss to my children and me. They just could not understand why she did not want to be with us anymore. I just kept trying to explain that she was building a new life with her new man. But that is hard to grasp for littleones. Heck it was hard to grasp for me. I mourned and grieved the loss of our friendship. But I am thankful for the time I did have with her.

Now I bet you are sitting there and wondering why the hell I am writing about it now? 3 years later? Well guess what? I have a reason!! WOOO HOOO there is a method to my madness, sometimes ~winks~... She is coming to my son's birthday party on Saturday. I am so excited!! I feel as if I will come out of my skin. I am thrilled to see her and hug her again. To be able to chit chat once the games are started and the kids are taken care of and all there needs are met. I can sit down with my friend(and her boyfriend) and just talk. I can not wait to see her laugh and hear her voice again. So I am writing about this because it feels as if Saturday will never get here. Surprise parties are so very exciting and my son is going to LOVE it!!! Seeing H is just the cherry on the sundae. Seeing my son surprised and happy is the entire sundae.

One last side note: I spoke to my neighbor because his children are invited to the party. When the kids (my son and his two kids) got off the bus they walked home. The boy stopped at the mailbox, opened it and looked at my son and said there is something from your mom, it must be an invitation to your birthday party. UGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! So when he opened it and saw it was a surprise he about fell over. The next day he told my son it was from someone else with the same name as your mom. My son said okay. But I am sure my son saw the address. I most definitely did not forsee that. So I am not sure if my son knows or not but regardless he will enjoy his party.