Almost....Daily Brain Farts of an Airhead Mom

Back With A Bang!

2010-03-09T22:04:00.004-05:00

*Warning* Going on a rant here!

Most peoples radios are set on a music station. Not so in this household. My husband turns on political talk radio first thing in the morning. Bless his little heart...he leaves it on for me when he leaves for work. When I realize that he is no longer here (because of the LOUDNESS of the radio), I will inevitably turn it off. I like my peace and quiet. He then turns it back on when he gets home and it stays on till he goes to bed. So I hear things. Some things more often than others. Lately, it's been alot about NJ politics.

It seems our teachers (or perhaps I should say our NJ Ed Assoc) are a bit disgruntled that the new Governor has imposed budget cuts on them that will affect their supplies at school and most importantly (at least it seems to me) their pensions and benefits. Of course they will not be able to do their jobs, with the lack of materials to teach with, if these cuts are voted in by the Assembly, so they say. But the big complaint is the benefits and pension cuts. Big surprise there! Now with the exception of the middle school and high school in my area, as it seems they don't need all the bells and whistles anymore once they hit those grades, every classroom I've been in has been soooo full of STUFF, there's very little room to walk around in them. And they want me to believe they don't have the tools they need to teach? Bologna!

Now granted, I know there are schools worse off than our district, however, we are one of the poorest in the state. So if our schools are any indication, the others can't be much worse off. So this makes me wonder if it's the "Tools to teach" they are really worried about. We have some excellent teachers in our district. What I've noticed they use a lot of is.....paper. I have five kids. Over the years this has not changed. They now use alot of "manipulatives" but like I said, they have a lot of those in the classrooms already. Do they really need more every year? Well, maybe some of them do. Some of the manipulatives are the size of Lego's and probably get lost in all that other stuff they have.

So what's left? Ah yes, the pensions and benefits. That could seriously hinder the teaching abilities. Not really. But budget cuts usually mean letting some teachers go. And for the first time in who knows how many years, there won't be a raise in teachers pensions and benefits because the state won't be handing out as much money. Well excuse me while I get the towel to wipe my tears! Pension? Benefits? My family has neither. Cry me a river. Your current salaries and benefits? I've haven't seen those amounts for a few years now in this household. Why would you think I would want to pay more taxes for your pensions and benefits when I have neither and am barely holding my head above water as it is. For most of you, this is your second income. For my family, it isn't even my only income.

Perhaps their argument that the pension and benefit cuts would hinder teaching is because there would be less teachers and more students per class. Okay, that is probably what would happen. So what? Many, many teachers before you managed to teach classes larger than the ones you teach. Some still do. It's do-able, okay? If you don't like the pension and budget cuts, you could always go to another state and get a job and probably get paid more. I wonder how many states right now are looking at the same budget cuts as NJ though. Seems to me, with unemployment being what it is, you would be thankful to just have a job.

The rest of the population in NJ has been taking the lumps in taxes for your pensions and benefits for years. Not liking it much either, I might add. Now you want us to write to our Assemblyman to stick up for you. Well, I'm sorry. I won't be one of those people who do. I will probably be more likely to write a letter and tell them "Hell yes, cut the budget! It's about time!"

Now lest you think I'm only picking on teachers, I feel the same way about politicians. Time for them to take some lumps too and stop living off the taxpayers hard work and then wasting and mismanaging the money we give them. Not saying teachers waste our money, just that they don't mind spending it at all and possibly forgetting where it came from in the first place. Enough is enough!

That is all.....for today.

Gobble, Gobble!

2009-11-21T16:23:00.004-05:00

Thanksgiving! My favorite holiday of the year! It's coming! Oh, yes it is!

Overboard is the name of the game. Weight will be the name of the gain. Ha! I'm so humorous, don't you think?

We will begin the feasting tomorrow at our church Thanksgiving dinner. I am totally siked (I have no idea how to spell that word)! I'll be making sweet potatoes and mama's old fashioned bread stuffing.

On Thanksgiving, we'll be going to my older sisters and I'll be bringing...sweet potatoes. (Notice how I choose easy stuff...lol) I usually will make the pumpkin pies too, but last year I came home with both of them (not that we care...they're gone within a couple days anyway). So, I'll just save that little yummy for.....

The final Thanksgiving dinner I'll be preparing at home while everyone else is crazy shopping on Black Friday.

Too excited here! Going to grab all the goodies needed at the store now. Gosh! Hope they're not out of the pumpkin pie mix!

Free eCookbooks

2009-11-05T01:32:00.002-05:00

Have I mentioned I'm a cookbook-aholic?

It's true! I collect them. The checkout aisle is my weakness. Nary a Pillsbury cookbook is safe from me. Sadly, I don't use all of them. But I can't bring myself to toss them. The pictures of everything that "I might someday make" keep me hanging on to them. Church cookbooks are another weakness that I have just recently fed...yet again.

Well, I think I may have found myself another new site to feed this voracious appetite. RECIPELION.COM. Whatever you want...they've got it. Here's there latest free eCookbooks. Can you resist? Or are you like me and just gotta have 'em? Yum!!

Word For The Day

2009-11-02T07:15:00.002-05:00

GLUTTON: A word used by my 10 year old daughter to describe money-grubbing politicians.

One of the definitions from The Free Dictionary:

1. a person devoted to eating and drinking to excess; greedy person

The Month That Was October

2009-10-30T01:44:00.002-04:00

Another month that has disappeared! Sooo...I guess I am a monthly blogger now. Ha!

Now, with 5 kids, you have to know my life is never boring. Understatement?

My oldest has acquired a new boyfriend...from TN. Don't ask! After much aggravation and worry, mom has decided he seems like an okay kid. Yes, I have met him. A couple times this month he has visited. I am not thrilled with the way they met, but understand this generation is different in how they "make friends". All of these stressful emotions have taken up a better part of this month. The other 3 have not given me much to worry about, thank heavens!

We attended my son's and his girlfriends baby shower this month. They got lots of cute little goodies. I cannot believe this child will be entering this world in about 2 months! Seems like yesterday I just blogged about becoming a Grammie. Matter of fact, with as little as I blog anymore, it's probably on the same page as this post. LOL I made a scrapbook/baby book for them. Need to develop the pictures from the shower and get that moving.

But I have to say, the highlight of the month, the absolute highlight, was having the electricity turned off. It was turned off at 3pm on a Wednesday and was not turned back on until the following Monday at 7:20 pm. Could it have been turned on sooner? Heck yes! It was the most boring 5 days of my life!! My husband didn't seem to think it was as much of an emergency as I did. I needed to hound him. Lord knows how long it would've been off otherwise. We paid the bill on Sat. morning only to find out that it wouldn't be turned on till "regular" business hours. Well, thanks for telling me that! And then to have to wait all day Monday wondering when the heck they were going to get here. We spent one night at my sisters (the coldest). But the rest we were home. So as soon as the kids got home from school, it was time to do the homework and shower. We lived by candlelight until dad got home and broke out the camp lantern. At that point, we were like moths going to the flame. LOL Light, light! Let me tell you a little something about me. I love light, bright light. It makes me feel good. Anything else is depressing.

So what can't we do without electricity? You can't wash clothes, which I've been doing all week. You can't listen to the radio or watch tv. No computer or microwave. No alarm clocks because we have all digital (stupid me). When I say this house was quiet, I am not kidding.

Now this is the good part. It was quiet until we broke out the candles. Then we (us gals) sat around the table together....and talked. And laughed. That was the best part about it. The togetherness. It was like sitting around a campfire. We also got alot of cleaning done. No distractions you know. Ha! We had gas, so we could cook. Had to do it before it got dark though. All in all....it was not a pleasant experience. I never want to go through that again!

My vehicle is in desperate need of help. It needs new tires and probably brakes. Something else is going on with it too as it seems to vibrate. It's probably the tires though. And it needs an inspection. Also no parking lights which has kept me in quite a bit lately because of the rain. And of course, no money to fix anything right now. So what else is new.

In the midst of the blackout, the ceiling tiles in my bedroom, which are probably older than me, decided to fall down. Thank God I wasn't sleeping up there! So we have half of our bedroom without ceiling tiles.

At this point, you gotta laugh, don't ya. So that's what I do. Because...this too shall pass.

Peace!

September Recap

2009-09-28T11:37:00.002-04:00

Gosh! This was a quick month! Bit of an update here...

We celebrated two birthdays this month. Mine on the 8th and the twins today. They are 10 now and I'm a mature 45 (do you really believe the "mature" part? LOL). Can't believe my babies are in the double digit zone already!

The kids are all into the swing of things again.

K is like a speeding bullet wanting to be involved in everything and racing toward it. She's on student council, jr. honor society, yearbook committee, choir and the drama club. She needs a date book. I have yet to figure out her schedule. We really need to sit down and get it down on the calendar.

The twins are stepping out of their comfort zones a bit this year. Both joined the band. I'll have a flutist and *crap* a drummer. Roonie has been in the Bell Choir since 3rd grade and will continue with that. Loolie has been invited to be an alternate for the Bell Choir and has accepted. I am so happy about Loolie because she hasn't been involved in anything. She is attached to my armpit still. LOL My shyest.

I've been busy with church and work. Taking a break from Bible Study for awhile. I feel as though I am involved in too much at church sometimes and just need a break somewhere. Also, I decided to be involved in the PTA this year. My twins will be going to the Middle School next year, so this is my last opportunity to get involved (or should I say immersed).

Sunday school is in full swing now. I have the 6th-8th grade group again. Going my own way this year. My first lesson was last week and we had a stimulating discussion on the Bible. I'm kidding! Although that was my lesson. We'll be discussing the Bible for a few weeks; how it came to be, who authored it, etc. If you understand this age group---it's not an easy task to teach them. The subject matter wasn't really too exciting for them. LOL And I gave them a pop quiz. They love me. Ha ha! Gonna try and perk it up a bit next time and get them moving and talking. Not much to be found on this subject. I actually got the lesson from the Teen Sunday School Place. They have a series of lessons that are free.

I am absolutely loving this cooler weather. It puts me in the beef stew mood. That's been on my brain for awhile now and I'm really going to get it made sooner or later. Yes, I am!

My sister is back in the hospital as of yesterday. Darn pancreas again. She's in a lot of pain and I can't go to see her until later or maybe not even until tomorrow. She has not slept for 3 nights now and she's going to crash soon. So I may just let her sleep. She is on disability now, which is a relief. This was to be her first day off. Guess where she is? In the hospital she works at. I'm sure she's loving it. She was so excited about not having to go today, too. Poor thing.

And th-th-th-that's all folks!

Abraham Lincoln Quotes

2009-09-28T11:15:00.004-04:00

Any people anywhere, being inclined and having the power, have the right to rise up, and shake off the existing government, and form a new one that suits them better. This is a most valuable - a most sacred right - a right, which we hope and believe, is to liberate the world.

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A house divided against itself cannot stand.

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Don't interfere with anything in the Constitution. That must be maintained, for it is the only safeguard of our liberties.

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I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives. I like to see a man live so that his place will be proud of him.

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If once you forfeit the confidence of your fellow-citizens, you can never regain their respect and esteem.

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We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.

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You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.

School Is Back In Session

2009-09-05T18:52:00.002-04:00

Happy, happy, joy, joy!! We started the 31st of Aug. and aready have vacation. What about that, huh? LOL May as well have waited to go back until after Labor Day. Interestingly enough, we aren't getting out any earlier which is ridiculous. Doesn't look like there's any more vacation days than usual, but there seems to be lots more days off for "Teacher In-Service" days. If anyone knows exactly what that is, could you please explain it to me.

Enjoy the long weekend everyone!

No More Doggies

2009-09-01T09:24:00.002-04:00

Yes, the dogs are gone. And I miss them! I don't miss the smell. Just the sound of them barking when their owner came home. It always cracked me up. Now it is so quiet. Amazing the sounds you get used to.

I guess someone called the health department about the smell coming from the backyard. Now it wasn't me! Remember, I can't smell anything! I came home from the store one day and saw a notice that the health department had been there. Nothing happened for a few weeks. Guess he wasn't home when they got there. But about a week ago, I came home and the SPCA was there talking with him outside. I knew it was the end for him. LOL This past weekend, they left. He told my husband he weaseled his way into getting them a new home on a farm.

Now, my mind wonders....what does that house look like inside? Hope he cleaned up! The broken (cracked) windows I mentioned in previous posts? Still cracked. They were never fixed.

Losing Track of Time

2009-08-13T17:00:00.003-04:00

Imagine coming to your blog and realizing you were in the middle of changing the background and forgot all about it. So, yeah, kinda blank here. LOL

My sister is back in the hospital with inflamed pancreas. In probably the worst pain you can imagine. She's been in since last Saturday after I finally convinced her to call her doctor after rolling around on my floor trying to get comfortable and crying from the pain. See, she is sick of being in the hospital, so she didn't want to call. Very hard to watch her. The doctor said to go to the ER and off we went. They take good care of her, but I still worry a lot. She is never far from my mind even when she is out of the hospital. My older sister and I have been taking shifts, along with Ann's mother-in-law, to take care of my niece. So I have been spending my evenings and mornings at their house. And now, I have lost track of time. Or perhaps lost track of my life is more accurate. LOL It's an odd feeling. I am not living for myself right now and so everything involved in MY life seems foreign.

Speaking of my life, I need to start thinking about school. Only two weeks left! And Sunday school! I don't even want to think about that. So not ready for it. I have a bad feeling this year isn't going to start off on the right foot.

Recipe to Share

2009-07-18T09:57:00.003-04:00

I have a recipe to share with you. I have an aunt who put this recipe into a church cookbook and it is delicious. It's very simple, quick and filling. Feeds my brood with leftovers to spare.

Pizzaroni

1-1/2 to 2 lbs. browned hamburger
1 med. onion
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
1 (16 oz) jar spaghetti sauce
2 c. macaroni
1 c. milk
2 beaten eggs
1 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
1 c. shredded American cheese

Mix together hamburger, onion, spices and spaghetti sauce; simmer. Cook macaroni as directed. Drain. Add milk, eggs and half of cheeses. Spread in well greased 9x13 pan. Bake 15 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove from oven. Spread with meat sauce. Sprinkle with rest of shredded cheese. Bake 10 minutes. Serves 12.

Mmm, mmm good! I do things a bit differently. I use a 26 oz. jar of spaghetti sauce plus a little extra because we like it saucier. Instead of the 2 cups of macaroni, I just use the whole box. Big family, remember. I also just get the shredded pizza mixture cheese. I never use the salt as there's plenty in the sauce and just use garlic powder or fresh to substitute for the garlic salt. No matter how I do it, it's delicious. But many thanks to Aunt Irene for introducing us to this family gem!

Mother Hen

2009-07-18T09:48:00.004-04:00

Elaine and Laura both did a Mother Hen quiz, so I thought I'd do one too. I had a bit of a dilemma with answering as none of the choices really applied to me. LOL There was always an exception to what I chose. However,........

What type of Mother Hen Are You?
by Montessorimom.com: Educational Resource

Although sometimes I don't feel like a gentle mother hen. Sometimes I feel like a crabby, domineering, do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do, whatever mother hen. LOL

Hey! What Happened to June?!

2009-07-08T23:18:00.002-04:00

Hi all! Grammie here. LOL Still get giggly when I think about it.

So, is it just me, or is time flying by here? Holy cow!

Vacation Bible School is in full swing right now. I will probably blog about it on my other blog when it's over. Suffice it to say....I am pooped!

As soon as that is over and done with, the twins will be going to summer school for the rest of July. I just have to say I am so glad! There's nobody around us that is their age and I don't let them roam past the block. The kids they've been playing with are so bad and thank goodness they stay at their own end. So the twins have to hang with big sister and of course if she's with her friends, they don't want soon to be 5th graders hanging around. So they are extremely put out lately because they're sick of each other. LOL

Work has turned out to be a bit more than expected. Which is okay with me. I'm having to figure everything out myself and today I printed 50 bulletins....upside down. LOL But dang those things are expensive! Hope I don't get fined for my bloopers. Ha ha!

That's it for now. Is it Friday yet?

Lotsa News

2009-06-23T08:14:00.003-04:00

Where in the world do I begin? It's been quite a week in the life of this gal!

A bit of drama in the church this week. The secretary had to resign for personal reasons, so I was asked to step in as temporary and possibly permanent. I have a job!!! Don't get too excited. It's only 1 day a week for 4 hours. LOL But I have a job!!!

As you may or may not know, my oldest daughter graduated from high school on Wednesday. I was so proud of her. She got her diploma!!! Well, she moved right afterwards. Didn't hit me till Thursday and all I did was blubber all day. We've been talking quite a bit on the phone. LOL

My first day of work was Friday. It took me 4 hours to do the bulletin. Ha ha! Now I have to work a newsletter along with the bulletin into 4 hours this Friday. The pastor said I could just snoop around and check everything out when I'm done. Boy, she's got a lot of faith there will be time left over. LOL

And now, the biggest news for last. Last night, I was informed by my son that...........I'm going to be a Grammie!!!!!! Can you believe it? I hardly can either! Been telling him I was ready for awhile now, except he wasn't. LOL In a way, it's weird, because I am still raising kids. But...at the same time...I'm so darn excited I can hardly contain myself! The due date is the week between Christmas and New Year's. A new baby in my family! One that I can spoil and then send home. YIPPEE!! I don't think the twins realize they are going to be 10 yr old aunts. LOL

Gosh, I think that's everything. What a week!!

Melancholy

2009-06-16T09:36:00.002-04:00

Feeling a bit melancholy today. The weather is not helping.

My oldest daughter will be graduating from high school tomorrow. She will be leaving us afterwards to move an hour and a half away. This morning, as I was folding laundry, I would come across something of hers and place it in her bag she is getting ready. Do you know it felt like somebody died and I was cleaning out their clothing? And it has finally hit me that this child is now a young lady and anxious to start her life.

I have many worries for her. Will she get the job she applied for? Will she get her driver's license? Will she follow through on going to college? Will she call me if she needs me? Will she be happy? Will she miss us?

Ugh! One of those days. You would think I would have no problem with this as my son has been out of the house for several years. But there is 8-1/2 years between them. It's like it's happening for the first time.

Has It Been That Long? It's Friday!

2009-06-05T22:33:00.004-04:00

Is it way past time for some Flashback? Couple of memories here.

Now don't laugh!! I heard this on the radio the other day and just couldn't help myself. As I was folding laundry, I was singing my little heart out. LOL I was sooooo jealous of her hair.

This next song is one I've always known since I was young. My dad managed a liquor store and when they'd change the records on the jukebox, he'd bring the old ones home. Guess what just happened to be one of them? Mmmm, BJ Thomas.

Till next time!

The Blur That is the Month of May

2009-06-01T09:21:00.003-04:00

Every year, May passes and it's all a blur to me. Let's see if I can remember all that has been going on.

K has had softball games all month and they have to wrap them up by the end of May. So that took care of quite a few evenings. They did well. Don't know the exact stats off the top of my head, but it was nothing to sneeze at.

Along with the games have been meetings for VBS and session at church along with the yearly scramble in Sunday School to come up with Mother's Day and Father's Day programs. We are thinking about ending the Sunday School year earlier. With all the personal stuff that goes on in May, we have no energy left at the end of the year.

The kids have been busy, busy, busy at school. It seems the schools save all the fun stuff up for the end of the year (aka MAY). K has been on a couple field trips and had her spring concert. The twins have had a spring concert and a class field trip. I decided to be one of the chaperones. I know, I know. Not my thing to be on a bus full of kids. It was just the 4th grade and we had two busses. So only 2 classes to make my ears bleed. :) I actually enjoyed myself! We went to the DaVinci Science Center. The kids got to touch a bunch of stuff and make some slime. So now I can say that I have chaperoned a field trip (two actually with the one I went on to get glasses). I can honestly say that it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be but I will probably never do it again. What is it they say about "never say never"? Shoot, I'll probably get roped into it next year. LOL

One big thing coming up is Kel's graduation. I've been crossing my fingers she gets through this and will be proud that she applied herself to make sure she had enough credits to get through. I don't know if I've mentioned it, but she is my problem child when it comes to school. Struggled to get her to do her homework (many times she just wouldn't do it) and apply herself to the tasks at hand. She is not stupid, just lazy. She is going to leave us right after graduation which is giving me a boatload of stress right now. Moving in with...wait for it............her boyfriend. Not a boyfriend in town. Oh no. He's got to live in the next state over and an hour and a half away. Grrrr!! Not happy about this. My own life has not been perfect, so I try to remember that I did everything backwards and shouldn't judge. But darnit! I'm old enough to see my mistakes and don't want my kids to repeat them but rather learn from them. Why won't they just do what I tell them? Huh? Anybody? Why? Can't they just stay home forever and do whatever I want? LOL

I think that's about it. I think. Such a blur this month of May!

Smells Like Summer!

2009-05-23T14:00:00.002-04:00

Just got that smell of summer feeling. Sinus problems and all.
Everyone have a great Memorial Day!

MySpace Glitter Graphics

Life is Never Boring

2009-05-21T10:58:00.003-04:00

This family is really being put through the wringer lately. My sister is still in the hospital, now with a new infection. Her dialysis that they started has been okay. Please continue to keep her in your prayers.

Yesterday, K was hit in the nose with a softball pitched by one of her friends. I don't think I've ever seen so much blood. Miraculously, after a trip to the ER and an x-ray, we learn it was only bruised. What a relief! The things that happen to this girl are mind boggling. She's not a cut or scrape kind of gal. It's always something unusual that just absolutely grosses you out. LOL

I am dealing with some vertigo. I just know my sinuses are the culprit. Went to the doctor and was told I have a lot of wax in my ears. Really? I wouldn't have known by all the wax that's been coming out. Dur! He says this might be causing the problems. So he prescribes a motion sickness pill for me. Guess what? It's not working. If I'm correct, there is no magic pill for vertigo. But an antihistamine seems to be the medication of choice. I'm really only bothered by it in the morning when I get up and at night when I lay down. I have to wait it out until my body adjusts to being in that position. Not fun! Definitely have to keep my eyes open during that time so I won't feel like my heads spinning off. LOL

Looking forward to the long weekend. Will be going to a picnic at one of our church friends houses. Looking forward to it. We always have a good time there.

What are your plans for Memorial Day?

Gloomy and Doomy

2009-05-08T16:39:00.002-04:00

The title of this post describes the way I've been feeling lately. I think the universe is out of whack right now. Not to mention all the dreary rainy days we've been having.

As you know, my sister was in the hospital. It is official, she needs a kidney transplant. For awhile, they thought she had lupus as some bloodwork came back with two tests reading positive for it. However, the second blood test came back negative as did the kidney biopsy she had done. So that is where it stands. She is out of the hospital and on 7 new medications and getting tested for this and that. She'll be going back to work next week, God love her. She is certainly a trouper.

Yesterday, two people were hit by a train here. Miraculously, they are alive! A young couple were walking the tracks and tried to outrun the train when they heard it coming. Don't you know, I was in the midst of all the emergency vehicle hoopla. They coming from one direction and going in others. It just so happened the couple were medivaced from the field K practices on, which is how we got stuck in the madness. As soon as I saw the train stopped, I knew what had happened. The young lady was sent home already, but the man is not doing very well. There might be internal bleeding.

This morning we found out that another member of the family passed away. Another brother-in-law a year younger than me. He was married to my husbands sister. They just became grandparents two days ago. This whole situation is just so surreal to me right now. From what I understand, he went in with chest pains. So I just keep thinking...what the heck is going on lately. This has been a real crappy year so far.

Now on to animals. Yes, I said animals. We had a bear sighting in town, by a childrens park the other day. It disappeared in a wooded area not too far from home. Then, yesterday, a bull got loose from the local HS. It was housed there for Barnyard Days in which all the elementary schools go on a field trip. So the police are trying to coral it down at the boat launch on the Delaware River. The bull jumps in and swims across to PA. LOL It then later swims back to Jersey and they try to coral it again only to have it swim back across to PA. It is still missing. The funny part about it, other than the swimming back and forth and not being able to catch the darn thing, is that he is now heading towards dairy farm country and you know what that means. Lookin' for love! LOL

I'm telling you, the stars are misaligned.

Play Ball!!

2009-04-25T16:20:00.002-04:00

Yes, it's that time. K had her first softball game today. She pitched the whole game. She's pooped out and crashed on the sofa now. LOL But they won! It was a tough game too. The teams were evenly matched. That always makes for a good game.

More Bad News?

2009-04-24T12:25:00.004-04:00

I am posing the question: How much crappy stuff can happen to one family in a short period of time?

My dear sister, Ann, who I have written about before, is in the hospital with kidney failure. She is end stage which meant either dialysis or transplant. They are now holding off on these things as some of her levels are showing signs of improving. She is by no means out of the woods, but there is a glimmer of hope.

Please raise her in your prayers and also her daughter as this is her only parent. Yes, this is the same sister who recently lost her husband. We have been assured that she will come out of this okay no matter which route needs to be taken. She is young and in good health otherwise. But if you would, just remember them in your prayers.

Prepare To Have Your Socks Knocked Off

2009-04-17T00:30:00.003-04:00

Follow this link and prepare to have your socks knocked off! She brought tears to my eyes and I felt as though I was sitting in the audience. She left me with such a feeling of joy. WOW is all I can say. I think Britain's Got Talent has more talent than American Idol. The people that are on that show sing stuff you wouldn't normally listen to but have you absolutely mesmerized from the first moment they open their mouths. So here you go, follow this link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

Good News, Bad News, Good News

2009-04-16T00:47:00.003-04:00

Just look at that picture above. Does it make you feel all warm and cozy inside? Or does it throw you into a cranky pants, like myself? I ABHORE this time of year. Mainly because we usually have to pay up. Ah, self-employment. Tax time is not one of the perks.

But didn't my title say something about good news? Well, yes it did! It seems we were just poor enough this year that we'll be getting a refund! Happy happy joy joy! Unfortunately, the bad news is I'll have to give it all to the town for municipal taxes as we're behind on them...because we're poor. LOL But again, the good news is that's money we didn't have to pay the other make-me-even-more-cranky municipal taxes.

I did my taxes online this year. That...was quite interesting. The best news about all this is...............I'm done! What a relief!

Life

2009-04-09T00:58:00.004-04:00

Have you ever noticed how just when you think you might be getting ahead of your financial situation something always happens to snag that money right out of your pocket? And have you ever had the same misfortune as me when it comes tax time, and you have to pay, that some major money sucker happens? Well, I don't have my taxes done yet (I know. It's like this every year.) but the money sucker has popped up as usual. My vehicle is possessed and had to go into the garage. My dummy lights are popping on and off, it needs brakes, an oil change and some serious talking to. Among other things. So I was without transportation today. I hate that. I always want to go somewhere when I can't.

On the upside, Easter vacation has begun! Woot Woot!! I love a break from the routine.

The most exciting news is that my K was accepted into the National Jr. Honor Society. Yesssss!!! She is sooo happy and we are soooo proud! There will be an induction ceremony and everything. I am just so excited because my oldest two were never school or academic lovers. They are both social butterflies but never were fond of their responsibilities as students. No matter what I did or said, they just never really applied themselves. Had they, they probably would have excelled as they aren't stupid. So this is a new euphoric feeling for me. LOL

Tomorrow, I will be able to sleep in, pick up my vehicle and have my kids home. Good stuff!

It's Flashback Time!

2009-04-03T21:17:00.002-04:00

This morning while I was driving my girls to school, they were having a Flashback Friday on the radio. I kid you not!! The question for today was "What were some things your parents used to tell you all the time?" The one that really cracked me up was a mother who always told her sons "Condoms are cheaper than diapers."

So I got to thinking...what did my parents always say? I remember my grandmother telling us not to sing at the table because you're singing to the devil. She also told us not to put new shoes on the table but I can't remember why.

I don't recall my dad telling us anything. Mom always used to tell us to wear clean underwear...you never know when you'll be in an accident. She also used to say "Wait till your father hears about this!" I don't know why because he never did anything to us. And for some reason, she used to call us George Peabody and tuna buckle or tuna muffin. Lots of actual George Peabody's in the world but tuna buckle and tuna muffin? Don't know where they came from. LOL

What did your parents used to say to you? Did you ever wonder what the cliche's meant at the time? Do you use some of the same things on your kids? Do tell !

Hard Core Hoarder

2009-04-03T13:31:00.002-04:00

Hoarding. Remember that word from the other day? Well, it seems I’m a hoardaholic. Of my own things surely, but of my mother’s things also.

A friend of mine, who shares the clutter chaos with me, and I have talked about this problem of ours for a couple years now. Neither one of us can get a handle on it. We may occasionally get everything cleaned up and instead of keeping on top of it, it once again takes over. So she picked up this book It’s All Too Much by Peter Walsh. She went completely gaga over it and it seems to be helping her make some decisions about her clutter. She is so gaga over it; she purchased a copy for me.

Have I mentioned I don’t like cleaning? Yes? It is a necessary evil, so on occasion I will do it. But always with a sneer and lots of grumbling to myself. Clothing is my downfall for sure. I will take hand-me-down clothing from others because…well, I have 4 children at home and it is just a good idea economically. However, instead of immediately going through the bags and weeding them out, they all get dispersed to the child they are intended for. Now what’s a kid going to do!? Just shove them all in their drawers and when they have not been worn for a couple years and are too small, they hand them down to the next in line. Those children shove them in their drawers until finally, a couple of years later, mom decides it’s time to weed out clothing. Hence, the loads of bags I got rid of a couple weeks ago. So the poor kids have to deal with all these clothes because mom doesn’t want to deal with them at the time she gets them.

I also have messy children (I blame myself) who leave things all over the house. Of course this builds up until mom finally gets at it. Seems I am a slave when it comes to housework. Another problem I have is that I have “inherited” my mother’s hutch and all that was in it. Except the hutch isn’t in my house. But the boxes of everything that was in it are piled up nicely in my dining room. Does this make sense to you? There was a reason at one time why I didn’t have the hutch brought in. It makes no sense at this point though. My husband has acquired a set of kitchen cabinets that we desperately need. One of them has been put up. The others are lined up on another wall in my dining room. The kitchen needs some work in order for them to be put up. With my husband’s track record, it could be years. Of course those cabinets are now housing things that don’t belong in them.

I have only read the Introduction and part of chapter one of this book, so it’s going slowly. But I did take a little test to see how far my problem has gotten out of control. With a score that goes up to 20, I came in at 17. What does this mean? Looks like I’m a HARD-CORE HOARDER. And yes, it was in all caps and bold in the book. I need a lot of work! Too much stuff!

So what exactly do you have too much of? Do you have control of it? Does it fit in your house? Or are you like me and daily travel through the obstacle course that your house has become?

Swagbucks Update

2009-03-31T02:15:00.002-04:00

Thought I'd update on my Swagbucks adventure. In a little over a month, I now have four $5 Amazon Gift Cards! Just from searching the web! It works! I am so hooked that I rarely just use Google's search engine anymore. Sorry Google!

Now...what to buy, what to buy? Maybe I'll just hoard them for awhile. Speaking of hoard...that's tomorrows word of the day. Stay tuned!

Blogging Block

2009-03-24T00:16:00.003-04:00

Has anyone missed me? I've been doing nothing on this blog for how long now? Nothing to tell you I guess. Just haven't been in the mood for it either.

I've had a wee bit of a spring cleaning bug. I say wee because I don't like cleaning on a grand scale. Ha! So the house is shaping up. I got rid of 7 bags of clothes today! I looove the feeling I get when I get rid of clothes. With my son, it was no big deal. He is the only boy. But the girls! We've had hand-me-downs for so long. Slowly I've been weeding them out because they're all at the point they don't want to wear stuff that came from the 90's. LOL So when I unload, it's a major undertaking. And it feels so good!

Also been busy at church, as usual. We have a Lenten Bible Study going. Also, the Sunday School department puts on a walk-through Easter Experience. Kind of like a Stations of the Cross on a smaller scale. We had such a good turn-out last year (our first year) that we've decided to do it yearly. I've also been doing research on bell choirs. I'd like to start one for our kids with the hand chimes.

Today, K received an invitation to the National Junior Honor Society! She's so excited and proud of herself, as am I. She has maintained a 90% grade average over the last six marking periods and has informed me this was her goal. Hallelujah! I've got one with an academic goal! She has to jump through some hoops right now, but I'll keep you posted as to whether or not she makes it in.

So that's what's up. Just life.

A Candy Flashback

2009-03-13T21:14:00.008-04:00

I got on a kick tonight with retro candy. My kids asked me what kind of gum lasted the longest, flavor wise. I told them Freshen-Up! Which led me on a wonderful nostalgic view of some really awesome candy. Here's what I found:

This was the most delicious candy bar. One I craved and connived to get from my dad. He used to be a bartender. We were always told not to go in the bar (small town) but every once in awhile, when I was out of babysitting money and needed a chocolate fix, I'd sneak in just to ask my dad for one of these. He always gave me one to hurry me out, probably because he knew mom would have his head on a platter if she knew I was in there. LOL

Another goodie! Loved these too. No story for this one though. :)

I loved the 5 minutes the flavor lasted on this gum. LOL But my, weren't they colorful and pleasing to the eye. You had to buy it just for that. Well that and the smell. Mmm!

I know not everyone is into licorice, but I always was. Remember Snaps? Loved to suck the candy coating off these before actually eating them. I think this was a biggie in the movie theater when I was growing up. Not sure.

And now for one I didn't like (there weren't many): The Zero candy bar. I don't know what it was about it, but bleck! It was the nougat!

So what favorite candy do you remember eating alot of? :)

Sickly Kids

2009-03-04T16:29:00.002-05:00

I have had sick kids for quite a few days now. Coughing, high fevers etc. I am now hoping I don't come down with it. Nasty germs!

Whatever Happened to Flashback Friday?

2009-02-27T15:49:00.002-05:00

Gosh, it's been a long time since I've done one! Gloomy looking day today, so I'm opting for something bright and uplifting. Will this fill the bill? Don't know about you but I'm smiling! LOL

Do You Remember?

2009-02-24T13:49:00.003-05:00

Do you remember being glued to the radio or TV on 9/11? I do. For days and days and days it seemed. I finally had to stop watching because I was paralyzed. I could not do, speak or think of anything else. Everyday all day, it consumed me. When they got down to the human interest stories of these people, I finally said "Enough! I can't do this anymore!"

I feel like I am in the same position right now, watching this President and what he's doing to this country. I am paralyzed with something akin to fear at the repercussions of all of his high-handed actions since he has taken office. When he was elected into office, never in my wildest dreams did I think he would do anything like this. And it's just snowballing, one bad action after another. If there is one single person in this country who still totally backs this guy, they're nuts!

So the question is...WHY? Why does he keep pushing this crap forward? Now he wants us to foot more money for some other cockamamie program. Why? He's now, all of a sudden, worried about the deficit. That means tax, tax and more tax. Does he honestly believe that lowering the deficit (through our own pockets) will make us forget the billions of dollars of debt he's heaped on us already? Well, not this chick!

I hate politics!

Rich

2009-02-20T17:54:00.002-05:00

It seems the President is warning the mayor's of cities receiving stimulus money that they better not waste the taxpayers money or he'll call them out................. ? ? LOLOLOL

That's rich! Does he NOT even see the irony in that statement?

Swagbucks!

2009-02-20T08:23:00.003-05:00

Found this fun little thing I've been playing with for the past month. Swagbucks. Ever heard of it? I really just half-heartedly registered, thinking it was not going to go anywhere. I thought if it worked, I'd have a little chunk of gift cards for next Christmas. Now...I'm hooked.

What Swagbucks is, is a search engine, powered by Google and Ask. While you search, you can win Swagbucks which are digital dollars. I'm always searching for something so I figured why not. I gave it a shot and was surprised to find that you can accumulate, on an average, 2-3 Swagbucks a day! One day I even got 6!

Big deal, right? LOL Well I now have enough for a $5 Amazon gift card and have nearly enough for a second one. If I keep it up, I could have $60 free dollars in gift cards by Christmas. I'm not sure about this, but I believe you get up to 20 searches a day. I use them sparingly and only search for stuff I actually want to find, about 4 times a day. After I get a Swagbuck, I usually will log out if I'm finished looking and then login again later on. If you don't get a Swagbuck on the first page, usually one will pop up on a different page of that search. Also, there's only about 5 pages to view but they have some good links.

That is not the only way you can earn Swagbucks. If you Twitter, add them as a friend. You can sometimes find Swag Codes. Of course you have to be in the right place at the right time because they go quick. I've only gotten one so far. Same goes for their blog and Facebook page.

Now if you would really like to help a gal out ;), you can also receive Swagbucks by referring friends. You get a matching buck for each buck your friends make, up to 100. So if you click right here or on the banner or the Swagbuck's links above and sign up, you'll be my BFF's foreva. LOL No pressure, no pressure. But am I bold or what! Little side note: Age 13 and up can join.

By the way, they do have a Swag Store and a Swag Mall. The store has prizes you can use your Swagbucks on and you can shop at the Swag Mall and earn some Swagbucks while doing it.

So that's what I've been playing with this past month. You would be surprised how excited you get when a Swagbuck pops up. LOL I'm such a kid!

Happy Valentine's Day

2009-02-14T01:50:00.003-05:00

A poem for my blogger friends:

Roses are red,

Violets are blue.

You're such great friends,

That's why I love you!

Do you think I could find a job writing greeting cards. LOL

Will Rogers

2009-02-13T00:52:00.000-05:00

"There's no trick to being a humorist when you have the whole government working for you."

AMEN

How's the Weather?

2009-02-13T00:04:00.003-05:00

Anybody get blown out to the Atlantic today? Holy cow, was it windy! We had power outages all over. One of the schools had a 2 hour delay because they were without power. Another closed early and the twins school lost power shortly before the end of the day. There school is 3 blocks away and surprisingly our power didn't go out.

We did have some loud and strange noises. Sounded like the air was getting under the house and exploding against the cellar door. Scared the pants off me. What happened is one of the grates over the windows blew up when the wind hit the window. Then I heard this loud noise coming from the back yard. I quickly looked out and saw nothing. Hubby told me later that a part of the fence came loose. Not to mention it was a "two hands on the steering wheel" day.

I was taking Kel to work and there was a bunch of birds on the wires on the highway. They would swoop down on the cars when they'd take off. I believe it scared the pants off those drivers! Can anyone say "The Birds!" That was a creepy movie and this was a creepy day.

I'm off to my temporary trembling bed. It should rock me right to sleep.

Politics Schmolitics

2009-02-04T11:08:00.003-05:00

I have gone and done it now. I have sent an email to the President, V. President and my state Representative's asking them to oppose the "Stimulus" package.

I'm beginning to get a little ticked off with the irresponsibility of these people. A stimulus package is supposed to have an immediate impact on the economy, yet they keep adding items in that will have NO effect on the economy. Some items will NEVER impact the economy such as the family planning line item. How on earth could that ever impact it. Money being dumped into the education system will have no effect NOW either. Yet they want to give that dept. over $140 billion dollars. And how does updating the government's computers make for a better economy?

Personal agendas and favors are at work here. The American people are telling them no and nobody's listening. Don't even get me started on the people being chosen for the transition. I think there must be a special place in hell for politicians. I've said it before and I'll say it again: This man was nowhere NEAR prepared for this office. I wonder how long it will be before he's totally gray?

I really hate it when my husband is at home. Ordinarily I don't pay too much attention to politics. But he listens to it all day. Therefore, I get ticked off.

Stepping down off the box.

Job Prospects Anyone?

2009-02-03T22:55:00.003-05:00

Is it Friday yet? I'm pooped already.

I have been busy stressing myself out the past few days. Actually weeks, but I've been on overdrive lately. The good news is, we are temporarily out of our financial pickle. However, if something doesn't happen soon, we'll be right back into it. I am bound and determined that does not happen!

I have been scouring the classifieds everyday and also online classifieds from a couple reputable sites. Put a few applications in to some businesses. I noticed two things. If you want a job, you need to be in the medical field or the education field. I love my children dearly. However, I absolutely do not want to spend 8 hrs a day with a classroom of children. My own are plenty enough for me. I've learned I don't deal well with other kids for more than 2 hrs at a time. Plus I would need credits just to be an aide.

So that leaves the medical field. Do you think I could handle a CNA position? Changing bedding, bathing (OMG, I'm mortified just thinking about it), cleaning up messes. Noooo!! It'll have to be an office type job for me. LOL My God, they'd be picking me up off the floor all day. So that means schooling for medical billing and the lot. You know there's all kinds of pre-req's that go along with it. Medical terminology, anatomy etc. And many hours to put in. I am seriously thinking about this for the future. I'm pretty sure I could get some kind of financial aid. That would also seal my future.

So there you go! That's what I've been up to.

On another note, on Sunday, I was made an Elder. Was supposed to be last week, but with my brother-in-law's funeral, I passed on church. So I got to be put on display during the children's sermon. Pastor explained to the kids that Mrs. M was not only going to be a Sunday school teacher but also an Elder and explained a bit about it. So what does she do? She gives them those New Year's whistles with the curly thing that blows out and on the count of 3 they all blew their whistle's. Oh it didn't end there! They tooted all the way out of church into the classrooms and proceeded to keep tooting. LOL We finally took them away and put their names on them. I absolutely loved it! I feel so special, too, because I don't think the other new Elder's got whistled in. LOL

What have you all been up to?

Marriage

2009-01-31T21:28:00.005-05:00

Why is it, everywhere I look, everyone is happily married. No complaints or very few. Nothing majorly wrong. I feel like such a failure. It's rather depressing.

I put up with a lot of crap in my marriage and have from the beginning. At what point do you say it's enough? Is it because I've been somewhat of a doormat to keep the peace that I am at this point? I let him do whatever he wanted to do. He wasn't my child. Free as a bird, he was. And still is.

At one time, I wanted to spend the rest of my life with this man. Then I changed and grew...and he didn't. I'm not willing to put up with the crap anymore and I don't see us growing old together.

Were you wondering where The Spark post was going to end? Well, it ends here. The end.

My life is a mess!

Signs...Five Man Electrical Band

2009-01-30T23:00:00.004-05:00

Here's my choice for the Friday Flashback. I really shouldn't know the words to these songs. I'm simply not old enough or wasn't old enough to care at the time. However, I must be a hippie at heart. Enjoy!

Thank you

2009-01-26T19:04:00.002-05:00

Thank you, ladies, for your prayers. My brother-in-law passed away on Jan. 22. His funeral was today. Thank you for keeping the family in your prayers.

Will try to get into the swing of things again.

Please Pray

2009-01-22T11:36:00.002-05:00

I have just found out that my brother-in-law is in medical icu with kidney failure. He is listed as critical. Please pray for him and also for his family. My sister and his family must make the decision to have him revived should he fail. It is now a waiting game. So please raise them all up in your prayers.

Decidedly _itchy today!

2009-01-19T20:22:00.003-05:00

I'm feeling decidedly _itchy today. Or I am simply allowing myself to feel that way. The sad reason for this is that I have no money and no cigarettes. I am forced to not smoke. And that makes me _itchy. Would you say I have a problem?

Another reason that is making me _itchy is the money factor. My dear, dear husband (I am sorry, but that is said sarcastically) has been out of work for at least a month now and things were not good before that. I am soooo ready to work, only to find one page of classifieds in the paper all related to the health field. Not qualified for that! Do you have any idea how it feels to be flat broke and not knowing where or when the next paycheck will come in? Having to depend on someone who has continually put you through this over and over? It makes me sick and scared out of my mind. I'm trying to keep my head up, praying that things will change. But I'm about at the end of that proverbial rope. And I'm out of cigarettes!!

I am feeling sorry for myself today. How do you pull yourself out of that? Tomorrow is a new day. Perhaps it will look brighter.

If, at some point, you don't see me around for awhile, guess you'll know why.

I am Remiss!

2009-01-17T12:41:00.003-05:00

I sincerely apologize for this. I am remiss in my duties here.

Kathy and Laura both bestowed this lovely, colorful award to me. Thanks so much girls! It means a great deal to me. Except I'm breaking the rules again. LOL

If anyone wants to play along, here's the rules that I'm breaking:

1. Put the award up on your blog.

2. Add a link to the person who awarded it to you.

3. Nominate at least seven other blogs.

4. Add links to these blogs on your blog.

5. Leave a message for your nominee on their blog.

Saturday Flashback

2009-01-17T12:31:00.004-05:00

Oh, listen...it's the Coca Cola song! Was this syrupy sweet or what?

Help for Elaine

2009-01-17T11:53:00.003-05:00

Elaine has a driver's test coming up soon. I've found some tips for her upcoming test. Good luck, Elaine!

Rules of the Road
from TheLife.com by Power to Change Ministries
Murphy’s rules of the road

1. Turn signals will give away your next move. A real driver never uses them.

2. Under no circumstances should you leave a safe distance between you and the car in front of you, or the space will be filled in by somebody else putting you in an even more dangerous situation.

3. Crossing two or more lanes in a single lane-change is considered going with the flow.

4. The faster you drive through a red light, the smaller the chance you have of getting hit.

5. Never, ever come to a complete stop at a stop sign. No one expects it and it will inevitably result in you being rear ended. If you want your insurance company to pay for a new rear bumper, come to a complete stop at all stop signs.

6. A right lane construction closure is just a game to see how many people can cut in line by passing you on the right as you sit in the left lane waiting for the same jerks to squeeze their way back in before hitting the orange construction barrels.

7. Braking is to be done as hard and late as possible to ensure that your ABS kicks in, giving a nice, relaxing foot massage as the brake pedal pulsates. For those of you without ABS, it’s a chance to stretch your legs. It also gives the driver behind you practice in traumatic emergency braking procedures.

8. Never pass on the left when you can pass on the right. It’s a good way to scare people entering the highway.

9. Speed limits are arbitrary figures, given only as suggestions and are apparently not enforceable during rush hour.

10. Just because you’re in the left lane and have no room to speed up or move over, doesn’t mean that a driver flashing his highbeams behind you doesn’t think he can go faster in your spot.

11. It is traditional to honk your horn at cars that don’t move the instant the light changes.

12. Remember that the goal of every driver is to get there first, by whatever means necessary.

Hmm. Deja vu! Did I give these tips to Laura when her son was learning to drive?

10 Things

2009-01-14T15:15:00.002-05:00

Elaine has a fun meme on her blog she did the other day. It's a word game. The deal is, Elaine gave me the letter T and I have to list 10 things I like. So here goes, in no particular order:

I Like...

Tacos -Love them! But not with refried beans.
Talcum Powder -I hate feeling sticky in the summer from the humidity, so every so often I'll put powder on my neck, behind my knees and in the crook of the elbow. It doesn't last long, but for a short time I feel refreshed. And I probably smell better too. LOL
Tulips - Have always loved this flower. Partial to purple ones. :)
Teaching - Sunday school, that is. I could never handle a classful of kids for 6-7 hours.
Time - Being on time, that is. I have a real problem with this. If I am only a few minutes late, it throws me into a tizzy. I don't like to be late! Why the good Lord made this one of my crosses to bear, I'll never know. Because I'm always waiting on someone else to go somewhere.
Trees - In the fall when all the leaves are changing, not to run into.
Trustworthiness - Kind of works in with being on time. My kids will tell you trust is high on my list. LOL They never get to go anywhere because mom doesn't trust ______.
Talking - I know! Can you believe it?! LOL
Thanksgiving - Love that holiday. Everything about it.
Teasing - Again, my kids will tell you "Mm hmm." :) Left over from my impish days.

I thought this was going to be so easy! T is such a common letter. Well not when you're trying to figure out what you like that starts with that letter!

What Makes A Parent...

2009-01-14T08:57:00.003-05:00

What makes a parent name their children Adolph Hitler, JoyceLynn Aryan Nation and HonszLynn Hinler Jeannie? I know there's some wacky names out there, but what in the world is wrong with these people? Why would you make these children go through life with a name like these? And how can you look at pictures of the Holocaust and deny that it happened?

I am so ticked off right now. These...people were in the local newspaper with this story a few weeks ago. I was absolutely appalled but had forgotten about it. It has now been picked up nationally, I'm sure.

DYFS has now taken the children. Why, I don't know. I would think they have good reason other than the names of the children. Now the children are in unfamiliar places and probably scared half to death. All because of their parents selfish stupidity. Perhaps they should have to change their names to something just as offensive? As opposed to their children, branded to be hated for life, they get to go through life as Heath and Deborah. Way to go, mom and dad.

I really need to move out of this area. The crap that goes on around here...

Sisters

2009-01-12T12:20:00.003-05:00

Yesterday, while I was pruning up in the sink, I started to listen to everything around me instead of my inner thoughts. What I heard was my daughters laughing and talking with each other. Now it wasn't what they said that caught my ear. It was how they sounded. They were laughing...together. They were talking...together. They were having a good time...together.

I don't always hear these sounds. Not that they don't happen. Just that I don't focus on it enough. What I hear more than the love is the discord. Why do I focus on that? Is it because I need to referee? I always tell them that one day they will be happy to have so-and-so for a sister even though they really dislike that particular sister at the time. (Hi, Ann!). I don't know where I got those particular words from. Perhaps that's what my mother used to tell me and my siblings.

So even though it is not easy to hear the discord amongst your children, the pay-off is hearing the love every once in awhile. Because in the midst of the discord, they are learning to accept each other and love each other despite their differences.

When I was growing up, I was always jealous of my younger sister, Ann. I was 4 yrs. old when she was born and she came home with all this lovely dark, curly hair. Everyone oohed and aahed over her. And she was just so sweet whereas I was...an imp. Through the years, I tormented her. Well, actually, all of my siblings. Yes, I was bad! It wasn't until high school that I finally left the poor girl alone.

The point is, even though I was in the throws of jealousy, I loved her. She was funny, sweet and made you feel good to be around her. And as we got older, I was happy that she was my sister. She is a very strong woman. There are some serious issues she deals with on a daily basis that would bring any normal person to their knees. But she perseveres and yet doesn't realize how strong she is. I am very proud of her.

Now, she will read this and then call me to tell me I am such a goober and mushy. All I have to say in my defense is that I think I'm in the throws of PMS. Love you, Ann!

Yes It's True

2009-01-11T22:55:00.004-05:00

4 children and two adults makes for alot, that is ALOT, of dirty dishes. My hands are now prunes and dry and I cut my pinky on something. Dirty dishes is a dirty word right now. Just when I think I'm done, I find more! And I'm missing some cups, actually quite a few. I do not even want to know where they are!

I know, you've just been waiting for this knowledge. Go ahead, admit it!

Past Due Flashback

2009-01-09T21:51:00.003-05:00

Been way too long for one of these! Who remembers Without You by Nilsson?

Or how about Dreamweaver by Gary Wright? Just one of those songs that as soon as you hear the intro, you know what it is. Would you believe this was from late 2006? He's still got the pipes!

And if you don't remember this one, I'm going to wonder about you! If You Could Read My Mind by Gordon Lightfoot.

Have a happy flashback!

This Is It

2009-01-08T12:44:00.003-05:00

Well, I've gone and done it! I started up another blog. Remember my chatter about starting a devotional blog? I did it! It's a bit sparse at the moment, but come on over. I've got ideas I'm working on, so we'll just see how it evolves. I'm really excited about this! :)

Quote of the Day

2009-01-08T09:29:00.001-05:00

From Quotes of the Day

Dorothy Parker

"If you want to know what God thinks of money, just look at the people he gave it to."

A reminder for me.

Soles 4 Souls

2009-01-07T10:01:00.005-05:00

In one of the blogs in my reader, Make and Takes, I ran across another mission. Soles 4 Souls. This is an organization that collects new or gently used shoes and gives them to areas in need. This would be a great church mission. They have resources for a drive and you ship to one of their warehouses. Unsure of the shipping information, such as cost, so that would be something to take into consideration.

As an individual, you could drop your shoes off at one of their locations. Just enter your zip code to find one near you. You can also host a shoe drive yourself, donate cash, sponsor, etc.

The shoes go to people following disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina, to those living in poverty, etc. It's worth it to check out the site.

You Don't Know Everything

2009-01-07T09:38:00.002-05:00

This morning is a prime example that I don't know everything. On my odyssey known as scrambling-to-get-my-kids-to-school-on-time, I saw a squirrel. Thank goodness I was still parked in front of the house waiting on the last two because we had some wonderful ice overnight. So as I'm watching this squirrel, a couple of things enter my mind. One, they don't like puddles. Ha ha! Two, don't they hibernate? I always thought they did!

After I get home, I need to find out about this. Otherwise it will bug me. Well, guess what? Tree squirrels do not hibernate. They do become dormant during winter though to preserve energy. As if those little buggers need more energy! I just thought I would share with you a site I found just for squirrels. It's actually a kids site but how funny.

Now this post has random written all over it, don't you think?

Menopause Parking

2009-01-06T21:46:00.002-05:00

Now here's something I could definitely get in line for for the good of all!

Starting the Year Off With a Bang

2009-01-04T21:01:00.004-05:00

Well my garsh! Haven't posted anything since last year. Ha!

I will be sitting in on my very first session meeting this week. On the 18th of this month, I will be nominated as an Elder and the following Sunday will be ordained. Forevermore, I will be considered an Elder of the church. Even when I'm not serving a term, I'm an Elder. I will be able to vote on all Presbytery issues. If you knew me and I mean really knew me....you might be a little scared. Ha ha! So...Elder=Old, Wise. Old and wise. Lord help me! There's going to be some serious praying from this gal. Joking aside, I am taking this very seriously. I have some strong views about areas we need to work on. I hope it doesn't put me at odds with more than half the session though. I will probably sit on the mission committee as I feel a calling in that area. Not to travel to foreign countries, just to broaden our horizons. Step out of the old "food pantry" square and work on another mission. A "doing" mission instead of a "put your hand in your pocket" mission. Get the picture? :) I'm rather excited about my new job! Now let's see what it entails.

We have just been relaxing the past few days. Tomorrow is back to school for the kids. They are soooo bored and happy to be going back. Probably till Monday when they come home with homework. LOL

Time to catch up on some blog reading. See you at your place!

Housekeeping

2008-12-31T23:29:00.002-05:00

Little housekeeping going on here. I found a new template I liked and ARRGH!! All the widgets disappear when you switch. I did backup my old template, but I'll be darned if I can understand all the html for the widgets. Back to scratch! LOL

Resolutions?

2008-12-31T20:53:00.003-05:00

Although it is only 9pm, Happy New Year to you all! We will be counting it down with, what else, Disney. Ha! You thought I was going to say Dick Clark, didn't you?

What will the New Year bring? Well, I am hoping good changes for me and mine. I don't like that resolution word. It seems to set me up for failure so I don't make resolutions anymore. More like wishes. So a wish for myself is that I get up the nerve after 9 yrs to get out there and find a job. This could be quite an eye opener for me. At this point, I don't much care what kind of a job it is because it will be for my self-esteem. It's in the tanker folks. Perhaps a better wish would be for myself to think positive. :)

And now a surprise for you...maybe. I have been tossing around in my head the idea to start a devotional blog. I'm not really sure how one would go about doing this, so I have been reading up on it and looking around. I'm not real "positive" in thinking I could successfully do this as I do not feel I am Bible literate, so to speak. It would have to be more of a learning blog. But I guess that's what a devotional is...a learning and applying experience. If you have any suggestions for me, I'm all ears! I am feeling a calling to do this for myself. So at some point, I will start it. And since I have written it here on my blog, I better!

Now, how about you? Do you make resolutions? Do you keep them?

Special Christmas Gift

2008-12-29T12:51:00.002-05:00

Before I forget to post this, I received a special gift from my blogger buddy Elaine. She created a special gift for all her blogging friends. Thank you and God bless, Elaine!

Christmas Memories

2008-12-29T12:02:00.003-05:00

I think the whirlwind is over. Best get the memories down before I forget them. Yes, I have a horrible, horrible memory.

My children allowed us to sleep in later than usual on Christmas morning. Now mind you, they were bouncing off the walls, but their stockings must have occupied them for a bit. He he! This was especially appreciated by mom as you may recall I was up until 3 am. I think it's safe to say they are all over the moon with their gifts. Mostly clothes and I am so happy they are all in that stage where they appreciate new clothes. A good friend of mine shopped the clearing racks one day and she must have "the touch" because she pegged their likes to a T. I'd really like to know why I can't find bargains like that when I shop the clearance racks. Both of my sisters are lucky that way too. Must be my dislike of shopping. Along with the clothes, they each got something crafty, some Tech Deck stuff to share (bunch of tomboys here) and books. I also picked up a couple of games: Apples to Apples and Buzz Word. Haven't played Apples to Apples yet but Buzz Word got a workout on Saturday. All in all, a wonderful Christmas morning. My only complaint is that after the presents were unwrapped, all the energy of Christmas was gone. I'm sure we all feel it.

So Saturday. Invited my family over for dinner. Scrapped the stuffed turkey because I got up too late. Ha! Should have taken this as an omen of what was to come. I got rid of the nasty packet that comes with the turkey and cleaned it up and popped it in the oven. Took it out of the oven at the correct time and noticed something in the cavity. What the heck is that?! The neck? No wonder the packet was so small, there was no neck in it. When did they start doing this? So we pulled that nasty thing out and being afraid the turkey wasn't done yet I popped it back in the oven for a bit. So we didn't eat when planned. This is not the end of the dinner fiasco. Now the turkey is dry because it's over cooked. Well, I can fix that. I'll just make gravy! Mmm hmm! From the start, not gonna happen. Ha ha! It was NOT working out. So that got scrapped and I know, I just know my siblings will remind me of this at another time. So while you are sitting there laughing at my cooking deficiencies, I'll have you know I've pulled this meal off before. It just was not my day!

The best part of the day was when the Buzz Word cards got pulled out. Now we didn't play it the correct way, just used the cards. If you've never played it before, it's a timed game where you are given a word and then a description. You have to use the word in a phrase. For example: The word is water and the description is filled with liquid. The answer would be water logged. Well we had the best time with that. Must have played it over an hour. My brother is such a ham so he had us laughing so hard. I have to tell you it felt so good to laugh like that. It's been awhile. As I sat there, listening to everyone, my thoughts turned to my mother. This year, we were laughing again. I'm sure she was happy to hear it. I'll bet she was even sitting in the room with us, laughing and playing right along with us.

That's it! Christmas 2008 has passed. Now looking ahead to what I hope will be a productive New Year. Wishing you all the same.

Update

2008-12-26T14:59:00.001-05:00

I almost forgot...My sisters father-in-law's surgery was a success! It was a lonesome Christmas day for all without Pop-Pop though.

The Day After

2008-12-26T14:37:00.003-05:00

Okay, is life back to normal for you as it is for me? Just more junk in the house to clean up? Ha ha! What a lot of hullabaloo. My kids are over the moon with all their new stuff and totally enraptured with it right now. My goal today is to get them moving and help me clean up because tomorrow my family will be coming for dinner. The big kid is MIA today, so we're leaving the bathroom for her. He he!

I've had two 3am nights in a row now. Big nap yesterday which brought on the second late night. Today, I will not fall asleep! While I was wiling away the late hours, I ran across a FREE software program that already I am in love with. It is called the iDailyDiary and is so simple to use. Another form of blogging, you might be thinking. Yes, it is. But it has this awesome feature of being able to add as many tabs to a day as you want. So I'm using it for several things. I have a daily diary, of course. But I also created a few more tabs for Sunday school, Devotions and a Goals and To-Do page. You can change background colors, font colors, insert pictures etc. I'm really liking it alot and hope to implement it on a daily basis. Another plus is that it is password protected, so if you want to write that your hubby was a flippity flippin' butthead today, you can do so and know that unless he's a superduper hacker, he's not going to know. Isn't that wonderful? LOL You can also create more than one diary, so everyone in the family could have one. The only cons I can see with this program is that you have to create those new tabs every day and you need to remember that password because there's no way of finding it unless you call the manufacturer as far as I can tell. They do have an option to change the password, but haven't checked that out yet.

So what is wrong with this girl, you may be asking. Why would she want to blog in two places. Well now, I don't tell you everything.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

2008-12-24T11:54:00.004-05:00

It is 2:36 am on 12/25/08. I have just finished wrapping all the gifts. I need to sit a bit before I go up to bed. Peace arrived at 7pm during candlelight services at church. No wax spills this year. Hurray! Although the twins gave me a few scares. Had a hard time singing Silent Night as I thought Roony was going to burn her bangs off.

On a worrisome note, my sisters father-in-law fell yesterday and broke his hip. They haven't been able to operate yet as his blood count was up. Tomorrow, or rather today, they will operate. So I ask you to keep him and the family in your prayers.

This Christmas will be very special for our family for various reasons this year. We are surrounded by some extremely generous angels. It has turned out to be more than I thought would be possible. And I am so grateful, because things were looking VERY dim for us. However, through it all, I have been reminded to keep my focus where it belongs: On the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

On that note, I wish you all a most blessed Christmas. Enjoy the time spent with your families! I leave you with my last Christmas song...from my family to yours: We Wish You A Merry Christmas.

1 Day to Go!

2008-12-24T11:34:00.000-05:00

Love this! Joy to the World by Third Day.

2 Days to Go!

2008-12-24T11:21:00.003-05:00

Missed this day. I was having a tough time thinking of a song when K saved the day. She said out of all the songs she heard this year so far, she hadn't heard this one. Spike Jones' All I Want For Christmas is my Two Front Teeth.

3 Days to Go!

2008-12-22T10:24:00.000-05:00

Short and sweet. The Monkees and Deck the Halls.

Somebodies Knockin'

2008-12-22T10:04:00.002-05:00

Somebodies knockin', should I let 'em in. Lord it's the devil, would you look at him.

Maybe not the devil, but just as bad. Tis the dreaded home assessor wanting to do a walk through of the house. Hubby told him to come back at 10 tomorrow. Should I let him in? Hmm? Merry Christmas to me.

Messy but Cozy Weekend

2008-12-21T20:38:00.004-05:00

Don't know about the rest of you, but we had a sloppy, slippery weekend here. Snow, sleet, freezing rain. Yuck! Don't want to be out in that ice. Even church was cancelled and it was our last week of Sunday school till the new year. We had such plans for our Christmas party. Now we'll just improvise and try to get the gifts to the kids preferably before Christmas.

I took the opportunity to bake those Christmas cookies yesterday. I got five batches made. Made up 3 plates of goodies for some friends and now it's open season on them here at home. Everyone was dying and I mean dying to dig in. But I put a damper on it till I got my plates done because otherwise I'd have been scrounging. Cookies in this house disappear like nobody's business. Now all that is left is the wrapping. Not real keen on that. Always do it in one shot because I can't stand the thought of doing it more than once. Imagine, if you can, wrapping for 5 kids. **SHUDDER**

Kids had a snow day on Friday, so it was nice to have a long weekend with them. They only have 1-1/2 more days left and then it's vacation time! Hopefully, they'll let me sleep in a few days. Been having some late nights this past week.

Sooooo.....are you ready for Christmas? All the presents bought and wrapped, tree up and decorated, baking done? It's such a build up isn't it? Usually, on Christmas Eve, after the stores are closed, I'm thinking to myself that I've done all I can and it will have to be good enough. I go to Christmas Eve services at church and a calm, peaceful feeling settles over me. It's as if God is telling me "Forget all that and remember this." And I do.

4 Days to Go!

2008-12-21T20:35:00.004-05:00

Ooooh, can you feel the excitement of the children building? Some big kid moms too! I want you to sing along with this one. It's got the words right there for you. No excuses! Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock...

5 Days to Go!

2008-12-20T09:48:00.001-05:00

This has always been one of my favorite Christmas songs. It brings tears to my eyes when we sing it at church. I'm such a mush. What Child is This sung by Dan Fogelberg.

6 Days to Go!

2008-12-19T11:59:00.002-05:00

Oops! Missed a day. This is the song Roony's bell choir played.

7 Days To Go!

2008-12-19T11:36:00.002-05:00

Okay, you have to remember this one. And Laura, you have to like it! And smile! Would you believe I bought a Chipmunks cassette a few years back. What an impression they made on me! Ha ha!

Online Bible Study

2008-12-18T10:12:00.003-05:00

I've discovered an interesting site today. YouVersion is an online Bible reader. They have many versions to choose from. What got my interest was a private journal you can keep while reading. You can also view other members thoughts on passages and interact with other members. It is free to join. A word of advice though. If you don't wish to have your last name out there, don't put it in during the registration. Your "Real Name" appears on your profile page which everyone sees. Same goes for the location. I like to be vague on that stuff. I'm hoping this will help me collect my thoughts (in one place) while preparing Sunday school lessons.

YouVersion also has a blog. It's got some tips and tricks about the site there along with other stuff. One of those other things is 100 things you can do with YouVersion. Now that's a tip! However, they're only up to 37. :)

Just thought I'd share. Check it out.

I Can't Believe It!

2008-12-17T16:31:00.002-05:00

I think I'm actually getting some Christmas spirit! I procrastinated about starting the gift buys and finally just did it. I didn't maim or harm anyone in any way. I was calm and took my time and actually enjoyed myself. It's a bloody miracle!

So all I have left is wrapping and cookie baking. I think the cookie baking shall begin tomorrow. By the way, the 100 Days to Christmas thing? Didn't work for me. I am an unorganized slob. And still, the worst of the stress is gone for me. The shopping is what throws me over the edge. I abhore it!! But it is done, done, done, done, done. Yowza! I can enjoy the last week before the big day now.

8 Days To Go!

2008-12-17T16:22:00.002-05:00

We're getting there! Went out to start my shopping today. Yes, you read that correctly, start. I'm finished! As I drove home, in my perky mood for having finished, I found myself singing this song. Laura, I know you're just loving these! Heehee! I'll try to find a special one for you before Christmas.

Lemonade

2008-12-16T17:18:00.003-05:00

Laura has yet again given me an award. She says I deserve it because "She’s always good for a laugh and picks you up whenever you need it." What she doesn't know is that I'd give her the award for the same reason.

The rules of the award are:

This award is meant for people who are positive, show gratitude, and of course: make lemons out of lemonade!

The rules for this award are that you post the graphic for it, write a post that links back to the giver, and then pass it on to up to ten others. Leave a comment on the blogs that get the award, so they know what's happened.

But guess what? I'm breaking the rules again. My bad!

So thank's Laura! I'm glad to make you laugh and lift you up when you're feeling down. I'm grateful to have you as a cyber friend!

9 Days To Go

2008-12-16T08:59:00.001-05:00

Silent Night sung by Libera. Simply angelic voices.

Berry Shortbread Dreams

2008-12-15T21:45:00.003-05:00

These cookies are to die for. I'm not a big fan of jams in cookies, so when I decided to make these last year for Christmas church fellowship after worship, I admit I didn't even sample them. When everyone kept asking who made them and oohed and aahed over them and kept going back for more, I thought they were nuts. But when I finally sampled one, I was surprised. They were delicious. So, once again, I will be making these cookies. Some will be tucked in some cookie platters to give out and the rest will be all mine.

Berry Shortbread Dreams

1 cup butter, softened

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 tsp almond extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 to 1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam

GLAZE:

1 cup confectioner's sugar

2 to 3 tsps water

1/2 tsp almond extract

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in extract; gradually add flour until dough forms a ball. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour or until easy to handle.

Roll into 1-in. balls. Place 1 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Using the end of a wooden spoon handle, make an indentation in the center of each ball. Fill with jam.

Bake at 350 for 14-18 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool. Spoon additional jam into cookies if desired. Combine glaze ingredients; drizzle over cookies. Yield: about 3-1/2 dozen.

This recipe came from a Taste of Home Christmas Cookies and Candies Recipe Cards book I got a couple of years back from the checkout at the grocery store. So all the credit for this recipe goes to Mildred Sherrer from Bay City, Texas.

What kinds of cookies do you make for Christmas? Do you have certain kinds you only make for Christmas? Or do you mix it up every year?

Factor This!!@

2008-12-15T19:29:00.002-05:00

Factors! Prime Numbers! Exponents! Math Riddles!! MATH!!!!! Fribdomesiguneighuenkd. That's what it is. Pig Latin! It ticks me off. Hate it, hate it, hate it!! Phooey!!

10 Days To Go

2008-12-15T15:16:00.002-05:00

We're on the last 10 days till Christmas! So everyday till Christmas, I'll put up a different Christmas song for you to enjoy. This one gives me goose bumps. Trans-Siberian Orchestra's Christmas Canon.

Funerals, Baking, Basketball and Christmas Programs

2008-12-14T00:19:00.006-05:00

It's been a week! A very beloved member of our congregation passed away earlier this week. He was such a good and caring man and he will be missed by many people. We stood in line for an hour at his viewing, so you know he was well loved. I don't know how his wife will do without him. They had a wonderful relationship. So sad for those left behind but his reward is great in heaven.

Tomorrow is our Christmas program at church. The kids are going to do 3 short skits telling the story of Jesus' birth from the angels, shepherds and Mary and Joseph's perspective. We're having the older kids read the stories and the younger kids will act it out. It will be a somber day at church with the passing of one of the members, but hopefully the children will pick everyone's spirits up. Wish us luck! We only had one practice!

So after church, we will be having refreshments supplied by none other than the Sunday school teachers. We donned our *ahem* chef's hats and whipped up some cake and cupcakes and a batch of Snickerdoodles. I really needed to do a taste test on the cookies. Just a few, mind you. Had to make sure they tasted okay and were presentable. Let me tell you, they were delicious! I should probably try one more...just in case. I did well. No burned ones. Crispy on the outside and soft in the middle. I'll even share the recipe!

Snickerdoodles

1-1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup marg or butter, softened

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

2-3/4 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp cream of tartar

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

2 Tbsps sugar

2 tsps cinnamon

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. In large bowl, beat 1-1/2 cups sugar and margarine until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and eggs; blend well. Add flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt; mix well. In small bowl, combine 2 tablespoons sugar and cinnamon. Shape dough into 1-inch balls; roll balls in sugar-cinnamon mixture. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake at 400F for 8-10 minutes or until set. Immediately remove from cookie sheets. Cool completely. Yield: 4 dozen cookies

Last, but not least, K had her first basketball game today. We had to travel to Timbuktoo to get there and got lost on the way to boot because whoever was leading us had us all the way to heck and back! Unfortunately, they lost. But the 2nd half they came back to life (we think they were still sleeping the 1st half or maybe it was the looooong drive there) and almost caught up. It was a barn burner, end-of-the-seat, biting-your-nails ending to the game. Final score was 26-21. K had lots of chances to shoot, but she was a bit off today. She's a very good player, if I do say so myself. She gets in there and steals that ball and she's fast. She's down at the other end of the court before you know it. Too much bragging? Never!! I love watching them play. However, I don't like travelling to Timbuktoo to do it!

Have a lovely Sunday!!

Did I Not Say....

2008-12-11T19:18:00.003-05:00

Did I not say that the late nights were going to throw me off for a week? Well, yes they have. This morning we got a late start. 7:30 late start. First ten minute rush started with K. She wasn't looking her best, but she got to school on time. Second rush was Roony and Loolie. They are so pokey to begin with. I think they got to school just in the nick of time. Thank heavens I didn't have to worry about the big kid. She had a 9 o'clock doctors appt, so she had time. Little did I know that having to shave her legs was going to make us late.

Now I just have to pick K up from basketball practice and all the kiddies will be safe at home. This family needs a serious Saturday morning sleep-in!

By the way, the other day I had a major brain fart. I made mention of Kel turning 18 in a few weeks. Well I must still be living in November because it was actually only a few days. **head shaking back and forth "Tsk tsk"**

Thoughts?

2008-12-11T19:02:00.002-05:00

What do people google to find my page? Here's a list for last week from 1-11:

Daily farts
Fun brain
Farting Xmas cards - don't believe I have one of these on my page.
Look mom it's only farts-I'm so proud that I'm number one on google's search list for this one. LOL
Stuffing farts
Kathalog physics-I don't understand this one. Kathy? Shouldn't this be yours?
"trapped the labyrinth"
Frequent farting in infants
Brain fart why do we say that
Thanksgiving farts
Brain fart

So the thing is, if people are looking for farts, I guess I'm your gal. LOL I shouldn't be surprised with the blog name. However, I may have to reconsider that at some point. I had thought to find a farting Xmas card for you all to enjoy, but I rather thought that was bad taste. Gosh, I can't wait to see next weeks results! I wonder what they'll be?

What is your funniest search result for your blog?

Phooey!

2008-12-07T02:13:00.003-05:00

Another one of those late nights. This is going to mess me up for another week. Ugh!

Thought I'd regale you with what's been going on lately with the kids. Roony had another bell choir performance for the Ladies Auxiliary or Volunteers (not sure which) at the local hospital. These people eat these kids right up. Some of them were at the Veteran's performance so they were telling the people next to them about the kids. The kids played Do You Hear What I Here and Wind Beneath My Wings. So awesome.

Now the tween, who is now K (yes Elaine, I have a K too), is in the middle school choir. They sang for the Exchange Club this week. I wasn't at that performance. But they'll be having another one at school for their Christmas program. I always wait for the morning show because the evening one is jam packed. I'm not a crowd person. So I wait till the next mornings performance for the kids at school and any parents that come get to sit right up front. Yay me!! She's also started basketball practice. It's been pretty sporadic so far. But if last year is anything to go on, it will be 5 nights a week again, very soon. Not looking forward to that!

Loolie, my other twin, (don't you just love these names? Ha ha!) is my armpit attachment. She's not involved with anything yet. But we're working on it! I hope she will participate in the Sunday school Christmas program. Crossing my fingers!

My teen, Kel, is giving me stress lately. She's working her tail off and I think that's wonderful. But...her grades are scaring me this year. She wanted to graduate early, but there is no way that's going to happen. She's never really reached her potential and I've never been able to motivate her for more than a marking period. She just doesn't like doing homework and she waits till the last minute on a lot of it. Now it's biting her in the butt. So we'll see what's going to happen. She'll be 18 in a few weeks. I hope that that 18 attitude isn't going to make things worse.

Okay, now that I've rambled on, I'm going to try out the pillow. Night all!

Missed It!

2008-12-06T15:12:00.002-05:00

Missed my flashback yesterday. Heard this on the radio this morning while I was taking my daughter to work. Enjoy!

Saturday Shares

2008-12-06T13:53:00.008-05:00

Happy Saturday!

I spent the better part of yesterday trying to get Norton OFF my computer. I could not find it anywhere to uninstall it. I ended up using the Norton Removal tool on their website. And why did I do this? Because Verizon decided to drop them and now have their own security software. Can I just say how nervous this makes me? Finally, Norton was off and the new software loaded. Now to figure out how THIS one works. Aye yi yi! So far so good.

So last night after I was finally finished with that, I continued my quest for some gift ideas. I had a good time! If I keep this up and become efficient at doing this type of thing, I will be on the lookout for the world's best sewing machine and have completely become.....my mother. Ha! She was an avid sewer. She made us quilts one year for Christmas and it is the most sought blanket in the household. But I digress. What I've been scoping out is easy projects (because I am NOT proficient at sewing) for purses, blankets, bags or something really unique. So I run across this project. It's a no-sew fleece blanket. This is so up my alley! How easy! But....we have enough blankets in the house. So I get to thinking, what a cool mission project for Sunday school! I'll have to check that out.

I've also already decided to give each of my girls a cookie mix "gift in a jar". They always want to help with the cookies, so I think they'll enjoy that. You can find gobs of recipes on this site. This gal has a ton of free projects. Check out her sidebar on the left. Wow!

On that note, I'm off to continue the quest.

Christmas Card Holder

2008-12-05T08:26:00.002-05:00

Kathy had a post the other day about an interesting Christmas card display she had one year. She wanted to know if anyone had any other cute ideas. I didn't. What a surprise! Well I ran across this cute little thing at Hold That Thought this morning for a Christmas Card Holder. I think I may just try it.

I'm also on a desperate search for easy homemade gifts for my kids, so I may be sharing some other ideas in the next few days. Going to be a different kind of Christmas this year in this household. Hopefully, it will make us all more grateful for what we have and what's important. I don't know if it will take off this scroogy/grinchy halo I'm wearing right now, but we'll see.

This is Fun!!

2008-12-03T16:47:00.003-05:00

I'll bet you're just dying to know what I do for fun. While you're sitting and blogging, I'm sure you're saying to yourself, "What does Debbie do for fun?" Not a bit of ego here, huh? Hehe! Well, are you ready for it? I'm about to share my deep dark secret (well, not really that deep).

I AM A PC GAMEAHOLIC

Seriously, I love the 1 hour free downloads from Big Fish Games. They have a new one everyday. Not that I play them all because of course I have my favorites. Hidden object and time management are the games of choice. Hidden object with puzzles to solve along the way are a bonus. But I can't say that they are my all time favorites. What I love the most are Escape the Room games. These can only be found on certain sites. For these games, I only go here. I will admit that I have to peek at the comments.....often. Now I just finished up a very complex game, Trapped, The Labyrinth, that is a series of 3 games. Good one if you know a serious gamer!

I wouldn't exactly say these games are for kids. Most of them are, but some of them have blood and a bit of gory looking stuff. They are usually posted as unsuitable for young ages. Also, some of the okay ones have some not-so-hot advertising on their pages. So it's always best to check them out before the kids do.

There you have it! My kids laugh at me and tell their friends "Mom's playing a game on the computer again.", but I don't care. That's what I do for fun. What do you do for fun, mindless entertainment? Should I rephrase that? :)

Brain Fart Alley

2008-12-02T12:41:00.002-05:00

I really need to start organizing my time a little better. This computer is a work of the devil for me. I was offline all day yesterday and this morning. Which is where the brain fart alley takes place. In trying to figure out if I paid my bill or not, that is. I finally came to the conclusion that I only owe this months.

"So why isn't this bugger working?" became my mantra yesterday. Checked the modem...it's up. But I can't get on the internet. Well, I broke down and called this morning. I had a weak connection and after they had me fiddle with all the wires to no avail, they decided to send someone out to check the lines. On Dec. 8! This computeraholic wasn't happy about that, but I can deal with it as long as I know someone's coming.

Turned the computer back on and surprise, surprise. Bunch of noise and an update started that had been waiting for a connection. And a security update and scan started. Hallelujah! So I guess I fixed it myself by unplugging and plugging in the phone cord from the back of the modem? It's the only thing I can come up with that I did after I talked to them.

So now I have this technician coming. I think I'll wait a few days before I cancel him. What do you think?

Flashing Back

2008-11-28T02:44:00.003-05:00

I think it's a Simon and Garfunkel night.

Middle of the Night Ramblings

2008-11-28T02:21:00.003-05:00

Here I sit...2:30 am...and the sandman has yet to visit me. One of those nights.

We had a lovely day at my sisters. The meal was delicious. I contributed 2 pumpkin pies and the sweet potatoes. Came home with most of the pie because there was just too many choices for dessert and everyone was stuffed. I have nooooo problem with that. But thank goodness I have a big family to share the eating!

I've noticed a few things this past week. First, it was the lights on someone's house. Then it was the Christmas trees in McDonald's and Burger King as I drove by (okay, I might have went through the drive through of one of them). Yesterday, in my night driving, I saw quite a few more houses with their Christmas lights on. Okay, fine. But it nearly pitched me into a tizzy. Why? Why so early? Can't you even wait until this very worthy-of-attention holiday passes? What is the big hurry? I'm used to seeing all the early merchandise in the stores and sneering. And maybe past years I've not noticed this. This year I did. Maybe I'm just too picky. I feel each holiday should have their shining time and not be overlapped by another. Tomorrow, or rather today, is soon enough for those lights to go up!

Now in a few more hours, Black Friday will officially begin out here. This is a day I rarely venture out of the house. You may laugh, but I have a fear of being mauled by a shopper. LOL I have never gotten into this day. I'm not a crowd lover, which is one of the reasons I don't look forward to Christmas anymore. But it just seems that Black Friday would definitely not be a good time for me to go out. So I limit myself to the grocery store if I absolutely have to go out. Nope! I'll be sleeping in tomorrow. While the die-hard shoppers are out there freezing their bums off waiting for the doors to open, I'll be all snuggled in my bed, nice and toasty warm. How about you?

On that note, I'm off to bed. Perhaps la-la land will overcome me.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T11:09:00.003-05:00

We Give Thanks – By Harry Jewell

Our Father in Heaven,
We give thanks for the pleasure
Of gathering together for this occasion.
We give thanks for this food
Prepared by loving hands.
We give thanks for life,
The freedom to enjoy it all
And all other blessings.
As we partake of this food,
We pray for health and strength
To carry on and try to live as You would have us.
This we ask in the name of Christ,
Our Heavenly Father.
Amen

What Part of Thanksgiving Are You?

2008-11-25T17:47:00.002-05:00

Elaine had a fun little quiz on her blog called What Part of Thanksgiving Are You. So here's my results:

You Are The Stuffing

You're complicated and complex, yet all your pieces fit together.

People miss you if you're gone - but they're not sure why.

What Part of Thanksgiving Are You?

Ha ha! Very Funny! I love that people miss me but don't know why. But I am definitely the stuffing.

Do You Know Your Thanksgiving Trivia?

2008-11-25T15:34:00.002-05:00

Apparently, I'm pretty up to date on it. I scored a 93 out of 100. Yea, me!!

	Results
	Thanks for participating in our “Thanksgiving Trivia” Quiz. How did you do? Your score is a based on the total percentage of questions you answered correctly. Click the link above and check out where you went wrong.
	Go back to your inbox and forward your Knowledge Stop email to your friends. Is their brain bigger than yours?

Take this Poll at KnowledgeStop.com

The only one that tripped me up was the first parade. I knew it was too easy. Have a try at it and enjoy! Let me know what your results are.

Thanksgiving Video

2008-11-21T22:52:00.001-05:00

Now this is how a real family works. LOL

Friday Flashback

2008-11-21T12:14:00.002-05:00

Now I can't get this song out of my head!

A little Ringo....and some George.

Happy Friday everyone! Enjoy!

Some Thanksgiving Humor

2008-11-20T23:47:00.004-05:00

Thanksgiving Divorce

A man in Phoenix calls his son in New York the day before Thanksgiving and says,"I hate to ruin your day, but I have to tell you that your mother and I are divorcing; forty-five years of misery is enough.

"Pop, what are you talking about?" the son screams. We can't stand the sight of each other any longer," the father says. "We're sick of each other, and I'm sick of talking about this, so you call your sister in Chicago and tell her.

"Frantic, the son calls his sister, who explodes on the phone. "Like heck they're getting divorced," she shouts, "I'll take care of this,"

She calls Phoenix immediately, and screams at her father, "You are NOT getting divorced. Don't do a single thing until I get there. I'm calling my brother back, and we'll both be there tomorrow. Until then, don't do a thing, DO YOU HEAR ME?" and hangs up.

The old man hangs up his phone and turns to his wife. "Okay," he says, "they're coming for Thanksgiving and paying their own way."

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Q. Should you have your whole family for Thanksgiving dinner?

A. No, you should just have the turkey!

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Q. If the Pilgrims were alive today, what would they be most famous for?

A. Their AGE

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Turkey Tongue Twister
The two toed turkey towed twelve times ten talking turtles.

How many talking turtles did the two toed turkey tow?