I'm here.., kind of for the mOment anyway. I still have Christmas music up and that annoys me , but I can't do a whole lot about that mow. I'm doing this from my iPhone because I'm currently stranded on an island due to ship wreck. Ok so that's a lie, I'm just really really lazy. Kids are still alive and doing well..,I haven't locked anyone in the garage or anything..so that's good. I suppose stuff like that isn't funny really because everyday stuff like that and worse happens to kids..like the ones who got murdered by their mom because they were mouthy, sheesh. Hear about that one? No? Well it's true..let's see what else? I had my gallbladder taken out, that was fun. GICOE is pretty much history...yay. I'm starting my masters Tuesday...which I'm dreading. Anyway, hope you all are doing well and I look forward to seeing what everyone has been up to.

Ghost of Christmas Past Part 2

The other day I spoke of Hamsters, Baby Dolls and Ventroliquist dummies (Yeah, I was kind of a weird child). I also remember going to see Santa and every year it was at the same place. It was like a cute little portable building, just big enough to fit Santa and his big chair. You would go in and sit on his lap and tell him what you wanted. I think your parents just kind of hung out at the door. Yeah, kind of creepy. I can see why they stopped that. They must have stopped that because I havent seen one of those set ups in years. Now the Santas are in the mall...out in the open so people can keep their eyes on them. Make it a lot harder for Chester the Molester to dress up as Santa Claus. Thats a good thing.

One thing cool about my Christmases when I was a kid was the employee Christmas party where my dad worked. See, he worked at Disneyland..and what could be better than a Christmas Party? A Private Christmas Party at the Happiest Place on Earth. Yep. They would keep the park open a little later for employees and their families....and you just went wild. Everyone else...get the heck out. I remember being able to bring a friend a couple of years. I also remember that on our way out all the kids would get a Christmas stocking full of candy and little toys, coloring books, stuff like that. This party also meant that I got to see the son of a fellow employee of my dad's. He was cute, and he thought I was cute. I guess he grew up though to have problems staying out of prison.....Oh well.

I loved the decorations of my childhood Christmases too. My mom had this nativity set that was cool...I used to play with the set like they were action figures..which required my mom to repair them on more than one occasion. Im sure it drove her nuts to find Baby Jesus between the couch cushions or near the dog food bowl.

We had this cool light thing too. It was a big wheel of colors...and when you plugged it in and turned it on, it would rotate colors across the ceiling and walls. When I was a teenager I coveted that color wheel. It would be so cool in my room with by beads hanging in my doorway, my insence and my Pink Floyd...but alas it never ended up in there. Im not sure what happened to it actually, but I miss it.

We had these candles that were shaped various Christmas characters like Santa and Frosty. They would often hang out with and sometimes argue with Mary, Joseph, or one of the wisemen. I think they melted one year in the heat of the garage because on year, they were just gone.

My most favorite decoration of all time though, is the one that sits atop my own family tree right now. The angel. She has dark hair, a halo and wings and is wearing a white dress...she is more like a doll than a statue..her dress is real material. It was on the family tree ever since I can remember. When my best friend died when I was twelve, that angel reminded me of her...and still does to this day. Someday, I will hand it over to S, and tell her the story, and so on and so on.

Ghosts of Christmas Past

This will be my 41st Christmas on this earth. That's a lot of Christmases. I have gone from asking Santa for a hamster to a Kindle. I hope the Kindle lasts longer. My very first Christmas I was only a few months old, but there are pictures of me in a little red "Santa" onezie in my baby carrier thing. They would place me there and I would marvel at the pretty lights and shiny tinsel, in between scanning the room for my favorite beings (other than mom, of course) like big brother and the family dog. Not a whole lot has changed there either. I can still be found this time of year sitting by the tree and staring at the shininess of it all, with dogs close by.

I did get my hamster one year. A Teddy Bear Hamster...which I named "Teddy". I think this was my 5th Christmas. He came in one of those Habitrail things, with a tube leading up to a skyline apartment and a nifty running wheel on the main floor. Teddy didn't last long, as one day he got out of his cage (those little "clips" that held the lid on, weren't very easy for a five year old to secure properly) and in a frantic attempt to catch him again, I grabbed him and squeezed a little too tight...then he bit my thumb. I can still remember my horror at the blood dripping from my thumb. Sadly, when I squeezed too tight I injured him pretty badly and my dad had to put him down. Sad, yes I know. I still feel bad about that and have never owned another hamster again and am thanking God that my children have never expressed interest in the little rodents.

I also remember the year I got my "Baby Chrissy" doll. You could make her hair short or long all by a little string on her back. What was cool about her was that she was big enough that I could dig into mom's cedar chest and pull out some of the baby clothes she still had of mine and put them on the doll. That doll wore my
"dedication" gown for a long time...until I got tired of it on her and started making the cat wear it.

One year I got "Pete" the ventriloquist dummy. He came with his own red case and everything. I had visions of becoming this really good ventriloquist. Right up until I saw the movie "Magic" about the homicidal dummy. Then I put him deep in my closet and piled a bunch of crap on top of him so he couldn't "get out". I eventually sold him for 5 bucks at a garage sale. Sorry Pete.

That is what pretty much comes to mind when I think of my past Christmases. Well, except for some of the Christmas decor items my parents had laying around. That is another post though. So thank you Teddy (RIP), Chrissy and Pete for the memories.....

Christmas Tunes

The Christmas playlist is up. So turn it up and enjoy. Hope you all are getting your stuff done...Im working on it today, and its SNOWING.

Wierd Stuff....

I did a little lunch time shopping today. You know just a "few little things" left on my Christmas list. While, out I was experiencing weird stuff...maybe its just me, but I thought they were weird.

I went to McDonald's for lunch (shut up, I like their fries, OK?) and I ordered one of the "snack wraps". The Angus Beef snack wraps. I thought the beef would be like, strips of beef...um, silly me...no.  Maybe some of you already know what it is, but just in case you dont...heres my good deed of the day. Its a tortilla (a regular tortilla, not a "wrap") with a hamburger (the Angus beef variety I guess) patty wrapped in it. Of course theres stuff like cheese and onions in it..but if I wanted a hamburger, Id get a hamburger. Or if I wanted a burrito, Id get a burrito. No need to mix the two up.

then I was standing in the crazy Christmas shopping line and I heard a checker a couple stands over talking to some one she knew..they asked her how she was, and loud enough for everyone to hear, she said:

"Im doing alright, except for having to put my Puppy down".

Talk about the sucking the Christmas spirit right out of me. That did it. Now I want to turn off all the lights in my office, curl up in a little ball, and cry. I mean her PUPPY? If she had said "Dog", it would have still been sad, but they die when they get old, and sometimes when they arent so old..but no one should have to think about a puppy, a BABY dog, with their sweet puppy breath and velvet soft tummies DYING. Its just  not Christmas conversation, ya know? What with all those kids and ME in the store. Sheesh. It did kind of get quiet after she said that too..lol.

This isnt really weird...well maybe it is...because teenagers ARE weird, and I think it falls into that category maybe. Last night was my two youngest squids Christmas concert. We had a lovely time....with the exception of A's teacher making him trade places with a little girl while he was on the risers...because he kept turning around to talk to "Connor". No amount of shaking my head and frowning could get his attention though while he was up there...so eventually it was too late....the teacher saw. He claims Connor was "poking" him in the back...know what? I BELIEVE him. I do...I know "Connor". Anyway, after the concert was over we went to my moms house so she could see their outfits. And L...my 12 year old boy (soon to be a teenager) was NOT the well behaved child he normally is. He kept messing with me and everyone else in a teasing way and would not stop, no matter how much he was asked. When he came very close to knocking over moms Christmas tree, because he was crawling under the little table she had it on (its a small tree), he was sent to the car. I just think its weird that HE is the one acting up...is this a shade of things to come when he is a teenager? Do they all think they are hilarious all the time?

Awww thanks....and diary of middle school mom.

I want to thank all my faithful followers and commenters for making me feel better after my whining post the other day. You guys are awesome. I changed my background, and will put the Christmas playlist up shortly. The computer Im on now wont let me go to Playlist.com...so I'll have to wait.

Tonight is the annual Christmas concert for the elementary school. Second verse, same as the first. Well, with the exception of only having two kids in the concert now that L is in middle school. I cant wait to put the tie on little guy tonight. He is going to be so cute.

Speaking of  middle school...I spent almost the whole day there yesterday for "Parents Back to School Day". Its where you can go and follow your middle school child around to his classes and sit in the class and see what a typical day for him is. It was kind of cool.

First of all let me brag hugely here for a second...L is not only on the honor roll, but he has a 4.0 and is the ONLY 6th grader to have a 4.0. There, brag over.

I actually LEARNED something in his math class. I hate math, but I do believe if I had the teacher that L has, I would love it, because it was the funnest period of the day. I totally cant believe I just typed that. The way he was teaching made things make SENSE to me. I already know most of the kids that L calls friends, but I got to meet a few others. I saw how messy his locker is (he needs an organizer) and I also saw how the front cover of his binder has been taped back on (he needs a new one!). I was kind of releived to see that at this school in this tiny town, boys and girls still dont have much to do with each other in 6th grade. It was SO not like that when and where I went to 6th grade. Really, it was like an episode of Peyton Place. Yesterday though, at his school, the boys and girls seemed to stay away from each other for the most part. That made me happy. Im definitely not ready for that drama yet.

During science class L kept trying to grab my arm and force my hand in the air to read outloud from the text when the teacher was asking for volunteers. I ended up locking my arms in front of me, and then he resorted to pointing at me. His teacher said: "Your volunteering your mom to read". To which I replied, "apparently he needs to see the definition of a volunteer". Little brat.

The hallways were scary, and it was here that I witnessed some of the behavior Im terrified of as he gets older. I dont even like him WITNESSING it. Some (older-like 7th or 8th grade) boy slapped some girl on the butt....I wanted to yell at him, but figured that would not exactly make L's life easy. You cannot walk down the hallway without touching other people though...its just too crowded and the halls too small. The butt slap however, was definitely intentional.

I did not eat lunch with him however, Ive seen what they eat...no thanks. Really, my school lunches were always good...these are just terrible. So I went to the sub shop across the street and had lunch with the husband, who laughed in my face when I suggested he spend the rest of the day at the middle school too....oh well.

It was an eye opening experience and I will worry less, I think. I can now envision things the way the are when he tells me about his day..so it was really cool and Im glad the school does this. He didnt even try to ditch me in the hallway like my friend's son did to her. So for that, he gets an A.

Open Letter to Bloggy Land....

Dear Bloggy Land,

Its not that I dont love you, because I do. Its just that I dont feel like I have much to offer at this moment. Just more gripes and complaints. Im also feeling like crap, physically. I also want to rip GICOEs face off with a butter knife (sick or not) if I ever see him again, he has ticked me off to no end. I yelled at a McDonalds worker today while at the drive through....through the speaker thing, not at the window, although I felt like doing that too (do NOT mess with me at 3 am pre coffee...just sayin').

Yes, I am wondering how all my bloggy buddies are doing and I do miss reading about them and want is going on in their worlds. I only hope that they forgive me when I do come back. Im feeling guilty about your background reflecting Thanksgiving still...when its so obviously Christmas time. Yeah, and dont mention the fact that my beloved Christmas playlist isnt up yet (either is our Christmas tree, Ok?).

I have been spending a little more time on facebook, yes it is true. Im sure its just a phase. Honestly though, I get a little frustrated by having only 76 followers...STILL. While other blogs are in the hundreds at least. Its much more fun to go to facebook where the number is much higher. I mean who wouldnt choose the bar that most of their friends go to over the one where there a far fewer friendly faces?  Just an observation, thats all. 

I hope everyone is doing well......I will be back soon, I think. Till then, stay warm, stay dry, stay Merry.

Sincerely,
Me.

Today....

Today Im thankful for my kids. Im thankful that God ultimately chose for us to be their parents when they needed parents. Just the other day I went to an award ceremony at the middle school, where L recieved his membership into the honor roll. Not only that, but he was the ONLY kid in his grade that got a 4.0. How proud was I? Verrrrry proud. I guess there is no need to nag this particular kid about homework, I think hes got it down....unless, his grades start slipping, which I dont think they will. Seriously, Im just bursting over here.

Im thankful for the laughs that my little guy gives me. A lot of the time he is actually trying to be funny, and he's successful. Many times though, he's not trying to be funny, but he is anyway. Last night there was nothing on tv and we were all too lazy after a hectic week to do anything else, and since we love sharks, we watched  "I Shouldnt be Alive" about a shark attack in Australia. For some reason this particular shark tale creeped little boy out more than usual (He LOVES sharks, so likes to watch stuff on them, even stories about attacks normally). Knowing his uneasiness, when I said a prayer with him after tucking him in, I prayed for his feelings of safety and prayed that he would realize that God is in control, even of sharks. He promptly added:

"And zombies".

Me: "Yes, zombies too".

I am thankful for my daughter too. For really different reasons than her brothers. She is definitely a unique individual with a really caring heart. If there is anyone in any discomfort, anywhere near her, or in need of any help with anything, she is right there. All I have to say is my back hurts and she will try and rub it for me, or if I say I dont feel well, she scampers off down the hallway and comes back with a wet wash cloth to put on my head, and demands that I lay down, lol. Yesterday she was buttoning grandmas coat up for her, I guess because grandma looked like she was needing help. It would not surprise me if she grew up to be an RN or something.....if she can keep her mouth quiet in class long enough to graduate, that is:)

LMBO

Monday Mumbling....and a movie review

Well...it looks pretty certain the GICOE isnt coming back. I wont say too much about that though, because although he drove me insane, I dont wish bad health on him either. However, it is so much quieter around the office.

Had a good weekend despite the hub being gone. The hub is off on his way to hunt with his brothers..he wont be back until Thanksgiving night. I miss  him and the kids miss him. The dogs miss him too. Surprisingly I havent broken anything that I cant fix myself...so far so good.

Friday was L's birthday. He is 12 now. Yep, one year away from teenage hood...yippee. He is an awesome kid though, and hopefully when the aliens steal his brain (because they do you know, at age 13 and they wont return it until age 20) it wont be too bad. As good luck would have it, S and A got invited to friends houses to spend the night, so L had a friend over and they got the whole wii, living room, and cherry pie to themselves, all night long. I retreated to my bedroom with the dogs and I did some much needed cleaning and organizing and tossing out while watching the old mini series "Rich man, Poor man" on DVD. Does anyone remember that from the 70s, starring Nick Nolte, and Peter Straus?

Saturday morning the local theatre was showing a free movie for kids (and parents), "The Dispicable Me". Review and Rating by me to follow at the end of this post. They were asking for canned food donations for the holiday season. I think we could feed Ethiopia with what they must have received. Honestly....it was insane. They used all 8 screens for this event...which is a good thing, because that line for the first times alone, had to be a mile long. We waited in line for 45 minutes. I was in a party of 12. I had my three kids plus two other boys, and my friend had her two and one extra, plus her mom and my mom. We also got one free popcorn and small drink per person. We didnt stand in the crazy snack line first, we went and secured our seats. The six of us females in the second row and the six little boys in front of us (within reach:)). Normally, we wouldnt choose the front row, but it was the only two rows left that could accommodate our huge group. Then two adults and four of the boys went and got the popcorn and pop...and somehow we managed to get back to our seats with all 12 orders of popcorn and pop. We must have seen everyone we know at the theatre...it was insane. The kids were great; of course it helps that the movie didnt have one single dull moment in it.

Now the movie....for those of you who havent seen it....the only warning we read about was for adopted kids...at first, I was like "oh great"...but a little talk with the kids to warn them and talk about any feeling ahead of time was key. POSSIBLE SPOILER:  Before you see it, if you have adopted kids...be warned that after three little girls are adopted, they are "returned" by the  adoptive parent. Dont worry though, it has a happy ending (of course). I warned my kids about that part of the movie and we talked about it. My kids assured me that they werent worried about that happening to them.

Anyway, the movie has a fantastic message to it about the value of family as opposed to any material thing you might gain (including the moon itself). I recommend it as a family film that adults (with a sense of humor) and kids will all enjoy. I loved this movie, and I plan on purchasing it. My husband, hater of most things animated, will even laugh at it...Im convinced.

SAD

REST IN PEACE ZAHRA...........

Yay and Grrrr....

So this was just going to be a nice little post about what Im thankful for today..but there is going to be something a little more that is very disturbing to me. So, I will start with the nice stuff first. Today, I am thankful for VETERANS, duh...right? No really, I am. I am a veteran myself, however I dont hold myself to the same standard as those who have fought and/or died for our country. I have done neither. I was in the Army during the Gulf War, but I did not go to the Gulf and fight. I stayed in Germany and were on standby incase there were any riots or protests that occured. I was an MP and this was what my unit was slated to do in the event that civil unrest in the area occured. It did not. That being said....Im thankful for those who did fight in our many wars. Truthfully, Im also thankful that I did not get sent to the Gulf, because I find the idea terrifying...being anywhere NEAR a battle, so for that I am thankful. So to those who did I am extremely  thankful.

Ok now the icky stuff......I just saw on Taste and See God's Goodness that Amazon.com is selling a book on there that I dont believe (regardless of our First Ammendment Rights) should be sold at all. AND it would be really nice if Amazon.com would take a stand against things that even suggest pedophilia as something "pleasureable" Yeah, Im not kidding. Go check out the blog and see what Im talking about and then maybe send Amazon.com a little email....like Im going to. Maybe tell them that you will not be shopping with them if they continue to promote and sell this book, if you buy from them (like I do). I believe in freedom of speech, I really do. However, I believe some things are just plain wrong, when it involves innocent children and fueling the fire of the countless pedophiles that roam our neighborhoods. Its not legal to engage in chilld pornography on the web (some would say that is a violation of our rights) nor is it legal to publish or manufactor images of children in a sexual manner...so WHY is OK for books like this to be sold? I dont get it......

UPDATE: This is what happens when you are a blog slacker like me who just now gets around to reading yesterdays blogs....apparently Amazon.com felt the pressure and stopped the nonsense. That gives me hope...however, I still feel that publishing such a thing should be illegal.......

Im a super slacker

I had good intentions for the thankful post a day thing....I really did. Life got in the way, I guess. I need to catch up on other blogs too, Im pretty behind.

Today I am thankful for good teachers. Last night was parent/teacher conferences and I am so impressed with A's teacher this year. Last year was a struggle. Hubs and I were sure the teacher had a screw list, as she tried to convince us to do the Connors test for ADHD for A. We were pretty certain he did not have this problem because the behaviors she was constantly complaining about, we never saw...or very seldom saw. So, because it was only in HER environment, we didnt have him tested. This is the teacher who refused to use any behavioral modification techniques to solve the problem...too lazy, I think. We kept telling her that he responds well to having privledges revoked. We would have done it at home, but she wouldnt tell us on a weekly basis how he was doing, like we requested. We were beyond frustrated. This year, new teacher and its a whole other story.

I LOVE this teacher. She communicates well with us. She sends a WEEKLY report about behavior home with him. She uses a behavior card system, where a child starts out on green every morning, which is no problems, and can go to yellow for warning, a orange for refocus, to brown, a call home, to black, a visit to the principals office. Alex has had an orange card ONCE, a yellow card a couple of times and the rest....he stays on green. We gave him the incentive of receiving a special treat every Friday if he stays on green, and it has worked. Drugs? He didnt need them obviously. What he needed was a teacher who has a clue. A teacher who clearly lays out her expectations to her students so they have no question about what she wants from them. The last teacher wouldnt even say anything to him, just complain to us at conference time. AND he made student of the month last month. Have I said I love this teacher. She too is amazed when comparing the kid he really is to the kid last years teacher made him out to be in her little notes in his file. Ugh. If I had another kid young enough to get her again (if she gets her job back...she was laid off in the cutbacks)...I would make it very clear that I dont want my child in her class. I mean she is the epitome of lazy to me. Am I being a little unfair, maybe...but Im irritated.

Have a Heart for Adoption? Please Read...and Share.

I just came across this post on blog I read...and thought it was definitely worthy of sharing. It is times like these I wish I had unlimited resources. Sigh.

Because We Are Free....

Today Im thankful for freedom. Im thankful that we are for the most part, a free country. I was able to read my Bible this morning, because we are free. I was able to choose what I wore today, and what I drove, and what I listened to today because we are free. I can own guns if I choose because we are free. I am able to post anything that I want to on this blog because we are free. I am able to read what you write on your blogs, which is whatever you want to, because we are free.

Inspired

I really didnt have anything profound to say (do I ever?) so I wasnt really planning on blogging anything. I have been reading blogs and trying to play catch up, and in doing so, I got inspired. More than a few blogs that I read today are doing a Thankful challenge where everyday they share what they are thankful for that day. So....Im going to do it to. Its always nice to count your blessings in the face of all the crap that this world can throw at you.

I also want to share a post from MiMi on her dislike of "religion" as a Christian. You know...I could not have said it better. Its like she was hanging out inside my head and took notes. I agree with her 110%, and so I want to share the link to her post because well, she makes sense...and she is always hilarious too. So go HERE and read....

Ok..so today I am thankful for my mother. I can count on her for all kinds of stuff. She doesnt care if I call her at midnight because at 6 am the next morning I really need her to come over and get the kids off to school. She wants me to do that if I need her...and quite frankly, Id be stuck if I didnt have her to help out with this...she is awesome.

Monday Mutterings...

Wow...what a nutty weekend. Saturday was A's football game, where lots of cheating from the other side commenced. Seriously, your are NOT allowed to rush and certainly are not allowed to tackle in 2nd grade flag football. For real....

Ok, then we had to rush home and set up for A's eighth birthday party (8!!! Already!). Can I just say, that Im surprised Im not locked in a room somewhere, babbling to my self? Now I understand what my husband meant when he said, "are you sure?" when I said I wanted to throw a party for A. It was mayhem. Of course hubby had to slip out to pick up L from an all day scouting event. He wasnt gone ten minutes when I called him and asked him what was taking sooo long. Lol....I flew through the activities because I was afraid of them getting bored...and they didnt really seem interested in anything but running through the house tackling and pushing each other. We had a "donut on a string" eating contest, that was HILARIOUS. I was going to post video of that, but Im using kids' real names in it, and so, I dont want to do that considering most of them arent mine.

My lovely mom was there to help me out and at one point we went downstairs to check on the dogs, as we had barricaded them safely away from the craziness of all those little boys. On our way back upstairs we heard THIS:

J: Hey, A..if your bleeding really bad, you should do this first.....

Yeah, so not what you want to hear as your entering a room of 7-11 year olds. Luckily it was just talk and no one was actually bleeding.

I did cupcakes instead of a cake, and this was more convenient for the boys to engage in a game of "pin the cupcake on A's head". A ended up with a couple of cupcakes on his head and on his face, which he thought was hysterical.

Oh, and no way did I EVER at any point in the party put a shot of vanilla vodka in my cup of punch. Nope, not me.

The next day was Sunday, and of course Halloween. I was taking a shower in the morning, and through the door I hear this:

A: Mom, L keeps...garble, garble, garble, garble....
Me: Tell him I said to stop...

Now, I have NO idea what L was doing really, because I couldnt hear because of the running shower. What ever it was, he must have stopped though. Raise your hand if youve ever answered a child in this fashion (without hearing the whole story)  because you were guessing what was going on, and because the tone of voice didnt seem to indicate emergency? I bet Im not alone......

Last night, whilst trick or treating we saw a neighbors house had about three police cars in front of it, and the police were up at the front door. Of course, things like this do not go unnoticed to 8 year old boys. Ever. He proceeded to announce in a very loud voice:

Oooh, who's getting arrested?

OY. I wish I had been wearing a mask.

Busier than a one legged man in a butt kicking contest....

...thats me. Ugh. Whats ridiculous is that I do it to myself. But, I feel that if I dont, then Im not being a good mom. My kids are INVOLVED in stuff. With three of them, that means Im very busy. I dont know how to slow it down either, without them suffering. However, maybe they wont be suffering? I dunno. How much is too much. Im convinced that kids that are involved stay out of trouble, especially as those teenage years creep in. I think a lot of my problem when I was a teen is that I wasnt really involved. I played soccer for a little while, but my parents were not involved in it with me, so I actually lost interest eventually  and so started keeping busy with "other things" and thats all I will say about that. So, they are involved and so am I.

Dont get me wrong, I wasnt horrible, for example I didnt have a drug problem and never got arrested...but still,  I did do some things I really dont want my kids doing. Things that had I been more INVOLVED, I probably would not have done.

Currently, on Tuesdays the boys have scouts, on Thursdays is football practice and Saturday is football games. Sundays is church and Mondays will be S's 4H nights with our dog Rocky. When football is done, it will be basketball time, and then the Holidays, and then in Spring, there is Baseball season....again. Round and Round it goes..where it stops...who the heck knows. I guess it doesnt. I guess this is parenting. Oh, and sometime soon S is going to be doing either dance or piano lessons, maybe both.  I dont know where she fits in best.....either does she yet. But I do know that I dont want her to miss out on anything, on anything that she might be good at.

There were things I really wanted to do as a kid, that I could have done, if the time was taken to get me involved in it. And now I feel like Ill never know what I could have done with that chance, what I may or may not have become. I do not want to be responsible for that when it comes to my kids...so I guess I'll just be busy......

Halloween Tunes

Hey...I got my Halloween tunes up. If there are any suggestions to add to this, I would love to hear them. I think its pretty groovy as it is, but Id love to add some new stuff to it!

Blog Filler #4,398

I got this from Sweet Pea. I love finding stuff like this, so thank you Sweet Pea.

1) What is your dream occupation ? My dream occupation would be a Zoologist or Marine Biologist. Or no job at all, just very wealthy and be able to spend my time volunteering for various causes.

2) What is the best dish that you can cook? Deserts mostly. I make a good tiramusu, pumpkin pie, and cobbler. Other than that, cheesey chicken chowder, chicken enchiladas, pasta dishes.

3) Have you ever been mentioned in the newspaper? What for? Yes, the paper did a thing on the food bank in town. I was working for Americorps at the time and this is one of the jobs that I did for them...filling bags up with food for families who would come to the food bank. They took a picture of me filling a bag. I think thats all.

4) What’s the worst and/or most memorable job you’ve ever had? Worst job would probably have to be one of the fast food jobs I worked as a teenager. My most memorable one is my years in law enforcement for obvious reasons.

5) When you were a teenager, at what age did you envision yourself getting married? How old were you in reality when you got married? I dont think I really envisioned getting married...I had other stuff to do, I guess, or so I thought. I ended up getting married when I was 22.

6) What’s your most hated household chore? What’s your favorite?  I LOATHE doing laundry. It  never ends, and socks frustrate me to no end. I like to wipe down and disinfect things like the kitchen counters and mop the floors, dust and clean the windows. I guess because its deep cleaning and I know the end result will make me extremely happy.

7) What’s your earliest memory? I dont remember.....no, um probably my birthday party when I was three. It was a Halloween costume party, I was Peter Pan ( I had a thing about Peter Pan), and that is when my friend Robert gave me my Henry dog, stuffed dog, that went EVERYWHERE with me...even when I joined the Army. Yep, its true.

Either that or my first death experience. My best friend Christopher (when I was like three) and his mom were hit by a truck while crossing at a crosswalk; both were killed. I remember another little kid came into my front yard, where I was playing and showed me the newspaper article about it even though I couldnt read, and she told me what happened. I didnt understand what she meant, so I asked my mom, who had already heard the news and was trying to find the best way to tell me.