New Years eve morning

Life sure has been busy here. As for an update on my last post, We did it ! Fifty miles from here in Grove City Pennsylvania ( think outlets )there is a tiny Wal Mart that was hoarding eight wii's. They are now down to seven. After this purchase, our next goal was the wii fit.These were on sale at Target and I seen fifteen or twenty Sunday morning but they were gone within hours, I am told. As with the Wii itself, these were sold out everywhere , even online. However, the stores within fifty miles rule found two at Salem ( about a twenty / thirty minute drive) Wal mart. We called and got there ASAP, but as I ran into electronics,a sweet mentally challenged employee, sent me to a display in the middle of the store, which was empty. Mike found a higher up who told him that there were four locked behind the counter in Electronics's ( it was explained that the boy was at lunch when they came in )As Mike purchased one, two other's jumped in line for one. All four were sold before we even left electronics. The kids think that we were unsuccessful with even finding a Wii and will be surprised this evening. ( I'm sooo mean !)
As for now, because I did all of this phoning and running and such( Not even mentioning having to wait four hours at Sears to get a tire, that appears as though someone tried to slice it,( Oh why would anyone want to slice MY tire !) replaced )I didn't even get the traditional pork and sauerkraut for tomorrow's dinner nor the foods for tonight ( since we are staying home we need party foods), so it is off to the market, worn out but pleased ! Have a safe and Happy New Years everyone!

If only I could sing like this.... maybe my kids would listen better ;-)

Thanks Kim !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMhuAtyFCrw

The search goes on

After I had already finished Christmas shopping for my boys a few months ago,they seen a Wii display in a local store. Since they were with Mike( without me) they were allowed to "try it out". Turns out that they loved it and promptly asked for one for Christmas. It saddened them but I told them that "Santa" had completed their shopping. As we got closer to Christmas,however, Mike asked if I thought that I would like a Wii. Now unless you count the two or three times that I played Pac Man, when I was a teenager in the 80's, I do not do video games. In the mean time, Cindy hopped on the Wii bandwagon and told me that she would love to have a Wii fit. Now she never exercises even though she really needs to, so I have to admit that I started giving this Wii thing some thought. I struggled but in the end the store's around me didn't have any anyway so my decision was made.Until a week before Christmas that is. Then these things came out of the woodwork. Every where I went had a few dozen on display and I walked on past.
Christmas morning came and the kids were pleased with their gifts and didn't even mention that Wii contraption.Wow I thought, glad that I didn't blow the budget and buy one.All was well until after dinner when My Mom mentioned that she had been to my brother's for breakfast that morning and that My brother bought one for his wife. Mom went on to say how neat it was and started a whole conversation with the kids. Well, Mom went home and the kids moved on.
The next day Mike and I discussed what to do for New Years eve. For the past six or so years, we have either went to a hotel party where we enjoyed food, a family friendly DJ, contests , and fun until Midnight, then enjoyed the extended pool hours, or last year we all went to Great Wolf Lodge indoor water park. This year indoor water parks were the bottom of the list because the $400 New year's eve package ($650 if you wanted to add the buffet dinner) offered no more than the $200 package any other weekend through the year. I gave some thought about going back to the hotel party but the kids have aged and now that they have a gym membership which includes use of an indoor pool, their response to going back was quite cool. I racked my brains and we had a family meeting,but nobody had any ideas. Finally Mike asked if anyone thought that we should stay home and use the money saved to buy something for the family( he had a new TV in mind) With this all three kids said yes and voiced that they thought we should buy a Wii. Well, the majority had spoken so we decided a Wii it was. Surely they would still be available, after all they were everywhere in mass quantities less than a week ago. Nope, not one can be found around here. Even the web sites are sold out. After an hour calling nearby stores last night Mike got a guy at Target who told him that they might have one on their truck which was to be there early this AM. the guy recommended that Mike check first thing this morning,no problem. Well Mike called and the girl on the other end said yes they had some. He and I hopped out of bed grabbed some clothes and were off without even combing our hair, which we did on the way. We got to Target,ran to electronics and were told that there were no Wii s just Wii fits. Grrrrrrrr ! So back to the drawing board. I did find a $350 bundle pack with some stupid game that's reviews are in the negative stars on line but it would never make it here by New Years eve anyway, so I have called hundreds of stores today. Every one within a fifty some mile radius as a matter of fact. This may not sound like a lot to some of you country dwellers but I live one block from circuit city and two blocks from a major mall, so there are many many stores within fifty miles here. Anyway, we may just ring in the new year at home bored or we may just ring it in at Wal Mart buying a new phone as ours could easily wear out as I call hundreds of stores daily asking if they have gotten a Wii in. Who knows, one may just appear somewhere, maybe even tomorrow.I best stop typing and save my fingers for tomorrow's calls !

You just never know who is watching

While looking through pictures from November's 2008 ISKF national tournament,we came upon a shot of Michael's kumite match. The picture itself is a great shot but what we noticed in the background was that the head coach from I believe Penn state, is not only watching this match but seems quite pleased with Michael.( you can see this Sensei by looking between Michael and his opponent's heads. Blown up you can see there is quite a smile on Sensei's face that may not be as evident in this smaller picture) During the match none of us even noticed him watching. I guess it just goes to show that You just never know who is watching when !

More LA pictures (Thank's to Dan Bare!)

Mike got an E mail this afternoon from a karate friend of ours who just happens to be the wife of the man , with the awesome camera, who ,along with Mike , takes pictures for the karate web site. The karate site is done by yet another man and is not , to my knowledge, updated yet. However our friend Mr. Dan Bare has his pictures up on his site. His link is http://www.dcbare.com/iskf/la/. Under youth are several pictures of Michael and Robby both. Since I have posted pictures of Robby that Mike took but Michael's shots looked like he was fighting a ghost and only one was posted, I will post a couple of Robby and a few of Michael's today.


Michael's kata



another shot of Michael's kata




Michael's kumite ( sparing) match



Another of Michael's kumite ( sparing) match



Another of Michael's kumite ( sparing) match




Another of Michael's kumite ( sparing) match

Another of

Michael's kumite ( sparing) match



Robby's Kata




Another of Robby's Kata

Christmas day !

Well midnight mass is but a memory as is the stop at Sheetz for free coffee/ hot chocolate/ cappuccino. Of course when six doughnuts cost you almost seven dollars, is the coffee really free? Just wondering.
Anyway the gifts from the kids have all been given out and openedand Mean Mom here has forbid a couple kids from staying up to play new video games. Oh well more to unwrap and play with in a few hours.For now it is bed time !
Merry Christmas !

Christmas eve at 7:30 PM

The wrapping is done and for the first year in eighteen, all gifts are already under the tree. The last eighteen years were spent with the gifts hidden as one , if not all three, has always believed that Santa brought them. I know that many have never really done the Santa thing for various reasons from feeling that it took away from the birth of Jesus to just feeling it was too silly , to feeling that it would be lying to your children to even feeling that this Santa was getting all of the Thanks and Glory for the presents that the parents sacrificed to buy ,and took time to wrap. To each his own, but Mike and I have told each of our children that Santa was real and have went to great lengths to preserve their belief, well until a few months ago that is. A couple years ago a well meaning classmate told Robby that there was no Santa and that Mom and Dad bought gifts with their Christmas bonuses. Robby asked what a Christmas bonus was and the kid told him. Robby thought for a moment and then sternly asked the kid where his brains were. A Christmas bonus, Robby scoffed, yea like your boss is going to give you money for nothing ! Yea Robby, you may have no faith in corporate America Keep that thought ! but your faith in Good old Saint Nick was untouchable ! Since this incident and the fact that Robby is getting older, Mike and I decided that we best come clean before he gets into a fist fight over Santa's honor( he is a green belt now Ya know) Since Robby's most prized possession, His Game Boy, had broken from over use and we were planning on going on a lengthy plane flight, we decided to buy a new game boy and give it to Robby to take the sting away from the news. Well, it worked extremely well. Too bad that now we face Christmas eve with no more Santa.
So anyway the presents are under the tree awaiting morning's opening and though I tried to nap before Midnight mass, here I set. I think I will go prep the foods for tomorrows dinner but before I do.....
Merry Christmas all !

Wow is time flying

I can hardly believe that it has been a week since I have posted anything. All is actually going well here, just busy busy busy.
Mike did go to his appointment with the spine surgeon last week however, we have no more answers that before we went. He is scheduled for another test tomorrow which hopefully will give at least an answer to whether he is a surgery candidate or not. For me this is a definite catch 22. I would love for there to be a procedure that would give him a painless life, but surgeries, especially spinal surgeries are so risky.
Other than Mike's medical visits, we are like all of you busy preparing for Christmas. Though my house is still in need of much cleaning, I think we are making progress. I hope to wrap gifts tonight or tomorrow and I plan of finishing the necessary grocery shopping this morning. As every year I cook Christmas dinner. I started this when the kids were small so that they could stay home with their new gifts and not have to open them and then put them away to go to Grandma's and then to another Grandma's and then get home so late that everybody heads straight to bed.
Now that the kids are getting older, we have some nice after Christmas dinner time to just relax, which is wonderful.
Relaxation is another thing that Mike and I vowed to do this season. Last night we scheduled a relaxation night. We rented a video from the red box,Cindy was working, we put the boys to bed, turned off all of the lights other than the Christmas tree, grabbed a large bottle of wine,some cheese and crackers and kicked back. We hadn't done anything like this in a long time and it was so nice.
Well, it is about time to get my day started. May God bless you all as you finish your Christmas preparations !

Robby is honored to be selected by Sensei Okazaki for a demonstration

Saturday Morning Mike , the boys, and I left for a Karate training outside Columbus. This being a very busy time of year,normally we may have been tempted to skip the three hour trip but this training was a special one. The chief instructor was Sensei Teruyuki Okazaki ,(http://www.iskf.co.za/page4.htm) The very man who studied Shoto Kan under founding Masters Gichin Funakoshi and Masatoshi Nakayama and was sent by these two masters from Japan to the United States over thirty years ago to bring us Shoto kan karate. Sensei Okazaki is the founder of the ISKF(http://www.iskf.com/)
Since Sensei Okazaki resides in Philadelphia, our region is very lucky to have this seventy seven year old Sensei come and teach clinics in our region a couple times a year. Sensei Okazaki can be a tough Sensei but he is an all around great man. As if simply training under this great Sensei is not privilege enough,Saturday Robby had the honor of being chosen by Sensei Okazaki for a demonstration. Praise God Mike was able to capture this honor on film and also get a couple snap shots. Maybe someday when Robby opens his own Dojo, these pictures can hang on the wall.



Sensei Okazaki and Robby bow to each other before the demonstration ( Bowing is the Japanese equivalent to the American shaking hands and is a form of showing respect to your partner before any sparing match or demonstration)



Sensei demonstrates a punch to the stomach as Robby blocks

Michael and Robby are given the honor of posing for a picture with Sensei Okazaki

The twelve days of Christmas

I personally never put much thought into the backround of this song but received this E mail( Thanks Mike) and thought it was at least, very interesting.

From 1558 until 1829, Roman Catholics in England were
not permitted to practice their faith openly. Someone
during that era wrote this carol as a catechism song for young Catholics.
It has two levels of meaning: the surface meaning
plus a hidden meaning known only to members of their church. Each
element in the carol has a code word for a religious reality
which the children could remember.


-The partridge in a pear tree was Jesus Christ.

-Two turtle doves were the Old and New Testaments.

-Three French hens stood for faith, hope and love.

-The four calling birds were the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke & John.

-The five golden rings recalled the Torah or Law, the first five books of the Old Testament.

-The six geese a-laying stood for the six days of creation.

-Seven swans a-swimming represented the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit--Prophesy, Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Contribution, Leadership, and Mercy.

-The eight maids a-milking were the eight beatitudes.

-Nine ladies dancing were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit--Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control.

-The ten lords a-leaping were the ten commandments.

-The eleven pipers piping stood for the eleven faithful disciples.

-The twelve drummers drumming symbolized the twelve points of belief in the Apostles' Creed.

Did you know this ?

Merry (Twelve Days of) Christmas Everyone

Out of Prison !

Last night, as before stated Mike , Cindy and I went to the local penitentiary to sing Christmas carols to the inmates and correctional officers.Our priest who visits , and says mass for Catholic inmates on a weekly basis, started this tradition three years ago. Cindy has felt called to go along since year one but the rules are obviously very strict for this type of thing and one rule is that no one under eighteen is permitted. This year Cindy was finally eligible and looking forward to going before the date was even set. Mike and I were not feeling as called ( as a matter of fact I have to admit feeling a bit of dread)but we decided that we should go. All in all my anxiety was not warranted at all as it all went smoothly from Mike following some friends who had been there before, to Father and the two prison Chaplin giving us detailed instructions.For the most part we were separated from the inmates not only by bars (I had never been in a prison before so i had no clue)but by glass that enclosed the cell block and their recreation area. They could hear our carols by the lunch tray openings and intercoms. There were a few things that surprised me, of this whole experience that I would like to share. Usually I am pretty good at Psychology and figuring out why people do what they do but one thing that i can't figure out is why the men on death row, seemed so much calmer and thankful of our visit than those men in other blocks. ( No they were not drugged) We did visit the behavior problem block and most everyone was in their cells, which were out of our sight. Actually there were men at what was referred to as " the camp" who were in the room with us( no cells or glass)who were very happy and appreciative too. These men requested every song on the list plus some and applauded our every attempt at singing ( they should all get good behavior points for this)Another group like this was the KP group who were thrilled that we came to the kitchen to visit them. Perhaps it was the break from KP that they liked most but still they showed much appreciation. All in all this was such a great experience for me personally. I truly felt appreciated, which is sometimes a sparse feeling for a Stay at home wife and Mom of three teens/preteen aged kids.
Thank you Father, guards, Correction officers, and everyone else who work to allow this. If these men got nothing out of it, I still did and for that i am thankful.

Why his teacher seemed confused ?

Robby has a tendency to forget to tell me things, like the fact that he has a choral concert coming up. Being a pro at being the Mom of children in the mandatory public school music programs, I know that every December there is the beloved ( cough cough dreaded cough cough)concert. Since we are well into the season I asked Robby last night when it was. He thought for a minute then told me the sixteenth. OK ,I said as I started to explain that I need for him to let me know of these things as soon as he finds out as we are an extremely busy family. "Don't worry Mom", he said. "I already told the teacher that I wouldn't be there if that is the night that You, Dad & Cindy go to Prison" "Oh" I said with a smile.... "Did you tell the teacher that we were going to the prison with a church group to sing Christmas carols ?" "No, she didn't ask and besides, when I told her she looked at me kind of funny and then went and sat down before I could say anymore." Oh I said..... I wonder why ???

A day to relax

This past weekend has been a busy one here . Though our big shopping trip plans for Saturday, due to weather and baby sitting conflicts of friends, gave way to just a night with friends after mass, it proved to be a wonderful time . Sunday brought it's own appeal with My maternal family's annual Christmas reunion, which was also a good time. The funding auction which accompanies this get together, proved to be a little wallet draining but hey, it is all for a good cause and I got some great things. Sunday night Mike and I found ourselves finishing our Christmas shopping while out on an errand for DVDs. A fifteen minute trip turned into a few hours but Oh how nice to be done ! Monday morning started with a snag as Michael and I showed up for a school meeting ( all good:-) only to find that it had been canceled due to illness. Michael seen this as an opportunity to take the entire day off of school, which for some strange reason I allowed. The rest of the day was spent preparing to host our Parish Thirty Forty something group's evening meeting which followed mass for the Feast of the Immaculate conception. I believe that a good time was had by all as we ate , drank a bit of wine, and discussed the group's plans for the coming year. All and all our weekend was packed full of fun and good times, however everything has to come to an end and our weekend of fun has done just that. As for today,I plan to just relax, Thanks be to God

Dedication

Even after spending a great evening with friends last night and getting in around two AM ish, I still got up at six fifty AM to bake a red velvet cake for a family Christmas theme reunion. Now tell me again why I should be the favorite niece & cousin ?

2008 ISKF National event Los Angeles California

ISKF Mid America region competitors. Robby and Michael first two on left kneeling.




Michael's kumite(sparing) match




Robby's kumite match



Robby as he has his metal placed around his neck



Robby and I after winning his metal

Finally LA pictures

The encounter resteraunt at LA international airport




Our Hotel was within a block of the airport. The outdoor pool and hot tub were on the roof of the hotel where you could relax and watch the planes coming in and taking off





Santa Monica pier, the only tourest attraction that we visited.



Beautiful sunset at Santa Monica Beach

Dilema

After making fifteen dozen buckeyes, a dozen which didn't even make it into a a Tupperware container, I ummmm welll actually Cindy noticed that Robby's birthstone had fallen out of my Mother's ring. Finding the stone to reset it is not a concern as I have an extended service plan, with the jeweler, on it and it is being fitted with a new stone as I type, but do I throw away all the buckeyes and start again since one may just contain the tiny stone, that could probably be eaten unnoticed anyway ?
Lets just say that though I am debating on whether to waste these wonderful homemade treats or simply pray that the stone fell out when I washed my hands one of the million times . If you do bite into something hard, while eating one of my buckeyes, You should just assume that one was made with crunchy peanut butter, OK?

Hey everyone; Mike is on YouTube

While in L.A. for nationals Mike was video taping for our region. As someone from another region taped the following, Mike was caught taping the same match. Mike is the one closest to the head table, check him out !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34pRp_lLKOQ

Heard from a certain daughter of mine.....

Mom,is it OK if I use your credit card to buy your Christmas present online ?

You know your out of touch with your teenage children when....

You look at their Christmas wish lists and have no idea what these items are. Let alone what kind of web store the included link is actually to.
I just pray that I have raised them right as I navigate these sites !

UPDATE

Praise God , none of the sights were offensive . Some even had some great deals on things like Christmas Barbie, which bless my eighteen year old's heart she is asking for ! :-)

Getting in the Christmas spirit !

I know that I will take some heat from some fellow Catholics who do not like to listen to Christmas music until Christmas eve and prefer to celebrate Advent Christmas music free. Really I do agree that Advent is sometimes lost in the hustle and bustle of secular Christmas preparations, but still here in Ohio it is cold and depressing and Christmas music always brightens things up a bit. This being said, I have added a few Christmas songs to my blog play list. I want to add some more soon but time is an obstacle, so who knows it may be Christmas eve ( 2010?) before I get them up and playing. Enjoy !

Godiva chocolates.... Not just for the most uppity of women anymore !

While in LA I found that all hotel and airport shops seemed to carry Godiva chocolates. Now even though I love chocolate, I have always been a Hershey kind of gal. Once I took the kids to the Library for a chocolate education/ tasting class and the angel of a teacher offered to let me stay and taste too. To my surprise I was not impressed by the Swiss, Belgium, Russian, and other great chocolates of the world. Because of this I just assumed that I was a Red Neck chocolate lover and never ventured out of my zone. When I first noticed the Godiva explosion in LA, I figured that it would be another hoity toity brand that I would not care for, so I walked by.However since we were limited on souvenir shops we ended up in the hotel shop looking for a present for Michael's friend who happens to be a girl. We found a key chain but Michael needed more. How about a small box of Godiva chocolates I asked. The lady at the counter informed us that they were running a buy one get one half off sale,so we looked. There were metal tins with what was called chocolate pearls inside. I decided to try one. Amazingly they were wonderful ! Before leaving the hotel I had purchased eight or ten more tins to add on to Christmas gifts. Once home the bag containing these tins was hung on my bedroom door. I never thought about the dogs getting them as the chocolate was in a tin that was shrink wrapped. Surely they couldn't even smell through this container. Well for awhile they didn't but....Last night after a long Thanksgiving day I turned into bed.At two o'clock Mike was standing by my side of the bed calling my name. I jumped awake wondering what was wrong that he was waking me . Diane, he asked how many Godiva tins did you buy ? My brain wasn't sure. Um ten I think. Oh he said I only see four. OK now I was confused, what ? Well, he told me. I got up and stepped on a tin on the floor so I turned on the light and found three more that Clarissa( the famale cocker spaniel) was trying desperately to get into. Can you see how many are missing so we know how much she ate. If she had too much or any dark chocolate we have to call the emergency vet. I sprung up and found all but the four that were on the floor were safe in the bag. I looked and only one tin was eaten and it was thankfully milk chocolate. sure enough this morning when Clarissa jumped on the bed to say Good morning she had chocolate breath. Though I am happy that we dodged a very sick dog not to mention a vet bill, I was a little miffed that a few six dollar tins of chocolate were now gone. However wouldn't that make a great commercial.... See dog with teeth denting tin.... Finally chocolate spills out and dog wags tail while lapping it up. Godiva Chocolates.... not just for uppity women anymore ! Grrrrrrrrrrrrr

Happy Black Friday all !

Years ago Mike and I used to meet my brother and a group of his friends at about one or two AM where we would join them at the front of the line to get into some store when it opened at five or six AM. MY Brother and his then girl friend had a thing that they always wanted to be the first so they would get to privileged store and form said line at about ten or eleven PM Thanksgiving evening. We would then all entertain ourselves as the line filled to thousands of people just before the doors finally opened. We then ran in grabbed the great bargains that whichever store we were at had, quickly get through the checkouts and then catch a couple other stores bargains before returning home and being in bed before nine.We really did enjoy this ritual but it is now in the past. Though my Brother and his now wife still go, his friends that used to join him have all married and moved out of the area.Mike has also been blessed with working this day, which would be a paid holiday, for triple his regular wage. Triple his wage is hard to pass up, especially since looking in the ads, there are not really any huge deals that we wish to purchase anyway. Besides that My brother's choices of stores lately have not been the Wal Mart or Target of the past but have become places like Dick's sporting goods. Now honestly, why would an overweight old woman who is pushing forty be standing in line at a sporting goods store ? Surely not to buy a kayak like my brother.
So this morning I arose to get Mike and Cindy, who had gotten some day shifts, off to work. By six o'clock they were gone and I started to sift through the ads from yesterdays paper. I would not attempt Wal mart alone at this hour but there was an ad for Michael's craft store. In this ad was the melting chocolate that i bought last week for a dollar a bag off. Well, I thought.... I got dressed and off I went. While there I picked up a few things with my twenty five percent off coupon before coming back home. I wondered, should I try circuit city where there was a memory card on sale that I needed to go with a Christmas gift that I am giving ? I decided against battling the crowds but seen where I could buy this card , or anything in the ad, online and pick it up at the store later. I did go online and bought this item. I will stop by the store later, when the crowds have lessened and pick up my purchase. Wow I wonder if those in line in the cold know about this set up ? Shhhhh lets just keep it our little secret!
I hope that everyone out there was able to secure their prize purchase this Black Friday. And Curt, if I ever need a kayak, can I borrow yours ? You might as well say yes because if I ever do get the urge to go kayaking, you know someone who knows me would have me committed long before I would actually get to picking yours up !

Already that time ?

One of the biggest problems that I struggle with is keeping track of time. After careful thought,I think that my main problem is overloading the families( or allowing other family members to do the same) schedule. Back in September for instance we decided to attend the ISKF nationals in LA California. At the time this seemed like a great idea and I had two months to get ready so why not ? Well as before stated I didn't see the date creeping up on us and was scrambling at the last minute. This seems to be a pattern for me. I look at the calendar when asked to do something weeks or months ahead of time and it all looks good. I agree and write the event on the calendar vowing that I will remain mindful of things well in advance. Sometimes I do remain mindful but some prep just has to be done last minute. After all, what if I go to the church dinner where I have agreed to bring my famous red velvet cake.( OK patting myself on the back hurts my neck anyway.... but hey I do get a lot of requests for it )Now seriously, if I baked this cake a week before the event, even if I froze it, It would not be as good as fresh and I would probably be asked to bring salad next time. The problem arises when I know I have something on the calendar but get an offer for the day before ,that I really don't want to miss, so I accept the day before too. This has happened recently. Our family Christmas party had been scheduled since last year. Actually it is always the first Sunday in December so you can say that it was scheduled way before my birth. I don't ever remember missing this annual party and would not even think of missing this year even though it is the first since My Grandmother and uncles deaths in March and August. Anyway, Mike and I got an offer from some friends from Church to accompany them to Pittsburgh on the day before for Christmas shopping and dinner. Not having any sisters I have always dreamed of being part of a group that goes shopping, especially Christmas shopping together. I am not really a shopping person but just the friendly company has always had me in awe. A few years back I did Christmas shop with my Mother in Law which was a good time also , so when the invitation was issued, I wanted to go. Another great thing was that Mike was also invited and the men are going to visit some sports museum (is that what they call bars now :-) while the women hit the mall, then we are going to join up and walk through the downtown area to take in the Christmas sights followed by a nice dinner before going home. Now who could resist such a Christmas treat ? Not I , so I accepted even though the Monday after this and the family party Mike and I are hosting our Thirty forty something Church group's Christmas party. Yes I will be rushed but oh think of the fun ! Anyway, my whole December is filling up like this and I am trying to get a jump on things so that we can enjoy it all. In doing this, however I somehow forgot Thanksgiving was so close. Luckily my Mom cooks on Thanksgiving and I take Christmas so all I need is a hostess gift and a dessert to take and the pumpkin cheesecake in the freezer ( even though not home made) fits the bill. As for the Hostess gift, I have some errands to run today anyway so no problem. If I can just keep it all in order everything will go fine !
Happy Thanksgiving to all ! And further may the start of Advent bring peace and fun to all !

Christmas caroling

Several years ago Our Parish priest was called by God to go into a near by maximum security prison and minister to inmates.Father has shared this story with us on a few occasions and I though I will not go into all details here it is worth sharing as part of this post.
Father was attending an intervention assembly at a local high school where the county had brought in inmates to talk to the students on the importance of staying in school , obeying the law, and such.( Father is very involved in this school district ,where the parish is located, and is invited to many of these types of things)As the presentation was about to start the principal asked father to stay for a luncheon in the home EC room after ,to which father accepted. The assembly started and Father watched and listened. About half way through God told Father that he wanted him to start going to the prison and ministering. As any good priest( or person) should father said yes God, but he had no idea how to do this. He asked God to reveal this information to him as the assembly wrapped up. Father proceeded to the Home EC room with the others and took an empty seat across from a woman who accompanied the inmates who spoke. He introduced himself and asked about who she was and why she was there. To his amazement, she was the worker at the prison who was in charge of setting up this sort of thing as well as the person in charge of any volunteering within the prison. God had given father what he needed and he quickly set in motion what was needed to accomplish God's request.After a month or so of ministering to these inmates Father got a call from our bishop, who lets just say is not a big fan of Father. The call sounded something like..... "Hello(Father's name) I hear that you are ministering at ____ prison. " " Yes " Father answered. After a moment of silence, the Bishop spoke" I have been trying to get a Priest in there for the past five years. How did you get them to let you in ?" " You wouldn't believe me if I told you" was Father's reply !

It has been several years since and Father visits the prison to minister on a regular basis. A couple years ago he got the idea to get a group together and Christmas carol through the prison. Cindy has wanted to go from the first year that Father asked for volunteers but she was under eighteen and the rules are strict to include that all visitors must be over eighteen. Cindy was saddened but had no choice but to wait. Well today before mass,as Cindy was leaving for work she asked me to ask Father when they were going. I was thinking of forgetting to ask when Father announced that the date and time were set. As I was about to set Cindy up to go I thought that I would rather that she didn't drive herself especially if it snowed, so I asked Mike if he thought that we should go too. He did, so I guess we are going.
I would be lying if I said I was 100% sold on doing this. After all I feed the hungry all of the time. Heck, if you count my family, several times a day. Not to mention I donate food all the time. Again I give drink to the thirsty, cloth the naked through clothing drives, buying outfits for the needy at various times of year etc.I comfort the sick too, but I can not say that I have ever visited the imprisoned in any way other than figuratively such as someone in a nursing home or home bound. It seems like God wants me to reach out in this area too. I admit that it is out of my comfort zone but Here I am God,Use me to do your will !

Thank you furnace men Rob and Chris

Five years ago when we moved to this house we were thrilled to get a normal size furnace instead of the old coal furnace that had been converted to natural gas that we had at our old house. The beast at the old house worked like a charm but took up most of the basement as it was huge and had huge arms .About a month after moving in though we wished we still had the beast as our little baby furnace quit working. Luckily we had a home buyers protection policy and a repair man came and fixed this baby of a furnace at no cost to us.As the baby furnace grew into a toddler furnace in the next year we had more problems. Again we called the furnace doctor who came and transplanted another motor, however this time we paid for it. This transplant lasted about a year and a half until the motor failed again. Luckily after watching the first two professionals save our furnace Mike had learnt the procedure and did the next transplant himself. This transplant took and we were good for the next almost two years which brings us to last Christmas eve when our now adolescent furnace went into complete failure. Since the only professional furnace doctors who would even answer their phones wanted two hundred an hour to look at it, we were without heat until one furnace angel returned our call and talked Mike through furnace CPR. We got the furnace running( just in time for Midnight mass) but knew that the arrangement was only a temporary band aid. After Christmas we called the furnace angel who told us that as long as it was still working to leave it alone but that we would probably need to replace it soon. Praise God it lasted all winter and even started up last month for this coming winter season, however we soon found the need for a new blower motor. Since any money going into this ill furnace would just be a waste we broke down and called a friend of my Brother's who had done work on my brother's sick furnace and replaced my Dad's when it was no longer viable. This man got us a great deal on a new baby model which is half the size of our last. This morning bright and early he was here to introduce us to our new baby and get her set up. He even took our old furnace and promised to use many of her still usable parts ( something about the motor being used to power his spit for his next pig roast) So welcome to our new preemie furnace. We look forward to many years of basking in your warmth And a big Thank you to Rob and Chris the furnace men who made it all possible !

Love giving inexpensive home made gifts ?

This one may not be for everyone on your list, but you have to admit, it sure is creative !
Thanks Linda :-)

How to make bedroom slippers out of maxi pads:

You need four maxi pads to make a pair.
Two of them get laid out flat, for the foot part.
The other two wrap around the toe area to form the top.
Tape or glue each side of the top pieces to the bottom of the foot part.

Decorate the tops with whatever you desire, silk flowers, cute little Christmas ornaments (this is most aesthetically appealing), etc.

These slippers are:
* Soft and Hygienic
* Non-slip grip strips on the soles
* Built in deodorant feature keeps feet smelling fresh
* No more bending over to mop up spills
* Disposable and biodegradable
* Environmentally safe
* Three convenient sizes: (1.) Regular, (2.) Light and (3.) Get out the Sand Bags.

I've attached a photo so that you can see the nifty slippers for yourself....

Shoes

The weather change here in Ohio has kind of snuck up on me. Don't get me wrong, I have lived here all of my life so I am no stranger to fall / winter weather , but I just really somehow thought that I had a bit more time to wear sandals . Thankfully I did buy a pair of lined crocs as I knew that my croc sandals would not be able to be worn forever. These lined crocs are great and had been prefect for those chillier days, however didn't quite match the outfit that I planned on wearing to LA. I figured that I could wear a pair of shoes from a past season on the plane and then sandals would be great once to LA. Unfortunately I found that past season shoes no longer fit comfortably. I tried three pairs and nothing worked. My Nikes could have worked but then I would not be able to remove them on the plane and since my extremities swell while flying, this would have made for a very uncomfortable (almost) six hour flight. I chose the lined crocs even though they didn't match well and all worked out.
When we landed in Pittsburgh there was snow on the ground . This brought me to reality real quick that I needed shoes with backs,possibly even boots. Luckily I did have a pair of boots that were only slightly too snug. I wore these for a couple days but yesterday had about all I could take of foot cramps and my little toe being squished and headed to our local Pay less for some roomier footwear.As luck would have it, my local store did not have my size but gave me a list of a few others that had what I wanted. Three stores later after driving in a snow storm ( one of the first of the season where most people don't yet know how to drive so either sped by sliding all over por those who go 10 MPH ) I found a pair of boots that fit. This store also had two pair of regular shoes that were on sale and comfortable so I figured why not. After all this trip for only one pair may not have been worth it but for three pairs.... It definitely was !

Home again !

We left LA at two PM LA time where the temp was eighty three degrees. At twelve midnight, give or take a minute Pittsburgh time, we arrived to twenty some degree weather. Not only am I jet lagged ( yes I understand it was only a three hour time difference) but I for some reason I feel foggy ( maybe hot and cold mixing :-)

The tournament was disappointing for a few reasons. First of all the hosting region was short judges for all rings so they put some unqualified people in who were not trained in judging let alone the fact that they had never even seen a rule book, let alone read one. The region was also unprepared and many mistakes were made .
Our first taste of " What ???" was when Robby was eliminated from the Kata (form)competition. You could hear a "What?" from the crowd as the flags signified a loss for him. This was disheartening but We understand that the judges decision was final and coped.Later we found out that three of the four judges ( those who signaled the win for his opponent) were untrained people from the same karate club as the winner) In the kumite ( fighting portion) the inexperienced people tried to eliminate Robby again though he was in place for the third place metal. This was not caught until the metals were being handed out and they realized that they only had a first and second( again students from their school ) At this an experienced judge stopped the proceedings and called a Judges meeting . Here Robby was in third place and should have never been eliminated( Oh boy !)and the judges realized their mistake, so he was awarded his metal.
Michael did not metal at all, though he probably should have . However it didn't effect his chances at working for a scholarship since his performance looked good and there were so many judging mistakes ( some say discrimination )that the collegiate coaches didn't even look at scores.
Next year the national tournament will be held in Philadelphia where the vary, Sensei Okazaki( the man who brought shotoKan here from Japan), and his region will host. there has already been a warning put out that judges will get rule books and be tested on them before even being considered to judge.
The trip was not all bad though. I had never been to California before. Though I don't think I will ever have the desire to go to LA again, A better area in California may appeal to me in the future. I guess I just expected more. Our Hotel was fancy enough and even nickel and dimed( OK ten and twentied) us like in nice areas. For instance,we had to pay to use their Internet service in the hotel ( only 10.00 a day ) Our mini bar was charging six dollars for a small bottle of Gator aid, a bowl of oatmeal with banana puree( mashed up over ripe banana ya know) was seventeen fifty ( yes US dollars:-) and so on. My main complaint was that we rented a car for a few hours so we could buy some souvenirs and the closest shop was ten miles away and took over an hour to get to because of traffic. Once there it was a slum of a place on the beach. The two gift shops were the size of walk in closets with cement floors. Since they were on a dirt path to the pier and had no doors(like the mall there was metal pull down gates for when the place was closed) everything was covered with dust . I was disgusted to even touch anything so we bought our souvenirs from a small overpriced shop in the hotel lobby.
We did have some fun in the hotel outdoor pool and hot tub though we realized too late that the hot tub was overchemicaled when my bathing suit faded from black to pale grey when I got out. The hotel did offer to pay for it but it was a season old and I wasn't even sure of the value so they bought us an eighty dollar breakfast (yes twenty per person plus tax and tip) so no big deal. In the end it was all family time and we all view it as over all positive. I even found time to pray in traffic, on planes, at the air ports, etc. This prayer even led me to a better understanding of many things, and some answers on things that I have been asking. I guess in the end family and prayer trump all of the disappointments on the way ( even when the baggage check guy messed with our returning airplane seats and ended up scattering us throughout the plane)If nothing else we learnt as a family to roll with the punches .

I will post some pictures a little later.I do not have many of the tournament as Mike ( who has a nice hard drive camcorder) did mostly video and friends from our region( with very expensive camera equipment) did still photos. We will trade copies so that we will get the best of both. I will post his when we get them.

See ya all soon !

Good Luck Michael & Robby !
Win or not as long as you do your best, we will always be proud !

Tomorrow is the day !

Today I will

Iron and attach an ISKF patch on each boys new tournament gi

Breathe

Finish washing and drying the clothing that we need to pack but wore yesterday

Breathe

Pack ( should I have already pulled out suit cases ?)

Breathe

Cook food so Cindy will not starve while we are gone ( Not just any food will do. I have a list)

Breathe

print off all of our flight / hotel/ tourniment confirmations..... just in case

Breathe


Go to the bank

Breathe

Realize that anything that I forget can be purchased ( probably at triple what I could have got it for here) there or we can live without it !

Massive stress or Massive Love ?

Yesterday was our Parish's Total family religious education session for the month. I almost forgot about it as time is just moving way too fast and I was thinking that I still had a week or two.
This year since Cindy can only work weekends, due to her heavy school schedule, she is working during these meetings. In the past our family has attended the one PM to three thirty PM class but this year we have been attending the four thirty PM to seven PM one so that we can have an early lunch as a family before Cindy has to be at work .
This later class works out well as there are way less people, making it a more intimate discussion group for the adults, plus many of Mike and My friends also attend this session.
Yesterday, though I was thrown for a loop when the Priest announced that they were splitting the adult group into a men's group and a woman's group and each would discuss the topic of prayer. Many seemed to love the idea but I hated it. Maybe it upset me so much because we just found out about Mike's bulging disc and probable upcoming surgery and I have been worrying about his future and even the possibility of losing him. Because of this having him "taken away" when we are used to this class being " our time" did not set well with me. Possibly, my reaction would have also been better if friends of mine, had been present. This just happened to be a weekend where those women whom I usually talk to were out of town and their husbands brought their kids alone.Either way, I honestly hated this arrangement but had no choice so I offered it up and pressed on. Sure enough it all ended and I survived but it leaves me wondering...
Mike and I have been married for almost twenty years now. This is many years longer than most of our friends and acquaintances. Within this time there has only been once that I have not seen him in a twenty four hour period. This occasion was one that Cindy and I went to Women of faith with a group of women from our parish. We left on Friday and were back Saturday night. This was a great opportunity for Cindy and I and so many women rave about how they just love this conference but I honestly missed Mike so much that , though the conference was great, I really don't think I will go again any time soon.
I wonder, why am I so attached. I don't know of any other women who share my feelings on this one. As a matter of fact most women whom I know prefer separate vacations and weekend's away from their families. I really don't understand this. Am I the odd one ? Have times just changed ? All I know is that since I am so stressed out that being separated for an hour at church, upsets me, maybe I should call and make an appointment for a spa massage. Of course I will have to do it for when Mike is at work.Otherwise I will miss him and defeat my whole purpose of going. Gee, I think I am nuts ! Does anyone know if a couple can share a padded room at the mental hospital ? Oh well that may just be too much to ask of Mike's love for me anyway !

Today Is My Mother In Law's Birthday !

Almost time

Time just seems to be flying by. I seems like just yesterday it was summer. Now fall is definitely upon us as we are already into November. Next week Mike , the boys and I will travel to Los Angeles for the 2008 ISKF National tournament. Both boys will be competing in their divisions. We ask for your prayers for both our safety in traveling as well as for the boys success as Michael hasn't competed in a nationals since before his feet required surgery and any hopes of a scholarship still existing hinge on him doing well at national tournaments.We also ask prayers for Cindy who will be staying behind to attend her nursing school classes as well as take care of our dogs.
As for right now , I have a lasagna to prepare for dinner followed by some errands.
?

Prayers please

Back on October 6th. Mike and I settled an under insured claim with our insurance company for the accident three years ago when Mike was hit by a drunk driver on his way home from work. Since we were battling our own insurance company for under insured moneys to cover his doctor bills, the settlement was no where near what he deserved but we were glad to get his medical paid and agreed. Our lawyer confirmed at about noon on Oct. sixth that we had settled.
At four O'clock the same afternoon as Mike was driving home from work, not even a mile from the site of the last accident, he stopped in construction at a red light. The driver behind him was watching the heavy equipment as he came to the stopped traffic and rear ended Mike's car. Thankfully this man was driving at a lower speed due to construction. It was our hope that because of the lower speed, Mike would not be injured. We went to the ER and followed up with the family doctor but Mike was having a lot of neck pain. We called the family doctor who ordered an MRI.Mike and I just got home from the doctors where we found out that he has a bulging disk in his neck ( C5-6). The next step is a surgical consult. Will he need surgery for sure ? we don't know. Does something need to be done ? yes. We are glad that the problem has shown but surgery is not what either of us want, expesially risky surgery of the spinal cord in the neck. Please pray !Mike is in a lot of pain because of this and needs releif so if he is a candidate, surgery it will probably be. I don't know what is best so I am relying on God. Please pray !

We have a new driver !

On Monday Michael was 15 1/2.In the State of Ohio, that means he was eligible for a drivers permit. Monday was not a good day for us to make the trip to the BMV, then to the exam station, followed by the insurance company so we put it off until Tuesday, which turned out to be a worse day.Poor Michael had to wait two days but today things worked out. Immediately after school we went to the BMV and exam station. Then we called the Insurance company and they agreed that a faxed copy of his permit and his grades( for the good student discount) would be fine. Michael has karate tonight so hopefully tomorrow he can have his first driving lesson. Since he has been changing oil and doing break jobs on several cars, and has even replaced my car's tie rod ends, I think he is doing OK with the mechanics and is ready to learn to drive . Congratulations Michael !

My family

You too can make your own photo sticker at
http://www.pyzam.com/toys/view/familysticker

Married couple's night out, Give Thanks & Merry Christmas too !

For Sunday's MCNO meeting Mike and I were in charge of table decorations. At the planning meeting we all decided that Mike would paint pumpkins with a Thanksgiving object on one side and a Christmas object on the other. As with all of Mike's art work, they were loved.

Cedar Point 2008 last seasonal weekend

This past weekend was the last operating weekend of the season for Cedar Point. Mike, the boys and I visited on Saturday. Of course there were the usual goblins, alians ,and monsters that have been there for years but this weekend there were a couple new Halloween characters visiting.



Though not as scary ,the Sub Way sub was posing for pictures





haven't seen this boy since the 80's

Clarrissa 's costumes

Since there were not as many Trick or Treaters visiting us this Halloween, despite a beautiful evening, Cindy , Clarissa ,and I played dress up. Clarissa didn't mind much as she got many pets on the head from neighborhood children who found her adorable.



A queen was good for awhile





But then it was clown time

Halloween pumpkins

Hard work and dedication

Back in September, Mike and I purchased a membership to the gym where the boys karate school now resides. We had an option as with the merging of our son's school with the existing one at the club ,karate was no longer included with a general gym membership ( as in the past before the boys went there) but now was thirty dollars extra a month as opposed to the sixty per month for non members. From the get go, we were given multiple discounts for having more than one child enrolled and one being a black belt so we really had a pretty good deal from the merge.Since we were originally promised that we , the parents of minor students, could use the facility during karate hours, for no additional charge other than their tuition, we didn't plan on joining but our deal was rescinded ( another story that will probably never be written without my using bad words :-) so we did join. Because of this Mike and I usually spend the karate hour at least once a week in the pool , hot tub, or steam room. With the exception of a couple times when kids with parents who don't feel the need to teach them to stay out of other's swimming lanes ( yes even when they are at the other end )we usually enjoy ourselves. Usually the pool area is kind of dead at this hour when we go but we have on occasion had conversations with others ( who are not too busy on their cell phones to say Hi or even watch their little brats,ummm I mean kids.) Anyway, a few weeks ago there was a man, and a woman with their son. The man wasn't very friendly but his wife told us how they just joined to put their very overweight son into karate in the hopes that he would get some exercise and loose some weight. The woman was delighted to hear that we could give her some positive feedback about karate ,especially since Michael has been in ShotoKan for ten years now. We talked for awhile of the benefits of a good breathing techniques and how Robby hasn't been in the hospital, for inability to breathe since he started karate. I also mentioned the boost in coordination, not to mention self image for both boys. It was then that the lady asked a question that floored me." Is it fun? My response was that yes my boys had fun with it and loved it. The lady then went on to say that life has too many pressures for children and that they need to have fun time. Hmmmm I thought, does she think that this is a play group ? Does she and her child realize that he will have to practice ? Do they realize that muscles can get sore,especially for a child who is severely overweight and out of shape, as he trains? Now far be it for me to criticize anyone who is overweight as I am as obese as they come, OK they do come bigger but I am by no means NOT seriously overweight myself. But I wonder, how does an eight year old ( I believe that she said he was eight ) get to be so large ? Is it too much fun while setting down playing video games and eating Twinkies ? Honestly, lack of exercise and excessive chocolate is my main reason.
The week after our conversation, true to the Mom's words the child joined. When I asked the boys how he was doing( Michael teaches basics to newcomers a portion of every class and friendly Robby always offers assistance where he can )I was told that he was doing OK but as I knew ,it is tougher for a heavy person. Mike and I also found the opportunity last night to watch the end of class after leaving the pool before I took it upon myself to discipline some children while their father sat in his designer sweat suite bragging about his expensive vacation to someone on his phone. While watching the class I noticed quite a few new students. Many were being watched by parents who were obviously wealthy ( something quite common in this area)One woman looked at me as I walked up to watch the class, and snorted as her nose went up in the air and she walked fifteen feet from me. I guess that the shower that I just took in the locker room didn't make me smell as good as she would have liked.
:-(
Anyway class ended and out came the instructor of the school before the merge, who has basically turned all teaching over to Michael & Robby's instructor but remains the PR of the school. He promptly went to these student's parents and told them how great their children were doing ( His age must be affecting his eye sight.... enough said ) Then he came to Mike and I . Michael is really good, he said. We nodded and said thank you. Really, he went on, he does Black belt Kata with us and he does well. Gee, I thought of course he does he earned his black belt when he was twelve by being tested by the vary man who brought Shoto Kan karate from Japan to the US, breaking the record of the youngest U.S. ISKF member to ever earn a black belt. Yes I would say his skills are fair. Anyway we take the PR crap to keep us paying for what it is, just crap to keep us paying. Anyway most people left as Michael spared with his main sensei as they had been doing in preparation for the up and coming National competition. As I watched them spar and Michael actually make the sensei , who is three ranks ahead of him , struggle my mind wandered. How many of these new students will make it to where Michael is ? OK how many will even earn a black belt ? Furthermore, how many will last the year ? How long can they believe that their kids are doing great when some can't even handle their right from left ? How many will get upset when their child, who is wanting nothing more than fun, doesn't advance in the ranks as fast as someone who puts in nightly effort? How many will bail when the pressure of a test to advance comes along ? How many will realize that training hurts, especially when someone is at least one hundred pounds overweight and not used to using most of their muscles ?
As in life itself, everything worth achieving requires dedication and hard work. Would my marriage be as good as it is if I was just in it for fun ? Would my kids have manners( well most of the time anyway ) If I didn't dedicate myself to teaching them ? Does not everything good require some amount of hard work and dedication ? Will our relationship with God be the same if we only pray when it is convenient? I think not. If anything is worth it's benefits,we must work hard and dedicate ourselves.

Cold weather foods

While I slept last night, the mercury dipped below freezing. This little dip caused the rain to turn to a few wet snow flakes flying around. Though the ground was too warm for any accumulation, a few wet flakes were found on the cars windshield this morning at three AM when I got up. Though the sun came out a few hours later and warmed things up to hoodie with no jacket weather,I still felt the need to go grocery shopping in preparation of cold weather cooking. I had already made a pot of Chile last week but it seemed to disappear before I even got a second bowl. A couple to go bowls were later found in the fridge but found their way into lunch boxes the next day. So the first ingredients on my shopping list were those needed to make another pot. I also added everything needed to make beef stew, beef stroganoff, black bean and rice soup,chicken dumpling soup, and other cold weather favorites. Unfortunately I took too long grocery shopping and didn't have time to fix any of these for tonight's dinner. That is OK though, as I ended up making baked chicken with baked potatoes and corn. Now as many of you know, I still do a lot of winter grilling of meats and have no problem brushing eight or ten inches of snow off of the grill before lighting it. But we have been eating grilled meats all summer long and it has been so long since the weather has permitted a piping hot bowl of soup. Well except for chicken soup ( noodle, rice, or wedding)that has been made several times this summer when someone had a cold or when Cindy had her wisdom teeth out, or times like that. No, I am not at all happy about the cold weather coming but for right now I will enjoy the cold weather foods that come with it !

My love / hate relationship with Big Lots !

Yesterday I headed to Big lots to purchase a $35 Halloween costume, that I had seen on a previous visit, for Michael. Since Michael is fifteen , I did not originally plan to buy him a costume as, even though some don't realize it around here, fifteen is really too old to trick or treat. Last Sunday, however, Michael sprung on me that he was " Helping " with the children's Halloween party at church. Michael told me that he would buy his costume with Money that he has made through the summer working for his Grandparents ( Mowing lawns, painting, Helping cut down trees, stacking wood, assisting in car repairs, etc) but I wanted to see most of this money put in his bank account. Besides Michael wanted to spend ten to twenty dollars on some novelties and pair them with clothes that he ripped, cut , or otherwise destroyed himself. Since we don't have much room to keep old clothing that is in no shape to wear out in public, Michael really didn't have anything that I wouldn't care if he destroyed, so I made him a deal. I buy the costume and he puts the equivalent amount of money into his bank account. He agreed so i was on my way. Once at Big Lots, I realized that their reduced isle had gone from 70% off ( a real bargain any day ) to 90% off. Though I was pressed for time, I made time to look and buy almost $50 worth of stuff.Among this stuff was photo paper, laminating sheets, OTC Claritin,a back pack with wheels, and other finds. I did end up being late getting home but in the end it all worked out. A few hours later, however I unloaded my car and realized that I had no place to put half of the things that I bought. The night lights that i had bought for nieces and nephews for Christmas weren't the big deal as they will be going to the kids in just a couple months, but where I will put the wheelie back pack, that is too big to fit in Robby's locker at school, or the ten travel tubes of hair gel that was eight cents a tube,that will take us forever to use, or the packages of self laminating sheets. Yes I paid a mint for a couple packages of these a few months ago when I laminated my Grandmother's obituary, but when will I need these ones. Furthermore, where do I put them so that I can find them when I do need them ? In the past,Mike has hinted that it may not be a good idea to buy things, even at such deep discounts,if we don't need them and they will be lost, or worse yet ruined, by the time that we do need them. Of course that is Male logic for you ! As for me, I have to admit that I have an addiction to 9o% off sales but it is an addiction that I refuse to work on giving up. Of course let the record state that, as I search for the perfect spot to store five hundred dollars worth of stuff that I paid fifty for, I Hate Big Lots ! Oh that sounds so harsh.... I'm sorry Big Lots.... You know I love you !

I have a favor to ask, it will only take a minute.....

The Breast Cancer site is having trouble getting enough people to click on their site daily to meet their quota for sponsors to donate at least one free mammogram a day to an underprivileged woman. There is only eight days left, Let's get as many women as possible every day a free mammogram. It takes less than a minute to go to their site and click on 'donating a mammogram for free' (pink window in the middle).

This doesn't cost you a thing, nor does it send any money to anywhere which you may have reservations about donating. The sites corporate sponsors and advertisers use the number of daily visits to donate monograms in exchange for advertising.

Here's the web site! Can you spare a minute to click it ?

http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/

I guess I am addicted

Since I was a teenager, having a cold meant reaching for the box of Contac . Now I am not usually one to take medications of any kind but I can not stand to have my nose run. As a matter of fact I did better with the pain after my c sections than I do with a runny nose. Unfortunately, the cold that I am battling has come with the customary runny nose that has the potential to drive me mad. Because I have a feeling that my doctor , though a personal friend,will not even listen to the pros of putting me into a medically induced coma until my body naturally fights off this cold, which is usually only three or four days max for my super charged immune system, I once again reached for the box of Contac that was in the back of the medicine cupboard . As always I took two tablets and knew that within a few minutes my nose would dry up and I could once again go on. I waited the customary half hour , but my nose still ran. I waited an hour more, still nothing. Four hours later, when it was time for another dose, no change. I figured that maybe I had a bad box so I dug for another. I repeated the process with the same results. By this time I was crawling out of my skin.I found an old box of Tylenol sinus and took a dose. Finally I got some relief.Too bad that there were only a couple doses in the box because when I made a special trip to get more of the same, came home and took it, it didn't work either.Being the brilliant person that i am I read the box. The new Tylenol sinus and the Contac basically contained the same active ingredients. Neither contained psudoephedrine hydrochloride, which the older box of Tylenol sinus contained. As a matter of fact the Contac box and the new Tylenol sinus box both proudly declared in big letters on the front of the box, that it contained none.That must be the problem I thought as my nose ran like a leaky faucet.I headed to Wal Greens, where a friend of mine was working as a Pharmacy assistant. I spent almost an hour reading labels. Most had the "NO Psudoephedrine HCL" markings on the box and even those that didn't "brag" about leaving this out , didn't seem to have it listed in the ingredients. I called upon my friend Jan, to help.Jan looked at a couple boxes and then called the Pharmacist to listen to my pleas for this medicine which I knew would help me. My heart sunk as the Pharmacist told me that these drugs were no longer putting Psudoephedrine HCL, into their OTC medications because drug addicts were buying these drugs and using then to make Crystal meth. He assured me the the new ingredients worked just as well. They don't work just as well, I told him, They really don't ! After looking at me for a minute , as if to deceiver whether I intended to make meth or if I really wasn't getting relief from this new formula, my red runny nose convinced him to tell me that Wal Greens still used Psudoephedrine Hcl to make their Wal- Phed cold and sinus medication. He informed me that I could buy one box at the pharmacy ,without a prescription, if I had two forms of ID on me and was willing to sign that I was not going to make Meth. I agreed.The process of reading the "I will not make meth" paperwork, signing it, giving my two forms of ID to the assistant,( my friend who knows I am not a drug manufacturer)My information being entered into the computer, and so on took about a 1/2 an hour. Finally I paid and was on my way out with one box of Wal Phed and a paper cautioning me to not leave this medication where anyone could get it and stating the date when I could buy another.I got into my car ready to scream. However I calmed down, opened the package took a pill and within fifteen minutes The faucet was off and I could breathe. Oh the whole hassle was worth it ! I guess I am addicted, just not in the way that they are protecting against. Once I got home as suggested I hid my Wal -Phed, where only I can find it !

13 years

Mike and I attended our thirteenth Heal ( Helping each other after loss)memorial service at St. Elizabeth's Hospital today. We were obviously invited to our first thirteen years and two months ago when we attended a support group meeting after our third child( second daughter) Caitlyn Lee, was delivered still born.There is a kind of funny story behind how we actually came to agree to attending any support group meeting let alone this one( St. Elizabeth's is not the hospital which I delivered Caitlyn ) but that is another story that I may share another day. Anyway, we did go and though we didn't attend many support group monthly sessions ( I quit going because I was pregnant with Robby, four months later, and was terrified that we would end up loosing him too (because hearing of everything that could and did happen ( to others)was not helping me keep the positive attitude and faith that my high risk pregnancy required. )We have since attended all but one yearly memorial service (the one following Robby's premature birth when he was too sick to take or leave with someone else)
I have made friends through this group and actually look forward to the yearly service when I can honor my baby who resides with Jesus. I have met some who's loss was long ago and some whose loss was very recent. I have met those who have gone on to have healthy children ,some who have experienced loss after loss,some who have adopted, and some who's lives have taken on different roles. Thirteen years ago if anyone would have told me that there would be positive things to come from the pain of losing a child, I would have never believed you.However, thirteen years later, I do see some positive. I would still give everything to have my baby ,Caitlyn, alive and well, but I have accepted God's will to take her home and though I look forward to seeing her again someday, I go on doing the best that I can in the roles that God has called me to.