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