Margaret's Meanderings

I have Internet again!!!

2007-01-13T10:42:00.000-07:00

Well its been a busy couple of weeks. The kids had a good trip to FL to be with their dad. I missed them horribly, but managed to stay very bust, despite my lack of Internet! They're back home now and I'm really glad that they are. I didn't blog much during the time that they were gone, due to the lack of Internet. Now I need to get back to blogging and being responsible to my online duties.

We've started back with school and volleyball and co-ops this week, which has kept me quite busy. I've also gone out a couple of nights and had a good time with my friends. I'm getting better at shooting pool, as a general rule. I also spent a lot of time getting to know myself and deciding what I want for my future. Some of this will come out later as I have time and now children reading over my shoulder! I know that I want a larger house that has room to have my own pool table, since it gets expensive to go out to play pool on a continual basis. I'm also re-assessing my work situation, and I'm not sure what I'm going to do in the future, however I suspect that the kids will go back to school in the next year or so. This is something that will be discussed with them in detail, before any final decisions are made, but I'm struggling really hard with the balance of schooling, working and having a life for myself. They are old enough that I should be able to have some sort of life outside of them, at least part of the time. However, they are still my primary concern and I will always put them first. I know I want more than what I have at the moment, and I will find what is right when it's time.

I've been going back to church more regularly and am realy enjoying my classes and the friends I'm making there. DivorceCare ahs been very good to me, and I've met a lot of great people there. I will continue this class at least through the spring, but beyond that I'm not sure. I've also started attending the Contemporary Adults service on Sunday mornings, where several of my friends from DivorceCare go. Its a great class, and is like a small service, instead of the huge one. So it is bvasically a small church within the church! I love it! Starting next month, I'll be attending the Living Single class on Saturday nights, which I hope will also help me in determining what I want for my future.

I have met many interesting new people in the past 6 months, and pursued some friendships that were more acquaintances before we moved. This too has been good for me, since single friends were not what I had a lot of before the move. However, as life changes, so do friendships evolve and grow. One of my friends from DivorceCare sent me an e-mail about a singles group for people our age in Phoenix. I'm thinking it might be an interesting event to attend and see what it's all about. I'm not sure yet, since it's relatively expensive to do, but if it's fun, then I might do the monthly, rather than the per event plan.

Last night I went out with my friend, D and saw his DS's band perform! It was quite interesting, but I don't know that I'll ever attend another modern heavy metal concert in my life! Yikes the mosh pit scared me, and there was no place to sit and it all sounded like noise, not music to me. After that we went and shot a couple of games of pool with his sister and her BF. It was a lot of fun, and I was still home by midnight! D is a nice guy, and I enjoy his company, but we're just friends and that's how its going to remain for quite awhile. He has some issues, which he admits, he needs to get sorted out and I have my own issues that I need to resolve. So although, I'll go out with him, its not going any further at this point in time.

My friend, E got our DDs tickets to a Christian concert day at Castles & Coasters today, so the girls are there having fun. His DD will spend the night here and go to church with us tomorrow. Then either I'll take her home or he'll pick her up.

J comes back tonight, and I can't wait to see him and quit babysitting his car! It really hasn't been a problem, except for the fact that I've never really used a garage before, much less with 2 cars. I'll be glad to have my entire garage back for my car tomorrow!

I need to quit rambling now, or this blog will turn into another unpublished blog, where I jsut sit and type for hours sorting out my head. But at least you all have a little update and insight into my life! I imagine this is going to turn into quite a meander over the next few months!

I AM Alive...Sort of.... lousy time to attempt serious quitting, however I did learn that I can do it!

2006-12-28T16:53:00.000-07:00

I'm still around, and back to soking...I pcked a really I will make a more serious attempt shortly into the new year, but I'm not ready to attempt it right now. I'm also still primarily offline, aside from work for the next few days, due to the fact that I'm using borrowed Internet access! However, I'll be attempting to check e-mail at least once a day!

I've moved and am in my own home now, and I am having tons of trouble getting my phone/Internet/Cable hooked up, so that's what the issue is! I hope to be back soon with tons of moving horror stories. I'll post again as soon as I have something more exciting to report!

50 Hours sort of

2006-12-22T16:07:00.000-07:00

I almost made it to 2 days today, but I slipped and had 4 drags off a cigarette around noon today! I'm right back on the trying to quit, but I'm not sure how much longer I 'm going to hang in there. I'm really frustrated right now, and may just give up until I can get into the hypnotist. I'm going to continue trying, but if I slip, I slip!

24 Hours Down

2006-12-21T14:00:00.000-07:00

It's all E's fault that I'm cranky, testy, grouchy, short-tempered, teary-eyed and everything else plus generally bouncing off the walls....but I made it 24 hours and he still doesn't know it's his fault yet heehee

Guess I really should tell him sometime why I was cranky this morning when I talked to him...oh well maybe later!

OMG I'm Scared

2006-12-20T15:14:00.000-07:00

Remember my comments in Sunday's post about quitting smoking....So much for spring...I'm trying right now. My last cigarette was at 2 PM this afternoon. I was talking with my friend, E and he seems to be really intrigued, but he has a problem with the smoke smell etc... and he said basically the same things that people, including XH have been saying for years...the only difference is that this time, whatever he said really hit home with me and made a difference! So I went to Costco and bought some Nicorette, which has helped me in the past. So I have piece#1 sitting on the desk beside my keyboard ready for when I really need a cigarette. I'm going to do this...right now. Please pray for me and let me know you're out there, since right now I need all the support I can get!

At this moment I'm headed to the shower to wash all traces of smoke smell off of me...since i"m hoping that might help too!

A Life Update From Me

2006-12-17T09:28:00.000-07:00

For anyone who still reads and cares, after the really sparse posting over the past year, here's an update from me about life in general!

My friend J from Maryland has finished his finals with a respectable GPA for his first semester and gone back home for the holidays. I miss him, since he's been a great help with all the transitions this year. I hope he has a great visit with his parents and comes back for the spring with some good news! I think he'll have a GF by the end of January, that's the news I'm waiting to hear!

In my life, I'm busy packing and preparing to move into my new house. THe big moving party is next weekend for anyone who wants to come freeze in Phoenix and help, I'd appreciate it...LOL My friend, E, showed me a really cool ceiling fan last night, and I think that's what I'm going to buy for my bedroom...of course I have yet to begin to shop! I still need furniture, a washer/dryer (simply a matter of heading to the Maytag store and then having E see if it can be found any cheaper), but they're not open yet this morning, so I have to wait a little while yet! E wasn't feeling well last night, so I hope he's not too sick today. I haven't heard from him yet, so I'm assuming he went to church this morning and will call later. I showed him the new house last night and he was thrilled to see my fruit trees! Guess I know where all my extra oranges will be going!

Since J left, I'm not going out as much, but that's OK since J doesn't really enjoy shooting pool, and if I'm going to a bar, I prefer to be doing something more than just sitting, and its also better for my budget.

DD had her first volleyball tournament last weekend. She had a 7AM pool in Flagstaff, which is 2 hours north of here. SO Friday afternoon, J the kids and I piled into the car and headed up there to stay the night and watch the tournament on Saturday! Her team did relatively well, and took 6th place, which is about where Coach wanted them to be. This tournament was simly for seeding for the rest of the season, so a lower place allows them to practice and improve and win some games! This is all a really good thing, since the girls are still learning their overhand serve and need to build some confidence! I can't wait for the next tournament, which is on my birthday! I'm thinking about inviting E and his DD to come watch my DD play! That would be fun, and I think they'd enjoy it. His DD is about my DD's age and the girls are having a blast together. They wanted to have a sleepover last night, but it was simply too short a notice, but I imagine they'll be having one soon!

In other news:

Work is starting to pick up a little and that's a good thing, since i need to be working more hours and making more money. I hope to get a lot of the ball rolling while the kids are in FL visiting their dad after Christmas. DS is really enjoying being a practice player for the volleyball team, and his volleyball skills are improving a lot. I think he's hoping to play for the boys team in a couple of years when he's old enough to! I'd love it if both my kids played volleyball, since its one of my favorite sports!

I'm planning to try to quit smoking in the spring, and will make a serious effort towards that goal starting now, with, at least cutting down on the smoking! My friend B has been using the patch and he's cut from 2.5 packs a day to just a few cigarettes a day, from what he says! I'll use the nicorette gum and celery, which I've been somewhat successful with in the past when I've worked at quitting! I'd try at New Years, but I know better than to try then, I'm just not good at resolutions! My only concern is that I'll gain back all the weight I've lost, but I'm still going to try, since I really do want to quit. THat will also mean quitting drinking completely and probably forever, since when I drink I want to smoke more! But that's OK too, since AZ is going non-smoking in May, and it will be more of a pain to smoke while out than its really worth! I hope I can quit before then, and be successful at it this time! I know that will make E happy, since he doesn't smoke and is already making comments, in a nice way, that he'll help me when I'm ready to do it. I think I kind of grumped at him a little when he mentioned it last night, and I'm not sharing this with him, since I don't want to be bugged about it....XH did plenty of that to last me a lifetime! However I am posting this here, so you all can hold me accountable to the commitment I made to try to quit! I know that I'm getting stronger every day, and if I have other activities, where there's no temptation to smoke, I can go for quite awhile with a cigarette! When E came over last night, I didn't have a single cigarette until after he left...that was about 5 hours...not bad for me, *at all*! Last time I went that long without one, when I wasn't asleep or in an airplane, was last spring in Vegas when I was deathly ill with food poisoning!

I'm skipping the Redskins game at the bar today to go finish cleaning the new house, so that I can start moving in this week and have most of the smaller stuff moved before the group gets here to move the big stuff on Saturday! I can't wait to be in my own house and to get my cube with all my stuff in it! I'm so excited I can't see straight! Then I'll never have to move again...if I don't want to! So today its off to clean and maybe even get a small load moved over there, if I have enough energy. I'm also going to spend lots of money and get some stuff for the house! Too much fun!

Christmas Meme

2006-12-05T07:37:00.000-07:00

I just received this in an e-mail and thought I'd start it here. If you want to steal it...help yourself!

Welcome to the Christmas edition of getting to know your friends. Okay, here's what you're supposed to do, and try not to be a SCROOGE!!! Just copy (not forward) this entire email and paste into a new e-mail that you can send. Change all the answers so that they apply to you. Then send this to a whole bunch of people you know, INCLUDING the person that sent it to you. "Tis the Season to be NICE!"

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper

2. Real tree or artificial? Artificial, but this is the first time. We've always had real up to this year
3. When do you put up the tree? This year...It'll be the day after our move!

4. When do you take the tree down? Early January

5. Do you like eggnog? yes love it...particularly spiked!

6. Favorite gift received as a child? board games

7. Do you have a nativity scene? Don't remember what's in my Christmas stuff

8. Hardest person to buy for? My XH. FOrtunately I don't have that challenge any more!

9. Easiest person to buy for? DS

10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? No clue probably something from now XH that came straight off my list

11. Mail or email Christmas cards? Neither

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? The Grinch cartoon version

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Black Friday normally

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Not to my recollection

15. Favorite thing to eat and drink at Christmas? Food! Any and all. I don't do the big dinner at Christmas, normally I do a good roast and baked potatoes!

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Colored

17. Favorite Christmas song? Father Christmas by The Kinks

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Kids and I have travelled enough this year...I hope to stay within a mile or two of our new house in Phoenix!

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeers? yes

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? DD's Angel from kindergarten

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas Morning

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? People's bad attitudes and the constant "I wants"

23. Favorite thing about the Christmas Holidays? Spending time with the kids in a less stressful situation. Talking to family LD

24. Most Memorable gift? Shhh it's a secret...I'm giving it this year!

25. What's the one thing you seem to never get done at Christmas time? Sending out cards.

More Wondering

2006-11-28T09:03:00.000-07:00

Here is the second half of what my friend wrote. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did!

What is there to hide?
I am here to listen to you speak
To listen to your thoughts
To be there when you need me
To help your sort through your thoughts
To guide you the right way
To help you make your choice
To respect your wishes
Telling me your feelings won't make you weak
It will make us stronger than ever
It hurts not to know
That continuous wondering
Whether the feelings are there or not
And through your words
It can lead to your actions
To brighten my day every time I know you care
When I am happy
When I am sad
When I am mad
When I just need a friend
When I am going through a hard time
You don't realize how much I care
What it is that you feel
What is in your heart?
What your mind and soul is guiding you to feel
I can be there to protect you if you let me
Don�t worry I feel the same
I am not sure why you can't express to me
But I will continue to be there until
That one day when you really say what you feel
And that moment when it will brighten my entire mind
To the point of unexplainable bliss

Happy Thanksgiving

2006-11-22T08:30:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to post a short note and wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving!

I'll post the other part of what my friend wrote next week!

Wondering

2006-11-20T06:18:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine wrote the following words. They really touched me, since I'm in about the same position he is...although this was not written about each other. He has his intrigue, and I have mine. However, his words describe how I feel, assuming they were written from a female POV rather than a male! LOL I just really wanted to share this with my friends, I hope they touch your world in some way today!

How you know she has intrigued you
The feeling you have the first time you notice her
Waiting to see if she notices you
Then the answer as she looks back and smiles
The curiosity who is going to look back next
Wondering what thoughts are going throughout her mind
Does she think you are as appealing as you find her?
Obliviously to all the other girls
Does she realize this?
A smile to your face every time you think of her
The smile that is so rare it only comes out when you think or see her
The happiness that is in your voice every time you talk with her
The curiosity of when the next time you will see her?
The curiosity of when you will be graced with her smile again?
The continuous wondering of is she thinking about you as much as you are
her?
Does she notice how nervous you get when you are around her?
How no words you say fit what you are really thinking about her?
How happy you are just to have her next to your side?
How happy you are that she has intrigued you
Have you intrigued her that is the question you wait to have answered?
But do you really want to know? or do you want to
Protect yourself from the harm the could be?
To completely change the relationship
But you know it's worth it when you see the sparkle in her eyes and the
smile
on her face to have a chance to call her your baby

Meme from Sharon...she tagged me!

2006-11-09T09:31:00.000-07:00

I found that I'd been tagged a week ago, but I wanted my other post to stay at the top for a little while before I got around to responding to this tag! The Snarky one got me, so here are my response....but I'm not going to tag anyone, since I think this has already made the rounds. If you haven't done it feel free to steal it from here!

ARE YOU:
1. A Cuddler? Yes
2. A morning person? Yes...sort of these days. It seems most of my friends are night owls and are keeping me up too late for me to get up in the morning!
3. Are you a perfectionist? YES
4. An only child? No, I have a younger sister and 2 older step brothers and a younger step-sister.
5. Catholic: No
6. In your pajamas? Yep, no need to get dressed yet!
7. Currently suffering from a broken heart? No, I'm over the divorce and he broke my heart years ago!
8. Okay styling other people’s hair? Can barely do my own never mind someone else's!
9. Left handed? Only for driving...otherwise total righty here!
10. Addicted to MySpace? I've seen it once or twice. Not my thing!
11. Shy around the opposite gender? Yes. Its weird to talk to men without the safety net of my marriage...particularly those I find cute or interestign!
12. Loud? When the Redskins play, definitely!

DO YOU:
12. Bite your nails? Not nearly as badly as I used to. As soon as I can afford it, I'm going back to sculps!
13. Get paranoid at times? Sometimes.
14. Currently regret something that you have said/done? Yes, but I can't change it so I'm moving on!
15. Curse frequently when you get mad? Sailors have been known to blush worldwide when I get mad!
16. Enjoy country music? Completely, but I prefer a lot of the older stuff to today's country!
17. Enjoy jazz music? Very little. I like some Michael Franks music, but otherwise most of what I've heard I can live without.
18. Enjoy smoothies? Yes, but I don't have them often.
19. Enjoy talking on the phone? Yes, and I'm on it regularly
20. Have a lot to learn? Of course. I love to learn new things, so I do it as often as possible!
21. Have a pet? One cat, and I'm inheriting another with my new house!
22. Have a tendency to fall for the “wrong” person? Yep, I tend to go for guys who aren't good for me....this dates back to pre-XH.
23. Have all your grandparents died? YEs. I still have a great aunt living in Maryland, but that's it!
24. Have at least one sibling? Yes.
25. Have been told that you are smart? Yes, and DD just told me again!
26. Have had a broken bone? Yes, I fractured my tailbone when I was in my 20s.
27. Have Caller I.D. on your phone? Yes, who doesn't?

HAVE YOU:
28. Changed a diaper? 2 butts for 3-4 years each!
29. Changed a lot over the past year? Yes. I got up the guts to leave my husband and raise my kids as a single parent!
30. Had friends who have never seen your natural hair color? Yes!
31. Had surgery? Yes
32. Killed anyone? NOt quite my thing, although DD has come close to being the first recently!
33. Had your haircut within the last week? no, but I need to soon!

LAST PERSON WHO:
1. Slept in the bed beside you? DS who crawled in with a nightmare
2. Saw you cry? My friend that we stayed with when we first moved back here.
3. Went to the movies with you? OMG that's been awhile. XH (then DH), DD, DS and one of DS's friends. We saw Garfield, A Tale of Two Kitties.
4. You went to the mall with? I went all by myself last Friday. It was great!
5. You went to dinner with? My kids, we went to McDonalds for Happy Meals before church!
6. You talked to on the phone? My friend we stayed with...I talked to her about 12:30 this morning!
7. Said ‘I love you’ to you and meant it? DD or DS...don't remember which!
8. Broke your heart? DD
9. Made you laugh? My designated driver makes me laugh all the time.

WOULD YOU RATHER?
1. Pierce your nose or tongue? neither. I'm not into pain or extraneous holes in my head. Have 2 and that's enough!
2. Be serious or be funny? Funny.
3. Drink whole or skim milk? 2%
4. Die in a fire or drown? I don't plan on trying either of these options, so I'll just skip this one.
5. Spend time with your parents or enemies? Parents.

ABOUT YOU!
1. What time is it? 9:43 AM
2 Name? Margaret
3. Nickname(s)? Mom, Mother, Madre, Mommy
4. Where were you born? Alexandria, Va
5. What is your birthdate? January 20
6 What do you want? TO get situated in my new house and keep it clean!
7. Where do you want to live? I don't know at this point. I"m really ticked off at Arizona at this point, so I'm not sure I want to stay here forever or not!
8. How many kids do you want? I have two, and that's perfect for me!

Shameless Comment begging

2006-11-04T20:36:00.000-07:00

I stole this from Annette's blog after I commented! So here's my version of the comment beg!

The first five people to respond to this post (via the comments section) will get some form of a goodie from me. Probably a small RAK of some sort, since I'm not very speedy or have a lot of time to make something right now. After you comment, please email me your snail mail address (to marfski@gmail.com). Think of it as something to look forward to getting in the mail. The fine print on this is that if you comment, you need to add this to your blog and continue sharing the wealth!

SO now I'm begging comments from everyone....I wonder if I even have 5 readers after all these dead times! LOL

A Tale of Two Friends

2006-10-30T10:34:00.000-07:00

I have two different friends, X and Y. They both come from the east coast and from reasonably affluent families. They are both younger than I am, but that is immaterial to this story, which is about different value systems and their abilities to deal with adversity. Both have moved out west during this past year and are attempting to adjust to the differences in culture and mind-set.

X has decided that living out here is nothing compared to the east coast, and I think Y would agree that things are substantially different. However, the way they come across in their shared opinion is like night and day. X constantly complains about how things are horrible out here in comparison to the east, and never seems to be happy, Y although not exactly happy out here has found some good in the area. Both are snobs in their own way: X doesn’t like anything that isn’t “designer “and Y is very particular about appearances, too. Y however, lives within their means, and realizes that although its not affordable, will work to make it affordable or attempt to find a lesser name item that will achieve the same look, and yet be more affordable.

As far as shopping is concerned, X insists on designer names from designer stores at designer prices, while Y is more than happy to buy things from Wal-Mart or Target or wherever things are affordable. X likes the gourmet grocery stores while Y is perfectly happy with the Wal-Mart groceries for everything!

In their relationships with me and other friends X is self-centered and everything has to be about X at all times (or at least this is the image that is portrayed). Y on the other hand, is always there and willing to talk about me and shows great caring and compassion for others. I feel that I could call Y at 3 AM just to talk because I’m feeling lonely and I’d get a response. With X I’m not sure I’d get what I needed even at a normal hour. I talked to Y last night to share a funny event that happened yesterday. Y was not in a great mood, because Y was realizing that some of the decisions they were making were not good decisions and another friend had attempted suicide had called Y that morning and Y didn’t answer the phone. Y believes deep down that if Y had answered the call, things might have turned out differently for the other friend. Y is a true 24/7 friend, whereas X is a regular hours friend and even then, I’m not sure would be here for me if I need them.

I’ve decided to write X out of my life, since friendship is a two way street, not all give or all take. Yes I am sad about this, because I had considered X one of my closest friends, until X’s true colors came out over the past year or so. Y’s friendship, on the other hand, I am nurturing and growing this friendship, because Y treats all their friends the same, always there for them. This is part of Y’s problems out here…too many friends on the phone all the time. Although Y is always on the phone, Y still spends many hours talking with me about what’s going on in both our worlds, asking advice and then deciding what to take and what to throw out. Y also provides me with insight into things in my world and advice on how to deal with situations that I have going on. X, on the other hand, asks advice and then promptly implies that that idea doesn’t meet with X’s standards or isn’t good enough for X.

So I’m done with X. This is a painful decision to make, but I’ve discovered that with a major life change, such as I’ve gone through this year, I need to re-assess all my relationships and maintain and grow the healthy ones, but the draining ones or negative ones need to be placed on the back burner or removed from my life completely. I personally am amazed at how much many of my relationships have changed since leaving my husband, even some of my closest friends that claimed to support me when I was thinking about leaving have changed now that I’ve actually left. Of course I’ve changed too, and I no longer have the same issues that I had before, so I’m simply moving on with my life and spending time with people that support my new lifestyle. However, I can’t help but wonder, if maybe I’m making some of these people think about the status of their relationships, a little more than they want to?

Found on Annette's Blog

2006-10-07T15:43:00.000-07:00

I found this and since I'm into some songs right now, I figured I'd at least do it. Each song listed has a special meaning to me...but I'm not sharing that right now! Also I'm not tagging anyone, since its been too long since I blogged or read blogs to know what's happening with anyone else!

List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether or not they have words, or even if they’re not any good, but they must be songs you’re really enjoying now. Post these instructions in your blog along with your seven songs. Then tag seven other people to see what they’re listening to.

1. Want To - Sugarland
2. Leave the Pieces - The Wreckers
3. Holy Water - Big and Rich
4. Would You Go With Me - Josh Turner
5. You Can Dream of Me - Steve Wariner
6. Finding A Good Man - Danielle Peck
7. Kerosene (Love's Given Up On Me) - Miranda Lambert

Vegas Report, The Real One...Part One

2006-04-12T19:43:00.000-07:00

OK now that I've tormented you all with the teaser report, I'm writing my real one!

I left here Tuesday morning and flew to Salt Lake City. Silly SW Airlines routed me through Vegas for a 2 hour layover, and charged me $40 less to go on to Salt Lake! So Stasha picked me up at the airport in her DD's car, since hers was in the shop! We drove out to the Great Salt Lake and attempt to visit an LNS, which was closed! Then we had to pick her car up at the shop. So I got to drive her DD's car back to her DD. Trying to get into the car was interesting. FOr those who don't know us, Stasha is about 10 inches shorter than I am, so I had to do some major seat adjustments before I had any hope of fitting behind the wheel!

While Stasha was rescuing her car, I picked up my voicemail to discover I had been offered a 5 week temporary assignment in Phoenix...oops I don't live there anymore! So I called them back and told them, I'd love to take it, but had to be able to tele-commute the entire assignment. That didn't work for this client, so I hung up and ensured their file was noted with my updated information!

After returning the extra car, we went to this neat little Greek restaurant for dinner and had some laughs! Then it was running a couple of quick errands, and replacing my dead discman with one that would work. Upon arriving at Stasha's house we promptly spent a couple of hours in her stash room, which is packed full of goodies. I could have happily fondled her stash all weekend. Then we surfed on the Internet for a little while and she let everyone know I'd arrived safely!

Wednesday morning we did a little shopping and I got some supplies for RAKs and such taht I'd been collecting. I also found a pretty pair of scissors for DD. Then we went and had lunch with Cat, which was great fun! I'm so glad I got to meet her. After lunch we hit the road to Las Vegas! After many stops for potty breaks and drinks we reached southern Utah, where we did our grocery shopping for the weekend. While we were shopping a snow flurry came in and we got pictures of me in the snow brrrr! An hour later she was ready for dinner and we stopped at the local Wendy's. Stasha had the burger and I ate the potato from a Value Meal...big mistake, the sour cream was bad, but I didn't realize it at the time!

So we finally get to Vegas, get checked in and I lie down, since all of a sudden my tummy didn't feel so hot. A half hour later and feeling a little better we were up and headed to the airport to rescue Suz. While waiting for Suz, I start feeling really lousy and I'm sitting down trying to recover and not doing a very good job of it. Finally we collect Suz and her stuff and head back to the car. About halfway across the parking garage, my tummy shows its total and utter displeasure with the sour cream and I'm throwing up all over the place. Talk about embarrassing! I don't throw up to begin with, and now I'm doing it in the parking garage in the Las Vegas airport! Once I'm done with that we head back to the hotel and I pass out.

Thursday, Stasha and Suz go back to the airport to get Ann, I sleep. They come back after lunch and I sleep. They go get dinner and I sleep. They bring me some banana muffins, I eat them and sleep. They bring me some soup and a sandwich, I sip the soup and sleep. Notice a pattern here yet? LOL

Friday, I wake up really early because I'm sick of sleeping and I head off to the coffee shop. I eat 2 pieces of dry toast, some hot tea and a yogurt (ick). Everything seems to be ok, I go back to the room and lay down for a little while. Then I head off to CATS to attempt some shopping. I find two cuts of PTP fabric which will be perfect for my next two mermaids and buy those. Then I spend a little time at teh Stitchers Paradise booth, and learn that the shop is still open. So I go back to the room, lie down for a little while then we're off to Stitchers Paradise. There I find my Q-Snap extenders and the final goodie I needed for my RAKs! I order some rice from the Chinese place next door for lunch and we head back to the hotel. I go back to the room, eat and lie down for a little while before venturing back down to the Stitcher's lounge and to do some more damage in the Mart!

In the stitchers lounge I meet Darla, Beth and several others and have a great time laughing. I go back to Mart and buy Shiraz Sampler and the threads from Diny Dyes for it! I also get the Commemorative Sampler chart and a CATS shirt. After that I head back to the room to rest before dinner. Dinner was at Margaritaville with Stasha, Suz, Ann, Susan, Debbi and Darla (I think I got everyone, but I'm still sort of lost in regards to the whole weekend). We had a waiter with an imperfect memory, and my steak had some seasoning on it, which I promptly sent back. Ann's meal was even more messed up and it was removed from the bill! We were celebrating Suz's "0" birthday which actually happens this Friday, but we wanted to have fun with her in Vegas, so we did! She got a balloon hat from a great balloonman, who cracked lots of good jokes! After dinner we headed back to the room and passed out!

Saturday morning, I finally met Bev who'd I'd been trying to meet all weekend, but we couldn't manage to be anywhere close to the same place at the same time. She's great, and we had a great visit. We all went to IHOP for breakfast, which I ate a little of! I was still hiding in the room more than anything due to my attempting to recover. After a post-breakfast nap, I went to the luggage shop with Suz and bought a new set of luggage, which I needed. Then I hit the stitching lounge for an hour or so. I know I saw more of you in there, and if I didn't mention you, I apologize. After that it was time to get dinner and take Suz back to the airport!

Dinner was at In-n-Out Burger, which I've missed way too much since leaving Phoenix! I ate over half my burger and some fries. Yay me for finally starting to eat again! Then we saw Suz off, and Ann, Stasha and I headed back to our room for our last night in Vegas. We spent many hours discussing the weekend, and I got filled in on many of the things I'd slept through.

Sunday morning was buffet breakfast, taking Ann to the airport and heading back to Salt Lake. Stasha was going to take me up to the canyons (or somewhere) where we could get a picture of me with a huge snowbank, but it didn't work out. Back at her house we had a quiet evening of surfing and relaxing after our big weekend. Then Monday morning it was my turn to say goodbye and get on an airplane! I'm back home now and still recovering from the weekend, which is twice as hard since I was so sick for half of it, and the time change and travelling.

But there's my basic events of Vegas report, and although there are many more stories, I'll get them and the exact stash report posted later!

Vegas Was.....well

2006-04-10T21:24:00.000-07:00

I'm back from my first CATS experience and well it was interesting to say the least! Stasha and I drove down from her house on Wednesday and got settled into the hotel in time to pick Suz up from the airport! Poor Suz, we got her baggage and headed back to the car, and I threw up in the parking garage....twice! Whizgidget has more details in her blog!

I'm Really Bad

2006-03-07T19:11:00.000-07:00

I haven't finished the moving story, because to this day I don't like to look at the car-b-q pictures. I'm working on it and one of these nights I'll just grit my teeth and do it. In the meanwhile, here's a fun thing I found on Suz's (among others) blog. Suz gets the credit, because that's the one I did mine from! Because of this, I really got a kick out of #3!

Ten Top Trivia Tips about Margaret!

Margaretology is the study of Margaret.
Michelangelo finished his great statue of Margaret in 1504, after eighteen months work.
Bananas don't grow on trees - they grow on Margaret.
The air around Margaret is superheated to about five times the temperature of the sun!
It takes 8 minutes for light to travel from the Sun's surface to Margaret!
Margaret once lost a Dolly Parton lookalike contest.
Margareticide is the killing of Margaret.
If you cut Margaret in half and count the number of seeds inside, you will know how many children you are going to have.
It's bad luck to put Margaret on a bed.
The Australian billygoat plum contains a hundred times more Vitamin C than Margaret.

The Moving Story Part 1

2006-01-05T20:16:00.000-07:00

This goes back to the first part of December, and explains, at least in part, why I've been relatively quiet for the past month. When we got the offer on our house, it called for closing by 12/15, but there was a lot of pressure to close earlier than that. So we closed the house on 12/2 and had to be out by midnight. The trailer we purchased to tow behind the Suburban was overloaded, so we limped it over to BIL's house and parked it there for the night and headed for the hotel.

Saturday morning I spent hours on the phone with U-Haul trying to get a truck to haul half our stuff from the trailer across country. Finally got the truck late Saturday afternoon and it was a hunk of junk. By Saturday night we had the U-Haul mechanic out working on it, and he said that he wouldn't trust the vehicle across country. So we're back to the same hotel for Saturday night. Sunday morning I spent hours on the phone with U-Haul until I finally managed to get someone who would swap the truck for one that would work. So when DH returned the old truck he barely made it back to the U-Haul lot when the transmission started to go out....and we were supposed to drive this truck from Phoenix to Florida???! Got the new truck, and off-loaded half of the trailer onto the truck (also I didn't have to tow a trailer, but that's another story!) and decided we would leave on Monday. The plan was BIL would drive the U-Haul towing the Jeep, DH would drive the Suburban with the dogs and the kids and I would have the cat with us, and we'd play our way across the country!

Monday comes and we go to load the Jeep on the tow dolly that's being towed by the U-Haul truck and discover the tire straps (which hold the car on the dolly) are broken. So we're back to waiting for a U-Haul mechanic to come out and fix the tow dolly straps. Finally about 3PM we're ready to get on the road. The kids, cat and I head out to get some lunch and run a quick errand for DH on the way out of town. (For those who aren't familiar with the area: We lived on the north side of Phoenix, and were headed south/east using I-10 for the long journey). About 4-4:30 we're on the southern suburbs of Phoenix when I get a call from BIL. DH is having trouble controlling the trailer above 45 MPH and whenever anyone passes him, he's all over the road. So BIL tells us to sit tight where we are and he'll let us know what to do in a little while (we're traveling together for the first day or so). About 30-45 minutes later, they tell us they're getting a stabilizer installed on the trailer/Suburban and for us to go ahead and head for Tucson (where we're all staying the first night) and they'll be an hour or two behind us. Finally they get done, after spending another $700 for this stabilizer thing!

The kids and I make it to Tucson and we're about a mile or two from our exit to get to the hotel for the night when BIL calls me and greets me with "Are you safe?" I answer Yes. I think *Strange question, but I always talk on the cell phone while driving on the freeway, so I'm not going to worry about it* His next question was "Are you sitting down?" Again, I answer yes, this time thinking *I normally sit down while I'm driving, is there any other way?* Then he says "Your husband just went up in flames!" I said WHAT???? He said, the Suburban just went up in flames on I-10 between Warner and Elliot. (Now this is 5:30 at night on Monday, in one of the worst places to be in evening rush hour). The conversation continued with him passing details and my responding OMG, OMG, OMG. I asked him what they wanted us to do now, and he told me to just sit tight where I was and they'd let us know. So after filling the kids in on what happened, including the fact that DH and dogs were all safe, I called the lady whom I at that point determined would be my contact to keep everyone updated on our trip across country...The Wondering One. She was wonderful and kept me calm while I made my way to the hotel to let them know what was happening and they were very understanding. They even babysat the cat while the kids and I went next door to Denny's and spent $20+ on food we couldn't eat.....more to come, as I have time to type!

Weekend Update...aka the Trip Blog

2005-11-09T10:02:00.000-07:00

Thursday morning DD and I headed off to our new home in Florida so that she could tryout for a club volleyball team. This is a recap of our adventures in a place where I'd never really been before!

Thursday, our friend (C) picked us up from the airport and took us to the new house to see it. It is nice, although a little smaller than our current house! After deciding which bedrooms and furniture (the previous owners had left a couple of beds and other stuff) would belong to which child we headed off to Wal-MArt to buy bedding for the beds! C swore that both the mattresses were doubles so we bought double sheet sets for both beds. When we got home we started making beds and DD's sheet set wouldn't fit on her bed....at all! Turns out her bed was a queen size. So since C had left us for the night, without transportation, we made do and in the morning after picking up my "cheap compact" rental car, it turned out to be a Grand Prix! DD and I went back to Wal-Mart to exchange her sheet set for the right size.

While we were standing in the Customer Service line, DS called, and I went to answer my phone, which promptly broke into 2 pieces when I opened it. This was partially expected, but I thought it would live for awhile longer.....wrong! Next stop was Verizon for a replacement phone, which is wonderful...now I need to re-download my ringtone grrr. I'd just gotten it a week or two ago, talk about a waste of money! Finally we got back to the house made the bed properly and armed with directions to Costco headed off for TP and paper towels. Our closest Costco is about 30-45 minutes away, that is just wrong! I currently live within 15 minutes of 2 Costcos and 2 Sam's Clubs, so I know that this will take some adapting to. Finally got there, and picked up what we needed, and went back to the house. Then we went over to C's house and visited with them for a little while. Got lost...again on the way home and ended up doing our remaining Wal-Mart shopping at Albertsons!

Saturday we got up and dorve for 3 hours to visit with my in-laws, who tried to insist that we stay the night. We didn't since I wanted DD fresh for her tryouts on Sunday night.

Sunday afternoon, Belinda and Kay drove over from the east coast to visit and we had a great time visiting, stash fondling and checking out all the nooks and crannies of the new house. Then we went out to lunch, which was delicious. I'd never had Cuban food before. Thanks KAy for the suggestion and the lunch, we really enjoyed it, and I"ll have to get back there for that Godiva cake soon! After lunch we took Belinda to see the Gulf! We dipped our toes in the gulf....brrrr it was chilly! Belinda has some great pics from the GTG and proved that I didn't turn to mud with water! After this it was time to take DD to her first night of tryouts. These were OK and DD had a good workout. The techniques they were looking for were different from the way she's been trained in the past, so it was a challenge for her.

Monday was lazy day and we hung out around the house in the morning starting to prepare to come back to AZ on Tuesday. Then we went and got some lunch, hung out at teh beach for a little while and went over to C's to use the computer to print our boarding passes. After that we headed back home to get ready for the second night of tryouts. DD forgot she was wearing jeans, so we made a panic stop at Target to get her some shorts! Tryouts were more of the same, and when she was done DD was exhausted, so we grabbed dinner and headed home.

Tuesday morning we finished packing, met a neighbor, returned the rental car and headed for the airport. One of the flight attendants on our plane was fascinated by my Sudoku book, and so I got her e-maiol address and sent her all my links this morning. We landed about 40 minutes early and ended up waiting for DH and DS to pick us up! We stopped for dinner on the way home, and after dinner came home, checked e-mail really fast and crashed. I'm starting to try to get back into the swing of things around here, and get my packing done!

Overall it was a good weekend, aside from my not knowing where I was going and constantly screaming "I'm Lost!". However, DD did not make the team she was trying out for, so now we're back to square one with finding her a team for club season this year.

OK I'm Busy, but I'm Trying Here!

2005-10-18T21:32:00.000-07:00

SO this week in addition to the A list, which I'll get to, I did a silly quiz. Shamelessly stolen off a Lunatic's blog!

Which flock do you follow?
this quiz was made by alanna

Hopefully that worked...and now for the A List!

Books Anyone?
There's nothing quite like a good book. Of course, there's nothing quite like a really bad book, either, but that's usually another story (pun intended). ;)

What was the last book you read that you would recommend to someone else? Is there a book you recommend consistently to anyone that will listen? How often do you pick up a book for pleasure reading? Can you read multiple books at one time?

The last book I read that I recommended to someone was "Promises to Keep" by Susan Crandall. There are a lot of books I recommend to anyone and everyone. These include anything by Greg Iles, James Patterson, Richard North Patterson, Patricia Cornwell and these types of authors that consistently produce high quality suspenseful works. I'll also recomment the Harry Potter books to everyone, as well! I'm constantly reading a book for pleasure/relaxation, but rarely do I read multiple books at the same time. I may stitch several projects at the same time, but when it comes to books I'm an OOAT!

That's about it for me tonight, I've got to get back to packing, or sleeping or something aside from typing here! Have a good one everyone!

A Meme and Minor Life Update

2005-10-11T08:21:00.000-07:00

In order to prevent my blog from becoming strictly a meme blog, I'm posting a small life update, but first the meme!

With the new television season in almost full swing and viewers finding some of their favorite shows in direct competition with others, this question seems fittingly appropriate. A great many folks resolve that with opposite coast satellite network channels, and others just let their Tivo box do the hard work. But before you had all that technology helping you, you had to make a decision - or flip a coin - to decide what to watch. But what if you were forced to be limited in what you get to watch...?

If you could watch only one thing on television and had to give up every other show, what would you watch (not counting the news, since you could get that from a newspaper)?

I don't remember ever being involved enough in so many prime time TV shows that this was ever an issue. However if it was, I would watch the show that I was more involved in. As far as giving up all TV with the exception of one show, I would probably choose to watch MASH, the only TV show I enjoy enough to buy the seasons on DVD!

And now for the life update!!!!

We're moving to Florida at the end of the month, and I'm frantically attempting to de-clutter, and clean this house so that we can get it sold! So there's not much happening in my world outside of that at this point.I've made some progress and since I'm winding school down for the kids in preparation for the move, I should start to see more progress in the next week or so! Somewhere in this mess is my sanity. If anyone finds it...please send it back home, as it may have simply run away!

Disposable Time (A List meme)

2005-10-04T08:43:00.000-07:00

The term "disposable income" is commonly used to identify any monies left over after the "essentials" have been taken care of each month. The same idea could be applied to time - what's left over after the essentials: sleep, work, family demands.

So, how do you spend your "disposable time?"

Most of my time is not disposable, but I dispose of a lot of time sitting here reading and posting to boards! When I have a break, or am done schooling the kids during the day, I sit here to unwind a little before I get back to what I need to do. Sometimes, that is a cople hours, depending on how lost in "space" I get!

As a SAHM, my time is not scheduled by anyone but me, and the kids social/athletic requirements, so I can't truly say what is disposable time, and what is scheduled time as easily as if I worked from 9-5! I guess the disposable time is the time when I'm not meeting any of my family's requirements, and don't have to!

During that time, I'll surf, read, stitch or work Su Doku puzzles, depending on my mood!

2005-09-30T21:05:00.000-07:00

7 Things I Want To Do Before I Die:
- Stitch out my stash
- Hug my grandchildren and great-grandchildren
- Finish raising my kids and educating them
- Sleep 12 hours uninterrupted
- Move to Florida (figured I'd better put some short-term goals here, since you
never know!)
- Live life to its fullest
- Achieve and maintain a clean clutter-free house
7 Things I can do:
- Stitch
- Educate my kids
- Crochet
- Solve puzzles
- Jigsaw puzzles
- Read
- Accounting
7 Things I cannot do:
- Knit
- Deny my personal beliefs
- Quit
- Type
- Touch my toes without bending my knees
- Tolerate prejudices
- Eat just one potato chip
7 Things that attract me to another person:
- Suits
- Clean
- Polite
- Shared interests
- Hair
- Personality
- Shared values
7 Celebrity crushes:
- Colin Firth
- Sean Connery
- Clark Gable (as Rhett Butler)
- Trace Adkins
- Montgomery Gentry (both of them) btw, they hug good!
- Colin Raye
- Bart Simpson
7 Things I say the most:
- Whatever
- Yes Dear
- No Dear
- If you want to
- No
- I just said NO
- Ask your father
7 Bloggers I will tag: None...They've already been tagged! If you haven't been tagged and want to be, please consider this your tag!

Lunch Discussion

2005-09-27T18:17:00.000-07:00

I had lunch ith my fellow Prickly Stitcher (she has an Acre, too) today, and had a great time! I got to see her latest finishes and shared the progress on Because Nice Matters with her! In the course of our discussion, we talked about the A List and the fact that this was the first meme, I had ever answered, and intended to attempt to answer on a weekly basis. One of the interesting parts of our discussion was the pronunciation of the word "meme". She pronounces it like 'meem', whereas I call them me-me's. My reasoning behind my pronunciation, is that the question answers are all about me, and therefore its a me-me! Afterall, isn't this blog and life all about me?

The A List and Other News

2005-09-26T19:17:00.000-07:00

Why do you answer memes? I normally don't answer memes, and this is the first one I'm really considering attempting to answer on a regular basis! I'm hoping this at least gets me blogging on a semi-regular basis!

Or read other people's answers? When other people answer memes I tend to skim them at best. Some I will actually read, but they are few and far between! Sorry folks, I'm really not a big meme person, I more read blogs to keep up on your life and such!

What memes do *you* read? This is the first meme, I've ever found the website for, so this is the first one I've ever read! I guess you could call me a meme virgin!

Other news: We bought a house in Florida over the weekend, so we're moving probably around the end of next month! I'm scared, I'm excited and all other emotions in-between, including sad for leaving my friends here. As soon as I have some of the better pics uploaded, I will post a link here, so that you all can see them!

No other real news, school with both kids is going better this year than it did last, and I'm staying way busy at this point. So until next time, have a great whatever!

Its Been Awhile

2005-08-07T16:00:00.000-07:00

DD is fussing at me to blog again, so I'm posting a quick update!

Vacation was great! One of the highlights was going to the Range with my dad and shooting his .22 rifle! Of my 5 shots, 3 of them landed where all 5 of his did! I was fairly impressed with myself. Had a great time visiting my sister and her family; The wedding was beautiful, although hot; the VA stitchers are the best!

Since then, DH went to FL for vacation and to work on his attempts to start a business with his friend, and look for a job which would allow them to work together better. He ended up with a job offer, and while we're waiting for the formal official offer letter, we're de-cluttering and preparing to move across country! I'm scared, nervous, excited and any other mixed emotion you can possibly think of! I've also been doing some thinking about how much work is required to get our house in tip-top selling shape...its scary! Oh well, that's a topic for another day. In the meanwhile, I'm going to attempt to start blogging more frequently, and keeping you all more up to date on what's really happening in my life! On these topics, I imagine much more will be coming in the future, as things progress, I'll post here, on how its all going!

In stitching news, due to the above mentioned chaos, I've dropped out of the Ornie RR, and am glad that the UFO RR is completing this round, so I can get moved without having to worry about other people's projects! Now for my question to all of you (ok shameless plug for comments here) Did I fall off the Wagon, or not?

Scenario: DH told me to buy a certain chart and supplies for said chart, since we were moving, and I had the perfect place to hang the project when done. So I did. I'm not sharing the project yet, but I will say its something I've sworn for years that I would never stitch! However, after working on a similar one in the UFO RR, and loving it, I decided I wanted to do one of these projects, so that's what I'm going to do! So what do you think, am I now a fallen Queen, or am I still in the King/Queen Challenge? I know what I think, but I'll let you all decide...please let me know your feelings on the subject! BTW, I did have a gift certificate for the chart and its shipping!

That's all for now...at least I blogged something!

This is It!

2005-06-01T08:24:00.000-07:00

I'm going on vacation tomorrow! I'll be gone for 10 wonderfully long days, playing with family and friends on the east coast! The kids are going with me and we're going to have a blast! My best friend will be getting married while we're there, and I'm almost done with her wedding present...just have to do the beading! I hope to get a good chunk of that done today, but we'll see how that goes with all the last minute packing and such that still needs to be done! We're all really excited!

Then on the day Icome back, DH leaves for training in the same city we're leaving, so we'll meet him for dinner at the airport, but otherwise won't see him until Friday night!

As far as plans go while I'm gone, the biggest part of course is the wedding, and after that is the GTG with other TWBBers on Saturday! I'm so excited, since I'm going to get to meet some people I"ve never met before, as well as see others that are friends! When we get back, I'll post a full report of my trip and all the fun we had! But in the meanwhile, I just wanted to make sure everyone knew I was going to be gone for awhile, and not to worry if I just vanished! Have a great week and a half everyone! I'll see you when I get back!

Book Meme

2005-05-19T07:53:00.000-07:00

Because Ann wanted to see this one in my blog, I'm doing it!

1. Total number of books I've owned.

I've owned tons and tons (and I do mean by weight) of books over the years. In numbers this translates into thousands. At this point in time, I would say DH probably owns about 400, DD 300, DS 150 and me 1,000+. Some of these books are stored in boxes, and haven't been pulled out for awhile, so they'll be like new once I find them again! When we moved out here 13 years ago, we had approximately 17 tons of stuff, a goodly portion of that weight came from books, which is why I answered the way I did!

2. Last book I bought.

I bought this book on Monday at Costco for my plane trip in 2 weeks! It is two books in one by Amanda Quick. They are "Seduction" and "Surrender". They are both light quick reads, that I can pick up or put down as the need arises.

3. Last book I read.

I finished it yesterday, "Birthright" by Nora Roberts. I'm currently reading "The Secret Language of Girlfriends" by Karen Neuburger.

4. 5 books that mean a lot to me.

This is a tough question, since there are many books that mean a lot to me! But anyway, here goes!

The Bible
Oh The Thinks You Can Think
Drummer Hoff
Gone With the Wind
Green Eggs and Ham

5. Which 5 people would you most like to see fill this out in their blogs?

I doubt, I'll ever live down tagging these people, but at least I'll find out how many of them read my blog! LOL Have a great day everyone!

2005-05-18T15:57:00.000-07:00

An Itsy one tagged me yesterday. My first thought was "Ack, now I have to do creative writing!" So here's my attempt at creative writing, and then I have to tag three more people, and let them know either in their comments field, or via e-mail or some way that I've elected to tag them! Help, most people I know have already been tagged!

So here goes: I have to pick five things from the following list, and then complete the sentence, and then go on and tag another 3 people. Right then....
If I could be a scientist . . .
If I could be a farmer . . .
If I could be a musician . . .
If I could be a doctor . . .
If I could be a painter . . .
If I could be a gardener . . .
If I could be a missionary . . .
If I could be a chef . . .
If I could be an architect . . .
If I could be a linguist . . .
If I could be a psychologist . . .
If I could be a librarian . . .
If I could be an athlete . . .
If I could be a lawyer . . .
If I could be an inn-keeper . . .
If I could be a professor . . .
If I could be a writer . . .
If I could be a llama-rider . . .
If I could be a bonnie pirate . . .
If I could be an astronaut . . .
If I could be a world famous blogger . . .
If I could be a justice on any one court in the world . . .
If I could be married to any current famous political figure

So those are the sentences I have to complete!

1. If I could be a justice on any one court in the world...I would be a US Supreme Court Justice and I would work towards reducing the number of frivilous/ridiculous lawsuits and work towards teaching people to take responsibility for their own actions, rather than suing corporations.

2. If I could be a librarian...I would manage the most comprehensive library in the world. It would have every book ever published available in it, politically correct or not!

3. If I could be a missionary...I would carry the love of Jesus to every person on the planet, not just through words, but through my actions and my life.

4. If I could be a professor...which I can be, with my education! I would probably be teaching a few accounting classes, hopefully at an advanced enough level that my students were all interested in the subject, but I'd also enjoy an introductory level class where I could share my love of the field with undecided students, and hopefully nurture a love of the field in them!

5. If I could be a doctor...I would work in the research field towards discovering a new and better cure for leukemia (particularly ALL).

Now I have to find 3 people to tag that haven't been tagged already. If I can't find anyone, I'll have to skip that part of this exercise!

I've been tagged

2005-05-16T15:59:00.000-07:00

I've been tagged by 2 people, and I'm working on the first one. Now does this mean I have to double the requirements? I'll get it posted soon, just struggle with creative writing! LOL Thanks for your patience!

A Healthier Me (Part 2)

2005-04-20T08:56:00.000-07:00

OK I promised to update this on a monthly basis, and I have some progress to report! Its not quite what I'd hoped, but muscle does weigh more than fat!
So here's Last months statistics:

Waist 38 inches
Hips 43 inches
Thighs 24.5 inches
Weight 175

This Month:

Waist 38 inches
Hips 42.75
Thighs 23.75
Weight 177

The weight may not be decreasing, but the measurements have, and I know that the hips and thighs get the most workout with the Tae Kwon Do and walking, now I just need to get more regimented with doing the cruches every day, rather than just at class. I also need to start watching my food intake more closely! Overall though, I'm seeing progress, so I'm happy!

Radio Silence?

2005-04-01T08:02:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone, I know I've been a little quiet on the boards and other place recently...although not here. I don't have much excuse, aside from the fact that I've had a few things going on in my life that have upset me a little, some here on the web, and others in my personal life. I have worked through many of these issues with the people involved and am feeling much better. I'll be back soon, but today's another hectic day!

In the meanwhile some of the stuff that I do need to vent and blog about are being posted here. For the past couple of months and for the next month, I have to deal with an energy vampire who is, I believe, attempting to drive a wedge bbetween me and a very dear friend here. She's not succeeded, partially due to the fact that it is hard for a new friend to drive a wedge in an old, long-term friendship, at least when I'm involved. My dear friend and I have spent many hours discussing this situation, and we are closer than ever! I think I can handle the next month of this, but if I meltdown occasionally, please bear with me. I'm not one to grouse and complain and air my troubles here, and even struggle to do it with people outside my family in real life, so that's why you all never hear about this stuff!

As far as I'm concerned, once this month is over, I'm not going to have much to do with this other person, even though when she is in a good mood, she is a lot of fun. I just can't handle the other side of her! I'll enjoy her when we meet in the future, but I'm not going to make an effort to continue the friendship, but our DD's travel in some of the same circles, so meeting is inevitable!

As far as why I was soooo quiet yesterday, I had a friend come over and help me rearrange my house and put my new (to me at least) couches in my living room. So I spent all day moving very heavy furniture. i know I alluded to this yesterday to several people, I'm now sharing the whole story (sans pictures, since I didn't even think of them until just now). Anyway, my living room had 3 recliners a sleeper sofa 4 over loaded bookcases, an entertainment center and a couple of tables in it. The couch was about 17 years old, and was starting to fall apart, been torn by the dogs and was a general mess. So yesterday my friend (J) came over and she and I moved everything out of the living room, moved 2 of the bookcases and the entertainment center across the room, got the old couch out and put the new couch and loveseat in. We also managed to place one of the recliners in there for DH to use (its his favorite) then we moved the other 2 recliners to the family room and got everything cleaned and placed nicely. Of course this required several attempts, since we had to place stuff, look at it and improve upon our placements! We worked for about 6 hours on this project, and afterwards we were simply exhausted.

Needless to say, I didn't spend much time at the computer yesterday, so I was very quiet everywhere! Today, I'm back to my normal Friday schedule with an extra activity added in, so I won't be around too much again! However, by Monday, I plan to be back in full strength to chat with everyone. I've done some reading to keep up with what's happening, but not much posting...however that will change! Have a great weekend all!

Weekend

2005-03-29T08:48:00.000-07:00

So we had a very nice, busy and interesting weekend that I wanted to share with you. It all started Friday night when we got confirmation that the kids could get their Balck Belt Club supplies early, but I wouldn't have to pay for them until the sale time, when I would receive sale pricing! So Saturday morning, we went down to the Tae Kwon Do studio and got them fitted for sparring gear and they selected their weapons. This made both kids very happy, and they tried to practice sparring all weekend! After this we headed out for my friend A's place.

She lives about 45 minutes from me, on the other side of town (affectionately referred to by me as the other side of the world). I had originally planned to go by myself, but DH had to work, so the kids and I all went. I was a little nervous about this, since my DD tends to want to articipate in the adults conversations, rather than being a kid. But Today she was perfectly happy to join DS and A's DS in watching The Incredibles (I caught a bit of it, and now want to see it all!). So while the kids watched the movie, A and I visited and I saw all her wonderful stitched and framed work! She has some beautiful pieces and the framing is simply incredible! From there we moved on to her trade box! IT had almost as much stuff in it as my entire stash! I was amazed. Then we went to her "keeper" stash. I would say her stash area is about 6 feet long (at least) and almost floor to ceiling. I think I was speechless for about 5 minutes after seeing the collection! One of the things I found most amazing is the lack of unframed finished pieces! She is so good about getting everything framed! I selected a few things from her trade box, including something for my mom as a thank you gift for allowing us to stay with her while we're back east in June! Right after A posted her trade list, it was time for us to head back so DD could make her Demo Team practice at 4, so A posted and we said our goodbyes!

On our way back home, we stopped at Subway for some lunch and ate subs while driving home! We got back here about an hour later to discover that DH was still at work, and I was going to have to take DS with me to the Demo Team practice, but he found a friend there, so he was fine! When I got home I checked on A's posted list, and discovered that one of her links was broken, which someone else had already posted. So I called her to let her know the link was broken and that we'd made it home safely! We laughed for a few minutes, and got back to our days!

Demo Team practice was great, adn my friend came up so her DS could watch too, and we did our last Easter shopping. After practice, DH was still not sure when he was going to be done working, so the kids and I made dinner plans with her and her DS! I came home and got my eggs started boiling, then we ran out to grab some dinner. About the time our food was being served, DH called to say he was on his way home...figures doesn't it? So I told him, we had already made dinner plans and it was too late to get out of them! He was ok with that for a change, but he did enjoy the quiet when he got home! After dinner my friend and I left the kids at her house and came here to check on my eggs and pick something up. Then we went back to her house for another hour or so, and visited there!

By now its 9 PM and I finally got the kids home to dye eggs! By about 10:30 that was done and the kids were sent to bed. I was exhausted, but still had to do the Easter Bunny stuff! Midnight came and I fell into bed exhausted and passed out almost right away! Sunday morning, we were lucky the kids slept in until almost 7!

Then we had our egg hunt and the kids enjoyed their Easter baskets. We thought about going to church, but didn't make it. Instead I assigned the kids some chores and lay down until I heard them start on them...well I heard nothing for over 2 hours as I fell back asleep! I finally got up and in the shower after a wonderful nap. DH and I thought about getting some lunch, but it was getting late and I needed to be home to start dinner. Then we discovered the roast wasn't thawed yet, so we took the kids to Applebee's for dinner! This was quite yummy, and I didn't have to do a thing! That's my idea of a great meal! We got home from dinner and did some family time and got the kids to bed. I cooked the roast last night, and enjoyed it twice as much, since I'd had the restful day before that!

Hope everyone had a great weekend too!

A Healthier Me

2005-03-24T19:49:00.000-07:00

As some of you know back at the first of the month I started Tae Kwon Do to attempt to get in shape and lose some weight. I promised myself taht I would take some basic measurements in addition to a beginning weight in order to track my improvements. Well I need to put them someplace that I can find them again, so here they are:

Waist 38 inches
Hips 43 inches
Thighs 24.5 inches
Weight 175

I will update this to track any improvements approximately once a month somewhere between the 15th and the 20th. This way I hope to share my progress with my faithful readers, and I hope to see some soon! Thanks for cheering me on! By the way, I'm testing for my next belt (orange) on 4/9 wish me luck!

Thirteen Years Ago Today

2005-03-20T08:34:00.000-07:00

I said "I Do" to the most wonderful man in the world. Today, I'm taking a few minutes out of my normal boring life to write something to him! So without further ado, I want to wish my DH a very happy anniversary with a few of my special memories of our life together!

We've been through a lot in the past thirteen years, but you mean the world to me. When we decided to merge your habitual lateness with my habitual earliness, I thought we would manage to compromise with being right on time most of it, but we haven't. Sometimes I've prevailed and we've been early, and sometimes you've prevailed and we've been late, but most importantly we've been together!

We've had good times and bad. We've laughed and cried and you've put up with me through all my moods. From PMS to insecurities, from the happiest of happies to the saddest of sads, you've always been there for me! ALthough I may not always express myself as well as I should, you've helped me work through so much in life, I could not imagine being without you. You are my partner and my world!

I wish there were words to express how I feel, and how much you mean to me. You have provided me with two wonderful children who keep us busier than we ever imagined we could be kept. You've supported me in adventures through this world that thirteen years ago I never dreamed we would choose to follow. You supported me through sickness and in health. I think during this marriage, we have lived our wedding vows to the fullest and I look forward to many more years of doing the same.

I could not find a generic card that would come close to expressing how I feel about you and all we've been through, so this is my way of telling you (and the world) that I am proud to have you for my husband and would not trade you for anything! For my DH, the bottom line is I love you with all my heart!

I'm Rejecting Reality!...

2005-02-28T09:55:00.000-07:00

along with several others who are also rejecting reality today!

My reality is: Paying bills, screaming bickering kids who don't want to do school and about 50 other errands that need to be run today! In this blog, I am rejecting this reality, since I really don't want to deal with it!

Here, I am starting my day with a nice lazy soak in a Calgon commercial type of bath, then a nice leisurely breakfast with soft music playing. After breakfast, I am going to curl up with my stitching and the difficult parts of my projects will just melt away and be completed! Then I will have anice unch prepared for me and served by smiling happy and cooperative children, who will then clean the kitchen up for me. After that more stitching and a great dinner with my husband and family! More stitching and a great back rub as I'm settling down for a wonderful night's sleep!

Rain, Rain Go Away

2005-02-23T12:00:00.000-07:00

OK so I really shouldn't say this, because in a few months I'll really be whining about the heat, sun and lack of rain...but Jeez 6 inches in 2 months in the desert??? Its just gotten a little ridiculous and I'm tired of only seeing the sun through the clouds! I think that this year I'm sufferring from S.A.D.!

I never realized how much I had adjusted to constant sunshine until I lived through 2 weeks with only an hour or 2 of real sunlight! I know that we really need this rain, and several more years like this, but I"m tired of wanting to take a nap all the time, because my sinuses are whacked out from the humidity or the clouds have me depressed or whatever!

The kids have gone stir crazy from never being able to get out to play. Every time they try to go out to play, it starts raining again. I'm sick of hearing the Gamecube constantly and told them no games today, and I don't care how bad its raining...find something else to do! I'm ready to have them scrub the walls to get some of this energy burned out of them! My patience and motivation are shot, so I'm whining here today!

Ahh well, eventually we'll get some sun again, and the upside is that our pool is overfull, and we haven't added any water (at our expense) in well over a month! Shame we couldn't collect all this rain somewhere to re-fill the pool again later when it starts evaporating again!

I think I see some sun, I'd better get out and see if it actually exists for 2 minutes!

Get a Life!!!!

2005-02-21T12:56:00.000-07:00

**Normal blog post interruption notice**

I feel the need to add my opinion about what's going on with the boards and blogs here recently. I really know nothing about the situation, and I don't care to, but what I do know is a lady, whom I may not always agree with, but I respenct and value her opinion is feeling very hurt and is giving up at this point because of responses she has received from other people who assumed something, they probably shouldn't have!

One person called them a pot-stirrer, and that works for me, I think of them as a snake in the grass lying in wait for an opportunity to bite someone hard and hurt them seriously.

Personally, I have too many other things occurring in my life to worry about who, what, where, when and how. I frequent boards and blogs as a way to keep in touch with a community of people who share my hobby and interests. MAny of these ladies and gentlemen, I have grown to consider my friends over the past couple of years, and it upsets me to see them hurt. If you have so much time and the Internet world is that much a part of your life that you just assume that everything written on it is about you or someone you know, and you feel the need to go run and tattle like a 3 year old, then you need to simply GET A LIFE!

We now return you to your regularly scheduled boring life updates blog!

A Day Off

2005-02-13T17:55:00.000-07:00

Most people get at least one, normally two days per week away from the office to relax and recuperate from the work week. As a SAHM, I rarely get a day off, and as a homeschooler, it is even worse. SAHM's normally get some break when the kids trot off to school in the mornings, but I don't since I school my kids at home. I just realized that my idea of a day off, is getting 10 minutes to run to the store by myself! That's sad.

DH gripes about the office all the time, and works way more hours than he is paid for, so even any time I spend with him, is not really time off, since I have to listen to his job woes all the time. I'm tired of listening to his talking computers 3 miles over my head! It gets tiresome trying to figure out what he's talking about after awhile, and there's a limit as to how many grocery lists I can make in my head! LOL

I just want one lousy little day where I don't have to worry about housework, meals or schlepping kids anywhere...Maybe in another 4 years when DD starts driving!

General News and Griping

2005-01-31T10:20:00.000-07:00

Talking with some friends last week who were having tough weeks, I realized it was a tough week for me too. First, I'm was trying to fight off a cold/sinus/allergy thing...still. Second DS has not been the most cooperative child as far as school is concerned. Third, I'm still trying to kill that thread, and its not working. I think I'm having a serious case of winter blahs!

Thursday, 1/20 was my birthday, and DH and kids took me to TGI Fridays for the standard Birthday embarrassment. Well, in the long run I turned the tables on them, since i made them all walk through Wal-Mart with me afterwards, while I still had my balloons attached! DD got the worst of it, since I insisted that my arm be draped around her shoulder! I wasn't embarrassed at that point, I was laughing too hard...before you ask, the strongest thing I had to drink that day/night was iced tea (normal, not Long Island)!

DH promised me a nice birthday dinner just the 2 of us, which didn't happen last weekend due to the cold/allergy/sinus thing. I figured if I was going to get taken out someplace nice for good food, I wanted to be able to taste it. That weekend, I was still dragging a bit, and almost cancelled out on the craft show, but my friend said she wasn't worried about any germs I might have, since we weren't kissing or anything! That made me feel better, and I got a really cute kit from her that fits my life perfectly, and I can't wait to start it. But, there's Never Enough Time (that's the pattern by the way)! She also provided me with most of the specialty supplies I need to do the wedding sampler for my best friend who's getting married later this year! So the sampler is taking top billing at this point! After the craft fair was DD's volleyball tournament, but by then, I already had a headache and wasn't feeling very good so I dragged through the first 2-3 games. I fanilly started feeling better and was able to enjoy the second half of the tournament. The team did well considering that it was the first tournament for a brand new club team! They placed 4th in this tournament, and have their next one in 2 weeks!

Sunday was lazy and we got some housework done.

Last week tried to manage school, with a tired and half sick mom and Thursday DH worked out of the house all morning. I like having him home, but it sure screws up my schedule and program that I have the kids on. So the kids and I punted this morning and did the best that we could do with the handicap of having DH home, in the dining room and on the phone! It just doesn't work when DD wants to do her DVDs in the living room, so she went into my room, and DS promptly followed! So much for getting dressed in peace after my shower! Anyway we got through all that and went to Tae Kwon Do for DD's class. After class we flew to volleyball practice and DS and I came home to finish school and work on his science experiment.

He's supposed to be making a cloud in a glass jar anyway that he can. We tried the water & powder experiment...doesn't work with corn starch, maybe if we'd had talcum powder it would have worked. But no point in buying any now, since i broke the jar when the balloon snapped off the rim of it. He tried 2-3 more ways to get that one to work with a different bottle, but to no avail. Finally we found one with a candle, a jar and breathing into it, that at least gets a cloud on the inside of the bottle, so that's what we're doing for co-op tomorrow. His class is having a little party along with the experiment presentations, so we're taking brownie bites and calling them mud to relate them to weather! Clouds make rain, which makes mud...sounds good to me, and insures there is at least some chocolate at the party!

Friday's cloud experiment, at least fogged up the bottle, and he had a good time presenting it to his class. After class we came home and I took a nap, which felt great. Then we went to Park day and out to dinner, again without DH, since he worked late...grrrrrr! He finally got the problem fixed! So we had a quiet weekend, and I got some stitching done on the wedding sampler! I'll have to post a band checklist and update it weekly, so that I can see progress and get some cheering going for it!

Sunday night DH finally took me out for my birthday dinner, and I'm still stuffed from it! I had:

Appetizer - potato skins
Main course - Salad, filet mignon, lobster tail and baked potato with a side of lemon garlic grilled prawns
Dessert - Apple crisp! My favorite!

I can't believe I ate it all, but I did. Now I have to triple the situps to work it all back off! However, since I only get to eat like that once a year, I'm going to enjoy every bite, and ache afterwards that I can get!

While the ezboard is Down

2005-01-29T08:31:00.000-07:00

Hi all, I had a great big long post written with a major life update, but got distracted with schlepping kids as I was finishing it up...that will come next week. Today, I just have to whine ecause ezboard is down and has been since last night. I've been having too much fun with The Thread That Never Ends (link would be provided, but ezboard is down) and I want to put my 2 cents in there again!

Oh well, I must be thankful that I can reach out and touch my friends from there both through this blog and through the Yahoo group that I joined last summer when ezboard was down. Yes, we have a group that provides us our fix even when the main boards are down....sick aren't we?

Kids Say the Darndest Things

2005-01-18T15:43:00.000-07:00

OK you;ve all heard my meanderings about homeschooling DS, well here's one of the reasons I struggled with it so much!

Yesterday we got DS's curriculum in the mail, so today we started with the new stuff! Well, for the past couple of weeks, we were making do with what we had and a couple of cheap books purchased from Costco. Today we started the new curriculum and for his writing/penmanship assingment he had to practice making cursive "E e". He'd just done this a couple of weeks ago,and was not happy about having to redo it it, so he told me "Its a free world, we should only have to do what we want to do". This was his argument as to why he shouldn't have to do this particular writing assignment, along with the fact thta he already knew how to make these letters, adn he simply wanted to learn something new. So I explained to him that yes it is a free world, but there are things we still have to do whether we like them or not. We had a 10 minute discussion that, although he was free to do what he wnated there were still rules, limits and laws. As long as he stayed within those guidelines, then he was free to do what he wanted to. He said that those were "stupid..." I explained to him that they were there so that his freedom to do what he wanted did not intrude upon my freedom to do what I wanted, and that one of the rules was that he had to do his schoolwork as assigned!

This continued on for awhile, with him still refusing to do his writing, and finally I said, "OK using your logic, I'm free to only do what I want to do, and I want to nap and stitch and not cook dinner tonight, so there's not going to be any dinner." He then told me that I couldn't do that, and I explained to him that yes I could under his train of thought and logic. I'd talked to DH who was supportive of the dinner ban tonight as well, so I knew I was off the hook! Eventually he did his writing assignment, so I have to cook dinner again...drat I thought I'd managed to pull a night off!

Act My age...I doubt it!

2005-01-16T01:16:00.000-07:00

You Are 28 Years Old

28

Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe.
13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world.
20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences.
30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more!
40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

What Age Do You Act?

I found this in a three sided blog, and thought it was a lot of fun, so I posted my results here! I"ll write more seriously about stitching progress and life updates later!

Homeschool...Again

2005-01-10T19:14:00.000-07:00

Well it is official, DS has been withdrawn from the public school system and is now being homeschooled. I know many of you are aware that we were considering making this change at the first of the year. Now the decision has been made and the action taken. I've enrolled him in a science co-op that runs at the same time as DD's science co-op and purchased his curriculum today, we should have that in about a week. I'm still dealing with nerves over the additional duties that I have taken on, but I know that the Lord will provide a way to ensure that the best possible job is done!

DS has been happier, better behaved and displayed a better attitude since we started discussing this as a possibility, and when we went to his old classroom today to collect his remaining things was very happy and proud to state to all his friends that he was being homeschooled. I know in my heart that this was the best decision for him, and I look forward to the new challenges that will continue to rear their heads over the coming days, weeks, months and years. Although tonight, I'm simply tired, and need a break!

DH had to work on his big paper that is due Wednesday night for his MBA class all weekend, so I had no break over the weekend, and ended up staying up way too late last night again, so that's why I'm tired today. THis will pass, as I'm headed in now to start my bedtime ritual, that includes at least an hour of stitching time. Now if I can just keep it at an hour tonight, I'll be in great shape! LOL

A Matter of Semantics

2005-01-06T14:37:00.000-07:00

The other week my sister and I were talking about the use of the word "proud", and she stated that it was a word she tried never to use with her kids because pride is a sin according to the Bible. Now I agree with that, but had never really thought about my usage before. However, since this discussion, I've had a lot of time to think about how I use the word, and I realize that I tell my children when they've achieved something that I'm proud of them, or I'm proud of accomplishing something difficult that I've been attempting to do for awhile.

Now telling the kids that you're proud of them is a manner of praise, and it slips off the tongue as naturally as ice cream off a spoon in July. You say it without even realizing what you have said. So now that I am attempting to watch my "pride level" more closely, I find that I have to think about what I say more carefully before I say it. I'm amazed at how many different ways there are to praise a child without telling them you are proud of them. I admire, I respect, I'm pleased with their accomplishments, but I refuse to be proud of them. However, this is much more difficult than I had imagined it would be. The pride habit is difficult to break, but breaking it I am. Am I proud of my accomplishments thus far? I'm trying very hard not to be, but I am definitely pleased with my work!

Happy New Year and My New Years Goals

2005-01-01T13:37:00.000-07:00

OK I don't call them resolutions, since I know that I break resolutions withing the first day of making them!

Health/Physical Fitness

I would like to lose about 40 pounds. I was doing well at this a couple of years ago, but then got a HUGE kidney stone, and everything went to pieces.

Eat more healthy food, not Doritos or the chip of the hour.

Exercise regularly...I might join my kids Tae Kwon DO school, but then would lose the majority of my stitching time. I hate dilemmas!

Family/Friends

Continue to grow closer to my DH

Homeschool both my kids without beating them, right now this sounds very difficult, since they are bickering...again!

Maintain and improve all my current friendship, both on and offline.

Become a better friend to these people, by being more initiating in contact.

Stitching

More finishes than I had in 2004. 6 was the final count! I'm on a roll for this one already, as I finished Mini Mystery "E" this morning!

Finish at least 3 projects that are currently in my ezboard sig line, plus Mini Mystery "H" (which was added this morning, although I haven't started it yet)
Start and keep up with MIni "H" (I'll get to "F" & "G" later in the year)

Start and complete my tree skirt, so I can use it next year! Hopefully get and complete at least one of the 2 matching stockings I want to do to go with the tree skirt.

Get the new TW releases when they come out, and probably spend a few days off the Wagon, in case of kitting them up...definitely want to do more of the celtic knotwork stuff!

That's about it for me right now. I'll review this list quarterly and post progress on my goals!

Happy New Year everyone! May 2005 be the year of your dreams!

2004 in Review

2004-12-30T11:00:00.000-07:00

This post is inspired by one with an acre and I hope to do as good a job with my post as she did with hers.

2004 proved to be a good year for us in comparison to many, and for that I am very thankful! Overall DH has a job, and we have a good income which allows us to do things that we enjoy in addition to what we need to do. We are all healthy, happy and well fed! A couple of investments we made in 2003 finally started to payoff this year, and we now have some passive income! :yay

DD is doing well with the homeschooling, although I have to make some changes in my life to continue to homeschool in the future, this is part of my New Year's program (no resolutions here)! She loves her volleyball and Tae Kwon Do, now that we've finally found a school that we like!

DS has had a rough start in 2nd grade, and is bored to tears with school. Due to some changes that the school has made, we are seriously considering homeschooling him starting in January. His teacher is now out on maternity leave, and we were promised that his class would have the student teacher that trained in his classroom cover for his teacher while she had her babies. But they decided to split the classes and create a fourth 2nd grade class. They hired the student teacher to take the 4th class, and DS did not get moved into that classroom. His substitute will be another new teacher (she student taught last semester in a 3rd grade class) and although we've met her, and she seems nice and has great plans to teach, I still have my concerns. DS does not deal with change very well, and he wants to be homeschooled NOW. So he and I have spent a good portion of the break working together, and seeing how things would be a little. Changes they are a-comin'!

My stitching...I've completed 5 projects this year (plus an MBA). I should finish a 6th project today, as I have about 20 minutes left to complete another ornament. Then I'm going to attempt to finish Mini Mystery "E" before the new year appears late tomorrow night! Since it sounds like my New Year's Eve party os being cancelled, I'll probably stitch most of the evening! So there is still some hope! Next year's foreshadowing can be found here, and I'll get it posted here next year, and try to update quarterly, even if it is just a cut and paste of the original list with progess noted!

Friends have been made aplenty this year. Since getting involved with the big TWBB GTG in Vegas, I've grown close to several of the ladies involved in the original planning. Each one of these ladies is special to me for numerous reasons. One of them even lives relatively close to me, although we almost had to go to Vegas to actually meet! I'm hoping that 2005 brings a closer friendship between us that extends to our families as well. The next one is a prolific and sometimes controversial poster, who is really a lot of fun. Unfortunately we live too far apart to develop a close in person relationship, although our friendship has grown through e-mails and IMs since Vegas, and I hope to get our families together next year somehow! Last but certainly not least is the lady who called me her sanity during the GTG. We've also grown closer since the trip, and even had a wonderful 7 minute lunch and shop last week! All these people are special to me in their own way, and I look forward to many good times with them in the future!

In real life my friendships are about the same, although I have added some new people to the cast of characters and am in the process of renewing an old friendship that had drifted apart a little due to issues in both our lives. I also have a new SIL whom I hope to develop a friendship with as time permits. Of course her wedding was not a good time fr us to really get to know each other, and that's the only time I've actually met her. 2,000+ miles makes it difficult to GTG regularly, so we make do with other communication alternatives.

In other news DH is attempting to get a new business started and was looking for investors. We had some that were interested, but they seemd to vanish after the elections. I just found out we have some more that are interested, but we are currently having some technical issues with the final draft of the paperwork for them.

DH has also had an intersting year with cars. About a month ago he got rear-ended on the freeway in an accident that did almost no physical damage to the body of the car, but trashed his transfer case. We finally got the insurance company to purchase the part, since it was accident related and he's been in a renatl car or two almost all month. The first renatl car was a Sebring, which within 3 days of his picking it up had a flat tire. Then the radio randomly went out when he hit a bump! Finally it just wouldn't start one afternoon. We managed to get it started with him jiggling the electrical wires under teh hood while I turned the key. At that point, we took it back to the rental place and got a replacement. First they offered us an Impala, like I drove while I was in VA, but it had a flaky looking tire, so we ended up with a Ford F_150, and he's as happy as can be with it, and doesn't want the Jeep back. I don't blame him, but the Jeep has a major benefit going for it...its paid for! So I guess in the next year or so, I'm going to have a second car payment...again, since he really wants a pick-up truck now!

Overall its been a good year with some challenges, but we've survived and our marriage is stronger now than its been in awhile. I'm hoping this trend will continue through 2005 and beyond! I hope you have all had a very Merry Christmas and will have a great 2005!

Warped Logic

2004-12-28T09:16:00.000-07:00

DD came to me this morning with a list of cities asking if I knew any BBer's who lived there. I stated that I knew of people who lived in the general vicinity of several of the cities on the list. Upon questioning her as to what she was up to, she explained to me that she wanted to give me a birthday present of a trip to one of these cities with her father (DH) and herself to see Hilary Duff!

Now, Hilary Duff is one of the less obnoxious pop singers these days, but trust me this is not a concert I would choose to attend if I could possibly avoid it! I told her that this was not a birthday present for me, but an excuse for her to go see this concert, and I did not appreciate my birthday being used in such a manner. However, she has continued to push the issue, thinking this is simply the greatest birthday present of all time! I'm trying to decide who I would truly like to see for my birthday now....maybe Jimmy Buffet!

Life Update...As Promised

2004-12-13T09:42:00.000-07:00

Life has been extrememly hectic and busy with both kids starting Tae Kwon Do and Volleyball season winding down. I've been meaning to attempt to catch you all up on my life for awhile, but haven't had the chance to do it, so here goes.

I have been very busy wiht schlepping kids and an e-mail chat group I've gotten involved with. Yes I still keep secrets, and know more than I've ever known before, but I don't share with anyone but my husband! I've been stitching away on my bookmark from Vegas between ornaments from my ornament RR. I have about another week to work on the bookmark before the next ornament comes in, and I hope to get it finished during that time. However, I really only stitch at the kids classes, and rarely at home. Of course when I'm home, I try to work on one of my larger projects, so they get some attention too, but I've found the majority of the progress comes on my travel projects.

DH is still working at the same job and tomorrow night is the company Christmas party. We're going for a little while, but I don't think we're going to eat dinner there, as last years was gross. Also there are so many people in attendance that attempting to find someone you know is like looking for a needle in a haystack. The following Friday is his departmental party, to which "significant others" have been invited. I told my husband I was not invited since I'm NOT a significant other, I'm a SPOUSE. I know a minor semantic pickiness, but it is something I believe, and I let him know how I felt last night. I'll probably go anyway, simply because I want faces to put with the names I've been hearing for the past two years, but still I wanted my feelings on the word usage known!

DD and DS started Tae Kwon Do back at the first of October, and they just tested for their orange belts last weekend. THey both did very well, and are really enjoying the program. DD's class meets from 11-12 on Tuesdays and Thursdays, which allows for a nice break in the middle of her school day. It also encourages her to work hard in the mornings to get school done, so she has the afternoon to pursue other things she wants to do during the school day.

As I mentioned volleyball season has ended for the year. DD's team took the divisional championship title. However in the championships her team lost their second set, and were disqualified. We're still very proud of the girls and how well they did this year! She is now playing club volleyball with a new club that started up this year. The coaches from her regular season team put together a club team for the homeschooled kids, and DD is on it. She's really enjoying this, but it is a lot more work than the regular team. I think it will make her a better player come next year, and that is my long term goal, as long as she wants to play, I want to provide her with every opportunity she wants to pursue to improve.

DS is still enjoying Cub Scouts, and has earned his Bobcat badge. This means he is now working towards his Wolf badge! He should have this by the end of the school year. He's also doing well in school. As a matter of fact he's doing so well academically, that he os bored a good portion of the time in class. I'm looking into a charter school for him, until I'm ready for the responsibility of homeschooling him as well. Unfortunately, he's just not as busy with activities as DD is, so its harder to come up with interesting hi-lights of his life to share! LOL

I'm also thinking about attempting a little teaching next year for DD's co-op. I would be teaching a consumer math class for the high school students who are not planning on attending college. This class would be a lot of fun for me to teach, since it is primarily a business math type of class. It is probably about as close as I will get to teaching accounting in a co-op situation, unless I end up in a huge co-op where there would be enough kids interested in accounting to make it worth my time teaching it. I should have the text book sometime next week to take a look at and determine if this is something I could really handle. From looking at the web description, I believe it is, of course seeing the actual book will be a much better judging tool.

That's about all for now from Phoenix, where its been rather chilly, but is warming up a little! Please keep our family in your thoughts and prayers as we face some major life-changing decisions over the next few weeks/months depending on how things go. I won't say more for right now, because we're not sure what's happening and I don't want to jinx anything. But if things work the way we want it will be a good thing!

e-mail Funny

2004-12-08T20:03:00.000-07:00

Again long time no blog. I was chatting with a friend of mine tonight and we were talking about blogging for a few minutres, and I mentioned that I hadn't blogged in awhile, so it was one less blog for her to catch up with. Then I checked my e-mail and found the following! I got such a laugh out of it, I wanted to share it with you my patient and faithful readers. Hope you all enjoy it, and I'll try to get something about my boring life posted in the next few days! For now, here's the joke:

The following is supposedly an actual question given on a University of Washington chemistry mid-term. The answer by one student was so"profound" that the professor shared it with colleagues, via theInternet, which is, of course, why we now have the pleasure of enjoyingitas well.

Bonus Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic(absorbs heat)? Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law(gas cools when it expands and heats when it is compressed) or some variant.

One student, however, wrote the following: First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So we need to know the rate at which souls are moving into Hell and the rate at which they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving. As for how many souls are entering Hell, let's look at the different Religions that exist in the world today. Most of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell. Since there is more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell. With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially.

Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyle's Law states that in order for thet emperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand proportionately as souls are added. This gives two possibilities: 1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks loose. 2. If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over.So which is it? If we accept the postulate given to me by Teresa during my Freshman year that, "it will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you, and take into account the fact that I slept with her last night, then number 2 must be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and has already frozen over. The corollary of this theory is that since Hell has frozen over, it follows that it is not accepting any more souls and is therefore, extinct... leaving only Heaven thereby proving the existence of a divine being which explains why, last night, Teresa kept shouting "Oh my God."

THIS STUDENT RECEIVED THE ONLY "A"

I Learned A Little HTML!

2004-10-21T09:17:00.000-07:00

Thanks to a wonderful Wandering One I've learned a little HTML code! THanks to this same person, I've updated my signature line on the boards, and almost did the table completely by myself. The table is what allowed me to have the two drop down boxes side by side! I've even managed to update them and moved a former WIP to the 2004 finished box! For someone who is totally computer illiterate, with the exception of packages designed for end users, I'm ecstatic that I was able to accomplish this!

I'm thinking I want to learn a little more HTML so that I really know what I'm doing enough to update and change the appearance of this blog better than I do now.

As far as other news is concerned, DS had his parent teacher conference earlier this week, and I got a greeat compliment from one of his teachers! He's been having trouble in school with keeping his mouth shut and regularly gets in trouble for talking in class. I've told him that if he can go a week without talking, I'd take him out for lunch (or cater it in). Well he hasn't quite made it yet, but his teachers have noticed a great improvement in his behavior over the past few weeks. So they told me that whatever I was doing at home was working! DD is back to school after a few days off to help me around the house. She started back at it yesterday, and that was tough getting her back into the swing of school, but we survived it, and she's back on track this morning! DH just got back from a week in Florida last night, and I ask you all to keep us in your prayers for wisdom and discernment over the next few weeks as we face some new challenges. I'm stitching fairly regularly again, and loving it, as a matter of fact, I have an hour of stitching scheduled for later this morning!

Overall, we are all happy and healthy, so I really can't complain!

Boards

2004-10-15T16:29:00.000-07:00

There are many cross stitch ezboards available for those of us who wish to discuss our favorite hobby in the online community. These boards range from designer sponsored, strictly stitching boards to primarily chat boards and cover a wide variety in between. There are boards whose primary political bent is conservative and those whose political leaning is liberal and all points of the spectrum in between.

This post is not about the politics of any board, or even politics in general. This is more about the character and attitude of the various boards in general. THere are boards that I feel very comfortable posting at and participating on, whereas others are not as comfortable and then there is one in particular where I have lurked as anonymous, due to my desiring to read a particular event that is occurring where that board is involved, however, I would never post there, or even admit to lurking due to the general nature of the board. I do not enjoy being associated with boards where people are negative and bashing other people, or where people are generally insipidly silly.

I also have severely limited my posting on another board where it has appeared that posts or threads have disappeared when people disagree or criticize the thread's origiantor. This board I have almost completely abandoned posting at, since I do not believe that anyone should delete a thread simply because some one else's opinion differs from your own and it is blatently stated.

Rather than make a statement on this board, I have simply elected to terminante my relationship with the board. This is my perogative, and no-one appears to miss me there too much, so I'm not losing any sleep over it. I have better things to do with my time than to worry over whether people on a board miss me at all. My DD and DS are very active children and I am constantly running them around. My DH is a very busy man, and does as much as he can, but still most of the extra-curricular activities fall on my shoulders. I have my friends and the people that I care about and those are the ones that I keep in contact with, either through the boards, e-mail or IM. Otherwise, I am not worried about it. This was simply a topic that was on my heart and I felt I needed to share it with the world.

So if you've missed seeing me around certain boards, then its probably that I needed a "time-out" from them. I'm still around breathing and stitching every spare minute I can get!

Long Time, No Blog...Again

2004-09-22T08:18:00.000-07:00

Well its been a long time again since I blogged about anything, since I feel like I spend all my time in the car running here and there! So I'm going to start with a quick update on my life and stitching.

Life

DD's homeschooling is coming along well, and she is staying relatively up-to-date! However as a Jr. High student, she is desiring to be involved with everything! Her volleyball is going well and after last night's wins, her team is in contention for first place! Volleyball is a 4 day a week commitment through the end of October, so this is the majority of my running right now. Her choir class is also going well, and she is enjoying it too. I look forward to the end of volleyball season so she can attend all of her choir classes! Girl Scouts are also keeping her busy, as is her science co-op and student council through the co-op group! Fortunately science is on Fridays (our 1 non-busy day) and student council is only 1 Friday a month! She is thinking about trying to take on club volleyball after the regular season is over...she just now mentioned that one to me...ugh!

DS is bored to tears with 2nd grade, and I need to look into alternatives for him. I'm not sure I'm ready to homeschool him, due to the fact that I still have things I need to accomplish around here, before I am ready to take on that sort of time commitment, but I am starting to think that the local public school is not even a good temporary solution for him. I need to talk to DH about this before I make changes in his world though.

DH's job is still the same...long hours, no respect and no sign of improvements in sight. He has about 1 more year until he completes his MBA, and then hopefully he can find something better! I hope this year flies, since I'm getting tired of the junk that goes along with this job.

Stitching

I am still working on the wedding sampler for my BIL and his soon to be wife. Today, I am taking time off from housework, cub scouts etc...to work on this. I hope to have some real progress to show after today. The ornie for the ornament RR should be completed shortly, I just need to do the BS'ing and in order to do it properly, I want to look at the color photo (which I haven't carried with me when I've worked on it) to ensure I"m putting the cording in teh right spots only!

Other Thoughts (inspired by Annette's blog from September 15)

How big is your plate? My plate is too small, as it is limited by the number of hours in a day. I try to spend some time on kids, housework, DH and myself everyday. However the kids and housework seem to demand almost all of the plate. Then DH gets his sliver of the plate, and my time tends to get shoved off the edge, so it doesn't always happen. However, today, I am skipping housework, and cub scout demands as much as possible and taking time for my stitching. Of course, although this is me time, I will be working on obligation pieces that need to get completed, as deadlines are looming. I plan to post progress on the sampler tomorrow. I have quite a bit of it done, but need to get much further than I am right now! Wish me luck!

The Reasons for Being on The Wagon

2004-09-01T10:27:00.000-07:00

Also known as the Vegas Stash Report! I promised to post this almost a month ago, but am still in denial regarding how much money I spent! Anyway I got:

From Stitcher's Paradise:

Gingher scissors
Scissors fob
Stitch counter to match (one of my favorite tools)
3 packs of John James needles
7 pieces of fabric for the Ornament RR
Charms and floss for the RR
A VS heart kit for my Dimensions Trading Group July trade
TW's The Minstrel
TW's 12 Days of Christmas
TW's Best of Christmas
TW's Tea Scene
TW's Celtic Knotwork Crosses
TW's Holly and Ivy Sampler
TW's Woodland Angel Stocking, fabric and specialty pack
TW's Princess and the Dragon
TW's Celestial Dragon
TW's Floral Bellpull for my Mom (one of the few TW designs she'd even attempt
TW's freebies (of course) The bookmark is kitted, and I hope Herald will get kitted (via gift certificate) for Christmas
JCS 2003 Ornament Issue
Legends of the Spellcasters
Wee Beasties 5-7, the Dragonflies for DS the dragonfly fanatic
Dragon Dreams Dani
Sweetheart Tree's To Have and To Hold Bridal Sampler with specialty pack

All the TW's, of course are signed, poor Teresa, I wonder if she still has writers cramp dfrom that one!

From Julie Norton's class:

I got the Scissors fob kit from class
Plain and Simple Teadching Doily - kitted up
A Cord Winder
A pair of tweezers for Hardanger

From the gift bag exchange (I got Dagmar's bag):

A small tote bag
A hand towel
Anchor floss
A book of patterns for stitching on the towel

Once I get the wedding sampler I'm doing for my BIL done, I'm starting the towel Dagmar gave me, and my bookmark! I have been looking forward to these projects for a couple of weeks now, but have to get some obligation stuff done first! I also have to get cracking on that ornament, since the first mailing date is coming up. So if I don't blog for a few days, hopefully I'm stitching like crazy to get caught up to where I need to be!

Wagon Challenge

2004-09-01T08:29:00.000-07:00

The Wagon is running a challenge from today until February 2005, and I am participating in it. Below is my pledge to stick to the challenge. Although I debated about making a couple of last minute commitments, such as the Secret Stitchers for this round, I managed to not do it. I do want to subscribe to the last two gemstone mysteries, and may try to con DH into buying them for me as an early Christmas present, at least the charts, the supplies I can get later, since I'm way behind on stitching the mysteries as well as everything else I have started. My primary reason for doing the challenge, is that I had already committed to abstinence after Vegas, and this is another way of supporting myself in achieving that commitment. I also thought it would be fun! So without further ado, here is my pledge!

I, Margaret, do solemnly promise, not to purchase anything between September 1, 2004 and February 2005. The exceptions to this promise are supplies needed for current WIPs ONLY, gifts and finishing of the wedding sampler that needs to be framed for a wedding on October 9. I do NOT promise to avoid starting anything new, as I have plenty of stash to start new projects, without purchasing anything. However, if it is a new start that requires more supplies, it must go into UFO status until the end of this challenge. I also pledge to support and encourage my fellow challengees in anyway that I can. This includes providing words of encouragement and participating in the games and challenges that are part of the challenge, or anything else that may be necessary to support other participants.

I will report monthly on how well I am doing with this challenge. I am looking forward to a fun way to stay on the Wagon and the games that Carleen has planned!

Of Trips and Toilets

2004-08-30T10:49:00.000-07:00

Since everyone is burned out on Vegas at this point, including me, I will not attempt to write the massively long diatribe I had written the other day that got eaten. Suffice it to say, Vegas was a blast, and I came home well stashed and exhausted! Will I do it again? YES, in no uncertain terms I will be at the next WW GTG!

When I got home on Monday, my DH advised me that the toilet was blocked in the master bathroom, and we had to use the other bathroom...no biggie, except its TOTM, and I'm getting up in the middle of the night and having to stumble across the house now! ugh... Anyway, I survived the trips across the house, even in my sleep! In the meanwhile, DH is frantically pouring gallons of Drano type stuff down the toilet, and nothing is working. Tripper our big dog, who has a habit of drinking out of toilets, tried to drink some of this stuff, burned his tongue (which probably saved his life) and got rushed to the vet. A hundred dollars worth of vet later, he is home on a special diet for a few days with some steroids to sprinkle on his tongue until it heals. So now we have classes daily on how to close the toilet lid...and does anyone remember, nah that's too easy! Grr...

ANyway to continue with the saga, its now Thursday night and DH finally decides to pull the toilet off the floor to find the obstruction! SO I'm out at a meeting for Cub Scouts when he does this and he hears a distinct clunk in the toilet. SHakes it around, but still can't get anything out. So he connects the shop vac up to blow, instead of vacuum, and tries to clean the toilet. There is a huge clunk against the lid, and what comes out? A 4 inch long dog bone! So I get back home just in time to help him get the toilet remounted on the floor, and hear the story of the evening's adventures!

Yesterday while surfing the web, I did manage to find a solution to our open lid problems, but its probably out of the budget, but still I think its funny! Here's the description of the solution:

9. Self-Serve Toilet Seats
In the scheme of things, toilet seats are minor. But imagine the marital bliss when the seat takes care of itself—and
pampers you in the bargain. From Toto, the tankless Neorest "washlet" turns the toilet into a warm-water cleansing unit. Gentle front-and-back aerated spray; oscillating spray massage, a heated seat, automatic deodorizer and warm drying make hygiene high-tech. Approach and the lid automatically opens. Stand
there and the seat rises, too. When you leave, Neorest automatically flushes and the lid closes. Genius.
Just what you all wanted to hear about today! LOL SO that was my excitement when I got home from Vegas. I still have to do a stash report, but I don't think I'll ever admit to all the stuff I bought! Just suffice it to say, that I have plenty of projects to keep me occupied for a long time to come. I also started working on BIL's wedding sampler while I was there, and have made great progress with it since I've gotten back home. Pictures will follow...someday!

Sorry I'm so slow in getting this posted, but life has gotten in the way. I promise to do better in the future!

David Tippin Has been FOUND!

2004-08-03T09:15:00.000-07:00

Dear Lord Thank You so much for guiding people to where David Tippen was staying. I am so grateful that he was found alive and in good health, all things considered! Thank You for the comfort that You provided his family during this ordeal, and for all the wondrous works You performed in providing David a safe place to sleep until he was found. Amen

A prayer for David Tippen

2004-08-02T17:44:00.000-07:00

Lord, tonight I lift up Stacey Tippen and her son David who has been a missing 4 year old for over 24 hours now. I pray that you would guide the searchers to him and bring him back to his family safely and unharmed. ALthough I don't know Stacey personally she is one of the many people that I consider an Internet friend. Please in addition to guiding them to David, I ask you to touch this family with your comfort and love so that they may feel your wondrous comfort and love during this difficult time. Thank you Jesus. Amen

For more information please follow the link to Stacey's blog. I will post an update when there is news, otherwise this blog will remain dark until David is found.

I'm Suffering from...

2004-07-29T09:45:00.000-07:00

Post-partum depression...Oh no wait, I've been reading too much Erma Bombeck recently, since I didn't give birth to a child in the past 7 years, I just completed my MBA! I didn't suffer much post-partum depression with either of my kids, but I'm sure suffering from some sort of let down right now. It has been just over a week since I finished my MBA, and I have no motivation to do anything at this point, except sleep and whine that I am sick of doing everything!

I honestly don't know if this is simply let down from the reduction of stress, a feeling of being overwhelmed by all the boards I have been reading recently or a sense of loss because none of them are quite the same. I know I said I was just going to move on and enjoy the changes, but at this moment they are difficult to swallow!

Personally though, I suspect my issues are a combination of all the changes all at the same time. I will bounce back and be fine, and I truly have been enjoying expanding my horizons, but at this point, I need to get away from the computer and break this bad habit I have gotten into of being here all the time. I need to clean my house, so that is where I am going to start with baby steps. In order to motivate myself, I am picking one room and attacking it for the length of one CD today. Then I will do the same tomorrow, and so on and so on...

Today's music choice? A Billborad's Top Hits CD from 1975! I think that might help me get moving. The best part is there is only 1 song on the CD I don't know/like! Then back to the boards, unless I decide to go hibernate and stitch for awhile....really want to do some of that, but just can't get the motivation going to thread the needle.

Ah well, off to do what I NEED to do today. I'll let you all know how it works, either later today or tomorrow! In the meanwhile, at this time next week I'll be doing last minute packing in preparation for leaving for Vegas in about an hour!

The ABC's of Me

2004-07-27T13:30:00.000-07:00

OK I borrowed this from Moira's blog directly, but have seen it so many places taht I don't know where it originated.

Act your age? Why?
Born on what day of the week? Monday
Chore you hate? Scrubbing Toilets
Dad's name? Philip
Essential makeup item? Eye Makeup
Favorite actor? Sean Connery
Gold or silver? White Gold
Hometown? Arlington, VA
Instruments you play? Does a computer keyboard count? I'm truly not musically inclined!
Job? Stay At Home Mom, Homeschool Mom, CPA (almost), Chauffeur to Kids
Kids? DD 12, DS 7 2 cats and 2 GSDs
Living arrangements? Married with children
Mom's name? Carolyn
Need? 48 hour days without increasing my required sleep time!
Overnight hospital stays? 2 kids nothing else
Phobias? Heights, Crowds
Quote you like? I have several! The quote I use in my BB sig line, and the one I blogged about recently are two of my current favorites!
Religious affiliation? Non-denominational Christian
Siblings? 2 older Step-Brothers 1 younger blood sister and 2 younger step-sisters (1 deceased). However these days, I feel closer to my step siblings than my blood sister
Time you wake up? Around 7 most mornings.
Unique talent? Completed MBA in almost record time? Did an online program, and still can't type!
Vegetable you like? Green beans are my all time favorite, but I like most other veggies too! Bell peppers are the exception, and I'm mildly allergic to them.
Worst habit? smoking
X-rays you've had? Dental, Finger when smashed in car door, Tailbone when fractured...don't ask
Yummy food you make? Spaghetti Sauce
Zodiac Sign? Capricus aka Capricorn-Aquarius, depending on which place you look!

1 Year 3 Months and 26 Days ago....

2004-07-21T09:45:00.000-07:00

... I started my MBA program. Today I finish it! It's PARTY TIME! I figured out last night that the worst I can do in this class is a C-, so if I don't turn in the final paper that is what I will get. However, since I put the effort into writing it, I will turn it in. There is no place to go but up! The paper is with my proofreader right now, and I hope to have it posted soon, so the party can truly begin! I cannot believe that it is finally over, but I know reality will sink in over the next couple of weeks! 2 weeks and its off to Vegas for a long weekend, then the kids start back to school, and I have to get serious about my housekeeping! Ahh well I'll enjoy my next couple of weeks at least!

Editied to add: I posted my happy dance on the TWBB, since that was where I hung out on the web when this all started!

A Power Outage and The Minor Emergency Clinic

2004-07-20T15:28:00.000-07:00

Today has just been the day from Hades! It started at 2:30 this morning when our power went out, although I was lucky enough to sleep until 3! At that point, I called the power company just to be told that it was out and they had no idea why, but the crews were out working on it. The person I spoke with didn't even know where the outage issue occurred...What's up with that? SP anyway at 5 I ealized that I did have access to the news, by listening to the radio in my car, I found out that another substation caught fire just a couple of miles from my house and that originally 50,000 people were powerless. At that point they said there were still about 13,000 people without power, I guess I was one of those lucky 13, since I didn't get my power restored until about 7:15. At that point, I told DS to play quietly, as I was going back to bed! I got about 2 hours more sleep, and woke up to no power again! This time I decided it was time to get up and face the day, so I started to prepare to get my shower and get cleaned up for the day.

I asked DS to fix food for the dogs, while I took my shower (this is a relatively normal thing). He started opening the canned food to mix with the dry, and all thoughts of a shower left my mind, when he cut his finger on the lid. So off to the minor emergency clinic we race. An hour later (muct have been record time for them) we left with DS and 3 stitches in his right middle finger (good thing he's a lefty). So we come home and feed the poor dogs, who by now are over hungry. Then we prepare to have our regularly scheduled day wich included a trip to the bank and picking up the Vegas t-shirts. We were supposed to meet a friend for lunch while we were downtown getting the shirts, but had to cancel, due to my friend's work schedule today, and my having no idea how long the clinic would take.

So anyway, we get rolling to the bank and stop to grab lunch to eat on teh drive down to get the t-shirts. Got the shirts, adn they are gorgeous! I love them! Then came back home, where amazingly enough the power was still on. At this point, I am just exhausted, but I still need to prep the shirts so that we can mail them tomorrow and get back on our original plan for the week. At least my final paper is done, and even if I did not turn it in at this point, I should end up with a 'C' in the class! I will pass this no matter what!

They say all's well that ends well, and I am happy with that at this point in time. DS will be fine, as a matter of fact, he thinks its cool that he got stitches! I accomplished most of what I needed to do today, just need to reschedule my luncheon, and hopefully I won't get hit with another blackout today! I have had enough of being powerless!

2 Days and 300 Words

2004-07-19T12:54:00.000-07:00

I am making progress on my final paper...finally! I've written about 600 words of it this morning! Once I get done with the last parts, I'll send it to my proofreader and ensure that it makes as much sense to an outside person as it does to me! I'm just excited that I'm finally able to write again today. THis past week has been busy opening new doors, and exploring new options and daydreaming about being done with this program, but today reality is setting in, and that is that I need to get this done before I can continue on with my "new" life! I apologize to all that I am boring with the trials and tribulations of finishing this program, but right now, I really need some encouragement, so I'm posting here!

I promise that I will stop whining about this on Wednesday, when I throw a "party" because I will be DONE! Thanks all for your support and patience while I finish this important chapter of my life!

Oooo 2 Posts In 1 Day!

2004-07-14T13:24:00.000-07:00

I was just taking a moment and reading my August Reader's DIgest and came across this quote that I had to share! "While this door is closing, another door is opening. It's our job to go find that door."

This quote describes my cuurent feelings (now that I have acceptance) about the TWBB closing of JPC and other forums. As of this moment, I am going to stop writing/thinking/etc. about the past and the changes taht ae occurring. Instead, I am going to go find my new open door!

7 Days...

2004-07-14T12:21:00.000-07:00

7 measly little days until I can say that my MBA is complete! I have to "participate" in my class on 2 different days during this time and complete my 2800 (minimum) word paper, about 1900 words doen thus far, thanls to Annette's encouragement! I am so excited, that I wish the paper was done so that I could start celebrating now, but unfortunately I've been struggling with motivation, which is why I'm not there yet!

During these next 7 days, I am also exploring my options for new Internet homes. I have 3 possibilities, and may just "pretend to be rich" and visit all three regularly. However, I also have to start cleaning my house and doing other stuff that I have procrasitnated doing because of the MBA (only 7 more days)! Next time my CC is over here by the desk, I will purchase my thingie for the next year. Had been trying to hold off until the MBA (1 little week) was done to see what my usage would be like once I no longer had the excuse to sit here all the time, but I"m ready to give up on that concept now! LOL I know that if nothing else, I will cruise through the boards in the mornings "with my coffee" and then again when I take a break on whatever I am doing during the day. So I think I will still get plenty of benefit from it, and I know the boards will be better off for my buying it!

Oh have I mentioned yet I only have a week, aka 7 days, until I complete my MBA? I haven't well than let me tell you, Only 7 more 24 hour periods until I am done with the MBA program! I will sleep for about 1/3 of that time, so that reduces the "awake" time by 2 and 1/3 days. WHich means awake time I only have 4 and 2/3rds days left to complete my MBA!

I'm not excited or anything am I?

Have a great day everyone!

Looking For A New Home

2004-07-13T09:21:00.000-07:00

Lost one very happy TWBB JPC person, who is looking for a new home to adopt her.

OK fine that's not exactly true, but its sort of how I am feeling right now. TWBB JPC has been a comfortable home for me on the 'net and the first BB that I have been involved in for this period of time. I have gotten to know many people there, and feel like I have made some online friends, several of whom I look forward to meeting in jus t3 short weeks. I know there are many different boards that are stepping up to fill the gap that the loss of JPC is leaving. I just need some time to find where I fit now that there are choices. Although I understand that hte decision needed to be made, I'm still saddened by the fact that it had to happen in the first place. As stated elsewhere, there are 3 sides to every story at a minimum, and this one probably has a lot more than that, since more than just 2 people were involved. But I'm not here to write about that to begin with, but my feelings regarding the outcome. Aside from sad, I'm feeling a little lost at the moment and overwhelmed with all the new choices. On a lighter note, I'll miss my almost 2300 posts that I managed to accumulate over the past year and a half!

Well Its Been a Long Time! Another Random Set of Posts

2004-07-08T09:00:00.000-07:00

I have been really bad about updating this recently, probably because I am sick of computers and sitting here all day typing various and sundry papers! I have two weeks left on my MBA and am really burning out rapidly. I would rather be somewhere else curled up and stitching at this point, than behind the computer at all! Unfortunately, I need to finish my MBA and while I'm working on that I get distracted by the TWBB!
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Speaking of the TWBB, there have been a lot of upset people over there recently, and although I understand their point and why they feel the way they do, I do not necessarily agree with them. I hope that makes sense. There have been missed communications between various people which have led to members of the community feeling like there are too many stories and not knowing quite what to believe. This all makes me sad, since as part of a community is misunderstandings and disagreements in philosophies. There is no where anyone can go without running into these issues to some degree. Although there are certain places you can go in real life where you are more apt to find people who agree with you on certain issues, you will also find that there are different levels of passion about the issues and then there are disagreements regarding other things. The ONLY person in the whole wide world that agrees with you 100% in ideals, intensity, and idiosyncracies is you! In others you should expect some form of disagreement, and that disagreement should be stated respectfully, it is not always done. This is what led to some of the issues seen on the TWBB recently. At least this is my opinion and observations from reading about it. I didn't say anything at the time, since I normally remain fairly quiet on the serious subjects, this is my place to play and have fun.

I am deeply saddened with the losses and rifts that have occurred in the community recently, and hope that as time passes and wounds heal things will straighten back out. I do not know if this post will help things at all, but this is my place to write about what is important to me.
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We have a problem in my house, and it could potentially become a BIG problem! Our new puppy is a water dog! Tuesday night, she jumped right into the swimming pool (we have a diving pool) in the deep end! Fortunately DD was there and helped her swim to the steps! This was after her antics Tuesday morning when she jumped into my shower! As soon as we got her dried off, and DD was taking her shower, the puppy jumped in there with DD as well!

Then yesterday morning, while I was frantically trying to write a paper that was due last night, I heard a scraping sound in the kitchen, then I heard splashes and soggy "plops" (like the sound of wet barefeet, so I get up to investigate! What did I see? The puppy had dragged the big dogs water dish across the kitchen while wading in and out of it, and was splashing water all over the kitchen floor! Although I wanted to fuss at her I couldn't because she looked up at me with these big innocent puppy eyes, and a grin on her face as if to say, "But Mom, I'm having fun" so I did the only thing any self respecting mother of a puppy would do...I laughed and cleaned it up!
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Speaking of the puppy, who is teething and very chewy at this point, we have coined a new term "furrigator" with these teeth she is an alligator with fur!
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Well I think that is enough rambling for now! I still have tons more to share, but I won't bore you with it all at once!

How To Make A mfs64

2004-06-16T08:02:00.000-07:00

How to make a mfs64

Ingredients:

3 parts success

5 parts humour

3 parts ego

Method:
Blend at a low speed for 30 seconds. Add lovability to taste! Do not overindulge!

Personality cocktail
From Go-Quiz.com

I liked this answer better than the Margaret answer, so I chose to use my user name!

6 Weeks and Counting

2004-06-10T13:16:00.000-07:00

Well, I had a blog entry composed on paper that I was supposed to post yesterday, but it'll have to wait until tomorrow. I have great news to share! Instead of 8 weeks left in my MBA program, I only have 6 calendar weeks! I submitted a request for a prerequisite waiver, in order to start my capstone class 2 weeks early, and I heard this morning it was approved! So now instead of completing on August 4, the day before I leave for Vegas, I will complete on July 21! That allows me 2 weeks with my kids and time to stitch before i leave for Vegas! I am so excited I just had to share this with all of you!

9 Weeks!

2004-06-04T08:37:00.000-07:00

I have 9 weeks left to complete my MBA! I cannot wait, I am so tired of studying and writing papers and everything else! The best part of all is that the day after I complete my MBA, I get to take a fabulous trip to Las Vegas to meet many of my BB friends for the first time! It will be a well earned vacation and time of rest!

During the next 9 weeks, I will manage to survive another summer swim season, my DH and DD both traveling one out of town on business and one to summer camp. My DS and I will have a week with just the 2 of us, and many other exciting things this summer! Both kids have birthdays in this timeframe and each will have a party this year. DS's is at the local Chuck E. Cheese equivalent and DD's is still in the thinking about phase, but will probably include her 2 best friends and the mall! In and amongst all this I hope to find some time to stitch, as I am way behind on my Mini Mystery E, taht I really wanted to do and keep up with.

My 4 month stitching slump really has me bummed out at this point. I did pick up a needle to help DD get started with her first project on evenweave, and that felt so good, that I really want to stitch now, but once the kids are in bed, I'm too tired. MAybe this afternoon, I'll take some time and get my project started!

Other intersting news, I put in a request for a prerequisite for my final class to be waived. If it is approved, I only have 7 more weeks till I'm done with my MBA, instead of 9! Please pray that they approve my request, since that would just really make my day!

I really am not having any deep profund thoughts this morning, so I'm just rambling. Ahhh well, I'll go back to reading BBs and other blogs, maybe something will strike!

Another School Year is Done

2004-05-27T08:57:00.000-07:00

Well today is my kids' last day of school! DD just finished her final bit of Science for the year, and so she is done. DS gets out at noon today, and then he is done for the year! This brings up another question for me.

What has happened with the raising of children over the past couple of decades where the kids are no longer allowed to carry their backpacks/bookbags on the last day of school? I do not ever remember being so destructive as to consider taking eggs or shaving cream or anything else to school to play pranks on the last day of school, and I don't remember any of my friends doing it either...we weren't allowed to consider taking such items to school, unless they were to be used for an educational purpose. But these days on the last day of school, I won't let my children walk home alone, or play outside for the first hour or so after school lets out, because although the kids can't take this stuff to school, they tend to hide it around the neighborhood to use after school.

DD says that there are kids who want to celebrate being out of school by vandalizing. What happened to just being loud and obnoxious, in a non-destructive way? Why have parents allowed their children to act in this manner in the first place. I know that if I had tried any of the stunts I have seen the past few years, my bottom would have been so sore I could not sit for a week. Which brings me to another issue.

Parents are so concerned about hurting the child, or damaging their psyche, that they do not spank their children in a loving way anymore. As a matter of fact, no matter how you spank a child today it is considered child abuse! Some children learn best through their bottom ends. I have one like that, I have another to whom that type of punishment does not work, and he needs a different technique, which assists much better in behavior modification. However, I know that if either one of my children ever attempted the vandalism activities that have caused schools to banish back packs on the last day of school, neither of them would see the light of day, aside from through the windows of their bedrooms for quite awhile!

I am just disgusted that the school is having to enforce this ridiculous procedure, even though the last day of school is a total joke to begin with, and I would have no problem with my children skipping the last week every year! All learning actually stopped sometime last week in ny DS's class, so why didn't school just end at that point? I don't see any reason for having a 4 day week of parties and fluff just to meet the state mandated number of school days. THe state mandates the number of school days, but does not mandate enough curriculum to fill them. Whats wrong with that picture?

OK I've ranted on about this long enough! What do you all think?

Privacy on The Internet - My thoughts from WG's Blog

2004-05-20T07:56:00.000-07:00

Ack I had this 2/3rds edited the other day, and the stupid MSN ate my mouse...again! So I finally got an opportunity to try again at this one!

If I were to truly desire to be anonymous on the Internet, I probably could, not because I'm technically savvy enough to do it, but because my DH is! However at the same time, I have no desire to be, and have very little use for people who hide behind some sort of fake account to say things that aren't very nice. I was raised that if you can't say something nice don't say anything at all! I also believe that if I have something to say, I want the person to whom I am speaking to have that same opportunity to respond to my comments.

If you are going to be rude and pick on someone else's feelings, think about the last time you felt that same way yourself. Just because we are parents does not mean that we have lost our individuality or our own feelings. I know that there have been times when I have built up a day or an event in my mind and my kids and husband have not lived up to my expectations, and I have felt the same type of dissappointment that WG was feeling on Mother's Day. It is hard not to sometimes. At the same time, I do not let on my disappointment to them, as it is not their fault. My children are one of the biggest blessings in my life, and I love them dearly! Am I ever disappointed with tehir actions? Yes! Do I still love them unconditionally, even when I am disappointed? YES again! Am I allowed to have my own dreams, and be disappointed with the way reality turns out? Again, the answer is yes!

A blog, although not private, is not something that you necessarily let your kids read, since it is like a diary where you can compile your thoughts and feelings and sort them out yourself, with the help of firends that you have chosen to share it with, plus the casual voyeur that visits and you are unaware of!

This is my space to talk about what I feel and how I am dealing with things. If I choose to share certain items with my children, then that is my right. If I elect not to, that to is my choice! I realize that by publishing this on the Internet it is available for the world to see, and that I may occasionally receive comments from people who disagree with my point of view. But remember this is MY opinion, and you are free to have your own, however, please be honest in your disagreement with me, so that I have the opportunity to talk to you regarding what it is that we disagree on, so that we can either reach a resolution or walk away agreeing to disagree. Anonymity is not attractive, and does not encourage people to take you seriously! Just my opinion on the subject at hand! What's yours?

Whew Another Week is Done!!!

2004-05-19T19:38:00.000-07:00

My MBA program has a really screwy week schedule! The weeks run Thursday through Wednesday! So as you read earlier this week I had a tough weekend, and didn't get any of my school work done, I had to do it all in the last 3 days! So I had 2 individual papers of 700-1050 words to write 2 team papers of the same length, plus 1 team paper that was only 200 words long. These were all due between Monday and today. Needless to say, I haven't blogged for a couple of days, for that reason! I got all those done and turned in, and now I have a fresh week to start tomorrow and get a better grasp on papers for! My plan is to work on my individual stuff tomorrow and Friday so that I have the majority of it out of the way before I start the weekend and all the teamwork again! Right now I am just exhausted and am awaiting the moment that I can put the kids to bed so I can head that way myself!

On other fronts, I am feeling better again now that I know someone is reading this and knows that I am alive. I have these funks every once in awhile, and when they hit sometimes it takes a little extra to pull me back out of them. Its not PreMS, its almost like Post MS when they normally hit, and I have no real explanation for them, but I get over it and bounce back!

DH finishes class number 6 on his MBA path tonight, and that will be a great relief too, since he has a difficult instructor. Yeah!

He had an interesting experience driving home from work yesterday. He put his car window down and heard a loud explosion and the window dropped to the bottom of the door. He had no idea what happened and he couldn't stop to check it on the freeway, so he made sure he was OK and drove on home. He says that he expected to find a bullet hole in the car door when he looked, but there was none. Apparently what happened is that his "window governor" exploded inside the door. He is OK the glass was fine, he just needs to replace this part, so that he can lock his car again! That is on his agenda to do after school tonight! It was pretty scary, but since he is OK I am not worried the car is fixable!

That's all my big news for tonight, since its almost bedtime, I hope you all have a great evening, and I will blog more soon!

TWBB Spawned Thought

2004-05-17T09:06:00.000-07:00

Last night on the TWBB there was a thread that discussed how someone was feeling that no one ever listens to them. I know the feeling well, since I have small children that listen when they want to. However it matched the way I've felt all weekend, that I had to blog about it. This weekend, I have felt that if I just dropped off the face of the earth no one would notice. Its just a funk that I am going through, that has to do with starting a new class and adapting to new teammates schedules and the way they work and DH not having a particularly great mood all weekend and this and that. I will get over it, but it normally takes a couple of days (that I don't have)

I have no idea if anyone reads this, or even cares about it, and at this point it doesn't much matter to me, as I need this outlet to get my thoughts out, and since I'm always at the computer, this is the easiest way to vent! If you are out there, please let me know!

I just feel like I do so much for other people that isn't necessarily acknowledged. For example awhile ago I did something nice anonymously for someone, and although other people did stuff for this person and let the person know who they were, and got thanked. There was never anything made known to me that the anonymous gift had been received. I wonder if the person I entrusted to handle this even let them know that it was not from the trusted person. I do things anonymously, since I do not want public recognition by name, but it would be nice to know that it was appreciated anyway...oh well, I have now learned my lesson.

My neighbor that I have been running kids around for is starting to get better, and her DIL is here to help with the kids, so that's another hole in my life that I need to fill, since I've kinda gotten used to running her kids around, and will miss it. Anyway all this different stuff built up over the weekend!

If I were to vanish I know that my family would notice, but would anyone else? I doubt it!

Blog Day 3 The Cat Came Back

2004-05-14T20:30:00.000-07:00

Last summer we got a new puppy who replaced our beloved 12 year old dog. We also have 2 cats. One cat decided to hide in DD's bedroom, and still hangs out tehre most of the time. The other cat left, and decided to become an outdoor only cat. I missed her a great deal, since she used to come cuddle with me while I was reading in bed at night! Well last night about 11:30 she decided to come back in and want to be cuddly again. When she came back she woke me up with a pounce, step, step, sted and a mreow in my ear. I spent 45 minutes petting her and letting her know how happy I was to have her back before I couldn't stay awake any longer. I was so happy to have her back in bed with me that I did not mind losing sleep. However tonight I'm trying to work on school and am falling asleep at the keyboard here!

I hope she comes in again for cuddles tonight, but at a slightly earleir hour, so that I can get the sleep I desperately need. I am not sure how my new class is going to go yet, since I don't know my teammates, but am looking forward to working with them! I have promised myself that if I can get a good portion of my schoolwork done tonight, then I will take some time to stitch this weekend! However, as you can see, instead of doing my school I am procrastinating here!

That is all the excitement in my life today, and I hope something really great happens tomorrow, so I have something even more exciting to share. I know that I need to find a stitcher's 5 or something else for next week, if I want to keep this blog updated regularly!

Blog Day 2

2004-05-13T21:06:00.000-07:00

Well Today was very similar to yesterday, but I truly started Tax today. I have all my stuff for that done so far. Yay! TOmorrow I have to seriously start on my homework for next week, but that should not be too bad!

Both kids had dentist appointments today. DD had her first orthodontist appointment today, she's not ready yet, and we probably have another year before we have to start putting big dollars into her mouth! DS needs a baby tooth and an extra tooth pulled, so he's going to have fun this summer. At least they will wait until swim team is over. Which means, he'll either have to get it done the morning I leave for Vegas, or the following week. I somewhat hope its the day I go or while I'm gone, so that DH can handle it. Just once it would be nice to not have to handle something like that!

I have set myself a goal to attempt to write here weekly at the least frequent, and daily at the most! Since this is only my second day, we will see how I do in the future!

Have a great day!

Welcome to my Blog!

2004-05-12T20:48:00.000-07:00

I am not sure why I am doing this now, but I have been wanting to start blogging for some time now. I had planned on waiting until I finished my MBA program, but I find that occasionally I have time between clas work and want to write, so here I am!

I do not know how often I will update this blog, but my goal will be to post something new at least once a week. Right now I am 1/2 through Accounting Theory, start Tax tomorrow, and then 6 weeks from now will start my capstone course. So I am almost done. Join me for this journey, and meet my DH, DD and DS along the way. This is my family and my support group for my MBA program and my preferred reasons for living!

DH is also taking a MBA program, but is about a year behind me in it! DD is homeschooled, and we love it. DS is currently attending the local public school, but I plan on homeschooling him in a year or so!

I love to cross stitch, but have been in a stitching slump for a couple of months now, partially due to lack of time and exhaustion when I am done with school, and partially due to the fact that I have been reading several good books in what little spare time I have!

I look forward to maintaining my blog, and figuring out how to add many of the neat features that I see on other blogs. I hope that you will join me in my unique path in this journey called life. As I explore my path further, I will share neat things that I find along the way, I hope you enjoy them too!