Karin's Korner

2009-05-17T16:18:00.002-05:00

The parish priest went on a fishing trip.

On the last day of his trip he hooked a monster fish and proceeded to reel it in.

The guide, holding a net, yelled, 'Look at the size of that Son of a Bitch!'

Son, I'm a priest. Your language is uncalled for!'

No, Father, that's what kind of fish it is - a Son of a Bitch fish!'

Really? Well then, help me land this Son of a Bitch!'

Once in the boat, they marveled at the size of the monster.

Father, that's the biggest Son of a Bitch I've ever seen'

Yes, it is a big Son of a Bitch. What should I do with it?'

Why, eat it! Of course. You've never tasted anything as good as Son of a Bitch!

Elated, the priest headed home to the rectory.

While unloading his gear and his prize catch, Sister Mary inquired about his trip.

Take a look at this big Son of a Bitch I caught!'

Sister Mary gasped and clutched her rosary, 'Father!' '

t's OK, Sister. That's what kind of fish it is, a Son of a Bitch fish!'

Oh, well then, what are you going to do with that big Son of a Bitch?

Sister Mary informed the priest that the new Bishop was scheduled to visit in a few days and that they should fix the Son of a Bitch for his dinner.

I'll even clean the Son of a Bitch', she said.

As she was cleaning the huge fish, the Friar walked in.

What are you doing Sister?

Father wants me to clean this big Son of a Bitch for the new Bishop's Dinner

Sister! I'll clean it if you're so upset! Please watch your language!'

No, no, no, it's called d a Son of a Bitch Fish.'

Really? Well, in that case, I'll fix up a great meal to go with it, and that Son of a Bitch can be the main course!

Let me know when you've finished cleaning that Son of a Bitch.'

On the night of the new Bishop's visit, everything was perfect.

The Friar had prepared an excellent meal.

The wine was fine, and the fish was excellent.

The new Bishop said, 'This is great fish, where did you get it?'

I caught that Son of a Bitch!' proclaimed the proud priest.

And I cleaned the Son of a Bitch!' exclaimed the Sister.

The Friar added, And I prepared the Son of a Bitch, using a special recipe!

The new Bishop looked around at each of them.

A big smile crept across his face as he said, 'You fuckers are my kind of people!'

2009-03-16T08:07:00.001-05:00

This is a great little story. Hope you enjoy..

I was a very happy man. My wonderful girlfriend and I had been dating for over a year, and so we decided to get married.

There was only one little thing bothering me...It was her beautifulyounger sister.

My prospective sister-in-law was twenty-two, wore very tight miniskirts, and generally was bra-less.

She would regularly bend down when she was near me, and I always got more than a nice view.

It had to be deliberate. Because she never did it when she was near anyone else.

One day her 'little' sister called and asked me to come over to check the wedding invitations.

She was alone when I arrived, and she whispered to me that she had feelings and desires for me that she couldn't overcome.

She told me that she wanted me just once before I got married and committed my life to her sister.

Well, I was in total shock, and couldn't say a word.

She said, 'I'm going upstairs to my bedroom, and if you want one last wild fling, just come up and get me.'I was stunned and frozen in shock as I watched her go up the stairs.

I stood there for a moment, then turned and made a beeline straight to the front door.

Iopened the door, and headed straight towards my car.

Lord... and behold, my entire future family was standing outside, all clapping!

With tears in his eyes, my father-in-law hugged me and said, 'We are very happy that you have passed our little test.

We couldn't ask for a betterman for our daughter. Welcome to the family.'

And the moral of this story is:

Always keep your condoms in your car.

2009-03-05T15:09:00.003-05:00

MAGNOLIAS...........By Edna Ellison

I spent the week before my daughter's June wedding running last-minute trips to the caterer, florist, tuxedo shop, and the church about forty miles away.

As happy as I was that Patsy was marrying a good Christian young man, I felt laden with responsibilities as I watched my budget dwindle . .So many details, so many bills, and so little time.

My son Jack was away at college, but he said he would be there to walk his younger sister down the aisle, taking the place of his dad who had died a few years before.

He teased Patsy, saying he'd wanted to give her away since she was about three years old!

To save money, I gathered blossoms from several friends who had large magnolia trees. Their luscious, creamy-white blooms and slick green leaves would make beautiful arrangements against the rich dark wood inside the church.

After the rehearsal dinner the night before the wedding, we banked the podium area and choir loft with magnolias.

As we left just before midnight, I felt tired but satisfied this would be the best wedding any bride had ever had!

The music, the ceremony, the reception - and especially the flowers - would be remembered for years.

The big day arrived - the busiest day of my life - and while her bridesmaids helped Patsy to dress, her fiance Tim walked with me to the sanctuary to do a final check.

When we opened the door and felt a rush of hot air, I almost fainted; and then I saw them - all the beautiful white flowers were black. Funeral black.

An electrical storm during the night had knocked out the air conditioning system, and on that hot summer day, the flowers had wilted and died.

I panicked, knowing I didn't have time to drive back to our hometown, gather more flowers, and return in time for the wedding.

Tim turned to me. 'Edna, can you get more flowers? I'll throw away these dead ones and put fresh flowers in these arrangements.'I mumbled, 'Sure,' as he be-bopped down the hall to put on his cuff links.

Alone in the large sanctuary, I looked up at the dark wooden beams in the arched ceiling. 'Lord,' I prayed, 'please help me. I don't know anyone in this town. Help me find someone willing to give me flowers - in a hurry!'

I scurried out praying for four things: the blessing of white magnolias, courage to find them in an unfamiliar yard, safety from any dog that may bite my leg, and a nice person who would not get out a shotgun when I asked to cut his tree to shreds.

As I left the church, I saw magnolia trees in the distance..

I approached a house...

No dog in sight. I knocked on the door and an older man answered. So far so good. No shotgun.

When I stated my plea the man beamed, 'I'd be happy to!'

He climbed a stepladder and cut large boughs and handed them down to me.

Minutes later, as I lifted the last armload into my car trunk, I said, 'Sir, you've made the mother of a bride happy today.

''No, Ma'am,' he said. 'You don't understand what's happening here.

''What?' I asked.'You see, my wife of sixty-seven years died on Monday.

On Tuesday I received friends at the funeral home, and on Wednesday. He paused. I saw tears welling up in his eyes. 'On Wednesday I buried her.' He looked away. 'On Thursday most of my out-of-town relatives went back home, and on Friday - yesterday - my children left.'

I nodded.'This morning,' he continued, 'I was sitting in my den crying out loud. I miss her so much.

For the last sixteen years, as her health got worse, she needed me. But now nobody needs me. This morning I cried, 'Who needs an eighty-six-year-old wore-out man? Nobody!' I began to cry louder.

'Nobody needs me!' About that time, you knocked, and said, 'Sir, I need you.'I stood with my mouth open.He asked,

'Are you an angel? The way the light shone around your head into my dark living room....'I assured him I was no angel.

He smiled. 'Do you know what I was thinking when I handed you those magnolias?''No.''I decided I'm needed.

My flowers are needed. Why, I might have a flower ministry! I could give them to everyone!

Some caskets at the funeral home have no flowers. People need flowers at times like that and I have lots of them.

They're all over the backyard! I can give them to hospitals, churches - all sorts of places.

You know what I'm going to do? I'm going to serve the Lord until the day He calls me home!'

I drove back to the church, filled with wonder.

On Patsy's wedding day, if anyone had asked me to encourage someone who was hurting, I would have said, 'Forget it! It's my only daughter's wedding, for goodness' sake! There is no way I can minister to anyone today.'

But God found a way. Through dead flowers.'Life is not the way it's supposed to be.

It's the way it is.

The way you cope with it is what makes the difference.'

If you have missed knowing me, you have missed nothing.

If you have missed some of my emails, you may have missed a laugh.

But, if you have missed knowing my LORD and SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST, you have missed everything in the world.

May God's blessings be upon you.

THIS IS SO TRUE, BEING NEEDED IS SO UPLIFTING TO EACH OF US... This story is too beautiful not to send...

2009-02-18T10:45:00.003-05:00

Off to Vegas!!!

I guess it is time to take another trip. My mom sent me an e-mail last week wanting to know my direct line phone number at work. Said she was going to make my flight reservations. I emailed her back asking her .....What flight reservations?? She replied "the ones to Vegas next weekend", So after many emails and phone calls she got me to say yes.

So ~ Friday I will leave work early, fly into Burbank. Saturday we (my mom, myself and my 2 sisters) will have a spa day and on Sunday we will get up bright and early and leave for Vegas, where we will stay here...

The is the Mandalay Bay hotel. We will stay here for 3 days, go back to Burbank and I will fly home Wednesday of next week.

Isn't my mom the best......I mean really....she is fantastic!!

2009-02-03T13:31:00.002-05:00

To all the flawed women I know....

The One Flaw In Women By the time the Lord made woman,

He was into his sixth day of working overtime

An angel appeared and said,

'Why are you spending so much time on this one?

And the Lord answered, 'Have you seen my spec sheet on her?

She has to be completely washable, but not plastic,

have over 200 movable parts, all replaceable

and able to run on diet coke and leftovers,

have a lap that can hold four children at one time,

have a kiss that can cure anything from a scraped knee to a broken heart

-and she will do everything with only two hands.'
The angel was astounded at the requirements.

'Only two hands!? No way!

And that's just on the standard model?

That's too much work for one day.

Wait until tomorrow to finish.
'But I won't, ' the Lord protested.

'I am so close to finishing this creation that is so close to my own heart.

She already heals herself when she is sick

AND can work 18 hour days.'
The angel moved closer and touched the woman.

'But you have made her so soft, Lord.'
'She is soft,' the Lord agreed,

'but I have also made her tough.

You have no idea what she can endure or accomplish.'
'Will she be able to think?', asked the angel.
The Lord replied,

'Not only will she be able to think, s

he will be able to reason and negotiate.'
The angel then noticed something,

and reaching out, touched the woman's cheek.

'Oops, it looks like you have a leak in this model.

I told you that you were trying to put too much into this one.'
'That's not a leak,'

the Lord corrected,

'that's a tear!' '

What's the tear for?' the angel asked.
The Lord said, 'The tear is her way of expressing her joy,

her sorrow, her pain, her disappointment, her love,

her loneliness, her grief and her pride.'

The angel was impressed.

'You are a genius, Lord.

You thought of everything!

Woman is truly amazing.'
And she is!

Women have strengths that amaze men.

They bear hardships and they carry burdens,

but they hold happiness,

love and joy.

They smile when they want to scream.

They sing when they want to cry.

They cry when they are happy

and laugh when they are nervous.

They fight for what they believe in.

They stand up to injustice.

They don't take 'no' for an answer

when they believe there is a better solution.

They go without so their family can have.

They go to the doctor with a frightened friend.

They love unconditionally.

They cry when their children excel

and cheer when their friends get awards.

They are happy when they hear about a birth or a wedding.

Their hearts break when a friend dies.

They grieve at the loss of a family member,

yet they are strong when they think there is no strength left.

They know that a hug and a kiss c

an heal a broken heart.

Women come in all shapes, sizes and colors.

They'll drive, fly, walk, run or e-mail you

to show how much they care about you.

The heart of a woman is what makes the world keep turning.

They bring joy, hope and love.

They have compassion and ideals.

They give moral support to their family and friends.

Women have vital things to say and everything to give
HOWEVER, IF THERE IS ONE TINY FLAW IN WOMEN,

IT IS THAT THEY FORGET WHAT THEY ARE WORTH

Amen! Don't forget what you are worth ladies!!

2008-12-31T13:50:00.003-05:00

Ok, I still can't figure it out, My husband made such a beautiful presentation on power point but I can't figure out how to put it on here. My daughter (the favorite one, just because she will be reading this) will try and with all of her computer, geeky knowledge will get it here.

In the mean time, I will be patting myself on the back for a short time. Today is my anniversary of quitting smoking (3 years). Here are the stats:

Time Smoke-Free: 1095 days, 17 hours, 27 minutes and 20 seconds
Cigarettes NOT smoked: 13149
Lifetime Saved: 3 months, 10 days, 10 hours
Money Saved: $2,301.60

Don't know where that money is, but that is ok!

2008-12-29T11:22:00.002-05:00

Ok, I still can't figure out how to put a powerpoint presentation here. If ya all have any idea's please let me know....

Cute kid story coming up..

Yesterday we took our grandson Alex to church and then to lunch afterwards. We met another couple from church at the restaurant and also another family (with 3 kids).

In the middle of lunch Alex told us he had to go potty (he is in the process of training). I asked David (my husband) to take him potty cause David is on the outside of the table. They get up and leave....no big deal....right????

They come back and Alex crawls up on the chair next to me and announces to everyone that...

Papa did not have to hold his penis (meaning when papa went to the bathroom, he did not have to hold his own penis like Alex had to hold his).

Hysterical!!

2008-12-25T09:15:00.002-05:00

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

I just have to tell you all about my Christmas present from my wonderful husband and my children but it will have to wait until tomorrow so I can attach the video.

I am hoping you all have a very merry CHRISTmas.

2008-12-22T16:35:00.003-05:00

I remember my first Christmas adventure with Grandma. I was just a kid. I remember tearing across town on my bike to visit her on the day my big sister dropped the bomb: "There is no Santa Claus," she jeered. "Even dummies know that!"

My Grandma was not the gushy kind, never had been. I fled to her that day because I knew she would be straight with me. I knew Grandma always told the truth, and I knew that the truth always went down a whole lot easier when swallowed with one of her world-famous cinnamon buns. I knew they were world-famous, because Grandma said so.

It had to be true.Grandma was home, and the buns were still warm. Between bites, I told her everything. She was ready for me. "No Santa Claus!" she snorted. "Ridiculous! Don't believe it. That rumor has been going around for years, and it makes me mad, plain mad. Now, put on your coat, and let's go.""Go? Go where, Grandma?" I asked. I hadn't even finished my second world-famous, cinnamon bun. "Where" turned out to be Kerby's General Store, the one store in town that had a little bit of just about everything. As we walked through its doors, Grandma handed me ten dollars. That was a bundle in those days. "Take this money," she said, "and buy something for someone who needs it. I'll wait for you in the car." Then she turned and walked out of Kerby's.

I was only eight years old. I'd often gone shopping with my mother, but never had I shopped for anything all by myself. The store seemed big and crowded, full of people scrambling to finish their Christmas shopping. For a few moments I just stood there, confused, clutching that ten- dollar bill, wondering what to buy, and who on earth to buy it for.

I thought of everybody I knew: my family, my friends, my neighbors, the kids at school, the people who went to my church. I was just about thought out, when I suddenly thought of Bobby Decker. He was a kid with bad breath and messy hair, and he sat right behind me in Mrs Pollock's grade-two class.

Bobby Decker didn't have a coat. I knew that because he never went out for recess during the winter. His mother always wrote a note, telling the teacher that he had a cough, but all we kids knew that Bobby Decker didn't have a cough, and he didn't have a coat. I fingered the ten-dollar bill with growing excitement. I would buy Bobby Decker a coat!

I settled on a red corduroy one that had a hood to it. It looked real warm, and he would like that. "Is this a Christmas present for someone?" the lady behind the counter asked kindly, as I laid my ten dollars down.

"Yes," I replied shyly. "It's .... for Bobby." The nice lady smiled at me.

I didn't get any change, but she put the coat in a bag and wished me a Merry Christmas.

That evening, Grandma helped me wrap the coat in Christmas paper and ribbons (a little tag fell out of the coat, and Grandma tucked it in her Bible) and wrote, "To Bobby, From Santa Claus" on it -- Grandma said that Santa always insisted on secrecy. Then she drove me over to Bobby Decker's house, explaining as we went that I was now and forever officially one of Santa's helpers.

Grandma parked down the street from Bobby's house, and she and I crept noiselessly and hid in the bushes by his front walk. Then Grandma gave me a nudge. "All right, Santa Claus," she whispered, "get going."

I took a deep breath, dashed for his front door, threw the present down on his step, pounded his doorbell and flew back to the safety of the bushes and Grandma. Together we waited breathlessly in the darkness for the front door to open. Finally it did, and there stood Bobby.

Fifty years haven't dimmed the thrill of those moments spent shivering, beside my Grandma, in Bobby Decker's bushes. That night, I realized that those awful rumors about Santa Claus were just what Grandma said they were: ridiculous. Santa was alive and well, and we were on his team.

I still have the Bible, with the tag tucked inside: $19.95.

He who has no Christmas in his heart will never find Christmas under a tree.

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!!

2008-12-17T14:35:00.003-05:00

I love this one!!

Saying Grace In A Restaurant

Last week, I took my children to a restaurant.

My six-year-old son asked if he could say grace.

As we bowed our heads he said, 'God is good, God is great. Thank you for the food , and I would even thank you more if Mom gets us ice cream for dessert. And Liberty and justice for all!

Amen!'

Along with the laughter from the other customers nearby, I heard a woman remark, 'That's what's wrong with this country. Kids today don't even know how to pray. Asking God for ice cream! Why, I never!'

Hearing this, my son burst into tears and asked me, 'Did I do it wrong? Is God mad at me?'

As I held him and assured him that he had done a terrific job, and God was certainly not mad at him, an elderly gentleman approached the table.

He winked at my son and said, 'I happen to know that God thought that was a great prayer.' '

Really?' my son asked. 'Cross my heart,' the man replied. Then, in a theatrical whisper, he added (indicating the woman whose remark had started this whole thing), 'Too bad she never asks God for ice cream. A little ice cream is good for the soul sometimes.'

Naturally, I bought my kids ice cream at the end of the meal. My son stared at his for a moment, and then did something I will remember the rest of my life.

He picked up his sundae and, without a word, walked over and placed it in front of the woman. With a big smile he told her,

'Here, this is for you. Ice cream is good for the soul sometimes; and my soul is good already.'

2008-12-15T15:22:00.003-05:00

RED MARBLES

I was at the corner grocery store buying some early potatoes.

I noticed a small boy, delicate of bone and feature, ragged but clean, hungrily apprising a basket of freshly picked green peas.

I paid for my potatoes, but was also drawn to the display of fresh green peas.

I am a pushover for creamed peas and new potatoes.

Pondering the peas, I couldn't help overhearing the conversation between Mr. Miller (the store owner) and the ragged boy next to me.

'Hello, Barry, how are you today?'

'H'lo, Mr. Miller. Fine, thank ya. Jus' admirin' them peas. They sure look good.'

'They are good, Barry. How's your Ma?' 'Fine. Gittin' stronger alla' time.

'Good. Anything I can help you with?'

'No, Sir. Jus' admirin' them peas.

'Would you like to take some home?' asked Mr. Miller.

'No, sir. Got nuthin' to pay for 'em with.

'Well, what have you to trade me for some of those peas?'

'All I got's my prize marble here.'

Is that right? Let me see it,' said Miller.

'Here 'tis. She's a dandy.

'I can see that. Hmm mmm, only thing is this one is blue and I sort of go for red.

Do you have a red one like this at home? the store owner asked.

Not 'zackley, but almost.

'Tell you what. Take this sack of peas home with you and next trip this way let me look at that red marble, Mr. Miller told the boy.

Sure will. Thanks, Mr. Miller.

Mrs. Miller, who had been standing nearby, came over to> help me. With a smile, she said, 'There are two other boys like him in our community, all three are in very poor circumstances.

Jim just loves to bargain with them for peas, apples, tomatoes or whatever.

When they come back with their red marbles, and they always do, he decides he doesn't like red after all and he sends them home with a bag of produce for a green marble or an orange one, when they come on their next trip to the store.

I left the store smiling to myself, impressed with this man.

A short time later I moved to Colorado , but I never forgot the story of this man, the boys and their bartering for marbles.

Several years went by, each more rapid than the previous one. Just recently I had occasion to visit some old friends in that Idaho community, and while I was there learned that Mr. Miller had died.

They were having his visitation that evening, and knowing my friends wanted to go, I agreed to accompany them.

Upon arrival at the mortuary, we fell into line to meet the relatives of the deceased and to offer whatever words of comfort we could.

A head of us in line were three young men. One was in an army uniform and the other two wore nice haircuts, dark suits and white shirts.all very professional looking.

They approached Mrs. Miller, standing composed and smiling by her husband's casket. Each of the young men hugged her, kissed her on the cheek, spoke briefly with her and moved on to the casket.

Her misty light blue eyes followed them as, one by one, each young man stopped briefly and placed his own warm hand over the cold pale hand in the casket. Each left the mortuary awkwardly, wiping his eyes.

Our turn came to meet Mrs. Miller. I told her who I was and reminded her of the story from those many years ago and what she had told me about her husband's bartering for marbles.

With her eyes glistening, she took my hand and led me to the casket. 'Those three young men who just left were the boys I told you about.

They just told me how they appreciated the things Jim 'traded' them. Now, at last, when Jim could not change his mind about color or size, they came to pay their debt.

We've never had a great deal of the wealth of this world,' she confided, but right now Jim would consider himself the richest man in Idaho.

With loving gentleness, she lifted the lifeless fingers of her deceased husband.

Resting underneath were three exquisitely shined red marbles.

The Moral: We will not be remembered by our words, but by our kind deeds. Life is not measured by the breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath.

Today I wish you a day of ordinary miracles ~ A fresh pot of coffee you didn't make yourself. . An unexpected phone call from an old friend. . Green stoplights on your way to work. . . The fastest line at the grocery store. . A good sing-along song on the radio. . Your keys found right where you left them.

IT'S NOT WHAT YOU GATHER, BUT WHAT YOU SCATTER THAT TELLS WHAT KIND OF LIFE YOU HAVE LIVED!

2008-12-03T07:34:00.002-05:00

I received this in my inbox this morning and thought I would share and....

Pass it on

Too Busy for a Friend...

One day a teacher asked her students to list the names of the other students in the room on two sheets of paper, leaving a space between each name.
Then she told them to think of the nicest thing they could say about each of their classmates and write it down.

It took the remainder of the class period to finish their assignment, and as the students left the room, each one handed in the papers.

That Saturday, the teacher wrote down the name of each student on a separate sheet of paper, and listed what everyone else had said about that individual.

On Monday she gave each student his or her list. Before long, the entire class was smiling. 'Really?' she heard whispered. 'I never knew that I meant anything to anyone!' and, 'I didn't know others liked me so much,' were most of the comments.

No one ever mentioned those papers in class again. She never knew if they discussed them after class or with their parents, but it didn't matter. The exercise had accomplished its purpose. The students were happy with themselves and one another. That group of students moved on.

Several years later, one of the students was killed in
VietNam and his teacher attended the funeral of that special student.
She had never seen a serviceman in a military coffin before. He looked so handsome, so mature.
The church was packed with his friends. One by one those who loved him took
a last walk by the coffin. The teacher was the last one to bless the coffin.

As she stood there, one of the soldiers who acted as pallbearer came up to her. 'Were you Mark's math teacher?' he asked. She nodded: 'yes.' Then he said: 'Mark talked about you a lot.'

After the funeral, most of Mark's former classmates went together to a luncheon. Mark's mother and father were there, obviously waiting to speak with his teacher.

'We want to show you something,' his father said, taking a wallet out of his pocket 'They found this on Mark when he was killed. We thought you might recognize it.'

Opening the billfold, he carefully removed two worn pieces of notebook paper that had obviously been taped, folded and refolded many times. The teacher knew without looking that the papers were the ones on which she had listed all the good things each of Mark's classmates had said about him.

'Thank you so much for doing that,' Mark's mother said. 'As you can see, Mark treasured it.'

All of Mark's former classmates started to gather around. Charlie smiled rather sheepishly and said, 'I still have my list. It's in the top drawer of my desk at home.'

Chuck's wife said,'Chuck asked me to put his in our wedding album.'

'I have mine too,' Marilyn said. 'It's in my diary'

Then Vicki, another classmate, reached into her pocketbook, took out her wallet and showed her worn and frazzled list to the group. 'I carry this with me at all times,' Vicki said and without batting an eyelash, she continued: 'I think we all saved our lists'

That's when the teacher finally sat down and cried. She cried for Mark and for all his friends who would never see him again.

The density of people in society is so thick that we forget that life will end one day. And we don't know when that one day will be.

So please, tell the people you love and care for, that they are special and important. Tell them, before it is too late.

And One Way To Accomplish This Is: Pass this message on.

If you've received this, it is because someone cares for you and it means there is probably at least someone for whom you care.

Remember, you reap what you sow. What you put into the lives of others comes back into your own.

2008-11-21T14:02:00.004-05:00

Here is a new way to look at a deck of cards!!

Deck of Cards

It was quiet that day, the guns and the mortars, and land mines for some reason hadn't been heard. The young soldier knew it was Sunday, the holiest day of the week. As he was sitting there, he got out an old deck of cards and laid them out across his bunk.

Just then an army sergeant came in and said, 'Why aren't you with the rest of the platoon?' The soldier replied, 'I thought I would stay behind and spend some time with the Lord.'

The sergeant said, 'Looks to me like you're going to play cards.'

The soldier said, 'No, sir. You see, since we are not allowed to have Bibles or other spiritual books in this country, I've decided to talk to the Lord by studying this deck of cards.' The sergeant asked in disbelief, 'How will you do that?

You see the Ace, Sergeant? It reminds me that there is only one God.

The Two represents the two parts of the Bible, Old and New Testaments

The Three represents the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost.

The Four stands for the Four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John .

The Five is for the five virgins there were ten but only five of them were glorified.

The Six is for the six days it took God to create the Hea vens and Earth.

The Seven is for the day God rested after making His Creation.

The Eight is for the family of Noah and his wife, their three sons and their wives -- the eight people God spared from the flood that destroyed the Earth.

The Nine is for the lepers that Jesus cleansed of leprosy He cleansed ten, but nine never thanked Him.

The Ten represents the Ten Commandments that God handed down to Moses on tablets made of stone.

The Jack is a reminder of Satan, one of God's first angels, but he got kicked out of heaven for his sly and wicked ways and is now the joker of eternal hell.

The Queen stands for the Virgin Mary.

The King stands for Jesus, for he is the King of all kings.

When I count the dots on all the cards, I come up with 365 total, one for every day of the year.

There are a total of 52 cards in a deck; each is a week - 52 weeks in a year.

The four suits represent the four seasons: Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter.

Each suit has thirteen cards -- there are exactly thirteen weeks in a quarter.

So when I want to talk to God and thank Him, I just pull out this old deck of cards and they remind me of all that I have to be thankful for.

The sergeant just stood there. After a minute, with tears in his eyes and pain in his heart, he said, 'Soldier, can I borrow that deck of cards?

Please let this be a reminder and take time to pray for all of our soldiers who are being sent away, putting their lives on the line fighting Prayer for the Military.

Please keep the wheel rolling. It will only take a few seconds of your time, but it'll be worth it to read on....

Lord, hold our troops in your loving hands. Protect them. Bless them and their families. I ask this in the name of Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Amen. When you read this, please stop for a moment and say a prayer for our servicemen and women all around the world.

There is nothing attached, but this can be very powerful. Of all the gifts you could give a Soldier, prayer is the very best one.

In God I Trust!

2008-11-07T11:45:00.002-05:00

Ok, I have 2 for you today...... Hope everyone has a great weekend :)

6 Truths of Life

1. You cannot touch all your teeth with your tongue.

2. All idiots, after reading the first truth, will try it.

3. And discover that The first truth is a lie.

4. You're smiling now because you're an idiot.

5. You soon will forward this to another idiot.

6. There's still a stupid smile on your face.

I apologize about this
I'm an idiot and I needed company ... LOL

~

A blonde calls her boyfriend and says, "Please come over here and help me.

I have a killer jigsaw puzzle, and I can't figure out how to get started."

Her boyfriend asks, "What is it supposed to be when it's finished?"

The blonde says, "According to the picture on the box, it's a rooster."

Her boyfriend decides to go over and help with the puzzle.

She lets him in and shows him where she has the puzzle spread all over the table.

He studies the pieces for a moment, then looks at the box, then turns to her and says,

"First of all, no matter what we do, we're not going to be able to assemble these pieces into anything resembling a rooster."

He takes her hand and says, "Second, I want you to relax. Let's have a nice cup of tea, and then ....." he said with a deep sigh...

(scroll down)

"Let's put all the Corn Flakes back in the box."

2008-10-22T10:21:00.003-05:00

Learn 44 things about your friends and let them learn 44 things about you!

1. Do you like blue cheese? Yuck NO!!

2. Have you ever smoked? Yes but I am 1025 days smoke free…that is 12307 cigarettes NOT smoked.

3. Do you own a gun? Nope and I don’t want one either

4. What flavor Kool-Aid was your favorite? I don’t like Kool-Aid, never did, I know…it is almost un-American

5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments? Sometimes

6. What do you think of hot dogs? Hebrew Nationals…yes, love them but I would like to find some that have the casing, I like those better…can’t find any.

7. Favorite Christmas movie? It’s a wonderful life.

8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? Water or coffee (iced coffee is good too).

9. Can you do push ups? In my head I can.

10. What's your favorite piece of jewelry? My wedding ring and the opal necklace my mom gave me for my birthday.

11. Favorite hobby? Who has time for hobbies?

12. Do you have A.D.D.? I don’t think so

13. What's one trait you hate about yourself? I am very judgmental….trying to work on that.

14. Middle name? Joanne

15. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment. Money, grandkids, mom

16. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink? Water, un-sweet tea, coffee

17. Current worry? Money…always money

18. Current hate right now? I don’t think I hate anyone oh wait…I hate slow drivers in the fast lane!

19. Favorite place to be? California

20. How did you bring in the New Year? LOL, I think I was sleeping

21. Where would you like to go? Minnesota

22. Name three people who will complete this? I hope everyone does, except for Tammy cause I already have hers…love you Tam!

23. Do you own slippers? Yes but I never wear them

24. What color shirt are you wearing right now? Light Pink

25. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? Oh no, I would slip out of the bed

26. Can you whistle? Yes

27. Favorite color? Green

28. Would you be a pirate? Arrr

29. What songs do you sing in the shower? Shine shine shine….for all the world to see

30. Favorite Girl's Name? Brooklyn

31. Favorite boy's name? Carter or Jayden

32. What's in your pocket right now? keys

33. Last thing that made you laugh? Really?? Our maintenance dude when he was empting my trash can

34. What vehicle do you drive? Lumina or Sonata

35. Worst injury you've ever had? injury?? Gall Bladder…I don’t know if that counts but it hurt more than having babies

36. Do you love where you live? Yes, I really do love it

37. How many TV's do you have in your house? 3

38. Who is your loudest friend? Actually it is my grandchildren…Jasmine (6) and Kody (5)…they were so loud at Wal-Mart last weekend I wanted to find the duct tape isle.

39. How many dogs do you have? None but I have 2 birds

40. Does someone have a crush on you? Hmmm…I think everyone does

41. What is your favorite book? Don’t know (I think A Tree Grows in Brooklyn)

42. What is your favorite candy? Anything chocolate

43. Favorite Sports Team? Minnesota Vikings…is there any other?

44. What song do you want played at your funeral? Good question…I liked Imagine, that is Tammy’s but I might steal it. There are so many…I might make a CD just for that purpose someday.

I am not going to Tag anyone but if you want to do it, please do. I would love to hear your answers.

2008-10-21T08:02:00.003-05:00

I was just sitting here at work thinking....yes, I do that once in a while.

27 years ago this month, I got married the first time.

Wow! 27 years was a long time ago. And then I left him 7 years ago.

I have not spoken to him in probably 5 years.

He does not call his children (he is angry at them because they all moved to NC to be near me).

He does not know how to be the adult in the situation.

And yet, In some weird way...I miss talking to him.

Kinda weird.

I am in love with my husband and will spend the rest of my life with him.

Do you think it is weird that I thought about this today and that I miss talking to my X.

I can honestly say that we had many, many good times together.

It's just that the bad....was really, really bad.

I don't know, kind of a weird post....but just what was in my head.

2008-10-15T11:59:00.003-05:00

Please check this out.....

http://boobsinjuriesanddrpepper.blogspot.com/

Help if you can.

This is my friend Crystal's blog. She is such a good person and tries to help everyone that needs it. This one is very close to her heart. If you can or if you know someone who can help please point them in the right direction.

Love you all!!

The Power of prayer is very powerful, please keep that in mind and pray for this little baby.

2008-10-15T09:40:00.001-05:00

A wife got a terrible headache and told her husband to go to the Halloween party alone.

He, being a devoted husband, protested, but she argued and said she was going to take some aspirin and go to bed and there was no need for his good time to be spoiled by not going.

So he took his costume and away he went.

The wife, after sleeping soundly for about an hour, woke without pain and as it was still early, decided go to the party.

As her husband didn't know what her costume was, she thought she would have some fun by watching her husband to see how he acted when she was not with him.

So she joined the party and soon spotted her husband in his costume, cavorting around on the dance floor, dancing with every nice 'chick' he could and copping a little feel here and a little kiss there.

His wife went up to him and being a rather seductive babe herself, he left his new partner high and dry and devoted his time to her.

She let him go as far as he wished, naturally, since he was her husband.

After more drinks he finally whispered a little proposition in her ear and she agreed, so off they went to one of the cars and made passionate love in the back seat.

Just before unmasking at midnight, she slipped away and went home and put the costume away and got into bed, wondering what kind of explanation he would make up for his outrageous behavior.

She was sitting up reading when he came in, so she asked what kind of time he had. 'Oh, the same old thing. You know I never have a good time when you're not there.'

Then she asked, 'Did you dance much? He replied, I'll tell you, I never even danced one dance.

When I got there, I met Pete, Bill Brown and some other guys, so we went into the spareroom and played poker all evening.

You must have looked really silly wearing that costume playing poker all night!' she said with unashamed sarcasm.

To which the husband replied...

Actually, I gave my costume to your brother, apparently he had the time of his life.

2008-09-11T09:58:00.001-05:00

This is amazing and brought tears of laughter to my eyes.

I wonder how often we take for granted that children understand what we are teaching???

Through the eyes of a child:
The Children's Bible in a Nutshell

In the beginning, which occurred near the start, there was nothing but God, darkness, and some gas. The Bible says, 'The Lord thy God is one, but I think He must be a lot older than that.

Anyway, God said, 'Give me a light!' and someone did.
Then God made the world.

He split the Adam and made Eve. Adam and Eve were naked, but they weren't embarrassed because mirrors hadn't been invented yet.

Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating one bad
apple, so they were driven from the Garden of Eden. Not sure what they were driven in though, because they didn't have cars.

Adam and Eve had a son, Cain, who hated his brother as long as he was Abel.

Pretty soon all of the early people died off, except for Methuselah, who lived to be like a million or something.

One of the next important people was Noah, who was a good guy, but one of his kids was kind of a Ham. Noah built a large boat and put his family and some animals on it. He asked some other people to join him, but they said they would have to take a rain check.

After Noah came Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jacob was more famous than his brother, Esau, because Esau sold Jacob his birthmark in exchange for some pot roast. Jacob had a son named Joseph who wore a really loud sports coat.

Another important Bible guy is Moses, whose real name was Charlton Heston. Moses led the Israel Lights out of Egypt and away from the evil Pharaoh after God sent ten plagues on Pharaoh's people. These plagues included frogs, mice, lice, bowels, and no cable.

God fed the Israel Lights every day with manicotti. Then he gave them His Top Ten Commandments. These include: don't lie, cheat, smoke, dance, or covet your neighbor's stuff.

Oh, yeah, I just thought of one more: Humor thy father and thy mother.

One of Moses' best helpers was Joshua who was the first Bible guy to use spies. Joshua fought the battle of Geritol and the fence fell over on the town.

After Joshua came David. He got to be king by killing a giant with a slingshot. He had a son named Solomon who had about 300 wives and 500 porcupines. My teacher says he was wise, but that doesn't sound very wise to me.

After Solomon there were a bunch of major league prophets. One of these was Jonah, who was swallowed by a big whale and then barfed up on the shore. There were also some minor league prophets, but I guess we don't have to worry about them.

After the Old Testament came the New Testament. Jesus is the star of The New. He was born in Bethlehem in a barn.

(I wish I had been born in a barn too, because my mom is always saying to me, 'Close the door! Were you born in a barn?' It would be nice to say, 'As a matter of fact, I was.')

During His life, Jesus had many arguments with sinners like the Pharisees and the Democrats.

Jesus also had twelve opossums. The worst one was Judas Asparagus. Judas was so evil that they named a terrible vegetable after him.

Jesus was a great man. He healed many leopards and even preached to some Germans on the Mount.

But the Democrats and all those guys put Jesus on trial before Pontius the Pilot. Pilot didn't stick up for Jesus. He just washed his hands instead.

Anyways, Jesus died for our sins, then came back to life again.
He went up to Heaven but will be back at the end of the Aluminum. His return is foretold in the book of Revolution.

2008-09-09T10:31:00.002-05:00

I have a MAJOR prayer request.

I have some friends in Wisconsin that I have not spoken with for a while. Something told me to call them yesterday.

I found out that my friend's (Vicki) husband (Joe) has had cancer that they cleared a couple of years back ( I already knew that part) but it seems that the cancer has come back (this is the part that I did not know) and they have given him 6 month to a year to live. Every time I think of this the tears come. I have not been back to Wisconsin since I left 7 years ago and I miss them so much, even more now.

They have 2 grown children and 7 grandchildren.

I also found out the their oldest daughter has filed for divorce from her husband. A couple of months back she found out that her husband has been molesting their 9 year old daughter. The son-of-a-bitch is scheduled for court the latter part of this month. Lets hope they hang the bastard!

They also have 3 boys and they think that he has done some things to the boys also but the boys are not talking. Their daughter finally told her mom but asked that she not say anything because the dad told her that he would kill her if she told and of coarse being a little girl, she believed him. BASTARD!!

And on another note, my dear friend from Minnesota has lost her mother in law. She passed away yesterday morning so please be in prayer for her also.

I know with all of my heart that the power of prayer works. I just want him to spend a little more time with his family. He is the bread winner, he is their rock and I just don't know what they will do without him.

Thanks for listening, and reading. It was a very sad day.

2008-09-08T07:34:00.004-05:00

Subject: Women multiply

Whatever you give a woman, she's going to multiply.

If you give her a house, she'll give you a home.

If you give her groceries, she'll give you a meal.

If you give her a smile, she'll give you her heart.

She multiplies and enlarges what is given to her.'

So - if you give her crap, you will receive more shit than any one human being can handle.

Love and appreciate all the women in your life.

2008-08-12T13:22:00.000-05:00

AMAZING HOME REMEDIES

1. AVOID CUTTING YOURSELF WHEN SLICING VEGETABLES BY GETTING SOMEONE ELSE TO HOLD THE VEGETABLES WHILE YOU CHOP.

2. AVOID ARGUMENTS WITH THE FEMALES ABOUT LIFTING THE TOILET SEAT BY USING THE SINK.

3. FOR HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE SUFFERERS ~ SIMPLY CUT YOURSELF AND BLEED FOR A FEW MINUTES, THUS REDUCING THE PRESSURE ON YOUR VEINS. REMEMBER TO USE A TIMER.

4. A MOUSE TRAP PLACED ON TOP OF YOUR ALARM CLOCK WILL PREVENT YOU FROM ROLLING OVER AND GOING BACK TO SLEEP AFTER YOU HIT THE SNOOZE BUTTON.

5. IF YOU HAVE A BAD COUGH, TAKE A LARGE DOSE OF LAXATIVES. THEN YOU'LL BE AFRAID TO COUGH.

6. YOU ONLY NEED TWO TOOLS IN LIFE - WD-40 AND DUCT TAPE. IF IT DOESN'T MOVE AND SHOULD, USE THE WD-40. IF IT SHOULDN'T MOVE AND DOES, USE THE DUCT TAPE.

7. IF YOU CAN'T FIX IT WITH A HAMMER, YOU'VE GOT AN ELECTRICAL PROBLEM.

DAILY THOUGHT: SOME PEOPLE ARE LIKE SLINKIES - NOT REALLY GOOD FOR ANYTHING BUT THEY BRING A SMILE TO YOUR FACE WHEN PUSHED DOWN THE STAIRS.

2008-07-30T13:17:00.005-05:00

This is my mom on the left hand side. She is ADORABLE!! and a little silly but so much fun just like me. Today is her 65th birthday and I just have to tell you, there is NO better mother in the world. She does not live close to me but she will be visiting at the end of September and I go there as often as I can. But, I miss her. She sent me this e-mail today and within the first two sentences I had tears in my eyes. So today Mom, it is your day...enjoy it. I love you and miss you more then I could ever tell you.

I think I'll keep you.

One day a mother died.

And on that clear, cold morning,

In the warmth of her bedroom,

The daughter was struck with

The pain of learning that sometimes

There isn't any more.

No more hugs,

No more lucky moments to celebrate together,

No more phone calls just to chat,

No more 'just one minute.'

Sometimes, what we care about the most goes away.

Never to return before we can say good-bye,

Say 'I Love You'

Or

'I Miss You'.

So while we have it ... it's best we love it ...

And care for it and fix it when it's broken ...

And take good care of it when it's sick.

This is true for marriage ... and friendships!

And children with bad report cards;

And dogs with bad hips;

And aging parents and grandparents.

We keep them because they are worth it,

Because we cherish them!

Some things we keep --

Like a best friend who moved away

Or a classmate we grew up with.

There are just some things that

Make us happy, no matter what.

Life is important,

And so are the people we know .

And so, we keep them close!

I received this from someone today

Who thought I was a 'KEEPER'!

Then I sent It to the people

I Think of in the same way!

Now it's your turn to send this to all those people

Who Are 'keepers' in your life!
{ and I'd like to have this back from you :-) }

Thank you very much

For being a special part of MY Life!

2008-06-20T07:57:00.005-05:00

Apples and Wine

Women are like apples on trees. The best ones are at the top of the tree. Most men don't want to reach for the good ones because they are afraid of falling and getting hurt. Instead, they sometimes take the apples from the ground that aren't as good, but easy. The apples at the top think something is wrong with them, when in reality, they are amazing. They just have to wait for the right man to come along, the one who is brave enough to climb all the way to the top of the tree.

Now men....men are like a fine wine. The begin as grapes and it is up to the women to stomp the shit out of them until they turn into something acceptable to have dinner with.

2008-06-05T09:12:00.005-05:00

~ Two Little Boys ~
After a hardy rainstorm filled all the potholes in the streets and alleys, a young mother watched her two little boys playing in the puddle through her kitchen window.

The older of the two grabbed his sibling by the back of his head and shoved his face into the water hole.

As the boy recovered and stood laughing and dripping, the mother runs to the yard in a panic.

' Why on earth did you do that to your little brother?!' she asks as she shook the older boy in anger.

'We were just playing 'church' mommy, ' he said.

'And I was just baptizing him.....in the name of the Father, the Son and in...the hole-he-goes.'

PS..... These 2 little boys are my grandsons and I am sure (cough cough) that neither one would push the other's head into a hole. Alex is on top, he will be 3 in December and Damien is on the botton, he just turned 2 in March.

2008-05-30T14:13:00.000-05:00

DID YOU KNOW?

Peel a banana from the bottom and you won't have to
pick the little 'stringy things' off of it. That's how the primates do it.

Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store.
If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster.

Store your opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil.
It will stay fresh much longer and not mold!

Peppers with 3 bumps on the bottom are sweeter and better for eating.
Peppers with 4 bumps on the bottom are firmer and better for cooking.

Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef.
It will help pull the grease away from the meat while cooking.

To really make scrambled eggs or omelets rich add a couple of
spoonfuls of sour cream, cream cheese, or heavy cream in and then beat them up.

For a cool brownie treat, make brownies as directed. Melt Andes mints
in double broiler and pour over warm brownies. Let set for a wonderful minty frosting.

Add garlic immediately to a recipe if you want a light taste
of garlic and at the end of the recipe if your want a stronger taste of garlic.

Leftover snickers bars from Halloween make a delicious dessert. Simply
chop them up with the food chopper. Peel, core and slice a few apples. Place them
in a baking dish and sprinkle the chopped candy bars over the apples. Bake at 350
for 15 minutes!!! Serve alone or with vanilla ice cream. Yummm!

Reheat Pizza
Heat up leftover pizza in a nonstick skillet on top of the stove, set heat to med-low
and heat till warm. This keeps the crust crispy. No soggy micro pizza. I saw this on
the cooking channel and it really works.

Easy Deviled Eggs
Put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag. Seal, mash till they are all broken up. Add remainder of ingredients, reseal, keep mashing it up mixing thoroughly, cut the tip of the baggy, squeeze mixture into egg. Just throw bag away when done easy clean up.

Expanding Frosting
When you buy a container of cake frosting from the store, whip it with your mixer
for a few minutes. You can double it in size. You get to frost more cake/cupcakes
with the same amount. You also eat less sugar and calories per serving.

Reheating refrigerated bread
To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated, place them in
a microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep the food
moist and help it reheat faster.

Newspaper weeds away
Start putting in your plants, work the nutrients in your soil. Wet newspapers,
put layers around the plants overlapping as you go cover with mulch and for-
get about weeds. Weeds will get through some gardening plastic they will not
get through wet newspapers.

Broken Glass
Use a wet cotton ball or Q-tip to pick up the small shards of glass you can't see easily.

No More Mosquitoes
Place a dryer sheet in your pocket.
It will keep the mosquitoes away.

Squirrel Away!
To keep squirrels from eating your plants, sprinkle your plants with cayenne pepper.
The cayenne pepper doesn't hurt the plant and the squirrels won't come near it.

Flexible vacuum
To get something out of a heat register or under the fridge add an empty paper towel
roll or empty gift wrap roll to your vacuum. It can be bent or flattened to get in nar-
row openings.

Reducing Static Cling
Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip and you will not have a clingy skirt
or dress. Same thing works with slacks that cling when wearing panty hose.
Place pin in seam of slacks and ... ta da! ... static is gone.

Measuring Cups
Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill with hot water.
Dump out the hot water, but don't dry cup. Next, add your ingredient, such
as peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right out.

Foggy Windshield?
Hate foggy windshields? Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove box of
your car . When the window s fog, rub with the eraser! Works better than a cloth!

Reopening envelope
If you seal an envelope and then realize you forgot to include something inside,
just place your sealed envelope in the freezer for an hour or two. Viola! It unseals
easily.

Conditioner
Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It's cheaper than shaving cream and
leaves your legs really smooth. It's also a great way to use up the conditioner you
bought but didn't like when you tried it in your hair.

Goodbye Fruit Flies
To get rid of pesky fruit flies, take a small glass, fill it 1/2' with Apple Cider Vinegar
and 2 drops of dish washing liquid; mix well. You will find those flies drawn to the
cup and gone forever!

Get Rid of Ants
Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. They eat it, take it 'home,' can't
digest it so it kills them. It may take a week or so, especially if it rains, but it works
and you don't have the worry about pets or small children being harmed!

INFO ABOUT CLOTHES DRYERS
The heating unit went out on my dryer! The gentleman that fixes things around the
house for us told us that he wanted to show us something and he went over to the
dryer and pulled out the lint filter. It was clean. (I always clean the lint from the fil-
ter after every load clothes.) He told us that he wanted to show us something; he
took the filter over to the sink and ran hot water over it. The lint filter is made of a
mesh material ... I'm sure you know what your dryer's lint filter looks like. Well ...
the hot water just sat on top of the mesh! It didn't go through it at all! He told us
that dryer sheets cause a film over that mesh that's what burns out the heating unit.
You can't SEE the film, but it's there. It's what is in the dryer sheets to make your
clothes soft and static free ... that nice fragrance too. You know how they can feel
waxy when you take them out of the box ... well this stuff builds up on your clothes
and on your lint screen. This is also what causes dryer units to potentially burn your
house down with it! He said the best way to keep your dryer working for a very long
time (and to keep your electric bill lower) is to take that filter out and wash it with
hot soapy water and an old toothbrush (or other brush) at least every six months.
He said that makes the life of the dryer at least twice as long! How about that!?!
Learn something new everyday! I certainly didn't know dryer sheets would do that.
So, I thought I'd share!

Note: I went to my dryer and tested my screen by running water on it. The water ran
through a little bit but mostly collected all the water in the mesh screen. I washed it
with warm soapy water and a nylon brush and I had it done in 30 seconds. Then when
I rinsed it ... the water ran right thru the screen! There wasn't any puddling at all! T
hat repairman knew what he was talking about!

PLEASE PASS THIS ON TO OTHER PEOPLE IN YOUR ADDRESS BOOK.

2008-05-25T15:02:00.001-05:00

I recieved this e-mail today. I wish everyone could see this video, it says it all.

Subject: The Gratitude Campaign
Have you ever seen one of our military walking past you and wanted to convey to them your thanks, but weren't sure how or it felt awkward? Recently, a gentleman from Seattle created a gesture which could be used and has started a massive movement to get the word out.

Please everybody take just a moment to watch – this is a great lesson for the next generations too.... The Gratitude Campaign ...and then forward it to your friends!

Click on below:
http://www.gratitudecampaign.org/shortmovie.php

2008-04-10T09:57:00.002-05:00

OK, where was I??? Let's see....job at bank, paid thru checking account, kept writing checks, LOL....memories....sometimes good sometimes bad but still to this day, this make me laugh.

So, my punishment for writing a few bad checks is to go and live with my parents (remember that I am 16 and this is in 1979 (Yippee the 70's...what fun :)

The day after court I get up and clean up my stall, yes Juvenile hall had little stalls back then, no bars just a door...that locked.

I went with 2 deputies to the airport. Have you ever been to the Minneapolis / St. Paul international airport...it is huge!

We get there and they park, we get out and I am looking around...thinking that I will make a break for it. After all, this is the WORST punishment I could have gotten. I was leaving all my friends and I hated that. The lady deputy (let's call her Lucy for lack of a better imagination) decided that I needed to be handcuffed through the airport. So the guy cop (lets call him Mike for that very same reason) says I can be handcuffed in front so it will be easier. Lucy insists that I will have to stay handcuffed the entire flight and someone at the other end will have a key and take them off once I am with my father.

We walk in the door of the airport, everyone is staring at me and whispering, we start going towards security. We start to walk around the thing that you have to walk under because they have guns and I have handcuffs so no metal detector for me. The security guard at the metal detector stops the deputies (because he can do that...ha ha Lucy smart ass cop) and tells them that I will not be getting on an airplane handcuffed. That will NOT happen. He tells them how would they like it if they were handcuffed and the plane started to go down. He tells them that handcuffs are not allowed on the aircraft...(I LOVE THIS GUY!!) So they tell him that they will take them off before I board the plane and we proceed to the gate. I feels eyes on me all the way. I start thinking......for once I am popular and everyone is looking at me (cause I am a smart ass like that). We get to the gate and they board me first (go figure). After everyone boards and we take off I still can hear the whispers...wonder what she did etc... No one is sitting next to me or in the third seat. I just sit there by myself, watching out the window (this is my first flight ever) smoking cigarettes ( I was as thankful that we could smoke back then as I am that no one can smoke now).

Finally someone (a young man probably about 14 or 15 years old comes over and asks me if he can sit by me and if I want to play cards. I said sure and he sits down. We play cards for a while and then he finally asks the question.....

Why were you handcuffed when you got on the plane???

Know what I said.....

Remember I am that smart ass 16 year old.......

I told him that I was a murderer and I had shot a 15 year old punk kid that asked to many questions.

HAHAHAHAHA he got up and left immediately.

I was such a brat!!

Anyways.....2 years later Charlie (my X) came to California and got me. We got married and planned to move to Minnesota. (I really think that is the reason that I married him so fast, I wanted to move back so bad but the judge said that I could not move until I was 21, so I got married, that changed my name.....no problem.)

I did not get into any trouble when we moved back and I didn't look for any. We stayed with him mom for exactly 1 month before he moved out and went to live with a friend of his and left me there with his mother. That is another story in itself.

Good Day!

2008-04-04T10:16:00.002-05:00

Good Morning!!

I was checking in with all my blogging buddies and saw the Friday Confession over at Weekend's off. It reminded me of something also so I thought I would follow suit and do a Friday Confession of my own.

When I was 16 I worked at a bank in Minneapolis. The gave all their employees a checking account when they were hired and paid through the checking account instead of giving us a paper check. This is way before direct deposit. This was like well, 28 (OH MY FUC*ING GOD) years ago.

Now this was when I was young and dumb (1979) and thought I was invincible. Smoking pot and an attitude of "I don't have to listen to what you say". I was living with my grandma because my parents decided to move to California and because I refused to move (How could you do this to me....I am 15...I have a job....I have friends....I have high school) they decided that I could stay with grandma. The problem with that was that grandma lived in St. Louis Park and my friend all lived in Minneapolis. We had public transportation but the last bus ran at 9:30 pm and that was the time most of the fun things started so I never wanted to go home. My grandma basically let me do what I wanted but I had to call her and tell her what was happening and because she did not drive anymore she could not come and get me if I missed the bus.

Anyway, I am far away from my story. I quit working at the bank but unfortunately did not stop writing checks. About a month later they were waiting for me when I went to cash a check. I was arrested and taken into custody. I can't really remember how I was released (yes, smoking pot does cause you not to remember things or maybe it is because is was 28 YEARS AGO.

I think they just let me go and I walked home. When it came time for my case to be heard, they came to my house in the morning and arrested me again. They took me to juvenile hall (remember this was 28 YEARS AGO) where I saw several friends that I had lost contact with. One guy was in there for hitting his mother, his brother was in there for hitting his brother for hitting his mother, etc. Anyway, we sat around and talked and smoked cigarettes all day long. (Yes, you could smoke in those days in places like that.)

When I went before the judge, he ordered me to move to California with my parents and not move back to Minnesota until I was at least 21 (yes, really...that was my punishment) They had reduced the charge from felony to misdemeanor simply by me pleading guilty to each check individually instead of all checks as a whole. I do have to tell you that this was the absolute worst thing they could have done to me because that was the last place I wanted to be.

Next time I will tell you about the flight, that is another story in itself.

BTW, thanks for all your prayers for my family and Brandie in her time of need. I talked to her the other day and she was in better spirits, even laughing for a minute but then I think that she feels guilty and stops laughing. It will get better in time.

2008-03-11T18:06:00.003-05:00

Just to let you know....

Katie died at approximately 2:30 this afternoon.

She was 46 days old.

My dad is holding her right now.

I am leaving for California Thursday.

Please pray for my family.

;

2008-03-11T12:08:00.004-05:00

Meet Katie

Katie is now 6 weeks old.

Last night while breast feeding her mom fell asleep, when she woke up Katie was not breathing.

Katie was taken to the hospital where they worked on her for 20 minutes to get her heart started again.

As of now, she has been transported to the local children's hospital where she is on a respirator, in a coma, has some brain damage (although they are not sure as to what extent) and in critical condition.

This is my great niece, please pray that she will get through this. Please pray that if it is her time to go, she will go quickly and the Lord will wrap his arms around her and our family and help us through this.

The doctor's have told us that it is definitely SIDS and there was nothing anyone could have done to prevent this.

Please pray

2008-02-14T10:43:00.002-05:00

Happy Valentines Day !!!

Hope everyone is having a nice Valentines Day. I think that Valentines Day is mostly for girls, what do you think? I mean, guys like presents too but I don't think they like them as much as girls do and I don't think that they care as much as girls do.

My husband and myself do little for Valentines day. We don't make a huge deal about it, I also think Valentines Day is mostly for newly married or boyfriend/girlfriend (or boyfriend / boyfriend, girlfriend / girlfriend) relationships.

Tonight my husband has something planned. He wrote me a poem....wanna hear it???? Hmmmmm I don't know how he would feel about me sharing it here.... oh, what the heck, I am sure that he would not mind and besides although he does know about this blog he does not come here (that I know of).

Ok, Here goes:

It's Valentines Day and I'm ready for love,

Your mind, body and spirit will fly like a dove.

Imagine if you will as you enter our house,

Soft music is playing as I cook for my spouse.

There's candles for lighting around our table tonight,

I want the romance to come off just right.

We enjoy a great mean and conversation too,

We talk about the past, how our dreams have come true.

We walk hand in hand to retire for the night,

The anticipation is climbing higher then a kite.

We kiss, massage and slowly undree,

Your spine tingles with each sweet caress.

We finally reach the point where our bodies unite,

The pace races faster 'til we explode with delight.

We collapse in each others arms with hearts full of joy,

And thank God for our marriage that no one can destroy.

Now really....isn't that one of the best poems ever :)

He is sooooo gonna get some tonight!!

2008-01-28T13:22:00.000-05:00

A redneck was stopped by a game warden in Central Mississippi recently with two ice chests

full of fish.

He was leavin' a cove well-known for its fishing.

The game warden asked the man, 'Do you have a license to catch those fish?'

'Naw, sir', replied the redneck. 'I ain't got none of them there licenses.

You must understand, these here are my pet fish.'

'Pet fish?'

'Yeah. Every night, I take these here fish down to the lake and let 'em swim 'round for awhile.

Then, when I whistle, they jump right back into these here ice chests, and I take 'em home.

'That's a bunch of hooey! Fish can't do that.

The redneck looked at the warden for a moment and then said, 'It's the truth, Mr. Government Man.

I'll show ya. It really works.

'O. K.', said the warden. 'I've got to see this!

The redneck poured the fish into the lake and stood and waited.

After several minutes, the warden says, 'Well?

Well, what?, says the redneck.

The warden says, 'When are you going to call them back?

Call who back? 'The FISH', replied the warden!

'What fish?', replied the redneck.

Moral of the story: We may not be as smart as some city slickers, but we ain't as dumb as some

government employees. You can say what you want about the South, but you never hear of anyone retiring and moving north!!!

2008-01-22T14:19:00.000-05:00

A man came home from work late, tired and irritated, to find his 5-year old son waiting for him at the door.

SON: 'Daddy, may I ask you a question?'

DAD: 'Yeah sure, what it is?' replied the man.

SON: 'Daddy, how much do you make an hour?'

DAD: 'That's none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?' the man said angrily.

SON: 'I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?'

DAD: 'If you must know, I make $50 an hour.

SON: 'Oh,' the little boy replied, with his head down.

SON: 'Daddy, may I please borrow $25?

The father was furious, 'If the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you are being so selfish. I don't work hard everyday for such childish frivolities. The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door.

The man sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy's questions. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money? After about an hour or so, the man had calmed down ,and started to think:

Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $25.00 and he really didn't ask for money very often. The man went to the door of the little boy's room and opened the door. Are you asleep, son? He asked. 'No daddy, I'm awake, replied the boy.'I've been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier said the man. It's been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you. Here's the $25 you asked for.

The little boy sat straight up, smiling. 'Oh,thank you daddy! He yelled. Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled up bills. The man saw that the boy already had money, started to get angry again. The little boy slowly counted out his money, and then looked up at his father. Why do you want more money if you already have some the father grumbled.

Because I didn't have enough, but now I do,' the little boy replied. 'Daddy, I have $50 now. Can I buy an hour of your time?

Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you.

The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little son, and he begged for his forgiveness.

It's just a short reminder to all of you working so hard in life. We should not let time slip through our fingers without having spent some time with those who really matter to us, those close to our hearts.

Do remember to share that $50 worth of your time with someone you love.

If we die tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of hours.

But the family & friends we leave behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives.

Can I Borrow $25?

Just a note to let you all know, on the top of this post is a picture of my daddy. He passed away in April of 2003 and I would give any amount of money to just have one more day with him, to tell him how much I love him and to let him know that I will see him again someday.

2008-01-21T11:02:00.001-05:00

A nurse on the pediatric ward, before listening to the little ones chests, would plug the stethoscope into their ears and let them listen to their own hearts.

Their eyes would always light up with awe, but she never got a response equal to four-year old David's comment.

Gently she tucked the stethoscope into his ears and placed the disk over his heart. 'Listen', she said...........'What do you suppose that is?

He drew his eyebrows together in a puzzled line and looked up as if lost in the mystery of the strange tap - tap - tapping deep in his chest.

Then his face broke out in a wondrous grin and he asked, 'Is that Jesus knocking?'

This is not the picture that came on the e-mail, this is my grandson. He is just too cute not to put up here.

God Bless everyone!!

2008-01-09T08:48:00.000-05:00

I have been tagged by my friend over at http://weekendsoff.blogspot.com/ , go to her site and check her out, she is hilarious!! But for now I just wanted to share something I received in an e-mail this morning..... Dementia......

2007-12-21T10:56:00.000-05:00

Got this in an e-mail this morning....Everyone, please enjoy and have a very merry Christmas.

Every year, I promised it would be different. Each December, I vowed to make Christmas a calm and peaceful experience. But, once again, in spite of my plans, chaos prevailed. I had cut back on what I deemed nonessential obligations: extensive card writing, endless baking, Martha Stewart decorating, and, yes, even the all-American pastime, overspending. Yet still I found myself exhausted, unable to appreciate the precious family moments, and, of course, the true meaning of Christmas.

My son, Nicholas, was in kindergarten that year. It was an exciting season for a six-year-old, filled with hopes, dreams and laughter. For weeks, he’d been memorizing songs for his school’s upcoming Winter Pageant.

I didn’t have the heart to tell him I’d be working the night of the production. Not willing to miss his shining moment, I spoke with his teacher. She assured me there’d be a dress rehearsal in the morning, and that all parents unable to attend the evening presentation were welcome to enjoy it then. Fortunately, Nicholas seemed happy with the compromise.

So, just as I promised, I filed in ten minutes early, found a spot on the cafeteria floor and sat down. When I looked around the room, I saw a handful of parents quietly scampering to their seats. I began to wonder why they, too, were attending a dress rehearsal, but chalked it up to the chaotic schedules of modern family life.

As I waited, the students were led into the building. Each class, accompanied by their teacher, sat crossed-legged on the floor. The children would become members of the audience as each group, one by one, rose to perform their song. Because the public school system had long stopped referring to the holiday as “Christmas,” I didn’t expect anything other than fun, commercial entertainment. The Winter Pageant was filled with songs of reindeer, Santa Claus, snowflakes and good cheer. The melodies were fun, cute and lighthearted. But nowhere to be found was even the hint of an innocent babe, a manger, or Christ’s precious, sacred gifts of life, hope and joy.

When my son’s class rose to sing “Christmas Love,” I was slightly taken aback by its bold title. However, within moments, I settled in to watch them proudly begin their number. Nicholas was aglow, as were all of his classmates, adorned in fuzzy mittens, red sweaters and bright snowcaps upon their heads. Those in the front row, center stage, held up large letters, one by one, to spell out the title of the song. As the class would sing “C is for Christmas,” a child would hold up the letter C. Then, “H is for Happy,” and on and on, until each child holding up his or her portion had presented the complete message, “Christmas Love.

”The performance was going smoothly, until suddenly, we noticed her, a small, quiet girl in the front row holding the letter M, upside-down! She was entirely unaware that reversed, her letter M appeared as a W. She fidgeted from side to side, until she had moved away from her mark entirely. The audience of children snickered at this little one’s mistakes. In her innocence, she had no idea they were laughing at her and stood tall, proudly holding her W.

You can only imagine the difficulty in calming an audience of young, giggling children. Although many teachers tried to shush them, the laughter continued. It continued, that is, until the moment the last letter was raised, and we all saw it together. A hush came over the audience and eyes began to widen. In that instant, we finally understood the reason we were there, why we celebrated in the first place, why even in the chaos, there was a purpose for our festivities. For, when the last letter was held high, the message read loud and clear, “CHRIST WAS LOVE.” And, I believe, He still is.

2007-12-18T16:16:00.000-05:00

My friend over at weekends off thinks I died so I better just get on with it...

OK, so this is my 100th post...

I have been sitting here for over a week and a half trying to think of something "witty" to say or do on this 100th post. But....nothing....nada...zilch!!

I will tell you (with a smile on my face) that my daughter and her son are back on NC soil as we speak. They will be staying with me for a while. Sarah is going to go back to school so she can get a better job to support herself and her son. AND....speaking of her son, my 3rd grandchild...the little shit!

We are on the way to Taco Bell (because it is so healthy) today at lunchtime and all of a sudden I hear it....loud and clear...coming from the back seat of my car....this child that is going to be 2 on Thursday....a very loud and clear "Damn". So, what do I do??? I laugh (oh please, you would have laughed too) I really laugh, which tickles him and he says it over and over again. I choose to ignore this behavior until he says just as cute as can be....grandma......grandma (ok, it sounds more like mommy but he is calling me, I assure you) finally I say "what is it Alex?" and he says "damn" and laughs. Thankfully I am back at work at this time and so I just tell him that grandma will see him after work and they drive away. Hopefully when they come to pick me up he will have forgotten it, I don't know though, he remembers really good.

This morning he went behind the shelves and found his squishy (pacifier, that he has not had for almost a week now) and comes out looks right at his mom and says "ha ha". What a hoot this kid is!

I am almost done with Christmas. I bought the adult children a few things and I will give them each some money. I have bought the grand kids too much (at least that is what my husband has told me, said there are at least 50 presents under the tree, I am sure he is just exaggerating). This is my holiday. I love giving presents. I buy my son (who is 26 this year) a toy every year, don't ask me why, I just do. Usually it is just something small, like a nerf gun or something like that. This year I bought him rock em sock em robots. He is going to die!!

Now, I will update you on Brandie...because I just got a call and well, I am sure you want to know LOL!

Brandie is in her 7th or 8th month of pregnancy. She has been off the drugs and away from that puke Mark for almost 6 months. She is doing well. She was going to put this baby up for adoption and had gone as far as to talk with a private adoption office but suffice to say, not going to happen. When Mark was contacted he decided that he does not want to give the baby up and if Brandie is not willing to keep the baby, he will take the child and raise her himself. NOT GOING TO HAPPEN! Brandie will keep this child and raise her. She has gone to all her parenting classes and has gone through rehab. she is on her way to being a better parent. Has everyone forgiven her....No. Will they? Yes, I think so. My mom has let her stay with her for a few days and has forgiven her. My younger sister was really mad about this but I explained that if it was my granddaughter, I would do the same thing and so would she. I know this is going to be difficult for everyone but the Lord above wants nothing more then for us to forgive.

I am still very angry with Brandie, mostly because although she acted like she was sorry, she never said the words....until today.

My sister (not her mother) was taking her to an appointment and she finally said that she knows what she did was wrong, she knows that she was a terrible parent and she is soo soo sorry for everything that happened. She has to live with this everyday. She can only speak with her children on Wednesdays and Saturdays and she now knows that is just not enough. Their dad has really turned into not so good of a parent either. I think they are better off right now where they are but he is a low life and does not know how to parent either. He and his girlfriend break up every other day and fight like cats and dogs. I don't think this is a good environment either.

What is going to happen? I have not a clue. I would love to see Brandie get her shit together, I know that Russell would love to send the kids back (he is just so tired of being a parent, waaa waa waa) I don't think Brandie is ready yet. She has gone on a housing list, she has, like I said finished parenting classes, she has already got day care set up for the baby when she comes and she has been looking for a job (everyone tells her not to bother right now, no one is going to hire her) but it is looking up.

I think that part of our little dysfunctional family is going to finally come together.

Merry Christmas Everyone. Remember the reason for the season.

Muah

2007-11-21T14:10:00.001-05:00

A Thanksgiving Wish

A game warden was driving down the road when he came upon a young boy carrying a wild turkey under his arm.

He stopped and asked the boy, 'Where did you get that turkey?'

The boy replied, 'What turkey?'

The game warden said, 'That turkey you're carrying under your arm.'

The boy looks down and said, 'Well, lookee here, a turkey done roosted under my arm!'

The game warden said, 'Now look, you know turkey season is closed,

So whatever you do to that turkey, I'm going to do to you.

If you break his leg, I'm gonna break your leg.

If you break his wing, I'll break your arm.

Whatever you do to him, I'll do to you.

So, what are you gonna do with him?' The little boy said,

'I guess I'll just kiss his ass and let him go!'

May your stuffing be tasty

May your turkey plump,

May your potatoes and gravy have never a lump.

May your yams be delicious

And your pies take the prize,

And may your Thanksgiving dinner

Stay off of your thighs!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2007-11-08T09:05:00.000-05:00

The Stella Awards

Thats right folks, it is time again for the Stella Awards:

For those unfamiliar with these awards, they are named after 81-year-old Stella Liebeck who spilled hot coffee on herself and successfully sued the McDonald's in New Mexico where she purchased the coffee.

You remember, she took the lid off the coffee and put it between her knees while she was driving. Who would ever think one could get burned doing that, right? That's right; these are awards for the most outlandish lawsuits and verdicts in the U.S. You know, the kinds of cases that make you scratch your head. So keep your head scratcher handy.Here are the Stella's for the past year:

7TH PLACE:Kathleen Robertson of Austin, Texas was awarded $80,000 by a jury of her peers after breaking her ankle tripping over a toddler who was running inside a furniture store. The store owners were understandably surprised by the verdict, considering the running toddler was her own son.

6TH PLACE:Carl Truman, 19, of Los Angeles, California won $74,000 plus medical expenses when his neighbor ran over his hand with a Honda Accord. Truman apparently didn't notice there was someone at the wheel of the car when he was trying to steal his neighbor's hubcaps.Go ahead, grab your head scratcher.

5TH PLACE:Terrence Dickson, of Bristol, Pennsylvania, who was leaving a house he had just burglarized by way of the garage. Unfortunately for Dickson, the automatic garage door opener malfunctioned and he could not get the garage door to open. Worse, he couldn't re-enter the house because the door connecting the garage t o the house locked when Dickson pulled it shut. Forced to sit for eight, count 'em, EIGHT, days on a case of Pepsi and a large bag of dry dog food, he sued the homeowner's insurance company claiming undue mental Anguish.Amazingly, the jury said the insurance company must pay Dickson $500,000 for his anguish. We should all have this kind of anguish.Keep scratching. There are more...

4TH PLACE:Jerry Williams, of Little Rock , Arkansas , garnered 4th Place in the Stella's when he was awarded $14,500 plus medical expenses after being bitten on the butt by his next door neighbor's beagle - even though the beagle was on a chain in its owner's fenced yard. Williams did not get as much as he asked for because the jury believed the beagle might have been provoked at the time of the butt bite because Williams had climbed over the fence into the yard and repeatedly shot the dog with a pellet gun.Grrr rr ... Scratch, scratch.

3RD PLACE:Amber Carson of Lancaster, Pennsylvania because a jury ordered a Philadelphia restaurant to pay her $113,500 after she slipped on a spilled soft drink and broke her tailbone. The reason the soft drink was on the floor: Ms. Carson had thrown it at her boyfriend 30 seconds earlier during an argument. What ever happened to people being responsible for their own actions?Scratch, scratch, scratch. Hang in there; there are only two more Stella's to go...

2ND PLACE:Kara Walton, of Claymont , Delaware sued the owner of a night club in a nearby city because she fell from the bathroom window to the floor, knocking out her two front teeth. Even though Ms. Walton was trying to sneak through the ladies room window to avoid paying the $3.50 cover charge, the jury said the night club had to pay her $12,000....oh, yeah,plus dental expenses. Go figure.

1ST PLACE: (May I have a fanfare played on 50 kazoos please)This year's runaway First Place Stella Award winner was Mrs. Merv Grazinski, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, who purchased a new 32-foot Winnebago motor home. On her first trip home, from an OU football game, having driven on to the freeway, she set the cruise control at 70 mph and calmly left the driver's seat to go to the back of the Winnebago to make herself a sandwich. Not surprisingly, the motor home left the freeway, crashed and overturned. Also not surprisingly, Mrs. Grazinski sued Winnebago for not putting in the owner's manual that she couldn't actually leave the driver's seat while the cruise control was set. The Oklahoma jury awarded her, are you sitting down, $1,750,000 PLUS a new motor home. Winnebago actually changed their manuals as a result of this suit, just in case Mrs. Grazinski has any relatives who might also buy a motor home.

Are we, as a society, getting more stupid...?

2007-11-06T11:22:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday to my daughter....

Today you are 20, and yes it does make me feel old. This is my youngest child. The one that is most like me even if neither one of us wants to admit it.

She is far away...in Texas, and I miss both of them terribly. But, I soooo want her to be happy. I don't want her to have another broken heart.

She is very opinionated

She is very smart

She is very funny

She is very cute....takes after her mother once again

She falls in love so easily and because SOME men are jerks, falls very hard

She is my friend and I miss her.

Darling, I hope that you had a wonderful birthday. I wish I could have been there with you on this day.

2007-11-01T10:05:00.000-05:00

Ok, cute kid story ahead....

A few nights ago Kody was having dinner at our house. He is 4 now and goes to head start so he does not get to come over and spend the night very often.

We are having dinner. Baked Chicken, califlower with cheese sauce and brown rice. He loves it. He eats all the califlower first and looks at me with those big blue eyes and says.....Grandma....can I please have more california...it is soooo good!!!!

Gosh, I love that kid!!!

The picture is of Kody and his mom, my daughter.

2007-10-31T07:45:00.000-05:00

Happy Holloween !!!!!! Boo!

2007-10-30T11:54:00.000-05:00

OK, an e-mail from my mom....

You always hear the usual stories of pennies on the sidewalk being good luck, gifts from angels, etc. This is the first time I've ever heard this twist on the story. Gives you something to think about.

Several years ago, a friend of mine and her husband were invited to spend the weekend at the husband's employer's home. My friend, Arlene, was nervous about the weekend. The boss was very wealthy, with a fine home on the waterway, and cars costing more than her house. The first day and evening went well, and Arlene was delighted to have this rare glimpse into how the very wealthy live. The husband's employer was quite generous as a host, and took them to the finest restaurants. Arlene knew she would never have the opportunity to indulge in this kind of extravagance again, so was enjoying herself immensely.

As the three of them were about to enter an exclusive restaurant that evening, the boss was walking slightly ahead of Arlene and her husband.He stopped suddenly, looking down on the pavement for a long, silent moment. Arlene wondered if she was supposed to pass him. There was nothing on the ground except a single darkened penny that someone had dropped, and a few cigarette butts. Still silent, the man reached down and picked up the penny. He held it up and smiled, then put it in his pocket as if he had found a great treasure. How absurd! What need did this man have for a single penny? Why would he even take the time to stop and pick it up?Throughout dinner, the entire scene nagged at her. Finally, she could stand it no longer.

She casually mentioned that her daughter once had a coin collection, and asked if the penny he had found had been of some value.A smile crept across the man's face as he reached into his pocket for the penny and held it out for her to see. She had seen many pennies before! What was the point of this?

"Look at it." He said. "Read what it says." She read the words "United States of America""No, not that; read further.""One cent?" "No, keep reading.""In God we Trust?" "Yes!" "And?""And if I trust in God, the name of God is holy, even on a coin. Whenever I find a coin I see that inscription. It is written on every single United States coin, but we never seem to notice it!

God drops a message right in front of me telling me to trust Him? Who am I to pass it by? When I see a coin, I pray, I stop to see if my trust IS in God at that moment. I pick the coin up as a response to God; that I do trust in Him. For a short time, at least, I cherish it as if it were gold. I think it is God's way of starting a conversation with me. Lucky for me, God is patient and pennies are plentiful!

When I was out shopping today, I found a penny on the sidewalk. I stopped and picked it up, and realized that I had been worrying and fretting in my mind about things I cannot change. I read the words, "In God We Trust," and had to laugh. Yes, God, I get the message.

It seems that I have been finding an inordinate number of pennies in the last few months, but then, pennies are plentiful! And, God is patient..The best mathematical equation I have ever seen:1 cross+ 3 nails--------4 given. That's the whole gospel message simply stated.

Thought for the Day:

If God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it.

If He had a wallet, your photo would be in it.

He sends you flowers every spring.

He sends you a sunrise every morning Face it, friend - He is crazy about you!

Send this to every "beautiful person" you wish to bless.

God didn't promise days without pain, laughter without sorrow, sun without rain, but He did promise strength for the day, comfort for the tears, and light for the way.

Read this line very slowly and let it sink in...

If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it.

2007-10-25T11:44:00.000-05:00

A bald man with a wooden leg gets invited to a Halloween party.

He doesn't know what costume to wear to hide his head and his leg so he writes to a costume company to explain his problem. A few days later he received a parcel with the following note: Dear Sir, Please find enclosed a pirate's outfit. The spotted handkerchief will cover your bald head and, with your wooden leg, you will be just right as a pirate.

Very truly yours,

Acme Costume Co.

The man thinks this is terrible because they have just emphasized his wooden leg and so he writes a letter of complaint. A week goes by and he receives another parcel and a note, which says: Dear Sir, Please find enclosed a monk's habit. The long robe will cover your wooden leg and, with your bald head, you will really look the part.

Very truly yours,

Acme Costume Co.

Now the man is really upset since they have gone from emphasizing his wooden leg to emphasizing his bald head so again he writes the company another nasty letter of complaint. The next week he gets a small parceland a note, which reads: Dear Sir, Please find the enclosed bottle of molasses. Pour the molasses over your bald head, stick your wooden leg up your ass and go as a caramel apple.

Very truly yours,

Acme

2007-10-09T09:26:00.000-05:00

Ok, here goes.....

I know that I told ya all that my daughter is leaving for Texas in a few weeks. Well, that time is almost up (she will be leaving next Monday) and it is absolutly totally killing me.

It is not that she is going, not really. It is more that she is taking Alex, now that is killing me.

I am trying to get through this without crying and it just does not work. My heart is totally breaking.

She is moving to a town called Littlefield in Texas, I guess it is about 30 miles from Lubbock. She is moving with her boyfriend of about 2 months...I don't get it.

She did not meet him on the internet, she met him throught a friend of his that lives here. She has talked to him on the phone for the past 2 months and now he is here to pick her up and carry her back to Texas.

Now, I have to tell you.....I really like this guy from what I have seen. The only think that I don't like about him is that he lives in Texas. He is very good to Alex and Alex just loves him but really what do we know of him? David had a friend of his do a background check on him and she did 3 different ones, they all come back fine. But still!!!

I am just going to be a basketcase! I just can't stand this. I know that she wants to go and I know that she has to do this for her but it breaks my heart.

What if something happens to her all the way out there, what if something happens to Alex and I cannot be there for him?? Then what???

David says that she will be back, that this relationship is new and Anthony does not know Sarah like we know Sarah. On one hand I hope to God he is right and on the other hand I want her to find happiness and I want Alex to be happy..........I just want them to be happy here...I guess right now that is just going to be to much to ask.....it is just sad :( Just to let you all know...in case you didn't....That is Alex in the pic, he is just a doll baby :)

2007-10-03T12:46:00.000-05:00

2007-10-02T12:26:00.000-05:00

I received this e-mail today and it is just so fitting that I wanted to share it with everyone. I am just not doing well today, things are not good. I will try and get on tomorrow and share with everyone. I am just so sad!! But, God will get me through it, I know he will :)

The picture is suppose to show that it is raining, but I don't know how to do that.

One rainy afternoon I was driving along one of the main streets of town, taking those extra precautions necessary when the roads are wet and slick.

Suddenly my daughter, Aspen, spoke up from her relaxed position in her seat. "Dad, I'm thinking of something."

This announcement usually meant she had been pondering some fact for a while, and was now ready to expound all that her six-year-old mind had discovered. I was eager to hear.

"What are you thinking?" I asked.

"The rain!" she began, "is like sin, and the windshield wipers are like God wiping our sins away."

After the chill bumps raced up my arms I was able to respond. "That's really good, Aspen."

Then my curiosity broke in. How far would this little girl take this revelation? So I asked...

"Do you notice how the rain keeps on coming? What does that tell you?"

Aspen didn't hesitate one moment with her answer: "We keep on sinning, and God just keeps on forgiving us."

I will always remember this whenever I turn my wipers on.

Isn't it distressing to know that when you forward this message you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it to them.

Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.

In order to see the Rainbow, you must first endure some Rain.

Hope the water flows when you get the picture

READ THE FIRST LINE CAREFULLY.

If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it.
Happy moments, praise God.
Difficult moments, seek God.
Quiet moments, worship God.
Painful moments, trust God.
Every moment, thank God.

This is a Thomas Kinkade painting. It's rumored to carry a miracle! The water is supposed to be running, so if it's not moving then the picture didn't come through entirely.

They say if you pass this on, you will receive a miracle. I am passing this on because I thought it was really pretty, and besides, who couldn't use a miracle?!

2007-09-25T10:28:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone.

Finally I come back! I have been on a cruise with my mom and my sister. What fun was that? We had a blast. I flew into Burbank, CA. a week ago last Saturday. On Sunday we did some shopping, did the manicure and pedicure thing and relaxed with the family. On Monday morning we picked up my mom and headed to the Port in well....I am not sure where it really was...we will just say the port and leave it at that. We got on the ship, had "the drink of the day" and headed to our room.

Wow!! Our room was fabulous!!! We were on the 10th floor located right next to the bridge. We got to go out on the patio every morning and watch the Captain and HER crew doing their stuff. Yes, we had the only woman Captain that the Royal Caribbean employees and to top it all off her name was Karin....with an i!!

On Tuesday we docked in San Diego. We did not get off the ship because we had all been to San Diego before so it was just not a big deal for us. Instead we stayed and relaxed, read, ate and slept on and off all day long. On Tuesday night we went to dinner (we had a terrific wait staff) and then to the casino. My sister won $ 450.00 on Monday night so we played with that money all night.

Catalina Island was our next stop. My mom's legs were hurting so we did not get off the boat there either. We figured all there was to do there was shop and we wanted to spend our money in Mexico, were we knew we would get really good deals. That night we went to the casino (yes again) and I put $ 20.00 in the dollar machine and won $ 387.00. I promptly put $ 187.00 back into those crazy machines and quit for the night. This $ 200.00 was my spending money for Mexico the next day :)

Mexico was wonderful. I bought so many things for the kids and grand kids that I did not know how in the world I was going to get it all back. I found out I am an excellent "bard er-er".

On Friday we were back in Los Angeles again :( . This was the best vacation I have ever been on, hands down. I got to spend time with my mom and my sister, we had a blast and I was spoiled rotten (my mom had bought me a Prada handbag and some Dolce & Gabbana purfum along with about $ 400.00 in clothes just for this trip).

Got home Sunday, and it feels good to be home. One downfall is that my daughter had decided that she is going to move to Texas with a friend of hers. That means that my grandson is leaving too. I hate that so much but will not think about it now because is always makes me cry. They are leaving in about 2 weeks, not a good thing and I am almost sure that it is not going to work so who do you think will have to pick up the pieces when all is said and done??? And you all know that I will do it and smile, not because it did not work out, but because I will have my grandson back again. I miss him already.

2007-09-03T14:38:00.000-05:00

I'm Backkkkkkkkkkkkk...ok not really. Still have some pneumonia in the chest and now this.... I don't know how to say this exactly so I am going to just cut and paste the letter David (my wonderful husband) wrote to the church.

Please pass along this prayer request.
Karin and I are asking for your prayer. If you have been around Karin in the last month, you know that she has been quite sick. She was initially diagnosed with pneumonia, and that diagnosis may still be true. However, today we went back to the doctor's office, and they want to run a series of additional test. She will have an echo-cardiogram on Thursday. It appears that she may have congestive heart failure. If you (like me) are not a medical type, I assure you that the problem is not as bad as the name suggest. This does not mean that her heart will stop immediately. The doctor thinks that she has some fluid build up around her heart, and this is causing her heart to not work efficiently. Therefore, her heart has to work harder than it should. Her physician has prescribed some oral medication that will cause her body to eliminate more fluid. If all goes well, this intervention, plus some changes in our diet and exercise lifestyles, will take care of the problem. Even the American Heart Association's website indicates that rest, change in diet and exercise routines, along with medication is the generally prescribed treatment. The doc said today that her heart, which is enlarged (like any other muscle when it's working over time) will go back down to a more healthy size in the future. If course, this is contingent on her being successful with these lifestyle changes. In an effort to support her, I am going to make the same lifestyle changes. Please pray for us.
December 31st, 2007 will be her two year anniversary for stopping smoking. She smoked for 26 years up to two packs a day. I am very excited about that and very proud of her for that accomplishment. Every time I think about it, I am thankful that she made that decision because we will, hopefully, have a little longer time together as a result. If she can do that, then I know she can overcome this latest medical issue. Please pray for God's guidance, peace, and ultimately healing.
In Christ,

2007-08-06T10:07:00.000-05:00

Good Morning!

I have so much to tell you all but for the last week I have had pneumonia. I have been trying to come to work and really have only missed a day but it is still a little hard to breathe and the night sucks big time. I have to sleep sitting up and really that is not sleeping at all.

OK, lets start with Brandie's kids. They are just too cute. They are with their dad right now. 2 big men from social services went with them to Chicago to hand them over to their dad. Brianna (who is 6) just looked at one of the men, held out her hand, started shaking his hand and said
" Wow, your hands are really really big, you are buff man!" I wonder where she got something like that from. Social services had my mom and sister bring the kids there the day before they were to leave so that they could meet the men that would be taking them and therefore not be so scared. My sister said that at the airport it was awful, the kids kept getting out of line and coming to talk to my mom and my sister, crying, Brianna told my sister that she wished she was her mommy and that she loves her. Matthew just cried and told them how much he was going to miss them. The hardest part I think for my sister was having to hand that baby over. He is about 20 months and since they have been staying with my sister for about 2 weeks, he started calling her me me, so here he was in this big mans arms and holding his arms out to her calling for her. She said that they both held it together until the kids were not in sight and then they let themselves loose it. Now, since this has happened, my sister has talked to the kids and they are fine. Russell told her that she can call anytime and talk to them and of coarse that has made her feel alot better. Brandie did spend some time with them and has again said she is in therapy. She must go to court on the 14th of this month and let the judge know what she has done (therapy, rehab etc.) and if she cannot prove that she has been doing these things the judge will close the case and she will lose complete custody of her children. I am praying that she is doing what she has to be doing.

Now, even though that was good news for the most part......I have better.

My sister and my mother have invited me to come out out California on Sept 15th and leave on a cruise with them on the 17th, going to the Catalina Islands and Baja Mexico and returning on the 23rd. They think for some reason that I need a vacation...ok, I do but they are just too good for me. They are both paying 2 days wages for me because they know that I don't have much vacation time left, they are flying me out and my mom wants to buy me a bunch of new clothes. How in the world did I get so lucky, so blessed?

Anyways that is what has been going on in my world. Oh wait....my nephew just flew to Detroit to see his grandma and sat next to Gene Simmons on the plane....I want to do something like that too :)

2007-07-23T08:15:00.000-05:00

Lies, Lies and more Lies!!

I hate lies.

My husband and I have total honesty and I love that, it means that I can trust anything and everything he says as truth, no question about it. I love that about my marriage, sometimes it is so hard to have total honesty and sometimes it hurts but it is always a good thing.

So, this weekend I found out about everything.

Brandie has not been in treatment, Lies!

Brandie is "suppose" to start treatment today, yeah right...not even giving her the benefit of the doubt anymore.

The kids will leave tomorrow to go and live with their dad, my mom asked Brandie if she wanted to come and see them before she left, she said that she had things to do but maybe...she did go eventually.

My little sister is going nuts (ha ha) with 5 children. She just really did not know what she was in for. She is used to her 2 children, one who is 11 and really just does his own thing and one that is 3. She did not remember what 7 is like....and this time 7 is a girl. I laugh but really I feel bad....wait nope...love you little sister!!!

I really am going to bum out on Tuesday because I DO know that this is going to be really really hard on my mom and my sister, no matter how nuts they are driving them, it is really going to suck out loud! Even though they know the children are going to be better off, it still is going to suck. I will pray that the Lord is with them both that day.

I also have to give HUGE kudo's to the foster parents. They loved these 3 children with all they have. Both (No, all) cried when my mom and my sister picked them up. The mother and father have both grown to love these kids. Both cried their eyes out. My sister said that the dad was trying to hold it in and help his wife through it all but he could not hold it in. Brianna just cried and cried...she kept saying..."I want my momma, I want my momma".....she did not mean Brandie....how sad is that. Just one more reason for me to hate her for what she has done to her children.

Will I forgive Brandie, yes I will. The Lord says to forgive, that is what I will have to do.

Do I want to be close to her again? Nope, not at all.

2007-07-20T09:15:00.000-05:00

Good Morning All,

Ok, I have a lot of work to do today so I am just going to let you all know what happened this week in the world of "Brandie".

Last Friday was court, as I said before, she did not show up.

Today the children will be turned over to my sister and my mom. They will stay with my mom this weekend and then my sister will take them Sunday and Monday. On Tuesday they will go with a social worker to Chicago to live with their dad.

I am happy and sad about this. Happy because they are going to be with their daddy and they deserve to be with him and sad because they are going to be so far away from my mom and I know that is going to make her so sad.

Brandie called last week (my mom not me) and said that she is 13 weeks preganant, she had been clean for 34 days (I believe that was the number), she is in treatment from 8 am to 12 noon each day, she is still living with Mark's dad although Mark's dad kicked Mark out of the house several weeks ago for beating the shit out of Brandie. Now, I don't know how much of this is true but she did say that she know that she has to get better and she knows that it is the best thing for the kids to go and live with their dad. Frankly, I would love to give her the benefit of the doubt but I just can't believe anything she says right now. If she proves herself then ok, I will try and forgive her because that is what the Lord wants us to do. I just really want the old Brandie back without the attidude and the "I am better than you" belief.

So, finally after fighting for his children for the last few months, Russell will be able to take them home and they will have somewhere to call home. We will miss them more than anyone can say but I am sure that Russell will let them fly out to Calif. once in a while.

Please continue to pray for these children. They know that they are not going to be living with their mommy but when reality hits, and they remember all that she has done to them, they will not only need counseling, they will need prayer.

2007-07-13T13:37:00.000-05:00

OK, new update.

Right now Brandie and Russell should be in court. Why you ask? Well, I explain they should be in court today because TODAY is the day the JUDGE told them to return.

Russell is in court right now, Brandie could not make it. Why you ask? Well, she is pregnant!!

Can you believe it? She is pregnant and sick so she cannot be in court to fight for the 3 children that she does have.

I just talked to my sister and they (the court) have taken Russell upstairs to do the live scan of his hand to make sure that he is not "wanted" or anything. They will send it to the FBI and if all comes back fine, I believe that he could be taking his kids home next week. The mediator asked if my mom would take the kids until then but because my mom's live scan did not work (her hands are too dry and cracked) so my sister will take the children if they will let her for a week.

My heart goes out those children so much.

I keep asking myself, how could their mother just give her kids away? What kind of mother does that?

My sister says that the state of California will take the baby the minute it is born, we both agree that we do not believe for a New York minute that Brandie is not still doing meth. I don't know but I do think that you cannot just simply stop doing it without some help, not when you are that addicted. But, maybe I am wrong. I hope so.

I will come and update some more as soon as I hear anything else. Russell is in with his attorney, Brandie's attorney (court appointed) and a mediator trying to get things settled.

2007-07-12T12:38:00.001-05:00

I am passing this along because I got it in an e-mail from my mother. Although I was alive in the 70's I was not old enough to remember this. If it is true, Shame on Jane Fonda!! Please pass this along if you wish, post it on your blog...whatever you want to do with it. I just thought it was worth passing along.

She really was a traitor; A TRAITOR IS ABOUT TO BE HONORED KEEP THIS MOVING ACROSS AMERICA!

This is for all the kids born in the 70's who do not remember, and didn't have to bear the burden that our fathers, mothers and older brothers and sisters had to bear.

Jane Fonda is being honored as one of the'100 Women of the Century.'

BY BARBRA WALTERS

Unfortunately, many have forgotten and still countless others have never known how Ms. Fonda betrayed not only the idea of our country, but specific men who served and sacrificed during Vietnam

The first part of this is from an F-4E pilot

The pilot's name is Jerry Driscoll, a River Rat.

In 1968, the former Commandant of the USAF Survival School was a POW in Ho Lo Prison the 'Hanoi Hilton.'

Dragged from a stinking cesspit of a cell, cleaned, fed, and dressed in clean PJ's, he was ordered to describe for a visiting American 'Peace Activist' the 'lenient and humane treatment' he'd received.

He spat at Ms. Fonda, was clubbed, and was dragged away.During the subsequent beating, he fell forward on to the camp Commandant's feet, which sent that officer berserk.

In 1978, the Air Force Colonel still suffered from double vision (which permanently ended his flying career) from the Commandant's frenzied application of a wooden baton.

From 1963-65, Col. Larry Carrigan was in the47FW/DO (F-4E's). He spent 6 years in the'Hanoi Hilton',,, the first three of which his family only knew he was 'missing in action'.His wife lived on faith that he was still alive.His group, too, got the cleaned-up, fed and clothed routine in preparation for a 'peace delegation' visit.They, however, had time and devised a plan to get word to the world that they were alive and still survived.

Each man secreted a tiny piece of paper, with his Social Security Number on it, in the palm of his hand. When paraded before Ms. Fonda and a cameraman, she walked the line, shaking each man's hand and asking little encouraging snippets like: 'Aren't you sorry you bombed babies?' and 'Are you grateful for the humane treatment from your benevolent captors? 'Believing this HAD to be an act, they each palmed her their sliver of paper.She took them all without missing a beat.

At the end of the line and once the camera stopped rolling, to the shocked disbelief of the POWs, she turned to the officer in charge and handed him all the little pieces of paper. Three men died from the subsequent beatings. Colonel Carrigan was almost number four but he survived, which is the only reason we know of her actions that day.

I was a civilian economic development advisor inVietnam, and was captured by the North Vietnamese communists in South Vietnam in 1968, and held prisoner for over 5 years. I spent 27 months in solitary confinement; one year in a cage in Cambodia; and one year in a 'black box' in Hanoi.My North Vietnamese captors deliberately poisoned and murdered a female missionary, a nurse in a leprosarium in Ban me Thuot, SouthVietnam, whom I buried in the jungle near the Cambodian border.

At one time, I weighed only about 90 lbs. (My normal weight is 170 lbs.)

We were Jane Fonda's 'war criminals.'

When Jane Fonda was in Hanoi, I was asked bythe camp communist political officer if I would be willing to meet with her.

I said yes, for I wanted to tell her about the real treatment we POWs received... and how different it was from the treatment purported by the North Vietnamese, and parroted by her as 'humane and lenient.'

Because of this, I spent three days on a rocky floor on my knees, with my arms outstretched with a large steel weights placed on my hands,and beaten with a bamboo cane.

I had the opportunity to meet with Jane Fonda soon after I was released. I asked her if she would be willing to debate me on TV. She never did answer me.

These first-hand experiences do not exemplify someone who should be honored as part of '100 Years of Great Women. 'Lest we forget...' 100 Years of Great Women' should never include a traitor whose hands are covered with the blood of so many patriots.

There are few things I have strong visceral reactions to, but Hanoi Jane's participation in blatant treason, is one of them.

Please take the time to forward to as many people as you possibly can.It will eventually end up on her computer ands he needs to know that we will never forget.

RONALD D. SAMPSON, CMSgt, USAF716

Maintenance Squadron,

Chief ofMaintenance DSN: 875-6431COMM: 883-6343

PLEASE HELP BY SENDING THIS TO EVERYONE IN YOUR ADDRESS BOOK. IF ENOUGH PEOPLE SEE THIS MAYBE HER STATUS WILL CHANGE.

AMEN!!

2007-07-12T08:30:00.000-05:00

Another one just because it's funny!!

Subject: Bertha

Bertha was dead.

The minister conducted her eulogy with heart felt gusto.

"Bertha married and had thirteen children.

Her husband died.

She married again and had seven more children.

Again, her husband died.

But, she married yet again and this time had five more children.

Again, her husband died.

Then alas, she finally died," he intoned

Standing before her coffin, the preacher prayed for Bertha.

He thanked the Lord for this very loving woman and said,

"Lord, they're finally together."

Ethel leaned over and quietly asked her friend Jane,

"Do you think he means her first, second or third husband?"

Jane replied, "I think he means her legs."

2007-07-09T14:07:00.000-05:00

Just because it's funny! :)

Did you know that Eagles mate for life??

Well, one day Harry the Eagle waited at the nest for Mary, his darlin' of 10 glorious years.

He went looking and found her.

She had been shot. Dead!

Harry was devastated.

After about six minutes of mourning he decided that he must get himself another mate.
But he just might like to cross the feather barrier.

So he flew off to find a new mate.

He found a lovely DOVE and brought her back to the nest.

The sex was OK but all the DOVE would say is, " I am a DOVE I want toLove!

I am a DOVE I want to love!

"Well, this got on Harry's nerves so he kicked the Dove out of the nest and flew off once more to find a mate.

He found a very sexy LOON and brought her back to the nest. Again the sex was great,

but all the LOON would say is "I am a LOON, I want to spoon!
I am a LOON I want to spoon!

"Egads!! Out with the LOON.

Once more he flew off to find a mate.

This time he found a gorgeous DUCK.

He brought the DUCK back to the nest. Again the sex was great, but all the DUCK would say was...well ..... you know ......

Noooooo ...... the DUCK didn't` say THAT!!!!!
What an awful thing to think!

Better scroll down

The Duck said, " I am a DRAKE you made a MISTAKE !"

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

2007-06-12T13:12:00.000-05:00

Things that make you go hmmmmmmm............

Can you cry under water?

How important does a person have to be before they are considered assassinated instead of just murdered?

Why do you have to "put your two cents in".. But it's only a "penny for your thoughts"? Where's that extra penny going to?

Once you're in heaven, do you get stuck wearing the clothes you were buried in for eternity?

Why does a round pizza come in a square box?

What disease did cured ham actually have?

How is it that we put man on the moon before we figured out it would be a good idea to put wheels on luggage?

Why is it that people say they "slept like a baby" when babies wake up like every two hours?

If a deaf person has to go to court, is it still called a hearing?

Why are you IN a movie, but you're ON TV?

Why do people pay to go up tall buildings and then put money in binoculars to look at things on the ground?

Why do doctors leave the room while you change? They're going to see you naked anyway.

Why is "bra" singular and "panties" plural?

Why do toasters always have a setting that burns the toast to a horrible crisp, which no decent human being would eat?

If Jimmy cracks corn and no one cares, why is there a stupid song about him?

Can a hearse carrying a corpse drive in the carpool lane ?

If the professor on Gilligan's Island can make a radio out of a coconut, why can't he fix a hole in a boat?

Why does Goofy stand erect while Pluto remains on all fours? They're both dogs!

If Wile E. Coyote had enough money to buy all that ACME crap, why didn't he just buy dinner?

If corn oil is made from corn, and vegetable oil is made from vegetables, what is baby oil made from?

If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?

Do The Alphabet song and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star have the same tune?

Why did you just try singing the two songs above?

Why do they call it an asteroid when it's outside the hemisphere, but call it a hemorrhoid when it's in your butt?

Did you ever notice that when you blow in a dog's face, he gets mad at you, but when you take him for a car ride, he sticks his head out the window?

2007-06-08T13:03:00.000-05:00

I received an e-mail asking me how my family was so I thought the polite thing to do was pop over here and give you all the updates.

My grandson Kody had his adenoids taken out yesterday and tubes put into his ears. Bless his little heart, he was great through it all. After the surgery we had to wait for an hour to make sure he was good to go and so the nurse brought him in a DVD player and the Disney Car's movie.

He was sitting on his mommy's lap and watching the movie just as content as could be so I asked him "didn't he already have that movie", he told me no but would I buy it for him? He was just too cute to tell no to, his face was all bloated and red, he had little bits of blood in the corners of his mouth, way to pitiful. I told him well, we could probably go over to Wal-mart when we were done because we had to get his prescriptions filled. So, he just looks at me with those big blue eyes and says "and a toy too grandma", wow, the right thing to ask for when you have been through surgery and you are looking so pitiful.

So off to Wal-mart we go. Car's is sold out so he opts for a Dora movie and then we go to the toys. I should tell you that my daughter bought him one of those horses on springs for his birthday a few months ago so when he saw the cowboy hat he just knew that he had to have that.....and also the guns with the holster.....and the caps that go with the guns...and the sheriff's badge. Needless to say....about 33 dollars later we were leaving Wal-mart. His mom told me later that he laid down to watch his movie and fell asleep with his holster and his guns on. Just a cute story to tell before we get into the Brandie thing!

Ok, now lets get to talking about Brandie and what she has done lately!!

They had court last week. We were real excited about this because we knew that Brandie has not done a thing that the judge ordered her to do. We figure that Russell will get to take the kids home, no problem......Lets all think again....This is the California judicial system we are dealing with here.

As soon as Brandie gets to court (which is late) she and her attorney go into a corner and whisper back and forth. We find out that she not only did not pass her drug test but neither her nor "Mark" had shown up for the latest drug test...who knows why. Also, Russell got a copy of the social workers findings. Matthew told her that he hoped his mommy did not get better, she always tells him that he is a naughty boy and he is not a naughty boy. He would like to go and live with his daddy. Brianna does not say anything bad about her mom, when asked a direct question about her mom she responds "I don't want to talk about it". She states that if her mom does not get better, she would like to go and live with her grandma (my mom).

So, the case gets called and Brandie's attorney states that Brandie has informed her that she does not want Russell to take the kids because 2 years ago Brianna told her that he had "touched her". Lets all remember that Brandie sent these kids to stay with their dad for Christmas 2 years in a row now and also for the entire summer last year. The last reason she gave the judge was she did not want them to go and live with him because she did not like the girlfriend....the girlfriend is gone....she did not have anything else, so she accuses him of something so totally wrong that the judge cannot over look it. He continues the case until the 22nd of this month, that way he can talk to Brianna and find out what she has to say about all of this.

I promise to keep you posted!

2007-05-22T13:20:00.000-05:00

Ok, I stole this from my friend Trueself over at Deepest Darkest Thoughts

1. When you’re home alone, do you still close the door when you use the restroom?No, not even when I'm not home alone unless there are guests in the house

2. If you have to go grocery shopping, would you rather go alone or with someone? With the hubby :)

3. You win the lottery. Lump sum or small payments over a period of time?:Lump sum

4. Do you like your music loud or at a reasonable level? The hubby would say loud but I think just enough to jam to.

5.Are you a beach person or a snowy mountain person?:Beach, without a doubt, because snowy mountains are too dang cold

6. When do you brush your teeth?:In the morning after my shower

7. Would you rather stay home all day, or be out and about with some friends?:Mostly stay home

8. Are you more likely to be with a large group of people or a few close friends?A few close friends

9. If money were not a problem, where would you like to live?:..Wherever my family is as long as it is not cold there.

10. Are you a good math person? No, I hate math

11. A weekend in Las Vegas or Miami?: Depends on who I am going with

12. Is there anything you would change about your body if you could?: Yes

13. Have you ever smoked? Yes from the time I was 16 until December 31, 2005

14. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink: Sugar Free Lemonade, Sugar Free Raspberry (or Peach) Tea and Diet Sundrop

15. What were you doing @ 11 PM last night? Sleeping

JANUARY

1. Who kissed you on new years? I was sleeping when the New Year came in, I know...I'm old.
2. Did you have a new year’s resolution this year? Not this year, last year was to quit smoking and that was hard enough!!
3. Does it snow where you live? Nope, Praise the Lord
4. Do you like hot chocolate? Of course
5. Have you ever been to Times Square to watch the ball drop? No

FEBRUARY

1. Who was your Valentine? My hubby
2. When you were little did you buy Valentine’s for the whole class? Absolutely

MARCH1.

Are you Irish? No
2. Do you wear green on St. Patty’s Day? Yes, don't wanna get pinched :)
3. What did you do for St. Patty’s Day in 2007? I am sure that I probably worked.

APRIL

1. Do you like the rain? Yes, I love thunderstorms
2. Did you play an April fool’s joke on anyone this year? Yes and it was really good, wish I could remember what it was.
3. Do you love the month of April? Yes

MAY

1. What is your favorite flower? I love carnations, they last longer and are cheaper then most other flowers.
2. Is there anything special about May to you? Mother's Day is kinda nice.

JUNE

1. What year did/will you graduate from high school? 1981
2. Are you doing anything fun during this month? Not that I know of
3. Have a favorite baseball team? Minnesota Twins

JULY

1. What will you do on the Fourth of July? Probably see fireworks if we have the kids
2. Are you going on any vacations during this month? No, I don't think so

AUGUST

1. Doing anything special at the end of summer? No
2. What was your favorite summer memory of ‘06? Going to Las Vegas and seeing John Edward with my little sister.
3. Did you go to the beach a lot? Not alot

SEPTEMBER

1. Will you be attending college/school? No
2. Do you like fall better than summer? Yes, I love the fall

OCTOBER

1. What was your last Halloween costume? Shoot I don't remember
2. Who’s birthday is during this month? Mine and my wonderful Mother in Laws

NOVEMBER

1. Whose house do you go to for Thanksgiving? Everyone comes to my house
2. What are you thankful for? My family
3. Do you love stuffing? Of course, what's not to love?

DECEMBER

1. Do you celebrate Christmas? Yes
2. Have you ever been kissed under mistletoe? Yes
3. Get anything special last year? Hmmm, I am sure that I did.
4. What do you want this year? Gosh, that's just too far away for me to even know yet

2007-05-09T10:05:00.000-05:00

Good Morning :)

I just had to show off all of my grandchildren and then I will let you know what has been going on....

First off I want to tell you all that my girls are KILLING ME!! They have been living together with their children (they both have a boy, one is 4 and one is 18 months). They are fighting like they are married...I swear. Guess what they are fighting about this time....go ahead and guess..... They are fighting about the dishes and who's turn it is to do them. Seems the younger one (S,she is 19) did them on the older girls (E, she is 22) turn and now E is telling S that "it is too bad that you did them when it was my turn, it is still your turn" and S is saying that she is not doing them. E is telling her then she can move out etc....you can only imagine the headache I had when I left work yesterday. They both called and text ed me all day long....like I could do something about it. What was I suppose to do.... call one and say...." I said that you have to do the dishes in your own house....JEEZ!!!

Finally my wonderful husband (the therapist) chose to step in. Last night he went to their house and mediated for them. He explained that they were acting like they were 15 years old and that their mommy could help them out of this jam. He explained that right now, they need each other. They both work and they occasionally need babysitters, neither one is able to pay all the bills on their house so, they have to stick together.

The older one decided that she will be able to pay all the bills on their place in about a month or so, and the younger one said that she would stay until E could pay all of her bills without the help of S.

Sooooo, S will come and stay with us during the 6 weeks that we have David's kids over the summer (which will be a blessing to both of us, although I do LOVE having my alone time) and she will save money while staying with us and be able to move out on her own after about 6 weeks.

Hopefully that will take care of that.

Now a Brandie update...

Brandie was suppose to go to rehab yesterday. No one has heard if she went or not. Social Services did contact my mother to see if she would take the children, she decided that she would but then the foster family that they are staying with said they would be willing to keep the children until they went with their father for the summer. They (neither my mom, my sister or the foster family) want to move Brianna to yet another kindergarten class (this would be the third time she moved in just about that many weeks) they do not think that would be good for her. The kids are all doing wonderfully and my mom and sister will be able to visit with them as early as this weekend.

As I understand it, the judge has called and spoken with the the children's father, both the father and his girlfriend are getting back ground checks on and when that is finished I believe the children will go with their father indefinitely.

I believe that they want the children with the father there is just so much red tape to go through. That I do not understand. I believe that he is their father (#1), he does not have any kind of record of child abuse (#2) and the he has every single right to those children. I am hoping that when he does finally get them he will ask the state if Illinois for a change of venue and go for custody right in Chicago, that will save alot of heart ache for the children because if they are in California, I am sure that they will want to see their mother one more time and it will be heartbreaking for all of them.

2007-05-03T15:11:00.000-05:00

I am going to give you a good post today.

This is my grandson, today he is 1.

Happy Happy Birthday my wonderful boy, your grandma loves you more then you will ever know.

P.S. Is he not the cutest little baby that you have ever seen?

2007-04-30T10:46:00.000-05:00

Please Please Please people, put my older sister in your prayers.....

I know I have said some not so great things about my older sister but the things she has gone through these past few months, no one should have to endure.

First of coarse is all the crap with Brandie..OK, here is the update on that...

Brandie went to court on Thursday. The social worker brought Matthew because he is the child that the neglect or abuse was about and the judge wanted to talk to him. The judge asked Matthew if he would like to go and stay with his daddy and Matty replied that yes, he would like to go and live with his daddy. The judge is going to have a phone interview with his daddy we believe today...we are at least hoping that this is the case. We don't know what else happened in court yet but I am sure that we will hear about it soon.

Brandie (we think) also made allegations against my sister (the younger one, not her mom) that she is abusing her children. When M (little sister) got home on Friday evening there was a business card from Child Protective Services stuck in the door jam. This was about 8:30 at night so she figures he had to come in between 7-8 PM. She and her husband left on a cruise Saturday afternoon (this has been planned for months) so she called the CPS worker and left a voice message for him to contact our mother or he could contact her social worker (she is a foster parent and has adopted 2 children) and gave him the numbers. She was devastated and almost canceled her trip, she cannot believe that Brandie would have done this to her but I told her how could she expect that Brandie would not have done this. Brandie is pissed and she is going to do whatever she can to make every ones lives miserable. Brandie does not get it that she has done this to herself, she still thinks in that brain of hers that this is someone else's fault. I told her that she has been planning this for months and she cannot CANNOT go. I know in her heart she really wanted to go and was almost asking permission to go and to not feel like she was abandoning anyone. They had flown her husbands mother out to take care of the children while they were gone and both the kids were looking forward to spending time with their grandmother on the other side.

Then next in line is my older sister's ( I will call her L) husband has not been going very well. He was in the hospital all of last week and they think that he has had 2 strokes. He left the hospital on Saturday and from what my mom says, he looks great. He is fine. However, he will work my sister to the bone. For example my mom said that he was sitting on the couch at her house and he was finished with his ice water so he clinked the ice in his glass while pointing to it so that L would get up and get him a refill. I told my mom that would work one time with me, if he did not have a voice then he would sit and clink until the cows come home. She told me that was kinda what L said to him......my God!!

OK, so then we get to the latest with her family. OK, L's husband gets released from the hospital on Saturday, they spend the night at my mom's house and leave at about 4 the next day. About an hour later my sisters 2nd daughter calls my mom's house looking for L. Seems that her granddaughter (she is 2) pulled a bottle of ammonia off the counter onto herself. She has burns all over the front of her body. She will not open her eyes or her mouth. The last I heard they were talking (the doctors) about life flighting her to a near by children's hospital.

When my mom called me last night with all this information, she just broke down. She said that she just does not know how much more L can take. She said that L looks terrible. Her ankles and wrists are swollen ( I don't know if that is a sign of diabetes or not but my mom seems concerned about it) she said that L looks older then she (being my mom) does. Then my mom said she is afraid that L is going to die. oh man, that was the clinker. I tried to console my mom as much as I could. Telling her that L was stronger then any of the rest of us and that she would be fine but I don't know if I did any good or not.

I am going to go outside and use my cellphone and try and get up with her now, just for an update....be right back.

OK, they sent the baby home from the hospital with instructions that if she does not eat, they will have to bring her back. They have eye drops for her eyes and that is all my mom really knows right now. My mom did mention that Brandie is suppose to come by her house today to return my mom's shoes that she "accidentally" took when she was taking all her things out of the house. (These shoes are diabetic shoes, $ 500.00 shoes that are perfectly matched to my mom's feet so Brandie did not take them for anything other than to be mean if she did not accidentally take them.) I told my mom to call me the minute Brandie leaves because she is alone at home and I know how cracked out this drug can make her, I also told my mom to tell Brandie that if she sticks around for a few minutes, my brother will be there so I am thinking that will make Brandie leave right away because she does NOT want to run into her uncle, she knows how mad at her he is.

Stay tuned and thanks for all the uplifting comments, I really need them some days.

2007-04-24T13:23:00.000-05:00

I am going to try and make this as short as possible because I have a ton of work to do but I wanted to update everyone on the Brandie situation.

Yesterday she informed my mother that the children would be going into foster care on May 11th (the next court date). She would not elaborate on this but just stated that they would go.

The social worker my mom has been talking to, called her yesterday and asked if there was anyone in the family that would take the children if need be. My mom told her that my youngest sister would take them in if necessary.

A few hours later another social worker called my mom and asked her if Brandie and the 6 year old female still at her house, my mom answered yes and they asked if there was any way my mom could keep her there. To this my mom had to answer no, but she would try. They informed my mom that a social worker was on her way to Brandie's house to pick up the boys and they wanted to send someone over to my mom's to get Brianna.

That did not work. They did get the boys but when Brandie got home she had a choice to make. She could either have social services come and pick up Brianna or Brandie could bring her down to social services herself. Brandie brought her there herself.

The children all went into foster care last night, they are all safe.

Hopefully today they will be transferred to my little sisters house. She is a foster parent as she adopted both of her children but because it has been over 2 years, both her husband and herself as well as my mom have to go and get fingerprinted so they can do a criminal background check.

No one has heard anything from Brandie but we do know they were taken because she did not pass her drug test. She was well aware that she was not going to pass when she got in front of that judge and just as cocky as you can imagine, told him that she would take a drug test that very morning. We think that she knew and that was the reason that she suspected that the children would be going to foster care.

Now, I don't know what his going to happen on May 11th. I guess we just stay tuned.

I sure hope everyone is having a great day!!

2007-04-19T09:15:00.000-05:00

I am soooooo sick of all of this. I am sick of Brandie and all the crap that she is dealing out. I feel like I should just go out there and deal with her myself. I know that will not do a bit of good but I would just like to see her and have her talk to me the way she has been talking to my sister and my mother.

I found out a few more things about yesterday.....

Brandie offered to do a drug test and she did, which leads me to believe that she thinks whatever is or was in her system is gone and cannot be detected.

Brandie was told by the judge to "get a job" because he appointed a attorney for the children and she is to pay half of that fee.

CPS was out to her house a few days ago and stripped down the baby to check him for anything. Brianna was at school but my question here was.....WHERE WAS MATTHEW??? The social worker did not see Matt, I think that she goes out there today to "interview" the older children. Oh man, I hope they talk.

Brandie went to my mom's house last night, just as nice as you please. My mom did not let her in the door, Brandie asked for her mail, my mom informed her that she had no mail and that was that.

They have another hearing on May 11th in which my mom and my older sister will have to testify against Brandie.

Lets just keep our fingers crossed that they children are safe until that time.

2007-04-18T14:51:00.000-05:00

I CAN"T BELIEVE IT!!!!

I am just sick to my stomach. I just can't believe it.

Court was this morning in California, the dad coming in from Chicago to get emergency custody of his children.

Brandie stood up in the courtroom and stated that my sister is her drug dealer, my mother kicked her out of the house just 48 hours ago and my sister called CPS on her. She stood up and swore to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth SO HELP HER GOD!!

I am just sick. The judge is giving her until May 11th when there will be another court hearing. As far as the judge is concerned, she will be keeping the children until that point.

The only thing that might and I do mean MIGHT save them until the 11th is that Child Protective Services DID call my mom the day before yesterday and there was a report against Brandie for neglect (we think the school did this because Brandie was not bring Brianna to school everyday). My mom told the Social Worker everything she knew and advised her to call my sister (Brandie's mom) and talk to her. The worker called my older sister and she also told her everything she knew. The social worker is appalled. She was going to go and take temporary custody of the children that night and my sister begged her not to, told her about the hearing and said that she would rather the dad went to pick up the kids, not social services. It would be so much better for the kids in this case. The worker agreed and asked that she be called after the hearing. My mom is talking to her now.

I am hoping that they can go in and get the children. Even if they do have to go to a foster home or to some other family member for a while.

I will keep you updated. Please keep them in your prayers.

2007-04-17T07:47:00.000-05:00

UPDATE:

Well, today is the day of reckoning for Brandie although I don't know if she knows it or not. Her stbx husband is right now on his way from Chicago to California for an emergency custody hearing involving all of the children. Let me back up and tell you what has been going on.

The Saturday before Easter Brandie came back to my mom's house to pick up the other 2 children. They were so excited to see their mom. My mom says that Brandie looks awful. Kinda like "she looks goth without trying to, she has lost so much weight that she is just bones." She took the children (nothing anyone could do, she still has custody of them) along with a few of her things and all the Easter candy etc. that my mother had bought for them (at least we know that they had a good Easter).

Last week on Tuesday, my mom left the house for the first time since coming back from the hospital. My sister decided to take her out to lunch. When they returned, they found the garage door busted in, nothing taken that was my mothers but still, now she has to replace a door in her garage....Did she call the police and report it???? NO!! Mom thinks that they will not be able to do anything about it because they didn't "catch" whoever broke the door in. She will not listen to "at least the police will have a report that someone broke your garage door". She just will not do it....can we all say enabler!!

Then on Friday my mom received her Mervyn's bill in the mail. There was a charge on it for a little over $300.00 (I think, around there). It was for children's clothing, and clothing for Brandie also. So, what do you think my mom did??? She canceled her credit card. Called the fraud division but they were closed for the night. The next morning she did not call the fraud division...I don't think she is going to.

Last night Brandie stopped over to my mom's house with Brandie's daughter. My sister showed up a bit after Brandie and saw that Brandie's car was in the driveway. She almost bolted into that house. But once inside my mom told her to "please, not start anything, Brandie looks so bad and Brianna is here". My sister kept to herself, just making snide comments about the garage door and things in that nature.

Which brings us to today. I don't know if Brandie was served the paperwork but I was told that it is not necessary for her to be in court for this because it is an emergency custody hearing and all they have to prove is that they tried to serve her with papers. Now, Brandie called him from this "boyfriend/drug dealer's" house not to long ago. When they hung up the phone he did a "reverse directory" on the phone number so now he has the address. With every one's prayers after court today the father will be able to go over to that house with a Sheriff or Marshall or something and get his children. They have tickets to get back on a plane tomorrow to go back to Chicago.

Although the children will be greatly missed. And I feel for my poor mother because I AM a grandma and I know what it would be like for my grandbabies to move far away, this is sooooo the best think for them. They will have a happy and healthy home. They will not see their mother go down the drain (because that is exactly where she is heading) and they will get the love that they so desperately want and deserve.

I will let you know what happens just as soon as I know.....please pray!!

Oh, one more thing... Brandie's middle child (he is 4 or 5) told my mom how Mark (the boyfriend/drug dealer) held his head under the water when he was in the bath because he got water in his little brother's eyes, When he started crying, Mark told him to "suck it up". When Brandie was confronted with this information she told my mom that "Mark was just punishing him" What a mother.......I hate Mark!!

2007-04-03T12:39:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone

I know I have not been here but I just have not had anything to say lately. Yes, all the crap that has been happening in California with my mom and my niece is still going on. It just sickens me so much I have not wanted to talk about it.

My mom had knee surgery a couple of weeks ago, she is home again and doing fine. While she was in the hospital my niece BR....shit, her name is Brandie, I am so tired of her I just want to smack the shit out of her. Anyways..she decides to have a party when my mom is not home, you know a real good time, meth smoking party....IN MY MOTHER'S HOUSE!! She has absolutely no respect for anyone right now. I wrote her a letter....well hell, I am going to just post it here so you all can read it, this may turn out to be a HUGE post but what the heck..... Here is the letter...

Brandie,

Ok, I have just about heard enough of the shit that you are putting my mother through and I am just not going to put up with it any longer.

I hear that you have until June 1st to move out of the house, Hear that Bran! June 1st. Let me just tell you what is going to happen if you do not move….

1) I will be there on June 2nd to HELP you move out.

2) I will take you to the nearest homeless shelter that will take you in.

3) I will make it my personal mission that you lose your children, I will let social services and the police know exactly the drugs you have been using IN MY MOTHERS HOUSE. I will also inform *** (the children's father) and will testify on his behalf in court, letting them know that at this point he is the better parent.

4) I will make sure everyone know exactly how you treat your children. How you do not sit and talk with them, how you do not do ANYTHING with them unless it is benefiting you in some way, shape or form and how you treat them not like God has intended you to treat your children but how you treat them like they are a burden to you.

Shame on you Brandie. You move into my mother’s house and totally take advantage of her and *** (my sister).

Do you not remember who has paid your bills for you this past year? Do you not remember who has made sure that your children were looked after? Do you not remember who it was that has put food into that house so that your children have been fed?

HOW DARE YOU!!!!!

It wasn’t enough that we all felt sorry for you……poor Brandie….her husband left her with 3 children…..poor, poor Brandie….Boy I sure wish I just had a nickel for every time that I thought that. But all I feel for you right now is contempt. I am so angry with you. You have made your grandmother and your Aunt, the only 2 people in the entire world that could help you when you needed help and you shit on the both of them. Ohhhh they tried to “run your life” once again…poor Brandie. It was ok for them to “run your life” when they were paying over 300.00 per week for day care, it was ok for them to “run your life” when they were making sure your car payment was made, it was ok for them to “run your life” when your children needed Christmas presents because their mother did not have a job, did not look for a job and could not get them the Christmas that they deserve to have, it was ok for them to “run your life” when school pictures were being taken and you could not afford even to buy the pictures. So many, many more things that I could name.

Yet, all I can do is sit here, shaking my head and wonder……what the hell happened to you?

One more thing before I mail this out, If that PUNK Mark is in my mother’s house when I get there he better be walking out the door when I am walking in otherwise I will personally escort him out and I will not care what he thinks of me because at this point I don’t give one shit about what YOU think of me. YOU are nothing Brandie, NOTHING….get it.

You can call me a bitch, you can call me whatever name that you want to Brandie, I don’t care, it does not faze me in the least. I have been called names by people that are way better than you and I am absolutely sure that I will be called more names in the future. The thing about it is that I DON’T CARE. I am not ***(my sister) or my Mom, I have not taken care of your sorry ass for so long that you don’t acknowledge it anymore, like you think that these two people owe you for some reason…..Guess what ??? THEY DON’T!! They don’t owe you a thing.

When all is said and done Brandie, when you get away from the loser that you are with, when you get away from the drugs. You will find that you have burned your bridges. The drugs that you are doing will destroy your life, look at what they have done so far. Brandie, I am begging you to find some help, get into treatment for the sake of your children. They don’t need a mother that is so strung out on drugs that she cannot function around her children. They don’t DESERVE it. For no one else but them, for no one else yourself, Please get some help.

Brandie, I love you. I really really do. I don’t want you to think that I am saying to “get the hell out of our family”. I want you to get some help, I will welcome you back into our family when you are the Brandie that I know and love again.

The drugs you are on right now are the exact same drugs that made my X brother in law kill his fiance. I am so scared for you and I have to make this my personal goal to get you away from my mother. I am sorry that it may have to come to this.

Ok, a little harsh?? maybe but someone has to talk to her and break through the barrier and get her going.

Today.....at this point today, she has left my mother's house (she came home from having an abortion last Friday, packed up all her clothes, packed up the clothes of the baby (he is 1), kissed her other 2 children, told them that she had something to do and left. She has called her mother (her mother is staying with our mother for a few reasons 1) to help my mother get back on her feet after her surgery and 2) to help take care of Brandie's kids. She "claims" the she has not abandoned her children...we will see about that.

We have spoken with their father (who lives out of state) and he is planning on taking full custody of the children, we just have to wait for the court to approve this because we don't want her charging him with kidnapping or anything like that.

If anyone has any suggestions....please let me know, we are running out of them for ourselves.
Things have to get better....they can't get much worse.

2007-03-01T12:59:00.000-05:00

A-Z

1. A is for age: 43

2. B is for beer of choice: Root Beer

3. C is for career right now: Ad. min./ Secretary of Maintenance

4. D is for your dog's name? Phoenix, loved her, she is gone now

5. E is for essential item you use everyday: Body Wash

6. F is for favorite TV show at the moment: Desperate Housewives

7. G is for favorite game: Football

8. H is for Hometown: Minneapolis

9. I is for instruments you play: sad to say...none, not one instrument do I play

10: J is for favorite juice: Orange

11. K is for whose butt you'd like to kick: The whistler in my office....OMG he kills me

12. L is for last place you ate: Subway

13. M is for marriage: very happily

14. N is for your full name; Karin

15. O is for overnight hospital stays: 4, 3 children and gall bladder surgery

16. P is for people you were with today? My daughter earlier this morning and the boys at work

17. Q is for quote: "Be careful what you wish for, it may come true"

18. R is for Biggest Regret: I don't know, not staying in school longer....mmmm no, I just don't know.

19. S is for status: married

20. T is for time you woke up today: 7:00 am

21. U is for underwear you have on now: yes, I have some on

22. V is for vegetable you love: Corn on the cob

23. W is for worst habit: Not believing in myself

24. X is for x-rays you've had: chest

25. Y is for yummy food you ate today: club sandwich from Subway

26. Z is for the zodiac sign: Libra

I am not going to tag anyone with this one but if you want to play along, please do.

2007-02-28T17:38:00.000-05:00

Gosh! I am about to go nuts!! My husband has taken the car in for new tires and a tune up. They said it would take about 3 hours for everything. Here it is 5 count them FIVE hours later and they are still working on it. The mechanic says that the wires are literally falling apart so ALL the wires have to be replaced. Here I sit, should of gone home almost 40 minutes ago and again....here I sit. Yes, I am getting paid to sit here and blog but really, I just want to go home.

So, I will tell you about my other niece.....The 3rd daughter.....RE we will call her.

She had a daughter about oh I would say almost 6 years ago. This daughter has been living with my sister since birth. RE has lived there on and off.

She has a son who is I think about 4 now. He was born around Thanksgiving 2002. He lived with his mother for the first few months of his life. When my dad got really sick and his wife did not want to take care of him by herself (oh did I say that she did not WANT to, I meant to say that she could not) RE went to my dad's house and helped take care of him. I will always thank her for this, I am so glad that she could be with him when we could not. Anyway..... she left her son with his grandma on the other side (his dad is in prison...don't know what for). After my dad passed, she went back home but did not pick up her son. She decided to leave him with his grandma because "she just did not bond with him"

Child # 3 is born. I think this one is a boy and then child #4 a girl, both children by the same father....I should tell you now that he is in prison for somehow being a party to a murder but RE swears that "he did not do it aunt Karin, I promise".

Child 3 and 4 go to the grandparents house (on dad's side) to visit for a week.

Guess what........you guessed it

RE does not go and pick them up when she is suppose to. Turns out that she has another boyfriend and they are doing drugs or whatever and not only does she not go and pick up the kids......she will not return the grandparents phone call either.

Finally they call social services, they take ALL the children and put them in foster care.

daughter # 1 is still there. All others are with their grandparents but because my sister has some problems of her own, they take #1 child out of the home. It just devastated my sister but upon talking to child #1 she is happy right now.

Thank God

I don't know what is going to happen but I will fill you in when I know.

2007-02-21T15:25:00.000-05:00

2007-02-19T11:51:00.000-05:00

Good Morning :)

Here comes the next installment...and more

My sister sits down with Br and talks to her about all the help she has been getting, about all the money that everyone is spending on her and her children and about how BR is doing NOTHING. She explains how "The buck stops here". BR is compliant, she is soooooo sorry about everything. She is sooooo going to change her life for the better. My sister tells her that she will be conducting a drug test ANYTIME she feels the need and she will be going into the bathroom with BR to make sure she is doing it correctly. She tells BR that she will not be getting any more help from her or my mom until she complies with the rules of the house. She will not let this boyfriend back into the house, she will spend every evening at home with her children not, putting them in front of the TV with cartoons on so that she can play on the computer and such. She will clean up after her children and the drugs will stop here, if any are found IN MY MOTHERS HOUSE again, she will be leaving. As a matter of fact, they will start eviction proceedings now just in case because it takes 30 days for these things to take place. Well, BR was just going to do whatever it took to be the girl she used to be and to be the mother she should be.

That is until the next day WHEN,

She told my mother off (of coarse my sister was not there) and she told my sister off (only in text messaging, would not get on the phone with her). She told them that she is 27 years old and she will do exactly as she pleases. She said that she will not be talked down to. She will see who she wants when she wants etc. etc.

SHE IS SUCH A BITCH, I really need to take a trip out there because she will NOT talk to me like that and I will escort her out of my mothers house. How dare her talk like that to my mother who has given her and her children a place to stay, fed them and made sure that they were comfortable. She has some nerve.

UPDATE: I talked to my older sister (who just happens to be at my mom's this past week) last night, she said that BR broke up with the boyfriend. I told her that I still think she needs to move, she cannot think she can treat people like crap and then miraculously she is an angel again. I think she needs to get into treatment, in house, 90 days. Nothing more, nothing less. I think that she really needs to do this. She is not just smoking a little pot here, she is doing dangerous drugs and anyone who has been reading my blog knows that my X brother in law killed his fiance because he was doing meth. I just pray that she gets it together.

On a cute kids story note :) When I talked to my older sister last night I also talked to my great niece, like I said she is either 5 or 6. She asked me if I wanted to know what she was going to be when she grew up? She told me that she is going to be a vegetarian when she grows up. That was she can take care of animals and she would be going to vegetarian school.....Now, how cute is that? Who would not want to spend time with that cuteness?

Next time on Karin's Korner: The 3rd daughter and how she ended up getting all of her children taken away.....told you this could be a soap opera.

2007-02-16T11:25:00.000-05:00

OK, so I ended my last post with me going to California. I should tell you that it was the first time that I went, I did finally get back to Minnesota, stayed with friend, partied way to much, ended up at grandma's again, got a job at a bank (now remember, I was 16 at this time), they did direct deposit way back then so you had to have a checking account with the bank in order to get paid, quit the job, kept writing checks and needless to say, ended up back in California, this time with the police escorting me to the airport, in handcuffs, through security ( I laugh as I write that but it was so so not fun) to the plane, they put me on the plane but through this all EVERYONE had seen me get escorted in handcuffs to the plane. Finally we take off, Here I am sitting in my own seat, smoking a cigarette (yes, you could smoke in those days) when a young man (probably 15 or 16) comes and sits next to me, I try and ignore him but he wants to talk to me. Finally the question "comes up".....I saw you get on the plane in handcuffs...what did you do....I looked him right in the eyes and told him that I had killed someone. LOL, you never saw anyone who got up faster and ran to sit with his parents. No one bothered me the rest of the trip.

OK, enough about me for now. Let me tell you about my sister....first a list of characters:

Sister

SH: could be shithead, works either way but for this time it will be sisters husband

BR: sister's first daughter, she has 3 kids and is living with my mom, this will be partly her story although I can tell you stories about each and every one of them.

SU: sister's second daughter, 2 kids, 1 living with her, husband is a puke

REB; sister's third daughter, 4 kids, all at this point are taken away from her, yes this will be a post in itself.

CH: sisters first son, good kid now. Hopefully he will be the smart one in the family

AM: sister's fourth daughter, no children, currently in juvenile detention for failed urine test and not going to school.

BO: sister's fifth daughter, 1 child, not much to say about this child....yet

ZA: sister's second son, this one is too young to be getting in to much trouble, oh wait, another story.

OK, so my sister has ALOT of children. Currently BR is living with my mother because her sorry ass husband left her when her last child was about a week old. Now, let me back up a minute. Yes, he is a sorry ass but I will give credit where credit is due. Their marriage was in trouble long before he left and yes BR did get pregnant on purpose thinking it would "save" the marriage. Advise people.....it does not work.

BR was doing OK, she was working and going to school one night a week. Then she lost her job. For the last I would say 8 months or so, she has not been working. She is really not looking for a job, she is just letting everyone take care of her...including you, if you are paying taxes, she is getting money from you and I also. Her children are 6,5 and 1 or maybe it is 5,4 and 1 but never the less, she does not pay attention to the 2 oldest ones. The middle child has gone so far as to say "my momma does not like me". This has broken my heart over and over again.

Last weekend my mother and my little sister went on a short cruise (Friday through Monday). They had a blast and I am so glad for that because when they got back all hell had broken loose. My older sister had come into town because her 3rd daughter had court (I promise...another story) she decided to stay at my mom's house since my mom would not be home and they just really don't trust BR to do what she is suppose to do.

My sister found a syringe on BR's dresser. She went nuts!! BR did see what trouble she was getting into....for a minute, then was pissed because my sister was in her stuff. Now, tell me...what would have happened if one of her children would have gotten ahold of that shit, what if they would have poked themselves.....my god, what if she would have had to take them to the hospital????????

When my younger sister found all this out she called BR out on the table!! She also made the boyfriend come and sit down to talk about what would NOT be taking place in my mothers house. The boyfriend became belligerent and my sister told him (none to kindly) to get the FU*K out of my mothers house. He did think for just a minute that she would let him speak before he left (silly boy) and she just let him have it. I do have to tell you that my little sister is about 98 pounds (bitch) soaking wet and stands about 5'3 with heels. She told the boyfriend that she would be calling 911 if he did not leave immediately and she was quite sure that he would not be wanting to talk to the police. He left....no problem. Then it was BR's turn, which I will have to continue later. Maybe tonight, maybe this weekend, but if not for sure on Monday.....

Stay tuned.

2007-02-15T15:09:00.000-05:00

Hello Again -

I am going to tell you about my family, not the family I live with now but the family I grew up with. This is just about as close to a soap opera that you can find. It is nuts. I am sure that I will not get the whole story out in one post but the plot will surly thicken as we get going.

Now, I grew up in a regular house. Father worked every single day (except on the weekends where he would stay at home and monitor our chores and also do the yard work etc.) Mother stayed home most of my childhood, she did in home day care so that she would be home with us kids all the time (this was a problem when I got older and we could never skip school at my house :) ) I have an older sister that I don't really get along with, she is just one of those people that knows everything that you know, has done everything that you have done etc. She is exactly a year and a half older then me. Then comes me of coarse, my little sister who I am the closest to. She is about four and a half years younger then me and then comes my little brother. He was the most spoiled child. Not only by my parents but by me and my older sister. My mom swore that he would never talk because all he had to do was point and we would get him whatever he wanted.

We had about as close to a normal family as I guess we could have for the most part. In 1979 my mother went with a girlfriend of hers to Hawaii. She stayed in California for a few days also. When she got back to Minnesota, she informed our family that she was moving to California. We could take it or leave it but she was getting out of the winters and moving somewhere warm. My older sister was already living with her boyfriend at this time and I was NOT moving to California, after all, my friends were all in Minnesota. I was 15, in high school and I was just NOT moving. We (OK, my parents) decided that I would stay with my grandma and they would all move. At the end of the school year, they would look at it and make a decision as to if I was going to be made to move or not.

Living at my grandma's was OK, but it had its drawbacks. She did not actually live in the city where I went to high school so I had to take the city bus in everyday. This was not the problem. The problem was that the last bus out to where she lived was at 9 PM and lets face it, 9 is when everything was just getting started. No one left at 9. So I started staying at friends houses. I don't think my grandma would have cared so much if I just would not have forgotten to call sometimes. (bless her heart).

After a few months of coming and going whenever I wanted to I think she had just had enough. My dad was called and he came back to get me. I was babysitting at the time and one of my so called friends ratted me out and told him where I was. He came to the house with a few policemen (did I mention that my dad was on the police reserves when he lived in Mn.?). Good thing that the parents had not left yet when a knock came at the door. I looked out the window and saw that it was my dad. I told Mark (just a guy that was there) not to answer the door. He went outside and told my dad that I did not want to go with him, now remember that 10 minutes before I had no idea that my dad was even in Minnesota. It took all of a minute and a half for my dad and 2 police officers to get onto the porch. They kindly informed me that I had a choice, I could leave with my dad or I could be held at juvenile detention until the morning, my father would come and get me and they would escort us to the airport. I (being a smart ass that I was) told them that it was not a choice and I would be leaving with my father, thank you very much. They put me in his car, locked the door and closed it. This is where I informed them that I was a big girl and I did not need the door locked. I lifted the lock. He opened the door pushed the lock down again and closed the door. I lifted the lock. Much to my surprise, he was not amused and started yelling. This is when I stopped being a brat and just sat still :)

The next day I flew with my father to California. My brother and sister were so excited to see me. LOL, what a joke. I was not happy at all, in fact I think I made my parents want to send me back the minute we landed. I refused to do anything that they wanted to do "as a family". I was just a royal pain in the ass. This is when I started smoking in front of them. I did not care what they said, I was going to do what I wanted to do. Man I was a bitch. If one of my children would have pulled that shit on me, I would have.....well, I don't know but there would have been blood. LOL.

OK, this post was not going to be exactly like this. I was going to tell you my sister's story...and man do I have a story to tell. I will finish with this now and I will start with her tomorrow.....stayed tuned.

2007-02-09T11:26:00.000-05:00

Good Morning!! Happy Friday.

I have a couple of e-mails that I want to share with you this morning. I have been sitting at my desk laughing (out loud even) and I thought it would be a good Friday thing to share here.

First one: "Life Savers"

Kids are so smart.
A teacher was doing a study testing the senses (taste) of first graders using a bowl of lifesavers. The children began to say:
Red......................Cherry
Yellow.................Lemon
Green...................Lime
Orange.................Orange

Finally the teacher gave them all HONEY lifesavers. After eating them, none of the children could identify the taste. "Well," she said, "I will give you all a clue. It's what your mother may sometimes call your father." One little girl looked up in horror, spit her lifesaver out and yelled, "Oh, my God!! They're ass-holes!

Ok, I laugh even though I have read this tons of times already.

# 2
A woman named Jill stood up at her church's Testimony Meeting,
or as some churches call it, "Cry Sunday," one Sunday morning,
took the microphone and bared her soul to the rapt congregation:
"I want to tell you about the awful accident that my husband,
Jim, has suffered this past month.
He was riding his Goldwing, lost control, ran off the highway and hit a tree.
He was rushed to the hospital, and could have died, but thank the Lord, all he suffered was a broken scrotum.
" The congregation gasped in horror.
The men in the congregation were obviously uneasy and writhed in their seats.
"Jim has been in terrible pain all month since the accident.
He has trouble breathing. He has trouble swallowing his food.
He can hardly lift anything, he's in so much pain, and he has missed work because of it.
He can't lift our children up to hold them and give them the personal love that they need.
Worst of all, we can no longer cuddle and have intimate relations.
He is in constant pain, a pain so terrible that our love life has all but slipped away into oblivion.
I would like to ask you all in the congregation to pray for Jim, and pray for us, that his broken scrotum will soon heal and be as good as new.
A dull murmur erupted within the congregation as the full impact of this terrible accident sank in, and the men in the congregation were visibly shaken up with the thought that,
"There but for the grace of God go I."
Then, as the murmuring settled down, a lone figure stood up in midst of the congregation, worked his way up to the pulpit, obviously in pain, adjusted the microphone to his liking, then leaned over and said to the congregation:.

"My name is Jim, and I have only one word for my wife, Jill. That word is: sternum."

Ok. that was too good too. Have a great weekend all.

2007-02-08T15:15:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone.

I told you all about going to get the family pictures taken last weekend. Let me tell you all how that went. We just went to the local Walmart to do this. There are a total of 12 of us so you would think that it might be a little hard to get everyone looking at the camera and smiling but this lady was fantastic!! The shot of the family took 3 tries but every picture after that was done in 1 shot. It took all of about a half hour for all to do.

Sarah has always wanted to do this, she loves taking pictures etc. While we were waiting another couple was getting their pictures taken. Sarah stands off to the side so she can see how they are doing and she is telling them how great they are, how good they look together etc. Finally she asks the lady taking the pictures if they are looking to hire anyone. The lady say absolutley!! So, we walk out of the store with pictures of the entire family as well as Sarah has a new job!! Today is her third day and she just loves it. The best part about it is that she will not have to work nights. The photo center is only open until like 8 pm so it works out perfect for her. They will guarantee 30 hours per week but her boss said that she will most likely have 40+ hours. I am so thankful.

So as of right this minute, everyone is happy and healthy and for that I am truly blessed. I hope everyone is keeping warm, even here in NC it is cold....well, not like Minnesota or Wisconsin cold but here they think that 30 degrees is cold.

2007-01-31T09:05:00.000-05:00

Good Morning :)

I know, I have been bad. I should have updated earlier but I seem to always be so busy. I promise that I will try and get here more often.

Sarah is out of the hospital and seems to be doing much much better. Her place of employment called her once again and offered her another job. She is to start on the 5th of February but is looking for another job in the meantime. I don't think she needs to go back to a job that has laid her off 3 times. Where is the stability there? She says that she needs a job and I agree with her. I cannot continue to pay her bills and mine as well but I just hate the thought of her going back to that place to work again. I think that the medication she is on is helping her immensely. She is the happy, playful girl again. I am just really really scared that she will go back to that place again and this time not want to tell us about it for fear that she will go back in the hospital. I don't know, maybe I am just babbling here, maybe it won't happen and everything will go back to normal. Not that normal was really good, she could be such a bit....well, she could be not so nice of a person sometimes and you all know me....Miss Sunshine, so I don't have any idea where she could have gotten that from.:)

The rest of the family is doing great. We will have David's kids this weekend, I am sure that they will tell us that they do not feel good and want to stay with their mom (because that is what they have done the last 4 or 5 times we have gone to pick them up) and we will do what we always do, tell them they will be fine and to get into the car. They are always fine once they are in the car and away from their mother but I think that initially they do not want to come to our house because we have rules that must be followed, mom does not. We do not allow sitting on your butt playing games (playstation, gamecube etc.) all day or sitting on your butt watching TV all day either. This is just not acceptable at our house. David's son is 13 years old and weighs about 240 lbs. He is a very big boy and although his mother keeps telling us that he is on a diet, we find out that they go out to McDonalds or some other fast food restaurant at least 3 or 4 times a week (she does not like to cook) and he is eating whatever he wants on the menu. Not you have to imagine, I have been in this family for almost 6 years and I have never had a meal with David's son that he has not asked for seconds or thirds. We do not keep him on a diet, we don't think that is fair (Amanda is 10 and she is a skinny little girl) We do however watch his portions on his food and we strictly don't let them drink soda unless it is a special occasion. Anyway, I will tell you more about that some other time. My point was going to be that we are finally going to be able to do a family portrait this weekend.

This is getting way long winded. Everyone, please have a great day and thanks for coming to my site, reading , commenting and showing your love. I love you all too.

2007-01-20T11:10:00.000-05:00

UPDATE

I know that I have been extremely absent lately. So much has happened this week. I will tell you more about what has been happening in Sarah's life.

On Monday I left work early to go to the doctor, I have a viral infection of some kind and she did not want me to go back to work until at least Thursday. I told her that I would give her Tuesday but I cannot guarantee the rest of the week. (I HATE staying home all day long). Anyway... I get home and my older daughter is at my house doing laundry. When she finished she called Sarah to come and get her and Sarah asked if my husband could drive her home. They all piled into the van and left. A few minutes later my husband came back with Sarah and the baby. Sarah was a mess. She had been crying (I know that I told you all that she had been laid off at work but I don't think that I had told you that she had been called back 2 times and laid off again 2 times, extremely depressing) She came in and asked if she could just stay with us that night. No problem. My husband started to talk to her (he is a therapist) and she admitted to him that if someone would have been home with her so that she knew her son would be alright she probably would have killed herself. When David asked her on a scale of one to one hundred with one being not really and one hundred being if I had a gun right now I would blow my head off where was she, she stated that she really just did not know. (Later my husband told me that is what worried him, the "I don't know". He knew that if she answered a small number we really did not have to worry and if she would have answered a high number we did not have to worry, telling me that had she stated 100, he would have thought maybe this was an attention thing because if someone says 100, they would have done it already, not telling anyone.) He told her that he was going to make a phone call in the morning and he wanted to take her to someone to talk to. He said that because he is her step father and he loves her, he cannot do any therapy with her.

So, on Tuesday he went into work and called a friend of his. He brought Sarah to see the therapist and after talking to Sarah for about an hour decided that she needed to be hospitalized. She agreed.

She has been in the hospital since Tuesday, she is getting better and I think she really needed this. David and I have the baby and let me tell you, I am just not used to having a baby to deal with 24/7. He is just the love of my life but I need a break (see, I am at work today and he is at home with his papa, he-he)

So, that is what is going on in my world lately. Hope everything is going great for everyone else.

2007-01-05T15:00:00.000-05:00

Ok, I am going to leave you all with some kind of buzz. I am kinda at a loss for words and don't really know how much I can tell you but I think I need to tell someone and I can't tell anyone here.

My daughter has been very very depressed lately. She is 19 and has a year old son :), Recently her and her sister moved into their own house across the street from my son and his family. All has been going well. At the beginning of the week she got laid off from work and then a tumble down effect started to happen. Finally she went to the doctor today and he put her on some new anti depressant medication. He also said that he was going to refer her to a psychologist. As she is telling me this she is crying, said that she had to tell him things that she has never told anyone, like not even me!!

I just tell her that everything is going to be better now and asked if she wanted to tell me. She did. She told me that when she was about 6 years old my kids had a friend named Seth...YES THAT'S RIGHT, I AM GOING TO TELL EVERYONE THAT LITTLE ASSHOLES NAME, SETH...FROM MARTELL, WISCONSIN...THE LITTLE BOY THAT HIS PARENTS THOUGHT HE COULD DO NO WRONG....LET ME TELL YOU...HE DID WRONG!!!!!

OK, sorry. Apparently when she was young and they were outside playing (I think he was about 9 or 10) he made her pull her pants down. Now, she cannot remember exactly what happened. She is sure something bad happened but she thinks she has blocked it out.

In March I am going to Minnesota for a friends sons wedding. I will be about 45 minutes from where I lived in Wisconsin. I don't know if that little asshole is there but I will find out. I never thought I would do this either, but I am going to contact my X husband and let him know. I want him to find him. I want him to know that as Sarah's parents....WE KNOW!!!! It took her about 13 years to tell me but now I know.

Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers and I promise I will be back next week and let you know how the weekend went, Christmas and New Years. Not alot to tell but we had a good time.

Love and Miss you all!!

2006-12-08T15:09:00.000-05:00

Happy Friday Everyone!!

I have to tell you about my friend here at work. Yesterday she came into work to find a Christmas card on her desk....hmmmm she thought, who could this be from. She opened the card and saw a ten dollar bill on the top of some other money, she slowly began fanning the money out and looking at it, all she saw was a bunch of twenties and a hundred dollar bill. She quickly stuffed all the money back into the envelope (without counting it) and sat down in her chair. She called me and asked me what I had done, I told her I did not know what she was talking about, I am not a good liar (at all). Finally she came back to my office with the envelope and sat down and cried. She counted the money and finally saw the gift card. She said "Karin, there is $ 250.00 dollars here in cash, I wonder how much this gift card is worth?" She turned the card around to see that the card was for $ 250.00 also. She just about peed her pants. She is so excited. She said that she can finally go and get some groceries and not worry about spending money that should go to her electric bill or her phone bill. I wish you all could have seen her face. What a wonderful feeling it is to know that I was a part of something so wonderful, something that will help her out with no only Christmas but also with some bills and food and as she stated yesterday "Finally, I can buy a new bra and not worry. I have needed one for almost a year and I have just not had the money to spend". Bless her heart.

Now, I got this meme so I am going to have to tag someone. I just want to tag everyone so if you are reading this, please just do it.

Participate with me on this. I only sent this to folks whose answersare bound to be clever! This is what you are supposed to do, and trynot to be LAME and spoil the fun! Just give in and do it.Copy, not forward, this entire e-mail and paste it into new email. Changeall the answers so they apply to you; then send this to a whole bunch ofpeople you know *including* the person who sent it to you.Put your name in the subject. The theory is that you will learn a lot oflittle known facts about your friends. It is a fun and easy 50 questions toanswer.

1. MIDDLE NAME? JoAnne

2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? I don’t know, I think I was named after one of my mom’s friends, that is where JoAnne comes from…..at least I think so. Mom, if I am wrong, let me know.

3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? Sunday

4. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? Yes

5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE LUNCH MEAT? Ham

6. KIDS? Jonathan – 25, Emily – 23 (almost), Sarah – 19, Stephen – 13 and Amanda – 10 (and 4 grandchildren)

7. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Yes, I am a fun girl

8. DO YOU KEEP A JOURNAL? Somewhat, but not really

9. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? I try not to, yes, sometimes

10. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yes

11. WOULD YOU EVER BUNGEE JUMP? Ahhhhh no

12. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE CEREAL? Honey Bunches of Oats with Almonds

13. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? Nope

14. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Not if you want to move something

15. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE ICE CREAM FLAVOUR? I vary on this subject

16. SHOE SIZE? 8 1/2

17. RED OR PINK? Red

18. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVOURITE THING YOU LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF? I get upset to easy, feelings get hurt….oh maybe that is my age

19. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? My dad, I still talk to him all the time. He just does not answer back all the time.

21. WHAT COLOUR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Black pants, tennis shoes

22. LAST THING YOU ATE? Chicken Burrito

23. ARE YOU LISTENING TO ANYTHING RIGHT NOW? Not a thing, it is very quiet out here.

24. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOUR WOULD YOU BE? I think I would be green, don’t know why just like the color.

25. FAVOURITE SMELL? Rain.

26. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? My husband

27. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO? Always the eyes

28. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? yes

29. FAVOURITE DRINK? I am sticking with water, with a raspberry ice packet

30. FAVOURITE SPORT? Minnesota Vikings Football

31. EYE COLOUR? Brown

32. HAT SIZE? Who knows, I have a big head

33. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? No

34. FAVOURITE FOOD? Mexican or Italian

35. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDING? Happy ending.

36. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED AT THE THEATRE? Over the Hedge (yes, it has been a while)

37. WHAT COLOUR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING RIGHT NOW? White and blue.

38. FAVOURITE SEASON? Fall

39. HUGS OR KISSES? hugs

40. FAVOURITE DESSERT? Anything chocolate

41. WHO IS LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Angie, I don’t think that she has time

42. MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Tammy L.

43. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING? Hmmmm I can’t remember the name for the life of me

44. WHAT'S ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? My mouse.

45. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT? Cops, Dog the Bounty Hunter, Roseanne

46. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Beatles

47. THE FURTHEST YOU'VE BEEN FROM HOME? Amsterdam

48. WHAT'S YOUR SPECIAL TALENT? LOL…..never mind

49. WHEN & WHERE YOU WERE BORN: October, Charles City, IA

50. WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? Tammy K

2006-12-06T15:02:00.000-05:00

Ok, I found another story to tear at your heart strings. Please....All my friends, If you have been blessed and you are able to help someone this year, please please take advantage of it. My friend will open a card here at work tomorrow. Her secret Santa will have given her a Wal-Mart card for $ 250.00 and there will also be another $ 250.00 in cash so that she can pay some bills or get gas in her car or anything else she needs to do. The people at my work have been so generous this year and the best part is that she suspects nothing. She has absolutely no clue. Ok, here is the story that I found today, it is not me but it is really good.

Gram and Gramps lived on the other side of the country, and although we called and wrote often, it had been twenty years since I'd seen them in person. Their health was failing, and age kept them close to home. My responsibilities at home with a husband, two young children and a part-time job, kept me from visiting. I did make a point of going in March one year. I'd spoken to Gram and realized that, in their eighties now, they weren't going to be around forever - as much as I would like them to be. I made the arrangements and flew there for a week. The moment I walked in the door, I was home again. The memories from a childhood long past, immediately returned. The cookies baking in the warm oven, watching Gram ice the fairy-tale cake and letting me dig in the bowl of icing when she was done. The beautiful clothes she'd sewed, smocked dresses and shorts with pop-tops to match. As she often did in her letters, she told stories of what I was like as a little girl and how she'd given me Muriel as my middle name. I never told her how much I was teased as a child because of that name - suddenly, it was prettier somehow and its very uniqueness was so like Gram. Gramps talked of the two wars he lived through, and I told him how proud I was to know he'd served his country so well. He made me laugh, and I believe I made him feel young again, if only for awhile. In turn, he made me cry. He told me that he and Gram had given up on celebrating Christmas about ten years back. They were just too old. How can one let Christmas pass by unnoticed? I remembered best the Christmas as a child, when they lived with us. They loved the season and always went to midnight Mass. Gramps took my brothers, sisters and me to cut down the tree, while Gram baked every Christmas cookie imaginable, then decorated the tree just so. Our house had been filled with the love and togetherness I had always associated with Christmas. I couldn't believe they had stopped celebrating it. Gramps explained that they were too old to bother with a tree and their friends too old to travel to see it. Even shopping, now, was too difficult, and they had all of the necessities delivered. I wanted to cry for the joy they'd once had - and lost. That week remains one of the most joyous of my life. Knowing that it might be the last time I saw either of them saddened me, but I was determined to make it a happy visit. I took the two of them out to dinner - something they hadn't done in well over two years, since Gram had her hip surgery. I know they had a good time. Saying good-bye was difficult. Gramps, the brave, strong hero of mine, cried and Gram did her best not to. She never succeeded. I cried on the plane all the way home. As Christmas approached, I thought of them more than ever. I wanted to do something so they would know I was thinking of them. The idea came to give them back Christmas, and I set about to do just that. First, I found a small artificial tree and decorated it with miniature bulbs and fine gold ribbon. With this, I added colorfully wrapped presents for each of them; slippers, chocolates, a hand-knit scarf for Gramps and a pretty bed jacket for Gram. I made up a box of cookies and bars; many of the recipes were from Gram's cookbooks. Then I filled stockings for each of them with toiletries wrapped and tied with ribbons. In the card, I wrote that they had given me so many wonderful memories throughout the years that I wanted to give them some new ones. I asked both of them to promise to set the tree up in the living room and stack the gifts around it. My last instruction was, "Do not open 'til Christmas!" I mailed the parcel, barely able to contain my excitement. Gram called as soon as it arrived. She was crying and, this time, not even attempting to hide it. We spoke for a long time, reminiscing about Christmas past, and when I knew for certain they had the tree up, I promised to call Christmas morning. When my boys had opened every gift and were digging through their stockings, I made the long-awaited call. Gramps answered on the first ring. I thought he sounded strange, and we only spoke briefly, then Gram took the phone. "We were like two kids," she told me. "Neither of us got any sleep last night. I even caught Harry in the living room, shaking one of the packages and had to make him go back to bed. Honey, this is the first time in years we've been so excited. Don't tell your grandfather, but after he went to bed, I just had to rattle a few of the gifts myself." I laughed, imagining the two of them sneaking out to guess at the presents I'd sent. I wished there was more money to send more expensive gifts, and told Gram that maybe next year they would be better. "Your grandfather can't talk right now because he's too busy crying. He keeps saying, 'That's one heck of a granddaughter we have there, Muriel.'"

Please lets all remember....there is a reason for the season.

2006-11-30T16:23:00.000-05:00

Hello - Hello - Hello !!!!!

My good friend Abbagirl asked me where the heck I have been and what have I been doing...or something like that. Soooooooo.......

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, we did not have Turkey...the kids all said that they did not want turkey this year, they wanted Beer Can Chicken on the grill. I must admit I had never heard of it but when they explained it, I was in....then I don't have to cook the meat....grilling...that is David's job (and I love it). As soon as we were done eating and cleaning up the mess, we headed to David's parents house. It is about a 3 hour ride so the kids (Stephen and Amanda, David's kids) asked that I drive...they know it will take about 3 and a half hours if their dad drives.
We had a bit of bad news on the day before Thanksgiving, David's grandpa had passed away. Now, I say a bit of bad news because he was 90 years old, his wife of 68 years had passed about 5 years ago and he has been miserable ever since. He has told us over and over again that he did now want to live, he wants to be with Jesus and his wife. He loves us all but he just does not want to be here. This alone kind of made it a celebration of his life. His Pastor had wonderful things to say about him and some of the adult grandkids got up to talk about their memories. It was like a family reunion with a few sad parts in it. The sadness was our own selfish things though, because he was dancing in Heaven with his wife.

I have been busy busy busy at work. There is a young girl here who is a single parent of a two year old boy. She is the sweetest thing and I remember Christmas coming and not being able to buy for my kids because I was living paycheck to paycheck. She is paying $ 120.00 a week in day care alone (she has asked for her from Social Services and they have her on a waiting list, she might get help around this time next year.) So, I approached one of my co-workers and talked to him about maybe doing a "Secret Santa" for her. Then I talked to another co-worker, low and behold....everyone wants in. I have been collecting money and so far I have $ 200.00 and I am not even halfway through the company. Everyone wants to help. We are going to get her a Wal-Mart card, that way she can get groceries, toys and clothes. We will have one stipulations though, we want her to get something for herself also. I am so excited about this. I dream about this kind of thing. I wish I had more money and could help other single parents (not just mothers but fathers too) with making Christmas special for their kids. I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!!

2006-11-17T10:57:00.000-05:00

Ok, you all are probably tired of the stories that I get and then I post here but I have just one more, well...you know me....for today I have just one more.

I will let you know that I went to the doctor yesterday. Had a mole removed from my back and they sent it in to be tested. I have had this mole for as long as I can remember but being that it is on my back, I don't get to see it that often. Aparently it is turning color around the edges and my doctor thought that we should have it checked out. So, I am sitting here at work with my back killing me (I had no pain yesterday so did not think to ask for any pain killers). I figured that I could either be in pain at home and not get paid for it or come to work at least a part of a day paid. Also, my blood sugars are kinda high, not seriously high but high enough where they need to check me more. Please pray for me there....thanks. Now the story, Have a great weekend!!

A Pierced and Tatooed Angel

I couldn't believe it. Of all the times for this to happen. . .a flat tire.
But when is a good time? Not when you are wearing a suit and you have been traveling for nearly five hours and, added to this bleak picture, nightfall is approaching. Wait! Did I mention I was on a country road?

There was only one thing to do. Call the local automobile association. Yeah, right. The cell phone I bought, for security and protection from moments like these, isn't in range to call anyone. "No Service," it says. No kidding! I thought.

I sat for a few minutes moaning and complaining. Then I began emptying my trunk so I could get at the tire and tools needed to get the job done. I carry a large plastic container filled with what I call "just-in-case-stuff." When I am training or speaking I love to have props with me. I hate leaving anything home so I bring everything. . ."just in case."

Cars buzzed by me. A few beeped sarcastically. It was as if the horns were saying, "Ha, ha."
Darkness began to settle in, and it became more difficult to see. Thank goodness it was the tire on the passenger's side, away from the traffic-but that only made it more impossible to benefit from the headlights of passing cars.

Suddenly a car pulled off the road behind me. In the blinding light, I saw a male figure approaching me.
"Hey, do you need any help?"
"Well, it certainly isn't easy doing this with a white dress shirt and suit on," I said sarcastically.

Then he stepped into the light. I was literally frightened. This young guy was dressed in black. Nearly everything imaginable was pierced and tattooed. His hair was cropped and poorly cut and he wore leather bracelets with spikes on each wrist.

"How about I give you a hand?" he said.
"Well, I don't know. . .I think I can. . ."
"Come on, it will only take me a few minutes."

He took right over. While I watched him, I happened to look back at his car and noticed, for the first time, someone sitting in the passenger seat. That concerned me. I suddenly felt outnumbered. Thoughts of car-jackings and robberies flashed through my mind. I really just wanted to get this over and survive the ordeal.

Then, without warning, it began to pour. The night sky had hidden the approaching clouds. It hit like a waterfall and made it impossible to finish changing the tire.

"Look my friend, just stop what you're doing. I appreciate all your help. You'd better get going. I'll finish after the rain stops," I said.
"Let me help you put your stuff back in the trunk. It will get ruined," he insisted. "Then get in my car. We'll wait with you."
"No, really. I'll take care of everything," I said.

"You can't get in your car with the jack up like that. It will fall. Come on. Get in!" He grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the car. Crack! Boom! Lightening and thunder roared like a freight train. I jumped into his car. Oh, God protect me, I prayed to myself.

Wet and tired, I settled into the back seat. Suddenly a kindly, frail voice came from the front seat. "Are you all right?" A petite old woman asked as she turned around to face me.
"Yes, I am," I replied, greatly relieved at seeing the old woman there. I suspected she was his mom.
"My name is Beatrice, and this is my neighbor, Joey," she said. "He insisted on stopping when he saw you struggling with the tire."

"I am grateful for his help," I responded.
"Me, too." Beatrice laughed. "Joey takes me to visit my husband. We had to place him in a nursing home, and it's about thirty minutes away from my residence. So, every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, Joey and I have a date." With a childish grin she looked at Joey.

Joey's whimsical remark, "We're the remake of the Odd Couple," gave us all a good laugh.

"Joey, that's incredible what you do for her. I would never have guessed, well, you know I. . ." I stumbled with the words.
"I know. People who look like me don't do nice things," he said.

I was silent. I really felt uncomfortable. I never judge people by the way they dress, and I was angry with myself for being so foolish.

"Joey is a great kid. I'm not the only one he helps-he's also a volunteer at our church. He also works with the kids in the learning center at the low income housing unit in our town," Beatrice added.

"I'm a tutor," Joey said modestly as he stared at my car.

I reflected for a few moments on what Joey said. He was right. What he wore on the outside was a reflection of the world as he saw it. What he wore on the inside was the spirit of giving, caring and loving the world from his point of view.

When the rain stopped, Joey and I changed the tire. I tried to offer him money, and he refused.

As we shook hands, I began to apologize for my stupidity. He said, "I experience that same reaction all the time. I actually thought about changing the way I look, but then I saw this as an opportunity to make a point. So I'll leave you with the same question that I ask everyone who takes time to know me. 'If Jesus returned tomorrow and walked among us again, would you recognize him by what he wore or by what he did?'"

Joey walked back to his car. As they drove off, Beatrice was smiling and waving as she began to laugh again. I could almost hear her saying, "You got another one Joey. You got another one."

2006-11-10T09:57:00.000-05:00

This is a story someone shared with me today, Share it with someone else if you can.

A Veteran's Day Miracle

I was feeling my age that morning as I limped from the parking lot up to the Physical Therapy Building. I was pushing fifty. I was crippled, and I was feeling like a failure. Thankfully, I was happily married. However, health problems had cut short my dreams of finishing my education. Gloomily, I couldn't recall a thing that I had ever done that was important.My thoughts became more disheartened when I noticed the middle-aged man limping in front of me--his long gray hair blowing in the wind. I just knew I'd be stuck in the waiting room with him. I was in no mood for a conversation. I knew I was in for a long and painful wait.
By the time I reached the hallway, one of the two chairs available was occupied by the gray-haired man. Reluctantly, I took my seat next to him, hoping that I could bury myself within the pages of an outdated magazine.My bubble of protection was immediately interrupted by his curious stare. I looked up with a sigh. He gave me an uncertain smile as our eyes met."I know you," he said."No, you don't.""Yes, I'm certain I know you.""I'm not from here," I insisted."No. I've met you someplace before.""That's impossible. I'm certain we've never met.""I feel that I know you from long ago," he said with conviction.In spite of myself, I was intrigued. We played "twenty questions," and we finally got around to the Vietnam War and San Francisco.He had served in the Army. He'd been wounded in battle, and he was darned proud of it."I didn't do anything important," I said. "I served stateside, as a U.S. Navy WAVE, at San Francisco International Airport. I married way too soon, and I was discharged when I became pregnant," my voice trailed off.Suddenly, the man became very excited."I remember receiving help from a young WAVE," he grinned, "with red hair just like yours! It was in the spring of '67, when I came back wounded from Vietnam."He continued, "I've never seen anyone like her, before or since. She moved heaven and earth to make sure that I was well taken care of. She was a tiger, all right. I was badly wounded, barely dragging on crutches. She got me into a wheelchair, and she literally ran after a local bus, making them stop. Then she nearly carried me onboard, giving the driver careful instructions to make sure that I arrived at the hospital, safe and sound. And then she called to see how I was!""I didn't see her, again, until four months later, when I was heading home, still on crutches. All I saw was this WAVE fighting like a wildcat, trying to get away from some drunken sailor."Chills crept up my spine as I remembered the wounded soldier who had rescued me.
"I just couldn't let that girl be ill-treated, after all she had done for me. I threatened that sailor with one of my crutches and he finally put her down. I escorted her back to her desk...""And then you went and got the sailor," I choked on the words, "and you made him apologize to me."Tears streamed down my cheeks, as I remembered that day, and him.How could this happen? My rescuer from 1967 was sitting next to me, twenty-five years later and half a continent away. Our lives had come full circle, and there we sat--thanking each other for a mutual kindness, long ago.We talked for a long time, and then we parted. I learned some important truths that day.First, people are seldom what they seem to be at first glance.Second, kindness is its own reward. It changes the lives of both parties.Last, I learned that though my time was short, I had served my country, simply by serving those who had sacrificed everything.I continued that day a happier woman because I understood that a kindness given will often return to bless you again.

Happy Veteran's Day Everyone ---- Find a Veteran, thank them and then give them a hug.

2006-10-31T14:54:00.000-05:00

Ok, 2 posts in one day...almost a miracle. I just had to come back and tell you a story.

Out of the mouths of babes:

My girls were talking about next Halloween, they decided that they should have a Wizard of Oz theme. Jasmine will be 5, she can be Dorothy. Damien will be 18 months, he can be the lion, Alex will be 22 months, he can be Toto and Kody will be 4, he can be the scarecrow. Kody overhears this and whines (like only Kody can do)......

I don't want to be the scary Ho.

Too Funny :)

2006-10-31T12:38:00.000-05:00

Happy Halloween all.

I have been sitting here thinking about Halloween when I was a kid. I can honestly say that I don't remember trick or treating, Halloween costumes that I may have worn..None of that. I know that my parents took me, but I really cannot think of something that really sticks out. I think it must be all that pot I smoked when I was younger.

I DO remember being a teenager on Halloween. Soaping cars, egging houses, TP'ing trees, All the fun stuff like that. I also remember one incident when we strung a wire across the street. It was pitch dark out and we (me and about 4 or 5 friends) took some wire, we strung it across the road and a few of us stayed on one side and a few on the other. We waited patiently...smoking cigarettes, telling jokes thinking no one could hear or see us. All of a sudden we saw a bike coming down the road, we ran behind trees and pulled the wire taunt, the dude on the bike hit the wire and flew, he got up and chased us for blocks (that is the good old days when I could run for blocks). Now today, I am thinking....what if he would have really hurt himself, what if he would have flew head over heel and hit his head on the road....Jeez, we were stupid kids.

Halloween is just not the same anymore. More and more cities are banning trick or treating or alot of people simply are taking their children somewhere safe because you never know who is in that house or what they will do once they open the doors.

I am taking my grandchildren trick or treating, it is the thing to do and shucks....I want candy (I hope they will want to share). They are so excited.. Kody is going to be Batman and Jasmine is going to be a princess, she is so excited that her dress lights up and the bat on Kody's costume lights up also. They have been wanting to "try on" their costumes for days. Now, don't think that the little ones are not going, Alex is going to be Spiderman and Damien is going to be the Incredibles guy. I know that they are only 10 and 6 months but the candy is for the parents I think.

Ok, one another note, I received a email today for quitnet.com. I signed up on this web site when I quit smoking 10 months ago today.

The results so far are...

Time Smoke-free: 303 days, 10 hours, 27 minutes and 35 seconds.

Cigarettes NOT smoked: 3641,

Lifetime saved: 27 days 19 hours,

Money Saved: $ 755.00.

For that I am thankful. I never could have made it this far without the Lord, my family and my friends. I am extremely proud of myself. I smoked for 26 years, it was the hardest thing I had ever done and now I am smoke free. I can't wait until my one year anniversary and find out how many cigarettes not smoked I have then.

Have a great Halloween BOO!!!!

2006-10-26T08:07:00.000-05:00

Good Morning :)

I recieved this e-mail today and thought I would share it with you. Also one of my blogger friends started something called Memory Mondays. This is where you can share a funny or even a not so funny memory with everyone and you know us bloggers, we have to put a theme to just about everything. So, I am going to try and do this every Monday and I would like all of you to do it also, I think it will be fun!! Now, on with the show (so to speak).

As I Mature:

As I mature, I have learned that you cannot make people love you, all you can do is stalk them and hope that they panic and give in.

As I mature,I have learned that no matter how much I care, some people are just assholes.

As I mature, I have learned that it takes years to build a trust, and it only takes suspecion, not proof to destroy it.

As I mature, I have learned that you can get by on charm for about fifteen minutes, After that you better either have a big willy or huge boobs.

As I mature, I have learned that you should not compare yourself with others, they are more screwed up then you think.

As I mature, I have learned that you can keep vomiting long after you think you are finished.

As I mature, I have learned that we are responsible for what we do unless you are a celebrity.

As I mature, I have learned that regardless of how hot and steamy a relationship is at first, the passion fades and there had better be alot of money to take its place.

As I mature, I have learned that 99% of the time something is not working in your house, one of your children did it.

As I mature, I have learned that people that you care most about in life are taken from you too soon and all the less important ones never go away.

Ok, pass this along to 5 friend, trust me they will appreciate it, Who knows, maybe something good will happen....if not....

Tough Shit.

LOL, Have a great day.

2006-10-20T09:44:00.000-05:00

Famous Love Story

> I will seek and find you . .

> I shall take you to bed and have my way with you

> I will make you ache, shake & sweat until you moan & groan.

> I will make you beg for mercy, beg for me to stop.

> I will exhaust you to the point that you will be relieved when I'm finished with you.

> And, when I am finished, you will be weak for days.

>All my love,

> The Flu

> Now, get your mind out of the gutter and go get your flu shot!

2006-10-19T08:48:00.000-05:00

Good for a giggle or 2.

Subject: Proof That The World Is Nuts

> Proof That The World Is Nuts
>
>
> In Lebanon, men are legally allowed to have sex with animals, but
> the animals must be female. Having sexual relations with a male
> animal is punishable by death.
>
> (Like THAT makes sense.)
>
>
>
> In Bahrain, a male doctor may legally examine a woman's
> genitals, but is prohibited from looking directly at them during the
> examination. He may only see their reflection in a mirror.
>
> (Do they look different reversed?)
>
>
>
> Muslims are banned from looking at the genitals of a corpse.
> This also applies to undertakers. The sex organs of the deceased
> must be covered with a brick or piece of wood at all times.
>
>
> (A brick?)
>
>
>
> The penalty for masturbation in Indonesia is decapitation.
>
>
> (Much worse than "going blind!")
>
>
>
> There are men in Guam whose full-time job is to travel the countryside
> And deflower young virgins, who pay
> Them for the privilege of having sex for the first time
>
> Reason: under Guam law, it is expressly forbidden for virgins to marry.
>
>
> (Let's just think for a minute; is there any job anywhere else in the world that even comes
> close to this?)
>
>
>
> In Hong Kong, a betrayed wife is legally allowed to kill her
> adulterous husband, but may only do so with her bare hands.
>
> The husband's illicit lover, on the other hand, may be killed in any manner desired.
>
>
> (Ah Justice, How about that girls (Solarisgal? Meg?)
>
>
>
> Topless saleswomen are legal in Liverpool, England - but only in
> tropical fish stores.
>
>
> (But of course!)
>
>
> In Cali, Colombia, a woman may only have sex with her husband,
> and the first time this happens, her mother must be in the room
> to witness the act.
>
>
> (Makes one shudder at the thought.)
>
>
>
> In Santa Cruz, Bolivia, it is illegal for a man to have sex with
> a woman and her daughter at the same time.
>
>
> (I presume this was a big enough problem that they had to pass this law?)
>
>
>
> In Maryland, it is illegal to se ll condoms from vending machines
> with one exception: Prophylactics may be dispensed from a vending
> machine only "in places where alcoholic beverages are sold for consumption on the
> premises."
>
>
> (Is this a great country or what?
> Well, not as great as Guam!)
>
>
>
> Banging your head against a wall uses
> 150 calories an hour.
>
>
> (Who volunteers for this stuff?)
>
>
>
> Humans and dolphins are the only species that have sex for pleasure.
>
>
> (Is that why Flipper was always smiling?)
>
>
>
> The ant can lift 50 times its own weight, can pull 30 times its own weight and
> Always falls over on its right side when intoxicated.
> (From drinking little bottles of???)
>
>
> (Did the government pay for this research?)
>
>
> Butterflies taste with their feet.
>
>
> (Ah, geez.)
>
>
>
> An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.
>
>
> (I know some people like that.)
>
>
>
> Starfish don't have brains.
>
>
> (I know some people like that, too.)
>
>
>
> And, the best for last?
>
> Turtles can breathe through their butts.
>
>
> (And I thought I had bad
> Breath in the morning!)

2006-10-18T08:31:00.000-05:00

So, it's your first kiss and several questions might come to mind:

Is it the right time?

Is anyone watching?

Does your partner even want to?

Is your breath fresh?

And the big question...

Should you use some tongue?

Then you lean in and just go for it!!!

* see below

2006-10-12T13:43:00.000-05:00

Hey all,
I don't have a clue what to write about here today so I am going to think about it and come back. I am trying to think of something that happened when I was a child that I could write about but there is just nothing in my head right now.....Oh, that is just great, I just told the blog world that I was empty headed....Jeez!! ok, back in a little while.

Just when I thought there was going to be nothing to write about today...it happened!! Here I was, minding my own business when I glanced out the window of my office. Wait, I should tell you that I have now changed offices, I am out in the hanger with the boys instead of up in the office part with management....a move up??? I think so....I don't have to live in a fish bowl (windows completely around my office so everyone could always see what I was doing) Any way.. Here I am, typing away (that is my job he he) and I glance out my window and our floor manager is standing at the parts counter (with his back to me) with his hand down the back of his pants scratching his butt. I mean EWWWWWWWW.
First of all...come on, you are standing in a hanger with pilots that are coming and going constantly and second...you are basically 20 feet away from Karin's office and she DOES have a window.
Then the parts manager comes out, I will call him Gene...because well, frankly that is his name. Gene comes out of his office and talks to the floor manager (I will call him Sam) and they are reading some paper together, both of their hands are on this paper....I just cannot wait for Sam to leave so I can go out and tell Gene about Sam and his butt scratching and oh by the way...he did not wash his hands.
Oh man, the things that go on in the work place. I LOVE IT HERE!!! :)

P.S. Did I happen to mention that Sam weighs in at about 300 pounds.....EWWWWWW!!

2006-10-09T13:26:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone, Hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Mine was not long enough but I think that is always the case for most people. My friend Jade is back (I thought she was missing in action for a while). Go and visit her at http://theroad2rocks.blogspot.com/ She hit me with the meme so I will try and get this done before I have to really do some work.

The Work Meme:

1. What is the best thing about your workplace? Well as most of you know, I think the best thing about my workplace is that I work with mostly men. We have women up in the offices at the front of the building but I am the Secretary of Maintenance, I work with the men :)

2. What do you hate about your workplace? Well, the weird thing about it is that there is nothing that I hate about my job. I can pretty much come and go as I please (I don't take advantage of that so maybe that is why it is so easy for me to leave early or take a day off here and there) and I really like the guys that I work with. Some of the women up front are uppity but I even get along with them (I just choose not to go up there often)

3. What small irritance at your workplace really annoys you? Ok, you all should know that answer to this one....The Whistler. I have to admit, I told him how annoying it was and he does not whistle nearly as much but also one more thing about him, He always wants to be touching me. Not sexually, just like touching my shoulder or my elbow to move me in a direction...I don't know...it is just ICK!!

4. Describe the actions/quirks of the weirdest person you work with. There is one girl that I work with that I have to laugh at most of the time. She is 22 and no nieve, You have to love her and I do love going to have lunch with her but she is 22 and should be blonde, really!!

5. What is one thing that you would change at your workplace to make life a helluva lot better? I can't think of a thing...a raise would be nice but I am sure that will come one day. I can honestly say that I don't wake up in the morning and dread getting out of bed, ever. I like coming to work and seeing the people that I work with.

Now I tag these 5 bloggers John over at http://www.dadslife2.blogspot.com/ , Solarisgirl at http://mydivorcejourney.blogspot.com/ hmmm Jade already tagged Abbagirl so I can't do that, Jason over at http://cigarsdonutsandcoffee.blogspot.com/ , Finn over at http://finnmccool2.blogspot.com/ and Sue at http://sue-memyselfandty.blogspot.com/

Have a great day and to all my Canadian friends: Happy Thanksgiving!!

2006-10-06T15:00:00.000-05:00

Good Afternoon, Today is my 43rd birthday. I don't know if I feel good or bad about it. I think I feel pretty good but I also think it is because of all the presents I got today. I am such a baby when it comes to presents, any presents. It can be as small as a candy necklace or as big as a steam cleaner, I don't care.....I just like presents.

Maybe that is why I love Christmas so much. It is different at Christmas though, I really don't care if I get anything (well, thats a lie...but I don't care if it is only one thing) What I love about Christmas is the giving. What my husband stresses out every year about is the "Karin giving" LOL!!! I love giving great presents, watching them (kids and adults alike) open the presents.

Anyhow....Happy Birthday to me.
Hope everyone has a great weekend.

2006-10-05T08:19:00.000-05:00

Good Morning, Good Morning. I have been taged by my friend trueself over at http://toodeepanddark.blogspot.com/ (Sorry, I am soooo computer illerate that I don't know how to just put the name and make it a link). I have been asked to state nine things about myself, weird or otherwise, and then tag six others by leaving a comment on their blogs. So let's see if there is anything at all I haven't already shared here:

1. I was married for almost 20 years to my first husband. Thought about and had many oppurtunities to cheat on him, only cheated once and that was at the end. He cheated once that I know of but I am sure there were others, he just learned how to be descrete.

2. I smoked alot (and I mean ALOT) of pot when I was a kid. Shoot, we are being honest here, I smoked pot until almost 5 years ago.

3. If I were to get some kind of disease, I would smoke it again.

4. My X was not a relegious person, I believe that God brought me to David because he knew I was lost and wanted to be found, he knew that David was the one person that could bring me back "home" again.

5. I cannot leave my house unless I have had a shower and I have makeup on. I always have to remember "what if I see someone I know".

6. I have a compulsive disorder that lurks inside of me. I want my house completley clean at all times, it is never that way and it drives me crazy. After all, what if someone stops by and wants to come into my house.

7. These past 5 years have been the happiest times of my life. I cannot express how much I love my husband and I am sure, with everything that is in me, he loves me just as much. I can tell you that I NEVER felt that way with my X, he made me feel like he was "putting up with me" for ALL the years I stayed married to him.

8. I am not a small person, I am overweight and would love to have that surgery that makes your stomach smaller. My friend had it and she is doing great, She lives in Minnesota and I wish I could see her now.

9. I am also very jealous of her, She was always the big one in our crowd and I am scared (Lord, I don't know why) that when I do see her, she will be way smaller then me.

OK, that is my 9. Some of them lame....ok, most of them lame but never the less it is what it is.
I am going to tag Di, Jan, Shattered, and abbagirl. Thanks guys, you make my day when I get comments back from you :).

2006-10-03T10:36:00.000-05:00

I am absolutely devastated by what is going on in our schools this past month. I cannot understand why in the world someone would want to shoot a child. What in heavens name could that child have done to the shooter? It is my understanding that these shooters don't even know these children....Why????? It just makes me shudder. And, then there is the boy in Wisconsin that shot the principal, it is my understanding that the boy got into trouble at school for smoking, so the kid just goes and gets a gun and shoots up the school. Where are the parents and how in the world did he get access to a gun? Now, the 2 grown men that shot little girls. Sick basta*ds!! I got this email this morning, maybe you will agree with it, maybe you won't but you have to know that the school systems and children in general have changed since we went to school. I was never scared to go into school. I never feared someone would come in and shoot me. I am scared for my grandchildren who will go to school in a few years. Home school might be the answer, although I don't really believe that either. I think children need the "away time" from home and also the socialization skills they get at school. I just wish that I had the answer, any answer.

Mary's Lamb

Mary had a little Lamb, His fleece was white as snow. And everywhere that Mary went, The Lamb was sure to go.
He followed her to school each day, T'wasn't even in the rule. It made the children laugh and play, To have a Lamb at school.
And then the rules all changed one day, Illegal it became; To bring the Lamb of God to school, Or even speak His Name!
Every day got worse and worse, And days turned into years. Instead of hearing children laugh, We heard gun shots and tears.
What must we do to stop the crime, That's in our schools today? Let's let the Lamb come back to school, And teach our kids to pray!

2006-09-29T14:01:00.000-05:00

I am not sure what I am going to write about today. I just feel this sence of obligation to write. I don't know why but I do.

My daughter asked me what I would do if I found out that I had 6 weeks to live. She asked me if I would go and bungy jump with her.....hell no.

I thought about it for a minute and turned to her and told her I would smoke, that's right, I would light up a cigarette right then and there. She asked me what else I would do. I thought about it and decided that I would also smoke pot.

When I told my husband this (remember he is a Pastoral Counselor) he got really really quiet and I had not even sprang the news about the pot on him at this point. I asked him what was he thinking about and he said he just wished that I would not smoke. I told him that if I only had 6 weeks what would it matter, it is not like it would shorten my time down to 3 weeks or something like that, then I told him about the pot. He wants to know where I would get it. I don't know....I suppose if you look for something long enough you can find it. I never had a problem finding it when I was a teenager, of coarse all my friends smoked pot and someone could find someone who was selling it. Now of coarse since I am going to be the big 43 a week from today, I would have not the slightest bit of an idea where to find it. Hmmmm I am thinking Amsterdam. LOL.

I don't think this would go over big with my husband.......maybe the time to bring this up was not when we were coming home fro a bible study group.

Oh and a quick granddaughter entertainment......My 4 year old granddaughter is now going to Head Start everyday. When my son got her off the bus yesterday and asked her how her day was, she just turned to him and said "Daddy, I don't want to talk about it, it has been a long day. Isn't she precious!!

Have a great weekend all.

2006-09-22T08:04:00.000-05:00

I received this e-mail today, No matter if you agree or disagree with the war, I am sure that you will all agree that we need to support our troops, we need to stick together. We are after all "The people of the United States of America".

Last week, while traveling to Chicago on business, I noticed a Marine sergeant traveling with a folded flag, but did not put two and two together. After we boarded our flight, I turned to the sergeant, who'd been invited to sit in First Class (across from me), and inquired if he was heading home. No, he responded. Heading out I asked? No. I'm escorting a soldier home. Going to pick him up? No. He is with me right now. He was killed in Iraq. I'm taking him home to his family. The realization of what he had been asked to do hit me like a punch to the gut. It was an honor for him. He told me that, although he didn't know the soldier, he had delivered the news of his passing to the soldiers family and felt as if he knew them after many conversations in so few days. I turned back to him, extended my hand, and said, Thank you. Thank you for doing what you do so my family and I can do what we do. Upon landing in Chicago the pilot stopped short of the gate and made the following announcement over the intercom. "Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to note that we have had the honor of having Sergeant Steeley of the United States Marine Corps join us on this flight. He is escorting a fallen comrade back home to his family. I ask that you please remain in your seats when we open the forward door to allow Sergeant Steeley to deplane and receive his fellow soldier. We will then turn off the seat belt sign." Without a sound, all went as requested. I noticed the sergeant saluting the casket as it was brought off the plane, and his action made me realize that I am proud to be an American. So here's a public Thank You to our military Men and Women for what you do so we can live the way we do. Signed: Stuart Margel -- Washington, D.C.

Also, here are two very touching photos honored at this years International Picture of the Year. First Place ( See bottom picture)

First PlaceTodd Heisler The Rocky Mountain News When 2nd Lt. James Cathey's body arrived at the Reno Airport, Marines climbed into the cargo hold of the plane and draped the flag over his casket as passengers watched the family gather on the tarmac. During the arrival of another marines casket last year at Denver International Airport, Major Steve Beck described the scene as so powerful: "See the people in the windows? They sat right there in the plane, watching those Marines. You gotta wonder what's going through their minds, knowing that they're on the plane that brought him home," he said. "They will remember being on that plane for the rest of their lives. They're going to remember bringing that Marine home. And they should." Second Place (see top picture)

Second PlaceTodd Heisler The Rocky Mountain News The night before the burial of her husband's body, Katherine Cathey refused to leave the casket, asking to sleep next to his body for the last time. The Marines made a bed for her, tucking in the sheets below the flag. Before she fell asleep, she opened her laptop computer and played songs that reminded her of 'Cat,' and one of the Marines asked if she wanted them to continue standing watch as she slept. "I think it would be kind of nice if you kept doing it," she said. "I think that's what he would have wanted."

"No arsenal, no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women." -- Ronald Reagan.

Red Fridays........ Very soon, you will see a great many people wearingRed every Friday The reason? Americans who supportour troops used to be called the "silent majority."
We are no longer silent, and are voicing our love forGod, country and home in record breaking numbers. We are not organized, boisterous or overbearing. Many Americans, like you, me and all our friends,simply want to recognize that the vast majority of America supports our troops.

Our idea of showing solidarity and support for our troops with dignity and respect starts this Friday -- and continues each and every Friday until the troops all come home, sending a deafening message that ... every red-blooded American who supports our men and women afar, will wear something red.By word of mouth, press, TV -- let's make the UnitedStates on every Friday a sea of red much like a homecoming football game in the bleachers. If everyone of us who loves this country will share this with acquaintances, coworkers, friends, and family, it will not be long before the USA is covered in RED and it will let our troops know the once "silent" majority is on their side more than ever, certainly more than the media lets on.The first thing a soldier says when asked "What can we do to make things better for you?" is ..."We need your support and your prayers." Let's get the word out and lead with class and dignity, by example, and wear something red every Friday. WE LIVE IN THE LAND OF THE FREE, ONLY BECAUSE OF THE BRAVE!!

2006-09-21T14:47:00.000-05:00

And this is how I feel today. Two months after my boss walked out the door, yesterday he came back. Acually he was here on Monday to make sure that he still had a job but yesterday he was back for a full day of work and he was here again today!! I am so glad, you just can't know how happy I am about this. Now I don't have to put up with anyones crap. I can just ask Darryl the right way to go about it and I don't have to listen to 2 people tell me to do things 2 different ways.

He is looking so good and healthy. I know that it did him alot of good to get time off. I know that the stress from this job (his job, not mine) was really getting to him and I think that he and his family (he is married and has a son that is 2 (and a son that is 22, yeah, I know...LOL)). needed to get away and have some "family time" together.

OK, I better get to work, just wanted to let you all know that he is back :)

2006-09-15T13:43:00.000-05:00

I want to leave everyone something to think about this weekend. I hope everyone has a great one, God Bless you all.

THE MAYONNAISE JAR AND 2 CUPS OF COFFEE:

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 cups of coffee.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.

He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls.

He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was. The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full.

The students responded with an unanimous "yes."The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand.

The students laughed."Now," said the professor as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.

The golf balls are the IMPORTANT things--- your family, your health, your friends and your favorite passions---and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, and your car.

The sand is everything else---the small stuff.

"If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.

The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you.""Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Spend time with your parents. Visit with grandparents. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal.

Take care of the golf balls first---the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented.

The professor smiled. "I'm glad! you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.

"Please share this with someone you care about.. I JUST DID.

2006-09-14T15:52:00.000-05:00

About 10 years ago......Wow it has really been that long. I was still married to the well, the not so nice guy and we were going through so rough times. My mom called and I was telling her what an ass he was being and she said that her and I ought to just pack up and go on vacation to Hawaii. I told her that was a great idea, wish it was a reality.
So, about a week later she called and told me that she was serious, could I take my vacation time at work and go with her to Hawaii. I told her that I would. I knew right then and there that I would have repercussions when I got back. Sure, he would be nice before I left because then I would not be able to tell my mom what a jerk that he was. I didn't care, I packed my clothes and was ready to rock and roll.
My plane left out of Minneapolis on a Thursday. I arrived in California and my sister picked me up at the airport. We spent the day together and then she took me over to my mom's house. My mom had said that the cab was going to be at her place around 6 am so we had to get to bed, it was going to be a long day the next day.
The next day you can bet your boots that I was ready at 6, I was outside on the balcony smoking a cigarette (that is when I smoked) waiting for the cab to come. My mom was inside just watching me. When all of a sudden this limo pulled up in front of the house. I could not believe it. Sooo....we go to the airport and on to Hawaii.
We land in Waikiki on a beautiful day. We spent 5 days there just spending time together without interuption. We did all the tourist things but the best part was just spending time with my mom. She would not let me spend a dime the entire time I was there. I think I left home with 100.00 in my wallet and came back with 80.00 and did not spend a dime on the credit cards.
I will always remember just sitting out on the balcony in Waikiki with my mom, reading a book and just spending time with her. What a wonderful gift from God that was.