PINK

Take a moment sometime during the month of October to think of someone you know who has Breast Cancer. Maybe it's a sister, an aunt, your mother, a friend or maybe it's yourself.

Now say a prayer for that person and then ask yourself what you can do to help them and their family during this time.

Perhaps if this person had known about and done self breast exams every month they may have discovered that lump before it had spread so far and become cancerous. Maybe if they had insurance and could have afforded the mammogram they would have seen the lump and had it removed before they had to have their whole breast removed instead.

Tell a friend, a co-worker, your neighbor or your sister about self breast exams and mammograms. Offer to do the buddy system and go with them if they are afraid to go to the doctor alone. Do whatever it takes to make sure every female you know takes care of "THE GIRLS"

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month- Please wear Pink to show you care.

Hacked to Pieces

My computer got hacked this week and I feel totally violated!
I am not really sure how the hacker got into my emails because I really watch what I allow in there and since they completely wiped everything out- I can't go back and check.

I remember a couple things-one from Verizon and one from Loft asking me to take a survey. I wonder if that is how they got certain information about me such as my email address and date of birth, etc. Whatever it was, once they got in, they took my entire contact email address list and sent everyone a nice little email telling them I was stranded in London without my passport and needed $2345 to get home. Could they please lend it to me and I would pay them back as soon as I got back home? Most of the people in my contact list know me well enough that they laughed at this because they knew #1. I would never ask them for money this way and #2. I wouldn't be stupid enough to use such bad grammar if I did.

The first thing I did was call the credit card companies and the banks and alert them to possible fraud. This was so much fun because, while most of them will just watch the accounts, some of them made us close the accounts and issue new cards. Pain in the Ass!

Next up, call Verizon and see if they can retrieve any of my information. No such luck.You see not only did these guys take my email addresses, they took every thing else I had stored in folders in there too. I had pictures people had emailed me, information about my daughter's upcoming wedding, school websites I use frequently, order confirmations from online shopping.
The assholes took it all! And you know all they will do with it is throw it away, so why take it? I had to settle for getting my email to function again.

We called the police and reported this and he will LOOK into it but he says there isn't much they can do about it because they didn't ask for $2400! Yup that's the magic number people. As long as someone commits Internet theft and asks you for money, it isn't a crime if they keep the amount under $2400!! What kind of bullshit is that!

So now I am paranoid as hell every time I send or receive an email at home. I am constantly checking my bank accounts to make sure there is no activity happening there. I change the password on my accounts every 24 hours and if someone sends me something that looks the least bit suspicious- it goes to SPAM! It ain't fun to be hacked.

4 to 1

This is not a Baseball score, nor any other sports score.

It is not the ratio of females to males in my family.

It is not the score of arguments won and lost between Hubs and I. (That is much higher on my part and zero on his).

What pray tell you ask then is 4 to 1?

Well, last night Hubs and I were out with our brother in law and his wife and some friends. We went to a local bar for a quick burger and a couple beers before going to hear a band that was playing at the street dance for Hub City Days. (The band is Boogie and the Yo Yo'z and they are awesome.) Anyway, after drinking a couple beers, I had to use the little girls room.

There was a line (go figure) and while standing in this line waiting my turn to get inside the room which had one stall in it, I observed not 1, not 2, but 3 men go into their restroom.

AT THE SAME DAMN TIME! They had 3 urinals and a sit down toilet in there! Of course I checked it out, I was pissed (no pun intended) and wanted to know why so many could go in there while we had a line. It was sort of like the clown car- one little room and they just kept stuffing people in it. I had to see what it was like.

How the HELL is that fair! Hell I would stand up and pee over a urinal if they would put 3 in the women's restroom just so more of us could use the room at the same time! I am so tired of having to stand in a line, doing the pee dance while some woman is in the restroom fixing her makeup or talking on her cell phone while men can go in 3-4 at a time just because they can stand up to pee.

Something is definitely wrong here. A Man must have had a hand in designing and building these bathrooms cuz you know if it been a woman there would have been LOTS more!

I vote that there should never be a bar with less than 3 woman toilets in it no matter what the size of the bar.

Bigger and Better

My family just keeps getting BIGGER and BETTER !

Over the past couple years I went from having 2 daughters and a son with 3 grandchildren all living in Iowa and Nebraska. To suddenly acquiring a future son in law (Todd) and an almost 13 year old grandson (TJ). They will marry into my daughter Carrin's family next June but already feel just like family.

Megan and Noah and Morgan are my daughters children.

Then a couple weeks ago my son surprised us all and announced he was getting married and becoming a father to his new wife, Krissy's, 4 year old son, Jackson. I got to meet them both this past weekend when we went to Nebraska for a visit. I really like Krissy. Besides being very pretty, she seems like a very nice woman (can't call her a girl) and they seem very happy together. Jackson is adorable and I can't wait to spend more time with him. Unfortunately I live almost 500 miles away from all of my IA and NE grandchildren so don't get to spoil them too much.

I loved being a mother and now I love being a grandmother! I have grandchildren surrounding me here in WI and grandchildren that I have to love by long distance in IA and NE. It doesn't matter where you are, all that matters is how you love them.

I can only hope my family continues to grow and get bigger and better year after year. I just wish they were all closer so I could see them more often. For now, I'll just have to be content w with pictures, facebook, blogs and telephones.

Of course I have already passed on the curse to my son now that he has a child. I have told him I hope that Jackson is just as naughty as he was and gives him just as much if not more grief as he gave me when he was a child

Tara adopted a beer drinking, smoking dog named Buddy a little over a year ago and he is her baby and my Grand dog. He goes where she does, tries to do what she does and thinks he is human. He is truly one of the family!

A partial group shot showing just some of the family. Would need one of those panaramic camera shots to fit them all into the picture and then probably couldn't get them all on this blog page.
SO there you have my Iowa and Nebraska family.

Big, Bigger,Biggest.

I love them all!

Rite of Passage

Today my baby boy got married!

I wasn't there.

They got married in Iowa and I live in Wisconsin. They only told me last week Wednesday that they were getting married today so not enough time for me to get there.

NO they didn't have to get married- they wanted to get married. Like mother like son- I only knew their father 26 days before we got married!

I haven't met my new daughter - in - law yet (I have seen pictures of her and she's very pretty) but I did send my dad to check her out and report back to me. She passed the Grandpa test.

Both my daughters have met her and they were at the wedding so family was represented.

Today my son promised to protect, provide for and support another.

He promised to love, honor and respect. (I'm sure the word obey never crossed his lips)!

He pledged his life to another and promised to be true to her for the rest of his life.

Today my son became a husband!

Today I cried!

Congratulations Whitney and Krissy! May you always be as happy as you are today and may your love only grow stronger with each day you are together!

To Dads Everywhere

Thought I would share a few things I found and thought were interesting regarding Fathers.

QUOTES ABOUT FATHERS

"The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother."~~Author Unknown

"To her the name of father was another name for love."~~By Fanny Fern.~~

"They didn't believe their father had ever been young; surely even in the cradle he had been a very, very small man in a gray suit, with a little dark mustache and flat, incurious eyes."~~By Richard Shattuck.~~

"Fathers, like mothers, are not born.Men grow into fathers-and fathering isa very important stage in their development."~~By David M. Gottesman.~~

"It is a wise father that knows his own child."~~By William Shakespeare (1564-1616)~~

"It doesn't matter who my father was;it matters who I remember he was."~~By Anne Sexton (1928-1974) U.S. poet.~~

"I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father's protection."~~By Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)~~

"A Man's children and his garden both reflect the amount of weeding done during the growing season."~~Author Unknown.~~

"The greatest gift I ever had Came from God, and I call him Dad!"~~Author Unknown.

Wishing a "HAPPY FATHER'S DAY" to all the fathers out there. Hope you have a wonderful day-you deserve it.

Make sure you give your dad a hug on Sunday if you can and if oyu can't at least think about him and smile.

Udderly Delicious

I am proud to say I hail from the great Dairy State (no I don't live in California you morons).

I live in Wisconsin and we have Happy Cows too. They're cold but happy.

June is Dairy month and we celebrate in a big way. We have a big parade and a weekend celebration of music, craft fairs, talent shows, dancing, and beer drinking. Something for everyone right?

We also have Dairy Breakfasts every weekend starting the first of June and running through out the entire month. If you miss one, don't worry just go a couple miles down the road and some one else is sponsoring one. FFA, The Mayor, Fire Department, Boy Scouts, a farmer. You name it, chances are they are having a breakfast.

The sad part is these breakfasts are so good you want to go to all of them too. They serve great buttermilk pancakes as big as your plate with real butter from those happy cows. Real maple syrup processed from our own trees, sausage patties, applesauce, string cheese, milk (both white and chocolate).

Cheese curds (which if you have never had deep fried fresh cheese curds you do not know what true bliss is). A fresh cheese curd actually squeaks when you bite into it. When it is deep fried and you bite into it and you start to pull it out of your mouth and that thin little string of cheese follows, you just go mmmmmm......

They keep coming around with extras to fill up your plates so you don't go hungry. Then once you've filled up on all that, they bring you ice cream!!! Who doesn't like this dairy product? What a great breakfast!

And if all this isn't enough, they have door prizes they give away all the while you are eating your breakfast so you are a winner all the way around.

So my cows were happy to do all this so I could have a great breakfast and in return, I am Happy to recognize what a great contribution they make to our state. California, you can't have our cows- find your own!!!

Mending Fences

I recently had the opportunity to spend some time visiting my children in Nebraska and decided that while I was there I would try and reach out to my son who lives in Iowa and that I haven't seen or talked to since last July.


Out of the blue, he sent me a text at Easter saying " damn you're good! I've looked everywhere and still haven't found my Easter basket!" This was the first communication I had received in almost a year and since I was reading it while driving, I damn near ran my car off the road! Of course, I responded and this opened the lines of text communication between us.

I let him know I would be coming down there in May and asked if he would be available so I could see him? I got an email back that he was now the bar manager of the country club and also in charge of the tournaments and his schedule was pretty busy so he didn't know if he would be able to get any time off. Said he usually works 7 days a week- so in other words- if I wanted to see him I would need to go where he was.

So that is how one fine morning while down there, we found ourselves packed into my daughters van headed out to see him. Of course we didn't know we would run into not one but two bridges out for repair and no detour directions. Thank God this is small town USA. We did manage to find our way to the country club and at first things were a little strained but by the time we left my son was laughing and joking and I did get a hug from him.

Did we get everything resolved? No. Will we? Hopefully sometime in the future. For now, I am just glad I had the chance to see him, talk to him and hug him. Baby steps for now. At least we are talking again.

What a truly great trip I had! All three of my children together and my grandchildren. Doesn't get any better than that! Wish I could do this more often!

THIS, THAT, AND THE OTHER THING

TAKE ME TO YOUR LEADER!

Around our house all you need is a little imagination and just look at what you can be!! The leader of your own planet.

Meet Sadie Lou Woo from Wooville. She dropped in for a visit last weekend to let us know that her people are friendly and wish only to learn from us humans not to harm us. Everyone on Wooville are small like her and wear rose colored glasses because the world looks so much better when looked at through them. They love chocolate, strawberry milk and cookies for breakfast.

Meet the Diva Darlings!!

They just outran the paparazzi again. It's a tough job but someone has to do it. They are loved by America but especially Grandparetns in Wisconsin and can't go anywhere without being followed by cameras. Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie have nothing on these 3. Britany Spears look out cuz one of these days every one will be shouting their names and you will be forgotten. They love music and will dance til they get dizzy and fall down. They also talk non stop and NEVER run out of energy!

MR. COOL......

Tegan is now 9 and thinks he is way too cool to play with his cousins but you can see that he really wants to. He isn't sure he wants me to be taking his picture and definitely isn't going to be smiling for it. He's now into Nintendo DS, Ipods and soccer but still likes playing Webkinz with his Grandma.

THE GANG"S ALL HERE!!

How often do you have this much trouble all in one place?

The littlest one is scoping the place out trying to figure out where she can head out to as soon as I get done taking the picture (notice she's looking off to the side?)

SISTERLY LOVE

Looks like they really love each other doesn't it? For the most part you'd be right, but they're sisters and sisters fight, just ask mine. They love each other and they get along most of the time but once in a while they can go at it like cats and dogs. And it isn't always the oldest or the biggest that comes out on top! But five minutes later, they are sharing a piece of candy, hugging each other, or laying next to each other watching a movie. They are so incredible!

So there you have it, a little of this, that, and the other thing.

Joys of Parenthood- Round 2

Carla had to go out of town for work and asked us to watch Tegan while she was gone. This is nothing new for us or him. However this time it meant he had to stay over night on a school night. Interesting!



Normally Tegan comes over and spends a few hours with us, maybe eats supper, plays ball with Grandpa, watches TV and then goes home with his mom. Occasionally we will babysit (what an oxymoron as he is definitely not a baby to be sat with-he's 9 years old) him and he will spend the night but this is usually on a weekend and there are no rules.



Now it's been a long time since I've had to worry about making sure homework gets done, baths are taken, teeth are brushed and kids are in bed at a decent hour so they can get up in time for school and not be cranky butts. I had a hair appointment after work so when I got home I asked Grandpa what they had for supper? Here's what he fed the child- chips, jelly sandwich and strawberry milk. Not the most nutritious supper but it was OK I guess. Made sure he had his homework done before he watched anymore TV and then asked him to take a shower.

I came out of the den about 8:45 pm and he and Grandpa are still watching TV!! "Grandpa, why isn't this child in bed, he has school tomorrow?" Grandpa says, "He's going right after this is over."

Next morning Grandpa goes to work and I get up and get ready for work. About 6:20 I start to wake Tegan up. This is where I remember what being a mom is all about. "Tegan, time to get up buddy."

Tegan: "MMMMmmmmm" as he rolls over and burrows further under the covers.

Me: " Come on, you have to get up, Grandma has to go to work."

Teagn: "Yeah" and continues to lay there.

Me: " Tegan, don't make me drag you out of that bed and dress you myself! Get up and get your clothes on." Then I went back to getting ready for work, hoping he was getting out of bed.



The next thing I know Tegan is in the living room turning on the TV,watching cartoons (typical kid) and asking me for breakfast. SHIT! I don't think we have any cereal he will eat. We have adult stuff like Raisin Bran which I know he won't touch but I ask anyway. He turns up his nose and rejects it. I ask about toasts and jelly and he says sure so I open up the fridge to get the bread and find they ate the last of that the night before- no toast for Tegan. I get on the phone and call grandpa at work and inform him that when he comes home (when I leave for work he is trading off with me) he needs to bring something for Tegan for breakfast. OK no problem he says.



All goes well after that (at least I think it does) and I come home that night to find Tegan and Grandpa flying a kite in the backyard. Carla is home already and Tegan is happy to see her. I asked Grandpa what he brought for breakfast and he tells me cookies. COOKIES! What kind of breakfast is that? Grandpa said he gave him milk with them so he had the food groups and it didn't hurt him so No harm, No fail.

We sent Tegan home with his mom who is much better equipped to parent him. After all its been many years since our last child has been school age and in need of that kind of parenting. I guess we did all right though in the parenting department for one day- we managed to feed, bathe, clothe and get him to school on time without major mishap. I am much better suited to handling my BIG kid and making sure he has everything he needs. Grand parenting is for seeing the kids for a few hours and sending them back home with their parents.

Roll One for the Gipper

Some how I lost my better judgement last week. I know what you're thinking, "how can this be?", but between working 40 hours and finals at school, it got away from me for a few brief hours. Long enough though for those lovely ladies I bowl with (I sub on a team on Thursday nights when I don't have classes) to talk me into going to State Bowling Tournament this weekend! WTF!

Am I insane? Have I completely lost my mind? Somebody please tell me this is all a joke! I quit doing State Bowling tournaments years ago because they wrecked havoc on my body and I couldn't recover for days! What possessed me to say yes?

Now I have to drag my ass out of a perfectly good bed at 5:30 am on a Saturday to board a smelly bus with God knows how many other grumpy, sleep deprived females and drive at least 3 1/2 hours just to get off and bowl 6 (count them- 6) games in a row before being able to check into my hotel and relaxing! Then I get up on Sunday and bowl 3 more games before hauling my tired ass back on the same smelly bus and driving back home just to unpack and do laundry! Sound like fun to you? Yeah that's what I thought.

Upside to all of this if there is one. I get to drink non stop while bowling, collect beads for the grandchildren (Sailor has a bead fetish so she'll be happy), bond with my bowling girls, eat at some great restaurants, maybe do a little shopping while we're there and if I'm lucky honey, get another tattoo. (Remember the last time I came home from State tournament with a tattoo?)

Of course along with all of that goes the hang overs, lack of sleep and feeling miserable due to over indulging but it's only 2 days so guess I will survive. At least I hope I will. HELP!!

Can I Help You Carry That?

Ever carried this around on your shoulders? I have many times.

I have been guilty of neglecting my laundry once in a while.
I have been guilty of being a bad friend -not returning phone calls and emails in a timely manner.

I have been guilty of not getting my schoolwork done when I was supposed to because I wanted to watch DWTS.

I have been guilty of neglecting my flower beds and letting the weeds overtake them because I was just too lazy to get out there and pull them.

I have been guilty of hiding new clothes in the back of my closet and then telling my husband when he ask "Is that new?" No, I've had this for a long time.

What have you been guilty of? Nothing ? Anything? Lots of things?

One things I carry lots of guilt about is whether I was and am a good mother.

I have a son that went through a lot of tough times after my divorce and now he hasn't talked to me since last July. All because of something very small, but to him it was a big deal. I miss him and keep trying to make ammends but don't know if I'll ever see him again. Am I a bad mother?

Yesterday, I had an argument with one of my daughters. Again over something small and when it was all over I had to ask myself if it was a battle I really needed to fight? Was I a bad mother because of this?

Had I damaged my children in some way when they were younger because of the divorce? Will their lives forever be messed up because of me? I decided I could give a seminar and teach all mothers everywhere how to do the guilt thing correctly.

I would call it : Dealing With Mommy Guilt-Learn to Live With It!

(Had to delete the logo I had here-found out it was copyrighted-Damn I just thought it was cute who knew I had a chance of getting arrested for using it?)

This is a subject every mother instinctively learns the moment she walks out of the hospital with that newborn. Have you put your baby in the carseat and forgotten to buckle them in? Have you feed them and not burped them so they got air and had a tummy ache? Did you let them lay in their crib and cry for a while before you picked them up? Yup, you all know Mommy Guilt! Come join my seminar and learn all the tricks of the trade.

What fascinates me though is the person who wrote this book. She obviously doesn't have children herself or she would never be able to write a book entitled:

Motherhood Without Guilt

Who is she kidding? Any mother who has raised children knows there is no such thing! If you have raised children the right way, you have guilt and lots of it! I ask myself every day if there was something I could have done differently or better? Maybe if I had bought them this toy or had a better birthday party or let them stay up later on Saturday night. Maybe if I just loved them more?

Nope that wasn't it- loved them as much as I possibly could.

So I guess I am doomed to carry around Mommy Guilt til the day I die cause I'll be a mommy til then. And as long as I'm a mommy, I'll always wonder if I'm doing something wrong?

So hoist that guilt up here so I can get a good grip on it cause I have a while to carry it around yet.

The Final Chapter

Are any of you ER fans?


Did you watch the season finale?


The Final Chapter after 15 years?


Were you impressed? Disappointed? Did it leave you wanting more or were you just damn glad they were finally pulling the plug on something that had been dead a long time and just living on life support?

I was an ER fan from day 1. I loved Noah Wiley (Dr Carter), George Clooney (Dr Ross) an Anthony Edwards (Dr Greene). I actually cried when he died. Then they left the show and it changed. I continued to watch for a while because I wanted to believe it was still going to be the same show even without them. But Sherry Stringfield (Dr Susan Lewis) left too and suddenly it was whole different show with all new characters.

Then I started bowling on Thursday night and had to tape the show and decided it really wasn't worth it since my favorite characters were gone. SO....... I just watched whenever I had the chance and tried to make sense of what was happening.

You have to give them credit though for carrying on with a show that was obviously hemorrhaging money badly. Their ratings were low almost every week yet they kept plodding on trying to make us believe they were still running a viable hospital in the black!

It was sad to watch the last show but I was truly disappointed in how they did it. I was really expecting a much bigger bang for my buck. Good luck to all those truly incredible actors that gave many years to ER. I hope your careers continue to grow and flourish.

Now as we close a chapter on this show and open the next one what do you suppose we will find?

Awww.....Love is in the Air

I am a mother and as such I reserve the right to do things like this even if it embarasses the hell out of my children. My daughter is engaged to be married and this is her engagement announcement that appeared in our local paper. At the time I placed the announcement they had not chosen a date, but they have now decided on June 25, 2010.

(I have deleted last names from here because you just can't be too cautious today with all the identity theft that goes on.)

I am so proud of all my children and when they do something to celebrate I am all for shouting from the rooftops. You better believe that on the day she gets married I will busting my buttons and you won't be able to stop the smiles and the tears.

Congratulations Carrin and Todd.

All Psyched Up

Did you know your brain has dendrites, axons and neurons? That as you get older you need more sleep and not less? That every one dreams every night even if you don't remember it? That we can be conditioned to anticipate something before it happens after being subjected to it repeatedly?

This semester I am taking Introduction to Psychology. What you might ask does psychology have to do with a Business degree? Good question. I asked myself that question too when I first started taking the class.
We use our brains for many different things and in many different ways without even realizing it. They are like an electrical circuits running throughout our body sending messages and current to different parts of our body so we can function.
Our senses are tied into psychology by how we perceive things. How we make our decisions of what something tastes like, looks like, or sounds like is tied into our brains and thus relates to psychology.
Some of our famous psychologists think we are who we are due to the environment we grow up in, some think it is due to our drive to become better people, and some think it is due to evolution. Then there is Freud, we all know who he is right? Freud determined that all men (and women) problems stemmed from memories from their childhood. And not just any memories but sexual memories.
I have learned that the brain tells us when we are hungry- yup my sure does that quite often. Wish to hell I could find the button to shut that off.
I have learned that the brain tells us when we are full- haven't quite heard that one yet and if I have it must be whispering it because I've been able to ignore it pretty good.
I have learned that the brain determines when men and women want to have sex- this usually isn't at the same time for some odd reason. You'd think the brain could at least get this synchronized so we were on the same page at the same time.
I have learned that the brain tells us when we are tired- Lately my brain tells me that is all the time. I never seem to catch up.
I have learned that the brain remembers things- Not so my brain. It forgets more than it remembers lately. In fact by the time I am done with this post, I'll probably forget why I started it in the first place.
I guess this still doesn't answer the question as to what psychology has to do with a Business degree but it's a required class so I just shut up and take it. It sure is different from all of my business classes though. I actually have to use my brain to think about my brain.

All Things Barbie

We all heard it on the news this week. Everywhere you turned, there it was plastered all over television.

Barbie turned 50! BITCH!

Did you see her? She doesn't look a day older than she did back in 1959.

There isn't a wrinkle on her face anywhere, those eyes were just as slanty as they always were. And I couldn't find an age spot even with a magnifying glass!

There were no varicose veins in her legs and every woman knows if you wear heels every day for that many years you're bound to have them. Did she have them stripped? And if so where are the scars?

Where is the pouch belly we all get at that certain age? Even without having children you get it just from over eating and we all know if you run a round dating as much as Barbie does you eat a lot. She should have some fat and cellulite somewhere on that body!

And what about those perky little boobies??? Shouldn't they be sagging by this time? Ladies, those of us over 50 are our boobies that perky yet? NO of course not, so why are Barbies? She should be having to pick those babies up every morning and stuff them into her bra and when she takes that same bra off every night, those babies should drop to the floor! Instead they are standing at attention yet at age 50! Something isn't right here.

How many of us have an ass that good at 50? Even if you do squats every day it isn't gonna look like that, I guaran damn tee it!

I love Barbie and had many as a young girl. I spent hours playing with her and dreamed of becoming her when I grew up. I bought Barbie for both my daughters when they were old enough to play with her. She is a legend among girls. But lets get real here. What kind of a role model is she?

I have to be brutally honest and say I think Barbie has had some Plastic work done over the years. You can't get to 50 and still look like that with out some help. Sorry Barbie that's just my opinion.

Instructions Not Included

30 years ago this month the doctor said those words every parent wants to hear, "Run for your life because it will never be the same after today!"

Actually what he did say was, "Congratulations, it's a BOY!" Same difference but what the hell.

I had 2 beautiful, sweet, quiet, well behaved little girls at home.What was I supposed to do with a boy? I didn't know what to do with that thing between his legs when I changed him. Every time I took his diaper off it went straight up in the air and started leaking! Was there a shut off valve somewhere on this kid? And then before I even left the hospital they circumcised him! Thank God I'm not Jewish because I've carried enough guilt over that already! Poor Baby!

Take him home and please don't make him wear anything remotely pink, purple or lacey. Back then we didn't have the ultrasounds that told you the sex of the baby so I had no idea what I was having and wasn't prepared for a boy. The clothes I had were hand me downs from his sisters. Thank goodness there were some sleepers in there that were yellow otherwise he might be even more traumatized than he already is from being cut!

A whole new experience for me after 2 girls let me tell you. What they say is true. Boys are definitely different to raise then girls. From the very beginning he was going to let me know things were going to be his way. He was a cute baby but he liked attention and cried when he wanted something. Man did he have a temper!!! He still does to this day.

Being the baby I tended to spoil him a little and I will be the first to admit that. Probably didn't do him any favors but I think all mothers tend to spoil their babies. He got into some trouble as he got older and after our divorce there was some drugs involved. Guess it was kind of tough being the only guy (at the young age of 13) in a houseful of females. I sure didn't know how to be a male role model for him then.

We went through some rough times for a while. Then he straightened up and seemed to be headed on the right path for a while. He moved to Iowa about 3 years ago which has been rough on me (now all 3 of my children live in either Nebraska or Iowa and hundreds of miles from me) cuz this is my baby. Last summer he had one of his moods and left a party we had while visiting down there and he hasn't talked to me since. I have continued to send him Christmas cards and presents and I even tried texting him with no response.

I just sent him a Birthday card and present and will continue to let him know I love him.

Why don't t they give us instruction booklets with these babies when we have them? We get one with every other thing we buy. And God knows we pay enough over our lifetime for our kids. If not in money with our emotions. Maybe if I could look up in the troubleshooting section, I could figure out what to do with my son and how to fix it? The again, maybe not.

Happy 30Th Birthday to my Baby! No matter what you do you can't change that.

My Take on Reality

I am not a big reality TV show watcher but I sort of followed this seasons Bachelor off and on because I hated how Deanna treated Jason at the end of last season. He was a single dad and seemed like such a sweet, honest guy who really wanted to find love and get married. When they brought him back as this seasons bachelor I wanted him to find his true love and a step mom for Ty and get married. You know that fairy tale ending we all want.

I didn't watch every episode because they are so staged and boring. You can only take so much of one guy dating 25 girls and them being bitchy about him hooking up with one of the girls. Give me a break! Any way, I waited til it got down to the last couple shows and he had picked his 3 girls, Jillian, Melissa and Molly. I really liked Jillian and Melissa for Jason. I thought Molly was too fake and really wasn't there for the right reasons. When Jason sent Jillian home and kept Molly and Melissa I rooted for Melissa all the way.

I started to hear rumors that the ending of the show was fixed and that the outcome had been decided months in advance by Jason and ABC. He chooses Melissa, proposes to her but then on the After the Rose show (on live TV) he dumps her and gets back with Molly. I figured this couldn't be true. ABC wouldn't do this. I decided to watch the show and see if this actually happened.

Sweet honest Jason, who had his heart broken by Deanna wouldn't hurt and humiliate Melissa on live TV like that. Would he??

Sure as shit that SOB did just that! I couldn't believe what I saw and heard. And then when he meets with Molly, she forgives him, takes him back and they are kissy, kissy just minutes after he has dumped Melissa. Does Molly realize she's second best?? Does she not have any self respect for herself? Honey I would have told the man "If I'm not good enough to be your first choice, you ain't good enough for me! Take a hike!"

I WILL NEVER WATCH THIS SHOW AGAIN!!! EVER !!
I saw we all band together and boycott the Bachelor.
I hope Melissa has enough sense not to come back as the Bachelorette.

I am so mad at ABC and the Bachelor I could just SPIT!

Poke Me What?

Pikachu- God Bless You.
At least that's how I would have responded
had you said this around me 4 days ago.
Now I know this is a character from Pokemon - a game young kids are playing all over the world. He is the Most loved of all.

Then there is Misty- She is somewhat of a brat but underneath

it all is a good girl

Ash is a 10 year old boy with big dreams

And Brock is the older testosterone male with

a large ego.

THE VILLIANS

Gary-He is very self centered and Ash's rival

Meowth- He is much like Pikachu but can speak English

There is also Jesse and James- 2 kids stuck in

pre teen bodies

These are all Pocket Monsters with special powers to share the world with humans.

There are currently over 150 different characters.

They have 4 different cards that are collected

Basic- depicts creatures that fight for you against Pokemon

Evolution- depict pokemon that are able to evolve into more powerful creatures

Energy- unite with others to create more energy

Trainer- these are used once and then discarded.

Why do I know all this you ask yourself?

My grandson Tegan is turning 9 years old on Sunday 3/1/09 and he asked me to make his birthday cake for his party. (I took a cake decorating class a couple years ago and now do all the cakes for family functions.) He wants a Pokemon cake.

I looked at him in confusion and asked " Poke Me What? "

Tegan: "Pokemom, Grandma"

Me: "what is that and where do I find it?

Tegan then tried to explain what it was all about. At that point, I just said, "Stop! I will look it up on the Internet and go from there." Hence all my knowledge.

So now I am ready and willing to go forth and attempt to create a Pokemon birthday cake worthy of a 9 year old boys praise and adoration. God help me next year, I can only imagine what he'll come up with.

Don't Cha Just Love It?

So how sad is it that I totally spaced my 100th post?

Isn't that supposed to be some kind of milestone in a bloggers life?

I'm supposed to say something profound and wise. Share my vast knowledge of all things bloggy with everyone? Wax poetic about the last 99 posts and how much I have enjoyed meeting new friends. The joys of sharing stories with all of you out there in blogland. The Tuesday Tributes, Workshop Wednesdays, SITS, the giveaways (none of which I ever win by the way) and the awards passed around.

Nope, nada, not this one.

I freakin forget it!!!
I had it all planned out too. I just knew it was going to be a fantastic blog and I couldn't wait to get it out there. Then I space it completely.

Guess the Mexico vacation and school take priority over this blog right now. I never thought I placed you in any particular order but if I had to choose right now it would be this order:

1st - an 4.0 GPA in my international business class (I'ma control freak what can I say)

2nd - get my ass on that plane to Mexico and then on the beach for sun, fun and alcohol!

3rd - (sorry people) keep up on my blogging.

I do hereby solemnly swear that when (and if) I hit the 200 mark I will not only document it big time with a blog but will do a give away too.