Party @ My Place!

Hubby has decided to take the kids to his parents for the weekend. Well not really the weekend, they will leave Saturday morning & return Sunday afternoon, but still that's about 24 hours of NO ONE in the house BUT ME! WOOHOO! Whatever shall I do?????

Breaking News Special Report

OMGOSH! Seriously people, news media impaticular, this is TO's "problem" is NOT a life stopping story. I kid you not, here in the Dallas area, they are breaking in about every 15/20 mins with updates on his apparent suicide. No one is saying anything, duh. Coach Parcell's said he hadn't heard anything until this morning, he doesn't know anything & when he does he'll let the media know. I actually felt sorry for Parcell's, which is most difficult for me to do, but the news media just about asked the same question over & over again, just changing some words to make it sound different.

I hope that whatever TO decides to tell the media; he'll consider seeking help. Of course they are going to say it was not a suicide attempt, it was a bad reaction to his meds. I'd go that route myself after seeing the circus this has caused. But I do think someone needs to step in & make sure. KWIM?

But really, it's annoying to see the news media report from numerous locations in the area on this story. You'd think it was Katrina hitting all over again & it's sickening. Leave the guy in peace already!

Why should I apologize?

I admit that I don't have a way with people. I typically keep my thoughts, opinions & such to myself for fear of ticking someone off. Especially when it comes to God. But gosh darn it, I'm sick of worrying that I'm offending people when I gush about how AWESOME He is. Why should I walk on egg shells around anyone when it comes to God?

Last week Taylor's mom emailed me that they are having marital problems & I briefly told her that we have had some rocky moments too & how God has been helping us. I told her that if she was ever interested in talking to let me know. I put an open invitation to church on the table & then I apologized if I had offended her. It now bugs me that I did that. Why should I apologize for this?

I avoid speaking about God & my relationship with him here for fear of offending what few readers I have. Why? Why do I do this? Why should I let people I don't really know keep me from talking about something so important in my life??

Even though I'm burned out in all aspects of my life, God is still in control & I am faithful. I know I am feeling the way I am feeling for a reason & I'll learn why when He's ready for me to. I have a spiritual enemy, even though some don't admit to it, we all do. My spiritual enemy is trying to beat me down right now & I'm not strong enough to defeat this enemy alone. But I know God is strong enough & He will wage the war & win for me.

One of my favorite songs is: 4 Him ~ Future Generations the chorus goes like this

So I wont bend and I wont break
I wont water down my faith
I wont compromise in a world of desperation
What has been I cannot change
But for tomorrow and today
I must be a light for future generations

So I'm gonna stop walking on egg shells! I'm a child & friend of God! He is my EVERYTHING & without Him, I am NOTHING!

On a sad note: It's been reported that Terrell Owens of the Dallas Cowboys tried to commit suicide last night. Now you know I'm not a fan of TO's. I think he is a very "full of himself" individual but I am praying for him. No matter what's going on in TO's life, suicide is not the answer. I hope you will pray with me.

Happy Fall Ya'll

Saturday marked the beginning of the Autumn season. Would someone tell Mother Nature it's time for crisper, fall like weather? The mornings are just beautiful but by afternoon we're right back into the upper 80's. I don't want 80's! I want lower 70's! I know, I know, I don't always get to have what I want. *huff*

Friday saw Col-Cr signing up for guitar & volleyball. So what did we do? We ran out & got one of the volleyball/badmitton sets that have been on clearance. What a joke! The net poles are flimsy that one good Texas wind & they're gonna snap. Col-Cr vollied the ball into Mike's yard where Polly his lab pounced on it & popped it. Let's not go into the meltdown Col-Cr had & the guilty Mike rushing to Walmart to replace it. (Have I mentioned what a great neighbor he is. I really don't want the house to sell.)

Saturday saw some rain roll in & quickly roll out. Leaving the day muggy. My Inlaws came up for the day. We took FIL to Cabela's as he is a huge fisherman. MIL spent WAY too much money on stuffed animals for the younger two & Col-Cr got a toy shotgun. Then we made our way to the 72 Hour Shop-a-thon at Garden Ridge where she got me 2 sets of beautiful candle holders. Only the candle stick holders are going back. They just don't look right in the living room or the bedroom. The pillar holders look great in the living room. Then we swung into a music store to get Col-Cr a hard case guitar carrier. He signed up for guitar lessons at school. His soft case would probably have seen the guitar being ruined. I'm a big nervous for him to haul that up there for the week but surely all will be ok & at least he's getting to actually learn how to play it. The kids hard a hard time seeing the grandparents leave. We haven't been visiting much with gas prices being so high this year. Thank goodness they are coming down.

Sunday saw me in a fickle mood & so we didn't go to church. Plus I had to get lunch in the crock pot at 10 in order for it to be ready at dinner time. Well, that's my excuse anyway. It was hubby's 36th bday yesterday & I still haven't made his cake. I'm going through a "spell" right now where I'm just burned out emotionally, physically & spiritually. I'm tired of being a wife & a mom and I'd love to just run away. I keep trying to get hubby to go visit his parents with the kids to give me just some alone time; but he refuses. Thanks honey. When I go postal & beat the "you know what" outta you; it's no one's fault but your own. I keep telling you I'm this close to losing it! Watched football, duh! (see post below for my pick results) Ran to the book store to get Col-Cr a fiction book for English class. (I'll be venting about that soon) Then to Target to get jeans for the younger two. Ended up finding 3 sets of Galactic Heroes for Pac-Cr & I have them tucked away for Christmas, if they make it that long.

I pulled down my fall wreath out of the attic & left the ceramic pumpkins for hubby to get. It's so cluttered up there that I'm not sure where he put them. Plus I don't like climbing back down the stairs with them. Hopefully before the end of October, he'll get them down for me. BTW, found out you can NOT store candles up in the attic. *sigh* I set out all the Halloween Beanie Babies & will have to fight with the kids to not play with them. Really! They have enough of their own stuffed animals, why can't they leave mine alone??

My tummy's growling so I guess I need to eat & get back to work. It's Monday, is it over yet?

Gotta have faith!

Wednesday Update, yes I'm late!

This week just goes to show that the Pro's don't "know it all"! I should have went more with my gut than anything, however a LOT of the games were just too hard for me to decide as they were crummy team vs crummy team. Seems like all the games that I went with their pick, I got burned. No biggie, I do it all for fun!

We'll start with MY BOYS this morning. OMGOSH! I seriously thought we were gonna be dead meat against the Patriots. I didn't even have the heart to watch so I sat in the bedroom folding laundry & watching Desperate Housewives. Only running into the living room when I heard hubby groan or cheer. I was pretty shocked to see us hold our own & actually WIN. WOOHOO! I'm starting to wonder if perhaps I can help my team but not sitting & watching the game as intensily as I typically do. Again I tip my hat to Javon Walker for his outstanding performance last night! Broncos win 17 to 7. WTG GUYS! I got this one RIGHT!

I don't know if NFL is calling this "the game of the week" as there were several close games that probably earn this title but for me, I'm calling the Bengals/Steelers game "the game of the week". I went agains the norm & picked the Bengals. For awhile there I started to wonder if I was off my rocker. This was a really good game that could have gone either way. I think what finally tipped the scales was errors & both team made costly errors. There at the end, the Steelers had a chance to tie the game but at the goal line, Big Ben's pass was picked off & the game was over. I can imagine the frustration. However, I got this one RIGHT as the Bengals beat the Steelers 28 to 20.

The next game that could easily be titled "game of the week" was the Bears/Vikings game. We flipped back & forth through numerous games yesterday. It was a obviously a good battle! The Vikings were in the lead for most of the game. It was a late 4th qtr drive with about 2 mins or so left on the clock that found Da Bears pulling ahead by 3 with a touchdown. Awesome! Da Bears beat the Vikings 19 to 16. I got this one RIGHT.

I went with the pro's & picked Buffalo over NY Jets. I figured after last week, why not. Sadly I got this one WRONG. The Jets beat Buffalo 28-20. *sniffle*

Now this game was a close one too & a dark scary moment as Chris Simms ended up having his spleen removed after the game. From watching the scores on the bottom of the screen while watching other games, this appeared to be a back & forth kinda game. Later I heard that Simms took a beating, evening leaving the field for the locker room & later returning. From watching the footage, I don't understand why after he left the field why he came back. My thoughts & prayers are with the Simms family as Chris recovers. The Panthers beat the Buc's 26 to 24. Got this one RIGHT.

*sigh* We didn't catch any of this game. I'm sad to say that Old Man Brett managed to have a great day as the Packers beat the Lions 31 to 24. I did see on the footage the Lions were driving late in the 4th but just couldn't pull it off. I got this one WRONG.

Kristyn commented that I'm too optimistic when it comes to the Texans. I am. This won't be the year they go to the Super Bowl, BUT I do see them having a better year than last. So far that prediction has not come true. They have a rough schedule this year BUT I have faith in them. Evidently the Pros did too as they had favored the Texans over the Redskins. However the Redskins beat the Texans 31 to 15. Maybe I should have watched this game instead of the Bengals/Steelers, they obviously needed my good vibes! I got this one WRONG.

Indy over Jacksonville 21 to 14. Although Manning's #'s weren't high & my fantasy football team bombed again this week; they still won & I got this one RIGHT.

Miami vs Tennessee looked to have been an evenly matched game. However, Miami pulled it off & beat the Titans 13 to 10. I got this one RIGHT.

It was a close one for Baltimore & Cleveland. But the Browns lost 15 to 14. That was probably a good one to watch? I got this one RIGHT.

Arizona was picked to beat St. Louis & I did catch the last few mins of this game. I'm still confused about the ending of this game & I think the Cardinals were ROBBED. The game can't end on a defensive penalty. 1st the Rams declined the penatly which would have allowed the Cardinals kicker a chance at a 77 yard field goal which would have had them win the game if he made it. Then the Rams came back & accepted the penalty which kept the ball in their hands & they knelt to end the game. I don't feel that the Rams should have been given a chance to revolk their decision on the penatly. They had already stated they wanted to decline it; then came back to accept it...... I think once you decline; it's declined & you shouldn't get a chance to change your mind, so I'm calling the Rams pansies! Rams win this one 16 to 14. I got this one WRONG.

Philly appeared to have had a good day against the 49ers. They win it 38 to 24. I got this one RIGHT.

Poor young Manning. He had a humiliating day against Seattle still the team rallied & tried for another comeback but young padawan, you're no Elway & they ended up losing by a score of 42 to 30. Still I give the Giants an A for effort. It would have been awesome to see them pull it off. There's always next week. (Heather, did Chris have a heartattack watching this game?) I got this one WRONG.

So far this week I am 8 & 5. *blech* Hopefully the Saints will pull off a win against Atlanta & I'll at least be 9/5 for the week. Just goes to show, the Pro's can't pick 'em any better! *New Orleans kicked butt in their backyard by beating the Falcon's 23 to 3. I got this one RIGHT.
So I ended the week 9/5. Not as great as last week's but still good I think. :-)

Anyhow, that's my wrap up for the NFL. Blogger is being a booger so I can't post any picks. Gosh darn it! I know you guys really wanted to see pictures of the Broncos win too! Oh well. I've got too much to do to sit here & work on it anymore.

Pixie's Picks

Real fast as we're watching the Houston game & it's at a commercial. Here's my picks for the week.

*Chicago over Minnesota

*Cincinnati over Pittsburgh

Buffalo over N.Y. Jets

*Carolina over Tampa Bay

Detroit over Green Bay (Wish Old Man Brett would retire already)

Houston over Washington (Hey it could happen)

Indy over Jacksonville

Miami over Tennessee

*Baltimore over Cleveland

Arizona over St. Louis

*Philly over San Francisco

*NY Giants over Seattle (The force is strong in young Manning)

Denver over New England (Don't even go there with me, I see a very stressful evening ahead of me BUT they's MY BOYS! And I never ever ever pick against MY BOYS! I have FAITH IN THEM!)

New Orleans over Atlanta (Monday Night)

The * marks the games I picked AGAINST the "professional pickers"; if you noticed that's 6 games. I'm a little nervous about this week but it was rather hard to decide. I guess we'll see tomarrow how it all went down.

HAVE AN AWESOME FOOTBALL WATCHING DAY ALL!!

BORRRR-ING!

Was anyone else a little disappointed in Grey's Anatomy last night? Here I sat counting down the days & I have to admit, it was a bit of a let down. Then 6 Degrees didn't tickle my fancy either, however I'm going to rewatch it later just to see if it was because I was up & down during it.

Now I'm curious to see if the season opener of Desperate Housewives is going to be a good one & the new show immediately following it; Brothers & Sisters. However, the Broncos have the late game Sunday so I won't be watching either until the game is over & I've recovered.... I don't think this week's gonna be a good one. :-(

Well I did it

I emailed my friend & Awana Commander & told her that hubby & I will not be returning next year. We'll finish out this 2006/2007 year but won't be back next fall.

It's just too much to have it on a Wednesday night during the school year. The kids get to bed late & are cranky the next day & difficult to deal with. My daughter doesn't want to do her lessons & memory verses for class each week. I'm not thinking my youngest will be ready for the program any time soon. Hubby & I are always in a bad mood by the time Wednesday comes around. I've had a headache every Wednesday since Awanas started. I don't like being around people or kids & I feel like a more upbeat person who LIKES people in general would be a better fit. I think the straw that broke the camel's back are the study books she expects all the adults to do to further their training. I'm sorry but I am not in school anymore & I don't like "having" to study a book, learn memory verses & have a test after I'm done with the book to see what I learned. Thing is, I don't like "having" to do anything, now if you "ask me" if I'd mind; it's a bit different. But to be "told that I HAVE" to study, memorize & be tested"; it's just too much. I'm here as a favor to my friend & she's pushing it.

Honestly, if you can't tell, I just have a bad attitude towards it & that's not good. Especially when one is around kids. I have a problem being around people & kids. And lately, we have not enjoyed attending Southcliff. So it's like this huge ball of "issues" & it's making it so difficult to want to attend worship right now. This is not who I want to be.

I do dread her reaction............... but it's not right to do this if I've got a bad attitude about it & to live in fear of her being mad. I'm obviously not doing it for the right reasons.

Awww TARTER SAUCE!

After dropping oldest off at school; the young one & I decided we wanted to get some fall mums for the front porch so we swung into Wally World. (Sorry Sal) We got 1 yellow, 1 red, 2 orange & 1 light purple. I wanted white but the only white they had was in a bigger pot & was triple the price. So I'll just plant the 2 orange ones in the smaller pots. Problem solved I guess.

A month or so ago I colored my hair the usual golden blonde & it looked more orange than golden. I hated it! But not wanting to ruin my hair, it's so silky that you'd cry if you ran your fingers through it, I decided to wait until my roots started to show before recoloring it. The roots were about 1/2" long so I decided today was the day. Used a brand I've never tried before, Nice N Easy, & I went with a medium brown. So gone is the "fun" blonde & the "serious" brunette has arrived. At least now I can't say "Hey, talk slowly, I'm a blonde!" Hey, maybe if I start wearing my glasses again, I could look & be taken seriously??? Ok, I'm reaching!

So then I remembered I needed some acne stuff. Yes I'm pushing 36 & I have acne worse now that in high school. WHAT IS THE FLIPPIN DEAL PEOPLE? A friend had returned from taking her son recently to the dermotologist & told me acne is NOT related to hormones. Now see, I don't know that I believe that because the week prior to the dreaded "visitor" I break out. And what's worse is unlike in high school; these painful volcano's pop up along my jaw line or back. EWW! I think my hormones have been horribly out of wack this year & so I'm hoping the birth control pills I'm currently taking will help even them out. BUT I started taking Nature's Cure & have seen dramatic changes in my skin & so when I spied their papaya cleaning system, well surely that's gonna work with the other stuff I'm using. Only thing, the papaya smell is a bit too much so I do each step 30 mins apart. We'll see how it works.

So then I remembered that I'm almost out of shampoo; hubby's been using my Pantene Shine. Instead of grabbing another bottle, I remember the "You need hair-therapy" commerical & pick up Sunsilk for flat hair. (My hair maybe silky but let me tell you it's straight & flat as a board!) I'm sure it won't do much but we'll see.

Get to the check out & I've spent $80. WHAT?!?! Hubby's gonna kill me.

Get home & decided to go ahead & color my hair now instead of tonight. I typically only color my hair blonde so I was unprepared for the nice brown STAIN THAT COVERS HALF MY FOREHEAD, EARS, & NECK LINE!!! In the words of my 4 year old.... AWWW TARTER SAUCE!!! I have Awana's tonight, I have to walk up & get my daughter at school. I'm going to look like a FREAK! I've tried alcohol, witch hazel, toothpaste, dishsoap, my loufa.......... my face is now red from over scrubbing! I'm praying my marykay foundation will cover the rest. I just want to "dye" right now. HAHAHA! But the color looks good & hopefully is close to my true color.

Youngest says he's ready to go plant some flowers so I better scoot. Is it Friday yet???

Blah

Ok so I've got the blogger blahs! Seriously I don't have anything to blog about. Weekend review:

Friday nothing but trying to drain & clean the pool so we could get it put up before it rained. Had to hang it over the swingset in order for it to dry properly & so we could scrub the algae off. Did that until I couldn't take another mosquito bite.

Saturday morning woke up to it being dark & overcast. Woke hubby up so we could finish cleaning up the backyard. Then I worked on the front flowerbeds. FYI; the backyard is still a mess. The pool has been folded & put up; but the ladder, pump, pipes, filter, gaskets (you get the point) are still scattered all over the backyard. I am trying not to pitch a fit about it but it does annoy me that no one around here FINISHED WHAT THEY START! It's all half-ass!

Saturday around 4 we did manage to get out of the house & take the kids to Six Flags. Didn't ride any big rides, just mainly things we all 5 could get on. The younger two appreciated not having to wait forever for hubby & the oldest to ride something. It wasn't too bad crowd/wait wise either. Got home a little after 9 & we all went to bed.

Sunday it rained pretty much off & on all day. We did make it to church & bible study. Then we watched football. (See post below for those details) I worked on MIL's christmas present for most of the day; which consisted of digging through numerous shoe size boxes for pictures, scanning them in & uploading them. It's a tiring process but I think she'll really like the results.

Monday hubby claimed he was too ill to work; so I didn't get my chores done. He distracts me when he is home. Even though all he did was sleep; still the bed is my work station. I fold clothes there, I sort things there; etc. So see, how could I work???

Today is just today. I've gotten most of the laundry done & the house is in good shape. The kids all have to go to bed early tonight because they were late going to bed last night. The season premiere of Boston Legal is on at 9 but I'm hoping to be fast asleep by then. I'm just feeling so drained & beat down today.

Is it Friday yet????

Oh Jacksonville won so I'm 13/16 for the weeks picks. :-)

It's that time of the year

*Monday morning edits:

FOOTBALL PICKS ARE HERE!!!! I totally missed last weeks because of the Thursday night game; so right off the bat I'm 0/16; which bums me out but there's nothing I can do. So here are my picks for this weeks games.

Baltimore over Oakland : Baltimore beat Oakland 28 to 6. Got this one right.

Green Bay over New Orleans : Even though they tried to rally there at the end; New Orleans defeated Green Bay 34 to 27. I got this one WRONG!

Indy over Houston : This was pretty much a cake walk for the Colts as the beat the Texans 43 to 24. Houston did try to come back but it was really too late by then. Got this one right.

Miami over Buffalo: I had a gut feeling I was going to be WRONG on this one & I was. Buffalo handed Miami a loss yesterday by winning 16 to 6. Got this one WRONG!

Minnesota over Carolina : This was a close one but Minnesota pulled it off & beat Carolina 16 to 13. Got this one right.

Atlanta over Tampa Bay : I guess Tampa's having some problems this year; Atlanta came out on top with an embaressing win 14 to 3. Got this one right.

*New York Giants over Philly : This was THE game of the week & I wish I had watched it over the Broncos; NY Giants came back from behind to take the game into OT. I swear the OT itself was a power struggle in which the Giants came out on top, beating Philly 30-24. WTG GIANTS! I GOT THIS ONE RIGHT!!

Chicago over Detroit : Got this one right; Chicago won 34 to 7.

Cincinnati over Cleveland : Sadly, I've never given the Browns much respect & this is why; Cincinnati won 34 to 17. Just pitiful! But I got it right!

San Francisco over St. Louis : The 49ers beat the Rams 20 to 13. Got this one right.

Seattle over Arizona : The Seahawks won 21 to 10. I got this one right too!

Denver over Kansas City (as if I'd go against my team; get real!) : Be thankful you could NOT hear the screaming, yelling, cussing & crying coming from my house yesterday. OMGOSH this was a STINKY STINKY game! However, even an ugly win is still a win & somehow MY BOYS managed to pull ahead & beat the Chef's 9 to 6. A great big THANK YOU to Javon Walker who made some really good key playes that really helped MY BOYS out. (I'll be drinking pepto bismol during next weeks game) Still, I got this one RIGHT!

*New England over New York Jets : I have to admit that I was getting a bit concerned on this pick. I went against the norm & picked the underdog. Boy am I glad I did. New England won it 24 to 17. Woohoo, I got it right.

San Diego over Tennessee : The Chargers charged right over the Titans; spanking them hard with a huge 40 to 7 loss. Man, I'm not looking forward to playing them any time soon. Still; I got it right.

*Washington over Dallas : I wasn't too focused on this game last night as I started working on my MIL's Christmas present & so I take full blame for the Redskins losing to the Sissyboys 27-10. Sorry guys. Got this one WRONG!

Jacksonville over Pittsburgh (Monday nights game)

The games marked with a * are the games I picked the "underdog" to win. We'll see if my out on the limb choices help or hurt me this week.

Happy football watching all!!!

As it stands now, I'm 12/16 this week. We'll see how tonights game plays out. If Ben doesn't play then Jacksonville should be the victors; but in the game of football, it's never a done deal until that last second rolls off the clock. I've seen many of comeback miracles to know never to mark a win until time has run out. Depending on what else is on, we probably won't be watching this game as we are not fans of either. (Sorry Val) Still, I wish those of you that will be watching a fun & exciting game! :-)

As always images courtesy of Yahoo Sports.

Quiz Friday

Your Blog Should Be Blue

Your blog is a peaceful, calming force in the blogosphere. You tend to avoid conflict - you're more likely to share than rant. From your social causes to cute pet photos, your life is a (mostly) open book.

What Color Should Your Blog or Journal Be?

You Are Blitzen

Always in good spirits, you're the reindeer who loves to party down with Santa. Why You're Naughty: You're always blitzed on Christmas Eve, while flying! Why You're Nice: You mix up a mean eggnog martini.

Which of Santa's Reindeer Are You?

You're Totally Sarcastic

You sarcastic? Never! You're as sweet as a baby bunny. Seriously, though, you have a sharp tongue - and you aren't afraid to use it. And if people are too wimpy to deal with your attitutde, then too bad. So sad.

How Sarcastic Are You?

You Will Die at Age 85

Congratulations! You take good care of yourself. You're poised to live a long, healthy life.

What Age Will You Die?

Alright, knock yourselves out!

Mystery Solved!

I called in Scooby-Doo & the gang to help me solve the case of the "Euless Ip#" mystery. I had exhausted all possible avenues & felt perhaps they could follow the clues & solve the mystery for me.

Sure enough after only 24 hours on the job; Velma put it together & identified who the "Euless Stalker" was................ Tim.

Yep, my buddy Tim hadn't bookmarked my new blog; even though he helped me tweak templates to put it together, so he went to my old blogs & pieced his own puzzle together to find me. *sigh* Tim, ya know ya could have just emailed or messaged me with a request for my blog address. Ya didn't have to scare the pee outta me!

Well now that you're here; you're gonna have to start commenting. It's a blogger rule that you're not allowed to just read; one has to leave comments every now & again. Ok so it's not a "blogger" rule but it's the polite thing to do!

Now I can breath a sigh of relief & resume posting stuff. I was starting to think I needed to move again & was NOT looking forward to doing so.

What's your sign?

Saw this over at Lisa's & thought I'd do it too. Join in if ya want!




The Fishes
Febuary 20 to March 20

Traditional
Pisces Traits

Imaginative and sensitive ~ Yep, I will agree with that.
Compassionate and kind ~ I'll agree with that too.
Selfless and unworldly ~ Again, I definately put myself last in this household
Intuitive and sympathetic ~ Yep, that's me too


On the dark side....

Escapist and idealistic ~ Hmm, not sure I guess it could depend.
Secretive and vague ~ I can keep a secret & keep details out if need be
Weak-willed and easily led ~ That use to be true, but I'm getting stronger about standing up
for myself & saying NO!

Daily Overview for September 13, 2006
Provided by Astrology.com

Quickie:
If you want to make a difference in your community, today you get the chance.

Overview:
Your friends have issues, so be a caring pal and lend a sympathetic ear. Believe it or not, your humanitarian impulses will increase your chances of romance. Your friendships will also grow and intensify.

Dawn of a new day

Thanks to all that read my tribute to Allan Shwartzstein, and a big THANK YOU to those that commented. I had a good number of visitors yesterday from DCROE's website but sadly only a few took the time to comment. That kinda bums me out but what can I do? ;-)

Today is a new day though & life must go on. It's easier for me to move into today but the families of 9/11 still grieve & so we must never forget those we lost. "THEY ARE US" I read that somewhere & it's true. I'm not saying we need to constantly discuss the events of the past, but we don't need to forget them. That could just as easily been me or one of my loved ones. In regards to never forgetting, I'm leaving the candles in memory of Allan Shwartzstein on my sidebar; along with the link to his tribute. Feel free to go read it at any time.

An issue has popped up. Well not really an issue, but something that's buggin me. I have a visitor that has shown up on ALL my blogs. Even the old blog that I moved from. They have done a LOT of searches on my blog id & my yahoo id. This greatly disturbs me. I'm looking into ways of blocking their IP # unless they decide to identify themselves. So note to all my "repeat" stalkers, I mean visitors; if you don't want to get blocked, you might want to leave a comment & tell me who you are. Visitor from Euless, Tx might want to get the hint here. Thank you!

I'm off to join in on the "Tackle It Tuesdays" if anyone wants to join in with me; you can do so here. Until next time, have a TERRIFIC TUESDAY!

2996 ~ A Tribute

2,996 is a tribute to the victims of 9/11.

On September 11, 2006, 2,996 volunteer bloggers
will join together for a tribute to the victims of 9/11.
Each person will pay tribute to a single victim.

We will honor them by remembering their lives,
and not by remembering their murderers.
*********************************************************************************
I Remember Allan Shwartzstein
World Trade Center ~ Tower 1


There's not much on the internet about Allan Abraham Shwartzstein, 37. He wasn't famous, just a face in the crowd of thousands ~ an unknown to you & I. But to his family & friends he was a bright start that faded out too soon & now a hero to us all.

Allan was best known as a husband to Amy, father to Matthew & Jessica, a brother, a son & a friend. He was named after an uncle who died in Israel in 1948. He was a simple man who preferred ratty t-shirts & worn out shorts to the suits & ties he wore to work. After 15 years on Wall Street, he still wore the watch he had received for his bar mitzvah. According to those that knew him, he was genuine, what you see is what you got. He didn't worry about his appearance or what came out of his mouth. When I look at his photo I can imagine that he told it like it was.

In March of 2001, Allan had joined Cantor Fitzgerald as a managing director and partner & his office was located in Tower 1 on the 104 floor. His wife Amy said that Allan was just the kind of guy that would put others in front of his own needs and he was probably busy helping others when the towers were hit instead of thinking of his own safety. He was an avid tennis player and skier and an amateur guitar player. According to his younger brother, Michael, he was a humble & down to earth guy. He had a quality about him that made others feel really good.

Every day we encounter countless people, people we never smile at or greet. We are too absorbed in our own lives. One thing I have learned in researching Allan is that life is too short. We never know what could happen next in our lives. I imagine on the morning of September 11, 2001 started out like any day for the people in New York. Their commute to work was like the day before. The ride up the elevator filled with conversations while people on the street pushed past one another in silence. I can only imagine how the rest of the morning went as I sat safely in my home thousands of miles away. Since September 11, 2001 I've become aware that a simple smile from a passerbyer can change my day. Whose life can we touch by suddenly becoming more aware of those around us & taking a few seconds to call out a greeting? I wish I had known Allan. I'm sure those in his life were blessed beyond blessed to have counted him as family or friend. I will never forget you Allan Schwartzstein and I will continue to pray for you, your family and to all those we lost.



Please link up if you are a participant so others can read. Thanks. Please feel free to leave comments. Also don't forget to read the other tributes that you can find on DCROE's blog.

I'm a wreck

Numerous months ago a challenge was given to the people of the blog community. Was it possible to find 2,996 people to write a tribute to a person that was lost on 9/11/01. More than 2,996 people rose to the challenge. As the next few hours & days go by, people will be posting their tributes for the world to see. On DCROE's blog it's been noted that the news media has picked up on what we are doing.

I have to admit as the time grows closer to me posting my tribute, I am becoming a nervous wreck. I did not take this challenge light heartedly & I worry that I won't do this man's life justice. Guys, it'll be 5 years on Monday. 5 years ago our lives were changed & we can't bury our heads in the sand & pray it goes away; because it can't. We can't allow ourselves & our future generations to ever forget what took place.

So with a deep breath & a small prayer; I prepare my tribute & offer it up for you to read. I hope you will take the time to read the other blogs that are involved in this project.

Thank you.

If you are looking for

My Thursday Thirteen; it's been moved to here.

Croc Hunter dies....

I was shocked & sadden by the news of Steve Irwin's death yesterday. I didn't watch his show often but when I did catch them I loved his thrill for life. Obviously he had a thing for thrills because why else would someone hop ontop of a croc the way he would?? You could feel his passion & excitement for the animals around him & I know he died doing something he loved. He definately lived life to the fullest. Rest In Peace Steve Irwin aka Crocodile Hunter. The animal kingdom won't be the same without you.

In answer to my previous post, no I did not get to enjoy the weekend by myself. Xachr did not want to go without me & I did not feel up to the trip. So he did not go & the kids spent the weekend disappointed. I made Xachr promise to not keep the kids couped up in the house as our temps were in the 80's & we were overcast Sat & Sun. He did not keep his promise. Saturday evening I took the kids outside. Sunday he promised to do something with them while I cross-stitched & all he did was play video games with Col-Cr. (I'm seriously thinking about selling the Xbox!) I felt horrible for the little ones so I decided Monday we'd get out & go to the zoo, even though I knew it was going to be super crowded. Know what happened yesterday? It rained. ALL DAY LONG! I was so depressed. Not that I'm complaining about the rain, we need it desperately. I just wish it had rained the days they claimed it was going to rain. Live & learn I guess. Perhaps this weekend I'll plan something fun.

I'll have to post a picture of how far I got on Mom's christmas present. I'm almost 25% done. I'm aiming to have it completed at the end of this month. Wish me luck because it probably won't happen.

I better scoot & get myself ready to take Col-Cr to school. Then I will have to wait until 10am to head to Hollywood Video to get Season 2 of Lost. I managed to get Season 1 watched over the weekend. MAN that's a LOT of video watching!!! Took me Saturday, Sunday & some of Monday to watch all 6 DVD's. I'm rather determined to get caught up on this tv series now that we have Tivo, I won't have to be "lost" anymore.

That's probably NOT funny....

So this morning while coming home from dropping Col-Cr & Taylor off I came across my neighbor 6th grader, Payton, walking home. I stopped to ask her if everything was ok because she should have been in school. The bus hadn't come & her mom was home but not answering the phone. So I offered her a ride to school. There were 4 other girls that didn't have a ride so I took them too.

On our way to the campus Pac-Cr (4) turns to the African-American girl sitting beside him & I swear he says "You look like chocolate." Thankfully his thumb was in his mouth so all the girls heard was "Blah, blah, blah; chocolate" Now when a little one says something like that, surely he's not considered to be a biggot??

But can you believe Payton's Mom wouldn't answer the phone? I don't get her at all. Ever since meeting them, back in May of '99 so Payton would have been in 1st grade, Payton has had to be responsible for getting herself up, ready & to school. This meant either walking, riding her bike or catching a ride with someone while her mother slept in. Is it just me or is there something wrong with that??

I'm waiting for Xachr to decide what we are going to do this weekend. His brother is suppose to be going to their parent's house for the weekend. I don't feel up to the trip but I told him to go ahead & go (with kids) so I can work on Mom's christmas present. Can you imagine me, by myself for 24/48 hours??? Could I be so lucky?? I'll tell ya tomarrow....

Because Sal said so!

To keep my readers & friends happy; I've created a blog specifically for the meme's I like to play. I will try to post a note here to guide my fellow Meme~rs to the new site if need be.