The long awaited *Vacation Stories*

My cousin Juls is after me to post this so here we go.....

"The Vacation Synopsis" LOL I've posted about some of the stuff that happened in previous blogs (on the road) but it's time to give the full version...

DC (See previous blogs) although I will add this.... I'm going to have a hoodie printed up that reads..... "I drove DC and Survived" :)

I absolutely Loved Maryland..... I didn't say much about it in my previous writings but what a beautiful state! We went to Hagerstown and I enjoyed it immensely... So much so that I'd love to go back in the spring!

VA~ (Sky Line Drive (IE) The Blue Ridge Mountains) BREATH TAKING! We drove 105 miles of Sky Line Drive and at the highest point were over 4K in elevation.... It took us close to 5 hours to drive this leg of the trip because it's a whopping 35 MPH through the "path", & ofcourse we were stopping every 5-10 miles on their "look outs" taking pictures and finding bathrooms!

The final leg of the trip was spent in WVA with family.... and was definitly the most eventful..... We arrived in WVA late Saturday Night, after spending about 10 hours on the road that day....... (5 hours on Sky Line and a good 5 hours driving through the hills and mountains to get to WVA) at around 8 or so I pulled into a gas station (yah ANOTHER potty break) and the kiddos needed to stretch their legs.... We were about an hour and a half away from our hotel so I thought "Ok" last "break" lets stop..... There's NO bad neighborhoods in WVA right? pft WRONG! and ofcourse I picked the bad one.....

I pulled in, and the parking lot was basically empty..... By the time I got the kiddos in the bathroom, bought chocolate milk for them and let them walk the little store that was attached to the gas station..... I noticed a ton of folks in the store and alot of "noise" going on outside.... I walked out with them and a big ole truck filled with hound dogs had pulled up behind our vehicle blocking us in.... The guy driving it looked like he was the poster child for Skole and was spitting his "tabacci" on the side of the truck.... Guess he thought the tobacco would fill in the rust holes.... (Anyway) he saw us getting in and moved his truck up for us and then asked us where we were headed.... Uncle told him and he replied with "Ya all got some dangerous hills to drive, just becareful up there around the "PINATINTREE" (yes I know that's not how you spell it but that's e-x-a-c-t-l-y how he said it.... We asked why and he told us that there were hundreds of deer that were out in the fields next to it....

I kinda just rolled my eyes and didn't think much of it because I *thought* I knew WVA like the back of my hand and after coming from driving in DC I was fearless....

What a crock of crap that thought was :) Deer were EVERYWHERE it was literally like driving through a maze of them..... Thankfully we made it to our hotel without an incident but it was definitly a memorable moment and a lesson learned......

Nothing very eventful occured until a couple of days later..... Tuesday I think it was.... It was early in the morning and I got a phone call from my cousin (who I love dearly).... She started it out by saying..... "Mis where are you guys" I told her and she then said.... Well, he's fine BUT (insert her hubbies name) was in an accident and I can't get to him for another 30 minutes can you guys get there and stay with him til I get there....

We were less than five minutes away so I jumped back in mom's van and drove the family to the "scene".

When I pulled up I was instantly SICK.... his trucks front end was demolished, he was standing next to it and 4-5 rescue vehicles were surrounding the other vehicle that did not even resemble a vehicle (it was another truck) BUT I couldn't tell that until they got it turned over.....

My hubby ran over to him and stood with him while the medics worked on getting the other guy out (he was trapped) The highway shut down at that point and we say this helicopter circling.... I'm from the "city" so I assumed it was a news chopper...

WRONG.......

It was life flight and they landed right in the middle of the highway literally 200 feet from us....

I called my cousin back and told her what was going on and that I didn't think she was going to be able to get through (she eventually did right before the chopper took off again)

Thankfully her hubby was not seriously hurt, and the other guy did survive but both trucks were totalled....

Seeing something like this really makes one thankful for their families and what they have..... and it also reminded me just how short life is and that things like this can change you in an instant....

The other guy involved in the accident was seriously injured and life flighted to a hospital, we later learned he was driving on a suspended lic. and the vehicle he was driving wasn't even his.... (it was a work truck)

He hit my cousins hubby at 75 MPH and when he hit him it caused his truck to go airborn about a hundred feet and flipped it so he slid on the cab of the truck (which was GONE) *totally* smashed.... The back tire flew off and overall the vehicle looked like an accordian..... To make matters worse he had a 500 gallon oil container on the back of the truck that flew off and spilled all over the side of the highway....To top that off he wasn't wearing his seat belt..... THANK GOD that the truck didn't catch on fire.... I seriously wonder if this guy knows how da*n lucky he is to be alive.....

The rest of the week was pretty un-eventful.... I think the good Lord knew I had..... had my fill of drama......

Now it's back to the grind and me missing WVA.....

As a famous bunny once said....

"That's All Folks"

Vacation (Take 2)

Well, it's Monday morning and I've survived the wknd! :) We are now in WVA (Gods Country) I love this state, and I love these people...... (Well most of them anyway.... There is a nut job that lives close to the border but we won't count her.... :P

Yesterday was spent driving into stay at the new hotel, unpacking and getting the kiddos hair cut!!!!! We spent last evening with my cousin Shel and her family.... and today we plan on driving in to clean grammies head stone..... and just relaxing.....

Short blog...... But I'm outta time........

The Family Vacation.....

I'm live and reporting from the "Family Lampoons Vacation" (For those of you that have seen the National Lampoons Vacation you'll get the reference....

We haven't encountered an "Aunt Edna" yet nor have we added a dead body to the top of Mom's relay to carry across country.... (Although I have been thinking about strapping my uncle up there) much of this trip has reminded me of the Lampoons vacation.... (IE) if it can go wrong it will...... :)

We spent Wed, and Thursday in Maryland and it was absolutely BEAUTIFUL..... I enjoyed Hagerstown immensely and the kiddos LOVED their "Swim Time".....(Minus the Tyler incident but that's another blog all by itself) .....

Today we moved on to our nations capital..... I was VERY excited about visiting D.C. and really looked forward to seeing the White House......

But as we drove into the town I started to get this feeling that I was surrounded by crack addicts who thought they were driving in the Indy 500 (Seriously folks WHO gave these nuts their driving permits?!?!?)

Now add to the fact that this beautiful city has decided to HIDE it's stop lights on poles attached to the SIDE of the road and you have ME running red lights! I simply just did NOT see them......

Traffic was HORRENDOUS..... (I've mentioned that already haven't I?) :)

FINALLY we arrive in the middle of the city......

Where's the White House?

I've always pictured the White House with this beautiful well manicured lawn that sits in the middle of the city and welcomes visitors....

PFT..... I suppose it's there behind the concrete barriers, but the only portion we saw was the ROOF!

We did get to see the IRS, Senate, Congress, Supreme Court, Arlington Cemetary and last but NOT least the Pentagon......

The Pentagon totally BLEW me away...... (Again you have things pictured one way in your mind but then when you see them up close it's totally different)

Welp that's all for tonight..... I'm exhausted and tomorrow we have another 8 hour drive ....... Which (with my family) equates to 12 hours on the road......

::::::Mental Note::::: rent a U-Haul next time with a port-a-potty in it....... And stick everyone back there.......

Man Trying to climb down the face of building

I post these (although graphic AND beyond heartbreaking) for one reason..... THIS is what happened that day folks..... and their stories SHOULD be told...... YES this was someones father, son, possibly brother... and he had to suffer a horrendous death. DO not let our nation become so politically correct that we let this happen again.. God Bless these families.....

California Bans Smoking In Cars while Children are present.....

**Usual Disclaimer**

This is going to be a HOT topic so if you are easily offended....... Take your butt to the next blog.......

Good Ole Schwarzenegger has taken it upon himself to steal just a little bit more of personal freedoms.

The legislation which was one of a Democratic Bill series (Laughed at and NOT supported by the Republicans) who consider this bill as a "Nanny" bill... was signed by SchwarzeSteroid on Wednesday.....

Wait isn't it always said of the Republicans that THEY are the ones trying to take personal freedoms away... (What a flipping JOKE)

I said it before, I'll say it again....

They day the government pays my car payment and auto insurance is the day they can tell me NOT to smoke in my vehicle....

Til then..... They can keep their da*n nose out of MY business.....

Caffeine is NOT a good thing!!!!!!!

Over the past 5-6 months I decided to cut almost ALL caffeine out...... I switched to Caffeine Free Diet Coke (A HUGE leap for me) I am a *serious* "Diet-Coke-A-Holic"..... At first it was very difficult.... I found myself lagging mid day and the headaches were absolutely EXTREME....

Well, 4th quarter comes around and I relapse to my "bad" habit and decide I need the extra "kick" of caffeine to get me through the day.....

Now a "normal" person would just go and get a 12 ounce can of Diet Coke or Coke.... Drink it and be done.....

Me? Pft forget that..... I go to Speedway and fill my 64 ounce carry jug and sip it all the way to work, at work..... and all the way home....

By the time I picked up the kiddos tonight I felt like I was bouncing off the wall! I came home cooked dinner, started a load of laundry and cleaned the family room..... (All while hubby snored on the couch) LOL

It's now a little after 11 and I feel like I could run a mile..... This is so NOT good.... I doubt Ambien CR will even *touch* me tonight!

Something tells me I am gonna feel like a train wreck tomorrow!

Noooooooooooooooo Moreeeeeeeeeee Caffeinnnnnnnnne!

:::::::::::::Bouncing off the walls:::::::::::::::::

Oompa Take 3 :0)

Ok maybe I should just rename this blog to Psycho Neighbor.....

Got home tonight and it's pitch dark.... No biggie I'm used to that, so I'm carrying my youngest son in, trying to keep track of my youngest daughter and my other son while my oldest daughter is fumbling with the keys to get in the back french doors......

We FINALLY get in and I let our dogs out to go potty, grab the flashlight and go back outside with them to keep an eye on them..... I hear this "rustle" in the trees so immediately swing the flashlight in that direction and what do I see?

Someone standing inside the tree line and two light reflections (it looked like eyes staring at me) ..... Then POOF down on their knees they go and I loose track of them..... I listen some more and hear them running off.....

I was NOT in the LEAST bit scared...... Instead what do I do? LAUGH.... and being the smart butt I am yell GOD I LOVE MY NEIGHBOR! What an IDIOT! then I start laughing again..... Why I found this funny is beyond me but I STILL am laughing.....

Hubby gets home about five minutes later and I tell him what happened and he is absolutely F.U.R.I.O.U.S. he CHARGES outside and finds that someone has ripped the privacy screen that we put up down in spots and flips out even a little bit more.....

Now, the question on my mind is was it really "Oompa".... I know he has night vision goggles but I have NO clue what night vision goggles look like when you shine a light on them in the darkness..... I am 99% certain that WAS the "light" reflection I saw (it had a goldish, yellow hue to it) and was about the size of a dime or quarter...... I could NOT see a face just the two "lights" but KNEW it was someone because when the light hit them they immed. fell..... (God I hope it hurt) LOL

I'm *tempted* to call the sheriff but I'm just NOT that way..... instead I'll just mark it down and add it to the list of "Oompa(isms)"

As for it being him..... Well if it's not he has a TROLL living on his property.... and seeing that hunting season opens at the strike of midnight....

My money says it was him.....

I'm thinking I'm going to start carrying mace and maybe apply for a concealed carry.......

What a Psycho!

The Blogless Blog

It's almost 11, I'm totally exhausted from a LONG day at work and I'm sitting here thinking what do I want to blog about tonight.....

:::::::::::::::::thinking:::::::: NOTHING is popping into my head.... So here I sit blogging about nothing..... O wait something did just come to me..... :)

At work today I was talking with a lady who is getting ready to retire.... She's older, her job is VERY physically demanding AND she gets treated like CRAP by the customers.... (she's the cleaning lady at one of my stores)

She was telling me how her husband died shortly after he retired and that was the reason she went back to work after her first (retirement). She was afraid te same would happen to her and she financially just could not afford to stay retired.....

Now she *thinks* she's ready to stop working..... but..... you could tell she was still afraid that somehow retirement meant the end of the road for her physically and financially....

I thought about it on the drive home tonight and I felt really bad for her....

I suppose in alot of ways I'm angry at society for NOT taking BETTER care of our elderly....

I'm angry that my generation (The X Generation) doesn't have stronger work AND ethical values.... (WTH happened?)

I'm angry that this woman has to scrub toilets to keep food on her table at a time in her life when she should be relaxing.... Instead she's out there paying her taxes so some 20 something year old can sit at home, keep having child after child and pay for their groceries with this woman's money.....

:sigh: I suppose this isn't the blogless blog anymore....

G'night........

Why did we let this PIG on U.S. Soil?

The folks at Columbia University who invited Ahmadinejad to speak should be ashamed of themselves.. Oh they scream it's an opportunity to "hear, challenge, and learn from controversial speakers" To that I reply BULLSPIT.... There is absolutely NOTHING that man could or would say that should be listened to..... as for "Challenging" him? What a flipping JOKE! He's defying the UNITED NATIONS what makes YOU think he's going to listen to a University?!?!?! (and I don't recall many at Columbia challenging him)

This NUT job Ahmadinejad is DIRECTING the maiming and killing of U.S. Soldiers And should have NEVER been allowed on U.S. soil......He is the leader of a terrorist-sponsoring regime yet what does Columbia do? Welcome him with OPEN arms....

Childhood Immunizations

"I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves, and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education."

-- Thomas Jefferson

To Vaccinate or not to Vaccinate.........

This is somewhat of a *hot* topic so the only thing I ask is that you read the WHOLE thing before going "She's NUTS" :0)

I have went back and forth on this issue for yeaaaaaaaaaaars..... My oldest daughter had all of her vaccinations, while my other 3 have not....

There are 9 years between my oldest daughter and 2nd child......So when Chloey came along I once again followed the recommendations for vaccines.... That is until one day my pediatrician gave me an OPTION of NOT getting them for her....

I was STUNNED..... and I decided to do some research on them..... What I found I did NOT like so I halted all further vaccinations.

Listen folks, we have been preached at for years that this was the "Right" thing to do......

WHO has been singing this to us tho? I'll tell you who! The BILLION dollar pharmaceutical industry who stands to loose ALOT if more parents like myself take a stand.....

From 1911 to 1935 the four leading causes of childhood deaths from infectious diseases in America were diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), scarlet fever, and measles.
Then by 1945, the combined death rates from these causes had declined by 95 percent, BEFORE the implementation of mass immunization programs.

The greatest factors in this decline were sanitation through public health measures, improved nutrition, better housing with less crowded conditions and the introduction of antibiotics.

I WILL however *agree* that vaccinations DID help to eliminate *most* childhood diseases that have occurred in the past 50 or so years. But wait at WHAT price?

Alot of *Pro* Vaccination folks will argue that Autism has been around for years and that the only reason why there are more diagnosis of Autism is simply because we have better tools to do so....

To those folks I would say read Shelly Reynolds testimony at Congressman Dan Burton's House Government Reform Committee on April 6, 2000. You'd be SHOCKED......

Another very interesting Doctor who has spoken about this is Dr. Mary Megson who testified at the House Government Reform Committee affirming:

"The segment of children with 'regressive autism,' the form where children develop normally for a period of time then lose skills and sink into autism most commonly at 18-24 months of age, is increasing at a phenomenal rate. I am seeing multiple children in the same family affected, including in the last week four cases of 'autistic regression' developing in four-year-old children after their MMR and DPT vaccination. In the past, this was unheard of. …I think we are staring a disaster in the face that has affected thousands of Americans."

You might give a child two Tylenol a day for 60 days without ill effect, but it would be dangerous, even deadly to give them 120 Tylenol all at once in a single day.

In fact, some children are given shots containing over 100 times more mercury than is recommended by EPA officials!!!!!!!!

Drs. Cutler and Holmes report that since multiple vaccines are often given on the same day, "the amount of mercury injected into a typical infant exceeds the EPA's 'safe' limits."

Not convinced yet? Ok let's look at some more.......

Did you realize that the symptoms of autism in many cases are almost identical with the symptoms of mercury poisoning? AND most vaccines are manufactured with mercury.

Vaccines containing thimerosal (a preservative) were not recalled because, we were told the benefits of vaccinations outweigh the possibilities of autism in children who get the shots.

Thimerosal was added to vaccines that protect children against diseases such as hepatitis B, diphtheria, tetanus, and others, but it seems to be more dangerous than the diseases they are supposed to prevent!!!!!

Take a look at what Boyd Haley, a chemistry professor at the University of Kentucky, wrote: “Thiomersal is extremely toxic. The preliminary data is convincing and does indicate that vaccines are the most likely suspect for causing autism.

Why is mercury not safe for food additives and Over the Counter drug products, but it is safe in vaccines? And I will remind you that most vaccinations are given to children, even babies while still in their developmental years. What an adult brain may be able to absorb and flush out, may be devastating to a child.

Now, there ARE Mercury Free vaccinations available now, but keep in mind there's still ALOT of the "OLD" vaccinations floating around so make SURE to get the MERCURY FREE...... Also (IF) you do decide to vaccinate your child I HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend getting them MONTHS APART and NOT all one day....

Why do you want to overload your child's system?

My philosophy on vaccinations is simple.... QUESTION EVERYTHING, and at this time I choose NOT to vaccinate....



The following states permit a religious exemption: Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, DC, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming.

The following states permit a philosophical exemption: Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Utah, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin.


DO YOUR RESEARCH our children are the most precious gifts on this earth and what you decide for them very well could affect them for the rest of their lives.....

WWE (AKA) WWF

Ok so I will admit to watching WWE / WWF once in awhile.....

I can't help laughing at the fans in the audience, there facial expressions are flipping priceless... Ewwww Ahhhhh Ohhhhhh (gasps) as the already decided matches take place.. (Yes folks, I hate to be the one to break the news to you but the WWE and Santa have one thing in common.... They just aren't "real".

Although Santa is a tad bit more believable :0)

There have been a couple ok a FEW wrestlers that have come along that have caused me to go in the ewwwww ahhhhhhh ohhhhh mode.... But those are FEW and FAR between. The first one I can think of was "The Ultimate Warrior" WOWZA is all I can say....

Then came "The Rock" Good Lawd that man can and still does make my head spin.... (remind me not to let hubby see this blog) LOL "The Rock" had something most wrestlers don't.... TALENT.... He's went on to do several movies / TV Shows (yes I've watched them ALL) LoL and he's actually a pretty SMART guy! (Then again he's a republican so what do you expect? ) ;)

The WWE (now) compared to the WWF ten years ago is simply put Trash..... It was bad enough back then but atleast the story lines were believable...... Now a days you have a leprechaun running around claiming to be Vince McMahon's illegitimate son.....

Then ya have the parade of hmmmmm how do I delicately say this..... Well the "Women" of WWE.... All I wanna know is can they return to their street corners when their time on the show is over....

So after my long stint of NOT watching this show why did I turn it back on? Well 1 reason.....

The Undertaker.... Another (ooh ahhh) kinda guy.... He was one of my favorites "back in the day" and has "returned".......

Honestly tho? I don't know that I can wade through 2 hours of crap to see this man pretend to wrestle for 15 minutes.....But wait wait! Triple H is back... Ok I think I can make it as long as someone promises to put a bag over H's head.....

With the bag, the man is total perfection.......

Yet another sign I'm getting "Old" & "Cranky"

Oompa Loompa Update

It's a beautiful Sunday afternoon and I'm sitting at my computer and doing reports for work when I hear this siren......

For a second it doesn't hit me because I still haven't gotten used to how quiet it is out here in the country and when we lived in the city sirens were just a part of life.....

Finally when the siren stays consistant and it gets CLOSER and CLOSER and our driveway buzzer goes off it hits me....

They are coming HERE......

So I get up and go look for hubby (he's out back burning) and realize that Oompa has probably called the Fire Dept. on us....

Ok, "whatever"

The Dept. *inspects* our CONTAINED burning area and gives us a thumbs up..... They tell us in no uncertain terms that what we are doing is PERFECTLY LEGAL and they actually tell hubby that we've taken more precautions than most. (We have a garden hose 20 feet from the fire AND a fire extinguishar at our basement entrance)

They also tell us we are breaking NO EPA laws and that come January to check with them because the EPA *MAY* require a permit.... But as of now we're perfect.

They laugh it off, we apologize for taking up their time and they leave......

20 minutes later Oompa is out shooting.....

Well I thought it was only fitting to crank the outdoor speakers up with a beautiful Def Leppard song.....

Rock of Ages..... After all the lyrics are very fitting....

I'm burnin', burnin', I got the fever
I know for sure, there ain't no cure
So feel it, don't fight it, go with the flow
Gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme one more for the road

Guess he didnt' appreciate that because the gunshots stopped and it's once again quiet at the O.K. Corral.

Life's just too short to be as pissy as this man is.........

Rex Humbard

A bitter sweet goodbye for me to a very special era within my families life......

Alot of folks will say what they will about Rex, the funny thing about that is most of those folks didn't KNOW him, or his ministry.....

I doubt that even 1% of the folks that would so easily sit (or have sat) in judgement of him have ever even walked through the doors of the Cathedral of Tomorrow.

Alot of my childhood memories revolve around that church and the people who attended that church..... And they are such GOOD memories... I *grew up* at that church, I met and married my husband there.....

It is SO true that you tend to take things for granted (little things that you don't even take notice of)

I MISS walking into that sanctuary and looking up and seeing the GIGANTIC cross suspended from the ceiling, I miss the red hymnals that I hated so much, I miss watching my (then) *future husband* at that time fall asleep on the stage after playing his trumpet in the choir. ( I still giggle over that)

Most of all.... I miss the people... they were more than friends.... They were family......

Say what you will about Rex, and the Cathedral of Tomorrow.... But folks I *lived* it..... That ministry changed ALOT of people's lives for the better....

I'm glad he's "home" and I'm sure my grammy was in the choir that welcomed him........

Jesse Jackson Open Mouth Insert Foot

Welp the professional race baiter is at it again, except this time he's attacking Obama for :ahem: "Acting White".

He just couldn't resist could he?

How does one ACT WHITE?!?!?! Hell I am Caucasian and I'm NOT sure how to "ACT WHITE" is this a new slogan like "Go Green"

Seriously I was NOT aware that there were handbooks being passed out instructing one on how to act White, Black, Green, Brown or Orange.... Does Borders carry these?

So why is it that Jackson can get away with these kinds of things when the VERY PRINCIPLE that his platform is built upon is destroying racists....

Was that NOT a racist comment? *clue* YES it was..... (Or) maybe I'm just "Acting White" in my thoughts......

Def Leppard - Long Long Way to Go - Music Video

Hey, what can I say..... I needed this to get me through the week...... :0) Enjoy.....

Btw have I mentioned that Joe Elliott...... Oh never mind :::::adjusting halo:::

Spector Jury at Impass......

Your kidding right?!?!? How in the world could this jury be at an impass.....

Let's see the prosecution has called F-I-V-E women who testified that a drunken Spector had threatened them with guns. (Same scenario that they believe the victim, Clarkson suffered through)

The prosecution also called county criminalists who said the blood spatter from Clarkson's wound showed that Spector was within 3 feet of the woman when the fatal shot was fired.

3 feet? O c'mon now! lets REALLY think about this one..... Spector knows Clarkson for less than 12 hours..... The woman goes home with the man and decides she's going to commit suicide in his home because her career is in the toilet?!?!? Gimmie a break......

Spectors first words to his chaueffer when he came out of the house with the gun in hand and blood all over him were...."I think I killed somebody"

Yet this damn jury is at an impass?!??! I thought California was a "Green" state? Obviously they are NOT because these jurors definitly have a lack of oxygen to their brain!

Then again this is the same state that declared OJ "Not Guilty"

Children's Clothing

*Warning* "Girlie" post ahead :)

I really can't remember the first time I saw Indygo (or) Balu but I think it was around 2002.... I *instantly* fell in love with both companies and ordered Chloey a couple of outfits.... Balue (IMO) has since changed their styles and I really just don't care for them alot.... But Indygo still has some REALLY cute stuff.....

I won't lie they are e-x-p-e-n-s-i-v-e. BUT you can get some great stuff off of ebay ;0) Both Indygo and Balu are VERY high quality and because they are hand painted you're never going to find the *exact* same style anywhere....

Another *brand* I absolutely love for Chlo is called Dolce Lali they have some of the absolute CUTEST clothes I've ever seen and fit Chlo's personality to a T... My favorite outfit so far for her from Dolce is this one.....



Some of the other designers that I keep a close watch on our Lipstik, Beetlejuice, CachCach, Babygassygooma ( I totally ADORE *Gretchen* the owner and designer of BGG) she's a sweetie! Gretchen's Winter 07 Checkmate line is just beyond cute!

Let's come back to earth a little and talk about Ebay...... I find a TON of "gold" mines on Ebay..... RARELY do I pay full price for anything..... With my taste in clothing I would be in HOT water if I did ;)

There are some FABULOUS folks on ebay that create their own styles, a couple of these *artists* have actually grown so popular that they have their own boutiques now..... (Gretchen BabyGassyGooma) is one of them.....

Another so very sweet friend I met about 6 years ago is Lark, her daughter Sophie and my Chloey are about the same age. Lark started out simply selling on Ebay and then moved into designing her own line.

There are some GREAT designers for DECENT prices.....(a great example is Laurie)
*WOW* is all I can say! She is SO very talented and hails from the UK..... All of Laurie's designs are hand painted (by her) She literally turns plain Denim into works of art.....



Searching on Ebay for Children's Clothing is an ART...... Some of the keywords I use to find things are.....

Custom, Chenille, OOAK, OOAK= One of a Kind but just type in OOAK.... Balu, Indygo, Cach Cach, Jordan Marie, LuLu, Lipstik, Beetlejuice, Maribou, Maribu, and the list goes on for a mile....

It is VERY possible to find some GREAT designer clothes at a FRACTION of what you will pay retail for them...... Another suggestion I have is to look for the NEW designers on Ebay..... The one's that are just starting out...... Those folks typically have LOWER prices on their auctions because they are not as well known as people such as (Laurie) above......

Chris Crocker "Leave Britney Aloooooone"

Ok this lil she-male soooooo cracks me up! I can understand being a *loyal* fan but my gawd the day I EVAH go on YouBoob and post a Leaaaaaave Def Leppard Alooooooone video I hope someone will promptly admit me to the Psych ward....

The "Britney" YouTube may have thrown Chris into the spotlight because it is extremely funny (in a disturbing kinda way) but have you guys and gals actually looked at the rest of his "collection"?!?!? Hooooooooooly Mother of Mental Wards!!!!!!

Miss/Mr. Chris has a fine collection of YouTube Vids that range from "Eat My Cornhole" (Yes it is as it sounds) to "Nose Picking", and I can NOT neglect the "beauty secrets" video.....

Ok to make things even worse this nut job actually has a FAN BASE! (&) NO it's not just the folks at IC (inside joke sorry) ::::::Adjusting Halo::::::

I guess my question is this tho... Do we REALLY expect more from someone who is a Britney Fan ;0)

Yup It's official I HATE my Brother In Law

Hates probably too strong of a word, DISGUSTED, and ANGERED is a MUCH better word......

And I so hope to God he sees this blog! Doubtful if he will because I think he surfs Disney.Com with most of his free time.......

This all involves my in laws..... They are in their late 60's, lived in their home for 30+ years.......Lived in Ohio for probably 50 years...

90% of the "Family" is in Ohio....... Then there's my oldest BIL who decided that he wanted to move closer to Mickey Mouse and moved to FL......

BIL lived with my in laws until he was in his late 30's...... he's the firstborn and he has the "Only Child Syndrome" YES GARY YOU DO! :)

He has whined and cried enough (AND) manipulated my MIL to want to sell her home and MOVE to FL......

I just in all of my life have NEVER met a more manipulative person in my life..... I really think he should have been a woman!

In order to explain my frustration let me add this...... In a conversation yesterday with my BIL (between him cussing and screaming at me) he tells me "HE IS THE HEAD OF THIS HOUSEHOLD"

Imagine my SHOCK........ Imagine my overwhelming sense of wanting to LAUGH IN HIS FACE......

Which for the record I did..... after I got done screaming back at him.....

I am just BEYOND angry at this so called human being at the moment...... WHO does he think he is?!?!

Facts are this.....

He's a spoiled ROTTEN 40 something year old that has never been married yet thinks he's a relationship expert......

He lived with his parents until he was in his late 30's yes he paid MINIMAL rent... and when I say MINIMAL I mean MINIMAL....

What's going to happen? I'm predicting this right now.......

My BIL will get my in laws down there and manipulate them into buying a condo that he will then move into..... (MINIMAL rent again) then he will manipulate my MIL into cleaning, cooking and basically doing all the things HE should be doing.....

Within a year or two of that there is NO doubt in my mind that if my FIL has not passed away he will force him into a nursing home...... My FIL and BIL butt heads ALL the time so I don't see that one lasting.....

After my MIL grows older and can't clean and cook for him and becomes a "burden" as he has FLAT OUT SAID to me...... He will throw her in a nursing home....

ALL I ever wanted was for my in laws to live the way THEY wanted to LIVE.....

SHAME ON HIM for not caring enough about FAMILY to realize what he is doing.....

People like him should be put away...... They really should.....

Oh and for the record? I will NEVER I repeat NEVER speak to him again UNLESS he gets help....

The Madeline McCann Madness

Ok, I tried like heck to stay AWAY from the McCann topic....... But the latest *news* is really disturbing me......

My whole reasoning from staying away from this was that in the US alone a child goes *missing* every 40 seconds....YES....... every 40 seconds!

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) has a 35 MILLION dollar a year budget....... Now, think about this folks, ONE child every 40 seconds that amounts to 2100 PER DAY....... Granted MOST of those children are taken by relatives eluding custody battles, and runaways the facts are a child is still MISSING.....

Now that you've seen those statistics let's look at the McCann statistics....

At the time of this blog I believe the *donations* for Maddie have reached over 2 Million dollars...... Now we have folks such as Sir Richard Branson who is donating 100,000 pounds for Madelines parents *Defense* fund..... And he's talking to other "Celebs" and asking them to donate....

What makes one child worth so much more than another child? Ylenia Lenhard went missing 6 weeks ago and her body was found on Saturday..... It is thought that 67 year old Urs Hans Von Aesch is to be responsible for her death and they are now looking at the murders of several other children in the 1980's to link this man to............

Where were the celebrities for Ylenia?

Where are the celebrities for the children who go missing every day whose parents are not well to do doctors?

Do these folks REALLY care or are they riding the media wave of Maddie Madness and trying to get their name in the papers.......

Even more disturbing....... WHY is it (acceptable) that these parents left their 3 children all ages 4 and UNDER UN-attended in a hotel room while they dined with friends?

WHY are they being *rewarded* for irresponsible actions that led to the fact that their child is missing?

Look, I do NOT have a heart of steel, I DO care that this lil girl is missing..... But I care even more that there are children out there because of financial circumstances will NEVER be found...... And folks are *tossing* millions of dollars to a couple who found it more important to go dine with friends than to take care of their kiddos......

That to me is just NOT right........

Friends......

This is a very interesting story :P I typically *watch* folks for a few days/weeks even months before I initiate some type of friendship with them....... I don't *trust* easily and I have this "need" to KNOW them before I make a decision to call them my friend.......

Well, my friend Joe (from myspace) has several hundred *friends* on his page.... Occasionally when I'm bored I scan them and just think Oh that's nice or just whatever...... nothing negative just a whatever ya know?

Well, Joe had one friend who I just instantly connected with...... I do NOT know what it was other than her eyes were just SO full of LIFE, SO full of kindness and something just drew her to me....... It bothered me for a week or two and I finally wrote to joe and said "Would you mind if I contact her, I think her and I could be great friends"...... he ofcourse said yes...... So I took a chance that she would not think I was a nut job and sent an email......

Today I get an email back from her and here all along she wanted to contact ME also!!!!!!!! Talk about FATE!

I suppose in alot of ways I'm blogging about this to say that when you FEEL something in the inner most parts of your soul DO IT...... You may think that your going to look like an idiot but MOST OF THE TIME when you have this type of feeling it's for a reason!


I had this same feeling about 2 months ago....... There was something I KNOW I should have said to a lady I was talking to........ I didn't know her well enough (or atleast I thought I didn't......................... but my heart no........ my soul kept telling me to tell her something and I chose not to do it because I was afraid of the reaction I might get.......

Soooooo (L) if you ever read this blog? Be HAPPY he loves you, misses you and still smiles over the "red scarf"

Memories of 911

Every generation has an even in their life where they will forever remember exactly what they were doing at the time they heard the news.......

One of those memories for me is 9/11, we all know what I'm talking about.... It was that beautiful September day that turned into a nightmare.

At the time I had two children, Elissa my oldest was 9 and Chloey was only 9 months old.....

Elissa was working on her school work and I had Chloey in my arms and decided to turn the TV on and watch the news.......

I flipped on the TV to see "breaking news" and a building that looked all to familiar to me burning........ I realized within seconds that it was the World Trade Center that we had visited two years prior.....

I didn't hesitate and picked up the phone to call my mom at work.... I told her what was going on and continued watching the TV while talking to her.......

I remember seeing this little "blip" on the screen and the "blip" got closer and closer to the towers and then a huge explosion........

At first I thought "God, how did they find that footage so quickly" I honestly thought it was a (replay) of the plane crashing into the building.....Then it clicked as I heard the announcers gasp and the panic in their voices...It was NOT a replay....... I remember saying "O *hit" and dropping the phone....

At that point I called my husband crying, telling him what was going on (he had NO clue) I hung up and heard the news that other planes were un-accounted for and they didn't know where they were.....

Total fear gripped me........ I really do not think I've ever been so afraid in my life...... I looked over at my oldest daughter and held on to her with one arm while I held chloey with my other.......

Our country came together that day..... We mourned for one another, we loved one another and we were determined to make those responsible for this action pay.......

Oh how times have changed.............

To the Families that lost Loved Ones that day...... I promise you.... I WILL remember...... as will my children.......

!! Hey Osama !!

Well the dirt bag is at it again....... I actually *think* dirt bag is to kind of a word for him but, unfortunately I can't use the actual words I WANT to use in fear of google censoring my ( ! ) soooooooo let's get down to his most recent "rant".

My answer's to his rant in red....

"I invite you to embrace Islam,"

I invite you to embrace the barrel of my 12 guage.....

"It has now become clear to you and the entire world the impotence of the democratic system and how it plays with the interests of the peoples and their blood by sacrificing soldiers and populations to achieve the interests of the major corporations,"

The only impotence around here involves a 6'2" oompa loompa of a man who *thinks* he's Allah...

Our "Democratic" system doesn't behead and beat women for wearing what a MAN feels is unholy.

Our "Democratic" system doesn't gas our own children and then dump their bodies into pits to let the animals feed on them.

Our "Democratic" system doesn't strap bombs on children and have them walk into crowds to senselessly murder hundreds

And I could go on and on..... NO we as American's are NOT perfect..... But we have something you will NEVER have....... and that is HONOR and DIGNITY...... Our Men and Women over there fighting AND defeating YOU are doing it of their OWN FREE WILL....

Something many of your "soldiers" can not say............

We have a POWER that YOU will never have...... and that power is called

F-R-E-E-D-O-M

I refuse to post anymore of this "beasts" crap..... Instead I have a message for him.....

WE WILL GET YOU.....It may take years, BUT we are patient people, and the day that happens is the day you will understand the POWER of the United States...

Cotton Eyed Joe

TGIF!!!!!! Ya know every once in awhile it's just good to have FUN! That's why I have this song as my "ringer" on my cell phone :P It rings..... I laugh...... YEEEEEEEEEfrigginHAW! (Yes my kiddos think I'm NUTS! ;0) )

Tires, Brakes and a Headache

It's that time again! You know the time to go spend an arm and a leg on tires to make your vehicle RUN.......

My last set of tires were the absolute BEST. (Cooper) my ONLY complaint about them is that they only lasted 30K miles........

So (mom) has been worrying about the tread on my tires and decided to buy me a new set..... She's VERY good to me :)

We went to Firestone (First Mistake) and decided on the "Destination" tires....... They were a "decent" price, have a GREAT warrantee and it's tires for gawd sakes tires are tires right?

EHHHHHHH WRONG!!!!!!!!

They put them on my SUV and driving home that night I notice an IMMEDIATE difference........ My SUV is "shaking" at 60mph and it feels like the whole thing is ready to fall apart... I think to myself Eh I'll get used to em no biggie.....

The store also did an alignment yet the truck is still drifting to the left BIG time......

Then I notice I'm getting 3 miles a gallon LESS than I was before........ and I almost flip the truck twice trying to change lanes.......

Ok that's IT......


I call the store back and tell them what's going on and I'm told to bring them back in......

I do, they check them out and they say that I needed them "balanced"

UHHH WTF! Did you NOT balance them when you charged my mother almost $500.00 for these things?~?~?~?

As for the alignment they say that it's off .04% Uhhhh if it's off .04% then it must have been off by .01% when you told me I needed one because my truck NEVER pulled like this before!

Anyway, all is well that ends well..... They balanced the tires, & fixed the alignment..........MUCH smoother ride on the way home!!!!!!!! What an AMAZING difference!


Will the destination tires be better than the Cooper?

That remains to be seen but I am NOT going to hold my breath on this one! :)

Amazon Coincidence Or No?

I highly doubt that *most* folks don't know about the Mattel Toy Recalls.... Now, what's not known is this...

About two months ago Amazon.Com had a HUGE Toy sale..... I LOVE Amazon's toy sales and usually stock up on toys for Christmas and Birthdays when they have these.....

Since the playroom is being given an overhaul I decided NOW was the best time to go through all of their toys and see if any were part of the recall....

So far I'm up to SEVEN toys.... S E V E N....... FIVE of those SEVEN were purchased less than two months ago at amazon during their "Clearance Sale"...... AND have NEVER been opened (They were Christmas presents)

Now does anyone else find it FUNNY that Amazon DUMPED these toys literally DAYS before a HUGE recall?

I know I DO!!!!!!

Now, in order to get rid of these toys I have to go to Mattell's website.... Print off their gawd awful check list (Voucher List) and send it to them...... Then I wait for them to send me pre-paid boxes to send them back.....

Then I wait for them to send me "Vouchers" for the toys...... I'm up to about $150.00 in "vouchers"......

Which brings me to the question WTF is a Voucher? WHERE will I be able to spend it.... Am I buying yet another toy that will be recalled in 2 months with this "voucher"..

It's not like I'm not busy enough as it is....... But now I have to pack all this crap, take it to the post office and WAIT to have a "voucher" sent to me?

Sorry Mattell it sounds like whoever is running Maytag has taken over your service dept. I don't want a "voucher" I want my MONEY back that I spent buying these toys......

You'll have these types..........

Well, if any of you care I happen to have a neighbor from H-E-L-Lo.... He seems innocent enough, kinda looks like an oompa loompa from the Wonka Chocolate Factory....

I've come to the conclusion that the has a Napoleon Complex....... He's probably only 5'6 (maybe 5'7 if he wears platforms, he's balding and he's a "Stay At Home Dad" Which do NOT misunderstand me....... There is NOTHING wrong with being a "Stay At Home Dad" when you actually STAY AT HOME TO WATCH the children and don't hire a nanny while your wife's gone. (cough)

Still NONE of that is ANY of my business........

It becomes MY business when Oompa Loompa Man decides to walk our property line with his 12 guage, fire 500 feet from our home and drag a dead deer in front of my children.....

Still I've never said anything to him about that incident and just decided to let it go...... (quite honestly I question his stability)

This same *character* has arrived on my porch yelling at me to keep my cat off of his property.... (Uhhh wait we own 4 acres our surrounded by nothing but trees, have deer, raccoons, COWS, horses, (not mine) ) running around yet he decides to yell at me over MY CAT?!?! Uhhh Screw that......

So I basically tell him I'll do my best to keep my furry creature off of his property and remind him that we are in the COUNTRY and NOT city...... (He is new to the country so I have to try to give him the benefit of the doubt as he is totally CLUELESS to country living)

He's moved on to yapping about hubby open burning.... Yes folks my hubby is commiting the Gore Unforgiveable sin...... HE BURNS! He follows the rules (not til after 6pm) and just about EVERYONE else on this road does it also...... Yet Oompa Loompa has found it in his heart to scream about it because we do it.........

The funny thing on this one is he WAITS til hubby pulls out of the drive and then sneaks through the trees to pound on my door...... (Mom always taught me NOT to walk on other folks grass but hey guess his mother forgot MANNERS when raising him)

Well, yesterday and today was the LAST straw with this humanoid.......

Hubby was outside with one of our two dogs yesterday and oompa decided to patrol the property boarder.. Joey (our dog) caught him and started barking........ Oompa muttered he'd "snap his neck" if he got any closer........ (hubby was smart and didn't bother telling me that until TODAY) I think he knew I'd SNAP on oompa if he did...........

Then today while my children our outside with hubby Oompa decides to do another "patrol" of the property line...... He scared my 6 year old to tears......


THAT did it...... I'm officially DONE with this man......

So I went and purchased the UGLIEST tarps I could find and started lining our property line with them..... They are 12 feet high and 25 feet long........ We managed to get 100 feet up today and will work on the rest over the coming months.......

Within 3 hours of the "tarps" being up Oompa had his sidekick who lives across the street walking over to complain....... I'm still not sure why as we can't even see the sidekick's house from our house (and he can't see ours)

To explain this better you would have to see our property, we have 4 acres, our house sits about 2 acres back...... We are SURROUNDED by woods and the ONLY people who can see our house is Oompa Loompa and that's ONLY when he "patrols" It literally is like taking a walk into the woods to get to the house...

To sum it up..... these people have issues..... I'm not sure WHAT they are, but they have them.......

I guess they have *bonded* while they wait for the school bus to pick up their children.... (sidekick doesn't work either)

Whatever the case may be...... I have a suprise for them ;0) I will NOT be kind anymore.. I will NOT tolerate their crap and I will NOT put up with their firing fire arms so close to my home........

Thank God I DO have some nice neighbors (they are on the other side and down the road) it's just these two wahooligans that seem to think they own the road......

I wonder what they will think when the "City" girl in me comes out and tells them to go get bent :)

And I seriously hope they enjoy Def Leppard, as I will be playing it as LOUD as I can get my outdoor speakers to go during hunting season.

They want city? I'll give em city..... and the beauty of it all is the township we live in does NOT have a noise ordinance AND I have the blessing of the surrounding nieghbors to "Give em Hell"......

Hell is what I plan on giving them :)

STYX-Show Me The Way

Oh Crap! I wanted to make it a habit to begin each wknd with a "Music" blog... My *idea* behind this is simple..... Just a TGIF blog and time to relax! Well I didn't have time to do it friday so I'm posting a little more *serious* video today....... I LOVE this song, I LOVE this band...... and I LOVE the message in this youtube creation.......

Senator Busted?!?!?!

I'm so NOT understanding this story.......

Let's try to get through this..... The officer "alleges" that the "Senator" *tapped* his foot, brushed his shoe against the officers and "repeatedly waved his hand under the stall divider"...

Uhhhh Ok?!?!? Soooooooooo those act constitute soliciting sex?!?! WTF!!!!!!! I guess I'm beyond guilty of soliciting sex in public toilets then......

Sorry but I tap my feet, and WILL wave my hand under a stall if there's no toilet paper....

Folks this is just downright stupid and a WITCH HUNT.......

They are calling this man a hypocrite because he voted against gay marriages and (blah blah friggin blah)

BUT WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Aren't these SAME folks calling him a hypocrite..... A hypocrite themselves! How many of them had their panties in an uproar when Clinton was *caught*..

Ooooooooooh SNAP they've forgotten about that one haven't they!!......

Put ALL this crap aside and we have an issue of an officer of the law hanging out in the loo....
Maybe they thought the Tidy Bowl man had plotted a mass murder and was going to be popping up from the toilet any second??????

It seems to me that taxpayers money could be spent in a much better way.....

Guess what? I think the only thing this guy is guilty of is being STUPID..... He should have NEVER plead guilty to this and should have LAUGHED HIS ARSS off at these guys.....

Don't worry Senator, Clinton survived and so will you.........

Dirty Dirty Collection Agency Trick!

Most that know me...... KNOW I am passionate about Consumer Rights.......

Since I've had a influx of readers lately I wanted to share a situation that I'm currently "battling"

I received a collection letter in May from a (local) collection agency over a bill from a (local) hospital.

I spent a good hour with my insurance company going over records, then going through my banking records to pull the payments I had made to this :ahem: "establishment"

The story is simple.. ER Trip for one of my children... Ins. covered all but $9.54 (deductible had been met so I sent them a payment of $9.54......)

(Collection agency says I owe $95.40) Uhhhh think they added a one to many ZERO's to that? I do!

Now, back to the collection agency....... I get this letter in late May, and think WTF! So I being a SMART consumer cover my rear and send them a validation request........ They receive it June 1........ I hear NOTHING the entire month of June, and in Mid July I get another collection letter from a "law firm" I at first did NOT connect the two because they are two different names...... Same amount but it just did not *occur* to me what this "bill" was for....

Soooooo I send them a validation request... They receive it and within 10 days they zap 2 of my credit reports...... The name used on the credit report IS from the ORIGINAL collection agency that I requested validation from in May.... THE ONLY reason I *caught* this was related to the July "letter" was the amount.. When I saw it ... It FINALLY *hit* me that they were playing dirty.....

Soooooooo I google this "attorney" and see she is their "general counsel" (she's defended them in alot of lawsuits)

The information they give the credit reports are violations (IE) Open Account, They list the hospitals name AND they actually have the nerve to re-age this making it seem as if it's from JUNE.....

I go into *Furious* mode and call them on a RECORDED line.....

Now, I did NOT bother calling the "attorneys" office.......... I actually looked this company up and found their satellite office in the same city as the atty and gave them a ring....

The phone call was BEYOND interesting....... I was told the following.....

The "Agent" admitted to me that they HAD received the letter back on June 1, and that they had faxed the hospital for the information.. But (then he stammers and asks me to hold)

Comes back and apologizes and asks me how I want to pay for this..... I say.... "How about with my check that your going to send me for FDCPA, FCRA and OCSPA violations".... :) YES I really said it and YES it's on tape!

During the course of this phone call he also admits to me that they *should* have ceased collection efforts and that the account is reporting correctly as "open"

When he tried pulling the "correctly reporting" crap with me I gently reminded him of Martinez Vs. Alb. Collection Agency...... (He had NO clue what I was talking about)

What it boiled down to is I gave this company TWENTY FOUR hours to pull off my CR... They didn't so I am suing..

The deception, lies and "Tricks" that these companies are willing to pull for money that is NOT owed to them simply astonishes me.

I will NO longer tolerate this type of behavior and as a consumer who WANTS change

AND........................ I *WILL* FIGHT for it.....

One More Day by Diamond Rio - The Last Time

On December 23rd it will be 8 years since I've lost my "Grammy".... There are times that I still just totally break down and my heart aches for her... Today is one of those times....


I miss you more than words can say Gram, I love you.........

Total Deception!

My family and I pulled into a gas station on Saturday afternoon, hubby had to run in and buy some ice so I pulled up and waited in the Suv with the munchkins.....

I was sitting there *maybe* 2 minutes when a man approached us and asked me if I would like to sign his "petition". I asked him what the petition was about but he had a HORRIBLE speech impetiment and it was virtually impossible to understand him...... I got "Workers Rights" then a bunch of stammering....

So I take the petition from him and READ it.... I'm not the type to put my signature on ANYTHING until I read it ALL....

I looked at the first page and their was nothing but signatures...... Behind that page there was an explaination of what it was for citing the new law that was passed and a few sections of the Ohio Revised Code.... I read it further and EVERYTHING within this document SUPPORTED the new law so I said YES I will sign it....

Let me back up here and tell you what the new law involves... Basically it shuts down all strip clubs from the hours of Midnight to 5 A.M. (when most of the crimes at these :ahem: prestigious establishments are committed) It also bans the "nude" dancers from ANY form of contact with patrons... I'm ALL for that as I always have been because I see it as NOTHING but prostitution and it TOTALLY degrades the woman.....

Sorry guys hate to bust your bubble but the truth is the truth!

Soooo I sign this thing feeling pretty good about it! My mom who is sitting in the backseat refuses to sign because she feels it's a scam.. Her question was a legitimate one (IE) Why would they be having you sign a petition in support of something that has already been passed in to LAW....

Well DOH why didn't I THINK of that......

So we get home, I unpack the groceries and sit down to an un-eventful night and I get a call from my mom......

That VERY day she received a letter from Kenneth Blackwell's office explaining this very SCAM that I had just partaken in!

The letter basically went over how deceiving the petition was and that strip club owners were trying to sneak enough signatures on a petition to try to get this overturned!!!!!

I was FLIPPING furious! Thankfully the letter goes on to say how to have your name REMOVED from the dam* thing..... (which I will do TODAY) .....

Now, someone correct me if I am wrong..... This in my opinion is a class action waiting to happen! It's FRAUD and TOTAL Mis-Representation! I would think that the Ohio Revised Code would cover this somewhere...... and (YES) I will find out :)

Neopets

Neopets has been around for awhile..... My oldest daughter has been a member for around 4 years or so & happily she has not lost interest....... When she first joined the site I monitored it closely & soon discovered I liked it............... so I joined! LOL

As a parent tho I have to say that Neopets is probably one of the absolute BEST *games* out there....

It teaches the children a very IMPORTANT lesson.... One that adults and parents fail to teach them every day.....

The lesson is simple.... "Savings"

When you join you are given X amount of neopoints, and a couple of items to put in your shop. (IE you have a store front)

You build your neopoints (AKA) Money by buying low and selling high. You also can play games to earn neopoints and invest in the "Neopian Stock Market".

You also can *adopt* up to 4 virtual pets..... Those "pets" must be fed and taken care of.....

All in all Neopets is by far the BEST online game I've found for my children...



www.neopets.com

Why We Fail........

Bend over America it's time for another congressional probe...... Why is it that everytime I turn around Congress is busying itself with something else that is NONE of their business.

You would think that they dont' have enough work to do....

The primary duty of congress is to WRITE, DEBATE and PASS bills..... NOT *investigate* tragedies such as Crandall Canyon.....

Ok, let me back up..... *PART* of their duty IS to investigate "pressing" national issues..... But it seems as if congress has forgotten that they were not elected to form a lynching party for every national tragedy that there is....

Sorry folks but there are MORE IMPORTANT things to do than to sit around and bicker over "what should have, could have, and was or was not done".....

We now have congressmen and (women) who run for every "Photo Op" they can......

Quite literally using such tragedies as Sago and Crandall Canyon as *stepping stones* in their career.

(And people are complaining over Murray?!?!?!) Palease!!!!!!!!

WAKE UP AMERICA!

def leppard hysteria (acoustic)

What a better way to end a long week than listening to these guys! Enjoy!

The Simple Life

This to me is what life is about! *SIMPLE*..... I took the munchkins to the county fair today and they had SUCH a good time...... I am SO glad the girls joined 4H and we've had this experience.....

I can not even begin to describe how good it felt to see the kids interacting with the animals, taking care of them, playing with them, and just in general being mindful of their surroundings and respecting "life".

Logan fell in love with the pigs...... YES I said Pigs! It was absolutely hysterical to watch him interact with them. He would walk up to their pens and would do his best to try to talk to them, they (at first) were having NOTHING to do with him.... it was HOT, and the majority of them were being lazy and just didn't feel the need to get up.... They'd lift their heads up, look at him and *kerplunk* back down their heads went....

Then he found one that was sticking his nose through the gate just waiting for some attention so off he went to *try* to communicate with him..... The *owner* of the pig was nice enough to let him pet and feed him so logan had a blast!

Chlo and Elissa LOVED the horses.... We spent ALOT of time in the horse barnes......

Tyler surprised me...... He really didn't have a reaction to anything UNTIL we got to the goat barn......Then he absolutely went NUTS..... (something tells me we are going to end up with a goat and pig before long.....

We ended the day at the demolition derby and everyone had a BLAST......

This folks is WHY I moved to the country...........

Hey Maytag!!!!!!

Hey Maytag! GET OFF YOUR BUTT'S and start listening to your CUSTOMERS!

So, you can tell by now that I'm on one of my warpath's....

Who wouldn't be when they have a family of 6 and a stack of dishes 2 feet high because their dishwasher has a RECALL and good ole MAYTAG's customer service reps have the manners of satan himself!

I probably could have dealt with the broken english, bad connection and hold time of more than 15 minutes IF I would have had a rep who was NOT in desperate need of a half a bottle of Midol..... But noooooooo Miss Nasty Pants just HAD to tick me off.... :)

So listen up Maytag.... I am going to be taking this P.O.S. square box you call a dishwasher and turning it into scrap (which it should have been in the first place) and replacing it with a competitors machine.....

::::::End Rant:::::::: :)

Munchkinangelo's

Sooooo I have 3 munchkins that would win any "Messiest Munchkin of the Year" contest if there were such a thing..... (Thank God my oldest is a clean freak) :)

Anyway, back to my 3 Picasso's........ Chlo and Logan have a love for Art... This love extends to walls, windows, tables, and their latest masterpiece is the playroom sofa.... :sigh:

Elissa (my oldest) DID go through this stage so I am *hoping* these other three lil artists will decide that a canvas, paper, or ANYTHING other than walls, furniture, windows & mirrors is just not appropriate....

I've TRIED to explain this to them and my 6 year old (Chloey's) reply was "But mom what about that man that painted pictures on the ceiling" (This is what I get for having a teenager in the house who is studying Michelangelo.... :sigh:

Now, Tyler is not free of guilt in this whole mess.... He (most) of the time prefers to tinker around with building things and (technical) schtuff.... BUT he did decide to join in on their recent adventure and added his special touches to the sofa with my mascara.... (Lovely eh?)

Sooooooo I've taken back control of my lil artists and removed all pens, pencils, markers, paint, makeup, ANYTHING these lil boogers could use to "create" their works of art.... I've decided that once a day we will sit down TOGETHER and have "art" time.....

Now, what to do about their creations! :shrug:

Mr. Clean's Magic Eraser is a God send..... I LOVE this thing!!!!!! Now, that the playroom walls have been cleaned of munchkinangelo's artwork it's time to paint...

So hubby and I go off to home depot.... (Which should be a blog all by itself) LoL After about an hour of debating *what* color the room should be...... I pull out a *win* and get the color I want..... (chocolate brown) I think it had something to do with this statement....

"If you want to paint that room a lighter color I would be prepared to spend about 2 hours a week scrubbing the walls" Hubby caved within seconds of that statement...

Now, I never really have cared for the carpet in that room and it definitly won't match the new wall color so while we were at HD I took a journey over to the "clearance" aisle and found a GORGEOUS remnant that was on clearance.... This was REALLY a blessing because remnant's there are scarce, let alone something that you really like and that will MATCH what your doing...... I look at the price (120.00) and think WOW great deal for a piece that's 12x14 (EXACT size we need) so I have the girl mark it as sold and go to pay for it.....

This is where it gets even better..... LOL The carpet rings up for SIXTY... yup $60.00 BUCKS! I about fell OVER!

All in all? I'm HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY!!!!! I'll poste before and after pics when the room is finished.....

Kelsey Briggs

Take a good look at this beautiful girl and ask yourself why the media has been fixated with Madeline McCann... when this gorgeous lil angel's abuse and murder went all but un-noticed by the media for 2 years.

Kelsey's Story

Kelsey was born on December 28th, 2002 and passed away on October 11th, 2005 at the age of 2..... Out of the 34 months she was on this earth atleast 9 of those were spent in hell being abused.... Let me back up and say 9 months have been documented.... I'd be willing to bet there were more.....

I have a very hard time believing that after these NINE months of DOCUMENTED abuse and TWO court hearings that ANY judge in his or her right mind would place this baby back into the hands of the abusers..... but.... one did.... Thus sentencing Kelsey to death......

On October 11th, 2005 she was murdered. The cause of death was blunt force trauma to the abdomen.

2 Weeks after Kelsey's death her Step Father was arrested on First Degree Murder and her mother was later charged with 2 felonies of Child Neglect and Enabling Child Abuse....

The case doesn't stop here..... In April of 2006 Lil Kelsey's body was exhumed and a 2nd autopsy was preformed. During this autopsy the coroners discovered something that was "missed". (Sexual Abuse)

How in God's name this could have been missed is beyond me.... But.... It was.....

The Step Father's charges were then amended to include sexual abuse.

On February 2nd 2007 the "system" screwed up again and allowed this MONSTER to plead guilty to a reduced charge of Enabling Child Abuse and received 30 years in prison.

He has no possibility of parole for 25.5 years

BIG flipping deal! (In My Opinion) This MONSTER should have been put to death for this crime...

"Mom"'s trial was in July (2007)and she was found guilty of "enabling child abuse and received 27 years.... Her formal sentencing is on Aug. 23rd.... While being lead away she said " I don't understand I love my baby"......

Uhhhh you loved your baby so much that you allowed a MONSTER to abuse and murder her..... she's damn lucky I wasn't on the jury.....

Now the story even gets SADDER.....

Where was Kelsey's biological father in all of this mess? Well, my friends he was serving his Country and in Iraq....and was JUST returning when his beautiful baby girl was murdered....

Kelsey is now in the arms of angels, and finally at peace..... But there are THOUSANDS of children that suffer abuse on a daily basis.....

The latest statistics show that during the fiscal year of 2005 over 6 million cases of abuse were reported in the United States alone..... 30% of the reported 6 million were substantiated abuse cases..... The rest were not..... Did some fall through the cracks? You bet your arss they did!

How we as a country...... Hell as HUMAN BEINGS can allow this to happen to our children is beyond me......

Penalties need to be stiffer and these monsters that abuse children should be put to death......

The (hope) of rehabilitating someone who has physically, sexually, or even mentally abused a CHILD is close to impossible.... (IN MY OPINION) Why in the world do we want to burden tax payers with paying to keep this kind of person alive.....

Think I'm wrong? Look at Kelsey again and think about the pain she suffered through........

Rest in peace sweet little one............

My Views on Jackson and Sharpton....

I personally think that these two are probably the biggest race baiting, poverty pimps in this country......

They quite literally make me nauseous, let's look back and see what actually shot these two into the spotlight.....

Jessie Jackson~ I honestly believe that this man started out on the right track, he worked HARD to establish an education, joined the MLK movement (MLK is a another blog by itself but back to topic) Jessie was NOT a silver spoon rich kid, he fought for his beliefs and for equality.... It's just a shame that politics stepped in and (IMO) blemished his efforts and his name.

Jackson once endorsed the pro-life Hyde Amendment and wrote an article in a 1977 National Right to Life Committee News report:

"There are those who argue that the right to privacy is of [a] higher order than the right to life ... that was the premise of slavery. You could not protest the existence or treatment of slaves on the plantation because that was private and therefore outside your right to be concerned.

"What happens to the mind of a person, and the moral fabric of a nation, that accepts the aborting of the life of a baby without a pang of conscience? What kind of a person and what kind of a society will we have twenty years hence if life can be taken so casually? It is that question, the question of our attitude, our value system, and our mind-set with regard to the nature and worth of life itself that is the central question confronting mankind. Failure to answer that question affirmatively may leave us with a hell right here on earth."

WOW did he ever NAIL that one on the head!!!!! Then, corruption, power, and $$ stepped in....... And, now Jackson forgets those very words he spoke..... and instead chases racism ambulances.

Speaking of racism, (and) this is where the word HYPOCRITE comes in to play.... Does everyone forget Jackson's comments to Milton Coleman (A Washington Post Reporter) He referred to the Jewish Community as "Hymie's" and to New York City as "Hymie town" Uhhh HELLO?!?!?!?

Yet who is the first person on the Politically Correct Bus when there is a HINT of racism.

Rosa Parks would roll over in her grave if she knew.......

Now, let's move on to my favorite of the pair..... (Note the sarcasm)

The Rev. Mr. Al Sharpton.... O gawd what a headache this man gives me....

Where the hell do I even start with this one?!?!? Ok, Ok lets start from the beginning on this one.......

"Alfred" was born in Brooklyn and actually *preached* his first sermon when he was 4 years old..... (That explains his preaching style now) :0) ANYWAY..... Did you realize that "Al" used to be the TOUR MANAGER for James Brown? Which even explains a little bit more :grin:

Ya know, much like Jackson I really do believe that "Alfred" had good intentions when he started his equality campaign. Howard Beach and Bensonhurst NEEDED to be brought to light.... But over the years.... :sigh: well you know the rest of the story......

Someone explain to me how a man who once fought for the rights of the poor can become a spokesman for "LoanMax" a "loan" operation who is accused of being a HUGE predatory lender. The ads "Alfred" made for loanmax were marketed in predominately "African American Markets" Uhhh Can we say.... SELL OUT!

Some of "Al's" quotes are as follows:

“White folks was in caves while we was building empires ... We taught philosophy and astrology and mathematics before Socrates and them Greek homos ever got around to it.”

1994 Kean College

"As for the one Mormon running for office, those who really believe in God will defeat him anyways, so don't worry about that; that's a temporary situation."

Now, he has apologized for the "Mormon" comment.... But wait wait wait!!!!!!! Didn't Imus apologize for HIS comments?!?!? Yet Imus lost his job AND is now being sued by one of those he directed the comments to..... Hmmmm maybe the Mormons should line up at this atty's doorstep and sue "Al"......

It boils down to one thing...... I personally think that these two "characters" are probably the biggest HYPOCRITES living on this earth today........

If I could spend 5 minutes with these characters I'd remind them of 7 very important principles that they have forgotten......


Umoja (Unity)
To strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation and race.

Kujichagulia (Self-Determination)
To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves and speak for ourselves.

Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility)
To build and maintain our community together and make our brother's and sister's problems our problems and to solve them together.

Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics)
To build and maintain our own stores, shops and other businesses and to profit from them together.

Nia (Purpose)
To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.

Kuumba (Creativity)
To do always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.

Imani (Faith)
To believe with all our heart in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.

I found this story today and thought to myself WHY is this not on the front page?

Why? Because God forbid that ANY *good* story come from the War in Iraq... YES we are loosing our beloved men and women everyday.... But guess what folks? We are also SAVING lives......

Source:

U.S. troops care for Iraqi baby rescued from garbage

By Ross Colvin

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - In the nine months since she was born, tiny Fatima Jubouri first lost her father, then gunmen killed her mother and uncle and she was left alone and uncared for in a pile of garbage in Baghdad.

Police found Fatima, malnourished and suffering from dehydration in Iraq's scorching summer heat, hidden under rubbish in one of southern Baghdad's most violent districts.

How she got there is not clear, although there is speculation her mother hid her before she was killed.

An innocent rescued from Iraq's killing fields, her survival against the odds has made Fatima a media star at a U.S. military hospital in Baghdad's Green Zone.

"She is a baby -- she is happiness in a bad place," said Lieutenant Beth Brauchli, the hospital's acting public affairs officer.

Between Fatima's naps, staff at the 28th Combat Support Hospital have been scheduling appointments for U.S. and other foreign television crews to visit their tiny charge in the hope that her story will rescue her from an uncertain future.

Children are particularly vulnerable in Iraq's sectarian violence that has killed tens of thousands of people and made millions homeless. A report by British charity Oxfam also said at least 28 percent of Iraqi children were malnourished.

For now, Fatima is the centre of attention, doted on by nurses and other visitors to her ward. But soon, and no one at the hospital knows exactly when, U.S. soldiers will return to take her to an orphanage to join her five siblings.

"Every day we are waiting for the soldiers to come and take her to the orphanage. We are not pushing, because we know what the future could hold for her," said the ward's head nurse, Captain Nhan Ngo-Anderson, adding that she had heard that efforts were being made to find Fatima's extended family.

After receiving adoption inquiries, the hospital's chief doctor made enquiries at the U.S. embassy, staff said. They replied that "Iraqi law does not currently permit full adoptions as they are currently understood in the United States".

A U.S. embassy official referred media inquiries to Iraq's Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs.

"HAPPINESS IN A BAD PLACE"

Brauchli said staff were hoping that the media interest in Fatima would "create a loophole in the policy".

However, adoption is forbidden in Muslim countries.

Fatima weighed just 8.4 lbs when she was admitted, the weight of a new-born baby. Now she is a healthier 11.6 lbs, but still her wide, dark eyes seem too big for her face, and her head looks too large for a body stunted by malnourishment.

Old ringworm scars mark her thin arms.

The U.S. military says Iraqi police rescued her from a garbage dumpster on June 25 in the mostly Sunni Arab district of Saidiya, where many residents are too afraid to venture out.

She was brought to the hospital by U.S. soldiers who had been in the area at the time. They told staff how her parents and uncle had been killed.

"When she first got here she was timid and scared. Now she is laughing all the time. We've made a sling out of a sheet. We put her in there and carry her around while we take care of patients and do paperwork," said Specialist Desmond Cacciotti.

She sleeps in a supply room near the nurses' station so that they can keep a close eye on her. Her cot lies in a corner, amid shelves stuffed with donated baby clothes and medical supplies.

Her presence is a welcome distraction for staff. They are still trying to come to terms with the death of head nurse Captain Maria Ortiz, who was killed in a mortar attack on July 10, the first army nurse to die in combat since the Vietnam war.

~Sago~

We just got back from a family reunion this wknd..... It was GREAT to see them all and the kids (as usual) LOVED the mountains and their play time with their cousins!

While we were down there this time we drove by the Sago Mine.... Both Mom and I were "shocked" to see just how monstrous this place really is!

When the Sago disaster occurred it touched our family deeply simply because this (IS) the chosen profession of ALOT of our family members.....

We've even had a few relatives that have worked Sago... And when the Sago disaster happened it literally "shook" my Uncles windows.....

Seeing Sago brought back alot of the emotions that I had when the disaster occurred....

It broke my heart to drive by the church where all of the families gathered, then seeing that mine? Well it just was too much.....

The eery part of this is when we arrived at my uncles house last night CNN had a hour long documentary on Sago.... (we had NO clue and it was playing when we walked in)

The mine is now closed, although coal trucks were going in and out while we were there....

The disaster didn't stop the morning they found the miners...... Since that day 3 of the survivors have committed suicide...... NOT alot of news on that, I guess it wasn't "worthy" of national news coverage...

The locals will tell you all about it tho and when you do a search on google for it, you'll only see stories about 2 of the 3.....

Mining is a dangerous job, but these men are brave souls who have to support a family.... and in this area of the country mining is about the only "well paying" job around....

I'm PROUD of my Uncles and Cousins who have worked the mines, they've risked their lives for years to provide for their loved ones.....

In loving memory



Thomas "Tom" Paul Anderson, age 39
Alva Martin "Marty" Bennett, age 51
James Arden "Jim" Bennett, age 61 (shuttle car operator)
Jerry Lee Groves, age 56
George Junior Hamner, age 54
Terry Michael Helms, age 50 (fire boss)
Jesse Logan Jones, age 44
David William Lewis, age 28
Martin Toler Jr. age 51 (mine foreman)
Fred Gay "Bear" Ware Jr., age 58
Jackie Lynn Weaver, age 51
Marshall Cade Winans, age 50

~War Is Hell~

I had full intentions of going to bed early tonight, I just finished watching a great movie and went to click the tv off and up came Baghdad ER.

For those of you that haven't seen this I highly recommend it.... My ONLY request is that you LOOK at these men and women and realize what TRUE HEROES they are....

You watch these guys (the ones that are able) call home to their families from the ER...... and your heart sinks.....

You see grown men cry over fallen friends, yet behind those very same eyes that are shedding tears you see a determination to do their job... These men are nothing less than amazing.

The operating room never stops..... Helicopters fly in with a new IED victim, this time one of our soldiers is missing a leg, and has just coded on landing. They ER works furiously on him for 30-40 minutes and then decided they that have to "call it"....

Another lost.......

The anger and defeat in the doctors eyes is enough to drive you to tears........

Another helicopter flies in, this time it's a group of National Guard Boys from Alabama who have been hit by an IED......... They've been in Iraq for 3 weeks......

As injuries go, these boys have "minor" ones compared to what IED victims normally suffer. All survive.......

Hours later the blades whirl yet again and another chopter flies in...... This time an IED has wounded 2 and killed 1..... One of the soldiers looses a thumb and small finger, the other looses his leg....... Both? Lost thier best friend and co-worker.


Independece Day (7/4)

Things don't slow down and the helicopters come flying in........ 4 Iraqui nationals come in (involved in an IED attack) All live.......

The doctors get their "Wish" for the day....... No Dead soldiers...... But tomorrow will be another story.......

July 5th..... The blades whirl again, 2 dead on arrival while the team works furiously to save a 3rd soldier... They end up having to amputate his arm.......

The last story of the day..... A 21 year old marine arrives with a bullet in his chest and he's loosing a massive amount of blood. He's taken straight to the OR and they operate. The operation goes well, and thing look good for him... Hours later he still is bleeding out from the wound and within an hour another life is lost....

Folks, no matter WHAT your view is on the war....... Remember our men and women... and the sacrifices they are making on a DAILY basis to ensure our freedoms....

THANK THEM........ SUPPORT THEM.........

Harry Potter Vs. WRONG thinking......

I was going to label this particular blog "Harry Potter Vs. The Church" then I realized it's NOT the Church, it's NOT the Bible, and it's NOT "Religion" per say it's simply put

Ignorance and Hypocrisy

O' Brother I've went and ticked some folks off again eh? Well listen...... this is the way I SEE IT.....

I want everyone of you that have spoke up over Harry Potter to tell me if you've done the same with C.S. Lewis's "Narnia"..... NO? hmmmm Well, don't you remember that Aslan offered himself up to be killed in place of a boy sentenced to death.... yet Aslan rises from the grave the next day.... I don't remember a whole lot of panties getting twisted over that one......

What strikes me SO funny about this whole situation is the hypocrites that are speaking out about this will be the FIRST ones to sit down with their children, pop some popcorn and turn the Wizard of Oz on....

That's a "Classic" they say.... Well, that's hypocrisy at it's finest I SAY..

Honestly the whole argument just makes me roll my eyes....

It's another fine case of sweep your own back porch before starting to sweep mine....

I'm not going to defend Harry Potter, because quite frankly I don't think there is anything to defend.... I see the whole series as an excellent source of getting our children INTERESTED in a few things that are VERY important!

a) READING
b) IMAGINATION
c) Loyalty and Friendships
d) Fighting for something you believe in

Kudos to Joanne Rowling's for being able to bring back the LOVE of READING to our children!