Let the ball drop without me...

Well, it's only 9:15 and I'm starting to realize that I'm not going to make it to see the ball drop. My eyelids are dropping instead. I guess it was too many New Year's Eve snacks...I should have waited and set the food out after 11 p.m.

This year has been quite a doozy and I have to say one that I certainly wouldn't want to re-live. I do, however, want to give God the glory for getting us through and I know that no matter where my path leads this next year He will be right there beside of us every step of the way. We have many exciting things in store for this year. Dylan graduates from Riverside High in May. Carly is going to All State Choir at Morgantown in March. I'm so excited! I get to go too. I will be subbing this semester so that I can take the time off when I need too.

I hope that everyone makes realistic resolutions and starts 2009 out in the most focused manner possible. My goals for the New Year are (in random order):

1. be focused on my children and help them to have the best school year possible
2. focus on being healthier, ie. losing weight and getting more exercise
3. expand my blogging empire... :-)
4. spend more quiet time with the Lord in prayer and studying the bible
5. set aside more time for reading for myself
6. make a quilt
7. practice my writing more
8. give God glory, glory, glory!
9. start a home business
10. make my kids feel my love every single day

Stores Open on Christmas Day

I hope that we don't realize something is missing from Christmas dinner and have to run out to the grocery story. Nothing is open - unless of course you want to go to 7-Eleven or GoMart. I'm glad, though, that the store employees have the day off so that they can go spend it with their families. There are so many families that will do without this year, either because of the economic situation or just because that has always been the way of life for them. I'm asking a special prayer for these people and for the homeless. I feel very blessed to have my family with me at Christmas and to be in a loving home with plenty to eat. God is good all the time. Merry Christmas!

Dear Santa

Christmas break is not looking good for my sanity. The nine year old is already coming to me with the "I'm so bored" problem and this is only the first day of break. Wonder what I will feel like in two weeks? I try to get her involved in journaling or drawing or some other pursuit but I think she mainly wants to make my life miserable. Her problem is that she is very social and she likes to go out and shop and visit friends and all of that. I'm trying to stay at home and save some money, while getting some writing done. Well, she's just not buying that!

I've been posting some articles on EHow. It's kind of fun and I'm earning a few pennies. I know of some people who earn over $1500 each month with their articles. It's all residual income, meaning you don't get paid anything up front, but if someone comes to read your article and clicks on one of the adsense ads then you get a portion of the money that is made. I have written a few articles about making Christmas presents, like Russian Friendship Tea and Sea Salt Shower Scrub. These have made the most money because people are looking for stuff like that right now. I just posted one last night on how to save money and trees by making your own ecard to send via email. If I could stay focused and not get distracted by the "bored kid" so much I could post much more and potentially have a better residual income from this site. Well, it all sounds good in theory. Go ahead and try your luck at him. Who knows? You might have something to add that will make you a little extra money.

I'm officially finished...

With Christmas shopping, that is. I got the last few presents and the kid's stocking stuffers today. Hooray! I didn't do a whole lot anyway because I have cut way back and this year cut even further. Hey! I might get away with not having to shop at all next year. That's a laugh. Kids always want bigger and better stuff every year. I've got one that is 17 so he asks for expensive stuff anyway and the other one is only 9, but it seems like she is catching on with him, too, and asking for more expensive stuff. Well, guess what? You don't always get what you want!

I was reading People Magazine in the doctor's office the other day while I was waiting on my mom and I came across something that Reese Witherspoon had said that really impressed me. She said that she doesn't allow her children to become prey to Christmas gluttony (as she calls it). They get one big thing and few smaller presents even though she has the money to buy them whatever they want. I think they appreciate the presents more if they don't get a lot of stuff on Christmas morning. We've had years where you couldn't hardly cross the living room floor because of the presents and they were just so overwhelmed with everything that they didn't seem to enjoy any of it.

They are sharing a big present this year and I've never done that before so we'll see how it goes. They each got a big gift separately too, plus several smaller gifts. I don't want to share what the big gift is yet, because I don't know for sure that they won't come across this and figure it out. They're sneaky too!

I'm having difficulty finding time to do any freelance writing or blogging with all of the Christmas excitement in the air. We've had Christmas programs during the day this week. My daughter's class sang in front of Macy's at the mall on Monday and of course I couldn't miss that. I've had to try to finish up shopping and wrapping while they are in school this week because Monday will be the last day before Christmas break. I also had to go do orientation and a physical to be a professional substitute teacher in another county. I won't be getting calls to sub there until after January 5th, so I had really better force myself to focus and get some writing done in the next few weeks. It looks like January is going to be slim pickings! Okay, I'll go now. I'm starting to ramble. I hope that everyone can stay as stress free this next week as possible and enjoy your families, which is what the Christmas spirit is all about, right?

Merry Christmas from the Eagles...

Our local chapter of the Fraternal Order of Eagles threw their annual Christmas party at the local high school today. We went and had pizza, drinks and free presents. It was really nice. Every child under the age of 12 got a present and they gave away six bikes. Carly was one of the last in line for her age group and they ran out of presents so she got money instead. She was just as happy because she can buy what she wants. Her class chorus sings at the mall in Charleston tomorrow so she can shop with her money afterwards. I have to go and show my support, of course... :) . We also have a dress to take back to JCPenneys that is just a tad too tight. She needs a cream cardigan to wear with her Christmas dress so we are hoping to find one of those too. I forgot to mention, she also made All State Chorus, so I am very proud of her for that.

Florida Governor orders investigation into abuse allegations...

I hope they are able to find some answers on who these graves belong to and that the abusers can be found (if they're still living) and made to pay for their sick deeds. It's hard to believe that children could be treated in such a horrific manner. The survivors that have reunited call themselves "the white house boys" after the building which they were taken in and severely beaten. They allege that some boys didn't make it out alive.

life in prison...

I found out that I was passed my test for the prison job that I was interested in. As luck would have it the same week I was issued a teaching permit for long term substitute. So, should I deal with convicts or future convicts? That's a joke! I will choose to sub because it pays much better and I can work when I want to.

I used to work at the prison in question way back when as a dental assistant. I have to say it was the best job I ever had in my life. It was one of the lowest paying positions but it was so much fun. You probably think that I'm weird, but that's just the way that it worked out. I think it was so much fun because of the dentist that I worked with. He was like a grown up Bart Simpson and I loved him. I quit there when I was 7 months pregnant with my daughter. They replaced me. Had I not quit I would probably still be there.

I've felt that teaching is more rewarding than working with inmates, though. Like students, some of the inmates really appreciated the service they were given and some didn't. Of course all of the inmates were there because they had to be and many students that I've had in the past have that same attitude of "I'm only here because it's the law."

Grab Those Bratz!!!

If you're a bratz doll fan you had better grab 'em while you can. Apparently Mattel has won a big lawsuit forcing MGA Entertainment, the current marketers of the Bratz, to discontinue sales. I'm not sure how all of this played out, but Mattel claims that they owned the copyright to the Bratz because the designer, Carter Bryant, was employed by them when he secretly created the Bratz model and left to take it to MGA. Mattel's sales of the iconic Barbie have fallen significantly over the past few years.

I have to admit, though, our household was never a fan of Bratz anyway. I mean do 8 year old girls need to be playing with dolls that look they are dressed for clubbing and that have botox injections in their lips? They don't here. Move over Bratz because Barbie is going to be top dog once again.

Disregard for Human Life...

My God! What depths have we sunk to when getting a bargain is more important than a human life? A WalMart employee at a Long Island store was trampled to death when he opened the doors yesterday morning and 2000 Black Friday shoppers pushed past him. The reports said that people were just stepping over his body as they were running into the store to get a deal. This is so sad that it just makes me cry. Can you imagine how that man's family must feel? I mean what is wrong with this picture people? Have we placed so much emphasis on the material things of this world that we're willing to take a life? That seeing a man laying on the ground will not deter us from our shopping frenzy? It just sickens me. That's all I can say.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!

I just wanted to write a quick blog to let everyone know that I hope you have a wonderful Turkey Day! I've been under the weather this last week, but I'm finally on the mend. Thank goodness! I'm cooking the turkey in the morning. I'm getting ready to go prepare two pumpkin pies and banana pudding so that will be done tonight. I'm thankful for my wonderful family and friends, but most of all I'm thankful for a forgiving and caring God who watches over me all the time. Happy Thanksgiving y'all...don't eat too much tomorrow!!!

Cinderella...

I love this song and it is especially tender knowing that Steven Curtis Chapman lost his youngest daughter after he wrote this. I'll bet he's glad now and so thankful that he took the time to dance with her.



Blessings...

wish I could sleep...

It's 3 a.m. and the wind is howling outside. I couldn't lay in bed any longer-had to get up. Today was kind of a bust. We went to get supplies for crafts and that went okay, except we kind of forgot a few of the important things that we needed. I still have enough to start and can go somewhere locally this week to pick up the other stuff.

I'm really frustrated with Sprint. I called them on Friday to have my number changed to a local number since my old number was a Florida area code. The lady says it will be no problem and she changes the number and gives me a bunch of codes to program into my phone. Well, when she did that the phone said "initializing...this may take a few minutes." She hung up with me and I ended up calling back several hours later because it was still saying that. After 2 hours on the phone with tech they finally tell me that I will have to take my phone to the nearest Sprint store, which by the way, is a 45 minute drive in either direction. So, I head to the Sprint store today after the funeral that I attended earlier in the day. When I got to the store and started telling the guy that my phone was stuck on "initializing" I went to show him the phone and it seemed to be fixed. I still couldn't call out anywhere because he said that the Sprint towers were down. I tried the rest of the shopping trip to call home and to call my son's Sprint phone. It kept saying "the person you are trying to call isn't answering the phone". So, when I got home I figured out that it is my phone that isn't working-STILL! I've never had so much trouble with a company as I have with Sprint. I'm not exaggerating one bit. I was thinking about it yesterday and I've never investing so much of my time trying to get things straight with a company as I have with Sprint.

These are a bunch of my favorite things...

I love this time of year. I get to craft!!!! I'm selling the following items on ebay so my crafting excuse is "Hey! I'm making money!" I'm going to super busy between now and Christmas.




These are my primitive, skinny stockings. Aren't they just charming?


These are my primitive, grungy chenille candy canes, tied with Sweet Annie. They smell heavenly!



These are primitive, little stockings and can be used as bowl fillers or for tree ornaments.



These are my poinsettias covered with German glass glitter for that extra special sparkle.



These are cute little primitive snowman heads covered with sparkling mica so they look like they've been out in the snow.



More snowman heads



More stockings



Primitive Snowmen



Primitive Mittens with cinnamon sticks and sweet annie inside

The little guys below are star snowmen covered with mica to look snowy.

Exciting day turned sad...

I was excited to be going to Walmart and Ben Franklin to buy supplies for my ebay Christmas crafts, but then I remembered that I have to go to a wake today. My friend's aunt died and her viewing and funeral are today. It's going to be bad I'm sure. Well, I know that all funerals are bad, but sometimes the people are subdued and sometimes they're not. This will be one where they're not. The lady's daughter is a basket case. Poor girl. I feel so sorry for her. She wants her mommy back. It makes me cringe, because I would probably be in the same condition if I were in her place right now.

It's not Barneys fault...

Poor little Barney, the White House doggie, got in trouble yesterday for nipping a reporter. I'll bet that guy won't reach out to pet without permission again. He wasn't hurt, but of course it made the news because, after all, Barney is the First Dog you know. The reporter had to be seen by the White House doctor and had to be put on antibiotics and will need to get a tetanus shot and all of that. Good grief! Whatever happened to getting nipped by a dog and washing it off with soap and water and putting a little turpentine on it and going on about your business?

Blue

I remember when I sat and listened to your stories about your life journeys.

I can still see you coming in your khaki pants.

Your legs could hardly get you around.

You were like a tough old mule.

I can still remember when we used to go fishing in Mr. Vernon’s pond on Saturday afternoons.

You were always an honest man.

You always wore a Dickies button-up shirt.

Sometimes I wish you were still here.

You always laughed like a kid.

You used to love to hunt with old Browny.

At the end your walk was weary.

You loved to smell the jasmine in Mamaw’s garden.

You’ve been through a lot since December 21, 1912.

Your life could have been a book.

Your old blue eyes saw more than ten men would see in a lifetime.

**************************************

My son, Dylan, wrote this poem last year for English III. It is about his memories of his papaw, who passed away in December 2005.

Carly doing the ball toss...

I think we're about festivalled out now. This past Saturday was the Fall Festival at our church and everything fell into place unbelievably well. It rained right up until the minute it was time to start setting everything out. Finally, the rain stopped, the sun came out and the ground dried up enough so that the kiddies wouldn't get too wet stomping around. The kids loved all of the games. We had face painting, a cupcake walk, a little merry-go-round and two big jumping toys...plus about 6 or 7 carnival games. My uncle brought his food trailers and we served hot dogs, popcorn and cotton candy. It was a lot of work, but well worth it if it only brings one more kid or family into church. We had a really good turnout and there was a lot of kids there that I had never seen before. I helped make cotton candy and I was picking it out of my hair for the rest of the day. I couldn't believe what a mess that stuff makes....pure sugar! Of course, that's why the kids love it so much.

This is the cotton candy shack where I spent most of my day. Uncle is so crazy. We had a blast whipping out that cotton candy!

Taking a break!

Let's Get Personal...

Oh, no! I've been tagged by Pam over at Shrinking Pamela and now I have to list eight personal or interesting facts about myself that you may or may not already know. So here goes:

1. I've always wanted to ride a horse, but haven't had the opportunity to do so yet.
2. Since infancy I have rubbed my feet together to put myself to sleep and continue to do so to this day.
3. I aspired to be a Forensic Medical Examiner when I first started college 24 years ago.
4. I lost my brother to heart disease when he was 37 years old.
5. I love spaghetti!
6. I just moved back to West Virginia after living in Florida for six years.
7. I taught ninth grade American History when I lived in Florida.
8. I graduated second in the 1984 graduating class of Valley High School.

The rules:
1. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
2. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
3. At the end of your blog post, you need to choose who you want to tag and list their names.
4. Don't forget to leave them a comment telling them they're tagged, and to read your blog.

I choose:
1. Angie's Blog of Silly Stuff
2. Fat Girl Goes Fit
3. The Captain's Chair

They Like Me!

I'm humbled to have received another blog award from both Kim at Kim's Kountry Kitchen and Bonnie at House of Bargains. Thanks ladies! I'll pass this award on to other blogs that I enjoy.

Here are the rules:

1. The winner can put the logo on his/her blog.
2. Link the person you received your award from.
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
4. Put links of those blogs on yours.
5. Leave a message on the blogs of the persons you've nominated.

The nominees are:

1. A Little of This and That
2. Pamela-Te-Da
3. Three Times a Bridesmaid
4. Let Us Talk
5. Blog About It
6. Homeschool With Tracey
7. My Song of Joy
8. Working at Home and Loving It

It's that time again...

I've already had to make a batch of GOOT and the flu and cold season hasn't even hit us good yet. If you don't know what GOOT is you can check it out on this post. It is a home remedy for infection fighting and I put it on the soles of my kid's feet when they are sick. I'm also putting it on Carly's neck today because she has a sore throat and her tonsils are swollen.

I went to Rite Aide and bought a neti pot. They have a special this week. The pot is $10.99 and there is a single check rebate available for $10.99, so you might as well say that it is free. Carly hates to use the neti pot, but I'm trying to get her in the habit. I left my other one in storage so I'm going to start using this one too. You can definitely tell the difference in your sinuses when you rinse them out with a neti pot.

I'm just really glad that there's no school tomorrow. I don't know why...one of those faculty senate days or something. Anyway, it will give Baby Girl a chance to get rested up. Plus, I'd hate to send her to school smelling like a cook at the Olive Garden.

Don't Fall Festival...

Today was the Fall Festival in Pratt and the kids had a blast climbing the rock wall that the Army provided. The pic below is Carly getting cinched up to climb. I'm such a chicken when it comes to stuff like this. She is never scared at all. I don't want her to be a scaredy cat like me, but sometimes I wish she would have a little more apprehension about stuff. It makes for a safer life and doesn't put as many gray hairs in Mom's head, either. The army reps had a nice table set up with anti-tobacco literature. The kids all seemed to find it very interesting. They had a prop that looked like a pack of cigarettes. You could pull one of the cigs out of the pack and the middle of it was a clear plastic cylinder showing the amount of tar in a cigarette. Most of the kids were really grossed out, so hopefully it will stick with them if they are ever tempted to succumb to peer pressure.

A child got called home today...

I'm really bummed...my mom's oldest sister, Dorothy, passed away today. She was such a sweet lady and I'm glad that mom has such wonderful memories of her. She was 88 and she had been suffering with Alzheimers for years. I know that she is heaven and she is no longer suffering, but it's still difficult to watch my mom and her other sisters go through this loss. She was one of the girls...the first sister to pass, in fact. Out of 16 children there were 10 boys and 6 girls. With the exception of one boy all of the sons have already passed away. Aunt Dorothy was the first girl to go. Mom and my other aunts are sad too because she was in another state and none of them are well enough to travel there for the funeral. They want to be there, but they can't. Keep our family in your prayers, please.

Save the Tatas

In case you've been hiding under a rock or lost on a remote island the past few months, and haven't heard, October is National Breast Cancer Awareness month. Although women should be doing self breast exams and mammograms and all of that other good stuff on a regular basis, this month is a time of heightened awareness of the disease. This is a time to really focus on spreading the word about how breast cancer can be detected early and how it can be treated. This is a time to acknowledge all of the women (men too) who have been diagnosed with this disease and have fought the fight of their lives. We probably all know someone who has either had breast cancer or has been affected by it because someone close to them has fought it. You may wonder what you can do to help in the fight against breast cancer. The battlefield isn't just for women. Men and children can get in the fight, too. Here are some things that you can do to help eradicate this disease:

1. do (encourage females in your life to do) monthly self breast exams and report any irregularities to your doctor
2. women over 40 have yearly mammograms
3. participate in any fund raising activity that will give breast cancer research some much needed funds...right now Yoplait is donating 10 cents for every yogurt lid they receive so come on and eat lots of yogurt!
4. participate in walks and parades and other other activities that will make people look and talk and spread the word and not stop talking until we find a cure for breast cancer
5. donate money to breast cancer research
6. be a friend and support someone who is struggling with this disease

Cops Gone Wild...

I just read in our local Sunday newspaper, The Charleston Gazette, that two of my hometown cops are in trouble for an alleged attack on two citizens during a routine traffic stop. One cop got fired for insubordination and the other is on administrative leave for being accused of using unnecessary force to restrain the motorists. The incident was reportedly racially motivated. I don't know how it all started, but this supposedly routine traffic stop stopped quickly escalated to an all-out brawl. The newspaper reported that both the driver and passenger of the car had to be transported to the hospital after first making a stop a City Hall. The driver, Lauren Reynolds, alleges that one of the policeman, Patrolman Matthew Leavitt, licked her on the neck and asked her "is that how you like it you little whore?" He claims that she was fighting him and pulling at his gun belt. Her husband, Twan Reynolds, alleges that his cornea was ripped when he was beat with the officer's nightsticks and his elbow was chipped while he was being stomped. Patrolman Leavitt claims that Mr. Reynolds came lurching out of the car when the officers asked his wife to step out. The officers had seen a half empty bottle of Vodka in the back seat and said that their intention was to give the driver, Mrs. Reynolds a Breathalyzer Test. Leavitt further alleges that another cop on the scene refused to help get the subject under control. Tests report that the Breathalyzer Test failed to indicate that the driver had been drinking. The Gazette reported that Mrs. Reynolds accused Leavitt of asking "Don't you know who owns this town? Well, your getting ready to learn." Now, I'm surely not a lawyer, but it all sounds like a big ole lawsuit to me. Oh, yeah...the mayor, who is also the town magistrate will be hearing the case to decide whether or not any wrong-doing took place. I know one thing-I would be asking for an outside, independent agency in a case like this.

Newman's Legacy

Today is a sad day in Hollywood with the passing of Paul Newman. He was one of my favorite actors. He wasn't just an actor, though. He was the faithful husband of 50 years to Joanne Woodward, a philanthropist, an outspoken civil rights advocate and so much more to all of his fans the world over. He will be surely be missed. 'Newman's Own', his gourmet foods company, has donated 100s of millions to charities. Some of my favorite movies that he starred in were Cool Hand Luke, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Color of Money. He's gone but certainly will never be forgotten - his legacy lives on in the millions of people who have been positively impacted by his life and love for others.

Appetizer anyone?

I haven't had as much time to post lately because I've been working on some freelance writing assignments. Yay me!!! I just wanted to pop in so everyone would know that I'm still around. I also wanted to say that I received a heads up on a great offer today from TGI Fridays. I found a post over at Work at Home Mom Revolution pointing me to a coupon. Hurry and get yours. The coupon is only good until Oct. 10, 2008 and is good for one appetizer, valued up to $8.00. TGI Fridays here I come!

decisions...decisions

I wish I had someone to make all of the decisions that are popping up in my life lately. I just received a call from the lady at the school board and she wanted me to come into her office in the morning for an interview to be a long-term sub. Well, I don't have my fingerprints done yet and I haven't done my six hours of observation at the school of my choice. When I told her that I hadn't completed these tasks yet, she kind of told me, in a round-about way, "hurry up...we need help".

So, now, I have to figure out which police detachment is the least expensive to have my prints done. Some of these places charge $20 just to ink your fingers and put them on the card. Heck! I already have the card. I'm thinking about smearing some mascara on the pads of my fingers and doing it myself. On top of that $20 I have to have a $59 check to go with the fingerprint card when I go in for the interview...not to mention the $25 that I already paid to take the online class to go to their training center and be tested. Funny thing though - they don't make you do a drug screening. I guess they figure that after paying out all of the money you have put out to jump through their hoops, you wouldn't have the money to buy drugs anyway.

My regular reads...

These are some of the blogs that I read on a regular basis. Check them out. They cover an array of topics and you might find something you like!

A Little of This and That

A Peek Inside Our Life

All in a Blog

Angies Silly Stuff

Anything I Think About
Baby Luvin

Barefooted Me

Blog About it

Blog Fogg

Bloggie Mommie

Busy Bee Village

The Cajun Blogger

Cat-o-nine Tales

Chatty Chica

Claudette's Words

A Christian Marriage

Confessions of a Baltimore Housewife

Confetti by:Kateedyd

Coodas Corner

Cypress TX Mom

Da Boss And Bryguy

Dave's Blue Planet

Deal with Chronic Pain

Digital Photography Today

Domesticated Diva

Drizzly Blog

Fat Girl Goes Fit

Feelings Just Are

Five O'Clock Somewhere

Flipping Adentures

Florida Travel Spots

4 Cats Make Me Crazy!

The Fuzzbutt Files

The Geeks Girl

Godly Woman

Good News

Green 'n' Pink

Happy Healthy Families

Have Your Health

Healthy Home Blog

Here On Columbia Avenue

Hillbilly Heart

House of Bargains

House Wife Wom

Huckle Buckle and Other Mom Stuff

A Hunter's Wife

I Don't Commute

I Love My 3 Boys

It's Just My Thoughts

Jolly Mom

Kateedyd What?!

Kimmi's Krazy World

Kim's Kountry Kitchen

KKB Mom of 3

Kookie Krumblez

Lipgloss N" Pinups

Lisa‘s Command Post

Luxury Lifestylez

Making My American Dream

Mama and Hustler???

Mia's Menu Mania

Mia's Motivation

Mindals Musings

Mindy Making Sense

Mix World

Mad Mommy

Moma's Crazy World

Moma's Life

Mommie’s Marbles

Mommy Mia's World

Mom Tidings

Mom to Three Sisters

Mom to Tweens

Moon Babyz

Ms Frugal McDougal

My Big Fat Battle

My First Steps With Jesus

My-Junk-Drawer

My So Called Blog

My Name is Not “Mom”

My Song of Joy

My Wahm Life

My Weekly Beef

Notes From a Wannabe WAHM

Not Just In Your Head

101 Ways to Save

Pamela-te-da

Paradise Fiber Studio

Photos for the Fun of it

Postcard from Somewhere

Pure Jade Home

Raising a Girl

Remotely Mommy

Saving with Style

Saving With Tracy

Savvy Business Moms

Secola‘s Space

Secret Thoughts and More

Shrinking Pamelalala

SlickMom

Something Witty to Say

Success Factors

Surgical Nurse Musings

Talk Time with Kim

teleTwenties

That‘s What I am Talking About

The Jolly Kitchen

Three Times a Brideamaid
Thrifty Momma Ramblings

Thrifty Thoughts

Time Keeps on Flying
Totally TV!

Vibrant Healthy U

Wahm Adventures

WAH and Loving It

WICBlog

The Work From Home Blog

Work from Home Options

World of Homemaking

World of Mom

dancin' with a potty mouth

Did you see 'Dancing with the Stars' last night? Who knew Chloris Leachman would spew a string of profanities the way she did when the judges scored her? Great day lady! Have some respect for live tv! I do think that she is hilarious though. I watched her on Bonnie Hunt's new daytime show and she was a hoot. Bonnie kept telling her not to get close to the edge of the stage because she was afraid that Chloris would fall, which made Leachman a little mad. She went and pranced around the edge and laid on the floor just to spite Bonnie. Wow! I hope I'm that agile when I'm 82. I didn't think she danced bad at all to be an octogenarian. I guess the judges expect more even at that age! We'll see tonight who gets booted. I bet it will be Susan Lucci. She only scored 14 which really surprised me...not that the score surprised me, but I thought she would be a better dancer. Sorry Erica! I still love ya, though!

Fall in for a bowl of soup...

It's official! Soup weather is here. With the first day of fall on today's calendar it is the perfect time to enjoy a steaming, hot bowl of soup to chase away that brisk fall chill. I think that we've had pretty unseasonably warm weather for this time of year. It was, however, pretty nippy outside this morning at 7 a.m. when I put CJ on the bus. Today's dinner was a nice big pot of Taco Soup, courtesy of Kathy S. over at The Recipe Zaar. I love this website and use it more than any other cooking website on the internet. What I really like about it is that users rate the dishes, so you know before you start a recipe about how well it is going to turn out and how it can be tweaked for optimum performance, etc. The soup turned out delicious, as always. We top it with shredded cheese, sour cream and throw in a few tortilla chips for good measure.

I'm getting so excited about seeing the changes that fall always brings. That is what I love about living in this valley. Soon I'll be able to look up in any direction and see all the colors of God's palette in these hills. It is breathtaking! And then there's Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas all falling in line. Time to get busy! I may just need another bowl of that soup to fortify me!

Another pedophile is off the streets...

Former pastor Paul D. Smeltzer of Scott Depot pleaded guilty Wednesday to three counts of sexual assault. This is the pervert that molested three of his nieces and his stepdaughter while videotaping it. He will supposedly serve at least 17 but no more than 45 years for these crimes. It's not long enough. He needs to spend the rest of his life behind bars for the psychological damage he has caused these young girls. Unfortunately his involvement with the ministry has allowed him to have contact with youth for most of this decade. He was a director of children's ministry at Calvary Chapel Mira Mesa in California before he came to West Virginia. It is a sad, sad shame when people use the church and Christianity as a cover in order to perpetrate heinous acts against children. Jesus said in the bible that what you have done unto the least of these you've done unto him. He must be very distraught right now.

Pratt Elementary Welcomes LaBonte

Bobby LaBonte received a big hillbilly welcome from the City of Pratt, WV today. LaBonte was in attendance at the Grand Opening of Pratt Elementary's new playground which was made possible with a $15,000 award from Hamburger Helper, LaBonte's sponsor. The acting mayor presented the race car legend with a plaque that held the key to the city.

The tall man on the left hand side that is cut off is Mr. Anderson, the principal.

All in all in was a fun afternoon. The pta sold wristbands for autographs and 24 lucky participants got to race remote control cars with Bobby LaBonte. The money that was raised will be used to finish some work that needs to be done on the playground. Now I can say I've been in the presence of a Nascar driver. To be honest I didn't even know who he was. I was snapping shots of the man that was leading him in, which I guess was his manager or something. That's him below in the white Cheerios polo.

One of the local radio stations was there, 96.1 (the wolf) and the kids had a blast dancing with their mascot.

So, we ate free ice cream, saw a legend, danced with a wolf and came home with a free hamburger helper t-shirt. You can't beat that for good ole' hillbilly entertainment.

I don't know what he was doing here but he looks as if he is reaching up to touch the reporter's face.

Claim your money!

I ran across this website that helps connect folks with money that is due them. The site is missingmoney.com . Apparently there is a database of unclaimed monies kept and you can go there and put your name and state in to check and see if any money is due to you. Sometimes people have utilities deposits and such that should have been refunded to them that they don't know about. I saw a couple on there where McDonalds owed people money so I guess that might be where they didn't pick up their final check or something. I put my name as well as the names of all of my family members in, but nothing came up. Anyway, mosey on over there and see if you have any missing money!

wordle.net

I found the neatest website! It's called wordle and it is oodles of fun to play with. You go to their website and copy and paste text into a box, then click save and it turns it into a colorful graphic. The words that appear the most in your text will be the largest words on the page. You can change the final layout and font until you get it just the way that you want it to be. I copied and pasted the description from this website and this is the final result:

...pretty neat, huh? This would be something that I would allow my students to use in the classroom - maybe as an option with a writing assignment.

I got an award! Yay me!!!

I got a cutesy tootsy blogger award from my blogging buddy over at The Geek's Girl. Go check out her blog - she has a really neat site! Hey, being married to a geek has to have it's perks. Thanks Jen for the award!

And now I would like to bestow this esteemed award on some other hard-working bloggers, who can be found at:

1. Cooda's Corner
2. The Cajun Blogger
3. Man - I Feel Like a Woman

Congratulations ladies on some fantastic blogging!

Here are the instructions for the preceding Brillante Weblog Premio award recipients:

1. Place the logo on your blog.

2. Link to the person who awarded you.

3. You can nominate up to 5 blogs.

4. You can then add their links to your blog.

5. Leave a message in the comment section to each nominee on their blog.

McCafe anyone?

I'm so excited! I just found out that our local McDonalds is jumping on the gourmet coffee band wagon and installing the equipment to have a McCafe. I don't really drink that much coffee, but I'm excited nonetheless. Our little hillbilly corner of the world is coming up! I actually worked at this McDonalds years ago when I was in college so I still know a few of the managers. Wonder if I could pull some strings and get an extra shot of whipped cream??? Hey! You can't blame a girl for trying!

Check out Cinnamon's Giveaway

Hey blog surfers! Make sure you go to Cinnamon's giveaway page and check out the free jewelry she is having a drawing for in honor of her one month anniversary. It is a very pretty set. Don't forget to leave her some comments so that you can be entered in her drawing!

Calms Forte

Has it been a while since you've had a good night's sleep? Try Hyland's Calms Forte. It's a homeopathic formulation to relieve occasional sleeplessness. It is a 100% natural stress reliever that doesn't have the potential for side effects like so many of the prescription and over the counter sleep aids. It's safe enough for children, too. Just give half the dose. That's actually the reason that I made my initial purchase. I had been allowing my nine year old to stay up late during the summer, so when school started she had a difficult time falling asleep. Given this medication 1/2 to 1 hour prior to bedtime she relaxes and falls asleep quickly after getting tucked in. I feel very confident that Hyland's Calms Forte can give her a peaceful, restful night.

it's that time again

Ugh! The dreaded fund raiser papers have started coming home again. I'm really not a fuddy duddy and I know that the money has to come from somewhere, but good grief! Who has time to fill out all of these postcards so that friends and family can be solicited? Not to mention, said friends and family get a little ticked when they're put on the spot with a fund raiser postcard that is signed "I love you" by the child that is trying to raise money. I would rather just donate $50. I know...I know. That wouldn't be possible for everyone to do. They need to try something different, too. They are doing the same ole thing that they did eight years ago when my son was in this grade.

Schick Intuition Plus

I don't know how I survived shaving my legs for the last 30 years without this little beauty. I absolutely love the Intuition Plus razor for women. This is a triple blade razor which is surrounded by a shave bar which lathers and moisturizes, while preparing your skin for the blades. The neat thing about this razor is that the blade pivots and so does the bar. So, at any angle, the cartridge is making contact with your skin and leaving it silky soft and smooth. The razor handle has rubberized pieces on the parts that your hand touches so it doesn't slip out of your hand when it gets wet.

I first bought this to try out at Wal Mart and I think that the razor and two cartridges was around $7 or $8. I get about three uses, shaving legs and underarms, out of one cartridge and a pack of three cartridges cost around $10. Some people might think that is a little pricey, but I think it is a deal, considering the smooth shave and ease of use of this design. I don't have to worry about stinging or cutting myself because that has simply never happened since I've been using this awesome razor. Oh, yeah, it comes in several different formulas, too - one is for sensitive skin and one is for dry skin. I think there might be another one too. I'm not sure. This razor comes with a suction hanger so that you can keep it from getting wet in the tub. The Schick Intuition Plus just does an awesome job and leaves your skin feeling great! Oh, yeah - I almost forgot. Fill out this form to receive a free Schick® Intuition Plus® Soothing Moisture Razor infused with Milk & Honey!

wiped out...

Okay, I'm so wiped out right now, it isn't even funny. We came home from camping a day early because it was just too hot to even do anything. There's nothing like having eight whiny kids to celebrate Labor Day with. So, we came home early to get laundry done and catch up on homework before we have to be back at school on Tuesday. It will feel so good to sleep in my own bed tonight. I've had my brains beat out by a two year old for the past two nights and I just don't think that I could have stood that another night.

My son turns 17 today. I can't believe it - just seems like yesterday that I was carrying him down the hall in the middle of the night to heat up a bottle. His gift of choice this year is the Samsung Instinct that Sprint has so I'm going to try to get that for him. Right now he has a Rokr with Alltel which is prepay and it doesn't work at my mom's house. I guess Alltel doesn't have any towers here or it may be because we are down in this valley. My Sprint works great here though, so hopefully we will be able to get the Instinct for him and he will get a lot of use out of it.

Labor Day lapse of sanity

I think I've lost my mind. I agreed to go on a three night camping trip with my girlfriend, her husband and their eight kids. My nine year old is going too, but my sixteen, soon to be seventeen year old is staying home. He is too much into having a shower at least once a day and smelling good at all times. This is not exactly roughing it, though. We have a tent and an old camper, but there is no electricity and you have to shower/shampoo with a garden hose. Sounds like fun, huh? It will be. I mean the kids can fish and swim and ride their bikes. We can have camp fires at night and roast marshmallows and make s'mores. I'm getting stoked already!

those hypnotizing Golden Arches

The first day of school came off without a hitch...unless you count my son getting on the fare bus instead of the school bus and getting back off at McDonalds to get a number 2. I couldn't believe it when he called me from a cell phone number and said "Hey Mom, I just wanted to let you know that I'm at McDonalds with my friend."

Okay. So, what am I missing? You have free transportation home, but you decide to pay $1.75 for the fare bus and then instead of coming all the way home you get off less than 1/2 mile down the road to go into Mickey Ds? That's a boy for you - he is led by his stomach. That must have been a fitting end to a very stressful day for him, though. That was his treat - a quarter pounder with cheese.

He was pleased to find that he knew someone in all of his classes. It makes Physics easier to handle when you have friend or two in there. Baby girl did great too. She makes friends really easily and came home telling about everyone in her class. Then she came home today and had to recite everyone's first and last name. It's no wonder that her kindergarten teacher had named her "mouth of the South" after only three days of school. She is definitely one of a kind. Can't tell I'm a little partial, can you?

Tension Tamer

It never ceases to amaze me how quickly Celestial Seasonings tension tamer herbal tea can melt away the days battle scars. I simply love the stuff. My daughter even drinks it. I had been drinking it to help ease into nighttime mode, but recently purchased sleepytime tea for that. The tension tamer has eleuthero (new name for Siberian Ginseng), peppermint, cinnamon, ginger, chamomile, west indian lemongrass, licorice, catnip and tilia flowers. It has a wonderful lemon and peppermint taste. The sleepytime tea is made of chamomile, spearmint, west indian lemongrass, tilia flowers, blackberry leaves, orange blossoms, hawthorn berries and rosebuds. This one is really spearminty. We love them both! It doesn't matter how wound up my nine year old daughter is - she will calm down and drift off to sleep with either of the delicious mixes of herbal tea. They are both excellent stress busters!

the hunt

Now that I've got the kids registered in school and all of that is taken care of I have to begin my job hunt. I applied to be a substitute teacher in my county of residence as well as the one beside of me. I have to say the qualifications are much more stringent in WV than they were in Florida. Heck, in Florida all you had to do was pass a drug test and be fingerprinted. They didn't even know whether you could write a sentence or not. I still have to be drug tested and fingerprinted. I think I have to sit in on a class and go for a day of observation as well. I hope I hurry up and get hired somewhere. I received my last payday from the school board I just left from, but it will not last forever, thats for sure.

I went to Kmart today to pick up a router for my computer. This way I don't have to use my brother's computer all of the time if I have posts or computer jobs to do. I didn't realize how easy it was to install a router and put wireless on my computer. We got a Belkin and it cost $39.99 for the router and $39.99 for the wireless adapter needed for my computer. That wasn't too bad and like I said it went together really fast. I'm glad to be able to use my own computer again.

I found some great deals on clothes for myself today too. Their summer stuff was on clearance and I got a pretty, floral campshirt for $3 and seersucker shorts for $2.50. I was extremely pleased. Then they had all of the womens clothes buy one get one half off and I bought three shirts and two tanks. I also bought two new slips to wear with my dresses. Now that I'm recounting all of the money I've spent I had better start being more frugal with my last paycheck. I think I had better get off of here and make up a budget!

$800 later

The yearly ritual really wasn't bad at all - except for the bite that it took out of the pocket book. School clothes shopping happened at Magic Mart, JCPenneys, Gabriel Bros., Elder-Beerman, American Eagle and Champs. The only thing left to do is purchase paper and pencils and all of that good stuff.

When I was a student I used to get so excited about the first day of school. Both kids are going to new schools and it really makes me nervous for them. I'm sure my daughter will do fine because she makes friends easily. My boy will do great too. This is his last year of high school and he knows some of the kids there because he attended K- 5 with them. I'm sure everything will work out well. I'm just an anxious mommy.

I'm trying to figure out what all I can do to speed my computer up. It's a Dell and only a year and a half old. I think I'm going to upload all of the pictures that are stored on my computer to either flickr or photobucket. I'm not sure which one is easier to use, but it will definitely take some time because I take a major amount of pictures and they are stored on my system.

school clothes shopping

It's that dreaded time again...trying to get a 9 year old and a 16 year old to try on school clothes. Why do I detest this chore more than anything in the world? It is not my idea of a fun day at the mall when I have to chase these kids all over the mall stores or wherever, trying to corral them long enough to make a clothing choice and try it on. My son is old enough to make his own, appropriate, choices, but my daughter is another story. She would dress like Madonna if I would let her. I do mean Madonna on stage, by the way. At least we already have her tennis shoes. We found a cool pair of Reeboks - Dr. McSpeedy. She doesn't really were tennis shoes that much, but she has to have them for gym class.

We are spending the night with my aunt and uncle who live about and hour and 15 minutes away from here. He has Alzheimers and does better on some days than others. When I saw him last month he was having a really good day. He kept asking me "Why don't you stay all night" so we're spending the night with them tonight. This is the man that taught me to drive and I used to spend time at their house every summer. Sometimes I would stay almost all summer. They used to be foster parents, so their home was always teeming with kids and it was the best times of my life.

de javu

It's kind of ironic the way life brings you back to places you've been before but swore you would never be again. Don't misunderstand me, there is certainly nothing wrong with my place in life right now. I feel safer now than I have in a long time, probably since I last left here. There is something comforting about being nestled between the mountains, down in the valley. I can look up and see the hills towering around me on all sides like a fortress and I feel peace.

Life's unexpected circumstances have made things necessary for me to move back to my mom's house with my two children. Although she doesn't like the events that transpired to cause this arrangement, my mother is tickled to death to have her babies back in the nest. Will we survive this? I'm sure we will with a little patience and a lot of prayer.

The kids will have to be enrolled in school next week and I will have to venture out and look for a J-O-B. Yuck! I had a good job that I loved and was really excited about getting started back to school. Tomorrow would actually be the day that I had to report back to work as a ninth grade teacher after having the summer off. Oh, well. I know the Lord had other plans and those plans will include a way for me to support my children. I'm too blessed to be stressed. Thank you, Jesus!

Garlic and Ginger Cough Syrup

I have a wonderful report for the family members who used their herbal remedies for this yucko thing that's going around. My daughter is 100% better but, unfortunately, my son chose not to use the herbal tinctures and goot and he has taken much longer to come around. He did use an herbal cough syrup today that I made from garlic and ginger along with some other cupboard items. The instructional video that I made it from is on www.youtube.com here:




This family has a website teaching herbal remedies and it is really a good site. That is where I got the idea to use the echinacea tincture directly in the throat. This husband and wife team are very knowledgable about using herbs to cook with as well as for medicinal purposes. I look forward to making some of the other remedies that they have on their site.

My mother-in-law was visiting earlier and when she began to cough I tried to get her to use some of the cough syrup that I had made. She asked to smell it and decided that it smelled too much like garlic for her to use it. She said that she didn't want to go to church tomorrow smelling like garlic. I don't guess I care since I'm eating it raw now. My daughter and I have both been eating at least one raw clove a day for the last three days. It burns a little but we use a chaser...lol. Oh, well, I feel that it is worth it for the health benefits.

The GOOT Stuff

I don't know if you've heard of GOOT, but it really is da bomb! My 8 year old gets sick really easily and I've been trying to find some home remedies to help her recover quickly or even just build up her immune system. I've been reading about garlic and how it is supposed to be an antibacterial, antifungal and anti-everything else. The greatest benefits are derived when it is eaten as soon as the clove is crushed or broken, before it is heated up through cooking.

I found some other blogs and sites that talked about making a paste with the garlic and a few other ingredients so when my daughter started complaining Sunday during church about her throat hurting really bad I came home and started scrounging around trying to find the ingredients. I didn't have any olive oil or coconut oil at that time so I just minced about three cloves of garlic up and poured some cooking oil over it. After sitting for about an hour I put the oil on the soles of my daughter's feet, put socks on her and put her to bed.

She said that her throat was just a little scratchy the next morning so I went ahead and sent her to school. She wasn't running a temp or anything, but by the time she came to me in my classroom that afternoon she was burning up. I went to the health food store and got coconut oil and echinacea tincture. When we went home I made the GOOT. Here is the recipe:

3 TBSP coconut oil (heated enough to melt it)
3 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
3 TBSP minced garlic (about 3 to 4 good sized cloves)

Put all of this together in a small blender or coffee grinder and blend for 2 minutes. Strain through a strainer to remove any of the bigger pieces of garlic that didn't get blended in. Put this mixture in the fridge and in about an hour it will be solid like a salve. Keep it covered and you can use it for two weeks before having to make another batch.

I put this on her feet Monday night and again Tuesday morning before I went to work. I came home from work early on Tuesday to take care of her. She said that her throat hurt really badly. I had been giving the echinacea tincture in a small glass of water, but at this point I began to put it straight from the dropper on the back of her throat. She really didn't like this at all and fussed about it, but did it anyway. We had to go pick brother up from school so on the way home I stopped back by the health store and picked up a bottle of Astragalus tincture. It has some other good things in it, too: licorice, reishi mushroom and a few other ingredients. I started adding this to the echinacea cocktail last night. At this point I'm taking the cocktail, as well, because I'm starting to feel a little crummy. She was complaining with her throat very badly Tuesday night before bed. She didn't want to miss school the next day because she doesn't like having to make up work and feeling like she is behind. I went ahead and called in sick so that I could stay home and care for her and get some rest myself, as well.

We were in bed last night by 8:30, both smelling like garlic because we had the GOOT slathered on our feet. I also put it up my nose because I felt like my sinuses were burning. Boy howdy! Did they ever burn after putting salve up in there. It only lasted for a few minutes, though and I could immediately tell that it was helping. Fast forward to this morning. I wake up feeling much better. Carly's throat is still a little sore, but not feeling blistery like it had the night before. I had to get up and take Dylan to school. I didn't want him to go because he was coughing, but he doesn't like to miss either, so I went ahead and took him.

When Carly woke up I put the GOOT on her throat and chest and covered it with an old rag so that it wouldn't mess up her pajamas. It will oil stain anything that it touches. Then I put the echinacea tincture directly in the back of her throat, waited a little bit and made her drink the echinacea/astragalus cocktail again. About an hour later I fixed her some chicken noodle soup. After drinking the soup she came out like a different kid. Her throat wasn't hurting her anymore and she felt like she had a lot more energy. Her voice still sounds a little scratchy so I will continue to do the GOOT and echinacea mixture for the next few days.

Unfortunately when I picked Dylan up from school he wasn't feeling well at all. He came home and fever was 101.2 so I mixed up some goody for him to drink. He drank it down and got a little something to eat. Then he went and laid down for an hour or so. When he got back up he said that he felt much better. I did give him Motrin to bring his fever down. When Carly came home Monday with the fever I gave her Children's chewable Motrin too. She only had the fever that one day, but I did give the Motrin to her the next day for throat pain.

Okay, I told this big long drawn-out story to illustrate the point that there are things that we can do at home to treat our illnesses. I hate taking her to the doctor and getting an antibiotic every time that she is sick. I'm sure if he would have looked at her red throat and swollen tonsils he would have prescribed an antibiotic. Incidentally, her pediatrician was out of town while all of this was going on. I'm sure that I could have found someone else to take her too, but I responded to God's nudging. There are many passages in God's Word that speak of using herbs for healing. I'm just learning about herbs, but I pray that God will give me more knowledge so that I can do things and add things to our diet on a daily basis that will be more of a preventive measure.

Okay, I'm going to bed now craving Olive Garden because it sure does smell like an Italian restaurant in here after playing in garlic and oil. I'll give more of an update later to report how everyone is faring with herbal medicine. G'nite.