Watch this video

Yeah, I know, I don't write much these days. Sorry. I just kind of thought everyone should see this video.

It snowed a little...

Or a lot. I actually took a snow day today, which I never do. It's interesting and would be nice and relaxing if my boys could get along. But they can't. *sigh*

Anyway, snow pics.

Point out the porch....

No? Yeah, it's under there somewhere. Hang on and you'll see in a pic further down.

Back driveway. And yes, in some places the snow is halfway up the fence.

This truck got stuck driving down our street. And I'm SO nice, I had to take a photo. But I feel for the guy. Really. I do.

Shot of our street from another direction. It actually doesn't look too bad from this angle.

Front steps again. This time you can actually see the porch and get an idea of just HOW MUCH darn snow we have!

I know a lot of people got a lot of snow, so I'm sure this doesn't look like much to some, but it really is a lot of snow and I'm soooooo ready for spring!! Bring on my WARM weather!

Some birthday pics

Gotta show off the birthday boy and post pics of the Thomas cake I made. Now, you CAN look at the Thomas cake, just don't look at the face.

Enjoy!

Kyan on his real birthday with the "throw together" cake.

The Thomas cake.

Kyan and the Thomas cake. Love the facial expression!

Thomas cake from another angle.

Thomas cake and the "extra" cake. I had too much sheet cake and tons of leftover colored frosting, so I used it up by making the second cake! Yeah, too much cake in my house now...

Boys playing at Kyan's party!

Kyan blowin out the candle on Thomas.

Kids all playing in the playroom during the party.

Kyan and Xavier.

Kyan and Alli.

This is all I'm going to post. There's more, but seriously, you can only look at so many of someone else's kid's birthday pictures. Kyan had a GREAT birthday - on the real day and on party day. An d that's all that matters.

Well, that and not having to do this for him again for another YEAR!!

Happy Birthday Kyan!!

So Kyan is 4 today. Doesn't seem possible. I could swear I just had him, but here we are, 4 yrs down the road and he's an awesome kid. He chose dinner tonight and we're having hot dogs, mac n cheese, and happy face french fries. Oh, and cake. Color chip cake with color chip frosting and Lightning McQueens and Maters on one side. Cuz he decorated it. I need to take a picture, it's THAT cute!

Ugh, I'm tired so this isn't shaping into much of a sappy Birthday post. Sorry bud... I'll make it up to you, I promise.

44

I haven't watched it yet but I heard it on the radio.

What a great day for America!!

YES WE DID!!

Let's all support and pray for the Obama family.

It is stupid cold out

It is currently -6 outside.

Ohio has officially frozen over.

Someone please come rescue me and take me somewhere tropical because I can't take much more of this!!!!!

More pics

There are more below this post, so keep reading. :-)

One really good shot of Jaben's orchestra concert. Handsome in his tie, isn't he?

I had some fun making Christmas cookies. I call this one Frankenstein's cookie...

Jaben, showing off his cookies...

Kyan showing of his cookies...

And now for some decorations, starting with the tree...

Followed by the stocking wall. This was my mom's really cool idea for using the old stockings. Also known as "The wall of stockings past."

Mantle, where the stockings would be hung if I'd gotten to it sooner...

One of the gingerbread houses we made. I think this one was Kyan's.

And since Jaben got so much face time, here's Kyan enjoying all that snow I hate.

I know I've got a ton more pictures, but this is all I have the patience to upload for now. I am going to change my profile pic to one I LOVE of Kyan, so be sure to look. But otherwise this is it for now.

While watching Harold and Kumar go to White Castle

I own that movie and I haven't watched it, but I do every time it's on tv. Wonder why that is?

Thanks for the comments on the NY post. Especially to those who said I was strong. That was cool, because I don't feel strong. I'm pretty sure most people don't. But it's nice to have other people think I am. I appreciate that very much.

So things are moving along. I got a great compliment via email from one of our reps at work. She sent it to my boss who (horrors!!) sent it out to my entire team. When I realized that was what he'd done I wanted to crawl under my desk. Seriously. I mean, it's nice (hell, it ROCKS) to get a compliment like that, to have people not only think you rock but let your boss know they think you rock. But I could've done without the entire team being brought in on it. Un-com-fortable!! Nice, but ugh. KWIM?

We've had a million feet of snow this week. I am sooo sick of the snow. I know, I live in OH and it's only January. I can't get sick of the snow yet, but I AM. I. So. AM.

I've been sitting here for a while trying to upload photos, but blogger just cut me off. So I'm going to post some here, and the next post will have more. I have TONS I haven't posted. I realize that post will be the top post, but oh well. At least the pics will be on here.

First off, Jaben's play, A Christmas Carol.

There are also curtain call pics, but I'll try to get them in the next post. Or not. Really, the shots of him as Bob Marley (above, with Jacob Marley) and the 2 above as a ghost (furthest to the right, with the sleeves cuz he had a quick-change) are the coolest pics, so that may be it.

Photos to be continued...

Happy New Year

Being the first day of a new year, I thought it'd be a good idea to make a new post.

But I'm not going to do the usual "year in review" thing. I mean really, it's been done everywhere. Not that I'm not thinking about those things... there were some big changes this year. A long stint of unemployment, having to take a job not-exactly in my field 36 miles away, my mother and sister also losing their jobs... things were especially rough this year. But there were some things that needed to happen as well. That backbone I've grown (or am growing, actually) has been a necessary change, learning to let go of the negative, removing myself from some toxicity... Granted, some of these things could've been handled better, but that's one of the things about being human -- you must always be learning and growing. And I'm doing that, working on it anyway. I've learned some things about how it's okay to make scary changes (I'm looking at you, Stacy) and how much I admire that ability in other people. That's one I'd like to develop myself.

And in the year to come, I want to work on forgiveness. For others, for myself. I'm harder on myself than anyone else could ever be and I need to learn to forgive me. But I need to learn to forgive others too. That's hard for me because so many times people seem to behave as if it's as easy as saying, "I forgive you," but it just isn't. It's got to be felt, and if I can't feel it I can't do it. So I need to let myself feel it. And for particular people... at least one of which isn't going to be so easy. But it's necessary - for me - because I don't want to live in anger. So I'll work on that. I have to, because even tho I don't want to go into details I will say it's something I'll be dealing with, even in absentia, the rest of my life. And I don't want to carry around all that negative energy. That's one of the reasons I needed to release some toxicity last year... I can't carry around the negative energy anymore. So.

So we look forward.

To really learning my new job and seeing what I can gain from it. It's a good strong company, which is amazing in this economy so it's not as if I need to be concerned with having to find another job soon. But I also know it's not what I want to be doing for the rest of my life. So what can I learn from it, what can I take away from it, and what wonderful things will come from it?

To Jaben's trip to DC for LeadAmerica. We're working on finding sponsors because it's NOT cheap, but it's a wonderful thing for him, even already. He was nominated by his favorite teacher and it's already done wonders for his self-image. We've got a pretty good-sized payment due in 14 days that I don't know how I'm going to make, but we'll figure it out somehow. Because this is important and even tho I'm basically poor, I want the best for him. And for now, this is what's best. Anyone want to make a donation to a deserving kid? ;-)

To Kyan, growing and changing and seeing who he's becoming. He'll be 4 in 21 days (where did the time go??) and he's turning into an interesting kid. You can see just looking into his eyes how mischievious he is - he's such a little stinker! I love that about him. He's smart, he's stubborn, and he's so, so loving. Kissy, huggy. But boy o boy has he got stinky breath! Yeah, we gotta look into that this year.

To mom and Kel, doing their school things, figuring out what they want to do now. Seeing what will make them happy and watching them face new challenges. I can't wait to see this. It's going to be cool.

Ugh, okay, this did turn out to be one of those usual new year posts. Blech. Oh well, I tried.

More to come in the new year. I'm thinking about big changes around here, still playing with the idea of moving to a new address... but haven't made a solid decision yet. I'll let anyone who's reading (echo... echo... echo...) know if and when it happens. For now, have a great new year!

Merry Christmas, late, of course

I missed having a Christmas post, but oh well. I've been sick with the flu this week and so lots of things have slipped past, relatively unnoticed. But not Christmas... never Christmas!!

The kids had a great day, and that's the important thing. They both got incredibly spoiled - which is amazing, considering the year we had around here. If I've learned one thing this year it's not to take the blessing of a job and income for granted, and most people do whether they realize it or not. If you look at all the people you know who "cry poor," and then look at what they have to work with, you'll see what I mean. I'm kind of ashamed that it took some serious unemployment for me to realize this, but better late than never.

But that's not my point. Christmas. Which Kyan has taken to calling, "Jesus' Christmas" because he knows it's Christmas and he knows it's Jesus' birthday, but can't quite separate the two just yet. It's really kind of sweet. We made sure we sang Happy Birthday to Jesus to kind of help with that.

For gifts... well, I'm not going to go into that. Suffice to say they were spoiled. I just don't see a point in posting pictures or lists of what they received. They're happy, spoiled rotten, and after this year? Extremely appreciative little boys. But the best part? At different times of they day they both said to me - out of earshot of the other - that the best part was having me home. *grin* Because it's not like I'm gone *that* much (although some days it feels like it), but they still miss me when I'm gone.

So Christmas? Rocked.

And the New Year? Should be better. Hopefully will be better. Things can always be worse, but we're ready for, due for, and in need of better.

Merry Belated Christmas to you and yours, and may your New Year be better than the old. Because really? No matter how good it was, we can all use better!

Thank a soldier

I received this message in my email and wanted to share. It only takes a minute - I just sent one myself - and will make a soldier's day.

XEROX IS DOING SOMETHING COOL

If you go to this web site, www.LetsSayThanks.comyou can pick out a thank you card and Xerox will print it and it will be sent to a soldier that is currently serving in Iraq . You can't pick out who gets it, but it will go to a member of the armed services.

How AMAZING it would be if we could get everyone we know to send one!!! It is FREE and it only takes a second. Wouldn't it be wonderful if the soldiers received a bunch of these? Whether
you are for or against the war, our soldiers over there need to know we are
behind them.

This takes just 10 seconds and it's a wonderful way to say thank you. Please take the time and please take the time to pass it on for others to do. We can never say enough thank you's.
Thanks for taking to time to support our military!

Twilight

Just got back from seeing Twilight - FINALLY!

Loved it!

And not just because of this...



I mean yeah -- who wouldn't want to look at that for 2 hrs??? But the movie was good too. Really.

Disclaimer: He's 22, so it's not nearly as pervy as it looks. I swear!!

Did you see it?

Did you see the Rick Roll during the parade?? Gotta be a record for the most people Rick Rolled at once. Classic!

Lots of anger and nowhere to put it

I am furious. I raise my children to respect other people and their viewpoints, even if I find them to be uninformed. Is it really too much to expect other people to do the same?

Apparently.

Hey, guess what? If you can't respect other people and their beliefs, you have no business expecting them to respect yours. But that seems to be too much for some people. Teach your children - if they don't like being called a name... oh like say GAY for example... then they should not be calling other people that particular name. Like, oh... the Golden Rule?

What really gets me is the hypocrisy. Don't go nuts when another kid calls your kid a name, but look away when they do it. I don't know about other churches, but mine teaches us to be kind and loving, to respect others, to respect our elders (this would include NOT calling another child's parent a "retard"[nice word, btw]), and to be truthful and honest. Don't just talk the talk, you must also walk the walk. Otherwise, you're a hypocrite.

It is so hard for me to hold back right now because there are SO MANY things I want to say. Lies that I would love to expose. But I won't. Because I'm not that person. Never have been, never will be. But again... it better stop. Because if I have to, I will make it stop.

2nd Annual To Write Love on Her Arms Day

If you facebook, see http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=11245747740 for the event information.

If you don't, see http://www.twloha.com/

On Thursday, November 13, we're writing the word LOVE on our arms to promote depression and suicide awareness. Please check the above links on Facebook or the web and participate. All you have to do is write LOVE on your arm, and talk to anyone who asks about it. You can also send donations thru the website - or even to your local suicide prevention hotline if you like. Please read the Vision link on the website to see what it's all about, and consider participating.

All you need is love, right?

The post I wish I could've written

Of course he said it better than I could. He is a professional writer. I am a blog hack. But this post is exactly what I needed to "hear." So thanks, Wil, for saying what I needed to but couldn't.

YES WE DID!

Why it's important to do research...

I never believe anything I read - especially on the internets - until I research it. Even things I think are silly, or out and out lies. Lately, there has been a glut of video and "proof" that Barack Obama isn't an American citizen. Seemed like desperation and lies to me - not to mention libel and slander (which is pretty darn illegal), so I checked into it. Following are the facts.

Probably the most widely e-mailed Obama "tip" at the moment alleges that he isn't a natural-born American citizen and thus isn't eligible to run for president. This began in the die-hard pro-Hillary section of the blogosphere, which spent part of the summer discussing laws that deal with the citizenship of a child with one American parent born abroad. When it emerged that this challenge wouldn't hold water if Obama had been born in the United States, the focus shifted to the allegation that he had been born outside the United States.

In August, a Pennsylvania lawyer, Philip Berg, filed suit in federal court in Philadelphia. Berg, who also has been active in arguing that there was "government complicity" in the attack on the World Trade Center, demanded that the court force Obama to produce his original birth certificate. The court dismissed the lawsuit.

So why isn't this getting wide coverage? Well, first, there's lots of evidence that Obama was born in the United States, and none that he wasn't. The campaign handed over an official copy of his short-form birth certificate — the standard document produced by the Hawaii Department of Health — to Factcheck.org. And Poliltico has confirmed the authenticity of a contemporaneous announcement of his birth in the Honolulu Advertiser.

Berg fights on, though, on a website with supporters known as ChileMan, ChileWoman and MommaERadioRebels. He recently told conservative talk radio host Michael Savage that he has an audiotape of Obama's Kenyan grandmother recalling the candidate's birth in a Kenyan hospital.

"l'll release it in a day or two," he said six days ago.

A spokeswoman for the Hawaii Department of Health, Janice Okubo, said she's forbidden by state law from releasing birth certificates, but directed a reporter to the FactCheck.org item dismissing the rumors.

Careful what you say...

LIBEL AND SLANDER occur when a person or entity communicates false information that damages the reputation of another person or entity. Slander occurs when the false and defamatory communication is spoken and heard. Libel occurs when the false and defamatory communication is written and seen. The laws governing libel and slander, which are collectively known as DEFAMATION, are identical.

Might be time to move on

I am really uncomfortable with this blog. I don't feel like I can always post what I want because of certain people who may or may not read. I prefer to avoid confrontation (I'm more the passive-aggressive type - whee!) and have been holding myself back because there are things I dearly want to say that would absolutely bring on confrontation. I am seriously pissed about something that my son has been dealing with and I can't post it here. I'm upset about other things and can't post here. There seem to be more "I can't" issues than I can these days and that really isn't what I want here. This is my blog and I should be able to post about myself and my son without worrying. So I've been thinking it's time to move to a new address. Before I do anything, I need to find out how/if I can import my archives and probably come up with a new design and title. I won't be sharing the address on this site... if you want it please ask and most people will receive it. I'll let you know when I'm ready for that - I haven't even chosen a name yet.

So that's where I'm at right now. This just isn't working anymore.