I am Thankful

I'm sending all happy Thanksgiving wishes and thought I would mention what I am thankful for.

My family, we just returned from picking up number 1 son from college. I love when he is home with us. I'm happiest when we are all together.

I have a husband who loves me dearly and shows me that everyday.

We are all healthy. Well, my knee and I are not getting along. It has made it very clear that it doesn't want to be out in the cold. It talked me into cancelling our trip to New York City next month. If you have never seen NYC at Christmas time, it is beautiful. But I don't do stairs well and those double decker bus narrow and circular stairs are killers. Plus it doesn't like to walk fast and NYC is a hustle and bustle kind of city. As much as I love it there, my knee just wouldn't let me enjoy it to the fullest.

We have a nice house to live in and while we could use more money we are fortunate with what we have. I have a job that I absolutly love. Somedays I can't believe that they pay me to do it, other days I earn every penny and more. Sean's job is stable and we don't have to worry about downsizing like other business in our city.

I am thankful for my friends. They are always at the ready to celebrate with me or to pick me up when I'm down. A chat with a friend is always uplifting and enjoyable. A friend that loves you unconditionally is a treasure.

What I am most thankful for at this Thanksgiving is that our young friend has had her heart transplant several days ago and so far is doing well. After all the tears I have cried over this, I finally had tears of joy. At age 16 she has her whole life ahead of her and has been given a second chance at life. I am grateful to the family that gave her this second chance by donating their loved one's heart. It was truly the gift of life.

I have many blessings in my life and I hope you count me as one of yours.

To comment or not to comment

I enjoy reading people's blogs for the most part. Do I agree with everything they say? No. I'm not judgemental. People do things in their lives for their own personal reasons. I don't have to like it. Do I comment on them? Once in a while I do comment but for the most part, I tend to be more of a lurker. I don't know why because I wish more commented on my two blogs.

I've been following one for a while now entitled www.desperatehusband.blogspot.com In a nutshell, he is unhappily married with an online girlfriend, has had an affair, plans on leaving his wife etc. In short, his life is a mess.

He has received many anonymous comments about his exploits, many telling him their own personal story, offering a glimpse from someone that has been there and done that. I can see from those comments that most times the online cheating leads no where, they are still unhappy in the long run. Some offer suggestions in a kind way, some in a rude way. He also has his fans that urge him on to live his life, have the online gf and leave his wife. DH can do what ever he wants to of course. It's his life, he has to live it and live with his desicions. When you bring another person into the mix such as he has, your ability to make decisions becomes distorted.

By putting your life out in a blog you have to expect that you will get good comments and bad ones. I know that first hand. I get both although my comments are different than his, being that the subject matter is very different.

He has certainly struck a nerve out in blogland. Do I agree with what he is doing? No. I don't think it helps when people bash him for what he's doing or when people tell him he's doing the right thing. I do have my own ideas of what I think about him but everyone has their own private reasons for doing what they do. I will say this; when you put it all out there in a blog, you better have a thick skin.

What prompted me to write this post is that there are some bloggers out there attacking the anonymous posters. I feel that many, not all, of the anonymous ones have left well written comments, they make sense but most happen to disagree with DH and how he is handling his situation. It may be helpful if DH opens his mind but alas it does sound like his mind is made up. No matter what is said he only listens to the ones that agree with him. They have taken up his cause and bash what the anonymous commenters have to say. People have different reasons for commenting anonymously, I can't fault them for that. But I want to make this clear. Are we all not anonymous out here in the cyber world? Sure you can leave your blogger name but unless you are willing to put your real name out there as well as your email address, I've got news for you; YOU ARE ANONYMOUS TOO.

I did this post on my blog because it is way to long to post in his comments.

Just Desserts

The holidays are fast approaching and my services will be in demand for desserts. Whenever there's an occasion that requires a dessert, I'm the one inlisted for the duty. I'm famous for desserts. One reputation I don't mind having. I'm not crazy about cooking but I enjoy baking. I think that goes back to the day when I just had to have an Easy Bake Oven. I begged my parents and Santa (just in case) for it. That was all I wanted I said, buy me nothing else. I must have been a good girl because there was one under the tree for me. The only problem was I used up all of the mixes in 2 days. Off to the store to buy more. I gave that lightbulb a workout.

For Thanksgiving I will make dessert for 14 people at the In-laws. I love pumpkin pie, not just any pumpking pie but pumpkin chiffon pie. My grandmother always made that. It's light and fluffy, not baked in the oven and take my word for it, it is delicious. You will never want the other kind again. To go along with the pie I will make a chocolate pecan torte. If you'd like the recipes just ask me, I'm not one of those cooks that won't share. I've got a great one for Oreo cookie cake that uses whipped cream and liquor, you freeze it and it is like ice cream cake. mmmmmmm

For Christmas I will again make the dessert, only for 11 people (my fam). I'll make grandma's traditional pumpkin pie and since my brother-in-law doesn't like pie (I know, strange eh?) I will make him chocolate chip cookie cheesecake. I just made one for my father-in-laws birthday. It is a dessert so easy to make plus people think you spent a lot of time on it. (My secret) So if you want to impress someone with a dessert, this is the one for you. Guys, it's easy and surprise someone!





Chocolate Chip Cookie Cheesecake

You will need:

2 rolls of chocolate chip cookie mix

3 packages of softened cream cheese
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
splash of vanilla

Blend cream cheese mixture until creamy.


In a greased 9 x 13 pan, slice and press one roll of cookie dough in to bottom of pan. This is the crust.A helpful hint is to keep the dough chilled until ready to use. It won't be as sticky.

Spread cream cheese mixture over this.

Using the second roll of cookie dough, slice or crumble over the top.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 35 - 40 minutes


Chill for several hours before serving.

What's in a Name?

Did you ever think about your name and wonder if it has anything to do with the kind of person you turned out to be? Does your name define who you are? If you could change your name would you?

I have an unusual name. Not many people have it. At one time I never heard of anyone with my name although I do now and they're mostly younger than myself. When I was little I didn't like my name because no one had it. It wasn't something that people named their child. I always had to explain my name, yes it's my real name, it's not short for anything etc. I was teased about it because it was different than the Susans' or Debbies' or Pattys' that were out there and I wanted a more mainstream name.

As I grew up I came to love my name. I liked being the only person with that name. I never had to wonder if someone was calling me, no one else had that name, unlike today while these are beautiful names, there are many Sarahs, Jessicas, Emilys, Nicoles and Jennifers. Not only that but I think , it has defined who I am today. Growing up I never wanted to be just like someone else. I didn't want to wear the same clothes or have the same things as others. One of my friends would buy the same things I would. The first time it happened we were maybe 12 and I had gotten a new bathing suit. I loved it. A few days later she got the same one. I was mad and no longer liked mine. Sometimes you would show up at school and someone would have the same shirt as you, I understand that happens, I just didn't like it.

I would like to think that I am as unique a person as my name is. I don't have to have what fashion gurus say is popular. I like one of a kind things. My home is decorated in my style. It's not traditional but not modern. Just a mix of what I like, there is not a theme. I'm not afraid of not being trendy.

Going back to the name thing. What I don't care for are names that are totally made up, that are so off the wall or that you can't pronounce and working in the school system I've seen many. I'm not being judgemental here, parents can certainly name their child anything they like, this is my opinion. Dont' saddle your children with a name like that. One past student that comes to mind was named Elmer. Now I realized that it was a family name but no young child should be called Elmer. Just my opinion. I think of celebraties that name their babies names like Apple (Gwenith Paltrow) or Pilot Inspector (Jason Lee) or Rumor (Demi Moore). Do they think of what their child's life will be like with those goofy names. I know that there have been studies of people and their names and how they have done in life.

When naming our two boys we took all of that into consideration. I wanted a name that was not "out there" but not the traditional Michael or Steven or James. I also wanted a name that couldn't be turned into an "ie" name such as Billy or Stevie or Scottie. Nope, not me. Before Kevin was born my father- in- law always refered to him as Kevie. I told him countless times that we were not going to call him that. For 3 weeks after he was born he called him that. Now after a woman has a baby, her hormones are going crazy. I told my husband to take care of that issue NOW or I will and it won't be pretty. He did and our son was never called Kevie again. My other son, Cameron, if you shorten it you get Cammie and that's a pretty girly name. One person did it once and realized that, eewwww, can't call him that. Although my mother did ask why I was naming him a "last" name. He was actually named after Cam Neely of the Boston Bruins.

I think choosing a name is important with many things to consider such as; does it go with your last name, can the child be teased because of it. Remember Elmer? Back to the subject, it should be a name that people can pronounce somewhat. Ethinic names are fine, I'm talking about made up names. That child will be explaining that name for the rest of their life.

If I had to choose any other name for myself it would be Abigail. I love that name. Abby is a cute name or if you wanted to be more professional, Abigail is perfect. Plus there aren't many of them around.

What do you think of your name? Let me know. :)

Honor a Veteran

We had a wonderful Veteran's Day assembly at school last week for all the students. We started off with some patriotic songs. They all know them as they learn them in first grade. We then had two special guests. Father and son, veterans of WWII and Vietnam. Dad was quite elderly as you can imagine and his son spoke for him and told us all his story.

His father was a bomber pilot and while on a mission his plane developed engine trouble. The plane fell back from formation because they couldn't keep up. They didn't have an escort to protect them and German planes found them. They were shooting at the plane and killed the gunner in the back of the plane, things were looking dire. The decision was made to jump from the plane as it was going down. While helping his fellow soldiers get ready his parachutte opened inside the plane. He then had to jump without knowing if the 'chutte would open. Well it did and as the others will floating down with him the German's were shooting them. He played dead and landed safely but not before seeing his plane crash and burn. He was the only one to survive that day. Some French living in Germany hid him in their home for several months and helped him escape to Spain where he then came home. In the meantime his parents had received a missing in action letter from the Air Force/Army (the were combined at the time). He brought this letter with him to our assembly as well as a piece of his plane that he managed to salvage.

I was very moved by all this and almost in tears (if you knew me that wouldn't surprise you, I can be tough but have a very soft heart, especially for children, elderly and dogs). Anyway, I have never had seen 450 children so quiet and listening. Even they understood what a powerful story he had. I just had to go and meet them afterwards to tell them thank you .

So thank you to all of our veterans. My father who was in the Army during peace time, my father-in-law during the Korean War/Conflict and our nephew who served in the Army for 7 years finishing his service as a Sargeant in the 101st Airborne out of Fort Campbell,Kentucky after a tour of Iraq.








If you're looking for a good movie for Veteran's Day viewing I recomend "Memphis Belle"

Out of Order

I seem to be extra technologically challenged the last week. Everything I touch I somehow end up breaking. I took our 300.00 camera to school on halloween and then a few days later tried to take a picture of our beautiful Japanese maple treee and it wouldn't power up. I changed the batteries, still didn't work. Tried regular batteries thinking maybe something is wrong with the charger. Nope, still didn't work. Turns out we have to send it to Canon in New Jersey for repairs. At least it's still under warrenty.

Next I needed to make some copies at school. I go to the copy room and the Copy Queen is not there. No problem, I can figure out how to make two sided, collated and stapled copies. Wrong. We have this big copier with all the bells and whistles that you have to have an ID number plus an account number. I don't know what I did but I pissed it off and it wouldn't work. I couldn't just leave it like that so I had to 'fess up to the Queen and suffer her wrath.

Today I had to take number 2 son to work and was listening to a CD in the truck. I wanted to change it so I push eject and I get no CD sliding out at me. Now there's a disc stuck in the player. Luckily the explorer is also still under warrenty.

I shouldn't be on the computer, who knows what will happen to it. Too bad, I'm staying on it. I am hooked on this website that is a live streaming camera at a watering hole in Africa. www.wavelit.com Last night when the sun came up there I saw monkeys, a giraffe, 5 zebras, and some animal with long curly horns. I suppose I can just watch Animal Planet and see the same thing with a better picture but it must be because this is live I can't stop watching. Except for now because Emmit Smith is getting ready to dance and you know how I feel about him. :)

Catch 22

I recently found out that our young friend does indeed need a heart transplant. As of now she only has 10% of her heart left working. The other 90% is worthless now. She has had some sort of pump installed that is keeping the remaining heart muscle beating. She is fighting for her life. She is at the top of the waiting list for a heart as she cannot live without one. My heart is hurting for her. While I'm praying for a new heart to become available soon I am very saddened because that means someone else's child will have died. I can only imagine the stress and helplessness both sets of parents are going through. I can't pretend to know what it would be like to see my child so desperatly ill. Sometimes life slaps you in the face and makes your own trials and tribulations seem so inconsequential. Please include Emily and her potential donor in your prayers.

Hair

I used to wish that I had a hairdresser that did house calls. A few months ago mine quit doing hair. I had been going to her for some time, since my kids were little.
As a long time customer she said that she would come to our house to do our hair. WOW! My dream came true. But I have decided that it's not a good dream. After a few visits to my house I realized that while it is nice that she comes to me, I miss the salon experience. There is something to be said for laying back in the chair to have your hair washed by someone. That's very relaxing to me. Then sitting there in front of the mirror watching, talking and listening to all the conversations. Now I have to have my hair washed in the kitchen sink and sweep up my own hair plus the dog walks in it. This week she came to naturally enhance my hair (cover the gray, yes, I have some gray hair). My mother's hair was silver by the time she was 40. I don't have much but what I have I don't like. The most exciting thing about that night was that my long haired son got 6 inches cut off. I was slightly sorry to see it go. I loved those big, fat curls but he still looks good.There are some curls left. Why can't my hair do that??