There is a LIGHT at the END of the Tunnel...

And Dennis is probably the happiest one of the bunch about the fact that there is a light at the end of the tunnel... let me tell you...

Dennis took off work on Monday to get more done... since it rained (read POURED) all weekend ... I guess the house is about 95% done now and just has a tv, the kitchen, and the office left to clean out (he and I are doing that tonight after the kids are in bed... ) and the garage is about 80% done... and there is most of the play house (but it's broken down), the jungle climber is still there, and the swing set has to be taken apart and my uncle is going to come help move that this weekend (Saturday) ... whew!! LET ME TELL YOU!!!

This is Nathan at the other house the day before we started to move...
My girls (pretty much my nieces) Ivy and Kassandra... (4 and 7)
Our first walk through ... notice the dark areas on the wall - this is the basement... it's not mold, it is more like flood damage... but... just to be safe, we decided to buy some KILLZ paint right away and get it taken care of...
Noah and Calahan... getting excited about moving!!
Noah on his bedroom floor ... going ... "ahhhhhhh this isn't so bad"

On the fence talking to the girls ... (that part of the fence has now been removed so the kids can come and go in both yards)
Nathan at Walmart.... he's gonna help paint he says!!
First I got a little can of spray paint KILLZ ...
I went back and got a quart and really covered it good.... we also got a dark blue paint called "Starry Night" and glow in the dark stars for this area that would become the kids "playroom" and TV Room...
My new furniture right after it arrived!!! Whoohoooo ... btw - they tried to deliver it to our OLD address (rolling eyes)

These were pretty much the FIRST things in the house...
My Halloween stick-em's ... this is what I did bored waiting for them to delivery the furniture...
2 nights in the new place and Nathan FINALLY has his crib back... he's so excited that he starts sleeping on his belly!! LOL... he slept from about 8:30/9pm to 8:30/9am ... and this is how I found him sleeping at 6am when I had to get up and check to make sure he was okay...

He's been spending so much time on the floor and such that he has learned to ROLL... back to front, and front to back if his arms are right...
Nathan today....
Here is my kitchen this morning....

My living room this morning...
Nathan's room this morning...
My room this morning...
I got creative last night (notice the ivy and flowers)

Our new computer desk
The TV/Game room part of the basement (notice the no blue walls and stars up now)
The toy room area.... (and broken window getting fixed)
Part of my Photography Studio
Stuff is slowly getting done... -S-L-O-W-L-Y-... LOL... but it's getting done... I got some more of the halloween decorations up today, the other shelf in the kitchen... the small desk by the computer desk... Nathan's book shelf... started on the laundry... and various other things...

AND discovered a huge puddle of oil (think man hole cover size plus!) ... at first I thought it was laundry soap ... and then I realized it was cooking oil - and thinking - I realized that it had to be from our deep fryer... my friend who helped us pack, packed the deep fryer (full of oil) in a box and the guys - having to rush to unpack, put the box in the garage tiped.... and of course... all the oil came seeping out all over the floor and seeping into other boxes (oye!!)...

Other then that... I dropped our bedroom TV last night... I have so many cuts and bruises... and didn't get a shower until not last night but the night before, and omgosh I have never appreciated a shower so much as I did that one! LOL...

The boys are getting us to it... Calahan is now the *BOMB* at school for the moment, because we have the X-box 360 and Halo 3 game...

The only bad thing is the flys... they are dying off but not quick enough for me... we got some fly strips and fly swatters...

My hands are swelling up bad due to the carpul tunnel syndrome I have and just being over worked and over tired... it's hard..

Anyway - that's about it for now...

If anyone wants to see any certain pics - let me know :)

Oh the moving WOES... yes we are still moving...

We have had nothing but rain all weekend... both Dennis and I are just exhausted - not only have we been working our butts off but we're STILL moving crap and trying to clean up the old house. And even more disturbing is how I thought there just couldn't be MORE that disturbs me - but yet there is. Anyway - uhaul messed us up royally. The guys picked it up around 6pm Friday night, and were told that we had it until 6pm on Saturday night. So ... fast forward to after midnight Friday - the guys managed to get it 1/3 packed with the big furniture. (no trips yet)... they come home, go to bed. Go back over by 9am Saturday morning... have help - loading loading... and then 11am, it starts POURING!!!! and I mean POURING rain. They take a break from loading the truck and just concentrate on packing stuff.. but the rain lets up. I keep telling them, ya know - we only have until 6. But there is just no way we are going to get everything in there (there was a lot left yet and so we finish packing it up (still pouring) and come over to the new place for load one.... I figured I'd call u-haul and get it for one more day. So at 4:30 - Dennis gets a call on his cell phone... we were horrible busy - it was uhaul, wanting us to bring the truck back. Supposively - they had it sched. to be picked up again at 5, and was wondering where it was. First off - we were suppose to have it until at LEAST 5:30 and when they picked it up at 6, they were told to return it until 6. ... they started to call and harrass us to return it at 4:30!!! Here is the "complaint" that I sent this morning.

Our reservation was under the name M. Day, who is my mother, she also paid for it. First off, we were not 100% sure on when we were moving but got the uhaul reserved for Oct. 5. A few days later found out we could get into our new place a week sooner, so I called uhaul and changed it to Sept. 28. A day or two later I called to confirm things (truck size, etc) ... when I spoke with Greg or one of the others that worked there, I was told the reservation had been put for October 28th instead of September, I was asked what time I would pick up the truck and I said around 5:30, he asked how long we would need it, I said one day - we hoped - and we'd return it at 5:30 the following day (Saturday) .. I thought it was a good thing I called. My husband and brother picked up the truck on that Friday night, getting there about 6pm and were told to return it at 6pm Saturday. While moving we got horrible rain. We did not get as much done as we had hoped, and were hoping that we could get the truck one more day. I tried calling with no answer, so continued to work. Once we got our first full load over at our new place at 4pm my husband's cell rang but we were not sure what was going on with everything - I thought it was the regular phone.. but told him about it. Once we realized - he called back around 4:30-4:45 (mind you, originally we were still suppose to have the truck until 5:30 and were told at pick up to return it at 6)... it was once of the guys from the Birch St. U-haul asking when the truck would be back, and pretty much demanding that we have it there by 5 pm because that truck was contracted out at 5pm. First off, we were not told this at pick up or when I called (twice) to make sure everything was all set and confirm everything. My husband, brother, and two friends ended up pretty much dumping everything in the truck into the garage where the floor was wet and we had the largest truck so this was a lot of stuff. We got the truck back around 5:30 and inside the little store area, where I was standing, the girl started to tell me that they had a smaller truck (not only was there a smaller truck, but also the same sized truck we had in the back) .. I said "I am dropping off a truck" meanwhile there was a guy in the shop on his cell phone telling someone they were waiting for their truck that the people were "over an hour late" which we were not! ... Not only am I upset that even though I called several times to confirm things, to check on things, to make sure that everything was set up right, I was never once told that it was important we get back at that exact time, it was leased out again. Not only that but we did not get it our full 24 hours, we were basically harrassed to bring it back a FULL HOUR EARLY (the call was at 4:30)... When told that the truck was still full, there was no working with us, there was only "you need to get it back now" type of attitude.

My husband says we will NEVER use uhaul again because of this. Between the relentless rain and this, we are a full day behind getting everything done, working 8 am to past midnight the last few days.

So after returning it, we got back to work and worked until midnight with my friend and her boyfriend who had a truck and came to the rescue about 7pm that night, to move some of the bigger stuff we had that we knew wouldn't fit in the van. So get into Sunday - it's POURING rain out - again - and although a lot got done, it was a lot of piddly pick up the stuff on the floors and clean up. We got several rooms cleared out, but not cleaned yet, one room completely cleared out and cleaned... and a lot more packed and in the dumpster.

Let me tell you - packing with a demanding baby is dang near impossible!!!

Every time he is over at the old house, he is screaming and unhappy... Saturday his arm even turned BRIGHT red for reasons still unknown. He was a little chilly but not cold enough to cause his arm to be red!! He wasn't laying on it... I have no idea.

Anyway ... we are still not done. Monday morning, we're suppose to be done, unpacking - happy it's over... but it's SO NOT over yet! We still have under the stairs to go through, a few things in the kitchen, a couple things in the laundry room, cleaning... we have the garage... we have a desk, entertainment center, toy box, Calahan's desk, bikes, tool box... and 100 or so boxes to move. So we're heading back over today - Nathan will have to deal with being over there ...

And the most disturbing thing about it all - when the washer was moved mid-afternoon on Saturday - it was revealed that there was a FOOT of dirt behind it. A FOOT. The foundation is obviously crumbling... that's where the mold is coming in, the dirt in what was Noah's room... etc.
:::sigh::: Oh yes, there was a tad bit of mildew (not mold) type staining around the basement here in one corner... so I got some KILLZ paint Friday and took care of that, and then we got a dark blue paint called "Starry Night" and painted the walls in the corner of the basement where the kids rec room is going to be, and I'm going to put glow in the dark stars around it. I still have to do another coat of paint, or two, before finishing it off. But I will :) Heehee...

We will be done today - we will be done today - we will be done today....

OH YES!!! A couple of things...
* there are probably over 100 flies in this house... UGH!!! (that isn't even an exaggeration, I went through the house and counted!!)
* Nathan finally got his crib back last night - he was so happy he slept through the night and THEN this morning, slept until 8:30!! And when I went in there a bit after six, I discovered he was sleeping on his belly because he is rolling ALL OVER THE PLACE NOW...
* I had Noah's Parent Tech Conf. last week, he's doing well ... he's a social butterfly and behind academically but he's doing good... oh and his low tone issues are causing a hindrance in his schooling even more now... ::sigh::
* Cal rode on the bus for the first time since he was in Pre-School today!! Wow!!

Well...

We've moved 90% of our crap (and right now I hate just about everything I own because it was a pain in the ass) ... but we've got most of that part over. Today we have to move our huge swing set, little tykes plastic stuff, a couple of left over big stuff, a ton of boxes yet... and our small entertainment center for the basement... gotta move the big computer and pretty much the whole office... and various other things...

But I just wanted to update - I'll be *back* soon!!!

Oh... to fall over dead now.... would be nice...

On top of the semi-successful Thrift Sale last week, and let me laugh in your face un-seccessful sale this weekend... packing, cleaning out the garage (filling up a little less then half of the 20 yard dumpster we have) ... trying to continue to sell some of the stuff that didn't sell via the web, and giving away the rest...

Saturday morning - setting up the thrift sale... I pulled a box from the garage that had my beanie bears in it... and half way down ... what do I find??? The damn mice got into my box again and wrecked MORE beanie bears... and then I notice a little something I didn't put in there.... 3 little baby moles or mice (we think maybe moles/chipmunks - cuz we saw something of the sort when we were cleaning out the garage... now normally people would SCREAM and demand their husband or S/O getting rid of them... but see - not me... that would haunt me. Heck - I thought all the spiders were going to gain up on me and come bite me when I was washing all the spider egg nests off the lawn chairs that hadn't been used all summer really... seriously - I see Charlotte weaving her eggs in a safe little nest by Wilber, giving her life for them... and actually FEEL BAD. Sheesh... so of course, I couldn't just dispose of these little hairless helpless animals.... I donno what I am going to do - however - come moving day :( Surprisingly - they are still alive, or were - as of this afternoon. But I found them and Dennis had just gone in the house - and trust me, having him come back out was a production all in itself because he pulled something in his back and he's been in a lot of pain... anyway.. he comes back out, and there were people in my yard... and I very quietly say something about them and have him look and "what should we do" .. lol.. we just ended up putting the box in the garage with a couple of the things that "momma" chewed through to make a very crappy nest.. lol... ::sigh::

Makes me want another rabbit... WHY OH WHY would I want little baby bunnies again... they were awful darn cute though... AWFUL darn cute... hum... maybe a rabbit wouldn't be out of the question...

Anyway......... packing.... I hate packing..... loath packing...

Dennis stacked a bunch of packed boxes by the window in the garage that leaks... so... I was thinking... if it rains? Humm.... so I look tonight at the forecast for the week - up until we move Friday... and wouldn't you know??? It's suppose to rain tomorrow and Tuesday!!! So I spent a ton of time tonight dragging the boxes into the middle of the garage... and putting stuff by the window that A: were in plastic tubs, or B: didn't matter if it got wet (lawn chairs standing up and such) ...

I'm really excited because Ghost Hunters is coming back as of this coming Wednesday!! WHOOHOOO... and their live Halloween show is at Waverly!! I'm soooooooooo excited!!! Heehee...

So anyway - tomorrow - more packing... my Aunt is stopping by to hijack the books that didn't sell in my thrift sale... and she's bringing my cousin & her new baby with! I'm so excited!! He's the first "grandchild" born into the family of my mom and her seven brothers.. other then the kids I have had... my step cousin also had a baby last year - so that's super exciting too :)

So I guess - I'm off to shower and all that... and try to get some more work done before hitting the mattress.. lol..

Disappointment.... 13 Nights of Halloween

First and foremost I am very very disappointed that .... my favorite show in the world got canceled last season and I could just CRY :( Gilmore Girls is my absolute favorite show and now it's gone .... this is as sad for me, as the day... X-files was no more!! Wahhhhhhhh....


I am a bit disappointed in the 2007 Fall Line Up... oh sure a lot of my favorite shows is coming back and I'm excited to see what the new seasons hold!! Like.... Bones, and House, and ER... CSI ... Extreme Makeover Home Edition... just to name a few.



However -one of my FAVORITE times of year, TV wise... is ABC Family's 13 Nights of Halloween!! And this year........ is an utter disappointment from what I can tell. First off there is not ONE SINGLE new Episode of Scariest Places on Earth. WHAT THE HECK??? Of course I still have a smig of hope - the actual "official" schedule is not out yet.. I mean, this upsets me almost as much as if they would cancel Ghost Hunters (GOD FORBID!!) ... I just want to cry, or curl up in the fetal position and rock hoping it's all a bad dream. How could they not do new episodes of Scariest Places on Earth!?! ::sigh::

So what is the line up? Well... from what I've heard (and trust me, I hear a lot .. ha ha...) .... ET, Casper Meets Wendy, Teen Witch (which if you have never seen, WATCH - it was one of my favorite movies as a teen! LOL)... Hocus Pocus (classic of course), Tim Burton's The Corpse Bride, Beetlejuice, Nature of the Beast (an actual new movie).... there is also Poltergeist, Boogeyman, The Village, An American Haunting, Stephan King's IT, Matilda, The Little Vampire (very cute movie!!), Casper, Scooby Doo & Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, and The Haunted Mansion.... and on Saturday October 27, they are doing a 12 hour marathon of Scariest Places On Earth ... quoted to be "a marathon of fan favorites" ::sigh:: Fan favorites definitely implies not a single new episode ::wahhh::



This weekend starts some of the Fall Season Line up Premiers for the major networks. Stay tuned to my thoughts on that.... (Packing really is cutting into my blogger time man!!)... not that you REALLY care about all that, but this is my blog! Bawhahahahaa....



Oh yes, and Survivor China was on last night.... I say nothing about it right now, other then... hummm ... interesting...

The Woes of Moving...

Well - first... a tad bit of good news.... I haven't been able to wear my wedding ring because A: Dennis bought it a size too small... and B: Even though I somehow managed to get it on my finger when we were married, I gained weight during the pregnancy... lol.. but it seems that I've FINALLY started to lose weight... maybe because I fell into an I don't care anymore attitude and stopped fretting about it. Well I tried to put my wedding ring on last night and even though it's tight (it's cutting into my fat finger a little, but it's NOT cutting off circulation so that's good) ... But I got it on - WHOOHOOO :) So I am going to leave it on and hope that my finger adjusts around it. It's hurting a bit though - so I have no clue how long this will last...

Nathan sleeping in his crib today....

A picture from the other day... lol...

So what are these woes I speak of??? Well, let's see.... sick family.... packing... throwing a lot away, giving away, or selling.... feels like nothing is getting done but DANG IT - it's gonna... doing major packing and moving out of the house into the garage this weekend....

Wish us luck!!

Another piece of good news... picked out and set up delivery for our new living room set... here is the couch and love seat (click on the link of the words)... and we're getting a recliner to match.

Okay - time to go do the rest of our running for the night...

Update ....

Well our dumpster just got dropped off... aren't excited for us??? It's HUGE... heehee... Encourage me to fill it up.... get rid of the junk... declutter.... no need to take it all with. No need to take my past with when we're working on starting our future, right???

Had a bit of a bad night last night... Dennis and I are great, maybe even a little better then we've been lately ... we're both stressed out, and he's stressed out with everything I am with work on top... I'm not going to get into it right now though..

One good thing about the past week or so is that Dennis has gotten some new pictures of his baby girl... his ex contacted him and they've been chatting a bit. She even sent him a decent update on her. I may vent about my frustrations of seeing it all as someone who's not 100% connected to the situation... but I'm hoping this is step one of him being able to see his daughter soon. I am hoping before Christmas. It's nice to get to know his daughter, even if it is via an email he shares with me. He's just beaming with pride... he misses her so.... Here are a couple of pictures of her...
Isn't she beautiful!!!??? Here is a little blurb about what her Mom says she's like....
Just so you get an idea of what kind of child she becoming, I thought I'd tell ya a little bit about what she likes. She loves Care Bears....kinda funny since that was her first bear. She also loves My Little Pony, we got her one that sings and drinks a bottle the other day, and she hasn't put it down since. The Backyardigans are still pretty popular with her, I think the penguin Pablo is her fave one. She has a ton of Backyardigans stuff, including a little radio/karaoke machine that she carries all over. She LOVES to dance and sing!!! I guess it's in her blood. She still has a pretty big interest in Spongebob, but not quite as much since she started watching this other stuff. Those Strawberry Shortcake dvd's that we bought for her a long time ago are finally coming in handy, I think she's watched each one about 20 times now.

She's still very laid back, kind of a goof. She still loves to cuddle, all the time saying "Aww, dive me a hug, aww dive me a kiss" She's soooooooo funny! I'm cracking up all the time over things that she says or does. She's really smart too! She's known all of her colors for at least six months now. She knows how to count to almost 10 by herself. She recognizes letters and numbers, if you ask her where the 5 is, she'll point to it. She's just so awesome!!! I'm just so proud of her!Dennis made a comment in the van the other day - about how well he thinks his ex is doing with Jessa... and I said "Did you tell her that?" and he says "No, I don't think so" .. and I told him... "I think you should, she would probably appreciate it" ...

Anyway... I've been busy with the baby, and busy with trying to pack... now that we have the dumpster we can really take off on all this and getting ready I think. As for that *test* that I was taking... it was neg... which is fine. We'd rather not have it happen before the move anyway (mold issues and not wanting to expose another pregnancy to it) ...

I guess it's time to get up and pack... :::wahhhhhhhhhhh please don't make me:::pulling on pant leg begging::: I don't wanna.........

::sigh::

Do you see it?!?!?

Do you see it?!?!?!? Just barely poking out there!?!?!! My baby is getting a tooth! And not even one of his FRONT teeth.... what is up with that!?!?! Awwwwwww ... (crying softly) ...

Here is my "niece" Ivy Jane holding her baby Nathan... lol... she's so funny she just takes over when she's around.. she wants to do everything and if I'm not doing it FAST ENOUGH watch out! LOLOLOL... she is 4 years old...

A really bad picture of me and my LONG HAIR... lolol..
This is actually about an hour ago... trying on Nathan's Halloween Costume.... heehee...

He's saying ... "Please help me, my Mother is crazy... she says it's called 'Wiggle Worm' but it looks more like a stack of fruit loops to me... or some pastel life savers! HELP!!"

My Boys... same outfit...

Calahan Joseph... 3 weeks old... about 9 lbs...

Noah Alexander.... 6 months old... about 9lbs...

Nathan Patrick ... about 5 months... and almost 9lbs..

Tagged: 8 Things About Me...

LOLOLOL... I think I've done one of these already... but I'm not gonna look, cuz then I can use the ol' ... "I didn't realize I already said that" type excuse!! Teehee....

So ... Lesalicious ... got me :)

Rules are:

Once tagged, you must link to the person who tagged you. Then post the rules before your list, and list 8 random things about yourself. At the end of the post, you must tag and link to 8 other people, visit their sites, and leave a comment letting them know they've been tagged.

Now on with the fun!! Heehee.... tapping forehead... "think think think"....

#1: ... my pointer fingers are twisted - turning slightly to my middle finger... because I have this nervous habit of twisting them with my other hand ... eventually over the years.. LOL...

#2: ... I am a clutter bug... (we will not say pack rat, I know one of those, and I'm NO WHERE NEAR THAT...) ... I do have my clutter though, and with this move, we're hoping to move some of it out of my life ... (whew).... I collect Candles and love them... books, DVDs/Movies... books (espeically Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb) ... Ghost stuff... it all adds up :) LOL...

#3: ... I am a scrapbooker, but haven't had the chance to since pregnant with Nathan (pout)

#4: ... Although a lot of people don't "believe in it" ... I am psychic and I do sense spirits (ghosts) ... I am "gifted" no matter how much it scares me. My Grandmother was also so I grew up knowing ... I have predicted more then a few things in my life, and everytime I do, it scares the crap out of me and I'm shocked I was right... however... I do block a lot of it.

#5: I am a writer, I have written several things... over 100 poems, a handful of short stories... and I've completed 3 novels.. started several more... and including my "baby" ... the one I am actually going to TRY and get published... it's 40 chapters long, over 500 pages... and that's only the FIRST book...

#6: ... I have seen ghosts in my life... and I think I'll share some of those stories closer to Halloween...I have seen and been around too much that is "unexplained" to not believe in things...

#7:.... I have been over weight most of my life... got teased a bit in school ... I lost 50 lbs after my divorce and gained it all back because of the Italian who loves to cook and shove food in my face that I married now... and I'm having self esteem issues agian...

#8: .... My two favorite holidays are Halloween & Christmas.... my lucky number is 13.... LOL...

Now I get to TAG 8 people.......... Heehee.... ::rubbing my hands together:: Who shall be my first victim... "BAWHAHAHAHAAHAA"

1: Lisa... she needs to post - heehee... she's new, check her out!!
2: I'm Not Hannah.... I know she secretly loves these :)
3: Jobthingy ... I'd love to get to know her more :)
4: April ... she needs to post too, and I'd love to get to know her better!!
5: Ryan ... (and rudeness) ... again, love to get to know her better...
6: The Maven.... cuz she's so cool (big grin) ... she's been slacking on the post, gotta give her a filler... teehee...
7: Karen .... she makes some awesome things - you should check her out anyway!!
8: Melzie.... cuz I love her and she needs to! Heehee...

The Name Game...

The Name Game

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car):
Irish Quest

2.YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fave ice cream flavor, favorite cookie):
Mint Chocolate Peanut Butter

3. YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name):
A-Yah

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal):
Lilac Bear

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born)
Rae Eau Claire

6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first)
Yah-An

7. SUPERHERO NAME: (”The” + 2nd favorite color, favorite drink)
Slate Pepper

8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers)
Lawrence Joseph

9. STRIPPER NAME: ( the name of your favorite perfume/cologne/scent, favorite candy)
Longing Reeses

10.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names )
Berneil Joseph

11. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: (Your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter)
(you expect me to remember my 5th grade teachers name!?!?! NOT!! We'll use the first teacher I had that I can remember - which would be my 1st grade teacher)...
Hill Huston

12. SPY NAME/BOND GIRL: (your favorite season/holiday, flower)
Autumn Lilac

13. CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now + “ie” or “y”)
(I'm allergic to all fruits! LOL)....
Apple Pantie ... lol...

14. HIPPY NAME: (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree)
Kiss Willow (All I've had for breakfast is a kiss from Dennis... lol)

15. YOUR ROCKSTAR TOUR NAME: (”The” + Your fave hobby/craft, fave weather element + “Tour”)
Bloggin Lightning Tour

LOL, that was fun.... if you play along leave me a comment so I can read yours too!

You know you are moving.... when....

#1: A "For Rent" shows up mysteriously in your front yard...
#2: There is a MOUNTAIN of boxes on your front porch....
#3 .... your shelves are getting empty.. and emptier... and emptier... and your stuff starts to disappear! (here is a before picture!)

Remembering...

Driving Dennis to work this morning, listening to the local radio station (one of them anyway) ... they were reliving there "where were you" stories.

Yes.... everyone remembers where they were, where they were standing, what they were wearing... who they were with... and the utter shock and horror and they first witnessed that second plane hit the towers... if it be via re-running it, or the actual live image...

I was one of those few who saw the plane go into the tower, live on TV...

I remember... I was pregnant with Noah... and Home Schooling Calahan at the time... he was 5 years old... I was so shocked, I didn't protect him for the images.. and he was scarred and scared for year, and I believe he still is... in a way.

I woke up early (like every morning) .. and turned on Good Morning America (my fav morning news show) ... and it was almost immediate... breaking news... one of the Twin Towers in New York City is on fire... there is a rumor that a plane went off it's course and ... hit .. they were waiting for confirmation... and a few moments later, as live feeds came on... the world witnessed, the second plane... fly right into the heart of the USA...

No one could tear themselves away from their TVs, the news papers, the magazines, the radios. It was all that was discussed for weeks, months... and then, the decision came down... we were going to War. Sending our Men and Women over to fight, to show those responsible who was boss. We wouldn't stand down and take it.

As much as I do not respect that choice, it is what it is... and I DO support our troops. It's like teaching your child the only way to get back at a bully is throw punches. I feel we lost so many lives already, why give them more? Why give them more for SIX YEARS?? It hurts me, as a citizen, as someone who is proud of her country, honors the heroes of our various services. I am the daughter of a Navy man, and step-daughter... the sister, the cousin.. the Granddaughter of two Army Vets, the niece... the wife of a man who was in the Army... I am proud of what our military does...

However in my opinion enough is enough...

And I take this moment... to not only honor and remember the thousands that died that day in New York, and the ones at the Pentagon, the heroes of United Airlines Flight 93 who decided their fate would be in their hands and NOT in those who were trying to take over. The Men and Women who rushed to the sites of this country's disaster to help the injured, find survivors, and recover the dead... and to all the men and women who have fought in our honor, who have died for our country... to all the families of those who have family members who fought, served, parished... for those who are growing up without their husbands, wives, sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, neices, nephews, grand parents, aunts and uncles... friends.... for anyone who has lost anyone and continues to be heartbroken on this day.

Images will never be forgotten, this day will never be forgotten - it'll be in history books, and forums of discussion forever... "Remember the Day... America... was attacked... and in that distruction the citizens of the United States lived up to it's name and U-N-I-T-E-D together to stand strong and show, although fear exsisted, it would not control...

God Bless Everyone... Blessed Be...

Soooooooo MUCH going on right now...

That was me reading to the boys (the younger two) after the first day of school this past Wednesday... Noah has reading every night ... or should I say, I have homework every night, to READ to Noah... I do that most nights anyway... lol..

The same day I had done these pictures in frames for the boys - it's their school pictures from last year - boy how they grow!! The top corner one is the beginning of last school year (so they were 4 and 10) and the bottom ones was the end of the school year (5 & 11) ...

My VERY upset Nathan... poor baby...

Playing with his Octopus.. heehee...
A smile for Momma...
Temperance...
Brennan... her eye is finally getting better... I hope... though everytime I think that, it starts up again. She has one blue eye and her other eye is either now green or brown...

Nathan has been flirting! LOL...

Dennis doing what he loves most... cooking. ...
A few more of my little man!!


So what has been going on? Well so much .... You see... the boys have finished out their first week of school! They both had fun... seemed to make a few new friends (Cal anyway - Mr. Low Self Esteem) ... Cal has a overnight camp out coming up and he does NOT want to go... NOT... and I think he should. I think it would be good for him.. but he's afraid kids will make fun of him. He has stains on his teeth - we thing from antibiotics - and they don't come off. It really bothers him :( I can't seem to do anything about it either... Noah is having a good time.. every day when I ask him how his day was, he says "Pretty darn good" ... no clue where he got that from.. LOL...

What else... well, there is news on the "growing family" front... but I'll wait to share that in another post....

Oh the other day - I turned on the vacuum cleaner and one of the cats ran head first into a chair and then backed up... shook it off... and kept running... Heehee...

My girlfriend Kristen found out on Friday that they are HAVING A GIRL.. I'm sooooo excited for them!! They have a 1 yr old little boy. Now they are going to go bankrupt buying for the Princess of the house! Heehee...

I've started my Christmas Wish List... I want Sylvia Browne's book INSIGHT... I think it would be interesting to read...

But most importantly ... we are MOVING... yes moving. I'm sucking it up... and ... moving. Do I want to? HELL NO... the stress... the packing.. the rush.. the weeding through all the crap (although that COULD be good) ... the... STRESS... I know in about a month or so it'll all be better... and I actually got SUPER excited because it means I can decorate for Halloween and not just for myself.. AND AND hand out candy!! Something I haven't done in 5 years!!! There are no kids on my block - they don't come down here... so moving has good things too... Advantage #1 ... getting away from the mold... there has been a "mold" problem downstairs for YEARS and I didn't realize until late last month HOW bad it was... when the workers from the Landlord were here replacing the shower shell - I had gone down to see to laundry and saw them pull the middle section out - and it was NOTHING but black mold behind it - the WHOLE wall - they replaced the sheet rock or whatever - the shower shell ... but you know it's still there.. there is dirt coming up in the bathroom... and dirt coming out of the wall in my son's bedroom (this is new) .. there has always been a mold issue in there too but I've managed to control it with bleach... however... the carpet lately is always DAMP and it smells down there... and it's just getting bad and out of control... on top of all that.. I was under my sink today - I have one of those cleaning tote things that has the split basket containers... and I don't take it out - I just pull the cleaning supplies out of it and put it back... well, I never noticed... but.... when I cleaned out under there today ... the basket was filled with water and TONS of black mold spores... and I immediately backed up and let Dennis handle it... washed my hands a lot... it scares me...

See - Dennis has been sick ... got sick back in November when we closed off the house for the winter... turned on the heat... and he got sick... and now I wonder if the under lying reason would be the mold...

Then I wonder... OMG... what about Nathan??? Is that why he has his neurological issues???? So I do a little research... and what do I find? Although not "proven" mold is linked to miscarriages and babies being born with nero tube defects and spinal issues... I'm like... OMG what the HELL did I do to my child by staying in this house???

And then I start thinking - what if I'm pregnant again... what if...

It's time to get out. It's just time...... screw the stress the hassle... it is what needs to be done. This was the only place available that is in the same school district as the house we have now... (we live in a TINY house right now, with a huge yard and a two car/one door garage)... So we are putting our house hunting on hold for awhile, working on our credit... and family... ha ha.. so the new place is a duplex... has a smaller yard, smaller garage... the house it'self is a bit bigger. 3 bedroom plus a full unfinished basement. But the house has better movement through it... so I'm happy about that. It's in a HUGE neighborhood development and I'm so use to being off by myself.. it might be good for me, Dennis and the kids to be around other people.. I think it's good for us... we're going to get a new living room set... we're getting a lot of things we'll need.. so it'll all be good :)

But most of all - it's a fresh start for Dennis and I... it's our first place TOGETHER that we haven't lived in with other people ... it's our FIRST place together..

It'll mean something.

Anyway - it's time to go to bed, and close this.. it's almost midnight... the boys have to get up for school before 7am... the baby gets up around there... and I have to take a certain test in the morning to see if I get the same result I got today....

Will post again soon :)

My Seven P's.........

I was tagged by I'm Not Hannah ... and well... I hope I'm answering these right..

My Passion: I have so many passions ...

My Family... my kids are my life, my husband... there are days that I want to run away or pull my hair out, but by the end of the day... I love my family so much - I wouldn't trade them for anything. My husband is my best friend, he is my match... and he helps balance me out in a way that I cannot do myself. And I love my kids.. they are the cause for most of my headaches... however - I wouldn't trade those headaches for anything......

My Writing... it controls me really, and right now... it's gone on vacation. I cannot wait to get settled in a place where my muse isn't stuffed deep down instead of running around free. I need to write though - always - if it be fiction, poems, or purging the feelings of my day...

My Photography.... the way I see the world... the beauty I find in nature and people... it is awesome to be able to share...

My Purpose: My purpose... hummm... to be a good mom, a good wife, and a good friend... I have to say I am a nurturer and I really thrive on that. Mainly I just want to do what I need to do for those that I love... I want to see my children get what they need, and have what they need and know that they are loved. I want my husband to know that he means the world to me and I couldn't ask for a better man... he is everything I could ever want and need and he gives me love, he makes me laugh, he keeps me on my toes... he still lights that fire and makes my toes curl when he kisses me... he makes me melt... what can I say?

My Pursuit: To get published.... my writing ... my books... possible my photographs.. to see that my children grow into wonderful caring people... and to help my husband re-unite with his daughter whom he misses horrible...

My Position: A Stay At Home Mom (with a slight work at home with my Photography Biz)... some days I refer to it as a "Stuck" At Home Mom... ::sigh:: With no car... no life... no nothing... but a screaming baby and 2 bickering kids... but I love 'em... then there is also the Photographer, in the business I just started :)

My Pummeling: Clutter... Procrastination... Cleaning... I have so much stuff that means things to me, that it just clutters up my life... I procrastinate over most things... (but yet, I want to get some things done, and done now) ... and Cleaning... if I don't have my house clean, it brings me down... but cleaning brings me down too. LOLOL...

My Progress: I'm trying to be more patient... I want to find the patients I use to have... I also am working on losing weight... (sigh)

My Personality: Crazy... Sarcastic... Stubborn... Honest ... Will do just about anything for my friends... Trusting (and usually too much so) ... Chatty... and Creative... I think that sums me up!! (Dennis would probably add Smart in there - sometimes he talks about how amazed he is of the knowledge I hold.. lol..) ...

Now, I'm supposed to tag people. This is always the fun part.... I tag: The Maven, who I find a blast to read and is a very beautiful person... very witty... :) ... and I tag Lisa who has been a good friend for 7 years now... and will soon be my neighbor... not to mention she's NEW to the BLOG Family now!...so check her out, I'll also tag Aurora who is such a sweetie and an AWESOME Mom... she's quite crafty too!! And to three of my best friends online.. we talk everyday and have been so close for the last 5 years... we were all pregnant and due in March 2002... Melzie, Mandy, & Di ... I think they will enjoy the reflection and self analysis, Thanks for playing along you guys!

Upsetting News Stories......

First off... lets talk about poor Madeleine ... who has yet to be found :( It's sad...
Kate McCann Named Suspect in Daughter's Disappearance
UK Girl's Mother Considered Suspect
I donno what to think about this... I feel bad for those parents - however - why the HECK did they leave that little girl by herself with her siblings??? She was 3 years old left with 2 younger siblings!! They were in a "nearby" restaurant checking on them "periodically" ... I'm sorry - I know that we, as Americans ... different from over seas .. but there is such thing as common sense. And I realize that our common sense maybe different... but Dennis and I would never do that. Either one of us would stay with them.. or they would come with us - and Calahan is babysitting age ... so... it's just ... I just can't fathom it.. but is this another case of "let's blame the parents because we can't seem to solve it on our own, so we're gonna point the finger at someone" thing??? Make you wonder...


And then there is the 23 year old Mother who hung herself and her four daughters... ages 5, 3, 2 and 8 months. The 8 month old was still alive, which is a miracles all in itself.
4 Dead In Home, Baby Hanging but Alive
ARE YOU F***ING KIDDING ME????? It's one thing to be in such a horrible place yourself that you feel too out of control to continue with your life, but WHY TAKE YOUR CHILDREN?? What did they do to deserve it? If it is so bad that you see no other way (like getting HELP) but to kill yourself ... then call the athorities and tell them you are doing it and to come get your kids... so that way your children aren't even alone for long.. can you ... that baby hanging there... Gawd I can't even think about it - I'll get sick... Are they going to blame this on PPD??? This is just ... Susan Smith again... and those other mothers... what the hell is this world coming to? There are parents fighting to try to have babies and can't and yet, these parents are given kids only to kill them...

And then there is the Mom who "forgot" about her 2 year old daughter in the car, while she walked past it 100 times taking in donuts and other stuff into the school - where she's an assistant principal.
Mom in Agony After Baby Dies in Hot Car
Again.... are you F***ING KIDDING ME!?!?!?!?!?!? THEY AREN'T CHARGING HER??? Hasn't she been through enough? Yes - she is probably suffering but it's called Neglect people!?!?! This country takes children from their parents for stupid reasons and leaves other children with their drug addicted strung out for days parents... and yet... she's not being charged? I think it's wrong.. I may sound heart-less for that... but I do think it's wrong. She at LEAST needs her day in court over it...