I am alive and I owe you an apology

Hello Blogworld...I am alive and I owe you an apology. My schedule has been hectic and I don't have any excuses. This is the first year that I have had a real girl scout troop and we've been busy. We sold a ton of girl scout cookies, earned badges and I am now certified for camping. Chris has already laid down the proclamation, "NO Camping in our family". Too Bad!!

I have also taken 2 semester classes in the "Way of the Master" at church and have led someone to Christ. It was totally amazing. I also gave my testimony for the first time in my life and again it was an amazing, terrifying and emotional experience.

C is starting Kindergarten next year so we had to do an IEP which basically is what the goals are for his learning and achievement over and above being a normal Kindergartener.

I promise to write more and get over the time issue and writer's block issue.

I have also just finished reading "Wicked" and it is a great book but a little too graphic for me. My Sunday School Classmates are going to see the Broadway play in December and I can't wait for them to tell me about it.
Please accept my apology for not keeping you in the loop but life got in the way and I need to reclaim my writing.

Have a great week!!!

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Can you say "UH OH" in Chinese

As I took the last 1/2 hour of my lunch break to catch up on the latest news on CNN, I saw an article where the global economy has hit the U.S. A. big time. It appears that China is investing its resources in our banking and stock markets to help our economy. China is aggressively investing in the U.S. publicly held companies as well as playing in our stock market. This is a bad idea.

http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071223/BIZ/712230342/1005/biz

We are now becoming dependent on foreign countries for our economic growth. Since its less than 10% of the companies assets and they do not have stock votes, the government says its o.k. I believe this isn't good a good idea. If China invests enough in our financial situation, how can we (as Americans) be assured that China won't use it against us as a negotiating tactic?

I am not comfortable with foreigners investing in our finances or wanting to utilize a privately held coastal business where custom officials aren't allowed in.

This is the first step towards the downward spiral of dependency on foreign aide. Lets get our budget under control and be more fiscally responsible and stay the INDEPENDENT Nation that we want to be.

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Disney is For EVERYONE!!

For Christmas, our family went to Disney and as you know we have a son who is mobility impaired to an extent. He walks with the aid of crutches and leg braces. This was our first time to Disney with the exception of Chris who has been several times. My concern as a mom was that all of the kids would have fun and be able to get around but most of all be happy.

Since we have a handicap parking pass, we were able to park at the front entrance of the park. At Magic Kingdom (which was Day 1 and this post will be about), there is a wheelchair waiting in the parking area for your use. We were able to transfer C to the wheelchair and put his crutches on the back of the chair to push him down the walkway to get to where the wheelchair rentals were. The price isn't bad. $10 day or if you rent for 3 or more days, then the rate was $8 a day. We paid for a 5 day rental.

Going to the monorail was easy. We went up the ramp with the rest of the patrons and when the cast member saw us, we were ushered to the handicap entrance where they provided a ramp for easy boarding. Once all of the wheelchairs, strollers were on, the the rest of the patrons were able to get aboard and find a place to rest for the 10 minute ride.

We went during week 50 for this year and the most we waited in line was about 10 - 15 minutes. The cast members were always polite and asked if he needed to stay in his chair or could we transfer him to the ride. We transferred C on all of the rides and he had a blast. His sisters also had a great time and enjoyed the interactions with the characters.

The characters were awesome. They would engage C and make him feel especially important. His sisters were also treated with big hugs and autographs. Since the crowds weren't huge, we were able to maneuver C around easily and he enjoyed talking to the cast members and touching noses of the characters he met.

The kids were ecstatic to meet their favorites; B - loves tinkerbell so she traded pins to collect a good supply of tinkerbell pins and she loved meeting the Princesses, K loves Cinderella and I thought she was going to pee her pants with excitement when Cinderella arrived at our table during the princess dinner. C loves Pluto. He told him "I wub u" a bunch.

We also had purchased tickets to Mickey's Merry Christmas Party. 20,000 tickets were sold and we all had to wear wristbands. We had a blast and when we arrived at the Character Dance, Chip and Dale (the chipmunks) made C's night. They took his hands and danced with him so he could be with his sisters and the rest of the kids.

A cast member came by and asked if the characters were paying enough attention to him and I said that everyone was doing an awesome job. It still brings tears of joy thinking about him dancing with the rest of the kids.

So if you are planning a trip to Disney and have mobility issues, don't worry. This is the year of a million dreams and Disney will make your dreams come true as they did for us.

Here's to your dreams,

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Its a New Year but the same ME!!

Our New Year's Eve family blast was the usual except the kids decided to make home made confetti and we had a confetti fight at Midnight. What fun and what a mess.
We visited Chris' grandmother who has passed the 90th year of life and she is still smart as a whip and glad to have family come and visit and take watch out for her.
Its the start of the new year and I am still looking for the right job with the right attitude. I don't make resolutions as I will break them within the 1 hour mark so I don't do it. I am hoping to get more into studying the Bible to equip me to deal with life. I am finishing up my first evanglism class and will be getting ready for the second the class. Its a pretty cool class as it gets me out of my comfort zone.
I am also hoping to drop some weight so I can wear the "cool" clothes again and be the "cool" mom. I want to go a little more green so my part will include eating less gaseous foods so I won't produce too much methane gas which should help the ozone.
Since we are going into an even year I am hoping that the oddball stupid stuff that has happened to us in 07 will not happen in the wonderful 08 even year.
Did you make any resolutions? Do you keep them?
Let me wish you a happy new year!

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Authors are Blooming all Around

My daughter's B's first grade teacher has published his 2nd book. Its in the stylings of Eragon and other Fantasy Science Fiction Reading. If you want to support a local author, he lives in Colonial Heights, and love to read, please read the description below and if you like, please purchase it through Amazon.com for $10.17

Knight Of The Dove
Publication Date: November 2007 Published By: Kerlak Publishing ISBN: 0-9788777-6-4 ISBN 13: 978-0-9788777-6-7
SynopsisAmaria Eversvale, the Knight of the Dove, is a ruined woman. Once a proud soldier and icon of the Illidor army, her life has been tragically altered forever. In avenging the brutal murder of her husband, she had called upon the dark gods and committed a massacre at Erdoth Fortress. Now a victim of the sinister god's sinister whispers, her life has become a constant struggle to ignore the temptations and promises of evil.Author's NotesStylistically, Knight of the Dove vastly differed from my previous novel, Tower of Ruin (or anything else I’d written before). In an attempt to exercise my creative muscles, so to speak, I approached this story in a manner that proved difficult, but was ultimately quite rewarding. It’s still written in typical 3rd person, but almost the entire script is viewed from a single person's perspective. I intentionally came in thinking this would be an "anti-plot driven" novel, centered exclusively on one character, that being the heroine (though calling her a hero is subjective), Amaria Eversvale. I was reaching for a wistful, almost brooding, atmosphere. I’m quite happy with how it turned out, and wouldn’t change anything. It’ll be interesting to see how the readers respond to it. People might hate it, they might not. In the world of fiction, you just never know . . .Please note that the prequel to this book, the short story “A Dove Before Dawn,” (in the Time Intertwined Anthology) is included at the beginning of the novel as a special addition.
Website design and programming by William A. Kooiker© Copyright 2005-2007

Keep Reading,

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Dads are Important Too!!

I was reading articles on the web as I usually do and found this awesome article written by Roland Martin on CNN on the importance of fathers in black America (his words). This is so dead on.

The article stated that if fathers stepped up tothe plate when they get their girlfriends pregnant and took the responsibility, the jails would be less crowded. He also went on to say that teenagers should be looking at colleges instead of baby names. Unplanned pregnancies happen but we shouldn't shun the girl, congratulate the guy and treat it as a blue ribbon day.

As a mom, I can say that regardless of race, dad's are important. Our children look to dad for play and to see how far they can push the boundary. Daughters will look at their dad and will see what kind of husband they want or don't want based on Dad. Sons look to dad to see what kind of man they want to grow up to be. Sorry mom's but we can't be a dad. We can only do the best that we can because face it, we don't think like boys or men.

Parenting is an equal partnership. It takes two to have a baby and it takes two to raise one. Don't discount dads because they didn't give birth. Their role as provider and leader teaches the children the importance of both sides of parenting. Our children of today are our teenagers of tomorrow and adults of the future. Lets give our kids the chance they need by giving dad the credit he deserves and show the importance of their role.

If you want to read the article, here is the link: http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/12/11/roland.martin/index.html

Hope you have an awesome night!!

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Can you truly go Green?

This past week, I have been reading a lot of articles on being green and how we can do some simple things to stay green. It may be simple but I don't believe it will truly happen. If you want to get rid of the green house effect, it will mean you will have to make a real commitment to do it. This is what the scientists are saying:

It seems that divorce is paying a huge part to the green house effect. If no one was divorced in 2006, there would be 1 million less houses which would mean a decrease in trash pick up, use of electricity, less gas being used in cars. Can people go back to the era of no divorce. That would be awesome and you would be helping the environment. I do believe in divorce where physical abuse occurs but because you changed your mind about being married because it got hard is now unacceptable. We need to save the environment. So remember the original "I do" means forever.

The second thing we need to do is not pass gas. It seems that humans, pigs, cows and sheep produce so much methane gas that it is causing the green house effect. The Netherlands produce 50% more methane gas than anywhere else in the world. So say good bye to Mexican Food and other foods that cause the production of the passage of gas or you can buy an over the counter product like Beano. The kangaroo on the other hand does not produce methane gas so they don't need to modify their eating habits. So invest in Beano or another over the counter medicine that stops gas passage. Remember to be like Roo.

So remember, if you want to help the environment, stay married and don't pass gas. Sorry husbands, but when you pass that gas under the blanket and then barricade your wife under the covers so she can get the full effect, this is counter productive to having a green environment.

Have a great weekend.

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