Happy Friday everyone.

I only have one more to go........one more.....and then I'll be hosting my first ever giveaway.

I hope all of you have a great weekend.

My mom, dad, brother, SIL and my grand-neice and MIL came over tonight and we had the new lasagna from Pizza Hut. It was good. But not as good as mine (yeah, but it's way easier to fix theirs). And they all played cards while I played with my grand neice and she is so cute I can hardly stand it.

They will spend the night tonight and head on back home tomorrow. It really has been fun having them all here.

Happy weekend.

Sometimes I don't even know who I am.....

Hello everyone. Update is that I finally got to the bottom of the inbox of comment love from being featured on SITS on the 27th. I absolutely adored it. Thanks again to all who stopped by. I tried to respond to each of the comments, but a lot of them had a no-reply email so I'm was not able to respond to them. But, oh, well, it was a grand day.

Now on to my problem for today. I am really struggling with my, I guess you could call it my expectations. I wonder if I have PMDD or something. I love my kids, but lately, all they do is get on my last nerve. And it makes me feel like Godzilla mom or something. I ratchet off about the smallest things. For example, yesterday I told my two boys to take out the garbage (today is garbage day) and they get into a tussle in the kitchen about who is going to do what. That really aggravated the stuffing out of me and I began to yell. After that, I was just snippy and snappy and naggy. I kept finding stuff of theirs lying about (that prior to that little tussle) that didn't really bother me at all. And lately, it seems to happen more and more.

Please tell me that I am not alone in this. I feel like such a failure as a mother and I don't want my kids to grow up with this *itch.

Thanks for any suggestions and for listening to me vent.

First of all, I want to thank Tiffany and Heather at SITS for featuring me yesterday.

I feel the love. I had a wondiferous day and my solemn promise is to read each and every comment (I had to go to bed at three am, I just had to) and if you left an email, I will get to you this week.

Thanks to all of you who stopped by. I hope you left with a smile.

Keep checking back, I'm almost to 100.

YEE HAW!!!!!

I'm being featured on SITS today. I'm so excited. And I just can't hide it.

Hello, lovely SITStas. So glad you could stop by today. I'm super excited about being featured on SITS. These two lovely ladies have really got their groove going. Most of the blogs I follow, I found through SITS.

I hope you all will stop by in a few days as well. When I hit my 100th blog. I will be doing my first ever giveaway!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!

Thanks for all the SITSta love. I hope you find something that makes you want to come back.

Oh, and please continue to pray for Kat at Sunshine and Lemonade and for the quick recovery of her husband.

My son......

Today, in the daylight hours while we were getting ready to go to church this morning, in the AM, told us that he thought he might have an ear infection. Because his ear was hurting.......

Okay, fast forward to this afternoon about 5 pmish. We are getting ready to go back to church and ask him if he thinks he needs to see a doctor today or if his ear was better. Well, of course, it wasn't hurting him at all. So we forgot about it. That is...

Until 10PMish. He wakes up and tells his dad that his ear is hurting really badly. Translation: there is not a doc in the box open for hundreds of miles, so DH gets to take him to the ER. Translation: way too much money for something that could have been taken care of earlier today.

What can you do?

Hope everyone has a great week.

Happy Friday, Everybody......

Well, we made another week. And my middle child has HGD class today.
That's Human Growth and Development class. It is presented by the school board's nurse to all students of a certain grade. I was fortunate enough to be present at one of the presentations of this class. DH and I had signed a permission slip with much trepidation at the beginning of the school year allowing our children to be present when this is being taught. We both prayed about it and basically left it with the Lord and promptly forgot about it.
I was volunteering at the school one day last week and was basically a non-existent observer.
I was taken aback. In a day and age when "if it feels good, do it" runs rampant, this school system is actually taking a stand of "Abstinence". And they presented the materials to be covered in a well thought out, easy to understand, intelligent manner. They were compassionate and made the boys feel very comfortable about asking any questions (and I mean any). There were a few nervous chuckles, but for the most part, it was really an informational time for these boys. And they explained what changes were going to happen in puberty and why these things happened and that not everyone progressed at the same rate and how it was so unkind to ridicule others who were or were not progressing at the same rate.
And I remember thinking, man, I wish they had given us this kind of talk when I was this age, it would have explained so many things that were such a mystery to me.
They were talking about STD's and one child spoke up and said that they could always use condoms and they thoughtfully explained that while you could use condoms, they weren't always effective at birth control or in preventing STDs and the best bet would be abstinence. They explained the physiological and the mental issues connected with sex in a tasteful manner. I'm glad I was there. It put my fears to rest as to the content of their HGD classes.

A day to remember......

My bible instructs me to pray for our nations leaders. Notice it does not say, if you agree with or like or voted for these leaders. It says to pray for the leaders.

So today, and everyday, I pray for our newly elected leaders. I pray for our new president and his wife and their lovely children. I pray that he will seek God's favor and advice on decisions that he will have to make. I hope he does this without even thinking about it.

I pray that God will heal this nation and restore her.

No opinions, no jokes, no politics, just prayer for all our leaders right down to the local level. Please join me in prayer this day and every day.

May God bless the United States of America.....

Wii have joined the nation.......

Everyone on the farm got Wii this year. Except for, you guessed it, US. Even my MIL got Wii. And I have only seen my kids for a few minutes in the last two days. Is this a bad thing? I don't know.

My SIL is here this week looking at places to live (YEEHAW, June is rolling up on us fast) and going to fix up their rental place about four hours from here. Anyway, I cooked a new recipe called Chicken Cordon Blue Casserole. It was verra verra tastee. Anyway, after supper, they played Wii baseball. And I finally gave in to the craze and played Wii bowling. That was super fun. I can actually see what all the fuss is about.

My MIL and SIL's arms are killing them and they are sore from their Wii fit workouts this morning.

I read that the day after Christmas the emergency rooms were full of people with pulled muscles and over rotated shoulder joints. Did any of you join the Wii nation this year?

Hope everyone has a lovely week.

If you know me at all, you know I love me some books....and I love the library. Since I was a child it has been one of my favorite places to be. It is quiet and the rustling sounds that other book lovers make as we gently make our way up and down the aisles is soothing....and then modern technology brought us the internet and computers in our beloved libraries...and it was good. Now, there were people busily doing research projects and emailing and blogging and a whole new world was opened up to even more people, because if they come for the computers, they are going to get interested in books, right......????

Dear Unsupervised, Teenage Library Patron,

I am so excited that your parents were able to drag themselves away from whatever chore they had going on long enough to drop you off here at our most precious resource. My hope, for you, is that you will fall in love with this wonderful place and hold it dear to your heart.

WT....???

Just in case you failed to notice, there is a sign right in front of you that asks all patrons to whisper so as not to interupt other users of the library. Really, it does, read it. So would you and your precious friend SHUT UP. Stop yelling back and forth across the library. There are those of us here that really do enjoy being peaceful.

Please stop talking back and forth across the computer kiosks. None of the rest of the computer using patrons want to hear your new facebook comments. We really, really don't.

Please pull up your pants and stop saying "Shit, man". I don't want to see your butt crack (and no one else does either). By the way, did you know that when a man in prison wears his pants down like that, it means he is "open" for bidness?

Please get up and go to the bathroom and blow your friggin' nose. Instead of sitting there snorting snot constantly. You may enjoy the taste, but the rest of us are just about to puke over here. The tissue is free, it's a public library, so you don't get charged for it.

To your parents, I wish you would have taught your children more respect for the gift of the library and taught them to have more respect for others around them. This is not your free baby-sitting service. You are not doing them or yourselves any favors by just letting them act this way. As far as I'm concerned, this is what's wrong with this country.

These are all things that I would have like to have said to these young people and their parents, but I couldn't because I was afraid that if I did, they might bust out a gun and shoot me in the head. Now isn't that a shame? Or follow me out to my car and beat me to death with their giant untied tennis shoes.

Thanks for letting me vent. I hope you guys have a great weekend.

Coward of the county.......

Hey y'all. That would be my nickname. Okay, we have not had the insurance and with all the stuff going on, we have not had the moola to have any dental work for any of us for several years. So, as soon as we got insurance and got our house sold, I made appointments for the kids and yesterday was the big day......it was pretty telling. They all three had their teeth cleaned and xrays. No big surprise that each of them is going to require some fillings. We have them all scheduled and all of them should be up to good in about four weeks. ( I just want to stop here and give a shout out to God for these blessings. Without His intervention, this just wouldn't be happening).

Now, DH already wears partial plates and does not seem terribly interested in going to this dentist. Actually, these dentists are brothers and they are fantastic with my kids.

Okay, I personally have not been to a dentist since I was eleven years old.....do the math....about 32 years ago. Can you even imagine what was built up on my teeth. In my defense, I had a really bad experience with the dentist who put the fillings in when I was eleven. Other explanation, I'm the biggest coward you can imagine. So I just have not gone back.

Well, I've just about worn a groove in the end of my tongue. That girl cleaned all the gunk and junk off my teeth and they feel so different, I just can't quit messing with them. I, also, will have to have some cavities filled, but they said all in all for not having any dental work in 32 years, my teeth were incredibly healthy. YAY for me. I guess I'll just have to get better on my flossing skills. She said that is where the cavities started for me. YIKES!!!! All this time and me fussing at my kids to brush and I never encouraged them to floss. Guess I'll have to rethink that whole plan, huh?

Well, enough bumping my gums (get it? huh? ) Pun definitely intended.

Hope you all have a great day.

I am asking anyone who stops by today to pray for and lift up Julie and Noah Roberts of O Love That Will Not Let Go. They have lost precious Magdalena Grace. And I am sure that they need our prayers and thoughts at this very difficult time.
Please take a few minutes to visit their site and read their wonderful love story.
Blessings to all.

It's Monday.......

Wow. I have been living here now for a little over six months. And I'm finding out that I need to start letting go of my old doctors. I like my old doctors. I am comfortable with them. They know every nook and cranny of this gigantor body of mine and they have taken really good care of me in the past. BUT... they are all over an hour and a half away. I cannot be taking my children out of school for complete days because we have to have check ups. So, I have decided to let the past go. I am going to be scouring my insurance guide and the internet to try and find physicians, dentists, OBGYNs,dermatologists and so forth closer to where we are now.
Has anyone else ever had to do this? Why does this make me so sad?
Maybe I'm just feeling the Monday mullygrubs.....I don't know. Love to hear from y'all.

Have a great week.

EEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWW....that is just so wrong!!!!

Okay, before I write my letter, please let me preface it by saying I KNOW that not all pet owners are this irresponsible and lazy. I am NOT trying to offend any pet owners, I just happened to have a bad experience this past weekend and am venting....

Dear Mr. Dog Owner,

This weekend while we were camping at the Ga. Veteran's State Park (might I say a beautifully appointed campground), I noticed that you were taking your beautiful jack russell terrier for a walk. And I was so impressed. You actually had this beautiful specimen on a leash, just like the campground rules state that you must.

Now, I love doggies. Most of them are precious and make me want them for myself. But, I feel it's necessary to remind you of a couple of issues.

#1. The park rules clearly state (just under where it says they must be on a leash) that you are responsible for picking up and disposing of their waste. Yep, you need to pick up their doodoo. I know that they even make special little baggies for this. And if that is too expensive, we all shop at Wally world and save the plastic bags.

#2. It's just common courtesy not to leave their waste around where unsuspecting people will step and slip in it. (My knees are just fine, thanks for asking. The rocks only dug 1/4 inch into my skin).

#3. The hygeine issue of children digging in gravel and getting dog doodoo on their hands is self-explanatory. (EEEEEEEWWWWWW).

I'm a live and let die kind of gal. I think that pets are something that everyone should have, but with them comes responsibilities whether you like it or not. I bet it would pi-- you off to no end if you stepped in waste that my pet left, huh?

Then, when we went to the Cracker Barrel for breakfast, there was this man letting his dog poop on the grassy area of the parking lot and then he just walked off like he didn't see it happening. H E L L O!!! Where is your courtesy????

Okay, I feel much better now. Thanks for listening to my ranting about dog doodoo.

Have a nice day.

She likes me......she really, really likes me.....

I was given this award from a gal up in the northeastern part of or great United States of America, long may she reign.....

I was so surprised to get this award. I was so grateful for this award. Chez LaFleur in Manhattan bestowed this lovely on me, thank you, thank you very much.

In the words of the great James Garner, I like myself alright, it was just surprising that it was catching. LOL.

I am supposed to tag seven people for this award and I just can't do it. There are so many who deserve it so much, so here's what we'll do. If you want this award, just take it. But don't forget to link back to Chez LaFleur. She is funny and definitely worth the read, plus she's got some awesome information about the northeast region, just in case you go up and visit that area.

Y'all have a great day. MWAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!! my lovelies.

Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy......

I don't know about y'all, but I'm so ready for school to be back in session. Here in my neck of the woods, school starts back tomorrow, that's right. The 6th of January. YIPPEE!!!!
We just got back from a three day vacation with the kiddos and man, I'm glad to be home so I can lock myself in the toilet room and hide. Just kidding.
We had a great vacation in the fine state of Georgia. We visited the Georgia Veteran's Memorial Park. WOW!! What an awesome place, but then again, Georgia really has gooooooood parks. We pulled in on Friday afternoon about 4:30 pm and set up camp, just in time for the rain to begin.
That's alright, we didnt' have any activities planned for Friday night.
My daughters' b-day is on the 7th and she wanted to go to Wild Adventures for her birthday, so that's what we did on Saturday. It was perfect. The weather was just right. The lights were still up from their Christmas time and it was their last day open until March. We had a grand ole time. No long lines to wait in. And we really didn't run into any rude people. Needless to say, we had no trouble getting those kids to sleep when we got back to camp.
Sunday, DH wanted to visit the historic Andersonville prison camp. That was one of the saddest experiences. Just plain out sad.
Then we spent the rest of the day at the campground enjoying mother nature. It was fabulous. We had supper grilled over a wood fire and enjoyed the beautiful stars over Lake Blackshear. Then, up this morning, some fantastic grub from the Cracker Barrel and home we came. No snarls in the Georgia road construction (does that ever end?).
Oh, one funny note, the kids were digging in the gravel at the campsite and I kept telling them to stop throwing gravel...well, middle son pretended not to hear and came stomping over. He had dug into a pile of dog doodoo that someone had not picked up. It pays to listen to mom sometimes, doesn't it?
Hope you all have a great day.

I'ts here, 2009.

Does anyone remember back in 1999 when all the Y2K fuss was going on? I sure do, because I was working in public safety at the time, I got called in to work to stay overnight in case of massive power outages and all sorts of other unexplained phenomenon. Oh well, needless to say, they sent us home at 2 in the morning. Thank you sweet Lord for your many blessings.

Last night, my family and I enjoyed a fantastic New Year's eve party complete with disco music and all of us making complete idiots out of ourselves boogeying down. Well, this morning when I got up I was just thankful.

Thankful to the Lord of all the blessings he had bestowed upon my family in 2009 and the blessings that are still to come. The only resolution that I am making for 2009 is this: I want to be more grateful for these blessings and I want to pray and praise Him for His wonderful greatness. That's it.

I wish blessings to you and yours in this new year.