LEARNING THE JOYS OF GIVING

Elijah is growing up no matter how hard I try to keep him as my baby boy! Sad but true! At least he is a nice, obedient, loving and thoughtful boy....for the time being! Don't get me wrong he has his ornery streak but overall he is a very good kid. At high school aka elementary school they had a mini store set up so the students could buy Christmas gifts for their family and friends. Little nick knacks, FINE jewelry and toys for them to spend their own money on if so desired. Well first he bought me a ring for Christmas but absolutely couldn't stand it anymore and gave it to me for my birthday......it is one precious gem I tell you!

He then bought me a couple of other gifts and a couple for Daddy for Christmas. He then decided his Meme and Papa needed gifts JUST from him.

He bought Meme a beautiful 5kt "yellow diamond" ring which she just loves!

Conveniently Elijah bought Papa a car that he will be able to play with when he is at their house!

I am very proud of my little man for still being his thoughtful little self and for wanting to spend the money on others instead of buying toys for himself. The look on his face watching them unwrap their presents was priceless for me. He even wrapped them himself. I am proud of my boy and he was so full of pride and excitement it was cute. It makes me think I AM doing SOMETHING right!!

ISN'T SANTA SUPPOSED TO BE JOLLY?

I seriously love Santa and the whole leaving cookies and milk that I get to eat - hehe- and leaving reindeer food out so I love to take the boys every year to see Santa and take a picture. They are only young once and don't seem to believe for very long! Actually before I get into my story I don't completely understand parents not doing the whole Santa deal. I know people who tell there children from the start that Santa is not real. HELLO this kind of makes it harder for those of us who let our children believe! There are a few kids in Elijah's class who are non-believers and they have made him ask me MANY difficult Santa questions this year which I DO NOT LIKE BECAUSE HE IS TOO YOUNG TO STOP BELIEVING! However me and my dad are very good and have reassured his faith!! I just don't get not letting them believe while they are young it is part of the fun of Christmas and it won't hurt them, I promise! Elijah wrote Santa several letters this year - two wish lists and countless questionnaires. One letter went like this: Dear Santa, I want a Ben 10 game. How do you fly your reindeer? Do you run into planes? How do you give presents to everyone in one night?......................it went on and on apparently his teacher helped him write it since he couldn't possibly have done it all on his own.....thanks Mrs. Wolters! ANYWAY Saturday I took the boys to see Santa and he was there however the line was closed so they could shut down for Santa to eat and go feed the reindeer! Not fitting into my schedule Santa! Think it is diet time because I have soooo much to do today and this does not help me out! SO needless to say we did not make the Santa trip again on Saturday and instead went Sunday late morning. Just my luck there was a line - a long long line full of crying children! Everytime I have been to the mall lately there was NO line but of course I didn't have my children with me - what are the odds?! Isaiah has the serious Santaphobia that many small children get but we had high hopes this year since I have really played up the whole Santa picture trip! I promised him some M&Ms, Pop (he thinks carbonated flavored water is pop - yippee!), and he could even open one present if he sat on Santa's lap to take a picture! Sad I know but you all know you've used bribery since it is part of parenting 911!!! He was soooo excited and ready to go until we get into the line - you know the long line of children tired of waiting in the line to sit on the lap of a stranger to take a picture for mommy - gotta love it! He would not let me put him down for more than a couple of minutes without throwing an end of the world screaming fit and Martez took the stroller out of the car to load our presents to take over to my mom's house. Needless to say I thought I would need to ask Santa for a new arm since I thought it would fall off at ANY minute! No matter how miserable the two of us were and I was almost at the leaving point, I couldn't leave because I helped Elijah write a new wish list and questionnaire to Santa and he was too excited for words! He just kept watching him in awe. Well it was our turn and Isaiah is past the point of no return he's saying "I wanna go home, I don't want canny! Pease momma pease!". Elijah walked up and handed Santa his list and they chatted for a moment then do do do do........Isaiah joined the picture and WOW that boy has some lungs!! Cracked me up though once I got past the embarrassment! Santa is saying "No kicking, no kicking! Don't kick me!" while attempting to hold Isaiah's legs down! "STOP KICKING!" Santa needs a new job because the real Santa wouldn't act like that. Well then I notice the photographer really trying to catch Isaiah's attention with a stuffed animal.......SERIOUSLY.... you expect to calm him down with that......that was funny! I tell her just take the picture I don't care if he is screaming because he won't stop and I'll just show him how he acted when he is older WHEN OUT OF THE BLUE SANTA SAYS "GOD JUST PLEASE TAKE THE PICTURE!" Oh hell no.....security to Santa's little house of horrors! Just kidding! All I have to say is you shouldn't take a job as a Santa in a mall if you can't cope with crying children because that is PART OF YOUR JOB! Children will cry at some point during the whole sitting on Santa's lap experience but they get over it and move on while their mom's have the token "crying on Santa's lap" picture for the scrapbook. Mine qualifies more as a "screaming, reaching for anyone while kicking a not so jolly but still smiling Santa" picture of Isaiah while Elijah smiles on! Elijah really said that night after his bath "I've been thinkin' mom Santa was really not nice to Isaiah! Do you think he put him on the naughty list? Is he still going to bring him presents?" How sweet is he! You know he was probably worried about that all day. If he only realized Isaiah pretty much stays on the naughty list - HA HA - seriously though he does!

MAJOR CASE OF ROAD RAGE

As if my road rage wasn't bad enough when the power was out and I figured out who in Tulsa and BA actually understands the concept of A 4WAY STOP yesterday was BAD! For those of you who do not know me I have road rage - at least I admit it - now move on! The road rage has calmed considerably since now I ride with a two year old and five year old. I don't have a problem with cussing or flipping the bird since that would be inappropriate I will just follow you and say my peace which I haven't done in a long time. I will also say driving a big SUV has helped to - now I don't care as much because I think people get intimidated and are less likely to piss me off since now I can just run them over! However there are still the few of them that try to act as if they didn't see me - SERIOUSLY - how could you miss me! Well yesterday I took the boys to the mall to see Santa which was not a jolly experience for me anyway then this woman gets mad at me at a for way stop because of HER inability to understand the word STOP! It was clearly my turn since she hadn't even stopped yet but for some reason she decides to honk continuously for several minutes while flipping the bird to my car full of kids! B I could just run her over however I then decide after her persistant ignorance to follow her through the mall parking lot to have a friendly little chat! Well I follow her to her little parking space and basically tell her that it was not my fault she is to ignorant to understand the concept of a 4way stop and she really should reconsider how she acts since 1-it's Christmas, 2- I could have just hit her and plowed her tiny little butt down, 3 - I could've of been a crazy-gun-toting-just listened to my screaming child and a not so jolly Santa for an hour-driving a big car with road rage momma, and 4 - my kids are in the car so it was really not nice of her to flip them the bird....... I went on and on and she looked so scared and shocked and her silence felt great but not as great as her apology to me and them my kids - gotta love it! Not so sure which was a worse influence her idiot behavior and flipping me off for NO reason or my kids seeing me follow her and have a "little chat" - outside of the car so at least they didn't hear me. I must say though trying to explain the "bird" is much harder then telling them I had to correct her for her behavior. THEN I take all the kids home for Martez to tend to while I go to work. On my way to work I get seriously cut off then the person waves to me like I let them over 1 foot in front of me ONLY to come to an immediate stop so they could turn into Wal-mart real fast. As my breaks squeal and my horn is honking and not so nicities are spewing I realize I SERIOUSLY NEED TO GET OUT OF THE CAR AND OUT OF HOLIDAY TRAFFIC BEFORE I KILL SOMEONE!! Merry Christmas to all and to all a safe and please SMART driving night!

I'VE BEEN TAGGED!

Once you have been tagged, you have to write a blog with 10 random things, facts, habits, or goals about yourself. At the end choose 10 people to be tagged, listing their names. Don't forget to leave them a comment (that they're it - and to read your blog). You can't tag the person who tagged you. Since you can't tag me back, let me know with a response or comment when you've posted your blog so I can read your answers.

1. I love home decorating! I love it so much I have six different bathroom sets for the main bathroom. This includes rugs, curtain, pics, trash cans......I could go on and on. Hey it is one room in the house that you can redo rather cheap and switch out often! Love it! I wish I could do it more like have different bedroom furniture and decorations....dream on baby! I would love to go to design school if only just to learn new things and the method to my madness!

2. I am a great multi-tasker! At work I can be doing ten different things at once and while everyone else looks at me while I am crazy I have it all under control! Although I hate to file....ugh...I have a mound of filing right now if anyone has free time!!

3. I have learned to enjoy yardwork since buying our own home a few years back! I never thought I would ever say that!! I never mowed a lawn or weedeated until I was 29 years old! My parents would never let me and then both of my brothers owned lawncare/landscaping businesses so I didn't have to. Well I learned how and rather enjoy it.....wait maybe I don't necessarily enjoy it but I like my yard to look nice especially the edge which is why only I am allowed to use the weedeater! Picky yes but the yard looks good and there is nothing like flowers and a crisp deep edge to create curb appeal!

4. I love pictures! Of course if you are on my friends list then you probably already know this by the many slideshows I create!! I used to scrapbook when Elijah was a baby but only got up to his first birthday done. So.....now almost five years and another kid turned two later I am playing catch up! Thanks Shandolynne! She asked me if I scrapbooked one day and I said "Past or present?". I have been playing catch up ever since...ugh! I must say it is fun to look at their baby pictures because they are just so darn cute and I am actually doing rather well with the catch up game. After three months I only have part of this year left ....don't knock it...I was behind almost five years on Elijah and had nothing done for Isaiah who is 2 so I am proud of myself. I am mainly proud I stuck with it for this long especially since it has taken over our dining room table and I hate clutter!@!!! Elijah asked the other day if we were ever going to eat at the "family table" again----my answer was "yes one day soon but you will appreciate these books when you are older!" So that is my goal to finish in hopefully the next 6weeks since I have to order pictures again and that is going to take some time to order then sort!

5. I hate it when people butcher the English language!! It drives me insane! I constantly correct people and catch myself in disgust when I do it! I hate it when people say "These ones or those ones" Come on people it is "these" or "those" or "this one"!!!! Get it straight!! It especially drives me nuts how kids talk today have you watched their shorthand on the computer "mii" = me, "da" = the, and "dur" = their intelligence level!!! Maybe it is just me but I believe "me" is less to type than "mii"!!! Helllllloooooo!! I was watching Opray one day and she said something I think today's kids should hear ------ "When an African American child speaks proper English in front of his/her peers he/she is teased for talking "WHITE". Speaking proper English should not be considered talking "WHITE" but should be considered speaking like an intelligent American. Why is it considered "WHITE" to speak proper English? By saying that are we calling the Caucasian community more intelligent than the minorities in America! How can we expect the Hispanic community or immigrants of another nation to learn English so we can understand them when we can't even teach the American children to speak it properly let alone read and write it!!" Right on Oprah I loved it, thank you, although I think it goes for everyone now just minorities because I know plenty of white people who butcher English too!

6. I hate that people can't understand racism goes both ways and that is all I am going to say on that subject because I don't even want to get started!!!! Trust me you don't want me to get started either I've experienced it from those who would be the first ones to call someone else prejudice or racists! Did that make sense? Oh well done with that one!!

7. I like laundry! Weird I know! But I pride myself on stain removal! My children do not own clothes with stains it only takes a minute to treat the clothes before they go into the washer!!

8. I love my car! Sad and materialistic I know but I do! I also love DVR! I know, I know!

9. I am always late and I am and always have been an insomniac!!

10. Just a random fact many of you won't already know - I have something called RAD! OK Mel stop laughing!!! Sad but true! Nothing too serious but it causes me to gag easily mainly in the winter months! Ok maybe I shouldn't tell this one cause I can hear you all going "What? Freak!" Anyway it is mainly in the mornings if it is cold or getting out of the shower if I am cold but ESPECIALLY in the winter on a cold and windy day....those cold rushes of air get to me and I gag! STOP LAUGHING!
11. I AM HAPPY!
Guess my 10 random things are done....oh well .....I tag Melanie, Genevieve, Shandolynne, Beckie, Heather G, Christy, Janelle, Valerie, Tammy, Jessie

I LOVE ELECTRICITY!

MY POWER IS ON AND I LOVE ELECTRICITY AND THE HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE WORKING SO IT IS NOW BACK ON!!!!!!! Power has officially been restored to my home and I couldn't be happier!!! I never appreciated electricity like I do now! I guess I never realized how much of our world is run by electricity. I also thought that we would still have heat since our gas was on but I obviously forgot that the blower needs electricity. Our house was freezing almost below 50 which on a fall day 50 doesn't seem so bad but when your house is fifty degrees and the wood floors give you goosebumps you begin to appreciate 60s and 70s a whole lot more!! Along with no heat there were no lights, no refrigerator, no TV, no heat or light for Elijah's lizard, no computer, no microwave, no stove or oven, no Wal-mart, no Quik Trip, no McDonalds, no cool mist humidifiers (Elijah was sick!), NO MYSPACE (NO I am not addicted! lol), no blow dryer, no CHI straightener, no plug in air fresheners for the home and the list could go and on and on forever. But I must say I appreciate it more now and am totally taking advantage of it! Sad but true I have almost every light on in my house but for tonight I DON'T CARE! It totally sucked! Elijah got croup and I could not find a doctor or minor emergency clinic open until yesterday so he just had to suffer for three days in our cold house, poor thing! I called the ER but they said it was at least a 10 hour wait IF no major emergencies came in first. Well I decided not take him to the ER to suffer for 10 hours and catch only God knows what from all the other sickos! Isaiah is sick too however all the doctor seems to tell me is he has a virus. We were running out of firewood and would not have had enough to make it through tonight if our power was out again. We were only out about 2 days but I suffered enough and have all the compassion in the world for those Oklahomans still without electricity. It was such a shock and I was brought to tears I don't know how many times just thinking how long this could last and the devastation to sooooooooooooo many trees and lives in our area. It is weird to not be able to go to the closest gas station to get gas because they are either closed or out of gas! We take for granted being able to run to Wal-mart or Quik Trip at the drop of a hat for whatever we want and don't think twice until that ability is lost. We take for granted just putting wood to burn a fire just because until we have no more wood to burn and it is the only source of heat for our family. We take for granted lights to do everything until we walk into every room flipping light switches out of habit then feel stupid afterwards since we know the power is out! We don't realize we don't have flashlights or candles until it is the only source of light in which to read children's book to our cabin fever kids and get nothing accomplished but a headache from eyestrain and by then more candles are impossible to find. I love stoplights by the way and didn't realize it until today it took me 55 minutes to go 4.5 miles because all the lights were out and the idiots drivers can't comprehend when it is there turn at a 4 way stop! Man that seriously sucked and my road rage was almost off the charts! I never appreciated my job until I have been unable to escape my children long enough to earn money to buy them food. (My job still is without power by the way and as of today we were told by PSO it will probably not be on until Tuesday!) I have a whole new respect for electricity and the people who work for us to have that luxury! I also now realize why people went to bed so early in the olden days......there was no TV, no computer, and no light to read in besides the fact they were bored out of there minds and they needed to escape the nagging children. Oh I have to tell you all this......Elijah is 5 and Isaiah is 2 and they are hard to entertain for days in the cold dark house!! I read countless children's books by candlelight, played with every toy they own, sang every song we know, named every word we know that began with certain letters, played memory, Candyland, Checkers (hehe), Leapster games and tried to teach Isaiah how to play Connect Four BUT HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN ELECTRICITY TO A 2YR OLD AND A 5YR OLD? Elijah kept saying: lets go to Meme's - no electricity, lets go to Wal-mart - no electricity, lets go to Aunt Karen's - no electricity, lets go to Toys R Us - no electricity and the list goes on and on. Finally when Isaiah would ask me to turn on the lights I would say they were broke and then he would reply with "Need baaaaweees". When he wanted to watch Elmo on the "BV", I would say it's broke and he would reply "Need baaaaweees"! Then he wanted to go the the store to buy "baaaaaweees" because our house was "bwoke"! I was so wishing buying batteries would've fixed the problem! If only that would've worked baby then momma would've gladly bought them......if the store was open!!

THE ITSY BITSY SPIDER....NOT IN MY EYES

Well I finally decided to break out the winter clothes and pack up the summer clothes. I have three plastic rolling stackable bins in our closet so we can store them under our hanging neatly and out of the way! In my mind the boxes should remain moth and spider free but no such luck. I took down all the summer clothes, folded them and stacked them on the closet floor so I could take out the winter clothes and hang them up. Well I sit on the floor, pull out the bin and begin sorting when out of the corner of my eye I see what to most would appear to be an itsy bitsy spider.....not to me. In my eyes I see a spider looking at me as the murderer of all its forespiders and their evil spawn so I jump around searching for something to kill with and scream for fear it will hide and I will not be able to finish trading out the seasonal clothes. I successfully kill the spider before it hides and anxiously complete the switch. Why is a woman my size so afraid of the itsy bitsy spider? Hell if I know I just am ok....seriously frightened!! So afterwards I am sorting through a mound of papers and carry them to put in the trash, set them on the counter and out crawls a spider. Needless to say I was done cleaning for the week!

GLOBETROTTERS

We've been patiently waiting for the boys to old enough to enjoy the Globetrotters and Dad got some free tickets so they are magical old enough now! We also took Dejuan and Terrell, Martez's mother's adopted children who are her brother's kids. Catch all of that, good. They had an absolute blast and so did we. Isaiah was just obsessing over Globie the team mascot that he called Glowie. For some queer reason my pictures are not cooperating and they won't move so excuse the mess while I continue to work with them...............

these dang things aren't moving

LOOKIE HERE SHANDOLYNNE I FOUND YOU THE PERFECT MAN - BIG EASY. BIG LIKE YOU WANT HIM AND EASY...WELL!














On our way out "Glowie" was in the hallway and Isaiah flipped so we stopped so they could take picture!

FALL FUN

If there is one thing you can count on it is my kids will play in a leaf pile every fall! They love it! They run and jump while screaming and laughing. They count the days until enough leaves fall for a BIG enough pile to frolic in!

OUR THANKSGIVING POW WOW

For Elijah's Thanksgiving Feast at school I had to make 25 Indian hats aka strips of brown paper with colorful feathers stapled onto them. I am off on Fridays and had time to waste between taking different kids to different schools so I took the supplies with me over to my mom's to complete the task. My mom was helping me and after we were done I said wow I have a lot of stuff left. I then said we could make some for all the grandkids to wear on Thanksgiving. She said we ALL could wear them and take a family photo. So we did. My brother Curt and his family were going to spend Thanksgiving in Arkansas so I made them hats too, wrapped them up and told them it was a surprise with instructions inside. We all had fun and Curt's family took the idea and ran with it! I've included pictures to see our "family fun"!

Chief Many Feather

Two little indians

Princess Little Lisa

Bunch of lushes! (Really funny if you know them at all!)

Monika passed out!

Mikala sittin' pretty not indian style though! Kristin even wore hers to Wal-mart

THE TRICK-OR-TREAT MOM FROM HELL

We have already been to a couple of Halloween party/events and tonight planned on stopping at a couple of church events so the fam could see the boys however Elijah just wanted to trick or treat in the neighborhood. I froze my butt off by the way and my toes since you all know I wore flip flops!! So I took Elijah trick or treating and left Isaiah at home with Martez to hand out candy. We went down our street first and only one house had candy so we went down the next street where only two houses had candy. Note to everyone: If you don't have candy or have plans to hand out candy then shut the door and turn off the porch light you idiots!!! We decided to go down another street which leads to the other side of the neighborhood and hit the candy jackpot and met a neighbor which I wish I never met. First of all I should tell you I am not very neighborly. I keep to myself - they stay out of my life and I will stay out of yours kind of thing. Too many people annoy me! Martez on the other hand would talk to a wall - he has to be one of the friendliest people I have ever met. Anyway me and the neighbor I will call the "witch" happened to be at the same house trick or treating. She says how old is your son? I say "five". She says "Wow he is certainly tall for his age!" I just laughed and said "no can't agree with you on that one both of my boys are small for their age". This should have let me know she wasn't all there in the head. So the witch, her husband Tony, and her kids Grace, 7, and George, 2 and 1/2 (who names there kid George nowadays anyway) follow me talking for two hours. She asked how old my other son was, if I was a stay at home mom, where Elijah went to school and the list of questions could go on and on and on. This is why I am not neighborly!! Then she says I live on 142nd and Elijah says so do we!!! Why me? Then she proceeds to ask me about everyone on the street. I only know one person Jim who is a paraplegic a couple of houses down that Martez helps when his home health care assistants don't show up to do their job. She says they just moved in and proceeds to tell me about every detail she knows. Then it happened - I hate people who just shoot idiotic racial statements out the side of their head just assuming because you are white that you agree with them. Hello you (!^!$)^!$%!_!!! Here it goes.....she tells me "when we first moved in the neighbor kids came over wanting to play with Gracie, they were half." My mind is saying "half what" but I knew she meant half white/half black but how can she just call them "half" and are her kids not allowed to play with "halves". She says this not actually thinking then says "well black whatever you call them". THEM!! She says this oblivious to the fact that my son is mulatto - half white/half black. Elijah is in full costume so she can't see him. My answer to this racist dumb comment was "they aren't called "half" the correct term is mulatto and my son is mulatto thank you!" This should of been hint 1 for her to stop talking to me. She said nothing as if she didn't even hear me then kept right on talking and following me. She starts to tell me about that same neighbor getting robbed the other day and then coming home while the robbers were inside which intrigued me enough to listen since our neighborhood is really really quiet. She tells me all about it then says "well her husband who I have never seen is black so it was probably an inside job! Because she had too vivid of a description of the robbers so they were probably his friends!!" HELLLLLOOOOOOO! You stupid bitch! I said "Well my husband is black and I would sure hope if we got robbed people like you wouldn't make the assumption that it was an inside job!! We haven't seen her husband or boyfriend or whatever he was for over a year so he probably doesn't even live there anymore but that was very nice of you to assume the worst!! Call me crazy but she probably had a vivid description of the robbers because she came home while they were inside robbing her house!" Hint 2 that I do not want to associate with her!! She is obviously racist although I am quite sure she would deny it. It flowed out of her mouth too easily for her not to be racist. I guess she assumed that because I was white I would just naturally agree with whatever she said. They followed me forever sending Grace up to houses with Elijah and saying "Elijah baby don't go to that house it is dark!" First of all don't call my child baby you mulatto hating prejudice witch and second of all don't tell my child what to do and what not to do. I have managed to take care of him his whole life I think I can manage on Halloween night. Every time I would think I was far enough ahead of her, she would call out my name then in a flash would be right by me! If I wasn't so cold, I would of taken a longer alternate route home so she wouldn't follow. I seriously still don't think she understood I didn't want to associate with her even after we were walking up to our house and she said "Elijah come play with Gracie sometime!" I actually thought I might take him down there without a mask to see the look on her face once she saw he was "half" since I don't think she heard a word I said but I wouldn't purposely put my son in a situation of being turned away merely because of his race and her stupidity!!! On a lighter note Elijah is too funny. He hates candy! Odd I know sometimes I wonder if he is mine! The ONLY "junk food" items he will touch are vanilla sandwich cookies, fruit snacks, marshmallows or barbecue chips and an occasional starburst other than that he just spits it out. Well he comes home with an overflowing pumpkin basket of candy and he even had some stuffed in his shirt. We walk in the house and he says "Daddy look at all my candy now lets give to all the trick-or-treaters!" I am willing to bet I am the only mom whose child wanted to give away ALL their candy tonight and as soon as we got home. We sorted through the candy and then gave it to the remaining trick-or-treaters. So basically I walked for two hours in the cold listening to a witch so my son could then come home and give away his candy!! I guess it doesn't matter since at least HE had a fun experience!!

WOW I FEEL OLD! THANKS MIKALA!

I officially feel old! My oldest neice Mikala turns 21 on November 4th and she got engaged this past weekend. I never feel old until I think about her being a junior in college and now she is getting married?!?!?!? Granted my brothers and sister are much older than me and I was only ten when she was born but SHE makes me feel old. Mikala's fiance Josh planned a romantic proposal that just made me cry and wish I had a proposal like that. Mikala was coming home this past weekend for her family birthday party and when she arrived everyone had left the house and the only one there was Josh waiting for her in his bedroom. The house was dark with only candlelight and rose petals to guide her way up to the bedroom. He decorated the bedroom with rose petals all over the floor and candles everywhere in heart designs. Josh is a music major with plans to be a minister of music. He had written her a song which he then sang to her, then said his little speech, got down on one knee and proposed. How incredibly sweet is that? Of course she said yes who wouldn't after all of that!! Anyway they will be getting married on May 17 of next year which was a big shock to me. She is quitting school after this semester and moving home to work full time and plan the wedding. Although I am so excited that she will finally be home and I can help her, I wish she would finish college first. She plans to go back when he graduates in 2009. I don't plan on letting her know how much it really bothers me that she is quitting since it is mainly b/c of my own guilt for quitting and never going back. Even the best laid out plans don't always happen when life takes its little turns. It isn't even like a money making deal though in my case I think I just miss that sense of accomplishment. Ok enough about MY guilt over not finishing college and onto my niece. I won't stress her with my views since she is going to have to make her own decisions and she is an adult. When she called me to tell me the news, I was so moved by the proposal that I started to cry then I said "Ok but promise me two things - you won't have children for at least ten years because I can't be a great aunt in my thirties and when you do have children you have to live here so I can spoil them rotten!!" She said, "You are already a "great" aunt!" I said, "Yes but I don't want to be a "great" great aunt yet!" She then answered with "It will probably only be a couple of years!" I am excited for her just a little in shock. She still seems sooooo young to me but I guess she will always be my little girl! I was only ten when she was born and she was my little doll. Still to this day Mikala is the prettiest baby GIRL I have ever seen even right after her birth and she has grown to be a beautiful, determined, intelligent, mature young woman. I wish her all the best the world and her new life have to offer!

IT'S OVER!

Elijah's first season of football is officially over!! He did so good and I am so proud of him! He "averaged" about three or four touchdowns per game but it was just 5 year old flag football we will see how he does next year in tackle. He wants to do tackle now saying he wants to "throw the ball and wear those big things on my shoulders and a helmet". I think that is too funny and have a feeling he won't quite be as excited next year when his little self gets clobbered for the first time! We'll see! We are letting him TRY all the sports he wants right now until he lets us know which sports he would like to keep playing. We are not pushing him into anything like so many parents do however I really hate baseball so I am just praying he doesn't want to play! I don't know if I could watch baseball and pretend to be excited even though I know it is "more exciting" if your own kid is playing! So far he has done basketball, soccer and football but he also wants to try karate and golf (I think golf is the most boring game ever followed closely by baseball!). For now we are back to basketball - yippee! I like and understand basketball so much more! He has to play Upwards one more year since city ball doesn't start until first grade so we are thinking about coaching an upwards basketball team this year! That could be an adventure! I realize this is probably boring for many of you just blogging while I am supposed to be working - ssshhhhhhh! I just have so much to do and don't want to do a thing here anymore!!!!!

TULSA'S TWO MISSING LITTLE GIRLS

Sunday started off to be a good day but went downhill in a fury that made me do some thinking. We went to the aquarium for a birthday then went out to eat. Just when we got home began to relax Chaitra called but when I went to answer she hung up. Next thing I knew someone was knocking at the door and Martez, who was sleeping on the couch, said it was Chaitra and her mom walking in the house. Well all I hear is a girl who was not Chaitra's mom but Erin from down the street asking Martez if he has seen "two little black girls". By this I was thinking she wanted to beat someone up in her ghetto ways. However this was not the case in fact two little girls named Erica, who is 11, and Rosaia, who is 5, were missing. They only live about a block from my house and had been missing for about 6 hours and because of the whole "Broken Arrow Angel" issue there was a panic. Next I must tell you about my six degrees of separation marvel. Ever since I joined MySpace I am amazed at how true the theory actually is and how it pertains to people I know on myspace and in my overall life so I must tell you:

1) Martez has been friends with Tristan for years and now he lives down the street with Erin his girlfriend

2) Chaitra and I have been friends for about 10 years

3) Chaitra goes to Nursing school with Erin

4) Erin is friends with Andrea

5) Andrea is Rosaia's mother and Chaitra is Avani's mother

6) Avani and Rosaia went to daycare and preschool together for years
Odd I know....dodododododo........happy Halloween affect!

Rosaia was at Erica's grandma's house where Erica's grandma was SUPPOSED to babysit her. Erica's grandma left to go only God knows where telling the girls to stay inside the house. To her surprise the girls and the bikes were gone when she returned home. She wasn't really worried when she got home figuring they were just riding bikes just up and down the block since they never go far but when they didn't return for hours she started to worry and decided to call the police SIX HOURS LATER!!!!!!!! This is where we come in. We all hop in a car and go over to the house and ask the police what we can do to help. At five o'clock they tell us they are "working" on an Amber Alert, trying to get the news crews and police helicopters on the scene. They were asking people to comb the streets, knock on doors, drive around yelling out the girls' names and go into the woods. We got to go into the woods first- YIPPEE! Not too bad I am a country girl at heart and I can handle it!! We tell the Grandma we will be in the woods and to call Erin if she hears anything! The Grandma replies with "Thank you, I think I am starting to get worried!" Chaitra and I just looked at each other. We get into the car where I just flip out!! That bitch is crazy - you didn't lose your keys woman you managed to misplace two irreplaceable children"I THINK I AM STARTING TO GET WORRIED" AFTER TWO LITTLE GIRLS HAVE BEEN MISSING FOR SIX HOURS! You have got to be joking. If my five year old son Elijah was missing and not answering for even a couple minutes I would "start" to worry!! After ten minutes I would be like a chicken running around with my head cut off screaming for him to please stop playing and come out of hiding because mommy was scared. After twenty minutes I would be screaming his name everywhere, calling the police, running up and down the street or wherever and calling everyone I know to help me look --- ALL AT ONCE! (I am a great multitasker especially in a rush!) After six hours I wouldn't have any worries at all because I would be sedated in a mental hospital from a psychotic breakdown at just the mere thoughts that would takeover my mind about my baby boy or in a jail facility for killing the bitch who was supposed to watch my child and left him at home with an obviously irresponsible 11 year old. If Andrea wanted to let Erica watch Rosaia then she wouldn't have even asked the Grandma to watch her. That was obvious to me but obviously not the Grandma I guess she had more important things to do. Well we searched the woods and creeped ourselves out when we found pink clothes. We thought for sure the worst imaginable thing had happened so who did they send in to see what it was -me. I figured it was better off since I didn't actually know the girls maybe it would be better if I found a bad outcome rather than them. Turned out to be a pink blanket not clothes, a ratty old nasty pillow, blue battery-powered alarm clock, a ramen noodle package, 3 very old books and a pair of men's shoes that belonged to some homeless man living in the woods by my house. Nice to know! As I am telling Chai and Erin what I found they are just standing there crying at the mere idea of what we could have found so I tried to stay as positive as possible. Where exactly does a homeless man need to be that he has an alarm clock? We then found what appeared to be another small village of homeless people living in the woods. Clothes hanging all over trees, empty canned food items everywhere, burnt book pages for warmth and the list could go on and on. Guess whose children will never play in the woods - sorry Avani, Elijah, Isaiah, and little Tristan no wandering in the woods for you EVER!! Well we made it to the other end of the woods and after pulling wire out of my flip flop and tiny ticks off of our legs- YES MELANIE I was wearing flip flops in the woods I didn't think to change shoes or clothes in my mad dash to join the child search - we went back to the house to get an update. I kept saying are we sure they have called everyone and they kept telling me yes. When we get there more cops are searching the neighborhood and people were everywhere looking in yards, yelling and knocking on doors. Now to me some of this did not make sense and I just kept saying they had to be lost and at times Chai would agree with me and then just make up another scenario. Here was mine - They were fine but lost or afraid of getting in trouble so they didn't want to come home because if someone was going to kidnap a little girl I see a big problem with this particular chain of events. No one has seen the girls or the bikes. If someone is going to take both girls (which is highly unlikely), not be seen and get away fast why would he take the time to take the bikes. Just more evidence. Plus how would he keep both the girls in the car without hurting them and causing a scene in order to load the bikes. It just didn't make sense to me! If you were going to snatch a kid you only take one, the smallest no accessories and get outta dodge, right? We have all watched enough crime shows and that was the only funny part of all of this was each of us saying....."well on CSI"....."chances are if they aren't found in the first 24 hrs then it isn't a live outcome" - Without a Trace.....we went on and on. Once we realized we were doing it we laughed and thought we would make some pretty good detectives. When we returned back to the house Andrea was there and understandably an emotional wreck. She had been searching and calling everyone. There was a group of about 10 people just calling people which made me nervous. By this time all the close friends and family had been called so now they were just grasping at straws. At 6:30 pm the infrared police helicopters finally showed up and flew over the neighborhood. Here's the thing they only flew over our neighborhood. I would be raising hell. Why would the helicopter only fly over our neighborhood and still no breaking news or Amber Alerts? What's the point? I don't think people realize how many wooded areas are around us for miles even in neighborhoods. Well we drove around, yelled and walked for hours. Oh yeah forgot to tell you a funny part. We went down this old dirt road which was unnerving and got to a point where they were scared and wanted to turn around. I love scary stuff well except spiders! Anyway they said this looks like someplace a person could get killed my answer was exactly that is why we are out here!!! The fraidy cats decided to turn the car around. They said aren't you scared. My answer maybe a little anxious but a killer would have two big girls me and Chai so he would probably just take Erin. (Just so you know Chai and Erin are mulatto) Erin replies with hey don't you watch scary movies they always kill the black people first. My answer - hey Erin can I have your shoes please! She asked why and I said "Well I am going to make sure he knows you and Chai are half black and chances are he will take you first since you are a smaller easier grab so I will need your shoes to run faster since I won't be able to go as fast in flip flops!" Chaitra and I were cracking up then we were back in reality searching some more! We couldn't think of anything else to do and wanted to give up and go home since it was getting darker but then one of us would say what if it were our kids. At almost 9pm we took Erin home, went back over to Erica's grandmas house and it was packed with cars and there was finally a news truck. We wondered what channel it was so I was chosen yet again to walk up and look. I told her it was Channel 8 and asked a group of people nearby if there was any news on the girls. THEY FOUND THEM! I just started crying - the longer we searched the more my positive outlook downgraded to a grave possibility. I was so happy! When I asked if they were okay the guy I was talking to said a bunch of crap that made ABSOLUTELY NO sense!!!! He said they went with some girl they ride bikes with to 51st and Harvard. I said so where are their bikes he said "they rode them and I'm not going to be covering for nobody there are cops everywhere". I don't think he spoke one complete sentence or idea he just kept hopping around like a frog on hot cement!! Gee I think he may have known more than he was telling because I did not ask him if he was going to cover for anyone! I went home and waited for the news to see what they would say. Here is the Channel 8 story: "Tulsa Police searched for two missing Tulsa girls for hours this evening. The girls were finally found at a family friend's house and told to ride their bikes home. No charges have been filed in this case." WHAT THE HELL!!!! That is soooooo far from the truth! Here is the supposed story from later on that evening. Someone called the police saying they had the girls at 51st and Yale supposedly riding their bikes. They had "gone to LaFortune Park to watch some game"! All I can say is I hope Andrea somehow got the truth later because I know for a fact my five year old son cannot ride his bike 10 miles. Crap he can barely ride to the park in our neighborhood without complaining and she is a lot smaller than him!!! Why would they need to go to La Fortune when we have a park in the neighborhood? And how the hell did the 11 year old know how to get to La Fortune from this neighborhood. I know kids now how to get to places or where things are but generally they are places they go daily, family or friends houses and generally you are already near there. Elijah is able to tell me where lots of stuff is if we are in the general vicinity but not 10 miles away and he has been doing that for years. Granted he could probably drive to my mom's but I just don't see it especially on a bike and she is only about 7 miles from here. They were not at a family friends house and what kind of friend would tell them to ride home at 9pm for 10 miles. Plus if it was a family friend I am quite sure they would've called them or been called after almost 10 hours. People were on the phones non stop and I am quite sure the people who you allow to pick up your children would be the first ones called!!!! Someone had them that wasn't supposed to and they were trying to cover their butt. The news said they rode their bikes home which they didn't the police had to pick them up to question them and they still didn't get home until almost 11pm. VERY VERY LONG STORY SHORT this was one of those nights that make you truly appreciate your children and your friends and thank God that nothing disastrous has happened to them. I do not know how I would live knowing my child was just missing and if anything happened I just................well I am crying now so I am going to stop!! I will let you all know when I finally hear what truly happened to these two girls!!

YET ANOTHER BRANSON TRIP WITH SHAN AND QUIN

We went on yet another Branson trip but this time we took Shandolynne and Quinlynne with us. We went to see the Dixie Stampede, shopped til we dropped at the outlets, had a pajama party, went to the Landings and played miniature golf. We had so much fun. Take a look:

PUMPKIN PATCH

Today was Elijah's first kindergarten field trip and being the involved mom that I plan on being I went as a chaperone. We went to Livesay Orchard's Pumpkin Patch in Porter for a day filled with fun.

How cute are they!? Elijah and Richie on the hayride in the top right. Then while walking they all (Elijah, Richie and Jacob) put their arms around each other - too cute to pass the pic opt!

Why aren't these pictures cooperating? For some queer reason I cannot move them where I want. Oh well! Before leaving we took a class photo, I think it is pretty good considering it took forever to even find them all and get them to stop moving!!

HE'S ON FIRE!

My boy is on fire! Last weeks game was for the most part uneventful except for a few flags but this week he was back on track!! FOUR TOUCHDOWNS AND SIX FLAGS THIS MORNING!!!

He was hot! So proud! He was juking, running and diving like a little pro. I guess Martez taught him how to juke this week and he is really good at it. He was the star today well at least in our eyes. One of the parents not realizing we were Elijah's parents said they need to stop letting him run the ball the other kids can't catch up and who taught him how to juke and stiffarm (oops that is illegal) and Martez proudly spoke up - Me, that's my boy! Another parent commented on how fast he was and I proudly said he gets it from me! HA!

I hate football but watching him play and enjoy it makes me so proud to be his mom. Well we have to go now to go to his second game today - a makeup game. He is aiming for six next time!

Our cheerleaders - how cute is that!

THE NICEST INSULT EVER

I had to go to Neighborhood Wal-Mart tonight to get a few groceries and was verbally attacked and loved every minute of it!!!! Weird I know but you will understand why in a sec. I was on the bread aisle and stopped to get a loaf but stopped since a couple was about to walk in front of me. She stopped but when I went to reach across her to grab the bread she started to walk again. I said, "Oh I am sorry I thought you stopped." OK so I apologized but she was not happy. She says, "You better watch where you are going you stupid skinny white bitch!" WHAT SKINNY YES!!!! I reply with "Thank you I do believe that was the nicest insult I have ever received!" She said "What?" with a go to hell look. So I answered with "I've been called a bitch. I don't think I've been called stupid but I KNOW I've never in my life been called skinny so thank you that was sweet!" Seriously it was like skinny was all that mattered. I don't think in my entire life I've been called skinny but since she was easily about 400lbs I guess I was skinny to her. Normally I wouldn't let that crap fly and would flip out but since she called me skinny and she could've easily kicked my ass if she didn't weeble wobble down the aisle first after my attempt I let it all go and smiled!!! Don't get me wrong I don't have physical altercations at the Neighborhood Wal-mart but you don't talk to me that way and not get an earful in return! I think my reply really threw her off because then she said "Ok grab your bread pretty girl. Sorry about that but you are too funny to be mad at!" Gotta love neighborhood Wal-Mart!!!

THINGS CHANGE!

For years Martez has been wanting to go to an OU football game since he has never been. Our anniversary is Sept 27 so I decide to surprise him a little early with OU/TU tickets, I have been to OU games before when I was little but I am NOT much of a football fan unless it is my boy playing but I sucked it up and bought him tickets. That's the way love goes....are you singing?! It was really cute Friday when I gave him an OU shirt with the tickets he said, "Are they real?" No I thought I would get you a shirt and some fake tickets silly! Well we get to the game and discover our seats suck and there is no entry/exit aisle near our seats so we had to climb over about 30 people to get to our seats. Sadly this also meant we would have to climb over those same people to use the restroom or get a drink. Needless to say we didn't pee or drink the entire game and I thought I could died by the 4th quarter! The game went on and on and on.........! Never again will I go to a televised football game! They stop everything for commercial breaks and you sit there. I guess I should've been happy since that was the only time we got to sit. Man was that irritating! Standing for almost 4 hours elbow to elbow is not fun especially if you have plantar fasciitis!! I don't get it why can't they sit down to watch the game. I know our seats sucked but really you can see from anywhere until that one row of people stands and slowly but surely EVERYONE behind stands up row after row. THEN I think the man behind me had something wrong with him like maybe tourettes and I tried not to get annoyed since he couldn't help it I don't think but after the first hour my sympathy wore VERY thin! You can't even imagine how I was after 4 hours!! He would just shout any and all random football words which normally had nothing to do with the current plays. Then he just started yelling things that other people were talking about. One man talking to his friend said the refs needed to go back to Oregon so he yelled "GO BACK TO OREGON!" Then some lady said "what was that" so he yelled "WHAT WAS THAT?!?!?" Take into consideration these people were some of the few not yelling but he made sure to yell out there random personal conversations. Then for hours he yelled "HEY TU YOU ARE LOSING!" Finally I said, "I think they probably know that and they can't hear you anyway no matter how loud and often you yell." This of course didn't stop anything and I wish I could say he was drunk but he wasn't drinking nor did he smell of alcohol since I think I would've been drunk off his breath since he was so close to me. I started feeling like I could hear him even when he wasn't yelling like his voice was stuck inside my head. He hit me in the back of the head about 6 million times and the guy beside him got mad about a call and karate chopped my shoulder and brought tears to my eyes. Martez was not real happy about that but I asked him not to say or do anything since I didn't want to be crushed by an angry mob if a fight ensued especially since we had no exit aisle. But you gotta love when your man would fight for you, I guess! Anyway I tried to enjoy or at least pretend to enjoy the game for Martez's sake but I can't say I wasn't ecstatic when he said we could leave when there was ten minutes left!! YIPPEE! Afterwards we went to the bar where we met about 7 years ago. We haven't been there in almost 6.5 years but have been together ever since so don't say anything about meeting people in bars. Needless to say the bar much like ourselves has had a total overhaul! It was nothing like it was then. They knocked out walls, rearranged and added on a room which now hosts live bands. The live band was hardcore rock 'n roll playing hits from today and all the back to the 80s. We aren't really rock 'n roll/metal people but the 15 people who were there were really nice. They asked what brought us there. When we told them we met there 7 years ago and now we are married with two children but we just wanted to reminisce a little, I got a free beer, woohoo! We stayed about 45 min then went home! All in all we had a great night because we were together without children for once!!!

USE YOUR COMMON SENSE!!

One of my biggest pet peeves is stupid or repetitive questions and I just so happen to have an example. Today at work I was remerchandising an entire twenty four foot aisle of merchandise. Stuff everywhere, replacing hooks, moving labels.....the list could go on and on basically creating a huge mess to make the aisle look better!! A customer comes up to me and asks, "Do you work here?" Seriously! My answer was "yes how can I help you?". My thoughts were "No you freaking idiot I am just a loyal customer who thought this entire aisle needed a change so I volunteered. Yes I work here but I refuse to help people who ask obviously stupid questions!!" Man that crap gets on my nerves. Can we say common sense??? Or I ask an employee to price some stuff and she asks how. Okay let's see you've worked her for almost a year - call me crazy but my guess would be a price gun!!!! Bad few weeks at work obviously so everything is annoying the crap out of me!

THAT'S MY BOY!

Elijah had his first flag football game this morning and it was hilarious and he did SO good! He is playing flag this year to see if he even likes football then he will do tackle next year if he wants. Well the first time he got the ball he ran half way down the field with no one even near him then STOPPED! I do mean completely stopped and stood there! The whole crowd was shouting and laughing "RUN RUN RUN!" It was like Forrest Gump all over again! His reply, "Wait they need to catch up!" Freaking hilarious sometimes I think he may be too nice! I would like to credit his TWO touchdowns afterwards to me because he only learned to run that fast because of running with me far behind him when he is in trouble! HAHA! Two touchdowns in his first game simply amazing and that's MY boy!!! He is a fast little runner! I always thought I was just really slow but he was really fast like Flash was his response! I guess he channeled Flash's running powers! Both touchdowns were great no one was even close to him! Good thing, here he comes NFL (well if he wants to) pay him well so he can take care of Momma. Can you imagine NFL salaries by the time he would play? Dream on Angela dream on! I don't think football overpowers his dream to be the next Steve Irwin, a zookeeper or whale trainer at Sea World yet!

OVER HOMEWORKED

Elijah started kindergarten and has way more homework than I ever imagined. I didn't even expect daily homework let alone projects every weekend. I mean it is like I told my friend I didn't have homework at his age and I turned out to be a genius so what's the deal!! At first I thought maybe Elijah wasn't completing his work in class so I asked the teacher who replied with no he is doing great in class that is assigned homework for all of my students. My friend's daughter is in the class across the hall from Elijah and she has homework but as of now not as much as him. What the crap - he is five!! They are going to burn him out before first grade and it is only the first month! I need to start Isaiah on reading and writing now at age 2 because when he starts he'll be doing book reports on the first week! Ugh!! Anyway so tonight at football practice one of Elijah's friends is on the team so I was talking to his mom and a mom who I know from his soccer team who is a kindergarten teacher and they both said he has way too much! The teacher said yes she assigns homework unlike many of her fellow teachers who do not but she only does it 2 days a week and it's something like write your name 5 times or color something. The other mom said Avery who is also in kindergarten hasn't even had homework yet. WHAT! Hasn't had homework! She also said the books he has been coming home with to learn how to read in two days are the same books her daughter got in first grade! So far Elijah has been able to handle the load as long as I break it up instead of making him do it in one sitting but I really don't want him to hate school and burn out now! Little boys don't want to sit and write their name 50 times after being in school all day - get real!! This is the first weekend out of the past four that he hasn't had a weekend project thank you God! He has handwriting homework for two nights which right now consists of tracing his name 25 times then writing it on his own 25 times, a rhyming maze and coloring worksheet twice a week, a book to learn how to read for two nights amidst the other projects and papers we have had to do! I am worn out so I can't imagine how he feels! I realized at one point I would have to deal with the homework issue but I NEVER ever thought it would be now in kindergarten at age 5!

COMPLETELY THROWN OUT - SIDELINED

So tonight Elijah wanted to play board games and decided he wanted to learn how to play checkers!! YES - I love checkers since playing with my dad for hours when I was younger! However he wanted to play with daddy! :( Oh well I watched in amusement the longest game of checkers EVER!!!!! Martez tried and tried to make Elijah understand you can only move on certain squares in certain directions and he tried to teach him to jump but Elijah wouldn't pick up the checkers he jumped instead picking up random checkers. Well after the neverending first game Martez said he could play again so I jumped in to "help" Elijah aka take over the game and woop Martez's butt!! I kept telling Elijah where to move and wouldn't allow him to move certain men because we had 8 kings left and Martez had 5 which were all trapped by "my" oops Elijah's men. And how dare Elijah try to destroy my unique and crafty trapping skills. Martez had absolutely no where to go unless Elijah moved the wrong man. THEN IT HAPPENED DO DO DO DO! Elijah spewed the words I loathed and cut to the core: Mommy can I play by myself now without your "help"! Oh the pain it was like a stab in the back and my response was: No I am too invested in this game now to quit! You always have to finish what you start son! Very mature I know so quit thinking it! I coordinated another move and again I get "Please I just want to play daddy!" Way to hit below the belt! As he is saying this he moves the wrong man and gets triple jumped and I gave up not being able to handle the rejection and loss that was about to occur from his inexperience and unwillingness to cooperate with my "help"! Anyone up for a game of checkers with the queen!

LABOR DAY

We went to Branson over Labor Day weekend. We really like going to Branson. I know I know some of you doubters are thinking isn't it all country.....NO! There is so much to do there. We go about twice a year and still haven't even seen probably a quarter of what they have to offer and we have yet to see anything country. There is something for every age a Branson. It is close and family friendly. Helpful hint though if you go get a good map with the back road shortcuts called Yellow Route, Blue Route and Red Route. It will save you a ton of time b/c the main strip HW76 can get VERY busy!! Anyway let's see......this time we played Pirate Golf, went to Silver Dollar City, went go-carting, went to the Butterfly Palace and Rainforest Exhibit, rode the ducks over Table Rock Lake, went to the Landings and went to two Outlet Malls (my favorite part always!) We have so much fun everytime we go! Let's see just a few helpful tips for anyone interested.....hmmmm....I already told you about the shortcut routes.......if you go to Silver Dollar City, go on a weekday if possible this includes Friday. The lines for the rides are cut by about 75% on weekdays. Riding the Ducks is actually fun and educational. We've been many times and never rode them but finally we did and loved it. Go in the cooler part of the day. If you have kids, at some point on the lake the captain of the Duck will turn it onto auto pilot and allow the kids to sit in the seat so you can have a picture of them driving the boat and then after the ride you get a free Captain's License (cool if you scrapbook like me). The Landings is the new downtown area of Branson. It is all new condos, hotels, and shopping with a lot of the mall type stores on the river or lake or whatever it is down there. They do a water/light show like the Bellagio in Vegas in the evening and then they will also have street musicians for entertainment. The Butterfly and Rainforest Exhibit is cool. They actually have 3 shopping centers with outlets but like all outlets you should know just b/c a store says outlet doesn't mean it is cheaper. The Children's Place outlet has great deals. You need to watch Old Navy b/c a lot of it isn't outlet pricing. The Tommy Kids store has good clearance along with the Levi outlet, Gymboree, Coach usually ends up being half of half (woohoo if you like Coach), Carter's and Osh Kosh normally have some good deals.....and I am going to stop there to put in my slide show.............sorry I rambled

THE NASTY

Warning to Christy you may not want to read this since some things about the body are better left unsaid!!!!! OK so last week went pretty good I even let Elijah walk to class with two friends on Thursday after I walked to him to the main door. I might add I have been asking him daily and he actually didn't want me to stop walking him at all!! Yes isn't it great to feel needed!!! Alas I pushed him on with his friends and watched for a minute from the window. I bet the office workers crack up at the kindergarten parents every new school year!! I then had to take Isaiah to his meet the teacher! It went especially well since his teachers from last year moved up and will be his teachers again this year! Yippee.....no screaming for him!!!! It was also nice to see they covered the toddler playground and fixed the grass, laid new tile inside, installed cameras in the rooms so you can get online and watch your kid (how cool is that).......glad to see my money is going somewhere!!! I also found out they started teaching kindergarten this year sure would've been nice to know that when I was dealing with the whole enrollment fiasco!!! But since public school is free I think I will stick with that for now! ANYWAY I worked, went to the chiropractor, went home then went with Martez to Parent night at Elijah's school for the class meeting with Miss Personality. She just talked about what they would be doing the whole year, what is expected of your child, dress code, PTA.....blah.......! Well an hour later after sitting in our child's seat in a childsize chair I realized I went to the chiro on the wrong day boy was that a waste of money. Do they not realize you can't put two parents into one child's spot at a miniature table and expect to keep that many spots at each table!! And they are the teachers!!! Well I got up and I stumbled and told Martez I was dizzy all the sudden. At first I said maybe it is because my oversize adult hinny was in the mini chair meant for a 5yr old and somehow it cut off circulation to something!! We signed up to do the whole class parent deals - I must say Martez was so excited but he is corny that way- and left. When we got in the car I instantly had a terrible headache. We went to get the boys at my moms and then my throat hurt really bad and I was hot but freezing with goosebumps everywhere. I said I think I must be getting something but I've been fine all day! I took Tylenol which brought the fever down some and eradicated the headache. Friday morning I got Elijah off to school and informed him there was no way mommy could walk him in. I went home and crashed! I called the doc and no appts so I went to urgent care after my friend said her and her other friend both had strep throat so I should go get some meds. Ok thanks but next time could you mention that BEFORE me and my family come near you!!!!!! Man that ticks me off! I hate it when people invite you over and they or someone in the family are sick or they bring sick kids to your house!!!! That has to be my biggest pet peeve and it happens again later!! Seriously can you be that stupid! If you don't know that is one thing but well you should just know!!!!!!!!!! I went to Urgent Care told him my symptoms all of which went with Strep but when he tested me he said and I quote "It isn't strep but whatever it is turned up to be one NASTY virus! Haven't seen something like that in awhile!" He sounded like he was in a sort of weird awe of the pain going on in my throat then proceeded to tell me my lungs sounded tight. What? I didn't even mention the chest since it didn't hurt YET but my throat was raw! So he put me on decongestant, an antibiotic in case I had a little some bacterial too, an albuterol inhaler which at the time I didn't understand and still don't since it is only immediate relief, and told to alternate tylenol and ibuprofen until the fever has been completely gone for at least 24 hours if not more!! It only went down hill from there! Today has been my VERY first day since Thursday night that I haven't had a fever. I have taken 5 million showers and am still paranoid I smell like sweat! I also have had to alternate tylenol and ibuprofen every three hours and with everything I had to take at different times I lost track of what I was taking when so with my luck I'll end up with kidney or liver damage from too much tylenol or ibuprofen which ever causes it!! Oh and get this the doctor instructions for the decongestant---take 1 every 12 hours but not in the evening since it will keep you up at night! Hello is that possible every 12 hours there has to be onein the evening! Good medicine for someone who is an insomniac coughing all night! Brilliant I tell you! Well Friday afternoon my husband's older son shows up at the door! Ok well he hasn't been over in awhile and Martez really wanted to see him so whatever just tell him to avoid me! Then Saturday morning Martez takes all the boys to the barber shop and it was wonderful. Peace and quiet! Elijah and Isaiah think every time Tez comes over they have to wrestle and fight like big boys and then someone always gets hurt and it is just a vicious cycle that I think they would learn by now but I guess that is why they have parents huh! THEN HE COMES HOME WITH SIX KIDS AND AN EXTRA ADULT!!!! You have GOT to be kidding me!! I am still mad about this one! He must've completely lost his mind to think this was ok! He had to pick up this one at his cousins then the cousins kid and his other cousin wanted to come to the barber shop! That is totally fine with me but he shouldn't have brought ANY of them back to the house. Even if your not thinking about me - which obviously he was NOT - did you stop to think about them at all!!! Do you honestly think the parents of all these kids want them to get sick and possibly pass it on to their family? I seriously doubt it! There goes the lots of rest part of the prescription! Now I go to the anger portion of the blog: I lost 8lbs in the first 48hrs from a fever average of 103.7 and going as high as 105 so far lasting 5 days (and hopefully won't return tonight because I am so sick of sweating), been to urgent care twice, I have been taking 29 pills a day, now I am doing 6 breathing treatments a day using a nebulizer, I can't eat, sleep, be around my own kids for fear of them catching the "NASTY" virus, can't work :), my house is a mess since someone can't seem to pick up and you are worried about them being "bored" at their apartment so you bring them to our house to have FUN!!! Man I am SO MAD! Did you not think maybe I want to sleep whenever I can actually fall asleep? Did you not think that maybe if I am able to get up to venture into another room that now I won't since I look like death warmed over and we have company? Did you not think that potty training Isaiah would involve actually making him SIT on the potty chair for more than two seconds instead of running around naked peeing whenever, wherever? Good thing we have wood floors and carpet cleaning machines! Did you not think that when I call your name even though I barely have any voice and haven't said more than 20 things all weekend I might need something and not yelling "what" three times expecting me to respond before coming to my aide would be really nice? Did you not think when you asked a million times that I don't know where I caught this, what it is, or who I caught it from and it really doesn't matter you are just supposed to support me and help me with whatever? It isn't my fault and I didn't have it worked into the plans for the week! What is it with husband's that are awful while their wives are sick? It is like a switch goes off and they instantly are buttheads and we are the grumpy ones! He really said Sunday morning after feeding breakfast to our guests (Yes they slept over! How sweet! Just wait until they are gone!) "I hate seeing you like this baby! I hope I don't catch it! You are just so grumpy!" I thought it was going to be a sweet comment but grumpy oh please if he was in my position he would be dying, call 911, he has to be in the hospital. He is NEVER sick so don't think I didn't want to rub all up on him but feared catching it again myself only worse the second time around! But when he is sick he is the biggest baby and everything is terminal! And me next time I am inviting over a ton of people~ anybody he knows that I don't like and don't care to get sick and allowing them to throw a major party while me and the boys go out on the town to Incredible Pizza! So by Sunday evening my future twelve pack (with all this coughing I have to be making twelve pack abs screw the six pack they hurt so bad it better be something amazing) hurt so bad and I didn't realize I kept moaning while trying to reposition on the bed and I guess Martez was in the bathroom and heard me and his response was "Are you hurting?" I instantly starting bawling hysterically and said you can't possibly be this dumb or inconsiderate to invite people over while I am sick and ask me if I am hurting. Are you kidding me? Please say that was a joke. So I went on and on about everything that was wrong with me right down to diarrhea from antibiotics to sweating buckets feeling like I was so hot I might just explode to finally coughing up mucus all day long but now all I taste is snot and the list went on and on and on and I made it gruesome for him! He actually even gagged - I was proud! I then called my mother to tell her Martez was bringing the boys over because there was no way I would be able to get them ready and drive them to school without interacting with them!! Martez took them I did a breathing treatment and fell asleep and when he got home he walked straight in and woke me up to ask if I needed anything! WHY would you wake me up??? He really is an amazing person so caring with the inability to tell others no (that is all new to him), he is a lover not a fighter, he is an amazing father and he has the most beautiful, contagious laugh and smile BUT if I am sick .zrzrzrzrzrzrzrzrzrzrrzzzppppp.....rewind because all that goes out the door!! Went to the doctor yet again yesterday and now am down to 4 breathing treatments a day until Friday because of mucus in a plug or something I think my friend Melanie has mentioned that before and it was scary! I am feeling better not good but better than I was this past weekend! Still unable to go back to work he said maybe tomorrow I said that like I missed weeks when I haven't missed but half a day yesterday because I HAD to go in yesterday for sales tax day because no one else knows how to do it! I have got to start teaching other people how to do my job! Oh and the doctor said yesterday to go ahead and take the nightly dose of the decongestant it shouldn't keep you up! RIGHT!! I did and it did! I have been going to bed about 7 every night these past 5 days sleeping about an hour and a half, up for about 2 then repeat all night long.....not last night I was up until 3 a.m. WIDE awake just sweating and coughing with no outlook for sleep. Won't be doing the decongestant at night again! I must say though there are two benefits to the ever elusive "NASTY" virus: 1) you lose weight due to excessive sweating from a very long drawn out fever and 2) it in no way involves your nose!! No stuffiness, no running it's great I think if the nose was stopped up too I would have rather been shot like wounded cattle but it is only throat and chest nastiness and trust me it is nasty! I love The Never Ending Story - don't ask me why just accept and move on - and I feel like I am fighting the NASTY like they were the the NOTHING!!! I think I will go watch that now! Oh Elijah is such a sweet boy he came home from school yesterday and said "Mommy I love you millions and millions and I am so sorry you are sick! I hope you get better soon so you can read to me because Daddy won't do the cool voices!" He is so sweet and I said "I love you too baby and because I love you I need you to stay out of mommy's room so you don't get sick and you should go practice cool voices of your own" He did and then I heard a coughing which was promptly followed by my prayers asking God to only make it allergies because I can't fight The Nasty for both of us right now!!!