Okay so my blog comes with a warning

If sometimes when you go to my blog it has a little disclaimer warning you there might be foul language or other adult content. That's because in the past I have made things with graphics that might be inappropriate for kids. I do have a potty mouth as well I admit. The F word flows out of my mouth without me even thinking about it. My 5 year old has tried to get away with being a mockingbird so the mouth has been cleaned up off line. The F word jumps out and I over use it out of anger and excitement and I over use LOL too. I am making it a personal challenge to not LOL on here. There are a few foul words I don't approve of believe it or not and the male members of my house hold has to pay $1 per word or $2... depending on my mood and fines doubled on Sunday for one of those... But I have NEVER gotten in trouble for using a word I didn't know was a foul word.. Okay so its not the prettiest word and I probably wouldn't appreciate it coming out of my child's mouth but I don't say Shut Up either... I just got flagged on Facebook for saying something "pissed me off". If I wasn't so upset about my "Dad" I would probably laugh like crazy...

Just so you know I leave the disclaimer up just encase something slips :)

Happy Thanksgiving (a day late)

Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours. I smiled so much yesterday because families were reunited or spouses came home unexpectedly. My stylist even announced she was pregnant with a miracle baby. Please pray for her and her spouse :)

My heart hurt for those who are without their families. Without homes. 

Of course our military overseas.. and the families left behind....

I am grateful.

My prayers are with those who's spouse never comes home. My prayers are those who have lost a child. Holidays are always a hard time for me I try to keep stress down to bare minimums which is one reason we decided to brave Cracker Barrel yesterday. 

American Girl

I am starting a new blog aside from this one. As a child I loved American Girl. I never got to own one of those expensive dolls but I did read all the books and got whatever American Girl related thing I could buy at the book fairs. Skylar has a best friend that got her into wanting an American Girl doll. I jumped at the chance to live through her- at least I admit it! So my new blog will be about us collecting American Girl together. It will have important information I seem to get asked over and over again and general sharing.

Again +Beth Applegate  made an awesome post about American Girl on her blog or maybe just her fan page. Yeah Beth I wouldn't take Huffington post too seriously its like taking TMZ seriously.

Do I think all families should own an American Girl doll? Yes! Why? Because they are nice to have. No I am kidding you don't have to run out and buy an American Girl doll. Especially if your house is chalked full of boys... then again the mom may need something girlie to keep her from going insane LOL (remember we have 4 boys here and then there is just Skylar) I mean financially if your struggling to buy food should you buy a $120 luxury doll? Of course not. I have gotten several dolls under $30 for ourselves. The steals are out there you just have to have money in hand ready- and knowledge.

I saw this post on Facebook not to long ago. A local mother/teacher that I know was disgusted that someone was trying to sell a "used". "nude" 2008 American Girl doll for $90 whole dollars. Why in the world would anyone pay $90 for a used and nude American Girl doll when they could buy a new one for about $110-$120? I tried to explain to her the simple part of it that the specific doll she was talking about was collectible. All the American Girl dolls are collectible even the Mini dolls can catch quite a price. American Girl, Build a Bear, even Gymboree retires item and it increases their value on the secondary market. Do you know how much some people pay for those Gymboree blankets? I seemed to hit a raw nerve. I get excited easily when it comes to the dolls and I have gained quite a bit of knowledge since Skylar first asked for one. I hit a raw nerve I guess. She would be just as happy buying the Target doll for her daughter. I also don't get why people judge how much I spend on a gift for my child? I am not on welfare (but was in my first life), we pay our own bills on time every month, my husband works hard to provide for us and actually my allowance that is given to me by my husband is usually what funds our American Girl collection. He rarely ever pays for any of it unless he wants to. I know the difference in quality between an American Girl doll and a Target doll is a little like buying a Barbie knock off at the dollar store- those things scare me. You can't expect your Barbie knock off to hold value or even increase in value either. So its just a dumb toy right? Well what if you could have a toy that increased in value? That's something I used to do it in my first life. Adam and I were toy collectors. I loved my dolls (mostly Barbie) and he had a huge collection of MIB Star Wars figures and Transformers. Okay I may be going off with a tangent..

Lets break this down hot toys on kids Christmas lists

Original Cabbage Patch- If you go to Babyland General and adopt a Cabbage Patch kid? That will set you back $225 plus tax. Sure they have a retail store that you can get a $20 and even at most big box stores in your neighborhood they are still widely available under $50 but to get the experience at Babyland general... $225---

In the 80's when they were the rage probably were the same $30 price tag.. $30 in 1980 was worth different than it is now... But because they were selling them faster than they could make them many people had to get them on the secondary market and trust me the price tag wasn't $30. Do all cabbage patch kids hold their value? Have you walked into a thrift store lately? Poor dolls laying there nude with their yarn hair falling out. It does break my heart. Of course my favorite doll is this guy.. btw when I had him valued-- scuffed, eye lined, and doggy bitten and all was worth $50 as of like $10 years ago...

He was my first doll. I got him when I was 3 years old (1983) from my grandfather. 

Okay so maybe Cabbage patch kids aren't as hot as they used to be with the kid market- There are still collectors of specific face molds etc-

But today's kids are still into Lego? Sure Lego's don't always run you $100. You can get the Batman Defend Cave for $40. Which was on my son's Christmas list. Perhaps your son is a tween and not so happy with Lego junior... what was that? The price goes up? Never would have guessed. This Lord of the Ring set is not unlike others in its series and run you $100. I have also known two collectors in my life that like the more expensive options that Santa puts under the tree.. Some of the more expensive buildings that can go up above $100 http://shop.lego.com/en-US/Creator-ByTheme

Then we are of the electronics age... where kids want electronics...

Beats head phones ($100 + price tag)

Xbox One (Gamestop.com says they are the LOW price of $349 average game is $60)

PlayStation 4 (Gamestop.com says as low as $429, does that mean it goes higher? average game again is $60)

Wii U (gamestop.com says you will put out at least $259 with the average game being $60)

My son has started watching Wii U videos before its release. He was watching unboxing's for months. He still has the old standard Wii that was first released that his adult brother bought (which we had to buy a second one used)

Maybe its my area I live in but I rarely see a kid without an Iphone in their hand.. Those are $100 and up as well.

Itouch? those start at $199 new..

Tablets? Nabi $199, Samsung Galaxy $129-229, Ipads $399 and up...

So buying an American Girl doll for a tween doesn't look so bad? 

Lets look at the value's

The two most popular dolls on the market are Kanani and McKenna... now since they are retired because American Girl only made them for one year. 

McKenna sold on ebay this week just the doll, the box, and the book how she comes from the store yet she is gently used... over $300 Ebay hyper link

2 years ago when she was still available for retail but almost sold out. I did pay a few dollars over retail to get her at $123 (so that means my McKenna increased in value by sitting on a shelf for $200?

Kanani.. we barely missed the boat on this one. Skylar got into American Girl about the time she was popular and she was blessed and happy to have any doll. So I never have bought a Kanani because I do have a rule about trying to keep any doll I want in the average retail range... This Kanani sold this week on Ebay incomplete and used is $187 ebay hyper link

and there are rare ones that are harder to prove their value or authenticity.. Gwen, Sonali, a white bodied doll... etc.. but McKenna and Kanani are the ones that are the most sought after now. Now back to the original doll I was discussing with a friend about Mia from 2008. She's actually on my wish list because she reminds me of my best friends daughter.. Mia nude on Ebay is $129 plus shipping  where as my Facebook friend or I could have had her on a yard sale page for $80. 

Zoe

You know what my point on spending whatever it takes for my kids? Santa makes wishes come true. As long as my tween isn't into boys and real babies I will buy her dolls to keep her away from dolls and real babies.. Innocence is expensive. 

Have you seen my GoFundMe?

I know everyone and their brother either has a Gofundme or hates a Gofundme.. This one is VERY personal to me...

This one is for the person other than my kids that means the most to me in the world. I know she loves me totally unconditionally and she is my dearest and truest friend, Jennifer.

Jennifer and her husband Chris are totally like the siblings my parents never gave me. My heavenly parent was looking out for me though when he brought them into my life. I love them no different than my family. They mean the world to me and their kids are like my kids. Jennifer's father Frank has been like a father to me. I joke with Jennifer Frank couldn't have dealt with both of us growing up which is why we had to meet as adults. She says of course he would have loved us both. About two years ago something was off with "Dad"/ Frank. He was working at Kroger and he had been working at the Carpet mills in Calhoun and the surrounding area's for years... Jennifer kinda nudged him to go to the doctor and he was diagnosed with Gilosarcoma. Stage 4... very aggressive brain cancer. They gave him initially 6 months to live. God blessed us with a successful surgery to remove the tumor from his frontal lobe. They almost completely removed the tumor and he would be under aggressive Chemotherapy and Radiation to keep it under control and from growing any faster. His new prognosis was 12-18 months maybe..

Do you remember on the news like crazy a lady named Brittany Maynard who died on November 1st as part of the Die with Dignity thing. She could take a series of medications that were prescribed to her to die peacefully in her sleep whenever she was ready. She didn't have to wait to waste away in front of her new husband or parents. She didn't HAVE to struggle with the side effects of treatment or deal with the cancer. She did end up having some struggles no doubt but she wanted to die with dignity before it became too late. Brittany Maynard chose to die before it got too bad. She had the same or similar type of cancer that Dad has. Here is an article about Brittany Maynard
 http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/02/health/oregon-brittany-maynard/index.html

Back to Dad's story.. Dad's treatments were an hour and a half from their home. At first they were maintaining two homes. Chris works full time and has for the 10 years I have known him as often and as dependable as the mills are but his paycheck only stretches so far. Jennifer and Chris have four children (from 3-13) to provide for. Dad's treatments would vary depending on the growth of the tumor.. sometimes several times a week to once a week. Jennifer was a Stay at Home Mom often picking up customer service jobs she could do from home until caregiver of her father became a priority. In the past year Jennifer has had personal and medical challenges of her own. While under going an emergency procedure Jennifer also found out they were being evicted and Franks own father had passed away. If you could please pray for this wonderful family that has helped me through my own down and out times and there were times in my life when we gave each other the shirt off each others back and our last slice of bread. Its the way we've known each other. Unfortunately right now I am not in the position to help much. I run an online Yard Sale page and a lot of the funds I earn from that will go towards meeting these goals. I have tried all types of fundraisers for Franks treatment's before and only earned $5.

Jennifer's engine in her old beater of a minivan blew up and it was impossible for her to get Frank to Chattanooga for treatment and she has been living with this guilt. I tried to help navigate through the engine repair and ended up having to take a bigger loan out with the shark that sold her the van. His condition started to deteriorate 2 -3 surgeries and about 2 years later he had his routine cat scan and the tumor is far too progressed for treatment now the options are limited to hospice. So Frank has been on Hospice at home surrounded by Jennifer, Chris, their room mate, and their four children. In a very small apartment.

One month ago Dad was placed on hospice because he had a stroke, the tumor is back and large swelling and putting pressure on one side of his brain.

A week or so later Jennifer reported he was doing as well as expected but last night I got the message that she had been very ill again and unable to keep me updated and that he didn't have long left.

He doesn't have an active life insurance policy as he had to leave his job and stop paying on his life insurance policy when he became sick so all Gofundme funds will go to Funeral and Travel costs.. (I want to be able to be there for them!)

Please pray for my family <3 p="" thank="" you="">

Girl Talk Tuesday...

I don't know about you but getting a teenage daughter is nerve racking for me! I think I want to start a new meme of sorts... Girl talk? I ask questions (hopefully not too inappropriate?) and you can provide some feedback. Some questions are about my teenager and some may be more geared toward me. 

So on my Wifey Wednesday post I posted about make up sex...

I mentioned last week that my husband and I had a disagreement and it got me to thinking and actually talking a bit in therapy about Make Up Sex or general brown nosing.

I come from an abusive parent home both in my birth parents home and my guardian's home. Also Adam was abusive toward me and the D'man was also emotionally abusive. I stopped taking BS long ago and if he ever laid a hand on me it would be the last time he used his hand for sure.. So I guess he didn't attempt it. So my turn offs to make up sex may come from my back ground of being abused. I don't find make up sex erotic or a turn on. The idea of make up sex when my husband has pissed me up makes my Fight or Flight heighten. It gets already bad and I have to fight it down but the thought he wants to ignore everything that was bad and just get "coffee" just disturbs me and make me want to run for the hills. Especially since sorry doesn't come easily to my husband. So I don't know its just like you don't even both admitting your sorry for your actions but you think all is forgiven so much you get this... gift? You have a fight with your spouse and they just want to sweep it under the rug and get down to the "coffee"? Put a band aid over the bullet hole (Thank you Taylor Swift!!) and think I want coffee after how badly I hurt emotionally or even physically? I mean is that the equivalent of giving your "flower" away the first time and the being dissed?

Its actually a real betrayal for me because I feel like my feelings aren't acknowledged.  My feelings aren't acknowledged and he hasn't admitting anything wrong. We are just supposed to ignore this wound and let it what? Fester? Yeah anyways that's what I feel like when I am just supposed to let it go. Even indulge in a "coffee" date I am in no mood for?

What are your thoughts on make up sex? Fantastic? Does it rock your world? Or do you want to just make him go away?

Listening to Bad Blood by Taylor Swift

New trend hashtags on a blog

#Parent2afemaleteenager #Teenagerproblems

*just kidding*

Every time Skylar cries about school work we try to help her and she gets mouthy. I usually am really lenient with her because she is well behaved and does get A's, B's, and C's in school. Her teacher says she has to learn the presidents names... all of them by Monday. So Rick asked her if she studied she said yeah she was watching youtube videos on how to remember the presidents name. I did a quick google and yes that's the first two or three links that showed up for me but her computer history doesn't say anything on Internet Explorer and her Google Chrome says it was working constantly (which she says it wasn't) Do you think she is lying? I am so frustrated with my mouthy teen and I don't tolerate lying. Encase your wondering I am very strict with Skylar in some ways but lenient in others due to her being such a good girl.  I mentioned this the other night on my blog here.

When I told Rick to check her computer history (Betcha she didn't know I would do that huh?) Well then she said I didn't use Google Chrome because it kept crashing so I used Internet Explorer. So I told Rick to check her IE history... Nothing showed up. She's like I swear I did it on IE... I was like uh huh I think your lying to me and you NEVER lie to me so you'd better think harder and tell the truth. She was swearing she did. Rick said for some reason her IE was just showing computer locations like hard drive locations not any websites or internet use. I said fine Rick check her Google Chrome to see how long it was active and if there was was any down time I will buy her excuses that her Chrome was crashing because there was a night recently it was doing it to me too. There were NO spaces of time that she wasn't active on Google Chrome. So I still believe she wasn't being honest and it bothers me so now I have to be in the market for a Net Nanny because I can't trust her. 

Do you think she just didn't want to study and she was lying? How do you deal with your child butting heads with you over homework the way Skylar does with us? Her teachers aren't helpful with the situation. Do you use a Net Nanny for your kids? If so what is your experience?

Monday November 24, 2014: We know. Everything.

We are mothers we know everything yet nothing. My daughter has never been a fan of academics. Yet she gets A's, B's, and C's and has been a decent student at school. First grade she would melt down over spelling words even though the teachers for several grades used a format called Spelling Tic Tac Toe to make it fun and easy.. Hours of torture would ensue.. she would pitch awful fits even though that wasn't her typically just her when it came to homework. The 1st first grade teacher failed her not for her own lack of academics but because in my belief the teacher didn't give her the building blocks she needed for second grade. This has been the constant subject of contention with the principal with the school now that Skylar is in the 5th grade and still struggling according to Skylar. She was tested and diagnosed with a learning disorder and was assigned a teacher called an inclusion teacher which is like an in- class tutor. After a few years she was tested out of the program and no longer had scores low enough to say she had that comprehension learning disability. There would be incidents with homework like trying to teach her how to count money... she would be like that's not how so and so does it (her teacher)! I was so frustrated because I would explain this to the teacher yet Miss stubborn princess would not budge.. 5 grade now she is still getting C's or above and she is just being stubborn. Crying about how hard and stressful school is. Oh dear lord please save me I have 7 more years of this just from her! Her assignment was this weekend was trying to learn all 44 presidents in order. I am assuming she has had over a week notice that she needs to know this. The teacher told my husband that she was even put into small groups to figure out a way to learn them. The teacher sent an email with a helpful link. When asked today if Skylar studied she said she did. She said she watched youtube videos that would help her but she still didn't know them. *insert tears and whines out of her* Rick checked her history on her computer and there was nothing... So now I am frustrated thinking she is getting mouthy and lying to me. Lying isn't something normally coming out of her either. So I did some Googling and gave her some references and told her she had a choice on what to study or what tools to study with. After pouting and pitching a silent fit she gave in and decided to do it her way. I bet she still doesn't know but she is so mouthy! My thing is she has an acronym for division and the school has been teaching them acronyms for almost anything she needs to learn. Its either that or there is a youtube video with a catchy song. Her acronym is something like Daddy (Divide) Mother (multiply) Sister (Subtract) Brother (Bring down) something like that... She can rattle that off her in her sleep so I found several youtube videos that give you a little song to remember the presidents.. There is a story about an alien named Waj (Washington Adams Jefferson) and his favorite candy is M n' M's (Madison and Monroe) and so on... She of course is just like I watched that once it doesn't help. Oh child does taking medicine once do you think it works? Listening to a song once do you know the lyrics? *insert mouthy tween here* *insert tears* Ohmigoodness.
I do more digging on Google. They haven't nicknamed me the Google queen for nothing...
Then there is a song called Washy Ad Jeffy.. 
This is why I can't home school this child I have tried twice

I am usually a pretty cool mom but when it comes to sassy mouthed lying stubborn tweens I loose my patience. Now I am going to have to look through Net Nanny's to see which one will work best for us.. *sigh*

Ok sometimes I am a slow starter sometimes

I was diagnosed with Epilepsy as a pre-teen so my guardian wasn't in any hurry to let me drive. I also don't think she didn't think I was responsible enough. My guardian's daughter in law took me on one driving lesson before I turned 18. At 17-18 I had many friends get seriously hurt or die in car accidents due to negligence. I knew the law in Georgia that said if my seizures were uncontrolled I could be charged with attempted vehicle homicide or vehicular homicide if I was involved in an accident. So at that point I was afraid to drive. I met my 1st husband and he happily drove me around for awhile. Then he became abusive and controlling so it was a way for him to control me. After that part of my life was over with I was with a guy that gave me some driving lessons but every time a car came in my direction in the opposite lane I would freak out and freeze. Then the next guy I dated him and his uncle also tried to teach me to drive. I had to drive to Walmart to get formula for my baby and my licensed driver was drunk. I was apprehensive about my licensed driver being drunk when I had only had a learners permit for 3 hours. Sure enough in the Walmart parking lot I was driving the wrong way and hit a 3 month old Dodge Ram.. I did no noticeable damage to the Ram since it was higher off the ground than my boyfriends Oldsmobile. I went into Walmart and had the owner paged and it turned out to be 3 grand worth of damage to the dodge ram and a huge hole in the hood of my boyfriends Oldsmobile. The cop just sat in his car and laughed at me :/ Again the thoughts of maybe I shouldn't be driving scared me into not driving even though my seizures were under control. Later (I am not sure if it was months or years) but his uncle was teaching me to drive and I hit the curb and blew a tire. I had a melt down thinking of what could have been if someone was on that sidewalk. I had my child with me so the nervousness set in again. Neither of them wanted to teach me much after that.
  In 2007 I met my now husband and he was deploying so he took on the task of REALLY teaching me how to drive. At this point I was 27 and still with a learners permit. I was finally brave enough or maybe pressured enough since he was deploying in a month to take my drivers road test. I did it! I passed. He left July.. after he left for training but before he deployed I had a fender bender in the Commissary (grocery store) parking lot because they had a huge tent sale in the parking lot. By October I had completely totaled his car. The insurance company was nice enough to comp me a rental until January and I had only taken it off post once and I was having an anxiety attack just doing that. My friends would tease me at my over caution. my grand ma driving etc. But I was really struggling with the anxiety I had most of my life with driving. Once he came home for R&R he bought another car and I was afraid to drive it but eventually I got better with that anxiety and drove it more but still avoided roads that made me nervous and stayed close to home until he came home for good.

I worked on my anxiety and began to like driving in my little Honda I call Lady. I have always loved cars just not driving them. I had to get my hubby to trust me with her after all that and get him to believe I was confident in driving. So for a few years Lady was all mine and Rick and his son James bought a old Jeep so he could teach his son how to drive. Eventually the jeep just became too expensive to repair

The former owners called him Beast so we kept the name.. He had Punisher skull painted on the top

After the Beast died we decided we still needed a second car with James and Rick working and I needed a car at home for doctors appointments and kid things.. We also knew we needed a bigger car for all our children to fit into. We found a lovely van named Belle. At first Rick was supposed to drive Belle. I mean Lady had a custom sound system that was MY Christmas present she was MY car... But Rick got tired of the in city mileage and I think just driving a minivan wore on him so he wanted to switch. I don't drive Lady much anymore I am so comfortable in her though. I was always afraid of driving a bigger vehicle.  So I started driving the van and earlier this year I had a mishap on the way home from dropping the kids off at school. It sounded like a bomb hit the van.. I got home told Rick what happened there was no immediate signs of scratches or dents. Rick assumes I hit a mailbox but when I looked in the rear view it was still there? Then I spotted the broken mirror. Which I am not legally allowed to drive if the mirror is missing so Rick took it to work and work on repairing it. I took Lady.. I was driving through a school zone that after noon and I made the mistake of after passing the crossing guard I picked up speed... too much speed... I got my first ticket (other than 1 seat belt ticket in a parking lot) I had to go to Defensive Driving school which wasn't awful and I learned a lot. SO now I am trying to be hyper aware in school zones. Hell I try to not driving during school times just because we live near 4 school zones and then there is always buses etc.. UGH

Saturday November 22, 2014: I was wondering how you would feel.

I was going to write something dark as I pondered over this topic past couple of days but I saw Hunger Games Mockingjay part 1 today thanks to my husband's employer who rented out a theater for us :) I read all the books when the first movie came out (what two years ago now?)
I just wondered what it would feel like to be Gale? Gale is Katniss' hero. He's her constant in many ways. Yet he has to turn a blind eye to her love for Peeta. Gale seems so passionate about going against the Hunger Games but he's not passionate to show Katniss how he feels. I say from the very beginning Katniss makes it clear how she feels about romance, being married, and having a kid. I don't think she ever really love Gale he was that boy next door, big brother, kinda have a crush on type.. I think its really unfair how Suzanne Collins portrays him like he always secretly loved her. It actually almost ruins it for me. It makes it like the Jacob/ Bella/ Edward love triangle from Twilight. in Twilight Jacob is her anchor but she never really says she loves him. As much as I was team Jacob because I love the idea of being married to your best friend or being with your best friend for life versus some guy that will leave you hanging... So its the same for Gale. I wasn't team Gale though because like I said she has clearly stated no thanks on the baby making because she didn't want to have children that would have to go to the Hunger Games. Back to Hunger Games though I was wondering how it would feel to be Gale? How would you feel if you knew you were the hero and you were in love with someone but she was pretty much blind to it? How would you feel?

How would you feel if you were Jacob Black or Gale Hawthorne how would you feel? Have you ever been in that situation?

Friday November 21, 2014: It's just another day.

Its just another Friday here. Every other Friday (most of the time) my husband has them off. So we typically go on our date if we can afford it. Don't get too excited its just lunch out somewhere while the kids are in school. I am grateful he volunteered that we should go to take care of our Christmas shopping. So we took care of most of our shopping and didn't spend near as much as we used to. I am TIRED of toys. My kids either like being outdoors or on their electronics. There are times when my son wants his hot wheels or his legos but most of the time its electronics, board games, outside stuff. I have their big gifts to get but I didn't get them yet because I have no where to hide them LOL.

My blogger friend Beth and I were talking... Have you read her blog +Beth Applegate ? Anyways she was like I am not sure readers want to read about that. I was like have you seen the insane stuff on the internet? I never know what to blog about. I haven't been getting many comments so I guess I will just take the comments as suggestions. Like Beth I am not sure you want to read about the boring parts of my day? So what say you? Do you want to read about just an average day in the misadventures of my second life?

Thankful Thursday.

So who does the 30 days of Thankfulness on social networking? I have heard some people say that you should be thankful every day not just because Thanksgiving is coming. I am thankful every day but sometimes we just need to speak it out loud. Plus! social media could always use some more positivity am I right? So yes I have been doing it. I think I have missed one day but I have been keeping up with it pretty good coming up with heart felt thank you's. I was going to do them on the blog but I realize I am behind so maybe I will just post them on my weekly meme of Thankful Thursday? I don't know I am even hoping to keep up with my blog that long. Also in November is Epilepsy Awareness month so I try to spread awareness of Epilepsy because I had it until I was 21 and my first husband died from it at 27. So I think its important to educate! We have so much emphasis in October for Breast Cancer Awareness and Susan G Komen where is the awareness for the other types of cancers and conditions? Sure we can't fit them all into a 12 month calendar but I can't walk into Walmart in October without feeling like I walked into Barbies Dream house because even the mop is pink! 
Day 20 of the 30 days of Thankfulness. I am thankful for my experiences the only one I would chose not to relive are the ones that have directly altered the path of my children. My experiences taught me strength, knowledge, love, compassion.. etc

Day 19 out of 30 days of Thankfulness. I am thankful my kids have warm jackets and coats. I wear a very non fashionable Marlboro Country puffy coat that irritates the living daylights out of me but its super warm versus my old ski coat. I gave away Skylar's coat I got from Rocket City Consignment to a 4th grader at the bus stop who only had a hoodie on this morning and it wouldn't even zip up. I figure even if it was a bit small she could at least have another layer on.
Day 18 of 30 Thankful for Huntsville there is always something to do here!
Day 17 of 30 days I am thankful for a good read or good movie, a snuggly scooby blanket, fluffy pillow.

Day 16 of 30.. I am thankful for YOU!

Day 15 of the 30 days of thankfulness I am thankful for the ear that listens, that shoulder that supports, and the kisses that dry the tears..

There are a lot of things I haven't done.

I was on a Marriage Retreat several years ago hosted by the Chaplain in the Army. The Chaplain tried to explain to us wives that our husbands had been through more life experiences than we could ever experience. I beg to differ. My husband has seen Iraq, he's seen war, he's seen hunger but not experienced it, he's seen and been through some pretty tough stuff. But in most common terms he is book smart to my street smart. There are a lot of things I haven't done.. I have never served even though I tried they wouldn't take me in. I applied for 3 out of the 4 main branches too!. I haven't been to a country such as Iraq and I haven't been globe trotting and seen the ruins in Turkey, the Salt Mines, Castles, and death camps of Germany. I haven't seen the beautiful greenery in Ireland. But I have seen things in this world he hasn't seen. I have lost a spouse and a child. I have had a lot of tragedy. I had no one picking me back up once I had fallen. I was almost completely alone. He's always kinda had the military to support him in every endeavor. They cook for you, they tell you when to get up and when to go to bed, they give you clothes to wear, they train you and protect you.. They even teach you how to drive if you need it. He's never been without a job for long or insurance. He's never really had to live on Welfare as I have and bust my ass to try to find any way I can to pay my rent. I have hustled many times to make four pennies rub together to make a nickel.  There are things I have more experience in than he does. I think its important in a marriage to respect your spouses strengths and not challenge them when they show you their strength. Its not emasculating to let the wife win sometimes. Its not even about me winning its about respecting the knowledge I have acquired and acknowledging I did go through that and I might know a thing or two. Not all advice given has to be taken but at the very least like when your a new mother and you get an absurd piece of advice you brush it off you don't fight with your mother in law about it just to make tension. Do you think it might be wise to take someones advice if it makes sense if things haven't been going your way for some time? You think maybe you can say I tried it didn't work and throw it back in their face politely? Maybe then they would shut up. As I tell my step son what your trying isn't working and your frustrated with not making progress why not let someone in? Why not let someone give you advice? Why not let someone else take the reins? I am a special brand of stubborn but I am not so stubborn if I don't know where the hell I am going I don't ask for directions. I don't believe in wasting time or energy about trying to attempt something without direction. That's like a doctor doing a procedure without knowledge isn't it? Playing with fire a bit. The whole time your playing with fire your wearing the other people down and they are loosing hope. They are eventually going to give up. I am tired of being bloodied trying to help others when all they have for me is a brick wall and they don't want my help. They don't want to be my partner. 

I haven't done a lot of things in my life. I haven't achieved my life long dream of animal conservation. Dreams don't die though priorities change. There are many of my dreams I don't know where to begin to go and achieve them though. I have never been popular at least by my standards I have never been a cheerleader or a football star but perhaps something I have done make the difference in this world. I believe I can make a difference in this world even if not everyone is pleased by what I do or haven't done. 

Wifey Wednesday

I know your saying whew girl that's a whole lot of blogging today but I wanted to take part in this meme because its something I have addressed recently in therapy and in my private blog. The topic on to Love Honor and Vacuum is Make Up Sex is it real? 

Well I just closed the book on Captivated by You by Sylvia Day and in the 4 books I have read in this Crossfire Series the main characters Gideon and Eva.. both abused as children have gotten into this relationship with each other that is sexually charged. Perhaps they are not using sex in a healthy way but who's to say? Certainly not I. 

I have been spending time outside of therapy concerned about other people around me.. Maybe they are as broken, exhausted, cranky, needy, etc etc... as I am or can be.

So Rick and I had a disagreement and he made me feel bad.. He hurt my feelings if I put it out there for the world to see. It just sounds childish to say. He wasn't trying to have make up sex and I wasn't either but I felt the need to put in my private blog last week or whenever it happened that I don't like it. I don't know if it was from my own abuse or I just don't like it. That may be the way he handles it but it doesn't mesh well with the way I process it. I consider it a band-aid on the problem like the poster who wrote in to the blog. It just further triggers my need to fight or flight most likely flight since I already fought :( 

So this may be the topic for my next Girl Talk Tuesday :)

I am linking up here http://tolovehonorandvacuum.com/category/marriage/wifey-wednesdays/

Whiskers Wednesday.

My family has six cats.. .

My daughters cat Tinker Belle. Tink is almost 8 years old and we adopted her in 2007. She can't function without Skylar. 

My Baby is Cocoa he's about  6 years old. He showed up at the bus stop one morning really starving. I couldn't stand for such a beautiful Siamese to starve. We have had him at least 4 years.

My kitten is Peeta. He is 3 years old and he is one of my foster failures from volunteering with the cat rescue. We have had him since he was old enough to be away from his mommy and was separated from her in the pound.

Peanut is my reluctant family member. An Army wife asked me to watch her cat for a year while her husband was deployed. He's been here for the past 4-5 years. He's 5 years old.

Sydney was the other foster failure. I was fostering her before I got Peeta and we adopted her after Peeta she is 4 years old. We have had her for the past 3 years. 

Mittens is my special needs princess. She is 10 years old. We have had her for 5 years.She was adopted from a rescue in Huntsville.

 Today's story is about how big brother Cocoa takes care of us... Here is a video of Cocoa doing black ops coming home from the bus stop. He used to keep on our flank and check under every car and the drain, and door etc.. Last year neither child of mine road the bus to school but Cocoa would often walk other children to their bus stop. When we go on family walks the neighbors always comment on how crazy it is for a cat to walk with us without a leash (shh don't tell Animal Control). This morning Cocoa ran outside as we were walking William to his bus stop and as I watched William cross the street.... Cocoa followed actually Cocoa was ahead of William but ran back across the street to walk William across the street then down the side walk to the bus stop with me tailing behind. Cocoa is always big brother... One day the family was enjoying the sunshine out in our back yard and I decided to let the kittens out to play (Peeta and Sydney) Cocoa seemed to walk in circles around them keeping them close to the house. When William was little and he was crying one day while I buckled his seat belt Cocoa climbed in the car and got in-between William and to make sure he was okay. Cocoa goes for car rides sometimes. He's not particularly thrilled with the idea but he gets in the van/car willingly! The other day I was bringing the kids home from school and Cocoa sat in the middle of the road and the bus driver who arrived at the same time had to sit and wait on Cocoa to move. The next time I saw the bus driver I apologized for Cocoa's lack of common sense. He said he would never run over my beautiful cat. I always worry that either Cocoa is too friendly and someone will snatch him up (becareful to those who think about stealing him if he is inside too long he WILL spray!) or maybe they think he is a pest... Some people just don't like animals! *shocker* I know! So as independent as he is I just can't keep him inside full time. I think we have too many roosters in the hen house... I don't know. Cocoa has changed a lot during the past 4 years. Being a very spoiled indoor outdoor cat has its own problems and challenges such as someone has attacked my cat several times and each time it happens its $300 vet bill ugh.. I love my cat. Something has been biting him in the butt and it becomes abscessed. So I do worry about him. He has made good friends with my neighbor Julie. We went out of town and I asked Julie to feed him once a day because if he had to stay outside for the week I did want her checking on him. Now he thinks breakfast comes in three helpings --stinker! She says he has done the same thing to her playing chicken with her van like he does with the school bus.

We are at the school Mommy where are the kids?

I am your co-pilot forever right mommy? 

Him following William to the bus stop this morning.


and another issue we are having with Cocoa is outdoor housing!! He's so stubborn its dipped down around 20 degree's lately and he wants out.. I am like Cocoa you dont' really mean it. I let him out and within 5 minutes he's back in and then back out again. A few years ago I found two types of small dog/cat houses at the big box chain stores.

The inside is made of a thin foam like material and the outside is thin plastic.. If I remember correctly it can even be used as a carrier? But I haven't as you can see what I thought was weather beaten just may be another animal trying to find Cocoa? Maybe? Whatever has been biting him? I need to replace this ASAP but on a low budget. We've tried the coolers and the totes but I really don't want them on my stoop you know what I mean and Cocoa didn't really go in them when I had a cat I was trying to rescue before is the reason why I made one. I also bought a dog house (like a real one for a German shepherd) Cocoa has no interest in that either! 

I just can't find a small cat house that is weather proof or semi weather proof to go on my porch.. I guess I need to find a wood worker to make me one *sigh*

I would really like to find the plastic shell I used before one more time so if you have any leads on cat houses for outdoors let me know! 

no Lowes does not carry this!! Crazy!