Todays thought...A haunting.

Ok, so most of you who know me know the history and story of my aunt. If you don't, I call her Oklahoma and in previous blogs I have mentioned, she was missing for 35 years, we found her, she moved here, was diagnosed with brain cancer and passed away just a little over a year after the first phone call.

So, she moved here in Sept, around Oct she goes into the hospital and it pretty much went down hill from there. Well, one night, I'm at my mama's house. Pooh bear and I decided like many times before to stay there. In the spare bedroom (Which my aunt slept in when she stayed there for a couple of months) there is a set of trundle beds which Pooh bear and I pull out and use when we stay.

Now to set the mood a little bit, there is a tv in the bedroom that will go to snow until it warms up, its an older television. Now this night, is around the beginning of October (a year after the cancer was diagnosed) and while over there I decide to go in there and turn the tv on and let it warm up. I go back into the dining room and am in there for about 30 minutes before I decide to go to bed.

I go in there, and the tv had been turned off. Now Pooh bear was in the livingroom crashed in my daddy's lazyboy. He had been asleep for about an hour. I know he hadn't been in there. So, not thinking too much about it, I turn the tv back on, let it do its thing and get ready for bed. I get into bed, reach down to get something out of the floor and have this overwhelming feeling that there is something under the bed. Now there is no room under the pull out bed for anyone to fit under there, but I could not shake this feeling.

So, I get my pillow and go down on the couch and crash there with Pooh bear in the livingroom. While down there I glance up for just a second and swear I can see someone standing in the walkway to the livingroom. I take a second look, and there is nothing there. Nothing.

So I get about an hours sleep, Pooh bear wakes up, gets me so we can go into the bedroom and I go with him. All through the night I keep hearing little bumps in the kitchen and dining room. At one point, Pooh bear actually was running to the restroom and I could have sworn for just a moment that he was running after someone. All night I'd felt like someone else was in that house besides my mama, Pooh bear and I.

Of course, I take time to process all of this in my brain and I call Saturn. Saturn and I go back a ways as you know and she's very into the spiritual afterlife. So I know I can tell her this and she will give me an outsiders opinion on the whole thing without thinking I'm nuts. First she tells me I need to tell my mama. Then she tells me to get a tape recorder and see if I can catch an EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomenon).

Now, if you've ever seen the movie White Noise, then you understand why I'm a little reluctant to do so. I don't have a recorder anyway. But, back to the story.

So, a couple of nights later (back at my own place now), I keep hearing stuff in my kitchen. Now I'm off work for a week and in the week I keep hearing these noises and begin to wonder if I'm actually hearing them or if my mind is just messing with me. And it's nothing serious. Just little things, like something falling off the counter, a fork falling in the sink, a cup shifting in the cupboard. Little noises.

At that point I decide to ask my mama if she's heard any goings on at her place as well. I tried to approach it very lightly because its still kind of a touchy subject and the last thing I wanted to do was to upset my mama. She's been through so much.

Sure enough, she's heard little things at home too at night. A silverware falling in the sink, someting shifting in the cupboard, a hose coming unwound, little noises just like I've heard. We talk about it more and more and realize that the same things are coming from both places. I come home that night and Pooh bear let the dog out and while he was getting her taken care of something hit my sliding glass door. Now occasionally Pooh bear will toss something at the door so that I can bring him something outside or what not. I peek my head out the door, ask him what he needed and he has no clue, because he hasn't thrown anything at the patio door.

Well, if I had any doubt before, the other night was the absolute kicker. Pooh bear and I pretty much spent the whole weekend at my mama and daddys house over the holiday weekend. Well when I went to bed one night and chaged my clothes, I set my jeans, in the bathroom floor over my bra. I'd done that the last two nights I was there. SO, ok, I wake up in the morning and guess what...my jeans are not in the bathroom floor where I'd left them. My bra was. But not my jeans. So, I ask Pooh bear if he had moved them. He hadn't touched them. I ask my mama if she'd moved them, she hadn't touched them. No body had really even been in the bathroom. That left my daddy. Well he wakes up and I find out that my jeans were in the bathroom floor when he went to bed the night before at 2am. When I looked around, we found my jeans in the bedroom floor, at the foot of the bed, where my aunt used to leave her dirty clothes from the night before when she was staying there.

So, you can call me stupid, you can call me crazy, I don't care what you call me. I know the truth. My aunt is still hanging around. And she's got quite the sense of humor, to let us know that she's still here. I talk to her from time to time. And when I do, she usually doesn't mess with us while we are sleeping like she did that first night.

So Oklahoma, if you're watching me type this or if you're with my mama when she reads this, we know your here. We almost enjoy the little things now. We know your sense of humor is definitely still in tact and we miss you like crazy. We've missed a lot over the last 35 years, and I wish we'd had more time to get to know you. However, respectfully though, you really kinda freaked me out the other day. But I love you anway. Miss ya.

Todays thought...Invisible Blinkers.

This is a serious problem people. We are driving around every day using our blinkers and we don't know that they are invisible to the persons that are behind us. This is causing an epidemic of rearended cars and fender benders and even the occasional side swipe.

This is real. I know that some of the drivers out there got their drivers license out of a Cracker Jack box (Refer to Nov 19th entry), but I know that it's not this many people. Be conciouse of your blinkers people. Make sure that they work. I've been rearended. Although mine wasn't because of a blinker malfunction, more often than not, it is. We can avoid this by following these simple instructions upon purchase of a new vehicle.

Before you even test drive the vehicle...
1. You or the salesperson get to the back of the vehicle.
2. Stand and position yourself about 20 feet behind the vehicle.
3. Whomever is in the vehicle at the time, turn on your left blinker (If you need help with the location of the blinker on the inside of the car, refer to the owners manual)
4. After making absolute certain the left blinker works (Feel free it a couple of times), turn on your right bliner.
5. Check periodically to make sure they are still working properly. About once every 6 months.

That's it everyone. Follow these 5 easy steps and your blinker problems will be cured.

Well, thats all for tonight. C-ya l8er.

Todays thought...Cracker Jacks, and my take on the movie Crash.

Actually, we'll start with the movie Crash. OH MY GOSH! IT WAS AWESOME! Really makes you think about the world around you. It is extremely involved and very intense. I think its about time someone does a movie like this that talks about the issues. In my opinion it was very well done and a must see. It talks about the racial topic from every aspect of it and almost every walk of life. It is a very real movie. And it comes full circle. So, my take on it, it is a MUST SEE! I think everyone should see this movie. Only if once. I will open your eyes.

Now onto Cracker Jacks. I love Cracker Jacks. I have ever since I was a kid. You always got these good prizes in the bottom of the box and it was awesome. But for me, it was a real treat to get Cracker Jacks. We didn't get them very often. I was told by my parents that it was because they didn't want us rotting our teeth out on the popcorn. But as I've grown older, I found out the truth. They didn't want me having it because they didn't want me to find the great prize in the bottom of the box.

Yeah, like, you know when you go to the store, and they have those crane machines? And you see all of these crap prizes but way back in the back, where it's impossible to get it, there sets this really cool prize. The good prize that you spend $10 trying to get and walk out of there with a couple of friendship bracelets and a tube of lip balm that wasn't even supposed to be in there because it fell out of the guys pocket while he was stocking the machine.

Well with Cracker Jacks, the great prize, is none other than your very own drivers license. Thats right. Right there pictureless so you can put your face on it, fill in your information and get behind the wheel of the car. People, this is the real reason that you didn't get Cracker Jacks unless on special occasion when you were younger. It wasn't because your parents didn't want your teeth to rot out. It was because your parents don't want you getting your drivers license before you turned 16.

Yep, THE MYSTERIES ARE EXPLAINED! A drivers license really does come in Cracker Jack boxes and some of the idiots on the road are proof that they're still in there. You may have to eat 10,000 boxes before you get the good prize, but hey, it saves you from having to go to the DMV to get one. Although, with all of the money you spent on the Cracker Jacks trying to get the good prize, you should have just went to the DMV, took the test, figured out what you were supposed to do and paid $8 to get one there.

Well, thats about all I have for today. I bid you good night. I have 40 more boxes of Cracker Jacks to open and see if my license is in there.

Todays thought...An update on me and mine.

So Saturn called me last week to tell me that she was going to be here for a couple of days. At first glance, I was elated to hear this news. Then it hit me. She in the previous week was not going to be able to make it down as planned for Puck's birthday. This was not a pleasure trip. As I'm sure you've figured already, a family member has passed.

So here's me, in all of our brilliance, my mama and I decide we're going to send flowers to the funeral home to suprize her. Not sure of the deceased's name, I put her grandmothers last name on the flowers. My mama orders them, and the morning of the funeral, they call me and say that they don't have anyone there at the funeral home with Saturn's grandmothers last name. At this time it's too late to call Saturn because she's at the funeral home. So all I have to go by is the time of the funeral and the name of the funeral home.

Needless to say, the flourist tried to deliver, the funeral home wouldn't accept them and they don't get delivered. So after the funeral, Saturn calls me and says that her grandmother was going to go pick them up at the flourist on Monday. I realize it was the thought that counted but I really wanted Saturn to have this basket of flowers to take home with her.

So then Monday, I get this call from the flower people and they procede to tell me that they have contacted Saturns grandma and she wasn't going to make it to the flourist to pick up this basket and they were going to deliver it to her. No problem. Right? Nope, I get a call 10 minutes later telling me that they don't have a flourist that delivers that specific type of basket to her grandma's address but they did have a flourist that would deliver a different type of boquet to the home and they would not charge me anything extra for this. I told them to go ahead and do it. It was very nice that they offered this to me and went out of their way to do what they could. I do appreciate that. But to be honest, if it happens again, I'm just going to send a care package, after the fact.

Saturn, I am sorry for your loss. You know I'm here if you need me. Let me know if there is anything at all that I can do for you in your time of loss. I offer my condolences to you and yours and hope you know you can call on me for anything. Love ya girlie. You know I'm here.

To add to todays blog...I would like to dedicate a poem to my daddy that I saw the other night at a fire house.


My father was a fireman,
He drove a big red truck.
And when he'd go to work each night,
He'd say "Mother wish me luck"

Then dad would not come home again,
till: sometime the next day.
But the thing that bothered me the most,
Was the things some folks would say.

"A fireman's life is easy,
He eats and sleeps and plays.
And sometimes he don't fight a fire
For days and days and days"

When I first heard these comments,
I was too young to understand.
Cause I knew, when people had troubles
Dad was there to lend a hand.

Then my father went to work one day,
And he kissed us all good-bye.
But little did we realize that night,
we all would cry.

My father gave his life that night,
When the floor gave way below.
And I wondered why He'd risk his life,
For someone that he didn't even know.

But now I realize,
The greatest gift a man can give,
Is to lay his life upon the line,
So that someone else might live.

So as we go from day to day,
And we pray to God above.
Say a prayer for your local fireman,
He may save the ones you love.

Author: Jim Martinez
This is presently the official poem of the
International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) and is
featured at the IAFF Fallen' Fire Fighter Memorial in
Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Now to that I want you to know that my daddy is still thankfully very much alive today. But the thought of this just gives me chills. However I can also proudly say that my daddy was a fire fighter. He would put his life on the line every day to save peoples lives. He has many stories but I think the one I remember the most was when he was at a fire and almost walked off the roof of a house. Thankfully the Chief had seen him about to go off the roof and grabbed him up by the collar of his coat and pulled him back up on the roof and then asked him where he thought he was going. That story impacted me the most with this poem because I would not be the person I was today if he had not been there.

I love you daddy.

Todays thought...Bad karma for cars month.

Let me just tell you what a month it has been for the cars of this family. First, in the beginning of the month, the hundred dollar wonder car was rear ended. Thats right. Someone fell asleep with his foot on the gas and hit us. I really did feel bad for the guy that hit us. You could tell that he really did not mean for it to happen and he had just made him an honest mistake. Well they totalled out the hundred dollar wonder car. Knew it was going to happen but was still sad to hear it. However on the bright side, they are going to let us keep it since it is driveable and told us that because it was more than 10 years old we would not have to file for a salvaged title. They are going to give us a pretty good amount and we can use it to go to a junkyard down the road and just replace the trunk. So, getting it fixed.

Then, my room mate has 3 cars. One, we can't figure out what is wrong with, the other has been broken down but when we went to replace the engine we found that we will have to convert the engine because while it will work, it's the wrong one. Then, another one broke down and was down for a few days while we tried to figure out what was wrong with it. We found out that the people that owned the place where he'd take the car for the first oil change since he had owned it didn't put something back on there right and cause damage. But we got it fixed none the less.

Then, my mama's truck. She'd taken it in because for some reason during the spring she couldn't get anything but heat to come out of the vents. So they tell her that the little switch in there that changes it from heat to cold was broke. So instead of having to pay $400 to get it fixed she just had them switch it to cold. Well guess what. It's cold now. Still no heat unfortunately. She has to go back to the dealership and get it fixed.

Now, Pooh Bear is at his dads house fixing the hundred dollar wonder car. The bearings on the front drivers side come out completely. Glad he found it now and not later.
Thats about all I can think of at this exact moment on the cars issue. But holy cow. After all of that, do you really need any more stories about bad karma month for cars?

Happy Halloween everyone. Hopefully November will be a better Carma month!

Another thought...A poem I wanted to share.

I watched an episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. On there they were talking about a poem that a soldier had in his home. I wanted to look it up and post it on my site if possible so that all who visit here can read this remarkable work of art. I was able to find it and and want to share it with you. It is Author Unknown.

---

THE FINAL INSPECTION

The soldier stood and faced God,
Which must always come to pass.
He hoped his shoes were shining,
Just as brightly as his brass.

"Step forward now, you soldier,
How shall I deal with you?
Have you always turned the other cheek?
To My Church have you been true?"

The soldier squared his shoulders and said,
"No, Lord, I guess I ain't.
Because those of us who carry guns,
Can't always be a saint.

I've had to work most Sundays,
And at times my talk was tough.
And sometimes I've been violent,
Because the world is awfully rough.

But, I never took a penny,
That wasn't mine to keep...
Though I worked a lot of overtime,
When the bills got just too steep.

And I never passed a cry for help,
Though at times I shook with fear.
And sometimes, God, forgive me,
I've wept unmanly tears.

I know I don't deserve a place,
Among the people here.
They never wanted me around,
Except to calm their fears.

If you've a place for me here, Lord,
It needn't be so grand.
I never expected or had too much,
But if you don't, I'll understand.

There was a silence all around the throne,
Where the saints had often trod.
As the soldier waited quietly,
For the judgment of his God.

"Step forward now, you soldier,
You've borne your burdens well.
Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets,
You've done your time in Hell."

~Author Unknown~

Todays thought...Eh, a little bit of this and a little bit of that.

Ok so this week has been so hecktic. So, Wednesday I get a call from my cousin Frog on my cell phone. Well I'm at work and can't answer it right then so I send him to voice mail. Then I'm talking to my co-worker and I'm telling her that he'd called and it was really odd. So she says well maybe it was important. Then it dawns on me. He lives in Houston Tx. Just moved down there for school not 3 weeks ago. So then I'm like "CRAP! He probably needs a place to stay!". So I try to call him back and it's busy. So I call my mama who was out of town at the time and tell her, Frog just called me, I can't get him back on the phone but I'm assuming he's going to need a place to stay because of Hurricane Rita. I can't put him up at my place but my parents were out of town and he could stay there. So I get all of that figured out, still can't get a hold of my cousin so I send him a text msg. Telling him that he needs to leave right then. He procedes to tell me that he doesn't get off work until 10 and he'd be leaving Thursday morning. Knowing this thing isn't supposed to hit until Friday I figure, hey...he's got plenty of time. Right? WRONG! If you watched the news at all you saw the gridlock and cars moving at literally 2 mph down the interstate. So already I know he's not going to be here until at least Friday night. Well, 22 hours into it he gets off the road to get gas and by a stroke of luck is able to find an alternate route and get out of there. Needless to say, he stopped about 3 hours outside of here and pulls over after 36 hours of driving and 1 hour of sleep. He didn't get here until Saturday afternoon. But you know what, he made it. My parents made it home before he did. But he made it. Glad to have you here Frog.

Then, Pooh Bear and I were supposed to go out of town this weekend with Floor, Sniper and the kids. Well, Friday morning while Pooh Bear was on his way to work, the hundred dollar wonder car breaks down. Still can't find out what is going on with the thing. The last part we have to try, we can't get it out because it takes an insane part. Hoping that Pooh Bears friend Big Fish has the part so we can fix the car. But you know how it goes.

Today is my mama's birthday. Happy Birthday Mommy. I love you. Hopefully I can make it over there this evening. While I won't divulge her age on this site I will tell you that she's old enough to know better, but too young to care. Hee hee hee. Hey, you're only as young as you feel. Ain't that right?

Lastly, I saw an show the other day about cars that have these sensors in them that tell you when you are losing control of your car. Ok, now, here's my problem with this. First off, if you've never lost control of your car you wouldn't understand this but I have. And from personal experience let me just tell you, when you start to lose control of it, you can't get it back. Unless you're a proffessional rally car driver or Nascar or something. Ok. So you have this vehicle, that has a dinger in it to let you know you are losing control of your car. You've never had this dinger before so the first time you hear it, you are going to think "What is that?" Then by the time it has registered in your brain that its the dinger to let you know you have lost control of your car, oops, you're in a spin and a tree has jumped out at you to stop your car. Ok...here's my second thing on this. Ok, so like I said, once you've lost control of your car, the general driver cannot recover from it. So the dinger goes of to let you know you are losing control. Well since you start and its so hard to control you generally just lose it all together and still meet your car to the tree. At that point, what is the point of the dinger. All the dinger did was said, "Yep, you just screwed yourself. Give yourself a pat on the back because your hands are going to do you a bit of good on the wheel." I mean think about it. Like I said, first thing thats going to register is you have a dinger going off and you don't know what it is. Thats going to take your mind off the road anyway, but it doesn't matter because you've started losing control and hang it up. Because like I said the average driver is not going to be able to gain control back of the vehicle.

So in essence...my take on it...good concept, but not very well thought out. Well, thats about all I have for today. I'm going to take my average driving self to the kitchen to make something to eat. Later.

Todays thought...Catchup on missed blogs, and a very special day.

First off to the catching up. Haven't been able to blog much lately because of surgery. Went good, just my knee. Nothing major...feels great now. Great surgeon. Saturn is doing wonderful. Had to go back home. Have to admit I cried when she said Good-bye. I know she'll be back, its inevitable...but like when my Floor left for out of state to live, it killed me inside all the same. She said she was going to leave so she didn't start crying and I thought (just as I did when Floor left), if I just go quickly, it will be ok. I won't cry, she won't cry...you know...good. Right? Well I made it to about my second step and the tears came. But as I said, she'll be home. Soon enough for good.
Then on to my mama. She's doing good. Work is work. Her cochlear implant is working better and better every day. I'm so proud of her. So much has happened this year and it's only September. My cousin moved from home in a different state practically to the other end of the country. I will reffer to him as Frog. (Hope you don't mind Frog). He's going to college to do something with Scuba Diving. I say, Hey, if it's what you love...go for it. I wish I would have. But then sometimes I'm glad my life didn't go in a different direction. If it had, I wouldn't have the love of my life, much less the awesome friends I have. Its so easy to think about what might have been.

And more recently...I just talked to Appre and found that her son is enlisted in the military. He is being given orders soon. If you see this one day soldier...I told your mom to tell you...from a free American...Thank You. For giving your time to go over there and fight for truths that you hold dear and mean that much to you. Thank you for going over there so that your mom (And her awesome friend) can have the freedoms to experience and enjoy the simple things in life. Like putting your feet in the sand at the beach and letting the sun kiss your face while the light ocean breeze blows through your hair. Thank you for giving up your freedom for a little while, so that we can enjoy ours.

Too on that note...I have to give a special prayer and shout out to the people that are suffering from the wrath of Katrina. These were every day people like you and me that lost everything. Know that there are people all over this great world tonight praying for you and donating things in the hopes that one day you can get your lives back on track. We're all pulling for you and if you need anything...just ask. We have outstreched arms for all of you. It may not mean a lot...but a big hug to everyone out there. You'll be fine. Keep your chin up and pray. You will make it through this tradgedy and be better for it. I know it may not seem like it now, but one day, you will notice that you have become that better person for it. It's a real eye opener to even see something like that take place when it doesn't affect you directly. To those that it did directly affect, keep looking for that silver lining. Its there. And behind it, the doors to a better tomorrow. To the families that lost loved ones in this whole catastrophy, my heart truely goes out to you. I know what it's like to lose family...but know that they are in a better place. I know it may not make it any easier, but they are not hurting at all. Nor suffering, or anything. Know that they will be waiting for you when it's your time to go.

On that note...today is a very special day. I am just recently finding out myself that today is my grandma's birthday. My grandma passed away when my mama was 11. So there was no chance of me knowing her, much less my mama really knowing her. Or for that matter, my grandma knowing her beautiful daughter, that turned into the best mama in the world. I know she watches from heaven. I sometimes feel her watching me. But at times, I really wish she could be here to just see the family. To see the times when my mama and I bust out laughing at nothing. The times when we swoon over Chuck Norris on the TV. The times when we cry on eachother (Usually making the other one cry too) when we need a shoulder. The times when we enjoy an opera together so out of place in one building that we can't help but love the attention for being different. The times when my writing makes me cry...and I know when my mama reads it, she's going to too.

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday...Dear Grandma, Happy Birthday to you. Thank you for not believing the doctors. If you had, my mama wouldn't be here today. Nor would I. I love you, and you are greatly missed.

Well, I have successfully made myself bawl writing this blog entry and guess this is as good a place as any to say Good-nite.

Holla

Todays thought...what an anniversary.

Sadly to say I was not arround for this spectacular day in history but for those of you who don't know, it is the 36th anniversary of the infamous moon landing. Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong made quite a staple in history today 36 years ago.

I remember my mama telling me that she watched it in awe. She told me that a member of her familly was crying at the time. When she asked them what was wrong...they told her that they'd never thought they'd see the day when man walked on the blue cheese. She had also told me a story previously about a neighbor to Buzz Aldrin. When he was a kid their next door neighbors were having an argument about a..."favor" from the wife. She told him that she would only do that if "Little Buzz Aldrin" walked on the moon. Guess he got lucky that night! Now don't mark my credits on that one, I can't remember who my mama said she heard that from...but, ya know. Makes for a good story huh? I will have to locate the source of the story at a later time.

Not much else is going on here. Saturn is down from home. I am so excited. The other night we went out and ... well ... we were too close to a hangover the next day. But we had a blast. I'm so glad she's here. Then of course Puck is just a ham. He is so cute! Almost 8 months old. Looks just like his mommy. And Saturn is such a proud mommy. She has overcome a lot of obstacles in the situation and I am so proud of her. She's gunna make it just fine. I have all the faith in the world of it.

I guess thats about it. To my mama and daddy...Happy Anniversary. Over 2 decades together and still going strong. Hope everyone has a good one...I'm outy!

Todays thought....GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE.

My mama as you well know has a hearing aid and now has a cochlear implant. Cellphones and their technology now holds the capability of Blue Tooth. Now to a lot of you, it is simply a fun little tool on your phone that allows you to plug into radio and cute little things like that. For people like my mama and those of you out there that wear hearing aids, you know that it is a lot more than that. There is a technology in the hearing aids now that will allow you to connect directly to a phone. Blue Tooth is that technology.

Finding this out she looked for a phone on e-bay that had Blue Tooth technology to go with her cellular plan. She purchased a Nokia first. No big deal to unlock, I just went to Google and typed in unlock codes Nokia. Beautiful thing that Google. So anyway, got it unlocked and it ended up not working out for her. Great phone. Beautiful phone. Took pictures and everything. But it had an internal antenna. As most phones do now. Well with the internal antenna she could not pick up good signal anywhere. But low and behold, we went to looking and found a phone put out by Motorola that had Blue Tooth technology. EUREKA! We have a winner! External antenna and everything. Perfect for her! Well, we get it home and low and behold...it needs to be unlocked. So, I go to my trusty Google for help. Well, we don't notice on there, that unlike the Nokia that we had previously purchased that asked for an unlock code...that this perticular model was for AT&T Wireless customers only and needed a subsidy code. Guess what you can't get online. Yep, you guessed it, a subsidy code.

So I call our service provider. They tell me that I have to either get the subsidy code from Motorola or from AT&T Wireless. So I get the number for AT&T Wireless. I am sure you are aware that they have now merged with Cingular. Being that as it may, when I call this number for AT&T Wireless, I get transfered to Cingular. So I talk to them. What do they do, they give me another number to try because they can't unlock an AT&T Wireless phone when they are Cingular. So I call this other number that they give me. It is an automated system. Does this help me...we wait and see. It gives me yet another toll free number to call. Now this is number 3 that I have been given to reach someone with AT&T Wireless. So I figure, what the hell, third times a charm...right? I call the number and take a guess what happens.

YEP! Transfered to Cingular! At this point I'm slightly upset. So, I decide I'm gunna take a crack at Motorola. They have good customer service but low and behold, what do they tell me, by law, they are not allowed to give out subsidy codes. Or unlock codes for that matter.

So...back to my trusty Google. Unlocking a phone with a cable. Now if you don't know, it can get REALLY EXPENSIVE! A lot of the companies that do this are over sees and everything is in Euro and everything else as far as pricing and it would take weeks for her to get her phone back. So off to e-bay. We get on there and what do we find...a company called Unlock to Talk out of Utah. $10. In American Dollars. Free shipping and a little bit extra if you want it shipped priority and what not. Understandable.

So, we look at his feedback. Couple of negatives but over all, good rating. Well I get to looking at his negative and neutral feedbacks and find that all of the negatives on him are not about him. They are from him. So, I tell mama...go for it. Looks like a great person to deal with and seems to be someone who know's what they're doing.

Now in the midst of all of this, I probably call this guy that owns the place 4-5 times asking him questions about this before I have my mama send her phone all the way out to Utah. Very courteous. And I am positive I probably crawled all over this guys nerves, for nothing more than the questions. But very nice none the less. So, my mama sends her phone out on Monday. By Thursday we were wondering if he had even gotten her phone yet because we didn't know. So on Friday I call again. I get a very nice lady on the phone who said that she would make sure that he got the message I had called and would have him call me.

Well, mama and I have us a girly day today, nails...hair...you know the deal. She gets home and her phone is there. Unlocked, working and ready to go. I called him back once again to let him know, the phone was here, working and how grateful I was that it got there. I felt the need to just let all of you readers that visit my site know...if you need a phone unlocked, look this guy up. You can go to www.unlocktotalk.com. Great customer service, very fast, very courteous. 2 thumbs WAY UP!

Well, I guess that's all for tonight. Have a good one everyone...and until next time...well...I guess just do what you do!

Todays thought...People that can't let the deceased rest.

It was brought to my attention today that a soldier, fighting for this country was killed in an accident over in Iraq. They brought this man home so he could be burried properly with his family and friends present.

Now I must sadly report that this funeral was rudely and uncalledly interrupted by a group of protesters from a Kansas based church. They stood on the street in front of the funeral home holding up signs that we Americans are responsible for what happened on September 11th because of the fact that we allow homosexuality to continue in America. Some of the signs held up also said that they support IED's. Not knowing what that was myself...I looked it up. If you are not aware as I wasn't, IED stands for Improvised Explosive Device.

To go further, these IED's are tools used by rebels to attack our troops over in Iraq. Now let me just tell you...I am so pissed off by this right now, I'm shaking while typing this. I should actually probably wait until I calm down to do this entry, but I want everyone who reads this to really feel what I feel right now.

I DONT KNOW WHO YOU ARE AND I DONT CARE WHO YOU ARE. YOU HAVE EVERY RIGHT AS AN AMERICAN CITIZEN TO FEEL THE WAY YOU FEEL, AND YOU HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO EXPRESS IT. HOWEVER, THE NEXT TIME YOU FEEL LIKE DOING IT AT AN AMERICAN SOLDIERS FUNERAL...THINK ABOUT THIS...HE DIED FOR YOUR FREEDOME TO RUN YOUR MOUTH AND ACT LIKE AN ASS IN FRONT OF HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE. SECONDLY AS I JUST DISCUSSED WITH SATURN AND IT BRINGS A GOOD POINT...PUT SIMPLY...YOU CALL YOURSELF A CHRISTIAN? YOU CALL YOURSELVES PEOPLE OF GOD? OK, NOW WHAT ABOUT ALL OF THE PEOPLE THAT ARE OUT THERE RIGHT NOW, THAT ARE ATHIEST OR AGNOSTIC AND ARE LOOKING TO YOU FOR A POSSIBLE DIRECTION TO GO. WHAT ABOUT THEM? DO YOU THINK THEY ARE GOING TO EVEN REMOTELY THINK ABOUT LOOKING TO THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION WHEN ALL THEY SEE IS YOU SPOUTING THAT GOD PUNISHES US FOR OUR SINS?

HELLO!!! HAVE YOU EVEN READ THE BIBLE? IT SAYS THAT GOD WILL JUDGE US OF OUR SINS, OF ALL OF OUR SINS, ON JUDGEMENT DAY. WHEN YOU GO BEFORE HIM TO SEEK JUDGEMENT INTO HEAVEN. WHAT KIND OF IMAGE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE PORTRAYING TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE THAT DON'T KNOW ABOUT GOD? I'LL TELL YOU WHAT YOU'RE PORTRAYING TO THEM, THAT THEY ARE GOING TO HAVE TO GO OUT INFRONT OF A BUNCH OF PEOPLE WHEN THEY ARE TRYING TO PUT SOMEONE TO REST AND ACT LIKE AN ASS IN THE MOST DISRESPECTFUL WAY A MAN COULD EVER TREAT ANOTHER HUMAN BEING. I TELL YOU WHAT. IF YOU ARE AMONGST THOSE PEOPLE AND YOU WERE OUT THERE AND YOU ARE READING THIS NOW...CONCIDER YOUR DAY OF ATONEMENT. THINK ABOUT YOUR JUDGEMENT DAY. WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO SAY TO GOD? I WOULD REALLY LIKE TO KNOW. BECAUSE GOD SAID "JUDGE NOT LEST YE BE JUDGED". HE ALSO SAID "LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR LIKE YOUR BROTHER".

I HAVE NEVER FELT SO ANGRY AT ONE GROUP OF AMERICAN PEOPLE THAT CAN SET THERE AND SPOUT CHRISTIANITY WHILE DOING THE EXACT OPPOSITE. YOU PEOPLE DO NOT NEED TO BE SEEN IN PUBLIC...YOU DO NOT NEED TO BE ACTING LIKE THAT AT A FUNERAL AND YOU DO NOT NEED TO BE CONCIDERING YOURSELVES CHRISTIANS WHEN ALL YOU DO IS ACT LIKE DEVILS. GO BACK HOME TO KANSAS. NOBODY CARES WHO YOU ARE AND NOBODY CARE WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY OR THINK IF YOU'RE GOING TO ACT LIKE THAT. NOBODY WANTS YOU THER. I'LL TELL YOU ONE DAMN THING RIGHT NOW, YOU'D BETTER BE LUCKY THAT YOU DID NOT DO THAT AT ONE OF MY FAMILY MEMBERS FUNERAL BECAUSE IT WOULD BE THE LAST MISTAKE YOU'D EVER MAKE. I WOULDN'T WAIT FOR THE COPS TO RUN YOU OUT OF TOWN. I WOULD RUN YOU OUT MYSELF AND MAKE SURE THAT YOU NEVER CAME BACK. THEN I WOULD SUE THE HELL OUT OF YOU FOR A DEFORMATION OF CHARACTER. BECAUSE NOT ONLY IS IT DEFORMATION OF CHARACTER ON THE SOLDIER THAT DIED...ONCE AGAIN...SO YOU COULD LOOK LIKE AN ASS AT HIS FUNERAL...BUT IT IS ALSO A SERIOUS DEFORMATION OF CHARACTER ON CHRISTIANITY AND ON AMERICA.

In saying this I state only that once again, I don't care who you are or how you think but be tactful. There is a time and a place for everything and I can promise you, the funeral of an American Hero's is NOT the time or the place to preach to a crowd.

GO BACK TO KANSAS! AND DON'T EVER COME OUT OF THE ROCKS YOU LIVE UNDER UNTIL YOU CAN GROW UP AND ACT CIVILIZED. LIKE TRUE CHRISTIANS.

Todays thought...people who think they are better than every one else.

This is probably going to be a bit of a rant so if there is anything you would rather be doing right now, just skip this entry.

It kills me that there are people out there (A lot of people) that think that they are better than anyone below them. You know the type. The hoity toity people that drive the big expensive cars, with the litte froo froo poodles and don't know what a pair of jeans looks like much less would be caught dead in them. The type of people that have their nose stuck so far up in the air that you swear if it rained, they would drown. Better yet, the people that snuff you because you are an average person and you get so irritated that if their little poodle was on fire you wouldn't spit on it to put the fire out. So let me just tell you now...if you are one of those people that judges anyone that doesn't fit in your "class" of people...then you'd better stop reading beause I'm about to really make you upset. For those of you that aren't like that, that know what jeans are and don't judge someone by their looks, read on...you'll probably get a kick out of what I'm about to say.

I saw a bumper sticker today that just about sums up exactly what I have to say to people like that today. Infact, I don't think I could have put it better if I'd tried. Put simply...it says

The next time you think you're so perfect...Try walking on water

I saw that and I was like... Oh yeah! I have got to write about that. And it makes perfect sense! You people that think that you are better than everyone else, better than that, those of you that have more money than you know what to do with...answer me this...Are you happy? I mean really happy? Or are you lonely? Think about it.

Well, thats it for me now, I'm going to bed. Completely content in the fact that I CAN'T walk on water!

Todays thought...The kids, and softball.

So this is going to probably be a short blog for a change but I'm going to try and update more often and not write books.

Lil Joker is doing great! He is so cute. And man does he have it made. Then we have Lil Floor. She is doing so good! She was walking while holding on to things for a little while and then one day she just up and decided she was going to walk on her own and boy did she take off. She's so funny. She now has 4 teeth and when she smiles you can't help but laugh. Then there's Sniper Jr. Just over 2 and doing really good in the learning process. He is just as curious as everything about his new little brother. I watch him and it amazes me how much he learns in such a small amount of time. He says my name and he knows my Pooh Bears name. It's really funny because sometimes Pooh Bear will go over to the house to help out Sniper or Floor with something and he will do it while I'm at work. He will walk in the door and Sniper Jr will call out his name and then run around the house looking for me. He has associated the both of us together and it just baffles his mind that sometimes we're not together. I can only imagine how Floor and Sniper feel about the kids learning the new things because they see new things every day. To you, Floor and Sniper, thanks again for letting Pooh Bear and I be a part of the family.

Now to softball. As I previously mentioned in the last blog...Pooh Bear plays softball with his work. Nothing major league, just a game. Well they play 2 games back to back. They are actually doing pretty good this season. Well, until last game. We lost one guy to the emergency room with a possible broken hand catching a fly ball and running into the fence in the first game. Then in the second game, we lost another guy with a possible ACL tear in his knee catching a fly ball and coming down on his leg wrong. I told he scorekeeper yesterday...it was a bad day for the team...a great day for the hospitals. Well, that is all for now. As I said, I am going to try and keep my blog updated more often, so they will probably be smaller. Enjoy!

I leave you with the thought of a couple of great things in life. The Enjoy that I just put up reminded me. The meaning of B-U-D-W-E-I-S-E-R and C-R-O-W-N R-O-Y-A-L.

Budweiser: Because U Deserve What Every Individual Should Enjoy Regularly

Crown Royal: Consume Regularly On Weekday Nights to Ride Out Your Alltime Lows.

Have a good night everyone.

Todays thought...catching up.

Ok, so first off, Floor had Lil Joker. I got to be there. He was born on Memorial Day this year! What a day it was! 6 lbs 7 oz and 18.5" long. He is so cute! I was tickled to death to be there this time too! Don't think there will be any more in the future for them so I was so blessed and honored to be there. Congrats Floor and Sniper. I'm positive that Lil Joker will make the best addition to the family and I am so blessed to be a part of that. Thank you for allowing me to do that.

Second, Saturn. Saturn and Puck are doing GREAT! It's been so long since I've seen either of them. Pooh Bear and I were going to try and make it up there to see her but it didn't work out. But with any luck, she will be down here in 4 short weeks. I can't wait to see her! She will be here for a couple weeks. So little time. To you Saturn, cant wait to see you when you get here. We have a date for breakfast the morning you get here so just call me when you're in. It can't get here soon enough! I feel completely blessed that you have come into my life and am thankful that you too allow me to do so. I can't tell you enough how glad I am we've become as good of friends as we have.

Third, my mama. She is still progressing greatly with her implant. It may sound stupid to some of you but I am so happy. She heard Pooh Bear trimming his beard the other day. It was the most awesome thing in the world. To you mama, I am so proud of you! I just can't say that enough! You are one of the strongest people I know and I couldn't be prouder to call you my mama.

On that note, my daddy. I haven't talked about him too much in my blog. He's doing great. About to retire. Counting down the days. I remembered when I used to make fun of him because he would say "I have 4 years, 2 months, 16 days and 6 hours until retirement." Well, now I've been working for a little while at a company that I think I could probably retire at pretty good. So I totally feel what my daddy was saying. So daddy...just for you, as of this day...I have 27 years, 5 months, 22 days and roughly 12 hours. Yeah, I have a long way to go. But hey, ya know....Cest' la Vie.

On another note about stupid people...my Pooh Bear plays softball in a work league. 2 weeks ago they played. In the end of the first game, one of the guys on Pooh's team slid into home plate. He took out the catcher that was standing over the base. Now I don't know that much about softball but I know that the catcher is not supposed to cover home plate if a slider is coming. So, of course, Pooh's team mate slid into home and took out the catcher. He was safe. Well the other team of course faught the call with the ump and refused to accept that he was safe. Well the people on the other team started a big commotion about the whole mess. Well push came to shove and 2 of the people ended up getting kicked out of the game, and there was a third that was on his way out. Well he opened his mouth, called the ump a certain 5 letter colorful metaphore and he got kicked out of the game. At that point, there were just enough people to play on that team. They would take a heavy beating getting an out every time one of the players was up to bat, but still, enough people. But it doesn't stop there. We all think its all said and done and one of the other teammembers wives starts screaming at the ump saying its a bs call and just cussin and carrying on. This gets the umps feathers ruffled and the teammember and it starts a screaming match. The ump kicked that player out of the game and off the field for 3 weeks. Had to physically throw this guy out of the ball field. Then the wife starts up again. And at that point I just wanted to go "SHUT UP!" If she hadn't opened her mouth in the first place her husband might still be able to play. I mean come on people. You may not agree with the call but the umpire made but ya know. WAKE UP! IT'S A GAME! A softball game at that! Its not like there are major leage scouts in the stands! Come off it! Remember people, it doesn't do you any good getting upset at a bad call. Not that upset. It's a game. You didn't lose any money by getting that bad call. You aren't going to be scared for life. Unless you are the type of person to get scarred for life due to a bad call during a softball game. And if you are then let me put my foot in my mouth by saying you need to go back to the rock that you crawled up from and get back up under there. You are going to get bad calls no matter where you are or what you do. Get used to it. It's called life. You don't always get what you want on a silver platter. And those of you that do get things handed to you on a silver platter your whole life, I pitty you. Its sad to know that you will never be able to appreciate the value of a dollar bill. Or a penny for that matter.

Now that I'm done with that rant...on to some funnies. I e-mailed a friend of mine the other day about oxymorons. And I just wanted to share a few of them with you...to make you readers laugh. (For those of you who aren't sure what an oxymoron is, the definition of it is A rhetorical figure in which contradictory terms are combined). First we have Jumbo Shrimp. Now just think about that one. Jumbo Shrimp. Ok, then we have a 1 Liter Squirt. Now granted as I said in my e-mail, I haven't seen and Orange Squirt in forever..but hey, ya know. Next we have The Littlest Giant. Granted that is a kids story but still. Oh, and here's one for ya...Freezer Burn! Yeah, I love that one. Then that leads me to something that my daddy taught me when I was very young. The story of contradiciton. Now I don't know all of it, and there are many versions of it, but the one I was taught as a kid goes like this.

One bright day, in the middle of the night,
Two dead boys, got up to fight
Back to back they faced eachother
Drew their swords and shot eachother
A deaf police man heard the noise
And came to kill the two dead boys
If you do not believe this lie is true,
Just ask the blind man, he saw it all too.

Then another one that I learned later in life but have learned just the same...

Ladies and Jelliespoons,
I come before you, to stand behind you
To tell you something I know nothing about.
Next Thursday, on Good Friday
There will be a Womens meeting, for Men only.
Admission is free, you pay at the door
Pull up a chair and sit on the floor.
The topics of discussion will be
What color to white wash the walls,
And who will be allowed to sit on the corners of the round table.

Well I'm going to go for now and finish my book. To quote my cousin Frog...Ta ta for now! It's bed time!

Todays thought...stupid people...and an update

Ok so I know it's been a little while since I've blogged. A lot has been going on. Floor is ready to pop with the new baby. I cannot see where I have previously named him so I will call him Lil Joker (Sniper his daddy will keep you in absolute stitches if you are ever around him). I am so excited. I am off on vacation because I was going to travel a good distance to see Saturn but it did not work out on either end. She will be back here in a couple of months though so it will be good to see her. Anyway, it's probably a blessing in disguise because I have a feeling that Lil Joker will be born next week. If he follows after his sister and brother he will.

My mama has been doing so good with her Cochlear implant. It is taking a little while but she is doing so great. Funny story off of that, we were together for lunch the other day and she asked me what a noise was. Not thinking about the fact that she was hearing something for the first time I asked her what she was hearing. Duh me huh? Anyway...she's doing great. She gets frustrated sometimes because she thinks that she should be hearing more than she is...but she's doing a lot better than most people who get them. You go mama! You're rockin on, and keep it up. It gets better and better every day. I was so proud of her. At Sniper Jr's b-day party, she heard Floor say something from about 100 ft away. She would have never been able to hear that before the implant. Almost brought a tear to my eye. It was a beautiful thing.

Now onto stupid people. I was watching a commercial for an insurance company. In the commercial it has "actual customers" where the wife runs over the husbands foot in the driveway of their home and pose the question of whether to turn it over to the insurance company as a home owners claim or an auto claim. Now...I hate to sound harsh on this, but I really have to ask...WHAT!!!??? I think its great that you can get your home owners insurance and your car insurance through the same company, but I have to ask, why would you turn it over to either. Ok, it appears on the commercial that they were pretty well off. That being the case it can be assumed that they worked at a very nice job that probably pays well with good benefits. Benefits like MEDICAL INSURANCE!!!! Here poses my why question. I'm not that new to the adult world, and I know that when you have an insurance claim on either your auto policy or your home policy, the premium goes up. When you have a claim with your medical insurance, the insurance company usually pays it with either a deductible or a co-pay. So saying that...why would you even involve your auto or home insurance company when you can just go to the hospital and use your medical insurance. Your policy premium is just going to go up! This commercial honestly just baffles me. If this is an actual insurance claim, and you are the ones that made the claim, I have to say, I'm sorry if I sound bad...and I am not in any way trying to jump to conclusions, but based off the information on the commercial that is given...DUH!!!!
Ok...I'll get off my soap box now and bid everyone a good night! I'm off to feed my Mac and Cheese addiction. MMMMMMMM!!!!! Goodnight everyone.

Todays thought...an update...on life, love and the pursuit of happieness.

So I know it has been like ever since I've blogged...like 3 months now, I know, I know...bad me huh? Well I have been very busy lately.

For starters, my mama (tough as nails) got her Cochlear implant. It gets turned on next Friday and with any luck she will be able to hear for the first time in her life. Go You Mama!

Secondly, Pooh Bear and I just celebrated our third anniversary. Scary huh? We went up in the mountains and had a fabulous time. We met some friends of ours (I will reffer to them as Appre), went to an amusement park and even went fly fishing. We had SO MUCH FUN! It was all a blast.

And we've determined that some of the most interesting people always come your way when you are on vacation. Fabulouse people who can just say something to make you shine inside. Prime example, Pooh Bear and I decide one night to eat at this seafood place just down the way from our hotel. While there we start talking to a couple of people setting next to us. I would have figured them mother and son but they were co-workers. They were accountants. Not the most interesting of jobs I know, but if you're good at it and the money pay's...hey, ya know...why not?

So we procede to tell them our story of how we met and how everthing happened so fast and the lady we were speaking with (I'll reffer to her as Carolina) proceded with a very unique story that her grandmother had told her. Of course I made sure she didn't mind me blogging this but she had said that Pooh and I must be eachothers pull apart. I had never before heard that term and was quite inquisitive as to what it meant as I'm sure you can imagine.

Carolina proceded to tell me that the old story of her grandma's was told that before Adam and Eve, there were two souls roaming attached at the hip. Soul mates. Well, when God made Adam and Eve he discovered it was too hard for two physical beings to walk with four legs thus pulling them apart. That pull apart of course was the soul mate of one to another and every once in a while, someone in this life gets truely blessed and finds their pull apart.

That was just so beautiful to me that I had to share it. And it made me feel that much more blessed that I fouund Pooh Bear. So to you Carolina...thanks so much for talking to us and for telling me that fabulouse story! We had such a good time talking with you that night.

Then the last days of our trip I got a call from my mama. As I previously mentioned in the archived 3/8/04 blog, my mama finally found her estranged sister who had been missing for 35 years. Quite a feat huh? Well we went through some trying times with her and found in November of '04 that she had an infection that started in her heart and proceded into her lungs and brain. We found out a couple of months later that the doctors at the hospital had misdiagnosed her and she had brain cancer that had progressed long enough that it was inoperable and was spreading. We were told then it was only a matter of time.

Thursday I got the call that Oklahoma had passed. Such a short amount of time we had been able to be with her, and talk to her and find out about her. The blessing of this story I guess is the fact atleast my we know where she is. After 35 years of searching, we know where she is.

So to you Oklahoma, I say, you will be in our hearts forever. Thanks for coming here and thanks for allowing us to be a part of your life even though it was so brief. I do wish that we had more time to spend with you but the memories that we have in our hearts will last forever. I love you.

And I say to you Appre, I had so much fun with yall last week. Thank you SO MUCH for the great time that we have had and thank you for being the friends that you are. We are so blessed to have yall in our lives. Hopefully we will have many more vacations to go. We love yall. Your true people and true friends and we are so grateful to have you in our lives.

Todays thought....The Phantom of the Opera

I start todays story about 2 years ago. Wednesday...October 9, 2002...8 pm. I took my mama to see The Phantom of the Opera. Actually Pooh Bear bought the tickets for my mama for her birthday. So here's me and mama, going to this decked out gala with long evening gowns, three piece suits, limousines and the whole bit. So we come to this thing, in a Ford Truck, with jeans and a nice shirt. We stuck out like sore thumbs. But that did not stop us from having the time of our lives mind you. We had a flat ball! It was SO MUCH FUN! We cried and everything. There was a standing ovation. Now mind you, there was a gentleman and his girlfriend right next to us that had traveled a pretty good distance to make it to the showing that night. He had said that he had seen it many times in many different places and it was the first time in 5 years that he'd seen a standing ovation at the end of the opera. So we made our retreat through the hoards of people, bought our Phantom mugs (For those of you who have not seen one, its a black coffee mug that when you put something hot in it, the Phantoms mask appears.) and were on our way. THE CUPS ARE SO COOL! Ok...so onward we go.

So, I decided that I wanted to get the movie on DVD. It was an older movie, so I decided what the heck...can't be too bad. Right? WRONG! I had seen the opera...this was a movie...that was...well a little more than disappointing. It wasn't the opera. And I can tell you, that if I had not seen the opera first, I most likely would have enjoyed the movie that I had already spent money on.

So then, in November...I see these previews. Andrew Lloyd Webbers The Phantom of the Opera Directed by Joel Schumacher. My mind instantly goes running. Can it be? Is it the real movie? Like the actual opera? Of course you know I have to go see if it is. It begins Dec 22, 2004 in theaters everywhere. So once again...my mama and I are off...to see the movie!

Let me just tell you...I was NOT dissapointed! It was just like the opera itself. Now, don't get me wrong in saying that it was the opera. That is a feeling that you just cannot imitate. I don't care how good you are. BUT...If you want to see one of the most awesome movies of 2004...go see The Phantom of the Opera in the theaters. I have to add, if you are not the type of person that can appreciate music, don't waste your time...because you will not be able to appreciate what really goes into making this production so wonderful.

AND...if you do love it as much as my mama and I have, and you have the time and the money to go back and watch it every night like we would love to do (If we had the time and the money)...Please be courteous of the other movie patrons. I ask of you on my behalf and speak from personal experience in this (because it happened to me)...THE PEOPLE AROUND YOU DO NOT NEED TO KNOW THAT YOU HAVE THE MOVIE MEMORIZED! Yes, my mama and I both had the unfortunate seat and 2 girls that had obviously seen the movie way too many times (Which I would do in a moments notice mind you). However, the rudely talked right along with the movie, as it was playing and then giggled because they new the words. NO BODY CARES THAT YOU'VE MEMORIZED THE MOVIE! BE RESPECTFUL OF THE OTHER MOVIE GOERS AND DON'T RUIN IT FOR THEM BY SHOWING OUT INFRONT OF EVERYONE WITHIN EARSHOT! GROW UP!

Now that I am done with my rant, I will tell you, aside from that...we had a great time. It was a wonderful movie! I will own it on DVD. I did purchase the soundtrack on it, and well, in 3 days I've listened to it twice. And am listening to it now. It goes right along with the movie and is absolutely WONDERFUL!

So in conclusion, I tell you, the movie is DEFINITELY one to go see, the Opera itsself is fabulous if you get the chance to see it and the soundtrack is ABSOLUTELY PHENOMENAL! Thank You Andrew Lloyd Webber and Joel Schumacher and of course...the cast for making such a wonderful production in this!

Todays thought...Febreeze

So the object of my first blog of 2005, Febreeze strikes again. A fabulouse type of odor control product that says that it can get any smell out of any type of fabric to leave your house smelling fresh. Well let me tell you my mama's story.

Yesterday morning my mama gets up and lets her dog outside to go potty as she does every morning. This morning is different however. She comes back up to the door only for my mama to realize that the dog has been sprayed in the face by a skunk. Instantly as I'm sure you can imagine, there was worry about her eyes and nose. Mama said the poor dog could not really even see when she got back to the door. Thankfully however, mama stuck her in the bathtub, washed and rinsed out her eyes and commenced to trying to get the smell off of the dogs head once my mama knew she could see again.

She said it took about 15 minutes to was her doggies eyes out and then what to do from there about the smell. Mama begins looking around the bathroom to find the Febreeze. The best stuff in the world for odor control right? Sure as I'm setting here, I will tell you that the Febreeze got that smell off the dog that quick.

And as I'm sure you all know, you can't really get the smell of a skunk off of an animals fur. Be it a dog, cat, horse whatnot, unless you bathe it in Tomato Juice and Butter Milk, or Lemon Juice and Rubbing Alcohol or just something that takes a lot of. Well I tell you now, fearnot any longer. If your animal should get skunked, go out, buy a bottle of Febreeze (Which IS animal safe!) and commence to spraying the smell away. It didn't take very much to get the smell off of my mama's dog and she's not a little dog. She's about 35-40 lbs. So no matter how big your dog is, no matter how bad it smells like the polecat that it just decided to sniff behind the bush, Febreeze will free you from your ailment on that aspect.

This is me...signing off...until next time I have a story...See yall later. I'm going to get some Febreeze!

Todays thougt...Christmas update and Happy New Year!

My Christmas this year was absolutely wonderful. My Pooh Bear got me a bed for Christmas. I LOVE IT! I got it early which was also way awesome because as I'm sure you can imagine...its kinda hard to hide a queen sized bed under wrapping paper. Then Christmas Eve. My mama came and got me from work. She had reminded me that she was in a rental car since the fact that her vehicle was in the shop. On the way home, almost there, we hit a sheet of ice on her road. Down the hill and around the slope of a corner. I told mama that I did not like the feeling of that. She said she didn't either so she downshifted...causing a change in the weight ration on the car and thus we ended up in the ditch anyway. But its all good, we got pulled out by a very nice neighbor with 4 whl drive and made it home. So we spend the night here, spend Christmas morning here then realize that we have forgotten to get someone to walk the dog. So we leave here a little early...walk the dog and take off to his parents house. Get there and find that unfortunately they have lost part of their power. In that I mean that they have 110 for the coffee pot, phone and what not, but no 220 for the well, the stove, and so on and so forth.

So off to a local restaurant we were. For Christmas dinner. Just happens to be the same place that both he and I met as it was one of the few places actually open on Christmas Day. While there we saw a few people we wanted to see, and a couple we didn't. On a very awkward note, my Pooh Bears ex-wife came in with her new family. I was good. I didn't say anything and not a cross word was said between any of us. Infact, not a word one was said between any of us. The first time Pooh Bear had seen her since we'd gotten together and before. Seeing her was not a bad thing though. It made me that much happier to know that my Pooh Bear was coming home with me. I think if I had said anything to her...I would have simply said "Thank You. For being stupid enough to screw up something so good...so that I could have the chance to get to know the love of my life."

Its like that song by Garth Brooks. It says it all. The song is called Unanswered Prayers and it holds more true today with me and Pooh than ever before. Sometimes I do have to take a step back and thank God every day for unanswered prayers. He knew what was in store for me before I did....he knew what he wanted for me in my life and he knew how and when he was going to give it to me. So if you're wanting something...and you're praying about it...and it doesn't happen exactly how you want it...give it some time...and you will understand why. It may take a couple of years to know why, as it did for me...but you will understand why. I'm a very firm believer in everything happens for a reason.

Now...it is New Years Eve. Time to say good-bye to 2004 and hello to 2005. It's been a good year. Lil Floor was born late June, and Puck was born late November. 2 fabulouse little lives that were brought into this world by loving families. Saturn had to move away but I understand why. and it was just another year at work. Nothing major happened. I got my promotion and a new boss. I miss my old team on one hand, and on the other, I love my new team. Boops Beetle Bailey is just an awesome team member that I've known since training class for my new position. We've been set next to eachother pretty much since we first started. We were either right next to eachother, or for a little while, we were within eyesight of eachother, and now we are right next to eachother again. Its all good. Boops Beetle Baily makes a very good edition to my circle of friends and family and I am grateful that he's there.

Well, thats about it here. Again, life is pretty good on this end as I say good-bye '04 and hello '05. Hopefully this year will be as good as last. May we all be blessed this new year.

Todays thought...Wal-Mart is evil!

Have you ever noticed that you can't go into Wal-Mart without spending WAY MORE than you went in there for? MR2 has given it the perfect name. We went to Wal-Mart to finish both his Christmas shopping and mine and Pooh Bears Christmas shopping as he was working.

It's the $50 rule. Put simply, you cannot go into Wal-Mart without spending atleast $50 on yourself. Whether you went there for someone else or not. It's evil! No wonder they make so much money every year. At one point I may as well have been paying them rent I was there so much.

I warn you people now...DON'T GET CAUGHT IN THE $50 RULE! Rules were meant to be broken. Don't let the evil Wal-Mart take all your money. Now I'm not saying I will stop shopping at Wal-Mart...I LOVE THE PLACE! But it's EVIL! Take my heed...DON'T GO IN THERE WITH MORE THAN $30 IN YOUR BANK ACCOUNT OR POCKET! YOU WILL GET SUCKED INTO THE RULE AND IT WILL OWN YOU!

I say adieu to you and tell you to have a good night. I'm going back to Wal-Mart!

Todays thought...Thanksgiving...an update on Saturn and Puck...and a tribute to Ford.

I'm sure that you can all tell...I have redesigned my website. Well...I should say that MR2 redesigned my website. Yep...he was the creative genius behind my new design. I love it! I am a HUGE F-150 fan. If you can't tell. My family (Mainly my mama and daddy...and well...me) have been Chevy fans. Well...we have now converted. We are born again Ford lovers. Its true. My daddy drives a Lincoln, my mama...the most awesome truck in the world, and yes...the $100 wonder car is a Ford.

Onto Saturn and Puck. Puck was born 11/28 at 7:27 pm. 9 lbs 14 oz, 21 in long. A little bundle of joy for the world to love. He is so beautiful. It is a wonderful think. Both mom and baby are doing great I am proud to announce. As I have previously mentioned Saturn is a great friend of mine and I am so glad that I have come to know her and was able to experience her friendship. She will be moving soon...and I will miss her greatly. But Saturn...as I have told you a thousand times...I'm a phone call away. Don't hesitate! I love ya girl!

And lastly, as I did not have the opportunity to say Happy Thanksgiving to all...I will say it now. Mine was good. Family came in from out of state and it was a wonderful get together. I truely am thankful that I have my family there. And we of course spent time with all of Pooh Bears family as well. I love my mom in law. She calls me her Damn Yankee and I call her my Damn Redneck. I wouldn't change it for nothing in the world. After an early dinner there Pooh's little bro ... I will call him Rock ... took me out to shoot a gun for the first time. It was very exhillerating. I got to shoot a 22 riffle and a 9 mm. It was very scary, and a major adrenalin rush at the same time. I was thankful that he allowed me the opportunity to get more comfortable with the though. Thanks Rock. Thanks family for being here and thanks Pooh. For hanging on as long as you have. I know for a fact that I am not the easiest person in the world to deal with. Thanks.

Well...I guess that is about it for now. I hope you all enjoy the redesign as much as I do. And if I don't make another entry before 12/25...MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Todays thought...a little about bugs, a little about my neighbor and a little about a song I heard while watching one of my my favorite shows on television.

A little about bugs. The thought was brought up at work the other day and I began thinking about bugs I will tolerate and bugs I wont. The bugs I will tolerate list is very short and is as follows; Lady Bugs (Good Luck); Lightening Bugs (Any bug that glows is cool in my book); Praying Mantis's (Awesome to look at) and Walking Sticks (Self explanitory). Then it also got me to thinking about the fact that some people think that bugs are just for dirty houses. Well let me tell you...my house may not be white glove testable...but it is certainly not dirty by any means. However...I have on occasion had a wood roach or centipede. Wood roaches are not to be misconstrude with the common cockroach. They are about 3 times the size of cockroaches and are pitch black, as cockroaches are brown. They also feast on wood that is old. Centipedes as well will come from when anyone is doing any type of excavating or what not within a 500 yard radius.

A little about my neighbor. My neighbor is awesome. I love her to death. We first met when I approached her about her cat and she and I got into a conversation about her having surgery. I agreed to help her while she was down and out from the surgery. That was 4 years ago...and now we have a friendship that is beyond compare. She spoils me rotten as she knows of my obsession for Mac and Cheese and as she has done on so many occassion, if she catches it on sale she will buy me a few boxes and it will usually last for a few days. I will call her Sam. So I say to you Sam...Love ya chickie...and keep the mac comin!

And now...a little about a song I heard while watching a favorite show. TV land did a 48 hour Baywatch marathon this past weekend. Yes...yes...I know...Not your typical non male watching Baywatch...but I love it! Anyway one of the songs has a line that goes "We dream in color but we live in black and white". After thinking about it...it begun to make sense. I mean...think about it...when you dream...you dream in color...there are no boundaries. No lines...no rules to make you color in between the lines. But when you live...you live in black and white...where there are boundaries. Most of them written down in a textbook by someone a long time ago and taught to us growing up that there are boundaries in the mind that we have to abide by. But just think about the statement that the average human only uses 10% of his brain. What is the other 90% doing? Makes ya wonder huh?

I end this blog with one final not to all. On the bugs issue...bugs are a typical every day thing. You are not impervious to them no matter how clean you are...or how rich you think you think you are. On the neighbor issue...Sam...Love ya girl. You go out there and you do your thing and you don't care what anyone thinks. Thats so Me of you! And on the dream in color live in black and white issue...use your mind. Don't be affraid to go the extra mile. If you think you can and you believe you can...I don't think anything is impossible.

Todays thought...An Ode to my mama.

My mama has been pretty much shit on lately. Life has definitely thrown her a few curveballs. And I can proudly say that while she has hit a couple of foul balls, she hit one over the fence and out of the ball park. She has kept a strong will about here and has been able to carry on. I know she doesn't think that it's anything major...but I'm so proud of her. She has toughed through the work, the family and all the other issues hampering her and yet she still is able to say "You know what...you live, you learn, you spend a lot of money on expensive diapers and then you get Luvs."

No...seriously though...no matter what has come her way she has gotten through it...gotten stronger from it and is thriving very well. On the lighter side of all of this there is an opportunity that has been made present that my mama MAY qualify to have Cochlear Implants. For those of you who don't know what that is..it means my mama may be able to hear for the first time in her life without the use of hearingaids. She goes in soon to find out and I hope and pray beyond all reason that she will be able to take the opportunity by the hand and run with it. It is believed that she has a profound enough hearing loss that she will be able to qualify for it. I will definitely keep you posted.

To you mama...I love you ...and I am SO PROUD OF YOU! You have been a standing tree in a forest of seedlings. You haven't let any of this bring you down at all and you have stood there knowing that no matter what happens...you will be alright. And no matter what...I am here for you. Just give me a call if you need to cry or vent. I Love You....Chickadee

Todays thought....Election day

Hello Everybody....Its Election Day here. Well...election night rather. There is a lot of goings on in my place of work and out in the streets at my house. People holding up Bush/Cheney signs as well as those holding up Kerry/Edwards signs. People driving by one particular couple of people were honking and waving peace signs in the air. When the guy holding the sign turned around you could see it was a cardboard sign done by him and his companion with big bold letters saying "God Bless America...Vote Bush!"

It is interesting to see how well people are reacting to this election. They say that people are coming out of the woodwork this year to vote. I think everyone should vote...no matter who they are voting for. I used to have an attitued of 1 vote doesn't count. I used to think...What is my vote going to matter? I'm just one person. Until the infamouse 2000 Florida recount took place that is. Then it dawned on me...that my vote does count. My voice does matter. Then it got me to thinking...if everyone in the US had an attitude that I used to of thinking that my voice wouldn't matter...we would have a pretty run-over nation. If that was the case...then we wouldn't have the democracy that we have today. We would have a dictatorship.

If no one decided to vote in issues that they found important...then what choice would America have than to become a dictatorship. It would show an attitude of America that we don't care and since someone has to make decisions...then why don't we just let someone do it for us. Why not become a dictatorship instead of a democracy. Lets just become like Russia or Germany. Or even Iraq before we went over there a few years back. Just think about that dictatorship. Or how about the dictator that ruled over Germany a few decades back.

I don't know about you...but I am DAMN GLAD we live in a democratic nation and not a dictatorship. We have a voice America! Stand up and use it! If you have something to say...say it! Don't feel like I did 4 years ago and think that one person can't make a difference. Look at it this way...If you read this blog...and you think about what I just said...and you feel better...and possibly change your thinking that one person can't make a difference...then I just made one!

Don't get me wrong...I may not change the world...but if I only change one person for the better by reading my blogs...then I just made a difference. And thats worth it to me.

Think about it!

Todays thought...Stupid people.

Ok...so last night a massive amout of rain dumped on our area. It caused flash flooding in many areas. I'd gone over to Floors houseand Pooh and I had decided to go on ahead and hang out over there until the worst was over.

Around 1:30 in the morning we decide to head home. Both of us tired and not thinking about it too much we decide to cautiously take the back roads home. On our way down one of the roads almost home, we come across about 3 cars in the road, one in the ditch and a massive SUV, down in the ditch on the other side about 50 yards down from the first ditched car, turned on its side covered half way up in the standing water caused by the massive amounts of rain.

Pooh of course stops on our way to make sure no one needs help. Of course, no one has notified the police yet. So Pooh calls 911. They answer, he tells them where we are at and in the process of this we pull The $100 Wonder Car, crossways into the middle of the road so that no other cars try to pass the roadway as they would lose it.

Trying to recreate a little bit of the conversation between the dispatcher and Pooh Bear I hear him tell the lady "There is someone coming up behind us and around us in a van. He just went almost in the ditch to get around me and Oh No!..." Then I hear the lady on the other line go "Please tell me he is not going to try and go through it." About then...sure enough, the guy guns his van and tries to blow through the water. Pooh Bear tells the operator "Yep he's goin throug
it...And he's floating. Yall need to get someone out here as soon as you can and get this road closed."

So we await help to get there in the middle of the road until they show up. In the midst of all of this Pooh opens up the trunk, gets his rain gear and his life jacket and walks over to help the person in the van. While doing this he yelled to the man in the van to ask if he was ok. There was no response so he yelled again. Finally the man yelled back that he was alright. Pooh thought about going out there to get this guy out of his van but after thinking about it he'd decided not to. One there was no telling where that water came from and two, he cannot swim very well and while there looked like there was no current on the surface, with as deep as it was, it was surely a creek that ran over and there was no telling what was in the water.

We waited until our city Emergency Management got there, talked to them about it and when everyone got there, we headed home. Finally getting there we came in, turned on the TV and went to bed. It was about 2:30am by this time. At about 4 I was awakened by the thunderstorm approaching and looked at my television to see the minivan driver being inteviewed by our local news station.

I find that the man had 2 children in the back of his van and he lied on camera and said that he had no idea that the water was that deep on the road. Thus starts my rant on this blog today.

HOW STUPID DO YOU HAVE TO BE, TO SEE A HUGE SUV TURNED ON ITS SIDE IN
THE DITCH HALF WAY COVERED IN WATER AND THINK WITH YOUR CHILDREN IN THE VAN "OH, NO WORRIES! I CAN MAKE IT! JUST BECAUSE AN SUV LARGER THAN MY MINIVAN DIDN'T MAKE IT, DOESN'T MEAN I WONT." COME ON PEOPLE. DUH!!!!
YOU CANNOT DRIVE THROUGH THE WATER WHEN THERE IS A FLASH FLOOD!!! GOOD
RULE OF THUMB...IF YOU CAN'T SEE THE LITTLE YELLOW LINES THAT ARE
SUPPOSED TO BE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD...DON'T GO THROUGH IT! YOU
MOST LIKELY WON'T MAKE IT! YOUR VEHICLE IS DESIGNED TO KEEP WATER OUT
AND WILL FLOAT! YOU ARE NOT JESUS AND CANNOT WALK ON WATER NOR CAN YOUR CAR! PLEASE...DONT BE LIKE THIS GUY WAS. DON'T PUT YOUR CHILDRENS LIVES IN DANGER BECAUSE YOU THINK YOU CAN MAKE IT. IF IT LOOKS IFFY AND IF
YOU CANNOT SEE THE LINES ON THE ROAD...DON'T TRY IT!

And thats what I have to say for tonight.

Todays thought...President George W Bush.

My Pooh Bear is a major bass fishing freak. Every chance he gets he
will watch Outdoor Life Network on the digital cable. We have what
is called On Demand on our digital cable and we are able to watch
shows that have been on previously. Tonight Pooh came home and turned
on his fishing show and of the list of shows there was a show that our
President of these United States was fishing with Roland Martin.

I just want you to know that it really brings perspective to the
thought of one person who will go on a fishing show and talk about it.
Apparently Bush and Roland know eachother and Bush agreed to do a show
with him. He begins the show talking about his 11 acre pond out on his
property in Tx. He put in all kinds of sticks and bushes in the bottom
of the pond before filling it.

To those of you who do not know, you put that stuff in the bottom of a
lake before you fill it to give the Bass that you are going to place in
there a place to hide in. You do this to make sure that your fishing
experience on the lake does not get mundaine.

Now apparently he had started building this lake 5 yrs ago. He goes on
to talk about the fact that he has allowed Roland on his lake so that
he could do his show. Bush explains that he is there to learn tips on
bass fishing. It pans back to show our President in everyday clothes.
He wasn't wearing high priced fancy clothes or high priced fishing
gear. No...he was wearing a pair of Wranglers, a plain blue button down
shirt, sunglasses, a dark blue baseball cap, and a pair of tennis
shoes.

Now I ask you...do you think that Clinton or Kerry would pick up a
fishing rod in plain clothes and go on a fishing show? The answer is
No. You wouldn't. Bush then goes on to explain that when he was
entertaining the President of Mexico, they went fishing and he cooked
them fresh caught Crapi from his own pond at his home for dinner.

Now you would think, that with all the money he has as President of the
United States, he could have cooked the President of Mexico anything
while entertaining him. Sea Bass, Filet Minon, a massive 72 oz Texas
Steak...anything. No...he cooked fresh caught Crapi. Just like any
other Southerner would do while entertaining a guest that has just
been to the lake. You would have a fish fry and cook the fish that was
caught.

Now look at that and tell me that Bush is not a regular man. Tell me
that he is a man that is not intelegent. Tell me that he is just some
dumb redneck. I'll give you...he is a redneck. But so is my Pooh Bear.
My Pooh Bear is not some dumb redneck. He is an extremely intelegent
man who lives by the means and circumstances thrown at him one at a
time.

In my opinion...that makes one hell of a man. And makes for a good
president.

Todays thought...The Ark...2004

This blog is dedicated to a piece of paper my mama got from a co-worker entitled simply The Ark 2004. I want to share it with you all now as I rolled from laughter when I saw this as well as taking a good look around and thinking about it once in sunk in. It goes like this...


The Ark 2004
The Lord came to Noah, this time in America in the year 2004. Earth was wicked and overpopulated. The Lord instructed Noah to build another Ark and save 2 of every living thing with a few good humans. "Here's a blueprint", said the Lord. "Hurry, in 6 months I will start and unending rain for 40 days and 40 nights." Six months later, the rain started. The Lord looked down and saw Noah weeping in his flooded yard - and no ARK.

"NOAH" He roared, "Where is the ARK???"

"Forgive me, Lord", begged Noah. "Things have changed. I needed a building permit. I have been arguing with the inspector about the need for a sprinkler system. My neighbors claim that I have violated the neighborhood zoning laws by building the ARK in my yard and the height limitation being exceeded. We had to go to the development Appeal Board for a decision. Then the Transportation Dept and the Dept of Highways wanted a bond posted for future costs of moving power & other overhead obstructions to clear the passage for the ARK's move to the sea. I argued the sea would be coming to us but they would hear nothing of this. Getting the wood was another problem. There was a ban on cutting local trees in order to save the spotted owl. I tried to convince the Environmentalists that I needed the wood to save the owl. NO GO! I gathered the animals but then I got sued by an Animal Rights Group. They insisted that i was confining wild animals against their will. They argued as well that the accommodations were too restrictive and it was cruel and inhumane to put so many animals in so confined a space. The Environmental Protection Agency dedided that I could not build the ARK without filing an environmental impact statment on your proposed flood. I'm still trying to resolve a complaint with the Human Rights Commission on how many minorities I'm supposed to hire for my building crew. The Trades Union wants me to hire only union trades, people with ARK building experience. To make matters worse, Immigration Services and the Internal Revenue Services have seized all my assets, claiming I'm trying to leave the country illegally as well as with endangered species. So, forgive me Lord, but it would take at least 10 years to finish this ARK."

Suddenly, the skies cleard and the sun began to shine. A rainbow stretched across the sky. noah looked up in wonder, "You mean...you're not going to destroy the World?", he asked.

"NO, said the Lord, "YOUR GOVERNMENT BEAT ME TO IT".


This again is a dedication to this paper. Again...I rolled on the floor laughing but I put it to you now...read it...let it sink in...and ponder that one for a little while.

Todays thought...Wal-mart..and a few other things

First off...Wal-mart. Where else in the world can you go to one store, do your grocery shopping, buy a new outfit, get your nails done, eyebrows waxed, hair cut, buy a guitar, get some colored contacts and get your picture taken with all of that while your car is getting an oilchange and a new set of tires. And...might I add, where else can you meet Chuck Norris and get his signature at his book signing. Right there at good ole Wally World. And you've gotta love the place. You can take anything back there and they take it back with a smile and a receipt. Ahh Wal-mart. Thanks to the founders of this wonderous place that you can do it all in one stop.

Next...an update. Lil' Floor is getting bigger than ever. I got to see her smile for the first time yesterday...It was so cute. And Sniper Jr is just the most protective big brother. It is just the cutest thing.

Then we have Saturn. She's doing good. I cannot express enough how proud of her I am. She's going back to school and everything once Puck is born. I am so excited for her. Just a few more weeks to go. She's picked out a beautiful name for him composed of her Dads name, her Grandpas name and her other Grandpas name. I think it's wonderful.

And the last...Pooh Bear, MR2 and I went to Mammoth Cave for a little mini vacation over Labor Day weekend. We had a ball. On the way up there we stopped at the National Corvett Museum. They were having their 10yr anniversary celebration and boy was it fun. Next stop...Park City. We got off there thinking that you got to Mammoth Cave that way. WRONG! We stopped at a hotel there off the exit. There was a sign for horseback riding and a train ride and it looked quaint. We stopped to find out that I don't think the horseback riding was still going and we know that the train wasn't running any longer. The hotel look very old and almost creepy.

Upon entering the hotel we found that the restaurant we'd intended on eating at (As we were all famished) was not to open for dinner until 5pm. We'd contemplated on staying at that particular hotel until we saw this HUGE clock. Very old...wasn't even running. We'd looked at a little slip of paper from the newspaper that had run a few years back that tells about the clock. Apparently it had been made by hand back in the 1800's. Not sure of the exact date. It looked very creepy. I looked at Pooh Bear and I said "Honey...I love you very much. You mean the world to me. But I want you to know...that if this clock starts moving...I will haul ass to the car and leave you here." MR2 couldn't have said it better when he said "It's the Shining...In Kentucky".

We made our way at that time to Cave City. The next exit up. Very fun! We went to Cracker Barrell and ate lunch. After that we went and got a hotel room and we were off to Dinosaur Land. We had a blast. It's a place for adults and kids. Great for kids. You walked down a trail that had foliage...and little life sized replicas of the dinosaurs in their "Natural habitat". It was so cool. Pooh Bear and I got a little 3-D puzzle of a T-Rex...that now I think about it is still unfinished in the trunk of our car. Oops.

Next we were off to Gun Town Mountain. Up a little foothill that you had to take a ski lift to get there. Ok...so here's me...affraid of heights. Yeah right. Thankfully they had a trolly you could take (On the ground) and Pooh Bear rode with me. We'd gotten up there late and were able to make the "Cancan Show" and the gun fight. It was really fun. On the way back...the trolly of course is full...so I decide to take the ski lift. BIG MISTAKE! We'd gotten about 1/4 of the way down and I froze. Wasn't breathing too well and would not talk. Poor Pooh Bear was just freaking out about me as bad as I was freaking out about being that high off the ground. About 10 minutes later...WE LAND! I was so relieved. I had to stop for a moment to gain my composure. Then it was back to the hotel we went.

We went to sleep and got up the next morning ready to horseback ride. There was a riding stable called The Jesse James Riding Stables. We all loved horseback riding and all went out there to take the trail taken by Jesse James and his gang back when he went through there. There were cave openings that they speculate he and his posse stayed in to evade the law. Our guides name was Matt and he had a beautiful paint. She was gorgeous. My horses name was Buckin Bill, Pooh Bears was named Buck, and MR2's was named Gypsey. We had a blast. Even when I was getting off of my horse and hung my shirt on the saddle horn and ripped a big hole in it as my sandle fell off my foot. And let me correct myself on that...it was one of Pooh Bears work shirts.

Then we were off to Mammoth Cave! Now here comes another thing that scares me. CAVES! I don't know if Pooh Bear knows that but I went into that cave for him and him alone. Well...first off...here I am...at the cave...about to take a tour when MR2 brings it to our attention that I have sandles on...and you really do not need to go into a cave without atleast tennis shoes. So...then we had to go about 7 miles back int Cave City and get me some tennis shoes and a T-Shirt...because I was hot.

Back at the cave...we get our tour started. Once in the cave...I again get quiet...as I am freaked out. It's just freaky to be in an enclosed space like that...that could...well, nevermind. Anyway...2 hours later we are out of the cave. Once again just glad to be on solid ground. Not above it...or below it...but on it!

Once done there (After visiting the giftshop and Pooh Bear buying me a Sterling Silver bracelet)...we went to a place called Big Mikes. It was a little shop that had souveniers...a house of mystery...and Big Al...A massive dinosaur head found in an Archiology dig not far from there. We got our tickets to go through the house of mystery. It was SO MUCH FUN! It was 1 dollar per person to go through and I think that was the BEST dollar we spent a piece since we'd been there. It wasn't scary, or haunted...it was simply all an optical illusion. And a GREAT ONE at that.

By that time...it was time to go home. We had been there for 2 days and I had to work that Tuesday. We had a great time and it is most definitely a mini vacation (Or road trip as MR2 would say) not to be forgotten.

Todays thought...9/11/01

People tell me that I have a way with words. They say I can paint pictures in the minds of those who read my entries. This one is about how my life was affected September 11, 2001.

Pooh Bear and I were actually on the interstate when we heard the news. We had turned on the radio to get the traffic as where I worked was a high traffic area. Especially during rushhour. We did the same as we had done every other morning. But this morning was different.

We turn on the radio to hear talk. We didn't pay it much attention because the normal usually goes on with the local morning shows. So we changed the channel. Again, more talk. After changing to the 3rd station with more talk, we'd decided to just leave it on. As we listened, we heard something that neither of us will ever forget.

They started talking about the first jet hitting the North Tower @ 9:02 EST. Pooh Bear looked at me and said "Oh my God...This is a terrorist attack." I looked at him like he was nuts. I said "No...its not either...." And just as soon as those words came out of my mouth, it came across the radio that the South Tower had been hit by another jet. 9:18 EST. I looked at him again and I said..."You're right. This is a terrorist attack" As we drove on to get me to work we contemplated on me even going in. But I worked in a home health company and people get sick no matter when it is or what is going on. I had a job that had to be done.

By the time I'd gotten to work, everyone upstairs was in a mass huddled around the television and all of us downstairs had our radio's on listening to the news as it came in. My first line of thought...even before my patients...was my mama. I called her at work in tears...first telling her that I loved her, and next, asking her if she'd heard about it yet. She'd been at a job where she went in at 4:30 in the morning and as far as I knew, there was not a TV in the building. Getting the call through I found out she knew, and like everyone else, she was huddled around a TV watching this aweful tradgedy and travisty unfold.

About then I heard on the radio that the South Tower had collapsed. Heartwrenched I made a few calls to my patients to make sure that they were all ok through all of this. Thankfully all of them were. About to call my mama about the news about the South Tower, it came across that the North Tower had fallen. I called Pooh Bear and debated again on going home. All I wanted to do was to be with my family. To be with my mama, daddy, Pooh Bear, and everyone that meant something to me. That was all I could think about the entire day as my heart grew sadder and sadder as I heard the terrible news more and more.

As the morning went on, I heard about the jet hitting the Pentagon, and lastly the jet that went down in a field in Pennsylvania that they believed was headed to the White House. By the time Pooh Bear got to me that afternoon after an extremely long day of listening to the radio, they had stopped all air traffic.

All planes, jets and commercial airliners had ceased flight, and at that point, had not even made it to their destinations when instructed immediately to land at the closest major airport they could. Amazingly...and miraculously...of all of the air craft that landed at every major airport in America, single file...one right after another...it went off without incident.

Living fairly close to a major airport myself, it was extremely eerie to get home and not hear a single one go over the house...when ordinarally, you hear them all day, and all night. Pooh Bear and I obviously spent time around the TV ourselves, holding eachother, talking to our friends and family on the phone, extremely saddened at what had taken place, but at the same time (Not to sound insensitive) thankful that we live so far away from the East Coast. It brought a whole new meaning to family, patriotism, freedom, humanity, and an extreme sense of unity to every American out there in this great land.

It brought out some of the best in people. You would look down the street and everyone had an American Flag hanging from their door. Some were big, some small, some were the original flag, some were the others that had all 50 stars and 13 stripes, some were hanging from a flagpole in the front yard, others were on a stand outside the front door. You could see bumper stickers and magnets to go on your vehicle with the American Flag, they were hanging out the car window, the local stores were giving them out left and right.

Then you saw the real unity of the American people. The Red Cross called that there would be a blood shortage due to all of the victims in the hospitals and those who had not been found yet. The owner of our company told us that he would allow us to stay on the clock, and go down the road to give blood. There were so many people donating, that they ended up having to dispose of half of it because there was too much, and blood will only stay good for a little while. There were lines on top of lines of people trying to get through the door to donate.

A couple of days after that, they let the air craft once again take flight. Most everyone was able to make it home, who had not already rented a car and drove home by then. I will never forget that day as well. Pooh Bear came and got me from work and we had gone to Wally World. Again, with a pretty good sized airport close to where we live, and Wally World even closer, while walking in, a commercial airliner was making a landing. I noticed the entire parkinglot full of people just stop and stare...and hold their breaths...as it went overhead...and then take a sigh of releif when it was out of sight.

This experience has changed many of us as Americans. We have become a more patriotic people...and are now beginning to hold true the saying on our currency, "In God We Trust" and "E Pluribus Unum" (Which for those of you who are not aware...Is Latin for United We Stand). As an American myself, I say unto you, I DO trust in God, and I will continue to Stand United. The question now is...Will You?