Category: Family

Spread The Word To End The Word

spread the word to end the word badge

Today is the day to spread the word to end the word.

The R-word that is.

Nothing makes me angrier then hearing someone misuse and abuse the word retarded.

I could go on and on about this. I’ve spoken about it a kajillion times. I’ve written about it.I don’t know that anything I have ever said or could say could be as eloquent as what Soeren Palumbo has to say on the situation.

Take the ten minutes to watch this. Please.

WPvideo 1.10

Was that not amazing?

Ready to take the pledge?

If you’re up to it, read a post I published in 2005 that contains an amazing true story that hits home for me.

Then if you’re feeling up to it, please help spread the word.

The discussion is on Twitter, with hashtag #Rword

Mar 03, 2010 | 2 comments | View Post

Mail Call!

my mail

Upon arriving home last night one of the first things I encountered were two GIANT piles of mail and packages. Both the kitchen and dining room tables each had a pile. I usually get our mail but since I was away RB got it. I couldn’t believe how much of it there was, until I remembered that RB had also been taking in my parents mail. He had thought to split the mail, ours on the kitchen table and my parents on the dining room table. My parents pile included a lot of mail and two boxes, one of which seemed to contain commercial kitchen parts. I couldn’t understand why my Mom would be ordering frymaster parts for her built in stovetop fryer until she reminded me that she’d gotten a new stove a month ago. I have to finish opening and sorting our mail tonight. My Dad is going to have so much fun opening all that mail. I’ll never understand why my Dad loves to open the mail, it’s a fascination he’s always had. He actually rushes out to the mailbox to get the mail before my mother. In the end it’s usually bills so I’m not sure why he does that. Who gets the mail in your house?

Feb 15, 2010 | 12 comments | View Post

Guess What We Found In The UK In EPCOT?

Only A Few More Days To Florida!

map east coast i95

I’m so excited - I’m going to Disney next week! I’m really looking forward to seeing CJ’s reaction in the parks as he’s really into Mickey and Pooh. He and I are flying out on Tuesday. My parents, as well as my brother LB3 and his girlfriend Diva, are driving down. They left last night. I have a close relationship with my parents but always worry a little when they travel, which is often. You know what I mean right? Stuff happens. I’ve often thought it would be awesome if I could use gps real time tracking to keep tabs on where they are. Until there is an easier way I rely on phone calls. I’m a little worried because that area is expecting some severe weather, which makes driving a camper a bit less fun. Fortunately, my Dad will be sharing the driving with my brother, which should make the long drive easier and quicker. At 7:30 am this morning they were in Virginia and my Mom was eagerly awaiting checking out some outlet stores that she always stops at. I’ve never met anyone else who know where every outlet and mall is, no matter where she is. She’s like a 411 for malls. Do you know anyone like that?

Feb 05, 2010 | 2 comments | View Post

Growing Up Faster Than An Eyebrow

moustache trimmer

Here’s something that I don’t think I’ve never mentioned. RB has a unibrow. Not only that, directly out of the middle of it grows a long hair, which we call his feeler because it waves around like a tentacle. It’s nothing a few hair removal wax strips wouldn’t take care of. But, it doesn’t bother him much so he usually leaves it alone, despite the fact that we tease him about it.

Recently TJ noticed that his eyebrows were looking a bit like his fathers. Finally proof that the boy who can’t see things in front of him isn’t blind! Anyway. I asked him if he wanted to come with me to the nail salon because they do eyebrows and facial hair removal. He said that he didn’t want to do that – I’m guessing because he’s heard me say that I hate the plucking. I asked him if he wanted me to check into hair removal cream. He said he didn’t think so and that he’d think about what he wanted to do. Two days later he’d decided on a solution to his problem. Rather than spend money he decided to use one of the moustache trimmers in the bathroom. He said he chose to do that because it was quick and easy and it wouldn’t cost anything because we already had it. How practical! I offered to do it for him but he wanted to do it himself. He did a nice even job and didn’t take off anything he wasn’t supposed to. I’m thinking I’m going to get him a smaller eyebrow trimmer of his own just to be safe. He’s growing up so fast, faster than the speed eyebrows grow it would seem.

Feb 01, 2010 | 1 comment | View Post

Wordless Wednesday - Paradise By The DS Light

wordless wed paradise by the ds light

Thanks for stopping by! If you have a picture up for Wordless Wednesday, leave your link below on Mr. Linky! Then head on over to From Val’s Kitchen, Game Review Network, From Val’s Camera, Here And There, What’s That Smell, Wordless Wednesday, Go Graham Go, 5 Minutes for Mom and The Not-So-Blog Blog for more wordless fun!

Jan 27, 2010 | 13 comments | View Post

Don’t Ride If You Don’t Know What You’re Doing

My son TJ has been thinking about blogging so I’m letting him guest post a couple of times to see if he likes it. Please say hi to him.

*****

we the people envy bike

Me and my friends went for a bike ride to the local skate park. When we got there we decided that we were going to shoot some film for a video that we were going to post on YouTube. We were riding up and down the ramps for most of the day and pulling off dangerous tricks. My friend, who did not know what he was doing at the time, attempted a tailwhip and flipped over the bars. He hit the ground and the bike landed on him. For the past week now he has had neck pain. When he told me this I ordered him a neck pain pillow and told him to go for back pain treatment. He really should be riding.

Jan 20, 2010 | 15 comments | View Post

Wordless Wednesday - The Cousins Tea Party - Complete With The Tea

tea party wet floor

tea party table

tea party toilet

Thanks for stopping by! If you have a picture up for Wordless Wednesday, leave your link below on Mr. Linky! Then head on over to From Val’s Kitchen, Here And There, What’s That Smell, Wordless Wednesday, Go Graham Go, 5 Minutes for Mom and The Not-So-Blog Blog for more wordless fun!

Jan 20, 2010 | 5 comments | View Post

Boys To Men

I have been married for 24 years. My youngest brothers, LB2 and LB3, were part of my wedding party. They were my handsome little ring bearers. We had a simple wedding as we didn’t have a lot of money. The boys looked just as handsome in their suits ad they would have in tuxedo vests. Now the boys are grown and in relationships of their own. One is engaged and the other contemplating. I look at the picture on the wall in my hallway and marvel how quickly time has passed and the boys turned into men.

Jan 19, 2010 | 1 comment | View Post

How My Two Little Brothers Got Me Into Trouble With The Police

bank vault door

LB2 and LB3 are quite a bit younger than me. Back when they were infants I took them everywhere with me, including work. I had a part time job cleaning two banks a couple of evenings a week. The pay was decent, which was important since I’d just bought a new Mustang convertible. The job wasn’t hard. Everything was provided for me including all janitorial cleaning supplies.

One night I had both of the boys with me. Since we were locked in I didn’t worry much about the boys, they had a couple of toys and could amuse themselves playing on the carpet. Or so I thought. As I moved between areas of the large lobby cleaning LB2 made a remark about men at the door. Being a bank with an ATM, I didn’t think much of it. Then I looked up. What did I see? About a half dozen police officers in front of the main entrance, guns drawn. I couldn’t imagine what they wanted and they certainly didn’t look like they were making a delivery for the industrial cleaning supply company.

I went to the door where I was ordered to open the door and surrender. WTH? I was authorized to be in the bank. It wasn’t like I had access to the bank vault or money - the greenest thing I had access to was a couple of green cleaning supplies. After opening the door and being frisked and questioned we figured out what had happened. One of the boys had pressed the silent alarm button under the teller counter. Everything was straightened out and all ended well. I never brought the boys with me to clean the bank again.

Jan 18, 2010 | 1 comment | View Post

Wordless Wednesday - Did You Know Playing A Guitar Could Be Dangerous?

wordless wed did you know playing a guitar could be dangerous

Thanks for stopping by! If you have a picture up for Wordless Wednesday, leave your link below on Mr. Linky! Then head on over to From Val’s Kitchen, Here And There, What’s That Smell, Wordless Wednesday, Go Graham Go, 5 Minutes for Mom and The Not-So-Blog Blog for more wordless fun!

Jan 13, 2010 | 1 comment | View Post

Winterizing - Learning From The Past

our trailer

I reminded my Dad yesterday that we still need to winterize our campers, particularly considering the fact that winter is here. I have a travel trailer that we got at a great deal, we pull it behind my truck. Two of the things I like best about this type of camper over a motor home is that it doesn’t require motorhome insurance and I always have a vehicle to drive when we go camping. Anyway. Our last travel trailer wasn’t winterized one year and we had a line break, as well as a tank. As it turned out that repair came with quite a price tag. I’d like to avoid that happening again. Dad????

Jan 09, 2010 | 1 comment | View Post

Romeo, Romeo, Wherefore Art Thou Romeo

This is my cat Romeo, sleeping in the middle of the afternoon.

romeo sleeping

He tends to sleep all afternoon, even with all of us moving around the house.

This is one of the blankets on my bed. My bedroom gets chilly so I unfold it and put it over the other blanket at night.

red green blanket romeo

You may be wondering what Romeo and the blanket have to do with each other? I’ll tell you.

Romeo humps the blanket.

Yes it’s true. I’ll spare you that picture, it’d be kitty porn. Romeo has been coming into the bedroom at night and trying to hump that blanket. In case that’s not bad enough, he tries to do it when it’s on my feet! He’s exhausted from trying to do this at night so he sleeps during the day.

He seems to not care that we get no sleep when he’s trying to hump the blanket on my feet.

I’m curious. Has your pet ever tried to hump anything weird?

Jan 07, 2010 | 14 comments | View Post

Check Out Princess Leia Rockin A Goatee

lb3 earmuffs princess leia

It’s been super cold for the past few days so I’ve been wearing ear muffs. They may not be quite as fashionable as artisan jewelry but they really help keep my ears nice and warm. Yesterday my brother LB3 picked me up from work. When I walked out of the building and he saw me he rolled down the window and yelled “Princess Leia, do you need a ride?” We all roared. I needed pullups for CJ so I asked him to stop for five minutes so I could run into the store.

I ran in for one thing. I came out with nine. As I got into the car LB3 looked at me juggling my purse and three bags he said “the force is strong with this one”. I have been chuckling ever since.

I managed to get him to try on my ear muffs so that he’d understand how warm they kept my ears. Of course I teased him that he looked like Princess Leia too. What do you think? Put him in one of those white caftans and he’d be good to go, right?

Jan 05, 2010 | 21 comments | View Post