Happy New Year!

There's another picture from Ohio. This time its Miss Sadie after I woke her up taking a picture before this of her buried underneath pillows and blankets. It was hilarious!

So 2008 is coming to a quick end it seems like. I swear it was July yesterday. Thats how it feels at the moment! I can't believe the year is over.

I'm ready for 2009 in the sense that we are getting a new president and hopefully the economy will start taking a turn for the better. I know the economy will always suck, but I want it to so badly get better so I can find a better job and move on with my life. So far the job search hasn't turned up anything, other than an interview on Monday. But thats all a wait and see still if that works out. :(

So I went to Greensboro with my parents last night and on the way home my mom was talking about how she was sorry she never spanked my brother and I. I think it was started about a conversation about Gaia and how my brother and his ex need to spank her and get it over with. But I was like you may not have spanked, but dad did. I have never forgotten any of those incidents with him doing that. He said that if he did that, then we really deserved it. That just pissed me off right there. Don't get me started, cause when he would spank it would be like a brutal one. The stuff my mom doesn't know, because he never did it with her around.

So 2008 is ending with the sun shining here and a beautiful day. I think tomorrow we are suppose to have rain and snow....YIKES! Last time I checked we could have some snow in there, but we shall see.

Happy 2009!

Home Sweet Home

6/9 great-grandkids on my dad's side (l-r) Jason (12), Daniel (10), Francis (9-adopted), Gaia (7), Kenzi (6) & Kayleigh (5). Aren't they cute?!

There's truly no place like home. Being sick just has heighten the wanting to be in my own bed and own house and just doing whatever I want and know I have what I need to do it. Get what I mean?

Friday night I spent the night at Kate's house. Kate asked me about doing this back before I went to Ohio. I cracked up when her mom wrote on the calendar when I would be back from Ohio. ;) I did my Christmas gift exchange with them before leaving and they did their's on Friday. I am excited that Kate and I are going to be making a trip to Colors N Clay to do another project! ;) Her parents got us both a gift card to there and I have had my next project chosen and so excited! ;) Kate and I stayed up till 3:00 just about just talking. She claims it was all me, but hey she could've said lets go to bed and I would've shutted up! ;)

I woke up yesterday stopped up and my ear hurting like it did X-Mas Eve morning. :( But after walking around and getting my ear to pop, it stopped. Its just annoying! I think Kate's family having real tree made me get stuffed up and caused my ear to clog up and put pressure on it again. :(

Came home and the cable/satellite is still out! UGH! I am getting tired of watching DVD's I can tell you that much! Playing on the Wii is even getting old after so long! I am working on getting use to the Wii Fit and its enjoyable, but apparently my balance isn't as great as I thought it was. ;) Yoga is great on there. We went to Wal-Mart last night and I looked at the Wii Games and didn't see anything that jumped out and said buy me. Its more interesting to be in there after Christmas seeing what kids buy for whatever they got for Christmas, LOL. ;)

Well thats it. I am off here. TTYL!

Christmas 2008....

Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah!

There's Gaia with the Pezz candy she got from me for part of her Christmas. She wasn't an angel this go around, I can tell you that.

So the trip to Ohio began on Sunday and when we left NC it was 60 degrees and by the time we got to Ohio it was 10 with -30 to -40 below wind chills that night! I'm not kidding! So we went out to dinner and met up with my mom's sister and her family for pizza at our favorite pizza/sub place in Columbus. =) I can say now that Bella (Gaia's cousin) and Gaia are the same height just about. Gaia I think is 4ft tall now. =O

So Monday it didn't even make it to 20 and it was really windy out. Tuesday we finished up whatever shopping anyone had to do. I took Gaia to build a bear for part of her x-mas present and I told her she had 6 choices of what bear/animal she could make, because I was planning to pay for it. Well she picked out a $25 bear and I told my mom that she had to choose something else or she was paying for it! Well my mom wound up paying for it! I made the little koala bear. (I know Marci's going to kill me when she reads that part) So then on the way out of the store, I told Gaia she had to carry her bear. Well she threw a fit over that and I wasn't PUTTING UP WITH IT! I was like carry it or I am taking the bear back! Ugh! Make a long story short, she got her way about carrying the damn thing. So after the mall we went back to my great-aunts house for a gathering of 6 of the great-grandkids and they had a small party for them. So after that we went to Target so Gaia could do the rest of her shopping. Well by this time the weather was icy out and getting worse by the minute, but we were out of time. Never-ever let a 7 y/o shop for you. She picked out some of the goofiest looking clothes and some great pairs also. It was funny! She spent an hour or more in the wrapping department alone. UGH! Get this, she didn't wrap the presents, she just put them in boxes. What a waste of money and time!

Christmas Eve; I woke up with a really bad earache and I took a shower and thought it was just drainage from the night before, well the shower didn't help and it wasn't going away. So I called my mom and said I needed to go a Urgent Care that I thought I was getting an ear infection. Well after sitting in the waiting room for probably over an hour or so, they told me that I have a sinus infection. The ear pain was caused by the part of your ear that pops like when you are driving through the mountains or on an airplane was inflamed from the drainage. NICE! So then gotta find a drug store thats open and it took an hour to get the prescription filled. To top that all off, my insurance didn't cover the nasal spray he prescribed, so I just got the antibiotic filled and bought mucinex which he prescribed too, but you can get that over-the-counter.

So Christmas Eve is when we do Christmas. We usually have a big dinner at my aunt's house in Charlotte and its been FOREVER since we have been in Ohio for it. We had sandwhiches for dinner. I am use to turkey or ham for Christmas dinner. =( I really missed NC at that point. So after dinner we did presents and I got $50 from my great-aunt and a nice blanket from my grandma. =) So after that we went back to my brother's for the rest of the gifts. My first gift was my cell phone, the Pantech Matrix which has a keyboard, its easier to text with it. That I know wasn't cheap! LOL So I got a Wii Fit (well I got a cover for it in Ohio, came home to the Wii Fit), 2 Wii Games (Carnival Games & Cooking Mama), 3 DVD's (ST:TNG Complete Series, When We Left Earth: Nasa Missions & Sleeping Beauty), $25 from my aunt and uncle, $50 from my grandparents (already had it), 3 books (The Year of Fog, Dewey & Tales of Beedle the Bard), a digital photo keychain like thing, Bath and Body Works, Calendars, Sudoku for a Year, PJs, socks...there were some other things too. My brother got a computer and screen, coffee maker and a bunch of other things. Gaia her main thing was a cooking set and other crap.

Christmas Day woke up and my ear wasn't throbbing anymore! Went to my brother's and spent the remainder of the visit there. Gaia and mom made Monkey Bread for breakfast and it was really good! The gross part was that Gaia ate the biscuit dough raw and ugh that is disgusting! So Sadie opened the rest of her presents and we played a little bit on the Wii. Gaia's mom was about to get there at anytime, and so my brother was trying to get Gaia out the door. Well Gaia got mad and swung the remote back and wacked my brother in the balls! Which the spoiled brat got in trouble for and brought on the crocodile tears. So she left crying and my brother said it got worse as her mom walked up. What we wanted to see happen right before leaving. So we dropped my brother off at Elise's parents house and headed home to NC.

Remind you driving on X-Mas Day nothing is open. We found an Arby's that was open and thats where we got our dinner, LOL. Got home before midnight last night. I got my stuff unpacked and played with the Wii Fit and headed to bed.

Today I am relaxing and haven't even gotten a shower. So I am off here to do that least today. ;) Bye!

Ok was I this bad back in 1996?!

Ok I forgot to post, we stopped at the mall in Charlotte on the way home. I knew that Nastia Liukin was there signing autographs from 5-7pm, but I wasn't really going to stop in and see it all. We got there as it began and already the lines were long. But you had to purchase either this t-shirt or pair of pants, so I got Gaia (my niece and a lil gymnast) a shirt and my mom got me one to have signed for x-mas.

Well I was standing in line with a bunch of kids/teenagers and a few adults waiting to get autographs and these kids were gaga over Nastia. I was standing there like, my gosh the team didn't even win the gold medal, but watching how excited these kids were, made me think back to when I met the members of the 1996 Olympic team. I talked to one of the moms that was there with her daughter and friend and I was like these kids weren't even around when the Mag 7 were big!

It made me think back to when I first met the members of the 96 Olympic team, began with Amanda Borden and Jaycie Phelps, who were both from Cincinnati, Ohio. Still remember them coming to my gym and then down the road I met the other 5 team members. I was 15 years old, but I was alot like those kids in the department store! And these kids were younger than me back when I was all gaga about a gold medallist in the sport! LOL =)

Nastia was really sweet. I didn't know what to say other than hi and thank you. ;) She personalized Gaia's shirt for me, which was great cause that will tickle my niece. Like when I met Carly Patterson, all I could think of was hi, congrats on your gold medal and thank you for the autograph! LOL You would've thought I met Bradd Pitt or something! LOL

No I didn't have my camera, so I don't have any pictures. I will take a picture of the shirts, I'm not going to be wearing mine! Hell I can't fit into it! Its a Child's XL I think, I have no clue! LOL

Home from Gastonia....

I am hope from Gastonia!

First off, like I seriously wanted to come home, because I was having a hard time with the fact that we aren't spending Christmas in North Carolina. Not looking forward to Ohio at the moment. =(

So my trip was wonderful. I didn't have time to update this blog while I was gone, and Marci is really the only one that reads this. ;) Marci I am so glad you are ok after your Marathon and that you did stop when you did. ;)

So I had my Chritmas with my aunt and uncle, and the picture shows what I recieved from them. I got a snowman webkinz, Snowflake, $30 in i-tunes gift cards, candy & Heroes Season 2. My grandparents gave me money for Flight 93's memorial, which was great. But with the other money they gave me, I got "Marley and Me", a bookmark and Webkinz Seahorse, Maggie. My aunt and uncle's neighbors got me My Girl and My Girl 2 DVDs, which was great! Those are 2 of my favorite movies.

So I have come home to the wound-down dog, Sadie. Who is like a different dog since getting off the medication. She's loosing the weight she gained from it too. =) Down probably 3-4 pounds I think. She's still fat, but looking better. ;)

I miss KoKo, I cried when I was leaving. Looking at his sweet little face and knowing I was leaving and not going to see that bright smiley face every morning coming into the Living Room. =(

So I am home. That's all for now. Later!

Whats in your mouth...turned into this...

KoKo spit out one of his remaining teeth in my hand tonight! The poor thing has been chewing and knawling all day and there's the reason! The little tooth left a big hole in his gum, but at least my aunt and uncle have one of his baby teeth.

We have one of Sadie's and so I know how it is.

Things have slowed down tremendously since last week. They found my uncle's cousin ok and alive. He wound up in South Carolina! They are trying to get his liscense taken away, so lets just hope it happens and this won't happen again.

Mom made it back from England safe and sound today too. =o) I also heard from Debby today too. =o) I had a heck of a time, still am having a heck of a time, explaining how I am connected to my uncle's aunt. Everyone is like wouldn't that make her your great-aunt. No, he's my uncle by marriage! LOL Ugh! LOL

So my aunt and I are making foam things instead of a gingerbread house for our decore this year and the foam is proving to be a bigger pain in the ass than the gingerbread house! UGH! I wanted to make the train that I saw a Target, but we wound up at Michaels and got these things. I got this cute ornament making kit, and I am having better luck with that!

I think this weekend will involve getting the Christmas tree out and putting it up. We shall see. It will be interesting to see how KoKo does with the tree. He's so wound up! I am going to miss that dog when I go home to my 7 y/o JRT who isn't as wound up anymore! LOL :o)

Thats it, I hate Ghost Whisperer's cliff-hangers at the moment. UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As if it can't get any worse...

My aunt thinks its hilarious that KoKo likes to chew on my hair, well I don't think it is! Look at that ever so innocent face, NOT!

Ok as if the situation here could get any worse, it has hit rock bottom in that sense!

Lets go back to last night, the viewing lasted 2 hours or something like that. I was NOT expecting to go, but I decided to go and be there. I was shocked to see the casket was open, it was scary for me to see that. I didn't see my grandpa laying in his casket and it was shocking. I said over and over that I wasn't going to up and see her. But I saw her daughter up there and I wanted to go say something to her and finally looked down and she looked so peaceful and wasn't struggling anymore. The family seemed really at peace with everything, it was nice.

Well fast-forward to today, this morning before we headed to Grandma Lay's house, my aunt got a call about Grandma Lay's cousin (who's her age or older) saying that he didn't come home last night. I was sitting there like, are you for real?! I was like this is all we need on top of what is already going on! So we all waited to see if he would show up at the funeral or back at the dinner gathering, neither happened. So we aren't sure of what's going on there. :(

So we had the family gathering back at Grandma Lay's house and it was good to see everyone again and the mood was so upbeat. It was great, we were laughing and smiling. You could feel the sadness in everyone, but it was a celebration at the end. The food took forever to get to the house, but it was good what the church brought over. =o)

So after my uncle's aunt's family left, it was just Grandma Lay, her 2 sons, daughter and in-law's and me there. So it turned into a conversation about the plants that people sent to the funeral home and such. It turned into a arguement over a plant that Debbie's friend had sent to the home for my uncle's mom and she wanted nothing to do with it! She wanted to throw it out! My aunt later told me that when they go to the burial site, she commented to her sister's daughter that it wasn't the correct plot! Its like oh thats the correct thing to say to some one who's burying their mother! Lets just say, the evil twin came out of Grandma Lay today and there was no reasoning with her.

What a day, weekend, week it has been! I hope the next few days turn into better ones, because I can't handle many more of these! Ugh...

In Gastonia for 2 weeks....

Little KoKo isn't so little anymore! There he is this morning sticking his tongue out at me. ;)

So Wednesday we got here for Thanksgiving dinner at my grandparents house. Last year we went to Ohio and this year we had the dinner that is typical for us. ;) Turkey, dressing, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, rolls, pumpkin pie, candy yams, deviled eggs, chocolate pie....shoot me if I forgot something, but it was all really really really good! :)

This week my uncle's 91 year old aunt was moved to Hospice care after being in the hospital for 2 weeks. She had so much going on and could no long take dailysis and so they moved her there to die. She was doing ok through Thanksgiving and then on Friday morning my aunt got a call from the aunt's daughter stating that she's calling the family in that the doctor doesn't expect her to live through the day. So my aunt and I scrambled to get dressed to go pick up Grandma Lay and break the news to her. We rushed to get her and she knew something was up, hell we picked her up at the beauty shop! So we had a quick lunch and headed to the hospice and we were cutting jokes left and right down the hall all the way till we got to the room. My mind did a 360 and went back to my grandpa and how he was in his final weeks and seeing some one die like that was too much for me. I had met my uncle's aunt a few times, but it really hit hard walking in. So we sat up there all day, I mean all day! Finally at 5:00 or so we headed home to check on KoKo and I was like I am stayin ther and not coming back. So Debbie and Charlie went back up and came home after a few more hours and his aunt was still alive. This morning she passed away at 9:30am.

So with all of the drama going on at the moment there was a happy note. My friend had her daughter last night around 9:00pm, I am not sure of the time. She joked about she would call and report the birth and I would get the call that my uncle's aunt passed, BUT it didn't happen that way. Alexis Deora weighed 4lb 1oz and 17.75 inches long...early but she's doing great. :)

That's it for the time. What a rough few days it has been. I am babysitting KoKo at the moment and waiting for my grandparents to bring over some more left-overs and peanut butter brownies....yum! TTYL! Keep my uncle's family in your prayers.

Lets go Buckeyes!

That is another picture from the Festival of Trees. Its a little dog getting into presents that are under the tree. Makes me think of what KoKo may be like come Christmas time!

Today is the big game against Michigan and if the Buckeyes win, we still have a chance to the Rose Bowl, but thats a wait and see. Our coach has lost 1 time to Michigan since coming on board, and Michigan has a 3 and 8 record this season! LOL I think Ohio State's in 8 and 2. YAHOO FOR THAT! Lets Make it 9 and 2 and not 8 and 3! ;)

It has gotten cold here quickly! I mean quickly! We had snow flakes in the air yesterday and had them a few days ago when we had a cold snap. I already miss the 70's and some 80's from the last month or so. :( I am a wintry person too, but I hate the cold that comes on suddenly here.

Well Marci you asked if I had updated my blog and now I have! OHIO STATE JUST SCORED A TOUCHDOWN!!!!!!!!!! YEAH BABY! 7-0 Ohio State first quarter, gee I hope my next post says we are going to the Rose Bowl. ;)

"Plain of Life" and Gaia's G

There's Gaia's G! Isn't it cute?!

Anyways....Greg sent me the words to "Plain of Life" and remember this was written by Deora when she was in 7th grade and her own words, I am glad I have the words. The very ending is a quote that was found after Deora died and she said that when I think I read when she was 11. So here you go!

Taken just as the sun rises, broken in pieces - all black and burned

I can't see the way anymore

My eyes burn with tears, they bleed inside

And fade as quickly as the light

Dying is the only truth I understand

So many are born to an unknown, andSo many die, to what they believe in

My life is taken, and I am lost, as a man a on a clear day

Standing in the vain, on a plain of a different life

I am lifted to a crash site

Everyone is crying, but I stare at the body and laugh

In an effortless way

The gun is gone, and know this way of solice

On a plain of life. If I could just live for the moment and make every moment count

Maybe the future would work out.

Maybe that moment would be a doorway to my future.

"People ask who, what, when, where, how and why. I ask peace."

Hello Everyone!

That's a gingerbread house at the Pinehurst Hotel! Is that not awesome?!

Ok so after 2 nights of hell at home and wanting to run off with the milkman and feeling like shit and such....

So Kate and I had to postpone going to Colors and Clay a day because she had to work on her paper, but that's ok. She took me to the grocery store to get me out of the house yesterday and I am so thankful for that! (trust me)

So today Kate, her mom and dad and I went out to lunch and went to the Festival of Trees in Pinehurst all together. This Festival of Trees is at the Pinehurst Hotel and it was awesome to see. They raffle off stuff and the prices start at any point or you can buy the stuff now. They had alot of different stuff in there. But I put my name in for the small stuff and so I will find out Sunday if I won anything or not! :D

Anyways, we picked up our pottery we made last week and Gaia's G turned out awesome! That will be posted in my next post....but thats it. I had a fun day! :D

Trip to Gastonia Yesterday...

Look at that little cutie! He's learning to open presents like his cousin and brother, but is more interested in the bows and ribbon and chewing up the paper than what's in there. =o)

So my mom and I got up and headed to Gastonia to have lunch with my grandma and aunt. We haven't been over there in ages and plus we wanted to see everyone since Debbie's back surgery and such. :)

So we got there before noon and stopped at my aunt's house and the ever so wound up KoKo was excited to see us. He's gotten so big and he's so cute! I went to take him out so he could go to the bathroom and the little snot laid on the deck and whined because my aunt didn't come with us. LOL So after we got him pottied and such we went to my grandparents and my uncle and lil cousin were there. My grandpa was throwing a fit over us getting into the cookies, and I didn't even have ONE, but Cameron had about a dozen if you ask me. I dunno! He even took a handful out the door with him! :smacks head:

So we went out for Chinese, which was great because the place we have nearby here isn't all that great and it tasted great! =o) So after that we drugged my aunt and grandma to Target to get them out and walking. I swear my grandma is getting slower and slower with walking. Its terrible! :o( So again Target is enjoyment because we don't have that here and it was nice. =o)

So after that, my mom dropped my aunt and I off back at her house and I spent time there doing so vacuuming and such. Except I did most of it not knowing the stupid handle adjusted to different heights!!!!!!! UGH! I swear I am going get my aunt a foam finger for x-mas! I wanted to smack her for pointing out every little piece of this and that I missed! So KoKo wouldn't put on a show for me, the little snot! LOL He did show me how much he "loves" the blow-dryer, that was hilarious! I caught it all on video too! hahaha!

So after that my mom and I went to Pineville and went to the shopping center there and Sam's Club. I got some of my shopping done while I was there. =o)

I need to stick with getting ahold of some one in ONE WAY. Because I forgot I texted Debby about "Plain of Life" and I found out the answer to my question anyways, but she called me yesterday to answer it for me! LOL I was like you answered it for me already! LOL :smacks head: Ugh to bugging that poor lady way too much! =o)

So thats it! I am off here to actually get myself dressed and such! =o)

"Plain of Life"

One of the rare occurences that I can get my dog to sit and pose for a picture. Seconds after this was snapped, she moved. =o)

What is the point behind the title of this blog you might ask? Well I will explain it...

As many of you guys know I have been in touch with Deora's mom and also have had lunch/dinner with her on many occasions. Well I also have been in touch with some one who knew Deora and who's a musician.

Well "Plain of Life" (its the song title) was a journal entry that Deora wrote when she was in 7th grade and I am not 100% sure of this but I do believe you can hear this being read on "United 93" special features section with Deora's family and friends. Well anyways, its about her dying in a plane crash and like what she sees when she's being lifted from the crash site.

Well Greg sent me the finished song and I couldn't believe how beautiful it was and that its just amazing to me that she wrote that and its how her life ended. I was in tears listening to it, lets put it that way. It left me speechless, lets put it that way. My life has been forever changed by all of this and I am glad it has happened to me. I wouldn't change the past 2 months for the world. =o)

So I wanted to post about that. =o) I am sitting here about to go out and enjoy this beautiful weather we are having while it lasts! hehehe =o)

Some of the painted pottery!

OK there's KoKo's ornament that I made him on my first visit there and then Sadie's little pink bone that I made for our Christmas tree! :o)

So Kate and I went for another outting today. =o) I love her to death for doing this. We went to Burger King for lunch and then went to pick up our pottery, but we painted more pottery! Its addicting! So she made her letter and a candle holder and I made a G for Gaia for Christmas. I also painted a little butterfly and then painted a ladybug on it and the lady is going to finish it for me. My butterfly I made last week, got bumped up a bit or something and so she was going to see if painting it and putting it back in would help it. So next week we shall see both creations and Kate's too. I was going to make a C for me, but she's still out of them and so I made it for Gaia. =o)

So while we were in there, Kate was finishing up and I called Debby to see if she was happy that Obama won last night. Of course who wouldn't be! :o) So Kate and I were planning to go to Michael's and I wasn't sure if we were going to get ice cream and I was like in my mind I wanted to see if Debby wanted to meet us there for some and it worked out, we met her there and Kate got to meet her. =o) Afterwards Kate was like she's a really nice lady and I was like yes she is.

So after Michael's we went back to Kate's house and ate dinner there. Yum for mac and cheese and chicken! :o) I got to meet her aunt too, and it was great! =o)

So thats it for now. Next Wednesday it will be back out to get the newest set of pottery! HAH!

My butterfly made its landing in Pa!

My butterfly charm made it to Somerset! =o) You can barely see it, but its there! Its on the red string. Greg's necklace made it too (blue one) and Debby left the rose on there. I can't thank you Debby enough for taking that up there for me. I appreciate that so much. =o)

Election day, did you get out and vote?! I did, and I can sit here and say who I went for and he's winning at the current moment! Only needs 63 more votes to win it! YAHOO! GO OBAMA! =o)

I cannot wait to see my pottery I did tomorrow! I am so excited about seeing KoKo's ornament and my butterfly I made too. =o)

So thats it for now. Tomorrow I will post pictures of my pottery I painted and report that fun outting with Kate. =o)

Happy Halloween!

I can barely believe this, but that's KoKo today! Look how big he's gotten! Isn't he cute?! =o) Still a puppy, but he's getting so big! I haven't seen him in 2 months, and he's NOT the same tiny puppy. I'd say he's bigger than Sadie now.

Halloween has come and gone here. I woke up and watched scary movies all morning/afternoon...cause hell I can't do it at night! HAH!

So I am torturing myself with making KoKo a stocking for x-mas. The story here is that I can't see my aunt and uncle using BJ's stocking and my mom is the one that brought this up to me and I found one called "Santa Paws" that is really cute looking finished, but is proving to be a pain in my ass right now. I am making head-way after learning how to attach the sequin pieces a different and easier way!

I am finally going to have a picture of this too, but Deborah got my butterfly to Somerset and got it around Deora's angel for me. =o) I am so happy that happened and something from me is now up there. I asked her to take a picture for me, because who knows when I will get there and by the time I do, it won't be out anymore most likely, and the families don't get the stuff back, it goes into storage. So Thank You Debby for doing that for me! I deeply appreciate it!

Marci you need to ANSWER your phone or turn it on, but I am not coming that way anymore this weekend. Hopefully you will see this and find out! HAH!

Anyways thats it for now, I am going to go work on the stocking and watch some TV.

Bye-Bye!

Good Day All!

That is my dog's favorite past-time...sleeping in the sun! Who can blame her, her stupid owner's (my parents) don't know how to turn the heat on until its deathly cold out!

I think my aunt is ready to go back to work. Ko-Ko is being a little Hellian, but he's so cute! He's a puppy, come on you have to let him get away with something sometimes! I love that dog! He's managed to lock my aunt in the closet, undo an entire thing of toilet paper, tried to get into the dryer, and the not so pretty thing was him biting my aunt yesterday, but I can't help but LAUGH at it! I miss Sadie being that age. She's 7 years old and KoKo is 4 months, there's a huge difference, but Sadie being a terrier, they are always full of energy! :o)

Speaking of Sadie, the medication she's on is helping her but it has made her more of a begger lately because of the steroid she's on. Ugh everytime I turn around she's at my feet looking for food! So tonight I gave her some extra chicken and green beans after my aunt told me that she's more hungry cause of the medicine. The poor doggie. :(

So I have finally been SORT OF able to go back to the Wii. Today I tried to bowl standing up and did better with that, but I am afraid I will pay for it tomorrow. =o( I woke up today with little or no pain at all in my back and hip, which was nice. I actually slept till about noon, and man I needed cause I have been up and down the last 10-11 days since this happened. =(

Anyways thats it! Happy Birthday Brittney! =o)

I dunno what to put here!

Hello Everyone!

First off to Marci- I am glad you are doing better and here's to you getting better and getting stronger, girl. I know you don't want to do this, but you need to and get yourself better. ;) And I want my bear back at some point in the near future! Just Kidding! ;)

I otta google search Wii Injuries because I have done something bowling! I guess I over-do-it and throw with so much power, I pulled something in my side/hip/back. IT KILLS! The nice part is right now, pain medicine is working to knock it out. But I've woke up the past 3 days with some sort of pain on my left side under my arm. As you know, playing the Wii you use your arm to do the motions and ugh I am taking a break indefinitely from it!

So we took Sadie to the vet this week about her poor paws. Its allergies, but we aren't sure what is causing it right now. She has scratched her ears to putting sores in them and also biting her feet to where she has sores on them. The poor dog. :( She's on predisone to help with that and than an antibiotic for I guess the sores and such, and we are suppose to bathe her twice a week for a month with medicated shampoo to see if this helps. If its not gone in a month, we have to take her back. My dad's friend that has a JRT told us that they a proan to getting allergies in their feet and its just like my gosh, this poor dog. She hasn't licked or pecked at her paws since getting on medication, minus last night going out in the weeds in the woods, but washing her feet took care of that.

So I talked to my aunt tonight about when she wants me to come and IF she wants me to come. Well now she told me that she doesn't need me to come at all! Its like WHAT THE HECK?! Whatever! So I was like fine, I won't come probably now. I might go over when my mom goes to England next month, but that's a wait and see there. Its like you didn't want me there when you had the damn surgery and the first days after, but now you don't need me! Make up your mind! UGH! Whatever! Well what can I say, I don't do well with hospitals and such. Last surgery she had when I was there, I wound up in the ER....that tell you something?! :p

Well thats it for the time being. =o) My grandma is here visiting (dad's mom) and its great! Love having my laundry done for me and she insists on cleaning everything, but that can get annoying sometimes, but I have learned to let her do whatever she wants.

TTYL! Good luck Marci with your move!

I don't think I can take much more....

There's Miss Sadie playing for a change. ;)

Speaking of Sadie, the poor dog's allergies are so bad right now that she's digging at her ears and biting at her back paws to the point where she has got sores on them and looks like she's bitten off some hair on her back toes. The vet said at her yearly check-up that it was allergies and to wash her paws whenever she comes in, yeah like that happened. But there has to be something they can give her to help. Its ridicolous!

So nothing major happened over the weekend. I went to a meet n greet thing with Kate and her family down at the community center on Sunday. Which was nice, I tasted 3 different kinds of deviled eggs...trust me they all tasted different! LOL Kate and I went out for ice cream last night to this place I had never been to before and it was good!!!! They have like different flavors, like you wouldn't get at any ordinary ice cream place. For the life of me, I can't remember what its called, but its by Chick-Fil-A in town! Hahaha Oh yeah and we stopped at Chick-Fil-A too, haven't had that in ages and it tasted so good. ;)

Ok I took my Flight 93 video off of you tube for the simple fact of the rude-ass e-mails I got over the weekend about it. It got me to the point where the last one I got today had me in tears about it and I don't get some people out there, really. Nothing anyone says is going to change my mind about what really happened to that flight or the other 3 flights and what not. But I can't take the e-mails and its disturbing to me and hell emotionally thats given me more hell than the last few weeks. (don't ask)

So now I am planning out my trip to Charlotte which will end out the year. Hoping to get KoKo house trained before my aunt goes back to work. I can't wait to see the little guy! hehehe He's so cute! :o)

I actually got out my x-mas cards that I made up and began working on them a bit. I can't get into the spirit at the moment, but oh well to that. I really hope we don't plan to go to Columbus for Christmas, UGH! Shoot me there! I'd rather go on vacation somewhere than do that. ;)

Anyways, I am off here. Bye!

Hey Everyone!

Ok two x-mas presents down....how many to go?! No clue, but I found those in Pinehurst. One is for KoKo and the other is for my parents of their three blessings. ;) hehehe

I am sitting here at 11:30 at night and typing this. Well I am texting my friend also, but doing this too.

Marci- if you read this, can you let me know PLEASE that you are ok still? I am about to call Julie and ask her!

So this week my poor aunt went to the surgeon to find out about her back. I feel so sorry for her, she's having surgery on Friday to remove the discs or move them off the nerves in her back. She'll be out of work another 6 weeks after surgery. So she doesn't want me there in the early stages, but I will probably go over after the first two weeks. Hah! She's a bear after surgery anyways! HAHA!

So today I had my lunch outting with Deora's mom, Debbie. (yeah yeah yeah to calling her that) Last week as I said we cancelled, and so it was this week or whenever. It was great though. Except my dad, who took me (HAH), backed up over the reflector on her driveway TWICE! I was like OMG! What a way to leave an impression on some one the first time you go to their house! So we headed to Pinehurst for lunch and the place we ate at was good. I had a salami and cheese sandwhich, it was really good. Then we spent some time shopping in Pinehurst, at all of the little shops there. Which is where I got the ornaments in the picture above. ;)

I sent her another thank you e-mail. =o) I have enjoyed each and every single one of these outtings with her and its been an emotional roller coaster at times for me, but I wouldn't trade it in for anything. =o) Yes I can say I didn't come home and break down in tears like I have the past 2 times. =o) So I am happy to report that much.

Well I finally heard from the living dead of my friend Annie, hahaha! Happy to say that too!

Off to bed, ttyl!

Is is really worth it?!

Ok there it is! My Wii is finally in my grasps! I love my dad and his spontaneousness because he was like I am bored and going to go see if I can get me a Wii. I was like oh yeah! :) My brother got my niece one for her birthday, so there are 2 between the 5 of us! ;)

The Wii has been fun except for the fact I paid for playing for hours on end with really bad back pain and my shoulder hurting. I was up last night sick from something and then my back wouldn't let me go back to sleep.

I am sitting in bed at 7:30 going OMG I have lunch plans and have to be ready and out the door by 12:15, and I was like I really don't feel up to it, but I didn't want to break the plans. But I was going to call at 8 and say can we re-schedule because of yeah I was up all night and not feeling that great today, but fell back to sleep. Well it didn't matter, the plans were cancelled anyways because she had another commitment, but it was ok with me. I didn't wake-up until after 11:00 and so I wouldn't have done it still.

So this afternoon my friend Marci called me and broke some shocking news to me. I couldn't believe what she told me and it was very shocking, but I am glad she's going to get the help she needs and be closer to her family. :) xoxoxoxo Marci xoxoxoxoxo

So tonight my parents and I went out to dinner and then my mom and I ran into wal-mart to price some of the stuff for Wii. They didn't have a huge selection of stuff. Like who really does in this tiny town! HAH! I was like next time we go to Greensboro, we otta look at their Best Buy and places like that. They have a larger selection and such.

The plus about the Wii is that I am getting good at the bowling game on there. My highest is 235 which I scored today, I got like 4 strikes in a row and like 6 or 7 over-all. :o) I was proud of myself. Tonight I scored a 202 against my mom. HAH! My dad enjoys the golf, and on the beginner level I got 2 birdies! hehehe :) But yeah, on the Wii play I only like the shooting game so far.

Well thats it. :) Marci I hope you start feeling better, girl.

TTYL! Have a good weekend!

What a week/weekend....

Ok that's my newest webkinz. Isn't it cute?! I first saw it online I wanted it and now I have one! hehehe :)

Ok so my mom was in San Fransico all week, right and so it was a week of boredom really for me minus a few things. :) I will get to that here in a second! =o)

So I want to congratulate Marci on her two races 2 weeks in a row. I haven't heard about this weekend's one, but I know she did great! :) I dunno how she does it, but she's totally awesome! I love you girl!

So this week wasn't all that bad, as I may've said it was. I went out with Kate and her mom on Tuesday I think, may've been Monday, I forget which it was. But on Wednesday, to my surprise I got a post from Deborah about getting my thank you card (for dinner) and asked about doing dinner Thursday. I was confused, because I thought she went out of town, but it got cancelled and so I said sure, why not.

I can say this much, I was NOT as nervous this time around. I am excited that I wasn't too bad this time around, which means I am becoming relaxed. :o) But she was going to come and get me at 6 and so I got my hair fixed up, make-up fixed and wanted to take Sadie for a quick walk before leaving. Well heck, I got caught in the house, which I didn't want because Sadie goes mad and gets even more mad when you don't take her with you. So I wasn't outside waiting, like I said I would be, I also didn't introduce her to my dad (ok I am bad, shoot me), but we got out the door.

Let me tell you this, the first time I went out to dinner with Deborah, my nerves were so bad, that you would see my hands and they would've been twitching so badly. When I ate, my nerves went to my legs! LOL But this time I was like see I'm not as nervous this time! LOL Cause she knew how I was the last time and I was more relaxed this time around. I have enjoyed every moment I have spent with her learning about not only Flight 93, but her daughter. Again and again, 7 years ago, if you told me that this would've happened to me, I would've said you are NUTS! Period!

When I got back home it was then it hit me, that some of the (curiousity) questions I had may've upsetted her and it made me upset. I got worried about that and it was on my mind. I am relieved that the phone calls made didn't make her mad, hehehe. :o) But I was worried, trust me.

Anyways, thats it. TTYL!

Go Marci Go!

Hahaha I thought that get her attention, but congrats Marci on your race this weekend! :)

After all of the excitement on Friday, I was still telling people about meeting Deborah and I got to thinking this weekend about what more I could do to help with getting the Flight 93 memorial complete. I have some ideas in my head of what I am going to do on my own, but I want to do more than that. You know what I mean?

So yesterday my mom and I hung-out as she is left for San Fransico today. We went shopping and the mother she is goes, you need to get a thank-you card for Deborah and I am like ok mom. I let her think that was her idea, hah! I knew what I was going to do, its why I wanted to go to Hallmark! HAH! I got the webkinz fish, and its soooooo cute. I love it. :) So I went to Michael's after to see if they had the make your own x-mas cards kits in stock yet and they didn't, but its still early. I bought some at the end of last year and wish I bought more than one set. So we went to Wal-mart after that and headed home.

Meanwhile, the whole day I was thinking about the poor stray dog Deborah had in her yard and i was tempted to call yesterday, but didn't. So today, I checked to see if she e-mailed me an update and didn't. My friend was like just call and find out and its like no, but I then said if I heard about a dog 3 times today, I would. Well guess what? I heard about 3 dogs and I finally called! LOL The dog is back home, which is what I wanted to hear. I was worried I would hear she had to get her to the pound or humane society, and heard the better news about the doggie. At least if the dog shows up again, she knows who she belongs to. :)

So tonight my dad and I ran to the store to get pop (soda) and of course he ran into the guy that built our house. (TYPICAL) And such a typical man, he stood out in the parking lot and ran his mouth for 15 minutes. HAH! So I was standing the store and all I had was my cell on me and called to see if Marci was home and she kept me entertained while I was in the store. HAH But speaking of running into people, I saw one of our lifeguards from the pool tonight, which was a shock. hehehe But poor Marci heard me saying hi and how are you and didn't know who I was talking to! HAH! Sorry Marci!

So that was my boring weekend. HAH! I am going to get off here....ttyl!

Happy Birthday Natalie and Caroline!

Its a small world after all....God works in mysterious ways...

Ok I decided to delete the original post and redo this....

When we moved to the middle of nowhere in NC 3 years ago, I never imagined I would be touched by September 11th in anyway than I already had been. But when we went looking for the Catholic church here in Pinehurst, when we went there we stumbled across a memorial for 2 (3 people are part of it now) people were part of it. One was in the WTC and the other was on United Flight 93.

I walked away and tried to remember at least one of the names and I did. Hah! I remembered her first name but I knew where she was on that day. I got home and searched 9/11 memorial pages on google and found http://www.legacy.com/ and found the 9/11 tributes and guestbooks. Well I searched under Flight 93 and knew Deora and it turns out it was Deora Bodley. I read what was on the site and saw she was 20 years old and it was amazing to see she was my age. After a little more research, I found that our birthdays were 10 days apart and it was even more touching there. So I went on the legacy guestbook and left a message and found her mom had left posts on there and so I decided to e-mail her.

I heard back from Deborah and conversed back and forth, and have been for 3 years. Of course I tried to touch base with her around 9/11 and I touched based when I was in Ohio and my friend and I walked through a park and it reminded me of the memorial at the church. Well that was the last time I really wrote to her in 2007 and wrote something after the anniversary. This year I went to send her an e-mail and it came back. So I went back on legacy and wrote a message there and left my e-mail so incase she remembered me, she could get back in touch.

So I wound up searching through her guestbook on legacy and found a more recent updated post from her mom and rather than waiting I sent a message through there and heard back from her the following day. To my amazement she moved to this area and lives about 5 miles from me. She asked if we could meet at the memorial at church this weekend, but my mom is going out of town and my dad wouldn't go and I gave her my phone #'s and said to get in touch with me.

We got in touch and planned to get together and meet one another. Tonight my parents were gone and for the life of me, I couldn't remember what days she be free this week and I called to see and then just wanted to see if she was free tonight and wanted to get together and it worked out. :)

It almost didn't work-out because a stray dog was hanging out at her house and she was going to take the dog to the Humane Society, but the dog ran-off and so it was back on. Given my since of DIRECTION, at least my street is easy to get to here, or I would be screwed! So she found her way here, and we left and headed to dinner. The Chinese place here wasn't all that great, I couldn't remember where the stupid Italian place in Seven Lakes was, and I was like if we go into town I can find places there! HAH!

So we wound up going to Ruby Tuesday's for dinner. We just talked about various things and I felt so bad for bringing up Deora and 9/11, but curiousity was coming out of me. She spoke at Kent State in Ohio before the anniversay this year and I was like if you speak at Ohio State you will have to let me know. ;) I told her where I grew up in Ohio, I graduated the same year as Deora...and I felt so bad on the way home saying that this coming year would mark 10 years since graduation and 20 years since I met my good friend Annie, and I slapped myself for saying that. I kept thinking I was saying the wrong things, I felt like I was doing that the whole night! So we ate dinner and I felt bad again for her paying for it and I was like lets go for dessert or something and I will pay for that. I am definitely picking up the next bill, next time we go out to dinner or paying for the gas, something! So we had ice cream at Artic Creamery and headed back here after that.

It was funny, I was talking to my mom about all of this and Deborah called and said that the dog was back and she brought her in for the night. She's going to take her to the Humane Society tomorrow....hey anyone in Foxfire Village missing a black lab, I may know where she is! ;) Times like this I wish we were wanting a big dog to be outside, cause I really miss our labs.

To end this....I never imagined this would happen to me, or I would be touch by 9/11 in this matter. I personally believe with my whole heart Deora and the other passenger's and crew stopped the plane from hitting its target in Washington DC and thank you doesn't seem enough. I am proud to say I donated $100 to the 93 memorial and feel honored to have this chance to meet a family member of one the heroes of 9/11. Please help the memorial become complete and donate to the Flight 93 National Memorial. Go to http://www.honorflight93.org/ to learn how to donate and see the design.

Thanks for reading and Thanks Deborah for meeting me. :)

The damage in Ohio...

Here's a picture of a 200-300 year old tree that was toppled over in Columbus during the storm that came through after Hurricane Ike hit. They have been without power since Sunday, my niece hasn't had school since last Friday, and the word is power won't be restored until Sunday! EEKS!

7 years later....

I am sitting here, forgot completely about last week being 7 years since 19 crazy boys (they were not men) took over 4 planes and crashed them in various places and killing 3000 people.

9/11/01 I was in Boulder, Colorado with my family visitng my brother and my now ex sister in law who was pregnant at the time with Gaia. 9/11 was my brother's 25th birthday and to this day I remember joking with my brother growing up that his birthday was 9-1-1 and how cool it was. My mom and I were flying back to Washington DC and were in the air when the attack first began. The pilot came on to inform us that we were being re-directed to Alberta, Canada and it was odd, but he didn't tell us until we got onto the ground what had happened.

When we got into terminal, thats when I saw the 2nd plane hit the World Trade Center and that first image you never will forget. You won't forget what your first thought was when you saw that, and to be honest I didn't know what it meant. Then we heard that the Pentagon was hit by a plane and I looked at my mom and said to call my aunt and find out where my uncle and cousins were in comparison.

You couldn't take your eyes off the TV sets and watching what was happening in NY was just like a dream, nightmare more like it. Watching the twin towers fall, was unreal. I remember visitng 2 years before and being mesmorized by how awesome it was to be so far up in the air. Watching the TVs I never dreamt they would come down the way they did. And between those two, if memory serves me right, you hear about plane #4 crashing in Pennsylvania. Everyone around me was like America is under attack, and being 20 years old I wasn't comprehending what was going on and it was unreal. Even more unreal when the news came about my uncle...

Fastforward to 9/11/08....7 years later....5 memorials later....didn't want to get up and go to the ceremony, but I am glad I did. Trust me after 5 years straight, it got old for me, but this year they unveiled the permanent oudoor memorial to the victims of the Pentagon and Flight 77. 184 benches layed out like the shape (to me, might have been my imagination) of a wing of a Pentagon...and if you know what you are looking at it, you will also see the path Flight 77 took, there's a path and if you look straight ahead from it, it leads to where the plane hit. From the innocence of the children on board to the those who were in the prime of their life, it memorializes those who were taken from earth way too soon. It symbolizes them in life and death.

We mark the times that changed America forever each year on Setember 11th and we will never forget the events of the day, where we were that day and what that day might mean to people. It will always be my brother's birthday, it will always be the last time I saw my ex sister in law pregnant with my niece, be the day we joked that it would've been nice to have hit 2 birds with one stone if my niece was born on her daddy's birthday. There are so many thoughts/memories from that day, that have never gone away.

I don't think they ever will....

Finally posting an update!

There is one of the many pictures I captured of KoKo! We finally went and saw him last weekend! Isn't he cute? He tore into that bag trying to get his presents out of there. Sadie tried to help! ;)

The summer came and went so-so fast! I got a final few days in at the North side pool, and met Karen and Kate over there. :) I finally did something other than a front dive off their high dive...haha! Well thats because they cut the high dive down...so it wasn't as high! :) But yeah nothing really happened over there, minus me getting tangled up in the lifeguard buoy thingy. UGH! Ok I am sorry, when something is around my neck, I start freaking out and its exactly what happened! I tried to get off of me and was bobbing up and down like crazy, wound up in the deep end at the end too, but don't worry I got some help. ;) HAHAHA!

So last weekend we had Tropical Storm Hanna and then Saturday we went to see KoKo! :) Let me just say, he is the cutest cocker puppy! :) He's very very cute! Very indoorsy, doesn't like the heat and outside. (complete 360 of Sadie) Him and Sadie got along great! She took as much as she could before she started growling, but he backed off and started back at each other again. But it was very cute, they got along great! It was the best hour of my life seeing him and getting to see the new love of my aunt and uncle's. :)

So thats been basically it other than the weather being crappy during the week, its been HOT today and suppose to be HOT tomorrow! I am thinking about going to the lake to go swimming, hehehe. :)

Anyways I am off here...

What a day....

There's another picture of KoKo...isn't he cute? How can you not love that face?

I am having too much fun showing off pictures of the new puppy, yes! SORRY!

Well little miss Gaia is now taking on the sport of gymnastics!!!!! :) She had her first class this week and get this its at my old gym and she will probably have my old coach too. ;) I am so excited for her to take it on! hehehe She's older than I was when I started, but she really wanted to do it. And she didn't just like it, she loved it!

So this week the weather has been leaving you guessing what it might do and yesterday and today were good days over all. Sunny and nice! Well today I was down at the pool till 7, had the pool to myself minus the 2 lifeguards. HAHAHA! So on my way home the golf cart started making this weird noise as I was going downhill. So I actually stopped first and let people pass me, and then I got to the bottom and it was still making that weird noise. Not caring I was at the bottom of the hill (where DUH you can't see me) I grabbed my phone and called home and said something was going on, and my dad was like we'll be there in a few. Well I hung up my cell phone and I heard a car coming by and I turned to tell them to keep going, well I looked to my left and there's one of the lifeguards! LOL Morgan was like whats wrong? I was like something is wrong with the golf cart and I said that it was making a weird noise. Well she went ahead of me and pulled off and came to see if there was something she could do, and she's like me don't know a thing about the stupid carts! LOL So she was like I have to get home, but you're ok and not hurt and you got ahold of some one? I was like yes and she left. (yes I know I didn't say thank you...THANKS MORGAN! ;) )

Of course going home, the damn thing didn't make that noise! UGH! But getting home the tires needed air in them and so then my dad took it out and said it was going better, so I drove it and it was alot better than it was before all of this! But ugh this is twice this year its done something funky with me! LOL

Well that was my wonderful day! LOL :p I wanted to post that picture of KoKo, if I can figure out how to get the pics off my phone to my computer I have more of him. :D '

Marci- I'm glad you are feeling better, sweetie! Keep your chin up and things will even out. :D

Cortney

The summer is coming to an end....

There is KoKo (bottom) and Max (top) out shopping. KoKo is my aunt and uncle's new cocker spaniel and Max belongs to my aunt's co-worker's son. They are brothers, KoKo looks so tiny compared to Max, but aren't they cute?!

Wow how quickly the summer has passed. Seems like yesterday I was posting about going to Ohio and now here we are a week from Labor Day! Man this has been one busy summer and it has gone by so fast!

The beach was awesome! We had some great weather while we were there, we had like two storms and that was it, but never a complete wash-out. We went to Ripley's Aquarium, which was really neat. Its small, but it has a lot to see. We spent the mornings out in the water, swam at night and did stuff during the afternoon and ate dinner early in the evening so we could go back and swim or do whatever. I am not big about the beach, but I love going to Myrtle Beach. :)

So we got back from the beach and Gaia wanted to go swimming. It was funny, she was like is my lifeguard friend Megan (Morgan) going to be there? I didn't know for sure and the first thing that came out of her mouth walking up the sidewalk was "MEGAN IS HERE!" I was like who?! LOL Its like at least she has a name for her, LOL! But yeah its funny she claimed that a little girl made her eat a mushroom, which I doubt was true. When I talked to the girl's mom, she said that Gaia made her daughter eat one and its like it probably never happened, who knows.

The Olympics are over and all I can say to that is that the Chinese Gymnastics team were fake! They need to own up to lying about the girls ages and turn over the medals they won. I am tired of hearing about it and it's messed up! The girl that won gold on bars is one of those in question and she didn't deserve the gold medal at all! Don't get me started about that, but I am glad that they are over.

Well I am going to go here. The sun is trying to come out it looks like, we shall see. At least its warm! ;)

Olympics So Far....

This is for Marci....there's Caroline sporting her red white and blue for the USA! ;)

I have been watching the Olympics from the start, but I have to say one thing, I really hope China isn't cheating and putting little girls on their team just because they have talent at a young age. Alot of people thing the gymnastics team (women) is consisted of girls under 15 years old. I believe it too, there is only one girl that is over 15/16 years old. Its not a good way to win a medal by cheating and I hope the truth comes out in some way and that if they did cheat, that they have to turn back over their gold medal.

Congrats to the US Men's Gymnastics team on winning their bronze medal! :) It was well earned and they proved being the underdogs, anything can happen!

I think its a jinx to be the reigning world champions going into the team finals for the US Women. In 2004, we were the reigning champion and still didn't win the gold. We had done so well until we hit balance beam, and there was hope when one of the Chinese fell on the balance beam. I felt so bad for Alicia after she fell on beam and then its like we can redeem ourselves on floor and Alicia fell again. :( I felt so bad for her. Thats all I can say there.

Well I am off here. Packing for the beach trip tomorrow! YAHOO! :o) Can't wait! Have a good weekend everyone! :)

Olympics Start Tonight!

I keep finding some cute pictures from when Gaia was here. I forgot to download or I did and jsut now are seeing these ones. :)

So this time next week I will be in Myrtle Beach and I cannot wait! :o) I think my parents are trying to make it a tradition to end the summer down there. We did that growing up, our final trip of the summer was always to North and South Carolina for a week or more. :) Last year we only went for the weekend and this year we are going for 5 days. Ugh! I can't wait to go! LOL

So Gaia went home last weekend and the crap that has come out of her visit to her mom was all negative and its like what the hell did her mother say to her to get all the bad and nothing good out of the visit?! Seriously?! Some of the stuff that was stuff was so far-fetched and stupid it was ridicolous! I am not going to sit here and waste my breath on it.

So yesterday we had the strangest weather you can imagine. I went swimming at like 2:00 or so and like 30 minutes later it started thundering and continued doing that until I guess 3:30 (cause you can get back in 30 minutes after the last thunder rumble) and I was going to go home at 3:00 I guess, but I stayed up and talked to Natalie about her trip to Myrtle Beach and the rest of Gaia's visit and such like that. So got back in at 4:00 and it was sunny and nice, had cooled off alot. And the day before I had finally got the nerve up to try butterfly the pool length and one of the guards that came on at 4 was like do it then and its like I don't want to. HAH! I am still hesitant about doing it, but unlike years past I am at least trying it this year. ;) HAH! I still look like a drowning dog, but at least I don't feel like I going to drown attempting it! ANYWAYS! Marci be proud of me, I did do it short ways last night! :) Except I don't have the stupid kick down. UGH! First it was my arms and now its my legs. So guess what it did before 5:00 or at 5, THUNDERED!!!!!!!!!! Ugh to that! Got out of the pool and soon after that it started pouring down rain and didn't really stop until 6:00 and I was on the golf cart and couldn't exactly drive home in the pouring down rain. I did get hom eventually! HAH! ;)

So there's this week basically. I am so ready for the Olympics to start tonight. :) GO USA!

To be honest....

THIS WAS A WEEK FROM HELL!
Thats just putting in simply for the most part because 95% of the time Gaia got into trouble with me, wait 99.9% of the time I should say, I got YELLED at for it!
This week was Gaia's week with my parents and this will happen every summer. I can't wait for the year where I will not be here to experience it because of the shit I got this week. Its so not fair that a 6 y/o does something wrong, why does the adult in charge of her get yelled at? I don't get it! It pisses me off!
This week was spent swimming at the pool everyday. She got here on Saturday and is leaving tomorrow. I think one day we were down there from 2-9! Talk about a long day! LOL Well we went at 2 because she wanted to see Natalie and she worked in the morning and that was the only way we could do it. But it was funny on Tuesday, I think it was, Natalie left and they switch shifts at 4 and so 3 new guards came on duty and the next thing I saw was Gaia over with Morgan hanging on her and I was like Oh my God! I was like Gaia did you make sure it was ok to do that, and I walked over and said just tell her to leave you alone if she bugs you too much. LOL It was an instant bond between those two, and Morgan had said she would babysit while she was here and I jokingly said to Gaia do you want to spend time at Morgan's house one day and she goes "Yes! She's the bestest!" LOL So it was drawn out over the next days and she kept saying she wanted to and on Thursday we said well we will call and let you know. :)
So yesterday, I woke up and saw that it was 10:30 and I was like woah, if Gaia wants to still go to Morgan's I have to call. So I called after making sure Gaia still wanted to go, and of course YES! So I called and said I bring her at about 1:00. So between that time we made a volcano, which was was kind of neat even for me! HAHA! So after that Gaia got her bathing suit on and got her little bag packed and off to Morgan's we went. The night before we drove by to see where the house was and Gaia said she tell me when we got close and she goes there it is! Like 2 seconds before I saw it. LOL So we got there probably after 1:00, I am not sure and so I was going to walk her to the front door, but Morgan met us outside in the garage and asked if she had ate lunch and Gaia said no, and said ok well we can do that and said bye to me and that was it. I left and the eerieness of the quiet was what caught me. I went to the pool at 2:00, and Morgan brought her down with her at 4 when she went on duty.
I wished I snapped a picture of those 2 walking up the sidewalk, because Gaia apparently got hungry and they made popcorn and I looked over the fence and saw the two of them walking with a bowl between them, Morgan was on the phone and Gaia was eatting! So so cute! I was even more relieved that she didn't act up and such too. They spent the entire time in the lake trying to catch fish! LOL So Gaia was worn out from the day and came back here early. Which was ok with me. But I did snap a cute picture of them together, eatting that popcorn! HAH!
Then today Gaia has been tired and grumpy and I wasn't going to deal with it, personally. I told my mom if they were going to bring her to the pool they had to sit there with her, OF COURSE THEY DIDN'T! Some one said something rude to me and she laughed at the comment and goes it was funny thats why I laughed and I was like oh you are not doing this to me. So we left just after 4:00 cause I wasn't putting up with it, and I GOT YELLED AT FOR NOT PUTTING UP WITH IT! Ugh whatever. I am done, I am locked in my room for the night.
Anyways....here are some pictures from the week....its about to storm here.

Let the week of fun begin! ;)

Ok there are the 3 remaining tomatos on my plant that have popped up. There is one that just came up, but these 3 plus the 2 that have been picked, which is 5 more than I thought I was going to get! hahaha

Yesterday was ultra weird. We had storms like early on in the afternoon, I got home from work before it began. I got home and was like this is going to be a crappy day full of these. Well it stopped before 4:00 and then I wondered if the pool was going to be open, and it was and there were people down there too. HAH! Don't ask me what time I went, because I can't remember now. :)

So Gaia's week here is fast approaching! :o) She could be here as early as Friday and as late as Sunday. I am thankful at the moment my mom is taking next week off so there is some one extra to help around and keep her entertain. I am off next week and then off one more week in August when we go to the beach. Well this coming week will be spent mostly swimming down at the pool/lake whatever she wants to do. Most likely it will be the pool. HAH! :o) I think we have a trip to Pineville planned to meat my aunt and grandma (???) at the mall there for lunch and maybe to shop. I haven't got a clue at the moment! But I tell you what, Gaia is going to have a choice after we come home to eat dinner, she will either be going back to swim till 9 or watch a movie and no more swimming. I can't do both of these! I will go mad! I am not having a repeat of her spring break, I can tell you that much! hahaha

Well I am off here. I just got home and have some stuff to do around here. Looks like its going to be a nice afternoon! hehehe :)

A new addition is coming!

That is the newest addition to the family coming in 4 weeks!

No not to here, but to my aunt and uncle that lost BJ in March. They are getting this little guy sometime next month when he will be about 8 weeks old. He's a chocolate cocker, but he's so cute!!!!!!!

The name they have picked out, I hope they change. It went from being Darcy Calvin after my grandpa and my uncle's dad. But that changed after my grandpa told my aunt no to that, and so now its Calvin "KoKo." Koko does that not sound like a girl's name! I said Calvin Hershey and my mom said Calvin Snickers, two names we had picked out for our chocolate lab. But whatever, I will be calling this dog KC instead of that if you honestly ask me!

Thats the big news! :)

Had to share this picture!

This picture was snapped of my doggie at my aunt and uncle's house. In the background are BJ's stuffed animals he slept with nightly when he was alive. Isn't Sadie cute?

Carowinds Trip

There's me on Drop Zone at Carowinds! :) Its different from the one at Kings Island....but the same concept. :) If you scroll down you will see the picture of me on the one at Kings Island.

The original plan was for my aunt and I to meet her daughter in law and granddaughter at Carowinds and then we changed the time and so they came here and were going to follow each other to Charlotte. Well my cousin, Kala, wanted us to all ride in one car. Well the plan was that they were going to take their own car and leave before we did, but she wanted to stay the entire time. It worked in the end, because Kala was fine the entire trip and had a great time. :)

Carowinds in located in both North and South Carolina and so it depends where at in the park you are. One of the roller coasters takes you through both states, which is pretty cool. :) So we walked in and the day began.

I knew that this ride called "Nighthawk" would have to be the first thing we went on because the one in Ohio just like it had really long lines and this one already had them when we walked in. So my aunt and I got in line and it was about a 2 hour wait and we stood with these 2 girls and one really didn't want to go on it and I was the same way, because it scared me on the one at Kings Island. So we got up there and low and behold we get to sit in the dead FRONT! Not the back, as it appeared, but the front! I didn't want to ride in the front. I was scared and hesitant about going on it in the first place! The guy that stood where they place you was like, it doesn't matter where you are, everyone looks at the ground the same way. I was like, OH that reassuring! So you get on the ride and strapped in, and then they lay you onto your back. This thing has absolutely nothing to really hold-on to and that was getting to me. Up the hill you knew you were still where it was taking you up and then the noises changed and I was like are we at the top yet? My aunt was like I'm not telling you and it seemed like the next thing I saw was water and we were off! All I saw was water the entire ride! I screamed/laughed/cried you name it! This ride actually scared me! My aunt was like you were crying at the end, and I was like yeah cause I was scared to death!

So we then headed over to the kiddy park so that Kala could go on some of her rides and by the end of that we were all hot and hungry and ready for the water park. We ate lunch and headed to the water park. That was more crowded than the other part, to be honest with you. So after getting changed, I went into Bondi Beach (the new part of the water park) and got wet a bit and then Rachelle and I went on 2 of the water slides. The first one was an inner tube one, and she freaked out because it was completely inclosed. Then we did the body slide one next to it and it was higher up than the other one and it still freaked her and I out both. But about maybe more than 1/2 way down I got flipped onto my stomach and couldn't get turned back around and rode the rest of the way down on my stomach and got banged up! UGH! The luck I have. So Debbie and Kala then did the lazy river while I went to the first aid office and then we got back into our street clothes and headed back to the other part.

Rachelle had this cute top made for her mom and so Debbie and I took Kala over to the kiddy part to let her ride more of her rides. We in that time period did go on "Afterburn" (I went on twice) which is this awesome inverted looping coaster. It used to be called "Top Gun" but this is where they video you on the entire ride. But of course the two times I went on there wasn't really a video for me to see of me on there. Over in the kiddy park, I went on "Fairy Odd Coaster" which is a little coaster for the little kids and I always make a point to go on that one. I never feel too old for it. ;)

We then hit "Vortex" which is a stand-up looping coaster. I got on it the first time by myself and then rode with Rachelle and Debbie. They went together one time and then I went again with them. By the last time, I was done with it. But when Rachelle and I got on, Rachelle couldn't get her seat to go down and so when the seats locked she was about 6-8 inches off the ground. So they got her seat down and then my flew up and then her's did the same thing! Its like my gosh! What's the luck there. ;)

So it was getting toward the end of the day and so we hit the end of the park on the other side. Debbie and I went on "Carolina Cyclone" which was the first coaster to feature 2 loops and 2 corkscrews in the US, or went upside 4 times. It was JERKY, but fun. Then I went on "Drop Zone" which is like the ride at Six Flags that the girl got her feet amputated on. I didn't think twice about it going on, it didn't scare me and its safer now than it was before that accident happened. Then the last ride I went on was called "Ricochet" which is this coaster thats not reall thrilling, but hell it should looks scarier than it is because you hit these tight curves and you feel like you are going to go over the edge! LOL

So we ended the day with dinner at Chick-Fil-A at the park, yes they had one at the park. ;) Kala didn't want to go home, she wanted to stay at the park. I kind of didn't want to leave either, but I was dead tired and sore. My heel has a nice blister from my shoes on it at the moment. LOVELY!

So there was my day at Carowinds. I go back to Seven Lakes on Friday, and guess what is next?! GAIA'S VISIT! Oh my!