Cool like a Bathtub

A Defined Woman

2012-02-07T12:59:00.000-08:00

I had a conversation recently and the subject of how many children I have came up. Interestingly enough, for years we have been the subject of large family discrimination…I know, weird. When it first happened I only had 5 at the time. Now I have 10 so you can imagine what people say now J

That being said, I want to take this time and space to thank my children for all they do to define me. Lots of people go through life trying to figure out who they are and what their purpose is. I have the luxury and honor of not having that burden. My purpose is to be who I am which is my husband’s wife, my children’s mother, and me as a person. I know, some of you cringed when I stated it in those terms. There was a time when I might have too.

When I was young I heard many women say they had lost themselves and now they are just known as “Tom’s wife”, or “Jonnie or Sue’s mother”. They had such disdain in their voice that I swore I would never fall into that pit. Guess what?! I didn’t fall into that pit! I ran gloriously and willingly! What bliss and freedom is to be had when you embrace it.

Again, I see the cringing. Let me explain. I was 16 when I met my husband, 17 when I left Marina Feliz and became Mrs. Orey Crounk. I was 18 when I added the title of Maura’s mom, 20 for Deborah’s mom, 25 for Rebekah’s mom, 26 for Alexander’s mom, 27 for Marina’s mom, 29 for Keith’s mom (even though he and Alexander are the same age, I did not become “mom” to him til he was about 3), 41 for Eric’s mom, 46 for Gabriel and JadaLynn’s mom, 47 for Tristan’s mom. Not to mention the wonderful title of Granna to Juliet, Seth, Breana, Bethanie, Dean, Eli and Abigail.

I love all these titles. They are like badges of honor and glory. I have to ask the question, if I chose to disdain these titles and search for the “real me”, what would I find? Who would I find? Would I be happy or lonely? Would I be caring or selfish? Would I be immoral because I am always searching for that one thing or one person who “completes” me? Hmmm, I wonder…..but not too hard.

The core of the issue is, I would not turn from these titles any more than I would turn from sustenance. These titles define who I am, a life well lived, memories that fill my mind and heart, and a constant reminder of what blessings are placed in my life. I do not try to “find myself” because I am never lost. Attached to each of these titles is a beautiful person whom I love dearly and have a unique relationship individually with. Life doesn’t get much better than that.

So, to my husband, children, and grandchildren, thank you for defining who I am as a person. Thank you for making me important in your life. Thank you for giving me a title to be proud of! I love you!

Do you ever wish you could be something you are not?

2011-09-28T22:42:00.000-07:00

If you answered "no" to that question then I say "you go Girl (or guy)!!". I, on the other hand, cannot answer no. I love my life and it is a good life. I like who I am. Sometimes, I just don't like "how" I am. There are things about me that I wish I could change. Things like how I handle money, or how I have no couth, or how I step on toes and feelings. It's not as if I enjoy doing ridiculous stuff, it just seems to come to me naturally...and I hate it. But yet I do it.

My saving grace is that my family loves me and accepts me. They don't always like me when I do things, and I can't blame them, but they love me because they know it is not something I do to be hurtful. I am grateful for them and for the forgiveness they extend me continously.

Thank you and I love you.

Happy Anniversary!

2011-09-12T08:26:00.000-07:00

Today is my 30th wedding anniversary! Okay, it is Orey's too :) We are not doing anything sectacular today because we have enjoyed an anniversary "season" it seems. The highlight was when the kids threw a surprise anniversary party for us. That was amazing and so very wonderful! Thank you kids for that wonderful gift.

The special thing that I will do today to celebrate 30 years married to a wonderful man who just happens to be my soulmate, it to reflect on the events of all those years. Both bad and good. I will think of our families, our family we created together, the friends we have made and lost throughout the years, the decisions we made in life to get where we are and so forth. That should take the whole week or more :)

If you are reading this then you probably know us and are a part of our history. Thank you for being a part of something so wonderful that my greatest wish is that everyone would be able to experience this.

Here's to another 30 years times a billion or more!!!!!!!

I Can't Imagine

2011-08-19T21:48:00.000-07:00

I can't imagine what it must feel like to have someone come up to you and tell you that you will lose your child. You are not a fit parent and it does not look good. Then hand you the baby to love on for an hour. How does that feel to hold that precious baby in your arms not knowing when the last time you will hold him will be. My heart aches for this mother. I love her and have much compassion for her. At the end of the hour, that someone literally had to remove the baby from your arms because you don't want to let him go. I wonder how different her life would be if she had the life she (and every child) truly deserves. On the other hand, how different my life would be....incomplete.

I pray for blessings of comfort and peace on her. I would like it if you would do the same. She needs the prayers....and the love. I am grateful she loves her children enough to want a better life for them. I am grateful she chose me to be their mother. Thank you L...with all my heart! I love you.

Life is Good!

2011-07-04T10:50:00.001-07:00

There really isn't much more the say than that. Boring, but true.

The conculsion of "Stupid Games".

2011-06-22T22:59:00.000-07:00

Yay! It is DONE! The issue is resolved. They finally took their ball and went home :)

I can's say I am overly pleased with their technique for this outcome but it is much better than what they thought was going to happen. I guess they did not figure they had a strong enough case so they went a different route that helps them save face and does not damage me in any way.

Thanks to those of you who supported me. I really appreciate it. Hopefully, I won't need that support again :)

My Hero

2011-06-01T20:20:00.000-07:00

I will tell you a story about a young woman I know. She happens to work in an area that deals with little kids. She was telling me about a little boy whom she suspected was being abused, in some of the worst ways a little 4 year old can be. She said she kept hearing the other adults say "One more incident and I am turning them in" and stuff like that. Well, something happened that confirmed her suspicions, and yet again, the same old comments from the experienced adults of the group. She had enough. She wanted this baby to be safe and protected so she did what the other adults were afraid to do. She got involved. Suffice it to say the baby is in another home now and seems to be taken care of. She saw him today and he was not filthy and was not starving.

I admire this young lady! Thank you for being an example. That little boy does not know it yet, and my never know it, but you probably saved his life. If not literally, then at least a life from prison and worse. I want to be like you when I grow up.

You are my HERO!!!!

Good Dreams

2011-05-31T05:45:00.000-07:00

I love good dreams. The kind that are vivid and involve emotions. I had one of those last night. It was great! There was dialogue and hugging and I got to see Deborah as well as a bunch of other family members. It was great! Of course, as with most of my dreams, there was some weirdness in there too. It also had (who I think was) Holly Madison in it. Again, Weird. Any who, it was a good one. The only down part...it was in THE house which I hate dreaming about. However, this time it wasn't spooky and I wasn't alone so that seems like a good sign for a change :)

My Reason for Taking Responsibility

2011-05-30T20:29:00.000-07:00

Yet again, I find myself taking responsibility for something I did not do. Recently I was blamed for something that I am not quite sure about. I was told by the person I betrayed that I knew what it was and was given a vague reference. The thing referenced could have spanned many years of information. So, instead of denying I did it, I took the responsibility for it.

"Why?", you might ask. Well let me tell you. I figured, "what the heck", I had already been found guilty of it and was already being punished for it so why bother? Plus, I wasn't asked. I was told that I did it. Why fight a lost battle?

The most important reason, I love my parents and want them to be happy.

However, if my taking responsibility gives the injured person a sense of relief, then I am happy to do it. I care deeply for this person and would not intentionally hurt this person. However, if I have, then I humbly apologize and would gladly, publicly, take the blame to ease her hurt.

Pride is such a small price to pay to make sure others feel good.

That is all I will ever say on this subject.

Still waiting...

2011-05-24T06:47:00.001-07:00

So, my last post talked about the games people play. I just want to update that we are still waiting for some kind of movement to get this taken care of. I spoke to one of the parties involved and she said nothing has been sent over yet. It could be months. MONTHS!!!! I think it is ridiculous that there is not a time limit on this type of thing. One would think so. Oh well. She said not to worry about it.....right.

Anyway, that is the update.

Stupid Games

2011-05-04T07:40:00.000-07:00

Don't you just love it when you become an unwilling player in someone's ridiculous, childish, asanine, stupid game? Then they talk about you behind your back to people. Brother. Sometimes it doesn't matter how far you are out of gradeschool, someone always makes you feel like you are back in 3rd grade with them. Heavy sigh. Only good thing as far as I can see is that usually, what goes around, comes around....eventually.

Hopefully, all will turn out well. We'll see.

What a week!

2011-03-26T08:37:00.000-07:00

What a week! It has been an incredibly emotional week. We brought a new baby into our family. It is on adopted child's biological sibling. As you know, we are already have two other of his siblings we are adopting. The baby was less than 2 days old wehn we brought him home. That was last Wednesday. On Tuesday, I found out that one of my friend's from DMV passed away. He was about a week away from turning 50. Also on Tuesday, my dad went into the hospital because we thought he was having a heart attack. We found out he had more than just that going on. However, he had some surgery and all is better now. On Thursday, I discovered there is a good probability tht we will not be able to keep the baby we picked up. That breaks my heart but that is all part of the process. We have been back and forth to Reno more this last week and a half then I think we have been all of last year :)

I have an amazing support group that I could not have survived this week without. I appreciate Erica for her support of bringing food to my family during this time as well as running errands for me and offering to bring food and companionship to the hospital for me. You are an amazing woman and friend. Suzan, thank you for your love and support. I know I can count on your friedship always. Thank you Orey for making sure I have everything I need to be with my parents and sister and not have to worry about taking care of things at home. You have, and always will be, my rock. Thanks to Deborah, Tyler and Seth for your vigilant prayers for Tata. And also for offering to drive down to be here. Thanks Keithy for offering to drive home to see Gpa and make sure I am fine. Thank you Maura for offering to come down for as long as I needed to help out at the house. I am glad it was not necessary because I know you have been feeling morning sickness (all day long) and you have a busy house yourself. Rebekah and Alexander, than you for coming over to take care of the kids when dad and I could not be there. Marina, thank you so much! Dad and I could not have survived this week without your amazing help. I cannot express how much we appreciate it. From picking up kids, to making sure they were fed, staying up with the baby and so forth. I thnk all of you for your prayers and continuous requests for updates.

Thanks to my mom for the lunch and dinner dates in the hospital cafeteria. Thanks to my sister Maura for remembering that I like cups of ice :)

Oh, and thanks to dad for getting better. That I really appreciate!

I knew I had a blessed life but times like these just reaffirms what the Lord has put in place in my life.

Life Changes

2011-02-11T07:54:00.000-08:00

It is kind of ironic I think that a lot of my children have had friends who have "come out of the closet" to me. Why me? I don't know but I am grateful they trusted me with such a signficant event in their lives. I have had the responsibility of discussing how this will change their lives and some of the stuff, socially and personally, they will go through. One of the main topics they always bring up is that one or more of their parents are (or will) not talk to them. I tryto explain that the parents are going through a greiving process. When our children are brought to us, whether through birth, adoption, or other means; we have a vision of their future, you know, growing up, getting married, having kids, becoming _____, etc, etc;. But now that is not happening. The parents grieve or mourn the future and the child they thought they had. Then they begin to love the person they really to have. I can't say the parents always accept who the new person is because sometimes they cannot diferenciate the difference between the person and the lifestyle. And that is sad really.

I have discovered recently that this type of mourning or grieveing is across the board. It is not just for parents with kids coming out of the closet, it is for any parent who now faces a different future than the one they expected. I have the experience through the mentally handicapped challenges that my children are going through.

When our two youngest came to us we knew at least one of them was diagnosed with a mental and physical disability and we already had his future in mind. We knew our new daughter was probably affected too and somewhat altered what her future would be like too. However, we were not prepared to lump Eric, our 7 year old into that mix. We have had him since he was 3 month old. I already had his future "planned" out. On Tuesday, that ideal came to a crashing halt. that is the day we met with one of only 3 or 4 specialists in the State of Nevada who are trained to diagnose FAS (Fetal Alcohol Syndrome). Eric and out two other children share the same birth mother. During the course of our appointment she talked about how FAS will manifest itself (if not already diagnosed by facial features earlier) between the ages of 7 and 8 on up. She started telling us the classic behaviors of these children who had FAS. I would have sworn she just spent a day with Eric and was descrbing him to a T!!! She hit every nail on the head as far as behavior goes and what to watch for. Then she laid out what is potentially in store for him from this point on. If at 15 he wants to sleep at a friends house we need to ask ourselves if we would let a 7 year old do it. If the answer is no, then don't let him. From this point on, his reasoning age will start staying about half of what his chronological age is. If he wants to go to the movies that we need to sit 3 rows behind him, to make sure his phone number is in all of his clothing so when he is on the school bus and a kid nest to him says something like "you are fun, you should come over" my child with get off the bus with him, stuff like that. It is hard to imagine that he would be like that. I did not plan for that to happen. However, IF he follows the pattern this is what it has the very real potential to be. His body will continue to grow but his decision making skills will be that of a 7 to 10 year old. The doctor also said we will come across criticism in the guise of "parenting techniques" from others. she said we will hear stuff like "you smother that child", 'you need to give him/her space to learn to make decisions", "you need to stop being so controlling or bossy", "you should back off of the kid". She said that we will hear those things but the fact is you cannot do those things because that would be detrimental to your child. Like taking a little kid to the mall and letting him free by himself.

Anyway, Eric does not have a diagnosis yet, we have already started some of the process for assessment and could take up to a year for the full package to be done. However, based on what we have seen and what Dr. Kinman told us, I already know that we will be adjusting our outlook of Eric's future. I need to teach him to live in the world he is comfortable living in, and not the world I expected him to live in. Did I grieve? You betcha! But now I have a whole new future to plan and look forward too! Different from the other one but one just as equally important!

As one final point though, if you know anyone who is pregnant or trying to get pregnant, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE tell them not to drink AT ALL!!! Alcohol is a solvent and the fetus just marinates in the solvent and it destroys so many growth and neuro cells. It does not matter if it is one night of partying or a whole pregnancy of partying. Depending on what is forming at the point is what is being damaged.

Nothing Significant

2011-01-16T19:33:00.000-08:00

This post has nothing significant in it but thought I should update my page.

So far 2011 has not been remarkable in any oustanding way. Just the standard way, which I am totally grateful for.

Today was a good day. I believe today is the first day since the beginning of the year that we have not had any one in the family ill due to flu or other malady of that sort. Alexander was sick because he stayed out and "partied" too much last night. Other than that we didn't have any puking, gagging, coughing (other than standard allergy stuff), diarrhea, crankiness, fever, rust to the urgent care, flooping, or any other of the myriad of things we have been experiencing the last two weeks. It was really nice. I actually got about an hour nap. My family always knows when I am over the line on tiredness because they take one look and I start tearing up or outright crying. That has been my way lately. But, I am good now and life is happy again.

I love my family very much. I forgot what it is like to be the mother of several young people who can't take care of themselves. Funny how a year ago I would just hop in the shower and think nothing of it. Now, I have to get a babysitter (one of the sibs since Orey and I seem to be on separate schedules and hardly see each other) just to take a shower. They are fewer now adays and totally appreciated when they happen! Just thought I would throw that TMI out there for you :)

WEll, in spite of all of that my 2011 is really off to a good start and I do appreciate the blessings that have come my way.

RIP 2010, Welcome 2011

2011-01-01T10:09:00.000-08:00

Dear 2010,

Rest in Peace. You deserve it after working sooo hard. I say good riddance to the bad, thank you to the good, and here's to hope for the future!

2010 brought many wonderful events and people into the Crounk family life. We have truly been blessed and I cannot imagine it being even more so in 2011. However, the Lord has a way of of making me feel like each year that has just passed has been the best to date. I hope the pattern continues.

To you and yours, I hope so many good things happen to you that that you are so tickled pink that it makes you laugh so hard you wet your pants!

Best Christmas Present EVER!!

2010-12-29T07:01:00.001-08:00

Okay, knowing me you are probably expecting some profound, sappy post about some wonderful, emotional present that embodies spirit and happiness. Well, this is not it.

I got plenty of Christmas presents this year like that such as all of my wonderful kids home for an early celebration. However, one of the BEST presents of the season is not even one that was given to me! It was given to Gabriel. He got a little personal "pup" tent that is shaped like a puppy dog. He loves it so much that we put it on his bed for a night to let him sleep in it...for fun. An amazing thing happened, he slept through the whole night AND did not wake up until late morning. We thought it might be a fluke because he had not been feeling well. So, we kept the tent up. Amazingly, this has been the pattern every night since then! I am soooooo excited! For anyone who does not know, Gabriel does not sleep very well and will get up several time during the night and walk around or get his sister up or wake us up. It is a symptom of his disability. So, needless to say, this has truly been wonderful, and the best part is that he seems to be more rested and not so emotional throughout the day.

I would have to say this constitutes as one of the Best Christmas Presents EVER in my book. Now, let's hope the pattern continues :)

Don't leave home without it!!

2010-12-23T21:23:00.000-08:00

Marina and I went to Las Vegas on Monday. I had some stuff at work I needed to take care of so I worked for about 5 or 6 hours and then we headed out. I ran home and unloaded the vehicle because we always have junk..uh, I mean stuff, that needs to be taken out of the cars. I could have sworn that I left my purse in the car because we were going to leave really soon. Well, as luck would have it, I did NOT leave my purse in the car and did not find out until we were about 200 miles away from home when I stopped to get gas. That is when I found out that I was sans purse. Lucky for me, I had filled the tank up before leaving town and had put the ATM card in my coat pocket instead of my purse. However, I did not have any ID with me and we needed to check into a hotel. That would not have been a big deal because Marina and I have the same name, however, you have to be 21 to check in. I also left my cell phone with my purse. This was sooo going down hill. The final problem was that I had to have a hold put on my ATM card that would have normally been put on my credit card....if I had my purse.

It all turned out fine though. We got to LV, I realized I had my Prison employee ID (thank goodness I went to work that morning because I did not plan too) so was able to check in, my parents were in LV so they gave me some emergency money until the hold was taken off my debit card plus a little something for fun, Orey worked his magic and came up with an emergency stash of money for gas for the trip home. Marina and I got to hang out together and enjoy each other's company. We had dinner with my parents, ran into an ex-client of mine who is doing REALLY great right now with a new job and car, and generally had a good time. The weather was awesome too since it was rainy and foggy which is some of my favorite patterns.

Anyway, the moral of the story is to make sure you have what you NEED when you leave on a trip! Either that or have an awesome support system in place :)

When is Christmas exactly?

2010-12-13T21:18:00.000-08:00

Last week we had Christmas! Yepperoo, you heard correctly, we celebrated Christmas on the 5th of December. All of my kids were home for the holiday so we had the Mexican Christmas with a billion kids, generations of family, good friends, lots of tamales and other Mexican food, all wrapped up in a ton of love!

I learned many, many years ago that Christmas is not a day, it is a time. A time for family and love. So over the years I think we have celebrated Christmas on the calendar day just as many times as we have celebrated it on a non-traditional day. However, we always have fun. Of course, Santa always comes in the night of December 24th.

Whatever day you are celebrating the "Reason for the Season", the birth of the Christ Child, I hope your heart is filled with love and hope.

Merry Christmas!

What family am I thankful for?

2010-11-16T19:53:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving is fast approaching and so I give thought to things I am thankful for. Let get the important but standard ones on the table first. If course there is family. I am talking about my parents, husband, kids and sisters. However, I want to go much further than that. I am talking about my cousins whom we grew up with like siblings. Their friendship helped shape my childhood. My grandparents who helped define my heritage and the way I celebrate things. My grandparents for generations past who had no idea that the choices they made would impact me. If my distant grandparents on my dad's side had not fled Mexico then eventually my parents would not have met and had.....me. If my grandmother on my mother's side had chosen to stay in Ireland when her husband died suddenly right before immigrating, again, my parents would not have met and had...me. You see the pattern here? I am grateful for generations of grandparents who loved me even though they did not know me here on earth. I know that I am the link in my descendents lines and I don't know them yet. However, I hope some of the choices I make now will effect them in a positive way years down the road. I mean, shoot, if we would not have moved back to Carson City, Eric would not be a Crounk and neither would his siblings be on their way to becoming (legally) Crounks.

I remember Deborah gave a talk in church one time about her ancestors. I remember listening to it and thinking how much I liked it. I could not tell you right now what the whole talk consisted of but there is one part that impacted me greatly. She said when she looked in the mirror she would wonder where she got her features. Which grandparent (and how far back) did she get her eyebrows from, or the color of her eyes or the shape of her lips or nose. She could look at her parents or grandparents and pretty much figure it out, but her parents and grandparents had to get them from someone too. And then she thanked them because if it weren't for them, she would not look like and be the person she was now (or then). Mind you that was not verbatim but I am sure you got the idea. I did.

So yes, I am thankful for family. I am thankful that all those names on my family tree were actual people who did the best they could and I hope that they are proud of me as their granddaughter no matter how many generations back they go.

The most AMAZING husband EVER!

2010-11-04T11:57:00.000-07:00

I have not been sleeping well for the last several weeks. Don't know why but there it is. Yesterday I came home from work, fed the family and then asked Orey if he would mind if I laid down for a few. The was 5:20pm. He had church meetings at 6:45 and Wednesday is his double shift at work. He asked if I was taking a nap. I told him no, I was probably just going to read for an hour-ish for some "me" time.

The next thing I know it is 3:15am! I asked Orey (in the morning) if he went to his meetings. He said no, he called and told them he would not be at church meetings and then called and got someone else to take his second shift. He said that I did not look well last night and he knew I needed the sleep. He is sooooo good to me!

The Civic Minded Police force of Carson City

2010-10-27T21:19:00.000-07:00

Tonight we were heading to our church building to participate in our annual Halloween Trunk n treat activity. Which by the way was super fun. Maura and the girls (in their cute costumes) cam down, mom and dad where there with their scary decorations (AWESOME), and the kids looked good in their costumes, especially JadaLynn as Yoda and Alexander as Luke Skywalker when he carried Yoda around during training.

Anyway, on our way to the church we have to drive by the high school. Eric pipes up and says "I drive by here every morning on the school bus on my way to school". I said "yep, you sure do". Then he says "sometimes the police officers are out here teaching the high school students. They even show them their guns and everything". Alexander and I looked at each other and worked very hard not to laugh. Then I said "Buddy, that is really nice that our police officers are so civic minded they teach the big kids". He said "yep, it sure is nice of them".

So, the next time you come across one of Carson City's finest, please take a minute to thank them for taking time out of their day to teach the high school students. :~)

Yay for Eric!

2010-10-26T15:00:00.001-07:00

Eric got two awards today!!

One for Citizenship for getting 3's and 4's on his citizenship conduct. He also got an Excellent Attendance award. That one you get when you have not missed, nor been late for, more than 1 or 2 days for the semester.

Yay Eric! We are proud of you!

Abstinance by any other name...

2010-10-21T10:16:00.000-07:00

So, again, as you know, I work in a prison. One of my duties there is to teach a series of classes called "New Beginnings" which is a life skills class. We go ever things such as communication, decision making, goal setting, money management, healthy lifestyles and time management among other things.

Most of the time the Healthy Lifesyle class is broken into 2 parts with me teaching the eating/excercise class. Our infectious disease specialist teaches the diseases portion with includes STD's, TB, HIV/AIDS and so forth. However, my teacher was not available for this class so I got to teach it.

During the class I talked about how to keep from contacting STD's. I went over the importance of condom use and had to state that you must use a laytex condom to reduce the risk of catching one, you cannot use natural condoms because they do not create a barrier against an STD and HIV/AIDS. The I stated "However, abstinance is always the best way to eliminate the risk of contracting an STD because abstinance it the only 100% foolproof way". Now mind you, I have 17 men in this class and they are all over the age of 30. One raises his hand and says "Ms. Crounk, how you spell that? And where do I find those?". I said "What?" So he repeats himself. I looked at him and asked if he was talking about abstinance. He said "Yeah, I need to know where to get those kind because that is the only ones I want since I know I won't get nothin'. Oh, how do you spell it again because I need to get some when I get out". So, I spelled it for him and told him that I thought it was really great that he was going to use abstinance. He says "Oh yeah, I been in here 10 years and I know my woman gots needs so I don't know where she been or with who so I want to use these until we get all tested to make sure we don't have anything". I thought that was a very mature attitude and commended him on it. I also told him that I really believed in what he was saying so I wanted him to make sure that he did not have sex until he found the abstinace condoms. Then and only then, should he feel safe enough to have sex. He says "Yes ma'am, you can believe there ain't nothing happening until I have some of these". All the other inmates in the class were "on board" and really encouraged their classmate not to do anything, that he HAD to use only Abstinace! It was great.

My husband asked me if I let the poor man in on "joke". I said no. I think he is a good candidate for promoting abstinance.

The Blessing of a Rough Start

2010-10-12T14:40:00.000-07:00

Okay, so this morning started out a bit rough. Nothing dramatic just a rough start. I decided that having a rough start is a blessing. I can make a choice to let it go down hill, or I can make the choice to improve it.

If the day started well then I have no choice and I just go with the flow and possibly take it for granted that my day is good. If my day starts out bad and I don't make a choice to improve it then I have a sucky day....and probably everyone around me will too :)

Did my day automatically get better? Absolutely not! Things went awry pretty quickly here at work and some at home. But, I chose to make it a good day. If not for my self, then at least those around me.

By the way, my rough start costed to the tune of $1200 today for a timing belt. The good side, we had the money set aside for Christmas. Gues what everyone gets for Christmas this year? That's right, the opportunity to know we are driving around in our car with the working timing belt. :)

There is always something to be thankful for.

Fall is in the Air!

2010-10-04T11:45:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was on the colder side and was grey and drizzly. Just the way I love it! I had gone to the movies with a good friend of mine Saturday night and we got home around midnight. Then we sat out in the car for an hour and chatted, like we were in high school or something! It was fun. I got up early with the kiddos and then when Orey got up he sent me off for a nap. It was a little before 8 so I figured I had an hour before conference started. Imagine my surprise when I woke up at noon!

I got up and the weather was still drizzly and wet and grey so I did what I like to do in that weather, I baked. I baked french bread for dinner and chocolate chip raisin oatmeal cookies. Alexander said the house smelled like Christmas. I was feeling satisfied inside because this is what I do.

Eric and Gabriel played outside bundled up in sweaters and using umbrellas.

My parents came to dinner and brought a bounteous and beautiful salad which I totally enjoyed (even though I am not supposed to eat salad). I ate a lot of avacados and tomatoes which were really yummy. Then we had apple and peach pie for dessert. JadaLynn enjoyed her spaghetti and definitley had to take a bath. Actually it was her second one in 3 hours. Right before G&G got there, she discovered how fun the toilet water is.....YUCK! Then she discovered impromptu sink baths :)

Three of the kids went walking in the rain, one went to bed early because he had to work in a few hours and the little ones went to bed at 7:30. All in all it was a nice fall evening with a lot of snuggling in under the blankets.

I LOVE THIS TIME OF YEAR!!!

Day of Colors

2010-10-01T12:12:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a day of colors.

Early in the day Marina J and I went on a tour of Herlong Federal Prison through a conference we were attending in Reno. Interesting place. If I every get caught committing a crime, I want it to be labled a federal crime because that was one, nice prison. In Nevada you are not allowed to wear blue in the prison because the prisoner's wear blue. In Herlong, everything was brown and beige. Even the buildings and grounds. Ironically, I did not hear a lot of colorful language which I usually do in that environment.

Yesterday afternoon we were driving by the park on our way to a function. I got to enjoy looking at the trees because they were taking on the fall colors. Very beautiful.

We (mom, dad, Bean and me) went to Red's for the Think Pink breast cancer awareness event. Lot's of pink everywhere! That was fun. On our way in my dad carried my mom's purse for a minute. He had a comment to make about that so I told him not to worry, it matched him perfectly. The purse is black and dark brown. My dad was wearing a black shirt so he was black and dark brown too :)

On our way home from Think Pink, we drove down main street. The Capitol had the pink lights strung up in honor of breast cancer awareness. In case you did not know, the Capitol often color coordinates with whatever awarness event is going on.

After we got home, my sweet and wonderful husband was kind enough to help me cage the skunk! One of the reasons I refused so long to color my hair is because I hate the "skunk" look that starts coming out when my hair starts growing. Everyone said it was not that noticeable and I believe them, but to me I feel like a big fat zit in the middle of my face would be less noticeable (although I would rather not test that theory). So, here we are in our bathroom that is barely big enough to squeeze 2 people in, trying our best to color my roots without making me look worst. I loved seeing my husband in his green non-latex gloves (courtesy of Disneyland and Alexander)with a hair dye paintbrush in his hands, working magic in taming and caging the skunk. I will have you know that he did a really good job!

So that was my colorful day.

Shopping Day

2010-09-01T14:16:00.000-07:00

So, when my Aunt Debbie was up here in July she was sure I needed a new makeover for my new body. I finally relented by saying "you can do whatever you want as long as I don't have to pay for it". Both of them whipped out their calendars (you could actually feel the breeze from the flipping pages) and decided the weekend of August 28th mom and I would travel to San Diego for the makeover.

Well, as luck would have it (sarcastic tone here), medical issues prevented the traveling. So, mom and my sister Maura and I headed of to Reno on Saturday. Maura LeAnn met up with us so we could take her to lunch for her birthday. WE WENT SHOPPING! I had so much fun! I generally do not like to shop but I wound up loving it that day. We got a bunch of new tops and a few skirts for me. As well as the outfit I will wear to the wedding this weekend. I felt really pretty. At Maura LeAnn's urging, I even tried on a daring little number that was not modest and was most definitely something I would not wear in public. Just as well because the price tag on the "little" number was $178! Wow! It did look good though.

Then we went to Red Lobster for lunch. That was yummy! I had a really good time both in activity and in the company I kept.

Thank you to my parents for funding the expedition. Thank you to the company for the the fun I had. Thank you to my husband and kids for "holding down the fort" so I could spend the day out. The only thing that could have made it better was if Aunt Debbie could have participated. All in all, a good day!

My Interior Decorator

2010-08-26T11:53:00.000-07:00

I would like to give a special shout out to my interior decorator...Deborah Andreasen! For you 2 or 3 people who read my blog, if you have enjoyed the visual enhancements that occasionally come my way and surpriseme, it is because Deborah has been taking care of it.

Thanks Deborah.

My Wish for You

2010-08-23T13:33:00.000-07:00

I have the most wonderful spouse in the whole world! He cares for me and loves me above all else save the Lord. I know that my name is safe in his mouth. I know my heart is safe in his love. I know my physical well being and needs are safe in his hands. I know that my family's love is safe in his heart.

He is everything to me. How grateful I am that he is my husband and eternal companion.

My wish for you is that you will know that kind of love and security in your life, if you have not already. Everyone deserves to allow themselves to be the recipient of such a blessing.

LOVE AND KISSES! ALL FROM LITTLE MISSES

2010-08-11T11:28:00.000-07:00

Maura and Brian had a dilema. Open house/meet the new teacher at the kids' school was coming up. They are 2 parents with 3 kindergarteners so Maura asked if I would come represent one of the girls at school.

Yesterday I went to Reno where I had the honor of presenting myself as Bethanie's Grandmother to her teacher. It was an emotional moment for me and it was really sweet. Bethanie was so pleased and grinned ear to ear as I was introduced to her friends and teacher. And she could not stop hugging me and telling me she loves me. A very AWESOME time!

When I got home from the school activity JadaLynn was crawling around so I picked her up and loved on her while talking with her dadddy. She is so cute that I gave her kisses. After I gave her kisses she started making the "kissy" sounds and movements with her lips. So I had to kiss all over her cheeks again. She grabbed my face and turned her mouth and planted her mouth right on my lips. That was AWESOME! I got my first kiss from JadaLynn. A good evening all around.

Perception, a person's reality

2010-08-09T08:04:00.000-07:00

I have a subscription to a magazine called “The Good Old Days”. I really enjoy reading it. It makes one want to live in a time when things were simpler and people were kinder. That is the perception. If you think about it, people are reminiscing about times during WWII, the Korean war, the Vietnam war, before polio vaccines (and vaccines for many other childhood diseases), before civil rights, equal rights and many other less than desirable living situations. Yet, to listen to people talk, they were the best of time. This is perception. Accurate or not, it is their reality.

When I was a little girl there were 2 parents and 4 children living in a two bedroom small house. All of a sudden one day our mattresses were on the floor and there was psychedelic, sheer material covering the alcove where our “bed” was. In both rooms! Remember, this was the late 60’s, early 70’s so it was acceptable. We were excited! This was far out and cool!! That was our perception. The reality (which I found out in my adult life) was that we were so poor our parents had to sell our household stuff to make ends meet. Ahh, good times had by all? Probably not our parents.

The point being is that perception, right or wrong, is in the eye of the beholder. I always tell people there are way more than two sides to a story. Everyone has an opinion on an event or subject. My kids also know that the truth of a matter is what they believe to be true. Not what other people try to convince them is true. There was an incident that happened a little while back which included different perceptions from different people as to what really happened. I was asked why I do not “set the record straight and say what really happened”. Here is the deal, even though my opinion differs from others perception of what happened, it is not for me to tell them they are wrong. In their own mind and world I am sure they believe what they have said/written. I am not going to tell them they are lying. They simply have a different perception/take on the events. Just as they will never convince me I am wrong on how I view the events, I know I would never convince them they are wrong on how they view the events. So, I am busy living my life instead of busy trying to live other people’s lives by controlling their perceptions. Life is too short and I am too busy and I have bigger fish to fry to feed my large and wonderful family.

My daughter, Deborah, and her husband have a saying when they cannot agree on something and do not want to escalate into a spat, they “agree to disagree”. This way they show they respect the other person’s right to have a differing opinion even though they do not agree with it. I love that and have adopted it. I don’t have the need to try to convince others of my view. It is what it is. It is my truth and nothing or no one will change that unless I allow them too. This is my reality!

Thanks for the reason to celebrate!

2010-06-21T11:51:00.000-07:00

Okay, when Orey and I decided to get married, one of the things we never really discussed was family. You know, how many kids, how do we want to raise them, what religion, holiday and other traditions, etc. Part of that was my inability to realize that not everyone was raised the way I was so I assumed we would raise any child(ren) we would have the way I was raised. I also assumed any knowledge I would need to raise said child(ren) would just magically be there.

Here is is, 29 years and 9 children later. Upon reflection, things did not work out the way I assumed they would. How grateful I am for that! I have wonderful children that are all have many of the same qualities and characteristics, yet are so wonderfully unique. They all love the Lord. They might not all always want to do what they know the Lord expects of them, but they love him and that is good. They are all musically inclined. Whether it is singing, playing (or wanting to play) an instrument, or even the gift of just being able to enjoy the music, they all have it. They have rich traditions and personalities that come from both sides of their family lines. They all have a deep, abiding love and respect for other members of the family. Very importantly, they love and respect their parents. What a blessing they are to us, their parents.

I know Mother's and Father's days just passed. I want to send this tribute to my kids with regards to those special days.

Thank you for letting us have the opportunity to be celebrated as your parents! If you had not chosen to be a part of this family, if you had not chosen to love us and to love your siblings, if you had not chosen to be brought or born into the covenant of an eternal family, this posting would not be possible. I love each and every one of you. Even when you think I am unaware of you, I want you to know that you are never away from my heart, my thoughts and my prayers. You are there constantly and I thank you for that. I love you.

I love how the Lord prepares me

2010-03-30T10:10:00.000-07:00

I love the Lord! I love that he can see the Big Picture and prepares us for it.

When our kids are small, we teach them certain things in order to prepare them for what may come in life. Whatever their calling we want them to have the tools needed. Often times, they just learn those things without questioning or realize they are learning something useful or even significant. Later it becomes evident that this skill was learned over a course of time to prepare them for some event in their life, whether it be small or large.

I have come to realize that the Lord is the same way with us "adults". He may prepare a person, a family, a community or whatever for some significant event without the "learnee" (that is my word for the day) realizing the importance until it is put into play. Recently, we have discovered the Lord has been preparing our family for many years for one significant event that will take place soon. How grateful I am to a kind, wise Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ for the many blessing he places before me. The ones that I see, and the ones I should see but do not. What a truly blessed daughter I am!!

Inadequate or Pride, your choice.

2010-02-01T14:04:00.000-08:00

I was at the visiting teaching conference the other day and one of the sisters mentioned that she was grateful for the opportunity to serve in her position even though she felt inadequate and not equal to the task. I realized that I hear that statement a lot and have said it....a lot.

At that second I realized the reason for that. I think when we do not feel equal to the task then we are still humble enough to be taught and to feel the spirit. When we feel we are equal to the task then I think maybe pride has taken over and we are no longer teachable. Maybe that is why we are released just when we feel we are starting to get a handle on things.

Just a thought.

YAY FOR ALEXANDER!

2010-01-25T16:33:00.000-08:00

Well, I have to post this on my blog because I don't want to steal Alexander's thunder on Facebook. Plus, Deborah does not Facebook. Alexander called night last night around 10pm. He was really excited because he had his first audition with Westminster Choir. Apparently, you have to go through a series of auditions but they accepted him after the first one! Way to go Alexander! This is the same group that Keith sings with and he absolutely loves it. Last year they took "World" in the competition in England.

I am very proud of him.

Wow, What a Weekend!

2010-01-22T16:26:00.000-08:00

So, we took Alexander down to Anaheim on Friday. Orey and Alexander picked me up from work and we headed down. As most of you know, Alexander is not a traveler. He gets motion sick (funny he will be working at Disneyland) and has to live on Dramamine and ginger for the course of the trip. Well, this trip was not different and I happened to have 2 Dramamine with me and planned to get more. Poor Alexander was sick from the get go. So what does any good mother do in a case like that? Insist her son eat something so he will feel better.

We got a bout 2/3 of the way there and poor Alexander got violently ill all over the place in the back seat(s) of the car. My heart went out to him. Usually when we travel I have tp, paper towels, garbage bags, etc., but I did not remember to have Orey grab these. So, we happened to have “A” towel. It might have been a Kleenex for all the good it did. There was just too much. We pulled over, Orey helped Alexander clean up, dug out some clean clothes for him, and sent him a little further away from the freeway to change. Alexander had to strip down to his birthday suit and put clean clothes on his poor dirty body. Then, because we did not have any bags, we had to put the pukey stuff in the full trunk and lay a jacket down for Alexander to sit on. We still had about 2 or 3 hours to go before our destination. By the time we got to the hotel, Alexander was soaked through again because he had to sit on wet seat. Then we found out the hotel laundry was closing in 15 minutes and so we could not do laundry until the morning. Alexander was going to meet up with Keith and have a good time. He took a shower, texted Keith and then went to sleep. They decided to meet up the next day.

By the middle of the night, my poor Orey was up puking. Yup, it was not car sickness at all. It was the flu. I left early that morning and found a Walgreen’s and spent about $65 on medicine, Gatorade, cleaning supplies, clothes soap, etc. It took about an hour and a half but I managed to get almost everything out. It still stunk but was much better than it was. I went back to the room, set everyone up with Gatorade and crackers and such. Took out some more of my plastic gloves (laugh if you will, I did not get it) and headed down to do laundry. By the time I got back, Keithy was there. Alexander was still green around the gills but doing better. I guess it is really bad for about 24 hours and then you just feel sort of yucky and have a tender tummy for a few days after. Poor Orey, we had to check out of the hotel at noon but there were no rooms available at our new hotel until 3pm. I felt so bad for Orey. We went over to Disneyland and sat and watched people. We also went on the Small World ride because it was still set up for Christmas. That was amazing! When we were able to check into the hotel he went straight to sleep. He was so wiped from the afternoon.

Sunday we checked Alexander in to his program. We met his roommate, Justin, who is from Las Vegas and is very nice. There are only the two of them in the room so he really lucked out. Orey and I went grocery shopping and apartment set up stuff shopping. I made fudge for them and then we left. We went over to Disneyland for a little while and hung out. Orey was still feeling yucky and I was feeling a bit emotional.

Monday we hung out and then went to the park. We still took it easy because neither of us were 100% yet. It rained like all get out. We had to purchase “slickers”. Orey did manage to get the frozen pineapple whip he likes. Last time he didn’t get to do it because they were always closed. We were soaked by the time we got back to the room.

Tuesday, we watched the weather for a while. Realized we were going to have to buy tire chains for the ride home so we went all over tarnation for those. Apparently, no one really carries chains in SoCal. Go figure. We also bought umbrellas and a wind breaker for me to wear under my coat. We took to boys to lunch at some International Buffet which they seemed to enjoy. Yucky! We headed out. It was raining amazingly hard all morning. Even the umbrellas were not able to repel the amount of water coming down. We went to the park again. There must have been like 10 people in the park. Okay, I am sure more than that but we were all die-hards! We went on the Indiana Jones ride (Orey was feeling better) and if you have been on this ride you know you have to walk, like a mile, to get to the actual ride. Most of it is down these long indoor corridors. Yeah, it was raining so hard that the rain was coming though the ceiling AND we had a river of water rushing past our feet while we were walking. When we were done and headed out, we had to walk in huge puddles that went up past our ankles. We went on the Pirates of the Caribbean after that. We were actually on the ride, INSIDE the building and we had water seeping down on us!! It was insane! They wound up closing most of the rides. None of the outside vendors were open and several of the restaurants closed too. After several hours it started to clear up. Yes, we stayed in that weather for several hours. And we had a nice time walking around.

By Tuesday night we knew we were not going to be able to go home via 395 nor I5. We had to had 4 or 5 hours on our trip and cut over through Las Vegas and then up to Carson City. We left at 4:30 am and got home bout 4:15pm. As we were leaving, the road took us by Alexander’s apt and so I had to cry for a while. I hate leaving my kids behind. I know they are grown men (even though they don’t act like it when they are together) but they are still my little boys.

Oh, and through this, Marina, Rebekah and Juliet all have the flu up in Carson City and so I had to feel like a loser mother because I was not there to help them feel better either.

Well, that pretty much sums up the highlights of the trip. I can assure you there are more little things here and there that I could add…but then I would just be complaining :~)

Glad to be home and that everyone is safe and where they should be!

What if?

2010-01-15T07:43:00.000-08:00

Certain things happen in life that makes you grateful that the “what could have happened” is not what happened. I try to remember that daily in my life. I look at Eric and at Seth and I think, man, how fortunate that they were brought into the family. I look at where they could/would have been if our hearts were not ready to receive such a blessing. How grateful to the Lord for making us ready. I also try to keep there birth families in my thoughts and prayers.

I look at my kids and think “Wow! How grateful I am that they are responsible people who try to do right in their lives”. I know some people say that it is how they are raised. Certainly, there was some influence there surely. However, I know plenty of good parents who struggle with the pain of their children’s choices and behaviors. Orey and I are so very blessed that we have the children we do. Not all their choices are right 100% of the time, but they take responsibility for them and try to do better. I am grateful that they trust me enough to be a part of their lives. I am proud of them. I am thankful they love me. I wonder what my life would have been like without them and it makes me emotionally raw at such a horrible thought. I love that they have never questioned if they are loved by their parents. I am sure there are probably times they have not allowed themselves to feel it, but I trust that they have always known it.

I look at my husband and think “What would my life be like if I had not asked him out?” There were so many times and obstacles that came in to play in our early dating days that would have ended that relationship. I will name a few of them. Orey was in Colorado when I started working at Wendy’s. He was visiting his dad. He was supposed to fly home but decided that Carson City had nothing for him so he would just stay there in Denver. He called the airlines to cancel his flight for later that afternoon but the lines were busy (they did not have internet back then). He fell asleep and when he woke up it was time to go to the airport. Being the responsible person he is, he figured he could not waste money by not using his ticket so he came home. The very next day I met him. He was not popular with many of my family and friends. He did not seem to fit the mold that I dated. I am glad I did not listen to most of the people who told me not to date him. It was not easy for a while. At the time I met him, an old boyfriend who I “loved” very much came back into the picture. He asked me to go out with him but it happened to be the same night that Orey and I were going on our first date. I am ashamed to say I really debated on whether to cancel my date with Orey. I almost did. At the very last minute I heard myself say that I could not but would he contact me the next week. That was the last time I spoke to the old boyfriend. Oh, also, I was dating someone the week before I met Orey. However, my friend Tom was coming in to town and my current boyfriend did not like that I was going to hang out with my friend so he said that we should stop seeing each other for the weekend and I could contact him the following week when I decided what I wanted. Tom came in, we hung out, I went to work on Monday with the intent of calling Roy after work but I met Orey that day when I came in to work. If I were still dating Roy I would never have dated Orey because I did not cheat. Anyway, those are just some of the obstacles and those were just in the first few days. Sometimes I wonder about any of those scenarios and how a different course of action on any of those would have changed my life and where I am at now. I am incredibly grateful that the Lord knew this was the man for me, my eternal companion and the father of my eternal family. What a wonderful man he is. I would not be who I am or where I am without his unconditional love and unwavering support. To say that I love him with all my heart would be an overwhelming understatement!

There are so many other “what if’s” that could be mentioned. The family I was born into, the way my parents raised me, the places we lived, the love they gave me, the friends I associated with (good and bad), and so on.

So, to my Heavenly Father and my brother Jesus Christ, I give my heartfelt gratitude for giving me those things in life with I needed but did not even know it. For loving me enough to bless me so richly with trials, tribulations, love, knowledge, family, friends, experience, and the gospel. I thank Thee.

Tribute to my Aunt and Uncle

2009-12-10T12:50:00.000-08:00

Well, yesterday the world lost a bright and sweet lady. It is my Aunt Chris. Also known as Yvonne. Although, I remember growing up as a child being completely confused by the whole Yvonne/Chris name thing.

Three years ago in November we lost my Uncle Pino. He was a fun loving man who was dedicated to not only his family but ours as well. Actually, his real name is Julian but we always new him as Pino. Again with the name thing :~)

So growing up we had two sets of aunts and uncles on my dad’s side. One was my Uncle Pino (I miss him and think about him often) who was married to my Aunt Diana (my dad’s sister). The other was my Aunt Chris who was married to my Uncle Tudy (my dad’s brother.

My Aunt Diana and Uncle Pino were more like second parents to my sisters and me. Our cousins (their children Marcie, Joey and Dina) were more like siblings than most I think. It seems like almost every weekend my sisters and I would be taken to National City for the weekend where we would stay with our Nana and Tata. Our cousins would come and we would spend the time together. Those were awesome times! I mentioned this to my mom a few years ago how we would go almost every weekend to Nat’l City, but she insisted we were not there as much as I remembered. I guess they were just really important times in my life so they take up a lot of space in my memories.

Uncle Pino could be a gruff person who could scare the pants off of you. But he was a kind and gentle man who loved deeply and dearly. When my dad and Uncle Tudy were off at war/military, it was my uncle who took on the “father” responsibilities for the family. I don’t expect that anyone asked him to do it, but he loved us and wanted to make sure we were okay. I remember when I had the mumps and had to stay and the National City house (I think we were living there at the time). I was so sick and for some reason was home by myself. I heard a truck drive up and the next thing I knew Uncle Pino was there with a plastic, squeezy Snoopy dog. He didn’t say much but I remember he brought it in, felt my forehead, asked if I was okay and then he was gone. Yep, he loved me. It’s funny how when you are a child and you grow up in a family like that, you just expect these people to be in your life and take care of you. You never really think about how they feel about it or how it evolved. All I know is that I am grateful for the bear of a man who loved me as his niece for all my life. He is a tremendous presence in my growing up memories. What a blessing!

Aunt Chris and Uncle Tudy lived their lives a bit differently then we did. I remember they were not in the physical picture as much as my other Aunt and Uncle. This made them special in a different way to me. We would see them on some weekends and on holidays and special days like baptisms and stuff. It was always fun when we got to see them. My cousins (their children Jeff, Jason, Jordon and Justin) were younger than me. Now that is not an issue but when you are little, that is an issue. That and the fact they were boys and were not interested in playing house and school with me. Not like Joey who loved playing school with me and handing out homework any time who could. Hmmm, I wonder if there is a correlation between then and his profession as a teacher now :~) Any, I don’t know if he loved playing school with me but I loved it. Back to the real story, we loved seeing our cousins. It was not an all the time thing so when it happened, we knew it was special.

My Aunt came to live with us in Oceanside when my Uncle Tudy and dad were overseas. Aunt Chris got to watch me when I was in Kindergarten. I remember she and my mom went on the game show “Let’s Make a Deal”. She went as I Dream Of Jeanie. She was perfect in that costume because she looked like Jeanie. She was always a beautiful lady, both inside and out. I remember her family was always involved in outdoor kind of sports. She was really active and seemed to support the men in her family in whatever they chose. She really loved her family. I remember I was at their house one time with my mom. I think some, if not all, of my sisters were there too. I was in the boys’ room playing with their Hot Wheels or Matchbox cars because I was banished from the family like room so the adults could do an activity. Well, being young and bored I wanted to see what was going on with the adults. Aunt Chris had gotten a “hypnosis” record and was playing it. I am sure I ruined the mood when I started laughing. I remember that Aunt Chris seemed to almost always be laughing or had a smile on her face. She was the type of person you just wanted to be around to soak up the positive energy of her existence. I am glad that she loved me and that she was my Aunt. I will miss her but will cherish her existence in my life and memories.

We are all products of our environment, memories, sense of humor, sense of self, and more. We are shaped by those we love and who love us. Next to my parents and my immediate family, I would have to say that my Aunts and Uncles play a huge part in the make-up of ME. I would like to express my gratitude to them for their roles in my life, for helping me to be me. For helping to give me the knowledge that I am a blessed and loved woman and will never want for the warmth of family. My thanks and my love.

Weird!

2009-09-16T12:08:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I had gastric bypass surgery on June 10th. I was going to keep it a secret and then I thought "what the heck? If I do things correctly it isn't like no one will notice" so I tell everyone who asks now. They funny thing is, if I walk out on the yard here at the prison, I have inmates asking me if I am okay because they have noticed that I have lost weight and they are concerned if I am sick or not. I am not sure how to feel about that :~) I don't know if they are concerned because I have lost weight so quickly, or if I just look crappy so they wonder if I am sick. Weird. Actually, I think it is the weight loss thing because one asked if I was doing Jenny Craig. I said no, Jenny Craig is too hard. Haha!

Anyway, I have gone from about 209 lbs in May, down to about 149lbs right now. It is the weirdest thing for me. I shop in the size 10 pants. I don't see myself any different but my clothes, not to mention all the wrinkles on my face (fat is a great botox), tells me that I am different. Mostly, I am off all medication and my blood pressure and cholesterol are normal AND my migraines are gone!! I feel good and that is the fun part. The down part of it all is the fact that I am ALWAYS cold! Unless I eat too much sugar or fat, then I get really hot and yucky. I try to avoid that feeling like the plague!

Well, just wanted to update you all. I know, everyone wants me to post pictures. I will. I will send them to Deborah and she can post them for me. Either that or I can wait until they come for a visit in the next couple of months and she can do it then. I love their annual visits!

Okay, that is all for now.

125lb Barbie? Whatever Floats your Boat

2009-06-02T22:35:00.000-07:00

So, I went to another class today which was AWESOME! Met with the nutritionis and nurse who are monitering my diet. Orey went with me so he can be more involved in my weight loss program. Actually, "more" is not the right word. He is really involved to the point where he calls me at work to see how I am doing both emotionally and physically (empty tummy). Since I have become adjusted to my diet, sometimes I get busy and forget to eat or I get off track and figure I will make it up later. He likes to remind me.

I am down 15 lbs! Actyally it is 14.8 but you figure I was wearing clothes so I am sure that made a difference. Don't laugh! The bigger you are the more fabric your clothes have, the more weight your scale shows. If I were to get undressed I am sure I am a 125lb Barbie or something. That is my story and I am sticking to it!!

Okay, I have to fessy up. I did cheat this week. I went to Pizza Factory and had two small pieces of pizza. I HAD to! I was craving it so bad that I was becoming angry about not having some. I waited for about 4 days before giving in just to make sure I wanted to do it. I thought I would feel really guilty but I did not. It felt good and I got the craving out and all was fine. I did not tell my support person though. Over all I think that I did pretty good. Especially since I usually eat like 5 or 6 pieces with soda to wash them down.

Orey spent the day with me. After our class we went to a park to eat the picnic lunch I packed. That was really nice. A month ago I would have insisted we go out to eat a high fat, high calorie, high sodium lunch at Olive Garden or Red Robin or something like that. Not anymore. I was totally happy with the picnic (Yay tuna, carrots and protien shakes). Then we went to the bookstore and Orey bought me several books (since Deborah will not let me read hers) and a food journal. I love it!

All in all, it was a lovely day and I feel good about myself.

Brother can you spare a dime?

2009-05-26T08:44:00.000-07:00

Okay,

Memorial weekend came and went. Sort of like my new eating habit. I pretty much did not do as well as I would have hoped. However, I did do much better than I would have if I were not trying to eat better. I only gained 1 pound this weekend. I know that sound weird to be okay with that but the alternative could have been like Mothers day weekend where I gained 4 pounds! So, I am happy.

Orey's Uncle Vern came in to town yesterday. He plays baseball and has been coming in around this time for, like, a million years or something. We have a family get together each time and it is fun! I really enjoy it and I hope it keeps going on. However, I don't know how much longer he will be here for the tourneys because he is 72 years old. Still spry though.

The theme of this year's BBQ was "Brother can you spare a dime?". That was fun. Maura made a hillbilly wedding cake out of HO-HO's, Twinkies, chocolate cupcakes and stuff like that. It was awesome!

Anyway, I have to run. I am back on my strict eating habits and Marina and I will start going to the gym these evening. Yay!

Did you just call me FAT?

2009-05-22T12:39:00.000-07:00

Okay, here is the deal….I am fat! No, really it’s true. I have been heavy most of my adult life and have been okay with it for the most part. Sure, I get into moods now and then where I think “you probably should do something about that” but then I tell myself “oh, your fine, your health is good, you’re older, your husband still loves you, etc…..” and I don’t do anything but token efforts. I figured as long as I am a “healthy fat person” I am good!

Well, NO MORE! In the last year I have had a severe decline in my health that can be pretty much controlled or corrected with weight loss and change of eating habits and food choices. So, the fact that I have a family that would like me to stick around, grandchildren I need to see born and grow up, and so forth, I decided to get professional nutritional assistance.

I saw a doctor for my complete check up, and I saw a nutritionist for guidance, and I am attending classes to teach me to be better about what and how I put things in my (and my family’s) mouth. Yeah!!!

So, I have gotten rid of most breads and sugar!!! Super-duper hard! I went through 4 days of headaches when I did that. I don’t want that again. I am learning to cut out most fats like mayo, butter and junk. And, I eat about a ¼ t a ½ of what I used to eat. I think it is still too much sometimes but I will get there.

Anyway, I have lost about 10 pounds in the last 3 weeks. It would have been more but I lost about 5 then put 4 back on during Mother’s day weekend so I had to start over again.

I start at the gym probably next week so that will be fun. Orey and the family have bee a huge support to me. It has gotten to the point where I have limited my eating that Orey will call me to remind me to snack on something healthy. He is so good to me :~)

I just wanted to let you all know so you can follow my progress if you want. I hope to lose about 40 Lbs by September or November. Keep your fingers crossed and wish me luck!

Safe Driving

2009-01-07T15:20:00.001-08:00

I know, it has been an incredibly long time since my last post. So much has happened like a fun Halloween, yummy Thankgiving, Awesome Christmas with all the family, Alexander getting a job at Charlie's, Rebekah dating Aaron, Keith getting an internship at Disney College. I'll have you know that we took Keithy down to Anaheim and I did NOT get to go to Disneyland. The funny thing is that I didn't mind because I know our family trip is coming up in March!

Anyway, back to the reason for the title of this post. Over the years as my kids learned to drive I have tried to give them safety tips (being the paranoid mother I am). Now these are not just the standard "make sure you look both ways" kind of safety tips. These are the big ones that I will do a quick rundown on:

1.) If you are in the middle of nowhere and you see police lights behind you indicating you should pull over - DO NOT! You should continue to drive at a safe speed to the nearest well populated store or gas station or something where there are other people around. If you have a cell phone you should call 911 or whatever emergency phone numbers cells have to see if there is indeed a police officer following you. I would much rather pay Bail then a funeral. I know, seems dramatic but it isn't.

2.) Another is, you should always wear a seat belt. This is especially important if you are ever carjacked or whatever. The reason being is if you have to drive erratically and smash into something, most likely the "bad guy" is not buckeled in and if you hit something he or she wil wind up going through the windshield instead of you. I know, sound hokey and morbid but, I would rather have my insurance pay for damages than a funeral. Seeing the pattern here?

3.) One of the other things that I have mentioned is that if you ever feel you are being followed, NEVER drive into your drive way! That last thing you want to do is let some creep know where you live. Anyway, you should continue to drive and go to the nearest "authorative" place like a police station or fire station or something like that.

A couple of weeks ago Marina was driving home from a function. She noticed a car that was traveling the same way she was so when she got to our house she kept driving. She went around the block and turned up some streets and the other car just kept following her. She drove out of our area and drove over to the fire station about a mile from us. She pulled into the parking lot like she was going to park. The other car followed her and as soon as they saw where she was heading, they took off! How grateful I am that she remembered to do that. How grateful I am that I didn't have to say "if only I would have said something instead of worrying if I sounded stupid".

I love my family and would do anything for them. Including sharing my far-fetched randomness with them. ;~)

Love,
Mom

Taking the 2-word Challenge

2008-10-19T01:01:00.000-07:00

ok, this posting is caused by Maura LeAnn
2 words2 words NO MORE NO LESS can be used... Have fun and try not to use the same answers as the person before you...
1. Where is your cell phone? ..................Charging up
2. Your significant other?..................all mine
3. Your hair? ....................................... needs cutting
4. Your mother?................................ my friend
5. Your father?...................................... handsome Mexican
6. Your favorite thing?.............................living life
7. Your dream last night?........................ postponed indefinitely
8. Your favorite drink? .............................ice water
9. Your dream/goal?.............................Celestial glory
10. The room you're in?.........................living space
11. Your ex?....................................ex what?
12. Your fear?..................................Outer darkness
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years?.........still here
14. Where were you last night?....................band competition
15. What you're not?..................................financially responsible
16. Muffin?.......................................... why, yes!
17. One of your wish list items?........... food storage
18. Where you were born?................. Honolulu, Hawaii
19. The last thing you did?.......................I blinked
20. What are you wearing?.................... not pajamas
21. Your TV?.........................................blessedly off
22. Your pets?........................................ poop factories
23. Your computer? .................................Marina friendly
24. Your life?......................................... absolutely perfect
25. Your mood?...................................craving sleep
26. Missing someone?........................every minute
27. Your car?...........................................runs well
28. Something you're not wearing?................ head band
29. Favorite Store?.....................................super market
30. Your summer?....................................thankfully over
31. Like someone?.....................................of course
32. Your favorite color?......................... changes occasionally
33. Last time you laughed?......................... about Brooklyn
34. Who will re-post this?...........................don't care

Vince Mira

2008-09-16T10:27:00.000-07:00

Hello, this is Deborah. Mom asked me to figure out how to put videos on her blog. It took me two months, but I did it. Enjoy the voice of Johnny Cash.

Jalepeno Poppers or Deadly Weapon,,,hmmmmn

2008-08-03T20:37:00.000-07:00

Friday was the big day for many who read the Twilight series. Parties all over the place with Twilighters dressing up and having deep dark discussions about characters and fighting over who gets the real Edward when/if he ever shows up. Sounds like I know a lot and that I am all over it Huh?! Well, I don't. I don't have a clue who anyone or anything is really. I know about Edward because I get to hear all my girls (and Justin) go on about Edward. We'll see, I might get on the bandwagon and read the books soon.

Well, before the party up at Borders here in Carson, we (Maura, Marina, Rebekah and Justin) decided to go for pizza at Brugo's because we heard good things about them. We ordered yummy pizza and jalapeno poppers and chicken wings. Maura got the poppers put in front of her and asked if I wanted one. I am not big on JP's but I figures "what the hey, why not" so I took one and bit into it. Immediately I was aware that something was not right but what was it? Hmmmm? Oh I know, could it be that it was soooooo sticken hot (not in the spicy way) that it felt like someone squirted the hot oil from the deep fryer into my mouth? Yeah, I think that was it!! Mind you it only took like .00001 second for me to figure it out as my teeth were not even through the popper when I yanked it out of my mouth and dropped it. I instantly went for my water but, again, the damage was done. As a side note, the pizza was really really good. At least what I could taste of it.

I headed for home as I was not going to the "party" at borders. I was afraid that I would have an overwhelming urge to make up a false ending with Edward coming out of the closet and becoming mortal by marrying some guy or something, and then I would yell it out really loud as if I were spoiling the end or something. Somehow the visual I got on that didn't set well with my sense of self-preservation so I decided to skip the party.

I was really tired and went to bed about an hour or so after getting home. Then next morning I unstuck my tongue from the top of my mouth (weird) and realized that something wasn't right. Yeah, I had this bright angry red area at the top right hand side of my mouth, you know, right above my right molars. It starts to bleed as I gently brush around it. So throughout the day I try to baby it. Orey has me swish with warm salt water etc. It is really hard to eat because things keep touching that side of the roof of my mouth. It is amazing how many times you move food around your mouth by sliding it across the roof of your mouth. So last night I go to bed and this morning I wake up thinking my mouth feels better. Surprise!! I was wrong. As soon as I start talking I realize it feels like I am running sandpaper over the burned area. It really is amazing how rough a tongue feels on a burned area. So, now I can't talk and I can't eat. Going without eating was something I was not happy about but could probably afford to do so. However, going without talking?!!!! NO STINKING WAY!!!!! That's it, something needed to be done that's for sure. So, off to the emergency room I go. Actually, the real reason I went is because the burn blistered out and I was afraid that I would either get an infection in it and/or the burn is so close to the roots of the molar that it might cause damage to the tooth.

The person who took care of me at the ER told me that I have second degree burns on the roof of my mouth and she put me on this lidocaine mouthwash stuff and also and antibiotic in case an infection tries to set in. I hope thing get better for work. You know how much I need to talk.

Oh, my take on it is that I think I would have had more fun out of the weekend if I would have yelled out my false ending! Of course, I probably would have pointed to the person next to me just for fun.

Marina the Mom

Cash it in Baby!!!

2008-07-30T21:26:00.000-07:00

Okay, for those of you who have ever heard Johnny Cash sing you know that he has this distinctive sounding voice. I really like his voice. If I remember correctly, my dad really liked Johnny Cash.

Well, I have to say that just last night Orey had me listen to a You Tube video and I was blown away! It practically brought tears to my eyes! Is seems that there is a 15 year old (probably 16 by now) by the name of Vince Mira who sings amazingly like Johnny. I was stunned and I was sure that it was some kind of trick but it looks like he is the real deal folks.

If you are interested you can go to You Tube and put in the name Vince Mira to view a video. I can almost gurantee that if you are a Cash fan you will love this kid.

So, go to You Tube and check it out. Unless of course Deborah (my blog techie) knows how to post the videos to my blog.....hint hint.

Chat with you all later and enjoy the show.

Government Issue

2008-07-29T18:39:00.000-07:00

Okay, so it has been quite some time since I have posted on my blog. to be honest, so much has happened that I thought I would need to write about all the important things in my life that have happened recently and the thought of that just seemed overwhelming. However, some of my children have assured me that I do not need to go back and fill in all the important blanks and that I should just move forward, so here it is.

Okay, so some of you know that back in April I started a new job with the city. I really liked that job but I felt like I was getting paid a pretty penny and not doing enough for it. Previous to getting that position I had applied for a State position with the Department of Corrections (DOC). They had a Program Officer open for the prisoner re-entry program. I applied and then the hiring freeze came out. Then they lifted the freeze long enough that I was able to interview then the freeze was put back on. Well, at the end of June I got a letter informing me that they had selected me for the postion. I started with the DOC on July 14th. I LOVE my job! I am always busy and I have a ton of interaction with the inmates and out in the community.

Anyway, I have to attend 2 weeks worth of correctional officer training (the officers go through 8 weeks total) so I can learn the basics of inmate society and how to function inside without being compromised. Compromised would be inadverdently doing favors for the inmates like delivering notes, calling family members, becoming to to friendly, stuff like that. It seems a simple thing but when you are in that environment you realize how easy it is because you are used to dealing with persons on a basic human level but in the prison you have to act in a manner where you have to assume everyone is lying to you or that they are trying to use you for something. It doesn't sound like a great place but hey, I worked for a section of the DMV that prepared me well for this job :~) As Deborah says, "I digress".

There are about 40 or so of us in this class with all but about 4 of us as correction officers or some other type of law enforcement. About a 3rd of those are military. Two of our instructors are retired military with one being Marine Corp and the other being Navy. They had a friendly bantering back and forth about how the Navy has to pay the Marine Corp because they are their "welfare kids".

We were asked to go around the room and give our name, what our background is and if we have any military service. Most of you are aware that my dad is retired Marine Corp and my husband served in the Army for several years. Military life is not for everyone because it consumes your life but the military says if they wanted you to have a wife they would issue you one. I am a firm believer that if you are a family member (especially a spouse) of someone in the military then you are military too.

So, as we went around the room introducing ourselves several of the people explained how many years they served and which service they were in. I was not going to deny being a part of the military life! When my turn came around I said my name, what my background is and explained that "I am a government issued daughter to the Marine Corp and a government issued wife to the Army". Needless to say, the ones who were in the military and heard the old adage all smiled and nodded.

New "Stretchers"

2008-06-01T07:40:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Eric and I got up early and went shopping at Walmart. Okay, let me rephrase, yesterday Eric got up really, really early and started to make all kinds of noise so I finally got up around 6:30 and decided to take Eric shopping in order to give daddy some sleep time. Out to Walmart we headed at around 7 in the morning because Eric needed a few things like bigger chonies, sock and shoes.

We looked around at all the shoes including Cars, Spiderman, Hulk, Firetrucks and other really cool shoes. Eric passed all of them up and kept saying he needed "stretchers" so he could run faster. I had no idea what "stretchers" were so I just kept picking different shoes to show him. You would think that by now I would be very used to getting indulgent "you're so cute mom" looks from my 4 year olds over the years but I think it is something you never get used to. Finally, I pick up a plain pair of shoes that are white, black and limce green on top and have some green jell like substance in th sole of the shoe followed by a black sole along with black, white and green shoelaces. No charactors of any kind on the shoes. No velcro.

Ah, Success!!! "Mommy, you found my stretchers! Now I can run faster and faster!". "Are you sure buddy? Are you sure you don't want Cars or Spiderman?" I ask. Then I think about what I am saying and realize that not only are these on sale for about 3 or 4 dollars less than the other shoes, they also have shoelaces so we can teach him how to tie. So, with a long suffuring sigh I give in and we get his "stretchers".

We come home and daddy is up (actually daddy was up before we left but we didn't tell Eric that because daddy had a lot of work to do) and Eric shoes him all of his new stuff. Then Eric wants to walk to Aunt Deana's house and show her the new shoes and his new Wall*E dinnerware set he just got. About this time Maura and Juliet show up because we are all supposed to go to Costco for the boofay. Juliet got a new dinnerware set too that has princesses all over them so she wants to show Aunt Deana too. We get there and Juliet and Eric start running all over the back yard. Eric want to show Aunt Deana and Uncle Scott how faster and faster he can go now.

After about 10 minutes it is time to come home. We are walking back home and Eric is telling Juliet that they need to run. So off they go. Eric is running faster because he has "stretchers" on. All of a sudden he biffs it right in front of the house! We have a little meltdown because there is actually blood on not only one knee, but on both knees! After he calms down a little he his pacified by the knowledge that his "stretchers" are very fast, even faster than he is apparently and that is why he fell. He is going to practice his running so he can run as fast as his "stretchers" do.

In case you haven't figured it out (it took me a while) his "stretchers" are supposed to be Sketchers shoes. Apparently one of the boys at daycare has Sketchers and has convinced Eric that he runs fast because of his Sketchers. Ah, the joy of advertising media on our youth. :~)

Love

A 4-year old's Mother's Day gift

2008-05-11T12:42:00.000-07:00

We just got home from church and Eric is just chomping at the bit to give me one of my mother's day gift that he made in Sunbeams at church. He hands me a little folded box made from paper and then stood anxiosly by my side while I opened it. I sat down in the chair and laid the paper box on the desk, then carefully undid the fastening flaps so I would not rip the box.

I opened to box, the flaps and folds laid out flat on the desk and there sitting in the middle were 10 Hershey's kisses and a half eated potato chip. He looked at the booty for a minute, says "Hey, that's my chip", snatches it up and pops it in his mouth. As soon as he is done he looks at me and says "Happy Mother's day mommy, do you like your present?". Marina and I were laughing so hard! I would have to say that it just might be one of the best Mother's Day presents I will probably ever receive from him. What a memory!

Mother's Day is not just for Moms

2008-05-10T21:31:00.000-07:00

Happy Mothers day to all of you! "All of you" you might ask. Yes, to all of you no matter what age and what gender, if you have ever had the opportunity to "mother" another soul. "Mothering" is not about giving birth or even adopting a child.

If you ask anyone what the word "mother" means to them you might get responses such as: loving, feeds me, tucks me in, sings to me, buys my clothes, is there when I need her, listens to me, prays with me, urges me to do the best I can, enjoys my company, is someone I can count on, loves me unconditionally no matter what I do or say, teaches me things, tends to me when I am sick, etc....get the picture?

I say that you if you have ever had the opportunity to be influential in shaping another's life whether it is as a mother, sister, brother, father, friend, teacher, babysitter, aunt, uncle, grandparent, or anything else.....HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!!!

Silent Killer

2008-05-08T20:55:00.001-07:00

Okay, so how many times do we read something about identifying "warning signs" regarding our health and think to ourselves, "wow, I need to remember that in case it ever happens to me"? I know I do. I always think to myself that I will know if I am having a heart attack or something like that because I know what the signs are. After all, I am a very intelligent woman!

So, for the last two months or so I have been really bummed because I have started going through the change of life. I am only 44 but I had THE surgery when I was 29 and the doctor told me not to be too surprised if I started the change in about 10 years. I figured that I lucked our and got 15 years. I have been complaining to Orey that I have been having a lot of migraines lately (menopause), nightly sweats (menopause), eyesight problems (menopause), weight gain (menopause), irritability (menopause -wink, wink), forgetfulness (menopause) and really tired a lot (menopause). Amazing! full blown menopause. Orey keeps telling me to see the doctor but who wants to pay someone to tell you that your body is aging?

I started my new job last week and figured the stress of the last couple of weeks and the new job were causing my migraines to increase. I have been living off of Excedrine Migraine because it is the only thing that helps. Thank goodness for Excedrine with asparine. As a matter of fact, I had the weirdest migraine. Orey and I were in Reno and I was driving (of course). While we were sitting at the light I was watching these cars go by. All of a sudden the cars had this black shadow following them. It was like the old TV shows like the Ed Sullivan shows that are in black and white and sometimes have the shadow/aura thing when the people move around on the set. Anyway, that happened but what was odd is that I felt fine and did not have a headache.

The day before yesterday I was at work and I felt kind of bad. Sort of like when you hang upside down on the monkey bars and all the blood rushed to your head. I work in an area where the public health clinic is so I went over to see if they would take my blood pressure. When I got over there I felt stupid so I went back to my side of the building. Yesterday morning I felt a bit better but it still was not comfortable so I went back over. My blood pressure was really high. She wanted me to go to Urgent Care. I called my doctor instead. Apparently, he did not get the message because he didn't call back. This morning I went back over and the pressure was better but still high. I called my doctor to get a water pill that I used to be on that is also used for high blood pressure. They insisted that I come in. I tell you what, I was really put out about the intrusion of my time!!

My appt time rolled around and I went in. I was even strong enough to carry in that chip which was sitting on my shoulder that reminded me that this was an imposition. I can tell you that I did NOT own my hotel for about an hour or so today! They took my blood pressure and took it again. Uh oh. She told me that she was putting my on two different medications and we will go from there. While she was explaining things to me I could see her talking to me but I could not concentrate on what she was saying. I asked her to repeat. She looked at me and asked if I was okay. I asked her to take my pressure again because I did not feel right. She took my pressure, started shoveling medication into me and then did 2 EKG's on me. Weird. Once we got things under control I asked what was going on and if the menopause was effecting my BP beause usually I have low blood pressure. She said that a lot of women will blame their symptoms on menopause when in fact they are gearing up to have a stroke. Then she proceeded to mention, are you ready for this-headaches, night sweats, vision change, weight change, irritability, forgetfulness or trouble remembering things, tiredness and a few other things. You could have picked my jaw up off the floor. I told her about the incident in Reno while I was driving. She said that was my blood pressure. I told her "yeah, but I felt really good". She said that my blood pressure was dangerously high and that is why my eyesight was doing that. Then she said "That is why it is called the Silent Killer because you do not always recognize the symptoms".

For all you loved ones in my life, don't ever take changes in your body as normal. They might be or they might be trying to let you know something serious is going on. Remember how I said that I did not want to pay someone to tell me that I am getting old? Now I do not mind. At least I am still alive to grow old. I just find it amazing that the Silent Killer was really screaming at me and I didn't even hear it!

Love to you all!

Who Owns the Hotel?

2008-05-07T21:17:00.000-07:00

Okay, for those of you who have known me for a billion years will know what I am talking about when I say that I used to be able to hold a grudge like nobody's business! I could not only hold it but I would nurture it, frame it, place it in a prominent place within my inner being. I would give it a forefront place so that I could access it at any moment and use it to rekindle or fuel any feeling of animosity or feelings of revenge for any action against me whether real or perceived. It's what I thrived on.

One day about 10 or 11 years ago I had to attend one of those boring classes that my work made me go to. I slugged along and decided that as long as I was trapped in the room and since I was late (there's a surprise) and had to sit up front, I might as well pay attention to what was being taught.

The speaker asked me who owned my hotel. Owned my hotel?! Did I own a hotel? Did some rich relative I did not know play kick the can with a bucket and leave me a hotel? No, nothing so grand as that (owning the hotel, not kicking the bucket).

I screwed my courage up and asked the speaker if I owned a hotel. He said "I don't know. Everyone has the potention to own their hotel!" and then proceeded to explain.

We each have ownership of a hotel. Most of the time it is a residential hotel, and most of the time we allow all kinds of miscreants to take up residence for an extended period of time. We oblige our guests by offering them the best and cushiest accomodations available. We feed them constantly to make sure they are healthy and strong. We have them in a place of honor and proudly show them off to whomever will allow us to. It seems like we never have a shortage of people who want to meet our guest. All in all, we treat them to the best of what we have! They in return, keep our hotel in disarray, keep us from our true goals, never stop feeding off of our generosity, never go away, intentionally hurt us and others, make us paranoid, and all around keep our hotel in filth.

Then the speaker asked us, if this was your hotel, would you allow these guest to remain? All of us gave a resounding "NO!". He said "really? Because this is what happens when you do not let go of past issues and wrongs done to you. These are your guests". Then he challenged us by asking "Who owns the hotel? Do you own it or do you just have ownership of it? Who are you going to let check in? Someone you like and want to spend time with or the miscreants who live there now?".

Now, I always ask myself if I own the hotel and I only let in the ones I want to enjoy and make me feel good. I have evicted all the ones who have no respect for me or my hotel! I really like spending time in my hotel. That's not to say occasionally some miscreant takes up residence for a short time but as soon as I realize it's not in my best interest I kick them out! Management has the right to refuse service to anyone. I have that right because I OWN THE HOTEL!

Marina the mom

Things aren't always as they seem...

2008-04-27T13:28:00.000-07:00

Marina and I had the opportunity the other night to go to Reno to watch a DCI (Drum Corp International) performance. On the way home we had to stop at the store to get an item. For whatever reason, I felt it necessary to come all the way in to town and go to the local Safeway instead of something closer like Wal-Mart or Save-Mart. It was about 10:30pm. We drove past the parking lot to Winnie Lane and turned in. It's like making a big U-turn. As we were driving in we slowed down because there was a woman in the middle of the lane. She was weaving when she walked, her pants were all dirty like she had fallen on the street and she had wet herself. As I passed her, Marina made the comment about the lady being drunk. I parked the car and started walking towards this lady. I told Marina that I just have a feeling that this is one of the times that things aren't always as they seem. I called out to the lady and asked "Are you okay?". She stopped and looked at us and said "No, I was just beaten up and raped, I am really confused right now".

I called 911 and Marina chatted with her while I was on the phone. She seemed unable to focus on things except for the accordian folder she had in her hands. She kept trying to hand us her folder and at the same time telling us it was her medical history and what medications she was taking. She also kept saying her name, her social security, her address, and her mother's phone number. She also mentioned (and we could see it) that she had advanced sclerederma (that is a tightening of her skin on her body). She kept putting her poor, twisted hands which were missing parts of the fingers out to us and telling us she was sooo scared that her hands were freezing. I took her hand in mine and tried to gently warm them. She looked at me and said, I want you to know that I am not contagious it is just my disease. I told her I knew that but it would not have mattered anyway. She started to cry.

After a few minutes the police officer came and he took over. Marina and I went into the store when the paramedics showed up. We came out about 10 minutes later and they were still there. The paramedics were trying to get her in the ambulance thingy. Poor Catherine was not budging and was becoming difficult. I looked at her and she had the cornered animal look because there were 4 men standing in a semi-circle trying to coax her and becoming stern with her. I called to her and then stepped forward (I didn't want to surprise the authorities by just walking up because that could be a really bad thing). I took her hands in mine and talked to her and gently pulled her towards the gurney thing they had pulled out for her. Once they got her strapped in and all I knew she was in good hands and Marina and I left.

On the way home Marina shared something with me. She was concerned for Catherine and she was grateful that we had stopped to help. She told me Catherine was trained well. I was confused and asked her what she meant by that comment. Marina commented on the fact that she had all her records with her and Catherine kept repeating her information. I was still confused. So then Marina explained to me that she discovered since working with the mentally challenged children these last two years, they are taught to always carry their medical records and medication or medication information with them. If they are lost or in trouble they are to find someone and tell them their name, address, and a telephone number to call. I didn't have a clue, but Marina knew that we were caring for a mentally challenged woman. Again, how grateful I am that we went that way.

I stopped for a couple of reasons, one is because it was the right thing to do, and two is because I have a huge debt to pay for a good Samaritan who helped my daughter in a time of need. I could not walk away knowing that Shirleen did not walk away or keep driving when she saw some random teenage girl standing on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere (referring to Rebekah's rollover recently). So, does this mean that I have settled my debt and "we're even" now? Not in a million years! After all, aren't we all our brother's keeper?

Change anyone?

2008-04-24T12:14:00.000-07:00

So, most everyone knows that Eric is 4 years old. He really is a thinker and likes to reason things out. As most 4 year olds, one of his most favorite words is "why?'. So, slong with this huge desire to know everything around him also comes the 4 year old perception of what things are.

Eric has a few little piggy banks that he fills with change that he finds around the house or out in the car or wherever. Sometime we drop coins just so he will have the opportunity to find them. I guess it pays to be short. Well, Eric is a man that likes to know what he is worth at any given time and likes others to know too so he will randomly bring out his money and ask if you would like to see it.

The other day Marina and Orey were standing in the living room when Eric came in and asked his daddy if he would like to see his nickels. Orey said "Sure buddy". So Eric reaches down like he is going to pull them out of his pockets but instead lifts up his shirt and says "See daddy, there's my nickels". Orey looked at him and said "those are called nipples and we don't go around showing them to people".

Does any one have any spare change I can have? :~)

The origins of the cool bathtub

2008-04-23T16:19:00.000-07:00

So, you might ask yourself about the title of my blog (or "blogger" if you are my mom). It might go something like this in your head " Hey, 'Cool like a bathtub' is a weird name for a title. I wonder where that came from." Well, funny you should ask and convenient that I am here to tell you :~)

Orey, Marina, Eric and I were driving back from Las Vegas this last Sunday. Eric and Marina were in the back seat and Eric showed something to Marina. She says "Ooh, that is really cool buddy!" He says" Cool is liiiike um.....cool is like bathtub.......cool is like outside." Marina looks at him as he is trying to come up with other comparisons and tells him "okay buddy I got it". So, a few minutes later he shows her something else, she thinks to herself that she is not going to fall into that trap again so she says "Awesome buddy!" Eric looks at her and says "Awesome is liiiike cool....... cool is liiiike bathtub......"

Love you all!

Marina the Mom