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My Spring Break!!

2011-04-30T00:14:00.002-04:00

Wow where has this month gone?? I have been so so busy lately. I am on my last few days of Spring Break and I have been so busy all week long. I have been out and about all week long. On Tuesday, I spent the entire day with my Best Friend Donna and we went shopping, browsing, and just relaxing. We went to lunch at Olive Garden and had a fantastic day. It was so nice to have "me" time and not have to worry about kids, house, husbands, work, or anything for the entire day. It was great. Then on Wednesday I babysat her kids for her while she is studying for her finals to become an RN. It is so much work and I am so Proud of her for accomplishing all that she has done. I know it has not been easy for her. She has 3 small kids and she is the same age as I am and she is back in school for her RN and it is so much work. I don't think I would have been able to do that. but anyway, she has 1 week left and she will be DONE!!! So I have been helping her out. So the rest of this week, I have been in and out of walmart and lowes getting things together to create my very own very first vegetable garden. I have never in my life planted a garden and I have always always wanted to. SO I didn't want to buy a rotter tiller because they are expensive and I don't want a very big garden. So we did the entire thing by hand. With a shovel, hoe, and hands. It was so so so much work. It took us almost 3 days to do it. I had all the boys out there helping me. We have tomatoes, green beans, squash, cucumbers, and watermelon. Those are the things we eat the most of in the summer besides corn on the cob but I think the park would have a problem with us trying to grown corn out here in the trailer park. LOL. So we didn't do that one. SO I had no idea what I was doing but we tried and if it all works out good, we should have a lot of stuff come up by the time summer comes along. I am excited about it.
So besides the garden, I have been busy in the house too, laundry never ends. My niece Kimbirlee is still with me and her boyfriend and so that adds to our laundry and dishes and it just never seems to end. I make everyone wash and dry it, but I LOVE TO FOLD it so I am the only one allowed to fold the laundry around here and sometimes it gets piled up because of being so busy. So I had a lot to folding to do. It is just therapeutic for me to fold fresh clean laundry. I have always loved to fold clothes and do the dishes too. EVERY single time I go anywhere to any one's house I always do the dishes. I know I'm crazy. LOL.
So Monday we go back to school. I miss my kids so much. I miss their little faces and smiles but most of all their HUGS!!! I hope they had a good week off too. When we go back to school we will have about 4 weeks left of school before summer vacation. I am not working this whole summer. I will be only working 3 weeks of summer school as opposed to the whole 6 weeks of our summer school because I am going to Chicago for 12 days and it will cut into the first 2 weeks of summer school.
Anyway, I have not been on here in like almost a month and I was reading my cousin Marleen's page and it has inspired me to just write tonight and get caught up in what I have been doing lately.
But as you can tell it is very very late and I can't believe I am still awake at this time so I am going to bed now and I hope to be able to get on here and write some more tomorrow or some time over this week.

Until then, have a wonderful weekend everyone!!!!!!

Weekend ReCap!!!

2011-04-10T22:08:00.003-04:00

So if you read my last post, I had a HORRIBLE WEEK of Migraines and it was so not good. I just THANK GOD that that is in the past and I have been Migraine Free for the whole weekend long. I totally am back to feeling like my normal self again and back to cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc that never ends. LOL. Yeseterday morning Sam and I went on a date. It was so nice to just ride and be together away from kids, teenagers, house cleaning, and all the other responsibilities that come along with being a parent. We went to see one of our friend, he is selling his car and we thought we might want to buy it for Sam but no it needed too much work and we don't feel like getting something that is going to nickle and dime us to death. Then we decided to just take a long ride, no real destination, (I know gas is crazy why would we want to do that?) We just felt like driving some country roads, looking at the spring blossoming, just talking and riding and enjoying the afternoon. It was so relaxing just to ride and take all kinds of turns onto roads just becuase they looked cool and we never been on them before. It was just like, lets see where this road leads us to. LOL. Yeah we got a little lost, but this is Delaware after all and you can never get lost in DE. We drove around like that for over an hour. It was Great to spend that quality time together and reconnect. Then we ended up in a town about 45 minutes away from us and we went into the walmart there because we never been there before. We walked around, bought a few things we needed for the house, had fun just laughing at things and people we saw doing crazy things. We just were having a good time shopping. AND if you know me and Sam we HATE shopping. But this was different, we were just enjoying ourselves and having fun without kids, stress, or problems. Then we decided to go out to lunch. We went to Friendly's for lunch. Man they have really good food. We don't go there because if we brought the kids it would be way too expensive because they of course would want ice cream after dinner and you all know how much ice cream is at Friendlys. So we had lunch and we DIDN'T have ice cream, we were too full. Then we came home and Sam had to go to sleep cus he worked last night. Today I went to Church and it was AMAZING!!! I absolutly love going to Crossroads Cristian Church. Pastor Wallace really teaches when he preaches. Today's lesson hit home really hard with me. He said "teach your mouth what to say so that what you say you will begin to believe it and it will become the truth. If you can say it and believe it in your heart, you can have it all." In other words, always say positive things. Always believe you are good and good things will happen to you. Like don't say I am poor or I'm broke or I have nothing. Say I am rich, I have more then I have ever had before, I have 3 more dollars then I did yesterday. Or I have 1 penny in my pocket I am not broke. Because if you say those things, you will begin to believe in those things and you will believe that you are no longer poor, you are no longer broke, you have more then you realize that you do. Because God Will ALWAYS PROVIDE what we NEED. If you teach your mouth what to say and you believe it, it will come true!!! This teaching was so so so powerful today. Because going through all that we went through last year, and me begining to think positivly and surrending to God; it all became POSITIVE!!!! And we were never really really broke, we were never really really poor, we HAD WHAT WE NEEDED!!!! WE SURVIVED ON GOD'S LEAD!!! WE HAD EACHOTHER, OUR FAMILY, OUR HEALTH!!! WE HAD MORE THEN WE HAVE EVER HAD BEFORE!!! And Today is living Proof that God does perform miracles. We are so much happier and together and doing wonderful then we have ever ever been in our entire lives. AMAZING!!!!!

Migraines~~what causes them and WHY???

2011-04-08T23:48:00.007-04:00

I don't know if you have been following my facebook page but Dam I have had a Migraine for over 5 days STRAIGHT!! It started out on Sunday night when I was about to go to bed. I was laying down, Sam was at work, I was just about asleep and all of the sudden this Squeezing thing happened in the very base of my head where my neck attaches to my head. Then the squeezing released, then it was this warm kind of oozy type of feeling, then all of the sudden SEVERE Throbbing non stop Throbbing. Ever since then I have had this Unbelievable Migraine Headache ALL WEEK LONG!!! I went to work on Monday, I got sent home because it was so debilitating that I could not function. I went straight to bed. I took my migraine medicine and it only lasted like 4 hours I slept for what felt like All day and all night. Then on Tuesday it was there again when I woke up so I called out of work that day. I made an appointment to see my dr. I took my medicine and slept some more. Then I went to the dr. I told him what happened on Sunday and what has been going on, he said I was having neck spasms, he gave me a muscle relaxer shot and sent me home to rest. The shot lasted about 4 or 5 hours and the migraine came back stronger then ever. By this time, I was just totally exhausted. I couldn't do ANYTHING!!! I felt like I was just breathing. I didn't want to eat, I didn't want to stand, or walk or ANYTHING!!! I basically slept the entire day. Then on Wednesday I went to work because I thought my migraine was gone, I woke up feeling like I can do it and go to work. Well so by the time I got to work, My migraine came back EVEN STRONGER then it did in the past few days. I took my medicine while I was at work and it didn't even touch it. (I have prescription medicine for migraines). I went into the nurses office at work and laid there for a little while and then all of the sudden, my blood pressure like spiked, and I felt like I was going to pass out. I was very off balance, I was totally out of it. They called the ambulance, I went to the ER. They never did any kind of test or anything. They basically said I am having a SEVERE migraine, they hooked me up with an IV with medicine and fluid. Watched me for a few hours and then sent me home to rest. I went home and I slept for what seemed like forever again. By this time, I was totally sick of Migraines!!!! On Thursday morning, I called off work, called into the neurologist and was told to come in at 1:00 that day. So I went back to sleep till about 12. I could not even function. I had Kimi bring me to the neurologists at 1 and they took me right back. Meanwhile I have been taking my migraine medicine like every 4 hours and it has not given me any release at all. SO they took me back into this dark quiet room and the doctor came in talked to me, asked me what has been going on and all. I told him about what happened Sunday night and what has been going on ever since then and he said, did they do an MRI or Cat Scan at the hospital. I said no. He said I am ordering an MRI and Cat Scan right away (he said STAT). He said you may be having an aneurysm or bleeding on the brain or something else I couldn't pronounce. WELL THAT JUST THREW ME OFF MY CHARTS!!! I became SCARED to DEATH!!! So I called my best friend Donna and told her to please come there with me. I didn't know what was going on. So I go back into this dark room and hung out there till they straighted everything out with my insurance and got everything together. SO they took me to do the MRI and Cat Scan, never ever had one done before. Was scared and nervous to death. All said and done about 1 hour later. He comes to get me to go over my results with me. The nerves start like crazy. HE said, everything looks normal (that the good news) and no sign of aneurysm or bleeding or even stroke. So that was good. The bad thing was that it was a "CLUSTER" Migraine. Never heard of that before. But basically he said, somehow I pinched the nerve in my neck on Sunday night and it has caused a cluster of nerves to be inflamed and irrigated and out of wack for this long. If not treated, in a timely manner, could cause permanent damage to neck, nerves, or even brain. OK. So what do I do now, I said. He said I need to give you an IV of different medicines, you need to have some one drive you home and you will be totally out of it for about 6-8 hours. It is like being on anesthesia. I said ok. So he gives me this IV, for about 1/2 hour. Donna brings me home and I don't remember anything at all after that. Sam and Donna got me in the house and I passed out. It was like anesthesia. I slept more and more and more. I didn't even know what day it was when I got up, I didn't even know where the hell I was or how I got there. IT slowly wore off and I felt a little outta of it for the rest of the night and then into this morning. I went to work this morning thinking I can do it and be ok. WELL Wrong!! I got to work, I didn't have a migraine anymore, but I was moving very very very slowly, kind of loopy, and outta of it. Should have never even drove there. They sent me home. Which was not a bad idea cus I was still under the influence of the medicines they put into my IV. SO I got home today about 9:00 and I SLEPT AND SLEPT AND SLEPT some more. When I woke up at around 4:00 tonight I FINALLY for the FIRST time all week, felt like myself again. I did not have a headache anymore. I felt like I was focusing and can move and function again. I was starving, cus I really had not eaten anything in like 3 or 4 days. I drank what seemed like 6 glasses of water and 4 cups of hot tea so far tonight. And I have been on here and on the computer for a good few hours tonight. So I think I am ok now, THANK GOD!!!! I think I am migraine free for now. I hope I don't ever ever ever have to go through that ever again. It was VERY VERY SCARY!!! I have to go back in a month and let him know since yesterday how many more, if any, migraines I have and how long they lasted. I hope for my sake, I don't have anymore at all. Because they are DEBILITATING AND I CAN'T handle being like that ever again. So THANK GOD I am ok!!!!

Ready for Spring!!

2011-04-03T20:32:00.002-04:00

I don't know about you, but I am SO READY FOR SPRING!!! It was so nice outside today. We went to my friend Doris's house for her son's birthday party. We were all outside, kids were all running around the yard playing with air pellet guns, jumping on the trampoline, playing on the swing set, eating BBQ out on the picnic table. IT was such a great day and it was so nice to see all the flowers starting to bloom, the birds out, the sky so blue. I am so tired of the cold dreary weather of winter. I know we need to have the winter and we need to have the different seasons but when we are in them, it feels like we are in them for ever; especially winter. So lets take a moment and look outside and watch the beauty of spring starting to bloom. ESPECIALLY THE TULIPS~~~~MY FAVORITE FLOWERS OF ALL TIME!!!!

And 2 more makes 7

2011-03-31T21:23:00.002-04:00

All her life, I have helped my niece Kimbirlee in every way that she needed help. She has always been like the daughter I never had. And I would continue to help her no matter what happens in her life or what she is going through. Well today is her birthday. She is now 20 years old. And to be quite honest, she should be enjoying these years. These are her prime years of life, enjoyment, fun, almost a legal adult, hanging out with her friends, doing different things that young adults do. But instead she is STRESSED, DEPRESSED, And just has all kinds of problems right now. She should be enjoying her birthday but she is not. I am trying to make it nice for her, but she is in tears right now. You see, she has been basically going from one place to another over the past few months. She really has no place to basically live. She has been staying at friends houses, family's houses, etc. And she is now at my house (temporarily). However, she has come back to live with me this time with a Boyfriend. Don't get me wrong the boyfriend is nice and he is a good guy. BUT he does not have a Job. It is really hard right now for anyone to get a job in our state. Believe me, I know because we just went through it all last year. He is applying to several different place for a job and doing all kinds of things to try and find a job, but jobs are so scarce right now. If they keep it up, something will happen and he will be able to find a job. I know because it happened to us. Well, she and her boyfriend are staying her right now and Lil Sam doesn't like it. He feels like his space has been invaded. They are keeping their clothes and stuff in his closet right now because that is about all the room I have for them to put anything that they have without it being in the middle of the living room floor. So tonight Kimbirlee was about to take a shower and she had to go into Sam's room to get some clothes and stuff. Well, she forgot to knock and lil Sam just got so pissed off (his girlfriend was in there too) they weren't doing anything, it was just the fact that she walked in there without knocking and lil Sam feels like she is invading his space. I don't know what else to do. I can not leave them to live on the streets and they really have no place else to go. So tonight when Kimi walked into Sam's room without knocking, he started just yelling at her, cussing her up and down and it became such a war. They have always been best cousins, but right now it is stressful for both of them and I do not know what to do. He was telling her to get rid of her looser boyfriend, he was saying that she was making bad decisions in her life and all kinds of stuff like that. I told him, she can't help that right now, she has no where else to go, she has nothing and she needs to be here for right now and that he needs to just stop. Well it got crazy and they all left. It is quiet in here right now, but they all need to get along because right now, Kimi has no place else to go. I know I do not need to have "them" staying here, I could tell him to go, but I was young and dumb once and decided that the boy I was with was the best thing since sliced bread and I couldn't be without him either. So I have given both of them an ultimatum. I told Kimi and her bf that they could stay her till the end of April. They have to give me $60 a week (she works), and they have exactly one month for him to find a job and/or show me every single day what he has applied for and what the job hunt looks like. But until then it is crazy in here with 3 teenage boys, 2 very young adults (bf is 22 yrs old) and Sam who has to sleep during the day and work at nights, and me who works days and has meetings, appointments, and different things that I do in the evenings. So it is what it is and I don't know what else to do or say to either one of them right now. I know our house is small, we barely fit in it as it is. And now we have 2 more that makes 7 people living under one roof. But we have to do what we have to do to help her and to live together while we are helping her.

The Feeling of Being Stress FREE!!!

2011-03-27T18:22:00.002-04:00

STRESS~~~~It can Kill! It can Destroy!! It can Cause Damage!! It can Break up Relationships!! It is So EVIL!! IT is the Devil!! It is FEAR!! It is Worry!! It is Heart Ache!! It is Horrible!!! How many times have you been stressful about something, someone, some situation??? How did you feel? What did it do to you?? What did it do to those around you?? I bet all the answers to these questions are all NEGATIVE!!! That's what stress is, Negative, Bad, Hurtful, Etc. In plain English STRESS SUCKS!!!!!!!! I know Many Many Many people have and still do suffer from stress of one sort or another. I know many people deal with stress in many many different ways. And many people come out of it ok and yet others are still "stuck or sucked" into it and don't see a way to get out of it. It is not good. Being in a constant state of stressfulness is such a bad thing for you physically, mentally, emotionally, cognitively, etc. Some people think or believe that they will Never get out of it, they will never become stress free, they will suffer forever. But that is SO NOT TRUE!!! Those who know me, know my family, know my situation~~~knows that we were very very very STRESSFUL, STRESSED Out, DEPRESSED, Etc. We didn't know which way was up, which way was out, which way was go, which way to turn, we didn't know what to do. BUT YOU DO KNOW WHAT TO DO! You Give IT ALL UP TO GOD!!!! About 6 months ago, I could not carry it all myself. I could not bear the weight of our problems on my shoulders anymore. I could not function and keep it together anymore. AND I GAVE IT ALL UP TO GOD!! I have found God again. I Surrendered!!! And the blessings, the love, the strength, the wisdom, the support, the energy, the EVERYTHING that I have gotten since then has been so OVERWHELMING!!! All our needs have been Met. We are Healthy, Healed, and Prosperous!! WE ARE STRESS FREE!!!! And that feeling of Freedom is REMARKABLE!!! The feeling of not worrying about things, bills, money, emotions, everything, is such a Fantastic feeling. The feeling of Happiness, Love for life again, is beyond description. And I have GOD to THANK For ALL OF IT!!!! Don't Doubt God's Ability!!! He Will Prevail!!! He Will Lead!!! He Will Carry!! He Will Support!!! HE WILL!!!!! So if you are stressed, depressed, worried, just don't know which way to turn, which way to go, which end is up~~~LOOK UP & GIVE UP!!! God is Waiting for you!!!!

Where has the week gone?

2011-03-23T21:01:00.002-04:00

As I am sitting here, I can not believe that this week is almost over. Last week it went by so slow and I just could not wait for the weekend. This week is like the total opposite. It is going by so fast and I don't even know why.

Today at work, we had so much fun. We are planning on going to the Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia in May to celebrate the end of the year. Well the cost for us to go to that field trip is $15.00 per person including adults and we all have to pay for that. So we have decided to do a bake sale to help raise funds for our field trip. So we are going to have a bake sale tomorrow at school. Now I work with 3 and 4 year old children who have disabilities. And today we were baking brownies, muffins, and cupcakes. IT was so much fun to have them help us with it. This is the first time we have ever done a project like this. We had them each pour in the ingredients into the bowl. Then we had them each take a turn to stir it with the spoon. Then we hooked up the mixer to a switch so that they can turn it on and off and watch the mixer mix the stuff. You should have seen their faces, watching that mixer and making it go on and off. It was priceless. We realized that they all probably never get the chance to help mom and dad in the kitchen because sometimes it is just easier to do it as adults. Well, look at the enjoyment and the learning that took place today. IT WAS SO FUN as a teacher to see them today. It really makes us LOVE our JOBS EVEN MORE. So we did the baking today and now tomorrow we are going to set up a table in the hallway and sell our stuff and they are all going to be so excited about it. OH and we even made posters to advertise our bake sale. We found pictures of baked things in magazines. We cut them out and they glued them on paper that they colored all different colors on. So they glued pictures any which way they wanted on the papers and then we wrote our info as far as time, date, place, price and things like that. Then they helped us hang the posters in the hall. I don't think they quite understand the whole thing of what we are doing, but I know they are having fun doing it and I know WE are having fun watching them learn and have fun learning. So I wish you all could come down to our school tomorrow and come buy something from our bake sale. IT is going to be a great day tomorrow.

~~Have a Great Day Tomorrow~~

So Glad it is Saturday!!

2011-03-19T15:33:00.003-04:00

I have never been so happy to Say TGIF then I was yesterday. I don't know if it was the time change, the week long conference and training on I was in last week, or the week long of work I had at work this week, or what it was. But last night when I got home, I was so glad it was Friday and I had off for 2 days. Having such a busy life really tends to creep up on me and I just feel so totally exhausted sometimes and I just need to DO NOTHING For a little while. And today is one of these DAYS. I slept in today till 9:30 am and I Never sleep in. Then I got up, ate some frosted mini wheats - yum, then vacuumed the house, dusted, cleaned bathrooms and then I was done for the rest of the day. I put some meatballs in the crockpot for dinner and now I have been on the computer catching up on things that I have not had the chance to do since I got back from DC. And I am not leaving my house till tomorrow morning to go to church. This week I felt like the world was going just way too fast and I just could not keep up with it. I don't know why either. I guess it was being in training all week last week, not sleeping well in the hotel room, the time change, then coming home to going straight back to work, meetings, appointments, and cleaning and all kinds of things. BUT if I didn't have that going on in my life, I would be so dam bored and I would go crazy. So I am not complaining, I just rejoicing in the fact that I am so glad it is Saturday!!!

So in case you don't know, my oldest son Sam is graduating high school this year and he is turning 18 and he has joined the marines. YES I am super excited and super nervous and super proud of him all at the same time. Because of the lack of funds and troubles we have had in our lives over the past few years, Sam and my other two boys have not really had much growing up. And since you only graduate high school once, turn 18 once, and join the marines once--We are going to give Sam a HUGE party for him in June and we are getting super excited about it. It is all coming together nicely. First of all I love to plan big events like this. I love to have parties and I am huge organizer. I guess it runs in the family because my mom likes to do that too. So I have rented a hall to have our party in. I found one for only $100 for the ENTIRE DAY!! That is fantastic because usually when you rent a place it's like $100 or more per hour and you only get it for like 4-5 hours. So I got a great deal on a hall. It is an OLD church, they turned into a public facility to rent out. So it has a lot of antique character, it is beautiful. Then I found a DJ for 5 hours for only $200 for the whole time. That again was a big bargain because DJ's cost anywhere from $50-100 an hour too. So $200 for 5 hours is Great. Then I have a great friend who does Printing and Publishing and he is going to make all of my invitations for FREE! He said he has a TON of paper that he needs to use up and He needs some practice so he is going to make the invitations, place cards, thank you cards, and a guest book for me all for FREE!! So that is cool. Then I have a really great friend and some family members who are going to help with the cooking and the food. So all I have to do is buy the food. Which I know will be expensive but not half as expensive as having it Catered. Then I need to get plates, cups, napkins, forks and stuff like that. And Sam's club will make a huge sheet cake with Sam's picture on it for only $30 and it feeds up to 75 people. Can't beat that. So as you can see, I am really working hard on getting this party together for lil Sam. I really hope everyone we invite can make it there because this is a VERY Special time for him and we are all so so so PROUD OF HIM!!! Details and Invitations will be coming to you all soon. So look for them in the mail.

Next week is going to be so much better. I only have 2 meetings and 1 dr appt, besides going to work. So next week is a little bit of an easier week for me. I shouldn't be so tired next week.

I am still looking into my options to going back to school too, so look for postings on that when I find out what my options are and what I decided to do.

Until then~~~HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND!!!!!!!

Back & Busier then ever

2011-03-16T20:56:00.002-04:00

I have been back from DC since Sunday night and I have been busier then ever. I think the time change has gotten to me too. When I got back on Sunday, I walked into the house and fell right to sleep for like 3 hours. I was so exhausted. Then I got up and had to do a ton of laundry cus you know when you go away you always come home with lots of laundry. So after I did all that and got the house somewhat back together, (cus leaving 4 men home to do house work is not the same as 1 woman)! Then I had to get up super early the next day to go to work and start the week all over again. So I went to work on Monday then had to take lil Sam to the Dentist, then had a meeting at 5, then had to come home to more house work and more laundry. By Tuesday after work, I was so dam exhausted, I just had to go to sleep for a few hours. I have not been sleeping that good at all, especially in the hotel all week long. I don't know why, but when I go away, I really don't sleep well. So I guess it had all caught up with me. But now I am fine and I am back to normal. Working, meetings, appointments, cleaning, and the list goes on and on.

Well, I have been reevaluating my life lately and I have been doing a lot of thinking and soul searching and I think I have decided to go back to school and get my license to be an occupational therapist. I have enough credits right now and all I would need is like 17 more credits to become a teacher. BUT the more I think about it the more I really really don't want to become a teacher. There is just way too much paper work and data work and other work time spent AWAY from the kids and I just do not want to be away from the kids that much. If I become an occupational therapist, I can be with the kids more and on a one on one basis. I can work on their goals and objectives and help them become more independent and the more and more I think about that, that is really what I have been working on for like the past 27 years. So it only makes sense that I become an occupational therapist. So in the next few weeks I am going to look into what is available and where and I am going to start taking the classes that I need to become an occupational therapist. I have been inspired so much by my cousin to go back to school and pursue a dream, something she has been waiting to do ALL her life but was never able to do it, due to reasons beyond her control. And now she is independent and living her life the way she was meant to live it. And she is going to be an author one day and that is what she was always meant to be. So it is never too late to be what you might have been. It is never too late to learn and do fulfill your dreams.

So as my new journey in life begins, I will be giving up some things that are time consuming in my life one at a time, but it will all be worth it in the end. I will still be working with children with disabilities, what I have been placed on this Earth to do, but I will be doing it on a more one on one basis and working towards their independence. So as I start this new chapter in my life, I will keep everyone posted on my journey and I will keep working towards my goals.

Here in Washington DC

2011-03-08T16:53:00.003-05:00

I have been in Washington DC since Sunday afternoon and I must say that I have been having an absolutely fantastic time. I am part of this NEA Leaders for Tomorrow program and Man am I learning so much. IT is so fantastic!!! I can't even sit here an begin to tell everyone how amazing this program is. Unless you are part of NEA, my words can't even give this program justice. But just believe me that this is the Most Amazing Program out there for ESP in the Country. And Anything and everything that I am capable of doing to help this program continue and succeed, I will do without a doubt!!!

I am here till Sunday. We had a few hours off today to be able to sight see around DC and a group of us went to the Library of Congress. OMG if you have never been there, you HAVE to take a trip to DC to see that. It is FULL of RICH HISTORY of our United States of America. It was Wonderful!!!

Anyway, I don't have much time today, I just wanted to update everyone and let you all know what is happening with me for now. As things progress this week, I will be able to put more stuff on here.

I still don't have a camera so if I get pictures sent to my email, I may put some up here.

~~~~Have a great night everyone. Enjoy your Tuesday!!!!~~~~

This Week has ended~~Let the Weekend Begin!!!

2011-03-05T13:36:00.002-05:00

First of all, let me start by saying that I was sick the beginning of this week and although I hate being sick, I was glad I was sick this week and not next week. I had a very bad nasty sinus infection and it was going into my ears and my head. But I got some strong antibiotics and things seem to work themselves out and I am better now. And Thank God because I have a Wonderful week ahead of me and I am so so so so excited about it. I am leaving for DC about 8 am tomorrow morning for a whole week. I won't be home till next Monday. I am going to the National Education Association--Educational Support Professional Conference (NEA ESP Conf). Well you all know I am a Paraprofessional I work as a teacher's aid to children with severe disabilities and I LOVE MY JOB~My Passion in Life~ Well last year, I was chosen by the State of Delaware to be the ESP of the Year in the whole state. What an honor to be chosen and recognized for the JOB YOU LOVE TO DO!! Recognized for the influence I have on my students, recognized for the differences I have made in my student's lives. Recognized for being who I am and what I have been placed on this Earth to do. It is REMARKABLE and I can not put into words what this has done for me, the feelings of others aware of our children are out there and they need all the love and attention and can learn just like any other child in this world, they just learn different things. It is ABSOLUTELY Incredible to have someone realize what I have known for over 27 years and that is Patti Reid was born to teach children with disabilities and she is One of A KIND!!!!!
Well~~~~This week in Washington DC, at the NEA ESP Conference on Friday they are going to choose the ESP of the YEAR for the Country!!! AND I have been NOMINATED FOR THAT AWARD!!!! There are approximately 25 people who do all different kinds of work with in the schools nominated for this. Like some work with kindergarten kids, some work as custodians, some are bus drivers, some work in the lunch room.......basically anyone who is not a teacher is considered an ESP. And every year each state can nominate an ESP of the year from their state to be nominated for the NATIONAL ESP of the YEAR!!! And I have been NOMINATED for that Award!! No one knows who has won this award yet, it is at a banquet dinner that is going to be held on Friday night. It is a total surprise for the people in attendance that night. There are approximately 700 people there that night. So this is an EXTREMELY BIG THING IN MY WORLD!!! And IF I Win~~~OH MY GOSH!!!!! First of all, I would get NATIONAL RECOGNITION for the Job that I LOVE TO DO, I would get invited to travel ALL over the country and speak to people on different things pertaining to my job and my students, I would be invited to MEET some very higher ups in the country, All kinds of things like that AND I WOULD WIN $10,000 IN CASH IN MY POCKET AS A THANK YOU FOR THE JOB YOU DO FOR OUR STUDENTS EVERY DAY!!!!!!! OMG! WOW! I can not get my hopes up and I am not but I am just so excited to just even be PART of that, to be RECOGNIZED for my Passion in Life, to be able to get my name out there, to help show the awareness that our students need and deserve to be treated as equals and they are ABLE to DO things~Just do them differently and do different things then the average child. That is totally why I am so EXCITED about this HONOR!!! It is a chance for our students to have a VOICE!!!! And that Voice is ME!!!
So LET THE WEEKEND BEGIN!!!! Wow, the feelings I am feeling right now is PRIDE, HONOR, THANKFUL, and LOVE for REALIZING MY DESTINY AND THE PURPOSE I HAVE BEEN PLACED ON THE EARTH!!

MAKE YOU OR BREAK YOU!!!!

2011-03-01T17:26:00.002-05:00

Wow I can not believe I have not blogged on here in almost a whole year. We have had such a bad year that I didn't want to do anything at all much less blog about it. But I have been inspired, renewed, rejuvanated, and grown stronger and I want to tell the world all about it. First of all, if anyone knows me, knows that 2010 was the WORST YEAR of our ENTIRE LIFE!!! Sam and I have been together for over 20 years now and we have NEVER EVER been through what we went through last year. To sum it up~~~~It was the WORST YEAR OF OUR LIFE~~~BUT IT TURNED OUT TO BE THE BEST THING WE HAVE EVER GONE THROUGH!!!!!
Sam was unemployed for the entire year. He lost his job because the man who owned the business he was working for, skipped town and left 4 employees hanging. He could not collect unemployment because the could not find the guy. We went on food stamps. I was the only one working. There were NO JOBS at all for Sam to get. The unemployment rate was at it's highest in history throughout the country. I was working full time and I even picked up a second job (taking care of a child with disabilities in her home). I was working my ass off. Plus taking care of the boys, the house, Sam, etc. you name it!! I was running myself raggid!!! I was so stressed out, I was over worked, lacked sleep, became really really depressed, just trying to keep it all together and keep things going. Meanwhile, Sam became so depressed he would not get up. He would not eat, he would not get out of bed, he would not leave the house for NOTHING!! His self esteem was shot!! He felt inadaquate!! He was so stressed that he went almost a whole week without eating, or getting out of bed for nothing!! He got to the point that he wanted to kill himself. He wanted end it all. The bills were pileing up, the money was going quick, the bill collectors were calling, my wages were threatened to be attached, his truck got repoed. He was loosing it and I was loosing it along with him. The more he laid around and did nothing the more I worked and got pissed off about the whole situation. Fighting all the time, leaving all the time, never wanting to come home to this mess. The boys were in the middle of it and they thought we were going to get a divorce, believe me I was heading that way!! Then one day, I decided to GIVE IT ALL UP!!! I parked my van in a park, cried my eyes out, screamed for help, and PRAYED TO GOD to take this all away!!!! I prayed for GOD to HELP ME, HELP US, Take all this away because I could not handle it anymore. They say God does not give you more then you can handle and when you can't handle it anymore, give it back up to GOD and he will carry it for you. So that's what I did. 3 hours parked in my van, by myself with GOD!!! I realized at that moment that Sam NEEDED HELP!! He was not going to get up or do anything anymore without some kind of help. So when I got home, I contacted the suicide hotline, told them all about Sam. Asked them for some help with him and had them come into the house to help him. They came in, talked to him for like 2 hours and talked to us together and from that moment on Sam realized that what he had was a real problem and he had to come out of it or he was going to loose it all including his life. He agreed to get help, see a doctor, get some medicine, and try and get out of the funk he was in. So he started medicine, started to feeling better, started to look for a job again. Started to see some life in him again. THEN he had a STROKE! Wow Talk about a rude awaking!!! HE was in the hospital for 4 days, and thank GOD did not suffer any side effects. Came home and went back to looking for a job again. Within 3 weeks of getting out of the hospital, he was offered a job at a grocery store right up the road from us, within walking distance. He started there part time, over night, unloading trucks, stocking shelves. Stuff like that. The manager said to him after 90 days if you work out and we like you, we will see what we can do about giving you full time. Exactly 11 days later, the manager comes to him says someone had to quit because they were moving out of state and offered Sam Full Time with OVER TIME!! So now Sam is still working there, loving every minute of it. Works more then 40 hours a week, gets at least 8-10 hours a week over time at time and half. He is still taking his medicine and doing better then he has done in years. Those who know him, know what I am talking about.
They say that situations like this can either make you or break you. Well this whole situation that we were in has TOTALLY MADE US STRONGER THEN WE HAVE EVER BEEN IN OUR ENTIRE LIFE!!! We have learned so much, grown so much, appreciated so much, valued so much, and are two totally totally different people because of it. And I have to THANK GOD for EVERYTHING because if it wasn't for him, who knows where we would be today!!!

Leaving Tonight for New Orleans!!!

2010-06-26T20:21:00.002-04:00

I am all packed and ready to go. I am leaving my house at 4:00 am to catch my plane to New Orleans. I am super excited!!! I will be gone for 12 days. So I am going to bed at around 9:00 and getting up at 3:00. I will sleep on the plane.
I will try and keep my posts up while I am out there if I get the chance to get online. I can not promise anything. But I will try.

~~~~HAVE A FANTASTIC 4TH OF JULY EVERYONE~~~~

Off on Fridays!!!

2010-06-25T15:57:00.002-04:00

A person can get used to being off every Friday. It is now summer school and we do not work on Fridays during summer school because it is a way to conserve energy. If they do not have to run the a/c in school for three days, or run the buses on Friday, they think it will save energy and money. So about 2 years ago, we went to working only 4 days a week during summer school. Well I have to admit, I really like having Fridays off. Even though I absolutely love my job, it is nice to have a 3 day weekend all summer long. Today I had a Dr. appointment this morning then I went grocery shopping for the 2 weeks that I will be in New Orleans. I spent a dam fortune on trying to make sure there is enough food in here for all these boys.

So let me tell you what has been going on here with me for the past few weeks. I, we, have been under so much stress lately because of Sam not working again. It has only been my income. And it has been Very very very hard making ends meet. WELL because of the stress and me working non stop for what seems like forever, I was purely EXHAUSTED the other week and I passed out in school and I had to go to the ER. They said that I am pushing by body too much and I need to relax or I am going to end up having a heart attack or a stroke. So I took off of work for three days and the weekend and I shut myself out of the WORLD!!! I needed to just chill and get back into reality. I am pushing myself too much because we need to survive and Sam can't get a job right now. We have been looking every where and for anything and he is being a little too picky about the kind of job he wants. So it has been very stressful. But better things are coming. My Friend called me the other day and one thing led to another and Sam is going to start a new job in July after the fiscal year starts. He will be working at Del State University as a Carpenter for the dorms and apartments they have there on campus. He is going to be temporary for the first 60 days and then if they like him and he works out, then he will become permanent. So I am excited about that because I really really really don't know how much long we can survive like this. I work too dam much and I can not keep us going any longer on just my income alone. Good thing it is summer now, because summer for me is Extra money when I work. So dam straight I am working summer school, minus the time I am in New Orleans, but that is an all EXPENSE paid trip so I don't have to worry about any money for this trip, thank God.

Anyway, I have not updated my weight loss in what seems like forever. I don't even know what the last total was that I posted about. BUT on July 25th it will be exactly 2 years since I have had my surgery and I am doing FANTASTIC!!! There for a little while I was not loosing any more weight at all. I was not gaining either, I was just staying the same for what seemed like 3 or 4 months. I thought I was done loosing weight and I was fine with that. AS long as I maintained that I would have been fine. But in the last month, more weight has been coming off of me and I have lost a total of 176 lbs so far and I can not believe I was even carrying that much around to begin with. I can not believe how better I feel and how much more active I am and how much more clothes fit me. I have to get new clothes frequently because of so much weight loss. But I have some really cool friends that have been giving me clothes so I don't have to buy any. That's good, cus you know I can't afford anything right now for nothing.

When I get some extra money, I have to buy a new camera. I don't have a working camera right now so I have not posted any pictures on here in like forever. Hopefully I can get a picture of me posted on here when it hits my 2 year anniversary.

Well I am getting off here to play on my facebook. I am addicted to my games on there. It is so funny.

~~~~HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND EVERYONE~~~~

Going to NEW ORLEANS!!!!

2010-06-24T21:32:00.002-04:00

I am almost Packed and Ready to Leave!!! LOL. I am leaving on Sunday morning at 4:00 am to catch my flight to New Orleans, Louisiana for the Annual National Education Association Representative Assembly and I am SUPER EXCITED!!!! This is my 3rd year going to the NEA/RA and if you have ever been to it before you know what I am talking about. There will be about 10,000-12,000 people there under the same roof all for the same reason I am there. To vote on all the policies, bylaws, rules, regulations, and business of today's public education. And it is incredible the amount of positive energy there is in the room from all the passionate people who work with our students every single day in our country. IT is one of the most exciting Highlights of my Year as an Educator. I am hooked!! I went to my very first one in Washington DC in 2008 and the EXPERIENCE WAS AMAZING!!!! Something I will never ever forget. SO much Fun, Excitement, Energy, Enthusiasm, Work, and on and on with the adjectives to describe it.
So this year it is in New Orleans. One of the the cities in the United States I have ALWAYS wanted to go to. One because one of their favorite colors is PURPLE (you know the Marti Gras)? Two because of the food I have heard so much about. Three because of the music and the Jazz that is all around that city. I really love music and I think Jazz is so relaxing and smooth and I love to just sit and chill and listen to some jazz music sometimes. So I am really really looking forward to seeing New Orleans for the first time and I am looking forward to all the city and the culture has to offer. I am leaving on Sunday June 27th and I will be back home on Thursday July 8th. So I will be away from Sam and the boys for almost 2 weeks. Man what are they gonna do with out me? LOL. I know one thing, they will EAT everything there is in this house while I am gone. Man these boys have been eating up a storm lately. I guess it is because school is out and they have been home and they are bored.
So besides going to New Orleans, things have been going pretty good around here. We are hoping and praying that Sam can start his job on July 1st. He got a job with the State at Del State University but he can not start till after the fiscal year starts which is on July 1st. So we are not sure if he is starting on July 1st or waiting till that Monday which will be on July 5th. Anyway you look at it, he will be starting his new job in July and boy do we really need him to work again. He has been out of a job again now for about 3 months. So we have been struggling so much again it is ridiculous. So much STRESS it just Plain SUCKS!!!!

Well I am getting off of here now and I will try and post something on here while I am in New Orleans. I can not promise anything though but I will try as long as I have Internet access I will try and post something on here.

~~~HAVE A FANTASTIC WEEKEND~~~

~~~THINK OF ME WHILE I AM ON MY PLANE TO NEW ORLEANS~~~

Starting Fresh!!!!

2010-06-20T10:55:00.002-04:00

Do you know how long it has been since I have posted anything on here? I know it has been like MONTHS!!! This is so unlike me. I don't know what happened. I was thinking that people don't even read my posts or don't even care what is going on with my life anymore, so I just stopped writing about my life. But then I realized that the whole reason I created this blog was to have an escape sort of thing. A place I can go to write down what I am feeling and what is going on in my life, sort of like a "virtual diary" type of thing. So even if no body ever reads what I post on here anymore, at least I have a way to express how I feel and what is going on. So I decided to START FRESH!!! And begin to write in my blog again even if no one ever reads it ever again.

So Let me start by saying that I am doing a lot better now. I have been under so much STRESS lately because of Sam not working again and having absolutely NO MONEY to pay our bills. I have picked up a second job, taking care of a little girl who has disabilities in her home. I work EVERY Night of the week, either I work with her or I have a meeting of some kind that keeps me out of the house, every single night. Well That was taking a REAL BIG toll on me, physically, mentally, emotionally, psychology, you name it; and I LOST IT!!! Last week, I had what I believed was a nervous break down!!! I collapsed from pure EXHAUSTION and I could not function AT ALL!!! I slept for 3 days. I did not go to work, I did not do any house work, I did not talk to Anyone, I did not really eat, I didn't DO A DAM thing for 3 whole days and I think it really scared Sam to death. He was really concerned about me. Since then I have slowed up a lot, went to the Dr to talk to them about getting on some medicine, and I only work 3 days a week at night now instead of 6. My bills are PILING Up but I don't want to kill myself trying to make ends meet, it is not good.

So a good thing happened while I was home for those 3 days. One of my friends called, and I really don't even know why I answered the phone but I did (I really didn't want to talk to anyone) but something told me I should answer the phone when Pam called me. So when I answered the phone she said to me, are you feeling ok, you sound sick. I told her, the only thing that will make me feel better is if Sam can get a job and we can get out of the hole we are in. Well, her boyfriend was sitting next to her, he was on his lunch break from work, one thing led to another and SAM is starting a brand new job with her boyfriend on July 1st. They have to wait till July 1st because of the fiscal year thing. Anyway, he is going to be a carpenter at Delaware State University College. Taking care of all the Dorms and Apartment buildings. There is over 800 units there and they need a carpenter really really bad. So Tony, the boyfriend of my friend Pam, said he is going to hire him definitely and he is going to start on July 1st. MAN JULY 1st could not come soon enough. Sam will be temporary for the first 60 days and then if they like him and he works out, he will become permanent and get benefits and all that. So HOPEFULLY everything works out and things will start looking up and we will be able to get back on our feet again. I will keep you all posted about that.

I am leaving for New Orleans next Sunday and I can not wait for that. I will be gone for 10 days. I can not wait. No laundry, dishes, cooking, cleaning, working, no nothing!!! Yes it will be a conference and I will be in meeting type of things all day and working, but it is a different type of working. So I am so excited about that. Then when I get back after that, I will be home for 10 days and then I will be flying to Minneapolis, Minnesota for a week for another conference. I am super excited about that one because I got chosen for this training and only 20 people in the whole UNITED STATES got chosen for this and I am one of those 20 people. So I will be doing a lot of traveling this summer along with working summer school. SO I will be very very busy in the next 2 months but Hopefully with Sam starting working and things gonna get better, we should be alright again.

Today is Tyler's Birthday!!!! My BABY BOY is now 12 years old. Can you believe that he is almost a teenager now? I can't believe I have 3 teenage boys now. Wow where has the time gone? Yesterday was Lil Sam's Birthday and he is 17!!! Talk about feeling OLD. My boys are such great kids. All three of them got their end of the year report cards and all three of them are on the honor roll and all three of them passed and are doing wonderful. Sam will be a SENIOR in High School next year can you believe that? Cody will be a Freshman in high school and Tyler will be in 7th grade. So they are all doing Fantastic. They are not doing anything this summer at all except saying home chilling because we have NO money for them to do anything. Lil Sam is looking for a job for this summer but they are really hard to come by around here. But he is still looking every day. He wants to work so he can try and get a car of his own. Maybe one day something will come up and he will find a job.

Well I said I was starting Fresh and since then I think I have written a book so I better get off of here now and leave some more news for tomorrow.

HAVE A WONDERFUL FATHER'S DAY EVERYONE!!!

ENJOY YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS!!!!

NC was not all that it was supposed to be!!!

2010-04-09T21:28:00.003-04:00

I was so looking forward to my visit to NC. Being able to see my cousin Marleen. Being able to spend time with my Gram and all my cousins and aunts and uncles that live down there. At first it was good. We got to go to a bbq at my cousin Frankie's house and got to see everyone then. But then after that, we never got to see anyone else the whole time we were down there. They all had to work and had their own lives to live. SO it was kind of boring there. We did get the chance to go to the park and hang out with my cousin Bobby's kids for the day. I think me and Marleen made their day very special that day.
Most of the week there, it was so DAM HOT!!! I could not believe how hot it got so fast. It was in the 90's all week and it is only the first week of April. And to top it all off, the pollen in the air was OUTRAGEOUS!!!! It was so thick and crazy. My cousin Marleen has allergies so bad to the pollen and many times while we were down there, she could not breath. And to make matters worse, were we were visiting, they didn't even want to turn the AC on. SO if you can imagine, hot, humid, 90* weather, pollen flying like crazy and no AC. It was miserable.
I stayed at My Gram's house the whole week long and Let me tell you, I love her to death but I could not wait to leave there. She doesn't get the chance to have company too often so when she does, it like we get the life sucked right out of us. She needs so much done around the house because she can't do it all by herself and so she always had me doing something or other. And I was supposed to be on vacation. Not there to work the whole time. But I got over it. I came home on Thursday, a day earlier then I was expected to, but I just had to get away from it all. There was just way too much DRAMA there. And so much Negativity. I really am upset that my Cousin Marleen could not come here with me. I really hope she is ok and does what she feels is right in her heart. I just want her to know that I LOVE her with my whole heart and I will always be there for her if she needs me.
I do not think I will be going back to NC any time soon. If I do, it will only be for like 3 or 4 days not a whole week. It was way too long. And I miss my boys and Sam way too much.

~~~~PLEASE REMEMBER TO STAY POSITIVE AND DON'T TALK ABOUT PEOPLE~~~~

~~~~WORDS SURE DO HURT SOMETIMES~~~~

Hello From NC!!!!

2010-04-03T15:34:00.002-04:00

I am having such a Great time here in NC. I am here visiting my whole Family. Staying here with my Gram. I have been planning this forever!!! I am so glad I had the chance to get down here. My cousin Marleen is here with me too. I am getting to see all my Aunts and Uncles and Cousins that live down here. I love it down here. I don't get the chance to come down here that often but when I do, I make the most out of my time here.
Tonight we are all going over to my cousin Frankie's house for a BBQ!! That is going to be fun. I have not seen everyone in a long time. This week is going to be great being able to see everyone.
Well I am getting off of here.

~~~~~EVERYONE HAVE A WONDERFUL EASTER SUNDAY~~~~~

~~~~~ENJOY YOUR FAMILY & FRIENDS!!!!~~~~~

Another Miracle

2010-03-25T21:33:00.002-04:00

I am definitely going to go to Church this Sunday. I have to!!! We have been so blessed in the past few days. Things are finally starting to really look up for us. And we are finally starting to see the light at the end of our VERY LONG DARK Tunnel we have been in.
Well, you know that Sam got a job, I told you about that. He started it on Wednesday, and he is already getting is first pay check this coming Friday. So that is really cool.
Since the other night, when I wrote that last post, some MORE things have been happening in our lives. First of all, there is a 1 on 1 nurse for one of my students at school and she runs a Food and Clothing Closet out of her house. She invited us to come to her house this weekend and get STOCKED up on Food, Clothing, and Supplies All for Free and she said bring plenty of strong men because she will FILL OUR HOUSE UP!!!! I was in tears when she told me that. She has lots and lots of food that she gets from Food Lion and Safeway and the Government. And she has bathroom supplies and cloths for all different ages, men, women, and kids. So that is a blessing right there, that she is going to be able to help our family out like that.
Another thing that happened is, last month Lil Sam was involved in a State wide competition for his Shop that he is in at High School. He goes to Polytech High School. He is a Junior. He is in the Carpentry Shop learning both indoor and outdoor carpentry. Well, last month he was in a competition among all the other technical high schools in the state, it was a competition about building something (obviously). Well anyway, he came in Second place in the state in his category and last night was the awards ceremony where he not only got a Silver Metal for it, HE Won a $1,500 Scholarship to College. Can you believe that? I was so proud of him. He was so excited. He said he wants to go to college to learn how to be a master carpenter. I think he will go too, he really likes carpentry and let me tell you, he can build some really incredible things. And he was the only Junior in his whole shop to compete, it is usually a competition for Seniors only, but his teacher said he is the best he has seen in a long time and wanted him to compete with the Seniors. So isn't that COOL!!!! We are so proud of him!!!
AND if all this hasn't been a blessing and a great week for us. I have some more very exciting news to share. I got another Job. You all know that I take care of children with disabilities. Well one of my friends has a niece who is 12 years old and she is totally in a wheelchair and has severe Cerebral Palsy. Well her mom is in need of a personal assistant a couple nights a week to help her out at home. Her dad works nights and the little girl is getting pretty tall and heavy for her mom to care for her by herself. So she needs someone to help her out with like giving her a bath, getting her ready for bed, and that kind of things. It will be about 3 nights a week for like 3 hours a night and because I have so much experience with working with children with Disabilities, she is STARTING me at $15.00 an hour. She says as time goes on and we all get comfortable with each other, there is definitely chances to make more money and even bonuses. I could not believe that when she told me how much I would be making for part time work. It works out to be about 12 hours a week. Isn't that Cool!!! I am so excited about that because it is doing exactly what I love to Do and I love it!!!!! So this could potentially bring in more than $500 extra a month. And man let me tell you, we can use all the money we can get right now.
So I am going into this Spring with a whole new attitude, a whole new outlook on life, and a whole new feeling!!! Everyday is a Miracle, Everyday is a Blessing, and Everyday is a NEW DAY!! and we are no longer going to take things for Granted ever again!!!!

~~~~PRAISE GOD!!!! MIRACLES DO HAPPEN!!!!~~~~

The Power of Prayers!!!

2010-03-24T20:02:00.003-04:00

I have to admit that I am not an overly Religious person. I went to Catholic School most of my life and I went to Church ALL the time and as I have grown up, I have kind of gotten away from all of that. I don't really have a reason for it except maybe I got a little burnt out on it. Or maybe never really BELIEVED in Miracles per say. But I have to tell you something. If I never believed in Miracles or a Davine Intervention before, I CERTAINLY DO NOW!!!!! I have to tell you all something that has happened to us in the past few days. See if you have been following my blog or talking to me in person, you know how depressed, stressed, completely broke we have been. Sam has not worked in over 7 months. Could not get unemployment or anything because he was not at his job long enough to collect anything. AND we have been basically living off of my income alone. We have been so stressed, fighting, just absolutely horrible times. Sam has done nothing but Sleep all day and all night. It has been really bad here, getting ready to loose our house, our vehicles, our electric, etc. Just not a good situation. Did not know which way to turn, or what to do. We get food stamps but even that is not enough. Needless to say, we have been ARGUING and FIGHTING like there is no tomorrow. We were even to the point and I have to admit this as the truth, we were to the point we were actually considering Splitting up and separating.
Well, this past Friday, like any other day recently, I came home from work to find Sam sleeping again. Not looking for a job, not making any phone calls, not doing anything but being severely DEPRESSED. I handed him a phone number of a husband of one of my friends that owns his own business and may be looking for help. Well for some reason, SAM FLEW off the handle. This was the worst time ever. He started smashing everything in sight. He started slamming things, he started yelling and was just insane. I was done. I wanted out of this relationship all together. I was ready to call a lawyer Monday morning. So Sam Left. NO Phone, NO money, just a little bit of gas in his truck, No cigarettes, No food, No clothes. No nothing. And he LEFT. At that point, I didn't not care at all what happened to him. I was done. It had gotten that bad. So he never came home that night. I had no idea where he went. I didn't even care. So the next morning, it was Saturday around 8:30 in the morning my nephew Robert called me and said that Sam called their house from someones cell phone and left a message on the machine. He sounded REALLY Really bad. He said he was broke, out of gas, lost, hungry, out of cigarettes, and needed help. SO he gives me the phone number that he used to call from and I called the phone number. A man answers, his name was JOHN. He said to me that he found Sam in his truck asleep, thought he was dead. He was extremely depressed, crying, just totally LOST. Lost in space, Lost in Spirit, Lost in LIFE. He said Sam was ready to give up on LIFE. John told me where he found Sam and I said there was no way that I would be able to come get him. He said he had things to do and wishes us luck but there was nothing else he could do for him. In the mean time, I have not talked to Sam the whole time. Then at exactly the time I got off of the phone with this John guy, my Gram called me. She caught me right in the middle of all that was going on. AND I just lost it. I told her everything that has been going on and she of course PRAYED with me and told me that I needed to go back to church and all that stuff. If you know my Gram you know what I am talking about. So I was on the phone with her for a little while. WELL all of the sudden about 1 1/2 hours after the first time I talked to JOHN, he called me back, he said to me, "I have not been able to get you and your husband out of my mind" He said, "GOD told me to turn around an help your husband" and "if it is ok with you, I want to talk to your husband and help him out and send him home". I cried and I was like absolutely. Then John told me a little bit about his life, he is 68 yrs old, he was in the very same situation we are in years ago, they were fighting and broke and depressed and the whole nine yards. Just like we are in. He then told me that him and his wife were fighting so much that his Daughter could not take it anymore, she ended up killing herself. HE said he never wants anything like that to happen to anyone like it happened to his family. He said if he can prevent anything like that from happening to anyone else in this world, he is going to help. So he found Sam, took him in his truck for over an hour, Talked to Sam intently, told him about his life, and all that happened to him. Told Sam to Go back home to his wife and family and get himself together. He gave Sam $40 to put gas in his truck, got him something to eat, and told him to go home!!! Sam asked for his name and address and all the man said was his name was John and the only thanks he needed was for Sam to go back to his family and get his life back together. Sam came home that night a CHANGED MAN!!!! He said he hit rock bottom, he said he was ready to give up, he said he witnessed a miracle and that he does not believe in God or anything like that, but for the first time in his LIFE HE PRAYED!!!! He prayed that he would get out of the rut he is in, he prayed that he would be a better man, husband, father, he prayed that he would get a job!!! He PRAYED!!! He has life in his eyes again. He is smiling again. He is alert again. He is totally Changed.
Sunday, that phone number of the person I gave him to call in the first place, he called here looking for Sam and set up an interview for him on Monday morning. Sam went to that interview, had a positive attitude and GOT THE JOB!!! Sam started work today doing exactly what he loves to do, building houses, remodeling, finishing basements, and building decks, etc. He has no idea how much money he is going to be making but right at this point, he does not care. He is just so dam happy to have a job right now and happy to be back into LIFE AGAIN.
SO If I never believed in Miracles or the Power of Prayer, I think I witnessed it this weekend.
I tried calling John back yesterday to THANK HIM AND TELL HIM, and BELIEVE IT OR NOT, THE PHONE NUMBER IS NOT IN SERVICE!!!! AN ANGEL IF YOU ASK ME!!!!!!

The Day After

2010-03-23T08:45:00.002-04:00

Yesterday I had a small surgical procedure done on my Uterus and today I am home feeling fantastic. I went into the surgery center at 12:00 and I was home by 3:30. They did a complete cleaning out of my uterus and they got those two tumors out that were cancerous. I did not have to have a complete hysterectomy. I am perfectly fine. I have NO Pain or Cramps what so ever. I came out of there completely awake and alert and feeling fine. The doctor was pretty impressed actually. He said "you are such a positive person" I said, "I have too much living to do to let this get me down." LOL. Anyway, I am home today to make sure everything is fine and to rest up completely so I don't hurt myself by going back to work too soon. The anesthesiologist told me that I can not drive for 24 hours, so that is why I am off today too because I was completely put out for this surgery and I still have the side effects of anesthesia in me. But other then that I am completely pain free, no problems what so ever and my tumors are gone. I do not have to go through radiation or chemo or anything at this point. So Thank God and Thank You all For your Prayers and Support!!!

Now we need more prayers that Sam gets this job. He had an interview yesterday for a job doing housing remodeling, reconstruction, decks, finishing basements, that kind of stuff and the guy said he is very interested in having Sam help him out and that he would be calling him back in the next day or two and let me tell you, the wait is killing him and me too. SO Pray that he gets this job because with him being out of work for 7 months has really been HARD to Say the Least.

~~~~EVERYONE ENJOY THIS TERRIFIC TUESDAY & HAVE A BLESSED DAY~~~~

Sunday's Newsflash & Week in Review

2010-03-21T14:22:00.002-04:00

Wow I can not believe I have not been on here in a long time. Last time I was on here I was sitting in Las Vegas. A lot has happened since that day. First of all, Las Vegas was Fun!!! But personally, it was a little bit of a Sensory Overload for me. See they still smoke EVERYWHERE out there in Vegas. So when you got off the plane, in the airport, in the bathrooms, in the hotel, in the casino, in the restaurants, in the malls, in the bars, etc. everyone was smoking and not only cigarettes but cigars too. And for someone who is not used to all of that, it was nasty. It was so overwhelming to have all that smoke around me. It was nasty and smelled gross-so my smell was affected. Then there were Tons of People everywhere we went, and I felt like I was being closed in a fish bowl-so my space around me was affected. Then there were lights and games and and so Many things to see all over the place-so my sight was affected. There was music and sounds and bells and thing from all the casinos all over the place-so my hearing was affected. There was restaurants and food and all kinds of different smells all over the place-so that was a sensory overload. SO needless to say, I was extremely overwhelmed by all the "happenings" that were going on in Las Vegas and I am so not used to all of that. By the time I got into my hotel room each night, I wanted nothing more then just ABSOLUTE Silence and to shut my eyes and to tune out the rest of the world. It was that crazy. But overall I had a pretty good time. I didn't win a dam dime though and everything was so frigging expensive out there. Just to get a basic cheeseburger, no fries or drink, was starting at $12.00. So it was very expensive trip for me (good thing I am getting reimbursed for all meals and etc that I en cured) but still for someone who did not have that money to spare in the first place it was a little too much. So if I were to sum up my trip to Vegas, It was Exciting, Expensive, and Overwhelming. Would I ever go back? Probably not. I can think of hundred other places I would rather go then go back to Las Vegas again. But At least I had this wonderful opportunity to go there and I learned a whole lot of useful information to share with the people in my state regarding my Union.

So besides Vegas it took me almost three days to get back into the swing of things around here. See our plane was so very very delayed and then in the middle of our flight, we had a medical emergency with one of the passengers that we had to make an emergency landing in Memphis Tenn for over 2 hours and we were not allowed to get off the plane or anything. So needless to say, we were exhausted when we got home. We were supposed to land in Philadelphia airport at 10:15 pm and we didn't even land our plane until 3:27 pm. Then it was a 2 hour drive back to my house, where when I got home, I brought the bags in the house, took a shower, and then got the boys up and we all went to school and work. This was Monday morning. Then I worked all day and then I had a meeting that night. I did not get home from the meeting Monday night until after 10 pm. Talk about Tired. Then I had to do it all over again the next day. So needless to day it took me about 3 or 4 days to get back into the swing of things, to catch up on my sleep, to catch up on my house, to catch up on my work etc. The week was very hectic for me. BUT I am fine now and totally back to normal. So Thank God.

AS you know, today is Sunday and it is So gorgeous outside!!! I am loving this weather. As I'm sure all of America is at this point. What a Winter we all had. I am so glad it is over. SO I have all my windows open in the whole house and we are loving every minute of this beautiful day. So You know Sunday is my weigh in day and I weighed myself today and I have lost 3 lbs this week. I have not lost anything in a long time. I thought I was pretty much done loosing weight but I guess I am not done yet. So my total weight loss at this point is 168 lbs. And I could not be happier. I feel fantastic!!!!

Monday, tomorrow, I have to have a small surgical procedure done and I am a little nervous. But I will be fine. Before I left for Vegas, I had some test done because I have been having some issues with my monthly woman thingy, well the day before I went to Vegas, I had the appointment to go over the results of my tests and they have found two small tumors in my Uterus they think are cancer. The doctor told me that it is 99% cancer. They are the size of pencil tip erasers. Well anyway, tomorrow the doctor is going to clean it all out and do a biopsy on it and let me know what to do next. If we can wait till July when I am out of school, I will be doing a complete hysterectomy then. If not they will have to do it tomorrow and I will be out of work for 6 weeks. I am hoping that we can wait, and I won't need to have chemo or radiation or anything like that. So all I can say is pray and keep positive thoughts coming my way and I will be ok. I am staying positive about all this and everything will be fine.

Well, before I write a complete book, I better end this post now. I will get back on here in a few days or so and let everyone know how my surgery went and how I am doing. Until then, keep me in your prayers and thoughts I will be fine.

~~~~EVERYONE HAVE A FANTASTIC WEEK~~~~

~~~~ENJOY THIS BEAUTIFUL WEATHER~~~~

Hello from Las Vegas!!!

2010-03-12T12:44:00.001-05:00

HI EVERYONE!!! I am sitting here in Las Vegas having a wonderful time. I am broke as a Bitch though. No winnings for me. But having fun anyway.

Just wanted to say hi!!!

I will post more about my wonderful trip when I get back home.

~~~EVERYONE HAVE A FANTASTIC WEEKEND~~~~

LAS VEGAS~~~~HERE I COME!!!!!!

2010-03-09T06:39:00.002-05:00

Oh my gosh, the day has finally arrived!!!! I am leaving this afternoon to go to Las Vegas Baby!!! I am SUPER EXCITED!!! I am going to work this morning and then leaving at 1:30 to drive up to Philadelphia airport to catch my plane. Our plane leaves at 6:02 this evening. So wish me LUCK!!! Think about me!!! and Pray that I have a good flight and maybe come home with some big winnings!!! We have a little bit of down and I am so ready to be gambling. I mean who goes to Vegas and doesn't gamble. I have saved a little bit of spending money to bring with me. SO I hope that I can at least come home with the amount of money that I am leaving with. That would be so nice.

~~~EVERYONE HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEK~~~~

LOOK FORWARD TO MY BIG POST ABOUT MY TRIP

TO VEGAS WHEN I GET BACK

Sunday's Newsflash!!!

2010-03-07T15:35:00.002-05:00

Wow I can not believe it is Sunday already and I have not done my newsflash in a while. SO It is time to post about me, my life, and the happenings around here. First of all, I found the coolest new website for blog backgrounds. I used to use http://www.thecutestblogontheblock.com/ but it has been having issues and I can never get on there anymore. So I did a search for blog backgrounds and I found http://www.jellypages.com/ they have the coolest, brightest, backgrounds for blogs, myspace, etc. IT was cool. I found this really neat St. Patrick's Day background. Isn't it cute? On the side of page they have a ton of other pages of backgrounds. If you are looking for new backgrounds, go check them out. And to put it on your blog is super easy.
So today I weighed myself again and I am happy to report that I am Maintaining my 165 lb weight loss. It has been about 2 months since I have stayed the same and I am doing fantastic with everything. I feel incredible. When my taxes came in a few weeks ago, I went clothes shopping for myself, something I have not done in a long time. And it was wonderful to shop in the REGULAR section of all the stores. None of my clothes have an X or a # in front of anything. And none of my clothes have a W behind the # anymore either. That is HUGE for me cus I was a size 32W and a 3X now I am a size 18 and a L. Isn't that incredible. I feel fantastic.

Well I have to get off of here and get my suitcase packed. In exactly 48 hours from now, I will be on a plane headed to Las Vegas and I have to get all my stuff together for that. I am even setting my clothes out for tomorrow so that when Tuesday comes I will be all ready. LOL. I am so excited to be going to Las Vegas. I have never been there. It is going to be a lot of work but we will definitely have some down time and be able to hang out and play a little bit in the casinos. I have saved a bit of money for me to go there with hopefully I come home with the same amount I went there with, that would be wonderful.

~~~WELL EVERYONE HAVE A FANTASTIC WEEK~~~

~~~IF I GET THE CHANCE I WILL POST WHILE I AM IN VEGAS~~~

BUT IF NOT

~~~~LOOK FOR A HUGE UPDATE WHEN I GET BACK~~~~

~~~LOVE YOU ALL~~~

7 Days to LAS VEGAS BABY!!!!

2010-03-02T21:55:00.002-05:00

Wow I can not believe I am going to Las Vegas in exactly 7 days. I can't wait. Our plane leaves at 6:20 pm on Tuesday night and we get to Vegas at around 10:45 pm their time. I think it is like a 3 or 4 hour time difference, I am not sure. But I really don't care what the time difference is because I am going to LAS VEGAS baby!!! My best friend Margaret and I are going to the NEA ESP conference in Vegas and we are going on Tuesday night and not coming home till Sunday night. We are going to have so much FUN!! I saved some of our tax money so that I can play a little bit while I am out there. I heard there are slot machines EVERYWHERE even in the Bathrooms. LOL.
Anyway, this has been a very very busy week for me. I have had an appointment or meeting every single night this week and I hope to be able to get caught up in things before I leave on Tuesday. I will be able to get caught up hopefully this weekend. I don't have any plans this weekend, so that will be good.
I had my interview last night for the DSEA ESP of the Year. I think I did really really good. But I was extremely nervous. I have not been on that side of an interview in over 18 years and I was so nervous, I was lost for words at one point, YES ME I WAS LOST FOR WORDS can you believe it? But anyway, I am now anxiously awaiting the results to find out if I am the DSEA ESP of the Year. I am Super Excited about it. When I find out, I will be sure to let everyone know.

~~~Everyone Have a Wonderful Night & Happy Hump Day Tomorrow!!!~~~

THE BEST BIRTHDAY EVER!!!!!!

2010-02-27T17:11:00.006-05:00

I had the BEST Birthday I have EVER had in my Entire life yesterday. I loved Every single Minute of my Day yesterday. First of all, there was a 2 hour delay because of the snow. Thank God we didn't have to close School completely it would of been horrible not to go to work on my Birthday especially since I had the best day ever.

I walked into the Room at work and EVERY single Staff person in the entire school and All the Students had on Purple Shirts Just for me. Purple is my Favorite color. I wish we would have gotten a picture of all the staff together but no one got a picture of us. But anyway, I was so excited to see EVERYONE in their purple shirts and clothes.

Then if that wasn't enough Everyone gave me all kinds of Purple "things" for my birthday. I came home with about 75 items all purple. I had purple shirts, purple jacket, socks, necklaces, gloves, hat, soap, lotions, gum, pens, duffel bag, notebook, photo album, candy, blanket, light up eyeglasses, bracelet, soda, pom poms, umbrella, etc. ALL KINDS of Purple THINGS!!! I loved it. I even had Purple cupcakes, plates, cups, and napkins. Purple and #40 balloons, a #40 decoration on the wall, purple streamers on the ceiling, #40 confetti all over the place, etc. It was incredible. I had such a GREAT time. I was smiling ALL DAY LONG. Every time someone walked in the room, the kids would say, it is Ms. Patti's Birthday today. It was so cute. I loved it. I felt so loved and appreciated.

Then after a while, I put everything on and was dancing around the room with all my purple stuff on. IT was so funny. It reminded me of My GRAM!!!

I had such a Fantastic Day on My Birthday!!!
I am now 40 and FABULOUS!!!!!!

Then when school was out, we went to a bar and had happy hour. We had dinner and hung out for a while. Then we went to several different bars in the area and I DANCED MY ASS off all night long. I didn't get home until 1:00 am. And I don't even drink. LOL. But we had so much fun. About 8 of us were out all night long dancing and having a GREAT time. Then we ended up at the slots and I played $40 and came out of there with $112.00. SO I was super Happy about that.

So tonight it is Sam and My Time to spend some time together. We are going to have a DATE night~something we have not had in a VERY VERY VERY Long time. I figured since I won some money last night and it was his birthday on Feb 2nd and mine yesterday, we deserve to go out. So we are going out to dinner, see the horse racing, and then we will probably play some more at the slots and see what happens. I just want us to be able to go out and not have to worry about anything, and have a good time and relax.

~~~~THANK YOU ALL FOR THE BEST BIRTHDAY EVER!!!!!~~~~

24 Hours & 12 Days!!!

2010-02-25T06:44:00.002-05:00

24 Hours till My Birthday!!! 40 Years Old!!! Whoo Hooo!!! 24 Hours till my Big Weekend Get Away Starts!!! Whooo Hoooo!!! Can you tell I am excited today!!! I feel so incredible today and it is not even my birthday yet. Wait till TOMORROW, if I feel this good today. LOL.

12 Days till I leave to go to Las Vegas!!! Whooo Hooo!!! Totally Awesome!!! I can not wait!!!

~~~HAVE A WONDERFUL THURSDAY EVERYONE!!!~~~~

~~~THINK OF ME WHEN YOU WAKE UP TOMORROW~I WILL BE 40 YEARS OLD!!!!!~~~~

One of the Best Weekends in a LONG TIME!!!!

2010-02-22T21:08:00.002-05:00

I have to say and I just have to tell everyone that I had one of the Best Weekends I have had in such a long long time. It is no secret that I HATE shopping. I have said it a million times. BUT this weekend, I got my taxes back (Thank God) and I spent the WHOLE entire Day on Saturday SHOPPING!! But it was more than Shopping. I left my house at 10:00 in the morning. ALL by myself. And I went wherever, however, and for as long as I wanted to go. I went shopping ALL by myself. It was so wonderful. If I wanted to go to a particular store, I went, and when I was ready to leave, I left. I did not have an agenda. I did not have a purpose. I did not have to answer to anyone. I did not have to cater to anyone else decisions. I was ALL alone and I truly had a Fantastic day. I left at 10:00 in the morning and I didn't get back home till 11:00 that night. AND to top it ALL OFF~~~~~~ I bought 2 complete outfits, pants, shirts, shoes, and bras, and nightgowns, PLUS lunch and dinner ALLLLLL FOR Under $100.00. YES I did. I hit all the clearance racks of all the stores I went into and found the GREATEST sales. SO let me tell you about what I bought. I was so excited. I bought a Really nice Dressy type of outfit. I still don't ware dresses. LOL. But I got these black Dress pants, with silky looking stripes on them, really nice, you would have to see them. Anyway the original price on them was $54.00 and I got them for $7.00 Can you believe that? Wow that is what I said too. Then I got this silky dressy shirt and the original price on it was $32.00 and I got it for $6.99. Yea for real. Then I got some jeans and the original price on them was $29.99 and I got them for $8.99. And I got a regular shirt for $5.00 and the original price on that was $14.00. Yeah I was super excited at that point. So then I got two nightgowns buy one and get one free for $7.00. Another Clearance Rack special. Loved it. Then I got shoes and I hate shoes but I needed a pair of nice black casual shoes to go with everything. And I got black shoes for only $15.99 and the original price was $30.00 and another pair of shoes for only $11.99 and the original price was $27.00. So my point is that I had the best time ever in my entire LIFE ~~~~~ SHOPPING!!!! And I hate shopping!!! But I really wanted to go shopping on Saturday all by myself and it truly was a great day. But let me tell you that this will in NO WAY, SHAPE, or FORM convert me to a shopper. I was just in the mood to shop that day and spend some ME time alone all day. It was great. And then when I was done shopping, I went to my sister Angela's house and hung out with her for a little while talking about her upcoming wedding to Nelson. Then we played some games for a little bit. And then I finally went home it was about 11:00. Then the next day, I got all the boys together to clean the house for a little bit because after not being home all day, and all these boys in my house needless to say, the house was not up to my standards. Then when we were done cleaning the house, one of my best friends and her daughters came over to hang out and play some games and spend the day together. We made tacos for dinner and just had a great time hanging out. It was so fun. I was so happy all weekend long. It was great.
So with this shopping trip let me just tell you I STILL HATE SHOPPING!! But I am so glad I did it this weekend. I found some really really awesome clothes at some really really awesome deals and I did it ALL BY MYSELF and spent the ENTIRE day by myself. And after all the stress and busy work and meetings and all that I have had to do in the past two weeks, it was a great release to spend the day by myself.
Also I was excited to be able to get caught up on some of the bills that we have been behind on because of Sam not working. Not that paying bills is exciting, but it was nice to be able to pay some things up to date so that they aren't going to be taken away from us or be cut off on us. You know what I mean. Anyway it was a really good weekend and I KNOW Next Weekend is going to be Wonderful Too!! I can't wait. Only 4 more days until MY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!

~~~~~HOPE EVERYONE HAD A GREAT WEEKEND~~~

~~& ~~

~~~HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEK THIS WEEK~~~~~

My Birthday COUNTDOWN!!!!!

2010-02-18T19:52:00.004-05:00

In Exactly 1 Week, February 26th, I will be 40 Years Old!!!! WooooHoooo I can not wait. First of all I LOVE celebrating my birthday. I ALWAYS Have. Second of All I will be 40 and I am in the Best Shape of MY entire Life, both Physically and Mentally. And Third of all I will be Partying with about 150 of my closest Friends. So I am SUPER EXCITED to be having My Birthday next week.

Every since I was little girl I have always loved my birthday. I can remember my mom making me feel so special on my birthdays. She used to make me little corsages to wear around all day long at school. And she would dress me up all pretty and do my hair and just make me really feel special on my birthday. She would make me my favorite dinner or let me watch my favorite tv show. We would play my favorite family game or sing my favorite songs. What ever I really really loved doing and what ever was my favorite thing to do on my birthday, my mom always let us do. I remember she made me corsages every year on my birthday and for the number I turned she would have that many "things" in the corsage. It was so unique, and only she can make it and make me feel special. Like when I turned 12 I remember she made me a corsage with 12 pieces of gum on it. And when I turned 13 she made me a corsage with like 13 life savors on it. Things like that. I don't remember the specifics of what was on each one each year, but I remember getting one every year and LOVING It. I wore it ALL day long at school all the time. And then for dinner she would make me SPARE RIBS. That was one of my favorite dinners growing up. Just little things like that that we did on my birthday really made me LOVE my birthday. And to this DAY I Still LOVE MY BIRTHDAY. I don't get the corsages anymore or have mom cook dinner for me when I get home. But I sure do get excited about my birthday. And I always remember when it was my birthday I would always want to be OLDER then I actually was. I still think that way. I always want to be older. I LOVE the fact that I am turning 40 this year. As you may know, I had gastric bypass surgery about 1 1/2 years ago. At first I was not sure that is what I wanted to do. But I was not getting any younger and I wanted to stay healthy and live a longer and healthier life. SO I did have that surgery. And I can honestly say, that is the best thing I have ever done in my entire life. I feel absolutely FANTASTIC, AMAZING, WONDERFUL and with that I am in THE BEST SHAPE of my LIFE. So Turning 40 feels EXCITING to me this year because I can actually do and feel and move and not have any problems. So that is one reason I am excited about turning 40. Another reason is that I am very very involved in my State Education Association and the Friday night, my birthday, I am going to a conference in Rehoboth Beach where about 150 other people will be there. And if you know me, EVERYONE knows me. When I walk in the room, it is like Norm from Cheers. LOL. Everyone and I mean EVERYONE knows me and says HI and hugs and kisses, and you get the picture. Well so there will be about 150 people there and on Friday, the first night of the conference there is always a DJ and a party that night. SO what more can I ask for on MY BIRTHDAY!!! Turn 40!!! Feel Fantastic!!! Dance my Ass off!!! 150 of my closest Friends!!! And at the beach for the weekend!!!

~~~So Next Friday when you wake up in the morning, Think of ME!!!! :)~~~

~~~For I will be ONE Happy 40 year old in Dover, Delaware~~~

L@@K WHO'S 14 Today!!!!

2010-02-15T19:02:00.004-05:00

Look at those blues EYE!! Cody's Birthday is Today!!! He is Now 14 years Old!!!

Can you believe it!!! Look at him NOW Growing up like a WEED!!!

This picture was taken this past summer, I really need a new camera. But Cody has grown up even more this past 2 months. Wait to you see him when I get a new picture up on here.

~~~~HAPPY BIRTHDAY CODY~~~~WE LOVE YOU!!!!~~~~~

YEAH I GOT OUT!!!!!

2010-02-13T15:07:00.002-05:00

I hate staying in the house for too long it drives me Absolutely Crazy. I am not a stay home type of person. I always need to be doing something. So last night I posted on my Facebook if anyone wanted to go out to lunch with me. Well that didn't work. I guess everyone was busy today or didn't want to go to lunch with me. But oh well, I didn't take it personal and I didn't let that stop me. So I got up this morning, got myself together and I went out. I had no agenda, no destination, no nothing. So I ended up at Byler's Country Store. It is an Amish run store here in Dover. If you haven't ever been there and if you are ever in Dover Del you really need to go there. They just have the neatest things to look at and browse around. They have all kinds of homemade Amish food, baked goods, candies, etc. And they have all kinds of Homemade Crafts, and knick knack type of things, Collectibles. Just different things that would not normally see at like Walmart or Target. It is just a really neat store. So I browsed there for a little while, wish I had money to buy a whole bunch of stuff. I love all the wood things that have there. When I get my taxes, I want to go back there and maybe get a little something for myself. I love wood things. Anyway I came home with some homemade Amish Bread fresh out of the oven. Man the smell in my van was unbelievable. And I got some little mint things with the sprinkles on them. I love them little tiny things. And then I got some fresh cut meats there, they have the best spare ribs. Anyway after that store I went to the regular grocery store and got a few things from there and then I came home. I don't have any money and I really didn't want to go "shopping" anywhere if I didn't have any money. But it was nice to get out anyway and enjoy some fresh air and just some time by myself. So now I am home and back on the computer for a little while and then I am going to make Tater Tot Casserole for dinner. I love that stuff. My sister Peggy taught me how to make it and we all love it here at my house, except for Tyler. He doesn't like all his food touching each other and because this is a casserole thingy he won't even try it. What ever, more for us right.

Tomorrow is Valentines day and we have no plans for anything at all. Without much money to even do anything at all it is hard to do anything for Valentines day. So I am just going to make a nice dinner for us and just spend time together. When our taxes come back, then me and Sam will have a "Date Night". But until then, we are broke. So no plans for us on Valentines Day. If you all have plans for Valentines Day I wish you the best of happiness for Valentines Day and I hope you and yours have a Wonderful Time.

Monday is Cody's Birthday. He is going to be 14 years old already. So I am letting him invite like 3 of his friends over on Monday since we don't have school anyway and they can all hang out and play games or do what ever boys do and I will make a cake for him and all. But not a Party per say, because he said he is too old for a party. And then I was going to make his favorite dinner for him which is Hamburger Helper. No one else in this whole house likes hamburger helper except Cody. He loves that stuff. So I will make that for him and I will make something else for everyone else. If you ever talked to Cody he will tell you about this one time when he was at Aunt Ang's house and she made him Hamburger helper and he ate the entire pot of it, what ever anyone else didn't eat. And apparently she made like 3 boxes of it. So you can imagine how much was in there. But he loves that stuff and he will eat all of it if I let him. But I do not let him eat it all at once. He eats it and then has it for lunch the next day. So that is what Cody is getting for his birthday, friends over, a cake, hamburger helper, and a gift card for Walmart (when our taxes come in).

~~~~EVERYONE ENJOY YOUR WEEKEND~~~~

~~~~~H*A*P*P*Y*****V*A*L*E*N*T*I*N*E*'S*****D*A*Y~~~~~

What day is it?

2010-02-11T15:48:00.002-05:00

Man I have to tell you, by not going to work all week, I am sure loosing track of what day it is and what time it is. It is crazy. I am starting to go stir crazy sitting home all the time. I am NOT a sit home type of person. I have to be busy doing and going and doing and going ALL THE TIME!!! And being home ALL week, stuck in the house, is JUST SO NOT ME!!!!! I haven't gone to work, had a meeting, or a doctor appointment or ANYTHING ALL WEEK and it is starting to drive me CRAZY!!! I really did like it on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and even into Tuesday. BUT Now, I'm DONE!! I'm sick of staying home. I'm ready to get back to work and back to my life again. I am ready to be busy and out and doing things.
My boys have been getting along so good with each other all week and it has been so nice here that it has been so quiet so I really like that part. If they had been fighting and carrying on I think I would have gone crazy by now. One thing that has been good about me staying home all week is that my house is spotless and I have been cooking a lot. But that also leads to eating too much and munching cus I am bored. But what else is there to do right?? LOL.
Anyway so some really good news right now. Sam is out there working today. He is helping one of my friends husband who owns a contracting company and he is shoveling out businesses and different places and he is getting $12 an hour to shovel and he will be doing that for like the whole weekend. He went there at 7:00 this morning and he is working till 5:00 and doing it again tomorrow. He and the guy are getting a long really really good and said to Sam that when his business picks up in the spring he may hire Sam on as a carpenter to help him out. THAT would be totally AWESOME!!!! We shall see what happens. So far so good. He is out there making a little bit of money for now and he is enjoying himself so I'm happy. The boys are outside making tunnels and shoveling out my van and making a huge snowman and just having so much fun. Tyler insisted on wearing 3 pairs of pants. I told him it is not that cold out and that he didn't have to wear all that much stuff but he said he didn't want to freeze to death out there. Kids are so funny sometime. It just creates more laundry for me which is fine, cus I am caught up in that too and I needed something to do anyway.
Tonight I am not making anything for dinner. I know right. But no we have so much stuff left over from last night and the night before that we really need to clean out the fridge so we are going to just heat all that stuff up.

~~~EVERYONE HAVE A GREAT THURSDAY NIGHT AND STAY WARM & SAFE~~~

No School till Tuesday

2010-02-10T16:30:00.002-05:00

Well another big huge blast of Snow is hitting us right now and man it is so windy out there. I have never seen this much snow in all my life, one right after another after another like it has been. THIS is Crazy. AND I hear and see on the Weather Channel that another snow storm is brewing up coming this Sunday night into Monday. WHAT THE HECK are we going to do?? I'm just really Thankful that I live right off the highway if I really really did need to get out I could. But I don't have to go anywhere. I went out yesterday for a few things and I am set for a while.
They just called off school for the rest of the week here. We are not going back to school till Tuesday. Monday is President's day so it is a holiday anyway, so we are off till Tuesday. I hear there are 2 schools in Delaware where their roof has collapsed. Wow that is not good. Depending on what comes our way on Sunday and Monday, we will see if we go back to school on Tuesday. But I am not complaining. I have had a whole lot of time on my hands to do ME things. I been cleaning my house like crazy. I love a clean and organized house. I have been playing on my farm and face book a lot. I have been reading my People magazines. I get People magazines delivered because I support the Delaware Special Olympics. I have been getting People Mags for years. They always seem to pile up though because I don't get the chance to read them much. But this week, I think I have read 3 already. And I have been relaxing and COOKING. I made a killer faux Thanksgiving dinner last night. It was so good. Tonight I am making party food for dinner. That's what my boys call it anyway. I am making wings, meatballs, lil smokies, perogies, tater tots, and cut up veggie tray. I just feel like having finger type foods. I have been thinking of posting like a menu thing on here for a couple different reasons. One so that other people can get ideas for dinner and I can get ideas from other people for dinners and two so that I can share recipes for things that I really like to cook. Cus I LOVE to cook especially for other people the more the merrier. LOL. I think I need to have a SNOW party and invite all kinds of family and friends over so I can cook~~Anyone coming???

Today has been a Lazy day here. Me and Cody are the only ones awake right now. Lil Sam and Sam were watching a movie in my room and the movie ended up watching them. And Tyler was reading a book in his room and fell asleep while reading. But hey what else can we do on this snow day?? Cody is watching tv and I am on here. So it is so quiet in here right now and I love it.

~~~I THINK WE HAVE HAD ENOUGH SNOW NOW~~~

~~~IT CAN STOP ANYTIME NOW~~~

Tuesday's Adventure

2010-02-09T09:03:00.002-05:00

Good morning. I just realized that I have not posted anything on here since Saturday. I am slacking. So this morning it is Tuesday and Yes we are home from school again because of the snow. The roads are still very bad out there. They plowed but they didn't plow the whole road, there was no where to put the snow. So they only plowed like a lane or so for the cars to pass through. So needless to say buses can not get through them so we are off of school again today. Another day we will just have to make up at the end of the year. But anyway, we are expecting more SNOW tonight into tomorrow. I just do not know what we are going to do with all this snow. I was out there shoveling yesterday for like 5 hours. It is backbreaking work. I tell you. This morning I am so sore. But I had to get my van out from under the first snow before more got on top of it. So I am venturing out to the store before the next round of it leaves us in the house for a few more days. But one of the good things about being home all this time, is I have been COOKING up a storm. I LOVE To cook and I don't get the chance to do it too much with me working all the time. I made home made beef stew in the crock pot on Friday. I made Breakfast for dinner on Sunday night. I made home made baked ziti last night. And tonight I am making Cornish hens and stuffing just like thanksgiving. I have to get some cranberry sauce. You can't have faux Thanksgiving without cranberry sauce. LOL. So when I go to the store today I am going to get some things to make some killer dinners since I suspect we will be snowed in for a few more days.
I didn't get the chance to update on my blog this past Sunday but I did not loose any more weight again. I suspect I have hit my plateau. I have lost 163 lbs and no more. I have not gained any at all and I am maintaining my weight loss wonderfully. I am doing fantastic with all of this. I have bones I never knew I had before. LOL!!! I went from a size 30 W in pants and 3 or 4 X in tops to a size 16-18W in pants and a size L in tops. Can you believe that??? I am super excited about it. I have a ton of friends who have been giving me clothes, Thank God cus I can't afford to buy any right now. So I have a ton of clothes saved up in my closet and I can't even wear half of them right now cus you can only wear just so much. So I am doing ok on clothes right now thanks to all of my friends. I am going to take some of my taxes that I get back and buy me some snow boots though. I don't have any and shoveling snow in sneakers is not fun let me tell you.
Did I tell you that I am going to a conference the weekend of my birthday? My birthday is Friday February 26th and I am going to a conference that night in Rehoboth Beach. And that first night we always have a DJ and we party all night long. So I am looking forward to this birthday so much ~~ 1. because I will be 40 years old and I am super excited about that.
~~ 2. because I will be partying with about 150 of my closest friends. ~~ 3. and I will be at the beach with no kids, no husbands, no work, no nothing but my DSEA friends and family. I am super excited. ~~~ So while I am down there, if my taxes come in by then I plan on going a little bit of shopping for myself and spend some money on ME. Something I NEVER get to do. I always have to pay bills, or get things for the house but I never get the just spend money on myself. SO that is what I plan on doing for this year's birthday.
Well before I write a complete book, I better get off of here.

~~~Stay Safe and Stay Warm~~~More Snow is Coming our Way~~~

Snow, Snow, Snow, and MORE SNOW!!!

2010-02-06T13:59:00.002-05:00

WOW!!!! That is all I can say is WOW!!! This is sure a huge Blizzard we are having. We have not had this much snow in YEARS!!! Thank God I don't have to go anywhere, I wouldn't be able to. The state of Delaware along with lots of other states around the mid Atlantic are under a state of emergency. We have so much snow out here we can't even open either one of our doors to go outside if we wanted to. And it is still snowing. We have over 2 feet of snow already and they say we are going to be getting at least a foot more before it is all done. Good thing we got plenty of food and our electric is still on. I feel really really bad, almost half of the whole state of Delaware does not have power at this time. Over 36% of the state is without power. MAN and it is Freezing out there. I feel so helpless for all of my friends and family out there without electric right now. It must be so cold and miserable out there. I told everyone to come over here if they can get out, we will just all camp out and make the best of it but no one can even get out of their house if they wanted to right now. I just feel so bad for everyone. All the food in their freezers and fridge will be going bad. They all said they are going to put their food outside. And just walk around with layers of clothes on and blankets all day. Some have fireplaces, so that helps if they can open the door to bring the wood in. But I feel so bad for so many of the people in Delaware right now. I am so lucky and blessed that we are ok. I made a big breakfast and I have dinner in the crock pot already just in case the electric does go out anytime today, at least our dinner will be done. I have stew in the crock pot. It is pretty much cooking on high all day so it will be done by like 4 or so in case we run out of electric dinner will be done. And I have a ton of PB&J and bread and cereal in case we loose our electric. It is scary though to be going through this blizzard and not have electric, heat, water, or food.
But anyway, we are doing good. Hanging around the house, getting things done that I have been putting off for a while since I have been so busy. The boys and Sam are watching movies and hanging out all day. So everyone is safe, sound, and warm right now. Not going anywhere.
I hope all my friends and family out in VA, WV, PA, MD, NJ, NY, and NC are all doing ok throughout this blizzard. I think I will be calling some of them this afternoon.

~~~BE SAFE~~~~&~~~~STAY WARM~~~

All set for another big snow storm

2010-02-04T21:35:00.002-05:00

Man Delaware and the entire Mid Atlantic states have sure seen their fair share of snow lately. We have not had this much snow in YEARS!! A few days before Christmas, we got like over 2 feet of snow, then a few weeks later, we got about 6 or 7 inches, then the other day we got another 4 or 5 inches on top of all that was still left from before Christmas. AND NOW starting Tomorrow afternoon and All night Friday into Saturday we are supposed to get SLAMMED with a Blizzard that they say can give us more than 2 feet of snow. DAM Delaware has not seen that much snow in one winter since 1957. And Winter is still not over yet. I don't know about you, but Dang enough is enough already. Now I know what my mom and dad and Lynn go through up there in the mountains of West Virginia. LOL. We are so not used to all this snow. So far we have to make up 3 days of school already at the end of the year and this snow storm coming this weekend, we will probably have to add more days to our count of make up days. AND then I hear we are in for another round of snow come Wednesday into Thursday. DAM where is all this snow coming from??? SO I went to the grocery store after work today along with about 5000 other people who live in Dover. MAN it was so crowed, OH MY GOSH!!! It was INSANE!!! What usually takes me about less then 1 hour from walking in to walking out the grocery store took me over 2 hours. AND I HATE GROCERY SHOPPING!!!!! Did you hear that people I hate grocery shopping and they kept me in that store for over 2 hours. After working all day and going to an appointment with Cody, yea so needless to say, when I got home, I was exhausted. So when I get home from work tomorrow, I WILL NOT BE going or doing anything until we have to go back to school again after this snow. THANK GOD because I really could use a break. I am so exhausted. I have to catch up on my farm LOL, and some paperwork and I want to read a book this weekend. I have not had the chance to read a book in a while.

~~~STAY WARM!!! STAY INSIDE!!! STAY SAFE!!! AND ENJOY THE SNOW COMING!!!~~~

I am Going to LAS VEGAS BABY!!!!

2010-02-02T20:55:00.002-05:00

I am so excited. I have just been notified that I got picked to go to the National Educational Association Educational Support Professional (NEA-ESP) Conference in Las Vegas!!! I am going to the Presidents workshop, which means that this workshop is for all the presidents of their local associations. And there are only 3 people from the whole state of Delaware that have gotten picked to go. There were over 50 people who put in for it to go. So out of about 50-55 people who put their interest letter in, I got picked to go. I am super excited. I am going on Tuesday March 9th till Sunday March 14th.
I have to say, with me being so active in my union, it sure is allowing me to travel a lot lately. I was able to go to San Diego last summer and now Las Vegas, and in July I am going to New Orleans. And is so cool. All expense paid to go and learn, have fun, and become a better leader in my local association. It is so wonderful.
AND I can't wait to find out if I have been selected as the ESP of the year in the State of Delaware. I hope to find out about that by the end of this month. Don't worry, I will be sure to post all about it if I win. Trust me!!!!!

Well, anyway, I don't know where you all live, but we are getting ready to be slammed with more snow tonight and into tomorrow. We got like 6 inches of snow the other day that is still out there and we are going to be getting more on top of that. AND I heard that we are in for a wild Blizzard like conditions this weekend and we could get like over 2 feet of more snow. OK so I have to say, I LOVE SNOW!!! BUT DAM ENOUGH already. I am so dam cold I can't take it anymore. I am always freezing all the time. But I will get used to it soon.

So just encase you didn't know, today is or was Sam's Birthday. He turned 43 years old today. We really didn't do anything at all. I had a meeting after work today and I didn't get home till about 7:30, which he was fine with, but that didn't give us much time to spend together for like dinner and movie or what ever. Because when I got home, I had to do laundry, dishes, and the boys needed their showers and now it is like time for me to go to bed. I don't have anything planed tomorrow so I plan on making him so killer dinner tomorrow night to make up for tonight. I think I am going to make him a cake too. He loves Chocolate cake. So I will have to make him that.
He is doing ok but we are still looking for a job for him. He really doesn't even work at the motorcycles place he was working at anymore. He was there for like 3 or 4 hours like 3 or 4 days a week, but he doesn't even do that anymore. They call him only when they need him and they said they don't need him anymore. It really sucks!!! We are so dam broke right now, I hate it. It is so dam stressful. We are trying our hardest just make ends meet and we are so far behind in all of our bills. It is crazy. I am just hoping and praying that we don't loose everything we have. But we only can take one day at a time.

EVERYONE ENJOY YOUR NIGHT!!!!

My ThreeReidBoys!!!

2010-01-30T15:36:00.007-05:00

For the past few weeks, I have just been saying that the boys are doing good, they are fine and all that. I have been posting about how busy I have been and other things like that. So today I have decided to do a true update on my Threereidboys.

~~~My Lil Sam is now 16 years old. Can you believe that? He will be 17 in June. He has his driver's license and can drive all over the place. He does not have to have a parent or guardian in the car with him anymore. I can not believe my boy is driving. He is a Junior in High School already and he will be graduating from Polytech High School next June. He is doing fantastic in school. Polytech is a Technical high school, kind of like a trade school. They go in and do all kinds of shops and trades to better prepare them for their future. I love Polytech. He is in the Carpentry field at school and is EXCELLING At it. The teacher said he has natural talent in wood working. He hopes to become a carpenter when he graduates and the good thing about this school is they line up job interviews and help find jobs before the student actually graduates so that when he does graduate he will already have a job. He is learning both outside carpentry and inside. Like building houses, sheds, barns, etc. And also building cabinets, tables, entertainment centers, shelves, etc inside. So when he graduates, he will be able to find a job either outside or inside because he will be certified to do either one. And that is fantastic in today's world. He is on the honor roll at school with his academic grades too, and the teachers just LOVE him. He is the most respectful, outgoing, loving person. He is doing fantastic. He does not have a girlfriend at all yet, he said he does not need those kind of headaches LOL his exact words. He is into working out and exercising lately too. He wants to join the wrestling team in school next year. I hope he can. I am just so incredibly proud of the boy he is and the man he is becoming. This is him this past summer, but he has gotten a hair cut since then.

~~~My Cody is 13 years old already can you believe how fast they are growing up. He will be 14 on February 15. Cody is in the 8th grade already and we just found out that he has now been accepted into Polytech High School too. He is Super Excited about that. Back in October, we did the tour of the school, and although I know what the school is like because of Sam going there, Cody didn't and he was very interested in it. So when we did the tour and filled out the application, he was so excited he wanted to go there right then and there. LOL I told him we had to wait to see if he gets accepted or not. See Polytech, because it is a technical/trade school they only take a handful of kids, they don't accept everyone. It is not like a normal public school. You have to fill out an application, have really good grades, and go through and interview. And when your there, you have to maintain good grades, and can't be a "problem" student.

Cody has never been a Problem student EVER. He goes along with the flow and a very easy going student. Very Respectful, shy, loving child. All my boys are very respectful. If there is anything I have demanded out of my children is they respect people and I think we have accomplished that. Cody is finishing out the 8th grade with honors. And he is doing fantastic. He wants to go into Electronics or Aviation when he goes into high school. He said he either wants to find out how things work, like TVs, computers, radios, etc. Take them apart and put them together again and see how they work. Or he said he would like to be a Pilot. He is very much into MATH & SCIENCE. He is so dam smart in Math and Science it is crazy. He is extremely good with his hands too. Doing fine motor activities and working with tiny pieces, he can be entertained for HOURS. He loves fiddling with things. That's why I really think he is going to go into electronics or maybe even become an engineer. Who knows but I do know Cody is a Smart, smart kid and he will go very far in life. As long as he doesn't argue with everyone. If I have to say one negative thing about Cody, is that he has to Argue Everything. He always wants to have the last word, and always thinks he is right all the time. Sam said he is definitely MY Son. (I guess I can not deny that). Oh and since this picture, which was taken in June, Cody has lost 10 lbs and has grown like a weed. He is almost as tall as Sam, he passed Lil Sam in height already. He is growing into his body. He is maturing a lot. And his hair is super curly right now.

~~~My Tyler Baby, No longer a baby anymore, but will always be my baby. :)

Tyler is 11 years old already and will be 12 in June. His birthday is the day after lil Sam's. Tyler is in the 6th grade and will be in Junior High school next year. I can not believe how fast my boys have grown up. He is on the HIGH Honor Roll this whole year. He has not gotten anything lower then an A in school this whole year. And the year is halfway over. He has always been on the honor roll in school since he started school, but he got some B's here and there, but never has he has nothing but A's on his whole report card. Like all 4 marking periods, he would have an occasional B. But this report card, he has ALL A's can you believe that? HE is so, so, so, smart. Tyler LOVES to READ. He is in the 6th grade and reads well above the 11th grade level. I would find him in his room all quite and not knowing what he is doing and he would be curled up on his bed with a book. He gets that from me, I love to read. And the stuff he reads is way beyond his age. He said he just loves to read and imagine he is in the story. He wants to be a writer when he gets older. And as long as he has loved to read and has excelled in Reading, I truly think he will become a writer one day. He even has written 2 "books" already. And of course they are of TURTLES!!! Tyler is Passionate about Turtles. LOVES turtles, wants to know everything there is about turtles, has a huge collection of turtles. From stuffed animal turtles, books on turtles, toy turtles, just Turtles Turtles Turtles. SO with Tyler's two passions in live, Reading and Turtles he may become a Marine Biologist Author. All I know is he will go far in life because of how smart he is and how much he loves reading and turtles. He is doing fantastic, the only problem he is having is with Peer pressure. Because he is so smart and wears glasses, the kids at school are picking on him so much, it hurts me to see him like this. He is depressed a lot to go to school and especially eat lunch with all of them in the cafeteria. The cafeteria is so loud and crazy and they all pick on and bully him. I hate peer pressure. Kids can be so mean sometimes. I wish he can eat lunch by himself, but he needs friends too and I don't want to isolate him. So we are dammed if we do and dammed if we don't. But he said he knows that those kids are just jealous of him and as long as it doesn't interfere with his school work, he really can care less about what other kids say about him. Great Attitude if I do say so myself.

I am Extremely Proud of how my boys are turning out. They are all doing Fantastic in School. They are all EXTREMELY Respectful Individuals. And they are all turning into very Responsible Men. It has not always been an easy road, but if I were too look back on it, I think they have turned out to be Great Kids. I thank God to have them in my Life!!!!

~~~~ENJOY YOUR CHILDREN WHILE THEY ARE STILL YOUNG~~~~

~FOR NEXT THING YOU KNOW~

~~~THEY ARE GROWN YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN~~~~~

Friday Night with a cup of HOT TEA

2010-01-29T19:31:00.002-05:00

YEAH!!! I can not tell you how happy I am that it is Finally Friday Night. As you know, I LOVE TO STAY busy, but DAM every single night this week after work and during work and in the morning and all dam week long, I have had meeting after meeting after meeting. I am not complaining in any way, shape, or form, but with all those meetings, I have not been home much this week at all. So my house has missed me. Along with keeping busy, I can NOT STAND a messy house. I am one of the most organized, neat freaks. Everything has a place and everything has to be in order, (just ask my sister Peggy). LOL. So with all these meetings, things are getting piled up at home and I NEED this weekend to get caught up. Laundry, paperwork, grocery shopping, ect. Just everyday things that I have not had that much time to do because I have had so many dam meetings this week. SO right at this moment, I am sitting here on a Friday night enjoying a very hot cup of tea (something I have become addicted to, I might say), and enjoying that fact that it is the weekend and I will have 3 days away from meetings. Next week I only have 3 meetings so that isn't too bad. This week, NO LIE, I had 8 meetings in the course of one week. Some days I had two and three meetings in one day. Thank GOD I am an organized person so I can keep things in order for each meeting I was involved in. LOL. I don't know how I do it sometimes. I have to change hats a lot during the course of these meetings because some things are for school, some things are for my boys, and somethings are for DSEA. So WOW I'm exhausted just talking about it. So I'll get off of here and enjoy my hot tea. LOL.

Tomorrow, after I sleep in, I am not LEAVING MY HOUSE AT ALL. I need a break and my house is calling me.

~~~~EVERYONE ENJOY YOUR WEEKEND~~~~

A very busy week

2010-01-27T18:57:00.003-05:00

I really don't know what I would do if My life was not so busy. I don't ever get the chance to be bored. I remember when I was younger I used to always tell my mom "I'm Bored." Well mom, I am NEVER BORED NOW!!! LOL!!!

I work all day every day, and I am (as one of my co-workers called me today) a Meeting Queen. LOL. I am so involved with Delaware State Education Association. I totally believe in the Union for protection and power. So I have had meetings every night this week. And being the president of my local union sure keeps me busy. SO YES I AM NEVER BORED. IF anything, I am TOO BUSY at times. But you know what, I LOVE It that way. I Love being busy, I love being active, I love helping people and I Love what I do. I wouldn't know what to do with myself if I wasn't busy. I think it must be some kind of ADHD or something, I don't know, LOL.

So if you have been reading my blog, you read that I am being Nominated as the ESP (Educational Support Professional) {teacher's aide} of the Year in the Whole State of DELAWARE!!! I am SUPER EXCITED about that. I had to create a professional portfolio to submit along with the application for my nomination . Well, I just submitted this portfolio today and It came out wonderful. I am extremely proud of the work I did on it and the work I do everyday. If I get selected as the ESP of the Year for the whole state, what an incredible HONOR that will be. I will be on a cloud for DAYS!! It means so much to me to be nominated for this position you have no idea. The next step in this nomination is to be called in for an interview. And that will happen sometime in Mid February. And the results of this selection will be by the beginning of March. I will be calling EVERYONE I know if I become the ESP of the year. I will be honored at a Banquet dinner, I will receive a plaque, a monetary gift, and I will have to make a speech and everything. I will then be the State Representative for all ESP in the state of Delaware. I will be invited to do different speaking engagements, I will do a whole lot more traveling. And then I will be in the running for the NATIONAL ESP of the Year. OH MY GOSH if that happens, WOW. So as I go through this next month or so, I will be on pins and needles waiting to find out the results of this nomination. I do of 5 or 6 other people in the state that are being nominated for this position. You have to be extremely the best in your job classification and several other criteria in order to be nominated, it is not just anyone and everyone can be nominated. It has to be like the best in your field type of thing. And you know what, after doing this for 25 years, I am the best in my field. LOL. If I win this, I want my mom and dad and everyone to come the banquet dinner to see me receive this award. I am just so excited about this right now.

SO I will keep you all posted as to how it is going.

Anyway, other then that, everything is going great here. Wish Sam had a DAM JOB though. It really sucks. One day soon I hope we find something I just don't know what we are going to do. But we are managing.

WELL~~~EVERYONE ENJOY YOUR NIGHT AND HAVE A WONDERFUL THURSDAY~~~

HI From the Beach

2010-01-23T12:13:00.002-05:00

Too bad it is too cold to enjoy the beach. But I am in Rehoboth Beach for the weekend doing a training with DSEA and enjoying the "break" per say from my everyday "home" life. We are on our lunch break now so I thought it would be nice to check on my blog, farm, email, and my facebook. LOL
I will be here just till the end of today and then be going back home tonight. Too bad I didn't have any money or anything I would be going shopping, or stay another night in the hotel and enjoy some ME time. But I can't do that right now. So I will have to go back home and back to the every home life I have to experience. LOL.
So I called Sam this morning to see how things are going at home and see what's happening. He says they boys are fighting as usual. Cody and Tyler have been FIGHTING seems like NON STOP. I just don't know what to do about it anymore. I Know when I was younger, my mom and dad said that me and Angela used to fight ALL the time too. Now I guess I am getting my payback for giving my parents such a hard time while I was growing up. BUT DAM does this ever end???? Lil Sam doesn't fight with either one of them and he is fine with all of them. But the other two, I sware, I WANT TO HANG THEM UP BY THEIR TOES!!!!!!! Sam also told me that Tyler was tired of waiting and it was bothering him that he had to wait so long that he CUT HIS OWN HAIR!!! He needs a hair cut really bad, I will give him that, but I told him I will be going away for the weekend and that on Sunday I will take him to get his hair cut but he just could not wait any more and I guess it was getting all his eyes and all. SO he took the scissors and chopped off a big chunk off the top of his head by his forehead. So needless to say, I was not too happy to hear about that. Now we have to basically give him a BUZZ cut in the middle of winter and I don't like the idea of his hair being that short in the middle of the winter. But he brought it on himself so he will have to deal with it. Kids, man what the heck were we thinking. LOL.

Anyway, I will post more tomorrow. I have to get back to my trainings and all.

~~~~EVERYONE ENJOY THE REST OF YOUR WEEKEND!!!!~~~~

Sunday's Newsflash!!!

2010-01-17T21:49:00.002-05:00

Well another weekend has come and gone. Can you believe how fast this weekend has flown by. I had a lot of paper work to do for this honor that I am being nominated for. And I had some paper work to do for the para stuff. SO I have been pretty busy this weekend. Can't believe the weekend is over already. But the good thing is We are off of school tomorrow because of Martin Luther King's bday. So we have another day to rest up. I got most of my work done this weekend so I will be spending tomorrow just resting and chilling. I did manage to get all of the laundry caught up, so I won't have to do any of that tomorrow. My plan tomorrow is basically Nothing!!! Lol. I am such a planner, organizer, things have to get done type of person. So when I don't have any plans it is so funny and unbelievable. But it's true all the work I had to do is caught up, the house work is caught up. So I think I am going to watch my new movie that I won on ebay. It is called Nights in Rodanthe. It is a movie based on the book by Nicholas Sparks. Not only do I have EVERY single book Nicholas Sparks has ever written, I also have every single Movie that was done based on his books. SO I just got that movie in yesterday and I think I will actually watch it tomorrow. Sounds like a plan. LOL. I feel better, I have a plan. LOL.

Anyway, again I did my weigh in and did not loose any more weight. I am going to start having to think of something else, weekly, to post about because not loosing anymore weight and posting about it will become monotous. I am certainly NOT complaining that I did not loose any more weight. I think 163 lbs lost is Incredible. And I think It is outstanding and I feel fantastic. But not loosing any more weight and keep posting about it will be boring.

It has been raining all day long today. And it is that cold, cold rain. Brings chills right through you. I have had a jacket on in the house all day long. I have been so cold. And I only went out for like an hour today. But it was so cold out there today. I hate winter. I hate being so dam cold. I have to say that since I have lost all of this weight, that is one of the side effects that is taking a long time getting used to. I am ALWAYS cold. Doctor said it is normal and will take about a year to adjust. If you think about it, I had so much insulation when I was heavier and now I have lost it all so I have nothing to protect me anymore from the cold weather. But I would rather put on a few layers of clothes then put a few layers of insulation back on. LOL. SO I am sitting here drinking a really nice cup of HOT tea, wearing my jacket and slippers and I feel really good right now.

WELL EVERYONE ENJOY YOUR MONDAY, IF YOU ARE OFF OF WORK ENJOY IT!!!

IF YOU HAVE TO WORK MONDAY, ENJOY IT!!!

HAVE A GREAT DAY!!!!

It's Almost Friday

2010-01-14T18:41:00.002-05:00

Tomorrow is Friday and that would complete a very full week of Work and Meetings for me. I have been so dam busy this week, it is crazy. I have a meeting all day long tomorrow. I am not even going to work. I am an Exec Brd Member for DSEA and we have a meeting tomorrow. SO when that is over, I will be so happy that it is the weekend. I have a meeting or an appointment ever single day after work all next week too. It's crazy how I can actually keep up with it all. I don't know how I do it either. But I do. And next weekend I will be in Rehoboth doing a training all weekend so Sam and the boys will be home alone all weekend. They will be fine just as long as there is food in the house. LOL.

Not much of anything else has been happening around here. Work, school, meetings, and appointments. Get up and do it all over again the next day.

Sam is still looking for a job and it really really sucks. He still works part time which that does help but dam it is sure tight right now, I don't know how we are going to be able to survive and keep all the things we have, like the house, the van, the electric, etc. It really sucks. I sure do wish this economy will pick back up again and soon!!!

No plans for this weekend except to finish up my portfolio for the nomination for me the DSEA ESP of the year. Other then that, I am going to hang out with one of my very best friends. She had surgery right before Christmas and she has been out of work since then and won't be back till Feb 1 and I sure do miss her a whole lot. And she is finally feeling better and able to drive (short distances) and she wants to come out of her house so dam bad. She said she needs to see other 4 walls other then her own. So her and her daughters are going to come over on Saturday and hang out and have dinner and play games and all. So that is going to be fun. Other then that I have no other plans. I just want to chill and relax and get rested up for the next full week of by busy life.

SO EVERYONE HAVE A WONDERFUL FRIDAY TOMORROW

~~~AND~~~

A FANTASTIC WEEKEND!!!!

Today is Tuesday, it's really Tuesday!!!

2010-01-12T19:27:00.002-05:00

LOL every morning at work, we sing this song. Today is __________ (M,T,W,T,F) etc. It's really _________ from early morning to late at night, while we are working, while we are playing, don't forget it's Tuesday today!! (sung to "you are my sunshine). WELL I can not get this dang song out of my head today to save my life. I have been singing it all day long. I need to get it out of my head. LOL. So when I clicked on to my blog and wanted to post about today's happening, that song is still in my head. So I said~~ok that's the title of my post today. :)

Today was a silly day. I have been in a silly mood. My kids at work just are so dam cute, so dam fun, just so dam loveable. They were playing with blocks on the floor today and a lot of the times they are playing on the floor and we (adults) are up and about and moving around doing what we need to do. Well this one little boy said "Ms. Patti, come here and look at this big building" So I decided to get on the floor with them. WELL they all started pushing me down and then the next thing I know, I have 8 little kids ALL climbing on me and laughing and playing and just absolutely LOVING IT!! It is one of those priceless moments with my kids. That really made me love the day, love my kids, love everything about it. It doesn't happen very often, but it was just a spontaneous thing that the kids would remember for a long time. It was another thing to validate how much I LOVE MY JOB!!!

Anyway, for the rest of this week and all next week, I am going to be very busy with meetings and appointments and that kind of stuff so I am not sure how much posting I am going to be able to do on my blog. BUT one of my new years resolutions is to keep this blog going because I really like doing it and I got out of it for such a long time that I want to keep going this year. So I am going to try my hardest to put a couple things on here a couple times a week. It may not be every day but at least 2-3 times a week.

WELL EVERYONE ENJOY THE NIGHT AND HAVE A GREAT DAY TOMORROW!!!

HALF WAY THROUGH THE WEEK!!!

THE WEEKEND WILL BE HERE SOON!!!

Sunday's Newsflash!!!!!

2010-01-10T18:21:00.003-05:00

Hello how is everyone doing today? Today is and was Sunday. It is almost over now. We ended up not going to school on Friday. Right after I posted that we had a 2 hour snow delay, they called us and told us that is was canceled. Which was kind of crazy since there was hardly any snow on the ground at all. But I did not complain because it gave me the chance to get caught up on some paper work and things that I have not had the chance to do. Friday was one of the most productive days I have had in a long time.
Saturday I went to visit one of my friends and we worked on my Official Resume. I have never ever wrote a resume before. I never really needed it. Well I am being nominated for the Educational Support Professional of the Year in my State. Let me explain a little about what that means. You see, if you don't know, I work as a Teacher's aide for Children with Disabilities. I have done that all my life. I have been doing that for over 25 years. Well, we are no longer called "aides" we are called educational support professionals. Well every year, Delaware picks a person as the educational support professional of the year. And that would bring some outstanding recognition, honor, and all that kind of things. It is something that if you were in my shoes and have been doing this for as long as I have been, you would want to be recognized for your work. And if I do win ESP of the year, I would be included in the National running too. Every state sends their ESP of the year to the National Education Association and I would be in the running for this recognition Nationally. So as you can probably assume, I am super super ecstatic about this. So I have been putting my portfolio together for all of the things that I need to have in order to be in the running for this. So part of this portfolio has to include a REAL Resume. And because I have never wrote one before, I needed a little help with it. And if I must say so myself, My Resume is very impressive. I sure do have a ton of experience working with children with disabilities. That is truly what I have been placed on this Earth to do. So that is what I have been working on and if I must say so myself it is coming out Really really nice. I can't wait to put it all together and hand it in. It showcases who I am and what I do on an everyday basis and shows how truly gifted I am to the children I work with. Sometimes it is really hard to write about yourself, but sometimes it is a reflection of what God has created. And I have to say without boasting, He created someone extremely gifted when he created me. Not too many people can work with handicapped children and do what I do. Not too many people can communicate with people who have no means of communication at all. Not too many people can handle the type of things that goes along with a person who has physical disabilities. BUT I CAN and I DO and I LOVE IT!!!!!!! It is truly my PASSION IN LIFE. Seeing those children light up when they have accomplished something they have been working on is absolutely amazing. So when I get everything together and get ready to hand it all in, I will post bits and pieces of it on here for you all to read. ok.
On to my Sunday's Newsflash. I did my weigh in again and I did not loose any more weight. I have been the same for over a month. I think it is safe to say that I am done loosing weight now. And I am not complaining at all. I have lost a total of 163 lbs and I am doing wonderful. So I would have to find something else to post about on Sundays. LOL.

WELL EVERYONE ENJOY YOUR NIGHT AND HAVE A GREAT MONDAY TOMORROW!!!

Snow Delay

2010-01-08T07:30:00.002-05:00

So we woke up to another day of Snow. But it was not enough snow for us to be out of school today. Not that I am complaining because I love my job and want to go to work. But the problem is, when it is going to snow, I want it to Really snow. Not just tease us. I LOVE snow. So this morning we have a 2 hour delay. So I still got up my usual time so that I can get a few things done on my computer. Since I have been back to work and back to my routine, I have not had much time to be on the computer and get things done. And being the President of the paras in my school district, I have a lot of work coming up because we are about to go into negotiations again for our new contract. So I will be very very busy in the next few months with all of that. So I am trying to get my things organized and together so I can started with that process.

So anyway, we will be going to school in a little while, and I just hope the roads are not icy. I can handle snow but not ice.

EVERYONE ENJOY YOUR FRIDAY!!!

IF IS SNOWED WHERE YOU LIVE, PLEASE BE CAREFUL!!!!

HAVE A GREAT DAY!!!!

Happy Hump Day!!!

2010-01-06T20:29:00.002-05:00

It is Wednesday~~We are half way through our first week of the year 2010. How is your first week of the new year going? Mine is going pretty good actually. I could not wait to go back to work. I missed my kids so so much. It was great to see them again. I was so tired when I got home on Monday night though, I just needed to take a nap. But now that we are half way through the week, I am fine now. Back on track, back to my routine, back to the work mode again. And everything is fine.

Sam has been working FULL DAYS for the past 3 days. THAT is TOTALLY Awesome. I know it still only $8 an hour, but it is better then nothing and it is 7 or 8 hours a day. So it is looking better. Don't know how long that is going to last but we will take it for now. We are still looking for a full time, steady, higher paying job for him. BUT dam it is so hard out there right now. There is just no jobs out there at this time for anyone. But we are doing the best we can with what we have. We will survive this.

We are expecting more Snow this weekend. Supposed to start Friday during the day. Last time they said we were going to get snow, we got over 2 feet of snow. I hope we get more snow. I love snow and if is snows that much, we won't have to go to work, so I won't have to drive in it, so we will be fine. BUT I tell you, it has been so DAM Cold lately!! I can't take this cold anymore. Now that I have lost all this weight, I am cold all the TIME and you know it gets old after a while. I am wearing layers of clothes all day long at work. It is so funny.

WELL EVERYONE~~~ENJOY THE REST OF YOUR WEEK~~~KEEP WARM!!!!!!

Sunday's Newsflash

2010-01-03T19:06:00.002-05:00

Hello today is Sunday and it was so so so so dam cold and windy out today. I could not believe how windy it was. It felt like my house was going to fall apart today. There were times when the wind gusted over 50mph. It was crazy. And when you live in a trailer, that is not good. I went out to get the newspaper and a gallon of milk and I felt like I was going to blow away. And then you factor in the COLD AIR wow it like took my breath away. So when I got back from getting the paper I never left my house again. I did the laundry and chilled most of the day. I made meat muffins for dinner. Our nephew Robert is leaving for the Army tomorrow, and he came over to hang out and that is what he wanted to have for dinner. I asked him what his favorite meal that I cook is so I can make it for him before he has to leave. He will be gone for 6 weeks of boot camp in South Carolina. He is nervous but I think he will be ok. I hope and pray that he does ok.
So today I did my weigh in and I have stayed the same. It feels like I have stayed the same for like 6 weeks now. I have not lost or gained anything in over 6 weeks. SO I am assuming that I guess I am done loosing weight. SO unless I ever loose anymore, My total weight lost for this surgery is 162 lbs. THAT is TOTALLY AWESOME!!!! I feel incredible. It has been 17 months now and I could not ask for anything else. I feel Wonderful. I feel like a whole new person. If I do not loose any more weight I would have succeeded in the goals that I have set out for myself. And that was to loose weight and stay healthy. And that is EXACTLY what I am doing. I am extremely Healthy and Happy and doing Wonderful!
Tomorrow we start back to school and work. Man I can not wait. I miss my kids so much it is not even funny. And I want my kids to go back to school so bad. They have been bored. And they have been fighting and they have been eating everything in the house. I felt like I was going through a gallon of milk in one day. Sometimes I sure we were. It was crazy. But I will be so glad to be going back to work and school and getting back into the routine again. I love routines and I love structures.

EVERYONE~~~~HAVE A WONDERFUL MONDAY TOMORROW!!!

ENJOY YOUR DAY BACK TO WORK!!!!!

New Day

2010-01-02T20:14:00.002-05:00

This morning, we cleaned the living room. Put the tree away and all the Christmas decorations. And really really cleaned the house. It was nice to have the house back to normal. I love Christmas but I'm glad the tree doesn't stay up too long cus it takes up a lot of room. I wanted to shampoo the carpets but I didn't feel like it today. It is too cold and damp outside I thought it would take a long time for them to dry. So after cleaning the house I had a few errands to run and went to visit one of my friends. BUT DAM WAS IT COLD OUTSIDE TODAY!!! Glad I didn't have to be outside for too long. So when I got home, I didn't even have to make dinner tonight because I made some killer bbq pork chops in the oven last night. It was like melt in your mouth good and we had a few of them left so we just ate on them and that was dinner. I don't know what I am making for dinner tomorrow but it will be Sunday and my last day of my winter vacation so I want to stay home all day and make sure I am well rested before I have to back to work on Monday. I SO CAN NOT WAIT TO GO BACK TO WORK ON MONDAY!!! I MISS my kids so much at school. I have not seen them in over 2 weeks. I bet they have grown so much and some probably have gone backwards as far as their routines and all but is ok, it will take a couple days and they will all be right back on to their routines in no time. Plus I am so missing hugging and squeezing my little kids at school. I love them so much and I LOVE MY JOB SO MUCH!!! I will be so excited when I go to sleep tomorrow night that I probably will be tired on Monday but it will all be worth it.

Anyway, I just realized that me and my sister Peggy have the same background for our blogs. I guess great minds think alike. I know I love purple and anything to do with purple. So when I saw this I had to put it on my blog and Peggy has it too. That is so cool.

I did not figure out how to work my sister's camera that she is letting me use. I can take pictures on it but when I go to upload them to my computer, it says it needs to be formatted and I have no idea what that means. SO when ever one of my friends is over here visiting that knows something about it, I will have to ask them to help me.

We are still looking for a job for Sam. He still works at that motor cycle warehouse. But it is only part time-less then 20 hours a week. And it is only $8.00 an hour. Barely enough to do anything with but put gas in the vehicles and buy his cigarettes and stuff. So we have put in over 7 job applications in the past 4 days, I sure do hope something comes out of it soon. We are trying so hard to keep things going and it is so hard right now, but we have a new attitude towards life and we are doing all that we can with what we have. And it is not easy. But we will get through this.

Anyway, that is about all that has been going on here today. Tomorrow is Sunday, and it is my weigh in day. I still weigh in once a week and have been keeping track of it. So I will post how my weight loss is doing tomorrow.

~~~~~HAVE A GREAT NIGHT EVERYONE!!!!! TTYL~~~~~

New Year~~~New Blog

2010-01-01T21:41:00.003-05:00

Wow, I can not believe it has been over two months since I have wrote anything on here at all. I guess I have been either busy or lazy. You tell me. No really, I just thought people wasn't even reading my blog anymore or was tired of it, So I decided to give it a break for awhile. I got hooked up on Facebook that I really didn't want to do any thing else. But I have kind of slowed down on Facebook now too so that I can get other things done. Man does the computer and the internet take some hours away from your day. Good thing I am still on vacation.

So Happy New Year Everyone!!! It is now 2010 and I am Hoping and Praying that this New Year is a Better year for me and my family. I am so glad 2009 is over. Really nothing was good about last year except my continued weight loss, my trip to California, my boys doing really well in school, etc. Ok so I guess I can't say that the WHOLE year was bad. But It was one of the worst years we (me and my family) have had in a Really Really LONG time. So I woke up this morning with a better attitude and renewed excitement to change things around. It is going to be a good year for us because honestly I really don't know how much worse it can get right now. Other then if one of us gets sick. But lets not think like that.

So since I have wrote anything on here, I have continued to loose to a bunch of weight. I have now lost a total of 162 lbs. I really do have to put a picture of me on here, it has been a long time. I will when I get the chance to take a picture of myself. My camera broke about a month ago and I didn't have one for a long time. Angela let me borrow hers and I am still trying to figure it out. So that will be on my to do list for tomorrow. I will work on figuring out her camera and take a picture of me so I can post a new picture of me on here.

We are still on vacation till Monday and Man I CAN NOT WAIT TO GO BACK TO WORK!!!! One is I really really really really miss my kids. And Two I really really really really need MY kids to go back to school. I bet I am not alone in that. LOL. We had a lot of snow the week of Christmas so we didn't have school for three days before our Christmas break so our Christmas break was longer then it was supposed to be. I am not complaining at all because I love snow and we really did need a break but Now I am ready to go back to school.

We didn't do too much for New Year's Eve. I do not stay up late at all ever. I am up at the crack of dawn but I can not stay up past 10-10:30 pm. So we had some friends over here, played cards, and ate junk. They had to leave before midnight because their little daughter was tired and would not go to sleep in my house. So when they left, I struggled to stay up to watch the ball drop then I was in bed by 12:15 and asleep in 2 minutes. And today was a chill out day at home. We hung around here watching movies, making dinner, doing laundry, playing on the computer, playing games. Same stuff different day.

So anyway now that it is a new year, I hope to get back into blogging again. I really did like it even though people were not really reading it. It was a way to escape and journal about my thoughts and things going on around here. I just hope people would start reading it again.

WELL HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE

HOPE THIS YEAR IS A WONDERFUL YEAR FOR EVERYONE

~~~~~~~2010~~~~~~~

Sunday's Newsflash!!!!

2009-11-08T17:02:00.002-05:00

Good Afternoon everyone. Today is Sunday. It was a Gorgeous Day today. I had the windows open, the sun was shining, I cleaned my whole house. It was a great day. I changed everyone's sheets on their beds and aired out everyone's bed. It was nice to have the windows open in November, that sure does not happen too much.

I did my weigh in today and I lost 1 more lb. So My total weight loss right now is 159 lbs. I can not believe I have lost that much weight. I can not believe I was CARRYING that much weight around. I really didn't think I was Actually THAT BIG. But when I see pictures of myself from the before and the after, it is just amazing that I didn't have a heart attack or anything carrying that much weight around with me before. But NOW~~~DAM I just FEEL Incredible!!! I can't even explain how I feel. I can't put it into words how much better I feel, how much better I look, how much better I can MOVE!!! IT'S JUST AMAZING!!!!! I still don't have a goal, I just want to stay healthy and keep doing the right things that I am supposed to do to remain healthy.

So anyway, my dad is on his way down here from NJ to attend my aunt's funeral tomorrow. It is pretty sad that someone has to die in order to be able to see most of the family that we have not seen in years. We will be seeing cousins, aunts, uncles, and all kinds of other people that we all haven't seen in years, for my aunt's funeral. So my dad is going to be staying with me. My step mom is not coming down with him cus she couldn't get off of work. So I am going to be making Shepperd's pie for dinner tonight. He should be here by 6:00. And I have not made Shepperd's pie in a long time and lil Sam has been asking for it for a while. So I thought it would be a good dinner to make tonight while my dad is here. I have not seen my dad in over 1 1/2 years. So it will be nice to see him again.

I am off of work tomorrow and then on Tuesday and Wednesday we are off too. Tuesday is one of our furlough days off and Wednesday is Veterans Day so we are off for a few days. So that is giving me a chance to get caught up in things around here. On Wednesday the boys have an eye dr appt which will take like close to 4-5 hours of our day because all three of them go at the same time right after the other. So far, just Tyler needs glasses but I still take all three of them just to keep them updated.

We are still financially strapped Tight. I don't know what we are going to do. But we are managing the best way we know how to. Sam is very very actively looking for another job right now. All he works now is like 3-4 hours a day and only 3-4 days a week and we are struggling so bad. It sucks because I really don't want to loose anything that we have. I have been selling things on ebay but I don't have much that will bring in money that we need. But we will be ok.

Well I am getting off of here now going to start cooking dinner so I will talk to you all later.

EVERYONE ENJOY YOUR NIGHT AND HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEK!!!!!!!!

Been a While

2009-11-07T12:45:00.002-05:00

Boy am I slacking on keeping up with my Blogging. I used to be very good at keeping up with my blogging. But lately I have been very very busy and also very sick that I have not put anything on here in a while. Anyway, A lot has been going on here I may be writing a book. LOL!

First of all, since I have written anything on here, I have been sick. I had a serious Sinus infection and an ear infection. I went to the Doctor, got some antibiotics and I was out of work for two days. I thought I was getting better, I went back to work and the more I was doing, the worse I was getting and it was just not going away. So I ended up going to the Doctor again and this time he put me on some serious Antibiotics and some other medicine some kind of steroids to help with the inflammation. So I have been taking them for like 4 days now and I can honestly say that I am FINALLY BACK To Normal (well my normal anyway). I was sick for like over 3 weeks, I felt like I was never going to get better. SO I am back to work, back to my busy self.

I did not loose any more weight this past weekend, that is one of the reasons why I did not post anything last Sunday. I shall see what tomorrow brings because that is when I do my weigh in. I will post more about it tomorrow on my Sunday's Newsflash.

My Aunt Rosie passed away on Thursday. She was 67 and she had diabetes and it just took over her body. Anyway it is sad when you loose a family member, but everything will be ok. God must of needed her there instead. So her funeral is on Monday. My Dad is coming into town tomorrow and I think he may be staying with me. I am not sure yet. But anyway, the funeral is Monday, I am off for that and then I am off of work on Tuesday and Wednesday for Veterans day so I don't have to be back to work till Thursday so it gives me a chance to get some stuff done around the house.

I went to the goodwill the other day to get some clothes again. I have lost so much weight that I am constantly buying new clothes. And the goodwill works well with my budget. Anyway, I was super excited because I am in a size 18 now. I started out in a size 32W. AND I got 3 pairs of jeans and 3 shirts all for ONLY $16.00 I was super excited. They had a 50% off sale on a certain color tag and I got 3 things that had that color tag on it, AND YES IT WAS PURPLE TAG SALE DAY, so how bout that? It was meant to be. LOL. So I am good for clothes for a little while.

I am going to my friends baby shower this after noon. She is having twins. A boy and a girl, just like my sister Peggy. My friend already has a 4 year old little boy and now she is having twins. She will definitely have her hands full.

Well I got to go pick up Lil Sam, he spent the night at his friends house. SO I got to get off of here for now. I will post a BIG Update tomorrow.

HAVE A GREAT DAY AND ENJOY YOUR WEEKEND!!!!!!!!

Sunday's Newsflash!!!!

2009-10-25T09:31:00.002-04:00

I can't believe it has been a whole week that I have written anything in here. I am supposed to be writing and updating this thing more often so people can stay in touch and see what is going on with me. Oh well, sorry. I guess I have been busy. AND the crazy cartoon farm has been keeping me addicted. LOL!!! It is so much fun. I even have Sam into it and now Tyler wants to get into it now. LOL!!!
Anyway on to my Sunday's Newsflash. I am so excited today. I am going to MD today to a High School Bands Competition. I am super excited. High School bands from DE, MD, and VA are competing today for trophies and stuff like that. I used to do that when I was in the high school band and it was so MUCH FUN!!! It is going to bring back so many memories for me. My BFF Joyce, her daughter is a freshman and this is her first competition and she asked me if I wanted to go. SO that is what I am doing today. We are leaving around 11:30. There is going to be 20 area high school bands there. The best from each area of their states. And if you know me, and you know how I grew up with the high school bands and the Drum and Bugle competitions
OH MY GOSH!!!!!!!! So I am leaving Sam and the boys home today, just me and my friend Joyce are going to see her daughter. HOW COOL IS THAT!!!!! And it is Sunny and Beautiful outside, we couldn't of asked for better weather. :)
And because it is Sunday I am updating on my weight loss too. I have now officially lost 158 lbs!!
Can you believe it? DANG!!! I am a whole new person on the outside. I feel INCREDIBLE!!!! I weigh less then Sam now. I never ever have weighed less then Sam. LOL!!! Anyway, so I lost 158 lbs. And today is my 15 month anniversary of the surgery too so it is time to post new pictures up already. I can't believe it is time to post pictures up already. Time sure does fly by. Well last month it was crazy and I didn't get on here much at all. So when I get the chance to take pictures of myself, I'll get them on here ok.
Well I gotta get breakfast going and get ready to go to the Band Competition so I am going to get off of here now. So I'll talk to you all later.

HAVE A WONDERFUL SUNDAY!!!

ENJOY THIS WEATHER!!!!

ENJOY YOUR FAMILY!!!!!

Sunday's Newsflash!!!!

2009-10-18T14:30:00.002-04:00

Wow where has the time gone. It has been two weeks since I have posted anything on here at all. I can not believe it. I am slacking. Sorry. But today is Sunday, my weigh in day and I am on here posting an update for all my friends and family. So I have lost another 3 lbs. So my total weight loss is now 154 lbs. Can you believe it? Dang it feels so incredible. I am doing Fantastic. SO much more energy and everything. I am doing so good.

Anyway, what a week this has been for me and my friends. I feel so bad for one of my friends Robin. Her son, who is 14 is battling Cancer, he has been for like 2 years now. He is doing ok but not totally out of the woods yet. Has to be home schooled, has to go back and forth up to AI DuPont Hospital in Wilmington 3-4 x a week. So their family has been going through a lot lately, trying to work, go to school, pay the mounting hospital bills, etc. Well, on Saturday last week, her Husband died. Right there at the grocery store, he fell and had a massive heart attack. HOW SAD IS THAT??? He was 47 years old. They said is was from Stress and Worry and concern from their son having cancer, and them trying to make ends meet and all. It is just so sad. Now Robin had to arrange a funeral for her husband, and still take care of her son and the her other two boys. Can you imagine, having to go through that. We have all been helping her in any way we can. His Family came down from NY and CT to help her out and be there for the funeral and all. I just don't know how she is going to manage it all now. Glen was her rock, he was there all the time. How devastating for her to have to go through this. But now she has her boys and all of her friends and family to help and support her. She is certainly going to need it now. SO I am asking all my friends and family on my blog world to please pray for my friend Robin that she can help her family go through this very sad hard time right now and that her son can fight this cancer and be cured. Cancer is such and UGLY thing and now that her son has to grieve and deal with his father's death, what is that going to do to his poor little body? SO please pray for my friend right now, she needs all the prayers she can get.

So besides that, we have been doing ok. I have been very busy and working a lot and having meetings and things going on. You know me, always busy. The boys are all doing good. It has been raining and yucky out for days so they have been stuck in the house for a long time. They have actually been going out A LOT lately after school to ride their bikes and stuff so now that they are stuck inside it is crazy. WE are all outgrowing this house but there is nothing I can do about it. I can't afford to move right now. But we do what we have to do to manage.
Sam is working his little part time job right now. I wish he can find a full time job that pays more and offers more hours but right now this is all we can do. We are struggling big time but we are managing the best way we know how. It can always be worse and there are other people out there that are worse off then we are, so I count my blessings and move forward with what we have.

WELL, EVERYONE ENJOY YOUR WEEK AHEAD

AND

ENJOY THIS BEAUTIFUL FALL WEATHER!!!!!!!!!

Sunday's Newsflash!!!!

2009-10-04T16:32:00.007-04:00

Well today is Sunday. And I am finally doing a post on SUNDAY. I feel like I have not put anything on here in a while. I have been so busy and playing with my farm that I have not had the chance to get on here in a while. But anyway, HERE I AM!!!! 14 months after surgery!!! Feeling FANTASTIC!!!!! Looking Wonderful!!!! Energized!!!! Incredible!!!!! I have lost 152 lbs so far. And still going strong. I feel like a whole new person. (Don't mind the hair, I had just got out of the shower when I got this picture taken, LOL).

So other then my weight loss news, nothing else is happening here. I am doing some work on the computer for my para stuff, the boys are riding their bikes outside and chillin out. Sam is playing some game w/ the neighbor. And I am getting ready to cook dinner. I am making meatloaf tonight for dinner. Last night I made ham, cabbage, and potatoes. It was so good.
I had my little boy from school here all day yesterday. That was fun. He is such a happy kid. My boys and Sam love him. He was so much fun. Then I invited his grandparents here for dinner when they came to pick him up. They were so excited and happy to stay and have dinner with us. We had such a great time.

Other then that, nothing else is going on. I have two meetings and one appointment this week. So not too bad of a week ahead for me. I should be fine. No money as usual, but hey can't complain. Sam is at least working at the part time job with the motorcycle warehouse. He is doing ok. He just only get 4 days a week and only $8.50 hr. but I guess it is better then nothing. At least we get food stamps now to help us out. Sam is still looking for a full time/better paying job. Maybe one day, it will come.

HERE ARE RECENT PICTURES OF ME TAKEN LAST WEEK ON THE ANNIVERSARY OF MY WEIGHT LOSS SURGERY. FEELING FANTASTIC!!!!!!!!!!!!

WELL EVERYONE ENJOY YOUR WEEK AHEAD!!

TGIF!!!!

2009-10-02T21:03:00.002-04:00

What a week this has been. I have been so very very busy that I all I did was go to work, had meetings, appointments, etc. and never got to see Sam and the boys much this week at all. I don't know how I did it. I didn't even get the chance to do my Sunday's Newsflash that I do EVERY WEEK. I promise I will do it this weekend because I have to post new pictures of myself on here because it has been now been 14 months and I have changed so much. I feel incredible. Look for pictures of me this weekend along with a complete update on my weight loss.

This weekend, my little boy from school is coming over all day tomorrow. His grandparents, who are raising him, are going to a wedding and they asked me to babysit. I gladly said yes because it has been a while since I have had him here at my house and I miss him. He is no longer in my class at school so I don't get the chance to see him that much during the day. He moved up to the next grade. SO he is coming over tomorrow to hang out here with me and Sam and the boys. I don't have anything planned really, just chilling out at home and doing laundry and stuff. I want to really cook this weekend too, I haven't done that much this week at all. So I am craving to cook. I get that way sometimes, where I really really want to cook and the more people I can cook for the better I am. LOL. Sunday I have some work to do on the computer for my Para stuff. So that will keep me busy. I will also be working on updating my blog so you all get the chance to see the changes I have made in the last month. But other then that, nothing really planned for this weekend. Just chillin out at home and relaxing and playing on my farm. LOL. No money to do anything and no desire to go anywhere. Honestly I just want to sleep for days. I am so tired. But you know I get that way every year when school is in session. I am involved in so much with my Union and my school and other things that it really really keeps me busy.

EVERYONE ENJOY YOUR WEEKEND!!!!

HAVE A WONDERFUL TIME WITH FAMILY & FRIENDS!!!!

Addicted to Farmville and Facebook

2009-09-25T10:55:00.002-04:00

Oh my gosh, we have become addicted to Farmville on Facebook. If anyone has a facebook page, you probably heard of Farmville. It is a interactive game online where you grow and maintain a cartoon version of a real farm. It is very very cute and it is fun. You plow, plant seeds, have animals, trees and all that, and in time they grow and you then harvest the things for more coins and money and then you can expand your farm and add other things to it and all. Well, we in this house are addicted to it. It is so fun. It is clean family fun. Our xbox is broken and Sam has been like a bump on a log and bored blah blah blah. Well he saw me playing farmville one night last week and asked about it. I was showing him all about it and then he wanted to get in on it so we created a facebook page for him too (that is the only way you can play farmville) and he now has his own farm. WELL that's all it took. LOL. He is happy again, excited to come home and get up on his farm and see how things are going. He has neighbors that he helps out, he has friends on his facebook that talk to him. He is even on the phone to his friends talking about farmville It is so dam funny. Here he was all depressed, didn't want to do anything, didn't want to get out of bed, didn't want to talk to anyone and NOW a CARTOON FARM has CHANGED HIM!!! Go figure. But hey what ever makes him happy right. He has a part time job, did I mention that. He got a job in a motorcycle warehouse. So he plays with motorcycles all day and plays with a farm all night. LMAO!!!! But at least he is not out drinking and partying and driving drunk and doing drugs. LOL he is on a cartoon farm. I just find that so dam hilarious. But he is HAPPY AGAIN AND THAT IS ALL I WANTED.

SO other then that, I am off of work today because it is one of our State Mandated Furlough day that we had to take off because of the state budget crisis. So I am paying bills on here, catching up on some things that I have to do. Then Sam is going to come home for lunch and after that I have to go run a bunch of errands in town today. So that is my day today. Tomorrow, I am going to meet NICHOLAS SPARKS. I am SO EXCITED about that. I can't wait. We are leaving here at 7:30 am and going to Washington DC. My friend Margaret and her daughters are going with me, it is going to be so much fun. I love her girls. They are like daughters I never had. They are all teenagers just like my boys. She has 3 girls and 2 of them are in High School and one is in middle school. So they are not young that we would have to like take care of them tomorrow or really like watch them in the crowds. We are going to have so much fun.

WELL EVERYONE ENJOY YOUR FRIDAY NIGHT AND HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!!!!!

Tired Tuesday

2009-09-22T19:09:00.002-04:00

I am so dang tired tonight. I had open house last night for my school. Cody and Tyler had a Dr. appt tonight at 5:00. I just got home at 6:30. I stopped to the grocery store and bought chicken for dinner and now I am getting ready to do the laundry. I am just so tired today that I just wish this night could be done with. But I have to finish the laundry and I have to do the dishes. And then I can go to bed. I have a meeting tomorrow and Thursday night and then I will be able to chill on Friday night. I am going to Washington DC this weekend so I am looking forward to that. I am going to meet Nicholas Sparks in person. I am super excited about that one. And there are going to be a Ton of other favorite authors there too. HEY PEG--ARE YOU GOING? I would love to see you there.

Well that is about all that is going on here with me and us. Nothing new. I am still waiting to hear the reply for the food stamps. I applied for them last week but I have not heard anything from them yet. They said they are over loaded with tons of people applying right now that they are behind. So I hope to get them soon, hopefully by the end of this week. I need them bad. I know I am going to get food stamps but I just don't know how much.

EVERYONE ENJOY YOUR WEDNESDAY!!!!!!!

Sunday's Newsflash!!!!

2009-09-20T20:50:00.002-04:00

Yeah it is Sunday again. The day that I do my weigh in and the day that I post all about my progress. Sorry it is so late in the day. I have been busy and playing games and all on the computer and doing work that I almost completely forgot about my Sunday's Newsflash. So here it is. I am so super Excited. I did my weigh in today and I have lost another 3 lbs so that now brings my total weight loss to 150 lbs. YES I said 150 lbs. Can you believe it????? I am so super excited. I can not believe I was carrying all that around first of all, and I can't believe I have lost that much. BUT I feel AMAZING!!!! FANTASTIC!!!! WONDERFUL!!!!! ALIVE!!!! LIKE A WHOLE NEW PERSON. THANKS FOR EVERY ONE'S SUPPORT!!!!!!

Other then that, I have not been doing anything else today. I had a lot of work to do on the computer that I had to get done, then I was playing Farmville on my facebook page. I am getting addicted to it. They say it is addicting and now I see why. I am about to go on it again soon and see how my farm is doing.

It was nice not having to go do things today. I was able to just stay home and do the things I needed to do at home today.

Well tomorrow starts a very very busy week for me this week. I have a meeting or an appointment every single night this week, so I am not going to be home much this week. But it will all be ok because that is how my life is, busy, busy, busy.

SO EVERYONE ENJOY YOUR NIGHT AND HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEK AHEAD!!!!!

A Wonderful Week!!!!

2009-09-18T21:14:00.002-04:00

I just have to say that I have had a Wonderful week this week. And now it is Friday and I can sit back and enjoy my weekend. I just LOVE my JOB so much, it is wonderful. We are going on a field trip the end of this month to a local Apple Orchard. At the apple orchard, we are going to be going on a hay ride, go in a pumpkin patch, pick our own apples, and go through a mini corn maze. We are going to have so much fun. So in preparation for our field trip to the Apple orchard, we have been doing all kinds of Apple Art projects this week. And we have been having so much fun. We made our own apple orchard by tracing the kids bodies with their arms spread out for the trees and the kids finger painted apples to hang on them. And for the tops of the trees, we used green paper and the kids painted with their feet on the green paper. We just put paint on their feet and let them just walk ALL OVER the paper. OH MY GOSH did they have fun. It turned out really good. The paint was like fall colors for leaves and it was so cute. IT was definitely a messy project but they had so much fun doing it. So now our apple orchard is complete and it is all hanging up in the hall at school so the kids will be able to see it when they come to school on Monday. It came out so dang cute. I am going to take a picture of it and post it on here next week. LOL. So besides the apple orchard we created, we painted with apples this week, we sponge painted a huge apple, and next week we are going to make home made apple sauce and apple pie. This week was art and painting, next week it is cooking and food. It is going to be so much fun. We have been having a blast with them this week and they are all loving it.

SO besides school news, Sam got a JOB~~~YEAH!!!!!! It is only part time, so it will only be temporary until he gets a full time, better paying job. He is working at a motorcycle warehouse shipping and receiving and doing stuff like that. SO what man wouldn't want to work around motorcycles all day long. He does really like it. It is not a strenuous job at all and he gets along really well with the other people. The problem is, it is not Full Time it is only like 30 hours a week and it is only $8.00 an hour. So he is still looking for a Full Time job that can pay more, because we can't make it on only that much of money. So we are going to keep our fingers crossed and hope something comes better. We shall see what happens. BUT AT LEAST HE HAS A LITTLE JOB. IT IS BETTER THEN NOTHING!!!!!

So this weekend, we are just going to chill out at home. I have a lot of para work to do at home so I will be doing that. And I want to finish reading my book I am on. Next weekend, I am going to Washington DC to meet NICHOLAS SPARKS in person, I am so EXCITED. If you don't know who Nicholas Sparks is, he is only my MOST FAVORITE author in the World. He wrote the Notebook, Message in a Bottle, Walk to Remember and all kinds of other books and each of those books that I mentioned have been movies. SO if you have seen those movies, they were written by NICHOLAS SPARKS. SO I am going to DC to meet him in person and get him to sign some of my books that I have of his. It is free to the public and there are going to be a ton of other authors there too if anyone wants to go. It is the National Book Festival in DC if you want to check it out online. I will be there for sure. Super EXCITED!!!!

WELL EVERYONE ENJOY YOUR WEEKEND AND HAVE FUN!!!!!

Sunday's Newsflash

2009-09-13T15:13:00.002-04:00

Hi All, it is Sunday. It is SUNNY finally, it has been raining here for a few days. It feels nice to have the sun out today. I have been doing things around the house, getting caught up on things that I don't get the chance to do, go through things in the closets, listing things on ebay to sell, getting fall/winter clothes out for the boys to wear etc. So it has been a really nice day, I have all of the windows open, there is a great breeze out. It just feels like a beautiful day. And FALL IS IN THE AIR~~~~~MY FAVORITE TIME OF YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I did my weigh in again today and I have lost 1 more lb, so now my total weight loss it 147 lbs. And I feel FANTASTIC. I am getting back to exercising now that I am back to work, I am on a really good routine and I love routines. I am slowing down on my weight loss, it won't be as much as it was in the beginning, they said after a year or so it will start to taper off, so that is what is happening now. It has been 13 months and 147 lbs is not too bad at all. I am HAPPY with everything. I am doing WONDERFUL. I am keeping it up and feeling GREAT.

Sam finished that deck for our neighbors so that brought in a little bit of money, I was able to pay some bills with it. He is going tomorrow around town to look for a job again, hopefully he finds something cus he really really needs a job. It really sucks to be struggling like this, but we do the best we can with what we have. I have to apply for food stamps on Monday. I know I will be able to get them because now it is only my income and I don't make anything worth while. I'll see how it goes on Monday. Hopefully he gets a job and we won't have to have them for a long time.

The boys are doing good, they are all in a routine for school again and doing fine. No complaints.

EVERYONE ENJOY THE REST OF YOUR SUNDAY AFTERNOON!!!!!

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEK!!!!

REMEMBERING SEPTEMBER 11th, 2001

2009-09-11T20:18:00.005-04:00

~~~~OUR PRAYERS ARE ALWAYS WITH THE VICTIMS

& THEIR FAMILIES~~~~

Tomorrow

2009-09-09T22:04:00.002-04:00

Hey ALL how are things? Sam has an interview tomorrow for a little part time job. Hey but anything for now will be good. It is for P&F motorcycles, maintance type work. So wish him luck. Pray, please. He needs a job. I know it will be only part time right now, but it may lead into full time and it may lead into other things. The job market is so tough right now, he is willing to do anything for a job. AND he also has a few side jobs people are wanting him to do. Word of mouth goes a long way. He is just about done with the big deck he was building for one of our neighbors. It turned out to be a huge deck with a 20' ramp. So we will be getting money from that by Friday. Then one of my students at school, his dad wants Sam to put together one of those big huge swing set kits that you get from Lowe's and he will get $500 for doing that, and one of my other friends wants to screen in her back porch and put windows in to make it like a sun room, so Sam will be doing that too. And so things are starting to look up just a little bit for us. We shall see what happens.

EVERYONE ENJOY YOUR THURSDAY AND PRAY THAT SAM GETS THIS JOB!!!!!!

Labor Day Monday

2009-09-07T19:47:00.002-04:00

So today was Labor Day. Not much happened here. I helped Sam with building that deck he is doing for our neighbor. It is turning out to be a very big project. It is an 8x8 deck with a 20' wheelchair ramp, and 6 steps on the other side. It is a lot of work to do a project like that. But we are almost done. I have to go to work tomorrow so he will be on his own doing it tomorrow. I have been helping him most of the time because lil Sam is a typical teenager and he doesn't want to help if he isn't getting paid for it, and because we have no money we can't afford to pay lil Sam for his help. And lil Rob was going to help but he is sick with Gaul Stones, He may need surgery soon. So it has been just me and Sam doing it. IT is working out pretty good. I am learning more then I wanted to learn about building decks. LOL. But we are getting a long and that is always a good sign when a married couple work together. Hopefully tomorrow though, he will be done with the whole thing and we can get paid for it. We sure can use the money. He still doesn't have a job, and he certainly can't go looking for one tomorrow. Hopefully the few places that he has applied for will call him and he will find a job soon. Other then that, we are all doing ok. Struggling as usual, but surviving the best way we know how.

EVERYONE HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEK THIS WEEK!!!!!!

4 Day Weekend here

2009-09-05T10:45:00.002-04:00

So We now have a 4 day weekend. It is Labor Day (just encase you didn't know that) LOL. So Sam is building a really big deck for on of our neighbors and the deck is going to have a 20 foot wheelchair ramp to it too. So that is what is going on this weekend. Yesterday I went with him to buy all the wood for it at Lowes. You should have seen his poor little truck. It was so loaded down that I thought we were going to pop a wheelie going home. LOL. But we got it all home and we made it in one piece. So now he is getting ready to go over there all day and put it together. That will be a little bit of money for us. He is getting $500 for doing it so that will help. We have been looking for jobs for the past few weeks and there is just NOTHING out there right now. I am applying for food stamps next week. We have to do something. I don't want to loose anything that we have worked so hard for but I am afraid it is going to happen if something doesn't come up soon. But there is no use complaining about it. We just have to work through it. YES it is so dam stressful but we are doing what ever we can do survive. I sure can use some help right now but so can every other person in this world. But better days are coming I hope. And Time will make everything better. I am selling stuff on Ebay if anyone wants to look around for anything. Mostly books and movies and games. Stuff like that.
Other then that, we are doing ok. YES we argue but it doesn't last longer then the day, WE NEVER GO TO BED ANGRY AT EACH OTHER. So that helps. And it is not like this has been our first time in this situation. IT too shall pass. AND we will get through this it just really sucks for the time being.
We are back to school and everything is doing great there. I Love my job. I am having so much fun with my kids. We are doing all kinds of things. It is great. The boys are doing ok in school too. They are liking their classes and their teachers. It gets to the point when they get older and in the higher grades that "it's just school mom, what more can I say about school".
Well that is about all that is going on here today. Hopefully he will be done with that deck by the end of today and we can get paid for it by Monday. Tomorrow we are going over to some friends house for a big bbq and that should be fun, get out for a while and visit with friends.

EVERYONE HAVE A WONDERFUL HOLIDAY WEEKEND!!!!

ENJOY YOUR LABOR DAY OFF OF WORK!!!!!!

Ok~Ok~Ok~~~~

2009-09-02T19:16:00.010-04:00

I know I have not kept up with my side of the bargain huh? Sorry. I have not been on my computer in a few days. I never even put up my Sunday's newsflash or nothing. DAM what's wrong with me? LOL.

Sorry, I have been so very very busy with starting back to work and all that I have not had the chance to get on here. And I'm very very worried about Sam not working. It really sucks. IT is really hard to live on just one income. It has been so very stressful here. OK so no more excuses. Here is my Sunday's newsflash and my pictures that I promised.

It has been exactly 13 months since I have had my surgery. I feel absolutely fantastic. Doing wonderful. Exercising my butt off, literally. And I have now lost a total of 146 lbs.

HERE I AM 13 months later. CHECK ME OUT!!!!!!

DAM I CAN REALLY TELL THE DIFFERERENCE NOW!!!

It's the Weekend

2009-08-29T16:41:00.002-04:00

Hi everyone in my blog world. It is the weekend and man have I been busy. You all know that I started back to work again this past week and I am in the room with 3 year olds. And let me tell you, they are some busy little people. Always on the move doing something. So this week was our first day back to school and we were so excited to be back to work. It was a great week. On Thursday though, I was so EXHAUSTED. I came home from work like by 5:30 after I had a lot of errands to run. I was so tired, I didn't even want to cook dinner, I just let everyone fend for themselves. SO I started reading my book that I have been reading and by like 6:15 I was sound asleep on the couch. Next thing you know it was 9:00pm, I woke up to go to the bathroom and I crawled into my bed and went to sleep for the whole night. I slept so hard till like 5:00 in the morning. That's how tired I was. It has a lot to do with being off for like 4 weeks and then going back to work again it is a big adjustment. But I am ok now. NO, I'm not sick. My body was just getting adjusted to working again.
So now it is the weekend and I am home today doing things around the house. I have my little boy that I take home from school sometimes. His grandmother (who has custody of him) is in the hospital and his grandfather wanted to go up to see her for a few hours. So I told him I would take care of him for a while. Right now, he is taking a nap. So I am able to get on here for a few.

Tomorrow I will post about my weigh in and also post another set of pictures of me because this week was my 13 month anniversary of having my surgery. And I took pictures of me and now I have to put them on here. So look for my posting tomorrow. ok.

WE are still anxiously waiting for Sam to get a job. He has a big lead on something and supposedly it may happen on Monday. The owner of the company is supposed to be calling him to start this coming Monday. LORD I hope so. I will let you all know as soon as I hear anything. UNTIL then please Pray that Sam finds a job quickly because I don't know how much longer we can go without him working. It is really hard financially right now for us.

EVERYONE HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND!!!

ENJOY THE WEATHER OUTSIDE!!!

TRY AND STAY COOL!!!!!

We are so EXCITED!!!!!

2009-08-24T19:50:00.003-04:00

The kids first day of school is tomorrow. AND WE ARE SO EXCITED!!!! Today we were at work and set up our new classroom with all of the furniture and things we need for our students. We worked out a schedule of things we are doing for the days and the specials that we are doing. We worked out our swim schedule etc. We are so ready for our kids to come tomorrow and we are super EXCITED to see their shinning faces. We miss them so much. This year I am working with Joyce again, she is the teacher I have been with for over 14 years now and the other para in our room is Margaret and she is my best friend. All three of us work so well together it isn't funny. It is amazing how well we just click and work fantastic together. So We had a great day today getting ready for our kids. We all said we weren't going to be able to sleep tonight. It should really be the other way around. The kids should be the ones who are excited and can't sleep and ready to come back to school, which I am sure they are, but we are just like little kids ourselves, excited for the first day of school. It is going to be wonderful.

Cody and Tyler start school tomorrow. They are excited too. Tyler is a little nervous though. He doesn't know where his room is and all. But he will be ok. They will be all excited when they get home to tell me all about their first day of school. Little Sam started school last week and he has brought home more papers for me to sign every single day. Don't you hate the first week of school it feels like you are signing your life or you Kid away. LOL. I know they need all these papers signed, different information and all but dang doing it times 3 is a lot. LOL.

Sam did not hear anything yet from that job he applied for. He is going to call them tomorrow. I sure do hope he gets this job, he needs to work so bad we just can't make it on my salary alone. I will let you all know what happens.

WELL EVERYONE ENJOY YOUR TUESDAY!!!!!!

I KNOW I WILL WITH MY LITTLE KIDS!!!!!

I CAN'T WAIT!!!!! :) :):):)

Sunday's Newflash!!!!

2009-08-23T11:16:00.003-04:00

IT is sunny!! Yeah. We have had the most Wicked Storms for the past two nights. It was like Yellow outside all day yesterday and the day before. It was so EERY! The thunder was Rocking my house. It was intense. The RAIN was like Torrential downpours. There for a few minutes I thought for sure we were going to loose our electric. IT was horrible. IT was scary. And the aftermath, holy cow, We have floods like crazy here. Our house is ok, but across the street, their whole driveway and yard is flooded. Down the street is the same way. What a wicked storm it was. It started on Friday night, lasted ALL night into the morning. Then it let up and we thought is was over. Then around 5 pm last night it started all over again. WOW the thunder alone just rocked our world. It was the hardest storm we have had in years. I was a little worried for a while. I think it had something to do with that hurricane that was out in the Atlantic, I think it was hurricane Bill. We didn't have the wind though thank God. But the RAIN oh my gosh.
So when we woke up this morning and it is Sunny and nice and warm and Blue skies I knew it was over and we are all ok. Just dealing with lots of water on the roads and yards. Hopefully by tonight or tomorrow it will all dry up and be ok. Now talk about mowing, that rain just made our grass grow like 6 inches overnight. LOL. So needless to say we have to mow the grass now. But is just way to wet out there today to do any of that. Maybe tomorrow.
So the boys had one of their friends spend the night last night. That was fun, they were up till like midnight. But they had a lot of fun.
I did my weigh in again today because it is Sunday and I have lost another 1 lb so my total weight loss now is 144 lbs. WOW!!! Unbelievable. I feel Fantastic. I am doing so good and now that I am back to work and back to my routine it will be even better. I have to go clothes shopping soon. My sister Lynn gave me some clothes--Thanks Lynn---that helped so much. But I still to get a few more pants. I usually go to the goodwill, you can find some really nice things there if you look really good. So maybe on Friday or next weekend, when I get paid I will have to venture out to the goodwill again.
Sam may have a job, YEAH!!! He lost his about 3 weeks ago, and he has been out putting apps in all over the place. Well he has decided to go back into construction and building houses again. He has over 14 years experience and he really likes it. He is good at it. Well he went to this place that our nephew Rob works at and they are hiring. So the guy asks Sam how many yrs exp he has and when he told him over 14 years, they guy was like blown away and wanted him right away. He told him he will look over his app and call his references and then call him on Monday. So then when Rob got back to the shop, the guy was asking about Sam and the guy told Rob that he will be calling Sam on Monday. SO HOPEFULLY it will all work out and everything will be good and Sam will start working for this company on Monday. Apparently this company is Extremely busy and have lots of work lined up and the pay really really good, so keep praying that this all works out for him and us. CUS being unemployed really SUCKS!!!!
Other then that, we are chilling out here. I am on here listing things on ebay again, emailing, and surfing the net. The boys are all playing in their room, they are getting back into playing with all of their toys instead of just video games. I think it is cool to have their friend here because that helps them not fight with each other and all play together. It is cool. So we are having a relaxing day and getting ready for the work day tomorrow. I have to be to work by 7:30 tomorrow and I can't wait. LOVE MY JOB!!!!!

EVERYONE ENJOY YOUR SUNDAY AFTERNOON!!!!!

HAVE A GREAT WEEK NEXT WEEK!!!!!

Back to School!!!!!

2009-08-21T12:49:00.002-04:00

YEAH!!!! I am back to work, Back to School. I had such a great day yesterday. It was the first day for only the staff to come to work. We had this huge meeting in the morning where every staff member of the district gathered in one place to listen to the superintendent talk about the improvements that are being made in our district, the expectations of everyone, the future of our district, honor the teachers of the year and so on. It was very nice. Then we met into our own groups of staff. Like all the teachers had their own meeting and all the paras had their own meetings. Well, that is where I stepped in and had to take over. It was a little bit overwhelming at first. There were over 120 people looking and listening to me and paying attention to every word I had to say. Then they were asking all kinds of questions. It all went pretty well though. I was pretty siked up to begin with for it being the first day and I had to address everyone so that when it was over, I just felt like I crashed. I was just exhausted. I guess it was all of the adrenaline leading up to that moment and the preparations making sure that I had everything I needed and I didn't forget anything. So now I can say that we have officially started back to school yesterday. HOWEVER, now we are OFF today LOL! Yeah I know pretty weird huh? Well, the state is in such financial crisis that they had to tell every state employee to reduce their days by 5 days this year, so that they can reduce our pay by 2.5%. So we had to come up with 5 days that we can take off of school that would not interfere with the students and make a staffing shortage. SO in all the meeting we all had, we decided that today would be one of our 5 furlough days to take off of work because there are no students today. SO that is why I am off today. We go back to work on Monday and the students start back to school on Tuesday. I am so excited to see them!!!!!! :) We were there for the rest of the afternoon yesterday setting up our classroom and getting things together for them. We are so excited. It is going to be a great year. Well HONESTLY EVERY DAY OF MY LIFE AT WORK IS A GREAT DAY AND A GREAT YEAR!!!! I LOVE MY JOB LIKE NO ONE HAS EVER LOVED THEIR JOB!!!!!!! And I can't believe this will be starting my 14th year in my school. And it is now my 24th year of working with children with Disabilities. Can you believe it? This is the only thing I have ever done in my life. These children are my life!!!! I love them so much.

SO with today being Friday, I am home doing things around the house and on the computer. Lil Sam is in school. He started yesterday. The other two boys start Tuesday. So now, finally, things can get back to normal. And we can be back to a normal routine. I can be my normal VERY BUSY self and loving every minute of it. The boys can be on their normal very busy routine and loving it and everything will be going great.
Sam is still looking for a job. Yeah it really sucks around here trying to find a job. Yeah he lost his job (long story) almost about 3 weeks ago and we have not had any luck finding a job. But we are keeping our hopes up that something will show up soon. IT HAS TO!!! If anyone knows of anything around here that is hiring, please let me know.

WELL EVERYONE ENJOY THEIR FRIDAY AND HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND!!!!!!

Awake and Ready to Go!!

2009-08-19T06:13:00.003-04:00

Good morning everyone, it is Wednesday morning and I am up and ready to go. I woke up all excited this morning. I start back to work today. Today is a 1/2 day for training. We all got this new technology equipment in our school and we all need to be trained on it. So we start back today to get trained on it. Then we really start back to school tomorrow. Have to be there at 7 am tomorrow. I can't wait. I have to do a big presentation for all the paras in the district because I am the president. I am excited about it all, but I am hoping I don't forget anything. I have been getting things together for the past few days. Hopefully I don't forget to tell them anything or do all that I am supposed to do. The first day of school is always a little nerve racking. I will over 120 people's eyes on me and I don't want to stumble or forget to say something that they need to hear. Anyway, so today we have this training, tomorrow we start school with the big meeting for everyone in the district and then on Friday we are off. It is one of our furlough days that we have to take this year because of all the state financial problems they are having. SO then on Monday we go in to set up the classrooms and all and then on Tuesday the students start. I can't wait!!!! I miss my kids so much. Even though I worked summer school and only really got like 3 weeks off, that is still such a long time not to see my kids. I bet they have grown so much and I hope they didn't loose a lot of what we were doing over the year. Every year is a new year and every year we have to start over with our kids. BUT it is all worth it because they accomplish so much by the end of the school year. IT is wonderful to see them and see their little faces when they know they have mastered a goal that they have been working on for so long. Man I miss my kids.
My boys start school this week and next week. I can't wait for that to happen either. They have been home and together WAY too much this summer. They need a break from each other. Lil Sam starts school tomorrow and Cody and Tyler start school next Tuesday. They are excited and ready to get back to school too.
Anyway, I did my weigh in again yesterday. I missed it on Sunday because we were not home. And we got home too late on Monday. So I did it yesterday. I lost another 1 lb. So that brings my total up to 144 lbs. I am so excited. I am just doing awesome. I feel fantastic. I feel wonderful. I just FEEL Incredible. And now that I will be back to work and going to have my routine back it is even going to be more exciting. I love being in a routine. It just makes things run smoother and easier.
Sam is looking for a JOB!!! Yeah, he lost his job (long story). But anyway, we are seriously looking for a new job and in today's world that is very hard to do. There is just not a lot of jobs out there. But I keep praying and keeping my hopes up that something will happen soon. I am going to apply for food stamps and medicaid now because we just can not make it on my salary alone. It is just impossible. So if anyone knows of anything out there that can help us, I would really appreciate it.

EVERYONE HAVE A WONDERFUL WEDNESDAY!!!!!!!

We're Back!!!!

2009-08-17T21:01:00.002-04:00

We are back from Pittsburgh and West Virginia. On the way home from Pittsburgh, we decided to surprise my mom and dad and my sister Lynn and go visit them for a day. That was a lot of fun. But first let me tell you about our visit with Marleen and her husband Rob. We had such a great time. We got there on Thursday night, she had made a really nice dinner for us by the time we got there. She made mini meatballs, cut up veggies, cheese and crackers, etc. all kinds of finger foods. It was so good. She has the cutest little old house. It was built way back in the day. LOL. Anyway on Thursday night we all sat around and played Poker on a real poker table. That was a fun. It felt like we are in Vegas. LOL. Then We all "camped" out in her living room all weekend. We had air mattresses and the couches. Then on Friday, we made this really big breakfast for everyone and then we went shopping a little bit. Then we did my hair, wait to you see pictures of it. I wanted to put a relaxer in my hair because my hair is so dam curly. So we did the relaxer and it turned out really really good. And we painted our nails. It was a lot of girl time that day it was fun. Then we made lasagna and salad and all for dinner. Then on Saturday we made another big breakfast and then we all went down to the pool and went swimming for awhile. We all got pretty burnt but it was fun anyway. Then we bbqed Saturday night and sat around the camp fire. That was fun making s'mores and all. The whole time we were there we played on the drum set that they have in the basement. That was wonderful. Now lil Sam wants a drum set for Christmas, I was like yeah right, where are we going to put it? LOL. And they even have a real slot machine, the boys really liked that too. And their little dog "smuckers" they had so much fun playing with their little dog too. Then on Sunday it was time for us to go home. But because my mom lives on the way home from Marleen's house, we decided to go there too. And extend our vacation one more day. That was fun too, because my mom just got back from Rome and she was so excited to tell us all about her trip and show us pictures and all of that. My sister Lynn made a great dinner for all of us, and we "camped" out in their living room too. So today we got home around 5:00 and honestly it is really nice to be home again. And be able to sleep in my own bed tonight. That is going to be so nice.
Tomorrow I have a few errands to run. Then I have to go to work on Wednesday for a training and then School starts again for me on Thursday. So that is my week in a nut shell. So I am so glad we had the chance to have this vacation. It was absolutely wonderful. We had so much fun and created so many memories. We will have to do it again some time.

Anyway, SO I missed my weigh in on Sunday because we were not home and it was too late tonight to do it, so I am going to weigh myself in the morning and post any updates on here tomorrow.

SO EVERYONE HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!!!

IT IS ALMOST TIME TO GO BACK TO SCHOOL FOR EVERYONE!!!

HAVE A GREAT FIRST DAY BACK TO SCHOOL IF YOU ALL START THIS WEEK!!!!!!!

Leaving for Pittsburgh

2009-08-13T08:31:00.002-04:00

Good morning everyone. I am so excited this morning. We are leaving to go to my cousin's house who lives in Pittsburgh. We have been planning this for like over a month now and we are all very excited to be going. So we are leaving around 10 or 11. We got lots of things planned to do and cook and hang out and play games it is just going to be so much fun. I love hanging out with her and her husband they are so fun. And the boys are excited to be able to play in her basement. They are boys and boys will be boys I guess. LOL.
Anyway besides that, it has been so DAM hot out here for the past few days I sure do hope things cool off soon. I had my little boy, from my class, over yesterday. And he came with his two cousins. That was a lot of fun. We took them and my boys and went to one of my friends house and we all went swimming for a little while, had a bbq, hung out there. We had fun. Then we came home and hung out here for a while, played outside, played games and all that. My friend Margaret was with me the whole day too and she was able to help me and that was wonderful to have her be there with all my boys. With my boys and the boys I had with me I had 6 all together so it was great to have her there to help me. Then I made dinner for everyone and then brought the boys home at 7:00. I was so tired by the end of the day. When I got back from taking them home I still had to pack and get ready to leave for today. When I was done, I tell you, I JUST CRASHED!!! But I am awake and ready to go this morning. It is going to be a great weekend. We'll be back on Sunday some time. And then School starts next Thursday for me and Lil Sam and the then Cody and Tyler start on the following Tuesday. That will be great. Cus my boys are tired of spending every single day and night with each other. They all need a break from each other.

WELL EVERYONE ENJOY THEIR WONDERFUL WEEKEND WITH

ALL YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS!!!!!!!!

It's 5:30 and I am awake

2009-08-11T05:42:00.002-04:00

Good morning everyone. I have to go to work today and I am really excited. I am on the interviewing team for the new paras in our building. SO I am up at 5:30 in the morning on one of my days off. I have to be there at 7:00. But I had to do a few things on here first before I went to work.
Yesterday I got to spend the whole day with one of my best friends Margaret. I haven't seen here in like 2 weeks. And when you are used to seeing a person every single day and doing things together all the time, 2 weeks is a long time. We went to lunch, then the mall, and then we came here to my house and hung out and played games. It was fun. IT was too dam HOT to do anything else outside at all. But it was cool to see her again. She is being interviewed today for her job, she was on a temporary contract so she has to interview again. She is nervous. I told her to be herself and she will be fine.
Anyway we are doing ok. It has been so dam HOT out to do anything. So we have been in the house hanging around. I start back to work next week so I am excited to get to see my kids and all my coworkers again.
We are going to my cousin's house this Thursday, so I am excited about that too. That is going to be so much fun. We got all kinds of things planned to do together.
Well, I gotta get myself together for work, so I will post again another time.

EVERYONE ENJOY YOUR TUESDAY!!!!!

Sunday's Newsflash!!!!

2009-08-09T13:29:00.002-04:00

Ok so today is not a typical Sunday at my house. First of all, there are a ton of things going on in my head right now, stress, worry, sadness, etc. that I was up at 4:00 this morning and I could not turn my brain off. I was worried about going to my cousin's house and seeing if everything is going to work out that we have planned (LONG STORY). I am worried about Sam getting a new job (ANOTHER LONG STORY). I am worried about not having money to pay the bills that we have to pay because of Sam NOT working right now (LONG STORY). I am worried about my friend Doris's Husband Todd who fell off a three story roof the other day and is in the hospital not doing too well (ANOTHER LONG STORY). I am not a worried bag of emotions and I just hope things work out ok for us. I am just not having a good day. So my mind woke me up at 4:00 this morning and I could not go back to sleep at all. I am just not having a good day. So I got up and went to the living room and read some more of my book I had started reading last night and I actually finished it by 10:00 this morning. I did nothing but READ the entire time. I just wanted to forget my problems for a little while and get caught up in the wonderful world of reading. By the time I finished the book, I was so drained, emotionally and physically that I went back to sleep. And I slept really hard. Thank God I didn't have to go anywhere today. So I slept until 12:30. So then when I got up, half the day was gone already and Now I am up and moving and doing the things that I normally do, cleaning, cooking, doing things on the computer, etc. So I feel a little better but my worries and stress are still there and I just don't know what to do about it all. I know it has to get worse before it gets better but I just hate going through it. But I guess we have to go through what God hands us to make us stronger and a better person.

So when I did wake up and realized it was Sunday, I did my weigh in and I have stayed the same this week. Doesn't surprise me, I have been stressed and not focusing on my food too much. I will do better next week. But I still have lost 141 lbs and that is nothing to be sorry about or worried about. That is something to celebrate.

Well Everyone Enjoy your Sunday!! Mine has got to get better soon!!!

Look @ our LITTLE DECK

2009-08-08T15:50:00.014-04:00

Our Deck is COMPLETE!!! It is so CUTE AND LITTLE. I love it!!!
Here is what we HAD. THESE SORRY ASS STEPS.

AND HERE IS OUR NEW CUTE LITTLE DECK!!!!

IS'NT IT CUTE???? WE LOVE IT!!!!

Saturday's Happenings

2009-08-08T14:33:00.002-04:00

I just got off the phone with my cousin Marleen for about the 5th time today. WE ARE SO EXCITED!! We are planning on visiting them this week for a long weekend and we are so excited about it. We got the whole weekend planned out as far as what we are going to be cooking and doing and everything. It is so cute. And I went on mapquest and got all the directions and now all we have to do is Pack and Wait. We are going to leave on Thursday evening and make it a long weekend. It is going to be so much fun. I can't wait. They live right outside Pittsburgh.
Other then that, I am chilling here at home. This is the first day I have not been out of my house in a long time. I am always on the go doing all kinds of things and I did not want to leave my house at all today. I am doing the never ending task of laundry. And I am on here doing a few things and playing around online. Other then that we are all doing ok.
I have pictures of my deck. I am going to put them on here in the next post after I post this one. I am going to make it it's separate post. Before and After pictures of our little deck. It came out really really good. Not as big as we would have liked it but it does it's job. Sam calls it, "glorified steps-not a deck" LOL. Wait to you all see it. I love it anyway, even if it is little. It's cute.

Have a great Weekend Everyone!!!!!!

Where has the week gone?

2009-08-07T07:22:00.002-04:00

I can not believe it is Friday already. I have been so busy around the house with things like cleaning out the closets and all that and doing a bunch of stuff that I don't get to do while I am working, that I didn't even realize that it is Friday already. Dang! I only have two more weeks of vacation before I start back to work, I better get a move on with the things I still have to do. I have to go school shopping for the boys stuff and clothes that they need for school. I have to get my para stuff done for work. I have a bunch of things to do. But it will all get done because I am determined to get it all done before school starts again.
I am still the President of all the paras in my district. And I am still loving it. This is my third year doing it. It is my last year of my first term. But I really enjoy doing it and I help a lot of people so I will continue to do it for as long as I can. I can run for re-election at the end of this school year to do another 3 year term. And I don't think I will have any problems with getting elected again. For 1 no one else really wants to do it and for 2 everyone wants me to continue doing it, they say I do a good job at it. Which I think I do too because I keep everyone informed of things going on and I am very active with things. So I am up for another year of being President and love it.
I am looking forward to a new school year. We will be in our room with our own students. We separated our classroom over the summer, we went from 7 adults and 21 students to 3 adults and 8 or 9 students. We are going to be able to do So much more stuff with them and be able to meet their individual needs better. It is going to be such a great year. I am still working with Joyce who I have been working with for 14 years now. Her and I work WONDERFUL together. So I am looking forward to a great school year.
The boys are ready to go back to school too. Tyler is definitely ready, he says he is bored and wants to go back to all his friends and stuff. He LOVES school. He is on the honor roll all year and really does good in school. So he is ready for a new year. He will be in 6th grade this year, yeah I can't believe how old he is getting. HE is 11 years old already. Cody is not looking forward to school this year. He doesn't really like school, he struggles a lot with academics. But he does ok. I am looking into getting him into Polytech High School just like lil Sam. I think that would be a better setting for him vs the regular high school in our district. He would get totally lost in the shuffle over there. They don't tend to the special needs of the individuals as much as they do at Polytech. And with Cody being in Special Education he needs a little more extra TLC you know what I mean. He will be in 8th grade this year. Yeah he is growing up too. He is 13 years old already I can't believe how old they are all getting. Cody is spitting image of me LOL. Sam is very ready to go back to school. He is super excited. He is going into 11th grade and he is so looking forward to GRADUATION already. I keep telling him he still has 2 years left of school but he is looking at 2 less years then he has already gone through. He is such a Great teenager. I got really really lucky with him. He is very respectful, polite, caring, loving, and just an overall great kid with a great head on his shoulders. All my boys are wonderful but as they are coming into adulthood, you realize the type of adult they are going to be and I think Sam is going to make a wonderful responsible adult. We'll see how the other two turn out LOL. Anyway Sam is still into Carpentry at Polytech. He helped a whole lot with us building our deck over the past week. And he did a great job at it too. I can't believe my oldest son is 16 years old already. Driving and very independent. Looking for a job, really really wants to work but no one hires kids anymore unless they are 18 so it has been hard for him finding work this summer. But when he does work, he works hard. He helps out one of my cousins who own their own business doing odds and ends jobs.
Other then that, everything else is going ok. I am still feeling absolutely fantastic. I am really really exercising a whole lot now and doing great. I have this thing going on with my cousin Marleen who lives in PA. We text and call each other all the time and now we work out all the time together and text back and forth as to see how we are doing. It is very fun and inspiring to do it together even though we are miles and miles away. But we do it at the same time and it is fun. So it keeps us both going. And makes us both feel so much better about ourselves.

Well gotta go, get stuff done today. Got a list of things I would like to accomplish today and it is a sunny beautiful day. Windows are open, fresh air coming in, not hot, absolutely gorgeous day!!!!

SO EVERYONE ENJOY YOUR FRIDAY!!!!!

HAVE A GREAT, WONDERFUL, HAPPY WEEKEND

WITH YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS!!!!!!!

Getting Caught Up!!!

2009-08-06T11:21:00.002-04:00

So it has been a few days since I have been on here. I have been very busy getting caught up with things around the house that I don't get the chance to do since I am at work all the time. I have been cleaning out closets. We finished the deck. I have to post the pictures on here. I have been making all kinds of cool dinners and different foods cus I have the time to experiment. I have listed a few things on ebay and actually sold some things. I have just been very busy around here. Today I got a million errands to run. So I will be out of the house for a few hours. They just opened up a brand new $1 store right next door to my development within walking distance and I am super excited about that. I love $1 stores. So I am going to check it out today. Monday they just opened up. It has been super hot here so I did not take the boys to the beach like I wanted to because it is just too dam hot to even be outside. Humidity in Delaware really sucks.
Well that is about all that is going on here. I am going to list more things on ebay again tonight and try and get rid of a bunch of things. Since we had our yardsale last month and didn't get everything sold that is what I decided to do with everything post it on ebay. And so far it is working out. If anyone wants to check out my ebay listings it is on purplepattireid on ebay.

Sunday's Newsflash!!!!

2009-08-02T12:34:00.002-04:00

Well it is Sunday and I actually have a chance to get on here. I haven't posted a Sunday's Newsflash in a few weeks it seems.

So I did my weigh in again today and I have now lost a total of 141 lbs. I can not believe it. I feel AMAZING!!! I just can not believe how well I am doing. Thank you to all my friends and family for your support and encouragement. I have been doing wonderful.
We built a small deck yesterday. YEAH!!! I have only been asking for a deck to be built outside our front door for like 6 years now. But we got ahold of a bunch of wood from friends of ours and I picked up a set of steps for sale out of the newspaper. SO yesterday we went to Lowes and bought the rest of the wood and screws and all that we needed to build our deck. It is not as big as we would have liked it to be because of lack of money and the space available to build it but it works. It is enough for all 5 of us to be on at the same time and put a little grill on it too. Now I am on the lookout for a grill. They should be on clearance soon because summer is almost over and they are going to be putting fall things out soon. SO if I can find a grill for pretty cheap, that will be our next purchase. So anyway, I took lots of pictures of us doing the deck yesterday. It was pretty fun, we all worked together. We put the boys to work doing it too. It was a lot of work though, for me anyway. I am not used to carrying all that wood around and hammering in nails and drilling screws in. It was a work out for my arms that is for sure. But it was fun. We are not totally done with it though. We ran out of wood so we have to go back to lowes and get more. All we have to get is the top pieces that cap off the top of the railings and we have to build the railings for the steps. And then we will be done. BUT we can't do any more of it today because of course it is RAINING. Whenever we want to do anything it always seems to rain. But I guess we need the rain too. So when we are all done with the deck, I will put some pictures on here for all of you to see.
Well that is about all that is going on here. I did take the boys bowling the other day and they had a lot of fun. It was good to spend time with them out of the house with just me and them. We didn't go out to lunch though, we decided to eat before we left because everyone was hungry and they all started eating so that saved us some money anyway. Next week, if it is nice, I plan on taking them to the beach one day for the day. Just me and the boys. Next Wednesday I am going to VA beach for the night. I can't wait. My friend has a beach house there and a few of us girls are going to hang out at her beach house all day Wednesday and Thursday. Very cool. NO Husbands and NO Kids!!! My kind of VACATION!!! LOL.

EVERYONE HAVE A GREAT SUNDAY!!!!! ENJOY YOUR FAMILY!!!!

HERE I AM 1 YEAR LATER!!!!

2009-07-31T19:43:00.011-04:00

DON'T MIND THE HAIR, IT WAS THE END OF THE DAY!!! AND THE WIND BEAT UP MY HAIR ALL DAY LONG!!!!! LOL

BUT HERE I AM 1 YEAR AFTER MY SURGERY AND 139 LBS LIGHTER.

FEELING FANTASTIC!!!!!!

AND 1 YEAR AGO!!!

Today is Thursday

2009-07-30T09:45:00.003-04:00

So today is Thursday. I am on my first full week of vacation. Yes I am enjoying it. I got to sleep in three days in a row now. I don't know if I actually like that or not because I feel like half the day is gone by the time I get up. I have been getting up by like 9:00 am each day. And for me that is so very very late. So I have been able to get caught up with things that I need to do around the house. I did a bunch of errands yesterday and had lunch with one of my friends, that was really nice. Today I am going to take the boys bowling and out to lunch. Just me and my boys. That is going to be fun. I don't get the chance to do those kinds of things too much because I am always busy and we never have any money to do anything. But because they each were on the honor roll and did really well in school this year, I promised them that I would treat them to lunch and bowling one day this summer and they were all excited about that. So that is what we are going to do today.

I have pictures of myself on my camera of my 1 year anniversary. I just have to get the pictures off my camera and I really don't have too much time to do that today. It has been exactly 1 year since I have had my surgery. But I will post pictures on here by this weekend. I PROMISE. I know some people are waiting to see them.

Well that is about all that is going on here with me and my boys. We are all building a deck this weekend and I can't wait for that one. I have only been asking Sam to build a deck for like 6 years. So now we are finally going to be getting one. YEAH. I will definitely take pictures of that because I am excited about that one.

Everyone have a Wonderful Thursday Afternoon.

Enjoy your Summer day!!!!!!!

Pictures from Niagara Falls

2009-07-28T16:33:00.010-04:00

So much to get caught up with!!

2009-07-28T13:54:00.003-04:00

Ok so it has been like forever since I have been on here again. NOT intentionally mind you, just very busy. And now I am enjoying MY VACATION!!!!!

Ok so where do I begin?????

First of all, I am done working summer school and I am now off of work for 4 weeks vacation. Loving it. But you know in like a week or so I will be on here complaining that I miss my kids. It is always like that. I look forward to the vacation and then when it happens, I miss my kids too much. Today is the very FIRST DAY I am able to stay home all day and chill and do nothing but what I wanted to do. I don't have any meetings, appointments, or errands or anything and I am staying HOME ALL DAY. Which if you know me, that is something that RARELY EVER HAPPENS. So I am catching up on all my emails, blogs, websites that I visit, etc. Doing laundry, still in my PJ's (which that is very rare for me too). Just enjoying the day off and doing nothing.

This Saturday was my 1 year anniversary of having my surgery. I have to post pictures on here. I will on my next post. I have them in my camera and I have to get them out to my computer. SO in this years time. I have lost a total of 139 lbs. AND FEELING ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC!!!!! Doing Wonderful and Happier then I have ever been in my life. This has been the absolutely BEST Thing I could have ever done for myself in terms of being a happier, healthier person. Now I am a lot more active then I ever was and again if you know me, that is next to impossible to be EVEN MORE ACTIVE. I swear I must have ADHD. LOL. No but I am working out so much lately. Not only am I loosing weight and doing fantastic on what I eat and how I eat, I am doing my treadmill for over 45 minutes 3 x a week, going up an incline on the end of the time and running for the last 2 minutes of my work out. I am also lifting small dumbbell weights 3 x a week for 30 minutes prior to the treadmill. And I am swimming 2 x a week both at work and at my friends house this summer. And when I am swimming, I am running in the water and doing all kinds of water aerobics type of things. So I am working my ass off literally!!!!! I have gone from a size 32w pants and a 30-32w or 4x top in plus size women's clothes to a size 20w pants and 18-20w or XL shirts UNBELIEVABLE!!!! And I am constantly going through my clothes having to get rid of things that are just falling off of me. Thank God for friends who have given me clothes and also the goodwill stores. LOL!!

And I have been traveling A LOT LATELY!!! I just got back on Sunday night from Niagara Falls!!! It was AMAZING!!! If you ever have the chance to go see Niagara FALLS I would definitely recommend it. I went up there for a family reunion on my fathers side of the family. Sam and the boys stayed home. Which my dad didn't go to because he had too many things going on at home. LET me just tell you DRAMA, DRAMA, DRAMA!!! I am so glad I don't hang out with all of these people on an every day basis. I would go stir crazy. It was such a mess. I was not so ever glad to be home before in my life. I was not so ever glad to see Sam and my boys in my life. THANK GOD we don't spend time with these people. NO need to go into details just know that I did not have a very good time EXCEPT the Falls itself and I would never go on another family reunion on that side of the family again. Most of them are all crazy and full of drama. So I took some absolutely beautiful pictures of Niagara Falls and they are in my camera too, so I will post some on here soon.

So now that I am off of work for a few weeks I am planning on spending some time with my boys. I am planning on taking them bowling and out to lunch, just me and my boys. Saturday or Sunday we are going to take them to the State Fair that is going on here in Delaware. Next week, I am going to take them to the beach one day. And we are planning on going to my friends house and go swimming one day. And one day I would like to take them to the movies.

I am going to VA beach on Wednesday and staying overnight with my friends. She has a beach house down there and few of us girlfriends are spending a couple days at the beach. Then in two weeks me and Sam are taking the boys and we are going to visit my cousin Marleen and her husband in Pittsburgh. I can't wait for that trip it is going to be so much fun. So that in a nutshell is my 4 weeks of vacation. LOTS of fun, family time. I hope to have the chance to go camping too but don't know if we will have time or money for that one. OH yeah and next weekend we are building a little deck on the front of our house. Not a big one just a deck to get out the door and down the stairs. Our current stairs are in sorry shape and we need to do something about it. Sam got all this wood given to him for free and all we need to buy is the screws for it and the spindles for the deck. We can handle that. So next weekend we will have a deck on the front of our house. I will definitely take pictures of that cus that is something I have been wanting for YEARS since we have lived here and we have lived here for over 8 years already.

Well I am going to unload all the pictures off my camera now so I will post more on here later and look for pictures too. Have a great day!!!!!

Sunday Newsflash!!!!

2009-07-19T16:16:00.002-04:00

Hey Two days in a row again that I am posting on my blog. You know how it is when you get busy and you don't get the chance to get on here much. So I am excited to be actually posting another day in a row on here.
So you know today is Sunday the day I do my weigh in and I have been doing really really good. I went back to exercising and lifting weights again. So I have been feeling wonderful. I lost 3 lbs this week. So now my total weight loss is now up to 139 lbs. Almost 140 lbs I can not believe it. I can not, first of all, believe that I was carrying that much weight to begin with and I can believe that I have lost that much weight already. It will be exactly 1 year next weekend since I have had my surgery and it has truly been the best thing I have ever done for myself. I feel fantastic and wonderful!!! I will put pictures of me on here before and after so you can see the difference 1 year makes. It is a huge difference.

I am going to Niagara Falls next weekend and I am really looking forward to it. I am looking forward to the scenery and seeing all of my father's side of the family that I have not seen in like forever. I think it has been like over 10 years that I have seen half of my family. So that should be interesting.

Last night it was a great summer night. I went to my friend's house and we had a wonderful time. We barbecued all kinds of food. There was so much food there. They went all out. Then after we ate, we played all kinds of games and things. They have a rec room in their basement so we play pool, foosball, ping/pong, air hockey, wii, and we played yard games outside too. It was just all kinds of fun with friends on a summer night. It was a great time.

Today we actually got to sleep in some. It has been a really long time I have been able to sleep in and not have to get right up and go somewhere or do anything. Then I made a late breakfast/lunch type of thing. We ate at like 12:00. It was cool. Then I had everyone in this house cleaning up today. We cleaned every room in our house. Now it is all cleaned, laundry is done, and I am chilling out. Just what a Sunday should be like. LOL.

This is the last week of work for me for summer school. Then I will be off of work for a month. I am so looking forward to the break. I love my job but I would love to just have a break for a while. Unwind, chill out, get things together in the house and all kinds of things. And spend some time with my boys and do things with them.

Weekend upon us!

2009-07-18T13:43:00.003-04:00

So it is finally the weekend. And I am still busy even though we are supposed to be off of work. This morning, I had another yard sale with my friend Donna. Everything went well. I didn't get rid of everything like I wanted to but we did ok. I came home with $23 more then what I went with so that was ok. It was so dam HOT out there and we were supposed to stay till 2:00. But there was no way we could of did that. We stayed till only 12:00. But everything was ok.

This afternoon I am going to one of my friends house and have a nice summer hang out bbq. She wants an excuse to have people over her house so she is getting a bushel of crabs. YUK. but her husband is making other things on the grill too so that will be fun. Sam and the boys don't want to go so I am going by myself. Looking forward to that one. I am bringing Brownies. YUM.

Tomorrow, I am staying HOME. It feels like I have not stayed home one entire day in like over a month or longer. So tomorrow I am not leaving the house at all. I am going to do my weigh in and then I may even start on a new book.

Next weekend I am going to Niagara Falls. My father's side of the family is going to have a family reunion and I have not seen them in like YEARS. So I am going to go there. I am going with one of my aunts and my cousin who live in Delaware so that will be fun. We are just staying Friday and Saturday night. I am looking forward to the scenery of Niagara Falls more then the family reunion Honestly. But it should be fun. We can't afford for all of us to go there, so Sam and the boys are going to stay home. They wanted to go but it would be very very expensive.

Other then that I am going to get off of here and make those brownies. Everyone enjoy your Sunny Saturday Afternoon. AND I look forward to posting my SUNDAY'S Newsflash again.

OK I'm BACK

2009-07-16T20:38:00.002-04:00

I know I went to California and then I have not been on here since. You all must think I stayed out there and decided to not come home or something. WELL I'm HOME safe and sound. And Yes I have not been on here in like forever. Sorry to worry you all. I have just been very very busy and I had computer Plug problems. This is a laptop and my plug for it FRIED in my hand one day and I have not had the chance to get on here in like a week. I had to buy a new plug for it and they are NOT CHEAP. It cost me over $80 for just a DAM PLUG WIRE THINGY for my laptop. Anyway it is on, plugged in, and charged. And I am on here now so it is all good.

YES I WENT TO CALIFORNIA. And man did I have a GREAT TIME. WE worked Hard and Partied HARDER!!!!! I don't drink but man did we PARTY!!! Each day we had to be in the convention center (there were like 15,000 people there). And then in the evenings we were on our own.
So one night we went on a tour with our whole group from Delaware and we went on a Double Decker Tour bus around the area and city of San Diego. IT was gorgeous. They showed us the beautiful houses, neighborhoods, historical places, etc. Then we went on the FREEWAY on this Double Decker Tour bus (yes I was on top) and we went over this LONG huge bridge that looked like it didn't have any sides to it at all, over this large body of water to an the Island of Coronado. It was absolutely BEAUTIFUL!! It is this little island that connects California to Mexico. The scenery was just absolutely breath taking. That tour was just awesome.
Then another night we went to a Professional Baseball game. I don't follow baseball but it was so exciting to actually be at a REAL BASEBALL GAME. We saw the LA Dodgers vs the San Diego Padres. It was so cool. Lots of fun.
Then we had 4 nights that we just PARTIED our ASSES off. We went to a few bars and hotels and DANCED our ASSES off. There was like 6 or 7 of us that went out each night. And Man did we have fun. We were out till past 1-2:00 am and then we had to be in our meetings at 7:00 am. Yeah we were tired, BUT WE WERE IN CALIFORNIA BABY!!! Oh my GOD We had so much fun.

Yes we got a lot of work done. We didn't just go to Party. LOL!!

Anyway, things are great here. No money but what the hell you only live once right.

I will post more on here this weekend and get everyone up to date as to what has been going on with me and my weight loss. I have been doing FANTASTIC!!! Yes I have more energy to Dance more now. LOL!!!

Leaving Tomorrow Morning!!!!

2009-06-29T19:10:00.005-04:00

Hi all!! My count down is FINALLY Complete. I am leaving in the morning to go to San Diego, California for the National Education Association Conference. And we will be in this very Convention Center that is in this picture. Isn't it beautiful?? I am all packed and ready. I am super EXCITED!!!! Obviously I have never been to California before so this is going to be an experience of a lifetime. I am so looking forward to it. I will be out there till Next Wednesday, July 8th. I will take tons of pictures while I am out there and I will try and post while I am out there too. I can't promise though because I will be very busy and not wanting to be sitting in front of a computer all the time.

So bye for now. I will blog again when I can!!!!

~~~~HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEK~~~~

~~~~A WONDERFUL 4TH OF JULY WEEKEND~~~~

~~~~HAVE FUN AND SEE YOU ALL SOON!!!!!!!!

THIS IS THE BEACH IN SAN DIEGO!!!!! APPARENTLY IT IS ONLY LIKE 3 BLOCKS AWAY FROM OUR HOTEL!!!! I WILL BE THERE!!!!! AMAZING!!!!!

LOOK @ MY THREEREIDBOYS!!!!!!!

2009-06-28T21:49:00.010-04:00

I have not put up recent pictures of my boys in like forever. Well the other day when we were going to my niece's wedding, the boys were actually kind of dressed up so I took pictures of them. They came out ok. My camera really is old. But anyway here is my threereidboys.

Sam is 16 already

Cody is 13 already

Tyler is 11 already

Sunday Newflash!!!!!!

2009-06-28T21:34:00.010-04:00

WOW I can't believe that I am almost ready to go to San Diego. I am all packed and ready to go. I even have the clothes out that I am going to wear tomorrow and Tuesday. I am leaving Tuesday morning about 10:30 am.

So today is Sunday. I had a thousand things I had to do today to get ready to go. And the pampered chef stuff came in today too. I had to sort through all of that stuff. I had a party about 3 weeks ago and everything came in today. SO on top of doing laundry, cleaning the house, paying bills, getting things together for my trip, I had to sort through all that stuff. I am so tired. But I am so excited that I won't be able to sleep for the next 2 days.

I did weigh in again today. AND I don't know what is going on. I have not lost anything again. I think I have hit a big plateau. WHICH that is totally fine. I have not lost anything really in like 3 weeks. I think my body needs to catch up with itself. I have lost a total of 132 lbs (which is amazing!!!!!) and I am so dam happy right now. That if I don't loose anymore at all I would be totally ok with that. I have done more then I thought I would in the amount of time it has been. It has been 11 months already. Can you believe it.

LOOK at me now!!!!

WHAT A DIFFERENCE IN 11 MONTHS AND 132 LBS LIGHTER!!!!!

I FEEL FANTASTIC!!!!!!!

Only 4 more days and lots to do

2009-06-26T13:03:00.002-04:00

I can not believe it is finally here. I am leaving to go to San Diego this coming Tuesday at 10:30am. I still have so much to do. I have to finish laundry, clean the house (I don't know why cus it will only be a mess again when I get back), I have to go grocery shopping, pay some bills, pack, organize Sam and the boys stuff for the week (all the things that I do without even thinking about) etc. So much to do. BUT I am taking a break this afternoon!!! One of my friends and her family went camping this weekend and we are house/pool sitting. So we are going over to her house this afternoon and go swimming in her pool for a couple hours. It will be fun. The first time we have actually gone swimming this whole summer. It has been too nasty and raining all the time. But it is very hot today, very sunny, perfect pool weather so that is what we are getting ready to do.

I took pictures of myself and they are in my camera. I also took updated pictures of my boys too. SO the next time I get on here, I am going to update pictures of myself and my boys. It has been exactly 11 months since I have my surgery. I have lost 132 lbs so far. On Sunday I will weigh in again and give another update on my weight loss.

It's been a few days!!!

2009-06-24T19:16:00.002-04:00

Hello to all my blog friends and family. It has been a few days since I have actually posted anything on here. I guess I have been very busy or I just have not had the chance to even get on here. THE TRUTH is that I have been absorbed by another BOOK. I love to read and I don't do it very often, but when I do, I get sucked into the story and that is like all I really want to do is read my book. SO I started another book on Sunday and I just finished it this morning. So I have not posted anything on here in a while. I missed my Sunday Newsflash and everything. So here is a short version of what has been going on in my life.
Friday-I had off of work. Took Little Sam to get his licenses. He got his permit for 6 months now. He is driving can you believe it. So after Sam got off of work on Friday we went to the beach. It was lil Sam and Tyler's bday this weekend and that is what they both wanted to do. GO to the beach. So we took off here like at 4:30 and went to the beach. We didn't plan too well, cus they all got in the water, NOT ME, it was WAY too cold for me. But we never brought any change of clothes. But we were all ok. They all just sat on towels. Then after the beach we went to Bob Evans for dinner. It was really good. Haven't been out to dinner IN A LONG LONG TIME. We just can't afford it anymore. But the boys bday only comes once a year and we wanted to do something with just the 5 of us.
So Saturday-we went to my niece Tanya's wedding. IT RAINED all day long and we were so worried that it would spoil her wedding. But the wedding was an evening wedding and by the time everyone got there it had stopped raining and the sky was blue again. It was a beautiful wedding. THEN we danced our butts off. WELL I Danced my butt off anyway, Sam and the boys don't dance. But we had a lot of fun. We didn't get home till after midnight.
Sunday-Father's day we went to the Dover Air Force Base-Air Show. They open the Base up every 3 years or so to the public for free and they show an air show featuring the Thunderbirds. IT was really cool. They started at 10 in the morning and went on till 3 in the afternoon. We had a great time. Except the WALKING. We had to park at the old mall and then they shuttled us to the base by bus. They dropped us off and then everyone had to literaly Walk the whole section base to get to where the air show was. And it was so crowed with PEOPLE all over the place. I felt like I was going to loose one of my kids a few times. But everything worked out ok. After we got done with that, we came home and took a nap and chilled out. I didn't even cook dinner. We were so tired from everything we did over the weekend. Oh and Sunday I did my weigh in too and I lost another 1 lb so my total weight loss is now up to 132 lbs.
Then we went to work. And I have been having a Fantastic time at work. We went on a field trip today to Xbos. It is an indoor play place. It has bowling, soft play climbing stuff, giant slides, etc. video games all kinds of things. IT was fun. BUT I am so tired from climbing all over all the stuff. We were all climbing all over the place. but we had fun.
So that has been my week in review up till now!!!!! Tomorrow is my 11 month anniversary from having my surgery. I will take more pictures of me and post them on here real soon. I want to get it done by the weekend.
I am leaving on Tuesday to go to San Diego, California. And man I can not wait. I am so excited!!!
Well I will post more on here over the weekend and before I leave. Until then EVERYONE HAVE A FANTASTIC REST OF THE WEEK!!!!!! ENJOY THIS WEATHER!!!!! & HAVE FUN!!!!!

ONLY 10 MORE DAYS!!!!!

2009-06-20T15:01:00.002-04:00

SAN DIEGO CALIFORNIA HERE I COME!!!!! ONLY 10 MORE DAYS TILL I GO TO SAN DIEGO CALIFORNIA FOR THE NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION REPRESENTATIVE CONFERENCE!!!!

I AM SO EXCITED!!!!!!

LOOK WHO IS 11 YEARS OLD TODAY!!!!!

2009-06-20T14:13:00.011-04:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY TYLER BOY!!!!!!
I CAN NOT BELIEVE YOU ARE 11 YEARS OLD ALREADY!!!!!!

My Tyler Boy, as I call him, is 11 years old today. He is such a great kid. He is going into the 6th grade when school starts again. I can't believe how fast time flys by. He LOVES to read. He LOVES school. He reads on an 12th grade level. We got his report card the other day and he only got 2 "C" in the whole year. He has had straight "A's and B's" the whole year.

Tyler Daniel Reid was born on June 20, 1998. He came into this world weighing 8lbs 3 oz. He was my biggest baby. He had a cute little dimple on his left side of his face from the very beginning. He was so dam cute. He still is!! Tyler LOVES LOVES LOVES TURTLES. Anything and Everything to do with Turtles. He has probably 60 different things that are turtles or turtle related. Every time I see anything with turtles it reminds me of him and I try and get it for him if it not too expensive. Everyone who knows him knows he likes turtles too, so they try and get stuff for him with turtles too. He even has a real turtle and his name is Tucker. Tyler says he would like to study Turtles when he gets older and maybe he could become a marine biologist. That would be great if he can do that.

Tyler is very very mature for his age. He loves to have an in depth conversations with people and he is very smart. And he is very caring and compassionate!!!!!

We are going to my niece Tanya's wedding today so we will be celebrating the boy's birthdays next weekend. At first Tyler was a little upset that we had to go to a wedding on his birthday but he got over it. He is fine now.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY TYLER BOY!!!!! WE LOVE YOU!!!!

LOOK WHO IS 16 TODAY!!!!!

2009-06-19T11:26:00.006-04:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE SAM!!!! YOU ARE NOT SO LITTLE ANYMORE!!!!!!

I can not believe my Little Boy is all grown up now. I have to take a more recent picture of him because this was him during Christmas time. But still he is all grown up now. I am going to be taking him to the Motor Vehicle this afternoon to get his permit. He passed Driver's Ed in school and the day he turns 16 he can get his permit. I can't believe he will be DRIVING. He will be a Junior in High School already when school starts again. He is going into the construction field when he graduates. He wants to do like Commercial Construction. So that would be good for him if he can find work out there.

Sam is a wonderful kid. I remember when I first had him, I cried and cried because I could not believe "I" actually had a baby of my very own. All I kept saying was "I have a baby, I have a baby...." It was amazing! Your first born is always Amazing! So on June 19, 1993 Samuel Alex Reid entered this world weighing 6 lbs 11 oz. He was so tiny and just perfect. Now he is all grown up and becoming a MAN!!! He has turned out to be an AWESOME PERSON!!!! Very Respectful, Polite, Smart, Funny, Well Mannered, and the list can go on and on. I am just so Proud of him and I can not believe he is 16 years old already.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUDDY, WE LOVE YOU!!!!!!

First week of summer school

2009-06-17T20:39:00.002-04:00

So this has been the first week of summer school for us. Yes I am working summer school. It is extra money and the kids still need to come to make sure they maintain what they have developed. So summer school started Monday and the kids first Day was Today. Well because we split our classes up and we changed rooms, our poor kids were so confused today. It was so sad. They didn't know what to do. Thank God we didn't change staff or they would be TOTALLY confused. But anyway, we got them pretty much settled. It took a while. But they got themselves together. And we had a wonderful first day with them. We only have 8 kids as opposed to the 21 we had in the year. And it was like all day long, we were feeling like we were missing someone. IT went so smooth, and we were able to get a lot more done. And we are going to be able to do more things, go on more field trips, and help them accomplish more of their goals because we are such a smaller group now. And this is the same group that we are going to have in the fall so that is going to be wonderful.
So anyway, other then that nothing else is really happening around here. Lil Sam's bday is Friday, taking him to get his driver's permit, then we are all going to the beach after work on Friday night and chill out on the beach and maybe get some pizza down there. Saturday is Tyler's bday and we have to go to my niece Tanya's wedding. So we are going to just chill at home and then go to the wedding. So next weekend we are going to have their bday party. This Sunday is Father's Day and the Dover Air force Base is doing an airshow with the blue angels. And it is FREE so yeah I am up for that and Free too. So that is our plan for this weekend.
The boys have been home now for like 2 weeks from school and they are already BORED. If I hear it one more time when I get off of work every night, I am going to tackle them. LOL. I can't help that we have to work and they are home all day. I can't afford to put them in a camp or anything and we can't do too many things at night cus we have no money but they will be alright.
Lil Sam called me at work today and they were hungry, they said there was nothing to eat in the house. So he says to me that he wants to make spaghetti. I was hesitant at first, but I trusted him to do it. No meat of course, he said that was too much like work. So I had to tell him how to make the noodles and the sauce. I expected to come home to this HUGE mess! I WAS SO WRONG!!! I came home and the only mess was dishes in the sink. He cooked, they ate it, He put it all away in the fridge, and HE CLEANED his mess up. AMAZING!!! This is his first like big meal that he has made, usually it is like frozen stuff thrown in the oven or microwave, or sandwiches and stuff. Not anything that you actually have to cook. And he did a GREAT job at it. I was pretty shocked. I guess he is growing up. And very responsible.

Sunday's Newsflash on Monday!!!!

2009-06-15T16:38:00.002-04:00

Ok so I know I am slipping. I usually always get on here on Sunday and now it is Monday. Look at me, I'm not keeping up, what's wrong with me. So anyway, Yes yesterday was Sunday. My day that I usually update on my weight loss and everything that is going on. I never even got on the computer yesterday. I cleaned the house and then I had friends over all the rest of the day and we were hanging out and chilling. So my Sunday's newsflash is that yes I did weigh myself and I stayed the same again. So my weight loss is still at 131 lbs. which is awesome. I'm still feeling wonderful and fantastic. Can't complain at all.
Not much else is going on here. Lil Sam's bday is this coming Friday. He is going to be 16 years old already. Can you believe it? He is going to be driving. I have to take him to the DMV to get his permit. Then he has to do 50 supervised hours then he can get his license in 6 months. Tyler's bday is this coming Saturday (yes the next day-5 yrs apart). He is going to be 11. He still doesn't know what he wants for his birthday. I don't know what I am going to get him either. I do know that he wants to go to the beach and hang out in the water and chill so we may do that on Saturday during the day. Then on Saturday evening, our niece Tanya is getting married so we will be going to her wedding.
So other then that, the boys are now all done with school and they are staying home mostly because we just can't afford to do anything at all. We will be doing some things in August but not too much.
Well everyone have a great Monday night and I will post more as the week goes on!!!

Had a Yard Sale Today

2009-06-13T18:24:00.003-04:00

So today started out to be a great day. The weather was wonderful and my friends and I got together and had a yard sale to get rid of a bunch of junk. We set up like 3 tables in the front yard. Had everything all laid out and displayed all nicely. Posted the ad in the paper. Posted signs on the corners towards her house. Did it all. We were ready. Had our drinks, chairs, snacks, change....you name it. Well then we sat and sat and sat some more. It was like 1 person would come, then about 1/2 hr later another person, then 1/2 later another person. It went on like that all morning long. We didn't get as many people as we had hoped for. And we were basically just sitting out there in the hot beating sun and baking. It got REALLY hot around like 10am. So by 11:30 we called it a day. We were a little disappointed with all of our efforts and not too many people came. But that is what happens when you have a yard sale, it is like hit or miss. Sometimes you get a lot of people and you get rid of all kinds of things and sometimes you get just a few people and you get rid of a couple things. For us it was a few people and hardly nothing. I made like only $16.00 today. That's all. BUT I DID get a pretty good TAN. LOL.
So that was my day today!!! How exciting!!!!

News about my work!!!!!

2009-06-11T20:43:00.003-04:00

I have been so very very very excited all this week about being at work it is just not even funny. You see, I have been working with my teacher (Joyce) for 13 years now. And for the past 6 years, we have been with another teacher in the same room. The new teacher, just out of college was not comfortable taking a class by herself. So for the past 7 years, Joyce and Dee have been "team" teaching. Well with this team teaching it has made our classroom have 21 students and 6 staff members. Well for the past few months, it has been crazy, too many students, too many adults, too many WOMEN in the same place, too much furniture, too much equipment.....and the list can go on for ever. And in this past few months, it has just been very stressful to go to work every day and keep a positive attitude with so much ciaos going on. SO THIS WEEK~~~~Joyce and Dee have SEPARATED!!!!!!! YEAH!!!!!!! They have each gotten their own classrooms!!!! And I am still with Joyce and we have another Para with us too, her name is Margaret. So this week we have spent the past few days setting OUR room up the way we want it, we are doing things the way We want it done. It just feels so Wonderful to finally be on our own again. WE HAVE BEEN SO HAPPY this week at work. The kids were done last Friday and they had this week off and then Summer school starts on Monday. And each of us are working summer school. So it is going to be fantastic to have our own classroom with only 9 kids instead of 21. And we are having a blast decorating it, arranging it, getting our office set up (we actually have an Office in our classroom) it was an old storage closet that we created into our office. It is so cool, it is half office/half storage. Just wish it had windows. BUT WE ARE NOT COMPLAINING ONE BIT ABOUT OUR NEW ROOM. It has been a long time coming. When you get that many women, that many opinions, that many bosses, that many....... it just gets too be too dam much and it gets to become where you don't even want to work with the staff anymore. And it is sad to say that it has come to this point. BUT Joyce, Margaret, and I are WONDERFUL together!!!! Joyce and I make a wonderful team together. We RESPECT each other and do what we each need to do for the Children. And this being Margaret's first year, she is catching on real quick as to how Joyce and I work together and she is fitting right in with us. Now the three of us are a Excellent Team Together. IT is going to be a fantastic summer school and an absolutely wonderful next school year. We can not be any more happier at this time.

:) I LOVE MY JOB!!!!!!!!!! :)

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Ok~~~Ok~~~Ok~~~~

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Ok~Ok~Ok~~~~