Totally addicted to Blogs and this is a good thing???

I've decided that I TRULY am an addict. I've always know that I had an addictive personality...smoking (gave it up in January 2005) food (still dealing with this addiction one pound at a time) and gambling in any form (slots, table, lottery, even BINGO). Now I have found a new healthy, informative addiction and I'm passing it along like all addicts do! I have encouraged, cajoled and even bet my friends, family and co-workers that this is a wonderful hobby. An opportunity to vent, postulate, share feelings, opinions and whatever else strikes the fancy.. Throw your thoughts to the world for all to read!

Many of my peeps have taken the lead and joined the ranks of the many bloggers out there. We've discovered that we have some very funny friends and co-workers and I know that my DD's despite their expensive University educations can't spell to save their lives! Anyway, I digress......I am addicted to reading other peoples blogs! I have found some very interesting people out there in this great Island called Earth!

OMG, Deni Bonet over at Last Girl, amazing talent!
Well Rounded Goddess, best of luck in your journey, I'm with ya Hun!
MuzikDude, hang tough you got through it and your kids will too!

See what I mean! I don't even know these people and yet I will follow their journeys just to make sure they are okay, send out good positive thoughts if needed and somehow bond through Blog....who'd a thunk it???

I spend what seems like every spare moment surfing the blogs of others to find new and interesting opinions and adventures to share! I have added new people to my list of interesting people to read as I find them and I hope that if you are reading this you get as much enjoyment from my ramblings as I get from those that I read!

Sending all the best thoughts out to the world and to YOU!
TTYL

Hmmmm....multiple personality perhaps?

Okay well thanks to Amy over on "Anybody's Guess" for this little quiz thing that could be perceived as accurate by some and for those that really know me.....NOT
I think I answered these questions with my outside voice instead of what's really going on...can you do that? Skew the results so that the answers portray someone you don't even recognize?

Go ahead take the test and let me know!

Your Brain is 53.33% Female, 46.67% Male

Your brain is a healthy mix of male and female You are both sensitive and savvy Rational and reasonable, you tend to keep level headed But you also tend to wear your heart on your sleeve

What Gender Is Your Brain?

TTYL

C'mon Now- a little free enterprise never hurt anyone...did it?

You know I'm always surprised at people and their reactions to someone else's good idea....For example, someone from my hometown, registered the new Pope's name as a domain name on the web and put it up for sale on ebay. Minimum bid is $100,000 US. Ingenious I say! Hell, I wish I had thought of it! This individual may not sell the domain name but hell, certainly worth a shot! Anyway, my surprise in this is not his forward thinking(he bought the domain name in February), but the comments that he is receiving on the ebay site! OMG, people are freaks! One person went as far as to say that this individual was shaming his town, province, country! I mean really..c'mon! Get a life people! Kudos to the seller though, he calmly responds that basically each to his own where opinions go. And we all know that opinions are like A**holes, everyone has one! Anyway on that note another item that has really disturbed me this week is that I received an email to pass on (i get lots and they don't usually bug me) and I just couldn't put my name to it. It's kind of on the subject of free enterprise but not.... The email in question was asking me to sign a petition to stop the production or showing of a film about a recent tragic event in the province of Ontario...the brutal sexual abuse and slaying of Kristin French and Leslie Mahaffy.
I really could not bring myself to sign it. Not because I don't agree that it was horrendous in every way, that it is not painful for the parents of these lovely young ladies that lost their lives so brutally or their neighbours and friends..but really people, have you turned on the TV lately? Law and Order, CSI, many movies such as The Chainsaw Massacres, The Boston Strangler etc...they are all based on the brutal abuse, murder of someones mother, brother, sister, aunt or child! Think Son of Sam, Boston Strangler, Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer and John Wayne Gacy to name a few. All of these people had victims and movies have been made and books have been written about their terrible crime sprees and their victims...
I'm certainly not saying it's right or wrong but people have a right to know and if you don't wanna know don't spend the $12 to go to the show...don't buy the book. Free choice people!
Anyhow, that my friends is my opinion and I have a right to it. Will I go see the movie if it comes out....Probably not...
On my original subject of free enterprise...GO FOR IT! Great idea, I hope it sells!
TTYL

SOOoooo Bitter

This week has been very difficult for me to find any joy in the good things that happen to people I know....in fact I really have been struggling to remain civil with those that choose to share their wonderful news with me. I am absolutely mortified by my behavior and have chosen this venue to seek forgiveness for myself!

Everyone around me is experiencing the general renewal that happens in Spring. The neighbor's from hell have not to date finished the outside of their house due to financial setback of him losing his job, and them running out of cash on the loan the refinancing of the house provided. I get to look at the papered framing of the addition and the old siding and mess in their backyard, with the dog that never shuts up...yet somehow they find the money to purchase a brand spanking new 2005 Ford Mustang and a very expensive beautiful leather couch set with granite tables to match. I'm struggling with justifying buying paint for our main floor to keep the house looking fresh and relatively clean and my kid is setting us up for TV charity to get the basement remodelled (see previous blog)! Another acquaintance at work mentioned that she was buying a new car, a high end sedan convertible...now there's a hardship....try a 16 year old minivan that has one working window (passenger side) one working door (driver's side...the passenger door opens from the inside only, the sliding door from the outside only and the back hatch door not at all since the opening mechanism broke in a cold snap this winter) no air conditioning or heat (motor of the fan died sometime near the end of March..thank goodness for warmer weather). I sent another friend an electronic birthday card and when she wrote to say thanks for the card she explained she had spent her birthday in New Orleans! (tough place to spend a b-day....my dream vacation is Mardi Gras in New Orleans) At lunch I ate my soup too fast and I got that real hot feeling in my chest from swallowing too much and a co-worker mentioned how she got brain freeze from her Margueritas in Mexico on her vacation that she just came back from yesterday. Are you getting my drift!!!!

Man it's easy to feel sorry for yourself and real hard at times to keep your eye on the good things in life! Wonderful husband, Fabulous Daughters, great job, cute little home, a mini van that starts just about every time I turn the key and best of all a sense of humor that remains in tact despite the little hardships that enter into our everyday life!

So....DEEP Breath.....in with the GOOD and out with the BAAAAD! For those of you that have great things going on, it's truly momentary jealousy and I really wish you all the happiness you deserve!
That's better, onward and upward!
TTYL

RTR and The Youngest Offspring

It is absolutely amazing how we can be pulled into reality TV. My youngest daughter Brianne, has taken it upon herself to enlist the help of the HGTV show "Rooms That Rock" to assist us with what she believes to be the greatest flaw I have, my inability to decorate, match or even choose colors let alone come up with a whole complete room design! I don't agree that it is my greatest flaw but it's probably right up there! We have lived in our house for 6 years now and the only rooms that have been painted, updated or had any type of decorating done(except for furniture placement, I like to do this pretty regularly...another story for another time..) are the girls rooms and only becasue they chose the colors, design and then enlisted the help of their multi talented Grandma. I remember when we first bought the house and I expressed my concern for my lack of creative juices and my Mom told me "take your time, live here awhile before you hang pictures and such....get comfortable with the place and then it will come naturally...hmmmm....sadly not so much! Things have remained the same since our possession date. I have often wished that I had 1/8th the talent for creativness, making a home feel like a home as soon as you walk into it, ability that my Mom has! Her home has always been beautifully decorated for everyday and made extra special for the holidays...(Dad does his part as well by hanging pictures, Mom lets him feel like its all his idea and gently encourages agreement out of him in most arenas of home decor) This is why Mom and Dad lived in what my brother referred to as "Peter's Pink Palace of Passion" for many years...Mom spent great thought deciding on the colors that she could live with and shades of pink became it...I digress. Back to the Kid and her talent for appealing to the public to help her old Mom!

This wonderfully funny 14 year old makes the decision to find out how she too can become the next RTR's star and searches out the website to see if there is any information. There it is! A casting call for tapings coming up this June to August. She needs to send in a myriad of information to meet the initial qualifications and so off she goes...borrows the digital camera, tidy's the basement family room, start's snapping and downloading and lightening pictures and creating a masterpiece email that she hopes will put her in good stead with all the cast and crew of Rooms That Rock! Once created she sends the email off and politely blind copies me on it so that I too can join in the excitement of getting to VETO one element of the design if our basement get chosen...She so knows this is my FAVORITE part of the show! I love trying to guess if what I would veto is the same as the parents on that show...usually it is! It's usually the element that will cost more to fix once the decor may need to be changed, like basketball lines painted on the hardwood floor or the family fireplace painted white....All that said and done it truly has become a favorite pastime to sit with my teenager and marvel at the wonderful rooms that are created on the HGTV show "Rooms That Rock"!
I'll keep you posted if for some unexpected blast of fun and luck we get get our room chosen!
TTYL

Friendships.....

This week has been drama filled for me and not very pleasant. (hey now, it's my blog and I'll use it to vent if I want to!) Today I ponder the definition of friendship...What is the general, required obligation of a friend? Is it a friends duty to sit idley by with general enthusiasm while we watch the people we claim to love make decisions without exploring all of the possibilities? Is it a friends duty to laugh and smile and be excited to their face when on the inside you are scared to death that they are on their way to a world of hurt if they don't reflect on their choices before committing themselves? Hmmmmm....Well if so then I have been sadly doing it wrong for 42 years.

In my defense I consider myself a very good friend to all I call "Friend" I am pretty picky about that word. I was taught at a very young age that "as you get older the number of true friends you have, can usually be counted on one hand" When I was young I thought it was just another ADULT musing, and then I got old, at about 25, when things got tough in my life journey and I realized "OMG the parental units were right again". So at the old age of 25 I decided to determine what I thought was the definition of a friend and I based this definition on what I wanted from someone I considered a friend. So here goes, my definition of friendship:
1) Complete Honesty: this means exactly what it says...I am honest and say what I mean (in love, not to hurt) so that there is no misunderstanding on my feelings or ideas of circumstances. You will always know where I stand on any issue at any given time if you ask. If you don't ask, I may not volunteer my feelings, but more often than not, I will tell it like it is. If someone asks and I can justify sharing my feelings on any given situation with them....I will and I will not mind if they repeat it to you....if I don't feel justified in sharing I will tell them to MYOB.
2) Complete Loyalty: I will protect, stand by and defend you in any circumstance, whether you are there to witness it or not! I have lost acquiantances because of this and felt no remorse!
3) Complete Respect: I may not always agree with you (I will let you know) I may be scared for you (I will also let you know) but I will always respect the decisions you make for your life! Because "hell, it's your life!". If it turns out to be a bad one, I may say I told you so, but I will always be there to help you get up and start over....all the while saying "see you should have listened to me!!!!" And that will never change the fact that I respect the decisions you make!

So, I will laugh with you, I will cry with you, I will defend you, I will respect you, I will mock you to your face! AND NEAR OR FAR I will always LOVE you!

That wraps up in a nutshell my initial definition of friendship....I've gotten older and added a few things to that....

4) I will not waste valuable time coddling you if you will not accept obvious assistance and continue to place yourself in harms way....I will say goodbye until you make the decision to stop hurting yourself! Then back to #2 I will be there for you unconditionally if you choose to stop hurting yourself and you ask for my help...hell then I'll carry your ass every inch of the way! This is a decision that I make out of self preservation...I cannot live my life in constant fear that the next phone call is from someone telling me you are gone forever!
5) I make concerted effort to maintain contact and if I get no response...oh well there are others that I can bug!

So basically that's why I think I'm a pretty good friend....So for those that understand that there is no compromise....Thank You for being my friend and for those that don't I'm sorry you feel that way! I wish you well and hoep you find that special person you can call friend!

To my BEST Friend, thank you for coming into my life and telling it like it is...Mom was right you are my soul mate and I will always love you! To the rest of you that are my friends, thank you for all that you bring into my life and I wish only good things for all of you and if you find I'm to judgemental...you are probably right....I am but it is who I am and its part of the package!
TTYL

A Lionness' Pride

Well, this morning I'm all aglow with the feelings of pride that only a parent can feel!
My oldest DD (Dearest Daughter) came home for the evening last night to spend time with her Mom (that's me) and the new "Boy". Part of the reason for coming home was to discuss her recent letter of acceptance to teacher's college and her choices of placements. My goodness there is a lot to think about, where will the funds come from, where will she live, where should she do her placements (none of them close to home). All that aside she is going to be a High School Teacher! A Science and Math teacher no less! Certainly not the subjects that her old Mom excelled at. (good thing the apple falls a little futher away from the tree than some think!) Seriously though, HOW EXCITING is that!

The middle DD is experiencing some sentimental thoughts where summers past and youth are concerned and wondering about the mystery that we call our future. This DD of mine is the most dedicated, level headed and probably the most brilliant person I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. She works hard for the things she wants and for that she will always succeed at all that she does! The rewards will always outweigh the hard work in the end!

The youngest DD, oh what to say about this girl! She has a great sense of humour, takes the world on with little concern for anything but the current moment! She has all the characteristics of your normal 14 year old girl! The funny thing is, as a parent to two older daughters...why have I never experienced this before? The baby is coming along and is proving to the world that she too will succeed in her very own way!

All three of my Dearest Daughter's make me thankful every day that God graced me with the privilidge, responsibility and honour of raising them into this world.
Ahhh....a mother's pride!
TTYL