Today I'm Celebrating Another Year

Well, 30 was a tough year but I survived it and I'm geared up ready to go for 31.

I had a nice birthday weekend. My hubby made me Belgium Waffles Saturday morning and we went out for our traditional birthday dinner that night. Sunday, I had the wonderful opportunity to meet some relatives that I've never had the pleasure of meeting. I hope we are able to get together more in the future even if they do live in California. :)

Anyway, while my relatives were here, we started talking about one of my favorite subjects and that is my family history. I love genealogy even though I don't do much research at the present. I love hearing stories about my ancestors that obtained a lot of land by selling mules to the union army in the Civil War and the impact that they had on the history of Illinois. My family on both sides has so many fun and interesting stories that really it's a great time when we are all together.

I will say that I can not get over how much my "first cousin once removed" looks like my great uncle. (Not his father but his uncle) Not only does he look like him but he acts and talks like him as well. I felt like I was talking to my great uncle on several different occasions. It was really just uncanny. However, he's a wonderful guy just like my great uncle and his wife is great as well. Of course, it was always good to see his sister and her husband as well. It was a very nice time and I can't wait to do it again with my great aunt and their other sister later this month. (and again when we go to Florida later this year)

Anyway, today is my actual birthday but there was little celebrating today. Meetings all morning, doctor's appointment in the afternoon, and as Relay meeting in the evening. It's cool, it's a nice, busy day just as I hope I have for many years to come.

My Baby is Thirteen Today

My baby boy was born 13 years ago today. I can't believe that little bundle of joy that I carried in my tummy and eventually in my arms... is now a teenager! Yikes! Doesn't seem possible. The years just zoomed by and those years living in a small apartment with the little baby learning to crawl and walk seems like just yesterday. Now he's a teenager, complete with being mouthy and 3.5 inches taller than me.

While his birthday is today, we are not really having a party for him or anything this weekend. We never do because of Valentine's Day. However, he is going to be having a party later in the month with his friends from school. (Well, if he gets his history fair project done this weekend)

It's amazing the journey he's taken from being this 7 lb, 21 1/2 inches long bundle to being


this 140 lb, 5' 31/2" teen

Have a Safe New Year

Wishing everyone a Happy and Safe New Year!

My family will be ringing in the new year with games around the table and a toast with some sparkling grape juice. Needless to say this means we will not be dancing in the New Year since the semi that parked on my chest still hasn't read the "no parking" sign. *sigh*

To a Healthy New Year for all!!!

Wishing Everyone A Merry Christmas!

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What I Am Thankful For!

Looking at myself, sitting here today, I am thankful for so much in my life. I am thankful for each and every day that I spend enjoying life with my family and friends. This has been a tough year for my family but we have never failed at seeing what we are thankful for.

I am thankful for my husband, whom despite working a lot of very long, hard hours is able to try to keep up here at home as well. He has barely had a day off since I had my seizure in June and has had to be my chauffeur on numerous occasions instead of resting when he is off. He rarely complains about it and does what he can. I always knew that he was my Knight in Shining Armor but he has proven that this year.

Then you have my little savior, my son. Although he's not very little anymore. He is now credited with possibly saving my life not once, but twice. He is one of the most kind, considerate, and compassionate young men I have ever met. While he does get into trouble, is a typical teen, and struggles with school; he is always there for me and the family when it is needed most. I truly wish I could be half the mom he truly deserves for no child should have to take care of their mom but it should be the other way around. I am very thankful for him!

As I said, this year has been very trying for us and I could not write a post of thanks without thanking all of those that have assisted us in this journey. For everyone that gave my son or I rides, offered a helping hand, or just was there to talk... We are so thankful for you. My parents have been a huge help getting me to and from work on a daily basis and I am grateful they live close enough to help. My co-workers Robyn and Scott have never hesitated to give me a ride to doctor's appointments when needed, it would have been a nightmare without you. My little brother sometimes even came to spend the night at my house to give me rides when needed. I appreciate that so much. Then you have all the friends like Jamie who would fill in when it was needed. This year would have been horrendous without all of you and I am so thankful for each and every one of you!

I am thankful for all of my friends in real life and online. All of those that have just the right words to say when I'm feeling down or who just know when I need to talk. You lift my spirits when I am ready to cave and you make me laugh when it is most needed. You help me get away when I need a break from reality or give me a new way of looking at things. You guys are my angels and you know who you are.

I am thankful for finally finding a set of doctors that I can trust and communicate with. I finally feel like I'm in all the right hands and that I'm not going to be left out in the dust. Without them, I would have very little hope of a future, but thankfully they are with me now and part of my team.

Lastly, I am thankful for being able to spend time with my family, in a home that I own, with enough money to take care of my needs and even some of my wants, and, of course, to be happy, loved, and able to enjoy the fun things in life even if it does leave me tired. I am thankful for the life I am living and I hope there are many more years to come!

OOPS, of course, I am thankful for all of you my wonderful readers!!!

*Huggles*

To Thirteen Years of Marriage

Today, John and I celebrate 13 years of marital bliss. It has been a wonderful 13 years and I hope we have many more to come.

So much has changed and happened in those 13 years but I would never trade a day of it for the world. True love is hard to come by and I'm glad I was blessed with it.

John - I love you now and always. *Kisses*

Sending A Happy Father's Day!!!

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It's My Birthday and I'll...

Feel as young as I want to!!!!

I honestly thought that the big 3-0 would make me feel really old but honestly it hasn't made me feel near as old as my son turning 12. (or worse yet my friends' kids turning any variation of over 8.)

Truth is, I think 30 is pretty cool at this point. I honestly believed at different times last year I might not see this day so I'm not dreading it but rather enjoying it. Not everyone has the opportunity to survive the things I have by this age. I expect to be saying the same things in 10 years when I hit 40!!!

Wishes for a fantastic 2009

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MERRY CHRISTMAS One and All!!!!

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Wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving

With my Love Twelve Years

I wish to send a Happy Anniversary to my love of 12 years.



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Let the Celebrations Begin NOW!!!

(Ok so this wasn't really posted on the day radiation ended... No one will remember it wasn't six months from now if it weren't for this message condemning myself.)

A Special Birthday Wish Today

I wanted to send a birthday wish you to a friend of mine this morning. I knew when she told me that today is her birthday that everything would be smooth sailing today for my surgery. I know she will be out here a dozen times already so I wanted to make her smile.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SHARON!!! *HUGGLES*

Gotta Love a Long Weekend

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We had a great weekend and we enjoyed some nice "play" time but we also got a TON done. I'm so sorry I didn't post at all over the holiday but I'll try to fill it all in now.

Let's see. Starting with Wednesday I guess. Wednesday night I was in a bit of a "down" mood and after we finished supper and the like I decided to have a few drinks. I won't get into details but let's just say that I can now honestly say that at 28 years of age I became drunk for the first and LAST time. :) I found out that Gabapentin (Neurontin) and Cherry Vodka don't mix very well. Surprisingly after getting sick a few times before bed, I felt pretty good for Thanksgiving. (Well, I didn't feel well either Thursday or Friday but I now believe that John gave me his ickiness and it was not related to the alcohol.)

On Thursday we went to my Mom and Dad's for Thanksgiving dinner. We had a nice quiet Thanksgiving and we sat around eating and playing games most of the afternoon.

Then on Saturday we had a surprise birthday party for my Dad's 50th birthday. It was really great and he was totally surprised. We had it at a local bar/comedy club and we got to see Tom Morgan the Rajun Cajun at it. He is absolutely fabulous. I might post an entry about him later in the week. We had a blast dancing with family and some of them worked hard on getting a little to polluted but that's ok... I think they all ended up finding sober rides.

Other than those things, we spent a good majority of the weekend with just us as family... oh and cleaning. We were able to finish the outside shed and put everything but the aluminum cans up. We'll have to load those in John's truck for him to take in next week for recycling. Then we worked on the "former baby, current garage sale, later game" room. This room was a total disaster with lots of baby stuff everywhere and it's getting piled in now with stuff for a garage sale next spring. However, we can now walk through it and I will be able to sit back there and sort through things all winter. After we finished getting this room done, we were able to go through the back area of our Great Room and move all the garage sale stuff that was there into that room. So now my Great Room looks like a family room instead of a garbage dump. YAY. It was a lot of work but it is so nice to have it done. We took out about 9 garbage sacks of crap from those two areas.

On Wednesday night we watched "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" the movie but we weren't too thrilled with it. We intended on watching another but we never got around to it. OOPS. Then last night we played a game of risk after we were all done with supper. I won. We played mission and I was able to get all of Africa and N. America before the others could get theirs.

So overall, I'd say we had a wonderful weekend and it makes me look forward to the long Christmas holiday. I have a ton to do between now and then but we'll be able to just chill after Christmas is all over. I am having Christmas at my house this year for the first time since we moved out here. And I haven't started my Christmas shopping yet which means I'm about a month behind. YIKES!!! I'll probably do what I can online but I have to figure out what I'm going to get people first. Maybe I'll just hand out coal this year.

Well, that's enough rambling for now. I may go into more details on Dad's birthday and maybe a few other things later in the week. I don't want to overdue things and not have anything to write about. *Huggles*

Have a Very Happy Thanksgiving

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A Day For Giving Thanks

Tomorrow in the USA is Thanksgiving day. It is a day set aside for us to give thanks for the many things in our life and most of us enjoy a large feast with our families. Too much food aside, this is my list of what I am thankful for.

I am thankful for my family who is with me each day, shares in so many areas of my life, and whom I can enjoy the good times with.

I am thankful for my friends both online and in real life that have given me so many wonderful memories.

I am thankful for God who has given me 28 beautiful years of life and hopefully many more to come.

I am thankful for my health, both good and bad, that has reminded me that not every day is lined in gold and rather you should live each day like tomorrow will never come. Yes it seems odd but I am thankful for the tumor in which I share my head with because it reminded me that life can be taken away at the drop of a coin. :)

I am thankful for my Son who reminds me each day that youth is beautiful and some of the best gifts we receive start out in small packages.

I am thankful for the blessing I've received in living my life each day with my true love at my side. I know that not everyone is blessed enough to ever find their true love and John is that and so much more to me.

I am thankful for my life, my health, my family, my friends, and each breath I take. What are you thankful for?

Has Always Been My Favorite

Well, I figure today I am not really into anything deep so instead I will blog about my favorite holiday... which just happens to be coming up tomorrow. :) I have loved Halloween for as long as I can remember. I love to look at all the original costumes that some come up with and I totally love to be scared by the "creepy crawlies of the night". John never quite understood this fascination by me since I totally detest so many of the movies that deal with being scared and gore. I just remind him that ghosts, the tingling sensation you get when you know you are being watched, and the gentle brush against your leg of an unknown entity is very different than someone going around with an ax murdering people. To illustrate my point a bit... I love the Sixth Sense but movies like Saw are just a bit too much for me.

Anyway, normally I totally decorate my house making the Great Room look about like an old abandoned house. I even have a custom made candelabra that I place on my kitchen table. I love the total ability to use your imagination. This year there was just too much going on and I chose not to decorate. It was probably for the better since things have been so hectic. But you can be assured that next year I will be back into the swing of things and I will post pictures.

Several years ago, I did a haunted house in my garage. It was just small and didn't really have anything special but it was fun. Some day I'll get a real haunted house set up again. We'll see. Speaking of haunted houses, some of my fondest memories as a teen was going with a good friend of mine to the haunted house in a nearby town. They were one of the best in the area (they still have it actually) and her dad worked there so we would go visit. It was always a blast. Especially when all the creatures of the night knew your name. *WHAAHAAAHAAA*

Well, I can't think of much else to talk about with Halloween right now without boring you all. I think this is why I sometimes don't blog about real life... I am boring. :)

There's Change on the Horizon

Sorry if this entry is just a hodge podge of things.

First off, I've been working with a dear online friend of mine on coming up with a customized layout for my blog. I'm really excited about it and I can't wait to see the finished product of what it comes out to. Her and I seem to have a lot of the same likes but she has the "technical experience" and I don't. I have my likes, it's putting it all together that I just can't do. To think that her and I would have never "met" had it not been for the beauty of the internet. She and I have a lot in common so we just "meld" so well. Oh and for those looking for someone to blame for the most boring blog on the internet... it was her idea that I start one. (Sorry Kat couldn't resist. Love ya!!!)

Second order of business is that I would like to send another congratulations to my best friend on the purchase of their new house. It is absolutely fabulous!!! It's large, has gorgeous lines, and I must say that I'm jealous of her kitchen!!! (I hope you don't mind if I steal parts of the design of your kitchen in say... 10 or 15 years...) Congratulations, Jessi and family!!!

Don't worry, I'll spare you. See I can be a nice girl when I want to be. *Smile*

Speaking of candlelight tour... John and I celebrated our 11th anniversary on Friday by first going to a soccer practice (real romantic eh?) then going to a local tourist attraction where they were having a candlelight tour. It was absolutely fantastic!!! I would highly recommend it to anyone. (To avoid giving details on where I live, I'm choosing not to give too much information but if you are truly interested, leave me a comment and I'll give some details.) Anyway, it was a pioneer town and the paths were lit with REAL candles. Just amazing. I think it will become a new anniversary ritual for John and I.

As we're moving to less than two weeks to the big consultation, my nerves are starting to find their way into the open. There is so much question hanging on this one little appointment. I'm not fully sure what to hope for at this point because I don't want to get my hopes up too far. However, I'll admit that I'm optimistic about it. I think the whole nerves thing got me on a bit of a psychological melt-down over the weekend. (Not that anyone would know because I always hide my feelings very well.) Anyway, I thought a lot about what may be in my future and the path that is laid out before me. So many things could happen but ultimately they all lead to the same thing... It's not going to be easy living with the knowledge I have a brain tumor. I just keep reminding myself that God doesn't give us more than we can handle. It's not the road I would have chosen, if given the choice, but sometimes he has to keep me on my toes because I get in a rut.

Ok, that's getting a bit... errr down so I'm going to stop while I'm ahead. Just remember, live each day to the fullest, hug and kiss your babies often, make sure those special in your life know just how much, and last but not least cherish every precious second!!!

May God bless you all!!!

How to Celebrate Ten Years

Yes, this is our eleventh anniversary not tenth but I wanted to share with you how we celebrated our tenth anniversary. You see, John and I and our son all enjoy an online community/game called puzzle pirates. It's really quite a brilliant game and we have met a lot of very special people through it. Well, although not giving any special privileges, we thought that having our pirates marry in the game would be a fun reason to celebrate and give us the opportunity to renew our vows in a fun environment. So, on our tenth anniversary, we renewed our vows as our pirates DreamCatcher and DeereSlayer (he works for John Deere...) wed.

The ceremony was written and officiated by our monarch and dear friend, Limeysmum (Mum). The special vows we share were written by us.

To place the scene, we are on a small yet beautiful island surrounded by a dozen of our closest pirate friends. DreamCatcher is wearing a white dress with aqua edges and a head piece made of white flowers. DeereSlayer is wearing a white dress outfit with aqua edges and looks mighty sharp if I should say so myself. Our son Jazer joins us at the side.

Mum:

coughs to clear throat

Dearly Belubbered,
We are gathered here today,
to renew the union of this Rapscallion and this wench,
in unlawfully wedded matrimony.
If any o ye object to such a union,
Ye be 10 years too late.
Speak now so Jazer can stab ye with his blade.

Turns to DeereSlayer

Do ye, Deereslayer,
continue to take this wench,
in victory or defeat,
in Scurvy and in Shingles,
for booched or for incredible,
as long as ye both shall sail?

DeereSlayer:

Aye do

Turns to dreamcatcher and smiles

10 years have passed since we said I do
And I stand before ye today to show me love is still true
Weve weathered rough seas and enjoyed the calm
And I will fight beside ye with a sword in me palm
To the end of our sail I’ll be true blue
And never stop giving all me love to you

Mum:

Turns to DreamCatcher

Do ye, Dreamcatcher,
continue to take this rapscallion,
in victory or defeat,
in Scurvy and in Shingles,
for booched or for incredible,
as long as ye both shall sail?

DreamCatcher:

Aye do

Takes a deep breath and stares upon Deere’s deep blue eyes

Ten leagues back, me spoke of love and tis meaning.
Me was a green wench back then fer it is many incredibles more beautiful
and no ultimate can compare.
As we continue to travel the ocean of life,
Me will continue to give ye all the sails tokens I can manage
and shall that carry us to that lovely blood.
Me will follow ye into any battle with sword a drawn
Or fists clenched.
Shall our chosen colors always mesh.
Love ye ferever

Mum:

Ye may now both disable your DND for a trade request.

Both:

With this ring, I do trade.

Mum:

By the power vested in me by Yohoho and the flag Limelight,
I now pronounce ye Pirate and wench.
Ye may kiss yer mate.

Deereslayer:

kisses Dreamcatcher

Jazer:

jumps in for a group hug

Sounds like a beautiful way to celebrate doesn't it? :)